Retrieving Property [John, Revi]

[Rhuryc]

Rhuryc was quick to follow. He gave the man a nod at his point and then resumed his silence, content in allowing John to play leader. Often the man found himself leading others around the city, it was nice to ave someone that actually knew the routes as well as himself. Or at least knew them, anyway. He mused at the room when they reached it, noting how similar it was to his own. Even the Knights started small. The peculiars were close to frightening. Both John and Rhuryc's tastes, if they could be called that, were near identical. The bed poised in the same location, the sparse furnishing; whether that was a choice or by lack of coin the man could not be sure, but the fact of it remained and there was a budding kinship one. If only in a minor sense.

And the following continued! Rhuryc found himself in a new location, one that he believed was off limits to civilians. New friends, new privileges. While he felt a bit awkward he kept his poise and stoic countenance and playing well with the examples. He was quick to remove his sword and he deposited it near John's weapon. Removing the blade was like weakening his soul. This practice weapon had no common ground, no style of its own. Metal core be damned. Uneasily, he took a moment to accustom himself to the grip, palming the hilt a few times before he decided to take it in stride with his left hand on the top. Nothing wrong with a bit of varied swordplay; he preferred his off arm anyway, without a shield the difference was slight.

A duel it was. Turning, Rhuryc squared up with John, his feet parting to a shoulder length in distance. His right foot came forward and his left shifted, no perpendicular to its opposite. The wooden weapon was brought up to mimic the Knight, held high over the head with both hands grasping the hilt; the blade itself at a diagonal angle designed for quick, powerful strikes. In the moments before the start Rhuryc took his time to observe his new opponent. He assumed he was outmatched - in skill, anyway. His education was practical and on-the-go, the Knights had strong teachers, effective exercises, but he still had his advantages. Reach, for one. If he could stay away from John's range than the combat would be one of ease. He imagined experience might play a role as well. The man had a way pain. Dealing with it was a daily occurrence.

For now Rhuryc stood. That was all. He seemed ready, prepared, with his gaze stuck on John's stare. Patience.

[John Griffin]

John stood as still as possible as his partner moved into a similar, though distinctly different posture. John's own feet were kept almost parallel, his left foot forward instead of his right. He began breathing deeply, as he was wont to do before a sparring match. This also allowed him to exhale at his first attack, giving him more power, without the telltale sign of a quick deep breath. For a few seconds he just stood there, seemingly at peace, a calm look etched on his face, as if he was reading a book. And indeed he was reading a book, how well he would see later; the book was Rhuryc. A trained knight, he was instantly wary of the height and strength disparity between himself and his opponent. Height gave the other man reach, which meant John had to be quick to close the gap, and not fight in the other man's ideal attack zone. Strength meant it would be best to dodge if possible, and use parries that diverted Rhuryc's blade instead of trying to stop it.

His fingers flexed as he reworked his grip on the raised sword. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Only moments had passed, and the time was upon him. His first attack would no doubt be blocked, but it was best to have some sort of goal in mind when fighting. John had been taught to fight as if he was a river of rushing water. Flow where the enemy isn't, fill the gaps, take the path of least resistance, give way to a stronger opponent and use his momentum against him. He would try to get Rhuryc off balance, then go under his defenses. Normally he might try to go over, but Rhuryc was too tall for that.

Without a word John sprung into action. He rushed forward to bring himself into range. Wary that Rhuryc might hit him in the face should he attack too low, he opted for an attack from the Northeast, arcing down on his right side towards his opponent's neck.

[Rhuryc]

Quick little bastard.

Rhuryc barely had time to react. John was faster, no doubt better, but as it often was the first attack was easy to predict. There was little room to pull something different from a higher guard. In response to the assault, Rhuryc brought his own weapon down in a clash of wood, the blade sent at a downward angle at the flat of John's sword. The two met and the man pushed down, the full brunt of his strength and power focused on keeping setting the assault away from his neck. Locked for naught but a single moment, Rhuryc followed the basic defense with a quick and powerful shove, allowing for his opponent's blade to cast off away from his flesh. His own sword remained at his chest; instead of retaliating with the sword, Rhuryc instead stepped forward - using the closed gap in his favor now - and brought his left knee up, the target of which was John's lower abdomen.

