3rd wave | catchall for sword training

[rebonding]

Who: Korra and those poor souls who agreed to train her, plus anyone in the appropriate locations who would like to poke her
When: Various dates, mostly backdated, later dates may be added
Where: Isla Empieza and The Charming Murderess
What: Sword training in response to this
Warnings: none so far
Style: Prose, but feel free to switch.
Status: ongoing

Isla Empieza, afternoon of December 27
Shortly after Korra snapped her journal shut from her open request for a swordsmanship teacher, she retrieved her gift and made her way excitedly for the docks of Isla Empieza. It was barely mid-morning, but she was far too excited to care. She could wait. And... wait. When noon rolled around, she bought herself some sort of mystery meat (on a stick!) to tide her over through training.

She sat with her feet dangling over the edge of the docks, eyes peeled for Haytham and her swords sheathed at her side.

The Charming Murderess, the week of December 29 (note that Korra will return to the Spade Pirates as soon as this happens on January 3)
The trip through the Nav was no more difficult than stepping through a door, Korra quickly discovered. It was slightly disorienting, suddenly being on a ship, but little more.

The Murderess wasn't so different from the ship she was used to. Perhaps a little smaller, but that could have easily been because Ace's... erm. Loud personality wasn't ever-present.

"Sasuke?" She peered over the rail onto the main deck, taking a better look around.

Comments

[breaks_pots]

Link hadn't yet fought anyone who used two swords at once, but it couldn't be that difficult. Especially against a new learner. The boy had enough confidence in himself to believe he could easily win the spar. Not that that was the point. The point was to give Korra an experienced fighter to face so she had practice in a real fight.

Link's face didn't change, that serious expression remaining as he began to circle Korra. Slow and to the left at first. Then a sudden hop to the right and he was rolling to get behind her and land a quick jab to her butt before she could get her guard up.

[rebonding]

He was quick. Korra yelped when Link's poke landed exactly as he intended. She whirled around, grasping the swords against her arms and keeping them in front of her in a defensive stance. She was anything but a natural; fourteen years of fighting empty handed was proving nearly impossible to relearn, and even if many of the forms and movements were familiar, it was just enough of a difference to throw her off.

She began to circle Link, waiting to see if he would make another move.

[breaks_pots]

Link started circling again, his feet shuffling quickly as he backed himself up, then approached, then backed up. The pattern continued without any logic to it beyond him assessing her reaction to his movements. The choice to pull back or move forward as he circled was entirely random. This went on just long enough to be frustrating before he jumped at her to perform a downward slash, almost as if he intended to land on top of her with his sword and cut her in half.

[rebonding]

Korra focused on the boy's movements. She could be patient, though she was just about to make her move when the kid jumped. The attack would have left him wide open for a solid blast to the center, but Korra had disciplined herself to avoid bending during these sparing matches, and she was going to stick to that.

She crossed the swords over her head, hoping to catch Link's downward strike and parry him off to the side and off balance.

[breaks_pots]

Korra managed to parry Link and push him to the side, but he was good enough to roll with it. Literally. Using his shield as a break to catch his fall, he rolled in a circle around Korra to attempt an immediate upward strike along her spine. He was far enough out it would do little more than scratch her back and cut her shirt just around the shoulder blades... but it would draw blood if the blow hit. He was not going to hold back.

[rebonding]

She was quicker than to allow the second attack to land, and she knew better than to ever turn her back so openly to an opponent. Korra spun with Link's roll to face him properly, one of her swords swinging around to try and bat away his attack once again. The other came around in the same swoop, a relatively light sparring strike that wouldn't cause any serious damage.