Hey all.
This one can be viewed as a sequel to CH 21 (A Night of Relaxation), or you can read it as it's own thing.
Hope you enjoy!
~Stripesicles222
The two combatants stood in the center of the training room, each staring the other down as they crept to their left in a clockwise circle. They shifted their weapons with the motion, always keeping them facing the other.
With a shout, the two sword wielders charged towards each other simultaneously, weapons raised high and ready to strike. A loud clang resounded throughout the room as they met in the middle.
The duelers halted in surprise, their blades stopped mere inches from each other. They looked around in surprise, finally focusing on the doors that had caused the sound.
Or more accurately, the indignant heiress who had thrust them open upon her arrival.
"Hiya, Weiss!" Ruby waved with the sword in her hand, seemingly oblivious to how close the errant blade came to her sister's prized golden mane.
Weiss huffed at her disregard for safety and crossed her arms before giving a sufficient response.
"You were told to wait until we got here to start," she growled. "And what do we see when we get here?"
"An awesome fight?" Yang supplied hopefully.
"An accident waiting to happen," Blake had snuck in behind Weiss, and now leveled a glare of her own at the pair. "And where did you even get real swords?"
It was quiet as the Xiao-Long/Rose sisters tried to hide the incriminating evidence behind their backs. A sharp, icy glare from Weiss let them know that wasn't going to help.
"We might have raided the armory and accidentally borrowed some swords," Yang admitted.
Weiss took a deep breath to calm her frustration before putting out her hand.
"Give me the swords," she ordered. "Blake and I were able to find some wooden training swords we can use. While I know it's not the same as real metal ones, it's a good place to start."
With big frowns and much reluctance, Ruby and Yang handed over their illegally acquired weapons and accepted the less fun wooden replacements.
Within a couple of minutes, all four girls were armed with a wooden long sword. The blades were dull, yet that did little to squelch the uncontainable excitement that was once again pouring off of the sisters.
"Now then," Weiss began. "Even though I excel most in fencing and the use of my rapier, I am well versed in other forms of swordplay as well, including the use of the long sword. That is what Blake and I will be attempting to instruct you in today."
She didn't make it much farther than that before her two students were once again swinging their wooden swords around, no longer listening to a word she was saying.
She growled in frustration and stomped her foot.
"If you two aren't going to listen, then we won't teach you!" She threatened.
With a pout, their leader lowered her weapon and slunk back over to the monochrome teammates in a manner that reminded them of a wrongly chastised child. How she could pull off such an air of innocence was unfathomable, but gosh, it made it quite difficult to stay mad at her.
"I'm sorry, Weiss," she said. "We're just so excited."
The heiress sighed. She supposed she should cut them some slack. The sisters had been excited about this for days. It was unfair to expect them to remain the picture of tranquility when their latest dream was about to be realized.
Taking a steadying breath, she nodded to Blake that she was ready.
With the sisters watching, Weiss and Blake took up stance across from each other. They had decided that perhaps the best way to begin this lesson was with a proper demonstration. They'd get into more of the technical concepts later.
"As with most fighting styles, the main goal is to deal a finishing blow without taking one yourself." Weiss jumped towards Blake with startling speed, her sword swinging out as an extension of her movements The faunus wasted no time in raising her own to block, effortlessly knocking the attack to the side before jabbing at the heiress' ribs. As Weiss gracefully slid to the side, Blake picked up the explanation where she had left off.
"A huge advantage to the second part of that is knowing the best angle at which to block or defect your opponent's attacks."
She ducked as Weiss swung at her head, replying with a harsh swing across, which was stopped with a clack as Weiss met her in the middle.
"There are eight basic angles from which your opponent will attack." Weiss grunted as Blake dealt a sharp kick to her midriff, knocking her back a bit and allowing some space between them.
Quickly catching her breath, she stepped closer to Blake and attacked again.
"From above." She swung her sword straight down vertically, and it was stopped by Blake's own held horizontally above her head. Blake shifted her angle slightly and Weiss' slipped down.
"From either side," Blake added as she swung horizontally at Weiss's side, and she parried by sharply swinging hers to hold it straight up and down.
"From below." Weiss' sword arced upwards, but Blake's was quicker, swinging down at an angle that resulted in Weiss' veering off to the side, missing her target by a long shot.
