Closed [Anthonius Fighter's Pit] The pointy end

[Fallon]

25th Fall 513AV
Morning

Fallon gave a click, and a twist.

It was another day of the season, the once summer heat having now lifted for something much cooler. And it was on this same day that the squire lurked about the pit. Perched upon the wall, the shield balancing on the top of it with the tulwar resting on her lap. There she was rubbing a cloth against its flat edge, fingers rotating in circles across it before sharply pulling her arm down to the very tip. She pulled it back, rising it up to the tip and focused in rubbing her finger where the joint of the cross guard to the blade. She gave the hilt a twist, eyes narrowing down upon its surface, before she breathed on it.

The steel fogged up, before the moisture pulled away and faded. The process was repeated, and all the while Fallon was wrapped intently in. Around her were the shouts of the pit, her blue-green eyes glancing up on occasion to the world that surrounded her. Men were sparing once more, the ring of blunted weapons striking against each other, training and learning. Here fighting was different, there was no honour, no set code of chivalry to follow, and she loved it. It allowed her to think outside the box and learn how the average being fought. To a degree at least.

She did however stop sharply when she heard an angry shout between competitors. One cursed the other, followed by a shove, then a push and then a brawl. Her brow creased at the dispute between men, before a few observers intervened and pulled the pair apart from their high tensions. She gave a raise, looking carefully towards the scene before lowering herself down. Stern words were given, heads forced into cooling, but a space had been opened and made available for training. Slipping down, the squire allowed herself to head in that general direction, taking a wide berth from those who had kicked off. Tulwar resting upon her shoulder, she gave a quick glance round pausing to take in what was going on before she focused on stretching herself out.

Perhaps today she would be able to get some practice in, should the gods be kind.

Rubbing at her shoulder, she gave a stretch limb twisting out before withdrawing back in. Had to be subtle to be fast, even she knew that. Weaknesses and points of damage had to be minimised, the mind had to be quick and able to calculate the next best move – exploiting the opponent where possible. Quicker the execution, the better – for every move in a real battle was vital.

Right, let’s get the show on the road.

[Roderick]

Tapping the pommel of his sword Roderick marched into the fighter's pit, quickly moving past everyone that blocked him in his search for a match. If he was going to be beaten black and blue he'd rather get it done with quickly; if he waited around for too long he would change his mind about all of this. Slowing somewhat as a commotion broke out among two fighters, he watched as two men started shoving one another; their bout quickly turned into an all out brawl, until other fighters stepped in and tore the two away from one another. With that action cooling down, Roderick watched as a woman walked forwards to take the space made by the two fighters departure. Waiting for a moment so he could tell whether or not she already had a partner she planned to fight, the hunter was pleased when none of the other fighters stepped forwards to challenge her. Glancing about he saw that most of the combatants were busying themselves with collecting one of the weapons on offer in the Pit. Snatching up a kite shield from the racks, he quickly marched off towards the woman and raised his arm in challenge. Drawing near, he nodded politely, "Hope you don't mind sparrin'?" He took a step back and drew his bastard sword free - bought the day before. Fighting with the weapons on offer in the Pit had been fine for a while, but he'd decided having a good piece of steel in hand was the better choice. Roderick swung the blade about in different directions; top right, top left; bottom left, bottom right. Straight down and from below; right to left and left to right. He needed to remember all the basics of combat if he wanted to become as good as he'd once been. "Sorry if my techniques shyke," He smirked, "It's been a while since I've fought with steel." He faced her, staring her in the eyes, "Ready when you are." CostsSword, Bastard - 35 gm

[Fallon]

Fallon gave a flinch from her warm ups when the stranger approached. She gave a blink, her brow creasing as she averted her eyes down to the blade he carried – a bastard sword - and then down to the kite shield. The fact that he approached was clear that he was looking for a spar, his words certainly confirmed that. By the looks of things the weapon was his own – he did just draw it from his side after all. Pulling her shield round the squire gave a firm tug upon the straps, the buckles being tightened and the grip being held in her gloved hand. There seemed to be no immediate rush in her movements, no push for hurrying or emergency. This was just training after all.

