Training Starts * Shawn*

[zie]

Kalush stood looking at the warder’s yard, she was still not sure why she trusted Daemon but there was some thing about him that seemed more like her mother. Shaking her head she looked down at the note in her hand again, she was given this note as soon as she started to leave her rooms this morning. It was a simple note that told her she was to find Anwashawn Ellasser in the armory, after getting lost twice she finally just asked one of the stone faced warders where the armory was and had a finger pointed in that direction while he barked orders at several boys.

 

She now stood in front of the armory and almost dreaded going in side to see who was going to be in charge of her life for the next several years, if not longer. Taking a calming breath she walked in the door and looked around, there were weapons every where as well as armor. She had never seen so much weaponry in her life, well she was only 16 turns but still, hearing a noise she headed back towards the back searching out who was back there. Coming around a small corner she was not surprised to see a full area that was set up for blacksmiths to work on the weapons and armor. What she had not been expecting was to find Shawn standing there looking over a weapon, this was just her luck to run in to him again so soon after giving him a back eye. Moving to where he could see her she fidgeted for a moment but when he raised an eye brow at her she flushed.

 

“I was sent here looking for Anwashawn Ellasser, do you happen to know him or where I can find him? I was told that he is to be my Mentor and see to my training.â€

 

She was not sure what the look on his face meant, he was ether trying hard not to laugh or he wanted to kill some thing and she was the closest living thing he could get his hands on. She took a hasty step back and narrowly missed putting her hand in the hot coals that were blanketed from the night before.

[Asfaloth]

Shawn had worked the overnight shift on the wall, getting replaced just before dawn. By all rights he should be exhausted. He should be returning to his room to sleep, but he didn't. He had plans today to work in the forge, his workload was really piling up. He went to the mess hall for some early breakfast, thankful as always that they were open at all hours to serve the Tower Guards. The benefit to coming in now was that he would miss the rush and crowds that occurred during the more typical breakfast hour.

 

So it was that he was through the line quickly and on his way out when Ginae came in. She stopped him to ask if he would be working in the armory again today. When he replied in the affirmative, afraid she might try to pull him away from his work for some other task, she merely smiled and said that was what she thought then walked away. That was weird Shawn thought, but shrugged it off as one of those strange idiosyncrasies of hers that he didn't understand and went on his way, eager to get to work.

 

He was working on an axe blade when the girl from the day before showed up, standing nervously off to one side and trying to catch his eye. What did she want now? Was it not bad enough that she'd given him a black eye for trying to help her yesterday, now she had to come and disturb him at his work? What was wrong with the girl? There were plenty of guards she could talk to if she needed help, why did she have to seek him out?

 

"I was sent here looking for Anwashawn Ellasser, do you happen to know him or where I can find him? I was told that he is to be my Mentor and see to my training."

 

Oh my! So this is what Ginae had been smirking about at beakfast. Surely she had heard about what happened yesterday, this must be her idea of a joke. Well, he could have some fun with this too. "Anwashawn Ellasser, huh? Yeah, I know him. As to where you can find him? Tell you what, go on back into the armory and have a look at the weapons we have while I go look for him. I'll warn you though, the man is incredibly strict. I sure wouldn't want him for a mentor. He'll probably flay you alive for being late even if he didn't even know he was meeting with you. I'll try to break it to him easy that he has a new student, but no promises."

 

Shawn watched as she turned back for the armory with a look of trepidation on her face and some nervousness in her steps. He was perhaps being a touch cruel but hopefully the girl would prove to have a sense of humor. As soon as she left the room he took of his apron and pulled his shirt on then went out the back door. He made his way back to the front of the armory and peeked in to see where the girl was. Oh good, she had her back turned to the door, this would be fun.

 

Walking in he snuck up behind her, a few feet back in remembrance of their first meeting, he yelled out, "You lazy ingrate! How dare you show up late for your first appointment with your mentor!" By now she had turned around so Shawn just stood there with a big grin on his face to let her know he'd just been having fun.

