|
Post by The Sidhe on Jun 6, 2014 23:14:57 GMT -5
Confusion. A small smile tugged that the corners of Céleste's lips. Lucia’s feint seemed to have worked in the pause from Stella. She didn’t look unsure in her features, but her movement said otherwise. As the blow hit she managed to compensate, even catching her balance. Not bad for someone who’d just taken the blunt end of a hatchet to the knee. Céleste gave her and extra mark for proving adaptable, as well as durable.
Her counter was even better, as fast and furious as one should be. It seemed odd move for someone who was doubtlessly feeling the pain of an inured knee and a loss of balance, but effective. Lucia took the blow to her stomach with as much grace as possible for having the wind knocked out of her. It proved to be fortuitous though. Stella’s attempted blow to her face missed if only closely, and Céleste had to applaud both Stella for her boldness and Lucia for managing to use an injury to her advantage. Not easy.
As she scribbled down more notes, she darted her eyes back to the spar as soon as possible. Just in time to see Lucia hit the ground. Oh dear, already? Céleste looked on, beginning to count in a clear and rather monotonous voice just as she said she would whenever a team hit the ground, “Un. Deux. Troi-“ And she was up, very good! Céleste smiled as Lucia got back onto her feet. A quick recovery, but she noted that the girl still seemed to be regaining her breath.
Seeing her making up for her current vulnerability by taking on a defensive stance, Céleste jotted down another note of praise. Another smart move. In addition, both seemed to be keeping up contact with their Weapons, even better marks for her to give them for good teamwork. Communication would only help them, even if she could only barely make out speech but not actual words. But then, that meant neither of the teams could hear each other, either.
Taking advantage of the pause, she tidied up her punctuation and a few particularly spidery looking letters on her clipboard. She could already tell who was better at strategy and who was not. Lucia clearly thought things through and Stella seemed to adjust to whatever her surroundings threw at her. Turning her eyes back on the teams, it would be interesting to see where things ended.
|
|
|
Post by Stella Riordan on Jun 7, 2014 8:04:50 GMT -5
In all honesty, Stella was rather impressed with herself. Despite the searing pain in her left leg that was obviously going to leave a mark, meaning she might need to wear tights for some time, and despite her punch missing, she had knocked the girl over. Such an attack was rather merciless, as having the breath kneed out of you was never precisely fun. But, that didn’t matter. Twas only fair such a vicious move be matched with an equally vicious move.
Furthermore, Lucia’s technique had given Stella an idea. Though she was still not precisely sure as to how Cecil’s blades were to work, she could totally pull off a similar technique, just with the opponent’s weapon as opposed to a body part. The handguards were hooked, after all. If Lucia went with a more conventional attack, she’d be putty in Stella’s hands. And, if she didn’t? Stella would most likely have just enough time to dodge. She’d take the offensive. Even if her movement itself was slowed, she could still move the blades rather quickly.
Then, Cecil spoke up. He had a rather good plan, though Stella much preferred her own. Not necessarily due to how good either plan of attack was, but because she was the one who thought of it. However, she best not make her partner angry. Best humour him. That can always be plan B, anyway. ”Duly noted. Might prove a challenge, though. Alas, I’ll try.” She said. Trying was not really her intent, but, again, it was a good backup option.
”Okay. Now, the question is how to actually get in attacking range. She’s just gotten up, but is still out of breathe. I guess I’ll just try for rule one... Though the technique itself is butchering rule three...” Stella thought to herself, raising the right blade to her head. She’d strike with that blade, and left the other blade in a somewhat defensive position at her upper torso. ”Gah! Whatever! I’ve already butchered them anyway. I’ll just do whatever makes sense.” Stella then began to walk towards Lucia. The pain in her leg was a bit too much for a run. Perhaps she could grit her teeth and bare it, but who knows.
