Peaceful Fields of Guardia
Stepping off the main path, you enter a lush, vivid green field of grass
And vegetation. South and southeast these fields stretch farther on,
Providing an excellent source of grazing for animals and stray herbivorous
Beasts. The dirt road lies back west. The wide and strong currents of a
Creek, flowing in from the west, block the way northward as they expand into
A river mouth to the east.

Just south of Truce, sent had set up station in the fields. He looked
like he'd been there awhile, but as usual, he didn't seem to show a
sign of being tired. He had set up what looked like a very crude
scarecrow, two sticks, through a sack of straw. Kent sat on a rock by
a few weapons he had set out, all looking rather dangerous, especially
for a young kid.

"Killing children? This is a new low for you, hunter." Kent stared at
his taunting reflection while polishing his sword. How long had he
been sitting here listening to these ramblings? At least an hour by
now. "I'm teaching a child to be a killer." "Not much difference." "I
know." Kent squinted his eyes in the distence and looked for you to
arrive.

This was something Kimen had to learn, home was dangerous. And if
someone didn't teach him the things he needed to know it might be too
late by the time he got back. That is why Kimen was showed up exactly
at the time he had suggested to Kent, though he was still rubbing away
the sleep from his eyes. He was aware that the knight didn't seem to
be willing to teach him and if didn't quite feel right asking him
knowing this, but if Kent didn't do it, who would? The child entered
the field and approached the knight, trying to look less tired than he was. "Good
morning, Mr. Kent. I am ready."

Kent looked up from the sword. "Alright, Kimen, we're going to get one
thing straight right now," Kent didn't sound happy about what he was
saying. "You will NOT ever refer to me as 'sir.' I'm not going to
dsigrace the title with my name." He stood up and approached the
child. There was a silence between them. He didn't know how to start.
"Let's see, how much do you already know?"

Kimen blinked, she had just been calling him 'Mr. Kent' all this time,
not aware that sir was really an option. It seemed rather weird that
he would bring it up when the thought hadn't crossed her mind.
"Um...Alright." She said awkwardly, looking down at her feet shifting
them so they were in the position that Doran had taught her; one
forward, and the other in a more sideways position with both feet
parallel to her shoulders. "Well, I only had one lesson and it kind of
ended before it even began. But this is as far as we got before it was
interrupted. I think this is how I was supposed to stand?"

Kent circled around his new student, watching your every posture. 'A
bit rusty' He thought. His glare followed your entire person. The
footing was alright, perhaps, but a little off. The posture could use
work. you looked more like a kid who read a book than took a class. He
wasn't surprised at it, either. With a quick movement, Kent hooked
your ankle with his foot and effortlessly pulled the kid to the
ground. "Again."

Kimen cringed as he hit the ground, taken by surprise that Kent had
thrown him off balance so quickly. Kimen grimaced and pulled himself
up to his feet, dusting off his bottom in the process. "Alright." He
said, taking the stance again. If he knew anything about lessons they
were repetitive. If something was done wrong, the teacher would do it
again in hopes that the student would learn it. With this in mind,
Kimen would watch for Kent to try unbalancing like that a second time.

Kent seemed to completely ignored Kimen as they got up. He walked over
to his rock and began taking off his armor peice by peice. After he
finished he looked amost even crazier than usual. His arms were
covered by a rough tunic, and he sported brown trousers and his usual
boots. The burn scars and soot on his face seemed completely out of
place. He wiped his face with his cloak before taking that off, and
turned back to Kimen. With the exact same movement, he attempted to
trip Kimen again.

If Kent was going to take her by surprise once, it seemed only natural
that he would attempt doing again. Though with all her expecting Kimen
really didn't think it to happen right then. Her attempt to avoid
falling over again was clumsy, and while she lifted one leg up enough
to avoid his attempt to hook her foot, she was thrown a little off
balanced and hopped backwards, arms flailing. But she did not fall.
Instead Kimen managed to mostly fall back into that stance easily
enough though perhaps a little more panicked than before.

With you flailing, Kent walked away to see how quickly they would fall
back into possition. A new tactic would be needed to catch the child
off gaurd, which was expected, and was indeed, progress. Kent glanced
at the sheathed blade hooked to his belt. Even without his armor, it
seemed that sword never left his side. Kent again circled you, seeing
the stance improve. Posture was tighter, that was decent for now. Feet
seemed more firmly planted. Kent enjoyed the little panic that he has
created. "

"So, tell me about your night, sleep well?" Kent asked, attempting to
prolong the moment of your panicked state.

For a moment, Kimen was just thrilled with the fact that he hand
managed to avoid getting his feet swept up from under him again. But
the moment soon passed as Kent started circling, the question throwing
him off guard. Why was the knight choosing this of all times for small
talk, "Um... well I slept okay I guess..."