Besides by taking time she could listen to his words, and more importantly watch the way he moved with the blade. There was a gaze upon his blade tip as it hovered through the air, testing and slicing through. Eyes gave a narrow, watching the swing from left to right. Her right hand slid to the hilt of the tulwar.

“You’re only shyke if you do not practice often,” she released a sigh and shook her head, “Let us go slow first, see if you can be reminded on how to use steel.” Drawing the blade she let the curve catch the light, the tip hovering before her straight as she looked down the length of her arm. She tested the weight, letting the limb and muscles adjust to it. She needed to get better, she needed to improve. Fingers flexed and adjusted around the hilt, finding a point of comfort she was familiar with. Shoulders rolled, tendons tensing before she placed the shield side in front of her. The right foot slid back, the arm following suit and bending at the elbow.

She held the gaze, her ears twitching, the pupils fixed upon his own. Toes moved, dragging round as she stepped in. Slow and steady, no rush or forcing of power. It was time to see just how ‘shyke’ he was. The squire gave a slow, mid torso swing at him. There was little force with it; she did not want to cause harm just yet after all. From there she drew the blade back once more and primed it for a thrust forward, the weighted end leading on through in the same, slow speed. No rush was needed in training.

[Roderick]

The woman moved well as she readied herself, showing she'd made use of her weapons many times before. “Let us go slow first, see if you can be reminded on how to use steel.” Roderick appreciated that move and unknowingly found himself copying her stance, setting his right foot behind him while he held his shield up to guard himself. She made a slow swing at his gut, which he warded off fairly easily, though the fact it'd been weak and slow made it an insignificant victory. The woman's size meant the cut was angled upward, forcing him to hold his shield lower than he'd have liked to protect himself from the strike. A jolt shot up his arm as the metal connected with the wood of his shield, but with a bit of effort he kept it somewhat steady and returned it to its former position. After that happened his partner moved in for a thrust, sending the end of her blade towards his chest. Angling his shield a little he felt the force of the blow connecting with the wooden bulwark, scraping along it as he stepped away to the side, letting the attack move away from him. He was surprised at how well he'd done. Then again his usual training with Sei involved being pummeled full force with live steel, so this was far easier for him to handle - in fact he much preferred it. Keeping the fairly gentle attacks he'd been dealt by his opponent in mind he stepped forward and gave a light strike towards her shoulder, using the muscle in his own shoulder to add a bit of strength to it - though not too much; no point hurting her. After that he gave a thrust towards her chest, then an upward diagonal slash going from down left up to the right, near her left shoulder. None of the moves were particularly powerful, but going through the motions was the most important thing. "So, how long have you been doing this?" He made a testing strike at her ribs, pulling back quickly to guard himself with the shield. "You seem pretty good with that thing" he nodded at her weapon, "What is it? I don't think I've seen anything like that before." Roderick tried swinging from behind his shield, moving it ever so slightly so it wouldn't get in the way, but using the muscles in his shoulder and the length of his arm to give power to the blow, rather than throwing all his weight behind it. The strike seemed to work better this time, and he found returning to his old position was a lot easier this time. A slight smile formed on his lips, but he quickly smothered it as he focused his attention on the fight.

[Fallon]

The blade gave a bounce when it hit the shield, scraping across the edge as she did. There was recoil, a return attack as she pulled the shield into place. Feet gave a stagger, a gap being forced between them when the thrust slid on past. She did not want to have her back exposed to him for too long, it would leave her open for an attack.

Grateful the speed was matched the squire pivoted round, bringing the shield into place. Shoulders snapped in, the flat surface pointing forward. There was a nervous strike in the direction of her shoulder that forced her once more to pay attention to the world. She gave a side step, forcing turn so the blade came forward. Teeth gave grit, eyes burning for a tick as she pushed the tip of the bastard sword away. Though not for long, for it quickly returned and so she was forced into taking a large step back to save from impalement.

