On Edge: Blades and Emotions

NethaEmerald-Last Wednesday at 10:21 PM

Valerie was at the training grounds, practicing her techniques more since she figured the upcoming battles would only get more difficult from here. Of course, if you just looked at her, it didn't look to be actual fighting in the standard sense as much as her dancing all around the stationary dummy, taking swings, thrusts, and swipes at it occasionally. She focused more on fluidity and dodging than really doing a lot of damage, which was probably good due to how squishy she is. She wasn't even paying attention to anyone else coming in... and she probably should have been. She really didn't want people to know the sword fighter took pride in something as silly as dancing, for combat or not.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Wednesday at 10:29 PM

Shanoa was sitting on a bench near the edge of the arena, drinking in the sight of her comrade weaving in and out during her deadly dance with the practice dummy. She had been coming back from gathering some seeds from the rainforest when she passed the training grounds. But now her attention was solely focused on Valerie. Whoah. I had no idea she could move like that. It's so... beautiful. I wonder... would she be willing to teach me to do the same? Such a fighting style feels like it would suit me quite well. As Valerie performed a particularly complex maneuver, Shanoa couldn't help but give a small cheer at the sight.

NethaEmerald-Last Wednesday at 10:31 PM

Valerie was going at the dummy for a good bit longer. She was keeping pretty close to it most of the time, though took some distance from it every now and again. Her style here reflected more of how she would actually dance with someone; very close and physical. Of course nobody would really see this... That is, until Valerie looked off at a distant bench and noticed someone; Shanoa. Once she processed who it was, she suddenly stopped moving and remained completely still in an standing upright position. "Crap! How much of that did she see?" Valerie thought to herself. Some of the stuff she was doing here hadn't even been known to the army yet, which is what made her nervous. Not so much as Shanoa, but if enemy spies had peered in at this sight. "U-uh, SHanoa!? W-what are you doing here?" Valerie asked, her face clearly a little red.(edited)

Thief God Thanatos-Last Wednesday at 10:42 PM

Shanoa hopped off the bench and skipped over to the other woman. "Watching your performance, of course." She giggled when she saw Valerie's flustered expression. "Oh my. Are you embarrassed? You look quite cute like that." The witch leaned in close to Valerie, their faces just a few inches apart. "Maybe I should try to make that happen more often." Almost immediately, she hopped back to a more reasonable distance. "I must say, you're quite impressive. I don't think I've seen you move like that even in the midst of battle? Is it something new?" she whispered conspiratorially.(edited)

NethaEmerald-Last Wednesday at 10:54 PM

Valerie just watched as Shanoa grew closer, herself setting the sword gently down on the ground away from where she was and Shanoa's projected path. When that was done, Valerie had gotten back up to the standing upright when Shanoa came right up to her face and spoke. Valerie instinctively took a step back when she did that, thankful when Shanoa did the same. "Well, uh... no. I've never done it before... wanted to fine-tune it beforehand..." Valerie slowly got out, clearly a little flustered in an embarrassed way. The first thing Shanoa spoke about, however, she finally responded back with "Y-you want to try it? W-well, go ahead." She spoke, thinking she would have to teach this fine woman how to do that...

Thief God Thanatos-Last Wednesday at 11:07 PM

"Well, for such a new technique, you seem to have mastered it quite well." she said, nodding. Shanoa flashed Valerie a smile. "You know what? I think I'll take you up on your offer." She flounced over to the sword and picked it up. The herbalist gave it a small twirl, implying she was more skilled with a blade than one would expect of a mage. Immediately afterwords, she faced the dummy, and settled into a wide stance. A single lithe leg was extended out from the cut that ran up the side of her dress, and her sword was held forward unwaveringly. After a few seconds of holding the stance seriously, she turned her head to glance at the swordswoman and gave a small smile. "So, Master Valerie, what must I do in order to replicate your amazing movements?"

