Solo [The Sanctuary] More Tough Love

Anir meets Kavala at the apointed time and the pleasure and pain continues.

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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

[The Sanctuary] More Tough Love

Postby Kavala on January 13th, 2014, 11:05 pm

ImageTimestamp: 31st of Winter

It was the day after the Winter Council Meeting and Kavala's head was still full of all the events that occurred in the meeting. She was on the beach, dressed warmly this time in her red leathers and awaiting Anir. She was perched on a driftwood log, resting on her heels, watching it snow. Her double bladed sword was beside her, sheathed, but in easy reach. Anir eventually came, just as he said he would, and looked her over. She offered him a smile which just caused him to scowl further.

"You are even scrawnier than you looked last time and you are all bundled up. Did you eat something today?" Kavala nodded.

“I had some fruit and fish first thing. The fruit was raw the fish was steamed.”
Anir nodded in approval and looked thoughtful.

“I’m hesitant to start your strength training just yet. I saw your shoulders at the meeting when you slipped off your cape. We have to get more bulk on you before we begin to work it off. Konti are too delicate for what you attempt to be, Kavala. I’m not sure what you were thinking coming back as one.” He said simply, kicking his left foot with his right to knock snow off the underside of his boot.

Kavala said nothing. There was really nothing too say to his words. He wasn’t wrong, but then again, he wasn’t entirely right. Konti were stronger than most anyone gave them credit for. She knew that first hand and wasn’t afraid to show him as she recovered. In fact, it was a delight to have a goal and someone to impress that knew she could be more instead of always felt frustrated that she didn’t indeed know her place in society.

“I’m ready to start, Weaponsmaster.” Kavala said softly, more to distract the man’s train of thought than to show impatience. He looked up, met her gaze, and nodded. As serious as the rest of his race, Anir followed through with his word. He removed the brilliant red scarf around his neck and wrapped it around Kavala’s head, blinding her once more.

“What we are going to teach you today will be more dangerous than learning the stances and your position of rest. You could get seriously hurt. Remember that, girl. And follow me.” He said, starting off, boots crunching away on the sandy snow. Kavala inwardly groaned, reaching for her sword and having to grope around to find it. One thing she hadn’t practiced was unfastening its buckles blind to remove it from its sheath. And by the time she’d hopped off the driftwood blindly and half turned a circle… she’d lost Anir’s position. She took two steps forward, spun, and got disorientated. Another step carried her back to the driftwood log accidentally, and she smacked her knee hard.

She shouldn’t have worried about the pain though. She was down in the snow on her ass a moment later, her instructor looming over her. That she could feel. That she could see without eyes.

“What happened to you? This… this pile of weakness in the snow is not you. It never has been. Why did you get to this place? I know you had babies, but was that necessary? Do you even have room in your life for children? Get up. Making babies on you is useless. We have real women for that. If you want to be a woman, be one. But if you want to be a warrior, stop making poor choices. Stop distracting yourself with things that shouldn’t matter. You either fight for him or you are something else. Do you like being something else?” He said with scorn in his voice as he reached down and hauled Kavala to her feet, all but dumping her upright. He handed the double bladed sword back to her by thrusting it at her. She reached out, instinctively, and caught it perfectly, just where her hands gripped at the forward horizontal guard position.

Anir almost smiled.

But Kavala was not smiling, not even close. Her eyes were hidden behind the blindfold but he could sense tears a mile away on a woman. “If you need to cry… go ahead. I would cry to, like a pissed off infant in fact, if I had done to myself what you did to yourself in the name of whatever crazy emotion you thought you felt. I won’t tell anyone about your weakness, Kavala, and about your dependency and your stupidity. But you need to get over it right now. The past is the past. But the future is unwritten and the pen is in your hand. Now.. cry if you have too. You have five chimes. I’ll be back.” Boots marched off in the sand and snow, crunching as they went.

Standing there shaking, Kavala bowed her head, let her double bladed sword rest on her shoulder still sheathed, and cried. How many times had she vowed that there would be no more tears? How many times had she called her self weak? Anir’s verbal confirmation of her own fears scared her. Deep down she’d wondered if she’d been to hard on herself or if she’d just saw things no one else could. But his confirmation was a perfect example of why she wasn’t crazy and that what she thought herself was true.

