Growth by Necessity(Training Closed/Grandfathered))

[Christoph]

Christoph side steps the snowball his armored legs catching each other send the man flat on his face in the snow. He slowly stood up brushing snow off of his armor. “I dodged it… but It seems I would have been better off just taking the hit” He reclasps the straps that lock his swords into their sheathes he scoops a ball of snow into his hands compacting it into a solid sphere of ice. He hurls it towards the top of a tree near Midnight hoping to cause the snow held in its branches to fall on top of the Kelvic.

“you have a point, if either of us were intent on killing each other someone would be dead already.” he eyes the arrow in the log. “you know I may not be an archer but I am a well trained swordsmen, weapons work best when seen as extensions of the body and soul. Not quite sure if it goes the same with bows, but with swords it is true.” The man takes out a cloth from one of the saddlebags of his horse, and uses it to wipe snow from his armor. “if you’d like I could show you the proper use of a sword… if you don’t already know of coarse.” He turns his gaze to Midnight “and if you throw one more snow ball at me I will be forced to pelt thee senselessly with snow”

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden grumbled over the last shot. It was a fluke, granted, but it turned out to be a more accurate fluke than all his previous shots combined and that irritated him for some reason. Still, he was slowly getting the whole thing down. Slowly but surely. Looking to Christoph, he gave a slow nod. "Some sparring may do me some good, but not at this exact moment," Jaeden replied, "still have to go through all my arrows before I want to move on to some other training. If you wanted to collect some branches about the same length of long swords. We can do some sparring momentarily." Drawing another arrow from the quiver, he once again fell back from his target more, this time coming back to fifty yards. He noched the arrow into the bow, drawing it back once again he took aim, exhaling another fogged breath observing the moment how the fog traveled through the air. Another moment passed before he released the arrow. The whistle it made through the air began lasting a little longer, and this time, Jaeden hit the log rather than it veering off to the side as he had finally began learning to compensate for wind direction and power, though not precisely as the arrow still sunk into the right side of the log, instead of more centered. This time, he noticed as well that the arrow was lower than where he had aimed and other arrows previously hit, generally speaking. He contemplated on that as he recalled, in the past, observing other archers who actually aimed their bows upwards in the air before firing upon their targets. "I see," Jeaden thought to himself under his breath. "Arrows lose their energy the further they go. The further away I am, the higher I have to point the bow." Jaeden thought for a long moment before looking to his quiver. Only four arrows were left. It was likely the better idea he fine tuned his aiming over shorter distances before losing more arrows firing over long range. Who knows what he might hit accidentally loosing arrows over long distances.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden lowered his bow after finally releasing the last arrow which stuck into the upper left corner of he log. Out of the twenty arrows he had fired, only about seven had actually hit the log. None of the arrows, save one, hit with anywhere real close to the center of the log he had been firing at. The one that did he had fired with frustration and wasn't even aiming. He certainly knew that wasn't the trick to the bow of course. Releasing a slow exhale, Jaeden raised his bow once more and began looking over the string for wear marks and spots that would begin to show signs of fraying. Spotting none, he then placed one tip of the bow into the ground while pressing his hand along the other end, bending the bow down slightly before pulling the string free from the bow and releasing it's tension all together. He began looping bow's string around his free hand as he began making his way over towards the log. Jaeden slid the bow shaft into a small leather sleeve made for the bow along his back as he stopped in front of the log. Standing there, he reached up for the first arrow, grasping it with his right hand while pressing his left along the log itself. He began pulling, exhaling slightly as he did so and as the pressure increased, the arrow itself as dislodged, unfortunately without the head. "What the?" Jaeden muttered under his breath before moving to the next arrow and getting the same result. He let out a sigh as his hand rose to his face, dragging down it from brow to chin in a slow rub of frustration. "Okay, note to self: Must get an actual archery target for my next practice session," Jaeden then said to himself before moving back to his backpack. All the arrows were pretty much lost. Jaeden would have to make a trip to the city soon and pick some more up. Jaeden stood over his pack, now slipping off his wrist guard, bow and sword all together and set them along his pack. He then proceeded to pull off his leather armor, setting it over his pack after pulling out a length of rope from within. He paused, as he looked over towards Midnight and Christoph, who seemed to now be in a heated snowball battle. He released a sigh, making his way back over towards the log, standing beside it before tying one end of the rope along the top just below a small knot along the log's surface. Pressing his shoulder into the log, Jaeden leaned into it, giving it a small nudge as it toppled over onto the ground with a heavy thud. He then proceeded to tie a couple of loops into the other end of the rope as it began forming two loops at the end. The knots themselves were ugly, and would likely take him an hour to undo after he was finished, but they were solid. Jaeden then slipped his arms through the two loops as he would the straps of a backpack and began walking towards the north. The rope eventually went taut with pressure as the slack was taken up and Jaeden's movement was halted by the log. A slow fogged breath was released as Jaeden looked up slightly, noting the time of day. He then leaned forward slightly and began digging into the ground with his feet. His teeth gritted together as his face knotted up with signs of struggle as the log finally began making sounds of being dragged along the ground. Such a task would be a little simpler during the winter, as the ground itself was a little more even with the fallen snow and created less friction than it would. It was still a struggle, none the less, and Jaeden grunted as he began moving forward at a slow pace. He would never quite hit even a jogging speed, but that wasn't the point in the long run.