Closed Dance of Swords (Sira)

[Iosha]

Time Stamp: 13th Spring, 512AV Location: Fighting Pit Who: Sira Staring into the eyes Endal Sorel Vorshel, Iosha looked at the man with disdain as they circled one a another with their swords drawn. She knew the man was much better at her with a blade, and he seemed to enjoy the fact about infuriating the pale healer with his non-stop flirting. Iosha knew he was trying too hard with trying to bed her, and she could tell the frustration in his eyes was growing when she constantly rejected him. Iosha was definitely physically attracted to the man, and part of her even wondered if she would just petch him. He would leave her alone and go on to the woman. Honestly, what woman in their right mind would fall in love with a such a arrogant, self righteous, and infuriating man like Sorel? Iosha tilted her head and smirked at her instructor and thought to her herself, “A stupid one.” Now the proud, but childish man had taken upon himself to ask Jhinapar to be her sword instructor. Iosha knew Endal Sorel was talented with a talon blade, but she never knew the man knew how to use long sword too. Iosha eyes quickly darted to the small crowd growing around them. She hated being the center of attention because in Mura the other Konti basically ignored the odd girl, but in Wind Reach, she tended to get unwanted attention just because she was the exotic blonde foreigner with the strange accent. Annoyance starting to build inside her, she snapped at Sorel Vorshel with her long sword pointed up at his face, “I am not here for dance lessons Sorel if you going strike do it quickly!” Iosha decided to mix up her movements, and she started going the opposite direction. Quickly adjusting to her sudden moments, Sorel smirked at the woman, laughed out loud, and said gently, “My dear Iosha I am just admiring the view, and you are wrong about sword fighting not being a dance because you have to anticipate the moves of your enemy just like in dancing. Besides any lout can swing a sword and hit something, but I am trying to teach you elegance when you use your sword in battle.” Iosha faced softened for a moment when she realized to herself. Sorel was trying to teach her how to use the sword correctly. He was trying to make it an art with her and not just a swing swords around. However, what Sorel Vorshel did to Kovac was unforgivable in her mind, and she won't let man charm her into thinking he was nice man. Iosha smirked at him and pointed the tip of his sword at his face and said with grin, “You surprise me, Sorel. You sound like a poet! I have low expectations of you, but you still have the knack to surprise me.” Sorel Vorchel laughed at Iosha witty comment and said softly, “You have fire, Iosha, and that is why I like you. OK, I want you to block my strike, and if you don't, I will have to spank you.” Iosha face of disgust at the man's threat, and she waited for him to strike. Sorel lunged forward and made a arching sweep with his sword at her hip. Iosha stepped to her side, and she countered his move slicing her sword downward intercepting the forward movement of his blade. Sorel smiles in congratulation when she blocked his blow, and he suddenly yelled, “Freeze!” Sorel sheathed his sword and he walked around her to look at her stance, and he shook his head, “You legs are two close together, Iosha. I can easily knock you over if I countered you, but your block was adequate. You need to build more arm strength otherwise a stronger opponent could easily over power you.” Iosha nodded to him when she remembered Jhinapar telling her the same thing when she first started working on her martial skills at the Fighting Pit. Since spring time just started, Iosha had planned on making it a daily chore to swim in the morning and after a practice. She was happy. She started his weapon training because it got her away from the grind of the Infirmary. She was stressed and over-worked, and she could understand the difficulty of balancing her personal life and her life as a healer. Sorel looked at her and said with a grin, “Well, I want you to start doing your practice swings. I want you to do one hundred over head swings, back-handed, and main hand strike to the side. I want to see you cut straight across forward and backwards, and I better not see any wobbliness to any of your strikes next practice. Remember, you can't cut a apple right down the middle if your strike is wobbly. Eventually, I want you to be cut a cross in three strikes, Iosha.” Sorel tilted his head and rolled his eyes, and he nodded to her and said his goodbye, “Vorshel is nagging me right now about the Elk moving north to Taldera, so I need to go before she lays an egg in frustration.” Iosha smirked at his joke, but she stubbornly made her smile vanish as quickly as it appeared, and said with a smirk, “It sound like she is a slave driver.” Sorel laughed out loud and said with smile, “She is a proud and stubborn wind eagle, and she always get what she wants. Anyways, I will see you next week Iosha.” She shook her head and watched the Endal leave the fighting pit. Once Sorel was gone, Iosha raised her right arm, so the sword is straight up, and she struck down in a quick motion, and said in Nari, “One.” Sorel wanted her to start learning Nari, so she could learn to be more Inarta. She wondered if it was bigoted comment at first, but when she realized, he was right about learning the native tongue. She knew, he was helping her again, and he started to infuriating her even more. Iosha lifted her sword till the sword was straight up, and she struck down in a quick motion, and she said in Nari, “Two.”

