Closed [Fighter's Pit]Hand-to-Hands Combat (Sayana)

[Garland]

Fall 61

With the days slowly growing shorter, and the nights getting longer and colder, few citizens in Syliras would find themselves outside longer than need be. Though the fighters and spectators in the Fighter's Pit were more than comfortable in the cold, with hot blood boiling through their body, they were also kept warm by hot drinks that some fighters brought, though few actually shared their drinks.

Though the fighting was enough to keep Garland warm on most days, but not today. He was patrolling near the Fighter's Pit, not participating in the warmth of battle or the warmth of friends watching the fights. Instead he was left on the street, alone, making sure that nothing bad or illegal would happen, he was in earshot of the fighting, if things got a bit too intense and needed someone to interfere. He was also able to see the streets and shops around, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.

There weren't very many people here, which was good if Garland didn't want much trouble, but right now he was cold and bored. He couldn't wait for a knight to relieve him of his patrol. Which was mostly just the street he was in. With a few minor exceptions to the other streets if trouble was afoot. With a yawn he leaned on wall to relax for a wee bit before going back to his patrol.

His mind started to wander to his friends, mostly Saede, Bakar, and Sayana. He wondered if Bakar was enjoying the cold, he is undead, so that would mean his body wouldn't rot as fast, right? But the more he thought about it, the more he wondered if there was a body that could never rot, like metallic bodies, maybe he needed to stop reading those story books in the archives, but the thought of a metallic man intrigued him.

"That's just silly..." He said to himself and crossed his arms, waiting for a knight to relieve him of his post, it was about time he left anyway. Though he couldn't leave until his replacement had arrived.

[Sayana]

Sayana walked through the streets with a coat snuggly about her frame. She almost looked normal with her single pair of arms through the sleeves. The others hung at her sides and were comfortably warm within the coat. She still stood out a little with her dark complexion but even that was less noticeable underneath the fur trimmed hood. She walked purposefully towards the fighting pits, having passed them many times during her stay in Syliras, but as she neared them she became more hesitant. In Ahnatep, she had always relied on speed and ruthlessness when it came to fighting, particularly with her daggers. And when she wanted to minimize overall damage, she instead focused on threats. All this came with practice in the moment and usually out in the streets and alleys where the people were the most aggressive, and desperate. However, in Syliras people focused on skill and practice, and tended to first disarm before aiming to wound or kill. Sayana had not yet determined whether this sense of honor was admirable or foolhardy, but nevertheless it was present amongst Syliran fighters. She was near enough to hear the clang of blunted metal on metal. It wasn’t that she wanted to learn a new weapon like a sword or axe. She was quite happy with her smaller and less bulky weapons. Maybe it was just that she needed a new fighting style, or an alternate one to match the given situation. Though she kind of doubted that there would be anyone here whose weapon of choice was a dagger. Perhaps she could start with learning to defend against those wielding longer and heavier weapons than her own. With new determination she approached the pits and got near enough to see squires, knights, and mercenaries engaged in combat. Swords, spears, a mace here, an axe there. She chuckled at the wee little pycon weapons. Now those were some weapons that smaller than her foot long treasure. She fingered the hilt of the dagger with her low left hand. She scanned the area like a hawk looking for her next ‘victim’. Socially that is. If these people even had some basic knowledge of combat then it was most likely that it would be the Eypharian who’d fall on her face. And that was when she caught sight of Garland standing uncharacteristically off to the side looking bored. For one, he was not patrolling the bazaar, which seemed to be his usual patrol spot. And secondly he was at the pits and not fighting. She gracefully changed her direction to head towards the squire, partly curious as to what he was up to and also preferring the idea of learning “honorable fighting” from a friend than someone new. “Good morning kind ser,” she spoke in a mockingly formal tone as she approached.

[Garland]

He sighed, he was dozing off again, the sound of fighting had become like white-noise to him, which was bad for a knight, that would mean if your party were in danger in the night, there would be a chance of you just sleeping through the fight. This was another habit he might need to mend eventually. He yawned when he heard a familiar voice beside him.