As she walked, Stella walked in a somewhat diagonal to her right, in an attempt to not attack Lucia directly. That could prove challenging. Stella’s stance was somewhat lower as well, which meant even though she held the blades high, the chain was raised only centimeters from the ground. Once Stella was satisfied with how close she had walked to Lucia, and the way she was attacking, she began to run forward in a charge. The charge only neared two steps, which was good as the pain in her leg during those two was ridiculous. Not that it mattered, really. Stella brought the right blade, which was still in the offensive position, to Lucia’s neck from the side. That’d hurt, if it hit. However, it was easy to counter. A win-win for Stella.
|
|
Cecil Amier
Weapon
Demon Butterfly Swords
All the world's a stage, and I the leading actor
Posts: 46
|
Post by Cecil Amier on Jun 22, 2014 19:52:32 GMT -5
Had Cecil a corporeal face at the moment, he would be seen as smugly smirking at Stella's affirmation of his suggestion. His disembodied voice simply let out a proud "hmph." He thought it was nice to know that she was appreciating his efforts to work around her deficiencies. It wasn't easy providing on the fly instructions to an unskilled meister. Clearly, she was lucky to have one such as him to pick up her slack. However, he made a due note of his own to instruct her further on proper technique in the future.
The enemy meister was winded, providing a good opportunity for Stella to advance, if she wasn't too hindered herself. Thankfully, though she had been struck, the blow sustained was to a limb, leaving her with a nasty bruise but it didn't lower what little stamina she had. Stella seemingly cringed through the pain and advanced toward the blond, who was, on observation, attempting to regain her composure. Stella brought one blade up high, and kept the other lower at her chest. Choreographing so blatantly how you would strike would typically be a poor move, but if she was attempting to pull off a feint, such could be to their advantage. However, on the flip side, such a blatant ruse could be seen through by one more experienced. Cecil supposed it was to be expected, given his meister's inexperience; proper feinting technique takes time to develop. He himself had to admit he wasn't the best at it, when he had to train to fight with his partial form back home.
"But, what if..." Cecil started to mentally doubt his meister's technique, as she charged forward, "she's not even attempting... and she's just trying to land a blow?" This thought irked him. How dare she! She just shrugged off his plan like it was nothing? Such impudence. In his frustration, he wasn't paying much heed to the actual spar, oblivious to however the enemy were reacting to Stella's offense.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2014 22:58:21 GMT -5
In. Out.
In. Out.
Now that Lucia was back on her feet, she was still trying to regain her breath. Remaining in a defensive position was helping, but that knee to the gut had done its work, whether it was intentional or not. At least Nolan was in agreement with what she was thinking: this pair, or at least the meister, were unconventional. They weren't going for skilled attacks. On the bright side, it made the meister look clumsy and untrained to Lucia's experience eye. On the not-so-bright side, it made anticipating what this meister would do much more difficult. Lucia would have to end this match quickly before her opponent could pull anything too unexpected.
There were so many options Lucia had as Stella slowly limped towards her. Seeing how much the injury was affecting her opponent, Lucia felt a small pang of pride. She hadn't realized how much damage she could actually do with Nolan's weapon form. How much more could she do if his blade wasn't dulled? As she waited for Stella to continue towards here, Lucia was aware that she could have easily made an attack on the girl – now that her injured leg was hindering her movement her defense was probably worse, too. Instead, Lucia continued to take deep breaths as she carefully noted the positions of Stella's blades. The right was higher than the left, most likely indicating she was planning on using that blade to attack. Lucia planted her feet firmly on the ground, but her legs were tense, ready to burst into a run the moment she needed to move. It didn't take too long for her cue. Suddenly Stella was rushing at her, right blade raised and ready to make a side-swipe at her neck. The reaction to Stella's move was swift: duck, turn the hatchet to her right, then run. Lucia let Nolan's hatchet head trail slightly behind her. With Stella's sudden move, the chain connecting the blades was certain to be in motion. Lucia felt the links brush against the end of the hatchet, threatening to catch on the chain and pull the weapon along with her. Just a few more steps and she would know if her response had worked. Getting at least one blade out of Stella's hands was sure to turn the match in her favor, thus giving her a much better chance of ending this quickly. Words: 401 Tag: Celeste, Stecil, Nolan
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2014 20:24:50 GMT -5
Both audibly and through the soul wavelength bond he shared with Lucia, Nolan could tell that she was still recovering from that knee to the gut, what with her heavy breathing and all. It had been an unforeseen attack by opposing meister Stella, and while not necessarily the most dignified of attacks it had certainly left its mark on Lucia. Nolan could only hope that his partner was able to maintain a clear head, and so he sent comforting vibes through the connection to her to assure her of his presence. That seemed to help the both of them focus during practices.
