004 [Action]

[headphones_nyan]

[Life's back to normal. No demons, no mysterious invaders. People are no longer flying around and shooting at each other. He's going back to school. ...It's like the lockdown never even happened. And that? That's a strange thought. The idea of slipping back into an ordinary life kinda freaks him out. So Hero's going to do something about it. Before

Comments

[bandana_blue]

[...Want some help with that?]

[If you do, here's Locke, wearing a slightly bewildered expression at this mutilation of the ecosystem.]

...Did the tree insult your mother or something like that?

[headphones_nyan]

[yplz.]

I'm practicing.

[His response is punctuated with another pull. Stupid tree.]

[bandana_blue]

...Practicing what, decorative tree carving?

[And Locke looks at the knife, and the tree, then the glorious hero. This is not a combination that can end well.]

Want me to give it a try?

[headphones_nyan]

Self-defense.

[And he steps back and nods. It's all yours, Locke.]

[bandana_blue]

[[OOC: LJ might possibly be dying, let's see what happens.]]

[What did you do to this knife, hero. It doesn't come out when Locke gives it a normal tug, and then a better pull, so he wraps his hand around the handle and wrenches down and away from the tree, twisting it just a little as he does. It comes out, but it shouldn't have been that hard. He flips it over so the handle's pointing at Hiro, sort of like offering a sword.]

You got it in there pretty well, at least.

[headphones_nyan]

((OOC: Yeah, it died on me completely last night.))

Thanks.

[He accepts your humble offering, Sir Locke. Examines the blade for a bit -- he has a feeling it's not going to be very kitchen-worthy by the time he's through -- then gets right back to work. He can't seem to make up his mind whether to be gripping it normally, however, or if it's better to grip it backhanded, so the blade points down instead of forward.]

[bandana_blue]

((OOC: It died and then revived for me. I'm too damn stubborn.))

[...Dude, can you not be left alone for a minute or something? Locke watches that very, very, very dubiously, then just... reaches out and takes the thing away again before he cuts something off. Bad kid, no biscuit.]

Not with that. Not like that. A kitchen knife'll hurt someone, but you don't want to fight with one unless you've got no other choice. You want a balanced, double-edged dagger if you're going to fight properly. See?

[He goes everywhere armed, and at that word he unsheathes the dagger at his side. Rather standard construction, definitely not fancy, but a damn good blade on it. Really big difference between the kitchen knife and the actual weapon.]

[headphones_nyan]

This might be my only option. There aren't very many places in my world that sell daggers.

[Don't judge him, he's not a kid. 8( That being said, he's just going to admire your shiny, pointy thing now. Ooh. Aaah.]

[bandana_blue]

You don't have a weaponsmith in your town? [Yeah, his world is nowhere near as technologically capable as yours. PEOPLE GO ARMED FOR A REASON.] Strange kind of world. But there still has to be something, right?

All right... if you're gonna try this, I'm not letting you damage yourself too much. You can hold it backwards for sweeping cuts if you want, but mostly you're going to want to point it the other way. [Demonstrates a proper knife grip with correct finger positioning as well.] It lets you stab or slice well, and you don't stab in knife fighting as much as you might think.

[headphones_nyan]

[He shakes his head.] It's not easy to get your hands on those kinds of weapons where I come from. I'm sure I'd be able to find some kind of knife, though.

[And he studies Locke's grip for a moment before mimicking it. It's obvious the dude knows what he's talking about, so it's not like Hero's got anything to lose by listening.]

...You were the one who gave me the idea of using these, actually.

[bandana_blue]

I was? Oh, were you that guy asking about fighting in the journals awhile back? [There's been a lot that's happened since then, so forgive him for not making the connection immediately.] There's so many fighters that use swords here. Swords are good, but they take awhile to learn, and even longer to become really good at. It takes awhile to get really good at knife fighting, but not as long as swords. Of course you're easier to hit, then, which is why most of us tend to move a lot.

[He switches the dagger into a proper backhand grip, still watching Hiro.] Are you serious about this whole thing? You really want to learn to fight?

[headphones_nyan]

[He didn't really expect you to remember; it was a while ago. Anyway, he nods. It's not so much that he wants to learn. It's more a matter of needing to.]

Dead serious.

[bandana_blue]

[And Locke's of the assumption that the fight scared him a lot since he couldn't fight, not an unreasonable assumption given the circumstances. But he nods in return; the kid doesn't seem like he's joking around, always a good sign.]

Then you're gonna want a wooden replica to practice with, and a real one that's either not sharpened or has a really dull edge so you can't cut yourself - you'll use the wooden one to learn the movements, then the bad one to get used to the actual weight and shape of the weapon. With those you'll only bruise yourself, instead of slicing yourself or someone else to ribbons.

[headphones_nyan]

[Think whatever you like, Locke, so long as you're willing to part with helpful hints like that one.]

You really know a lot about this, huh?

[bandana_blue]

[Well it's not like he wants anyone else to lose a finger.]

I've been doing it for years. I can use a sword, too, but I'm not nearly as good at it. Everyone's got their strong points, after all.