Cold Rain

[Call me J]

(closed)

Generally, people had better things to do than go to the Citadel. It was not the kind of decision that was entered into casually for most people. The threat of injury and death, even if they were but momentary, was more than enough to keep most people away from its doors. The only real regulars to the place were either arrogant in their abilities to fight, or genuinely enjoyed the idea of pain.

Jame fit neither of those categories. Yet, the young half dragon walked up the steps of the Pagoda, clutching his steel sword in his hand like he had already entered a battle. People waiting in the lobby acted somewhat uneasily towards him, for Jame was moving with such purpose that it seemed that he had arrived at the citadel with a genuine vendetta.

The truth was Jame just wanted to learn to fight. He had been lucky so far, he’d survived quite a few encounters that he had no business surviving given his limited abilities. The Citadel seemed like the only place he could learn, and now that it was apparent that he was going to have to need to fight, he was going to have to learn some time. Better in the controlled atmosphere of Ai’bron monks than in the middle of a dingy street somewhere in Corone more affected by the civil war.

He had made all the necessary arrangements with the monks in advance. He would be facing a stranger that was to arrive, but the room had been booked a few days in advance. In the meantime, Jame had tried to teach himself as much as he could with his sword, but there was only so much he could figure out flailing out against imaginary foes.

Now, Jame opened the door to room thirteen and walked in, only to be greeted with a pleasant surprise. Of all the areas they could have given him to battle in, he had been placed somewhere welcome and familiar. As the door closed behind him, Jame found himself on Rosenau Boulevard, in a busy cobblestone street in the commercial district of Knife’s Edge. The houses were grey stone, and it was summer. A slight cold rain dribbled onto the ground, but it was one of the most pleasant times in Salvar in one of Salvar’s most pleasant places. Jame couldn’t help but to smile.

It almost seemed criminal that such a wonderful place was going to be used for such a vulgar purpose, Jame hated the idea of battling. He didn’t even want to get into this fight, it was just that he felt he had no other options. He shivered a bit, as the first few drops of rain went down his spine, but soon got used to the summer drizzle. He walked down the street, marveling that the Ai’bron monks could do such a good job replicating the sights and feel of the place, yet make it feel so eerie by neglecting the sounds of the place. The real Rosenau Boulevard would have been quite active at this time of day, even with the rain. At the very least, there should have been sounds coming from the factories and houses nearby.

Jame wondered if his familiarity was going to give him an advantage. After all, he knew the real street well enough, but he wondered if the minutiae that might give him an advantage were going to have been put in place by the Ai’bron. He hoped so. Jame knew he was going to need every advantage he could get.

He began to investigate the battlefield a bit more as he waited for his opponent to arrive.

[Anila]

In her months as a warrior at the Dajas Pagoda, Sakurazuka Anila had gained a reputation for being absolutely and totally merciless. Since Jame had told the monks he wanted to learn how to fight, they had sent for her, requesting that she also impart some pointers. It would be the fastest way for an absolute beginner to learn anything. She supposed she would have to prolong her opponent's suffering in order to teach him anything.

It had been a long time since Anila had been to the Citadel, and the last time, she'd met fellow Pagoda Warrior Murakama Asuka in combat. It was still eerie to the raven-haired Akashiman lady how much Murakama resembled Yamihara Asuka, her childhood friend.

But I am not here to reminisce. I am here to do battle.

Anila walked up the steps leading to the Citadel's entrance, dusting off her form-fitting combat outfit as she reached the top, where one of the Ai'Bron monks awaited her. He led her silently to the door into the arena, then opened it for her and let her step in.

She didn't see her opponent at first, so she looked around the arena. The architecture was sturdy and solid, but the street would likely serve to channel the battle in one lateral direction, rather than giving full freedom of motion. Getting caught against one of the walls could spell death unless she was careful.

It was the first time that she was to fight in an area that was not at least similar to her Pagoda arena, and Anila wondered if it would hamper her effectiveness as a combatant. She would have to pay more attention to where she was, rather than knowing her exact place from an intuition of long use.

It was raining, which made the cobblestone streets slick beneath her canvas-encased feet, but that wouldn't be too bad. One of the sections of her Dajas arena was built on a small pond, where the stepping stones making the footing were always slippery.

