Kiko stepped back. She was fairly surprised by the amount of details he’d acquired in just a few encounters. Hell, most of the mercenary company she had belonged to had not learned what Dominic knew, not in four years. She shook her head and gave a little half laugh. Well, things had changed since Exodus. She had changed. And most of those men and women were probably dead or scattered all over the continent anyway.
His last few comments put a new gleam in her eyes, there was only one person who could chase her down.
“That’s damn good Bard, better than what an average sword slinger would know when meeting me in the field. So, knowing what you do… would you expect me to attack you in the back?”
Of course he would not, he had just pointed out her kindness. Kiko's upper lip twisted at the edges. No one in the Exodus League would have ever claimed she was kind.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dominic mused quietly for another moment, thinking on this. When he answered it was with bright, assured tone.
"Oh absolutely. Not because you're dishonourable, though. I mark you as the pragmatic type. Taking an interest in the safety of a blind man shows that you're essentially a good person. And if there's one thing I never want it's a good person that wants me dead. If an evil person wants you dead they probably want to gloat or make you suffer and generally give you time to escape. A good person just kills you, puts you down like a mad dog."
He grinned, re-settling his grip on the staff and turning his face up to the sun, taking a big lungful of air.
"So what now, miss? Should I embarass myself further with demonstrations of my paltry skill with a stick? Or should I pick up my instrument and start regrowing my callouses?"
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko flinched, suddenly glad Dominic could not see her.
Dishonorable. Kinslayer. Epithets she had hurled at herself. Numerous times. Katsurou had been mad. Driven insane by the blood lust of the beast. She had certainly put him down. Her mouth twisted and she made a very faint strangled sound trying to regain control of her thoughts.
Kiko shook it off. It was not Dominic's fault that he hit a nerve. Hell, if it came right down to it, she had been following him, she had taunted him, she had continued their conversation. She took a lungful of air from the space, and another one before trusting her voice, and if it was just a little shaky, well, it couldn't be helped.
"I'm not much of a stick fighter Dominic, but, as I mentioned earlier I have to wonder if I could adapt your training style."
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dominic didn't make a single indication that he'd heard the little choke and she shake in her voice. He did hear though, as plainly as if she'd broken down sobbing. It wasn't that his hearing was all that more acute than most, it's just he'd had lots of practice focusing on it. When he spoke his voice was, likewise, devoid of clue that she'd let the sadness slip.
"Well, now you have my interest thoroughly piqued, miss. How would you suggest adapting my training to make it better?" It's a genuine question, absolutely devoid of any sarcasm or snark. He is honestly asking how he could do it better.
"You might not know a quarterstaff from a tentpole, but I'm barely one foothold further up that cliff than you, and you're looking down from the edge on pretty much everything else, I'd bet. So c'mon, how you going to throw me that rope?"
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko was searching the edges of the meadow when Dominic first started speaking. She was looking for a nice straight ash or elm, something with a little give in the wood. It was better than standing here mourning over things she could not change.
"Well, Bard. I'm thinking that wrapping something around my eyes and sparing with a piece of wood much like your staff could be interesting. If nothing else, it would certainly improve footing. Meanwhile you could have a live target to try your technique on. Benefits for us both, yeah?"
She had spotted a couple likely looking prospects back at the point where Dominic had originally entered the meadow.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dominic smiled lopsidedly, lazily manipulating the staff to loosen his wrists some more. A little shrug lifted his shoulder and he rolled his neck.
"Sounds like it's going to be awkward and potentially painful. My favourite kind of encounter with a lady. I'll just have to trust that you've truly blindfolded yourself and you're not just using this as an excuse to beat a feller about the head with a stick." His voice carried mirth with it, indicating that he completely expected her to keep her word.
The staff in his hand was well used, he knew every inch of it. It had been stained to prevent rot though the wood was now worn smooth from being handled so often. It had served him well, and had been the very careful work of many days whittling a piece of heartwood into a simple pole.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko laughed at the Bard's words, shaking her head.
"Awkward, heh? And here I thought we all felt the same in the dark."
