The Grey Tower

Kitty smiled as Bree joined them, and they started chatting away for the short time they had on the grass. The talk went a little slow, as Miendha took the time both to translate what Kitty said, and to say her own things in words and signs both. Bree picked up the simple signs quite well, but struggled more with the finesses of the signs, which was understandable.

The three of them enjoyed each other companies when their free periods fell together, meeting a few times a week. The training schedules of Novices and Warder Trainees were sadly somewhat different, so it didn't happen as often as Kitty wished. Some of the times they met in the Gardens, and other times closer to the Yards.

And one time Bree managed to talk Miendha into joining them in the Stables. Kitty enjoyed the stables, and she instantly liked Bree's horse, Peach. "She's a beautiful horse," she signed to Bree. She gently stroked the horse's soft coat as Bree talked away, and watched an uncomfortable Aiel out of the corner of her eyes. She sent a few mocking signs to Miendha, which the girl quite pointedly did not translate for Bree, but she was sure the other drin understood some of their meaning from her body and facial expressions. It was a bit too much fun to tease Miendha, to the point where Kitty was afraid she might just rise up and leave them. Luckily Bree distracted her with sending the horse off and asking about training.

"Yes, I will spar with you," Miendha said, rising up elegantly from the hay. "As long as we avoid meeting here more times." The Aiel's voice was quite flat, but her meaning was still clear. All the pent-up laughter in Kitty burst out in a silent laughter before she could help herself, earning her a hard stare from Miendha. Her hands flashed apologetic as she tried to collect herself again, and as her laughing fit stopped she begged forgiveness from the Aiel. She honestly didn't know why it had been so funny either, but a smile was still on her face as she turned to Bree.

"Will you teach me the quarterstaff?" she signed, using simple signs and body language that she was somewhat sure Bree understood by now. She had been thinking of it for some time, and while she'd disliked the battle training at the Black Tower, she understood the use, the need to know some. And she'd found the staff interesting from watching Bree a couple of times, more than the spear and shield Miendha used.

"We could meet the day after tomorrow, a while after High?" she looked at Miendha as she signed and nodded shortly, and the Aiel translated her signs. "I think we all got some free time then?" Miendha nodded confirming, and Kitty smiled. She'd started to get the training schedule of the Yards into her head as well by now, knowing when it was possible to get hold of the girls.

"Do you have a training uniform I could borrow?" she asked Bree. The girl was about her own height, unlike Miendha who towered above both of them. "This would be quite impractical to train in," she added, indicating to her white dress.

OOC: Miendha didn't want to cooperate in my head today...

Ubriel grinned watching the two women. They were turning out to be excellent friends. Peach liked them both but her feelings were a little hurt that the tall one wouldn’t nuzzle her. Peach refused to understand about Aiel.

Miendha had agreed to spar with her. Ubriel was grinning very wide. She was ready to start right away and had taken a half step toward her staff when Kitty asked for training in the quarterstaff. Ubriel stumbled. She caught herself before she fell and both of the other women were kind enough to pretend they hadn’t seen. “Teach?” Ubriel ran a hand through her hair and watched Kitty continue, evidently excited by the prospect. There was nothing for it but to agree. What was the worst that could happen?

A couple of days later, they all met again and Ubriel brought a training uniform for Kitty. “This should fit you. You can cinch it tighter with the ties on the inside and then belt it.” Ubriel showed Kitty the way the uniform fitted and let her get dressed. She waited with Miendha. “I have been spending a fair amount of time in the library. I found a few references to signs used by other mutes, sometimes treated by Yellows. I was thinking it could be fun and maybe change the world in a small way if we wrote down the signs we use and made them useful for anyone who can’t speak.”

Ubriel really hoped they took to the idea. She had been doing just that already. Every new sign she learned, she translated into pictographs in a small book like the one she used for her diary. About then, Kitty joined them and Ubriel nodded, inspecting the garment. “It looks good. I brought you my spare staff. I am a little protective over Al’doondieb.” She indicated the metal wrapped staff that she carried in her other hand. She gestured to the door leading to the practice yards. “Shall we?”

