Winter 20th 512 AV 12th bell 22nd chime.
“May I ask why I do have to do this?” Kreig asked, his bare hands grasped around a piece of wood crafted into the shape of a weapon, swinging it in a multitude of times from all directions vertical, horizontal and diagonal, also adding a few thrusts here and there. He wielded one of his training blades, particularly the one with a metal core that allowed its weight to mimic an actual longsword, allowing novices such as Kreig to ease into the habit of wielding an actual blade. He had his right foot forward and slightly crouched while his left was planted firmly in the back. After a few swings he immediately switched the positions of his legs and the positions of which he held his blade, his left becoming the more dominate while his right had a slightly more loosened grip in comparison “it’s not like I’m officially a squire yet, wouldn’t teaching me now be like training an outsider? And why do I have to do this shirtlessly?”
Natasha looked on from the side, her hands resting on the pommel of one of Kreig’s lighter wooden blades with its tip planted gently into the ground “Perhaps, but it is but a technicality Kreig and a Knight would not hesitate to teach an outsider how to wield a weapon if they think the person is trustworthy enough”
“So you think I’m trustworthy?”
“ Ser Imass thought you have potential and traits to become a knight, as such based on his judgment I trust you, as for why you are doing it shirtless you’d be surprised by how much sweat one accumulates despite the cold winter weather. I don’t think you’d be very comfortable wearing a sweaty shirt in cold weather. ” Natasha said as she looked at him swing the blade, frankly she thought Kreig’s form was atrocious. She wondered why he had bought these in the first place since he seemed much more incline on using his fists in combination with his gauntlets rather than rely on a proper weapon like a sword. And according to Ser Imass and the tale about him taking and surviving a large amount of Sunberthian scum he was quite formidable. She still had trouble believing that tale, Yahal guide her she was also incline not to believe that he defeated Ser Imass had it not came from the horse’s mouth.
“That…doesn’t necessarily answer my question of whether you yourself trust me” Kreig said to her, she honestly wished he would focus the energy he used to talk and add it to his swings. Still, she was using this to gauge his potential in learning on how to use, she presumed, his choice of weapon; so that when that he becomes an official squire she could advise whoever is to be his mentor on whether or not he was suited for wielding such a thing. For the most part though he seemed to have a proper grasp despite his form, however this was simple observation and sometimes to truly measure whether one was fit for their choice of weapon was to simply engage them in combat. But at the moment she wanted to observe more….as she noted that whenever he switched his dominate hand to the left his swings seem to become more sluggish and lacking less then when using his right. She could only assume that it was the scar on the palm of his left that was hindering him, it didn’t hinder him severely…but it was still a hindrance as fighting with the longsword two handed required versatility from the wielder to be used effectively. If he held the blade one handed and used a shield in he would perhaps face no issues as the strength of the arm is required rather than just the strength of the hand.
“ You have part of my trust Kreig, but you have yet to earn it fully” She told him, her right hand now grasping the hilt of the wooden blade near the Crossbar. They had set up camp in a clearing the previous day and decided to use today to refine her skills, train Kreig and to see his potential for herself. As Kreig continued to swing the metal core practice blade, Natasha left him briefly to rummage for the other regular wooden blade. If anything it was time for her to use her own skills to gauge his combat potential fully. After finding the blade she quickly returned to Kreig with the other wooden blade in hand “You may stop swinging the blade now Kreig”
Kreig sighed in relief as he glistened with sweat from swinging the heavy practice blade, the cold only making things worse as the sweat only made the air’s touch colder. He turned his head only to see Natasha extend one of his lighter wooden blades hilt-first and sighed deeply “What now?” He flung the heavier blade to the side and grabbed the hilt of the blade with his right. Natasha had taken a few steps away from him and left Kreig slightly confused, only for her to quickly turn around after attaining enough distance then suddenly lunged at Kreig without warning. Her eyes seemed to have a killer intent as she violently swung the blade vertically from over her, Kreig, his own years of combat experience and sense of preservation kicking in , had raised the blade and pressed the flat of the blade with his left in order to block the attack.
“You….What are you doing?!” Kreig said in surprise as his escort jumped backs a slight distance, the glare in her eyes not lessening.
“ This is a test, that is all you need know ” She said, and felt a twinge of surprise inside when the look on Kreig’s face was not what she had expected, she felt satisfaction when he was capable of reacting quick enough to block her attack. But after that, after his shocked words….. He had an amused grin. She didn’t know why she felt surprise, her own bit of shock, as she knew he was the type of warrior who enjoyed battle for the sake of it; even the knights had such men in their ranks. But knowing only lessened the shock, it didn’t do anything to stop the fact she was about to face such individuals for the first time, it brought quite a bit of unease.
“A test, eh? Well if that’s what you will call this fight, then by all means, allow me to pass it with flying colors” Kreig said happily as he reverted subconsciously to a more thuggish stance, his wooden longsword being held more like a club rather than an actual blade while his left fist was partially raised.
