School of Hard Knocks
Log Info
- Title: School of Hard Knocks
- Emitter: Aryia
- Place: A03 - The Colosseum
- Summary: Aryia's training at the Colosseum when Andelena comes in to spar according to their previous arrangement. Aryia proceeds to prove why she's one of the strongest while Andelena struggles to hit her. But unlike some who might get upset, Andelena instead takes it in stride and asks to train with Aryia. The School of Aryia has opened.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-<* A03: The Colosseum *>-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
Crafted largely of stone, the Colosseum sits heavily in the midst of the district. Effectively a giant arena, seats form its sweeping sides like the forefront of a great stage. At its center is a stained, stone floor. Each end is overseen by the opposing statues of Kor and Angoron, their arms raised and each holding weapons in gestures of triumph. Staged at a crossroads, their stone gazes stand in eternal challenge over the battlefield floor. Angoron's statue appears to have something of a smirk, opposing Kor's dreadful scowl.
Construction here is on the massive scale. The Arena's stone form was carried piece by piece from the Redridge. Borne on the shoulders of ancient oruch and formed by the tireless hands of the khazad, it is second to none in ancient craftsmanship. Old tribal and clan symbols, nearly worn away, reveal themselves when blood and sweat pools in their minor crevices. Their unusual display brings to life, if only for moments, memories of warrior traditions past. It is for this reason the Arena serves as a diplomatic grounds for some cultures, as well as sport and competition.
Beneath the arena's stage are preparation rooms for competitors, and retiring areas for the wounded. Here, warriors are tended to by aids and medics, by coaches and priests. Tarianic laughter echoes from the chambers on the Angorite side. These unseen areas run alongside a cleverly, khazad-designed system to flood the arena's floor for certain performances. When flooded, the arena draws waters from the nearby Tornmawr. During these occasions anything is possible, as even the Nar-Sektoth have been known to visit from far off Am'shere, and display their powers beneath the gods' banners.
The encircling seats provide a grand view, while vendors often walk the aisle ways between, selling food or taking bets. Clear as blood is the single, red line drawn down the arena's center between the twin statues, daring an opponent to cross.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- Dramatis Personae =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- Andelena 6'0" 180 Lb Human Female Redhead with steel-grey eyes and powerful build. Aryia 4'8" 110 Lb Shadow Elf Female A heavily scarred mul with a resolved look about her. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
The Colosseum, Late Afternoon
Still this day is harbors a low, yet sparse fog. The chill still present in the air. Those at the training grounds are working through their various targets and sparring partners, snow-mixed sand crunching under footfalls.
There's a scarred mul'neissa woman here with a green jacket tied around her waist squaring off against a much larger half-oruch woman. They're taking swipes at Aryia with a club, though they keep finding themselves short or too slow.
Just before one more swing goes forth, the pugilist shoots forward, brining up a hand to-
Simply catch the arm. She gives a firm look, shakes her head, and pushes in the half-oruch's elbow and pantomimes doing a swing with it. Getting rid of the tell.
The larger sparring partner groans and rolls her head back. "Ugh, fuckin' reall'? Tha's wha's been getting me dicked ova'?"
Aryia shrugs, and gestures off to go spar with someone else to go practice it.
Alone now, she dusts her hands off, hands on her hips as she tries figure out what to do next.
The Sunguard Andelena strides into the Colosseum, her powerful steps and large build already putting her right at home with the kind of people sparring in the Colosseum. She's dressed in full kit: armor, longsword, and shield are all on her body, her white cloak flicking behind her with every step. (It's too cold and still in the air for the more dramatic billowing.)
Her steely-grey eyes watch the sparring between Aryia, her recently-made acquaintance, and the half-oruch woman results in a nod of approval.
"Nice instruction," she calls out to Aryia. "Hopefully I can benefit from that."
The Sunguard smirks just a beat after. "I have a pretty good feeling you're going to beat my ass until it's more bruise than skin, but that's the price you pay to improve, right?"
The mute elf is busy fixing her ponytail as she's addressed, Aryia pivoting around to blink at the Sunguard. She raises a brow, then gives a slight nod before adjusting some cloth tape that's wrapped around her knuckles.
"Thanks," she lamely gestures. "I'm only going to kick your ass if you act stupid. I see you came."
Glowing gaze flicks down and up. "Good. You came prepared. What do you want to work on?"
Straight to business. <Handspeech>
"Speed," Andelena says with a nod, stepping closer into the grounds. "I'm too damn slow. I'm the type to take a hit for someone who can't, but I can't do that if I'm not fast enough. You probably know how it is."
She stops a few paces away from Aryia. "Live steel alright with you?" she asks, looking to her longsword briefly. "I can go fetch a wooden sword but I haven't trained with those in ages. You're not fighting with hunks of wood unless you're getting jumped at one in the morning at a lumber yard--so why waste time when you're hampering yourself?"
