trueltning_fury | Prose log with Juan

Who:

trainer_juan
When: the other day
Where: the field beside the dojo
What: just a little sparring

With another fine day ahead with nothing to do, Geddoe decided to call on another of those who had shown him some interest in sparring. Or at least, in his idea of sparring - one could never tell with Juan. He made his way, fully armed and ready, down to the dojo and came around the fence looking to see if the man was napping out front as usual.

Indeed he was. Or at least, he was resting on the ground, staring at hard-working insects and just ready to fall asleep any minute. Juan noticed the mercenary approaching him, and simply looked up with a half-smile as he waited for him to speak up.

"Oh good," Geddoe remarked with the slightest smirk. "I don't have to kick you awake to get your attention." He tilted his head slightly. "Got the time to train an old mercenary?"

Juan made a weird face at the idea of being kicked awake. With his pemanent Waking Rune attached, he certainly hoped that Geddoe wasn't being serious. "You're as old as you feel." He said in a mockingly cheesy voice as he slowly made it to his feet. Juan quickly brushed off all the dirt and grass from his clothes before resuming his lazy gaze on Geddoe. "I guess my word finally caught up to me, hm?" He was referring, of course, to the time he agreed to spar with the man a few weeks ago.

Geddoe nodded. "That's right. I decided to take you seriously, and come looking for a challenge." His eyebrow quirked upward. "If you can give me one, of course."

Although Juan's idea of a peaceful afternoon is napping outside, rather than pushing his limits with another man, he couldn't help but feel slightly gauded. "You couldn't have picked a better time to take me seriously..." He yawned as he scratched his chest, of course he was being sarcastic. "Are you really ready to do this now?"

"I wouldn't have come down here and wasted your time talking if I wasn't," Geddoe pointed out. He rested the heel of his left hand on the hilt of his sword as if to draw attention to it.

No doubt Juan took notice, Geddoe meant business, and the hours were open. He took a deep breath and stretched his body, as he was lying on the ground for hours prior to this.

"...Okay!" Juan finally became more animate as he clapped his hands enthusiastically, and trying to warm up by moving his feet around. "Let's do this, then..."

The field beside the dojo was perfect for this, especially on a warm day. Geddoe stretched his arms briefly before drawing his sword, pacing across the grass in preparation. "I'll try not to pull my swings," he said, almost teasing. "It's up to you to make sure I don't cut you." He found a good spot and stopped, bracing himself to anticipate the first attack.

Ugh! Geddoe was really going to push him today, Juan's face as he imagined being cut up by his opponent said it all. As he followed Geddoe to the 'arena', he reluctantly took the herb out of his mouth and threw it aside. He figured this was one of those few times he'd best stop being on drugs, and focus entirely on the problem at hand.

"Cut me up, huh?" He slowly got into his battle stance and took this more seriously. "Well, thanks for the warning, just try not to kill me, okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Geddoe blandly assured, taking a moment to size up his competition before acting. He was being just serious enough about his workouts, and wanted to see if the old Juan who could hold his own during the war was still in there somewhere. He took the first move, aiming in a low slash for Juan's legs as he would any foe without a visible weapon.

Holy hell! Geddoe wasted no time in his assault. When Juan made plans to nap all afternoon, he had no idea he would find himself in this situation, in a mere matter of minutes. Remembering his self-defense classes, he realized that moving in as somebody is swinging a weapon is a safer approach than moving out, as in theory, it deals less to none damage that way. And so he did, he took a step forward and aimed an elbow towards Geddoe's bony cheek.

Geddoe flinched as Juan was suddenly right there in his face, unintentionally pulling his swing as he tried to avoid the flying elbow. It grazed his cheek as he stepped back and recovered, bracing his back foot and trying again, this time with a back-handed swing across the middle - far tougher for Juan to avoid with just a step.

Far tougher, indeed. And with no protective gear on him, all Juan COULD do was avoid such hazardous moves. He jumped back this time, into the defensive, just barely avoiding the tip of his opponent's blade. He had to regroup and come up with a proper game plan - he couldn't possibly win by just avoiding, not against Geddoe. With his bare hands as his weapon, and an armoured opponent, perhaps he needed to find an opening to grapple his opponent. But where?

Geddoe pressed the attack while he had the advantage, moving forward with his momentum, his blade held low and to the outside until he could sweep it up. To the knee, the middle, the shoulder, the head? He went for the knee, since he already had Juan scrambling backwards. He intended to knock the martial artist down without even landing a blow on him.

As for Juan's solution, his ticket out of the problem, an opportunity take advantage of Geddoe and wrestle him, it had not yet been presented. Instead, he reverted back to basic martial arts for the moment, and attempted a sweep of his own, avoiding Geddoe's swing with an aerial roundhouse kick. At least, even if it wouldn't land, it could buy him some time. A man of Geddoe's stature would hardly go down with a simple kick regardless.

