The Proficiency of a Master's Flair (Insaney)

OoC: Well aren't *I* busy.
This one goes out to Insaney, and his character Aer Athene. I'll be useing Alain Marshall, again.

BiC: Alain had been down on his luck the past few weeks, all when going about his daily routine. Fights had been popping up, and he was always involved. He had made a decision to try to avoid people, and hopefully avoid any confrontations. But he still had no luck, even after almost a week of nothing. He was soon to be battling yet again.

This time his foe was more on his own level than the others, but still had more skills. His unknown opponent was on his way through the town, on a similar path to Alain’s. Marshall was on his way back to the empty building where he stayed. He wanted to get back as soon as he could, because it was evening now, and he was tired. He had been training longer than usual, in an attempt to get better fit, and learn new skills. His armour was feeling heavier, and heavier, but he kept jogging along. His eye caught notice of a man very close to him. What it was that got Alain’s attention was a strange cloak, similar to a cape, that was black as the blackest night, maybe even darker than that. It had grabbed Alain’s attention so well that he was oblivious to a stone in his path. Predictably, he tripping on it. It wouldn’t have been so bad, if only his halberd was not strapped to his back. But it was, and as he fell the blade cut across the stranger’s arm.

Alain wasn’t in the best of moods, being out late and tripping, and didn’t even attempt to apologize. He stood and faced the man, while sliding his hand behind him to grab onto his halberd, just to balance it. But the stranger must have taken this as a hostile move, because he grabbed his own weapon, a fancy curved sword. Alain gasped under his breath, and pulled out his gladius. This was, no doubt, going to lead to a duel.

It didn't take long to feel the burning sensation caused by the gash on his arm be overcome with the warm liquid flowing out. His fingers had gripped his talwar suddenly--he was slightly paranoid that someone would come after the necklace he had just stolen; it seemed expensive enough to warrant an uproar and search, but so far, all he had come across was a man who had tripped nearby with a halberd strapped to his back. The halberd was kept sharp, it seemed, Aer's arm was just brushed by it, and it had already cut through the skin.

"I was expecting an apology," Aer winced as he brushed the blood away from the gash.

He glanced over at the man, who had stood up to pull out his sword. A gladius, Aer recognized it; he wasn't part of a family of Swordmasters for nothing. It looked expensive and well kept, but that wasn't all... the sheath itself looked like the real prize, and together, they might be sold for a pretty price. The money he could get from both the sword and sheath and the necklace would help quite a few families in this town alone.

And as quick as a flash, Aer let fly a throwing knife, cutting the man's finger, making him drop the gladius. While the man was busy with the blood flowing out of his wound, Aer rushed forward and cut away the sheath with another knife before quickly grasping up the man's sword and running to the nearest low building, quickly climbing up onto it and up top to the rooftop. It was then he turned around to see if the man would give chase.

Alain was so surprised by the pain of a small knife flying so fast that he dropped his gladius. The pain wasn't the problem for him, for he was a soldier and could heal such a wound in a minute, it was how swiftly the man threw the knife that surprised him. He would have picked his sword back up, but the man moved in, Alain assumed for an attack. But he was quite wrong. Instead the stranger took his own sword, which Alain could now see as a talwar, and cut off the sheath to Alain's gladius. Alain jumped back as the man reached out to grab the sheath and sword that Alain had dropped. The stranger glanced at Marshall only for a moment before dashing off over a low building, but then paused, as if taunting Alain to give chase.

After a moment of thinking, Marshall decided against trying to chase the man over buildings. Alain could run, but not over a building. That was more than he'd been taught in his military. He would, however follow the man on the ground, running alongside the building. He didn't particularly want his sword back, as it was standard as far as he was concerned, but he wasn't going to let someone simply take something of his without some effort.

He quickly dashed into the alley by the building as the stranger started to run again. The man kept ahead of Alain with ease, and Marshall could tell he did such feats regularly. Thankfully Alain saw up ahead there was a lack of buildings. The area was rather dry, open, and there was room enough for a battle. He ran into he middle of the field and turned towards to stranger, who was still on the building.
Pulling out his halberd he called to the man.
"Stranger! You have great skills, there is no doubt about that. But skills have no use with an honor less coward who would take a man's defense and run." He paused, seeing as he had the man's attention. "Give me my sword, and we shall duel. If you win, my blade is yours. But if I win, I keep it. I ask nothing of you, other than what was taken."

Did he just say 'honourless'?

The Prince turned to face him, but he was still rather high up. There was no where else to run, now, only down on the ground, where the halberd-wielding man was standing. It was a dusty, dry area, seemingly a place where people used to gather, but for some reason unknown, they did not come here any more. Only one or two people were there, who seemed interested; the rest had fled when the man took out his halberd.

"Ah," Aer responded, bringing out the gladius before bowing slightly, "If this is your defense, then that," he motioned at the axe, "must be your offense."

"And," he continued, "a thief's honour lies with what he does with his loot. A warrior's honour rests in the battle, as you can see: I am not a warrior, but a simple thief."

