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Keeping your blade sharp, and your senses sharper. (Open)

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Post by Guest Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:07 am

Once Ojobi had made sure he had claimed his place in the third cohort barracks, he decided to freshen up his training. Being raised by a fencing addicted rich family had its benefits. So deciding it would probably be a good thing to do first he had made his way to the arena. Even though it was already getting late and most of the people had gone to their bunks. He unsheathed his rapier from the scabbard strapped to his belt. checking if the balance was still right and stretching a bit he started setting himself up in a standard fencing opening stance. his arm behind his back and rapier stretched out before him, facing a dummy.

Even though the dummy couldn't hit back it still felt good to blow off steam again. He remembered howmuch he had missed his sword when he got attacked by the cyclops at the airport and he had sworn to wear it around more often. Even though most of the people here would rather see it as a knitting needle then an actual weapon. He was determined to prove them otherwise. Slashing and stabbing around a bit he started adding parry's and riposes with it. As if he anticipated actual attacks and countering. By now the chest of the dummy was a mess. He smiled contently as he noted the blade was still sharp, but decided he would take a break and polish it a bit more even though. Sitting down on a bench he started rubbing the blade with a cloth.

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Post by Guest Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:22 pm

Riley Rourke just finished setting up in her new bunk, which resided at the First Cohort. She heard whispers that the notorious Praetor, Calix Kiril, also stayed in this particular place. But since she was never a curious cat, the spiky girl didn’t really looked for him. But then again, maybe she already saw him, but didn’t say much. Oh well. The perks of being an invisible wall. Though to be honest, Riley was a tough girl to miss. Or maybe she could be considered a man, since she was so masculine-looking. She had been mistaken for one for all her life, ever since she was little. Not that she mind. It usually kept the most annoying people away, so yay for that.

But now she was finished, and got nothing to do until sundown, which was bathing and dinner. Riley heard another rumor that the bath was superb, though she hasn’t checked it yet, just like when she heard about Calix. Frowning to her things, he tried to decided what to do next. Then she remembered. Being in the journey for a couple of days (maybe a week), the unclaimed didn’t get the time to train very much. So why shouldn’t she train now? It might help her get some ideas on what she wanted to do after, which what she must considered. Rummaging through her belongings to find her most precious brass knuckles, Riley almost didn’t feel awkward at all. Which was the contrary in most situation. She only stopped when the girl realize everyone was staring at her. Running her fingers through her spiky hair, Riley frowned. “What?”

However, she knew the reason instantly. Her clothes were still full of blood and guts from monsters and whatnot. Sighing, she immediately tugged it off and replaced it with a baggy white t-shirt. The changing itself was fast, so if there was some naughty boy’s eyes, they didn’t get what they want. Scoffing with proud, she was back to searching her weapon, smirking faintly now. Her clothes were never fancy, really: either it’s a t-shirt or a tanktop. His pants was always had camouflage patterns on them, but only if it’s long. She also has an american-flag shorts. But the things she never forgot was her army dog-tag necklace, her leather bracelet, and if she was on the hunt: her uncle’s army knife. But since Riley would only practice now, she would be searching her favorite weapon of all: brass knuckles.

Now why did she wore it the first place? Simple. Because the boyish girl was an expert in bare-hand fighting. She was excellent at Jujitsu, Taekwondo, even Capoeira. Not that she ever brag, of course. That would be a mistake, since she would let the enemy know what she could do. Finally getting the brass knuckles she got from his uncle, Riley sighed and yanked them from her bag before putting them in her pocket. After that, she got out without even saying hi to anyone. Typical Riley Rourke. Always a loner.

Shading her eyes from the bright sun, Riley squinted her eyes, looking around. She immediately spot the Arena, which was not far from where she was at. Jogging for warming-up, she thought about what she wanted to do and how long. It was always what she was thinking before going to practice: the amount of time she would need and what she need to do. Maybe because of that discipline, the girl could master all three kinds of martial arts that his uncle taught her. And probably the reason she was so toned, even though she was a girl, not a man. People might see that as pathetic, but not for Riley. This was her life, after all. With no past to tell, this was all that matters for her.

