Springtime Swordswinging (Private, Asial)

[Straylor Leonard]

Timestamp: Mid brightening, The second cycle of Immanis. The Season of Spring of Era XIV Post Fractum.

A dashing young man arrived just off the Naturan woods, dressed in commoner's clothes and equipped with a shortsword and a bucker. It wasn't exactly the most common sight, seeing as most travelers that emerged from the woodlands were elves, or the druid type. In that case, Straylor fit neither category. Ever since his military training, Stray has grown quite fit -- and he'd like to thank the Medonian Wine for that. Without the wondrous liquid, he would have never healed from all those workouts and general exhaustion.

For this brightening, Stray was simply taking a walk when he ended up a bit far fromt he township. And so, he kept going since the Suns were still at their peaks, and the beautiful Springtime weather seemed to invite him into the Heartlands as each blade of grass seemed to dance and frolick with each passing breeze.

Beautiful, he thought with a curt nod. Then, finding a spot beneath a lone tree of sorts Stray began to hum curiously to himself. This was a tune he composed after his meeting with the Archdruidess. It blessed Carmelya, the druids, and Nature as the personification of all that is good and true. The melody emulated the coming and going of the seasons, each one transitioning seamlessly into one another.

[Asial Daralis]

Asial woke up early that morning to the warm spring sun shining on her face. She missed Edmund terribly and as such had skipped out on her training for awhile, not really finding the joy she had in it anymore. Though today, was to beautiful of a day to pass up. She cleaned up her camp and decided that she would go and leave Natura for a little while and soak in the warmth and good weather, leaving her troubles behind her. She strapped on her sword and bow and stuffed her feet into her boots, leaving her cloak behind today. She left as the sun was just barly rising and was able to make it to the heartlands by mid brightening. She bought a small loaf of bread from a vender for her lunch and walked around staring at the bright, clear day around her.

It was then as she was walking that she heard the humming. Curious she followed the sound and found a young man leaning against a tree. She listened to the sweet melody he sang and felt a strange feeling of deja vu, she knew this man from somewhere. Then it clicked, This was the young man she trained with earlier in Natura. The young, foolish, cocky man with the stupid sheild. At first she thought of turning around and ignoring him, but then she felt the sword swing against her hip. A fleeting thought of Edmund crossed her mind and she decided that she needed to get some practice in. Feeling the normal surge of pleasure rush through her veins at the thought of a competition, cleared her mind of any sadness that was there eariler.

She stepped away from her hiding spot and called out to Straylor, "You should give up the sword for a lute, and become a bard. I knew the tough act was just that an act. But who knew the sweet tempo of music played through your heart?" she called this out in a sweet voice, but mocking at the same time. She looked at him directly and smiled her violet eyes dancing with the fire of competition.

[Straylor Leonard]

Looking up from his sitting position against the trunk of a lone tree, Straylor smiled when his eyes feel second upon the elfmaid's slender frame, but firstly against those violet orbs that enchanted him in the first place.

Standing up, he allowed his hair to catch a quick breeze before he unstrapped his buckler from his forearm and lazily dropped it on the grassy carpet beneath him. The blades of grass swayed and danced as he slowly unsheathed his blade and pointed its tip towards Asial in a playfull sort of way.

"Oh, dear", he said melodiously, "I seem to have an admirer. Perhaps we shall settle this once and for all, hmm?" A curious grin fell on his countenace, before he twirled the shortsword in his wrist and caught it with his left hand. "I think the disarming slash sparring brightenings are long past. How about the winner of this next spar decides what the loser has to do -- a dare, so to speak. And since I'm so keen on defeating you again I'll let you set the terms. How about it?"

[Asial Daralis]

Asial quirked an eyebrow as she took off her bow laying it against the ground and silently drew her sword. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Didn't anyone ever teach you not to piss off a woman with a sword? Especially one that is ready for a rematch. Admiring is not something I do, so I suggest you get off that idea right now and prepare yourself." She slightly swung her sword in slow strong circles. Her eyes became srewed when he said she could make the arrangements. "Alright then, how about this, I will make a couple of demands of you and you can do the same in return. Number one for me is, no buckler. We will fight evenly and openly. Fair and square. Second is this will be a fight, two out of three, and if I win..." She trailed off and smiled "Well, I will wait until I win to decide. I need awhile to take full advantage of this opportunity." She laughed mysteriously. "And you? What are your demands? After you say yours, I will let you have the courtesy of starting first."
She smiled and backed off getting in a ready stance, waiting for him to state his demands and get started. She was very curious about what he would want of her in return, since he was the one that thought of doing it as a dare.

