Dagger Sparing (open to all, preferably short swords or dagger users.)

Alex swung her paired blades in arcs around her as she practiced ducking, lunging and slashing at imaginary foes around her. Her days on the street gave her plenty of experience to pull memories from. As an imaginary hell hound lept towards her she brought up both knives slicing at where the neck would be. She slashed what would be a kill stroke and then she lept away ready to face the next foe. Back and forth and back and forth. She swung her knives. A sloppy spin had made a little cut in her arm. She paused and looked at the drop of blood that was quickly drying in the afternoon sun. It matched the rest of the little scars and burns from all her years of fighting. And decided that it was time for a drink. Walking over to the water coolers she grabbed a drink and walked back to the sparring area.
"Ugh" she grumbled looking at the two knives in her hands. She was sick of the drills and conditioning she had been putting herself through every day. She wanted someone to fight. She looked around the arena at the other campers.
"Anyone want to spar?" she said loudly.

James arrived at the Arena to find a blonde girl there practicing by herself. She seemed familiar, but her name escaped him. He studied her for a moment as she spun, and stabbed, and sliced with her knives, killing invisible monsters left and right. James also made a quick assessment of the girl's fighting style. Not exceptionally strong, but she makes up for it with speed. he noted. Might as well introduce myself James thought after she issued her challenge to the other campers. "I'm game." James replied as he approached her, drawing his knife.

Alex gave a quick nod of acknowledgment and walked over to the guy.
"Thanks, I appreciate it. I was getting a bit sick of fighting imaginary hell hounds." She pulled her lose blonde hair up into a messy bun and unsheathed her knives.
"I'm Alex by the way, Daughter of Hermes. What's your weapon of choice?" She looked over him noticing the knife in his hand. "Blades? Perfect." She swung her dueled knives together and they fit together to join in what almost looked like one blade. "Would you rather I only fought with one, or do you mind if I go two on one?" She wasn't sure of the other camper across from her. She had no idea what his skill level was or how much experience he had. He looked like he knew what he was doing tho, but she couldn't be sure. Plus she had noticed him observing her earlier, being a kid of Hermes she was always checking to see if there was anyone with anything worth stealing on them and he had been in eyesight.

"Also, I'm not sure how good you are at hand to hand, but fair warning I've taking martial arts since the time I was three to the time I was on the streets and I learned street fighting there. Normally I don't tell people that, but I'm feeling in a bit more in a fair mood then normal so I thought I would let you know." Alex wondered what made her tell the other camper. She shrugged a bit to herself.
Oh well, she thought, this fight ought to be good.
Alex was looking forward to the fight. And genuinely curious to the style of the camper she was about to spar with.

"You must be the one my siblings keep talking about," James replied as Alex introduced herself. "The one who's always hanging by the cabin. I'm James, son of Athena." If she's as skilled as she says, going hand-to-hand wouldn't be the best idea. James thought, contemplating the possible rules of engagement. Alex didn't seem like the lying type, and James had seen her dual-wielding for a little bit. Better keep those hands busy. "I appreciate your honesty, and I must admit that it sounds like you're a force to be reckoned with unarmed. I'm no slouch when it comes to CQC, either. When your best friends growing up are soldiers, you pick up a few things." James said with a smirk. "Go ahead and use both knives, I'm always up for a little challenge."

"So I was thinking we could start out a bit slower and work our way faster. My knives are my combat ones and are very sharp. I want to try and learn how to fight with them and not injure my opponent. Would you be up to that? If we just go with the flow I have a feeling that we will know when to speed up..." She asked the Athena camper. Alex took a stance while bringing her daggers apart in one fluid movement. Taking a step back into a clearer area where the two of them would have extra space as a precaution.
She waited for James to make the first move, ready to jump at the first movement.

"Fine by me," James said as he cautiously approached the girl. Then at about 15 yards away, he broke into a sprint and stabbed at Alex's right shoulder

James came at Alex quick but she had anticipated it. His attack seemed like it was coming towards her right side so she easily spun to the side and brought her blades in a swinging arc towards his guarded side. She wanted to show him a bit of her strength while still staying far enough away to not allow him to overpower her.
She quickly jumped back lightly on her toes ready to parrey his next blow or send another attack depending on his next action. James was quick and he looked stron to Alex. The fight was bound to be a good one.

James winced as the blades cut into his side. Yep, James thought definitely fast. This girl was gonna be tough to beat. James spun his knife around to reverse grip, sacrificing range for defense, and charged toward Alex again. He slashed at her left arm, this time remembering to return to guarded position afterwards.

Alex saw the next jab coming but she wasn't fast enough, the blade knicked her arm. Another cut was added to the collection of scraps on her arms. She ducked down and lept behind him hoping to catch him off guard. She feigned left then swept at his left side but he had already blocked her blow. She quickly jumped back.
"You haven't been here long, yet you have experience. I'm impressed." She remembered back a couple months when he was just getting to the athena cabin. She had noticed him but never spoken. He reminded her of a military person, she was a bit jealous looking at him actually. "You fight well, not many new people manage to even tap me with their weapons."

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself," James said with a smile. "Fighting just sorta comes naturally to me, with my mom being Athena and all." Again, Alex didn't seem like she was gloating about her skill. James thought he had her with that last attack, but it hardly even grazed her. Definitely not gonna be easy, James thought to himself. He maintained his guarded position, waiting for Alex to make her next move.

