Slumped at his table, Aran's expression would have been best described as woeful as he looked at his toast. He didn't want to be up so early, he liked to start his mornings around eight at the earliest, but instead he had been up at half past seven. At least he'd had the pleasure of letting himself into Ursana's room and kicking the bed right near the lad's head. That had gotten him awake quicksmart, and helped improve Aran's mood for at least a short while.

 

But no, they were going to race today, against Deneira and her student, Mark if his memory served him right. He hated racing, he preferred doing things at his own pace, and he preferred not to get mud all over him, which was what was going to happen thanks to the stupid random obstacle being changed. Light help him but whoever had decided such a thing deserved a slap around the chops. Probably Ginae. Not that he disliked her, in fact he loved the way she snapped except for the time she broke his hand. But she made some really stupid decisions sometimes.

 

Like giving him trainees. Seeing Ursana enter the breakfast hall, Aran was reminded of the race all the more. Grumbling, he took up his toast and ate it as he left. The lathe racks were his target, and it wasn't long before he found a pair of small blade lathes that suited his purposes.

 

Finishing the rest of breakfast as he found the obstacle course. A mud pit of considerable length, the wall and the duel at the end of it. Whoever had thought it up was a mental giant as far as Aran was concerned. Nevermind that the mud would make an accident more likely, which really wasn't needed. Lying down on the grass, he used an arm for a pillow as he laid the lathes beside him. Someone could wake him up when they were ready to start.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

Mark jogged into the mess hall just in time to see a somber tower guard walk out eating some bad looking toast. If memory served him correctly (which it wasn't these days) he was the mentor of the people his new mentor had arranged a race with today. Mark made his way over to the food and grabbed something to munch on as he cooled down. He had been up since midnight as usual, unable to sleep with the quiet grounds open for him to train in unwatched. He wiped some sweat off of his brow and sat down so he could take the litte weights he had tied to his legs. They didn't weigh much, but he hoped to someday work his way up to larger ones. With a sigh of content, he leaned back and enjoyed his meal, only rising to walk around a bit and grab some water.

 

With a fresh meal inside of him, he walked back to his room. Since his roommate was usually somewhere else, he didn't worry about running into him anytime soon. He dropped his weights in a pile near his bed, and changed into something not sweat covered. He didn't care if his new mentor thought he should look good, he was just getting ichy in them.

 

With a sigh, he walked back out into the rising sun. It was sore on his eyes, so accustomed to shadows and their depths. With a grimace of anger, he shrugged off the feeling and made his way to the field where the race course was set up.

 

He arrived to find a lone man sleeping on the grass, with two laithes laying beside him. Recognizing him as the tower guard from the mess hall, he ignored him and instead went to grab his own laith. Naturally, he grabbed the biggest one he could find, so accustomed to the heavy weight that he overcompensated with lighter weapons. He gave it a few practice swings for good measure, and then moved to sit underneath a nearby tree to get out of the sun, and wait for someone else to arrive.

 

He watched the tower guard sleeping, and shook his head at it. HE never slept except for the evenings, when most usually were out carousing or practicing after the long day. He hated to see others just ly down and take naps, since it showed a type of lazyness. In the wild, you didn't just nap. In the wild, you stayed alert, for to not meant your death.

 

Marks hands started to shake. Staring down at the ground, he waited until his vision cleared before looking back up. He needed to keep control. The sister said he wasn't fully back to normal yet, and he could still snap under extreme pressure. He forced himself to relax, and contented himself with hating the man in front of him, sleeping away....

This had not been the best of mornings. It was bad enough that he'd been wakened by Aran, kicking his bed nonetheless, but he'd gotten to breakfast to find his favorite rolls already gone and even his best smiles couldn't produce him another one. Not that he hadn't tried. Much more and he would have had a date with one of the cooks. It was good at times like that to be a Tahn Sakhr though because they were a little off the wall, according to people and a an abscure Borderland quote got him out of the pickle he was about to find himself in.

 

The wosrt pickle of course was that he was going to have to go through the course today. Tied up with Aran and fighting his old teammate who could thimp him soundly if she decided to. Not that Aran would stop her. He'd probably watch the whole thing and then want to know what character building influences it had on him.

 

 

Still, it was a nice day, he thought as he walked out into the yards, stuffing the last of his second favorite rolls into his mouth. He needed a lathe for the day so he quickly selected one that felt right to him. He was a man of speed, not strength so it was fitting to his movements.

