First Meeting And Sword Training

by **Garland** on October 2nd, 2014, 4:58 pm

FALL 1 514AV

Catherine Ashe, a knight that was suppose to meet. They didn't say who it was, but they did say she would know him when she saw him. She was waiting outside the squire's dormitory. She folded her arms around her chest. She had been waiting for her squire for 30 chimes now. It won't look good for a squire to be late on his first day. She leaned back on the wall, wearing the regular light armor most guards wear, but she does prefer full-plate armor instead. She wanted to get started as quickly as she can.

This was gonna be her first squire to train, and she wasn't going to fall short. She took pride in everything she does, even acknowledging mistakes to make herself, or others, better.

The days were getting shorter, that's true, but there was plenty of daylight left for training. She noticed that most of the squires had some sort of combat training or skill when they join, but almost no nothing about riding horses. She decided to take a small ride around the area.

Garland ran down the street and through the gates to the dormitories. He had been here earlier to move his stuff in. He had lost track of time when he was exploring the general area. This was embarrassing for him, mostly because this was what he wanted since he was just a young boy and now he was late, it was like getting a pie thrown at your face, but was still edible. He picked up his armor and uniform from the armory, he wanted to get things in order as soon as possible, and the first thing he wanted done, and that was giving a good first impression or at least try to fix his first impression.

His metallic boots clanged on the ground as he ran, he had his helmet on, along with heavy plate armor. His sword, the one he kept since he could remember, hang on his belt along with a standard iron shield he borrowed.

He saw the female knight, looking bored by the entrance if the dormitory. That must be his patron knight. He ran up to her and gave a salute. "Sera! Sorry I'm late."

Catherine had a scowl on her face. "Are you always gonna be this late? Because if you are, you should quit now while you're ahead. The knights need to have a quick response to every situation. That includes training. We are starting right now." Catherine cracked her knuckles and turned to head to the stables.

"Yes Sera!" Garland followed her diligently. He matched her pace. "Sera, would you be so kind to tell me your name?"

"You may refer to me as Sera Catherine or if you prefer Sera Ashe but don't even bother stating your name, not until you proven that you're squire material." She didn't even bother looking at him as she walked.

Garland stayed silent, he was determined to prove to his worth to her. The smell of fresh hay moved through the air, the scent of horses filled Garland's nostrils.

Catherine walked into the stables and picked a strong looking stallion. It was a mixed blood breed, there was no need for a war horse just for riding practice. [color=red]"Saddle up, squire. You have a lot to do today." She led the horse out to the field.

Garland took another mixed blood horse and followed his new patron knight. The squire was nervous, he had never ridden a horse before, though he wasn't doing as badly as he thought he would do. He followed as well as he could but she was ultimately getting farther away from him.

They rode through the city proper, luckily there weren't many people on the streets, which was strange for this time of day. The trampling of hooves drowned out what other sounds were in the streets of Syliras.

Catherine never liked going slow, she trusted her horse to get out of the way of obstacles but she did know when to take the reigns. She rode off through gates of the city, and rode towards the woods.

"Slow down!" He called out on the bridge and tried to speed up by kicking the horse, which led to him being bucked off and then into the water.

The other knights were snickering and sent down a rope. Now wasn't the time to be embarrassed, he needed to get to woods as fast as he can. He wasn't doing a good job of impressing his new patron, but he won't stop trying.

He quickly got up his horse and kicked him a bit weaker this time. "Come on, boy. Sorry about earlier." Garland said to his mount. The horse replied with a snort, and a whinny. The horse galloped off towards the woods, kicking up dust and leaves up into the air.

Catherine was waiting right by the side of the road, going into the woods. Her horse gave a small neigh as the other two were making their way up towards them.

Garland brushed his horse's mane. "Good work." He said to his horse then turned back to Catherine. "What are we doing?"

"Lake, just north of here. Try not to crash into any trees, squire." She sped up. rushing pass trees and large rocks at great speeds. She knew what she was doing here. She knew which way to go.

"That's the 'where' Sera, what's the 'what' at the lake?" He yelled and tried his best to follow her. The feeling of rushing winds on his face was a new experience for the boy, he squinted just to keep the wind from hitting his eyes. Luckily, the horse followed his rider's patron knight quite well.

