Reeds for Steel: Introductions and a chance Meeting
Written by Robert
Posted on Mon, Jun 14, 2010 20:52 pm
Sunlight glistened off his sweat soaked body. Stripped to the waist, his shirt and coat hanging nearby on a tree branch, the bundled lathes held before him in a ready stance. His mind was blank, devoid of any thought or emotion. He had learned this trick from his Father. The Flame and the Void, it was one of the only tricks he still remembered from his old man.
”A Soldiers trick…” that brought a smile to his face, a feeling that was totally new and alien to the new him. “He told me that on my eight nameday, when he thought me it…” His voice was low, toned only for his own ears.
“Who did?”
He reacted without thought, spinning, bringing the lathes up for an attack. The crack of lathe against lathe was followed by a soft yelp and a thud. He paused. What type of Assassin yelps? In fact… What type of Assassin alerts his target? He let the Void crash down around him as his mind caught up to his body. He took a step back and slowly looked down, his breath catching in his throat. Oh blood and bloody ashes… Way to go Aladis.
“Hey you big jerk… What ya do that for?!” The woman laying sprawled on the ground, staring up at him, looking hurt, was the furthest thing from an Assassin he had ever seen. With long curly blonde hair, soft sky blue eyes and skin the colour of alabaster, she looked more like a Princess than a hardened killer.
“Your forgiveness please m’Lady!” he dropped to his knees beside her, looking concerned. Convince her you give a rats ass Aladis. If you fail you could ruin everything! “I get jittery when I train!” he offered her his hand, standing and smiling down at her gently.
“You coulda taken my head off!” she pouted prettily and crossed her arms, staring up at him sullenly. “But… You are quite cute,” she grinned mischievously, “So… I forgive you!” Her voice was soft and musical, it matched her looks perfectly. “My name is Elenna. And you are?” she took his hand and waited for his help.
He took her hand gently and lifted her carefully to her feet, takeing a step back and bowing to her precisely. “Greetings Elenna. Aladis al’Toraine, Trainee of the White Tower of Tar Valon at your service!” He took a second to look her over covertly, noting her perfect hard bodied physique and slight stature with a small grin to himself. Well my my… You are a little beauty! He smiled a little before shaking his head softly to clear it. She did not appear hurt and for that he was thankful. He looked slowly up at her face, his breath catching in his throat once more.
She stood there, hands resting on her hips, her eyebrow arched, a small smile on her pale rosebud lips. “Yes Aladis? What are you looking for hmm?” She laughed softly, stepping forward, poking him playfully in the chest, staring up at him with a mock glare. “I am a Trainee NOT a piece of meat you silly man!”
“I… I wasn’t…” Blood and bloody ashes. She thinks I was LOOKING! “What I mean to say is… I was making sure I had not hurt you Elenna. Please forgive me!” he bowed again, deeper this time. Bloody ashes I don’t need THIS either… She could report me!
Her laugh was loud and clear, beautiful in its purity. “Silly little Aladis… I know what you were doing. Do not be so serious… I am joking!” she smiled, reaching down, picking up her pack and the bundle of lathes she had dropped and straightening to look at him again. “You never answered my question by the way. But for now… I have a lesson to attend!” she smiled up at him. “Come with me. You can answer my questions later!”
“But… I…”
“No! No buts! Aladis you have knocked me over and now you want to hurt my feelings? What kind of man are you?” she stared up at him with mock affront in her eyes.
“Okay… Forgive me Elenna. I will indeed come with you!” he smiled, patting her softly on the shoulder before turning and grabbing his pack and clothes.
“Yay!” she laughed softly, clapping her hands with glee. “Lets hurry then. But don’t think I have forgotten my question!” she turned, shooting him a grin over her shoulder before dashing away.
He stood in a daze, listening as Elenna, the daughter of an Andoran Noble as it turned out, continued to give him an animated run down of her life so far. He listened politely and nodded where it was needed but for the most part kept silent. He had no idea what to say. He had known women yes, had even loved one or two but… Elenna was very VERY different from any of them.
Bloody Light blasted woman IS insane! he thought incredulously.
“And THEN when I was 16… OH! Shh! Its starting…” she cut off suddenly as a woman, standing at the front of the yard, wearing two badges of honour, began to speak.
He listened intently and began to smile softly from ear to ear. A Sword lesson? Oh he was going to enjoy this immensely. He was young, barely 12 years, but he had spent all those years training and using the blade his father had given him when he was nine. He was young but able. He waited patiently, listening as every man and woman, in turn, introduced themselves and answered the decorated Trainees questions.
When it came to his turn he bowed precisely and spoke. “I am Aladis al’Toraine. My mother was a travelling Merchant of Caemlyn and my father a Malkierian Swordsman. This coming nameday will be my 13th with the blade, though I am rough and unpolished. I also have some experience with the Knife and a little with the Bow. I came to the White Tower to fulfil my dreams of one day becoming a Warder. I plan on specializing in the Sword. I stand ready to learn anything and everything you can teach me!” he stood back and bowed smoothly.
Every word of it was truth, strange as that was, but vague and incomplete. Just the way the Dark Lord would have liked it!
