Fighting fancy, failing fabulously. (Crystal)

[Alexander Faircroft]

At this point in time Alex simply nodded. The honest truth was that over the last two weeks he’d been beaten and broken enough to by this point to know to wait. To strike when he was sure he held a stronger point. Alex waited allowing her to speak before a short sharp sprint towards him. Training within this armour for almost a sixth of a season he was used to it now. He traced her watching her move to his side and instead of allowing her too he followed around with his body bringing his dagger up just quick enough to feel the weight of her strike knock his blow back a little. He’d fortunately caught the blow on the training dagger. Training on tactics. Misinformation, feed misinformation. He let the blow sink in a little too far laxing his strength slightly allowing her to think she held the upper hand in terms of strength and speed due to his armour. He voluntarily cut his speed a little pretending at least facially to have only just made that strike in time. As she pressed into the blow though Alex would take his weight and shift it to the side causing her to fall forwards if she kept pressing the blow and allow him to bring the blade up to stop at her throat. If that didn’t work he’d simply take a back step and put some distance between them acting like she’d gotten the better of him there. He'd then take a brief moment to act like the strain of the weight was wearing on him from even the simplest strikes. Good. Use deception to take her into a false sense of superiority. Then follow up with a finishing blow. Everyone’s beaten you don’t hit he, she’s done nothing to wrong you just train and stay calm.

[Crystal Nightshade]

The sound of steel against steel did something to Crystal. She wasn't sure if it was the thrill from training with a knighthood member, or the thrill of going all out with a singular weapon. It was calming somehow. The man blocked the blow, giving her a small test of his strength. She felt her arm numb a bit as the steel sent vibrations up her arm. She gained a bit of leeway, easing his blade toward his chest with her own. Either he was using the same tactics, or he was weaker than her. The young woman wasn't about to get cocky, so she assumed it was a static he was using. What to do about it though... Ah, she would play into it. She put more force than necessary into pushing him back, but backed down when she felt the pressure from his end lessening. He hoped to through her off balance. She had nothing on the line, but it was thrilling to be able to spar in such a real environment. Even though there were no rules in the woods, there were still lessons to be learned. Focus. Yes, she needed to focus. She would've scolded herself if she had the time, but soon she would launch herself on the offensive once again. She stepped forward on her right, and charged to his left. Switching the dagger in her palm, she would feign with a right slash, but instead sweep her leg at his ankles.

[Alexander Faircroft]

A small clash and a large gap had formed between the two of them. Nothing grand but enough for him to know if he needed it he had the range advantage as well. Alex watched the change in her footing. Something about their clash seemed off. She seemed to after the initial strike briefly lax her strength to try and fool him. Was she feeding him false information as well? Alex spun the blade in his hand holding the same stance but now holding the blade the right way up. As she stepped in to begin her assault changing the hand which held her blade. Alex followed a train of thought, maybe h’d done himself a disadvantage by getting further away from her. Focusing back on the battle yesterday giving ground there was a good idea. Perhaps here it was something to the opposite affair. Shifting his footing Alex stepped in as well. His height allowing him to cover greater ground more quickly. Slipping into her space he barely registered the strike to his shins. The heavy plate and the weight of his gear grounding him alongside his firmer stance. Her fake slash ricocheting off of his forearm as he stepped in. He brought the blade up aiming a dull slice towards her throat but instead flipped the blade around in his hand mid swing and brought it to the centre of her chest. If that worked that’d be one point to him. If no he’d be a little screwed being in quite so close and take his free hand his left one which he blocked the fake strike with and attempt to grapple her forearm. If that succeeded then he’d attempt to yank her off balance. A simple array of attacks but this is why it works on someone of the same skill level. He thought to himself. Not against those who’ve trained their lives to see through it. Sometimes you’ve just got to figure it out for yourself.

