Feathers and Daggers [Torin]

[Kala Leukos]

.

.

3 Ash 121
Starfall, Astralar Mountains

That day, when Torin awoke, there was breakfast laid out as usual. What was unusual was the lack of any other person. There was enough for him, and only the things he had tended to eat and drink. The servants paid attention. One paid specific attention to him, coming into the informal dining room to let him know where his hosts were.

"There's nothing scheduled for you until this afternoon, Master Kilvin," he said. "You've the run of the house, of course, and if there's anything in town you want to see, someone can show you. The twins are sparring with their brother, though." He flashed an amused smile. "If you'd like to watch that, they're down the hall and to the left." He indicated which door to which hall. "Just follow the sounds of grunting, cursing, and steel on steel. They won't mind an audience, though Kaus might show off a bit."

The servants were respectful, but not obsequious. Any Torin had spoken to gave him what help and guidance he needed, but didn't fawn on him or try to wipe his arse for him either. They all seemed healthy and content, not slaving away nor mistreated.

Down the hall and to the left, there was a training room. The floors were tatami mats and weapons and armor lined the walls and various racks and stands. But the doors to the balcony were open, and out there, the siblings were having a bit of a battle royale. Aquilios wielded a greatsword; Kaus a smaller longsword. The men seemed about evenly matched. There seemed to be no magic at play, and that put Kala at a disadvantage. She was no slouch with her curved knives, but the men had wings, as well.

They were up and down, sometimes using their wings merely to buffet the others with gusts of air or the wings themselves. But Kala danced among her larger siblings without fear, and it was clear they weren't cutting her slack. If the men had to match each other, they also had to watch their backs for their sister, who would have no compunction making use of a distraction to get inside their longer reach. It was like a dance, but there was something refined about the way Kala moved. She had the elegance of a dancer, the economy of movement learned from hoarding her resources against the deeper pools from which her brothers could draw.

.

[Torin Kilvin]

Walking into the dining room and finding none of the family felt a little odd, as though he should revert to the status of a servant and eat with them. It wasn't an insult to him to eat with servants, they were people like any others. It was a little uncomfortable to be seated at the nice table being served alone, as though the servants thought of him as different from them.

He ate quickly, thanking the older serving-man when he mentioned where the twins would be and how to find them. Swallowing what food would keep him from turning into a monster before the midday meal he hurried away down the indicated passages.

The way the sparring room was set up was new to Torin, not having seen anything like an intentionally created indoor area to practice the fighting arts before, unless one counted a barracks. The room was huge compared to those the country boy was used to, but its size made immediate sense as he watched the two tall Avialae men and smaller woman's weapons flash and clang against one another. The big weapons were wielded, to his inexpert eyes, expertly, while the dart and slash of Kala's knives bath fascinated and vaguely terrified Torin. He could see now how sending her into the Warren's to prove herself had not been a foolish act or one designed to do harm. The confidence granted by proving oneself was one Torin was just beginning to wrap around his own broad shoulders and it felt good.

Stepping barely into the room he avoided the area being used and kept to the walls. They would be aware of him but that did not mean he should be careless and step into the way of even a practice weapon. There were racks of other sparing implements along one section of the wall, and he made his way over to them, imagining that, having grown up fighting in the room, the three siblings minds' would be used to avoiding the area.

Once there he couldn't help examining the options a little, touching gently here or there until his fingers found the haft of a warhammer. Closing his hand around it he lifted and hefted. The weight was different from the hammers he was used to swinging in the forge but not so different. The handle was much longer than would be needed to create but instinctively it felt more right for destruction. If destruction could feel 'right'.

He held it, thinking about how it might be used as he turned back and continued to watch the dodging, swirling dance that changed levels and intensities quickly.

[Kala Leukos]

.

The dance continued while Torin looked over the practice weapons. They were made of metal for the purposes of weight, but nothing was nearly sharp. They could still hurt people, but it would be easier to minimize the damage. They needed the weight to train the muscles, but the worst they should suffer were bruises from the blunted things. Or, Gods forbid, broken bones.

