Closed Clumsier Than Thou.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

4th of Winter, 514.

While Archailist held back a laugh, his accomplices were not so subtle in their mockery. Narick left the main gates snickering underneath his smile, and Cameron was even worse - he guffawed right past the knights that gave them suspicious looks on their way out of the city and down towards the Kabrin Road. "Man, that was hilarious. Did you see the way Tobias' face lit up when they found that stuff under his plate-mail? Man, all of Travelers Row will be calling for his damn head by the end of the day.." Cameron jested, with Narick agreeing in a small nod. It was a shame, to be sure, since the boy had potential - everyone knew about the rough life that he'd led, like most of the men and women who joined the Order, but he was still one of the few that refused to give that life up again.

"It's his fault for stealing it, I'm not going to feel sorry for him," Narick was quick to add on afterwards. "I'm surprised he's not already been kicked out for all the shyke he pulls. Doesn't matter what magic stuff he knows, he's still using it for all the wrong reasons and everyone knows it, too." The squirrel didn't, really. He'd never met Tobias, and he wasn't really sure what the other two squires were talking about, but it'd be rude to let go of an offer for a quick walk after their group training session in the Training Grounds, and besides, he had history with the pair of them. They remembered it well, too. Cameron had offered the squirrels shoulder to ride on through the Tiers and down to the bridge between Stormhold Castle and the front lip of the Bronze Woods, for an evening of chatter and relaxation.

"You're one to talk, aren't you, hah? If the knights could throw out whoever they wished, you'd be out the doors on the first tick!" Everyone knew that the squire's boasts were the bane of every patrol. At least he had the common decency to keep his boasts to just his work with a bow and arrow, when faced with the Weaponmasters. It still didn't impress them though, as seen with their latest training session - out of all three of them, it was Narick who held the most bruises caused by their blunt training swords.

Cameron was almost howling by this point, thanks to the squirrels quick jab at the unsuspecting scout, which turned his face a shade of red that he was sure hadn't existed before. "Hey! I'll have you know that I was trained by my father for my eventual knighthood! I'm more than ready to take up my place as a knight, and you know it.. just because they don't like my attitude doesn't mean shyke, I can take on anything their tests throw at me." Narick's chest puffed out a little farther than before, but the squirrel only grinned a little wider.

"Oh, is that so?" He had to stop, as Cameron literally doubled over and nearly tossed the squirrel straight off his shoulder - if not for an extra-tight grip on the straps of leather holding his armour together that let him practically ride the human's shoulder down to the floor, and drop down on his feet again. "So, you've got the skills, it's just everything else.. but Tobias has all the skills too, but he shouldn't be a knight because of everything else?" That was taking it a little too far, apparently. Cameron was just shaking his head with tears coming out of his eyes, struggling to even keep his common sense of being together, while Narick's face screwed up and he began shouting - though it didn't even reach the squirrels ears under a mixture of stuttering anger and the whooping laugh of the fellow squire.

Somewhere in there was mention of a 'fight' and 'proving strength' but the squirrel just smiled on, completely innocently, as he roared. A few of the people moving past, on the backs of their horses or wagons, gave strange looks to the small group of misfits, but looked away again shortly afterwards when they saw the forged plate-mail and sharpened weapons at their hips; no matter what idiocies they committed, the sight of a sword and a shield always managed to cow most passing civilians from interfering, as long as they weren't themselves breaking the law.

[Vanessa Lawson]

