Completed [Bronze Woods] A Sparring Glance [Fallon]

[Isolde Seibold]

OOCMan I suck at titles/descriptions! This happens every time, unfortunately -.- If you have any suggestions I'm open to them. Really. I really mean it. Please help.

{13th Summer, 513 AV
10th bell}

The Nuit was meditating. Normally she sat on the ground with her legs crossed half-lotus style, back straight, shoulders forward and relaxed, head bowed. Today she was perched at the rough edge of a fallen tree, bowed forward, elbows resting on her knees and pale hands holding up her head. If one didn't know she was a Nuit, they would have thought she was sleeping, or perhaps resting after the long, uneven trek out into the Woods. Neither of these assumptions could apply to Isolde. No, she was meditating, that was all. She certainly needed it if she was going to be able to force herself to attack Fallon later on.

Meditation for the Nuit was like drifting along on a thoughtless --and somehow at the same time thoughtful-- breeze. Sometimes beginning meditation was hard for her, trying to work out the right breathing pattern, and sometimes trying to lay aside all her worries and doubts and fears seemed nigh impossible. But once the Nuit slipped in deep enough, it was a whole other matter. For Isolde, meditation was as close as she got to feeling at peace, and once a bit of that tranquility leaked into her it was hard to let it go.

Isolde was counting on that. Training would be hard enough without her tripping over her feet trying to run in the opposite direction, or flinching every time Fallon made the smallest move. She had purposefully left her pocket of flour at home, so as not to be tempted to throw a fistful in Fallon's face and disappear into the Woods; perhaps the Myrian had found that little trick amusing, but it was likely that not many others would. Especially those kind enough to actually agree to meet with --and perhaps even teach-- a Nuit. She didn't want to wreck this by being her usual cowardly self.

The thought that she shouldn't rely so heavily on meditation to make herself willing to fight was a minor annoyance, buzzing in circles around her head like a particularly interested bumble bee. Isolde swatted it away, not letting it sting her, and let her other, primary worry settle meekly into place-- that Fallon would not show. That she would get lost --or that she would decide she was unwilling to help Isolde-- and that the Nuit would be left waiting for her in the Woods, sitting on a sawed-off tree stump and meditating herself into oblivion all day long. The Nuit wouldn't blame the girl for deciding not to show, and she couldn't blame Fallon if her own directions to this happy little clearing --which she had stumbled upon while searching for a good place to practice her Reimancy-- had been incomplete. Isolde knew she should have agreed to spar in the Anthonius Fighter's Pit, that was a much more practical place to practice... but she was afraid of going back there now that she had been forced to reveal what she was in front of a number of burly men who may or may not have overheard. She didn't want to take the chance of one of them being there, recognizing her --for it was hard not to recognize her in such a place-- and deciding that it was time to play decapitate-the-Nuit. There was also the slim possibility that one of them would hurt her simply because Razkar had stuck up for her in front of them all. No, going to the Pit was out of the question unless the Myrian --or someone suitably large and terrifying-- was by her side. Isolde didn't want to drag Fallon into a real fight... no, not at all. So the Bronze Woods would have to do. At least until the day came that the Nuit was stupid --or brave-- enough to face the Anthonius Fighter's Pit once more. Most likely that day was lurking far out somewhere on the horizon, safely far away.

For now there was nothing to do but for the Nuit to hold the dagger in her lap, breathe evenly, steadily, and wait for her acquaintance to --hopefully-- appear.

[Fallon]

Usually, Fallon spent the day light hours either in the training grounds practicing or hunting for shade to relax in. For it was at night that a large amount of her true exercises begun – it was a lot cooler after all. But it was only on this occasion that the squire had taken to the daylight hours for practicing. Only because she had been asked though. And by a Nuit of all things. It was a slightly bizarre request in the mind of Fallon, why on earth would a Nuit want to learn how to use a dagger? Were they not specialised in other things and most importantly slow and sluggish in combat? Never the less, Isolde had managed to catch her and request help in it and so her target was set for the Bronze woods, the Kukri strapped across the base of her back so she could draw it with ease – in theory at least – whilst the majority of her other equipment was left back in the safety of the squire dormitories. She rolled her shoulders back in the studded armour. It had been a while since she had worn it, the leather having grown a fine layer of dust when she rediscovered it. No surprise really seeing as she was often stuck in the training grounds wearing padded armour instead of her usual attire.