[Straylor Leonard]

Straylor chuckled, shaking his head. This was proving most amusing. A couple of demands? he repeated as a grin crossed his handsome features. This woman would indeed get several demands, and they would enjoy it quite thoroughly.

"If you haven't noticed, miss", Straylor began, "my buckler has been waiting beside my feet ever since you started speaking." He nodded towards his shield which was indeed stumped atop a patch of grass. "As for your terms, two out of three sounds fair. Three matches. First one to win two spars is the victor -- or victoress, in your case." He shrugged, knowing well that he was going to win anyway. "And how does one win a match or spar? Don't tell me that we're doing more disarms and throw downs? How about something more interesting, hmm?"

At this point, Straylor began to make his way towards the elfmaid who was looking rather attractive with her sword in tow. He greeted her with a curt bow when they stood just a dozen or so paces apart. Then, he stepped into a forward stance before adding, "each round will be won whenever you get your opponent down on the ground with her back flat against the ground. But that's not all. You must be directly above your downed opponent, ready for a killing strike."

[Asial Daralis]

"Oh, you are a cocky little scumbag aren't you?" She laughed lightly. Though her eyes became fierce, she had been thinking back on her previous fight with him, and knew some more moves she was anxious to try out. "Now, about the flat on the back deal...It sounds still like a disarming move, though you still haven't said what you would do if you won? Tell me, I am most curious." She gripped her sword tighter, she would not lose to him today, he thought too much of himself, its time he came off his self made throne.

"And let me say something else, I accept defeat when it comes to it. I will back away with out victory and with dignity. Though you seem not to be that type, you are over confident and seem to like to win, no matter the cost. So here is something I will tell you, if I win, you will work for me, to build me a house back natura. A home that is sturdy and warm, but not extravagent. This should teach you some humility."

[Straylor Leonard]

Straylor allowed himself to laugh when asked what he would ask of her. And that little speech about humility did not do much to make him stop grinning.

"Well", he began as he spun his shortsword once more, then caught it with his right hand, "I guess I'll have you build me a house -- except I'm going to be in Tearsfall after this month." He shrugged absentmindly then added, "I think that should teach you that some people are simply funny, and loosening up may help a bit."

"En guard", was the last thing Straylor would say until he won. He had months of training, and perhaps just that much -- or more -- of experience. The little facade he pulled up should've charmed, perhaps even infuriated the female. Good thing. Taking a few deep breaths, Stray shifted his stance into a forward guard -- his swordhand up with his blade neatly placed beside his head. And since he did not equip his buckler, Straylor used his left hand as a counter weight, and later on, his personal grapple hook to draw his opponent in for the disarming blow.

OoC: Go ahead and post, I'm asking around for a peer mod

[Asial Daralis]

Asial knew that this man infront of her thought himself very charming. She smiled absently, how extremly wrong he was. After practicing with Edmund over and over, and going on a lot of hunting trips with Kael. She had gotten better with the sword, and on her quick reactions. Not only that, but the biggest advantage she had gathered from all her practices with him was that she learned not to be intimidated or angered. Edmund had a fast temper and his sword would explode against hers, causing her to be that much faster and harder. Then he would also taunt her so she just learned to ignore men when they were idiots. So when he said he would have her build a house she laughed. "Do you not have a mind of your own? Think of your own answers, or is your mind to slow to comprehend an answer?"

She bent her knees slightly and got into her familiar fighting stance, though now she mixed it up a little bit. Instead of putting the dominant foot forward, she put her left side forward. This would help her in the fight later on, everyone had a fighting style, they may learn how to change it or confuse the enemy, but it never dissapeared completly. This was everyones weakness. She had watched him closly before and she had found his, but for the first little bit, she would let him think he was the best. She took rapid steps forward and moved her sword in a quick swip for his right shoulder, but at last minute turned it with a flick towards his chin. As she changed the direction of the sword she took a small step back and kept herself within close quaters, so that he could not try to move her in further range of his sword. Keeping close she moved with her left foot forward, putting all her wieght on her right foot so when she swung her sword it was a powerful blow for the upper torso. Come on man, she thought to herself. Let me have some fun.

[Liam McGrath]

Both fighters were confident in their abilities, none of them wanting to back down from a challenge. Both of them jockeying for position, neither was going to let up until one was on the ground in pain. Hopefully there would be no real blood spilt this brightening.

Straylor got into a primarily defensive stance. Being the more experienced, he had an idea how to use a sword but it remained to be seen whether or not Asial had the skill that she claimed to have.

