Novice Champion Training: Prompt III

"It's time to start battling! Draw your Stryx locking claws with an opponent in a friendly sparring match."

Beval waited anxiously, Asteria beside him, in one of the practice arenas. Asteria had done a few practice flights since their circuit of the city a few weeks ago, as well as working on some of the basic fighting maneuvers. They had, really, learned a lot just through that - but such exercises were not a replacement for actual experience.

Which was why they were standing in a small, wooden arena, waiting for his friend, Jan, to bring his harpia. Sparring matches before one's debut match were private, so that no one would be able to 'scope out' promising newcomers too soon; which was why the small arena he and Asteria had been directed to was on the opposite side of the city as the Rookery. It was a sparsely populated part of city with many small homes spread fairly far apart. Little traffic came through this part; traders entered and exited from different parts of the city, and there were no shops around to attract tourists.

In short, it was the perfect spot to have a few sparring matches without getting too much attention for it. Oh, he was sure that some Arena patrons would find a way to get some news of it - some of the residents of the houses nearby could be selling the information - though it would be against Arena rules to talk about such matters in public.

Either way, he was glad that there was no audience watching him and Asteria. He had faith in her, of course, and believed that she would do well - but she had also never battled with another stryx before. Before he could worry too much about it, the sound of approaching wing-beats caught his attention

A shadow fell overhead, and he looked upwards to catch sight of a black harpia silhouetted against the sky. Her dark feathers were marbled with darker black, a ring of white feathers gleamed around her neck, and all over her body pale flecks of white glinted harshly in the bright summer sunlight.  Edition, Jan's stryx - he'd recognize the pretty harpia anywhere. She descended slowly, landing gently beside Asteria. A small plume of sand rose around them as Edition settled; her rider, Jan, swung down from her back and landed on the sand.

"They picked a nice spot for us, eh?" Jan trotted towards him, pulling off his riding goggles and stretching, "I forgot this place existed."

Beval laughed, "I thought it was a bit out of the way."

Jan nodded, turning to look at Asteria. A grin spread across his face, "she's grown! Last time I saw her, she was barely hatched. And she's made her pass of the Arena, yes? I remember hearing some of the patrons talking about it."

"Oh?" Beval gave him an anxious look, "what did they say?"

"Not much," Jan shrugged, "they never do. Just that they're 'looking forward to seeing her in the Arena.' They don't like to talk about their first impressions with outsiders. Afraid to let others in on what they're betting, I suppose."

Beval nodded, staring up at Jan's harpia. She was clad completely in a set of armour, which was similar in design to Asteria's, though it bore a few scratches and dents on it. He winced, "that's from the Arena?"

"Yeah. Imagine what she'd look like now without it?" Jan gestured at a particularly nasty looking scratch on Edition's helmet, "there's a reason why you've gotta have armour to battle in Marcen. No matter how much you try to be gentle, in a serious fight they can't really be held back."

Jan glanced quickly in Beval's direction, "don't worry, though. I promise there will be no dents on your brand-new armour before your first match. Edition knows how to be gentle."

Beval grinned, "don't worry about it, Jan. It'll happen sooner or later."

Asteria let out a soft screech, leaning down to poke Jan curiously. The stryx handler laughed, "I suppose she's getting impatient. Let's get started before she decides to look elsewhere for a fight, eh?"

Beval nodded, and in a few moments both had mounted their stryx. Jan gave him a thumbs-up from across the arena, raising his voice to call, "we'll start slow, okay? Get Asteria's blood pumping before we try anything challenging."

Asteria's eyes locked onto Edition's body, and as soon as Beval gave the signal she moved to close the distance between her and the other stryx. But Edition saw the attack coming, and quickly leaped out of the way, landing a soft blow on Asteria's flank as she passed. Asteria spun around suddenly, nipping at the other stryx's tail, pulling out a few feathers.

Edition gave an insulted shriek, before launching into Asteria hard enough that Beval could feel the blow echoing through his legs. Asteria hissed, snapping at Edition's face - something that the other stryx returned in kind. Jan signaled for them to stop.

"Very good!" Jan smiled, "she's got some fierceness to her, that's for sure. It's good to know that she won't be all shy in her first battle - not like Edition here was. Let's give them a quick break, then keep practicing."

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. Asteria and Edition wrestled in the sand, trading blows and snapping bites at eachother. The last few matches they took to the skies, practicing the maneuvers for real, ducking and diving towards and away from attacks. By the time they had finished, Beval was drenched with sweat and exhausted. But there was also a sense of satisfaction building in him.

Asteria was nearly ready. Only a few more sparring matches like this, and then they'd be entering the Arena for real. The jet-black stryx looked tired, but more alive than ever - as though she were born for fighting.

"Nice work, Beval. Oh, and you, too, Asteria." Jan unclipped his harness from Edition's saddle and slid off of her back. "You're pretty good, for beginners."

"Thanks," Beval laughed, "would we be able to count on your for a couple more sparring matches?"

"You bet!" Jan smiled, "it's great exercise for Edition, after all."