Eleonora was growing more and more anxious and excited for her first upcoming match.  She had enlisted two people that she had grown to adore and trust in this thing of theirs to help her out.  She knew that she needed all the help that she could get!  One that she went to had been a completely obvious choice to any who knew the growing dynamic between the two...  But the other?  He was a little more curious.  Now one could argue that the overly friendly and personable girl just knew talent when she saw it and sought out the greatly talented men to help her out in her own endeavors in this crazy activity.  

Today she had scheduled to meet with a man that she had just recently begun to get to know.  A man that was highly respected by many...  Herself included.  A man from the other city that she had grown to love.  A man who had first grown close to her sister, and a man that she found that she very much wanted to get to know herself.  She had made a request to him and he had not denied her.  Her request, her plea had been quite heartfelt as it had come to her attention that she had no idea how to fight.  Not really...  In all honesty, the girl had no business being in this tournament and yet she had ambition and the guts to go for it.  So it was that she found herself in this position.  No.  She put herself in this position.  She was in charge of her fate, not the other way around and no way was anyone else in charge of it short of putting a bullet in her.  That would more or less take charge of her fate.  This was, however, an issue for a later date.  Today she would continue to hone her skills in fighting.

A quick glance around her and she would set her duffle bag down.  She hadn't arranged to meet at a ring.  Instead, she had given @WilliamBowden instructions to reach a lovely little field.  The grass was lovely and green, not to mention soft.  This made landings much nicer if either of them were to hit the mat...  So to speak.  She moved to begin her routine that she had set up with her first practice.  First she would stretch her tiny limber form.  Had to make it so that she could dart about like the tiny hummingbird that she was, did she not?  It certainly made her methods that she had started discovering easier to carry out if she was loosened up first.  She hadn't seen William yet and she was beginning to worry that her instructions hadn't been clear enough.  Darn it all, she knew she should have gone to his HQ and came here with him.  Then again he wasn't even late yet, she was simply very early.

For better or worse, William Bowden once again found himself tied up in things with a Luciano.

He had found Eleonora to be a wonderful person when he'd met her in passing through his interactions with her sister Isabella. As time went on he found himself drawn to get to know her better and enjoying the moments when their paths had crossed, however brief those moments may be. It had been something of a surprise when she'd broached the topic of sparring, but he considered her a friend and hated to see her face her opponents in the tournament without some preparation. He suspected that if she had the same sort of fire as her sister, then her opponents would have something to fear once she had her feet under her.

He'd accepted her request on two conditions. First that he'd be allowed to take measures to minimize injury from the training, and second that she would not inform her sister under any circumstances. He had no intention of facing Isabella's wrath if she found out that he'd laid hands on her younger sister, even if it was by her own request.

He'd packed up his gear and dressed in simple, loose fitting training clothes before he'd left his HQ. The directions had been quite a surprise to him given that they seemed to lead to...not very much of anything to be honest. The closer he travelled, though, the more idyllic the sights became until a delightful, green field sprawled out before him. It seemed more suited to a picnic than a fight and his thoughts wandered to the idea for a few moments.

Maybe next time.

Shaking off thoughts of a quiet lunch with a lovely woman, William carried his bag out into the field, waving his guards off to ensure that the area remained private for them. He looked around for his sparring partner and soon enough found her waiting and already stretching to warm up for the workout.

"I see you beat me here. Good choice, by the way, to get stretched beforehand. Last thing you want to do is pull something while you're training and have it get in the way at a real fight."

William dropped his own bag of equipment and started to unpack his gloves, augmented with extra padding for the occasion. As he strapped them on and began his own stretches, he couldn't help but notice the way that Eleonora's movements accented the lithe muscle that made up her small frame.

He suspected it would be enough to provide some pop to her hits once she got the hang of it. That and it would be a distraction to any men she'd fight in the tournament.

He tried to bring his focus back on the task at hand once again, a bit of awkwardness from his last thought creeping up on him against his best efforts.

"Let's start with what you do know, then we'll work from that point." William held his gloves up in front of himself in a blocking stance.

"Let's see you throw a punch."

She couldn’t express in words how excited she was.  She had people willing to help her learn to beat someone up and live to tell the tale.  Well…  Probably live to tell the tale.  Her mind wandered a little as she stretched her lithe form out, making sure her muscles were limber and ready for the punishment she was to put them through today.  Excitement couldn’t begin to cover what she was feeling.  She quivered all over, trying to force all her attention into her stretches lest she lose her mind.  She wished she could just start and channel all that nervous energy into learning.  That was if she could calm her mind down enough to retain any of the information!

She sighed as she dipped into a low stretch for her leg and calf muscles.  She groaned lightly but it felt good to get these all stretched out.  Continuing to play in the long grass a little, she held this pose for a couple moments before straightening up again.  She loved the view here.  It was a beautiful little field, but it was far enough of a drive that it wasn’t very frequented by many people.  It made it less likely that they’d be discovered.  It made it an ideal location for many things really.  Very multipurpose. 