A long sigh accompanied by the constant crunch of snow under boots followed a made by a small woman under a cloak. Of all things the woman wore no armor, and had her broadsword concealed under the thick cloak around her shoulders. The hood of the cloak was pulled over her jet black hair, as her breathing condensed in the chilly air. That woman happened to be Vanessa. The squire had been told by her patron to patrol, and in an attempt to not disturb or frighten anyone, she had left her armor back at the dorms. A wonderful choice. She deduced to herself sarcastically. She'd arrived about a bell ago, and was making her way back to the gates. Thankfully she hadn't run into any obstacles, because she was not in the mood. She had decided to sight-see upon arriving, but after the snow started to fall it became the worst possible idea. About a few ticks ago it had finally stopped, but by the time it had started she was pretty far into the Bronze Woods. She donned her usual attire, but it wasn't close enough to being warm. She took a sharp left into the bushes, shielding her face from the branches and leaves in her path. A little farther in she could hear laughter, and something about the Knighthood, but she tried her best to ignore them, not wanting to eavesdrop. She stopped briefly before exiting on the other side of the bushes. She only exited here because she could've sworn she heard someone weeping. Maybe was just curious, but apparently she walked right into other Knights. One of them bawling like a child, the other yelling about fighting. A fight between the knighthood Knights? No, I won't allow it. After the bush navigation, her hood had been knocked back, but thankfully her weapon was still concealed. Before she could speak however, she heard laughing, and turned to see squirrel perched on the yelling Knight's shoulder. Vanessa forced herself to do a double take. There was a squirrel laughing?! Wait, it wasn't a squirrel. It obviously had no fur. And to top it off, it looked like gray and brown clay. The raven-haired woman averted her gaze, not intending to stare. "Uhm, h-hello."

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

"I've got more than enough skill to make it to a knight, the only reason I'm not one yet is because I'm waiting for my quest and I need to work on a few other bits. That's all." Well, that sounded somewhat believable to the squirrel. "I can show it, as well. You and me, outside the Aylasa Caves, with a weapon of choice. I'll put an arrow in you before you can make a step, you'll see." Again, possible. As much as the squirrel hated to admit it; for all his speed, Narick had a surprisingly fast draw of his bow and could easily knock an arrow through the squirrel if the boy managed to catch Arch while he wasn't focused. Nevertheless, his victory was almost certain. He was about to offer up a paw to agree on the matter, when they all found themselves interrupted by.. someone.

"What do you want, huh? Can't you see we're busy with something?" Narick's face went from sly to grimacing in an instant when he whirled around to confront the stranger. "Come on, be gone with you!" One hand made a shooing motion while the other slid over to finger at the handle of his bow - but Cameron easily slid into place between them both, hands outstretched and a warm smile on his face.

"Now, hold on. You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss a woman.. especially one so beautiful." The young squire was openly drinking in Vanessa's figure, making little effort to even mask it as he offered up a hand for her. "Please excuse these idiots, m'lady.. Squire Cameron at your service." Even the other two squires could sense the forced sincerity in his tone, and the squirrel simply shook his head and looked away from the horror. Narick, ever-seeing the funny side of these things, barked another soft laugh and nearly sent Cameron tripping over his own feet as he bowed.

"Sweet Sylir, you're bad." Cameron wheeled around on his heels with his jaw tightened and fists shaking, muttering nothing more than "Shut up," before he turned back and tried to shrug off the little insults with another sickly smile. "Forgive them. Neither of them know of the proper ways to speak around a woman." While the young squire still had his back turned to Narick and Arch, the squirrel opened his mouth and made a gesture by inserting two fingers into the open maw and pretending to gag.

Funny that he did, because Pycons naturally didn't have a gag reflex.. or a stomach, for that matter. He'd seen it performed many times before, and it seemed to have the same effect it always did, by sending Narick into more mocking snickers behind the rage-infused Cameron's back.

[Vanessa Lawson]

An honest sigh of relief passed through her as Vanessa realized they were just some squires having a good time. Good, She thought. She had almost jumped to the wrong conclusion. Obviously one of them had no intent to respect her. Shooing her away as he put a finger to what looked like a bow. "I have no intention of bothering you, I'm simply making my way back." She had had made the statement, but soon enough she was met with another man smiling warmly and extending a hand to her. She felt a little uncomfortable with him staring at her, but either way she took his hand, thinking he was trying to introduce himself. "Uh, y-yes. It's nice to meet you. I'm Vanessa; Vanessa Lawson." He swung around to interact with his companion before focusing on her again. This time it was Vanessa turn to give a small chuckle. She smiled and thanked him, but spoke none the less. "It's nice to see your companions don't change there demeanor when in the presence of a woman. Granted, sometimes that's a curse for me," she began, but the last bit was said with a awkward smile. "especially when it comes to my Patron." She looked around the bunch, before turning back to the squirrel. She was still rather shocked, but the initial had died down quite a bit. "Pardon my asking, and I don't mean to sound rude, but what are you?" She assumed they would know who the question was directed too. She had never seen anything like it before.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Though Narick didn't openly say it, he made sure to mutter under his breath about how even the girl's presence was bothering. Even her shooing didn't do any good, and the squires hand only took even more time stroking up and down the handle. He knew that she was watching, and took full advantage of it. The state didn't even change when he heard of her squirehood - it wasn't important after all, it didn't mean that she suddenly wasn't invading on their private conversations. Instead, he slowly sank into a deep silence to stand and watch while Cameron attempted to awkwardly flirt with the girl in a series of clumsy lines that sounded like he'd picked them up from the pages he worked with. The squirrel was quite happy to do the same.