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden had been walking for what seemed like hours, dragging a log behind him as he did. By this point, a certain amount of perspiration had formed along his brow and chest, causing his shirt to cling to the surface of his skin. Jaeden's movement was suddenly stopped as the log's end caught along the root of a tree that stuck out above ground. He gave a long exhale standing up strait. His hands moved to his waist, as deep breaths were taken. Walking over to the log, he hoisted it up it's front end before dragging it forward slightly and setting it back down. Walking forward, he moved slowly until the rope again became taught, then leaned forward before digging his feet into the ground and moving forward once more. His eyes then went wide as a snapping sound suddenly echoed out and he found himself falling forward. His face slammed into the snow covered ground, the rope behind him bunching up slightly at his feet. He raised his face as a layer of snow clung to his skin and slowly began to melt. Turning on his side he looked down towards the log to see the rope had suddenly snapped at the top of the log. The continuous friction along the ground couple with the strain put on the rope eventually became to much. Jaeden just sat up, slipping the ropes off his shoulders as he took that moment to catch his breath. Standing, he looked south to see that camp was still about half a mile away and then slowly ran his hand over his face before winding his rope back up. He looped the rope itself to his belt before both of his hands went to his shirt, pulling it off. He crouched, reaching down to the front of the log and with a slight amount of effort, he tipped the log up, leaning it along a nearby tree. Jaeden then began folding his shirt over a few times before he slipped it over his right shoulder before once again stepping in front of the log and tipping it towards him this time. As the log began to press lightly against Jaeden's chest, he crouched down, allowing the log to leaned forward along his shoulder, his folded shirt acting as padding to prevent scrapes and abrasions the tree's bark would otherwise leave. Jaeden wrapped his hands around the log before giving a grunted exhale as he lifted the log into the air along his shoulder. He stood there for a moment, making sure his balance was solid before turning back south and walking towards camp. The logs weight seemed much more than it was after having dragged it for a mile and a half. The muscles in Jaeden's legs burned, crying out to Jaeden's brain that they were nearing their limit, that he should stop. Jaeden ignored it though, and continued to walk with heavy steps towards camp. He had more to do when he reached there.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden stepped slowly into camp, the log resting heavily along his shoulders as bared teeth and heavy breathing displayed the strain on his legs and back. Slipping his hands under the log, he leaned forward slightly as gravity took a more solid hold of the thick wood. He pushed it off his shoulder as it began to fall before it slammed loudly over the hard, cold ground. Quick exhaled fogs of breath escaped into the air as Jaeden laced his fingers together, resting his hands along the top of his head. A quick gaze was given to the other two as they continued their own endeavors. Jaeden left them to it before looking to one of the shorter trees of the area. Stepping up to it, Jaeden brushed his hands clean before reaching out to the tree and beginning to climb. He made his way fifteen feet off the ground before sliding out to a sturdy branch hanging overhead. Gripping it tightly, Jaeden leaned off the branch until his was hanging from it by his hands. A few breaths were taken as he looked towards the ground and then up towards the branch. The muscles in his shoulders, arms and upper back then went taught as he pulled himself upward until his chin was above the branch itself, only to lower himself and do it again twenty times. Jaden pulled himself up to a seated position along the branch once again, taking a breather as he pulled the rope from his belt. A series of knots were then tied along the branch before two loops hung under the branch, the rest of the rope's slack being tossed over and left to dangle from the branch. Jaeden then gripped the branch and began hanging upside down from before carefully slipping his feet into the loops of the rope. The souls of his boots pressed firmly along the underside of the branch when his foot was slipped into the rope as far as it could go. Jaeden released his grip along the branch as he slowly lowered his body, his toes and foot bending backwards, keeping a hooked effect on the rope until he was hanging upside down from his feet. Jaeden waited for a moment until the slight rocking motion that had started when he lowered himself subsided. Then, lacing his fingers behind his head, Jaeden began rolling his body into a fetal position while hanging upside down as the muscles in his abdomen rippled and tightened. He did this slowly, not only to maximize the strain placed on his abdomen, but as well to minimize the rocking such motion caused. He had learned long ago not to do this exercise fast. Otherwise his feet would slip out of the ropes and he would wake up an hour later with a bad headache after falling to the ground. Jaeden didn't count inside his head how many he did, but rather continued such motions for several minutes until the muscles in his stomach burned like they were on fire before finally pulling himself