Completed [Training Grounds]The Clash of Metal(Aventis)

[Vanessa Lawson]

55th Day of Winter, 514AV 11th Bell "We're Here." Vanessa nodded, and simply followed behind her Patron. Ser Alvin John, one who would push her as further than necessary, not that she minded. She was wearing the Knightly armor, a shield buckled on her left arm, and her broadsword sheathed on her left waist. Other than that she was unarmed. She preferred to pack light, especially when she was pushed past her limit in training since she had to carry her own equipment back. Her hair was in a ponytail to keep it out of her way, and at some point she contemplated cutting it to a shorter length. Ser Alvin called her and she took long strides to catch up behind him. He glanced behind him, but otherwise remained silent. Apparently he had arranged a spar for her with the help of another Squires Patron. Vanessa let her mind wander briefly, battling thoughts of what the other Squire would be like. "Ser Alvin." "Yes, what is is?" "It's not often you arrange a Spar with another Squire for me. Is there something I need to learn?" Vanessa prompted thoughtfully. It was true, in fact, the only time she sparred with someone other than Ser Alvin was when she was off duty at the Fighter's Pit. In all honesty, Ser Alvin never trained her without a motive, so it was hard to get a break. "No. Today is just to see how far your abilities have improved." Her Patron informed. So that was it. It was a skill assessment. Maybe the other Squire would be able to teach her something new. She always found herself to enjoy a good spar, so when she was able to learn something from someone else, it just made her even more excited. Hopefully the other Squire would enjoy this as well. Vanessa drew her broadsword, carefully assessing the blade. It felt weighty in her hands, something she had to improve on if she would hope to go far. She might as well get some time in before her assessment match.

[Aventis]

55th of Winter, 514 AV

It hadn’t been long that Aventis had waited at the grounds, but just long enough that his arms had begun to get chills tingling up to his multiple shoulders. Today, like many others before it, Ser Utis had given him the task of training with another squire. But, as always, Aventis knew nothing of what may lie in wait for him. It wasn’t uncommon for the stingy old knight to prepare something entirely non sequitur just to catch his squire off guard. He couldn’t tell if it was a test, to build himself up, or just because his knight liked to watch him squirm. You could never tell with the old man, and Aventis dare not ask. He was here… Somewhere. He gave Aventis instructions, told him that he’d be watching, and now he was just… Somewhere.

Old coot… Aventis thought to himself. No matter how much respect Aventis had for the grizzled old knight, there was no denying that he was… Unpredictable at best. But Aventis was grateful. For the first time since joining the knighthood, Ser Utis had permitted him to use his rapier in training, which was a relief. The shortsword, although practical, was alien and felt less than comfortable in his hand. It was good to be back in familiar territory. Or, would be, whenever the other squire arrived.

Aventis wrapped his cloak tighter around his torso with his arms hidden beneath it. How long had it been? Twenty chimes at least. It was hard to tell who the other squire might be. There were a lot of people entering and leaving the grounds in a near constant succession, and Aventis had no description of the squire. He would probably have a description of him, though… Wouldn’t make much sense otherwise. Then again, it WAS Utis…

As Aventis stood and thought, he absently clutched the handle of his rapier at his side, waiting patiently for the challenger. Soon, maybe. Soon.

[Vanessa Lawson]

Her Patron searched the area with the description given to him by the his fellow knight. After a bit of searching, he spotted a young man. He called to Vanessa, who stopped her motions and nodded. After a bit of directions Vanessa departed from her patron and walked to the man. Upon getting closer, she observed him carefully. The man had few a distinguishing feature to him. His brunette hair, hazel brown eyes, and... The fact she had to tilt her head up a bit to look at his face. It all puzzled her, but she would hate to be rude. Was it a genetic trait? She was impressed. She was usually taller than most, but it was a nice change. A faint smile curled her lips, but other than that Vanessa cleared her throat extended her hand to the man. "I'm Vanessa; Vanessa Lawson. Squire of Ser Alvin John. I believe we have a spar arranged. Who might you be?"

