Walk it off (Aello)

by **Rysen Londell** on March 21st, 2011, 6:35 pm

Rysen was pleased with his attack, at least he had managed to land a hit on her. And not only that but she was disarmed as she had dropped her dagger on the floor."Well at least I got you once." The tension in the room was building and he felt a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. He was feeling quite strange at the moment, he was not used to being in such situations and other than that he was fighting with a woman. Granted this woman was far more skilled than he as she seemed to flow around while he was stumbling around trying not to embarrass himself. The sword in his hand was outstretched and pointed right at her. Now she stood unarmed and backed into a corner, any skilled warrior would certainly be able to end the fight here. But he was anything but a skilled warrior and he was unsure what to do now.

She was backed into a corner so no telling what she would do to get out out of it. Their were several things running through his mind and he was trying to figure out his next move. He would have to be careful now as she was unarmed, the last thing he wanted was to severely injure her. But he wondered if the tables were turned would she feel the same way. Would she hold back if he were disarmed and backed into a corner? Or would she take advantage of his moment of weakness and go for a finishing blow. Be smart Rysen. The danger of the situation became very apparent to him, even though this was supposed to be practice.

His right arm still outstretched towards her with the tip of the blade pointed right at her. He bent his left arm and gripped the hilt as he raised both arms until the blade was not level with his eyes. Then he took a quick step and brought his arms down swinging his sword donwards and then coming back up. She had her arms raised in front of her ready to lash out with her fists. He would try to slice her forearm since she was displaying it out so openly. He figured she would have to dodge as she couldn't possibly expect to counter his attack.

by **Aello** on March 22nd, 2011, 12:07 am

Just don't fuck up, and you'll walk right out of this as if nothing had happened. Aello ignored her brain. You should be able to get the knife as soon as he moves... but not a moment sooner, unless, of course, Rysen is kind enough to kick it to you, which is doubtful. Again, Aello ignored it and simply waited. Your opponent would never do such a thing in a real fight, so why would someone you are practicing with do so? Aello's brain asked. Because in the real world, should you ever find yourself in this situation, your opponent will end it swiftly. Unless, of course, you find the one way out. Outsmart your opponent, weave your body around him, twist like a snake, and go for the jugular. There was a pause. Turn the tides in your favor.

As soon as Rysen moved, so did Aello. His blade swished by her ear as she side-stepped to the right just in the nick of time. "Just who are you trying to kill?" Aello asked, as she continued to side-step around him, until she reached her dagger. She picked it up quickly and held it in her right hand. She stepped forward, just in case Rysen was trying to hit her again, and then turned to face him. "Looks like we're even again. So you may just want to try a little bit harder," Aello said as her eyes narrowed and she resumed her usual fighting stance. She could vaguely make out the sound of Yune chirping in the background as she waited for Rysen to make another move. She wondered which side he would try to strike. If he would wait for her to try something. If he was looking for some sort of opening, a weak spot in her defenses. Much as she was doing the same with him. He seemed to step heavily on the right foot to Aello, but she wasn't so sure such a piece of information was very helpful. So, she assumed, she would simply have to get lucky and catch the man off-guard.

Slowly, Aello began to side-step to the right, perhaps Rysen would do the same, and the two would simply stare each other down for a bit. Buying their time until the next portion of their practice commenced.

by **Rysen Londell** on March 22nd, 2011, 4:41 am

Rysen was surprised to see her move so quickly and in fact was taken off balance as he tried to follow her as she moved around him effortlessly. He stumbled a few steps and nearly lost his balance but spun around to face his opponent and managed to compose himself again. "Kill you? I'm flattered you even think I'm capable of such a thing my lady." Perhaps she was right though, maybe he should be more careful with his attacks. In fact it might be time to end this before someone got hurt, after all he was inexperienced and his sword more than doubled her dagger in size. Just as he was about to speak up he noticed that she had already picked up her dagger and resumed fighting stance. Try harder? I'm trying pretty damn hard. His blade came swiftly over his head and he sliced into the air before he dropped back down into his stance.

"Well now you're just teasing me." She had begun to side step around and debated following suit. But he wanted to avoid another standoff. She was most likely contemplating her next move or maybe she was sizing him up looking for a weakness. He wouldn't even know what to look for in hers. His head filled with different scenarios and none of them made any sense to him, he kept coming up empty as to what his next move should be. Wing it. A voice in his head said. This was not something he ever liked to do but he was out of his element here. So he make the decision to not give her a chance to take control.

