Closed [The Anthonius Fighter's Pit]Through Swords and Shields

[Garland]

Fall 1

The days were getting shorter and the nights were getting longer and colder. This was a sign that the end of summer was drawing near. There was a nice cool breeze in the air and the sun was not as harsh it was in the middle of summer.

Today was a good day for any outside activity, not too hot or too cold. The city was bustling with activity, people were hawking wears, buying the wears, kids were playing on the streets, much to the annoyance of the squires stationed there.

Garland on the other hand would egg the kids on to play, to make the boring patrols a little more exciting, but today he wanted to dedicate today to his training, to his swordplay.

In the Fighter's Pit, there were the usual people there, veteran pit fighters and trainers. Garland was not as good as most of the veterans here, but he was good, good enough not to get pummeled constantly at least.

The squire was wearing the usual armor, full-plate complete with shield and sword. He was just warming up, a few stretches and swings against the training dummy to keep himself limber.

His patron, Sera Catherine was overseeing her squire's training, as useful as the Training Grounds are, the Fighter's Pit has a more... savage feeling to it, a something closer to real combat. Garland had seen plenty of real combat, but each battle is different and it would be good to keep training.

"Back straight, Shield raised, Sword pulled back..." The knight said and Garland followed with her instructions. "Now strike!"

The boy swung his sword down, embedding the blade into the wooden dummy, he pulled out his sword and continued to attack the dummy.

"That's enough, I think you're all limbered up. Why don't we find you an opponent?"

"Yes Ma'am. Though I think I'm getting pretty good, I think I might have a chance against you if I'm at the top of my game." Garland said and flexed his muscles. Catherine just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest.

"How many times have I told you? Strength doesn't win battles"

"Strength doesn't win battles." They said at the same time. Garland frowned and looked around. "I still think I can beat you."

"Oh please! I could run circles around you, you arrogant boy!" The both of them just laughed and continued to scan for possible opponents. "I was going easy on you when we first met, you weren't just wet behind the ears, you were as green as grass right after it rained."

[Daresh]

Daresh Talir Daresh usually tried to make it by the Fighters Pit a couple times each season, he wasn't particularly fond of Gerard, reminded Daresh a little too much of his father. The pit however was the best place to gauge the competence of the citizens in combat, that and Daresh had some fond memories of the kind knights who had helped him train here when he was a kid. Daresh liked to come here and keep an eye out for any young talent, help out some of the more apt civilians occasionally. It was important to have some of the populace trained in weapon use, the knights couldn't train everyone after all. As Daresh was coming up on the pit he could already here the sound of combat taking place. The pit mostly held the regulars Daresh didn't see any new faces, he was surprised to see two knights however. Took him a moment to recognize Sera Ashe, Daresh didn't know her too well, he did know she wasn't usually much for training with strangers though, which likely meant the other knight was actually a squire. The squire was pretty good too, better than he was at that age, possibly better with a shield than he even was now. Daresh never had been too good with the shield, often relied too much on his sword and brute strength. "Greetings Sera Ashe", Daresh called out waving his armored hand at the pair as he approached. Daresh was wearing a suit of half-plate and carrying his sword he hadn't bothered to bring a shield from the armory. "Training your squire?" Daresh asked as he drew close brushing some of his hair out of his face.

[Garland]

Sera Catherine looked behind her and saw Ser Daresh walk towards them. He gave a small smile at her fellow knight. "It's nice to see you here Daresh."

"Hi!" Garland greeted enthusiastically at the tall knight, compared to Garland, he was a giant and the squire was a dwarf.

Catherine sighed and slapped the back of the squire's head. "A bit of respect and courtesy wouldn't hurt you know!" A crest formed between Ashe's brows and a frown showed on her face, clearing telling the other knight that she was a bit peeved at her squire.

Garland on the other hand, was oblivious to his Patron's annoyance. "Ow! Sorry. What I meant to say was Hello Ser Knight, it's a pleasure to meet you." He said and placed his right hand on his chest and bowed. A salute to the larger knight.

Catherine looked over to Daresh and thought for a moment. "Why are you here? Same reason as us? Looking to train with the local brawlers?" She asked with a small smile. "Hmmm... Would you mind sparring with the boy for a round or two, I want to see how much he's improved, if that's not too much trouble."

