Closed Crossing Swords (Alori Sai)

[Iosha]

Time Stamp: 38th of Spring, 513AV Location: Fighting Pit Who: Alori Sai Sorel Vorchel watched Iosha as she swung her across her body. It wasn't straight as he wanted it to be, and the Endal barked at the Konti, “Again Iosha! I want it level with your chest.” Iosha still concentrating on the dummy in front of her swing her sword directly across the chest of the dummy. The strike was level, but it was not perfect. Sorel continued his rant, “Your are trying to cut across your body and cutting your opponent in a straight line across the chest. Iosha rolled her eyes slight when he continued.” Iosha feeling the muscles in her arms start to ache, she lifted her sword again with two hands, and she swiped her sword across the chest of the dummy causing a puff of hay as the sword made contact with the body of the dummy. He said bluntly on her next swing, “If you are wobbling in your swing, Io, the cut will loose momentum when it enters the body.” Iosha getting frustrated with everything drives the point of her sword into the chest of the dummy, and she whirled on her instructor leaving the sword in impaled in the dummy, and she tried to control her anger and said to him softly, “Instructor Sorel, I know you are trying to help me, but...” Iosha kind of laughed slightly when she continued her line of thought, “I can do without the constant barrage of criticism from you.” Iosha was trying to be diplomatic, but the feather-brained idiot infuriated the leaving hai out her. Sorel walked over to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and said to her with a infuriating smirk, “I think your even more beautiful when you are angry my soul mate.” The konti felt herself throw up in her throat a little when he called her soul mate. Looking up at the sky, she could tell Syna was high in the sky. She knew Soral was supposed to be hunting around noon, so she said to him with a smirk, “Aren't you suppose to join your wing for a whale hunt at noon, Sorel.” Iosha watched Sorel looked up at the sun, and he swore to himself in nari. Sorel was about to turn and leave, but he said without turning around, “Before you go home. I want you to spar with a novice swordsman around your skill level. You need to put my techniques into practical use. I want you to concentrate on defense, but if you see the opportunity, switch to offense Iosha.” Iosha pulled her sword from the straw dummy, and she looked at Sorel and said with a nod, “I will look for someone, Sorel. Now go to your hunt before you get in trouble with your flight-leader.” When the Endal left, Iosha started her practicing her blocks and parries with her sword. Iosha pretended that the opponents sword was swing straight down, so she brought her right up holding the sword horizontal above her head. She did the techniques a dozen times till she imagined a stronger opponent and held the sword up horizontal with two hands. It looked stupid fighting with a imaginary opponent, but it helped Iosha visualize the move in a real battle. She continued practicing her blocks until she decided to find a opponent to spar. Feeling her muscles start to ache, Iosha stopped her practice blocks and sheathe her sword. She looked out over the cliff face into the wilderness taking a moment to clear her mind in the warm spring wind.

[Alori Sai]

Aela had spent the earlier part of her afternoon shopping for Skye. The Gyrfalcon ate as if he were a Wind Eagle chick, and this made the teen Avora have to feed him twice as much. When she would take him hunting he could get his own food, but Aela hadn't been out as much lately and she worried that something might happen to him if she let him go out on his own a lot. Once she was done shopping, she returned to her home and feed the frisky Gyrfalcon which would surely silence him for at least a tick.

Afterwards, Aela headed out to stroll the city on her own. Being back in the city was getting to be easier to deal with, and already a lot of the people there were getting used to seeing the blonde roaming about the city. Even though she was looked at as a foreigner, Aela still dressed in the same fashion that she used to, although she did do a bit of exotic shopping with one of the traveling merchants just for fun.

The young Avora headed out, walking to no place in particular on her merry stroll, when she ended up in the Fighters Pit. It was a surprise to see people standing around, doing what appeared to be practicing. The last time she had been in the city the place was being used to house Dek of the mountain, along with setting up matches for those who had problems to solve. Had she really been gone that long?

Either way, she was there and with her trusty talon sword at her hip. Normally, and in the past the little huntress didn't carry a weapon around in the city, but after recent and life changing events, the girl thought it was smart to always be armed and ready. She headed into the area, looking around at the people doing their own thing. After a moment of watching, Aela found an empty practice dummy and decided to give it a try.

