aefenglom | text; un: magicowl

Bright wall, northern gate. I'll let the guards know before hand so we can train on the wall itself without anyone bothering us.

I'll be there shortly. See you then.

[True to her word, she arrives not long after her last message is sent, and the guards let her through to the appointed spot without trouble. Her sword is still in the scabbard that hangs at her hip, but she lets her hand rest against the pommel as she approaches, feeling more comfortable than she has in quite some time since her arrival. Sparring, at least, is something she knows how to do well— no questions, no uncertainties. It's familiar, and that's decidedly nice.]

Right. See you.

[ His own preparations don't take long and he's out the door before long after sending the last message. He's already waiting and practicing some forms with his katana. They were slow circular movements made for meditation and sharpening his focus than actual combat but, they were elegant and flowed like silk as he moved from the first stance to the next. ]

[Though her own style of swordplay is quite different, the maneuvers she sees him going through upon her arrival aren't entirely foreign— they remind her strongly of any time she'd had an opportunity to watch Kurando fight. His movements had always been smooth and focused, as though the blade were an extension of his own arm. That part wasn't so different from fencing, but there's a particular style unique to those who favor a katana that she's always found interesting.

She smiles, drawing Durandal from her scabbard.]

Nice moves.

[ He doesn't stop until he finished his current form which he completes in two more moves. ]

Thank you. Eager are you? I like that. But come here first, I'll put a spell on our blades so we don't turn each other into pincushions.

[ He holds up his sword and in his other hand two azure lights appeared on his index finger and thumb. He pinched the edge and ran his fingers all the way to the tip then glided it across his palm which did nothing to his skin. ]

Your turn. Nice sword, by the way.

There are spells for that?

[Huh. Well, that's handy— and certainly helps to safeguard against any accidents, which even the most experienced fencers can have. She nods, approaching and then pausing to watch him perform the enchantment on his blade before she offers her own in turn, cautious in her movements.]

And thanks— it's a family heirloom.

[Her smile pulls a bit to one side; she hadn't come by the blade easily, but it's what her family had left behind for her. She's glad to have it.]

Is it?

[ He asks while doing the same treatment across the edges of her sword. ]

You royalty or something?

Mm, not quite.

[Her smile hitches to one side as she shakes her head, watching him perform the spell with interest.]

My family used to be nobility, but it's been a long time since then. Still, some things stayed in the family. I'm as surprised as anyone that it didn't get sold off, but I'm glad it didn't. I'm pretty attached to it now.

Is that right?

[ He often pondered the nature and history of his own blade. It was just a regular katana to him for all the years he's known it and never cared to ask but now that it's his, curiosity only serves to eat him from the inside. ]

Right that should do it. So, lets say first to land a killing blow wins. Well, killing without actually killing. We have to walk away from this session after all.

Killing without killing— of course.

[There had been no question of that, really, but she offers a nod in reply to ensure that they're on the same page regarding their terms. She takes her sword and two steps back, giving herself enough space to extend her arm to one side and test the blade's weight. Nothing has changed, but it never hurts to check.]

That sounds reasonable to me. Anything you would consider to be out of bounds? I do think that given the aim of this sparring session, we should focus on technique to some degree.

Uhhh, out of bounds? Ummm...

[ He can think of a lot because, well, he doesn't fight fair in life or death situations, but there is one particular one that comes to mind. ]

No kicking sensitive places that make me want to die. [ He's talking about kicking him in the dick. No kicking him in the dick. ] Oh and general underhanded tactics. Sand in the face, and so on so forth. Just a good clean match.

[ He takes a couple of steps back, taking a cune out to flip. ]

When the coin hits the ground, the match starts. Ready?

[Yeah, yeah, she follows. Her smile pulls to one side.]

Got it. I think I can manage that.

[It's true that in a real fight, an enemy wouldn't be so considerate of either of them, but for the sake of sparring, she, too, prefers to leave underhanded tactics by the wayside. This is about keeping their skills well-honed, after all.]

Ready whenever you are.

[She trains her eyes on the coin, making an experimental slice through the air with her newly-enchanted sword before holding it at the ready.]

[ He nods in response and flips the coin, a soft ring echoing through the air as it spins high above their heads.

Bishop readies his stance, bending his knees and holding his katana up with one hand - his right - while his left gripped the scabbard. His eyes locked on hers and immediately he starts trying to gleam her plan of attack. Judging from her blade, and from his own judgement if he were fighting himself, he speculates that a series thrusts would be her first likely strike to make him dance to her tune. He thinks he can weather that attack but that's not favorable. There's also the chance she'll open up with a slash but against him, the difference in speed would determine who gets the upper hand, which was still not favorable to him.

The coin was approaching and only a a few seconds away from reaching the floor, not a lot of time to think which meant he had to decide on his course. It had to be bold, unexpected or intimidating. He had to be the first to strike.

