PM to join Setting Sights [Dravite]

[Akasja]

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20th of Winter
Mid-morning

Akasja slid her hand down along her Desertbred's left, hind leg until she reached its fetlock. She pushed against it lightly, cuing the mare to lift her leg enough so that Akasja could hold the pastern and hoof in her palm and against her thigh. With her other hand, Akasja took her hoof pick and began the steady process of removing dried mud from the foot, being careful not to make contact with the softest and most sensitive part. With the weather warming up, the ground had gotten quite soggy, but as of late, the sun had dried much of the mud. This left the people of Endrykas with a lot of grooming to do. Before setting the hoof down, Akasja used her thumb to brush away any remaining mud and debris from the hoof's soft spot.

The black mare nickered gently, grateful for the attention just as much as she was grateful to have all her weight distributed evenly once more. Akasja returned to the horse's head, speaking softly in Tawna, praising the animal, and offering her a light snack of root vegetables that she had stored since autumn. Now that the weather was warming up -and it was not certain if this pattern would last- Akasja was glad to let her horse remain outside for much longer periods of time. Today she did not even need a blanket.

As the sun rose higher, Akasja fed and watered her horse before preparing herself for a trip to the Diamond Clan's pavilions. She had planned to see Dravite today, after many days of talk with Pearl about him and the men of the Watch. Perhaps she would even meet Yuki, Dravite's aunt, whom Pearl mentioned was a very talented cook. There was much that Akasja wanted to learn. Before leaving her tent, Akasja made sure to bring her own dagger with her, a small container of heal-all salve that lessened bruising, as well as a satchel of Acklar bark that she and Pearl had gathered the previous season. Akasja wondered if Dravite would see its use beyond that of medicine. Regardless, she planned to offer it to him as a gift of well-wishing.

Before long, the Chaktawe woman arrived at the Blackwater pavilion. She remained on alert, scanning the area for any signs of Dravite or his kin.
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[Dravite]

Dravite lay inside his tent on a bed of furs with his newest son asleep on his chest. He drew his fingers over the child's neck and the back of his head, drawing light patterns there in order to help the boy relax and rest peacefully.
"He likes that," Belkaia smiled; his wife lay on her side tucked against the man, ever watchful.
"Of course he does," the horse lord grinned, "his mother taught me how."
Belkaia pressed a kiss to the man's jaw, "I don't remember."
It's was Dravite's turn to smile, "well you did."

Fara bowed through the door then and sat down at the end of the furs on her knees, "you have a visitor."
"Who?" Belkaia asked.
"One of Pearl's workmates," Dravite told her before Fara could answer, "She told you this morning."
"Oh yes," Belkaia nodded and carefully took her son Jaeger from the man.

Fara crawled across the furs to take up Dravite's warm spot and coo and fuss over the new-born with her sister while the man dressed before leaving the tent. He emerged outside wearing a dark pair of leather pants, a light, long sleeved shirt, and a pair of fur lined boots. His shirt was white and tucked into his black pants, with a decorative belt, tooled with Drykas markings, fastened about his waist. Atop his head, a mop of wheat coloured hair was tied back off his face, twisted and knotted like a fistful of lean jungle snakes that reached down and beyond the nape of his neck.
"Akasja," the man acknowledged the foreigner, greetings, welcome, he then waved and moved to collect some of his weapons to dress the belt he wore.

A hand axe, a throwing axe, a dagger, and his hunting knife, while he held his father's spear, carved from bone, in his hands. "Out there," the man pointed to the edge of the city, speaking in very basic common, "no fight here."

The Blackwater camp had too many children in its care for swinging weapons and so he walked alongside the woman's horse, traversing the worn makeshift streets that led out into the Sea of Grass, where there was plenty of room for the novice to hone her skills. A lone log marked the relatively clear area he picked for them to work in and from a distance he took his throwing axe and hurtled it at the log, watching as it caught the top and was knocked into the grass beyond. There he left his other weapons in a lazy pile and turned to Akasja with spear in hand, where to begin?, he waved with expert hands, "what weapon?" He scanned her person then to see what she had brought along.

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[Akasja]

OOC: realizing now that I made it seem like Akasja's horse is with her. Not my intention, sorry! But we can go with it!

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Akasja appreciated Dravite's greeting; not only did he speak her name, but also signed greetings to her in Pavi. The Drykas warrior had immediately put her at ease, but even more importantly Akasja felt respected as an equal. As an outsider, not everyone she had met had afforded her that. Akasja's expression softened, and she replied with greetings, thank you.
"Good morning, Dravite," she added in Common.
The Chaktawe watched intently as Dravite began to gather and arrange his weapons. She remained quiet and did not hover over him, allowing him the space to work. While the man was courteous and polite, he was also focused on the task at hand and had gotten straight to it. It was obvious to Akasja why many in Endrykas held Dravite in such high regard.

