[Acumin] To Become a Fighter There Must be Wood

[Aydyn Blair]

Fourth Cycle of Ponutis
Season of Spring

It was hard to shake the conversation she'd had with Amelia over a cycle ago. Nearly two cycles now, she corrected herself as she picked her way through the dense woodland, her eyes focused on the forest floor, not because she of any tendency to watch the ground, but because her sole reason for being out was to find a chunk of wood of a certain size. She needed, truly, only one piece, although she cautioned herself on finding more than that--two, perhaps, or three--in case the first turned out poorly. She needed to act, to move, to do, that much Amelia had gotten correct, and so here she was, scouring the forest for the perfect hunk of wood.

She found it wedged between a rotting, mossy log and the damp soil underfoot, stuck there by whatever force had sent another tree sprawling to the ground. The branch had snapped off the freshly fallen trunk and though it was perhaps a little too long, it was not so large that Aydyn could not drag it out into the open for a better inspection. Stuffed against the soil though it was, the wood hadn't yet rotted and only a bit of fungus had begun to leech itself to the exterior. It was easy enough to break the stick down to the length she needed, thanks in part to the old axe that Amelia had lent her--just in case.

The second half of the log was too short and Aydyn discarded it before picking up the first tree branch and clutching it in the crook of her elbows, carrying it against her chest with an awkwardness that had her teetering around like a foal gaining its legs for the first time. She almost slipped on a damp rock or two before she managed to catch her balance and even then she found it difficult to watch her footing as she maneuvered through the woods.

The second branch was somewhat more difficult to obtain for it was still attached to a fallen tree, this one significantly older than the last. She chopped it away, stopping for breaks now and again as her breath became labored and her arms started to hurt--Aydyn was unused to hard labor. But she worked it free and the weight burned her arms as she lugged the two branches back to Acumin.

She hadn't gone far before one of the local Rangers stopped her and offered to help her carry the branches back to Amelia's home. "Oh, I'm headed over to see Wren," she corrected him with a smile as she easily dislodged the branches from her arms and into his--even with such a short distance left to go she wasn't about to turn down any extra help.

"Wren, what for?" he asked, surprised...Wren was known as something of an oddity around Acumin if only because his mood swings made him somewhat unpredictable.

"I was hoping he could help me out with a staff," she admitted...after a brief, hesitant pause. She'd told no one of her plans save for Amelia, who'd regarded her with a knowing and encouraging expression before sending her on her way.

The Ranger adjusted his hold on the logs as they walked. "You...want to learn to make a staff? Or to use one? Because these aren't exactly what a staff looks like. I'm sure you could find someone else to help you, you know. I could show you how to whittle one, if you like." The Ranger had an easy-going smile, charming and engaging, the sort that made Aydyn a little uncomfortable if only because it made him seem so attractive...though he wasn't necessarily a handsome man.

"No, thank you, although I appreciate the offer. I'm not going to cut them into staves. I'm going to...shape them. Warp them, if you will. I've been told Wren knows the most about staves, I figure he's the best option. But if I ever want to know how to make one, I'll be sure to pay you a visit," she assured him, taking note that he seemed a little disgruntled...and for the rest of the way they walked mostly in silence tempered by the occasional bit of exchanged pleasantries.

[Aydyn Blair]

Wren's home was not unlike most found scattered throughout the small village of Acumin. Made of a tree warped with Druidism, it was a small place and Aydyn judged it sufficiently sized for one room, maybe two at most, but she'd never been inside and could only ascertain a guess. "Thank you, I can take them now." She extended her arms towards the Ranger as they came to stand on the beaten down, dirt path that led to the door and waited as he carefully slid them into the waiting extensions.

"Have a good brightening." He smiled that pleasant smile of his that made Aydyn flush a little before turning to move his own way.

