[Flashback] Mounted Combat, SON!

[Xalet]

81st of Fall, 510 AV

Xalet attempted to look as prepared as possible, wearing his full armor, heater shield, and carrying his short sword strapped at his side along with his crossbow slung across his back. His horse stood uneasily next to him, snorting and scratching at the ground with it's hooves, growing restless. His Sergeant had said that today he would be training with a Knight, one particularly skilled in mounted warfare. The Knight training him on this day would be known as...

"Ser, that's what you can call me. And today, we'll be learning about mounted combat, SON!" the beefy Knight shouted at Xalet, emphasizing the last of his words. He was a gruff man, with a gleaming bald scalp and a course beard that covered his entire neck consisting of dark brown hair. As he paced back and forth he stopped directly in front of Xalet and turned toward the Akalak, looking at him intently. This Ser had one lazy eye, the left one, which drifted far off as he continued, "NOW, what do you know of Mounted Combat?" he asked before turning to continue pacing.

"Well, I--"

"You don't know shyke, SON! That's why you're here with me today. This ain't no prissy 'keep your back straight and heels down' bullshyke, this is war, son. Does that bother you, son? Does it bother you when I call you son, son? Are you looking at me sideways, son!?" the man continued as he walked over to Xalet's right, finally spinning forward and leaning in toward the comparably taller Akalak. It seemed the Knight was not intimidated in the slightest.

"No Ser. You were just moving toward the outer side of my peripheral vision--" cut off again, this was going to be a long lesson, Xalet could already feel his throat drying up at the prospect of this day.

"Peri-BULLSHYKE! You Akalak's have the answers for everything, don't you? But what you don't have any answers for is mounted combat, so let me give you some lessons, son. They say a Knight on a horse is worth ten soldiers. This is ABSOLUTELY TRUE, SON! Only the elite can ride and fight, and it ain't to make them look pretty while they spill blood. Mount up." the bearded Knight commanded of the squire as he launched himself up onto his own steed. Xalet followed shortly behind and soon enough both of Syliras' finest were atop their mounts.

[Xalet]

The pair had their mounts moving at a slow gait as the Knight brought them to an adequate patch of flat land. The fallen leaves fluttered about in a multitude of colors, swirling about the slowly moving hooves of their warhorses as they continued forward. "Alright Scrublet, I'm gonna go over this once, so pay attention. On a horse there's four main points. Twelve o'clock, directly ahead. Three o'clock, to your right. Six o'clock, to your rear. Nine o'clock, to your left. Looks like you're a righty, and that means your blind spot is between your six and nine, son." Each time the Knight called out a direction he pointed toward it with his longsword, save for the six o'clock position, which simply got a gesture with his head.

"That blind spot is your weakness, son. Every mounted fighter has it. You look confused, son. Think about it, behind your left shoulder you cannot thrust or slice with enough force at level, and below level you cannot attack a grounded foe because you can't break the plane of your own thigh." the Knight turned his horse in an about face manner, blocking Xalet from going any further. With a sharp order the Knight directed Xalet to unsheathe his short blade, which the squire did immediately.

"A poor swordsman whose an excellent rider will always beat an excellent swordsman whose a poor rider. Do you know what that is son!? I'll tell you, because you're only as good as that animal beneath your ass trusts you to be. Poor riding skills will get that beast cut, and after the first time it won't forget, and you'll be shyke out of luck, son. That's why we're working with dulled weapons. Now come at me with a thrust from the three o'clock, that's a good neutral spot to start from, so I can see what I'm working with." the Knight called to the squire temporarily serving beneath him. The Human adjusted his shield up high and prepared to repel Xalet's attack, which he did with some ease. It was clear Xalet was having difficulty utilizing any motion of his mount to add to his swords forward thrust.

"Was that a damn joke, son?! We're got a long day ahead of us. You've never truly fought from horseback, have you? Shyke on a stick, but I guess this is what they're trusting me with. Alright son, get this down quick. You've got to learn to attack with the motion of your horse, not against it. If you thrust to the right, use your legs to get that beast twisting in that direction. That's your legs now, son!" the man said, pointing downward to the maned creature between Xalet's legs. As an example he pulled upon the reigns of his horse, causing it to twist from left to right as he delivered a backhand slash to his three o'clock'. Xalet couldn't believe it, it was like getting hit by a sledgehammer, even through his shield. It was nearly enough to knock him clear from his saddle.

[Xalet]

"Stings a little, don't it son? That's mounted combat. Get that shield up, keep it up high!" the Knight barked at the squire, slamming into Xalet's shield with another crushing blow. The boards on his shield flexed inward, and if his vambraces weren't as secure as they had been strapped it probably would have bruised his entire forearm. "C'mon son, take a shot back, get used to feeling that creature beneath you. Split that attention, one part on your opponent, one part on your mount. Direct it son! It won't know what to do until you tell it!"