Keeping her form low, Fallon worked her way through the undergrowth, taking careful steps as she followed a game trail in the direction the Nuit had described. Fingers curled back low branches as she stepped through and along. She vaguely remembered the description. At the time of the Nuit had described it so clearly that there seemed little issue with actually getting there. As time went on, the directions begun to grow foggy and unclear, leaving the squire stumped and having to rely upon other things than what she had been told. She eyed a snapped twig, and slid her eyes around her and the floor. Inspecting it, she ran a finger along the prints that had been left there torn between whether or not it was suitable to follow them. Her lips twisted, and she stood straight to give herself a good view of what was going on about her.

There was one thing that Fallon had decided after a while of walking and trundling through the fauna and the near isolation of the woods itself, that it was a place favoured by the more unusual… things. If it was not mages, it was ghosts or kelvics. Her lips pursed together with thought, and decided quickly it was a bad idea to jump to conclusions. Still the idea lurked in the back of her mind, but it was not one she was going to pursue with more evidence behind her.

She drew the kukri from its sheath, the ringing of cold steel sounding out as she felt the old familiar weight in her hand. It had been a while since she had to use it properly as a weapon, so it should at least prove interesting in her training. Pushing away a thorny branch with it, the squire stepped through and looked ahead. There appeared to be a clearing in the distance and from what she could tell it matched the description. Mostly at least, she could not tell if the nuit was there or not at present. Her step quickened, her foot fall growing steady as she worked her way through the branches and used the Kukri as a tool instead of a weapon.

Fallon gave a quick gander in as she came closer, and looked upon the form of the Nuit that sat there. Head bent almost as if she was in prayer – or asleep if she was human. Straightening herself, the squire slid the blade away and came properly into the clearing before speaking, “Good morning Isolde. How fares your day?”

Pleasantries before the main task after all.
x

[Isolde Seibold]

“Good morning Isolde. How fares your day?”

The Nuit's head bobbed up, eyes opening --she hadn't even been aware that they had closed-- and she gave what she hoped was a passable smile to the girl appearing from the brush. "Fallon," she said, sounding relieved-- the girl had come, she had made it-- this was good. "It h-has been pleasant so far. E-Enjoying the Summer day. T-Trying to get into the pr-proper mindset. And you?" To Fallon, the change in the Nuit's speech must have been rather impressive; when they had first met, Isolde had been barely able to string together a sentence, unaccustomed to conversation, to having to put voice to thoughts. The Nuit had been even more timid then, if that was possible. Now there was just the tiniest bit of confidence in her speech, and even though the stutter was still there it was just barely present, the Nuit having worked on ironing it out.

With Fallon here, the doubt immediately tried to come slinking back to Isolde, telling her that this was not the right thing to be doing... but it met with the calm that was the Nuit's only armor-- unlike Fallon she didn't own any, and it would probably weigh too much anyways-- and was brought to heel. The Nuit's smile eased into place, looking a little more genuine and a little less forced. She could do this if she kept her mind on it. She just had to hold onto this state of mind and she would be fine.

After awaiting for Fallon's reply, the Isolde asked, "S-So. H-How do w-we want to start this?" Her eyes dashed about the clearing, trying to take in the layout of the land, looking for any sudden dips in the ground or small plants or rocks that would be stumbled over. It would be stupid of her to try to spar with Fallon and find herself tripping all over the place, unable to keep her feet under her-- and footing was crucial for balance, she had learned that quickly. A sudden thought occurred, and the Nuit said, more hesitantly, "O-Oh. A-And if it not t-too m-much to ask-- do you think we c-could start out slow? I'm n-not too skilled, you see--" This was the understatement of the year; she also needed time for her mind to process Fallon's moves, for her body to respond to attacks that she didn't see coming.

It wasn't that the Nuit couldn't be good at sparring; Isolde was confident that she could be --well, she could be good enough-- but only if she didn't have to react. That was, if she could somehow learn to anticipate moves, she would be good. The Nuit wasn't sluggish when she walked or ran (in fact, when she ran sometimes she could be pretty quick). Neither was she slow in any of the usual, everyday movements she performed, and she thought it must be because she knew what she was going to be doing and did it. The problem with sparring was that she didn't quite know what she was supposed to be doing next; at least, she didn't know yet. If she could somehow learn to know what was going to be expected from a fight, what sorts of moves, and the moves that she herself could respond with-- then she might be able to get adequate enough at this to have a hope of defending herself against someone who might actually want to hurt her.

But to start out, she would have to take it slow, and hope Fallon would take pity and not be too rough.

