Closed [Anthonius Fighter's Pit] The pointy end

[Fallon]

Fallon watched as he shuffled backwards, escaping her boot as it came in his direction. It cost her some ticks to correct herself, precious time that could make or break combat. She had to move faster, she had to be swifter. If she was not then her efforts would be for waste. His shield returned, and was held tightly to him tightly as he made a swing at her. There was the recoil once more as it struck against her shield, her defence forced up to deal with his attack. She backed away, sword pushed behind her as she looked for a way round. There was a rock on her feet, her eyes looking towards the blade tip then to him. A foot moved behind the other, quickly stepping around him where possible, looking for a point of weakness to exploit.

She had to be faster, she had to be quicker. The downward swing came first, toes forcing her into springing backwards. Her form creased, back curving inwards as she went to make space. It forced her guard to lower, and made her working on a retreat. Going onto her back foot, she threw the shield in front of her, she second slash coming round shortly after. Feet went back again, the blow bouncing off as her, the attack growing more apparent by the tick. Speed was in play now, and so she would have to fight back – hopefully without causing too much damage. Her wrist gave turn, her mind turning as to what she could do next. He was a novice; she knew that both were as inexperienced as the other. And it was that state of being that she had to exploit, to gain the upper hand and win.

But it was training – she would win and gain knowledge regardless. Her shoulders rolled and her brow met at a point. There was no time to waste. The inner curve of the tulwar met the outer edge of her shield, the hilt towards the bottom whilst the tip hovered above on the left, feet dug in shoulders squaring up as she worked on the defence. There was a long pause, knees bending, tendons stretching as she came in close once more. Faster and swifter this time. With the blade first, and the shield following afterwards. The aim was to get in close, to press his defence where possible. Whether or not it made contact was no issue, for now she was looking to go all out. She slipped the tulwar out from its hold, her form twisting as she did. From there she would bring it down, trying to cleave across. There was no pulling back this time; there was no returning for the defence. Fallon was going for an all out push, and nothing was going to stop her now.

[Roderick]

It took a few ticks for Fallon to right her balance, a time which he might have exploited, had he moved more swiftly. He stalled for a moment, however, and so she was standing back on her two feet before he could come to a decision. The shuddering tremor that went up his arm as his blade struck her shield set the muscles trembling for a moment. With measured movements his opponent began walking around him, keeping an eye out on any vulnerabilities he might have - he imagined there to be more than a few. His downward cut failed to strike her, its target escaping unscathed. She bent herself over slightly as she readied her defense, holding her shield resolutely in front as his second attack came towards her. It glanced away from her harmlessly, while she set every muscle and tendon to work. Roderick followed suit and pushed down the slight twinge in his shoulder from carrying the shield, holding it firmly at his side, his sword gripped tightly in his fist and raised up in the air, point aimed towards the other fighter. Fallon advanced, with a greater urgency than he had seen before. First came her tulwar, followed soon after by her shield. The edge descended towards him, ready to slam down into his shoulder; in a real fight it would cleave him in two. Thankful he was only training, he still felt his heart race as he snapped his shield into place and felt his entire arm shudder as her weapon slammed against the wood, the force of it roughly shoving it back down towards his face. Even he could tell that she was more than ready to end this particular bout - and it would finish with him lying in the dirt with her blade at his neck, if she had any say in the matter. Given his poor performance so far, he imagined he didn't have much input on the subject. His arm abruptly caved in and moved down, her steel sliding across its surface, free to roam wherever she wished. With a hurried step backwards he swung out at her, his arm moving far too slowly upwards, in the hopes of stopping her from attacking again. The strike felt weak even as it neared its destination, and he had all but forgotten his defense in his haste to strike her - something which she could easily exploit, he imagined.

[Fallon]

It hit and connected. Steel and wood sung as the scratched and grinded against each other, the sharp edge scraping down it and striking the floor. Her opponent backed off, a forced retreat caused by her brute force attack. But even as he retreated, she came to him. Swifter and faster, wrist rolling, shoulders moving, the muscles relaxing and contracting in a stead beating rhythm. She placed the shield first, eyes turning up to watch his final attack come closing in. Her hand gripped the shield tightly, her arm swinging out with force to knock the blade aside. With the tulwar held firm she came at him once more, a firm definite thrust in his direction. But it fell short, stopping almost deliberately before him. She extended it forth and gave a prod with the tip, ”I think we’re done here.”

