[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

Comments

[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.

At point of contact, Vergil's sword moves with the motion of Yuna's slash and halts it just enough to redirect the force away from him. With little force lost, he turns her sword to the side more quickly this time. Following the flow of momentum, without pause he shifts his balance onto his left leg and pumps a fast roundhouse towards her now-exposed side, pulled that much faster by the movement of their swords.

The attack is precisely controlled, of course, and he pulls it barely an inch away from her, holding it suspended and giving her a meaningful look. He explains, "Since your sword isn't your only weapon, it's not the only one that I'll be teaching you."

[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.

[sendthefallen]

Yuna watches carefully as he works, trying to hold her hand as still as possible for him. She's a little surprised by how gentle he is, and the way he wraps the bandage around each part of her hand looks a little something like artwork. Perhaps, to him, it is.

Her lips curl into the ghost of a smile, before she nods in understanding. "So this is until I get a bit stronger?" she asks quietly, making sure she gets it. Her eyes fall to where his hands are experimenting with her own, her gaze curious.

[blue_darkslayer]

Satisfied enough with the results, he nods finally both to himself and in answer to the question. "Right. It takes a while for the smaller and unused muscles in your hands to develop," he says, before adding considerately, "The process of wrapping them can be difficult to remember at first, so I don't mind handling it for you until you can do it for yourself." Ideally she should look into unarmed training as a whole, but practically speaking, swordsmanship is most important. An offhand punch or a kick won't kill a Kishin Egg, but it does make the job that much easier, especially given the physical boost granted by resonance.

"Alright." With finality, Vergil looks up at Yuna one last time and rises to his feet. He doesn't retrieve his bastard sword - this time, he pulls forth his katana, though he keeps it in its saya, and walks several paces away, back turned on her momentarily. Now comes the difficult part - sparring. He ought to have remained more distant just now, since... well. Sparring means inflicting pain upon the girl, and privately he is reluctant to. It wasn't a problem he had had with Rin, and he proceeds not without reservation.

"It's time for real practice." He turns to face Yuna, then. God, this is going to be difficult.

[sendthefallen]

She smiles lightly, looking up into his eyes. "Thank you. I'll practice in the meantime." That would be the best way to learn, and it was something she could do in her free time at home.

Yuna stands just after he does, following suit by once again unsheathing the weapon she had been using earlier. Her off hand flexes a bit, getting used to the bandages and stretching them out a bit before she holds the sword with both hands. His blows would be tougher, and any time she would need to block, she would need the strength of both arms.

There's a bit of nervous anxiety in the pit of her stomach that she always gets before a battle. She's gotten used to it over the years, and in a way she enjoys the feeling. It helps that she knows her opponent, knows that he won't go too far, knows that she can trust him with this. Still, that doesn't mean this won't end in at least some measure of pain. It was a part of learning, though.

Yuna adjusts her grip one more time before she nods. "Okay, I'm ready."

[blue_darkslayer]

Vergil gives Yuna a measuring stare before deciding on his approach to the spar. Fighting to win and fighting to educate are two different matters entirely - if he fought her with his own unusual style, he would no doubt do little more than confuse her and at the same time make it abundantly clear that he was pulling easily-made attacks. Few people fight like he does, alternating between his two hands for attack and defense, respectively, one-handed in both cases. Plus Dark Slayer Style capitalizes on his specialty for maneuvering and an extremely acute grasp of angles and timing.

And there really isn't a need to humiliate her. Especially given the stance is deceptively casual enough to be insulting.

Better to show her something that is practical and far more likely for her to actually face. Shortly, anyway. Vergil extends his sheathed katana out directly in front of him, one foot placed in front of the other. It's a basic stance committed entirely to defense. He wants to see Yuna attack a little before he begins introducing some counters and fancier movements.

"Begin," he announces aloud. So as to not be too obvious about his intentions, he begins to stride forward, cautiously. Giving her time to take initiative, but with the knowledge there isn't all the time in the world.

[sendthefallen]

Yuna takes a quiet breath in through her mouth to calm her nerves, letting it out slowly through her mouth. Vergil stares at her a moment, as if deciding on something, before he moves into a stance. She does the same, standing on the balls of her feet, as she knows that he will expect her to attack first.

She pushes away her nervousness, letting adrenaline take over instead. Her surface thoughts cloud a little, as they will only get in the way of her instincts. It was a little trick she'd learned on her pilgrimage, and she wouldn't have gotten through all those battles without it. She would have worried far too much.