Alone, she shifted the branches in her arms as they scraped against the fabric of her blouse and tentatively she began the walk up to the door. It was quiet as far as forests went, if one ignored the birds in the trees and the faint drip of water as droplets of earlier rain slid off the fresh leaves towards the ground. It'd stopped raining more than a candlemark earlier but the damp weather was still thick and a chill made Aydyn wish she'd agreed to take Amelia's cloak for the excursion. Having little choice now, she leaned the branches against the outer wall of the tree-home and brushed her knuckles against the doorway.

No answer.

"Serale? Anyone home?" she called out as she knocked again.

Quiet prevailed and Aydyn shifted restlessly, craning her neck and tilting to the left to peer around one corner of the house. She could see the beehive constructs in the back of the home, thick blocks of oddly fashioned wood with a swarm of honeybees seeming to endlessly parade this way and that, to and fro. There she spotted him, his body draped in an outfit she'd seen before but found no less strange this time around than she had the first time she'd seen it.

Leaving the branches where she'd set them, she started towards him, brushing her dirt-smudged hands against the brown of her trousers. "Serale! I hope I'm not intruding."

The older man swiveled at the sound of her voice, his face obscured by the veil that hung about his wizened features. She didn't need to see him to know his face for she remembered it clearly--the nose that seemed too wide for his face and the white and gray eyebrows that sprouted in tufts over his squinting gray eyes. His skin was a dull nut-brown and wrinkled, his brown hair shot through with white and gray, worn long and often tied in a loose queue at his neck. Old he was, but he moved with more ease than most his age and she could see a certain grace left as he straightened his back and took a tentative step towards her. "Blair, is it?"

"Aydyn, yes. I was hoping you had a moment to talk, but if you're busy I can come back later." She smiled faintly, politely, and the smile quickly shifted off her mouth as she clasped her hands in front of her.

"I can spare a moment, sure." Wren was clearly in a kind mood this brightening--he hadn't been the last she'd seen him, ranting and raving in the tavern a cycle back. He picked up the wooden bucket he'd been working with and gestured her after him, heading towards the home at their backs.

[Aydyn Blair]

Wren led her into the homestead, a small place as Aydyn had presumed and cluttered, the table taking up a majority of the main room and shelves nailed into the tree-trunk walls, stacked with jars of honey and other miscellaneous bee-products. The place was heavy with the smell of honey, beeswax, and candle smoke, but the air was surprisingly clear of the wispy smoke as Aydyn waited to be told to sit. She wasn't. She opted to sit down without indication from the aging man as he removed his bee hat and proceeded to move restlessly around the interior, putting away the honeycomb he had just extracted from the hives.

"So. What'd you want?" The question was gruff and brief and made Aydyn feel acutely aware that he was a stranger, someone unknown to her. He knew this wasn't a social call.

"I've been told you know a lot about staves. I had thought you might help me out with something." She let it linger at that, but when he didn't respond and continued to move about the room she wondered at whether or not he had heard her.

"I don't see why I should help you at all."

Ah. He had heard. "I could help you out, if you like. With the bees, maybe? I don't know much about bees at all, but being a Druid..."

He laughed, short and not at all with her, but rather at her. It was a stinging laugh, the sort that made her flinch and reside into silence, hands folded in her lap. "And be responsible when you get yourself stung? Them bees are probably a lot faster at stinging than you are at spelling. Don't need your help there. I'm doing just fine without any help."

Aydyn frowned. Druidism had been something she could leverage more often than not around here for this was a place closely connected with nature. They grew, they labored, they tended their livestock. They were bonded with Carmelya in a fashion that she almost envied. "Surely there is something I can do for you in exchange for some help."

"You haven't explained what you need help with."

"Staff-work. I heard you know how to wield one. I want to learn. I also want to make one."

"I didn't peg you for the sort that knew how to wield a carving knife."

"I'm not. I mean to use spell-work to do it."

"Ah. I see. Well." He hesitated, scratching at his scruffy, wrinkled face. "It would help me if you could spell the bees into compliance each brightening I give you a lesson, eh? Make sure they ain't buzzin' around my head while I work?"

