Solo [Antinous Training Grounds] A New Exercise

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

14th of Spring, 515.

Obviously, there was something going on. First of all, Ser Iros never gave his squires the chance to sleep in. Being a firm believer in the role of discipline in every knight, it was always six bells into the morning and never a chime after.. although occasionally several chimes before as well. He could tell by Syna's light and the empty dorm room, however, that it must have been somewhere between the seventh and the eighth bell into the morning when he was finally roused by the red knight stood in the doorway. He didn't even seem annoyed by anything.. wouldn't mention why he was late, wouldn't mention what they were doing on the day, refused to say anything as they ascended the tiers towards the Training Grounds.

That's where he got the second clue. A large group of squires, at least six, stood patiently near one of the narrower arenas made for closer combat.. with plenty of small alleyways and obstacles scattered about the place to limit mobility. Hmm.. alright then. Maybe this was why Iros had been so late this morning.. though it still didn't explain why he'd gone through the trouble of collecting all the other squires for their training. At least, he'd thought it was him.. but on closer inspection, he could see one of the 'squires' actually held a badge to the side of her breast of a single sword. Another knight?

She looked just as small, if not a little smaller than the squires that crowded around her, yet she spoke in a way that immediately separated her from the herd. "Good, now we're all here. Time to explain what we'll be doing today.. Ser Iros, do you want to take over, or should I?" Taking up a space next to the other knight, with the Pycon still mounted on his shoulder, Iros' announcement was unfortunately loud enough to draw the attention of almost every other knight and squire on the grounds. Whether intentional or not, he couldn't tell.. but by now, Arch just rolled his eyes.

"Alright then! Today we're going to try a new brand of group exercise that's going to rely on something a lot of you haven't been working with for a while, I've been told; teamwork. You'll each be split into two groups of three and you'll be given a few chimes to organize yourself and train with each-other. Then you'll be set against each-other. All of you, at the same time. Myself and Sera Small will be watching over all of you to make sure there's no foul going on.. and no overgiving either." Now, that definitely earned a few glances back and forth between the squires. The only reason they'd even mention overgiving would be if... oh.

"Yes, that's right," the other knight chimed in while Iros still had his mouth open. "Each group will have one mage-squire to work with. This might be a bit of friendly competition but I'll be watching to make sure none of you are straining yourselves too hard.. otherwise the match is cancelled immediately. Do I make myself clear?" There were a few nervous swallows and nods of agreement; Iros' stare brokered no argument. Already, though, Arch's mind was racing over what kind of mage they'd have on their side. Shielder? Reimancer? Flux? Who knew!?

Iros stepped forwards and pointed at two squires, seemingly at random. "You two will be paired with Archailist here. Don't be fooled, he's not as bad as he looks." The knight earned himself a growl as a metal-clad hand raised and offered its palm as a platform to escort him to the ground.. which the Pycon eventually accepted. The other three were already running off to a different arena to begin their inter-training. They even disappeared behind one of the walls.. there wasn't a chance of seeing what they were up to until the final match. Makes things interesting, I suppose.

Meanwhile, seeing as they were already in a different arena, there was no point moving.. and for a long few ticks, the three squires were just left staring at each-other. Neither of them looked familiar. One rather boyish and beaten, like they'd grabbed his ear and dragged him into the Grounds without five chimes between. Funnily enough, so did the other. Oh great. Maybe he shouldn't be judging books by their cover, but he swore that there had to be better squires out there than these two. What he would give for Ball to join him now.. they'd clean up, mage or no. "So... ahem. Name's Archailist." Silence. Sweet Sylir.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

It took a few prompting gestures for one of the squires to finally speak up. "Oh. Uhmmm. M'name's Tobias." The squire genuinely didn't look like he was interested in even being there.. but at least it prompted the other squire to speak up shortly afterwards, apparently drawn to action. "I'm Will." At least Will seemed a little more active.. if more insecure as well with his position. After barely a few words they dropped back into silence that spread for another few ticks, wasting even more precious moments when they could be preparing themselves. Deep down inside, the Pycon was ripping out his own clay.. but if he started yelling, he'd never get anything done.