"What a lovely name," Cameron cooed with that same smile permanently fixed to his lips. "It sounds almost as musical as your laugh.." His fawning couldn't be more obvious if he had a sign over his head proclaiming it with big, flashing letters and a bold underlining. This was probably as close as he'd really come to being able to get with a girl in ages - everything about her, from the slight insecurity to the small compliments she made, hinted that he might actually be able to get somewhere.
"Almost, but not quite, I'm afraid."

This was obviously getting nowhere. Narick and Archailist shared a quick, knowing glance and were about to turn and make their way for a casual stroll, hopefully to come back later when Cameron was finished drooling, when the squirrel found himself caught out by a question. One of the most rage-inducing questions he'd ever been asked, simply because so many people had to ask it, and each time, he had to give the same answer. One would think that future knights would have a little more cultural background, but it seemed none of them even understood what a Pycon was.. well, he'd be damned if he was going to sit by and just let them all forget.

"You SERIOUSLY don't know?" He wheeled around on the spot with his tail flicking back and forth in a very squirrel-like and agitated manner. Cameron was waving his hands just behind Vanessa, trying to stop him from invading the one moment where he might have a shot, but Arch blew him off and grit his little clay teeth together. "There's three squires, just like me, right now, in this castle. There's one of us hanging about at the Fighter's Pit, and another wandering the streets near the Rearing Stallion. We aren't exactly a minority, and yet you still have to ask?" The idiocy of some people really was staggering at this point. "Are you that bloody blind?!" The volume of his voice raised at the end, but instead of the tone going higher, his voice seemed to grow even more baritone than before.

[Vanessa Lawson]

While Vanessa wasn't paying very much attention to the man in front of her, she could hear bits and pieces while trying her best to tune him out. Though her smile remained, she didn't exactly like the bothersome man she assumed was bothered by her presence. What she wasn't expecting was the anger omitted from the squirrel apparently made of clay. She raised an eyebrow at the outburst, but other than that was unfazed. "I hate to admit, but I rarely visit the Stallion lately. I miss the ale, as for the fighter Pit's it's pretty much the same. I don't really go there in favor of using the training grounds. However, I do apologize if that was an ignorant question." The raven haired woman explained calmly. Although she didn't like the tone the Squirrel took with her, she would hold back if the question had offended him. After all, she had no intention of disrespecting him. She soon placed another small smile on her face. She had introduced herself, and knew only the name of the man who frantically tried his best to entice her, but of the others she didn't. Perhaps she could do something other than go straight back to her Patron for once. "May I at least know your names?"

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Arch shook his head with a very loud sigh. "Honestly, sometimes, I wonder whether you lot really look where you're going. No doubt that you've nearly stepped on me once, and yet, you don't even know what my SPECIES is..." He'd nearly faced death at the feet of more passing humans and other creatures than he could count, and he at least had the common decency to make note of their race. Then again, it wasn't like he could act like a human and just not bother remembering the others that he shared this world with. He had to know what they were, where they came from, what they did. It was the only thing he could do to save himself from a terrible fate - that and learn to avoid their feet.

"Anyway.. my name, if you really need it, is Archailist." Narick sighed as well before he called out as well. "Narick." Even actually saying his own name sounded like a chore to him, and it showed -his voice was about as monotonous as it could get, and his eyes were practically glazing over. Whether Narick or the squirrel felt bad for being rather rude to the girl, they didn't really do anything to mask it, or showed any remorse or guilt for it. Their faces almost seemed to drop as Cameron continued yet again.

"Not been to the Stallion? You and I could go there together, you know. I could show you around, we could get a few drinks together. I know this beautiful ale that they make there, it's really quite something.. heh, it reminds me of you." One of the squire's arms was slowly creeping around Vanessa's shoulders, and while it remained inches away from touching her, there was no doubt that she wouldn't be able to feel the embrace he was slowly trying to draw her in for. That was about the moment when Arch realized that he'd had enough of all of this, really.