Aydyn thought about it. It was a difficult request and the bees were many--she couldn't even begin to think she could manage to wrangle all of them. "I don't think I could do that, but I could cover your skin in a way that you wouldn't need all that cumbersome gear. And I can heal if they do sting you."

He seemed hesitant but in the end he shrugged. "Sounds fair enough. Fine. I need the exercise anyhow." There was a measure of silence for Aydyn doubted he was the sort who liked effusive thank yous. "So you wanted to make a staff, huh?"

[Aydyn Blair]

"Yes, I did. Hold on...just a moment." She lifted a hand as if to stall him and stood up, opening his door to retrieve the two branches, which she hauled in under his narrowed, scrutinizing stare.

"You weren't kidding. They're kind of...chunky...for staves. And why do you want two? Wielding two staves at once is...difficult. Impossible." He had put aside his chores and leaned against a free-standing table, his arms folded across his chest. He didn't look particularly imposing...unless you stared at his eyes. Hard eyes.

Aydyn frowned and leaned one against the wall, sitting and cradling the other in her lap. "That's why I made sure to find branches that were a little smaller. To compensate. I'll be warping the wood so it shouldn't be too odd-ended. I brought two incase I made a mistake."

Wren shrugged slightly. "All right. If you say so. Well, since you're set on this, I guess you want to take a look at a real staff? Get a feel for the weight and the size?" He shifted away and disappeared into the other room of the house. The only other room, by her guess. He returned moments later with an old looking staff nocked here and there from wear. He held it carefully in his arms, stretched slightly before him. "Stand up, hold this. Get a feel for it, eh?"

She set aside the branch in her lap to take a hold of the staff, allowing the weight to bear down into her palms. She shifted it from side to side, turning it over in her hands...just getting a feel for it.

"You want it to be balanced. It's no good to ya if it's got one end all bulky and the other end a little pointy thing. You want them about even. A good staff has balance. Like this one. Had it eras by now. Maybe twenty? Thirty?" He shrugged, taking it back. "Some have metal caps on the end. Those'll do more damage. 'Course, you can do just fine without the caps. Damage, I mean." He leaned against it a little. "You don't see the type that's into metal caps, though."

Aydyn shook her head. "No, I'm not." She smiled faintly, knowing that perhaps her dislike for violence was a detrimental issue for her--how could she protect her daughter if she could not get past it? She had chosen the staff because it was not necessarily a killing weapon. She would not have to spill blood with a staff.

"You get a feel for it or you need to see it again?" he asked her after the silence had carried on a little too long.

She shook her head. "No, I think I have a good understanding of what's needed."

"Good. Then get out of here. Come back in two brightenings when I have the time for ya." He gestured as if to shoo her out with a hand movement, then turned his back to gather his bee-suit...she presumed it was to head back out to the hives...leaving her to see herself out.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn had expected to create the staffs in Wren's presence. That was why she'd lugged them there in the first place rather than taking them directly to Amelia's. She lifted them and brought them back home, her arms aching when no one appeared to help alleviate the burden. She was more than happy to set them down outside of Amelia's home and leave them there for the space of a candlemark or two as she recuperated.

That evening she did lend the logs she'd collected her attention, taking a seat against the back of the tree-woven home, her legs crossed, one of the thick branches in her lap, her fingers lightly trailing over the bark. She'd been sure to choose the branches of a tree with smooth, papery bark, none of the hard stuff that appeared to have once been the roadway of rivers. She thought then of the staff that Wren had presented her, the way that it had balanced so well in her hands even if it was a tad heavier than she'd expected.

She relaxed then, working her way into meditation, releasing her senses until she grasped clara, the arcanic energies flaring up around her. She twined them, ara and vis and the energy off the plane, and wrapped them into mana, shaping it around the thick branch and, in doing so, altering the shape. Warping. She released the spell once she felt the shape complete and watched, hands releasing the branch, as it took shape in front of her. It elongated, narrowing in the process, the barreled sides smooth, the ends rounded in such a manner that they seemed like domes. She did nothing fancy, merely let it rest as a plain staff; she needed nothing more than that.

