Completed [Trainer's Pit]A Sparring Round

[Vanessa Lawson]

29th Day of Winter, 514AV 11th Bell "Busy as always." Vanessa commented. It was hard to walk through the crowds to get to the Anthonius Fighter Pit's, but the sheer number of people was astounding there as well. What with crowds watching fights, people in fights, people practicing to fight. It was the same as when her Father would bring her here, but she didn't feel like reminiscing now. Now it was time to find a partner. She pulled the broadsword from it's sheath at her side. She still wasn't used to it's weight, so the she had been practicing for a little while by herself. It was getting easier, but not by much. The medium sword was a bit chipped, and eventually she would need to get it sharpened. Again, now wasn't the time for that. She wandered into a more secluded area of the Fighter's Pit, hoping to get some of her training done in peace. After all, today was an off day for her. The woman spread her feet about a foot apart, and positioned her sword so the blade tip was skyward, and handle tip was just below her waistline. She gave a vertical slash with the blade, but soon found her training to be dull. It was better to train on a moving target, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She sat cross-legged on the ground after sheathing her sword.

[Jaymz]

Jaymz strode into the fighter's pit, standing tall, although it was unnecessary seeing as he already towered over everyone else. A few odd looks were given his way, but he paid no mind to them. It was cold, that much was true, but Jaymz did not own a jacket to speak of, so he ignored it as best as he could. He also decided that today he would wear his sandals. The city was still getting over the massive snow storm and the strange drop in temperature.

Sickness had erupted all over the city, but Jaymz was one of the lucky ones to stay out of the line of fire. He didn't have many friends to speak of, but he was glad the friends he did have had not gotten too sick either.

He knew that he needed to start training more though, so this morning he grabbed his scimitar and attached it to his waist, then took a brisk walk through the city to get to the fighter's pit.

There was a surprising amount of people here, despite the cold. Although this was common, people and their friends would come to fight or watch fights, crowding the area for those who actually came here to train. No matter though, Jaymz was looking for a partner to do a quick spar with.

He glanced around, not finding anyone immediately available for a spar, when his eyes caught on something. A woman with dark skin and long black hair sitting cross legged on the ground in a more secluded area of the pits.

She must be meditating, she shouldn't mind too much if I joined her then, Jaymz thought, and started pushing his way through the crowd, directly toward the woman. He was getting loud objections to the rude way he pushed into people, although he didn't see it as rude, only a more effective way of getting to where he needed to go. He was a large man though, it was hard to stealthily pass through a crowd. Tanroa would understand.

When he made it to the other side, he wasted no time in going over to the woman sitting on the ground. Once he stood in front of her, he spoke up.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" He said shortly, and without waiting for a response, lowered his tall frame to the ground and crossed his long legs in a comfortable meditating position. He was sitting exactly opposite to the woman now. It was strange, trying to meditate when not in a more quiet location, but he didn't mind. He let out a deep breath and shut his eyes, trying to clear out all of the thoughts bouncing around in his head. This helped him to focus, helped him sharpen his senses so his reflexes would be quick and agile.

[Vanessa Lawson]

Vanessa cracked open her left eye as she heard someone sit next to her. Join me? Does he mean spar? No, he wouldn't sit if that were the case. Vanessa simply nodded, and opened her eyes. No one so far had approached her, so she thought it best to observe the man. Black hair and smooth skin, the man was fairly tall if his height while seated was anything to judge on. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, and soon it became clear. "I wasn't meditating," She began simply, with the usual lack of emotion present in her speech. She shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, and straightened her back. When she finally realized the man had on no shoes, and instead sported sandals in the Winter chill. "Bold aren't you? To walk the cold in Sandals." She gave a small chuckle, but returned to her usual stoic expression after. The man looked like he trained a bit, but she was going solely by the appearance of slight muscles. She wasn't sure, but she decided to ask anyway. "Would you be against a spar?"