She gave a sway, focusing on keeping herself limber and her mind sharp. It may have all been going at a slow speed, but these were still live weapons – one was still required to be safe in training. She pushed the blade between hers and his blade when it came for her ribs, her brow knitting together as she did. She had heard his questions, but at present she was dealing with a blade coming in her direction, firmer and more confident this time. She snapped the shield between her and it out of reflex. The force pushed her back once more, a quick wobble as she grabbed at balance and then returned it. Shoulders rolled as she took a pause to answer him, the tip wavering and hovering between them, teasing almost.

“How long? I started early spring, so two seasons now,” she gave a pause, gentle steps around as she watched and readied herself to block or step away, “I’m not that good, still only a novice really.” She pushed the shield forward the blade behind her, before giving the same arm a gentle shake, “This? It’s a tulwar. Only got one sharp edge, the inner one is blunt.” She pushed the blade tip forward then brought it cleaving down – slowly - and then following it through and back around. It came across, a step in to close the gap once more, “How about yourself? Going slow enough for you to keep up? Or am I going too slow for you?”

[Roderick]

When the woman told him she'd been fighting with her chosen weapon since spring, Roderick felt a stab of surprise; he'd been certain that she had been using the sword for far longer. That belief had only been strengthened by the way she managed to protect herself from each of his attacks; stepping aside from a swing to her shoulder she knocked clicked her shield against the tip of his sword, driving it away; not long after the woman avoided his sword thrust by taking a large step back, so that the attack completely missed. He supposed this was his punishment for neglecting his training for so long. When he spoke, she ignored him at first, brows knitting together as she set about defending against the strikes from his sword. With the last blow she was unbalanced slightly, but soon regained her feet and took her stance once more, the tip of her sword ready in the air; raising his shield he felt the hammering of metal against metal and took a measured step back to escape her weapon. Hearing that she was only a novice swordman - swordswoman, rather - proved to be a surprising revelation for Roderick. The hunter's opponent kept her blade at the ready, holding it up firmly from behind the wall made by her shield. Hearing her speak the name of her weapon, he repeated a few times in his mind to grow accustomed to the word; a tulwar. An interesting name, one which he was sure he'd never heard of before. From what she said after he now knew it was sharpened on one side of the blade, with the other edge being blunted, useless for cutting anything. Either way being struck with either side of the weapon would utterly ruin his day, so he decided he'd do his best to avoid its edge whenever he could. She made a maneuver with her blade, an interesting thing, then stepped forward, closing the distance between the two fighters. The woman inquired about whether or not she was going slow enough for him to keep up, or if she was perhaps going too slow for him. In all honesty he ought to have told her to go all out on him, so he would be forced into putting everything he had into winning this bout. All the pains involved with fighting like that were not something so easily forgotten, though, so he decided that this slower pace was better for him; first he would allow his body to grow used to fighting with a sword again and then - and only then - would he try speeding up. Roderick nodded at her, "Pace's just fine, thanks," he held his shield closer to his body, while he tried to think up some plan on how he was going to defend against the tulwar, "I don't know your name yet." He stated suddenly, "Let's have a mutual sharing of names, mm? I'm Rodrick. Pleased t' meet you. He decided to take a swing at her ribs, gradually angling his sword towards the flat side of the blade so he wouldn't cut her open if it actually landed. While he was thinking of how she might block the attack, another thought took form in his mouth and left thanks to his tongue. "Your sword - the tulwar. How would I block it? The shape would make it skid off my shield, and I'd have to get it in a certain spot to keep it from sliding about on my sword. Right?" there was a fair chance that what he was saying was a lot of hogwash, but then he'd never know unless he asked about it. While this woman was no master with her weapon, as she'd stated herself, he felt - or rather, guessed - that she had at least a rudimentary understanding of how she could use her tulwar and which ways someone could stop her attacks. By way of explanation, he shrugged his shoulders shortly after he asked the question, "Like I said, I've never come across one of those before. It's all rather new to me."

[Fallon]

“Roderick,” she tested it a few times on her tongue, the lids pinching slightly as she tried to keep it to memory, “Roderick, pleased to meet you too.”

