The First Time...

[Sae]

This day wasn't a day like every others, this day Sae will have to fight against another warrior. Her mentor arranged with one of his friends who was a mentor as well to give her a training fight. Sae thought that it could be a great experience that's why she accepted this fight when her mentor told her about it. And now, she was getting ready to go to this training.



She took her weapons and left TonDC to go to the glade where the fight will take place. While she was walking, she was preparing her mind. She had to be ready to show how hard she had trained during the last years. This fight was also a good opportunity to know what aspects she needed to improve.



As she got closer to the fight place, she was wondering who her opponent will be... It will probably be someone of her age... but will it be a male or a female warrior? will she be strong enough to win this fight? Loads of questions were running through her head. And she will have the answers in few seconds when she will arrived to the glade, so she took a deep breathe and finished her way to this place more motivated and determined than ever.



Tag: Seren

[Seren]

Seren stood in the glade, Arwen stood at her shoulder and she was vaguely aware of her mentor talking, trying to give her a bit of last minute advice. Arwen had arranged for her to spar against another warriors second, it would be a test of her skills and it was clear from her mentors words that she did not expect Seren to lose, failure was out of the question. Seren was barely listening to her mentors words however, she was more focussed upon the arrival of her opponent, they were late and tardiness was not something that she approved of. Maybe whoever it was that she was meant to be fighting had chickened out, thought better than to show their face.

She was confident of victory, because she knew that Arwen had trained her well and although failure was a part of every seconds training, every successful warrior had lost their fair share of fights, but she was determined to prove herself and if winning this fight proved to everyone that she was a capable warrior then she would not allow herself to lose. "Seren? Are you listening to me?" Arwen's voice snapped her from her thoughts and she turned to look at the woman with a smile.

"Yes Arwen..." came her reply "I know what I have to do" her gaze swept the surrounding trees, impatiently awaiting the arrival of her opponent, she didn't know the age of the second she was going to fight, nor did she know their gender, their skill set. She would be going into this fight blind with only her sword at her disposal, of course this fight would only be to first blood. Nobody died in training, what would be the point in training a child only for them to be cut down before they entered their first real battle.

A rustling in the undergrowth alerted the pair to the arrival of another person and Seren reached behind her to take a firm grip on the hilt of her sword, pulling it slowly from its sheath so that she could hold it comfortably in her hand as she prepared to meet the person she'd be sparring with that day.

Sae

[Sae]

Sae was late and she felt pretty uncomfortable about it, being late wasn't usual for her and she was truly sorry about it. "I'm sorry to be late..." she said without more explanations which she thought wouldn't have been useful, to the mentor and her second who were waiting for her. When she arrived to the glade, her opponent was already ready to fight so Sae didn't have time to assess the other warrior's second before having to get ready too.

But before the fight, the mentor of Sae's adversary wanted to remind the rules to the young fighters. "You're here today to show how hard you've worked this last years as seconds but remember that this is a training fight so it will be ended when the first drops of blood will flow." Sae was concentrated on what she was saying so all she had time to see before the begining of the fight was that her opponent was a young female warrior.

Sae was unsheathing her sword like her adversary already did when the latter's mentor voice resounded... "Yo na jomp in!" - You may begin! - Before attacking, Sae wanted to assess her opponent so in a first time, she will only try to dodge or parry the blows to see what she could do then to win this fight.

Tag: Seren

[Seren]

As her opponent entered the glade, Seren wasn't surprised to find that it was a girl that looked to be around her own age. Her eyes scanned the girls body, assessing how much of a threat she was, as if just by a glance she could tell what her strengths and weaknesses were. As the other second uttered a quick apology for her tardiness, Seren offered a slight dip of her head in acknowledgement to the apology, she didn't know why her opponent was late, nor did she wish to know, whatever the reason it was not relevant.

