Solo Early Mornings

[Mayra]

4th of Summer, 515AV
4th Bell, Early Morning
Mayra's tent, Ruby District

It was an echo of a declaration that woke her up. Something in her dream, something had been decided, although what it was she couldn't remember. Mayra could only feel the pure adrenaline rushing through her veins. A heart that was beating too fast for her to sleep, and so she woke, covered in sweat, partially from the summer heat, partially from the fear. But what was she scared of?

Far far away the faint protest of a horse broke the morning silence and Mayra was on her feet in an instant, wide black eyes searching the dark of her tent. The moon outside was bright, casting shadows over her bed, and Mayra watched some clothe from a neighboring tent ripple over her mattress. The mystery shadow revealed the moon for just a movement, lone enough to highlight the blade of the swords she had bought but never used. Suddenly teh adrenaline had a focus. She lunged forward, unhooking one of the two swords and turned to tear out of her tent. The opening released easily, obviously she had not closed it properly the night before, and then Mayra broke into the night.

Only silence welcomed her in the soft moonlight. The wind picked up then, carrying her light shift across her thighs and turning her vision towards a waving figure. Scraggling fingers wiggled at her in the breeze and the silent form mocked her in the night. Not giving the shadowy figure time to react, the half-breed luged for it, sword high. The silence must've muted her as well, because when she opened her mouth to snarl at her prey, a mere whimper fell into the night. She hadn't remembered what dream, or nightmare, had woken her, but she suddenly had the feeling it was her father.

The blade crashed down on the scraggly tree without mercy. She heard the swoosh of metal and the corresponding cracking of twigs as the branches absorbed her impact. Thwack. Mayra tested the swipe again, throwing more power into her blow now. But the hook of the sword got caught on a heavier branch, forcing Mayra to slow down.

She took a second to untangle the sword before bringing it up to the moonlight to look at it. She really hadn't even touched the thing since she bought it. But now as she held the metal weapon, however awkward it felt, she also felt powerful. She wasn't sure if she knew how to grip the sword well, but she still felt powerful in the childish way.

"Ha!" She hissed, dropping into a shallow lunge and thrusting the sword forward, as she had seen many with straight swords do. But the hook sword was different. The lunge forward let the metal wobble a bit, but as she realized the point of the move, a stab, this sword would be utterly useless.

Mayra straightened up again, turning so she could see the blade easier in the moonlight and looked at it for a few ticks. The inside of the hook on the end was thick and dull. It didn't take a genius to imagine that it was used for grabbing, for hooking, things. It was sturdy enough that it wasn't meant to slice, but hold. The actual sharp part of the sword curled down the outside of the blade and followed until the hilt. She could already see small scratches on the heavy metal where her lack of care had dulled it. She would have to learn to care for this sword.

All adrenaline and fear of whatever had haunted her dreams had dispersed and the half-Chaktawe now looked at the sword with an analytical point. It was no longer a quick release of emotions to aid her in the middle of the night. It was a real weapon. A dangerous one, and a professional one. Slashing about at a tree would do no good if she wasn't thinking about what she was doing.

Common | Tawna | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Mayra]

The only issue was that Mayra had absolutely no idea what to do with the sword. She couldn't just slash the thing about. It would be pointless. Perhaps... Mayra's hand reached for her dagger, but then she remembered why the heavy metal weapon was not at her hip. Dravite. It had taken the half-Chaktawe a while to stop wearing her scabbard at all times. All hope of running into that one horseman in the midst of all these horsepeople was too low for her to hope. And the mixed-blood didn't have the heart to replace her favorite weapon, nor the purse when she thought about it.

Another burst of anger shot through her arms and Mayra lunged for the tree, this time envisioning the mad man before her. The sharp blade slashed across the tree, at his chest level and she grinned. She could see the bark wafting from teh thick slash, and was satisfied with her slash. Perhaps she could learn something by trial and error. Again. She commanded herself, following hte same move as before. She was more calculated this time, raised her arm to a specific height before dropping it. Something was differnet this time. Maybe it was that she didn't have her anger driving her, but the sword merely nicked the bark, bouncing back with less force than she had put into it.

Mayra took a step back. Again, she urged herself, but stopped. AGain would be useless if it was incorrect again. Perhaps. Mayra lunged as she swiped this time, slashing the sword across the bark similar to the first time, but putting her weight into the movement. Sure enough a spray of bark dusted off the tree and she saw the faint pale nick in the bark where her sword exposed its inside. There we go.

Common | Tawna | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Mayra]

AGAIN. Could you grow impatient with yourself? If so, Mayra had. Or maybe it was the excitement of producing an actual cut. Either way, the half-Zith wouldn't deny herself the gratification of another swipe at the bark. The bright light of the full moon was casting an eery glow on the tree before her. Envisioning a source of anger for the tree to take on, was not hard for her.

Mayra took two steps back, trying to pay attention to her movements this time. A breeze picked up, ruffling the mass of hair atop Mayra's head and reminding her that she was in nothing but a nightshift, not the ideal outfit for swordplay. But Mayra merely noted this fact, and did nothing about it.

Flexing her muscles, Mayra lunged forward again, throwing both arms up to grasp the sword. But using two arms was different than one. She couldn't help her slash from being more vertical than slanted which affected the end result in a few ways. Instead of hitting the trunk of the tree, she slashed through the various branches. Her strength was there, but it was sloppy, and Mayra found her sword had gotten hooked again. The curved tip was tangled in a branch. No. No, No! Mayra whined.

