Completed [Antinous Training Grounds] Getting to grips

[Fallon]

22nd Spring 513AV
8th Bell

Fallon had risen early today, if anything to make up for her making a fool of herself the day before. She nearly arrived late to the chosen time from her patron, before then being sent back to retrieve what she needed. Then there were the bells of exercise and practising, not that she ever felt she achieved anything. She was yet to see any real progress, and the only award she did get from it was the aches and the odd bruise. Still, it had not stopped her just yet.

Taking in the cool spring air, Fallon paced the training grounds her eyes looking upon the training structures and shapes. Quiet footsteps trod against the ground, though around her the training grounds were silent wrapped in sleep. She slipped into one of the smaller arena spaces, out of the way of the main entrance and main view, but exposed enough to the elements that it would warm those who trained there. She glanced around for a moment, watching the world with carefully eyes before pulling on the padded vest she had slung over one shoulder. She flexed in it, stretching out her arms and twisting. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but that may have been due to her preference already in her own armour. It was flexible and fitted her better to begin with; the vest however was like most of the training armour, slightly big and unsuitable for her form- even when smaller sizes were flung her way.

Fallon gave a yawn and took up the wooden Tulwar, her fingers flexing around the hilt as she once more tried to familiarise herself with it. She had to grow accustomed to it, she had to at least learn how to swing it. Her fingers slowly adjusted themselves, her shoulders squaring up as she took a poor stance. Wild swings were the next thing that came from her. Slash after slash, advancing ever forward before she pivoted on her heel as she met the edge of the space, before beginning again. Every slash and move counted in understanding not only the weight and length, but on how the body in turn should work with it. There was lacking grace or fluidity as she swung, the wobble here, the occasional misstep and loss of balance there. It was indeed the work of a novice, but at least she was trying to achieve something. For practice makes perfect.

[Kisetukai]

It was a very quiet and early morning for Kise, not a usual or occasional event that often manifested in his life. He was still a little distant from the discussion, if one could even begin to refer to the dispute as such, that he had held with K the day before today. He was shocked, yet he knew the answer, and knew eventually that he would have to face facts. "Is the personality inside of me...Corrupted?" was the constant theme of the day, haunting him with no relent. "It's been only a few hours." Kise said to himself in a slight mumble. "Yet, I feel so alone." 

As he walked through the training grounds he was oblivious to the outside world in a sense, never glancing up at his surroundings. He felt alone, troubled, empty, and overall incomplete. It had been several hours since he last spoke to K. The last thing he remembers, quite fondly to be specific, was K stating that things were starting to get interesting. How long had K been like this was a question he continued to ask but knew that he wouldn't be answered, possibly wishful thinking. Judging by the looks of the apparel the boy decided to leave his dorm with, he wasn't really in the mood for true training. Dressed in a simple black cloak, his head concealed by a hood. and the lower portion of his face wrapped in a simple light wool fabric. The only visible feature of his body was his nose perhaps, but understandably, he wasn't really concerned with his looks. 

He continuously walked throughout the training grounds. Hearing squires and even knights hone their skills, he sighed, as if in defeat admitting he was sad. "Depression...That's not something I'd imagine I'd be experiencing." He thought to himself. He walked with a simple constant speed. Never speeding and never slowing, looking forward with a slight tilt towards the ground. His lonely thoughts and discouragement were soon interrupted as one squire caught his eye. More of his attention one would say. She was at a distance, but he quickly made the assumption she was training. "Why else would she be here?" he thought to himself. He chuckled at the thought of sounding like K. He then began to feel another deadly dose of depression as heartache surged through his body. Forcing himself to look up, and even harder, forcing a smile on his face he began to walk up to the girl.

Seeing her perform some sloppy, yet understandable strikes and swings he decided to stop walking towards her. Instead he decided to stand several yards from her, for some reason, he felt an urge to observe her. "K never let us-...Me, have friends." K mumbled to himself. "But this is my body...I'm not going to let him control my life." He quickly decided that standing up watching a girl train was probably a bad impression so he decided to sit. As he sat down he took off his black gloves to let his hands get some air. Quickly feeling odd without his usual fighting gloves he quickly returned the black gloves to his hands. These gloves were well insulated, having the fingers cut off, kept his hand decently cool. 