Easing back and away, the squire pulled the tulwar away and relaxed her stance. There was no need to fight any more. Giving his hand a point she gestured for him to lift it, ”Let me see your grip.” Shaking off the shield she held out her blade so it was parallel to him. With the shield dropping to the floor she gave a gesture to her hand, the hilt hand open and fingers splayed, with the thumb holding it close to the palm. She gave a tap to the hilt, ”You need to keep your grip light and firm, and keep the wrist flexible. Allow it to flow like water, if that helps at all.” She gave a shrug, ”It was good work on how you kept your arm in for as much as possible, didn't leave it hanging. If you leave it out you might lose it after all.”

Turning side on she closed her fingers and gave the blade a slow turn, wrist rotating whilst the rest of her arm remained relatively still, ”The sword is a bit like an extra joint in your arm, so… it should flow like one.” Pulling away she began returning the blade, lip curling as she let the metal groan. Giving a definite nod to Roderick she cracked a full smile, ”Thank you for sparring with me. Keep working at it too; think you’ll make a good swordsman if you do. Just well, keep practising.” Pausing she regarded him, ”You need any other bits with using it?”

[Roderick]

As he fell back she struck out against him again, shield guarding her body, her tulwar swiftly moving out to knock aside his sword strike. The force of it both his arms, so he was spread-eagled before her; she thrust her blade forward, stopping it just before contact and then giving a light jab to his chest to prove her point. Gradually he lowered his arms, knowing with a sinking heart that if this had been a true battle he would be on the ground bleeding to death. She made clear the fact their bout was over. All around him there were similar things happening, with various other fighters yielding or losing to their opponents, each scampering away to lick their wounds or rising for another attempt. Clashing steel continued to reverberate through the air regardless, and he saw one of the fighter's he'd seen earlier gradually winning a bout of his own against a smaller opponent. Returning his thoughts to the woman before him he was surprised when she suddenly gestured towards his hand, asking to see his grip. So Fallon planned to give him a few tips. Grateful for it he lifted his blade up in the same way she did, his fist wrapped closely around the hilt. After discarding her shield Fallon showed him how to hold it properly. Light and firm, wrist flexible. He rolled the words over in his head, committing them to memory. Let it flow like water. The principle of it seemed rather simple, and as he adjusted his hold on the blade he found there was a noticeable difference almost immediately. No longer holding his weapon with a death grip he let himself relax a little. He gave a smile and nod of thanks as she complimented his decision to hold his arm close to his body before he struck. When she shifted so her side was facing him, he watched her moving her wrist in a circular motion and swiftly copied the action, noting it down in his head. Listening intently as she continued, he soaked in everything she was saying; the sword was an extra joint. He rotated his wrist again as this new knowledge he was gaining gave him a little more confidence. As her blade returned to her side she gave him a large smile and thanked him, offering up a compliment. "Thank you too. I'll keep that in mind." The offer of extra information was now up for grabs, and being the knowledge-loving lad he was, Roderick leaped on it without a second thought, "Stance and swinging." He said simply, "I'm an archer so I know how important a good stance is. Waving a big metal stick around is all well and good, but I imagine I'll impress more people if I can hit something more than an old log."

[Fallon]

”Old logs can be dangerous opponents you know. Never know when they’ll get you,” Moving back to the task at hand she let her brow rose and her lips forming a fine line, ”Stance and swinging… let me think.”

If the blade was a tulwar it would have indeed been easier to give advice to him, it was a blade she was more competent in and had spent more time with. A bastard sword however was different. To begin with it was a straight blade and had two sharp edges. It also carried a much more definite point, and as far as she knew it was not weighted. Least, that was the impression she got from it whenever she had been on the receiving end from others. Her lips twisted and she scratched at her face, ”It depends really. I mean, you said you’re an archer right? So it depends on what you’re going to use the sword with. I mean, will you really be using a shield – or even better – will you even have a shield with you when you’re out shooting things?”

