Tumbling Lessons (Fade)

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Spring 70, 510AV

"One. Two. Three." Kamrynn leaped into the air, tucking his knees into his chest and leaning over backwards. He threw an arm out to the side -to add a half twist- and landed unceremoniously on his bottom.

His sword and personal effects lay a few feet away in the lush green grass, and the sun shone blessedly warm from above. Even as he leaned over to pat his bruised hide quarters gingerly, Kamrynn couldn't be upset. It was a gorgeous day.

Hoisting himself to his feet, the off duty knight tried again -with similar results. What he needed was a tutor, someone who actually knew how to do what he was attempting, but alas, there were no acrobats amongst the Syliran knights.

He sighed and looked around, hoping no one was around to see his failure. And just his luck, there was indeed a witness to his foolish antics. His cheeks turned a deep red, and he waved sheepishly to the new comer.

[Fade]

Fade watched with interest as the young man jumped, twisted and…fell painfully.
She was not amused like anybody else would have been, she had been through all this long ago: the falling and the bruises. Though she specialized in contortion she had trained also in various jumps.
The sun played on her blond almost white hair, making it shine even more.

She watched as he tried again, and alas failed.
But this time he looked around and blushed an intresing shade of red as he saw her, he waved.

She simply smiled her quizzical and seductive smile that came so natural to her.
She stepped forward, ice blue eyes sparkling, and said “How fairs your training?”

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Her! Kamrynn recognized the street performing contortionist almost immediately. She had performed a show less than a week ago, and her talents had left him hopelessly bedazzled. In fact, it was largely due to her show that he was practicing his own gymnastic skills now -to have her walk in on him performing so poorly was an shame almost too painful to bare.

The words in her question washed over the knight without imparting any of their meaning, he was lost to the glitter of gold in her hair and the ocean of blue in her eyes.

"Hi..." He said simply, staggering to his feet. "Just trying a few exercises, and well, as you can see they're not going so well." Smiling, he continued. "You're the contortionist who's just recently come to town, correct? I saw you performing the other day, you were absolutely incredible."

The young man's smile suddenly fell from his face, as if he had just received terrible news. "Oh, where are my manners!" He bowed slightly, "I'm Kamrynn Sleightyr, Syliran Knight and..." With a laugh he added, "Aspiring acrobat. Might I ask your name?"

((Sorry for the late reply, I was out backpacking to natural hot springs all weekend.))

[Fade]

She came forward as he addressed her, she accepted his compliment by saying “Thanks, and don’t worry years ago my exercises wouldn’t go so well too, everybody goes through the falling and painful stage…”She remembered him now, he was one of the two people that had just stood there transfixed, she remembered that he had been eating an apple, she grinned at the memory.

She smiled as he bowed slightly but didn’t know how to greet him in return and a handshake was out of question since she wasn’t wearing any gloves, it was such a hot day, so she stuck with widening her smile and introducing herself simply “I’m Fade”

Another Sylirian Knight her expression darkened for a moment thing about her encounter with one of them, he had said "We are Knights, we are watching. Always.” The remark had left her strangely disconcerted even though she had no reason to be afraid of the law.

She looked openly at the young man in front of her, gaze never wavering trying to get a good idea of his character, in a word sizing him up for the benefit of... just knowing.

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

"Fade," Kamrynn said aloud. "It's nice to meet you." He grinned foolishly, overjoyed to have such lovely company on the spring afternoon. His joy was to be short lived, however, for her face blanched noticeably at the mention of him being a Syliran knight.

He was used to negative reactions; many in the city were distrustful of the knights and their rock solid grip on Syliras... but this woman was brand new to the city, and he refused to believe such a delicate creature could be a criminal.

He thought it best to change the subject, but to what, he wasn't sure. His eyes were drawn to the three dice strung on the necklace around her neck, a peculiar decoration he thought, but personal effects were a strange place to start a conversation, so he instead tried, "If I might be so bold as to ask, where did you acquire such incredible agility and skill? Your performance I mean, I've never seen anything like it."