 

As he made his way back to the course he found Aran in his usual passtime, sleeping. Another young man sat there and Ursana decided it would be best not to talk just yet. When this was all over they could decide if they liked one another or not. Of late, talking just got him into fights and he'd prefer to avoid that before hand if possible. So he nodded at the man and decided that if Aran was allowed to do it, so was he. So he laid down and decided to rest a bit. He deserved it after all, having to wake up with Aran practically kicking him in the head...

 

Light, what a day this would be. Deneira would have to do the bloody race. Thank the light she had sneaked out of doing this one as a trainee, but here she was a tower guard doing it a second bloody time. Light, after all of these years, she was surprised that this thing was still going on. It was slow cruel torture that she would prefer to have nothing to do with. To top it all off, she had just met Mark a week before, so she had no idea of his lessons, movement, or behaviors. Then there was the fact that she was fighting Aran, her old pranking buddy, along with Sana, an ex-teammate. Light, this was going to be interesting.

 

Waking up late, she skipped over breakfast and left just as Shawn was begining to move. He looked so peaceful, she didnt have the heart to wake him up so that he could wish her good luck. A quick kiss on the cheek and a sip of wine from the night before, Deneira set out for the group. Mark had gotten up on his own, he was good about that, and she could see him ahead, picking up the biggest lathe he could find. Bloody idiot, they were going to lose if he kept this up. There was Sana, and he was- bloody fish guts, was he taking a nap too?

 

Running up to them both, she kicked them in the head. "Wake up, you brats!" They both jumped up and she hugged Sana. "Light, Sana, havent seen you since I got raised," she said loudly, glaring at him. Aran looked like he was already plotting revenge and she smacked him on the head where he had just been kicked. "Watch out, or your trainee is gonna beat you one day." She laughed softly then picked up the longest but lightest lathe there was. "Well, lets get going!"

People started showing up after Mark had sat down. Ursana, Aran's mentee, came into the field and grabbed a smaller lathe, looking for speed instead of weight. Mark carefully noted that, knowing he would need to watch his guard against someone like that. It was a good thing he had more reach with his, or he would be outmatched in the fight to come. He waited a bit more until Deneira decided to make an entrance, hugging Ursana and slapping Aran upside the head. He laughed at that, not because it was humourous, but because he hoped that it had hurt. With a dark smile, he walked out to meet the rest, and introduced himself.

 

"Welcome, everyone, to the race. I'm Mark." He left it at that, not caring what they thought of his attitude. He remained silent after that, instead busying himself with taking everyones measure. He wanted to get to know his new mentor, Deneira, anyways. She looked like a happy-go-lucky type, just what he hated, and he was sure that even if they got along well, there was going to be some friction. He decided right then and there to not take any random hits from her. He would not let her make a fool of him by slapping him around like Aran. Even if he couldn't take her, she had to sleep sometime, and Mark could go for days without sleep.

 

they talked for a minute or two, but he stayed out of the conversation. He wanted to get going anyways, and was getting anxious.

Ursana smiled at the other trainee. "Sana." He said with a grin. "Sana Tahn Sakhr. So, this seems like an interesting bit of training." He said, looking at the course beside them. "At least we don't have a crowd around us to see us disgrace ourselves in the mud."

 

He looked down at Aran with a shake of his head. His mentor was a real piece of work, but lately he was beginning to wonder if that was a good or bad thing. He still wasn't sure after their last trip out of Tar Valon, but part of him still thought about what his mentor had been trying to teach him. It was days like this that he wished he had managed to stay away from Tar Valon that fateful night that had left him in the infirmary while his family fled town, leaving him in the care of his big sister.

 

Mark kept a straight face at the thought of them making fools of themselves. Today was promising to be an interesting one. He wanted to get it over and done with, so made his way to the starting line. They soon followed, and lined up to start. His mentor, Deneira, went through the requirements for the race before anything else, and then tied her leg to Marks own. With that done, they got ready to race. Mark cleared his mind, finding his little quiet place, and lowered his head while trying to quiet his speeding heart. He didn't know how fast Deneira ran, but he hoped that one of them didn't drag the other down.

 

Well, someone had to say go, and he sure wasn't going to....

Frowning as he rubbed his head where Deneira had slapped him, Aran picked up his lathes as he wondered where their referee was. Marie was never slovenly, that much he couldn't accuse her of. It was another ten minutes before she arrived, the leather thongs they needed in hand and a less than pleasant expression on her face. Tossing the pairs the thongs required, she was short in explaining herself.

