Disarming presence

by **Nemori** on December 17th, 2016, 6:34 pm

35th of Winter, 516

Nemori opened her eyes, the Cubacious Inn finally stopping its movement. It made her feel sick, and she was still not used to it. She had been informed it just happened sometimes, and to try to ignore it as best possible. She hated it. It made her feel dreadful and disturbed her sleep. It was nothing like the flats plains of Avanthal. The very sensation raised the idea of home once more ,and the pang of homesickness manifested as deep green in her eyes. For the first time in a while she had space to herself and she felt both happy and annoyed at it. She enjoyed her own space, it had been so long since she had the opportunity but the sickening movement was better shared with those who were more accustomed to it to ease her. She stood up, walking over to one of the tables and took a drink of water, hoping to shift the feeling. It helped somewhat and she felt slightly more comfortable.

As she drank she glanced around the room, it was littered with weapons of different kinds and sizes. Was the world really so dangerous to none Vantha? She wondered why Alexander needed so many different weapons. Swords, spears, and other strange weapons she did not recognise. Her stuff was put together in one corner, attempting to take up as little space as possible. Her blankets covered some of it. Her coat was wrapped around her waist, ready to be chucked on should someone attempt to enter the room. She hesitated, unsure of how to occupy herself. Her eyes kept landing on the weapons, they were a constant reminded to the dangerousness of her situation, and the room had little else to focus on. Her eyes lingered on her own shortspear for a moment, she really was not good enough at using it. What if she was attacked? So far she had gotten lucky and not needed it however she was unsure of her capability if it came to it. Her mind was decided and her eyes showed purple as she moved towards it.

Her short spear was easily grabbed and she took a moment merely holding it, readjusting to the weighting, before taking a careful stab at the empty air. She faced towards the doorway, not wanting to knock any of the weapons decorating the room. She mostly focused on attempting shorter stabs, thinking the room too small for larger swings. She focused mostly on the idea of blocking weapons or attempting to knock them from an attackers hands. The idea of deliberately injuring someone felt wrong, it sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine. However she knew it might be necessary, even if just enough to run away. She tried to ignore the thought, focusing on the way the weapon moved and the dancing of the ribbons tied to it. She made another stab, it dropped wildly, knocking into a nearby sword and they was a clang as the metals struck. The sword was knocked over, clattering against the wooden floor.

“Firesticks” She muttered in the singsong Vani tongue. She sighed, getting out of using her own language was one of the most difficult parts trying to hide herself. She worried that she would be heard every time she slipped into her own tongue. She considered for a moment, deciding to ignore the sword for now, pick it up when she was done. She took another stab, more determined and the weight carried her forwards, forcing her to drop the spear before she became unbalanced herself.

language colors :

by **Alexander Faircroft** on December 22nd, 2016, 9:15 pm

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

Alex arrived back at the inn moistly as a want to put his feet up for a bit and relax. However he stepped through the open doors of the in completely soaked. Despite the fact that the city wasn’t experiencing the dredges of snow he was used too he still got caught in the damned rain. Quite literally dripping from every point of himself he stepped through the doors earning a rather sharp look from the proprietor. Which he quickly placated with an apologetic look. He climbed the stairs to his room with a slow feeling of just exhaustion. Though the moment he reached the top of the stairs he heard metal clatter against metal and started to take off running towards his room.

Moving with such speed he almost slipped over twice on the way from the sheer wetness of his boots.
Damn it someone found them! Repeating over and over in his mind as he pushed through the door with a small amount of panic on his face. He didn’t want to show his unease towards a, would be assassin as that would just invite problems. As he pushed open the door however a spear came towards him, his initial reaction was to dodge backwards but as it got closer it dropped to the ground. And he shifted his standing just in time to hold a hand up to help balance Nemori.

He glanced towards the ground and then over to the side. Seeing the blade on the ground now it made sense. She was practicing or trying to kill him. Either way it was a lot better option than the alternative.
“Next time you practice stabbing. Please don’t aim at the door.” His tone was a lot lighter than it should have been, almost joking despite his near impalement. As he closed the door he pulled off his long leather jacket, hung it and then did the same to his armour both completely soaked like everything else. He looked towards the ground though and picked up her spear. Handing it back to her with the blade towards him he spoke again.
“Nice thrust though. But next time try stepping in before you shove the blade forwards. You won’t fall over that way.”

