[Open]

[thebestandwurst]

Characters: OPEN
Location: Training grounds near the park. Part of it’s an obstacle course, too.
Rating: Gen, hopefully.
Time: Morning, October 12 and various dates
Description: Training time. This happens every morning, 6am to 9am, but are mostly handwaved. Your character should know about it, one way or another. A log is put up every month, but

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[Batch 4]

[thebestandwurst]

[You are secretly encouraged to beat the crap out of each other.]

[Vergil Sparda - OPEN]

[blue_darkslayer]

[Those of you unfortunate enough to not be in the Watch or otherwise protected by a filter will no doubt recognize Vergil from a certain advertisement that aired over the DEMISE network earlier. Unlike his impersonator, there is absolutely nothing coy or suggestive about his manner during training.

On the contrary, actually. At this time he's working through forms and strength conditioning training by wielding a blunted bastard sword one-handed. He is, far more noticeably, surrounded by a highly ominous aura of deepest midnight. If that isn't discouraging enough, perhaps the look in his eyes is. Or the open bag not far away from him with two more swords sticking out.]

[(Vergil's free for chatting, sparring and chatting, or full fight logging. Just let me know! Action or prose, doesn't particularly bother me.)]

[sendthefallen]

Yuna was also blissfully unaware of said advertisement, which was well and good, because otherwise this meeting would have been awkward (or, at least more awkward than these two usually are). Thanks to her shopping trip with Rikku, the summoner was dressed in more appropriate combat clothes, form-fitting but breathable, as she approached him, no longer even remotely intimidated by him or his menacing aura.

"Good morning, Vergil," she said pleasantly. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting." Quite the contrary, since she was always sure to be on time, if not early.

[blue_darkslayer]

He was concentrating far too deeply on maintaining his Soul Adrenaline to take heed of her approach, but when Vergil hears the familiar sound of Yuna's voice he blinks away that particularly murderous look from his eyes and sweeps his sword aside with finality. His dark ki dissipates with the motion. Finally, then, he turns and beholds the girl.

"Not at all," he says automatically, though she certainly hadn't, indeed. He'd only just managed to stabilize his aura, as it were. Certainly not one to waste time, he takes a moment to consider her before simply stating, "Pick a sword." He deftly reverses the bastard sword in his hand and holds it out, but at the same time, he inclines his head in the direction of where his Big Bag of Blades® rests, where his iaito is also visible.

[sendthefallen]

Yuna found herself smiling as he turned to face her, the darkness swirling around him having been extinguished. "Mm, good."

Her head tilted as she regarded the sword he reversed to hold out to her, looking a bit...doubtful. She wasn't sure she could swing it properly given her size, let alone use it with any effect. Her gaze followed his gesture toward the bag, where the thinner blade rested. "That one will probably work better?" she suggested, leaving it open to his opinion. He was in charge here, after all.

[blue_darkslayer]

All things considered, the iaito is most definitely the wisest of choices, and Vergil nods. In his professional opinion, katana are easily the most wieldy of swords and usually the best quality. Granted, an iaito is only an imitation intended for practice, but its geometries are similar enough to serve as a reasonable substitute. And this swordsman isn't the type to settle for lesser quality in anything he uses.

He shoulders his bastard sword and proceeds to close the distance between them. "Draw," he orders quite neutrally, waiting long enough for her to retrieve the sheathed sword before squatting by the bag, after piercing the ground with his own, and rummaging around for something else he also intends to use for this session. In the meantime, though, he's sparing Yuna a few moments to adjust to the weight and feel of the blade, as is wise for someone still new to swordsmanship.

[sendthefallen]

Yuna gives him a single nod before stepping over to follow orders. Her fingers slip around the hilt of the sword to unsheathe the blade, before stepping back to test it out a bit. She is vaguely aware of Vergil looking through the bag as well, curious as to what he's looking for.

She tests her grip a few times, testing out the weight of the katana she's holding. She's still not entirely used to holding a sword, but the few times she's resonated with Yuuri helps; at least she knows now how to hold it without feeling uncomfortable.

Once she finds a comfortable grip, she glances over at him, ready for his next instruction.

[blue_darkslayer]

He pauses in his search and looks across to watch Yuna as soon as he detects the sound of steel smoothly parting from steel. Training is something Vergil takes extremely seriously, as well as the matter of instruction, but he does allow himself the luxury of observing Yuna drawing the sword from its saya. There's... something aesthetically pleasing to the process, and to seeing a more graceful blade in the hands of the girl. Inwardly, he made a mental note to find a more beautiful katana for when he has her try training with a proper weapon.

