4026/And the Training Begins...

And the Training Begins...
Date of Scene:	07 March 2018
Location:	Batcave Training Hall
Synopsis:	Backscened first meeting of Richard Dragon and Dick Grayson. The two Richards begin the Nightwing training project.
Thanks to:	Richard Dragon- This character has passed between 2 sets of hands while he has waited to start this. The man has the patience of a saint
Cast of Characters:	Nightwing, Dragon
Tinyplot:	Shivonic Plague

---

Nightwing has posed:
((OOC Back scened a couple of months-- this is when the Dragon met Nightwing))
     Pretense is being dropped. The young man that steps forward, first to offer a respectful bow, then shake hands is tall for a gymnast, but hardly the behemoth that Batman is. Speed. Speed. Speed. There is power sure, but the gymnast never left Grayson. Dragon met Drake the other night. This is different. Drake is all hard work and long hours. Grayson is natural talent.

    There is an intensity to him that does not really seem to connect with his casual smile. "Master." he greets the older man. "My younger brother might have gotten himself into trouble trying to smooth this over. I maybe have skated by on athleticism. I want to assure you, that I am dedicated to this training, and I appreciate your valuable time. My friends and family call me Dick. I hope you will too." He's different than Bruce. Bruce is all scowls. This is what Bruce made of another angry, scared, hurt little boy. This one smiles. His handshake is warm. There is a marked difference in temperament. Dick is far more easy going than his father. There is a velvet glove around his steel hand. It is a strength and a weakness, like most things.

Dragon has posed:
    Walking into the training room, Richard Dragon peers around with confidence and an appraising air. His eyes scan the equipment, the facilities, and the man inside. Not showing any emotion, Dragon stops five steps inside the room, and with a bow of respect, watches Nightwing, his eyes searching, looking, sensing, and estimating. His appraisal and mentor-ship was about to start, and he wanted to ensure he could teach this young man correctly.

"Thank you for your invitation, Nightwing." Dragon uses his "hero name" at first. He then acknowledges that Richard wanted to call him by his name. "Dick it is." A pause." It is an honour to be asked to make you even better than I have heard you already are." Dragon places his hands behind his back, his feet one foot apart, in a relaxed stance.

    "This was a correct choice you made. After all, I will not hold the limitations of your training to date, and your current teacher, against you." Richard nods. "Indeed, I can tell the differences between you already." Dragin's eyes get an intenisty to them. "Shall we begin?"    

Nightwing has posed:
    "Absolutely. I will strive to be a worthy student." Dick replies. He actually gives a second, deeper bow. He was watching as well, and though he lacks the expertise to be as accurate in his assessment, he has already heard from Tim about a few things. He has heard all sorts of other things. He does not leap to the fray though. He is uncertain of Dragon's style. As a boy, training was all sparring. Dragon is different. His pose is elegant, and speaks of confidence. Dick will not leap to attack until ordered to do so. Dick is still measuring the man, his blue eyes very alert. His own pose is relaxed, but the tension in his muscles is to evade, not attack.

    His reputation precedes the Dragon. Nightwing is a seasoned enough, and patient enough vigilante to stop and survey. His pose is an artful deception of relaxation, even though the muscles are subtly tensed to spring.

Dragon has posed:
    Richard Dragon takes a moment, pauses, and then returns the deeper bow with one of his own. As always, his eyes never leave his "opponent" or, in this case, his student. "I know that you will fall back on a lot of bad habits that you have been taught." Dragon straightens, and smiles, slightly. Only those closest to him would notice the difference. "However, my first piece of advice. Do not be stuck within the same mold. Always strive for difference and unpredicatbility."

    Dragon then adds. "Now. Let's see what you can do. I can tell by your actions, emotions, and adrenalin that you want to test me. I am at your disposal. I am...curious. PLease, feel free." Dragon removes his left hand from behind his body, and waves the man forward, a la Neo in "The Matrix." "ALso. Do not pull your punches. Come at me full bore. Otherwise, you will only embarrass yourself." Dragon nods, and remains in a relaxed posture.

