Flashback Helping the Hopeless

[Yvan]

62 Spring, 496 AV

"Again," Ramsey ordered.

Yvan tightened the reins and punched his mount in the sides lightly with his feet to drive him forward. The horse moved from a standstill into trot and paced towards the target set at least a hundred feet from their current position. The squire fumbled with his crossbow and took a bolt from the pouch of the saddlebag to fix against the stock of his weapon before pulling back the string with a shaky hand while his other hand fought to keep hold of the reins and control of the animal.
"Focus!" Ramsey called, "your target is fast approaching!"

The boy looked up to find that his patron wasn't wrong and there ahead of him, the red painted target with a white dot set at its centre was only thirty feet away now. Yvan lifted his weapon and looked down the sights, his finger pulling down on the trigger a fraction too soon, sending the bolt beyond the target to clip the stone wall and fall to the ground. Yvan frowned and lowered the crossbow to place on its latch against the saddle to focus his horse, steering the animal back towards the starting line by tugging on the left rein and digging the back of his boot into the beast's side in order to hurry him up. The horse shrieked and sped up into a canter, causing Yvan to slip and almost lose his grip.

Ramsey set his hands on the guard rail hesitantly and watched with his stomach in his mouth, "boy you learn to control that animal before I come in there and take him off you!"
"Yeeess, Sserrr," Yvan called, bounced up and down uncomfortably on his mount's back.

Another too-hard tug of the reins saw the horse come to an abrupt stop, almost sending Yvan overhead onto the cobblestone below.
"Hopeless," he heard Ramsey mutter before the man started pacing up and down the fence line, "again!"

[Yvan]

The boy was frustrated and close to tears, ‘crying won't solve anything,’ he heard his father's words press to the forefront of his mind, ‘get on and do what needs to be done, keep trying until you get it right!’.

Yvan stopped his horse to recollect his thoughts and sat staring at the crossbow, the bane of his existence. While most boys his age were off playing tag in the fields or out learning to hunt, he was stuck here with a man who was basically still a stranger to him, trying to fire a crossbow from the back of a moving, temperamental, unpredictable horse named Marlin.

Yvan took up the crossbow and started loading another bolt when Ramsey yelled, "Not until you're moving! This is mounted combat, boy, not shooting at sitting ducks; get moving!"

The squire hissed his disdain and gave another light kick and a rousing noise to stir the stallion up. Marlin's shod feet drummed against the tightly packed cobblestones, making a clip-clop sound as he hurried forwards into a quick trot. Now moving, Yvan struggled to lift the heavy crossbow again as the two of them moved ever closer to the target. He loaded the weapon, took aim, waited until his shot seemed to be aligned perfectly and then pulled back the trigger.

The string was released from the nut and the bolt shot forwards at an alarming speed, causing the nervous stallion to flinch and change directions all of the sudden. Yvan hooked his weapon in place and took up the reins in both hands, shortening them accordingly in order to bring the horse under control. When he finally managed to turn Marlin and look over at the target, Yvan was disappointed to see that he had missed again.
"That one was close!" Ramsey offered, sensing that the boy's morale was low, "you'll get it! Try again!"

[Yvan]

Determined to succeed, Yvan stopped the horse, got down from his mount and ran across the courtyard in the full suit or armour he had been tasked with wearing in order to get used to the weight. The chunky plate-metal was heavy and scratched together as he ran, making each step more difficult and awkward than it needed to be.

Below the target, Yvan gathered up the bolts, discarding of any broken ones in a nearby rubbish heap for the burner before returning to his horse as fast as he could move with all the armour on. Getting up into the saddle was the trickiest part and twice Yvan adjusted the stirrup in order to get his foot high enough to place it into the fitting. He grabbed the top of the saddle and a fistful of mane to pull himself up onto the horse, bouncing away from the ground, each new attempt draining just a little more of his strength and energy.

Once in the saddle, Yvan roared at the horse to go forwards and held on tight as the stallion crossed the courtyard in a flash, the boy only just able to hold on; turning at the last possible second before he would have run the horse into the fence.
"Calm down," Ramsey warned, "catch your breath, gather your thoughts, and let's get this right."
"It's too hard," Yvan complained, "this suit is too hot and heavy, I can't lift the weapon properly."
"I'm hearing a lot of excuses," Ramsey countered, "two more chances after this or you'll be staying behind to muck out the stables."
"But it's not my turn!" And judging by the look on Ramsey's face, the man didn't care.

