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Post by Laties on Aug 22, 2007 14:59:05 GMT -8
Sparks flew as two swords clashed against each other violently. One blade faltering at the impact while the other drove forward.
“Oh, what’s this?” a smirk formed on the general’s face as he looked into the trembling page’s eyes. “All talk but no show?” The page let out a small growl as he attempted to push forward and shouted, “I’ll make you eat your words!” The general grinned as he easily broke away and side step the swinging blade and slapped the hilt of his sword against the other’s face. He loved it, though it was sort of cruel to bring down the pages, the general couldn’t help but show them their places.
Laties took another side step, dodging the untrained blade with a grin. Within minutes, he seemed to be dancing in circles around the provoked page. Several minutes passed of the page losing horribly to the man he though to be a squire before he let out a frustrated growl as he tossed the sword at him. “Oh?” Laties raised his sword up to block the weapon and knock it to the floor. “How insulting…” He chuckled as he watched the page charge at him with fists at the ready.
In a swift movement, Laties grabbed the boy’s wrist and flipped him over his shoulder causing the page to land on his back. “Never, and I mean never throw away your weapon.” Laties stated as he planted his boot on top of his chest and applied some of his weight on it. “Unless you want to die, of course.” He grinned as he stepped away from the beaten page and made his way to the group. “Don’t get full of yourself, just because you’re barely a rank higher then me.”
A wicked grin formed on Laties’ face as he pointed his sword at the page, “Make that six ranks higher and that’ll be General Laties Luhma to you. I have every single right to be full of myself.” He turned and looked at the pages with a small grin. “Who here thinks you’re better than me? Come, challenge me. I’ll put you in your place.”
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Post by Lourette on Aug 22, 2007 15:19:05 GMT -8
"Now, now, Lat... Cut the boy some slack..."
The velvety voice of Lourette of the North Wind, the lieutenant general, rang out as she stepped into the training court, her long-nailed hands on her slightly-swaying hips. Raising one hand, she ran it through her hair, right between her ears. After grinning brightly at the page, she crossed her arms and pressed them to her chest, right on the enchanted veil of her armor.
After she gave the page the look she did, she walked behind General Laties, and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her chin on one of his shoulders. "Laties, love... you should take it a bit easier on them, even if they are impudent little dogs..." the last part was said with a bit of bite as she narrowed her dark amber eyes at the page. "And you shouldn't be picking fights with the little ones, anyway. That's my job..."
((Ugh, that sucked. I'm coffee-deprived and half-asleep. Bah, I'm going to fix myself some nachos now...)) |
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Post by Laties on Aug 22, 2007 15:33:22 GMT -8
"But if I take it any easier on them, they won't become real dogs of the military. Even puppies must know who their master is." Laties smiled as he quickly resheathed his sword and began walking and slightly dragging Lourette on his back. "If you didn't hear me before, I am General. That's right. General Laties Elidd Luhma. You will adress me as General or General Laties Luhma, or General Luhma. Take your pick." Apparently, the first lesson Laties planned to drill into the new pages was his rank.
"Kid, back into the ranks now." Laties said slightly over his shoulder and watched the boy scramble back into the group of pages. "I'll be teaching you the right way to fall, the right way to hold a sword, the right way to pretty mcuh doing everything. And if you were wondering this is Lieutenant General Lourette of the North Wind." He said as he pointed to the Viera clinging onto him.
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Post by Lourette on Aug 22, 2007 15:42:57 GMT -8
"Yes, but you can call me Lady Lourette or Miss Lourette if you wish. But call me Sir Lourette and I will do one of two things. One, I will prove to you that I am a female and will not be called 'Sir,' or two, I will beat the living daylights out of you then prive to you that I am indeed a female," Lourette said, freeing Laties from her grasp and turning to face them, unsheathing her rapier as she did so. She smirked at them before glancing at Laties again. "Hey, Lat, d'you mind if I help you in training these little leverets in everything that it takes to be a proper knight?" she asked, winking at him. She twirled her rapier in her hand and pointed it at them. "The training will be rigerous, and I will not be merciful to you, but, if you can pull through, you can definitely call yourself a true Knight."
