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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 17, 2009 19:40:11 GMT -5
"They do, don't they." Vyncent murmured to her with a cat-like smile on his face, sipping at his coffee and only glancing across to her once he was done with the survey of everyone and everything outside. "You do look better." he admitted, nodding and draining his cup as though he didn't have time to do nothing today (he was in an oddly productive mood), rising to his feet and motioning for her to follow him as he swept to the door. He was rather irritated that people nolonger moved for him as they would without the illusion up - it just wasn't the same, being treated like everyone else. He was rapidly deciding that he liked being treated with grudging respect (fear, more like), even if it meant he could only stay in popular cities for a few seconds, and in less popular cities for an hour or so. This sucked.
It was busy outside, and talk of the destruction of Le Couvert flew on panicked wings around the city, Vyncent seeming particularly cheerful as he brushed through the crowd towards the blacksmith. He liked it when he got praise for the things he did. He liked it less when they didn't know it was HIM, but you couldn't win them all, could you? Damn needing to stay inconspicuous in this place. It wasn't long before they reached a large, industrious blacksmith, the man in question slamming a hammer onto an anvil with precise movements, his bulging muscles straining. Vyncent wrinkled his nose. Sweat. And metal. Not a good mix, he decided. He turned around to check that Etoile was with him; like HELL was he suffering this alone, it was all for her, after all.
"Okay. This is a blacksmith. Either have a sword made, or get one already made for you." he pointed to the various hooks and shelves and barrels with blades in them, along with many pommels and hilts and scabbards and the like. "Whichever one you'd prefer, I suggest you choose quickly before this place becomes too much and I walk away without you." he smiled vaguely at her, almost as if he had just set off a little timer in his mind which was slowly ticking down to zero. When his smile disappeared, the counter was finished, and he was leaving her there.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 18, 2009 13:49:30 GMT -5
Etoile didn't seem to hear his comment about her looking better, either that or she had simply chosen not to respond to it; what was happening outside was far more interesting than talking about her hair, and she was trying to hear what exactly people were saying. By now she imagined that any truth that there had been to the story about the destruction at Le Couvert had been twisted and over exagerrated to the point where there was barely any truth left to the tale. It was rather amusing, really, listening to their talk of heritic devils, and their empty threats of what they would do if they found the perpatrator of the crime. It would have been rather amusing to see how they would react if Vyncent let his illusion down and they saw that the demon that had slaughtered the nuns was sat amongst them. She would get that all their threats of revenge would disappear, and that they would run off screaming to find somewhere to hide. Sometimes mortals were just all talk.
She rose to her feet as Vyncent finished his drink, falling into step behind him as he lead the way out of the inn and onto the crowded streets. Fear laced through the air here, and if Vyncent hadn't had such a sense of purpose about him she would have snuck off to spread a little more panic. A whisper here and there, filling out their stories with a little gruesome detail of what had happened, maybe even dropping in a mention or two of Vyncent's name, that would be all that it took to stirr the town into full blown panic. Maybe Vyncent was right, maybe mortals weren't so boring in the aftermath of tragedy, there was still so much fun to be had! And all it involved was the truth! Who knew that telling the truth had so much potential?
Etoile, however, seemed a little less enthusiastic as they stepped into the blacksmiths, suddenly completly out of her depth. She didn't know the difference between one sword and the next. They all were sharp and pointy, right? So how could there be so many different types? She looked utterly bemused as her gaze danced between the swords which were hung on the wall, finding herself comparing them by their aesthetic values rather than anything practical. "That one." She nodded, pointing out one of the swords on the wall. It was a rapier, like Amor, but obviously not half as pretty. The blade was long and slender, it's silver colour contrasting with the gold of the pommel. It was simple really, but it was a sword, and that was what mattered, right?
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 19, 2009 13:10:31 GMT -5
Vyncent undoubtedly found the bemusement on her face completely hilarious, the demon shaking his head. Perhaps he should have chosen for her, it would have made this whole process a lot easier. The less time they were in the blacksmiths the better, it was stifling in there and dusty and it reeked of the overpowering stench of metal. He had to admit though, that he was rather impressed at the sword she'd chosen. He had been leaning towards that one himself. Without even having to call the blacksmith, he nodded at the sword on the wall and found himself holding it within seconds. Vyncent actually looked as though he was concentrating, for the first time since they'd met, the demon observing the sharpness of the blade, it's strength and flexibility, and its weight, balancing the thing horizontally on his fingertips for a moment or two, before nodding.
