Sliding Spar

Kresnica gave a final hop to the crest of a hill, following his beloved and looking marginally out of breath.  It had been Stella’s turn to pick the sparring spot, since he had picked last.  From what he could tell, maybe she felt they needed some practice reading a more natural location.  Their last sparring place had been an abandoned research center, which they had also needed to clear out so the area could be reclaimed by a mixed herd village.  The village thanked them for being able to clear some of the more dangerous plants out, and without damaging the materials used in constructing the center.  He and Stella had a grand time using the hallways to their advantage and practicing tactical choices to avoid getting hit, or blocking the other in so they had more limited choices to move.  Well, he had a grand time.  Stella had more fun when they had helped the herd start to dismantle the center so they could reuse the materials to make dwellings and more buildings that were of use to them.  Research was always a good idea, since knowing how something worked made it easier to use it for the betterment of Enivi, but sometimes, people just needed a home.  If this center wasn’t being used, it could be repurposed.  All traces of research had been squirreled away or lost to time.  The pair had checked for anything that might be important before starting the sparring games. He and Stella had also managed to contain and capture a slimethere, which was safely tucked in a box, in their belongings.  He glanced over at Stella’s bags, eying the straps to make sure they were in good condition and the trip here hadn’t damaged them.  He and Stella were explorers and defenders through and through, but some supplies just made that all easier.  Kres moved forward a little to lean against Stella, who was standing proudly and surveying the area.  She flipped her tail holding it up proudly, then grinned as she turned to her traveling companion.

“What are the rules this time, love?  Last time you were allowed free range on your magic provided it didn’t cause irreparable damage…”  She tilted her head to the side with a widening grin.  “Or of course singe my hair.  Looking fierce is part of the battle after all.”  She was obviously teasing her partner, and the way he smiled in response and rolled his eyes was an expected reaction, but a welcome one.  They both knew his control over his magic has saved a few lives.  He was not the more traditional Vespiri, but then again she was also not the most traditional Ortusi.  She broke from the lean, disrupting Kres a little so he had to correct his stance from the weight he was resting against shifting.  She noted a larger rock and scooted over to deposit their belongings next to the rock, and out of the way of the spar.  She stepped into place across from Kresnica, taking her time with long cat-like stretching strides.  She shook herself a little, a challenge clear across her face, and in her stance.

Kresnica, having righted himself from her moving to put down their things, took in the landscape thinking for a moment.  This wouldn't quite be the best ground for his own magical tendencies, but he could make it work.  The large rock was a good blocking point, but the ground being uneven would be difficult to keep pace on.  “In this instance, too much fire would bring attention to our spar, and may draw some curious glances, even being this close to Luanesi herd lands.  If we want to practice undisturbed, we’ll have to go without magic.  Or at least my flash fire.  Healing afterwards won’t cause problems.  So rules I guess would be hitting with the blunt sides of any weapon, and don’t overdo it.”  He shrugged off his cloak, folding it with magic and tucking it gently into the straps of their other belongings.  It would only cause problems, and he was not used to armor.  He was barely used to weapons, the smaller sword that he had mostly a defensive flourish on occasion.  His advantage in this sparring session would be his speed and keeping out ever so slightly out of Stella’s range.  “Spar, Start.”

Stella did not hesitate to make her first hit of this spar as soon as the words start were said.  She had jumped forward to plant her fore legs on the ground, and used her momentum to pivot and aim a kick with both hind legs at Kresnica’s shoulders.  She knew this wouldn’t fully connect, but she also knew that this would hamper his ability to dodge, as well developed as it was for him.  Mages did need to be faster than the standard Enivi.  Spells exploding and all that.

It was apparent that Stella’s first act would be to limit his ability to doge.  It was a tactical strategy.  Rather than leaning away to give her another chance to hit at her range, he also moved forward, rearing so his shoulder was at worst clipped.  Trying to buy himself a little bit of time he opened his wings quickly in attempts to sweep her off her hooves, literally, in some ways.  When your only point of contact with the ground is two hooves, it is rather easy to unbalance an opponent.  His ploy was half successful.  Stella certainly had become unbalanced, and was working her way to the ground, but she had managed to twist so she wasn’t landing quite so hard on the ground, and lashing her tail around one of Kres’s legs as well.  She glanced to the side, noting the more sloping ground and lay on the ground, rather than attempting to stand, as that would take time.  Time, in a real fight, could cost someone their life if they did not use it well.  Stella instead decided to use the slope to her advantage.  Using her weight, she aimed to slide down the slope.