His left foot kicked off the ground and was followed by his right one, although the room was small he was almost in full sprint before he was with in striking distance. As before he brought his sword down across his body and followed through. Then he took another step and brought his blade back upwards following the same path. This movement was very slow however and his body reacted poorly to it becoming slightly off balance, so to try and compensate his body weight shifted to his back foot.

by **Aello** on March 22nd, 2011, 10:19 pm

"Teasing you? Or intimidating you Rysen?" Aello asked. "Because it sure seems like the latter of the two," she smiled. Her eyes were sparkling, even in the poorly lit room. The blood on her dagger seemed to glow ominously as she moved, displacing small waves of grey dust. A floorboard creaked beneath her weight. It caused the girl to hesitate, if only for a minute. The noise was discomforting, something Aello hoped would not happen in a real fight, for it gave her position away. Of course, in this case, Rysen had known where she was all along, but it didn't matter. It was the principle of the whole thing.

It was as though the creaking floorboard was some sort of signal, for as soon as it echoed through the room, Rysen came charging at Aello. The young spiritist's eyes grew wide as she saw him ambling towards her. Surely he wouldn't attempt something quite so bold in an enclosed area such as this? Rysen was inching closer and closer. Apparently he would. The man seemed to be moving in slow-motion, and Aello seemed suspended in space. Here he was, across the room from her, sword in hand, and there was she, muscles tense, body crouched, squeezing the dagger in her right hand. He was coming, she could see that clearly, and she knew that the attack could easily be dodged. Aello could have stepped out of the way long before he was standing only a few feet from her.

Aello could have moved far sooner, but she didn't.

The spiritist remained in place until the last possible second. The last moment in which an escape remained. When the sword seemed to flash, and she could see herself reflected in the metal, Aello swiftly stepped to the right, and watched Rysen finish his move; slicing wildly through the air. He seemed slightly off balance. The poor guy has no idea as to how he should wield a blade. Even now, he seems so desperate to defeat you. A smile crossed the girl's lips as she turned to face him again. "That the best you can do?" she asked. "Or are you simply taking it easy since you're facing a girl?" Aello taunted. The girl took a half step to the right before twisting her body around, extending her right arm, and bringing the knife around in a low, circular arc as she went. If Rysen didn't move quickly, she'd stab him in the back.

by **Rysen Londell** on March 22nd, 2011, 11:09 pm

As much as Rysen hated to admit it he was trying, which made it that more frustrating that he couldn't seem to land an attack on her. He had expected this because of his inexperience but that didn't make him feel any better. She was more skilled than he was and he knew that going in; but she had a way of making him feel worse about it. Put that crap out of your mind. Just focus.

In all honesty he had thought that his attack was going to hit, Aello seemed frozen as he charged her but just as he was upon her she slipped around him. His back foot had all of his weight on it which prevented him from turning around quickly. Not good! She was behind him now and he was extremely vulnerable. He spun around as quickly as he could but it was too late. Her dagger sliced into his side causing a very moderate amount of pain. The wound was located on his ribcage and there was a crescent shaped cut from where she had hit him. Blood was visible through the cut in his shirt and he pressed his hand over it. "I think you may have got me there." His voice was very breathy as he caught his breath, this cut hurt much worse than the one on his shoulder. He was ready to quit now, never had he been cut like this and he didn't like it at all. No. No Rysen, don't quit now. This is nothing. Keep going, don't quit.

As badly as he may have wanted to stop he knew that he couldn't. This was nothing compared to what most warriors could fight through. If he was to learn anything he would have to learn to ignore the pain and push through it. He straightened up again and help up his sword ready for another attack. He tried the offensive and that didn't work so well. She was clearly too fast for him to hit and on top of that he wasn't very good at this anyway. Maybe he would fair better on the defensive. "Come on Aello, I thought you were good at this. I would have thought you would have taken me out by now." Perhaps some taunting of her own would cause her to become reckless and make a mistake.

His forhead was beaded in sweat now and he was sligtly out of breath from having taken such a blow from her dagger.He brought his arms up and held his sword in front of him slightly cocked to the right. His right arm was straight while his left was bent at the elbow. His feet slid back into his stance as he prepared for what she had in store for him. "So what are you waiting for hmm? Come and get me!"

by **Aello** on March 23rd, 2011, 1:53 am

"Whoever said I was good at this?" Aello asked. "The only conclusion we came to was that I was slightly more experienced than yourself... obviously," the young spiritist stammered. She was still a little shaken, she didn't think she would actually hurt him. She eyed his wound nervously, the blood that was spilling out the side and dripping onto the floor. "You ok there Rysen?" Aello asked. "That cut doesn't look so good." A drop of blood spilled off the tip of her blade. Plop! It landed onto the floor, splash, it splattered, and formed a misshapen puddle. It mirrored the blood that was trickling out of the mark she had left on him. It smelled faintly of metal.