She was weak. But she was going to change that. Anir could help her.

Kavala had herself composed and waiting once he returned. Shed stumbled out of the maze of the driftwood log and its roots and had moved off to one side to wait.. Anir did not mention the breakdown when he returned. Instead he launched right into his lecture on strikes. “Kavala there are a few things you need to know about double-bladed swords that go beyond what you would know from your other weapons training. First and foremost, you must understand that the eight basic strikes one can make with a sword or a dagger can be utilized with a double edged sword. I will not teach you these because you know them already by the tamos that hang at your side, else knowing you, you would not be carrying them. But what you might not understand is that a wheel moves faster on the outside than at the hub. Double bladed swords are the same way. So it is a fact that very little exertion on your part in the center can cause a drastic and forceful response at the tips. Therefore, always remember that a strike will utilize maximum force and damage on the ends, while a strike made closer to the center will have little to no effect.” He said, pacing before her as she stood at the rest position, blindfolded, with the blade beside and slightly behind her.

“The double bladed sword is primarily a weapon that utilizes reach and can be very efficient against an opponents head and torso. But at the same time, a skilled swordswoman can also use it against the lower extremities. But in my opinion, this is a waste of its potential. If you strike upwards, always at the waist or higher, you are saying in the weapons maximum strengths. Now.. before we get into thrusts, defenses against say grappling, or lower maneuvers, lets talk about strikes.” He said firmly.

Kavala nodded, listening closely.

“There are five main types of strikes. The first we will practice is an overhead front strike. Listen carefully. Bring up your front knee of your lead foot, rest the double blade almost on your right shoulder, so the blades are parallel to the ground. Set down the right foot in front for a long front stance and then rotate the front hand, torquing at the wrist, and slide the left hand down to the second hilt. Then strike… your blade will whip out and arch nicely. Try it. Go.” Arin asid firmly.

Kavala did, and unlike previous attempts, this came naturally. She hefted up the blade, shifted her balance blind, and moved forward slinging the blade out. Arin blinked in surprised, smiled because his pupile couldn’t see it, and nodded. “Good. Again.” And she did, practicing the move, striking overhead and to the front, fast and sleek. Arin nodded to himself. She’d be fine. With strength would come the sleek fighter he was used to when facing this particular female.

“Continue. I want to see you practice that until your arms are so tired they drop the blade. Go.”
Kavala did, folliowing his instruction and standing before him on the windswept beach, the tails of the blindfold tied around her head fluttering out behind her as she wielded the white-hilted blade. For the first time she felt slightly confident, as if she could feel the live steel in her hands and it warmed to her touch. Kavala felt suddenly as if she aught to name her blade and decided she would as she practiced the strike over and over again. Almost forty five chimes passed and she didn’t falter until her arms lost strength and the blade slipped, impaling itself in the snow and sand behind her.

Arin grunted. Kavala had forgotten he was there. She stopped, stepped away from where the blade fell, and toed around with her boot until she made contact, flipped it down and felt its weight to know where it was safe to grab it. Then she returned to the rest position, facing where she thought her teacher was.
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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
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Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
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Kavala
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[The Sanctuary] More Tough Love

Postby Kavala on January 14th, 2014, 3:04 am

ImageKavala stood panting, waiting for her next lesson. It wasn’t long in coming. Anir crunched up in front of her, a goodly distance, though she did judge as blinded as she was that he was still within reach of her double bladed sword. She bowed her head forward, listened, and as soon as she had her breath back he began to speak.

“The next strike is simple. It is an up-down and side to side motion. The move is aptly called the four point strike. Technique-wise, you need to make sure all the strikes hit the same spot and keep the elbows up parallel to the ground. Your feet always need to be in a strong long front stance. Keep the blade to trailing blade to the far side of your body, either off to the right or left depending on which had is leading and which leg is leading. I want you to practice with both hands until this is easy for you, Kavala.”
Her instructor said, pacing in front of her again. “Remember, the leading edge of the blade swings the fastest, strikes the hardest, and is where you want to target. Your imaginary opponent is directly in front of you. Now go.” Anir said, stepping back to just out of Kavala’s reach. The Konti almost smiled. She’d been right about where he was standing.

