Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
Let it be known that Lena was not in any way, shape, or form, a fighter.
Maybe of beliefs and justices, of point of views and the animals that walked beneath the canopied gardens of the Celestine, but she wouldn’t have the first clue about weaponry. About defenses. About shields.
But her eyes followed the path of the Dragoons as they trained, as they wielded swords, as they pierced against targets. She traced over the rolling tides of their companions, billowing smoke, fire, ash, lightning, and ice – and the only concept that wasn’t foreign to her were those creatures themselves.
So she advanced, bringing a bandage to where her aid had been requested – watching, absentmindedly, as she talked with the warrior and cooed to their fledgling, posturing reassurances all the more.
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
Let it be known that Salt, despite her experience with combat and fighting, was in no shape for any true violence.
But that’s why, with the sun barely inching into the sky, she was already on her way back to the Dragoon training grounds. She was about 3 weeks into her own personal physical therapy and a week into some actual sparring for the first time in a month or two.
Despite some of her setbacks in her first few days of training, yesterday went surprisingly well for her, and she had a lot of energy today.
Marching into the grounds with her collection of training and real swords in tow, she set up at what had started to become her usual training dummy, about 15 feet away from a small group of soldiers. She glanced in their direction, noticing the kindly medic tending to an accidental injury, and faced off against her mighty straw opponent donned in skimpy wooden armor.
Drawing her silvery steel longsword, Salt began her routine, combining careful forward and backward steps with lunges, strikes, and cuts. She was by no means the quickest or strongest warrior on the field, and perhaps she even looked mundane compared to the literal dragons conducting dogfights in the sky, but a week in, and Salt at least didn’t look completely out of place.
A suddenly snap, and Salt accidentally severed a cord holding a wooden arm guard in place. Because of the angle of her swing, the thick bark flew off the dummy in a high arc, launching straight towards the back of the head of the nearby medic.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
“There we are! You should be good to go!” A pleasant chirp conjured as she tied off the bandage, putting the salve away in her bag. Ducking her head, and not truly looking around as she crouched and tended to her wares, the only warning she received was from the companion’s Dragoon, with an audible Look out! as a piece of wood went spinning in her direction.
The angle of her surprised movements was just in time to see the proportions peel off center, and hit the stone floor with a spiral, and then a quick thud. Blinking, she nodded her thanks to the soldier, before glancing back the way the…arm had come from. Heartbeat rapid, perhaps out of shock and bafflement more than anything else, she noticed a much taller woman practicing nearby.
With a dummy missing…an arm.
Logical conclusions began, and she managed a very weak, defensive smile, calling over to check in, but not yet moving from her spot. Maybe mildly afraid the other limb would come flailing next. “Are you all right?”
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
Helen breathed a sigh of relief when the wooden limb narrowly missed the medic’s head. Still lightly panting from her exertion, she offered a wave (but not much of a smile) to the young woman and said loudly, “yep, all good! But I should be asking you—sorry about that.”
Normally, Salt would have just gone right back to training, but something struck her about the situation. Besides, she was in a better mood than usual, so Salt leaned her long sword over her shoulder and took a few steps towards the healer.
“Hey, I don’t mean to pry, but that was a pretty good duck. You used to things getting thrown at you, or were you just lucky?” As she said this, the white-haired warrior glanced at her bag of wooden swords, an idea piquing her interest.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
The Dragoon and dragon companion both executed matching disgruntled expressions, but Lena waved them off as the other combatant approached; leaving them to glare, but leave to their own posts. The Caretaker regained her standing position, though still glancing a bit cautiously at the approaching woman. Maybe expecting another moment where she’d have to jump and launch out of the way.
Wiping her hands of the salve on a towel from her basket, the youth’s brows rose at the comment. “Oh, I care for the animals at the Celestine,” by way of an explanation. “One has to move fast to avoid tails, teeth, and claws,” and she shrugged, as if this was a normal, everyday occurrence; fast reflexes, in-tune, innate senses. Maybe some of it came from her Attuned proportions. “Do you often hack off the limbs of your targets?” The light, airy tones making made partially in jest, and some modicum of curiosity.
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
Salt nodded thoughtfully at the Caretaker’s response, and raised her eyebrows a bit in surprise. “The Celestine, huh? You have my respect.”
To her second comment, Salt responded with a short chuckle. “Only when they look at me the wrong way, and even then, usually only when I’m being paid to do it.”