back up to the tree branch. Jaeden then repeated the two exercises two more times, with only sixty seconds of rest between each time before finally resting for a good amount of time on the tree branch, sucking it deep slow breaths. His whole body by that time was screaming at him almost to the point of nausea. After a few minutes of sitting motionless in the tree branch, Jaeden finally reached forward, loosening the knots and loops he had fashioned around the tree branch. A short moment was then taken to tie a slip knot along the end of the rope before letting it dangle over the branch. Once again, Jaeden's foot was slipped into the loop, but this time he simple gripped the rope slack hanging along the other side before slowly lowering himself down, his body providing the weight which slid him down, while his hands feeding the slack slowly. Upon reaching the ground, Jaeden gathered his rope from the tree, looping it around his hand and elbow until all the slack was taken up. He then stepped over to his shirt, picking it up off the ground, wiping his forehead clean before slipping the shirt back on as he made his way over towards his pack. Tossing his rope along the top of his pack, Jaeden then looked to the other two. It seemed Christoph's want for training had left him after the war of snow with Midnight had started. As such, Jaeden simply bent over, grasping the hilt of his sword, pulling it free from it's sheath.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden held his sword out by one hand, the weight of the blade seeming all the more heavy after having strained his muscles to the point that they burned through various exercises. He then slowly began going through the motions of strikes, parries, thrusts and blocks. These movements were slow and precise, repeated over and over until Jaeden's body gained even further familiarity with it than he previously had. The end goal, which would take much more training than Jaeden would garner today of course, was to make it so such moves would become a reflex, almost involuntary like breathing when he needed to use his sword. Of course, he would gain much more experience actually sparing with someone rather than practicing simple movements. Of those present whom he would spar with, however, were otherwise already engaged in other things. As such, Jaeden simply practiced on his own, performing these movements of the sword with as much grace as his tired body could muster, only to see that grace slowly degrade as he gradually increased the speed of his swings. After about a quarter of a bell of practicing movements and gradually picking up speed, Jaeden began twirling the blade in his hand as he began stepping from side to side before making a swing or a thrust. This turned out to be a bad idea in the end when, as a result of both his limited experience and already exhausted state, the hilt of the sword slid out of Jaeden's hand, spinning up into the air. "Holy petching shyke!" Jaeden suddenly yelled out as he tried to jump back bet instead tripped backwards along a stray rock into a seated position. Jaeden's eyes went wide as his longsword came falling. At the last minute, the palms of his hands slammed along the ground, lifting his body a couple inches off the ground before sliding back about half a foot. The tip of his sword suddenly embedded itself into the ground, missing Jaeden's crotch by four inches as it did so. Jaeden leaned back slightly, pointing at his own sword in an almost accusingly manner as a slur of muttered phrases that couldn't be understood in any language started coming out of his mouth due to sudden shock. The hand he pointed with then slowly went down to cover his crotch in a protective matter as he slowly whispered to himself, "Okay, no more fancy twirls of the sword." With the near tragedy averted for now, Jaeden slowly got back up to his feet. Pulling his sword free from the ground, he then walked back over to his belongings. He sheathed his sword before slipping on his leather armor, fidgeting with the straps more than usual due to his hands still shaking slightly over nearly loosing something very precious to him. A grin and slow shake of his head was then given as the two others continued to argue finer points of modern snowball warfare. By this time, it appeared as though they had totally forgotten he was there as he began to gather his things. Strapping his pack on, Jaeden gave one last look to Midnight and Christoph. "So...... I'm heading out guys," Jaeden said with a raised hand and slight wave. When neither answered, Jaeden simply gave a simple nod before looking upward to see a large evergreen branch they stood under hung heavily downward with snow atop it's thick branches. Looking around for a short time, Jaeden then noticed a two foot long branch that was close to two inches thick lying on the ground. Jaeden contemplated for a moment before giving a slow shrug and saying, "What the hell?" before picking up the branch itself. The fallen wood was then thrown with as much strength as Jaeden could muster at the high above branch, so heavily ladened with snow. While it didn't hit directly where Jaeden wanted, the fact that it had hit was good enough as the snow along the edge of the tree's branch broke apart, falling to the ground in an herald of things to come. Jaeden hadn't even noticed if either Midnight or Christoph had looked up at that point as he simply turned and began walking north, heading for Syliras before the snow along the branch began to break apart even further before the strength of the branch to righten itself overtook the weight of the snow, causing it all to fall atop of Midnight and Christoph. As Jaeden heard the sound of the falling snow, he simply raised a fist up into the air, muttering the words, "I win."

[Jaeden Kincade]

OOC: I officially close this thread as it is both grandfathered and the other players that were in it haven't posted in around two weeks.

[Midnight]

OOC

Okay you closed it my bad Jaeden it took so long to get back. @.@ Schoool

Anyway great thread sorry I didn't post more productively. Anyway time to go and post to the other threads I need to post in.

[Liminal]

XP Award!

Jaeden:

+2 XP Archery
+1 XP Bodybuilding
+1 XP Longsword