Have you ever believed in a mirage?

[quickdrawlatino]

[Its bleeding early in the morning - the sun is but  short while away from rising. And where is Sam at this time? Training intensely! But not with his sword surprisingly - though it lies close by. Sam's on the deck of the ship - letting loose with a series of punches and kicks. What kind of style is he using? Its difficult to place - there's plenty of capoeira and judo peppered in - especially with how he's tossing around the dummies he's set up pretty darned hard. As in more than one. It seems he likes to practice on multiple targets at once.]

Mmmh... nothing like a good morning warm up...

[He rolls his neck in a relaxed manner as he flicks his sheathed sword up from the ground with his foot and snatches it out of the air as it dropped - resting it along his shoulders as he watched the sun rise. He pauses to look over at you with a raised eyebrow.]

I didn't think anyone else would bother waking up this early.

Comments

[paladin_robot]

You'd be surprised.

[Richard's there with a book in hand, having watched the display of skill and power for a bit. Needless to say, kinda impressed.]

Sometimes I can't sleep, so I find a place to read my book... You're the guy who fought the other guy who stopped my sword... right?

[...Vague and specific at the same time...]

I-I was the guy piloting the really big knight robot.

[quickdrawlatino]

Hm?

[He raises an eyebrow your way. It was more an observation than an insult but with this man its difficult to tell sometimes.]

Ah yes... I remember. You don't exactly have much practice with the sword do you?

When you're up against an opponent who is ahead of you in skill by leaps and bounds, even size doesn't matter anymore.

[paladin_robot]

I don't... but... I suspect there's a bit more than skill involved when you stop a sword the size of an apartment building.

[Richard squints slightly, curious.]

Though I imagine there was quite a bit anyway, given how you kept up with him...

[quickdrawlatino]

You would be surprised. Compared to full bodied Cyborgs my exoskeleton is quite an antique.

[He chuckles softly and shakes his head.]

Size isn't a factor of power. I believe if you had more skill with your blade you may have been able to see him off without my intervention.

Make no mistake, at his level, he probably would have been able to beat you soundly.

[armored_fruit]

And as the dawn creeps up from over the horizon, Jetstream Sam may notice a man clad in the swishiest of Britannian Military Fatigues, swinging what appears to be a claymore about, shifting to various stances and position!

"Indeed!" Isaac Sinclair replies cheerfully. "It is the provenance and delight of all good men of breeding to cultivate their skill in armed combat 'ere the son climbs over the horizon! Ho ho!"

[quickdrawlatino]

[Now this had Sam's interest. Oh yes. Another swordsman? Now this was unexpected.]

I suppose. But then skill can surpass any form of bloodline with enough training.

[An entire lifetime of combat for example. He was going to take a look at the Claymore as its swung.]

You put a lot of strength into your swings, and you have a sharp eye... but you seem to rush a lot with your movements... impatient I take it?

[armored_fruit]

"No impatience, my fellow blademaster, but honed aggression! The aggression of the hallowed Sinclair Family, which has aged over a thousand generations like fine wine!"

He eyes Sam's technique.

"I see that you gear your fighting style towards fighting many opponents at once!"

[quickdrawlatino]

I've learned how to fight single opponents already... and get plenty of practice with it as well.

[He shrugs as he slowly draws his blade from its sheath.]

But against several opponents.. well.. one always has to expect surprises...

[With that he swings his blade as he turns around - carving several of the dummies he set up in half. He chuckles softly.]

You are an adept... but I wouldn't say you're a master. Not for a long time. A man can master his blade, but it'll take a lot longer to master himself. And you?

[He gives Isaac a pointed look before laughing at him.]

[can_not_fly]

[Pit arrives running, and stops to answer, still jogging in place]

Well, Lady Palutena said I should step up my training a little, so I'm doing forty laps to the ship! And it's easier to do in the morning when I don't have to keep jumping over people.

[quickdrawlatino]

Reasonable - but I find having others involved in your training makes it much more entertaining.

[He stretches his arms calmly as he checks the shine of his sword in the morning sun.]

And I'm sure your training would be all the better if you watched out for others, wouldn't it? It would make you... quite ready for a surprise...

[And with that he was going to walk over to a dummy... and suddenly launch it at Pit without warning!]

[can_not_fly]

Whoa!

[And Pit jumps to the side on pure reflex, in a blink. The kid is clearly fast - and even taken by surprise he dodges like a pro, despite how harmless he looks]

Hey! What's the big idea?!

[whats_a_paladin]

[Here's Raynor with a cup of coffee and a book. Same one he lost some time ago, if anyone's interested.]

They always wake you really early at police academy. Old habits die hard.

[quickdrawlatino]

Hah. Agreed. I suppose that would be the reason I have for training this early. Having your father run a Dojo tends to do that to you.

[whats_a_paladin]

Early is the best time for training anyway. And a sword arm is like a cauldron; take it off the heat and it grows stale.

[alwaysmyturn]

[Neptune's finished with some morning stretches. Apparently, she's been sitting on the deck and watching you practice ever since.]

Hey, I know I'm supposed to be lazy, but most of the games here are pretty darn boring, so there ain't much else for me to do anyways.

At this rate, I might turn into Plutie and start loving naps...

[quickdrawlatino]

Well then Neptune... would you care for a distraction?

[He said that with a suave grin. Now, most other people would be highly suspicious of this. Sam's probably worked up a sweat, he has that lady-killer look on his face and he's probably been on the block more than once...]

[But honestly, some people should know better. Sam's talking about Sparring GET YOUR HEADS OUT OF THE GUTTER PEOPLE!! In fact he's going to toss one of the wooden swords he found on his soujurns through the ship to Nep as he put the Murasama aside to get one himself.]

[alwaysmyturn]

Neppu!?

[And cue a rather clumsy catch. She only manages to stop the sword from falling by practically hugging it.]

Yo! Those dirty descriptions aside - I wasn't ready!

And wait a sec...we're seriously doing this?

[2hell_weride]

It's more like... not having gone to sleep YET. This is still my afternoon.

[quickdrawlatino]

Hm.

[Sam chuckles lightly as he gets back to his routine.]

[2hell_weride]

What about you? You one of those 'workaholic' guys. Gotta work out all the time or somethin?

[infinite_prince]

Huh?

Oh, well...there are less people up at this hour to bother me...

[Pretty young girl. In skintight clothing. Oiling her guns. Proceed with caution.]

[quickdrawlatino]

Hm. I suppose when one is caring for their weapons, some peace would be appreciated... You seem somewhat familiar...

[Because while Sam was travelling he may have seen a few things on the IS tourneys.]

[infinite_prince]

Oh, that's probably just someone else. I'm Charle-er, Charlotte Dunois.

[hobo_lantern]

You're pretty good at punching unmoving inanimate object that can't punch back.

[gudbye_despair]

There's a girl nearby doing something with a training dummy. But instead of fighting it she's... painting it?