With the staff formed, she ambled to her feet, using it a little to help gain her balance. She held it before her, this thin weapon, grasping it in the open palms of her hands and letting it sit there. It felt different in comparison to Wren's, but only in so much that it was of a different size than his. Smaller. A little lighter. Balanced? She couldn't be certain. She made a few awkward swings with it, the movements strange, and could not discern whether or not she'd done right by what she'd seen earlier. It would have to do for now.

So she set it against the wall of the home and went to bed. Wren would have no issue, when she next saw him, telling her whether or not the staff was useable.

[Aydyn Blair]

Two brightenings later Aydyn brought with her the sole staff that she had created on her own. She had debated bringing the other branch--just in case--but had decided she was not up to lugging it around for a second time; if she had failed in the construction she would worry about it when she returned from Wren's, but for now her arms simply needed a rest. She walked, glad for the freedom to move about beneath the canopy of the trees, enjoying the breeze against her cheek as she meandered. She was in no rush to get to her destination for part of her was afraid, part of her anxious, none of her really excited. She was learning because she felt she had to. To protect her daughter. To protect herself. She could never be excited about wielding a weapon, even one made of wood.

When she reached Wren's home he was inside working on a batch of honey and the smell of the sweet, sticky mixture was thick in the air as he called to her to come inside. "Ah, it's you. All right, all right. Let me finish with this then I'll show you a bit." She nodded and consented and the pair lapsed into an uncomfortable silence for they were not what might be considered friends and Wren had never been particularly companionable.

He broke the silence as he finished up the honey, pouring it in a pot and sealing it before placing it off to the side. "Why the staff? Why not archery or maybe a blade?" He frowned, narrowing his eyes as he looked her over. "Not that you look like you're rootin' to jam a blade into anyone's gut." He laughed as she paled. "No, you're a druid, aren'tcha? The sort that go 'round huggin' the trees and worshippin' the ground the animals walk on, huh?"

"I wouldn't put it quite--"

Wren's sharp bark of laughter peeled out again. "I would. I'd put it that way. So. The staff for you. Too delicate to do damage. Well, girl, I'll tell ya. The staff can be dangerous, too. If you know how to use it. Breaks bone, it can. If you break the right bone, you can kill. Now, judgin' by your face that ain't somethin' you fancy at all, is it? Well, too bad, girl. You either learn to use it the right way or not at all, huh?"

Aydyn sat silently for a moment, thinking of her daughter. Thinking of Noah. "No, I came here to learn to protect my daughter. I'm not leaving...even if it means what I learn might kill someone." For her daughter she would do that.

[Aydyn Blair]

"No need to be dramatic about it. Get up, get up. Can't practice anything in here. Outside!" Wren's voice fair cracked with command and Aydyn hurried out of her seat and out the door. She'd left her staff resting against the side of the home when she'd entered and she retrieved it now, the feel of it strange in her hands as she waited for Wren to emerge. He did, carrying his own staff with what looked to be practiced ease, as if it were merely another extension of himself.

"Ah, you made one," he observed as he led her a short distance away from the home into a clearing. The space was not quite round, but not a square either...simply an odd-angled, natural space where the dirt had been beaten with time and the passage of people and animals. A smattering of rotting leaves coated it and the beginnings of new growth sprouted here and there. It was big enough, it would seem, for two people to spar with a pair of staffs. At least Aydyn guessed as much for she doubted he would have otherwise brought her there. "Let me see that."

They handed off staves, she holding his, he holding hers. He turned hers about in his hands, critical. "Light. Too light for me," he murmured and stood it up on its height, judging its height. "Seems a good height for you, though. Not too tall, not too short. Not perfect, but not bad. Seems balanced." He held it another moment, almost reluctant to determine it good enough for her use. "It'll do, though you might want to get a real staff, but that'll do."

