Closed The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Turrin clears his mind with a friendly spar.

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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Turrin on April 6th, 2015, 11:06 pm

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Turrin waited in silence as Zhol prepare for his attack. When Zhol told him that he wasn't going to go easy on him. The myrian wondered if the Drykas was trying to find a opening as he watched Zhol circle around him. Turrin decided to counter mover Zhol's movement with his own, so he just pivot his body to keep the human in front of him. When Zhol told him that he wasn't going to go easy on him, The myrian inwardly groaned because he knew that he wasn't ready to spar with duel weapons. However, the myrian wasn't going to protest because he had his pride as a myrian warrior too, so he would just suck it up and take the beatings like a man. Turrin gave him a quick nod and thought to himself, Great, I guess I have to learn defense the hard way.

Turrin watch Zhol as he switched to a defensive stance; however, it was good to for starting off fights because it gave opponents not many targets to hit when the defender counter strikes. The myrian used a similar stance defensively against Sira, but he was fighting with one sword last time instead of two, so this will be interesting for the myrian. When Zhol lunged for his backhanded attack, Turrin decided to step backwards with his left foot and the myrian feebly brought his left sword up to deflect the blow. However, the myrian wasn't holding his sword at the correct angle to get any strength in his parry to defect Zhol's attack, so the Drykas wooden broad sword knocked his talon sword out of the way exposing Turrin's abdomen to a second strike.

Zhol's strike was a good starting move because it exposed Turrin's abdomen to another attack. Also it took the inexperienced duel wielding endal by surprise because he wasn't sure what to do next, so the myrian awkwardly thrust the sword in his right hand at the stomach of his opponent. However, he forgot about the defensive nature of Zhol's stance, so Turrin's thrust completely missed Zhol's stomach. Turrin was now completely at the mercy of the Avora because the endal was out of position with both his swords. If he decided to strike at the endal's abdomen, the endal could only tighten up the muscles in his abdomen to feebly attempt to lesson the impact of Zhol's next strike. Feeling his heart start to pound, the endal knew it would be a few ticks before the first round was over.
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Zhol on April 9th, 2015, 8:27 pm

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There was an opportunity that Zhol could have taken, an opening to strike at Turrin, to vent a little of his frustration towards the Endals, the chance to inflict a bruise upon the upper caste to make amends for the ones that he had received. It would have been the Inarta thing to do; perhaps it was even the Myrian thing to do. No opportunity left unexploited. But that wasn't the kind of person that Zhol was; or rather, it wasn't the kind of person that Zhol was willing to allow himself to be.

He let his sword swing idly in front of him, point towards the ground, waiting patiently for Turrin to recover and ready himself again. "You won't have much success parrying me as if I'm right-handed," he pointed out, as polite and non-critical an observation as he could muster. "With a right-handed person, that swing would have come from across my body, and you would have knocked it all the way back. With me, it came at you back-handed; if you deflect it, there's only so far it can swing before my body gets in the way, and everything springs back towards you. Fighting against someone who uses the opposite hand as you -"

He paused, choosing his words carefully. He didn't want to seem as if he was bragging or showing off; it was simply the way that almost every fight he had ever fought had been. Backwards-handed people like himself were somewhat rare; there hadn't been an abundance of them in any of his social circles to practice against. "- takes practice," he settled upon.

Frowning, he considered the options. Certainly, Turrin could continue to practice against him; but that was like racing against an expert rider on the first day you'd ever sat in the saddle. There was a lot to be said for managing one's expectations; for learning to trot before you tried to gallop. Another drawn out moment of thought followed, before a decision was made; with a flick of his wrist, Zhol released his grip on the sword, and tossed it casually across to his right hand. Had this been his real sword, his father's sword, it might have felt more comfortable and natural there; the basket-hilted blade had been forged with a right-handed swordsman in mind, after all. This wooden replica was far simpler though, and in the wrong hand it simply felt strange, the weight at the end of his right arm feeling odd and unwieldy.

He swooshed the training sword through the air in front of him, trying to get a better feel for it. "Perhaps this will even the odds a little, to begin with at least."

