A Big Day Ahead (Open)

[Erzotol Silverden]

15th of Summer, War Pavilion

Pulling the raw hide string of the bow in his hand back with two fingers, he looked down the sights to the target before him, a dense pack of grass with dyed colored circles upon it to serve as a way to earn points depending on what color the arrow hits. His sights where on the tiny blue circle in the middle of the grass, and despite his record that day he was sure he was going to hit it. The arrow shot from the short bow quickly as he let go of the arrow, and arched through the air towards the target. For a moment as it feel it looked like it might actually hit the blue circle this time but in the last moment the arrow pitched downwards into the orange coloring that surrounded the blue. At least that was closer than the last he thought optimistically, and he breathed out another sigh before retrieving a arrow from his quiver and setting it on his bow again. This time I will hit it dead center

A bead of sweat formed at his temple as he set the arrow again, pointing the short composite bow at the ground, and drawing it powerfully till the arrow was satisfyingly pulled back enough. The target was only 50 or so yards away from him he remembered though, so with a bit of difficulty he softened the draw, giving the string some slack before pulling it up vertically in front of him, and looked along the wood of the arrow that was pulled all the way back just in line with his ear. Peering down the sights of the arrow again, he slowly adjusted the bow till it pointed slightly upwards, and firmed his grip on the wood of the bow to make sure it was completely straight. From past experiences he knew that if the bow was tipped even slightly horizontally it could send the arrow off to the side, or wobbling in flight most of the time missing the target entirely even if you appropriately adjusted for the height.

Satisfied that it passed his inspection, he looked down the sights one last time, closing his left eye, and protruding his tongue out from between his teeth as was a mannerism of his when practicing with a bow. Good, now I've aimed it's time to shoot he thought as a mental nudge to his hand to let go of the arrow, and it heeded his call, letting go and instantly feeling the feathered fletching of the bow race through his fingers. The arrow flew through the air in a blink of a eye, the only thing betraying its presence to the unsuspecting bale of grass being the soft twang of the bow as it released the length of wood. The arrow glided gracefully through the air climbing high into the sky before beginning to taper downwards to head for the target, eventually coming down towards the awaiting target, thudding into the bright orange band of color, and eliciting an exasperated sigh from Erzotol.

" Bah, why can't I hit a simple spot of color " he said exasperated to himself, and after another profound sigh, drew another arrow and set it on the fine wood of the bow, and examined carefully how the bone ends of the bow stretched backwards to accommodate his tugging to the string. Remember archery is not just about aiming, it is posture as well he thought, remembering the words he had heard someone say long ago. Spreading his feet farther to the sides, he centered his weight, and shifted his balance from between his left foot to his right to get more of a steady pull on the bow. He pulled the arrow slowly back to his ear, the hid that made up the material of the string creaking as he stretched it, and moving ever so slowly he raised the sights of the arrow just above the target in front of him. This time he was positive he wouldn't miss. With a soft thrum, the arrow launched from the bow, making a bee line for the target, the arrow whispering through the air, making not a sound in it's silent decent until it thumped into the target. In the orange color, yet again.

[Kaja]

Walking around she had become fascinated with the war pavilion area of Endrkas. She had first been introduced to the pavilion when Revin trained her a few days back. Now it was watching the young men and women of the Drykas such a strong, and united race she was finding. Full of tradition, protection, and well meaning, she stood watching the clanging of steel on steel from two very big, very muscular strong men fighting each other. Swordplay or anything of weaponry wasn’t really a thing she wanted to train in herself; at least she didn’t think so. She had such a hard time trying to keep her stuff with her sometimes. When she did transform nothing was to be with her at the time, so most times she had to set them aside. When she wanted them again she still had a hard time remembering where she had put them. However, this was getting better, especially now since she did do a lot of making money by herding for others, or guarding them. She sometimes went on hunting parties to get food, and in exchange she got a meal herself. It was how she was surviving for now, but what she really wanted was someone to serve on a full term basis. Nothing had come up so far.

