A Day to Ride (Training/Open)

[Jaelyn Baroth]

As the two Squires approached each other again Dimitri attacked in a unique manner that Jaelyn had not anticipated. She had been anticipating an attack at least, and so she brought her shield up to block the strike from his shield. Even as she brought her shield arm up she realized that Dimitri still had his sword, and the shield strike was most likely a distraction. Noticing his blade coming down Jaelyn thrust down with her spear and caught the blade of his weapon on the shaft of hers.

The momentum of their horses carried them past each other once more, but this time as Jaelyn turned around and readied for the next charge she did not call out. Her mind was focused on the training, and on how to deal with Dimitri's unusual attacks. As she lined up again she grasped upon another idea, and once more slid her hand along the length of her spear until she was holding it at the long position she had during their first exchange.

Kicking her horse forward once more Jaelyn held her spear at the ready as she watched Dimitri. This time as the distance closed she did not strike with her spear, but instead leaned forward and into a powerful bash with her shield against Dimitri's. She hoped to unbalance him with her strike, and if an opening presented itself she could then bring her spear around past his guard.

[Dimitri]

Dimitri smiled as she had adapted to the technique he'd been using to unsettle her. He charged forward, waiting for the moment of her strike. His counter would be risky, but often times you had to go all mizas in to win. He made it appear as if he weren't even going to block, his shield hanging from his arm down over his leg. As they neared he snapped it up, not to meet the opposing Niels face to face but rather the long right edge of his shield would meet the face of hers. He knew his steadier base on the horse would hold him steady upon this clash.

If the face of her shield struck the edge of his, the concentrated force would be focused on a smaller area, delivering a seemingly more powerful blow to the center of her shield. And since the face of his shield was pointed to his left it provided a larger protection area from her spear. He lowered his head to avoid the possible counterswing of her sword at neck level. He then brought his own sword shooting in an upward jab from his waist. He knew if his shield did it's purpose there would be a gap between her own shield and her body. He targeted the space, aiming for torso or chin.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Dimitri certainly seemed to enjoy his unusual tactics, but Jaelyn was working to adapt to them. The sound of their shields clashing was quite loud in the field, and the force was certainly felt by Jaelyn's arm. While his shield position would certainly have blocked a spear strike from the side, as she had been doing so far, her plan was to strike up and around this time. While it would certainly keep her spear from striking hard it might at least allow her to land a blow.

As she brought her arm up and around her eyes caught the glint of Dimitri's sword, and she gave a small gasp. Jerking back and away in the saddle she watched as the blade just skimmed against her breastplate. Of course, her dodge threw off her aim with her spear, and she had a momentary worry that she might accidentally injure Dimitri. Then everything started to slide.

For a moment Jaelyn was confused as to why the world was tipping, but it quickly dawned on her that her saddle was sliding around her horse. Fortunately her training with horses had touched on this, and so she did her best to fall away from the horse as the saddle flipped upside down.

Falling to the ground heavily Jaelyn rolled a little ways with her momentum before coming to a stop. For a moment she lay there, cheeks starting to burn red with embarrassment, and then slowly started to get up. The fall had certainly hurt, but she was more embarrassed that such a thing had happened. It showed that she had much more to learn and practice with horses

[Dimitri]

Dimitri saw the spear snaking around his shield, as his sword scraped across her breastplate. He leaned into his shield as the spear impaled the air his neck would have been. Then he saw the spear jerk sideways awkwardly. Fearing he had maimed her without noticing, he quickly drew his sword back as the horse continued forward. He looked at the polished blade in his hand and saw no blood. Then he heard the loud thud and klang behind him. He pushed up and backwards. This allowed him to hop slightly back, as the horse continued forward. He landed hard and rolled forward and stopped in a kneeling position.

He turned and hustled over to Jaelyn. She was starting to rise from her landing. He tucked his arm beneath her armpit and helped lift her to her feet. He looked her over quickly checking for any obvious signs of injury. He failed to see any. "Are you okay?" He asked, his voice sounding worried but hopeful. He looked in the distance to see the saddle on her horse hanging at an odd angle. He realized it must have slipped on her. Two stable squires rushed over and Dimitri had them retrieve the horses.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

"Yes," Jaelyn replied to Dimitri's worried question with a nod of her head, "It certainly hurt, but nothing that some rest cannot recover me from."

Now standing fully upright thanks to Dimitri's help she gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you for the practice Dimitri. You helped me learn a lot. I hope we can train more some other time, but I think for now it is best if I finish training with horses for the day."

Giving Dimitri's hand a firm shake of farewell she gathered up her spear and shield from where they had fallen, and then turned to leave the field and stables. Though her body hurt from the fall she did her best to not let it show as she walked away.

[Templar]

Jaelyn: Riding (Horse): 4 – Spear: 5 – Shield: 3 Lore: Dealing with Unorthodox Attacks – Abandoning Horse – Hiding Pain – Don’t Forget to Double Check Medical: Bruises on the body for 2 weeks after the training, sore for 1 week. Dimitri: Riding (Horse): 4 – Tactics: 2 – Sword: 3 – Shield: 4 Lore: Shifting Tactics – Staying one step Ahead Addional notes: Excellent thread! I liked the ever-changing tactics from Dimitri and Jaelyn’s portrayal of handling the unorthodox attacks. Keep up the good work! PS(Dimitri: 1 – Jaelyn: 0 – Markus: 0)