Owner	Pose
Brunnhilde	"Next!" A loud, boasting voice is heard as another Asgardian hits the dust, the warrior sitting there a moment and cleaning some blood from their lip before getting up to their feet with a wince, looking at Hilde who just stands there tall as life, one hand on her hip and the other on a long iron spear, long blonde hair up in a warrior's topknot. Blue eyes look fierce as they look at the fallen warrior, then the ones around. "No one?" She asks them. This wasn't the first, or even the tenth, that had come to spar with the fabled Valkyrie. Or former Valkyrie. Rumors that she was back in the palace had ran like wildfire through the hallways and as such many had come to see her spar. And challenge her. None had lasted longer than a few rounds. "Come now. I am sure Asgard hasn't gone soft in my absence." Even in fact it was her body that was screaming at the exertion. Too long without proper training, or proper regimen had made her weaker. She knew it. But nothing like the present to return to form. She knows she'd need it. If only she found the worthy opponents.
Balder	The Palace of Asgard was glorious. The Golden palace was imposing and was home to the training grounds of the Einherjar. The warrior known as Brunnhilde, the Valkyrie of Valkyries, had defeated her most recent opponent. Every warrior who had tried to face her had eaten the dirt. But she's not the only kind of return that the Palace was receiving. The Prince Balder had returned from his sojourne across the stars. Beyond the Nine Realms. Returned and in his armor, Svraden in the sheathe at his side and his helmet disregarded as golden armor rests atop purple clothing, his eyes resting on Brunnhilde's own. "Perhaps it has...but I have not." He states, approaching with a smile on his face as he warriors present part for him as he steps forward. "...or have you tired from your previous conflicts to give me some training, lest my skills grow weary?" Balder was the God of Peace...but Odin was sure to train his hands for war.
Brunnhilde	Curiously enough Hilde isn't wearing armor. Well, not -her- armor at least but simply some training leathers from the palace grounds. The spear though? That one is the one of old, the one she used in battle when Dragonfang wasn't available. Does she even have her armor still? The words are familiar. Words she hasn't heard in ...., a long time. A brow arches as blue eyes study the Prince. "Prince Balder himself accepting the challenge?" that brings a grin of anticipation out of the valkyrie warrior. "Though let me be the judge on whether your skills have soften in these years. You know I won't hold back on my words. Or anything else." She didn't even care about what she told Odin back then. She wouldn't care what she said to a Prince for sure. The spear is put aside though and she gets a shield from nearby, along with a blade. More familiar weapons than the spear... As if the training with the other warriors had been just a warm-up. Now it was the real thing. "Come then.." She hits the tip of her blade to her shield and gets to stance. " ... and break yourself on my shield." Challenge to her words.
Balder	She may not be wielding the Dragonfang of lore, but let no one question how dangerous she is with that spear in hand. Even with no weapon, she's one of the greatest warriors in Asgard's history. "I should warn you...I'm not the warrior my brother is." He absolutely is, but Balder is one who was known for his humility. He rarely boasted of achievements. "I would find myself disappointed if a warrior of your infinite skill happened to lower her capabilities for my sake." He does not draw Svraden lest he do more damage than he intends. He reaches for a regular blade, giving it a few twirls to test its weight and feel. "We will see." He suddenly lunges forward, blade lifted in the air to be brought down /hard/ upon her shield, the swing aiming the move the shield towards her hand in an effort to disarm her.