Posing the question to him she remained quiet for a moment and awaited an answer from him. It was best to get an idea of how he was going to work. She gave a tap, and begun a demonstration. Standing so she was side on, she placed her left hand behind her back and kept her right arm forward, ”Personally, if I wasn’t using a shield… I would stand side on as much as possible, makes you a smaller target. It also makes it easy to do lunges.” Placing her right foot forward with her toes pointing at him, she mimicked the movement of prodding him with an invisible sword, ”Swinging wise… well. You can hack, slash or thrust. Or well… whatever you think suits best. You don’t want to leave your arm out for too long though, else someone might remove it for you.” Fallon gave a grimace, ”Then you can kiss your archery career good bye.”

Shaking off the thought she continued, sticking to her previous analogy, ”You need to keep your stance fluid. Be able to move and turn to avoid attacks whilst being able to get in close. Then you can deal with whatever is there before you. Quicker the better in my opinion,” she gave a tap down to her legs, ”Allow them to be able to move, don’t lock them up in place. It’ll make you a sitting target otherwise.” She gave a pause and allowed her legs to relax, ”I’m not really sure what else to advise really. Other than don’t leap about too much when you’re dodging, else whoever is fighting you might just leave the weapon in wait for you to hit.”

[Roderick]

He gave a little smile at her comment, then let it fade away as Fallon set herself on giving him the information he'd asked for. Fir a few tics she gave the question some thought, no doubt due to the differences in their chosen weapons. When at last she gave him a reply, it was not overly specific on what he should do; depending on whether or not he was carrying a shield with him, he'd want a different stance. He gave the matter some thought of his own, until he returned his answer, "Chances are I wouldn't be using the shield too much when I'm out hunting - unneeded weight, you know?" Any colourings to his words soon vanished as he became engrossed in the little discussion before him; he had a habit of doing that, when he felt like it. He sounded more intelligent when it happened. "Now if I was aware I'd be going off into a proper fight then I imagine I'd take a shield along with me so I could use it in the fight. Like I said that would be less than ideal if I was going hunting - a buckler would be of more use there." Turning so her side was facing him, Fallon moved one arm so it was behind her back while the other moved out in front, explaining that if she wasn't using a shield she would use that stance to minimize the target her opponent would have. The position was also helpful for lunging, which she demonstrated by poking at him with an imaginary sword. As she continued he tossed his shield away to the side - she didn't seem particularly skilled with it, so he doubted she could help him with it. Hack, slash, thrust. They all seemed rather obvious but there was a certain technique involved in doing them properly so he didn't end missing and exposing himself to retaliation. As she brought up the idea of losing an arm he joined her in cringing at the thought, feeling a particular sting as she mentioned the fact he would no longer be capable of using his bow. Fluid stance. Repeating what she said would help him remember, he felt, so he dutifully copied everything that came out of her mouth; even though she'd told him she wasn't a master of swordfighting, he still paid close attention to the knowledge on offer - it would keep him alive, so looking and feeling like a fascinated child didn't matter to him at the moment. It seemed his legs were just as important as his arms, in this art form; with his bow he relied mostly on his upper body to do most of the work for him, his shoulders and back drawing the string into place so he could take a shot. In this however he couldn't afford to stand still in one place, so he'd have to learn to move around without losing his concentration. Oddly enough she advised against moving around too much when he dodged an attack, which seemed to go against the very principles of the action. All the same he wouldn't complain about it. "Thank you, Fallon." His voice was polite as he gave her a friendly nod, "If it's not too much trouble would you mind letting me put what you've just said into action? You can tell me if I'm getting it right or if I'm making a right mess of things. Or if you prefer we could put it off until another day." The hunter wouldn't be surprised if Fallon turned him down; given how easily she'd won their bout, he doubted she wanted to stand around for another bell tutoring a novice fighter. Either way there was no harm in asking - at worst she would simply let him know that she was no longer interested in continuing the conversation, and they would part ways.

[Fallon]

Fallon gave a pause, followed by a quick nod. There was no harm in helping out another willing to learn, was there now? If anything she revelled in the idea of assisting another in furthering their chosen field. Even if it was more in keeping with combat, ”I’m not an expert, but I don’t mind giving you a hand for a few more chimes. We all need one every now and again.”

