[Flashback] Swords and which end to stick in people (solo)

[Tessa Poe]

Timestamp: 15th of Spring 508 AV - Early Morning
Location: On the South Karbin Road

Tessa was struggling... she'd only been out here for half a bell or so with her Da and already she was finding it hard going. That fact that the sun had only just risen probably wasn't helping with that. Her Da's blade came swinging in from the left, and she took a couple of steps backwards to avoid it and watching it whistle past scant inches from her chest, before pressing forwards and jabbing at him. He blocked, wood clacking against wood and the dagger in his off-hand flicked out, driving her back again as she brought the buckler down to ward it off with wood scraping against wood. Her boots were slipping slightly in the dewy grass as she collected herself, staying out of his reach before she lunged forwards, only to find her sword going well wide of the mark as her Da sidestepped and moved round behind her, bringing his blade round to thwack against her back. For all that they were only wooden practice blades they still stung, a lot, when they hit. Not that Tessa had managed to land a single blow on her Da yet. She yelped and staggered forwards, entirely off balance and about to fall flat on her face when her Da's hand caught her shoulder and stopped her in her tracks. Once he was sure she had her balance again he let go and she could hear him backing off as she turned round to face him again. She'd been doing that lot so far today.

With the blade clenched tightly in one hand and the other wrapped round the grip behind the buckler she looked across at him, he wasn't even breathing hard yet. But then thinking about it it'd been her doing most of the moving and diving around in her attempts to get at him while he... she wasn't entirely sure how he was doing it but he always seemed to be in just the right place to stop whatever it was she was doing. Tessa stretched, getting ready for the next round while doing her best to keep the unfamiliar weight of the wooden practice blade and the buckler raised above her waist, it wasn't exactly an easy thing though. Her arms were certainly feeling the strain of it all. Her Da stood a few paces away, his own weapons held loosely in his grip as she watched her.

"Come on Poppet, keep that blade up, you drop your guard and they'll be on you."
"I know that! It's heavy though!"
"You'll get used to it, you ready to try again?"

Truth be told she had no idea if she was or not, but her Da had brought her just beyond the caravan's camp while everyone else was getting ready to leave so she could practice. She knew she had to practice, otherwise she'd never be able to take care of herself, and if there was one thing she wanted it was that. It was probably best to just get on with it, stalling wouldn't help. She nodded, bringing the buckler across her body just as her Da had taught her, the sword held above it and off the right a little, point straight at him, trying to remember everything he'd said so far. While it was true they were just weighted wooden blades she knew she had to take this seriously, one day it could save her life, well there was that, and there were the bruises she had down her arm and over thigh, with a fresh one across her back now. For all that she was sure he was going easy on her she'd still lost count of the number of bruises she'd have by sundown tonight. If nothing else they were all the proof you needed that it still hurt if you caught a blow from these practice blades. It probably had something to do with the rocks her Da had tied tightly to them to get the weight right, so they felt more like the real thing.

Her Da came at her again while she was still slightly lost in thought, bringing his sword swinging round again and Tessa staggered back a couple of steps in surprise, not ready for how fast he was coming in. She dragged her buckler higher, trying to get it in the way and tensing for the impact... and when it came she really wasn't ready for it. There was a loud crash as the blade met her shield and she felt the impact vibrate all the way up her arm, it wasn't particularly pleasant. The force of the blow drove her another couple of steps backwards and she felt her hand release the grip on the shield, numb fingers opening all by themselves and leaving the shield hanging from its straps, the vibrations still running up and her arm bringing another yelp from her.
"What did I tell you? You're not big enough yet to take a hit like that dead on, you've got to use the shield to deflect it and move round the blow."
"I know, I just wasn't ready..."
"You've always got to be ready girl, you should know that by now."
"I do, I just..."
"Ahhh maybe we should just call it a day for now Poppet, try again tomorrow?"
"No! I'll do better this time, I promise, I will!" She didn't want to stop, she knew she had to get better, much better.
"Alright, if you're sure..."

