Justin toys idly with a longsword at the far end of the training hall. Gotta get back into the teaching mindset. He drops into his stance, holds it a moment, and frowns. Imprecise. He corrects it, salutes, and stands straight again. Just a few minutes until class. Best to be ready.

Shiroi's voice could be heard coming from a long way down the hall. Her song grews louder as she nears the entrance to the hall. "-Is there something mo-re~! Than what I've been han-ded~! I've crawling in the dark, looking for the ans-" And the song stops, quite abruptly, as she stares at the instructor standing in the room. "Oooh.... /shit/." She muttered, and doubled over holding her stomach. "Ooooooh... I've suddenly developed a really really bad cramp... I think I'll skip class today... yeah..."

Justin is wholly unsympathetic. "I'm sure the brigands holding you up on the road are going to let you sit it out because you've got a cramp, too. Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you."

Shiroi straightened up again with a mumbled 'bah!' and a long suffering sigh. Brightening up again, she utter a very cheeful "Oh no, of course not!" And hung her head.

Justin grins unpleasantly, and gestures at the weapon rack, well-stocked with blades of every description. "Swords, today. Take your pick." He replaces his own longsword, and waits for her to make her choice.

Shiroi mumbled and trudged towards the rack, and took up a sword without even giving the rack a proper glance. Meh. It doesn't make that much of a difference anyways.

Justin nods, and selects a matching blade. "You know anything about swordfighting?" He leads the way back to the center of the hall, and waits patiently on his mark.

Shiroi coughs. "The pointy end goes in the other guy?"

Justin coughs, to cover a laugh. "Well, yeah, basically." Ahem. He composes himself, and draws into something approximating a stance. "Now. I suppose we should figure out how much I actually have to teach you. So... uhm, show me what you've got?"

Shiroi kicks at the floor, mumbling things to the effect of 'why do I have a feeling that this is going to lead to an injury of pride and several bruises?', and sighs. "Sure! Why not!" She exclaimed way too cheerfully again, and holds out her sword to her side, her stance reveals that she might know a thing or two about swords after all. Nothing great, of course.

Justin waits, silently, motionlessly, for Shiroi to make the first attack. He wants to see, after all, how good she is, and that won't come out all that well if he just plows her into the ground right off.

Shiroi sighs, again. Raising her sword limply, she poked listlessly at Justin with it.

Justin bats the blade away, and glowers. "Come /on/. What do I have to do to motivate you?

Justin mutters darkly for a few moments, and then brings his sword around /fast/ for the side of her head. "Wake up already."

Shiroi ducks down to avoid the sword and leapt forth like a spring, slamming her sword at Justin's torso.

Shiroi exclaims: Nothing like getting wacked at to get you motivated!

Justin smiles cheerily. Now we're getting somewhere. He twists aside, and brings his sword arm down to interfere with Shiroi's swing. "There, that's better."

Shiroi's sword twists in her hand, and it flies up in a circle to be brought down on Justin's arm, hard.

Justin flings his arm out to the side, away from Shiroi's blade. True, this leaves most of the rest of his body wide open, but that shouldn't matter much, as his next move is to lash out with a metal-booted foot at Shiroi's ankle.

Shiroi leapt, yet not so high that her head comes up over Justin's. In fact, her lower body only seems to have pivoted up behind herself, a dive forward, while her sword continues its slash towards Justin's torso.

Justin follows his foot forwards and down into a forward roll, neatly passing under Shiroi's dive, skidding to a halt just past her and leaping up for a dispatch, giggling faintly.

Shiroi lands on her feet again and looks up just in time to see Justin coming down at her from mid air - and she rolls out of the way as well, and aims a slash at Justin's head as he lands. "Giggling... I sense a fellow nut case in the room~~" she sang as she twisted for her swing, her blade singing through the air.

Eladria raises an eyebrow from the doorway, observing, but not commenting.

Justin lands, braces, and parries with a full-force counterswing. "Nice. Very nice indeed."

Shiroi's sword cracks against Justin's, and it flies back in a reversed circle again, aiming for his shoulder.

Shiroi says: I'd say thank you, but something tells me that something bad will happen once I do.

Justin ignores her incoming swing, and her comment, and thrusts straight forward, chest level. Shut up and fight, you.

Shiroi twists away just in the nick of time, and the sword just barely flies past her as she used the momentum of her twist to swing at Justin's head again. You started it.

