<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/yp3k1mQ.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Rein Valkard<br/><strong>Time:</strong>10:00 AM<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Celeste's Villa, Training Grounds<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Open;<br/><hr/><hr/><br/>Another warm and beautiful morning, if a bit damp... This didn't seem to bother Rein too much, however, whose fur let him more or less remain comfortable at times like this. It was only if it was too hot out that he refused to go outside instead preferring to stay indoors and relaxing somewhere cool and comfortable... Or at least cool if comfort was lacking.<br/><br/>"Haa!" He growled, wrenching the mace he held in hand to strike at the armored midsection of the training dummy he'd set up. A midsection blow wouldn't hurt at all when a sword was concerned, but when it came to blunted weapons, the force was going to travel through the armor and put an opponent under a fair bit of pressure. The harder he swung, the more damage both their armor and their person would take... It was also less likely to maim someone, unlike if one used a bladed implement. Bruises could heal with time, but a cut could be made much more grievous.<br/><br/>Pulling back, he lashed around and struck from the other side, raised the shield on his other arm and thrust forward to strike the dummy while pushing himself back. The shield was always with him... His weapon may change but the shield was a constant, always there to give him the defense he and others needed. Once upon a time he would have had no such use for things... Why use a shield when two weapons did the job just fine? Many could prove him wrong, certainly, but he was younger and foolish back then. He learned many things the hard way. Back in prison, life was rough, harsh, unforgiving... As much as these games used to be. The changing of the rules had come with a much needed change in his personality. The rules preserved lives where he might have taken them in the last. What else did he have to live for back then? He'd been abandoned by friends after he murdered a close one in a battle of right and wrong, he'd been sentenced alone.<br/><br/>He forgot when, but he met people that helped change his outlook, gave him a new direction... Some would say this direction made him weak, and so he was always kept at the bottom. A dreg to never rise above greatness, never allowed to show his own. He was little but a pawn to others, to use in their games of strategy and be sacrificed when it became convenient. Slowly he paced around the dummy, thumping the mace against the shield, a tactic he often performed while slowly encircling the enemy to distract them, disoriented them... When would he strike? What was he preparing for?<br/><br/>Amidst his movements, he continued to recollect the day he'd been ordered to fight against her, his current owner now. At the time, his prior owner promised him a place of higher power if he won... All he needed to do was win. Defeat her, break her dreams and delusions of grandeur... He saw them, a close knit family that struggled to stay together. They were all that stood in the way of him and respect... And so fight, he did. She was a strong and crafty foe, but he was indomitable, refusing to lose. Quick on his feet and hard with the hammer, he would strike and defend, eventually forcing her to change her tactics and get around his guard. Ultimately it would devolve to a fight of tooth and nail, quite literally... They were wearing each other down... He could have broken them up then and there... But why? They were happy, they were strong, and he was miserable. Winning would have made them no different from him. Would they have been as happy if he won as they are now that he lost?<br/><br/>He'd taken the blow and fell, not either a pained grunt or anguished suffering, but a smile. Rather than make them suffer, he would leave his mistreating owner suffer at what could have been and what would never be. He was instead taken in by his opponents, and made a second... A position of power and respect he so very much wanted, and got... Because he lost? No, because they were a happiness he did not want to break, that he wanted to be apart of, and now here he was, apart of a family of six strong in better living conditions than before.<br/><br/>The thumping stopped, as he leapt forward, whirling around to aim a strike with the mace... But swinging early to feint and swing him forward for his real attack, a smash with the shield that struck the dummy and sent it to the floor. Rolling his arms a bit, he winced slightly as he realized it was probably a bit louder than he hoped it would be.<br/><br/>"Can't train like that any earlier than this, else master and the others will complain..." He sighed, moving to a nearby bench and seating himself upon it. He lifted the bucket to his maw, sipping the water within, before reaching his hand inside to splash some on his face.