[Sira]

Sira's body was sore when she awoke, and she was tired too. Aaron had visited her that night, and while his visits had become less frequent with the coming of spring and the increase of duties all around, they had become more intense. Sira was about ready to end it. She had been practicing all winter for a rematch, and she was fairly certain she could beat him if her life depended on it. She would make sure that it did, as well. Their next fight would be to the death.

She had slept in, a rare thing for the eagle who was usually up with the rising sun. Both Natalie and Aidara were already off to whatever tasks they had that day. It was Sira's off day. She and the healer had been scheduled different days off, a fact that annoyed the kelvic to no end, considering they were tyring to mend their relationship. But with Sairque gone, they were left to different flight leaders and couldn't always get what they wanted.

Sira considered the idea of sleeping in further, and letting her sore body recover, but she knew that would be a bad idea. She knew she needed to get up and at least stretch, or she would be sore for the entire day and maybe even the next. Granted, stretching would not help with everything that was sore, but being up and moving around was the best thing she could do.

Eventually Sira found herself walking down to the Fighting Pit. She wasn't sure if she would actually join in the sparring that day, but she did want to watch. She could still learn from watching those with more skill than herself. What she didn't expect to find was a beautiful konti woman practicing longsword drills over and over.

Sira did not approach at first, instead standing off to the side watching as Iosha practiced the same swing over and over. She must have had an instructor. Nobody who practiced on their own had the patience for such drills, even if they were effective. Especially not somebody who was just starting out. Few novices understood the necessity of repetition so early in their training without a drillmaster to teach them. Still.. there was no substitute to some hands on training.

"I thought konti were supposed to be peaceful," Sira commented jokingly as she walked over, finally revealing herself to the woman.

She knew that healer's could fight if they needed to. They were even encouraged to learn self defense, because people often tried to take advantage of their power. As much as Aidara hated violence, she knew how to defend herself like any inarta. Sira didn't actually expect Iosha to be any different.

"Would you like someone to practice with? I know swinging a sword at nothing can get pretty boring."

[Iosha]

Iosha could feel her arm muscles cry out in protest as she cut across her body in a straight line. After the swing, Iosha dropped her sword with a loud clang on the ground as she slumped to her knees. She wasn't used to the intense physical exertion needed to complete the sword swinging drills. However, she just got done with a two bell lesson with“Lord of Sword”, the drills just compounded her fatigue. Sorel Vorshel was good teacher, but after each of his lessons, she always felt like she wanted to die. Iosha archery practice was much easier on her body than swordplay, but swordplay was much easier on the magic on her body. She knew the self inflicted abuse on her body would pay off in the end, but at the moment, she was dreadfully sore. Iosha had a feeling someone was watching her, but she got the feeling a lot since there is on only a handful of Konti in the city. She reached for her sword, and she heard a familiar voice of Sira ask her if Konti were peaceful. Iosha stood up slowly, sheathed her long sword, and ran a hand through her now sweaty blond hair. She gave her friend a toothy grin and said with a giggle, “Normally we are Sira, but ever since I arrived in Wind Reach, I almost died twice, so I think it is time this fish girl to learn how defend myself.” Iosha felt a cool breeze catch her, so she crossed her arms and said with a more serious tone of voice, “Also, in the Fall, I am going to the Unforgiving to look for my father and his wind eagles body, so I need to learn how to defend myself if I am going to survive in the wilderness.” She knew she couldn't wait to long to look for his body because of the scavengers, but she needed to prepare herself mentally and physically for the journey into one of the most dangerous terrains in Mizahar. Iosha couldn't help herself as she walked over to Sira and gave the kelvic woman a hug. Sira was one of the first people the konti ever met in the city, and she kind of missed talking to the melancholy Endal. Iosha hasn't seen Sira in four mouths, but she knew the Endal had duties to attend too, so she didn't want to disturb the woman with a unexpected visit to her aeries. She was thinking of dropping in on the woman some night, but she wasn't sure if she should since Sira might have been busy or indisposed, so she kept her distance. Iosha looked at her friend, and she wondered how life had been treating the Sira. Iosha winter was eventful, and it made the naive Konti much more reserved and cautious around people she didn't know. The murder investigation disturbed the Konti enough where she had been suffering nightmares for two weeks. The verbal confrontation with the Endal Cait made the Konti slip back into her more comfortable reserved nature of her mother's people. She was quiet and rarely opened herself up to anyone. Micquel was starting to worry about her, but Iosha reasurred him it was only temporary. Iosha pulled back from her friend still holding her arms, “Sorry, I sure you didn't want to be hugged by a sweaty fish girl...” Iosha let go of the kelvic and said with a warm smile, “Yes, I would love to practice with you. As long as you go easy on me, I am not the greatest with a sword...yet.”Iosha ran a both her hand through her hair, and she watched a pair of men fight hand to hand in the distance. She looked back at Sira and said softy, “I haven't seen you all last season, so how has life been treating you?”

