Finding my place

Selena Desmarais ■ Here we gooo!

in the world

It had been a while since Jason had last been in Fortree. Nocta, Cerberus and the little Imp of an Eevee had not been there before and Nocta had constantly pestered him about seeing his home town. If it really was his hometown. He had grew up in Fortree but where were his parents from he did not know. Nobody knew. However, they had arrived just in time for the ren fair and his pokemon had all been ecstatic about it.[break][break]

And so had been the organizers of the fair. Jason was a known swordsman in Fortree but it had been a while since he had come back, so his return had been considered a boon for the organizers and they hired him as the swordmaster of the fair. He didn't refuse them. It was a chance for him to make some cash and have a good time while at it. He had been dressed in a crisp leather vest, loose shirt, pants and boots all in matching black to fit with the Dark Type of his pokemon. The organizers had even agreed that his Absol could participate for a demonstration of how one could have a sword fight with a pokemon without stirring uneasiness to the general public by having the "Disaster Pokemon" make an appearance in the city.[break][break]

So Jason had spend the better portion of his day teaching kids how to sword fight and taking on 'challengers' from the older audience, all the while having his real sword resting at its sheath. He would only use that for when demonstration time came. He couldn't really duel with the dummy swords. Hades' scythe would have cut those and Jason's shoulders to pieces in one strike. [break][break]

In the meantime, the youngest of his pokemons had been off, exploring the festival, eating food and getting into good natured trouble. Eventually, it was time for Jason's break and he had been challenged by Nocta to try his hand at archery. Her reasoning was that he had chosen swords over bows because his aim was hopelessly off. He had defended himself by saying that he had just never had the time or money to get into it, but the Zorua was not listening at all and so he had groaned and made his way to the archery tent, thoughts of snack time forced aside.[break][break]

One of the perks of being part of the fair was the fact you could do everything for free during your non-performing time. So it had not been hard to get to the bows much faster than most people did. But it seemed that there was someone there after the same thing he was. A pink haired woman, who chuckled at the whole ordeal as Jason apologized for bumping onto her. "I'm Jason. Nice to meet you."[break][break]

"See? I told you, you are a hopeless klutz around bows. You haven't even touched one yet and you are bumping onto people." A mischievous, young female voice echoed between the two and Jason groaned rolling his eyes. "I am not a klutz Nocta, I just never tried it before!" Jason protested as the Zorua jumped off from the hood of his cloak and laughed in his face."Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night Jay."

Finding my place

Selena Desmarais ■ To be or not to be (a klutz)?

in the world

Selena's question caught Nocta's attention and the female Zorua seemed to get really peppy all of a sudden. "Geez genious, what gave it away?" She commented, her voice clearly heard by Selena and Jason. "Nocta that's enough out of you. Being rude to me is one thing, being rude to a stranger is another." He said sternly and while the Zorua seemed to have more things to say, a brief glare from Jason caused her to just huff and start grooming herself, seemingly uninterested in this whole exchange.[break][break]

"Sorry about that. She tends to react like that sometimes. I don't know why." Jason apologized to Selena and fumbled with his bow, trying to find a comfortable grip by feel. "You are right, this is the first time trying. I never had the chance to do archery before. Swords were easier to make as a kid rather than bows. That's what I practise most. I came here after Nocta's dare. My original plan was to grab lunch before it was time to get back to demonstrations." He admitted with a wishful sigh as he thought of all the food waiting for him back on the ground.

Finding my place

Selena Desmarais ■ Show off XD

in the world

As the arrow's dull thud made Nocta's ears twitch, the Zorua placed the now groomed paw down and looked at the pink haired woman with an unreadable expression. If it was attention Selena wanted, she had gotten in from not just Jason,currently gaping at the arrow, and the poor soul she had almost hit, but from some bystanders as well. "Hey! Just what do you think you're doing? You're not allowed to shoot if you're not on a platform!" The man behind the counter called out in alarm. Clearing his throat to get a grip from the shock of what he had just witnessed, Jason assured the man on the counter that everything was fine and turned to guide Selena to one of the shooting platforms away from the disgruntled audience.[break][break]

"I wouldn't mind that idea, but maybe it would be best to not have any people within shooting range alright?" He said as he settled himself in a platform big enough for the two of them and with plenty of targets within sight. "Besides, teaching people swordplay is what I am here for today. The organizers thought it would be fun to have an official swordsmaster this year and the money is not bad." He explained as he reached in the satchel that contained his pokeballs and other important stuff like his staff pass for the event. Pulling Cerberus' pokeball from it, he released the Houndour and gave it the pass. "Could you go over to the canteen and grab a bag of jerky snacks for me? I might need them before the demonstration." He instructed his pokemon and Cerberus seemed more than happy to comply with his request, swiftly disappearing from view.[break][break]

"Now, how are we going to do this?" He asked Selena, fully focused again.

