Where'd the Light Go--ATTN Jordan

[Asfaloth]

Shawn was on his way to breakfast after his morning workout when Ginae caught him and brought him into her office. It seemed there was a new trainee in the Yards that had arrived yesterday and it was now his task to train the lad until he was ready to become a Tower Guard. Shawn thanked Ginae for the oppurtunity to mentor an up and coming Guard and assured her the trust she had placed in him would not be in vain. He could tell from the look on her face that that was not a reaction she was used to getting. It seemed that most of the Guards looked on working with trainees as a waste of their time. What a shame.

 

When he left Ginae's office he continued on to the mess hall for breakfast. While getting his food he spotted a trainee he'd seen around the Yards before and asked him to deliver a note to Jordan. It was clear the trainee didn't know the new kid but that didn't stop him from obeying, and he was off with the letter Shawn had written.

 

The letter was a simple affair reading, "Jordan, Welcome to the Yards! Your training has been placed in my hands. Meet me outside the armory at noon.--Anwashawn Ellasser-Tower Guard"

 

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Having arranged all he would need for the boy's first lesson Shawn spent the time while he waited reminiscing over his first day of training. He had impressed Corin with his knowledge of weapons but found that his physical fitness was not up to par, was not even as good as he had thought it would be. It would be interesting to see how the new recruit compared to his own beginnings.

[Jordan Herur]

Jordan was walking around the warders yard looking around. He had actually arrived in the city last night and had only just been into the yard. As far as he was concerned food and sleep to priority when you were still traveling. He had sold a few swords on his way to Tar Valon so he had enough money for an inn. Nothing too fancy just a nice clean inn called "The Fat Pig", needless to say they had very good bacon there. Finding the Warders Yard was easy enough everyone in the city knew where it was, except for other outlanders of course. Besides carrying a couple swords pretty much told everyone that he was either very eager hopeful trainee or just really crazy so he was given directions quickly and told the fastest routes. Upon arriving enough people had known I was near that the gaurds had already been given orders to let me through. As he was walking he saw a trainee walking up to other random trainees asking if their name was Jordan. Eventually he made his way to me asking, "Are you Jordan?" I replied with a blank, "Last time I checked". "good I have been looking for you, here is a letter from Anwashawn Ellasser, he told me to give it to you" handing the letter over to Jordan he promptly ran off in the other direction. Jordan opened up the letter and read its contents..."In short I go to the armory at noon, well thats a bit off from now but I have nothing better to do might as well wait around there and take a nap or something to pass the time.

[Asfaloth]

Shawn was losing his patience. He'd already planned out his first meeting with his first trainee and had everything he needed set up. Now all he was missing was the trainee. He'd been very clear in his note about the time and location for this meeting and now the trainee hadn't even bothered to show up. He was going to have a word with Ginae about this one. First day at the Yards most trainees were if anything overeager to please but this one seemed to already be falling short.

 

He was stalking around the armory on the lookout for any trainee he hadn't seen before when he finally found one sleeping under a nearby tree. Well, maybe the kid wasn't as late as Shawn had thought. But maybe he was just as lazy. Then again, maybe he was just tired after a long journey.

 

Amending his plans slightly Shawn knelt down beside the boy. He ever so carefully unbuckled the straps and removed the kid's swords. Careful not to make any noise he laid the swords out of arm's reach on the other side of the tree. Then he stood up and drew the his katana from his hip.

 

Holding the edge no more than three inches from the boy's throat he cleared his own loudly. Seeing the boy wake he spoke to his new charge for the first time. "You've just learned three very important lessons. First, never fall asleep in an unknown environ. Two, never let your swords be taken from you. And three, never show up late to ameeting with your mentor."

 

OOC: Sorry if it seems harsh, I just decided to have a little fun with Jordan.

[Jordan Herur]

Jordan woke to a loud voice and a sword not far from his throat. He noticed his swords were taken away too. He looked sleepily at the man towering over him, "well first off you are only 2/3 right, I wasn't late I was early. Also since when did a tower gaurd take to pulling a sword on an unarmed person, another thing I noticed is that when people get too used to their surroundings they tend to not notice certain things in the environment, like perhaps that brick in the tree branches right above your head and that it would fall with a kick to the tree. No offense intended but for a trainee such as myself who hasn't used a sword in a fight yet can't see much of a loss in lossing the swords he never used, so I ask you this, when do we start?"

Maybe I went a little too far he thought. Didn't need to act so high and mighty to my bloody mentor! But whats done is done, that can't be changed now.

