Shawn reclined against a tree, marveling as he usually did at the beauty preserved here in the old Ogier Grove. It had been by the lake here in this grove that he had first met with Rosheen to learn the philosophy of the Spring and here he was waiting for a trainee to arrive so he could pass that knowledge on to another. He did not usually take the time to train others in the philosophy he'd chosen to follow but he was doing it this time as a favor to Rosheen. She was the boy's mentor and more than capable of teaching him this lesson herself but she'd left the Tower for some reason and had asked him to help the boy out while she was gone.

 

So here he sat fighting sleep and waiting patiently for the boy to arrive. Would he be an eager student, ready to learn what Shawn had agreed to teach, or would he be one of those arrogant fools that thought they knew better? Too many trainees these days were of the latter variety but he had hope that this one wouldn't be. He'd left a message for Nerome to join him and included detailed directions to this location. What could be keeping him?

Nerome’s first wish upon entering the renowned Ogier grove, was to sleep. Sure enough it wasn’t even halfway through the morn, but he had spent most of his last evening out in the city and now…well now he had what most people called a hangover. His head was throbbing and even when he tried to settle it down by massaging his temples, the headache would refuse to subside. “What a day to learn philosophies”, he muttered, walking slowly through the Grove. His teacher, he had been told, was a man named Shawn and from what he had heard, he was a good teacher.

 

Finally arriving at his destination, Nerome found the man resting under the shade of a tree. Walking up to him, the first thing he noticed was how blue his eyes were. Startling really. Inclining his head slightly, he greeted him. “Good day to you. I have come to right place yes?”

 

 

OOC: Didn't realise you had posted. :)Thanks. :D

"Yes indeed this is the right place. Have a seat. You are here today to learn the philosophy of the Spring. Before I begin though I want to ensure that you know the options you have before you. This is important as the choice you make is final. There are two philosophies taught here at the the Yards and once you learn one you cannot learn the other."

 

Shawn paused there to make sure his words had sunk in and tehn continued. "First the Flame and Void technique. Those who follow this philosophy of training are characterized by discipline, strength, and emotionless movements. The body is forged into a weapon through the will of your mind. By shunning emotion and detaching from the world, one becomes powerful through precision of forms, discipline of the body, and absence of intruding thoughts and emotion. The warrior becomes true to the blade and cold to the surrounding environment.

 

"Though they both provide the same benefits to their adherents the Spring is nearly the opposite in its approach. Followers of the Spring are characterized as being relaxed yet passionate, with a very creative mental outlook. By embracing the emotions you live life to its fullest. You become passionate and fight with emotional content. Not fears, hate, rage, love, or anger, but rather with the strength we as a race get from the emotions we are born with. Creativity springs from the instincts of survival, energy is derived from both the positive and negative. For the body to be strong the mind must be in tune with the spirit and body, harmony is achieved through a passion for life.

 

"As you can see these two are mutually exclusive of each other. I can teach you the Spring, and I can find someone else if you choose to learn the Flame and Void techniques, but this is your choice. No one can decide for you, and once you decide there is no going back to learn the other. So, what will it be? Fell free to take your time if you need."

“There are two philosophies taught here at the the Yards and once you learn one you cannot learn the other.” Nodding when Shawn looked at him expectantly, Nerome sat himself down and began to listen. As hard as he had originally had to fight sleep when he had first entered the Grove, Nerome found himself intrigued. Not only was it confirmed to him that Shawn was a good teacher, he also found that what he was saying was actually appealing to him. “By shunning emotion and detaching from the world, one becomes powerful through precision of forms, discipline of the body, and absence of intruding thoughts and emotion.” Instantly a picture formed in his mind of a Warder, tall and hooded raising his sword to strike down on a foe. His face was empty, guarded. Powerful. Could he picture himself there? No, definitely not. Not even passing fancies let him envisage himself so. But then, he thought with a smile, he couldn’t even think of himself as a Warder, let alone following some rigid philosophy of discipline and void.

 

It was however, the second of the two philosophies that caught Nerome’s interest even further. “You become passionate and fight with emotional content. Not fears, hate, rage, love, or anger, but rather with the strength we as a race get from the emotions we are born with.” Now this sounded more like it. He would never be one to let go of his emotions completely, because to him, that was what life was about. A little surprised when he heard Shawn’s words echo his thoughts, he grinned. Spring philosophy it was. “So, what will it be? Fell free to take your time if you need.”