With this, the mercenary sheathed her steel sword and reached down to grab two of her wooden swords. “Hey, listen, laugh at the offer and I’ll leave you alone, but have you ever tried ducking with a sword in your hand?” Salt offered one wooded sword to the young woman. “Could do you some good to learn a thing or two if you’re going to be dealing with these—“
Salt was cut off as an eager-looking young soldier interrupted them. “‘Ello ladies! Do you want me to help you learn any-“
Without looking at him, Salt rolled her eyes and exhaled through her nose. “No, Nolan. We’re fine.”
Quickly dejected, the soldier muttered an “ok…” and turned tail. Salt gestured vaguely in his direction.
“These gentlemen. I’m trying to get back in shape, so I’m not going to hit you too hard.”
{author’s note: this interaction brought to you by any well-meaning misguided gymbro near you}
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
Lena glanced at the sword, then back at the woman who held it. Not in awe, or mystique, but maybe the brutal unfamiliarity of armaments. She’d never held a weapon in her life. More apt for tomes and books, for bandages and salves, for treats and food for the animals she took care of. “I haven’t-,” and were it not for the forthcoming of war looming over their heads, the consideration wouldn’t even be in her mind –
Then they’re interrupted by Nolan anyway.
She offered him a sheepish smile in response, but the other had taken on the role of shooing the Dragoon away quickly and efficiently. Only then could she turn her head back, and glance down at the wooden training blade as if it were something to be feared, eyes widening as her hand grasped the hilt (immediately incorrectly). “I wouldn’t have a clue what to do,” came along on an embarrassed laugh, but resounded accurately.
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
Salt nodded thoughtfully at her hesitation. "I had no idea what to do with the first sword I held neither. I pretended that I knew, but that ended up getting me into a lot of trouble--why I have so many of these," she gestured to the several scars overlaying her face. "Sure, I ended up ok, but that's only because someone finally sat me down and showed me a few things." Salt gave one of the swords a little twirl.
"Now look, I'm not gonna waste your time--if you really don't want to learn how to use one of these, I won't go home crying about it. And if you're worried about annoying me with your cluelessness, don't worry about that either. Actually, I had a recent friend of mine say that the only way I was going to get any better than I am now is if I start teaching someone else basic technique, so you'll be helping me out too. Besides,"
Salt looked around and noticed a few other soldiers watching them with piqued interest, not necessarily discouraged by Salt's earlier rejection of Nolan's help. "Any number of these horndogs would probably jump at the chance to teach you a thing or two about their swords, and they'll talk your ear off about how amazing they are and how many battles they've lived through and how they're going to be rich one day--and how they'd treat you nice if you wanted to join them for a pint. But me? I'm no B.S. Just a woman who's learned a thing or two trying to get back in shape. That's all." She gave an unsmiling nod and offered the sword to Lena one last time.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
If anything, this woman was very blunt. More than once Lena’s eyes widened over the statements, gaze meeting where the warrior’s wandered, until she seemed to summon some amount of courage and determination about the subject. “Well, if you won’t mind…,” because what was the harm? Was it the act of violence? The notions of pressing information she couldn’t readily understand?
Was it a shame, to want to defend yourself?
She shook her head, clearing out the cobwebs of thoughts that had begun to roam. Affixing another steady breath, regaining the spirit in her lungs, she stepped forward, leaving her basket on the rim of the makeshift battlefield. “What do I need to do first?”
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
{Note: I watch a lot of medieval YouTube sword fighting videos, but I don’t actually know how to fight with a sword. The following exercises have not been approved by the FDA and are not intended to treat or diagnose any disease. XD}
As Lena took the wooden sword, Salt widened her stance and stood next to Lena and slightly in front of her. With her head inclined over her shoulder, Salt said ”Before we actually spar off against each other, let me show you some basic stances, some guards, and some attacks. As far as stance goes, you never want to have your feet together—that’s just asking for someone to knock you over. Keep your legs a little more than shoulder width—not too wide, bring them back in a little. If your stance is too wide, it’s hard to move quickly.”
Salt used her own wooden sword to tap Lena on the knee, on the hip, etc., to help guide her body into place respectfully.
This is a good defensive stance because you are hard to knock over, but you also need to be able to go on the offensive as well. Now bring one leg forward and another slightly behind you—rock back forth on them—good, you’re already light on your feet. Most rookies are really rigid, but you seem to have some agility to you, not surprised I guess.”
