Off the Radar and into Harm's Way

by **Dravite** on May 27th, 2015, 6:58 am

47 Spring, 515 AV
M o r n i n g

There was a loud thump as club made contact with shield and a young recruit of The Watch was thrown backwards into the dirt. The men and women on the side-line laughed, all except Dravite. As he watched the teen struggle to his feet he couldn’t help but think that was soon to be his fate, no more skilled with his spear than this boy was at blocking with his shield.

Aris’ eyes went over the listing of young men and women under his command and when his gaze settled on Dravite, the boy felt as if he might catch fire. “Windborne, you’re up!”

His heart sunk, not only was he going to be made a fool of, but it would be at the hands of a woman. She was almost half a foot taller than him, lean, and lightweight; wielding a shield and short sword. Her hair was long, the colour of honey and tied back off her face in intricate braids. She wore deer-skin clothing with a red sash tied about her middle and though Dravite had never been introduced, he guessed straight away that she belonged to the Ruby Clan; better known for their crafting than their skill with a blade. Still, if the last few days with The Watch had taught him anything, it was not to underestimate his opponent, especially a woman.

She held up her sword arm in greeting before raising her shield to protect her upper body, slowly sweeping her leg back to stand in her chosen stance. Dravite swallowed gently and nodded once, acknowledging the woman’s reception before lifting his free hand to signal that he was ready.

Aris called from the side-line, “You are sparring for training, not to hurt one another. Go!”

Someone behind him rang the goat-bell and the woman slowly started circling. Dravite had little to no experience when it came to using his weapon against another person and he tested the weight of the bone spear in his hand, holding it forward to check its reach. He didn’t realise he had an advantage, that was, if he was able to keep the girl back.

She sprung forward, eager to stake her claim in the ring and make a name for herself. Dravite jumped back, clumsy; he almost lost his footing but managed to right himself before she shoved him with her shield. The man was bunted backwards and forced to look behind himself to check how much room he had to move; his first mistake. “Always know what’s at your back!” Aris called, “You don’t have time to look over your shoulder in battle!”

When he looked back at his rival, the point of her sword was inches away from his face. “Dead,” she smirked, hissing the word before she let out a triumphant bout of laughter.

“Again,” Aris commanded and this time Dravite did not wait for the fight to come to him.

The young horse lord lunged forward, thrusting his weapon low at the woman’s legs to throw her off. She held her shield down in an attempt to block the blow and managed to parry awkwardly. Dravite did not let up and propelled his weapon forward again, this time releasing it to cut through the air and stab the earth at the girl’s feet.

She stepped on the shaft, flooring the weapon and smirked, “Now what, Windborne?”

by **Dravite** on May 31st, 2015, 2:45 pm

“Don’t let her frustrate you,” Aris encouraged, “Use your surroundings.”

Dravite only had a split second to consider his commander’s words before his opponent moved to strike. He rolled out of the way and she quickly turned and made a move as if to bring her sword down against his left side. Dravite took a handful of earth and threw it at the girl, stunning her for a second. She stepped back and rubbed her eyes, blinking a few times to make sure nothing had gone in; giving Dravite enough time to race by her and collect his weapon.

“Lesson two,” Aris laughed, “Never let go of your weapon unless you know the strike will kill.”

The young men and women stood about the edge of the makeshift fighting ring gawked, the match seemingly more exciting than they had anticipated. They all went quiet whenever Aris spoke, like little sponges soaking up the lesson, keen to learn all they could before it was their turn in the ring.

Dravite swung his spear around and smacked the woman’s backside with the blunt end before fighting to right it quickly so that the sharp end pointed forward once more. The move was less graceful than he might have liked, but he managed to ready himself for the next attack.

She lunged at Dravite, swinging her weapon wildly to cut through the air. The man was a little taken aback; had things suddenly got more serious than they should for what was supposed to be a training match? “Sky!” Aris warned the girl, “That’s enough; you’re angry, calm down or get out of the ring.”

Sky, so that was her name. Dravite looked the young woman in the eyes but didn’t smile, not wanting to add insult to injury. Sky stopped mid swing and stepped backwards, stealing a deep breath in through her nose. She lifted her shield arm and moved her shoulders as if to loosen the tension that had built up there. “You won’t best me, newbie; I’ve been training here for a lot longer than you!”

