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 Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:10 pm
Ogbonna's face filled with relief. Good, because if this elder were to tell his daddy about what happened, he wouldn't be allowed to leave the house for weeks. He puffed his cheeks out and let out a long breath, before facing Enki.
"You don't know unless you try." He explained, keeping his face calm and collected. "They could have been anyone, Enki. Maybe they wanted to steal or hurt my family, I don't know. Why should I not try to defend my home? They were rude and laughed at me and accused me of stealing when I gave the gauntlets back. They didn't behave nicely, so I wasn't nice to them."
He sat cross legged on the rock and gave Enki a stern look.
"A guard protects." He stated, moving to tap the elder's gauntlets. "You protect. You should understand. I wanted to show them not to mess with me and my home, even if I'm smaller than they are. You can't let people walk all over you, you don't know what they may do after they are through with you."
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Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 2:29 pm
Enki shook his head. This boy was thinking, and some of his points were valid, but this wasn't a time for that train of thought. War was a head of them and all actions needed to be toward keeping peace if a guard is really what Ogbonna wanted to be. While the two men might not have shown that, the two men were also not always under Enki's reign, and he would not allow new recruits to learn the wrong way as their first way.
"But you also have to know when to show respect and even if it's not respect, when to hold your tongue. What if your fight with those two had backfired and they tried to get more men to start a feud between your village and theirs?" He paused, letting the words sink in a little before continuing on with another scenario. "Or what if sometime in the future they are your superiors and are in a position to give you orders? Which will likely be the outcome with this war ahead of us."
Enki looked at Ogbonna. "All guards protect. But all guards must also know when they are ready to start their service. What makes you ready right now, at your age?" Enki asked in all seriousness.
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Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 9:32 pm
Ogbonna did NOT like where this conversation was going. He felt that Enki was belittling him, asking him why he thought he was ready like he expected him to just give up on his dreams because of how young he was. He faced the elder with a very serious expression and clenched his fists repeatedly. This conversation was very upsetting, and he wanted it to end.
"So, I should just give up and wait around because you don't think I can help?" He seethed, a low growl following soon after. "Listen, mister, I know I can, okay? I have never had another dream, this is MY TIME. You can continue to judge me and try to make me feel hopeless, but YOUR WORDS WON'T STOP ME."
He hopped off the rock and wandered a few feet forward, before turning to face Enki again. He crossed his arms over his chest, took a deep breath, and grinned broadly.
"I'm sorry I am too young for your liking, Enki, I wish I could be as old as you." He said, bowing. "Then I would be respected and honored. I wouldn't have to break down walls just to let people know I'm here and ready to help. But, because everyone thinks I'm too small to be of any use, I have to use whatever I can to get ahead."
Again, he turned, moving to slip off his practice gauntlets.
"But, maybe everyone else is right." He began, smirking. "I'm useless. I'll go tell my grandfather that I don't want to be like him anymore because everyone else tells me I can't. I wonder what he'll think of me and the rest of the world then, huh?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:31 am
Enki looked at the young boy and clenched his jaws. The boy was irritating and rubbing on his last nerve. Obviously the boy was too young if he couldn't even have a serious conversation with a figure of authority. If the boy was to just jump to assumptions and claw and bite at the first signs of an adult conversation then he was not ready. "Then go to your grandfather. And tell him how foolish and childish you're being."
He stood from his seated position. "Age is also a sign of experience and maturity, of which you have not shown to me yet." Enki rubbed the dust from his pants and narrowed his eyes at Ogbonna. "If you can't explain yourself to me and give me a calm response and reason for wanting to join the ranks so young when I am here for you, then you are obviously not ready."
It seemed that Ogbonna's misplaced temper and rude response was not the way to go, and his smirk was not helping or having any effect on Enki's feelings.
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Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 11:05 am
Ogbonna folded his arms across his chest, his own jaw clenching. Here for him? What was that supposed to mean? He stepped forward, clenched his fists, and heaved the mother of all sighs.
"I know adults who aren't mature and treat everyone poorly because of pride." He replied. "But, that doesn't matter to you, adults are perfect, like Gods, aren't they?"
He sat next to the elder again, his posture still very reluctant, and crossed his legs. This wasn't going well, but he wasn't even sure why Enki was here in the first place, all of this was unsettling him. He leaned on his hand, gazed up to his elder, and tried his best to swallow another sigh.
"How can I explain it to you? What is it that you expect from me?" He said. "You've told me that I'm incompetent, how am I supposed to react to that? How can I prove it to you when you clearly expect nothing from me? Please, tell me how you want me to stand and how you want me to explain. I don't know what you want from me and I'm upset with you."
He switched arms, still keeping his eyes upon Enki, his gaze becoming far more calm, but still visibly unsettled.
