[PRP] Chapter 1: The Start of it All

[Sweenys_Revenge]

Claude was fine playing by himself. In fact, Claude would rather play by himself. But his mother insisted that he get to know other soquili so that he can be "well adjusted" or whatever. He was perfectly adjusted. Maybe. Honestly, he wasn't really sure what she had meant, but he did knew that she was wrong. Claude slashed at a tree branch with the wooden "sword between his teeth. This other foal that probably didn't even know how to sword fight. That meant that he'd have to teach them and it'd be super boring because he just wanted to go on adventures and be Sir Claude like he did every afternoon.

Whatever, his plan as it was was to get this stupid play date over with and tell his mom how horrible it was. After all, how great could it be? Just some foal he didn't even know...

He slashed again at one last branch as he came to the clearing, already in a bad mood at the disruption to his daily routine. Hopefully this would be the last and only day this happened.  

[LunaRei_SilverBlood]

Istas walked at a brisk pace to the field where her play date would be. Moma Forte arranged the afternoon with another local mother who was a mini just like Forte and was raising a full sized foal. The young filly didn't bother reading into the actions any but wasn't exactly thrilled. But knew it wouldn't be so bad.

When Istas arrived at the field, her eyes brown eyes were able to local the colt quickly based on his coloring. She watched him for a moment swinging a stick around at a tree branch. She figured he was playing some kind of game so she made her way over.

"Hey. I'm Istas." She called out to him as she approached. "Why are you swinging that stick around?" She asked tilting her head.

 

[Sweenys_Revenge]

Oh... great. The foal Claude was supposed to spend the day with was a filly. She definitely wouldn't know how to sword fight. AND she called his sword a stick! A STICK! As she approached him, he took equal steps back. If he hid in the woods long enough, he could tell his mom that he had a miserable time and that the filly had made fum of his sword and never have to do this again. His mom was a soft touch, she'd let him do his own thing after that.

"Mmmhp hmmm mmm hmmppphhhh -- " Claude spat out his sword, forgetting that he can't actually talk with it in his mouth.

"It's not a stick," he corrected, head held high with pride. "It's my sword. I'm a knight, and a knight must have a sword." He picked it back up in his mouth and trotted around the filly, very proud of how he put her back in her place. "And I wasn't just swinging it around," he added, finally finding a spot in the clearing where he could store his sword while he talked. "I was practicing my technique. Momma says I'm the best sword fighter there is." Again, pride swelled in his chest, making it puff out.  

[LunaRei_SilverBlood]

honeyed cuppycake

Oh, so the colt was using his imagination. That was more then what she had been expecting. Though a knight? She didn't know to much about them but she knew a few things from the stories Forte told her. "That so? Well your stance is wrong when you hold your sword." She had observed that he hooves were to close together and would have toppled right over if he was actually fighting with another.

Istas wasn't trying to be a smart a** but she wanted to make sure that he would be doing it right if he was going to do it. He could hurt himself otherwise. She walked over to wear his put his sword and she grabbed it, holding it in his mouth at an angel and she took a wide stance. "mmke mis" (Like this) She talked around the sword the best she could. Putting the sword back down she tilted her head at him. "If you keep going the way you were, you might end up hurting your legs." She nodded to him.  

[Sweenys_Revenge]

LunaRei_SilverBlood

She took his sword. She...... she took... his sword. Claude have had to bite down the rage in his gut as the filly clenched his sword between her teeth and dared to tell him how to be a knight but... there was no anger. Even his brother Sweetpea was not allowed to touch his sword... Claude watched the filly's stance carefully, noting where her feet were planted as she swung his sword around. When she placed it back down, he carefully nudged it underneath him in case she felt the urge to snatch it again. Claude wasn't sure shock would override anger if it happened again.

"Thanks," he said carefully, eyed the filly from hoof to snout. "How did you... how did you even learn to sword fight in the first place?" Claude had been under the impression that only knights knew how to sword fight, so how did she figure it out.  

[LunaRei_SilverBlood]

honeyed cuppycake

Istas shifted the weight of her body and glanced to the side when the colt asked the question. The truth was, she was getting picked on by the other local foals in the area because she was 'different'. She was a full sized foal and the same height as her mini mother. Istas couldn't understand why it was a big deal but sometimes the taunting got a little physical and she learned quickly how to keep herself balanced. But this is why Forte urged for her to meet this foal, he was another full sized, true but his mother was also a mini.

"It's all about your body. If you can't keep your balance then swinging a st-sword, wouldn't matter. If you can't keep your balance then how can your defend if you're attacked." She stated plainly. The filly never fought back, her father Liberty told her to be the 'bigger' horse and turn the other cheek, stand her ground. He taught her how to do that before he left.

"So I never learned to sword fight, but I learned to take the higher road." She shrugged some glancing at him and then glancing away. She wondered if he ever got picked up for the family situation but he seemed rather... hot tempered and probably wouldn't ever admit it.  

[LunaRei_SilverBlood]

Sweenys_Revenge

Just a reminder tag <3  

[Sweenys_Revenge]

LunaRei_SilverBlood

This time nothing could stop the rage fire in Claude's eyes. He had been impressed with her, even thankful to her for her lessons in sword fighting but the moment she implied that his road was anything other than honorable... it was just too much.

"Higher road," she almost screamed, voice reaching a slightly higher pitch with each word. "Higher road?! There is no higher road than the knights road! My road! Who else will protect my mother if I don't!" Like she even knew. She probably didn't understand how hard Claude worked to make sure his mother was safe, and how worried he always was about her. Even if she was raised by an Usdia too. Every muscle in Claude's body tensed as he thought about it. He knew about what happened before he was born, with that stallion... how he'd hurt his mother. No one would ever do that again if Claude had a say in it.

"What do you even know about knights," Claude grumbled, finally fizzling down from his wildfire temper tantrum.  

[LunaRei_SilverBlood]

Sweenys_Revenge

Istas sighed at the other foal. There goes his temper, reading in the words to much. Had he been the enemy he would have been easy to cover come. She couldn't help but roll her eyes. It was like dealing with a meat head. "No, I'm simply saying that there is more then one way to overcome someone. It doesn't have to be physical all the time. Using her words and head can be just as potent as your body or a sword." She didn't want to address his concerns about his mothers safety

"And I don't know much about knights but I DO know that violence is not always the answer." She nodded matter of factually. If the colt realized this, he would become a formidable opponent as an adult if he could implement both tactics. But what did she really know? She was just a foal herself.