Drawing the tulwar once more she gave it a few testing swings, warming herself up and then sliding into position. She placed her left arm behind her, the arm tucked in with the back of her knuckles tapping her spine. Rolling her shoulders back she turned to stand side on, the hand low but forward with the disk pommel bouncing off her front thigh, ”Find a point of comfort, keep it light. Springy almost.” She gave a slight tap with her toes as she fell into place. Her heel rose, the knees bending and swaying, her words however continued to fall, ”Remember the grip too, keep it light, don’t try to go against the heavy weight of it. Let it be able to cleave through things.” There was a gentle swing, a reminder of what she had said previously, ”By standing side on you’ll notice also that you become a smaller target, makes you harder to hit. No?”

She waited for him to get into position and gently limbering herself up for another slow bout of training, ”We’ll take it slow again. Don’t be afraid to simply step back and away from the attack. Sometimes moving away can provide more openings and opportunities for you. Instead of simply charging head on into it that is. You might want to consider on how you’re going defending yourself with just the blade.” And then there was a shrug, ”Of course, you may already have some form of technique sorted out in your mind.”

”So, shall we? In your own time that is. I’ll just be blocking and pushing away, so do not worry about getting an attack from me. Least... Not yet anyway,” she gave a wink. Her leg gave a twitch, and her ankle shuffled round. She was ready to defend, or at least she was ready to try to. What harm could come from it after all? Par from a few scratches and cuts of course.

[Roderick]

For a few tics she stopped and he felt certain that she was about to deny him his request, and while he couldn't blame her for doing so, he still wasn't going to be very happy about it; if he wanted to learn what Fallon knew, the least she could do was go along with it. Being given the chance to help someone improve was something Roderick considered to be a rather good thing - so long as they were polite about things. When she told him that she was willing to help him for a while longer, he hid a pleased grin and simply gave a nod of thanks as she continued with the impromptu lesson. Sliding her tulwar from its sheath she made several practice strikes with it, cutting the air with clean movements as she prepared her stance and readied for the next leg of their bout. Without a shield to guard her Fallon turned so her side was facing him, her free arm tucked away behind her back and her sword hand held low with the blade pointed towards her opponent. "Find a point of comfort, keep it light. Springy almost." She bent her knees and shifted back and forwards on her heels to prove her point, while she reminded him to keep his grip light, and to avoid going against its weight - so the full power of his attacks would be in effect. A measured slash was presented, as an example of all she'd said and done that that time, while she explained a few finer details behind this particular stance. Turning so his side was facing her and placing his arm behind his back, Roderick wrapped his fingers tenderly around his weapon, holding it firmly but gently, while he aimed the tip towards the woman. He gave a nod of agreement at her latest point. Fallon kindly gave him the time he needed to prepare and told him that they would take up a slow pace yet again. Her words on fighting defensively by dodging and parrying clicked with him and he felt that mastering defense would make things easier. Finishing the small lesson by telling him she wouldn't attack him immediately - giving him a wink as she said it - Roderick took a step forwards and made a small cut out towards her, from right to left, snapping his arm out quickly to make the attack and then withdrawing it and stepping away from her. He made a slash out towards her gut and then thrust out at her, pulling away again once his tactless attacks were over. Keeping his arm out of the way, he stepped away to the side slowly, carefully placing his feet down on the dirt as he worked towards maintaining the highest level of balance he could attain. Her previous words repeated themselves inside his head. A light, springy point of comfort and a gentle but firm grip. Standing side on made a smaller target, and by making measured steps away from her attacks he could quickly return with a strike of his own. Repeating everything made him feel more confident in his ability with the sword; equipped with this new information he was certain that this second fight with Fallon would go better for him - though he held no allusions to the fact that she was a superior fighter at that time.

[Fallon]

She gave a click of the neck, shoulders rolling as the lad found himself. The tip of the blade swayed, her eyes piercing into his watching every move. Or at least as much was physically possible for her. When the first cut came, it was tentative and uncertain, a small slash across. She slid the tulwar across to meet it, the edge meeting and ricocheting off. His blade recoiled, and she returned hers close this time. Right now she was in her element, the shield was gone and she was allowed to focus on speed and avoidance over that of combat. Moving with her feet she worked her way round. Slow and tentative she remained fixed upon him, lying in wait almost for the next attack.

