Training with a Warder! (Attn: Kynwric, Open)

[_Kynwric_]

OOC: Waiting on Melenis and we'll be good to move on. Just so you can think on it, next I want you to write a spar against me using what you've learned so far. FYI, Kyn fights Sword and Shield.

[Sylvirci]

OOC: Kyn she posted right before you! ;) Everyone is caught up from what I have read.

[_Kynwric_]

OOC: Huh... *kicks the comp* No idea why I didn't see this before... Alright, post tonight I hope.

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric was pleased with how the trainees had progressed, far better than he had when he had learned these forms many years ago. He answered the questions as best he could, partivularly Gaidan's about how to effectively disarm a two-handed sword. "The trick is, when you are performing Grapevine to step in and use the hilt of your free hand to punch or bash or hack at your opponent. But I would only do this when you are sure of success, it is not always a bad thing to get back to even footing. Remember, live first, kill second."

 

Th highlight of the afternoon was the brief spar with Melenis, particularly where she countered his Arc of the Moon deftly and knelt performing Parting the Silk aimed at his knees. He was sure she was expecting him to parry it in some way, and with his shield he would have. Without it though he lept, letting the blade pass under him and coming back down to tap her on the head with his lathe. He smiled as he backed out and gave a nod to her. Very good, nicely improvised." He then turned to the others. "Well done, all of you. I am pleased. You assignment is to practice these forms for at least the next 3 days. After those three days come and find me when you are ready and we will spar with lathes."

 

OOC: A little practice time and the a full contact Spar with lathes against me. Have fun with the spar, but perform all the forms save for Heron Wading in the Rushes. Kyn fights Sword and Shield, so he will have his shield on his arm.

[Jehaine]

OOC: Umm... Since i technically already sparred you, do i need to post another round? I don't want to keep people waiting (again)... ^^;

[_Kynwric_]

OOC: YES!

[Sylvirci]

OOC: Sorry I haven't posted yet. I have been trying to think of how to make it look good. I have two blades and can do different forms with each one in the same flow. Are you expecting to block every strike or is it ok to post one or two getting through? I mean if both swords come from, say left to right, where one is Arc of the Moon and the other is Parting the Silk can one get through? Say the first time he tries two forms at once? Your ribs or lower side would be exposed and if unexpected then you wouldn't block it with your shield in time. Just curious.

[_Kynwric_]

OOC: At this level you will not be able to hit Kyn at all. He will move out of the way or block everything. Remember, Kyn fights with Sword and Shield... he can cover both of your blades easily.

[Jehaine]

OOC: Just a note from me as well, but i'll be waiting for Jasine and Gaidan to post. Melenis is going analytical for this one ^^;

[Quisalas Selene]

OOC: I'm working on my post.  Jasine is going to lose quite horribly, but pay attention to why he loses.  Would Kyn be offensive in the sparring, or mostly just reacting to the kids?

[Jehaine]

OOC: Seventh OOC post in a row... Starting a new trend? ;)

 

Anyway, i think he'd wait for people to come, and if their openings are too big he'd let them know by making advantage of them for an attack of his own. There's no way he'll go all out, he already said the WS gap is simply too big for us to hit him. He'll likely wait for you to attack, mount one or two (slowed) strikes of his own that he thinks you should be able to block, and if he finds you're ignoring defense, you'll get clobbered.

 

My two cents, anyway. Or Melenis' ^^;

[_Kynwric_]

OOC: Melenis is basically right. Ok, Kyn is all about teaching here, so he isn't going to just go all out and try to kill you immediately. He is going to use the same forms you use, offensively he is going to fight at your speed. He is going to defend to the best of his ability. Kyn's WS is 12, he's been fighting for at least half your lives, most of it against real, live, trying to kill him opponents. This is part of the lesson, I throught the bit in earlier about the forms he was practicing to give some relation from where he is to where you are, use it. In all likelyhood he could defeat you without a weapon at this point.

 

Basically, when you screw up you will get hit. When you do things right you won't.

