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 Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:54 pm
Jace & Gauvain   xxxxxxxxxxIn which...xxxxxxxxxxGauvain wants to test his fencing skills xxxxxxxxxxon a worthy adversary, but likely finds xxxxxxxxxxhe picked someone a little too... good.
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:01 pm
If there was one thing Clubs lacked, it was the fighting and combat that Gauvain needed if he was ever to become a Knight. Hearts was elegant but tough, following its leader, and Spades was powerful in a sense far beyond Gauvain's ability to perceive it as such; Clubs, on the other hand, was far too obsessed with having fun. Which was actually a good thing, because otherwise Thuri wouldn't have a job, and Gauvain was far too much a fan of Clubs' mentality to actually ever belong anywhere else. But it had become a very specific hobby, pretending he was from Hearts.
After about eight tantrums (that didn't work) and finally some good behaviour (that barely worked), Gauvain was ready to take on a real opponent! He had learned footwork, he knew how to guard and how to attack, he even knew how to roll. Sort of. He was still working on that, he usually kind of flopped over halfway because he didn't want to ruin his wings. "Now... am I in the right place?" Gauvain mused to himself.
A fluffy, shiny growlithe infant had bet Gauvain that the boy's friend, Jace, could kick his a** any time. Thoroughly. Logan figured that the bird could use it, given he was just so... happy. And shiny. And just generally too upbeat for his own good. He seemed to think he was invincible. Who better to teach someone about their own weaknesses than Jace? Besides, if the bird made Jace scowl, Logan would be happy even if he couldn't see it happening.
Somewhere in Clubs, Logan was likely drawing in his notepad, legs swinging, a smile across his face.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:59 pm
Jace typically only had a few days a week in which he didn't train constantly with his guardian in some way or another. On those days he tended to explore Spades, memorizing everything that he could as well as indulging himself with his allowance when he received it. In fact he was doing just that, exploring the markets in Spades, as small as they were, for anything that he might find useful. Unfortunately, as per usual, he didn't really find anything of interest, causing him to heave a sigh and shake his head.
Defeated, the Poochyena headed back to the place that he called home, tail drooped behind him as he walked. It wasn't that he didn't have a ton of friends... It was more that he rarely had time to hang out with them outside of his training regiment, let alone theirs, thus he tended to go everywhere alone. Doing nothing the rest of the day sounded awful, but he was saved from actually having to do just that by the boy that was walking in front of him.
It seemed that he was either lost or incredibly foolish judging from his pace. It was proven to be more the latter when the boy muttered something about being in the right area. Rolling his eyes Jace reached forward and shoved the boy none-to-gently, looking amused.
"Nope. Maybe you should get your feathered butt back where it belongs." he muttered, looking annoyed.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:47 pm
Gauvain was definitely a fan of trinkets and baubles, but he hadn't even bothered to stop in the marketplaces of Spades. Mostly because this was absolutely his least favourite place to be, and he felt that even though there was supposed to be peace between the factions he had no love for Spades in his heart. Then again, he hardly had any love for Clubs in his heart. That he knew of. Later it would be different, when he realized that what he truly loved was in Clubs, and it was merely that Hearts had something dear to him he could still try to replicate. In his own ways.
He definitely belonged to Clubs. Gauvain, instead of being taken aback that the poochyena had shoved him, smiled widely and contentedly: "This is definitely the right place!" Gauvain replied, completely ignoring the boy's statement at first. Then, he added on, with a head tilt: "I can't go where I belong, because where I belong isn't where I'm supposed to belong." To elaborate, Gauvain was attempting to say that where he thought he belonged was with the Knights, but his fathers had explained to him it was impossible to be a Knight if he was born to a Clubs faction family. And unlike some of the other eggs, discovered in the wilderness or at the fringes, Gauvain had been found in a casino, a pile of winnings. Clubs' very essence, in that respect. Thankfully unrelated to drug-use.
Tommy and Thuri were fairly straight-edge for Clubs parents, actually. Especially Thuri, who never even drank. He seemed to prefer colourful mineral waters. It was Tommy who indulged. Not that Gauvain had ever been given a reason to mind. Anyway, point being, Gauvain was definitely not dissuaded by the hostility. "I think I was looking for you, actually," he insisted, "and I'd like to challenge you to a duel!"
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:00 am
Jace sighed and his shoulders slumped a little when the other boy seemed to not heed his words; this was the second invader of Spades that had acted this way and it was beginning to grate on his nerves. However the next statement from the boy had Jace's brows lifting towards his hairline and his lips twitching a little at the corners as he attempted to suppress laughter. Briefly he wondered if maybe this boy wasn't quite all there in the head and that was why he had wandered into Spades. Either way it was his... Duty to chase out those that didn't belong and were sniffing around the seedier areas of Spades... Or so he believed at least.
"You're not gonna last long on your own in this area." he muttered, rolling his eyes. "People here will eat you alive."