by **Nemori** on December 22nd, 2016, 10:09 pm

A face appeared at the door and Nemori dropped, partly from shock and partly from fear she might have hurt however it was. Her eyes blared a stark white for a moment, before switching into pale green as she realised the change in them. She relaxed slightly as she recognised Alex. He was soaking, water droplets spraying from his clothes as he removed the damp layers. His hair was clinging to his forehead. Nemori was partly glad she had decided to mostly stay in today, she did not like the idea of getting soaked as he had. When he had finished stripping down to a less soaked layer he picked her spear from the ground. This knocked her into movement once more and she grabbed it from his hands, tilting it towards the ceiling and away from Alex. Her fingers checked the wood for signs of damage before she observed the metal carefully. Her finger pressed along the side of the blade, slowly and carefully shuffling along it so that she would not nick herself while checking it.

“Sorry, I was…trainer? Training? Practice.” She recalled the word he had used, hoping that it slotted neatly into her sentence properly. The lack of ability to communicate properly was increasingly frustrating and she cursed her own distraction from focusing on learning the language properly in the past.
“I did not want to break weapons or bed. Door seemed safe” She gestured loosely towards the gathering of weapons that lined the entranceway. Her eyes coming to rest of the one that had been knocked over. They shifted into shimmering silver. It still made sense in her head, damaging the wood or cloth of the bed would cause many problems, whereas she was less likely to cause significant damage in the gap towards the door. She moved towards the dropped sword, propping her own weapon against the wall so that she could restore his to its previous resting place. A quick scan revealed no damage to her untrained eyes, and she hoped that held true.

“Stepping in?” She puzzled over his expression. A step was a stairwell, was it not? Move towards a stairwell? That make no sense. What did that have to with her training to use her spear better? Not have her fall over? She supposed if she was used to training on such difficult terrain it might help her fight better. But given the current situation practicing on the inn stairs seemed unsafe, for multiple reasons.

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by **Alexander Faircroft** on December 23rd, 2016, 8:46 am

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

Alex lifted his hands to his head and swept his hair back and out of his face the sheer weight of the water pinning it down as he did so and running off to slash heavily against the ground. He was going to have to change but he’d hold off on anything too drastic for a minute. Instead opting to just pull of his shirt and ring it out. And as Nemori spoke he responded in kind. “Training. But yes. You’re right and it’s not an issue.” He smiled lightly draping his shirt over the back of his chair. “And that’s understandable. Sorry, that’s good. It’d be hard to sleep if you did.” He spoke with a calm and understanding tone that echoed out lightly as he shifted his eyes over her blade noticing no problems with it and even as she lifted the great sword she’d knocked over back up there was no damage.

He honestly doubted her frame and such a weak footed thrust could do any damage to a slab of steel quite that big. “Yes stepping in.” He could see from her face that the words were completely lost in translation so instead he stepped up next to her and angled his hand like he was holding his blade or something about the same length and size. He made a mock thrust like she had done showing her that her weight would fall how she did it. “That’s how you did it. Now step in.” He made the same motion this time however as he stepped in this time showing her how the step made the stance more stable and would help her thrust be stronger. “See?”

Alex spoke with a small smile of reassurance before sitting down in his chair and rummaging around in the bag at his side for a clean and dry pair of pants and undergarments as well as a shirt that Infilia hadn’t snaffled to lounge about in. As he glanced back up however he took a look at Nem’s face seeing a little feeling of wanting to be able to protect herself in her eyes and her general atmosphere. “I could train you if you want?” He let the offer hang in the air, whether she slapped it down or took him up on it was her choice.

by **Nemori** on December 23rd, 2016, 9:01 pm

Nemori watched the motion as he “stepped in”, as he called it. Her eyes only managing to pick up some basic thing from the single display. She was mostly focused on the positioning of his hands, rather then what he was actually demonstrating, the foot positions and the stance. Her attempt to copy was pitiful at best, her feet placed wrong and when she stepped she stepped with the closest leg. Making the movement stunted. The discomfort she held was pinned down to learning a new thing in her mind. Another attempt, her eyes blaring purple as she tried her best to get it right. In truth she was only working from half an observance and it would be nearly impossible to copy it right away. She glanced over at him. His bag was open, and he was shuffling about inside it before looking up at her.
“I could train you if you want?” He proposed. She glanced around. The room was small, she wondered how much training he could provide her without getting harmed himself. Practice fighting was definitely off the table.
”Yes, please. If they space?” She returned to a standing position, slightly relieved by the comfortableness of simply standing instead of attempting a complicated new stance.. The spear resting against the floor lightly.

