Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy knight

[Aya Clarke]

• Wearing: General Uniform (In signature)

Usually, Aya stayed away from the Mandragora.

Not out of distaste but out of the concern they would be... self indulgent. That they would treat her as inferior for lacking their magic voodoo, disrespect her capabilities with a blade because she couldn't do thirty backflips before landing. She couldn't stand people like that, and she did not intend to deal with them. However, she had been asked to help teach someone, and a sign of respect like that could not be easily ignored. So, she had taken the time to collect a few supplies, a box containing two training lightsabers, and a training sword for her student, its edges dulled. She herself trusted her capability not to harm them..

So it was with these that Aya Clark made her trip to the Wastes, walking with calm peace as she eventually reached the meeting ground. Whether [member="Maple Harte"] was there or not, Aya would first set aside the box, safely to the side, for later. She first intended to use the training sword, both to warm up, and see any problems her student for the night would have with better clarity. When she was done, and her student Miss Harte was present, she would walk over to her, holding the training sword out to her pommel first.

She didn't speak yet, there was little need.

 

[Maple Harte]

Harte walked the dusty wastes of Ryloth with her staff in hand. Since joining the Mandragora, she had been seeking to reawaken her skills at combat...the staff could only take her so far. And after making some behind the scenes arrangements, the Mandragora had arranged for Maple to be trained by a woman she had met on Katanos...[member="Aya Clarke"]

Ryloth was lovely in its emptiness, Maple thought as she headed to the prearranged coordinates. It let her think with silence in her head more often the usual. Less lies in her brain.

As sge approached the meeting area, she spotted Clarke preparing a training sword. When she held it out as Maple reached her, the biker leather covered woman set aside her staff in an area where it would not get in the way, bowed slightly to Clarke, and accepted the training sword.

"Thank you for coming, General, and for agreeing to see me." She said politely, waiting for Clarke to begin instruction.

 

[Aya Clarke]

Clarke smiled lightly, giving a nod as [member="Maple Harte"] took the sword from her. "Of course, I was not in much of a position to refuse." With that she turned and took a few steps away, drawing her own sword, the one that *wasn't* a training blade, and turned to face Miss Harte once more.

"I want you to show me how you hold a sword. Take up a stance, whatever you feel appropriate."

She would wait, of course, while Maple took her stance. She didn't want to influence her decision, however after Maple was ready, she would take up her own. She lifted her sword, angling her body with her left side facing towards Miss Harte, and took up her preferred Key stance. The blade, of course, was angled to face Maple, and her eyes locked on hers. "Now, I want you to hit me."

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple looked at the training sword, before she sunk into one of the openings she still remembered from training.

It was a form one opening stance, her blade held out next to her, while her legs parted for proper positioning.

She looked at Clarke's key stance, admiring for a split second the disciplined poise. She made a fast swing for the target zone that was the general's left arm, with a fast lunge, the quickness with which she struck indicating someone used to high speed attacks. But the awkward grip showed she was not used to using sword type weapons, and clearly had not for a while. The strike, though fast, was also crude and restrained, like the one fighting was worried it would fly out of her hand.

 

[Aya Clarke]

The stance [member="Maple Harte"] took was... imperfect. Her legs were, mostly fine, but the way she gripped the sword wasn't fitting. Not even by the wider galaxy's standards. Were she on Aelozath she would be more fit for a jester than a soldier, but considering the circumstances perhaps that wasn't very meaningful. A stance could be fixed. She made mental notes to show her other, easier stances she used. But the note would have to be used later, for now she had to focus on her clumsy attack.

With practiced ease, she gripped the hilt of her blade, dropping it lower to catch the lunge with the crossguard, the metals scraping together as she moved to the side, and pushed the blade slightly away from her to remain safe. Then, she stepped inwards, reaching up and grabbing the halfway point up her own blade carefully, and 'stabbed' at Maple, intending fully to stop before hitting her, assuming she didn't get out of the engagement. "Sloppy. Your swordsmanship is crude, unrefined. You hold your weapon like a child with their favorite toy, afraid the others will take it from them." Perhaps not the nicest way to say the obvious.

Regardless of if Maple moved away, or if Aya took a few step backs after 'winning' the exchange, she would take up the key stance yet again. "A sword is not a weapon as you think of it. It must become an extension of yourself. My stance, called the Key, is a defensive stance. To break it, you'll have to be smarter than clumsy lunges. Hit me again, better. Show me how you can fight smart."

