[Bronze Wood] Only my Wit is Sharper than my Dagger (Eris)

[Tyuru]

Okay, the kicking didn’t seem to work, Tyuru thought. Maybe she should stick to using crazy swipes with a pointy object. Then she saw the dagger flashing downward toward her throat.

A couple of options came to mind. One: parry. She could bring her left arm up, knuckles first, and try to punch Eris’ arm, possibly using a foot to trip Eris at the same time. Tyuru almost snorted at the idea. Like I could pull something like that off. Two: death. She could stay still and let the dagger drive deep into her throat, cutting her jugular and obstructing her wind pipe. What a morbid thought. Perhaps it’s the dagger in my hand that makes me think such things. Pfft. As if. In the split second she had, she chose the final option that occurred to her. Three: escape.

Tensing all her muscles, she made a crazy roll to her left. The dagger barely scraped the side of her neck as she turned her head away, cutting a shallow scratch into the pale skin. Tyuru could feel her joints complaining as she forced herself to move. As she rolled to the side she brought up her right hand, trying to get a grip on Eris’ extended arm to use her momentum to bring the woman down with her.

[Eris]

Eris jerked back as Tyuru gripped her arm, trying to stay upright. Unfortunately for her, the girl’s hold on her arm was too strong and she tumbled down next to Tyuru, landing awkwardly on the ground. Her dagger still in her hand, Eris tried to make another swipe at Tyuru, but couldn’t, on account of the laughs that were cascading out of her throat. She imagined how absurd she must look, sprawled on the ground with a dagger on her hand, and laughing. She tried to compose herself, but the more she tried to look serious, the more hilarious the entire situation seemed.

Finally, Eris managed to take a few calming breaths, but the laughter was still there – bubbling just beneath the surface as she spoke. “I’m sorry. I’ll be back to trying to kill you presently,” she managed to get out before another bout of laughter.

Dead puppies. Dead puppies. Death. Destruction. She exhaled a bushel of air, pulling herself up into a more dignified sitting position. “I apologize. I don’t know where that came from,” she said, sounding puzzled. You know perfectly well where that came from. Repressed emotions and all that? Bottle up stuff for too long and you’re bound to become hysterical. She gave her head a little shake, clearing it of the pesky thoughts. “That was actually pretty good. On your part, that is. Not the most refined move, but it got the job done.”

[Tyuru]

Tyuru couldn’t help but join in. As limited as her clairvoyant senses were, she could tell Eris was laughing the same laugh she had – one that let out stress like a heavy exhale of air. It was strange to see calm, composed Eris dissolve into laughter, but not in a decidedly bad way.

“That’s alright. You don’t have to apologize for laughing,” Tyuru chuckled, reminded of her own hysterical fits. “And thank you, I do try my hardest to avoid being killed, even if I have to use clumsy underarm tactics to do so.”

She put a hand up to the side of her neck. It came away bloodied. She frowned at it then giggled, unable to remain serious. “With how many injuries am I going to come away from this place? Gods, I really should invest in some armor. Or at the very least some heavy-duty gloves.” She sighed dramatically, still smiling, and rolled on to her knees to rise, offering a blood-smeared and bleeding hand to Eris. “Come on, then,” she smirked, “go ahead and try to kill me again. I’m sure you might actually be able to this time, considering my weakened state and your obvious skill in deadly laughter.”

[Eris]

Eris grinned and took up the offered hand, pulling herself up to her feet. She discreetly rubbed her now-bloodied palm across her pant leg.

“You asked for it,” she said with a nonchalant shrug as she twisted her wrist so that the dagger was pointed directly at Tyuru. “But do try to attack me this time. I promise I won’t bleed nearly as much as you,” Eris added with a crooked smile.

Then, she was in motion again, her arm sailing through the air toward Tyuru’s left side.