Brunnhilde	"Good. Perhaps you will prove yourself to be an actual challenge then." Give it to Hilde to twist those words given with humility. Oh, she knows what Balder meant, she is aware of how humble he can be. But just as Balder can be humble she can be irreverent. It was part of what made her who she was, that ability to challenge everything and everyone. No matter who it was. The Asgardian Warrior shifts her stance just so. Small adjustment to the hips, muscles already fired up from the earlier exertions. She watches from the rim of her shield, blue eyes studying the Prince's posture, the casual twirls testing the blade. She feels it before it comes. That tense moment that precedes the lunge. Eyes narrow just so and the next moment the blade is coming like lightning. She lifts her arm just in time and the strike is enough to have her grit her teeth, her own weight and strength put behind it as she takes a step /forward/ against that immense power. It's just enough that the shield isn't thrown right off, instead her arm thrown towards her other hand. She realizes just in time that the blow is meant for a disarm, shifting her weight to absorb it though it stops a riposte from coming out of Hilde. At least one with her blade. Instead it's her foot that extends forward towards Balder's own leg, aiming to have the Prince lose his balance after that first powerful opening. A grunt, "You don't play around."
Balder	Speed. Accuracy. Power. Balder uses all of these things to try and tear that shield from her with a single blow. She was irreverent, but such things - even the twisting of vined words into sharp brambles - does little to knock Balder off of his gait, sharp eyes ever focused as he prevents a riposte. He wasn't like Thor. He wasn't like Loki. But some balance of the two, using his agility and his strength in equal measure. Her foot comes out and it strikes Balder cleanly, enough for the leg to be pushed back rather than buckled, forcing the Prince to a knee. He carries no shield and this is likely why: He reaches out swiftly, attempting to grab her ankle and sweep her off of her feet! "Neither do you."
Brunnhilde	As the Prince drops to a knee the Valkyrie is already swooping in for the kill, the shield driving the offensive as she readies it for a shield bash. Oh, it would -hurt-. If only she could had seen that hand going for her ankle. Yet with the shield limiting her vision it means there's no way out and she finds herself being swept off the ground. A twist and she falls down heavily on her shield arm, the impact making her growl. And in her very Hilde fashion she blames her shield. Maybe that's why she tosses it to the side, it clattering on the courtyard cobblestones just as she spins back up swiftly to a defensive posture, also with a knee on the ground. "Does that surprise you?" For the Valkyrie battle was sacred. She had lost many people in the past. Too many. To the point she had become disillusioned with it all. But the spark seems to still be there. The woman stays in the position for a time, gaze levelled with Balder's, blade ready. And then lunges into an offensive, powerful thrusts aimed at finding an opening. "I leave the playing around to other venues." long blonde hair flowing about her face as she advances.
Balder	It may have. Yet, on Asgard? Balder is unable to be harmed. The enchantments placed upon him by Frigga and Odin are far too extensive: a vast effort to try and keep Ragnarok at bay. He somehow finds a lucky break, causing Brunnhilde to trip and fall upon her shield. He takes the time to stand up, his blade pointed forward towards Brunnhilde as he rises to a crouched height, brown eyes focused on his opponent. He watches her discard her shield and a small smile escapes the Prince. "No." She lunges forward, her blade testing his defenses. I'm terms of swordsmanship and skill,Valkyrie was superior by experience alone. But Balder knew how to adapt under pressure. He duels her capably, metal cause sparks to fly at each contact as he takes steps backwards, and suddenly, at the risk of a successful strike, he swings his blade out towards her, as if trying to strike at her knee with the tip of his blade!
Brunnhilde	It's a game of back and forth, each inch a conquest that their blades take to be denied the next moment. A game they both don't want to play but want to win. Sparks fly and blades meet, for a moment the Valkyrie locking her blade with the Prince, jaw tight. Yes, she is good. More than good but not all her skill is there, not that skill of old at least, much of it wasted from years of negligence. "Good, I would hate to disappoint." Wrist flickers as she deflects a few blows before moving in, quick, for a moment putting the Prince on the retreat. All for in the next moment for Balder's blade to come swinging at her leg. It barely misses. Or does it? A thin flicker of blood can be seen on the tip where it grazed skin even if it's bleeding profusively. Just the faintest of nicks. Not that it stops her because she takes that chance to go for a frontal kick with the blades not up to protect the rest of their bodies!