Blooming Day Off!

As they made to go their seperate ways, Fayla kissed Lilian on the cheek and gave Rory a hug. The human girl wrapped Vala in a hug, before releasing her. Vala held out a callous fist towards Rory, in a gesture of farewell, but before he noticed he called Fayla to a halt, and tried to convince her to stay another day and rest. Vala found it odd that he would try to convince them to stay when he was so eager to have Vala leave mere hours ago, but there was concern in his voice. "Rory's right. You two should stay another day. Just one more, get some rest. Today was barely that, and cart or no cart we did just spend two weeks traveling." Lilian said.

Vala smiled slightly then looked at Fayla. "It couldn't hurt. Besides, gives me one more chance to get a passionate hug from Rory." Vala said, eyebrow raised as she eyed the blonde. "Gods, Vala..." Lilian muttered. Too easy to tease. "Anyway, even if you don't want to stay another day you might as well stay at ours. All your stuff is there anyway, or did you forget that?" Lilian asked. "We have enough spare rooms for half my family, so there's no trouble. That includes you Rory." Lilian finished. Vala looked at him with a wicked grin. "There's a lock on the door." Lilian added.

Fayla looked at Rory in surprise for a moment when the Human suggested staying for another day to rest up properly. The idea was okay, it was just who it came from that was unexpected. "I mean, it sounds like a good idea. But weren't you like, incredibly uncomfortable with us being in Mondolin? Especially Vala?" The young man seemed to be more than a little concerned with Fayla's condition, and Lilian piped up with her support for Rory's idea. Fayla looked to Vala for her opinion, and the Heanta returned the Eldari's glance with a small smile. Vala agreed, but not before suggesting that she had another opportunity to get a "passionate hug" from Rory. Lilian muttered to herself in exasperation, while Fayla punched her best friend in the arm. "You're being stupid. Stop being stupid." Lilian then reminded Fayla that their belongings were still in Lilian's house, and the Eldari nodded sheepishly. "This is true." She looked expectantly at Lilian and Rory. "Alright then. Lead on." As soon as Rory or Lilian made a move to leave, Fayla would follow.

Rory practically ignored Fayla's comment. Though he glared at Vala at her own little comment. They were not going to go at it! "Yeah, Vala, stop being stupid!" He childishly echoed Fayla's comment. Though at the thought of him spending the night, even in a guest room, at the Toral's made him sheepish. "I have a place. That also has a lock. And guards, as useless as they may be against her..."

And so after escorting the women back, he went back to his own room.

~

And he had sword training first thing. Of course. Luckily it was open training so anyone can observe. He left a note on the Toral's table.

He didn't bring his arm-mounted crossbow, but wore his blue leather armor and had his Blue Rose at his hip. When it was his turn to spar against one of the most talented and strongest swordsmen there, Rory drew his sword and stepped up.

When he was in stance, and so was the other guy, they went at it. Rory used his speed and agility to just constantly be on the attack, and aiming all around the guy. His opponent was having trouble just keeping up and avoid getting hit, despite the fact that he had on legit metal armor. For every one or two strikes his opponent tried, Rory had done five.

The fight was fast paced, but wasn't going to end any time soon...

Vala smiled at Rory as he mentioned he also had locks, and guards, and commented on their redundency. "Might as well replace them with manikins for all they'd be worth against me." Not that she'd actually break into Rory's room, she wasn't that kind of girl. "Fear not, you're safe." Vala grinned. After they got back to Lilian's, they were shown to the guestrooms. Vala spent all of half an hour in bed before getting bored, and slipping out to explore the city at night. And maybe get in a bar fight or two.


When Lilian woke up the next morning, she found a note on Fayla's door. "Gone for a stroll." In elegant script. She guessed that was Vala's hand writing, because no one else had a reason to leave a note on Fayla's door. Lilian headed downstairs to prepare breakfast and found a second note on the kitchen table, informing them of the open training. Which she'd forgotten about. "Ah crapbaskets." She said. One would think, being in the same Corp that Rory might wake her up. Even if she did just get back from a dangerous excursion, Jensen was going to bite her head off if she missed training.

She quickly made breakfast, and if Fayla wasn't awake by then, she would go and knock on her door to tell her she had to head out. Then she ate breakfast, grabbed her gear and headed out. She didn't know how long Vala would be gone for, but told Fayla she could come along if she wanted.


