Closed [Bronze Woods] The New Guy.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

43th of Winter, 514.

"I think you know the drill by now. You'll hardly need me standing about next to you, showing you which end of the pole to shove in who." The Akalak cracked a smile from under the thick visor and the squirrel returned in kind. It was a shame that not even the squirrel's patron saw any real point in accompanying him out in the general patrols across the Bronze Woods. They'd gone through the routine so many times by now, facing off against so many people and things that they knew that the other would do fine. Besides, with everything happening over the season, they needed to cover as much ground as possible. Grouping up in big lumps just to scan around the edges of the Mountains wasn't going to cut it anymore. Instead, the Akalak had volunteered to take up commanding position over one of the smaller groups of less-experienced squires on a scouting patrol. One of them, by the name of Arthur, was being assigned to the squirrel's personal custody for a shorter patrol that scanned just along the inside.

"Yeah well, let's just hope the rest of them know too. I'd hate to be the first one to show 'em." He nudged lightly against the thick helmet and earned himself a chuckle in response as they stopped at the main gates to ease past the armored men stood at the ready. "Last thing I need is a reputation like Ball. I won't be able to walk past the other squires without them flinching." At least for now he was treated with respect.. from most. Still some scoffed at the thought of taking orders from a squirrel.. or others from even working alongside one in the Order. There were still some around the castle that he was unable to punch and so refused to believe that he was capable of any combat at all. When he got them in the Training Grounds, they would learn otherwise. Until then, he would prove that he was useful.

"Well, Squire Archailist, you're just going to have to be tolerant, aren't you. When you become a knight, you'll become a mentor to your squires just as I've been to you. The responsibility will fall to you to not only uphold the values of our Order but to pass them down to future generations." Shyke knew that it would never happen. Nobody ever wanted to take orders from a squirrel - those that did could never learn from the squirrel's experiences. They wouldn't learn how to use any of the weapons he used, or any of the techniques. Being five inches tall had a more dramatic effect on the world one saw, more than anyone thought. "Better to start learning these things sooner rather than later." Archailist only caught the end of the conversation after that - apparently Iros had continued regardless for several long chimes.

In fact, they were already outside the castle and well on their way down towards the Bronze Woods. With a farewell tap on the helmet, the squirrel jumped down from the Akalak's shoulder and the horse he was mounted upon. A long fall.. he had to roll twice after touching the ground to make sure his own weight didn't fold down against his knees and splatter them all over the grass. The Py-Pole pressed into his back wobbled lethargically, sticking for a moment into the soft soil before a firm jerk pulled it free. So.. where the petch is Alex. That was the ultimate question. Despite there only being one exit and entrance to the castle, the wide space and the plenty of knights and squires milling about over the opening, waiting for their various patrons and sergeants to hoist them away for the daily activity made it virtually impossible to see who or what he was actually looking for.

"Hey! Alex!" Neither did it help that at a measly few inches, nobody really bothered to listen to the diminutive squirrel nor even glance down in his general direction. "Looking for a squire by the name of Alexander.."

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross Alex stood isolated away from the buzzing group of squires and knights, completely lost in his own thoughts as usual. It wasn't often that he got the chance to set foot outside the safety of Syliras's walls, let alone going anywhere near the Bronze Woods. A task such as this was very rarely assigned to a squire of his rank, and it made him a bit nervous. But at the same time, the boy couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement at being able to do something other than patrol the city and end potential drunken brawls. He never really cared for having a large reputation, but it was always nice to gain a little bit of respect. His mind continued to wander, while occasionally focusing in on the chatter of the crowed. Knights gossiping amongst each other, squires going on about how they plan to become the greatest knight in all of Syliria... which Alexander couldn't help but chuckle at. Goals such as that were more unrealistic than his own goal to journey to Wind Reach. Many squires before them had those same expectations, yet they were always either abandoned, or they ended up losing body parts due to lack of proper training and preparation. However, who was he to deter them from their dreams? As he began to listen in on the buzzing around him, he thought he heard his name being called. Of course, not having much of a reputation, he was tempted to shrug it off and turn the other way. Perhaps whoever was calling may be looking for someone else. There are quite a few people in Syliras by the name of Alexander anyway... After listening for a moment longer, it became clear that it was indeed him that was being called, mainly due to the fact that no one had answered to it. With a sigh, he pulled his black fedora lower on his head, the brim casting an ominous shadow over his eyes and glasses. He turned back toward the crowd and searched for the source of the voice, but was unable to find who it was. He rolled his eyes, deciding to answer the call. "Um... I'm Alexander. Who called?" He asked, raising his voice above the chatter and ignoring the strange looks he received from the other squires.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Some heads turned, but soon looked away again. One or two, recognizing the voice, glanced down but soon shook their heads and turned back to their groups to return to chatter and gossip. He roamed between ankles, calling out over and over.. though at first he couldn't hear any response. Maybe he's still inside. Like Hai the squirrel was going to go all the way back inside Stormhold and check for him. He could be training, relaxing, doing anything else right about now and the only thing stopping him was the looming responsibilities that he knew would fall to him sooner or later.. most likely sooner.

