Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oliver was hurrying, and he knew he would be late if he didn't. The camel boy was nervous, and this would be his first ever combat lesson. He'd never really approved of violence, but he had known it would come eventually. All the children at D-corp had to learn to fight, his mother had told him. He huffed as he finally made his way outside, and headed over to Kuyoja, looking a tad nervous. As usual, Trace, his brass dragon companion, bounded along at his side, happy to be joining Ollie in another one of his classes.

"Hello, I'm Oliver...I'm sorry if I'm a little late." he said, looking guilty, and hating to make bad impressions. He blinked a little, his eyes getting used to the sun as it was the first time today he'd been out. The waeather was quite gorgeous, and he couldn't help but appreciate the sunshine, and the dew that was sparkling in the grass. He smiled as Trace nudged his head up under his hand. "Oh yes, this is my dragon, Trace." he added on quickly, giving his companion's neck a gentle rub.

((Sigh, I am not sure how I missed this, but I really don't want Olly to fail, or for me to have to start another melee RP x_x I don't know if we can just continue or what. School started and the shop was on a kind of hiatus, so...))

Oliver sighed with relief, glad not to be scolded. He knew some of the teachers could be stricter than others, and with a curious dragonling at his side it was sometimes hard to keep everything on track. "It's good to meet you as well, Mister Kuyoja!"

Trace chirped , and bowed his head in return, though no one had ever bowed to him before. He rather liked this man! His unusual wings giving a soft flutter, he moved over to the side of the matts and flopped into the cool, dewy grass, content to sit and watch while Oliver took his class.

"B-Bojutsu. Okay!" the camel nodded vigorously as the concept was explained to him. He was still a timid creature, not a fighter at heart at all, but all kids needed to learn how to fight. When Kuyoja went to grab one of the bamboo sticks, he did the same.

(Thank you so so much x_x I am so close to finishing his growth reqs lol and I hate to keep starting over with melee)

Oliver nodded, a determined look plastered across his features. He had been dreading this class because he was not the confrontational sort. He didn't like to roughhouse much except if it was playing with Trace or Donat, otherwise he was shy, or liked quieter activities like reading or games. He had finally resolved, however, to just try his best, like his mother had encouraged him to do. All the kids had to learn battle tactics, and there was no point in trying to avoid it.

He held the staff, and quickly took to mimicking the way his teacher was holding his own. At the question, he hesitated for a thoughtful moment before replying. "Well, I am a bit clumsy with my feet sometimes... but I'm a good runner!" he replied with a nod, and a sheepish grin. It was true, if fancy footwork was involved he had to work a bit harder with coordination. Fortunately, the hump hardly hindered the young camel's movement.

Oliver grinned a bit lopsidedly as his teacher looked him over. "If you mean my hump, it doesn't affect much at all. I don't move really fast, but I do have good endurance." he said, providing a little more information. He was no cheetah, but he had wonderful endurance skills, as he had learned with Mr. Solon.

Oliver nodded as Kuyoja spoke, letting the man show him how to hold the staff, and imitating the foot posture that the man showed him, moving his unusual feet accordingly. "No, it feels about right, I think." Oliver replied, hefting the weapon. It was just bamboo after all, and he felt he could handle it.

The camel tilted his head as he watched, very attentive. His eyes moved as he tried to watch Kyoja's hands, to get a feel of what he was doing. It looked kind of tough. He could have sworn he'd seen someone do it before, on TV or something, some silly kung fu movie.

Twirling. Defect the blows. He wanted to remember everything about what he was learning. He often wrote things about what he learned in his classes in his journal, when no note-taking was involved. He nodded slowly.

"I think I see how you're doing it," he said, brows furrowed, "I'll try!" he started to twirl it, a little clumsily at first, not nearly as smoothly as Kuyoja had. One end smacked the ground, and he felt himself blush, quickly lifting the staff up a bit higher as he started again.

Oliver heeded the advice to the best of his abilities, laughing softly as the motions became a bit more easier, pleased as he began to spin the staff a bit better. He was going to have to practice though, he knew.

Oliver nodded back, a good deal more expressive than his teacher was. He felt excited, and hopeful.

"Alright!" he said, and tried it again, and another time, wanting to make sure he had a good grasp of it.

Oliver watched attentively as he was shown the next maneuver, inwardly appreciating the small words of praise, but subduing himself like the teacher seemed to be doing. It helped to reinforce that fighting was to be taken seriously.

Oliver nodded. "Alright, I'll try it out." he replied, and started to twirl the staff again. He faltered the first couple of times, but got a nice, sharp downward swing on his fourth try. "Like this?" he asked, trying it again.