Patiently, he waited for Turrin to signal that he was ready and then, circling around the Endal to spot his best opportunity, he struck towards Turrin's left arm again, swinging out from his right shoulder in a broad arc; the way a more conventional opponent would strike.
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Turrin on April 10th, 2015, 2:15 am

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Turrin was taken by surprise that Zhol didn't finish his attack. The Drykas just stopped. He didn't even make a attempt to win the round with showing the endal his killing move. No tap with the end of sword or light touch with the flat edge of the wooden sword. He just stopped, and baffled the myrian to no end. Turrin was thankful that Zhol didn't club him for making a grieves error during the spar, but a part of him, most likely the Myrian side, didn't like the way that he just gave up in the middle of a battle either. Both his parents would have scolded him severely for not finishing the fight. Dying would be more preferable than just stopping the fight completely. The half-breed just stared at Zhol for a moment and backed up without taking his eyes of the Drykas warrior. Something didn't sit right with the endal, but he couldn't figure out what. When he offered to make it a “fair fight” by wielding his sword in off hand, Turrin lifted a eyebrow in disbelief and thought to himself, Is he mocking me? I know that I am horrible with duel weapons, but I know how to wield a talon sword. If I was wielding my sword with one-handed than the outcome of the first round would be much different...

Normally, Turrin would just showed-up his opponent if they insulted him like Zhol just did, but the Myrian fought along side Zhol against the Beast, and he wanted to consider him a brother-in-arms and a friend in the possible future, so he couldn't just humiliate him in front of everyone. Turrin decided to swallow his own pride take Zhol's verbal lesson as his punishment for the first round's defeat. At least, the Drykas gave him a edge on defeating backhanded opponents. Swallowing his pride, Turrin decided to show him respect with bringing both his swords to his chest and bowing in respect with his eyes never leaving the green eyes of Zhol. Turrin said with a smirk, “If I didn't like you, I would have humiliated you for your insult, but I have to thank you for not cracking my rib. However, I heard the healers in the Infirmary are quite attractive, so if I have to sacrificed a rib or two than maybe it might be worth it...”

Feeling the pride build up in the back of his mind, Turrin did his best to suppress the yearning for victory over this barbarian, but he needed to learn defense with duel wielding, so he wouldn't switch to one-handed swordsmanship against him. Turrin looked at how he was holding his off handed weapon wondered if he could make his left hand focus on defense while his right hand attacks. It will be predictable, but it would be start at least. When Turrin was ready to go do a second round, he walked to his starting area and held both his talon swords down at the ground. The endal decided to take a more relaxed stance, so he just bent his knee slightly and waited for the attack. Seeing Zhol was going to circle him to look for a opening Turrin turned with him in one spot, so he would move to always face him. Turrin kept repeating in his head, Left hand defense, Right hand attack, Left hand defense. Right hand attack....

When Zhol came at him, Turrin noticed Zhol was slightly awkward using his off-hand like Turrin was with his own off-hand. The endal stepped back with his right leg and brought up the sword in his left hand to intercept Zhol's swing. Turrin could feel the awkwardness of the moment and the lack of strength in his block, but he hoped it was enough to deflect Zhol's off-handed attack. However, in his dominant right hand, Turrin swung his sword up and across his body at Zhol's stomach. Turrin made mental note if he was going hit Zhol. He would stop right before the wood blade struck the side of his opponent's abdomen.
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Zhol on April 11th, 2015, 4:38 pm

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Insult? Not striking an Endal was an insult, now?

Zhol mustered all of his self-control to stop himself from sighing. There was no way to win, no way to appease the Endals. No matter what you did, they would find fault somehow. If you fought properly and hurt them, they would be enraged at you for daring to harm an Endal. If you moderated your blows into gentler contacts, it would be a mockery. Respect the reason that you were here - to help the Endal practice using two swords, not to beat him for his failures - and apparently that as an insult as well. Perhaps Brandon had been right after all. Perhaps trying to be respectful of the Endal was a losing battle, and anything short of an honourable demise on that battlefield was just some cowardly surrender.

He had half a mind to instantly swap his sword back to his dominant hand - if Turrin was of a mind to get insulted over courtesy, then Zhol would gladly break a rib or two for him - but he fought the urge. As his strike contacted against Turrin's offhand sword, Zhol felt an unsatisfying weakness in his own hand, which quickly melted into an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach as Turrin swung in with his other sword. Zhol's stomach muscles clenched, bracing against the impending impact, but it never came; Turrin's blade stopped short.