Garland visibly brightened up. "Really? I get to spar with a knight?" He was always finding new ways on testing his abilities, he even got into a few street brawls before.

In fact, he was surprised when he was allowed to join the squirehood, he had a very very very long list of disturbances when he was growing up on the streets, but because of this he prides himself with his hand-to-hand combat.

This way, the only way to make him unarmed was to chop off his arms and legs. People could say that he was getting an arrogant side growing on him, but he honestly believes he might be one of the strongest human squires in Syliras.

"Get that smug look off your face, Daresh could beat you easily if he wasn't holding back, but for the sake of you saving face and actually look like a decent fighter to the people here, Daresh would be holding back." Catherine said and handed Garland the blunt Bastard sword and shield lying on the ground to the side. "I suggest you get down to the pits and get ready, I need to talk to Daresh."

Garland turned and headed down to the pits, his heavy plate-armor clanged on the stone as he stepped down to the pits.

Catherine looked over to Daresh with a serious look on her face. "We can catch up later, but here are the things you need to know. Garland is slow with that armor on, but his strikes are still strong, probably not as strong as your blows, but this is just a head's up. He fights through instinct some of the time, he's wild, using his legs, shield, the dirt, anything to use as a weapon." She grabbed a blunted longsword and shield and handed the weapons to Daresh.

"The reason I'm telling you this is because I always stack the odds against him, he needs to learn through the fires and flame, but show him a bit of humility. He fought by the gates last year, a day after he became a squire with little formal training, I wasn't there when he fought, but I heard that he stomped a seven foot man's head to pulp. He fought on the streets as a child and he is proficient with his fists, I suggest NOT to knock his weapons away." With that, she patted Daresh's back and went over to sit by the small forming crowd.

[Daresh]

Daresh Talir "Was actually planning to help train some of the citizens but helping a future member of the knighthood sounds like a worthwhile endeavor", Daresh explained as he began unbuckling the cold iron longsword at his side. Daresh grabbed the shield and inspected it as he strapped it on to his left arm, it was an old large iron shield, battered with rusty pits and dents. The longsword was only in slightly better shape, Daresh noticed as he hefted it in his right, little unbalanced but only a few nicks and just a bit of rust near the hilt. "Really should train the boy at the Antinous Training Grounds. Much better equipment", Daresh chuckled as he did a simple spinning flourish with the blade and jumped down into the pit. Daresh circled around Garland near the edge of the pit, he was keeping the boy on his left side as he studied the squire. The heavier armor would hamper Garland's movement and the helm would limit his vision, Daresh would use these to his advantage. It took time getting used to full plate and odds were this wasn't his personal armor which meant it was likely ill fitted, full plate was usually specially crafted for an individual after all. "So Garland tell me about yourself?", Daresh asked simply as he circled. Not waiting for the answer Daresh dashed forward pulling up the shield and ducking behind it slightly as he intended to bowl the boy over.

[Garland]

Garland was taken aback by the sudden movement of the knight. Garland was knocked back by the Knight's charge, making the boy stagger back.

Garland held his ground and raised his shield, anticipating another attack from the larger knight. Though it seemed Daresh wanted a bit of small talk while

they were fighting.

"Not much to say, a squire hoping to become a knight one day." He pushed himself forward, using his shield as a weapon, trying to get in close to the knight,

rendering a sword useless.

With the distance closed, Garland thrust his leg forward, under Daresh's leg to trip him up.

Catherine frowned and rubbed her brows in annoyance, if the boy even used a smigget of his brain, he would have known that he couldn't overpower Daresh as

easily as he did with other opponents.

A smart move would have been to counter Daresh's moves, he may be impaired with his armor, but he was much shorter and thus harder to hit.

Garland backed off, keeping his distance from the much stronger knight.

He took a defensive stance after his blunder of an attack. "So... umm... Tell me about yourself, Ser Knight." He kept his eyes on Daresh, watching his

movements closely. Of course Daresh would take it easy on him, but he still had to be on his guard.

