He saw the attack coming, the child's fierce little gambit, and he reacted as he'd said he would. The attack was impressive for only a second attempt, and one so young--had Onyx-Three been an adult it might have broken a limb. As it was, the Sentinel jerked the halberd's haft back in an attempt to block the strike with black metal--the pole, and not a blade.

"Good," he breathed, nonetheless, eyes flicking down to where the strike would have landed. "You are quick. This was a good strike. But--watch the rest of its body. Feet: a step, it will show where I will move. Hands--" and he shuffled to show the 'step,' and slid his hands back along the halberd as if about to move it--"to show what it will do. It will help you. A prediction. Again," he suggested.

The Sentinel paused, then, gaze fixing on Onyx-Three. He was realizing that he had not offered praise. It was something he himself had rarely needed, but feedback was important--Vargas had granted that in their training, and he had just overlooked it. But he did not know what to say. He thought, and thought, a silent moment stretching (unless the child broke it--as instructed--with a hit), before at last settling lamely on a parroted promise: "You are doing well."

@V-Onyx-Three

And his attack was blocked, claws contacting the the black metal of the halberd. So that was what was meant by "respond". It added another challenge to this concept called fighting, though it also made it much more interesting. A real opponent, he supposed, wouldn't just let him attempt to hit them over and over again. His movement had felt different that time. For a moment, he had understood what had been meant by a "part of you".

Although he had shown great improvement from his first to second attempt, it meant nothing to him until the Sentinel deemed it to be good. Approval. They took a step back to watch the demonstration. Feet showed the movement of the body, and hands for the movement of the weapon. Turning the rock over in their hand, they repeated this to themselves in their head.

Multicolored eyes searched for the next weak point to target. It would be a good idea to aim for a spot that would allow for his vision to capture both the movement of the legs and arms. Having four eyes made this a much easier task in comparison to others who did not have the benefit of multiple pairs of eyes.

They gathered themselves to make their next move. But The Sentinel spoke. Despite how weak the praise may have been, it was praise nonetheless. Their ears perked up, "Thank you." he did not like how the words came out. It felt stiff. However this thought was quickly pushed aside- they needed to continue to do well.

This time, his eyes landed upon the arm that held the halberd. Specifically, the elbow. It was a higher target than the other two had been. It meant he would have to reach up instead of strike down. His hand secured around the stone, he stepped forwards and swung in an upward motion. Due to the difficulty of this location, it was likely they would be slightly off from the target. They watched for movement. They kept their eyes alert on not only where they aimed the rock, but also on The Sentinel's legs, and arms.

@The Sentinel

He did not "give it his all," yet. These first few steps were as teaching another a new dance: gradual, to allow Onyx-Three to settle into this routine. But he did not go too sedate, so as to draw him into a false sense of how this dance would play out. He would not do him that disservice.

So whilst the movement was slowed, it was not slow; it was swift enough to intercept but slow enough that Onyx-Three could track his movements, learn to predict from what he saw. Could, in short, learn from it. The Sentinel sidestepped, brought the halberd up again to block--and then flicked the bottom of the haft outward, toward the child's calf muscle while he was still stepped forward to strike.

Yet, the praise came again; "A good strike. Continue, and learn. -Again."

@V-Onyx-Three

They felt that this attempt was weaker than the past one had been, especially due to the difficulty of the target. But that was not exactly what he was learning. This exercise was not about hitting the weak points, but rather, about predicting your opponents response to your attack. Onyx-Three saw the movements in their periphery, main focus still placed upon striking the elbow. There was time to process. No time to react. They were blocked once more, and though it held some disappointment, they were glad to be making some progress. Although each time the movements were slightly different, they were also similar in some ways. He would remember this in his next try. This was only reinforced by the Sentinel's praise. Onyx nodded, slight smile on his face. They had not succeeded, but they were learning.

Straightening, they returned to their starting position to try again. They would try however many times they needed to get this right. They had to. Deep breaths now. Weak points... which one to pick this time. He supposed that since he had chosen a different one each time, the Sentinel would not expect him to hit the same point twice in a row. And it would probably result in the same motion, one he may be able to predict easier now that he had seen it.

And things went wrong this time. Something about his movement wasn't quite fluid, and most definitely clunky. It felt weird from the beginning. This would probably result in a miss. Unfortunate. Had he not improved?

@The Sentinel

"It will take time," the Sentinel rasped, doing his best to keep his language as clear as possible. A sidestep from attack, and he gestured an invitation for another strike.

"The Sentinel travelled, when young." He'd begun this tale, but may as well go over it again: both as advice or a recommendation, and a reassurance that learning did not come overnight. "He was young, and did not know how to fight. Others defeated him. He learned that light, flashed into the eyes, will blind in a battle. That even thrown fruit may be a weapon. That magic can cloud the mind, so that you see other things. Things that are not there," he explained.

Feet paced across the floor, providing now a moving target: steady, not too fast, not too slow.

"It will take time," he repeated, in emphasis.

@V-Onyx-Three

They stepped back, taking a moment to refocus. It felt bad to fail. Even if it took time, he wished there was a way to progress faster. Onyx-Three's tail swung from side to side in a thoughtful motion, taking in the advice that was given to them. It was hard to imagine that the Sentinel had been young once, hard to imagine him smaller, and unknowing. The thought of it painted a strange image in their mind, and they wondered what he looked like when he had been young. Did Sentinel look like he did now?

