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Post by Shinko on Jun 10, 2010 21:57:39 GMT -5
((Yup, that'll do just fine. XD))
"Cowardly is it? Too afraid to fight head on am I?" The Bori snorted. "We are knights, Vrilyo, not questing heroes. We are in the business of defending Meridell. Yes, we fight with honor, but we also fight with sense. Just because you think that the dodge and counterstrike method is beneath you, that doesn't mean your opponent will decide not to do it to please you. You saw for yourself how effective straightforward aggression is against these techniques. In a real battlefield, you would most certainly be killed. You might take some enemies down with you, but that wouldn't make you any less dead."
He looked away, his expression sad. "If necessary, we lay down our lives for this land, but only if we have no other choice. As long as there is a way to stay alive, we must take it, that we may live to fight and defend Meridell another day. A dead knight can offer no protection."
((He's referencing the knight who was with him when he was captured. The one that was killed. Not that Vrilyo would know that, but I figured you should know.))
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Post by retired on Jun 11, 2010 0:10:51 GMT -5
(Would you believe I once told a friend of mine something similar to this? The line "You might take some enemies down with you, but that wouldn't make you any less dead." pretty much encompasses what I told him that day.
Okay. Since Vrilyo doesn't know about Gary's past, what he's about to say will probably be appropriately oblivious to Gary's past experiences. If Vrilyo's misunderstanding goes a little too far, I can always rewrite it. I wasn't quite sure where to take it, so I defaulted to Vrilyo's usual anger and stubborn adherence to his personal code of ethics.)
Vrilyo's face sank into a deep scowl as a burst of anger swelled up in his bruised chest. "'Beneath me'?!" he repeated heatedly, "You've convinced yourself I'm some arrogant little kid, haven't you?!"
He continued loudly, "And you probably think I'm stupid, too! You think I don't know there's people out there who'll do anything to win?! I've known that since the day a kid punched me in the back of the head while I was trying to protect my little brother from him and his delinquent friends! And you think I'm naive just because I believe warriors should have standards when fighting each other?! "
He pointed an accusing finger at the older Bori, "Fighting fair's the only thing that distinguishes victory from murder! Dodging definitely isn't the MOST cowardly thing you could do, but you make it sound like it's okay to throw dirt and stab people in the back! Do you expect me to go home and face my Mother knowing I survived a battle by fighting dirty?! There is no honor for a person like that, and you don't deserve to be called a knight if you think there is!"
Flapping his wings furiously, he raged, "I was starting to think you might be the first respectable instructor I've had besides my Dad, but there's no way I could ever respect some one who thinks that doing whatever it takes to continue his pathetic existence is in any way honorable!" With the full intention of insult, in order to express his disgust with Gary's words, he added, "You're no better than one of Darigan's thugs!"
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Post by Shinko on Jun 11, 2010 5:27:01 GMT -5
((Whoof. That wasn't smart. Gary wasn't really meaning to insult Vrilyo, he wasn't even lecturing really, it was more of an explanation. He couldn't have picked a worse thing to say.))
The knight, who's expression had been full of simmering anger through Vrilyo's outburst, suddenly went dead. He clenched his fists, looking the Eyrie straight in the eyes. "If you think that fighting defensively is so dishonorable that it makes me equitable to the atrocities committed by Darigan's Citadel... it only goes to show how naive you really are." his muscles went slack, and voice was hollow as he added. "I pray for your sake you are never disabused of those delusions in the way I was. There are some things no man can countenance."
Turning towards the squire without an ounce of emotion in his face or voice, he said, "You are dismissed, Squire Vrilyo. I don't care what you do with yourself, only that you report back to the disused war room after lunch for your next lessons."
Without another word, the Bori departed. Before Vrilyo had a chance to react, another voice sounded from somewhere above. "That was phenomenally stupid."