Applying Turrin's earlier logic, was that meant as an insult? Was he supposed to be offended by the implication that Turrin didn't think he was man enough to endure the pain of actual contact? Those thoughts swam around his head, wondering if that was the approach to duel wielding that he would have taken - blocking with the weaker hand, striking with the stronger. It seemed unwise, somehow: were Zhol an ordinary opponent, Turrin would have been using his weakest arm to challenge his opponent's strongest. Perhaps that was his backwards-handed mind talking though - he had the luxury of being able to oppose strongest arm against strongest arm with ease; perhaps it would be in his best interests to learn to duel wield as well, eventually.

Zhol retreated a step. Turrin was certainly more confident in how he was going to duel wield now, but switching back to holding his sword in his left hand would undercut the gesture he had attempted to make. He chose a different tactic, coming in low with his sword held across his body, using a backhand swing against Turrin's right sword. As the Endal swung to parry, Zhol allowed the impact to deflect his sword easily, letting his arm swing back across his chest before springing outwards, the arc redirected to slash across Turrin's leg.
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Turrin on April 19th, 2015, 11:53 pm

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Turrin was surprised that his weaker grip on his off-hand weapon was able to hold onto the sword, but since Zhol handicapped himself, Turrin took advantage of it. If he was striking with his dominate hand, the myrian might not have been able to defend the blow coming down at him. He could have dropped his off handed weapon and would have to fight with one weapon. When Zhol retreated a step, Turrin decided to retreat a step to catch a breath. The myrian was slightly getting winded by the sparring session, but he would deal with it till Zhol wanted to take a break. As Turrin waited for Zhol's next attack, the myrian mulled over his last combination block and attack. It was decent combo, but with his current skill with duel welding, he might not be able to reciprocate it again if Zhol attacked with his dominate hand since wielding a weapon in his left hand was still awkward and his strikes were sloppy.

Turrin tighten his grip on the sticky hilt of the wooden practice sword in his left hand and waited for Zhol to strike for the third time. Turrin was just using a simple forward stance, so his left foot was forward and right foot was back and both sword hilts were at his waist, so the tip of both his swords were pointing at his chest. When Zhol came at him, Turrin saw Zhol swing his wooden sword at his dominate hand. It was a good tactic because it took away his ability to do a effective counter strike, so he hand to rely on his less effective off-hand to strike. Using his right hand, Turrin turned the wooden sword in his hand slightly, so Zhol's blade would strike the flat of his sword blade this would lessen any chance of a metal blade to dent or chip on impact with another metal sword. Turrin decided to spring forward and swung his dominate hand (right hand) at the incoming wooden broad sword. When the two blade met with a load clunk, the myrian awkwardly swung his off-handed weapon (his left hand) at side of Zhol's abdomen. The myrian's mother would be ashamed at the wobbly swing as it cut through the air at Zhol's side. The endal knew that he wouldn't be able to control his left hand as well as his right hand, so it might hit him if he doesn't try to evade.

Turrin wasn't expecting the Zhol to be as creative with his strikes because he wasn't expecting him to do a backhanded strike at his leg after the endal parried his first attack. The myrian was vulnerable to the second strike because he decided to strike out at Zhol with his off-handed weapon. When the wooden weapon hit the top of his leg, the myrian gritted his teeth as the pain radiated up his leg and throughout his body. The myrian retreated back about five feet, dropped his weapons, and started feebly rub out the pain from his leg. Looking at Zhol, Turrin said to the drykas through his gritted teeth, “Myri would be proud of your strike against me, Zhol. Too bad you weren't using your dominate hand. It would have hurt a lot more!” The endal laughed out loud and said softly, “Ouchies... that will leave a bruise later...”
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Zhol on April 24th, 2015, 9:33 am

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Zhol was not a violent person. Angry at times, yes, but he was not one to go out of his way to inflict pain, nor to relish having caused it. The fact that a surge of enjoyment coursed through him now was something he would no doubt wrestle with later; he would no doubt feel guilt at allowing Turrin to bear the brunt of his ire towards the upper caste, lowering himself to their level by judging an entire caste for slights caused by a few individuals; but that was later.

We wouldn't want that now, would we? Zhol mused, casually tossing his practice sword from his right hand back to his left, a few practice swings to refamiliarise himself with the weight. "Then I shall forgo the handicap," he replied, half wondering if the Myrian actually enjoyed being hurt. Perhaps it was some strange aspect of his culture; or perhaps he simply appreciated the proof that Zhol was not holding back on account of his status. Going easy on an Endal out of respect was one thing; but Zhol expected that for the Myrian, such a thing might be seen more as a disrespect.