 

"The thongs weren't where they were meant to be, had to chase them up. Strap yourselves and take your positions."

 

Fastening the thongs so that they were joined by a hand and a leg each, Aran preferred them to rope as they wouldn't drag as much in the mud, but they wouldn't break either. Using two lathes because of the way they were tied was going to be difficult as well, but at least Ursana's main swordhand was free. Still, he had a few words of advice that he gave quietly so as not to be overheard by Deneira or Mark.

 

"Step with your free foot first, don't worry about rushing. We just need to move as one and we will be fine. Speed isn't crucial here, moving as one is." The nod Ursana gave was good enough for Aran as they crouched slightly, ready to run when the signal was given.

 

"Go!"

 

Moving as one, Aran and Ursana raced towards the mudpit.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

Mark laughed, and Deneira shot him a quick grin. Kid had a good sense of humor- she liked that in a trainee. Deneira had been up for a good joke all the time, so should her mentee. Mark then walked up to the group and began introductions. "Welcome, everyone, to the race. I'm Mark." Well, certainly a boy of many words. Mark just walked off and went silent, but Deneira didn’t notice anymore. They barely knew each other, and had met him once years ago, when he was a new trainee, so he probably just thought her snobby Tower Guard. Well, he would have to learn she was a lot of fun and accept that.

 

Thank goodness Sana could keep a conversation going. “Sana. Sana Tahn Sakhr. So, this seems like an interesting bit of training." Of course it was, it was a bloody race through the mud! “At least we don't have a crowd around us to see us disgrace ourselves in the mud." Deneira choked on air, laughing at his poor joke, and secretly hating this course.

 

â€Alright, alright, time to get this thing going. The rules are this…†And Deneira went through the rules and the basic idea of what would happen. Their referee finally showed up, with some excuse, and Deneira grabbed the thongs, ready to tie them together. “Are you right or left handed?†He waved his right and she tied his left hand to her right, and her right foot to his left. “Ok, step with the inside foot first. I can run pretty fast, but staying together is more important than speed. And don’t underestimate me just because I am a woman- I have sparred with Aran before, and I know he is a force to be reckoned with.†He nodded, and they got on the line.

 

"Go!" He did as she said and they began running. Mark was pretty fast, but not Deneira’s speed, but she could deal with it. They fought every few steps, but after a while, they got in the groove of things. As they approached the mudpit, Mark tried to pull ahead of her and she sped up. “Keep together!†she yelled at him, holding her lathe out to the side as a balance. What resulted was a mess. He tried to drag her, and she fought against his dragging, and he went down in the mud, Deneira falling on top of him. Pushing up, she leaned back as he stood, furious at her. This was not going to be easy.

 

ooc: taea post next, then mark, then james

Ursana had been tied up a few times in life, some of them not so bad, some of them not so good, and all of them involuntary. He certainly wasn't tieing himself to Aran out of a desire to get closer to his mentor. The man was outrageous in action and seemingly insane the way his mind worked. If Ursana wasn't still nursing a small grudge he'd be enjoying this whole thing.

 

Oh, why not? He smiled at Aran. He wasn't good at grudges anyway. Besides, he really wanted to get over to the mudpit first so he could see if Deneira looked as good muddy as he thought she would. He still remembered a time when he had been new to the barracks and she and Shawn had taken the time to get to know him a little and make him feel at home.

 

He nodded at Aran's advice. "I think I can handle it." He said, turning his attention to the other trainee. He gave him a wink. No matter what the outcome, it was always best to try to have a little fun in things. If you didn't you weren' living life right.

 

And then they yelled "GO" and they were off. Move as one.. that was Aran's advice. Move as one. A bit hard to remember when he really wanted to beat the other team, but he trusted in Aran to keep up the pace as well.

 

It was a quick dash to the mud pit, but a controlled one as the pairs moved together as one so as not to send themselves sprawling. As they neared, Aran was preparing himself for the leap when he realised he hadn't told Ursana about it beforehand. This was going to end badly.

 

"Sana, when I yell jump you jump!" This probably was even less wise considering they were carrying lathes, but it would perhaps give them a lead that they could use. Feet slapping the earth underneath as they approached, they were twenty feet away, ten feet away, five feet away.

 

"JUMP!"

 

Hurling themselves through the air, their take off was a little wonky as they used their free legs to propel themselves. Dipping forward even as they haphazardly threw up their joined legs, the size difference between them didn't help them any as they smacked into the mud with a loud slap stomach first.