 

“The Spring philosophy sounds very good actually- right up my road. However,” he paused, hesitating slightly. “You said that rather than drawing on feelings like anger, love or hate, strength lies in harmony and energy. Well, what do we do with the rest? Wouldn’t ignoring the rest be shunning emotion and thus to an extent the Flame and the Void? Or am I confusing myself?”

 

~Nerome

Spring Baby! ;)

Hmm, it seems he didn't explain it quite as well as he'd hoped. Well, that was to be expected, everyone always had questions, but Shawn had been hoping that he'd be able to explain it well enough the first time. "Yes, I can see where you may have gotten confused there. I never meant that we ignore the emotions of anger, love, hate, or the rest. What I meant was that the Spring is not limited to just those emotions, nor does it find its strength in the strength of one's feelings. No, the Spring is much more than just your emotions."

 

How to explain? It was possible the boy wouldn't understand at all until he'd learned to harness the Spring but it was worth trying to teach him beforehand. The greater his understanding of what he was looking for, the easier it would be to reach his goal. "The Spring is about more than just a few strong emotions, it is about harnessing the power that emotions themselves give us. By that I don't just mean the extra strength that people seem to get when they're mad. No, what I mean is that we get strength from the gift of emotions themselves, the good and the bad. Our strength in the Spring comes not from individual emotions but from the power of all emotions. Does that make any more sense? Do you have any other questions before we begin?"

Disappointment had touched the man’s face lightly, if only for a moment before he’d continued. “The Spring is not limited to just those emotions, nor does it find its strength in the strength of one's feelings. No, the Spring is much more than just your emotions." Shifting slightly so that he was leaning on the tree, Nerome turned his head so that he could watch Shawn as he spoke. Much more than emotions? Rapidly Nerome assessed his words, cautiously testing in his mind to see where he could be going with his words. It almost sounded like a reservoir of…something, to him. Strength yes, but where was this strength from?

 

It was as Shawn continued that understanding dawned on Nerome. "The Spring is about more than just a few strong emotions, it is about harnessing the power that emotions themselves give us.” Nodding as Shawn spoke, Nerome found himself being able to connect to what Shawn was teaching him. Carth used to tell the boys to use their fear when they were out in the night, and even then Nerome had used it diligently. To find it here, as a practiced theory in the Yards even if it was far more structured and based for a larger scale…well, it made him wonder. What would Carth have been like if he had made it?

 

“Does that make any more sense? Do you have any other questions before we begin?" Nodding, Nerome answered. “Yes, that helped a lot. I think I’m ready to begin if you are.”

 

~Nerome

OOC: Didn't want to post just three lines worth of writing, so I rambled a bit about his past. :P

OOC: Sorry for the delay, I had a lot less time over the holidays than I thought I would. But I'm back now so let's get this rolling.

 

IC: “Good.” Shawn started, thinking of what to say or do next. He wanted Nerome to relax a little, but ws unsure if the boy would be able. Relaxed or not, Nerome would learn how to create the spring. It might just take him a bit longer if he wasn't. Shawn grinned at the trainee. “We’ll get started then. Close your eyes,” he ordered.

 

Then his voice took on a more soothing and calm tone, one he had practised before coming here. Everything not to unsettle his student. Creating the Spring, and keeping a hold of it would seem like the hardest thing he had ever done, even without further distraction. "Now think hard. I want you to pick a memory. It can be any memory, but it must be the memory with the strongest emotion that you can recall. Think about the emotion. What is this emotion? Don't answer out loud. Instead, focus on this memory, and compress it. Keep pushing it down and down into a small ball, until you've compressed it so much that you cannot make it any smaller. Let me know when you've gotten to that stage." Shawn himself had barely been able to lift his arm when he had reached that point, focussed as he was on attaining the Spring.

 

Shawn laid back against the tree and watched Nerome struggle to find just the right memory and compress it. Hiss face went from relaxed to focussed and back again a few times. After what seemed like a long time to Shawn, the boy signalled that he was ready to continue. Shawn smiled, “Very good. Now I want you to do the same with another memory, another emotion. Take a hold of it, and compress it until it’s just a layer around the ball you’ve just created with the first memory. When you’ve done that I want you to go on with a third and a fourth memory. On and on until you’ve layered all the memories you can onto the first one. Stay focussed, and don’t worry, it’s ok if you don’t get it right at once. You’ll know when you have it right.”

“We’ll get started then. Close your eyes.”