He didn't pause long before striking again; just enough to allow Turrin to recover his stance; just enough to make sure he wasn't exploiting the aftermath of his successful hit. He changed tactics this time, shifting his stance so that he was side-on to Turrin, exploiting the length of his arms, his stride, and his sword. He baited parries with a series of jabs, poking towards the Myrian with the tip of his blade, probing to see how Turrin would retaliate now that Zhol had diminished the Endal's advantage. Each movement of Turrin's swords was responded to with a flick of Zhol's wrist, a clunking rhythm slowly forming as training sword clashed on training sword over and over. It wasn't a winning strategy, and the plan was basic: as long as Zhol could keep his sword in between Turrin's, keep it moving, and keep those talon swords occupied, the Endal wouldn't have the opportunity or range of movement to land a proper strike.

OOCSorry it's a little short/delayed - in the middle of moving house, so I'm sneaking out posts when I should be assembling furniture!
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Turrin on April 29th, 2015, 4:09 am

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Turrin gave the Zhol a wide grin that he decided to use his main hand to wield his weapon. The endal was considering if he should fight with one sword instead of duel weapons. The endal thought about it for a chime and decided that he was enjoying sparring with duel weapons even though he was horrible at it. Standing up slowly, the endal winced at the pain in his leg. He knew that he might need to stop if Zhol lands anymore blows against him, but the myrian blood running through his veins told him to press on. When Turrin got into his stance for the next round, the Drykas warrior started to stalk him once again, but the human made no movements to attack. Zhol seemed to want him to attack instead of staying on the defense. The half-breed remembered the last time that he made a attack with duel weapons when he sparred Sira earlier in the season, and the end result left him with a bruised leg and shattered ego. It was not a good day for the myrian, but he knew that he wasn't going to give up trying to wield two talon swords into battle.

Looking at Zhol's stance, Turrin noticed that the drykas didn't give him many targets to aim at because the human was in his earlier stance with his sword extended in front of him. If Turrin was wielding his talon sword with one-handed, he could have figured out a way to get passed his defense. However, the myrian inexperience with fighting with duel weapons made his reflexes slower. Worst of all, it made him second guess himself. It was a fatal flaw on the battlefield, but he knew doubt could be mastered with experience. Getting into a similar sideways stance, Turrin decided to mimic Zhol's stance with his dominate right hand out holding the talon sword pointed at the human's face. Holding the off-handed sword in his left hand, the endal pointed at the ground. Suddenly, Zhol thrust forward with his broad sword at the chest of Turrin, so the myrian countered with a quick movement of his wrist and parried the blow with the dull side of the wooden sword than the myrian would strike with a backhanded strike with his forward arm to test Zhol's defense. As Turrin and Zhol stayed in this dance of death for about two chimes before the endal decided to be creative with his strikes.

When Zhol went for quick jab, Turrin decided to use his whole arm instead of his wrist to parry Zhol's strike away. The parry was swung hard enough to knock Zhol's sword away from his body. As Turrin brought his right sword back across his body, the endal thrust his sword forward toward Zhol's exposed chest. However, the endal misjudged the timing and screwed up his coordination of his block and thrust combination. When the endal thrust his sword forward with his off hand, the thrust was to quick, so his off-handed sword ended up colliding with his main hand weapon as he brought back the main hand sword across his body. Turrin knew that he was in trouble because he completely exposed his left side to Zhol's next attack. The myrian knew if his mother was watching him from the afterlife. She would be quite disappointed with her son for completely failing at her martial art.

oocNo problem Zhol. I glad you are back, and I hope you didn't have to much trouble moving. :)
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Zhol on May 20th, 2015, 12:19 am

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The strike that deflected Zhol's sword caught him by surprise; the only thing that stopped him from experiencing a sharp painful jab to the rib cage was Turrin's slight fumble. The Endal still wasn't used to having to think about what his other hand was doing, and that felt like a weakness that Zhol might be able to exploit, but he was too busy trying to avoid being struck to take advantage of that right now.

Turrin's mistake might have left his left side exposed, but that was of little benefit to Zhol. Were he right-handed, he could have exploited it with ease, but Zhol was the opposite, and his sword was thoroughly occupied with Turrin's main hand. For a split second, he considered taking advantage of the momentum that the Endal had provided by knocking his sword away, turning it into a spin that would slice his sword into Turrin's left side, but Zhol was neither fast enough nor agile enough for such things. All he would do was expose his back to Turrin and leave himself vulnerable to both of the Endal's swords. Turrin was far more experienced, and would have the reflexes to take advantage of a mistake like that.

