Sparring Sessions

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Nooj kicked the dirt from under him as he warmed up for the spar at hand. "Ready when you are lass." He said with a smug look of superiority.

Inkah inhaled deeply and looked Nooj in the eye, defiantly. She was still sore about the incident on their first day of training. She passed the sword between her hands, her small ritual before throwing her weight towards her opponent, bringing her sword across to his side.

Nooj, being very solid, shifted his weight to meet in her direction. The cold was taking a toll on his battered knees, but would never show it. He swung his blade very sloppily, but with enough force behind the wooden blade to send vibrations through both his and his opponents hands.

She drew back. The last thing Inkah wanted was to be without her weapon on the first strike. The vibrations made their way up her arm, creating an uncomfortable sensation in her shoulder. She rolled her neck, taking three quick steps backwards. Her eyes followed Nooj, evalutating him, attempting to glean his intentions from his gait.

There was no time to think about the uncomfortable vibrations surging through Nooj's arm. He instinctively went for a low sweep to try and knock Inkah off her feet.

Inkah leapt back but not quick enough; feeling his sword clip her foot she toppled, landing awkwardly on her left foot. She hissed feeling the twist in her ankle. It only served to make her irritated as she thrust her blade forward with a painful shout.

Nooj grabbed his weapon and readied himself to block. Being on his knee, he knew that the defensive was not the place of choice for him. As the blades collided he felt his wooden sword splinter. Mustering his strength he rose to his feet and started to push his opponent away.

Hiding pain was not one of Inkah's strengths, each time she leant on her left foot a painful jolt climbed her leg. It was definitely something she would have to look at once they'd finished sparring. Nooj's force did not help. Inkah pushed back against him, gritting her teeth, there was no denying his strength. 

As Nooj stood off with his partner he kept thinking of his weapon breaking. He need to ease the pressure being forced on him. It was all he could do not to give her momentum, yet he wasn't too keen on crippling Inkah before their quest even began. Running out of options he drove his knee into he ribs in order to reset himself.

Stumbling backwards Inkah felt the air leave her lungs and couldn't help but cough. She breathed deeply, pressing a hand to her chest and mentally berating herself for her poor form. This was not how it was supposed to be going. She looked up at Nooj and let instinct take over, rushing forward with a flurry of slashes and strikes. The pain in her foot was jarring but she ignored it.

Inkah looked like a wild animal to Nooj. He wasn't too keen on hurting her, but he could see she wasn't focused. Nooj dropped his weapon and swept behind Inkah, locking his arms around her chest. "You need to calm down. Battle is nothing more than out smarting your opponent. With this attitude you will surely be killed in actual combat."

She breathed out, "Sorry." Following, then, from Nooj's example Inkah slammed the back of her head into his and skipped out of his grasp, "How's that for out-smarting, sir?" She grinned.

Nooj fumbled as he covered his face. He could feel the blood pooling in his now broken nose. "Clever lass." he grunted.

The grin faltered slightly as she assessed the damage. Inkah looked from Nooj to her weapon, then to his. Familiar words floated across her consciousness: There's no such thing as a fair fight. Lunging, she thrust her sword, hoping to use his distraction against him.

Nooj was unarmed, bleeding, and on the defensive. He flipped backwards to give himself enough room to relocated his weapon, only to find it on the opposite side of Inkah. "Great" he thought to himself. With his opponent at the ready he knew that the only thing he could rely on at this point was brute strength. He charged Inkah with bare hands trying to land a body shot.

The charging Nooj was quite a sight to behold, Inkah imagined what it would be like when they were in a real battle. Impressed, she parried his onslaught, her only concern was keeping him from his weapon.

With a barrage of fists and feet, Nooj was determined to push Inkah back. Nooj went for a second low sweep to try and knock her to the ground again.

His sweep landed but Inkah wasn't one for being alone on the ground. She anticipated his next move and took her weapon to his ankles, tripping him would hinder his efforts to regain his weapon. Inkah was relying on being more nimble, her smaller stature had to be an asset.

Nooj fell to the ground still feet away from his weapon. With both people on the ground he resorted to one of the most Juvenal forms of fighting...he kicked Inkah in the side in order to buy himself some time as he crawled toward his sword.

She let out a grunt, the blow made her side ache and her insides feel heavy, her ploy had not quite gone as planned. Recovering, Inkah leapt to her feet, hoping to get to the weapon before he did. She hissed, once, more at the jarring pain from her ankle.

Nooj had just enough time to grab his weapon. This left him with one new problem however. The fall seemed to have jarred his wrist. Upon grabbing the handle of his sword he released it due to a stinging sensation. Reluctantly he grabbed the handle with his right hand and squared himself away for the next round.

Inkah hopped back, "We'll be lucky if either of us gets out of this in one piece." She watched him, uwilling to make the first move.

"Indeed." Nooj replied staying frozen.

"Ladies first, then?" The reply was dry and tasted sour but Inkah heeded to it regardless, moving towards Nooj slowly. She gave him plenty of chances to advance as she approached. Speed, though useful, was not always essential.

Nooj dug his feet into the dirt firmly. He was adamant about not budging from his spot.

Stubborn, she thought to herself. She paused in front of him, waiting a few moments before trying to land a stike. Inkah knew he was stronger than her, she would have to use it to her advantage but how?

"So lass tell me a little about yourself." Nooj decided that the best way to drop his opponent would be to attack her psyche.

"What do you want to know?" Inkah's brows furrowed, she'd not expected that one.

"Your family?" Nooj questioned.

"It's... complicated." The girl's brows furrowed further and she lowered her sword slightly, stepping backwards; she needed both the mental space and the physical.

Nooj leaned in. "How so?"

She eyed him, unwilling, "Why so interested?" Inkah straightened her shoulders defiantly and raised her head.

"We'll be traveling a lot. It's best we get to know each other a little better." Nooj went for a slash.

Inkah parried, her eyes didn't leave the weapons and certainly didn't meet his, "I don't really have one. The people are there but we're not really a family." She trust her sword towards him on the word 'family'.

Nooj pushed her thrust away with his sword. "Husband or interest?" He continued prying.

"Neither." Inkah was concentrating more on her movements than her words, she used the momentum from his push to strike at him again, however pointlessly.

"Sounds lonely." Nooj said as deflected again. He took a few steps back to continue his mental attack.

"Not really, I don't need it at the moment. I'm fine as I am." She spoke calmly. Inkah had, indeed, rarely thought of marrying, the option had remained closed for much of her life as it was now.

"I see. Tell me about your father." Nooj said as he went back a few more steps.

"He worries too much. He's too forgiving and he loves without condition. He ... indulged too much in intoxicating beverages years ago and is now probably doing so again. Unless your people got a message to him, that is." Inkah looked at him pointedly, There was more worry in her words than she liked. She had intended for the words to be contemptuous but they softened as she spoke.

Nooj knew all too well the damage that drinking brought on. "This exercise has become tiresome. Let us go and rest." He took his sword and turned away from Inkah to begin packing up.

Inkah didn't move, her eyes were fixed on Nooj and filled with confusion. The sudden stop had shocked her and she could feel her insides coiling, he'd made her talk, he'd persistently dug and then nothing. Just halting. She watched his back for moment, shook her head and cursed herself, irritated - she had not needed to share that.