They arrived just in time to witness Rory fighting one of the more skilled fighers. Across the right she spotted Cassius Bellona, a prodigy with the blade. And a stuck up asshole in her opinion, but she tended to keep that to herself. He was far to arrogant, which lead to over confidence in his own skills, or so Blademaster Jensen would say. He made friends with only the best swordsman, such as the man in the ring, who struggled to land a hit on Rory. Lilian watched patiently, knowing full well she'd probably end up fighting Bellona as punishment for being late. It wouldn't be fun.

Fayla awoke the next morning with a start. A nightmare had crept into her dreams the last couple of sleeps, and it had caused her to awaken earlier more often. The nightmare was based around a story her father used to tell her about one of his adventures, this one taking him to Serenity Valley. The area had been sealed off by the King of Mondolin some time ago, and the official investigation into the strange occurrences there had been classified. Calrados Insari had led a small group to sneak in and investigate the area, and he had come back with a tale of the dead walking the world of the living. Yavanna, Rowan and Fayla's mother had dismissed his story, and he was not even sure himself what he had witnessed. He had told the stories to Fayla as a small girl to scare her, but she had never really thought about it until recently, when the bad dreams started. She shook her head and got dressed, the thoughts of her father leaving her feeling rather homesick, and tied her hair back into her customary ponytail.

Upon reaching the door, Fayla opened it to find Lilian standing there, clearly about to knock on the now-open door. The Eldari smiled and rubbed sleep out of her eyes. "Good morning, beautiful." Fayla suddenly snapped wide awake and looked at Lilian with big eyes. "Agh! I mean... good beautiful morning... it's a beautiful morning, good morning?" She relaxed a little bit and took a breath. "I'm awake now, I swear. What's the plan?" She suddenly caught sight of the note on her door, which was from Vala, explaining that the Heanta had gone for a stroll. Lilian then mentioned that there was an open training session going on that Rory and Lilian were going to. "Well, Vala's gone walkabouts, so I'll go with. I wanna see what you Knights can do."

Soon after, they found themselves at the training arena, and Rory was currently in the ring with a fellow student who was struggling to get a purchase on the young lad. Fayla leaned on the fence surrounding the ring and watched intently as Rory ran rings around his opponent. "Hey! Rory's pretty good!" She turned to see Lilian glancing at a smug and refined looking Knight, who was clearly the star of his little bubble. Fayla raised an eyebrow. "You know that guy? Looks like a jerk"

The fight was beginning to last a long time, and both fighters were starting to pant and move slower. Rory decided to try to end it. His sword arm glowed blue as he struck once at the guy's sword, then came the second blow, then third, and fourth, all in much faster time than before. The combined attacks actually stumbled the guy back and knocked the sword out of his hand. Landing on his butt, the guy came face to face with Rory's sword. A clear winner.

Once called, Rory put his sword back in its sheath, and helped the guy up. Who was a bad sport about it and left without a shake or anything. Sighing heavily, he noticed Fayla and Lilian. Waving enthusiastically at them, he jogged to join them. "Good morning!" The blond's demeaner was very different than from when he was fighting. Jumping over the rail and taking a place next to Fayla, they watched a couple other fights while Rory asked a question. "Soooo Fayla...how did you and Vala meet?"

As they watched Rory fight, Lilian heard footsteps behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Blademaster Jensen approach. Jensen was an elder man, but he bore the body of warrior and carried himself like one. He was a living legend, one of the greatest swordsmen of his time. The elder warrior looked over Lilian, before his eyes found Fayla. There was a spark of recognition in his eyes. "Late to practice, Lilian. I hope you kept up with your training while you were away." He said. Lilian nodded. "Yes Sir. I even got a few pointers from my friend." She said. "You're mysterious Eldari friend? Well either way, looks like you get to demonstate your pointers against Bellona." Jensen said with a faint smile, causing Lilian to grimmace.

"It's been a long time since I've seen an Eldari. I wasn't aware we had a diplomatic visitor, or I'd have come to torment you for news of you're homeland." Jensen said, looking into Fayla's eyes. Lilian, feeling mildly awkward quickly introduced him.   "She's not here on an official capacity. Ah, this is my blademaster, Jensen Reynhart. Sir, this is Fayla." She said. Jensen gave them a knowning smile. "Fayla, a pleasure to meet you. Tell me, young Eldari, do you know of a Yavanna Elbereth?" He asked fayla. When Rory returned, they watched two more fights before it was Lilian's turn to enter the sparring ring.

Lilian, dressed in her usual light armor approached the ring. As she did, Jensen stepped up beside her. "No crossbow, Lilian. I want to see some swordplay. And just between you and me, he leaves his right side open after a thrust." Jensen patter her on the back, and she hopped into the ring to face off against Bellona. The golden haired knight gave her a cocky smirk. Lilian drew Akroma, and waited for him to attack.

