PKA: Offhand Practice - Matt (Jack)

[Anatra]

It's nearly the weekend. The time off never starts a moment before the end of Friday and the morning of Saturday. I've just been swimming, actually. It's something that warms you up, but also relaxes you. It gets you right into the state of mind for a workout, or some kind of practice session. After the fitness course, I felt a willingness to keep working at my skills, even though I had technically won.

Coming out of the changing rooms, dressed in my casual clothes since the sun is just going down. I look out of the window just to double check, the last thing I need is one of the officials on my back. Right now, I feel calm. My heart is beating at a comfy rate due to the prior exercise that has me ready to hit the gym and get something done of tonight before the weekend, where the true relaxation begins. I get some funny looks from a couple of peacekeepers. I really don't like the attention that my name can give me. What did my dad do that was so great? Maybe it wasn't great at all. Maybe that's why they're looking.

I think back, whilst walking down some of the hallways since the swimming pool is quite far from the gym section that is in the main building, to the times when me and the gang would go down to the career training centre. How things have changed since then, though. Now, we're in the middle of the Peacekeeper Academy. The place for our future, peacekeeper or not. Me and Alex used to see how much being twins really gave us an advantage in combat. Training with proper practice sticks, no contact. You have to keep your eye on everything, letting every action process in your mind. For us, it was like a dance of swords, just less elegant. In fact, elegant is a word you could use for it. Sometimes, it would be flawless in how we dodged, blocked and parried each other's attacks and advances. Alex was always more ruthless though, so I ended up getting more hits in that him.

Finally, I get to the gym. There's few people here, most of them are readying themselves to either stay for the night here or go home to their families. The real peacekeepers, that is. Us cadets barely get the choice. Maybe tomorrow, we'll be allowed, but tonight we have to find things to do with our time. Productive things. I just wish I had a decent sparring partner, I don't fancy asking any of these veterans to join me.

The gym is laid out like follows. It is one large room with different sections that are clearly for different types of workout machine. Weights, cardio etc. Right at the back though, there's a ring for sparring to take place. Since nobody is on it, I feel the urge to go straight to it. Nobody is there though, so I've got no sparring partner. I just sit on the bench and hope that somebody decent comes along.

W O R D. C O U N T : ----

N O T E S :

[Jack Lexington]

With a letter that's half written I sit on my chewing away on my pen. I'm not good at this. I've never written a letter, especially not to a girl friend since I never had one. I do want to keep Kyanite in the loop though and share some of this experience with her. Over the phone it's not possible because it's too public.

So far I told her about my room mates and that I had a match against Vy, which I ended up winning and even got to pay her back for breaking Kyanites arm. Whether Ky wants to hear this or not I'm not sure since she doesn't seem too big on retaliation.

Now I'm stuck though. My letters only half a page and I don't know what else to write.
It's Friday night. usually I'd be going out or spend my time with friends or even training but here? I guess I could hit the gym for a bit. That might clear my head and bring me new ideas what to write.

So I slip out of the uncomfortable uniform and put my training bottoms on. That and a white t-shit.

The yard lies in front of me dark and empty as a lot of others have left already but they gymn on the other side is lit up like a Christmas tree. Good.

As I step into its warmth I see one single person on the other side near the sparring area. That guy looks awefully familar.
"Hey, Tyren! Still here?" Hasn't he left two hours ago for his work out?
I circle around the weights to make my way over to him because he looks a little lost.
"What are you up to?"
Rolling my shoulders I step up next to him and then ask.
"How was your training session?" We haven't seen each other since then.

[Anatra]

I look around the weights briefly but I don't fancy that. Maybe it was the swim, but sometimes you just have to be in the mood for it. The rest of the workout equipment doesn't appeal. Not now, probably later. Eventually I get to the little ring where the sparring can happen. Nobody got there in the time it took me to look around practically everything else. I stand there for a moment, thinking to myself when suddenly a familiar and welcome voice comes from behind me. "Hey, Tyren! Still here?"
Excellent timing, Mr Dunham. I couldn't have asked for a better sparring partner. We haven't fought since the pregames so it would be... interesting, to say the least, to match skills once more. This time using the same weapon. Maybe I can even surprise him a little. "Sure am. Good to see you." I go to take one of the practice sticks, which are basically staves - spears with no tips. They're wooden, but black. They must be professionally made because although they feel wooden, they don't exactly look it.

"What are you up to?" He asks. "Well first I went to see Alex because something had happened. Then I went for a swim to relax, and now... I'm going to see how much I've learned since last time." I smirk at him. "Grab a spear." I tell him.

