Reflections

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Séanait took the sword carefully, drew it from it's sheath and then carefully set the sheath off to one side as she examined the blade. It was shorter than then swords of Werraland, but no less heavy. She swung it a couple of times, first with one hand and then with both. She immediately recognized that this was a sword best used with both hands. It wasn't just the long hilt of the sword, it was the balance, the feel.

Séanait cut the air several more times, getting used to the weapon, and then performed a few thrusts, both two handed and single handed with a pretended shield. Thrusting two handed felt a bit awkward, but that was mostly because she wasn't used to it. Single handed, though, was awful. The balance was all wrong, and the blade too long. She'd never draw the sword in the press of a shield wall, let alone get it into position to stab above or below a shield.

Done playing with the sword, Séanait sat down and examined the blade itself. There was a beautiful ripple down the length of the sword, seemingly separating two different kinds of steel. She drew her langseax and tried to scratch the edge of the sword, but it didn't leave a mark. She then tried the side of the blade above the wavy line and the back of the weapon, and succeeded in scratching the back of the sword, although she thought there might have been a small scratch on the side of the sword. She sat back and raised an eyebrow at Diamond.

"Well, I doubt the folding does much for the cutting power, but that's a very hard edge you've got. I've seen a sword with an edge that hard before, and I think it must have been of similar construction. It had more than one type of steel in it too, although it didn't have any fancy waves on the edges like yours does."

Séanait sheathed the blade and passed it back to Diamond.

"I could ransom a King's Thegn with that blade, but it won't do me any good. That blade's for fighting other people one on one. It'll do me no good in the shield wall or in an ambush."

Séanait now passed her langseax over to Diamond. It was a short, heavy blade made mostly from iron, but with a steel edge. Cheap and durable, that was the motto of the Thusend's quatermasters.

"This is what you want for close in work. It's small enough to draw in the press, long enough to stab around a shield and heavy enough to bite deep."

Séanait grinned at Diamond.

" I'm interested in seeing your fighting style, though."

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Diamond watches Shy as she looks over the blade and gave a few tests of the blade. Swinging it a bit, testing the weight, and then one part where he cringed slightly at a durability test. Then she hands over her tried and true blade, he slowly pulls it out. It was an iron blade but it was very durable and no nonsense on what it was. Then hears her thoughts on the blade and nods at it "A very valid assessment on the blade. In some aspects, yes it would not be good against a shield wall. That I can agree with, but you always have other things to get around a wall. In an ambush though, the way you draw it though. Can come out so quick that your attackers may not be able to counter it. Mind you when you fold metal and even steel. Your adding more layers to it, adding strength and durability" he said and then places both of his katanas down. While he takes a look at Shy's blade in his hands.

"This weapon here though is a no nonsense blade. Nothing fancy about it at all just a tool for dealing death to the enemy. Combined with a sturdy shield for bashing and stabbing. Your good against a lot of foes and be defensively strong. But like you I don't solely rely on my main blades. Like I see that you have a spear. I've used some magic from time to time. But mostly magical items if my company has gotten some from the client. But I have picked it up and I have been learning how to use it. Don't worry I am not going to use it on you" he said and then hands Shy her blade while getting back up.

"Trust me, its been a long time since I sparred with someone. Hopefully I will surprise you" he said equally having the same grin as Shy.

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Diamond seemed to have gotten the wrong end of the stick. The sword wasn't of particular use against a shield wall, true, but she'd been more concerned with it's use in the shield wall. Still, no matter. It was Diamond's suggestion that the sword could be drawn fast enough to make a difference in an ambush that bothered her. It sounded like people in Nova didn't know how to mount a proper ambush. Her smile grew more wolfish as she thought about being able to one day teach them how to mount one.

Séanait nodded as Diamond mentioned that neither of them relied solely on their blades and managed to completely hide her moment of fear when she heard that Diamond could use magic. His promise didn't mean much to her - the promises of wizards could not be trusted - but she had enough confidence and brashness to ignore the concern for now. It was time for a fight!

Diamond was taller than Séanait, thus having more reach, and was probably stronger than her. This meant that he would have the advantage if she tried to box with him. On the other hand, the tall mercenary would have a higher center of gravity than Séanait, giving her the advantage if they grappled. She adjusted herself accordingly, front let forward and bent, rear leg locked straight. Her hands she kept up, open but slightly bent, ready to grab hold of Diamond when he came into range.

