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Post by kaye on Oct 22, 2011 17:15:58 GMT -7
* - - - - "Why is this just impossible!" Palmer blurted out through gritted teeth as she threw her sword on the ground out of frustration. Standing before her was a large wooden practice dummy that she had been hacking at for the past hour. Within that time period Palmer had gotten cut by her own sword, fallen over her own feet, and at one point she was hit by one of the dummy's swinging wooden arms. How is it that hand to hand combat could be so easy for some people and so difficult for others? Archery was more her thing. Shooting an arrow from afar and never actually facing your opponent seemed to make more sense in Palmer's mind. Sword fighting on the other hand was another story. Over the last three years at the Academy (she never had a chance to go to the "real" Camp Half Blood) she had made minimal progress when it came to hand to hand stuff. Throwing spears, that was find, throwing knives, that was okay too, but taking a sword and swining it at someone while trying to defend yourself against their swinging sword, that was too much for her to handle.
Her weapon hit the ground hard enough to bounce slightly before laying still beside her. Palmer's eyes followed the swords movements until it was still. She shook her head before throwing a small fit and stomping on the ground. Her hands clenched into fists as she spun in a small, tight circle. Her single braid in the back of her head hit against her back as she moved. In a moment the tantrum ended and Palmer composed herself as if nothing had happened. She didn't care to look around to see if anyone had just witnessed her episode, at the moment she was too caught up in her own frustration to remember that there were others who would judge her for her actions. But then again why would she care what anyone thought?
Palmer took a deep breath before picking up her sword and attacking the harmless wooden model before her. She wasn't going for style or technique, this was all about getting revenge on how dumb this whole sword fighting practice idea thing was. She moved quickly with absolutely no grace or thought as to how things should be done. This state of rage wasn't common. Moments like these usually only occurred when she was alone and completely and utterly frustrated. Palmer was usually the positive one with a rather happy-go-lucky sort of thing going for her. For some reason, when it came to training, she could never keep her upbeat attitude.
It wasn't longer then three minutes before she was over her fit of rage. Her arms quickly grew tired from wielding her sword so harshly at an object that could barely react. Her breathing grew heavier as she slowed down until eventually she was, once again, hit by one of the swinging arms of the dummy. How she didn't see it is a good question considering the force was barely enough to knock her over. Palmer stumbled back a little before taking the short fall to the ground landing on her back. It wasn't the dummy's fault as much as it was her tripping her own feet. The sword that she had made last year slipped from her hand and fell beside her. Instantly Palmer sat up as a reflex. With a simple shake of her head and a loud 'ugh', Palmer laid back, not caring how dirty her cloths or hair got at this point, in order to catch her breath. She pulled her hands over her eyes and mumbled to herself "I hate this. I hate this. I hate this." Over and over again.
- - - - *Word Count: six. two. six. Tagged: Open! Outfit: Click Here. Notes: Low on muse.. just trying to get back into the swing of things!
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Post by Riven Dupont on Oct 23, 2011 9:58:45 GMT -7
He had sensed that something was wrong on the trip back to the Academy. There was just something that was missing, though Riven could not put his finger on it during the journey. Once he stepped through the Academy gates though, the fact hit him like a ton of bricks...or rather a full skeleton all two hundred and six bones total. At first Riven was annoyed that none of them showed up to take his bags for him but he soon discovered that this was the least of his problems. They had barred his entry into the house which was beyond ridiculous. If skeletons had any personality at all, Riven would have thought that they were pulling a prank on him. And then one of them swung a sword at Riven's head and it all went downhill pretty quickly.
First he lost his luggage in the swarm of skeletons. They tore into his bag and started pulling and ripping at his clothes until they were like pieces of confetti. His books and other school things didn't fare any better. Riven didn't think that there would come a day when he'd actually hit a skeleton until one of them got it's fingers on his Summer homework folder. The thing collapsed as he hit it and Riven drew his sword, swinging it around to clear a wide arch in front of what was left of his luggage. For a moment he thought that he could make a dash into the house and talk to one of his siblings to find out what in the world was actually going on but more skeletons clawed out from the earth and he was forced to make a retreat.
It was so embarrassing, a son of Hades getting chased by his father's own minions. As he ran, Riven could have sworn that he saw some people laughing and pointing. Once he got to the bottom of this, he'd make them all pay. Now that he had a reputation to save on top of everything else, Riven dashed into the arena. At least here people would think that he was sparring instead of fighting for his life. There were about fifteen skeletons now, though the cracks in the earth warned him that there might be more. Riven backed up and almost stepped on the girl who was lying on the floor. He looked over his shoulder at her, a disbelieving expression on his face. In all the excitement he didn't hear her muttering so she might as well have snuck up on him.
"Get up!" He hissed and then turned slicing his sword through the head of one skeleton. "Arena should have a no lying down rule..."
