Higher [D1 EM, Gym, open!]

[Zanja]

Zanja swiped the back of her hand across her forehead to keep a trickle of sweat from running into her eye, then reached for the next handhold of the bouldering course. Almost...

With a satisfied grunt, she grabbed hold, kicked off, and heaved herself over the top ledge, where she sat dangling her legs and panting, eyeing the mats below to make sure she had a clear space for her jump down.

[O'vala Aeser]

It seemed to be that time again. Well, there wasn't a safe spot to land on the mats quite yet, because O'vala was doing another one of her acrobatics routines. And failing. Again. At least she didn't seem hurt.

---

D1 EM Cartwheel Somersault Wombo Combo: 1eP+3eA+3eD 0 successes, 1 advantage

[Zanja]

Well, that certainly looked... ambitious, from above. Zanja picked her moment and jumped while Ovala was down on the mat, and thus not moving around unpredictably. She landed with a controlled tumble and propped herself up on her elbows. "What exactly were you going for there?"

--

D1 EM--fluff Athletics to stick the landing: 1eP+1eA+1eF+2eD 1 success, 1 Dark Side

[O'vala Aeser]

O'vala stayed lying there. She didn't seem too discouraged, just a bit tired. "I was trying to do a cartwheel, then a somersault, then another cartwheel really quickly."

[Zanja]

"Has that... ever worked?" Zanja asked, curious if a bit skeptical.

[O'vala Aeser]

"Hm. Sometimes! I mean the real Ataru masters can do like tons of amazing stuff in the middle of a fight!"

[Zanja]

"That's true," Zanja allowed, her gravelly voice thoughtful as she pushed up into a sitting position. "To gain the advantage and all that."

[O'vala Aeser]

"Yeah! Overwhelm defenses and all that. Strike the enemy down quickly."

[Zanja]

"Hard to strike down your enemies from the floor, though," Zanja pointed out dryly.

[O'vala Aeser]

"Well the idea isn't to be falling over. I dunno, I'm trying to get better at it, after all."

[Zanja]

"How's your saber technique when you're not trying to do flips?" Zanja scowled thoughtfully. I couldn't do both at once, that's for sure.

[O'vala Aeser]

"Oh, I think it's pretty good. But I'm not that brawny, so I think it doesn't quite work," she said, obviously not knowing how game-like her sentence sounded.

[Zanja]

"Mmph." Zanja sighed and tugged morosely on the end of her messy ponytail. "Tell me about it."

[O'vala Aeser]

"You're not super buff?" O'vala peered at Zanja. "You look real tough!"

[Zanja]

"Thanks," Zanja puffed up a little, "but I'm still not that big, really. I'd rather fight smart than strong... it's just, fighting strong is easier to learn, if you got the mass for it."

[O'vala Aeser]

"Is it?" O'vala thought about it for a moment. Zanja's logic did make a bit of sense. "Hm. That gives those big guys an advantage!"

[Zanja]

"Yeah," Zanja agreed. "Double the mass... well, not exactly double the power. Helps a lot, though. So does being tall."

[O'vala Aeser]

"I think the biggest ones like Garrick Lorne would be double the power." O'vala tilted her head. "I wonder how jacked he was before all the cybernetics. Oh, maybe the holonet will have some of that."

She began walking over to her datapad and then looked back at Zanja. "Um, maybe not the most appropriate thing to do, actually."