Aello side-stepped to the left. "We could always stop and bandage it up. We don't want you hurting yourself after all. Especially when this wasn't meant to be anything more than a simple practice fight." Aello took another step to the left. Aello sighed, "but if you insist, just don't try telling anyone that you didn't have it coming to you when this is all over." As soon as the words had escaped her lips, Aello stepped forward as far as she could with her right foot. She was bent at the knee, leaning forward and into it. Her left foot had only moved half a step, if that, and was bracing her body. Her right arm had been pushed forward, along with the dagger. She was using basic fencing moves, in this case, the ever so classic lunge. It was a bit of a gamble: if Aello hit Rysen with her blade, he certainly wouldn't be in good shape. If she missed, however, Aello would be wide open for attack, and the tables would have turned.

Hopefully she doesn't miss. That would just be bad. And right after she had taunted him! What a cocky girl that would make her seem! Yune was chirping in the background, cheering her mistress on. But he is bleeding, and generally kind of slow, perhaps it won't matter what she does at this point. He should simply tire out soon, right? Aello's heart was pounding in her chest, and warm air was flowing in and out of her mouth rather rapidly. The back of her throat was beginning to feel dry. But then again, so will she. Neither of them can fight on forever. They have to stop sometime. It is just when that is that is uncertain. For it is inevitable, if they don't stop, they'll simply drop dead. Her mouth was starting to grow dry as well. Unless one of them kills the other first, of course. Aello ignored her mind's dialogue, she could not allow it to distract her. She could not lose her edge now.

by **Rysen Londell** on March 23rd, 2011, 5:16 am

"What this? Just a scratch. I'll be fine." He sounded very smug and full of himself as he spoke but he was just trying to play off his injury. In all honesty Rysen was concerned about it. He hadn't gotten a good look at the damage so he didn't know how bad the damage was. Also he was beginning to feel the first signs of fatigue and he wondered how much longer he would last. I can't tell if she is tired or not. Is she? She certainly hides it well if she is. One thing was sure sure though, Ugh, my side hurts like hell. He was hoping that the adrenaline would take his mind off of it but he was still feeling it and he sure wasn't looking forward to getting up tomorrow morning.

She wasn't going to coddle him just because he had never done this before and he was thankful for that. That was what he needed right now and it looks like he had found the right person for the job. Now more than ever he focused his mind on her body. His eyes scanned all over looking for any sort of movement. So far his sword attacks were too slow and she seemed like she could easily dodge most of them, he decided that such direct attacks wouldn't work anymore. He would wait and let her come to him while he would attempt to counter her attack.

It seemed like she was playing into exactly what he wanted. Her foot began to step forward and her blade came right at him as she lunged towards him. This was his chance and he reacted as quick as he could. As she was coming at him he stepped to his right and brought his sword around and tried to drag the edge of it just above her hip. As he finished the movement he wasn't even sure if he had made contact but wasted no time and reached down with his left hand for her ankle. His intention was to trip her up again as that was the only thing that had worked so far and he hoped that it would again. However leaning over like that caused him to grimace as his side reminded him that it was injured. Shit...almost forgot about that.

by **Aello** on March 23rd, 2011, 2:38 pm

Time seemed to stand still as Aello's dagger inched closer and closer to Rysen. At first, it appeared to her that her blade would meet his flesh once again, and yet, before she knew it, he had dodged her attack. Aello's eyes grew wide. Petch! This can't be good! The man side-stepped and soon enough, Aello could feel the edge of his blade resting just above her hip. The blade was angled, so that a small portion of the sharp edge hit her, and a small portion of the flat, relatively harmless side did is well. The blade cut through the stitches in Aello's dress. They began to fray, and split apart at the center. A single long, white, thread fell to the floor. There was only a spot or two of blood, glowing ominously; a prize upon the silver blade. The rest seemed to hide in the recesses of the girl's flesh, too afraid to come out and announce defeat, it merely caused her side to sting.

In just about any other fight, the girl may have winced, or attempted to back away. But she was not about to show weakness to this man. Nor was she given the chance to move away when he bent and extended his left hand towards her ankle. Large fingers wrapped around her leg, and seemed to squeeze. "What is that going to do Rysen?" Aello asked as she waited for him to actually do something. She was doing her best to move her foot away, but each time she did, the cut he had just made would sting, and she'd stop, only to force herself to try again a second later. Deciding that it was hopeless, Aello decided to try a different route. Aello swung her right hand to the other side of her body, and then brought the hilt downwards, and towards Rysen. If the man didn't move, she would hit him atop the head with it, which was sure to leave a nasty bruise. Perhaps even knock him out, at least temporarily.

