[Antinous Training Grounds] Catch Me If You Can!

by **Archailist** on September 22nd, 2014, 6:46 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

If the man was going to drop his sword for his shield, then so be it. He wants to be defensive.. I can be offensive. Ser Iros was just about to give Sera Catherine the time.. when the squirrel turned on his heels, dropped down to all-fours and stashed the Py-String against his thigh - the clay of which molded to its shape to hold it in place as a makeshift weapons harness. He wasn't a slow runner for a Pycon - unfortunately his smaller body meant that no matter how fast he ran, it would likely still be slower than a human running at sprint. Still, he could cover the ground between himself and Garland pretty quickly, and with his tail dropped down low and holding a counterbalance he could switch directions fast enough to prepare for any off-chances of a kick or an arrow being launched in his direction. His aim was at the legs - although really he just needed something to climb onto, something to grapple. Even the shield would do just perfect if the thing came down low enough.

His plan was mapped out, and now he had the boy cornered because.. well, all he had to use was the shield and the squirrel had already proved to him that a successful hit just wasn't going to happen. Anything at all to grab, and he'd be able to climb swiftly up to the boys neck and wrap the damn Py-String around his throat to end this spar.. which should have ended a long time ago, if not for all of this damn inconsistency. The squirrel was as guilty on that trial as the boy was, but that didn't mean that Arch couldn't turn around and blame it all on the boy when push came to shove. He couldn't hear Sera Catherine from inside the audience, but if he could, he'd likely agree with her. It's all over now. Especially with the squirrel rushing straight for his ankles like a little clay creature possessed.

It was quite funny, really.. to consider that it wasn't that long ago at all that most, if not all of the knights watching his spars and the occasional fights would put their money - if they did bet, which most if not all didn't - on Arch's opponent. He was a squirrel, after all.. a five-inch-tall squirrel with about three different weapons to his name and not an ounce of armour. The idea that he could cause any serious damage was laughable when faced with a knight covered in plate-mail, with a shield and a sword.. after all, it'd be a near-impossible trial for a regular human squire. Now, though.. now it'd all changed. They knew what was happening - heck, apparently some of them had even heard about Archailist before seeing him. What a long way he'd come, from the squirrel that had started out in the Order. The real question would be, however.. just how far he'd go. There'd have to come a point in time, sooner or later, that the squirrel would reach the peak of his career and the peak of his talents...

by **Garland** on September 23rd, 2014, 6:50 am

Garland was barely able to get his shield up in time before he say the Pycon make his way towards him. He was too fast for him to defend, dodge or attack. His shield is the only thing that he has to use, and things were not looking good for the him. His legs were unprotected while his upper body was tense and right now, hard to move. The adrenaline had worn off and the fatigue had started to set in. His vision was getting blurry, he felt like he didn't do much but running away from this squirrel was very tiring.

The crowd of the younger knights and squires were looking at each other with worried glances, they had made a bet with each other, most of them seemed to have gone for the bigger of the two, but the few that bid on the small Pycon gave a smug smile instead.

Though he didn't know how or what the Pycon was going to do with that piece of string, he was not going to underestimate this thing though. What could he possibly do with that... Strangulation! He's going to strangle me to submission.

Hopefully Arch's weapon's not that sharp, so he can maybe put his arm on his neck to at least give himself some breathing room. Arch would probably go through his leg, and up the body since he has no way of defending himself now.

by **Archailist** on September 24th, 2014, 7:14 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

If Arch could have read the mind of Garland, he likely would have agreed.. the squirrel had every intention of climbing up the mans leg, straight for the head, and wrapping the piece of string around the throat. Likely pulling at it until the man surrendered or until he passed out. Or both, even. He didn't know any more, but with the man apparently hardly making a move to stop the squirrel as he ran straight for the legs, it was becoming apparent just how tired the man was from all the stuff they'd been doing.. and it wasn't really that surprising. The man had heavy weapons to throw around, and apart from that one kick at the beginning of it all, it'd turned out to be pretty fruitless. The squirrel would likely be exhausted as well, if not for the fact that he'd gone through these routines numerous times with his own patron over the past season.. and he'd been training with acrobatics in so many cities over the past five years, it was more reflex than actual tactical thinking by now.

As he reached the man's ankles, he wasted no time. He grappled onto the edges of the shin-guards of the man's armour, and used them to climb up the edges of the knees. These were the drawbacks of wearing armours like plate-mail and whatnot.. they just had so many grappling spots and open gaps that smaller creatures like him could invade. There was one in particular somewhere around the base of the spine where the back had to lift up in order to let the person inside the suit lean back if needed.. by climbing around the back of the knee, the squirrel had a perfect view to jump up inside, from where he could climb inside the armour and all the way up to the back of the mans neck. While inside, of course, he'd be pretty much protected from attacks aimed at the back.. and once he reached the neck, it was just a matter of wrapping the piece of string around the front of his neck, before coming up behind and tightening it. He could just throw the string around to the front and reach around the opposite side, if need be.. or he could dance about underneath his chin and run around the neck himself to wrap it.

