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 Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:00 pm
Keanu listened closely as he picked up his own sword. He figured it only mattered to know the length relative to the reach of your opponent. Numbers didn't matter so much, it was if you got hit that did. So if they had swords that were around the same length, it was who's arm was longer that mattered. Something he wasn't sure of yet.
Skill. Right. Skill came with practice. That's why wanting to be a hero wasn't enough, it took lots of practice. That didn't mean one day of course. It meant everyday with as much time a he could. Because he had to become someone who didn't lose. Losing meant death, as the teacher pointed out. So did hesitating. He wouldn't be stupid enough to do either. "Right!"
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 5:47 am
"Good. Now, let me see what ya can do first..." It was perhaps some sort of teaching technique? Honestly, no one should ever give Lilly that much credit. Truth be told, she just wanted to see the reaction of Raven's kiddie here. She still hadn't decided if she wanted to send him home crying or not.
That would risk some big, long speech, wouldn't it? Ugh.
She turned to Keanu sharply. "And ya," she said seriously. "Yer in a class, not a death arena. Remember that."
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:35 pm
His focus was so complete that Anoki didn't even register Lilly's request immediately. When he did, however, his eyes widened. What was he supposed to do? He'd never had any classes with swords before. He'd read a couple of books about knights and people who fought with big swords and spears and bows and arrows, but he'd never so much as touched a weapon himself.
But he had to to something. Brows furrowed in concentration, he lifted the sword, like he'd seen in his picture books, so that the tip was pointing in front of him, toward Keanu. Then his confidence left him. He shivered, struggling to keep the sword lifted, and looked at Lilly. "Wh-what sh-should I d-do?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 2:50 pm
Keanu Glanced at the woman as she spoke, giving a firm nod to show he unstood. Anoki had done nothing wrong, he wouldn't hurt him. A true hero wouldn't harm the innocent. Still, practice was practice. And he needed to learn.
That cleared up he lifted to sword to mimic what he'd seen in the books, trying to adjust to the weight in his hand. It was a bit heavier than he'd expected, but the other training he'd put himself through helped with that. He'd just need to adjust and practice to get better at it.
Now, the teacher had said to show her what they could do so. Even as the other child was looking cluelessly to the instructor Keanu was darting towards him. She had said that hesitating was bad afterall.
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Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 5:26 pm
Smack! Lilly's hand slowly, slowly fell down her face. It wasn't all that rare children made her hit herself in her face. It was the only thing that kept her from smacking them most of them time.
"Just... Block, counter! Do somethin'! Keep yer stance firm an' try and knock Kitty Cat there back!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 11:03 am
Wait wait wait, was that kid attacking him? He was! With a rasp of a scream Anoki automatically stepped back. But then the teacher spoke and told him to stay put, which put an end to his idea of running away. He couldn't disobey a teacher. He didn't know what countering was exactly- it was one of those ideas Raven had tried to teach him in a roundabout way and failed- but he knew what blocking was. Wincing at the collision that surely would follow, he held his sword at a diagonal angle and braced for impact.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:49 am
Clink! The two blades met. which set Keanu a bit off balance. He'd never really had an actual sword before and had sort of let the weight of it speed the blade. Certainly he had an idea of how to use one from the books, but the concept of how heavy it was had been a bit beyond him. Still, it didn't take long for him to step back and once ore gain control of the weight. Anoki had done him a favor, he'd taken most of the force out of the blow allowing him to catch his balance.
Which probably hadn't been what Anoki wanted at all. Seeing as now Keanu was about to try round two. This time swinging from the side with both hands.
He was obviously serious and paying close attention to the fight though. The smile had dropped from his face to one of concentration. Fighting wasn't a game, it was work. Training was serious business. He had to master this to be of any worth as a hero afterall.
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:46 pm
Anoki panted as he somehow managed to parry the blow. Of course, he didn't know that was what he did. All he knew was that he wasn't especially hurt, just scared and out of breath. And he had to do something, or the teacher would probably get mad at him. He struggled to remember her instructions. Block. Well, he'd done that. Counter. Knock him back. That meant he had to attack.
Gulping, Anoki looked over at Keanu. No time to try attacking when he was still clearly on the block step. He hurried to turn his sword, but it was heavy, and its point caught on the floor. Would he have time to regain a good grip on the hilt? He wasn't sure, but gave it his best effort, and as a last resort crouched behind the blade like it was a shield.
