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“Not that swordfighting lessons aren’t exciting,” they were, Lloyd lived and breathed for them, as long as they weren’t being delivered by Kratos, “but I was looking for someone when I ran into you.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a soft laugh. “I kinda got distracted.”
He looked up at Rokurou, curiosity written on his features. “You wouldn’t have happened to see my friend, would you? He’s about your height, and has brown hair, a massive sword, and a trench coat. His name’s Alvin.” He could have mentioned the gun, but somehow he wasn’t sure that would stick for Rokurou, or even if he’d have seen it.
Come to think of it, Lloyd hadn’t seen a gun, or even a bow, since he’d set foot in Desolation. Huh. “I’ve been looking for him all over, but he just kind of vanished.”
Gesture alone proves Rokurou was completely serious about the notion. Given that many options were left to her weren’t incredibly stealthy (clawing her way down the building‘s side was definitely less than ideal), she had no choice but to comply. With an irritable sigh, Velvet calls from above.
“Fine. You’ve made your point--I’m coming down.” There’s a deep breath and a graceful flip from off the rooftop. The height wasn’t an issue in the slightest--both the shrine and the cliffside in Titania was higher than a simple building. Hopefully the positioning is not too awkward, but at this point Velvet had to place faith in the other.
Rokurou darted the moment the order had been given. Blades drawn, feet sure, he slashed straight into the first of the opposition. His short blades cut one-two, deeply, and with an arc of red.
Rokurou flew through Rangetsu forms like the herons from his mother’s back garden. Form Two, then four, one, six–
“Form Zero: Sunder!”
The fight on the other side was a blur of fisticuffs blended with magic. Bodies hit the floor in a fast, rhythmic tempo that sounded almost like dancing.
“Stone Lance!” The last three guards went sprawling. “You’re wide open!” Eizen soared down on them, their bodies vanishing in a blaze of light.
He landed solidly, still in a fighting stance, and looked around for any remaining combatants. They seemed to have cleared them all. “Well done.”
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Rokurou poked his head into the doorframe. It was early, but that didn’t seem to matter. Did malakhim even need sleep, anyway? Whatever.
“So, remember yesterday when you were telling me about that cast iron pan that got ruined? And how Kurogane never finished your new one?” Rokurou raised his arm, and in it was the handle of a shiny new piece of kitchenware.
“Guess you were right. He can forge without a body.”
It had been a joke. Not that it was always easy to tell when Eizen was joking. He looked up from the book he had been reading, and stared at the pan in undisguised disbelief.
“Ha. Nothing ever could keep him from the forge.” Slowly, the amusement on his face crinkled into a note of puzzled concern.
Beneath the cut is a slightly-edited Skype RP between myself as Lloyd and @formsix as Rokurou.
What happens when an advanced practitioner of a two-blade style meets a less experienced one ...
Vicious K: Rokurou beams
Vicious K: “What fighting style is that?” he asks Lloyd.
Jishin: Lloyd beams with pride. "Mostly what I taught myself, with some of what my dads taught me, too."
Vicious K: “So it’s your own style?”
Jishin: "Mhm. There really wasn't a martial arts school in Iselia. But you've got a style, right?" He wouldn't be asking Lloyd about his if he didn't.
Vicious K: “You bet I do! The Rangetsu style, passed down for generations in my family.”
Jishin: "I've never heard of that one before." Is it story time? He settles in attentively.
Vicious K: “That’s not surprising. I’m from pretty far away. But still—to master the style, you have to be able to use short blades just as well as long ones,” he says, gesturing at his back. Rokurou draws one short knife, flips it cleanly, and presents the hilt to Lloyd.
Jishin: A knife? Lloyd's interest is piqued. He accepts it with a careful "thank you" to let Rokurou know that he's got a solid grip on it. "Isn't it hard to reach your opponent with something this size?"
Vicious K: Rokurou grins widely. “Not if you get reaaaally close.”
Jishin: "But you gotta go through them to get there." Lloyd doesn't have daemon resistance to pain.
Vicious K: Rokurou, who thought that shoving his palm through Shigure’s entire sword like an idiot was an acceptable response, “Sure, but that’s part of the style. Learning to look for opening, create them when there aren’t any…go for it anyway….”
Jishin: "I guess so, but wouldn't that make your practice sessions really short sometimes?" He rubs the back of his neck.
Vicious K: “How so? Because we get hurt?” Grins, but a little softer. “That’s part of training too. Adapting to whatever happens. You won’t always be in perfect condition during a fight, right?”
Jishin: "No-o, but ..." That feels kind of like making sacrifices, somehow, and that troubles Lloyd in a way he can't verbally express. "It doesn't seem like good practice if you get hurt."
