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 Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 2:44 pm
“Keep your guard up, S’ol!”
L’ris was vicious in a fight, and she wasn’t going to hold back for the boy (young man) who’d once been her squire. The late snow in the practice ring had been shovelled back, leaving green grass beneath - something she’d considered a warm-up to the main event, which was leaving her sweat-soaked even in the cool afternoon air. She’d forgone her leather armour for a practical tunic and breeches, though she wasn’t going barefoot - and a boot lashed out, aiming to connect with the back of her opponent’s knee - but refused the blunted swords. You practiced with blunted swords, you weren’t properly afraid of getting hit.
It was hard to not snap instructions at him however - old habits died hard.
Some habits, however, were good... like keeping up your swordplay skills. She'd fought more then one duel in the past, not to mention the constant pressure on any rider and the danger of an imminent fight.
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 2:53 pm
Honestly he would have been a whole lot happier with the situation if the swords were blunt. It was hard to argue with L'ris' logic, but it was also hard to actually try to strike her knowing he'd hurt her if he did somehow get through her guard. It did make him a lot keener to do as she instructed , to keep his guard up but-
"Oof!"
-easier said than done.
The foot caught him in the back of the knee and sent him tumbling forward, but if you fell in a fight you were dead. Tucking his head forward S'ol rolled over his shoulder, straight back onto his feet with sword and shield raised. Sweat was making his tunic stick to his back but he had plenty of energy left in him yet and he didn't intend to stop until L'ris did.
"Trying!" he replied belatedly, trying to make a feint with his sword before going for a shield bash. Chances of L'ris falling for the move were next to nil, he knew, but if he let that stop him trying he'd never reach the level he needed to. Practice made perfect and one day he would get one over on the veteran rider.
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 3:05 pm
L’ris was not one to dodge… and especially not when dealing with a smaller opponent, which S’ol certainly was. Instead, she pushed into the bash, locking her shield into his even as she was rocked back by his momentum, and trying to bring her sword in a clean sweep around to cut into his side (not that it would get that far, she was careful).
The roll made her grin, though.
Even if her grin was distinctly wherlike… give or take a few missing teeth.
"Fancy is as fancy does!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2014 3:11 pm
Shardsshardsshards!
S'ol disengaged at high speed, bringing his sword down to parry L'ris' blow even as he tried to spring backwards. Whenever he thought he was doing really well sparring against his wingmates, coming back up against a combat wing rider who had survived as long as L'ris was always a reminder of how much he still had to learn. It was good to have a target though, right?
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 11:55 am
L’ris had dropped her shield and now lunged forwards - S’ol was quicker then she was, and certainly wrigglier… but he was also slighter, and with less cunning, experience, and reach - with her sword to it’s full extension. She was tiring - more then she’d admit, the turns were starting to drag on her and her breath caught more easily then it had.
Shard that if she was anywhere near retiring, though.
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 12:53 pm
He brought his shield up to meet the blow and the force of it sent a shock of pain down his arm. Very nearly saying something uncouth S'ol gave ground quickly, trying to buy time for his arm to feel a bit less numb; maybe dodging would have been a better idea but there hadn't seemed to be time. "That was good!" he found the breath to exclaim, not that L'ris needed his endorsement or anything but that didn't mean he wouldn't give it.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 10:43 am
L’ris pulled back, breathing heavily, returning to stepping carefully and watching S’ol. Waiting for a moment - and buying herself one. Faranth, she needed to run more, work harder against the age and scars she felt creeping up on her: she’d been a rider for more then thirty turns, and she couldn’t name a limb without some web of scar tissue from thread or foe.
“Y’need to move faster” she said breathlessly. “Shardit, S’ol, you can’t out-power me"
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:15 am
"I know!" S'ol replied; it was pretty obvious, always had been. He'd really hoped to grow large and strong in his teens but since a few incidents where his small size and his agility had come in handy he was more at peace with it.
No time for introspection though, that got you killed in the field and would get him seriously embarrassed here. So, what now? Well he couldn't give ground forever, not if he was trying to win rather than just avoid losing. Right then, okay, he had a plan, more or less.
