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Post by Archer Zero on Feb 8, 2014 18:16:21 GMT -5
A beautiful golden sun was setting on the capital of the Empire of Eternity. A huge city built on top of a floating rock, it was a center of commerce, war, and politics. In the center stood the palace. It was large and imposing, built more for strength and practicality than frivolousness or showing of wealth. There, politicians plotted and schemed, lords argued over territories and rights, soldiers and general trained their martial skills, and servants bustled about their own business. However, nearby that palace was a large courtyard. It was the emperor's private courtyard, but it was an odd one, to be sure. Half of it looked to be a simple yet wonderful garden, and the other one was a Zen garden, one that was cultivated by the emperor himself as a means of meditation and rest when he got the chance. In the middle of the Zen garden was a large, rectangular arena, scuffled by training and sparring.
This kind of courtyard was owned by Kenji.
Kenji sat at one of the benches, overlooking the arena in the Zen portion of the garden. A few weeks ago, his wife had been kidnapped and almost killed. Well, she was killed but special circumstances brought her back. He had assigned a large guard to her, something that she and his Paladins and Black Knights all protested against. Kenji eventually relented, but he realized something. He loved Grace dearly, but she needed to learn how to truly fight. She was strong against regular humans, but she wouldn't be fighting against regular humans all that often.
He called her here today for an obvious reason: To be taught how to truly fight. He had already assigned one of the best teachers he could think of for swordsmanship, and was waiting now for the two of them to show up. He sighed. He hoped he was doing the right thing. No, he knew he was doing the right thing.
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Post by Illusion on Feb 8, 2014 19:52:54 GMT -5
That near-death - a little too near - incident had been quite terrifying for both herself and Kenji. Her former lover had sought her out and attempted to kill her; for a moment he had succeeded, but some sort of circumstance had brought her back into the living, in the form of an angel. How that had happened Grace still didn't know, and likely would never truly know. In the time following her brush with death Kenji had become quite paranoid about her safety, more or less doubling the security around her. Grace had understood his worry but thought he had been taking it a little bit too far, something her Black Knight and Paladin guards agreed with. At last Kenji had relented on this, and lowered the security around her somewhat. Grace was grateful for that.
Now, though, it seemed Kenji had decided it was time she learned how to fight more skilfully and efficiently than she already did. She was never much of a fighter and avoided conflict where she could, but she did see Kenji's point; she was a decent fighter, but in order to better defend herself should she need to do so, she would need a few more combat skills. What she lacked in her defences she more than made up for in speed and could deal out decent damage with her hits as well, but nevertheless, this would be a big help to her.
By now Grace knew the palace off by heart, as well as much of the empire's capital. And, of course, she knew the precise location of the courtyard where Kenji was. Soaring almost silently on her golden-feathered wings, she gently swooped down and landed gracefully. The very slight bump on her lower belly caused by her pregnancy - she had eight months of it left - did nothing to impede her or her figure. Seeing Kenji, Grace smiled and walked over to him.
"Hello again," she greeted him gently yet warmly as she always did.
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Post by Archer Zero on Feb 9, 2014 3:26:47 GMT -5
Indeed, when Kenji first assigned extra guards to Grace, while everyone understood why he did it, they all thought he went overboard. Not only were the Paladins and Black Knights the most powerful and loyal warriors and mages in the Empire, they all also had other responsibilities in regards to government, wars, economics, and such like. To be diverted in such large numbers to protect Grace was redundant at best and overkill at worst. Though they respected and obeyed both Kenji and Grace, they nevertheless argued with Kenji (with Grace supporting) them until he had to relent. They were loyal, but they weren't brainless dogs. They were some of Kenji's closest advisors for a reason, even if that meant criticizing their lord from time to time. It helped that Kenji was humble enough to know he wasn't perfect.
Though she moved silently, he could feel her presence from his sixth sense and smiled as she flew in. He was left speechless when she was resurrected as an angel, but he certainly wasn't complaining. He had thought he had lost her when she was lured out by her former lover. He got a bit angry for ditching her guard at the time, especially to meet someone dangerous though, but could one blame him? Still, he loved her deeply and in the end forgave her. As long as she didn't do it again...
Hello again.
Kenji smiled, stood up, went to her, and gently kissed her. "Hello, my love," he said gently. "Sorry for calling you out like this, but I thought this was something necessary." Kenji knew of his wife's peaceful nature, preferring nonviolent methods whenever possible, drawing her blade as a last resort. He didn't mind that part of her - in fact, it was one of the major reasons why he loved her. He didn't need a warmonger or a blood knight as his wife. She always tempered his ideals, a sheath to his sword, making sure he didn't unnecessarily draw his blade. She was his confidante for a reason.
At that a woman, a young woman stepped out into the garden. She seemed to be in her twenties, bearing a strong face and ice-blue eyes. Her platinum-blonde hair was cut at the middle of her neck as a matter of practicality, like a true soldier. She wore shining white armor, lined with silver, and at her side was an ornate rapier, sheathed but ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. A trim, lean figure matched the elegance yet power of het sword. She bowed to the two of them as Kenji turned towards her. This young woman was one of his Paladins, Claire. She was the finest swordswoman in the Empire, beating Kenji himself when it came to swordsmanship alone.
"Grace, I'm sure you've met Paladin Claire before," he said while Claire nodded respectfully to Grace. She had been assigned as one of Grace's guards a few times before. "She is to be your swordsmanship instructor. She has no peer in weapons, so you'll learn much from her. Is that alright with you two?" He looked over at Claire who replied, her voice ringing out like steel, "I have no problems, my lord."