She nodded definitely, taking up her stance once again as her Da backed off, his weapons held easily at his sides once more, she knew how fast he could move them though.
"Loosen your grip on your sword Poppet, just a little, you hold it too tight and you'll lose it if someone catches it hard enough."
"Alright Da, I'm ready." There was no wool gathering this time as he came forwards, and she decided she’d had enough of just waiting for him to come to her. Tessa charged forwards, shield out in front with the short blade low behind it, throwing caution to the wind as she tilted the buckler and swung it edge first and backhanded towards her Da’s chest. It finally looked like she’d caught him off guard as he brought his long blade up, catching her buckler on it and running it along the edge. Tessa knew the edge was about to come crunching painfully into her forearm and thrust the tip of her blade forwards, driving for her Da’s stomach, if she could hit him first this bout would be over and she’d finally have won one. Time seemed to slow and the tip of her blade crept forwards, inching ever closer to him… at least she was going to do it! Just one touch and she could go back to the camp satisfied… and then his dagger was there, moving far faster than she would have expected, slashing from the inside towards the out and cracking against her sword. She watched as her blade slid past her Da, driven to one side despite her efforts to stop, passing so close to touching him and yet so far, and that’s when his sword met her arm and time went back to normal again. There was another loud crack followed by a yelp of pain as she dropped her sword and grabbed hold of her forearm, cuddling it close to her chest.

“I’m sorry Poppet! Didn’t mean to catch you that hard, are you alright?” Her Da’s face was full of concern as he dropped his own blades and stepped forwards, hands reaching out to check that he hadn’t hurt her too badly.
“I’m fine, honestly I’m fine, really thought I had you then you know.” she smiled to reassure him as she waved him off, her hand returning to massage her forearm and soothe it just a little.
“Ahh if you were a bit bigger you would’ve done, wouldn’t have able to shift you like I did if there was a bit more behind it. You know you couldn't do that with real blades though, don't you? You'd have lost your arm."
"I know Da... just thought I'd try it..."
He reached out and ruffled her hair with a smile, he knew she hated that. "Come on then, we’d best call it a morning for now, Mr Jones’ll be calling soon and all.”
She jerked her head back a little petulantly away from his hand, but couldn't help but smile at him as he grinned. "Alright Da, I’ll be there in a few chimes, just want to practice a little more is all.” Her Da nodded and scooped up his fallen weapons and headed back to ring of carts and wagons that made up the caravan. There was the scent of breakfast on the breeze and Tessa’s mouth watered at the prospect, but she knew she had to get better, a lot better, and that meant practicing, as often and as much as it took.

[Tessa Poe]

She watched her Da walk away for a moment before turning from the camp, the more she looked at it the more she'd be tempted to go back over there for breakfast and forget about her practice. She bent to scoop up the fallen blade and got back into her stance, holding herself there. Da had said that when you fought with a sword you used muscles that you weren't used to, so you had to train them just as much as you trained yourself. The day after her first lesson had more than proved that; she'd ached just about everywhere it was possible to. At least that's what it had felt like.

Tessa took a deep breath to clear her head, this was a time to focus on the sword in her hand, not what'd come afterwards. She lunged forwards, the buckler kept high despite its weight, ready to ward off a counter attack as she aimed a series of swift repeated jabs at what she thought would be about chest height on a person. Well as swiftly as she could manage, and even she could tell that they weren't all on target. But that's why she was practicing, snapping her arm forwards with her grip not too tight on the hilt, putting her shoulder into the blows just like her Da had taught her. She froze on her last one, holding the blade fully extended, her eyes locked on the point as it wobbled and trembled. She couldn't hold it there for long, that much she knew, she could already feel the burning ache starting up along her arm, but she couldn't stop, not yet, it was far too soon to let the blade fall.

