2024-12-04 - Living Life to the Hilt

It started out as a bit of a lark and a joke, as these things so often do. Chase and Elijah were riffing on the knights and jousters for their footwork, with the mechanic challenging the performer regarding lessons. Then there was a very nasty shared dream that saw several of the park's staff fighting off undead drowned pirates. With the seed planted, Elijah decided to bite the bullet and arrange to do some lessons on basic sword fighting and stage fighting. Never hurts to know what to do, and while he isn't going to turn an novice into an experienced swordsman like him, he can at least ensure they can club drowned dream zombies like a baby seal with a certain proficiency.

And so he's taken over the basketball court at Fox Run, bringing with him a golf caddy full of swords (both live steel and rattan wrapped in duct tape and closed cell foam) and some refreshments including his own home brew Gatorade, pickles (in juice, don't knock it folks) and some homemade granola courtesy of his roommate. The Texan is in a pair of grey joggers and a grey t-shirt for the Texas Renaissance Festival 2020, his hair pulled back with an athletic headband. He's currently warming up, walking the length of the basketball court at a brisk pace. Because warm up is important, ok?

Angel heard about this training session via word on the street...or cafe...and has come down to see if it is teaching real skills or stage skills. She doesn't intend to get directly involved, it's more about learning whether any of the other employees will be able to defend themselves in an emergency. The brown-skinned woman is Security with a long history in the military, so she will be watching with an experience eye. Simply dressed in boots, leggings and t-shirt, despite the chill and just in case she is called up, Angel will find a spot to study both the students and the teacher.

What better way to end a day teaching a series of tennis classes than getting to FIGHT? Zoe is pumped to be here and jogs over to join the warm up walk around the court. Blonde hair is swept into a high ponytail, and she sports a purple tank top with space patterned leggings and dark sneakers. "This is going to be so much fun!" she insists brightly while slowing her pace out of the jog to keep time Elijah. She clutches a large water bottle in her hands, because hydration is important too!

Drea carries her gear into the basketball court in a soft-sided snowboard bag, a fencing mask with added padding perched high atop her head, her hair drawn into a low braid, a heater shield slung over her left shoulder, and wearing a Knights of Valor hoodie, leggings, and athletic shoes. She heads over to one side of the court, dropping off her gear bag and unzipping it to reveal a wide array of blunted steel and padded swords, a couple of bucklers, and another mask. The shield is set down alongside it, and she pulls the mask off the top of her head too, offering up a bright wave to Elijah, "I totally didn't know you were working here until I saw your post. It's good to see you, it's been since... was it Missouri?"

Angel gets a wave as well, and she brightens up even further when she spots Zoe, "Hey! How's it going? Do you both know what you're doing too? Or do we get to start from scratch?" There's no judgment in the question, if anything, she sounds excited to have some folks starting from scratch.

Heaven is sitting in the second row of the bleachers, a first-aid kit sitting next to her. Not that she will need it, probably. Her blonde hair is tied up in a top of the head pony and she's wearing some gray sweatpants and a loose tee shirt.

She leans back on her hands and watches folks warm up.

Jett lived in Fox Run so it wasn't like a huge journey to get to the basketball court and so he comes swaggering along with a rolling stride. He's garbed in black, true to the fashion of a goth, with a long sleeved black shirt that has some sort of bleeding text on it (it says slipknot) set over some black jeans and skater shoes. He is accessorized to the hilt; earrings, nose ring, lip ring, necklaces, bracelets, chains dropping from the front of his belt to the back. Why is this important to note? It's because none of it is expensive shit; it's all made out of upcycled pieces of metal, stone, and wood.

He scans the golf cart toward the swords and sort of hangs out near the back fridge of the class so far. He doesn't immediately recognize anyone other than maybe the guy leading this thing. He dips a hand in his pocket and takes a 'gangster' stance with his hip set out and his weight back on a heel, waiting to see what this is all about.

