Sparring with Ri'Gor.

"Blaugh!" You moan as your back hits the floor hard. You slowly reach your hand up and touch the back of your head. Feeling a sticky warmth, you groan and move your hand around to look intently at the blood on your fingers. If you'd have known that training with Ri'Gor was going to turn out like this, you'd have just joined 'Cuda at the improvised shooting range just a few feet over. You'd offered to spar with Ri'Gor when you'd noticed nobody else was volunteering. Now you know why. In the past thirty minutes, you'd been kicked in the face twice, received four very hard punches to the stomach, been knocked on your ass three times, lost a small chunk of the hair on the right side of your head and barely avoid a terrifyingly fast stomp attempt on your genitals. It landed on your upper thigh instead and you knew without a shadow of a doubt that it would look a horrifyingly different colour to the rest of your body when you actually got your clothes off. Of course at this rate, it was more likely that the bruised and battered parts would be the majority by the end of the day. Stumbling to your feet you tried to focus your blurred vision on Ri'Gor.
"You know... I'm beginning to think that... sparring means something very, very different in your culture than what it means in mine."
Ri'Gor began laughing uproariously "Calikasians calls this playing! Now come on! Or I'm going to really start going tough on you!"
You glance around and realise that everyone has gathered around, watching your duel (you refuse to call it sparring any longer) with rapt attention and amusement, minus 'Cuda who is gleefully taking bets (which you are reasonably sure are related more to number of bruises acquired than odds of winning) and Veranis who is focusing more on filming it. When you noticed the camera, she assures you (while actually managing to keep a straight face) that she's just testing Garge's equipment for him and of COURSE it won't end up being seen by anyone else. You just frown at her impotently, unwilling to turn your back on Ri'Gor. You slowly raise your fists up into a boxing stance, vainly hoping to get at least one hit in before you hit the floor again...

... And fail miserably. With the addition of ringing ears, a bloody nose, an ankle that feels like it's going to give way any second and the minor stickiness on the back of your head upgraded to a steady stream down your neck. Glancing around briefly you look for anything that can help give you an edge. Then you pause and think back over the beatings you received so far. You've been able to figure out a few of Ri'Gor's tells so far, mostly that when he hitches a shoulder back it means he's going to swing with the leg on his other side. You've tried dodging it a couple of times, but he always seems able to shift the angle of his leg to still catch you, so you've just been blocking it as best you can. And when you try getting close enough to avoid the kicks, he works your body with his elbows and knees.

You pause and lower your hands, taking a couple more breaths and closing your eyes briefly to try and regain some of your focus. You know you could give up; you've already shown how tough you are in front of Isabella's people. And you've got enough injuries accrued that you might actually need to use the medical bay on your ship. Still... you really don't want this fight to end like that. With you crawling away to heal up and nurse what remains of your body and any shreds of pride left behind from this pounding. So... what's it gonna be?