She was not usually up at night, so the burst of crankiness was to be expected, but that did not soothe Mayra as she wiggled her sword in the tree. She could hear smaller twigs breaking, but the branched held her sword tight.

Another of her pleasant surges rushed through her and Mayra yanked hard on the hilt of the sword. She felt the branch groan and a small crack accepted her efforts.

Common | Tawna | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Mayra]

Mayra threw all her weight into it now, and finally forced the sword out of the tree, bringing a summer branch with her. She crashed to the ground, a spark of pain in her bottom at the fall. Afer a tick of laying there, looking up at the moon with unidentified or focused anger, Mayra sat up. She looked at her sword, tangled in a branch, as was a perfect representation of how poor she was with the weapon. She got a sword tangled in a branch. The wood was clearly splintered, but the branch was thin. After some wiggling, she pulled her sword out of the branch. There was no reason for her to not have been able to do the same move in the tree to free it without dismembering the plant, but it was late and Mayra wasn't thinking straight.

Just a few more chimes and you go to bed. Mayra allowed herself, but somehow she knew it was a lie. Her attention had been caught with this interesting new toy, and she knew she would not put it down. Kicking the branch aside with her bare toes, Mayra took another step back, trying to hold the sword correctly in her hand. She positioned it twice, unsure if she could wrap her thumb around to touch her middle finger or align it with her other fingers. Wrapping her thumb around seemed optimal, but she could have sword she had seen people hold it differently.

Now, Mayra moved the sword to her left hand, her less dominant hand. The hand fell into place easy, and she found the most natural position for her to grip the sword. Perhaps... But Mayra had already sprung forward. She forgot to use the force of her movement this time and when she brought the sword down with an uncertain hand, it bounced off the tree again. No marks.

She took two steps back this time, clasping the hilt with two hands now. She could no swing directly down again, that had gotten her sword stuck in the branches. But by holding with both hands, she could swipe from right to left much easier. A few more steps through the grass brought her away from the tree and she turned away from it, towards the moon and the bulk of the clearing.

Common | Tawna | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Mayra]

Mayra forced herself to work even slower now. More calculating. All she was really doing was messing around, getting a feel for this new metal weapon. She might stand a chance in a fight, not loose her weapon possibly, but not much more than she did before. The halfbreed was well aware that it would take a lot of practice before she could use these swords with any amount of finesse, and longer before she could weild both as they were meant to. But she had to start somewhere.

And that somewhere was here.

Mayra braced herself against an imaginary enemy. Putting one foot slightly back from the other and lowering herself. She thought it resembled her usual defensive stance pretty closely, but this time with a weapon in her hands. Her thoughts flashed back to the last time she had to use that stance, how she positioned her dagger in front of her. It was an entirely primal move, but somehow her body had found where the place the weapon, even though she could use her dagger just about as well as her swords.

Her dagger. A scowl painted her face in the pale moonlight as Mayra remembered Dravite's unexpected violence. The pain in her shoulder had lasted a mere day, but it was enough to tell her he meant business. She had given up her dagger, but boy if she ever saw that man again. All the more reason to practice. The half-zith encouraged herself as she took the first swipe.

She attempted to move the sword horizontally, left to right. But it was immediately obvious, this sword was not meant to be held in two hands. The slash was not wide and she could not move forward with it, it was useless. This is stupid. Silly. Mayra suddenly thought to herself. It was the middle of the night and she was waving a sword around, cutting up a tree. A sword she had never touched before, for not particular reason. Any of the horsepeople surrounding her that didn't think she was odd enough would only laugh at her now.

Suddenly a little semiconscious, Mayra glanced at the tents around her, Most every campfire and candle were off. A few clearings over there was a faint flicker of candle-light, but they wouldn't be watching her... would they? Mayra straightened up, smoothing out her shift with one hand and throwing the sword over her shoulder with the other, allowing the dull side of the cool metal to rest on her shoulder. Pretending as if nothing had happened, even though she was pretty sure no one was watching, Mayra walked back over to her tent. The neighbors may question the butchered tree in the morning, but they couldn't tie it to her. Mayra hung her sword back on its hook and fell on her bed, suddenly realizing how tired she was.

Common | Tawna | Thoughts | PC/NPC Talking

[Dravite]

Mayra

XP Award:

• Observation: 3
• Weapon, Tiger Hook Sword: 4
• Intelligence: 1
• Logic: 2
• Endurance: 1
• Brawling: 1
• Stealth: 1

Lore:

• Awaking from a dream
• Observation: Using the moonlight to see at night
• Sword: Makes one feel powerful
• Sword: Lunge
• Sword: Swing
• Sword: Grip
• Sword: A dull edge
• Tiger Hook Swords, no good for stabbing and slicing
• Sword: A dull sword is useless
• Taking care of your weapons
• Dravite: Drykas
• Dravite: A mad man
• Learning through trial and error
• Mayra: Not a night owl
• Observation: The sound of breaking twigs
• Holding a sword in two hands gives you better control
• Dravite: Not to be messed with
• Tiger Hook Swords, better for one handed use
• Stealth: Look casual

Penalties:
Mayra will feel tired for the next 24 bells
Mayra will need to get her sword sharpened

Notes: Hey Mayra! Great little training thread! It was nice to see a darker side of Mayra come to light and watch her take out her frustrations with the sword. I smell a plan for revenge! Exciting! Let me know if you think I have missed anything here and be sure to edit your grading request!

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