Fayla's attention returned to Rory's fight in the ring, until she noticed Lilian in the corner of her eye turning around to look behind them. Fayla also turned to see an older man approaching them. The man was definitely much older than Lilian and Fayla, but he still had the aura of a warrior, and a skilled one at that. His aged and rugged appearance was offset by a youthful fire in his eyes that demanded respect but also offered it to. The man commented on Lilian's lateness to training, but he seemed to recognize Fayla, at least more than he let on. He then told Lilian with a smile that she was to train against Bellona, though Lilian seemed less than pleased at the prospect. The man then turned to Fayla, commenting on how long it had been since he had seen an Eldari. Lilian introduced him as Blademaster Jensen, and Fayla immediately made the connection when Jensen asked about Yavanna. Her eyes brightened and she grinned. "I sure do! She was my teacher at the Academy. I learned everything I know about sword fighting styles from her and Uncle Rowan!" She relaxed a little, having now forged a connection. "She told me about you too, the most naturally gifted Human to ever pick up a blade. It's an honor to meet you too, sir."

Once Rory had returned, Fayla saw Lilian head out for her fight. Bellona turned out to be the smug pretty-boy from earlier, and Fayla wished nothing more than Lilian to make a show of him. Jensen had offered advice to her too, so the Eldari watched with anticipation as Bellona smirked cockily at Lilian when she drew her sword. Rory asked her about how she met Vala, which startled her a little, but she simply smiled at the young man. "I suppose that's fair, since at the moment we know more about you and Lilian than you two know about us." She stroked her chin for a moment. The question had come up quite frequently over the years, as others sought to understand how the unlikely pairing might have come about. Herself and Vala had offered different parties different versions of events, so few knew the whole story. However, Fayla trusted Rory more than other Humans she had met, outside of the Toral's and Kairi. Despite his jumpy and rather childish nature Fayla felt that he meant well, and so she considered him "one of the good guys". She stared into space as she began her story.

"Well, it all began when I was twenty-three. I had been stationed in Mirallas, a small village near the outskirts of Endaron, for field training with my Academy class. Things went south for us very quickly though, on the second night we were there." She became serious, as the events of that night passed from the back of her mind to the fore. "Mirallas was attacked by a Heanta raiding party that had somehow infiltrated Endaron. We were taken completely by surprise. I came out to fight with just Grace and my sleepwear. Vala was part of that group." She smiled to herself for a moment, remembering the first time she laid eyes on her future partner-in-crime. "It was a good fight. We were evenly matched, Vala with her drak'na and me with Grace. I had to break off before we could finish the fight, though I definitely would have won." Fayla winked at Rory before becoming serious again as more memories came into focus. "A pair of Heanta had a woman and her child at their mercy nearby, so I had to help. I took care of the two, but as I was covering the mum's retreat I was blindsided by a big guy with a hammer. He broke my arm and knocked me into a wooden house. When I came to, the guy had almost reached me, so I managed to collapse the roof on him. By the time I made it outside, Mirallas was lost. I ran, but I was in pretty bad shape. I was followed." Fayla looked at Rory and smiled warmly. "This is where things get interesting."

"The Heanta caught up with me. I played hide-and-seek with them for a little while, taking out stragglers, but they caught up to me eventually. They gave me a good kicking, and I gave some back too. But they had me dead to rights, until Vala attacked the party, and saved my life. She attacked her own people to protect an Eldari. Imagine that." Fayla folded her hands in her lap and looked at Rory again, gauging the young man's reaction, before continuing. "It was five years before we crossed paths again. She had been attacked by Dying Suns mercs and forced to flee over the border. She had been caught by Eldari patrols, but I talked them out of reporting it or doing anything. We then attacked the Suns' base. Thassa got away, but we made a mess of it anyway. From that point on we made a promise to have each other's back. We've saved each other's asses a lot since then. I've lost track of who owes who at this point." Fayla grinned at Rory, returning to the present. "Well, that's more-or-less it. Hope I didn't bore ya."

Rory listened to the story. It was a good one. And strangely, most plausible. He'd heard Heanta raiding parties were extremely brutal and nasty as they come. Nasty enough for one to turn on their own, it seems. He couldn't find anything to put doubt on there. "Hardly. It's nice hearing two versions of the same thing. I also have another question. Who is this Rex character? Lil doesn't...have the highest opinion of Asentari. Vala said he was quite the charmer though, but just want to know a bit more about him I guess."