"It's not bad." he murmured, the blacksmith seeming thrilled with this (it must have been one of the most expensive swords in his arsenal), the bulk of a man instantly moving to fetch the sheath, which was gilded and made of black leather. Handing it to Vyncent, the demon seemed torn for a second as to what to do with it. Eventually he seemed to decide on something, keen eyes flitting about for a moment to check that nobody was within sight of them and then, with a flourish only a demon could manage, he stabbed the blacksmith with the rapier. It was a clean cut, he observed, smiling in satisfaction as the man crumpled to the floor, leaving him standing with the bloody sword, which glimmered crimson in the light. "It passes the test." he nodded, leaning down to wipe the blade clean with the dead man's apron, before straightening up again.
He slipped the rapier into its sheath as they walked out of the smith's again, handing it to Etoile with a smirk. "Don't say I never give you anything." he murmured cheerfully, looking around now for somewhere for them to practise. "Ah." he tilted his head up to the flat rooftop of a nobleman's house, which may have been some kind of a garden for all he knew. He didn't really care, to be honest. "Let's go." he set off again straight towards the house, obviously intending to either break in or climb the wall. This may have been easy for Vyncent, but he obviously wasn't thinking much about Etoile's abilities currently.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 19, 2009 15:35:17 GMT -5
Etoile looked rather bored as Vyncent played with the sword, not having a clue what he was doing. No matter how hard he looked at it the sword wouldn't do anything special, she felt like pointing out to him that the sword wasn't Amor and that it was just a plain, everyday stabbing device that some mortal had made. Mortals were odd creatures, they complained about violence and murder, and yet they made an art of making tools for those very things. They were just full of contradictions, weren't they? It was like laying a table of cakes out before a child and telling them not to eat them. When the temptation existed there was bound to be someone that would give into it and, in this case, slaughter people with these lumps of metal.
Her attention snapped back to reality as the Blacksmith lumbered over to them, eyeing him as though he were something rather unpleasant. Did he realise just how awful he smelt? Ugh. She understood now why he locked himself away in here, but did he have to stand quite so close to her? She didn't want his stench embedding itself in her clothes. In fact, she was glaring at the man rather pointedly, her arms folded across her chest. The least he could do would be to take a few steps back and stop polluting her air, which was what she was about to tell him when Vyncent suddenly decided what to do with the sword. She arched an eyebrow as he thrust the blade into the man's chest, watching indifferently as the man dropped to the floor with a heavy 'thump'.
"It stabs...it kills...I'm thinking that it's one pretty good sword." Etoile concluded, nudging the man with the tip of her shoe, as though to confirm that he was dead, before looking up ato smile at Vyncent. "Thanks." She nodded to him cheerfully, reaching to take the sword as he passed it to her, pausing for a moment to fasten the sword around her waist, before following Vyncent, a happy bounce to her step. Carrying a sword was strange, it bumped against her leg as she walked and made her feel all lopsided...yet, at the same time, she suddenly felt very grown up. Someone (even if it was someone like Vyncent, who didn't care about anyone else) had trusted her with a sword! Today was a day to remember!
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 20, 2009 13:42:32 GMT -5
Vyncent probably wouldn't have seen it in such grand terms as Etoile, but then nobody ever trusted him with anything. He just went ahead and did what he liked regardless of whether anyone wanted him to, trusted him to, or cared about it. But nevertheless, he did think it was a lot more pleasant to walk while she had a happy bounce to her step than if she had been complaining about something. His patience wasn't likely to last long when she was in a bad mood. It was hypocritical, yes, considering his own fairly volatile moods, but then that was one of the most charming things about him, no? ...No, probably not.
He reached the side of the noble's house just seconds later, his head tilted up to look at the rooftop garden above them. it would be a perfect place for them to practise for a while, and if Etoile happened to lop the heads off any flowers then it wasn't as though anyone was going to see it in plain view. And he doubted that anyone was going to interrupt them, with the panic that was spreading through the city. Anyone with a brain, be it noble or beggar (not that EITHER of these were particularly smart) would be trawling the streets for information, or travelling with others to see for themselves just what had happened. The demon smirked as he spotted a criss-crossed lattice which looked fairly climb-able.
