Solo Swordplay

[Rhyus]

Time Stamp: 48th of Spring 515AV Location: The Training Gallery Who: Ssacarirhyuss “It doesn't matter what weapon you choose, Viper. I am sstill going to kick your arsse from here to Taloba!” As he walked to the weapon rack, Ssacariryhuss muttered under his breath, “Thiss iss sspar you arrogant petch...” Rhyus wasn't surprised at all at the constrictor's boasting because most of the entire sub species thought they were superior to the rest of Dhani race, and this large constrictor seemed to flaunt it whenever he got the chance. Rhyus didn't care because all he wanted to the practice and the experience of fighting a larger opponent. The constrictor was using the wooden equivalent of a two handed sword, so it would be interesting how his bastard sword would fare against a heavy weapon. Looking at the wooden weapons, the viper looked the right replica that represented his weapon. When his eyes got to the long sword, he kept moving his eyes farther along the row and eventually saw his weapon. The handle was slightly longer than a typical long sword, so he could wield it with one or two hands. Picking up the wooden replica, Rhyus look tested the weight of the weapon by giving a few vertical and horizontal swings in front of him. He turned the handle in his hand a few times and noticed that he didn't like the grip because the varnish on the wood made his sweaty hands stick to the handle slightly. Rhyus frowned to himself and thought, Maybe the stickiness of the handle will help me hold onto my blade when our blades met. Petch it! Who cares it is a spar! Looking up at his stocky opponent, Rhyus said with a smirk, “I will bring you back a ssouvenir once I get back. Deal?” As Rhyus walked into the sparring ring, the stocky constrictor did a few practice swings with the large piece of shaped wood and said with a laugh, “You must have confidence in your abilities if you think, you will make it back from Taloba alive.” When Rhyus got to the center of the sparring ring, the viper got into his fighting stance. With his sword pointed in front of him and at the ground, the viper had his left foot forward and right foot back. With a blank expression, Rhyus cold dark eyes stared at the constrictor dull green eyes and asked in almost emotionless voice, “Constrictor I am here to sspar. I am not here to listen to your idle chit-chat. Ready?” The viper was getting annoyed at the constrictors posturing, but he didn't want to be by his opponent's mind games before the spar even started. Rhyus took a shallow breath and waited for the large to constrictor to act. He wasn't going to make the first move this round. He wanted to see his opponent's abilities and weakness before he took the offensive. Also, the constrictor was wielding a larger weapon, so he will fatigue faster than him, so if he wore his opponent out than he would have a easier time beating him. When the Constrictor raised the two handed sword over his head, he started to slowly walk towards Rhyus. Rhyus noticed the constrictors stance and saw the two handed sword was completely vertical in the air, and the forearm was completely straight. The viper wondered if it was a way to protect his elbow from getting struck. Not wanting to back away from the large constrictor, Rhyus stood his ground as he waited for opponent to get into range. Once the constrictor got into range of viper, he swung his sword in a powerful downward arc at Rhyus' head. For a split second, Rhyus wondered if the constrictor was trying to end it one shot, so he quickly side stepped to the right of the incoming blade. The viper could feel and hear the wind of the large wooden rush by him, so using the same stance as his opponent, Rhyus raised his wooden bastard sword over his head and swung an horizontally at his opponents shoulder. Unlike his opponent, Rhyus wasn't trying to hurt the constrictor since it was just spar, so he wasn't putting the full power into the swing. However, when the blade hit the skin of constrictor's large shoulder, the impact made a loud, whack! The constrictor dropped his blade and yelped out in pain. Not turning his back on his opponent, he back stepped into his starting position with his sword. Still holding the sword with two hands, he held the hand of the sword at his waist and point of the sword pointed up at the chest of his opponent. As he watched the constrictor get back into the starting position, Rhyus could see that he was a novice swordsman like him because the constrictor's initial swing put him out of position where he couldn't react fast enough to parry Rhyus' the simple counter attack. Rhyus knew that he needed to control the situation. If the constrictor kept up with aggression one of them would end up hurt, so the viper said simply, “Lissten I don't know your name, but you need to ssave your aggression for the myrianss not me. This is a sspar, sso don't attack like your trying to kill me.”

[Rhyus]

