Morning Routine | Open

A morning routine was important for Shane. It kept him level headed and made him a much more pleasant person to be around for the rest of the day. Step one was his run, which he had already done for the day. Now he was on to step two, training at the practice fields. Sure, he would spend the rest of the day running around the Garrison training with this recruit or thay, but this was for his own gain and not someone else's. A quick glance around let him know that none of his usual sparring partners were around. He was early enough today that only one other pair of fighters could be seen. 

The dummy he chose looked worn out and ragged from over use.  Still, it would serve his purpose for now. The sword was heavy in his hand, poised to strike whenever a new comer to the field caught his eye. Lowering the weapon, Shane turned to see who it was. 

Leonora was an early riser, and aside from eating breakfast, she liked to put her energy and Hermesian agility into use.  Instead of running around aimlessly, though, she had expended her energies upon playing sports; therefore, Leo had been playing basketball with some friends in the dawn.  But now that it was morning, she decided that it ought to be time for her to practice her combat--well, she had the advantage because her opponent would be a nonliving, tattered up dummy.  No, she wasn't going to practice her combat.  She was going to abuse an object.  Fun.  But it wasn't like she would be hacking brainlessly at it.  It was important for her to practice wielding her sword and striking with a precise aim, as swordsmanship was complex.

Anyway, she entered the practice fields with a sword in her hand.  There was already another guy there destroying away a dummy.  It seemed that he noticed her, though, and thus stopped what he was doing to get a look at her.  Leonora nonchalantly waved to him.  "Morning," she said before making her way to her own dummy.

@shane

Shane nodded his head in the girl's direction before turning back to his dummy, striking it in the chest area quickly and precisely. "Morning. What brings you here so early?" He asked in between strikes, moving quickly to every area he felt necessary. He needed a real opponent, but he was too keyed up this morning to actually ask. Plus, the girl looked young, too young for him to be sparing with in his opinion.

A few more clean slices whizzed through the air before Shane stepped back to admire his handy work, feeling particularly proud of himself this morning. He was getting better, if that was even possible.

Leonora made her way to the dummy beside his.  She glanced at him from the corner of her eye when he asked her what brought her to the Practice Fields so early.  "For the sake of not coming here late," she quipped.  She smiled slightly at her joke, for it seemed that even if others didn't find the humor in them, she thought they were amusing.  "Or the more conventional answer would be that I enjoy hacking motionless dummies in the morning; you know, it's a refreshing warm-up for the day and it keeps my blade quenched.  Oh, and it keeps me polished with my sword-wielding skills.  Three benefits all in one action; fair bargain, eh?"

And she commenced to strike her sword against the dummy--not randomly, of course, but in precise movements of a true swordsman.  She may be young and those her age didn't need to know how to fight at the moment unless she wanted to be part of the Garrison, but she had been from Camp Half-Blood where the tradition was that one learned how to fight, no matter who they were, because protection wasn't as secure as it was on Concordia. 

She stopped striking blows at the dummy for a moment to look at his progress, and she whistled at the sight of those precise and clean-cut marks he had left on the dummy.  He was a good swordsman, indeed.  "Wow, whoever is standing in close proximity to you better not provoke you into a temper...unless they want to end up looking nothing short of identical to that pitiful thing."

"It takes a lot to get me that angry." Shane replied, looking at the state of her dummy. She definitely had promise, even for someone who he doubted was in the Garrison. "Well, most days. Today I should have probably stayed home." His chuckle was meant to be reassuring, but he was pretty sure he sounded like a serial killer. Then again, he had so much potential to be one that he should probably be at least a little concerned.

"Shane, by the way. I don't think we've met before." He said, sheathing is sword before walking over to shake her hand in greeting.

"Then people should do very little when around you," she jokingly responded when said that it took a lot to get him angry.  Her eyebrows shot upward, though, with what he said next.  "Is this my queue to dash off for the other side of the island while I still can? I assure you I'm quite capable of doing that with my inherited super speed before you turn me into...that."  She quickly cocked her head in the direction of the dummy. 

He seemed to be joking, because he had no intentions of ripping her into shreds.  In fact, he even introduced himself to her, and she took his hand and shook it.  "Leonora Keinz, daughter of Hermes.  I suppose it's a good thing we've never met before, for I might have found myself the target of your sword's blade now and then..." She slyly narrowed her eyes at him.  "And now that I know you, I suppose I ought to be wary of that."  

