Exploring the Yard with swords. [attn: Samuel/Cheiron]

[Felix]

Felix Kal'Sarak

After a long hour of buffing polished metal and scraping mud from boots in the armory Felix stood up and stretched to the ceiling. A thought passed through his mind as he groanedIf I was an Ogier I could reach that ceiling. With a jump the young man in his uniform of black scraped the ceiling with his fingers. With a chuckle Felix leaned down and picked up the last breast plate to put up and walked over to put it on its stand. After placing it away he strolled out of the large room that held all of the polished armor and weapons of war and decided to talk a walk for his free period before his next class.

Without a second thought he walked aimlessly through the areas of the tower that he was allowed to enter. After a short while Felix arrived out side in the Warder Yards, taking in the sites he paused to see the area that reminded him so much of home. The sky was cloudy but no rain had fallen in hours. Students of all forms sparred and practiced with weapons but the most prevalent were the Drin'far'ji. Drin'far'ji oh how lucky you are, I wish I could have a life of weapons instead I have to learn about Saiden. With one more glace at the students practicing he walked along the cobbled path to a lone tall Drin'far'ji with short light brown hair and asked "Do you know of anyone who could teach me the basics of how to use a sword? I don't know much I just got a sword from my grandfather before I came to the tower but I never was taught how to use it properly."

[Cheiron]

Sam Falchin

Staring at the Horizon usually got people sent to the stables or some other arbitrary job. Sam had learned that one personally in the Lion Guard. If you have time to stare out toward some random distant point, pondering life, you have time to ponder life while trying to scrape horse dung from the stables. As it was, no one had yet approached him on the cobbled path where he stood. With his sword at his hip and shield strapped to his back, Sam seemed just a lone sentinel, standing watch. In all honesty, he was on a free period in his schedule and trying to decide exactly what he wanted to be doing with his time. There was so much, he didn't know where to start. He hadn't been standing around very long though when his answer walked up behind him.

"Do you know of anyone who could teach me the basics of how to use a sword? I don't know much I just got a sword from my grandfather before I came to the tower but I never was taught how to use it properly."

Sam turned to face the man, about as tall as himself, and only a few years younger, by the looks of him. He still had vestiges of youth in his cheeks, which Sam had lost long ago. He offered a smile, as warm as he could make it. In the last few years of his time with the Lion Guard, he had been training new recruits with the sword himself. "A Drillmaster in the making, if I ever saw one," his direct commanding officer had once said.

"I'd be happy to teach you myself," Sam responded. "If you follow me, we can get a couple of lathes to practice with. If you have never handled a sword before, you might be unused to the balance, and cause yourself some harm."

Sam started off in the direction that the Soldier had likely just come from.

"Tell me a little bit about yourself. I don't need a long-winded life story, mind. Just enough to know what I'm dealing with."

Sam had taught almost ever kind of person, from ones who had never done a single bit of honest, hard work in their lives; to the ones who knew nothing, but the loamy soil between their toes. It gave a good indication of just how much of his time he would be investing in teaching them how to wield a sword, even though he was nowhere close to a master, at least his tutelage was as good a stepping stone as any.

[Felix]

Felix Kal'Sarak

"I'd be happy to teach you myself," the young Drin'far'ji responded. "If you follow me, we can get a couple of lathes to practice with. If you have never handled a sword before, you might be unused to the balance, and cause yourself some harm." The Drin'far'ji started walking towards Felix, turning to see the direction the Drin'far'ji was walking, Felix noticed the rack of Lathes lining the wall he had walked through to reach the Warder Yards. The Drin talked as he walked towards the lathes ."Tell me a little bit about yourself. I don't need a long-winded life story, mind. Just enough to know what I'm dealing with." He followed the plainly Andorian man to the rack and examined the row of practice swords.

With a look at the Andorian he responded "I have the basics down, that much I learned from my father before coming to the Tower. He wanted to make sure I could defend myself against an attacker and use the sword my grandfather gave me without stabbing myself in the foot." Felix picked up two of the longer lathes, examining the swords for weight and handle length, he studied them for a minute.

Continuing "I know many of the basic Sword Forms and how to use them in combat, I have yet to master the basic forms but I have some skill. I also have the Ko'di down, the flame and void as you southerners call it.”

