Sword Practice [Private]

Nox breathed heavily, the sword weighing in his hand. He decapitated another dummy, then looked around. He wished he could have a challenger. But even his siblings didn't like sparring with him much, because he usually took his anger out on the field, making him an aggressive opponent. Instead, they lolled around, playing among themselves, leaving him with the dummies. Even with his family, Nox was still an outsider.

Well, there had been one person. She treated him like a normal person, not a freak from the Nyx cabin who would never fit in. He promised himself not to think of her, even tried to dump the stupid sheep key chain. He couldn't do it. It wasn't her. She wasn't anything special, not particularly pretty or anything. It was the fact that she didn't shun him, she was friendly, even.

"I can't go soft," he chided himself. He'd become the cold one in the cabin, the loner. The one, because he kept to himself. Then, he was another cabin coming, full of happy grins and laughing campers.

And her.

Dawn laughed slightly at something someone else said as she stepped into the practice areas, spinning her paintbrush/weapon in her hand. Even as she laughed halfheartedly, she couldn't help but look at the area with apprehension. Close combat wasn't her forte, but she had been told today she had to practice something other than throwing her knife. The girl could barely hold a sword for long, let alone fight. She shook her head, straying a bit from the group that had moved to select their swords and partners. A few feet in front of her, there was a particular boy from her cabin, large and brawny, looking about for a partner. What was his name again? She forgot. Either way, Dawn didn't want to be paired with him.

Then she saw him.

Relieved, Dawn rushed over to the boy she had met the other day in the infirmary, (What was his name again?) and shoved him away from the dummies as far as she could, grabbing a random sword off the ground. "If anyone asks, we're partners, because I don't want to fight him" Dawn sent him a sheepish grin and held her sword in position rather awkwardly. There must have been something that she was doing wrong. This didn't feel right. "I hate swordplay." Dawn muttered to herself, glancing apprehensively at Nox. RIGHT. That was his name!

He looked at her, gripping her sword awkwardly. It was a beautiful weapon, golden in the morning sun. He nodded as she requested to partner with him. He didn't want to feel the way he did, but she had a weird effect on him, making him feel lightheaded, and wanting her. Not in a creepy way or anything, but he loved the way she made him feel.

He held his sword out, showing her the right way to do it, but it wasn't much help. He bit his lip, apprehensively standing behind her. He put his hand over hers, and showed her how to hold the weapon right. "You could kill someone with that. Be careful," he warned, voice low and tone severe.

He tried to keep his breathing level, but it was difficult. He hadn't had a girl in such close quarters for a while now. And she wasn't any other girl.

Snap out of it, he thought angrily. You're growing soft, idiot.

Dawn silently swallowed, not used to being in such close proximity with a boy. She felt her heartbeat spiking erratically and wondered absentmindedly if Nox could feel it. Probably not. At his words, Dawn shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts and spoke, "I very much doubt so. I can't handle anything bigger than a paintbrush." A paintbrush, or a knife. The girl slowly wriggled out of his personal bubble and stood opposite him, her grip on her sword faltering and shifting. "Personal bubble, Nox." Dawn murmured nervously, raising her sword and lowering it a few times.

"So uh.. You start?" Dawn queried, blinking as she realized that other partners had started sparring already, and they were the odd pair that that still were at a standstill. The burly boy from earlier had moved on to the dummies, lopping off their heads and limbs, having not found a partner. Why are people so violent? Dawn wondered, her mind drifting from the supposed sparring match she was supposed to be doing. Isn't it gross? To just... cut off people's bodies? The girl shook her head again, mystified. Yep, she seemed to have fully forgotten that she was in the middle of a sparring area, and her sword dangled limply from her arm that now rested by her side.

Nox lifted his hands up in surrender, chuckling. It was too easy to get her riled up, and the reactions were always hilarious. Perhaps it was being a little mean, but that's what he did. He pushed people away.

She suggested he started the fight, but he took a glance at her hand and shook his head. "I tried to show you. Try again, it's like this," he reached his hand forward so she could see the position better. He stared at her hands as she tried to copy him. Her hands were so small, slender and dexterous, unlike his own, which were chunky and too large.

He hated himself, really. If he weren't so messed up, maybe his dad would be alive. Maybe if he weren't such a useless coward. The grip on his hilt tightened, and he clenched his jaw.