Xalet struggled to get the horse into position for a strike of his own. He reeled in his saddle slightly, trying to adjust himself to apply proper pressure though-out the length of his sword. He spun his horse about and swung his short blade with everything he had, only to meet the air. The Knight had easily seen his telegraphed blow and backed his mount up to edge away from the short reach of Xalet's sword. Xalet pursued his trainer forward, swinging again and again.

"You're swinging so much air around I'm gonna catch a cold, son! Get that horse moving, c'mon I'm not even swinging now. Regretting taking up the short sword yet? Ha!" the Knight infuriatingly stayed just outside of Xalet's reach. Pulling back on the reigns he halted his horse and allowed the Knight to gain greater distance. Once he felt it appropriate he stirred his horse into a charge, training gladius out to the side looking to swing it in a wide arc to his three o'clock.

Before he knew it the point of a blade was drilling into his breast plate, up his gorget, and across the face plate of his helm with enough force to pull him from the saddle. Crash came the sound of that heavy Akalak body falling to the dirt, his sword slipping from his grip and scattering itself a few inches away. "Walk before you can run, son." the Knight explained rather calmly. He remembered those days himself. Feeling partly helpless. When you felt helpless you either ran away or charged forward. Charging forward was the quality of a Knight, but that sort of thing got you put down on the ground. "You aren't ready for a charge yet. Get back up there and lets try this again."

[Xalet]

Xalet floundered about a bit upon the ground before he was able to get a hand under him and raise up to his knees. The Knight was becoming impatient, and so was his horse. Tapping his longsword upon his shoulder he finally shouted down to the squire, "Move it move it! You like staying down there so much son, why don't you do some push-ups while you're there? Quick, twenty five son, now!"

Xalet groaned slightly and lifted himself onto his stomach, the added weight of his armor wasn't going to make this easy. Over and over he began lifting himself up, his back stiff like a plank, his arms pressing down at the ground, "Count um out loud, son! Let me hear um." to which Xalet responded with an audible count as he pressed, "One, two, three..." and onward the count went, until the squire had finally finished his penance and pulled himself back upon his mount after retrieving his sword and readying his shield.

"Again, now stick close to me son, watch how I'm controlling this horse here. Follow it." said the Knight, continuing once again to back out from any engagement and essentially run rings around Xalet. It was important though, he had to get Xalet more comfortable with his horse. The more comfort he had with what was going on below him, the more attention he would be able to place upon his opponent. The horse worked as directed, moving inward and turning as Xalet instructed though his non-verbal cues.

"Lean in the saddle son, but not too far! Them big Akalak legs gotta be good for something, keep your balance! That's it, getting closer, son! You might actually get me yet." said his trainer in a half-taunting tone as he continued to easily dance about Xalet's advances, once in a while he would jab his longsword at Xalet before backing up, just to remind him to keep his shield up while engaging another mounted opponent. "Keep that body protected son! Shield up, eyes forward! Don't look away, stop looking at that horse, look up! That's a might better!"

[Xalet]

"Well look at you, son! You're like a regular war hero aren't you!? Except..." the Knight responded to one of Xalet's thrusts by grabbing the man's arm and yanking him straight off of his horse. "...you can't leave that arm hanging out there! Down goes the Akalak! Gods son, you fall like a sack of rocks. Twenty five push-ups!" he yellowed down to Xalet, tossing the short sword he had pulled free from the squire's hand down next to him.

"Fifteen, sixteen..." the Akalak panted as he pushed up again and again, causing the Knight to laugh, remarking gruffly about just how many push-ups Xalet must have had to do in his time as a paige and squire, considering how comfortable he was with them now. Sweat dribbled down the inside of his helmet, cascading into his eyes, burning them with the salt from his own body. He lifted up his visor and shook his head, trying to clear the little beads of stringing fire from his eyes before pulling himself back up into his mount.

"Get that weapon out and then pull it right back, just like you learned when doing the basics son! That arm should go back twice as fast as it came out. There you are. Oh!?" the Knight chuckled as Xalet turned his horse suddenly to deflect a blow with his shield before continuing in a circle and arcing his short sword outward, striking the Knight in his shield. "I think...I think I actually felt that one, son! Yes I did! Lets try that again!"

The two men exchanged blows for a while. As Xalet became more accustomed to fighting from horseback, his sword strikes improved, and as his sword strikes improved the Knight had to come up with increasingly difficult ways in either retreating from his position, or deflecting the attacks. The Akalak had a long way to improve, but his reach was longer than a typical Human and could be used to his advantage. The short sword was something of a burden in mounted combat, but not completely impossible to work around.