A large purple Uni was perched on the roof, staring down at Vrilyo with an expression of disgust. "Word of advice kid; don't ever mention the Citadel around Gary except in the context of historical fact. Frankly, you're lucky that it was me here and not Jeran; he'd have boxed your ears for that."
((This, by the way, is Ohu, Gary's Uni partner. He's kind of a smart-mouth with a sarcastic streak a mile wide. He's not there for the "big reveal" yet, obviously, but he decided to watch the session out of boredom and curiosity. I'm thinking he'll probably just drop some hints that leave Vrilyo to speculate.))
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Post by retired on Jun 19, 2010 20:51:03 GMT -5
(Should I rewrite Vrilyo's reply? I worry that it was too over-the-top.)
"I don't have ears to be boxed, you abominable hoofed creature." Vrilyo replied in a flat tone and with little regard to the stranger. His eyes followed Sir Garette as he left. The hotheaded eyrie's temper had been cooled by his teacher's reply. He had been prepared for a demerit, or a long-winded lecture, but Gary's reaction had eft Vrilyo rather confused.
It occurred to the squire quite suddenly that Gary had likely experienced the tactics of the Citadellians first hand. He was certainly old enough to have been a knight during the wars. A bit of regret struck him as he reconsidered the gravity of the comparison he had just made. He masked his feelings quite well, however, maintaining his scowl.
Bah. he thought, Call me naive if you want, but I still can't forgive him for implying that anything goes in a fair fight... But what was that about?...
Curiosity inevitably overwhelmed the boy's spite as he turned to look at the purple Uni. "You there!" he yelled upwards, "Do you know the Bori who was here just now? The green giant? Why are you here? Did some one send you?"
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Post by Shinko on Jun 19, 2010 21:26:12 GMT -5
((Nah, it's fine. It wouldn't be believable for them to make friends given Vrilyo's... colorful personality without hitting some hitches. And misunderstandings like that are pretty much what I would expect from an unblooded young warrior.))
The Uni leapt down from the rooftop, landing daintily on the hard packed earth of the training field. As he paced towards Vrilyo, he replied, "For your information my name is Ohu, not 'you there.' And I should certainly think that I know Gary. He and I have been partners since he was a newly minted squire." Raising an eyebrow, he added, "I'm here because I know for a fact that Gary takes a great deal of joy in teaching. Since he gets little enough pleasure these days, I was looking forward to seeing him truly happy and in his element." Ohu left the sentence, and all it implied, hanging.
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Post by retired on Jun 19, 2010 22:38:50 GMT -5
(Okay.)
Glaring at Ohu, Vrilyo said sternly, "I don't have a reputation for being an enjoyable student to have, but that's because I've only ever had one teacher that didn't annoy me and talk down to me." Crossing his arms, he calmly continued, "You say you know him well? Then, before I go to lunch, you will tell me what I want to know about him." It sounded like more of a command than a request. "His brand of annoying is unique. Despite that, he seems strong. Why is he really posted all the way out in Illusen's Glade?..."
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Post by Shinko on Jun 20, 2010 5:30:13 GMT -5
((His brand of annoying is unique? That's a weird way of phrasing it XD))
Ohu snorted. "Because he feels that it's the place where he can be the most useful. Did you know that before the post of King's Champion was given to Jeran, Skarl offered it to Gary? Gary turned it down. There were several personal reasons behind this, but the main thing was that he had come to know himself pretty well. He knew that he was too headstrong and opinionated to last long in the cutthroat world of court politics. His strong sense of morality would have eventually gotten the courtiers to hate him."
Stamping a hoof, he added, "I don't suppose you've ever heard the phrase 'compassionate reassignment'? When something happens to a knight- say, his father is dying- he can choose to be assigned to the outpost or fort closest to where his father is, to be there when he dies. Gary went through a lot in the first war. He was offered compassionate reassignment to the capitol after the war so that he could 'be safe' but he turned that down to. 'I'm a knight,' he said. 'My job is to defend Meridell. I want to be where the danger is so I can fight it.'"