"Nope. I'll leave you two lovebirds to it, thank you very much." He turned, and Narick did the same. The human squire had to lean down to offer one upturned palm for the squirrel to climb onto, but when he did, he immediately turned and whispered into Narick's ear so that neither of the other two could hear. "I don't want to see where this is going.. no doubt I'll have enough of a graphic description from Cameron when they come back.." That, at least, got a laugh out of Narick. Gods above knew that neither of them really felt comfortable in this situation - it'd all gone from happy to angry and now it'd settled quite clearly on awkward.

[Vanessa Lawson]

Vanessa nodded as she took note of there names. The bunch seemed close enough, but this Narrick and Archailist seemed less than pleased with her presence. They seemed like good people otherwise however, but she wondered why the man before her couldn't take a hint. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I rather spar than go out with company." She was being polite, and at the very least she spoke the truth. She had no intention of going with this man to the Stallion. She was getting a tad impatient with the man, but there wasn't much she could do to stop him without coming off as rude. "Speaking of, would any of you mind a spar?" She asked hopefully. Perhaps she could prove herself as a respectable if she showed them her strength. It was a long shot, but the possibility was hopefully there. It would be difficult, that much was clear. She didn't exactly want to go against the clay squire, seeing as his size could be worked in his favor, and she didn't know the extent of his abilities as he was an unknown race. It would definitely be a problem. Vanessa sighed inwardly, deciding she would go against the squirrel if they chose it. Besides, it brings a new experience. Well, at least she hoped it would.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Funny, how even the rejection didn't stop Cameron.. though it did make him a little more desperate with his attempts. Really desperate, actually. It made Narick and Archailist even more eager to just leave, before their cringes took over the rest of their faces in a gruesome assimilation. "I-I can take you back to my place and we can spar right there in the bed!" At least he had the common sense to apologize after the outburst and back off several steps. As good as he claimed he was, it seemed the same with every girl.. he just wasn't good around them, much as he tried and tried again to make it seem like he was. Hilarious, in a near-tragic way.

That didn't stop the squirrel from tapping Narick on the shoulder and drawing him back around a second time. "Wait, what? You?" He'd only just met the girl.. never heard of her before, never seen her before, yet she apparently wanted to walk up to the first group of people she found and push them for a spar? Either she was pretty competent with her sword to push her luck in such a way, or she was the exact opposite. No matter. "Why in Sylir should I even bother with you, huh?" It wasn't like the squirrel had anything to lose from it.. but at the same time, what did he have to gain either?

"Who says I've even got time for your rubbish. First you ruin our fun and now you want to pick a fight, huh? Just get lost." At this point, he just didn't care for what she had to say. Just by turning up, the girl had dampened their banter and their mood; everything after that was another boot-print in the ashes. Though Narick looked like he had something to say, the squirrel grabbed a handful of the boy's hair and tugged harshly to draw attention back to the important one in this group. "Come on, leave the shyke to her own business." Though there was reluctance, the boy obeyed and turned his back on Cameron and Vanessa.

Even Cameron was beginning to pull away from Vanessa and the other two as well, to recoup some of his burned pride. Through it all, his head remained low and his eyes turned away, as though he'd dropped something. "I.. well, uhm, I think I should, you know, get going someplace else about now.." he mumbled in a failed attempt at a goodbye - more stumbling over his own words than actually getting them out of his big mouth. This had been a disaster in more ways than one.

[Vanessa Lawson]

Well that definitely backfired. Vanessa was not expecting that kind of response from the clay squire. She hadn't come to interrupt the fun interaction these men had started, and she was quickly finding her presence was a nuisance for them. They clay squire made it quite clear. She had hoped to just find an activity to keep her warm, but it was turning into a more unnecessary confrontation. Even so, she wanted a chance to move her worth. "Are you afraid of a shake like myself?" She responded calmly. They seemed to go on impulse, not something Vanessa was particularly fond of. Be that as it may, she was going to attempt to prove them wrong. She was not going to sit quietly and take the insults like a mature adult. She was going to fight back like a child for once and see how far it got her. "Well?"