[Frostfawn Hold] Practice [Vanwen, Nanithel]

[Vanwen Frostfawn]

Practicing 3rd of Fall, 511AV 'Breathe in. Focus on the feeling of the sword in your hands. Breathe out.' Vanwen was feeling particularly distracted in that moment. He was a few hundred yards away from the Frostfawn hold, but could still hear the echo of music and laughter. It was getting late, and people would drift to their homes in greater numbers soon. Another bell, maybe two, and he too would be heading inside. The snow was thankfully light, though it dusted his hair and clothes, and clung to his sword, chilling it even further. Van's eyes, which were closed, opened. His left foot was a step ahead of his right, and were spread shoulder width apart. His left hand was at the top of the long-sword's hilt, right hand at the bottom. The blade was pointed downward, with the tip almost scraping the ground. 'Concentrate. Block out the distractions. There's you, and the sword.' Vanwen let out a breath, which fogged in the cold air. His body, which was still, sprang to life. His right foot spun forward, reversing the positioning of his feet. His hands lifted skyward, the pommel directly above his head, the blade pointing up and away to the left. He spun his left foot forward, bringing his hands down and recreating the position he started in. His movements were not perfect. His feet slip slightly on the snowy ground, and the upward draw of his sword was not as smooth as it should have been. Vanwen shouldn't have been thinking about it but he was. He started the cycle again, moving right foot then left foot, alternating between the two guard forms. On the seventh repetition he made a change. He moved his left foot as normal, but followed that very quickly by spinning his right foot backward, turning himself in a half circle so that he ended in his starting pose, facing the opposite direction. Vanwen sighed. He was no more than twelve feet from where he had started moments before. He would move himself miles more before he was as good as he wanted to be with a blade. A particularly insistent breeze ruffled his clothing, a loose pair of black trousers and equally loose long-sleeved top of dark blue. The two strands of hair in front of his face swayed back and forth also. His cloak wasn't with him and he wished it was, not that he could've worn it while training. He began to run through the training form again, switching between the fool guard and the roof guard, thinking about trying not to think, thinking about the wind and the light snow, and thinking about the music and laughter and hot meal waiting for him inside.

[Nanithel]

The dusk was settling more quickly than Nanithel had thought but she didn't quicken her steps much either way, for once she had neither Ita or Windy with her having felt that training with her sword was best done alone. Not that it had been much of a difference anyway, Nanithel was annoyed with the fact that she couldn't seem to grasp the technique of using a sword.

She'd been out since noon and hadn't made much of a progress, maybe she should keep to riding her horse Windy, that she was good at at least. Continuing her low self esteem rant to herself Nan kicked in the snow for good measure, the only good thing was that her gnosis mark kept her warm, or at least less cold, even as the snow started falling down.

Being on alert as always when she was outside alone Nan heard something from up ahead, someone was moving behind the thin row of trees ahead. Hoping it was another person and not a monster of some kind she tried to move quietly though the crunshing snow betrayed her.

Sweeping back her black hair as good as it went with mittens on, her eyes stayed in their natural dark blue colour, straining her eyes Nanithel tried to see through the branches and sighed in relief when she saw that it was another Vantha.

Staying hidden behind the tree line she looked on as the boy moved through sword stances that Nan didn't recognize. He looked familiar too, wasn't he from the Frostfawn hold.

He was good at using the sword from what she could see and Nan wished she could move with such ease when using her own sword. Fighting the part of her that refused to seek help she swallowed her stubborness and stepped out from the trees.

"Eh, sorry if I interupted you," she said as the boy noticed her. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me, with the sword I mean." Nan felt embarressed, not that she would ever let that show, she wasn't a social person and were a bit awkward around others, but she needed help if she would survive another trip outside Avanthal.

