[Training] experimental design

Luciana

cause it makes me that much stronger
makes me work a little bit harder

From all the reports that had filtered down to Luciana, the Order's old enemies were surfacing again. Although nothing specific had been requested of her yet, she'd already been hard at work making weapons and tools they could use to counter the designs of the Voice and her Ascended. However, she wasn't a warrior and didn't know nearly enough about actual combat.

So she'd enlisted the help of one of the Dragoon's finest, Amaris. The two women knew each other, but not well. Still, as the Hammer walked into the training area where she'd asked the Blade to meet, there was a grim and rare smile lurking on the Garcia's lips. She carried two maces that she held with relative ease.

it makes me that much wiser
so thanks for making me a fighter

Amaris

However big, however small
Let me be part of it all

Amaris wasn't sure whether she would ever claim to be the Dragoon's finest, but she was certainly skilled in her chosen specialty.

Dramyrth, on the other hand, would accept nothing but exactly that sort of praise for their contribution to the Dragoons. It wasn't everyday that one is sequestered by The Order, is it?

Weapons intrigued her. While she had a preference for ones that could hide up sleeves and slip between ribs, she was also incredibly adaptable. When the Hammer had reached out to her, she would admit she could not resist what the intriguing woman had to offer.

A chance to test out her latest creations? A chance to learn something new, to test oneself against another foe?

Dramyrth trilled happily in the air above her, and she smiled. Even though he would not be directly involved in this particular interaction, he was still enthused, buoyed by his bondmate's excitement that thrummed across their soul binding connection.

"Luciana," she greeted as she entered the training area, not hiding the abject joyful curiosity she had on her face as she looked over the woman's latest creations.

"What did you have in mind today?" she asked, a smirk tilting the corner of her lips, as the golden dragon circled them high above.

You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you'll bring me along

Luciana

cause it makes me that much stronger
makes me work a little bit harder

Luciana nodded at Amaris as the Dragoon walked up. "Amaris." As the dragonling flew and trilled above, the Hammer's eyes flicked up towards him. She nodded to Dramryth as well before returning her attention to the Blade. "Dramryth."

Grunting at the other woman's question, the craftswoman held out one of the maces. "Anti-Ascended weaponry." Her lips twisted into a grimace. "I don't need to tell you they don't need pain. So we need to focus on weapons that inflict crippling blows even without pain."

She jerked her chin at the dragonling. "I know he has fire, but you don't. So I'm trying to figure out what weapons to arm you with."

it makes me that much wiser
so thanks for making me a fighter

Amaris

However big, however small
Let me be part of it all

The golden one was very much pleased at being greeted alongside his bondmate - it wasn't often that it occurred, that he was recognised as an entity who appreciated being greeted as an individual, not just as an extension of Amaris. It was felt across the bond, the sense of vindication, of ego-boosting joy - and Amaris could only internally roll her eyes at the antics of her proud bondmate.

Honey-hued eyes widened at talk of anti-ascended weaponry, the appeal of such a concept very much piquing her interest. The Blade looked over the proffered weapon, taking it in her own hands and giving it due consideration. A small smirk tilted her lips as Luciana made a comment about Dramyrth's fire.

"I have been playing with different oils, that might be used to coat the surface of different weapons," she supplied. In truth, she had been looking into a great many substances, from flammable oils to poisonous venoms. The Blade tested the weight of the weapon in her hand, turning to give it an experimental swing in the space beside them. Wielding weapons of all sorts was something that seemed to come naturally to her - she found after a few strokes she felt relatively comfortable with this device.

"Imagine if we could coat it in his fire?" she asked, devious mischief written all over her face.

You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you'll bring me along

Luciana

cause it makes me that much stronger
makes me work a little bit harder

Watching as Amaris got acquainted with the mace, Luciana grunted at the woman's words. "You'd be better off dousing the Ascended in oil and throwing a torch at them," she responded. "Or having Dramyrth light them up." She nodded at the dragonling again.

Rolling her eyes, she planted the head of the mace on the floor with a bit more force than was strictly necessary. "You can't. Not without help from the gods."

She put her free hand on her hip. "There's a reason you don't see flaming weapons around. Because it doesn't work. The oils and the heat warps the metal, ruins the weapon. Plus you're much more likely to burn yourself then your opponent." She narrowed her eyes at the Blade.

it makes me that much wiser
so thanks for making me a fighter

Amaris

However big, however small
Let me be part of it all

If Amaris were less practiced at hiding her emotions, she might've sighed, disappointed in herself for assuming the woman would be open to discussing such things. But she should've known better - the Blade was well versed in weapons, and had indeed experimented with weapons of lesser make than that which Luciana produced.