As Seren listened to her mentor explaining the rules of the fight, she listened intently. As she had suspected the fight would be to first blood. Having grown up with two brothers, she was incredibly competitive and determined that she would not be the first one to bleed, not today. She would win this fight. How good could this girl be? All the while that Arwen was talking, Seren was watching her opponent, taking in her features, trying to guess what her first move would be.

Seren watched as the girl took out her sword and immediately became interested with how she held the weapon. Trying to keep her face void of emotion as to not give away what her first move would be, Seren subconsciously shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She was so preoccupied with studying the girl that when Arwen announced for them to begin, she almost didn't hear her. Starting slightly as she realised the order had been given, she took a cautious step forwards, her grip tightening around her sword. Then, her previous hesitation forgotten she swung the blade around aiming for the girls right flank, she wanted to test her first, see what she would do. If she would retreat or block the attack.

Sae

[Sae]

Sae saw the girl's little moment of hesitation but she didn't let her guard down, on the contrary. And she was right because few seconds after her opponent tried to hit her right flank but Sae was ready and concentrated so she blocked the attack but she found this stroke very smart of her opponent because it was surprising for a first attack.

As she parried few more attacks, Sae was assessing her opponent, she was smart, her moves seemed unpredictable because she didn't show her emotions, and she was a little bit taller than her. But the more important point to gauge was her strength which was pretty awesome but not insurmountable.

Now, Sae knew the basic informations that she needed to know to fight the best she could against the girl. So she took a breathe, focused very carefully on her opponent... It was time to really begin this fight now! So Sae who was on the defensive since the begining of the fight finally tried to surprise her opponent by aiming her left leg. It wasn't necessarily in order to hurt her but at least to destabilize her and of course to see how she will react.

Tag: Seren

[Seren]

As her opponent blocked the attack, Seren raised an eyebrow in surprise of course she hadn't expected to win the fight with just one swing of her sword, that would be foolish however she hadn't expected the girl to block the attack so easily either. Scowling in frustration, the second struck out with her sword a couple more times but each time her opponent blocked her seemingly as effortlessly as the first time. Maybe she'd underestimated the girl that opposed her, she looked maybe a year or two older than herself upon closer inspection and the way that she carried herself made her seem like a confident warrior.

Suddenly, a flash of steel caught her off guard as she realised almost too late that the girl had aimed a strike at her leg. Spinning away from the deadly blade at the last minute, the girl came to a halt a safe distance from her rival. Glancing down at her leg she noticed a tear in the material of her trousers and she sent a glare towards the girl. She'd escaped injury, but only just. She willed herself to focus, to stop allowing herself to get distracted, but this girl intrigued her. She'd never before spoken to her despite the fact that they apparently lived in the same village. She was definitely smart, she'd give her that, using defence to her advantage at the beginning of their fight and only now switching to offence to unsettle her.

Seren didn't like it when something didn't go her way in battle and she especially didn't enjoy being made a fool of in front of her mentor, taking a hesitant step back towards the girl, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her gaze narrowed as she stared at the girl that stood opposite her. She didn't like the fact that this girl had almost outsmarted her. The fact that she'd allowed herself to get distracted angered her more than anything else, she was better than that, she knew that she should enter a battle with a clear mind and not allow anything to cloud her judgement.

Sae

[Sae]

The fact that her opponent reacted to her attack at the last moment surprised Sae but it also gave her a little more self confidence. But the way she reacted meant that Sae surprised her by attacking now whereas she was just defending herself since the begining of the fight so now she will probably be more on her guards than she already was before the attack so it will be difficult to surprise her a second time.

When her opponent took a step back to her, Sae felt that she was a little hesitant but this hesitation seemed to already dissipate, giving way to determination which impressed Sae, this girl's mind seemed to be awesome. But Sae had to stay focus on the fight. What will be her opponent next move? Sae had no idea about it so instead of waiting for her to attack, she decided to try another attack right now while her opponent's mind was still a little vulnerable.