The days passed fast, lessons and chores flying by, and before she knew it, Kitty stood with one of Bree's spare uniforms in her hands, only a change of clothes away from learning the quarterstaff. She had a moment of doubt as she changed, if she really wanted to learn. After coming to the Grey Tower, she found that her interests were more of an academic kind. She enjoyed spending time in the Library, and she didn't miss the battle focus of the Black Tower one bit. So why had she even asked Bree to teach her the staff? It might have been that she felt a little left out in the trio, with the other two being drin, and having more in common.

She finished putting on the uniform and tied the belt around her waist. Looking down on the light grey trousers and tunic, part of her felt like she was back at the Black. It felt both strange and good to be back in breeches, and she felt more ready to learn a weapon than she had a moment ago. Feeling more confident in the new clothes, she headed back to the other two.

She apparently came out in the middle of a discussion. Miendha didn't look happy, she looked quite disapproving to be honest. And Bree didn't seem fond of whatever Miendha had said either.

"What was that about?" Kitty signed to both of them, as Bree inspected her new clothes, approving of their fit.

She smiled at Bree as the girl handed her the staff, nodding understanding that she didn't want to lend her the beautiful staff she herself used.

"Yes, lets go," she signed, and motined for the others to lead the way to the Training Yard.

OOC: Miendha's not talking to me lately.. But she didn't approve of Bree's suggestion. She thinks that aiel handtalk is for aiel only.

Wielding the staff

Ubriel led the way out into the practice yards. She had arranged for the use of sparring dummies although she didn’t think they would really be needed today. “I am going to start from the basics, assuming you have never so much as watched anyone using a staff or polearm.” She rested Al’doondieb in the crook of her elbow as she spoke and used gestures to sign as much as she could. She would not be able to do that once she began demonstrating the movements. “I call this first lesson “Wielding the Staff”. It encompasses basic stances and how to hold the staff in a restful grip but in such a way that it is ready to use on the instant.”

She watched Kitty’s expression to be sure she was following easily and then took up a squared off stance, balancing easily on both feet just about shoulder width apart, knees loose. She shifted the staff so that it was held in both hands, one on either side of the staff, right hand slightly higher than the left and slanted slightly before her. “This is the position you will pass through into any other when first taking up the staff to wield it. You can easily move from this stance into a defensive or offensive position,” Ubriel stepped forward with her right foot and shifted the staff with her to hold it half way to a stabbing posture. Then she stepped back with her right foot leaving her left foot forward and swung the back end of the staff forward, reversing her grip, allowing her right hand to slide down the staff and her left hand to catch the forward end as it pivoted left. Then she brought her right foot back to its original position next to her left and reversed her grip again, stopping as she had started.

“That is the first thing to master. Try to follow through with me. I will go slowly. Watch where my feet are and how they are turned. Watch my hands and how I use the natural pivoting motion and gravity to help guide the staff. I will repeat the steps until you have joined in and think you are comfortable with it.” Moving at half her original speed, Ubriel began to walk through the steps waiting for Kitty to master them.

Kitty was slightly soured that none of her friends gave an explanation for their apparent quarrel, but instead pretended nothing had happened. She was of a mind to fret it out of Miendha, but as Bree led them out into the Yards, she decided to leave that for laters.

Staff in one hand, its tip resting on the ground, Kitty listened to Bree's instruction. She gave a nod at Bree's assumption that she hadn't used the staff before, that was quite true. So she did not mind the slightest that they started on the bare basics.

It was quite fascinating to watch Bree's smooth movements as the girl showed her the basic stance, and shifted into an offensive and defensive position. She tried to watch the whole girl at once, the way her feet moved, the way her hands shifted on the staff as the wooden stick moved. The latter especially was somewhat difficult to catch on, and she was not sure what Bree had done at a point, but suddenly her hands had swapped places.