And determine if he was a threat or just passing through. He didn't mind that Blademaster Jensen was there to listen to the two of them chatter. He actually kind of missed the man, and gave a respectful bow once he did notice. Otherwise he listened to Fayla and gave her his full attention.

"Oh a fellow student. It's been a long time since I've been called that, but you never stop learning, eh?" Jensen said. "Gifted yes, but nothing beats good tutoring. I'm not as good as I once was, mind you. Old age has caught up with me. Don't suppose I could convince you to step into the ring? You'd be sure to teach a few of the more braggadocios fighters a thing or two." He chuckled. He let the two young ones chat as he focused his attention on Lilian's spar. He couldn't help but overhear the story Fayla told Rory, and found himself curious.

It was easy to guess who Fayla was, speaking of her friendship with Vala. The pair were well known in the knights. It would be lunacy not to keep track of such prominent figures activities in the freelands. They were potential security risks after all. They could easily spark another war between their people, not that it took much to set the eldari and heanta at each other's throats.


Lilian and bellona circled each other, before the larger more skilled swordsman charged and opened with a flurry of thrusts that Lilian danced away from. He struck again, and Lilian parried his blade only to find it quickly whipping back around to strike her arm. "First blood. You're already down an arm, if I was looking to maim." The smug son of a bitch said. Lilian glowered. He struck again, and they exchanged several more strikes before breaking apart. Bellona moved back into the attack with a graceful lunge, his blade glancing off her leg.

"Maybe you should just surrender and save yourself the embarrassment, Knight. We both know I'm going to trounce you." He said mockingly. Lilian kept her cool, backing away and waiting for him to come again. Jensen said no crossbow, but he never forbid her from using tricks. She let him close, gripping Akroma with both hands and performing a set of strikes Fayla had taught her, knocking his blade wide, before stepping in, closing the gap the way Vala had shown her and throwing a punch to the Jaw the heanta would be proud of. She added a little extra zap, catching him with her lightning strike. Bellona toppled and landed on his back in the ring, twitching.

With a self satisfied smile she left the ring. Jensen gave her a disapproving frown but there was a myschievious twinkle in his eye. "I see you learned a few things from you're new friends. Did you need to shock him though?" He asked. Lilian shrugged. "He deserved it."

Before she regaled Rory with her story, Jensen offered up the opportunity for her to get into the ring to spar with some of the recruits. The Eldari grinned with excitement. "You bet! I'm a bit banged up though, so I'll be going easy on 'em." She then commenced her story, and Rory seemed to be riveted by the tale Fayla told, listening intently to every word. The young man absorbed the information before asking another question, this time about Rex. Rory noted that Lilian didn't seem to have a particularly high opinion of Asentari. Fayla nodded and stroked her chin. "That's true. I imagine I'll find it difficult to find anybody in this kingdom that doesn't treat the Asentari with suspicion, though with Lilian it's far more personal than that I guess, what with her mother and all." She brightened up and smiled. "Rex is a good kid though. His family are nobles in Edia, from what he told us. You could tell too by the way he carried himself. Luckily, he's charismatic enough that he's not obnoxious."

The fight in the ring was an interesting spectacle. Bellona seemed to be toying with Lilian a bit, and Fayla waited with a smug smile for the inevitable comeuppance that was about to be dished out. The blond Knight spewed a good deal of trash-talk, before advancing on Lilian again. The Toral scion responded with a familiar set of sword strikes to carve out an opening, followed by an equally familiar uppercut to Bellona's jaw. Electrical energy radiated from the strike-point, sending Bellona to the ground in a twitching heap. Lilian exited the ring, her trick earning her some disapproving words from Jensen, though Fayla could see a hint of mischief in the Blademaster's eyes. Fayla grinned approvingly. "I loved it. Nice work!" She looked to Jensen, waiting to see what he wanted to do next.

"That's why I'm worried." Fayla made a very good observation that he had long saw. The elf mentioned that the Asentari was a noble, but charismatic enough to not be obnoxious. An interesting way to describe him. Maybe he'd see for himself one day. The fight ended with Lilian winning out. About what he'd expected, especially after a tip from Blademaster Jensen.

"Never said magic couldn't be used, just no ranged weapons. Still well within the rules of combat. Otherwise my win wouldn't be very good now, would it? Nice job, Lil~" He gave his colleague a smile that could swoon many a people. But that was both of them, and they were done with it. So, now it was up to Jensen to decide what was next...