Yvan, knowing better than to argue with the knight, pulled Marlin around and pointed the horse towards the target. He kicked and made a clicking noise with his tongue against the roof of his mouth. The horse bounded forwards in a quick canter, pulling against the reins. Faster than Yvan was used to going, he struggled to load the bow in time and lifted the weapon only seconds before he would have to make the shot. Without much time for focusing on aim, the squire was forced to shoot and when he released the trigger, the bolt whizzed over the far wall and out of sight.

[Yvan]

Yvan turned his horse by pulling on the reins, "use your feet!" Ramsey encouraged.

This time when he returned to the starting point, the boy steered his mount right without coming to a standstill and urged Marlin towards the target again. With the crossbow at the ready, Yvan fumbled around in the saddlebag for another bolt and slipped it in the wrong way with the rush. He noticed his mistake as he went to pull back the string, and quickly fixed it before proceeding with the shot.

Staring down the sights as he held on to the horse with legs squeezed tightly against the animal's sides, he made sure the bronze nut that locked the string in place lined up with the tip of the bolt just as Ramsey has taught him, and pointed it straight at the target before firing. His aim was good and this time his efforts were rewarded as the bolt struck the very outer edge of the target, chipping the wood before being knocked back and to the ground by the hard stone wall.
"See!" Ramsey boomed, "much better, let's hit her dead centre this time!"

Yvan knew he was countless hours, and possibly even years away from hitting anything dead centre, but the near success had lifted his spirits and encouraged him nonetheless. He patted Marlin's neck and smiled, guiding the horse back to the starting line, this time using his feet to steer the animal.

[Yvan]

They stopped at the starting line and Yvan caught a glimpse of the rare smile that braced his patron's lips, "I told you sooner or later you would get it," the man grinned, "not too difficult at all is it?"
Yvan offered one of his own smiles, though it didn’t quite touch his eyes, leaving most of his face unanimated.

His arms hurt, his legs hurt, his back was sore, and Yvan was determined to get out of spending his afternoon shovelling horse shit. He took a moment to calm his nerves before shortening the reins and ordered Marlin to press forward. The edge of his boot sunk against the horse's soft side gently, and without too much more encouragement, Marlin cantered towards the far end of the courtyard where the target had been hung.

Yvan lifted his crossbow and reached down for a bolt, checking that it was the right way up before he loaded it into the stock. He glanced forwards then to correct the direction the horse was headed in, bringing him to the left a little before trapping the string of his crossbow over the bronze nut and raising his weapon.

Taking careful aim, Yvan went through the steps Ramsey had been teaching him for the better part of the spring season and lined up the bow until the target was in sight. He made sure the tail of the crossbow was pressed to his shoulder and tipped his head to check the sights once more before tickling the trigger and finally released the bolt.

Again the bolt flew straight and met the target at an alarming speed, making a loud 'thunk' noise as it hit the target about seven inches from the outer edge, putting it not quite halfway to the white centre, but about as close as Yvan was going to get for one day. Ecstatic, the boy beamed and raised his arms skyward with weapon in hand, all but forgetting the crossbow's heavy weight with his excitement.

Ramsey clapped and as Yvan brought the horse to the gate, the knight grinned, "take him over there and get off," he ordered, "if you keep getting off by the gate you'll teach the horse bad habits."
"Yes, Ser," Yvan smiled and for once, did as he was told.

[Konrad Venger]

Nice job! Your work has pleased The Sloth! Yvan XP: Riding - 4 Crossbow - 3 Observation - 2 Endurance - 1 Lore: Riding: Using your Feet Crossbow: Difficult while Mounted Endurance: Running in Armor Riding: Steadying for a Shot Ser Ramsey: Asks the Impossible Additional: +5 Shield Points for training with your patron Click Me! : I like how you recognize that repetition is the key to any kind of training. That and failing. A lot. But you never make it boring, which is encouraging. The relationship between Yvan and Ramsey is kind of endearing, too. Clearly the old boy sees something in Yvan, but knows he has to be harsh to get it out of him. Oh, and please make sure you go back and edit your post in the Request Thread to reflect the fact this one is now done and dusted. PM me with any questions and later 'tater!