Word count: 459
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Post by kaye on Oct 23, 2011 15:52:50 GMT -7
* - - - - Hitting the ground hadn't hurt, nor was it enough to even create a bruise. Palmer just simply did not want to get up because she didn't want to practice anymore. Whoever said practice make perfect is terribly mistaken in Palmer's case. She had been practicing her hand-to-hand combat skills, training for multiple hours a week, and over the past three years where was she? On the ground in the arena after getting her butt kicked by a wooden dummy. Three long years and all she had to show was a sword that was balanced in her hand. At first people believed that she just didn't have a weapon that she could easily handle. The weight was off in her hand or something. The beginning of last year was when she made the sword that she carries today. The blade was balanced in her hand, a nearly perfect fit for her, and still the improvement level in her fighting hadn't moved much. With a bow in the other hand she was fairly accurate. Maybe this whole sword fighting thing just wasn't for her.
The frustration had finally come out. Palmer was on the ground, eyes closed, shaking her head telling herself that she hated 'this'. She was hot, tired, and frustrated... a combination that she was not a fan of. Every time Palmer tried to fight with a sword her emotions would get the best of her and she would break down. This, for example, was one of those break downs. She was done, tired of trying, tired of failing. She just needed to pack up and go take a nap. Maybe tomorrow she would train again, probably not, but maybe.
Palmer took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. Her eyes remained closed and her body was still. As Palm opened her eyes she saw someone's foot almost bump against her arm. Immediately she sat up right before she heard the giant tell her to get up and something about a rule about not laying down? "You think I was on the ground for fun?" Her voice sounded tired and frustrated. It took a moment for her vision to adjust to the new light and once it was normal she quickly jumped to her feet. Once her sight was clear she had seen... skeletons? Palmer shook her head before confirming, in her mind, that the person who had almost stepped on her was in fact fighting a skeleton. Well, actually a bunch of them.
Palmer was a few steps back from the boy fighting a bunch of skinless figures. Her sword that had been on the ground beside her was now in her hand and out of the way. She watched in shock that someone would choose to spar in a way where they are literally getting attacked. The thing was, how would you turn these off? It didn't make sense... but then again, what does? "Well you look kind of busy so I think I'll just go." Her remained fixed on the figures that were going against this boy. They looked like they really wanted him dead or hurt or something. She then noticed that there were cracks in the earth. So was this real then? But then why were they in the arena? Palmer didn't want to interrupt again because after the earlier comments said to her by this person, he seemed slightly intimidating. Palm stood there without moving, watching the fight between this kid and the skeleton's. "Um.. do you want to me get someone to turn these off or something when you're done?"
- - - - *Word Count: five. nine. eight. Tagged: Open! Outfit: Click Here. Notes: Nothing.
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Post by Riven Dupont on Oct 26, 2011 11:26:09 GMT -7
"I don't care." Riven granted his response, side stepping as the pointy end of a sword was thrust in his direction. Spinning inside that particular skeleton's range he slammed the butt of his sword into it's skull. Cracks immediately radiated outwards of the point of impact, but Riven did not have any time to see the interesting spider web effect which he had caused. As soon as that skeleton toppled over into a pile of bones, another took it's place. He sliced that one in half, and saw out of the corner of his eye that the girl had got to her feet. "About time." Riven muttered, loud enough for her to hear. Another thing he didn't care about right at that moment was manners. He was well aware that he was being really rude to this person but staying alive took all of his energy. And call it petty but he was a little annoyed at the frustrated note in her voice when had first spoken to him. What did she had to be frustrated about? Until you had your all your stuff ruined by your so called servants and they tried to kill you...you had nothing to be frustrated about.
"Yes. Go." He grunted, his foot lashing out and catching another skeleton in the sternum. He was very thankful that he even though they were attacking him, he was still a child of Hades and could destroy them in one blow or so. Now that the girl was on her feet, Riven moved around her. He grabbed onto one of the dummy's arms, grateful for the small blessing that this dummy was the rotating kind and used it to swing himself into the thick of things. The dummy's arms knocked down several of the skeletons, and Riven stomped on their skulls with his combat boots as he went after the remaining skeletons.
He thought she had left, until he heard her voice again. Did he want her to go and get someone? Riven's pride said no. There were five skeletons left and he felt that he could take them. He crouched and swept his feet out knocking one over. His sword went through it's eye socket as it fell. But on the other hand, maybe one of his siblings would arrive and tell him what in the Underworld was going on. "Yeah..if you could. Get Noah." Here a skeleton interrupted by not attacking him but the girl. It left him no choice but the leap in front of her, his sword meeting the skeleton's in a hollow clang before they locked together. "Or Joelle." Riven said through gritted teeth. "If you could please."
Word count: 457 Notes: Sorry this is late.
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