Closed [Fighter's Pit]Strange Fighter, Stranger Friend (Sekai)

[Garland]

Date: Winter 20

Another day, another bloody face or a fight getting too rowdy. The owner of the Fighter's Pit didn't like having to put a knight to patrol and keep an eye out on the pit to make sure people didn't try and kill each other in the ring or outside. Security has been a lot tighter since the start of Fall, every able bodied knight or squire was needed to train, patrol, or go on assignments almost non-stop. Garland and a few other squires got a few days off from time to time from their superiors. Though he's fine with just watching around and patrolling, but he does long for a bit of R&R with his new girlfriend, then again... every time they go out together, she either gets very close to death, or he almost causes her death.

The snow was thick, but the fighting area and training areas were clear of most snow, a few fighters were here and there, sadly the cold and snow had made most of the casual fighters stay home. Garland was the squire assigned to keep watch in the Fighter's Pit.

He sat by the fire to the side, where some of the people were getting warm after a fight or such. There were a few out of place faces here and there, people from out of town, probably making bets with the fighters in the ring. As long as nothing gets too loud or crazy, it was ok in Garland's book. Nobody was getting hurt(except the fighters of course). It was always the same kind of people, people making bets or the regular fighters, he wanted to meet someone new, get to know them, maybe spar sometime. That would be good hopefully. Right now he was just sitting there, being warm and such. A boring day for him.

[Sekai]

Vani | Common | Ancient Language

Winters were always cold, sometimes enough that you would never need to move away from the side of a fire. And yet, Sekai found herself walking towards Anthonius Fighter's Pits. While exploring the city, she had come by the knowledge that this place was where just about anyone could practice combat. They seemed to allow combatants to borrow weapons for the fight, presumably designed to be unable to cause anything beyond bruises. So, deciding today she would attempt to test herself against others, she left the inn today, of corse leaving her scythe and scabbard behind.

Finally reaching the courtyard, she gave a sigh of relief, her breath a visible plume in the air. Thanking her luck in buying a cloak that covered just about all of her body, she allowed her to wander, taking note of everything in her surroundings. Syliras was more on the friendlier side, without anyone jumping her just for being a foreigner, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

Finally turning her attention onto the combatant's arena within the courtyard, she noticed a gruff looking man, wielding what looked to be a shortsword in his right, and a plain buckler on his left. And he appeared to be wanting a challenge, as he was calling out to nearby people to come into the arena.

Sekai took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before advancing into the arena. This was probably quite unusual, as someone new entered the area. Also what drew quite some attention, was her height. She was definitely on the short side, and was pressed at a disadvantage in terms of brute strength. She might've raised more eyebrows if they could have seen that a woman wanted to fight against a well built man.

"Well, some midget decides to take up the gauntlet!", was the rather expected words that spilled from the man's mouth, probably the exact same thought that traveled through everyone's head. Utterly ignoring the man, Sekai walked over to the wheeled carts of weapons, taking a quick scan, before reaching into to grab a shortsword. Looking at it carefully, she noted the rather dull edge, and nodded lightly. Walking back until she was about five meters away from her opponent, she held the sword rather lightly, the tip of the blade just a few centimeters above the ground.

Facing the man, she waited several moments, until the man realized she was waiting for him to be ready. "Hah! The pipsqueak actually wants to try!", was the bellowed words filled with mocking laughter. He didn't bother raising his sword, only his shield, before calling out, "Give it your best shot!".

OOCI'll give your character a chance to react to this all, before Sekai actually fights

[Garland]

Garland was sitting by the fire when he heard the combatant exclaiming about his opponent. Did he just hear the word midget? He had always wanted to see a midget fight... for whatever reason, but when he went over to the spectator's area, he was disappointed to find about a 5 foot cloaked person in the arena. "I wanted to see a midget..." He said to himself, he wasn't that much taller than the cloaked figure him being only 6 inches taller than her.

"Well... This will be an interesting fight to say the least." He sat down and fastened his own cloak around himself. He laid back down and examined the two fighters. He couldn't really see the short fighter, but he guessed that if she was brave enough to take on the challenge, she must be good, or at least very lucky.

The other one was easily 6 foot or more, very muscular and either very stupid or very... stupid, he was shirtless in this cold, and he WILL get frostbite after this. If he thinks this makes him look tougher, it actually makes him look a lot more like an idiot.

"If I had any money on me I would bet on the small cloaked person, she has a better chance at winning this fight." He said and leaned in to watch the fight. "This will be very interesting to watch."

[Sekai]

Vani | Common | Ancient Language

At this moment, Sekai had already devised a plan. Granted, it was one underhanded trick, but it all boiled down to one important fact. She was being underestimated. It was at this point that she used her left hand to drop the hood of her cloak that covered her head. Her pale appearance, with her small frame gave off the feeling of delicacy.

While her opponent was surprised at this sudden realization, Sekai started walking towards him, her gait as natural as someone taking an absentminded walk, with a gentle smile to compliment this image. Her sword was still aimed towards the ground. Presumably at a loss on what to do, her opponent did not charge or attack her, only standing in bewilderment, even when she closed the distance enough that she was basically touching the buckler with her body.

Looking up at the man, her smile had not changed, but she tightened her grip on the sword and stabbed upwards, slipping the sword behind the left arm and its buckler. Te motion only stopped when the tip of the blade was just beneath the man's jaw. Of course her opponent flinched afterwards, but the reaction was delayed, as most prevalent thought would have probably been, 'What just happened'.