Geddoe had severely underestimated Juan's ability to leap over his blade - he realized it a second too late as the roundhouse kick connected with his blind side and knocked him staggering. He backed off to a safe distance and shook his head until it stopped ringing, and then rubbed the back of a glove against his face to make sure he wasn't bleeding. "Damn," he growled, slightly out of breath. "When did you get so light on your feet?"

Juan, still very alert and worried about Geddoe's next move, answered jokingly. "I secretly meditate." But something bothered Juan when he observed Geddoe's actions just then. He took note that even though the man suspected he was bleeding on one side, he had to bring his hand all the way to his other eye. ... His other eye! Of course, Geddoe always had one blind side. What better opening was there than that, Juan smirked to himself.

In light of this knowledge now, Juan shifted from defensive to the offense, charging at Geddoe with intent to kick his abdomen, while trying very hard not to make it obvious that he was aware of Geddoe's handicap, at least for the time being. The opening he needed was still not there, after all.

There was almost no time to think, merely to react. Geddoe planted his back foot and brought his sword up with the flat of the blade toward Juan, bracing his wrist behind it so the blade would absorb the blow. It was the sort of block he could come out from easily with just a twist of the hilt, readying himself to parry. He made no further taunt, but he was glad to see his opponent attacking - he needed to learn to defend against this.

Now Juan was really being tested. With his foot still on the flat of the blade, Juan pushed his body forward, and in turn, attempted to push Geddoe further back in order to test his strength.

The block held, and a hint of an eager smile appeared on Geddoe's lips. He pushed back, making that twist of his wrist to dislodge Juan's foot and threaten him with the edge instead, lunging forward in a piercing move.

Ugh, another close encounter with sharp steel. It was now or never for Juan, as there's only so many he can avoid, and have even less opportunities to come in contact with Geddoe. He barely spinned past that pierce and appeared adjacent to Geddoe - on his blind side, as planned. Not going to let this opportunity slip by, he used both his hands to grab the hilt of Geddoe's blade with him. Juan sure envisioned this a whole less sloppier, however...

Startled, Geddoe felt the hands on top of his before he could turn his head to see him, but he was already moving, bringing his elbow up to try and jab Juan in the face. It was definitely harder trying to sense the target without seeing, but Geddoe hadn't lived this long with one blind eye without learning to compensate. He was panting heavily, though, and couldn't hear much of stealthy Juan beside him - all he could do was hope he remembered the man's height correctly, and was aiming for his face.

Sure enough, Geddoe was pretty close. The elbow managed to connect with Juan's throat, delivering more harm than probably planned, but the young dojo master couldn't let go - not in this almost life-and-death situation, at least for him. Amidst his larynx being crushed, he yelled out what sounded like expletatives as he kicked Geddoe behind his kneecaps, hoping to tame the man once and for all.

It took a couple of kicks before one landed just right, taking Geddoe's leg down, but he decided he wasn't going down alone. Rather than try to get out of it, he threw himself into the fall - directly onto Juan. The body-slam would probably knock his sword loose, but his opponent wasn't getting out of this freely.

Juan would have complimented Geddoe on his kamikaze if he were able to speak, but instead he fell down with his opponent, coughing. The martial artist, on the verge of berserking, stared at the mercenary as they both lied on the ground. He was ready to choke him out with his legs, only to hesistate when he remembered they were just sparring, and instead signalled for a "time-out".

Geddoe rolled off of him immediately, resting there on the ground for a minute while he tried to catch his breath. His sword had indeed been jarred loose when his arm hit - something, maybe Juan's ribs - so he was equally grateful for the time out. The mercenary captain propped himself up on his elbow, still panting, and glanced toward Juan. "You...all right?" he managed to ask.

The martial artist sat up and chuckled as he clapped his hands. His eyes were closed when he managed through the pain, and firmly nodded to Geddoe, indicating that he's fine. Also breathing heavily, he shrugged as he raised his hand to show two fingers to his opponent, perhaps asking if they should do a Round 2 sometime, to conclude this.

Geddoe misunderstood slightly, and shook his head. "I'm done for today," he breathed. "I've learned what I needed to know. That was...good. Good fight." He pushed himself up to his feet, and then stretched a hand down to help Juan after him. "Not many get in on my blind side like that."

Juan could clearly see why. He pointed to the infirmary after accepting Geddoe's hand. Perhaps the doctor could give him some nice prescription drugs - now that would just be the topping on this adrenaline-injected cake.

The captain blinked, and then his brow creased. "Oh, damn...don't tell me I hit you that hard. I was aiming for your nose, honest." He tossed his head toward the manor house. "I'll walk with you. I happen to know who's on duty right now." He retrieved his sword and sheathed it, and started away. "We'll definitely continue later."