Closed [The Sanctuary] Gracing The Tides Of Learning (Vanator)

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

Timestamp: 34th Day of Winter Lysa listened on deaf ears to the mild chatter of people within the Common Room in the Within. What people talked about never really concerned her. In the past, yes, she probably would have been one of those people who mindlessly chattered away about topics she probably would have been deeply engaged in but nowadays, she just went about her business quietly and nodded her head along. It was, however, a certain improvement from staring stonily at icy floors though. Stabbing the rest of her breakfast with a utensil, she didn't let herself get bothered by the fact that she was going to be asked questions so that she could learn how to fight...or something like that. In all honesty, the thought of fighting had never appeared in her mind before. Of course on the several occasions she had thought about it, she had always considered herself as not the fighting type so as thus, never thought she might succeed in doing that well if she actually tried. Bad mindset she knew but that was her honest opinion. Letting her teeth crunch on the food until it was minuscule and able to slip down her throat without her choking or dying etc., she sat back and let the still useless chatter slide through one ear and then out, waiting to be tested.

[Vanator]

Vanator entered the Commons, a small crowd gathered to pick at the dishes set out on the counter by Cadra. It was a casual set up for lunch, the day had been busy and folks came and went as their schedule allowed. The Drykas had spotted the subject of his next task sitting at the table eating. Vanator scooped up a wooden plate and dropped two meat pies on it, then moved to take a place across the table from Lysaea.

He greeted the young woman with a smile. "Hello!" He added in Vani, one of the smattering of words he had learned from Khiara. Lysaea did not look much like his lost wife, though she was equally beautiful. Nevertheless, the vibrant eyes that shifted hue, the deep violet-highlighted hair, and the Vani accent lead to reminiscing of his Vanthan second wife.

Vanator had watched the girl from Avanthal, as he did with all new arrivals at the Sanctuary. Lysaea was quiet, reserved. She also seemed to bear some burden. Everyone had a story that lead them to the Sanctuary. Maybe, in her own time, Lysaea would share hers. She had shared few words with the Denusk man so far, but he was patient and understanding.

"I am sure Kavala told you I would be looking for you." He started, pausing to take a bite of the meat pie, chew it and swallow before continuing. "One of my jobs is to make sure everyone is able to defend themselves, and the Sanctuary. It may not sound appealing, but I am afraid history has proven it necessary. Besides, Mizahar is a dangerous place, everyone should know how to protect themselves."

The Drykas paused again to take a bite of the savory pastry. It was obvious he enjoyed it greatly, a quiet 'mmmm' slipping from his throat as he devoured the next two bites. "Sorry," he exclaimed around his full mouth, "I love Kavala's meat pies."

Downing the mouthful of food, Van continued. "You are in good shape, I assume it is from the work you have been doing for Riverfall, hunting is it? So, I don't think we need to worry too much about getting you fit. Now, looking at what kind of experience you have, and determining the right weapon for you to learn for your body style and comfort, are what I would like us to work on. Have you had any experiences in a fight, or with a weapon? Do you have a weapon you think you would like to learn?"

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

Letting the background noises fade away, Lysa begun to float in the air of her own world, drinking in the sights and not wanting to leave. She didn't want to return to the world where reality engulfed her in a wave of guilt and sadness until the point she was forced to remain in a tightly woven shell. That shell she kept around her like a guard from emotion so that she would never have to experience the pain she did; it was both her shield and her obstruction and she still didn't know whether to completely shatter it or not. As lost in her thoughts as she was, she was reasonably surprised when she suddenly saw the blonde man named Vanator smiling in her face and greeting her in Vani. Shaking her head slightly and turning to angle her gaze at him, she forced herself to give at least a polite smile at the man. "Hi," she returned in the same language although most definitely not in the same tone of voice. She wasn't curious as to how he might have learned the language that seemed to have faded slowly out her mind. There was always a way to learn bits and pieces from languages and she was quite sure that if she said another sentence in full Vani, he would not be able to understand. Hearing the Denusk speak again, she merely nodded her head once as a response and continued just staring at him as he ate the meat pie. It wasn't that it was particularly interesting to watch people eat but more of the way she was just watching the way he acted. He seemed friendly enough but people weren't all that they seemed. Continuing to tune in as he continued speaking, she didn't bother to voice any of her thoughts that were racing through her head. She didn't particularly like violence at all; she believed there could always be another resolution but she guessed what he said was true. Mizahar was dangerous and judging from some of her previous experiences, self-defense was certainly a skill one would want to have. Also, she guessed that if she was planning on staying in Riverfall permanently, the ability to fight would be necessary if she wanted to be a citizen of the city. Brushing off his apology about eating, she shrugged, completely not bothered. It was eating time. Therefore people ate. If someone liked to eat something, then by all means they should eat it. 'Lysa reasoning 101' as a certain dead person she could think of would have called her train of thoughts. Letting Vanator's words continue to flow into her ears, she considered what he was saying as spared a few moments of time to think about it. "Well, I have a small spear that I use when I hunt. I also had to defend myself with it a few times before in the past," she said, smiling slightly as she thought of the most recent time she had had to defend herself. That instant had been pretty happy for her. Internally wondering what the Drykas opposite of her would have thought of her smiling at the fact she had had to defended herself before brought a slight chuckle out of her lips. She hoped she didn't pass off as someone who actually enjoyed fighting though.