Despite what Kent thought it would do, your gaurd didn't fall, it
began to skyrocket. The kid was watching Kent like an owl watches a
mouse, very intently and in silence. Kent smiled. "That's excelent
news! I'd hate to have you tied." The circling continued, and as soon
a you had to turn their head to see Kent, he streched out his hand and
pushed you on the shoulder, knocking the tense child once again, to
the ground below. Kent's watchful expression didn't change. "Again."

"Ah!" Kimen toppled easily, and with with such a small push too. The
child rolled back onto her feet and quickly stood up again, falling
back into that same stance. He hadn't exactly told her it was wrong or
if there was anything wrong with it, so she decided to continue using
it. "Nah, I am not tired! I went to bed early last night." Kimen made
sure Kent didn't leave her sight, turning to follow as he circled. She
was actually enjoying this. It was like learning a new game.

"Hey, Mr. Kent. Since you are teaching me this, maybe I can teach you
a little magic."

That wasn't something you wanted to say. Kent's watchful glare
intesified, as did his pace of circling. His mind raced to his
previous moments with the child, and what really scared you. When he
approached the front of his student, he stopped, and looked you
straight in the eye. He didn't reply to the question. Instead, he drew
his sword quickly in an attempt to scare the kid. Then he once again
hooked your foot in attempt to pull the kid to the ground.

Kimen's eyes widened a little as he noticed Kent staring at him
sternly. He thought that perhaps asking Kent who was against all
things magic if he wanted to learn was a bad idea. There was good
intentions behind it, if Kent understood what he hated he probably
wouldn't hate it so much. But when Kent quickly drew his sword the
child looked absolutely terrified. Kent was going to kill him! Kimen
took a few steps back, cringing, squeezing his eyes shut and waited
for the blow to come. Instead an instant he found himself hitting the
ground again with a thud. He looked up at the knight fearfully body
shaking as if expecting him to continue his attack.

Kent sheathed his sword. He stared at the shaking child, not sure
whether to be amused or not. Kent's scare tactic worked perfectly.
Still, the kid was terrified, and this lesson wouldn't move much
farther if the Kimen couldn't move. "Get up." Kent said. "Your finally
scared. I can work with that. Now I need to meld the fear into
something useful." Kent almost wanted to feel sorry for the child.
Almost. "Get up."

Obeying his command, Kimen slowly pulled herself to her feet. Her
knees were shaking still as she awkwardly falling into the same stance
she had before, though not fully aware if thats what he wanted her to
do. It dawned on Kimen that the act of him pulling out is sword like
that might have been part of the lesson, but even upon realizing that
her heart was pounding in her ears.

Kent glared harshly at the shaking child. He circled again, watching
Kimen attempt the same position. He was hoping after these multiple
assaults, Kimen would fall into one that they'd find more effective.
"Throughout these lessons I will be giving you tools to work with,
like that sword I forged. They will all be neciassary if an attempt is
made on your life." Kent slowly moved into a more comforting tone.
Kent says 'My first gift to you was fear. It's an extremely powerful
tool, but also one of the most dangerous." He began to explain the
point he'd been hinting at since Kimen first brought up the idea of
lessons. "You always have time to react. The key is reacting
correctly." Kent's eyes brightened, if only for a moment in hope Kimen
could follow his ramblings. "You're fear at this time will probably
give you defensive reactions. That's good enough for now."'

Kimen attempted the same stance because he knew of no others he could
use, but it seemed the child was getting more familiar with it and was
once again ready for the knight to try knocking him to the ground if
he chose to do so in any way shape or form. Kimen nodded slowly at
Kents words. was this the same sort of thing his brothers went through
when they were first training? "So, when you fight you are reacting
through your fear Mr. Kent?"

Kent listened to Kimens words as he noticed Kimen calming down. The
childs words were an expected question. "When I fight, my fear turns
into a rush of battle. It slows things down to the point I can react."
Kent paused and tried to think of a way to explain it. What sort of
relatable past could the two possibly shared? "Ever have a scary
moment that seems to last forever? It's sort of like that." He
believed that was a good enough answer for now. Kent tried to catch
Kimen at a comfortable moment and trip him with his foot again.
Kimen considered it for a moment. "Yeah there had been a couple
occasions where--" The moment the knight made a move the child reacted
almost automatically. She was waiting for this, and it came as no
surprise to her when it happened. She leapt backwards out of his
reach.

Kent smiled at Kimen's jump. That was exactly what he had been looking
for. "Alright, that was good. Let's see if you can do it again. Get
back in your stance, it's starting to look a lot better." Kent nodded
reassuringly to Kimen. The knight began circling again looking for
another opening. If Kimen was going to work with Kent, the kid would
have to get used to these repedative motions. Esspecially before Kent
put anything resembling a weapon in Kimen's hands.