[Tyuru]

Parry. That was the first thought that came to mind. Tyuru prayed for a miracle, still grinning, and swept her left arm in an upward motion, aiming her forearm toward Eris’, meaning to knock the woman’s arm off course. At the same time, she brought up her right hand which was holding the dagger awkwardly (she had switched hands sometime during the conversation and forgot to switch back) and tried for a clumsy downward strike at the side of Eris’ neck, extending her elbow to push at Eris’ shoulder. A cry escaped her, but she wasn’t sure if it was a kind of weak war cry or a noise of jubilation.

[Eris]

Eris’s eyebrows lifted on their own accord as she heard Tyuru's…battle cry. It must have been a battle cry. Eris wasn’t sure whether the girl had switched hands intentionally or not. If it was intentional, she would most certainly have to commend her for the maneuver. If not…well, then that was to be expected. Eris took a step back, ducking at the same time. Tyuru’s dagger whistled less tan an inch away from her ear.

She brought up her own dagger, aiming at Tyur’s right hand in an attempt to knock the dagger out of her grip once again.

[Tyuru]

Again, Tyuru brought her left arm up to knock Eris’ arm away. She retreated back a couple of steps, amazed that she had managed to come this far relatively unscathed. She tried for a scowl at Eris but had to press her lips together to stop another smile.
“Stop attacking my hands! Don’t you think they’re cut up enough already?” Subconsciously, she switched dagger hands again, uncomfortable with her right hand. It was like writing: she couldn’t suddenly change dexterity, or the result of her labors ended up clumsy, shaky and scrawling.

“I have a question,” she said, taking deep breaths to calm down. “If you’re outnumbered severely, say three to one, what’s the best course of action to take besides running away?”

[Eris]

“That’s sort of the point,” Eris smirked slightly.

She raised her hand again, preparing to strike, but lowered it upon hearing Tyuru’s questions. She was supposed to answer questions? Somehow, that possibility had not entered her mind when she first agreed to this. She crossed her hands across her chest, dagger dangling between two fingers of her right hand. She tried her best to sort her thoughts together into a coherent answer.

“Well, for the moment, your best option may be running away,” she said thoughtfully, “But, assuming you are already well-trained with the dagger, your best bet is to isolate your opponents. With three enemies fighting against you, it’s easy to get backed into a corner. So, you should never let more than two come at you at the same time. Don’t fight to kill right away. Go with strikes that will temporarily hinder or better yet, disarm your opponent. Keep moving back until your opponents are obliged to follow you and then, lunge at the nearest one. Un underhand swipe works best to make shallow cuts in the legs that will delay the first opponent.” Eris crouched slightly and swiftly extended her dagger in a demonstratory gesture.

“Once one opponent is momentarily out of the picture, engage the second one with a similar maneuver. If there is an obvious leader in the group, try to take him out first. The others might become confused if the leader is harmed.”

“If you’re fighting against swords, you always have to keep moving. Swords are usually heavier and more cumbersome when one has to jump around with one in hand. With the dagger, you always have the advantage of agility,” she added drawing on Joel’s old lessons.

[Tyuru]

Tyuru nodded, attempting to keep up and store away the information she was receiving. “Yes, I suppose running away would be the easiest course of action to take. Do you know anything about unarmed combat?”

[[Ehhh, sorry about the short post, my brain is kind of dead at the moment.]]

[Eris]

“Unarmed combat isn’t my strong suit,” she said, her nose wrinkling slightly. She had always perceived unarmed combat as a crude type of struggle, suitable only for bar fights. A dagger or a sword were so much more graceful…

Eris looked up at the sky that peaked out from behind the canopy of leaves overhead. The sun was centered in the sky now, just about ready to tip over into late afternoon. She twirled the dagger in her hand thoughtfully before speaking. “The morning has passed and I still have a prior engagement to attend.” Namely, a meeting with a potential employer… but she wasn’t about to let Tyuru know that.

“Let’s not forget about that payment you owe me,” she added, arching an eyebrow. “How much, would you say, was this lesson worth to you?” She decided against her better judgment that she would let the girl pick the price of her lesson. It wasn’t terribly professional , of course, but Eris decided to be fair for once.