Together they left Endrykas for the open expanse of the plains around the city. It was a much better locale for what they were hoping to work on. Akasja did not speak more than a few words while they walked, only mentioning in Common that she hoped his family was well. She had never before been alone with the man. Although his presence was calming, Akasja found her gaze fixated on Dravite's weapons and the strong, capable hands that carried them. She tried not to stare. He was slightly smaller in stature than she, but the Drykas was nevertheless impressive.

Once they arrived at the intended spot, Akasja felt more comfortable. There were not so many eyes on her, and she felt able to speak a little more freely. Still, she didn't want to overstep any bounds, and so waited for Dravite to proceed. Akasja watched as Dravite demonstrated how the throwing axe worked. He was fairly skilled with it, certainly more so than she. A long-range weapon was something that Akasja needed, but as of yet her skills with a throwing axe or spear were minimal at best. There was a wealth of weapons at their disposal today, leaving Akasja with a lot to consider.

After posing a question in Pavi, Dravite switched to Common: "What weapon?"
Akasja smiled, glad that Dravite was willing to be so open to teaching and practicing. Her hand slid to her hip where she had her dagger secured. The sheath was a golden wolf's foreleg decorated with one ink-black crow feather and another of a vulture to indicate her clans; the dagger itself had been carved from the same wolf's bone. Slowly Akasja pulled the weapon from its sheath and rotated it in her hand so Dravite could see it.
"I want to use, practice, with my knife. How to fight a person," she explained. Akasja looked over to the weapon pile and pointed at the spear. "And that..." She searched for the Common word for spear and realized she didn't know it. She didn't expect Dravite to know Tawna, but still, Akasja moved to touch the spear lightly with her hand and spoke the Tawna word for it, a playful smirk on her face. She hoped Dravite might enjoy their unique situation and be able to make light of the difficulties. "The long knife," Akasja concluded in Common. For now, that would have to suffice.
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▶ Show quoted text

[Dravite]

The watchman smiled at the name used to refer to his spear, the long knife, Akasja stated, to which Dravite quickly provided the proper title, “Spear,” he spoke in Common and made the appropriate hand and arm gesture for the Pavi equivalent.

The woman’s dagger was impressive and homely, something the man could appreciate experiencing the upbringing he had, where from a young age he been taught that everything had a use and that little to nothing should ever go to waste if it could be helped. The dark eyed Chaktawe was a couple of inches taller than the man and in closed ranged combat that made all the difference. “Dagger,” the Drykas nodded and fetched one of the two he had brought along.

Akasja reminded him of Mayra and Dravite found himself day-dreaming for a spell as to what might have become of the woman. He wasn’t as well versed with the dagger as he was when wielding his spear, but he had learned a thing or two that Akasja might be able to put to good use. “Hold,” he then demonstrated, the tip of the steel dagger pointed skyward, “Forward grip,” the Drykas made mention before swiftly spinning the blade on open palm to switch his hold, and this time the dagger pointed to his feet with his thumb at the top of the hilt rather than tucked under the cross-guard, “Reverse grip.”

Excuse me, he signed and set his left hand on the woman’s right shoulder, “Reverse grip thrust down,” he brought the dagger towards her in a mock thrust before switching to the opposite hold again, “Forwards grip, thrust up, straight,” Dravite explained as best he could with the little Common he knew.

“Block,” he changed his hold on the woman so that his left forearm held her back, his hand on her left shoulder now as he brought the knife forward slowly and stopped a hand’s width from her gut, “Akasja, try,” the horse lord dropped his guard and waited for the woman to familiarise herself with the new information he had given her.

While Akasja practiced, Dravite couldn’t help but admire the the mare she had come in on, who seemed ten times more beautiful than any one of the horses in his herd.

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[Akasja]

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Akasja was pleased to hear Dravite give the Common term for "spear" and the corresponding Pavi sign; he was facing this language barrier rather good naturedly. Repeating both of the terms back at Dravite without much effort, Akasja hoped that she would not easily forget this first lesson of the day. Expanding her vocabulary had always been a top priority for Akasja. Over the years, she had come to find that if someone could not fight their way out of a situation, the right words could often save them.

