Retribution (Speed Spar)

[Sunny]

Dax glowered across the desk at the Mistress of Training. She simply looked back at him, her gray eyes level and clear. The four men who had been his companions in his misadventures the night before all took their leave quietly, but the Tairen remained, meeting her eyes. "You may go,” she said, her tone sharp and cold. After another long moment the former sell sword gave the woman a stiff bow, just barely shy of being unacceptable shallow, turned on his heel, and left her office.

He carefully did not slam her door behind him; instead, he turned and made an explicitly obscene gesture at the wood as soon as she could no longer see him, and stalked away, in the opposite direction of his erstwhile companions.

The bloody woman hadn't laid a finger on him! How could he feel so battered by words? Why was it such a terrible thing to enjoy a game of dice, a pretty girl, a drink or two at night? He arrived at the Yards every morning at the prescribed time, he did his work, what more did this infernal trap want from him? They couldn’t force him not to do what he wished. How dare she humiliate him like that, for simply enjoying a well-deserved break?

His battered pride demanded retribution that he could not extract from the Mistress of Bloody Training. After several minutes of fuming, he turned his steps toward the training yards. He stopped at the entrance, looking across the field at the people he so closely shared his life with. They were all so perfectly prissy in their green uniforms, noble intentions and kind personalities glowing from their faces to a one. Blood and bloody ashes, what am I doing here?

He signed in with the quartermaster, making the usual promise to do no unnecessary harm. Then he walked over to the first likely man he saw, and tapped him on the shoulder. “Would you care for a partner, friend?”

[Toma]

Jain woke at his usual time before the sun and went through his normal presunrise routine. When the sun rose, he went to wash up and get to breakfast. After eating he still had some free time and since he had recently gotten a new sword, he decided extra practice to get used to the weight and balance would be time well spent. Since he did not much experience with such a heavy sword, he began with a fairly simple routine that he had learned at home with his grandfather. It did not show off much skill but it was good to loosen up his muscles and give him a feel for the new blade. He had just finished the first set of moves when he felt a tap on his shoulder. The man was shorter than him but still looked muscular. He was clean shaven and despite his broken nose, he had one of those faces that women immediately found attractive for some reason. It reminded him of the pretty boys back home and the Trainees that had harassed him and Lianna at the White Tower. Jain hated the man immediately.

“Would you care for a partner, friend?” the man said to him.

Jain shrugged his shoulders to work them out and resheathed his new sword. He removed the scabbarded blade and laid it off to the side while he reattached his normal sword to his belt. "I suppose I could use a spar against a real opponent."

[Sunny]

Dax looked his new partner up and down speculatively. He could not have possibly chosen a more perfect target for his ire. The man had the look of the Borderlands about him with his long hair pulled back with a cord. He was also impossibly dour, his thin mouth turned down at the edges. After perfunctary introductions, in which Dax learned his new friend was named Jain, Dax strolled several spans away, left hand resting lightly on his sword hilt.

He turned and drew at the same time, the hilt of the sword resting easily in his hand. Life was simpler when viewed across a blade. Anything on the other side could be killed with impunity, under the assumption of enmity. In this case the intent was to disarm or disable, but the same principle applied. Jain had drawn as well, he saw; Dax counted to 3 in a clear tone, and then they began to circle, moving sunwise around that corner of the yard.

Dax assessed Jain as they moved. The man was taller and heavier, but he moved like a man used to armor, and held his sword like a man used to fighting with honor. Well, friend, we'll see how you do. He darted in, sword aimed at the man's chest; Jain batted it away easily, and Dax backed off. He spun and came back, this time aiming for the side. Again he was rebuffed. He has decent reflexes. Each move gave him a little more information about his opponent's abilities, and he was in no hurry to lock sword hilts just yet.

The dance was refreshing after so long spent cooped up with Bree. Every attempt at a blow, he imagined her lecturing him, and his fury boiled higher.

[Toma]

Jain learned that the pretty boy's name was Dax and not much else. I don't need to know much more about him anyway, When the battle began, Jain started to feel out his opponent in the same way he figured Dax would be assessing him. Since he seemed to want to move around in a circle, Jain had no problem dropping into The Creeper Embraces the Oak to guard against anything he might try, at least to start. Dax tried for a thrust at his chest that he easily parried. When Jain saw him move again, he deflected the strike to his side and moving in the opposite direction, used Parting the Silk to put a horizontal slash across Dax's stomach, parting his clothing but not drawing blood.