Thought Anir had described the strike as simple, when Kavala lifted the blade, gripping with her leading hand and stretching out to a long front stance with the opposite leg, it was awkward. She felt like she overextended though she couldn’t’ SEE that she had with the blindfold in place. She felt her center of balance wobble and she automatically corrected by drawing the blade backwards slightly as he swung it side to side. Once she had the proper grip, the correction she made gave her far more balance and stability and she was able to swing the double bladed sword in the wake of the good foundation she provided herself.

Anir nodded his approval. She was getting better, even if it was only day two in her training. He was bound and determined, by the time he left her alone with only his training and her common sense to guide her, that the double bladed sword would be as comfortable to her as it was to him and others who used it. It was the least he could do, whether she realized it or not.

“Good. I don’t mean that lightly either. Your corrections were excellent." He was definitely being less firm today, but that was because she was slightly less of a mess than she had been the day before. Kavala kept working. Without Anir’s urging, she stood stoic, bringing her weapon to rest, and then launching in the four point strike over and over again. Her blade was rarely straight and often Anir ordered her to watch her twist, though Kavala had no idea what that meant. Finally he called a halt and approached her once more. “Feel your grips. Feel the line of braid that should lie down your thumb when you grip the handholds? That’s lined up with the edge of your blade. Remember that. So if you are ever truly fighting blind, you know where your edges are just by gripping your weapon barehanded. This is also why you never ever fight with gloves on.” He said pointing out something she’d neglected to notice.

Kavala took the next few moments running her thumbs over her blade’s grips, marveling at the detail. “I knew the Isurian were talented, but I had no idea that they had such attention to detail.” She said softly, a slight wonderment in her mind. Anir chuckled slightly. His footstep crunched as he approached the Konti who had her blindfolded head bowed over the gorgeous blade’s white grips.

“You have no idea what you have here, Kavala. This blade is easily six foot of death, perfectly balanced, and sharp enough to take a man’s head off. If you have the strength to wield it, it can even remove his head in full armor. Here, give me your hand.”
The man gripped Kavala’s hand and gently moved it from the grip to the center of the blade where the handle was smooth and almost like a staff. "Feel this ridge here? The God of Strength himself has marked this blade by the hands of one of his followers. It is Isurian Steel, unless I miss my mark and Izentored at that. You could attack one of the stone walls of your fortress on the cliff, Healer, and the blade would take big chunks out of it without dulling. Do you understand? Do you see why I train you with such care? You need to know this weapon. You need to understand it. I do not know who first set it in your hand, but it is the type of weapon she would have coveted, your darker self, Crescent. She would have cut off her right breast, gladly, to own it. And here you have it without truly understanding what you have. Weapons like these? They have names and get written about in the history books. They are born in the Kingdom itself, not outside of it… never anywhere else. Where on earth did you get this beauty?” He asked, somewhat puzzled.

“A smith forged it for me in the Kingdom. He made it because I asked and took my gold without counting it. I was… newly introduced to King Sultros and his followers. It was one of the greatest trips of my life.”
Kavala said, looking up at Anir, as if she could meet his gaze through the blindfold.


Anir chuckled. “You will be sorry you told me this, Kavala. Because I’m not going to rest until you are worthy to wield it. Right now, you aren’t even worthy to clean it.” He said, turning away. His boots crunching the churned up sand and snow. Kavala smiled then, suddenly, and lifted her head and called after him.

“Why… why does this feel so much like old times?” Anir’s chuckle echoed back at her.

“People never really die, Kavala. You of all people know that. We just go our separate ways for a while. Then we come back and get re-acquainted. You and I… we go way back. I’m going to enjoy your transformation. And you’re going to deserve every bit of it. Every ache and pain and bruise and accidentally almost slitting your own throat you’ve earned by my hand. And when it’s all over, I hope you’ll thank me and a debt will have been paid… one owed for about seven hundred years." The weaponsmaster said.

Kavala nodded, not even trying to smile. Fate weighed too heavily on her in that moment.
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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
Reverie Isle Wolf Creek Training Course
Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
User avatar
Kavala
I am more than the sum of my parts.
 