He withdrew his blade and lowered his stance further as he sheathed his blade, his right hand hovered a short distance from the hilt. The glint of the falling coin was in view now which rang with an audible ring as it crashed, the signal for Bishop to charge forward and drew his blade for powerful horizontal strike. ]

[Speed and careful footwork tended to be her greatest strengths, the versatility of her fighting style allowing her to go on the defensive as easily as she might take the offense. While her initial thought is to start by lunging forward to thrust and pull her blade into an upward slash, that eager glint in his eye and lowered stance tells her that whatever he plans to open with, it will be aggressive— she has no way of knowing what the move in itself might be, but every muscle in her body goes tense as she waits for the coin to hit the ground, prepared to defend herself as needed.

It rings out and he charges forward, steady and forceful, and so she quickly adjusts to put her weight on the balls of her feet and take one step back, bringing her swordhand forward to block the incoming blow by turning her own blade vertically, prepared to push back and keep it from connecting. Should she succeed in deflecting his attack, she'll quickly launch into a series of attempted thrusts, as he'd predicted, though each comes from a different angle, her footwork making her a constantly moving target, making her blows more difficult to foresee.]

[ Her block was brilliant, just as her call on his advance. Defending against a blow like that takes a lot of skill, strength, and knowledge. If she hadn't stepped back the impact of the strike would have weakened her arms, if she hadn't called his assault he would have claimed her head.

Clearly this was going to be a good match.

Karin's disengage and a quick strikes were met in a similar fashion, as Bishop took a step back to anchor his body while weaved and parried each coming thrust. He angled himself so his sword arm had a full range of movement while his left still gripped the scabbard. He predicts her next move would be to try and catch his sword to either disarm or neutralize it and go for a killing blow, it's what he would do, but he has a counter to that.

He waits and deflects thrust after thrust until he feels her blade against the middle of his own, and with a twist of the wrist and quick step in, he locks their blades together to halt Karin's attack before pushing her back to gain some distance and put them back to the starting position. ]

Impressive. That was a great block.

[He moves with certainty and expertise, the result of what she's sure is a wealth of prior experience, and even as he deflects her attack and she quickly steps back to compose herself once more, she smiles, extending her swordarm to one side as she considers how next to proceed.]

You're not so bad, yourself! How long have you been doing this?

[They're far from finished, but nothing wrong with a little small-talk between steps.]

Thank you. Started to learn how to fight since I was fourteen, then picked up the sword at eighteen.

[ He slowly shuffled his feet forward with his sword raised and at the ready. The skill she showed meant he can't be careless, his attacks had to be well calculated even if they're just sparring. ]

I was a soldier, now you could call me a soldier of fortune.

[ He a hitman still gets paid and also fights. It counts. At least in his definition. ]

[Interesting!]

I started young, as well, and went into the military as soon as they would have me. I suppose we have that in common.

[As well as no longer being a soldier, though she leaves that out for now, shifting her balance and moving forward into a carefully-planned lunge with her blade moving in a horizontal arc at waist-height. En garde!]

I guess we do!

[ He met her blade with his, parrying and taking a step back to lure her in for a time. ]

I wanted to join the marines, be on the frontlines, embrace the suck 'n all that! You?

[ He continues to draw her in, parrying strike after strike while waiting for his opportunity. ]

You were in it for the glory, then?

[There's a teasing lilt to her voice, her smile pulling to once side as she steps forward to follow that lure, though not without caution, eyeing the tension in his arm to try and predict where he might swing the blade once he's through parrying— but for now, their blades cross time and time again, and as soon as she sees an opening, she thrusts.]

For my country and her people!

[ The moment steel collided Bishop parried Karin's blade with a big swing to leave them both exposed, but he's been waiting for that thrust. He quickly switched his grip to a back hand hold and drove the pommel of his katana into her gut to push her back and do some damage. ]

[The enchantment, along with the absence of the blade, of course, makes it so that no real damage is done, though it certainly would have been otherwise— even with Karin letting her sharp reflexes carry her back, she's not quite fast enough, and she's momentarily winded as she regains her balance.

All the same, her smile doesn't fade— he's good, which means that sparring with him will certainly help her to improve herself.]

A noble goal— and nice shot.

[ A smile tugs at his lip when she recovers. ]

Thank you.

[ He won't insult her by asking if she can continue and instead he'll just ready himself, rolling his left shoulder and lowering himself into another stance to go with the backhand grip of his blade. This time it was more defensive because he doesn't think she'll take that hit and be done with it. ]

[He's quite right not to presume that would be the end of things— she takes note of his defensive stance, faking left before she quickly alters her course and comes at him from the right, allowing agility and years of practice to carry her forward.]

En garde!

[She laughs openly— it's cliche, perhaps, but she's clearly enjoying herself, and her style does hearken back to traditional European fencing.]

[ He followed the beat of her moves until she switched dance midway. He always prided himself as fast, hell he was the scout of the team for a reason, but even he had to admit that women naturally have a physique built to be more agile. His powers always helped level the playing field against Queen and Knight, but now that he's without them he's reminded of this fact once more.

He had to do some drastic twist and bending to catch her blade, but even then his parry was shaky. It honestly made him grin. ]

Nice!

[ He disengaged from her and took a few steps back, now on high alert for her speed and agility. ]

Alright, come one then!

text; un: magicowl

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