[Vanator]

A wall existed around Lysaea, and Vanator could see it as if it were made of stone. Patience, he told himself. The Vanthan took in his words with polite silence. The woman took a moment to considered the Drykas' questions, then answered with a matter-of-fact. Short spear. Good. Used on her occupation good. Used to defend herself, good. Was that a subtle smirk at the mention of the incident? that was curious indeed. Vanator reminded himself to bring up the subject of that incident, once the ice between them melted.

"Very good, so you have a weapon you are used to handling, and you have even had to use it against an attacker." Van paused, watching Lsyaea to see if her features would shed any more light on the peculiar smile displayed earlier. "If Kavala has not given you any other tasks, why don't you meet me up in the courtyard in a few chimes with your spear. Do you have any questions for me?" Van asked, giving her the opportunity as he ate his last meat pie. If the girl posed any inquiries, he would answer, otherwise, the Denusk would excuse himself, gather a few items from the armory and head up topside.

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

Lysa just nodded her head again when Vanator spoke. Her facial expression wasn't anything but neutral as she let her mind float up into empty space. She had a slight feeling Vanator wanted to find out what she had smiled about but for her personally, she wasn't in the mood to shed light on her 'brilliant' storytelling skills. She was pretty sure they had grown even worse than they had ever been in Avanthul. Last time she checked, her storytelling skills had been on the level of someone recounting their day in a highly formal report. Lysa didn't know about what others thought about highly formal reports but she knew that she had always found them boring; the exact opposite of how she felt storytelling should be like. Starting to nodding her head yet another time when the Drykas suggested they meet up in the courtyard, the thought that saying something would most likely be better appeared in her mind which she decided to act on rather than think everything. Coughing slightly to clear her relatively unused throat, she began to speak, croaking a bit on her first word. "No, Kavala hasn't given me any tasks...I think and I don't have any questions," she said as lightly as she could, trying to prevent her voice from sounding too cold. "So, I'll meet you at the courtyard?" she asked to confirm, noting the irony that she had said she didn't have any questions and then asked a question just a second later.

[Vanator]

Lysaea remained stoically unemotional as Van spoke, and he began to wonder if she was really listening at all. He understood the nature of Vanthan eyes, their telling color changes, but he didn't know the key to Lysaea's gaze. He knew what Khiara's colors meant, but Van didn't know enough about Vanthan to tell if they all were the same.

The Drykas scowled a bit at the young woman. The Denusk Ankal commanded a measure of respect from everyone at the Sanctuary, and the Vanthan's demeanor inferred that she did not find their conversation significant enough to fully engage. But then, Van realized the truth about Sanctuary. Many who come here, including himself, have come from difficulty, some even from tragedy. Until he discovered more about Lysaea's past, he had no right to judge her. The Denusk's furrowed brow smoothed and his features softened again. The girl did nod when he was finished and confirmed the meeting place.

Near the Horse Gate, Van had set up a practice pole, it was here he waited for Lysaea, knocking the snow from the tall padded post. He had brought a short spear from the armory, as well as a staff about the same size, a small wooden shield and a wooden battle ax. He considered his latest student, an unwilling one it seemed. That made training more difficult. At least she had some kind of experience, knew how it felt to handle her spear, even fought with it. He was very interested in how that went. Lysaea lived, which says something about how she was able to handle herself.

Once the Vanthan arrived, he would greet her with a smile. "Alright, first, lets see what you got. Get into a fighting stance with your weapon." If Lysaea did not bring her spear, he would offer the one from the armory. "Show me how you would posture yourself to defend against an attacker."