“Good morning kind ser,”

He smiled and gave a small bow. "Fine morning, ma'am. Of course, not as lovely as you." He snickered a bit, he didn't know if this is "flirting" or just banter, but it was sure to break the monotony of the patrol. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he leaned in and gave a small kiss on the cheek.

As they were starting their conversation, a young squire, looking a bit skittish came up to them. He had dark hair and had his head lowered, trying to look inconspicuous.

"H-Hello, I'm your relief. I-I will be taking your place for the next few hours." The skittish squire said, rubbing his hand together to keep warm.

"Not used to the cold weather? Well, there's a small fire inside the Fighter's Pit if you need to warm up for your patrol." Garland said, as he gently patted the newcomer's shoulder.

With that, the squire went off to get warm inside the pits first, before heading out his route. Garland turned his attention back to Sayana. "Don't tell me you're going to fight?"

[Sayana]

"Fine morning, ma'am. Of course, not as lovely as you." Sayana chuckled at his comment and gave a smile at the kiss on her cheek. “I thought I’d enjoy a change in scenery,” she answered vaguely. “Watch a few muscular men locked in combat,” she added with a wink. She shifted from one leg to the other, not quite at ease as she normally was. She was rather good at lying when she wanted to, but in this case she didn’t and was just trying to find the right words to say. She was glad of the momentary interruption as a rather young looking squire came by to relieve Garland from his patrol. So that’s what he was doing here. Typical though. Squires always seemed to be on patrol. Something in the job description. "Don't tell me you're going to fight?" “I-“ Sayana began and cursed inwardly at her hesitation. “I thought I’d find a sparring partner to practice with. You know, get a feel for fighting against different types of weapons.” Finally she set her pride aside and blatently asked. “Garland, would teach me some hand to hand combat?”

[Garland]

Garland wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to learn through observation, or through a teacher of sorts, but sparring was a bit strange to hear from her. Even stranger was the fact that she wanted to learn some hand to hand from him. Garland gave a small smile, trying to hide his incompetence in teaching. "Well, I'll be happy to try and teach you all that I can."

He offered his arm to her. "Let's go inside." He said with a smile. As they walked inside the Fighter's Pit he started striking up some basic instructions he had learned from fighting on his own. "Fighting is sorta like dancing, you need to have a fluid motion in a fight, and keep moving or you might get into a tight spot with no way out."

As they reached the main training area, where there are dummies and blunt weapons here and there, a few patrons training, mercenary work is low in Syliras, but a lot of mercenaries stop by in the city before heading out to where they were initially going, mostly to keep their skills sharp in the pits.

Garland took off his heavy plate armor and his greaves, he was wearing some loose fitting pants under them for just this reason, and he was also wearing a loose fitting shirt. He placed the armor down to the side, along with his sword and shield.

"So... Uhh... Where do we start?" He asked himself, he rubbed his chin slowly, trying to think of how he started to learn how to fight. "Well... There are two ways of fighting, I figure... Weak but fast punches or slow but strong punches. You seem light on your feet, so I guess we should start with your speed, and slowly build up strength, yeah?"

[Sayana]

"Fighting is sorta like dancing.” Sayana mused at the idea. It was a heartening thought, but was fighting like her dancing? Well her own fighting was like her dancing. Jiggle her chest, lean in for a kiss, stab in the back. A faint smile crossed her lips. But she could see where he was coming from. Constant motion of attacks, blocks, and dodges all strung together with a strong sense of momentum and balance. She followed him into the Fighting Pit, her hand gently upon his offered arm. As he took off his armour, she followed suit by taking off her warm coat. It was still quite chilly but she figured it wouldn’t take long to warm up – so long as they didn’t just stand and talk the whole time. At least her set of red sleeves covered her arms. She hesitated before deciding to take off her gloves. They would have protected her hands and kept them warm, but who wants to deliver a sissy punch? Her dagger and knife were now quite clearly in view attached to the side of her belt, but it was more out of habit that she left them there rather than the intent to use them. “So weak and fast punches,” Sayana reiterated. “Makes me sound like a girl, doesn’t it?” The Eypharian took a good look at the squire and then stepped forwards slightly. “So, what would stop me from doing this?” She aimed three consecutive slaps to his face with her right arms under the assumption that he’d block one or all of them and then tried to follow up with a feigned knee to the squire’s crotch.

