Solo [The Bronze Wood] An Open Palm

[Aoren]

17th of Fall, 513 AV
7th Bell

Aoren had always been an early riser. He had never been one to sleep past sunrise unless he was utterly exhausted. Even then he typically awoke not but a bell or so afterwards. So when Syna’s rays first brushed up against the walls of Stormhold Citadel Aoren’s internal rhythm awoke with the light of dawn. He didn’t often spend up time in his apartment. There really was little need for him to. It was where he slept, ate, and stored his personal belonging. Beyond that he spent as much time outside the walls of the citadel as possible. Sitting up in bed he rubbed the sleep from his eyes yawning as the previous night’s dreams were lost to the recesses of his memory.

He threw off the blankets then stepped out of his bed. The stone floor was cool beneath his feet. It was dark in his apartment. The only light was that which was streaming forth from the space beneath the door where the torchlight from the corridor came in. His eyes were well adjusted to the darkness so that was practically all the light he needed to see in the enclosed space. Padding over to the wash basin in the corner of the one room apartment he cupped his hands in the cool water splashing his face. He shivered slightly as the water touched his skin. It wasn’t freezing. The warmth that perpetually radiated throughout the castle was to thank for that but it was still several degrees cooler than his own body temperature. Grabbing a nearby wash cloth he dried his face feeling much more awake then went over to his hearth.

Kneeling in front of the hearth he brought his hands up in front of the wood resting peacefully there. The days were beginning to grow colder. He had begun to stock an ample amount of wood in his living space to stave off the chill of the night before he went to bed. Without having to exert much effort he reached for the magic within himself lowering his inhibitions and opening the doorways of his mind to the manipulation of Djed. Within moments ethereal Res collected in the palms of his hands. He willed the Res to drape over the firewood like a blanket before with a flick of his thoughts he ignited it. The fire flared to life. The dry wood catching instantly. The magical flames cast the room in a blue haze before Aoren released his hold on the magic. Before long the fire turned to a normal reddish orange hue.

Normally Aoren wouldn’t have bothered with lighting the fire in his hearth. He usually didn’t spend enough time inside to warrant lighting one. Today however he decided to stay in for a little while before heading out into the Bronze Wood so he could get some fresh air. Rising to his feet he went over to his bunk tidying it up so that it was neat and presentable. Once he was satisfied that it was acceptably orderly he went to his trunk grabbing the clean clothes he would be wearing later. First he needed to meditate. It was always a good way to start his days. Meditation helped him to clear his mind of stresses and allowed him to focus on the day ahead.

[Aoren]

Going to the middle of his apartment he sat down folding his legs beneath him adopting a meditative pose. He kept his back straight. He relaxed his shoulders. He placed the palms of his hands lightly atop his knees. When he felt comfortable with his position Aoren took a deep breath closing his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the din of activity echoing outside of his apartment. That was simple a constant noise always in the background. Such was life inside an enormous castle that house thousands upon thousands of people on a given day. He worked on tuning out that noise letting it fall exactly where it needed to be: in the background. Something ever present but not worth his attention.

He let the noise fade until it was something he was only dimly aware of. Next he focused on the sounds inside of his room. The crackling of the fire was what first drew his attention. He concentrated on it. That would be his focus for this meditative session. It was always easier to clear his mind when he had something to focus on. He made his mind go blank or at least as blank as he could manage. He wasn’t having much success to start with but then again he never did. Reaching a state of peaceful clarity was difficult and he didn’t meditate often enough to reach that state quickly.

Little by little however all other noises faded until all he could hear was the crackling of the fire. The pop of the wood burning as what little moisture was within it evaporated snagged his immediate attention. Next Aoren worked on emptying his head of distracting thoughts that drew him away from focusing on the crackling of the fire. He made himself ignore the fact that it felt as if his legs were beginning to fall asleep. He forced himself to resist the urge to fidget because the stone floor was supremely uncomfortable. He even managed to make himself ignore the fact that the small of his back was beginning to hurt because he was forcing himself not to slouch.