"Why do I need a reason, Enki?" He asked. "What was your reason? Did you want to protect people or stop feeling weak and helpless? Did someone knock you over and you just wanted revenge? Why did you choose this path? I'm curious."
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:00 am
Enki sighed in frustration. This kid just didn't get it. And Enki was not known to have a stunning record for patience or tolerance for juvenile and bratty behavior.
"Look here." Enki grumbled out, trying to hold back the worst of his temper. The kid was rude, making assumptions of how Enki was treating him, and block headed. He didn't know when to talk and when to shut the hell up. And honestly, he didn't need more grunts for the war effort. If Ogbonna wanted to go anywhere with his training, he would have to earn it. It was not going to be thrown at him like he deserved anything he wanted for no reason. "You act like an idiot, I'm going to treat you like an idiot. You act like a person and I'll treat you like a person. You throw a tantrum, I'm going to walk away." He took a breath, though it did little to ease his irritation. "I came here, stopped two thugs from pummeling you into the ground, and asked you a serious question about your motivation. And what did I get? A brat answer from a brat kid who's telling me that I think adults are gods, throws stupid threats in my face about him giving up like I care, and refuses to answer anything I ask him."
"I expect for you to treat me like a person. And I expected a lot more from you than what I'm seeing right now. You're the only one here who said anything about quitting, giving up, expecting nothing, and being incompetent. So please, tell me where I'm supposed to go with this?" He crossed his arm, trying to stifle the need to hit something, and hopefully not hit this kid. "Do you really think that positions of rank and title are just handed out like candy? That you don't need to have a reason to get anywhere in life?"
He sighed. He hoped that every word he was saying wasn't just hitting a rock and bouncing off. This was his last effort. He wasn't going to explain any more, and he wasn't going to stick around for Ogbonna if he couldn't treat others like human beings. "I have my reasons for doing what I do. And I do it well. I worked hard and got to where I was and am now in a position to help others, teach others, and give to the next generation with the only strength I have available. But I don't just take in students and new recruits lightly, and you're YOUNG. Younger than most, so I need to know why and you need to understand that you're young. Why are you doing this so young? What makes you worth my time? You need to pitch to me why you should be a guard, because I need to know that you're not just some brat kid who's going to get hurt on my watch." He hoped that he was done with his speech, so much pointless circling gave him headaches.
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 2:03 pm
Ogbonna leaned backwards, his shoulders arching upwards, as if his subconscious was trying everything it could to cover his ears. Enki's words his him like stones and stuck, digging their way into his skin and making him feel very uncomfortable. He remained silent for a moment, to process what the elder had said, and faced him with a look that betrayed little emotion. Inside, he wanted to cry at being called an idiot, but he wasn't about to let Enki see that. He was going to be an adult, whether Enki thought he could or not.
"I want to protect my village and my friends." He began, fighting the urge to curl up into a defensive ball. "The only time I feel important is when I wear gauntlets. The only time I feel useful is when I try to protect others. I'm not considered of any use when I don't wear them, and so, I want to wear them so people ask me for help." He paused, taking a breath. "I have a lot of things I want to do when I'm older, like travel and meet new people, but a king is coming to threaten all my dreams and the dreams of everyone else I know. I don't want to become someone's slave or have anyone else become one. So, I want to be able to fight back."
The more he spoke, the more relaxed he appeared, though his expression remained in the same fashion. Enki had hurt his feelings, though he understood, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he deserved it, but he wasn't about to let him know. He flexed his fingers, sighed, and turned towards where the men from before had been. He wondered why they had been there to begin with, and why this was happening. Was this all a test? He leaned on his arm, huffed out a bit of air, and faced Enki again.
"I'm sorry, but that's all I have to say." He said. "There's a war coming and I want to be there along side my family and friends. They mean a lot to me, as well as Mez, and I don't want anyone taking it away."
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 2:48 pm
Enki huffed a sigh at the kid's explanation and leaned backward, relaxing on the rock he had resumed sitting on after his last rant. So the kid wasn't as thick as he put off. That was good. Enki was more than hoping that not only would the kid listen, but Enki wouldn't have to sit and argue any longer. As much as he liked to argue, he wasn't in the mood today. "Finally. Something positive out of you." Enki grinned and lightly punched Ogbonna in the arm. He didn't want to not like the kid, he was just making it so hard up until recently.
"Well then, that's all I needed to hear." Enki stood up, holding out a hand for Ogbonna to shake. "You still piss me off kid, but at least you can give me a reason and talk when you need to. I'm hoping you brighten up and learn a little something by the next time I have to see your face." Enki seemed to be satisfied, and it was just as simple as giving him an answer. He could care less about him being young, but there were things that needed to be assessed if anyone was going to start carrying around a weapon.
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