Finally, she saw him, a huge, hulking figure with a fairly big sword. She would have to be careful; beginners often got lucky, and one that big with that big a sword... if he got lucky once, she could be completely out of luck.

Taking a stance in the middle of the road, Anila watched the figure poke about the street, dawdling like he had all the time in the world. She didn't object to giving him that time, really. She knew from experience that death, however temporary, was unpleasant.

[Call me J]

Jame was a bit embarrassed when he realized that he hadn’t noticed his opponent arrive. “Uh… sorry,” he said. He quickly got up to his feet and arranged himself in a fighting stance, or at least what he imagined was a proper fighting stance. He stood straight, with his legs spread out from each other. He held his sword in front of his navel with both hands and tried to muster some kind of bravado to his face.

The truth was, Jame was scared. Everything about this girl made him thing she knew what she was doing. She was dressed in a form fitting outfit that seemed like it had been engineered for combat, and her weapons were battle fans. Jame knew no dilettante would ever use battle fans, they were too complicated of a weapon.

Soon enough, the battle would begin, but Jame had no interest in goading his opponent into a fight before he could learn as much about her as possible. Under a less stressful situation, he might have been able to come up with a better ruse, but as it was, the half dragon could barely remember any of the swordsmanship he had taught himself.

“So… uh… you ready?” he asked. He hated the way his voice sounded. It was higher than it usually was, and it trembled ever so slightly. It was an acknowledgement of fear, a fear that if his opponent appreciated, would reveal his inexperience.

A slight shiver fell down Jame’s spine again, though this time it wasn’t the rain. He was already wet. It was fear of the battle.
For a moment, Jame considered leaping in to battle for a first strike, but he figured that any attack he could muster would likely leave him very exposed to a counter. The girl seemed to have an advantage in that she had two weapons, while Jame only had his sword.

Fortunately, the half dragon quickly came up with a way of inviting the girl for the first strike that didn’t seem nearly as unflattering to his skill as everything else he had already uttered. By gulping visibly and counting for a few seconds in his head before speaking, Jame was able to manage to sound somewhat brave as he spoke.

“My name is Jame,” he said. “And I know to always offer ladies the first strike!” He intentionally put an emphasis on the word always so that the girl would think that he’d been through a lot of battles.

Jame truly hoped that his sudden show of bravado would be enough to make up for his earlier awkwardness. Without the illusion of some skill, he was just a foolish man, standing out too long in the cold rain.

[Anila]

"I am Sakurazuka Anila, and I never strike someone who doesn't at least look like he knows how to hold his weapon," she countered.

"Put one foot behind the other and make sure you have your knees slightly bent; the way you're standing now, a strong breeze could topple you over. Further, angle your sword up. As it is, you have only one option for attack and none for defense."

Anila took further assessment of Jame as he stood there, dripping in the rain. A finger tapped impatiently on the side of her furled fan. She had been told that he needed to learn how to fight, but not even able to hold a sword?

He needs more help than I expected. Much more help.

She would help him, but with that help would come pain. He needed to learn that there were consequences for messing up in battle. When she had been learning, her sensei had taught her with bruises. She would teach Jame with cuts.

"When you've done that, oshiego, come at me and try to strike me." Her voice remained level and even, and though she stood in the same cold rain as Jame, she seemed impervious to it, as though it could fall harder and she would still ignore the fact that it existed.

[Call me J]

For a moment, Jame considered ignoring Anila’s advice. After all, this was a battle, and if she wanted to win, a great strategy would have been to offer him bad advice. However, as the half dragon moved into the pose that she expected of him, he could feel the advantages that this new fighting stance offered him. He had more flexibility, and he would be able to better defend himself.

“I’m not as weak as you think though,” he said, trying to offer some sort of information in his defense. “I do know how to breathe fire.”

After he said that, he shook his head, cringing at his own stupidity. His firebreath was the one advantage he had that he could conceal. Now that he’d revealed it, it was unlikely that Anila would put herself in a compromising situation.