Yuna's eyes lock with his, though she's also trying to keep the rest of his body in focus so that she can react to his movements. She waits for him to take a few strides forward to close the distance, before she moves. She attacks him with a diagonal slash, not unlike the one previously, only with an obvious angle down toward the ground. She already realizes that she's too slow, but she'll just have to recover afterward.

Hopefully.

[blue_darkslayer]

Observing closely, Vergil is satisfied enough to see that Yuna takes the time necessary to becalm herself, first. He holds her gaze curiously when her eyes meet his. Looking at his eyes wasn't going to do her much good. His own flicker very briefly before reestablishing eye contact. The reason for this is because he automatically observes her chest as an indicator for telegraphed movement - at least until he belatedly realizes that he's never actually sparred with a woman before, and his gaze might be considered... indecent. To say nothing of the fact that it was mildly distracting in itself.

Right. He'd teach her a little about reading movement before the next time they sparred, so as to avoid a misunderstanding. He could do without for now. He blinks. No time for embarrassment.

His sword rises as Yuna's blade arcs downward. Rather than quite obviously completely evade the predictable attack and open her up to an easy counter, he blocks the slash. Even as he does so, though, he swiftly flows across to Yuna's left and begins to circle her, aiming to test her ability to maintain the cohesion of her stance whilst having to turn and employ footwork. In the process of making the first step he forces her sword safely away from him.

[sendthefallen]

While Yuna lacks experience and training, grace is not something she has a problem with. Her sendings have always required quite a bit of spinning and elaborate footwork, all while swinging around a rather heavy staff, and so she has little difficulty in steadying herself as steel hits steel and turning on the ball of her foot to follow his movement. Her sword ricochets off his before she tries another angle, bring the sword down in a similar movement but from the opposite side.

Predictable, yes, but it's hard to be anything else seeing as she really doesn't know what she's doing. Her lack of speed isn't helping her cause, either. Practice makes perfect though, right?

[blue_darkslayer]

It does, indeed. It's difficult to decide whether to approve or find fault when Yuna follows him rather than retreats. Choosing offense over defense is commendable and at least establishes that the girl is capable of reacting to the situation without hesitating or losing her nerve. Still... being the aggressor means having to maintain the assault without leaving openings for counters, and Vergil is faster.

When the girl's sword reverses and descends from the opposite side he too, in turn, steps closer and into her, such that he's little more than a handspan away from her. Doing so effectively cuts off her effective range for attack and his sword blocks hers, hilts locking close together before the slash can be completed. Simultaneously, his elbow comes to rest against her midriff and with a quick motion he shoves her backwards - no strike, but simply to throw her off-balance, to see how she recovers and proceeds.

[sendthefallen]

Her momentum prevents her from moving out of his range without losing her balance as he steps in closer, easily blocking her strike. His elbow pushes her back easily, and she takes a few quick steps backward; she's not off balance, but she needs to put space between them.

Yuna quickly regains her stance after she steps out of his immediate reach. That done, she begins to circle around him to the right, waiting to see what he does next, watching him carefully to see if she can read his movements.

[blue_darkslayer]

Defense? Alright. That she doesn't trip or really stumble at all is a good sign. In fact it even redeems her a little, from the time when she first personally witnessed him with sword in hand - coming to her rescue. Still, if defense it is, that would mean it's his turn to attack. Good thing he's using the sheathed katana and not the bastard sword, otherwise the next move might have been a little unforgiving.

Vergil steps to the left to stave off Yuna's circling maneuver and confront her directly rather than proceed into a duel of footwork. Following the motion, his weapon arcs rapidly overhead clockwise to pick up momentum and he swings it powerfully at chest-height into the left - the direction in relation to him that the girl had been approaching. It was likely easy enough for her to see coming, but it would certainly possess strength and hopefully halt her advance.

[sendthefallen]

Her eyes flick from his body to the weapon he's holding at he begins to move, and though it's an easy attack for her to read, he's still much faster than she is. The only reason she has enough time to block is the fact that he makes an entire arc above her before she's in any danger of being hit. Still, she only has enough time to halt her progress and plant her feet before bringing her own weapon up to meet his, the blade diagonal to the ground.

Yuna makes a soft noise from the exertion; he's stronger than her, and it takes quite a bit of effort for her to halt the momentum of his attack.