Meeting A Lioness

[CaptainL]

Even when Joyce answered her question in the affirmative, Astrid wasn't quite sure what to think. She sat back, folding her arms as she tilted her head toward the brunette and looked her over with a raised eyebrow. Even if she didn't look all that hurt, it seemed as though being thrown face-first into the mat with Astrid's weight crashing down on top of her from behind had rattled her a fair amount, and she was afraid that if she kept pushing her it might only lead to more trouble.

"Are...you so sure?" Astrid asked. Then, she began to stand back up, offering a hand to help Joyce to her feet too. "It just seemed to hit you pretty hard. If you need a break, don't be afraid to speak up, okay? Pacing yourself is important." Of course, any other thoughts going through Joyce's head were all but lost on the Norwegian.

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce blushed a bit as she accepted Astrid's hand.

"Nah, nah, I'm okay. I'm completely fine. Don't worry, if I feel the need to stop, you'll be the first one to know" Joyce said, smiling

[CaptainL]

Astrid might have shown concern for Joyce a moment ago, but once she confirmed she was okay, barely a second passed before a grin spread back over her face. She nodded her head to the girl, and her hand wrapped around hers with a firm grip as she pulled up on her arm to help her to her feet. Now, Astrid knew that she could keep the hits coming. But that was a double-edged sword. If Joyce wanted Astrid to keep going...she wasn't going to hold back, and there was more of that where that came from!

"All right, very well..." the Norsewoman said, taking a step back from Joyce as she dusted off her hands. "Just let me know when you've had enough. But until then...I'm not going easy on you!" True to her word, the moment Astrid was finished with her sentence, her arm shot outward to deliver a powerful chop across Joyce's collarbone! "Let's see how you react to this one!"

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce barely had time to raise her guard, making the chop to painfully smack against her arm, leaving a burning and stinging sensation.

"OUCH!!!" Joyce moaned in pain "Oh, so you want to see what I'm made of? Okay then! Here I go!" Joyce shouted as she ran towards Astrid, jumping and then hitting her two knees on Astrid's chest, aiming for her Solar Plexus. She would then land on her feet and, as Astrid would probably be breathless right now, she would try to grab her by the head and hit Astrid with a Stunner

[CaptainL]

Joyce had managed to get her arm up in time to block the full impact of Astrid's chop, but it was a hard blow nonetheless, leaving a red mark across her skin. Astrid dusted off her hands and took a step back. Luckily, Joyce seemed to be bouncing back from that just fine. The Norsewoman nodded her head to her with a smile, seeing how quickly Joyce had seen the impact coming and readied her defense. That sort of reaction time would surely serve her well in the ring. But more than that, it seemed as though Astrid's strike had emboldened Joyce, and she was all the more inspired to throw herself back into the action!

It all moved so fast that the Norsewoman barely had any time to prepare for it. Joyce's knees came crashing into Astrid's sternum, driving the air out of her lungs and sending her staggering backward as she began to sink lower, her knees bending against her weight. She coughed a few times, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she panted for air. When she looked back up at Joyce, she realized what had happened - the brunette was capable of pinpointing weak points of the body, and she knew just where to strike in order to use them to maximum effect! At a previous class, she had heard that Joyce had gone through medical schooling before - and it seemed that knowledge was carrying well into the ring!

Sure enough, Astrid was still breathless, leaving her open and vulnerable for Joyce to close in for her next move. Showing a respectable degree of athleticism and control over her body, she pivoted around as soon as she had hit the ground, grabbing Astrid's head and driving it downward into her shoulder as she fell to the mat! The blow jostled Astrid's jaw, knocking her head back, and she soon collapsed to her hands and knees, leaving her gasping for breath. It took her a while to collect her thoughts, but Astrid nonetheless raised her head toward Joyce, where a smile crossed her face. "That...was impressive..."

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce blushed slightly as she was complimented by her trainer and smiled as well, making an adorable face in the process.

"Thank you, teacher." Joyce said, right before sweeping Astrid's hands, with her feet, and sending her back to the canvas.