Dawn snapped her focus back to Nox, pouting a bit. "But I never get it right,
" She mumbled, "What's the use of trying?" Dawn would never admit it, but if swordplay was one of the rare few things she found herself giving up on. It just wasn't her! Biting her lip, the girl leaned forward slightly, her eyes studying Nox's grip on his sword. After a few silent momenta, Dawn looked back at her own grip and started to adjust it, keeping her fingers in place. "Can we start now?" She urged, poking him gently in the tummy with the tip of her sword. Really, really gently.

He frowned. It was a good effort, he had to give her that. But it was still wrong. When he'd first come to camp, he managed to pull a few favours to get an Ares camper to teach him swordplay. He was pretty formidable in hand to hand combat as it is- living on your own meant learning how to fight. The point was, having a child of War as your sword master gave you no space for error. It was either perfect, or terrible. And he would get slammed with a hilt each time he couldn't get it right. So by now, he had to be perfect.

She poked him with her sword. Instinctively, he unsheathed his own blade and hers promptly clattered to the ground, not without nearly twisting her arm. A sinking feel formed in his gut. He didn't want to hurt her, but his reflexes were like that when it came to fights.

"Gods! I'm so sorry, Dawn," he said hurriedly, hoping he hadn't injured her too badly to join that burnt thigh.

Dawn stared at her sword on the ground, then back to Nox, then to the sword. Did he just?.. A faint throbbing emanating from her wrist and elbow confirmed that. She had just gotten her butt handed back to her on a silver platter, in a matter of a second. She didn't care that her arm hurt- it was fading already, but what she did care was that Nox was so good at this. And she was just.. so... Bleh. Would he teach me? Dawn snorted internally, she didn't even like swordplay. The girl didn't even care that she was the worst sword fighter in camp, but what Nox had just did made her want to retaliate, to show him she wasn't as bad as she seemed. Woah, woah. Why am I thinking such things? Dawn blinked, she wasn't normally so competitive.

"I'm fine," She murmured, picking up the heavy sword in her hands. "Again? This time, at least give me a warning."

He huffed. "I bounced around the foster care system. I'm very defensive. That's why I was fighting dummies," he explained, apologetic.

He had to grin when she wanted to go again. She wasn't scared of him- even though it was the way he kept people far from him. She cared, even though she didn't need to. There'd been others, his social worker, or Chiron, but they cared about him because they had to. Dawn, on the other hand, didn't have to spare him a second glance. She didn't have to give him that ridiculous key chain that bulged from his trouser pocket. He tried convincing himself it was just good luck, but he knew it really meant more. And the fact it did, that scared him.

"You know, I do owe you a favour. I could totally teach you how to sword fight," he suggested, surprised that his own courage. He didn't really care about the favour (or the service, as they'd called it]. And sword fighting was just an excuse to see her more. To have someone that cared near him.

Dawn tilted her head slightly, "Bounced huh?" She murmured, leaning forward to poke his arm with a finger, "You don't seem like the type that bounces. Shoved, maybe." The girl blurted out, laughing a little. She hadn't meant to say it out loud, but it just... happened. In her mind's eye she was watching a little figure of Nox being tossed and bounced around in a huge pinball machine. Nope, that image just didn't fit.

Dawn shook her head at his offer, "I don't like swords, sorry. But I was thinking of using the favour in another way." She wouldn't ask him for it just yet, Dawn wanted to bide her time. "But I suppose I should learn how to fight with swords some day." Just not today. "My arms ache," Dawn whined, but perked up immediately when she saw a target was free.

"Let's go to the targets!" Dawn chirped, grabbing hold of Nox's wrist and attempted to drag him over there. Hastily, Dawn grabbed her paintbrush from her pocket and hurled it towards the target. The moment it left her hand, the brush changed and morphed into a slender throwing knife which embedded itself into the middle of the target, up to the middle of the blade. "I call dibs!" Dawn yelled cheerfully, effectively warding away another girl who had been eyeing tthe empty target.

"I hate archery. I'm strong enough to take a real fight."

He liked swordplay because of how close contact it was. Archery was fine, and all, but it didn't give him the same thrill that he received from wounding with his blade. When he thought of arrows, Eros was the first thing that came to mind, and Cupid wasn't exactly his favourite deity.

"I'll just train with the dummies," he sighed.

"But.. Nox!" Dawn protested, "I'm no good at swordfighting!"

The girl frowned slightly, before slipping her hand into her pocket, finding that her paintbrush had returned there. "Fine, I guess. I'll just use the targets alone then. She abruptly dropped his wrist and stalked towards the targets despondently. She wasn't mad, no, just.. somewhat disappointed. Purposefully keeping [WIP]

With a shrug, Nox returned to his straw friends, and delivered a flurry of attacks which would've been fatal to a live opponent. But this was straw. They weren't live opponents, they were nothing close. Straw dummies chunky, they didn't move. They weren't a challenge. Regardless, he swiftly attacked them, because that was the closest thing to practice he would get.