She did not say anymore, but her footsteps could be heard sprinting back to the mouth of the meadow. She swiftly scrambled up the elm tree she'd noticed and hacked off a solid looking branch. Once out of the tree she trimmed all the smaller branches off it making sure to shave them close to the bark.
She reached out to touch Dominic on the shoulder a few minutes later. She had made plenty of noises on the return sprint, too.
"So. Just to be fair I'll let you tie the blindfold Bard."
Kiko handed him the silk sash she normally wrapped around her hip, shrugging out of the kimono as well. Her armor creaked faintly, and the reason for the kimono was obvious; it muffled sound. She turned around to give him a chance to tie off the silk. There was another reason, of course. She had been momentarily ashamed for sneaking up on him, and following him. She was not sorry for what she had said, only the manner in which she had chosen to present it. This was her attempt at an apology for the subterfuge.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
He appreciated that she made noise, though he knew that she'd most likely do him no harm. A wry and slightly perverse smirk crossed his face as she spoke, a little laughter in his voice as he exclaimed.
"By every ancestor, it can flirt!" He chuckled and sighed "Not that fair miss, considering you're a taken lady." He turned to face her and raisedhis hands, placing one upon her back, raising it up along the back of her neck until he found her head. With care he looped the sash about her forehead, tying it off before reaching round and gently nudged it down over her eyes. His fingers, while calloused, were incredibly gentle as if he feared to hurt her with any sudden movements. He'd learned to be careful when attempting to touch people, lest an accident happen that could cause embarassment or injury. Poking the eye of an audience member then accidentaly groping his fiancee's chest when flourishing at the end of a song had made him learn that lesson the hard way.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko had started this with the vague idea of seeing if she could actually move around without sight. But, thinking about it and doing it were two entirely different things. She had not considered all of the small movements that anyone takes for granted.
A simple step forward was uncomfortably awkward. Kiko was not uncoordinated. She was as agile as a cat, she had to be to survive. But, without her eyes that confidence faltered. She knew where the ground was, of course. But, once picking up her foot she wasn't quite sure the ground would be there when she put it back down. Still, she had offered the challenge.
Kiko turned back around to face Dominic. Or at least where he had been just a few seconds ago. There was a faint smile on her face, too.
"I am taken. I belong to the Wolf. Though, I am not sure why that is important currently. Now, prepare yourself Bard."
Kiko had both hands in pretty much the center area of her staff and she was spinning it experimentally to one side of her body.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dominic had already taken his staff into the ready position and gone over his mental map. She'd been moving around easily, likely it was a good, big, flat field. He wasn't really able to move silently, she'd likely hear any footsteps he made, but he wondered how good the directionality of her hearing was.
He didn't say anything, didn't acknowledge his readiness, just slapped the tip of his staff down and to his right while sidestepping as quietly and nimbly as he could to the left and a little forward, effectively reversing his stance. With the long end of his staff down and to his right he took the most expedient route and snapped his left hand forward in a reverse strike. He didn't put any power behind it and was aiming for what would hopefully be her right shoulder where it wouldn't hurt much. He'd taken careful note of her height, not wanting to accidentally pop her in the head. He figured she was probably more adept at soaking up punishment than him, but it just didn't seem...gentlemanly to press an advantage in combat (a very novel idea to him) AND give her a goose-egg. She'd probably sense it coming and stop it anyhow.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko did sense the attack coming. Once she stopped worrying about where the ground was muscle memory took over. She lifted up on the ball of her right foot snapping halfway around in a quick spin. Her makeshift staff shoved up to her face and then straight out.
The wood collided with a dull crack and Kiko's eyes behind the silk broke open. She was still blind, though. Dominic had tied the material securely and well. He had more experience with his chosen weapon, of course, but she had studied him, too.
He played his instrument with his right hand. It was obviously the dominant one, and even using both hands to swing the staff, that had to be the power behind any attack. The left hand, or his off one, would be the guide. There was a wide smile on Kiko's face. Should she talk and give her position away? She was trying to listen to the Bard, but he had gone silent. What had he been wearing besides the coat and hat?