At this point, Jame realized he didn’t have much of a choice. He was going to have to trust that the girl was giving him advice in his best interest. The comment about the stance had been quite useful. “If she had wanted to defeat me, she’d have just charged,” Jame reasoned. Then, he prepared to attack.

His fights against the orcs in Salvar had showed him that running straight towards an opponent at a breakneck speed was quite predictable, especially when there was a reasonable distance between them. Thus, Jame decided that he would start moving towards Anila slowly, and then, as he grew closer, pick up speed towards the end. With both hands tightly wrapped around his weapon, Jame figured that he would jab it forward horizontally, so that he’d be able to stab her in the gut that way.

“If I do that, she won’t think I’m all that incompetent anymore,” he reasoned, not realizing that the only reason he was getting any help from the girl was that she likely felt sorry for him. Thus, without another moment’s hesitation, Jame took a deep exhale and charged forwards.

[Anila]

Anila almost sighed. A slow charge wasn't any better than a quick one; both were obvious. A cautious approach and then a test of her defenses would have been the smart move, but this boy was so incredibly inexperienced...that he'd put his sword horizontal again since he thought he could run her through.

She could have done any number of things, it would be so easy to put needlessly showy maneuvers against this raw amateur just to show him that he was outmatched...but that wasn't how Sakurazuka Anila fought. Her style was conservative, and if he was going to do something stupid, she would respond in the simplest - and perhaps, to her foe, the most embarrassing - way possible.

As the tip of his sword entered her sphere of motion, she took one brisk step to the side and a little forward, whirling like a snake while cracking open Hagane, her right-handed fan, and aim her foot to hook his ankle. If he didn't do something unexpected, she would both trip him and open a small cut on his side.

[Call me J]

Anila’s plan went as expected. Jame screamed in shock and pain as he tumbled down, hitting the ground chin first. The wet cobblestone was a hard surface, and the impact of the fall rattled his entire body. Jame picked himself up, sore, and embarrassed. He walked with the slightest limp now, and as he staggered back to his feet, he gingerly walked around for a bit, trying to see how much strength he still had in his left ankle.

“Good one,” he said. He had hoped his charge would have worked, but he understood the foolishness in the attack. Winded, he took a few deep breaths and tried to regain his faculties before continuing. The fact that this battle was taking place in a replica of Rosenau Boulevard heightened the half dragon’s shame.

With the rain pouring down his face, the half dragon wondered if he should just attack again. Part of him wanted to wait for Anila’s invitation, but he genuinely wanted to do something that would impress her. After a quick reevaluation of his options, he decided he’d take the latter route. He knew he might be tempting the fates, but Jame figured he didn’t’ have much of a choice if he wanted to do something impressive. “Also, Anila said she wouldn’t strike first,” the half dragon reasoned.

Biting on his lip with stern resolve, the half dragon now took a pair of cautious steps forwards and made a diagonal swipe towards Anila. If he hit, his sword would connect with her right flank just above the thigh. More wary, Jame was now taking advantage of his height by keeping his distance with the strike. If Anila was going to get an effective counter in this time, she would have to be light of feet.

[Anila]

Good, he can be taught.

To be fair to Jame, very few absolute beginners learned this quickly. Her own brother, Keiji, had charged their sensei several times before he finally started to understand that Sensei could just sidestep or block every time.

Anila decided to reward his improvement a little bit, by stepping away from the blade and holding her fans up defensively. The moment his blade dipped below his navel, though, she lunged forward, Uindo in her left hand down and held in a firm wrist, so that if he tried bringing his sword back up, she'd merely be pushed off course. Hagane sliced through the air toward his bicep even as the blood from his side dripped off of its edge along with the rainwater that had accumulated on it.

[Call me J]

Jame didn’t know how to react to the counter attack. He had been afraid of what Anila could manage with two weapons against his one, but there wasn’t much else he could do besides dodge her counter. Given the momentum that had gone into his attack, Jame wasn’t sure if he could pull back fast enough. Panicking, he merely dropped the sword and pulled his hands back towards his body.

It didn’t take Jame long to realize the foolishness of his actions. He had now left himself completely defenseless, other than his firebreath. For a moment he thought about running, but given his luck he figured that he was just as likely to fall upon the wet cobblestone as he was to actually achieve anything.

