sparring

Akaryuterra turns back to you and approaches, passing the practice weapon off to
his right hand. His feet make little noise against the soft mats, unlike the
usual sharp sounds of his talons striking the floor.


   Eleanor sets her spear aside for a moment, hopping from foot to
foot and loosening up as she ties her hair back with a leather cord.


   Eleanor shakes her head, hair falling in a horsetail down her
back. She takes her spear up again, twirling it from one hand to the other in a
smooth motion.



Akaryuterra stretches his arms wide and arches his back, stretching his own
muscles to a nominal extent before settling again, the practice sword pointed
toward you. He sets one foot back and one foot forward, angling it slightly away
from the center of his body. With his empty hand, he forms a fist a few times
clenching his fingers repeatedly.


You say, "We ready?"

Conduit of Knowledge, Akaryuterra Ryotega Junakutz-Lionheart says, "As we're
gonna get prob'ly."

Akaryuterra shrugs helplessly.


   Eleanor rolls her shoulders again, the spear's twirling ceasing
as she clasps it in both hands. "Right then," she replies, shifting to a more
stable stance.



Akaryuterra sidesteps, beginning to circle to your left, eyeing the stance
assumed.


   Eleanor circles as well, keeping the distance, her gaze fixed
intently on Akaryuterra and step lightfooted and careful.



Akaryuterra pauses in his circling, adjusting for a split second to angle his
following approach - a quick step, then another, advancing toward you and
angling the blade of the practice weapon upward without turning it vertical.

   Eleanor skips to the side, ducking around your advance, holding
her weapon to her left- she steps again, quickly, twirling now and bringing it
in a crescent arc toward your side.


Akaryuterra's eyes remain on you as she dodges. His trailing foot plants on the
mat while his leading foot, stops a few seconds later - the positioning of the
two turns him toward you, though doesn't allow him to face you fully. He
drops his left arm down, flexing a fist and causing his knuckles to pale. His
forearm crosses the haft of the spear at a nearly perpendicular angle, a muted
'thack' coming from the scales as he avoids blocking the blade itself. In the
same motion, his right hand swings the practice blade in a downward arc on a
path to your left shoulder.


   Eleanor's eyes widen as her attack is blocked. Her range of
movement is limited, momentum blocked- she uses the contact with Akaryuterra's
arm to push herself back, narrowly missing the arc of the practise weapon- it
whips along the front of her shirt. She takes a clumsy step back, making
distance while she scrambles for another route of attack.

Akaryuterra turns to face you once more, bringing his weapon to the centerline
of his body and angling it toward you again. He takes a deep breath through his
nostrils - they flare wide as his eyes focus on you again.

   Eleanor feints left before ducking right, circling further this
time- as she turns, her spear swings wide, lending momentum and force to a
strike which should hit your lower back.

Akaryuterra doesn't follow you as you circle, but instead reaches outward and
begins a circular motion toward his back, coming down and around as he bends his
knees to sink lower. As your weapon approaches his back, his arm continues to
the circular motion and falls on the side of your weapon opposite his body, the
haft risking being caught.


   The spear cracks against your back, and Eleanor attempts to
reverse the crescent- as she spots your arm blocking her backwards path,
however, she gasps- once again, she is caught with momentum in the wrong
direction. In a bid to escape your arm, she drops low, putting her weight into
sweeping the shaft down beyond your hand's reach.

Akaryuterra turns, pivoting toward you and twisting to advance, causing the
space between his body and arm to shrink in an instant. By dropping down, you
dodged the trap intended for her spear. Akaryuterra's tail sweeps and
straightens out behind him as he makes a move toward you, keeping his center of
balance. He holds his empty hand away from his body, above your spear, dropping
his sword hand low and preparing for a rising strike.


   Eleanor is low to the ground already- as you swing at her
again, she rolls to the side, gathering her balance with a surprisingly fluid
motion- while she is down low, she sweeps a heel toward your foot, angled to
knock it out from under you.


As the foot sweeps toward Akaryuterra's feet, he hops, clearing the attempted
trip and landing a few feet past you. Not but a split second passes in the time
he turns to face you again and make a second consecutive advance, his
sword hand forward with the practice blade parallel to the mats. His empty hand
his balled into a fist.


   Eleanor puts her weight on her hands, hopping backward and
standing again, her momentum carrying her another step back. Her breathing has
shortened a little, but she watches Akaryuterra closely, eyes slightly narrowed.


Akaryuterra closes the distance you makes quickly, putting his weight into a
horizontal swing aimed across your body.

   Eleanor's eyes widen- she jumps back, but a little too late-
the practise blade whips across her front and though it mostly catches her
shirt, you feel enough of an impact to indicate that she'll have a nasty welt.
She breathes in harshly, but takes the opportunity to dart around your arm while
your momentum is swinging sideways- the haft of the spear slams against your
side, on the ribs.


Receiving the hit to his ribs, Akaryuterra steps to his right and then spins left
- being certain to remain facing you. A smirk tugs at the corner of his
lips,"That might leave me a bruise later." He puts his second hand on the handle
of the sword now, pointing it toward you and lowering it to point in the area of
her torso. With that, he advances again, step-by-step rather than making a quick
dash, following your movements.

   Eleanor takes a shallow breath- a few strands of hair have
escaped the horsetail and lie across her face. She watches you closely- as you
advance, she suddenly steps into you, twisting to strike the middle of your
weapon with hers with the intent to knock it aside. She is turning as she does,
likely to use the momentum for a complete turn and another strike to your ribs.


The practice sword leaves Akaryuterra's hands when you strike it, flying across
the room and narrowly missing a wandering scholar before striking the wall of
the room and falling to the floor. As it does, he steps in, reaching out with
both hands anticipating the twisting motion becoming a full spin.

   Eleanor gasps, but it's too late to stop her graceful turn- she
starts to drop, with the intent to duck your arm, but might have started to
evade too late.

Akaryuterra's forward movement sends him colliding into you as you back turns to
him. With his left arm, he forms a crossbar before her neck, preventing further
forward movement while his other hand latches onto her upper right arm. He
plants his feet after securing the hold and twists his torso, turning against
the momentum you began to build for an escape attempt.

   Eleanor grits her teeth, taking a half-breath as she is caught.
She shifts her grip on the spear- holding it steady with her captured arm, she
puts her weight and strength into slamming the butt straight into your abdomen,
just below the ribs.


As the butt of the spear slams into Akaryuterra's torso, he exhales a sharply,
"hff." He continues the twisting motion he'd begun throwing you off balance by
jerking her torso and arm back and into a subtle arc before releasing you to let
the momentum carry you backwards.

   Eleanor stumbles, attempting to regain her balance- for the
most part she fails, planting a hand against the floor and rolling to come back
to a hunting crouch, spear flat on the floor and eyes on you.


Akaryuterra takes up a wide stance, the smirk that adorned his lips as you
stumbled fading. "So how's this end, when do we decide it's over'r someone won?"
The smirk gives way to a wary expression as his eyes glance to the practice
weapon he all but abandoned.

Panting softly, you say, "Well, I could have ended it. Didn't want to jab you
with the sharp end though."

You say, "I guess till someone yields."

   Eleanor gets up slowly, circling around you, clearly allowing
you space to grab the weapon.