For show, perhaps? (Colt v Spike)

[LocoColt04]

((It'll be kinda nice to have one of these lying around purely for fun. And semi-active. I'm just going to start us off with a bit of pointless dialogue and we'll end in the village. I'll let you set up your part of the intro {i.e. your hand-to-hand with the younger child} and start the attack phase. The idea is that we wanna play around prior to the TOA finals, so we'll do it in front of some of the competitors and villagers and whoever else might feel like watching.))



Every once in a while, those in charge need a chance to relax themselves. That's precisely how Vincent and Lex felt on this particular day. It was three days before the final round of the Tournament of Arms, and the chief judges had nearly completed their preparations in the exclusive main arena. The men took a break, walking north from the castle along the dusty cobblestone path. No words were exchanged as the veteran fighters made their way toward the village. A pair of young boys stopped sparring with their wooden swords as the gentlemen in the crimson robes strolled by. They seemed so young, so innocent; their eyes told otherwise. The pair of blondes approached the men cautiously, admiring Vincent's lance. A four and a half foot titanium shaft gently reflected the sunlight while the eighteen inch steel blade only sharpened the brightness of the sun. The lance was rough, yet smooth at the same time. Battle scars covered the weapon from one end to the other.

"We... uhh, we wanted to tell you how cool you guys are," stammered the shorter of the two.
"You two looked pretty good out there yourselves," Vincent replied, amusing the boys for a moment.

The taller boy hadn't taken his eyes off the lance. Lex shifted his gaze from the boy to the lance, and again to Vincent. They were in no hurry, after all.

"Wanna try it out?" Lex asked.

Vincent handed the lance to Lex, who passed it on to the boy. His eyes grew wide as he gently held the lance before him. It was heavier than he'd expected, and he had an awkward grasp on it. Vincent walked over to the kid and slid his hands away from the middle of the lance.

"You see, the trick is to keep the weight in the middle, not on the ends. Just because it has a blade doesn't mean it's a sword. By keeping your hands separated, you'll have better control. And when you shift your hands down to the end," Vincent grabbed the boy's hands again, sliding them to the bottom of the lance before continuing, "you can slash like so." He gripped the lance just above the boy's hands, lifted, and slashed downward.

"Play around with it for a few minutes. I don't mind."

Grinning, Vincent looked back at Lex, who was busy giving the shorter child a lesson in hand-to-hand combat. He turned back to his prodigy who was now chopping grass with the blade at the end of the lance. He walked up behind the boy and gave him a good shove. The boy dropped the lance and whirled around, confused.

"Never drop your weapon... especially not when you're attacked from behind."

The boy nodded and picked the lance up from the ground. He went back to slashing at the grass, constantly checking over his shoulder. Vincent unbuttoned his robe, gently setting it at the edge of the cobblestone walkway. The boy paused as he saw this, but pretended not to notice and went back to chopping away at the weeds. Vincent approached the boy, walking hard and allowing his silver six-in-one silver chain mail to jangle loudly. His heavy black boots left footprints in the soft ground as he thudded around, and his torn black shorts collected the dust which flew upward with each strong step. He rolled up the left sleeve of his faded black shirt; the right sleeve had been ripped off in battle. No one understood why he continued to wear the shirt, himself included.

Vincent tapped the boy on the shoulder again, but when the boy whirled around, there was no one to be seen. He looked around, trying to figure out where Vincent went. Vincent landed softly behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder once more. The boy spun around, confused.

"How--"
"Dragoon training, that's how. When something hits you from behind, and you don't see anything, turn back around. Chances are, the person you're looking for will be there. Now, how about a little combat? Swing."

The boy swung at Vincent and the steel blade barely glanced off the chain mail.

"Now, shift your right hand up the staff a bit, and put downward pressure on it when you swing again."

Following directions, the boy swung once more. The blade hit harder, and while the chain mail protected Vincent's left shoulder, he still shifted under the weight of the blow.

"Much better. Now, we spar. You can use the lance, I won't need it."

Vincent moved slowly and deliberately, giving the boy many chances to hit him. They sparred for a few minutes until the boy began to tire. Vincent leapt over the boy, ripping the lance from his hands, and landed behind him. The boy spun around, and Vincent smiled, holding the lance with his right hand. Vincent had a fresh cut across his right bicep that he hadn't noticed until now.

"Congratulations, I've bled. You'd make a good student, you know that?"
"Thank you sir!"

Lex finished with his lesson moments later, and Vincent picked his robe up from the ground, carrying it in his left arm. The two stepped back onto the cobblestone path and continued toward the housing complex. With their wooden swords in hand, the boys followed the judges and collected a bit of a following. Vincent draped his robe from the bulletin board outside the fighters' quarters and took a couple of steps toward the empty town square. A pair of old women sat silently on the porch of a store, and a group of businessmen broke from their bartering to see what the children were carrying on about. Vincent looked back to the complex and saw Lex making the final changes to the tournament brackets.

"Hey Lex, how about a show?" Vincent tossed his lance over to Lex, who laid it in front of the board.
"Why not? We're not doing anything else this afternoon."

That said, Lex removed his own robe and draped it next to Vincent's.