A pop from the fire broke his concentration. He exhaled heavily but didn’t let that irritate him. He simply started over. Taking a deep breath he steadied his breathing attempting to keep it even and low. If he breathed to fast he would want to open his eyes, look around and get moving. If he breathed to slow he would yawn and get irritated with his lack of discipline. So he focused on finding that smooth middle ground that felt natural and not forced. Once that was achieved he started the process of slowly tuning out distracting noises and thoughts until the only thing on his mind was the crackling of the fire in his hearth.

It took a few chimes and his concentration kept getting broken by either loud noises from the corridor or his own fidgeting. When finally Aoren managed to block everything but the popping of the fire out he breathed easier. The tension in his back was forgotten. The growing ache in his ankles from being pressed against the stone for so long was no longer an issue. He didn’t feel the need to adjust himself into a more comfortable position. The only thing there was the fire. He could see it clearly in his mind’s eye. It filled the darkness with an inescapable light that radiated pleasant warmth. He breathed in that warmth letting it soothe his body. Aoren was almost satisfied that maybe he really was beginning to get a hang of meditating when the muscles in his left bicep twitched from his continual need to be in motion.

[Aoren]

Aoren sighed opening his eyes shaking his head. That was enough trying to meditate for one morning. He rubbed at his left bicep to get the muscles to stop twitching, which they eventually did. He also rubbed at his legs to get the circulation flowing more smooth and to lessen the dull ache in his ankles. Rising to his feet he stretched by arching his back and extending both of his arms outward with a yawn.

“Well, time to go out and make use of the day.” He was working in the shop overnight tonight so he had plenty of time on his hands. Mistress Blackleaf often asked him to tend to the shop overnight so that they could be ready for the morning rush that followed during particularly busy seasons. Stripping himself of his dirty clothes he folded them neatly setting them on the floor next to his trunk. He then pulled on his undergarments, threw on his shirt, pulled on his loose cotton trousers then tugged on his boots tucking the trousers into them so that he didn’t trip over the loose fabric. Aoren donned his travel robe then grabbed his quarterstaff going to the door. Raising a hand he summoned his Res and divided it into four distinct layers with a bit of concentration. The outer most layer he transmuted into wind that was kept focused by the second layer.

It swirled in his hand, visible only because of the ethereal blue Res that remained unchanged. The third layer he transmuted into water. It took on a visibly liquid state before it was caught up in the air current. The result was a miniature whirlwind of air and water in the palm of his hand.

Aoren willed the air to spin more rapidly which caused the temperature within the vortex to drop dramatically. He also cooled the water then split the orb of water into droplets with a flick of his thoughts. He now had a spinning cone of frost in the palm of his hand that was only kept in check by the untransmuted inner most layer. Aoren aimed the palm of his hand at the hearth and with a slight thrusting motion with his arm he commanded the frost vortex to shoot forth. As it neared the hearth he transmuted the inner most layer into wind that aided in the frost blast’s momentum. The icy wind that touched the flames immediately doused them sucking the heat out of the fire and extinguishing the hearth.

He smiled.

Not but a season ago the idea of commanding elements beyond Air and Fire seemed slightly ludicrous to Aoren. Now he was conjuring water, wind and frost like it was nothing. Albeit his hearth as well as the stone wall within it was now covered in a thin sheet of ice he was satisfied with the results. He just needed more practice which was exactly what he intended to do. Stepping out into the corridor he closed the door to his apartment behind him setting out for the main gates of the city.

[Aoren]

9th Bell

With Syna firmly in the sky Aoren came into the clearing he frequented in the Bronze Woods. He was happy to see that it wasn’t occupied by anyone else as he had several things he wanted to do that day uninterrupted. Walking toward the center of the clearing he removed his robe then set his quarterstaff on the ground not too far out of his reach. He rolled his shoulders looking up into the clear sky enjoying the refreshing feel of a cool breeze wafting across his face. Reaching down he grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it up over his head then deposited it on top of his robe.

Raising his arms high up over his head he started his warm-up routine before jumping into a workout. He stretched his arms up as high as he could reaching for the sky holding the position for ten seconds before lowering his arms. Aoren bent at the waist reaching down to his toes grasping his lower calves in an attempt to pull himself lower to the ground. When he met resistance he stopped holding that position so that there was only a mild amount of discomfort allowing the stretch to really dig into the muscles of his lower back. He held that position for ten seconds before releasing his hold on his legs.

