Beginnings (attn: Maldrin)

[Matalina]

Ginae had sent Talyn a note telling him of his new trainee. Talyn was always eager to help out a new bird. He found it extremely odd that he was teaching fledglings how to fly that he would have to fight. The Last Battle was drawing near and the Great Lord would triumph, but here he taught the light fools how to fight, the irony of the situation.

 

Talyn waited by a fence post for Maldrin to report. He'd sent him a note to meet him at this specific fence post under the largest tree in the yard. It would be interesting to see the new lad find him, and see how he walked around, looking lost or looking confused. But Talyn was surprised when he knew the lad he was to train. He'd been a stable boy he was sure of it. Perhaps he was mistaken, he would wait for him to introduce himself.

 

Talyn

[Zachary]

Maldrin looked at the note he'd recieved. Reading through it, he paused as he read the place he was to meet his new teacher, looked up at the sky and pictured the training yard. Nodding as he placed where he was to be, he finished the note and memorised the name at the end. Talyn Rashad, his new teacher. He let that dance around in his head a few moments. His new teacher. He was going to be a Warder. He only barely contained the urge to do a jig.

 

Looking at the note again, he noticed the time he was to meet Master Rashad, looked up at the sun, and cursed. By the sun's placing, he should be there now.

 

He ran for the Training Yard, scarcely paying mind to the curses left in his wake, and made it to the yard only five minutes late. Breathing faster than normal, he made his way to the meeting spot, to find that a Tower Guard who must be his teacher was already there, and was in fact someone he recognized. Walking slightly faster, he stopped in front of Talyn Rashad, and snapped a salute he had seen done before.

 

"Maldrin of Tar Valon, reporting for training."

[Matalina]

Talyn shook his head he would never get use to people saluting me. He'd correct them but he felt that it was best to let sleeping dogs lie. "Good afternoon, glad you weren't too late. I'd hate to run you more than you need." Talyn smiled at the lad.

 

"Come and walk with me." Talyn started walking towards the armory and stopped just short of the armory doors. "Before we enter the armory, tell me what type of weapons training you've had prior, any experiences at all."

 

Talyn

[Zachary]

Maldrin was relieved the Tower Guard hadn't taken against his tardieness. He looked at the armory doors in excitement. He'd never been into the armory, had never even caught a glimpse of the interior. His attention was caught as Master Rashad began talking.

 

"Hmm... I doubt you'd call any of my experiences training, but I have handled a sword. I was around six at the time. I, hrrm, borrowed a sword from a traveller passing through Tar Valon and was staying at my mother's in, the Amyrlin's Glory, do you know it?" Without pausing for an answer, he continued, "It was a bit heavy, and I believe it was about two feet taller than me. I got it so the blade was upright, than my hands slipped and the sword fell, blade towards me. That hurt a bit." He gestured to his scarred face.

 

"Naturally, it was returned to him, though luckily he figured I'd gotten a good enough punishment. Then there was the time, around six months or so ago that I once again borrowed a weapon, though this time it was a practice blade from the Warder's Yard." Maldrin coughed at that, slightly embarrassed, and glanced at Master Rashad. "Urm, I managed to hold it as I'd seen it done around the training grounds, and tried a few swings. Unfortunatly, I was in the stables at the time, and sort of... hit one of the horses on the nose. Well, no one was very happy about that." He rubbed his chest absently. "And, that's the extent of my experience with weapons."

 

Maldrin went back to watching the armory doors, though keeping an eye on his teacher.

[Matalina]

Talyn laughed at the horse story. He vaguely remembered a stable hand doing something of the likes, but then again he thought many of them did. "So you've not had much training at all. At least now I know where to start."

 

Talyn opened the wide double doors the armory and indicated for Maldrin to go first. "Today we will choose some of the most important things of your career here in the yards. Your weapons. Today you will choose three weapons."