"Alright then. Why don't you tell me about what weapons both of you have brought? What stuff you're good at? Which one of you is good in magic, which magic?" There was a shared glance between the two humans and the Pycon felt something deep inside twitch in irritation. Why were they being so damn difficult?! "Well?" Blank stares and silence for a few more ticks.

One of them - Tobias - finally opened his mouth. "I sometimes do magic. Projection." Finally they were getting somewhere. One problem.. Arch didn't have a clue what Projection was or how it was going to help them. He liked to think that he knew at least a little about magic.. even if he didn't actually have much practice in any. Still, it seemed there were still plenty of things he was yet to know, besides how to use them. Surprisingly, Tobias seemed to be able to pick up on his confusion and continued before the Pycon could raise a paw in question. "It means I can... uhm. I guess I can reach things that you can't."

Nope, that only confused him even more. "So.. you can reach stuff that normal people can't? Stretch your own arms? Or.. is it literally projecting them over something?" Apparently he'd hit some kind of target, because Tobias nodded in agreement. That could definitely come across as useful.. but now it was Will's turn. When the Pycon turned back to the other human, it went just as he'd expected - the other squire, inadvertently pressured, co-operated as well and opened himself up a little.

"I'm just an ordinary squire.. you know, got my sword and shield and stuff." Well, he was wearing a sheath at his side and a shield on his back; all these things were pretty obvious, but apparently there really wasn't anything other than that. Pretty standard.. but nevertheless useful. The squirrel nodded in approval.. but soon both pairs of eyes were turning back expectantly. Well, he didn't have the same problems as either of them; he could actually look them in the eyes and speak straight!

"I use a Py-Pole and my own fists." As a little demonstration, he pulled the pole from the groove on his back and held it up for inspection.. only to be met with completely blank stares. "It's a special weapon. Made to stab, hit and be used to help me jump. That's it." A few nods of approval here and there and the Pycon felt a small smile creeping up the corners of his muzzle before he could reel it back in and remember that they actually had some work to be doing.

Abruptly, the true situation hit like a runaway wagon. They had.. possibly mere chimes left to prepare an effective battle plan against three squires who he had no idea were capable of. There wasn't a chance of just making shyke up on the battlefield as they went.. and if they didn't come up with something good, fast, then they'd be instantly wiped out. It didn't matter if one of them had magic, didn't matter if they had a page or a Sergeant Knight on their side.. it was still going to be a three-against-one and they were going to lose, without question, if they didn't have a plan of action. A good one, at that.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

"Alright.. uhm. How about we do this, for the battle. Will, you're the one with the shield, right? Tobias, you didn't mention if you have a shield.. oh. You don't have one on you. Just forget to bring it? Anyway, doesn't matter. Will, come stand over here right next to Tobias, what we're going to do is, if you can hold the position and keep your shield up over him, then you can hopefully block the incoming attacks and..." Both of the squires were just staring at him with utterly blank eyes, as though they hadn't the faintest clue what the shyke he was talking about. He wanted to scream at the pair of them and rip their eyeballs out in the hopes of making them less utterly blind than they were now about the gravity of the situation.

"Calm down. Slow breaths." Tobias cracked a sudden smile and knelt down to cup a wide hand around the back of the Pycon, never actually applying any force but just letting the warmth wash over his shoulders. "Just tell us, in simple words, what your plan is. Basic idea." At first, he just wanted to give up then and there; obviously neither of them were even thinking if they couldn't understand the plan. But.. as he took the fellow squire's advice and took a few deep breaths, looking back showed a lot of stuff he immediately regretted.