With a shudder, Jame wondered if he’d be allowed to reach down and pick up his sword. He doubted it. Even if he was going to get the opportunity, it would come at a price, much like the one he had already paid with his left leg.

Thinking about the injury suddenly gave the half dragon an idea. He was a bit taller than Anila, and his legs had about the same reach as his hands extended with the swords. Knowing that he still had one strong leg, he used that as his pivot foot as he swung forwards, aiming his foot for Anila’s wrist, hoping to disarm the girl so that they could both pick up their weapons together.

It was a desperate move, but he was a desperate person. He hoped the timing would help him. He was reacting a lot quicker to losing his sword than he was to his leg injury. The strategy, for whatever it was worth, might help him out a bit. Also, for all he didn’t know about swords, Jame figured at the very least, he had to know how to kick.

[Anila]

Or maybe he can't...

If this battle had taken place in her Dajas arena, Anila was sure she'd be stopping the battle soon and telling her opponent to get out of her dojo if he wanted to retain any sort of dignity and walk out of it on his own power. However, his was not her arena, and she had been hired to help this boy learn how to fight properly.

Telling him to get out would not have been doing him a favor.

As the foot came toward her wrist, she merely stepped back a little to avoid being disarmed herself and followed up with two vicious slashes toward the side of his leg as it passed her. She tried to make the blows uneven so that the razor-edged fans, which normally did much damage but caused little pain, made less damage this time, but hurt more. Pain was a potent teacher.

She stepped back a little more to give him space and give her time, in case he tried anything again.

"Never drop your weapon, you will end up dead. Now, pick up your sword, and try again."

[Call me J]

Jame cringed. He blinked back to keep tears from welling in his eyes, but he was both embarrassed and in considerable pain. He limped to pick up his weapon, breathing heavily. He could feel the blood flowing out of the new wound, but he hoped it wasn’t severe. He was surprised how much strength he still had in his wounded leg, especially given how rarely he had been cut with a blade before.

“Maybe I should ask for a minute,” Jame thought. “I’ll bandage me up before we continue…” Immediately, he dismissed the idea. If he was going to get any respect from Anila, it wouldn’t be from cowering for special treatment. He was beginning to regret coming to the Citadel now. The whole idea of battling began to feel so hard. He had tried practically every kind of a blow he could think of, a running charge, a standing attack, a kick, and none of them had worked. He couldn’t think of much else.

As he got back up to his feet, Jame managed to come up with a plan despite his frustrations. None of his attacks had worked by themselves, but he thought there might be a chance that two of them would work together. “Lets see,” he thought. “She does have those two fans, but if I make another hard blow with my sword to her side, she’ll probably block it the same way. That way I’ll be able to kick her in the gut.”

It wasn’t the world’s most elaborate plan, but it was far better than any of Jame’s other ideas. With a slight smirk on his face, he approached Anila, hoping that this idea would work. If it failed, he had no idea what he’d try next.

Armed with his more elaborate plan, Jame made the same motion with his sword that he’d made before, aiming it towards Anila’s side. However, remembering his mistakes, Jame kept a firm grip on the sword and planned to pull the weapon back at the very last moment. Once he was certain his sword attack had attracted Anila’s attention, he was going to put a well placed knee in her gut.

“It’s practically foolproof…” Jame thought. He wondered if he was the first person to come up with such a clever ruse.

(feel free to bunny the kick)

[Anila]

The problem with knowing you're facing an inexperienced novice is that it's incredibly difficult to remember that beneath the fact that they barely know pommel from tip, they might be genuinely clever people.

Anila saw the attack coming, and since Jame was definitely physically stronger than she was, she brought both fans down toward the sword to deflect it, and then she planned to flick Hagane and open up a cut on Jame's chest.

But the best laid plans of mice and men...

As she committed to her block, the steel sword that was supposed to collide with the steel of her fans with enough force to make sparks simply...dipped back and out of her range, leaving her overbalanced.

Anila's eyes widened as she realized she'd fallen right into a trap, and at that moment she felt his knee connect with the tense muscles of her abdomen like a cannonball. The sheer force of it, combined with her already unbalanced form, sent her tumbling a few feet down the wet street, grasping her fans so tightly that the corners cut into her soft palms.

