Have We Been Humbled - Or Did We Prevail? [Open]

[northswainbraid]

WHO: Agrias Oaks (northswainbraid) and anyone who wants to chat/train/watch/bring her food/laugh at her/whatever/etc
WHAT: Training and re-mastering Hallowed Bolt
WHERE: The beach
WHEN: Day 140 from dawn until a little past suppertime

Comments

Early evening :( he's a working boy~

[poetryinfashion]

With little ceremony, Kaoru rushed out the door with his rapier. "Back later!" He called to his brother - the sounds of training had been coming from his journal all day and finally he'd decided to go out looking for whoever the girl was that was practicing.

Where do you check first? The beach, of course, with all of its open space. He was panting a little by the time he got there, but not nearly as bad as he might've done without the daily exercise regime he'd been following.

"Excuse me! Hey, excuse me - is there a chance I could spar with you for a bit?" Kaoru called out to the armored maiden as he approached.

[northswainbraid]

The sun was beginning to set over the ocean. For the first time since she arrived, Agrias got to see the sunset up close, relaxing and smiling as she watched the sky turn orange. A few minutes later though, a voice rang through her ears.

"Good evening to you, ser! You are one of the clothing shop twins, am I correct?" She picked up her blade and swung it a bit, shaking the sand off. "But of course! It would be my pleasure to train with you. Show me what have you!" Agrias took an offensive stance and swung gently at first, gaging the boy.

[poetryinfashion]

"I won't lie, I'm still pretty new at this sort of thing," Kaoru remarked, mimicking her swing as best he could, but a little slower and with a wider range of motion. "But I made a promise to a friend..." His voice was calmly casual at that point as he dodged to the side, jumping a little as he did so to gain some distance.

But then he charged. He watched where her blade had ended its arc of motion and aimed for just under that, hoping to catch her off-guard. "And a promise to myself!" Now he was serious.

He wasn't terribly fast, or terribly strong, but the commitment was there in his eyes and his tone of voice. If nothing else, his stance was balanced and sturdy - his knees bent ever so slightly and leaning forward into the strike as he ran forward. His follow-through - the full rotation of his shoulders - led him into a rotation which he hoped would help him parry another strike.

[northswainbraid]

Oh, this would be a most interesting one to spar with.

That determination. That raw, fiery emotion. A promise being kept. If this kid kept those, he would certainly get better and hone his skills. Sometimes all you needed was something like that bolstering you to keep you moving forward.

Agrias felt his blade hit hers several times, sending a nice metallic vibration down her back. How she loved that feeling. This time though, she would duck and aim for the boy's side, makings ure not to injure him as to leave a mark.

"Not bad, child."

[poetryinfashion]

"It's Kaoru!" The younger of the Hitachiin twins retorted, but in that instant Agrias ducked and caught him off-guard, knocking him to the side with the force of her blow.

It sent him to the side, but all of that practice with Kurama paid off when he rolled over and caught his balance while on his knees, toes propping his body up. His reaction time had improved from that of a high-school boy and so he managed to launch himself forward and up into a new strike, both hands gripping the pommel to slash from Agrias' lower right side to the left shoulder, but again he didn't lose his balance - steadying himself with his left leg just in front of his body and his right leg back.

One hit wasn't enough to take the wind out of him - not anymore.