A Sword's Point (Iblette)

[Talya]

Talya watched the Konti in silence. Her dark eyes never moving; obscure. Their length seemed impenetrable, which perhaps, in turn, made her difficult to read. So, the Ethaefal made a point of nodding slightly now and again, and smiling periodically, so as not to unnerve her new student. "Very good," she commented after awhile, "you're starting to get the hang of it," she added as she stepped in front of Iblette, but just out of the reach of her practice with her sword. "Now, why don't we try something else," the Ethaefal mused as she took to her starting position, and held her dagger in the reverse grip before her. "Try hitting me," she urged, "we can have you start blocking in a few minutes- or at the very least, side-stepping for now," she added as she applied more pressure to her lead foot, and allowed her eyes to settle upon the Konti's. "Whenever you are ready, you may begin," she said, as her thumb trailed lazily over the hilt of her dagger. "Come at me," Talya insisted. "And hit me if you can."

[Iblette]

Come at her? Hit her if she could? She did wish to engage. That was something that Iblette was not expecting. Which way should she hold her blade? Would she actually hit her, or would she be blocked? She regripped her sword for better control.

Thinking of nothing else, she stepped forward and gave a diagonal swing. Not too hard, but hard enough to leave bruising. She squinted her eyes in anticipation, not knowing what to expect.

[Talya]

Talya watched idly as Iblette adjusted the hold she kept upon her blade. It seemed to be the millionth time. Maybe she got sweaty palms or something; from her nerves. It was obvious she hadn't taken to combat before; or if she had, she hadn't had a good experience, and the poor happenings had made a lasting impression upon her mind- making it all the more difficult for her to train and be trained now. Or perhaps, it was simpler, and the Konti was simply struggling to hold the sword in any which way as she had yet to develop arm strength. Swords she had heard, were far heavier than daggers. But whatever the case, Talya kept the thoughts to herself, and did her best not to roll her eyes, lest her companion should see that she was growing just a tad impatient. "Come on," Talya urged, as she rocked her weight from one foot to the next, over and over again, and simply waited until Iblette swung her blade at her. It was an awkward diagonal sweep across her middle, which Talya blocked by stepping forward, and lowering her blade at first, before moving it so that it cut across her chest and met with her opponent's weapon. A soft thwack rang through the area, as Talya did her best to push the Konti's weapon away, before taking a step back. "Now try again," Talya insisted. "This time, try not to squint your eyes- it'll narrow your vision, making it harder to see your enemy's counter," she paused. "If the sun threatens to blind you, make the stage turn until it shines into the eyes of your opponent- so as to lend you the advantage." The Ethaefal smiled as she pulled her blade back into its starting position. "And always remember if this were a real battle, if this were a fight to the death- no one would wait for you. There would be no time for flinching. No time to hesitate. No time to pause between maneuvers and strikes- as that time, that emptiness, is an opening for your enemy to exploit. An opening in which they have a chance to kill you." Talya smirked. "It'd be best if you didn't give them that opening, nor any other sign of weakness within you. When you engage someone... make sure that you are ready to kill them, if it comes to that." With that, Talya's eyes flashed dangerously, as the edges of her lips grew cool. The lips themselves quivering slightly, as she felt something wet begin to slither around her mouth from the lowest point of the bridge of her nose. She thought it to be saliva, and instinctively, licked it away, only to find that when she drew it in, and tasted it upon her tongue that the fluid tasted uncharacteristically metallic. It was then that she began to realize she was bleeding, and a sense of understanding overcame her countenance. Her stance lightening as she consciously began to fight the urges she had to keep casting, which would ultimately, she knew, lead her to further overgiving. But it was so difficult. For magic she found, was like a food. Something you knew you needed to survive, and couldn't do without, but all that remained to the world was poison. Toxins held within the guise of something pleasant- a temptress contained within the sweet, rounded contours of a crimson apple. The Ethaefal smiled sheepishly at the thought. "Cut myself yesterday while I was eating an apple," she explained, in a remotely confident sounding, level tone. "We can ignore it- it should stop soon as the wound is shallow." She breathed deeply in through her nose and out through her mouth to steady herself as her heart began to beat faster and faster. "Come," Talya insisted, "attack." I am ready. OOCThe "no one," in Talya's little tirade is meant to be emphasized, it's not a bit of her magic, in case that wasn't clear.