NethaEmerald-Last Wednesday at 11:13 PM

Valerie just watched. She caught on to the bluff that Shanoa probably wasn't any good with a sword, and it was none the more obvious than when the mage asked how to perform the moves. At this, Valerie just laughed a little. "Not so cocky now that you're holding the sword, huh?" Valerie spoke back to Shanoa, a small smirk across her face. She never really met anyone that could match her technique, let alone on a very first try. "It's not really that easy, but..." Valerie started to say before moving up to Shanoa "Might be better to guide you through it."

Thief God Thanatos-Last Wednesday at 11:21 PM

Shanoa snickered at her comment. "Master Valerie, I'll have you know that I'm always cocky, regardless of however much skill I might have in any particular situation." "But of course." She held her arms out limply so her friend could guide her through the motions.

NethaEmerald-Last Wednesday at 11:23 PM

Valerie could't believe she was doing this... but instead of just taking Shanoa's arm, she came behind the woman, though did ask Shanoa "Permission to stay back here and guide both your arm and your legs?"

Thief God Thanatos-Last Wednesday at 11:29 PM

Shanoa quickly hid the surprised expression that flitted to her face. "Be my guest." she said slowly. "You're welcome to take to the rear whenever you like."

NethaEmerald-Last Wednesday at 11:32 PM

"Don't read too deep into it." Valerie was quick to sort of correct Shanoa. She was 90% sure she wasn't into ladies at all, after all. With that agreement out of the way, Valerie took Shanoa's sword arm in her own arm, legs around hers, and her last hand was there to help guide Shanoa's body. The first thing was simple: get down low, move in a circle around the opponent, then come up from that low position for a vertical slice. Whether or now Shanoa could follow through with the guide was yet to be seen.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Wednesday at 11:50 PM

Shanoa did her best to not be distracted by the close presence of her instructor, and paid attention to the moves to the best of her ability. She followed through with the form nigh-perfectly, coming up for the strike exactly as expected. She kept her head looking straight forward, but couldn't help and let out a snide remark. "Did I do well, Master? You don't have to take it so easy with me, you know."

NethaEmerald-Last Wednesday at 11:53 PM

Valerie just looked at Shanoa with a neutral expression and said "You only did... adequately. You were a little slow on the sword swing, you didn't put a lot of force behind it, and your movements seems sluggish, though that might have been because of me guiding you." She was a critic when it came to actual training; sharp contrast to her normal self. "Try it again without me." Valerie said as she took a few steps back from Shanoa.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Wednesday at 11:58 PM

Well, she's not wrong. Shanoa chided herself. You always have been weak on the swing. But that's mainly because you have virtually no muscle... She silenced the voice in her head as she dropped back into position. "Heh. Alright then. Let's see if I can't impress you." Shanoa once again lowered her stance, her footwork ending a small plume of dust upwards from the dry arena floor. She skillfully veered around the dummy, and when the time was right, sliced upwards at the dummy. It was going quite well until the sword caught on the arm of the dummy and knocked the blade from her grasp.

September 22, 2016

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 12:00 AM

Valerie simply side-stepped from where the blade could have gone. "Footwork is fine, but like last time, not a lot of force. Of course, you are a mage, so this result is about as comparable as if I could cast magic." Valerie explained back to Shanoa. She got the sword back in her hand and back to Shanoa. "Let's try something else, shall we?"

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 12:02 AM

Shanoa stuck her tongue out at the sword as it hit the ground. However, she gracefully accepted it back, and curtsied. "Why thank you. Now, what did you have in mind? I'm sure no matter what it is, I'll ace it!"

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 12:06 AM

Valerie just laughed at what Shanoa just did. "Hey! Don't stick your tongue out at your master." Valerie responded back with, getting a kick out of that small title. Regardless, Valerie got into the same stance to start with for Shanoa again, but this time, did something far more complex. This time, Valerie was guiding Shanoa though the same start, but the slash was a low horizontal one, followed by still spinning to go for a high horizontal slash, then finishing up a final spin with a downward diagonal slash against the dummy; all while still spinning around the dummy and keeping their personal spin going. (Basically, low, high, cross).(edited)

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 12:29 AM

"What? Me stick my tongue out at you? You must be mistaken." she admonished. Once again, Shanoa followed the lead of Valerie, and performed the spins and slashes fluidly and elegantly. However, when she went to perform the cross, a sudden thought came to her mind. Oh shit. Valerie's right behind me. I can't let her see it... I can't let her see what I really am. She leapt away from the other woman as if stung, and immediately turned to face her mentor so her back wasn't visible. "Sorry." she said hesitantly. "Maybe it's for the best if we don't do this..."

