A Date For Training (Part 1)

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris had to clinch his teeth and try to hold back a smile. There was a fire in those icy blue eyes of hers. The woman was a fighter, not one to be distressed, and she wanted to take the challenge on head first. That pleased him greatly to see it. Kavala was a go getter, and everything they had done together she had given it her all. How did he get so lucky? For Riaris he didn't believe in luck..

"Fair enough, but I was only showing you the best ways to swing and where to aim. Doing so in that way you can also use the shaft of the combined blades as a shield to fight off any over head trust. But don't you worry....there will be bruises later." He smiled freely now and started the lesson over again to show her his stance, followed by the way he would hold the weapon and attack with it. Riaris was sure that she could clearly see the shaft of the weapon bare between his meaty hands and how that could be useful if she couldn't turn her blades fast enough right or left.

"Also, be sure not to leave your back exposed. This weapons tends to have one spinning to a turn and with the weapon itself held outward, it leaves your back exposed for anything sharp or blunt." It was Kavala's turn to attack and the woman didn't disappoint. She went for the kill in her first swing, but Riaris didn't defend himself fully. Instead he only moved his weapon a bit to keep her weapon from pinching him further after she had already jammed it into his underarm where a bruise was likely to form. He was impressed with her speed, the tiny Konti could really move.

"Good, that's very good. Always go for the sweet spots if you can. If not, open them up for the move and then you take you point." He was sure that she understood basic fighting tactics already, but it wasn't uncommon for people to forget those things when presented with a new weapon. "Alright then, lets take this a bit further, go." The Akalak turned his weapon high right with a low left and moved in towards her. Once he was close enough, Riaris spun the weapon around quickly, but stopped the motion half way and used the bare middle shaft to first push Kavala backwards, before he turned the weapon at a slant, bringing the flat of the downward pointed blade towards her thigh in a sweeping motion.

[Kavala]

She listened to the lesson well. Riaris had strength and reach on her, something he'd always have as an advantage. But she realized that he was equaling the field for her by switching her up to the longer weapon to give her more reach against other opponents. He was taking care of her, in the way the Akalaks always took care of their women, making sure she was as deadly as any of the rest of his race if pressed.

When she twisted to bring the blade up at his armpit, she hadn't realized how exposed her back was to him. She caught her lower lip in her teeth for a moment and wondered aloud. "I wonder if I can partially compensate for how exposed your side and back can get with this weapon by modifying my night armor with a plate to guard my spine and kidneys from behind. But show me.. a chime.. how you twist so you don't open your back up. I want to see it done properly. I feel like I'm not exposed, but if you are pointing it out, I am." She said softly, releasing her lip to do so.

There was something else she was curious about as well. "Your hands, where they grip your blade, are incredibly vulnerable too, Riaris, aren't they?. Do you wear special gauntlets or gloves to protect? It seems to me it would be easy to crack an opponent across the knuckles to get them to drop the weapon or rob them of a good grip. How do you deal with that?" Kavala asked, eyes dropping to his grip, knowing they weren't in armor but eventually she'd want to spar in it. Learning anything the first time didn't require such measures, but if you trained to be used to it, you were stronger in the long run.

Kavala duplicated his moves, mirroring him through a few steps, nodding at the sound of his instruction. She wasn't ready for the punch backwards, nor for the new position on the blade. And while she was still getting knocked back, away, he was coming after her again. She had to scramble to stay on her feet, and not get knocked down completely just by the simple motion and then slapped on the thigh with the blade following through its own motion and putting it in the perfect position for another attack before she could even counter the first.

She swore softly, winced as the blade cracked on her thigh, and brought her own weapon up which she'd let drop down useless in surprise. Kavala recovered, trying to block by twisting her weapon sideways and pushing it outwards from her body, forcing Riaris away before a third attack could come. She laughed then, delighted in the blade, and presented a profile, trying not to expose her back as she counter attacked by swinging her blade around, its right side high of horizontal and trying to twist under his horizontal and get at his ribs with the flat of her wooden blade in retaliation. She was slow, more going through the motions than being fast, testing the limits and acceptable actions of the new weapon. If she could bypass his blocking, she'd try to bring her sword under his, and upwards, smacking him in the ribs.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

"I'm sure that padding your armor can be useful, but it's better to train yourself to defend against the attack. We can never be too careful. I think this weapon is as good with attacking as it is with defending and that should be a better tool I would say."

He thought for a moment over his own words and nodded. He hoped that he had explained it correctly. Her next question about the proper way to protect one's back was also a good one. It was more a defensive move that attacking, but he figured that could be looked at now, and explained more later.

"That is something that I am still learning for myself. Sohryn Nurhahj has the closest weapon in style, a spear. Perhaps he could explain it better for us."