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:27 am
Attack and block. The two steps of swordplay they were to learn today. Keanu was currently on the offensive, swinging a second time, the problem was that Anoki wasn't exactly doing that... block thing. Rather, the sword had decided to stick itself in the ground and he hadn't plucked it back up. Instead he'd ducked behind it. Which might have worked if Keanu had been in a bit more control of the weapon, or even been attacking with a swing that would only hit the front. The problem was that he'd been swinging from the side... which meant that the sword would be hit, but not until he'd closed the space to the sword.
Part of that space held Anoki in it. Which didn't bode well at all.
Keanu quickly tried to shift his wait to stop the blade a bit and only succeeded mildly. The fact was that he didn't have control of the weight, the sword did. And it had declared that it was going to hit that other sword, which left him hoping that Anoki had the sense to back up. He wasn't made of metal afterall.
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Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 8:53 pm
Swords were not shields. Anoki remembered this a fraction of a second too late, and as he scrambled to get out of the way, Keanu's sword nicked his arm as he tried to release the weapon. Rolling onto his side, Anoki flinched and grabbed his arm, looking to see what the damage was. There was a long, grazing cut, but it wasn't especially deep, and he could move fine without hurting. That meant that he would be expected to continue.
His brain shifted into a mode usually only reserved for studying, a one-track mindset that blocked out all unnecessary stimuli. Right now, his tasks were to block and attack, and since he'd blocked- sort of- it was time to attack.
Of course, having a weapon would help. Blinking, Anoki grasped the hilt of the sword and yanked it free, pointing it at Keanu while he tried to think of some way to attack.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:08 pm
The leopard managed to finally gain control of the sword a bit too late for Anoki's safety to be ensured. The thing had slid through the other boy's arm and toward the ground before Keanu managed to get a handle on it again. Still too late.
As he glanced up from ensuring the thing had, infact, stopped he spotted the damage as Anoki was shifting to snag the weapon. Obviously he was alright, even if there was the gash along arm. Still, there wasn't much time for guilting over it. Because a moment later he found himself with a sword pointed in his direction.
Now what was it the knights always did? A moment of thought brought up a few images of using the blade to block the other, but nothing refined enough to be a sure bet. Still, best to try it and hope. Anoki had pulled it off once earlier, right? It did mean waiting for Anoki to make a move though, so for now all he could do was raise his own sword and wait.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:51 pm
Fortunately for Anoki, the other boy was patient enough to let him get a strike in edgewise. Thinking about what to do and what he'd seen, he quickly narrowed down his possibilities. An attack from above was out, he couldn't lift the sword that high. But one from below might work. Shifting his grip on the heavy sword, Anoki started towards Keanu, first walking, then jogging, then running. When he was closer, he swung his sword forwards, aiming at his opponent's right leg, and praying that he would be blocked.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:23 pm
Keanu hadn't meant it as being patient. He'd thought better of lunging at Anoki when the boy seemed more prepared to attack than himself. Still, it did give the ibex a chance to think and he'd taken the opening. Even as he sharged the leopard attempted to brace himself digging his feet into the ground a bit while watching for where the blade was going to go. The swing was directed lower. He dropped his own blade to block it, and flinched as the two blades collided.
The block wasn't perfect. Anoki's blade wasn't stopped so much as slowed it. The boy still earned a bit of a cut along the front of his leg as well as a new tear in his clothes, but he'd be walkinghome. So the general idea had been obtained.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:28 pm
The clang of the swords was sudden, even though Anoki had been expecting it, and he was thrown back. Since that attack hadn't really done anything, he figured he had another crack at it. Then it would be the other boy's turn again. Or something like that. The teacher hadn't given them any rules, so he guessed they were just supposed to fight.
An idea struck him just in time to use the power from the blade being parried. Gripping the sword tightly, Anoki swung around, leaving his back open to his opponent for a moment- dangerous, but he didn't know any better. The heavy sword provided enough momentum to carry him all the way around to the boy's other side, where he tried attacking on the left instead.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:43 pm
It was probably a good thing that Keanu was used to scraped and bruises. If he'd stopped to fret over the minor sting that hit his leg he'd have failed to notice the sudden movement his opponent was taking.
Anoki might have done a slightly dumb thing leaving his back open to attack, but Keanu wasn't the most skilled either. So rather than taking advantage of the opening the leopard quickly moved to figure out the path of the blade and stop it again. This time with more success. He managed to stop the thing before it reached any point of his body. Even better was the fact he'd been ready enough for the hit not to flinch at the jarring action the two blades hitting caused.
So there was slight improvement. Maybe. Or just dumb luck. It was likely the latter, but he wasn't about to think about that. Being on the defensive wasn't his thing. So as soon as it was safe to move his balde again he was lifting it to swing at the other boy once more, a quick swing at the torso. Well, not so quick, but accurate enough.
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