Closed Fighting Fancy, Failing Fabulously II (Alexander)

[Crystal Nightshade]

Continuation of this Crystal inhaled deeply, trying to calm the heavy breaths she was letting out. It was a bit sad, how out of shape she was of course. She needed an edge or advantage over him. She was getting tired and perspiration was leaking from her. She watched him carefully, fully aware that he was swaying slightly. Wait, Alexander was swaying? Was his armor finally giving him trouble..? Or was he feigning it to catch her by surprise? Then she would take the chance. She rushed him, intent to use her weight and his to her advantage, she grinned and went shoulder first into his chest armor. If it worked, he would have to much weight forcing him down to stay up. From their she would trap him under her, holding the dagger to his throat. She had no intention of losing, but if she didn't finish the round quickly, she wouldn't be able to hold up. As it were her ragged breathing was making her dizzy, as well as the surge of adrenaline pumping through veins. She had little doubt her responses and reflexes would be slow and uncoordinated afterwards. OOCSorry it's small, can't do much.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

The simple fact of the matter Alex couldn’t stand up for much longer at least not doing some of the more rapid motions that he had been. Each swing of his arm was only with a one pound dagger but that had a further seven pounds of armour weighing it down. So each throw of his arms which cut nothing but air simply didn’t live up to the resistance and with the weight he had to put his strength into stopping. He was tired. Oh so tired. He stepped around her. He didn’t want to go in against an unarmed opponent. Taking the time to catch his breath as well.

He could see that she was starting to tire as well. Though not at the same pace. She darted straight into his midsection. The impact rattling his centre. And knocking him onto his back. His head still spinning from the earlier blow to the chin. He only just managed to catch her pinning him to the ground. The training blade just out of his grasp. His fingers wrapped around the handle as he brought it up. She placed her blade at the edge of his throat and he placed his just at the edge of her thigh.

As high as he could get it in the confusion and the moments surrounding things. “Well…I think we can call this your victory here. “ He spoke with an air of confusion. He knew what he was doing but his brain had been rattled. The wind knocked from his lungs as he lay on the ground. Semi gasping at the air to drink back down some. “What was that about being up to par with a squire?” He managed to eventually chuckle out. He’s been beaten, He lie on the ground. The loose sand indented by his armour making rolling out of this situation impossible. Not to mention the thin edge of the blade pressed against the soft of his neck. He let his head fall back against the sand. The practice blade clinking against the steel of his plate.

“So you going to get off me? Or do you like sitting on me?” A small sound of wheezing escaped him as he began to settle his breathing back down. Still radiating heat through the plate, despite the air around him being chilled and cool.

OOCI’m assuming Crystal has him pinned by sitting on his chest and paceing the blade at his throat from above.

[Crystal Nightshade]

As it turned out, the man wasn't feigning fatigue or exhaustion. That rang true when she rammed him. She grunted at the impact, fully aware of the pain forming against her shoulder. That was to be expected after all. She let herself fall into position. Her legs on either side of him, and her dagger positioned at his throat. Though she could've sworn she heard a sharp intake of breath as they collided. "My win indeed, though I felt more anxiety sparring with you. Almost as if I was trying to prove something.." The last part she said more to herself than to Alex, though she chuckled at his next statement. Perhaps she could keep up with this squire, but only the future could tell with others. Her smiled and spoke before getting off the man. "Perhaps I do." She chuckled shortly after, and swayed a bit before starting herself. She was almost out of energy. She decided against standing, instead hoping to restore her energy by sitting. She attempted to slow her breathing, closing her eyes as a relaxation technique. "So tell me," she began before opening an eye. "What's it like being in the knighthood?" She was curious about his role in the order. Perhaps he could tell her more about it? If it wasn't against rules of course. She knew basic things, like how they protect the citizens and such, but what about daily life and training? What about rules and regulations? She was genuinely interested in knowing, plus it gave them both time to relax a bit before they had their next round.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Alex groaned lightly beneath her. The blade at his throat cool and actually rather welcome for the frosted pull it brought. And then the wind whistled by his head. She’d begun to partially gloat over that victory. Hard earned but a victory in that situation. Still she’d almost forgotten the prior round which he’d won. And he’d given her a hard time for this victory. But she took it as if she was trying to prove something. As she rose off of his chest allowing him to get full range of motion back and retracting her blade. He sighed out a breath of relief. Perhaps she did? A small smirk crossed his face, so slight she might have missed it. She swayed lightly as she stood. The same position as him. Out of energy and struggling to stay on her feet.

Taking the wiser choice she sat and drank down a few slow breaths in order to build her energy. Alex knew how this worked as he himself was doing it still flat against the floor. A couple ticks passed as they just stayed in their respective positions before she spoke again. Asking him what it was like in the knights. Laid out flat against the sands he couldn’t really say what he wanted too. KInda like this. Me getting my backside beaten till I can’t stand every single day. But that lacked some fluidity to it. Some sense of grandeur. “Well…It’s a lot like I’m stuck at the bottom of a large chain of command. I don’t get much say in what I do. Nor do I get much ask in what I’m able to do. I just get told to do something and I do it.”

Groaning and hauling himself to a seated position he managed to continue propping himself up on his arms. “All in all it’s not bad. I mean there’s a lot of things that I can and can’t do. But one thing is always true. I’ve got to honour the city and its people by protecting them as best I can.” Not sure if that was the answer she wanted he left the sentiments hanging in the air. Almost willing her to make a motion to clarify the question a little.