When she stepped inside the Arena, Riley jerked her head when she already saw someone there, practicing his fencing. Raising an eyebrows, she was impressed. Mostly because she hated using any kind of weapon, except her fists and her uncle’s knife. Walking to a dummy near the boy, she yelled, “Don’t mind me!” And started to punch the suckers away. Right jab, left jab, chest. Left jab, right jab, uppercut.

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Post by Guest Fri Feb 15, 2013 7:35 pm

Avalon came into the arena, holding her naginata poised and ready. She came because she'd promised to train with her date for the Valentine's Dance the day before, Ojobi Lithién. It was here that he said he would be, and it would be here that she would find him, sitting on a bench and polishing his rapier. "Ah, Ojobi!" she exclaimed, and rushed over to him, the blade of her naginata flashing wildly in the waning sunlight as she did so. "I hope I didn't come too late?" She hoped indeed, for she had been unexpectedly swamped with things to do at the beginning of the day. It was only until this hour of the day, like a desired release, that she was able to come and make her way here. Her second time at the Roman camp, she noted.

She proceeded to sit next to him, the naginata now resting loosely by her side. Away from Ojobi, of course, for it'd have been disastrous if she'd put it too near him and the blade happened to slip. "How did your training go? Are you tired?" She reached into a shoulder bag that she'd brought along with her and fished out a bottle of water that she handed out to him. "I got this for you." There was another one in there for herself, as well. She never came unprepared. "Oh, that's right, I forgot. I guess now you see what weapon I use in combat." Her eyes glanced toward the tall staff-blade. "My previous weapon was a something a little like this, although I have to say this new one is more to my liking. The Hephaestus kids are really talented!" Then her eyes spotted his blade, and she leaned in curiously to take a better look at it. "Wow, your sword is so beautiful. A flamberge rapier, right? I love the hilt." She fought the urge to run her fingers along the sword's edge, but continued looking admirably at it. "This is the first time I've seen anything so intricate at camp. A family heirloom, right? It must be precious to you."

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Post by Guest Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:55 pm

Ojobi raised an eyebrow as a girl that looked ready for the army came into the arena. Surprisingly she had bronze knuckles as weapons, although he wouldn't use them they seemed pretty effective against the dummy that was already deforming and splintering into bits and pieces. As she got on with her business she made a sideways glance and said; “Don’t mind me!" . He stopped polishing, watching her technique. "Those look pretty effective. The closer the better, am I right?"

Not long after he heard a familiar voice call his name. He looked up from his work and smiled as Avalon Suzuki, his dancing partner yesterday, strode over with a long staff-like weapon in her hands. "I hope I didn't come too late?" He smiled, a welcoming look on his face. "hi Avalon! Nah you're just in time.", "How did your training go? Are you tired? I got this for you." He accepted her water bottle and took a sip. "Thank you Avalon, its nice to see you again. I already had a little warm-up but that's all." As she put herself down next to him he had a better view of the weapon and recognized the design as a sort of half spear used by the ancient samurai's. "Oh, that's right, I forgot. I guess now you see what weapon I use in combat. My previous weapon was a something a little like this, although I have to say this new one is more to my liking. The Hephaestus kids are really talented!", "You can say that again, it looks really cool and well-made. Can't say I expected a weapon like it for you. Who made it?" It didn't take long for her eyes to wander to the rapier on his lap. "Wow, your sword is so beautiful. A flamberge rapier, right? I love the hilt. This is the first time I've seen anything so intricate at camp. A family heirloom, right? It must be precious to you." He was a little surprised, he figured there would be a lot of uniquely designed weapons in camp half-blood. He thought his rapier wouldn't stand out as much. He could see the glint in Avalon's eyes though, he was sure she wanted to try it out herself. "It is the only thing I have that indicates I had real parents. I've had it with me for as long as I can remember. " He smiled and blushed a bit at Avalon's compliments of the weapon. "Thank you, It is indeed very precious to me. Even if it would be in too poor condition to use I would still keep it with me. Although I am surprised it survived this long. They said one of my parents used it and it still looks like it has been made less then a year ago. I don't even know what kind of metal its made from."

He stood up again. Stretching his arms a bit and holding up the sword. "Avalon, do you know how to fence?"

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Post by Guest Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:09 am

"You can say that again, it looks really cool and well-made. Can't say I expected a weapon like it for you. Who made it?"