Nightwing has posed:
"Embarrassment is too much pride leaving the body, Master." Dick smiles as he leaps to the attack. Dick Grayson is fast. He is improvisational, and he takes calculated, quick risks. The opening kick being a leaping, spin kick, which is a feint is proof of this. The actual move is after the spinning roundhouse as he bends his spine, rotates through the kick and attempts to grab and throw the older man.

    Dick does improvise, obviously. It's a move only a few people could do. Dragon's fought one of them, and the young vigilante does not find purchase. He only barely manages to catch himself into a one-handed spring, where he rotates once in the air, and comes back down in a decent, if slightly back footed defensive crouch. His rotation is fast. He does not have the bad habit of dragging his backfoot in the air. It is a tight, precise manuever. It's just not the sort of thing Richard dragon is going to fall for.

Dragon has posed:
    "Indeed." Dragon's assessment of the young man went up a notch. "That is important. To be humble, and realise there is always someone better. That is the first step in being victorious." Dragon watches as the man comes forward, his reflexes and abilities lightning fast. With a slight nod, Dragon watches, adapts, moves, so fast!

    "Impressive!" Dragon counters the move with a side motion, drops to a crotching position known as "hidden lotus", and sidesteps the final movement. "Excellent rotation. Ah!" A block, sideways, "silent spiral" movement, and returning to his previous position. "Power, grace, form. I believe you could potentially be better than Batman himself." Dragon nods. "A most auspicious start."

Nightwing has posed:
    "Batman is a creature of a mission." He doesn't detest the man. He loves him. His left leg shoots out into a sweep, followed by the right fist into an uppercut, and he shifts his balance into a sidekick at the man's right knee with his left foot. He could use a little more precision in his striking. He's best when he's not thinking. His combination gets a little sloppier as he slides into silence, and his head is in the way, metaphorically as he he follows the sidekick with a palm thrust at the head. He's trying to keep the man moving, to force a mistake. By getting his head in the way, he ruins his rhythm and has to reset, instead of pressing the attack.

    It isn't technique that is the issue. He doesn't love the arts is whole problem. It's a tool. If he loved them like he loves acrobatics, he would be all that Dragon hopes. Batman is grim, and the seriousness of the mission is out of sync with this young man. Sure, he can learn more of the arts, but he needs to find a little joy in it, and he would immediately improve.

    Simply put, as Dick is forced to retreat as his blows take him off center, he is too busy thinking to enjoy the fight. That has made fighting a tool, not a joy. He could be the next Batman, if he found joy in the competition while appreciating the gravity of it.

Dragon has posed:
    "You are thinking too much." Dragon jumps to the left, avoids the leg sweep, knows it is a feint, and actually maneuvers, AROUND, the uppercut, as though he should be there, and isn't. "Veil of Mist." Dragon says, tapping Dick's hand with his, letting him know it would have been a good blow. Then, as he is mid leap, he strikes downward with his opposite foot, blocking the left foot strike.

    Landing on the ground, turning 360 degrees, and falling back into a defensive crouch "erupting dragon", Dragon nods, and exhales. "Very well done. You use emotion to reinforce your power. Enthusiasm is good, Mr. Grayson." A pause. "Dick. It seems we have the same namesake." Both Richards.

    "Ah. I can feel your...consternation, young master." Dragon moves back, and returns to his relaxed posture. "You must FEEL the combat. Thrill at the moment. Engulf the pain, and the anger, and the joy with a serenity that is rare in most people. The moment is all. For the next one may be your last. Do you understand?"

