It was a cold day, as the sky was completely cloud-free in the early spring. This was reflected in the glass-smooth lake. There was no wind, and the air was silent--the birds had gone about their business already, and there was no time for singing once morning was over. hunched over by the shore was a young man in a red, sleeveless tunic. He was running his finger through the ground, apparently deep in thought. His saber lay on the ground beside him, along with several other swords, these ones made of wood. He finished making a small 'x' in the corner of a box and withdrew his hand, sighing. He sat back and stared up at the sky, still pondering whatever was on his mind.

His eyes on the sky, searching around for at least one cloud he could spend the day just laying back and watching, instead of doing work or training or some other such. The boy did, however, stop once he saw Sabertache sitting on the ground. "Uh, hey there, Saber. Is there anything wrong?", he asked, once he had gotten closer to the Grunt.

Saber was snapped out of his reveries and gazed at the one who popped his thought bubble. "No, nothing's wrong. Just trying to remember something. You see, back when I was a kid, a bunch of the boys in the area would play this game. I think they called it Blaylock. It looked like fun, but I wasn't allowed to join in." He sighed and looked back out over the lake. "My father was strictly against me having anything to do with fighting. He taught me how to handle a sword, but never would he let me use it on friends. You see, Blaylock is a wargame of sorts. I believe it was played between two teams. I was just thinking back to that, and wondered...well, I wondered what it would be like to play it. I've been obsessing over it a bit lately, I suppose." He gestured towards the pile of lumber weapons beside him and stood. "That picture there is a diagram of it. It's basically just like a battle, only you get scored based on who you defeat and such. It looked interesting." The drawing was simply a square, with a few 'x's strewn here and there, many of them in clusters.

"Y'know, Saber," Kasei said from behind the Tantari Mercinary, "when I was a little boy, my freinds and I played something similar; manslaughter. The guy who killed the most opponents in one round won! It was a bit different, though; all of our enemies were leevers, and we could only use our scythes, not swords. And when they "died", they had a really nice, realistic 'squish'." Kasei finished. "Here, teach Worru here how to play, and then i'll join in if I feel like it!"

Ooc: Its sad but it took me forever to find f15.... T.O

IC: "Manslaughter...huh..."

Sakiko had her hands folded behind her back, hovering near Saber and Kasei. She tried to keep the interest from appearing too evident on her face, as she wanted to appear aloof and uninterested as possible. Zeze, on the other hand, was all smiles.

"I'm up for any killing game - so, explain the rules, Sabey."

The mage glowered, and muttered under her breath,

"Well, I'm only going to watch."

"Hey!" Arrika said jovially, leaping as if from the shadows, trying to startle Sakiko. Being a Sheikah almost automatically made her a master of deception.

The thief looked at the ground, examining Saber's marks. "Kobas used to make me and Seth do that sort of thing... you know, war strategies and tactics and all that. Can I play?"

Saber nearly jumped out of his skin as a voice suddenly boomed out from behind him, and just when he had gotten over the shock of Kasei, Arrika exploded out of nowhere like a jack-in-the-box. As he tensed, he mentally reprimanded himself. Why am I still startled by this? I've been in Hyrule nearly a year now, people always pop up whenever you do anything slightly more excited than normal living. He looked around at the group. There were six of them--looking down at the swords he had made, Sabertache noticed there were six of them as well. "Wow, ironic how things work out, huh? This is just the right amount of people to play." He glanced at Sakiko. "That is, of course, assuming we all play."

He picked up the swords and began to hand them to everyone in turn--he didn't wait for Sakiko's answer. "Basically, all it is is a scrimmage with a few extra implications. First off, no offensive magic. The reason we use these wooden weapons is to avoid being hurt badly, and blasting each other with magic would defeat the purpose, right? However, other magic can be used, like healing and shield magic. That adds to the strategy. When should you use your magic? Who should you use it on? You can't just go exploding everyone like a real fight." He handed the last sword to Kasei and took up his own wooden replica, testing the weight. "We'll do this with two teams of three. That sounds about fair. Now, to see who wins, every time you beat someone by hitting them on the torso, you get a certain amount of points based on how strong your opponent is. That adds more strategy. Do you go after the weaker ones first, or the ones worth more points? Also, you get three lives. That means once you get hit on the torso, you go back to your end of the field, wait for ten seconds or so, and come back in. The third time you go out, though, you're done."