[Iosha]

Iosha unsheathed her long sword with her right hand, and she pointed a bird flying in the distance. The konti lifted it over head and brought it down in a straight line. The muscles in her arm didn't hurt as much as when she first started her sword training drills. The silvery blond lifted over her head and swung straight down again and said to herself in Kontinese, “...two.” The konti repeated it the drill till she did fifty downward swings of her sword. Iosha lifted the sword and pointed the tip at the bird flying in the distance. The konti thrust the sword forward as hard as she could in the direction of the bird envisioning the sword going through the chest of the opponent and said loudly in Kontinese, “...One.” She brought back to the sword, so the lined up hilt her cheek, and she envisioned the sword thrusting into the neck of the enemy, and said loudly in Kontinese, “...two.” She repeated the thrusting drill till she didn't twenty five thrusts towards the two different parts of the body. Iosha could tell her arms were going to hurt later, but she wanted to make sure her attack were decent before she challenged a opponent in a spar. Iosha turned around and saw a blond woman attacking her practice dummy. The konti looked at her closer, and she could tell the human was definitely not Inarta. Iosha watched the way she faced off with the dummy, and the konti could tell the blond human had around the same sword skill as her. Iosha sheathed her sword, and she went over to weapon stand holding the wooden replicas of all different type of swords. Iosha looked back at the blond woman, and she was using a talon blade, so Iosha grabbed a talon blade and a long sword wooden replica. Iosha hoped the woman wouldn't be offended if the Konti challenged the woman to a spar. She didn't want to hurt her, and at their skill level using real swords would not be the wisest choice in the world. She got closer, and the woman seemed to know what she was doing with her blade, so Iosha ran a hand through her wavy blond hair and said with a smile, “It is nice to know that I am not the only blond on mountain full of gingers. My name is Iosha Moonchaser what is your name?” Holding up both the wooden sword replicas, Iosha said with a warm smile, “Also I was curious if you would like to spar with a fish girl from the east?”

[Alori Sai]

Aela stood in front of the dummy and looked it over. As expected there were nicks and cut all over it's frame from prolonged use. The little huntress pulled her talon sword from it's sheath and twirled it around as she flecked her wrist. She could still remember those years ago when she made the long trek to the hut down by the water fall where she first learned to use her weapon. It had been tiring spending bells hacking away at a still dummy, but as she learned it was the best way for beginners to learn.

She didn't start right away however, and instead looked around at her surroundings and the others who were also practicing.She was curious as to how long people had been using it for training and if the hut was still open. As far as she could tell by the random people swinging and thrusting about, there were no trainers around, one of the few things she had liked about the hut. Finally she shrugged, realizing that she would indeed have to try and focus through all the extra noises that the people were making if she really wanted to train.

"Alright then... yea."

The teen shook off her new found nervousness and went to work. She swung her blade out and over her head to slash against the dummy, and tried the same move again a second time. She tried to calm her mind and focus only on the present, though even that became hard. Holding her weapon of choice firmly within her grip, she continued to slash away at the dummy, but with each slash there was something, a flash of red here, and burning golden eyes the next time. After a moment, Aela no longer saw the dummy itself, but the Wind Eagle kelvic Sira in it's place. It hadn't been so long ago that Aela had been in a duel with the woman and had lost.

Although Sira may have not even tried much, Aela had fought with her heart and soul and gave everything that she had. The lost hurt her pride and also the fact that once again she had found herself at the mercy of someone who would never come to understand her. Just thinking about it caused her fiery temper to rise and the teen started to swing harder and with more furry towards her opponent. "I won't lose again..." she thought to herself. "I won't.." The pride of an Inartan buried within her as bright as ever, and only worked to fuel her anger.

Aela had been so focused that she hadn't notice the woman who came towards her, until she heard her speak. The teen whirled around with an almost irritated look upon her face. She paused for a tick, the face of the woman in front of her seemed familiar. The little Avora knew that she had saw this woman before, but at the moment she could recall where, or what she was. "Oh..hey." she said looking to the woman.

The woman's next words caused her to chuckle while staring a bit oddly. "A fish girl, you call yourself a fish girl?" It was strange and funny at the same time, but Aela did feel a bit more at ease with the awkwardness of the woman. She glanced down at the talon replica Iosha held and slipped her own sword back into it's sheath. "Sure, why not." she added and reach out to take the offered weapon.