The motion lacked discipline, training, most likely just a brawler's flurry, but there was no question about the power behind each assault.

[John Griffin]

As anticipated, John's first attack had been blocked, and thoroughly at that. Rhuryc's strength dashed John's attack to pieces, and sent his blade low with the force of the parry. Ready for a high attack from his opponents sword, he took one step back and started to bring his blade back up. The attack, however, was not with a sword, and not high at all. It was the sort of attack William Erindale would have pulled, to keep him on his guard, and it would clearly hurt if it hit him. John hopped left, just barely out the way of the rising knee, and thought to attack the upraised leg. Instead of chopping at it, as many might do, he continued moving to the left, drawing the blade straight across towards Rhury'c knee.

Use your speed John. Move too fast for him to counter properly, get him off balance, then take it home, he thought to himself.

[Rhuryc]

Rhuryc quirked a brow. John really was fast. That or precognitive. With a disappointed stare, the man watched his opponent dodge away from his assault and he knew that he lost. Sure enough, the wooden sword came down and cracked against his leg; had they been using real weapons his leg would be in two, neat pieces. Pain shot through joint and thigh and Rhuryc was suddenly very glad he had used his right leg instead of the left. As opposed to giving up, the man gritted his teeth and - only using one leg - lifted his body into the air and pushed off the ground. The motion was queer, unusual. He literally jumped at John from his position on an impact course, his sword flailing out from the left in a wide, broad arc that spanned Rhuryc's full reach. He was careful, though, to not employ what would have been his severed limb in the maneuver. Fair was fair, after all. Unorthodox, peculiar, and resourceful, Rhuryc did not seem to have such 'style' to how he fought, except for that went with what worked. Should he connect, the fight would not so much be a matter of skill as raw strength.

OOCI have the hardest time writing long posts for what I consider to be about one second's passing =P

[John Griffin]

John felt his blow connect with a feeling of smug satisfaction. He had won the first bout, and could go into the next with a sense of confi- What the petch? he thought, as Rhuryc leapt towards him. Apparently the blacksmith wasn’t done. He had little time to smirk at the fact that his opponent was clearly only using one leg, reminiscent of John’s years as a page, playing knight with the other pages. The attack was long and arcing, and that saved the young knight. He was twisted away, his sword tip down, with precious little time to parry the blow. An upside down block would have to suffice. John twisted back and lifted his sword, the tip still down, nearly vertical, bringing it in line to stop the attack. He had both arms against Rhuryc’s one, but the man was larger and stronger, and his weight was behind it. The wooden blades connected with a solid THAWCK, and John was reeling away, barely able to stay on his feet, his hands throbbing from the vibration of the practice sword. He continued to back up, releasing one hand to shake off the pain, then switching to do the same with the other. He flashed a smile at Rhuryc; John had learned to enjoy being surprised by sparring partners. He had spent five years being surprised by William Erindale, and had grown into a better swordsman for it. “A strong blow, if not somewhat desperate,” he said frankly. “Learn to harness that strength, my friend, and you’ll be a fearsome foe indeed.” He gestured with the tip of the sword, “Let’s reset, and see what you’ve got.” He grinned again, and motioned for Rhuryc to attack before cocking his arms back near his right shoulder, blade held up.

OOCI know exactly what you mean

[Rhuryc]

Rhuryc rubbed his head. He was on his back, true, and appeared rather silly, but he was content to review the actions in his mind. Was the jump to short? Maybe. There was no real rhyme or reason to the assault but he had misunderstood the maneuver. Or something. Whatever the cause, Rhuryc pushed it aside and flash John a grin as he pushed himself up, regaining his poise without much to do. If there was one thing the man was good at it was standing up. He raised his arms and brushed off his shoulders, the sword kept in a single hand for the time being as he tended to various adjustments. The grip, for one, that was unusual. Rhuryc found a single hand better suited the long blade; like his common weapon, only the handle was smaller, leaving his second limb more of a distraction than an aid. Fun. With a shrug, Rhuryc turned about and walked back over to his previous position. He limped once or twice - the impact with his knee was no small manner - but otherwise he appeared to be in a decent condition. Pain was temporary, after all.

