Raymond.
and at his feet they'll cast their golden crown
when the man comes around
His mentor, Agatha - a storm-grey mare with an even stormier bearing - told him once in his youth that wielding the blade was easy. Any moron can swing a sharp object and draw a little blood once in a while. But mastering the blade - choosing where to maim, when, and how severely - that was the trick. That was the art. Woodcarving with its precision and delicacy was a sore comparison to the inherently freeform nature of swordplay, but Agatha firmly believed that a bladefighter who could not confidently do one could not be trusted even practicing the other.
Thus it was that Pavetta was bleeding now from predominantly superficial wounds, and neither unharmed nor dying.
So you do know how to use that thing after all, the striped mare said as she turned to face him. Raymond responded by pulling up one corner of his mouth and flashing a brief lopsided smile for her benefit. He didn't need to gloat; he was not so insecure.
Fresh blood painted the air with the heavy scent of copper as a moment of deceptive stillness stretched between them. Raymond stood still presenting his uninjured right shoulder, unwilling to present an opening for her to take an advantage in attacking it a second time, and Pavetta faced him directly, fearless despite her own life's blood marking the passage of time with its steady drip, drip, drip onto the ground.
The moment passed.
Again Pavetta closed ground with a headlong charge, and certainly by now he could not doubt her heart. This time, though, she braked hard and pulled herself into a rear. Raymond had only as long as it took her to steady her momentup and rise up to evaluate his options.
Had his left shoulder been uninjured, he would simply have balked sideways or pushed off with his front legs and pivoted around his hindquarters to completely avoid her. Now, in order to do anything similar, he would have to pick up his left fore and plant his right, leaving it vulnerable if she decided to come straight down on him. Were he to obey his base instincts and rear up to meet her, he would still have to take whatever attack she intended full on the shoulder with no real opportunity to put weight and power behind a bladed counterattack.
All this flashed through his mind in the bare moment afforded him by Pavetta's maneuver. He committed to lifting both his forelegs and lunging sharply forward on his hind legs instead as though spooked by a predator from behind. He wanted to distance his front end from the strike zone rather than directly answer the mare's assault. However much longer remained of the battle, the red stallion did not intend to go home hampered by injuries to both sides of his front end.
That was an excellent way to go lame.
The power in his densely-coiled hindquarters was not quite enough to get him completely out of trouble, and when he came back down on his front end he compensated by landing predominantly on his uninjured right fore and angling his hindquarters in an arc away from Pavetta's slashing front hooves. He felt the churning air as she reached for him, but she couldn't make up the distance he had opened between them.
Raymond didn't rest on his laurels. Taking advantage of the circular momentum that swinging his hips had built up, he again wound up and released his wicked tail blade, this time swinging his tail in an arc aiming for the left-hand plane of her left shoulder, neck, or cheek. The angle wasn't ideal; with him turning around to her right side, he had to convert the natural flow of his tail's momentum to make that leftward arc, and if the blade connected it would not have the same brutal power as the first blow that had gone clear along her side. However, given the choice between an imperfect shot with the blade and a right-legged blow with no force behind it due to a lack of proper anchoring on his left side, he would choose the one that might leave a more lasting impression.
Following through with the horizontal tail swipe, the red stallion proceeded forward, passing Pavetta's hind end with an uneven gait before pulling up to look over his shoulder at his opponent. Regardless of the outcome, she had fought well and honestly. With a respectful tilt of his bloodied blade, the swordsman said, "the name's Raymond, by the way."
Thus it was that Pavetta was bleeding now from predominantly superficial wounds, and neither unharmed nor dying.
So you do know how to use that thing after all, the striped mare said as she turned to face him. Raymond responded by pulling up one corner of his mouth and flashing a brief lopsided smile for her benefit. He didn't need to gloat; he was not so insecure.
Fresh blood painted the air with the heavy scent of copper as a moment of deceptive stillness stretched between them. Raymond stood still presenting his uninjured right shoulder, unwilling to present an opening for her to take an advantage in attacking it a second time, and Pavetta faced him directly, fearless despite her own life's blood marking the passage of time with its steady drip, drip, drip onto the ground.
The moment passed.
Again Pavetta closed ground with a headlong charge, and certainly by now he could not doubt her heart. This time, though, she braked hard and pulled herself into a rear. Raymond had only as long as it took her to steady her momentup and rise up to evaluate his options.
Had his left shoulder been uninjured, he would simply have balked sideways or pushed off with his front legs and pivoted around his hindquarters to completely avoid her. Now, in order to do anything similar, he would have to pick up his left fore and plant his right, leaving it vulnerable if she decided to come straight down on him. Were he to obey his base instincts and rear up to meet her, he would still have to take whatever attack she intended full on the shoulder with no real opportunity to put weight and power behind a bladed counterattack.
All this flashed through his mind in the bare moment afforded him by Pavetta's maneuver. He committed to lifting both his forelegs and lunging sharply forward on his hind legs instead as though spooked by a predator from behind. He wanted to distance his front end from the strike zone rather than directly answer the mare's assault. However much longer remained of the battle, the red stallion did not intend to go home hampered by injuries to both sides of his front end.
That was an excellent way to go lame.
The power in his densely-coiled hindquarters was not quite enough to get him completely out of trouble, and when he came back down on his front end he compensated by landing predominantly on his uninjured right fore and angling his hindquarters in an arc away from Pavetta's slashing front hooves. He felt the churning air as she reached for him, but she couldn't make up the distance he had opened between them.
Raymond didn't rest on his laurels. Taking advantage of the circular momentum that swinging his hips had built up, he again wound up and released his wicked tail blade, this time swinging his tail in an arc aiming for the left-hand plane of her left shoulder, neck, or cheek. The angle wasn't ideal; with him turning around to her right side, he had to convert the natural flow of his tail's momentum to make that leftward arc, and if the blade connected it would not have the same brutal power as the first blow that had gone clear along her side. However, given the choice between an imperfect shot with the blade and a right-legged blow with no force behind it due to a lack of proper anchoring on his left side, he would choose the one that might leave a more lasting impression.
Following through with the horizontal tail swipe, the red stallion proceeded forward, passing Pavetta's hind end with an uneven gait before pulling up to look over his shoulder at his opponent. Regardless of the outcome, she had fought well and honestly. With a respectful tilt of his bloodied blade, the swordsman said, "the name's Raymond, by the way."
Summary: Raymond keeps his right side facing Pavetta to shield his injured left shoulder from exploitation. When Pavetta charges again and opts to rear up, Raymond spooks forward and angles his hindquarters away from her, favoring his injured left fore. The movement forward and out is enough to pull him out of range of Pavetta's rearing kicks and he follows through, angling in an arc toward Pavetta's right side and swinging his tail in a mirrored arc to try to cut somewhere along her left shoulder, neck, or cheek. Once the attack has concluded, he limps past her, stops to salute her with his blade, and introduces himself because they totally hadn't done that yet.
Attack Used: 1
Attack(s) Left: 0
Block Used: 1
Block(s) Left: 0
Item(s) Used: None
Response Deadline: 06/08/2018
Tags: @Pavetta, @kay, @Sid, @inkbone, @Lauren, @Sparrow
Attack Used: 1
Attack(s) Left: 0
Block Used: 1
Block(s) Left: 0
Item(s) Used: None
Response Deadline: 06/08/2018
Tags: @Pavetta, @
aut viam inveniam aut faciam