Vicious K: “Then don’t get hurt. Simple as that,” he says. With five brothers, he’d learned that lesson fast.
Jishin: Well, that Lloyd can do. Or at least he thinks he can. "So it's really just about being creative."
Vicious K: “That’s right! The style would never be able to grow if we did the exact same things over and over again.”
Jishin: "I get it." He nods enthusiastically. At least, he thinks he does. "Can I see what it looks like?" He shifts to standing, the short blade in one hand.
Vicious K: Rokurou draws his second blade and mirrors Lloyd. He meets the eyes of the younger swordsman with a nod. He says, “Form One,” and snaps into position.
Jishin: "Form One," Lloyd echoes, and adjusts his position until it mirrors Rokurou's as best he's able. Feet spread and stable, hands low, eyes on his teacher's face.
Vicious K: “Elbow,” Rokurou says, tipping his head at the angle of Lloyd’s arm. “Fix it—there you go.” He shifts his stance. “Variation on Form One—good for fighting armor.”
Jishin: He quickly nudges his elbow back where it belongs, and follows into the alternate form. "The angle is more from underneath for this?"
Vicious K: “Yup.” he pauses, then swings fast with his armored right hand as if to catch Lloyd’s ribs. He’s not holding a blade, but he moves just as if he is.
Jishin: ( Okay real quick -- is Lloyd playing the student-with-greatsword part in this kata, or is he also intended to be dual-wielding? )
Vicious K: (Rokurou intended to show him the dual wield, albeit each only has one blade at this exact moment. and if he catches Lloyd off guard, that was also part of what he was intending. he remembers training with his older brothers vividly.)
Jishin: (Okay. -nudges Lloyd- how good are you at visualizing both blades when it's the opponent who has them? it's easy to lose track of one, I've been there. -ponders ponders- )
Vicious K: (for reference, i assumed lloyd would hold the blade in his right, so rokurou used his left to be a mirror)
Jishin: The look of realization flashes across Lloyd's face in an instant. Backing up is not an option; he's a little too close inside Rokurou's reach. He rolls his wrist, turning the short blade over to catch the incoming "sword" on its flat. The left blade should come any moment in a pincer -- at least, that's what he'd do -- so he ducks under Rokurou's arm and to the outside.
Vicious K: He’s used to opponents trying to get their space back, and he does his best to crowd Lloyd, pivoting quickly, granting his back to Lloyd for the briefest second, before landing himself right in front of his new student again. He says, “Form Two!”
Jishin: Dammit! Not enough time to poke Rokurou in the back. Of course, he's spent his life at that -- and much longer than Lloyd, so he can't really be frustrated by it. "Form Two!" He scoots back enough so that he can actually see Rokurou's full stance as quickly as he can, knowing that if he doesn't get it right and fast, that blade will be coming back at him.
Vicious K: “Good!” Rokurou says. He freezes in the form for a split second, long enough to see Lloyd’s eyes focus, then lunges forward, direct, and fast, this time with the real knife.
Jishin: Focus, yes, for that split second, and then Lloyd's eyes go wide. Rokurou is fast and strong and he gets one flash of a gleaming daemon eye. Stepping in to block Rokurou's overhead drive will impale him on the nonexistent blade, and Lloyd's first instinct is never to back up.
Arm extended over his head, he catches the cut on the edge of his own sword, then relaxes his wrist so that the pressure from Rokurou's cut makes the incoming blade slide down his own, away from his body. Here he can sidestep to the outside again, and does, hand extended as if to poke Rokurou in the ribs.
Jishin: (as I totally rip this off from an iaido kata I know)
Vicious K: (i’ve used ballet for so many things, rip off to your heart’s content)
Jishin: (I know. But Rokurou is supposed to know more than Lloyd, so.)
Jishin: (this kata)
Vicious K: (ooohh nice, thank you)
Jishin: (no problem!)
Jishin: (obviously it flows a little differently if you're dealing with two blades, but the object is always to get where they can't stick you)
Jishin: (in this case, instead of going for the overhead cut, he's using his left hand to poke at Ro's ribs)
Vicious K: (that suits Ro just fine 8))
Jishin: (he'd have stepped to the outside of the hand that's coming over the top -- so to Ro's left)
Vicious K: Rokurou’s daemonic eye seems to glow briefly. Lloyd is learning fast, but his old habits still urge him to get away from Rokurou. He’s used to opponents who avoid scratches. Can’t have that. No pause this time, as Rokurou twists his torso sharply and shoulders forward with the heavy guard towards Lloyd. He pulls his blade in close—he won’t actually gut Lloyd, but the form is there.