As the Drykas Watchman returned with his own dagger, Akasja heard him utter the Common word for it -something she assumed was more precise and accurate than the word "knife" she had used earlier. Akasja stored the new word away in her mind and prepared to follow along with Dravite's training. As he went over the basic grip positions with her, Akasja mimicked his movements with her own hand and dagger and listened to the words he used to describe them. So far she was confident with what they were reviewing.

But Akasja took a second to realize that Dravite's signing Excuse me was to indicate that he meant to touch her next. Akasja almost took a step back as his strong hand made contact with her shoulder, but she stopped herself from looking potentially foolish or skittish and remained still. She saw the way Dravite had her pushed away from him with one arm as he used his other hand to maneuver the dagger in both "reverse" and "forward" grips. Akasja knew both of these positions, but seeing them slowed down -and the way Dravite switched the hold of his dagger so smoothly- helped her better understand the dynamics. She considered their body sizes, too; if she were up against someone shorter, she would have to push down and away to keep them from getting too close to her. As Dravite demonstrated with his weight slightly pressing Akasja's frame, facing someone taller could require a force that moved both up and away from your own body.

"Block," Dravite began, and changed his hold on Akasja. She did not react outwardly to his touch and chose to ignore the realization that she enjoyed being this close to someone again. Akasja knew Dravite was not putting anywhere near his full weight into her, but nevertheless she felt how strong and solid the man was. It was both exhilarating and frightening. Facing someone of his build or larger would certainly require strength and a more complete understanding of one-on-one battle dynamics. Akasja eyed the metal dagger as it made its way toward her belly and stopped inches away. She instinctively exhaled, her mind racing with ideas about how she would escape such a precarious situation if it were really happening. She imagined she would need to block quickly with her left arm.
"Akasja, try," Dravite offered, stepping back from her.

Akasja readied her wolf's bone dagger in her hand and slowed her breaths, eyeing Dravite's figure. She approached him intently, finding the places on his body where she would make contact -or pretend to. First Akasja placed her hand onto Dravite's right shoulder and pressed a little weight into him, keeping her knees bent slightly and weight evenly distributed. She then brought the dagger slowly overhead and down, aiming for the man's neck. Next Akasja switched her hold on the dagger, lowered it, and brought it forward again, this time moving up towards Dravite's torso from her hip. A forceful stab like that would tear someone's innards, or certainly rip through any light armor they might be wearing.

Moving slightly closer, Akasja positioned her forearm across Dravite's upper chest, gripping onto his left shoulder. "Block," she repeated, and was once again conscious of how close the two of them stood. Mentally, Akasja chastised herself. She felt somewhat like a young girl again, and it was interfering with her concentration. A smile spread across the Chaktawe's face, and she laughed quietly before taking a step back from Dravite.
Apology, she signed, hoping the man was unperturbed. "I try again."
Akasja resumed her former position and recalled how Dravite had moved to attack. She pressed lightly against him with her left forearm to block as her other hand brought the dagger slowly toward his stomach.
Akasja took a step back and lowered her weapon. "Good?" she asked. "Try again, or try different?"

Practicing with Dravite was so far going well. Even just reviewing the grip positions would prove useful. Taking a break from her thoughts for a moment, Akasja noticed Dravite eyeing her horse and wondered what he thought about the mare. He seemed to like the looks of her. Although she wasn't as fast as a Strider could be, the black Desertbred was still a sturdy and quick mount that could endure a lot of terrain and temperature changes. Akasja was pleased that Dravite might appreciate the horse she arrived with, even in this land of incredible horses and horse lords.

Before they could carry on to the spear, Akasja wanted to see how Dravite might block an incoming knife attack. The Chaktawe stood in a forward fighting stance, her dagger wielded and left arm raised to block her face as she again faced Dravite. Only a couple feet of grassland separated them.
"How to...block this?" she asked, and slowly began moving her blade toward the Drykas.

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[Dravite]

Akasja seemed to understand what Dravite was demonstrating, but as he had no prior knowledge of her experience with the weapon, he had decided it best to start with the basics and go from there. When finally she added her own questions, the man had a little more to work with. The Chaktawe inquired on the best method for blocking a dagger wielding attacker, and in all honestly, Dravite had little to share other than the few tips Bayon had once shared with him.

Take the wrist, find a weak spot, Dravite signed before speaking up in Common, “hold, attack,” he demonstrated, taking Akasja by the offending wrist as she pointed the dagger at him; he squeezed tightly, but not hard enough to mark her joint, and pointed a balled fist at her stomach before indicating again, but this time aimed his elbow at her face, “fast, hard,” he encouraged.

