A Land of Lost Dreams

Aldwin wandered into the crumbling little building that he had heard rumors of. Supposedly it was a school for swordsman, but he wasn't sure of it. The bard shrugged, he needed some way to defend himself so it wasn't like he had many options." Beggars can't be choosers " He told himself as he looked about before seeing an elf with a large curved blade. Aldwin's eyes widened at the sight of the blade before reminding himself that it wouldn't be much of a swordsman's school without swords." Erm," He coughed nervously," Do you teach swordc-c-craft?"He stuttered.

In order to follow the path of the blade. You only needed two things.

A sword.

And a healthy body.

That is why Andaran "Andy" Firetree cared not for the shoddy state of his sword school. The tall, brawny elf stood tall as he went through his forms across the checkered wooden floor. Practicing as if it were the best building in the universe.

His attention was instantly drawn as another elf entered the school, and he stood there quietly, mid sword strike, almost glaring daggers at Aldwin.

"Aye." Andy said finally as he straightened up and looked at Aldwin over.. not much of a fighter.. but Andaran had no students thus far, he also couldn't afford to be picky. "That is what I teach in this school."

"Are you interested in following the way of the blade?" Aldwin had acted meekly thus far, but perhaps he might yet surprise Andaran if he responded with enthusiasm.

" The way of the blade?" came Aldwin's uneasy reply. He had heard that the man taught swordskills not " The way of the blade" What was that anyway? Aldwin blinked before realizing that a sword was a blade. He nearly reprimanded himself aloud before remembering he was in the company of another," Oh...erm... Yes!" Aldwin agreed hastily, trying to cover up his ignorance with enthusiasm.

" The way of the blade?" came Aldwin's uneasy reply. He had heard that the man taught swordskills not " The way of the blade" What was that anyway? Aldwin blinked before realizing that a sword was a blade. He nearly reprimanded himself aloud before remembering he was in the company of another," Oh...erm... Yes!" Aldwin agreed hastily, trying to cover up his ignorance with enthusiasm. His fingers bent and plucked at invisible strings, as if the violin on his back were in fact in his hand.

"Yes... the way of the Blade." Andaran said with furrowed eyebrows and narrowed eyes, still resting on the handle of his giant curved sword. Was this other elf serious? He didn't even seem to know where he was. Honestly, he looked like some kind of fop-- but unfortunately, Andaran knew that was most of the elven race as a whole. Andaran himself appeared to be more of an exception, being an elf that had taken almost entirely to martial arts.

Still, the enthusiasm was there, and at this point that was the most Andaron was hoping for. "Good!"

Because.. the skill was clearly not there. "..What are you doing?" Asked the burly elf as he looked at the way Aladwin was curling his fingers.

"It looks like you're holding a musical instrument. Do you have any experience fighting?" He looked at him sideways and slowly started to approach him, giant blade resting on one broad shoulder. "And I do mean physical combat-- not spell chucking."

" Oh," Aldwin laughed," I play violin, and imagining myself playing something calms me." He explained in response to the elf' s question." Although, at the time I wasn't pretending to play an actual song, not yet anyway." He said before moving on to the teacher's next question.

" Fighting? Yes, I have. And, I don't fling spells in afraid, I mean some might consider music magical, the way it can alter emotions. But anyway" The bard interjected as he realized he had let his anxiety drive him off topic," I once helped fight a Wendigo, you know the deer that got that disease and now they stand upright and eat people? Although, all I did was slice it's Achilles with this." He explained as he pulled out a curved dagger with wave symbols etched onto it's hilt and a ruby, shaped into a music note, on the pommel.


(( If you would like a more in depth description of a Wendigo I can give you one, otherwise you can look them up, and mostly I just changed a touch of lore.)

"I know what a Wendigo is. I've killed many of them." Andaran said brusquely, and quite clearly unimpressed by the lad's claims of having fought and crippled such a beast.

Andaran was an older elf and by his heavy muscles, numerous scars and tattoos, he was the very image of a veteran warrior, maybe a retired soldier by now. His eyes, despite how intense they looked, carried a weight, a burden of extreme tiredness that only came from experiencing far too much battle. They were burning coals of hatred and bitterness, the eyes of a man that had lost absolutely everything, only his obsession with swordmanship driving him forward.

He didn't brag about his own conquests, instead, he simply shook his head as Aldwin showed him the dagger he used to hamstring the Wendigo.

"Too small. That's a side arm." He said disapprovingly and walked to the other side of his dojo to grab a long wooden sword. Never, at any point in time would it appear like he had lowered his guard however, even when he gave Aldwin his back. Andaran appeared to be ready to fight at the drop of a hat.

"Here, grab this." Said the burly elf as he threw the wooden sword at Aldwin, in hopes that he had enough reflexes to at least catch it. "Show me how you hold a sword."

Aldwin nodded, fighting off the urge to wince as he remembered that this man was in fact a swordsman and had most likely fought many creatures. The fossegrim wondered about leaving the swordsman, after all he wasn't completely defenseless. However, something about the fact that Andaran knew how to fight better than him kept him there. Perhaps it was the feeling of certainty, or safety, or maybe it was the way that the man held himself. For whatever reason, he stayed.

Aldwin fought the desire to retort the swordsman on how useful a short weapon could be. He had come here searching for help, not the other way around. Besides, it wasn't important enough for him to want to start an argument. The boy's eyes flashed bright blue as his hand reached out, catching the sword by the handle, surprising himself. He turned the sword in his hand, watching the muscles in his wrist bulge as he twisted it. The bard looked up, and upon hearing Andaran's question he furrowed his brows in confusion.

Oh, Andaran knew the power of a short blade well enough. He himself was clearly wearing a dagger on his belt right next to the scabbard of his sword. The elf wasn't dismissing the power of a shorter blade. Simply, this was a sword fighting school- if Aldwin wanted to learn knife fighting he was definitely in the wrong place for that.

At the very least Aldwin had enough reflexes to catch the sword by the hilt when it was thrown at him, but Andaran couldn't help but sigh in disappointment as the younger elf gripped the hilt tightly, with all his strength, as if he were holding a club. Judging by his expression he didn't seem to even know what Andaran meant by 'holding a sword' properly.

This was going to be a long teaching journey.

Andaran sheathed his own curved blade in the scabbard at his waist and walked up to Aldwin. He stood next to him and grabbed his wrist. "Relax your hold." He ordered and positioned the younger elf's hands accordingly, his own grip was gentle despite how strong his appeared, though his palms were very calloused.

"Your right hand always goes on the top of the hilt, your left hand goes on the bottom." He explained as he moved Aldwin's hands on the hilt of the sword. "Pinkie rests half way on the butt of the hilt. Left hand is relaxed, its the one controlling the movement of the sword. Your right hand is held tightly, it's only there for the ride, it's only purpose is to stop the sword from overshooting. Your left hand is doing all the striking and aiming."

Then he moved to Aldwin's feet and pushed them with his own. "Left leg forward, slightly bent. Right leg at the back and stretched out. You don't want your legs to be crossed up, distribute your weight on your feet."

Lastly, he moved the sword itself and made Aldwin hold it at about stomach level. "Keep it around here, to protect your center as much as possible."

Satisfied with Aldwin's position, he ambled forward as if he was done for the day.. only to suddenly spin around on his heel and draw his own sword. He didn't strike at Aldwin's wooden sword though, instead he held his own sword slightly back, as if Aldwin had blocked it by just standing still.

"Doesn't matter if you're a leftie or a rightie. You always put your right hand on top, and the left on the bottom. That way you're protecting your right side, where your heart is."

"That's your first lesson. Got it?"