All that talk, but there was really no where to run...except... back. Aer turned around, ready to run the way he had come from. No doubt the man would follow him back, but... if Aer had to fight him, a wide open space would grant the halberd an advantage, and he couldn't allow that. Aer looked down at an alleyway which was just behind the building he was on--it leaded to the square, but it also branched off into other alleyways which would be perfect if he had to fight.

"I'd like to continue this game of cat and mouse, if you will." And with that, he stepped off the ledge and fell into the thin alleyway behind the building. He was glad when he found it was dark enough so that his cloak, Sierrazin, blended in perfectly. He would be hard to spot like this.

“Wha-?” Marshall was somewhat surprised that the man had just asked him to give chase, since he‘d expected a battle. Marshall figured he indeed had little honor, thief or no, as he would no doubt be able to lose Alain in such places. But Alain still wished for a battle with this man, and as such strapped his halberd to his back, and followed into the alley where he’d seen the man run. Upon entering he couldn’t see the man anywhere. He looked around him franticly, as if the man was everywhere.
Wherever the coward is, he’s got the advantage… Both his blade and mine in a narrow path. I’ve got to-
Alain’s thoughts were cut off as he caught something moving quickly at him. But he’d noticed too late, and was sent to the ground as what he assumed to be the man knocked him down. Alain was quick to jump back up, grabbing a stone as he pushed himself up, and put his fists up a bit, hiding the rock. He guessed he was having a difficult time finding the man due to the cloak he had seen earlier, but he had no proof of that yet. He kept looking around hoping to catch a glimpse of the man before he attacked.

“Coward!” He shouted out, doubting it’d get the man to face him, but still hoping. But naught a moment later did he feel the weight of the halberd on his back simple disappear. He turned, stepping back, to see the man standing there now holding both of Alain’s weapons. Marshall had to asses the situation now, before taking any other action.
The thief’s got my halberd, which is almost useless here anyway, as well as my gladius. I’m at a serious disadvantage here. I’m fine with losing one weapon… But both? That’s insane.
“Fine. You have my weapons. You have an advantage, I’ll admit it. But.” Alain stopped there and flung the stone as best he could with minimal movement, giving the man little warning. As Marshall predicted, then man was able to dodge the stone, but it had given him a split-second to act. He shoved himself into the man, forcing them both to the ground. His hand shot out toward his gladius, but at the same time he grabbed the sheath of his gladius, the other man had done the same. They both got up, neither really pulling, both just holding. Alain attempted to kick the man’s shin, but the stranger instead kept one hand on the sheath, and twirled around to put his other hand back on it, effectively dodging the kick.

There was one thing that either of them could do now. The hilt of the sword was to the side, so that they could both grab it. Alain was fist to go for it, but made another kick just to give himself a better chance. Right as he grabbed the weapons handle he felt his leg stop. Looking at it he saw the man had grabbed it, and what would come next was predictable. He grasped the handle of his sword tighter, and braced for the impact, feeling it only a second later. The man had disappeared again, but at least Alain could fight back now.

Aer seemed to think that this man was intent on fighting, for some reason. He had gotten his sword back, so what now? Revenge? But in actuality, the man seemed to be itching for a fight from the very beginning, before the Prince had taken the gladius, the man had taken out his halberd.

”How annoying...” Aer thought; this man spoke about honour, but when there was no battle to be had, he had drawn his weapon first, and was ready to take on a man who just didn’t know what was happening.

Aer had just seized the opportunity to take the gladius, which he had now lost. And since the man seemed intent on fighting Aer would just have to ignore him and be on his way; the gladius was a loss, but not such a massive one: he still had that item he had stolen earlier. And now was just the time to make an escape...

The Prince swiftly brushed past the man as he blended into the shadows and soon became an upright shadow as he swiftly jogged into the open area, hoping that the man with the axe was not persistent enough to give chase.

Humph. If that the way he's going to be, than fine.
Alain needed to shorten the near constant distance between him and this runner. He had observed the man's ability to climb on most anything around him to escape, giving him another advantage. Alain considered just giving up, but quickly dismissed the thought. He continued to chase after the runner, jumping over trash and what-not in his way, but was soon dodging people. The runner was heading for a more crowded area, but whether intentional or not was of little concern to Alain. He had the man in his sight and didn't move his head even to dodge someone, but rather crashed through the crowds, attracting a lot of attention.

Moments later the runner jumped behind a building, out of Alain's line of sight, but giving Alain the chance to take a glance around him. As he had guessed by all the people around, he was in a marketplace. Fruits, vegetables, trinkets, and even weapons were around. One stand in particular caught Alain's attention: a knife shop. Throwing knives, daggers, cooking knives, and some show knives were spread out along the three tables making up the shop. Alain dashed for the throwing knives, and grabbed five with a single swoop. With his other hand he dropped a bag of the money he had. It was more than enough for the five knives, but that thought didn't cross his mind. Only one thing was of concern to him... Find the runner, and battle him.