Perhaps she had simply hoped that the woman had unlocked the secret that apparently only the gods knew, that she had figured it out, or was near enough to it that the Blade and her dragon could step in to iron out the details of the technique. Alas, it would seem that it wasn't to be - today, anyway.

Amaris nodded solemnly, allowing herself to appear properly admonished by the woman, all hints of deviousness and smirks tucked away for the appearance of sincerity. Dramyrth's croons above became a bit more gravelly as he sensed the shift in his bonded, but the Blade settled him, as she often did, so that he did not set the world alight with his temper.

"When I bonded with him, I lost my fear of fire, but have a healthy respect for it," she adjusted the weapon so that she could lift a sleeve to show an old, faded scar, from her childhood of literally playing with fire. "I meant no disrespect." Tugging the sleeve back down, she hefted the weapon before her once more.

"Shall we give them a test run?" The question was posed as an offering of sorts, an opportunity for both of them to leave the awkward admonishment behind and move on to something that interested both of them - good, old-fashioned sparring with new toys weapons.

You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you'll bring me along

Luciana

cause it makes me that much stronger
makes me work a little bit harder

Glancing between Amaris and Dramyrth, Luciana pressed her lips together. "None taken. Just didn't want you wasting time." She inclined her head. "If you have ideas for improvements, or just in general, come to me directly. We can iron out the kinks." Eyes flicking towards the Dragoon's scar, the craftswoman raised her eyebrows. Seeing as her own hands and arms were covered with scars and burn marks from her work, she wasn't particularly impressed.

Nodding, she took up a solid stance. Taking the mace in both hands, she squared off against the blade. Then the Hammer struck. She swung the weapon in an admittedly clumsy overhand strike, aiming for the Blade's right shoulder.

it makes me that much wiser
so thanks for making me a fighter

Amaris

However big, however small
Let me be part of it all

It would seem the Blade would have to prove herself in other ways to the woman. Thoughts whirled through her mind, her bondmate grumbling as he tried to both comfort her and defend her (but was quickly stifled for what he thought was an appropriate reaction). Amaris hadn't been meaning to impress the woman, to dazzle her, merely to demonstrate that she was worth the time, the attention - it was her ongoing dilemma, one which had both made her who she was and simultaneously made her question everything that she was.

The Blade positioned herself carefully, her stance similar to that she might take when wielding a two-handed sword. Her form was side-on to Luciana's - offering a smaller target for the woman to strike at. And then the strike came, clumsy though it may be, Amaris felt the wind of it as she lifted her own mace to block it, a low grunt from the effort echoing through her. Pushing roughly against the block to clear it, she then made to retaliate without hesitation - swinging her mace low and to her side, she then curved it in a wide and low blow aiming for the woman's hip.

You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you'll bring me along

Luciana

cause it makes me that much stronger
makes me work a little bit harder

Luciana's blow, predictably, did not land. Instead, Amaris seemed to easily deflect it. As the Hammer's mace was slid aside she grunted.

It wasn't long before the Blade retaliated. However, the craftswoman didn't retreat from the Dragoon's strike. Instead, Luciana stepped forward and brought her own weapon around, between the oncoming blow and her hip. Although she wasn't graceful or fast, and she tired from fighting rather easily, she'd pit her strength against Amaris' any day.

Which is exactly what the Hammer did. As the maces clanged together, she felt the vibration travel through her arm all the way up to her teeth. Shoving hard against the Blade, assuming the craftswoman was able to knock the Dragoon a little off balance, Luciana would try to slam her weapon into the other woman's foot.

it makes me that much wiser
so thanks for making me a fighter

Amaris

However big, however small
Let me be part of it all

It hadn't been easy, not by any definition of the word, but had the Blade heard the other woman's observation of her skills, she might have felt buoyed for a moment. As it was, she simply kept her focus, getting used to the weight of the mace, how it moved, how she could move with it - how she could make herself an extension of it, or it an extension of her. She was called the Blade after all - her whole self was a weapon.