Kitty hefted up her staff and held it in both hands, mimicking Bree, and moved her feet into a ready position. The footwork was the easy part, as it was in essence the same she'd been drilled in at the Black Tower. But the staff proved a distraction to the almost-forgotten footwork. Holding the staff with both hands, right hand above the left, she took a step forward with her right foot in a slightly off syncron to Bree and moved the tip of the staff down, in what she hoped was a similar move to Bree. Stepping backwards again with the right, she pushed the low end forward so the staff moved into a vertical position, and tried to mimic Bree as the girl moved the right hand down on the staff and the left hand took the upper position to hold the staff. Kitty's attempt was not as graceful, as she tried to move the right hand down she released the grip too much, and the staff fell forward, hitting the ground tip-first before she could grab it. And not for the lack of trying. She felt somewhat silly where she stood, bent forward and grasping at the air.

Bending to pick up the staff, she shot a glare at both Miendha and Bree, daring them to laugh or comment. She returned to the starting position and gave a nod to Bree, indicating that she was ready to try again. They went through the moves again, right foot forward, staff forward, right foot back, and grip shift. This time Kitty made sure to only loosen the grip enough for the stick to have room to move, and not open her hand fully. She slid the right hand down on the staff as she pushed the low end forward with her left, tightening the grip of the right again before releasing with her left and moving it above the right, gripping the staff again before it had a chance to tilt. She moved the right hand slightly back and lowered the tip to mirror the first position. The hand change went slightly more smooth again on the shift back to the start position.

As they moved through the forms again and again, Kitty improved both in the shifts of hand placement on the staff, and in speed in general. She noticed that as she got better, Bree increased the speed a little for each time, and it got easier for her to keep up.

Ubriel watched as Kitty struggled with the cumbersome feel of the staff. She remembered dropping her staff and hitting herself and even Peach in the head with her staff when she was first learning to use it. She would never laugh at anyone going through that. It had, up to that point been the most discouraging thing she had ever gone through.

As Kitty began to learn the feel of the staff, gain familiarity with it's weight and develop that intimacy of movement between the staff and her own limbs, she began to pick up speed. "Keep advancing." Ubriel called as Kitty completed her fourth set smoothly. Ubriel began to push the forward end of the staff down and out at the end of each step, adding more purpose to the movements. "Now try to add this." She bade Kitty to follow her demonstration.

The steps of the motion, she slowed slightly and exaggerated again to make them easier to mimic. From the right foot forward position, she now stepped forward with her left foot, swinging the bottom of her staff over using her right hand as the fulcrum of the swing, she brought her left hand up just as before to hold the staff as her right hand slid back. Just as her left foot planted itself and her weight began to shift forward on it, she tightened the grip of her right hand, loosening the left and jabbed forward. The effect was to move the whole staff forward in both hands transitioning into a short jabbing thrust.

Completing the step forward set up the position of the staff for a return swing in the opposite direction to change hands and advance the right foot. Ubriel led Kitty through ten advancing steps with each foot before stopping. She recognized the determined look on Kitty's face and had an idea.

"You are catching on very quickly. It was days before I stopped dropping my staff and banging it into my own shins and the back of my head when I first started. I'm going to show you a related advance and then I think you should stop and digest the motions until we can meet again." Ubriel grinned heartily. "And I am getting thirsty. Do you want to get something to drink before we have to go back to our classes?"

Ubriel included Miendha in her invitation but wasn't sure if she was inclined to continue in their company. Ubriel really wanted to talk to Kitty alone. First, the task at hand.

"Okay this last step is exactly the same advance but is much faster because you don't have to change your hand positions at all." She squared her feet off beside Kitty, facing the way they had come and slowly stepped forward with her right foot and followed through with her hips and shoulders. Holding the staff in front of her just above waist height, level with the ground. Her right hand cupped the staff as it rested in her palm and her left hand grasped the staff, palm down. Both elbows were tucked in to her sides as she began and she thrust her right hand forward, pushing the staff forward, until her elbow was not quite fully extended. She did not move her left hand until the right forward motion was complete.

Pausing slightly in her motions as her right foot planted, she then repeated the motions with her left side. She went through several steps letting Kitty follow and find her rhythm. As she did, she sped it up and made a point of stopping her forward thrusts sharply enough to make a soft snapping noise with the fabric of her uniform sleeve. It was her favorite sound when practicing and it made her smile in delight. She was enjoying the demonstration immensely and hoped fervently that Kitty would want to continue learning.