"Perfect." he murmured softly, spending little time in scaling the lattice to leap over the small wall and into the rooftop garden. If he had been one to notice or care about things such as plant-life or natural beauty, he would have found the place to be a little piece of paradise, hidden up here on the top of some nobleman's house. Vines climbed the pale walls, and brightly coloured flowers bloomed all around, but there was still ample space for someone like Vyncent to wave a sword around for a bit without any trouble. "Okay." he strolled into the centre of the garden, surveying the area for a moment before speaking up. "First lesson."
He drew his sword with a flourish, the sleek black blade glinting white as it reflected the sunlight, its razor sharp edge cutting through the air swiftly as he turned to face Etoile, that disturbing little playful look in his eyes. "The first thing you need to know is that I don't play fair."
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 20, 2009 16:13:29 GMT -5
Walking was much more pleasant when she was in a good mood, she would have to agree with Vyncent on that one. Then again, in her opinion everything was more pleasant when she was in a good mood. That could all change in the next few minutes, of course. Mood swings were something that both Etoile and Vyncent had in common, it was just that her mood swings probably didn't have disasterous consquences like his did, nor did her good moods. If this morning's cheerful disposition was anything to go by then the world wasn't safe from Vyncent even when he was in a good mood, he was just as likely to cause chaos, or have just come from causing chaos, as when he was in a foul mood. "You want me to get up there?" She asked, arching an eyebrow as she tilted her head back to look up at the rooftop gardens above them. If it were anyone other than Vyncent she would have suspected that they were joking with her, but this was Vyncent, and he didn't seem the type to joke about such things. Her golden eyes glittered in the sunlight as he scaled the wall, remaining where she was until he disappeared over the wall and into the gardens. Oh well, here went nothing, at least she had the lattice to help her climb. Her ascention was neither as swift nor as easy as Vyncent's had been, but she did reach the top with relativly little difficulty, and far faster than a mortal would have been able to. Once at the top she leap over the little wall to land gracefully in the garden, brushing her hair back from her face as she let her gaze flicker around. The person who owned this building must have far too much time, or money, on their hands, why else would you spend so long on making a garden look pretty? It just seemed like a waste of time to her when there were far more exciting things to do, such as playing with fire. What was life for it not for living? These mortals could die any minute, you would have thought that they would do more with their lives than spending their time growing things. "I already guessed as much." She rolled her eyes at him, taking a moment to admire how the light glinted off his blade, before she drew her own rapier. Her stance was not even close to being as confident as Vyncent's, and she was holding the blade a little akwardly, but it had to be said that the sword rather suited her. It didn't fit her as perfectly as Amor fitted Vyncent, but it would do until something better came along.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 20, 2009 16:51:39 GMT -5
He seemed to be of the same opinion as her, smirking and tilting his head for a moment as if to admire her with the rapier. She had made the right choice, definitely. Although his look became slightly less admiring as he realised just how she was holding the sword, and he sighed rather exhasperatedly. "Always. This always happens." he muttered, rolling his eyes and hastily swapping hands. Usually he wouldn't have cared less, he killed people in sword-fights without caring whether they were left-handed like he was or not, but teaching someone would probably be easier if Etoile could mimic him, which was hard if everything was backwards to begin with. He looked awkward with the sword now, slashing the air experimentally a few times to get the feel of it, before turning to face her again.
"I'll teach you how not to die before I teach you how to kill people." he told her with an amused smirk, "It won't be any good if you get into a swordfight and don't know how to defend yourself." he shrugged. "Alright. First I'll strike at you normally." he moved forwards rather suddenly to slash at her diagonally, the sword singing in anticipation and seeming rather upset when he stopped just short of her shoulder. Had he continued, he could have very easily decapitated her. "If someone does this to you, bring your sword up. Like this." he moved her blade in the appropriate position to parry the blow. "If they come at you like that, they're probably really stupid, or panicking..." he murmured, stepping back.
