UUU: "Ladies with Blades"

Cast: Millie (Cyber) and Kiera (TC)

TLDR:

Support Points Earned: 2

[3:46 AM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: The sun had barely got up when Millie sprung out of her tent in an explosion of fluffy blankets and Kiko. She quickly threw on a tank top and running shorts, tied her hair back and went outside to wash her face before going for a run. 3 Miles Jog first thing in the morning She dashed onto the running path, running from the sunrise down the western side of the hill, before doubling back once she reached the point. By the time she got back to camp, her calves were burning and her body was covered in sweat. 30 minutes of stretching. Still in her running clothes, she begins to stretch, making sure to get every ligament and muscle in her body. It was still early in the morning, so she hoped no one would notice. Once she was done she quickly washed herself down with some water before cooking herself some toast, sausage and eggs. Nothing fancy, but enough to fill her up. And off to the training fields she went, dragging her swords with her in tow. --- Alright let's start with some basic stuff. She took out Yggdrasil, the heavy ironwood blade weighing down her whole body. She tested a few basic strikes first, before moving onto a few strikes and guards. After an hour or so she took a break for water, before picking up her sword again. Ugh, stance drills. Beyond basic attacks, Millie had a series of skills she had learned called stances. At a basic level stances were simply just basic attacks used in conjunction with each other, but specifically designed to flow from one attack to the next. Some of them Millie was good at, but others she needed more work on. Picking up her sword she begins her first set(edited)

[3:20 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera was walking nearby after waking up late, as usual for her to do so. She tied her green headband and seemed to aimlessly move near Millie, until she saw that Millie was sword training. It was something that even Kiera realized she needed- more experience with the blade. Perhaps training with someone who's whole life is dedicated to the arts of swordplay could work for her? After all, she did want Suleiman and Seed to help her become literate on account of their fondness of the written word. Kiera jumped up and waved at her new comrade, shouting, "HEY! MILLIE!"

May 16, 2018

[12:07 AM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: Millie was still in the middle of a drill Kiera called her out, so she ignored her at first. Her runeblade carved through the air, afterimages of the runes floating in the air. Each attack flowed into the next seamlessly, a tidal wave of ironwood. Final combo... She crouched low, bringing her blade in a low sweep before launching herself into the air like a helicopter. The light could barely keep up with her, and the runes surrounded her in a shroud of blue and white light. "Haaaaaaaaa!" Millie swung her sword down, slamming her blade into the ground in a flash of thunder. The stone ground cracked, and Millie shook her stinging hand, dregs of energy still flowing. She had the raw energy needed for a mage, just not the control. She waved to Kiera wearily, before grabbing a waterskin for a drink. She was still wearing her tank top and shorts, and the outlines of her muscles peeked out from the tight clothing. "HI!"

[12:12 AM] TastyChicken12: Kiera blinked a few times. "Whoa, that was... amazin'! How'd you do it? Can ya teach me how to use a sword better? I bought this thin' the othuh day, and uh, I can't quite use it right," she says while dangling the Steel Sword. "You're good at this, I reckon. Like you've been trainin' an awful long time," Kiera compliments with a grin as she pulls down her shirt.

[12:55 AM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: Millie sat on a log and took a second to catch her breath, Yggdrasil's Fury laying on her side. "Swords huh..." It had been a while since she'd had anyome to talk about with swords. Most of her training was just by herself. She looked Kiera up and down, accessing her physical appearance and her sword. "Sure, en gard." She left Yggdrasil's Fury propped on the log and grabbed steel rapier. She swished it in the air before indicating Kiera's own blade. "If that's the weapon you're going to use in battle It's better to train with that one." She took held her rapier in guard against Kiera, about 2-3 meters away. "No need to hold back."

[12:41 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera's jaw slacked a little. Immediately after, she closes her mouth and swallows. She trusted that Millie was an adept swordbearer, but was beginning to doubt her ability to teach well. "Y'see, uh, Millie? I don't know how to use this thin' to fight. I just started getting okay at usin' axes, forget swords!" she exclaims. "Can'tcha teach me to know how to swing it right, or somethin', first? I ain't in a position to fightcha."

[12:50 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: Millie raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Alright. Let's begin with the basics. Unlike axework, sword focuses on precision and angles, rather than sheer brute force. That means that instead of focusing on smashing your opponent with sheer power, you need to be able to strike your opponent at the right spot at the right time." Millie began to rattle on about the theory of swords and axes, before realizing that it probably wouldn't help. "This means we need to begin with footwork." She indicated for Kiera to watch, bending her knees into a guard stance. "You want to keep your feet shoulder width apart, and knees bent so that they cover the front of your foot. Dominant foot backwards."

[1:08 PM] TastyChicken12: Dominant foot... backwards, she thinks to herself, making this backstance with her sword and buckler. Compared to the strange and detailed swords that Millie seemed to equip, Kiera's sword was shorter and fatter. Kiera wondered if swords performed a lot differently based on their thickness. "Alright."