Aryia rubs her chin, nodding slowly. "I am very fast," she states simply. "Steel is fine. Last guy that went against me used a stick and wish he used his sword."
The mute does a walk around the Sunguard before stopping in front of her. She rolls her shoulders, then beckons with two fingers. "Alright, let's see what we're working with."
She makes no indication of getting ready, her just standing there expectantly. <Handspeech>
GAME: Andelena rolls weapon1: (1)+6: 7 (EPIC FAIL)
Andelena pulls her sword out from its sheath on her back, underneath her cloak. She also pulls the shield off her back and adopts a defensive stance, her shield out in front of her.
But there's a critical error as she marches forward, likely a result of not having warmed up first. Her shield is too far out from her body, leaving room for an attack that Aryia can easily snake around--enabled further by her sword not being in the correct position to compensate for her sword.
At least she's not acting like a cocky bastard. This one at least might be a good student.
Aryia waits. And watches. No hands raised, no stance adopted.
And when it comes time to strike, the pugilist just... walks forward right into the gap between shield and body.
She poke's Andelena's side with a digit. "Dead."
She steps out, puts a hand on the shield, and shoves it against the cleric to guard that side. "It's a shield not a fucking snake, close this." <Handspeech>
GAME: Andelena rolls weapon1: (3)+6: 9
"Shit. Yeah, you're right, I would be fucking dead." Andelena laughs. But she nods. "Look at me--coming in here going, 'ooh, I need to work on speed', then I go and put out a pathetic defense like that. Yeah, I'm fuckin' fast--at dying."
She takes a few steps back and models the shielding as Aryia showed her. "Let's try that again."
The Sunguard tries it again. This time, she goes forward, shield technique improved and sword going for the strike--but much too slow to ever hit Aryia.
Aryia chuffs, her crossing her arms as she nods and leaning on her back foot. "I'm not a backstreet ruffian that gets intimidated by the glitz and glamor. Put more effort into it."
Is she even taking this seriously?
She doesn't even move as the next strike is primed to go out.
It's going out. It's going to stab her in the gut.
And she defends by... just turning slightly to nudge the sword hand out of the way with her elbow. Didn't even uncross her arms. "Make an opening with your shield, you're winding up your sword like you're trying to stab a block of wood."
Is she bored? It's hard to tell, she's just squinting and shifting her weight around.<Handspeech>
GAME: Andelena rolls weapon1: (1)+6: 7 (EPIC FAIL)
There's certainly a bit of a demoralizing effect that Aryia's words and casual deflection of her weapon have on Andelena's footwork. "Right," Andelena says, conviction in her face and words.
But it's clear she's thinking too hard about her next actions. She's too stiff, too wooden, her movements far too telegraphed. The sword goes out but it's completely predictable.
GAME: Aryia rolls punch: aliased to weapon0+2: (13)+18+2: 33 GAME: Aryia rolls punch: aliased to weapon0+2: (15)+18+2: 35
Aryia picks up on the effect she has on trivializing one's entire career in just a couple of strikes. Her eyes flick to the cocked sword. And she sighs.
She uncrosses her arms.
There's a grey blur of movement along with a shiny moonlight that comes from the front of Andelena's shield, followed by a bone shaking 'THUD THUD' of her shield being absolutely hammered into. Like she was blocking a massive maul. "Come on! Press!" a hand flits about in front of the cleric. <Handspeech>
GAME: Andelena rolls weapon1: (19)+6: 25 (THREAT)
Press she does. Andelena barely utters a sound, pushing forward with her shield right before bringing her longsword almost fast enough to clip the much more proficient fighter she's sparring with. It's a moment of clarity, a clear improvement in speed for the Sunguard.
There's no gloating. No cries for Daeus's light. Just sheer focus on the movement of sword and shield.
Now that. Right there. That's what we want.
The harrying assault was meant to add much needed pressure to the situation. The shield advance makes the pugilist slip off, and that blade comes down.
Down towards the shoulder. Down towards a clean cut.
And the pit fighter has to put some effort in to not get cut.
>Ka-tink<
Scarred grey fingers clamp around the flats of the blade. Halting it.
The mute smirks approvingly.
GAME: Andelena rolls weapon1: (1)+6: 7 (EPIC FAIL)
Andelena pants for a moment. She looks at her blade in Aryia's fingers and a smile crawls across her face. "Damn, you're slippery," she says. "That's the closest I've gotten. This is good shit. I knew this was a good idea."
She doesn't allow herself a moment to process and learn. She's driven to improve, but the drive is what hampers her in this instance, her grip not strong enough--
And the sword simply falls out of her hands. Andelena busts a gut laughing, putting her gauntleted hands on her knees for a moment as she just laughs. "Look at me. Fucking dropping my sword like I'm 14 and full of piss and vinegar again!"
Aryia nods at the mention of being fleet of foot, her having no other method of saying anything as her hands were occupied.
Then Andelena pulls back. And the mute just keeps her grip on the sword as it slides out of the cleric's fingers.
