Arrival

Arrival [Attn: MoT/open]:

http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,31600.0.html - Complete

Hey, hope you have a good time with whatever that is!

Arath smirked as his blade impacted with Jasine´s head. He spent a lot of his time against the younger boy, and he could see clear as day the crush he had on the Mistress of Trainees. He had advised his friend from his first day at the Yards not to think about a relationship with her, but obviously he was ignored. His smirk was the only answer to Jasine´s words and they continued. Finally, they finished their sparring session, and he was in much better shape then the other trainee. Jasine was probably his best friend, not only in the Yards, but out of them as well. However, he could never help but feel a surge of dark glee every time he beat the Andoran. If they had never joined the Warders, then there was no way he would ever be worth even the laces on Jasine´s boots.

He clasped arms with his friend, feeling guilt at his feelings for the thousandth time. He could beat Jasine, but Arath had been in the Yards for a year while Jasine had been there a few weeks. He nodded goodbye to the younger boy but couldn´t help but feel curious about this Master Jesse. Jasine had a very infectious personality, and Arath couldn´t help but feel protective of his friend. Of course, Arath didn´t think that this Master Jesse would do anything untoward, but he was curious about what Jasine was learning.

Following Jasine´s somewhat zig-zaggy path, Arath found the class. The ko´di was a technique that he had been wanting to learn for a while. He had spent a long time debating the merits of the Spring and the Void, but after a while in the Yards, he decided that he couldn´t follow the Spring. Arath fought fast, relying completely on speed. In battle, his feelings caused him to hesitate, and he couldn´t afford to hesitate. Wrapping himself in his emotions as the Spring suggested would be impossible. He had been looking to learn the Void for a while, and this was a perfect coincidence.

He listened to Perivar´s story, as well as Jasine´s (which he had heard before) before interrupting the two boys´ conversation to say his own story. "I am Arath Talavin. I´ve been here in the Yards for about a year, but I originally came from Caemlyn. I lived in the city for a while. I had always wanted to become a warrior, and so I came here." Arath knew that he wasn´t offering much information about himself, but he didn´t like people knowing about his past of poverty and humiliation. He knew that both of the boys in front of him grew up with money. Perhaps not rich, but definitely not poor. One thing that he had learned in the Yards was that while some people gave long life stories, many chose not to. And generally no one questioned him further.

OOC: Here´s my introduction, don´t talk to me because I´m not gonna post again for a few days. It´s not great but I´m rushed.

Count me in =)

Hey so, I'm getting back late saturday from Nicaragua, and I'd love to do this, but it might be posted technically on sunday.

“I am sorry Arath, but there will be no lolling about for you. Your last task is 100 laps around the yard. See me when your done, and you best be quick so you can be in bed before first light.”

Light, one hundred laps? Around the Yards? Arath had a feeling that he was going to be hurting very much, very soon. Still, he had not forgotten that this woman had given him a chance to fulfill his dreams. He had wanted to be a great warrior as long as he could remember, and finally he had a chance to prove himself. He could do a physical challenge, easy... hopefully.

Arath began running his one hundred laps around the yards, focused only on his goal. He concentrated only on his breathing, keeping it steady. Also, he synchronized the beat of his feet with the beating of his heart. Beat. Beat. Beat. One lap passed, then another, then another. Soon enough, he was at twenty laps. Arath was feeling alright, he had run further distances before. All he had to do was concentrate only on his breathing, and the beating of his heart. Step, step, step. One foot, then the next, one foot, then the next.

On lap number thirty eight, Arath started to feel it: the slow burning in his chest. It was alright though, Arath was not a novice when it came to running, and he appreciated the small burn, feeling the endorphines that accompanied it. Soon enough he passed lap number forty five, and then fifty, and the burn had spread to his abs, and his legs. At lap sixty, his breathing quickened, and he was no longer breathing through his nose. By lap seventy, his heartbeat had sped up, becoming more rapid than his foot steps. By lap eighty, Arath was considering stopping and pretending like he had finished twenty laps.

Arath shook the thought out of his mind and continued onto laps eighty one and eighty two. Arath was panting by lap ninety, and his body was screaming at him to stop. He pulled through, however, and it was not until lap ninety eight that he collapsed. Tears prickled at Arath's eyes, he lay on the ground, panting and his heart beat racing. Every inch of his body was in pain, the once pleasant burning had grown into an inferno, raging and attacking his senses.

He couldn't help but feel desperation as he panted on the ground, defeated. He had blown his one chance to prove himself, his one chance to fulfill his dream. Arath knew that there was no way someone like him would be able to become a warrior, let alone a great warrior, he should never have pursued his futile dream this far.

When he looked back on that one moment, Arath would always think it funny that it was not his dream that pushed him to go further. Arath had landed outside of someone's room, and he could hear the two of them telling jokes. Their laughing... in Arath's mind it morphed from the light hearted laughing of two men telling jokes. That laughing reminded him of everything he experienced in his past. How often had he been in this position? How often had someone knocked him down and stood over him, laughing at his weakness? Arath refused to be weak, he refused to let anyone ever laugh at him again.

With this new resolve, Arath pushed through his pain, his exhaustion and his tremors, and trudged ahead. After what seemed like an eternity, Arath completed his hundredth lap. He couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of satisfaction, he had just pushed past his physical limitations. Feeling like he could conquer any challenge, Arath knocked on the Mistress of Trainee's door for the second time that day.

Hey! I'd be more than willing to RP with you :) Unfortunately until the 12th I'm not gonna have much time to RP, but if you wanna do something with me after I get back that would be awesome.

I'll be back saturday the 12th. Oh, and I'm lurking, so you won't want to do that.

What! Cleansing Saidin! Crap, there goes that character idea...