To be fair, Elijah looks quite a bit different without the costume (and makeup) that he wears when he's Dread Pirating it up at the Pirate Cove; he looks like an varsity jock, truth be told, between the sneakers, sweats, and general physical fitness. He chuckles at Zoe when she enthuses by his side, careful to match paces with her. It's a warm up, after all, not cardio.

He slows down and finally stops not far from Drea, lifting his hand in greeting, "Hey, nice t' see y'." Elijah greets the swordswoman, his accent as thick as ever with that slow whiskey-and-chocolate drawl. "Glad t' see I ain't gunna have t' do this solo." He glances around, and chuckles, "Well, dunno if anyone other'n us is gunna be aces, but ain't like basic drills're gunna hurt us, after all."

He stretches, arms over head, and relaxes, saying, "So, Imma get this out t' way quick-like. I'm Elijah, an' I both perform an' choreograph f' t' pirate show. I been swingin' swords since I was fifteen, both stage fightin' and HEMA. Who here's actually swung a sword, other'n Dame Drea o'er there? An' I ain't talkin' t' one that hangs down there." He raises one eyebrow sardonically, "That's a whole 'nother lesson, and I ain't teachin' that."

Angel offers an upnod to Drea in response to the wave, though her expression remains as deadpan. As to the double question about her sword swinging abilities. "I've had some experience and some general military training. I'm more used to not letting people get that close but sometimes when a talwar is coming at you, you have to deal with it. Then use it on their friends." There's no proud in her tone, just matter-of-fact.

"I'll be watching if that's okay. Unless you really need me to take part. But don't worry about stage fighting for me, I'm not a performer." An additional comment for Elijah and his innuendo about other swords. "I'd need three hands for mine, so happy to skip that part" the woman deadpans.

Jett's makes a small guffaw of immaturity at the back of the class for the at the jest that's put in the explanation of who Elijah is and what he does or doesn't teach in regards to sword fighting. However Jett doesn't put his hand up to suggest that he's even touched a sword before.

"Name's Jett. I have some martial arts training," he says when its his turn to give introductions. They are doing turns right? And introductions?

"Hey, Heav!" Zoe waves brightly at her roommate with her water bottle, which makes the ice cubes clink around. "If I get stabbed dramatically you can totally have my flat iron," she jokes with a grin.

Over to Drea, she grins and lifts her chin. "I don't have a clue. I mean-- I bet there are some basics between martial arts that translate to swordsmanship, but we'll find out! I'm usually a fists only kinda gal," she explains, shifting her weight from side to side with a one-two jab.

"Hi, I'm Zoe!" she introduces herself with a nod to Jett while brimming with energy that should be gone after a full day of work.

"I can be your helper," Drea smirks aside at Elijah, digging through her gear bag to pull out a variety of padded longswords and arming swords from the capacious container. She looks up at Elijah's reference to a different sort of sword and rolls her eyes, and then covers up something halfway between a snicker and a giggle behind one hand at Angel's response. She gives the Security woman a thumbs up, and then beckons to Jett and Heaven once, inviting them in and then decidedly not pressuring further as she focuses on those who want to get into it. "HEMA, or Historical European Martial Arts, like Elijah said, is about as far from stage fighting as you can get. I'm still learning to stage fight well, but I've been doing HEMA for about four years. It's deadly serious, even if it can be a totally good time."

Nodding over to Jett and Zoe, Drea adds, "Martial arts background will give you lots of the footwork, measure -- that's distance -- and timing. It'll just be integrating the sword with what you're doing."

Holding up a couple of the padded weapons, she smiles around the group, "Besides, who doesn't like to hit their friends with padded swords?"

Heaven waves at Zoe, giving her a thumbs up. She broke her flat iron two weeks ago, she could use a new one. Hopefully, nobody gets stabbed. She pulls out her bottle of soda, and takes a drink, watching folks get set up.