He watched warily as Stella seemed to limp towards him and Lucia; most likely she was gauging how to go about her next move. The limp was assuring, though, because that meant Lucia’s earlier blow had done some damage, too. Suddenly, Stella rushed towards Lucia, her right blade raised to attack around Lucia’s neck. Luckily, Nolan knew that Lucia was a speedy little meister, so he was confident in her dodging capabilities. Just as he had foreseen, the blonde girl ducked, dodging right under the swipe and then dashing forward. She angled Nolan’s hatchet body in a way that had him somewhat trailing on the ground, which…OH! Lucia was trying to disarm Stella by pulling her weapon partner away by the chain! That was some wonderfully quick thinking; Nolan could feel his hatchet self swell with pride for his meister. She was definitely not one to be taken lightly. “Nice job, Lucia! Keep it up, you’ve got this!”
Word Count: 260 Tagged: Stella/Cecil/Lucia/Celeste
|
|
|
Post by The Sidhe on Jul 2, 2014 13:50:09 GMT -5
Both teams seemed to slow for a moment. Understandable given that one had taken a hit to the leg and the other a blow to the chest. Céleste was glad both seemed to be of a certain degree of durability. She’d seen students crumple in spars from even less, but clearly this would not be a repeat of any of those. Stella was too tenacious for it, Lucia was too skilled. An interesting matchup, and one that Céleste was trying hard not to predict the ending of. She had her assumptions, but then she could always be proven wrong. Better to remain impassive for now.
The walking was a surprise. Céleste may have mistaken it for hubris had she not witness Stella be injured. The poor thing had to be hurting quite badly from that to not attempt a speedy attack while her opponent was also still recovering, but perhaps she hoped she would get there before Lucia could completely catch her breath, or maybe... Hm. Tilting her head slightly to the side and narrowing her eyes, Céleste watched and waited. A small grin tugged at her lips upon seeing Stella began to run. There it is.
The sudden rush may have confused other opponents, but she doubted Lucia would be as such. The setup was good in theory. Slow speed followed by a potentially unexpected charge could lead to confusion enough to provide ample room for an attack. Or, in cases like these, it could backfire and allow the opponent know exactly what you were up to. It was an idea, but one that needed a lot of practice. Céleste quickly scribbled a note of it, barely looking away for a moment as not to miss the counter that was surely awaiting her.
Lucia was quick an efficient. She ducked under the attack and got out of the way, moving with the purpose of distance. Céleste caught the lagging way Lucia held her Weapon, though. Oh? What have we here? She honed in on the sight of the chain that connected the butterfly swords loosely catching on the hatchet head. Céleste smiled. Clever, very clever. Smoothly executed and with a goal in sight. Only Stella’s reaction would determine whether or not it would work, of course, but there would still be points for trying. Céleste jotted a few more words down beneath names and waited, keeping her eyes peeled for the next move and what it held in store for either combatant.
|
|
|
Post by Stella Riordan on Jul 2, 2014 15:13:58 GMT -5
Now, Stella wasn’t very experienced with fighting. She couldn’t overpower a target, and couldn’t use any given weapon to it’s full effectiveness. She could often outspeed a target, but if something hindered her speed that was out of the option too. What Stella had to rely on was creativity. Thinking outside of the box on a whim wasn’t easy, and only a few people could do it. Stella was one of these people. She could play out how things would work in her head in a manner of seconds, most of which were unconventional, making surprise on her side. Of course, if Stella forgot to work out every possible counter to her plan, that’d often put her in danger.
