what i show you is reality. what you remember...

[thirteen-blades.livejournal.com]

Who: Espedon, anybody
Where: Apartment Rooftop
When: May 3rd
What: Meditation interrupted?

Espedon sat on the roof of the apartments, seated in a half-lotus position on top of a rudimentary pillow- his backpack, stuffed with spare clothing. Rays of sunlight poked through the clouds overhead, one of a few dense pockets of shade in in the otherwise brilliant sky. A look of perfect concentration occupied his face, but his eyes were still dark from the insomnia that still plagued him.

Around him, seven blades hung suspended at varying levels in the air. The Seventh hovered directly behind him, glowing faintly, like some saint's halo. To his right, a squat, but solid, blade with a hilt reminiscent of a shield floated low over the roof. Angelfire, the blade he'd used to cut a path through the snow, levitated to his left.

Spinning idly above him, there was a straightsword, its golden, dragon-shaped hilt forming a gilded cage which housed a sphere of some exotic metal. An arming sword, with an abyssal eye in its hilt and a blade of black steel, hovered high behind him. Not far from it, a rapier of luminescent silver levitated, its beautiful hilt gleaming almost enticingly.

Before him, seeming to commune with him, one more blade hovered. It appeared to be crafted of some sort of wood, long-worn and found in the heart of some deadly, blackhearted jungle. Shard of obsidian were inserted all down the two sides of the weapon, forming a jagged and wickedly sharp blade. The air around it seemed to twist and writhe, an aura of delirium that begged to be danced with.

Periodically, the blades would shift their positions around Espedon's meditating form, but the last blade- Calexus- would remain still, its aura growing subtly stronger with each shifting. The blade hunter's amber eyes, the pupils of which were narrowed into the shape of blades, remained distant, locked on some unseen horizon.

"Speak, please," he uttered, unaware that his thoughts had crossed into speech.


Comments

[timezone]

Link had intended to be quiet while practicing his sword work, but if the guy with seven magic swords was okay with him being loud...

Link shrugged and began his exersizes, happy that the building's roof was large enough.


(it looks something like this)

[thirteen-blades.livejournal.com]

After a while, time enough for Link to complete a few sets of his Hylian kata, the obsidian-lined blade disappeared, leaving a wisp of distortion in its wake. Then, in no particular order, the other blades followed its lead, popping out of existence with a trace of their particular element. All but the gold-hilted greatsword, the centerpiece of the set.

Espedon's eyes narrowed in focus, as though he were grasping for some thought that was escaping him. Then insight came, and he relaxed. His body gravitated upward, with legs still crossed. The greatsword hovered into his hand, and his feet unfurled below him- and he was standing.

There was an expression of satisfaction on his face. Before his fight with Sikanda's wielder, before Nesreca, the Seventh had done all the fighting for him. Most of the things he'd been able to do while channeling the blade were mind-boggling; levitation, short-range flight to clear terrain, had all been done instinctively. Now he had done it on his own, his will focused and guided by his memory of how the Seventh had, itself, controlled it.

Leaping tall buildings in a single bound was pretty far out of reach, but any gravity-defying was, at this point, an improvement.

Propping the Seventh up on his shoulder, Espedon looked to the other side of the roof at the green figure swinging his own blade around. After a moment's deliberation, he sauntered across the rooftop. It'd been a while... maybe this kid could use a live target.

[timezone]

Link eventually noticed Espedon's approach and stopped his practice, looking to the man quizically. He saw the sword over the other man's shoulder, of course, but didn't want to make any assumptions. It would be fun if he could get someone to spar with.

[thirteen-blades.livejournal.com]

Now given a better view, Espedon looked the Hylian over from head to toe. He knew the youth either didn't or wouldn't speak, so... body language it was, then.

The blade hunter twisted the hilt in his hand, making it twirl. He looked at Link's sword, then looked at his own weapon- about twice as big and much shinier. Espedon then grinned widely, dropping the tip of the blade to the floor in front of him and sinking into an aggressive stance.

Let's play.

[timezone]

Link's eyes stayed on Espedon's, though he certainly took in the man's actions. But he knew what he was doing enough to pay attention the the important tells. And his opponent's eyes were the best to follow.

At the semi-bow - which was a very clear invitation - Link rolled his shoulders and straightened his tights then fell into a ready stance. Bouncing on his heels, shield in front of him, sword held just loose enough at his side - in his left hand of course - to spin and twist as needed. A broad grin at the challenge that looked to be before him. He wasn't at all intimidated by the side of Espedon's sword. It wasn't the size that counted, but how you used it.

[falling-lotus.livejournal.com]

Hitsugaya Toushirou's apartment was already a high one, 7th floor, but sometimes that simply wasn't enough. He needed to see the sky. Thus it was that the young shinigami found himself sitting in the highest place within reach: atop the doorway leading out onto the roof.

Normally he'd take the time to watch the sky or survey the landscape, but this time something else had his attention. He was used to communicating with his weapon and used to seeing others do so, but he hadn't expected to see it done by anyone else here. Especially in such a showy fashion. It was almost like intentional entertainment, though Hitsugaya supposed if it actually were meant to be seen, the man wouldn't have been performing it atop the roof.

He wouldn't interrupt though. He was more interested in watching.