Kiko was dismayed to realize she did not know.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dominic was indeed right hand dominant. If she were thinking that the power in the swing came from that hand, she was mistaken. The right hand, being the forward hand, was where all the control and direction came from. It was swing speed and pivoting using the front hand as a fulcrum that created power in a long weapon strike.
Time then, perhaps, for a little surprise. As the staff cracked against hers he knew she'd likely wish to counterstrike and didn't want to give her the opportunity. He was a bigger target, but perhaps this idea might work. He whipped the staff back around, sweeping his left foot back again and bending it at the knee while keeping his right foot, now foreward, mainly straight. He whirled the staff at the horizontal, coming in from her left in a wide sweep. Just like most of his technique it was predicated on her last known location and probable stance, his crouch meaning to take her across the legs. However if she had moved, thought to jump back or struck quickly at her own waist height he'd get one straight in the face and the bout would be over.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko had not moved. She was an agile girl. She could turn on a dime and give back nine cents in change, normally. But, having her eyes covered was as much a psychological disadvantage as it was a physical one. She could move, certainly. She knew where the ground was; but the leaps, twists, and spins that were a part of her repertoire in battle simply did not occur here.
Dominic's staff collided with the side of her knee and stole her feet. Kiko smacked into the ground with her hip, elbow, and shoulder. She gave a sound, too; a bit off curse. This was starting to remind her of one of her grandfather's training sessions where he would hammer at her with the wooden practice sword.
She recovered fast. She even managed pull her body back up and stand. But, her knowledge of where Dominic had gone was lost. She could not hear him.
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dominic didn't follow up with what would usually be the final blow, a vicious overhead strike aimed at the point where he judged she'd landed. Instead he shifted back to his normal stance, feeling his arms and legs tingle with slight protest at being pushed so. He spoke, knowing that it took him a long time to learn to orient himself by sound, and not wanting to alienate the girl who had, rather graciously, put herself at a disadvantage for him.
"Crazy, not knowing which way is which, eh?" he began, tone light and easy "It's near impossible to keep a direction properly in your head if you're not used to not seeing. Took me until I was sixteen to learn to cross a room I knew to the inch without my stick. I kissed more doorframes than girls in my youth I can tell you." It was true. Pain was an excellent tutor and he'd forced himself to learn how to memorize spaces and keep his orientation in mind. He'd broken his nose, both wrists and sprained an ankle before learning it. Oh and then came the meagre combat training. He'd almost begun to ignore the concept of head trauma by the end of it.
He'd reset his stance and kept his staff up and ready, but if she were smarter this time she'd come in at some odd, oblique angle and give as good as she got. When he'd felt those arms against him he'd felt sinewy strength. If she hit him hard as she could she'd probably break something, and it wasn't going to be her stick.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Kiko spun her head around. He'd spoken, and was still speaking it was enough to catch the general area he was in, and the more he talked the easier it became to pinpoint. What she didn't know was why he had not followed up his first attack. Her collision with the ground gave away where she landed, and by his own admission he would use a second blow to incapacitate.
Her grandfather would not allow such an opening to pass. Of course, her and Dominic were not trying to kill each other, but that had hardly mattered to her grandfather in the training ring. Kiko shook her head. She needed to concentrate on the here and now. Her staff was back in the center of her body, awkward, yes. It was heavy and long, and even if her wrists were well equipped to use a katana the weight distribution was utterly different here. Polearms were not her weapons, even though every female in town knew, at the very least, rudimentary movements and attacks with them.
His tactic to swept her feet out from under her was smart, and Kiko had to applaud that, even though she'd known it was coming. Her quick feet were an advantage. Take them away and he had improved his chances considerably. She could win this easily, the wolf form would know where he had gone by smell. But, that wasn't the point. She wanted to know if she could drop him to the ground without her eyes.
She took a tentative half step forward and hated herself for it. Bold, fast, furious; that was the attack style she favored. But, well, all your battle plans go out the window when the first volley is struck. The winner is the one that can adapt. Kiko spun the butt end of her staff up and struck him where she thought his chest was at, jabbing it forward.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”