[Jaymz]

"I wasn't meditating." The woman sitting across from Jaymz spoke up. He opened his eyes and studied her. No, he supposed she wasn't. Perhaps she was just relaxing? No matter though, he would leave if she wanted him to.

"My mistake." He spoke to her in a polite tone. Her face was drawn in an expressionless look. It made Jaymz feel more comfortable. If she didn't put in an effort to appear more "friendly" then that meant he wouldn't have to either. She asked the question about his sandals and he peered at his feet.

Over the course of the other seasons, he tends to not wear shoes at all, choosing to go barefoot. This was in the case that he may want to shift and would not have to hold on to shoes if he did so. Because of this the soles of his feet had grown incredibly calloused and rough, so the cold did not affect his feet the same way it did to other's.

"The sandals are less constraining. I don't like shoes." He responded in a matter of fact way. The woman sat tall, her face was attractive, her eyes a blatantly obvious hazel color. She was muscular, well-toned. A sheathed sword lay on the ground next to her.

"Would you be against a spar?" The dark-skinned woman asked. Jaymz thought for a second and shook his head.

"No, I would not be against it." He responded and quickly stood from his place on the ground. He supposed a normal "polite" person would offer a hand up to help the person on the ground, but he avoided it. It was unnecessary to overly exert effort to someone he only hoped to train with.

When he stood, he unsheathed his scimitar and spun it a few times in his hand. This wasn't to show off, he wasn't very skilled in his use with the scimitar, but merely to get a feel for it. It was routine.

[Vanessa Lawson]

Vanessa stood, and looked at the blade he was flipping in his hand. A Nice sword if she did say so herself, rather sharp as well. She didn't exactly know what type of blade it was however, seeing as she'd only seen a few of them, mainly seeing the Bastard Sword her Patron wore, and her father's Broadsword that she carried. The blade the man wielded was a fine curved one, and it's wooden hilt looked a bit smooth, though she was unsure if that were the case. One again drawing the Broadsword, Vanessa wore a slight frown. His blade didn't seem in such bad shape. I'll have to take better care of my possessions. She thought, mentally scolding herself. Taking up her earlier stance, the raven haired woman focused her attention on her opponent. "My name is Vanessa." Simple statement it may be, she liked to know who she was sparring with. Even if it in case she wanted to do it again sometime. Most of time she just sparred and it was over, but as of late she'd been realizing most of her opponents found that rude, and that's the last thing she wanted to be remembered as. "Who do I owe the pleasure of this spar?"

[Jaymz]

The woman was admiring his sword, though he didn't feel any such pride in the act. It was only a fact that the sword was a nice looking one. This was probably because he hadn't gotten much practice with it as of late, so it wasn't overly used. On the other hand, he was impressed the woman's weapon. Although it wasn't in the best shape, it had obviously been used. He knew this meant she must be very practiced. This fight could be over before it even started.

"My name is Vanessa." His partner introduced herself. It's a fitting name, he thought, Perhaps I can get along with this woman. He did not think to respond with his own name until he was asked for it. It surprised him, most of the time he omitted his name in the case of a quick little spar, but she was different.

"Jaymz, but most often Jay." He responded automatically. Why did I tell her that? He was confused by why he would have told this complete stranger his nickname. It wasn't like she needed to know anyways. It was the name his mother called him, his friends. No matter, it shouldn't be too big a deal anyways.

He stood in a comfortable stance, knees bent slightly, holding the scimitar in his right hand, his left hand held bent at the elbow to steady himself. His sense were alert, he even noticed the other fighters around him, grunting with the efforts of their own spars. He could hold his own. It all depended on how skilled this woman was with her own sword now.

