The Prince Training Camp for Aspiring Duellists (Trademark Pending)
Thursday, 13 November 2025
Late afternoon
When Dee had wandered into the duelling club a week or two ago, the same way she had been doing for months before that without purpose or regularity, she had not expected to pick up a little duckling; one that she somehow ended up teaching how to swim (or rather, cast spells - at opponents, preferably). It hadn't been expected or planned, and yet here she was - and she was enjoying herself, too. Perhaps she had missed her duelling captaincy more than she'd been ready to admit, to herself or others. Or maybe it was Percival's genuine excitement, the enthusiasm with which he'd approached the tasks she'd given him, even if she came up with them on the spot and with little reasoning behind them. But then, apparently one couldn't fault her methods, because it seemed to be working. Her first mini-lesson had resulted in a successful Knockback Jinx, and they'd built on that. Before she knew it, she was coming to the duelling club more regularly than she had in years, always with a new lesson in tow and plenty of Dee wisdom to impart to her willing victim pupil.
Today was another such day and she sauntered in with a cheerful smile, hands buried in her pockets. "So, I was thinking," she began with no warning or greeting, an ominous start if there ever was one. "Casting at dummies works well enough for practising the spell itself, but it will only take you so far when the goal is to actually duel. Because your opponents aren't going to just stand still and let you try to hit them, they'll move, and the fanciest spells aren't going to help you if you can't land the hit. So I came up with a little exercise for you: You try to hit me. Nothing fancy, pick the spell you feel most comfortable with, simple is best for now." She grinned, the expression perhaps a little too excited considering she'd just invited Percival to cast his favourite spells at her, no punches pulled. But instead of worry, she followed up with a wink. "But pay attention, I'm not easy to hit."
Whether the suggestion was met with enthusiasm or well-deserved concern, she'd motion for Percival to start warming up, with a series of exercises she'd used to open the Ravenclaw team practices, back when she'd been captain. As she backed up a few steps and fell into a short series of simple stretches, Dee's gaze drifted around the rest of the room. There was the usual handful of students practising their spellwork; it was outside of the reserved time slots for team training, but the duelling club was rarely truly empty. Most of them seemed focused on their own practise; people usually came here with a purpose, not just to idle about or people watch. Yet there was one girl... Dee noticed that she kept glancing over, quick, darting looks that she maybe thought went unnoticed. She seemed familiar, too, brunette with bright blue eyes, similar to Dee's colouring. A Ravenclaw? Dee thought she could remember seeing her in the common room, or maybe at breakfast... but she'd never been very good at paying attention to the younger students, unless she either stumbled over them or they were forcibly thrust into her bubble of attention.
Mulling the situation over for a moment, Dee finished her little warm-up routine, then nodded to herself. The next time her attention wandered over, she caught the girl's gaze - unapologetic, perhaps even a bit provocative - then gestured for her to come closer, a hand beckoning. "Are you just going to stare, or would you like to join us?" she queried, her tone not quite mocking, but at the very least challenging. It would make things more interesting, for her too - perhaps she would get some value out of this exercise. And if the girl proved to be any good, well, Percival could certainly use a sparring partner closer to his own level.
@Percival Rocier | @Violence Bloodthorn
Godmodding permission given by both writers!
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."
The Prince Training Camp for Aspiring Duellists (Trademark Pending)
Banner by: Maisie Gemmell
As usual, Percival had shown up to the duelling club early again. Ever since that first lesson where she’d helped him fix and improve upon his Flipendo, he’d found himself counting the hours until he could practice with her again. She didn't just know what she was doing and how to share that knowledge; she also pushed him without making him feel stupid, and… well, he appreciated that more than she probably knew.
It also felt nice that she seemed to genuinely enjoy spending her precious time, teaching him the basics.
So, by the time Dealla wandered in with her hands in her pockets, as casual and confident as she always was, he was already warmed up a little and halfway through practicing a few wrist movements she had told him about. The moment he saw her. he brightened up immediately.
“Hi, Dee—”
He didn’t even get the chance to finish greeting her before she launched straight into her plan for the day. Her training routines had been quite unorthodox before, but when she explained that he was to try and hit her, he blinked and wondered if he heard her correctly. The look on her face confirmed it.