Smiling for a moment Jain said, "Almost" before pointing his sword up on a diagonal and moving it smoothly back and forth ready for Dax's next attempt. Jain could tell that Dax was getting more agitated as each moment passed and the two attempted blows that Jain parried as well as the fact that the man had a new opening across the abdomen of his doublet didn't help the situation very much. Jain continued to move around the space and defend against his opponent's moves until he saw an opening and swung his sword low into the Tower of Morning, a vertical slash from low to high, then grabbing the hilt of his sword with both hands, moved directly into the Boar Rushing Downhill, a diagonal slash from high to low. Dax jumped back to avoid the Tower and raised his sword to deflect the Boar to the side but the extra force behind this strike caused the tip of Jain's sword to drawn a thin line of blood on Dax's cheek before the other man could force his blade away. Jain dropped back a step to keep distance between them and dropped the extra hand from his sword hilt to increase his movement range as he guarded and waited to see what Dax would do next.

[Sunny]

Dax was unprepared for the speed with which Jain attacked, barely throwing himself out of the way in time to avoid being cut in half. As it was, the blade sliced through the front of his jacket and shirt, leaving the fabric to gape open. The Tairen frowned in response to Jain's comment, and backed off momentarily, calculating his next move.

The next few moments was an elaborate game of cat and mouse. Dax could feel it in the lack of strength behind the man's blows, and the ease with which he deflected Dax's attacks. Abruptly Jain moved, his sword swinging up, then down. The Tairen blocked both blows, feeling the strain in his muscles, but he was a moment too late on the second; the tip of Jain's sword scored his cheek, leaving a line of fire in its wake. The Borderlander stepped back into a defense stance as pretty as you please, and Dax resisted the urge to glare at him.

Rather than concede to his annoyance, Dax chose instead to utilize his one advantage: speed. He darted in, struck at the man, then danced away from his parry. He came back a moment later with a stabbing feint that turned into an arching slash. They fought for some time like that, with Dax's blade flickering in and out, testing every limit of Jain's abilities. At last he saw an opening; he feinted to the left; when his opponent moved to block him, he swung the blade around, twisting it in his hand to slap the man on the backside with the flat of his blade. Then he ducked and rolled under the man's free arm, his right hand pulling his knife out of his boot as he did.

"At least I didn't slice your clothes open," Dax said in a mocking tone as Jain turned to face him. The other man's only comment was a smooth arch of steel that should have sheered Dax's body in two. Instead, the leaner man crossed knife and sword and caught the descending blade. He shoved it away quickly, and took several steps back; if it came down to a contest of strength, Jain would win. His only hope, now, was speed and a certain willingness to bend the rules.

[Toma]

Jain knew that he was fairly quick but he also knew that his strength lay in precisely that, strength. Dax on the other hand was quicker and tended to move out of the way of his attacks instead of even trying to block them. Jain didn't let it get to him, though and made sure all his moves where the kind that could continue whether the smaller man blocked them or not. Jain started moving more and more smoothly as he learned the limits of his sparring partner and continued to test the edges of his guard. At one point, he feinted left and went right and struck Jain on the bottom with the flat of his blade. It wasn't a hard stroke by any measure and even if he had used the edge, it wouldn't have been much of a wound, if anything. The nimble man rolled behind him and rose holding a knife that he pulled seemingly from his boot.

"At least I didn't slice your clothes open," Dax said in a mocking tone as Jain turned to face him. Jain grimaced slightly and answered with a overhead strike which Dax met by crossing his sword and knife blades and deflected to the side before retreating a few steps.

Jain decided he had finished probing his opponent and switched his stance from one prepared to parry and deflect to one that was slightly more offensive. Rolling his shoulders to loosen them up he swung his blade in a wide circle to each side of his body and started his assault on the other man's defenses. A strike from the side turned into a crushing downward blow that cause him to jump back a few feet but Jain wouldn't let him get away that easily. As Dax retreated, Jain advanced and spinning around, he brought his sword across Dax's chest, or at least where his chest would have been if he hadn't been so acrobatic. Jain followed up the slash with three quick overhead strikes that rang across the Yards as they hit the other man's sword and scored minor hits on Dax's arm and shoulder. Jain knew the other man would likely try something desperate and watched him to see when he would make his move even as Jain continued to push against his guard.

[Sunny]

The Drin'far'ji felt the exact moment when Jain shifted from defense to offense. Slowly the larger man drove him backward, forcing him to run, roll, duck, and tumble to avoid punishing strikes. I need to practice more. The unusually candid thought flitted across his mind and he dismissed it to the same place he had shoved all of his irritation at Bree. He needed every ounce of his attention to counter this mountain of a man's attacks.