"That," Ohu concluded, "Is why Gary is posted in Illusen's Glade. Offered Compassionate Reassignment, it's where he choose to go."
((I don't know if knights got Compassionate Reassignment in the olden days, but it does happen in today's military. My dad used to be in the miliarty, and when my grandmother was dying he got reassigned to the base nearest to where she lived so we could be there.))
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Post by retired on Jun 21, 2010 22:17:09 GMT -5
Vrilyo stood in silence before replying quietly, "Is that so?..." Again, he stood in silence, pondering.
Suddenly, the silence was broken as the eyrie turned in the direction of his house and said, "If you show up again, don't be distracting." With that, he lifted into the air and flew homeward.
(I didn't know about Compassionate Reassignment, but come to think of it, it only makes sense.
Hm... Where should we go from here? Directly to "after lunch"?)
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Post by Shinko on Jun 29, 2010 22:02:07 GMT -5
The Bori rubbed his face wearily as he headed towards the old war room. When is this going to stop? He thought, frustration warring with despair. It's always the same... I think things are getting better, I think I'm finally moving beyond it, and then someone says or does something that brings it all back. I'm so fed up with being like this.
"Oy!" a rough voice called, interrupting Gary's thoughts. He looked up in surprise as three knights emerged from a side corridor to block his path. Two of them the Bori had never seen in his life; the third, a large Tonu, was vaguely familiar.
"Can I help you?" Gary asked quietly. The expressions on the knights faces were decidedly malicious. The Bori had a fairly good notion of what was coming next.
"We heard that ol' Faeriefur was back in the castle," the Tonu replied with a sneer. "My friends and I couldn't believe it. As far as we were aware, you never leave your idilic little forest hideaway. Too scared of the Darigani delegations to show your ugly face in court."
Gary's ears flattened, but he kept his expression carefully neutral. This wasn't the first time he had faced ridicule from his fellow knights. The magic gifted to him by Illusen made many of them certain he was a coward, and they treated him accordingly.
"But it looks like we was wrong after all," The Tonu went on, "'Cause here you are, plain as day. Wouldn't mistake that eyesore of a hairstyle if I was wearing a blindfold."
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Post by retired on Feb 17, 2011 0:15:32 GMT -5
Vrilyo stood hidden in the stairwell, listening to unseen adults chatting with his new instructor. He had decided to wait until it seemed like the conversation was nearly over to reveal himself. He disliked doing something even remotely sneaky, but even more did he dislike the possibility of having to deal with more chatty teachers.
Vrilyo had been making no effort to hurry his steps, moments before, as he trudged up the stairway for his next lesson with Gary. He was still contemplating what Ohu had told him before he flew home for lunch. The Uni had said Gary "went through a lot" in the first war, and as he pondered this over his tomato soup and buttered toast he wondered just what those words really meant. He had asked his father before about the wars he had fought in. Though Orin always spoke of the valor and ferocity with which his troops had defended the farmlands, by the end of his stories the details of battles became vaguer, and his eyes would always grow misty and distant as he spoke of the childhood friends who never made it back home.
His teachers always told him that the greatest glory and honor a knight could earn was by putting your life on the line in the name of the King and the country. Yet whenever Vrilyo asked them how they had gone about that task, many would grow silent and somber, sometimes unconsciously scratching the scars of old battle wounds.
What services to the crown could Gary have accomplished to be offered the title of King's Champion? What events had he lived through that deemed him in need of a compassionate reassignment?...
As Vrilyo neared the top of the steps and slowly pulled himself from his thoughts, his attention was caught by the sound of deep voices and bad grammar. Now he waited, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed in impatience.
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Post by Shinko on Feb 17, 2011 8:02:10 GMT -5
(Kept the spleen going for a while, feel free to have Vrilyo jump in and interrupt if you feel there's an appropriate place for it. Otherwise, fweee, half an hour of agonizing over dialogue, go!)