[Quisalas Selene]

Jasine worked hard during the three days Kynwric had given them to work on the basic forms before their spar.  He was frequently seeking out his classmates as well as other trainees to practice against.  Once Perivar, the boy who had tried to join their lesson, had gotten to the same point in his own classes, Jasine practiced with him too.  He sought Perivar out specifically because the lad was already trained with weapons and practiced with the same sword and shield arrangement that Kynwric used himself.  He didn't neglect learning to fight against other weapons, but he did put a lot of emphasis on learning Kynwric's style.

 

Granted, how a few-days-old trainee fought with a sword and shield could only prepare him so much for how a Master of several years would wield them.

 

He still found Gaidan's dual short swords to be a difficult thing to deal with whenever the boy managed to break him free of his blade.  That was much easier done when Jasine was only using one hand on the blade, so he soon came to favor having both hands on the long hilt.  It limited his movement, but was sturdier, and if Jasine lost his blade he was next to useless.  His small frame and speed only gave him so much advantage when his only option was to dodge and move away until he could recover his weapon.  But he practiced the forms until they were at least as natural to him as the sword itself was, which at this point still wasn't much, but he was proud of his progress and he hoped Kynwric would be proud of him as well.

 

---

 

Master Kynwric had shown himself to be an earlier riser to the yards and on the fourth day he was already at the yards even though Jasine had skipped tending to the horses because he hadn't wanted to be tired.  He's done his warm up exercises in his small room, stretching and meditating and working with achieving the fledging Flame and Void that he had only just learned about two days ago.  His control over it was still shaky, and he was sure that he wouldn't be able to maintain it while Master Kynwric sparred with him, but he could hope that it at least helped him to not look a fool.  The early morning fog was still lingering beneath the boughs of the trees, but it had dissipated over the main yard of the Tower to the point where it barely clung to the longer blades of grass.  In the smooth dirt ring where they were to spar, it was not even damp enough to make the dirt stick to the bottoms of his boots. 

 

He was the first one there and he quietly hoped that he might be able to finish the spar with his mentor before the other two showed up to watch his defeat.  Jasine had no illusions about being able to best Kynwric, he just simply wished that his actions today would prove to the man that he had paid attention and listened to the classes and could move through the forms without deserving to be sent from the yards and back home to his mother in Andor.  He also desperately hoped Thera wouldn't show today.  As proud as he was of his schooling so far, he knew how far short of her own skill he must fall and wasn't eager to show himself as an inept trainee to her.  Besides, the woman was so delightful distracting, the way her hips looked when she--

 

He didn't let himself finish the thought, and brought forth the void and fed his eagerness, excitement, nervousness, worry, and that queasy little feeling in his stomach into the eager flame.  When the void broke a few moments later, he was better under control overall and had focused his thoughts enough that he wasn't afraid he would stumble over his own feel and find some way to impale himself on the bundled sticks of his practice blade.  As he faced Kynwric he was considerably more subdued than his usually boyish happiness.  He was taking today's spar quite seriously, and with the intermittent Void spaced by attempts to regain and hold  it, he was hardly exuberant at all.

 

"Master Kynwric." Jasine began formally, bowing deeply to the man who already had taught him so much and was sure to teach him more during his own spar and those of the two trainees to follow him.  He saluted as he had seen Perivar do several times, something he hadn't been taught but which felt to him to be an adequate visible sign of the deep respect he held for the man.  He touched his right hand, his more dominant sword hand, to his forehead, and then the hilt of the sheathed lathe he had drawn up, and then his heart as he bowed.  "I thank you for all you have taught me and all that you are about to teach me, Master.  I am ready."

 

Kynwric was apparently amused with the boy and nodded with a smile for the lad to begin.  He himself was already comfortably in Leopard in the Tree.