[Vanwen Frostfawn]

"Eh, sorry if I interrupted you. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me, with the sword I mean." Van was startled to see a girl of around his age standing in front of him. He shouldn't have been, looking back on it. He dismissed the sound of displaced snow as unimportant, noting only belatedly that it had been growing closer instead of louder, as he'd assumed. The trees behind her certainly wouldn't have been enough to hide her if he was paying attention. If he was out hunting he would've been seconds away from being torn up and eaten. Of course, if he was hunting he probably would've paid more attention. Finally remembering there was a young woman standing in front of him, he came out of his stance and stood straight. His sword felt very awkward in his hands, and he wasn't sure what to do with it. He didn't want to lay it on the ground, but holding it comfortably and non-threateningly at the same time was pretty difficult. He settled for turning it upside down and letting the tip bury itself in the snow, holding it upright by the hilt. 'Did she even...tell me her name?' Moments had passed since the girl's request, and he'd still said nothing. He wasn't even sure he'd blinked. He observed her, noting she seemed familiar in a vague way. She looked Vantha for the most part, though he saw slight variations, mostly in her build. She probably lived in the hold. Did she expect him to recognize her? He thought quickly, worriedly. They'd probably met dozens of times in their lives in passing. He relaxed. Nothing overly memorable. Perhaps she was just odd. He liked her eyes, which was the first thing he noticed (the second was the mittens). She looked cute, but also looked like the kind of person who might kick him for saying so. She was shorter than he was, but looked solid, built much better than he was. She'd probably take to the sword well. He'd have to see what she knew already, but felt confident he could help improve her technique in some way. The more he thought it through, the more he liked the idea. There was nothing better to help reinforce things you were learning then to try and teach it to someone else. "I'm Van. And yes, I can probably help you. If you could just... show me your skill level right now?" Van backed up a few paces, leaving room for the girl to come over and give her demonstration.

[Nanithel]

"I'm Van. And yes, I can probably help you. If you could just... show me your skill level right now?"

The boy Van seemed a bit more familiar with his dark hair with two strands that'd escaped from his ponytail but she still couldn't quite place him.

"Thank you," Nan's blue eyes took on a pinkish red tone in embarressment as she realised that she'd forgotten to introduce herself and she hoped that the dark would cover it. "I'm Nan by the way."

Grabbing the sword that was strung over her back Nanithel stepped forward holding the sword with both hands, but as she was going to start moving she froze slightly and she wondered what she should do.

Moving with as much ease as she could muster, which wasn't a lot, and tried to remember what she'd seen others do when training. For once she was glad for her stronger build as she hadn't any trouble with the weight of sword.

Placing her feet in line with her shoulders Nan moved the sword through a series of defensive positions and a few offensive. She focused more on defense as always, trying to move fluently between poses and keep sure that she didn't have too many weak points.

Having someone watch her made her nervous and she got very self concious about what she were doing and that made her more awkward than she usually were around people.

"Really I'm not that good at it," Nan said, stating the obvious. "But I have basically some knowledge about the sword itself and how to hold it and such." Having lowered her sword so its tip rested on the ground Nan kicked the snow covered ground and switched her weight to her left leg, her usual movements when she felt nervous.

[Vanwen Frostfawn]