It all seemed to go on forever, but time was funny when the blood was pumping. For Kala, everything became quite focused. But she was also aware that her brothers were, by and large, more skilled than her. More of their time had been focused on martial training than hers. She also knew that her strength couldn't not outlast them. Her will was strong, but their strength was magical. She had to end it before she got too tired, too sloppy, and got hurt.

For a moment, Aquilios turned his full attention to Kaus, and she leaped high in the air. And then higher. Her feet seemed to find purchase for an instant here, an instant there, but she was only sending strong gusts of air up with enough force to bear her weight higher, each little burst explosive as were her muscles, and then she leaped one final time and caught a hold of Aquilios, clinging to him like some baby to its mother. One of her daggers was at his throat.

Kaus laughed, disengaging from Aquilios, and drifted down to land on the ground. Walking toward Torin with his usual infectious grin, he laughed and set his practice blade back on the rack. He swept platinum hair back, darker for the sweat. This was, perhaps, the most worn out Torin had ever seen him. Normally, he only sparred with his sister back in Kalzasi, but Aquilios could put him through the ringer. Apparently, he trusted Aquilios not to drop her, or he would have remained to spot her descent. The other Leukos siblings came over presently.

"You cheated," Aquilios informed her, trying to play it off, though he was a bit miffed to have lost.

"Yes," she admitted. This was the most worn out he had ever seen her, as well. She was small, but with the sheen of sweat, there was clear muscle definition under her skin. "But Torin was here and Kaus has been promising to teach him how to fight."

"Ah, a warhammer for the smith?" Aquilios nodded, approving. It was mollifying for him to have something else to distract him from the loss. He didn't like losing and he didn't like cheating. Kala didn't like it either, but when it came to actual violence, winning became much more important. The future Lord of Starfall ought to know that.

.

[Torin Kilvin]

Watching to follow the movements of the siblings was not something his mind was trained for and it just made him feel disoriented. Instead, he let his focus relax, saw the mock battle as a whole thing. It made sense then, getting impressions of everything that was happening, he could process. The flow made sense, although Kala's final attack was still impressive.

Torin didn't understand the talk of cheating, as he didn't understand the rules, but the threesome seemed comfortable with each other even after unleashing violence upon one another. Careful violence, but the smith knew the chemicals that rose when you were putting your all into conflict, even if your mind knew it was practice.

"I don't know what I should use. A hammer already feels well in my hands, but..." He hesitated, not sure how to articulate a feeling. "I use hammers to create, is it... right, that I should use them to do harm as well?"

Maybe they wouldn't understand his hesitation, a weapon was also a tool, but he worried that using one to destroy would change the way he felt about it in a runeforge and how things felt was important when you were shaping magic to a purpose. Hammers weren't used in all runesmithing by any means. It was still a worry. The warhammers present weren't the same sort used in forging, magical or mundane, but it would still say 'Hammer' in his brain.

He looked to Kala. Torin was closest to her of the three Leokos siblings and she seemed the most sensitive to his thoughts. He did not know if the heir also did world magic, but he knew Kala did. If the pens she used to Scriven were daggers she used to kill, would her writing be the same?

If he didn't use a hammer, he had no idea what he might use though, a mace might work as well, but a part of him was drawn to the hammers. Perhaps just by dint of familiarity, perhaps by something deeper. It was all new to him.

A thought occurred and he asked, "Does Mistress Feada fight?"

[Kala Leukos]

.

The twins smiled in commiseration with his confusion, though they deferred to Aquilios in the moment, silently and tacitly agreeing that they ought to let him take the reins somewhat to help him get over the loss, even if Kala had used magic to win.