Joyce liked to be complimented, specially by a woman she found attractive. However, she wasn't that naïve and clumsy. She was still on a sparring match, and of course she would act like that: after sweeping Astrid's hands, making her fall down on her chest and face, Joyce would sit down on her back and yank her head back, applying a Camel Clutch on Astrid.

[CaptainL]

Nodding to the brunette, Astrid smiled a little wider. Joyce was learning well, and she and Astrid were working together nicely in the process. If the two of them could build such a relationship, the Norsewoman was sure that it would only encourage a closer bond between the two of them, one that Joyce could only benefit from if she remained receptive to her teaching. And Astrid was certainly impressed with how well she was adapting to the pressure so far!

In fact, Astrid's thoughts were so focused on commending Joyce's efforts that she had let down her guard - something she was soon to regret; Joyce was by no means finished with her! Just then, she swung out with her leg, tripping Astrid's hands out from under her! With a gasp, the blonde fell forward onto her face, landing with an impact great enough to shake the ring. And from there, Joyce managed to climb on top of her, hooking her hands around her chin to pull back with a camel clutch! The rookie may have been smaller than Astrid, but she could still pack a punch, and once again she was demonstrating her aptitude when it came to technical moves. Astrid hissed and groaned, clenching her teeth against the building pressure in her spine as Joyce cranked back on her vertebrae. She twisted her body from side to side in an attempt to unseat Joyce's position on her, and she reached her hands up to grab for those encircling her chin. At the same time, she attempted to crawl forward on her knees, trying to get to the ropes in the hopes of getting a rope break.

[Joyce_Hilda]

Usually, when Joyce saw somebody going for a rope break, she used her feet planted on the mat to push her opponent away. However, given Astrid's size, doing it was impossible for her. It was like trying to pull a tank with her bare hands, trying to make it move. Then, when Astrid grabbed her hands, she had little to no problem to undo Joyce's Camel Clutch. With these two factors in action, Joyce decided, by herself to get out of Astrid's back, since two of three of her trumphs were already neutralized, and whatever she tried to keep doing was kinda pointless now.

As she went out from Astrid's back and back to her feet, Joyce raised her guard, getting herself ready for whatever Astrid could do right now.

[CaptainL]

Astrid might have been trying to escape from Joyce's hold, but that wasn't all she was doing. The whole time, her mind was running through the calculations of what Joyce had done and the thought process behind her actions, and she was figuring out her strategy. The girl definitely had promise. She knew her holds well, and she knew how to use them effectively, focusing on how she could control her opponents and weaken even foes larger than her. That was definitely a good start. But, as Astrid had just proven, Joyce was still considerably smaller than her opponent, and if Astrid put her mind to it, she could break free with the right application of force - force that Joyce couldn't counter. With Astrid both putting pressure on her by her wrists and by closing in on the ropes, Joyce had no choice but to abandon the hold, leaving Astrid to drag herself back up.

The champion shook herself out before turning back around to Joyce, explaining her thought process. "That was a good start," she said, "but once again, I feel moves like this will be more effective against opponents closer to your own size. You don't want to waste your energy on moves that your opponents stand a good chance of countering - focus on what's effective! I know it may be tricky to think on the fly, but you've been doing a good job of that so far...so start thinking about how you might be able to utilize my momentum to even out the size difference!"

Astrid proceeded to take a step forward, drawing back her arm at the elbow before shooting a fist toward Joyce as she pushed her weight off with her other foot. If it hit, it would hit with plenty of power, with Astrid gearing up the momentum of her stride behind it. However, if Joyce was smart, she'd recognze that that same momentum could also be used to more easily move Astrid. She'd put her up to the test in seeing how she'd respond; now, it was up to Joyce to make the most of it!

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce saw the incoming blow. Dodging it was easy. The hard part, though, was the counterattack: Joyce grabbed Astrid's arm and tried to take her down. Yeah, she already heard Astrid say two or three times: "I'm taller than you, your moves are more proper to somebody about your size, you should adapt it", but Joyce was already aware of it, and intended to take her down, using her own momentum against her. The problem, however, is on the details: Joyce didn't made the proper move and, instead of taking Astrid down, she just made her to run in circles a couple of times, while trying to take her down, without success, since she forgot to go on her basis. Astrid now could easily free her arm and bitchslap Joyce to the ropes.