Posts: 3025
Words: 3295757
Joined roleplay: October 25th, 2009, 1:46 am
Location: Riverfall
Race: Konti
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Medals: 17
Featured Thread (1) Mizahar Grader (1)
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[The Sanctuary] More Tough Love

Postby Kavala on January 14th, 2014, 6:41 am

Image
The Konti thus far hadn’t heard Anir speak that much in one round. It surprised her the love he showed the double bladed sword, demonstrating a huge appreciation for weapons in general. But she wasn’t fooled. She knew this was no break. Kavala paused only long enough, however, to get a sense of the direction of the blades and to feel the mark like he asked, and then launched into her practice again. Anir seemed to shake off whatever it was that overcame him as well. He lifted his voice and carried on with his instruction.

“Enough of the four point strike. I’ll expect you to practice all of these every day without fail morning and night as part of your workout. If I don’t see those arms of yours expanding and contouring, I’m going to double our workout times themselves… then you will have to fill out or be forced to endure my undivided attention. Let us more forward and continue. First off… the overhead rib strike. This is going to be a move you will need your arms for and all your flexibility. If you don’t have them back, or your ability to really move, you will gain them quickly with practice in this move or you won’t be successful maneuvering your blade. Get back in your horse stance, bring your arms up over your head, and hesitate where your blade is forming the top of a T to your straight body. Then finish by swinging the front tip of the double bladed sword across the front of your opponent, and finish by tucking your farthest grip, and only the grip, up against your ribs to whatever side you are not leading with. Think of it as chopping wood, only you need to mind the secondary blade. Don’t cut yourself or slice through your ribs. This is why I brought this.” He said fumbling and pulling forth a large girth of leather that felt reinforced. “Stand at rest a moment longer.” Kavala did, having no intention of moving when she felt her instructor’s breath hot on her neck in the coldness of the winter beach air.

He leaned over her and wrapped her middle twice with a sort of padded girth that protected not only her kidneys but her rubs. “This too is Izentored. You’ll need it when you practice. You may borrow it for our practices, but it is ill fitting on you… to large and in truth it should only have to be wrapped once, not twice, nearly three times like I just had to do. Had you not been so fat, I would have gotten almost a forth wrap on you. You’ll need one that will fit you better when you have a better idea of your shape.” He said, stepping back. Kavala found it hard to breath for a few moments, and she shifted awkwardly getting used to the thing.

In a few moments, it felt better, supportive of her back as well, and she found that despite its confining wrap, she could move in it well. “Once you have one that fits, adjust your sword belts and any harnessing you have to fit over it. You’ll want to wear it as part of her night amour.” He added helpfully.

Kavala nodded, hearing Anir’s footsteps retreat. Then when he gave the word, she stepped forward and began to practice the strike. It was difficult, lifting the blade over her head, forming the T then bringing it swiftly down, striking the enemy with just the tip or the full length of the blade, and then tucking it against her as she did so. She dropped the blade twice, stabbed herself above the leather guard once, and on the forth try had it near perfect. It all went downhill from there, and so Anir patiently explained it again, had her break it down into stages of moves, and then had her repeat it over and over.

Kavala was sweating profusely. She was trying hard to do everything at once - make sure the ridge on the grip was pointed where the striking surface would be effective, keep her balance, keep her footwork perfect, and make sure her breathing was correct – a monumental effort to learn just one strike. But she did it, kept pushing, and after a final break, she almost had it figured out completely. Anir gave his approval. So it was on to the next strike.

“At rest please. Good. Now the next thrust is the Front Thrust. In this move you will bring your front knee up, draw back on the double bladed sword all the way in a straight line behind you, then step out into a deep long front stance and thrust the tip of the double bladed sword into your opponent. When you come down to your feet, you will land in a powerful stance with your back straight, elbows up, and tip thursted forward, hopefully deep in your opponent. This is a death strike, almost every time, so when you use it be ready to plant your feet and continue on, perhaps swinging into a four way thrust or an overhead to take their head. You will suffer to learn this one, but learn it well. It will save your life. And it works, I might add, very well on mounts and wild animals. If you can bring your blade up, thrust forward, and impale a chest, you will save a life… especially your own.”
He said, and then moved back.

