The student and the Mercenary (Revy)

[Sayren WindDancer]

The 51st of Summer


Another day passed, another day of training. Sayren groaned as she awoke from her sleep. She had slept well, but she was still sore from her sparring match with Savio. The man was much faster than she had anticipated, but when she finally was able to strike him, it ended in a draw. Both contestants left exhausted. This fueled her even more. She was a student to Ximal for over a week now and then this upstart comes around and practically proves himself her equal. She had to become stronger. Had to become the better fighter of the two. Her pride wouldn't except anything less. How could she ever reach her brothers' tier as a warrior if she couldn't even beat another novice in her own class?? She sighed as she rolled over onto her back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling for a few moments. Thinking about how Ximal said there were other teachers at the school.

She wanted to keep to her training with Ximal, but at the same time, she knew if she didn't start varying her style up, there would be no way she'd be able to beat anyone. She leaned up and wrapped her arms around her knees as she continued pondering this thought. She remembered Ximal had mentioned there would be a female teacher at the school. Maybe some training from another female would help! Surely she's bound to know a few techniques. Considering she's a teacher at the school, it would have to be necessary.

She finally got up and did a few stretches in the room. Trying to limber up a little and follow some advice that Ximal had given her before. Feeling ready to start the day, she had finally decided that she would meet this female teacher. Hoping to learn all that she could from her. She quickly threw on a change of clothes and rushed out the door. She wasn't sure where this teacher would be, but she was certain it couldn't be that difficult to find what she had guessed was the only other female on the Grounds. Hopefully she hasn't left to go into the city for anything.

[Revy Hiroe]

Morning, another night where she missed the touch of her lover. What was it with Zandelia nowadays? It seemed like she didn't care about Revy anymore. All she was doing was com back home and sleep. She pretty much ignored her. But, she just had to bear with it. She knew that the woman was just tired about her networking, but she was still not happy about it. The sun wasn't up yet and the sixth bell of the day had only just rung when she got out of bed. She had to get her mind off of her troubles and the best way to do that was by training. So she slipped into her leather armor, grabbed her greatsword and went to the training area. First up was some stretching, she didn't want to risk getting cramps. While she didn't do it too long, she reckoned that it should be enough to avoid trouble. So now she drew out her greatsword, holding it straight in front of her, slightly tilting it forward, but perfectly vertical. Her experience with her longsword did help here, even though it is a much lighter weapon. The only problem she has is that the greatsword has a completely different way of handling. So far it was only an intimidation tool as even experienced people would have a problem noticing that she actually wasn't that experienced. So she then started regular swings. Small step forward while slicing downward, not letting the tip of her sword drop lower then her hips. Following this she brought in her lagging foot in. And then it was reversing it. That set she repeated for fifty times as an additional warm-up. Taking only a chime of rest, she then continued her training. Now it was time to practice some moves. Starting by a slash from her right shoulders, diagonally downward. Following that she brought it up to her hip for a horizontal slash. She then wanted to circle it over her head to slice downward starting from her left shoulder, but she miscalculated the momentum the weapon it had and lost her balance. She almost fell backward onto her butt, but a quick step backward kept her standing. She then attempted the same move again, succeeding in the overhead slash this time, but stopping afterwards. Revy noticed that she needed a little more practice with the weapon to keep it going. She had noticed that keeping the weapon going was rather easy, compared to stopping it at a given point and start a swing from there. She now kept training on the same move for another two bells, before taking another break. It was good to feel the sweat trickling down her body. It meant that she had been training well. She wanted to get a little stronger, so that she could wield that big weapon easier so that she could utilize her speed more. She knew that this weapon was a slower weapon, but the mercenary still thought that she should be fast enough with it.

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren paused for a moment. She had heard a woman out in the training room. That had to be her surely! In her excitement, she jogged over to the training area. Then her curiosity wondered just how exactly does this woman train? So she slowed to a tip toe as she neared the training area. Peeking around the corner to see the woman. Her eyes widen and were glued to the woman. She wasn't sure what about her was more surprising. Her height? Her beauty? Or the sword she seemed to be wielding so effortlessly.

The woman was definitely taller than Sayren, by about at least a good few inches. Then the woman's beauty, it was immensely more captivating than she would like to admit. Not that she was jealous of it, but simply was in awe of it. The woman had to have lured herself some admirers, however, they probably all would've been scared off by her sword. The weapon seemed rather large, even for a woman of her size.

That's when Sayren realized, what would she learn from this woman? Weaponry? The only weapon she had skill in (If only a little) was her short bow. She had no experience with swords of any sort... Maybe, with this woman, that could change!

