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Post by ivory on Jun 10, 2009 18:51:46 GMT -5
She took in his words, but didn't reply in the slightest acknowledgement that she had. She just moved to put his words into her actions. When she came up only slightly slower than he had, she nodded once. She'd practice it some more later until it was completely to her licking. But for now, she hoped that he had other things to show her.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 10, 2009 19:07:57 GMT -5
Monkuta laughed. "Take five, princess. You hurt your arm. Splash some water on it."
He pointed toward the pond beside the cabin, walking away.
He entered the cabin, opening a chest by the door that he had been keeping the apprentice gear inside of. He reached in, digging around until he found what he was looking for.
With both hands, he lifted a belt with two small sheathes, laying it out on the table. Then he reached in again and from within emerged a saxe-knife and throwing dagger. He scrutinized them, testing the edges against the walls of the room.
They're much nicer than the ones I started out with. But with a father like her's, they would pull out all the stops, wouldn't they?
He chuckled quietly at the thought and placed the blades into their respective sheathes on the belt.
He'd been advised against giving her the real stuff so early on in the training process but he's spent a month with sticks and wooden replicas and when given his real weapons it took another month to reorient himself to the weight.
He moved the gear to a smaller table in the corner and covered them with a sheet.
Tomorrow, he decided.
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Post by ivory on Jun 10, 2009 19:48:43 GMT -5
"Like water'd do anything," she mumbled, but she headed inside to do so with the bucket of water in the kitchen anyways[OOC: there, happy now? *grin*]. Biting her lower lip, she peeked inside his room and saw that most of the floor had dried. She placed a foot on it and nodded when it didn't sink into the muddy depths as it had the night she'd watered it.
She went back outside where she practiced the rolls for another hour before turning to the bow. It was more of a relaxation than a practice, though she sought the bull's eye each time. The beginning of night found her still standing and shooting for another few minutes before she went to retrieve her arrows and headed back inside.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 10, 2009 19:52:26 GMT -5
((the pond is next to the cabin, not inside, but whatever))
Monkuta made sandwiches as he did the night before, placing them on the table and sitting down.
"You made good progress today," he said, taking a large bite from his meal.
"You're a very quick study. That'll come in handy, especially in our line of work. You could have seconds to figure out your opponent's entire fighting style before their sword is inches away from your neck."
He took another bite, chewing and smiling and Marina.
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Post by ivory on Jun 10, 2009 19:55:42 GMT -5
(oh yeah, no sinks. oops. hahaha. I'll change it. *grin*)
She ignored the memory of last night and tried to concentrate on her words. She'd learned to never show what she was really feeling most of the time and used her learning to her advantage tonight.
"As a ranger, do you need to do that a lot?" She took a bite of her sandwhich before emphasizing, "Fighting and shoot and stuff?"
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 10, 2009 20:06:46 GMT -5
Monkuta thought carefully about his answer.
"Well," he began. "Obviously, we don't take joy in violence. We certainly don't glorify killing. Often it is necessary to fight though, which is why we train so hard. If someone has to die, better our enemy than us. It's better to think of it as a last resort though. You will spend at least as much time as a ranger, if not more, staying hidden and praying that the person you're spying on doesn't notice you. Comes with the territory."
he paused, taking a few small bites and finishing off his sandwich.
"When you imagine yourself as a full ranger, off on missions for the king... What do you see? Or, do you even see yourself as a ranger? I understand you were sort of, forced into this."
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Post by ivory on Jun 10, 2009 20:19:54 GMT -5
"I wasn't forced," she immediately countered. "I can do anything I want to. I just decided that this beats home."
She glared at him before finishing off her own sandwhich as she thought of an answer to his question. "It's different from a knight I suppose. Those don't really work for the king..." she was talking to herself, thinking aloud. It usually helped her reach a desicion, especially if she didn't have all the answers and the person who did was sitting across from her so he could correct her if she made a wrong guess. "Hiding, climbing trees, shooting, knives, fighting..."
She shrugged. "I don't really know the king that well, but it has to beat being a Lady." Another shrug. "I like it."
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 10, 2009 20:25:14 GMT -5
Monkuta laughed.
"You think becoming a ranger will get you out of learning to be a 'lady?'" he shook his head. "It's the opposite, princess. As one of us, you're going to be dealing with some of the most respected people in Araluen. You might even meet the King in person. My mentor spent an entire week teaching me how to be a 'proper gentleman' and he made me review it once a month until I finished my apprenticeship. Unfortunately for you, I'm no woman, so you're going to have to get that part of your training elsewhere."
He learned forward, resting his arms on the table. "But look at it this way: the more time you spend with the high and mighty, the more time you get to spend rolling around in the dirt."
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Post by ivory on Jun 10, 2009 20:33:32 GMT -5
She refused to groan. Once a month wasn't that bad compared to every blasted second of every blasted day out of the blasted year. And she'd never been allowed to roll in the dirt afterwards either. She was definitely started to really like this ranger stuff.