Instead he allowed himself to retreat, stepping backwards and turning so that he was once again side-on to Turrin, as far away from the Endal as he could get without Turrin being out of reach of his sword. Again, he let his sword swing back and forth, parrying strikes from either side, trying to stall for time and hold his own as he waited for another opportunity to present itself. His actions weren't entirely defensive, though; a fraction of his attention was diverted elsewhere, focused on the unassuming hand that was tucked casually away behind his back. Concealed from Turrin's view, that arm had begun to seep res from it's pores, taking advantage of every scrap of focus that Zhol could spare to conjure a fragment of his djed in the palm of his hand. It was harder now than it usually was; or rather, other times when Zhol had tried to use his reimancy as part of a fight had been easier, because there was anger and rage to draw on and spur his motions. When Zhol's temper was at bay, reimancy required focus and concentration, something that was difficult to spare when you were simultaneously trying not to get smacked across the jaw by a wooden sword; and so it was slow going, little more than a few drops having made it so far.

A few drops was all that Zhol needed though. This wasn't some hulking undead creature that he needed to set aflame, nor some lowlife bent on harming the people he cared about; this was a practice fight, a training battle. He didn't need to sear Turrin's flesh, just distract him for a few moments. Seizing his opportunity, he snapped his arm out from behind him, willing the small amount of res he'd conjured to erupt into a flash of flame in full view of Turrin's eyes. At the same instant Zhol let his body drop low, sweeping his sword in a broad arc, aiming beneath Turrin's attempts to parry and at the soft tissue below the Endal's ribs.
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Turrin on May 20th, 2015, 4:19 am

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Turrin noticed Zhol was completely caught of guard to capitalize on Turrin's mistake. The Drykas made the smart move and quickly retreated away from the myrian warrior. As the endal retreated himself, he felt a slight flush in his cheeks at the abysmal round of the spar. It was obvious that Zhol was better wielding his broad sword one handed than Turrin duel wielding his talon swords. However, the half-breed needed experience and practice in actual combat duel wielding, so he would suffer a few rounds more against Zhol. The endal started to wonder if he should go on the offense instead of the defense soon since he having such a hard time beating Zhol's defense with counter attacks. In the mind of the warrior, he knew that he needed to change his strategy against the Drykas. Otherwise, he might have to switch to one-handed techniques to change the tide of the fight.

It was Turrin's turn to stalk Zhol, so the endal to walk around the human. The myrian noticed that Zhol had something clever in store for him because he didn't normally keep his off-hand behind his back. Maybe it was going to a quick jab to the face, or maybe it was going to be one of his little magic tricks with fire. Regardless, the half-breed knew that he needed to change his tactic against the Avora. When Turrin saw the opportunity to fight, the endal made a few quick strides towards the human. Raising both his swords over his shoulder, Turrin swung both of the wooden talon swords at the same time, so the twin sword came across the center off his chest at the head of the human. The myrian was happy that he was able get the correct cutting motion with his wooden swords, but the wooden sword in his left had wasn't wobbling, so the off-handed sword collided with the main-handed weapon in mid air. To make matters worse, Turrin completely forgot Zhol was a reimancer, so the bright flash of his fire magic temporarily blinded the endal for a chime.

In the half of chime in total darkness, Turrin felt a sharp pain of a wooden sword striking the soft part right under the ribs. The pain from the strike brought the myrian warrior to knees, but it took him a chime or two to stop his eyes from watering. When he wiped the last of the tears from his eyes, the myrian stood up and gave the drykas a nod of respect. The endal was a man of few words, but he hoped that he could convey to Zhol that he respected him as a warrior. Turrin didn't know much about magic, but Zhol used it to his advantage. The myrian knew that if he needed to beat his opponent. He needed to fight like a myrian. He wasn't a armored clad knight of the east. He was a endal with the blood of Myri running through his veins, so he had no need for honor. Getting into his stance, Turrin got low into his stance that kind of looked like a crouch, so the endal off-handed weapon was in front of him and pointed at the stomach of Zhol. The main-handed weapon was away from Zhol, but the weapon was up over his head and pointed at the head of drykas warrior. Looking at Zhol, Turrin said a prayer in his native tongue of myrian, “May Myri bless my blades, so I may gain victory over this worthy barbarian...” Looking at Zhol, the myrian said in broken Nari, “We see..you worthy...in Myri eyes Drykas! Come fight with me!”
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The Day My Life Begins Again (Zhol)