[Crystal Nightshade]

A small clank sounded as the steel hit steel, and finally the numbness reached the young woman fully. He had blocked her yet again with his armor making the vibration in her arms twice as bad. Losing her grip on her dagger, it flew from her hand, leaving her with little offensive power. The ebony was starting to believe his armor wasn't much of a disadvantage at all. Crystal had little time to stick to such thoughts, because as it were she was losing time. He was gaining on her, and she had no way to defend herself. Perspiration on her brow, she tried to think of something. Too late. He hadn't slashed her throat, instead he pointed the dagger at her chest. Crystal couldn't help but feel just a tad disappointed. She was proud for having held her own against a squire, but disappointed that she'd been disarmed in the process. She sighed and grinned. She spoke while moving away from his blade to retrieve her own. "I have a lot to learn, huh?" She dusted the blade carefully, and twirled it in her hand. The man opposite her was organised and precise with his technique, at least from her viewpoint. He knew how to work the angles of his blade. Then there was the fact he was heavily grounded by his armor. She had wasted movement trying to unbalance him. The armor would be too heavy for her to move with a single kick. "Perhaps we could mix in so hand to hand combat?" She mused before facing the man. Now that she thought about it she hadn't introduced herself. "I'm Crystal by the way."

[Alexander Faircroft]

The short instep had given him all the leverage he’d needed apparently A sharp connotation that he won followed as the dagger haled just above an inch from her chest. One round collected. Now to collect another. Alex stepped back out of her space allowing her to retrieve her own weapon. Tossing in that perhaps she had a lot to learn. “Not so much, that was only one round, it’s hard to see if there’s much to learn after a single clash, but then again a single clash can often be all it takes to put an end to the battle in its entirety.” A small groan escaped him as he recalled the events from the prior day. Legs still sort and back still stiff. She wanted to also throw hand to hand combat into the mix? Alex would have to alter his style… The current use of his dagger didn’t hold much potential for unarmed strikes. However if he didn’t at least pull his punches a little he’d do some serious harm after all he was swinging an extra couple pounds of weight on each arm. Giving her the time to pick up the dagger Alex stepped back far enough to sink in to a position slightly different from before one hand closed tightly around the dagger the other open completely flat. Almost treating his left arm like a shield more than an offensive weapon. He stood patiently allowing her to set herself up. “Whenever you’re ready. And my name is Alexander. A pleasure to meet you crystal.”

[Crystal Nightshade]

Right again. She had only lost the first round, perhaps giving herself a better look on his skills. She needed to focus more on how he wielded his blade, then find some openings. His armor provided safety against attacks, but knocking him over without more force was out of the question as his armor kept him stead. The young woman situated herself in front of the man. She would then proceed to sink into a lower stance. She would need to be quick and precise, but she questioned whether or not she had enough skill for either. It was obvious he was more skilled than she, possibly had better or more training. Narrowing her eyes, her features went thoughtful. She wouldn't hold back, she couldn't. As long as she didn't aim for his face or hands, she couldn't do much damage to him, so she would stick with that. Adding hand to hand in the armed combat might not be the worst. She needed a way to get past his armor. "A pleasure to meet you as well Alexander." She said with a smile before returning to her features to a more serious expression. She gave him a few ticks to ready himself and sprang forward. She would work her way to his left before maneuvering the pummel of her dagger for his arm. Her aim? Disarm the squire.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Alex began to feel the weight of the armour now acting up on him. The sheer volume of weight was sinking into his body drawing out stamina at pace. Far more than he actually had is what it called for. He’ said he’d train with her and see what she had, but as it turned out his stamina was draining at an astonishing pace, it was a marvel he’d lasted as long as he did against Ball the other day. And with a larger weapon none the less. But here he was in his full gear and had it weighing on him at different angles and uncontrollable angles. Still he stepped around her this time like he had with the other squire. She sprung forwards. An odd choice of assault, mirror the last and hope for the best. Alex instead of following through with a plan he let her close the distance His stance held slightly more practice than he cared to admit. The difference that separated the two’s styles despite having a similar level of skill was the fact that Alex had been told time and time again to keep his arms in tight, and he did just that. Watching her dragger come towards him he slipped his free defending arm between the offending blade and her using her own momentum to streak down his steel gauntlet and streak the blade across the plate of his upper arm. A small scratch of sparking light etched off and a slight narrow groove left in the steel’s plating. Now he had an opportunity. He brought the pommel of his dagger towards her the blunt and plane training blade having a much flatter end than his own dagger. He intended the strike to catch her in the stomach and set him up for another killing position. For as the blade would connect he’d remove his arm again whilst she doubled over from the blow to point the blade a the base of her neck. However this plan was merely conjecture on his strike landing if she managed to avoid the strike she’d be behind him and have a better chance to take a free pot shot at one of his vitals… This was a serious gamble at least it would have been had this been real combat. To them this seemed like finessed fighting but to anyone on looking the fight would be rough, unfocused and jagged. Something unrefined and messy for others to see. But still how did one get better if not dealing with issues as they arose?