This was one of those times. If Stella had thought about the plan for a few more seconds, she would have known that Lucia was obviously going to dodge her attack. After all, why would she block it if she didn’t need to? Lucia had more than enough time to think about what she was doing. The thoughts of how stupid the idea was began to be the only thing filling Stella’s head as Lucia dodged under her weapon. Said thoughts made Stella just a bit angry. Or, rather angry. It was a massive hit to Stella’s pride, after all. The grip on Cecil’s hilts became much stronger, to the point her hands seemed white.
Incidentally, Stella’s anger actually proved useful. For the time being, at the very least. Her heightened grip - which was also probably driving Cecil mad - allowed her to note a slight tug on the base of the hilt as Lucia appeared behind her. As she begun to spin around to allow herself to keep her eyes on the blonde, the tugging only got stronger. Stella wasn’t quite sure why, other than that the tension seemed to be coming from the chain. She brought the blades down in a jerking motion, and the tugging abruptly stopped.
It seemed Lucia had attempted to make Stella drop her weapons via tugging on the chain connecting the two hilts. Clever. Too clever. That cleverness was annoying, and only made Stella angry. Her hands were visibly shaking. She’d need to think up a plan, and quick. ”I can’t take the offensive again... My leg hurts too much to move it more. At least not too much more. I could maybe grit my teeth and bare one more charge, but that’s too reckless...” As Stella thought this, she slowly raised the blades back to a defensive position. ”If I go on the defensive, she’ll just pull that stuff again. Dammit. What should I do?”
Even though Lucia’s previous advance had failed, Stella’s look of enragement was probably more than enough to make the blonde feel rather confident in herself. Stella needed to use anything she could to her advantage, so that hypothetical emotion could be one of them. Yea. That sounded nice. She hadn’t used her hooking idea yet, so if she were to fake out Lucia... Perhaps she could turn this around.
One of the blades Stella was prior holding defensively was soon brought to an offensive position. A similar pose to last time, but this time it was the left that led the offense. She looked to be going for the same attack again, though her footwork was a bit different. She walked directly towards Lucia. Stella still looked upset. Such would only add to the ruse.
When about four strides away from the blonde, Stella looked as though she was about to charge again, moving her injured leg first. However, she didn’t. The leg flew out from underneath her in a flailing motion, the girl producing an audible gasp. Though it looked as though the injury was now so great she couldn’t run, Stella’s stance had actually become a rather defensive one. Her legs were slightly bent, and a bit more than shoulder width apart. Stella wouldn’t be put off balance easily in such a position, though hopefully the flailing suggested otherwise.
The motion was further enhanced to look more critical with how Stella moved her arms. They also flailed when it appeared she was taken by surprise by her ineptitude to run, but instead of going to a defensive position they were brought down near her legs. Not defensive at all, as the tip of the blade hung near her knees. She was also slightly slumped over. Such an awkward hand position would not only add to the ruse, but it covered Stella’s most vulnerable body part. With such a light weapon, she could easily bring the blades up to block a blow. But, bringing them down to stop a hit to the legs was difficult. The blades being there meant the rest of her was open, so Lucia would attack her torso area. If she didn’t, all her defenses would be down for Stella to move out of the way and strike. Now, all she needed to do was hope Lucia would fall for it, and take the offensive.
