Holly looked at him slightly confused. "So...I have to fake dodge and knock a sword out of there hand? When they are not a moving target." She frowned. "How the heck is that going to help?!"

Andre looked at her crossly, frowning. "Sorry, do you want me to round up a bunch of Werewolves, give them swords, and let them swing at you for a while, or would you rather get used to attacking fake targets first?" He stood up again. "Or would you like me to stand in for the dummies?"

"I...didn't mean to be rude...but I'm not good at imagening things." She said looking at him. "I only want you to stand in if you promise not to hurt me." Holly looked from him to the dummys and back at him.

Andre sighed, closing his eyes as his shoulders slumped. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just a little unhappy with the Alpha's plan, and my getting mad at you won't help things." He pulled out the staff from his back, and pointed to another one on the rack. "If you want to do it with me, we're not going to be using pointy weapons. My full vampire potion is starting to ware off, and it's the few hours after it's worn off that I'm not on the top of my game. Last thing I need is to loose a hand while trying to train you."

Holly let out a small giggle and took the staff on the rack puting back the halberd. "You honestly think I could do that?"

He smiled as he readied his staff. "Well, no, but that does not mean I could not be underestimating you, and in my carelessness, lose a hand, especially since I imagine I will start feeling the effects of my potion wearing off very soon." He pointed it at her. "Now, try to disarm me."

Holly nodded and looked at him trying to think of how she could disarm him. She was hoping he wouldn't go super hard on her. She thrust the staff forward right at his wrist hoping to catch him off guard.

He let her hit his wrist, dropping the staff. "That was good. You can also use the staff to your advantage." He set his foot against the staff, then flicked it up into his hand. "I am going to make a forward attack at you, but it'll be slow, and should be easily dodged. Once my staff is in front of me, hook your staff between my grip and my staff, here." He made a motion, demonstrating the motion, then set up. "Ready?" He asked, then stabbed forward at her.

Holly nodded and did as he said hitting his staf with her own and pushing his staff away. "Like that?"

He nodded as she demonstrated the concept. "Yes, good. Now, when you do that, try to flick your staff so that it tosses my staff away, out of my hands." He set up, then took another, faster, stab at her, but aiming to miss in case she couldn't block quite in time.

Holly stopped him just in time and hit his staf sideways attempting to hit it ou of his hands.

He smiled as the staff flew from his hands, and nodded to her. "Very good." He walked over to where it had fallen, and bent down to pick it up. "Disarming an opponent can be one of the best ways to stop combat, which can be useful to talk to them. A few words can be more powerful than steel any day, and buying yourself a few moment to talk can end a battle you might not want to fight early." He walked back over to her. "Now, then, you'll need to learn more about unarmed fighting. First, try to hit me with your weapon." He slid his staff onto his back as he told her to do so, then waited.

"Uh ok..." Holly said swinging the staff at him. She wasn't swinging very hard and figured if he did miss the staff it wouldn't hurt much. But really she knew he wasn't going to get hit she was a bit confused about what would happen after this.

He ducked under it, then stood back up. "Well, I could have blocked that one, but I need you to try a little harder to prove my point. Don't be afraid to try and hurt me, Holly, cause at some point in this training we're going to have to start trying to hurt each other. Anyone you face is going to try to hurt you, so you should start with the person who's teaching you. I'm ready for it, so don't hold back. Now, really try to hit me." He dropped into a defensive stance, waiting.

Holly sighed softly before taking the staff and swinging. This time she focuused on Andre and pretended he was the vampire from in the woods before.

Andre stepped slightly forward, and to her left, and brought his arm down around the staff, pinning it against his side. He winced with the impact, then grabbed the staff with his left hand, and held it, then brought his hand up to right in front of her face, stopping just in front of it, avoiding punching her nose.

Then, he let go of the staff. "With staff wielders, there's a lot of are for someone to grab, especially if they are wearing armor, or can absorb a little bashing damage, like a vampire can. In this case, you're looking at a potential attack from up close. One thing you'll need to learn is hand-to-hand defense. Do you have any training in any Martial Arts?"

{Sorry I completly forgot to post.}

Holly jumped slightly just before his fist stopped infront of her face. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?" She exclaimed somewhat joking. Martial arts...Holly thought back for a moment. "No, I don't think so. Reading a book about ninja's doesn't count does it?" She asked laughing softly. "I've taken dance, thats and Art...just not a martial art. I can fight a little, and I learn really fast though."

Andre nodded, smiling. "Dance will help, but it's not going to be the only thing you need." He reached out a hand. "Now, grab my hand, and try to stop me from knocking you off your feet." He smiled again. "Or, failing that, try to land on your feet when I try to take you off them."

Holly nodded and took his hand not sure what to expect. "Ok...if I am completely horrable at this you can't laugh at me though." She said with a grin remebering her balence issues she had in dance class and hoping that wouldn't be important now.

He nodded, smiling. "I'd never laugh at a student willing to learn." He grabbed the arm of the hand holding his with his other hand, then pulled her forward and lifted her over his head, attempting to flip her over and drop her on her back behind him.

Holly pulled her arm from Andres grip trying to turn her self faster so her feet would hit the ground not her back. She landed with her feet spread apart and her knees bent almost falling over, but she didn't. "That was so cool!" She exclaimed turning around to look at him.

He smiled at her, holding out a hand to catch her if she hadn't caught herself. "Very nice. Ok, now, see if you can get me off my feet. I'll go easy on you, so give it your best shot. Remember, an enemy is most vulnerable if you attack something they don't expect, but there are some places you have to attack to get the desired effect, no matter what. Now," he dropped into a defensive stance, "knock me over."

Holly watched him for a second not really sure what to do. She stepped forward and went to grab his arm as he had done but instead of flipping him over she pulled his arm and tried to swing him backwards putting one leg out to kick his feet off the ground.

He let her grab him, and seemed to be preparing to for her to do what he had. Surprised, he went off balance, and fell backwards with a loud thud. He looked up at her, surprised, and then slowly smiled. "Very good, Holly! I wasn't sure where you'd go with that."

"I know some things." Holly laughed. "And I knew you would expect me to do what you did. I guess all my theater fighting knowledge came in handy. Thats one of the thinks we learned cause it looks like it hurts but it's really not that painful." She was proud of herself for getting Andre to fall over.