What they learned from the continuation of the story was the information gained from experience. Defeat... was it really such a bad thing? Although it stemmed from inexperience, it seemed to also be the very thing that helped you improve. But the main thing Onyx-Three gleaned was that he needed to go travel more and spar with others. Use the skills that he was being taught and apply them. Though leaving Draco was a slightly frightening concept, he was keen to do so if it meant he could learn.

But first they needed to practice the basic skills. Now he was moving, a harder target than he had been before. It would not be a smart idea to aim for the legs now. Their eyes searched for a point that had less variation in motion, and eventually settled on the stomach. There really wasn't many other points they could reach if you excluded the arms and legs.

And he felt it again. Everything, all his motions seemed to focus on that one point, and on only one task. To succeed in hitting his target. Arm outstretched, rock clutched firmly, and he lunged forwards. V-Onyx-Three hoped that this would work.

@The Sentinel

Watching the child holding his rock, the Sentinel had fully expected--for a moment--for it to be thrown. And had Onyx-Three hurled the stone for his abdomen, well, he might have been prepared, but he'd have also been both surprised and pleased at the child's resourcefulness and adaptability.

As it was, the lunge surprised him more. His block was... well, it was a block, but it was not the practiced grace he'd shown thus far. Instead of a smooth sidestep or a sweeping halberd strike, it was an awkward, sudden hop-shuffle back complete with a grunt, the haft of the weapon barely jerking forward to clumsily crack off the stone. "...Good," he said, but that confusion lingered. "You might also throw it. The stone," he clarified. "But... it is already improvement." He gestured for another attempt, already stepping back into motion, though his mind wondered at the stone.

He did not know any fighters who used ranged, physical weaponry like stones--most used either ranged magic, or close-up physical weapons like halberds--but he could see how it might have its uses. A shame a simple thrown rock would be so weak. Perhaps the Blacksmith would know of something better.

@V-Onyx-Three

This time they could tell that he had caught the Sentinel by surprise, and although the attack was still blocked, it did stagger him for a moment. There was clear improvement. Whether he would be able to reproduce this success however was questionable. Looking down at the stone in his hand, which was now rather worn, he opened his fingers and let it fall to the ground. They would find another, better stone.

After a moment of searching, Onyx-Three picked up a rock that was rounder than the first had been, and as such, would have less potential to harm. That was very important. Now he got back into position, and prepared to throw the rock as had been suggested. At the stomach again perhaps? Largest surface area, so higher potential to hit. Unfortunately, inexperience with throwing (literally first time attempting this) as well as improper motion caused them to let go of the stone too late and chuck it straight into their knee.

Onyx-Three thought they were fine. Until their entire left leg buckled, and the next moment they were laying on the ground. He had dislocated his knee from the force of the rock hitting it at such an angle. Come on! This couldn't be happening right now! Onyx-Three attempted to get back up but found his leg couldn't support any weight. "I am okay. This is okay." he muttered under his breath to himself. But it was not, in fact, okay.

@The Sentinel

The Sentinel tilted his head, watching with a rather 'puzzled dog' sort of expression as his child launched a rock directly into their own knee. Why? he thought, only to realize that it was just inexperience that had caused it.

There was... faint distress, at Onyx-Three's injury. An unfamiliar feeling, a welling of concern that left him unsure. He reached blindly for his magic, though what came was unhelpful--a burst of spores like those he'd accidentally summoned in the past, drifting for Onyx-Three.

Well--as long as the child didn't outright avoid them, at least the Sentinel would be able to track him later, were he to find himself in danger. But for now-? That didn't really help the knee.

He stepped forward, kneeling, setting the halberd against himself and reaching for the wounded leg with caution. "Is it badly wounded?" he rasped, mostly to himself. "If the child cannot stand... we will find one who can mend it." Nobody really came to mind--Zoisite, maybe? Or even Oliver, somewhere distant.

@V-Onyx-Three

Pain radiated from his knee, and he couldn't even bear to look at it. In his head was a constant repetition of the same thoughts over and over. It's alright, it doesn't hurt, just don't look at it. And despite how much it aggravated the knee even more to do so, Onyx-Three continually attempted to stand up, then falling back with a stifled yelp. Man, what a disappointment he was. Couldn't even get this simple thing right. Now he was just wasting time that could've been spent training! And what if it didn't even heal that fast? If it healed at all? His face flickered for a moment to one of worry.

It was quite impossible to use the entire leg at this point so they just resolved themselves to sitting and trying very hard to pretend it didn't bother them. They couldn't bear to look at the Sentinel, thinking if they did so then they would really start to break down from both embarrassment and frustration.

His nose twitched as the spores settled over him. "It. Hurts." they got out, though after saying it they realized how obvious it was. But Onyx-Three felt that if they said anything else they would be unable to hold back their torrent of emotions from spilling out, and instead resolved himself to a nod at the second statement. He couldn't believe what a problem he was being. And at his first training session no less! Now they needed to ask someone for help all because of them. They tried a final time to get up only to collapse again. How annoying. Frustrating.

This would not do. It was not acceptable for this to happen again in the future. It did not mean throwing no more rocks- in fact, this just gave him a further desire to prove his proficiency in doing so.

@The Sentinel