Kavala blindly listened to his boots crunch away and when he was what she judged far enough, she followed his instructions carefully. She brought the blade up, which was growing heavier and heavier, and thrust it forward, following the move as he’d explained it to her. Unbidden she did it again, trading lead hands and the side of the body she rose up on. Kavala conducted it a third and fourth time, her arms starting to burn… and on the fifth time, she cried out as her arms lost strength. She managed to bring the double bladed sword down to her side, but her shoulders and arms were shaking so badly, she couldn’t lift it to even attempt a sixth time.

“You need more work.”
Anir said a hint of a sneer in his voice. Kavala stood trembling, her arms aching, her back hurting, and her shoulders smarting. She cursed softly; her hands shaking even to hold the blade up. She heard boot steps, and felt a big hand remove the blade from her grip. “Go shake it out… run a pace down the beach, and when you think you have gone a mile, turn again, and return.” He said, half turning her and shoving her towards the sound of the water. Kavala started to reach up and tear the blindfold off, but another firm grip from a big hand stopped her.

“No. Leave that on.” Anir said, giving her a firmer shove. Kavala nodded, and staggered off, completely blinded, in an attempt to jog down the beach.
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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
Reverie Isle Wolf Creek Training Course
Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
User avatar
Kavala
I am more than the sum of my parts.
 
Posts: 3025
Words: 3295757
Joined roleplay: October 25th, 2009, 1:46 am
Location: Riverfall
Race: Konti
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Medals: 17
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Trailblazer (2) Overlored (1)
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[The Sanctuary] More Tough Love

Postby Kavala on January 15th, 2014, 2:48 am

ImageKavala had decided immediately that Anir was brutal. Her jog up the beach blind was a disaster. She stumbled over debris and flotsam. She tripped over the smallest rock. And even once or twice she fell to her knees. The Konti scrambled to her feet, intent on running her mile and doing so blind. And in the haze of pain, burning muscles from the workout and the feeling of failure, something familiar started to happen to her. She started to feel… almost at home. She’d trained like this somewhere, some when, and she knew how to handle it. Kavala knew that she knew, but it was an old sluggish half remembered dream. She slowed her pace; started curling her toes, and felt ahead with her feet. She didn’t lift them completely off the ground, but rather moved them across the ground, using them as one would use their hands blindly feeling down a wall when moving from room to room. Slowly, gradually, with the technique, she was able to move faster and tune in with her other senses. The smell of salt flooded her nose. She could hear the gulls and the waves, and her own harsh breathing as she worked her way down the beach. She could also feel her muscles flex, her bones creak, and her own pain.

Anir was causing her to live in a world of pain. And honestly, Kavala liked it. It was like an old friend to her, one that was as dependable as the wind changing direction of an evening moving from offshore to onshore. And it was as dependable as the seasons changing. She knew it would come, linger, and slowly depart and then come again with full force next time her instructor showed up.

A mile. She was only supposed to run a mile. Kavala halted, knowing she’d lost track of time, slowly turned, and then followed her footsteps back. It wasn’t hard, not without sight, because she simply kept to the rough hard sand, not straying to the smooth flat sand where no one had walked. The uneven sand made her trip more than usual. But by and large she made it back to Anir with only minor cuts and bruises. She’d long forgotten about her shaky arms, her wobbly feet, and the fact he recommended her to take the run in the first place. It had done wonders to get her mind off her worries. When she drew close, she wasn’t sure where Anir was. So she stopped running, paused to listen, and then looked around as if she wasn’t blindfolded. Kavala turned in a small circle, tried to picture the area in her head, and set out looking for the big driftwood log. She had to crisscross the beach, moving up and down it, and then literally ran into the log with her knee. Wincing, she moved around it, found the spot where they spoke before, and waited.

A masculine chuckle met her ears. “Very good. That was not fast, but that was not bad at all for your first blind investigation and using strategy. Now… back to the training. Are your arms better?” He asked.
Kavala nodded, and she heard the sound of Anir moving forward and stretching his arms out. It was not a sound she would have noticed before. But here and now she did. And she extended her hands, palms up, fingers splayed. He laid the sword in her grasp and stepped back.

