Closed [Training Grounds] Aim For The Snake Eyes (Asen)

[Garland]

68th of Winter

The snow had been the thickest between the 50th day and the 68th day, the snow was still thick as the trees in the forest and just as hard to walk through. Though the training grounds were being cleaned up by the squires, shoveling the snow out of the way, first they started with the training ring.

The squires were already behind with their training, so one pair needed to be in the ring for a practice fights. Garland was pushed into the ring along with his shovel. "Me first? Really?" He got up and picked up his shovel and tossed it to the side. He started doing a few stretches to keep his body warm and limber. He felt his arms relax as he moved about. It would help him in a fight if he could keep his body flexible

The rest of the younger squires were too busy or too nervous to join Garland in the ring, he had a small reputation as just an idiot that doesn't know when to quit. Of course Garland knew when to stop, he just didn't see the point of giving up without giving it his all.

The snow covered grounds were just a hassle to the squires, though to Garland he thought that it built upper body strength and would happily shovel snow for a while, though not the rest of the day.

As soon as other training areas were clear, people dropped their shovels and grabbed their sword or bows. Garland on the other hand, had been neglecting his unarmed combat. He could use a sword, and a dagger, but sometimes a dagger or sword would be out of reach and the only thing you have between you and certain death is your fists.

After a while of waiting Garland got bored. "Come on! Does anyone want to fight me?" He said loudly, trying to get someone to notice him and fight. "Though, I warn you, I won't hold back! If anyone wants to spar, I'll be waiting here!" He said crossed his arms and paced around the ring. The younger squires were a bit fearful at the prospect of not holding back, but the older squires didn't want to train at all and just wanted to make it look as if they were training.

He then spotted a girl with spiky, erratic blond hair, that had very strange cheekbones. "Hey! You! Do you want to spar?" He said and walked over to the strange faced girl.

[Asen]

Asen grumpily stabbed the snow with her shovel, repeating the same process she'd been going through the whole morning: Stab, lift, toss. She was freezing, and due to her heritage she was also quite tired.

Petchin' snake blood. Of all the things, ma decided to petch a Dhani. A Dhani! I mean, I love da, but why'd they send me here? Dear gods, they didn't think it through well enough. Maybe they hoped I'd be too tired to get into fights.

The half-Dhani's internal monologue was interrupted by one of the more bellicose squires. What's his name? Gary? Landon? Somethin' human, I think.

He was trying to attract an opponent. After Asen's first encounter with someone clearly stronger than her, however, she was much more careful about picking her fights. Broken jaws were possibly the least fun injury she'd borne.

The mixed blood wiped her nose, sniffling. She had a cold, too, and it was awful. She kept shoveling. Her arms were tired. Her shoulders were tired. Her back was tired. She was tired. She was ready to just drop in a heap and sleep in the snow.

After two more chimes of shoveling the bane of her existence, another squire kindly informed the tall young woman that she could stop. Asen's mouth turned downwards in a frown. Oh yeah, now they tell me. Of course. When I'm petchin' tired of this shyke.

She turned away and was just about to go back to bed to warm up and hopefully sleep when she heard the muscular squire call out again. The half-Dhani glanced over her shoulder to see which poor soul had to fight him.

Unfortunately, it was her. She knew better than to refuse a fight, her lesson learned from many street brawls when she was younger. Refusing a fight meant she was a coward, or weak, and it might even be an insult depending on the person.

"Um, I guess. Sure." She tried to sound eager, she really did.

Asen looked her opponent up and down. He was shorter than her, but he was certainly bulkier. However, it'd be easier to get out of his grip than it would be an Eypharian's, like last time. He only had one hand to hold onto her. Still, it'd be best to not be grabbed at all.

Garland! That's the brute's name. I remember now. The one who likes to beat people up. And now he wants to beat me up. It must be my lucky day.

[Garland]

He had seen this girl around before, though he had never talked to her, she had a strange name he could never pronounce, Though most people just called "Asen" Or something along those lines.

She had seen her fight, and he was quite impressed with how she handled herself, she struck fast and with ferocity. Before he spars with anyone, he always introduced himself and get to know someone. He had just gotten over a broken leg and nose, the healers at the Soothing Waters were kind enough to help him along his recovery, the broken nose was easy enough to fix, though a broken leg needed time to mend and settle, he was still sore and despite the leg being healed as much as magic could.

With a small smile he reached out his hand to shake hers. "I'm Garland, its nice to finally meet you." He said with a signature smile that he always had on his face when he's happy, a big toothy grin, akin to a child. "Anyway, you have a pretty weird, but cool face. What's you name?"

