Fight hard, fight well (Open)

Eva Koroutchenko flung her javelin with some accuracy at the target, it thudded home close to the centre of the straw target's ring. Unfortunately not all of her javelin throws had been that accurate as the ground around showed clearly with more than a few javelins missing the target completely by either being over thrown or under. Some of those that had hit, would not have counted as a kill for they were located towards the edge of the target.
Eva had been training for more than a few hours now, so as her muscles tired and her exhaustion grew, her accuracy fell along with the power of her throws. Instead of picking up another javelin, she paused to wipe some of the sweat from her forehead on her purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt. Currently she wasn't wearing any armour, when it came to using her javelins she preferred to not wear armour as it allowed for easier movement. Her long blond hair flowed behind her head as the hot wind blew softly from her right.

Picking up yet another javelin she took a few steps forward before launching it will all of her remaining might at the target, the Russian born daughter of Apollo's javelin struck home, hitting the target dead centre. Eva smiled quite happy with that last throw. Eva stood about five foot eight high, with a slender athletic build, she possessed these beautiful blue eyes which seemed to focus on a target just before she threw something at it.
She would never had said she was the best legionnaire in New Rome, yet Eva happened to be part of the first cohort, so she could not help but feel some pride as the first where made up of the best or the most powerful. That was how she saw it anyway. Eva always tried her hardest when it came to every task, she wanted to make sure that no one could question her place in her beloved first cohort. The Daughter of Apollo quite enjoyed her power, but she rarely used it except in times of battle or dire need. Unlike some of the other Demigods she knew, Eva never showed off her power, preferring to keep it hidden till it was actually needed.

A well-known fact about Alex: training was his knack. He loved the tension of the muscles, the struggle to keep on, the reward of coming out better than before and the feel of achieving your goal and beating yourself -and beating others. The ability of improvement was surely a gift from the Gods, one for which he was grateful. He usually preferred training in melee fighting, which suited more him being very athletic and rather bulky and fairly tall, standing at 6'1. Today though he would go for range. He itched for some javelin throwing. Turned out he weren't the only one since that Eva girl from the first was there too. And by all the javelins thrown -some having hit the target- she had been here for quite a while. They weren't friends or anything, he just happened to know of her. Right at the moment he went at the throwing area, she was hitting a dummy right in the centre of the target. "Nice shot." he commented as he was about to grab one himself and throw on the dummies. "Seems you've been here for a while. How come?"he asked genuinely curious, since not many people in the Legion would train on throwing.

Eva turned at the sound of a male voice, complimenting her on her shot. "Thank you." She offered Alex a kind smile, Eva in contrast to Alex stood a few inches shorter than him. She hadn't really spoken with the other Demigod before but she had seen him around, he seemed quiet nice.
"I prefer to fight with javelins namely the Hasta Velitaris." Eva copied the fighting style of the Velites, skirmishers during the mid Roman Republic. She could fight at short range but she preferred to not be restricted by armour and use her javelins instead to deal death as well as injury. "I think the best way to not lose my skills is to keep practising." Eva paused to wipe some sweat from her brown on the back of her hand, she picked up her plastic bottle of now warm water, drinking the liquid quietly before replacing the cap.

"That's a bit better." She said, before dropping the bottle onto the floor then she selected another javelin to throw again. "What brings you here then?" Eva inquired in tern before throwing the javelin, this one hit just above of her last throw. Of course it was one thing to kill stationary hay or straw targets, it would be completely different to hit a moving target with a shield or capable of flight or whatever skills she happened to be fighting. Still, any practice happened to serve a purpose, besides maybe with him Eva Koroutchenko could find someone to spare against since it always paid to fight against another legionnaire. Particularly those who appeared to be both larger as well as stronger.
Course, if he had just come here to throw some javelins or other projectile weapons well the company would be appreciated.

Alex nodded at her 'explanation' on why she was here and went on to throw his own javelin, barely missing the target. He muttered a curse under his breath. "I'm here because l had got bored of melee training all the time. And l kinda find this kind of training relaxing." he said when she asked him why he was here. He went on to grab another javelin to throw. She was a fairly good thrower herself, so he tried to aim as well as possible, which resulted in him hitting the centre of the straw target. He wouldn't brag about it, but it was a good feeling. After all, he strived for success. Always.


OOC: Sorry for the lateness.