 

A tone different from the one Shawn had used before which startled Nerome slightly as he heard it. Close his eyes? Nerome had heard about how different the methods of teaching could be and had looked forward to it, but all he had ever learnt till then, was to keep his eyes open and be alert. Even before coming to Tar Valon really. Daes Dae’mar required open eyes as much as stealing, or winning a spar did. Nonetheless Nerome found himself eyes closed, with only the great black ocean of nothing surrounding him and his eyes. It was calming in a way and Nerome felt like he was floating in an abyss. Occasionally there would be dabs of white and blue in his vision due to how tightly his eyes were squeezed shut, but as Shawn spoke again, his eyes lost their tension and the black was all he saw.

 

Upon hearing Shawn’s instructions to visit an old memory, Nerome felt his insides clench for a moment before he went calm again. His relaxed manner was too frail as yet to fight against the memories, if that was what the task would be. It would snap like a twig and Nerome hardly wanted any one, let alone a Tower Guard, to see him pale or sweaty with fear. He would just have to jest about it if it happened, he decided firmly. And so Nerome went, reaching for the memory he had kept locked inside like a ticking bomb. It came easily, the dark, the smell of blood, Carth on the ground pale beyond humanity and the numb, numb realization that things had gone horribly wrong. Shawn’s words came like a soft whisper in the breeze and had it not been deathly quiet, Nerome would not have heard him. He knew the answer immediately, a short word the required little effort. Fear. Only fear. It clawed at him, drowning him in his memory. Push it down, came Shawn’s timely words and Nerome certainly tried. The dark was growing around him, the smell, the fog, the steel. But still he endeavoured.

 

At first he tried to drive it away, further from him until it was only a dim light in his mind like it had been all these years, but this time, very unlike before, he was focussed on it, and vulnerable, which lead to it coming back to him harder and quicker, gripping him with the fear that had robbed him of so much more than pride that day.

 

Push…it…down!

 

The thought rang in his mind almost as if he had shouted it out, and so Nerome clamped down at his memory harder than he had before, harder than he ever had for that matter. He could feel it working, slowly, but if he kept at it, it would go. Light, it was hard though. It was throwing yourself down while you were at it, and that, was not a pleasant feeling. “Keep pushing it down and down into a small ball, until you've compressed it so much that you cannot make it any smaller." Once more he gave into it, but this time, instead of struggling, he did so with calm, with steady breathing and no fear. Fiercely but calmly. An odd combination, but it succeeded. Lifting his hand up in a sign to continue, Nerome was baffled when he heard that he should continue, but he said nothing. Instead, he moved onto a happier memory, the day Selandre had given him Ayende and upon seeing him, Nerome had jumped on almost immediately and let the horse carry him where he would. It was easy to revel in the joy he had felt, but remembering Shawn’s words, he reluctantly pushed at it, and found to his pleasure that the second struggle, was far easier.

 

Layer upon layer he coiled around the first dark knot he had pressed down, memories of old days both good and bad. Memories of friendship and the night. Of laughter and treachery. At times, he would lose his concentration and would have to start over but by the fourth, Nerome had mastered it. And he felt….different. Not lost like he had before, but intuitive and there lay an unnatural tranquillity around him, as if nothing could break him now. This was not like him. This didn’t feel anything like…

 

Was this Spring? Or was it just the beginning?

 

“I think, I have it now.”

 

~Got carried away. :oops:

OOC: Don't worry about it, I think I did about four or five memories when I went through this so don't stress on the length, this is for your benefit anyway. Now, this is kind of hard for me to describe. I’m mostly stealing this from my own mentor. Ok, now as to what the spring does as soon as Nerome opens his eyes: I’ve always imagined it as if you were stepping into the little ball of emotions you’ve just made. As to what the Spring should do; like the Void it makes you more aware of your surroundings (sounds, feelings, smells...) and heightens your senses. While your strength isn't increased, as a Spring user you’ll have more stamina, meaning you can go on longer without getting tired like you would normally. There are, of course, limits, but basically the Spring makes the user less aware of how tired they are so that they can continue on for longer. So more stamina and more ‘focus’, meaning you don’t get influenced by things ‘outside’ as much anymore, like pain or taunts from your enemy.

 

IC: Anwashawn watched closely as Nerome went through the motions of grasping the spring. Almost automatically he found himself doing the same, first slowly, building it up emotion after emotion, and then swiftly. If needed he could have the Spring firmly in his grasp within the blink of an eye, but he enjoyed taking it slow sometimes and really getting down to the basics of the process. The strong core of emotions hadn’t changed much, but he had added many new memories from his time in the Yards. Some of these were good, such as the fun times with Dene and finishing his blacksmith training, otehrs not so good, such as when Dene told him so emphatically that they were through. Good or bad though, they were all a part of who he was and therefore they were all useful. Hhe smiled, hoping that this training session would turn out to be as useful for the young man in front of him as it had for him.

