Training - March 27 - Darien's House

Rhia watched grimly as another Black Spiral Dancer fell before her, it's neck neatly slit from behind. It hadn't even seen her coming. She gave a small smile, and dragged the body to a nearby dark corner, setting it up so it would not be seen. Then, she continued down her path.

It was imperative that Rhia not be seen. It was a simple enough task. Get in, find out what was going on, and get out. She opened the door in front of her, and held back a gasp. She wasn't expecting that...



Rhia stood out in Darien's back yard, a stick in one hand as she crept towards a nearby tree. She giggles softly under her breath, and then lept at the oak, and begins to hit it with the stick, as if she were wielding a sword. "You stupid nexus crawler!" she yells at the tree, landind a blow on its lowest branch. It whipped back towards her, but she ducked neatly under it "You won't defeat me!"

Rhia smacked the branch again, and it snapped back, whipping her across the face. Rhia let out a loud groan.

"No! It got me!" she yells, and falls over, her stick sword flying across the grass. She twitches once or twice, making her death throes quite a show, and then she lays still, looking up at the sky with a big grin on her face.

((I was hoping you'd reply!))

After a little while, Rhia sat up, pulling little bits of grass out of her red streaked hair. She grabbed a fiery lock and examined it, and then gave a happy smile and jumped up, walking across the yard to grab her stick.

Darien, standing by the tree, waits until Rhia is close and roars bending the tree with his back so that it looks as if it has come alive. In mock evil tone, he growls, "You dare challenge me? I am the tree of fate, and no child could ever defeat me!"

Rhia turns, gasping slightly as she watches the tree move. She grips her stick tightly, holding it in front of her defensively. "I'm n-not afraid of any tree!" she says defiantly, though there is a little quaver in her voice.

Darien steps around the tree, his face plastered with a grin, "I'd swear sometimes you were a young Get." He reaches up the tree and breaks off a twig. "Here, come at me. You'll need to learn to use a sword sometime."

Rhia's pose relaxes when she sees that it's only Darien. She grins. "That was a mean trick!" she says, though there is laughter in her voice.

She readjusts her grip on her sword, looking at Darien carefully. "You won't hit me too hard, will you?"

Darien frowns sympathetically. "I promise I'll only hit you as hard as you hit me." Taking a defensive stance, he stood high. "Remember that you'll be smaller than most of the things you'll be fighting, so you'll need to learn where to target on the lower body." Using the stick, he points to the tendons in his right leg, then the artery, then his knee and his kidneys, naming each as he went. "Remember, it doesn't matter so much how hard you hit, just where."

Rhia nods slowly, watching and memorizing where Darien pointed. Then, a wicked little grin came over her face.

"Alright!" she says, and then rushes at Darien stick raised.

Smiling, Darien blocks easily and steps to the side. "Good, good effort. Remember, quick one, it's not about force with a blade."

"I'm not done yet!"

When Darien steps to the side, she quickly turns, swiping low and fast at the inside of his knee.

"Ah, a tricky one." Darien says as he twists his knee away to avoid the attack while parrying her stick to leave her side open.

Rhia slides to a stop, pausing for only a moment to regain her footing on the damp grass. Then, she runs at Darien again, attempting to slide between his legs and jab upwards into his inner leg.

Darien swings to block but was taken aback by the slide and took a hit to his inner thigh. "Good job. That would've been a nice bleeder." He smiles as he takes another defensive stance.

Rhia jumps to her feet, grinning big, and looking quite proud of herself. "I guess there are advantages to being so little!" she says, hmming softy as she looks at Darien.

"Yes, there are." Darien grins, dropping his stick. "But there are advantages to being big, too." Quicker than one would think a person of that size was capable, Darien had Rhia in his now Crinos hand and was sitting her on his shoulder. "I came here though because Sam said you were nowhere to be found today. You know you need school."

Rhia giggles, grabbing a handful of fur on his neck to balance herself. "I was planning on going back inside in a little bit..." she whines, making a face.

"Sure, sure, that's why we're going now, so you don't have to worry about forgetting or anything. Don't worry. We'll work some more on your swordplay tomorrow."

"But Daaarieeen!" Rhia groans, rolling her eyes. "I was having so much fun!"

She sighs. "Alright...as long as we don't have to work on math today."