“Very well. Hit me, if you can.”Siya watched as he folded his arms behind his back and just stood there. An eyebrow lifted as he watched his protector for a long moment, a bit of a faint blush dusting his cheeks. How was he supposed to go against that? The young King cleared his throat lightly. Perhaps deciding to spar with Seth had been not the brightest of all his ideas... Even so, it was sure to be entertaining in the least, or so he hoped.
With a grin he nodded to the large man and settled into what he'd adopted as his 'stance', a loose one that he used mostly with Marie when they sparred. It seemed to work for the most part. Taking a slow breath, he found his balance and then lunged forward at Seth, the sword coming up and to the side in an arc like fashion.
It might have even hit the target, had Seth been an ordinary person. As it was, he was no longer present in the vicinity of Siya's aim, having launched himself backwards as soon as the young king committed to the strike. A simple leap carried him an effortless ten feet, hands still neatly folded behind his back. The echo of a smile yet remained, and he raised a red eyebrow, as if to question why he'd not yet been struck.
"Not bad.
If your aim was to hit a straw dummy. Again."
Siya's chest constricted, his eyes widening in shock. Since when... how... what in the world just happened? His eyes found Seth, standing far away from him than he had been a moment ago. The insult did not go unheard, and this time Siya's porcelain features turned several shades red, both in embarrasment and anger. Though it wasn't really,
true anger, more like frustration at having been made fun of. An eyebrow came down, his lips curling into a slight grin.
"Fine," he replied. A sort of 'challenge accepted' tone in his voice and he rushed forward, dealing out several swings instead of just one this time. One aimed at Seth's head, another at his left arm, the third at his right leg and then coming back up again.
Where before the protector had made his dodge large, this time, he played a maddening game of inches, allowing each strike to simply whistle by, mere hairsbreadths from their intended points of contact. The king's spirit was appreciated, but an honest assessment of Siya's strengths and weaknesses was necessary if he was to progress any further than a gifted amateur.
And he would, if his guardian had anything to do with it. The last hit, Seth bent backwards under, the passage of air stirring the locks of his hair that rested on his forehead, producing a whistle and
nearly clipping the end of his nose. Whipping back up with little discernible effort, he nodded. "Better. But you are not reading me as I am reading you." He took another leap, this one to the left, landing with deceptive lightness and pivoting on the spot to face Siya. "Even as you are beginning your strike, you must anticipate your foe's defense. You are fast, but some will always be faster. Your strength is not mean, but many will be stronger. You must be smarter than all of them."
To exemplify the point clearly, Seth shifted his weight, leaning heavily on his right foot, as someone who bore a sheild in the corresponding hand might have to. "Now. How do you strike someone who stands like this? Show me."
Again, frustratingly so, Siya missed him everytime. Maybe because Seth was dodging them so closely the young King was afraid of actually hurting the man. However, he had a nagging feeling that Seth was doing it on purpose. Both brows furrowed as he turned, following the protector's leap to the left. Siya hummed to himself lightly as he gauged the taller man. A little bit more would do to help him figure out what it was that nagged him so.
"A sheild bearer, hu," Siya commented lightly. Seth seemed to know quite a bit about fighting. Then again, Siya didn't really know all that much about Seth to begin with. It wasn't like he'd asked the man about his past, nor had he fought against him before. It was pure whim that led to their sparring right then. Siya turned the sword in his hand, flipping it around as he thought about it for a second. Obviously it would be smart to swipe against the side of the shield, push it out and away from the body and then come back across to cut along the exposed torso right after.
With the plan thought up nearly instantaneously, Siya lunged forward, the sword held on his left, point down. When he was in range, he sliced the blade out to the side as if taking on a sheild. Stopping the weapon from going completely out to his right side, he quickly readjusted and slashed back towards the left.
The king's plan was a good one, and so Seth did not move, merely taking a half-step back as the imaginary metal disc was thrown out, as someone might to had it happened in truth. The slash aimed for his abdomen, however, he caught in motion, just before it would have hit his body. The weapon was sharp, and the Eldritch wathed with something between satisfaction and disinterest as the very end of the last finger on that hand was sliced off. "Hm," he murmured. That had been designed to illustrate something, and in fact, the small digit seemed to morph as it disconnected from the rest of him, and by the time it hit the dirt, it was a finger-shaped piece of metal.
Releasing the blade, the protector flexed his hand, applying a bit of his magic and watching the end grow back with the same apathy. As soon as it was back in working order, he glanced down at his monarch. "Much better."