[Daresh]

Daresh Talir When the boy braced to meet Daresh's rush head on, the knight thought the boy was a fool. When the squire managed to take the brunt of the blow and only stumble back though Daresh was mildly impressed. As the boy stumbled back it crossed Daresh's mind to continue pressing the attack. It was likely Serah Ashe was wanting her squire trained not just beaten mercilessly. So Daresh dropped back hefting his shield in front of him and crouching into a defensive stance, the sword clutched tightly and held back ready to be thrust forward should an opening arise. When the squire charged forward Daresh swung his shield, in an attempt to interrupt the attack by bashing the boy with the shield. Daresh felt the impact on his leg, not to mention the loud sound of metal shin plates crashing together. Daresh's leg buckled slightly but he was pretty firmly planted and it only caused a momentary waver in his stance. Daresh expected another attack in the opening the boy had created, but was surprised to see the boy had retreated. Wasn't a bad plan, Daresh had the greater reach but between heavy armor and a solid shield reach didn't account for much. Staying too close in would allow Daresh to use to much of his superior build and physique against the boy. Slowly Daresh began making his way towards the squire trying not to drop his guard. "Just a Knight devoted to Yahal and Sylir. Doing his best to help our order", Daresh explained before dashing forward on the attack again. The first swing was fast and light, just testing the boys defenses. Daresh hardly waited for the blow to connect before jumping towards the boys sword side, away from the covering of the shield. He swung again light and fast at the boys arm.

[Garland]

Garland was ready to block the first attack, he raised up his shield anticipating the knight's sword. The blow connected, but it was hardly a strike, it felt more like a light tap on the shield rather than a strike.

Before he knew it Daresh was on his blind spot. The knight slashed Garland's arm, the sound of rasping metal on metal resonated through the arena, if these swords were sharp and Garland didn't have any armor on, he would have had a very deep cut on his arm right about now.

Garland stepped back and countered with a horizontal slash, aiming for Daresh' chest. He looked at the area where the blade had connected with his sword arm. It was dented and scracthed but still it was okay, they were training, armor gets dented and damaged when people train.

He stepped back, keeping his distance from Daresh. "I see, I'm not much of a follower of gods, but I do want to protect this city." He said and readied himself, if Daresh moved to attacked, he was ready to dodge and counter-attack with his sword.

Catherine simply watched the fight unfold, she crossed her arms and looked to Garland, he was holding back, she could tell. He had seen the boy fight before, a savagery of attacks overpowering his opponent, was he trying a different tactic? She couldn't tell, but she was quite happy that Garland didn't just run in, swinging his sword like a child playing soldier.

This was an opponent he could not overpower. Garland was strong, although short, his days as a child on the street made his body tough, resistant to pain. His days working as a woodcutter's assistant helped him shape his body. He was somewhat like Daresh.

She had heard that he worked hard in his youth, barely ten and already traveled from Sunberth to Zeltiva and eventually to Syliras. He had heard he was a son of a famous knight though. She couldn't remember, she did remember that Daresh joined the squirehood a few days before she had her knighting quest.

She hadn't had time to worry about a new squire when she was getting ready to embark on a quest, so she never really got to know the person, only the story of the person.

[Daresh]

Daresh Talir "An admirable goal", Daresh said in response to Garlands desire to protect stormhold. Darting forward Daresh made a simple light thrust using his long arms to keep distance from the squire. Daresh darted away from Garland again and began to circle the young man. "The order is about more than just Stormhold, even Mithryn", Daresh explained as he circled around the boy carefully his shield up, his sword hanging loosely to his side. The castle was highly impressive but Daresh believed the order's goals had grown stagnant. Maintaining their little corner of the world as opposed to spreading order across the world again. "The order is about ideals. Even in the unlikely circumstance Sormhold would fall so long as we uphold the ideals of our order the knighthood will remain", Daresh continued. Making a sudden movement to the left, Daresh than darted right to get in close, swinging his shield Daresh tried to bash through Garland's defenses. Following up with a blade thrust at the boys hip.

[Garland]

As Daresh lunged forward, keeping away from Garland's range, the squire parried the blow with his shield. The blow simply bounced off the shield with a dull clang. His second attempt at stabbing the boy was a better success than the previous one. The blade skimmed on Garland's hit, scratching the armor that was covering that area.

He eyed the knight, there was wisdom in his words, but Garland felt like ideals can only get you so far. Strong ideals can keep your mind on the ground, keep you grounded to your beliefs, but without the strength and the place to protect your ideals, they would crumble away with your body and mind.

Ideals are stronger than swords by far. Stronger than any army, but they are fragile things, an ideal stuck inside someone's else is at it's most vulnerable .

