[The Stone Garden]A Quiet Fighter[OPEN]

[Ethne]

Timestamp:10th of Winter, 511 A.V.

Ethne slowly made her way towards the Stone Garden. She had been there a couple of times, and often the area outside of it was relatively deserted and quiet. Seeing no one near her, she smiled and set down her bag. Her ferret, Fauzi, popped out of it and climbed up to sit upon the top of the sack. She giggled a bit when he slipped and barely caught on to haul himself back up. It was funny mostly because he was getting old and it was becoming fun to watch him do things he used to be able to do easily.

Nodding to the small albino animal, Ethne took up a trained boxer's stance and readied herself. She held up her fists and began striking the air with surprising strength for someone of her size. Mira was an inside boxer, because her size made it impossible to strike hard far off. When she was close enough, she could hit hard enough to break a full grown man's jaw. She hooked the air, upper and under cutting it ferociously.

Was she being watched? She had no clue. Her mind was in a tunnel, focused only on her moves, and the image of a person that she struck at.

[Shyda Ormoph]

Shyda Ormoph shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat as she walked along the stone pathway into a quiet garden. She had been there a few times before and usually left the loud taverns or inns for some air. A small smile crept across her lips as she felt Sik, her marten friend from back home, moved behind her long black hair.

As Shyda was nearing the Stone Garden, she heard the noises of someone huffing for air as if they were fighting. With her reasonably good hearing, she could tell it was only one person.

Pulling her hands from her pockets and taking a soundless steps towards the garden, she peered through the trees at a young woman practicing her hand-to-hand combat. Shyda straightened her back as she watched the woman.
Her stance was good, almost as good as any Myrian's fighting, and if there was actually an opponent, her hits would be hard enough to knock the cold.

Heaving a sigh, Shyda dropped her backpack under the bushes and walked out behind the woman. Sik climbed off her shoulder to inspect the woman's backpack dropped on the ground with a ferret perching on top of it. Thankfully, they didn't make any noise.

As the woman kicked and spun behind her, Shyda raised her arm and blocked the kick from coming in contact with her face. She gave a smile at the woman's shocked face and casually said, "You're good. Real good."

[Ethne]

Perhaps if Ethne had been paying attention, she would have noticed the woman approach, however, she was not. As the lemur approached the sachel, Ethne's ferret kept a close eye on him, not moving, but waiting. The ferret was strong, and vicious. At the moment, he wasn't feeling threatened by the beast that seemed to be only a bit bigger than him. However, that might change in the space of an instant.

Ethne went ridged when her foot was caught, showing only slight shock. But her shock faded faster than her foot had been caught. Wrenching her foot away immediately, Ethne regarded the woman cautiously and replied.
"Thank you, you must be good as well to catch me, or just really lucky that I wasn't paying attention to those around me."
She paused for a moment before adding.
"If you're going to try and rob me you might as well try now, so I can beat you up and continue training."

[Shyda Ormoph]

Shayda laughed at the woman's remark, her head throwing back in the air behind her. As she looked back, her hands disappeared back into her pockets and she replied, "I may be Myrian, but I have enough decency not to rob someone without a warning."

Stretching her foot out behind her and pulling her hands in front of her face, Shyda tossed another playful smile at the woman as Sik watched her curiously. "But that doesn't mean I'm not up to test your abilities." She hadn't really done any hand-to-hand combat since she left the Chaktawe tribe that had rescued her from death in Ekytol. Now, her fingers ached for a bit of fist slamming.

[Colin Oliver]

Colin wound his way through the open-air bazaars of the Roshin District. Bright lanterns cast a warm glow down the road and people were openly enjoying themselves, managing to ignore the winter chill. Colin had quickly tired of the sights and sounds, and decided he needed some fresh air. He had unconsciously threaded his way to the Stone Garden. The place was usually quiet in the day, but even more so at this hour. Colin leaned against a large boulder and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the crisp cold air and clearing his mind. The scenery reminded him of his home back in Wind Reach, where cold air and rocky outcrops were the common sight. Colin exhaled and watched his breath form into little clouds only to be carried away in the breeze. His silent reverie was interrupted by the sounds of conflict. After leaving the bazaar, his eyes and ears hadn’t fully adjusted, but now he could easily feel the presence of two other people. By the sounds of their voices, Colin could tell that both people were women and were currently trading words… and possibly fists? One of the women was breathing and speaking rather sharply, indicative of strenuous activity. Colin wound his way towards the two, deftly landing atop a boulder and allowing his dark outerwear to blend him into the dim light. It seemed like today was finally going to get interesting.

