A Squire and his Knight (Geoffrey)

[Dusk]

OOC: Refer to this page for character pictures and information.

65th Day of Spring, 510 AV An hour before dawn, Geoffrey was awoken by a familiar hand on his shoulder. "Geoff!" came a hushed whisper. "Geoff, come on, wake up! Tenner'll kill us if we're not ready to go!" When he opened his eyes, he'd find young Jinson, his Knight's page and foster-son, crouched beside his bed and dressed for the day. The boy had been with Tenner almost as long as Geoffrey had, and looked up to the squire as if he really were his big brother. "We're going outside the city today, remember?" he said, grinning and bouncing a little on his toes. "I already talked to Gretchen, she knows she's gotta handle the office for a few days, now come on! I wanna go," he squeaked, shoving his shoulder again.

[Geoffrey]

Geoffrey slowly opened his eyes, dazed, to see Tenner's page and foster child, Jinson, getting impatient. Geoffrey couldn't blame him. He was a heavy sleeper. A very heavy sleeper. Geoffrey sat up, surprisingly he was fully dressed. He always slept in his clothes. Sure it was an odd trait, but he never had to get dressed in the morning. He stretched his arms out and let out a loud yawn. He looked at Jinson and smiled. He reached his arm out and ruffled his hair a bit. "If you're going to be a knight, you're going to have to learn patient." He smirked "Knight have to be vigilant." He want to laugh at what he just said. He was a squire himself, and now he was teaching a page about something about knights. He sat up and got out of the bed. "Gretchen's going to take over?" Geoffrey said, taking another yawn. He opened a door. It was straight across the room. IT seemed very old. It was brown with a golden handle. He took a look at Jinson. He held the door open waiting for him."Well then, let's not keep Tenner waiting."

[Dusk]

The boy ducked away from the hair-ruffling, laughing and swatting at the squire's hand. "I am vigilant!" he argued, bouncing across the room and out the door. "I'm one of the best in my class at archery, and none of them can sneak past me on the dark course. Patience, though," he said with a shrug and another laugh, knowing full well that he wasn't very good at that. "Get your armor and your sword, though, Squire Geoffrey," he drawled, wagging a finger at him in admonishment. "This is a training run, not a pleasure jaunt!" Which was exactly what Tenner had said, and in that same exact tone of voice, too. Jinson was quite adept at mimicking his master. He also never slowed down, and took off at a run down the corridors of Stormhold. "Come on!" he yelled over his shoulder, leaping down the stairs from the Second Tier to the First and threading through the already-forming crowds with ease. It took a few minutes to make it through the madness of the castle and out into the open air, but Jinson led him out through the door near Soothing Waters, letting them out just in front of the Windmount Stables. "Did you have to throw a bucket of water on him this time?" Tenner laughed, standing to one side of the stables with three horses tacked and laden with saddlebags. His own tall Tiaden warhorse, Djenista, had her tail and mane braided up and out of the way, and was currently stomping her massive hooves in her own impatience. The other two horses were a bit dwarfed by the Knight's mount, but were perfectly serviceable Kavinka paints, kept in the stables for use by pages and squires for their early training, or to be taken outside of the city. Tenner was wearing his armor and tabard, and had his falchion "Come on, I want to be out of here before the sun rises," he chuckled, slinging himself up into the saddle.

[Geoffrey]

Geoffrey was a little confused for a moment. He was wondering where he put his armor or his sword? He must have slept longer than he thought he did.He quickly saw the metal gleam come from the corner of his eyes. There he saw his equipment. He quickly rushed over and grabbed it. He quickly put on his armor, which was not the best idea but he was in a hurry. He saw Jinson take off and went to follow him. Running around a castle in armor and with a sword is not the best idea in the world,Geoffrey knew this so he didn't run as fast he could. After a few minutes of chasing after a hyper page in a suit of armor, which is a great exercise if you aren't in a hurry, they were out in the open air. The area was as beautiful as ever, if you considered Sylria beautiful, which Geoffrey did. He saw Tenner, in his armor with his falchion. "Good morning sir Tenner." Geoffrey said "What are you planning for today?" He then looked at the horses. There was Tenner's horse, Djenista, his Tiaden Warhose, she was a fine horse, one Geoffrey could only wish to have. And beside him were Kavinka Paints, horses used by squires and pages to train.

[Dusk]

Tenner chuckled, his scarred and craggy face splitting into a friendly grin. "I plan on leaving on time, young squire," he chuckled, waving a hand at the horses. Jinson wasted no time, scrambling into the saddle of the first one he came to. "And I will do what I always do - make you a better Knight," he laughed. He waited for Geoffrey to mount up, and then he set his warhorse to a steady walk towards the gates of the city. Once through, he brought her up to a fast trot - which forced Geoff and Jinson to bring their smaller horses to a canter, wanting them both to get a bit more experience with riding. Jinson wasn't very good at all yet, was having a hard time finding his seat and was being bounced all over the place.

[Geoffrey]

Geoffrey smiled as Tenner told him his goal. It was always comforting knowing someone was trying to help you in, well, anything. He knew how to properly mount a horse, which is what he did. He petted the horse a few times, to let it know he wasn't going to hurt it. He then gripped the reins. He looked at Tenner who was riding his horse at a steady trot. Geoffrey wasn't far behind. He tried his best to keep the horse at a similar pace, which he managed to do. Then Tenner's horse started to gallop, which forced Jinson and Geoffrey to do the same. Geoffrey had an idea of what to do. Geoffrey whipped the reins, then the horse started to go faster. Geoffrey didn't stop then, he whipped it again so it would go even faster. Soon Geoffrey was at more than a trot. He soon caught up to Tenner, who didn't seem to have any problems with riding. Geoffrey looked at him and smiled. Then the horse started to pass Tenner, Geoffrey pulled on the reins, it would slow down the horse to a halt, making sure the horse didn't go out of control. It would also allow Tenner and Jinson to catch up.

[Dusk]

Tenner watched Geoffrey's antics with a careful eye, making sure the horse didn't get out of control - but he'd made sure the grooms chose mounts which suited their riders' experience, which was nominal at best. "Careful with whipping him," he called over once he'd caught up to the Knight. "In general, horses don't like it. Oh, it doesn't really hurt them, but you don't really need it unless there's an emergency. Better to use voice and knee than a heavy hand," he said with a chuckle. Jinson continued to bounce along, and after the first half a bell he finally found his seat. His grin couldn't be contained, and he soon caught up with Geoffrey as well. "Where are we going?" he asked, bright eyes glued to his Knight. Tenner laughed again and shrugged. "Into the Bronze Woods. It's a good place to train away from people. We'll be doing some fairly... unconventional work. Better to do it away from prying eyes." Jinson opened his mouth to question him further, but Tenner waved him silent. * * * They traveled for the rest of the morning, leaving the road after only a bell and slowing to a walk to make their way through the thick trees of the Bronze Woods, and didn't come to a halt until mid-day. By that time poor Jinson was feeling the saddle, and when they finally dismounted the boy nearly fell over as his legs tried to remember how to work. They would find themselves in a small clearing that was obviously well-used by the Knights: a circle of stones designated the firepit in the middle, and several logs had been rolled nearby to serve as seating around it. To one side, a pile of firewood was cut and stacked, and a large metal chest sat beside it with an equally large padlock keeping it safe. "Set up the tents and get a fire started," he said to the younger two, dragging the saddlebags off his warhorse and dumping them in their direction, and then proceeded to unsaddle and rub down all three horses.