05-20-2016, 01:09 AM
Christa gulped down the tangy taste of guilt, this wasn’t exactly the time to confess that she’d become a blood thirsty, insensitive, asshole after her sister had died. But deep down, Christa knew that on the most fundamental level, her words had been true.
After the shift had settled down, Cora and Christa went over some things that the secondary could do in order to build on the skills she already had, “Well, I’m good at cooking, but I always burn steak, so the guys never let me in the kitchen...”
“Well, what about doing laundry?” Christa thought it was a more mundane task, but she had to start somewhere.
“Oh, uh, last time, I did laundry, the clothes burst into flames... And we don’t even have an electric washer yet.” Ouch. Christa winced and scrambled her thoughts -her more ‘family oriented’ thoughts- in search of a suggestion for the woman who had no idea what she was good at.
“How about uh....” Christa was at a loss, their brainstorming results were mainly inconclusive, and before the Prime knew it, their shift was over. They set plans to try again tomorrow after combat practice, and Cora left, with a hopeful smile on her face, which was much changed due to Christa’s slightly exuded empathy for the girl.
Next was the basic combat. This was where it got interesting.
Barney was grinning mischievously at her, which meant he was up to something. The majority of Darkshire’s local squadron had been called in, even Dobson, though he was merely watching the beginning of the affair. They assembled in a large clearing and Barney began his speech about getting one over on the enemy, “Attention! This exercise isn’t to see who the best in town is, but it is to keep your minds keen, focused, and your bodies prepared and nimble for when you have to use hand to hand against your enemies. Your weapon has been lost, but so has theirs, oh, also, it is easy to fight with someone to focus on a single move, but this is free for all for a reason, you have to adapt to the change that your opponent brings. Now, I understand that some of you aren’t that skilled in hand to hand, but might be good with, say, a bow and arrow, but worry not, there is no real consequence for losing against your partner, however the winner gets a special prize, and the trainee winners who have showed improvement will get a good reputation as well. Since I raised most of you guys from the pits of recruithood myself, I’m the one who partnered you all to my liking. Now then, here comes the list. Be ready to hear your name and start sparing.”
“Uh, sir? How do we know when we win?” Cora asked out of term.
Barney’s cheek squished together into a bright smile, “I’ll be the judge of that, but I suppose usual rules apply, after five seconds, if they can’t get up, you’re the victor.”
Christa fretted, this didn’t sound good. What if there was another siege on the town? As though Barney had read her mind, he continued, “Don’t worry about recovering, we’ve got a few health potions to spare, as well as a few special visitors that will help us man the fort for the next couple o’ days, that way you guys can rest easy.”
Everyone stirred uneasily and nodded, and then, Barney began to read the list. Cora inched closer to Christa through the dispersed crowd, hoping that if she got partnered with her, Christa would go easy on her, “Cora, you’re with Dublin,” her sigh lasted a little while, and Cora waved a friendly goodbye to Christa, who stood there, wondering why Cora had showed attachment to her.
It was no surprise, next, when Christa heard her name called with the only formidable person she had met so far, (though she hadn’t met many people so far) “Adams, Glin.”
Glin had expected this too, though for different reasons. His eyes had fixed on her for over half of the meeting, over the heads of the others, since he was so tall, and she was rather tall for a woman. It was kind of a tell in itself, though, he had focused on her probably to see if she had been disappointed. Sure, it would’ve been easy to say, “Well, this one’s a sure loss, how am I supposed to win against someone who knows all my weaknesses?” but Christa wasn’t sure how she was feeling, and blinked out the last bit of sleep in the corners of her eyes from the night before. Quite truly, she thought she liked the challenge.
Glin approached hesitantly and then offered a friendly, well-meant smile, “Sorry they placed you with me,” his tone was regrettable.
Her eyebrow raised, “Well, I’m the prime here, don’t get too cocky,” she smirked, Glin did too. It was a peaceful moment before the storm. They were the only ones not fighting.
“Still, I want you to know, it’s no hard feelings.” Glin offered.
Christa frowned. She didn’t much like his tone, and it was making it sound like her fight was over before it had started, “Well, I mean, you’ve got a gift, so you’re going to use it, I don’t blame you for that.” Christa had ripped off the torso part of her armor, and was sliding off the parts that covered her thighs and shins. “I won’t go easy on you, just cause you’re an elf, you know. In fact, I might just kick your ass.”