Well, unless he decided to do archery.

He walked over to Dawn. "This is in no way comparative to the benefits of knowing swordplay. But let's do this."

Dawn sighed and twirled the paintbrush in her hand, staring at it before hurling it at the target, watching as it missed the center by a bit. Five seconds- It reappeared in her pocket yet again. Just as she brought her hand back to throw again, a voice from her right startled her. Dawn's smile slipped back into her expression when she realized who it was. "If you had stuck around long enough, you would have realized I wasn't going to use the target for archery."

She giggled softly before raising her paintbrush, "This is what I'm here for."

"You're strong, for someone your stature," Nox remarked, impressed that she managed to stick the blade on the board from such a distance. Most girls her size weren't able to. He supposed that was why they loved archery and he hated it. It didn't require all too much strength, and he liked showing ability.

He'd returned his sword to its disguised form, so he detached the cross on his camp necklace. It grew to three feet, a Stygian Iron blade blacker than death. It was a gift from his mother- he didn't know if it was a welcome to camp; and apology for letting his father die; or just another gift for another of her children. He didn't really like any of those, so he chose not to think about it too much.

He thrust the blade like a spear, and it soared in the air, before embedding itself in the bullseye. Weapons were the only thing he was good at, that he should've been a son of Ares instead.

After a few moments, the sword disappeared from the target and he felt a weight around his neck.

OOC: I give up on colors from my phone.

"It isn't about the strength really, I mean, sure it helps, but it's more on how you throw it." Dawn said, holding out her paintbrush for Nox to see. She had her forefinger at the back of the brush and the thumb and middle holding the body of it. Her wrist was bent slightly at a gentle angle and none of her fingers were straight. "I can't rely on strength like other people, so I flick from my wrist." The girl didn't know whether she was making sense to Nox, but she explained anyway.

Interested, she leaned forward slightly as Nox detached the cross and it grew into a blade, probably three feet long, or longer. As he threw, Dawn couldn't help but notice how he used the force of his entire arm to throw it, the movement deadly yet graceful. Next to him, she felt like this bedraggled kitten and he was the big scary lion with a fluffy mane. What? He's not fluffy at all. Her lips twitched up into the beginnings of a giggle that she fought hard to contain. No need for him to think she was crazy.

"My turn," Dawn remarked, choking a bit on her suppressed laughter. She couldn't help it. The image of a scowling Nox with a ring of fluffy fur around his neck was too hilarious. She raised her hand and threw her brush/knife carelessly.

Bullseye.

"Don't get me wrong- Practice does make perfect, and you can't go without it. But your technique here's already spectacular, if even you can score bullseye. You can't run from swordplay forever. Either that, or you'll need combat. Wrestling, I mean." he said. Throwing blades at a target honestly wouldn't help at that much in the real world. Of course, it would help, but when would you get the chance? Most of the time, fighting monsters was up close.

"Of course," he said, breaking off the pendant and throwing the sword to the target, "It's really all up to you, sunshine. What's the verdict?"

"B... But I can wrestle," Her eye's slid to the ground as the lie left her mouth. It wasn't that she was scared of him, gods no- That image of a fluffy him would always be imprinted in her mind, she just wasn't very gifted when it came to fighting up close, or fighting at all. "I know I should uh, kick them where it hurts?" Dawn muttered meekly. She fidgeted when she realized that Nox was not going to let her off either one of them, so she reluctantly sighed and said, "Wrestling, I suppose?"

Holding her own arm up should be easier than holding a heavy sword. "But only if it's with you!" Dawn blurted out, before smacking her own hand. That sounded weird. The girl did not trust anyone else when it came to being patient around her when it came to these kind of stuff, and she had had many teachers trying and giving up with her. Dawn didn't know much about Nox, but he did seem pretty patient...

Did he?

Nox smirked, laughing, almost in a patronising fashion. "You want to wrestle? It's not just about hitting your opponent where it hurts. It's skill, it's technique, it's strength. For someone like you, fists aren't the best option, because your opponent probably bests you there. Knees and elbows- you can apply power there, strike hard. You're small, so you might have agility over whoever you're fighting."

He circled around her, getting closer with each ring, like a spiral. She intrigued him- and why not? He'd never met anyone who could be so oblivious. He imagined her battling gangs that he'd come across during his time on the run. She'd never last against a mortal, much less a monster. His hands were still scarred from punches, and his tooth was chipped. Little Miss Rainbows And Unicorns would never last, even with training, even with passion.