The shorter woman proved strong indeed, and blocked the blow Amaris was hoping would connect. Amaris was expecting the shove at this point, a predictable retaliation - what she wasn't expecting was the direction the woman's mace went in next. Down it went, toward a foot that was moving. The shove caused Amaris to rock back onto the leg furthest from the Hammer, the other lifting slightly, ready to shift and move. Move it did, to the side.

The Blade misjudged slightly, a low hiss pressing through her lips as she felt the sharpened edges of the mace scrape roughly down her lower calf and ankle. Dramyrth screeched high above, coming in closer to them, but not engaging directly - Amaris could feel the air swirling around them from his wingbeats. Gritting her teeth, the Blade moved again, hoping to push an advantage while the other woman's weapon was down, pressing forward against the pain.

She had raised her own weapon high, and made to swing down hard upon the wrist of the hand that was holding the other mace, keen to disarm, that she might come out a victor from this spar.

You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you'll bring me along

Luciana

cause it makes me that much stronger
makes me work a little bit harder

Luciana's blow managed to connect this time, though not exactly in the way she'd been planning. Still, she didn't have time to celebrate her victory, as Amaris' strike was descending. The Hammer knew she wouldn't be able to disengage or dodge in time.

So she didn't even bother. Instead, she raised the arm not holding the mace over her head. She interposed her forearm between the haft of the Blade's weapon and the craftswoman's wrist. It still hit with bruising force, and she grunted as the blow connected, but at least she hadn't been crippled by the attack.

Lifting her own weapon up, she brought it around in a sweep. Her goal was the other woman's hip. Luciana's lips were twisted in a snarl, though she already found herself gulping in air, so she didn't know how much longer she'd last.

it makes me that much wiser
so thanks for making me a fighter

Amaris

However big, however small
Let me be part of it all

The Blade's expression was that of pure, intense concentration, demonstrative of the zone she entered when combat was engaged in. It was calculating, assessing, constantly readjusting the strategy on a seemingly instinctual level as each motion was completed. Well versed with spars, she felt her breaths coming slightly quicker, but still had plenty of stamina left for this match - and plenty left to prove to herself in her own mind.

The Hammer blocked quiet efficiently, and was quick to swing her own weapon back in for a blow against her own form. Amaris gave a shove, to push herself off and away, and moved to deftly side-step out of reach of the heavy weapon, her own mace becoming more free to move again in the meantime.

And move it did, as she mimicked the motion the other woman was doing only a bit higher, aiming her swinging blow to land on Luciana's shoulder, hopefully just as the other woman's mace was completing its blow at nothing but air, leaving her side relatively open to receive strikes. And if her strike should be true, she wouldn't let it connect with full force - it was only a spar of course.

You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you'll bring me along

Luciana

cause it makes me that much stronger
makes me work a little bit harder

Although Luciana was able to block Amaris' strike, the Hammer's own blow whistled harmlessly past the Blade. The other woman was already counterattacking, mimicking the attack the craftswoman had just tried and failed to land. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to dance out of the way in time. It landed with bruising, but not bone-crushing force.

Grunting from the pain, she let that arm dangle uselessly by her side, as if it had actually been struck with full strength. Firming her grip on her weapon, she lunged forward. Her mace swung in a low but upwards moving arc, heading for Amaris' knee, though Luciana would pull the blow if it looked like it was actually connecting.

it makes me that much wiser
so thanks for making me a fighter

Amaris

However big, however small
Let me be part of it all

Everything was in motion constantly, as was wont to happen when spars were undertaken. Amaris appreciated the other woman's skills, and wondered just how much time the Hammer spent testing her weapons - and wondered if the Hammer would mind these test sessions becoming a more regular thing. The Blade may have offended (or at the least, not impressed) the other woman before, but at least on a professional level, in combat, she could prove herself proficient.

The upward swing of the mace in such close proximity left few options for the Blade to use in reaction. Though she tried to push off, to put space between them again, it was not quick enough, and so the mace struck just below her knee - the blow surely shin-shattering if it had landed with full strength.

A low grunt rumbled through her, and Dramyrth bugled a low note somewhere overhead, wingbeats flapping loudly. Amaris made the leg hang limp, similar to how Luciana did - leaving it resting lightly on the ground, but not weight-bearing or otherwise useful. Gritting her teeth, she made a last swing, a final attempt - sensing the spar was coming to a close soon - and brought her mace around in a backhanded swing, aiming for anywhere she could reach with her current limitations.

You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you'll bring me along