"And finally, at each of the four diagonals." Knocking Blake's sword to the side, Weiss swung down at an angle, aiming for her left shoulder. Blake brought her sword arm up and to the side, bracing against the force of Weiss's attack against her sword.
The two combatants stepped apart and lowered their weapons to their sides. With all their training, they were hardly winded at all, but they knew they had to stop here for now. If only because they knew their partners would burst from anticipation if they weren't given a chance to try it out on their own sometime soon.
"All other attacks are combinations of these eight strokes," Weiss explained. "Learning how to properly execute and block these attacks is the foundation of swordplay."
She nodded at Blake, and the faunus headed towards the supply closet in the back of the classroom. Turning back to Xiao-Long/Rose siblings, she explained what they'd be doing next.
"What you two are going to do is this: Blake has gone to get a couple of practice dummies, and you are going to practice hitting them."
She held up a hand to silence their enthusiastic outbursts. Honestly, she shouldn't still get surprised at how easily they could get riled up, but it was simply unbelievable.
"Blake and I will work with you each to correct your form and to show you the proper ways to strike," she told them. "Because frankly, we don't trust you on your own."
Yang let out an indignant "Hey!" and Ruby pouted at her partner's cruel words. A telling smirk from the returning faunus solidified Weiss' claims, and they begrudgingly accepted the conditions.
Besides, they were still being given the chance to hit things, so it wasn't a total loss.
Within a couple of minutes, the four of them had gotten the two mannequins set up and ready for pummeling (Yang's choice of words). Weiss took Ruby over to the first of them, and Blake and Yang claimed the other.
Weiss positioned Ruby's feet and shoulders, getting her into a ready position. With her previous training with the scythe, the girl already had impeccable balance and reflexes. Now it was time to funnel that skill into a different style altogether.
"Now then, I want you to take a few practice swings at the dummy."
Ruby let out a snicker, but didn't drop her form. Weiss crossed her arms in response.
"And what, pray tell, is so funny?"
Ruby finally lowered her weapon as she succumbed to a fit of giggles.
"I'm sorry, Weiss," she said between breaths. "It's just funny to hear you say "dummy" like that. I know you're talking about the practice dummy, but it's just so not you."
Weiss huffed and turned away so Ruby wouldn't see her flush from embarrassment.
"N-never mind that. Just do as I told you," she instructed. "Straight strokes at the center."
Ruby let out a final chuckle before getting back into her ready position. Inhaling deeply and exhaling once, she leapt at the dummy with the sword raised above her head. She brought it straight down on her opponent's head with an over-the-top war cry.
After the original blow, she pulled back her sword only to swing it horizontally, using its momentum to spin herself around, adding to her inertia. When the sword met the dummy again, it was yanked out of her hands by the force of the blow.
Weiss ducked as the glorified stick flew at her head. She watched as it skittered across the floor before turning back to Ruby with a sigh.
The redhead at least had the decency to appear sheepish under the heiress' cold stare.
"Eheheh. Oops?"
Weiss shook her head in submission and gestured to Ruby to go get her sword. Once that was retrieved, she had her stand at the ready once more.
"The sword is different from your scythe…obviously," she said. "You don't need to build up as much momentum. Watch me."
Fixing her gaze on her target, she whacked it a few times from different angles, returning to her ready position between blows. Ruby watched with rapt attention, subtly matching the heiress' stance.
"Now you give it a try."
Ruby saluted smartly before taking position and copying what her partner had done. Weiss nodded in affirmation as she not only maintained her grip on the sword, but also managed to pull off what would pass for a decent form.
On the other side of the room, Blake wasn't having as much luck.
As it turns out, hand-to-hand combat doesn't translate very well over to melee fighting. With the way Yang was swinging around her sword, she'd probably be better off with just a steel pipe. It wouldn't matter what sort of weapon the enemy had, after a couple of blows they'd be down for the count.
Blake supposed that wasn't an issue, and it was good to have a reminder that her partner could take care of herself. But it might prove problematic if she was just going to spar with them in mock swordfights.
Blake considered the best way to alert the blonde of the problem. Usually, she took criticism well, but the faunus couldn't help but feel nervous at the force the blonde was exhibiting against the poor practice dummy.