He signalled her to follow him, and they made their way to a decapitated straw dummy. If they weren't hacking off limbs, the head wasn't so important. "Punch. And punch hard. Your enemy isn't going to be as kind as you are."

Dawn's mind blanked out as he started to talk, something about using her knees and elbows? But.. I don't want to hit people, She mentally protested. "Elbows, and knees." She muttered, just to make it seem like she was actually listening. "No fists."

It was when they stopped in front of a dummy did Dawn finally realize that he was actually intent on making her do something other than her knife throwing. "Um..." Dawn raised her hand and curled it into a fist, with her thumb on the outside. That much she knew. Her eyes slid between Nox and the headless dummy before dropping her fist. "I need to pee!" She blurted out the first excuse that came to her mind, "May I?" She didn't even know why she was asking, she just thought it would be polite to ask, considering he was trying to teach her.

He shook his head. Not to deny her request, but in disappointment. "Demigods can't be pacifists. And what did you think you'd accomplish from throwing blades? You're supposed to kill the monsters before they end you!" he shouted in frustration. A few curious heads turned to see the commotion, but Nox didn't care. He wondered how she'd ever survived a day beyond the borders. Monsters would eat her alive. Literally.

She was built like a sparrow, for flight. He was like a hawk, meant for the fight. The truth was, she could just take the evasive approach. She could just run from everything, but that meant she could probably never leave camp. She'd be too exposed there if she couldn't fight. And even then, she still needed to know how to fight, at least the basics, best with swords. But he planned to leave someday- a child of Nyx may not be as inviting as another god's, so it wasn't suicide- and so he required more practice.

"Go ahead," he said dismissively, pulling his cross off, Stygian Iron blade materialising. "I'm going to keep training."

Dawn jumped, startled by the sudden intensity of his voice. She didn't know what to say. Dawn had never thought about fighting monsters, not once in her years at camp. And now... The thought of her actually leaving camp to face these.. creatures- She couldn't do it. To draw her knife against another living being, to know her blade had shed the blood of something else, it was too much for Dawn.

Then it hit her.

If ever her father came back, she still couldn't return to her simple idyllic life with him. Coming here, learning her heritage would change all that. By staying with her father, she would endanger him as well. If she couldn't even defend herself, how could she protect her father? Dawn didn't want her father's death on her hands. "Sorry," She whispered, her voice breaking a bit. Why am I being like this? Why can't I be brave like Nox or the other campers?

"Never mind, I didn't really need to go," Dawn admitted, watching him draw his blade, "I apologize for lying."

With a nod, Nox turned to face Dawn again. It confused him, actually, why she was suddenly so keen on fighting. He tried not to care, he tried hard. Only that this girl, she was unlike anyone he'd ever encountered. He had to know what made her tick, what had turned her to be the way she was.

He wiped away the sweat on his brow with the back of his hand. He looked up at the sky, to see the sun shining brightly, harshly down on him. He hated the sun; he hated the day. In those twelve hours, he was at his weakest. Noon was the worst. In the dark cover of the night, he was in his element. Shadows would conceal him, and power would course through him. Nighttime was his time. He supposed it was the opposite for the perky girl in front of him. As a daughter of Aurora, daybreak would be the period she felt the strongest. Perhaps that was why he felt so attracted to her. They were complete opposites. He fought, she flew. He was night, she was day. It was endless.

"Wrestling was stupid from the beginning. You're by built for that, and anyway, the odds of you strangling a monster to death are unlikely. Swordplay's more important for you," he told her. "Can you hold the hilt properly? If you grip it wrong, you either tire or you twist your arm. And believe me, that's not what you want."

"I can never seem to hold a blade right," Dawn admitted rather sheepishly. "It just doesn't feel... right." She couldn't explain it. Even if she held the lightest sword ever made, it would seem off balanced to her. The only thing she cpuld seem to handle was her knife. Wait. My knife! "What if I learn to fight with this?" Dawn asked excitedly, holding up her paintbrush. "I know it isn't the biggest, but I can fend off swords with it, right?" Maybe she could do this, for once in her life get something right.

It wouldn't be easy, Dawn knew that much, but she just had to figure it out- to learn the other ways of using this gift. She just had to. Not for herself, no, but for her father. That is, if he does ever come back. It had been two years now. What were the chances of her ever seeing him again? If she did, she had better be prepared.

It would take a long time, that was for certain, but she would get there eventually. "This is gonna be a long day."

OOC: End thread! :D