[Aventis]

Date

“Who might you be?” she asked. She seemed… Inexperienced, to say the least of it. Not to say the girl wasn’t strong, no. She was well toned, like she had been training, but… Not too often with other squires. Aventis could tell by the way she spoke alone; she wasn’t wary of the situation, wasn’t wary of Aventis. She was… Chipper. Peppy, almost. That means one of three things. One, she was overconfident. Two, she genuinely meant it. Three, she was trying to catch Aventis off guard and take advantage of the combat situation. Aventis scowled a bit, nearly undetectable unless the girl paid specific attention. She had approached Aventis with complete confidence and even now spoke and smiled with something that offput the tall squire just a bit. It was peculiar how she treated the Eypharian… He could say kind. He could also say smug. It was strange, and Aventis wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. He gripped his rapier’s handle tighter with his upper left hand, prepared to jump into a fight at the drop of a silver Miza. Might as well be polite…

“Hi, Vanessa. People call me Aventis. Yes, we do have a spar arranged. And I do believe it will be over soon enough.”

Upon that note, Aventis drew his with his upper right hand, holding it elegantly at his side at about a two hundred and ten degree angle, the tip pointing adjacently at the ground. He wrapped his cloak tighter around himself with his hidden arms, a bit nervous but confident that Ser Utis had hidden something from him and he wanted to get it overwith, which was a shame. The girl, if she was being pleasant for the sake of being pleasant alone, would be a wonderful girl to know, but as of now all Vanessa was a test.

And she was a test Aventis intended to beat.

[Vanessa Lawson]

Vanessa couldn't tell if the man was insulting her, or just being overconfident. If ticked her off a bit, but she kept her cool. It didn't make sense though. Why would he make such a comment, especially when they'd never met? Or did he have some reason? No, she was definitely over-thinking this. There was no way her Patron would set up something of this nature. Tough he may be, but he wasn't a terrible person. He was just.. strict. He was probably watching from the sidelines now that she though about it. Not one to disappoint, Vanessa drew her broadsword once again. The man seemed to be skilled, but she was going by his stance, so she couldn't really judge. Either way she would find out soon. Any pent up frustration was usually released through her training sessions. In this case, her opponent was most likely more skilled than she, so it would take much more effort on her part. She took a step back before spreading her feet and slightly bending her knees before positioning the hilt of her sword just below her waistline. She drew in a deep breath, reading her senses. "I hope your ready. I will not hold back." She said, rushing forward after a short pause. Inexperienced footwork made her approach a bit slow, but a right quick-step allowed for a small chance for her to attack. Drawing back her weapon, raven haired woman twisted her torso slightly and swung the blunt of the blade toward the man's side. The woman would have to stay on her toes to keep up, that she knew for sure.

[Aventis]

Date

No warning, none whatsoever. Perfect. Exactly as he expected.

The girl was slow, just as experienced as expected.Though not completely inept, she left something to be fulfilled, and Aventis had no issue spinning on the sole of his foot quickly. He didn’t need to guess the girl’s move, no. He saw it coming before it posed any threat. As soon as he was out of the way of the blow and behind the girl, he locked his eyes on the back of her armor. It wouldn’t do much, but Aventis was still wary of the potential challenge posed and didn’t want to make a big commotion over anything quite yet. Other than that, he eyed the blade warily. The girl had come in armor and Aventis wore nothing but cloth and Vanessa had a rather sizeable blade. He needed to avoid that at all costs.

Anticipating another swing from the way he came the first time, he spun again, finding himself now on the girl’s left side. Aventis made a gentle thrust at the girl’s closest arm, aiming only to get her attention rather to attacking her. After which, he jumped back, hopefully out of the reach of Vanessa’s somewhat intimidating weapon, holding his rapier at his side as he did but a few ticks ago.

“I’ll be straight with you, Vanessa.” He said, backing up further, just to be safe. “I don’t think our patrons set this up to be a normal spar. I don’t know how many you’ve been in but I know something’s off. I know my knight and a straight up spar? No. He doesn’t do that.” He backed up just a bit farther, really quite intimidated by the blade the girl held. “Something’s wrong here. There’s a surprise that one of our knights prepared and I want to know what it is before you cut my arm clean off with that sword.”

