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| Training Grounds — Tondc, Trikru |
| Behind the barracks, and in an open sprawl of bare dirty and patches of grass, are the training grounds. It is surrounded by tall trees, giving a sense of boundary to this area, as it is dedicated to the warriors of Clan Trikru. It is meant for a variety of tasks, from the various fighting rings for spars and weapons' training, to the archery targets of wood and hay. There are a few silos that store training weapons and other gear that is always expected to be returned after a session is over. |
| Day 34 |
It is rather early that morning, Tuan himself looks to be a bit tired, eyes having a 'where am I' look to them and hair is dishelved. We won't get into what he was doing that causes him to look like this last night. The ground has a light fog over the training area and he is standing with a pair of rather straight sticks about six feet long by a pair of trees that reach up to the sky, parrallel to one another. One of his hands lifts up to stifle a yawn behind it while he waits.
Kai would likely be more surprised if he was fresh as a daisy given the delegation in town. She, on the other hand, is about as fresh as she gets first thing in the morning, which, walking through Tondc's barracks the adopted Trikru pretty much has to be. Especially walking through there alone. But let it not be said she lacks for guts.. and possibly fortunately for her the people most likely to object weren't awake enough to start a fight over her presence. There's an upnod of acknowledgment as she eyes those sticks and then him with a tilt of her head, curious.
"<In Trigedasleng> We are climbing this tree." Tuan explains to Kai, not using English however as he tosses her one of the sticks. When he speaks though, he motions to what he is talking about and makes appropriate movements; as if teaching her through visual cues some of the words he is using. "<In Trigedasleng> My shoulder is weak, you are here to climb with me and to make sure I do not die if I fall. I will go first, you will follow once I am halfway up." Turning, Tuan walks to the trees. Small pegs have been placed into the trees all the way up, just enough to set the stick upon them like a pull-up bar. "<In Trigedasleng> Do you have any questions?"
Kai catches the stick, but of course he's talking at her in Trig. Augh. Tree. She recognizes tree, and he's gesturing that way, great. So they're doing something with the tree's.. and then he's gesturing at his shoulder. Like.. what? The puzzlement no doubt reflects on her face as she endeavors to parse. Wan op means die, that one you learn pretty fast when people mutter it at you regularly.. first she knows, but there's way, way too much in there that she just can't work out,"Something about I'm going to carry you on my back and if we fall I'm going to die?" she guesses in English with an apologetic grimace.
<FS3> Tuan rolls Athletics: Success.
Tuan blinks and laughs at Kai's retort, shaking his head. "<In Trigedasleng> You speak Trigedasleng, or nothing." Reaching out, he moves to give Kai's shoulder a reassuring pat. "<In Trigedasleng> Follow." Reaching up, Tuan sheds his shirt; the scar from where the arrow took him just one amongst many others. Then he places his stick in the pegs, does a pull up, snaps the bar upwards to the pegs above the first where he hangs there. Looking down at Kai he grunts out, "<In Trigedasleng> See?"
"<In Trigedasleng> Yes." it's not quite the word Kai is looking for, but it's the closest acknowledgment she can think of, and still the pronunciation is not great. Follow she's heard at least, and does so without complaint, utilizing the opportunity to shimmy out of her armored top and sword because after all, there's no need to make it even more difficult on herself. She observes the pull up absorbantly, eyeing him, and it, and then the whole length of pegs before she dips her head again,"<In Trigedasleng> Yes." well, at least her extraordinarily limited vocabulary might spare him from too many questions right now.
Tuan grunts an acknowledgement to Kai as he continues to climb up the ladder, making it about four more rungs before he hangs, swings over to grab ahold of a rope that is hanging from a tree and uses that to slide down after knocking his stick to the ground. Landing with a thud, he shakes his head and looks at Kai while rubbing his shoulder. "<In Trigedasleng> It hurts still. Your turn." He nods to the ladder, an amused look on his face.
Tink pages: Kai has to go visit Benning. She'll help her in a nicer way.
<FS3> Kai rolls Athletics: Success.
Kai's never done that one before. It's impressive to her, she can appreciate the amount of coordination and strength that goes into what's such a deceptively simple movement, and watches his dismount before eyeing it. There's still a line of stitches down her right forearm from where the Reaper caught her on their first trip to Cbur, and while she doesn't know 'turn', 'hurts' is one she recognizes, attention flicking to his shoulder as she shifts to take his spot and eye the ladder calculatingly,"<In Trigedasleng> Hurts." she repeats testingly,"<In Trigedasleng> Sorry." simple words, spoken carefully as she places her stick where his had been, absently rubbing her arm before reaching for it.
