Completed Peeping

[Aoren]

"I'm not threatened by you because you're the one threatened by me." He looked at her over his shoulder as he began to walk away. "You ran as if Rhysol himself were chasing you after you caught my attention. When I found you, there was genuine surprise on your face. Tension, agitation and fear are written all over your body." He nodded toward her eyeing her posture for a moment.

"Your shoulders are tense. You're on the defensive." He began walking back in the direction of the clearing. He wasn't worried about being lost. When retracing your steps was as easy as looking into the threads of what once was and orient yourself based on markers from the visions it was never hard to get back to where you started. All of that aside, Aoren was familiar enough with the woods in this area that he was not afraid of getting lost.

"As for what I'm planning?" He glanced at her again. "I'm planning on going back to the clearing to train. You're welcome to join me if you wish." He continued along the unmarked path back to the clearing. It would take several minutes to get back to the one place Aoren felt at home. He contemplated finding a new place to hone his skills but deep down he knew he wouldn't be comfortable anywhere else. As he walked he kept his hearing on the alert keen on picking up some sort of assault that may come from behind.

While nothing about the young woman said that she would rush up and stab him out of a desire to be treacherous and maleific, he wouldn't be a fool. Death often creeped up upon the unwary.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Raven couldn't believe it, he was directly insulting her, he had basically called her a scared little girl. Being underestimated was probably one of her biggest pet peeves and this man was getting on her nerves. As if his words weren't offensive enough, he wasn't even bothering to keep his eyes on her, he had turned his back to her and was now casually walking away from the now very annoyed Raven. She didn't understand how he could be so nonchalant about being spied on by a stranger, he clearly thought her harmless as a fly. It wasn't like it was the first time Raven had been underestimated, most men who crossed her found themselves coincidentally with empty pockets that same day, but she couldn't exactly pickpocket this man, they were after all alone in the woods and he was half naked. Was it so wrong to want, no, to expect respect? At that moment Raven didn't care that he had spared her any punishment for spying on him, she saw only the arrogance of the man walking away from her and so, determined to be taken seriously she attacked. Raven sprinted toward the man who had carelessly turned is back to her and jumped into the air extending her leg, sending a flying kick targeted at his staff. The purpose of the kick was to, hopefully, disarm the mage, of his staff at least. She figured that if she kept on him and didn't allow him any time or space to conjure up his spells she could at least stand a chance...unless he was a better hand-to-hand fighter than her.

[Aoren]

The sound of feet sprinting across the hardened ground was the only warning that Aoren needed. He sighed inwardly. It was a good thing he'd been listening. He had been hoping that either she would go on her way or just leave him be to continue his practicing. Maybe even join him. If she wanted to fight though, he would oblige her. Dropping one arm away from his quarterstaff so that the butt end of the staff swung freely he let it drop in a rapid twirl behind him as he pivoted on one foot twirling the staff in a defensive windmill like pattern. The end result of the maneuver would have Raven's foot gliding over Aoren's right shoulder as he dipped down and slid away from her assault. The end of the staff swung outward barely missing her thigh as he moved it out of her reach then planted it firmly in the ground facing her with a frown. He had effectively sidestepped her kick by just a hair. If he had been a fraction of a second slower Aoren would have been sprawled out on the ground with his face planted squarely in the dirt.

"Is this really necessary?" Aoren's voice was mellow. Though his senses were on high alert he truly had no desire to fight this woman. He was never a man to enter disputes that could otherwise be avoided. Whatever he had done to earn himself a target on his body as the object of observation and violence from this woman he would soon put an end to it. At least he hoped that he would. Aoren kicked up the quarterstaff and caught it with his free hand spreading out his grip so that the balance of the staff was evenly distributed between both hands. Aoren wasn't usually an offensive fighter. Most of his techniques, as the quarterstaff was inherently a weapon made for defense, were aimed at deterring and deflecting the blows of his opponent until they wore themselves out while he used minimal movement to overcome adversity. He dropped into a defensive stance raising the quarterstaff first up to chest level then angling it slightly to follow the direction of one outstretched leg. He never took his eyes off her as he quickly took up his position.

His cobalt blue eyes studied the woman carefully as she recovered from her attempted kick to Aoren's backside. He didn't take advantage of her missed attack but merely waited for her to try another assault if she so chose. Part of him hoped she would just give up the endeavor and be about her business. The other part of him hoped she would pursue a fight. It had been a while since he had actually sparred with anyone and if she was going to provide him an opportunity to sharped his skills with his weapon of choice he would be more than happy to jump on said opportunity. At the same time he lowered a wall within his mind tapping into the reserves of energy expended only when he was utilizing his skills as a reimancer. The probe that he sent into his consciousness in turn delved deep into his lungs gathering the essence of his breath. He didn't have time to conjure a wind strong enough to blast away his new found opponent but that wouldn't stop him from making ready the magic available to him.