Finding my place

Selena Desmarais ■ UwU

in the world

Jason shrugged at the mention of him showing off in response to her own showoff attitude. He didn't feel like he was, but before any words could form in his mouth, his mind and eyes wondered curiously and with keen interest after the newly released and apparently disinterested Umbreon. It would have been hard for Selena to miss his obvious interest and perhaps wonderlust for the Umbreon, but he was quickly brought back to reality. She was showing him how to stand.[break][break]

Taking a quick look at her stance, he eased himself into a similar position. Balance. He knew about the importance of balance, but while in fencing balance was achieved through a low stance that limited your target area, he was pretty sure in archery that might be detrimental. "If that guy had moved it wouldn't matter if you were balanced or not. That's the problem with living things within hit range." He commented and his tone indicated he was speaking from experience. It had been one too many times that his Eevee had decided it also wanted to play swords while Jason and Hades were sparring. Jason had balance, but that didn't stop his blade from shaving the tip of the Imp's tale that day.[break][break]

"So, low stance or just shoulder-length steady?" He asked to be sure he had this right.

Finding my place

Selena Desmarais ■ UwU

in the world

Jason was quick to follow her instructions and Selena would find no resistance from his body as she made sure to fix his posture and aim for him. He was focused on getting it all in and figuring out how this thing worked. While she instructed him to let go, he held for a few more seconds, making sure he had realized how the arrow head was lined up with the center of the target. With a soft exhale, he let go, his fingers not so nimble as to not mess up with arrow's pathway.[break][break]

Despite that, his shot was pretty decent for a first timer and he couldn't contain an excited smile as he turned to look at Nocta first and then at Selena. "Not bad, but try and aim yourself next shot." Nocta teased but she remained relatively neutral and disinterested. Jason rolled his eyes at her comment. What was up with her? He knew that she didn't really get along with strangers, but she never was that cold with people before.Her behavior was puzzling to him, but he would have to chat with her later about it.

Finding my place

Selena Desmarais ■ hehe time for the date to go on uwu

in the world

"Maybe this will be a future project." Jason agreed with Selena's assessment of the sport of archery and grabbed another arrow as Cerberus and Lucifer showed up. One was baring gifts of food, the other not. "Thanks buddy." Jason kneeled down to give the Houndour a nice scratch in reward and to place his staff card back in his pouch.[break][break]

"One more shot and then I can teach you some fencing before it's time for the demonstration. Then, if you're still up for it we can go for lunch." He said as he got up and assumed shooting position again. He fumbled a little with positioning the arrow properly on the string but he was soon focused as he took aim. This time his releasing was smoother, but his aim was more off than when Selena had guided him. "Huh, I see..." He mused to himself and placed his bow back as well.[break][break]

"Where did you learn how to shoot like that?" Jason asked curiously as they had thanked the man on the counter and were on their way down to the ground again. Having already gotten some jerky himself and given a piece to Cerberus and Nocta, he offered the packet to Selena as well.[break][break]

Casually they would make their way to the fencing area, a cleared opening bordered with thick rope and a rack of various swords, some out of wood, some out of metal with no edge. A bench made out of a felled log and a tent nearby were also part of the same. His fencing ring was near the knights' tent and fighting ring which currently had a lot of people due to duels taking place.

Finding my place

Selena Desmarais ■ I tried to keep this brief so she has time to react and you dont have to read a wall.

in the world

"Oh, and fennekins as well. They're one of our trademarks. And I'm telling you if she evolved into a braixen already, she may even be better at archery than me." Jason gawked at the emblem for a moment. "Cool." He said in genuine amazement and gave her the green light to take some for her pokemon with the comment of 'jerky is for everybody'. [break][break]

Selena was quick to pick up one of the swords from the rack and a faint smirk appeared on Jason's face. She was acting as if this was a movie, much like every other guest had with wild arcs and slashes of their weapon. "So, sensei. Where do I start?" Se questioned and Jason picked up one of the training swords as well before moving them towards the center of the little arena. "Everything starts with the correct stance. Unlike archery, in fencing you need a steady, low stance. Something to keep you light on your feet but will not affect your balance during a harsher blow." He began explaining as he slowly moved to a proper position.[break][break]

"First you want to allign your heels. Sword arm and foot forward, left foot to form a T. sword arm held close to your side, elbow bent inwardsand wrist inwards as well to keep the blade facing your opponent at all times." Making sure that Selena was following his moves, he would then motion her to stay still and he moved to correct her posture.[break][break]

"Unlike the movies, fencing is about subtlety, fast and precise movements. Can you lower yourself more? The less area you expose to your opponent the better it is for you." He explained and used his wooden sword to correct the distance of her feet slightly.