After worrying about himself he decided to look at this alluring girl once more. Did he find this girl attracting? Did he find her a possible rival? No it was more than that, more innocent if anything. He saw a possible friend. A possible ally that he could finally have besides the twisted split conscious that he shares his body with. He reverted his attention to her, studying her, for he was very nervous. For if this girl did agree to friendship, this would be his first friend. He began to find his body to sweat in impatience. He started to calm down as he began to observe the girl even harder, diverting his attention to one central source.

The girl looked uncomfortable in the attire, especially the vest, but maybe he was wrong. He paid attention to her strikes and stances and overall just her being. He soon found himself smiling, well a small grin at least. He was not to far from the girl, about twenty yards away to be exact, and he decided to start thinking of what to say if she saw him. Hopefully he could observe his first potential friend a little more before she spotted him, well this was the plan at least.

[Fallon]

Fallon swung, momentum bringing the blows down faster every time. There was no grace, there was no skill, but as her weight shifted from swing to swing, her feet turning to face forward, her stance changing with each blow upon the invisible enemy. The training tulwar whipped round, as she turned the blade having closed in to her body before cutting across diagonally. Her eyes burned, her blood boiled as she allowed the adrenal consume her and her imagination rip free. Which it did, and she embraced it. Her mind conjured up an enemy, a twisted shape, a monster beyond any form of description. Her focus was set, too set, for she was unaware of the watching of the boy and his position.
Faster, swifter, stronger her mind chanted on as she brought the wood through the air once more Win.
She wheeled round, her free hand held back to provide balance, her brow creased as a wide slash cut through the air.

And then she saw him.

Her back foot came sharply forward, and was thrust to the ground. It halted her momentum, her body recoiling slightly to the abrupt stop. She breathed hard, her eyes locking intently with the observer, the tulwar slowly being lowered from the finish of her swing. She felt the sweat cling to her face, the hilt feeling clammy in her hand, but her eyes did not shift. She stayed like that for a moment, before slowly straightening herself out. She glanced at the hood, and the face hidden in the shadow. It gave him an almost ominous air, but what would bring someone like him to the training grounds at such an early time. What was his nature? What did he want? If it was a he. She could not tell with him hidden like that. Her adrenal still pumped around her, but she could feel it quickly slipping away. Her lips pursed as she felt a bitter taste hit her mouth, before she reached up and pulling at the top buckle of the vest.
Don’t just stand there, do something!

Her head tilted to one side as she forced herself to approach, her sword arm aching now that her swings had ceased. She swallowed, and stopped short of him, a moment of hesitation on her face before she spoke in a calm yet curious tone, “How long have you been watching?”
She wiped away the sweat that had grown on her brow, and let her form relax slightly. There was after all no reason to be tense, was there now?

[Kisetukai]

Here was Kise, a very eager boy, watching a girl train. He was unaware of the image he would most likely give being in his cloak, for it was casual attire for him. "I must say...She looks like she's enjoying herself." Kise said with a chuckle. "What do you think K?" He added barely managing to get off the K. He slowly began to droop a bit as he remembered his friend was long gone. Not dead, but also not here, so he might as well have been dead. "Was I to hard on him?" He asked himself. "Was it all his fault for pointing out the obvious and standing up for the weak?" These were more questions he had dared to ponder that rattled his mind and echoed his skull like a siren. 

He wasn't feeling crazy, but would have done anything for the noises to seize. And then they did. The girl was swinging like a true brutal knight, more primitive than usual, but her intentions were that of honor. This forced Kise into a smile until after a vicious swing the girl had twirled a bit and came into vision with him. Their eyes had locked and it seemed to stay this way for a while. Kise cocked and eyebrow and gave her a small grin in the corner of his lips, to show his not mockery, but kudos. The girl looked nervous, embarrassed? What was so embarrassing about training? Then Kise thought to himself and sighed..."Normal people don't sit and just watch other people...Do they?" He said to himself in failure.

But his time of self wallowing and pity were soon to be over as the girl proceeded to engage dialogue. Kise immediately felt his heart race as his first possible friend was approaching. The girl walked over, seeming to leave away and cast her shell of awkwardness, and proceeded to ask Kise a question. 

How long have you been watching? That's what she asked him.

He looked up at her, procrastinating as his brain scrambled to find a reply. He saw her sweat and wondered was it because of the training catching up to her, or that she could also possibly be nervous. He stood up straightly and dusted off his cloak a bit before taking off his hood but leaving on the scarf. "I haven't really been watching you see..I was observing." He said in a proud voice. Moments later after a few awkward seconds he quickly changed his approach. "Yes I was watching but that's because..I want to be your friend." He announced in an honest and innocent voice. "I hope we can be friends he added." 