 

OOC: I can be a little snappy myself

[Asfaloth]

Well, the kid had guts, Shawn gave him that. He also had a smart mouth and a bad attitude. Very well, training in the Yards had a way of forging such attitudes into men the Tower could trust to follow orders without question. It would be Shawn's job to break Jordan of his non-compliant attitude without quite breaking all of his spirit. This would mean walking a tight line between punishment and mercy.

 

"Correction. You were late because you failed to present yourself to me at noon as specified. Furthermore, from now on, when you meet with me, if you're not early you're late. Now get up, gather your stuff, and follow me."

 

Shawn walked back to the armory, not even bothering to glance behind at the boy. If he couldn't follow a simple command from his mentor this would be his last day in the Yards. Standing in front of the armory he heard Jordan walk up behind him and he opened the door.

 

"I see your brought your own weapons with you. Very well, we can begin your training with those, but before you can call yourself a Tower Guard you will be proficient in the use of every weapon in the armory. If you'd like to concentrate your studies on any beyond the two you have now's the time to decide. Take your time and look around then join me over there. Take all the time you need but this time, come with the humility to learn what I have to teach."

 

After pointing out the tree Shawn left the boy and went to wait for him, hopeful that their training could begin again on a better note.

[Jordan Herur]

Well Jordan got what he deserved. But it seemed his mentor can give as much as he could...if not a little more. Though being told to look in the armory for a weapon wasn't all that bad either. To become good at using speciall swords on must first be good at using a regular sword. But finding a "regular sword" didn't prove as easy as origionally thought. The armory was layered with many types of weapons. Looking past some of the rows of whips, shields, and spears he noticed an iron katana. "Can't get much plainer than this I guess"

Grabbing the katana he started walking to the tree where his mentor was. "I have choosen a weapon like instructed sir, and sorry for earlier. As you have noticed I can be quite arrogant at times, please forgive my ignorance" Jordan said in his most solid serious voice he could muster.

[Asfaloth]

Ah, so the boy could admit his mistakes huh? Good!

 

"Forgiven. But remember that no matter who you may have been before you came here, or how important, here you are nothing more than another trainee, and a new one at that. Here at the Warders Yard all that matter is your ability to protect Aes Sedai. At this early stage in your training everyone you meet is better than you and you would do well to remember it. I say this not to threaten or intimidate you but merely to help you come to grips with your current place in the world, as its only when you've done that that you can improve upon it."

 

Shawn then settled back against the tree. "Now then, do you know anything of how to care for the waepons you carry?" Seeing the boy nod Shawn cut him off before he could voice his thoughts, and pointed to the ground in front of him. "Good. Sit there and demonstrate while we talk. I want you to tell me any weapons history you have. What do you know about the way their made? Have you had any training up to now? I need to know what you know so we don't waste time reviewing that which you've already learned."

 

OOC: This'd be a good oppurtunity for you to share your history as well if you want.

[Jordan Herur]

Jordan took the spot opposite of his mentor and sat down as instructed. "People usually sharpen their swords with rocks and such, I find this little thing much better," he said as he took what looked like a 2 5inch rectangles connected together with a hinge long ways. "I guess you can call this a multi-purpose tool, working as a weaponsmith you can't just sell a weapon without it looking its best possible. So I made this, it has 4 different functions; 2 grades of sharpening to use, a polish end, and cloth side for wiping it clean" Taking his swords he went to work after his explaination. "Don't think of it as bragging, its just statments of purpose. Though I must already be catagorized in your head. As for any prior weapon skills I have none, I'd rather think and be unarmed then do something stupid with sharp weapons. Sure I can hold a sword and all, but as for any forms or stances I am but a child. As for myself I came from an ok family, I'll admit I was spoiled often and talk when I shouldn't as you might have noticed. Also wether or not it be smart to tell you, I can be inconsistant from time to time, if not just to mix things up. And the way I do things are often...different than most would do things. I happen to be a little good at confusing people, for fun or for need. Other than that I don't have much to say, as you said before it doesn't matter who I was. All I know is everything has a purpose and will have 1 life worth giving your own for...I will find it eventually"

[Asfaloth]

"A blank slate huh? Well, sounds fine to me. As a former blacksmith I too grew up knowing more about how to make weapons than how to use them. What do you call that tool you used anyway? Think you can get me one too?"

 

Standing and beckoning for Jordan to follow, Shawn stepped out into the middle of the Yard. "Before we begin your training I need to see what I've got to work with. Some come here with an instinct that serves them well. Others have an instinct that would in the end make things harder on them and they need to be retaught the right way to do things."

 

Shawn picked up a pair of practice lathes and tossed one to Jordan. "Now, show me what you think it takes to weild a sword. Start by showing me how you think you'd hold a sword."

 

OOC: Demonstrate Jordan's idea of a proper stance and explain as you go.