|
|
Cecil Amier
Weapon
Demon Butterfly Swords
All the world's a stage, and I the leading actor
Posts: 46
|
Post by Cecil Amier on Jul 2, 2014 18:21:51 GMT -5
Cecil felt Stella tighten her grip, which readjusted his focus, which had been temporarily knocked off kilter. Really quite tight, actually. "Whoah, Stella, ease up," he communicated to her, trying to temper his own anger at her taking such a reckless attack. He took the time to refocus his attention towards the enemy, who unsurprisingly had dodged out of the way. Before he could look the enemy meister over for any holes in her defense however, he was yanked. And it was none too pleasant. The hatchet had apparently caught on his chain; how utterly rude of them! Whatever ire he had towards Stella for blatantly ignoring him and placing them in a troublesome spot, he easily redirected towards their common foe. Such indignity. Such impetuousness. How dare they be yanking his chain.
Stella seemed to have caught on to the enemy hatchet catching on to his chain that he had previously suggested could catch onto their leg. He was freed from the unruly hatchet's grip, thanks to Stella's efforts. Which instilled some gratitude and trust for her in him. He was still determined to make sure she didn't continue to make amateur mistakes, though.
Thus, Cecil was more than a little worried when it seemed as if though Stella was going in for what was practically the exact same maneuver. No doubt, Cecil thought to himself, the opposing meister had by this point caught onto Stella's ineptitude. He was genuinely starting to feel as if though this spar would end soon, and not in his favor. That uncertainty only heightened when Stella stumbled, but something minor about the way she breathed, the way she carried herself, alerted him to the possibility that she might be up to something. It was likely that such subtle indicators were only picked up by him; there were certain perks to being in a weapon/meister team, after all, including being more in tune with one another, to enhance each other's empathy towards one another. He decided he should probably impart something supportive, rather than reprimand her, "alright, Stella, good performance; and I should know. Just don't get cocky and drop character, these two are more wily then they let on. The jerks."
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2014 0:14:31 GMT -5
Lucia was lucky enough to have both feet on the ground when she felt a tug on Nolan's hatchet form. A little less balance from her and that tug would have knocked her back to the ground. Instead, Lucia relaxed her grip slightly and let the blade slip out of the chain so that she could continue to take one more step away from her opponent before turning around.
“That was a close one, Nolan,” she whispered.
Her heart was pounding from the shock of Stella's reaction, but her breathing was becoming more and more controlled. Now that her lungs had recovered, it would be easier for her to go on the offensive again.
It was perfectly timed. Stella looked like she was about to attack, but she faltered. Her leg must have still been ailing her greatly, for it appeared that she was doubled over after attempting to make another attack. To Lucia, it looked like the girl was growing desperate: her attacks were becoming more direct and less calculated, with little thought to adjusting to her injury. Excessive movement would not help Stella in this situation. At least, that's what Lucia thought. The best course of action would be something more defensive, but Stella didn't seem like the type of person to sit back and block a few hits to tire her opponent out.
There was no time to lose. With Stella in this position, obviously affected by her injury, Lucia had a golden opportunity to make another strike. She knew that speed was on her side, so she would have to make this move as quickly as possible. Stella's blades were in front of her. Although they were lowered, they didn't leave any openings in the front that Lucia knew she could take advantage of. With her slightly slumped posture, though, there was one place Lucia could hit that would definitely hurt: Stella's back. If she was fast enough, then she knew she could do it. All she had to do was outrun her opponent's reflexes.
Lucia took a deep breath, then began to dash towards Stella. As her strides brought her closer, Lucia lifted Nolan's hatchet form up to her left shoulder so that she would have a powerful swing for her attack. Her sprint took her slightly to Stella's left side, so when Lucia was practically right next to her, she put extra strength into her stride in order to jump. As she came back down slightly behind Stella, so did the hatchet. The swing was directed at the point where Stella's back arched the most. Good thing Nolan had dulled his blade beforehand. Lucia never would have gone for such a powerful attack if he hadn't.
Words: 452 Tag: Nolan/Stecil/Celeste Notes: Finally got this thing done! Lucia got bold.
|
|