goneawayworld | spar log!

Ronan wasn't one to turn down a good fight, even if it was just practice. And if he ever did get his sword back, it'd help to have an idea of how to use it other than the very basics.

"Yeah, sure. I don't have anything better to do." Ronan stretched his arms, lacing his fingers together before cracking his joints.

A wiser man would ask for Guts to take it easy on him and just show him the ropes. Ronan was not that man.

"All right."

Getting straight to the point was more Guts' style, anyway. Batons it is. The metal heap of a sword will be rested on the ground at the edge of the arena. A guy using a thinner blade shouldn't be trying to parry that, anyway.

He returns with two repurposed plastic poles ganked from some other area of the gym, ones he that were close in length to a longsword. They weren't sharp, but being smacked around by one doesn't look like it'd be fun.

Ronan will be getting one tossed in his direction. He's ready to start.

Ronan caught the pole. He looked it over, trying to picture how this would translate to a sword. He tried a practice swing. It didn't feel at all like his sword but how could it? It wasn't part of himself. It was real.

He frowned. It was better than nothing, he guessed. He pointed it at Guts. "Okay, let's go."

Guts is curious to see his fighting style and his sense of spacing, so he will hold his stick in a middling guard where it sits back against his shoulder. An open enough stance to an untrained eye, he thinks.

He is generally the taller one in these bouts, which means testing whether or not his opponent can get past his reach is where he'd like to start. So he'll wait, stance eased and ready.

Looks like he's giving the first attack to Ronan.

Ronan was no liar. His training had certainly centered around fighting with his fists. His stance, at least from the waist down, was that of a boxer as he lunged at Guts. The swing was powerful as he put in all his upper body strength. It clearly mirrored everything he'd seen from the movies.

His footwork is good, if a bit unorthodox for swordplay, but the attack itself is well-telegraphed to his eyes. Once Ronan lands within his reach, Guts will sidestep out of the trajectory of the swing and bring down his weapon in one clean move.

With the stick, it'll just be a good whack to the head - a blade with an edge would obviously have much worse consequences. Should it land as intended, the concept of the weapon's spacing should be clear enough. Guts moved his body just a good few inches away from its tip, whereas his own arm was long enough to attempt to close the gap.

Ronan hadn't known that Guts would step to the side, but it was a good guess, based on all the fights he'd been in. As soon as he saw Guts' foot moving, he pivoted. But he wasn't used to having a sword to hold onto. He couldn't duck out of the way and try to kick Guts's legs out from under him.

Out of options, Ronan tried to spin out of the way. Slowed by an unfamiliar sword, he only managed to roll his head out of the way, leaving his shoulder directly under it.

Good reflexes. A maneuver like that will save him from getting immediately skewered, should he be stuck in a duel. A less lethal wound won't be fun, but it also won't be instant death.

It is mid-spin that Guts immediately follows up with a second attack, keeping up his pressure to force him on his defensive. The "blade" slides cleanly off his shoulder the moment it touches, and is then thrust into the softer flesh just beneath the ribs. The killing blow he is aiming for would be a mere inch or two of "blade" into the body.

At this close proximity, Ronan had no chance of getting out of the way. He tried, but in the end the blade poked his ribs hard.

"Damn it!" he hissed. He jumped back and squelched the urge to rub at his chest.

He stepped forward quickly and swung at Guts's chest.

A higher target... Was the guy getting frustrated?

The strike is parried, altering its trajectory past its target by allowing the two sticks to slide up against each other.

Again, Guts keeps himself a few inches out of reach while aiming to land a good poke to his opponent's heart. Or at least, where it would lie beneath his chest.

Ronan knew how this went. As soon as Guts parried, Ronan started moving back. By the time Guts retaliated, he was able to jump back and out of reach.

He didn't lunge at Guts this time. Instead he tried to circle him, looking him up and down. There must be some kind of strategy to this. Or did you really just hack and slash until something landed?

Thinking wouldn't be a bad move for Ronan. Unfortunately, it did leave him open to attack.

There is a strategy to it - which is what Guts assumes is ticking in Ronan's head when he breaks off to circle him.

Those three strikes gave him a good idea of the experience level he was dealing with. Not quite the expert with the sword, but the guy's been in a fight before.

Guts doesn't give him too long to dawdle, though. He steps forward to apply pressure with a flurry of strikes - a mix of both slashes and thrusts. They come down hard, but are quick and controlled, aiming to force him to give up more ground while prodding at his defense. Any exposed area would do for a target - a poorly placed leg or a hand, it need not necessarily be the vitals.

Ronan had braced himself for an attack, but the intensity of it took him off guard after the second. He tried parrying and dodging but the shock waves jolted his hand enough that his grip loosened. He tried to readjust, distracted just enough that he realized too late the next blow was going for his leg.

He swore as it hit his upper thigh before he could pull back. It didn't hurt enough for him to call it and end there. He tried going on the offensive by swinging his sword quickly and wildly. He didn't plan to give Gus time to breathe. Unfortunately for Ronan, his ferocity left him even more exposed to attack.

Guts is certainly one to appreciate the fierceness in Ronan's attacks - and the instinct isn't wrong, either. He'd expected the push to be what ends this without the last bit of struggle. Some more finessing could really make something of those wild swings.