"Alright. Because Will has the shield, I can dodge, he'd be primarily defending you." That was actually all he'd intended to say. Both of the squires turned back to each-other; Will was frowning a little bit, apparently not too happy that he'd be left without any part in the attack.. but eventually he nodded in approval. Spurred, another thought came to his head; Will had a sword as well, right? "Will, while you're using the shield to take the hits, Tobias, do you think you'll be able to lift me with your projected arms?" The question seemed to startle the man at first; his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the Pycon.

After a long pause, he finally broke his silence. "Yeah, I think I could do that pretty easily." There was uncertainty in his voice. The Pycon kept up the stare until he finally took the hint. "Yeah, I can lift you up." Now he was curious though. "Why do you want me to do that, though?" Will, ever-watching from the side of their little conversation was even leaning closer now with a small frown steadily growing on his face, as if he doubted the plan before it'd even had the chance for proper explanation.

"Well, look. I'm small. Tobias, if you can pick me up and get me behind those guys, near their ankles, I can get in some good hits.. and I can open up some space for you and Will to get some easy hits while they're busy. I make the opening, you go through it." He must've said something funny because Tobias was smiling and staring off into the distance; a spot somewhere just above the Pycon's head. "What?" Snapping his fingers and clapping both hands together finally roused the boy with a shudder. Daydreaming?

"Sorry.. hah, sounds perfect." Archailist nodded in agreement, though there was still something very important to cover.

"Good.. but I need you to make sure that you keep an arm ready to get me out of there when I say. I don't like being crushed.." Because, fast and nimble as he might be, humans were still humans and Pycons were still Pycons. He had to remember that.. because forgetting it could cost him a fight, and much more if it continued to go unchecked. His stern gaze slowly wiped the smile clean from Tobias' face as the gravity of the situation dawned on him; only when he was satisfied did the squirrel crack a smile in return to lighten them up again.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

"So, let's start getting into position and practicing for when the bat-"

A loud whistle broke his words into incomprehensible babbling. "Alright, time's up!" Abruptly, the Pycon balked and turned back to both team-mates.. who were just as surprised by the looks on their faces. Surely Iros was kidding; barely five chimes had passed. "Take your positions! Archailist, Tobias, William, move to the left edge of the grounds; the rest of you, take the right edge." Oh sweet Sylir, he wasn't joking. They didn't even have time to practice their routine, didn't have time to answer questions or work up anything beyond the bare bones of a plan. Dejectedly they followed their orders but he didn't like the looks his new rivals were passing between each-other. They looked confident. Whispering tidbits.

"Begin." WHA--

No time to panic. No time to even work out where he was supposed to be going; the other three were already charging towards them like a Yukman stampede. "WILL, IN FRONT, NOW!" Not even a countdown; the poor boy still had his shield strapped to the back plate of his armor and thick fumbling fingers were hindered even more by the stress. In the end, both Will and Tobias had to practically leap out of the way of a heavy, blunt training battleaxe that swung out in front of their chests with enough force that the girl holding it nearly spun on her heel to keep it under control. Five ticks in, the plan has gone to shyke. They needed to act quick on their feet. Normally a difficult feat - trying to co-ordinate everyone at once, nigh-impossible. Screw the odds though, right?

"Tobias, now!" The boyish squire stared down with a blank face. Completely blank. He didn't have a damn clue and the squirrel had to desperately reel in the urge to give him a good punch right in the ankle while in the background and about five inches off to the left, Will was still struggling to put up his shield. "THROW ME!" His face lit up with sudden epiphany and turned beet-red. "Forget it."Petching shyke, they were wasting too much time; the girl with the battleaxe swung again, slapped against the side of the shield, used her free hand to grab the edge and push it aside before knocking him square in the chest with the flat edge of the blunt blade. Even with heavy plate-mail, that was going to leave a bruise.. let alone the continuing whacks as the next squire whacked him on the back with his blunt training long-sword.

