[The Stone Garden] A Friendly Fight (Open)

[Etrius]

14th of Winter 511 AV

Though the sun was now rising high in the air, there was a thin mist settling over the garden. Etrius stood in the middle of the small area, eyes closed. The crisp winter air felt good on his body. He liked it, the cold feeling of the air, it sharpened his mind. He opened his eyes and saw before him, an opponent, standing ready for battle. He crouched and drew back his gauntleted arm. He pounced and threw a punch at his target, shouting as he moved forward. After the punch he stopped his momentum and swung his arm, trying to cut his opponent with the blade on his forearm. He stopped. Both strikes simply cut through his opponent, of course, hitting nothing but empty air. His opponent wasn't real, just a figment of Etrius' imagination. It helped him train when he was alone, but imagining an opponent just didn't feel right. He felt that he wasn't getting any better, fighting something that wasn't there.

He sighed. This is what he was limited to at the moment, so it would have to do. He put himself in a fighting stance once more. He began striking again, punching, slashing, kicking, and clawing at the mist surrounding him.

[Nithus]

A Man entered the garden wearing comfortable clothing he was cleanly shaven but it was easy to see this man wasn't use to it. He sat far away from Etrius watching him practice and then finally after a moment he stood up. He took a few steps towards Etrius then said "Care to spar with me?" He got into a ready position but waited for a reply before he put his fists up.

[Jeim]

Jeim walked towards the Stone Garden, hands in the pockets of his simple brown trousers, whistling a soft tune to himself. He ignored the cold, despite the fact that he felt it's sharp touch through his clothing, especially through his relatively thin gray tunic; winter was always like that for Jeim, regardless of the amount of clothing he wore he always felt like he was slightly 'too cold' to feel comfortable. Sighing, the crimson haired young man moved through the small area, having made his way to the mist filled Stone Garden. Jeim had always appreciated the beauty of the garden, that and it's tendency to be conveniently empty when he felt like throwing a few punches at the air. Jeim would have preferred to throw a few punches at some flesh, but as his aunt always said 'You work with what you get'. It was Jeim thought of his aunt, dawning a warm smile as he did so that his gaze fell upon the man who was, without a doubt, practicing his strikes as another fellow seemed to approach before dropping into a ready stance. Jeim's grin soon became a smirk as an idea donned on him.

"Ho there friends!" he bellowed, waving his hand as he approached the fellow, smirk having once more receded into a friendly grin.

[Ethne]

Ethne was mindlessly walking down the path of the Stone Garden. Drawing her intricately designed black cloak around her, she ignored the cold that bit at her nose. She had lived in Syliras all her life, this cold was average for the city. She hadn't been walking long when she heard a yell. Thinking it was some sort of fight, she raced to where she heard it to see if she could catch a glimpse of the fighters. Rounding a corner, she saw only one man fighting thin air, and he didn't seem to happy to not have a real opponent. Ethne watched him for a minute as he fought off the unseen opponents that ravaged him in the mist. Before Ethne had gathered the courage to walk over to him, two more people came around as well.

Observing them, Ethne noticed that they all appeared to be strong fighters. Perhaps this was her chance to get a glimpse of some real action. After all, she had yet to meet anyone better than herself. She would often think to herself at times, surely there is someone in this city better than me, after all, I'm not a true expert yet.

[Etrius]

Etrius turned to see a man standing before him, asking him to spar. Odd, the man was not dressed the part of someone who went around looking for fights. In fact, he was looked more like someone who would be more comfortable sitting on a bed drinking wine rather than fighting. He was cleanly shaven and was smiling at Etrius in a friendly manner, unlike Etrius himself, who had short scruff on his face and was breathing harder than normally. While the man was standing with his legs spread, as someone should when getting ready for combat, his fists were not raised. He felt like he might accidentally hurt the man if he accepted. However, Etrius was itching for a real target, instead of just swiping at the air. Etrius stood up in an nonthreatening stance, but putting his right foot behind him. He leaned, putting most of his weight on his back foot, but still trying to give the appearance that he was standing up straight.

He was about to respond when he heard a jolly yell coming from close by. He turned to find another man approaching him, a warm smile on his face. This one looked more the part of a fighter, though he did not yet act it, although it still seemed he would be willing for a brawl. He looked from one man to the other as a wolfish grin spread across his face. What luck. He had wanted a target that would offer him some better training and he had received not one, but two possible opponents. "Hello." he addressed the man. "We were just about to have a little sparring match. Care to join?"

Before waiting to hear his answer he pushed off of his right foot and leapt forward, raising his gauntlet arm to throw a punch at the first man who had arrived, trying to catch him off-guard. Whether the punch landed or not, he would then pivot and swing his arm at the second man, except instead of trying to cut him with the blade, he would flatten his hand and send a wide chop towards his target's face. It was a bit brutal for a first couple of attacks and if he screwed up he would probably be attacked from both sides, but extra risk always made things interesting.