Her own guards wandered the area.  They had already made sure it was clear and safe.  Heck if they were leaving the petite woman to her own devices without the area being secure.  But they were thankful for the extra hands in this endeavor.  She really could be a handful with her flighty nature and wild ideas.  Like signing up for a tournament in a sport that she’s never played! 

Perking up, Ellie looked up as William joined her in the field.  She beamed at his praise and nodded eagerly in response.  She was glad that was a good first step.  But she was no stranger to active living.  She knew that a good slow warm up was key to not injuring herself…  Something she had learned the trial and error way.  But she was more or less stretched out at this point.  She hopped from foot to foot a couple times trying to loose some of that nervous energy before grinning brightly to William.  “I’m so glad you found the place.  I was a little afraid that my directions were too…  Sparse.”  She tilted her head a little as she noticed a slight hesitation from the man before her.  Was he alright?  Was he ill?  But for now she kept her questions to herself, especially as he stated where they should start.

Another eager nod was given and she donned her gloves.  She had padded them a little feeling it was only fair.  Her mind flew to what Gavin had told her when they had sparred.  The punch involved her whole body, not just her fists.  They were just the end of the punch.  So she readied her stance and started her momentum in her hips like she had been taught before throwing her fist hard at his in a fairly solid right hook.  “Like this?”

William hadn't expected Eleonora to throw a solid punch. He'd set up expecting that between her professed inexperience and her size that it would be little more than a love tap and as such hadn't put his strength fully behind the block, which meant that when the well formed punch landed on his gloves he'd nearly caught them in his teeth. A half-step staggered back and he gave a sharp exhale followed by a chuckle.

"I'd say you got that part down. I thought you hadn't fought before?" William's amusement showed clearly on his face and he began to wonder if he might not have had the full story when he agreed to the sparring match. This could be even more fun that he'd expected.

"If you're as good with blocking as you are with punching then I'd say we may as well skip to putting them together in a proper practice match. It'd give me a better chance to see you in action. Then we can talk strategy a bit, provided you don't beat nine kinds of hell out of me."

Will was obviously impressed so far, and he was looking forward to what other surprises Ellie might have in store. He should have known better than to underestimate anyone from the Luciano family.

"Unless there's anything else you'd like to try first?"

A soft gasp was given as she felt the padded gloves give way.  Ellie had more or less expected a brick wall.  His arms moving as far as they did knocked the small one off balance just a bit and she stumbled forward.  Thankfully she more or less caught herself before they really ended up in a compromising position.  Her gaze snapped up to his eyes as she searched for a moment to make sure she hadn't hurt or distressed him.  Good grief, he was made of sterner stuff than that.  What if she angered him?  Would that spark war between LA and Philly?  She honestly hadn't thought of that.  The whole idea of politics was lost on the young Left Hand.  She was just enjoying life and the position that she had been given the honor of serving in.  But his chuckle quickly banished the fleeting thought and her eyes sparkled as a soft giggle bubbled up within her.

She beamed up at him as she tilted her head to the side.  "I didn't tell you no lies Mister Bowden.  I've never fought, but you weren't the only one I came to begging for help...  Gavin also agreed to help out and I had a lesson with him...  At the risk of tooting my own horn, I'm a fairly quick study..."  She smiled almost demurely as she gazed up at him through those long lashes.  She flushed a little and shook her head a tad.  "We didn't get much to blocking, but I figure I know how to protect my face..."  She nodded a little, a sparkle of challenge in those feisty brown eyes.

Another giggle was drawn from her and she shook her head in a carefree amusement.  "Why William I highly doubt there's a single kind of hell within you, much less nine.  And I highly doubt I'll be beating even that out of you!"  She grinned as she shot his words right back in a playful lob.  She felt the pink rise in her cheeks at his impressed stare and she shook her head a little.  "You're leading this little venture, if I've tested well enough to skip ahead, I say let's do it!"  She didn't know enough to have any questions just yet, but she was eager to get to that point.

It seemed so odd that a woman as sweet as Ellie would throw a punch like that. Even she seemed flustered by the results of it. The music of her laughter and the flush of her cheeks threatened to draw his thoughts away from the lesson at hand until she spoke of her previous lesson.

She'd learned from Gavin. No wonder she had learned to swing like someone twice her size. Amazing that she'd picked it up so quickly though. She certainly had a talent worth developing.

"I think you've tested plenty well enough. If you learned from Gavin you probably know how to move fast enough to avoid most of what comes your way anyhow. I'll ask again after we dance if you think there might be a little bit of the devil in me. Hopefully you're right though, cause I'd hate to see that pretty face roughed up."

Will smiled for a moment until his mind caught up to his mouth. All he could do was bite his tongue and mentally chastise himself for not bringing his focus back to the task at hand. At least once fists started moving more in earnest he'd be in a different frame of mind. His instincts knew their way even if he might be distracted. He took up a fighting pose and extended his gloves to Little Luciano.

"When you're ready, just touch gloves and we'll start. We can talk as we go if you find yourself with any questions."