Night Practice [Richard]

[Markus Andres]

Fall 21th 510 AV.

Markus stood in the field looking to the night sky, watching the stars sparkle in the darkness, it had been a long time since he had last given himself the time to just stare blankly at the night sky, watch the beauty and wonders of the sky. His vision went back down to the ground, the bare ground beneath his feet, just dust and firm ground. Nothing interesting about that, he turned to face his equipment behind him. His trusted sword was leaning against his steel shield, the same sword he had been given by his father the day he had become a squire. He was having a hard time believing so much time had passed, it felt like yesterday that he had been handed this sword. The shield itself was resting against the bow and quiver that Markus, for some reason, kept dragging down here, despite him never having used it once during his evening training.

He wasn't wearing his usual plate mail, instead he was only wearing hardened leather clothing. Just to take the brunt of the force. He wasn't wearing any gloves, nor was he wearing any boots or socks. A habit he had gotten from Richard during their years of training together.

Markus was getting impatient with Richard. He was a bit sleepy after a long day of training and he would much rather be lying in his bed and be getting a good night’s sleep. But he had promised his friend he would practice with him tonight and he always tried to keep his word. Even if it meant he had push aside his own needs from time to time. He drew his blade from the scabbard. Felt the familiar hilt against the palm of his hand. For 5 years he had been swinging this blade and this blade meant a lot to him. He swung the blade through the air in a couple of very simple combinations. This was a simple exercise to get his blood flowing again and get some warmth out to his limbs and prepare for the training.

But he was starting to wonder when Richard would show up.

[Richard Anderson]

Richard had been late although he couldn't put a reason to his tardiness. There hadn't been a single night in recent memory that hadn't held some hours of training separate from his normal regiment. But for some reason he was simply late, lingering in his quarters a little too long, and was a little sluggish.

Despite that he arrived before it was too late, wearing his traditional earth toned tunic and breeches, nothing on his person that would make one think of him as a Squire but his good posture and fearless expression as he walked quietly to the training grounds.

When he arrived he found that Markus had arrived ahead of him and couldn't help but sigh at his tardiness. Whatever had come over him needed to be quashed or he would become weak, complacent, and he couldn't bring himself to allow such a thing even if his friend wasn't around to see it.

Without announcing his presence he slipped into the grounds armory, quietly slipping a hardened leather over his head, latching it tightly to his torso. Slipping four wooden dowels into his belt to simulate his throwing blades he glanced around to see if he could spot a broad sword around him. Once it was spotted he slipped it from the rack and sliced it through the air twice to test it's weight. He did the same with a second, a bastard sword that his partner had neglected to collect before going outside.

Like most weapons around him they were nicked and dinged along the blade, blunted for it's use in training, but it's overall balance wasn't off enough to be replaced or reforged. Pleased enough with what he found he stepped barefoot onto the dusty ring where Markus already began practicing with his blade, and Richard noted the habit his friend picked up from him. With a light smile he stepped up behind him, light dust kicked up by every step he made toward him.

Once behind him Richard's right hand lifted, his blade held defensively as he spoke firmly. "Markus, you forgot this." Aware that jumping a man in mid swing of a sword was dangerous Richard had lifted his own blade to intercept an instinctual reaction, confident enough that he wasn't afraid, merely prepared while he held his friends practice sword in his left hand.

[Markus Andres]

Markus found the world around him blur away as he concentrated on swinging the blade through the air. Swinging it in the routines he had been taught by his master. Markus thought he heard something behind him. A brief moment later he heard Richard's voice and the surprise send a cold chill down his spine. Markus spun around on the spot and swung the blade in a high arc to see if Richard was prepared for something like that, to his dismay, Richard was more than prepared. Markus' blade hit Richard's blade weakly, as Markus hadn't put any strength into the swing.

"Ah, thanks." Markus said with a brief smile as he grabbed the practice sword. He wiped away some sweat from his forehead and walked over to where he had left his equipment. He holstered his own blade in the scabbard by the wall. He leaned down and grabbed his shield with his left arm and made sure he had a good grip.

"So, Rich, what are we going to train tonight? You gonna spend half the evening throwing sticks after me, or what?" Markus said in a jovial tone.

[Richard Anderson]

Richard took momentary satisfaction in Markus' surprise, and his prediction of how he would react to the surprise. Lifting his sword he intercepted the downward slash with the flat of his own, steeling his wrist to the impact.

