Practicing? (lin only, please.)

[Draetrialis]

Draetrialis was practicing with his sword on a dummy, gracefully slicing it to shreds. He managed to stay in his human form, his black leather armor gleaming like magic. As he worked on his form, he shifted from one style to another, seamlessly. The dragon started laughing as he shifted to 'bladesinging' and his sword began to whistle, the blade moving so fast it vibrated. After a while, he sheathed his weapon and took a small break. Leaning against a tree, the Shadow took out a bit of dried deer and worked on it, his eyes never leaving the dummy. Sighing, he drew his blade again and worked the dummy to shreds, before leaving for a new one. He 'danced' with the dummy for a bit before he sliced it to shreds as well. He laughed again before retying the dummies together and repeating the sequence. "I love this blade... but I still won't use a shield..." he muttered as he went through another form.

Leaving the melee dummies, he went to the archery range and began firing off his arrows. They flew true and he had 10 in the bull's-eye, 10 in the area around it, and 10 more in the area around that. He did this for about 20 minutes, all while waiting for Lin to arrive, since she was the one that had to play into his plan first.

[Lin]

The sun shone brightly as Lin strode over to training grounds with twin swords strapped to her waist. Today she wanted to practice her sword fighting and if she had time, her water element. Lin felt stressed after reporting to the council about a situation that occurred at Ailon Lake. The council's dismissal just ticked her off so much that time. Ah well, she would just have to trust that they would do something about it. Lin paused and unsheathed her swords to examine them. The twin swords were perfect halves and the blades were about two and a half feet long. Her parents gave the swords to her when she was younger. When both of them had passed away, Lin had made sure they were clean and polished. The swords were one of her most treasured possessions. Lin approached the training grounds and saw a boy practicing archery. She glanced at the target. He was okay at archery. After closer observations Lin saw he had a sword. "Do you come here much?" she asked intrigued. She liked sparring with new people. "Would you like to spar?" Yes, it definitely would be interesting. The boy looked fit and could handle a sword properly.

ooc: sorry... bad post... >_<

[Draetrialis]

Draetrialis laughed. "This is my first time here, and if you wish to spar... well, who am I to deny a lady her wish?" He put away his bow, took off his quiver, and drew his blade. "So, traditional or realistic?" He asked, mentally prepping himself. You, dragoness, are going to taste my blade... he growled to himself, before realizing that if he killed her, his act would be over. So, he shook his head and took a few steps back, easily sliding into his martial stance, blade poised like a serpent. I hope you are a better sword-fighter than you are elemental, dragoness. he thought, his mouth curving into a smile. "You do have a nice set of blades, but are they as functional as they are beautiful?" He said, a slight teasing tone to his melodious voice. He let out another laugh, just poised to strike as he waited, trying to read Lin's style, just from her dual-swords. She has to be good to dual wield... hopefully, the single blade doesn't fail me... if I get cut, I may just break... the thought raced through his head as he quickly used his shadow to carve runes of speed into the dirt, and so long as he didn't leave the faint circle, he would be fast enough to avoid harm, but not quite fast enough to deal damage either, if he was right on Lin's style.

[Lin]

After laughing the boy replied, "This is my first time here, and if you wish to spar... well, who am I to deny a lady her wish?" Lin let a small smile play on her face; he certainly had chivalry. "Shall we then?" Lin said twirling her swords in her hands as she walked over to a closer position. Her eyes were analyzing everything around the boy. His stance was a standard one. A smile was plastered on his face that gave Lin the impression that he knew something or that he was plotting. "You do have a nice set of blades, but are they as functional as they are beautiful?" He asked and Lin smiled in return before taking a stance with her right sword pointed in the boy's direct while her left was pulled a little farther back, but still pointing in the same direction. "They were made by the best Gargoyle smiths with a design from the Fey." Lin said as the sun glinted off her swords, "As for how I'll fight, I'll keep you guessing." Most people Lin sparred with always expected her to follow some sort of code of sorts. How wrong they were, in a real fight there were no rules so Lin used every advantage she had. Lin spotted something moving in the dirt. They looked like strange markings, runes perhaps? Suspicion arose in her mind, but Lin ignored most of it. She would keep a close eye on this boy. "Would you like to make the first move?"

[Draetrialis]

Drae lauhed. "Very well." He jumped into the air and did a spin, coming down, blade flashing. He purposefully landed in front of Lin and struck down, hitting the front blade away before sliding back to his speed circle. "Well, that maybe wasn't the best idea..." he said, a faint cut on his wrist. He laughed as he twirled his sword around his wrist, the blade slicing into the dirt, before he grabbed the hilt and slid into a defensive stance. Now... come on and strike... so I can disarm you, girl. he thought, laughing again. He looked over Lin again, waiting for her attack. He started twirling his sword in front of him, switching hands so he could easily block a strike. He decided to go out again and, using the runes, he flew at Lin and, using the hilt of his blade, he wrenched the sword from her hand before locking her arm behind her. "So... what will you do to escape, hm?" He whispered in Lin's ear, a very faint smile on his lips. He didn't move his arm, so the lock was only slightly uncomfortable. At least, until he did make the lock slightly painful, for only a second, to show he knew what he was doing.

