Blowing off steam

The ground was blanketed by the dappled light filtering through the forest canopy. Here the forest was dominated by evergreen eucalyptus trees and tall clumps of grass. The ground was uneven and hard and the small clearing was perfect for Jack. A bout of luck had seen that he had grabbed his practice sword in his headlong dash away from the unstable blast spell that was a drunk Pinkie Pie.

Here in this clearing Jack was forced to swing his Zweihander in short, sharp arcs. He had cleared the place of excess flammable material an set a few small fires on the foliage. the two-hoofed great sword was a silver ribbon as its owner made it flow through the air and around the saplings of the clearing, each small fire extinguished by the wind the blade caused. A few hours of practice had helped to bleed off the nervous energy, but not completely as the sound of a snapping twig caught the Royal Guard's full attention. Jack spun to face the sound, sword held at the ready and wings unfurled, as a vague silhouette approached.

Lelouch sat by the stream, his right hand griped his katana, as the fog rolled of the slow moving waters, creating a mysteries and dangerous setting. Even though he had his eyes closed he could still what was around him. In an instant Lelouch stood up as he draw his katana, as a drop fell for the trees above him, and as it past him, he sliced it in half. To anyone not watching it would have looked like a random swing of his sword.

Lelouch placed his sword back in it's sheath, he turned to walk to away, when he felt a presence, it was familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it. He wondered until he found a clearing and a winged horse training. "Wow" he breathed in surprised, as he recognized jack from the Cafe. Lelouch didn't want to disturbed him so he watched quietly. As he took a step closer, a twig broke under his foot, and Jack whip around, with his Zweihander ready to strike.

Lelouch just sighed, and placed his hands up, "Okay, okay you got me" he said in a soft tone, hoping he couldn't get cut down. He just wish he gotten a cooler entrance, as he walked over to him. "Heya" he said, as he katana hung of his hip, Lelouch hoped he didn't see this as an act of aggression.

(Sorry it's long, I got carried away, but hopefully they won't be this long next time)

Jack lowered his sword slightly when he saw that it was the man from the Cafe last week and not a certain drunk pink pony.

"I'm sorry, its just that you spooked me." Jack furled his wings and dropped back down onto all fours, letting the hilt of his blade rest against his neck. Now that he wasn't busy he studied the man before him. He wore a black jacket over a white shirt and baggy pants. His hair must have been dyed as it changed from black to white at the tips. A pair of square framed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. the man was maybe six inches shorter than Jack and looked like he couldn't weigh more than 70kg sopping wet.

The man's waist was what drew jack's attention, or more precisely it was the sheathed sword that hung from his waist. It wasn't an Equestrian design but he had seen similar ones wielded by the Neighponese Imperial Guards, they were slender things but light and fast and supremely well made. The way that the man held it in place as he moved marked him as a fellow swordpony and for that Jack was grateful, he hadn't had a chance to properly train with his sword since he had arrived in this place.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced yet," Jack extended his hoof to the man,"My name is Jack Knife. I hope that I'm not being too forward in asking you this, but would you care to be my sparing partner? I ask as a fellow swordspony as I don't want to fall out of practice" Jack stood still as he awaited the man's reply.


*(Don't worry about it being long, I prefer the narrative style over the instant messenger format.)*

Lelouch gave a small smile back, "No harm done" he said in a causal tone, as he let his arms drop by his side. He never really meet a Pegasus before, so he was a bit cautious of his words and actions, but he he asked so fight against he was a bit surprised, but also excited.

"I am Lelouch Ryou, master of kenjutsu" his words were cold, and dangerous, "I'd love nothing more". His face lit up with a grin, as he drew his katana, and held it out in front of him, in a ready fighting stance. "Be warned i won't go easy, and i hope you won't either"

"I expected nothing less."

Jack reared up onto his hind legs as he mentally compared himself to Lelouch, he had the advantage in both reach and maneuverability but it never payed to underestimate your enemy. He began with a series of swings and thrust, basic movements and patterns to try and gauge the strength and speed of his opponent. There was nothing fancy about Jack's technique, yet, training dictating that something must always be held in reserve.

This was going to be fun.

Lelouch saw each swing clearly, and manged to dodge each one with ease, while his opponent had a longer reach and was probably more agile then he was, Lelouch was quicker, and with such a small clearing, he could that to his advantage. Lelouch then started to block each attack, keeping the rhythm and pattern of Jack's blows. Lelouch grow bored quickly and unleashed a series of blows, and harder then Jack dealt, but still weak enough for him to defend against, at least he hoped.