When Seth blantantly caught the blade, Siya about had a heart attack. Even more so when the small appendage was promptly cut off. The young King was stunned into silence and the moment the protector released the weapon, Siya dropped it. His hands reached out to take Seth's, to stop the bleeding and call for help quickly. However, as his heart slowed and his mind began working again, he noted that there was no blood to stop.
Looking down, the finger was nothing but solid metal. His eyes widened and he returned his red gaze back to the hand that Seth flexed before him, "You... Seth..." his voice was breathless as he watched in amazement as the finger grew back without any problems. This time he did take Seth's hand and examined the finger intensely.
"Seth... what are you? You're... not human, hu?"
The protector tilted his head to one side, his expression perfectly neutral. "No," he replied simply. "I am your shield, Your Majesty."
Siya's head spun, his mind whirling around the answer. Seth wasn't human. If he wasn't human... than what
was he? However, the young King was fairly certain that if asked, the protector would not say. That meant Siya had some digging to do.
"Doesn't matter," he said, trying to stem his overwhelming curiousity for more knowledge. He lifted his gaze, "As long as you're here," he turned and retrieved the sword to replace it, "Though... I suppose that makes you one hell of a protector, doesn't it Seth?" He said, sparing a glance over his shoulder with a wide grin, "Does this make you... indestructible?" Siya asked, feeling giddy at the thought.
There may have been a faint trace of amusement on Seth's face, but it vanished quickly, replaced with passivity and a deadpan. "It makes me one kind of
hell for your enemies, Sire. I do believe that is the relevant part." It was difficult to tell, but the statement just might have qualified as a joke.
Siya's smile faded quickly. His red gaze shimmering as he watched the protector closely. He wasn't sure if the man was entirely serious or not. It was damned hard to tell. But the expression was one he'd seen before and it meant he wasn't getting much out of the man. Siya's lips pulled into a fainter smile and he replaced the sword, "I'm off to the study. If you need me, I'll be there," he said and started out of the practice area. He had a lot of books to read, a lot of history to go through.
Why was he falling?
He hadn't done anything. Had he? Kanan was utterly confused when the floor beneath him disappeared. His body experienced what gravity felt like in one pull and had his stomach wrenched up towards his throat. Kanan watched as the ground beneath him grew steadily closer and wondered for a brief moment if he were going to die just then. Of course the thought was brushed aside as he realized he was still far too indebted to allow himself to be killed so easily. Or rather... so humiliatingly.
A handful of metal that was on his body disappeared, shimmering into nothing but blue flakes of a sort. They disappeared into his body and he swiped his hand before him. His one pale blue eye widening slightly as he thought that he'd been just a tad too late. The burst of air underneath him was similar to that of his tornado styled magic, but on a much smaller scale. It buffetted his body and slowed his fall somewhat.
Even so, Kanan hit the floor rather hard and sprawled forward for a moment before he was able to regain himself. With a bit of a groan that he did his best to hid, he pulled himself into his customary position. Down on one knee with his fist against the floor and the other arm resting over the top of the knee that he wasn't kneeling on. His head bowed forward and he did not raise it to look at his King. At the back of his mind, he wondered if he was responsible for the situation in anyway.
If he'd known that Aeraki had been sleeping under the table, he would have certainly woke her and made her leave. However, he'd had no knowledge of her whereabouts and therefore, could not have done anything about the incident. He ground his teeth together quietly, slowly easing his frustration outwards without letting either of them know.
"My Lord," Kanan stated softly, but Aeraki -who had landed next to him quite softly- interrupted him.
"Good afternoon to you too, my King!"Aeraki then fell right back asleep as she was standing there. Kanan felt his chest clench, his pale blue eye widening slightly. Surely
this time Lord Brendon would spare Kanan from yet another fall...
Hebi's lips twisted into a grin as he found both Eugene and his Queen Bephat coming towards him. He stopped his walking and crossed his arms over his chest. He waiting until the two were in better hearing range so that he would not need to raise his voice too much. Hebi's gaze flicked up and down Eugene's body before he answered the man's taunting.
"Well well, if it isn't
Eugene. It's been so long, I'd forgotten how simply testy you are. Though, it never really was your strong suite to keep your tongue still. Oh... well I guess I'm not very good at it either. Makes for more fun, I suppose," Hebi raised a hand as if to silence anything that Eugene might have retorted back, "Now now, don't let your ego get in the way, dear Eugene. Wouldn't want to show that nasty side of yourself would you? Especially not in front of our lovely Queen."
"Enough of that. We can go over your mannerism's later. But right now," Hebi turned his gaze down to the petite woman who was his new Queen, "My Lady. The Water King is dead."