[Fade]

“Its nice to meet you too” She replied face regaining its normal expression, she smiled and decided to explain why she had made a face
“I’m sorry Kamrynn but I had a disconcerting encounter with a Knight a few days ago, that’s why I was surprised when you said you were one…” The Knight’s words had been true she saw now she was a liability an accident waiting to happen but on the other hand everything happens at least once, she just had to control herself.

She answered his question as truthfully as she could leaning her head to one side “I was born in a circus and I have lived there ever since tied there because I was the owners slave, I guess my training was a good excuse for not being with him, so I trained incessantly for years”
She trailed off she grinned and asked “So is acrobatics necessary if you are a Knight?”

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

"Ah," Kamrynn said sadly. "I'm sorry to hear of your unpleasant encounter with another knight, I can't imagine you doing anything to warrant such a treatment. Allow me to apologize; the task of keeping Syliras a bastion of humanity afloat in this sea of chaos weighs heavily on many knights, and many veterans may seem distrustful or rude at times." He grinned. "I myself have only been in service for little over a year now, so my outlook is still cheery. I'm sure the harshness of this world will take that away from me eventually, but I'll enjoy it for now."

His face wrinkled into a frown then, and he continued. "As for your life as a slave, well, I trust you are a free woman now? Slavery is not tolerated in Syliras, and the thought of a man keeping you caged like some kind of songbird boils my blood. If this master of yours yet holds you in shackles," He clenched his fists. "You need but direct me to him, and I will quickly set him straight."

Kamrynn suddenly realized how somber the mood had become, on such a lovely day as well, so he changed the subject. "But to answer your question, no, acrobatics is not a prerequisite. I simply find myself the unwilling target of many arrows. I don't much relish the idea of catching any, so I'm trying to improve my chances of avoiding them. Armor only goes so far, you see."

[Fade]

Fade smiled at his concern. She listened to what he had to say about the knights and he was probably right.
She answered his question “I’m not chained or caged by anybody anymore. My owner died of old age and illness. I would have loved to be rescued by a knight in shiny armour but such things rarely happen in this harsh world. I was born a slave and supposed to die a slave but life had a surprise in for me” She grinned "And here I am, free in Syliras"

“How can you do anything while wearing armour?” She thought for a moment “unless its very light” Probably you could jump about with leather armour but not with a full knights armour.
She looked at him sincerely asking “Need any help?” It was important to get the basics right then practise and take a step forward and practice and so on. It was a long and tedious process but you were repaid in the end.

[Kamrynn Sleightyr]

Kamrynn's eyes lit up like stars at Fade's offer. "Oh, I'd love some help! If it wouldn't be any trouble! Maybe you can tell me what I'm doing wrong!" He rushed over to where she stood, a grin splitting his face like an ax wound.

"And no, you aren't terribly mobile with armor on," He said, as he prepared himself mentally for the jump. "But I'm in a primarily scouting company. We wear a lot less armor than the other companies so we can pick our way through the forests and trees more easily -Ok, here goes!"

He jumped, spun, missed his timing and landed flat on his back. The air whistled out of his lungs painfully. He coughed a few times while laying there, looking up at Fade with a shy smile.

"So," He wheezed, raising a hand so that she might help him back to his feet. "Am I a hopeless case?"

[Fade]

She smiled “Nobodies a hopeless case”

She frowned “Keep something in your mind when you jump especially when you somersault try to fix an image into your head, that tree for example you want to land in a way you can see it again.
Though I never tried doing a somersault without running then jumping I guess the most dangerous thing is loosing control. You have to be careful not to do one and a half turns, you will land painfully and probably on your head. But tell me what’s the use of knowing how to do a summersault when as a target you actually stay in the same place? Personally I think you should learn running jumps…I could help you more in those, the also give you more time and energy to plan your jump, and they are confusing if you are a target because they are completely random.”

She thought a moment then said "Could you please do a summersault for me on the ground?"

Then she asked "Do you know why walking on a tightrope is easier than walking normally? Think about it..."