OOCPerhaps we should wrap it up soon before we like kill each other. We could end by trying to clean the wounds up or something. But my medicine skill is lacking, so... yay for sucking at things until you learn!

by **Rysen Londell** on March 23rd, 2011, 4:38 pm

What the hell am I doing? Rysen had a tight grip just above her ankle and now found himself not knowing what to do. He had meant to grab and pull her leg causing her to lose balance but by now she wouldn't be so easy to take down. He could feel the cut on his ribs beginning to throb now and he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. She began to struggle trying to free her foot from his grasp but he wasn't letting her get away now that he had a hold on her. Now was a good time to end the practice session and maybe he could have the last laugh. Okay, pull the leg out from under her. She trips and goes to the ground. You stand up over her and point the sword down at her so she can't move. That means you win, right?

So rather weakly he tugged her leg hoping to throw her off balance so that he could walk away feeling good about himself. However she had other plans; he looked up in just in time to see the hilt of her dagger coming right at him. He panicked and let go of her leg as he tried to straighten up and jump backwards. So now her attack hit him squarely in the chest now that he was standing and not hunched over. It knocked the wind out of him and he stumbled backwards as he tried to catch his breath. His sword dropped to the ground with a loud clank and he dropped to one knee with one hand hold his chest and the other on the ground supporting his weight. For a few seconds he was still gasping for air and coughing. Great...that's gonna leave a nice bruise.

Another few seconds went by and he began to breathe normally again. He placed his hand on his knee as he slowly stood up, he grunted in pain on his way up. "Well, I think I've had about as much fun as I can take for today." He brought his arm up to his forehead and wiped away the sweat. With his other hand he reached down and pulled up his shirt so that he could get a good look at his injury. The cut was deep but not life threatening, he breathed a sigh of relief and let the shirt fall back down. His glance turned to his bag and he wished that he would open it and find medical herbs and bandages but he knew he had none. Even if he did he wouldn't quite know what to do with them anyway. Why the hell didn't I study medicine? This was a question that he regularly asked himself and he regretted not taking time to learn more about while in school.

His sword was still on the ground and he bent down to grab it, as he stood though he winced in pain. He wiped what little blood there was on it off on his shirt. Looked like he was going to be needing a new one anyway. "So was this your plan all along? Lure me into an old abandoned house then beat the hell out of me for a bit? Its funny that every time we've met I've ended up in leaving in pain." He hobbled over to where their bags were and he leaned his back against the wall next to them.

"I would think a man covered in blood limping through the streets may raise some questions. So I don't suppose you would know how to bandage this up properly?"

by **Aello** on March 23rd, 2011, 6:19 pm

Aello chuckled as he stumbled backwards. "Should have moved faster Rysen, and committed to your attack." She turned to face him. "But if it makes you feel better, we can always call this one a draw." A shy smile crossed her face and her eyes sparkled. "You ok?" Aello asked as she took a step closer to him. Her dagger was resting in her hand, waiting to be called into use. Her arm was lying flat against her side; useless. The blood was still dripping. The knife seemed to be calling; begging to be stained by more.

Aello didn't bother to wipe the blood off; she had learned long ago that it never went away. She let it drip, the blood splashing on the hardwood floor. One time, two times. The wound in her side seemed to scream. Make everything in the room but it silent. Everything still. Aello could feel her blood rushing through her. Behind her temples; the back of her ears. The cut was stinging, cutting through the silence. It needed to be taken care of. Slowly, Aello put the blade away, as time seemed to return to normal.

Aello took a half step closer to him. "As for plans, there was none other than to practice. Assuming you bothered to show up of course. After all, there is no reason to kill you, unless, of course, you do something stupid enough to change that." There was a pause. "But then again, you would have been shot long before you so much as reached out your hand to open the door. Now wouldn't you?" Aello asked. She ignored the part about him getting hurt whenever they had met. It wasn't her fault she attracted trouble, and he just so happened to get in the way. Well, perhaps it was, but Aello wasn't one to care. Getting into trouble always kept her on her toes, and ensured an exciting day; a good night's sleep.

There was another pause as Aello stepped even closer to him. "There will be no questions asked about the blood. We're in Ravok Rysen, not Syliras, here chaos reigns. But if you insist, we can clean you up. Perhaps we could bandage you up or something too if you have some herbs or something hidden up your sleeves, or perhaps, even in your bag of tricks." Aello paused. "It seems doubtful though." With that, Aello turned abruptly on her heels, and headed to the window. She pulled her waterskin out of the mess of various things the two fighters had littered there, and then turned back around. "By the way Rysen, you may wish to remember one more thing. Just because someone is a girl, doesn't mean they are automatically more well-versed in feminine matters such as medicine. You may not want to assume as much in the future." She threw her waterskin at him. "If you can catch that, you can use it to clean yourself off. Just return it when you are done," she finished.