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 Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:35 pm
 Claude was still getting used to his new muscles. Since his recent growth spurt, some formations of tissue had srpung up he didn't even know existed. This had resulted in a bit of a gangly appearence and an awkward way. Not that this was out of the ordinary. And Claude knew this. But he found it very unknightly to be so clumsy all the time.
He, also, couldn't wait for a number of things to cease. Such as the obnoxious craking if his vioce. Or the way he seemed to trip over air. Or when his knees just gave out for no reason. And then there were the endless boughts of self doubt he needed to be absolutley rid of.
The cracking was easily enough diguised with a good cough now and then when his throat felt funny. And the self doubt could be ignored. But the tripping and the meaningless swooning was just ridiculous. It's cute when foals or his mother pulled stunts like that. But not him. His wings flittered in his frusteration and it only increased ten fold.
He couldn't even use the damn things. What kind of Wind was he that he couldn't even fly? Someone had tried to teach him once, but he just never caught on. He was a foal then, not as strong. And now he was and there was now no excuse for him being like he was.
"I need a teacher..."
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:41 am
Ambroise's family had always been renowned for their prowess in battle, from aerial combat to grace on land each male possessed the skills to at least a degree. Self defence was regards as one of the most valuable skills an individual could learn. Not only could it keep the creature alive, it could also protect those it cared for dearly. As such, every male born within Islagiatt was thrust into the instruction of at least one of the mentors that existed in the herd. Whether it be Crousador, Blais, Grencia or Ambroise - each remained a constant in their students' lives until they were satisfied that the lessons were learnt and their charge would be safe.
Ambroise was arguably one of the most dangerous and merciless of the mentors. He had no regard for pain and he rarely accepted the whining of another. If an individual was too weak or claimed they couldn't go on then they would be dismissed. Ambroise was patient when he saw potential but he did not tolerate the lazy or those who gave up. To become his student it was paramount that the individual was confident in his chosen path and that he was determined to continue no matter how hard Ambroise pushed him. It was for this reason that Ambroise had only instructed four individuals and all have them had turned out admirably.
You see Ambroise could guarantee something that others could not - he could guarantee they would come out strong and well trained, but he could also ensure that they kept the 'quirks' that they had entered with. If they were charming they would remain as such, if they were rebellious then they would keep that spark... All he made certain to do, was to hone it.
It was said that his expectations were so high that only the select few would seek him for advice. As such, the stallion had been free to continue with his own meditations and training for many months. His most recent student had 'graduated' so to speak and with no other to hold his interest he had returned to his duties. Now he soared across the skies of Islagiatt territory, rainbow wings glistening within the sun. His patrols intended to keep out the unwanted visitors in his homelands. Elderwillow could protect the lowest regions but he protected the peaks.
Nevertheless the spirits had a strange way of operating and unbeknownst to him - with the rising sun had come the 'birth' of his newest apprentice. He had yet to meet him or catch sight of him but no doubt the spirits would make him known soon and what a surprise that would be!
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:21 pm
Claude, on the other hand, was not this stallion, nor did he come from this sort of line. His mother was a fervent passifest. She would go out of her way not to fight, and was known to severly punish her children when they fought. Even if it was for good reason, his mother used to make him very sorry for ever thinking about fighting. And so, he grew up on pins and needles whenever a fight was brewing. He knew he could do it, he knew he could take someone down if they decided to fight him, but he also knew that his tiny mother would look at him with big brown eyes and shun him for several days if he did. So he just grew up not fighting.
His eyes lifted as a shadow passed over him. He knew of these lands. He knew he really shouldn't even be there, but he needed the assistence of the fighters in these parts. He shifted uncomfortably as he also noted the appearence of this stallion. Claude knew of Ambroise, he knew well. He'd often talked with other soquili who told him of his highly affective, albeit brutal training methods. And from the second he heard about then he knew that this stallion would teach him to be a knight. Which leads one to the reason he was here in these lands sans invite. To find Ambroise and ask to be his pupil.
