Strength of the Auroans

*Despite everyone's warnings of caution and advice for more rest Angel had dressed for practice combat in black armor . She wore chainmail underneath her breastplate, and was covered as a wall of steel up until her riveted gauntlets. The only thing she wasn't wearing was a helmet which was held nearby by her squire.Her white hair was tied back in a practical braid and knotted tightly against her head so that it couldn't be pulled easily. Only a few strands danced casually about her face and those ice blue eyes.

The Courtyard was cold today and the skies overhead grey and moody. Weather was not in their favor -perhaps for anyone mortal. Angel didn't feel it anymore, the sharp pangs of cold that would have lashed against her pale cheeks. Flexing her hands, she glanced around and inhaled deeply. There was only one way to get strong again - to train and improve. To win the strength back emotionally and physically.

She didn't want to put too much weight in her hands, so she thought it best to start of with a standard long sword, but possibly she wondered, she would need a short sword instead since she didn't want to bother with a shield for this melee. Clearing her throat, Angel blinked away some small drifts of soft snow that had floated across her eyes. She mentally prepared herself by allowing her mind to go blank.

Angel, daughter of winter was ready to begin. Opening her eyes she took a few steps forward slashing the sword, left to right. It had a powerful overhang swing which took her whole arm strength, causing her hips to twist to the side whilst she kept her feet firmly planted. However, it made her arm muscle feel stiff and she paused in the training to flex it.*

=Kinsen steps into the courtyard arrayed for battle in his old battle armor. Scarred black breastplate over chain and padding. Arms and legs were banded in metal too, not his usual seaborn armor, and heavier than he was used to. In one hand he held a blunted bastard sword, simple, functional. In the other was a round shield of banded oak, unadorned and worn. At his hip was a mace and short sword, opposite one another. He had foregone his cloak in favor of freedom of movement, as the weather did not bother him so deeply anymore.


Seeing Angel, Kinsen gives a smile and approaches, planting the practice weapon blade-first into the ground and giving a salute. "My Queen. You look in better health. Aye, and better spirits too." He flashes a grin. "You've been trying to get me into this field forever now, and i suppose it was time I finally told you yes. Who are fighting today?"=

*Angel turned her head and smiled at Kinsen with a firm nod "Glad you could make it" She noted his shield and laughed "You brought your shield, I wasn't anticipating using one. There was my first mistake." She turned to her squire to take her wooden shield and slid it through her arm so that it was secured tightly.

A small breeze fed through the courtyard as Angel paused and thought for a moment. " I also see that you have your mace which proves you are far more prepared than I am. I didn't want to carry too many weapons that might delay freedom of movement yet I don't think I have enough."

To make her point, Angel outstretched her right arm, the one that felt the weakest yet she was right handed and so it felt more natural to hold the sword in it. "To answer you, I am in better health, yes. So are you, dear friend." She twirled the longsword in her hand and did a few outward practice slashes in the air, biting her lip a little as she focused on the weapon and her concentration.

"Today, I thought we would practice with a few of the guards own,and give them a little training session also. Unless you dare to spar me this day." She laughed a little, teasing him.*

=Kinsen chuckled. "A shield is a good friend, in a fight. He keeps you safe, keeps the enemy at distance, and can give them a hell of a splitting headache if they get too close." He nods, pulling his own sword from the ground. "Aye, we can teach them a lesson or two." As she teases about the two of them sparring, he chuckles. "I think you've been injured enough the past few days, my queen. It would be unchivarlous to exacerbate your current condition."

He looks around the flat, hard-packed courtyard, still smiling, his eyes sharp. "Just guards then? No knights or their squires? I hope they're good fighters." His silver eyes peered without hindrance through the light snow and blowing wind. It felt good to be back on the field, even for training.=

*Angel rolled her eyes as Kinsen spoke of her healing condition. He wasn't wrong, but she didn't want to hear it. Rather, she wanted to feel as prepared as possible for the events to come. Never did she want to feel so vulnerable again.

Shaking off such thoughts, Angel spoke loud and confident. "We'll start with the guards and then move onwards with knights. If they are not good fighters then they will soon learn that they have to be. There is no room for error."