 

---

 

Jasine Unfolded the Fan smoothly and quickly, but Kynwric had his blade out before Jase was even halfway to Lion on The Hill.  His Master waited patiently for him there, circling to the left, and as Jase moved forward into a form, his blade rising to come across in Arc of the Moon, Kyn lifted his blade with hardly a movement of his wrist to block the slice.  As their weapons touched Jasine wondered if he should try The Grapevine Twines, but Kynwric had already proven how much more vastly talented he was with the form and Jasine didn't want to risk losing his sword so early in the match. Jase didn't even manage to get his blade as far as the man's shoulder to score a touch on him before Kynwric deftly took a half-step back and pivoted, putting his force into his own lathe to send Jase spinning full circle with the force of the push.

 

"Never turn your back on your opponent unless you know what you're doing, Jasine."  Kynwric sounded so calm!  Jasine yelped and stumbled forward a step as Kyn smarted his rear with the lathe.  There wasn't even enough force in the attack to bruise, he'd done it entirely to show Jasine his folly, but as he turned back to his master and advanced his cheeks burned crimson with the indignity. 

 

"Now you're mad, boy.  Mad men don't win fights." He stepped forward into Courtier Taps his Fan and Jase flung his sword up crosswise to block it. 

 

"Oh look, now you've left yourself open here." Kyn adjusted slightly and sent the tip of the lathe into Jasine's unprotected abdomen with The Falcon Stoops before the sentence was finished, and Jase grunted at the force and stepped back again. He struggled for the void and it came to him easily this time, the flame burning hot and bright with his humiliation and embarrassment.  He focused and paid attention to where Kynwric's feet were, what his body language said, and then instead of just reacting blindly to the man's clearly slowed down attacks, he stepped forward into his forms. 

 

The stances flowed smoothly and he saw Kynwric smile and nod as Jasine moved into Kingfisher Takes a Silverback.  Kyn blocked it easily by raising his shield instead of his blade and with his own Parting the Silk, whapped Jasine's abdomen again.

 

"Protection, don't leave yourself open, move around and dodge, that's right, step forward, attack, flow back and defend."  Jasine shifted his hold on the lathe, using it one-handed as there really wasn't enough length or hilt to justify using it two-handed, and was able to turn his body to offer less of a target to Kynwric's counterstrikes.  He stepped forward with his right foot into Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose and Kyn leaned back just out of reach of the lathe, his own left foot sliding back to keep him stable.  Jasine noticed the adjustment in body posture and a faint glimmer of pride shimmered at the edge of the void before it too was ignored while the void held. 

 

Jasine wasn't aware or thinking of any audience he may have by this point, and the earlier flustered shame that haunted him had fallen away as he focused intently on the spar.  He managed to hold the void for a while yet, several exchanges as he flowed up into The Courtier Taps his Fan again, the downward strike meeting shield again, but Jasine breaking off and moving back before Kyn's Arc of the Moon could hit the side of his neck.  His own lathe came around in Parting the Silk as he ducked below Kyn's blade.  Kynwric himself took a step back to avoid the slash and then by the time Jase stretch back up from the crouch he was back in Lion on the Hill.  He felt himself smiling and then he moved forward again to do The Falcon Stoops, hoping the less dedicated thrust would leave him better able to recover if Kyn reacted offensively.  He was proven wrong s Kyn did The Courtier Taps his Fan and hit Jasine soundly enough that his legs crumpled from beneath him and he knelt unceremoniously on the ground.

 

He wasn't hurt, although he did see a brief starburst of light across his vision, and Kynwric took a step back while the boy gathered himself up and found himself on steady legs again.  The void had shattered with the blow and he could not make it form again.

 

"You could have parried that, Jasine.  Your sword was already up, but you weren't watching my blade." Kynwric flicked up his lathe as Jasine started forward again, his own weapon at the ready, and he was stopped short at the wood pressed to his throat when he took the step.

 

"That's enough, go ahead and catch your breath and watch the other trainees." It wasn't until Kynwric said this that Jasine realized how heavily he was breathing and that he was coated in sweat.  He looked up to the sky, expecting it to be getting on to noon with as long as it felt like that took, but the lazy sun was sitting happily atop the trees, and it couldn't have been more than 15 minutes that he's been sparring.  He bowed again, with much less grace than he had the first time, and murmured a wheezy thanks to Kynwric before stumbling off to collapse in the grass beside the ring, lathe falling from his hand as he sat.  He panted openly, wishing he had the strength in his legs to go and fetch a drink of water and leaned back on his hands to study the next spar.