She walked from that place into another area. Her hip gave a slight ache from what she saw. It seemed her hip wouldn’t remember the time that an arrow went into it when a near by archer had ultimately saved her life by killing a bear for her. She smiled that had been a fairly nice encounter despite the pain she had been in between the bear and the arrow injury. Though she stopped watching a young man practicing. She admired all the Drykas people for their concentration, focus, and want of perfection from practice of their training. He seemed to be frustrated by his performance, however she was pretty impressed with it. She leaned on the railings around the training area, and watched the man’s muscle work in his back and arms as he worked the string of the bow. She was fascinated at what looked like a lot of thought was put into trying to make the arrow he shot come close to the middle.

She watched in silence as not to disturb him, plus he was unsure if he even would be able to converse with her, as she had only, so far, been able to learn a few words in Pavi. Light brown eyes focused on watching as the man threaded and released arrow after arrow adjusting, changing stances, and seeming to get more and more frustrated by the minute as the middle spot seemed to elude him. She felt for him, he was trying so hard, yet it seemed today was not his day for victory, or at least not yet. There was still some hope though.

She swiped her long hair back away from her face, and as she did so seemed to knock something that had been sitting on the railing off it. She looked startled, as the sound of the bang seemed to make the man working his bow let off an arrow completely wrong. She watched as it zinged off missing the target completed. With a hand on her mouth she didn’t know what to do, her first inclination was to run, only because that was all she did when she had been on her journey alone to get to Endrykas. However, she seemed to be rooted to her place like a great tree unable to move while everything happened in slow motion around her. The words of Tosun came back to her in a panic. ‘You can stay as long as you don’t break the laws....’ What if this was one of those laws that she didn’t know that she accidentally broke? She looked up at the man her hazel eyes looking much like a doe in torchlight being startled by a hunting party.

[Erzotol Silverden]

I will hit the target dead on this time, I know it he said, his eyes focusing on the target like it was the only thing in the world. All he had to do was put one of his arrows into that blue circle, seemed easy right? Perhaps careful moves along with posture will help me reach the goal I seek he thought carefully as he slowly pulled an arrow from his quiver, and with a deliberate move placed it on the wood of the bow, and set it firmly. All I need to do is believe. Adjusting his posture, with his feet pointing out to either side of him, he held the bow vertical in front of him, and putting two fingers on the rough, elastic string slowly tensed the bow, the ends that consisted of bone tapering slightly inwards as he drew the string far back. His breaths came in deep, and came out slow, his heart rate dropping to a manageable minimum and all seemed completely quiet around him despite the noise of the regular sparring around him which he had gotten used to and thus could tune out. Another deep breath exhaled from a long breath from his chest and slowly he adjusted the body of his bow to point a little bit higher in the air. That should be a fine height he mused confident he had adjusted it just right based on all of his other failed attempts to hit the elusive target.

One more set of deep breaths and he was ready to take the shot, let loose the string and finally hit that blue target and taste his victory at last. His fingers grip on the string loosened slightly as he prepared to let go entirely when something loud crashed somewhere behind him causing him to jerk his hand slightly to the side when he released the arrow, and sent the length of wood flying somewhere into the grass far shy of the target. He frowned at his most obvious miss of the entire section of grass and turned his head to see that a couple of blades off of a weapons rack had fallen down, and his eyes slowly drifted upwards to view the culprit who made him miss his shot. The hardness in his eyes quickly softened though as he realized the offender was a woman, a good looking one at that.

" Ah, yes miss, can I help you? " he asked in a soft voice, while unstringing his bow, figuring he wouldn't hit the target today anyways. Hooking the bow over his shoulder, he then headed towards her and reached out to her to shake her hand. " My name is Erzotol, what's yours? "

[Kaja]

The young woman felt completely mortified as some looked at her. She started to pick up what she had knocked down and put them back where they belonged. Then she looked again to notice the young man whom she had disturbed the most and made him miss his mark coming toward him. She lowered her head in deference to him, and said, “I am sorry I made you miss your mark, kind friend.” She hoped she would not get rebuked for it, or in trouble. She remembered most the laws and for the life of her couldn’t remember one about disturbing those at practice, but maybe it was an unwritten law that was only observed upon the moment. Whatever it maybe she hoped that the young gentlemen would go easy on her. With her eyes still downcast she did not see the hand offered her of friendship.