 

Shawn was waiting patiently by the time Nerome spoke so confidently that he had acheived his goal. “Very good.” Shawn said, sitting up. “Now I want you to open your eyes.” He had to wonder if the experience of looking at the world while inside the Spring would be as different to Nerome as it had been to him. If the way the boy blinked was anything to go by, he would say it did. Shawn pointed to a tree a fair distance away, “See that giant oak over there with the burn mark on its side? At the top of that tree you’ll find a bag. I want you to get the bag, and then return to me. Whatever is in the bag is yours to keep.” Shawn smiled again as he watched him go. The task shawn had given him wasn’t hard enough for him to fail at it, even without the spring. It was merely about seeing the difference between an exercise with and without the spring.

 

OOC2: What's in the bag is up to you.

OOC: As I said in PM, here I am to help. :)

 

Lyv had returned from her trip to Andor recently and had offered her training to the Mistress of Trainees, who had told her to start with peeking over the shoulder of a few of the current mentors to get back in the game. Lyv understood, she was kind of rusty in the field of training as she had taken on mostly students in Path of Water these recent years. So she had decided to ask one of those PoW students to help her get back into the work of mentorship, Shawn had told her he’d not mind and would actually appreciate her input. Lyv had laughed at that and told him he was ahead enough in his training in the Path not to worry about her wrath as his mentor. “Well, in that case, eyes open and mouth shut old mentor of mine,” he had joked and she smiled. That was fine, she had no intention of overtaking his students. Lyv found the relationship that a mentor and his tutor built not only very important but also very personal. Stepping in would break a sort of trust the two of them had and it built very little good.

 

Nerome was the student that Shawn was working with these days, he was learning the philosophy of the Spring, the same Lyv used in her training. Lyv watched her from a distance as Nerome and Shawn talked about the Philosophy and the exercises they had trained so far. She was curious to hear from Nerome how he felt about using the Spring in a spar and if Shawn would allow it, as the mentor, she might ask her for an exercise together. It might be a good exercise for herself too, she was not as conscious of using her philosophy anymore as she had been as a student. It was something that was part of the routine of picking up a weapon and getting ready, it was no longer a conscious decision but a breath of air to open herself up to the Spring. What would it be like for the trainee?

 

Lyv

OOC: I hope this will work for you, Lyv watching from a distance and offering to practice something together. That way, I don’t feel like I’m completely overtaking Shawn’s class. Let me know ok?

 

My apologies...changed the he/she... :oops:

“Now I want you to open your eyes.”

 

From dreamlike lullaby, to a quieted awareness of…everything. Nerome as he cracked open his eyes felt as if the world had just spun a million times over, during that seemingly brief period where he had been left to his memories. Colour rushed in upon his eyes and face in mad dabs of the beautiful sight that was the Ogier Grove. Oh and there was sound- the rustle of leaves, Shawn’s steady breathing and his own, birds twittering on nearby branches… No wonder Shawn had chosen such a place to teach Spring in. Nerome wasn’t really one for spending endless hours tasting the pretty things in life, but this…this was different. Everything seemed enhanced, as if those final touches that an artist had forgotten had been added finally and so it was finished. Complete. Light, it felt almost greedy, drinking on all he saw so desperately. And he hadn’t even enjoyed his art lessons as a boy. Master Twimble would’ve been amused, had he been subject to Nerome’s thoughts.

 

As Shawn spoke again, Nerome turned to see the tree he was motioning at. Sure enough, the burn mark was present, scarred into the tree’s side. It was a rather large oak, with its leaves spreading over the Grove like a maze. “I want you to get the bag, and then return to me. Whatever is in the bag is yours to keep.” Peer as he did, it was impossible to catch sight of a bag that was at the very top of such a grand tree. Nodding, Nerome got up, with the Spring still soaring through him as he did. Magnificent though the tree was, the task itself wasn’t one that Nerome thought as challenging. He was used to daring rooftops of heights greater than the tree, he thought with a surge of emotion as he remembered his days with the boys. Still, it would be useful to plan it all out. As he approached the tree, Nerome calculated the way he would get about climbing up. There was a generous number of branches, not to mention the perfect depression in the middle that he could balance himself on.