Even before James was done saying his mom was Athena Alex seized the opportunity of his distraction. She lunged in swiping with her left hand knife towards his ribs while keeping her own knife up guarding herself. The attack wasn't as strong and he easily overpowered her in range so she had to be as quick on her feet as she could. The attack was faster than the last few. The sight of the knick on her arm had encouraged her to move more.
"Alright! Lets step this up a level!" She said with a hint of laughter in her voice. Alex was having fun. James was a great sparring partner.

Halfway through his sentence, Alex attacked. James parried upwards, but Alex's blade nicked his cheek. He chided himself for getting distracted so easily. "Alright, let's do this!" James shouted in excitement. He'd almost forgotten how much fun sparring was. James rushed Alex, feigning that same stab he opened with and slashing instead towards her thigh before hopping back up, now feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline

Alex laughed letting the adrenaline flow through her. He was already lunging towards her with lightning speed. He was big thankfully so Alex was able to spin out of the way after pairying one of his blows towards her leg. She leapt forward to slash at his arms. Laughing with each stroke. He hasn't had this much fun in a long time. And it was easy to get lost In the fight.

James' body had gone on autopilot. He parried Alex's stab away and threw a swift kick to her side, and he couldn't help but laugh with her. This was fun. James jumped away grinning, enjoying the controlled chaos of the fight. He couldn't remember a sparring session so entertaining, and he was loving every minute of it.

Their knives ringed against each other with every blow. James had sent a kick towards Alex which triggered her self defense from her street days. She spun out of the way using the momentum to send back an attack with an even higher amount of power. She flipped her blade in her hand so that she could continue to use more and more force with her right hand an keep what range she had with her left. James kick had almost hit her. Alex couldn't afford a hit like that again it would give James the upper hand and Alex was going to have to move faster next time to avoid it again.

James tried to duck Alex's next blow, but it still caught the top of his head. Dazed, he rolled over and shook his head. James charged back at Alex and swung his knife in a wide arc at her head, intentionally missing and trying for a sweep with his leg. He knew he couldn't keep up with Alex's speed, but maybe he could get her off balance

Alex's blow connected and she couldn't help but let a triumphant rare smile cover her face. He looked dazed and she could tell that his next blow was going to miss by how far above her head he was aiming. At the last second she saw a change in his eye and his body switch motions swinging his leg to hit her. She let out a ki-yup ((a concentrated yell\shout done by martial artist to off balance their opponent or add extra force into what ever move they chose to add the energy released towards)) right as his leg connected hers. The force was enough that it sent her stumbling backwards. She rolled back careful to avoid her knives but becoming covered by dirt from the ground in the process. She cursed and brought her feet into a stance continuing to hold one knife in a defensive position and the other in an offenseive hold. "Gods that one actually hit me" she yelped out of shock but also because she was impressed. She waited for him to make the next move trying to not show that she had been winded when she had fallen backwards.
Alex had a feeling the fight wasn't going to be much longer. But was enjoying every second she could.

James panted, exhausted from the fight, but glad he finally connected with one of his attacks. "Finally," he jokingly replied. But he knew he probably wasn't getting another hit in like that. The spar was drawing to a conclusion, but he had now idea how to beat Alex, who seemed just fine. Then a lightbulb went on in his head. Suddenly, James fell to one knee, clutching his side and coughing, being sure to spit blood onto his hand for dramatic effect.

Alex had regained her breathing pattern when James fell to his knee. The act was convincing but Alex had fallen for it two years back in an alley in the Bronx where she had fought another street kid who had been losing. Alex was tired and James looked like he was ready to be done anyways. The blood he spat nudged Alex's conscious a bit, but she decided not to go for it.
"Nice trick, but my dad is the god of trickery. I can tell an act from the real thing." Alex was tired anyways so she decided that it would be a good time to stop. "I'll call a truce with you if you want. That last kick was really well done and I would rather not take another one like it." She said her voice light and surprisingly chipper. "But that was an amazing fight. You're really good and I'm impressed. Want to call it even?"

"Had to try" James joked, standing back up and smiling. "Truce it is. You're crazy good at fighting. Easily the best sparring partner I've ever had. Thanks for a great fight." James said with his arm extended.

After James truces back Alex decided that it was only fair to shake hands back. Alex didn't usually because being a Hermes kid found that muggings tend to happen whenever handshakes occurred.
"You're really good yourself. I'm flattered. Thanks." She said realizing that this could be the start of a valuable friendship. "I practice here everyday if you're ever looking for a sparring partner." She grinned. "Although I have a feeling were going to be seeing a good deal of each other more often now that we've been acquainted. It's been a pleasure sparring with you" she added with a little bow and a sarcastic flare to the last sentence. "Nah seriously tho. For real. This was great."

James couldn't help but laugh at Alex's bow. "The pleasure is all mine" he replied, trying to sound as sarcastically snooty as possible. "And you're right. This looks like the start of a beeaauuuuutiful friendship. I'm sure I'll be seeing you a lot more often."

Alex laughed as she picked up her leather jacket and sheathed her knives.
"I'll be seeing you" she said over her shoulder as she walked towards the door of the arena.