Languages :

by **Alexander Faircroft** on December 23rd, 2016, 9:20 pm

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

Again her common was a little shaky but he caught the gist of it. Watching her try and copy the actions he was taking. It was a little painful to watch. With the fac that he couldn’t really describe what to do well to her instead he rose leaving the bag in disarray and stepped up behind her. Still very much soaked he spoke. “Words aren’t helping so I ‘m going to move you.” He spoke with a even word his arms reaching around her to hold her wrists lightly he helped her hoist her spear back into a full grip. One she was comfortable with but a full grip none the less.

Moving his hands to her shoulders he pressed down on them lightly forcing her to bend her knees a little and crouch. And then without warning he crouched down and pushed her feet further apart making her stance steadier. “Feel more, solid?” He took his choice of words carefully trying to think about how to ask without her misunderstanding him. “Right, and now you step in.” He pushed her arms forwards into the thrust she’d done before but stopped his hand moving to the back of her forward leg pushing on her thigh to shift her weight the other pressed on the back of her right shoulder rear shoulder blade prompting her to lean forwards into the thrust. Showing her how to do a very solid and very well grounded basic thrust, which was applicable to most of the weapons he could think of and knew how to use. After all basic foot work worked anywhere.

He stepped back a second and considered her size and build, and the fact that she’d stick out like a sore thumb using that short spear in this city… And then an idea hit him. He stepped over to his array of blades and other such goodies. And picked up his double bladed sword, opening it to full length. “Try this. Hold it like your spear. And I’ll show you how to use it.” Handing it to her he stepped behind her again and reached around her to hold onto her wrists lightly. He had to press his chest against her back to pull off the full motion with her in the middle but as he pulled her forwards wrist back he brought her rear wrist forwards swinging both blades in an upward diagonal arc.

The first blade was used for knocking the strike away. And then the second blade then came in and did the damage with the full weight of her body behind it. And then changing her positioning stepping around with her still glued to her back he motioned her into the same stance but mirrored on the opposite side. Then repeated the motions in a mirrored arc. Aiming towards the open empty space so as to not hit anything. “How’s that feel?” He asked her with a quiet but clearly instructive word.

by **Nemori** on December 25th, 2016, 11:07 pm

Nemori felt his hands positioning her, its felt more comfortable almost immediately as he adjusted her stance and grip. It felt strange being moved into position but she understood the need for it. Language was a huge issue for them, she had not been blind to that fact. He ushered her to repeat the step once more from her new stance and she attempted to comply. The movement cause the stance to become undone slightly but it felt stronger, less likely to fall over. His fingers digged into her shoulder slightly as he tried to push her into leaning forwards and she attempted to follow as best she could. The movements were unnatural to her, she was used to just swinging her spear and hoping for the best. That and the occasionally attempt at fishing.

Alex withdrew from her and she tested the movement on her own again. Her grip was starting to shift into something more natural for her size. Purple eyes glanced at Alex, partly for approval and partly to check she was not accidentally beating him with the blunt end. When he started towards some of the other weapons she hesitated, starting to return to a standing position. Was he going to try and duel her? She glanced around the room. They was definitely not enough room for such a thing. Was he good enough for such restrictions? She was unsure, surely someone with so many weapons had the ability to use them?

He picked up a metal stick, the shaft had a sort of mesh running along it and more solid pieces on each end. She looked at it with curiosity. It was not something she had ever noticed before in his pile of weapons. She startled as he clicked buttons on each end, causing blades to slide out with the sound of metal on metal. It had never occurred to her that they might be blades hidden inside the metal stick. She glanced around, checking for other blunt looking weapons that might be secretly bladed.

Alex pushed it into her hands and she studied it carefully. Her spear finding its way to a nearby wall. It felt lighter than her normal spear, better crafted. In moments he had started to position her again, not allowing her much time to observe or get used to the feel of the weapon. She imagined it had not occurred to him. Her back was pressed against her chest, and for a split second the proximity distracted her. Before long she was distracted back by the swinging of her wrists causing the weapon to curve through the air. It felt fluid. The metal moving easily in the arcs. With some time she started to notice the point of the movements, the closer blade becoming more defensive as the intent is communicate wordlessly.

The words almost surprised her as Alex pushed her forwards into the arced motion.
“Light. Good” She replied, her confidence with the new weapon was slowly increasing. Its own weighting made it easier to follow through with the furthest blade. Low blows that likely hit the opponents legs. She was obviously starting to preference the lower swings automatically, her short height making aiming at a taller enemy more difficult, ”What name?”