"Nice shot, almost as good as me." She teased playfulness glimmer in her blue eyes. Eva picked up another javelin, throwing it at the target so that it struck home in one of the centre rings. She seemed pleased with her throw, though it was one thing to attack stationary targets that would not move or fight back, it would be an entirely different matter on the actual battlefield.
"So." Eva began. "You got bored of melee training I am going to take a punt here and guess you're a good fighter?" She wondered if 'take a punt' was the correct phrase to use here. Eva picked up a few of the phrases from the various different demigods she encountered.
Judging from appearances, he looked like he might be a formidable foe in close quarters, Eva hoped she would never have to face him in battle.

He smiled when she teased him, seeing it as a challenge. He delt confirmed when with an excellent shot she hit the target right in the middle. Of course, training and battle were different, but she was good enough not to worry. At least he felt she was. Then she asked him if he was really good at close combat. Had he come out that arrogant? Because he meant it literally. He was bored of the same thing. "Uh... don't know if l am THAT good. But it does get boring after a while. Why asking?" he said as he grabbed yet another javelin to throw. This one was a barely worse throw than wich made him cringe a bit.

Eva watched him throw. "Don't worry I spend much of my time practising with the javelins." She comforted him, sometimes even she still missed the target, it wasn't an easy task to throw a javelin accurately with sufficient power over a decent range.
She picked up another javelin throwing it quickly, hitting the target just above the bull's eye. "Well... I was wondering if you were interested in a little sparring match?" She answered wondering if he would agree to it.
The daughter of Apollo silently debated whether it was a good idea or not especially considering he appeared to be a good fighter judging from appearances alone.

Alex found her try to comfort him weird, and saw it more as a challenge. What did she mean she needed a lot of practice herself? He was good enough himself. Of course that was his parentage talking, him being the son of Discordia made him always look for a fight. And it seemed like he'd get it, since she asked him for a sparring match. He grinned deviously. "Sure thing. Challenges are always acceptable." She seemed good enough of a fighter, pretty athletic and well, she was a part of the "glorious" first cohort. Besides, he had learnt that being a female didn't make a difference in how one fought. Quite the contrary sometimes too. He made a mental note not to underestimate her.

She paused to have another drink before picking up a pair of gladiuses, tossing one to him and keeping the other one for herself. "Well... Shall we get started?" Eva walked about ten paces way from him so they were a decent distance apart from each other.
Okay, her blue eyes ran up and down his form, he was bigger and therefore probably heavier too, possibly much stronger as well. Eva would need to rely on speed to win this sparring match, speed, agility and perhaps even her power too.

Alex nodded when she said to get started. She seemed confident so she’d probably have a good handling of weapons and probably be more agile than him. He was fairly sure she couldn't outpower him, at least talking about pure strength, so she'd probably have this advantage to try and take him on. Oh well, she might just be too confident. Or a murder machine. So, attack. Right. He tried a quick blow to her sides with his spear, to check her reflexes. If he saw she was pretty good, most likelythe case, he'd try and get this over with. If not, he'd might play teacher. If his self didn't get in the way at least.

She parried the blow with her gladius, electing to not use her javelin at this close range. Besides she didn't want to risk killing him. That would not go down well in the Legion.
She took a few steps back assessing him as best she could from a distance. Eva would need to get in close as his spear possessed a greater range than her gladius. It was a great weapon, just far better with a shield (which she disliked using) at short range. So he had size and range on his side. No matter she intended to win as she launched herself into an attack.

She parried his attack. No surpeise there. The surprise was when she launched herself towards him. He instictively blocked with his spear and hit her with an elbow thrust to force her back off. "Full attacking mode is an interesting strategy. Is that what seperates the first and makes it so glorious?" he semi-noticed , semi-taunted her. He assumed that it was a fight till one was injured, so he tried to hit her in the shoulder with his spear to get this over with.

"I have no idea what you mean." She responded dodging the attack to her face before barely managing to parry the strike to her shoulder, her sword meeting his spear tip causing the air to ring sharply with the clash of metal on metal. "Perhaps it is powers?" She was tempted to use her power it would catch him off guard.
The first was separated by the skill of the Legionnaires, their parentage or their abilities. At least that was what Eva thought, she earned her spot in the Legion, it wouldn't be good to just assume she was the best. Eva wasn't the greatest fighter in the Legion, however she tried her best to. Unfortunate most people tended to judge the russian demigod long before they even got to know her.

He smiled. Seemingly he had unnerved and distracted her. This could be conceived by the fact she hadn't fought back after parrying his last hit. He wouldn't admit it probably, but she was good. Then she talked about the powers. This was a really touchy subject for him. He couldn't get how he was 3/4 of a God and had no powers whatsoever. This triggered the only trait of his parentage- rage. Needless to say, he foolishly charged at her and tried to land a solid hit.