 

Chunks of mud faintly resembling faeces flew everywhere as they hit, not only coating themselves but their opponents. Struggling to get their footing without having to let go of their lathes, they nevertheless had a slight lead as they pushed through the mud.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

 

OOC: All to the tune of the Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Earl Scruggs, Yeeehar!

OOC: music shorts out for a sec, then kicks in as some nice heavy Nevermore ;)

 

Ic: Mark and Deneira went down in a mess; limbs splayed everywhere. With difficulty, he dislodged his left kneecap from her right elbow (?) and pulled himself to one knee, trying to see through the muck that covered his eyes. Deneira was right with him getting up, but it was unfortunate that their mishap had just cost them a fair amount of distance, and the other team was now a good couple of paces ahead of them. Determined not to look like a fool, he grabbed Deneira and used some team work to retrieve their footing. With time to make up, they had to get moseying, and it was going to be hard.

 

They ran off through the mud, globules flying everywhere. With their speed, they managed to reduce their terrible mistake to a few less steps by the time they reached the end of the pit. Onto the next obstacle, the wall, where they would need to climb to get over. Arans team already looked to be getting near the top, so Mark lept at the wall, scrambling for holds to propel himself upwards. Deneira was right there with him, moving hand for hand with him. Their combined efforts got better and better, pulling even closer to the other two, but the others had already reached the top. Things were not looking up for Deneira and him at the moment.

Somehow, Aran and Ursana seemed to get over the wall ahead of the others. He didn't stop to check on their progress though as he took a moment to try to get the mud off his lathe and hands. Having a moment to settle in he noticed that Aran had done the same and they were both turning to face the others as they came down the wall.

 

It wasn't what you would call a fair fight, but Ursana had never been in a real fight that you could call fair and the whole point of the exercise was to prepare you for things that weren't planned or where you weren't prepared for it.

 

Lathe at the ready, when Mark and Deneira made their way down the wall the attack began.

 

Mark grabbed the ledge of the top, and hoisted himself up to get a better view of their surroundings. He wasn't surprised to see the other team at the ready already, since it was fair to fight unfairly around here. Or did that sound right.... no matter. He grinned as his mentor and he lifted their legs over in unison, and before they dropped to the ground, he grabbed her arm and stopped her. If the others could attack them as they came down the wall, why not beat them to the punch? He whipped out his lathe, and she followed suit, seeing his plan. With weapons at ready, they made a diving drop, using the momentum to add force to their attack. Mark went crashing down on the other trainees lathe, and since his was bigger, he managed to blow hers to the side, thus saving himself from the disabling blow that would have gotten him should they have climbed down.

 

Mark went crashing into Ursana, knocking her down,and with Denira barreling into Aran, a messy tangle of arms and kneecaps was created, with all lathes flying from grasps as people struggled to untangle themselves. Mark felt Aran lash out, and a solid blow struck him in his leg. Ignoring it for the moment, he took advantage of the confusion to haul himself off of Ursana and hepl Deneira up as she rained down blows on a desperate Aran. Ursana struggled to reach her lathe as he moved, and so he stepped on her hand while standing up. On their feet, Mark and Deneira lunged for their weapons, hoping to grab them before they had to face the others barehanded.

 

Lifting his lathe and moving into lion on the hill, he steadied his breath as he analized Arans stance. He could tell that he wouldn't be much help to Deneira there, but Ursana had a look of acomplishment close to his own, thus making for a fairer fight. He moved to cover Deneiras side with his body, and with a glance out of the corner of his eye, gave her the impression that he was ready to go. With his grin still intact, he lunged forward with the falcon stoops and aimed at Ursana, going for a winding blow. Deneira attacked with something else, but by then he was too busy with his own fight to notice her every move. He was lucky to have strong arms, otherwise his large lathe would have been easy to get by for Ursana. Using short movements for defence, he kept it relatively level, and avoided going for anything extreme, so as to keep her form knocking him off balance. He moved his feet to match Deneira as much as possible, knowing their success depended more on her victory that his, seeing as Aran would whip them both if he knocked over Deneira.

His left lathe moving before him constantly, Aran found he was beginning to develop a strong dislike for fighting while attached to another by rope. That didn't mean he was struggling, but it became rather awkward at times and that annoyed him because he knew they could have finished the match much sooner. He could hold Deneira at bay with ease, but he wanted to get at Mark. Give Ursana just enough aid to tip the balance and then they could finish it.

