Closed [Antinous Training Grounds] Chain of Command.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

31st of Winter, 515.

"Alright. FALL IN!" the sergeant knight bellowed loudly to the small assortment of shivering squires. Ser Corbus Stanlinsa, as sergeant of a full wing, had responsibilies, Arch had been told. These included managing and supervising the performance of all of those underneath him in many matters, from their combat efficiency to formation riding, even down to the training of their squires. An important affair, admittedly - something that he had the utmost pleasure in teaching today of all days. Why was he being told this? Well first because, as if Arch's previous experience with the sergeant wasn't enough, the knight simply could not keep his mouth shut and seemed to love the sound of his own voice even more than he did annoying everyone else around him, and that was a real surprise. Second, because Arch's previous success in co-ordinating a private group of fellow squires to out-wit them had seemed to convince the sergeant that there was some monicum of worth to his skills. Meaning that instead of spending his days off kicking back in the dorms, next to a nice warm fire and relaxing, he'd have the joy of helping the sergeant in his training. Oh goodie.

Five knights to a wing meant five squires to work with. He knew none of them. "Listen up! Today we're going to be reviewing everything you've gone through with your patrons. We're going to start with armed and unarmed combat." To each of the squires in turn, he jabbed an accusatory finger. "I want you all to be working to your highest caliber. Treat this every bit as much as you would a real engagement with live steel and enemies aiming for the throat and not taking 'no' for an answer."

From the side, the Pycon stood, legs spread apart and hands clasped behind his back. Jeez, if this is what I get to look forward to, maybe it's best if I quit while I'm ahead. He couldn't imagine a more boring task than teaching smaller, younger versions of himself to do things he already knew. Even if that seemed like all he was doing here anyway. "You'll pair up with you. You, with you. As for you, you'll-- oh." Oh please no. "Seems you'll be up against Archailist over here." Petch it all to Hai.

The sergeant gestured with a finger and Archailist was compelled to obey. "Sorry about this, but we have an odd number, so you two will be testing yourselves against one-another. I'm sure you'll both do fine, though. I'll be sure to inform both of your patrons of your progress later on." Well, at least he'd remembered to bring his Py-Pole. Didn't seem like he'd need it that afternoon but now he was very glad he'd taken the sacrifice and dragged it up all those stairs. "Alright then. Let's get this underway, shall we?" he asked the odd-looking girl. Funny; maybe if he'd spent less time just thinking how quickly he wanted to go back to the dorms and relax in front of a hot fire, he would have noticed a few strange things about this particular human. She was a human.. right..?

[Irathia]

Irathia stared at the Pycon, she was wearing borrowed armor. It was plate mail, heavy, restricting... A dent was in the middle of her stomach, which, of course, was uncomfortable. Some leather was extremely worn and a the shoulder plate was dull. Irathia tried to ignore the smell. My gods, the smell... It was bad. Even when it was cleaned it still had a certain odor to it. Like sweat, blood, oil... Some other things that she would not like to think about. Irathia adjusted the breast plate, trying to make it more comfortable sense it wasn't exactly fitted well. Irathia had a hammers in booth of her hands, one appears to be quiet worn, like it has been in use for years. The other was shiny and new. Irathia stared at the 5 inch squirrel looking thing. It was clearly a thing she heard about called a Pycon, small animated clay statues that managed to walk around due to magic. Or at least that what she was told. For all she knew, this thing was made of wood and was completely organic, no magic involved in the slightest. Defiantly a interesting thing to see... She thought it was almost comical that something that small was in the knights, then again, that thing could be the most powerful squire in the entire order. You never know! She grinned as she thought a tiny bit. She quickly shook her head, snapping herself out of her trance. She grinned as the small thing asked if she was ready... She thought for a moment. "Sure... Name is Irathia by the way." Irathia said, preparing herself to smack the thing with her hammer. She wondered what the small thing would do in response, maybe it was fast? Maybe it would completely withstand a smack from her hammer... Just incase she separated her legs a tiny bit, bent her knees and prepared... She felt like this was going to be quite the fight.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Well, this didn't look promising. A hammer; not something he particularly enjoyed fighting against. Too big, too heavy.. just a clip would be enough to leave some serious impact, much more than a sword and its nice slicing edges that left shallow wounds that almost immediately refilled themselves. No such luck with hammers. Worse still, two of the buggers. He'd honestly never seen anyone hold a hammer in each hand; Irathia had balls. "Pleasure to meet you Irathia." As much as he wasn't really looking forward to a potential pummelling by a pair of thick-set blunt masonry tools, it paid to be polite; bow, smile, say please and thank you.