After she had introduced herself, he would go to the other side of the ring and wait for their spar to begin. He noticed that there were a few knights watching, scanning the two. They were patient and waited for the two fighters to get ready. "Ready? Anyway..." He looked her over, and she seemed to be even colder than the others.

He had started walking, he had a small limp, but it was only noticeable by the most observant, but before he got too far he asked. "Are you alright? You can back out if you want?"

[Asen]

Asen hesitantly returned the handshake, unsettled by the childish smile. "Um, you too. Name's Sessaschenaasen."

She watched the shorter man cross the ring to stand at the opposite end. One hand went to her face. Weird? Really? Of all the things, he called my face weird. Oh, but no, it's okay! 'Cause he said it was cool, too! Ugh. Prick.

Still, he isn't bad-looking. I guess I can forgive him, this time.

There were knights watching them, too. Or maybe they were just older squires? She didn't know, and she couldn't care less at the moment. Garland, however -- such a funny name, Garland -- had other ideas. He'd turned back, asked her if she was alright, if she wanted to back out.

"The petch? No way I'm backin' out. Who d'you think I am, a coward? Tch. No way." She waited a moment, bouncing on the balls of her feet to stay warm. The half-Dhani shook out her arms to get the blood flowing, doing a few experimental kicks as well. Then she made her move.

Asen dashed forwards, maneuvering herself so that she faced the stockier squire's back. Her foot shot out, aimed at the back of her opponent's knee. She doubted it would actually hit its mark, however, because she was still shivering like a madwoman.

If it did, it would probably be a good thing to knock him down with the first blow. She'd have to keep her distance, since -- like Aventis -- he'd be able to hold onto her with one hand fairly easily and hit her with the other. Still, it wouldn't be as difficult to break out of his grip as it was with Aventis. At least Garland didn't have the height advantage the Eypharian had.

[Garland]

Garland was making his way back to get ready, but what he didn't expect was her attacking already. He wasn't complaining, there would be no warning if this is a real fight. He turned on his heel and dodged Asen's attack.

"Woah, chill out. I just said that you can if you want, and I won't judge." He said and raised his fists in a defensive stance. He rushed in and threw a few fast but weak punches to gauge how fast she's going to react to his attacks and HOW she's going to react to his attacks.

He threw a fast right jab at Asen face, aiming for the cheek, his wider stockier body could take a hit and stay standing, but after the last time he tried to spar with someone, she broke his legs and nose.

If his first attack connected, he would follow up with a quick jab with his left and then try to trip her up with a leg sweep. It was a basic combination of punches and kicks, but it was the most useful in Garland's opinion, it was fast, it could knock down an opponent, and he could follow up with a stomp if he was really wanting to attack.

If she blocked his attacks or if she dodged them, he could back off, but she could easily counter him with her speed, he noticed that she was fast with her initial strike and it was only dumb luck that he didn't get hit by her attack.

He would try to break off from the fight and get back into position. Arms to his chest and legs spread apart, ready to defend and attack. He needed to play defensively, he learned his mistake of going in head first into a fight.

He watched as she moved fast and snake-like. Where did she learn how to fight? It was interesting to say the least. He snapped off his little trance and focused on the fight.

[Asen]

Asen figured that her opponent would've attacked immediately, like she did. Instead, he tried to talk more before he finally settled into a stance. The petch? Why does he wanna talk instead of tryin' to fight and hit me ri- Oh gods!

She yelped and ducked the first blow, but the second jab hit her. She felt the impact and grunted, cringing. She wanted to run away, but she couldn't back out now. Not after she made the first move.

The half-Dhani's legs were knocked out from under her and she landed squarely on her backside, which hurt like her mother when she took a spoon to the misbehaving child. She cried out in pain. Ice was painful as petch.

"Okay, that was just mean." she told him. Asen stood and sprang across the cold ground to get behind her opponent, darting in to deliver a quick one-two to his ribs. She threw a kick at the seat of his pants, hoping to humiliate him a bit in return for him humiliating her.

As the girl backed off she took a tick to examine the other squire's stance. Arms to the chest, legs spread. He's heavy, so it'll be hard to knock him down. Maybe I can get him to overbalance himself instead me doing it. Damn, I need to warm up.

She was warmer indeed, from darting around, but the ice was slippery and it was still cold. Asen bounced around on the balls of her feet more, her arms loose.

[Garland]

He gave a tiny smile when his plan had worked, then again, it rarely failed, it was a basic combination but it was well used and well-known, you would expect that it would be ineffective since it was well-known, but many people still fall for it for some reason.

He watched as she fell to the ground. "Okay, that was just mean." He gave a sly smile and winked at her.