 

Finally reaching, Nerome paused for a moment. Breathing in once, he smiled. The shade was rather cool here, perhaps after he finished his class he could lie here for a bit. Daydreamer, he thought with a grin as he set about climbing the tree. The first thing he did was to pull himself up against the bark, digging in until he had a firm grip on the steadiest branch near him. It was really just a matter of pushing and pulling, come to think of it. From there, Nerome carried on to the next branch, each one stronger and more capable of handling a human’s weight than before. He stopped once, deciding that he was halfway up and looked up once. The bag was there, hanging from the final branch.

 

Nerome could now only depend on the branches, and so he pulled himself one after the other. He realised with a start that he wasn’t perspiring as yet, and wondered if it was the influence of Spring. For a moment he paused, considering the thought. Perhaps being so wrapped up in energy allowed him greater stamina….? The idea sounded ridiculous, even to him. Shrugging inwardly, he continued. It was a good few minutes later that he found himself sitting on the final branch, resting against the tree as he caught his breath back. As he did so, he decided to open the bag. Unfolding the cloth, he smiled as he saw the content. A smooth pebble lay in the very middle, glinting off the sunlight coming through the leaves. It would make a nice memoir he thought, pocketing it. With that, he made his way down.

 

~*~

 

The lesson had ended well, with Nerome thanking Shawn as they sat together. Him listening, and Shawn finishing what he had begun with a solemn and almost ‘final’ explanation to this chapter of his training. He had returned to the barracks tired, but happy with only one instruction given- to arrive early tomorrow for one last task. Nerome didn’t mind the idea of spending more time using Spring, and thus he arrived well on time, which though unlike him, marked the subtle ways in which he had changed since Caemlyn.

 

The Grove as usual, was a setting of peace and tranquillity and as he approached it, he could spy Shawn at the very centre. He wasn’t alone, Nerome realised as he covered distance and came closer to his destination. Someone was sitting beside him- another Tower Guard, or a Trainee like him?

 

It was only when he finally made it there that he realised that the woman beside Shawn was none other than Lyv Tylin, a Tower Guard who Nerome had heard Rosheen talk of once or twice. He wondered curiously what she was doing there- had she just bumped into Shawn, or was this part of his ‘final task’? Questions filling his mind, Nerome met them both with smiles. “Good day to both of you.”

 

~Nerome

 

OOC: Yea, he's a guy. ;)

OOC: I feel terrible!!! So sorry, won’t ever do it again!! :oops:

 

IC:

Lyv greeted Nerome as he approached both her and Shawn. Her student and his student, it was almost a grandmother like situation if one used that term for mentors and trainees. Lvy found that Shawn as a trainer had grown in his own studies of the weapon use and to thank Nerome for inspiring her student, she give the trainee a nice challenge. He would have to use his Spring philosophy and see how that worked out when one did not try to calm the pace or find the Spring, but to build energy and tactics from it. She smiled and said, “Shawn here is kind enough to let me have a taste of training a student again. I guess he does not want to be the only one anymore,” she winked at him and Shawn smiled and moved off to the side to oversee the spar.

 

The Grove was a particularly good place for these types of sparring. It was calm and peaceful and had the markings of great students and great teachers on the stones. All who had trained and sparred here left a bit of their energy. And one could almost feel their strength and their support when holding a weapon and practising in the Grove. Lyv had had her training from Tria and Borac here as well. She liked the Grove and even though she did not use it often, as PoW students worked a lot in the water, she could appreciate it all that more today. “I challenge you to a spar, we will use training lathes as I prefer them myself for any training. Even with guards as Shawn can probably tell you,” Lyv was serious now. She could be a big joke, always smiling but when it came to teaching she tried to inspire and that took all her concentration.

 

“When you’re ready, I would like you to try and attack me in three different ways. Be creative, do not just use the forms you learned, but also the lines of attack, the quickness or the slowness of your attack. It all counts, try and feel the Spring and let it bring you into the spar. You can open the fight as I will await and defend.” She wondered if Nerome would find the Spring and use it. Lyv was not sure she could see immediately, but she would be able to tell if Nerome was completely focused or if he was still searching when he attacked her. That is why the three different attacks would be a good test. He would have to try new ways and not depend just on what he already knew. It was time to begin and as Lyv gave him the training lathe to use, she wished him good luck. “Show me what you know,” she said and took the guard stance.

 

OOC: Creativity in the broadest term here. I thought it might be nice to try a spar with a small challenge. *g* Have fun!