“I was… Was just observing the combat training, and then saw your skills. You are very good.” Though really she had not the slightest idea what would be good or bad in archery, to her anything that made a hit on the target was good to her, as she thought she would never be able to do such a thing herself. She still had not looked up at him, until he said his name, and then she finally lifted her eyes and finally saw his proffered hand to her. She took it with reddened face that she had not seen it sooner. Her normal handshake being firm, yet still in a very feminine way giving always the other the feel they had slight dominance in the situation. “I am Kaja of Syliras” she stated.

She began to look more at him noticing his features and such. He was tall, at least a head taller then her, and she was not a small woman herself. He was very well muscled, but not to extreme that made him looks too bulky. His face was plain, not overly handsome, but still had its own rugged handsomeness to it. She smiled at him, and finely allowed herself to relax from the feeling that he may punish her for her distraction of a moment ago. “If I were to ask you what you would like to help me with what would you answer?” She asked innocently curious to know what these people offer as service to others. She always thought what she could do to service others, yet others always asked her what they could do for her. Now she was genuinely curious what in the world they could offer someone that only had on their mind how they could serve others. The concept was very foreign to her, but now that it had been placed to her several times, and she had always turned it around to how she could serve them, she wanted to know how they would serve her.

[Erzotol Silverden]

" It is of no problem " he said to the woman, and he observed her with a smile, looking at her, and admiring the beautiful woman. Of course it helped her case that she was a woman, for any man that had disturbed his practice would have received a verbal lashing and then persuaded with a heavy hand to take him out for drinks. She however warranted a gentler response on his part, perhaps share a meal together or something along those lines to make up for his ruined training practice. The woman seemed pleasant enough and he imagined the rest of the day intended to be solely on practice could be salvaged. Come to think about it he had done enough archery that day, but still he wished he could work more with the sword, or his shield, or even go for a ride on his horse, but perhaps he still would get the chance depending on how well things went with the woman before him. She looked to him like the type that might be interested in a bit softer pursuits than he otherwise would be interested in but who knew since you couldn't accurately judge someone just by appearances after all. Even as soft as she looked with her long flowing hair, and quite beautiful unmarred face, for all he knew she could be a hardened mercenary though he highly doubted that due to her collision with the rack of swords, but she could be a clumsy mercenary and that was quite the amusing thought.

" Thank you for the compliment, but my skills are meager as they are I assure you " he said, a smile coming to his face at the compliment to his skills. If only you could have hit the blue center, maybe then she would have been more impressed his mind retorted at him, and he sighed promising himself he would try again tomorrow and try not to be so incompetent that time. It was a standing still target, how hard could it be to miss after all, but he hadn't yet hit that little eye in the middle of the target yet but still he was getting closer every day, and he was determined to not only hit his target, but do it several times repeatedly without error. That would bring him his ultimate satisfaction once he achieved that, and the thought made his blood pump faster and his heart beat harder at the thought of realizing such a goal. After all, his progress with the bow was fundamental to his survival, especially if he was to go through what he planned to achieve. Thoughts of Syliras flittered to his mind even before Kaja admitted she was from there, for that was where he eventually hoped to strike out in hopes to experience the region, and see what he could do, and learn. " Syliras you say, that’s quite the ways away from here, how did you like it there? " he asked trying to conceal his true interest in the subject of the city by keeping his tone amusing and light.

The woman had a very feminine quality about her but her hand shake spoke of self reliance and the firmness of it told him that she handled herself well enough out there even if it she appeared to be soft outwardly. Just another clue that there is more than meets the eye about this woman he thought as he measured her up. She looked very slender, and the exposed skin he did see appeared to be unmarred by the passage in such harsh lands, from all the way from Syliras to here through the treacherous sea of grass was no small feat. He could tell that she wore little cloths as it was and that struck him as a bit curious but he decided not to dwell too much upon it. Her question pressed his attention. " Well supposed I asked you if I could treat you to an early supper. " he asked and the question was simple enough.