 

[Maple Harte]

Annnnd just like that she was defeated. She stopped when Aya's sword got past her guard. Her commentary reminded her of Ursula, who had similarly high standards. Ursula had always had an eye for someone's weakness. Perhaps that was what made her such a good Shadow.

It was what had made Maple such a good Shadow once too.

Maple readjusted, going back into her form one but this time, she examined Aya's guard.

A memory of a fight with a Dark Jedi in an alley that MAYBE happened, made Maple hold her sword differently, held horizontally with both hands, but its point directed at Aya. She inched forward slightly in this position, and then made a lunging swipe to crudely bat her sword aside, seemingly acting as if she would strike at the torso, only to go after the weapon arm by redirecting the slash at the last second in a feint. But she was still overcautious, and while she had stopped gripping the blade so tightly, she had sacrificed some of her speed for a better chance at striking with accuracy at the weapon arm, something that gave away that she had once had formal training from elsewhere. But it was rusty. Very rusty.

[member="Aya Clarke"]

 

[Aya Clarke]

Better.

That was all Aya really had to say when it came to the way [member="Maple Harte"] adjusted her stance, and to the feint she made. It was better. Don't misunderstand, Aya still felt it was needlessly sloppy, wasteful in its motions. Not to mention, while the feint perhaps would work on most stances, striking at the opponent's weapon hand was certainly a good strategy after all, Maple forgot to account for the Key stance's advantages.

As Aya moved to protect her body, she saw the feint itself, and couldn't help but smirk at it. The Key stance pulled her arms inward, making them harder to hit targets. So while the strike was aimed at her, it did have the problem of reaching her. So, she took advantage of that. Quickly, she stepped backwards, the feinted strike from Maple just barely missing her body and arms. It wasn't the wisest decision, of course, but it helped to demonstrate a point she intended to make. After, of course, she stepped in after the woman's strike, holding her blade in that half sword technique, that was to say holding onto the blade as well as the hilt.

She pushed her blade into Maple's, to try and knock it aside, before going for a pommel strike against her shoulder.

"Better but you must look at your opponent closer. The way one holds a sword will tell you how they intend to fight, be it aggressive or defensive. Strike at openings, and if there are none, make them. But you have improved dramatically in the span of moments. You're at least not turning your knuckles white with fear." Aya huffed and stepped back after making her retaliatory strike, and lowered her weapon. "Your weapon is your shield. When you hold it, you must keep it between you and your enemy, or at the ready to strike. Take up your stance, I will now see if your 'shield' is as.. disciplined as your weapon."

This time, Aya took a different guard. The sword was to the right side of her body, pommel of her sword resting near her hip, with the blade lifted up and pointed towards Maple. Aya waited so Maple was comfortably in her guard, before she struck. She stepped to her left, winding up an obvious swing, and went halfway through with the right-to-left- strike before she shifted her feet suddenly. Before committing fully to the strike, she switched direction of her movement, moving to her right instead and bringing her sword atop Maple instead. Of course, once it got close she twisted the blade so if she did hit her, only the flat of her blade would, so no damage would be done.

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple blinked and had to rapidly readjust her scheme as Aya pulled back, letting the swipe miss her arms, before bounding towards Maple, gripping the blade itself. She recognized the move, having used it very early as a padawan, before she built a lightsaber, and knew she wouldn't be able to completely mitigate the consequences but she could still react somewhat.

As her blade was batted aside, Maple was already moving, her natural agility allowing her to twist to the side slightly, so that when the pommel reached her shoulder, the amount of energy transfered was not as severe.

But it still hit, and it still hurt, and Maple winced, backing off quickly as Aya advised her to examine the way she was holding her sword, for it gave away how one intended to fight, and nodded, watching as Aya shifted her stance, her blade pointed at Harte.

Maple scrambled for an idea, before she realized that perhaps she was over thinking it.