 

[_Kynwric_]

OOC: Very good, you are done. Post the thread to your progress.

[Sylvirci]

Practice! Practice! Practice! It was all Gaidan did from the moment he woke up up until the moment he went to sleep. He forced himself to flow through the forms until he had perfected them all to the best of his ability.

 

The first day he did nothing but Heron Wading in the Rushes. He did it until he stopped falling down and could flow through it in rapid succession with any mistakes. He knew he wasn't as fast yet as the Tower Guards, Warders and especially Kyn himself. He was however just as skilled in it as the other Trainees and he took a few hours that night where all he did was challenge everyone in the Yard. He asked them to strike using the forms he knew as he simply pivoted away using only Heron Wading in the Rushes. Finally satisfied he went to bed for the end of his first day.

---

The second day he was in the Yard practicing all the other forms he had been taught so far. He was shaky at first as he tried to flow from one smoothly into another, but as the day wore on he got better and better. Finally after the evening meal he ask the people in the Yard to spar again. Only this time he flowed from form to form as he asked them to simply block and dodge. It didn't matter to him if he scored a hit, only that he had the forms down well enough to make Kyn proud of him. He spar against people of almost every style but took great lengths to spar those of the Sword and Shield style or his own Two Blade style. This way he would be even more prepared against Kyn.

---

The third day dawned and he went straight into the Yard. He then praticed all of his forms three times in succession before finally asking for anyone to spar against him. Unfortunately he had already sparred against all present except Kyn himself and no one was willing to. One man actually said that he could not get any better with the forms he knew and the only thing left was to learn new ones. He started to feel a little prideful until Kyn stepped up and said, " I believe you are ready now. Shall we?"

 

Gaidan lost the Void which he had kept until then. This was a whole day early! Am I truely ready? He knew if he had to ask himself that question then he was not ready yet. Bowing respectfully to Kyn he said, " I am not ready yet Master. I want to hone my skills and forms more before I spar against you sir." With that he walked out of the Yard and went back to his room.

 

He tried something he hadn't done yet, he visuallized every possible move in his mind. He saw himself going through the forms in different combinations and every possible counter Kyn could do in return. He spent half the day in a meditative trance as he saw the forms flowing through his mind. The rest of the day he spent flowing throught the forms as fast as he could until he was too exhausted to move. That night he went to bed very early.

---

The next day dawned bright and beautiful. He got up and ran through the forms twice each before he headed to the Yard. Once there he saw Jase sparring against Kyn. It was truely something to see a single style against a two style. Every time Jase moved to attack he saw the ease with which Kyn was able to use either shield or sword to deflect. It was truely a frightening experience to see just how fast Kyn was. He knew he was a little faster then Jase because of his light frame and two shorther blades but Kyn made him realize that he was incredably slow compared to him.

 

So Gaidan sat there and watched Kyn's style and which forms or pivots he used to counter Jase. He was studying Kyn so that he just might get an advantage over him or maybe, although doubtful, actually score a strike against him. Finally their match was over and he saw just how exhausted Jase was. Offering a small smile of encouragement and he said, " Nice job! Ready to watch me now? Although I doubt I will have better luck. He is a lot faster then I expected!" With that Gaidan stood up and approaced Kyn.

 

" Sir I am as ready as I am ever going to be." With that said he flowed through the initial forms until he reached Lion on the Hill. Then he watched as Kyn set himself up. It was different to see Kyn with the shield on as he placed it forward and held his sword hand in the back position. Very similar to my own stance. Well I figured as much yesterday. He knew there was nothing left but to feed the Flame of his Void and start. He saw within his mind the first several moves of his and Kyn's and satisfied he began.

