The male's name followed her inquiry followed by his pack and another piece of information that added more weight to his name. He was the son of the alpha of one of Crimson Dream's allies, at least when Crimson Dreams was around to have allies. He revealed moments later that he was related to the former leader of Crimson Dreams, Savina Marino. Cassia had not met the woman but had heard from Oak that she was a kind and respectable individual. This male was definitely one to be trusted and as such the girl lowered her guard sufficiently, her posture relaxing as she stood. Sea green gaze turned to the male's sword and then to her own sheathed weapon. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Tony. My name is Cassia and I would be honored to cross swords with you. I haven't had the chance to spar with anyone in quite awhile," she replied, smiling friendily as she moved to draw her blade, the steel singing as it left its protective sleeve.
She would wait for the male to ready himself before slipping into her stance but her mind was already actively working out a plan of attack and defense. Her blade would be almost useless blocking a head on strike. The force of a blow from a large blade wielded by the larger male would at the very least put a deep nick in her blade. A strong strike might even break her arm if she attempted to block onehanded. Her free hand moved to check her arm guards checking that they had not loosened during her practice session. A series of other checks all led to the same conclusion that she was indeed prepared. Her speed would be her asset in this match, to try and keep Tony off balance and herself just ahead of his swings. That would be crucial. She believed Tony would not intentionally harm her, but even a full fledged strike with the flat of his massive blade would likely injure her slender form wherever it hit.
The thought of potential injury led her to think of her first sparring match in her early youth. The legionnaire she had sparred with weilded a onehanded club. She had missed a dodge early in the match and the club had struck her in the chest and cracked two of her ribs. That had been one of the most painful experiences of her earlier life. She made an effort from that point on to make dodging the greatest focus of her training. Hopefully it would serve her well in this match. One thing was certain. As her first sparring match in months this would be fun. [/html]