At the end of her tumble she flipped herself up, landing in the crab stance - low to the ground with her profile to her opponent. She could feel a bruise already beginning to form, and it would be both large and deep.

That was embarrassing. I'm going to have to keep a closer watch on this one. Rule number one...never underestimate your opponent.

She stood, keeping herself profile to Jame, before nodding slightly.

"Better." Anila, for all her battles, still wasn't used to being in pain, and would have liked to have ended the lesson then and there to go nurse her bruise. But she knew that her sensei had taught her tanden - to flex the muscles in the abdomen - so that if she got kneed in the gut, there was a very low risk that there would be any serious damage done.

It would dishonor him if she stopped now, so she tried to shunt it aside and focus back on the battle.

"Again."

[Call me J]

Jame wondered if Anila meant that he should unleash the same attack again. However, the half dragon was shrewd enough to figure even if that had been her intention, he would have been wise to ignore it. The only reason his attack had worked was because she had bought into the feint. Jame could understand that. For a few moments, he began to consider what his next attack should be.

“I guess I could just try to kick her in a different place,” he figured. “She’ll be expecting a blow to the gut, so this time I could maybe kick her in the face… or something like that…” However, the half dragon realized that he needed more variety.

In truth, Jame just wanted to repeat the same attack he’d just used with success. It had been the only thing he’d managed that had been useful so far. For a moment, he considered kicking first and then going after Anila with his swords, but he rejected that plan quickly. Even if his plan was successful, Anila would have been able to rip his knee to shreds with his fans.

“I’m going to have to fake her out some other way,” he thought. Jame was growing conscious of how much time it was taking him to come up with any kind of offense. For a moment, he toyed with the idea of just striking a blow again. After all, if now Anila was expecting a fake blow, she might ignore a real one. However, Jame was aware that she would probably know better than that. And if he failed, he’d end up losing his sword again. Then he’d have no choice but to kick again and get his leg cut at.

Aware that he needed to settle upon something, the half dragon came up with a plan. He was going to feint with his sword again, but this time, instead of following it with a kick, he was going to pull back on his blow with his wrists, and then change the angle of the sword so that he landed a blow closer to Anila’s knee.

With the same wry smile, Jame prepared for the attack. As he moved into the position to pull back his wrists, he was surprised by how much momentum he’d managed to generate with his sword. Though he kept a tight grip on The Namesake’s handle, the rain and his sweaty palms were conspiring to make the motion difficult. As he cocked his wrists and prepared to pull back on his attack, the slippery blade flew out from his hands and landed harmlessly in a pothole.

Jame’s eyes first popped open widely with shock. Once the shock had settled, he winced, expecting another hard punishment.
“I’ll do better on the next…” he promised himself, encouraging himself as he prepared to accept another round of punishment.

[Anila]

"This time, you will have to earn back the sword. In real combat, you will not be permitted to retrieve your sword unless you are good enough to retrieve it... and had you made that particular attack, I would have jumped onto your wrists and taken out your eyes...not to mention it puts you off balance. Think next time."

This time she attacked first, coming between Jame and his weapon and coming in with a flurry of fan strikes in rapid succession. Some were meant to hit, others were feints, but it would take a sharp mind to evade them all, and she pursued him relentlessly.

She slashed, she jabbed, she struck horizontally and vertically with both hands, feet constantly shifting over the slippery street to prevent him from being able to try and trip her. She was relentless and unforgiving as a Salvaran blizzard while moving with all the grace of an ornamental swan, and if Jame wanted respite, he'd have to make her give it to him.

She moved quickly for one reason other than wreaking havoc on her opponent - the faster she moved, the fewer chances she gave the bruise on her abdomen to stiffen up.

[Call me J]

Jame was at first taken aback by Anila’s flurry of weapons. His first impulse to put his arms up in defense was curbed, but only after sustaining a few nicks to his forearms. Knowing there was no time to cradle his wounded flesh, the half dragon began to run. He turned around, sustaining a few more cuts on his back as he began running. He knew he was running away from his sword, but it was only just as long as he needed to buy time. He moved well, the cuts to his leg had been mostly superficial.