[Crystal Nightshade]

"It sounds okay, I guess. I mean, I've never really thought much about how the order works, nor do I know a lot about it. I just know the basics really. You guys protect us, keep us safe." The young woman replied thoughtfully. She seemed to recall only bits and pieces of information, such as the rank system and such. The most basic knowledge, that's what she had. Perhaps as they were resting he wouldn't mind telling her more? "Do Squires normally learn by challenging citizens?" Having paid no attention, Crystal realized she didn't know how they generally trained. Sure, he had come alone from what she could tell, but what if he was on break or something? Wait, how would they train without knowing what to train? So they must be given mentors at the beginning. Perhaps they even moved on to being without mentors after a certain point. She mused. Having calmed her breathing and slowed her heart rate, Crystal opened both eyes to look at Alexander. She wondered what other skills he had. She'd seen a few knights on horse back once, but she wondered if it was a necessity. She hoped she wasn't bothering the man with her questions, she was just a tad bit curious of his occupation. The more questions she formed, the more she wanted to ask. "I hope you don't mind satisfying my curiosity. I've never really had a chance to talk to a knighthood apprentice." She said with a small smile. Truth is, she hadn't had a chance to talk to anyone in the knighthood. Though even with that said, she barely spoke to anyone in Syliras. She'd not had the time or motivation to.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

She’d never really thought too much about how the order works. She knew the basics but no the intricacies. A careful tone laced her voice as she spoke, she was choosing her words carefully whether to not offend him or to not seem like she was completely un-knowledgeable he didn’t know.
“We try. Best we can to protect everyone. Sometimes it’s not enough but still we march on attempting to protect everyone.” Truth was he didn’t have much to say on the nights beyond his own beliefs. And his own steps within the order.

Her next question was a little more straight forwards as he talked with her. Did the squires normally challenge citizens? “In all honesty I don’t really know but I think its better that I test against people outside of the order. That way you get a feel for how normal folk fight when pushed.” He groaned a little with the weight of his armour standing back up. “It’s not unusual for Squires to just go off into the bronze woods for a couple of days and just train in nature for a while.”

Finally clamouring up from the ground Alex brushed the sand from his armour, sucking down another breath through clenched teeth he could feel a bruise on his back starting to form. Then she spoke again after a short pause. Did he mind her asking him these questions? Not really it was occasionally nice to talk to someone outside the knight hood. “It’s fine. Kind of our job to help people. So fire away but I hope you wouldn’t mind me asking a few questions in return.” He coughed a little leaning down to pick up the training dagger.

“My first question to you crystal… Is, where exactly are you from?” He was more curious about that as not everyone was who they seemed to be. He himself wasn’t exactly what he seemed to be. Shifting to the side Alex moved to sit on the bench next to her.

[Crystal Nightshade]

"Just ask away. I have no objections." Crystal wouldn't deny anyone the chance to learn, much like she wouldn't deny it for herself. However, she did hope her sparring partner wouldn't have any questions about personal life. She wouldn't know how to handle it. Moving over a few inches, she made more room for him to sit beside her. "I'm Syliras born and raised. I've never know anywhere else." The ebony gave him an automatic answer. She'd never known anywhere other Syliras but it wasn't like she actually thought of leaving. She had no reason to. And even if she did, she doubted if her mental connection to the city would let her. She hadn't realized she'd begun to frown until she decided to speak again. "And what about you? Where are you from?" OOCSorry for the short post, I'm trying to get a post up for my threads.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

No objections she had? Well perhaps this would be a simpler conversation than he was normally privy too. Knights were a secretive sort and Alex tried to be somewhat open in regards to most things. Just not what she’d asked of him. His true origins he couldn’t divulge the outlook on Ravokians wasn’t exactly favourable in Syliras. Still she was from Syliras fully and wholly so that meant he couldn’t give her the run around in terms of origins.

“Personally I’m from all over the place, really haven’t stopped moving over the last couple of years.” That was the best and most honest answer she was going to be able to get from him with regards to his origins. He didn’t like revealing exactly where he was from. Still sitting on the bench caused it to creak and groan under the weight of his armour.

Alex sighed lightly looking out over the pits. The clamour of steel and clash of blades not lost on him. He still hadn’t been in the city too long by this point coming up on a year soon enough. “Crystal, you said you were born and raised in Syliras. Mind if I ask, what job you do in the city? Seems that I couldn’t put too fine a point on what I think you do.” An honest enough comment given the fact that she’d put him in a position where he was at a disadvantage he couldn’t be too unsure that she wasn’t a mercenary or a very skilled hunter amongst a variety of other things. Still though it wasn’t his place to speculate and he’d let her divulge the information she wanted too.

Alex lent back in the bench pressing the steel plate he wore into the wall. The weight pressing down on his shoulders. As uncomfortable as it was he knew he’d have to get used to it. After all it was a simple fact that all the knights he saw were all clad from head to toe in the stuff.

[Crystal Nightshade]

Crystal smile faltered for just a bit before it retuned. It seemed as if his answer was hesitant to her. Did he not know where he was from? Or was it something else..? She assessed his expression, but couldn't identify anything that would give her a hint. She turned away before she started staring and nodded. "I see." His next question made her smile turn into a proud grin. So he'd been trying to figure out her occupation? Heh, he was a slick one. She hadn't even noticed him assessing her. "I'm a hunter, have been since I turned fifteen." She said with pride. It was clear to all that she loved her job, but their was also a sense of sadness mixed with it. Even if she tried her best to hide it. "It runs in the family." She chuckled half heartedly while turning away. A brief sadness crossed her features as she remembered her family, though it dissolved just as quickly. "Did your family consist of Knights? Just curious is all." She stated softly. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable so she was watching her words. After all, it wouldn't do to offend her partner.