[Revy Hiroe]

Only after Revy had ended her practice, did she notice the woman staring at her. When did she show up? The woman mentally cussed at herself for the lack of awareness. If this place hadn't been as safe as it was, she could've been dead by now. She should keep this in the back of her mind from now on and pay more attention to her surroundings while training. Even though it was safe, you'd never know where the next danger would be lurking. Gripping her sword tighter, she turned to the woman, taking a broad stance with her feet in an attempt to make her own presence feel stronger. If she was going to be a potential threat to her, the mercenary would make sure to that this woman in front of her, would feel fear while facing her. "Who the bloody hell are you? If you're here to kill me, make sure that you got the guts for it.", she said, the undertone hinting that Revy would most certainly kill her if the girl decided to attack. Yet, while she was talking, she did notice that this girl was decently good looking. She didn't compare to Zandelia, but that didn't matter. "I hope that this girl ain't here to provoke me. It'd be a waste to scar her. Besides, she doesn't look too strong. Should be a pushover if she decided to attack me... as if. She's probably shaking over there. ", she thought confidently. She'd done it before, instilling fear into an opponent, but she wanted to become better in it. Her successrate was still far too low.

[Sayren WindDancer]

How long had she been watching this woman? She wasn't sure, but she was in complete admiration of her form. Watching each stroke of the massive blade. It made her want to become just as strong. After all, if Ximal planned to teach her Steinfauste, she was going to need strength anyways. Caught up in her fascination, she didn't realize that the woman had stopped her training and faced her. Such confidence and demand of respect, just in the posture she held herself in. Then the woman spoke, Sayren blinked, she was thought to be an assassin? Or a challenger?

She shook her head as she took a few steps closer. Showing that she was in her
cotton shorts and her leather bra. She was trying to show off her own confidence by keeping her back straight, and her chin raised. "I have no intentions of killing you. If you are who I think you are. I would actually like to learn and train with you. I'm one of Ximal's students."

She took a moment to clasp her hands together and bow before the woman, "I am Sayren WindDancer. A member from the Diamond Clan," She balled up her fists in a boxer's pose, "And I aim to be a great warrior. That's why I'm here learning under Ximal." She wasn't sure if her following hand gestures would come off as threatening. It was just the norm of the Pavi language to speak and have a few hand gestures here and there. She lowered her hands, one to her side while the other move towards Revy as if she was passing the conversation to her, "And what about you? Who are you? And what brings you here?" Her excitement beamed from her face, smiling brightly at the taller woman.

[Revy Hiroe]

The mercenary felt a smile creep up on her face as she saw the girl in front of her try to look big. Who was she kidding? Did she honestly believe that a kid like that could impress a seasoned warrior like Revy? It'd probably be better to grind something like that into the dust right away, as it would get her to live longer. Trying to pull of a confident stance should only be done if one was at least confident about the combat prowess. However when she started to speak, the woman couldn't hold her laughter. She was training under Ximal? That giant should have been in a few embarrassing moments already then. Oh how she wanted to have seen those. But it might be better to warn this girl about him at least. "Ye better watch out, girlie. He's a major pervert who tried to hit on me even though he perfectly understood I was already taken." Her tone was serious, despite her laughing just before it. After all, anything that had to do with that giant piece of meat should be taken serious. She still remembered how he broke her arm in various places, almost feeling the pain from back then. Her introduction was.... weird to say the least. Diamond clan, schmuck clan, it didn't matter. She was a kid, apparently Drykas, and she wanted to get strong. If it weren't for her word choice, Revy would've had a little respect for her. "Being a warrior... right. Let's start by becoming at least someone who can actually fight ok, kid? I ain't wanna crush your hope or anything, but... you don't look much like someone who could even last a second in a fight. Oh and I'm Revy, mercenary by trade for well over seventy-eight seasons now. I've got my way with the blade, not this one, but the longsword. Oh and what brings me here? Money I guess. It's safer for me here then in Nyka itself too, though I do make trips there.", she said, "Anyway, if ye wanna train with me, you better be prepared for bruises. I ain't teaching you as a regular teacher. I'll teach you only through real combat experience. The only thing that I might teach you normally would be the basic way to hold a blade, not more. Have been taught the same way and 'till seven seasons ago, I never sustained a major injury."