"Stage fightin' and HEMA are pretty different." Elijah agrees to Drea with a reasonable sort of nod even as he reaches for his golf caddy and pulls out a sword with a basket hilt and slightly curved blade. "But mostly 'coz they require different disciplines. Stage fightin' is all 'bout cues that t' other performer can read. HEMA ain't like that, even if once y' get t' a certain level y' can usually sus out someone's style. An' don't underestimate trainin' in knowin' how t' move y' body t' way y' want it."

That's added regarding the martial arts background, and sets his cutlass aside for a moment to pull out a handful of foam-wrapped sticks and tosses them onto the court. "First step, pickin' a blade." He cocks his head at Drea, "Assume y' got a practice sword, but feel free t' help t' others pick, yeah? Once y' got a sword, we'll get started with basic footwork an' move on t' strikes." He cocks his head at Drea, "Think Meyers square fer drillin'?"

Jett flicks his fingers up in a short wave to Zoe when she nods to him and he shuffles a little closer at the beckoning from Drea. "It sounds interesting," he remarks to Drea about adding a sword to the martial arts technique, "When do we get to light them on fire?" Fighting with flaming swords?! That would be cool right?

When he's told to get a sword Jett meanders that way to pick from the pile of swords. He has no idea what he's doing though and what difference in swords there is or what makes a sword different from the other one.

Zoe crouches to claim one of the sticks and scoots off to the side. She finds a spot with enough space to swing the blade around, testing the weight and feel of it in her hand. Her expression is nothing short of delighted. "I should have brought a jaunty hat. I think that would help me get into character."

"Wait, fire? We get to fight with fire?!" Her eyes are wide and full of hope as she stares at Jett following his words.

"I've got longswords and arming swords -- two-handed and one-handed -- plus daggers," Dread confirms. "I'm assuming you're more saber, Capt'n Elijah?" She takes one of the longer padded blades for herself, stepping out into a clear area a ways away from Elijah so that all of the others can see one of them clearly. "I started with Fiore's largo, but Meyer's Square works nice for starting out too. I can do that." She pauses, and then brightens again, scooting back to her bag to dig into it and pull out a sheet of laminated paper that she goes to the front of the area with, showing the diagram printed on it.

"A longsword will be a little easier if you're worried about upper body strength, because you use it with both hands and it's not much heavier than an arming sword or saber, but it really depends on what you want to use." She cuts a glance over to Elijah, then responds to Jett and Zoe, "And... uh... I'd say fire comes after you're not a danger to anyone else with a non-flaming sword, but that's up to the head instructor."

Heaven leans forward, trying attempting to hear the discussion. It might be interesting. She pulls out her lunch bag and extracts a corn dog from within and takes a bite. She pulls out some sauce, and pours it over the corn dog before she pulls out her phone to check her text messages.

"Eh, most o' t' force comes from hips an' wrist anywho. As far as m' style... I tend t' default t' Germanic 'stead of Italian." Elijah says to Drea in a slightly apologetic tone, "I was taught by a Landsknecht. I prefer Meyer's square anyways t' get people comfortable slashin'. Like a wise man once said: Killing with the point lacks artistry." Yes, the good ol' boy that didn't graduate high school is quoting Dune.

He adds, "An' we'll keep t' flamin' swords t' advanced lessons."

Beat, and he adds, "Okay, folk. Lets start w' t' general stance an' footwork." He strikes a pose, facing the square Drea is holding. "Lead w' y' dominant side, limits t' surface area you expose. Point w' t' dominant foot, an' when y' step forward, heel-toe and once y' settle forward, bring y' other foot up. Don't lock y' knees, 'coz y' want t' be able t' bounce like car suspension. Once y' got t' foot work down, we'll do the Meyers drills. Line up at t' mid court line an' we'll get t' swingin' after."

Fire in the future. Zoe can run with that. She gives the teachers a grin, 'cause she's usually on the other side doing the coaching rather than being coached.