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

After Vanator left, Lysa didn't waste any time sticking around. Walking out the doorway, she remembered she should bring her spear and moved towards her private area. As she moved through the empty walkways, she suddenly had an urge to stop. Smiling, she closed her eyes before taking a moment to appreciate the peace sheer silence brought. Reminding herself that she should probably go as quickly as possible, her face immediately dropped it's smile and started to walk quickly the rest of the way to her room, Opening her door with little hassle, she picked up her shortspear and quickly hurried up to the courtyard. Immediately upon her arrival, she was greeted with a smile and returned it albeit a small one before looking around the courtyard. Winter was her favourite season. She still preferred Avanthul's winter though. Getting slightly off course in her thinking, she nearly dropped her spear when she heard the Drykas's voice. "Oh god," she said frankly without thinking, her currently cyan blue eyes starting to mesh with a luminous gold and dark green. Deciding she should just go by whatever she felt was right, she lamely lifted her spear up in front of her. She had no idea whether that would actually help defend herself or not. Thinking about her body was positioned, she shifted her left foot backwards after a moment to gain more balance. "Is this alright?" she asked slightly hesitant, her eyes a mixture of dark blue and green.

[Vanator]

Lysaea's smile was half-hearted, but Vanator appreciated her willingness to meet him. The Vanthan seemed a bit distracted, or nervous, nearly dropping her weapon when he began to speak. The saturated hues of her eyes began to shift, and Van noted the flow from blue to the striation of gold and dark green. They were beautiful, and Vanator found himself momentarily distracted by them, and the memory of eyes very much like them.

The Denusk watched as Lysaea hesitated, hoisting her spear in front of her. A small smile crossed Van's lips as the girl thought for a moment, then shifted her left foot back. A little azure bleeded back into the huntress' gaze. "Not bad! You have the weapon up and ready, and you instinctively felt the need for a good solid foundation with your legs and feet, your feet are just as they should be, giving you good footing to move and strike from."

Vanator picked up the short spear from the armory and mirrored Lysaea's stance. "Now, from there, you are able to strike out and keep an attacker at bay." He thrust out with the spear. "Though your spear is not full length, it still give you an advantage over shorter weapons. An attacker with a shorter reach has to step within your reach to hit you. Thus you have a defensive advantage."

Van pointed to the padded pole nearby. "Now, go over here to the practice pole, get into your stance, and take some thrusts at it. Out and back, quick jabbing hits."

[Lysaea Frostfawn]

The Vantha managed to smile uneasily at the praise, her eyes shifting cyan nonetheless. She wondered whether she seemed highly uncomfortable in her position to the Drykas. Her position of footing yes, she was alright with that but the fighting stance? Noooo, never in a million years. The whole fighting thing just didn't seem natural to her. Maybe it would get better as she got more at ease she guessed but at the current moment, that time seemed a long way off. Paying attentively to Vanator; she had learnt before that the better someone did anything they didn't want to do, the less time they'd have to spend on it, she nodded her head to indicate that she heard him. Forcing herself to calm down, her eyes grew amethyst, emerald and sapphire. Moving her feet in the direction of the pole the Armsmaster of the Sanctuary indicated, she resumed her stance and tried thrusting at the thing. Out and back just like Vanator had said. At first, her pace wasn't quick or steady at all, just the slight thud of uncertain blows. Eventually though, as Lysa grew more accustomed to her task, she started to hit it harder and with an inch more heart. Her pace was slowly increasing and the steadiness in her blows were getting better. At the back of her mind, she wondered whether she should stop. Showing in her thrusts, she skipped a beat in her rhythm and slowed down slightly although not realising it. The Drykas would stop her when he felt like she should, she drew to a conclusion.

[Vanator]

Vanator was not discouraged by his reluctant student. The heart to fight, finding that fierceness inside, was as much a part of learning to defend one's self as the weapon techniques. It could not be commanded by him to come out of Lysaea, she would have to find it herself. The Drykas' job was to help the young Vanthan to find it. Vanator let Lysaea have at the practice pole for a while. Her effort was half-hearted at first, hesitant jabs from a lazy stance.

But as Lysaea continued, she put a little more spit into her thrusts, much to Vanator's satisfaction. The Vanthan faltered a bit, and he instructed her to stop. "Ok, OK, good. I think you started to feel it." He paused, making sure he had the attention of those vibrant Vanthan eyes. "Sometimes, it helps to imagine a foe when you practice, gives you some motivation, I sometimes think of a Zith. Also, it helps to keep kind of loose. I know that sounds strange, but if you bend your knees a bit, lower yourself some," he demonstrated, feet wide, knees bent, hunched over a bit holding the practice spear, "It gives you more flexibility and power." Van bounced a bit from one foot to another.

Vanator took several steps back, waving his spear, indicating Lysaea should take up a position across from her. "So, what brought you to the Sanctuary, Lysaea?" This was more than just learning to use a spear. It was Van's chance to learn about the introverted Vanthan, and offered her a chance to ask questions, if she chose to do so.