Catch-all post!

[ragnarsson]

who: Ivar and others
what: Monthly log catch-all post
when: Starting about Dec. 10th and continuing throughout the month
where: All over the Quarantine
warnings: Graphic description of broken bones, sparring violence



Prompts below! Anyone who wants anything specific can PM me or contact me at Light_shade

Comments

[somnioergosum]

If there was one thing that Ronan could focus on, it was fighting. He just had to get past the banter and into the action. Adrenaline was too sweet and too fleeting to waste. He wasn't there yet, but he planned to be before this was over.

Ronan took a half step back due to Ivar's defense, but then he pressed forward. "So what's your game plan?" He twisted his blade and swung it to the side. If he could knock Ivar's knife out of his grip, all the better, but all he needed was to get it out of his way and create an opening.

[ragnarsson]

He liked what he was seeing in Ronan. Now that he was properly focusing, it was clear to Ivar that he was going to get the basics down in no time flat. He wasn't having to start from square one with him like he was with some of his other students.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ivar's blade was in the forward position, perfectly suited for stabbing and going on the offense. He switched it to his right hand, the dominant one. He kept it close to the body rather than sweeping it outwards, so when Ronan swung his blade, he was braced for the impact, but he still felt it all the way up his arm.

[somnioergosum]

Ronan knew he shouldn't expect to disarm Ivar on the first try, but the failure frustrated him anyway. It gave him that extra push as he stepped even closer, shifted back into the stance he'd use to throw a punch, and thrust his dirk at Ivar. Brute force was his go to for fighting, and he carried that with him here. With that much power, he could possibly wedge it into his bone, if used properly. He had confidence that Ivar would find a way to stop him, but he still aimed at his shoulder just in case.

At the same time he raised his other hand, ready to try and stop Ivar's dagger if he tried to take advantage of any possible opening and stab Ronan. It was half-planned, half-instinct. Normally, he'd grab that hand and twist it away and he seemed ready to try it now. No one ever accused Ronan of thinking long-term or having any regard of his physical well-being.

[ragnarsson]

Ivar waited to see what Ronan would do next. He didn't disappoint as he thrust the blade forward again in an offensive move. Ivar brought his blade up to block the blow again and then grabbed the wrist holding onto the dirk.

He pulled him forward with the momentum, quickly pulling his blade back and then forward again as if he was going to stab Ronan in the stomach. He stopped before the knife could actually do any damage. They were at a nice stalemate right now, so Ivar flipped his knife downwards, running it along the inside of his arm down towards the floor. "You're not bad. Raw but that can be worked on."

[somnioergosum]

The sudden movement ruined Ronan's attempt to block Ivar, which was really a good thing for his fingers.

Ronan stepped back and lowered his dirk. He didn't acknowledge the compliment, if it even was one. He took it as an assessment. "What's next?"

[ragnarsson]

"You've got the basic movements down for offense. What comes next is a lot of practice." Tedious, he knew, but Ivar wasn't going to listen to any complaints. Bigger moves would come after the basics had been mastered. It wasn't going to do Ronan any good if he didn't know how to stab properly.

"As far as defense goes, you need to work on that. You leave yourself open to unexpected moves too much. And I doubt those monsters are going to play nice and wait for you to learn to block properly if they come back again." At least after a few more sessions he'd be able to rest more easy knowing Ronan could defend himself properly.

[somnioergosum]

"Yeah, my guts could've told you that." Some other parts of his body could as well, but that was the one that nearly did him in.

"So what I'm gonna have to do a bunch of practice moves before I can fight?" He raised his dirk and pointed it at the sky. "And am I stuck with this?" He could work with it but now he wanted to try knives in addition after seeing what Ivar could do.

[ragnarsson]

"Practice is the only way to learn properly. Do you think I just woke up one day knowing how to fight? I didn't have a whole lot to do when I was young, so I just constantly tried to get better." Ivar had been on a constant quest to be not only equal, but better than his brothers. It had taken a very long time to achieve that goal.

"I think you'll do alright with a knife as well." He'd wanted to get Ronan's measure and now he had it. A different weapon wouldn't hurt any to try.

[somnioergosum]

"I just practiced on my brothers." Ronan's father was not the best parent. Later, Ronan was not the best brother.

He nodded his approval at the knife comment. He swung the dirk once to try it out again. It was far less satisfying when it passed through air instead of striking metal.

"Alright, so let's get the boring crap over with. Show me what I've gotta do to keep my viscera on the inside next time."

[ragnarsson]

Ivar grinned. "So did I." Ubbe and Hvitserk he actually sparred with, Sigurd he more tried to just beat the shit out of because his older brother was a punk-ass bitch.

"Alright. Follow what I do." Ivar proceeded to show Ronan the basics of how to use a knife to fight with. He went over the moves first at normal speed and then more slowly to show off the nuances. When he was done he looked over at Ronan, he asked, "Got them down?"

[somnioergosum]

Ronan nodded. "Got it." He pointed his blade at Ivar. "When I'm finished learning, we get a rematch."

Not a real fight, of course. He didn't want either of them to get bloodied. But he wanted to see Ivar at his best. He could say it would be a test of his skills, but honestly the motivation was pride.