Aydyn nodded politely and again they exchanged weapons. She had no inclination of buying another staff. There was something in the fact that she had made this herself. Not too heavy, not perfect. She didn't need the perfect weapon. Just one that would suffice if she needed it.

"Now first things first. Gotta learn how to hold it. The same stance isn't always going to work for every movement that you execute with a staff. You always hold a sword one way. One specific way. A staff is...different. You'll usually want to keep your hands so that the staff is balanced. Both hands about one third of the way from the ends. Like this." He demonstrated and Aydyn mimicked awkwardly. He muttered as if displeased and rearranged her stance. "Do not look so...weak. If you look that way your opponent will know you for being weak. You will need more confidence in your positioning. Keep your back straighter, keep your chin up. You will want to keep your eyes on your opponent. You cannot waver."

He didn't continue until she had done as he asked, though she felt uncomfortable in it. But she tried. "This is the very basic stance. The sort you use when you're waiting, preparing. Your hands will move when you move, changing position depending on how you swing or shift. But this is what is basic."

[Aydyn Blair]

"Surely I just don't stand here...like this? People I see...with their blades...they move their legs. Do I keep mine like so?" Her legs were planted as if she were simply standing, observing, not doing anything beyond just that.

Wren shook his head quickly. "I was getting to that. Too impatient," he snapped...as if she truly were the one to have the quick temper and not he. Not that she commented on it. She knew better. Instead she merely nodded and accepted. "Your footwork is all wrong," he continued in that clipped, nasty tone. "Shoulder width apart. Your feet. It should feel almost natural. Comfortable. You'll keep one foot slightly forward. The one you fall towards when pushed from behind."

Aydyn turned towards him, warily. "You're not going to..."

"Push you?" Wren snorted. "If you're afraid of that than you shouldn't be here. People are going to do a lot more to you than push if you have to use that staff. Now. Your dominant foot. Step forward slightly with the foot you feel most balanced on. You'll blend slightly at the knees--slightly, not like that. Looks like you're going to touch the floor if you keep going at it. Stop overexaggerating. And you keep your hips rolled forward." At Aydyn's somewhat confused stare, he rolled his eyes but demonstrated. "Like this."

"Ah, okay." Aydyn mimicked awkwardly and found herself corrected until he had to come over, hands on her hips, and adjust her stance.

"This is also the stance you'll use when you're on the offensive, understood? You know what offensive is, right? You're the one attacking?" He shook his head when she pointedly told him she did infact know what he was talking about. She might be a little sheltered--perhaps that was not the best word to use--but she was not ignorant either. "Another alterate position for the staff when you choose this stance is to hold it like so." He got into the offensive position and altered the position of the staff in front of him. "See where the right end is? By my right hip, see that? The left is a little more up and forward in comparison. But only by a little.

"That's the offensive stance. The defensive stance is a little different. Your footing changes. See? Watch me." He flowed from his offensive stance, moving so that his forward foot--the left one--moved so that it was behind him. His right foot was now in the lead, pointed almost straight out in front of him, and his left sat beneath his torso, the foot directed out away from his body. In this stance, his left, rear leg was bent more sharply at the knee, causing his shoulders to be lower than they had been in the offensive stance. He also rotated his upper body so that, while his face still looked straight ahead, his student could now only see his right side. Pulling up his right arm so that it was held out in front of him like a horizontal shield, his left fell back down and to the side, ready to strike forward should he need it. "See how there's not that much of me to hit when I stand like this, hold the staff just like that? This is a much easier stance to block and parry with. You know what those mean, right? Block? Parry?"

"I do, yes," Aydyn responded, gesturing almost impatiently. "They're defensive moves."

"Let me see it."

"The...block?"

"No. The stance. Quickly, now."

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn mimicked the stance as best she could with corrections here and there and Wren grilling her without giving ebb to any of the harsh verbiage he seemed so...fond...of. He made her run through both of the stances before he seemed relatively satisfied.