[Vanessa Lawson]

"Let's begin then Jaymz." She affirmed with a nod. She proceeded to charge the man with the aim of quickly filling the gap between them. There was a small space to cover, allowing her to take a quick-step to the right with unstable foot work. A slight twist in her torso as she brought the blade back, only turn it so the hilt was headed for the man's rib. It was hard turning the weapon, especially since she didn't have very much experience with using the hilt. She usually only used the blunt or blade, and at those times she wielded it with reckless abandon in an attempt to over power her enemies or opponents. Though recently she had begun to plan thing through. Not wasting time, the woman withdrew the blade and took a few steps out of range. Her main goal was to see if she could determine whether or not he had good defenses, then see his attack type. Though the plan had failed since she hadn't paid any attention to the man's reaction.

[Jaymz]

Vanessa wasted no time after a slight nod at Jaymz. He knew this meant she was ready for fight, which she proceeded with immediately.

She charged forward, closing the space between them in a quick two steps. He noticed she was going for using the hilt instead of the blade. Testing the waters. He was impressed by the movement. Though her hilt attack to his ribs was sidestepped, only brushing the side of his ribs, it was well-aimed. Jaymz took those few seconds for her to regain her composure, stepping back, to make his attack.

He lunged forward, striking for her stomach with a closed fist, not so much as to knock her down, more to distract her. Then he took the hilt of his own scimitar and brought it around, aiming for the side of her jaw. Again, not so much to break anything or bring her down. He did like keeping sparring partners around.

He had been told a few times before that his fighting style was strange. His blade wasn't so long that he had to heavily rely on it, so he could use his unarmed hand for combat as well. This helped in cases in which he needed to grab or distract his opponent. Vanessa was already shorter than him, though not as short as most women, so he didn't have to hunch over much to be on fair grounds with her. He appreciated this.

[Vanessa Lawson]

Vanessa focused on the mans' movement. He had given her a chance to distance herself, but not so much as to put a large amount of space between them. A step back and a forward lunge sent a fist flying for her gut. Instead of dodging, Vanessa decided to take the hit and gauge his strength. Vanessa barely winced, leading her to believe he was holding back. She took a step back, focusing just enough to see the next move come at her. Close combat and fairly direct fighting style. She summarized. She needed a way to combat it. He efficiently twisted the blade in his hand to swing around the hilt. Switching the blade to her right hand, the woman brought her left arm up so the hilt of her opponents sword collided with her forearm. She winced and grunted as numbness sprang down her arm along with pain. She jumped back and gripped her sword with two hands, drawing her leg back steadily to leap forward on her right. Feigning left, she when to arch the blade down so the blunt would strike his chest. She with drew part way, lessening the pressure on her blade. It was going to be a long fight, but for that she was grateful. After all, what was the fun in winning quickly? She did however, want a few things answered. "That blade you wield, what is it?"

[Jaymz]

Jaymz was surprised when she lifted her forearm up to deflect the hilt, and he heard the low grunt she gave out as a result of it. Not letting it bother her, she quickly jumped back out of reach, holding her sword in both hands. Then drew her leg back and the next instant she was leaping forward again.

She feigned and then arched at Jaymz, aiming for his chest yet again. This caught him off guard and he only had time to deflect the hit with his own blade, making him stumble back to regain his balance in a half-crouch again.

Her fighting style was much different then his own. She was very offensive, going for big movements, leaving openings. This was the main reason Jaymz despised using large swords, even though he could easily wield one, it made it more difficult to move quickly. Though he did admire the woman's direct way of fighting, he obviously was leaving openings she was not yet going for. They were still in the "testing the waters" phase of the fight. None of their hits were for harm yet.

Vanessa's question brought him out of his reverie.

"That blade you wield, what is it?" She asked him. He glanced down at the blade. Strange, he hadn't considered one wouldn't know the name of it.

"It is called a Scimitar. Mostly used for fighting on horse back actually. Good for slashing because it's so light." He finished his explanation then demonstrated it's slashing use by going in a wide arch from his right side, aiming for his spar partner's neck, keeping his left hand out for balance. He wasn't holding back much this time, he knew she could take it.