I am a battle waging spear...

[Lady Sif]

Sif followed Cormac, his daughter Laurel, Alexia and Bryce out to the orchards around the MacFeorais' ancestral home. It was a beautiful piece of land, and the few times she had been here, Sif always found herself wandering the property. But she had never come across the battle grove before, and she realized it had likely been hidden by ancient Celtic magic.

"I hope your father finishes his business with Wolverine so he can join us, and your mother as well," Sif to Alexia as she shifted her sword and shield a bit in her hands. "I am surprised none of the other Avengers came here with Thor."

"Ladies," Cormac said as he got to a spot in the middle of a large grove of trees, "this is the battle ground where many of our family members have trained throughout the centuries. It is an honor to have you all here today--family and friends alike."

"Then, shall we?" Sif said as she got into a battle stance and waited for Alexia and Bryce to give the go-ahead for this sparring session.

[chryseis]

"With Pleasure."Bryce said first as the smile on her face revealed all in a burst of speed she ran at Sif connecting her Axe with SIF's sword.

"Eager much?"Alexia said with a laugh as lightning crackled in her eyes she followed behind her sister coming to the right of SIF.

[Lady Sif]

Sif was starting to wonder if getting the Warriors Three here to join his battle might not be a good idea. If things progressed well, she would summon them via the Bifrost.

"Have at thee!" Sif shouted as she used her sword to block Bryce's swing. Bryce's weapon, Macha, was a beauty indeed, and it would likely make short work of many a foe on the field of battle. Sif spun quickly to put her shield in the line of Alexia's attack, blocking the young woman's blow as well. Sif could tell by Alexia's movements that she was indeed Asgardian trained. Even though Alexia was from another world, there were constants Sif could discern in her movements. 

"You have both been trained well!" Sif shouted as she dodged further blows from her compatriots. "If you wish, I could call on the Warriors Three or Valkyrie to join this session. Unless your uncle and cousin would like to join us?"

"You three would kill me!" Laurel said as she begged off the fight. "I make plants grow. I'm not exactly Xena material. Dad?"

"No, I'm enjoying watching this right now," Cormac said with a smile as Laurel punched him in the arm.

"Very well," Sif said with a laugh as she swung her sword and tried to get Bryce to loosen her grip on Macha. It was not an easy task!

[Marcas MacFeorais]

"Why did I agree to come here?" Marcas muttered as he wandered down the path toward the Raven's Rock manor house. "It's only going to be a lot of party nonsense and fawning relatives."

As he made his way over the crest of a hill, he saw his father Cormac and his half-sister Laurel watching a fight. The three women involved seemed to be Asgardian. "What the hell?" he asked the air around him as he got closer to the fighting. "Da, what is this? Girls Gone Wild?"

"Marcas, don't say that about your cousins or the Lady Sif," Cormac said as he went to hug his only son.

"How did you merit Lady Sif showing up here?" Marcas asked as Laurel laughed. "What?"

"Thor's inside drinking ale, little bro," Laurel said with a wink before she hugged Marcas. "And no betting on who wins!"

[chryseis]

"It would be a pleasant moment to have them here."Alexia responded with a laugh as she went for Sif once again. Bryce's grip on Macha loosened and went flying from her hand as another blow knocked it loose. Bryce instinctively flipped back from the attack and reached her hand out as Macha flew back to her hand.

"It's amazing...It acts in similar ways to MJOLNIR.....But I can't say I am surprised." Alexia responded as Bryce shot by her in a blur of speed grabbing Sif by the throat but quickly releasing her as she swung her axe down on SIF's sword.

"Careful sis don't get too carried away." She said as Bryce looked at her with a smile. "Oh I am in complete control."

[Lady Sif]

Sif could not believe Bryce's speed as the young woman's hand connected with her throat and just as suddenly pulled away. "I think I will get the Odinson to join us if I can pull him away from his mead! You are both very quick and resourceful, and you are proving to be quite a match for me."

As she continued to assess her opponents, Sif was thinking that they might make good shield maidens and might benefit from time with the Asgardian community as much as they did with their Celtic one.

Sif's sword and shield clashed with Alexia and Bryce's weapons as she noticed Laurel going back to the house. "Laurel, would you please ask Thor to join us? Alexia, did you spar with your father in your world?"

[lostgirlxm]

"Once and that was a very long time ago...."Alexia responded as Bryce seem to take over the battle one on one with Sif. "I think it would appear that Bryce is quite eager." She responded as Bryce never lost her concentration but responded.