"Seeing as it's been a long time for you, you go first."

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Diamond nods his head and then takes a small pouch off from his coat and threw it next to his blades. He then gets a bit of space to himself and away from the fire that he made. With a deep breath and focusing he gets ready as his eyes got steely and serious. "Fine but I will not go easy on you" he said and sounded very focused. His body then starts to get animated as he starts to lightly move in his fighting stance. As he shows his impressive footwork shifting from time to time. His violet eyes look over Shy and see that she was ready for him to come into range. Diamond then rushed forward as he was going to use his agility. As he moved in though he did a low kick to her extended left leg. This strike was a very swift one to test Shy's reaction time to his strikes. The white haired male wanted to just test the waters.

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"Easy? Ha! I'll be the judge of that!"

Séanait started to circle Diamond as he went through a series of flashy movements with his feet, more out of habit and restless anticipation than any real need. Why wasn't he attacking yet? She almost felt like telling him to get on with it.

And then, with sudden swiftness, the attack came. Diamond rushed at her, looking like he was going to engage her on equal terms but, at the last second, he kicked out at her rear leg. Séanait didn't realise that until his kick had contacted her leg, because she'd already grabbed hold of Diamond. The kick hit the side of her knee and very nearly dislocated the knee cap. She gasped with the pain and felt her body begin to fall backwards as her rear leg buckled.

Gritting her teeth, Séanait grasped for Diamond's shoulders - shoulder or hair, either would do - to pull him down with her. Then, as she was going down, Séanait tried to shift her grip so that one hand still held Diamond's hair or a shoulder, and her other hand was pressed against a hip. As she fell, she intend to flip the mercenary over her, onto his back. And if she had hold of his hair, she wasn't going to let it go, either. Séanait fought dirty.

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Diamond saw that no matter what that Shy was going to grapple with him. He made sure that she got his shoulder. As from there conversations, he saw that Shy was a wild woman. And would be the type to fight dirty in a fight. So if she did get his hair he could try and grapple and restrain the arm that would be holding on to his mane. But went with the shoulder as he saw that he was going to be thrown backwards with the momentum. The white haired male did land on his back and tried not to get him self stunned as he fell back. As soon as he felt the ground though he rolled away from the red head. Since he knew that she would try and pin him down to get a few shots on him. Once he got away just a bit he went to get back up. Since that would deteremen the flow of this fight. Since who ever got up first would strike first.

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Séanait managed to get a good hold on Diamond's shoulder as she went down, pulling him with her. With one hand on his shoulder and another on his hip, she managed to use the momentum of her fall to unbalance the man and flip him over her and off to one side. As she hit the ground, Séanait rolled off to one side and struggled up to her feet, left knee aching like hell. That kick had gotten her good, though she kept the pain off her face. It wasn't the worst wound she'd taken.

Watching Diamond carefully, aware that she should become more active and less reactive. No one ever won a fight by letting the other person make all the moves. So, she advanced once again, limping slightly, with a mind to aim a left haymaker at Diamond's head that would be followed up with a right to his solar plexus. She'd make him regret not wearing any armour.

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Diamond gets back to his feet and sees Séanait coming at him with a limp. He was not going to pull any punches himself with this warrior woman. Since her movement was hampered a bit from his strike earlier. He knew that this would give him a slight advantage with mobility. He had felt his shoulder a bit sore but the pain was gone quite quickly. The white haired male saw the punch coming at him and used his right hand to slap away the punch to redirect it. He was going to follow that up by grabbing the wrist that was used the haymaker using that momentum to get behind Shy and place that wrist behind her back. Then push her, but that was for naught as her follow up punch hit squarely in the chest and that sent him back and he fell back and on his ass. He was trying to catch his breath as it knocked some of the wind out of him. Was she trying to prove some kind of point.

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Her first hit was slapped aside, as she'd expected, but her second punch connected with Diamond's chest with a satisfying smack. Séanait had a brief moment of pleasure as he opponent let out a whoosh of air and sat down hard. She'd paid him back for his kick to her leg. Now she just needed to finish the fight as quickly as possible, before she had any problems with her knee.

Moving around to one side of Diamond, Séanait lunged at him as she dropped, good knee out. Her plan was to hit him with her knee and force him onto his back. That should put him in enough pain that he couldn't think clearly and keep him from sucking in any more air. From there, she could get in behind his head and put him in a choke hold.