Alain passed the alley-way that the man had dropped into and kept going. He knew the man wouldn't just sit in the same alley this whole time, and so he went on to search them all. He caught a glimpse of what might have been the runner near the top of a building and, not wanting to take chances, ran down the alley-way, and around the side of the building. Again the man was in his view, and as such, Alain pulled out a knife and flung it hard at the man. He hadn't exactly taken the time to aim, so he was unsure where the blade would strike, if anywhere.

Aer watched from around the corner as his cloak flew with the knife. This cloak he had left standing there was no ordinary black cloth, it was Sierrazin, the Void Cloak. It took on a human form when left alone, but if his pursuer had taken the time to talk instead of hastily throwing a weapon, then he would've seen the other side of this, for lack of a better word, thing.

As soon as the cloak hit the ground, Aer grasped it and flung it on, disappearing into the shadows of the alleyway, leaving behind two throwing knives that flew through the air straight towards the Prince's pursuer. Aer went deeper and deeper into the crevice between buildings, noticing that the persistent man was still giving chase. What did he want? Revenge? Did he really want something like that so badly, even after he had his belongings returned?

The Prince was getting annoyed, now, finding himself behind a massive, gothic-looking chapel. He quickly grasped each projecting piece and scaled the wall up to the roof, glancing back to see the man down below. He couldn't find a way up here, he thought, unless he scaled the outside walls. Aer kept climbing over the main roof and straight onto the thinner steeple, climbing up and holding on to the base of the large stone cross at the top.

Alain stared at the man, who was now well out of his reach. Even if he could follow him, should the man run, he'd be on the ground, and the man would be high above him. Alain reluctantly turned and walked away from the place. He'd find the man again, he knew it. He didn't know, however, that'd be in the same day.

It had been the start of the evening when Alain ended the chase, and now it was night. It had just become dark; the sun was now gone for the night, and the moon shone now. Alain raging in his mind, thoroughly upset at the man. His only comfort was that he still had his equipment. He looked about for something to strike with his halberd, but all that was around were shops, as he was in the market, and he wasn't one to destroy those. He'd gone on raids before, destroyed shops before, but it wasn't anything he'd do now, unless necessary for his survival. To his surprise, as he looked around he noticed movement in one of the shops. There was no one around, so he assumed it to be a stray dog... until a shadow moved out from the shop, ran up the side of a near-by building, and ran off.

Hoping not to be noticed, Alain gave chase from a safe distance. He was close enough to see the man, as he could do that easier than a human, but far enough back that he hoped the man wouldn't hear him. The man dropped into an alley, and Alain approached the location. He carefully looked around the corner, it was a dead end, and the high walls around were hardly rough enough to climb, at least he hoped. He whipped out his halberd and walked right into the alley.
"What'd you take this time?" he asked the man, to get his attention. "Maybe some fruit the merchant left behind? maybe some coins he dropped? Doesn't matter, does it? Whoever you stole from won't know you did it, will they? No, they won't. You get off scot-free. But that's not the case here. You take from me, and you're in for it." Alain stood ready to attack if the man charged, as that was the only way Alain could see for the man to escape. High, mostly smooth walls, no windows, nothing.

"Come now. Are you too pathetic for one fight?"

"Come now. Are you too pathetic for one fight?"

"Are you too inept to know when to give up?" Was what Aer responded. This man had become more than an annoyance now, he was a stalker. The prince was at a dead end now, in the midst of walls to smooth to scale and too high to just jump over. Of course, the man who had been stalking Aer for all this time just for a barbaric fight was blocking the 'only way out', at least, that's what Aer thought he was thinking. After all, the man probably had never heard of katzenhaft and why it was called that. "Catlike"...even though a cat might not have been able to accomplish the feat that he was about to do.

For now, the night gave him cover as he had the cloak concealing him in the darkness. The man had drawn his weapon and was walking in--foolish, the darkness was friendly to neither of them. Both were not nocturnal, and both were basically even in the dark when it came to sight. However, Aer had the upper hand whether he tried to run or fight; contrary to popular belief, the man himself was trapped--the location, night and even the man's halberd gave Aer the strategic advantage. A sword was faster and easier to wield--the faster weapon-wielder deals the first blow, which could tip the scales of combat drastically. However, swinging around an axe in this alley was a danger in itself; the walls were close together, and if the man had swung wildly, he'd be hitting nothing but brick.

And finally, the night. It was obvious, really. Aer held this advantage from the start. The darkness of the night combined with Sierrazin made Aer a formidable opponent during the darkest hours. But this man wanted to fight right now... And Aer...would absolutely love to disappoint him. In the corner, he moved against a wall, swiftly using his feet to run up a few steps against the brick. As he reached the peak of the run, his knees bent and his legs pushed off the wall. He turned in mid air and landed on the opposite wall, taking another two steps before pushing off again to grab on to the ledge and pull himself up to the rooftop.

For a moment, he looked down at the man in the shadows of the alley before darting off once again.