[Sira]

Sira didn't mind the hug at all. She was used to being dirty. A common misconception about the endal was that they were uptight and didn't like to get their hands dirty, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The endal were used to being sweaty, covered in grime, and camping out in the wilderness where it was impossible to stay clean for long. Sira's arms wrapped around Iosha, returning the embrace warmly. She liked the girl. She had a strange, exotic charm about her.

"Oh, I don't mind at all. I wish I got hugged by sweaty fish girls more often."

When Iosha asked about the past season a brief, but barely imperceptible frown passed over Sira's face before she forced a fake smile across it. The winter had not been kind to Sira. Natalie, Sira's daughter, had begun dating a man that was anything but good for her. She did not know it, but the man was blackmailing Sira for sexual favors, forcing her to do whatever he wanted. It was never a pleasant experience. The only shining light throughout the entire season had been the events with Aela and the two gods, but even that was tainted in that she could not tell anyone about it.

"Oh.. it was good," Sira lied, not wanting Iosha to know the truth about what her winter had been like. "I spent a lot of time at home, and mostly just relaxed."

Not wanting to dwell on the subject, Sira instead turned to other things. She asked to see Iosha's sword. Sira wasn't all that familiar with the longsword, and wanted to take a look at it. Most of her experience with bladed weapons involved the talon sword, something which Sira herself had been training with for years. The longsword was a completely different weapon and fighting style.

"So what made you choose the longsword? Most of us in Wind Reach use the talon sword. I don't know much about this kind of weapon, personally, but I suppose it's as effective as any."

OOC
There is a Video Blog about this post if you are curious.

[Iosha]

Iosha was disappointed that Sira didn't share more about last winter, but she figured the Endal was a private person, so she didn't want to pry to much into her personal life. Iosha slowly unsheathed her sword with her right hand and laid the flat of the blade across her arm. The konti's violet eyes stared at the blade of a moment as she remembered the kindhearted Knight of Syliras who sacrificed his own life to free her from a life of slavery. The long sword was his weapon of choice, and in his memory, the Konti made it her own too. She looked at Sira golden eyes and said softly with hesitation in her voice, “It a long story sad story Sira, but I am honoring a memory right now, so I will keep it brief for now. When I was a slave in Ravok, I was freed by a human with a long sword. He was a undercover Knight of Syliras, and he sacrificed himself to free me from my Master.” Iosha gave her a weak smile since she just revealed a very private part of her life to the kelvic woman, and she said softly, “Honestly, I had full intentions when I came to Wind Reach to learn the weapon of my father, the talon sword, but the man who was welding the weapon was both elegant and brutal at the same time, so I decided to stay with long sword since it symbolized the way I wanted to fight after I was free.” Iosha gave the beautiful red head a amused smirk and said playfully to her friend, “Also in the future, I figure I could always charm talon sword lessons out of somebody too. I just need to put on my best helpless girl impression and hold the sword wrong.” After telling her joke, she gently bite her bottom lip and immediately went into her helpless girl impression for Sira while she staring confused at her sword, “What do you think, Sira? Can I get lessons?” Still resting the blade on her left arm, Iosha turned the hilt and nodded to her friend to pick it up. Iosha looked at her and said simply, “Honestly, I am better healer than a sword woman, but I know enough not to stab myself in the foot. I started training with the sword when I was working for the hunting company in the North Reaches, but at the time my lover Ayume Frostfawn taught me the basics of using the sword.” Iosha decided to lie since she didn't want to reveal she was a magic user to Sira, “When I left Rovak, I was pretty helpless since I knew minimal archery and next to nothing about defending myself with sword.” Iosha continued with a soft smile on her face, “I learned from her the basics of the sword for example how to hold it and most importantly not stabbing oneself in the foot. The blade is mostly used for thrusting into armored opponents, but it is a versatile weapon, so I can cut and slice with great efficiency too.” Iosha blush slightly to herself and said softly, “It is not healer's first choice in weapons, and I am sure Rak'Keli is shaking her head at me right now for wielding it, but I figure if I use it for self-defense than she might let me keep my mark.” Iosha knew she needed to get back to practicing before she started her shift in the evening at the Infirmary, so the konti glanced at the weapon rack looking for a pair of replica weapons to use in their spar. Iosha didn't want to spar with real steel since she didn't have the skill enough to control her swings, and she didn't want to hurt Sira or her in the spar. Also, how would she explain to Aidara that she accidentally sliced off the finger of her bond-mate? Iosha looked at Sira and said with laugh, “I know Aidara is probably the sweetest woman in Wind Reach, but I think we should play it safe with her and use wooden swords in our spar. I doubt your bond-mate would be too happy with us if either one of us lost a finger or a arm during our friendly duel.” Suddenly, Iosha got a crazy idea and added with a laugh, “You might think I am completely insane for suggesting it, but I have a idea on how to make the spar fun! We should work on our trash talking at the same time. What do you think, Sira? Am I insane or do you want to do it?”

