The sun had just left the horizon and copper-coloured rays were painting the Yards in warm hues when Esthelle arrived at the designated spot. It had taken some searching and some asking around, but finally she had found her way. She hoped she wouldn't be late! Her new mentor had told her to meet here in the morning to discuss the start of her training together.

 

Despite little sleep, she felt oddly clear-headed and sharp this morning. Already she could feel the adrenaline in her system; she was excited about the life that lay ahead of her. She had done some talking with her roommates and some thinking about weapons that she could fight with and she thought she had an idea of what would feel right to her. She just needed to run the idea by Kynwric Gaidin to see whether it was actually applicable.

 

While walking through the grass, she wondered what else her new life had in store for her. The information overload that her roommates had given her was quite staggering, and she was wondering how she would adapt to this new life. It was so completely different from all she had ever known. She had no offensive skills whatsoever; all she knew was that she was in a relatively good shape, fit with youth and that she had never been bad at running or swimming. Her most important mouth had always been the razor's edge of her tongue and her quick wit. It was a complete turnaround from all she had ever known, but she found that she was not anxious at all. She was excited!

 

Her mentor was already waiting for her, naturally. "Good morning," she wished him, smiling apologetically. "I hope that I'm not too late, I had to search a little..."

 

~Lannie

 

 

 

"Nay, you are fine. Right about on time and a good morning to you as well Esthelle." He gave a brief nod with his greeting. "Let's see about debunking as many myths those roommates of yours gave you before we go any further, any thing you have to ask of me before we head to the armory?" He knew that Trainees had their own ideas about what happened and most of them were quite correct, however everyone had their own myth that grew with the telling. It was those he had to destroy as quickly as possible, for if they grew to much then it became a distraction to the training and that was not conducive to a Trainee's lifespan.

 

~Kynwric

 

 

 

"Nay, you are fine. Right about on time and a good morning to you as well Esthelle." Kynwric nodded. "Let's see about debunking as many myths those roommates of yours gave you before we go any further, any thing you have to ask of me before we head to the armory?"

 

Esthelle laughed softly. "I know boys well enough to know that they're prone to exaggarating. But one of them was walking around blindfolded, and they talked of running laps and laps and about balancing and swimming and... about paths, too, and disciplines, but I didn't understand all that much of it. I kind of decided to keep an open mind and to just let things come as they are. It'll all make sense in time, I guess." She looked up at her mentor and shrugged a little. "It all sounded very active and kind of exciting." Somehow the thought of running until she dropped didn't appall her all that much. She would probably hate herself for it later down the line, but right now it seemed like a welcome relief from the life she'd been leading so far.

 

~Esthelle

 

 

"Well, take anything they said about the physcial training and double it. Those boys have been active since they were tykes. Unfortunately you have not and so we have to get you into fighting trim, and you'll hate me for it." He smiled as he talked and walked. "I've yet to recall a trainee enjoying physcial training, fortunately that won't start till tomorrow." Kynwric was leading ehr through the bound wooden doors now, pushing them open into the armory. "Today we have weaponry, take your time, search through them all and find a couple you like. Most I can train you in, and if it is something I cannot then we'll find you someone who can."

 

OOC: I am out of town starting in about 36 hours or so. Be gone till Monday.

 

~Kynwric

 

 

Esthelle walked into the armory and looked around in wonder. The stone walls were full of weapons as were a few immense racks in the middle of the place; many sorts and sizes that she had not even know the existence of. "How do I know what I like?" she wondered out loud, as she walked over to the heavy stone walls and hesitatingly touched the hilt of a broadsword that looked so heavy that she did not think she could ever lift. "How do I know..." she murmured, lost in thought as she walked around, taking in the immensity of the choice she had to make right now.

 

She saw a woman with a burn scar eye her from a distance and smiled at the woman, who smiled back. The woman was muscly like a blacksmith. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them," she said to Esthelle in a motherly voice.

 

Esthelle nodded. "I'd like to look around for a bit first, if that is okay." The woman nodded, and a quick glance at Kynwric confirmed it. He was also nodding.

 

Wandering around the room, she saw many swords of many sizes and sorts. Some were broader than axes (which were also present, by the way), some were as slender as her underarm. She didn't quite like the idea of herself handling a sword, come to think of it. Neither did she like axes or anything that would be too heavy. Esthelle was an intuitive being and went with her gut feeling most of the time, so in this situation she trusted on her feelings as well. Her feelings, and her memories. If I would have to fight, what would I feel comfortable with?

 

She thought of instinctive reactions and unbidden the memory of Yoran returned to her mind. When she had felt most threathened, she had resorted to slamming and hitting. Thrusting, maybe. But then she held still before one of the racks and her fingers trailed over what she thought was a quarterstaff. And it immediately felt right. "Can I hold that one?" she asked at her mentor, eyes shining with anticipation. "I think I want that one."