[Iosha]

Handing her the wooden talon sword, Iosha said with a smirk, “Well, I am a konti, so fish girl is kind of my pet name for myself.” When Aela was safely away from her, Iosha swung the sword in a wide arch in front of her. The wooden longsword was lighter than her metal longsword, but she was already fatigued from the today practice with the Endal Sorel, so she didn't mind the weight of the sword at all at the moment. When she was in the ring, Iosha could feel her heart start to race with anticipation of testing her skills against a living opponent. However, she was dreading making a fool of herself in front of the foriegner too. The konti asked softly, “Well, Shall we begin?” Iosha put her left hand on the pommel of the sword, and she put her right hand on the hilt by the crossbar of the sword. She could feel the blood surging through her veins, and she knew if the spar was a real fight one of them would die. She closed her eyes for a few ticks, so she could calm and focus her mind on her opponent. Iosha opened her eyes and asked with a smile on her face, “Can I ask you your name?” Iosha hoped wasn't imposing on the human woman by asking her name, but she wanted to have a name for the face of her sparring partner for future reference. Iosha waited for her opponent to enter the ring and get ready before she started the spar. Iosha sized up the human woman, and she was a small woman, but the konti could tell the woman had a athletic build to her small framed because her arm muscles were far more developed than Iosha's own arm muscles. Being a healer and wizard, Iosha focus was more on the mental arts than the physical arts, and she started to notice it living with the Inarta. She figured the human woman would be quicker and faster than her because of the physical conditioning of human woman. Iosha decided she needed to wear her down before she could overpower her, so the konti widened her stance by putting her left foot out in front of her and brought her right foot back. She lifted the blade, so the crossbar of her sword was at her ear and main edge of the blade facing her opponent. The konti's violet eyes focused on the woman's brown eyes. Waiting she was ready, Iosha gave her a grin and said loudly, “Begin!” Iosha quickly moved forward with her right leg and swung her sword down diagonally across Aela's body. It was easily predictable swing, but she was practicing her techniques along with her skill in a real battle during the spar.

[Alori Sai]

Aela looked over the wooden sword, somewhat inspecting it. She hadn't held one of them for a long time and had gotten used to using her real talon sword. It was obvious why the konti had chosen to practice with the wooden types rather than the real thing, but for Aela it didn't matter. She was fully ready to test her skills against another using a real blade. She had done so before, more than once and had survived to fight another day. There was rush that coursed through her body when the danger of be sliced up was present and only helped to push her harder. That rush would be gone now as there wasn't a possibility of a near death situation, but she would accept the duel for what it was.

She chuckled again from the woman's words. The little Avora knew little about Konti women, but she'd never guessed they were so humorous. This woman seemed to have plenty of jokes and it was hard to be serious when the konti said things. "So..you gave yourself a nick name...and that's what you picked?" she chuckled again and shrugged her shoulders. If the woman liked the name then she wouldn't judge...no more than she already had at least.

Stepping away from her would-be opponent, Aela moved her arms around, stretching them above her head, before spreading her stance wide so that she could bend over and touch the toes of her boots. Standing back to her short, but full height, the tiny girl turned her upper body to rotate left then right to loosen the muscles there also. She glanced back towards the konti when she asked for her name again. There was another pause as the name she had given to herself was still new and felt alien when she spoke it. "Alori.." the teen finally said.

Once it seemed that she was ready, Aela followed her to their sparing point and stood opposite her with her blade at the ready. Iosha's swing was predictable, and one that Aela herself had done more than once to know it was true. However instead of dodging, she stood her ground and slammed her sword into that of the Konti's, meeting her head on. There was a fierce determination in her hazel eyes and she didn't plan on losing another match...ever. Putting her strength into her legs and back, Aela pushed hard against the woman in an attempt to force her backwards. She moved forward then, swinging her blade vertically into a slash and following it up with a diagonal slash of her own.

[Iosha]

Iosha wasn't surprised Alori didn't dodge her predictable attack, but instead the blond warrior engaged her attack head on blocking her slash with her wooden sword. The konti felt the woman push against her trying to push her backwards. Swords still locked together, Iosha decided to let her opponent push her back. Iosha used her little upper body to disengage from her opponent with a small push. Suddenly, Alori took the opportunity and slashed upwards with her sword. Iosha jumped back out of reach of the wooden blade. The konti was surprised at the quickness of her follow up swing down across her body. Iosha swung up with her sword connecting with the wooden blade of her opponent. Iosha could feel the sweat drip down from her forehead as she locked blades with her opponent. The konti violet eyes searched for a opportunity to strike. Using her height to her advantage, Iosha started to lift up Alori's blade into the air. While their blades were still locked together in the air, the konti could feel the warm breath of the human on her face, so she pushed up and kicked out with her back foot into the stomach of Alori. She wasn't trying hurt her; however, she wanted to disengage from the sword lock. When she was free from Alori's sword, Iosha started to side step around her opponent looking for a good time to strike. Wanting to control the pace of the spar, the novice student was to focus on defense when she quickly thrust forward towards the chest of Alori hoping to keep the other swordsman at a distance. Iosha step forward with her back foot slashing down at the human; however, to Iosha dismay the overhead slash missed completely, so she followed up with another slash across the abdomen of her opponent hoping the blade would strike her opponent.