Abruptly, he got an answer. From the person directly above, who didn't even bother looking down. He was used to it by now; nobody ever bothered to look down these days. Not when they were walking, nor standing still.. he had to wonder if any of them would ever bother to check if they still had legs in the morning before they got out of bed, or whether they'd actually try to step out. "I called. Down here." He waited patiently for the boy to finally turn his gaze down towards the floor. "Off to a great start, lad. Glad to know that your patron at least told you a little about first impressions." It was all in good nature; the Pycon could vouch for the importance of first impressions. The look on Ser Iros' face when the Akalak saw that his next squire would be five inches tall? Priceless.

Some of the other squires and even a knight somewhere mixed between them snickered softly, but spent about as long on it as Arch did before returning to their conversations. "Now, come on. Where's your mount. Your horse?" If he didn't have one, there was going to be trouble. Though the Pycon had a dog to ride when necessary, Sylir knew they'd be out in the Bronze Woods for a season before they made any significant ground on the back of Xarex; not by any fault of the dog's bar his stout little legs. In fact, the dog was only marginally faster than the Pycon going by foot, although admittedly the Sykanis mount had a good deal more stamina.

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross Alex glanced down, taking a step back. He was a little surprised when he saw that it was coming from a small animal that very much resembled a squirrel. Of course, the first thing that came to his mind was: What the hell? Squirrels don't talk... But a longer inspection revealed that it didn't have any fur whatsoever, and it looked as if he was made from... clay? It was then that he realized that it wasn't a squirrel at all, but a Pycon. "Oh! Sorry about that." Alex said, rubbing the back of his neck. First impressions have not really been his thing, and this only seemed to prove that theory. Ranqor loved to spend hours lecturing him on how to present himself, but it seemed that no matter how much he spoke about it, these situations always seemed to catch Alex off guard. He couldn't help but feel quite embarrassed, if not slightly annoyed with himself. And if that weren't enough, he failed to bring a horse. Of course, this wasn't because he forgot - even though that was the case ninety percent of the time - it was because he had absolutely no idea how to ride a horse. Many times he has cursed himself for this. He was a squire, meant to become a knight in due time, yet he had no experience with horseback riding. "Um... See, there's a bit of a problem with that... I don't exactly have one. He said, shrugging nervously.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

When Arch had volunteered.. or rather, been volunteered by his patron.. to help out with some new squires, he'd kept certain expectations. He expected them to bring a weapon, to protect and defend themselves or others. He expected them to bring a horse so that they'd be able to ride through the Bronze Woods rather than trudge through it on foot. Most of this because.. well, it was what would be expected of all squires. "You don't have a horse..? You're a squire to a knight, but you don't have a horse?" He couldn't keep the surprise mixed with irritation out of his voice; in fact, he didn't even try to hide it. With pupil-less eyes he stared at Alexander for a long silence before turning away and shaking his head. "Alright then."

So, they'd really decided to give the Pycon a challenge, huh? He could live with that. He could deal with a challenge, sure thing. "You understand that as a squire, it is expected of you to learn how to ride a horse.. not to mention, it is expected of you to ride a horse." He supposed that perhaps not everyone was educated the same way that the Pycon was, but heck if he went through it then so could any human or other race of squire as well. "When you go out on patrols, you go on a horse. A patrol without a horse is a trek, and a trek is not a patrol. Remember that from now on." His stern voice dropped a note or two as he puffed up his chest.. more or less just to maintain his calm rather than to look intimidating or leader-ish.