When the flat of the sword came her way, and the first port of call was to get away from it. There was a quick step back as she rose up onto her toes, the form twisting so the blade went first and the shield came second. When the sword did eventually reach near her, she gave it a firm push away with her own, though not enough to cause too much harm. Now was the time to test her defence, to see how well she moved and could react to defending herself. It was something she needed to practice and improve upon.

“Fallon’s my name, try to remember it,” she gave a careful step round, a definite wide berth in her movements. The tip gave a hover, weaving back and forth as she gave a gentle sway, even as he continued to speak. Her brow gave a crease to his question, her own thoughts forming on how to deal with the curved edge. Different people would have different methods after all. Some would try to block it straight, to which then she would simply tilt and turn the weapon and slide free and back. Others might try to hook it by the curve and forcefully pull it free from her grasp, from there she would simply try to use brute force. But she herself had no true answer as to how to block it.

“Block it? Well I’m not sure,” she eventually said after a few moments of careful thought, “I suppose your best bet would be getting it right at the hilt, but that would give it a both a hinge point and would mean you would have to get close and personal. That and I could just step back and away to slide free.” She gave a gentle tap forward and towards his shield, whilst her own came round to her front as swiftly as possible. There was a withdrawal of the blade, the inner curve resting over her small shield. Shoulders came in, squaring off as she took back the defensive stance. She was still frowning however, thinking on how he could achieve a successful block. In honesty though, the squire quickly decided he would be better off simply trying to push it away and parrying.

“Try deflecting it as opposed to blocking it, that might be the better option,” there was a slow cleave forward, arm extending out as she performed the manoeuvre, “Pushing it away to the side, trying to exploit the curve and all. Though, don’t ask how, I’m not sure myself. I’ll let you know when I work it out though.” She gave a rock on her heels, eyes burning upon him for a tick before she came back in once more to close the gap and get into range. If she could that was. He seemed to still be a novice to the blade, a little like herself, so who knew what he would try next.

[Roderick]

Fallon's brow creased as he asked about how to defend against her chosen weapon; a sign she was annoyed at it, or that she didn't know? Falling deep into thought, likely thinking of the different ways he could try to defend against a strike from her tulwar, Fallon took her time mulling over the question. When she told him at last that she didn't know, he frowned for a moment, but let it fade away quickly; she wasn't to blame. He listened intently as she started giving him a rundown on what he could try to defend against it, nodding in agreement as she mentioned that aiming for the hilt would mean he would have to be right next to her, and that she could easily step out of range of the move. The woman stepped forward to deliver a light strike with her sword, which he defended against with some level of finesse, bringing his kite shield into place to cut the attack short. Right after Fallon had backed away and taken up a defensive stance, setting her shoulders firmly while her tulwar stood resolutely beside her shield. As she told him to deflect her strikes rather than trying to block them, he nodded again at the idea and shifted his arm around within the straps of his shield. She made a slow cut forwards, elbow unlocking as she used all the length in her arm to hack at him; again she advised him, and he listened, with all the silent curiosity of a child. When she finished he gave her a slight smile, "Thanks for that - I'll keep it in mind." As she moved back into range she watched him closely, expectantly. Roderick decided that keeping away from her for the entire fight would make things dull, especially since she was clearly a better fighter. With that in mind he decided he would do his best against her - try and give a slight amount of challenge for her. Stepping forward with her, he cut out towards her side with his weapon, a simple sideways attack, drawing his arm back in close, as he'd seen her do, he carefully placed his feet on the ground as he went left, to avoid tripping and looking like a fool. Coming to a stop Roderick slashed from left to right with his sword, trying to catch the edge of Fallon's shield so it would be knocked aside. If that worked he would follow with a quick jab towards her stomach - an extremely light one, so there would be no chance of his blade causing her any harm. If all went well he could then hopefully follow up with another strike, aimed in the general direction of her chest.