Riaris stood up and lowered his arms to his waist. He was trying to think of the best way to explain it, even though he was still learning to successfully do the very thing they were discussing. He would try and return to answer her question later once he was sure that he could pull it off. Riaris glanced down to his hands as he thought over her new question and looked at the marks he had from having his hands smacked in the past.

"It is true, and you could wear gauntlets to protect your hands. I haven't tried that yet, but yes that could pose a problem. Then again I suppose that it also has to do with the competency of the person holding the weapon, but that can be said about any weapon. But so far, I find that quick movements can save your hands from being bruised."

They started again, and Riaris showed the Konti some of his moves, just to start them off. He was quick, and caught her off guard. He had given her a few instructions on how to use the weapon and it was time now to see how much she remembered. The Akalak was proud to see her use the weapon as a shield and push him backwards just as he had told her. He laughed as she did, enjoying their time together as he always had. Turning his blade upward again, Riaris blocked the horizontal swing and countered with his own sweeping to her ribs as well. Stepping back, he held his wooden double blades level and made a fake swipe towards her stomach, before spinning it outward to try and trip her up.

[Kavala]

Kavala caught her bottom lip in her teeth briefly but refrained from correcting Riaris' mis-assumption. She hadn't been talking of padding her armor, but of a redesign of it to protect herself from more polearms and reaching weapons that were bladed like these swords. Her night armor was good, but just the brief spar with Riaris had taught her immediately that it could use some functionality adjustment, especially along her flanks and back. The Konti had never given anything like armor a thought before she'd come to Riverfall. The Drykas moved to fast to much to drag such heavy gear around. but since the Bone Dogs and Snarlwings and Yukman, Kavala knew that staying in one place meant protecting that place and even ones body because bad things would happen.

But inherently Riaris was right. She didn't want to replace training with armor when the training would save her a whole lot more than depending on armor would But she didn't want him to think she was dumb, that she was one of those people that thought in armor they could rule the world unopposed. Later, she'd drag out her armor when they were sitting around just relaxing, and have him give her an honest evaluation of it. Kavala had long learned that looking at things with a healers eye didn't necessarily make for an accurate warrior's gaze.

And now that she had a warrior in front of her, she could and should take full advantage of it.

The Konti smiled, shifted her stance, and they started again. Riaris didn't hold back as much this time, but she did appreciate how he kept his moves slower than they could have been so she could follow. It was a lot like dancing or making love, this back and forth with him and it brought her heart rate up and made her grin with pleasure just spending time. They danced forward, and fell back alternatively, whirling the double blades around them. Kavala learned quickly, overreaching and going off balance and having to pause a moment to pull back her center of balance. There was a range each fighter had, she quickly understood, that allowed them certain reaches and certain movements that spanned a parameter that kept them in the kill zone or T zone as her unarmed combat instructor had taught her. Kavala's strength was in her torso from about her forehead to her knees and about half the reach of her arms. That's where she found her strongest movements. When she used the weapon to the right or left with the extreme reach of her arms, then she lost her balance and lost her sense of being grounded. Riaris' zone was larger, which was to be expected with his bigger frame. But it didn't make him more deadly. That was the bonus of the double bladed weapon.

The length of the weapon itself lent itself to correct for a wielder's shorter statue or smaller reach. Quickness and reaction time was what truly counted. The hardest part, Kavala learned, was keeping Riaris from tripping her. She was so busy looking for cuts and swipes that he often caught her unaware on the back sweep and could knock her off her feet. And did, gently, a couple of times before she learned to dodge and start to see them coming. There was always a big hand to lift her back to her feet and brush off her hind end before they began again.

But two could play at the game, and though he watched for being tripped up more than she did, Kavala learned that he often left his thick head unguarded and that allowed her to tap him on the shoulder or brow when he was distracted trying to trip her up. The blows were always pulled before she could completely clock him, but there was a gleam in her eye every time she made contact. And it more than made up for the times the practice blade seem to tangle itself in her feet despite how much she tried to avoid it.

Slowly her confidence grew and so did her smile. They were having a great time... a really good time. And Kavala appreciated it that they could enjoy each others company, even doing something as potentially hard as training.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris couldn't help but to smile, training with Kavala was a treat in itself. She learned quickly, by watching or through gentle taps what she could and shouldn't do. But the Konti wasn't the only one learning things, Riaris was also learning about fighting and bettering his skill. He learned for one, more about fighting someone smaller than he was as well as fighting off another twin bladed weapon. It was all fun and to see Kavala dressed for battle gave him warmth in all the right places.

Their talk had stopped, both focusing on the battle at hand and trying to figure out when to attack and when to defend. The twin blades spun as did their bodies. Both took shots where they could and defeating away the attacks when they could time them. Kavala was swift, smart, using her quickness to take aim at his head when he tried to trip her. She went for the kill in a way, and he couldn't blame her.

"Not bad."

