The heavy door slid shut behind them, sealing out the Temple's distant hum.
Ahsoka stretched, rolling her shoulders.
"Ready to get tossed around again, Daud?" Her grin was sharp, lekku swaying slightly with the movement.
Daud cracked his neck, scales glinting faintly under the training room's sterile lights.
"Last time it was a tie." He settled into a loose stance, tail curling behind him.
Ahsoka launched herself forward without warning, a blur of orange and white.
Her first kick whistled toward his ribs, but he pivoted smoothly, letting the momentum brush past his side.
The floor vibrated as her heel slammed down where he'd stood a heartbeat before.
She didn't pause, already twisting into a low sweep aimed at his ankles.
Daud planted his feet into the ground, bracing for the impact.
Her leg connected with a solid thud that echoed off the walls, but he barely swayed.
He countered with a swift, open-palm strike toward her shoulder, he controlled his strength just enough force to stagger her if it landed.
He had to be careful since after numerous testing, he had the strength of at least one ton of striking force and three tons lifting force.
It might seem weak, but considering this is his strength in his weakened humanoid form and was just his innate biological strength it was impressive.
Ahsoka flowed backward like water, bending impossibly at the waist to avoid his hand.
Her eyes gleamed with focus as she used the retreat to coil herself.
"Holding back again?" she teased, breath steady despite the exertion. "Afraid you'll break me?"
Daud snorted, a puff of steam escaping his nostrils in the cool air. "Just saving your pride, Padawan."
He feinted left, then lunged right, his tail sweeping low to disrupt her footing. Ahsoka anticipated it, leaping lightly over the scaled appendage.
As she landed, she drove a knuckle strike toward his solar plexus. He endured it, a sharp exhale hissing through his teeth, he managed to clamped a hand over her wrist before she could retract it.
Using his grip as an anchor, Ahsoka pivoted on the ball of her foot. Her free hand braced against his shoulder, and she vaulted *over* him, legs scissoring through the air.
For a split second, she was suspended above his horns, the sterile lights glinting off her montrals. She landed behind him in a silent crouch and immediately snapped a kick toward the back of his knee.
Daud grunted as the joint buckled slightly, but he was already turning, his tail lashing out like a whip to force her back.
She ducked under it, fluid as smoke, and darted inside his guard. Three rapid-fire punches landed on his scaled-protected ribs.
*thud*
*thud
*thud*
Like stones hitting thick leather. Each impact sent a jolt through his frame, but he absorbed them, planting his feet wide to anchor himself against her storm of movement.
His scales and bones might be as strong as Durasteel and his biology a mix of extremely deadly and tough beings, in his humanoid form he loses many off those protective and advantageous benefits.
Before he could trap her, Ahsoka planted a hand on his broad chest and pushed off, flipping backwards over his descending arm.
She landed lightly a few paces away, already coiled to spring again. "Too slow!" she taunted.
Daud just growled, a low rumble in his chest, and surged forward, his powerful legs driving him like a battering ram. He aimed a sweeping hook, telegraphing it just enough to make her commit to the dodge.
Ahsoka didn't just dodge; she flowed into his personal space. As his fist sailed past her head, she used his own momentum against him.
Planting one foot on his thick thigh, she pushed upwards, using him as a springboard to launch herself high.
For a moment, she was above him, silhouetted against the ceiling lights, before she tucked into a tight spin. Her descending heel aimed precisely for the junction of his neck and shoulder.
The impact landed with a loud *thud* against the dense muscle where Daud's neck met his shoulder. He roared, a guttural, pained sound, and dropped hard onto one knee, the floor shuddering beneath him.
White stars danced in his vision as the force of Ahsoka's kick reverberated through his bones, leaving his right arm momentarily numb. His tail lashed once, uncontrolled, scraping against the polished floor.
Before he could shake off the daze, Ahsoka blurred past him. Her hand snatched a polished bo-staff leaning against the wall.
She spun it once, the wood whistling through the air, and leveled the blunt tip at his throat.
Her chest rose and fell with controlled breaths, but her eyes blazed with triumph. She kept a careful meter between them, well clear of his coiled tail's lethal reach.
"Yield?" she asked, the word crisp and final.
Daud sucked in a ragged breath, the numbness in his shoulder receding into a deep, throbbing ache.
He glared up at the staff, then at her. A low, disgruntled rumble vibrated in his chest, more annoyance than pain.
"Troublesome." he grumbled, the word thick and gravelly. He pushed himself slowly off his knee, scales off his tail rasping against the floor. "Fine you win."