Rather pleased with her speech, she sheathed her rapier and put her hands behind her head, a grin on her lips. "So, Lat, how was that?" she asked, winking at him. "Personally, I thought that was pretty good!" She crossed her arms again and turned her gaze back to the pages. "Listen, leverets," she said, "What I'm sayin' is that if you can't brave our training, you're probably not ready to be here just yet."
((A leveret is a baby bunny, FYI.)) |
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Post by Laties on Aug 22, 2007 15:50:19 GMT -8
Laties stood there with a small smirk on his face, "I've had better speeches given to me, Sir Lourette."
Quick to take several steps backwards, Laties turned so he faced the pages and pointing at a rack of staves. "Lesson one, since I don't feel like teaching you. You are to pair up and whack each other with those. If I don't see you whacking each other like you mean it, you'll be answering to Sir Lourette's wrath." He watched as the pages quickly went to the stand and grab staves and went to work.
With a sigh, the man squated down and placed his chin on the palm of his hand. "Honestly, who was the genius to put me as a teacher?"
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Post by Lourette on Aug 22, 2007 15:58:24 GMT -8
Lourette's face turned a pale pink with rage, and her lips pressed together until they were a thin line. Narrowing her eyes, she glanced at him and gave him a look that said, 'I'll deal with you later...' She sat down on the grass and crossed her legs, watching the pages with interest as they began training with the staves. She glanced up and down the lines a couple of times, then stood up and walked along the lines, occasionally correcting one of them. "Hold your staff a bit more like this, leveret," she said to one, grabbing his hands and forcing them a bit into the position she wanted. Getting an indignant glare from the page, she shot him a warning glare. "You best be glad I'm helping you. Once you're out on the battlefield, I won't be there for you, leveret... Now get back to training."
She began walking up and down the line of pages, eyeing them with a miniscule amount of interest in her eyes. "Come on, leverets!" she shouted, clapping her hands, "Put your soul into it! It won't be staff-on-staff in a real battle! You'll be fighting for your lives!" |
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Post by Laties on Aug 22, 2007 16:10:12 GMT -8
"Thank you for doing my job!" Laties cupped his hands over his mouth as he shouted. He placed his arms on his knees watching her correct the pages before he finally sat down completely. "It's insanely hot..." He mumbled as he took a moment to tug off the uniform coat and tossed it carelessly aside. "Don't believe people would wear it during this weather."
A moment passed before Laties was back on his feet and picking up one of the staves from the rack and bounced it in his hand, measuring the weight. "Not balanced... Weight it heaviest on this side..." he mumbled to himself before he tossed it into the air and caught it in a firm grip and held it at a ready position. "Let's give them an example so they can learn to fight for their lives."
With that said, Laties lunged towards the nearest group of pages. Once in range, he moved swung his staff in a large arc hitting one of the page's hand and knocking the staff to the floor. A grin formed on his face as he twirled the staff over his arms and began striking the pages in the side and knocking their staves to the floor. The pages stared at him in shock as they tried to get their staves back only to get striked again. "Rule number one, never drop your weapon, once it's on the ground you must depend on your hands." He wacked one of the pages in the head with the heavier side of his staff. "Rule number two, stay on guard no matter who is your opponent. You never know who will betray you."
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Post by Lord Nikanoru on Aug 22, 2007 16:17:25 GMT -8
Standing in the corner of the training court was the frail figure of Lord Nikanoru, royal advisor to the throne and one of the most cruel, frightening individuals one would ever have the displeasure of coming across. He had been observing the training session for almost twenty minutes now without speaking a word or announcing his arrival; the thought of socializing with lowly pages and their expendable, battle-starved instructors made him sick to his stomach. Why was he subjecting himself to the presence of mindless warriors instead of lurking in the interrogation wing, then? Simple: he was asked to randomly drop in on a training session and observe it while taking down a few notes. Why they'd bother him to do it was beyond him, though--it wasn't his job.