Kimen did what he was told and continued to keep an eye on Kent,
waiting for him to try it again. If he was doing so good at this, the
knight might try to throw something else at him this time just to keep
him on his toes. The child had no idea what that would be though.

Kent didn't get too out of hand to quickly. He simply removed his
sword and began to quickly. Kent wasn't trying to make Kimen scared at
the moment, he just wanted the trainee to get used to the idea of the
weapon. Kent held the blade, it's blunt side facing Kimen. That
however, wasn't an attempt to make Kimen feel better. Kent stared at
the sky, and attempted to quickly reflect one of the sun's rays into
Kimen's eyes for a distraction, before trying to push kimen to the
ground with his empty hand.

Kimen looked uncomfortably at the sword as Kent drew it, repeating to
herself that this was just another trick. That the man was trying to
scare her. And in some ways, this tactic was still working quite well.
She flinched though as the gleam of the blade caught her eye and while
she tried to move out of it's way so she could see, she felt Kents
hand shove her again. Once she hit the ground though she rolled
backwards and brought herself to her feet again as quickly as she
could.

Kent was happy at Kimen's progress. The roll was a bit rough, but the
intention behind it could be absolutely molded to end up very nicely,
given time. He sheathed his sword, probably to Kimen's liking, and
turned backed away, signaling that the lesson had ended. "Very good
Kimen, your reactions are giving me what I need for now." He turned
around and began heading for the rock he was sitting on earlier. He
signaled for the child to approach when he sat down. "But we're not
quite done yet."

The child smiled at the praise he was given, but that smile quickly
faded and his head tilted slightly to one side. Another lesson? Kimen
approached the rock where the knight was sitting, curious as to what
he would teach him now. "Is there something else then for today?"

"You could say that," Kent chuckled as you approached. Kent picked
reached behind him and picked up his neglected armor. He eyes your
-rather scrawny- arms and rifles through a few peices. He handed The
kid the two pauldrens and vambraces. "Alright. I want you to carry
these around and get them cleaned. I'll worry about the rest, I don't
think you can carry all of it."

"Carry it and... clean it?" Kimen looked at the the pieces of armor
that the knight was indicating with confusion, "But Mr. Kent, aren't
you capable of carrying and cleaning these these yourself?" Surely he
couldn't be THAT tired after the lesson.

Kent raised an eyebrow. Kent was vaugly amused by Kimen's confusion,
but it didn't change things. The kid needed to train muscle somehow,
and this is how Kent was told to do it at Kimen's age. "...Yeah," Kent
said, hiding his amusement, "...What's your point?"

"Oh come on. I know you are waaay older than me but I know you aren't
an old man. I don't think the lesson we just had winded you that much
did it?" Kimen giggled at him, but still did as he asked her to and
started picking up the pieces of armor, each one much heavier than
Kent made it look. How he moved about wearing this stuff was beyond
her.

Kent chuckled politely. It was interesting to watch Kimen shuffle
through the armor. All the peices looked like they had way too much
connection with fire. "You're going to need to gain muscle somehow, or
I am NOT going to put a weapon in your hands." He smiled. "Or, would
you like to carry around the breastplate instead?"

"This I think is already plenty." Kimen huffed, once all the pieces of
armer were in his arms. " So where are we taking these, Mr. Kent?"

"We aren't going anywhere." Kent reassembled what he didn't give you
around his person, and gathered the collection of weapons he brought
to the feild. "You, however, have a task to do." Kent quickly pointed
to Truce as he began walking. "Those haven't been cleaned in weeks.
Come to me when you're done, and I just might take that off of you."
Kent laughed. "If I don't notice something else I'll need you to do."
Kent looked back at Kimen with a wink. "Welcome to training, Kimen."
"What?!" Kimen's mouth fell open. So Kent was just going to leave her
to clean this armor on her own. "You mean here? How am I supposed
to..." She looked down at the pieces of metal in her arms looking
horrified and disgusted at the state they were in. "...How am I
suppsed to clean these? With spit and grass?"

"...Kimen." Kent actually sounded legitimately disapointed. "If you are
unable to infer that I want you to carry that into town and get it
cleaned decently, we have WAY more work than I thought we had." Kent
blew some hair out of his face and continued moving. "Kids these
days..."

Kimen sighed, then shifted the armor in his arms so she could carry
them more comfortably and started making her way back towards truce.
Kimen didn't really know any good places to get this cleaned decently
though except maybe the fountain or the water fountain in the park.
Hopefully, those were acceptable.

Kent smiled as Kimen began walking towards Truce. The morning had been
interesting for them. Kent began thinking ahead towards other lessons
to be planned. This lesson on reactions was useful, but it was barely
a scratch one what he'd have to end up teaching. He looked at the
weapons in his hands. He'd need to get something smaller. And blunter.
...Preferably wooden. Kimen might be the apprentice, but the exile had
a lot to learn before he could consider himself a teacher.