Jensen nodded. "That is true, though in you're case you're sword play is well developed. I know you have crossbows and enchantments and all that fancy business, but there's value in being able to swing a sword well in our line of work and that's why i make sure my students, former or otherwise, keep on top of their training." He said. Lilian nodded, though she was well aware of his thinking. "Now Fayla, what say you to going a few rounds in the ring? Give everyone here a show worth rememebering?"

Lilian looked between Fayla and Jensen. "Wait, you want to fight her?" Lilian asked. Jensen nodded. "Be good to stretch the old muscles." Jensen said. Lilian looked at Rory, as Jensen hopped into the ring. "Well this should be interesting." Lilian said.

Rory listened to the grizzled veteran master, but it was all going in one ear, and going out the other. But when he mentioned a bout with the Eldari. His eyes widened. "But she's injured and still recovering. Stop bullying an injured person, you old man! I don't care if you are a grizzled master that could kick my ass for the next century, that's still no way to treat an injured person!" He flailed wildly and hysterically. Interesting or not, injured is still injured. And in his mind, there was no real fight here.

He looked at Lilian for back-up. Then looked at Fayla. If she did go through with it, he was going to grab a healer. This was dumb!

Fayla was just finishing her congratulating of Lilian when Jensen offered her an interesting proposition. The grizzled Blademaster challenged her to a couple of rounds in the sparring ring. Lilian was momentarily confused, but Rory completely lost the plot. The young man berated the warrior for bullying injured people. Fayla was a little taken aback by Rory's outburst, before realizing that he was just looking out for Fayla in his own, unique way. The Eldari patted the young man reassuringly on the head as she stood up. "It's okay, kiddo. Your doctors did a great job on me. I'll be fine. And besides..." Fayla then looked at Jensen and smiled. "This is going to be too much fun to miss."

Vaulting over the fence and into the ring, Fayla bowed respectfully before calling her weapon's name, and her trusty longsword appeared in her hand, a display that drew some awestruck looks from the audience. She smiled at Jensen as she gripped her weapon with both hands and assumed a typical Eldari sword stance. "Don't go easy on me now. I want to see what the most naturally gifted Human swordsman can do." She took a breath, before charging forward with purpose. She spun her blade and aimed a one-handed thrust at the man's shoulder. Spinning through, Fayla then aimed a slash at the man's leg and a flurry of strikes at the man's body.

Jensen chuckled at Rory's outburst. "Calm, Rory. I mean her know harm. Though I wasn't aware you had been injured. We can wait till another time, if you wish." He offered. Lilian frowned. "Rory, Blademaster Jensen knows what he's doing. They have the same master, he's not going to hurt Fayla." Lilian said. It came as no surprise that Fayla still wanted a bout. She was after all, a student of Yavanna's. "Besides, my back is quite stiff today. I would say injured or not she can beat me easily." Jensen said with a chuckle, opting to go through the gate. His back really was at him.

He stepped across from Fayla, who held out her hand and whispered her sword's name, causing it to appear in her hand. Jensen chuckled, and held out his hand. A beam of light hit the ground in front of him, leaving his own sword embedded in the ground within reach of his fingers. Far flashier, as intended. Very useful for blinding foes in the dark. Jensen rested his hand on the hilt of the curved blade, and nodded for Fayla to begin, as she told him not to hold back. "Of course not. But first." He said, raising his other hand. A faint golden glow surrounded the blades of both their weapons, stopping them from cutting "A precaution, so there's no accidents." He said.

Fayla took this as her cue and charged, stabbing forward with one hand. Jensen turned his shoulder letting the blade pass by him. He stepped the opposite way as she swung at his leg, her sword bouncing off his own as it was still in the ground. Jensen pulled the blade free in a reverse grip, blacking the strikes to the torso. He then struck back, flipping his blade out and going for one fluid strike towards her calf with the flat of the blade. His blade flowed into a second strike, aimed to graze across her torso as it came up. She was fast, not at all like Yavanna or Jensen who relied on reflexes and counter attacks, but her form was spectacular.


About ten seconds after Jensen and Fayla stepped into the ring, Vala stepped up beside Rory and Lilian. "Good morning." She said, taking a bite out of an apple. Which she immediately regretted, becuase it tasted weird. She offered the apple to Lilian, who shook her head, then Rory. "Blch, that's not nice at all." She said. She watched Fayla and the mysterious old man's opening moves and immediately wished she'd gotten here sooner because she wanted to fight him. "What's going on, who's Fayla fighting?" Vala asked. If no one took the apple by then, she tossed it over her shoulder hitting a certain stunned warrior in the head with it.