This time Sae aimed the girl's left shoulder but like she was hoping because she began to really enjoy this training fight, her opponent blocked her strike and they were now blocked by each other, looking in each other's eyes and putting all their strength in their sword to get advantage on the other.

Tag: Seren

[Seren]

Seren continued to glare at the other girl, remaining on her guard in case her rival tried to catch her by surprise again. She wouldn't fall for that trick a second time, watching the girl intently as she tried to figure out what her next move would be she could feel her opponent studying her with the same intense curiosity that she felt. Seren didn't have time to retaliate before the girl launched her attack, this time aiming a strike at her shoulder but she'd anticipated this attack and quickly brought her sword up to block the attack.

As soon as the two blades clashed the impact sent a painful jolt up Seren's arm causing the girls mouth to open in an inaudible gasp as she met the girls gaze, glaring at her as she gripped the hilt of her sword firmly and threw all of her weight against the blade as she tried to get the upper hand. Realising that she was in a dangerous situation and there was a risk that she could be overpowered by her adversary, she desperately thought of a way to regain the upper hand. Her eyes flickered down quickly as a thought suddenly hit her and she aimed a kick at the girls legs aiming to destabilise her or better yet knock her over.

Sae

[Sae]

As they were blocked by each other, Sae was putting all of her strength in her sword to try to overpower the girl but it didn't seem to be enough because the situation didn't evolve. And as she was trying to find a way to take the advantage, Sae saw in her opponent's eyes that the latter one had an idea but she didn't know what to expect so all she could do was to increase her vigilance to be able to react to any moves.

But it wasn't sufficient because when she saw her opponent's leg moving, it was already too late to avoid the kick so she was destabilised and she fell down, her left arm hitting the ground first. The shock caused a sharp pain in her arm but she won't give up because of it, she will fight until the end so she tried to focus on her opponent to forget the pain.

As the girl was coming to end the fight by making her bleed, Sae was trying to locate her sword which slipped from her hand during her falling, always keeping her opponent in her field of vision. When she finally saw her sword, she tried to catch it but it was too far and she didn't have the time to get to it because the girl was already standing over her.

Tag: Seren

[Seren]

As soon as the girl fell to the ground a triumphant grin appeared on Seren's face. Her tactic had worked and she could almost taste victory as she stepped towards her opponent. Sword in hand as she stood over the girl, her eyes flashed towards the girls hand as she reached for her discarded weapon and smirking she stepped on her wrist, applying just enough pressure to bring pain to the girl and to stop her attempts at reaching the weapon. Staring down at her she pressed the tip of her sword to the girls chest "You're dead" she told her, as a small red welt appeared around where the tip of the weapon was pressing on the girls body, showing that the blade had pierced the skin.

As soon as the blood became visible, Seren withdrew her sword and replaced it in its sheath recognising that she had won the fight. Removing her foot from the girls wrist she held out a hand as if to help her up "you fought well" she complimented as she waited for the girl to take her hand. Hoping that she wasn't too disappointed that she had lost the fight, but for a while she had been worried about losing herself as this girl had put up a great fight, she hadn't made it easy for her.

Sae

[Sae]

When she fell down, Sae hoped that she will be able to dodge her opponent's strike by rolling on her right to get closer to her sword but the girl had been smarter than her and she prevented her from doing this by stepping on Sae's wrist. An expression of pain and defeat appeared on Sae's face. Then the girl chose Sae's chest as the target of her last strike and Sae could feel the blade pressing on her skin until piercing it.

She was beaten, the fight was to the first blood and she was the first to bleed. But for some reason she was more disappointed that the fight was already over than that she lost it. She found this fight pretty interesting and the more interesting thing was her opponent, Sae found her impressive and she really wanted to know more about her. So as the girl held her a hand, Sae accepted it and as the girl helped her stand up, she answered to her compliment. "Thank you. You too, you actually did much better than me!" She smiled at the girl to show her that she truly thought what she just said. And then she went to pick up her sword and came back to the girl right after that. And since she really want to know more about her she decided to introduce herself. "By the way, I'm Sae.".