[Lin]

A fast direct attack was something that Lin expected from the boy, but not at that speed. The boy landed in front of her and Lin retracted her right sword but not quickly enough to keep him from hitting it. She must have been out of practice if she couldn't even counter something like that. "Well, that maybe wasn't the best idea…" he said and Lin spotted the small cut on his wrist. Well he wasn't a complete professional, but he wasn't a novice either. The boy backed up now in a defensive stance. Lin observed where he was standing. He was now near what Lin assumed now to be runes. Lin narrowed her eyes, very few people actually knew how to use runes. Apparently the boy wasn't going to wait for her and moved to offensive again. At a speed Lin knew for sure he couldn't normally travel at, he knocked one of her swords out of her hand and pulled it back into a lock. His sword hilt was next to her shoulder.

"So... what will you do to escape, hm?" The boy asked softly in her ear. Lin felt that the arm lock was discomforting and wanted to get out of it soon. Lin sighed, and brought up her leg and kicked the boy in a place where boys should never be kicked before sweeping that leg against his legs and flipped the boy over so she could undo the hold. Once the boy hit the ground Lin set a restraining foot against his chest and another on the arm holding his sword while resting her remaining sword against his neck. "Just that." She said with a smile, "Now pray tell how you know runes."

[Draetrialis]

Drae's face was contorted in pain and he gasped, "I may be chivalrous, but that is one question I won't answer... how I know how to use runes... I can't tell you..." Draetrialis closed his eyes and a burst of energy blew Lin off of him, though it wrenched his sword from him, and he picked up the blade and sheathed it, bowing. "That was fun... and clearly I would have lost, if you and I fought for real..." he said, gasping. He held out his hand and asked, "Want some help?" Man... she is fast... faster than I expected... oh well... he thought, smiling. "Where did you learn to do that? I want to try that sometime." He added, helping Lin up. I do hope that she doesn't notice the ring... he whispered, knowing Lin would at the very least cut off his arm. Maybe his tail, if he was really unlucky. He went over and rubbed out the runes, a slight electrical discharge entering the air. His sword glittered, the ornate design on the silver hilt glowing with the sunlight. He quickly plotted how Lin could be of use to him in his plan, and couldn't quite decide how.

[Lin]

The boy's reply was disappointing, Lin didn't expect any better, but still. "Well that was a boring answer." Lin said bluntly. A sudden energy burst knocked Lin back, she tried landing on her feet, but didn't have enough time to land properly. She noticed that his sword was knocked out of his hand as well. This was definitely not a normal human. Perhaps he was a dragon in human form? Or some other creature, like a vampire perhaps? No, not even they were this strong. "That was fun... and clearly I would have lost, if you and I fought for real..." the boy said still sounding out of breath, "Want some help?" He offered his hand to her and Lin took it. "Thank you." She said politely and went to retrieve her other sword. After making sure the blades were clean she sheathed them. "Where did you learn to do that? I want to try that sometime." The boy asked and Lin looked at him slyly. She had learned martial arts since she was able to turn into a human. "I learned that from some masters." Lin said as she watched him wipe out the runes, "I could teach it to you if you want." She walked over to him and a rock rolled under her foot and she began to fall. Instinctually she grabbed the closest thing to her and that happened to the boy's hand. "I'm so sorry." Lin said pulling her hand away and knocked a ring off the boy's hand. She stooped down to pick it up, "Sorry, I usually don't trip on many things."

[Draetrialis]

Draetrialis' eyes widened as he shifted back to dragon. Sighing, he said, "Why do I trust a ring to keep my form?" Looking at Lin, he picked up his ring and slid it on a claw, turning him back into the handsome human. "Well. Now you know the truth. I'm Draetrialis, and I already know you contacted our superiors... they won't do much. Most of them know of my past and will not interfere." He said our with distaste, as though he hated the idea of having someone superior to him. "Dammit, I need to find a better way to stay in this form..." the dragon hissed, glaring at Lin. "And since you now know, I can drop the chivialrous act." He added. Oh well... it wasn't te best plan, but it worked, for a while... "Since my charade is up, I'll be going now." He said, turning and picking up his fallen weapons, before walking off towards the lake, obscenities flowing like wine from his mouth and shadows closing in on him, as if to protect the draconic bastard. Who knows? He quickly reformulated his plan, and threw it in the trash heap in his head.