[Fallon]

Fallon inclined her head to the Nuit “Tired. As always. The summer heat has that affect on me.” There was a brief flash of a smile, and the squire pushed herself off of the tree. Slow steps brought her round and into closer range of Isolde. Even Fallon could tell that there was a change in the presence within the nuit, her stance, her words, even the way she spoke. And the fact that she had plucked up the courage to ask for the assistance of the squire “Do not worry too much though, it feels like it will be cool today.”

Looking about herself and the clearing Fallon gave a slight frown as she tried to think upon the next best thing to do. Twigs, stones and what not was scattered about the clearing, serving as potential trip hazards to the pair of them. As it was training however, a simple practice and showing of what was what and how to at least start the idea of defending ones self she took to the idea that it might be best to make a bit of space. Pursing her lips together she turned her head to the Nuit “To begin with, we’ll tidy up the clearing so we don’t have things to fall over. Don’t want accidents after all. Besides, it’s a good sort of… limber us up I guess. Let’s see how fast we can do it shall we?”

Stooping Fallon picked up a branch, and swung it over her shoulder. She felt the wood rest there, the dried state of its existence upon her back. Footsteps lead her around the clearing, the padding of feet upon the floor as the little space was cleared up. For the better in a sense. The squire made herself move quickly, feet brushing things aside whilst hands picked up others. If Isolde was doing the same or simply observing, then Fallon herself did not register it.

It was when she paused to stretch out once more, that she finally addressed the nuit, “Relax. We’ll be going slow anyway. I’m not a master at using the Kukri and that after all. I just… well… I just know how to use it enough to get me out of trouble. Which is what I’ll try to show you too.”
x

[Isolde Seibold]

The Nuit was feeling remarkably reassured by Fallon's calm, purposeful speech, and she became even more so when Fallon suggested they clean up an area for the lesson. That was good. Less to worry about, all those rocks and sticks to stumble over. As Fallon began snatching up branches and brushing other hazards aside, Isolde quickly started plucking up the rocks that she thought would be dangerous to catch a heel on, or those she thought might be a risk to stubbing toes. She worked as fast as she could at the girl's suggestion, which turned out to be pretty fast, considering that she didn't really ever feel physically tired. Soon enough she had shucked an armful of smaller rocks to the side. Those she couldn't heft she squatted down next to and shoved until they rolled to the edge of the space that had been designated, their own momentum --once they got moving-- working against them, doing most of the work for her. The rocks handled, the Nuit set to grabbing up any extra sticks that Fallon might have deemed too small to be a threat, just in case. She chucked them to the forest's edge, then turned to face Fallon once more.

“Relax. We’ll be going slow anyway. I’m not a master at using the Kukri and that after all. I just… well… I just know how to use it enough to get me out of trouble. Which is what I’ll try to show you too.”

Perhaps Fallon innately knew how to soothe a person's nerves, or perhaps she was accidentally saying and doing all the right things, but Isolde found herself smiling again, this time gratefully. She passed her eyes over the space they had cleared, nodding her head once, before taking her dagger in her hands --admiring the silver shine to it-- and settling her fingers into the proper grip, which had quickly become comfortable, natural to her. "Thanks. That's a-all I ask for, really. I d-don't particularly want to win any fights... I just want to know enough to d-defend myself, or g-get away." Like she had before, the Nuit kept her dagger sheathed. If she somehow, by some miracle, managed to land a lucky blow, she would rather not end up actually cutting her companion, and the Nuit's sheath worked in such a way that it would not be a hindrance at all, really.

There were a couple long strips of leather that hung from the side of the sheath, used to tie it to her belt, or at least that's what the Nuit had been using them for. Now she wrapped those around the hilt, so that they wouldn't swing freely, whipping around-- and then she paused, and wondered if some sort of harness could be built for the dagger, with similar ties that could be wrapped around her arm so that her weapon couldn't be knocked out of her hand, or the ends of the straps weighted, to be used as their own sort of weapon, a tiny bludgeoning tool, if necessary.

Yes, now that she had thought about it she could practically see it. Perhaps a brace that could be made to go around her arm, something she could always be sure to wear --something that could be adjusted for size, considering that her next body wouldn't necessarily be this tiny-- and some sort of harness, yes, that would go around the hilt of the dagger, snugly. And then she could choose to either snap the long strips from the end of the harness quickly into a corresponding place on her arm brace, giving the dagger a leash that ended at her arm, making it so that she couldn't really drop it or misplace it... or she could let the long strips swing free, perhaps with buckles at the ends that could be whipped into an enemy's head or shoulders if an appropriate moment arose, effectively making the dagger a double-sided weapon, or close enough. Hmm. Perhaps she could talk to a blacksmith about it-- wasn't Hadyn one? Maybe she would know something about that... or could at least point her to someone who might, a shop-owner, or someone at a stall in the Bazaar. Maybe even Fallon, or Razkar, or Istril would know something. Isolde made a mental note to ask Fallon later if it was applicable, and hoped that she would remember to do so.