[zie]

Just Great now she was going to have to deal with some old man who would snap at her even if she had reason for being late. Walking back in to the armory she started to look at several of the weapons that were there, none of them matched up with her mother’s swords, she growled about that for a moment. Aran still had her swords and it did not seem like he would ever give them back to her. She picked up one of the daggers and was looking at it when some one yelled at her form behind and scared her half to death.

 

â€You lazy ingrate! How dare you show up late for your first appointment with your mentor?"

 

Kalush spun around and looked at Shawn, she could tell by his smile that he was just having fun with her but it still made her want to scowl at him. While she was standing there trying to get her heart beat under control several things started to make sense, Aran’s coughing fit when she was met with the Mistress of Training and some of the strange looks she had been given while she was searching for her mentor. This was just too much, now some one she had given a black eye too was going to be the one who trained her for the next several years. He was going to have a long time to get back at her for what she had done; slowly she looked away from him and scuffed her boot on the floor.

 

“I guess now would be a good time to apologies for the back eye,â€

 

She looked up at him and chewed on her lip, he could either accept her apology or not that she had no control over but she had to try and make amends. Putting the dagger down she stood there and waited to see what was next one the list of things she was going to be doing. Meet the Mentor had gone well, or so she hopped, he still had yet to say any thing to her and that was making her nervous.

[Asfaloth]

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. From his previous interaction with her he never would have expected such a humble response. So, despite all of her pride, she could admit her mistakes. This was a very good thing indeed if he would be spending so much time with her over the next few years. As a follower of the Path of Water it was important to Shawn that he always know his weaknesses as well as his strengths. He recognized that there would always be someone better than him but recognizing his faults allowed him to focus his training to improve them and kept him from getting in over his head. Knowing faults was one thing but being able to admit mistakes was equally important and Shawn had little patience indeed for anyone who tried to cover their mistakes with half-truths or lies. She had owned up to her mistake and held her temper when he'd had his little fun at her expense, both very good signs. It seemed that they would get along well enough after all.

 

"Apology accepted. Although in truth, it was never the black eye that bothered me. That could be forgiven since it was done in the heat of the moment under the mass confusion of the brawl you'd started. What bothered me was your reaction after learning we were there to help you."

 

Shawn paused to let that sink in and then continued, "But I'm willing to put the past behind us and move on if you are?" A nod of confirmation was all he'd expected and all he got, "Good! Now, shall we begin? I know your mother had begun teaching you how to use those swords you carried so I'm assuming she taught you how to care for them as well?"

 

"Excellent. Well, since you don't have those anymore why don't you take a look around and choose the weapons you'd like to focus on. Before I see you promoted to Tower Guard you'll have to prove your competence in every weapon here, but we'll start with up to three that you'd like to focus your energies on for the time being."

[zie]

The amount of weapons to choose from made her smile, they had every thing here and that was to be expected since each person had their own style and weapon choice. Slowly she started looking around the different swords, Axes were a bit much for her since she did not have the strength to wield them at this point. Daggers were good to have but should not be a main weapon since it would mean very close combat. There were some weapons there that she did not even know what they were called, as she continued to move around the room looking she realized it was going to be hard to choose.

 

" I am use to working with two weapons, I would like to continue to learn with two but maybe some thing else along with swords and daggers."

 

She took her time testing the feel of each weapon, some of them felt good while others were not balanced well enough for her to be able to use them properly. It took her several minutes to choose two swords, she wouldn't have had top pick two daggers if Aran had not kept all of her weapons. Grumbling a little over that she moved on to look over all the daggers that were lying on a table, she checked the balance on several before choosing two that fit her hands just like her old ones. By the time she had almost come full circle around the room she moved a few weapons and found two that she really liked, they were black and looked like a dagger but the main point was around instead of a flat blade. It took her a moment to remember what they were called, sais, they felt very comfortable in her hands and she twirled them around a little while she turned to look at Shawn.

 

" Swords are the one weapon that I want to master the most, since I know you will train me in all of them Sais and daggers are my second and third choice to become best at."

 

With out really thinking about it she picked up a cleaning cloth and started to care for the weapons while waiting for him to tell her what was next for them to do today. The swords she would do later when she was back in her room since it would take more time, but as she worked on one of the daggers she noticed a flaw.