[Shyda Ormoph]

As Shyda was standing to face off against with Ethne, she stopped, Sik's form catching in the side of her vision. He stood on his hind legs, tense, as he watched the bushes beside him. The ferret, too, was standing erect and watching with uncertainty.

Shyda quickly stepped towards her pack and grabbed the sword off the top of it. When she pulled it out, it made a clear 'shing' noise that vibrated through the air. Stepping towards the bushes, Shyda held the sword securely in one hand and reached towards the brush with the other.

[Ethne]

The Ferret was standing erect, but not really making any distinguished face. He could smell the other person nearby, and did not really care. The Ferret protected Ethne when she needed it, and in his mind she was preforming a war dance. Thus he rightfully assumed she needed no protection from him at the moment.

Ethne, readying herself to fight, stopped when Shyda stepped away to grab her sword. Ethne was fast enough to dodge a sword when she was close enough, it was the daggers that poked at her weakness. Standing at the ready she decided that whatever was sneaking around would have a hard time getting at their packs while Shyda and Ethne were sparring.

Suddenly surging forward, Ethne came up as a blur. She struck out, swinging a vicious inside hook towards Shyda's unprotected shoulder on the arm that held her sword. Currently Shyda wasn't even facing Ethne, as she had turned to pick up her sword, and that put Ethne at the advantage. Ethne's strike was strong enough to dislocate a shoulder if she hit perfectly, and at the least it would probably make Shyda drop the sword.

[Shyda Ormoph]

Shyda shouted out in anger and pain as she collapsed against the ground, clutching her shoulder. Looking up, she stared at Ethne with eyes or rage and began muttering Myrian curses under her tongue as she rolled onto her back. Sik, still standing beside the ferret, jumped from the pack and onto Shyda's knee. His hackles raised on his shoulders and his tiny fangs fell as he hissed at Ethne.

The laugh started low in Shyda's throat, a quiet, growling sound, before it erupted from her mouth in a loud, gut-rolling sound. Bending her neck up and eyeing the young woman, Shyda asked her with a smile, "You think dislocation my should will phase me?" Again, she laughed.

Without using her arms, Shyda pulled her feet under her and flipped herself onto them. She watched Ethne with a deadly look, but only dropped her arms and bent down, pushing her sword back into it's scabbard and throwing it over her shoulder, along with her pack. "I don't want to fight you." She said quietly before turning on her heel to leave.

[Colin Oliver]

With the knights constantly patrolling, it was rare to see a fight break out. It was one of the things that Colin hated about Syliras. Unlike Wind Reach, arguments were settled with words rather than with fists. Colin suppressed a fit of gleeful laughter as he watched the two fascinating fighting styles locked in combat. The white haired girl fought with a crude and inelegant style clearly designed for the sole purpose of efficiently dispatching an opponent, whereas the Myrian (he could tell by her looks and accent) moved with the violence and savage beauty of her people. Colin silently cheered them on. However, the fighters were distracted. They both seemed to acknowledge his presence, but only the Myrian acted upon the slight intrusion. She had turned her back to the white-girl, drawing a sword and turning to his direction. And much to Colin’s delight, the white-girl would not let her prey get away. A severe knock to the shoulder brought the Myrian around to face her opponent once more. Yet once again, the Myrian detracted from the fight. From his distance, Colin couldn’t make out her words, but he recognized that she must have said something to the white-girl that prompted her exit. Colin jumped down from his perch, landed with feline grace, and approached the two: “You can’t stop fighting now, you were just getting started!” He turned towards the Myrian, “Your people love to fight! Don’t stop on my behalf. And you,” he said, now addressing the white-girl, “rather crude, but quite fantastic!”

[Ethne]

Ethne paused for a minute, surprised by the man that had dropped out by them. Her surprise turned into a laugh when he became almost frantic about wanting them to continue the fight. Turning to Shyda, Ethne said.
"I only started because you said you wanted to test my abilities. Well, I've dislocated your shoulder, and your arm is now virtually useless. You wanna continue? Or-"

She turned to Colin, her smile growing.
"Do you want to test me?"