Avalon just realized that he had asked her a question right before she started asking him some herself. "Thomas Kirtley made it," she explained, "a child of Hephaestus over at the Greek camp." The Roman equivalent was Vulcan, but she figured out that Ojobi must have known that by now.

"It is the only thing I have that indicates I had real parents. I've had it with me for as long as I can remember. Thank you, It is indeed very precious to me. Even if it would be in too poor condition to use I would still keep it with me. Although I am surprised it survived this long. They said one of my parents used it and it still looks like it has been made less than a year ago. I don't even know what kind of metal its from."

Avalon did remember that he mentioned it was something he had brought over from home. What did having a family heirloom feel like? As far as Avalon could remember, the closest family to her were the friends she'd made at Camp and maybe grumpy old Dionysus. She never knew what it was like to have a real mother and father family...not since she'd come to the camp at the tender age of four. It was quite endearing then how Ojobi vowed to never discard the rapier, even if it should fall into an unusable condition. "Maybe it's made with something celestial?" she suggested. "You know, like the celestial bronze most weapons here are made of?"

Then, he suddenly asked, "Avalon, do you know how to fence?" Was he thinking about teaching her? Well, it wouldn't hurt to just answer.

"No, not really. I've done some swordplay before, but not with a rapier."

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Post by Guest Sat Feb 16, 2013 2:13 pm

"Thomas Kirtley made it, a child of Hephaestus over at the Greek camp." He thought about it. He knew he required one particular weapon made. "Well I can see that he delivers quality. It looks brand new and really sharp. I might require a new weapon as well. Not to replace my rapier of course but I miss a critical piece of my combat equipment." Looking back at his sword he still wondered what it was made from. Both edges where sharpened and those types of rapiers usually didn't survive very long. It should at least be covered with nicks and cracks but he could hardly see anything. A bit of damage of course but nothing major. "Maybe it's made with something celestial? You know, like the celestial bronze most weapons here are made of?" He wondered at that. He hardly knew such metals existed. But he was sure it was some kind of divine alloy. "Celestial bronze? I have no idea. Can't say I'm an expert of metals. Maybe one of the Hephaestus people can tell us?"

"No, not really. I've done some swordplay before, but not with a rapier." He walked a bit further into the arena, to get some space where he wouldn't hit anyone. not that there were allot around. "Well then, I'll show you how it works. Fencing is usually seen as a sport but then with more rod like swords instead of rapiers. I taught myself the military version from books of the renaissance. It's all about defence and offence and usually meant for one on one fights. You're supposed to seek out the gaps in your opponents defence." He shifted his position. One foot in front, another sideways. Raising his sword arm he put his other arm behind his back with his fist clenched. "This is always the starting position. From here on out you can either block--" He manoeuvred his sword horizontally up and down, and vertically sideways from left to right. As he worked with his right arm he let the sword point downwards when parrying to the left. "--or strike." As he said that he rapidly lunged forward stabbing in the air with his rapier. "The rapier is meant to be a stabbing weapon. Not cleaving. And the decorations are not all for show. The flamberge curves in the blade will let your enemies sword vibrate when parrying. making it harder to hold onto. Plus the Iron webbing of the hilt is used for both shielding your hand as well as disarming your opponent if he is unlucky enough to stick his sword trough the gaps. This does however leave your hand vulnerable while disarming so we usually always wear gloves. Although I didn't bring my combat suit over." Actually he wore nothing suitable for a fight. Just a pair of jeans and a shirt with a hoodie over it. But he had been careful to make sure he also took his combat suit to camp. He had left it in his suitcase under his bunk.

Taking a little piece of cork and some duct tape out of his bag he put the piece of cork on the tip of his blade and spun some tape around it, taking another sip from the bottle that Avalon brought him. Careful not to touch the edges he grabbed his sword at the base of the blade and handed it over to Avalon with a smile, Hilt first. "Well then, want to have a go?" He walked over to the weapon racks and took a training sword from it. Standing just like he had displayed before he waited for her to get ready. The practice sword was a bit shorter then the rapier and it didn't lay well in his hands. But he was going to take it slow anyway. No real fight yet.