Dravite didn’t doubt it; she looked like the kind of woman that didn’t like to sit around idle for too long. He readied his spear, pondering if it would be a good idea to take up a shield himself someday as he felt naked with his weapon alone, especially when Sky’s sword swings had got a little too close for comfort. It was her doubt in him, however, that reinvigorated his stride.

He was ready this time, had learned to pay closer attention. Dravite noticed the way the woman drew her shield closer whenever she readied to strike and as she raised her sword arm he thrust his spear forward, striking the edge of her shield with extra force, stepping into the attack. Sky’s shield arm flew back and threw her off balance, sending the woman to the ground. She loosened her arm from the straps and tossed her shield at Dravite, catching his side as he moved to block.

The small crowd of recruits laughed and for a split second it seemed even Aris wore a smile. “All right you two, good match; take your places on the bench and make some room for the next pair.

by **Dravite** on May 31st, 2015, 10:11 pm

Two men walked by the training field, both dressed in free moving hide, one wielding a spear, the other with a whip wound up at his side; hanging from his belt like a dead snake. They were Yakhtai, high ranking members of The Watch that had served seven and nine years respectively. "Morning," Aris smiled, "Care to show our newest bunch of Ra’athi how it's done?"

They shouldered each other as if silently deciding whether or not they had the time to dance in the ring for a spell. The shorter of the two, a dark haired man with Windmarks on his face gave a nod and took the leather whip from his side before stepping forth. The taller man followed, tying back his fire-red hair to then ready his spear.

Everyone fell silent with anticipation, all eyes on the Yakhtai pair. "No body contact," Aris the Tavehk reminded them, knowing all too well how spirited his brothers in arms could be.

They readied their stances, looking across the dusty patch of earth at one another. Dravite paid close attention to the man wielding the spear, as he realised this was as good a chance as any to pick up a few fighting tips. There was a loud crack as the leather whip cut through the air so quickly it seemed almost invisible, and by the time anyone was able to make sense of where the end had struck, they noticed it wrapped tightly around the end of the spear.

Both sides wrestled, trying to tug each other's weapons from firm grips, neither wanting to be disarmed. The redhead man with the spear suddenly switched positions, slamming the point of his weapon into the ground to lower the line of the whip. He raced forward then, grounding the taut leather under his stride as he moved to drive the blunt end of his weapon into his partners face, stopping half an inch from the man's nose. "Trauma," Aris called, deciding how deadly the strike might have been.

"Dazed," the dark haired Yakhtai argued, releasing the whip to bunt his friend backwards, both men going to ground. They wrestled for a time, stirring up dust that made it hard to see who was more triumphant of the pair. Dravite was glued to the action, realising that both men were just as skilled in unarmed combat as they were in the reverse. He took mental note of how they positioned their hands and pushed their weight into certain body parts; knees, elbows, and fists.

When the dust settled it was the dark haired, shorter of the two men that seemed victorious, he had his legs pinned on the redhead man's arms and held him around the throat with stitched fingers. "I yield," the spearman smiled and the two quickly got to their feet, dusting themselves off.

"Thank you," Aris grinned, "That was a very interesting match."

The pair waved and collected their weapons, sticking around long enough to watch the next fight. Dravite sat contemplating all that he had seen. He had often felt that a second, close range weapon was the way to go if he was disarmed in a fight, but becoming a skilled unarmed fighter suddenly made a lot of sense to him too. He had taken some good lessons from the fight, a few stances and defence moves to make with his spear, how to shift his weight when wrestling, and that just because a weapon was lost didn't mean the fight was over.

by **Dravite** on June 1st, 2015, 12:03 am

“I don’t want to fight,” a young woman admitted as she sat down next to Dravite, resting her short spear across her lap. ‘I’m no good at it.”
“This will help you improve,” Dravite encouraged.
“But it’s so embarrassing, why can’t we just pick a partner and be done with it; train elsewhere, somewhere there aren’t so many eyes on us?”
Dravite smiled softly, a lot of the young men and women liked showing off what they could do, it was nice to know he wasn’t the only one who shied away from this kind of thing. “Did you see my fight?” He asked, probing; wondering if she had been around to pick up any tips.
“No. I was late to the party as usual.”
Dravite laughed. “You know what the means right?”
“No?” The girl looked confused.
“Aris will probably make you fight next.”

The young woman looked ahead at the current pair that were fighting and all the blood seemed to drain from her face. She lowered her gaze to stare at her short spear and sighed. “Maybe I should just quit; I don’t know why my Ankal recommended me for the role.”
“Webbing?” Dravite asked.
The girl nodded,” Yes.”