"Thank you. I'm Nan, by the way." 'Van and Nan met in the woods and practiced with the long-sword... sounds like a children's rhyme.' He took her thanks with a nod of the head. She seemed more hesitant than she did when she first made herself known and asked for his help. She was... uncomfortable? Nervous? It was hard for him to believe that someone who appeared so confident would be either in front of him. Then again... she was asking someone for help who she obviously didn't know very well. She drew her sword and, before doing anything, paused as if in thought. Her grip was correct, right hand gripping around the top of the hilt with her left around the bottom part. Her entire posture was too tense, though. Oddly enough, it was the simplest way to decide that coming to ask him for help had been difficult. Van decided not to think about how sword fighting was easier for him to read than human behavior as she started to move. He watched her move slowly through a few guards, showing a slash or a stabbing move in each one. Van tried not to show a reaction to anything she was doing, trying to mimic instructors that he'd had. 'She really is pretty unfamiliar with a sword. Her technique wasn't wrong, he finally decided after watching her move. At least not entirely. It was just sloppy. Unpracticed. He corrected his own thought, as much for politeness as for accuracy. He wanted to wince at her footwork, which was helping to throw off everything she was doing. She was still distracted by the act of moving her feet, even looking down at times. She took bad angles when attacking, and only did so hesitantly, as if she'd rather not have bothered. She stopped after a short time, but already he had seen much he could help her with, even at his relatively low skill level. "Really I'm not that good at it, but I have basically some knowledge about the sword itself and how to hold it and such." She had even less experience than he'd assumed. In a way he was relieved. It was much easier to correct no training at all than bad training. "Well," he began speaking, hesitantly. How to put this delicately... "You are gripping the sword correctly. That's a plus." He winced at his lack of tact. "What I had meant to say was that there's a lot we can improve on right now. Simple things you can practice that will make a big difference on your technique. My apologies." He lifted and flipped his own sword so that it lay flat against his right shoulder. He walked a few feet over towards where she was standing, stopping at an awkward distance. Not close enough to be face to face, but too far away to be distant. He didn't think he could've stopped a worse distance away if he tried. "Your footwork is the easiest thing to start with. It's where all the technique afterwards will follow from. You want to lead slightly with one foot, and leave your back foot with the toes pointing at an angle. You'll learn to lead with either, but it's easier to start with the same foot as your dominant hand." Van began to move his left hand to physically put her right leg forward of her left, but stopped halfway as if he was afraid of having it snapped off at the wrist. His own teachers wouldn't have hesitated in doing so but it felt odd. He wasn't exactly a professional teacher, this wasn't exactly a professional setting. Plus, it seemed overly familiar. "I'll just show you a simple step forward, and we can work from there. I just need to think backwards, for a right handed person I mean." He backed away again and settled into a sword fighting stance right handed, sword pointed down into a fool's guard. His back foot was pointing at a forty-five degree angle from his front foot. He took what felt like a single hopping step, one which he knew looked fluid and confident. His head was straight, his arms were still. It was a good step. "It looks simple, but the tricky part about it is that you're really using both feet to take that one step. As you take a step forward, you should also be pushing forward with the ball of your back foot. I'm making this sound much more complicated than I should be." Van sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand. It was a nervous gesture. "You'll probably feel a bit silly doing it at first, but it looks a lot better than you think it does when doing it."

oocI'll move a little more quickly with teaching in posts after this, showing a couple things at a time. Feel free to get it as quick or slow as you want.

[Nanithel]

Grabbing her sword correctly again Nanithel tried to immitate the pose that Van had showed placing her left foot behind her right and tilted it in an angle outwards like he'd done. Tilting her weight forward and moving forward the step came out stiff and almost shaky. It was true what he said, Nan knew her footwork was bad, wore than bad actually.

But after fumbling through several failed attempts to get the step right she started to wonder why she had such a hard time with this when dancing came so easy for her. In anything else,like riding or dancing Nan had good balance and sense of direction but not in swordsmanship, pondering over why she would get so tense.

Taking a deep breath, pushing away negative thougths, she tried to imagine that she was practicing a dance move instead, and tried to portrait the grace and fluent movement from the dance into the step. Finally she felt like she did something right as she shifted her weight fluently between her right and left leg.

Turning to look at Van she smiled for the first time, eyes turning to a more sky blue hue, "I knew taking dance lessons wouldn't be such a bad idea."