[Xalet]

"That's it son! Use that short blade! It's lighter than a typical weapon, you should overwhelm your opponent, don't give them a moment to breathe. That's it, come from my weapon side, not my shield side." the Knight was becoming more observant of Xalet's maneuvers now as both men moved into the afternoon. Xalet was starting to command his horse more quickly, and even made a few breaks for the Knight's blind spot. The area just behind the right shoulder he had been taught earlier. Of course the Knight expected this, and was able to move his horse to counter and straighten out their engagement. In a one on one fight the attempt was not so easily used, but in a group situation it was best to get behind an occupied opponent in such a way.

"Alright son, break time. I need a drink." the Knight called hoarsely at Xalet as he quickly dismounted his horse, taking a moment to tie it up in the meantime.

"Yes Ser." the squire replied, following suit. Shortly after tying up his horse he was interrupted as he moved to grab his own water skin.

The Knight waved his finger a bit, unable to speak after just having gotten a drink. The water dribbled down his chin, wetting the dark hair on his beard. Finally he swallowed and spoke, "Whoa son. When I say break time, I meant me. You get to do push-ups, I'm not the one in training. Keep your ears open while you do um. Don't count um out, I'll let you know when you're done. I don't like to be interrupted, son." The Knight then took another long drink and capped his water bottle, taking a moment to lean against the tree he had roped his horse up to.

"You're not tired are you? Young bucks like you should be just fine. We've even got a cool breeze going, son. Now then, you're getting the idea of trusting your mount, and that's good. You've got to practice those riding aspects more. I can see your swordsmanship ain't bad, son, but you're out doing your capability to ride. I'll bet you've been spending more time with the sword than you have with the horse, haven't you son? You just need more practice, but your form isn't terrible. That's a compliment son." the Knight paused for a moment, looking down at the Akalak as Xalet worked through his push-ups, gasping for breath. Finally the Knight too some pity on him, "All right all right. Get something to drink, then we'll go over a few more things."

[Xalet]

Shakily Xalet got to his feet and pulled his helm from atop his head. Long lines of shining sweat dribbled downward, getting into his eyes and mouth. Tipping his waterskin back, the Akalak rinsed his face off enough to see adequately once more, his black locks hanging like matted strings upon his head, plastered against that purple skin. He wanted to think about what he had learned, but he was too busy regaining his breath and rehydrating his body, so he simply let the Knight do the talking.

"By now you probably realize mounted combat ain't easy, son. You can't just learn a weapon, climb atop a horse and think you're going to be effective, it's a whole new method of attack. Fighting against another mount is most difficult, but you'll need to fight against footman as well." the Knight decided to clarify that they would be doing no such training today, although he could tell that Xalet looked less than excited about such a prospect, "You'll get your break today, son, don't worry. I promised the Sarge you'd be in one piece and all. The next time we meet though, you'd better be ready. I'll show you how to attack opponents on foot from horseback, and how to attempt to dismount a mounted opponent while on foot. It ain't easy son. Fightin' from the low ground is not the position you want to be in. You following me?" the Knight turned slightly to eye the squire, making sure he hadn't passed out on him.

"Yes Ser." he replied, his entire body feeling like it was encased in a chaffing sheen of sticky sweat beneath his armor. Priskil be praised it was coming upon Winter. Removing his gauntlets he placed them into the underside of his helmet, using the area inside as a type of container so that he could wipe his face and eyes with his bare hands. The amount of focus that it took to fight on horseback was staggering, and these techniques he had learned were only the most basic.

"Alright squire, here's my last bit of advise for the day. I realize you don't have your own horse, but use the same one often when loaned. Get to know it, get to trust it. Have it trust you. The horse is your ally, and when you can move together instead of against one another you'll see improvement. And don't think this is your last time with me, son. If you want to be a Knight you've got a long way to go. Any questions?" the man asked, only to immediately follow up with, "I see none!" Xalet began to raise hs hand as if to challenge for a query, but the Knight quickly responded, "I said I see none, SON! Dismissed." The Knight quickly vaulted atop his mount and road off, leaving Xalet to consider his words. The Akalak took a moment, his wind now returned to turn and look at his horse. He saw those enormous black eyes looking back at him, unable to withstand the chill he felt from their intensity.

[Templar]

Xalet: Riding +5 - Navigation +1 - Shield +2 - Short Sword: +3 - Falling +2 - Bodybuilding +2 Lore: Don't Interrupt Your Sergeant, Proper Style: Mounted Combat (Basic), Training with Your Mount Additional remark: If you have any complaints or feel you have been mistreated. Please send me a PM with your complaint and I will address the issue.