Her little digs made it a bit easier on the elf, since both of them knew that the next battle would try the newly tied knot of their friendship. It was mutually unsaid that each wouldn’t pull a single one of their punches, and that they’d use everything in their power to win. How else was a warrior to grow? “You can try.” Glin spoke, and they both moved into a ready position.
-
The five feet of space between their eyes filled with impenetrable static. Christa tried to clear her mind, but it was so damn difficult, since it was usually chock-full of shit anyway. He’d see every move she had coming, and be able to brace, block, or dodge. No, this wouldn’t be an easy goddamn fight.
He struck first, landing a well-forced kick into the side of her knee, he impaired her ability to stand, and then swooped in, using the accentuated length of his legs, to roundhouse kick her in the side of her back. The Prime’s body was sent into the dirt by the force, and Christa could already feel the bruise forming. She saw what the elf was doing though. Making it quick and painless for her. Lovely. Tch. What an asshole.
Eyes slid from the other matches to watch theirs, and Barney saw this, but didn’t interrupt, Christa rose again from the dirty soil and tested the ache in her knee. She could still walk, but she’d never had to strategize in the last hundred ‘hand to hand’ battles she’d been in, what she’d have to do if one of them read her mind. A horrible idea occurred to her. His eyes widened as he read it, then he paused, to give her time to decide. And she needed it, because it was a weapon, but also, a burden on the way Christa fought, also, it was relatively painful, then again, Glin would know all her weaknesses as they came about, this way, she at least had a fighting chance.
Before she could choose to apply this tactic, WHAM! Glin landed a punch square on her cheek, Christa had seen it coming, but only had the time to brace herself and move with its momentum. There was a follow-up, which Christa predicted and moved in a movement to block it, which Glin saw coming, evaded, and went for a maneuver that twisted her arm in, and forced her to the ground. The pain was substantial, but in a way, he had warned her to stay down, kind of like in boxing. After another well placed blow on the corner of her neck, he released his grip and rose again to give her space.
Christa chose to stand again, though this time, it became harder on her joints and purpling muscles. There was a great difference in choosing to rise, and not being able to. Christa, apparently, wanted to get the sense beat out of her. By now, the entire platoon was watching, which put a little extra pressure on Christa. She wiped the smear of blood coming down from her lips and stood tall once more, though it hurt to, and spoke loudly, so that the whole place could hear her tell him quite directly, “You’re pulling your punches.”
After the shift had settled down, Cora and Christa went over some things that the secondary could do in order to build on the skills she already had, “Well, I’m good at cooking, but I always burn steak, so the guys never let me in the kitchen...”
“Well, what about doing laundry?” Christa thought it was a more mundane task, but she had to start somewhere.
“Oh, uh, last time, I did laundry, the clothes burst into flames... And we don’t even have an electric washer yet.” Ouch. Christa winced and scrambled her thoughts -her more ‘family oriented’ thoughts- in search of a suggestion for the woman who had no idea what she was good at.
“How about uh....” Christa was at a loss, their brainstorming results were mainly inconclusive, and before the Prime knew it, their shift was over. They set plans to try again tomorrow after combat practice, and Cora left, with a hopeful smile on her face, which was much changed due to Christa’s slightly exuded empathy for the girl.
Next was the basic combat. This was where it got interesting.
Barney was grinning mischievously at her, which meant he was up to something. The majority of Darkshire’s local squadron had been called in, even Dobson, though he was merely watching the beginning of the affair. They assembled in a large clearing and Barney began his speech about getting one over on the enemy, “Attention! This exercise isn’t to see who the best in town is, but it is to keep your minds keen, focused, and your bodies prepared and nimble for when you have to use hand to hand against your enemies. Your weapon has been lost, but so has theirs, oh, also, it is easy to fight with someone to focus on a single move, but this is free for all for a reason, you have to adapt to the change that your opponent brings. Now, I understand that some of you aren’t that skilled in hand to hand, but might be good with, say, a bow and arrow, but worry not, there is no real consequence for losing against your partner, however the winner gets a special prize, and the trainee winners who have showed improvement will get a good reputation as well. Since I raised most of you guys from the pits of recruithood myself, I’m the one who partnered you all to my liking. Now then, here comes the list. Be ready to hear your name and start sparing.”
“Uh, sir? How do we know when we win?” Cora asked out of term.
Barney’s cheek squished together into a bright smile, “I’ll be the judge of that, but I suppose usual rules apply, after five seconds, if they can’t get up, you’re the victor.”
Christa fretted, this didn’t sound good. What if there was another siege on the town? As though Barney had read her mind, he continued, “Don’t worry about recovering, we’ve got a few health potions to spare, as well as a few special visitors that will help us man the fort for the next couple o’ days, that way you guys can rest easy.”