[Vanwen Frostfawn]

Van expected her to pick it up very quickly, so it wasn't that surprising to see her take a good step after a few tries. What he didn't expect was for the step to be executed so fluently. Sure, it was a small thing in the large scheme of sword fighting, but even he struggled to move with the easy grace that she had just done. 'If I hadn't seen her so serious earlier, and so hesitant when showing me her skill before, I might be thinking that she's playing a joke on me. If nothing else, that step was the step of a serious swordsman. Certainly something for her to build on. He felt himself feeling a little jealous. He didn't posses the balance that she seemed to. He compensated for athleticism with form, attempting to drill each precise, miniscule movement beyond muscle memory, into an instinct that existed at the beginnings of man itself. Nan looked up at him as she finished that step and smiled at him. Her eyes were lighter, and he could only think that she seemed a very different person when she smiled. He wouldn't have thought it possible for such a drastic change before that moment. "I knew taking dance lessons wouldn't be such a bad idea." Van nodded at her remark. It made sense, now. Van thought about what to do next. He had to reinforce the positive action taken by the student, he finally recalled. But not too much, lest they become overconfident or not try as hard next time. He'd had many teachers who would say things like 'it's nice to see you're not a total waste of time'. Van felt like he should opt for something more tactful. "That was very good technique." Van thought about what Nan had said. She had offered up personal information. Sure, it was probably to explain the quality of her step, but it was personal nonetheless. It was an opening, and Van was sure he should do something. He wondered if he should offer up one of his own hobbies in return, but dismissed that thought. Asking a question about her statement would give him more information, and perhaps a better chance to say something of his own. Van spent the next few chimes going over steps moving backwards, side to side, switching the lead foot from right to left, and how to change directions by using two steps to pivot. He watched her eyes watching his footwork, and wondered. "So... how long have you been studying dance? What kind of things have you studied?"

[Nanithel]

"That was very good technique."

"Thank you," The praise made Nanithel genuinely happy though true to her nature she tried her best to hide most of it, though she couldn't quite hide it all. So now that she'd actually accomplished a move Nan was determined to succeed with the rest of the steps.

Observing how Van moved Nanithel tried her best to do the same, despite having found the fluent movement to make it easier for her she had a hard time to switching lead foot and especially how to change direction. Somehow when she tried to turn Nan ended up with her feet being placed wrongly, either too far apart or having the wrong angle when she had finished the step.

Training mostly on those movements that were hard for her Nan also went through the other steps that Van had showed her several times and learned faster with those, while they were not perfect she felt that they were good enough so she could continue to drill them in on her own until she knew the steps by heart.

"So... how long have you been studying dance? What kind of things have you studied?"

Nan didn't answer at once as she finished a series of backwards steps before she took a break satisfied with her latest steps she brushed her hair out of her face. "Well I've been taking lessons for a few years and our teacher was very fascinated by the Myrian and Yahebah dancers so she made us practice those a lot and then of course our own traditional dances from Avanthal."

She walked closer to Van using the step he'd shown her to make the distance less awkward and for training. "My teacher believes that dancing is an art form that demands that the dancer's spirit needs to be present or else it will fail, I imagine that swordsmanship is similar in that aspect?"

[Vanwen Frostfawn]