[Fallon]

For a chime or two the pair simply watched one and other from the safety of their defences, though she herself was only a novice in such areas. Still, it seemed he was only a novice with the blade and shield too, leaving her at a slight advantage. Not that she was about to let her guard down, training taught her that was far from a good idea. Feet shuffled, ankles turning slightly as she prepared herself to move. Then the first blow came.

It was a little quicker than before, more confident almost in swinging it. She placed the shield before her, a sharp, firm jerk of the arm working on pushing it aside and back, the tulwar staying in place, hovering and waiting for the opportunity to strike. An opening had to be obtained before it could be exploited after all. She gave a blink, followed by a definite step back as he came to her, mimicking movements that she herself had excuted. Attack and bring the blade back, do not waste time giving broad sweeps, go for it if you think you can continue to exploit it. Which is exactly what he tried to do. The blow came to the shield, a faint knock to the side and her grip loosening on its strap. Knees bent almost instinctively, her shoulders hunching in as she met his eyes. The jab came next, and instinct took her to leap back and out of the way. Her form creased as she did a sharp movement back to the open space behind. The tulwar came up then hilt rising the point down across her as the blow came her way. Steel met steel, her arm bending as she met it and focused on pushing it back. Her feet in the meanwhile worked on closing the gap once more. There was a sharp ram with the shield, hoping if anything to use some brute force against him before that too was withdrawn back.

Her left foot rose, her knee bending before it snapped out. Toes went forward, aiming for a swift kick to push him back once more. It was time to get him on the defensive. The tulwar scraped free from his blade, eyes growing more sharp and precise by the passing tick. She brought the flat edge round, aiming for the knees instead of higher. The broad curved tip went past then came in, her aim to try and lightly hook him. If that did not work, then it was to at least try and keep Roderick on his toes. The more aware he was, the easier it would be for him to fight in the future when it truly mattered.

"How you holding up?"

[Roderick]

Fallon was a good fighter, early in her training as she was. The way she moved and reacted as he struck out against her was impressive, the sight sparking a hint of envy inside Roderick as he began striving to put his all into the bout, doing all he could to leave a good impression on her, so that she wouldn't think him a stumbling, unskilled fool. He was surprised when his strike towards her shield succeeded, and it was knocked aside by the force of the landing, leaving her chest exposed. Moving in swiftly for the jab he'd already planned out, he left most of his strength inside, making a rather weak stabbing movement that was unlikely to pierce the other fighter's armour. He needn't have bothered, though, since Fallon simply jumped backwards, the tip of his sword piercing the air. Her Tulwar moved out towards his blade, taking hold of the steel for a moment as the two weapons ground together and fought for dominance. Feeling her sword sliding against his, Roderick saw Fallon smack her shield roughly out towards him; with no time to adjust himself properly he angled himself so the rim of the shield hit his armoured chest. Bringing her leg up, the woman lashed out with it, aiming to crack him in his exposed chest with the flat of her boot. Taking a quick step backwards he avoided the blow by about a hand span, stepping away to the left and bringing his shield up to cover himself. By that time his opponent had drawn her weapon free and was swinging at his knees. Half stepping, half jumping to the side he felt the tulwar brushing against the backs of his legs, while Fallon asked him how he was doing. He released a flow of air through his nose and shifted within his armour, "Rather well, considering I stopped training three years ago." he gave her a little smirk. Holding his shield more tightly to his body Roderick took a quick step forwards and made a brief swing at Fallon, a swipe at her side with his blade before he withdrew quickly and guarded himself again. His boots ground against the dirt as he moved around her in the hopes of finding some way to get past her guard; he'd realized that she didn't seem to be as confident with her shield as she was with her sword, so he assumed that meant she was not as skilled with it. That in mind he made two practice strikes at her, one a downward swing from up right to down left, the other a horizontal slash aimed around the midriff. He'd known he'd be using his sword against someone in a practice bout, so he'd found a sword with a reasonably blunt edge so he wouldn't lop anyone's fingers off - it was still sharp, though, so he was doing his best to avoid causing any unneeded injuries. Shedding blood in Gerard's place was unlikely to impress the man.