Ssacarirhyuss was expecting a response, but he never received one because as soon as the constrictor go to his feet, he immediately got into his ready stance. Rhyus was fine with not talking because he didn't want to loose his concentration. The constrictor lifted his two handed sword with both hands till the sword was just over the side of his head and pointed at Rhyus' head. Holding his bastard sword with two hands, Rhyus held the hilt at his waist and pointed the tip of the sword at the chest of his opponent. The viper waited for a couple of ticks as he waited for his opponent to move, but the constrictor must have learned from the last round, so it was Rhyus' turn to strike. Quickly moving forward, Rhyus thrust the sword up at the chest of his opponent; however, the constrictor stepped back and swung his two handed sword down in downward arc striking his wooden bastard away from his body. When the two handed sword connected with his wooden blade, the force almost knocked the wooden bastard sword from his hand, but he was able to maintain his hold weapon. He wondered if the stickiness of the varnish on the wooden hand played a part in holding onto his sword. When Rhyus got control of his weapon, he swung his sword in a horizontal arc across the chest of the constrictor, but the constrictor saw his attack coming and their wooden blades met each other in the middle with a loud clash. The vibrations through the wood made his hands hurt as it became a test of strength as the two Dhani locked swords. Rhyus needed to widen his stance, so with his left foot that was already back, he moved his left foot farther over and sunk lower in stance, so the stance was stronger and more stable. However, Rhyus lost his mobility as he tried to fight a loosing battle against the much stronger opponent. Feeling his arm muscles starting to burn, he could see the face of his opponent and blade getting closer and closer. To make matters worse, Rhyus could feel the fatigue building his leg muscles as he fruitlessly tried to match the constrictor sheer power with his own. Eventually, he realized that he was totally under his opponent's control, and he made a last minute effort of break free by pushing up with his legs. However, Rhyus' comeback was short lived as he felt the knee drive into is stomach and knocking him to the ground. Feeling the tip of his opponent's sword at his neck, he did his best to catch his breath, looked up at the smirking constrictor, and said with a slow nod, “This round is yours...” The constrictor lifted his sword, stuck out his hand to viper, and said with a laugh, “Damn right it is! You know you lost as soon as you stopped moving. You Vips can't match us in strength. I have to give you credit viper for trying though.” Putting a hand on his stomach, Rhyus slowly got to his feet. The constrictor was right. He needed to learn that quickness, mobility and agility were his strengths not the sheer brute strength of his Dhani cousins. Also, he was surprised the constrictor help him from the ground. It was a rare occasion when he got genuine help from a constrictor. Rhyus blew a stray strand of hair from his face and said with a smirk, “Ya, I figure that I would learn eventually after finding myself on my back more often than not...”

[Rhyus]

Running a hand through his sweaty black hair, Ssacarirhyuss decided to take a more offensive stance. Holding the bastard sword over his head with bother hands, Rhyus had his left foot forward and his right foot back. The viper knew a real battle wouldn't be as formal as a spar between two Dhani, but he needed to work on his technique too. Rhyus saw the large constrictor holding the wooden two handed sword down by his waist with the point pointed at Rhyus chest. The constrictor said with a smirk, “Waiting....” Rhyus smiled to himself and quickly closed the distance between the constrictor and him. Once he was in range, he swung across his body at the head of the constrictor warrior. The Constrictor stepped forward, quickly brought the hilt of his sword up over his head and pointed the tip of the sword down at the ground, so the long blade of the two handed sword protected his head and the back of his large body from Rhyus' strike. Once the constrictor parried Rhyus' strike, he stepped forward and swung sword vertically down the center of Rhyus' body to cut him in half if it was a real sword. However, Rhyus sided stepped out of the away of the constrictor's downward strike. As he was moving, Rhyus quickly brought his sword hilt up and over his head and pointed the blade of the bastard sword at the ground, so his blade to protected his body his constrictor counter strike. Rhyus learned over the years of practicing with his real sword that even the smallest cut can kill the strongest warrior in the jungle, so even if the constrictor missed him, it was good to have a secondary defense up just in case. Hearing the constrictor's wooden two handed sword hit the ground, Rhyus brought the hilt off his bastard up and around his head and swung horizontally at his opponent. The viper was surprised that the round was lasting this long because he was getting concern about his endurance. The two weren't trying to kill each other, but they weren't holding back either, so the viper's arm and shoulder muscles were starting to burn with fatigue. This fatigue was starting to effect the speed and control of his strikes. The constrictor showed a uncanny display of agility and jumped backward out of the way of his strike. Rhyus was about to strike again, but he saw the constrictor get back into his ready stance and said out a breath, “Thiss round is a draw, we sshould take a break and catch our breath.” Rhyus lowered the tip of his sword to the ground and said with nod, “Yess, I sstarting to wonder if my armss are about to fall off ssoon. We should go one more round and call it a day.” The viper saw the constrictor was having a much harder time catching his breath. He wondered if it was his massive body was giving him trouble. Rhyus decided to take the constrictor's lead and sit down on the ground. Once he was sitting, he placed the wooden sword across his lap and asked the constrictor, “Have you encountered any Myrian'sss out in the jungle lately?” The large constrictor looked up at him and said said with a frown, “No. I hunt as far away from the blockade ass I can, but from what I hear, they have been quiet as of late. I guesss it is a good thing. Unless you have a death wish. Do you?” When he was younger, the viper would gladly go out and challenge his skills against his ancient enemies, but today, he could care less what the Myrians did. As long as they stayed behind their blockade and not threatened his people. They could rot behind their pointed logs for all he cared. Rhyus shook his head and said softly, “No, I have better thingss to do instead of chassing Myrians through the jungle. I am ssatissfied with hunting food and looking for mates now. Of coursse I would gladly raisse my sssword against our ancient enemiess again if Ssiku or Queen Ssnhamtanabisss orders it.” The constrictor warriors eyes lit up with pride when Rhyus mentioned their Queen's name. The constrictor smiled at the viper and said with respect, “I am ssurprissed that a viper would sspeak the Queen's name with such pride. It is nice to hear that there a vipers loyal to our beloved Queen.” Rhyus gave the constrictor a smirk and said with chuckle, “My family lifted in the jungles of Falyndar since the Valterrian, sso my loyality to Zinrah runss deep in my blood. Tanabiss is sstrong and loving ruler of her people. Besidess it hard not to follow a female with such radiance as her. It is almost blinding!” The constrictor let out a small laugh and said with respect, “Even a blind Dhani can see could see the beauty of our Queen. I would gladly lay down my life for her.” Rhyus tucked a piece of black hair behind his ears and said with the same respect, “Ssame here my friend. Our blood before her blood, right?”