Once they had stopped, Ubriel leaned casually on al'Donndieb waiting to see if Kitty had any questions or feedback. Ubriel had never taught a person before.

OOC:
I took the liberty of assuming Kitty would either agree or decline the invitation to refreshments and still go through the last variation of the advance. Please let me know if I am not describing the motions with enough detail or if they are confusing. I want to conspire with Kitty without Miendha's grouchy objections if you don't mind. Miendha seems to be in a snit anyway. :)

Kitty stopped her motions and paid attention as Bree showed her the advanced step. Letting Bree show her one set of steps under full focus, she joined on the second, falling into the stance with her right foot forward and right hand upmost. As she stepped forward with her left foot, following Bree, she pushed the back end of her stick a bit out and around her, and moved her left hand up to her right, shifting the grip and sliding the right hand to the back end of her stick. As her hand reached the low end, she tightened the grip and loosened the grip further up as she pushed the staff forward with the right hand into a thrust. She moved a bit slower than Bree did, quite a bit actually, and her "attack was more a thrust and pull back motion than a jabbing thrust, she realized.

As they stepped forward with the right foot again, doing a mirror copy of the motions, she tried to be quicker with the thrust, but ended up knocking her hands together and loosing the grip, and the staff. She frowned as she bent to pick the staff up again, but scrambled into position again quickly and gave a nod to Bree to continue. They advanced several steps, twenty or so she thought, before Bree stopped. By then Kitty was getting the hang of both the changing hands and the jabbing thrust, getting a certain swiftness into the thrust. She was still struggling to not let the tip waver around though, but it was getting better, she thought.

Apparently, so Bree thought too, and Kitty couldn't help but grin widely back at her friend from the praise she received.

"I'd love that," she signed in response to Bree's question, staff resting in the nook of her elbow, before looking over at the Aiel drin'far'ji watching them from the sideline. "You coming as well, Miendha?" she asked the fiery-headed girl. Miendha shook her head.

"I thank you for your offer of water," she said to Bree, "but I must gracefully decline. I have some preparations I need to finish before my next class," the girl continued, and rose inhumanly gracefully from her seated position. "May you always find water and shade."

"I will see you later," she signed to Kitty. "Later," Kitty signed back with a nod, and frowned slightly as she watched the Aiel walk away. What was up with Miendha? She had behaved strangely the whole day, and not just that day. She had to talk to her friend and find out what was wrong next time she saw her. But first.. "Lets continue," she signed to Bree and picked up the staff again.

Kitty listened as Bree started explaining again, and took up the basic stance next to the drin, staff ready in front of her, resting in a cupped right hand while her left held the end. Eyes on Bree, she followed the slow moves with her body, feeling how she moved more than watching her own feet. She took a step forward with her right foot, her body following and turning with the motion. Her right hand moved forward, pushing the front end of the staff forward as well, until she had nearly extended her arm. Eyes flicking a bit between Bree and her own staff, she copied the other girl and pushed the staff forward with her left hand. Pulling the staff close again, she followed Bree and went through the motion again, this time taking a step forward with the left foot.

Completing the first set of steps, she turned her head forward, and started on a new set following her memory instead of watching Bree directly. She had the other girl's movements in the corner of her eye, and was pleased as she managed to keep up as Bree increased the speed slowly. She didn't quite manage the same snap in the attack, but at least her staff wobbled less and less.

By the time they stopped, she was sweating and the staff was heavy in her arms. Though tired, she was smiling, a somewhat conflicted smile. The exercise was good, and training like this was one thing she had liked at the Black Tower. But the thought of the Black Tower also left a bitter taste in her mouth. She hadn't liked the place at all, with its heavily military and battle oriented focus.

She pushed the old Tower from her mind and smiled at Bree, letting the end of the staff drop to the ground and resting it in the nook of her arm.