However, therein lies the question: what if he was turned down? Claude shrugged and decided he would cross that bridge when it came. For now the big challenge was getting his attention. He doubted he would be able to hear him from that hieght, and flying was out of the question... but, Ambroise had to land sometime, right? Claude didn't think that even he could fly forever. He smiled and took off into a gallop, following as close as possible to ambroise's shadow. And if he was turned down, then hey, at least he would get a good work out, right?
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:50 am
It was certainly a good way to warm up, to pursue a winged being on foot as they soared across the skies. Needless to say, Ambroise was not lacking in observation and while the whisper of the winds cut off much of his hearing he could sense the creature below him. He had always prided himself on being familiar with each member of his herd and each member of allied herds but now and again there were those that strayed into Islagiatt territory for reasons unknown. This appeared to be one of those occasions and his pale eyes shifted towards the ground, it wasn't long before he caught sight of the young stallion trailing him.
His brow rose subtly at this and he took into account the moving of the mouth on the youthful creature. He was trying to call something but his words had been dismissed in favour of spiritual whispers. Consequently it was up to Ambroise to respond in the appropriate manner. As such, he flicked his wings and twisted off his coarse. Using the thermals beneath his wings he spiralled down towards the rocky ground below to meet with the soquili so intent on grasping his attention. It was rare that creatures even attempted to converse with him and given his notoreity as a more stoic and antisocial individual it was bound to be important.
His descent lasted for a short while longer and then with only the faintest of 'clips' across the rocky ground he came to land. He settled his wings, a soft shake of each to increase the blood flow and then furled them, cuddling them to his sides for added warmth. With this done he lifted his head and waited patiently for the coltish adolescent to cross the horizon to meet him. Needless to say, he had given quite the chase and Ambroise had manners enough to grant him reprieve. Claude would not run for much longer...
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:24 pm
Claude noted his decent and cheered a little. Alright, Mission A was a success! Now he had to just, you know, catch up. And so he did, with much heavey breathing and aching limbs. He clamered to a stop, still not in total control of his new, long limbs, and shook out his slightly disshevled mane. But, the thing was, he never really got past Mission A. He didn't really think Ambroise would stop for him, and so he didn't figure out a dialouge. And so, in the presence of, let's face it, such an intimidating stallion, especially for an adolescent, he phished around in his brain for something to say. And this is what he came up with.
"Hi!" He kicked himself mentally, and winced visually. "I-er-mean, hello." He cleared his throat and began again. "My name is-er-Claude, and I come from the mountains near the clearings, and I came to humbly emplore you to... if you feel like it, that is... take me under you wing," he slapped himself on the inside for the horrible and unintentional pun. "that is... Would you mind taking me on as an apprentice?" Wow, okay, that's to the point. He cleared his throat and tried to remedey his possible rudeness. "Erm, I mean, You're known all over for your prowess in arial combat and such things... and I would very much... like to... learn..." His dissipating confidence was almost visual.
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:39 pm
This was like a train wreck and much as Ambroise would have liked to look away the opportunity simply wasn't there. It was against his principles and it was against all forms of etiquette. There was no mistaking that Claude was a very young colt, naive and only just introduced to the world by his family. Yes he was growing quickly into an adult but he didn't act like one. His social skills were low though it was hypocritical for Ambroise to judge and his physical appearance left much to be desired. For a start the muscles upon his legs could barely hold him up and his wings were so emaciated that it looked like they'd never been used.
Yet here he was... Before Ambroise requesting that the stallion accept him as an apprentice. It was bizarre, Ambroise had never before encountered what he would deem a 'weakling' - that being said it was highly likely that 'weaklings' wouldn't come near him in the first place. Whatever the reason behind Claude's rather poor appearance though, he had at least had the confidence to seek him out and further more...to pursue him until the stallion had given him the attention he sought.