[Iblette]

Being blocked ever so easily, Iblette opened her eyes again. The dagger was lightly tipping the blade away from her adversary. She drank her words like water, and specific words registered immediately in her mind.

'No one will wait for you... No time to pause, flinch, or hesitate... An opening for your enemy... A chance to kill you...'

Iblette took everything she spoke very seriously. This wasn't a game, and the woman couldn't emphasize it enough. She began realizing very quickly that in order to gain any sort of progress, she had to work quickly.

After she had given the woman the full attention she expected, she took a sudden slash downward, coming up over the side of her head and coming down at another slash. If she stopped, she was leaving an opening, and the woman said that it wasn't good to leave openings.

Another slash to the side, and couple more in different directions before her arms could handle no more. She had thoroughly exhausted her left arm now, being that it was her dominant. She had never exerted such energy before in her life. She was breathing heavily to recover from her attempt to keep the woman's options closed.

(OOC: How do you do the drop down thingy?)

[Talya]

A curious smile crossed Talya's lips as the Konti seemed to steal a bit of strength from some hidden depth; some place far within herself. She imagined it was an experience akin to that of getting a second wind. A part of her pleased with the development, and another worried that it meant she would have to expend herself further during the course of her teachings, the Ethaefal forced herself to take a deep breath in through her nose, and out through her mouth to gather herself, as her eyes glimmered. The Konti readying herself a moment, before she hurled herself into a new series of attacks. The first of which was a slashing strike, downward toward the middle portion of the Ethaefal's body. Talya avoided this by moving a tad to the right, just out of range of the strike. From there, the Konti eased into another sweep inwardly across, so that it would hit her now exposed hip. This Talya avoided by stepping back, before raising her blade to block the next attack. A sharp clang sounded through the air, as the weapons jostled against their holders, and the Ethaefal danced a step to the side, a step forward, and then raised her hand to block again, before moving away to avoid another strike. After which point the Konti seemed to have exhausted herself, and made no movement other than the hurried rise and fall of her chest accompanied by her steady blinking. The blade was steady in the air. "Tired?" Talya asked, wondering if the woman would simply stop, or try switching her hold to the other arm, just to ensure that she could keep going at all, even at reduced capacities and speeds. "Too bad," she commented as she surged forward, and swept her right arm out to the side of her body, so that it was an extension to her shoulder. At the last possible moment, (when she was within striking distance), Tal swept her right hand back in, so that it would cut across the Konti's collarbone/neck area. If the Konti didn't move to block, or step out of the way, she would strike her in the shoulder with the flat of her hilt-laden blade. "Giving into your exhaustion before a fight has been concluded most often leads to death," she narrated, as she eyed the Konti. She hoped her weapon hit, and said, "see, you're dead now." She would tap the woman's side once again if she could and then back away; blocking any incoming strikes if not moving out of the way of them to the best of her ability if the Konti chose to retaliate. "Should we try again?" Talya asked. "This time, without rest?" OOCFirstly it's done like {OOC=OOC}text{/ooc}. Just use these kind of brackets instead - [] Secondly, you can always check how coding is done in the aesthetics forum, or you can click the " in the top right hand corner of a person's post and see what they did. Also- I took some minor liberties in my post since yours is rather open, if you think I missed something/screwed up/acted contrarily in my response to what your pc might have done please pm me and I can fix it ASAP. Finally, sorry for the awkward wording. Attempts can be that way.