[Fallon]

Fallon exhaled deeply, before raising an eyebrow. The boy seemed to have an element of pride about him, as if he was trying to prove himself despite doing very little. Then there was the comment of not watching, but observing. She gave a snort “Observing is watching someone carefully, watching is to look at or observing. Both are over a period of time,” Fallon shook her head as she pulled out definitions “They are the same thing no matter how one defines them.”
She turned her gaze away for a moment, observing the training grounds as they begun to awaken for another day. Soon the majority of the squires would descend upon them, and the eyes of many would be upon them. But until then she still had time to train, even if this boy was observing. And then, he said something which could only be deemed peculiar.

Fallon’s eyes slid to him.
A friend? A friend? You want to me my friend? What sort of person comes out with something like that? Her gaze did not waver as she looked him up and down, a moment of sharpness growing there as she contemplated his words. Friend? This must be some form of a joke.
A frown formed on her face, those words and tone echoing around in her head, or more importantly the change in attitude. It was an instantaneous, and sounded more like a desperate plead than anything else. She rubbed at the shoulder of her sword arm, feeling the ache of continuous, fiery swinging from mere chimes ago. She winced for a moment, before rolling it round and turning her sight away once more.
“A friend?” she questioned his statement “When I last checked friends started by knowing names.”
She turned her back to him and looked back to where she was previously training. Temptation was to go back to what she was doing and to ignore the boy who made what sounded to her as pleads. She clicked her neck, and looked over her shoulder at him.
“You have a name?” she spoke calmly.

[Kisetukai]

Kise, in no doubt, grew uncomfortable. The girl's reaction to his offering of friendship didn't look very appealing. Perhaps it was destiny and he was never supposed to befriend someone. Perhaps web K was right. He began to look down a bit and somehow in his mind he could imagine K laughing. "Tch! This isn't right!  Anyone can be friends right?" he quickly thought to himself. 

To be honest, Kise was pretty much ready to return home. Or even to another area of the training grounds  for some solo training to take his mind off of it. Maybe..In some weird way, K was right? Do friends really make you weaker? Should I be focusing on power?  "No!" He thought to himself. "I'm not gonna start thinking like that too." He added to a thought as he shook his head.

His spirits was soon crushed as the girl turned her back to him. It was almost like someone had stabbed a blunt weapon of some sort through his heart. "K ..Was right huh?" He said to himself quietly. "Friends are--" His speech was interrupted by the speech of the girl. Shehad asked him..For his name?! Kise couldn't hold back his eager young smile as he quickly perked up. 

After clearing his throat a bit, he finally decided to speak up. "Kisetukai..But you can just call me Kise." He said with a smile. "I don't know if it matters..But I'm the squire of Ser Corben." He added proudly. For even if him and K always disagreed, there was something they could always agree on. They both loved Ser Corben. 

He could tell the girl wasn't actually cruel, probably just a little ...confused at the randomness of his approach. He looked at her as he awaited a response, his heart pumping from excitement. "And your name?" he said very politely. He was to the point of bursting from energy. With his mind taken off K, he was having a great day. Hopefully she could keep it this way.

[Fallon]

“Kisetukai,” she repeated the name, an attempt to not only pronounce it right but to memorise it. She gave a nod, a brief curl of a lip “Good thing you are a squire, if you weren’t… well I’d have to ask you to leave.”
She took a step away, slowly stretching herself out and letting the muscles contract and relax. Whatever was going in the head of the boy though was not completely of her concern.
“Fallon, Fallon Skylar. Squire number two of Sera Natasha Druva,” she tossed the wooden tulwar to the ground as she turned her hands to the buckles. It was hot and stuffy already in the padded vest, and a thin layer of sweat had already begun to cling to the insides. She gave a quiet grunt as her fingers fumbled at it and she pried herself free. She took in a deep breath of air as she freed herself from it and plunged herself into the cool air of the morning. She stretched herself out again, and looked back at the boy.

Strange one him, she mused as she hung the vest over one shoulder Still, I can’t really talk can I?
She reclaimed the wooden blade, studying its dulled edge for a moment as she contemplated the next means of approach. Except for the few that she shared a suite with in the squire dormitories, she had yet to really receive the opportunity to really talk to the other squires properly, short of the odd looks here and there that there was a girl among them. She gave the blade a small swipe before, turning on the spot to face Kisetukai.
“So, you been a squire long?” she attempted to make conversation with him, something that she knew she was poor at. She gave an awkward smile to him, and hoped that he might start taking the lead with the conversation.