[Kaja]

Her relief that she was not going to get yelled at or worse for her mishap created his shot to go off was immense. She breathed a tiny sigh of relief. She wouldn’t have minded changing into her dog form and chancing after him on his horse not that she knew he was thinking that, but if he had suggested that she would have not objected to a run in her dog form. She was actually more recently in her human form more then her animal form and it made her restless inside for it. She felt more foreign in her human form then in her animal form, probably because of all the time just alone in her animal form. When he mentioned that his skills were meager she just gave him a look of astonishment, but didn’t say much more. Some were harder on themselves then they should be, but that was how they got better by constantly pushing themselves. “Well, I don’t know much about it, but I rather thought you were doing very good, better then I would anyway.” She said smiling again.

Erzotol asked what she thought of Syliras and to tell the truth she didn’t really remember too much about that time in her life except she had many brothers, had lived in a pack, and her family and pack mates had been herding dogs for farmers of the area. However at first she didn’t even know that much all she had known was her name when she first woke on the shore of the bank by the water. She blushed and said looking down, “I … I had an accident about a year ago… I well… I don’t remember much about my childhood as much, or much about my home region or city where I grew up.” She smiled a bit though and said, “I just remember things slowly but at first I only remembered my name. Now I remember that I had many brothers, and was a part of a pack that herded and guarded for the farmers of the city.” She always said that with pride, because she felt good of every little bit of her past that she eventually started to remember. Though it still distressed her that she had forgot in the first place, and made her feel ashamed. Plus it was a weakness that in normal circumstances she would not have admitted. However, since he had asked, she was an honest beast, and told the truth of the matter. If he hadn’t asked anything about it she would have never told him of her lack of memory in some parts of her past.

She had mars, but most were only seen from the back or were hidden with the bit of clothes she did wear. When she turned around she would see on the middle of her back part of the end of claw mark scars on the bottom edge peeping out from her leather bando top she had made to cover her feminine bumps from sight, and on the back of her left thigh there was a round thin scar from what looked like part of her flesh having been partially torn away and sewn back together. Otherwise she was still a fairly flawless looking creature, however you had to have some battle wounds having traveled so far mostly by yourself. When he said that she would treat her to a meal, her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, but she couldn’t just let him buy him food without doing something for him. “Oh…” She said wide-eyed. “No, I must earn my meal. Is there anything I may do for you in trade for the meal and your time with me?” Her mind this time not thinking about the possibility of the trade of her body as she had offended that one man she had spoke to so badly.

[Erzotol Silverden]

He suggestion that she would want to do something for him in exchange for the meal caused him to think on what might this woman know. Perhaps she knew how to dye, tattoo, make clothing, or even basket weave, but he didn't see the soft looking girl knowing anything about hunting, fighting, or anything of the like. Though come to think about it, he didn't really need a skilled fighter to practice in one of his disciplines, and the thought spurred on a smile from him, and looking at the woman, and then back at his shield resting on his pack, the idea came to fruitarian. " How bout in exchange for a meal, and company you help me with my shield practicing " he said with a smile, and jogged off towards his pack before she had a chance to respond. With a deft grab of his hands, he pulled the shield up to him, and quickly strapped it across his arm, before reaching down towards his longsword and sliding it out of its scabbard before turning back towards Kaja. The shiny gleam of the steel reflected in his silvery blue eyes, and his steps fell softly on the ground as he walked slowly towards Kaja, sword extended out horizontally in front of him as a invitation for Kaja to take and wield against him during the spar. He needed training with his shield anyway today, and her appearance had come as somewhat of a life saver for him.

If she accepted his sword he would hold the wooden shield sturdy before him, and depending on which side she would try to strike him, he would raise the bulky part of the shield to block any strikes for her, or if he could manage it, block it at a slant to turn the blade away from him before charging her personally, trying to prompt her to drop the weapon, and thus winning the first engagement. If his shield only blocked his sword full on, he would pull the shield close to him before bucking it outwards and pushing the sword back and away from him so he could more position his shield for a counterstrike when her next attack came. His shield bore the marks of previous battles well, many dents, and patches of splintered wood pocketing its face, it's edges framed in a sturdy steel band, with steel bolts crisscrossing the buckler as well. With only one arm to focus on, he kept his other arm pinned close to his side, his shield held aloft in front of him to withstand sturdy blows, his other arm kept safe and out of the way, and after the initial block, he would slowly advance on her, holding the shield tipped at a slant to run any blade to the sides of him, or if she went for a cross down chop, he could easily evade and chop down the shield on her exposed wrist.