"Let's try it again." he nodded, moving with just as much swiftness, although this time he really did seem to be intending to slice through her entirely.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 20, 2009 17:13:13 GMT -5
Etoile blinked at Vyncent at his sudden, exasperated look, looking confused as she looked down at her hand. She was holding it wrong? But...it seemed obvious. You hold the handle, right? There wasn't an up side and a down side to a sword, was there? Or any special way she was supposed to hold it? If there was then he hadn't said anything, and she wasn't a mind reader, therefore she was placing the blame squarely on his shoulders. Thankfully, it turned out that she wasn't holding the sword wrong at all, instead he had swapped hands. Ohhh, he was left handed. She didn't quite see what difference that made, not at the moment anyway, but it must have been something vaguly important for him to bother switching.
Etoile's reactions were fast to say that she had lived in Le Couvert for the best part of her life, moving her sword instinctivly into the path of Vyncent's blade, letting him adjust the position of her sword to show her how to block the attack properly. "Hmmm...alright then." She nodded, moving her sword back to it's 'resting' position, or so she had just named it in her mind.
The sound of clashing metal filled the garden as her sword blocked his attack, Etoile having moved just a little, side stepping slightly just to make double sure that she wouldn't be caught by Amor. Well, at least she knew that she could move fast enough to defend, at the moment anyway, though she guessed the Vyncent was just playing with her right now.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 20, 2009 17:23:03 GMT -5
He smiled in satisfaction at her defence, nodding and stepping back again. "Not bad." he murmured, "But only morons will attack you like that. You might get a few idiots who try it because you're a woman, but not many. They'll be more likely to either attack you from behind, or they'll just lunge at you. Then you really have to parry." he told her, striking at her directly from the front in a 'lunge' motion, which would have instantly speared her if she didn't parry. Again he stopped just short of impaling her, straightening up and showing her how to bring her sword up to push his away just before it stabbed her. You had to think quick when you fought with swords, just one wrong move and practise was over, and you were dead. Etoile should have the upper hand though, because she wasn't entirely mortal.
"Alright. Again." he stepped back, eyes flashing as he lunged for her again, the way the sword cut through the air making it clear that he wasn't going to stop if she faltered, or parried wrong.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 20, 2009 18:28:49 GMT -5
"...because I'm a woman?" She questioned, tilting her head at Vyncent for a moment. "What does me being a woman have to do with it? If I'm going to kill them it will happen regardless of my gender..." She shook her head, as though confused by how stupid people could be. So just because she was a woman she wouldn't be able to sword fight? Ha! We will see about that! Etoile refused to be bettered by some stuck up prick with a pointy stick!
She nodded as he instructed her as to how to parry the attack, stood with most of her weight on the balls of her feet, ready to move. Her parry was more sure than it had been last time, the movement rather fluid as she brought her blade up to collide with his and knock it away from her. Vyncent was so fast though! She had to pay attention, one moment of distraction could be the end of this little sword play lesson...but it was so difficult not to get distracted....
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 20, 2009 18:59:26 GMT -5
The High Demon was admittedly impressed with her parrying; he'd almost expected to impale her then and there and that would be the end of her. His protege would have lasted for an entire day, that wouldn't be particularly good, would it? But as it was, she had made a good display of fast reflexes, which was helpful to have anyway, but especially around someone like Vyncent. If she started getting good at this then he would probably forget to 'play' after a while, and he really would be aiming to lop her arm off or something. But at least she'd learn to be a good swordswoman, right? He spent another hour showing her the majority of the other parries, knowing full well that she'd never remember them all now, not in her head. He was counting on muscle memory, so that they would become instinctive.
After that he had her attack him a few times, with simple lunges and slashes, and by the time midday approached they were actually sparring, Vyncent surprising himself by enjoying their little lesson. He'd expected to be pulling his hair out by this point and giving up, but Etoile was an apt student and a very quick learner, as he'd seen before, and she would be a force to be reckoned with one day. If he had his way she would, anyway. He was about to finish their little student-teacher session now, the demon stepping back one last time and transferring his sword back into his left hand, flexing his right hand as if it had been uncomfortable to hold the sword like that for so long. He instantly seemed happier, the blade flashing as he flourished it, before he smirked across at Etoile.