Gary sighed wearily. “It’s good to see you again too, Sir Isaac. Now, if we’ve gotten the traditional less than chivalrous greeting out of the way, I do have somewhere I’m supposed to be right now.”
“Yeah, we’d heard about that. Taken in Orrin’s boy have you?” The Tonu laughed uproariously, his friends only a beat behind. “Guess only a broken down old warhorse like you would have the patience to endure his constant spurring, eh?”
The bori’s fur bristled, but he kept his voice calm and polite, sinking into a very formal mode of speech almost without thinking about it. “Whatever quarrel you have with me, please keep my student out of it. What I have done or not done is on my own account, not his.”
“Speaking of things not done,” a kougra standing next to Sir Issac said with a smirk, “We couldn’t help but notice tha’ you’ve been staying in the warriors wings of the palace. The servants whisper that you ain’t gone to the formal wings even once. Could it be that you’re avoiding a certain group of diplomats?”
“Where I go is not your concern,” Gary said, agitation starting to show in his voice despite his efforts to keep his tone level. “I don’t need to visit the formal areas of the palace because I don’t feel the need to toady to anyone with a bit of influence in order to further my rank and status.”
“Watch your mouth!” Isaac snapped, cuffing Gary on the side of the head. Despite his previous agility, the bori made no effort to evade the blow. He stumbled a little as the fist connected with his head, bracing himself against the wall as his tormentors laughed again. “Know your place, Faeriefur. You are and always will be a dirty, low-life coward who hides himself in the country because he just can’t let go of a few bad memories.”
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Post by retired on Apr 17, 2011 17:46:03 GMT -5
(Oh yeah. No way he's going to wait quietly now. XD )
Vrilyo had not so much as flinched at the mention of himself. He had become mostly numb to the ridicule long ago. Admittedly, though, he could not help but appreciate hearing Gary standing up for him. It was also rather impressive to learn of Gary's opinion of court politics. Vrilyo shared similar views on the obvious underhandedness of most politicians.
However, after hearing the dull noise of a fist connecting with a skull, he was surprised to find himself unable to suppress a sudden surge of anger. That sound was one he knew all too well. He had been on the receiving end of similar attacks during many of his sparring matches with squires he had caught bullying his younger brother.
Without hesitation, he launched from the wall and began marching furiously out of the stairwell. "OI!" he yelled, unable to restrain his voice, "I HEARD THAT, YOU BIG, FAT, UGLY FINK!" His brow was knit, and his fists clenched so tightly he could have made a diamond had he been holding a lump of coal.
Assuming the tonu closest to Gary was the attacker, Vrilyo raged down the corridor, and placed himself directly between the two knights. Glaring the unknown adult in the eye, despite being several feet shorter than him, the young eyrie began to berate the stranger. "You want to talk about dirty, low-life cowards? You're the one knocking around a comrade in a deserted hallway. Just like the kind of arrogant, pathetic little idiots I beat down on a daily basis! Maybe I should fetch you a looking glass so you can see the cowardice in your own beady, little eyes?!"
He shot a piercing glance at the two knights he had seen laughing along with the third. "You two are no better! Giggling like brainless buffoons," he shot out a finger towards the tonu's face, "instead of keeping this over-sized potato in line!" He went on, standing firmly in front of Sir Garrett, "You three... You're just some mean-spirited doofuses who somehow managed to graduate from training without learning anything about honor!"
(Would this be a good time to set up the sparring match? Maybe have the Tonu's squire walk in on the situation, giving the tonu the idea while introducing the kid to the audience? Also, maybe to show Vrilyo learned his lesson, he could try to call a truce in the middle of the fight, and the other kid could full-blown surrender in defiance of his jerky teacher? Just brainstorming.)