Desperately, he began to search for some kind of a plan. His firebreath meant that he had a weapon even without his sword, but Jame wasn’t sure how he could use it to his advantage. Mostly he just wanted to avoid the attacks of the of the steel fans. Given his height, he knew there was nothing he could do to duck underneath Anila’s weapons. However, his gait was giving him some distance against the girl, and he figured if he could turn around, feint quickly and then start running the other way, he might be able to make a circular motion to get to his sword before Anila would beat him to it.

“She’ll think I want to go straight towards it,” Jame thought. “But I’m a bit faster than her… if I fake left and go to my right, I’ll still get to the sword before her…” With a wry smile on his face, Jame turned around and began to execute his plan. He knew, given the wet surface, he might slip and fall, but he needed to figure out something to keep Anila from cutting him any further.

Quickly, the half dragon pirouetted, and after sustaining a quick cut to the shoulder, darted left for a second, only to spin around and head to his right. Hoping that he’d moved faster than Anila, he began running forwards, hoping that he’d be able to reach down and grab his sword right before she got another chance to strike. As it was angled in the pothole, Jame could only see the tip of its hilt. Still, that would be all he’d need to grab if he was to have a chance again at defending himself.

[Anila]

Jame had done a fairly predictable thing, in running away and then doubling back, and in doing so he had broken one of the cardinal rules of combat: never turn your back on your opponent. Since they were here to teach the young man how to fight, she was going to use every advantage he presented her.

He was hardly the first to think that since he had legs so much longer than hers, he must run faster. His long legs took long strides and carried him over great distances, true, but Anila had adapted her running style to compensate for her short stature. Her steps took her a much shorter distance, but she was able them much more rapidly, keeping pace with Jame.

As he neared the sword, she allowed herself to slide a little bit, dropping down and whirling, trying to take out his legs with her left foot, while her left fan sliced in toward his leg and the right fan was held above her, maybe ready for a jab if he came too close. The stance resembled nothing so much as it did a striking scorpion, and if she was successful in the attack, Jame would have learned another important lesson.

Already the improvement, even if temporary, is remarkable.

[Call me J]

Anila’s attack worked perfectly, except for a small detail. Jame went spiraling down to the ground, landing hard on his chin for a second time. However, the battered half dragon somehow managed the wherewithal to reach out during his fall and grab his sword, allowing him to continue.

“I’ve GOT IT!” he shouted, half in a desperate plea for Anila to stop with her fan attacks. Jame was fortunate enough to avoid any severe damage, but his body had been ripped in to so many times now that he was beginning to feel a bit weakened from the loss of blood.

However, Jame knew that he had reached the point where he could no longer expect any mercy. He learned that when he’d lost his sword. Instead of waiting for some advice from Anila, Jame quickly rolled to his side and picked himself up. It was a test of his stamina and endurance, but the half dragon was finding that he possessed reserves of strength that he never knew he had.

“Lets finish this now…” he thought as he looked at Anila. He was just out of her striking range. However, given his height, he knew he could reach over and hit her. He knew he had to do something even more impressive than his one successful combination now, Anila wasn’t likely to be fooled anymore by the mere presence of a decoy attack.

The only thing Jame could think of was combining his two most powerful attacks strategically. He knew Anila would be ready to block his sword, so he decided that he would use it as the decoy. He took a huge inhale and swung his sword two handed, straight towards Anila’s left side. It was a hard, forceful blow, the kind that Anila might be able to defend, but if she did, she would be flung sideways. Then, with his blow midway, Jame exhaled a breath of fire, targeting Anila’s right side. If she blocked or moved to avoid the sword, she would be flung into the fire, even a step backwards would probably lead to some of the fire catching her. He only hoped he could sustain the flame long enough out in the cold rain.

[Anila]

The choices were either to allow herself to be burned or allow herself to be bisected, and Anila much preferred to take her chances with the fire. She'd known from the start of combat that it was probably coming at some point, but hadn't had much time to prepare herself for the consequences of fire. All of her battles, heretofore, had been pure contests of skill with weapons, not of ability to evade magic.