Kresnica planted both his front hooves on the ground, just in time for the one that had been gripped by Stella’s tail slid out from under him.  His front hooves scrambled to keep grip on some land that would allow him to stay upright, but failed.  Stella, in her attention to detail, had managed to read the location well.  She was gaining momentum in a controlled slide down the slope, which would even out eventually and allow her to stand almost effortlessly.  If he was flat on the ground right now, then perhaps he could turn this to his favor and buy some time.  Using his magic, he drew his own weapon, a light sword.  Nothing too special, and nothing as grand as Stella’s was.  Noting where her tail was, he used the flat of the blade to smack at it, loosening the hold enough to pull his leg out, then righted himself before ending up completely down the slope.

“You sure you want to do that?”  Stella had a little bit of challenge in her voice as she continued to slide to more even ground, getting to her hooves effortlessly, as planned.  She also took the time to use her own magic to unbutton the latch on her sword, and then unsheathing it using her mouth to grip the weapon.  She didn’t have as much control over her magic as Kres had.  Using her weapon this way was ideal, and easier for her.  She could judge the distance, and the angle well when she did strike, be it target practice or wild bugbear threatening others.  Adjusting her grip a little, she started charging up the hill.

“Not really!” The male perked his ears forward, before narrowing them back.  “Weapons aren’t my specialty after all.”  She was quick, and the hill would be easy for her to traverse.  His wings needed some adjusting before he could actively use them for flight.  The roll had knocked a few fiery feathers into awkward positions that needed a little more than fully outstretching them could fix.  Seeing a way out, he stood, wasting some time as his beloved was charging up the hill at him, and did some upward bounding jumps to hopefully cover some more distance.  If he could get behind the rock where the supplies were kept, she’d be pressed to slow down, which would make it easier to get in a counter attack.

Stella was well on her way to catching up in hopes of landing a final blow in this spar.  Generally when they reached this point, one hit would cause Kresnica to yield when magic wasn’t involved.  She had thought it odd that he was jumping, before having to skid to a stop as he bounded to the top of the rock.  She snorted, not being able to speak with a sword in her mouth, before looking to follow Kresnica to the other side of the rock, slower and more carefully, as she couldn’t see what his plan was by going over this smaller boulder.

His plan was apparent very shortly.  He had used the speed from sliding down the boulder to his advantage in the same was she had planned on using hers from charging up the hill.  He had managed to crouch low, and swoop up to face with an almost comical smile, and booped her nose.  His weapon was being held against her own, while he stopped his slide, nearly sitting down.  This was certainly the end of the spar, as Stella stopped mid track, and stared Krenica in the eyes, clearly annoyed by the act.  Not because she didn’t mind the boop, but because this type of antic didn’t hold up in actual battle.  She swung the flat of her sword to land a blow across Kres’s side.

Kres took the impact with a bit of a wince as he thudded against the boulder, still grinning.  “Yield!  I give.”  He put his own sword back into place and then worked on righting his breathing by taking slower, deeper breaths, punctuated by the occasion wince.  “I think you cracked a rib, dear.”

“If you think antics like that will work on the battlefield, I ought to crack some more.”  She flattened her ears a little.  “We’ve gone over that before..”  Her stance softened and she also put her weapon away with a sigh, and clicked it back into sheath with the safety strap.

“Stella, if this were a real battle, we both know I would have the skies, and use everything to my advantage to protect as many as I could.”  He seemed a little sheepish, before starting to focus on his magic.  His soul started burning bright, making some slow circles around himself, and his breathing eased into a steady even pace.  “Did that slide hurt you much?”  Kresnica asked earnestly, so that he could focus on healing any scrapes that resulted from that bout.  Stella had calmed down at least, and with a flourish, moves quietly around his beloved, healing up the smaller scrapes and single bruise.  She nodded.

I’ll hold you to it then and forgive your mistake for now.”  She started returning to the spot they left the supplies at.  Kresnica also followed along, and didn’t flinch one bit when Stella tossed his cloak over his head.  He instead used his magic to get the cloak back into place, ears listening to the area.  Stella had picked the supplies back up, and swung them back into place.  “So the tally is eleven still.”  She seemed amused for a moment and then shook her head.  “You had some research at the temple of Lunae, right?  It’s not too far off if we push ourselves.  Get a room for the evening and then I’ll find something to do while you look into a couple of things.”  Kres nodded, and stepped forward to headbutt Stella lightly.

“We’ll look for monster tracks on the way out.”