"Now that you understand that.. let's go to the stables and get your horse sorted, alright. Then we can begin with our patrol." Just like that, they were off again, with the squirrel leading the way straight back through the gates and gesturing for Alexander to follow. Thank goodness that the Windmount Stables weren't too far from the Nettle District. They wouldn't waste too much time trying to traverse the entire length of the castle just to pick up a darn horse. They had places to be, things to get done. "Now, I hope you know how to ride one of these horses too. Otherwise we're going to be here a very long time."

Mid-stride, he stopped. "Wait, you have a patron, don't you? He's not helped you find a horse, anything like that? You have your borrowed equipment, yes? You have a weapon with you? You've been given at least some amount of basic training, those things?" Shyke, he had no clue how far he'd come. Was he stuck with someone who had absolutely no clue what they were doing.. or was the squirrel the one in the wrong?

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross It certainly didn't take a genius to figure out that the Pycon was irritated, and it made Alex a bit nervous. "Oh boy..." he said, heaving a heavy sigh. "Um... yeah, about that..." He paused for a moment. That moment, there were not many words to describe how embarrassed and stupid the boy felt. Ranqor had not yet trained him in any of these things, and Alex had not thought to ask him about it. Ranqor was a fairly busy man, after all. Of course, this couldn't be used as an excuse, because a patron should always have time for his squire. It's also very likely that Ranqor had explained some of these things, and Alex may not have been paying attention... He rubbed his temples. "All right, no. I don't know how to ride a horse, I don't have any armor, I haven't had any training in this stuff. The only thing I have is my steel longsword." He said, gesturing to the glistening blade sheathed at his side. As for everything else... no. Any training I did get was probably quickly forgotten because I was too lost in my own world to worry too much about it." His shoulders slumped. He had always had problems similar when he was younger, the only exception being when his stepfather would teach him new things about the Kelvics. But then again, the subject involving Kelvics always interested him. If a subject interested Alex enough, then he would pay attention as much as he could. He pit his lip and patiently waited the barrage of shouts and insults that often came prior to him being so inattentive. Even though he already knew in his mind that he should know these things, he also felt that he deserved another lecture. It was bad enough that his thin build left him with many disadvantages as it is, yet here he was sleeping through some of his classes. It has made him wonder many times if he was mentally challenged or something...

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

For some reason, the final admission made him feel calmer. It wasn't like half of the job had been done, then someone got a little too bored to finish the rest of it. At least there was that. Instead, everything needed sorting. Alex was probably a very recent recruit, nobody'd found time to go out and pick out his gear, collect his horse.. teach him how to ride the horse.. all of it. Nobody to be angry at, really; Alex couldn't be left to guess all of these things for himself. He could only take it in his stride. Deep breath, inhale and exhale, before the Pycon turned back around and nodded quietly to himself on the way back through the Main Gates.

"Alright then. We're going to sort this all out. We're going to go and fetch you some new full plate.. we're going to sort you out with a new horse, we're going to get you a shield and whatever else you'll probably need before we head out and we put all of it to good use." Shyke knew what the squirrel was going to do if Alex couldn't use any of it, but heck.. he'd made it this far without simply exploding over Alex, which meant that he could accomplish anything. The more he focused on that, the calmer he became. Easier to think when he was calm. Easier to concentrate on important matters.

"First thing's first, horse." Unfortunately, Arch wasn't really confident in how one could choose a horse. When he'd arrived in Syliras, he came with his own mount.. one which he'd chosen in a marketplace in Nyka and had plenty of time to become acquainted with on the season-long journey back down from that far up north. He didn't need to have the stablehands of Windmount choose one for him. Neither did he have to borrow one from the city at all.

However, at least he knew where the stables were; the Windmount District, obviously. The other end of the city. Oh joy. He'd have to walk straight through the middle of the Nettle District, through the Maiden District and finally up through the Jordan District just to make it there; at least once he'd made it that far, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to find the other areas. One thing was for certain though. This was already looking to be a very long day indeed. "Come on, hurry up. I'm supposed to be the slow one here, not you!" Well, truth be told, if the boy hadn't collected his own horse and gear yet, safe to say that he probably barely knew his way around the city too; otherwise he would have collected it himself.

