Aki and the Owl
"Then what about the Fylgja?"
"Fine, fine, I'll spar with you... just take it easy on me."
---
Aki wasn't sure what he was expecting this spar, but this wasn't it. After Halla's farm collapsed (why didn't he see such an important event?) he thought his sparring with her might have just ended there. He would understand,
especially after she gave an
entire herd of animals to his family the year before. She would have to take care of children, rebuild her house, find vengeance against Trollkin and Horra, get a new herd - Certainly no spare time for training a blind boy in the bloody craft of war. There are limits to how
Drengskapr a person can be!
But Halla had different ideas.
"Spar with my Fylgja today? I've given it good tricks to play with."
Well, she was minding her children, so that made sense.
So across Aki Weaponwing on the battlefield was a wizard-Owl standing on a wooden pole, it's feathers all scorched at their ends.
It waited for Aki to strike first, so he did.
His Swordraven dived in beak-first, only for Halla the Owl to ward it off with her trademark Halting-Vortex with a stroke of it's wings. It wasn't even trying! So Aki charged in with axe and shield at the ready, and only now did the Wizard-Owl work magic, striking the pole once with it's claw. Aki felt very slow, and the Owl swayed just a little, enough for his axe to miss the Owl. He could actually see from his Swordraven's eye just what mistake he made with the axe-swing, and swore to correct it for the next time. Then it took flight, and Aki felt fast again, fast enough to raise his shield to block Owl-Halla as it charged right at him.
Aki was feeling pretty good about this. Now his Swordraven could strike at Halla just as she was stuck on his shield! Weaponwing swooped in on bladed wings, then Owl-Halla flapped her wings, and Aki's heart fell. He was stuck in the air, trapped in a cloak of inertia. At least she couldn't
Standstill him anymore while he was stuck in the air? His axe swung down again as Halla again stepped to the side. It was hard enough aiming with his sight locked in the air like this, damnit! Then the Halla struck again, this time from outside his raven's view. He couldn't quite block with his shield in time, and her wing harmlessly slapped him across the arm. In a real battle that would have been his arm
gone.
"You know, Aki, sight isn't the
only sense you have."
Oh,
okay.
He took a deep breath this time as he focused on his hearing. He was still struggling in the air, but he put his Fylgja from thought for now. This time he heard the
shush sound across the wind when Owlhalla swooped in, just in time for him to block and counter-attack. He swung through empty air, but heard a nearly silent beat as the Owl moved to the side. Okay, he was getting this. Was his ears always this sharp? Instead of raising his shield to intercept Halla again, he swung upwards at Halla as she flew in, and amazingly, he hit! He
finally scored a hit on her armor of Orthsirr!
His euphoric trance was broken by Halla clapping.
He turned to look at Halla - when has she let go of her Standstill?
Halla now had a bowl of pebbles at her lap now and a grin on her face.
Her eyes seemed to track him, no had been tracking him through his entire fight with her Owl. Like she was looking at his movements and adjusting them..
"I think we can go even further."
AN:
As they say, write the scenes you want to read.
Also I only noticed how similar Owlhalla and Valhalla sounds.
Frenzy is really good for training people in the Old Master style of 'throw pebbles while they fight so they correct their footwork or whatever'.
@Imperial Fister