Nikanoru stood in that shadowy corner in silence, clasping a tablet in one of his bony hands. His quill moved with remarkable speed, for he had quite the commentary for this training session: Laties complaining about his position as instructor, the Viera girl who's name he had forgotten being a bit too flirty with her male peer in front of the students. Oh, the other higher-ups would love to hear about this! He couldn't help but let out a sadistic chuckle as he took down more notes; they were overwhelmingly negative, with very rare mentions of their effective teaching methods.
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Post by Laties on Aug 22, 2007 16:31:31 GMT -8
A frown formed on Laties' face as he glanced over to where the frail man stood. "So that's what made the air suddenly stink." he mumbled as he flipped over the young page. "Lord Nikanoru," He called out as he motioned the pages to work with each other. "What brings you out of the castle, aren't you afraid you'll catch some kind of illness?" he asked as he walked over wipping the sweat from his brow.
"Or let me guess, you're here to scribble down anything you can here to get me in trouble. Again." He leaned against his staff with a smirk on his face.
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Post by Lourette on Aug 22, 2007 16:40:33 GMT -8
Lourette nodded, a smirk forming on her lips. She picked up another of the staffs, twirling it expertly, then charging into one of the groups of pages and, with her staff and a kick from her foot, she sent two of the staves flying. "Rule number three: If you decide to have a heavy weapon, say a zweihander or a two-handed axe, you should refrain from attacking with anything but your weapon. If you decide to use a lighter weapon, say a rapier, if you're quick enough, you should be able to be catch an opponent off-guard with a kick..." she said. "Rule number four: never attack without reason, even if you happen to see an Order dog somewhere..." she said, laughing.
"But, Miss Lourette, why did you attack us?" one page piped up, obviously confused. "You didn't have a reason, did you?"
Next thing he knew, he was sprawled out on the ground, a splitting pain on the top of his head.
"It's because we're training, you idiotic leveret..." she snapped, shaking her head. "Now, don't ask questions, just train."
Seeing Laties turn and stare at Lork Nikanoru. "Oh, he's probably here to get me in trouble, love," she said, shaking her head. She shot a contemptuous glare at the frail man before turning her back to him to watch the pages. "That little aranorix..." she hissed, using a Dracanian curse that's not suitable to repeat. "He thinks he has the right to report every single flaw to his Majesty and get us in trouble." |
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Post by Lord Nikanoru on Aug 22, 2007 16:46:21 GMT -8
Those piercing hues of his rose from the tablet, and immediately fixed themselves on the general. He was never particularly fond of General Laties, and wasn't afraid to let him know that. Yes, he hated all warriors and fighters, but he held a special kind of hatred for this barbaric twit. Perhaps it was because he was one of the few who dared to challenge him instead of cowering in fear? Probably.
"I do not appreciate being disrespected, general," chastised Nikanoru while he clicked his tongue in disapproval, scribbling down a note of Laties' insubordinate behavior as he spoke. "If you must know, I've been asked to drop by and make a report on your competence and efficiency as a fighting instructor."
His gaze drifted to Lourette as she trained the incompetent pages, then fixed itself once again on the male general with renewed malice and contempt. "And a bit of friendly advice: flirting with a fellow officer in front of pages is generally frowned upon here, in case you forgot." What had happened earlier with the Viera was far from flirting, but he didn't really care.
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Post by Laties on Aug 22, 2007 17:04:16 GMT -8
"Disrespect? I haven't said anything of disrespect but of concern. I mean, you rarely step outside the castle walls." Laties grinned. "And I wouldn't call it flirting, more like a way of showing affection but I do guarantee you that there is nothing going on between me and Lieutenant General Lourette. Unless... You're interested in her, I can arrange something if you'd like."