Felix set down one of the lathes and with the other gripped with both hands and drops into a guard stance with the sword in-front of him Arc of the Moon He swings the lathe at an imaginary opponent beginning at mid-body he swings the sword towards the neck and then returns to the guard stance. He then proceeded to swing the blade in a horizontal sweep in front of his body deflecting an imaginary sword thrust with the flat of the blade. The Branch in the Storm

With a last light flourish Felix dropped the sword into a low guard then said, “This lathe will do perfectly. It is just like my hand and a half sword. Would you like me to go through some of the forms to get more of a feel for my knowledge or would you like to spar to test me? Any way is ok to me, you are the teacher.” Relaxing from the guard stance Felix glanced toward the Drin'far'ji with a questioning look.

[Cheiron]

Unstrapping his sword and shield, and removing his coat, Sam listened carefully to Felix's recount.

Basics down, he says. I'll be the judge of that, Sam pondered, taking on the mindset he had while teaching the new whelps in the Lion Guard. So young, and yet so cynical. He was no Gaidin, and no Blademaster, but at least he did have the Basics down perfectly. Sam then procured a lathe with much the same weighting as his own hand-and-a-half and gave it a few experimental flourishes while Felix did the same.

Sam surveyed the yards, and strode over to a clear area where they would be able to swing their lathes without hitting anyone else nearby. The yards were rarely empty, yet Sam had no troubles finding a suitable position to begin Felix's tutelage of the Sword. Sam faced Felix, and lent on his lathe.

"I will begin your training by evaluating your forms. I want to go through each of the most basic forms. There is no good to be done by moving beyond those basics if you can not perform them to standard."

Sam set his eyes to meet Felix's. Whether it was to unnerve the slightly younger man wasn't exactly on his mind.

"I'm about to start rattling through sword forms, and I want to see you perform them. You say you have the basics down, I want to see you have the basics down."

Sam set his feet apart, both hands on the pommel of his lathe which was point down between his legs.

"I want to see Unfolding the Fan into Heron Wading in the Rushes," Sam barked. "Begin!"

[Felix]

Felix Kal'Sarak

Felix watched the Drin Sam make a few practice swings with his lathe. After Sam finished he walked to an empty spot of the yards, Felix followed close behind ready to show what he knew. When Felix stopped walking he quickly entered the void and fed all of his emotions into the flame in the center. He was centered, at one with his body, ready for whatever this Drin could throw at him.

Sam looked at Felix with a look meant to unnerve, it failed to even register in Felix's eyes when he was in Ko'di. Sam informed Felix he was going to be rattling off different forms and Felix was to complete the form to test his knowledge.

"I want to see Unfolding the Fan into Heron Wading in the Rushes," Sam barked. "Begin!"

He stepped in front of Sam and put one foot in front of his body. Felix brought the lathe to his side and drew the lathe as if it was in a sheathe in one motion. Unfolding the Fan He brought the brought to shoulder level and made a quick horizontal slash right to left across his body. He pivoted on his back foot. Heron Wading in the Rushes

Sam walked to the side of Felix and rapped him along the small of his back, and barked "Straighten your back, Again!" Sam backed up a few steps to give Felix room to swing the lathe.

Felix felt the pain register in his back but he steeled himself and straightened his back thinking, Maybe this was not the best idea!. He brought the lathe to his side and drew the lathe in one sinuous motion he immediately brought it to shoulder length and slashed across his body. He made sure not to bend or relax his back the entire time.

After Felix completed the forms he stood normally and looked for direction from the drin.

[Cheiron]

Sam had spent the last two years of his time in the Lion Guard before he had run away after finding out his brother had died watching new recruits stumble through the most basic forms. He had rapped and tapped shoulders, knees, and elbows. Standing there watching Felix was just another day of Drills for Sam, something he somewhat missed being able to do at the Grey Tower. He was just a Drin'Far'Ji, he didn't have a score of colleagues lined before him as he barked out sword forms. A smile crept onto his face, something he hadn't done for a long while, as he rounded Felix and tapped various joints, telling him to straighten up here or there.

When Felix had completed the forms a second time, he relaxed, and Sam mentioned casually, "I did not say, at ease, Soldier."

"You're definitely rusty, but the fact that you did do the forms, even if a bit sloppy, tells me you know something. However, this only proves you can perform two forms, there is still a lot more to do."