Right now, though, it was desperate attacking. It forces Guts to occupy himself with parrying a few times, but only momentarily. He looks for one of those swings to extend itself a bit too far to weave in with a well-practiced smoothness. He'll be looking to finish the attack by trapping his leading arm and flipping him right onto his back.

What's swordplay without a bit of grappling?

Now this Ronan could handle. At the very least, he'd have much more fun.

He tried to pull back as soon as he realized Guts was going for his arm. He hadn't anticipated it in a sword fight, so he didn't entirely succeed. Hopefully the grip was loose enough for him to roll out of it before he hit the ground.

But he did grab onto Guts's sword arm with his other hand. He tried to grip tightly, so he could hold him in place for long enough to keep his torso open. Ronan swung his leg at Guts's torso. He could have gone lower but there were just some things you didn't do in a fight. Not a friendly one, anyway.

The burst of agility slips him free of his grasp, keeping Guts on his toes to see how he'll retaliate.

Ronan's attack lands solidly on him, though whatever pain he feels doesn't appear on his face. Aside from a sharp exhale of breath, the look in his eyes only seems to grow a little wilder with the fight's intensity. The moment it touches him, he reacts by attempting to trap the attacking leg with his free arm - he very much wants to keep it tightly locked to his body.

While his sword arm may have the weapon, his other limb has its prosthetic made of cast iron. The press of cold metal is going to be unpleasant - though he isn't looking to do any real damage here.

Ronan clearly had not thought this one through. He could blame a variety of things, mainly not being used to a giant opponent with an fucking iron arm. But even he would have to admit that he was outmatched in experience too.

That would come later though because first Ronan had to extricate himself from this situation. He tried kicking at Guts's torso again but there wasn't enough give for him to do more than wriggle.

If Guts didn't have that damn sword, Ronan would have a few options now. But since he did, the best Ronan had after a split second of thought was to try and smash the sword out of Guts's hand.

Essentially, he tried to smack the hell out of said hand with his plastic blade all while fiercely kicking and jumping in an attempt to disentangle himself.

...He really hoped no one was watching this.

It's flipping time! The moment his leg is trapped, the knuckles of that sword hand are shoved into his chest, less a punch and more a simple force to slam his back onto the ground. Shoving his weight around isn't the most finessed aspect of a sword duel, but it worked well enough when Guts had a unbalanced opponent caught in his grasp. It was certainly more his style.

He will move with the inertia, sliding up past his legs to stay kneeled over his torso. The iron arm, now freed of its task, switches to dealing with the flailing sword arm, mainly aiming to keep it pinned and away from his own face. The fist on his chest, as expected, will neatly line up his own blade up against his opponent's throat and jaw once they hit the ground.

It's a lot to keep track of in one fell takedown - but he's clearly done it before.

Ronan could take comfort in the fact that his flailing was mercifully short. That was about all he could take comfort in, since despite his best efforts, he had the wind knocked out of him. The sword finally fell from his grasp.

He would've kept fighting but even he had to admit defeat when a sword was to his neck and he had nothing up his much too tight sleeves.

After a few moments of heavy breathing, he spoke. "Alright. You win this round. Give me some breathing room."

He gets up, releasing his hold calmly enough once the fight is ceded. There is a lot that could be gleamed from a duel like that - Ronan was a scrappy one. He can't help but feel a little endeared.

"How long have you been training with your sword?"

It isn't meant to be an insult - Guts genuinely wants to know more about him.

Edited 2020-05-05 00:19 (UTC)

Ronan pushed himself up onto his feet. He finally let himself rub his ribs. It didn't feel too sore. Time would tell if it left a bruise or not.

"None. I just got it." Just made it but Ronan wasn't about to admit to that yet. Who'd believe him?

Well, O.K. A giant guy with an iron arm might, which was honestly more reason not to say anything.

"You have some good fighting instincts, but you put all your bets on the first strike. It leaves you open to counter attacks."

Did Ronan want some free advice? Well, he's getting it anyway!

"If you're doin' something like that, you'd better make sure you don't miss."

If this were anything but fighting and he hadn't already realized he needed to seriously beef up his combat skills, Ronan would've told Guts to fuck off with that advice. Luckily, this was the one area Ronan was willing to shut up and listen. Time would tell how long that lasted.

"No kidding," Ronan said dryly. "It's not as easy as it looks." Who would have thought there was more to it than 'pointy end goes into the other man?' "I'm guessing there's no secret trick to make sure I stab someone first, is there?"

"You lay the groundwork down every day."

That's it. That's the only trick he knows.

Even Guts will come here to swing his sword however many hundreds of times in a row to keep it all committed to memory. At this point its just habit, but it took quite a bit of consistent effort.

"Do you want to learn?"

Edited 2020-05-07 00:25 (UTC)

Ronan was a fool, but not a big enough one to say no to that. Aside from the whole "everyone's trying to kill you" thing... it's a sword. How cool would it be to learn to actually use one?

He cracked his knuckles. "Is that an offer?" He tried not to sound too eager at that.

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garmr - 2020-05-07 16:23 (UTC) - Expand

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somnioergosum - 2020-05-07 16:29 (UTC) - Expand

spar log!

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when your bad internet connection eats your tag

ronan... being a considerate fightbro

one of the only time's he's considerate

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