The Best Surprises Hide In Shadows (Aello)

[Ashanna]

Ashanna's eyes followed those of the woman. Despite their stances, the two still maintained something resembling a conversation. When they didn't make replies with their words, they responded with their blades. "I'll make a note of that," she gritted out, while doing her best to parry the blow sent her way. The Kelvic jerked her arm back quickly so that both daggers met once more before stepping to her left so as to not take full impact. As Aello spun her dance of knives, Ashanna kept her distance, carefully stepping around and circling the bladeswoman. She waited. Waited for her opening. As soon as the woman's spin slowed in speed, Ashanna readied herself. Holding her dagger perpendicularly to her forearm, the Kelvic lowered her back as her knees bent. When her teacher and opponent faced her once more, Ashanna lunged forward, her blade aimed at the woman's hip. Without waiting to see if her blow landed on flesh or air, Ashanna turned, keeping her target ahead of her, and struck once more this time aiming at the woman's shoulder blade.

[Aello]

Aello's muddied eyes swept over the Kelvic's hurried steps. Her ears heeded the sound of heels clattering against wooden bed. The nails grating as they twisted into water washed surface. The sound reverberated off her drums as Aello dropped her left hand to meet the woman's initial attack. She blocked it easily, reveling in the sound of metal clashing against metal. The aurist had just enough time to take in another deep breath as Ashanna rounded on her once more. Forcing Aello to take a half step back with her left foot, so that the other led, and raise her right hand so that she may block the oncoming blade. It was but a breadth before they met once more. A hollow ring sounding through the thick air. Cutting through it as uneasily as a knife would through honey. The girl's eyes glimmered. Light reflected in the smoldering coals of her darkened pupils. "Good, now keep it up," Aello instructed as she pulled her weapons away, and out to her sides before bringing them inwards. Hoping to strike the cursed against the side of the woman's shoulder, or just below it. "We are not done yet," she added. "Far from it."

[Ashanna]

If she were to speak honestly, Ashanna would've expressed surprise at the fact that she'd almost "scored a point". Scoring, however, in this situation, would've been akin to slicing through the bloody flesh of her now-instructor. That would only end with a second mess to deal with and an abrupt stop to anything Ashanna had been learning. No, she was perfectly satisfied with her tutor being much more skilled than her. Skilled enough that Ashanna felt she didn't have to hold back in order to maintain the woman's and her own safety. Her only advantage came in from melding together different skills she'd picked up over the years. Ashanna knew that, unlike her partner, her skill in wielding a dagger were still far from handing her the ability to hold her own in a fight. Luck had steadied her hand before as she'd pushed the sharpened metal into the chest of a man she once knew. Could she really handle this life of having to look over her shoulder for assassins? Ashanna had killed before but it had always been done through the use of a poison or trick, she was hardly what one would call "battle-ready", she wasn't even battle-adjacent. It wasn't even something she particularly enjoyed. The Kelvic would've been much more at home with the role of cat burglar than of a fighter. In her mind, there were people who were put on the world to play certain roles in the cast of life. Ashanna wasn't sure why but her script must have been lost because the events of that night seemed highly unusual. Keep it up, the woman said. Keep it up? It had taken nearly all she had just to have gotten to that point and she wasn't sure if there was enough left to keep this going. A sense of reality began to really sink into Ashanna's mind. What did she think she was doing anyway? She was never going to become a skilled knife-wielder, she didn't even to, really. Why was she in an alley trying to learn how to attack when she should be figuring out how to build up her defenses. With her fingers still firmly gripping the dagger in one hand and the man's ring in the other Ashanna let both her arms hang down. "I shouldn't be here," she whispered before turning and running away from the scene. She slipped back into the shadows the first chance she got running along side buildings to not attract any attention from people passing by windows in the dark of night.

[Verilian]

. . Thread Award . . Ahsanna +4 Dagger +1 Stealth +1 Finger Blade Lores: Farrick can still find you, Being trained by Aello, The Back-Alleys of Ravok Loot: Dagger, 1 Silver Ring (worth 5gm) Aello +1 Acrobatics +3 Dual Wielding +2 Teaching Lores: Witnessing a Murder, Teaching how to wield a dagger You Question My Logic? : If there are any questions on the xp award, feel free to PM me. Notes: Guys, just remember to play things within your level of skill. For instance, in the very first post, Ashanna melts into the darkness and surprises the guy, and then kills him with very little difficulty, despite having no combat skill at all. Still, good thread you guys. Keep up the good work, keep writing! Notice As per the request of the Founders, threads cannot be graded unless your CS is up to date. This means you need to add threads to your thread list when you make new threads, keep your skills up to date, ledger, living expenses, ect. If you aren't up to date, you'll get a PM from me before i grade your thread. If you are up to date, disregard this notice.