Nightwing has posed:
    "That is easier to say, Master." he doesn't say it with the slightest lick of agitation or disrespect. Batman vouched for him. He is in the cave. That means he is family, just unfamiliar family. He takes the correction well. "I want to learn that." he says, specifying that evasion of the uppercut. "That was cool." There is the smile again. "And you can call me whatever you like, except Robin. Someone else is Robin now." he is still smiling. He continues. "Nightwing. Dick. Grayson, if you want to differentiate between yourself and me." he paces a couple of moments. "You are so fast." he compliments the man. It is sincere.

    he doesn't move back in, instead he continues to circle, then nods his head. "Then let's have fun." He tells the older man. "I want to have fun. I'm not Batman. I am trying to live a life as well as do all of this. He would say it makes me unfocused. I ay, it gives me something to fight for that is tangible and real." He leaps back up, into is a tackle, that does a somersault into a a flying kick, that turns into a leg pin at the last moment. A hair too slow at the last switch, but he wanted Dick to go all out, and so he is. He is trying to lock his legs about the other man to gain a submission hold. A lot of acrobatics, and not a lot of more pure strikes. he is trying to mix it up and give the other man a sample of what he is capable of even as he tries to at least connect.

Dragon has posed:
    "The past is the past. I promise not to call you Robin." Dragon nods his head respectfully, and says, "Fast is in the eye of the beholder." Dragon says, once more. "I simply responded to your tells. A little instinct, mixed with guesswork, keen observation of your muscle movement, and the logical strike and move, and there I was. I will say that you have excellent instincts. That is one thing you cannot train. Ability, instinct, and will."

    Dragon smiles. A real one. "Fun. Indeed. I must say, that is something I rarely allow myself. As you wish." Then, Night wing was on him. Dick's legs lock about the man, but he is slippery! Masterful! The submission hold takes a hold of the man for a moment, and then, he is, somehow out of it. Pure strikes come, one after the other, block, tap, not there, block, move. Both were moving so fast.

    AT the end of the flurry, Dragon moves back, nods, and bows, respectfully. "A very good start. I can see why Batman trains you. WHy you are one of the team. You have incredible natural instincts. You almost had me with your submission hold. Well done." A testament to Dick's skill...Dragon is actually breathing hard for a moment, then it was gone.

    "So ends our first lesson. You have done well. I know several Masters who would have probably fallen to your skills." A pause. "However, Shiva will not grant mercy. She is relentless. You must be as water, between the pebbles, eroding her down, until you are a grand canyon."

Nightwing has posed:
    Dick is also panting a little. He bows low. he is quiet, though his eyes remain on the older man. "I grew up studying under the best man I have ever met. He took in a scared, angry, alone little boy. he gave him home, his bulter gave him affection, and they both gave him purpose. I know Bruce loves me. I don't know he likes me much. have fun with me. remind me why I used to love doing this. i will excel, if I do not, then go back to how you normally teach. If this is the last training of my life, lets have fun. we will work hard, but we will play hard as well, master?" He then offers his hand. "I will work as hard for you as i have anyone else. I am grateful to you already. Make me better? Please."

    He means it. His smile is there, and is a little warmer. "You are a marvel. I need to work harder on that lock though. I have never tried it before." His grin is small and sly there. Dragon told him to improvise.

Dragon has posed:
    "Absolutely." Dragon remains serene and still. "I will help you. You have potential to surpass your Masters, and that is a rare gift. Plus..." Dragon looks slightly chagrined for a moment, "...fun is important. After all, that is how we learn best, and to strive for excellence."

    Turning to leave, Dragon pauses for a moment, and looks back over his shoulder. "I can make you better. You obviously want to be better. That is the perfect combination. And..." Dragon nods his head respectfully once more, "...trying things you have never done before is what makes us excell. Excellent move. I will...remember that one." With a final nod, Dragon exits the area, and heads up to the mansion.

Nightwing has posed:
Nightwing simply stands there for a long moment as he watches the man walk away. His smile fades for a moment, as he tries to put himself in the shoes of his mentor, when he was learning from this same man. His frown is deep for a moment. He is grateful for the man Bruce is, for making damn sure Dick could be better, and actually have it all. If he were to win, well, it would be a hell of a tribute to Bruce. He wanders off too, seeking the dark to think.