[Jordan Herur]

Jordan caught the lathe* tossed to him. "well the tool is called 'the finisher', strait down to its purpose of finishing weapons. And I guess I could make one for you... though I am not one to give many things for free, but back to the topic at hand i guess"

Jordan took the lathe firmly into his right hand. And placed his feet shoulder width apart and his left foot slightly ahead of the other. "As far as I know this is what I do, keeping feet shoulders width apart for balance, left foot slightly ahead of the other so that a quick and powerful step can be taken, oh and holding the sword firmly so that it isn't knocked out of your hand easily. Though I'm assuming there are other stances for other purposes and even some basic ones better than mine"

Jordan said all this with a slight smile on his face. He had always like surprises and finding out something you don't know was a form of surprise after all. Though people trying to pull a nasty surprise on him latter found that they were in his surprise before hand. Which always made surprises that much more fun. So far Jordans best plan had taken over 3 months, and in that time he had 2 people married, 1 person hated by the town for stealing, though he eventually left, and got the pie that the whole 3 month plan was for. They never see it coming until you show them. "Never show all the cards," Jordan said under his breath.

 

*OOC not sure about the spelling

[Asfaloth]

"That's a good start. It seems you have paid some attention to those to whom you've sold your weapons. However, there are a few things you need to change. Small things, but they'll make a large difference."

 

Shawn showed his student how to stand correctly then made him demonstrate his competency by making him run a short distance and back with the lathe in hand, returning to the correct fighting stance anytime Shawn yelled the command. They repeated this exercise until Shawn knew with confidence that the lesson was learned. He knew Jordan was getting tired, and perhaps even bored by the repetition but it was important, and he knew that eventually the boy would see that as well.

 

"Good, now onto forms. There are twelve beginner sword forms you will learn today. Not that I expect you to master them in a day. On the contrary, we will be working together constantly until you do. Now, pay attention and follow closely my every move."

 

Shawn demonstrated each of the twelve slowly and precisely, recalling again the day Corin did the same for him. After the demonstration he had Jordan repeat the forms several times, correcting him as he went. "Well, they're not perfect, but they're good enough that I know you won't practice incorrectly. Are you ready to move on?"

 

"Good answer. You should have seen by now the importance of stamina, endurance, and strength in the life of a Tower Guard. You, my boy, are sadly lacking in all three. It is my job to change that if you're to have any hope of becoming a Tower Guard. To accomplish this goal you will follow a specific fitness regimine each day throughout your time here. I feel I can trust you to obey me in this but trust me, if you ever fail to do your exercises I will find out. If that happens your entire fitness routine will be doubled and I'll be forced to stand watch over you to ensure you do it. You don't want that to happen.

 

"Now, the exercise routine. You will start off by running fifteen laps around the practice yard. This will be followed by 100 pushups. Run another ten yards and follow that up with 500 situps. Ten more laps and fifty pullups on that tree branch. After all that, finish it up with another fifteen laps and you can call it quits. You need to do this every morning before breakfast, whether we plan to meet that day or not. Now, hop to."

 

Shawn stayed long enough to watch the boy get started and then left him to continue on his own.

 

OOC: go through any of the forms you want to and then end with the workout. Be sure to include this routine in any and every rp from this point through the end of your training. After one more post from you this will be done and we'll look into your next rp after that.

[Jordan Herur]

Doing what he was told was easy enough for Jordan. Even if it did seem slow or tedious, he did it with as much effort as he could. The forms were easy enough to understand too. Folding the Fan is all but impossible for all his swords but the new katana. As for being told about lacking in Stamina, Endurance, and Strength; that was all true as much as he hated to admit it. He would need to get much stronger if he wanted to put some of his plans to use. As for his new work schedule, he also had no complaints. He even planed on doing everything with his swords on. It would be hell but it would be well worth the effort latter.

 

When shawn left he began his exercises like instructed. Then some really fun plans hit him. He just came up with some new sword designs. He didn't want that coming out too early but it would be hard to hide. Making the edge will have to be the hardest. His other plan was a bit more stupid. You can only learn so much by being told what to do so it is sometimes better to do the real thing. So why not get some sparring matches with other trainees going occasionally. He might lose, get in a little trouble, or make some people hate him but its all for the purpose for getting better. Though he could go about it a bit better, the plan involves a mask and to a unsuspecting person he might look like some demon or freak. but that ensures they will be angry enough to spar with him.

 

Surprisingly by the time he was finished with the plans he was also done with execises. Which rreminded him he was hungry too. so off Jorden went to the mess hall to find some food to eat.

 

OOC: wow look at that my first RP done, and I actually pressed the enter button in my post. :D