Items located, he leaves them aside and still out of sight while he climbs back to his feet and takes his own sword back in hand. He squares up with Yuna and levels an assessing gaze at her. "Strike." His blade is simply held before him in a rather neutral stance. At this stage, he simply intends to see if she remembers the bare basics - such as actually holding onto her weapon when it meets resistance, and delivering a proper cut. A refresher, more or less. She's clear to proceed how she wills.

[sendthefallen]

She makes a soft noise of assent in her throat at his command. She's not worried about his lack of speech - there's something formal about the way he teaches, and she finds it helps her stay focused. Not that she's one to have drifting attention, anyway, but it is difficult sometimes with him around.

Yuna makes a simple vertical slash towards him, fully ready for him to meet her blade with his. She's not attempting to actually spar, just get a feel for the weight of the strike and to get used to the feeling of actually hitting steel against steel.

[blue_darkslayer]

Smoothly and with a seamless simultaneity, Vergil's sword turns and rises to catch the blade with an overhead block, weapon angled perpendicular to the ground and point of contact as close to the hilt as safely possible. His arms budge only a fraction under the weight of the attack - he's very properly braced against it - but merely maintains the bladelock, testing her application of force and its efficiency. Slowly and quite purposefully, he turns her blade to one side.

He nods, as if satisfied. Yuna hasn't forgotten the fundamentals, at least, which means he has only the one other thing he wants to demonstrate to her before proceeding to real practice and not simple rote instruction. He resumes his former stance. "Repeat that move," he says simply. His gaze is cool, betraying nothing of his intentions.

[sendthefallen]

He's stronger than her, so it's obvious that his actions are purposeful and meant for instruction. Yuna is most definitely paying attention to both her own movement and his reaction, as she will be on the other side of such a thing at some point. There was no doubt about that, and if she didn't learn at a decent pace, then she wouldn't be able to make him proud.

The summoner doesn't verbally respond to him. She simply nods her head almost imperceptibly before repeating the motion exactly, with a bit more confidence this time.

[blue_darkslayer]

It wasn't much of a demonstration, given the angle of attack had been obvious the first time, and even moreso the second. It did at least show the basics to the block, and he would no doubt speak more about guarding close to the hilt and the importance of proper leverage later. Nonetheless, this time things proceed just a touch differently in the precise moment that blunted blade meets blunted blade

[sendthefallen]

Yuna has been attending training every day, so unlike when she first started working with weapons the day after her arrival, her eyes can follow the speed of his attack. Unfortunately, her inexperience is still a problem, so there is little she can do other than watch. Still, she's not afraid - Vergil isn't here to hurt her, and she barely flinches when his attack stops just before contact. She could worry about pain when they moved on to actual sparring.

Her eyes flick up from his suspended limb to meet his, frozen in place between his leg and their blades. There's an expression of understanding on her face before she nods slowly and with resolve. "Okay. What would you like me to do?"

[blue_darkslayer]

Yuna's display of resolve doesn't miss his notice, and he nods in turn, though far less so in comprehension as approval. If there's one advantage that this girl has over his now-deceased student, it's the experience and presence of mind to refrain from flinching when under attack. Teaching the mechanics of swordsmanship was hard enough, let alone drilling into someone in a mere training situation how to acclimatize to proper combat. "Fighting jitters" are difficult to get past, for some.

Vergil beckons her over and moves under the shade of the nearby tree where his bag is resting, piercing his sword in the ground once more. He retrieves the length of bandages he had unearthed earlier and knelt down, indicating with a gesture for her to do the same, in front of him. "Could you hold out your left hand?" he asks, admittedly less sternly than he had spoken thus far. Training was training, but, well. Bodily contact.

[sendthefallen]

Yuna follows after him obediently, her feet moving quickly to keep up with his long strides. She leans over his bag as he moves to grab the bandages, replacing the iaito in it's sheath for now. She doesn't want it to get dusty, and it doesn't belong to her. Better to be careful with it.

That done, the brunette moves to crouch where he indicates, wondering exactly what the bandages are for. "Mm, of course," she says, holding her hand out for him to take.

[blue_darkslayer]

Quite delicately, Vergil's fingertips brush against the smooth skin of Yuna's hand and he turns it so that her palm faces upward and her wrist is held perfectly straight. Carefully, so as to avoid binding too tightly but not so loose as to prove useless, he begins to wrap the bandage securely and methodically about her wrist and in an intricate pattern around her thumb, across her knuckles and between each finger. He concentrates while doing so, since it's a little more complicated wrapping a hand when it's upside down in relation to you, and his head inclines with focus.

A minute later, though, he finally looks up at Yuna, momentarily given pause by their close proximity. His explanation is a touch more personal as a result. "If you're not used to punching, you risk damaging your hands. You lose some flexibility for swordsmanship, but... it should help you for the time being." Experimentally, he probes at her hand with the both of his, testing mobility and being sure her hand is held taut.