"You speak with such familiarity to one you have never met," he mused calmly, ruffling his wings. "Yet you approach a creature who is known for being one of the more 'demonic' trainers," he raised a brow at this briefly before his expression recovered. Ever stoic, it was difficult to read the thoughts of the rainbow soquili even in the face of a panting colt. "As much as you would like to learn under my instruction I question your ability to do so - why do you not seek out a more merciful master?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:28 pm
Claude looked away with with a sky smile. "It was my mother. She'd never met a stranger in her life. Her personality just rubbed off on me, I guess. I've just grown to be trusting top everyone. My brother says it will be my downfall." He shook his head as well as all memories of his mother. They always lead to thier last encounter. It was when Claude said he would be leavig her for a bit. She looked like he told her that he was dying. He promised her over and over that he'd come back, but it didn't help. Finally he just had to turn away and go on his journey. He both longed for and feared his return home. But he shoved the thoughts away and turned his attention back to the present.
Claude shook his head and stamped the ground. "I don't want one. I want you to teach me! What reason would you ahve to doubt me? Didn't I follow you -- on foot -- while you flew above me only to gain your attention? Didn't I brave these lands to seek you out? You're the best, Ambroise, and that's what I need to learn from." He puffed out his chest, only to have it deflate as his irritation wore off and his sense of self came back. He cleared his throat again and looked to his left for a second. "I have my reasons," he muttered in conclusion.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:20 am
"Any soquili can follow on hoof, in fact certain races are required to. Braving these lands as been done before and the highest peaks are already home to a few of the strongest," he raised a brow and found it rather easy to blow Claude's declarations of bravery out of the water. It was perhaps abrupt, but Ambroise's methods could be even more brutal and abusive than this. If Claude couldn't recognise that he had simply done the same thing as others and gave up, then Ambroise would not waste his time. This was not to say Ambroise wasn't impressed by his attempts to get his attention (to a degree) but he was a stallion who preferred his apprentices to be humble - there was no need to bring good deeds to anyone's attention when those you aided would do it for you.
"However your brother is correct in inferring that absolute trust in everything will be your downfall," he chose to skip to the next topic and would watch carefully for the shifting facial expressions and body language as he continued. "It is what causes death to the naive and the weak - they are unaware of the threat that exists directly beside them," he rolled his shoulders and ruffled his wings, relieving the tension that was currently plaguing his shoulders and placing a ridiculous amount of weight upon them.
"Reason or no, I have no desire to teach a child who cannot give me a straight answer," he pointed out plainly. Claude's mutter hadn't gone unnoticed and Ambroise was not one to let such an excuse go by him. He didn't train those who wanted to keep secrets, he would always have that suspicion in the pit of his stomach that they would use his methods for reasons he did not agree with. "The relationship between teacher and apprentice is absolute, if you cannot trust me now then there is nothing I can do to help you..." he paused for a short time to let this settle and released a sigh.
"Simply seeking out the 'best' to receive tutorship will not help you unless the mentor knows what you aspire towards."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:11 pm
Claude chose not to react to the belittlement of what he viewed as a great achievment, nor the stallion siding with his brother about what he saw to be wrong. He simply shook his head and huffed. He'd been raised through sheltered living. And his mother always glorified the smallest accomplishments. When Claude was a foal and he first learned to walk it was as if he told his mother he would be a father. She went on about it for weeks and never let Claude forget how proud she was.
He also didn't see it weak to trust others. He saw it week to be afraid of everyone. He knew who he could and could not trust completly, but he always held some sort of trust with all beings. Just as your could trust a kelpi to lead you to water, you could trust an unhungery kalona to -- usually -- leave you alone. Trust didn't mean spilling your every dark secret. It meant knowing what to expect. To Claude anyway. He felt parenoia would be a Soquili's downfall.