Justin trades hands and gets metal under Shiroi's swing before she puts a dent in his head. Still smiling, now, he draws a second blade(!) and makes a move for Shiroi's unguarded side.

Shiroi pushs herself away from Justin by the blade she has against his. And she stays her distance, her stance tense.

Eladria watches with an appreciative look on his face. . o O(He's been practicing. Wonder when he picked up dual wielding?)

Justin smiles, resumes his own stance, and again waits for Shiroi to make her move. Patience. Definitely a virtue.

Shiroi . o O ( A whip would be real handy right about now... heh. ).

Shiroi . o O ( But I digress. ).

Shiroi never makes the first move against someone who can own her ass. Patience, definitely a virtue.

Eladria . o O ( Why are they just standing there? ).

Justin will make her live to regret not taking first strike when it's offered. He steps in quick and makes a swing high and low simultaneously.

Shiroi will be happy. Hey, she got to live to regret it, after all. Shiroi steps away from Justin's assault just as quick, her stance low and her blade still clutched firmly in her hand.

Justin presses in at full speed, making a swing any time he's within range.

Shiroi is nothing if not fast. In fact, she's even more of an expert at running and dodging than she is at being annoying. And she gives Justin a merry chase around the training hall.

Justin follows her around for a good few minutes. Whee, this is fun! However, she has a point. Drawing to a halt, he watches her prance out of reach again. Calmly, he holds his blade out, raises it aloft, and brings it down in a hard arc to spark off the floor of the hall. There is a crackle, and from above Shiroi falls a massive block of ice.

Shiroi's eyes widened as she sees Justin doing this, and she wonders what technique this can be, and without much warning, down comes the block of ice, which catchs Shiroi as she attempts to dodge away, knocking her to the floor.

Justin marches over, grinning /most/ unpleasantly, and nudges Shiroi's immobile form with one toe. "Now then."

Shiroi smiles most radiantly at Justin. "Yes, oh schoolmaster of mine?" She answers pleasantly, her prone form still sprawled on the floor.

Justin waits a precisely counted ten seconds for the paralysis to wear off, and offers her a hand up. "So, what /don't/ you know about swordfighting?"

Shiroi took Justin's hand and helped herself up. Dusting herself off, she shrugged. "Weren't you suppose to tell me?"

Justin says: I think you'd know better than I would what you need to work on.

Shiroi says: I love the way you construct your sentences.

Justin peers at her. "And I suppose you think you don't talk funny, too?"

Shiroi grins widely. "Hey, I never said I had something against that!"

Shiroi exclaims: In fact, I specifically remember using the word 'love'!

Justin says: Be that as it may. We're here for swordplay, not wordplay.

Shiroi says: I don't see the harm in having both.

Justin shrugs. "Yes, but we aren't having both, now," his blade arm whips 'round in a short semicircle, for the side of her head again, "are we?"

Shiroi reaches up and grabs Justin's wrist in a surely grip. "I don't suppose so, no," she replied calmly.

Justin jerks his arm up over his head, probably pulling hers to its full extension, and pokes at her experimentally with his other blade. "So I don't see that that applies, then."

Shiroi grabs the blade as well, as surely as she does Justin's wrist, and she jerks it behind her and catches hold of his other wrist. "Yes, you're very smart," she said evenly.

Justin sighs, waits a moment in case there's any action forthcoming, and brings his hands together quickly, crossed at the wrists. With those metal armlets on, too. Ow, that won't feel good.

Shiroi sniffles, and a booted leg lashes up and cracked Justin from under his chin. Don't suspect that that'd feel any better.

Justin is tall, and flexible, and also doesn't much care if he gets booted in the chin. This would leave Shiroi standing on one leg, and not particularly balanced for a jump. He barely acknowledges her kick, too busy delivering one of his own to her knee.

Shiroi can jump just as well with one leg as she does two, but she kept her hold on Justin's wrists, and her other leg pulls up, slinking up Justins shoulder, and she sits on his shoulders for a very brief moment, like she did Eladria's, and frees her hands, and quickly leapt to her feet... on Justin's shoulders.

Justin sighs again. "That's all well and good. Swords, though. /Swords/. That's what you're here to learn, remember?" He reaches up to grab an ankle and pull.