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 12:31 AM

Valerie was completely confused about this. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked, not sure why Shanoa was now so eager to get away from her. It did hurt Valerie a little, as if saying she was doing something wrong and not well, but she tried to not let that show.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 12:33 AM

Shanoa shook her head. "No! No... nothing like that. This is all my fault. Look, you shouldn't get so close to me." She seemed miserable. "You'll regret it if you do."

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 12:34 AM

"You had no problems before.. was it something I just did?" Valerie asked, still feeling hurt and confused that she basically denied this little training thing.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 12:40 AM

Shanoa winced. "Nothing of the kind. I had just forgotten... something. And it was great while it lasted. You took my mind off of something I really want to forget about." The young witch scuffed the ground with one of her heels. "The thing is, it would be a problem later if I didn't attend to it now." She looked into Valerie's eyes sadly. "You believe me, right? That none of this is your fault?"

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 12:42 AM

Honestly, Valerie wanted to say that she herself had done something wrong just because she was so self-conscious of herself in this army, but she didn't want to make things any worse here. Instead, Valerie just nodded with a small frown and said "Yes. Sorry if I brought up bad memories."

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 12:48 AM

Shanoa gave a hesitant smile. "Still friends, right?" She glanced at the rack of training swords to the side. "Actually, I know just the thing we could do. Would you be up for a small spar? I could observe your movements during it, which might help me learn a thing or two."

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 12:51 AM

"Uh... why would we not? I don't hate you." "Enough to dislike you." Valerie responded to Shanoa and thought about. When the suggestion for Shanoa to spar against herself came up, Valerie grinned. "Go ahead; try me. I doubt you'l win." She responded, a cocky grin across her face.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 12:56 AM

Shanoa lightly tossed the practice sword in her hand to Valerie before going to the rack to grab a second one. "You shouldn't underestimate a witch, young lady." Shanoa chastised. "I don't need magic in order to knock you up." The herbalist adjusted her massive hat, before settling into a defensive stance with her sword at the ready. "I do believe it's about time I showed you the true depth of my skills."

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 12:58 AM

Valerie nodded to Shanoa. "Not saying I underestimate your capabilities; just i'm so much better at it." She came forward at Shanoa... though didn't go into the techniques she had earlier. Instead, she was going for more of a fencing style, doing small, swift, numerous strikes to Shanoa. She was aiming for the sword to disarm her most, though was going for a few, quick stabs against the witch too. "Just don't expect me to keep to the same style all the time." She additionally explained. She had learned most of these while testing weapons for her father.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 1:04 AM

Shanoa took a hesitant step backwards, using her blade to barely swipe aside the numerous jabs thrown her way. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. Underestimating my opponent isn't something I'm guilty of." When the young woman thought she was in the clear, she quickly sidestepped and attempted to slash diagonally at Valerie's left side. "I'm confident because I know I can win!"

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 1:08 AM

Valerie watched as Shanoa was almost helpless against the flurry of stabs. However, when Shanoa finally struck back, Valerie was quick to bring her sword to glance the blow harmlessly away from her. Without saying another word, Valerie came in as if she was going to stab Shanoa, but pulled the sword back at the last moment and went for a diagonal cut.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 1:11 AM

The vicious swipe knocked Shanoa's sword from her hand once again. Instead of surrendering or going to grab her blade, the herbalist instead dug the back of one of her heels into the ground, and pivoted in place. At the last moment, she dropped to the ground and used the momentum to try to swipe Valerie's feet out from under her.