"Alright, enough chit-chat. Begin." Oh wait, shyke.

He turned back towards Ser Stanlinsa, cautious. "Wait, I'm not up for review, so does that mean I should just take it easy and--"

"Nope." The sergeant's words cut through his inquisitiveness like a knife. "You're under review as well." The petch is he on about?! "Your patron asked that I make some notes on your performance as well to send back to him, since you're going to be here and all that. That meant the petcher knew that there'd be an uneven number of squires out here. Damn it, how could he have been so dumb, to actually think a sergeant wouldn't be able to count up to five?! He'd been toyed with. "Now, quit your daydreaming and get to it! I want some serious performance from the pair of you, right now!" Talk about a slave-driver. Or at least as close as one could find in Syliras.

"Alright, petch this petching shyke." Perhaps he was letting emotion run a little wild, but he was seeing red now; more specifically, his crimson Akalak patron's stupid grinning red face staring down from atop Irathia's shoulders as he sped forwards and threw caution to the wind. She could swing with her hammers all she wanted from within a close range, from either direction, but he didn't care. All in the footwork. Left, right, left, right, right, left, right. The Pycon flowed from one side to the other, Py-Pole between both hands and metal cap pointed straight at Irathia, although that wasn't where it was going at all.

The sharpened tip dug deep into the ground several inches from Irathia's toes and the rest of the resin pole creaked and trembled in his grasp, flexed like a bow-string with a very heavy arrow ready to release. Middle of the chest, too easy. Lower abdomen, better target. His feet were digging into the ground with the strain of the pole building like the pressure of a volcano before it erupted; if he built it up any more, he'd struggle to hold it in check, but he kept pushing regardless. Little more. And... RELEASE!

[Irathia]

Irathia watch the little squirrel thing dance around her. She wasn't sure what to do as she wait for a moment to actually attempt to hit the small bastard. She saw the small thing stab the pole into the ground a few inches from her foot. This surprised her as she jumped back a little bit, her face a emotionless mask. This petch is going to be hard... Maybe if I just bring down the hammer and hit... Irathia's eyes widened a bit as the thing seemed to launch it self at Irathia's stomach. The armor was making it hard to move fast enough to block. So might as well swing! Irathia gripped tightened as she brought the new hammer, the left hand, and began to swing as she brought her other hammer to block her stomach... This is going to hurt. Irathia thought, the armor was slowing her down and she wasn't sure she could land the hit against squirrel, or get her other hammer to block her stomach...

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Drat. His aim was fine, but the pole was curving off a little to the side. Guess it'll have to be the hip instead. He didn't know how he was supposed to re-angle himself mid-air but it was worth a shot.. he gripped tighter on the handle as it cracked back into place, pulling himself closer.. or trying to. The pole just twisted in his hands a little and that was it. Oh well. Not exactly what one would call perfect, but it was good enough to land a solid hit. On a hammer. Oh. She seriously intended on using two hammers at the same time for offensive and defensive, by the looks of things. Not only that, but do them both at the same time! Bold, crazy or stupid, he couldn't decide and he didn't know whether he wanted to take the risk of going straight for the torso after all.. but it was a little late to back out now, so might as well go with the flow, as they said. His hands let go and his tiny body was catapulted forwards, leaving the Py-Pole to flop back against the ground.

There wasn't enough time to shift clay into his legs and strengthen them. The best he could do was tug both legs as close to his chest as possible and try to focus the brunt force of his weight around the nexus onto her, instead of the legs. Not as much force, but it'll have to do. The first hammer swing clipped his side and turned his two-footed kick into a tight corkscrew that just collided with the edge of the hammer poised over Irathia's stomach with a good deal of force. Hopefully that's enough. His legs were slightly distended from the assault, making a large dent at both thighs that almost merged both of them together.

After the hit, with nothing left to hang to, the squirrel dropped back down to the ground again. At least this I can save. A sizeable drop but the Pycon found little difficulty in swinging his heavy tail back around again, angling himself head-down on his descent, where he could catch himself with both hands and roll forwards to absorb most of the blunt impact. Not too shabby, but, he'd learned his mistake. No more aiming for the torso. Two hammers were quite formidable, he knew now. Especially in the hands of someone who knew how to use them. Instead, he'd aim for the easier spot for a change. He'd go for the ankles, knees and the rest of the legs.

