What did the dummy do to you? [C]

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne laughed a bit. Did Marius really owe her a favor? Probably, but she also couldn't tell when he would be back. For as much as she knew, she was probably stuck with the monkey forever or until it ran away. One or the other. She shook her head though. She did miss the guy, but she had to move on. And if anything came out of this, it looked like she probably made a new friend. And possibly a new sparring buddy.

"Sure," Daphne said with a smirk as she motioned Atalanta to an open area where others were sparring as well. "And you picked the right person. I'm the best sword fighter in camp, so you'll learn from the best." She chuckled as she drew out her sword as she turned around the face the Ares girl. "You ready?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow at her.

[Atalanta Nikolaou]

❝

Come, surf the clouds, Race the dark, It feeds from the runs undone, Meet me where the cliff greets the sea Do you think you can keep up?

❞

Atalanta grinned as she followed Daphne in the open area, grabbing a sword from one of the racks in the process and twirling it to test the feel in her hand the balance of the weapon. Satisfied with it, she nodded her head in Daphne's remark about her being the best swordsman in Camp. She sized her up, wondering if she was merely showing off, but shrugged and took a rather relaxed stance facing Daphne. "Ready." She said and raised her sword to the point the tip was on her eye level, sword foot forward and body vertically positioned to Daphne's own.

And she waited. Atalanta knew that making the first move in a fight was best only if you were certain of the outcome. It wouldn't be wise to lung at someone who had probably far more experience with a sword than herself. So she stayed still, though not planted on the ground. Her eyes locked with Daphne's own, a habbit she had developed from her Shotokan lessons. The eyes were where the telltales could be found, anything else could be easily used as a faint.

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deltra of gangnam style

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne watched as Atalanta picked out a weapon and got into a ready position. She nodded her head when she voiced she was ready and Daphne also got into a ready position with her hands on her sword. Daphne wasn't one for making the first move. She thought it showed eagerness, but not the good kind. Plus, she believed in defensive tactics rather than offensive ones after her time in camp. She took a couple of deep breaths as she waited to see if Atalanta would make the first move. After those few moments had passed, Daphne decided to act.

She knew that Atalanta was probably a beginner, Daphne figured she could hold her own. She wasn't going to go easy on her. So with her sword, she swung in up above her head before she charged towards Atalanta as she brought her sword down towards her.

[Atalanta Nikolaou]

❝

Come, surf the clouds, Race the dark, It feeds from the runs undone, Meet me where the cliff greets the sea Do you think you can keep up?

❞

Atalanta watched as Daphne didn't seem to be one for first moves either. But for a daughter of Ares she was surprisingly patient. As Daphne charged with her sword raised up, there was no question about where it would go next. Making use of her battle reflexes, Atalanta sidestepped towards the right and back, away from the line of Daphne's sword and in turn aimed for Daphne's ribs and back.

Now, while Atalanta was new to swordplay footwork, her Shotokan footwork was indeed very good. However it had one slight problem, it was rather rooted to the ground, so if Daphne was fast enough she should've been able to block, or at least move into a more favorable position.

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deltra of gangnam style

[Daphne Scotts]

Just by the fact that Atalanta sidestepped out of Daphne's path that this was going to be an excellent fight. She hadn't had one of them for months, so this caused her to smirk a bit. Once she saw her attack was going to miss Atalanta, she noticed that she had an attack of her own aimed right at her side. Daphne quickly rotated on her feet and blocked the attack with her sword. She held the position as she shifted her weight so that when she tried to push Atalanta's weapon towards her, it would hopefully knock her off balance. However, Daphne also saw this fight going unpredictable as well seeing how she fought within the first few moments.

[Atalanta Nikolaou]

❝

Come, surf the clouds, Race the dark, It feeds from the runs undone, Meet me where the cliff greets the sea Do you think you can keep up?

❞

So Daphne had been able to block her little attack and had immediately sifted to push Atalanta back. The daughter of Ares had not been ready for this. She had always thought that trying to knock an opponent off balance was something more common in martial arts and not in swordfights. Sure she had seen movies with swordfighting in them, but she knew most of the choreographies were there to look pretty rather than realistic. So she stumbled back a couple of steps,
sword slightly to the side as she tried to regain her footing.

Perhaps she had to change tactics? Opt for a more rooted style, since it was apparent she was better with her hand movements rather than her footwork. That's what she debated as she tried to bring herself back in balance and into the offensive again.

WORDS ● @[Daphne Scotts] ● NOTES

deltra of gangnam style

[Daphne Scotts]

She managed to knock Atalanta off balance, which brought a smirk to her face. Most people thought sword fights was just how to wield the sword, but the footwork and weight distribution was equally just as important. But it didn't mean that Atalanta wasn't a worthy opponent. It was the complete opposite. It was one of the best fights Daphne had in awhile.

But she dropped her sword to her side and Daphne saw her opportunity. She came back with her sword to hit the other girl across the chest. It was probably going to hurt though if Atalanta didn't block it. She was purposefully striking her with the flat of her blade.

[Atalanta Nikolaou]

❝

Come, surf the clouds, Race the dark, It feeds from the runs undone, Meet me where the cliff greets the sea Do you think you can keep up?

❞

If anything, Atalanta had seen it coming. She knew she was open while out of balance and that Daphne was, more likely than not, going to take advantage of it. Still that didn't mean that Atalanta was going to be able to effectively block or avoid the hit. All she managed to do was to instinctively put up her Shotokan defense, blocking part of the blow with her arm instead of her sword.

It wasn't a good idea. In fact it was a terrible one, but Atalanta hadn't thought as she moved. It came naturally. She hissed and grunted as the metal made contact with her arm with a loud smacking noise. The good news were, she had managed to find her balance again. The bad news? It hurt so much that it felt like herleft forearm was on fire. But despite the pain there was fire in her eyes. She was determined to finish this fight and she wasn't willing to lose. Even if her opponent was supposedly the best swordfighter in camp and she was clearly a beginner. She hadn't backed down when she was chased by monsters she couldn't kill so she wasn't going to back out of this training exercise either.

With her feet now firmly on the ground and with some distance between them, as she had been forced to stumble back due to the hit, Atalanta raised her sword up again, point facing Daphne. "Bring it!" She told the daughter of Zeus,confident look masking the pain that was still clear in her eyes. Left hand kept firmly to her side, Atalanta's attitude had drastically changed. She would take the defensive approach and wait for an opening. Instead of moving around, she merely monitored Daphne's stance so she would be able to respond to her rather than try and outsmart her. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

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deltra of gangnam style

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne wasn't expecting Atalanta to block the blow with her arm. She mentally cringed a bit as her sword made contact with her arm. That had to hurt. She wanted to mutter out a small sorry, but she stopped as soon as saw the fire in Atalanta's eyes. Daphne smirked in response. She could tell that a fire ignited within Atalanta and that meant that Daphne was going to be in for a hell of a fight.

Her smirk grew a bit wider as Atalanta told her to bring it. She nodded her head in agreement. She would definitely bring it. She watched as she steadied and readied herself. Daphne shifted in her stance a bit as she eyed her opponent. Oh, this was going to be fun. She let a moment or two pass before she lunged at Atalanta while swinging her sword at her legs.