"Well, I'm sorry~ I'll try to be a little bit more careful in where I punch." He said with a cocky grin, he wasn't such an ass, but after the beating he got last time, he needed a boast in confidence, even though his body took a huge beating, his ego took an even bigger beating.

With his arrogant reply he was surprised with a one-two combo to his ribs, and then a kick to his behind. He slipped on the ice and landed face first to the ground, not the snow, hard ground. Luckily, nothing was hurt. "Ow, now you're being mean." He smiled and got up.

His fists were to his chest, legs apart with one behind the other, eyes forward, and fists clenched. This was his default stance he had grew up with, he fought and learned this stance from the get-go.

He watched her get into her stance, she seemed to hop on her feet a lot and keep her hands loose. He had done something similar before, but it didn't actually work out for him, it wasn't for him, but maybe he can still learn.

Now it was his turn to attack. He stepped in, throwing a feint towards Asen's head, if she fell for it, he would attack with a backhand attack from his other hand.

If his attack connected, it might send her back a bit or not and she could just flinch. He wasn't exactly a best tactician, he was basing off what-ifs and luck. If his attack failed, she could counter-attack, his chest would be open for a punch or two or his legs could send him to the ground again.

[Asen]

"Oh, I'm being mean?" Asen asked with a smile. It was satisfying to see him in pain. He'd landed on his face, too.

She moved away from his next attack, realizing too late that she'd done exactly what he wanted her to do. The girl twisted awkwardly away from his backhand attack. Shyke! Shyke, shyke, ohh petch.

Smack was the noise her body made when she lost her balance and fell. She landed on her front just like her opponent had moments before. Pain lanced through her face, especially around her nose. She jerked her head up and saw stars.

Asen touched just beneath her nose and lifted her hand to her face. No blood, which meant it (hopefully) wasn't broken. Yet. She rolled over, looking up at Garland. He always stood weird, with his legs apart. If she wanted to win, she'd probably have to fight dirty.

And fight dirty she did. The half-Dhani pushed herself closer and sent a kick flying towards the stockier squire's crotch. It was a somewhat risky move, since he could easily close his legs and trap her foot, but she hoped he wouldn't see the attack coming.

It would also be very, very awkward to have her foot caught between someone's legs in the middle of a watching crowd.

[Garland]

Garland had sniffled a snicker when Asen fell on her face with his attack. He was too busy trying not to laugh that he didn't move or block the next attack that came his way.

He had expected an attack to the face or chest, maybe a leg sweep, but as she readied a kick, Garland raised his leg to attempt to avoid the, what he thought was a leg sweep, instead he got a swift kick to the balls.

His voice had went up an octave as he squealed in pain from his private area shot up like an arrow only much much more painful, he would know, he had an arrow to his arm season ago. It hurt, a lot, and there was a lot of blood and pain, but there was no pain like a swift kick to the groin.

He clenched his balls and feel to the ground as tears of pain rolled off his cheek and onto the cold hard ground. "W-Why..." He said in a very numerous high pitched voice. "Wh-Why don't the knights have groin guards!?"

A knight from the side that was spectating them stood up. "We do! You were just dumb enough to go into a spar without one! Let that be a lesson to all of you that proper equipment is just as important as strength." He addressed to all the squires that were watching.

With a sigh and painful expression. "Y-You win... I forfeit... cheater..." He said in a slightly sarcastic tone. "Y-You might have..." He coughed into his hand and steadied his voice, and shakily stood up. "You might have won in the spar, but I would beat you in an archery contest, surely!"

[Asen]

"Pffft!" was the squire's first reaction to her opponent's pain. The second was body-shaking laughter. "Ohh, sweet holy gods. Ohh holy Siku. You idiot! I was expecting you to wear a crotch cup! Ha!"

Asen withdrew her foot from between Garland's legs, still lying on her back. Her hands laid flat on her stomach, which was beginning to hurt from girl's guffawing. She sat up quickly. "Sweet gods, that's great. I finally win a spar without breakin' my jaw."

The half-Dhani raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips, a cocky smile lighting up her face. "'Course you'd win in an archery contest. I barely know how to hold a bow, let alone fire it. Care to teach me? It'd be a better idea to have someone teach me than leave me to my own devices. I'd probably shoot someone."

It was probably better to shrug off the insult of cheater than fight him again. She stood and stretched, then let her arms drop to her side. "Show me the way, whiny."

Asen put her hands on her hips, standing with her legs akimbo. She looked particularly boyish then, with her curls messy and her face bright from tussling in the cold air. She still needed a new coat, though. Probably next season, since she was fairly lazy when it came to shopping.