He decided to take it to the next level since she was learning at a quicker pace. Riaris started to move a bit faster now, still keeping his blade to a pace she could see but putting more force behind his wings. His feet moved across the floor, stopping close to where she stood, to set his footing before he took another swing. He suddenly paused a moment, watching Kavala and also giving her a chance to catch her breath, They were both working up a sweat and the konti's movements were grower faster by the chime.

"Should we take a break Kavala? Or did you want to continue?"

Riaris waited to see what she would say. If she chose to take a break, he would slip his weapon behind him and cross over to her.The Akalak would then hug the woman and plant a kiss on her head and another to her lips. He was proud to know her and to be training with her also. If she wanted to continue, he would step back and allow her to breathe and take more breaths for himself before he stepped in for another round.

[Kavala]

Training with Riaris wasn’t as bad as Kavala thought it would be. He was a good teacher and she could tell he’d taken a lot of time working with younger students or those that were inexperienced. He seemed to have a knack for stepping it up just when the student needed challenged and backing off when the student was ready for a break. And he pushed her, making her feel neither coddled nor picked on. The whole thing equated to Kavala having a really good time and learning a great deal. She hadn’t been sure what to expect, but she was well and pleasantly surprised. There was an easy smile on her face that seemed to reset itself whenever the look of concentration or exertion left her features.

And the view wasn’t half bad either. Watching the man she’d grown to love work with a weapon as graceful as a double bladed sword was a thing of beauty. Riaris had muscles where she’d never hope to have them. And for all his size, he moved like a dancer, making him far more than he seemed at just a casual glance. Kavala couldn’t help but be thankful for the Dreamcatcher and the day she’d went down to the docks to see the shipwrights about building her a craft. If she hadn’t made that decision, she’d certainly have not met Riaris nor spent that fateful day at the Coils Club.

Even now she flushed at the memory, giving him a chance to trip her and send her gently to her knees. She recovered, hoping back on her feet, and snapped her mind back to the task at hand. But by then he was calling break and she was glad for it. While Kavala was in good shape, she couldn’t match the Akalak physically and really needed a stopping point.

“Break.” She said, smiling, and giving herself a chance to pant. She swung the sword around so it was in a resting position, and let her body slowly relax. When Riaris sheathed his, she set hers down, and let him hug her and kiss the top of her head. Jokingly she looked up and grinned, all but shouting… “Geeze Dad.. not in front of the other kids.”

Then she smiled, returned his hug, and stole a kiss. Picking up her weapon, she rolled her shoulders, knowing there were bruises on her forming already. “I think I learned a great deal today, Riaris. You are a good teacher. I’d like to spar with Recoomas too. So far you haven’t let me, so I’d like to see what it would be like with him. What do you think about grabbing a quick light lunch and then coming back again afterwards and starting once more? I think we should do this often… its good for us. We need to know each others styles and how best to work wth them and counter them if we are going to … “ Going to what? Kavala wondered? Be a couple? Raise a child together? All of it fit, but she didn’t want to voice any of it. Instead she just offered him a smile, shrugged, and walked her weapon back over to the weapon’s rack.

“What do you think? Can we make it a regular thing?” She asked, knowing what his answer would be regardless. “And how about we go to The Blue Bull? The owner there owes me a big bill from treating his Kelvic. We can get lunch out of him at no charge, I’m fairly sure.” The Konti said with a wink, knowing that sweaty and dirty and smelling like they’d been training, just about the only place in town that would welcome them would be The Blue Bull. But there was no point in showering, cleaning up, and then coming back to do it all over again if they were just going to get sweaty all over again anyhow. Not when she could talk Riaris into following her home more towards evening and sneaking a bath in with her before he headed home.

Riaris agreed, of course, reading her mind and her intentions, and the pair headed off for a quick light lunch before they planned to return and start all over again.

[Translucent]

Congratulations On Your Hard Work!

Riaris:
XP:+1 riding, +3 socialization, +3 observation, +2 seduction +5 weapon: Two bladed sword, +5 teaching
Lores: Making more time for Kavala by including her in training. Kavala: an amazing woman, Combat: Watch for feints, Kavala: Don’t hold back in training.

Kavala:
XP:+4 socialization, +2 seduction, +5 weapon:two bladed sword, +1 interrogation,
Lores: Two-bladed sword: Flat out dangerous, The taste of Riaris, Choosing the right practice blade, Two-Bladed Sword: Similar use as a staff or pole. Two-bladed Sword: keep the weapon at your center.


Notes: First thing Riaris, I am sure this was a typo but it totally got my mind wandering on Kavala and Riaris demolition team “There was a lot of things they could do together, more things to explode and discover together “

I gave Riaris points in the two-bladed sword too because even though he was teaching what he had learned to Kavala, he is still a novice at the sword so the practice would still help him learn.

As always PM me if you have issues.