Thankfully, she was saved from having to interrupt her when that same force turned against her. As the wooden sword struck the dummy's body, it snapped in two. Despite the look of pure shock on the blonde's face, Blake couldn't help but admire the cleanliness of the break.
"Ummm… oops?"
Blake shook her head with a fond chuckle.
"Don't worry about it." She handed her partner her own wooden sword with a warning. "You don't have to be so aggressive. Swordplay is more about techniques and finesse than brute force. Try for precision."
Yang nodded, the determined glint returning to her violet eyes again.
This time, however, she approached the dummy a bit more timidly. Blake had expected her to hold back a bit after their talk, but this was ridiculous.
After a couple of swings that hardly touched at all, Blake realized she needed to step in again.
"Hold up," she said. Once she had her attention, she gestured for the sword. When Yang handed it over, Blake wasted no time in swinging at her.
Narrowly dodging the blow, she sent the faunus a glare of her own.
"What the heck, Blake?"
The faunus smirked at catching her so off guard but schooled her expression before launching into another series of attacks and explanation.
"While swords don't require much force, you still need to follow through. Let your momentum carry you through without applying so much force that you break your weapon."
Yang nodded to show she was starting to get it, so Blake backed off. Flipping the sword around, she offered her the hilt.
"Thanks, Blake," she said as she reached out and took it. "I think I'm starting to get a handle on this."
Blake groaned and almost considered taking the sword back to whack her partner with it. She settled instead for another glower.
"I was wondering when you'd start," she admitted. "The peace was nice while it lasted."
Yang grinned at her.
"Sorry for making you wait," she said. "I know there are a lot of good sword fighting puns out there, but I was having trouble thinking of words with duel meanings."
Blake gave a defeated sigh, letting all of her irritation fade with it.
"Why must you do this to me?" She wasn't whining. Not at all. She just couldn't stand this anymore. "Go pester Weiss or something. I quit."
Yang snickered at her scowl, but ceded anyway.
"Alright, alright. I'll stop," she promised. "It was knife while it lasted though."
Blake all but cried to the ceiling as Yang hit her with one more verbal blow.
"Just… go back to hitting the dummy."
Yang yielded to her wishes and turned back to her task. She was much more confident in her attacks, and they were connecting solidly, yet without damaging her sword.
After fifteen more minutes of such practice, Blake called it a day.
Yang wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked up to see Ruby trotting her way. Apparently, Weiss called quits at about the same time.
"Heya, Rubes! How'd it go?"
The scythe-wielder was jumping up and down, somehow still energetic despite the drills Weiss had put her through.
"That was amazing!" She said. "It's weird having to go waaay back to basics, but I still had fun."
Blake smiled at that. No one liked practicing the basics. The more complicated moves and combinations were always more enjoyable and fulfilling to complete. But, as any true artist, - be it be a musician, fighter, or stage performer - the girls knew the importance of a good foundation.
After putting away the equipment, the team set out towards the cafeteria for an early dinner.
"What do you guys want to do tonight?" Ruby asked. "Can we come back and do more?"
Somehow, she had missed the fact that she was the only one with energy left. Even Weiss and Blake who hadn't done as much physical work could feel that they were nearing their limits.
"Maybe not tonight, sis," Yang said.
"Besides," Weiss cut in, "You still have homework to complete. You've been putting it off all weekend."
Ruby pouted, but didn't refute her statement.
"But writing is so booring! Why can't we just spend all our time learning to fight?"
Weiss held her head in her hands. "Seriously…"
Blake smiled but decided to step in and save her teammate from exasperation.
"They say 'the pen is mightier than the sword,'" she said. "It means that sometimes, war and bloodshed can be avoided by putting forth the effort to communicate with one another. Communication can be far more effective than violence. On the other hand, cruel words can cut deep on their own; deeper than a sword."
She thought for a second before adding, "though, I suppose neither applies to Grimm, but as huntresses, we may well come to a point where communication with others is important. That is why we must learn more than just fighting."
"Well put, Blake," Weiss said.
Blake smiled at that and the girls fell into silence as they thought over the faunus' words.
OF course, Yang just had to ruin the moment.
"The pen may be mightier than the sword if used for communication. But if it's just being used for doodling and sketching, then I'd say it's a draw."
The hall resounded with the sound of three face-palms and a cacophony of laughter.
AN: I know next to nothing about swordfighting, really. But this was too fun of an idea to pass on.