[Garland]

He noticed that she still had that dagger with her, it was connected to her or something. Then again, he couldn't blame her, being one of the only material things her aunt ever gave to her.

“So weak and fast punches, Makes me sound like a girl, doesn't it?”

He gave a small laugh. "Well, it's a lot better than missing strong punches. It could and it will wear you down in the long run." He said closing his eyes for a brief moment. "Unless your opponent is really dumb, or really slow, I guess we could work on the other way of fighting if you want."

“So, what would stop me from doing this?”

He opened his eyes, only to be stung by one of her hands, sending to recoil a bit, but with his experienced muscle memory, his hand raised up and blocked the other two. After recovering, he jumped back, avoiding the kick to the groin.

"Hey! ... Not bad..." He said, feeling the sting on his face. "We'll make a fighter out of you yet." He gave a small wink, and looked over to the main sparring area, and a few training dummies. "Where do you want to start?"

[Sayana]

Sayana was surprised that her first slap had gotten through, particularly with the warning she had given Garland. But of course, he probably didn’t expect a friend to randomly strike at him. But she was quite glad she hadn’t accidentally made contact with his groin and that he had jumped clear away. She kept a concentrated watch on him, expecting some kind of counter-strike, but he didn’t move to do so. "Hey! ... Not bad... We'll make a fighter out of you yet." The Eypharian gave a roll of her eyes. “I’m already a fighter,” she replied and placed her low hand upon the pommel of her dagger. “Besides, what I just did was common sense. Use the advantages that you have and then aim for a weak spot.” She stated in a matter of fact tone. At his last question she paused to think. “I want to be able to take on those big brutes that you sometimes find in taverns. The kind who think they can beat up anything that moves with just their bare hands. Either take them on or be able to block or dodge them. And without resorting to slitting their throat. So if that means learning to punch or learning to dodge, then whatever works.” She paused and then added, “Just one favor. I’d like to keep my face pretty and not bruised. One minor downside to being an entertainer and dancer. Everywhere else I think my clothes can cover any marks.” After stating her one request she kept a wary eye on the squire not sure if he planned to surprise her with some attacks of his own.

[Garland]

"Let me rephrase... Ahem... A fighter that doesn't end up with a knife in their opponent's body." He said with a small grin. "Anyway, we should start." He said taking a sloppy fighting stance opposite of Sayana.

"Pretend I'm a drunk patron in the Rearing Stallion and I just insulted you or someone close to you." He said while circling her with his guard up. "Tell me what I'm doing wrong, and what you can exploit."

His footing was clumsy, and his arms were raised to cover his entire face, leaving his lower body unguarded. His was also moving slowly, and in a predictable pattern. He stopped and lowered his guard after a full rotation around Sayana.

"Well? After this, try and attack me, in any way you can think. I can block or dodge anything you can throw at me." He said confidently, though having an opponent with six arms might be an issue he might need to address later.

[Sayana]

“Your first weakness is that your breath reeks of bad ale,” Sayana pointed out and then started to look for actual combat deficiencies. As he started to circle her, she began to move with him in the same direction so that he wouldn’t get behind her. Her stance was simple with slightly bent knees. Her low arms were relaxed at her sides, her mids ready and in front of her with slightly balled fists, and her highs aloft and ready to use if need be. “Like dancing…” she murmured to herself. He was moving slowly and his hands were up high around his face. “You’re slow, and now you’ve stopped moving.” Sayana answered as he concluded his circle. She continued hers till she was lined up with his side. Then she dashed forwards and tried to aim two punches with her mids at his side (or stomach if he turned at her advance). At the same time, her forearms of her highs were crossed protectively above her face. However, all her focus was on the punches so her high arms were merely a crude form of protection. In and out. Even as she dashed in she thought to use her momentum to quickly pass him by after her attack. But in reality, it didn’t work so well. As a result she ended up taking a quick couple of steps back after she had tried to score the pair of punches. “How was that?” She asked as she lowered her high arms. Quite honestly, it had looked like a crazy woman sheltering her head to run in, give a few blows, and quickly back away.