"Good, now you gotta know how to switch up your dominate foot for your stance that you're a little weak on." She looked at him completely puzzled and shook her head to demonstrate her lack of understanding. His sigh was more than audible. "You had your right foot forward in the offensive stance. Use the opposite foot. The left one. Put that one forward, right foot back. Give it a try. You have to be versatile. You cling to one stance and people are going to pick up on your strenghs--and weaknesses--a lot quicker. You have to be able to switch it up and fast."

They ran through they quickly enough although it felt a good deal more uncomfortable with these feet forward. But he waved her on after a moment, moving on to the next lesson.

"A basic strike," he started, rubbing at his chin as if his stubble itched. ""Take a half step with your lead foot and simply swing the top of the staff down and return to the ready. I want you to practice on me." He gestured her to come towards him even as he settled into a defensive stance, staff at the ready in front of him.

She moved forward hesitantly, completely uncustomed to actually attacking someone. Her hesitation earned her a sharp reprimand and a reminder that if she really wanted to learn this that she had to make an actual effort. Her ears stinging and the image of her daughter in her mind--the image of protecting her daughter--Aydyn swung the staff in an arch. Wood connected with wood and she felt her hands pick up the sting as the wood vibrated beneath her grip. She bit her lip, not at all expecting that sensation, but she managed not to cry out.

"Bah. Clumsy and not authorative. Weak. Try it again. Swing it like this." He demonstrated, keeping the staff well away from her, and Aydyn nodded, straightening her shoulders.

The attempt she made this time was more decisive and she did her best to do as he did. Smack. Her hands again stung and she tightened her grip on the wood to keep from retracting her hands, dropping the staff.

"Better, better. Good enough for now. I hope you plan on progressing." He fell back into the defensive stance. "I want you to try again, but this time add in another attack following the first. Attack just as you did the first time. The second swing does not have to be identical to the first. Improvise. Move as you feel you should."

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn drew in a deep breath before proceeding, shifting her foot forward as she moved, the staff swinging about in her hands. The two staves cracked together and she hesitated before moving the staff again. She struck with the butt of the staff rather than the head as she'd been doing and was quickly blocked by Wren. He moved quickly after blocking, landing a hand smack of the staff against her hip. "Ow!" she cried out, grasping at the area he'd just struck and trying to avoid crumpling.

"That's the least of the injuries you can get from a staff, but it'll likely bruise. You hesitated. You can't hesitate! Try it again. No hesitating this time!" Wren resettled and Aydyn tried to keep the tears from her eyes as she regained her comfort zone.

She attacked again, striking first with the head of the staff, then retaliating with a blow towards the side with the butt of the staff. She was blocked each time, but she expected nothing more from Wren...who was far more accomplished than she might ever be. He still did not seem pleased and demanded she give it another try, which she did. And then another try. He struck back a time or two, each time landing a blow that she had no doubt would leave a bruise.

"That's it for the brightening," he announced gruffly, either fed up or simply bored with the task at hand. "We'll break and you can come back tomorrow. Come over 'round noon time. That's right before I start work on the bees, huh? You have to uphold your part of the bargain." He glowered and she nodded. She wasn't going to try and wriggle her way out of that.

That darkening she reclined in front of the hearth fire nursing Noah. Penny hovered nearby as she was wont to do when she wished to give the baby attention and after Aydyn had finished nursing she handed her daughter off, rebuttoning the front of her blouse and getting comfortable on the make-shift chair. Druid-made, this chair. Something beyond Aydyn's own skills. Taking the opportunity to herself, Aydyn focused on the fresh bruises that were expanding into dark yellow-purple blotches, Aydyn worked her way into clara and twined ara and vis before wrapping it with the essence from the plane. With the mana worked she coaxed it around the large bruise at her hip--the one that hurt most when she walked--and released the spell.

She gradually felt the relief as the bruise lifted and she poked at the formerly tender flesh as the purple blotch vanished from the skin.

"That's convenient," Amelia remarked with a smile. She had taken Noah from Penny and was rocking her gently. The older woman missed having a baby around, this Aydyn knew, and it warmed the Druid to see Noah loved by those around her.