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross With a sigh, the boy straightened out the dark fedora that rested on his head and followed, mainly keeping his eyes glued to the ground. Even though he didn't show it, he was extremely relieved that the Pycon hadn't exploded at him yet, even though it was obvious that he was annoyed. It made him think of himself, and how he rarely lost his temper as much as he did when he was younger. Of course, it was different with him, considering his bad habit of bottling up his emotions. The only way the boy had ever been able to express his own anger or annoyance was through smart-ass comments or snide remarks. But then again, being a squire even took that away, leaving him to bite his tongue most of the time. Even so, he was thankful that the Pycon had decided to be more patient with him. Fortunately, he knew his way around the city fairly well, thanks to the few times he's patrolled Syliras... on foot, of course. The only reason he didn't have a mount with him was because he was inexperienced when it came to horseback riding... and also because he had didn't know that the trip would require it, no matter how obvious it was. In his own mind, he continued to scold himself for his ignorance: Damn fool. What's the point in becoming a knight if you can't even ride a horse, or even speculate that a certain mission required it? He made a mental note to be more prepared in the future when similar situations may occur. He decided not to think of it at the moment. What was done now is done, and it never helped to dwell on mistakes that should have not happened. With another heavy sigh, he decided to strike up a conversation... which was rare for someone like Alex, given his antisocial stature. Then again, he figured that it would be a good opportunity to get on the Pycon's good side, rather than continuing on in awkward silence. "So... is it often that you get to meet idiots like me?" He said with a half-hearted chuckle, taking off his spectacles to wipe them clean.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

He didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed for a distraction in the growing silence between them. On the one hand, at least there was something to take his mind off the thriving irritation just waiting to break through his tiny mouth and fill the air with rebukes, whether or not the inexperienced Alexander truly deserved them. On the other hand, he needed to concentrate on where he was going.. not because he didn't know where he was going, but because there were a lot of feet trying to step on him. As the people passed by, he very quickly lost sight of Alexander and soon only caught the occasional glimpse, if even that. Why does everyone else have to be so damn big. Or maybe if the city was a little more accommodating for Pycons...

"Depends what you mean by idiot. If you mean inexperienced squires.. not that often." In his experience, new squires.. by new, they didn't even have the armour or the horse or any of the other basic gear.. collected all their equipment and were well and truly settled before they begun training with other squires or knights. Of course, that was only going off what he'd seen so far.. this was definitely a stretch from the norm.

"It's fine, though.. what's done is done. Or not done. Whatever." He had to stop - all this talking was going to get him killed. It nearly did - a particularly large foot he'd almost completely ignored up until that exact moment nearly crushed his little clay head as its owner trod obliviously past, barely nudging his way around Alexander on his way out the main gates. He didn't even have a clue how close he came to killing a squire.. likely he would have, too, if Arch hadn't rolled out of the way and ducked around a corner, away from most of the big feet stomping around. "As long as it's done now and it's done right, it doesn't really matter does it. You know what needs to be done in the future, you learn something new.. and some day, when you're with a new squire that doesn't know what to do, I hope you'll help them too."

The only problem was getting there.. though not for Alex. "We should split up. It might take me longer to get there. You know how to get to Windmount Stables, don't you?" If not, he'd have no other choice than to take a ride on Alex's shoulders all the way up there.. whether the new squire felt like holding a twenty-two pound squirrel in his hands across half the city or not.

[Alexander Ross]

Alexander Ross The boy nodded as he listened, not that the Pycon would be able to see the gesture, given that he seemed to be so focused on where he was going and not getting stepped on. Alex almost felt sorry for him. It would bother him greatly if he were only five inches tall and barely anyone took the time to look down and acknowledge his presence... or at least watch where the shyke they were stepping. "Well, I guess it could be a lot worse... You might have to teach me to fight all over again." He said as the pedestrian nudged past him, not even noticing that he had nearly stepped on the other squire. He was joking, of course, but it was difficult to tell considering his monotonous tone of voice. "As long as it's done now and it's done right, it doesn't really matter does it. You know what needs to be done in the future, you learn something new.. and some day, when you're with a new squire that doesn't know what to do, I hope you'll help them too." "I plan on it. Or I'll try to, at least." I guess it really depends on the situation. I'll feel pretty damn stupid if a squire newer than I was already had everything they needed. He added in the privacy of his own thoughts. Gods knew that he just might die of embarrassment if a brand new squire seemed more experienced than him. "We should split up. It might take me longer to get there. You know how to get to Windmount Stables, don't you?" The Pycon had asked him, to which he replied: Yeah, I'm sure I do. I've been there once or twice before." He paused for a moment, before asking. "Um, would you like for me to carry you? It would probably be a lot easier."