She met his charge by charging forward herself, blocking his strike before holding out her left palm. A heartbeat later a flash of painful light detonated from it, hopefully blinding or disorientating her opponent. She ducked down without waiting to observe the effects of her power before kicking her right leg out aiming to sweep his legs out from under him.

He was surprised when she parried his hit, and even more when she used a Solar Flare better than Son Goku himself. He stepped back, blinded and then he fell, having had his legs sweeped. He tried to get up, his vision still lost. "So, first blood wins?" he said, trying to sound confident even though a blind enemy was never much even for a probatio, much less a full member of the First.

By Jupiter that actually worked, though now she would not be able to use her power again. It suited her fine using it in battle especially when enemies got to close, as Eva tended to fight as a skirmisher, hit and run over stand and fight.
However withdrawing to fight from range happened to not be an option this time around. Her power could also be used in assault to disorientate the battle line of the enemy. However, the power would effect her allies who weren't sons or daughters of Apollo.
She flung herself back into the attack, surprised this his spear managed to parry the strike. Either it was luck, divine intervention or his personal skill, perhaps he was the son of some god of war or other variety of such. Regardless she pressed the attack, pushing down with her blade entering a contest of strength which at the moment she held the advantage for because she was standing up. He could easily turn the tables by doing a similar trick to her, by sweeping her legs out from under her.

Blindness had started becoming furstrating. His vision better come back soon or else he'd hulk up and try and beat her up. And,look like a fool why punching the air. Such pleasant thoughts. Anyway, back to the battle the girl tried to fight him by strength. Silly move, he thought, then he realised she was standing and he was not, which did give her an advantage.Well, sht.He then tried to back off a bit so that she came closer, cause an idea struck him. He decided to give her a taste of his own medicine and as she stepped forward to finish him off he sweeped her legs himself, then quickly got up. His vision was still impaired, though he felt might be coming back soon.

Eva growing confident had victory took a risk which back fired on her rather epically. His blindness would only last for a few more seconds at max. He swept her legs out from under her, an action which caught the Russian daughter of Apollo by surprise. She hit the ground, the impact knocking the breath out of her lungs with an audible. "Oof."
The other demigod didn't try to pin her down whilst she was down, he got to his own feet. Eva tightened her grip on her sword, raising it whilst she tried to find her feet.
She needed to get back up before he recovered and used his strength to over power her own.

He grinned as his vision came back. It was a matter of time untill victory was his. "So... first blood or not? I need to know how to end this." he taunted. He would wait for her to get up. A victory achieved with his opponent grounded wouldn't be honourable enough. Neither for him or Eva who had put up a great fight.

Eva smiled at him slyly as she got back to her feet. He could have easily rolled over instead of getting back on his feet and pinned her down instead, forcing her to fight a strength battle. A battle where she would inevitably lose. She tightened her grip on her sword. "You mean for me to end this." She pointed her sword at him whilst with her hand indicated to him to come towards him. "Shall we dance?" She waited for him to make the first move intending to dodge around him, aiming for his flanks and sides. He was stronger but Eva happened to be faster.

And this kids, is why being a son of Discordia is bad: he took her insignificant and slight taunt seriously. So he charged at her screaming and wielding his sword intending to slice her in half. Hopefully he'd come to his senses quickly enougj not to kill her or lose the fight. Which hints that he won't.

His sudden charge at her screaming caught Eva off guard, she rolled out of the way of his swing, the blade slicing through the material of her shirt but missing her flesh. Fortunately.
She brought her own blade into the fray, first parrying one of his strikes before quickly jabbing him in the ribs with her fist. Their deadly dance was fast, elegant, beautiful and above all lethal. One false move, one uncontrolled swing or incorrect jab could leave the other Legionnaire dead or badly wounded.

First, she dodged his charge. Then she parried his hit and she punched him in the ribs. That was a gash in his confidence that he would win the fight and tempted Alex to punch her in the face.though he collected himself and tried to land a quick succession of blows in order to find an opening and end the fight, though she was able to parry them. Alright then, she is fast enough, he though. Let's take it to strength. s a result, he had their swords collide, in order to disarm her using pure physical power instead of the disarming technique they had all been taught.

Eva was pleased that she managed to deflect his strikes, however he had forced her back onto the defensive, forcing her back. Their swords crashed together, knocking Eva off balance. She failed to recover her footing so stumbled, falling to the floor. She raised her weapon to parry a strike away from her, but his next hit sent her sword flying out of her grasp. Eva crawled backwards aiming to get back and reach her weapon, but he was soon upon her, sword tip pointed at her.
"I yield." She said with a slim smile on her face, hoping that he would choose to stab her anyway.