He lifted his right leg grabbing his ankle with his right hand balancing on his left foot going into a quadriceps stretch. He did his best to keep his knee pointed downward to the ground and his quad even with the plane of his body to get the full effect of the stretch. When he’d held it long enough he switched to his opposite leg maintaining the same level of balance as before.

When that was done he sat on the ground extending his right leg while bringing left inward bracing his foot against his knee in a hurdler’s stretch. He reached down toward his toes until he met resistance in his hamstrings. He held the position for ten seconds before releasing and switching to his opposite leg. When that was finished he brought both legs in doing a butterfly stretch holding it for about fifteen seconds maintaining only a small amount of discomfort. Getting back on his feet he crossed his right arm over his chest dropping it in the crook of his left elbow pulling to his left slightly. He repeated the gesture with his left arm pulling to the right until he was content that the muscles in his shoulders were loosened enough. Finally he laced his fingers together and pushed outward away from his chest directly in front of himself until he met that tell-tale resistance in his muscles.

[Aoren]

With a sigh he dropped his arms bouncing on his feet slightly, shaking his wrists, rolling his shoulders and rotating his ankles one then the other getting himself adequately loose and ready for his workout routine. With a deep intake of breath Aoren began doing jumping jacks. He flung his arms up into the air then brought them back down whilst abducting and adducting his legs in a balanced rhythm. A good aerobic routine would get him ready for the more vigorous exercises he would do later. Aoren completed thirty jumping-jacks then gave himself a ten second rest period before moving on to the next exercise.

He went into a routine of doing eight count bodybuilder exercises. The exercise consisted of starting in the upright position with the arms hanging at the sides. In rapid succession the athlete would crouch then extend his legs to the rear planting his toes in the ground firmly. The individual would then do a single push-up, tuck their legs back into their chest returning to the crouch position then jump into the air. The pace was typically set a four count beat with the full exercise being completed when the he jumped into the air and dropped into the next revolution of motions. The idea was to do as many as he could in rapid succession. At present Aoren could only do twenty-five of them before the exertion began to prove difficult.

Aoren allowed himself another rest period of ten seconds before moving on. He lay flat on his stomach bringing his arms into the push-up position. He pushed up getting himself into the front-lean and rest position before starting. The young man kept a running tally of how many push-ups he was cranking out. He got to seventy before his arms started to feel sore. He slowed himself down focusing on his breathing. When it came to exercising the important thing was to do the maximum amount while maintaining the proper technique. He could have done all the push-ups, eight-counts, or whatever as he wanted but if he didn’t maintain good technique it meant nothing.

Coming to a stop in the front-lean and rest position he caught his breath having reached seventy-seven push-ups. He maintained a ninety degree plane with his body refusing to let his hips dip lower to the ground. Slowly he lowered himself breaking the ninety degree plane forcing himself to work beyond the dull ache in his arms. He maintained a slow, even pace managing to max out at one hundred push-ups before he needed to rest. Rather than getting to his feet however he maintained the front-lean and rest position propping himself up on his forearms in a straight plank position.

[Aoren]

He tightened his lower abdomen so that his abdominal muscles would reap the benefit of propping himself up. After a good ten seconds he could feel the ache building up in the lower half of his body. He didn’t break the plane then though. He kept himself propped up for another fifteen seconds. He took a deep breath.

“Remember to breathe, Aoren. Breathing is key. If you can’t breathe, you can’t function.”

Forty-five seconds had passed. He was keeping track of the time in his head. When finally Aoren reached sixty seconds he flipped so that he was doing a right sided plank. The burn of keeping his whole body suspended by just his hips, his elbow and his ankles started to radiate through Aoren’s side. He took deeper breaths closing his eyes and looking skyward when he was approaching the point when all he wanted to do was drop out of the exercise.

“Work past the pain, Aoren. The ache, the burning means that its being stretched and worked. Keep it up. You don’t have much longer to go. Two more rotations of planks.”

Another sixty seconds passed and Aoren flipped to his left side. The ache of the exercise was beginning to show in how wobbly he was in assuming the plank position on his left. He didn’t let that deter him though. When he was situated he propped himself up and began ticking off the seconds in his head. He was thankful for the cool air in the clearing. During the summer he would have been sweating more than he currently was. That was not to say the exercise wasn’t just as challenging but the slight chill in the air helped.