She finished off another sandwhich before gaining the courage to ask about what she'd started last night. "My," she stopped, wringing her hands beneath the table. "My parents - My, my real parents -Did you, did you happen," She took a deep breath before blurting it out, "Did you know them?"
She refused to drop her eyes, forcing herself to keep them focused on his.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 10, 2009 20:37:07 GMT -5
Monkuta paused, scratching his head. He wondered just how much information was too much.
He sighed and said, "Yes." He raised his brow, returning her gaze. "I knew-" he stopped, correcting himself. "-know your father. I never had the pleasure of meeting your mother."
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Post by ivory on Jun 10, 2009 20:43:15 GMT -5
"He's alive?" her voice was a whisper of disbelief.
She sat there in shocked silence for a few moments, turning over the possibility.
"Then why didn't he-"
She stopped, her eyes hardening. He'd left her. It didn't matter why. He'd left her. He didn't want her. She tightened her jaw as she gave a curt nod before rising. "If you'll excuse me, I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning."
She didn't wait for an answer before leaving the kitchen. It was only once she was out, that she didn't know where she was supposed to sleep. She bit her lower lip before heading for the main room and curling up in a corner. Though she closed her eyes, sleep didn't come for hours.
[skip to morning?]
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 10, 2009 20:54:07 GMT -5
Monkuta groaned, rubbing his forehead. If she would just stop and listen for more than ten seconds, they might actually get somewhere. He watched her storm out of the room in silence. He heard a noise outside and grabbed his saxe-knife, slowly walking outside. He sighed when he found the source.
Sheathing the knife, he crossed his arms and said, "You'll have to talk to her eventually, you know."
The cloaked figure remained silent, standing just beyond the trees that marked the border of the clearing.
"There's no reason to keep her in the dark anymore! Especially now that she's joined the Corps!"
The glare he got in return was all the answer he needed.
"I can only keep your secret for so long. I have to live with this girl for the next two years at least... By the time she's finished, I might be more loyal to her than I am to you."
He didn't even finish speaking before the man mounted his pony and started off into the woods, away from the cabin and Monkuta.
Monkuta watched until the figure was long out of sight. He let out a long sigh.
"Damnit."
___________________________________________________________
Monkuta knelled over Marina, jostling her shoulder.
"Wake up, princess. I already let you sleep in a little. Time to start the day. If you make it the whole day without storming off today, you might stick around long enough for me to tell you that there's a spare bedroll for you in the closet."
He laughed, standing up and walking outside.
He yelled back through the door, "Get up or I'm coming back inside and throwing you into the pond!" He meant it jokingly, but knowing Marina, didn't expect her to hear it that way.
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Post by ivory on Jun 10, 2009 21:08:22 GMT -5
[Badger's in Teutlandt, or was that not him? *grin*]
She grumbled as she woke to the yelling of the ranger. "Stupid bedroll. Stupid floor. Stupid man. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."
She stretched after climbing to her feet and grudgily headed outside. She squinted through the sunlight before scanning the field and spotting the 'stupid' man. With a barely concealed yawn, she stalked over to him and fixed him a glare.
"What now?" She unconscioulsy rolled onto the balls of her feet. If he was going to attempt to throw her in the stupid pond, she damn well was going to fight him.
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Post by JezusBagels on Jun 10, 2009 21:14:46 GMT -5
((if you'd told me who it was we could have avoided that... lol. we'll just say it's somebody else who's making sure Monkuta keeps the secret))
Monkuta held up the belt with sheathed blades hanging from it. "Today, the kid gloves come off. We work with the pointy things that actually make us bleed," he said, half-laughing as he spoke. "Generally, you would have been working with the sticks for much longer. But then we'd just have to spend more time reorienting you to the different weight. It's a waste of time."
He tossed her the belt.
"Put it on, tie it tightly. If that thing falls off in a fight, you either trip and fall on your face, lose your weapons... or both."
He shrugged, patting his own belt. He quickly unsheathed his saxe-knife, twirling it in his right hand before holding it out in front of him and smiling.
"Take a look at yours. It's well made. Looked it over myself."
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Post by ivory on Jun 10, 2009 21:44:49 GMT -5
[k. srry, I thought i'd already told you. *grin* forgive me?]
"I'm not that stupid. I know how to tie a stupid belt," she grumbled as she belted the material around her waste. She wasn't used to the weight and kept shifting to try to make it fit when he held out his own blade. She leaned in close to look at it before staring down at the sheaths belted at her sides.
After a quick glance, she pulled out the longer of the two blades and silently compared it to the one he held. She didn't know much about knives, nothing past that they could be used to cut stuff, but tried to bluff it anyways. "Looks okay to me."
She'd learned that bluffing in her lessons on becoming a Lady usually helped and figured it would here too. Though what she really wanted was to ask what the heck she was looking for.
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