“Wha— hit you?” he asked, clearly surprised and perhaps even a touch concerned. His eyes then shifted from her wand to her expression, which was far too cheerful for someone volunteering to be blasted by magical spells. “Are you sure?” He remembered quite vividly how the two them had met. It had ended with him becoming a human projectile after a failed use of the knockback Jinx. The idea of doing anything like that to her made him queasy for a second.
But then she winked again, and the little panic knot in his chest loosened enough for him to breathe. Right, she was likely giving him permission because there was no way he'd actually be able to hit her. So maybe this was just a clever way to teach him not to get frustrated when spells missed, and get used to the fact that people are much harder to hit.
...or maybe she really was crazy enough to risk getting hit.
Convinced enough that this was a good idea, he began to speak, “Okay,” he said, exhaling slowly before a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I think I have an idea for a spell to try.” For once, the "good kid" Percival had a bit of a devious little grin on his lips.
As he got into the warm-up stretches she’d taught him, he noticed her attention shift toward the side of the room. Percival paused mid-stretch and followed her gaze to see who the older girl was staring at.
Violence?
She looked like she was trying very hard not to look like she was staring, but she very much was staring. When Dee called her out on it a moment later, clearly not afraid to speak up and confront someone, Percival blinked and looked around his mentor.
“Oh. Hey, Violence!” he said before offering a small wave.
Of all the people he expected to be dragged into their practice session, Violence was… well, not the worst choice. She was strong and pretty good at spells, from what he had seen during the Drowned Palace adventure. So ff she decided to join them, he wasn’t sure whether he should be excited or terrified, or both.
Either way, this was going to be an interesting lesson.
@Dealla Prince@Violence Bloodthorn
The Prince Training Camp for Aspiring Duellists (Trademark Pending)
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| x | date and time: 13th of November, 2025 location: Duelling Club mentions: @Dealla Prince + @Percival Rocier speech 𓍼 thoughts |
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XX𝓥iolence did not know where to start. She had been standing in the duelling club, trying to practice some spells that would help her in duelling. It had been barely a week since that duel against the first-year witch and no matter the outcome, it was quite clear that Violence needed to work on a lot of stuff. Her stance, for instance, was, for some spells too stiff and for some, too loose. When she had casted that doomed mimblewimble in the duel, the spell had hit, even if it was the wall, but that was only because Livia had dodged. It still wasn’t the strongest of spells ever. That particular spell required her to be more stiff. Her incantation was also something that needed to be worked upon. Although, one could argue that it was more about Violence not being confident enough. She knew the incantations perfectly, her father had made her thorough in that. And she could also cast the spell much better in her dorm, or somewhere where she was not being supervised.
Now that she was actually in the club to practice, her wrist had gone numb. She could just not practice and it was annoying her to a great extent. What was so nerve-wracking about this? All she had to do was look at the dummy, raise her wand, move her wrists in the specified movement and say the spell. That was it. Why couldn’t she do it? She tried and tried again. Some hits were better than others, some were worse. Violence sighed and a venomous thought crept into her mind. If her father would have seen Violence failing like this, he would have been so disappointed. The goosebumps on Violence’s arm rose and she froze. No, this couldn’t be happening. Violence had to be perfect at this. The way she was perfect at potions. She had to know this like the back of her palm like she did potions. It wasn’t as if her father hadn’t taught her well enough. Obviously, her mother had more time with Violence and most of their time spent together included something related to potions. Be it recipes or methods of brewing. But it wasn’t like her father had barely given her time.
Countless hours had been spent on her father explaining spells and duels to her. So this had to be something she should be good at. She looked around the room and saw everybody practicing. That is what she had to do, too. Practice, practice and more practice.That was the only thing she could do to be better at this. As she turned her head to look back at the dummy in front of her, she caught a duo practicing spells. It looked more like the older girl was giving lessons to the boy. She could do with some of that. The girl turned to look around and caught Violence staring. Violence instantly snapped her neck back at the dummy, heat rising up to her cheeks. To be caught staring at someone was the most embarrassing thing to do, and it was absolutely against the etiquette her mother had taught her. She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but steal glances at the pair every now and then. Expectedly, a voice called out, "Are you just going to stare, or would you like to join us?" Violence turned to look at the girl calling out to her. Before she could speak up, the boy spoke up, “Oh. Hey, Violence!”
