Kaith climbs down into the sparring pit. His posture is perfect, his coat free from dust. His pins appear freshly polished and gleam in the sun. He wanders through the pit, hands clasped behind his back, nodding slowly in satisfaction as he watches the training.
Elyl practices his forms against an imaginary foe and spots Kaith while hopping from right foot to left foot, and stops as he wipes his brow. Walking toward Kaith, he shifts his lathe to his left hand and salutes, fist to chest, and says "Learned Gaurian here Asha'man Athanes. May i ask a favor of you?"
Kaith turns to face Elyl, gaze moving slowly up and down as he examines him. He nods acknowledgement to his salute and says,'Grace favor you, countryman. What is the favor?'
Elyl smiles slightly, then lets it melt back into a blank look and says levelly "I would be honored if you would spar with me Asha'man Athanes. I've never had the opportunity to spar what i will one day become."
Kaith purses his lips in thought as he considers. After a moment, he nods slightly and turns towards the weapons rack, walking with his hands still clasped behind him. When he reaches the rack, he unclasps his hands and rummages through the wooden practice swords. He picks one out and gives it a couple of practice swings, then nods to himself again. He turns and walks unhurriedly to a sparring circle and calls over his shoulder towards Elyl,'Yes, I believe I can accommodate you.'
Elyl smiles slightly as he follows you to the practice ring, shifting his lathe back to his right hand. Upon reaching somewhere in the middle of the ring, he grasps his lathe with both of his hands, squares up to you, and gets in a basic guard position, feet staggered and shoulder width apart with his right foot forward. He holds his lathe a little in front of him, the point slanting upward and away from him at a severe angle. As he bends his knees to prepare himself, he says "Whenever you are ready, so am i."
Kaith slips easily into a ready stance, his blade held angled across his body from his left hip to his right shoulder and out from his body at about a thirty degree angle. He twitches the tip of the practice blade so it jerks in a small, beckoning gesture and says,'Come for me. Show me what you have learned.
Elyl clears his head of all emotion, feeding them into a flame in his mind. His face becomes emotionless as he nods, and steps forward, slashing from his right hip upward at an arc toward your head hoping to score a quick shot to your left ear.
Kaith slides about a foot to his right and pivots his upper torso very slightly to his left, snapping his practice sword across his body to deflect Elyl's blow with the sharp clack of wood striking against wood. He twists his wrists slightly counterclockwise and uses the force of the rebound to add to his slash, redirecting it slightly in an attempt to slice from Elyl's right shoulder to his left hip.
Elyl hops slightly backward onto his left foot, parrying the slash with a downward motion, putting the wooden lathe down by his right hip. From there, he simply lunges forward on his left foot, attempting to stab you in your right rib.
Kaith's eyes widen slightly as if in surprise, then take on the dead look associated with the void. He steps back with his right foot, pivoting on the left as Elyl's practice blade stabs through the empty air where his ribs were a fraction of a second earlier. He steps back with his left, then, bringing his practice blade back up into a guard position. His voice has the coldness indicative of the void as he speaks,'You show quickness, Gaurian. Were you in the sword societies back home?'
Elyl follows his stab through and twirls on one foot to come to a guard position facing you. He manages to sneak a disgusted tone into his voice despite the void as he says "I left when my parents, who were servants, died. I never had any formal training in the sword before the tower. I was too busy staying alive." He stands, body tense like a coiled spring is tense, and waits for your acknowledgement before continuing the spar.
Kaith nods, although he is unable to show sympathy from within the void. He steps forward with his right foot and thrusts hard towards Elyl's abdomen, stamping his foot as he finishes the blow, to add force to it. Even though the movement is abrupt, his face remains calm and dry, despite the intense heat.
Elyl parries with a jump to his right foot, and an upward flash of his wooden lathe, forcing your lathe to at least miss him if not really moving it anywhere. Using the rebound in his slash, he steps forward with his right foot as he slashes downward toward your right shoulder, deciding to put a curve on it, changing the aim to your ear.
Kaith quickly backpedals, turning his head to his left just as the shorter man's blade tip whistles within an inch of his cheek. He pulls his blade, which was left out of line by the parry, back in to a guard position. His gaze hardens as his face turns back towards Elyl. His mouth sets in a hard line as he slashes hard towards Elyl's blade, attempting to strike a ringing blow at the point where the wooden blade meets the hilt.
Elyl takes a step backwards and attempts to swing his lathe to block yours in a place -other- than close to the hilt, but his maneuver only puts the blow an inch higher than was aimed on his blade. His hands loosen on the hilt and manages to maintain hold of the lathe, but when he brings his lathe back into his guard position, his movement from his upper forearm outward is sloppy, almost as if numb. Taking a quick step with his left foot, he attempts to slash your left ribs with an awkward sideways slash.
Kaith brings his elbows in and twists them to the side, bringing his blade up to parry the slash perpendicular to the other man's blade. A sharp wooden clack resounds across the yard as the blades connect. With a quick movement, he reverses the rotation of his wrists and elbows to slash underneath Elyl's blade, aiming to slice across his mid torso from Elyl's right to left, parallel to the ground.
Elyl shuffles his feet quickly forward in an attempt to avoid most of the blade, and brings his blade down hard in an attempt to hit your shoulder, even though the close quarters makes him tuck his arms in tight. While he slices down, he bends at his torso so that the blade keeps the same distance from him the entire time, and attempts to run into you and knock you off balance.
Kaith plants his left foot and pivots backwards, pulling his elbows back to bring his blade out of the way of Elyl's slash that descends on empty air. As his spin continues, his body moves out of the way of the charging man. With a grace born of endless hours of training and practice, he completes his clockwise spin, snapping his blade in a downward arc towards the back of Elyl's head as he comes around to face him again.
Elyl starts to slow his charge down just in time to twist his head and catch your lathe in his ear. Losing his balance from the slash, Elyl falls to his knees as he shakes his head and looks up at you before standing and saluting with his lathe.
Kaith lowers his practice blade so that the point touches the ground. He nods in satisfaction, face smoothing as he releases the void. He says in a commanding tone,'Have someone see to your ear if it gives you any trouble.' He reverses his grip on the hilt and tosses it in a lazy arc towards Elyl,'Put away the weapons and you may take an hour break.' Without waiting for a response, he turns and begins walking towards the eastern edge of the pit.
Elyl nods as he releases the void, and flinches as the pain of his ear becomes painfully apparent. Snatching up the lathe, he marches toward the racks to put them away, then out of the pit.