"One last time before we finish up. But this time you won't be fighting a teacher. You'll be fighting me." he warned, lowering his blade a little in a defensive stance, to let her attack first.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 21, 2009 9:53:54 GMT -5
Etoile had also enjoyed their little sparring session. She had to admit that she rather liked this whole sword fighting thing, and, surprisingly, it had held her attention for the full morning. She hadn't been distrcted and lost a limb, which she was rather proud of herself for. Etoile wasn't known for her attention span, and, unless she really was interested in what was happening, she would make not attempt to even try to listen. Vyncent was just lucky that, for far, she had found everything that he wanted to teach her interesting, but as soon as he tried to teach her something dull he would find out how much of a terrible student she really was...and there was no doubt that he would end up tearing his hair out then.
"Fight you..." She repeated, tilting her head at him for a moment before shrugging and nodding. "Alright then." She agreed, raising her sword once again. Her arm and wrist ached now, but she wasn't going to let him know that. There was no doubt in her mind that she was going to lose this fight, and lose rather quickly, but, in her mind, it would be a small victory if she was still alive in five minutes time and still had all of her limbs.
A look of concentration settled in her eyes as she suddenly moved to attack, lunging forward at Vyncent to stab towards his chest. Attacking was far more difficult than defending, she had decided, because you had to try and trick your opponent into making the wrong move so that you could kill them...either that or simply fight far better than they did, but she doubted that she would be able to do either of those things at the moment.
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 21, 2009 15:23:01 GMT -5
Vyncent, at least, seemed to be in a playful kind of mood as she rushed towards him, but it was very obvious that he wasn't going to be the teacher anymore since he knocked her blade up with a graceful flick of his wrist, with skill had had obivously taken years to master. He was smirking as he moved to sidestep her and knock her sword away with enough force to send it flying it from her hands, moving like lightning so that he was behind her, and slashing at her back. He fully expected that someone like Etoile would be able to turn in time to catch him, but there was always that chance that she wouldn't move fast enough and he'd give her another scar to add to her collection. And not only that, but he'd rip her nice new clothes as well. Vyncent thought that this, at the very least, would give her incentive to fight back.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Oct 21, 2009 16:25:20 GMT -5
As expected, Vyncent blocked her attack seemingly effortlessly. She followed the motion of the sword as he knocked it off it's original path, knowing by now that it too much effort to fight the momentum of the blade. The fact that she followed the movement was probably the only reason that she had been able to keep hold of her sword, the vibrations from Vyncent's block still running up and down her arm.
She was planning on using the momentum the sword had already built up to launch a stronger attack on the High Demon, letting it spin her in a circle. But Vynce was there when she had half turned, and his sword was flashing towards her. It was probably only because she had already been turning that she was able to defend in time, bringing her blade up in a sweeping motion from below to knock his blade up and away from her, at the same time moving to step back and take a more defensive stance. Etoile was lucky that she had good balance and co-ordination, otherwise she would probably have tangled herself up in her own feet then.
Etoile didn't wait to see how he reacted to her block, bringing her sword back to slash down at his chest, hoping that the fact that her blade was already underneath his would mean that he wouldn't be able to block in time...but at the same time she knew that she was stretching just a little too far and that her balance was off...and that in attacking she left herself undefended. Bah, how could you attack and defend at the same time with just one weapon?
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Post by Vyncent Schwarz on Oct 21, 2009 16:46:20 GMT -5
His eyes flashed playfully as she blocked his slash, the clanging metal echoing around the rooftop garden, although it was accompanied by the faint singing of Amor. It was clear that the sword was expecting a kill for all of this fighting, Vyncent would have to appease her later when they left the rooftop, before she started acting of her own accord and leaping out to stab randomers as they passed. She was a very temperamental sword at the best of times. He quirked a brow as she moved to slash at him, swiftly bringing his rapier up to parry the blow. A second had barely passed and he had twisted his sword around hers and pulled it up, flicking it from her hands and sending it sailing up into the air.
Victory was already written over Vyncent's face as he swiftly caught her sword, flitting forwards so he was inches from her. His blade was held to her throat and hers was poised to run her through, the demon smirking for a second, as if to confirm that the fight was over, before he stepped back again and turned the sword to offer her the hilt. "Not bad." he admitted rather reluctantly, "You've got potential. You're still alive, so you'd have to have potential." he murmured, waiting for her to take the blade back before he sheathed his own sword, stretching languidly. Ugh. Sparring made his arms ache. Usually he just killed people and moved on. This was actually a new experience for him.
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