Violence’s eyes widened. She squinted to make sure she had heard the voice, right. Was that her cousin? Great! Just great! First, she was caught staring. Second, a member of the family would now know that she was not good at the very thing that her father earned money for. Still, she walked over to the pair, giving them a polite smile, “Hey, I apologize for being so rude. I just wasn’t able to get a hang of stance and my incantation’s a bit off too. And I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed to be giving Percival some lessons. You can continue though, I do not wish to impose upon the both of you.” She turned to the boy, “Hi Percival! You’re going to do great! Have fun practicing.” This would make it less awkward for everybody, right? She hoped neither of the two would judge her as she turned to walk away.
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| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX | wc: 738 notes: sorry for the late reply outfit: 𓍼 | x |
The Prince Training Camp for Aspiring Duellists (Trademark Pending)
At this point, Percival would likely know to recognise this specific, ominous glint in Dee's eyes, and be aware that there was not much point in trying to question whatever idea she'd come up with. Or, even more unlikely, talk her out of it. He was a smart kid, after all.
His greeting was cut short, interrupted by an animated explanation of today's lesson plan... which he attempted to question, anyway. To be fair, it seemed a little more absurd than usual, although Dee was entirely serious. You also had to go for moving targets in a duel, after all, and there was only so far that setting dummies on fire would take you. Or in Percival's case, blasting them backwards with a solid Knockback Jinx. (He seemed to have that one down at this point.)
"Very sure," she confirmed cheerfully, giving him a thumbs-up when she noticed he'd already started to warm up. The doubt on his face was endearing, but you didn't lead your duelling team to consecutive championships without taking a few hits on the way. She'd be fine. (She'd been through worse.) Pain was only temporary, after all.
Dee danced backwards a few steps as she began her own warm-up routine, falling forwards into a wide lunge while she pulled her arm across her body to loosen the muscles in her shoulders. Their little spectator turned around when addressed, apparently giving up her pretense of being otherwise, and approached. Dee blinked when Percy addressed the girl with a degree of familiarity. Violence? That seemed like an odd nickname, but sure, who was she to judge? Maybe she'd punched him before, although she certainly didn't look very strong, skinny little thing.
Her apology came as a mixture of teenager and all the eloquence of a child who had swallowed a dictionary and at least three Jane Austen novels, and Dee cocked her head, a little amused. I do not wish to impose upon the both of you, was it? Probably a little pure-blood heiress, then. The sort who'd grown up with a governess that only read them night-time stories appropriate for their elevated pedigree.
"Mmmhm," she agreed with a grin, reaching out to ruffle Percival's hair. "Percy here is a bit like a dry sponge, he just absorbs everything I tell him. It's kind of impressive, honestly. And he will do great." At least if Dee had anything to say about it. She lifted a finger. "But you're not imposing. You're actually coming at the perfect time. You can join us." Her grin turned impish. Might as well pretend she'd thought this out before she'd heckled the girl to join them. "I fear he's a bit too nice, and a bit too worried about actually hitting his opponents, which is counterproductive in a sport in which your entire goal is to knock out the other team." She waved a dismissive hand towards the other practising students. "So he'll have to get over that, right, Percy?" Her smile softened a bit at the edges, and she whirled a few steps away. "So both of you can try to cast at me, and we'll see who manages to land a hit, hmm? Teach him a bit about violence, eh?"
Reducio
Feel free to roll for your spells if you want. Dee's Evasion is 16 and her abilities are in effect (-1 Accuracy from Charmer for both Percival and Violence, and 10% auto-dodge from Evasive Manoeuvres). Since she's only dodging but not taking it super seriously right now, I'd also give her half of the duelling dodge bonus on her Evasion (5 + 0.25 x 16 = 9, half of that rounds to 5) which puts her at 21 Evasion. If one of them manages to hit her, she'll start getting more serious - increase the dodge bonus by 1 for each hit they land.
@Percival Rocier | @Violence Bloodthorn
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."