Quickly stepping over the dirt floor of the forest, Asial rushed towards her opponent with nimble footwork, her sword primed to strike. Whatever her strategy was, she had aimed for his shoulder in a quick swipe and then changed direction mid swipe towards the chin. She felt the momentum in her sword drop significantly as she swung towards Straylor and then changed direction, not giving her much on the swing at all, her inexperience showing through already. As she stepped back in the midst of changing direction, she lost distance with her attack and missed Straylor completely. If she had stayed a little bit closer, she might have been able to hit him.

Both of them were in the midst of a standstill. Who would come out on top?

[Straylor Leonard]

There was an old saying in Jaedaxia, one he heard after several glasses of Wine in the local tavern. It goes, with little editing, that "the surest, most experienced sword only sees defeat when the lesser blade surprises."

In this case, Straylor would be the more experienced swordsman out of the two. He'd like to think that at least. The female was wailing, and flailing like a deranged lunatic. And had Straylor been just a few paces closer, he would've gotten himself a brand new chin after building the elfmaid her own hovel. Damn girl.

Quickly, he took several paces backwards though his training nagged him to take advantage of the girl's sudden mistake. He would've jumped for her throat had he been a bit less careful this brightening. There was at least a cycle's worth of work ahead of him if he lost, and that was something he neither wanted or had time to do.

"Oh wow", he mused with his grin intact, "are you just going to give this round away?" He knew that the girl would most likely charge after the stand still, and Stray thusly prepared for another round of parries by stepping into a solid defense stance, his blade held firmly in a horizonal guard. The aim for this stance was to protect his middle, while giving his sword a ready position in case of a slash coming from any direction.

There was something about Asial, and Straylor would find this out for himself. She was a bit too impulsive, irratic. He couldn't read her strategy, nor was he really trying to. The only thing that mattered to him now was to figure out her weakness ... and to do so, he would need to let her attack a few more times, while preparing for the worst.

[Asial Daralis]

Damn, Asial hissed in her mind. She had missed, but now she had a bit of an advantage. He didn't underestimate her any more. She watched as he backed up and thought quickly, he knew more of the sword. She knew that starting this, but it didn't mean that she was completly helpless. She switched to her dominant side. She had been using her left, but saw that it was still to weak to be of much use. She thought quickly on her next move. When he smiled at her she smiled broadly back. "Well that depends on you. It depends if you think you have me figured out." The way I think I almost have you. She thought to herself.

"See I bet your thinking me some bumbling, irrational moron right now don't you? By the way you keep taunting me you think to bring me towards you in some blind attack right?" She smiled and grabbed her sword tighter. "Well then why don't you show me what you have, come on oh great and powerful warrior. Fight me." She got in a neutral stance so no matter what he decided to do now she could retaliate or defend. Though one thing was sure, she wasn't going to attack first if she could help it. She wanted to keep him confused, come one. She thought to herself, come on and try again to understand me.

[Straylor Leonard]

A standstill?

The girl refused to attack, which wouldn't prove much more effective than her irratic moves. Smiling, Straylor shook his head and switched into a forward stance, then sprinted forward. He hoped to gain momentum as he cleared the distance between them, leading with his right foot so that his movements were straightforward and without hesitation.

The girl held an open stance, so she could possibly charge right back or perhaps defend this time around. In any case, Stray was prepared for both.

Should the girl come roaring forward to meet him, Straylor would begin with a downward cleaved aimed for her direct center, thus drawing her block. And when she blocked, he would simply allow blade to bite into blade and sidestep off to her right (on her swordhand side) and bring about a quick spin with his heel as a pivot. With this maneuver he would bring the back of his hilt towards a point between her shoulderblades.

But if she stood firm, and held her ground, Straylor would attempt to overrun her with his weight and the might of a downward cleave. By drawing her defenses upward, Straylor could bring a quick forward kick with his foot aimed at a point just above her pelvis. This would surely knock the wind out of her. And when it did, round one would be won.

[Liam McGrath]

OOC: OH, geeze, guys I am so sorry. I totally lost track of this thread. My sincere apologies. I'm going to assume you're going to go defensive in this case Asial, if not, let me know and I will edit, since I don't have a reactionary move to go off of.

There were no true neutral or open stances in the art of the sword. There was....but it was something that Asial had not learned how to use properly, at least not yet anyways. Her mistake of not choosing a solid defensive or offensive stance left her vulnerable and so Straylor took advantage of this.

Charging and closing ground fast, Straylor attacked with an overhand cleave and with little hesitation, Asial rose her own sword up in defense to block such an attack lest she be halfed in two. Quickly without warning, Straylor lifted a boot and caught her right in the gut, winding her and sending her to the ground with a loud thud as she hit the dirt. Round one was indeed won to Straylor, as Asial's unusual tactics were not really working for her. Perhaps a more conventional approach would ease her pain.