What a pleasant evening.
Rain stretches his sore muscles, cracking his joints audibly.
Ahh.
His arm moves to shield his eyes from the maroon rays of the evening sunlight- but then he stops mid- motion, closes his eyes and preens forward, letting his face soak in more of the pleasant rays.
A smile tugs at the corner of his lips- one full of glee
What had been planned to be a short break before training- to allow for digestion, transformed into a full blown lounge and introspection session.
Time had flown by;- span of close to an hour had already passed- with him still immersed within the pleasant atmospheric ambience.
To hell with everything! Just enjoy the peace and quiet.
He muses.
[You had to say it!]
His brows furrow, iritated, now he had to move!
His thoughts wouldn't settle- now that he'd 'mistakenly' reminded himself of awaiting obligations and commitments to be seen through.
He still had close to an hour to lounge, get his things in order yet he walked off nonetheless.
A few minutes later, his silhouette emerges and gradually disappears beyond the street
~~
My steps echo, as the barrack's gates gradually appear bigger and bigger with every step.
The gates creak open before I could knock, a garisson guard nodding as I pass by.
Seems I'm quite early as the training square is devoid of any human presence.
A few steps and I was next to the weapons stand- the wooden ones, meant for training.
Upto this moment, I can't help but marvel at the carvers expertise- silver paint and they would look like the real deal.
Not that it would fool anyone, just saying.
Excited chatters chatters reach my ears.
[About time!] I muse,
Sighing in relief, knowing that my short wait is over.
Groups of armoured recruits match in, moments later.
They converge within the training grounds, dispersing all around the square.
Some head for the dummies, others just stand around, engaging in light banter.
"Hello there" one recruit amongst a group beside me greets.
"Hi"
They all proceed to introduce themselves- shaking hands with me, engaging in small talk.
We talk, banter lightly, speaking of past experiences and blunders.
"Ye' got guts Rain!"
I smile, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
"Yeah, sparring with Cap'n!" One quips in, lively .
A light smile touches my lips
Turns out not everyone is a mosochist- don't get it twisted, I'm not saying that I am!
"Still sore and hurting" I say stretching my arms and lightly massaging the back of my neck.
~Laughter~
Few minutes pass, us engaging and getting acquainted of each other.
"Rain, are you up for a spar?"
"Huh?" I look back, puzzled
"Me and the boys have a small thing going,"
~rubs his thumb and index finger~
"If you are interested."
My face lights up, who would I be to say no to some quick coin!
Noticing my interest, he continues,
"The cap'n is caught up in some clerical work," He smirks
"I reckon we have about hmm-"
~looks up at the setting sun~
"..Ehm, about an hour or so, before he shows."
I don't allow him to finish, interrupting
"Sign me in, brother!"
The guy chuckles, gesturing me and the other fellows to follow.
[Ahh] My eyes gleam in amusement.
Before me, the recruits were huddled in a circle, talking in hushed tones.
The guy I was following behind clears his throat, focusing all the recruits attention on himself.
~walks into the centre of the circle~
"Boys! Lets get on with it!"
~cheers~
"At the interest of time, we'll have two matches today,"
"You know the drill, hand your bets to Judas over there."
Points to a guy within the recruits,
"From where we left off, Joel vs Maine!"
Theres a flurry of activity, guys grabbing their coin pouches and fishing out some coins, placing bets.
The comentator recruit quiets down, letting them do their thing, pausing for a few moments, looking around.
Satisfied, he paces to the centre, touching the arms of the two combatants within the makeshift ring
Whispers to Judas, barely audible.
I manage to pick it- strictly fifteen minutes- he said.
"Let the showdown commence!"
~cheers~
The two combatants circle each other, wooden sword and shield in each combatants hands.
A few more circles, sizing each other up.
"Booo! Get on with it!"
"We ain't got all day!"
Spectating recruits boo the duo.
And did that get them going!
As if on cue, the two charge,
Butting shields - opponent isn't pushed back.
A swing from Maine, the brute, commiting to slashing his opponent's torso.
A mistake!
Joel leans in, diving below the swinging arm and clutches it.