Her expression falls into one far more focused as she follows the directions closely, sliding one foot forward with a steady stance that she tests with a bounce of her knees. Her foam blade slides forward with a woosh of air and a wiggle of her wrist to test out the flair of it. She keeps her voice low as to not interrupt, but she is whispering words like avast and begone to test our her stage fighting vocabulary.

"Oo daggers," Jett responds to what Drea confirms they have and he ends up taking an arming one handed sword and a dagger. It was a hard choice so he took both! The opportunity to eventually put fire to them does it's trick in making sure that Jett is paying attention to the basics. The idea of welding flaming swords is probably the reason he's here; not that it was advertised but Jett is young yet so he dares to dream.

Jett looks over at everyone else and then back to Elijah with a blank face. Did he pick up anything that Elijah was laying down? No. But something about flaming swords in advanced lessons, so YES. That has Jett flashing a grin, "Sweet."

"I can't understand what he's saying..." Jett mutters as he tries to figure out the instruction with the heavy accent. He looks to the other people in the group to see what they're doing, spotting what Zoe is doing and mimicking her directly, inclusive of the woosh.

Drea props up the diagram of numbers and lines at the front of the court-turned-classroom, and then moves around to stand in 'front' of Zoe and Jett, where they can see her when they can't see Elijah. "This is called a fencing step, forward with your front foot, then follow up with your back foot to stay balanced. Always keep your sword on the front side of your body," she holds her longsword in front of her waist, point up and forward, to demonstrate, shifting it across her body as she steps forward with her back foot to reverse her stance, "That's a cross-step. You usually want to be moving, either a fencing step or a cross-step when you attack, because you have to get close to attack. To start out with, if you're parrying -- stopping the sword with your sword -- you don't want to step, because that'll get you too close." She points out the midcourt line for the others, getting into her own stance just ahead of and to one side of them. "For now, like the Captain said, we're just going to fencing step and cross-step, just keep your weapons in front of you as you do."

She pauses a moment, flashing a grin over to the new students, "It gets easier. Promise. And way more fun once we start actually swinging the swords. We'll have you in fencing masks and whacking each other with the padded swords by the end of the lesson."

With Drea leading the advance, Elijah takes the opportunity to hang to the side to watch, his blade slung across his shoulders. "Tighten up t' stance." He tells Jett with a nod, grimacing as he focuses on his diction to try and be less confusing. Texan is almost a different language entirely, after all! He nods as they advance, giving Zoe a thumbs up.

"Ok, good on t' footwork. Let's do t' Meyers circle." He moves over to the front, gets into stance, and nods. "See the numbers on t' diagram? That tells y' what order t' strike. An' a good strike will look like this." And he helpfully does a simple snap shot, twisting hips rather than swinging his arm and letting his wrist snap to complete the blow. He does it once, quick as lightning with the very air making a sound of protest, before doing it again, much slower so each movement and how he settles his weight is visible.

He straightens up, "Y' got it? Need me t' do it again?"

Zoe watches intently and mirrors Elijah's swings with slow but precise movements. She seems to be a visual learner and processes more after watching rather than listening. Her sneakers squeak on the gym floor as she takes a step forward with a swing of her hips.

"You just might have more fun on stage than I do with classes," she realizes with a laugh before trying again. "Do you think the company lawyers would freak out if we tried with lightsabers?"

Jett understood that one, when Elijah comes by. Jett isn't the most educated soul here either so trying to figure out what the accent was about was a bit of a struggle. Though he does get it it just isn't the greatest foot work that he can do, listening to Drea repeat the instructions and watching her movement to replicate it.

The Meyers circle is a little more challenging for him. He has a decent background in martial arts but this was a smidge different. He pauses to watch the demonstration then repeats it.