His grin grew as he placed a firm hand on the advisor's shoulder and shook him somewhat harshly before pulling his hand back. "If you'll excuse me, milord." He said with a polite bow as he picked up his staff and turned to walk back towards the pages. For a moment, he paused as he snapped his fingers softly and stopped to look back at Nikanoru. "Lord Nikanoru, I do not appreciate having lies told to my king. So you best rewrite your report." He said in a mocking tone as he continued walking back.
When the advisor looked back at his report, he found it drenched and the ink dripping off the page as if a cup of water was spilt on it.
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Post by Lourette on Aug 22, 2007 17:22:12 GMT -8
Lourette, with her obnoxiously large ears, heard every word that Laties said. Shaking her head, she waited until the general was back at her side before speaking. "So, there's nothing going on between us, eh?" she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Well, I'll see to that..." Her voice had become surprisingly seductive as she turned to him. "And this is for calling me Sir Lourette..." She immediately brought her hands to her 'breastplate' if you wanted to call it that, and held them there, waiting to see the general's reaction. Yeah, she was going to get it SO much trouble if the old fart decided to write this down, but who cared? She was going to show to the pages what would happen if someone called her Sir Lourette and not what she wanted to be called!
((Should she or shouldn't she? Hmm... And I'm terribly sorry for the short-ness. I'm out of nachos. Now to get some Doritos.)) |
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Post by Lord Nikanoru on Aug 22, 2007 17:25:27 GMT -8
As the younger man spoke so mockingly, Nikanoru could feel the blood boiling in his veins. His expression, previously blank and unreadable as it normally was, was now distorted with anger: his thin lips were pushed together tightly, his teeth gritted; his already narrow eyes narrowed even further, and the perpetual malice in his soulless eyes was now flaring. He had always been very intolerant of insubordination, especially from some egotistical brute.
And he was touching him! His calloused, sweaty hand was resting on his shoulder, staining the expensive silk of his robe. And now he was shaking him! The nerve of that insufferable git! A low growl emitted from his mouth, although he was doing his best to supress it.
"Lord Nikanoru, I do not appreciate having lies told to my king. So you best rewrite your report."
Managing to recompose himself, he gave his reply: "Honestly, I do not care what your opinion of my critique is. And I assure you, this little incident will be elaborated in great detail to his excellency."
When he looked down to scribble down his biased view of his confrontation with the general, he found that the entire sheet he had been writing on was covered with ink! Nikanoru snarled and ripped several sheets of paper from the tablet, tossing them aside with great fury. His little tirade over with, he began to rapidly scribble down something that certainly wasn't in favor of Laties. Needless to say, he did hear the seductive words of Lourette, and intended to exaggerate them once he finished his harsh critique on Laties.
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Post by Laties on Aug 22, 2007 17:31:27 GMT -8
"You should think about it, Lord Nikanoru. Who would our king choose? A man who is willing to fight and die for him, or a man who spends his life in paper work?" Laties asked in a thoughtful tone. "I wouldn't put my life in the hands of a man who lives off of fake reports."
"You're the man in manly." Laties smirked as he lightly tapped her forehead with his staff. "Hehe, he's really angry with me." He whispered wickedly.
"Back to work, little ones!" he barked as he walked past her, twirling his staff in his hand as he walked down the row of pages. Randomly, he would knock a staff from a pages hand and sighing. "Keep a firm grip on your weapon." He scolded as he continued knocking staves to the floor. When he came across a page who managed to keep his staff in his hands, Laties stopped and looked at him with a small smile.
"Very good, very, very good! I like him, Loubun." He said turning to look at the Virea and pointed at the page who smiled like an idiot till Laties' staff struck him square in the chest. "Don't get full of yourself." He growled at the coughing page before he continued walking.
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