Jishin: Shit! The shorter blades are more maneuverable than Lloyd's used to, and he freezes with the pinprick of it just above his navel. "I see what you mean," he mutters, a thin trickle of sweat sliding down past his ear.
It's practice, he trusts Rokurou. It might be a foolish mistake, but Lloyd grabs for his teacher's wrist with his empty hand, trying to push it down and away from his vitals. The resistance is tremendous; Lloyd isn't sure if daemons are supernaturally strong, or if that's just Rokurou. He needs more leverage, and shoves inward with the rest of his body weight. It puts him inside Rokurou's guard — not a safe place to be given Rokurou's other free hand — but with his own blade loose, he's got options. In fact, that partially-exposed armpit looks like an option.
Vicious K: “There!” Rokurou says, “that’s the Rangetsu style!”
Jishin: Crammed inside Rokurou's guard (and liable to be squished at any moment, he thought), Lloyd looked up at him. It would be easy for the daemon to read the barely-controlled fear in the teen's eyes, although there was a solid core of determination as well.
"The Rangetsu style is crazy." He's breathless and laughing and not quite sure which way is up right now, but he's still keeping a sharp eye on that live blade.
Vicious K: “It’s why we’re the fiercest swordsmen,” Rokurou says. “And that’s just the close range style.”
Jishin: "You've got a long range style?" He's momentarily confused. "I thought you were swordsmen." Not like Alvin, who blended the two.
Vicious K: “I’m no bowman, mind you,” he says, “but did you think the swords on my back were for show?”
Jishin: He shook his head vigorously. "No, I've just never seen you use that one." The big one.
Vicious K: “That’s because we haven’t gotten to Form Nine yet.” He grins down at Lloyd. “In the past, Rangetsu swordsmen used one set of blades or the other. But I created some variations that incorporate both.”
Jishin: A short blade and a long one — the idea is captivating, now that Lloyd's had the chance to think about it. His own paired blades keep him limited to a particular range; the shorter one has a flexibility he hasn't experienced before. "I can't wait to see those."
Jishin: (my Lloyd, apparently, is not particularly hung up on 'my way is the best way' )
Vicious K: (Rokurou’s having this moment of A)never thought I’d be able to pass down my new and improved Rangetsu style and B) if i teach it to Lloyd, does that mean i expect him to strike me down one day )
Jishin: (Lloyd would never.)
Jishin: (dishonor on the Rangetsu, I'm so sorry. ^^; )
Vicious K: (I can’t wait until Ro gets to explain that aspect of his family to lloyd)
Vicious K: “We better get you a set of short blades, then.”
Jishin: "Okay!" He's got a little spare gald saved up, he can do that.
Vicious K: (Ro’s already thinking, if Lloyd really throws himself into studying the style, I could ask Kurogane to forge him a proper set.)
Vicious K: With that, Rokurou leads the exit from their spar, stepping away from Lloyd and inclining his upper body in a practiced bow.
Jishin: (and the anchor gets lighter, whoops)
Vicious K: (ooooops)
Jishin: Oh. Yes. Bows are important. Lloyd's is not as practiced or comfortable, but he improvises as best he can. "Thanks, Rokurou."
Vicious K: “Don’t mention it, Lloyd”
Jishin: Lloyd is just going to quietly buzz with excitement right now. Rokurou can watch him doing minuscule motions that echo the movements he's just learned.
Vicious K: Rokurou wonders if his brothers ever felt—pride?—like this, after teaching him. He never got to teach anyone the Rangetsu style
Jishin: Something Rokurou could have asked Shigure, but ... well, things happen.
The question from Lloyd is completely innocent, as apparently he's been turning over the small discussion they had earlier. "You're not going to get in trouble for teaching me, are you? I know it's your family's style."
Jishin: (Realizing that Lloyd may erroneously conclude that Rokurou comes from a family of daemons)
Vicious K: ( o m g )
Vicious K: “Probably not…since I’m the only one left in my family line. So I guess that means I get to make the rules.”
Jishin: "Oh." His face falls instantly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean -- "
Vicious K: Rokurou shrugs. “Don’t worry. It’s just how it is.”
Jishin: "O-okay." Lloyd's still a little worried he may have said the wrong thing, but Rokurou seems entirely calm about it. He tracks back to what is hopefully more cheerful. "Like adding your own techniques to the school.”
Vicious K: “Exactly. That’s why I have to keep perfecting it.” He’s used to the startled tone in Lloyd’s voice—he can barely remember ever feeling that way. It’s just how his family was. It’s a little late for him to feel upset about it.