"You'll see, right now, just shut up and keep up." She yelled back. At this rate, they would make it before too long.

by **Garland** on October 5th, 2014, 12:33 pm

Garland and Catherine made it to the lake, though Catherine had already dismounted and hitched her horse on a tree. she had brought two training swords along with her, and two regular shields. She leaned against a tree and grabbed one of the swords, testing its weight. She swung it from side to side, and gripped the handle tight enough to attack strongly, but still loose enough to make room for defense if need be. She grabbed a shield and felt its weight, she was getting ready for some training. She whistled towards Garland, signaling him to drop his sword, and take the other training sword and shield.

"Alright, squire. Before we start a little fighting practice, let's see if you know how to actually hold a sword, or you're just another street hustler that learned how to swing a stick really hard." She went into position, she held her sword with a tight grip with her thumb and first two fingers. She left her remaining fingers curled loosely around the hilt of her training sword. She stood with her feet shoulder width apart, her leading foot slightly forward. She was relaxed on her feet with her knees slightly bent at an angle. " This position is easy to hold and keeps your centre of gravity low and central, which will in turn keep you balanced when moving or wearing heavy armor. Losing your balance can easily knocked you down or worse, kill you where you stand. Stance is just as important as strength and speed. Remember that, squire." She gave swing with her sword, showing how her stance helped with control.

Garland stumbled forward, having gotten off his horse as soon Catherine started giving her lesson. He quickly grabbed his sword and shield, and then looked at Catherine's stance, taking in every detail. "Right! Stance is important." He tried mimicking Catherine's stance as well as he could. He wasn't as used to this stance as Catherine, but he had plenty of arm strength, and he knows how heavy a sword could be, so it didn't take him that long to adjust to the lighter weight of the training weapon. Though he didn't know just how tight Catherine's grip on her weapon was.

She looked him over, adjusting his footing and his arms. "You're gripping it too tight. Use your first two fingers and your thumb, keep the rest of them loose." Garland did as he was told, following her instruction to the letter, and adjusting his limbs where she pointed his mistakes.

"Alright, good enough. Now I want you to memorized that stance. Now we're gonna do a little exercise first. I want you to go over to that tree and run at me as fast as you can." She said, pointing to a tree a few meters away from her. "In real combat, you won't have the time to adjust your footing or your arms, you need to get in quick and then fight back." She stopped to think before looking back to her newly appointed squire. "Do you know how to swing? Do you know how to pull your attacks? In case you're in a small friendly sparring match, or need a target alive?"

"Yes, I know how to pull. That is one of the first things I learned." He said proudly. "And I can swing well enough." He gave a strong 45° degree swing with his sword arm, going down leftward, making a satisfactory 'swoosh' from his sword.

Catherine nodded, he wasn't as bad as she thought, but she had a lot of work to do. "Remember the eight areas you can strike. The leg, the mid section, the shoulder or neck, the head, the other side of the leg, mid section and shoulder and the thrust." She looked over to the tree. "Go, I want to see how quickly you can get into position and then give me an attack. She marked an 'x' on the ground with her sword. "This is where your opponent will be, so strike here. And before you ask, it would be easier to use a shield to charge, but a well placed attack could end the fight right then and there, it would be best to finish fast." She added and stepped away from where Garland would start his run.

Garland nodded, he looked at how his feet were positioned, and flexed his fingers, trying to get the feeling for the stance. When he was ready he jogged towards the tree, the armor he was wearing was heavy, but he could cope with it for a few more bells.

He sprinted down towards the target area, he quickly settled into the stance, and then giving a swift thrust through the air.

Catherine nodded, it was good for a first try, but he wasn't perfect. She grabbed her own training sword and shield. "Keep practicing, getting into position quickly can make a huge difference, in a fight." She got back into position. "Nevermind that now though. I see you know how to use your sword well, but can you defend? On guard!" She attacked him slowly at first, no where near her maximum speed.

Garland saw the blade coming for him, his instincts took over and he dodged instead of blocking. He back stepped quickly and took up the stance he was taught and was about to attack, but he didn't, all his muscles screamed to strike, but it was his self-control that stopped him from attacking back.

by **Garland** on October 6th, 2014, 4:44 pm

Catherine gave a sigh. She wanted him to block, not dodge. She crossed her arms on her chest and started walking around him. "Don't think of your shield like a wall for protection. Think of it as a second weapon, in a hands of a master, a shield could be a thousand times more useful than a sword." She spoke with her tomboyish style of talking. She got back into position, ready to train him with his shield. [color=red]"Drop your sword, I want you to block all my attacks."