Delivers a knee strike to Maine's chest
A shield slam follows immediately after
Maine's sword arm slackens, dropping his wooden sword.
~Cheers and Grumbles~
"And there we have it!" The comentator recruit announces.
Maine groans, rising from the floor.
[What an anticlimactic end!]
I muse.
It takes the comentator recruit a few moments to calm down disgruntled losers ...and to let Judas hand out the winings.
The guy gives me a look, I nod
He nods back, affirmed.
"Listen up!" he commands, looking around.
Content with full attention accorded, he continues,
"The next fight is a debut fight!"
~cheers~
"Mark, step into the ring."
Feet stump cheering on the guy stepping in.
My eyes lock onto him, scanning, analyzing, calculating.
Mark wasn't that big, close to six feet tall, slightly built with a strong presence around him.
"Aaand- " pauses, "The debut fighter, you all know him, The pain junkie, the punisher..."
"Raiiin!"
I cringe as I awkwardly step into the ring.
Cheers get supressed, more muted, I shrug it off.
Before me, my oppenent, mark, scans my figure- looking pleased.
My brows furrow,
[Did he just shrug me off?!]
pissing me off.
Ohh, a rude awakening is in order, by all means necessary.
Oi! don't get it twisted, I'm not so so,
That I can be shrugged off easily-
I might not be that tall, or ripped but hell! I'm not that far off.
The guy, Mark just towers over me by a few inches, inches!!
And he thinks I'm a walk over?
He's more ripped- mine? Mine are just hidden, I'm not a shower!
My arms might make me look taller- dangling close to my knees, but thats all to it.
"Gentlemen," he calls to us, particularly me, "The rules are simple, No lasting injuries"
~Looks around~
"No blows to the vitals ... No hits to the groin"
I nod in agreement
"Everything else is on the table, Go nuts!"
He shouts, leaving the ring.
I circle my opponent, twirling my wooden dagger within my fingers- analyzing his casual stance
[Bastard]
The guy stretches, still taking me casual.
[Lemme correct that]
My feet tense, coiling, ready to spring out with power
I make a sudden right step,
Mark's eyes widen,
He lowers his shield to cover his opening,
Simultaneously swings his sword at me,
[Fell for it] I snicker,
Crouching from the right feint, rising up to his exposed side
Shiik!
My dagger swipes across his exposed torso
Tearing a line across his linen shirt.
"Ahh!" he winces, flinching
[Serves you right]
I think, a crooked smile plastered
Disengaging, I decide to give him a breather- to weigh his options.
Definately not to rub it in or watch his regretful face,
~smirk~
The guy locks in, now actively trying to analyze my stance.
Just to spite him, I shift into a casual stance.
[Jackass]
He closes in, shield held by his mid torso.
His feet suddenly errupt in a flurry of steps and sidesteps, catching me offguard.
I roll to the side, avoiding a sudden thrust,
Giving me no time to gather my wits, he lunges,
Shield raised and charging
An abrupt slide to the right saves my head from a shield slam.
The guy lets out a gleeful ~hurumph~
He probably thinks me a fool, in bringing daggers aganist a shield-sword combo.
And that would be his undoing, his folly.
A feint, dodge, parry
The guy was unrelenting, keeping me at my toes, constantly mounting pressure.
Replicating his footwork- and a ton of guessed ones meshed in,
I lunge, diving below his shield,
He swings his sword, trusting the longer reach of his weapon,
The sword draws in, whistling as it slashes the air
My lunge tranforms in to a roll, slashing his archilles tendon as I roll past him.
His sword slashing empty air
He locks his gaze at me, surprised by my sudden longer reach.
[Long arms, numskull]
I muse, pleased.
He doesn't figure out how, still puzzled.
Scanning his stance, I catch a slight lean to the uninured leg
[My next target]
The same sequence repeats, and I catch him lacking.
A slash to his other archilles tendon gets him snarling in fury.
His stance becomes a mess.
I would be petty if I continued his torture,
Being a 'good mer' I decide to show him 'mercy'
~Ominous smirk ~