She chuckled and patted him on the arm.  "Nah, you look like the tough but adorable type of guy.  So tell me, Shane, who's your godly parent? Or have you been claimed yet?"

"Ares, of course. Who else could create a mess like me." He said with a chuckle. The girl, Leonora, amused him for some reason and he could feel is precious frustration ebbing away slowly. "As for the adorable part, just don't tell that to my guys and it'll be just fine." Those Garrison boys would walk all over him if they thought he had a soft spot. Some of the others got away with it, but he knew he didn't have the respect they did.

"Mind a little sparring?" He said as an after thought, walking back towards his dummy. "If we both keep it up like this, we'll be out of dummies before the hour is up."

"A child of Enyo, maybe?" she said, pretending to seriously answer his "question" regarding what other person could create a mess like him.  "Nah, no worries.  If I ever come across one of your guys, I'll tell them you tried to sacrifice me to cannibals.  I suppose that's should be enough to not convey adorableness."

She glanced at the dummy, and then her sword by her side, and then shrugged.  "Sure, why not? I'd want a combat partner who could mock me.  Dummies can't utter a single word."  Without giving any indication that she meant to begin sparring, she used her lightning fast Hermes speed to surprise him.  Or, at least she tried to.  Subtly, she took a step backward and parted her legs in a fighting stance.  "Think fast!" she said suddenly before gripped the handle of her sword with both hands, raised it, and swung it down from the side in his direction.      

Shane barely had time to react before her sword swung by him, narrowly missing as he jumped backwards. With a grin, he stepped backwards far enough to assume a more favorable position. "Not bad. Not great, but not bad." He said, moving towards her before swinging he sword around to connect with hers.

"Aw, c'mon, hero, can you think of a worse insult that's not tainted with a compliment?" she said with a grin as she brought up her sword to block his sword thrust, thus making the two swords connect.  She swiftly pulled her sword out of the way and then aimed lower toward his legs--although, it was a bit hard because swords were heavy and she didn't practice as rigorously as she had back in Camp Half-Blood when it was mandatory that ALL demigods do it.

"I'm sure I could." He said, blocking her attach before arching his sword up to connect with hers again. Shane wasn't out to hurt her, so he wouldn't even try. A little bit of clean sparring never hurt anyone. "But I'm not sure it's worth my time." The quip was playful but short as he turned his sword to hit her shoulder with the broadside. It wouldn't hurt more than a sting, but it would let her know that he did in fact get a hit in.

Leo was quick, but this time she hadn't been quick enough.  She moved out of the way, but the sword still was able to touch her shoulder with his broadside.  Damn, this guy was good! It would be easier if she had a shield here with her...but then again, this was good practice.  It wasn't all the time when demigods got to fight monsters with shields, especially in emergency situations.  She was lucky enough to have a sword.

"Going for the arrogant approach?" she said in regards to his little quip about it not being it worth his time.  "I like that.  What's a world without some cockiness? Makes you actually sound like you know what you're doing."  While his sword was still on her shoulder she quickly swiped her sword at his lower abdomen to see if he could block that in time.

Shane jumped back slightly, unable to avoid the grazing of the blade across his stomach. It didn't hurt, but the sting of it set him off balance. making a wide arc with his sword, Shane met hers again before spinning away, giving her an opening to try again. It wasn't like they didn't have ambrosia and healers. They could afford to be a little bit reckless if they wanted to.

"Did pigs just fly or did I actually--touch the son of Ares with a weapon?" she said in mock astonishment.  Now she was seeing that he was affording to be a little more reckless.  That was more like it! This was how she remembered sparring in Camp Half-Blood when even the children of the gentlest gods had to know how to fight like a savage.  She curiously swung her sword toward his side while he spun away to see if it would hit. 

Shane had expected her to take the opening, moving his sword back just in time to block it. "Only because I let you." He said with a smirk. Backing off, he decided to let her make the next move. If it was going to be beneficial to both of them, he needed to let her have a chance to fire off a few shots of her own. Otherwise he would be the only one getting anything out of this. Plain and simple.