The mute chuckles, shaking her head as the Sunguard has enough gumption to laugh to herself. Aryia glances to the blade in her grip, shifts on her feet, the offers it back like the weapon was a slimy snake. "Better to drop it here than somewhere else with someone who actually wants you dead." <Handspeech>
"Don't worry, the blade's not holy," Andelena says as she takes it back, noticing the way that Aryia handles it. "The sword's like me, it's not gonna spew holy shit at you unless you ask for it."
She pulls it back into her hands, letting herself relax and breathe for a moment. She's learned her lesson from the last attack. "Better here than somewhere else, yeah," Andelena echoes. "Just glad you're a friend and not an enemy with how quick you move."
Aryia rubs her arm. Perhaps, for the first time, just a tinge of vulnerability showing through. "I don't like holding swords," she comments simply once her hands were freed up.
The mute blinks at Andelena. "That's why I haven't tried to hit you."
She glances to a training dummy nearby, then does a 'what's-my-weekly-destruction-cap-again?' calculation in her head before jabbing a thumb over towards it. "I can show you what I do." <Handspeech>
Andelena seems a little intrigued by the brief show of vulnerability, but chooses to let sleeping dogs lie. After all, there's a promise of a training dummy about to be destroyed.
The Sunguard hilts her sword back into its sheath. No sense in keeping live steel out when it's not getting used immediately. People get hurt for less in places like this. "Please, go right ahead," she says, a tone of "I gotta see this" in her voice.
Aryia dips her head, rubbing her palms together as she steps up to the wooden target. She rolls her shoulders and cracks her neck, her bouncing on the balls of her feet some to loosen up.
She raises her fists. They get wreathed in a bright silver light. A breath In. Out.
It's just a simple punch. But it's so much more than that. There's a burst of disoriently bright light at the impact, followed by a crunch of not bone, but wood. There another from a hook. A cross. A sudden backwards spinning kick to whatever is the head of the thing. There's a pinging and groaning of metal being struck.
And she twists, pivots on a heel, then lashes out a bleeding fast haymaker that hits the backplate of the training dummy through the caved in center. It shatters outwards in a spray of shards, and the pugilist pulls back a smoking fist, shaking it off.
"God damn it, Aryia, what did we say about that!" someone yells from across the arena.
She just flips them off.
Andelena watches the show with an awed expression as the wood just shatters. She's likely picturing what would have happened if that was a person, then she looks back idly to her armor and her sword for a moment. She closes her mouth and gulps.
"How many of those do you go through?" she asks after a moment. It's the first question that comes to mind that she can articulate. "I can't imagine wailing away on wooden dummies gives you much in the way of training these days if you're that fucking good."
Aryia shakes her hands off as she returns to the cleric, the light show fading out. The expression worn by Andelena makes her both smirk in smugness, but also look aside in awkwardness.
Question. Answer. "Used to go through a lot, but I got banned here a few times because I would tear through too many. I've had to resort to punching boulders."
She gives a small shrug, and kicks a foot at the sand. "I don't get much training nowadays, to be honest. Except for working out really hard. Used to train with someone that's far better than me, but they're... uh, occupied for the time being." <Handspeech>
"So, I just teach some people around here every now and then," she adds.
Punching boulders. Boulders. Andelena has to remember to relax her shoulders at that statement.
"Well, if you don't mind sparring with me on the regular, I'd fucking love to become a regular student," Andelena says. "I want just a piece of that speed and power if it means I can protect the innocent folk better."
And just to sweeten the deal, Andelena adds, "I'll buy you drinks after if that makes the idea more attractive."
Aryia stares at the Sunguard and her offer.
Silence.
The offer is amended.
More staring. Silence.
Is she thinking? Is... everything okay?
Finally, she moves a hand after a much too long awkwardness. "Ok. Save your drink money, I don't need it," she signs, looking up at the Sunguard with an... actually, it kind of hard to tell. Elves are weird sometimes. "I'm here basically every morning. Like. At dawn." <Handspeech>
"Dawn suits me just fine," the Sunguard answers with a knowing smirk. "I'm up before then anyways for obvious reasons."
She finally puts her shield away onto her back. Her gray eyes might be the color of steel, but they're no longer permanently stuck in assessment/"impress me" mode. Aryia's already done that in spades. "I ought to get running--I'm sure my partner's wondering where the hell I've scampered off. Maybe he'll give me that cute little pout like he used to do."
She holds her fist out for a fistbump. Aryia doesn't seem like the handshaking type. "See you tomorrow morning."
Aryia gives a small dip of her chin, then thuds her knuckles against Andelena's. "Don't drop his sword. Later," she motions with a slight quirk of her lips upwards in base amusement before giving a parting wave. <Handspeech>
"If his sword falls off, then we've got bigger problems than my grip," Andelena retorts, grinning. The Sunguard gives a little wave and walks out of the Colosseum, a bit of excitement in her step.
This is the way forward.