"I understand." He sighed and looked away. This was one thing he'd really rather not share. But he had to think of his mother and brother before his pride. "Not long ago my mother's other son came to see her. It was partially my fault, I wanted to travel outside of our normal lands... into lesser travels areas to explore. He found her, cornered her, and almost killed her. I couldn't do anything but shout. Whether he got annoyed with me and left or he figured it wasn't worth the effort I'll never know. But I felt awful just standing by, unable to so anything. I -never- want my mother to be so vunerable ever again. My brother can take care of himself, but my mtoher would never hurt another soul, not even a skin walker, if she could help it."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:47 pm
A spoilt child was easily weaned of it's mother's milk - it would take time and the methods would either make or break the teenager but it would be done. Ambroise would see to it that Claude received amples amounts of training, his limbs would scream in agony of course...but by the end of it he would feel that sense of fulfillment that all warriors sought. Learning to fight was all well and good, a brawl was relatively easy to grasp the concept of but Claude had requested something of much greater value. Spoilt as he might have been he had uttered the correct words and consequently he had received the slightest ounce of respect from his mentor.
"You do not desire to learn the art of warfare, you are not a brawler..." he murmured at last. "What you seek is the knowledge and experience that will permit you to protect those you love," he pointed out firmly. He arched a brow at this, mulling over the words he had spoken himself. He'd heard them all before and had spouted them himself as a child but hadn't really understood them until he had taken the plunge and actually fought for everything he loved. "You aspire to great things but they require courage and discipline that you do not yet have," he popped his lips and flashed a dark smile.
"You are lucky I am a patient creature, you have my word I will teach you what you seek provided you survive the pressures and expectations placed upon you," he murmured softly. This in mind he ruffled his wings together and at last asked the question he had permitted to settle in the back of his head for the previous few minutes. "Now on to my final question..."
"Why is it that a creature with wings chose to run, when flight would have been a far more efficient way of grasping my attention."
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:01 pm
Claude wasthe verge of cheering before he heard the last question. He cleared his throat and looked away. "I... never learned. It's not that I didn't try, I did! But I don't know any flying Soquili. I was adopted as a basket into a family of Usdias. My mother tried very hard to teach me, but in the end she couldn't do much." He turned away, not ashamed of his mother, of of his lack of flight. Surley it would not have been too hard to find a flight instructer. He just never wanted to. He honeslty never wanted to leave home. Even this trek, essential as it may be, was hard to begin. He missed his mother often. Even now he wished that she would pop out of nowhere as she sometimes did and shout at Ambroise for being so rude to him. But that was out of the question. She was back where she should be. Home.
He lifted his head out of his thoughts and shrugged. "I guess... I never had insentive to want anything more than what I had until recently." He winced visibly at the painful memory of his mother's attack. "I probably sound like a momma's boy, but she really does mean a lot to me. She's a good mare, especially since she pciked up a atrange basket, knowing it could have been anything!" He stamped his hoof, knowing what was going through Ambroise's mind as he spoke about her. He bowed his head in respect, however, and said, "thank you, Ambroise. When will I begin?" He couldn't deny that he was anxious to start now, but he held it in
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:52 am
It was totally understandable at that moment. Claude had led an exceptionally sheltered life and was raised by a Usdia. There would have been no way that a petite creature such as a Usdia could possibly grasp the concept of flight. The mechanics were simply too complex and even another with wings would sometimes find it difficult to explain, more often than not it was to do with instinct. It was suitably easier to instruct a foal when they were reckless and less inclined towards personal safety but with an adult it was going to take more patience and though Ambroise was loathe to admit it... more creativity. The gods knew that Ambroise loathed too much creativity as it generally required for him to make additional effort, but if his student was determined then it was only fitting that the older stallion should grant him the same level of loyalty.
Respect would come later.
"I do not question your mother's integrity, nor do I judge your inability to fly against you. Your lack of flight is easily dealt with even if it will take a considerable amount of effort to do so," he mused. Rolling his shoulders the soquili mulled over the colt's enquiry for a little while longer before nodding. The highlands like these were not appropriate for the initial lessons, flight was something that would have to be dealt with immediately and consequently... Ambroise was going to have to move for the duration of the next few lessons. Perfect - not, given that he positively loathed the lowlands.