Van sheathed the sword at his right hip as watched her progress, admiring her footwork for its potential as much as its actuality. She seemed to mostly know when she'd done something wrong, and had more trouble with the few complex movements. For now it would be important that she knew what it was supposed to feel like when done correctly. She'd be working on technique for the rest of her life if she dedicated herself to the craft. She'd need to practice more even if it was something she only wanted to use to protect herself. She continued on practicing after his question, which the swordsman in him admired. She didn't let him distract her with conversation, continuing her concentration and rhythm. Van hadn't planned it to be a test, but she'd ended up passing it admirably. Nan finished moving, holding her sword in one hand while brushing the hair from her eyes. He was surprised to be looking at her face again, not realizing how much he'd been concentrating on her footwork. "Well I've been taking lessons for a few years and our teacher was very fascinated by the Myrian and Yahebah dancers so she made us practice those a lot and then of course our own traditional dances from Avanthal." Van knew the dances favored in Avanthal. He did them as required, which was more often than he'd like, but lacked the same kind of fluidity he'd had when practicing with the sword. He knew little about the other dancing traditions. Perhaps he'd look to read about them in the library. Finishing with her steps, she began to come towards him with her forward steps. It was awkward for Van to watch someone wielding a sword and advancing on him with proper looking technique, but Van did his best not to react to it. Still, he could feel muscles in his legs and arms tense. 'It's just unnatural to not react when someone is coming at you, hostile intent or not.' "My teacher believes that dancing is an art form that demands that the dancer's spirit needs to be present or else it will fail, I imagine that swordsmanship is similar in that aspect?" Van didn't answer right away. It would've been easy to agree, treat the question as trivial. But Van cared for the art of sword fighting, and if she cared as much about dancing then he'd be doing both of them a disservice. "It's... difficult to say. There are a lot of teachers, obviously. But I would certainly agree with that sentiment. Good fighters put themselves into their movements. Their styles reflect their personality. My father--well, my teacher says that you can't really know someone until you fight them."Van considered Nan for a moment, thinking about the assumptions he'd made about her since watching her fight. About how much better he felt like he knew her since he watched her move."I wouldn't go that far, but you can learn a lot about a person by watching them fight. It's probably the same way in dance?" Van hadn't considered that she might have been making her own assumptions about him as he moved. It didn't make him feel insecure like he would've thought. It made him feel like he was sharing something with another person. He began to reevaluate himself. Sure, he was the kind of person who'd rather fade to the back of the group. But every time he practiced fighting, studied under a teacher or in this case, instructing, he was sharing himself with that person. He imagined Van's footwork, and imagined what her dancing must have been like. Fortunately, he stopped his thoughts well clear of going anywhere else. 'Okay, now I feel awkward.' "I should probably show you turning and switching a couple more times," Van said, trying to keep the embarrassment from his face.

[Nanithel]

Watching Van go through a series of steps and turns to show her she thought she could see embarrassment on his face but it passed too quickly, thinking over his words as she kept her gaze on his foot work she reflected over how much two entirely different skills could be very similar in the way the practitioners learned about each other. As Van stopped Nanithel tried to imitate them as best as she could, at least to herself they felt better than her first ones but it was hard to tell for her, both because of her inexperience and her tendency to be too hard on herself.

"I agree, " Nan said as she finished her last step. "A lot can be learned from another by watching how they move while dancing and just as with sword fighting you gain even more from performing a dance together with others. Often there is much to learn from a person by just being observant even in everyday life." Nanithel spoke from experience as she who always preferred to be in the background had a lot of opportunities to see how people interacted and behaved just by taking a look.

"The weird thing is that I didn't like dancing from the start, now that I look back I guess it must've been because I believed I'd be horrible as I'm not exactly the slim dancer type so I never tried it." Nanithel had long since gotten over her complex of her greater size compared to other Vantha her age, especially as she did succeed in dancing, but she often didn't like to talk about it, though she didn't really feel weird mentioning it to Van. "Then my youngest sister Coralia practically forced me to take a lesson and I got hooked from then on, thankfully I inherited some of the Vantha grace." A bit embarrassed over her monologue Nan stood in silence, cursing her awkward ability to suddenly add in stuff that didn't really fit into the ongoing conversation.

Looking at Van while waiting for him to answer she felt that though having just met Van she believed he took swordsman ship seriously and was a good, if a bit awkward, teacher. Though Nan had nothing to say there as she was as introverted as he seemed to be, but when he talked about swordsmanship he opened up more and as weird as it may sound Van even sounded more relaxed.

'I guess people tend to do that when they speak about what they burn for.' she thought. She herself tended to forget her shyness when talking about her interest and with people she felt she could trust, and so far Nan believed she could trust Van.

OOCSorry for the late, and short, post, I was really busy last week and over the weekend. I'm going to keep up with the thread from now on^^