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren couldn't help but narrow her eyes at the woman. She was laughing at her. Then she gave the warning about Ximal, it put an unintentional reddening in her cheeks. It did explain some of his actions around her. Then she tossed her becoming a warrior aside like it was nothing. Sure she wasn't too experienced, but she was learning! She took a breath to calm herself down. One of the things Ximal always told her was to keep her emotions in check. Surely this woman must be testing her already. "Well, it's how it's supposed to work right? You can't walk if you can't stand. So how am I supposed to be a warrior if I can't fight? I learn how to fight. I become stronger. I become faster. And all of that is the fruit of constant training." She slips into a stance, pointing her right foot towards Revy and bringing her left fist to her hip. Her right hand angled upward facing towards Revy. Trying to keep herself in a firm stance.

"This is a stance that Ximal has been showing me for unarmed combat. I don't have much experience for weapons aside from my shortbow. Any advice on how to start this?"

[Revy Hiroe]

Revy had turned away from the girl and walked over to the wall with the training weapons. Wouldn't hurt to see what the girl could do with her meager knowledge of any form of combat. The words of the girl actually fell on deaf ears. Practice makes perfect? It wouldn't matter how much you'd practice if you didn't have any form of combat experience. Or well... that's how she saw it. "Yeye, blablabla practice blablabla. Just shut your yap and let's see how fast you learn." The woman couldn't help but keep making fun of the girl. After having taken two training swords, shaped like a longsword, she turned to the girl to observe her stance. Well... for unarmed combat it could work, but... if she was going to use weapons... having only one stance wasn't going to cut it. "Meh, is that the only thing he taught you? Well... it's an OKAY basis I guess... not to versatile though. Here catch", she said to the girl as she threw her one of the swords. "Get to the middle of the room and hold that sword the way you think is correct.... By the way, left or right handed?" The mercenary herself walked over to the middle, looking at the girl as if measuring how much she could bruise her today. Oh that girl was going to feel it. It was going to be fun, lots of fun. She was gonna get a drill from hell. Should she start with a few sets of fifty strikes? Or start with a hundred right away? Well.. after the girl had been taught a basic hold of the weapon. One handed techniques were still a long way's off.

[Sayren WindDancer]

Revy practically ignored her. Babbling before telling her to just shut up. That caused fumes to just leak out of her. Being ignored was just an easy way to get onto her badside. She watched Revy go over to the weapon rack, she tilted her head to the side.

Revy tossed her a longsword. It was much heavier than she had anticipated the weapon to be. She held the weapon firm in her grasp and aimed it towards Revy. She knew she shouldn't hold it horizontal, so she kept it at a vertical, trying to keep it clenched tightly but loosely so she could still strike. She spread her legs out, similar to the stance she was just in, knowing it would help keep her balance, trying to adjust to the added weight from the sword. All the while keeping an eye on Revy, another rule of Ximal's, eyes never leave your opponent. She was already starting to formulate a plan of attack.

She took a deep breath, trying to exhale her stress, "At your ready Mistress...And I'm right handed I suppose, why does that matter?"

[Revy Hiroe]

The mercenary did a few swings with the training weapon, trying to get a bit of a feel for it. The weapon had a different balance and weight, compared to her own longsword, so it felt a little iffy to work with. However, if she was gonna teach this kid, she'd have to work with it. "Darn this thing. The balance is completely off and it is much heavier then my own weapon. What is this for a training weapon? You can't teach someone if it doesn't compare to the real thing.", she thought to herself annoyed. Seeing the girl take her stance and grip on the sword almost made Revy snort. What a stance... so many holes, not to mention a wrong grip if she was right handed. She really didn't know anything about weapons apparently. Oh her job was going to be so much fun. "First of all, your grip is wrong and your stance is weak. Since we aren't using shields you don't take a wide stance. So you take one that tries to minimize your profile. Face your right foot forward, your left leg behind it and a little to the side. Your grip should place your right hand over your left, spacing them out as much as the handle allows you to." "Should I test her grip on the sword? Yeah, if it gets knocked out of her hands, I'll give her a whack.", she thought to herself. "Well, we won't be fighting right off the bat. You don't even know how to swing that thing properly, after having seen your stance, so if I'd fight you now, you'd only end up with bruises and broken bones. Most of these earned by your own stupidity.", she insulted the girl, "I'll teach you how to swing it properly, so pay attention." The woman then took a basic stance, the one she had explained a little earlier, while showing the girl her side, so she could watch properly. After taking a deep breath, she raised her weapon above her head and then sliced down fast, stopping only a little before the tip dropped below her hips. While slashing, she had taken a small step forward with her leading foot and as she finished the strike, she let her other one reduce the distance between the two again. "If you fail to do it right, I'll give you pointers as well as punishment, so get to it girl."