For now, though, she simply faced the girl as she finished her stretching --the Nuit not doing any of that herself, and she wondered silently if it had any benefit for someone like her-- with her dagger in hand, waiting patiently. The meditation seemed to have worked. She wasn't going into a panic at the thought of training, and she hadn't even been frightened into participating. She was really going to need to work on being able to snap herself into the right mentality, instantly, instead of having to ease into it for chimes upon chimes. Much as she didn't like to admit it, it would be much easier to face an opponent if she wasn't worrying about hurting them as much as she was worrying about keeping herself from harm. "A-Anytime you're ready," the Nuit said, wondering if Fallon would begin with the sparring, or try to teach something practical about stance or technique first.

OOCSorry for the lack of action, but I thought it might be good to let you start it off however you wanted.

[Fallon]

Fallon gave a firm nod. Yes, training and showing how to defend one’s self with a blade. Not to look for trouble, but to protect and avoid it. Her nostrils flared as she drew in the summer air, breathing in the scent of trees and fauna. With the space cleared it would be easier for them to do as they intended with minimal risk. The squire paced the clearing out, properly this time and allowed the Nuit to get use to simply holding it. That was one of the few things she would have to get use to first, the weight of it, how to hold it, even down to the simple gripping of it. Exhaling she tried to remember the early years where she had to use the Kukri and the lessons her mentor gave.

“The first thing to take note of is the grip and stance,” Fallon begun her poor attempt at a lesson as she stood before Isolde “For before you can even consider moving, you have to consider those things. Stance after all determines how you can and can’t move, whilst grip determines the length of strike.” Taking out her Kukri and securing the sheath around it. Placing her right thumb underneath the hilt, with her fingers flared she supported it before her with aid of her other hand, “So, you have your dagger, generally with a small hilt, pommel and hand guard. In the case of the Kukri there is no hilt, but the pommel at the end serves in keeping it balanced. And that to me is the important bit. Bigger weapons are better to be heavy ended; it means they have a cleaving affect over a piercing one.” Wrapping her fingers around the hilt, she kept the index finger raised slightly higher up it whilst the others were closer together towards the pommel. Her free hand was lowered and she held it behind her “When your grip is comfy we’ll continue.”

She gave the Nuit a moment to adjust if need be and then promptly continued “The next thing to consider is stance. See the stance determines how you move and how you would react, but also determines how big of a target you are for receiving hits. Let me show you…” Shifting herself round she stood so she was parallel to Isolde, and placed the Kukri between them “So, as you see here, all my torso is exposed to hacks, slashes, pierces and so on. But if I turn so I am side on to you,” she shifted so her right shoulder face the Nuit and the blade pointed forwards, “The target for you to hit becomes smaller, no?” A flicker of a smile rested there for a chime, as she moved her feet about so they rested at a right angle to each other “Let’s see how you do it shall we?”

Once more Fallon waited, taking several steps away to give some space. She gave her own kukri a few gentle swings and flicks of the wrist as once more she grew familiar with it. It had been the best part of a season since she had used it in combat or training. As a tool however she still made some use of it. Scanning the surroundings once more the squire stopped to lay eyes upon the Nuit, attentive and ready to make corrections if need be. She would not be mad if she needed it, for even she knew everyone had to start somewhere “Be sure not to stick your dagger out too much now, and to have the pointy end towards the enemy.”
x

[Isolde Seibold]

The Nuit found that she liked to start out lessons going over the very basics. Basics made her felt at ease, giving her a form to stick to, giving her mind something to adjust to before any actual fighting went down. It was interesting to see, too, the differences in style between the very few people she had trained with so far. Perhaps, under a variety of instructors, she would find a way that felt comfortable to her, that made her feel like what she was doing was right. For now, she was still way too awkward with her motions and technique, too new at this sort of thing to really know what was best for herself. There were minor adjustments to be made, and she concentrated on making them.

Fallon's grip, for example, was only very slightly different from Razkar's, which wasn't a problem. She corrected her fingers to match the girl's, sliding her index finger a little further forward than she had practiced before, but the grip still felt solid. The Nuit still thought that she would have control and balance, which was all that was really needed for this sort of thing, wasn't it?