She went into a new guard, the blade pointed in Clarke's direction, but mostly at her feet. She moved when Aya moved and when Aya shifted into another direction mid-strike Maple's reflexes kicked in and she flitted backward, shifting her sword upward, like she would her cane in a twisting upward parry to knock it aside, struggling to compensate for the swords more aerodynamic properties, its weight lighter than the cane and sticks she was used to. But she was gripping the sword more comfortably now, but though the parry had worked, she had stumbled slightly, nearly losing her footing before managing to back off, guarding in that low pointed, fool's guard again. Aya was the physically stronger opponent, and it would be folly to try and match her in strength. Maple then began to study Aya's style more closely, the way she shifted herself during the fight, the way she had swung her blade playing on repeat in Maple's mind, along with all those werewolf zombies that were imprisoning her mother.

Maple blinked slightly, waiting for Clarke to make a move, trying to stay present. Ryloth's peaceful wastes made it slightly easier. Slightly. But it was hard to push the lies away.

Maple was silent, waiting for Clarke to attack, sword held more confidantly, like she would hold her cane, her piercing green eyes unblinking, waiting for Clarke to attack. She would rely on her agility. And depending on what she did next Maple was thinking of strategies, her old shadow training kicking in, some of the poise of an assassin peeking through in the way a change seemed to come over Harte's frame, like it was ready to twitch from the slightest movement on Clarke's part.

[member="Aya Clarke"]

 

[Aya Clarke]

Aya couldn't hold back the smile. So it seemed hers was not the only culture that remembered the finer points of swordplay. A Fool's guard was, ironically, quite an intelligent move on her part. Against her Plough guard, it was less draining, and she protected her leading leg. Further, it meant that she could easily raise her weapon into a hanging guard against most strikes Aya could easily strike with. "Good, you're starting to think. However, you should know the flaw of that guard well, I imagine."

She changed her guard, lifting her sword and resting the flat of the blade on her right shoulder. A "Roof" guard, with a vastly different use. She narrowed her eyes slightly, focusing on Maple, considering their positions. Fool and Roof, one step apart. Even with a blunted sword void of points, if Aya misjudged her motions it was possible [member="Maple Harte"] could very seriously hurt her. So, the knight took a single step, bringing Maple into striking range. In the same motion, she struck out with her sword, bringing the blade down in a rapid, heavy swing. If she had the distance and control right, it would hit just before Maple's shoulder, and break her guard.

And if not she was probably about to get jabbed, stabbed, or otherwise hurt. She accepted either.

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple tensed as Aya begin to move, watching the experienced sword-fighter.

The Dark Jedi brought his blade crashing down on her cane in a dark, filthy alley at night. The purple crackle of his blade screaching through the air--

The sword came down in the real world and Maple twisted to the side, swiping upward and twisting her wrist during the swipe to bunt the weapon aside, before twisting further to Aya's left swinging one handed, noting how the attack patterns of her cane matched the angles by which a sword was struck, except it was lighter, something she was still not used to, her attack spin had the sword aimed for a now exposed midsection, and a downward slice that would make contact with her thigh, albeit clumsily, with Maple prepared to turn the blade to the flat side to avoid the chance of actually hitting and hurting Aya.

She was starting to get it, to remember it, but her moves were still clumsy and it was clear she was not used to the sword, used to heavier weapons with more blunt ends. But she was using what was obviously her high speed and agility to compensate partly.

[member="Aya Clarke"].

 

[Aya Clarke]

Brilliant return. Aya underestimated the force user's enhanced reflexes, which now were on full display. The swift upbringing of her blade did knock aside Aya's own, which put more than a little strain on her to think of a response. She may be naturally stronger, perhaps even with her gifts, but instinct against supernatural premonition was an uphill battle.

Ultimately ahe could do little more than mitigate. She dropped the tip of her blade swiftly, entering a hanging guard to try and catch the swing at her thighs. She managed to do this, but there was still an audible think as the metal impacted metal, and transferred more than a little energy into her body. She grunted, and let go with her left hand.

Before she could lose hold of the blade clash, she grabbed her sword with the now freed hand, below where it clashed with [member="Maple Harte"]. Using all her strength, she twisted the blade up and around, to aim the tip of her sword art the woman's neck, and stepped in as if trying to strike. The only fully safe response she could conceive of would be to withdraw, but this satisfied her greatly whether or not it worked.

After yet another brutally short exchange, she had seen what she needed. "Are you warmed up, Miss Harte?"

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple's reflexes caught the woman's flashing sword point at her throat...

Instead of using some panicked dodge to the left or right she called on an older art. One almost as old as Aya's efficient and lethal style.