[Crystal Nightshade]

Not one once of skill or grace, that's what would describe the young woman's fighting style. Having not been taught, she based her knowledge off of her observation earlier. Then again, perhaps if she had analyzed it further the information would have been more accurate. Or if I'd been taught properly, she nearly scoffed. It was harder than it looked, much like everything. Observing Alexander's movements and stances, she noticed one thing that she wasn't doing herself. Well, the one thing that stood out to her. He always kept his arms closer to his body, as much as possible. If she compared it to herself, she knew her arms flew everywhere. Maybe more conservative movement was needed? The man, Alexander, brought his free arm around her blade, pushing her forward with her own momentum. After her blade bounced off his armor, he made his next move. The distance between them was little, so he was compromising his defense. Perhaps playing into it.. She added her own weight to keep moving forward, and once she was close to his chest armor, she brought her left foot forward. Pushing her weight up, she aimed to head but his chin to evade the incoming attack. If she succeeded she would move angle herself in behind him and grab his wrist before twisting it behinds his back. Not hard of course, for it was only a spar, and finally bring her. Blade to his neck in a defeating position. However, she kept her head away from his, in case he decided to headbutt her in return.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

He’d set a simple pan in motion. Step in and get a firm strike. He’d done the initial strike and shifted her arm free from the front. The wildness of her swings made that step easy. However what he didn’t expect was what followed. She move in closing the gap even further, his strike at her midsection was now halted. If he carried through he might actually hurt her so he stilled his blade, and his thanks for doing so was a firm forehead to the chin. The strike shook him, he could almost feel his brain rattling around in his skull. As a reaction his legs just gave out, and he dropped like a stone straight down. What the heck? His only words rolling around his brain as the sand rushed to meet him.

Half way through his fall it was as if his brain had rebooted. He caught himself on his right knee kneeling now as he caught his bearings. His vison still am little blurred. The strike had quite literally shut his brain off for a few ticks. As he sat there registering what had happened he flt his arm shift up behind him and become pinned.
“Well. This is not a fortunate position.” He joked lightly feeling the tug of her weight against his arm. It was unfortunately the arm in which he held the dagger so he had literally no-where to go. Pausing he tried to formulate a way out of this situation. Something to get out of being pi…Wait. She’d only pinned one of his arms. A half-cocked smile crept across his face.

Hoping her attention was focused on his other hand he’d remembered they were on sand. The loose surface was something he had some practice fighting on and he knew that sand often robbed one of a firm footing. “Alright, alright. I gi-”

He cut himself off as he brought his other hand back around and tried to scoop her legs out from under her. Using the loose ground beneath them to his advantage. If that worked he’s pin her dagger hand with his free one and get himself into a position to put his blade close to her throat. If he’d been able to pull this off h’d have the second round too, however if she avoided the initial sweep of her legs he’d have no choice but to surrender the round to her.

[Crystal Nightshade]

Crystal grit her grunted as her head collided with Alexander's chin. She shook her head against the pain as she pinned his arm. Not her best idea, but it had gotten the job done. She had gone for his dagger arm, hopeful that it would end the match. What she didn't count on was her lack of knowledge being her disadvantage. Again. True she had pinned his arm, but what in the world possessed her to believe she was safe by pinning one?! "That overconfidence will be your end." And her mother was right. She had let her guard down. "Then this is my wi-" Her weight shifted from under her, first pain, then she met the ground. She groaned on impact. That hurt... Shyke. She opened her eye just in time to see Alex getting closer, blade hand drawn forward. She had dropped her dagger in the fall when she had gripped her shoulder, so it was only fair.. Her foot surged up to meet his hand, hopefully knocking the blade from his grip when she rolled away to stand. She would then make her way to her dagger to the right. OOCWe should probably try to wrap up soon, as we're nearing the limit mentioned by plume in the ooc thread.