 

"Shawn? what do we do if we find a blade that is flawed?"

 

She handed him the dagger, the blade had stress fractures on the back side of the blade that would make it weak and possibly shatter if it was hit just right. Frowning she looked back at the table with all the daggers on it and picked up one that was close to what she wanted from the other one. Shawn was standing there looking at her as if she had two heads, Kalush turned around with her second choice in daggers and looked up. Seeing the look on his face she said the first thing that came to her.

 

"What???"

 

* ooc Skipping Shawns missing post and posting my other one so we can continue**

[zie]

Not sure how to take his compliment she smiled and then followed him out of the armory, stretching as they walked she had a feeling that the day was far from over and that Shawn was going to require that she do a long work out to get in to shape. But first it seemed that he wanted her to go though all the forms that she knew, she did as he asked and walked though each one, stopping when he told her too and not complaining at all when he corrected what she was doing. Her mother had told her that she had changed the original forms, to make them her own so to her it made sense that they might seem wrong to others. Still she did was he said and change how she did them, it was strange for a few tries but she adapted to the original style.

 

"You will run twenty laps around this practice arena. This will be followed by one hundred pushups. This will be followed by another twenty more laps and one hundred sit ups. Then its back to the running-twenty laps then one hundred pull ups on that tree branch. Twenty more laps and then practice your forms. Finish up with an additional twenty laps and then you'll be free to get breakfast. If you're unable to do the assigned number of pushups, sit ups, or pull ups, then do as many as you can and do your best to increase that amount daily until you can do the asigned amount."

 

what he wanted was a bit more than what she did already but it would not take her long to get use to the added running. She was in good shape but working harder never fazed her, she always tried to improve on what she was doing. It had to be something her mother had said or taught her while they were together. She was still unsure of what had happened to her mother but she could not focus on that yet, she needed time to train and become the warrior needed to find her mother. Her thought were pulled back to what was going on when Shawn spoke again.

 

"Now, if you think that's rough you're free to join me for my workout. I assure you though that it will be at least four times as much except its on the uneven, hilly ground of the Ogier grove instead of this flat level training arena, and also includes swimming. Now, normally you can leave your weapons in your room until after breakfast but since you have them with you today you'll have to do it with them on you. Now hop to."

 

It did not even phase her when he told her she would have to work the day with her weapons on her, not like she had not done that for her mother. The added weight help to get you ready for when you were wearing them all the time and fighting. Smiling at his hop to it comment she started out her run, picking her pace so that she would be able to complete them quickly but not to where it would tire her out in the first or second set of laps. She could see Shawn watching her go though all the laps and then on to the sit ups, part way though he left and she continued. By the time she finished the hundred sit ups her stomach was burning a little but she shrugged it off and started her second set of laps. This gave her muscles time to relax and eased the burning that she was feeling from earlier, grinning she finished the second set.

 

Now it was time to do the push ups, she knew that this would help strengthen her arms and chest so that she could handle a battle. Battle, such a strange thing to think about at that time but she felt that in order to find her mother she would be going to battle. The push up were a little harder for her but she managed to all of them done, on a few occasions she had to stop for a moment before completing the task. Then she was up and running again, more laps, allowing her arms to swing free as she ran. Some times just doing that was enough to get the strength back in them before you had to keep working. When the last lap was done she made her way over to the tree branch, looking up at it she sighed, this was going to strain her some. Almost all of the push ups were completed when she finally stopped, it made her growl because she wanted to be able to do all of them but ending at seventy five was not to bad she figured when she had not done to many of those before.

 

Again she was off and doing her laps, another twenty to add to the ones that she had already done that day. Now she was starting to feel the work out and it was causing her to sweat, most would have complained but she reveled in her ability to feel the strain in her body. A huge grin split her face as she started working on the forms again, using the versions that Shawn had shown her along with the basic ones that she already knew. She spent a little more time doing the forms than what Shawn had told her but she knew that she needed the extra practice. Once she was done she picked a towel and dried off before heading to get breakfast, she picked up her food and went to sit down to eat. As she sat there she wondered what the rest of the day would bring.