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

Don't mind him! >_>

[kissmygunblade]

It was a little unbelievable how Seifer always managed to find himself at the beach. Holly, wasn't it? She'd convinced him that sand was not all that bad and the sun was actually good. Chuckling slightly, he ambled along the deserted path, wondering why he wasn't in bed.

The sun was rising above the horizon. In that moment, he swore the island was glowing with red and orange. And he heard someone's anguished cry not far off in the distance.

A girl he barely recognized was wielding a sword, letting it slice through the air.

It was all too familiar. Before he could stop himself, he had drawn Hyperion from its sheath and brought it up to meet the other blade mid-air. The loud 'CLANG!' was unsettling yet satisfying. He smiled. "Training?"

[northswainbraid]

Surprised, Agrias jumped back almost as soon as the man before her asked his question. Regaining her composure, she ran forward and met his blade with her own strike, grinning just a bit.

"Indeed I am."

Agrias quickly ducked and moved behind the man, aiming to get him from behind. She knew not to hurt him; it was much more of a playful blow. Sort of like a warrior's handshake or greeting.

"What brings you here so early, ser, and how may I help you?"

[kissmygunblade]

Effortlessly replacing his gunblade, Seifer could tell that this female before him was much stronger than she appeared to be. She had managed to deal with a surprise blow despite - were those wounds?

He hadn't expected her to move behind him, though, and sensed it a second too late - he spun around to face her, her attack barely missing him by inches. His reaction was too slow. He suppressed a scowl.

Seifer's eyes widened a little at the way she had addressed him, but shock quickly gave way to a small smile. A lady knight, huh? Now that was rare. "You make it sound like a crime to watch the sunrise. And yourself?" He couldn't stifle the slight sarcasm in his voice, he was so used to it.

[northswainbraid]

"I have remained in bed too long waiting for scratches to close. I must hone my strength and my spirit if I am to serve this land well enough."

She stopped her attack for a minute and curiously looked his gunblade over. What an interesting weapon; Ivalice had nothing like that.

"What do you call your blade ser?" Agrias dusted her hands off on her tunic and offered a handshake. "I am Agrias Oaks. And you?"

[speedy_devilbat]

Since Sena had not managed to visit Agrias when she was seriously injured, the boy turned girl decided to do so now. After all, everyone else spoke the truth- she had to get out sometime. And since it was so close to the fullmoon, Sena had been feeling antsier than usual

[northswainbraid]

It took Agrias a quick second to remember who this was before her. The whole gender-swapping trick was wearing off, but a few remained. Sena was one of them.

"Ah, young Ser...or should I say Lady Sena! It is good to see you. Adjusting well enough?" She smiled and stopped swinging her sword, resting in the warm sands and looking up at the sky.

"What brings you here? Do you want to learn to wield a blade as well?"

[speedy_devilbat]

"A-Agrias-san!" Sena replied, flustered and embarassed. "I-I think I prefer Ser Sena...I mean, I'm still a boy...even if I'm currently in the body of a girl." Sena sighed before smiling crookedly.

"But yeah, I'm adjusting- hopefully, I'll be able to change back soon."

She then gestured to her basket. "Actually, I wanted to bring you some food as "thanks" for helping me back then when I was transforming. But now that I think about it- I'd like to learn how to use a sword too."

Sena pulled out the short sword from within the folds of her jacket.

"Hiruma-san gave me this sword awhile ago-but ah, it's kinda useless since I don't know how to use it at all."

[northswainbraid]

"A meal? For me? You are too kind, Ser Sena!" She was smiling widely.

Agrias stood up and took the sword gently from Sena, looking it over. The scabbard, the blade, the hilt, every part had to be inspected throughly. She took a couple swings and put it down, taking a small pouch out of her pocket.

Inside were various sword cleaning and repair tools Haruhi had given her for her birthday earlier. Agrias removed a cloth and gave a fast, hard rubbing to the blade, shining it up, then tightening the hilt a bit and swinging again. Much better.

"Keep good care of this blade. It is the right weight and length for you and with the right care, it should serve you well as long as you need it. Now then, shall we snack or spar?"

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."

Mid-Morning

[wutaian_rose]

Yuffie was not in a good mood. She had spent a good part of the day in varying states of nerves over one thing or another and she, one, did not feeling like she was as tense as a rope, and two, didn't like knowing she didn't have her limits to fix that feeling.

She was used to letting herself ease up after that but...Damn. If there was something that seemed very adamant not to return to her, they were her limit breaks. Yuffie heard the sounds of the other girl training and clipped her materia in place.

Perhaps training would make her feel better? Gods knew she probably should be on the top of her game. And she was not as close as she'd like to be.

When she finally caught up to the place the young woman was, Yuffie called out in greeting.

"Hiya. Can I join?"

[northswainbraid]

Agrias began to realize that perhaps the beach was not the most secluded of spots to get training done in Rivelata. People were coming and going quite a bit, several evens topping by at this point for various things. Perhaps it was Agrias herself that was attracting all this and not the location.

"Good morrow to you, miss. You are that stealth warrior maiden I have seen around, are you not? A pleasure." Agrias stopped swinging and offered a handshake. "Of course you may!"