 

~Esthelle

Kynwric waited as she peruse the selection of weapons and when she asked the questions he nodded. "Aye, you can hold it, be sure of it and let us discuss it before setting your life on that path." He watched as she took hold of the staff and turned it in her hands. "Obviously the first thing about this weapon is it is a bludgoening weapon. It is used for beating someone into submission or death, not for slicing them up as with a edged one. There are advantages to that and disadvantages. Most noticble being is that you will be more likely to simply knock an opponent unconscious than kill. That is not always a bad thing though. The other major note is its size. It is a long weapon, there will be times that is an advantage and times it is a disadvantage. What do you think now?"

"Obviously the first thing about this weapon is it is a bludgoening weapon. It is used for beating someone into submission or death, not for slicing them up as with a edged one. There are advantages to that and disadvantages," Kynwric spoke with the air who knows so much about the subject matter that he had to concentrate to actually explain it to a student. "Most noticble being is that you will be more likely to simply knock an opponent unconscious than kill. That is not always a bad thing though. The other major note is its size. It is a long weapon, there will be times that is an advantage and times it is a disadvantage. What do you think now?"

 

Esthelle reached out to touch the polished wood and said thoughtfully: "When I feel endangered, my first instinct is to beat upon it instead of stabbing or slicing. So I think I would be most comfortable with bludgeoning as a way of fighting." The wood was smooth under her fingers, almost inviting to her touch. She took the staff and held it firmly, then swung with it a little. "It's heavy, and it seems hard to control, but I suppose I could learn that," she mused.

 

"A long weapon seems useful... since I can't slice people or things up, it would be good to have a bit of reach, so I can get to them before they get to me. Especially if they have pointy ends and I don't. I'll just have to keep them at a distance." She swung her quarterstaff around experimentally and nearly smashed into the wall with it.

 

Grinning at her own stupidity, she apologised both to Kynwric and the female smith. "Excuse me, I got a bit carried away... I need to think about my balance, I guess." She then looked over at Kynwric and said: "I think I've chosen my weapon. I'd like to practice with this one..."

 

~Esthelle

Quarterstaffs ftw! :D

Kynwric gave a nod and very abbreviated bow, "very well then Esthelle. Let's see what you know and what kind of talent you have" and he motioned back out the armory, taking up another plain staff as he exited.

 

Once back out in the yard he found an empty pell and motioned for Esthelle to stand in front of it. Kynwric himself sttod just off to the side and set himself in an unfamiliar stance, he being used to fighting with a sword and shield, but it would do for now. "Begin with setting yourself so, it puts the staff between most swordsmen and yourself. You can reverse it should the need arise, such as with a left handed blade." He then proceeded to show her sever strikes against the pell, six in total. One to each side of the head, one to each side of the body and one to each knee. "Work with those for a while and then we'll move onto basic defense."

 

OOC: Go ahead and proceed as far as you wish.

Balance was everything, Esthelle soon learnt. The moves that Kynwric was teaching her were not very hard if you thought about it. They were definitely basics, she could recognize that easily. It was just that executing them was as hard as anything she'd ever tried before. "I feel like an idiot," she commented to Kynwric after the gazillionth time that she had hopped around on one foot and nearly fallen over. "Why can't I just keep my balance?"

 

"It's the weight," Kynwric told her gently. "You just need to get used to it." He gave her pointers how to carry her own weight and how to center herself, which helped a little bit, but not much. Mostly, it was a lesson in frustration. Esthelle had never been a very patient person and she hated it when she could not do something right away.

 

And this was basic offense, what a joke. All she wanted was to clamp her hands around the staff and start hitting hard, not with dosage as Kynwric was teaching her. Her aggravation was fueling her moves in a way that was not very productive. In the end Kynwric told her to take a little break until they went on to discuss basic defense and taught her how to hold her staff to ward off attacks.

 

That was hard enough in itself. Esthelle's head was spinning with the thought that she would have to weave all this moves together one day; from defense to offense and back again, one string of fluid motion. And here she was falling over all the time. Figures. "It takes practice," Kynwric reassured her. "All begin is hard."

 

Now only if she could take that to heart and swallow back her frustration...

Kynwric could sense the frustration and unease that Esthelle was feeling, he could see it in her movements, in her footwork, in her strikes and parries. After the talking about defense he stood her up again, "Alright girl, this time I want you to focus on the strikes. I'll give you a 30 count, you swing as many times as you can. But beware, I'll take three strikes in the 30 count just to keep your defense honest. We'll be doing this drill alot Esthelle, get used to it.. soon we'll do it for 60 seconds then maybe more..."

 

He settled into a basic defense and waited for her to psyche herself up for this and come en guarde. Once she was he called "Lay on." And began to parry the blows she rained down upon him.

 

OOC: Again, go as far as you wish... Sorry for the long delay. Real life bit me hard, I should be around some now.