"Can't do much to harness anything if I can't hit you." He said, grinning behind the words as he squared up once again with John. Rhuryc's stance was very much the same as before, the high guard, his feet spread out and his body forward, only now he kept a lose grip on the hilt; his right heavy while the left was left to guide the blade. He waited for some time before he struck. Study. Wait. Perceive. Rhuryc made for a keen examination of his 'foe', taking the man's newfound speed into account.

In a sudden flurry of motion the wooden blade came from on high. A quick, predictable assault, the attack came from Rhuryc's left side. He swung the blade in a wide, heavy arch while he stepped forward with his right foot, his body brought closer to John's in an impressive stride, one meant to close the gap and seal the Knight within the blacksmith's reach. To add if just a bit of confusion, Rhuryc removed his left hand from hilt mid strike and held it aloft between the two of them, high and at the ready for some nefarious purpose.

[John Griffin]

"True enough," admitted John. "But you could batter down an opponent's defenses if you focused your attacks." He waited for Rhuryc to act, repeating William Erindale's words in his head. "Bigger men have strength and reach. Avoid their blows completely if possible, otherwise parry, don't block. Get inside their comfort zone and in to yours. Press the attack so they can't get an attack off at ideal engagement range." His current opponent was bigger by far, a good six or eight inches taller, and at least thirty or forty pounds heavier. As the words flowed through his head, his companion attacked, a wide, strong attack at John's right side. He stepped left, putting some distance between himself and the attack, but keeping the same distance between himself and Rhuryc. He hoped to let the attack pass, so he could attack behind it, when Rhuryc's other hand flashed out. John flinched, distracted, and lost the time to dodge.

Unable to avoid the attack, he chose to parry. With a doublehanded grip on the longsword, he swung it down, hard, knocking the attack down. He stepped back and chose to go for the loose hand. He lifted the blade in an upward arc towards Rhuryc's hand, reading to pull the hit, lest he break the man's fingers.

[Rhuryc]

Parry. Parry. Thrust? Rhuryc cracked a grin some reason. He was outmatched, sure, but from what he had seen so far John relied entirely on his sword. Remove it from the equation and the match was no contest. As the practice blade was knocked aside Rhuryc did not remain idle; John's step gave him a moment to react and when the assault came for his hand he got what he was looking for. With a wide, quick step, the smith drew himself forward, his body brought into his opponent along with his arm. He spread his palm out flat and slammed his hand into the top of his opponent's hilt, where he curled his fingers around John's grip and attempted to keep the sword from completing the maneuver. All Rhuryc needed was a momentary delay. Sure to be over-powered soon enough, the man brought his weapon around from the right, the base maneuvered up and over John's shoulder so what would have been the blade would cross his neck. He dulled the blow of course, the force behind it nowhere near what he would have mustered were they fighting for their lives.

OOCIf that's not clear, Rhu is grabbing John's hand before the arch happens and then 'slitting his throat'. Basically. If I went to far in some of the assumptions there PM me and I'll change it ^^

[John Griffin]

Petch. John had been sloppy, and let Rhuryc get too close. Now he had to deal with the man's vastly superior strength. His only saving grace was that he had two hands on his blade, whilst Rhuryc had only one on it. Still, there was no salvaging the failed attack, and with both hands occupied he was not like to stop the other man's arm. If he ducked, he would be worse off. Don't duck, fool. Roll! And roll he did. John threw himself to his right, all his weight on the blade suddenly, wrenching it out from Rhuryc's grip. Instead of his neck, his opponent's blade slid across his upper arm. He tumbled to the ground, rolling clumsily, and climbed back up to his feet. Fair was fair, so he tucked his left arm behind his back, and held his sword in only his right, it's tip down and forward, ready to parry. Ever a good sport, he flashed Rhuryc a grin.