"Ah, I can see the dilemma," the huge young lord allowed. "Each thing unto its purpose. Perhaps a great axe of similar heft? They are balanced differently from those used to chop wood, but axes are specifically made to cut things down in order to build. You seem to be the sort of man who would only use violence to protect. But you are welcome to get a feel for any of the weapons here... Between the three of us, we can teach you some basics, and if you are interested, we can find an expert in any given weapon to give you further instruction while you are here."

The twins had smiles of encouragement for him, but nobody tried to push him in a specific direction regarding his weapon of choice.

"Might as well get a feel for all of them while they're all right here in front of you," Kaus opined as Aquilios offered the greatsword he had been practicing with to Torin to try out.

Kala was just spinning her daggers around her fingers from the finger rings at the bases of their hilts. With blades in her hands, she didn't waste a moment without practice, moving back and forth between various grips so that it would become second nature and require little to no thought in an actual fight.

"Don't worry," she said quietly. "Your contract won't stipulate forced conscription in case of emergency, but we will happily help you train so that you can protect yourself in dangerous circumstances." The first part was probably a joke.

.

[Torin Kilvin]

The wide-shouldered human listened to the Avialea consider and offer advice, letting it filter into him and process while another part of his mind was carefully assessing the weapons on the racks placed about the training room. He hand laid lightly on some of them, but did not linger long. Once or twice he picked one up; an axe as the eldest of the siblings had suggested, and then a war hammer, but neither felt right in his hands the way his smithing tools felt right, as though he were made to use them rather than the other way around. When his initial pass over the basic weapons yielded no perfect fit he nodded at the suggestion he try out several things.

Perhaps it was only that he was unused to the way any of them felt and he would find what was right by doing. It was his preferred way to learn, after all. Spotting a set of dueling daggers he picked them up, giving Kala a little smile. Taking them in his hands he moved them a little, trying to get used to the heft and balance they offered. They fit well into his palms, probably made for a large Avialea man rather than Kala's small, deadly pieces.

Turning to her he raised his brows, waiting to be told if he was holding them wrong, and if he was, how.

It did not take much of their training for him to see that his muscles were not made for the quick, darting motions knife fighting required. There was a little disappointment, as he knew Aurin also fought with two-handed sharp things, but not enough to deter him from wanting to learn.

He tried a battle axe next, a great, two-handed thing, that felt odd to move. Torin was strong enough to wield it one-handed, but the balance wasn't right for such and thing and, aside from that, it felt decidedly wrong to him. Using both his arms in perfect tandem together just didn't work in his head. The two sides of his body were supposed to work together, but not as a single unit. Realizing this allowed him to reject all the other two-handed axes and swords.

He tried two single-handed axes, small, light things that felt a bit better to him but he ran into the same issues as with the daggers, they were fast weapons. The conversation continued to flow, with the smith offering his own commentary now and then when he realized the Leukoses knew exactly what he meant when he spoke of how a weapon felt in his hands.

More than an hour passed as he tried out one thing and another, tried different fighting stances with some things just to make sure it wasn't his lack of training that was throwing him off. The four were just about to give up, though the debate continued as Aquilios and Kaus began to throw out wilder and wilder suggestions as to what could be their guest's perfect weapon, when Torin caught sight of something tucked into the back side of one of the racks. Tilting his head in interest he moved over. The top of the all-metal piece was a hammer's head, thick and heavy; not so much so as the heavy two-handed warhammers, yet neither so light as the single-handed ones meant to be used with a shield.

Stepping back to where he was Torin pulled it out and was surprised to find that it was almost as long as he was tall. Perhaps it had been designed as a one-handed Warhammer for some huge Avialae of the past, even an ancestor of the family hosting him. But in Torin's hands, it was like a staff; a staff with a hammer's head. Holding it between his two hands with the sharp point of the non-hammer end grounded at an angle before him he looked up at his three would-be teachers unable to express how he felt with it clutched thus, hoping they would see the sudden rightness he felt in his bones.

[Kala Leukos]

.

The Leukos siblings were patient with him. Even Aquilios, who surely had things that required his attention. Their mother was still sharp as ever, but her health was variable and so Aquilios often did some of the heavy lifting of ruling when she was under the weather.

