<strong>Name:</strong>Izzy<br/><strong>Time:</strong>10:00 AM<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Celeste's Villa, Training Grounds<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Rein, open<br/><hr/><hr/><br/><em>"I suppose the 'still living' bit is more spite than anything. 'Haha, you failed to kill me, now I'm going to make you miserable' is one way to see it."</em><br/><br/>That won an interesting look from Izzy.  Not hostile or hurt: quite the opposite, it seemed to speak to her on some level.  She smiled wryly, as if rolling the words around in her mouth, enjoying the taste.  "Hm!" she replied, not elaborating.  Rein was right to suspect that she still had someone in the world she liked spiting.  It was a nice thought, she felt, to think that just surviving counted for some form of revenge.<br/><br/>Her challenge was accepted, which caused her to grin lightly, holding out a hand.  "The break of dawn, then." she replied, sealing it with a handshake.  Just as she'd hoped, he'd managed to take her challenge with only the lighter-side of getting his back up about it.  Truth be told, she had no idea what sort of crazy thing Rose would make for them to ingest.  But just like he'd said, it would be good training, no matter what it was.  She was now looking forward to her run tomorrow, even more than usual.<br/><br/>For weapons training, she'd thought about going the opponent-picks route.  But it didn't seem fair, for their first fight, to throw that kind of factor in.  She'd probably have given him a flail, because no weapon ticked off a shield bearer quite like a chain you couldn't block or parry with.  And if she'd done that, he'd have probably given her a war-hammer, just so he could laugh about it.  No, this felt more right, at least for now.<br/><br/>He approached with a bow, and she returned it.  And then, the two were circling one another, him slowly rapping his shield as he placed his feet carefully, trying to remove her ranged advantage without opening himself up to attack.  A nice little head-game, she thought, shifting her stance.  There were several ways to hold the spear.  A one armed method, where the base was crooked in the elbow, was great for sudden range and power.  The basic method, holding it with both hands in front of you, was good for control.  An over-the-shoulder method was nice for deception.  She swapped through the three, each time whirling the spear audibly, as if trying to decide which tactic to use.<br/><br/>Of course, she'd already decided.  Shield thumping like that.. its greatest strength was how hypnotic the rhythm could get.  If you could keep their eyes on that knocking, and let the pace set the tempo for the fight, then you'd already taken away any other advantage they might have had.  But that same property was also its weakness.  If you knew exactly when that arm was going to peek out..<br/><br/>Another whirl, as though changing stances.  But this one brought the butt of the spear whirling around into his arm.  Even if it missed, which it might, it would still force him to react to an attack.  Another quick whirl, this time sending the softened wooden head of the spear aiming for whatever opening she might have created.  She put some power into it, trying to find the balance between making it a strong hit and not overextending herself.  But she still expected it to hit the shield.  The important thing wasn't actually hitting him with that second strike.  Disrupt rhythm, force stiffness in overcompensation.  And then..<br/><br/>Her spear whirled again, this time sending the softened spear-head sweeping towards his lower leg.  The goal was to take him off his feet.  She didn't expect it to be that easy, of course, but it was a nice introduction.  Even if it failed, her stance was still in a fourth-form, holding the spear at an angle to the body, the tip pointed toward the ground and the shaft over the head, the right elbow bent.  It was an strong stance for defense, good to parry, harry, or get away.