When the next sixty seconds passed Aoren flipped over onto his back propping himself up on his elbows clenching his lower abdomen. He maintained as even a plane as he reasonably could. His shoulders were beginning to burn from the strain of holding the entirety of Aoren’s weight on their own. He dug his heels into the ground clenching his jaw counting down in his head. When the final sixty seconds had passed he lowered himself slowly onto the ground laying back staring up at the sky his breathing elevated. He could make out wisps of his breath in the air. That pleased him. It meant he was getting an effective workout.

Aoren rested for a period of thirty seconds before moving into the next set of exercises. He brought his knees up so that his feet were off the ground then laced his fingers together placing his hands behind his head. He started doing crunches.

[Aoren]

“One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six…” Aoren counted each repetition in his head. His goal was to get to one hundred as he had with his push-ups. It wasn’t long before he started to feel the burn of his muscles getting worked out. His pace slowed slightly when he reached seventy crunches but he persevered. He would finish but he just wouldn’t move as rapidly.

“One hundred.”

Lying flat again he stared up at the sky. He could recall the days when he would run through this routine with Ileera. It was how he’d kept himself in shape day in and day out. He’d let slip how often he did the routine lately but he was determined to get back into the swing of things. When he felt adequately recovered from the crunches he moved into leg raises. Bringing his legs approximately six inches up off the ground he immediately felt the strain in his lower body but he didn’t let his legs drop. Beginning the exercise he alternated his legs in a scissors motion counting off each repetition to himself in a four-count pace.

“One, two, three, one. One, two, three, two. One, two, three, three…” When he reached thirty of the leg raises he lowered his legs slowly back onto the ground making himself stand up slowly. He didn’t want to induce dizziness after laying on the ground. Standing up he spread his feet shoulder width apart, brought his arms up to his sides with his elbows bending to bring his forearms at a ninety degree angle he went into doing squats. Like with most of his exercises he did the squats in a four-count pace until he reached forty of them. His legs burned and he nearly toppled over when he tried to do one more beyond that. He caught himself rising to his height steadying his stance.

By now Aoren was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. The stress of his workout routine showing clearly in his muscles. He certainly felt it. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet rolling his shoulders loosening the cramps that were forming between his shoulder blades. Aoren walked around in a tight circle to get his blood flowing evenly again and to lessen the sting of having moved his body the way he had. It was then that Aoren decided to pick up his quarterstaff.

[Aoren]

Aoren balanced the familiar weapon in his hands getting a feel for its weight. He had carried this particular quarterstaff with him for many years. He knew every swirl in the wood. He knew its weight. He knew how it felt in his hands. He ran his fingers along the smooth grain of the wood, worn from years of use then stood the quarterstaff up straight parallel to his body.

Aoren gripped the quarterstaff with his right hand rubbing his thumb along the smooth grain of the wood. He dropped his hips slightly, slid his right leg back bending his left into a modified lunge before coming back to his upright position. Satisfied that the quarterstaff was still sturdy he hooked his right foot around the butt end of the staff and kicked back propelling the quarterstaff upwards.

Aoren maintained a loose enough grip on the shaft of the staff to allow it to move in his hand adequately. He launched himself into a windmill routine with the staff spinning it off to the right of his body. He then moved it in front of himself having to grasp the staff and rotate it with both hands. He was not yet skilled enough to transition between one hand and the other seamlessly. He shifted it to his left hand and there was his noted lack of unfamiliarity. The staff slipped from his grip and dropped to the ground bouncing away from him.

Aoren sighed. He needed to focus on being as comfortable with the staff in his left hand as he was with his right. That would prove to be a more difficult task than he would have initially thought. Going over to where the staff landed his picked it up with his left hand then resumed his upright position. This time he hooked his left foot around the staff beginning his windmill routine with his left hand. The difficulty was much more considerable.

Once again the staff slipped from his grip because he rotated his wrist improperly and failed to grasp it with his fingers adequately. The staff rebounded and Aoren narrowly dodged getting smacked in the face by his own weapon. He’d received many welts during practice sessions when he was less familiar with it. He didn’t let his noted lack of success deter him though. But like a horse that continually bucked its rider from the saddle Aoren just picked the staff up intent on trying one more time.