That was the killing blow. Iros leaned in, grappled Will by the back of his plate-mail and literally dragged him from the battlefield on his heels. "One dead." They were going by realistic rules, apparently; if they got what would be a killing blow in a real battle, they were automatically pulled from the field, declared 'dead' and the remaining squires would have to make their own way afterwards. Unfortunately, Will was the only one out of the three of them that use a shield.. even if it wasn't very well. Tobias wasn't going to be any use now; even less so since he had no chance of defending himself. Things were just going from bad to worse, then worse still.

At least he could see what he was up against. One held a long-sword with a shield.. one held a battle-axe.. one held a katana, though she was obviously the leader; remaining behind the first two and not pulling any swings, yet. There was no telling which one out of them all was the most competent in their skills.. heck, one of them was supposed to be a mage but, so far, there wasn't any need for it. Petching shyking Hai in a hole in the floor.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Three against two. Not exactly 'severely outnumbered' but considering the massive hole in their group tactics and the apparent skill gap, things were dire as they were. The blob of opposing squires edged closer, weapons already outstretched and ready to quickly dispatch of Tobias. They'd even planned for this moment; the squire wielding his long-sword moved off for Arch while the other two cornered Tobias, with his back against a stone half-wall and no escape. There goes the team-mates. From his place, the Pycon couldn't do anything to help. A long-sword, wooden or not, was still pointing straight at his head. He had no way to deal a 'killing blow' unlike the other two. He didn't have a Py-Pole and even if he did, those things didn't have the strength to pierce plate-mail.

He turned over to Iros, still standing at the sidelines and watching patiently. "Don't suppose there's a chance of a restart?" The Akalak stared until Arch got the picture. Fantastic. Well, two options. One, die. Two, die with style. Not something he would usually consider.. but hey, it was only a bit of training after all. Not a very nice one either. While Tobias was being smacked around between a blunt greataxe and a katana nudging at his chest, he made his move; hopping left to bluff out the sword and draw its tip left before he switched direction and went right instead, down between the squire's ankles and giving a good whack to one along the way with the tip of his tail. Enough to hurt.. but not a killing blow. Not that he could land one if he tried.

It wasn't his real aim either; just enough to slow down the squire on his way to cut off the head of the snake. Bruised and nursing one arm, Tobias was eventually hoisted up and out of the corner by one burly arm from just between the two other squires. "Two dead. One left." Just the closure he needed. The two remaining squires turned back towards him, one raising her battleaxe and slamming it down with both hands into the ground. Opening. Hopping to the side, he separated himself from the leader by using the girl's body as a barricade. He could shield himself until he reached the ankles. Pull it off, she falls, turn back and engage the other two, keep close to the ankles. A crude and vague plan but it'd work.

He needed to move now. The squirrel turned, ran under the girl still picking up her battleaxe, reeled back a fist, slowly gathered clay into it from his other arm and packing it tight around the knuckles until the fingers merged together into a thick little brick to punch straight into her ankle... except it didn't. His fist didn't just graze its side and slip off.. it didn't bounce off the plate-mail. It just bounced off thin air a few inches away from her body without any of the satisfaction of impact. .... No. He'd seen this before. The strange men trying to fight Nivel and the others in the woods. Magic. Why couldn't it just be Reimancy.. or Auristics. It had to be Shielding, didn't it.

Bouncing back, he tried again to the exact same result; bouncing straight back off an invisible barrier a few inches away from her real ankle. This time, he didn't have Nivel around to point out where the shield was weakest.. and even if he could tell where it was, it'd take forever to get up there. Hope drained from his entire body and he simply sat down in front of the girl, who didn't even bother raising her katana to defend herself. Petching... shyke. Not a single casualty but from his own. Eventually, what he'd been waiting for, arrived - a gentle tap to the back of the head with the blunt tip of a long-sword.

