<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/Wa16xV1.png)</div><strong>Who: </strong>Chiya<br/><strong>For: </strong>Henrik, Open<br/><strong>Where: </strong>sparring ring<br/><strong>When: </strong>Sunday Afternoon<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Chiya had left her own swords in her room that morning, since she hadn't been anticipating needing them at all. She slid to the rack outside the sparring ring, where the school stored a wide array of practice swords. She ran her hands over them, until she found one that matched the dimensions and balance of her own. The practice swords were carefully blunted and enchanted to cushion any blows dealt with them, in order to make training safer. Seeing that Henrik was planning on using his own sword, she opened the small box built into the back of the rack and drew out a similar enchantment, designed to be applied to the students' own weapons. It took the form of a small beaded cord.<br/><br/>Slithering into the ring, she tossed the cord at Henrik. "Wrap that around the hilt of your blade, it'll keep you from cutting me accidentally, unless that thing's got some powerful anti-enchantment spells on it. It should still allow it as long as you apply the spell, anyway."<br/><br/>She was curious to see how he fought. He may have been a new student, but it was clear that he had considerable skill already. Watching him prepare, she took up a defensive stance, her body coiled underneath her to allow her to move quickly if she had to, and to present a smaller target. Having a large serpentine tail was a considerable liability in a swordfight against a bipedal mammal, but Chiya had been dealing with it her entire life, and her skill at defending herself (as well as the natural armor provided by her scales) usually kept things under control.<br/><br/>She waited for him to attack first, her sword gripped in two hands and angled across her body, ready to feel out his style and see how he moved.