She rolled away from the sword, passing through the flame, feeling its raw heat upon her, burning her face, and drying her hair and clothes before singeing them some, but as soon as she came back into contact with the cold rain, she was extinguished. She came out of her roll and into a standing position, fans up and ready, before grinning slightly.

"Better."

But maybe not quite good enough.

She stepped back in, closing Uindo in order to block if he reacted to her attack, while bringing Hagane up in a right to left diagonal meant to connect under his sternum and follow through to the shoulder. She wanted to see how he responded to a simple, straightforward attack, and this was the most basic she could think of.

[Call me J]

Jame was a bit surprised by Anila’s attack, if for no other reason than it seemed so simple. She had gone on the offensive with one of her fans, leaving the other back to defend. “Think quick” Jame warned himself. Knowing he could still get a counter strike in if he gave himself a bit more room, the half dragon took a step back. Then, knowing that would alter Anila’s momentum the same way his had been altered on his initial charge, he prepared his counter. Now, he was going to use his strength to his advantage. Anila might have had the fan blocking her, but Jame felt that if he thrust his sword forwards towards her, she wouldn’t be able to block the full force of the attack.

Without a moment’s hesistation, that was how he acted, catching a bit of Anila’s fan on his shoulder as he jutted forward with a straight attack, thrusting his weight into the blow despite the fact that Anila’s fan now cut deeper into his shoulder. Jame shouted in pain, his eyes welling with tears, but his sword struck surprisingly true given the way that the fan cut into him.

“This will all be over soon, this will all be over soon,” he kept reminding himself. Jame needed something to keep him from passing out because of the new wound. It wasn’t fatal, but given all the blood he’d lost and the suddenly mind numbing pain, the half dragon didn’t know how much more he could continue. He had given his all in this battle, hoping that he might learn something about war, and it seemed he was learning some lessons that he would have done well to have never experienced in his lifetime. Still, with the oncoming adventures that fate had promised him, Jame had few other options but through.

And that rationale, above all else, was why Jame had the strength to strike forwards.

[Anila]

Anila was surprised that Jame didn't dodge the attack entirely, simple as it was, but then she felt something gliding down the edge of her defensive fan. She pushed down, trying to deflect, but it was too late.

Blinding, burning pain shot through her entire body, emanating from her left thigh as Jame's sword split through the muscle with the same ease as though it were a tender chunk of dinner meat. The battle was done; she wouldn't be able to continue battle with this sort of injury.

"Yamae!" she snapped, the signal in her native tongue for "stop." Painfully, she lowered herself off of the blade before standing up relatively straight, but keeping the majority of her weight on her right leg. Her vision swam, she could barely see straight, and she knew from the blood pouring out of her leg like a rush to freedom that his blade had probably pierced the large artery in her leg. If she wanted out of the arena on her own power, she was going to have to move fast.

Stepping backward with as little a limp as she could, Anila folded her fans and made a bow.

"You have shown considerable improvement. This battle is over. My final suggestion to you is to get a pike or a spear of some description. A longer weapon with better reach would serve you better in your defense."

She was starting to feel dizzy; the pain was giving way to vertigo, and she turned from Jame, limping toward the exit. She doubted she would make it before she bled out, but she was a Sakurazuka. She had to at least attempt to make it out under her own power.

She made it to within sight of the door before blackness overwhelmed her...

...

The next thing she knew, she was staring at a white ceiling, a dim ache in her leg the only reminder of the damage she'd endured there, while the large bruise on her stomach remained in all its glory, as a non-lethal wound. A brief bout of irritation ran through her that she had not made it out under her own power, but she was small and only had so much blood. She had almost made it.

Sitting up, she tested the use of her limb and found it normal, and her maidservant handed her a glass of cool water, looking down on her mistress with mute concern, which Anila ignored, looking over at Jame, healing some feet away from her.

[Call me J]

Jame had barely seen the effect of his blow before he blacked out, he heard Anila's words, but that was about it. Blood had begun to spurt out from the wound in his open shoulder, and the half dragon had been faint enough already. The injury he took to land his final blow had been enough to debilitate him. It was a fitting end to the battle for him, because all he had been seeking with some kind of respect.