 

Gaidan lead with Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose with his right hand. It flew true to Kyn's face but as expected he brought his shield up and then he pivoted to the side and did Parts the Silk. Gaidan had expected the strike though and smoothly pivoted to stay face-to-face as he did his own Part the Silk with his left hand. Although instead of keeping his blade towards Kyn, he kept it pointed up and crouched a little as he deflected it.

 

He saw a little surprise in Kyn's face as he was blocked. Gaidan hesitated as he basked in that emotion and saw too late that Kyn had done it on purpose. Kyn brought his shield in in a low, crouched, version of Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose. Gaidan was still pivoting with his left foot forward when he saw the shield coming forward and tried to lean back onto his back foot to jump back. He wasn't quick enough and was still moving in the pivot to get into his starting position. The shield slammed into his stomach and then Kyn kept pushing even as he shoved up. The result was a very good flight through the air to land about five feet back with a thud on his rear.

 

Shaking himself off, Gaidan got up and resumed Lion on the Hill. Kyn looked at him and smiled as he said, " It was a good block but you need to remember that a shield can be a weapon too. Now again!" He was already in the same form and waiting for Gaidan's next move.

 

Gaidan took the criticism and then reevaluated the forms in his mind. He can do anything I can and that shield is bigger. Well it has less range even with his speed! Knowing that he launched into Arc of the Moon with his right hand from left to right and with his left hand he did The Falcon Stoops. Kyn countered first with his shield and then with his sword, but Gaidan wasn't finished. He pivoted and swung his left blade towards Kyn's exposed back with Parting the Silk. He left his right hand free of action in case Kyn was able to launch one of the downward forms.

 

Kyn pivoted faster then Gaidan had seen him move yet and neatly blocked with his shield. Then he followed with the expected Kingfisher Takes a Silverback. Gaidan had expected it and brought his right sword up to block it but Kyn had swung hard. The force of the blow knocked him onto his knees and he quickly rolled back in a complete backwards somersault so that he was able to get to his feet quickly. As he got back into Lion on the Hill, Kyn said, " Good! As long as you remember that you have to be faster then your opponent and be willing to move away rather then strike you will do fine. You have speed and agility on your side but most of your opponents will have strength on theirs, you cannot take their beatings for long. Now again!"

 

Gaindan did as he was told and thought about the forms as much as possible. It went back and forth through him trying all the forms and being blocked every time. He didn't give up though, even as he realized he was spending more time rolling or pivoting away from Kyn. He simply switched up his forms as best he could so that he kept trying from different angles and he also switched between striking with two forms or with one form whilst keeping one hand free to block.

 

Through it all he realized that he was fast, Kyn was just more experienced and therefore faster. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Kyn countered his The Grapevine Twines by slamming his shield into Gaidan. Gaidan had expected it tried to pivot out of the way but the shield clipped his shoulder and he spun a few times before falling on the ground. After he stood Kyn said, " Good job, we are done now. Go rest and think on how tiring battle is."

 

Gaidan bowed low to Kyn in a show of respect and then smoothly Folded the Fan before joining Jase on the side.

 

Gaidan Hatori, Warder Trainee.

[_Kynwric_]

OOC: And you too are done, post to your Progress thread.

[Jehaine]

Melenis didn't make a lot of changes to her daily training routine, preferring to slowly increase the intensity of her training as opposed to adding hours on impulse. Being hasty never helped her before, and even though she felt Gaidan and Jasine had both stepped up their game a great deal she still stuck with the program she had laid out for herself.

 

At night however, she did practise the new forms -- empty handed, of course -- and combinations she could make thereof. She even went as far as to blindfold herself performing them to increase her sense of where her feet would end up at. On the first few days, she was sure she had scores of bruises on her legs from impacting with chairs, beds and other furniture, but she was getting the hang of it.

 

There was teh sparring, of course. She watched intently the times Kynwric sparred against a student, or another Warder, trying to spot a flaw in his defense, though that would be too much to hope for. What she was also interested in was finding out which forms he preferred, making mental notes to think of the best ways to counter them. There was also her own little combination, the one that Kynwric had jumped over... Perhaps Parting the Silk was a little too predictable, she didn't doubt the Warder had all the time in the world to see the horizontal slash forming from her grip and blade. Maybe that one would do...