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 1:13 AM

... As shameful as this was, Valerie was actually caught by that technique. She fell for it, and ended up falling towards the ground... almost right on top of Shanoa. Valerie knew this was bad, so while falling, she stuck her own training blade into the soft, dirt ground and braced for impact.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 1:25 AM

Shanoa's breath was driven from her body as Valerie landed awkwardly on top of her. Any attempt she was going to make at gaining the upper advantage over Valerie was quickly lost. When she regained her breath, Shanoa raised her eyebrows at the woman who was partially laying on her and partially holding herself up with her sword. "I've gotta say, this is not the direction I imagined this fight going." She attempted a flirty smile. "Not that I mind-" She broke off suddenly, coughing from the dust she had inhaled that was kicked up as they landed.

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 1:28 AM

It took Valerie a couple of moment to gather herself after she fell. When she regained composure, and found out that half of her was sprawled out over Shanoa, she quickly got to her feet, face turning red. "U-uh, sorry..." Valerie muttered, looking away as she lifted her sword from the ground, also going over to get Shanoa's off the ground. "This was supposed to be a simple training, not some physical-touchy session..." Valerie very awkwardly thought to herself.

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 1:33 AM

Shanoa hops to her feet and takes a look at the bedraggled state of her usually crisp black dress. She quickly attempts to brush off the large quantity of dirt and dust it had accumulated. "Hey, it's all good." she said as she shook her hat off. "We'll call that one a tie, okay?" Shanoa winked playfully at Valerie. "Even if we both know I should have won. I took it easy on you today." She reached forward and prodded Valerie in the chest, as if to affirm her superiority. "And you'd best remember that!"

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 1:36 AM

... Valerie responded back with a simple "Yea right; we both know I would've crushed you." with a small smirk to her face. Once her mind had time to process everything that Shanoa just did, the more stern look on her face quickly went away for more of an awkward look. It really felt like Shanoa was trying to hit on her, though it could just be the witch's way of being friendly. Regardless, Valerie spoke back in a jokingly non-nonchalant tone "Yea yea yea; all I hear is the sound of defeat."

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 8:32 AM

"Oh? If you're so sure, perhaps you'd like to have another go... Only this time, I'll use magic." She pulled a practice fire tome from her hat effortlessly, knowing full well Valerie didn't stand a chance if she could hurl magic around." But then she noticed the other woman's awkward expression, and frowned in turn. Wait, is she actually upset I did so well against her? Perhaps coming so close to losing was embarrassing to her. I shouldn't push her further; it'll only make her feel worse. She replaced her practice tome in her hat and stuffed it back on her head. "On second thought, maybe it's not the best of ideas. I have a few seeds I need to plant. Would be best if I tended to them before they dried out."

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 10:14 AM

Valerie's face went to neutral as she finally started to get past the events that had just happened. In turn, when Shanoa mentioned a practice tome, Valerie readied herself again. She felt that a battle like that would really just come down to whoever hit first. She knew she was quicker than Shanoa no doubt; the witch's general footwork showed that. However, when the witch decided to retract her duel statement, Valerie tilted her head, saying "Okay... well, if you need to, go do that?"

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 11:00 AM

Shanoa nodded thankfully. "Valerie, I appreciate you attempting to teach me your forms when wielding a blade. I have no doubt that what I did learn will help when I eventually feel confident enough with a sword to use one in battle." She gave a small curtsy. "I hope the rest of your day is as lovely as you are. Farewell."

NethaEmerald-Last Thursday at 11:01 AM

The Sword Fighter just decided to not think too deeply into anything. She gave Shanoa a small wave and said "Farewell?" Though it was clear she was still somewhat confused, though she took that confusion out on the dummy. XD

Thief God Thanatos-Last Thursday at 11:03 AM

Shanoa left the arena, her face showing obvious relief. She never saw the mark... Valerie still doesn't think of me as a monster, at the very least. And I'll do whatever I can to keep it that way, even if it means distancing myself from her...

===End RP===