[Vanessa Lawson]

He's swift on his feet. The woman acknowledged his speed, realizing that he had quite a bit of skill, most likely more than she. He had easily spun on his foot sole, dodging her attack almost effortlessly and ending up behind her. She expected him to strike her from behind, but when nothing came she turned as quickly as she could to get around and face him, just as his blade came for her exposed arm. A jump back and her attention was back on the man as he spoke. "I have no intention of harming you Aventis," She spoke clearly, keeping alert of his movements. He was right in speech. Ser Alvin had some motive. However, as to what that motive was she was unsure. "I could tell from the way you dodged that I am far outmatched. However, I do believe that in everything Ser Alvin does there is a just reason. I believe this is to test my abilities, but of your Patron to you I'm unsure." A smile tugged at her lips. She was glad that she knew the reason for his discomfort. It seemed he assumed she was hiding something. While she wished she was it was untrue. Her lips pursed into a thin line, and she let her usual stoic expression fall on her face as she thought about what could possibly be off. The fact that she'd never met the squires Patron didn't help. "I have no answers for you However," Vanessa began, a small smile on her lips. "I would like to continue our spar. Even if I'm outmatched this is the perfect test for me. If you don't mind dealing with someone weaker, I would love to be your opponent. Though your distrust of me is not welcome, I do intent to become acquainted with you for future challenges." Gripping her broadsword, the armor clad woman pointed the tip at her opponent. She had no intention of disappointing her Patron nor her partner, so she intended to see this through to the end no matter how outmatched she may be.

[Aventis]

Date

Aventis was mildly surprised with the girl’s response. Not that she didn’t know the intentions of the knights, that was expected. The surprising part was her patience for Aventis and his attempts at vague intimidation. It was… Almost like a compliment. Vanessa seemed decent, which was absolutely new, and far from expected, particularly her formalities. Along with her promise of benevolence, she extended an invitation to Eypharian. An important one. To know him. That had never happened to Aventis before, nothing so permanent had ever happened.

“I do intend to become acquainted with you for future challenges.” She said to him.

It was small. It was insignificant. It was minute. It was all he had ever had.

The squire’s scowl immediately fell from his face, replaced with confusion and slight disdainment for himself, perhaps even with a hint of joy. Quickly, however, was his confusion replaced by a stern look of self doubt, incredulous to his own stupidity. It was just something people said. A formality. It was silly of him to put any meaning behind it. There was no meaning but the one intended. The intended meaning was training. Training and only training.

Fine, Vanessa. Aventis sullenly thought to himself. Training’s what you want.

Quietly, solemnly, Aventis held his blade out and crossed it with Vanessa’s.

“Your move.”

[Vanessa Lawson]

A Brief flash of a shock crossed Aventis's features before fading in to confusion and going neutral. This gained a slight puzzled expression from Vanessa. He soon brought his blade to cross her own, apparently understanding and accepting the challenge in his own way. A nod from Vanessa. "Then let's begin, Aventis." Vanessa took a step back and withdrew her sword before pausing and giving her opponent time to collect themselves before beginning her attack. Bringing her right foot back, she began the charge on her left. With her Broadsword trailing behind her, she brought the blade up to make an uneven slash with the blunt of the blade. Knowing she was far outmatched, Vanessa decided to rely on what she knew before hand. Hopefully sticking to the basic training with her Patron would find an opening. If not, well, she'd still show off what she knew.

[Aventis]

Her charge was far too easy to evade. Practicing the same tactic he had used in previous advances, the multi-armed squire spun quickly on his heel and away from her blade. Finding himself now on the girl’s right side, he swiped again at her arm, not hard enough to injure but hard enough to leave a mark for a few minutes if he hit. Anticipating her next attack, Aventis jumped back to a distance he guessed was out of the way of her attacks. Figuring that the current match was more than likely too difficult for the girl, he quickly slid his rapier back into the spot on his waist where he most often kept it. Quickly he reached into the folds of his cloak and drew his short sword, and seeing as he was beyond inept with his weapon, he now sought the advantage that he had lost.

Gripping his blade with white knuckles, he charged the girl, doing his best to appear as if he were to attack. He raised his right arm to the zenith, blade at hand, trying to make it appear as if he would attack. Anticipating another swing to the right, as now he assumed the girl to be right handed, he spun to the left, finding himself facing Vanessa’s armored back. He moved to slam his already raised sword against her back and hit her not with the blade but with the pommel, hopefully enough to knock her off guard but at least enough to get her attention. Assuming, based upon her dominant hand, that she would try to meet him from the right, Aventis spun again to the left, and, aiming for the girl’s hands, made a motion to hit her once again with the pommel of his blade in an attempt to disarm her. Flinging his arm from the side he aimed at her fingers, hoping that if he hit he wouldn’t break any fingers, but that sword needed to be gone if this was to be a fair fight.