The stance, however. That was quite a bit different. Sure, the knees were still bent, and Isolde held out her left hand ready as Razkar had shown-- but turning sideways was a new development, and one that conflicted somewhat with her original stance. Her dominant foot --the right foot-- was forward and the other back; when Razkar had taught, the left had been forward. Variety was good. She had to think that this change was good. She was still learning, and there was much she had to know before she would be considered even merely adequate, merely competent. She rotated until she was facing Fallon with her body turned to the side, finding that it was --once again-- easy to mirror the stance of her teacher. For a few ticks, she tested the movements of her legs and knees. This sort of stance --or at least she imagined-- would be good for dodging. The direction of her body would make it easy to step out of the way of an attack from the blade of an enemy, and she thought --but she wasn't certain, this was all conjecture considering that she was by no means an expert in any sort of sparring-- that it would make less difference if the opponent was right or left handed. After reviewing her bout with Razkar she had concluded that it might be somewhat awkward to fight a person who primarily used their weapon with their left hand-- that would put the two blades facing each other, make it harder to reach to block smoothly, make it harder to keep her own dagger arm safe. Turned sideways the attacks would be more frontal, and they would be that way regardless of which hand her opponent used, as long as the person fought in the same sideways style that Fallon was teaching.

The Nuit liked the idea of making the body a smaller target... and, thinking of the Myrian's layers of scars she almost had to wonder if he would benefit from such a lesson-- but she did have one question about the stance, the style. "W-What do I do with my left hand--?" She didn't want to seem like she wasn't listening to Fallon, she was... but this style was very different than the one she had been taught, and she wanted to understand. "I-- I had another teacher, y-you see, and a l-lot of the fighting was d-done with the left hand. It would be u-used to block or attack, y-you could use your forearm to b-bat away an e-enemy's attack, and retaliate with a strike from the left --a punch, or hit-- or with a slash from your weapon hand, the right." She gestured down to her body, rail thin, turned sideways. "I see what you m-mean, turning like this. Smaller target m-means harder to hit, and that's g-good. I a-also have a-- a feeling, I guess, that this stance m-makes it easier to dodge. But turned like so, the left hand is f-far away from your opponent, right?" She waved her left hand to bring attention to it, which was practically the furthest part of her body from Fallon, besides, perhaps, her left foot. "S-So I was just wondering if i-it was ever brought into play. Or if I-I'm supposed to fight primarily w-with the dagger hand, and not use the left at all."

[Fallon]

Pursing her lips the squire thought carefully. Although she knew how to use her left hand to fight, she felt that using it this early on would be slightly too complex. Still the Nuit had questioned what to do with it, and so she made herself answer.

“You can bring the other into play, though I personally wouldn’t use it to block against attacks. Not without a shield or a good strong arm bracer. I mean a blade will cut through flesh, something blunt could break bones, and if you’re unlucky it could even cleave your arm off. For the moment, we’ll just focus on the use of the dagger, if that’s alright with you?” There was a brief flicker of a smile as she brought her left arm and held it firmly behind her, the fist clenched tightly and the knuckles pressing against her back. It forced her to straighten slightly, the blade tip tilting upwards to point towards the sky “Moving on you are right about it being useful for dodging, you only need to sidestep or move backwards.”

Exhaling Fallon took a moment to pause and think about the next part of her lesson. She was teaching the nuit how to defend and escape, not how to fight. So she chose the option of trying to show how to get out of harm’s way first. Clearing her throat, she begun, “Now there’s lots of different types of attacks. Punches, daggers, swords, spears, axes… if you can think of it then it can be used as a weapon and so can be used with attacking someone. Because of that there is a lot of ways to fight back and avoid damage. I mean you can try and block with a dagger, but their size and strength can make it hard to do at times.” Shrugging she approached the Nuit and gently guided the tip of the Kukri towards her. It was slow deliberately so, just to see how Isolde would react to it, “So, let’s begin with daggers and the like.”

The squire would not hurt her, at present the most she would give would be a gentle tap with the flat edge of the kukri to serve as a wakeup call to where it could land. Her stance however remained the same, an obviously trained in one. She gave her wrist a turn as she continued to stretch forward with it, her feet shifting slightly as she closed the gap, “So the blade is being thrusted at you, leaving you with a few options. So what do you want to do? Sidestep? Block it? Push it away?” They were only possible options designed to make one think and then allow them to proceed onto the next step, “What is it you want to achieve?”