Kala slung her karambit daggers away to give him small corrections, even borrowing them to show him specifically what she meant. Then she showed him a few basic passes. She was advanced enough to teach him the basics, and it was good as she was forced to break down things that had been broken down for her in the beginning.

"You could certainly learn to use a dagger or a pair of daggers effectively," she said. "And I really ought to start training in a new weapon as soon as I achieve a bit more with my blades."

"I don't think they would be the weapons best suited for him, though," Kaus mused, though he raised an eyebrow at Torin, open to the idea that he was wrong and they felt totally right in the smith's hands.

"Best to focus first on something that's better suited, though," Aquilios picked up. "They work best for Kala because they require dexterity more than sheer strength."

And so they continued to work their way through things. A greatsword like Aquilios' proved wrong as Torin seemed better suited for something one-handed, which made sense given his hammers. But when he started looking at the more exotic weapons, Kala was about to suggest the Lochaber axe, but then he put his hands on the hammer staff and she almost laughed. Kaus did laugh.

"Well," Aquilios said, amused.

None of them were particularly well trained in polearms, but they could all recognize how differently he held that new weapon.

.

[Torin Kilvin]

The lessons Kala offered him with the blades were basic and helpful, and relieving. He really had no training at all with weapons, and he had worried that the siblings, having been raised to fight and defend their home from childhood, would not understand just how ignorant he really was. Having this fear proven wrong so quickly and without any shame on his part or need to explain what he wasn't sure he could explain, was a great relief indeed.

Explaining what he didn't know, when he didn't know what he didn't know, had always caused him enough frustration and discomfort that he had avoided learning things when the issue arose. It hadn't arisen often, at least, not so far, thankfully.

Nodding when Kaus suggested, after a little while, that they were not the right weapons for him. "I should learn some, since there are few situations in which I couldn't find a knife if I got into trouble, but, you're right."

The amused looks and laughter that came from the three who watched him when he picked up the polearm made him smile, a bit uncertainly, as though he were unsure if he had done something foolish that he didn't understand.

"Is this alright? I mean, if this belongs to someone I'll put it back it just..." He looked down at the oddly beautiful twisting metal of the shaft, the stout, blunt head, the spikes on both ends. It was certainly a weapon, nothing else it could be really. It wouldn't even make a reasonable shepherd's tool. It wasn't like anything Torin had ever seen before, and it suddenly seemed silly to think it wouldn't belong to someone. Pressing his lips together, even now only a little embarrassed in the present company, he set it back where he had found it, carefully, and stepped to the side to examine the poleaxes Kala has been about to point out.

They seemed well enough too, as he picked one up and gave it a turn, feeling it's balance. He could add the lower spike to one if he made it himself, and he thought he would be able to with a bit of study. His education had included a variety of weapons, but weapons came in too many different forms from different places to know them all. The general knowledge was good though, it allowed him to catch on to new ideas easily and improvise new things when needed.

The axe didn't feel bad in his hands, not at all. If he hadn't found the hammer he would have stopped looking when he'd held it.

"I suppose I'll have to take you up on the offer for someone to teach polearms, I think my arms have decided the matter for me." He laughed, still sheepishly but not in discomfort. "Could any of you show me basic things, as you did with the knives?"

[Kala Leukos]

.

"Peace, Master Torin," Aquilios said, warm, but more aware of the difference in their statures than the twins were. "'Tis merely a practice weapon, belonging to the household. Kaus, go and fetch a weaponsmaster."

"Yes, my lord," Kaus replied, sweeping an elegant bow. Aquilios looked mildly irritated, but didn't say anything about it as Kaus wandered off.

"You're a guest, Torin," Kala added. "You are welcome to make use of our facilities. I suppose I ought to begin learning a polearm, as well." She selected a sword spear that seemed thin enough for her to manage, though it still seemed awfully long for her.

