Garret takes the sword in his hands and looks up with uncertainty at his uncle. "Do you think I can even..." he begins to ask softly.
The armor clad man rests a hand on Garret's shoulder. "Do you think you can?"
Garret sighs and nods. "I can do anything I want. Be anything I want. That's what you all have always told me."
"You know what you're doing. Go show that wooden post who's boss. Get used to the weight."
With one final nod, Garret goes out to start training with a real sword. He swings it hard into the wood and groans, unable to remove the now stuck blade. "I've got this," he mutters to himself.
Again
ReplyDeleteToo many thoughts. I can't concentrate.
"How many times are you gonna clean that damn stick?" A raspy voice calls out from behind him.
Don't do it...
He stops for a second then continues wiping off the blade. "Well first off, it's called a glaive and secondly I'll clean until it's actually clean" he replied with a hint of annoyance.
Dammit, you never listen.
"Oooh I'm sorry! Did I get under your scales? Would it help if I said you're my favorite Lizard?"
He's goading you, you know this. Don't play his game.
Yeah no shit. This old codger knows how to press my buttons, too bad for him I know what he hates more than me.
"Oh well I appreciate your kind words, but I was merely correcting your minor mistake." A smile spread across his face. "While I still think highly of you as a senior paladin, the same cannot be said for someone who doesn't know you aside from hearing a mistake like that. Wouldn't want you losing face as a senior member of our order, that would be very embarrassing"
Wait for it.
"Now you listen here, you damn Lizard! I know my damn weapons! I'll have you know that I fought..."
"Yes yes, fought in many battles and killed many men." He finally stands to turn to the shorter, older man. "Yet here you are, forgetting your weapons and arguing with a junior. My how we've fallen" and with a thud he brings the butt of the polearm to ground.
Oh my, he's gone pale.
Garret adjusts his grip and braces himself. With one good pull, the sword is free. He stumbles a bit and falls flat on his back. "Easy!" he grins before getting to his feet and dusting himself off. That would have gotten me killed in a battle, but this isn't a battle. It's fine. Keep going!
ReplyDeleteAnother swing.
The blade gets stuck again. Garret lets out a frustrated huff. This is not an ax. I am not cutting a tree...
He decides to try another approach. Instead of swinging as hard as he can, Garret moves slowly, focusing more on the movement and weight. He can get more practice in if he isn't spending all his time trying to pull the sword from the wooden target.
ReplyDeleteComing out into the courtyard, Viktor sees the small Teifling struggling with the wooden dummy.
ReplyDeleteCome on help him out. No one helped you, remember.
"You need to slice, not chop. It's a sword, not an axe. Use the blade as it was made to be used. Pull in at the point of impact"
Happy?
Very.
Garret lets out a small embarrassed laugh. "I just gave myself the same speech about it not being an ax. It's very different from the wooden practice swords, that's for sure." He walks up to him with a smile and holds out a hand. "My name's Garret, but you can call me Lucky if you want. Thanks for the advice. I bet you're a pro at this whole sword thing right?"
ReplyDelete