[1:23 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: As soon as Kiera got into stance Millie tapped the arch of her knee with the flat of her rapier. "Wider, bend your knees more. Front foot pointed in the direction you're attacking." Millie took her instruction seriously, treating Kiera like a student from her club. In swordplay, the reputation of the coach depends on the performance of their pupil. Furthermore, having someone else to teach allowed Millie to access her own skills, and perhaps even learn it herself. "You need to be able to move on your feet, and if your legs are as stiff as a board you're not going to be fast."

[1:32 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera corrects her footing. "I reckon this is similar to how I go 'bout it with an axe. Like, I hold my shield out, and have my axe behind me. Ready to strike."

[1:35 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: "They share some similarities." Millie examined the new stance again, correcting other changes when needed. "Ok, hold this for 10 minutes." She put her sword down and took another drink of water, but not taking an eye off Kiera.

[1:37 PM] TastyChicken12: "T-T-Ten minutes?!" Kiera protests like a child. "But why?!"

[1:48 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: "To train your muscle memory." Millie whacked Kiera's knee with the flat of the blade again.

[1:53 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera pouts and obeys the training exercise. "Y'know, I guess I oughtta work on this, anyhow. I kinda got knocked out the last battle," she admits with some shame. "I'm kind of strong, too, so I can take some hits. Just ain't any of that magic nonsense."

[2:04 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: The minutes pass and Millie corrected Kiera's stance a few more times. "Better. Arms up too." Once ten minutes or so had passed Millie allowed Kiera to relax, handing her another water skin. "We'll work on armwork after this."

[2:10 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera's legs were trembling after the practice. She was accustomed to making similar stances on the battlefield, but not sustained like that. Battles allowed her to move about (and very frequently required her to do so). "Ya sure we can't wait sooner? I reckon, reckon that's all my legs got for the day." Beats my feet being swollen, 'least.

[2:18 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: "Right, en gard again, but this time hold your arm like this." She held her arm up, indicating how to hold the shortsword.

[2:56 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera tucks her elbow to make a readied sword strike. "Like this?" she asks.

[3:03 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: Millie tapped the bottom of her buckler. "Arm higher. This is the arm that's going to protect you from getting killed."

[3:24 PM] TastyChicken12: She holds the shield higher. "Alrighty, sure. Now what?"

[3:31 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: "Try to swing at me."

[3:33 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera opens her mouth to answer, but no words come. She then taps her chin. "Shouldn't we do this with wooden replicas?" she continues to protest.

[3:35 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: "Nah you'll be fine." Millie stands a few feet in front of Kiera and examines her stance.(edited)

[3:35 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: "Don't have any training sticks on me anyways."

[5:47 PM] TastyChicken12: "I've only one trainin' sword, but I don't think we can share that," Kiera says while scratching the back of her head.(edited)

[7:09 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: Millie tapped the top of her buckler with her sword. "No talking, only attack."

[7:38 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera raises her sword over her shoulder and slashes downwards at Millie whilst keeping her shield facing somewhat forward.

[7:59 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: Millie didn't even blink as she sidestepped the strike, giving Kiera a tap on the shoulder as she passed her. "You're swinging the sword like an axe. Don't pull your arm back so much." She corrected Kiera's arm and demonstrated herself. "You want to go directly from guard to extension, not pull back and then hit. Again, this is a sword, not an axe. You want to focus on speed and accuracy." She stood before Kiera with her guard up. "Again."

[8:09 PM] TastyChicken12: The not-yet-Hero raises her sword slightly and swings downward again, quickly reeling it back for another strike. "YAH!"

[8:11 PM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: Millie stepped backwards, the short sword failing to reach her. "Think of it this way. The fastest way for your sword to get from you to me is to go directly there. If it takes a detour to your shoulder I'll have plenty of time to react." She quickly corrects her footwork once more before indicating for Kiera to go again. "We'll keep going till you get one right."

[8:13 PM] TastyChicken12: Kiera sighs loudly and grits her teeth a little. She pouts, and then blushes. Afterwards, she takes a lunge towards Millie, not realizing that her sword is ill-equipped to stab.

May 17, 2018

[12:20 AM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: After a few hours of training Millie finally relented. Although she felt like she didn't get any advanced training done herself, going over the basics with Kiera helped her a lot as well. Reinforcing the foundations was helpful every once in a while. When she was a teenager becoming a trainer was one of her dreams. Now, she felt one step closer.

[12:21 AM] TastyChicken12: Kiera was left gasping. "Woo... that was... hard. But, thanks a bunch!"

[12:24 AM] Cyber | G&K 9161 Ver.Ka Custom: Millie nodded, and tried to drink for her water skin, only to notice it was empty. "My pleasure. That's all I have for today." She bent down and began packing up her blades, bundling them with a leather roll. The weather was starting to get cold, and the sweat off her back chilled her even more. "I'm heading back to camp, farewell."

[12:33 AM] TastyChicken12: "I'll head back in a bit," Kiera answers. "See ya!"

[12:44 AM] TastyChicken12: === End RP ===