Either way, the match really was done by that point. "Do you surrender, Squire Garland?" He had to shout because although his voice was rather baritone, it was still faint because of his size. He had a feeling that Garland knew just as well as the squirrel, just as well as their patrons and just as well as the rest of the audience surrounding them, that this fight was over by this point. All the boy had left to attack with was a shield, with his sword abandoned, and the squirrel had so far managed to dodge nearly every single attack with apparent ease.

by **Garland** on September 25th, 2014, 1:38 pm

He knows when he's defeated, but he was weighting the pros and cons of fighting back until he's knocked or giving up now. If he fought back he'd be able to say he fought with all he's got, and that was all he wanted, or he'd give up now and continue to train the rest of the day and get better and maybe one day beat this clay squirrel on the back of his neck. He sighed, he was about to kneel down and accept defeat, but his pride was preventing him from kneeling all the way. He raised his arms.

"Bite me!" He grabbed the Pycon and then threw him to the crowd, making them making room for the heavy flying clay squirrel. He laughed weakly. "Come on, I've still got some fight in me." Garland dropped his shield and then raised his fists in a fighting stance. He was tired but he would rather lose in a last ditch effort in a fight.

Catherine sighed and looked at Iros. "We should stop him... Or watch him lose. Ughhhh..... GARLAND! You've lost, get over here and stop being a bullheaded idiot." She groaned and made her way towards the young fighter.

"No, I can still fight!" He was determined to not just give in like that. He wanted to show them his determination.

Catherine grunted, looking more irritated than usual. She cracked her knuckles and glared intensely at her squire. "No? No?! Did you just say no to me? I asked you a question!" She stepped slowly towards him, she wanted him out of this fight.

That look she gave him was more than just anger, he couldn't put his finger on it, but he knows that look from somewhere. It was a scary look, one that chilled him to the bone. His arms felt weak and his legs felt like their about to give out. His bravado and determination melted away like ice.

Catherine grabbed Garland by the ear and dragged him away from the fight. "Ow ow ow ow ow."

Catherine stopped and looked at Iros. "Thank you for allowing the fight, tell Squire Archailist that it was a good fight and he would like to fight one day." She then quickly walked pass the rest of them. "You will be running laps for a week for what you said.

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry! ow ow ow!"

The entire crowd looked at the odd duo. Most of the knights shook their heads and went back to thier own training.

by **Archailist** on September 26th, 2014, 6:59 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

He knew what to expect - now the man would fall to his knees and relinquish his weapons, and the squirrel could congratulate the man on a good match and go back to the dormitories. This was how everything usually played out.. although, not that day. He was stunned momentarily into silence, and for a long enough pause for the man to be able to wrap his fingers around the Pycon's body. Unfortunately.. he may not have realized just how close he was to causing himself serious injury. The string was still looped around the boys neck, and not loosely - even a little tug could probably cause quite a bit of damage, despite the fact that the thing was actually just a piece of string. Mercifully, Archailist released it at just the same moment as he was lifted straight off Garland's shoulder and hurled to the ground. Man, this guy does not know when to quit.. if this were a lethal fight, he wouldn't have lasted this long.

He wasn't a stranger to falling, so rolled once when he hit the ground to soften the blow just a little, before scrambling back to his feet. He really was about ready to just slam into the mans ankles, whether it was a friendly spar or not, and make sure that the boy didn't leave the battlefield without a few scars to his name that the squirrel could forevermore use as a reminder of this day. However, even as the boy readied himself for a challenging game of fisticuffs with a being barely a few inches tall, the squirrel realized that this was not the time to act like Garland, and run off with his instincts. Instead, he took a step back and folded both of his paws behind his back, to watch the boys patron step between them both in order to bring the fight to a close. He could feel the imposing presence of Ser Iros, as the lumbering Akalak stepped forwards and took his place next to the squirrel, calmly watching the strange show unfold before them.

"You know, you could tell me that yourself, Sera." He didn't want to sound offended that the woman had apparently talked straight over his head in order to speak with his own patron, but unfortunately he came off as far from it. Ser Iros was more cautious in his answer. "Thank you for allowing your squire to fight, Sera Catherine.. and I think Squire Archailist would be more than happy to have another spar at another time. Am I right, Squire Archailist?" Funnily enough, Arch merely nodded and the hulking Akalak mirrored the movement as they both watched the knight dragging the squire off. When they were finally out of sight and earshot, and most of the other knights and squires returned to their usual business, Ser Iros cast a long glance down at the squire, as if contemplating something. However, it soon came to a close.

"I think I'm going to head back to the squire dormitories." The man's jaw snapped shut and he nodded mutely, before turning on his heels. The squirrel did the same. It was times like these that the squire thought of all the people in the city that he would eventually fight, and just how many of them would win.

by **Nivel** on October 30th, 2014, 6:36 pm

Archailist :

Garland :

Additional Comments: Sorry I took so long to grade this, I was busy but for some reason thought I would be able to finish it after work. Anyway I liked grading this thread despite the circumstances, keep up the good work.

Closed [Antinous Training Grounds] Catch Me If You Can!