"Hell, this ain't even gettin' into the flyin' an' the acrobatics." Elijah grins at Zoe. It's a flash of a wide, mischievous grin, there long enough to register before he's back to affable stoicism. "Almost makes t' Karens worth it."

The drilling continues with an elbow tucked here, a foot nudged into place there. And Elijah gets Drea to assist Zoe with how to perfect throwing the blows. Women's hips are hinged differently and all. Finally, once they've all finished the Meyers square successfully, Elijah grins and cocks his head. "Well, how y'all feel 'bout tradin' some blows? Y'all go a round, an' I'll fight t' winner. Drea can ref an' make sure everythin' is clean."

"Oh, hell, I deal with Karens for private coaching every day and I don't get to fly. I should at least get to fly! I'm transferring divisions," Zoe announces with a laugh and a shake of her head which whips her ponytail around.

She follows Drea's advice carefully with an easy grin-- she loves learning as much as teaching, so this is right up her alley. "May as well put it to work, yeah! I'm down," she tilts her head and smiles curiously at Jett to see how he feels about it.

Jett pulls back his foot in the way that was shown, but then goes rogue and does his own little SWISH SWISH with footwork he's more comfortable with. As there is talk of putting it to use he looks over at Zoe's challenge with an up nod, "Yeah alright. As long as you promise to plant me under a tree." Morbid much? He cracks a grin and looks toward the trainers to see if that's really what they want to do.

Even if she's just going to ref, Drea goes to collect her fencing mask, holding the padded sword blade between her knees as she straps the mask on and secures the padding on the back of her head over her braid. "Zoe, you'll probably want to set that pony tail down lower or it'll get in the way of the mask." Collecting her heater shield as well, she swats the padded flat of her blade against the shield, "When we're getting started, it's always best to wear safety gear. I've seen people get concussed even with the padded swords when they weren't wearing masks. And that's no fun, even if wailing on each other is."

Angel isn't dressed for combat, per se, but this does look like fun. And what's a few bumps and bruises between employees? "If you need numbers, I'm happy to give it a go" she calls out to Elijah. To Drea's warning she adds, "And if you have something I could wear, that would be great." Angel may be brave but she's not stupid.

Elijah shrugs one shoulder at Drea's talk of proper equipment. Personally, he's never felt a concussion necessarily hurts when it comes to learning. Helps remind people to duck! Elijah switches his cutlass out for a padded weapon of his own (and the protective equipment, Drea) indulging in a little theatricality as he kicks off the ground to do a barrel roll to close the distance. Once he's in the circle, he grins at Jett and finally pulls the mask down. "No cup shots, an' keep it relatively fair." He warns, "We gotta work tomorrow, an' don't want t' lawyers gettin' pissy."

He then rolls his neck and takes an on guard position, waiting for Jett to make the first move.

Somewhere along the way his partner was rotated out and now he has to face the Texan. Jett eyeballs Elijah with an uncanny nervous smirk, "Riiight..." His shoulders stiffen up as he takes a moment to 'ground' himself before he sets his gaze upon Elijah. Sword at the ready; as much as a guy can hold a sword at the ready after the first time holding one.

"Absolutely I've got a mask for you," Drea confirms for Angel, digging out her spare and bringing it over to help the other woman get it situated. Once she's set, Drea steps back, clearing room between them and hefting up her shorter padded arming sword and her shield, "Let's avoid wrestling and not hit below the waist." She waits for acknowledgement, and then moves forward, sliding to her left and dropping her shield a little to sweep a slash in at Angel's right arm from over her own left shoulder. "Just don't do to me whatever you did with that tulwar, although I'd love to hear the story later."

"Ready?" A couple breaths.
"Steady?" A couple more. And then...

"GO!"

Elijah gives Jett a few moments, allowing him to throw the first blow. And it's a successful connect, hitting the Texan across his chest hard enough that if he wasn't wearing the padded jacket, he'd be bruised and possibly crack a rib. But it's hard to know that, because Elijah takes the blow... and doesn't react at all, other than to shift his weight to hook an arm under Jett's defenses and whip shot him across the head. Bonk.