No repreive. His slightly-squashed legs would have to reform on their own time, he couldn't help them along. For now he made use of what he had and hobbled straight for Irathia's left leg. He'd throw himself straight for the side. No punches, no kicks, no form. He'd rely on his entire body and just throw his shoulder straight for the ankle; everything beyond that was hoping for the best. "Archailist!" The knights made the Pycon grind to a halt and back off a few steps again. "Mind calming it down a little? I know I said serious performance but this is still training, no need to kill one-another." He was absolutely speechless. Oh, well, that's great.

"Irathia! Pick up the pace, I want to see you land some real hits! Two hammers means you should be attacking twice as often, y'hear!" Archailist didn't like the sound of this, at all. Hammers are hammers. I ain't getting hit by either of them. Mid-attack he backed away again, looking instead for his Py-Pole. He must have left it somewhere back where he'd started. If he took it back, he could make some light prods here and there, open up holes in her defense or some shyke. Who knew? Perhaps he'd get lucky.

[Irathia]

The hammer ran into Irathia's gut making a loud banging sound as it left a small dent. Irathia gasped for air as it pushed some of it out. She next felt the small squirrel thing slam against her ankle, which made her loose her balance a little. That is going to leave a bruise. Irathia thought as she regained her balance... The knight yelling at her to pick up the pace angered her, If you want to see pace! How about this! Irathia thought as her face began to go into a snarl. She shifted and brought up both hammers, preparing to swing the hammers at the small clay figure. She brought them down at different times, the much older hammer going first, and then the second, newer one went after it, only seconds separated them. Irathia felt a anger well with in her, though it quickly faded after she swung the hammers down at the small little clay thing. She was curious what that was, sense she hasn't felt something like that... Stay focused Irathia! You can't loose attention in the middle of a fight! What even is this thing anyways? Irathia thought to her self as she began her to the small squirrel thing.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

There were many times where he wished that he had a shield. Even though it'd hardly do anything because the sheer force of being smacked upside the head was going to squish his body one way or another, he still wanted one. Who knew, maybe it could help deflect some of the heavy swings - because he knew that his Py-Pole was pretty useless in that respect. Sure, he could try and use the tension of the flexible resin staff to push at the side of the hammer.. but that was a difficult maneuver to pull off against one, let alone two hammers at once. The price of failure would be dear. Best not to risk it. But then, how else was he supposed to break her defense? In a way that wasn't going to end up denting her armour a second time, at least.

Her next attack came in a furious volley that he could already see wouldn't be avoided with his usual backsteps. Different timings. He needed a rapid escape, but what, how? Oh. He gripped the midpoint of the Py-Pole, dug the metal cap into the ground as deep as he could make it, slid his hands a little further up the pole to gather a little more tension, then pushed himself backwards in a reverse-catapult. As soon as he landed, he dragged the pole around to the side, to make sure his precious weapon wouldn't end up broken in pieces underneath those heavy lumps of metal.

This had to be one of the few cases where range could actually work in Arch's favour. There was no shield he needed to worry about passing and the hammers had such little range that trying to get up-close and personal with the fellow squire was just inviting disaster over for lunch. Keep back. Focus on the smaller attacks. Bait. True enough, his Py-Pole wasn't a spear. From what he'd seen of Ser Iros' weapons, it was still abysmally short compared to those things.. which was fine for him, they must have weighed tonnes as well. It wouldn't give him enough range to pull completely from the swings.. but it could give enough distance, hopefully, to be able to react to the next attack and move out of the way of the swing.

A quick glance up and down the fellow squire, searching for potential points, found a gap between the top of the foot and the beginning of the shin. A seam, running around the foot, to make room for the joint. There was no telling whether there was anything layered underneath, apart from stabbing it with the tip of his Py-Pole, of course. First target. Both hands spread as wide as they could over the pole to try and prevent it from flexing as much as before. Then, he hobbled forwards as quickly as his slightly-smashed legs would allow in a head-on assault. Lure. He knew where to aim for, but his eyes never left her hammers, waiting for her next volley and watching it carefully. As soon as she misses it's my turn. The opening should be wide enough for me to slip straight up to the foot, give it a good jab, then slide back out of range to choose a second target.

As long as the other squire didn't try any funny moves or push herself too far, the method seemed sound in theory. "Come on, don't let him by that easily!" It'd all been going so well, he'd almost forgotten the Sergeant standing at the side, wandering around the tiny allotted space for their combat. "Are you going to let him defeat you so easily, Irathia? Come on, put some effort in!" he bellowed, throwing off the poor squirrel as he continued his push. "So far, frankly, you've been rather disappointing in your performance today!"