Plenty of practice dividing his concentration between giving shape and purpose to his magic and performing various exercises like the drill he'd performed just earlier in the field had prepared him for moments of stress just like the one before him. It would take a moment for him to gather enough Res in the palms of his hands to make any sort of difference but with those hands firmly wrapped around his staff she wouldn't be able to see the magic coming until Aoren released it.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Moments before Raven's kick landed, the mage reacted and avoided her attack, seemingly with ease. The fact that he had dodged her didn't worry her nearly as much as the fact that he was still armed. 'Shyke! Now what? He's still got that damned staff.' she thought to herself as she thought of her next move. Obviously, the best solution to the problem would be to forfeit and move on but there was no way that was going to happen. She was tired of being treated like she was just a pretty face and surrendering would only strengthen that assumption of her. As she landed on the ground she slid to a halt she and quickly turned around ready to avoid an attack but none came, he was just standing there on the defensive. Raven remembered that she couldn't give him time to breath lest he use his magic and so, for her second attack Raven dashed closer and swooped down delivering an upward kick aimed at the center of the staff in another attempt to disarm her opponent.

[Aoren]

Aoren was inherently a very observational person. Perhaps it was the byproduct of growing up Godsmarked by the Goddess of the Sight or maybe that was just the way Aoren was. Regardless, the first thing that became blatantly obvious to the young man was that the young woman was fighting out of irritation and slight anger. That made for rash actions and hasty decisions. Aoren was fighting on the defensive with a cool head with no other intention than just defending himself. He wished her no harm and thus would not seek to harm her if he could avoid it.

The second thing that Aoren observed was that she seemed hellbent on disarming Aoren of his staff. If she had been observing him earlier she would know that he was capable of defending himself with more than just his quarterstaff but he wouldn't be bereft of the weapon so quickly or that easily. Just as she swung her leg upward aiming for dead center of Aoren's staff he dropped the hand already low to the ground while simultaneously driving his other arm upwards so that the staff was now standing up straight. Her kick whizzed through nothing but air. He then thrust forward with the staff intent on knocking the shaft against her shin in order to off set her balance.

He dug into the ground with his heels and jumped backwards away from the young woman still maintaining a firm grip on the quarterstaff. Again he dropped into a defensive stance while calmly studying the young woman's movements. He didn't say anything nor did he strike out at her other than to drive her away from him. His Res had collected enough within the palms of his hands that no matter what move she made next he could off-set her assault with a strong current of wind from one hand while the other remained at the ready in case she managed to get past that singular defense. Unless she had a crossbow on her or was an expert at throwing knives she would now be hard pressed to get near Aoren without facing winds strong enough to at least make her brace herself or risk stumbling slightly.

Aoren really hoped she wasn't an expert at throwing knives. He'd been scarred by one such person in his past and he had no desire whatsoever to live through an experience like that again.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Once again Raven attacked and once again, to her disdain, her attack was avoided. On top of avoiding her attack he gave her a relatively soft tap on the shin, soft compared to the force with which she was attacking him...only furthering her annoyance. Raven nearly lost her footing, nearly, but luckily she adjusted her weight just in time and her returned her foot to the ground, digging it into the dirt for her next attempt. She looked up at the man and again there he stood on the defensive, even Raven knew that he'd had two perfect openings to attack and had ignored them completely. He was just humouring her, like when adults pretended to believe children's crazy stories just to shut them up. Raven took a breath as she watched him, what would her next attack be, he had easily avoided the previous two, so a different strategy was needed. He was too skilled with his weapon to disarm him of it, fine, she would just have to go straight to him. Straight, that was it! The staff was long making it easy to block any wide attacks(be they horizontal, vertical or diagonal), but it was also thin, meaning a straight attack would be much more difficult to deflect. With a newly formulated plan of attack, Raven dashed towards her foe yet again this time sending a straight kick aimed at his upper torso. It would work, she was sure of it.

[Aoren]

The frustration written all over the woman's face as he dodged her attacks and proceeded to simply stay on the defensive further reinforced Aoren's belief that she was going after him out of anger. As she stood there puzzling out how next to go at him Aoren contented himself with just watching her movements. Thus far she had been straightforward in her assaults with no hint of feinting one way or another. Her face suddenly lit up as she realized something. Aoren tightened his grip on his staff expecting her to make another attempt at it.

As she dashed forward sprinting with speed and focus he prepared himself for another side-step but was caught off guard when she didn't aim for his weapon. Too late did he try to move his quarterstaff into the path of her kick in an attempt to parry the strike. As her leg connected with the side of his torso a jarring pain reverberated through the side of his chest. He was almost certain that in that moment she'd bruised a rib. The pain briefly showed on his face before he regained his senses. With a forceful twirl he spun his staff in front of him in a windmill pattern to knock aside her leg and jump backwards. The pain of the maneuver dropped him to his knees as he saw spots in his vision. He took a deep breath and brought himself to his feet staring at the woman. Through clenched teeth he spoke rigidly.

