[Date: Saturday, Ramuh 14th, 1360] [Mini start! Scene: The training grounds. Leran is there, holding a spear and practicing sticking it into dummies. He's obviously been working at it a while, and he looks a little tired, but he's still going.] * Harmony arrives before long in her usual clothes. She's got her swords, but also a greatsword; one that looks like it's difficult for her to even lift. * Leran spins the spear and thwoks it into another dummy. He pauses for a breather, and then noticies Harmony enter the grounds. * Harmony notices Leran, too. She halts in mid step when she does, and nearly trips. * Leran puffs. "Hey. Harmony." Uh... H-Hi. You're h-here late. * Leran plants the butt of the spear in the ground and leans against it. He nods at the greatsword. "Same reason you are, probably." He heaves a sigh and wipes sweat off his forehead. * Harmony looks at her sword out of the corner of her eyes. "Y-Yeah..." We're supposed to p-practice with different weapons, so... Yeah. * Leran gestures at the spear. "Not as easy as it looks." * Harmony nods. She hefts the sword up, and takes a step back as she lifts it too high and almost falls over backwards under its weight. How do you use this heavy thing? * Leran takes a step forward and grabs her wrist. "Whoa, watch it." * Harmony blushes fiercely at physical contact. "Uh. Uhm. Th-thank you." * Leran frowns, and is blissfully unaware of any distress Harmony might be in. "That's gonna suck for you to work with. Here, hold on." He leans the spear against a dummy and picks up his new greatsword, dropping into stance. For starters, loosen up your grip a little. You're choking it to death. * Harmony blinks. Oh. I thought... oh. ( Harmony swings. The sword flies out of her hand and brains a dummy. "I see! It's a very effective weapon if used properly!" ) * Leran holds up the sword so she can see. Most of his grip is on his thumb, index and middle fingers, the ring and pinky fingers fairly loose. If you do it like this you get a little more direction on the blade. * Harmony sees. "It's, umm... A lot different from what, uh, what I'm ... used to." Yeah, two-handed stuff's a lot different than one-handed swords. You can't fight it, though. You've got to use the weight for you. * Harmony holds up a hand with the index and thumb bent, the other fingers straight up. "I hold my swords with, uh, these three." * Harmony tries with the spear. "Like this?" Yeah, like that. * Harmony nods. I do the other way with my longsword, too. Better control, right? But control on a greatsword's really hard to keep. Like I said, you gotta work with it. It's uh. Whaddya call it ... * Harmony nods. * Leran frowns. Hey, yeah! Apprenticeship. ... wait. That's not it. * Harmony blinks. "Tha.... t didn't sound right." * Leran shrugs. "I guess it doesn't matter, really." He drops the sword to waist level, holding it angled slightly upward. * Harmony nods. When you swing it, see, you can't use just your arms. You'll totally get tired way too fast. * Leran demonstrates a few arm-only blows. * Harmony watches. "So... I see. I think." * Leran thunks the sword down, puffing again. "Man, see, that even wears me out." He wiggles first his left arm, then his right. So, uh... you gotta do it a little more like this. Lead with your hips, see. Then follow through with the upper body, and the sword tags along. * Leran brings the sword up again, and demonstrates a few of those hits, which are a great deal more workable. * Harmony nods as she watches. She does a lot of nodding. See, that way you don't force the sword, you just kind of, uh... well, Granddad always said it was like wrestling a bear. * Leran frowns. "Come to think of it, I don't really know why." * Harmony blinkblinks. "Bear?" Yeah, I don't know either. But try it. You can feel the sword, if it likes what you're doing it'll go with you. If not you're gonna hurt yourself. Or uh me. * Harmony grins. "Bears are cute." Then she realizes how stupid that sounds and pokes her fingers together. "Uh... Um... I mean..." Bears are better than badgers, that's for sure. ( *notes to send killer badgers after Leran.) (;_;) (He'll hide behind Nikki.) (He so would.) * Harmony looks for a subject change. "Um... Um..." She holds up the spear in her hand. "How about this?" Um, so far I'm not much beyond "pointy end goes in the other guy." * Leran rubs the back of his head. "I got a few slashes down, but I'm not very good at it." Oh. You got any tips on the short sword? I haven't even started that yet. Um.. Uh... W-well... It's like the opposite of what you said. * Leran picks up one lying on the ground, plopping his greatsword down. How do you mean? * Harmony bites her lip. "Sort of..." * Harmony puts down the spear, drawing one of her swords. I'm not too strong, so I let the sword, um... do the cutting for me. It, uh... it doesn't weigh much, so you can swing it faster, and be more precise than with a great sword. * Leran grips with his back three fingers and nods. "Could you show me? I do much better with a visual." * Harmony pokes her fingers together. "Um... For me at least." O... okay. * Harmony walks up to a dummy and falls into a fighting stance, albeit with only one sword. She holds the point downward. She quickly slashes upwards, striking the dummy's shoulder. she brings the blade down just a bit, cutting sideways across its neck. When she reaches the end of the arc in her swing, she drives the point into its stomach with both hands. "With a weapon like this, it's all about speed and the sharpness of the blade." * Leran frowns, and makes a couple experimental swings. "I think I get it. It's kind of like the longsword, only ... yeah." He tries to mimic Harmony's moves, managing to look only mildly ridiculous as he does so. * Harmony watches. "Um... You're... um, using too much... m-m-muscle." And... and you've got to aim for the weak points of the target. * Leran grins. "You sound like Granddad." He twists the sword. "I guess it'll take some work. It feels like I'm using a knitting needle." Um... Umm... Actually... It's kind of... sort of the same... kind of... I mean, if you were to, um, use a knitting needle as a weapon. Huh. * Harmony offers, "You did well for a first try, though!" * Leran waves it around a little more. "Thanks. Did you wanna give that greatsword a shot?" Um... Okay. * Harmony walks back and picks up the sword. * Harmony grips it. "Am, uh, am I holding it right?" Yeah. Just remember to keep most of the grip on those first fingers. * Leran reaches over and adjusts her hand. * Harmony nods. "And swing with the h-hips." She blushes a bit. "Um... O-okay, I think I can do it... I think..." * Leran steps back. "Go for it." * Harmony does! She moves up to a dummy and casts a weighty swing at its shoulder. * Harmony uses the momentum to spin around and cut sideways at its neck. "Like this?" (Harmony! User your Weighty Swing attack!) (At least it wasn't a Meaty Blow.) Good! Hm. Try to keep it low... remember it's not gonna matter much where you hit 'em, unless it's the head. They're going to be in pain either way. So keeping it low takes less effort. * Harmony nods. She tries again, slicing it's stomach and knees. Yeah, legs are good. I think you've got it. * Harmony smiles. "R-really?" * Leran smiles. "Yeah. Not about the strength, you know? Just about channeling the sword's." * Harmony nods. Th-thanks. * Leran takes a deep breath. "You're welcome. It's been fun, but Granddad wants me back home for some last-chance tracking lessons. The sadist." He grins, and sets about picking up his other weapons and strapping them on. * Harmony blinks. "Oh. Okay." (... Sadist? Leran just called his granddad a sadist.) I guess I'll stay here for a while. (He's not here to hear it!) Right. Hey, I'll see you later. Okay. * Harmony waves. "S-see you. * Leran heads out of the area, humming something. Badly. [Mini the ended!]