Loose top, heavy armor, it's easy to mistake Kai as simply lean, on the scrawny side like most Skaigirls. It's not until she snaps up to the first peg that it likely becomes obvious that this one really isn't a stranger to training; a muscular lean rather than simply scrawny. Three, she makes, without his speed or grace by any measure, but her arm's not real keen on the sudden flex and clench of abused tendons and on the fourth doesn't catch right and she decides that she's not going to attempt to go further in favor of going back down to the ground with a grimace for her arms betrayal.
<FS3> Tuan rolls Athletics: Good Success.
Tuan nods his head appreciatively to Kai's attempts to climb up the ladder and gives her a smile when she lands after getting up to three. "<In Trigedasleng> Not bad, for a new Trikru." He adds the last with a grin. He motions with her to another object. It is a pole that is straight up and down, about 20 feet, and sanded and smoothed to an almost sheen. Tuan nods at it, "<In Trigedasleng> Climbing this requires focus of hands and feet." Then once again Tuan demonstrates, his finger tips reaching around the pole (about a foot in diameter) and his feet in front of his body, he begins to scale the sheer pole upwards, going quite a bit up before grabbing again a rope which hangs from the top to slide down to the ground.
<FS3> Kai rolls Athletics: Failure.
Kai gives a grunt, whether that's a grunt that she understands or is simply acknowledging his words she doesn't attempt to clarify. She shifts her armor and Wren's sword to a spot she deems safer on her way over to the second object. She's trying to turn the words over in her head and work out their meaning, but his demonstration is far more illuminating than her faliling attempts,"<In Trigedasleng> Tree for Trikru." it seems to be uttered with some amusement, as if maybe why they're called that is perhaps related to the amount of climbing that seems to be involved. Still. It merits assessment from her, looping about the trunk to try and judge in advance the likelihood of popping her stitches.
Maybe it's the height differential, maybe she just missed something in his technique.. maybe it's just that her arm, having already endured one such exercise aint having none of it, because while she gets her arms looped about it the second she attempts to actually replicate his action she winds up instead on her ass staring up at the sky like 'wtf just happened?'.
It'd be fully expected probably for Tuan to be laughing. That is what all Grounders would do, right? Look at the Skaigirl failing. But he doesn't. Instead he is over to Kai; not rushing, but steadily to reach out a hand to her in offer of help up. "Again." He says this time in quiet English. "Think you are light, believe you are light, and you will be light." He offers the mantra with a smile, "Many fail these. It is more a matter of here," he taps his heart, "then here," he taps his arms.
<FS3> Kai rolls Athletics: Success.
Kai accepts the hand up, for all that the grim expression that settles on her face and the way her eyes tick to the barracks says she's surprised that there isn't laughing, it's her ego that's bruised more than anything, nodding for his words with a grunted 'thanks' as she rubs her stitches again before dusting herself off. There's a smile that's little more than the curling back of her lips, not intended for him so much as the girl has never handled failure well. She also doesn't give up easily, clearly, given that she returns to eye the pole again as if she can squint it into submission. Silver's not going to be happy with her, but damnit. That pole is going to submit.. even if it is more of a shimmy, and she probably looks fairly ridiculous. She's not going for speed, damnit, but she's not going to let herself be defeated by a pole. Ruffled dignity at least mollified by finally reaching the point where she can slide back down again. Huff. Stupid pole.
Tuan smiles a bit when Kai makes it up and then slides back down. Upon her arrival she would see him standing there, glancing about. "Many will want you to fail. If you fail, the people you came from fail. You must do more than any other. Work harder than any other."
"I don't fail." the sheer flatness of it is it's own kind of volume, Kai's grey eyes ticking to the barracks with just the slightest narrowing of them before she shakes out her hands as if consciously trying to let go of the tension associated with her words, a smile that doesn't reach her eyes crossing her face before she gestures at the slowly fading bruises on her face,"Never been very good at giving up, even when I'm supposed to. Do you want me to do that again? Or something else?"
Tuan shakes his head slowly, "We do these until we reach the top of them, or until we are too tired to continue." He looks between the ladder and the climbing pole. "Then, when too tired to continue, that is when work begins with our Seconds. This… this is what we do to be good enough to be in their presence." There is a seriousness in Tuan's tone as he turns towards the ladder to start walking back to it, absently rubbing his shoulder. "Our failure, is their failure. So we will not fail them." Then he slips into Trig once more, "<In Trigedasleng> Again." Nodding to the pole for Kai, he grabs a stick himself and sighs, placing it on the pegs of the tree ladder and begins the climb.