"It's such an incredible feeling to let loose like this!"She responded as she struck her axe against Sif's sword once again.

[Lady Sif]

Sif was pushed back by the combined attacks of Alexia and Bryce. This sparring match was going to be much tougher than she had originally imagined. "I am glad that this match is turning out to be more than any of us expected," she said with a wry smile before she felt her feet give way. Neither of her sparring partners nor the assembled spectators seemed to be the cause of her stumble. She was not injured, so she had no clue what was causing her to lose her fighting edge.

"That was most...unexpected," she said as she got to her feet again. "Did anyone else feel a bit of vertigo for the slightest moment? Or..." Sif looked behind her to see if there was a portal to the Bifrost nearby. "It felt as if there was some sort of shift in the ley lines, but that is not possible. Magic does not just up and move like that unless connected to a person or an item. Perhaps I am just getting too tired from this sparring."

[lostgirlxm]

Bryce stopped as she felt something wasn't right as well as Alexia stopped.
"Something feels off SIF I'm feeling a heck of a lot of mystical interference in the air......And I don't like that at all."
Bryce responded as she lowered her axe and put it on her back.

Alexia started to walk along the perimeter of the sparring area and reached out with her own powers. "Sif she's right something feels off."

[Lady Sif]

Sif nodded to both Alexia and Bryce and looked out around the area past the grove. The trees seemed still, and there was no one that she could plainly see anywhere near them beyond their own companions. "All this talk of weapons programs by Thor has left me uneasy, as have the events of that party you attended. It all seems too intertwined to be a good sign. Perhaps continuing our sparring, with an eye to shift to defense if needed, would be the best thing, ladies?"

As she prepared to attack once more, Sif nodded to Bryce and Alexia to begin again. There were more than enough warriors in this place to ward off most maniacs in battle, but she prayed it would not come to that.

"Did you have much interaction with Loki at that party, Alexia?" Sif asked as she flexed her arms and adjusted her sword and shield, waiting for her opponents to let her know it was time to begin again..

[chryseis]

"Yes I did unfortunately....."Alexia responded as she readied herself. "Loki is a hard one to figure out....He's my uncle and at times I feel like he does care in his own way but then again they don't call him the trickster god for nothing." She finished as she summoned a small amount of lightning which flowed around her.

"I don't like all this talk I am hearing and it's only going to get worse but all we can do is prepare ourselves."Bryce responded as she went for Sif again.

[Lady Sif]

"Yes, Loki is indeed capable of anything," Sif replied as she watched Alexia's lightning. It reminded her very much of Thor, and she hoped it might summon the thunder god to join them outside since Laurel had not reappeared with him in tow as yet. "We have too often secluded ourselves in Asgard when our attention should be turned to Midgard. Your father is right, and I hope in future we follow his example a bit more."

Sif could not shake the feeling that they were being watched, and it bothered her greatly as she felt her attention to the sparring drift in and out. "I am a poor teacher, or perhaps I am too much the old warrior and am suspicious of everything. Alexia, how was I in your world? I hope I was a better friend and sparring partner than I appear to be now."
 

[Druantia]

Laurel was happy that she finally got Thor to leave the house and head outside. She was rambling on about the family and Alpha Flight and shoes that were good to fight in as they walked from the manor house to the battle grove.

"Sorry to chew your ear off," she said with a grin as she noticed Liam and some of her other cousins headed up to the hills beyond the battle grove. "Oh, he is so going to get it," Laurel muttered as she bowed to Thor and then waved to her father. "I need to go get someone, but I'll be back soon!"

Laurel said an incantation and disappeared in a blur of green vapor, but she would keep her word and be back as quickly as possible.

TBC Laurel in A friend in need

TBC everyone else here

[Ravenheart]

Cormac nodded to Thor as the Odinson made his way to watch the sparring match, but some stray chatter on the wind made him set his gaze on the hills above the training grove. "I think the sparring just turned into a real brawl," he said as he made his way toward Sif, Alexia and Bryce. By then Thor was all too aware of who was up the hill from them as well.

"Loki!" the god of thunder bellowed as he swung Mjolnir over his head and flew toward the disturbance.

"We'd best follow Thor," Cormac said as he started to race from the grove himself.

TBC everyone in this thread now to the Battle Goes to the Swift thread

OOC: thread is not closed yet