That was when the other boy decided that his target was Jace and that he wanted to challenge him to... A duel? For a long moment the Poochyena looked incredulous, his face shifting between varying levels of disbelief before settling on the more annoyed spectrum. Heaving a sigh he rolled his eyes and waved the accusation off immediately; this boy had to be kidding.
"Right, right, whatever. You've had your kicks now get out of here." Jace honestly had no idea the Swanna boy was serious.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:00 am
While Logan had just taken for granted that Jace guarded Spades like a young Cuchulainn in lore, Gauvain thought the very notion was ridiculous. What, was this boy Hatter's personal guard dog? Not that he would say as much aloud, of course, but the little Swanna was hardly threatened by this. After all, despite Jace not taking him seriously, he really did want a fight, so... what could he lose by standing his ground? Unless it brought on tougher opponents, surely, but why would the boy do that if he had such an openly aggressive personality... hardly the kind to just run off for a grown-up.
"I'll be fine, I don't want to stay here longer than I have to," Gauvain dismissed it, again, with a wave of one little hand. He just wanted this boy's time long enough to test his fencing skills. "Even if I leave now, I'll just come back again and again until you oblige me. It's a mark on your honour if you decline my challenge!" Gauvain complained, tantrum-worthy temper building. Well, technically the code said that he couldn't refuse a challenge from an equal.
But Gauvain couldn't know he wasn't Jace's equal, just yet. Logan had been messing with him, when he told him to go fight Jace, so Gauvain was going to have to learn the hard way that he wasn't up to the challenge. "I haven't had any kicks, and I don't want to have to find you all over again!" Gauvain rested one little hand on his epee and sulked.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:05 am
Jace slowly arched a brow at the other boy, wondering where he got this idea in his head that challenging him was a good plan. Instead of looking intimidated or impressed by the small Swanna's words, Jace just sighed and scrubbed his face with one of his hands, annoyance building. Some days it was as if everyone was out to get him for no real reason other than the fact that he existed. Perhaps there was some betting pool somewhere to see who could annoy him more or raise his hackles faster. Either way he was just beginning to get tired by all these strangers, really.
"Honor?" Jace questioned, arching a brow and shaking his head. "Man, you have no idea who I am. I don't follow codes of honor, Fluffhead."
To a degree, saying he didn't really have an honor code was accurate, but that wasn't saying that he didn't have his own that he follow. However there was no way that he followed the rules of chivalry or duels like this boy seemed to almost religiously. With a roll of his eyes he shifted and rolled his sleeves up a bit, shifting into a stance and smirking at the swanna, looking more than a little amused; well, if the boy wanted a fight, he'd give him one.
"But, if you wanna fight, I could use some practice anyways." he muttered, hands flexing a little. "But I won't go easy on ya. Not my fault if you start crying."
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:50 pm
Of course he wouldn't look impressed by Gauvain; Gauvain was hardly impressive, looking faintly like he was on the verge of a tantrum, or at least deeply upset that things were not going his way. He was definitely slightly spoiled, though he'd calm down for one of his fathers; namely, Thuri. Regardless, it seemed to be "in" to escape into spades and harass the locals, for one reason or another. Not that Logan had done it to harass anyone; he'd merely been curious, and you know what they say about curiosity and cats. Well, Logan wasn't a cat, but he was close enough. "If you don't follow a code of honour, then I'm the hero and you're the villain, and we still need to combat in order to settle this!" Gauvain argued. He felt... strange, saying that. Later on, he'd understand himself less as a hero, more as doing what needed to be done and picking the path which took him there.
Kind of sneaky. Really, movies could be blamed for Gauvain's obsession with the Knightly code, and then a trip to Hearts had really cemented the growing problem. It would take a while before the infant had grown out of it. "Of course I want to fight! We must!" Gauvain said, perking right up, fanning his little wings out.
"Crying's not in the code," he argued, looking irritated. On the bright side, Gauvain's tantrums were usually light on the crying, heavy on the rage, so it was quite unlikely Gauvain would burst into tears, or if they did they would be the angry yelling kind and not the snivelling in a ball kind.
"But it looks like you fight bare-handed... Knights aren't taught to grapple?" Gauvain protested.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:10 pm
Jace squinted at the boy when he spoke again, looking perplexed that this Swanna seemed to have overdosed on fairy tales over the years. There weren't heroes or knights in Spades, no light or darkness, just the loyal and the strong, the deceitful and the weak. Spades was a realm of grays, an area that was less about beauty and more about reality, a harsh one at that. Part of the Poochyena envied the other boy; Jace hadn't really had the chance to have much of a childhood himself.
"You're the one intruding." he muttered almost petulantly before rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "But whatever you wanna do. I'm not gonna get rid of you until I beat you up, am I?
At the boy's question, Jace's hand went to the blade that the Queen had given him, tucked inside his clothing, eyes narrowing a little. With a snort and a lift of his chin he drew his hand away in favor of shifting back into a fighting stance. After all, Edgar had taught him how to disarm opponents in a fight, thus fighting someone who was armed, whether this boy was bluffing or not, hopefully wouldn't be too difficult.
