06-19-2013, 10:39 PM
Audran smiled as he began to lead the way to the dojo, finding Iri's company pleasurable. She certainly had a strange ability to take away the tension in almost any situation merely by being there. "That's okay, Iri. I wouldn't know how to put my thoughts into words to be honest," he said, walking up to the doors of the dojo. "And you're not dumb; just innocent. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. It's a blessing, not a curse." At the end of his little rant, he blushed, feeling a tad self-conscious. He really hadn't meant to say anything like that. Oh well, he thought, opening the door and holding it for Iri to enter first.
Perhaps a tad surprisingly, the lights were already on, revealing the various straw dummies sitting around, some with buckets on their heads or wearing other pieces of makeshift armor. Overall, the place was far from elaborate. The school was supposed to be teaching the kids about peace after all, right? Well, they still thought that students should be able to protect themselves, even if they didn't actively maintain that stance or support the program in the school itself. So long as they had a place to exercise the body and purify the mind, Audran didn't particularly care how fancy it was.
"Have you been waiting long, Tali?" he called out, heading over to the rack of practice swords before choosing his favorite. He had practiced with it every time the year before, the sword having been the perfect weight and balance for him. "I hope you haven't gotten rusty over the summer. This is Iri by the way. I offered to let her watch."
Immediately after she had passed Iri and Adela, Tali had made her way to the dojo, feeling that it would be the perfect place to wait for the school to actually start. Hardly anybody ever actually went over to the dojo after all. She had figured that Audran would have made his way over, and so she had begun reading a sinister-looking book while she waited. It contained several spells, as well as some more advanced magical techniques. Her master had given it to her at the end of the summer, instructing her to study it well during the school year. Honestly, it meant a lot to her that he trusted her well enough to give her such a thing.
Her reading was interrupted by the arrival of Audran, who went over to the swords almost immediately upon entering. "Not really," she said, frowning a bit as she noticed the fairy girl. Tali wasn't one for socializing, and she didn't particularly care for having an audience, but it was no matter. "I've stayed in practice." With that, she closed her book and set it aside, casting a ward over it to keep anyone from stealing it, before heading down to grab her own practice sword. They were all roughly the same, at least in design. The only differences between any two were the weight and balance of the swords. She grabbed hers, automatically gravitating towards it like Audran had to his and went to the circle in the middle of the room, directly opposite Audran.
Ceremoniously, they bowed to each other before adopting their stances. They circled each other, eyes rapidly scanning each other for a flaw in their defense. Suddenly, Audran shot forward, swinging his sword upwards with graceful lethality. Tali blocked it with her own sword, the clash of steel on steel resounding the dojo. They continued to exchange strikes for a few seconds before breaking and circling each other again, sweat dripping down off of their faces. The first set had been a test, both combatants checking to see if the other was as good as they remembered. Unanimously, they concluded that, yes, the other was just as good.
The next time they clashed, it was Tali who initiated the engagement, swinging her sword downward with just as much strength and grace as Audran had done, though her movement had a more... savage feel to it. He blocked and parried, setting them into the flurry of attack and counterattack that they had been in before. This one lasted longer though, both sides giving just as much as they got as they watched for the one mistake that would give them victory. Eventually, it happened: Tali's blade hit Audran's at the wrong angle, staggering her and giving him an opening. As he swung for the kill, she managed to get her sword out and strike him at the same moment that he struck her, resulting in a tie.
The duo broke, both leaning on their swords as they recovered, breathing heavily and sweating freely. "I had you there you know," he said, shaking his head slightly. Tali just shrugged in response, a smirk on her delicate face. In real combat, he would be right, but it wasn't really combat, so it didn't matter. It was a draw, fair-and-square. "So, Iri, how was the show? Good, I hope."
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