[Sira]

Sira took the weapon gently from the konti, holding it out in front of her and giving it a few practice swings. It was so much different from the talon sword, which was long and curved. This sword was straight. It weighed differently, and was used differently. Sira had seen such weapons in action before in the fighting pit, but had never personally fought against someone using one. She could understand why Iosha was doing it though. A weapon was a personal thing, even if it was something meant to do harm, and the weapon clearly meant something to her.

"I don't think you'd have to put on an act to get someone to teach you," Sira said in response to Iosha's joke, "I'm pretty sure anyone would be happy to teach a pretty konti like you."

Sira handed back the sword when Iosha brought her the wooden one, reaching for the talon sword replica. The kelvic stepped back and gave it a few practice swings. It was balanced well enough, though wooden swords never felt quite like the real thing. Still, they were good for learning the basics, and for learning to react to things in an actual sparring situation without worrying about getting hurt too much. Unless someone was actually trying to kill, the worst that usually ever happened was a few bruises and maybe, maybe a broken bone.

"I think Rak'keli will be okay with it. She has never taken Addy's mark, and she has had to use her weapons before."

Sira couldn't help but laugh at Iosha's suggestion. Trash talk? That was probably one of the most random things she had ever heard. In truth, when Sira fought, she usually didn't say much at all. She was quiet for the most part, aside from possibly grunts and growls from effort and things like that. But this was going to be a playful spar, after all, so why not? Sira could use some silliness for a change.

"Sure, why not.. tuna fish," she said as she raised her wooden sword, clearly impressed by her pathetically terrible attempt at trash talk.

[Iosha]

Iosha started to blush when Sira complimented on her beauty. The konti still thought she was rather plain looking compared to other konti, but to other races, she was starting to realize they had different feelings about her physical attractiveness. It didn't help that she had a slight crush on the beautiful kelvic too, so she gave the red haired woman a warm smile for the compliment. Iosha stepped back and put her left hand on the pommel and her right hand on the hilt by the crossbar. She noticed the wooden sword was lighter than her metal sword. It was a decently made, but when she did a few practice swings, she needed to swing much harder to get the correct force. Iosha heard some of the stories of Sira's fierce determination in the sparring rings lately, so she was kind of weary of the sparring the woman at all. Iosha laid the wooden sword as she watched the woman start to laugh at her suggestion of trash talk. When Sira started her trash talk, Iosha blew a piece of white hair from her face and teased softly, “Sira, I just want to make it clear to you that regardless of what I say about you. I only say it out of love. Shall we begin my friend?” The konti stuck her tongue out at the kelvic woman and point the tip of her sword at the head of the kelvic. When Sira took her position, Iosha lifted the blade, so the crossbar of her sword was at her ear and main edge of the blade facing her opponent. The konti violet eyes stared down the Endal in front of her and said with a sneer, “How dare you call me a tuna fish! Don't you know who I am?” Iosha started to walk towards the woman and declared loudly with a wink, “I am Iosha Moonchaser a Battle Maiden of Mura, and you will submit to my blade, or I will show you what we do with over-sized chickens on my beloved Mura!” Iosha inwardly cringed when she called Sira a over-sized chicken. It wasn't something a lower caste would say to a Wind Eagle of Wind Reach, but Iosha had to go there, and she sure the Endal will enjoy giving her a thrashing for her insult. The wind started to pick up, and she looked at the kelvic woman and said loudly, “This shouldn't take too long!” Iosha eyes followed the moment of her opponent as she side stepped around her a opponent looking for the perfect opportunity to strike. When Iosha found a opening, the konti stepped forward with her back foot and slashed her blade across the abdomen of her opponent.