When he woke up in the infirmary and found Anila there as well, he couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased. Not because he’d hurt her, but the fact that she’d suffered the same fate made him feel redeemed. His body was still quite sore, ginger and delicate from all the wounds that he had suffered, but he had regained his strength and vigor. He refused the glass of water he was offered, and picked himself up proudly. After all, he wanted to show Anila how far he’d come as a result of the battle.

“I brought you in here too, eh?” Jame asked, hoping that his smile wasn’t too transparent. He genuinely hadn’t wanted to hurt Anila, especially after all that she had taught him. However, he was very proud of what he’d accomplished. He had gone from being a complete dilettante to a fighter capable of incapacitating an opponent in the matter of just a single citadel battle.

With a smile, Jame laid himself back down and relaxed. “Guess I might be ready for something a bit more,” he figured. “I’ll test myself here a bit more though…”

As he settled back down into his bed, the nurse returned with a drink of water. “The monks say you have to drink this,” she said sternly.

This time, Jame complied. He took a deep sip and could feel his body begin to heal as the cool liquid ran down his throat. It was very relaxing. Soon enough, he would be back out in the Citadel, preparing for the oncoming hardships, or even worse, brought into war. Until then though, Jame was just going to heal from the lessons he’d already learned.

(Spoils= I'd like to request basic melee skills as spoils. Basically the extent of what he learned in this thread)

[Anila]

"Make no mistake that you still have much to learn."

Anila heard her Sensei's tone in her own voice, reminding her that she had not mastered her fans the first time she had cut him. He had been right; she was arrogant enough to have allowed herself to almost die at the hands of an absolute beginner.

"The fact that you injured me will not make you a warrior. Discipline and training alone can do that."

Standing, she scrutinized the young half-dragon once more. "Should you assume otherwise, you will die. Come, Hissomi. I believe we have an arena to attend."

With that, she left the healer's chambers, then exited the Citadel entirely. She was on her way back to Scara Brae and her own dojo.

[Cyrus the virus]

This was a training battle more realistic than most, which was a pleasant change for me. A solid read from a technical standpoint, and no more flash and glamour than was necessary.

Comments are not in depth, as requested. Also, apologies for this ugly, ugly template I'm using.

Call me J

Story
Continuity – 8
Setting – 6 Wasn’t used terribly much, but I have no complaints with that.
Pacing – 7 If this weren’t a training battle, I’ll take offense to all the internal monologue. But it fits well with this particular thread.

Character
Dialogue – 6 It fits.
Action – 8 Sensible and within your character’s limitations.
Persona – 6 Amusing arrogance and naivety, but little more in these early stages.

Writing Style
Technique – 5
Mechanics – 7 Rare typos and hiccupping comma placement. Some ‘his’ instead of ‘hers’ and other such errors, but technically sound writing.
Clarity - 8

Miscellaneous
Wild Card - 5

Total: 66


Anila

Story
Continuity – 8
Setting – 5 I’d appreciate more depth in some things, surroundings and ambience included.
Pacing – 8 I thought Anila’s way of teaching toward the beginning was very well done, and it stayed consistent and realistic throughout.

Character
Dialogue – 6 It fits.
Action – 7 Anila lunges in post 8 and merely steps back in post 10, though my understanding of Jame’s attack was that he was trying to disarm her immediately after her strike. I figure she would at least be off-balance, at least not enough to dodge (backward) so nonchalantly. You didn’t convey this so I docked a point. Otherwise it’s the same as J, clear and within your character’s boundaries.
Persona – 5 What a relentless bitch! But a touch less informative than J’s insight was. I really know very little about Anila besides that she fights and stuff, and has had a sensei and stuff.

Writing Style
Technique – 5
Mechanics – 6 “She rolled away from the sword, passing through the flame, feeling its raw heat upon her, burning her face, and drying her hair and clothes before singeing them some, but as soon as she came back into contact with the cold rain, she was extinguished.” Try to edit sentences that are this long.
Clarity - 8 Clear.

Miscellaneous
Wild Card - 5

Total: 63

The person with the higher total (Call me J) wins!

Call me J gets 860 EXP and 300 gold.
Anila gets 225 EXP and 50 gold.

[Karuka]

EXP/GP added! Call me J levels up!