 

Tipping his head to one side as Deneira attempted to give him The Honeybird Kisses the Honeyrose, Aran forced himself to make his fighting subordinate to Ursana's in order to free the lad up as much as possible. While Mark had held the advantage at first, Ursana was rallying and the freedom he was given was telling as the fight began to swing in their favour. The difference was in footwork, Aran's followed Ursana's whereas Mark's followed Deneira's. Ursana was then allowed to take the initiative against Mark while Aran could comfortably hold his own against Deneira while following Ursana.

 

Thrust, parry, thrust, slash, parry, parry, it was an easy rhythm to settle in while he waited for the opportunity. While his left hand was moving constantly, his right which also held a lathe the size of a long dagger waited, darting forward only when needed and when it wouldn't throw Ursana off. They were evenly matched though, the advantage passing back and forth between them. It was when it rested with Ursana that he decided to take the chance. Slapping aside an attack from Deneira with his left lathe, his right was lobbed at Mark's head. Slow enough that it gave him time to respond, but fast enough to distract his attention and give Ursana the chance he needed.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

 

OOC: I know I've npc'd a bit, but we need to push forward and finish. If there are any problems let me know.

((Alright, finally getting caught up from Pre-Holiday madness before the actual Holiday madness starts :P))

 

 

The rest of the course had been an insane trip but the actual sparring part was the worst yet. He was lucky enough that Aran was able to work with him. He'd seen the power struggle a time or two between their opponents and they had been taken advantage of. Of course, he'd gotten a knock or two himself when he'd been off balance. All in all though, he felt like he'd come out of this better. Maybe he and Aran were just more in sync than their counterparts. He hadn't been working with Aran all that long in the scheme of things, but he felt her had more of an understanding of the man's workings than he had with his other mentors.

 

While Aran kept Deniera busy, he had his hands full with Mark. The other trainee was pretty good and Ursana was just glad that Aran was able to hold up his end with a little extra help for him. For now though, Ursana just kept his lathe moving, blocking and attacking the other trainee as he could.

 

Finally though, with the help of Aran and a stray lathe hit, Sana had an opening on his fellow trainee. He might have felt bad about taking such a blow except for two things. 1) his time in Cairhein had taught him to fight like he meant it and 2) Mark had got a couple hits in and it was time he felt a little back. With no mercy he struck out at his fellow trainee, a blow to the arm that hit hard, followed up closely with another to the side.

 

After Ursana had managed to get his hits in, Deneira's attempt to save her mentee had left her open to Aran who had taken advantage and the fight had quickly gone their way from there. They hadn't dared let up until Marie called for them to stop. Aran and Ursana declared the victors, they were all now free to loosen the leather straps and be themselves again as opposed to the dysfunctional halves of a greater warrior of some sort.

 

Deneira and Mark were quick to depart, and so were Aran and Ursana for that matter. In fact, Aran felt it deserved a celebratory drink for the pair of them. In theory, the trainees weren't meant to drink but Aran had no great love of the rules and besides it was a chance for Ursana to relax after all of that. That and if they were caught, Ursana couldn't be punished because he was following instructions and the worst they could do to Aran was strip him of his student, which meant he was free of teaching. Knowing Ginae, that wasn't going to happen so they were relatively risk free.

 

Clapping Ursana on the shoulder, Aran grinned. "Lead us to a place where we can get a pint or three, I think its well deserved all things considered. Yes, you too. Your choice of place."

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

 

OOC: Your to wrap up with a last post TaeaDawn :)

It was too bad that Mark and Deneira had left so quickly. He'd have liked to have spent some time with his old teammate and Mark seemed like a good enough guy. Well, he could always talk to Mark later and get to know him. The training barracks was always a good place to catch people and it would give him something to do some night when he was too restless to sleep.

 

Aran's suggestion of a celebratory drink came as a surprise, but a welcome one. He didn't doubt Aran's ability to break law and policy with some ease so it was an anticipatory smile that Ursana gave his mentor. "I know just the place. Busy even at this time of day with... suitable entertainment." He said as he stretched, getting used to free movement again. He could use a game of dice to fill his purse a bit, though considering what he'd come to know of Aran, he knew he wouldn't be playing against his mentor for coin anytime soon. Or for anything else for that matter. He'd heard more than one Tower Guard laughing about having lost a free night to Aran with his dice.

 

"And there's a serving girl there..." he started as they began making their way through the Yards. Women and drink were always good companions and even more so for a travelling man who had found his feet temporarily grounded. "could make you swear your soul to her for the tiniest smile." He said with a laugh as they walked.