OOC: Hope I’m not too late!
In reply to Reeds for Steel: Basic Swords[show]/[hide]
The Training Grounds seemed particularly busy today, with few empty spaces and sparring yards visible among the knots of young men and women training in various weapons and fighting styles. Here and there a vertigo-inducing Fancloak waved as Warders supervised. Elaryl was glad that she had a fenced-off sparring area reserved for her lesson, or she suspected she would have had to cancel.
She made her way through the Yards, clutching an armful of practice lathes and several wooden wasters, nodding and mumbling at people who waved as she passed. Several pieces of short, dark brown hair were already falling out of the leather tie holding it back, and she brushed it out of her eyelashes irritably with a shoulder. As she passed the Archery Range, Serai waved off in the distance, then trotted over to walk beside her, dark curls bouncing.
“Veryle and I are going into the city today for lunch. We’re tired of Tower food. Want to join us?”
Elaryl actually had very few problems with the food in the mess, but some time off sounded absolutely delicious. After months of lackluster work, not caring about training beyond the bare minimum, and prolonging her time as a mid-rank Trainee, the last few weeks had been exhausting. Ever since she had run into Talaban at the Warder’s Rest, Elaryl had seemed to remember why she had come to the Tower in the first place. She had thrown herself back into her training, remaining in the Yards past dark, waking up before dawn like she had as a new Trainee. She shook her head and sighed mentally.
“I’ll try, but I have a lesson. New babies to teach.” Although some of those “babies” may well be thirty years old, for all I know. “I’m in one of the yards by the stables… see if I’m done when you’re ready to go.”
Her friend’s grey eyes smiled as she poked Elaryl in the shoulder. “Taught enough classes for your liking?”
Elaryl grimaced and pushed Serai with her right hip. “Leave me alone. Go practice your archery, you’re terrible. You still owe me a silver mark from last time.” Serai immediately crinkled her nose and veered away from Elaryl, running back to the Range, waving. The Mayener woman was right; Elaryl had spent so much time as a mid-rank Trainee that she could not keep track of the lessons she had taught. She shook her head. All she could do about it now was work harder.
By the time Elaryl reached her yard, several Trainees had already assembled, some looking a little lost, others looking bored. What they should be doing is warming up, not standing there like Light-blinded idiots. She did see one or two, a little older than the others, no doubt with more experience, stretching; another looked to be no more than fifteen, obviously eager to get started. She set down the lathes in a pile near the fence, set the wasters leaning against it, adjusted her swordbelt around her hips, and hopped up on the fence to wait as more students drifted into the yard.
Finally she decided she had waited long enough; enough students had trickled in, and it was time to teach. She pushed herself off the fence, landing lightly on the packed dirt, and walked to the front of the yard, folding her arms behind her back. She waited for the slight talking to quiet down and began.
“Good morning. My name is Elaryl M’Kasa. I have fifteen years of experience with swords, and I am a mid-level Trainee, two merit badges.” She tapped the badges sewn to her left sleeve and re-folded her arms behind her back.
“I’m sure you all have varying experiences with weaponry and fighting styles, and preferences, I expect; but the Tower expects all of their Warders to be proficient with a sword. That skill is what I will begin teaching you today. No doubt some of you also have some experience with a sword, perhaps years.” She focused on one Trainee who looked to be older than she was, and was certainly an experienced fighter, and a boy who regarded the bundled lathes with distaste. Itching for steel, not reeds. “I assure you, you are all beginners here. We will begin with the very basics, which to some of you will no doubt be incredibly disappointing.” She nodded.
“I understand. I took the same class as a new Trainee—we all did—and at that point I had been training with a sword for nine years. And I have taught this class…” Elaryl looked skyward, trying to count the Basic Swords classes she had taught during her time at the Tower, and eventually gave up. “…over and over and over. Trust me when I say that it is not a bad thing to start over from the beginning.
“If you already know the skills I am teaching you today, consider this class an opportunity to refine those skills.” Elaryl paused and looked around at the assembled Trainees, then delivered the news that was always most disappointing to students. “There will be few swordforms taught in this lesson.” She was met with the expected groans and sighs and slumped shoulders. “Only the most basic. This is only the first of a long line of sword lessons you will take part in during your training—further swordforms will be taught in further lessons. Today you will be learning how to hold a sword; how to avoid cutting off your own arm; those kinds of skills. Important, more important than they sound. Although not cutting off your own arm, I would imagine, sounds reasonably important.
“So, before we begin, I would like to know each of your names; your experience with a sword, if any—and if you have none, please tell me. Plenty of Warders started at the Tower without ever having picked up a sword—any other weapons experience you have, and if you have an idea of what you would like to specialize in; and why you’ve come to the White Tower. Also, please let me know if you have any questions before we begin.”
OOC: Ok, here we go! Welcome to Basic Swords for new Trainees! Introduce your character and away we go. At least 300 words please, for this intro post. Later posts will probably have longer requirements. Also let me know about any questions you have OOC; my contact info is in the Members section. In about a week we’ll continue with the next part!