Shiroi leapt lightly from Justin's hand, and lands daintily on his head. "Well... you kicked me, so I thought it's all good."

Justin takes a /very/ quick step forward, out from under her, turns, and brings one blade up and one blade across as she drops.

Shiroi also takes a /very/ quick leap up and summersaulted backward, but a blade was just reached far out enough to catch her across the vest, slicing a shallow wound across her torso. Sniffling, she pretended to cry. "Ouch. I'm bleeding."

Justin is, once again, wholly unsympathetic. "We told you you should wear armor."

Shiroi exclaims: But armor decreases my sex appeal!

Justin asks: And blood doesn't?

Shiroi exclaims: Not at all! Blood as a dark charismatic quality to it!

Justin sighs. "Well, we'll see how you feel about it in a few more minutes, then."

Shiroi mimicks Justin's sigh. "This is where you ownz my ass to prove me wrong, isn't it?"

Justin says: What, are you kidding? With these toothpicks? I'm lucky you haven't already laid me open to the bone.

Shiroi says: Oh, sure, rub it in the little girl's face.

Justin says: Am I supposed to be sympathetic? It reflects ill upon me if students come out of my school and get themselves killed.

Shiroi coughs, and mutters something under her breath.

Shiroi exclaims: Oh, I wouldn't /dream/ of asking for your sympathy!

Shiroi say: Though I also fail to see how your being a smug bastard would help them not get themselves killed.

Justin says: Look, the idea here is that you learn to fight. Clearly there isn't much I'm going to be able to teach you about that.

Shiroi continues to stare at Justin, without a word.

Justin says: However, if we'll reflect a moment on our progress here, despite your evident talent you are in fact the one who's bleeding.

Shiroi asks: ... Did we ever expect otherwise?

Justin says: I have no expectations.

Shiroi snrks. "Of course not."

Justin says: Now. If you really refuse to be taught, I doubt I can actually force you to learn.

Shiroi asks: Have I refused to be taught? Aren't I here? Haven't I fought you when you told me to?

Justin asks: Well, so perhaps the fault is mine, then? How would you prefer I teach you?

Justin asks: /What/ would you prefer I teach you, even?

Shiroi shrugged. "What /do/ you have to offer?"

Justin says: Name something.

Justin grins sourly.

Shiroi glanced at Justin's sour grin. "Oh, I don't know, sword dance perhaps?" She suggested jokingly.

Justin fehs. "Swordfighting by any other name."

Shiroi shrugged. "There's a couple differences."

Justin says: Aesthetically, perhaps.

Shiroi stretched, her arms folding at the back of her head, her sword still dangling in her hand. "Yo, Eladria. Hoping to catch a glimmer?" She greeted.

Eladria chuckles. "A glimmer of something, though certainly not of you, child."

Shiroi asks: Awww, what's wrong with me?

Justin sheathes his second blade, and tosses his first back in the general direction of the weapons rack.

Eladria says: You're a lousy swordfighter, for one.

Eladria steps in, nodding to Justin. "And unnecessarily stubborn."

Shiroi sniffles, pouting. "You're SO MEAN."

Justin coughs. "She isn't that bad, Kiran. I wasn't joking about that."

Eladria shrugs. "She isn't, I suppose."

Eladria says: But she fights without discipline. She uses odd tactics without any basis in standard ones. There's no shock when fighting her.

Shiroi sets her sword down with its tip against the floor, and leans on in, humming.

Shiroi sings: I wanna wake up where you are~ I won't say anything at all~ So why don't you slide~

Justin nods, slowly. "He has a point, if you're listening. If you're interested. Which I see you aren't." There is a brief glimmer of red, and something knocks at the blade she's leaning on.

Shiroi blinks at the blade, and past experiences with Justin leads her to decide that it'd be best if she drops it, she still has a scorch mark across her chest from the last time. "I'm paying attention, I just didn't think he was speaking to me," she answered.

Eladria says: Justin, if it weren't improper, I'd ask you to stun her again so we could get her some bloody armor. . .

Shiroi winks at Eladria. "You know you just want an excuse to undress me."

Eladria blushes, but shakes his head. "No, I want an excuse to keep you alive.":

Shiroi says: You know you just want to get me out of these clothes....

Justin frowns. "Y'know, if you keep that up eventually someone will take you up on it."

Shiroi beams. "I'm all for getting laid!"

