Dust Up

[Demi Smith]

"Touchie?" replied Demi, tilting her head to the side. "There's not gonna be any--" she didn't finish though, because the other girl was following through with the warning. Demi jerked to the side, temporarily forgetting the whole rock shield as she fell into her more natural response of entering Flow. Trained muscles reacted, contorting Demi in an almost ballet as she flew about, sending up her dirt and dust to blast the stakes even further off course.

Soon Demi had rolled back up and smirked at her sparring partner, both hands coming up in front of her. "not bad! You almost got me there!" And Demi did have to admit that being got would suck. "You got any defense though? Or should I just let you keep trying to hit me?" Demi smirked at that, pretty confident that the other girl would never land a hit, and even if she did, Demi could totally handle it. Girl looked like a giant wuss, after all.

[Grayson Sawyer]

Gray didn't pay any mind to Demi's vocal response as she was entranced by her physical one. This girl was solid. Gray was obviously impressed.

So impressed was she that she didn't quite respond properly to the question. Blinking away her confusion, Gray shook her head and looked at Demi. "All I got are my spikes. They're sharp enough to burst through concrete but I can't throw them properly to get that impact." She admitted.

"Do you think you could teach me? You seem so in tune with your ability."

[Demi Smith]

Demi didn't hold still, even though nothing was happening. At least, not everything about her held still. The dirt and debris kept floating about her, constantly in motion, constantly flowing. She saw the blinking and confusion and rolled her eyes, not believing that the other girl would continue to be this stupid. Then again, that was pretty much how people were around here.

"you probly need more momentum or something," said Demi, shrugging. 'Or, like you need to throw harder." Yes, that was often Demi's solution to something. If it didn't work the first time, try hitting harder.

"Uh, you mean teach you the moves and stuff?" said Demi. She frowned, rolling her arm. "I dunno it's, uh, well, it's the Flow, and it's kinda different for each person," Demi frowned, looking at Grayson. "Plus, you're kinda wimpy and all, so you'd probably, like, faint or something."

[Grayson Sawyer]

Gray considered Demi's words, finding legitimacy in it. "Probably. I've been trying to gain some muscle so I can put more weight into my throws. I just...haven't gotten around to it." She chuckled sheepishly.

At the other girl's response, Gray shook her head with a small smile. "Oh no no...I mean...well...yeah no don't call me that. I mean I know I am and...quite frankly I probably would but...um no. Sorry. What I was trying to say was teach me to throw harder." Gray was feeling a little put down but she had to continue somehow. She may look ridiculous with the towel wrapping her midsection but there was a quiet determination in the girl that was the only reason why she was still there and not running away at the insults.

[Demi Smith]

The response to the insult had Demi raising her brows. "You can't take being called a wimp? You should try not being one then," she ended with a smirk, nearly laughing. Instead she rolled her eyes and shifted her stance.

"The trick is to keep moving," she said, extending an arm. "See, even small people like us can move, like, pretty quick and all. And if you're moving, you're gathering up steam and stuff, like this," Demi began moving her arms, gliding, pulling some of the stone fragments off the floor of the arena and moving them. She began twirling then, gathering up momentum and then suddenly pulling to a stop, sending the dirt flying.

"See? The stuff wants to keep going and all, so it kinda does so, and, like, you're using your whole body to throw it instead of, you know, your arms and stuff," she looked at Grayson, nodding. "It's pretty easy, really." And Demi added a shrug. it all made sense to her, and she was tempted to say it was something she'd more or less picked up when she was, like, eight or so.

[Grayson Sawyer]

Gray reminded herself that this girl was younger than her and that whatever she was saying was probably not said out of spite for her specifically. She was going to have to swallow her pride if she wanted Demi to teach her anything. It was a good thing she didn't have much pride in the first place then.

Ignoring Demi's previous words, she decided to concentrate on the younger girl's advice. Keep moving, she suggested. And Gray could see how that could work with Demi. But if Gray moved, her concentration would not be on how strong she let her spikes fly or where they land. She kept quiet and nodded.

She did remember how she had been when she was chased by that dog shifter before, how she was running and threw her spikes into the tree to make the makeshift ladder up. So that could work a second time?

Still in complete awe at Demi's presentation though, it took Gray a few seconds to get her bearings. "Right." She nodded before turning aroound to walk further away from Demi as possible.

"Um...I'm gonna try running towards you and um...throwing my spikes. Be uh...careful?" she chuckled sheepishly as she gained distance. Looking down at her outfit when she stopped, Gray frowned and after making sure nobody was around, she unwrapped her towel and stripped the part of the shirt that dangled, throwing it on to the ground. She was a little embarrassed but she didn't want the towel to fly off her in the middle of her run and make her lose her concentration so if that meant baring her midriff to a fourteen year old, then so be it.

Taking a few shallow breaths, Gray picked up the momentum before starting to run, letting her spikes come out to her palms and when she got halfway close to Demi, she threw the spikes with all her might, hoping against all hope that Demi was fast enough to intercept.

[Demi Smith]

"Right," repeated Demi, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. Just what did they teach the idiots here anyway? Clearly not how to use their powers or whatever. Demi was tempted to keep going, to start with some of the basic tenants of the Flow and all that, stuff about moving your body and letting your power be part of it and all, but she just didn't feel like it.

Plus, Gray was talking about running and throwing spikes, which sounded really freaking cool. Demi rolled her eyes at the comment though. "Please, I've gone up against a lot worse then you," she insisted, which was mostly true. She did readjust her stance though, moving to the balls of her feet, readying herself for what was to come. Despite all her talk and ease, Demi still watched Gray carefully, following each little movement.

Running... running... there! Demi saw the spikes come and spun herself, sending out a cloud of dust as something of a screen. It caught a few of the spikes, throwing the ones that might have even come close away. Demi landed a little rough, skidding, but she rebounded and looked, laughing as she pointed behind her, "See! There!" And sure enough, at least one spike had stuck into part of the rock that Demi had left behind, though that might have been because it found a nook or something. Still: progress.

[Grayson Sawyer]

She halted to a stop when the dust and stones burst up. Some of the spikes had zoomed past Demi and clattered on the ground but she did see a few of it stuck in one of the rocks.

A huge smile made its way on to her lips and she squealed, jumping about despite her arms stinging and trailed with blood.

"Yes!"

[Demi Smith]

Demi grinned as Gray cheered, even giving an arm pump of her own. She started to point at the projectile again, but seemed to have second thoughts mid-point, instead turning the gesture into a dismissive flick, sending a little bit of dust going.

"It's just one," she told Grayson, her tone arch as she turned back. "And look at you: You're all bleeding and junk, which is just kinda sad and pathetic and junk. Clearly you need a lot more practice. And, like," Demi gestured at the arms, "isn't there something you can do about that?"

Because that was one crappy side effect. Demi just got lightheaded and dizzy, well, and she never really could get clean but she didn't see that last one as a problem. You got used to the taste of dirt after a few years of having it sprinkled onto pretty well everything you ate. The dirt gnome tromped up to Gray, staring at the blood arms, her face puckered as if considering it.