As the oncoming blade impacted weakly against his guard Richard understood quickly that it was more of a test then an instinctual reaction. It was slightly disappointing, but he hadn't been willing to keep his identity a secret while Markus had his honed bastard sword on his hands, it wasn't worth the risk.

So with a light shrug he held out the practice sword, which Markus grabbed with a simple thanks. Stepping back one pace Richard tugged at a few straps on his upper body and tightened his belt a notch, wanting to make sure nothing would slip out of place. While he did so Markus had sheathed his sword and was getting ready for the spar.

Richard glanced up from one of the dowels that pressed into his waist to Markus, his brow raised slightly at half his name being chopped off. It wasn't something he would comment on, but he never felt like the nick name fit him. Shaking off the thought he rolled his shoulders in a noncommittal manner. "Are you going to spend the entire evening cowering behind a sheet of metal?" He countered easily, his wit considerably sharper then the blade he brought up as he spoke.

"Remember if a dowel strikes you that you must react to it accordingly, or this practice will be meaningless." Richard didn't expect that Markus would object or ignore his words, but he would not risk wasting time when he could be sharpening his skills in another way if Markus wasn't reacting realistically.

"Begin," He said easily, feet resting his shoulder length apart, left foot leading as he leaned into his stance. It was aggressive, but without a shield it paid to be offensive in nature, as was his preference.

[Markus Andres]

Markus gave Richard a smirk in response to his quick retort. They differed fundamentally in their style, Markus simply preferred to have his steel heater shield by his side so he could protect himself and those behind him. Markus lifted his shield up above his head and then did a quick swing to protect his side from an imaginary flanking attack. Checking if his own body was ready for moving at a split-moments decision and making sure his left arm could move the shield with relative ease. He then swung his new blade a couple of times, it was very similar to his own in both weight and balance.

"Are you going to complain about that all night?"

He said still with the smirk on his lips, when he was done with the physical check. He didn't feel the need to check the condition of the shield, he had done that earlier after practice and then it had been in a worn, but usable condition. More than enough to deflect wooden pieces and perhaps a dull blade should Markus get in close enough before a dowel had hit him.

"And, of course. Otherwise it won't be much of a training." Markus said with a smile and when Richard said begin Markus stepped in closer to his sparring partner. Keeping the shield up high. High enough so it would defend most of his torso, but low enough so he could see Richard from waist and up when he got in closer. His trained eyes kept a close look at Richard while he closed the distance between the two, ready to move the shield higher or lower should Richard throw one of the dowels. Assuming he didn't do that, Markus would get in reach and swing his dull blade in a flat arc at Richard's left arm, a clear attempt to 'knock' out one of his limbs right from the start.

[Richard Anderson]

Richard grew silent when the spar had begun, the movements of his opponent were steady and linear, moving directly toward him. Before he came within the range arch of the bastard sword he pulled a dowel from his belt and sent it spinning at an angle that would send it over the top of Markus' shield by an inch or two.

Expecting the shield to come up Richard took advantage of his forward leaning stance and pushed off with his right foot, dropping his height by a foot as he bent his knees into the dash. While he neared what he expected to be a raised shield Richard turned his left shoulder forward, the point of his blade angled horizontally with his shoulders.

Ramming into the shield at that point would be the most effective because he used blades as a distraction to circle a raised shield, and as the dowel or even a real blade wouldn't have needed much strength to block so the shield would merely be in the way and not steeled for an impact. Using that for his planned attack he expected to feel his shoulder ram into the sheet of metal and feel Markus' weight give way to his, and use the prepared angle of his sword to force a yield once Markus' was on his back.

[Markus Andres]

Markus shield was quick to come up when he saw the dowel come through the air, he heard the wood be deflected by the shield. But the next thing surprised him. He felt a sudden push against the shield and cursed his own stupidity as the sudden weight against the shield knocked him back. Only too late did he realize what Richard had planned. Markus tried to step back and save him from falling completely on his back, but to no avail. His foot slid against the ground and boom. Markus felt his backside hit the cold unforgiving ground. One of the first thing Markus had learned was to hang on to his blade no matter what. Without a blade to defend himself with, he might as well be dead.

He prepared to swing out the blade wildly when he located the tip of Richard's blade, uncomfortably close to his own chest and neck. Too close for Markus to try anything funny. Even though he hated to admit it, Richard had won that round without any doubt. All because of a dumb piece of wood.

"Ah damn it... Would you point that somewhere else? And then help your poor comrade up?" Markus said with a small smirk, trying to hide the fact that he was pretty furious about being bested that easily. But it was better that it was Richard and not some barbarian, for then Markus would have been impaled where he was lying.