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Post by Guest Sun Feb 17, 2013 2:24 am

((I assume there’s no order here then? ^^))

Riley continued to pound even after the boy commented on her training. She only smirked in return, since a girl suddenly walked in and talked with him. From their conversation, the girl could tell that he was supposed to train her, about fencing or something. And then the talked moved to celestial bronze, a Hephaestus kid, yada- yada…

To be honest, Riley was never an excellent speaker. But when they got together, the girl (named Avalon) and the boy (named… well, she didn’t know his name yet), the army brat felt a tad bit of jealousy. Sure, she said don’t mind her, but she always wanted it to be otherwise. Maybe asked her the name or something. But then again, it had been happening for quite a while now. Call it her own stupidity. Moving from one place to another, Riley didn’t have many friends to begin with. And she was fine with that. Until now.

This was suppose to be a new beginning. Maybe the girl should not be so antisocial anymore, and started acting the opposite. However, the opportunity simply slipped away before she could even reacted. Licking her lips, Riley tried to brush it away, just what she did million times before. But sadly, her emotions already got the best of her, and she couldn’t control it.

Her jab got more dangerous, and she started kicking at some point, putting her Capoeira into good use. Breathing heavily, the spiky girl punched the torso of the poor dummy in a rapid motion, leaving a round hole that afterwards. Then she finished it off with a spinning kick, making the dummy lose its own head, literally. That round orb flew to the air, and accidentally dropped near the couple. Riley widened her eyes, but she stifled a laugh afterwards. “Sorry.” She muttered under her breath, moving on to the next dummy. She jab slower this time, though she can’t hide the divine smirk on her face. Somehow, even though it was accidental, that felt good.

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Post by Guest Sun Feb 17, 2013 10:26 am

"Well then, I'll show you how it works. Fencing is usually seen as a sport but then with more rod like swords instead of rapiers. I taught myself the military version from books of the renaissance. It's all about defence and offence and usually meant for one on one fights. You're supposed to seek out the gaps in your opponents defence." Avalon watched, mesmerized, as he began to fall into stance. "This is always the starting position. From here on out you can either block--"he showed her the blocking and parrying moves"--or strike." The sentence began the cue of a series of stabs, all that looked professional to Avalon and reminded her of the swordplay in period movies like The Three Musketeers, or the Man in the Iron Mask. "The rapier is meant to be a stabbing weapon. Not cleaving. And the decorations are not all for show. The flamberge curves in the blade will let your enemies sword vibrate when parrying. making it harder to hold onto. Plus the Iron webbing of the hilt is used for both shielding your hand as well as disarming your opponent if he is unlucky enough to stick his sword trough the gaps. This does however leave your hand vulnerable while disarming so we usually always wear gloves. Although I didn't bring my combat suit over."

Wow, Avalon thought as she finished listening to him. He knows a lot...and his fencing is...is like art! She really didn't know any other way to describe it, although the words she chose did come from lack of better vocabulary. Her black eyes continued to follow him even as he stopped to cork the sharp end of his blade and take a sip out of his water. Then he came over to her, holding the sword out by the blade so that the hilt was hers for the taking. "Well then, want to have a go?"

She smiled back at him and took it confidently in her hand. "Sure."

At that same time, the head of a dummy flew out of nowhere and landed near her feet. Avalon was surprised at first, but then remembered the third person at the arena. She saw her again muttering “Sorry” as she made her way to the next dummy. She's ferocious, was all Avalon could think after turning away from the fallen dummy head. There was no weapon on the other girl, so she could only have used her hands and feet. And it was true enough when, at her next dummy, she continued with lighter punches and jabs.

Avalon's attention was wrenched away when Ojobi emerged with a training weapon. It wasn't his rapier, and he didn't look comfortable with it, but it wasn't as if they were going to have a death match, right? She quickly went over to a wall to place her naginata there and rushed back to face Ojobi, observing his stance first before slowly copying it. "Like this?" she asked. "And with this sword, you stab--" She placed a single stab forward at him, still testing the waters. "--like that?"

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Post by Guest Sun Feb 17, 2013 11:23 am

As he came back with the sword in his hands he noticed the head of a dummy fly by and land near Avalon. He glanced behind him as the girl with the brass knuckles looked wide eyed at them and then laughed. "Sorry" He chuckled himself and walked towards her extending his hand. Noticing the smirk on the girls face. "Good introduction. My name is Oyobi Lithién. Legionnaire in the third cohort. And you?."