 

She spared Gaidan as well as other dual weapon users during this time, trying to get a good feel of how to best counter their ability to fight with two independant weapons as opposed to a two-handed one like her ashandarei. It was a small point of victory though to find a training version of her preferred weapon of choice in teh armory though, at least she'd spar the Warder on her own terms now.

 

One day, she noticed Jasine sparring Kyn, and knew this would be the time to see if her training had paid off. It didn't do much for her confidence to see the boy get hit several times, but there was definite improvement as far as she could tell.

 

After him, Gaidan was up, and Melenis crossed her arms as she watched the two fighters. It was truly interesting to watch two dual weapon users fight each other, even if Kynwric had a shield as opposed to a weapon in his other hand. She had stopped seeing the shield as anything less than a weapon after the first two times she had seen him spar another Warder.

 

After a long battle, Gaidan was eventually struck, slowed down due to running out of stamina, she expected. Walking over to Kynwric, she offered a small bow to mirror Gaidan's, and asked if he was ready for another spar at this point. Far from tired, he nodded, and the fighting began.

 

Melenis went all out on the attack, attacking from a number of directions at once using both butt and blade end of the ashandarei to keep Kynwric from attacking her. With the butt of the weapon, she used Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose, and even as Kyn deflected her atack with his shield she used the momentum to flow into a diagonal slash from above, this time being parried by a sword. She didn't know what that form was called, or even if it was a form at all, but her main concern was keeping him too occupied to attack.

 

Reading her intentions, he charged at her with his shield. Having seen what it did with Gaidan, she dived out of the way, bringing up the shaft of her weapon just in time to -- narrowly -- knock Parting the Silk off course, jumping back in time to avoid The Falcon Stoops. She knew she lacked in strength, and being forced on the defensive was something she had wanted to avoid. It was no use though, even though she managed to defend against the attacks -- for which she had only the Void to give credit to -- the few times she managed to get a counterattack in her opponent's shield would be in position before she'd even started the attack.

 

Then, Kynwric simply stopped, stating the spar was over before stepping back.

 

Even within the Void, Melenis couldn't help but be surprised. As she released the Void however, she fell to her knees almost instantly breathing heavily as she clutched her weapon for support. And she understood why Kynwric had ended the spar. She had been so caught up in attacking, so caught up in trying to keep him busy that she hadn't even taken her own body into consideration. Had he not stepped back when he did, she didn't doubt she would have fought all the way to unconsciousness.

 

With sweat almost flowing down her face in streams, she literally had to pull herself up by her weapon. She gave the Warder a respectful bow before stumbling off to Gaidan and Jasine, blinking at the position of the sun as she now noticed what time it was. Have i been so caught up in that fight...? Still breathing heavily, she sat down -- though 'let herself fall' would have been a better description -- against the wall as she waited for Kynwric's conclusion.

 

 

Melenis

Couldn't budge a muscle if she tried

[_Kynwric_]

Kynwric took a moment to get a drink from the water bucket before heading over to speak to all three of the trainees. He had his lathe leaning back across his shoulder and was smiling. "That was well done, all of you. Stamina though, you all need stamina. My style of fighting is built around wearing the opponent down, letting them spend themselves on offense while waiting for the perfect moment to strike. In an even match between two of my Path there could be no blows thrown for... well, a long time. Right up until the point that one of felt he had an advantage and stuck, then it would be a brief flurry until someone was dead or we were back to even. Continue to practice the Forms, daily. They must be a part of you, you must be able to use them without thinking and just move to them as needed. You must also me able to adapt them without thinking. Again, well done and never fear there is still much more to learn... now off to clean up and supper. I am sure there are chores to be done as well." And he dismissed the trio with a wave of his hand.

 

OOC: And Mel, you too are done. Post it up in your Progress thread. Thank you all for being so prompt and writing well, I have enjoyed it. If you need help with something else I'd be happy to oblige.