Her head drooped backward lazily as she leaned backward staggering backward before executing an elaborate backflip, landing stagering back some more, free hand imitating the motion of raising a cup to her lips before resuming a more defensive guard, that seemed to encorporate a gently swaying backward and drinking motion. It was the same movements she used in her cane, and it seemed she had gotten more used to the weight. Her reflexes were clearly those of an adept acrobat.

It was an old style. An ancient style.

"I have to admit, I can see why you like swords. I love the way it sings through the air. The weight. And yes, I am warmed up."

She snapped her head to attention and straightened out suddenly, body tensing, legs parted sword still in an outward point towards Aya. But there was a swaying motion that had not been present before. It traveled from spine to head.

[member="Aya Clarke"]

 

[Aya Clarke]

"It is more than that. A sword is as much a part of me as my blood and bone. On Aelozath, to follow the way of the sword is to devote one's self entirely to our culture, the way things simply are. This is my resolve, formed in steel." She hummed, watching the way [member="Maple Harte"] held herself, the swaying. It was a style she recognized more as the drunken stance of an experienced barfighter, but it was a valid one all the same. Curious choice for a sword, but it played to her agility. She knew more than even she herself realized.

But, this warm up with swords was all meant to prologue the real lessons of the day. The way of the sword was only the prelude to the lightsaber. And though Aya's body screamed for her to test the younger woman's capabilities, to allow her to adjust to the weight before shifting to lightsabers in the same session would be cruel. So first, she lifted her sword, tip extended towards Maple, before sheathing the deadly weapon in a small flourish. "You've picked up quickly. And though I would love to continue, I fear there is little I can teach you of swordplay. IT is difficult for a teacher to teach a student a style they themselves do not use."

"However these, these I can more readily." She walked over to the box of training lightsabers, removing her sheathed blade and resting it on a rock before opening the case. She picked out two, and tossed one at Maple, expecting the woman to catch the weapon easily. "The weight will be different. The blade has nearly nothing to the feel, while the hilt is heavier than one would expect. Activate it, these will cause nothing more than minor burns if you decide to hold onto the thing. So don't be afraid of marring your pretty face."

"Using a lightsaber requires a certain skillset. I myself treat it somewhere between a longsword and an arming sword. For you, I will focus upon the latter, so you may find some use to your more, outwardly undisciplined stance." That was to say, when Aya ignited her blue training weapon, she first held it to her side, blade up by her head, before releasing her left hand and letting it stay at the ready to her side while the weapon lowered slightly, tilting forward. "I want to see you fight with this. Fight as though your life depends on it, as one day it will. Understood?"

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple put the sword back in its sheath and caught the training saber. For a split second, holding a classic lightsaber brought out a feeling of nostalgia, and she went into the classic form one stance by instinct. It also doubled as the Ataru opening stance for her.

"I understand, General," she explained, recalling her days as a padawan, sparring in a training chamber. She recalled her drunken variant of Ataru, but it had been a long time since she practiced with a standard lightsaber. A weakness of dedicating herself to specialized weapons.

She looked at Clarke. She did not began her swaying method, as she wanted to see what the General's method was. She was not intending to replicate it wholesale but Aya was clever...she had already surprised Maple by wielding a lightsaber better than any non user she had ever personally witnessed. Ulic Qel-Droma was said to be so skilled with a lightsaber that he could still duel, even after being stripped. Grievous didn't count, as his reflexes were cybernetic and had needed to be so in order for him to wield them to begin with. Aya was in a very rare category.

"Your dedication to the old ways is truly impressive. What's Aelozath like as a culture?" she asked, dragged off to a delusion where their posistions were reversed before snapping back.

[member="Aya Clarke"]

 

[Aya Clarke]

"As a culture? It depends on what you want me to talk about. I could spend hours describing our food, architecture, languages. But that only tells you part of it. It wouldn't tell you of my people's honor, and respect. Titles rule us, earned and maintained in good faith. Blasters, Slugthrowers, these are weapons of cowards to our people, of bloodlust. That's all that anyone ever asks about in the few times they do visit." She calmed herself slowly, walking slightly to her right around [member="Maple Harte"]. She held herself better with this weapon than first she did with a sword. Good. Good. She moved her left hand slowly behind her back, keeping it away from Maple.