Her eyes looked to Kinsen and she nodded to him, raising the long sword with an outstretched arm, her shield raised and protecting the better part of her chest. *

"Guard at the ready! Begin!"

=Kinsen pulls the blade from the dirt, putting his back to Angel's, his own shield coming up. He speaks to her without looking back. "We'll have twice the fight if they get between us, but too close and we'll trip over each other."

He salutes the men around them with a grin. "Well come then, show me your steel!"=

[[ The circle of guards steps forward, two men coming out of the ring and snapping their weapons to their chest in salute before advancing. Before Angel the guard is armed with a pike, the haft is six foot of iron wood tipped with a blunted spike and a wicked hook. For Kinsens, the guard stepping out is a massive fellow, similar in build to Alexander Carthallion, though proportionately suited to his shorter stature. In his hand is a wicked looking bearded axe, the blunted blade doing nothing to lessen the weight of the weapon, in his off hand is a massive large shield.]]


(( Will post each guard as separate actions. Will not the guard by a number and letter designation for each of the people fighting as the match progresses beyond the first two. Using A1 for Angel and K1 for Kinsen and so on...))


GUARD A1: [[ He rushes at Angel, the long haft of the pike darting in toward her throat as he moves forward, the hook of the weapon aligned with Angel's right side.]]

GUARD K1: [[ The man move forward deliberately, his axe weaving small arcs and circles in his hand as he studies Kinsesn's defenses. It only takes a moment before he lunges forward, the blade of his axe coming in hard, not at the man, but aimed for the shield on his arm.]]

=Kinsen rests his weight actively on the balls of his feet, waiting. As the guard moves forward to strike, Kinsen throws his shield out to catch the blade of the heavy weapon, following the movement with a vicious downward stroke onto the man's exposed wrist as he slams his steel-encased body into that of the man=

*Angel kept her back to Kinsen, her mind noting his movement's and of those that came forward to attack. Giving him a quick nod, even if he couldn't see it - Angel looked to the man with the pike. The instant she saw him coming, she rose her hand to the ground. A sheer sheet, of ice rose up urgently from the ground - which  acted as a shield from the pike. The hook would find itself stuck for the meantime.

She stepped back, the action instinctual - yet she still wondered how it all worked. Her eyes cast around at the other's, as she swiveled to see how Kinsen was doing.  Speaking calmly to him, she wondered if he had seen it "Kinsen...did we forget our "other" weapon?" Now this made her smirk, even if deep down she was painfully aware of the price these "gifts" had cost.*

K1: [[ The impact of the axe comes hard as shield and blade connect, the blade of the axe biting deep and splintering the shield and sending a jolt up Kinsen's arm liable to break bones on an ordinary man. As Kinsen's blade strikes his wrist the guard curses, the axe coming free to hang heavy in the wood of the shield. With his other hand the guard draws a short sword from his belt and drops into a fighting crouch.]]

A1: [[ The guard stops dead as the wall of ice rushes up in front of him, the haft of his pike splintering with the impact. Momentarily dazed he recovers as Angel herself steps back in surprise of what she did. He draws the short blade at his side, stooping to grab a rock as he begins to circle the wall of ice to come back on target with the Queen.]]

=Kinsen steps back, on guard, using his own blade to smash what is left of his shield off of his arm as he watches the man. The impact had numbed his arm, even through the shield and armor and padding, and he grinned, giving the man a nod as he tosses the splinters of his shield aside and settles into a two-handed grip on his blade.

The snowflake on his cheek flashes silver, and with his fangs his grin seems almost feral. He breathed deep of the cold air, and waited, watching his opponent=

*Angel paused only slightly, her breath causing a soft mist in front of her face. She was amazed at her skills and how quickly she was able to summon these new powers to her whims. Angel was as dazed as the guard, but as he regained his senses and came in for another attack, Angel readied herself.

First of all she saw the short blade and his hand deftly sweep up a rock. Keeping her back close to Kinsen, she watched him with precision - noticing improved eye sight. She could view his moves almost in slow motion and reacted first by focusing on a frozen shield. She outstretched her arm and let it grow, and at the same time she pulled out her broad sword ready to thrust and attack the guard, threatening to take away his short blade.*