A Second Lesson [[Atten: Conor]]

[Siera]

Lirievin Tesiva Lir felt her nerves rising as the realization hit her that she would now have to wield this sword in front of her, and not against someone who had wronged her but she was suppose to hit Conor, someone who she thought fondly off. She picked up the sword, carefully. She could feel her hands shake as she raised it. She knew she would have to calm herself if she were to have any hope of gaining any skill. Besides, Conor trained for this, there was no way with her skill level she could hit him and cause any real harm.

She took a deep breath and clearing her mind. She knew she needed to focus, and not worry about anything. She would be lucky to even hit Conor anyway. She raised her sword, starting in a relaxed position. Slowly, she moved to the right, waiting to see what exactly she could do. She started with Parting the Silk, which Conor fended off with ease. Liri knwe she would have to do more then that to have even a chance of touching him she would have to do something different. Thinking for a second, Liri switched moved her sword to do The Boar Rushes Down the Mountain leading into The Tower of Morning. She moved fairly slowly and Liri knew she would ave to work on that, but this was teh most movement she had had on her ankle in weeks, so it was better then she expected but it would not hold up in an actual spar, not one with a friend.

[Carra]

Conor Palfrey He didn't make the same mistake as before, assuming that she was like all the other trainee's in his care, and instead of forcing her to circle around him or to shift her weight in a way that was already awkward for her Conor stayed fairly stationary. Just the footwork of the thrust and the retreat was already causing her to weaken but he was impressed. Her weakness didn't show on her face. Instead he saw determination to do her best and it was all a teacher could ask for. However it did not mean that he didn't counter.

Instead of simply blocking, Conor would return with his sword using his full length to test her very weak defenses. It took her a little bit to catch on that she needed to block his slower attacks instead of dodging out of the way. Her returns were growing stronger even if he could see the strain, but there was one thing she needed to fix right away. "You're attacking my blade, not me." His spare hand tapped his chest or his head. "Don't focus so much on my blade, focus on me. My chest, my head. My hand. Wherever you are aiming. You won't be able to hurt me that a Yellow can't fix," or that I haven't done to myself already.. "and I won't hurt you either. Where my blade is will start to come more naturally after you are able to see where your blade is focusing." And with that mental note he would have to schedule her to work with a stationary target to help her learn the muscle memory. But for now... "Try again, Liri."

[Siera]

Lirievin Tesiva Liri nodded as Conor paused their spare to give her some advice, and she knew she had to listen as what he spoke was true. She was worried about hitting him and hurting him, not that the sword would do much damage. Hurting someone who deserved it? yes, but potentially hurting someone who had done nothing but been nice to her was harder to grasp. She knew she would have to get into a different mindset.

There was only one person she hated and wanted to hurt and Liri knew she would have to think of Conor as Sean if she was ever going to get over this, once she hit him once or twice she was sure she would feel better and less reserved. Imagining him in her mind Liri place him where Conor stood.Even that simple exercise and Liri could feel her blood start to boil. She started again with Apple Blossoms in the Wind. From there she made a few thrusts towards Conor, aiming this time for his chest and head. Those were the weak spots and the ones where one would want to hit if they were in a 'real' fight.

She went through a few different forms including Boar Rushes Down the Mountain and Parting the Silk, trying to flow one into the next, even though she knew her attempts were clumsy. But eventually she would get it. After a few more quick exchanges Liri took a careful step back. She could feel her energy draining fast. She rolled her shoulders before taking a few steps forward swinging into Low Wind Rising before backing up again and returning a regular stance, waiting to see what Conor had to say.