"It's something I've gotten used to having handy," Aydyn responded, laughing a little. "You're so good with her. I hope I can be as good a mother as you are."

Amelia kissed the top of Noah's head. Noah was still small, still fragile. "I'm sure you will be once you get on your feet. Not that you aren't now, mind. But you know what I mean."

Aydyn nodded. "I know." The night was uneventful from there and Aydyn dozed, still a little bruised but far better than she had been, knowing that tomorrow would be very much the same.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn woke stiff and sore the next brightening. She'd left some of her bruises to settle and they were tender to the touch when she dressed. She spent the morning helping Amelia around the house and playing with Noah and set out for Wren's shortly before the suns had reached the high-point in the sky. The late morning was pleasant with the frail beginnings of green leaf buds, almost translucent as the suns-light streamed downward through the branches overhead. This was comforting, very comforting, and for a moment she second-guessed her inevitable departure. The departure Amelia insisted was important and Aydyn had agreed was for the best. Still, to stay here, where it was safe and beautiful and natural... It was a dream she was reluctant to release after all that she'd been through.

"By the time you get your head from the clouds it'll be evenin'. Hurry on up, will ya."

Aydyn startled to see Wren standing not too far ahead of her. He was dressed casually in trousers, his feet bare despite the rough forest soil he trod, and a loose, dirt-smeared shirt that he'd rolled to his elbows. Not that it was incredibly hot out, no it was barely mild, but he looked as if he'd been doing some yard work. "Serale, Wren," she greeted him pleasantly, despite the foul stare on the old man's face. "You said you were going to work with the bees?"

"Yes, you're late."

She looked up at the sky, trying to judge the positioning of the prominent sun, but she wasn't a horologist. She didn't fully understand the way the skies worked. "Sorry, I thought I'd given myself plenty of time." He had already turned away and had begun towards the back of his house. She followed, trying not to sigh, to show that his demeanor was starting to wear at her. Cranky old man. Needs to get out more.

"So. Suit me up in bark, will ya?" He held his arms out, showing him as he was. No protective gear at all.

Aydyn was surprised. Truly surprised. Here she had thought he might not trust her at all, but this...this was a trust of a sort. "All right."

She shifted down into clara and reached out to the energies she required: Vis, ara...the essence of her plane. Melded into mana she focused the mix around Wren's limbs, she recalled the hardened texture of oak bark, the deep rivulets that ran through the dark brown stuff. She hadn't told him how stiff he might feel with the bark around his body--she hadn't quite gotten to the point where this didn't happen--but she figured he'd know sooner or later. She released the spell around him and watched as his skin altered into the Bark Skin.

"Ach, you didn't say it'd be this awkward!" the old man protested as he moved his stiff limbs. "Not too different from the suit," he added...his protest faded into something of a grumble. Nonetheless, he dealt with it and turned to tend to the bees, Aydyn heading off to the front of the yard as she waited rather than risking the wrath of the bees.

[Aydyn Blair]

Once Wren had done all he had to with the bees and Aydyn had dispelled the Bark Skin, the pair returned the small clearing they'd practiced the brightening before. Wren had Aydyn show him the stances he'd taught her, ensuring that she wasn't the sort of student that forgot things quickly, before deciding to move to a new lesson, at least to start out with.

"This time I'm going to be attacking you, got it? You'll be on the defensive, using the right stance, and you'll want to try and block my blows, got it? Use the head of the spear or the butt of it, but you'll have to use your judgment on which would be the best end to use for what's coming at you. Can't hesitate too long, you hear? Hesitate too long and you'll have a cracked bone."

Aydyn was nervous. She tried not to show it, but she could see from the agitation on his face that it was. She smiled faintly and nodded. "Sure. Of course. Don't hesitate."

"Good. I'll move slowly for you to give you a chance." He settled into his offensive stance and Aydyn hurried to get her foot placement right as well. She was slow to do so and was rewarded with a sound thwap on her thigh for her troubles. "Hurry up, woman."