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by **Alexander Faircroft** on December 25th, 2016, 11:47 pm

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

The feeling of her moving through the motions with him was a good thing it meant that she was starting to get the hang of the blade in her hands and could at least see why the weapon was as useful it was for what he’d shown it too her for. And her words of approval helped spark that bit of confidence he needed to grow within her to get her comfortable with the blade. When she asked for the name. “This. Is a twinblade.” To emphasize his point in a way the words would make sense he tilted up each of her hands and counted aloud to show her what the name meant.

“You can see. Or at least feel, that the blade is good for protection and attacking. At the same time.” His words again were intentionally slow to help her get the grip of what he was saying and his motions with her had been intentional to get across the very basic of basic moves with the blade. An action that wielded it as a continuous force of assault and protection. Whirling it around the body in a forward cone using the forward blade to push away anything incoming and the rear one to strike out. His hands let go of her wrists as he stepped away from her how letting her get comfortable with the weapon.

As light as it was, it was going to be a lot less conspicuous in Alvadas than a half spear. The overall size was significantly larger too offering her a means to keeping people who fought up close at bay as well as a means of protecting herself from those with reach. And with the showmanship and illusion that ran through the city, what better way to hide how one faught than disguising it behind dance like motions?

“Be careful though.” He spoke calmly with a rather protective tone. “It’s really sharp.” He wasn’t kidding there, he kept all of his blades at an almost ludicrous level of sharpness at last check on each they were sharp enough to cut through a piece of paper with just the weight of the paper pulling on it.

He paused a moment letting her test it out on her own. And with a smile he spoke. “Take it. Use it for your own defence should I not be there.”

by **Nemori** on December 26th, 2016, 12:10 am

Twinblade. The word lingered in her mind. Two blades. It was a simple enough name, punctuated by Alex counting out as they swung each side. She appreciated that his words were slow, he was getting better at catering to her inability to keep up with the language. He confirmed her theory about defence in words. It was a very pretty weapon, useful.

The lack of his aim was noticeable, and she almost stumbled at the suddenness of it. She paused, taking stock of the weapon on her own terms before attempting to repeat the swirling motion. Her movements were slowly now that she was alone, less certain in herself and the sharp blades. The furthest blade occasionally pulled to close to her side and she forced herself to pause, readjusting her grip to pull it away from her body. It was likely that she would hurt herself if she was not careful. The stopping and starting knocked her rhythm slightly, but she was getting used to the weapon in her hands alone.

The warning almost washed off her, but she glanced up at Alex. Hearing his offer to keep it. She opened her mouth. Closing it again as she considered the words.

“Is good to keep?...you…” The words fell frustratingly. She sighed unable to form the verification. It was a pretty weapon, she had no idea how expensive such a piece would be to buy. Was he really willing to just allow her to keep it? She arced it around again, it did feel much safer than her spear. More like a real weapon, imposing and powerful despite her.

Nemori raised the twinblade closer to her face, inspecting the metal ends. The blade itself was pointed away from her. They was a small pin that she gently pressed in. It did not budge. She frowned, attempting to pull on it instead. The blade of the side she was working slid down, into the gap of the metal. She turned up over, aiming to hide the other blade. The first blade slid out once more, having not been locked into place like she had expected it to be.

Languages :

by **Alexander Faircroft** on December 26th, 2016, 1:09 am

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

Watching Nemori work around the blade in shaky but knowing movements. Alex was more than happy to let her keep working on it at least with her current rate of practice. And at his offer for her to hang onto it and use it she asked if it was Alight in her own way and he just raised a hand to stop the question before she found the words.
“It’s fine. I need to know that you’ll be safe even if I’m not around.” His words were even but there was a light undertone to his words a subtle feeling of both honest and wanting to genuinely keep her safe

Watching her try and put the blades away though he couldn’t help but give out a small chuckle.
“You have to push the pins in to lock the blade in.” He spoke in a slow manner but also at the same time giving her the mechanics of how to do it through mirroring what she was doing and adding in what she forgot to do, which was why the blade kept sliding back out. And when she finally managed to slip the blade back into the sheath.

Though as he sat down on the wooden chair he’d left his shirt over to dry on it became rather apparent that he was still soaked almost to the bone. And was glad he had made the conscious decision to sit on the chair instead of the edge of the bed. “Nemori. You’ve not had any real practice with weapons have you?” His words again were slow but this time more questioning. Not trying to be intrusive to her but still he wanted to know. Mostly to make sure that he didn’t step on her toes when it came to what she’d learnt if anything.

Completed Disarming presence