Turning to look at the group, his eager smile was complimented with a wink. "Any questions?"

OOC: Basically, this is just a fight without offensive magic, with teams. To judge how many points the opponent is worth is simple--it's just their level. All skills--sans attack spells--are usable, and you use your normal battle stats with no restrictions. So, if you have questions, have them ask it in character, and I'll get to work trying to decide what the fair teams would be. Even though everyone is using these wooden swords, I'll still do the stats like the scholars are using staves and such.

"How are we deciding teams...?" Arrika said uncertainly and weighing the wooden sword in her hands. She glanced at Kasei, hoping she'd end up on his side, as she certainly didn't want to try and go against him. Her dark gaze shifted to Sakiko, and being a mage that automatically made her the least defensive. Maybe an even easier kill than Worru...? The thief grinned slightly.

"Well, Kasei and Worru will have to be on opposite teams, as they appear to be the strongest. We'll put Worru at 14 points, and Kasei at 15. Does that sound good, guys?" The mercenary queried as he placed Worru on one side and Kasei on the other. "Now, me and Arrika will both be 8 points, and we'll have Arrika on Kasei's team, and me on Worru's. That gives both sides a Grunt and Vagabond. Sakiko, you'll be worth 6 points, and Zeze...Hmm, I'm not sure...I've never seen you fight, I belive. Zapheta, about how would you place yourself?" Saber wondered as he stood by Worru after pushing Arrika to the other side. He brushed his hair aside and cocked his head.

OOC: Basically, Sakiko, I'm wondering what Zeze's stats are. Does she have any? I think you've used them before, but they aren't in your profile.

Ooc:

Zaph:
STR 8
DEF 7
AGI 9
INT 4
SPI 1
HP: 40

IC: Sakiko scowled, really unwilling to play anything. If I wasn't such a great sport, I'd leave right now... The mage felt even more discouraged by the fact that she was worth the least points. Zeze was chuckling quietly beside her, which deepened her scowl. She murmured,

"That's not...fair...that you can't use magic.."

Heck, she couldn't even handle a sword for all that counted. But Zeze, who was such a good sport, winked at the mage cheerily,

"It's ok, Sakiko, no one will go for you anyways. You're worth the least."

Zeze turned to Saber and shrugged.

"I dunno - as long as I'm worth more than Sakiko, I'm good."

OOC: Alright, thanks.

IC: "Now, now, Sakiko, you can use magic. Just not to blast other people. Meaning that you are quite a valuable asset to your team--you can help bolster their defenses and increase their endurance. Those are things noone else here at the moment can do, as you are the only mage." He turned to Zeze after trying to bolster Sakiko's ego, and looked her up and down.

"I'd say around 8 points as well. So...Let's see...You'll go with Worru, and Sakiko will go with Kasei. That seems to even up the teams. Now, let's get lined up on opposite sides of this field here, make some room for maneuvering...Kasei's team, walk about fifty yards that way and get to talking about your strategy. In a few minutes we'll start." As he waited for Kasei, Arrika, and Zeze to get to their side of the field, he beckoned Sakiko and Worru to come near him. "Alright, I think we probably should go for Kasei first. Not only is he worth more, but he's slower than Arrika. Zeze...I'm not too sure about her still. What do you know about her fighting skills, Sakiko?"

Arrika grinned, clapping Sakiko playfully on the back before skipping over to the opposite end of the field. "Kasei, Zeze! I say we go for Sakiko first... How's that sound?" The thief whispered. "She's probably slower than Kasei too! Hah... I've always wondered how it would be to whack her for fun. Because we usually just hit each other when we're mad... Or we could just gang up on Worru since he's worth the most, then Saber, and Sakiko would be the last easy kill..."