512th A.V. 21st bell 32nd chime.
It was a cold night to say the least, a bit breezy as well as blades of grass moved in the general direction of the wind. It was nearly day's end Zivilist wagered as he stood in field of grass outside the temple, he had been here only few times before, once to donate to the Martial association and the times before was to pray safe journey to his father. There was no one but him and one other outside the shrine, resting on the grass were all his training equipment for tonights training. His wooden rapiers, scimitars and wooden shield. As for Zivilist himself he wore his civilian clothing rather than his uniform, since this was not official business e took it off as soon as his shift had ended. It felt...odd...wearing the uniform these days, as with his shield he did not feel very worthy wearing it. And today with Ricky..... he was still quite nervous about this contact of his he was to meet in two days.
He looked up at the sky, the moon's calming light a grateful presence " God of the moon, what would you do in my shoes? When your not doing any godly business that is"
"If I'd wager a guess I'd say he'd pick up that practice blade and get on with it! Its bad enough that people waste day light but now moonlight? Are you sure your up for this 'Distinguished Citizen' Gott?" Said a loud, croaky, voice. Its owner was a lean fellow, his height nearly matching Zivilist's own, his hair was long gone despite him being only Thirty-Five years of age. The moonlight reflecting upon his bald surface a horrible reminder, because for others it was a humorous one " I didn't agree to come here tonight simply to idle about, after all at this time the misus would likely think me a lowlife cheater and I love the misus, Savvy mate?"
Zivilidt turned his head to man, his features slightly nervous "Sorry mister Conway, didn't mean to hold you up" Mister Conway was a former sailor, now dockhand, although his clothing suggested a pirate rather than the previous two. He wore a sleeveless blue shirt and plain wool breaches, while his shoes were made of cheap leather, one would wonder why a quiet man like Zivilist would associate with another who looked wanted by several organizations, legit or otherewise.
"Don't mind lad, the cold doesn't quite agree with me. Now since we're here, pick up that wooden scimitar and show me your grip" Zivilist nodded and picked up the curved wooden sword, while Conway picked up the other. It was odd holding the curved blade, wooden or not, he was quite used to his rapier.
He held it with a firm, but also slightly relaxed grip, the same grip he'd use with his rapier. But it was clear he was uncomfortable with it, unlike a rapier it didn't have a ring to rest his index finger and improve his grip. It had a crossbar like most swords, and the pommel was slightly curved like the blade, the hilt lacked a hand guard and a cup guard. Instead protruding from the hilt next to the base of the wooden blade by an inch or so were parts that Zivilist didn't know the name of.
"I see your confused by those two pieces near the blade, don't concern yourself with those"
"But..."
"They're called langets, only purpose is to secure the hilt into the sheath. Like I said, don't concern yourself with it, anyway, swing the blade around a bit. Let's see your form so I know how much time I'll be wasting on you"
Zivilist simply nodded as he took a stance, he didn't quite know what was the proper stance for a scimitar, so he took a rapier stance, he reasoned to himself that most sword stances would be similar but he wasn't quite sure. He placed the left leg in the back and at an angle, while his right was kept slightly forward. He crouched his knees slightly and pointed the scimitar forward at an imaginary foe, already he could hear a sigh of exasperation from Conway, but was told to go on. Preparing himself mentally, Zivilist took a couple of breaths and immediately performed a couple of slashes. Another sigh came from Conway as he watched, Zivilist's cuts were too wide ande left a lot of openings to be exploited, but from a beginner it was to be expected. He perked up slightly when Zivilist performed a couple of well-executed thrusts and a couple of small quick slashes that, while more suited for rapiers, at least made use of wrist movement.
"Alright Gott, you can stop now, needless to say we got plenty to work with..." He sighed as he stood in front of the Wave Guard and kept a small distance away from him " listen, first things first alright, there isn't much wrong with your pose but you shouldn't point that sword of yours like its one your rapiers. Not saying you shouldn't keep the tip pointed at the man standing in front of you but you shouldn't just keep that pointed at him. You want the petching edge pointed as well, need I remind you this is a cutting sword, stabbing is not its main future. The exact opposite of the rapier, Savvy?" Zivilist nodded, feeling a little embarrassed.
" Now watch me" Conway took a pose similar to the one Zivilist took, while the way he held his blade was different, the point while not aimed at Zivilist's body was still pointed at his face, while the edge of the wooden scimitar in all its terrifying glory was aimed at the remainder of his body. Despite it being wooden it was able to cause the man to emit and audible gulp "Now you try" Conway kept his pose as he watched Zivilist, waiting for him to do the same.
Since the pose was none too different, he had no trouble imitating it, but the way he held the sword was still uncomfortable and since he wasn't supposed to just point with the tip of the sword, he couldn’t adjust his grip on it to his preferred method of holding a sword “You’ll get used to it Gott, takes time” Zivilist simply nodded at Conway “Now your other mistake, you see, your swings are too wide, you leave yourself exposed. I could just take those pointy swords of yours and poke you with them without a lick of sweat”
“Then…um…what should I be doing?” Zivilist nervously inquired ‘Swinging a rag on a stick would be as productive at the moment’ He thought silently.