“I will be impressed if you do, I require that you realize any hit that would be otherwise lethal with a real blade would mean you ‘died’” She told him and silently berated Kreig for his change of stance ‘only an incompetent and graceless brute would take such a stance’ But she knew better than to underestimate the squire prospect, if anything the exaggerated rumors of the strength of his fists said that he could punch a hole through a man’s head with little effort, and rumors tend to have a hint of truth to them. Then without warning, as Natasha had done to Kreig, Kreig attacked without warning as he dashed forward with his wooden sword raised and brought it down in a hard strike, Natasha instinctively raised her own blade to block it thinking ‘using my own trick against me? Are you daft? But while it mirrored her own action somewhat, the similarities ended once the cracking sound of wood against wood thundered throughout the clearing ‘Now I….’ her thoughts were cut as she saw movement from Kreig’s left shoulder and quickly spun to the side to avoid the punch aimed for her abdomen, and continued to spin behind him swinging her blade to attempt to ‘cut’ off his head. Only for her momentum to stop as Kreig quickly turned around and blocked the foible of her blade, the sword’s tip was dangerously close to his head.
This allowed Natasha to get an up close glimpse of his face, she could see the manic smile, his grin wide from ear to ear and his eyes failing to hide the bloodlust that seemed to emanate from every pore on his body. She quickly jumped back and now felt a bit of doubt that whither it was wise of her to test him. Kreig may have had more years of combat she wagered, growing up on the tough and tumble streets of Sunberth, but she had training and during her years since she became a knight, and even as a squire, had fought a variety of opponents, if anything she was better than him….. But then why did she feel this doubt? She thrust her blade forward, hoping to skewer him but Kreig stepped to the narrowly dodging that attack the same way he was barely able to block her previous attacks. There was no doubt he had potential, and she observed that while he used the wooden longsword improperly, the grip was still an acceptable one.
She charged forward once more, not wanting to be pushed on the defensive as she brought her blade in a vertical upward slash, Kreig quickly jumped back but raised the wooden blade quickly as Natasha spun again and followed up with another upwards vertical slash, however he was unable to defend against it properly as she broke through his block and knocked the blades upward and nearly out of his hand ‘ This it is!’ She thought as she was about to bring her blade down for the finale, but it was not to be as Kreig thrust his left hand forward with an open palm, his hand gripped around her face as he violently pushed her back and on the ground. But before he could continue with another attack Natasha rolled back and stood up once more ‘Yahal give you strength Natasha, normally you fight better than this!’ She thought to herself, but the seed of doubt hampered her abilities as an accomplished swordswoman, Kreig’s natural intimidation as a brawler causing her to drop a bead of sweat from her forehead.
“Hahaha, this is good, the Akalak was good…. You’re good too” He said with glee, completely enthralled with this ‘mock’ fight to the death. Being that the Akalak was the only knight he fought previously and with his good ol’ fists, Natasha didn’t disappoint him in the least ‘A test? This is but an euphoria and I’m feeling it fully’ He grinned madly, there were so many close calls for him in this battle it nearly erased that disgusting fight that he had with those thugs during the middle of the previous seasons…at first it was all fun but then it went sour quite fast. But this proved enjoyable from start to finish. Natasha came at him again , her form lowerd and she seemed to be preparing a stab, or maybe another of those upward slashes. Kreig knew just the remedy for that pesky little thing as he quickely ran the tip of his wooden blade to the surface of the earth and flung dirt at her face, blinding one of her eyes and forcing her to a stop. He then immediately attempted to knee her in the face, but she could still see it coming with her remaining eye as moved to his side and swept at his legs, causing him to fall on his back. Natasha then quickly positioned herself to stab Kreig in the stomach with her blade, but he rolled out of the way, grabbing a patch of dirt in his hand flung it at her. Natasha quickly raised her arms to block it but as soon as the dirt hit her arm Kreig had tackled her, pushing her to the ground as no towered over her, ready to do the same as Natasha was to do to him. But then he felt a blow in his abdomen, suddenly breathing out in a gasp as he looked to see Natasha had ‘stabbed’ him with the wooden blade. He had not subdued her arms, a fatal fact he failed to notice. But he soon chuckled as he stood up, his left hand extended to help Natasha up.
“Seems like I fail eh?” Natasha graciously took his hand and pulled herself up, an eyebrow raise then she used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe the dirt away from her eyes.
“Failed? Whatever do you mean, you simply ‘died’” Natasha grinned lightly, but the fear in her heart was still there as fighting the brawler proved a deadly challenge.
“But….huh?” He looked at her with a confused look in his eyes.
“ I said if I gave you a normally lethal blow, you would ‘die’ I never said you would fail” She laughed gently as she placed a hand on his shoulder “If anything you proved to have quite the potential”
“Hah, Really?! Well that’s a lovely thing to hear”
“ Yes, now rest up a bit and then continue your sword swings, proper grip or not your swings were utterly ghastly, easy to avoid and outright predictable. You’re fists proved more a challenge and if I were wearing my plate armor I’d have far less of an issue fearing your punches” She said, leaving Kreig slack jawed as he didn’t believe they’d continue training after all this and let out a groan |
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by Kreig Messer on March 1st, 2013, 3:06 am 