"Fine. If you're insistent upon this path, I will help you walk it." Ignoring the pain in his side he dashed forward keeping a keen eye on the woman's posture. He knew she was expecting a full on frontal retaliation for her swipe at his side. He wouldn't give her that option. Just before coming up on her he planted the butt end of his staff into the ground and using it as an aide he somersaulted over her head. As he flew through the air he let the staff slide in his hand before tightening his grip at the very end. As he came down on his feet he pivoted on the leg that first landed swinging the staff around in a wide arc aimed also at her side.

Before he could complete the move however the muscles in his side twitched and went into a spasm protesting against the move. He gasped and dropped his staff clutching his side. She'd made a more pivotal strike than he realized as black spots dotted his vision. Falling to a knee he realized how vulnerable he was and shook his head to clear his senses. There was still the Res he'd stealthily collected in the palms of his hands. Raising his right hand he aimed at her then released the Res transmuting it into a powerful gust of wind intent on blasting her away from him that he could regain his composure.

"Pull yourself together, Aoren." He brought himself to his feet as quickly as he dared. As he did he began conjuring Res to his now empty hand while still holding on to the rest in his left hand.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Raven watched with pride as her kick landed, slamming hard into the mage's side with a painful thud. As he jumped back putting some space between them Raven regained her stance, her angered expression now one of enjoyment as she had proven that she was at least of some threat. Her moment was short lived as the young man dashed towards her, now seemingly on the offensive...finally. As he got closer Raven released a low swoop kick to counter his head on attack, but she had misinterpreted his intentions. He was not attacking her head on, instead the young man had pole-vaulted well over her and landed behind her, she winced expecting the imminent hit but none came. Seeing her opportunity Raven jumped away and spun around mid air to face her enemy, unfortunately for her, the mage had plans of his own. To her dismay, she was hit with a powerful gust of wind met with no resistance due to her airborne position. The gust sent her flying backwards through the air and slamming roughly into the trunk of a tree, she let out a grunt as the pain became evident on her face. She dropped to the ground on her hands and knees head spinning and her vision blurred. Slowly Raven pushed herself up and back to her feet although she was swaying from side to side and her stance was rather unstable. Raven figured that her point had been made and straightened herself up although she was still a bit dizzy. "Okay, I think that's enough." she said as she raised her hands in surrender, her face still containing a smile. She was both satisfied enough with the fight to end it and slightly worried that if they continued he might use a more dangerous spell. "That was kinda fun...I'm Raven by the way." as she spoke she relaxed her body assuming(and hoping) the mage wouldn't choose to continue the fight.

[Aoren]

Aoren watched as the woman went careening toward the nearest tree and slammed into its trunk. He wheezed a breath and rubbed his side wincing slightly. He would definitely feel that in the morning. Once she was on the ground he wasted no time in walking up to his quarterstaff. With the toe of his boot he dug it up from the ground then kicked it up into his outstretched hand. He didn't know exactly how much longer he could put up a fight with his side going into spasms of pain ever minute or two. He knew once Ileera learned of his blunder in this fight he would never hear the end of it. She would tease him but in the end she would help him dress his wound and train for a better tomorrow. That's just the way that Ileera was.

"Okay, I think that's enough." Aoren arched an eyebrow at her as the woman stood up. She was swaying from side to side every so slightly. The Drykas man furrowed his brow and chewed on his bottom lip slight. He derived no pleasure in causing pain in others but such was the nature of violence. It was impossible to defend yourself without hurting someone in the process. He'd learned that lesson when he was little more than a boy still lost and deeply confused.

"You think?" He spoke tersely but after a moment more he frowned and shook his head. "Raven." He repeated her name flatly. His cobalt blue eyes bored into her for a moment. There was obvious irritation there but it was shadowed by the discomfort he felt in his side.

"You may call me Aoren." He watched her for a moment. He had to concede to her admission that the short scuffle had been fun. Aoren had to admit that he hadn't had a good sparring in quite some time. With his lifelong friend Ileera busy with her training to become a Syliran Knight she wasn't often around to help him along in his own training. As a result he was left to fight imaginary adversaries. That was never very satisfying and one could only do so much fighting the air.

[Raven Nightfoot]

Raven sighed in relief, now able to relax as the young man consented to ending the fight. She was glad because she didn't think she would be able to take another one of those hits. The dizzy feeling slowing beginning to dissipate as her body steadied itself. They stood there for a while as their eyes met and once again the cold deep blue of the young man's eyes clashed with the warm amber of her own, like the ocean and the desert. The young man ha d introduced himself as 'Aoren'...finally, she was able to put a name to that handsome face. She wasted no time in casually strolling past him in the direction of the clearing, not bothering to wait or look back. Raven figured he would follow or fall in step at her side since his belongings were back in the clearing. Her hips swayed ever-so-slightly from side to side with every step she took as she pulled at a strand of hair before crossing her arms at her chest. "So...Aoren, you come here often?" she asked in a tone that was flirting, teasing and curious all at the same time. Raven knew he had been there the previous day and the day before that, but that was about all. "You seem very dedicated to your training." she added.