Tag: Seren

[Seren]

After she pulled the girl to her feet she smiled "I have a good mentor" she told her as she glanced over at Arwen who was evidently pleased with her victory. She was in high spirits now that she had won and she was eager to travel back to their village and tell her father the good news. At least she could go home with her head held high. I'm Sae. The girls voice caught her attention again and she dipped her head in acknowledgement "Seren" she muttered her own name, unable to hide the smile on her face. "But for a while, I thought you'd beat me... You just got overconfident" she told the other girl.

Her curiosity about the other girl was only increasing, she'd lost the fight and yet she didn't seem at all hostile or sore about her loss. "Why have we never spoken before? I hear that you and I come from the same village and yet we have not spoken once since today" she asked Sae, studying the girl, her hand went to her belt where she usually kept a knife, however the weapon was not there as she had left it back in her village to ensure that the fight remained fair. Usually she thumbed the hilt of the knife, it was a subconscious action and as she found the blade missing now, her hand dropped uselessly to her side, an irritated scowl on her face.

Sae

[Sae]

Seren... it was a pretty cute name. When she told Sae that what made her lose was that she became overconfident, Sae was impressed by how easily Seren had read her. "Yeah, you're right my confidence increased a little bit too much. You seem pretty good at reading people."  Sae found this girl pretty intriguing, why haven't she noticed her before in TonDC?

She was trying to find an explanation when Seren asked her the same question. "I don't know but we definitely should have speak before." She said smiling at Seren. "I think we should catch up for lost time. What do you think of doing more fights against each other? I think it could be fun!" Sae really wanted to fight against this girl again, not only to take her revenge or because she had loads of fun during this training but especially to see Seren again.She felt pretty attracted by this girl, she was smart, strong and cute but Sae wasn't good at all when it came to expressed her love so she hoped Seren felt the same way.

Tag: Seren

[Seren]

Seren shrugged her shoulders at Sae's words "to be a good warrior you must know what your rivals next move will be before they actually make it, a moments hesitation could cost you your life" she told her with a sigh, it was one of the first lessons Arwen had told her and a vital one at that. All good warriors had to be able to fight perfectly, to be able to defeat any enemy that they came up against and she was proud that she'd made her mentor proud by defeating Sae even if she was an older second and had at least a years more training than she had at this point.

At the girls words Seren found herself nodding along, "I'd like that" she muttered with a smile, the invitation was certainly a welcome one. Not only would having Sae as a sparring partner give her an opportunity to increase her skills as a warrior but she'd also be able to learn more about her. Spending time with Sae definitely wasn't something she was opposed to, they seemed to share a lot of qualities and they were both skilled warriors. "I'm always up for a challenge" she chuckled as she glanced back towards Arwen who was waiting patiently for them to wrap up their conversation "You go back to the village Arwen, tell my father of my victory" the girl told her mentor, letting her know that she didn't need or expect her to wait around and act as an escort for her when she wanted to go home.

Sae

[Sae]

When Seren accepted her proposal, Sae smiled at her because she was very happy that Seren actually wanted to spend time with her too. She seemed to want to learn more about Sae which made the latter one very pleased but also a little bit nervous because it meant that she probably cared at least a little bit about her and expressing her feelings was something quite scary for Sae. "Fine, that's great! I'm sure we will learn loads of things from each other. It will be very fun!" She answered to Seren very excited.

Then, Seren asked her mentor who was waiting for her to go back to TonDC without her which surprised Sae a little bit but Arwen left them alone knowing that they were both skilled seconds who could take care of themselves. Sae watched her sink in the forest and when she saw her disappear between the trees, her eyes immediately came back to Seren. And when their gazes met, Sae got lost in Seren's beautiful dark eyes.

Tag: Seren