"Still, be careful, Fayla. No need to overextend yourself so soon. And you, Blademaster, no matter what she says, do take it somewhat easy on her at least." Rory pouted. This always happens. He was always dismissed. It was starting to really grate on his nerves. Not long after the match got started, Vala came up, eating an apple. Or tried to. She apparently didn't like it very much.

Rory shook his head at the offered fruit. And nearly busted up laughing when she chucked it behind her and it hitting a warrior in the head with it. Who just happened to be Bellona. Which made it harder for him to stifle himself. "Blademaster Jensen Reynhart. And you just accidentally hit an ass with that apple, he'll likely take you to the ring. That should be fun to see..." It was always grand to see arrogant douchebags get pounded into the dirt.

Rory's warnings and protestations still rang in Fayla's ears as she fought, but she knew deep down that she was never going to sit on the sidelines while there was a fight with the most gifted Human swordsman Asmir had seen, as well as a fellow student of Yavanna, to be had. Best of all, all of the hype Fayla had built up in her head was justified. Jensen moved with both grace and purpose as he dealt with her opening salvo. He lifted his blade out of the ground and blocked her torso strikes with ease, before offering a riposte. The blademaster aimed the flat of his blade at Fayla's calf, which she avoided barely by lifting her leg over it. The man then transitioned seamlessly into a slash towards her torso. She turned to the side and backflipped over it, aiming a slash towards his leading shoulder while in midair. When she landed, Fayla offered a rapid pair of strikes at Jensen's knees, one from each side, before transitioning into a horizontal slash aiming to graze his chest. She spun her weapon and fell into low one-handed stance with her swrod held in reverse-grip behind her back, eerily reminiscent of a stance used by Yavanna herself. She grinned eagerly. "Thanks for letting me fight you Mister Reinhart. If only Master Yavanna could see me now."


Running into the spectator area of the training ring, Andreas looked around for a moment before spotting his daughter with Vala and Rory. He jogged over to them, taking a spot beside Lilian as he looked at the fight. "Hey there folks. I heard Blademaster Jensen had invited a special guest fighter in to challenge him. Had a feeling it was one of you lot. Couldn't miss this." He watched as Fayla and Jensen exchanged blows with such skill and speed that it was mind-boggling. "This is incredible." He patted Lilian on the shoulder. "You're not far off them, Lili. If you keep training and listening to Master Reinhart, you'll be up there in no time. Hell, you've already far surpassed your old man."

Fayla got acrobatic, leaping over his slash and attacking back in mid air. Jensen turned his swing into a flourish and brought it back up to meet her blade. He took two steps back in time with her swing for each knee, and simply blocked the strike to the chest. The girl flipped, ending with her blade reversed in a style similar to Yavanna. With a grin she thanked him. "Jensen is fine. And I should thank you for humoring an old man's curiousity." He replied.

Jensen moved forward, noting the style Fayla used and the possible attacks the stance could lead to. He opened with a feint, hoping to bait a counterstrike and the flowed directly into a rising singlehanded slash, bringing the blade overhead. He then flowed back down into a half slash, bringing the weapon back so he could follow up with a straight thrust, slight step back and into a quick lunge.


Vala looked around as Rory mentioned she'd hit someone with an apple. There was indeed a disgruntled young warrior glaring at her, an apple at his feet. Vala shrugged and returned her attention to Fayla's fight. "pft, it was an accident. So who is this Jensen guy?" She asked. "He's one of mondolin's great blademasters, maybe the greatest. Fayla's master trained him too." Lilian told her. "Ooooh. Wait, no fair. I want to fight him next!" Lilian giggled. "Do you to do anything other than think about fighting?"

Vala shook her head. "Not really. Fighting and f-" Vala turned as she heard footsteps approaching, and Andreas joined them. "Frolicking." She finished. Andreas watched the fight and gave Lilian some encouraging words. "Thanks Papa, but I'll never be that good. My talents lie in shooting." Lilian responded. "Swords are overrated." Vala added.

Rory kept to himself, not really paying attention to the fight. But more just eavesdropping on the conversation at hand between Lil and Vala. He did blush at what the Heanta was about to say, but apparently chose a different set of words. Andreas had piped in. He did feel mildly offended at Vala's comment. "Depends on the sword..."

The fight was drawing to a close, luckily. But he didn't really have anything else on the docket. Aside from a small patrol just to make sure no crimes were being committed. But that was something that could be done with friends.