[Aoren]

And he would continue to try. Over and over until he was as confident with spinning the quarterstaff with his left hand as he was his right. When finally it seemed that Aoren had timed his rotations correctly in accordance with the grip he maintain with his left hand he brought the quarterstaff out in front of him continuing the rotations on with both of his hands this time.

He switched the quarterstaff mid-spin into his right hand and noticed that the speed that he was able to spin the staff with increased slightly. He switched the quarterstaff back to his left and nearly lost his grip on it again but he managed to recover and keep the maneuver going. He was beginning to feel the strain in his wrists and forearms from continuing the repetitive motion but he decided on switching back to his right before ceasing the windmill routine.

“Alright. Improving. Keep it up, Aoren. One day you might just actually be able to call yourself a decent quarterstaff fighter.”

Aoren opted for trying one of his more signature moves with the quarterstaff with his left hand. He balanced the weight of the staff testing it by leaning on it heavily on his left side. Before actually going through with the technique he chose to do it in slow motion just to get the muscle memory down.

Bringing up the butt end of his staff he slowly lifted it until the staff was perpendicular to his chest. He slowly lunged forward extending his left leg, planting the foot firmly onto the ground while balancing his center of gravity by keeping his right foot firmly where it was already situated. He methodically jut the staff straight forward into the chest of an envisioned foe. Aoren released his hold on the staff with his right hand bringing it back behind his left and pulled the quarterstaff inward to his body. As he pulled the staff inward he brought both of his legs back together slowly bringing his right leg up in a forward kick.

As he thought about the logistics of going through the motions he was glad he decided to do it slowly. There was no way he would have been able to pull off all of them effectively at full speed. Rotating his hips he brought the quarterstaff with him at a downward angle crouching into a kneel while swinging the staff clutching it close to his body. He rose up going back into his standing position lowering the staff so that it was once again parallel to his body.

Slowly he swung the staff around in a wide arc without lifting his feet from the ground instead pivoting performing a loose about face. Loosening his grip on the staff allowing it to slide through his hands at a downward angle he kicked it upward jutting the butt end outward at an angle. He gripped the staff more tightly then brought it in close to his chest making small circles with the opposite end before dropping it back into the upright position rising to his full height.

[Aoren]

Overall Aoren was making slow but steady progress with the quarterstaff as a weapon. He did not yet possess a firm grasp on the fine points of wielding it but he was getting there little by little. Walking back over to his gear he set the quarterstaff down next to his clothing then stood up straight drawing in a deep calming breath. The soreness from exerting his muscles had dissipated for the most part at this point but he could still feel the ache.

“I should really consider going to the Soothing Waters and getting a massage.”

Aoren wasn’t normally someone to spend his money on frivolous pursuits but it wasn’t against his morals to simply treat himself to something nice every now and then. He could remember the last time he actually went out and did something solely for the sake of just being leisurely. It had been quite some time. The more he thought on it the more he decided that he would do it the following day after work. For now though he settled on working on his technique in his disciplined fighting form.

Aoren assumed his stance first by standing straight up. His arms hung loosely at his sides. With deliberate slowness he extended his left leg outward so that his feet were situated shoulder width apart. As he settled into that position he brought his arms up to chest level making certain to keep his palms open facing the ground. As he brought his arms up he dipped his hips flexing his wrists so that his palms faced outward of his chest before once again dropping to face the ground. He bent his knees leaning back on his right leg while lifting his left at the same time he moved in arms in a circular pattern at mid-chest level before bringing them down to his stomach level.

Keeping his right foot planted he rotated his body stepping outward with his left foot in a diagonal lunge. As he moved his legs he crossed his arms so that his hands swept across from one another. The right came down in a slow deliberate slicing motion while he brought the left up toward his face angling away from his body so that is formed a graceful pattern. Aoren rocked back on his right leg adjusting his weight to his left moving from his diagonal lunge position. He repeated the crossing motion with his hands only in opposite fashion across his body with the left hand coming down in a deliberately slow slice across the air while the right was brought up at an angle with his palm facing inward.