Best not to give her a target. She stepped forward quickly, lifting her blue blade up and bringing it crashing down in an angle at Zone 2, Maple's right shoulder. From here she would step in again, and push against the almost certain parry attempt. However, if Maple opted to avoid the strike, which would cause her blade to follow through instead, she would stop the blade once the tip would point at Maple and rather than push against a parry she would make a thrust at the woman. Lightsaber combat tended to be vastly more aggressive than sword play, she had to find Maple's flaws swiftly and punish her hard.

Spoiler

1. Swing at right shoulder
2. If parried/Blocked: Pushes against Maple to try and knock her off balance
2. If avoided: Thrust instead

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple, calling on her old disciplines, twisted drunkenly out of the way of the crushing blow of Aya's lightsaber, her eyes catching how Aya transitioned from sword slash to thrust, driving it toward Maple's chest.

Maple had adapted a drunken variant to her lightsaber combat a long time ago, finding Ataru to be a perfect base for it. Her old instincts switched on and she drunkenly backflipped away from the thrust, doing a mock stumble that first went away from Clarke then staggered forward, the lightsaber spinning in her hand as she suddenly forward-flipped towards her saber slashing between deliberately confusing spins and drunken staggering for a chaotic flurry of light attacks that targeted Aya's weapon arm, prepared to leap back from any counterstrike in the process, and prepared to deliver a heavy lunge at the torso at the very last second after her first flurry ended. If Aya dodged or parried the lunge, it would leave Maple open to a heavy counter attack that would be difficult to escape , forcing her on the defense and Maple would likely have to resort to parrying, as she knew on instinct she would not win a contest of strength. But Maple was still an unorthodox fighter, and if the heavy lunge succeeded and got past her defences, Aya would have very little time to dodge, if at all, though it was still a possibility. It all depended on how Aya responded to Maple's attempt to confuse her



OOC: Lemme know if I should edit, as PVP is a weakpoint of mine.

[member="Aya Clarke"]

 

[Aya Clarke]

The amount of acrobatics. Good lord, force users loved to be over the top. First a backflip then reversing it...

At least here it had a purpose. The drunkenness and acrobatic fighting created quite a powerful flurry of strikes, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what she was aiming at. Though Aya was pushed on the defensive, tilting her lightsaber slightly to deflect blow after blow, and each step did nothing to slow the attack sequence, it gave her time to think. Each strike was aimed at the same spot, though had Aya not been fighting all her life she would've failed to notice the faint patterns. That did mean she had the advantage of managing to avoid as many blows as she parried and deflected. However, the last blow [member="Maple Harte"] struck out, before the heavy lunge did something different than the general expected.

That strike sent her lightsaber off to the side, still in her arm but away from her center of the body. This left her wide open for the strike. No way to bring the blue blade back in time, no time to avoid the strike. She gritted her teeth, and brought her free arm around. For her, it was almost like the world ran slower, as her metal arm guard glinted in the light. Phrik, a last, desperate defense. The lunge struck this, rather than flesh, which caused the characteristic hissing and almost screaming contact of the lightsaber and arm guard. The moment the blade contacted her arm guard, she swung the free arm up and to her right, visibly struggling to do so. She could feel the blade hissing past her head, barely missing her flesh. Heat, the hair standing up on her neck, so close.

She had told Maple to fight hard as she could, and so she was. Made Aya proud. With her metal arm guard still connected to the blade of the bounty hunter, she stepped in towards her, trying to bring the training blue blade in her hand back to swing at Maple. Already the fight had transformed from a disciplined combat scenario, to Aya fighting almost in desperation. If Maple stopped this strike, Aya would be forced to try and withdraw back to the middle mensur, a step out of combat range. If this didn't end it, she needed that moment of reprieve to assess.

 

[Maple Harte]

Phrik alloy. The General's speed moving it in the way was truly surprising as her blade skittered across it. But her idea had almost worked.

The problem was, the General had forced her blade aside, she had not anticipated the phrik but these days the stuff was as common as nasal tissue. She should have. Stupid mistake. Always expect lightsaber resistant alloys. Always always always.

The General forcing the blade aside had completely blown her original plan of simply parrying any retaliatory strike. It was at completely the wrong angle. But her form ataru, even without her own take on it, was about turning defense to offense.

Or vice versa.