"How was your training session?" My training session was good. At least I think it was. I won. "Yeah, it was alright I guess. I was up against some guy called Jeran. I'm pretty sure that's Kyanite's brother." Maybe after a moment, Matt may see the bruising on Tyren's face. It's really light now, but you could probably tell he'd been hit in the face. It is like the remnants of a black eye, but it isn't horrifyingly bad.

I don't show off with my spear at all. I reserve how I hold it and I walk to the starting position for my side. "Yours?"

W O R D. C O U N T : ----

N O T E S :

[Jack Lexington]

Tyren looks pleasantly surprised to see me and his words confirm it. "Sure am. Good to see you." I think it's safe to say we've become friends.

I wonder what happened to Alex but before I can asks he orders me to grab a spear.
"What?" Does he really want to fight me? I sure as hell don't ever want to fight Tyren again. The fight between us was a nightmare...at least the end of it and now we've become friends. I don't want to wreck that.
"Not a good idea." I watch him grab a black fighting stick but don't make a move. he probably knows why I have my reservations.

He tells me about his training session with a guy called Jeran. That name! Oh crap!
"I think he's Kyanites brother."
"Dark haired, little smaller than me?" I ask and then confirm his suspicion. "Yep, that's him." I shake my head with a slight frown appearing on my face. "Are you shitting me? the guy's here? i hope you kicked his ass."
Upon closer inspection it actually looks like Jeran kicked Tyrens butt.
"He gave you a black eye?" I raise my brow mockingly.

When asked about my own training session I can't help the shit eating grin creeping up on my face.
"Went really well. Four points against Vy." I wonder whether he's heard about it since he seems to have special ties to the pks.
"That was something else. They made the whole room seem like it was on fire. Vy didn't do so well..."

Tyren's still holding his tipless spear waiting for me to grab one.
"I don't know about this, Ty. I don't think we should be fighting. Last time didn't end so well."
Yet there he is asking ME to spar.
"Really?" I raise my brows. If he insists I won't chicken out.

[Anatra]

"Are you shitting me? the guy's here? i hope you kicked his ass." That's strange. "I did. Do you not like him?" I would have thought it'd be normal for Matt to like Jeran, since he's Kyanite's brother. That confuses me, there's obviously something I don't know. "He gave you a black eye?" I roll my eyes at him, seeing that he's only friendly joking. "Yeah, but it's nothing I can't handle." I shrug it off literally as though it were on my shoulders. I warm them up by rolling them a little, holding the practice stick in one hand casually, waiting for him to pick his up.

"Went really well. Four points against Vy." He tells me. "Nice." It's good to see him achieve that. It'll feel good for him to get that one-up on her after what was said in the dorm. "That was something else. They made the whole room seem like it was on fire. Vy didn't do so well..." I smile at the scene he tells me about, because it seems to relate exactly to how mine went. Besides one slight detail. "Fire? I couldn't hack fire. I'm not scared of it, but the heat. That'd be awful. Ours was as though we were fighting in a storm. Lightning sending vibrations through the floor, it felt like mini static shocks through your feet. Nothing fatal, but it was weird. Then there was the rain. Soaked us, completely." I smile again. "Glad you did well though."

I go to stand in the starting position on my side. "I don't know about this, Ty. I don't think we should be fighting. Last time didn't end so well." His reluctance is something I half expected. He's clearly changed a lot since the pregames, and so have I. I think a slight back to how me and Alex used to practice like this. "Lads back at the career program called it melding. It was their funny way of saying we were magic because we are twins. It's non-contact, because you stop when you're about to hit them - and that would be your point. There's no need practicing with real pain if what you're trying to do is block and parry, because you'd be tired out and pained up by the end." I look at the practice spear, feeling its weight and scanning with my eyes how long it is, how much of my arm it is making effective. "Alex and I would be able to do it for ages without hitting each other. People would watch but ultimately it is when people aren't watching that it becomes fun. You get to know the person in a different way. How they fight, where their feet go. Me and Alex did it because fighting together was our thing." I pause, with a smile.

"Bet you didn't know I know the spear." It is fully ironic how he used a spear against me. "Now come on, pick one up. I'll go easy on you." I don't tell him my reasoning for suddenly wanting to try this. But in reality, it is simply because Alex won't do it anymore. When we last tried, a bit after Matt's fight with me, he'd just keeping going too easy on me as if I was a broken glass not wanting any more cracks. Hopefully Matt can be a better twin.