[thirteen-blades.livejournal.com]

The first attack Espedon would make was a wide, arching slash, forming a full circle around his body as he raised the blade, brandished it, and swung out toward Link. It was a polite maneuver; the attack was well-telegraphed (a complete novice could have deflected or avoided it) and not made with much speed.

Naturally, Link would either move out of the way or block the attack. Espedon would then snap his wrist to the opposing side, whipping the greatsword around his head as though it were a mere fencing foil- still not at maximum speed, and also well-telegraphed. He was clearly feeling the boy out, gauging his ability.

This pace would continue, every blow being delivered with an expert grace, skilled footwork keeping him well outside of the range of Link's short blade- Espedon was quite familiar with using the extra length of the Seventh to his advantage. As each strike came, the one the followed grew in speed, ferocity, and accuracy- until Link either broke the chain or the Seventh struck him.

In the meanwhile, every so often, Espedon would cast a glance off to the side, noting the arrival of the youth clad in white. There was a pull he couldn't deny, nor quite place, coming from the observer, but he fought to keep his focus on Link. He got the feeling the pointy-eared boy was more experienced than he appeared.

[timezone]

Link easily countered the first strike and dodged the following as the large blade began its complex, if slow, weave through whatever sword form his opponent was using. His shield shrugged off roughly half the blows while his sword countered a third of them and his foot work dodged the rest. Feeling out Espedon's abilities as much as Espedon was attempting to feel out his. Both were experienced enough to do so when on the offensive or defensive.

Link took his time, unconsciously memorizing the tells and what move would follow the next based one what Espedon had already thrown at him. He never lunged head-first into a fight. That could result in unnessicary loss of hearts and make a win more difficult. And though he could have begun his own attack long before this, it wasn't a real fight. So Link was enjoying the work out that being on the defense gave him.

But then Espedon started glancing away. At the one man audience. The Hylian was no fool, and didn't take advantage of the distraction immediately. He kept moving through the strikes that increased in speed, purposely moving with each dodge to spin his body until his back was to the center of the roof and Espedon's was to the edge.

His opponent's attention still broken by the white-haired kid, Link finally took to the offensive, ducking under a blow and rolling inside that long reach when Espedon's eyes next glanced away. It was a quick strike to the sword arm, with the flat of his blade, made more to cause a sting of pain than actual injury. Grab the man's attention and force him to realize that Link was now beside him and throwing his full weight behind that shield and into Espedon's side to force the man off balance... make him react instead of act.

[thirteen-blades.livejournal.com]

That hurt.

All it had taken was another moment of distraction, and Link was on his inside- and he moved quicker than Espedon had given him credit for. The literal slap on the wrist served to bring him back into the fight, and while it wasn't strong enough to disarm him, it would swell up later on, for certain.

It was fortunate that Espedon maintained his acrobatic training, as it was the only thing, at that point, between being gut-checked by the Hylian's shield. Espedon released his grip on the Seventh and it blinked out of sight. He braced down, and as Link charged in, he leapt up, grabbing a hold of the top of the shield to act as a guide. Deftly, he performed a sort of side-roll over Link's head, and upon landing, called the Seventh back into his hand.

Link's open side was exposed, although the lack of preparation time Espedon had been given him made his landing a bit wobbly. A counterattack was out of the question, but it gave him time to get his footing again.

He grinned at the young swordsman, apparently pleased. This was more fun than he'd had since his arrival.

The trick now would be maintaining his focus. But the pull...

[timezone]

Link had the advantage and now that he was inside Espedon's reach, he was going to stay there and keep pressing it. His grin matched his opponents and his strikes came fast. All expertly aimed so that if they weren't deflected by the Seventh or dodged by the now more wary Espedon, they would land with the flat of his blade. He didn't want to draw blood of he could help it. This was only a spar after all.

Link was used to fighting those with greater reach, used to getting inside their personal space and used to using both his sword and shield as offensive weapons. The large expanse of metal and wood on his right arm could bash chests or shove an arm wide while his sword struck a half dozen times to whatever flesh was exposed. He could roll with both, as he did now, to get behind his larger opponents for all of the three seconds he'd have before they turned and could face him. But he made those three seconds count. In this case, he grabbed at Espedon's shoulder with his shield arm, hoping to jump on the man's back and force him into a forward roll that Link could then use to throw him across the roof.

It was certainly a lot of fun.

[thirteen-blades.livejournal.com]

The Hylian was nimble- this was growing more and more apparent with each of his movements. Unless he was going to go for a kill, the Seventh wasn't going to be of much help; he was going to have to resort to something more agile than a greatsword.

Rather than finding purchase on Espedon's shoulder, Link's hand would be repelled by a sudden force, almost as if an anti-Link magnet had gotten between him and his quarry. Interposed in mid-air between the youth and the blade-hunter was Curtana, the squat, shield-hilted blade. The air, in the shape of a rudimentary wall, distorted around it, protecting Espedon's exposed back.

In his other hand, his left, Youlong- the Dragon Sword- materialized in a flash of steel. Espedon pivoted on the ball of his foot, snatching Curtana from the air (causing the wall to dissipate) and lunging toward Link. He drove the point of Youlong toward him with a well-trained thrust as he did, being sure not to move at full speed- the tip was sharp, and skewering the boy wasn't a part of the plan.

While he no longer had the reach advantage, the short, stubby Curtana and the standard-sized Youlong gave him the maneuverability he'd need to keep from catching a shield in the face.