The Squire and the Knight. [Griffin]

[Markus Andres]

Markus' little ploy wasn't as efficient as he had hoped it would. But, alas, nothing he could do about that now, he would just have to make the best from it. Markus would swing his blade in from the side. To bang him on the side of his head with the flat side of his blade. But instead, Markus' blade just harmlessly passed over the head of the knight. The knight really knew how to get out of the way for his strikes. Markus knew he wouldn't be able to get his blade back in time to take another swing at the knight before said knight was facing him again and swinging at him. Markus was right, when he saw that the knight was turning around. Markus would step away from the knight and push his shield across his body to protect as much as he could. The knight's sweep collided with Markus' metal shield and made a loud clanging noise. With defense taken care of, it was time to go on the offensive again. And exploit the knight's unfavorable position. Markus would just take several steps forward, with his shield leading and just ram into the knight. First ram into him to make him stumble or lose balance. Then follow up with a shield bash should he have rammed him.

[John Griffin]

The air hissed as his opponent's blade sliced over his head, and John was glad that he had ducked. Unfortunately his attack failed, clanking off the imposed shield. He cursed silently, having hoped that his sword might trip up the other man. John was in trouble. He was down on one knee, his larger opponent was standing in front of him, and his sword was uselessly rebounding from his enemy's shield. To make matters worse, he was being bull rushed. There was really only one thing to do. He might roll to the side, but plate armor made that difficult. There was no way he could backpedal to avoid the rush either. Really, there was only one thing to do.

John fell forward, bringing his shield to bear in front of him like a steep ramp. He curled up behind it as best he could in a suit of metal, and hoped for the best.

His goal? Take his rushing opponent's legs out from underneath him.

[Markus Andres]

Markus shield slid harmless over the sloped shield. Markus opened his eyes wide in surprise as his left rose as it slid further up his opponents shield. He could now see what was going on. Markus had never encountered such a strategy before, thus his reaction to it was too slow. His right foot had stepped forward. Stepping onto the lower part of his opponent's shield. If he had been barefoot, he would be able to adapt to the new surface, but with his feet armored, he really couldn't do much in terms of adapting to the new surface. Markus tried to save himself from falling by leaning forward and pressing the shield down. He just ended up sliding on the shield. Falling forward, Markus' instincts took over and he curled like a ball and threw himself forward with whatever control he had left. Markus found himself airborne for a brief moment before he landed on the ground. Landing on the top of his back and continued a roll. It looked far from good as Markus' armor prevented him from moving gracefully. At all. He got the roll as far as to him sitting, but hitting the ground with his back had really left a painful impression and Markus probably could fight through the pain, but he really didn't want to. Not because he wasn't interested in continuing the fight, he just wasn't interested in getting a serious injury. "Man. That last move. Great job!" Markus said as he leaned back and let his back hit the ground gently and he began to take in mouthfuls of air.

[John Griffin]

John's move had worked like a charm. He wasn't really in the greatest of positions, but neither did his opponent have a vast advantage. It had been a desperate gambit, but it had paid off. The knight tried to scramble to his feet, but was still jarred off balance from the collision, and simply scrambled a few feet before falling back over. Unaware that his opponent had staid on the ground, he spun around to a seated position, trying to bring his shield back up.

Then he saw his opponent on the ground, and he relaxed. John slid his arm out of the shields straps, letting it fall to the ground, and dropped his sword to the ground. His face sweat, he reached up a gauntleted hand to unfasten and raise his visor. The coolness of open air felt good on his face, as did the ache in his muscles from the bout. "Thanks, but it was a last ditch attempt. You had me pressed pretty hard."

He stood and made his way over to Markus, offering his hand both to help the man up, as well as in the manner of shaking hands. "Ser John Griffin. You?"

[Markus Andres]

Markus sort of hoped the knight wouldn't attack him as he was lying down. Markus had his shield ready in case the knight turned bloodthirsty. But the knight was far from blood thirsty. Instead, he had opened his visor and was approaching Markus. It made him smile under the helmet, naturally, not visible to anyone. Markus reached out with his left arm and grabbed the knights outstretched hand and pulled himself up and shook it once he was back on his feet again. "Markus Andres, squire under ser Mason." Markus removed his helmet when he stood up. Allowing some fresh air upon his face. Breathing air unhindered by metal. It felt rejuvenating. He flashed a smile to John, feeling his pride was a bit hurt by losing to him. But he had given up himself, he knew he could have continued fighting, that was what was important to him. He also knew he would have to train harder, polish and hone his skills until they were unrivaled among the knights. He sheathed the blade and looked to John again. "Thank you for the spar, ser Griffin." Markus said with a small bow to John.

[John Griffin]

A smile split John's face. "Well met, Squire Andres. You have a good deal of talent. Your patron should be proud." He pumped the gauntleted handshake one more time before releasing. John laughed and held up his hand in a dismissal of Markus' gratitude. "No, thank you, Markus. You have not only given me a sparring partner when I thought I would have to run drills, but you have bolstered my faith in the squires of the Order. Well done."

John moved over to his discarded equipment, putting his belt and tabard back on, and gathering up his training equipment. He looked back to Markus. "Perhaps we'll see each other again. I'd love another match." With a bow of his head to the squire, he took his leave of the training room, heading home to ditch his armor and get cleaned up.

[Markus Andres]

Markus felt his cheeks turn a little red with the praise he received. It was rare that Markus received any praise, so he always felt his pride and ego soar whenever he got praised. Especially by someone ranking higher. Markus laughed a little, trying relieve some of the embarrassment he also felt from being praised like that. "Thank you for your kind words, ser. You are quite the knight." Markus said with a little bow of his head to John. "And another spar sometime sounds good. Stay healthy." Markus said as a goodbye. Watching as John left he looked to where he had just been lying. Mentally replaying the last couple of seconds of the fight. Trying to come up with a viable counter for such an unorthodox move. It just showed that Markus still had a lot to learn before he could call himself a knight. He would just have to continue strengthening his body and hone his skills with the shield and blade. OOCSorry for the late reply, been swamped with exams and stuff. I will also turn this post in for grading now. Thank you for an interesting thread!

[Archon]

Illumination of Development Markus Andres +3 Bastard Sword +3 Shield +1 Body Building Lores: Twirling defense, Knights know what they're doing, Metal on metal is slick Care to see more? : Good use of your sword and shield, so good experience there, and a touch of body building for working those muscles out. John Griffin +3 Longsword +3 Shield Lores: Ramp turtle defense, Sparring beats drilling, It's best to be adaptable Care to see more? : Nice, solid practice in using your sword and shield in combat, and so a solid reward in experience for each. Notes:A very nice sparring thread. Your descriptions and reactions made this a joy to read.