Everyone stirred uneasily and nodded, and then, Barney began to read the list. Cora inched closer to Christa through the dispersed crowd, hoping that if she got partnered with her, Christa would go easy on her, “Cora, you’re with Dublin,” her sigh lasted a little while, and Cora waved a friendly goodbye to Christa, who stood there, wondering why Cora had showed attachment to her.
It was no surprise, next, when Christa heard her name called with the only formidable person she had met so far, (though she hadn’t met many people so far) “Adams, Glin.”
Glin had expected this too, though for different reasons. His eyes had fixed on her for over half of the meeting, over the heads of the others, since he was so tall, and she was rather tall for a woman. It was kind of a tell in itself, though, he had focused on her probably to see if she had been disappointed. Sure, it would’ve been easy to say, “Well, this one’s a sure loss, how am I supposed to win against someone who knows all my weaknesses?” but Christa wasn’t sure how she was feeling, and blinked out the last bit of sleep in the corners of her eyes from the night before. Quite truly, she thought she liked the challenge.
Glin approached hesitantly and then offered a friendly, well-meant smile, “Sorry they placed you with me,” his tone was regrettable.
Her eyebrow raised, “Well, I’m the prime here, don’t get too cocky,” she smirked, Glin did too. It was a peaceful moment before the storm. They were the only ones not fighting.
“Still, I want you to know, it’s no hard feelings.” Glin offered.
Christa frowned. She didn’t much like his tone, and it was making it sound like her fight was over before it had started, “Well, I mean, you’ve got a gift, so you’re going to use it, I don’t blame you for that.” Christa had ripped off the torso part of her armor, and was sliding off the parts that covered her thighs and shins. “I won’t go easy on you, just cause you’re an elf, you know. In fact, I might just kick your ass.”
Her little digs made it a bit easier on the elf, since both of them knew that the next battle would try the newly tied knot of their friendship. It was mutually unsaid that each wouldn’t pull a single one of their punches, and that they’d use everything in their power to win. How else was a warrior to grow? “You can try.” Glin spoke, and they both moved into a ready position.
-
The five feet of space between their eyes filled with impenetrable static. Christa tried to clear her mind, but it was so damn difficult, since it was usually chock-full of shit anyway. He’d see every move she had coming, and be able to brace, block, or dodge. No, this wouldn’t be an easy goddamn fight.
He struck first, landing a well-forced kick into the side of her knee, he impaired her ability to stand, and then swooped in, using the accentuated length of his legs, to roundhouse kick her in the side of her back. The Prime’s body was sent into the dirt by the force, and Christa could already feel the bruise forming. She saw what the elf was doing though. Making it quick and painless for her. Lovely. Tch. What an asshole.
Eyes slid from the other matches to watch theirs, and Barney saw this, but didn’t interrupt, Christa rose again from the dirty soil and tested the ache in her knee. She could still walk, but she’d never had to strategize in the last hundred ‘hand to hand’ battles she’d been in, what she’d have to do if one of them read her mind. A horrible idea occurred to her. His eyes widened as he read it, then he paused, to give her time to decide. And she needed it, because it was a weapon, but also, a burden on the way Christa fought, also, it was relatively painful, then again, Glin would know all her weaknesses as they came about, this way, she at least had a fighting chance.
Before she could choose to apply this tactic, WHAM! Glin landed a punch square on her cheek, Christa had seen it coming, but only had the time to brace herself and move with its momentum. There was a follow-up, which Christa predicted and moved in a movement to block it, which Glin saw coming, evaded, and went for a maneuver that twisted her arm in, and forced her to the ground. The pain was substantial, but in a way, he had warned her to stay down, kind of like in boxing. After another well placed blow on the corner of her neck, he released his grip and rose again to give her space.
Christa chose to stand again, though this time, it became harder on her joints and purpling muscles. There was a great difference in choosing to rise, and not being able to. Christa, apparently, wanted to get the sense beat out of her. By now, the entire platoon was watching, which put a little extra pressure on Christa. She wiped the smear of blood coming down from her lips and stood tall once more, though it hurt to, and spoke loudly, so that the whole place could hear her tell him quite directly, “You’re pulling your punches.”
![[Image: -Gildarts-fairy-tail-35651033-300-180.gif]](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/35600000/-Gildarts-fairy-tail-35651033-300-180.gif)
"I have never met a strong person with an easy past." -Atticus