Fayla smiled as Jensen thanked her for indulging his curiosity and accepting the fight. The warrior advanced quickly, opening with a thrust which quickly revealed itself to be a feint. Fayla had reached forward with her free hand to try to deflect the blade slightly off-course, but found herself quickly bringing her blade up to deflect the rapid upswing from her opponent to the side. She brought her blade back to do the same to the downswing, the blow almost knocking her off-balance. There was power behind the blows, Fayla noted with admiration, but unlike other physically powerful warriors who tended to lean into that trait too much, Jensen was like her uncle Rowan. He never sacrificed his form or technique, never lost control of his movements. Fayla knocked the thrust that followed to the side, spinning and changing to a standard grip.

Fayla decided to take the initiative now. Jensen fluidly lunged again, and this time the Eldari used a two-handed grip to power her opponent's blade down, before using it as a ramp to run up it. If she succeeded, she would aim a quick swipe for Jensen's chest before flipping off his weapon and over his head, aiming another swipe it his back while upside down in midair, before landing into a roll and regaining her feet. If her attempt to run up Jensen's weapon failed, Fayla would roll to the side, aiming a slash from either side to the knee. She would then jump-roll to the side and aim two side slashes, one for the chest and another for the gut, before handspringing backwards and out of range.


Andreas stared at the display with incredulity and admiration. He knew Blademaster Jensen was no slouch, but he was effortlessly keeping up with the granddaughter of the finest swordsman the land had seen. He looked at Rory for a moment, noting that the young man seemed to be fading to the background a bit. "What about you Rory? How did you get on in your fight? I'm sorry I missed it." He chuckled as he patted the quirky young man on the back.

Fayla tried to run up his blade. He smiled at the recklessness of the young and dropped his sword, pivoting his body and summoning a blade of golden light. He struck back, swinging it towards Fayla who rolled reflexively as she realised her gambit had failed. His swing went high, obviously, and he parried Fayla's strikes to the knee with a counter strike, then the blade of light vanished as Jensen lost grip on the power, in a sense. He backed away from the young Warrior as his hand shot out to the side and his sword appeared under it with a flash. Grabbing the handle he parried the first strike, the second strike coming almost close enough to graze his gut and then Fayla used a reverse handspring to get out of the way.

"Impressive. I think that's enough." Jensen said, sticking his sword in the ground and resting his palms across the hilt. "You're a fine young Warrior. Excellent reflexes and form. I don't know about using a sword as a spring board but you adapted quickly once you realized it wasn't going to work. A bit reckless but still." Jensen said, then grinned. "Sorry, I've been teaching so long I forgot you're not a student."


Lilian and Vala watched the fight silently. Vala took in every movement as each fight reacted to one another, while Lilian watched with slight concern for Fayla. Not that Jensen would hurt her intentionally, but Rory was right. She had been injured. And then the fight ended. "Awe, that was a good fight." Vala said. "Oh oh, me next!" She said as Jensen and Fayla approached the fence. Jensen chuckled. "Another time, miss?" He asked in response. "Valerie, I'm Fayla's best friend." She said. Jensen looked her over. "Ah I see. I'm sorry, the old bones aren't what they used to be, I doubt I'd be much of a fight." Jensen said. There was a cough behind her. "I bet she can't even hold a blade." Someone said.

Lilian looked over her shoulder, and scowled. Vala followed her gaze to find the chump from before staring at her, holding an apple. "This is your's, right? You hit me with it. Apologize or get in the ring." Vala looked at the apple and smiled. "Cassius, leave the young lady alone. I'm sure it was an accident." Jensen said. "Shut up old man. You're not my blademaster." Cassius said. "Show some respect." Lilian said, stepping up to Cassius. Vala held up her finger to shush Lilian. "Its alright. My mistake, I didn't realise you were there. I'm sorry I hit you with an apple." Cassius smiled, sensing a victory. "Good. Know you're place, peasant." He turned to walk away.

"I said sorry, I never said I wouldn't fight you." Vala said. Cassius looked her over. "You've no blade. Besides I wouldn't want to hurt you." He said. Lilian drew her own sword and handed it to Vala. "Now she does." Vala took the sword and grinned. "Come on then. Let's see you try hurt me." Vala said hoping over the fence. She looked at the sword, waved it about a bit while joined her in the ring. "Ha, I knew it you can barely hold the thing." He drew his own blade, took his stance, and then Vala moved, a side kick connecting with his chin. Cassius was knocked flat onto his back and Vala leveled the blade to his throat. "You're going to go beg The Blademaster for forgiveness." Vala said. He didn't respond, just stared at the sky with a dazed expression.

