PM to join The Harvest Festival (Part 2)

[Garland]

Garland saw the spear heading his way, blocking with the shield was possible, but it was not recommended because it would leave him open on the other side. Dodging would be difficult because a diagonal attack would cover more of an area in a fight, and he couldn't back up any more unless he wanted to be knocked out of the ring.

He had no other choice but to block with his sword. He rose his sword and blocked it easily, though he felt the shockwave of the attack run up his arm. He rose his shield up to his chest, he wasn't going to take any chances, though with his shield raised, and his sword blocking a spear, it left him open down below.

They were too equal in this fight, he needed an advantage of his own, her spear had a longer reach and that made her dangerous at range. Along with her speed, she was pretty strong, heck, he had a very real chance of losing even if he went crazy, but he could never bring himself to run wild with a friend.

The crowd was cheering for both of them equally, one side was mostly cheering for Garland because of his higher strength, while others cheered for Saede's speed and reach. Both of them were pretty much on equal grounds as well. This was a rare fight, seeing a pair so well matched against each other.

[Sayana]

“Suresslynn,” Sayana repeated with a smile and lingered over the “s” sounds. “My name is Sayana. And yes, I’d love a Jackal Nut.” She took it in her mid hand and popped it in her mouth. Crunchy with a nice soft buttery taste.

At Lynn’s question, Sayana turned back to the sparring. It was definitely quite the fight. Bakar started his long rambly, yet diplomatic answer and Sayana almost wondered if the fight would be over by the time he finished. She glanced at him meaningfully, but wasn’t sure if he got the hint. But when he was done, she followed up with her own answer, “I think Saede’s going to win – because Garland will pull a soft one on her at the last minute.”

Then referring to the man’s earlier question Sayana added, “And no, I don’t read. It’s painfully dull.”

[Suresslynn]

Suresslynn listened quietly to the two answers she got, then shrugged slightly. "I haven't seen her fight, but I can see Garland not going as hard on her as he can. He's nice like that." she said, before shivering a bit as a cold breeze got in her face. Huddling in her coat, she was glad to have gotten the somewhat tattered wool coat, as it kept her fairly warm, but it was still far colder than she was used to.

"I like this city, but it's too petching cold here sometimes. It gets much worse and I'll start slipping into hibernation if I'm outside for more than a bell." she said with some irritation. While she loved being a Dhani, the cold blooded nature of her species could be problematic sometimes. Turning her attention back to the fight, she considered the sides and shook her head. "There's no clear winner so far. Best kind of fight to watch." she said, grinning slightly.

[Bakar]

Suresslynn had a good point, Garland did seem to be going easy on her. He had some inhibition after all. Bakar was glad, there would be no need to worry for Saede's safety. But that means that she had an advantage.

Sayana gave him a look, but Bakar turned to hide, unsure if he was aggravating her. He shivered and pulled his hood back up, partially to keep warmer, but mostly to hide face again. He was talking without thinking again, and he could be making the newcomer uncomfortable, or even Sayana. He didn't want to screw up and make someone mad at him. That was one of his biggest fears with social situations.

He liked this young girl. But.. there was something about the way she talked. She confirmed that she was a Dhani, ellaborating that she was a 'viper'. Bakar never had any dealings with Dhani before, and knew nothing about them. He wasn't about to ask. He also didn't know this new character. He didn't want to insult her with a lack of knowledge about her race.

He shifted and kept his eyes on the floor, listening to the auditory cues of the fight, too nervous to watch, but sure that his two companions will continue to talk about it as he melts into the background, silent but observant.

[Saede Lare]

Saede felt the shock of the hit run up her arm. She had hit slightly stronger than intended, creating a loud 'thud' sound that forced her spear to bounce off of his parry. Hardly spending a moment to recover as the spear vibrated with shock, she attempted to press her attack. Garland raised his shield up to his chest to protect himself, leaving his legs unguarded. Seeing this and attempting to take advantage of it, she stepped forwards and used the knock-back of the previous strike to start a downwards sweep to his lower legs. This left the higher section of her body unguarded. Despite this, she trusted that her long reach would keep her safe in the event of his retaliation. Although, if something went wrong and he snapped her spear spear with his feet.. No, that'd only happened once before. Garland wouldn't think of that, would he? He could step on the low hitting spear and force it to the ground if she didn't execute the attack fast enough. So that's just what she attempted to do. The next attack would be fast, low, and then out. Her mind raced as she thought of all the possible failures in such a short amount of time. He could stab her while her spear was down, snap the spear, dodge and sprint at her.. There were so many ways things could go wrong. But who said it would? She had the same amount of chances to make mistakes as Garland, and reminding herself of this helped to narrow her focus until it was only the battle. She blocked out the noise of the crowd, the sharing of sweets between the people at their seats, and the score board constantly being updated with each consecutive strike. Before she could stop herself, she made a flashy sounding battle cry. A habit she had adopted a while ago in sparring matches that she desperately hoped to get rid of. "Watch out!" She cried. Noticing and ignoring her comment she resumed her focus. If she was to win, she had to step things up.

