The Grey Tower

Danos winced as he saw Avyra fall to the ground. But worse was the fear in her eyes as he stopped to see if his friend was well.

He hated seeing the look of fear in her eyes, and knew that much of it was his fault. He knew the differences in their sizes would have made it harder, but he wondered if she didn't need a more experienced teacher.

Crouching down, Danos squatted down onto his heels and held his hand out to Avyra, "That was good, the blow you deflected was perfect. Let's rest, and I'm sorry that I've lacked the words to describe this to you. You shouldn't fear a spar, and that is my fault."

"Good to hear you say that, and I will do anything I can to help. Now let's get back to it," said Danos, his eyes filled with relief as Avyra was willing to continue. He knew she would still be facing frustration and fear, but he would aid with that so long as he did not feel he was the cause.

Danos stood in the middle of the sparring ground, and as he assumed the guard stance, he once again thought of something from his time spent in Dax Gaidin's class. "Avyra, you play music so this may make more sense to you then it did me at first. But I was taught by Dax Gaidin to view my movements as a scale. If I make too many moves with one side of my body, I become over extended and off balance, like so," said Danos as he performed two quick lunges with his right, and was then unable to follow with a kick from the left.

'If you think of your body as an instrument, keep the scales in balance. Each move balanced by another move. This will be especially important as you deflect. If you block my blow to the side, use that movement to lead to an attack, but if you try to meet force with the same force, it will not work," said Danos as he mimed sliding a punch off his shoulder to the left, followed by dropping his body lower, and delivering from the right.

Danos then again assumed the starting stance, and when Avyra was ready, he delivered a three strike sequence again, a jab from his right straight and for the shoulder, followed by a knee brought up and down to strike the midriff, and lastly would be a another right punch, a slow uppercut as Danos would have to struggle to meet Avyra's lowered body if the knee struck true.

Danos laughed when he realized he had confused the two terms, and Avyra's face was priceless as she tried to decipher his explanation.

Danos could see her stumble backwards and knew she needed more work on the footwork but that thought was stopped as her full weight knocked into his chest.

The surprise move from Avyra knocked Danos down to his left knee, and he could feel the landing rough on the sand.

"Well that was a strike I've never seen in Dax Gaidin's class," said Danos cheerfully as he rubbed his chest where she had slammed into.

He then stood, snapping back into the position, and motioned for her to attack.

Danos watched as Avyra swung for his jaw, the blow not connecting as her reach was too short. Still she dodged back nimbly as he swung his elbow up in a counter attack, and he could see her quickly moving to separate their bodies.

She moves like a squirrel, thought Danos to himself as he pressed forward with his feet, keeping her moving backwards and around the sands.

Danos could tell that once she had her wind trained, he would quickly grow exhausted by chasing such a quick, agile opponent. Maybe that's it, get her off the sands and more used to her body thought Danos to himself as he stood straight, and motioned to Avyra that he was finished.

Heading over to the fence, he grabbed a ladle from the barrel of cool clear water nearby. The water was crisp, and he wondered if some trick of the Power kept it so cold and fresh, as he spooned a ladle over his head to help wash the sweat and sand off his face. "I think maybe we should take a break on the sparring Avyra, I know there are tricks to this that I have not learned yet. But I thought since you like trees so much, we might attempt the obstacle course. Any strength we both build up will only help in the long run," said Danos as he gestured to the course.

Danos laughed when Avyra said he would probably have to help her as they looked over at the obstacle course. "Well think of it as a tree you can climb, and Keeper Jaryd can't say a word," said Danos with a smile in his eyes when he reminded his friend of their last attempted adventure.

He knew many of the obstacles had ropes that could be thrown over to help the newer students practice, indeed some of the climbing walls he was only able to get over that way, his hands too large for good handholds on the logs, especially given his weight.

Danos jogged over with Avyra to the beginning of the course, mentally trying to go over the walls, ropes and crawling areas that made the course a grueling workout. "3,2,1, lets begin," he called out before jogging at a brisk pace, long legs eating up the sand as he reached the first obstacle, a simple balance beam laid over a pit someone had dug.

With his footwork practice, this was much easier this time around, his body now well used to adapting to the changes in balance. Once cleared past that, he jumped over the hurdle bar, his legs swinging up and out in a kick as he cleared the two obstacles. Then came a climbing wall, the edge of which was waist height for him. Taking his arms and swinging he was able to vault over, the muscles in his arm and midriff protesting as he swung his legs over the wall. Then he was through the crawl tunnel, the cramped space slowing him considerably as he was forced to crawl through the tight confines. Light I hate this feeling, thought Danos miserably to himself as he breathed a sigh of relief once his shoulders cleared the tube.

The ropes and rings of the next stage cause his arms to burn as he hoisted himself up the ladder, and across the sand filled pit. Danos paused for a moment at the landing, turning to see how Avyra fared