[Bronze Woods] Into the Woods (Rythern & Sam)

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"I wish I knew tricks with knives, but what I know is mostly... well, the pointy end goes in the bad person. If at all possible." He grinned ruefully, but he hadn't had time to learn anything flashy in his travels. He was best with his scimitar, but that wasn't saying much. He knew how to handle a bow and a dagger, but again -- not saying much. He was going to have to persuade Jaeden to spar with him some more to get his skills back on par with what they would be if his pavilion hadn't been annihilated in his youth and him sent packing with the slavers.

"I still need a new bow," he mused, half to himself. His last one, well, that was another story. Suffice it to say, he needed a new one.

"Not very good, huh?" he asked, too much good humor in his face for it to be a real insult.

[Rythern]

Rythern grinned. "That's about all there is to it, really." He wished he could say the pointy ended up in the bad guy more often than it actually did. The memory of numerous bodily cuts over years of practice, however, told his brain firmly to forget it.

It was an amusing thought, but it also reminded him that beyond whatever ability he had with throwing knives — which were a form of ranged weapon, anyway — he was really quite useless at armed combat. And unarmed combat. But whatever. He used to be in a circus, not the Icewatch.

Aeyo had suddenly appeared at his side again, looking bored. Rythern laughed softly and gave the mare a teasing nudge, but she ignored him.

"Hey," the Vantha said suddenly to Sam. "You seem good with a horse, so maybe—" Wait, what was he asking? And where the heck had that idea come from? "Maybe you could help me out? I'm not much of a rider, though Aeyo's been with me for a long time. And there's probably not much in the way of skills that would be useful for me to help you with in return, but I can pay you a bit of coin for your trouble. Or tell a story," he added, jokingly.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Really?" he asked, surprised. He smiled, though, keen to accept. He had already given Jaeden some help working with horses, and it was an effortless way to earn goods, services, or mizas. "Well, sure. Coin, story, knife tricks." His smile widened into a grin. "I know a little bit of dagger work, but all I've got right at the moment is my hunting knife."

The which he pulled out of its sheath to show him, only recently cleaned of gore from skinning his game. It wasn't balanced for combat, but for the utilitarian purposes hunting and trapping called for. He shrugged and put it away for the time being.

"Were you thinking riding or taking care of a horse as well?" he asked. It was a valid question to his mind, though Aeyo seemed healthy enough. It was possible she was just frisking a bit more than usual to catch Horse's eye, of course.

"Doesn't matter. I can teach either or both."

[Rythern]

Rythern nodded as Sam pulled out the hunting knife. Upon observation, he noticed it was heavier than what he preferred to use himself, and though not made for use as a projectile, the balance made it seem doable. "I could also show you how to throw that, actually," the young man said. "It could help you with hunting, and if it's balanced in the center or if it's not too handle-heavy, it wouldn't be difficult to learn."

Not that 'difficult to learn' probably mattered that much, Rythern thought, since Sam looked stronger than him.

He pulled out one of his own — lighter, with a handle and a blade that was relatively thin. Rythern could throw heavier knives, though his lack of any great physical strength meant that doing so took away some of the force of the throw. It was enough that he had handles on them, which made it easier to do a few tricks like juggling, but which also threw the balance off a bit and needed to be compensated by a harder movement of the wrist to make the throw.

"I was thinking of riding," he added to Sam's query, "though on second thought, taking care of a horse wouldn't be such a bad idea." He glanced back at Aeyo. When he'd traveled with the circus tents as a boy, one of the trainers' lackeys taken care of her as if she were one of the circus's own — which was to say, on a very basic level.

Since then, Rythern had been sort of winging it.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam looked keenly at Rythern's own knife and moved closer to hold out his hunting knife so Rythern could check the balance if he wanted to. The throwing knife was beautiful to him, sleek and balanced and requiring an expertise he didn't possess. Such things fascinated him to no end. The thought that he could learn such things, well, that excited him.

"I really should ask for coin... I keep bartering training for training with too many people, but everyone has skills I need to learn... or want to learn..."

He sighed. Such were the choices life afforded, and one had to make them.

[Rythern]

OOCApologies for the delay! As finals are now over, I'll be back to regular posting.

Curious, Rythern took the hunting knife and held it flat in his hands, gently gauging its weight. It was heavier, yeah, he thought. But it also felt surprisingly well balanced. Just around the midpoint, if his first impression was reliable enough.

To confirm, he made a toss - modest, just three feet or so in the air. His hands were practiced but cautious (although admittedly, knives were the only thing in Rythern's life for which the young man exercised anything resembling caution, and even then, it was usually not enough of it). He watched its brief arc in the air, watched the blade and the spin he'd put on it. Needed to wait for the right moment, and there wasn't much time to judge the knife's position in the air. In truth, that made the smaller tosses the more difficult ones.

He could not for the life of him catch by the blade. Or really do much else by the blade, come to think of it. Knives might've been his best friends, but the handles of knives were his soul mates. It wasn't even that it was that much more difficult to pull off; it was that the prospect nearly paralyzed Rythern with that concentration-breaking block of nerves. Not, of course, that he would've admitted that to anybody. Including himself.

At any rate, for that reason he was rather unusually skilled at catching knives and daggers by the hilt, and in the few blinks of the eye in which Sam's knife was in the air, Rythern followed the curve and the spinning blade — reached forward again — snatched it neatly from its descent. When it was once again in his hands, he looked at Sam.

"See how it can spin?" he explained, tracing the short path the hunting knife had taken with a quick gesture of his right hand. "This one stayed pretty consistent all the way through. For a well-balanced knife, even the weight of a handle shouldn't impede it terribly, and yours doesn't, which is good. It's a simple knife, but can work surprisingly well for stuff like this."

He tossed it up again, higher now (for no good reason this time other than to indulge his habit for showing off), and handed it back with a bow. He wasn't able to keep the grin off his expression. How did normal people keep straight faces, anyway?

"Also," he added, "I've got a few mizas to blow, which is why I asked, even if it's not much. You could get a bit of both if you really wanted to. Or you could choose one." He laughed, and his blue eyes were clear and open. "I'm not picky."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

OOCNot to worry. Haven't been online much for a couple of days. Moving! Oh, also... if Sam figures out that Rythern is an acrobat too, he would totally want to learn that. But maybe in another thread.

"Well, Vakya... How's about riding lessons for knife throwing lessons, and I'll teach you how to take care of Aeyo for money? Does that sound fair to you?"

It sounded fair to Sam, but for all he knew, Vakya might value things differently. It was strange that he was making these sorts of connections in the forests rather than at the Stables sometimes, but he wasn't going to complain. Truth be told, the flashy knife-wielding was more impressive to him that equitation, but most likely because horse know-how just came second nature to him and wasn't extraordinary in the least.

Knives, on the other hand...

He had watched Vakya's display of skill with admiration. Later he might realize that it was second nature to him by now the same way that horses were to Sam. But until that thought struck him, his dark eyes would be bright with excitement.

All boys liked sharp things.

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! Sama'el   Skills Skill Gain Info. Skinning 1 -- Wilderness Survival 1 -- Foraging 1 --   Lore Horses in Heat Rythern   Skills Skill Gain Info. Acrobatics 1 -- Riding 1 -- Weapon (Throwing Knife) 1 --   Lore Horses in Heat

Additional CommentsIt's a shame it got cut off early. Nice work.