She was unsure if this was even the right approach to teaching, but it was at least worth a shot. She did not fancy throwing swings about just yet after all.
x

[Isolde Seibold]

What Fallon said made sense, and really, Isolde had only ever really done any training when it came to dagger vs. dagger, not dagger vs. ax or dagger vs. sword or dagger vs. spear. Or against any of the other sorts of weapons that the Nuit was failing to name at the moment. Any of those might require different blocking or tactics, techniques the Nuit had not yet learned and so were useless to her... so when Fallon pressed her left arm across the small of her back the Nuit did the same, mirroring her, clenching cool fingers into a tiny fist. The position felt odd to her, one hand tied down like that, kept out of the way... and she was nearly certain she would forget and drag her arm out at some point in time, probably earning herself a rebuke in the process. But she'd try her best to get it to stay back there. Though it might be hard; she was naturally nervous of impeding herself in any way, due to her many frailties and disadvantages.

Fallon approached, kukri slowly extending, and the Nuit listened to her words as she came, and to the possibilities that her teacher was listing. “So the blade is being thrusted at you, leaving you with a few options. So what do you want to do? Sidestep? Block it? Push it away? What is it you want to achieve?”

Well. With Razkar she would have blocked and performed a counter attack, no doubt. Both actions would've been attempted as simultaneously as possible, the left forearm knocking Fallon's blade to the side at the same time that her own right hand --her own dagger-- would be coming in quick at the girl's abdomen or neck or shoulder or wherever seemed open. But that wouldn't work here. Isolde pressed her left arm further against her back to keep it in place, to keep it from jumping out and knocking away Fallon's slow lunge--

And instead she stepped with Fallon's swing, bouncing out of the way, her dagger already swinging down at Fallon's extended arm, at the exposed crook of the elbow. Take the attacker's arm and they can't attack. What was it that people sometimes said? Best defense is a good offense--? What a bunch of horsepucky, but this was how she'd been taught to deal with an opponent --fight when you cannot flee-- and so she'd have to stick to it now.

As she moved --matching Fallon's speed, not going any faster, which left plenty of time for conversation-- Isolde said, "I-In my training b-before, I was made to a-attack. I'd p-pretty much have to wait for an opening of some sort and then t-try to get away. So, even though I didn't want to fight--" Here came the memory of the Myrian's snarling face when she'd disobeyed, when she refused to attack him, and that had ended up with him planting his toes hard in her stomach. "--I k-kinda had to. I think I'm supposed to fight as well as I c-can until I can g-get a lucky blow, or surprise the person w-with a trick, and then capitalize on that. Use the d-distraction of pain or hesitation in my opponent to run away a-as fast as I can."

[Fallon]

She watched the dagger slowly arch round, the speed being matched with her. She watched the Nuit move to avoid the slow thrust of the Kukri, and the lunging movement that followed after it. Her eyes followed the dagger, tracing down path that it would have taken to the inner arm and elbow. Her ears twitched to the conversation, her head gently nodding in understanding. Turning her wrist she changed the thrust into a side swing, maintaining the same speed as she did. She pivoted on her front foot, moving with it and preventing herself from straining too much.

“What about times when you cannot run away,” the squire kept her left hand pressed against her back, “What about the times you have to fight? Not just because you can’t escape, but more because a situation has presented itself before you that will only hurt more if you do leave it.” Her eyes met the Nuit’s, steady and unwavering as her movement continued, “Still, it is a good base to work from. But you must remember the moment you start learning how to fight, it isn’t just about defending yourself but also about defending others when they need to be defended.”

The squire gave a smirk, and let the dagger hit against her arm. Releasing a mocking cry she pulled away, and returned once more to her starting stance, giving a few good flicks to shake off the strain from moving slowly. Fallon gave a solid nod again to Isolde, and cleared her throat, “When you’re ready we’ll start again, exactly the same ad before but faster this time.”

Not that she would actually give too much time for the Nuit to prepare herself. This time instead of thrusting it, she changed tactics and brought it back towards her before throwing it forward - slowly mind – as if to cleave down at the nuit and her shoulder. A slow heavy swish, nothing more nothing less. She had to be careful with her, she had to tease out what may or may not have been known to her. She had to judge her levels of learning and determine if she really was ready for anything more serious, or if it was necessary to ease off. They were both novices after all, and most harm came from accidents and not paying attention to what was going on around them.

“Let me know if we’re going to fast, or if I’m hurting. Understand?”
x