 

Talyn went to the first row of weapons and began explaining a few things about each type. He continued along the cooridor giving Maldrin a little bit about each weapon. "A weapon should feel comofortable in weight, size and grip. Test out your weapons. Don't swing them, just hold them, find three different types of weapons that fit you, and then we'll go from there."

 

Talyn

[Zachary]

Maldrin chewed on his tongue absently as he held the sword. It was slightly curved, almost delicatly so, and the weight seemed perfect to him. The grip fit his hand comfortably, and he could see himself being able to wield it for long lengths of time. He concentrated on his instructions, trying to drive out the urge to swing it. He looked at the edge. Hmm, that looks pretty sharp, he thought to himself as he touched a finger to the blade gently. Flinching, he brought his finger to his mouth. Yes, definatly sharp, Stupid. "Yes, this one feels right. What was it you called it, sir, a scimitar?" He said, making his first choice.

 

After going through two racks of weapons, Maldrin eyed the knife in his hand critically. Master Rashad had named it a seax. Seemed sturdy enough for all manner of needs, not just fighting. The weight was nice, he'd be able to use it in most ways, battle or otherwise, without being tired quickly. The grip was a little off, but looking closely he saw that it needed only a few strips of leather to correct that. Weapons shouldn't be that much different from stable tools, in that respect. And the blade seemed sharp. He didn't need to restrain any desire to test the edge. Drawing blood several times already had taught him a healthy respect for weapons. "Apart from the grip, which should be easily corrected by a few strips of leather, this seems perfect." He said, as he made his second choice. Then he tilted his head as he thought of something. "You can wrap more leather around the hilt, right? That's what we did at the stable with the tools. Is it different with weapons?"

 

As Maldrin waited for his teacher to reply, his gaze was caught by a pair of daggers that were on the same weapons' rack he'd found the seax. They were up agains each other, as opposed to the seperateness of the other weapons, so he assumed they were meant to be used together. He picked them up, one with each hand, and hefted them. Good weight, the grip was good. They seemed like they would work well.

 

He was distracted as Master Rashad began speaking.

 

 

OOC: In case I wasn't clear, the choices are:

Primary Weapon-Scimitar

Secondary Weapon-Seax

Teritary Weapon-Butterfly Knives

[Matalina]

Talyn watched as Maldrin wandered the armory picking up the different items he was to teach. Most people choose the sword as their primary, Talyn had been taught the quarterstaff before coming to the yards and had stuck with that himself, but choose the sword as his secondary.

 

"Good choices." Talyn began tohe simple proceedure of showing Maldrin how to care for each of his new weapons. They were all similar in care, so the lesson was simple.

 

Talyn asked, "Do you have any questions?"

 

Talyn

[Zachary]

The method for caring for his weapons was fairly straight-forward. It was a lot similar to the work he'd been doing recently for the stables, as he hadn't been allowed near the horses after the incident. There were a few differences, mostly regarding the method of sharpening, but otherwise he'd done most of it before.

 

"Hmm... Well, do we leave them in here and take them out for practice purposes or do I carry them with me?" Maldrin asked, curious as to the extent trainees were trusted. It seemed imprudent to let them walk around with dangerous weapons, but it also seemed inconvenient to leave the weapons in the armory, as they could be moved about, or chosen by another trainee. "Apart from that, my only question is when do we start?"

 

Now that he'd made his decisions, he was itching to go out on the training field.

[Matalina]

Talyn smiled at the lad's eagerness to start. "We will start tomorrow. First you need to learn to not drip over your sword." Talyn helped Maldrin strap the weapons to himself. "Don't take them off the rest of the day, actually, the only time I want to see them off of you is when you are sleeping or when you are in the meal hall eating out of properness or when nature requires you to remove them."

 

Talyn opened the armory door and continued talking. "You must learn to be one with your weapon, we will work on that far longer than it will take you to learn how to use it." Talyn headed for the barracks. "I will see you bright and early in the morning. Just at dawn should do it."

 

OOC: After this is approved we can start the next lesson. I will send you a PM with what it is.

 

Talyn