Sightles

When the Flames Die

Thomas frowned at first, before chuckling, "The Order does not allow any activities outside of serving the King." Thomas replied, holding his own slight smirk, "The Order runs a very tight ship." Thomas added, as he gazed over the various spectators starting to leave the tournament grounds, "Any breaking of any part of our oath is enough to warrant a death sentence with no trial." Thomas explained further, as he grasped Harmony's hilt with one hand. He had seen a couple of Order knights executed for such things. Both were for violating their oath of celibacy, "But I doubt dancing will be something I would lose my head over." Thomas finished, with a slight smirk.

When the Flames Die

Thomas promptly left, and what seemed like an instance for armor removal, was back next to Jezin, wearing his black leather doublet, Harmony still hanging at his side, "Much better." Thomas said, as he looked up into the stands. It seemed as if some people were clearing out, and heading back to their own lodgings, or even prepare for the midnight feast, "Don't tell my you're gonna wear your armor to the feast. I'm assuming you chose something that might actually get all the ladies to want to dance with you." Thomas joked, with a small smile on his face. It was nice to be able to relax and joke with someone, as most of the Order knight's humor was as dry as dirt.

When the Flames Die

Thomas laughed as Jezin quickly replied with the exact location, and sure enough, there she was. Thomas smiled as he looked over at Sophia, Gareth, and what appeared to be a lady-in-waiting, "You're a good protector, Jezin." Thomas commented, as he turned his attention back to Jezin. Thomas was reminded of his time serving Aripert, Bard's older brother and Arduin's younger. Aripert had a habit of constantly going about business without alerting the Order to his whereabouts. It was a handful, as the Order often found itself scrambling to locate the King. The King's natural ability to slip through the watchful eye of the Order was impressive, and challenged Thomas in more ways than one. Bard was more cooperative, though. At least, as far as Thomas could tell. Bard seemed to value the opinion of Sir Redwyne, and cherished his protectors, "I'm going to go change out this coffin they call armor." Thomas spoke, as he shifted uncomfortably in his protection.

When the Flames Die

Thomas adjusted his sheath as he stood next to his friend, "Of course. I'll be the only one not on duty, though. Since I'm the champion of the Order, they'll be giving me the night off." Thomas replied, with a slight smirk, "Gotta give your dog a treat once in a while." He added, with a short chuckle, "Where is your charge at, by the way?" Thomas asked, referring to Sophia. Thomas was surprised that Jezin wasn't by her side at this moment, but it was likely less a shirking of duty, and more of a trust in Keilaudrin, which Thomas could appreciate. Thomas turned his head to the stands, and began to gaze around, scanning for Sophia, and Gareth as well.

When the Flames Die

Thomas glanced over the field, and caught eye of Jezin, who gave him a slight nod. Thomas smiled, and made his way over to the warrior, "Let's hope our fight doesn't carry on that way." Thomas said, as he walked over to stand beside the warrior, "It looks like they might go ahead with the midnight feast, and postpone the tournament for tomorrow." Thomas added, as he sheathed Harmony, carefully, and placed his helmet under his arm, "I assume you and Lady Sophia will be attending the event?" Thomas asked, as he finally calmed his breathing, and started to relax. The long, drawn out fight had taken a lot out of Thomas, considering his heavy load he had to carry with him for the entirety of the fight.

When the Flames Die

Finally!

When the Flames Die

Thomas smiled to himself as he was declared the winner, picking up his helmet as he did so. In honesty, the fight would of been won handedly by himself had he not been tied down with his heavy armor. Still, Hadyrn had not managed to land many hits on Thomas, which was a result of Thomas' Light-Fighting style. Thomas himself had not managed many hits, but the hits he did manage were impressive ones. Thomas didn't honestly want the victory the way he received it, finding it weird and odd that the tournament directors wouldn't allow the melee to play out, as it was the normal thing to do, and violated the honor of the contestants. Thomas made a note to refuse wearing the armor for the rest of the melee, as he would then be able to fight as he had been trained. The armor acted as more of a handicap than anything, and that match proved that through and through. Thomas' hair was matted to his head from sweat, and dirt speckled his face. Due to his dodging and armor, Thomas had managed to not take a single wounding hit, a feat considering the speed of his opponent. Thomas stood off from the arena for a moment, to catch his breath. It was obvious that the tournament directors had called the fight due to the length, and less because of the probability it would end in a draw. Harmony still remained in Thomas' hand, blood still marking a few places where he had found his mark on his opponent. While the opponent proved to have speed on his side, it was proven throughout the fight that Thomas had had the benefit of much more training, which showed through swordplay with his opponent.

When the Flames Die

That's all good. Epsir should be timeskipping us forward to the end of the fight shortly, then we can continue with the thread.

When the Flames Die

Thomas quickly sidestepped the blow, to the left. While, not as quick as he could move, due to his armor, it was still sufficient to dodge the downward slash on his head. Thomas quickly tried to set himself up for a quick disarm. He managed to reach out with his longsword, and touched the inside of Hadryn's sword, and attempted to disarm by sweeping his sword in a circular motion. It was likely this could be easily dodged, due to Thomas' current slowness, but counter-strike and parrying was a lot of what Thomas was taught. Thomas could tell his opponent was a lot faster than he was, which could spell bad fortune for Thomas, once his armor started to weigh him down and tire him out.

When the Flames Die

Thomas started his own circling, taking a step back every time his opponent took a step forward. Thomas cursed himself, as he reminded himself how much he hated his armor. Raised an entire life time to fight without it, and he's spent most of his recent years fighting with it. He had a duty, though, as the champion of the Order of the Thistle, he had to represent his Order in combat, but this was too much. As Thomas continued circling, he removed his helmet with his left hand, and tossed it to the side. revealing his face. Helmets were useless in tournament combat, and only stopped one from anticipating attacks. Thomas adjusted his grip, slightly on his sword, lowering his hand on the hilt, before taking a quick step forward, along with a quick jab at his opponent chest, before taking two quick steps back to retreat. The jab wasn't that accurate, and it was painfully obvious the jab was meant to be a sort of testing the waters of his opponent.