Sam stood again, feet shoulder width apart, lathe point down on the hard earth between them. The smile hadn't left his face, and he knew to most of the new recruits he had once worked with would have been unnerved seeing their Drillmaster smiling, because it usually meant they were in for a hard time. Sam knew that from personal experience.

"You know the forms, but can you tell me why you would never use Heron Wading in the Rushes in a real life combat situation?"

[Felix]

Felix Kal'Sarak

Felix stood at ease as he waited for instruction, he regretted it when Sam said "I did not say, at ease, Soldier."

Felix took his words after on his small amount of skill with pride. He did not know enough to be an expert with a sword by far but he had learned some from his father and grandfather. He would have been a soldier in the Shienarian army if he had not come to the Grey Tower. His ability to channel was not going to stand in his way to becoming a blade-master one day. If anything the ability had opened the door for the possibility. He could train with some of the greatest swordsman in the world.

The young soldier knew the look the Andorian gave him as he tested his knowledge. This would only be the beginning of a long day.

The Andorian asked a simple question that brought a light chuckle to Felix's lips. A question anyone with a half decent instructor would know in a heart beat.

"You would never use Heron Wading in the Rushes because it leaves you wide open for attack. The form is only taught to increase balance in the trainee." Felix tried to sound humble when he spoke the words but knew his face betrayed him.

"What is next Sir?" He asked with a slight turn of his head and a raised eyebrow.

[Cheiron]

As far as Sam was concerned, Felix was an overconfident welp. Sam usually had more time to beat that out of new recruits, but he doubted that his or Felix's timetables would overlap like it was at this point for Sam to continue personally overseeing Felix's sword technique. As it was, however, Felix did know the forms that Sam named, if a little stiff jointed, and sometimes higher or lower than should be expected. That they were of similar height made it easier for Sam to correct Felix's positions. Usually, the new recruits were nearly a head shorter than Sam was, and he often had to bend down to view the lathes at eye level.

Sam ignored the chuckle that pulled at Felix's lips as the other man responded to Sam's question. Instead, Sam moved a few paces away from Felix. When he turned back to face the other man, he took up a guard stance, with his right-hand dominant, since facing an opponent with a different handedness would throw off Felix's ability to accurately counter.

"We will start with you making three attempts using no more than two forms each time to tap my body with your lathe. After that, I will take the offensive, and you will attempt to block my advances."

Sam swung his lathe a few times before settling once again into The Kingfisher Watches the Sky. No matter whether Felix managed to make contact or not, Sam was merely judging the other man's ability to react and adapt. He knew that once they were finished here, both of them would likely have new bruises.

Him more so than myself, The thought forming and fading as he waited for Felix's first move.

[Felix]

Felix swung his lathe in a few practice swings to limber up his body for the coming spar. When he finished he lifted his eyes to watch Sam’s movements, he remembered his father drumming into his head always to keep your focus on your opponent, watch his body language.

Felix stood opposite Sam watching him drop into a defensive stance. "We will start with you making three attempts using no more than two forms each time to tap my body with your lathe. After that, I will take the offensive, and you will attempt to block my advances."

“Ok” Was the only reply on his lips, his mind was in the void and the flame held his emotions in check. He was ready.

Felix circled with Sam predatorily, he stalked in the stance The Leopard in High Grass he relaxed his body ready to respond or attack in a seconds notice, both hands gripped the hilt of his lathe. Felix rushed forward and slashed horizontally at Sam's thighs. The intent was to hurt his speed and mobility.

After the flurry of defense Felix backed away and fell into a middle guard stance The Ox Lowers His Horns, he unconsciously spread his feet for balance, he outstretched his front foot and put weight on his back foot. The sword was in his hands with the hilt close to his face and the blade angled down. He poised to strike at the Drin.

He moved forward and delivered a short overhand thrust at Sam, The Falcon Stoops if the lathe was a real blade it would skewer an opponent in the chest. He flowed back in the stance The Ox Lowers His Horns and immediately attacked with The Moon On the Water another attack meant to stab the opponent in the chest, he knew only some of the forms but moved with grace and precision against the experienced Drin.

After the third strike he backed away and fell into a horizontal guard stance with the lathe moving up and down in anticipation of an attack. The Leaf Floating on the Breeze. Felix circled slowly waiting for the strikes to come towards him.

[Felix]

OOC: Man we started this in April its now August. I think we should call it quits. I hope to write with you again soon though.