Abruptly S'ol stopped retreating and lunged forward, feinting to one side with his blade before aiming a shield bash at L'ris' gut.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:47 am
L’ris fell for the feint, stepping one way - out of breath - and catching the shield in her belly.
Which, understandably, didn’t help with the lack of breath.
She grunted, sword still raised defensively as she fought not to double over - something that would be fatal in a real situation… but instead she rocked back, stumbled, and fell backwards, landing on her arse.
Well, fardles.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:55 am
S'ol was so surprised that his gambit had worked as well as it had that he almost didn't follow through, but only almost. As L'ris landed on her backside he moved in for the kill, sweeping his sword down and around towards her throat.
He stopped of course, a good hand's length away from his former squiremaster's skin in fact. Breathing hard S'ol looked down at L'ris in mild disbelief as it began to register properly that he appeared to have won... he had just won, right?
"Um... you're dead?" S'ol asked.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 11:59 am
She dropped her sword, raising a hand in acknowledgement - and surrender. Though only S’ol would phrase that as a question.
“Give me a mo, sweet” she said raggedly, then (as she was reasonably sure no-one else was around) allowed herself to fall all the way, arms outspread to take the force. She was proud of him, for definite… which she would let him know in a minute.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:06 pm
Wow. He'd actually-
Wow.
S'ol sheathed his sword and continued to stare but the surprise written all across his features began to shift to pleased surprise, and maybe a bit of suppressed excitement. Just a bit. Teenie tiny bit.
He'd beaten L'ris!
"Of course," S'ol replied, swiping sweat from his brow as a grin began to plaster itself across his face. "I'll grab us the water," he added after a moment, setting down his shield and walking over to where he'd left the skin and his cloak. Retrieving the former he turned again and moved back over to L'ris, uncapping the skin and offering it to her first.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:31 pm
She grabbed it ungraciously, then sat up and tipped it over her head, even if she was beginning to feel the chill now she’d stopped moving - cold and too hot all at once.
“Cheers” after a moment she toasted him with it, head bowing a little. “Good job, kid. Make it two or three out of ten, and I’ll really be proud, you get me?”
She was proud, and it reverberated in the way she spoke, if not the precise words.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 12:51 pm
S'ol kept grinning; not only had he won but L'ris was clearly proud of him, and making the veteran rider proud was always a good feeling. "I'll work on it!" he promised with a little laugh and a nod for emphasis. If he could manage that, work towards one time in two maybe he could persuade O'ail to consider him for her wing. Maybe. Would it be enough? He felt a little like a traitor to his wing, wanted to get himself promoted, but he couldn't help wanting it. If he was going to achieve what he wanted to he was going to need a bit more respect from the average person than a 4th wing rider got.
"Thank you," the small rider added abruptly after a moment, "for the bout and, you know, in general too." Since he had become squired to her aged thirteen L'ris had been to him like a combination of drillmaster, surrogate parent/big sister, and terrible aunt who dragged you into all sorts of exciting scrapes that would make your mother faint. She had kept an eye on him and trained him for almost as long as his parents had raised him before he was Searched and he felt it was nice to acknowledge that every so often; even if L'ris was a bit gruff about it all he knew she cared deeply for him, just as he did for her.
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:20 pm
“You’re a good lad”
She loved him, in her own peculiar - and often terrible - way… and that way often flared up in trying to make those she cared about safe. Safety didn’t come from locking people away in a vault, though… and it would have cheapened any affection she had for them to do that. No, it came from making the people she loved strong and able to stand on their own two feet. Oh, and ensuring that anyone who hurt them paid a very painful price. There was that as well.
Even if she were a little disappointed that S'ol had only made the fourth wing and stuck there, she still did love him.
She got to her feet, and bent to pick up her sword, carefully sheathing it, then clapped him on the back as a precursor to enveloping the younger rider in a bone-breaking hug. Alright, so she was proud of him. He'd clearly been practicing, and she couldn't help but reward that.
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