Dravite then took his own dagger and mirrored the stance Akasja had taken on to allow her to try and stop him. As he brought the dagger down and allowed the woman to take his wrist, he told her to squeeze as tightly as she could and if she found she had little strength, instead dig her nail into the soft underside of his wrist, “Dagger up,” he said, “You might stop attack. Dagger down,” he turned the blade with relative ease, something Akasja would have to work on and tapped the side of her wrist with the blade harmlessly, “I cut you.”

He was sure, had he applied the full force of his grip around her limb, he would have been able to squeeze the blade from her grasp before she was able to use it against him. “Another,” the man waved, this time speaking in Pavi as he had the woman line up her blade again as if she were to lunge at him and attack, “hold, and use your attacker’s forward momentum to incapacitate them.”

In his own tongue the man spoke quickly, using his hands to gesture every now and then in representation of this word or that, before confirming the message in Common, “hold, turn, pull,” he took her wrist as she came at him slowly, turned his body into hers so that her chest met his back and bent down slightly as if he were going to throw her overhead before letting her go, “Akasja try, won’t hurt Dravite.”

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[Akasja]

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It was invigorating to go through and review these techniques; truthfully Akasja was having more fun than she had had in a while. Even though the winter air was still brisk, her body temperature had risen enough that she could not feel any cold. Akasja appreciated that Dravite had taken the time to demonstrate what he thought to be the best method to block an incoming knife attack. It was close to what she already knew, but Dravite's embellishments were important to learn. Grab the attacker's wrist, then move to punch their gut or elbow their face. Use your nails in their flesh to increase damage and pain.
As Akasja tried intercepting Dravite's dagger, she saw how blocking one way instead of the other would be potentially dangerous to her. She nodded in understanding as Dravite showed her how an attacker could easily cut her. Akasja decided that she would practice these moves more often from now on.

The last move was something more complex. As Akasja again moved her dagger toward Dravite at a moderate speed, the Drykas took her wrist in his opposing hand and swung himself around into her, his back pressed against her front. Grasping her wrist and arm over his shoulder, Dravite slowly bent forward at the waist, his head pointed toward the ground. Akasja felt her weight moving forward onto the man's body. If he continued to bend and push against her with his hips, Akasja realized that she would be tossed forward onto the ground in front of him. If she resisted this move... Akasja considered the pull on her arm at the moment and knew resisting the toss would most likely lead to a muscle tear or shoulder dislocation. It was a powerful yet simple move. Quite impressive.
Dravite offered to let Akajsa try the move on him next. She was nervous, but needed to know what it felt like to properly execute it. Somewhat hesitantly, Akasja signed her agreement. "I try... I do not want to hurt you."

Switching stances, Akasja readied herself for Dravite's attack. She considered that he might come at her faster this time and prepared to react quicker. Her black eyes narrowed as she focused in on the man's body. For a moment she allowed herself to forget who he really was, letting him play the role of attacker. Akasja kept one arm up to block, but with her other hand intercepted Dravite's wrist as it moved toward her body. Using Dravite's forward momentum, Akasja spun herself into him almost as if they were dancing. Clinging to his forearm as he had shown her, she knocked her hips back into him, bent forward, and felt the man lift from the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Dravite had come up and over Akasja's shoulder and landed on his side in the grass before them. Sudden fear coursed through Akasja as she realized she had fully executed the move. The great Watchman was on the ground. She prayed there hadn't been some horrendous miscommunication and that he wasn't inconsolably offended by his current position.
Akasja flipped her long, dark hair out of her face and immediately crouched down next to Dravite. She had felt that the Drykas had landed without any jostling. He must have been in control the whole time, but Akasja was still worried that she had possibly hurt him. Akasja searched Dravite's face for pain or some other reaction.
"Are you okay? I did it correctly?"

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[Dravite]

There was no resentment, nor any pain on Dravite's end, in fact he sat now, laughing and laughing; he hadn't expected that. It seemed odd, he thought then, to laugh so openly with a stranger, and slowly got to his feet, collecting the dagger he had discarded on his way down, "good," the watchman agreed with a nod, "works, see."

After dusting himself off, Dravite wandered over to the collection of weapons he had left beside the log and set down his dagger, exchanging it for his spear, another weapon Akasja had shown interest in and one the horse lord knew well. Like the woman’s dagger, the spear had been crafted from bone and the part where the neck and head were joined was decorated with a thin strap of leather wound about the shaft tightly. "Spear," he raised the weapon above his head before stopping to stand in front of the woman, "what Akasja know?"