The leather wrist straps that tethered him to his shield felt comforting and the shield was more or less a extension of his arm that kept him safe, and should he build upon his skill with it, become truly a asset to him. This woman before him would be very instrumental to his training, and unknown to anyone but himself the training was everything to him if he was to reach his goal of becoming a true warrior for zulrav to be proud of, and if he was lucky, become a part of the Sylirian knights of who’s tales he was always fond of. Anytime a outsider came to the city of Endrykas and was reported to be from the city instantly brought him looking for them and to question them about the city thus furthering his knowledge of the city that looked better, and better to him every day. Sadly Kaja didn't remember much of the city, but still she would be a big help to him with this training that would help him be on his way to joining the famed order and doing his pavilion proud. Tightening his grip on the leather handle of the shield he slowly advanced towards Kaja again, his eyes filled with determination to deflect anything that she would try to strike him with.

[Kaja]

Shield work? She blinked as he strode off toward where some of the other equipment was stored on a rack. He got out a sword from the rack, and what looked like a wooden shield with steel bands around the edge, and bolts crisscrossing the buckler. It looked very well worn with many dents, and patches of splintered wood pocketing its face, she could only think it was his own personal shield. When he then walked forward toward her and offered her the sword to her, and looked very serious with bright blue eyes at her she swallowed, and licked her lips, being reminded when Revin had taken his dagger out in their training session.

She blinked and was about to say she had never worked with a sword, until a flash of memory came to her, and she remembered the way that Revin had held his dagger, how he had used it. How was she ever going to get a master, if she kept proving herself worthless and useless? She swallowed again and took the sword that he proffered to her. She licked her lips again as she maneuvered the sword so she could grip it the way she remembered Revin grip his dagger. She just hoped she would make too much of a fool of herself.

She positioned the sword so that she was gripping it in the strong hand by forming a vee and allowing the sword to fit naturally in her hand, as if she were gripping for a handshake. She then pointed the blade toward Erzotol, with the cutting edge down. Then she went into the stance that she saw Revin in realizing that she had learned much more then she had thought she had. She probably should do something extra nice for Revin for being such a good instructor even if it was just for unarmed combat she had unwittingly also learned it seemed from watching him with his dagger some armed.

Though that was to be seen when she actually used it against a seasoned fighter like it looked like Erzotol might be from just his shield alone. Kaja stood before Erzotol with her feet about shoulder-width apart, with her dominant foot toward the rear. About seventy percent of her weight was on the front foot and thirty percent on the rear foot. She stood on the balls of both feet and held the sword with a straight grip. The other hand was held close to her body so it was ready to use, but protected.

The sword was pretty heavy in her hand, though it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t handle for a little while. She knew she would be tired, and more then likely in pain the next day from the exercise though. However, she knew she had to become stronger, these people seemed much more physical, and strong. She held it out and then came at Erzotol with a horizontal attack to the left side of his torso in the ribs area.

She just hoped that she wouldn’t look like someone that didn’t completely know what she was doing. As really she only had what little experience she had from watching Revin in their unarmed combat training when he worked his dagger with her to practice her moves. However, she sort of liked the feel of the sword in her hands. The way it glided yet felt hefty as it moved. Maybe she would rethink not training in weapons.

[Erzotol Silverden]

His hair stuck the sides of his face, the heat of the day getting to him even in the shade of the tent, and the sweat he worked up in archery sending beads down the side of his face, and he eyed the woman before him carefully, and more importantly where she was swinging his sword. He focused on where she planned to swing the sword ready to try and raise the shield appropriately to repel the blow, and breathing a deep sigh, he locked his eyes onto the blade he knew so well, and prepared for the coming blow. From the way she handled it, he figured she hadn't much training with a blade if any at all, and he suspected he could block any strike from her easily enough, but even then he was glad for the bit of luck Zulrav showed him today with the appearance of this woman, and he could feel his heart beat hard in his chest as watched her sword arm swing for his left side, the side that also held his shield, and he turned the shield upwards slightly before setting himself firmly against the ground, feeling a slight bang against his shield and the sword rebounded off of the fine wood, and out wide to the side.