Finally she couldn't hold it any longer and she let it slip to her side with an uncomfortable grimace, working her shoulder back and forth to relax her arm again, she still had a lot of work to do it seemed, she stretched, doing her best to work out the kinks before getting back into position again. This time she took two steps forwards, driving forwards with the buckler as she stabbed downwards with the sword, something her Da had tried to show her, something to put your opponent off balance. Repetition's the key, that's what Da said. flitted through her otherwise clear mind as she came out of the stab, took up the position and did it again, and again, and again. A few steps forwards with the buckler leading, aiming to drive into the guts of the opponent followed by the sword reaching over it and stabbing downwards. Her back, shoulders and arms were starting to burn again, a sheen of sweat coated her forehead but she kept going, pushing herself harder. If she couldn't get this right now, couldn't stay the course when she was all alone, what'd happen when she ended up in a real fight?

[Tessa Poe]

She came to a stop, chest heaving as she tried to get enough breath to carry on but found that she just couldn't. The all too familiar aches were starting up again, but she knew she wasn't finished yet. She turned and trudged slowly back to where she'd started from, heading for the reason why her Da had picked this spot for her morning's practice. There were the remnants of a tree, blackened and burned but still standing. She supposed it must've been hit by lightning or something to have ended up this way, and now after going through that it was to be her practice dummy for the day. She let go of the buckler's grip, letting her arm fall to her side, she'd not be needing it for this particular exercise.

She held the sword grip loosely in her hand, knowing that she'd have to deal with the vibrations to come as she drew her arm out to the right, before bringing the sword sweeping in towards the dead tree as hard as she could. There was the sound of wood meeting wood, the dead bark splintering a little from her blow. She paused and then pulled the sword away and around the tree, bringing it swinging back from left to right this time. Her wooden practice blade thudded against the tree with the same sweeping strokes, back and forth. Her Da had said it was to work the muscles, to get her used to how it'd feel to swing the thing at someone, and the feeling of it hitting them. The first time she'd done it the shock from the impact's vibrations had made her drop the thing. She was past that now though, knowing to keep her grip just that little bit looser so she'd not lose the thing again. Back and forth she swung, each sweep of the blade aimed for a different point on the tree trunk, knowing again that she had to keep going for as long as she could, that she had to keep the swings of the blade level as they travelled. Gods it was exhausting though.

[Tessa Poe]

Block and counter, block and counter, block and counter. The same movements repeated over and over again to the point where they became ingrained, something to be done without thought, just instinct. That's what her Da had said at least. She threw the buckler into blocking yet another imaginary foe, arm braced for the force of the impact even if there wasn't going to be one. From there she turned on the tip of her toe, bringing the short sword stabbing forwards into what would have been her opponents flank and as the sword came back she did again. Each time she threw her weight behind the shield, bringing the centre of her of balance forwards to make the following pivot easier, the short blade whistling through the air as it drove towards her target. Each time she lashed out with the buckler at a different height, trying to get used to blocking a blow no matter where it came from, the sword following suit and licking out at different points. Her Da always said that anywhere on the torso would do if you drove it in deep enough, it was bound to put a person down, or if by some bad luck it didn't they'd not be in much of a state to continue.

There was a strange sense of peace as she followed the movements, her mind pretty much blank as she focused on the motions, everything else blotted out by them. That is until her foot skidded on a particularly damp patch of grass, sliding out from under her and depositing it her painfully on the ground. She muttered sourly as she managed to clamber back to her feet, her concentration gone now, leaving just the ache of her tired muscles behind, and the new pain from where she'd fallen. It was probably about time she called it a day, if she kept it up too long she'd have nothing left for the day ahead. Mr Jones would have a fit if that happened, he didn't carry any free loaders as he was so fond of saying. Tessa half staggered back towards the caravan, the sword resting easily over her shoulder as she went. There was always tomorrow morning for more practice, and the day after that too.

[Archelon]

Thread Award "That's okay I'll let you rest there a while. Where were you going? Back home? Okay, the turtle taxi will take you there for free. Whaddya mean you don't know what a taxi is?" And the Results!!!!: Tess : SkillName 1-5 How/why? Shortsword 4 It was all you did Shield 2 Rhetoric 1 Lores: Shortsword Technique: Thrusts,Slashes, and Chops(basic) Shortsword Technique: Blocks and Parries(basic) Shield Technique: Shield Deflection(basic) Would you like some extra turtle sauce ? : Interesting thread, liked the idea of using a dead tree as a training post .