Garland nodded and dropped his sword and got back into position. He hoped that she would pull her swings, he was not used to using this arm in combat. He raised his guard up, it was the stance she had taught him, but he had seen others use different stances for different fights. This was just a basic stance that covered most angles, but not completely.

Catherine gave a loud yell, and then went in to attack with a strong horizontal swing, it wasn't held back at all. Garland raised his shield just in time, blocking it, but it did leave him open for what came next. He looked up from his shield, the next thing he saw was the wooden shield of Sera Catherine coming right at him at full speed.

The hit collided powerfully with his helmeted head. He stumbled back, coughing. He gripped his shield tightly, and got back up. "Unlike the sword, a tighter grip would be good for the shield, but since the standardized metal shield the knights have have straps, its not really all that important. Get back up and try to keep blocking. Heck, you can try to counter my attacks if you like.

She had to admit, she liked this boy's determination, he has skill, but nothing extraordinary. This was her first official squire, she had trained other squires for other knights while they were away or doing something else important, and she was not disliking what she was seeing.

Garland grabbed his shield again, he got back into his stance and waited for another attack. Catherine pushed him hard with her shield, and pointed her sword at his head, and stabbed at him.

He kept ducking beneath his shield to avoid the dull training sword. She kept stabbing, gaining power and speed with each attack. She was starting to over commit to her shield and attack.

Garland could feel her power on the shield. He suddenly dropped on his back and lifted his legs up to her belly, he pushed his legs up, making Catherine tumble over his head.

She didn't expect this move from him, but she had been knocked down plenty of times before. She quickly landed on her hands and pushed herself up with a flip. She landed on her feet and quickly ran in with a strong downward attack while Garland was down.

Garland rolled away as she struck down where he was a second ago. He got up quickly and blocked her next attack with his shield, he pushed both of his hands, making Catherine pull back.

Catherine gave a small smile. "Grab your sword, let's spar before it gets too dark." Garland nodded and took up his sword, he wasn't good with blocking yet, but he was pretty good with his sword. He got into position and waited for her to attack first.

She ran forward, swinging much more powerfully. He dodge to the side and returned with an upward slash. Catherine dodged easily and returned with a tackle with her shield.

Garland got hit hard. He tumbled to the ground, he raised his shield and blocked Catherine's attack, Garland gave a low sweep kick, trying to trip her up.

Catherine jumped over the kick, and landed on top of him. She was about to press her blade on his neck, but Garland dropped his sword and grabbed Catherine's wrists.

He pushed her off, grabbing his sword and then getting up for another bout. He drummed on shield, getting Catherine's attention.

Catherine got up and got back into position. Garland ran up to her, and started attacking with swift swings. Catherine blocked each of his attacks easily. She countered with her sword and knocked Garland's helmet right off.

His dark brown hair, blue eyes and soft lips were finally revealed under that helmet. This was the one person Catherine avoided at all costs, for guilt and for secrecy.

Catherine stopped, shocked at who she was sparring with, Garland, the boy she had taken to Syliras 16 years ago, after his parents were killed(or so she thought) by the knights.

Catherine dropped her sword. She was speechless, she watched him grow up from the shadows, making sure that he learned from his mistakes and petty crimes. Hopefully he did, since he finally joined the knighthood. She was starting to get a bit teary eyed, but she quickly wiped it off. "Alright, training's over, meet me back here in the morning... Take the horse back to the stables... Relax for today, I won't go easy on you next time." She turned around, trying not to face him. She took a deep breath, and smiled a bit.

Garland was a bit confused at the sudden stop, but he wasn't going to complain, his body was starting to ache now. He picked up his helmet and wiped up the dust. "Thank you for the training session, Sera."

"Please, call me Catherine."

by **Katelyn Marks** on November 11th, 2014, 3:58 pm

Due Rewards

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”

― Philip Pullman

Garland

Skill	EXP
Horseback RIding	+1
Socialization	+3
Observation	+3
Tactics	+2
Weapon: Bastard Sword	+1
Shield	+2
Endurance	+2
Running	+1

Lores

➢ Horseback Riding: Proper Leg Pressure
➢ Horseback Riding: Being Bucked Off
➢ Sera Catherine: Patron Knight
➢ Sera Catherine: Excellent Equestrian
➢ Sera Catherine: Childhood Savior
➢ Bastard Sword: Proper Stances
➢ Tactics: The Eight Striking Areas

Shield Points: +3 for training, +1 for patron thread, -2 for keeping your patron waiting

Comments

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Solo First Meeting And Sword Training