“Now, let’s talk about the uppercut. The strike before this you will practice. And when you can come to me and do half a hundred without shaking, I will claim you fit and recovered. Until then, run girl… run and train like there’s nothing else in life for it. You won’t be sorry.” The man said, his words ringing true. The he shifted as Kavala listened, and described the final strike to her. “The last one is called an uppercut. Listen carefully. This is like hand to hand or perhaps boxing when one opponent gives the other an uppercut. You do the same… but you draw the double bladed sword under first. This is not an easy move. It will create a more rounded motion which should finish off into the cat stance. From that point, you can dance into your next attack, hopefully while they are still recovering if they survive.” Her instructor said his voice deep and certain.

Kavala nodded, the wind picking up and causing the brilliant red of her scarf to mingle with her hair as it streamed out behind her. The wind made it harder to hear; she so had to strain to listen.

“Now, practice this strike as I have described it.” Anir said. Kavala did, bringing her double bladed longsword up in a sweeping motion, moving through what Anir had described as an uppercut. It was an awkward motion, especially for a blindfolded woman who had no visual identification of what it was she was trying to do. She ran the words in her head over and over and over again, moving the weapon according to the weaponsmaster’s instruction. “No.” He said, repeatedly, and finally covered her hands with his own and led her through the exercise blind. Once they’d gone through it together, the big man standing behind her, she nodded as he moved away and swept through it again. Getting to know his teaching style, Kavala ran through it over and over again until finally she was trembling and her arms felt like mush, but she had the move down.

Then, in a quick recitation of the moves, Anir barked out a strike and Kavala immediately fell into it. This went on for a few more minutes until he called a halt, told her to put her blade at rest, and left her alone to catch her breath. A firm hand took the double bladed longsword away from her and sent her to shake her arms loose and down the beach the opposite direction for another walk. This time he made her walk higher in the sand, blindfolded, which caused her to worry since her stone sea serpent was around somewhere. She navigated better though, finding her way for what she thought was a mile, before returning ready to take up more knowledge.
Image
The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
Reverie Isle Wolf Creek Training Course
Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
User avatar
Kavala
I am more than the sum of my parts.
 
Posts: 3025
Words: 3295757
Joined roleplay: October 25th, 2009, 1:46 am
Location: Riverfall
Race: Konti
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes
Medals: 17
Featured Thread (1) Mizahar Grader (1)
Trailblazer (2) Overlored (1)
Master Merchant (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (2) 2014 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

[The Sanctuary] More Tough Love

Postby Kavala on January 17th, 2014, 2:12 am

ImageWhen she returned, the sounds of his breathing were even clearer to her. The wind only snatched part of the information sound fed her. She could smell him too, standing before her, a hint of spice and male scent that reminded her of clean and pure. He moved and she instinctively put her hands out. Her blade grips came into contact with her palms.

“Good. You are learning to listen with more than your eyes.”
Anir said, then shifted once more, coming in closer than he had to hand her the blade. “When we are talking about the double bladed sword, Kavala, the same motions that are used to deflect attacks can also be used to deliver strikes. Don’t forget that. Many masters say the double bladed sword only makes one noise. What they mean by that is that a defensive move and a counter attack can be combined into one motion. A warrior works less with this weapon than he has to with any other weapon out there, even your daggers, Kavala. If you learn to own it, make it an extension of your body, and keep its voice singing in your mind, you will understand the how and why of this as time comes to pass and you get to know that which keeps you safe.” The Akalak said, moving around her to continue the lecture.

Kavala kept her blindfolded head bowed, looking with everything but her eyes. She was coming to respect Anir’s wisdom in this and what it was doing to help her be a better warrior.

“A block delivered swiftly that knocks an attack away can be allowed to, with a slight twist, turn into a strike with the other end. It is hard for an opponent also not trained in the double blade to watch both ends of the weapon at once. You, however, must always be conscious of them.” He said, coming to a halt before her. “Now, I’ve taught you some stances. Perform most of your actions from your rear stance, with the almost all of your weight on the rear foot. Always move into front stance for a thrust or jab. Move into the horse stance to add power to a downward strike, and make most of your defensive moves from this position because it utilizes the strength in your legs to compensate for your lack of upper body strength currenly. Imagine someone is attacking your forward leg, and avoid it by moving into a cat stance. At the same time make a low parry with your rear hand high to sweep the attack away.” He instructed. Kavala followed all this with a nod, her mind painting her positions.