[Alori Sai]

Aela had been hoping that the woman's earlier practice had worn her down enough, but she was still ready for a fight. She blocked, and their swords clashed together as they both look to take the lead in their duel. The kick that Iosha sent into the tiny girl's stomach forced a soft grunt from her as she stepped back a few steps.

"Not bad...for a healer.." she thought to herself

They were now standing opposite each other again, but Iosha took the moment to attack again. It was a start tactic, keep the opponent off guard and deliver more damage, however the teen Avora wasn't anywhere near finished and she swung her sword out wildly to block against the strike. Aela stepped back again, this time going back and around to Iosha's side, before she stepped in launching a fake overhead slash that she stopped half way and attempted a slash across the woman's thigh.

"She seems stronger since the last time that I saw her...well I've become stronger too."

She moved around again, coming to the woman's unarmed side where she took a swing towards her shoulder then as quickly as possible ducked, in case Iosha struck back, then stood up again with a sweeping slash across her stomach.

[Iosha]

To Iosha dismay, Alori blocked the slash to the abdomen. The healer was starting to wonder if her attacks were to predictable since Alori anticipate them with no difficulty at all. Alori took a step back and started to move into a different position to strike. The konti could feel her heart start to beat faster in anticipation for Alori's next attack. Iosha followed the women with her eyes still keeping her sword up waiting for attack. The human was swift in her assault that first consisted of a faint blow to the head than a strike to the hip. Iosha wasn't ready for the faint, so she jumped back while she swung her sword down on her blade to block it. After the ring of steel, the healer could feel herself off balance, so she stumbled backwards trying to regain her footing. If Sorel was here, Iosha could expect a ear full out of her sword instructor for cordinating her foot movements. Iosha knew the momentum was going in Alori favor when she struck again at her shoulder. The konti could only wildly swing her sword into the wooden talon blade. The shoulder blow was blocked, but it left her wide open for the finishing blow. Iosha was off balanced and winded, so Alori's sweep attack to her stomach connected with the soft tissue of her stomach. Iosha knew she was beaten because the pain of the blow brought her to her knees. Trying to hide the pain from Aela, Iosha looked at her opponent and said with a smile, “I guess it was payback for my kick to the stomach.” Iosha let out a small cough and said without looking up at her, “Let me take a few chimes to catch my breath than we can go again if you want too?” Sitting on the ground, Iosha looked up at Alori and asked with a smile on her face, “Alori, what was your home city? I wanted to ask because I don't see many blonds in the city of Wind Reach.” The konti sat there on the ground waiting for the woman's answer. She wasn't trying to interrogate the woman, but she was curious, and she wanted to get to know the woman. Feeling the nausea starting to pass, Iosha stood up and asked softly, “Also what brought you to Wind Reach, Alori?” Leaning up against the wall, the konti sat with her wooden sword resting on her shoulder as she looked at the small human woman. Alori's stature didn't make her very intimating at first glance, but Iosha could tell by the intensity in the woman's eyes during the fight. Iosha felt she was trying to prove something with the determination each blow. The konti knew if she wanted to beat her. She would have to be clever and creative next time.

[Alori Sai]

Aela was tried, but pleased with her performance so far. It seemed that she had bested the konti in their first round, and for that she was proud. Still, her arms were tired now, and as she lowered her guard, her arms felt heavy and to a less extent, she felt a tingle in her hands. Hearing that Iosha wanted to take a break pulled a long sigh from the teen, as she found a ledge and sat down quickly. "Yea, let's take a break...that wore me out." she said while trying to catch her breath.

The tiny avora dropped her weapon, and watched as it tumbled away in a spiral down the few ledges between where she sat and the ground beneath. The next question from the konti caught Aela by surprise. Although she had already come up with a plan to explain herself, the girl hadn't expected to be asked this day Plus this was a konti, a foreigner. She could posbily have been to other places and known people there to ask about.

"This is so petching hard.."

Aela pulled her hair back and away from her face and leaned back while looking up towards the clouds. "You're right, I'm not from here. I'm actually from...across the waters." she added hesitantly. Then she decided to quickly slip to the question of what rather than linger on where she came from. "I've heard a lot about this place and I just wanted to visit and see it for myself. What about you?"