Oh, hey. I forgot that you left, so absorbed in my own trip :P .

Lol, no prob at all! Can't wait to RP with you!

"To answer your question young Arath, your training has already begun. It began the moment your name was signed into my book and will not end until you are the responsibility of a sister or a member of the tower guard… but even then you must remember to be open to learning because none of us can ever know all that there is to know.”

Open to learning? That was certainly not a problem, Arath was willing to do whatever it took to learn what she was willing to teach. Arath was focusing on memorizing the path, for he had always been bad with directions. He nodded to show the Mistress that he understood her when she showed him the barracks and the kitchens, taking special notice of the last one. Arath made a mental note to remember to bring a towel to the showers, as he saw a man dripping wet, his trowsers wrapped around his waist.

Finally, Thera led him to the training grounds, and was amazed at what he saw. Arath had never seen a sword before unless it was sheathed on someone's hip, and never had he seen a genuine sword fight. Here, there were countless men and women fighting accompanied by the ringing of blades (or clacking if they were using lathes). He was so entranced by the dances that he almost missed his superior trying to call him.

"Come on boy, you’ll be out here cursing my name soon enough.”

Cursing her? Arath doubted it, he would be kissing her feet for giving him a chance. As they walked, Thera stopped to praise some of the trainees, or offer advice, and Arath couldn't wait to start. He had worked hard his entire life but never did he have someone there to help him train. Arath could hardly keep his face from showing his excitement, but he managed and waited for the woman to tell him what to do next.

Hey! G'luck with getting your bio approved, can't wait to RP with you!

Hm yeah, backtracking would work I guess, but I think that would confuse me. ;D Maybe I can have it count but just take a bit to take effect? (this keyboard is so messed up)

Ummm... I have a few threads that I need to do before making WS five... can I not have mine count towards my WS? ;)

K, so, intro threads don{t count towards WS, this has been finalized?

Yes it{s a required RP but I think that Kyn is right about it being a freebie. Or at least, that was the impression I had. When Syl posted it as a WS increase I got confused.  :)

Hm, I{m not going to argue with you. Personally I think that even though it would be cool to blow through Trainee days, they´re there for a reason, and I want to take my time to develop my character realisticly. But like I said, I´m not gonna argue with you. ;)

Umm yeah... so that doesn´t really answer my question Eq  :D

Lol, at the pace I was going it would have taken five days to be fully raised, but since trainee to TG is two years IC, doing that leaves no room for all of the character development that was supposed to happen in your trainee years. I want to spread out in my trainee years, meet some sedai, some trainees, some guards, make some connections with people, make friends, make enemies, ext.

Talavin was ready to find a blade and stab himself through his heart when he heard the Mistress of Trainee´s laughter. Once again, he had thrown himself at someone´s feet and been laughed at. Everyone back in Caemlyn was right, there was no way that someone like him could possibly become a warrior! He was weak, puny, and she wouldn´t even take him as a stable hand. Even though he was ready to jump off of the White Tower, Arath had come in half expecting this, and did not feel suprised, but he still wished that she had accepted him. Just as Arath was about to turn around and walk out, Thera sat next to him and patted his back.

“ As much as your offer may tempt me…..there is no need to sell yourself into subservience just to train in the yards. I think we have room for one more. “ Room... for one more? Arath felt his heart beat at twice the pace  it normally did, and he nearly asked very stupidly who that one person was. This was it, she had accepted him! Even though he was short, and weak, and not nearly as experienced as a real Warder, this woman was going to train him. Arath swore that he would never forget what the Mistress did for him.

“One thing I will hold you to, is doing anything I say. You will do well if you train hard and try your best to follow the rules.” Arath nodded, and returned her smile weakly, still a bit stunned from her acceptance. “I will take you on a tour of the yards as soon as we finish here. What experience do you have with weapons? And are their any questions you want to ask me?”

"Ummm... I don´t have much experience with blades... other than swinging around sticks as a boy. But I have experience with fighting, I was... not the richest growing up, and so I´m used to working hard and fighting without a weapon. I´m in good shape physically, but I don´t know how good I´m supposed to be... Uhh... No, I don´t have any questions for you, except when do I start?"

I was just reading Syl´s progress, cuz I´m a lurker like that, and I just realized that I was under the impression that the Intro thread was required, but it dídn´t actually raise your WS. From what I remember of the offsite, it´s not that clear, so anyone know the deal about this? ???

Hey! I´m a newbie, but once I get home from Nicaragua (in three weeks) I´ll be more than willing to RP with you lots =) Mucho gusto! And welcome back!

“So you want to be a Tower Guard do you? Not a warder?" Her voice sounded amused, yet at the same time almost... approving. “It is well for you that you do not dream too high, well..we are always in need of another good sword.” Arath watched, trying not to stare, as the woman poured herself a glass of water. His throat was parched, but he was not brave enough to ask for a glass himself.

“So tell me…Arath was it?" He nodded. “Why do you want to be a Tower Guard and what do you think you have to offer? As much as I would like to take in every stray that scratches at my door I simply cannot.” Hearing the bite in her words, Arath nearly flinched back and left the room, but he knew that this was his last chance, and he couldn´t blow it.

"I... I can´t say that I am a master of the blade... and I know that I´m not the strongest man... or the tallest..." Arath cut himself off, knowing that he wasn´t going in a good direction. "But, I´ll work harder than any other man in your Yards," Arath declared. "I´ll work twice as hard... and I´ll do whatever you say. I´ll muck out the stables and wash the dishes as long as you train me." Arath couldn´t help but bite his lip nervously as he waited for the Mistress´ reply.

Lol! Hey everyone, I'm back for about five minutes. I miss you all *but most of all I miss english XD* I'll be back for longer on Friday, so I'll tell you the story then Selene.