Vala hopped back over the fence and handed Lilian the sword. "That was boring." She said. "How come you get all the good fights?" Vala said to Fayla. Jensen looked at Andreas and shook his head. "Kids theses days. How's You're father?"

Rory answered Andreas. "It was long and drawn out, but I managed a win." There really wasn't much to say. But then things started to happen after Jensen and Fayla got done. He stepped up with Lillian. It didn't matter whose blademaster was whose, you show respect to them. More often than not, they not only show basic civility and respect to others, they also train others to one day be better than them.

Vala apologized, but still took on Cassius. Oh, this was going to be fun. He never expected the swift kick, and then the sword held to his throat. Rory did not hide his laughter. He even held out his fist for a fist bump, forgetting what and who Vala was. "Cassius is a jerk and fits into the traditional noble 'I'm better than thou and you need to bow to me' crowd. It's always fun seeing someone get the better of him..."

Andreas smiled when Rory told him that he had won his match earlier. "I didn't doubt it for a second, kiddo." He looked back at the action where things had gotten even more mental. Fayla tried to run up the weapon of Jensen, but the wily veteran was up to the task, and he stepped up his own game to boot. Fayla, for her part, was absolutely loving every minute of it. Jensen was every bit the master swordsman Yavanna had told her about, proving as much as he parried Fayla's blows deftly. Once Fayla handsprung out of reach, Jensen called a halt to proceedings. Fayla would've loved to go for longer, but the stiff ache in her side reminded her that she was supposed to be taking it easy. Jensen then offered his take on her skills, and for a moment she was reminded of Yavanna's classes back in the day. Jensen was far more kind though, while Yavanna Elbereth was notoriously serious in her lessons. Jensen then apologized for forgetting that Fayla wasn't actually one of his students. Fayla laughed. "Don't worry about it, Jensen. Like you said, you never stop learning." She offered a handshake and a grin. "Thanks for that. Really. It was an honor."

Once they rejoined the crew at the side of the ring, Andreas was the first to gush over what he had just seen. "By Erolath, that was incredible! Well done, you two." Vala introduced herself and immediately asked to go a few rounds too, but Jensen apologetically refused, telling her that he was too old and he didn't have enough left to put up a challenge. They were interrupted by the young man in fancy armor, the same one who had fought Lilian earlier. He demanded an apology from Vala for being hit with her apple, or take it to the ring. Fayla immediately knew that Bellon would stand no chance against Vala, and it was clear that Andreas did too, because he immediately tried to intervene. "Now hold on a minute, I don't think there's any need for that. I'm sure she didn't mean it."

Jensen also tried to stop things from escalating, to which Bellona responded by being incredibly disrespectful to the master swordsman. Before Andreas could respond his daughter stepped up and defended her Blademaster. Vala then stepped in, offering an apology, although she followed-up by challenging him to a fight anyway. The kid accepted, and as he walked past to enter the ring, Fayla muttered to him. "Shouldn't have done that, kid." As expected, the fight was over in a second, Vala connecting with a side kick to the young man's jaw and knocking him out cold.

Once Vala had rejoined them, she complained to Fayla about her always getting the good fights. Fayla shrugged. "I'm better than you?" Andreas laughed before Jensen came over and shook his head at the youth of today, before asking about his father. "You're not wrong. Ah, pops is good. He's in the workshop at the moment, got restless in the house. You know what he's like. He hates sitting around all day. Can't really say I blame him either. What about you? You don't seem to be slowing down in the slightest."

Vala handed back Lilian's sword. "He wouldn't survive a day where I'm from." Vala said to Rory. Elite Heanta had a habit of being arrogant, but they were also some of the most powerful heanta in Kyrias. Nobles didn't seem to be all that in comparison. Fayla claimed to be better than Vala who puffed up her cheeks. "Oh is that what you think! Lets get in the ring!" Vala said. Lilian laughed and looked around. "Don't worry, they challenge each other daily. It was non stop to the jungle with this." Lilian said.

Jensen chuckled at Andreas' comment. "That's good. Send him my regards. Oh, you'd be surprised. I'm not the Warrior I was twenty years ago. I'm glad the next generation are proving to be as skilled and determined as I was at that age." He said, looking at Fayla and her heanta friend, Rory and Lilian. "Clara would be proud of her. And you, son. You've raised great kids." Jensen said, slapping Andreas on the shoulder. "Speaking of, will I ever be seeing Lucas here, or is the young lad more like yourself? Always in the shop. Hard worker, that boy."