“Just watch” He moved his hands slowly in a swinging motion, aiming his cuts at an imaginary torso, as Zivilist watched he noted that the cuts ended at the torso’s width "You also have to make use of your wrist to change direction after each swing and make use of the momentum to make another" He said, now display how he spins his wrist after each swing, He then proceed to actually swing the blade to demonstrate his point and with each quick swing he spun his wrist to bring the blade into a back slash‘ Now show me a few more swings’
The young Wave Guard nodded, he swung his arm for the first but it felt too wide. He performed a second and it was a little better, but as he spun his wrist the blade flew from his hand and went up in the air. After what felt like the longest moment in both men’s life, the wooden scimitar landed behind the Guardsman on the flat side of the blade. Conroy for some reason couldn’t help but laugh.
“By the Gods you need some work lad” he kept on laughing like there would never be another tomorrow, Zivilist understandably failed to see the humor in this….he did feel the embarrassment though “Hooo….okay….HAHA…heee Okay, I’ve collected myself now. Listen Gott, as far as Scimitar training goes, you’ll just have to practice swinging it. And make sure to rest your wrist, swinging those things too much can cause a loss of feeling in your arms, may need a healer to help with that”
“Um…Can’t we do a little more?”
“Didn’t you want to spar as well? Isn’t that why you brought those wooden rapiers of yours and that shield?” Zivilist gave another nod as a response, another wave of embarrassment as he forgot he requested that of him “Gott, you’re turning redder than a tomato. Just put that scimitar with the rest of your equipment and bring out the rapier. Oh…and before that, how do you want this spar to go? Anything goes till someone gets a ‘lethal’ blow? Point system? Anything like that?”
“Anything goes I suppose Mr.Conway ‘There are no rules in real combat’ after all” He added the quote he heard from his old master, Valentino, a respectable man when he was alive. He picked up the wooden scimitar from the ground and returned it to the pile, exchanging it for one of the wooden rapier. He felt immediate relief as he grasped the familiar hilt, his index finger resting in a ring that sat above the crossbar while the hand was further protected by the cup guard above it. He took a stance and performed a couple of thrust and small quick thrusts, satisfied at how comforting it was to wield something he actually knew how to use.
He turned himself to face Mr. Conway, his eyes immediately potted something curious; in Mr. Conways left hand, held backhandedly was an empty scimitar scabard while the right still held wooden scimitar “Er….why the empty scabbard, sir?” He asked, not sure why the man took a battle position with an empty sheath in the off-hand .
“If you stop yapping and start fighting I’ll show you why, Gott” The dockhand smiled at the Waveguard, his confidence and intimidating yet shiny headed appearance made Zivilist nervous . Zivilist asked Mr. Conway to teach him as a favor. He knew the man before he joined the Martial Association and when he did join he seemed to be the natural choice to learn how to use the scimitar…. Part of him suddenly wished he didn’t also ask him to become a sparring partner, but it was too late to complain now and sparring would do Zivilist good considering He’s been feeling rusty.
Once he found his focus he kept his gaze on Conway’s own, it was a clandestine rule that one should keep their eyes on the opponents own, while his shoulders were still within his line of vision. They stood there, the cold wind gently blowing the sea of grass they stood one. A sudden noise, the sound of a pack of dogs howling in the distance, acted as the signal for the battle to begin. Immediately though; Zivilist found himself on the defensive, as Conway kept moving forward aggressively, using his scabbard to push the blade aside and allowing for Conway to attempt to close the gap between them. Zivilist found himself constantly moving back to keep the Dockhand at his rapier’s effective range. There was a length distance between the rapier and scimitar, with the rapier’s thin blade similar to the length of a longsword. As such with the tip of the blade pointed at Conway should have been an advantage for the Wave Guard.
Conway’s aggressive approach and use of the empty scabbard proved to be overwhelming however, when Zivilist attempted to retaliate with a quick thrust or cut the blade would be parried by it and Conway’s would attempt to step in and swing the blade in order to hit him, forcing Zivilist to step back even further. All the while Conway smiled manically, further affecting Zivilist as it felt like he was being toyed with. It carried on like this for a few more chimes, before Conway did some a little sneaky, as when Zivilist made another attempt to retaliate with a thrust, Conway instead parried with his wooden scimitar, catching Zivilist off guard for a single tick. It was more than enough for Conway as he stepped in and use the scabbard as a hook to pull Zivilist’s leg and cause him to fall backward. The Victory for Conway was clear, especially as he pointed the wooden tip close to Zivilist’s face, who groaned at his own defeat.
“I can also tell we’re going to be sparring quite a lot till you get better” He grinned widely and tossed the sword to the side and helped the Wave Guard up, it was a sign that Zivilist had much work to do….. and it was going to be many days till he gets it right. |
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by Zivilist Gott on December 21st, 2012, 11:18 pm 