"How did I do?" she signed, her hands now free. Not too badly I hope?" She stretched out a cramp that threatened to settle in her hand before it was allowed to manifest. "A drink sounds very lovely now, I'm quite thirsty," she added, hoping Bree understood enough of her language by now. She signed slower and more clearly than she would've done with Miendha, or with her brother, so it would be easier to understand. With the Aiel girl gone now, she had no translator, and that was an unusual feeling. She didn't even have her writing equipment with her, so she had to use her hands only. But Bree had been a quick learner so far, and she felt confident that the other girl understood most of what she signed.

Ubriel grinned and moved slowly to start walking toward the building. She was glad that signing didn't require extra breath and spoke with her hands as she walked. "I hope everything I am showing you is clear. If anything is confusing just let me know. I am really glad to have someone to practice with. Thank you for asking to learn."

The staff in resting in the crook of her arm and over her shoulder made some of her signs awkward but she persevered. "I wanted to talk to you more about perhaps documenting the hand signs so that others can learn. I bet the Yellows would be interested in learning so they can help other mutes to speak. Miendha seems pretty adamant that the signs should not be shared but we don't have to teach the maiden signs to others. We could just use the ones that you used with your brother. Right?"

Ubriel stepped ahead and opened the door to the building. She held it wide for the other woman and waited for her to walk through.

"Thank you for agreeing to teach me," Kitty signed back, smiling broadly. She was both proud and impressed at Bree's skill in the sign language already. Sure, there were some mistakes and awkward moves of her hands, and the girl didn't use her body's full potential in signing yet, but she was a fast learner. "I'd love to practice more with you as well," she added a little clumsy as she adjusted the way she carried the staff. She wasn't used to having to carry something while signing two-handed. Maybe she ought to teach Bree the one-handed signs as well? That would surely ease up the talking in situations like this.

She followed Bree to the building, watching her hands move. It was an intriguing idea that the other girl brought up, and her head started going over ways it could be done. She'd never thought of writing down her signs, and as she thought about it, she wasn't sure if her own language would translate to paper that well. The Aiel hand talk might be more easily translated. Yes, she could picture how certain signs could look on paper.

"My language is not that easily put to paper," she signed to Bree as she walked into the building, stopping on the inside to let the other girl take the lead again. She didn't know her way around the Warder Barracks. "It consists just as much of various body movements as specific hand signs. The Aiel hand talk is better translated to paper, I believe. And we don't have to use the Maiden hand talk at all. The Aiel has one sign language that is for all Aiel to use, and a special one that only Maidens use. The one Miendha has taught us is the common one. She's been very restrictive with the Maiden hand signs even to me."

She paused her hands for a moment, once again trying to get a better grip on carrying the staff. The bloody thing was constantly in the way and threatening to clatter to the floor! She would either have to learn how to carry this thing properly and still have both hands free, or teach Bree the one-handed variant of signs. The latter sounded like the easiest path!

"How do you carry this thing so easily," she signed in frustration.

Ubriel grinned and stopped walking. She lifted her own staff with her left hand and held it up. With exagerated motions, she placed the staff in the crook of her right elbow, so only the bottom third fell below her arm. The top of the staff she allowed to lean against her neck, over her right shoulder. Then she pointed to the crook of her arm and visibly tightened her grip there.

"It is a matter of practice once you have it in the right position." Ubriel signed and motioned for Kitty to follow her around a corner and into a room with refreshments. Once inside, Ubriel leaned her staff against a wall next to a table and led the way to get a pitcher of punch, cups and a sweet roll for herself. She motioned to the tray of snacks and indicated that Kitty should get what she wanted before heading back to the table.

Once seated, Ubriel pulled a notebook from her pocket and opened it to a page filled with small sketches and explanations. "I have been documenting some of what you have been teaching me. It seems to help me learn. It also seems to be relatively easy to describe most of the common action signs like walk, talk, sit and so on. It is the color and description signs I am having the most trouble describing. But this practice book is the reason I thought it would be a good project to offer to the Yellows."

Sliding the book toward her friend on the table, Ubriel poured two cups of punch and placed one in front of Kitty. Sipping from her own and nibbling at her snack, Ubriel watched Kitty's face, waiting for a response.