With that, he turned to hear Grace's response.
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Post by Illusion on Feb 9, 2014 3:57:17 GMT -5
It figured that Kenji would have sensed her arrival even though she had made little (if any) sound; his years of training had led him to acquire a sixth sense of sorts. She smiled warmly at him as he approached her, and kissed him back gently as his lips met hers. When they had first met he had rescued her from a group of Heartless that had caught her off-guard; Grace still remembered to this day how tired and how sad he had looked, and after hearing his history, she perfectly understood why. He had lost so much in his time, and back then his only driving force was his ideals, which she recalled him ready to give up his heart for. But they had met, talked, shared with each other their pasts, and it had blossomed out into the love they shared now. Now, the two of them were undoubtably happier than they would have been had they not met.
Grace had nodded as Kenji spoke; she agreed with him, thinking it best that she 'shape up' in terms of her combat and swordsmanship skills, most importantly for sake of her own defence in times of need. She looked to the side as she heard footsteps and saw none other than Claire step out towards the two of them, politely nodding to the Paladin in greeting. Grace knew her to be one of Kenji's finest Paladin warriors, and indeed the two of them had met a couple of times before, having been posted as a guard for Grace a couple times previously. She was quite the respectable and trustworthy figure, Grace had decided previously, not to mention one hell of a force in combat. Every inch of her, even down to her voice, emanated her strength.
Listening to Kenji speak and Claire give her reply, Grace had no hesitation in giving her own. She flexed her wings a little, and then had them relax, folding against her back for now.
"That sounds perfectly good to me," she replied, with a nod.
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Post by Archer Zero on Feb 9, 2014 15:25:06 GMT -5
That sounds perfectly good to me.
Kenji nodded. Good. It was settled, then. Grace needed to learn how to fight better. She was decent, but not enough. "Good," he said. He looked back inside. Although he wanted to stay around abd help, he still had his duties to attend to. Times like this, being an emperor was both a blessing and a huge curse. More often a curse. "I have to go back in," he said gently. "Claire will teach you what you need to know. I'll see you later." He kissed her and went. He could check up on her later, when he was done.
Claire waited until he had left, then said, musing, "Well, the emperor has spoken highly of you, but love has a certain way of clouding even the most logical minds." There was no meanness to her statement, no unnecessary sharpness. She was just stating a fact. "I'd like to see how you really are with a sword before we start, if you don't mind. A small test."
With that, Claire summoned two practice swords and passed one to Grace and stepped into the arena. She raised her sword. "Ready when you are," she said, waiting.
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Post by Illusion on Feb 24, 2014 10:46:39 GMT -5
Grace agreed with him completely; while she disliked fighting or the like, she did need to learn better combat skills, mostly for sake of defending herself should she need to do so again. She was a decent fighter already, with speed making up for her lack of physical strength, but could improve nonetheless. She nodded as Kenji informed her he had to leave for the moment. He had his duties as emperor, she knew that well...she had considerably fewer duties, one of which she had appointed to herself was to help him relax or calm after a stressful or busy day of his work. Softly kissing him in return, she watched him head back inside, smiling lightly and fondly to herself as she did so.
The remark Claire put forward caught Grace's ear, and was followed by a very brief silence, after which Grace gave the subtlest of nods in agreement. It was quite true, even the most logical of minds could be clouded or distracted by love or such emotions, which could prove rather bad in important or dangerous situations. But it could also give one cause or direction in their life; for instance, the love Grace and Kenji shared had helped the two of them in a big way (helping Grace from falling into an eternal state of depression, and stopping Kenji from giving up his heart and mercilessly following his goals through with nothing else to live for).
Claire's next remark was met with a light shake of the head from Grace, indicating that she didn't mind demonstrating her skill with a blade to begin with. She watched as Claire summoned and gave to her one of the practice swords, following her into the arena. Grace paused for a brief moment, feeling the way the practice sword felt in her hand, it's weight, the shape and feel of its hilt, almost as though acquainting herself with it. Claire's words quickly got her attention, though, and after only a brief moment more, Grace made her first strike.
Calling her speed into play, Grace rapidly and (befittingly of her name) gracefully lunged forward, the blade aimed at Claire's chest; though she knew the attack would almost certainly be parried, and Claire was wearing armour anyway, this was merely a 'practice run', and the chest region was one of the critical weak spots of many opponents, the others being the neck or head. This weapon was a little different from her usual - which was a Keyblade - but felt reasonable in her hand.
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Post by Archer Zero on Feb 24, 2014 16:50:41 GMT -5
As soon as she lunged forward, Claire calculated. She had some skill, and Grace certainly wasn't going all out, she could detect that. But even with her speed, for a trained swordswoman like Claire, who fought heaven-knows-how-many foes, Grace could be moving in slow motion. Her motions were telegraphed to her, and she had the luxury of time to pick how she wanted to dodge or block it. For anyone else, it'd be at most a second before it hit, but for skilled fighters, one second was a very long time. She had multiple sword styles to use too, and judging from what Kenji told her, she decided to try a style she knew Grace would be strong against.
Lashing out with the blade, she smacked aside Grace's sword, then launched into a ferocious counterattack. Although none of the blows would hurt too much (though they'll definitely sting if they landed) and Claire avoided hitting her in the stomach for obvious reasons, it was clear Claire intended to hit her. The attacks came fast and hard, with seemingly no pattern and yet all merged seamlessly into combos that set up the next strike perfectly. The style she chose was fast, aggressive, and powerful.
Claire wanted to see how she would handle this...
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