W O R D. C O U N T : ----

N O T E S : Sorry if I missed anything, forums didn't let me post the first attempt so I had to rewrite

[Jack Lexington]

No wait!


After he tells me about his lightning and rain experience, which makes me wonder what other techn miracles they have in store for us, Tyren explains in detail what his twin and him used to do with the spears.
It sounds like he's real fond of fighting with Alex but now he wants me to have a go with the spear.
For some reason fighting with him feels very wrong to me especially when I let my eyes glace over those big scars on his neck. They are from spear tips...my spear tips. How can he possibly want this.
"You must trust me a lot." I shake my head at him because I know that if he had almost killed me I wouldn't put myself in the same position again...or would I? Is this his way of dealing with past pain and fear?
Maybe it's time for me to overcome mine.

"No, I didn't know you can spear. Thought bow and arrow is your thing." As he proofed in the arena by shooting one in my arm and one in my leg while I was running around like a rabbit.
"Now come on, pick one up. I'll go easy on you."

I don't like it but I bend down slowly and reach for one weighing it in my hand. It's quite heavy but is missing the tip.
"Neither will I." i promise even though I'm not sure.
"So...no contact? Did I get that right?"
My fingers curl around the middle before I roll my arms and twirl it once or twice to get a feel for its size and weight.
My second hand closes around it as well. I can feel three of my fingers but two seem non existent. I've gotten used to this strange sensation so I practise a few moves before I look over at Tyren and nod.
"Let's try this...you start." I'm not quite sure of what I'm doing yet so I'll let him do his thing.

[Anatra]

"No, I didn't know you can spear. Thought bow and arrow is your thing." It seems there's a lot he might not know. I can use the bow and arrow way better, but the spear is my best melee weapon. "So...no contact? Did I get that right?" I nod at him, readying my spear into an offensive position. The reserved style that makes it look like you're holding back. In reality, I'm not. I'm going to be precise, and I'm not going to relent. This isn't to bring any kind of sick revenge though. And I'm not going to hurt him in the same way he doesn't want to hurt me. This is to be full of motion, but controlled. Every swing and block is to be calculated. "That's right, no contact."

"You start." I don't confirm his offer, but I follow through with it. Quickly, I begin. I swivel my spear left and right, and go for a strike.

W O R D. C O U N T : ----

N O T E S :

[Jack Lexington]

Instead of an answer I get a Tyren who looks like a dancing dervish and very precisely nails me on the head with the stick...well could have..he stops about a mm in front of my forehead letting me know exactly what he was talking about.
I nod and gently push his stick away with the back of my left hand before I take a step back and take a low approach.
I spin, fake one time to attack his head but spin back the same way I came and aim for his legs instead. I'm at least 5 centimeters off his shin when I was really aiming to close to his knee. Crap.
So I duck away to get some distance between us.
"You practised this a lot?" I wonder. I think it's inevitable that I will either totally miss or hit him because I'm not used to this game.

[Anatra]

My spear is only millimetres away from his forehead but I can't help but break a smile. It was exactly the same when Alex and I used to train like this. The first few times that is. When the next set starts, which happens quickly, he spins to start and I can see his spear coming for my head. I duck, but only to realize he's spinning the other way now. Shit, he's got the hang of it already. In a flash it seems I have to react quickly, which is usually my forte but this time he almost gets the hit but I jump and go for a slash sideways but he's ducked already. The rush of adrenaline is amazing to feel. It's the reason I do this, it brings everything into perspective and makes your mind think three times as fast as it would. "You practised this a lot?" He asks quickly during the spar. "Religiously." I answer with word because I'm concentrating so much. It's good to talk whilst we do this though. It reassures me that he isn't going to get into fight-mode and go for my neck.

Matt the Vampire.

"Who did you train with?" I ask as I play defensively now, not wanting to overwhelm him.

W O R D. C O U N T : ----

N O T E S :

[Jack Lexington]

"Who did you train with?" I get a little distracted by his question so my next swing of the stick is absolutely useless as it slips from my fingers and lands on the ground with a thud.
Instinctively I duck and reach for it, then wrap both of my legs around his, turn my whole body over on the ground until I'm on my belly and he hopefully on the ground.
I twist some more to look at him and smile.
"Nobody. I',m a natural."
That's a blunt lie as I have little to no idea what I'm doing.
I untangle myself from him, hold out my hand to pull him up and instantly start attacking again.
This time I stop fairly close to his jaw..."A little more and you'd be using a sippy cup from your brother." I laugh at him.