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Post by Shinko on May 5, 2011 14:53:26 GMT -5
(Sorry for the delay; got caught up in finals, then kind of forgot this was here. ^^ Gary sighed; he had hoped to resolve this situation before Vrilyo arrived for their lesson, but apparently he'd taken the earlier rebuttal about tardiness more seriously than the bori realized. The knight knew from his student's expression that he wasn't going to listen to reason, but he also knew the child didn't have a prayer against the older, stronger Tonu. Issac's face reddened with rage at Vrilyo's insults. "Mind your tongue brat! You speak of honor yet you do not know to hold your tongue in the presence of your betters!" "To the contrary," Gary interrupted. "A true knight stands up against injustice and defends those in need. Granted, it is not usually done so caustically, but my student has a valid point. This is where the true honor in knighthood is; not in exercising your strength over others." "How dare-" "Master Issac!" The gathered neopets started at the sound of this new voice. A short brown Xweetok dressed in the livery of a squire came trotting around the corner, calling the Tonu's name. Upon seeing the obvious confrontation in progress, he took a nervous step backwards. "Um... forgive me, sir, is this a bad time?" The Tonu stared at the squire, a smirk coming across his face. "No, Kuryan, you are right on time." he put a hand on the Xweetok's shoulder and dragged him forward, shoving him up to Vrilyo. "So it's a question of honor, eh? Then why don't we settle this the honorable way? Your squire took insult to my, and gave insult in return. I demand satisfaction from him according to my rights as knight of the realm, in a trial by combat between him and my own squire. Unless of course Nanny Faeriefur wants to tell him he can't." Gary sighed. He hated pointless squabbles, and he could see that poor Kuryan was confused and terrified. However, he was just as much a knight as any other, and he knew the laws of chivalry. "It is his insult, his honor, and his decision. I will not deny him the right to satisfaction if he should desire it."
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Post by retired on May 5, 2011 15:47:06 GMT -5
Vrilyo's fiery orange eyes blazed at Sir Isaac before turning their flame on poor Kuryan. He had seen the kid in the training grounds once or twice in the past, but had never spoken with him before. Glancing back at Isaac's foul grin for a moment, another surge of rage turned his glaring eyes back to Kuryan. "Anyone who would accept some one so disgraceful as their superior is equally despicable," he growled. "We haven't met before, xweetok," Vrilyo made certain to speak loudly and clearly so the other squire would hear every word he was about to say, "Let's get the pointless pleasantries out of the way: I am Vrilyo. Son of Sir Orrin, and a future Knight of Meridell." His need for vindication swelled as he continued, "I challenge you to an official sparring match, for the honor of each of our teachers. Do you accept, or are you as cowardly as your mentor?" (Ugh. I feel like such a melodramatic hack sometimes. I need to edit my parts of this sucker pretty heavily before we submit it. ^_^' I found so many run-on sentences in my last post alone. @_@ )
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Post by Shinko on May 5, 2011 16:47:25 GMT -5
Kuryan recoiled, his fur bristling. The Xweetok's eyes lit with bitter resentment as he replied, "I don't know what your problem is, seeing as how I can't remember having spoken more than two words in a row to you. I have no idea what's going on here for that matter. But seeing as how I've already been volunteered, fine. I am Kuryan. Son of Sir Linal, future knight of Merridel. I accept your challenge."
"Then it's settled," Sir Issac said. "See you both on the practice court in two days time just after luncheon. Don't be late."
The three knights continued down the corridor, one of them rudely bumping shoulders with Gary as he passed. The Squire hesitated, glancing at Vrilyo warily, then transferring his gaze to Gary. The wariness turned to confusion at the unfamiliar knight, but he shook it off and trotted after his master.
"Well that went well," Gary said with heavy irony. Turning to the Eyrie, he added, "Thanks, by the way."
((Gary's thanking Vrilyo for defending him, even if he isn't thrilled with how the confrontation went down. I think at this point it's time to move on to the lesson))
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