Holding that position for only ten ticks, Sekai lowered her sword with a sigh of relief. It might be an underhanded win, but it was a win nonetheless, at least in her own eyes. "If you hadn't underestimated me, this would not be possible.", she said, her first words since coming to the Fighter's pit.

[Garland]

Garland was not surprised at the little girl's win, although he was a bit surprise to see a girl in the first place. "A bit underhanded... I wouldn't really care if it was a real fight, but the point of the training ground was to hone your skills and not winning through tricks." He said to himself and got up from his seat. He wanted to congratulate the little girl, that was pretty smart of her to use the her opponent's overconfidence to her advantage.

He made his way down to the arena and called out to the girl. "Hey there, I couldn't help but notice the fight. My name is Garland, it's nice to meet you." He held out his hand to shake hers. "It was a smart move tricking your opponent into lowering his guard, though I don't think that would work in a real fight though. I haven't seen you here before... Are you new in Syliras? If so, then I hope the city has been treating you good." He said and shivered slightly. "Let's get warm by the fire."

Garland led them up towards the fire and sat down next to it. "Come on, don't be shy." He warmed his hands by the fire, and rubbed them together. "Oh, what's your name by the way?"

[Sekai]

Vani | Common | Ancient Language

Sekai had already placed the sword back in the cart that she had taken it from, when she heard someone call out to her. Turning around, she noticed a knight or squire coming towards her.

Hearing his words, she smiled. "In a fight, take advantage of everything....and yes, I'm new to Syliras.", she answered softly, while reaching out to shake to offered hand. When the knight mentioned a fire, Sekai finally noticed that she was definitely feeling colder, and agreed immediately with the idea to warm up.

As she followed the knight, she had glanced back at her previous opponent. The muscle-bound man was still shirtless, but it seems he was starting to become aware of the cold, as he was shivering. Temporarily ignoring him, Sekai sat down by Garland next to the fire, before reaching he hands closer to the fire to warm them up.

When asked for her name, she answered simply with "Sekai.", before pointing at her shirtless opponent. "Are there many people like him here?"

[Garland]

"Nice to meet you, Sekai." He rubbed his hands together to warm up his hands. "I hope Syliras is treating you well, that guys is not a good example of the citizens here." He said and pointed to himself. "Like I said, I'm Garland, I'm a squire, and I'm pretty good at fighting."

He pointed to the guy she fought earlier. "Nah, he's just a cocky bugger, he's actually pretty good, but not too smart. That's what usually happens when you spend too much time in the ring where your head keeps getting knocked about."

He sat down beside Sekai. "So, where do you come from Sekai? Must have been pretty close... You look like some sort of rich noble or something. What brings you to Syliras anyway?"

[Sekai]

Vani | Common | Ancient Language

Sekai nodded as an answer to Garland's question of how Syliras was treating her, before looking once again at her previous opponent. "Perhaps he should guard his head more often.", she muttered softly. In a true fight for one's life, being hit across the head would more than likely be fatal.

However, when the questions were turned onto herself, Sekai stared at the fire in front of her, the flickering of the flames reflected on her eyes. "I came from Zeltiva.", she said. Although her tone was leveled, it was clear from her expression that it was not a memory that she wanted to drag up.

Switching topics to get her mind off the memory, she added, "Syliras seems like a nice place, far from the troubles of other cities.", with a casual shrug.

[Garland]

He smiled when she started opening up a bit, she seemed like she wasn't really the kind to open up to anyone. Though she doesn't look like she wants to talk about her hometown right now, he won't push it, but he's a bit curious right now.

"I was born and raised here in Syliras. It's been pretty peaceful here compared to other places... I wasn't actually born here, but I've been raised here since I was little baby." He said and reached for his sword. "This was the only thing they found on me when they brought me here, I guess it was from my parents." He said and looked at the blade.

"Well, anyway. Do you want to spar? As you probably know there are blunt weapons over on the weapons rack over there. It'll be fun and I won't make the same mistake that guy did." He said and placed his sword on the bench and went over to the weapons rack and took out a bastard sword.

He thought about using a shield or not, either way, he was here to fight and he met someone that might be interesting match. "Well, I guess I'll be using a shield. Do you want to fight? Looks like the pit is empty right now."

He looked at Sekai, she really didn't seem like a fighter, but looks could be very deceiving, like she shown before. She was more like a girl you would find shopping for dresses rather than kicking butt in the pits.

He sighed, was he going to regret challenging her? Probably, he's very unlucky with just about anything, and maybe he might get his butt handed to him by this girl, but he won't ever back down from a fight. "Come on, Sekai. Let's spar." He hopped down to the pits and strapped on a wooden shield and his blunt sword.

[Sekai]

Vani | Common | Ancient Language

Sekai looked at Garland in surprise as the squire had asked if she wanted to spar. Wasn't the squire suppose to be on duty? Perhaps supervising the Pit or the like? Why else would he be standing around in the winter cold?

Unable to find any answers for her questions, Sekai decided to set the thoughts aside, before nodding. She was here to practice her swordsmanship, so she might as well accept the squire's offer. Besides, the squire might prove to be someone who viewed her as equal, and not create huge openings. One couldn't exactly learn without some sort of challenge.

Following his example, she also walked over to the weapon's rack, and pulled out a shortsword. However, glancing back at the squire's current armament, she decided to grab a second shortsword on a completely bizarre plan. She had zero expereince with holding more than one weapon, but with her current plan, she wasn't exactly relying on skill, but mostly luck.

She also dropped herself down into the pits, before taking up a position across from the squire. She raised the shortsword in her right hand, but allowed the one in her left to dangle loosely in her grip, blade facing downwards.