"True, but we aren't here to discuss the ideals of the knighthood, Ser." Garland rushed in aiming to do a feint. He raised up his sword and brought it down on Ser Daresh's shield, as the sword connected with the shield, he raised up his shield and bashed forward, trying to stagger Daresh and then continue with another strike from his sword.

Sweat beaded down from Garland's brow, the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight all looked somewhat interested, and a few were interested in Daresh, as much as the people respected the knights, they would want any chance to legally have a go on a knight in the ring. Just to test their mettle.

Getting into the squirehood is easy, their standards are not very high in that regard, but to become a knight, one must be the very best in their field. Some squires stay squires for years, decades even. Being a knight is no easy feat.

In fact, being able to beat a knight in single combat would mean praise from the people and a possibility of being offered a position as a squire. Some bystanders were even eying up Sera Catherine.

Garland was in a good position to send a flurry of attacks to Ser Daresh, if his initial attack succeeded in breaking through Daresh's defenses.

[Daresh]

Daresh Talir Daresh had always cared more about the ideals of the order more than any other part of the knighthood. Many joined for the perks of being a knight, the power, prestige, or money; some joined to prove their strength of arm. None of that interested Daresh, he joined because he truly believed in the core ideals of the order. Daresh still remembered his knighting ceremony, the pride he felt when he recited his pledge, the strength that seemed to course through him when he accepted the gifts that marked him as a knight. Not that Daresh really used them that much, his father's cold iron blade was better than the steel they offered him, so it hung on a wall in his quarters. The plate armor was stored in his chest, Daresh honestly felt the full plate was too intimidating to the citizens to wear on patrols of Stormhold. Daresh usually equipped himself out of the castle armory. "You are a squire of the order of Syliran Knights everything you do is a reflection of the order. Thus any time is the time to make you understand it", Daresh explained to the squire. Noticing the sweat already beading on his opponents brow Daresh smirked, the boy was strong and apt but obviously he wasn't quite used to prolonged combat in his armor yet. Daresh wasn't too focused on the gathering crowd, some would love to see him get shown up, he had come down here and trounced some of them with such ease it was almost pitiful. Not to say that Daresh hadn't been bested a time or two himself down here, those who triumphed over him here either had no interest in the order or just didn't have the conviction to cut it as a knight. When the Garland swung his shield Daresh braced himself, ducking behind his shield and readying for impact. The weight difference was definitely in his favor and having had time to brace himself, the strike didn't even rock him on his heels. With a grunt Daresh put his shoulder behind the shield and pushed back against the squire giving him a little distance. Daresh however had made a mistake, ducking a little to low under the shield. By the time he had managed to recover Garland was on him again, and just like that the tables were turned and Daresh was on the defense. The first thrust glanced off the rim of Daresh's shield and scratched across his breastplate, through no action of Daresh's own. When the slash came Daresh at least had time to act, swinging his shield up to meet the sword, hoping to knock It from the Garland's hand. When the shield bash came Daresh's shield was still up, unable to protect himself, the squires shield collided loudly with his breastplate. Daresh jumped away from the squire's assault, just in time to avoid a kick that would have likely caught him in the stomach. Daresh had cleared enough space to give himself a moment of reprieve as he looked down at his armor. The breastplate was crumpled, it wasn't quite broken but was definitely going to need repair before it was put back in the armory. Daresh took a deep breath, feeling for any serious damage. Not feeling any sharp pains, his chest felt slightly compressed but not too bad. Daresh laughed loudly as he fixed his eyes back on the squire. "Good strike, didn't think you had it in you boy", Daresh said loudly enough for everyone in the crowd to hear. Ducking back down behind his shield, most of his face hidden, just the eyes peering above the shields edge Daresh hefted his sword resting it on the edge of the shield ready to stab out should the need call. Daresh was taking short breaths, that bash had taken more out of him than he initially thought, he'd be surprised if he could go more than just a few more rounds without a break. Daresh was half tempted to call for a break long enough for him to strip off the breastplate and just fight with the chainmail beneath but he figured he would give Garland a truer combat experience and let the damage he inflicted hold for now.

Secret :

OOC: Garland informed me of the strikes in the flurry he mentioned at the end of his last post and gave me permission to fill it in on mine. Hope that isn't a big deal rules wise