Angel takes the offered mask and armor and pulls them on quickly. A nod of agreement about the parameters of their bout, though something does have Angel looking concerned. "You get a shield too?" She shrugs it off and gets ready to tango. As previously explained, swords are not her thing, and she moves too aggressively and obvious. Drea easily stepping away and slashing Angel in return. "The guy with tulwar didn't have a shield" she smirks before a nod of appreciation at the other woman's skill. "Go again?" Though it seems there has been quite the injury in the other bout. Drea was right about the helmets.

Jett was the optimist and swung with zero regard for his defense! There was a split second on his face that might have registered 'I HIT HIM' with some degree of pride until the other's sword hits him in the back of the head. It has him suddenly unable to keep his balance as his bell is rung and his weight throws over his feet. In a hurry he's down on the ground catching himself with a knee at the last minute. He shakes his head from side to side as if he's trying to clear away all the little birdies circling his head.

"Honestly, the shield kinda gets in the way if you don't know how to use it." Drea backs away after the first exchange that ends with her landing a slash and catching Angel's on her shield. "But -- " there's a loud thwap from the other area of the court, and she shifts her sword into her left hand with her shield, holding up a hand to forestall any attack by Angel as she looks to see the result of the contact. "Everyone okay over there?" Even as she's asking, she tucks her sword under her arm so that she can work her shield free of her forearm and set it aside. She looks between Jett and Elijah, "How many Elijahs do you see?" Good thing he doesn't have Bilocation, or that could be a problematic question.

Elijah good naturedly waves Drea off. "I got it, D." He says breezily, even as he's tucking his own sword under his arm and casually takes his mask and helmet off. Because he won't be needing that anymore. He grins down at Jett, offering him a hand up, "Good blow, man." He tells him enthusiastically, "Y' just didn't quite have the flick o' t' wrist timed right. Let's get y' sittin' down an' I'll look y' over while the women show us how it's done."

Angel is happy to stop while injuries are seen to. It gives her a chance to give the 'blade' a few swings, getting used to the weight and balance. "Oh, if I had the shield, I'd be tripping over it" she admits to Drea. "But since you don't have the padded armor on. You know, the stuff you told us all to wear, all good if you want to use it."

It seems that Jett is okay, so that's good. Angel looks to Drea. "One more for the Gipper?"

Drea nods to Elijah, casting Jett another glance before she focuses on Angel once more, "The jackets are good practice. But I also heal up real fast if I get bruised. The mask is the most important bit." She keeps the shorter blade than the one Angel has, holding it in just one hand. "Who's the Gipper?" She beckons Angel on with the point of her sword, and waits for the other woman to attack. When she does, Drea steps aside and uses her sword to guide the attack past her before she comes around and swipes horizontally at Angel's torso. She comes up short of her target, and she backs up again, covering herself with her sword, "Nice move. Good instincts."

As he sits Jett down and checks him over, including using a flashlight to peek at dilation, Elijah also sneaks Jett an amber bottle of liquid, muttering, "My mama swore by hooch an' ginger ale f' pain. Good fightin', brother." He catches Drea's attention and gives her a salute to indicate Jett is fine and instead focusing on the last bout between the two women.

That it ends in a draw is met with a grin. "Very good, Angel. Reckon' it's t' military trainin', but you took to it like a duck t' water an' then some! Next time they hold a tourney at t' Castle, y' should try it out." Drea is given another salute with his sword, a gesture of knightly respect to another knight. He then glances around, and scratches his jaw line consideringly.

"Um. Y'all wanna help clean up?" He says, as if just now realizing there's a mess. "An' then mebbe some ice cream? With rainbow sprinkles."

And, indeed, in the warm, comfortable confines of Nora's Diner there is ice cream.

With rainbow sprinkles.