Lelouch's attacks came at Jack quickly and from multiple angles, he definitely had the advantage when it came to blade speed and the size of the clearing meant Jack couldn't get his Zweihander up to speed. As always Jack was supremely economical with his defense, his blade moving and body shifting at the last possible moment to let his opponent's attack's just barely miss. This paradigm of minimal defensive effort would to an outsider make Jack look like an amateur that could only just put up a block or parry.

Jack studied Lelouch's attacks, watching both his body and his face for any tells. A little psychological warfare was in order here Jack decided. As Lelouch drew his sword back to ready another thrust Jack changed his grip on his sword, holding it by one hoof while putting the other behind his back, and begun to fence with his zweihander; the tip of his blade flashing in and out and around in a rapid flurry of thrust and slices from the ankle.

Christiana ran through the forest hearing a fight from a mile away.... Her powers were in a frenzy mode now and whatever was happening she was frightened.

Lelouch was taken by surprise by his change of stance, how ever in order to gain much speed jack needed to sacrifice power. Lelouch manged to keep up and block almost all of his attack, but small cut started to appear on his body, as well as on his cheek. Lelouch steeped back out of range, to take a quick breath. He then took of charging start toward him. His blade dragged on the ground behind him, as he unleashed a powerful vertical strike aimed at Jack's chest. all this happened in a matter of seconds, not only was it strong but it was also quick

Jack's gambit had forced Lelouch back onto the defensive but it had compromised his defense, so when Lelouch leaped back to get clear of Jack's blade he pulled it back and griped it properly.

Jack was shocked for a split second when he saw leluoch charging at him with his katana dragging along the ground. It was an incredibly amateur move for a so called "master" swordpony to use, your defense was almost non-existent and it telegraphed your intent so much you may as outline the attack in a 1000 word essay. To somepony watching the fight it would have looked very cool, but Jack just felt disappointed with his opponent.

Jack gripped his sword backhoofed and held the hilt at shoulder height so the tip just brushed to ground. Stepping to the right he felt his zweihander vibrate as the two blades met, Leluoch was very quick and it seemed that his thin frame belied his strength. He had also given himself the advantage, there was now almost no room at all for Jack to swing his sword for they were with arm's reach of each other. With the use of his sword out of the question jack did what every soldier worth his salt would and used his head.

He idly wondered whether an equine skull was thicker than a human one as his forehead rapidly closed the distance to Leluoch's face.

Lelouch gritted his teeth as the blades meet, Jack had allot of power, probably more. His thoughts were interrupted by Jack's face rush towards him. "Shit" he said as he quickly jumped back, unleashing a powerful kick, aimed for Jack's chin. The combat was brutal, and his opponent was strong. "Damn..." he whispered to himself as these thought ran though his mind, as losing seemed like a very real possibility.

Jack recoiled as Leluoch's kick connected but recovered quickly, while it wasn't the hardest he'd ever been kicked it did rank up there. The moment he did he went back on the attack, Jack's zweihander flowed smoothly from one blow to the next,his sword hammering at Lelouch's defense with the patience and relentlessness of the ocean.

Jack could see the fear in his opponent's eyes, Lelouch knew that defeat was now a real possibility. This was a good thing as far as Jack was concerned, in his desperation Lelouch would unveil his most powerful and enigmatic techniques. How he handled himself in this situation would also tell Jack just how used to this kind of thing he was.

That was something of a puzzle to Jack, as he couldn't get a clear picture of how well trained with a sword Lelouch was. He defense was almost impenetrable most of the time but he would put himself into awkward positions at times and when he dodged a blow he would sometimes leap backwards and give Jack the advantage of range. The same could be said of his attacks; they were extremely quick and had a lot of power behind them but some were poorly executed or thought out, such as the charging slice he had attempted earlier. Lelouch held and moved himself and his sword with the dexterity and agility of a master but fell prey to amateur mistakes. Most baffling.

Jack watched as Lelouch's blocks became slower and more fatigued under his unrelenting offensive.

He made a deliberate opening as he set himself up for his next attack. Lelouch to the bait, sword plunging forwards though Jack's defense to open a long gash up his barrel. Jack moved quickly, ignoring the hit he had taken to flip up his Zwiehander and rest the tip on Lelouch's chest between his arms.

"Touche" he said with a grin.

awwwwwe you guys stopped i just realized this ;(