Xander still stood where he was, unmoving. His mind was still replaying the sparring session that Adam and Duncan had just finished. The level of skill they had displayed was incredible. And now Duncan had told him that he was up! Finally pulling himself together he slowly, nervously made his way from Amanda and Joe.
When he stopped to think about it, there really was no reason to be nervous. It wasn't like Duncan, or Adam, were going to try and take his head, right?
No, what was making him nervous at the moment was the fact that there was a hint of a smirk in Duncan's grin that Xander was taking to mean that he was about to get his ass handed to him. 'Hopefully it won't be done too painfully' he thought while accepting the inevitable. It was Duncan's eyes that gave him a moment of pause.
There was humor in there. That was certain. But they were tinged with sadness and worry. Past pain, perhaps even ghosts of the pasts seemed to be reflected in those suddenly ageless eyes. He was about to learn a lesson, a big and important one. Xander was sure of it. He became far more nervous when those eyes seemed to steel for what was forthcoming. Xander, however, in his time had faced down vampires, demons, even a hell goddess. He would brave through whatever was about to transpire, and learn whatever lesson was deemed necessary. He would do whatever was necessary to help him protect 'his girls,' his friends, his family. Shaking off the last of his nervousness, he felt a calm steal over him, much like he had when he was meditating with Leo. He then faced towards Duncan, and got into a defensive stance that he had used against Phoebe,
Duncan watched intently as the young man made his way towards him steadily, albeit quite nervously. He knew what he had to do. He was just worried that Alexander's self confidence may suffer from this, which by itself could be quite deadly. He was planning on taking Alexander down quick, yet hard. So he was also worried about how Alexander would react. He thought back to a student he had had not so long ago. That memory pained him still. He wouldn't take the chance of Alexander becoming overconfident far too early in his immortality. He just prayed that after being put in through the rough training that was inevitable, the trust placed in him would remain intact by the time this was over.
Looking up at Alexander, the nervousness and anxiety seemed to have flown from the child's body. Their eyes met for a brief moment. The awkwardness, worry, and the slight hint of cockiness that would be seen in most new immortals was not present in those calm eyes.
Xander knew that he was going to be completely outmatched, and most likely he would be thoroughly humiliated…if not humbled by the end of this spar. So he set himself, in a way in which he had done in the past, with no intention of going down easy. He needed to become as skilled as possible as soon as possible if he were to protect those he cared about. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew, without a doubt, that he would not win this spar. He was eternally grateful it wasn't to the death, or part of 'The Game.' He figured that if he was going to impress the others he would need to strike fast, hard, quick, and most importantly, he would need to strike first. When his eyes met Duncan's, all he could see was the eyes of a warrior. But it mattered not. Without contemplating his movement he went straight for Duncan with all of the speed and skill he could muster.
For the first time, in a very long time, Duncan had misjudged his opponent. It was only due to his 400+ years of experience, most as a warrior and swordsmen that he did not fail where others would have. His original plan was to take Alexander down hard and fast. He was lucky to have reacted fast enough not to get injured…he needed to revise his plans. Now that he was set up and in a rhythm, staying in pace with Alexander would not be a problem. He would need to take control of this spar, and in turn take control of Alexander. Where once it was going to be short and sweet, now it was going to be long and drawn out.
Whenever Xander went to attack Duncan, his attack would be parried, or blocked, as though it were nothing. And in return he would receive a sharp slap of the sword on his butt, or a quick slice from his body. No matter what happened he stayed with it. If this is what it was going to take, than by God he was going to tough it out until they had decided he had enough.
After approximately 15 minutes of being constantly beaten, Xander found himself on the ground. He decided to amend his previous thoughts of toughing it out. Enough was enough already. His butt was in pain, and dozens of small wounds ran along his upper body. By now most, if not all, of the wounds had healed. Too bad his clothes wouldn't heal as well. Even though he no longer had the physical wounds, his entire body hurt like hell. And at the moment he was sending a death glare directly at Duncan, whose entire posture 'screamed' sorrow, yet held an air of experienced certainty. Xander had gone all flat out, and because of that he was now exhausted while Duncan looked not even winded
Not even bothering to get off the ground, he hardened his glare at Duncan, and in a cold voice asked "Why the HELL did you do all of this?" Duncan glanced down at his sword whose point was resting on the lawn. Surprisingly it was Adam who spoke up.
"We needed to make sure you understood just how much of a disadvantage you have right now. How under-prepared you truly are." Staring straight into Xander's angry eyes he continued. "It is vitally important to learn this now, as opposed to learning it during your first challenge. We need to do all we can to assure that you do not accept a challenge, or even receive a challenge, until you are ready." Glancing over at Duncan for a moment, he turned to face Xander again. "Your lack of skill and experience will most definitely leave you dead…a permanent death."
Closing his eyes and shaking his head, Xander responded. "I realized that I was so far out of my league the moment I watched the two of you spar." He nodded toward both Adam and Duncan. "And if you were so worried you could have just talked to me. There was no need for me to receive this sort of lesson."
With a quiet voice, Duncan spoke up. "But we couldn't be sure. I wasn't about to take the chance and let it happen." Shaking his head he muttered a small mantra. "Not again. Never again." Looking over towards Xander, he could see the curiosity in the child's eyes.
Resigning himself, he took a deep breath and wound up slowly sighing. Almost painfully. He regaled the group about his tale from the past. It was about a student he had, that had only lived as an Immortal for a few days. When the young man had been mortal he was considered one of the best swordsmen around in the competitive circles. He foolishly believed that was still the case. He found out just how sub-par he had been against another Immortal, a mediocre one at that, and had lost his head. Duncan had felt so much guilt over letting down his student so early in life. Early by mortal and immortal standards. He was resolved to never allow that to happen again. He told Xander that he hoped whatever rift had been formed between them would be mended in times to come. His voice was so thick with emotion as he spoke, that he had virtually lapsed into his Scottish brogue ….one could not help but to feel an intimate connection with the events and people involved.
Duncan was so lost in his own thoughts that he never saw Xander get up from the ground and make his way over towards him. He never realized he was there until Xander reached out a hand, and gave an affectionate squeeze of support. Giving Duncan one of his patented lopsided smiles he took a step back. Giving him a full grin Xander let Duncan know that they were ok, bringing relief to the Highlander.
With humor twinkling in his eyes, Xander asked, "So…when does the real training start?"
Looking over at Adam, who was giving him a small smile of his own and quick nod of his head, Duncan answered with a smile of his own. "Umm…how about now?"