[Richard Anderson]

Richard knew his friend to be fiercely competitive with the other Squires. More then once they had trained some specific sequence in combat because it had been used to best Markus' earlier in the day, just so he knew that the next day he would be able to overcome it and be better then he was the day before.

Aware of his nature Richard didn't smile or offer much more then his hand when Markus' realized he had been bested. Grasped at the wrist Richard pulled Markus to his feet and stepped back, his sword resting along the length of his right leg as he studied his friend briefly.

"Raise your shield for a moment, as you normally would." Richard motioned his left hand upward and mimicked the stance Markus used to hold his shield defensively during an advance. Once the shield would be lifted he stepped forward and pressed his forearm into the shield, let Markus feel his weight leaning into it, and then leaned on it hard.

"This is what you did, you tried to resist the weight." Not sounding as though he was lecturing but instead simply stating fact Richard changed the position of his forearm to the side of the shield and leaned again. This time without his forearm being centered he slipped to the side and stumbled past. His point made he turned back and nodded to Markus. "If you redirect it, you open up my back for a finishing blow while I stumble past."

Richard stepped back to the same distance they began with, resting the fingers of his left hand lightly on another dowel, while his right brought his sword up into his forward stance again. With the same timing he would pull the dowel from his belt and flick it strongly out of his grip at an almost identical arc as he had tried the first round.

Again he would expect to see the shield come up and Richard ducked low as he stepped forward hard, but instead of driving his weight through he would slam his forearm into the shield and then draw his left shoulder back and push his right hand forward, stabbing into the opening he expected to come from Markus taking his advice. The stab wouldn't carry his full strength, but the heavy poke would be enough to remove doubt as to who the victor had been.

[Markus Andres]

Markus really wasn't in the mood to hear Richard explain what he had done wrong, he already knew what he had done wrong. He hadn't been sufficiently prepared for a situation where someone might put their weight into the shield. He did as Richard told him to and saw that this counter might work if the person wasn't expecting it, and Richard's style was only usable in a one against one fight. Should Markus do something like that in a close knights formation, he would let a person slip into their midst and that would, or could, cause some chaos. But in a one on one, it was a pretty good lesson.

"A pretty decent counter." Markus said getting his shield back into his usual defensive position. His blade ready by his side. As expected Richard reached down for one of his cursed dowels. Markus lifted his blade and heard it collide with his shield. He knew Richard was up to something, that guy always had some new trick up his sleeve to counter whatever Markus had come up with the last time they had trained. So instead of jumping into Richard's trap, Markus slid his right leg out, bringing his balance and shield further to his right. Meaning, that if Richard put his weight into Markus' shield, he would still just stumble past it since Markus would use the push to spin his own body and hack him in the back.

But as Markus had predicted, Richard had a trick up his sleeve. He heard the blade collide with his shield, and Markus pushed out with his shield, knocking the blade to Markus' left, leaving Richard's own left side wide open. Markus' blade would stab out at Richard' exposed left side and give it a hard poke.

[Richard Anderson]

Richard had been expecting the shield to move after the strike of his forearm, but Markus either didn't completely believe him, or simply was too stuck in his ways to take the advice. In either case when he had thrust his sword, acting on his plan rather then the sudden change, the tip of his sword hit nothing but the shield that was still in place.

Before he could retract his strike the shield shoved against the sword, flinging it wide, leaving Richard open. While he should have simply stepped back Richard had been too dedicated to his plan and his mind didn't catch up quickly enough to slip out of range, which lead to him being jabbed in the ribs with the blunted point of Markus' sword.

Grunting at the impact his upper body leaned forward, the instinct to curl protectively over the wounded area. But the momentary jerk was stalled as Richard let the impact make his feet carry him back out of range. Spinning his sword briefly he held it along his forearm, his grip backward, something he did in favor of slipping his sword into it's scabbard. Once it would be clear that Markus had won Richard slipped his free hand under the leather armor, rubbing the point he had been struck.

"Your defense is complimented by your awareness. If you relied on your instinct to do as you were instructed, as you once did, I would have had you." It had been some time ago, but Richard remembered when the ingrained instinct to listen to instructors would direct the next series of strikes. While it aided in bettering new squires Richard had become worried, long ago, that combatant such as himself would take advantage of that weakness. He had made the point to Markus in the past, it seemed to have stuck.

Richard, convinced he had nothing more then a bruise, twirled his sword to the ready and pulled his head back in a summon to attack. "I've tested your defenses, time to go on the offense."