Optimistically, Erzotol thought it must be good that he didn't hear his already battered shield splintering when she hit it, and slowly he backed up a few steps to prepare for Kaja's next round of attacks, lowering his shield briefly so he could see over it, and to the woman beyond. His knees where still locked in right angles when he set himself to take a blow he thought might be more jarring but maybe he was expecting too much from her, after all she wasn't as strong as his father had been. " Good first strike, keep them coming " he said as he raised his legs slightly to loosen them up, but not far enough that he couldn't lock them when the time came, and he let out a long breath that relaxed his muscles before he took a step forwards, keeping his shield firmly in front of him as he advanced. The objective for him since he had given his weapon to the woman was to let her come at him with as many strikes as she had the energy to do, and then could end the training since this wasn't an actual spar with points to be earned. The whole point of him coming here after all was to train, and train he would until he couldn't no more, the goal was well worth him working to exhaustion on top of the chores he had to do during the day.

His blue eyes disappeared for a moment while he squinted them shut, a particularly salty drop of sweat worming its way into his exposed iris, and he raised his hand to rub the pain out of it briefly, before returning his eyes to the work before him, his shield still planted before his chest. If she had chosen to strike him at that time, his other eye opening a fraction of a second after it closed, and watching any move she might try to make on his left side, but time he took to rub his right eye hindered him if she swung the blade on his right, and likely would knock his shield very wide to the side forcing him to surrender that strike. If she tried another strike from his left though he would bring his shield down on the strike to deflect it into the ground, and immediately back up to put some distance between himself and her to give him time to right himself. With the added distance he would stalk his way back towards her, his shield raised higher but not high enough to obstruct his vision of her and would allow him to be ready for a high or low strike from her depending on whatever she decided. His grip would tighten on the leather, and from whatever direction the blade came from he would set himself towards it, and as soon as it made contact he would buck the shield forwards throwing the blade back off.

[Kaja]

The sword clashed against his buckler as he moved it up to block her move. It reverberated all through her body and made her drop the sword a bit, and step back almost falling back as her whole body shock. She blinked her eyes, and grasped the sword with two hands. If she wanted to last at all she had to figure out how to swing this thing with two hands because that one hit had practically taken all her strength. When he said keep coming at me she blinked and shook her head slowly, though really she was still a bit shocked from the first blow. “O-o-okay…” She murmured. She had to get a grip on herself. I mean how was she going to make it at all with these people if she was going to be a mushy, weakling around them?

She put on her determined face and with two hands now, brought the sword up again, however when she started the swing she thought he was ready and then he appeared to be unready, she tried to stop the motion of the move to the right of him the unguarded side of him, and her eyes grew wide, and she realized that once the mammoth sword got going there was no stopping the motion at least not for her. She wasn’t strong enough to stop it so she gasped out, “Watch out, friend, I can’t stop it….” It came down but at the very end she couldn’t handle the down ward motion and she fell backward a bit missing him completely. How clumsy she thought this was no way to get herself a master. She had no clue what she was doing. She wasn’t strong enough to really wield this big a sword. However, she wasn’t about to let him know these feelings even though they were probably very apparent as she sat on her bum, and she looked quite crushed.

Kaja got up and knew that with this sword whatever she thought after that first blow was nothing like what Revin had to do with a dagger it was completely different. She still liked the feel of the sword in her hand, and now hands, but maybe not quite so long, or heavy. However, since she didn’t know anything about it, she didn’t know if they made such a thing. She once again took the position that she had been taking knowing that it wasn’t that great with this type of weapon, but it was the only thing she even vaguely knew. She once again came at him this time he was ready, and made a round about swing down towards his hip, since she couldn’t quite hold it up high enough to hit where she was trying to hit which was at his side again.