Maple strained to exceed the speed of Aya's incoming strike, not using the Force, but her natural agility and reflexes. Muscles twisting, straining with her frame as her feet left the ground partly as she performed a high speed torso axial flip away from Aya's strike, but even then it was a narrow thing. The tip of Aya's blade lightly brushed Maple's hair, cutting a few strands away. Maple landed on her feet and continued to back flip to a safer distance from Aya, landing on her feet, then pretending to stumble, swooning backward as she pretended to take a drink, stumble backward and then just plain fall backward like she had passed out drunk, only to kick her legs forward and rise back up staggering unsteadily, with her lightsaber held in a swaying motion of the fools guard.

*Hic* Maple pretended to hiccup, her eyes crossing as she fell forward, still holding her lightsaber up and ahead as she hit the dirt, and lay there pretending to snore a moment, take another drink, then letting her head hit the dirt as began to pretend to snore even louder, all of this deliberately built into the use of the style. Attempting to tempt Aya to attack, by seemingly leaving herself fatally open and depending on whether Aya struck down when she reached her or if she tried to stab or even whether she took the bait at all, Maple was already planning a response, trying to think of all the ways and angles Aya might try to slice or stab from, and planning an accordingly elaborate combination of parries and kicks to force attacks aside and retaliate.

[member="Aya Clarke"]


OOC. Let me know if I should edit, as I'm trying to slowly reveal the depth in Maple's style. If its too much I have no problem altering it.

 

[Aya Clarke]

At least there was a moment's reprieve.

Aya took the opportunity to step back as her strike failed, and lowered her weapon in a fool's guard of her own. Take the time to examine her opponent's guard, how she now stood. Her instincts were returning rapidly, which meant that no longer would simple, primitive strokes work on her. However, she mentally mused as she watched [member="Maple Harte"] sway and tilt, that meant another thing. The woman's old habits were returning, the strengths of her unorthadox form, of her movement, but so too the flaws. Instinct worked in many ways, perhaps a fatal flaw..

But she would have to be careful. Yes, careful. Testing the opponent was a natural phase of combat, but midway through? Maple's style may have changed, but Aya's own only had small variations. Further, Aya's defensive habits, her preferred parrying techniques and strikes, these things were readily apparent to Maple while her own were yet to be rediscovered by Aya. Which meant Aya could easily lose this bout, should she forget to adjust her style to compensate for what she learned. So, she took in a breath, and stepped in.

Maple had moved further back than anticipated, to a wide mensur, or two steps apart. Which meant Aya had to take two steps to reach striking range, the near mensur. From here, Aya moved the blade of her lightsaber, intending to tap Maple's own weapon rather than strike. Her reaction to this would be important. Would Maple, with her returning instincts, react violently, and swiftly, or passively?

 

[Maple Harte]

Didn't take the bait. Clever. After a moment, Maple sprung up unsteadily. She decided to try a new tactic to let Aya get close. She went back a little bit, but not too much so Aya might try striking. Two good steps it would take for the General to reach her. Maple, still swaying, waited for the General to strike. *Hic* Maple sounded, sword in her swaying version of a mid-guard. She stumbled a bit but never leaving the General area for which Aya could strike from. The swaying and stumbling disguising the attack and defense patterns...or where they'd come from. Aya moved to strike, but Maple was still just stumbling and swaying as Aya's weapon went out to hit Maple's blade.

Maple let the blade come into contact...and parried, deciding to try a high risk, high reward manuever that might win the duel. It was a risk, but the General was an excellent, patient sword fighter. Her defense was very difficult to get past, and even if Maple had been in her prime, Aya still would have had a difficult defense to break.

As she parried, Maple shifted towards Aya at high speed , only to sway backward as she paaried the blade hard to Aya's left with all her might, falling on her own knees as she leaned backward once her knees hit the dirt, her saber coming on a return slice and because of the way Maple had positioned herself as she fell backward, the arc of the slice waa poised to hit Aya's midsection at blinding speed, and at a slightly awkward angle to parry at. But the reason it was high risk was because if Aya thought quick, she might double back on her own swing arc, knock Maples swing aside, which would leave her open to a strike that would be nearly hopeless to block at her position.

It was one of the drawbacks of her fighting method. It allowed one to greatly confuse, but a miscalculated risk brought very great danger. Maple had used to know how to better mitigate the risks, but spending one's time chasing bounties did not afford much chance to experiment. Especially as she had been trying to keep a low profile up to this point.




OOC: You decide whether or not Maple's attack succeeds [member="Aya Clarke"]