"Indeed," Aquilios replied. He was not as easy about it as Kala and Kaus were, but he was not unkind. "Kaus will find a polearms master, then the three of you can have a lesson. I'm afraid I have other work to attend to. Master Torin, I am certain we shall speak more while you are here, as well as formalize your contract with my mother. If there's anything I can do to make your stay with us more pleasant or productive, please don't hesitate to let me know."

After making proper farewells with the man and nodding to his sister, he departed, and Kala took her sword spear out into the middle of the room, testing its heft and balance. She could twirl it around like any child learned to flourish a particularly good branch, but she caught it carefully. The blades might not have been sharp, but the practice weapons could still be deadly. Her smile was conspiratorial more than embarrassed by the little show.

"This will be good," she opined. "We will both be beginners instead of you having to teach me the basics of runeforging or me teach you the basics of daggers." She smiled, well pleased with him since discovering him and beginning the process of developing a working relationship with him. While Aquilios stood somewhat on ceremony, she and Kaus were able to be on friendlier, less formal terms with the common folk, which was as it should be.

"Of course, I will teach you and Timon how to use daggers when we return to Kalzasi. In fact, perhaps if you were to make him one, I could invest some to make it finer...? A joint gift if you would not consider it meddling. In any case, bring that hammer staff out here and get a feel for it before our training begins."

.

[Torin Kilvin]

When Torin came to understand his mistake he flushed, putting down the axe and retrieving the pole-hammer from where he'd tucked it. Moving into the center of the room with Kala he watched her stance. She would be as new to the type of weapon as he was, but her training in how to use her body as a weapon vastly outmatched the bits of wrestling and childhood fights that were all Torin had by way of combat experience.

Matching her movements he began to get a feel for the weight of the weapon, to learn how it wanted to be swung. Which, after a few minutes, seemed to be in wide arches of continuous motion. When one arch ended the momentum carried into the next one. It felt good, in the same way that drawing viscerite felt right, or stretching after a long day of work.

When he overextended and ended up tripping himself, stumbling a step before catching himself, he grinned sheepishly over at Kala, and they shared a little laugh.

He was just starting to ask her about defensive stances when the weapon's master arrived. The man was quite tall, tall enough that he likely had Avialea blood somewhere in his background, but there were no wings on his back. It made Torin wonder how many generations had to pass before one would be born without wings before dismissing the thought. It felt sort of rude, like asking questions about someone's parent's sex lives. He bowed to the man, half because they were meeting for the first time and half because he'd seen students of the martial arts bow to their teachers before.

The hours that followed were educational, in more ways than just the use of the new weapon. While Kala could begin training with the polearm more or less immediately the weapons master could tell that Torin was almost as green as they came, and had him starting off with the most basic of defensive stances, blocks, and perries that made sense already in Kala's head were something he had to learn. A lot of it ended up being him watching as the man worked with Kala physically while explaining what they were doing to Torin. The smith followed along with his own body as much as he could, now and then asking to have something shown again when he couldn't understand how to get his own, bulkier body to repeat what he was seeing. The afternoon was illuminating in just the stores of ways Torin preferred. He began to recognize patterns in the ways he'd seen Aurin move, seen Kaus and Kala move, basic ideas cemented themselves as a foundation that could be built upon.

Kaus joined them, helping Torin to understand his own body and how it moved while Kala received more specific instructions from the master. Torin got a bit giddy towards the end, and began to make little jokes, either the physical kind that required only movements, or murmured comments that only Kaus could properly hear. The two young men were eventually laughing too hard to really keep training, but by then it was time to break for the next meal if they were to clean up and be presentable for it.

Torin knew the evening would hold a more formal conversation between himself and the Lady Leukos in which they would discuss his contract. The distraction of the lesson had been exactly what he needed, and the physical action loosened both his body and his mind to where he could be comfortable. He might never stop being shy around nobility, but at least he was learning that they were people. People with a different set of rules than the common folk he'd grown up around, but people no less.