Catch Your Breath

Alaina let out a bit of a small yelp as Valley landed a fast and precise kick to her wrist, forcing her to let go of her sparring partner. Valley was already fast, but now she was faster? That didn't bode well for Alaina, especially if they ever met up inside the ring for an official match again. "Faster? That's not easy since you were already fast enough!" Alaina said as she moved in and tried a kick of her own to the side of Valley's abdomen.

Going kick for kick wasn't at all what Alaina wanted to do, however, if she wanted to get better at it she figured trying them against someone who could give good feedback was the way to go. If she could sprinkle them in with other moves to get ahead, even better. Now... if the expert striker dodged or reversed this..... Alaina dismissed those negative thoughts, trying to focus on staying on the offensive.

"Heh." Valley had a quick laugh as they moved away, narrowly escaping whatever Alaina had planned. "You're faster than before, I meant."

As if to prove the point, Alaina's kick came in and actually hit its mark, crashing into Valley's side with some serious power. Part of it had to do with the element of surprise, not quite expecting that sort of attack from a power wrestler like Alaina. But it was swift, too, and when it was delivered so close, it was hard to dodge.

But that didn't mean that Valley was out of options, either. Instead of letting Alaina pull her leg away, she wrapped her arm around the calf, clutched it tight, then dropped down and twisted, looking to send her fellow Californian flying with a dragon screw.

Alaina was pleased that her kick hit the mark.... however, as soon as Valley had grabbed onto her leg she knew she was in trouble. This was all confirmed as she flew through the air and came crashing down on her back! "Omph!" She also felt like something of a ditz at misinterpreting what Valley had said earlier. "Ha, thanks! Gotta put that speed to use getting my big old butt moving shouldn't I?"

Alaina got back to her feet and began to move. She had to go right back at Valley to keep her on the defensive. When they had their match Alaina found out the hard way that if you gave Valley an inch, she would and could easily take a mile. One mistake against her could lead to a loss. With that in mind Alaina ran back at Valley and lowered her shoulder, looking to ram it against Valley's chest and shoulder block her down to the mat!

'Big' and 'old' weren't words Valley would ever use to describe Alaina's butt, but with her girlfriend present, she figured that little observation was best kept to herself. Much better to spend her breath working against Alaina, who was recovering a lot quicker than she did the last time they fought. Valley had even started to move she executed the dragon screw, thinking she might be able to score a quick pin before the big girl could recover, but instead she found a charging Alaina heading straight towards, close and getting closer at an alarming rate.

As Alaina charged in, Valley figured the best course of action would be to use her momentum against her, bring her down to the. As the Amazon came in, she dropped to the side, shot her legs out to scissor her calf, then spun around and put her down with a quick drop toehold - not the most devastating move, but it would get Alaina on the floor and open up some options.

Alaina should have known that a veteran like Valley would be able to counter her shoulder block at the last minute, but she had expected a dropkick or some form of kick. The drop toehold surprised her almost as much as her face rocketing towards and bouncing off the canvass! "Omph! Ugh.... shit."

Alaina said as she was stunned for a second. Alaina shook her head and got to her hands and knees as she tried to regain her bearing. A drop toehold wasn't devastating but if someone wasn't expecting it, bouncing their face off the mat was always disorienting no matter how light a hit looked. Whats worse is that Alaina knew that Valley was going to be doing something.... any wrestler would be. What really bugged Alaina is that she didn't know what was coming!

"Nice kick, by the way." Valley blurted out as she slid her leg out from underneath Alaina and immediately went back to work. "Just gotta pull it back a little faster."

Getting someone with Alaina's strength down was a hard thing, but now she had to work on keeping her there, which wasn't any easier. Valley swung her leg around rolled over, working her way up the Amazon's body and bringing her arm around the neck for a simple headlock. Pretty basic, but effective, and she only had to hold it for a couple of seconds...

Alaina didn't even have time to talk as Valley complimented her and placed her in a headlock! Alaina groaned as Valley squeezed a bit, and secured the hold! Alaina didn't have any time to force her way out, she had to reverse this and fast! She moved her arms so she had one around Valley's waist, and the other at the slamazon's side.

Alaina quickly worked her legs so she could try to get up a slight bit with a wide base and pull Valley backward, essentially folding Valley and placing her on her shoulders for a pin!

Valley wrapped her arm Alaina's neck, clasped her fingers together for a little extra security, even started up her own count to make it official. "One-"

Her lips had barely begun to make the form for 'two' when Valley was suddenly flipped around and dropped down on her shoulders, giving Alaina the quick pin. She rapidly blinked in surprise after the impact - she didn't think the headlock would keep her down for any real amount of time, but she figured it would be enough for the required two seconds.

"Great move." She let go of Alaina and did a kip up, bouncing up to her feet in one smooth, swift motion. "You've gotten a lot more fluid since we last went at it. I mean, you were before, but now? Like water."

Alaina was actually surprised her pin worked, but the required one count came in, with Alaina "victorious" in the mini-spar! She watched Valley get up and also worked her way up to her feet. "You didn't exactly make it easy for me! You have stepped up your game big time since we mixed it up in the ring!" Alaina said with a polite bow. ""Haha, I'd hardly call me as fluid as you, but I appreciate it unless you were trying to say I was getting soft..." Alaina added jokingly, although she was clearly flattered by what Valley said to her. She wasn't the type to just say things she didn't mean, which made Alaina think that all her hard work was on track to paying off finally.

Alaina looked over at Ace as Valley moved away. "All righty Ace, show me what ya got and don't hold back!" Alaina said, excited to spar with Ace. Alaina knew Ace was very good, and so far in her career sort of used her as a measuring stick to see where she was at herself. Nothing wrong with setting the bar high after all.

Haley gave Valley a quick pat on the back before she rolled back into the ring, getting too her feet and doing some last second stretches.

"I think I'll skip the padding, if I can't take even a sparring hit from Alaina, then how could I take a full powered hit?"

She said, getting her arms up as she started to circle her friend, watching her carefully. Speed was usually Ace's advantage over heavier opponents, but Alaina had already proven she was no slouch there. It would take a careful eye and fast reactions to get the advantage over her.