[Garland]

His sword had blocked the attack well enough, he wanted to win, but not through sheer attack like the previous match. He wanted Saede to have a chance to attack, and he didn't want to hurt her too badly. His primal urge to go all out was not in play, he hated the fact that he couldn't control his fighting, he was left open down below and Saede had taken advantage of it. He could have jumped, maybe break her wooden spear, but he was uncertain about how to approach this. Time had chosen for him, he was tripped up by the fast moving spear, completely unbalancing him. He was sent down to the ground and Saede was awarded five points.

It was now 8-5, and with only one chime(minute) left on the clock. He quickly got up, he didn't even bother taking a stance, he just swung. He hoped that she blocked it, he had put a lot of force into it, but if need be he could always pull his attack.

[Sayana]

“And she comes in with her long reach,” Sayana said and gave a cheer to Saede. “Told you she’s going to come out ahead,” she added over-confidently. She still suspected that Garland was holding out on Saede and not giving his full fight. Not like he did with that other girl. Now if Sayana were to be part of a fight… well that’s why she didn’t spar. She did not fight noble fights. Hers when they happened were for survival and she didn’t play by the rules.

She glanced at Lynn as the Dhani huddled up in her cloak. At least Sayana wasn’t the only one who didn’t feel the cold – not like Bakar. “What? It gets even colder than this?” Sayana said with a bit of surprise and much displeasure. “I’ll have to find a seamstress or someone to make something warmer than this.” She tugged at the cloak that hung down her back and reluctantly pulled it around her keeping her low arms hugged tightly to her sides.

Her silent companion had been… well, rather silent. Sayana turned towards him and saw that he had his hood up again. He could practically go unseen if there was enough other stuff going on. “So what’s the matter Mr. Baker?” Sayana said purposefully mispronouncing his name. “Dhani’s got your tongue?”

[Suresslynn]

Suresslynn's eyes narrowed slightly as the girl got another hit in on Garland. He was holding back, she could tell that much. He wasn't fighting as seriously as he had when they fought the Yukman, but then it was a sparring match, so she supposed that made sense. She still rather hoped he would win though, if only because she actually knew his name.

At the Eypharian's comment about the weather getting colder, Suresslynn shuddered slightly. "Shyke, if it gets too cold, I'll have to stay inside all the time, and that would be...frustrating." she said, unconsciously hissing slightly as she watched the fight, relaxing a bit as the breeze passed.

When the Eypharian turned to ask their largely silent companion a question, Suresslynn gave him a quick glance. "Oh, you're a baker? Seems like a job that would be a right pain to do well. Course, I can't say my job would be any easier." the viper said before shrugging and looking back to the fight, eager to see the final outcome.

[Bakar]

Bakar shifted uncomfortably, Sayana calling him 'Baker'. She hadn't mispronounced his name before now, so he wondered if it was on purpose, trying to get him to talk. He wanted to correct her, but didn't want to interrupt anyone, so he waited for an opening. Their comments about it getting cold bothered him. If it got much colder he'd have to say inside as well, he was already going stiff. He shook his head, thinking again of this undeath he's been forced into.

He refocused and Suresslynn called him a baker, assuming Sayana was calling him by his job. Now he really wanted to correct her. His job was nothing like a baker. As he raised his head to speak to her though, he saw that she had turned to the fight, watching intently, surely excited about how this would turn out. He slowly lowered his head again, not wanting to break her concentration.

He wanted to give Sayana a look, showing her that he was a little upset about this. He couldn't bring himself to look at her though, so he just kept his head down, silently. He wasn't sure how to approach this conversation. Maybe he would wait until the fight was over and talk about it then. On the other hand, if the fight was over then Garland and Saede would be with them again and there would be less openings to talk. Maybe that'd be a good thing though, there'd probably be less focus on him.

He wondered about Suresslynn's job. Similar to a baker? Maybe he'd ask later. Later. Always later. It almost never got done as well. He closed his eyes. Maybe he should start taking incentive? Being more aggressive? No, no. He could never, too nervous. He liked listening to conversations, not participating in them.

He let the comments go without reply, still silent. He lowered his head lower, staring at his feet. He liked Sayana, but she tried too hard to get him into conversations, and that made him nervous. She was accomplishing the opposite with her prodding, he would be more talkative if he was able to go about his own way of talking.

[Saede Lare]

Yes! After knocking Garland to the ground, (similarly to how he did to her,) she was now in the lead. During this time, she was provided a brief respite from the back to back combat. Graciously, she embraced the few seconds she had to stop and rest while still remaining on guard; Unlike her, Garland got up rapidly. Not even taking the time to enter a fighting stance, he just swung. Confused, Saede made a small jump backwards, scarcely avoiding the wild strike. She retaliated with a thrust of her spear to his mid-section, attempting to poke him back. He was most likely off-balance from his other strike and if she did it correctly, she could maybe score a nice point or two. What's he doing? She wondered, almost out loud. Now that she was ahead, if she kept him from hitting her she could win. Although scoring a few extra points did seem alluring. It would be better to put herself farther ahead in a competition like this, as it was easy to catch up. The thought hadn't occurred to her that he may not be trying his hardest against her; She certainly was. Even though his style was significantly different from when he was fighting the other opponent, she failed to recognize the attempt that he was holding back.