When it came, she took a step back. Her front most foot came back, her form straightening her hold on the blade rising so the tip itself pointed to the sky. But the eyes still remained upon him, sharp and piercing. Her left foot went back after that, the side on stance returning. With the left hand still held tightly behind her back she stepped in this time, the tulwar tilting down and across her before she brought it up in a diagonal arc. It was time to see how well he would protect himself, or at least how well he could move. Her feet followed, the left foot going first and stepping behind the right. It was to stop so much movement as she made her advance against him, and to keep her sword arm forward as much as possible. The steps grew quicker and faster. The blade not going to strike him but still leading the way regardless.

The squire gave a second movement, a slow thrust this time. The broad tip reaching to his waist but instead of snapping the arm back to her she chased after it. Her aim was to make more ground, push him back and test – as gently as possible of course. What was the point in assisting in someone’s learning if all they received was brute force or an easy target? The best course of action was making them stretch themselves, to make them think and strive for getting somewhere. And to feed that strive where possible. She continued to press, bringing the sword up between them once more, leaving the keen edge hovering somewhere in the middle.

[Roderick]

Fallon reacted well when he unleashed his first strike, her blade shooting up to knock away his own sword. Her arm returned to her side just as quickly. Circling him slowly she watched his every move, and he returned the gesture in kind, eyes staring fiercely at her as he sought to gain his bearings. His second swing set her back a step, the fighter retreating from his strike and swiftly righting her stance again, giving him no time to abuse any openings there might have been. Stepping forward she went on the offensive, angling the edge of her blade as she slashed upwards in an arc. Bringing his own weapon up he felt the blades clash together and, going with the momentum of the strike, he avoided parrying fully and instead deflected the strike away to the side. Tightening his hold on his blade for a moment to avoid dropping it, he loosened it a little when he returned to his stance. Stepping forward, she moved so that her blade was always held out before her, ready to attack or defend against him at a moments notice. The movements became steadily faster, the wavering tip of her tulwar forcing him to pay the utmost attention to everything that was happening. Fallon's next attack was a thrust, the point aiming at his waist. Instead of withdrawing her arm, as he'd expected her to do, she carried on with the motion, forcing him to back away or else become skewered upon the steel. The way she was testing him was interesting - neither too soft or too hard; a nice middle ground between giving him a lot of leeway while still providing a challenge for him. It seemed he would be testing his limits in this bout. Fallon continued to press her attack, keeping her sword in place before her, driving him away while at the same time urging him to fight back. Obliging, he stepped forward instead and, using the length of his sword, swatted out with his blade at hers, knocking it aside ever so slightly so he could go in for a diagonal cut downwards. Striking quickly he pulled his arm back in, so that she couldn't attack the exposed limb. This style of fighting seemed completely at odds with how he'd fought before; it was more like he was poking and prodding at her, rather than actually fighting. All the same she knew what she was talking about, and he did feel like he was making more progress than he'd done in any session with Sei; he was actually being taught something, rather than being left to swing his sword around like an ape in the hopes of hitting something. Roderick made another quick strike down from the upper left this time, then a quick thrust after. He moved away to the left - slowly, so he wouldn't trip, but fast enough so that he wouldn't be caught half way through doing the motions. With every passing second he remembered the things his partner had told him. Keeping his grip firm and gentle, he made sure to rotate his wrist when he struck, so that it was moving more fluidly, rather than the jerking hacks he'd made before. With another step forwards Roderick stabbed at her, aiming down towards her legs. Remembering not to overextend himself, he stopped short and pulled back when he realized he was too far away to land a hit. In that moment he was briefly open to attack, before he managed to straighten fully and bring his sword up to guard his body. Shifting his fingers on the hilt, he felt a slight layer of sweat forming on the, warmed by exertion and their confinement within his gloves. Pressing his left arm closer to his back he stood so his form was not quite as slouched and his blade was held steady. Good posture was needed in archery, and the same could be said for swordplay.