Salt then proceeded to show the young woman how to move sideways, backwards, and how to lunge forward while holding a sword. They went through a few repetitions of this.
”You can call me ‘Salt,’ by the way. I didn’t catch your name.”
After working on foot movemrnts, Salt then showed Lena how to attack and defend, working through a few basic attack patterns such as lunging, sweeping, and cutting. For this, she approached a few of the dummies in front of them. Remember, this is a sword, not a club. You use it to stab and cut, which means as soon as you make contact with something, you need to pull or push the blade, otherwise you might as well be trying to chop down a tree with a butter knife.”
Salt demonstrated this on the dummy using her real sword and pointed out how her chops did next to nothing against the wood armor, but when she pulled or pushed the blade against the bark, flakes of wood skimmed off.
“Finally, defenses. A real blade combat situation is usually only going to last a few seconds, maybe up to 30. This is because the best defense is a good offense. Every time you knock your opponent’s blade out of the way, you should try to counter with some jab or cut. After all, if they’ve swung into your blood zone, that means they’re in your range too. Unless you’re fighting someone with a spear. If someone attacks you with a spear… just run.”
Salt finished her demonstration by showing Lena how to properly block a blade—using the broad side of the sword instead of the delicate edge. By the end of the exercise, Salt was already wiping her brow.
”Ok, I know I went through that pretty quickly. Do you have any questions, or are you ready to do some light squaring off? This is my first time teaching someone, so mu lecture isn’t exactly polished.”
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
So, it turned out there was a lot more to fighting with a sword than Lena ever thought possible.
Stances. Guards. Attacks. She followed through on each motion as it was taught, but there wouldn’t be enough experience to truly sink in, save for moments of brief muscle memory and heightened, instinctual motions. Rooting her feet in place was different, considering all her crouching and motions extended to assist animals, not defend herself, or even the thought of instigating an assault felt incredibly foreign. During all the buzz of information, she did catch the woman’s name, ashamed she hadn’t granted hers. “Lena.”
The sieging patterns were difficult – and not because she wasn’t capable, but there were notions of ignorance and the lack of wherewithal on wanting to attack something. And while she was overwhelmed (anyone would be able to tell by the widened features and stark look on her face), she swallowed down several apprehensions and nodded her head. “I can try.”
Waiting until Salt was ready, the Caretaker certainly wasn’t, she attempted a light jab towards the woman’s right side, along her ribcage.
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
07-06-2022, 03:26 PM (This post was last modified: 07-06-2022, 03:26 PM by Helen (Salt).)
As Lena stepped forward to Jab at Salt, the mercenary used the flat end of her wooden blade to knock Lena's sword to the side, and in that moment of deflection, Salt took a large, quick step towards Lena so that they were only a foot away. Salt outstretched her palm and attempted to give Lena a moderate shove on her torso.
hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul
The Caretaker wasn’t surprised to see her weapon immediately deflected – she’d expected it, given levels of experience. The reverberations in her hand surprised her though, and she nearly dropped the wooden blade. Tightening her grasp, she then glanced at her stance as Salt recommended, striving to ensure her legs were designated in proportion and correctly – with barely any time to glance up and see the palm coming towards her chest.
On only instinctual draws, the youth lifted her sword to block – intending for Salt’s hand to ricochet off the training implement, rather than her own form. “Was that all right?” Had it been something she was supposed to do?
and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all
After Lena stopped Salt’s palm with the wooden blade, Salt nodded with a slight smile and stepped back a few steps. “Good instinct, sister. I expected you to take the shove and either keep your balance or fall over, but I wasn’t expecting you to get control of your sword and keep it between us. The more often you can keep your sword between you and someone who wants to hurt you, the more likely you’ll get out of the fight decently.”
Salt raised her sword. ”You have to expect that someone might try to grab or kick you too, though. Any knee, elbow, fist, foot, and forehead can be a dagger a swordsman has tucked up their sleeve. Especially the knees and elbows. Those bad boys will draw blood.”
Salt readied herself into a stance, preparing for a lunge.
“I’m going to swing at you. I could come high, midway, or low. Remember the defenses for each.”
The mercenary then took two quick steps forward and brought her sword high, attempting to bring it down on Lena’s head.