Postby Zhol on May 23rd, 2015, 2:14 am

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.
Zhol didn't understand a word of what Turrin had said in what Zhol guessed must have been his native, outsider tongue; and he only understood fragments of what Turrin uttered in Nari. He understood the gist though, the challenge that Turrin was making; and he understood the word Drykas. He understood why people called him that: unless you knew otherwise, there was no reason to presume that a boy born in Endrykas would not actually be a Drykas. That was the way such terms worked in the rest of the world; but among the horse clans, that term, that citizenship was earned, and Zhol never had. Every time someone referred to him as a Drykas, his insides twisted; he felt like a fraud, guilty for having allowed that misconception to take root.

If Zhol was honest with himself, he knew that pain was in store. That stance? This shift in Turrin's posture and manner? This had gone from a casual practice to a determined spar, and Zhol knew that his skills with a sword would be no match for Turrin once he set his mind to victory. But Turrin had asked him to fight; in fact, Turrin had gone out of his way to seek him out. The Endal could have practised with anyone; he could have simply walked to the fighting pits and asked for a volunteer. He had chosen to fight Zhol, despite his inferior skills; and Zhol couldn't help but wonder why. He thought of Sira too, another Endal with whom he'd sparred. His sword was different, yes, and she had acknowledged that it presented an interesting challenge for someone who had only ever fought against talon swords in the past; but his reimancy too, was an integral part of who he was and the challenge that he presented as a warrior.

You wish to fight me, Turrin? Zhol thought as he closed his eyes for a brief moment, focusing carefully on his breathing, imagining the same flickering candle he always did when he attempted to meditate and center his mind. Wax poured down readily down the length of the candle, and flowed into his arm, seeping from his pores as res. Zhol's eyes opened, a small smile forming on his face as he dropped into a ready stance of his own, dark shadows of extruded, manifest djed dancing beneath the skin of his empty forearm like windmarks. Then by the gods, I will make myself a challenge.

A flicker of thought, and the res that had pooled in Zhol's hand became a small orb, little bigger than a marble, rising from the surface of his skin. More moments of concentration and it was joined by another; subtle shifts in Zhol's fingers compelled the two spheres to dance around each other, as if they were meditation balls being spun within his hand. More concentration, more focus, and the distance between them began to grow, the res rising higher above Zhol's hand until the twin orbs spun feely in the air. A final stab of thought and the res burst into flames, continuing to orbit each other in a mesmerising display until a snap of Zhol's arm sent them hurtling towards the ground in front of Turrin's feet, the fireballs impacting a few feet apart.

In that same moment Zhol launched his attack, throwing his weight forward from his back leg and taking full advantage of his long strides to close the distance between them. He had considered his options carefully, considered the dangers that each of Turrin's swords presented, the way that Turrin's stance suggested that he planned to engage Zhol with his weaker, off-hand first, holding his main hand in reserve to strike while Zhol was unable to parry. He knew that the equal footing of their engagements thus far was only because Turrin had handicapped himself with his second sword; trying to deprive Turrin off it would be a doomed endeavour, for as soon as the second sword fell from Turrin's grip, he would be able to use all of the devastating single-sword techniques that Zhol knew that Turrin possessed.

Instead he aimed for Turrin's dominant side, ignoring the offhand completely, hoping to take advantage of his pyrotechnic display to catch the Endal while he was off-balance. Zhol's strides carried him on a tangent past Turrin, and as he drew close he swung his sword across his body, converting his motion into a slow spin as he came within the Endal's reach. His sword clashed against Turrin's, and Zhol felt the impact jar through his arm; but he wanted that, wanted Turrin's parry to donate momentum, and adjust his course. Zhol pushed off from Turrin's sword, completing his path's single turn, continuing past the Endal to the opposite side of the sparring ring, dropping into a ready stance when he arrived to wait and see how Turrin would react.

He would not win this spar, Zhol was sure of that; but he did not plan on making it easy for the Endal.
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Zhol
Carry on, wayward son.
 
Posts: 763
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Joined roleplay: July 10th, 2014, 4:45 am
Location: Lhavit
Race: Human
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