[Kisetukai]

“Fallon, Fallon Skylar. Squire number two of Sera Natasha Druva..." 

This is what the girl replied. Her name..alas, her name! Kise had finally penetrated what he referred to as the friendship shell. Or at least that's what the friendship books he had read said. "Fallon..Skylar." The whole name had a ring to it. Was it because of her being his first friend? Or her just having a pretty name? Either way this was all just too exciting for him. He was so close..so close to having a real friend. After all, the only human contact that Kise ever really had was when K was in control of the body with his female.."guest". 

He smiled and nodded his head in some form of acceptance, showing he got the message. He then listened as his new acquaintance began to speak once more. “So, you been a squire long?” Is what she asked him. He could see her smile was of her kindness, just hopefully all this wasn't out of pity. He quickly noticed that the situation had began to gain a bit of awkwardness, but he was sure that this wouldn't mess up all that he had so far accomplished. 

"Ah yes..I have been a squire for a bit now." He said with a slight chuckle. "Not to long though..Far from seasoned." He returned a smile to match hers. "What about you?" "Have you been a squire for a while?" He did a slight gasp at the end. "How come I never see you around the dorms? Different suite?" He added teasingly. Hopefully this was all in good taste, and no endangering his future friendship. "Please..Don't blow this Kise." His mind kept shouting at him.

[Fallon]

Fallon regarded him for a moment, her brow lifting as he spoke her name and a grin plastered itself across his face. He seemed pleased for some reason, but whatever reason that was for was a mystery to her. She took several steps back towards him, her ears twitching to the questions. She gave a nod in understanding, before perching herself down on the ground a distance away. She was still close enough to talk to him, but far enough that reach was out of the question. Her head tilted to one side as she watched him carefully, before finally speaking.

“Since the fifth of Spring,” she gave a shrug before turning her head away “So I’m still pretty wet behind the ears.”
There was no point in hiding what as soon to be common fact. Having a girl squire had indeed become a novelty and soon enough questions were going to arise. So she answered, and honestly too.
“I’m in a different suit, with a bunch of older squires,” she rubbed at her brow as she went through the faces of those there “Be safe to say I get on with them well enough. Other reason you might not have seen me is because the suite is towards the back.”
She placed the wooden tulwar down next to her, and flexed her fingers out of the position they had set themselves in. She uncurled them, her eyes focusing on the tendons, before she turned her eyes once more to Kisetukai. He seemed polite enough, so she could not knock him there, and so far he had managed to make polite conversation. And so in turn she responded the best she could, and what she believed to be the best topics to talk about “So uhh… what do you train in? I mean, I’m trying to use a Tulwar but…” She gave a shrug “It’s hard to get to grips with. Then again it’s all new stuff for me at least.”

[Kisetukai]

Fallon had seemed to be a nice girl in Kise's mind. Well to be honest he didn't really know what a bad girl was, because she was the first he himself met. Normally it was K meeting the girls. He couldn't stop smiling at the fact that he was in the process of making a friend. Actually he was more than happy, estatic would be a good word. "So uh...What do you train in?"

Kise snapped out of his state of total bliss as he noticed the reality of the situation. "Ah yes...I don't really use weapons much. But if I do...It's of a bit longer stature." K smiled. Personally I don't like weapons nor do I like fighting ...But if I must." He stood up straightly as he raised his hands. "I box." He stated proudly. "Do you have any forms of unarmed combat?" He added very converned. "I was just wondering...Because a knight...Or even a squire should always have a form of backup self defense and offense." "Although this is rare because you already have a shield and if you lose your weapon your shield can be a weapon." He began to ramble a bit. "And the elder knights and even newly knighted knights always say and teach that the shield is a weapon and a defense in it's self. And..."

He looked at Fallon with a playfull giggle. "I'm sorry, sometimes I lose track of what I'm saying and just go wild." K sighed as he noticed he almost started again. "Hey...Do you want to learn a little bit on boxing?" "If you don't know more than me already." He added with another chuckle. He looked at the girl intently. For he wasn't a teacher but maybe this is what he could do...After all he knew nothing of most swords and other weapons. A tulwar for that matter. "So?.." He added with a charming smile as he awaited an answer.