"I'm taught to fight, Fluffhead." he muttered, rolling his eyes. "I can fight no matter what."
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:37 pm
It was no fault of his parents that Gauvain had "overdosed" on fairytales. And, in fact, Thuri hardly had what one would consider a romantic job. Stripping at a casino? Not really chaste or high-class. Maybe that was why Thuri had been indulgent, though never really told Gauvain that he was a knight-- Thuri, like Tommy, always tried to explain to their son why he should be happy being himself, and not chasing after something that couldn't possibly ... realistically be his. Harsh, maybe. But in the end, they didn't STOP him, because they loved their son and it made him happy. And it didn't seem to hurt him terribly.
Well, it was about to hurt quite a lot, probably. "I can't intrude on an entire faction," he said. "A fair fight, not beating me up," Gauvain ammended, fanning his wings out in irritation, his childish face darkening.
It seemed like the boy was about to reach for a weapon for fair combat, but changed his mind? Gauvain sighed, an angry and vehement exhale. It wasn't knightly to fight an unarmed opponent. Although, honestly, it wasn't like Gauvain's blade was sharp or even heavy. It was a fairly standard practice blade. "They... taught you to fight? They would do that for you?" Gauvain's face darkened and he looked down. "I had to beg just to learn simple tricks. I've had to learn on my own, and it's really slow, and--" Gauvain puffed his cheeks up. He held his blade at the ready.
And then he sheathed his blade. "I never learned grappling, even though I have glaring weaknesses without my sword... I concede defeat," Gauvain admitted. "I woulda lost anyway. Painfully. Right?"
He reached up and flicked his metal helmet with one finger. "But we'll fight one day, right? When I'm ... able to fight you a little less poorly. I'll embarrass myself," Gauvain said, his shoulders drooping. He smiled anyway, despite being miserable about this realization.
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Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:24 pm
"Everyone in Spades is taught how to fight!" he countered, frowning at the other boy, looking suspicious. "Do you really know who you're messin with?"
From what he knew, everyone in his faction knew at least how to defend themselves, if not full on fight on a battlefield of some sort. He'd been trained to be an assassin, a covert fighter that was better with his hands and small weapons than anything large. He supposed that the other factions most likely didn't take military force quite as seriously, but it confused him that they would allow their children to wander if they didn't know how to defend themselves.
"Oi, you can't admit defeat!" Jace answered, smirking a little. "Just quitting gets ya nowhere. Fight me anyways. Learn some things, Fluffhead."
Jace shifted into a defensive stance, a smirk curving his looks and his expression shifting into something that bordered on malicious excitement. After all he hadn't had a real fight in a while, his guardian wanting to keep what he was learning a secret for the most part. Well, it wouldn't stay a secret for too much longer he hoped; Jace was itching for a fight.
"Come on! Let's go. I'm bored anyways."
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 4:30 pm
It looked like the boy was going to insist they fight, anyway. Had Gauvain ever introduced himself? Now that he thought about it, the strange boy had called him Fluffhead rather repeatedly, and Gauvain, nervous, couldn't quite remember what he had said or not said. He only knew that no, he did not know who he was messing with, apart from that the fluffy Growlithe had reccomended the fight if Gauvain wanted some "real training." Logan had definitely played it down more than a little just to see the obnoxious pretty kid trounced.
"I was bowing out gracefully in the name of my honour!" Gauvain replied, wrinkling his nose. "I think I'll be too busy trying to stay alive," Gauvain lamented, under his breath, "to learn anything.." Still, the boy was very clearly not going to let up.
"Bored enough to kick my butt? Generous," Gauvain sighed. "So how do we... start? Do you want me to use my sword or fight barehanded?" Please not barehanded, Gauvain had no idea how to do that.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:18 pm
"Wow. You really must not know who I am." Jace shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Who sent you to fight me, anyways? They must have either been pretty stupid or playing a prank."
In fact he was actually generally just curious. Not many people in Spades were at odds with him as he had tried to make more allies than enemies, and he didn't know anyone other than that idiot Malo that would try to have someone beat him up. However the boy in front of him didn't seem like he was from Hearts so that didn't make sense either. Honestly, the only thing that made sense to him was that someone was playing a rather mean little prank on the Swanna.
"You can fight me however you want to. I'm still going to kick your feathery butt." he countered, cocky, tail flicking back and forth. "Maybe you should take some hand to hand combat before you decide to be a fighter. You won't always have a pointy object, you know."
That was actually one of the first lessons he'd been taught. It was always best to learn how to fight without a weapon before one learned to fight with one as one never knew when they'd get disarmed. That and sometimes making someone bleed was too messy, according to Edgar at least, Jace didn't really know first hand, but he would eventually.
"Come at me with a blade and you're gonna lose it."
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