"You will begin as soon as you reach the coasts, aim for the northern shores and I will join you there. Your flying lessons will begin there," he explained. It may not have made sense to the colt as to why Ambroise was going to lower ground for such things, but the water would provide ample cushion each time the male fell - a valuable thing to have when Ambroise did not have a unicorn on immediate call and constant standby.
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:32 pm
Claude felt much better knowing that his mother's dignity was no longer at stake. He deflated himself of a lot of his hot air and nodded his silent thank you. It was the effort that caught his attention. It's not that he didn't want to put it forth, but he was raised to be a lazy bum. His mother always taught them to work for what they wanted, but that was counter acted by his two leggers bringing him everything he needed. It was for this reason that he was a bit thicker than the standard adolescent. He looked at his slightly fluffy waitline and began to calculate the distence from here to the shore line.
He wanted to cry. That was so long! He cleared his throat and nodded, adding, "it's very likley that you'll reach there first, sir..." as he fwapped his sides with his bushy tail. He wasn't arguing, he was simply stating, with a slight underline of normal, teenage complaint. He turned and looked over his shoulder, silently asking for permission to begin his slightly obnoxious and seemingly unneseccary journey to the northern shores.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 6:46 am
Typical teenager indeed! Ambroise had seen quite a few of those in his time and remained unphased by the tone of voice that had been used. Claude had wanted to train and this would be a good warm up for him. The long trek would probably wear him out, but in doing so it would strengthen his lengths and permit him to become more accustom to the limits of his body. Like all of Ambroise students he would begin to learn the concept of 'know your limits, pace yourself and rest when tired'. The majority of Ambroise's students had learnt this on the slopes, but this trek would be a 'brief' introduction to it so that Claude would perhaps recognise certain aspects of his training much more quickly than Ambroise's previous students.
Given his inability to fly, this would place Claude at an advantage... The time wasted in teaching him to fly would be made up in the time saved in teaching him other concepts. There was method to Ambroise's madness and hopefully when Claude had completed his training he would recognise it. Stoic and expressionless as his new mentor was, Ambroise wasn't without logic or consideration for his pupils.
"I always arrive first," he agreed softly. With a nod of recognition for Claude's preparedness, he motioned with his wing for Claude to get going. Not only would he have to descend the slopes, but he would have to travel across the plains and further forest to reach the coast. Still, at least his new pupil would be content in the knowledge that few came to such shores and as such the most humiliating aspect of his training would be unseen. When Claude came home he would simply be able to fly and his friends need know nothing more!
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:18 pm
Well, thought Claude, someone is a bit confident. Though it was true. Ambroise was older, stronger, and air borne. Everything Claude wasn't, at the moment. But Claude gladly accepted the non-existent challenge. And, like the typical teenager, he saw himself getting there first i his minds eye. After all, how good could this old stallion be, right? He tossed his mane and began at a steady gallop to the shores. He looked up at the sky. It was about midday now. On foot he would probably get there by evening or even night fall. This was, most definatley, not on Claude's 'things that make me happy' list. He huffed to himself.
And so his journey wore on. He had stopped running baout six yards out of the mountains. And now he just kind of plodded. Alright, so maybe it would be about dawn by the time he reached the shores. Of course, what with his current surroundings, he couldn't tell what time of day it was. The trees were far too close together to see any of the sky. He huffed again for what must have been the billionth time and pressed on.
Finally he made it out of the forest. The setting sun glared at him and he squinted slightly. Suddeny he longed for the coverage of the forest. He sighed to himself. The forest around his home wasn't nearly as dense. It was, actually, quite pleasent. He wondered vaugly what his mother was doing, and then forced his muscles into a run towards his goal. The plains were difficult in thier own way. It's flat expanse was opressinve in the sense that it never ended. So he tripped a little when he dug his hoof into sad.
He looked down, drenched in sweat and shaking. He chuckled a little and tossed his mane. His under developed muscles gave out on him then. He flopped onto the ground and fanned himself with his wing. So, it was good for something! But he made it. And that was his little victory.
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