“Now, show me what I have just told you.”
Kavala nodded, sensing this was coming. She dropped into a rear stance, thrust forward with a four point strike, and then dropped back for a block into the horse position that allowed her to spring up with a tremendous amount of force and land a blow on an invisible enemy while in turn already getting another strike ready as she twisted the weapon slightly and utilized it for defense. He stood back, watched her move through the strikes, changing them out with a couple of blocks, only making a sharp noise when she planted her feet wrong or took an inappropriate stance until she fell into the correct one.

And she did it all blindfolded, carefully planting her feet and with a hyperawarenesss of the blade in her hands.

Kavala's motions weren’t perfect, but they were far smoother than two days ago and he could tell despite her obvious lack of being in shape, she was falling back into the familiar guise of a warrior. He knew from watching her that she was trainable, willing, and that he hadn’t found her too late. With enough influence, he could motivate her to turn from the family path she seemed to be on and point her back in the right direction … Nysel’s direction.
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The Sanctuary The Sanctuary Forum Riverfall The Cytali
Reverie Isle Wolf Creek Training Course
Please Note:
  • This pc is maxed out in Animal Husbandry, Medicine, Observation, Rhetoric, and Socialization.
  • Kavala a Master Teacher. Students she is teaching in thread can earn more than the maxium 5 XP per thread.
  • This pc has a Konti Gift of Animal Empathy. She has a superpower from a Riverfall city event that allows animals of all sorts and Kelvics (in kelvic form) to speak clear understandable Common around her.
  • Kavala is a Konti but was raised in the Drykas culture so her accent is entirely Pavi though she can speak Common, Pavi, and Tukant well. She's only conversational in Kontinese.
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Kavala
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[The Sanctuary] More Tough Love

Postby Gillar on January 20th, 2014, 6:07 am

Body Building 2
Endurance 3
Running 3
Blind Fighting 5
Weapon: Double-Bladed-Sword 5

Lore: Taking Instruction
Lore: Learning to cope with exhaustion and the pain caused from it
Lore: Re-Experiencing echoes from a shared past life relationship
Lore: The strength and durability of Isurian Steel craftsmanship
Lore: Wearing an Izentored garment while fighting
Lore: Being ridiculed for her choices as a motivational speech
Lore: Confronting her own fears and desires
Lore: Blind Fighting: Removing a double-bladed sword from its sheath while blindfolded
Lore: Blind Fighting: Feeling rather than seeing the alignment and position of a blade
Lore: Blind Fighting: Relying on hearing in the absence of sight
Lore: Blind Fighting: Running while blindfolded
Lore: Sword Fighting: Training in the snow
Lore: Sword Fighting: Losing balance while training in the snow
Lore: Sword fighting: Double-bladed swords utilize maximum force on the ends
Lore: Sword fighting: Double-bladed swords focus on reach
Lore: Sword fighting: Overhead Front Strike
Lore: Sword fighting: Four Point Strike
Lore: Sword fighting: Overhead Rib Strike
Lore: Sword fighting: Front Thrust
Lore: Sword fighting: Uppercut
Lore: Sword fighting: Feeling fatigue from repetitive training
Lore: Sword fighting: Struggling with awkward stances and strikes
Lore: Sword fighting: Defending and Counterstriking can be made with a single motion

Comments: Another wonderfully detailed training thread. I am consistently impressed with the way you portray Kavala's physical struggle to become stronger not only physically but now emotionally. Also, you make it clear that Kavala is not perfect and makes mistakes. That is something I find missing from so many threads these days. No character, no matter how skilled they may be in other areas, will be able to perform just as well in tasks that are new to them. While Kavala is able to relate other skills and fields to her double-bladed-sword training, they are not enough to make her better than she really is. I look forward to reading more on the relationship between Anir and Kavala as well since a rather unique one is already developing. Thank you for letting me grade this.
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