He watched as Avalon tried some moves. "You got the hang of it. Just remember to try and jab as far as you can without dropping your guard. You need to be able to react to any move your opponent makes. now lets go on with some parrying. Just block the attacks that I make like I showed you." He practiced a series of blocks and parries with her. Taking it slow and steady without too much force.

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Post by Guest Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:45 am

"You got the hang of it. Just remember to try and jab as far as you can
without dropping your guard. You need to be able to react to any move
your opponent makes. now lets go on with some parrying. Just block the
attacks that I make like I showed you."


"Sweet!" the demi-god exclaimed, and watched carefully as he began making the attacks. She blocked as he had shown her, either up or down or from side to side. It wasn't as fast as the swordfighting in the movies, but good enough for her to learn as a first-timer. Her time was becoming much more enjoyable than she'd imagined, and she found herself growing a deeper appreciation for fencing than she previously did before. She only slipped once in her stance, since she was not used to it, but came back into position in time to parry an attack from him. "How did I do with those?" she asked him then, wanting to get a bit of constructive criticism to see if she could improve.

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Post by Guest Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:15 am

The unclaimed Roman demigod stopped when Ojobi suddenly decided to introduce himself. Not that she was mind of course. But after what he did towards her: practically ignoring her existence. “Riley Rourke. First cohort.” Then she jabbed some more, kicking the torso of the poor, poor dummy.

Her feelings were wounded already. Should Riley say more, probably commented on how the girl, Avalon, deal with the fencing and whatnot? Nah, that would be far too awkward. They didn’t talk to her in the first place afterwards. Should she just leave without saying anything? That would be weird too. And Riley got enough weirdness to last a lifetime. Every demigod deal with it too. However, the spiky girl still tried to linger, wonder if she could ever got in to the conversation. Maybe saying something intelligence other than name and cohort. Maybe talked about weapons, even though she much prefer a good brass knuckles.

But when Avalon shifted her sight towards the boy once again, she knew by then she was not needed, or wanted. Turning towards the door, she accidentally bumped to the guy, trying to suppress the wanting for… she should not say it. Or even think it. It was too rude to begin with, even if the girl could make it a reality. “I just go now. Seems you guys need to… talk about stuff without me around. The arena better be empty than having me as a third wheel.” Riley cynically added the last sentence and stomped towards the exit. She could fight Ojobi, and for the love of martial arts, the girl was a paper compared to her. But she would never do it. Riley was never looking for trouble. Trouble just always seemed to find her. In one way or another: just like the monster attacks, just like the mindless bullies, and sometimes… ignorance demigods. Before she forgot, the unclaimed glanced back at the pair while huffing with tired eyes.

“Just try to be polite before someone throw you a dummy’s head next time.” With that, she took her leave.

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Post by Guest Mon Feb 25, 2013 3:31 pm

((I'm sorry Riley, from now on we will post chronologically.))
Ojobi knew that he was being rude towards Riley when he turned back to Avalon, and he felt ashamed for doing so. Yet he was giving her fencing lessons and stepping away from that would have been rude as well. As Riley started making her way out of the arena he heard what she said and turned back. "Riley, wait. I'm sorry." He was cut off by her before he could say any more and leaved the arena.

With a feeling like he just hurt someone he turned back to Avalon and training. "You did well for the first time, but remember to keep your sword arm straight in front of you and keep your balance. It can turn the tide against you if you trip yourself." He looked at his rapier in Avalon's hands. Thinking about what Lúthien said to him in the barracks. His face turned a bit grim, this day wasn't turning out that well for him. "If you don't mind I would like to train with some other weapons a bit. I feel like I may need to find a new weapon to get used to very soon. Do go on training with my rapier if you want. It's a great weapon." He put the training sword back on it's place in the racks and sat down next to his bag. Picking up some books out of it and glancing trough some of the pages. Most of the books where about different weapons and their different fighting styles, the one he held in his hand was about Chinese weapons used in different dynasties. He got up again and made his way to the weapon racks. Instead of a sword he picked up a halberd. It looked a bit like the one Lúthien had used against the cyclops, and started hacking away at a dummy.

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