[Irathia]

Irathia felt anger swell in her again, that sergeant with his constant yelling was getting on her nerves. She clenched her jaw and her grip tightened around both hammers. A vein began to pulse out of her head, next to the temple. Calm down Irathia... Calm down... She thought to her self, being angry will make her messy. Leaving more openings and a tiny bit more clumsy when it comes to fighting. Irathia mouth widened as she let out a long hiss, exposing pointed teeth as she brought down the two hammers at the same time, intending to swipe the small, rather annoying squirrel to the side. If it was to hit Irathia would then swipe in a direction that would hopefully send the squirrel flying into the air. She was determined to win this fight, even though she knows that the fellow small clay looking squirrel probably is more experienced compared to her. Though, in doing what she is doing, she is leaving her self open to a couple attacks. Mainly her wrists and ankles, as they are not as protected a the rest of her body because of the gaps for the joints. If Irathia realized that is she missed it would be a prime opportunity to get attacked. That just sort of made Irathia even more angry, for being so stupid and rash for doing that sort of attack and not taking into account of the counter attack areas.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Two hammers swung down like a massive pair of synchronized pendulums, threatening to pound the Pycon straight up into the air.. if he'd not been watching them. It's like something out of a book. A game, even.

Push forwards with attack, watch weapons, prepare for defensive attack. No shield, at best there were just a pair of hammers she could turn sideways and hang somewhere near her ankles as some kind-of crude passive defense, so more likely she'd be going for defensive attacks in the future to try and hold him off attacking in the future, even though it just opened up her weak-spot even more. Knowing when she was going to swing, he had more than enough time to react to the swing, roll out of the way, counter-attack while she was still in her swing, then retreat back off to a distance and repeat. A more defensive tactic than he was really accustomed to, though. Perhaps it would be better to just go with the other plan. Yeah.

The metal cap of the Py-Pole dug into the coarse sand of the Training Grounds arena floor for a second time, but this time it was timed ticks before the impending impact of the twin hammers. The pole curved around the right side of the Pycon's body from behind and just like before, he gripped it tightly in both hands and pushed himself off using the pole as support to throw his body through the air. The slight curve gave him a little more range.. enough for the Pycon to make it out of the way of the hammers, spread out his legs like a long-distance jumper and slam back into the ground with a heavy grunt. Bend the knees, tilt the body forwards, pull the centre of gravity forwards.. forwards a little more.. alright, there. Tail slightly to the left. Someone with a less-tuned centre of gravity would have toppled forwards head-over-heels, trying to come to a complete stop after moving so fast. For Arch, it took a few moments of inward-turned thinking, realigning his limbs just slightly to change his centre of balance until it precariously hung just above his right foot - the one part of his body still touching the ground. Close call, he thought quietly. Not going to happen again.

He'd lost precious seconds avoiding humiliating himself. Quickly he pushed down with his left foot and broke into a quick sprint forwards to cover the remaining distance, while twisting the Py-Pole back around at his right-side so that the point aimed straight for the seam lining the outer half of Irathia's ankle. Here's where the rhythm breaks. Whether he actually made it through the armor, whether he hit his target, didn't matter. Again and again he stabbed at the point, wherever he could find an opening, prodding and stabbing with that sharp metal cap. She might wait for my attack, but I'm not waiting for hers, Arch told himself. There was no point backing off again and dragging out a fight that he'd sooner just break here and now.

All he had to do was keep watching two points. The hammers, in case they came down and tried to crush his offensive.. and the feet, in case the other squire decided to cycle back to a method so old and worn that just the thought made Arch want to roll his non-existent eyeballs in their fictional sockets. She's probably going to try and step on me, or kick me, or something, isn't she...

[Irathia]

Irathia hissed again as the small cap hit her skin, cutting it slightly. Irathia pulled her leg back, did a quick kick, and threw the newer hammer at the small thing. She was done with the second hammer, it was just dead weight and not allowing her to function to her full potential with that second hammer. She growled slightly as she stepped back a few step, getting away from the small thing. Irathia gripped her hammer with one hand, keeping the other one open. She was preparing to swat the thing if it dared to try to stab her again with that demon pole. Irathia pointed her hammer at the thing and hissed, the anger getting quite large now as she began to black out, tunnel vision wrapped around her eyes. Calm down, calm down... Deep breath.Irathia took a deep breath and lowered the hammer slightly, calming down as the dark tunnels around her vision faded away, giving her a full focus and Archailist. She closed her mouth and her face went blank again... Can't even land a hit on the thing... How am I supposed to beat it!? Irathia thought, as she studied Arch... Her eyes narrowed slightly as she did so.