[Sira]

OOCSo sorry for taking this long. My posts should be back up to speed now.

If it had been any other situation, Sira might have decapitated the konti for calling her a chicken. But they had already agreed they were going to trash talk each other, and so Sira just found the insult amusing. Besides, the konti was too pretty to decapitate. Plus Addy would throw a fit.

Iosha was barely a novice with her sword, but Sira was nearly an expert. The attack was easy to spot, and easy to block, and the sound of wood knocking against wood rung out as Sira brought her weapon up and knocked the blade away before stepping around the konti and striking at her rear. It was a playful attack, of course, but that did not mean Sira wasn't taking the spar serious. Whether she actually hit or not depended on whether the konti moved, but when Iosha turned to face Sira she would not find her laughing, but rather awaiting the next attack.

"That the best you can do.. fish girl? You'd better try harder, or I'll knick your scaly ass back to the bay where it belongs."

Maybe that was a bit harsh, but Iosha was getting what she asked for. The longer the spar went on, the more Sira would get into it. Still, Sira did not go on the offensive, and awaited Iosha's next attack. She was watching for the konti's weaknesses, watching for her tells. In theory, if she remembered to do so, she would tell Iosha all about them after the spar, so she could work on improving them.

[Iosha]

The swordsmanship ability between the two woman could be clearly seen in the first strike of the spar. The swing from Iosha was easily predictable by just about anyone, and the kelvic parried and counter it with ease. When Iosha turned around to face her opponent, the konti couldn't stop herself from rubbing her throbbing butt. The blond woman gave the kelvic a devious grin and started to laugh out loud. Iosha knew she was having fun, so she figured Sira would be the villain in the spar while Iosha was the beauty heroine from the east. Iosha pointed her wooden sword at the kelvic and declared, “You dare strike the rear of a Sword Maiden of Mura!” Iosha loved the title of Sword Maiden of Mura, and she started to get the picture in her mind of herself in shining metal armor riding on a white horse. Iosha continued her speech with a wink, “If you weren't my arch nemesis, I might ask you to do it again, but unfortunately, this isn't the place or time senseless flirting. Now fiend! Prepare yourself!”

Iosha decided to stalk her opponent trying to find a opening. It was difficult to tell with a skill swordsman like Sira, but she had to try give her somewhat of a challenge. The konti held the sword in front of her with both hands and the point of the sword was aim up at her head. The blond woman was ready for anything, but Sira made no move to attack. She just stood there waiting for Iosha's next move, so the inexperienced Konti took the bait. Iosha made three quick strides towards the red haired woman, and she thrust the wooden sword straight at the chest of kelvic trying to get her off balanced. The blond haired woman's aim was off, so she missed the thrust wide of her left arm. Iosha lifted her sword around her head quickly brought the sword hilt down and across the right side body of her friend. It was a aggressive attack, but Iosha tried to keep her swing as controlled as possible.

[Sira]

Sira waited patiently for Iosha's next attack. Iosha might have considered Sira a skilled swordsman, but the kelvic knew better than to call herself that. She was better than some, yes, but skilled? She still had a long way to go. Iosha declaring Sira the villain amused the kelvic even more.

"Arch nemesis, am I? Well I guess today the Sword Maiden of Mura is going to meet her match."

When Iosha attacked, Sira did not have to do much to avoid it. The Konti's aim was off from the beginning, and Sira was able to casually step aside. Unfortunately that was a mistake.. the casualness of it. Sira was not expecting the second attack which came around on her right side. The kelvic tried to block it, but she wasn't ready for it, and Iosha scored a good hit against the woman.

"Nice job! I mean.. now you've done it! I was going easy on you before, but it's time to send you swimming!"

Sira was joking, or was she? The endal came at Iosha quick, her strikes rapid and coming from the left and the right. They were aggressive, designed to drive the konti back toward the wall. Sira would not let up, she would keep pushing until Iosha dropped her guard or tired, and then she would strike, hitting her hard wherever the opening was, or as hard as she could without hurting her. She wasn't trying to be mean, she was just trying to show Iosha how hard a fight could really be when the opponent was actually trying to hurt her. Hopefully it wouldn't hurt too bad though.