A Duel, Good Sir? [Aure]

[Cloud Strife]

Cloud wandered down the beach. Aure was late. He hadn't sparred with him for a very long time, and fate, it seemed, wanted to postpone it a little longer. He stood upon a smaller, rocky spur that stuck out of the ground. He looked about for him. Still no sign.

Cloud thought back to his days with the Crusaders. His training had been rigorous, he had learnt much. And still, he was surprised. Each to his own he suspected. He held the Main Blade by the pommel, pulling it out, then driving it into the rock. It was testimony to the blade how easily it slid into the rock. It hummed with power, the surface glimmering in the light.

It was a shame his ease had been so short lived. Still. He had cause to celebrate. Tifa was still alive. And well. And worrisome as always. He shook his head, smiling slightly. Always so concerned about everyone else. She must have worried so much during the war...

He spotted Aure. About time. He pulled the blade from its rocky sheathe, resting it against his shoulder, and called out.

It's about time you showed up. You kept me waiting.

[Aure]

His armor slid against the sand. It was the kind of thing that would be awkward for most people, but Aure was so perfectly in tune with his dragon-scale armor that he moved along the sand with ease. His polearm was over his back and his sword at his side, he was fully equipped. He didn’t understand why Cloud wanted to meet at this location, but as it was quite a ways away from the prying eye Aure didn’t mind. There was something freeing being away from public, where he could be himself and not who his father wanted him to be.

Through the membrane over the eyes of his helmet he looked up at Cloud, who had only just noticed him. The two of them had very similar training, both with time with the Crusaders behind them. It made this duel quite even, which was a nice change of pace from the rookies who sought Aure out right after they had finished their training. He had a name amongst the Dragoons, so they wanted to see if they could stand their own against him. Most of them fell quite easily; Aure didn’t hold back simply because they didn’t ask him to.

”I had business to attend to so that I might be able to come here unquestioned. My father would not approve of such a use of energy, so I didn’t want him to find out,” Aure responded to Cloud’s earlier question. He shrugged the strap of the polearm off his shoulder, catching the weapon quite easily and digging the two-pronged end deep into the sand. ”So what are the conditions? First to draw blood?” he called back, stretching his shoulders by rolling his arms.

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[Cloud Strife]

Cloud smiled. Same Aure as always. Still dominated by his father as well. But either way, he was happy with the terms. Except for one detail...

Yes. But for one small detail. No turning into a Dragon on me. It hardly seems fair on you.

He laughed a little. This would be fun, and a fruitful use of their time. He dropped his blade into a defensive stance, holding the Main Blade in both hands. His stance was open, allowing for greater mobility, his feet planted firmly against the rock.

Draw your weapon Aure. I need something to fight against.

He smiled again, gripping the blade tightly. He kept a watch of Aure's stance, being a fellow Dragoon, and a mighty one at that, he would be using the air as much as he was. A fully three dimensional fight. Interesting to say the least. Challenging for both parties...

[Aure]

Aure nodded to Cloud’s terms. His dragon form would defeat the purpose of the fight as it would not involve much skill in battle on Aure’s part at that point. This spar was to test their abilities with their weapons, as Dragoons, not as a dragon, though the difference was only a single letter. Aure grabbed the handle of the polearm and swung it around, digging it under his arm in a ready stance. Unlike typical Dragoons he didn’t take to the air in the same matter. He was able to hold his own in aerial combat, but he preferred to attack from the same footing as the opponent.

”I’ll also hold back on the blizzard, then, too,” Aure said with a grin, as Cloud probably wouldn’t have liked it if he summoned a blizzard during the match and rendered him essentially useless. That also limited his own abilities severely, though, taking away two of his strongest attacks. He still had Nitael’Tazier at his side, though, so he was fine.

Cloud took up a defensive stance, allowing Aure to make the first move. It was honorable on his part. One would consider it foolish, but considering the distance between the two of them at the moment he’d easily be able to create a proper defense against any of Aure’s attacks before Aure could reach him. Still, the ground had to be closed, so Aure coiled up the muscles in his legs and leapt high into the air straight toward Cloud, swinging his polearm around and bringing it the bladed end around in a diagonal slash as he approached the other Dragoon.

[Cloud Strife]

Cloud smiled as Aure leapt at him. A typical aggressive start, closing the distance between the two. He adjusted his stance slightly, shifting the weight to his back foot, and bringing his blade back slightly, before swinging it upwards to deflect the blade, following through, spinning with the blade as it knock the strike aside. He reversed his swing direction immediately afterward, swinging it low with one hand, only to be deflected as Aure's polearm dropped through after being deflected. Arcing the blade overhead, gripping it with both hands, he brought the blade down in a crushing swing, which Aure adeptly dodged, Cloud's strike tearing a great chunk out of the rock he stood on.

It was typical of Aure. He was a very fast fighter. One of the best Dragoons, or at least, one of the most renowned. Cloud was very different. Where Aure used speed, Cloud used strength. They differed in fighting styles as much as they differed in weapons. Both were indicative of their fighting, Aure's polearm allowing for potentially faster strikes, whereas Clouds Fusion Swords were more suited to crushing blows. Cloud tightened his focus, then launched himself at Aure.

Somersaulting forward, he brought his blade down in another downward arc, before spinning about, ripping the blade sideways in a sweeping strike. He continued to swing, reversing his direction each time, before leaping backwards away from his combatant. His defence was very good. At least it was on the ground, but he'd have to wait for the right oppurtunity to make it airborne.

He swung the blade over his shoulder, drawing the Hollow Blade to supplement his defence. Aure was supposedly renowned for a blisteringly fast attack, and from Cloud's interpretation of his defence, it looked like it would be true. Holding the Main Blade in his right, the Hollow in his left, he resumed his defensive stance, this one tighter, less exposed, but still stable, with a firm footing on the same outcrop of rock as before.