Eladria sighs, but not the 'Stupid girl sigh', but rather, a lonely sigh.

Eladria asks: If you die, how will you. . .'get laid'?

Justin coughs. "From what I've heard, you are, in fact, so I don't think there's any reason to go into that further. If you're hoping for sword-dancing lessons from me, you're SOL, I fear. Choose again."

Shiroi say: There are always people with fetish for corpses about.

Shiroi faces Justin again. "Meh, was just joking. Though it'd be cool if you really did sword dance...." Shiroi gives a disturbing cackle, indeed.

Shiroi asks: Well now, weren't you giving me lessons on swords?

Justin shrugs. "You don't seem very interested in swords, I can't help but notice."

Shiroi gives Justin the innocent look. "When did I ever say that I wasn't interested in swords?"

Justin says: You don't seem interested, I said.

Eladria says: He means the metal ones, child.

Justin /coughs/. He has to put up with that enough from her, don't you start too, Kiran.

Shiroi staaaares at Eladria. "And I'm the one with the dirty mind?"

Eladria says: Anyone with eyes could see what's on your mind, child. You're hardly the first.

Shiroi strikes a suffering pose. "Aah, but I am merely misunderstood! Somewhere, deep down, I'm really just a scared little girl who's afraid to show her true self to the world!"

Shiroi exclaims: It's true!

Shiroi says: Somewhere.

Shiroi says: Deep down.

Shiroi says: Very deep down.

Shiroi nods.

Shiroi faces Justin once more. "Anyways, you were saying?"

Eladria shakes his head.

Justin says: Well, is there anything /particular/ you'd like to learn about swords? You do seem to grasp the basics.

Shiroi says: ... Well, how to hurt people with it might be nice.

Shiroi grins widely.

Justin asks: And I assume you mean something by that other than 'hold the leather end and put the pointy end in the enemy', yes?

Shiroi says: I'm not picky.

Justin says: You're also not helping.

Shiroi chuckles "hehehehe"

Eladria sighs. "With earned power, comes responsibility. Given power grants no responsibility.

Shiroi ask: Well, what do you want to teach?

Justin shrugs.

Justin asks: You don't know swordtechs, do you?

Shiroi exclaims: Apparently not!

Justin asks: Well, would you like to?

Shiroi exclaims: I'd /love/ to!

Eladria says: That's my cue to exit. I'm going to be nowhere near this girl when she learns Stunner, Justin.

Shiroi throws her head back and cackles with glee.

Justin grins. "Sensible man. We should start with something easy like dispatch, though, I say."

Shiroi say: I have no qualms with that.

Eladria asks: Can you handle that lesson, Justin?

Eladria says: I'm going to be. . .busy, I think. . .

Shiroi peers quizzically at Eladria.

Eladria makes no reply to Shiroi's gaze.

Shiroi shrugs.

Justin nods. "Shouldn't be a problem. Dispatch is, as I said, simple." Whoa, check it out, there's a broadsword in his hands. He sights along it, briefly, and enters his stance. "Now, watch?" He lines up with one of the fencing dummies, takes two steps forward, hops into the air, and brings his blade down fast, splitting the dummy neatly.

Shiroi claps at the demostration. "Yaaaay... you killed it good!"

Justin grins. "That's a fair approximation of what a dispatch will do to your target. You think you can try one?"

Shiroi nods, but eyes the sword that she'd left on the floor suspiciously.

Justin sighs. "I didn't do anything to it. Honest."

Shiroi eyes Justin as well, but picks up the sword again. She lines up with a dummy, as Justin had, and follows through the routine flawlessly.

Justin says: Excellent. Now... hmm. We could work on breaks, or try some of the more challenging swordtechs.

Shiroi takes out a coin and flips it, then slaps it down between her palm. "Heads or tails?" she asked.

Justin shrugs elaborately. "Heads."

Shiroi pockets the coin again. "Breaks it is."

Justin frowns. "It's rather difficult to do breaks without a live target, though."

Shiroi eyes Eladria in a most unsettling fashion.

Justin says: Not unless he really wants to volunteer, no.

Shiroi shrugged. "Meh, was worth a shot."

Justin shakes his head slowly. "And the assorted equipment breaks require that you be wearing equipment."

Shiroi pouts, then shrugs. "Well then, more challenging techs it is!"