They sat in silence, Dravite watching the fight for any tips he might be able to pick up, while the girl sat with arms folded in her lap. “Keep your spear close and use its range to your advantage,” Dravite offered, trying to coach the woman. “If your opponent manages to disarm you, get them to ground as fast as possible and try to keep the upper hand.”
She glanced sideways at him, eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Did you even win your fight?”
“Barely,” Dravite chuckled.
“Then why should I take advice from you?” The woman scolded.
Dravite continued to watch the fight, not willing to make eye contact with some who resented him for trying to help. “We got to watch two of the Yakhtai members fight; I like to think I learned a thing or two.”

From the corner of his eye he saw the girl smile. “Was one of them using a spear?” She asked.
“Yeah, and the other guy had a whip; it was really entertaining to see.”
“Next time I’ll try not to be late.”

Dravite watched the round when the girl was summoned to fight, just as he had expected Aris to ask. She wasn’t bad, but it was clear to see that most of the new recruits, including himself, were complete novices with a weapon, accepted into The Watch for their skill in other areas like riding and webbing, both he felt proficient in.

As he still had energy to burn, the man decided to leave the fighting area and continue on to the other training facilities where a few of The Watch members were throwing their weapons and shooting arrows at targets. He walked on to stand a few feet from one of the targets and lined up a shot, stabbing the weapon forward to try and hit the mark painted in the centre of the board. It was a miss and a rather miserable attempt at that. Dravite laughed at himself but determined to improve on his skill, spun and stabbed the target again, landing no closer to the mark.

by **Dravite** on June 1st, 2015, 1:35 am

“You’re doing it all wrong,” a voice said from behind him and when Dravite turned to see who it belonged to he saw the redhead Yakhtai ranked Watchman staring at him from a distance.

The man closed the gap and nodded. “Dusk Morningtide,” he smiled.
“Dravite Windborne,” Dravite replied quickly with his own name.
“Morning, Dravite; I couldn’t help but notice you working on your weapon skill.”
“Trying,” Dravite sighed, ashamed, not knowing Dusk had been watching.
“Your thrust is good; you just need to learn to walk before you can run.”

Dravite gave the man a sidelong glance, a little confused by his words. He grounded the blunt end of his spear to see that the head pointed skyward and leaned into his weapon. “Care to explain?”

“I can do better than that,” Dusk assured him, sweeping a hand in front of him to signal for Dravite to move aside, “I can show you.”

He lined up his short, right foot positioned back a step. As he drove his weapon towards the target, he stepped forward, putting more power into his strike. The painted board shook upon impact and the point of the man’s weapon was buried right in the centre of the target. “Less fancy footwork, more dead-eye shots,” Dusk encouraged.

Dravite moved into position when Dusk stepped aside. He tightened his grip on the spear and lined up a shot before driving the weapon forward. “No!” Dusk called, throwing Dravite’s shot out of alignment.
“What?”
Dusk laughed. “What? You think a battle is without distractions?”

Dravite stood for a moment, contemplating the man’s words; he had a point, maybe Dravite could use that to his advantage one day. Again the young horse lord eyed the target and readied his stance before moving to strike. As he thrust his spear forward he stepped into the attack, throwing his power into the strike which saw the head of his spear buried deep within the target. His hit landed a little left of the centre marker, but it was a vast improvement on anything he had managed to land so far.

Dusk folded his arms when Dravite gave him a smile, seeking reassurance perhaps or a little praise. “Well?” Dusk murmured, unimpressed, “Again!”

Dusk helped Dravite with his stance and technique for a good twenty chimes before moving on to help another recruit with their training. Dravite didn’t feel like he had made much of an improvement in that time but at least he had a starting point now; he knew how to hold his spear and what he needed to work on to get better.

He practiced for another ten chimes before he felt tired, his endurance and willpower tentative. The man left the training area and jogged over to his Strider who stood enjoying the morning sun. Dravite reached into the left side of the leather saddlebag and felt around blindly for his water-skin to take a drink. Refreshed, he threw a leg over his mount and pointed him away from Endrykas. “Come on, boy; let’s go for a leg stretch before we head home.

by **Ssezzkero** on June 28th, 2015, 9:28 pm

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Dravite

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Solo Off the Radar and into Harm's Way