Once she was settled Wren began the offensive movements, coming at her first from above, then from the side, above, the bottom, the other side. He altered his sides or didn't, keeping up a vague pattern that didn't really seem to exist at all. She faltered sometimes and found her fingers smacked betimes and occasionally her arm or her side. Because he was going at a moderate pace he didn't do any damage beyond more unpleasant bruises, but that was all it took for Aydyn to wince. Once she dropped the staff when his weapon smacked against her knuckles. He scolded her for that, but ordered her to pick up the staff again and get back into the stance.

This went on for some time before Wren announced that he'd had enough of that--time to move on!--and he straightened, looking her over critically. "You seem to be a bit better at the defensive than the offensive." He shrugged, as if he didn't quite know what to make of it. Then again, each fighter had their own strengths, their own weaknesses. It just rarely tended to be in this fashion.

[Aydyn Blair]

"For this round you're going to attack me, I'll block, then I'm going to attack you and you'll block. We'll go back and forth like that, trading offense for defense. It's not quite a spar. We're going to be doing this slowly, got it? Keep on your toes, remember not to hesitate or you will get smacked."

Aydyn felt awkward as she settled into the defensive stance. Well, first she had stood as if to move on the offensive and was rewarded with a snip of a correction from Wren who waited until she could get it right. With that settled, the older man attacked. She hadn't even seen him adjust his footing into the offensive stance. He just moved, the staff arching down and up. It was slow, but Aydyn jumped in surprise, utilizing a sloppy block as she danced to the side.

Because she felt off-balance her return strike was just as sloppy and off-centered and Aydyn was knocked back a few steps by Wren's pushing block. They went back and forth like this, Aydyn continually off her mark and careless. After several passes he backed off and gestured for her to do the same. She had no trouble standing the staff alongside of her, leaning on it for no reason save that it was there to lean on.

"Careless. That was terrible," he growled, shaking his head. "You see how being unprepared for the first strike can leave you off-kilter for the rest of the match? And I was going slow."

So they tried it again and Aydyn was significantly more prepared, but still not the greatest in the back-and-forth scheme of things as the pair worked. He landed a few blows on her every now and again due to her carelessness, a fact not at all surprising. Even less surprising was that Aydyn never could get past his guard to land him a blow either. She tried a small handful of times, frustrated and annoyed with his constant badgering, and once or twice merely to try and prove that she wasn't all that bad. Each time she was knocked aside or felt the butt of his staff against her gutt. But he seemed thrilled with any display of anger and praised her for any movements that showed some sort of aggression. These were seldom.

[Aydyn Blair]

The next few brightenings continued in much the same fashion: Reviewing what had been worked on initially and then proceeding on what Aydyn began to view as somewhat tedious exchanges of blows. Not quite sparring, just back and forth. Wren began to increase the speed of his own return blows each brightening and Aydyn began to hesitate less...though she still would slip up on occasion and get hit for her mistakes. She was, by no means, perfect...particularly with the staff which she picked up merely because she felt she had an obligation to do so and not a driving love for learning how to wield a weapon.

On the seventh brightening Wren decided that it was time to up the ante. "We're going to spar."

"What?"

"I know you know what sparring is," he grunted, twitching a pattern into the dirt of the clearing with the butt of the staff. It wasn't a deliberate pattern. It meant nothing. "This time we face off as opponents. Enemies. You won't know when I'm going to attack. You won't know when I'm going to switch into acting as a defender. You'll take what opportunities you can to strike me. Honest to Gods sparring, got it?"

Aydyn didn't want to get it. She'd been content and finally at ease with the movements they'd een working on the past few brightenings. The simple, offensive and defensive manuevers she was learning merely by parrying his blows and then returning with a blow of her own. This was something a little more. Her heart raced as she nodded nervously. "Yes, I do."

"Good. I'll allow you a few moments to get yourself settled and then we'll see if you're going to be cut out for this at all."