"That's three." Even though there was no need, Iros crouched down and cupped the squirrel in one hand before hoisting him back up and gently placing him down on one muscled shoulder. "Needless to say, that was quite the eye-opener, hmm?" Arch remained silent. Will and Tobias stood off to the side, staring down at the floor and nursing minor injuries or bruises.. while the three victors stood proud with big smug grins over their faces. "If this was a real exercise, I don't think I need to explain what would have happened. I expect a much better performance next time.. from all of you." For once, Sera Small actually piqued up and nodded in approval, but offered no words. "For now, you're all dismissed."

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The other squires were free to leave; Arch wasn't. Nearly a full bell later he was still on that same shoulder, being ridden out of the main gates. "I think we both know why you were on the losing team." They hadn't talked since then. Archailist didn't feel like talking about not just his loss, but his humiliating loss.. and Iros apparently wanted to leave time to let the implications sink a little deeper. "If you're going to become a knight then you're going to need to learn how to work with other knights. You won't be able to control who has your back on the field and you need to account for every scenario." Something wasn't right, he knew it; but another few chimes were needed before it suddenly hit him around the face.

"... You set that up? You knew they weren't very good fighters and you purposefully threw us together in a way that would make sure that we couldn't win!" Oh that was mean. That was beyond mean; to think all of this time, he'd blamed himself and in truth it was Iros' fault all along. Now it was Iros' turn to be silent. It only aggravated the squirrel even more.

"Yes, I set you with the less combat-ready members because you have become a dangerous little Pycon on the battlefield. If I set you up with a normal squire spar, it doesn't challenge you any more." That much, there was no arguing with. His over-indulgence, bordering on obsession with furthering his acrobatic ability could only lead to an ultimate lack of challenge on the battlefield where opponents were too slow to keep up. "So I balanced the books. I set you up with a group of squires that were weaker than your opponents and let you loose. If you were set with squires of an equal skill, or better, then it would have ended just as it did today in reverse. You wouldn't have your challenge, the others would lose, you would win and nothing would be gained."

"Uh-huh and what was gained here, huh? Yes, I lost because I was outnumbered by squires I couldn't outsmart and mage-squires that I couldn't counter. If the odds are against me, I lose, I knew that before. What has this shown me?" Perhaps they were both getting a little too deep into their argument by now - it was just a spar, after all. Iros was obviously trying to gain higher moral ground for some unknown reason though and it just pushed every one of Arch's buttons at the same time until he couldn't take any more. Maybe it was the fact that he was a damn sore loser when it came to fights that he couldn't win in the first place.

"You could have won. If you'd prepared more effectively. You didn't just lose because they were better skilled and you were outnumbered. You lost because they were better prepared - more organized to deal with you. Split you up and overwhelm you from the start." That, also, wasn't his fault. If he'd only had more time to practice and perfect the plan then perhaps they could have done away with their disabilities as individuals. Heck, they could have won.. eventually. "What you learned today is that even though you are a very good fighter.. and I'm proud of you for it, too.. that still doesn't mean you're better than the sum of our other squires." Something he thought he knew already.. but better to just lie down and accept whatever Iros said rather than make an even bigger deal out of it. The stubborn Akalak was going to have his cake and eat it... better to watch him get fat and regret it.

[Sayana]

Archailist Skills: Skill EXP Interrogation +1 Leadership +3 Rhetoric +2 Planning +2 Tactics +3 Persuasion +1 Pyken +1 Philosophy +1 Lores: Leadership: An exercise in teamwork Leadership: Assessing skills of comrades Will: Squire who can defend with a shield Tobias: Mage squire skilled in projection Projection: Reaching things normal people can't Leadership: Preparation as a team can outweigh the skills of one member Shield Points: Shield Points Earned Reason +4 Training +1 Patron Total: +5 Shield Points Comments : A very dynamic thread. I think Arch learned a lot through the exercise. Definitely humbling for him. Great job. Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request in the grade request thread. However, make sure to keep the link so that the DS can review graded threads with ease. If you have any questions or concerns about your grade please feel free to send me a message (like really, I’m all ears if you feel like I missed something). Enjoy.