“Best use shield,” he began and held his left arm bent out in front of him as if he were holding a shield, obviously right handed. The watchman stood with his right arm held back and above his head, so that the spear was pointed at the woman, “start high,” he demonstrated and stepped back in order to thrust forward without striking her before fixing his position to hold the spear at the level of his hip, “can start low.”

The low start looked a lot less intimidating, but it was where most beginners felt comfortable holding a spear for the first time. “Low start, hold shield arm high,” Dravite showed the woman the different heights in which he might hold his shield before dropping his stance so that both arms fell at his sides, “Should visit market, purchase spear, purchase shield,” the man tipped his head, he could do with a shield and if they both had the right equipment, the training would be a lot more beneficial to Akasja and himself.

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[Akasja]

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The sound of Dravite's laughter was at first a shock to Akasja. It took her a moment to understand what was happening, but as she saw only amusement on the Watchman's face, Akasja realized he was truly pleased. As he rose to his feet, he uttered only words of encouragement.
Well, that had certainly gone better than Akasja had feared. She considered briefly how positive the results of her training had been once she was able to quiet her mind.

Dravite did not hesitate to bring the spear to Akasja. She looked it over as he held it in his hands, speaking the Common word for it once more. It was a lovely weapon, similar to those Akasja had seen before in Eyktol.
"What Akasja know?" Dravite asked.
Akasja smirked slightly. Truthfully, she knew more about other people using spears than anything else. She had not much experience with them herself and was more accustomed to using her dagger, or her body, in combat or for hunting. When she lived with her family in Eyktol, Akasja had usually hunted with at least one other person -and for the most part the others had been older and more experienced. They had been the ones with the long-range weapons.
"I need to learn to use the...spear," Akasja replied, her voice low and earnest. "I know about it for long time, but I need for hunting. I need for protection. I must learn."

Akasja watched carefully as Dravite introduced the basic high and low stances for holding a spear. Having a shield would be important, too. Akasja had neither of them. It was not too late in the day, and people would still be out in the market. At Dravite's suggestion, Akasja decided she would go back to Endrykas with him and purchase a sufficient shield and spear. She would not pass up the opportunity to select these items with a Watchman's guidance.

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By early afternoon, Akasja and Dravite had returned to their spot in the Sea of Grass. Akasja had deliberated for some time over the market's available weapons and shields, but had settled on a short, steel-tipped spear that would be good for throwing and a small wooden shield with a metal center. She had spent somewhat more than she had anticipated, but was incredibly pleased with her purchases. More than anything, Akasja was ready to go forward with the training.
"How to throw the spear?" Akasja asked once she and Dravite were settled in. She cast her gaze ahead to the log that Dravite had earlier nicked with his axe. That would make the perfect target.

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Ledger: 1 steel throwing spear: -2 GM
1 small wooden/metal shield: -6 GM

[Dravite]

In the market Dravite had helped barter for a fair price on Akasja’s new equipment. He was surprised by her choice of spear, something with a heavy metal head that would do a lot of damage to anything or anyone unlucky enough to find themselves on the opposing end. He then haggled with a young trader over the price of a small, leather shield with the hide pleated over a wooden frame. It was light-weight, round, and fit his arm nicely, guarding him from just under his shoulder to the top of his hip.

When they approached the makeshift training grounds, Akasja inquired about learning how to throw her spear, a step that had taken Dravite many seasons of practice to get right, and even now he had the odd, unlucky throw. Setting his shield down in the grass, Dravite went through the motions of throwing the spear without actually releasing it, trying to refresh his memory as to all of the steps that went into the process so that he might be able to best explain them to Akasja.

“Spear for hunting, spear not distance,” he tried his best to explain with the limited common he knew, “javelin balance different, javelin throw further.”

Dravite held out his hand and set his spear in his open palm, waiting for Akasja to copy him, “find spear balance,” he told her, “spear point heavy, balance close head,” the watchman closed his hand around his spear once he had found the balance point on one finger and watched as Akasja did the same.

From where he stood, Dravite eyed his target, the log he had struck previously that morning, and pointed his left foot at the log, seen as he was right handed and all his power for the throw would come from the right side of his body, “spear feel lighter,” he explained, “balance point lighter spear, wrong spot, spear heavy.”

Slowly, he went through the motions again, his body to the side of the spear, arm back, foot and free hand pointed towards his target and then heaved the spear forwards, righting his position slowly as he watched it sail towards the log and land just about two metres beyond that point, “when hunt, no run, scare beast. Sneak, stand still, throw spear.”

LedgerPaid: Shield, Small, Leather 1 gm

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