[Anatra]

When I asked I didn't expect it to distract him, but it did. I feel like I've just played dirty, broke the rules, cheated. But, he rises to it. Or more literally, falls to the ground with legs around mine. I fall to the ground as well and whilst the fall itself should have hurt, the ground is nice and padded. Whilst I'm on the floor, I remember how close I can be to sleeping. It's a strange feeling but the fact of the matter is, I've done a lot today. I shrug it off with his "Nobody. I'm a natural." I grin at him. It's either a good lie or he really is a natural. He helps me up, I crack my neck twice casually.

The next set, and it's better, faster and more fluent. He's getting the hang of it and I can feel the rush even more, until... He gets me without tackling my legs. Right in the jaw, no contact. I nod at his spear while its still there. "Nice." I compliment his skills. "A little more and you'd be using a sippy cup from your brother." He says, referring to little Tyler. He gets me thinking about it now, it's a momentary reminder but it is one. "Ha, yeah." I say briefly.

We prepare for another. "You're gonna know all of my family better than me soon enough, at this rate." I bring my spear to my waist and hold it more like a sword than a spear. This should help me overpower him this time, and I again act defensively.

W O R D. C O U N T : ----

N O T E S :

[Jack Lexington]

We do the tango with our sticks and get more and more into the flow of our motions adapting to one another, reading the other ones moves before they're completed. This is fun.
Tyren's a great sparring partner. I wish I had met him earlier but this is great.
My sippy cup comment gets a small laugh from him but then he says something that momentarily has my mind boggling and makes me let down my guard.
"You're gonna know all of my family better than me soon enough, at this rate." I doubt he's referring to little Tyler now. It must be his girl cousins he's talking about.
"What do you mean? Tara? You know I never hooked up with her." I claim although it might have looked like that to him.

[Anatra]

"What do you mean? Tara? You know I never hooked up with her." I chuckle cheekily. "Oh I know that, because she's got somebody else." I laugh a little more which completely brings my guard down. "Well. I say someone else..." I pause. "It looked that way." I would call myself insensitive but I know that he'll end up getting back with Kyanite. He never told me what he'd done or she'd done, it seemed it was him that felt the worst about it though. I feel the need to talk about this though. "Did... Ky get with someone?" Someone being the obvious person. Max. That's kind of what I meant by he'd get to know all of my family soon enough.

I leave my guard down. Because if I've pissed him off by asking, he at least deserves a hit.

W O R D. C O U N T : ----

N O T E S :

[Jack Lexington]

"Oh I know that, because she's got somebody else." Interesting. Then why was she flirting with me.
"Interesting." I smirk at him but then he confuses me more.
"Well. I say someone else...It looked that way." Now I completely put my stick down and step up to him looking him straight in the eye.
"What on earth are you talking about? What looked what way?" I hope he doesn't refer to what I think he's referring to. I'm starting to get a little pissed now.
Didn't he see that even when I was piss drunk I didn't sleep with a girl who already had her hands on my bits?
"You were there, you saw that I didn't just climb into bed with any of those girls at the clubhouse."

On top of it all he now asks whether Ky got with anyone...like Max?
My eyes narrow. Is he purposely doing this?
"Why do you care?" I raise my stick again and reply with a stern face.
"Get your stick up, man."
Then I take a swing that's much less measured and remind me more of swinging an axe into a tree trunk.

OOC: Your choice whether he hits or not.

[Anatra]

I hit a nerve. I know it. I really shouldn't have. He looks aggressive when he drops his practice spear and looks me right in the eye, walking forward a bit. It's intimidating. I don't move, not even an inch. I don't flinch. "What on earth are you talking about? What looked what way?"

"Tara with this other guy." I say. I can see he's jumped the gun. But then when I ask about Kyanite it fuels him more. "Why do you care?"

"Because he's my cousin." I say, revealing that I had every intention to ask about Max specifically not just Kyanite.

"Get your stick up, man."

I do as he orders, looking a little afraid actually I can tell in the way I feel. I don't hold it in both hands now, I just hold it either side so I can play more defensively. I have it low because I expect another waist-down attack, but he doesn't. It's furious the way he swings it at me. It was like facing a real enemy, if I hadn't of dodged... But I didn't. Not successfully. I tried to lean backward but his practice spear knocks me in the nose. It isn't broken, because if it were I would be in so much more pain. I get on my knees and hold it in pain. "What the f-" Dizziness hits me and a tingling on top of the pain. I squint my eyes trying to see straight and slowly it comes back to me. I put a hand to my nose and take it away to look at it. There's a little blood.

W O R D. C O U N T : ----

N O T E S :