He blocked when he had to, but ran more frequently, ignoring the stinging bite of the blade when he was unable to defend himself. He heard someone laugh, and spun, meeting Jain's downward strike with his own blade, rage giving him strength as he forced the blade up and away from him. He took a step back into a traditional fighting stance, feet shoulder-width apart, legs slightly bent, sword and dagger crossed before him.

Then he moved, attacking in earnest, no longer caring about the disparity in strength. He swung upward from a low stance with the sword, his knife hand curving in from the left. Jain blocked the sword and avoided the knife. Dax let his sword slide along Jain's with a screeching wail, then spun away, his blade flashing in an arch over his shoulder as he brought it up to slash down again, this time holding his dagger at chest level. As he had expected, Jain blocked his sword then broke away, lashing out in a horizontal strike that Dax deflected with his knife, in return for a glancing slash across his arm.

I really need to practice more. Knowledge of impending defeat did not feel any better to Dakson Torellion than Ubriel's chastising words had, and he struggled to control the urge to fling himself on the man and pummel him with his fists. Instead, he settled back into a crouch, waiting for the inevitable.

[Toma]

Looking back, Jain wouldn't exactly say he was enjoying this, but it was fun for him. The striking and parrying, deflections and near misses really got his blood flowing. He had determined a few minutes ago that Dax was good but not as skilled as he was and because of this, Jain made sure he stayed away from certain moves that would cause severe damage or potentially death in his opponent. He figured he would use one mildly dangerous move to push his opponent off balance though and then finish the fight.

Jain saw the moment when Dax began his desperation attack. He threw himself into attack without much worry to defense and he stopped trying to avoid Jain's strikes and instead tried to block them and throw him off his rhythm. Jain changed his moves and came from unexpected angles though he thought the other man could predict it slightly. When he saw Dax seem to sit back after Jain slashed his arm, he moved in for the proverbial kill. He began with Hummingbird Kisses the Honeyrose, a quick thrust at Dax's face. The momentary hesitation allowed Jain to score a cheek slice to mirror the one his opponent already had on the other side of his face. As Jain quickly drew his sword back, his free hand flew forward throwing a dagger from his belt sheath at Dax's feet, causing him to jump back out of his stance. Jain quickly thrust numerous times at Dax's midsection before slashing once relatively high at neck level. Still off balance, Dax barely deflected the blow with his sword and the remaining force knocked the knife out of his other hand. Jain's return slash came across at waist level and Dax had no choice but to block with his sword. Jain flowed with the movement of their swords and using the Grapevine Twines twisted the sword out of Dax's hands and a few feet away. Jain stepped back and saluted his opponent with a raised sword, the sparring session at an end.

[Sunny]

The man he faced abruptly broke into a series of fast, but studied moves. Dax stumbled back, Jain’s blade gouging his cheek; he yanked his head back, then stumbled as the man threw a knife at his feet. The Tairen had never felt so clumsy. He had been in more scraps than he could count, and had come out the other side whole and healthy. He had his share of scars, but he had acquired them individually, not in one violent onslaught of attacks.

He had heard that master swordsmen had names for their moves, called Forms. The man who taught him to fight had had no inclination to use them, and so Dax had not, either. When he arrived at the Tower, he had been not-so-kindly introduced to the concept of Forms, and had steadfastly refused to learn them. What good could naming a series of movements possibly do in a fight? However…

He defended himself against a series of jabs at his belly, each one efficient and calculated. The Borderlander had barely broken a sweat, and Dax felt as if he had been rolled through a briar patch. The jabs ended with a slice that he was forced to block at an awkward angle; the force of the blow took him by surprise; he dropped his knife to hold his sword with both hands.

He swung his sword around in time to parry the next strike, but then Jain did something odd with his sword; it twisted like a snake –or a vine- around Dax’s blade, and popped it out of his hand. Dax immediately stepped back, hands at chest height. Jain saluted him, and the Tairen nodded unwilling acknowledgment.

Jain walked away, that square face of his still cold as stone, to play with the enormous blade he had been looking at just before Dax asked for a spar. The Tairen stood catching his breath for a long moment, then wiped his face with his sleeve. It came away smeared with blood, but he could tell the cuts were not deep. He gave the Yellow who attended the Yards a thoughtful look, but then decided he had had enough humiliation for the day.

Head full of thought – an unusual state of affairs- Dax headed for his bunk to change his clothes and ponder what he would need to do to best the man who had just beaten him into the ground.