Gotta fight gotta strike...

[shorterinperson]

WHO: Alanna and anyone who wants to learn to fight
WHAT: Training
WHERE: The Training Field
WHEN: ALL THE TIME :|
WARNING(S): None

Sir Alanna's routine is stringent. She wakes before dawn to stretch for about an hour. Then she eats. Then she heads to the stable to feed and clean her horse. After that, she heads to the training field, where she stores duplicates of her favorite weapons as well as spares for anyone who might want to use them.

She starts with the sword, running through one-person 'sets', demonstrating for anyone who might be there so early in the day. Then she practices with her axe, then the knives, then finally the bow and arrow. By lunch time she's covered in sweat, but she doesn't bother to shower after her meal. She heads straight back to the field so begin proper lessons, whatever is called for that day.

This is her routine, every day, unless something horrible happens to set things awry. If the sun is shining, Alanna is training or caring for her horse.

Comments

[shiromadoushi]

"I don't know..." Bakura admitted softly, rubbing his left hand slightly.

[shorterinperson]

She gave him a long, hard look, but finally softened. He was obviously very confused, and meditation was going to be hard for him.

"Does that hurt?" she asked, nodding towards his hand.

[shiromadoushi]

"Eh? Aaa--- it's nothing, it's nothing, don't worry about it!" he assured quickly. "It's just a little stiff, that's all!" It was in far better shape than he kept expecting it to be, after all! And even if it wasn't, he didn't want any fuss made over it. Fuss led to questions how he had gotten it, after all...

[shorterinperson]

Alanna had been a soldier for most of her life; far too long to press personal issues that he clearly didn't want to talk about.

Of course, as a healer, she also couldn't ignore someone else's pain, no matter how badly they wanted her to.

"I could heal it for you, either way."

[shiromadoushi]

He shook his head. "It's already healed as well as it can be..." he said softly. There was a feeling of experience behind that. Even if he couldn't remember much of the last 2 years, he knew he had tried healing it before.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan listened hard and nodded. "Like grabbing rabbits wrong. Then they get away."

[shorterinperson]

"If you say so." Well, it was worth asking.

[shorterinperson]

"Exactly." She nodded, and showed him the motion once again.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan watched carefully and repeated it, looking up to Alanna for approval.

[shorterinperson]

She nodded her approval, once more adjusting his position and grip.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan beamed up at her, face lighting up with pleasure at approval. Making sure that his knife was safely away, he threw his arms around her in a giant hug.

[shorterinperson]

One moment she was smiling rather fondly down at the boy, and the next she was utterly stiff and in shock.

Shows of affection weren't something Alanna was used to.

When it became apparent that this was a real thing that was actually happening, she made herself relax and rested her arms on his shoulders.

Awkwardly.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

He beamed up at her, pleased for any response at all, and yipped happily.

[shorterinperson]

She sighed and grudgingly ruffled his hair. Kids. How was she supposed to deal with them?

"Would you like to try any other weapons?"

[greatsquirrelhunter]

"Faolan is small," he answered. "What can I use?"

[shorterinperson]

"Anything you can lift," she answered, but looked him up and down as she thought.

"A crossbow might suit you, until you're strong enough to string a longbow."

[greatsquirrelhunter]

"Hawk likes crossbows!" Faolan exclaimed happily, knife disappearing back into its sheath as he turned to the other weapons.

[shorterinperson]

She watched, arms crossed, amused. She could teach him to use any weapon he liked, really. It was just a matter of how long it took for him to build up the necessary muscles.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan thought about the things that Hawk had told him while making swords and teaching him to hunt. A knife and a bow and a crossbow could be used to hunt and to defend yourself, but a sword was only used to kill. Hawk didn't want Faolan to use one.

Instead, he turned to look at the bows and crossbows. He knew that the bows that were there we're way to big for him, and decided that he had to look for a child's bow later. For now, he picked up a crossbow, exploring the feeling of holding it.

The knife was good, because it was close to just having claws, but the crossbow was a definite weight in his arms, something that couldn't be anything but separate from him.

[shorterinperson]

That was something Alanna would have to fix for him. She nodded her satisfaction once he had chosen a weapon and showed him how to hold it before grabbing a quiver of arrows and leading him to the range.

"It's going to be hard to load for a while," she warned him, "but your muscles will grow."

[greatsquirrelhunter]

"Show me," he demanded, holding the crossbow out to her.

[shorterinperson]

She took the bow from him and quickly and efficiently loaded an arrow, pulled back the string, and immediately fired it at the target several yards away.

Then she repeated the process, this time much more slowly, and named the parts of the bow as she used them.

"Now you try it," she offered, handing the bow back without the arrow.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan was prepared for it to be difficult [adults always made difficult things looks easy]. But the crossbow string was really hard to pull [all the better for giving the arrow force according to Hawk's physics lessons] and he whined with frustration until he finally managed it.

[shorterinperson]

"Good," she told him with approval. Not at all bad for his first time. Then she pointed at the target.

"For now, just see if you can hit anything." After that, she would have him load and shoot as many times as he could, as fast as he could. It was more important at this point to get the feel and the motions down than to hit a target.

[greatsquirrelhunter]

Faolan's face screwed up in concentration as he aimed and then pulled the trigger. The recoil was more than he had thought to prepare for, and he fell to his rear while the shot went wild.