...But home is nowhere.

[Kendall Ducaine Malice]

It had been two days since Kendall had arrived at the city of Avaren, the journey from his father’s farm carried him through the country side, a long the old Merchant’s road, past the Grand Entrance and finally to the Barracks here where he was all to eager to sign up for enlisted Duty in the King service. “This is my first step… Right here, I will show them, I will show them all” he thought to himself. Kendall had a lot to prove if only to himself, he refused to just be another farmer. His older brothers and sisters all chastised him save for his eldest male sibling who offered nothing but encouragement toward Kendall, Malikie was the only person he would truly miss back home the rest, the rest would come back groveling on bloodied hands and knees asking for restitution. Kendall would be better than that he would grant them their reprieve but only after they acknowledged what acts of contrition they lowered themselves to in order to gain his favor.

When Kendall told his parents that he was leaving the farm to pursue his own dreams they wrote him off as just talking and trying to get their ire. However the next morning when his father came to wake him and make sure he got an early start on the days work, he found Kendall just about packed and ready to leave. Soon the house erupted into raised voices and shouts that left none still asleep. In an angered state Kendall rushed out of the house, bag in toe and headed for the general direction he thought Avaren was in. Not fully knowing where the capital city lie, Kendall left the jeers of his shouting father and headed across the countryside. He may not have known exactly where it was but he knew that for sure he would not go back. No, Kendall could not go back. The only thing that waited him there now was the chastising of his parents and siblings, eager to make fun of him because Kendall thought too much of himself to make it as a servant of the Realm. No he would not give them the satisfaction, he had no choice but to press on and his diligence was rewarded. Not more than a day after leaving the farm did he encounter a merchant’s humble convoy that was heading the way of Avaren.

Kendall had much contempt in his heart, though he was still young and foolish. Till the day before last his world consisted of a small cottage over flowing with his parents and sibling, and the tending of the crops. It seemed that he could not escape the chastising either, a few “well bred” recruits found laughs at his expense came easy, Kendall still had much to learn now that he was in the middle of a bustling metropolis. Taverns, markets, apartments all lined Avaren’s streets, he could easily loose focus of what and why he came here for and that just couldn’t happen. Granted it was a little overwhelming and Kendall had yet to venture out into the city for fear of getting side tracked or lost. No so far he had not left the barracks, he had wanted to get fully acclimated to his new surroundings. You might say that he was a creature of habit, however Kendall knew that he could not live that way forever. Hopefully being here now would force him to grow out of the protective shell he was for so long kept in. There was a whole world to explore and he was now a Man of the Realm.

Today would be his second day in weapons training; his recruiter had spoken of his high expectation for Kendall as he too came from a farming background and was know Paladin himself. The initial nervousness had run its course and hand tapered off into a mix of excitement and eagerness that Kendall could barely contain. Making his way down from the sleeping quarters, Kendall descended the steps with his left hand gripping the hilt of his issued sword as it was sheathed at his side in its leather scabbard, his sweaty grasp fixed it self just under the pommel of the sword in a “reverse grip”. Following the sounds of the clashing swords and armor Kendall made his way to the sparing area where several novice militiamen like himself were being walked through the basics of learning the finer elements of the weapon. It was slightly more complex than “The pointy end goes into your opponent.” Now they were to seek out partners and spar with their weapon. “There are two ways of learning gentlemen: Shock & Repetition…While you are here, you will come to know both…” the trainer would call out. The one good thing about being new was that he could only get better with time.

[Tori Shiroishi]

Sometimes, Tori came to the barracks, to get a look at the new recruits that would be protecting this land of the Lord God from the heathens abroad. Today happened to be one of those days. She found herself wandering the barracks, taking a good, long look at men as they worked hard to become the Lord God's soldiers. She realized that she would soon be amongst new recruits, and that she would have to find one especially perceptive of th Lord God's word. She was looking for a new candidate to become a great paladin. Someone who she could trust to carry the Lord God's word, even in the absence of Lord Vidar. She entered the training hall, her eyes wandering around the room. She knew she could beat most of the new recruits that were here, but she had been looking for one that would be particularly strong, one of great faith.

As she entered the room, whispers began to circulate around the room. She heard talk of "The Holy Warrior" and "Avaren's Loyal Maitre'd." It seemed that, even after such a short time after her arrival, she was very well known as a proper warrior of the Lord God. Even further in among the recruits, she heard whispers of "The Lord God's Angel" and "God's Loyal Maiden." When she heard the former, she sharply corrected the man responsible. "I am no angel, but just a humble servant of the Lord God. My arms are his tools to purge this land of evil. That is why I have become strong. My strength is His. My soul is His." She noticed the instructor was having a difficult time keeping his troops in order, due to her presence. It seemed as if people had to stop and look at her, the holy warrior of the Lord God. She ignored the stares, however, and continued surveying all possible candidates to become paladins.

She stopped as she eyed a young man with dirty blonde hair, her eyes focusing in on him, even if it was just for a moment. She couldn't help but think this man destined for the true path of the Lord God. She would have to fight him, and test his true faith. She felt lucky that she had brougt her scythe with her. No, not lucky, as it must be the Lord God's will that she bring her scythe on the very day she had found this man, when on all others, it was left behind. This was surely a sign that this man before her was destined for the Lord God's light and strength. She walked up to the commander, and, after a short exchange, was given permission to spar with this new one. She walked within mere feet of him, before calling,"You, boy! What is your name? You seem to be strong. Shall I find out?" She held her scythe forward, that he may know of the weapon he faced.

[Kendall Ducaine Malice]

There was a sudden buzzing around the Sparring area of the Barracks, the resonating hum of low voices and hushed words passing back and forth between some of the recruits dominated over the primal grunts of those trainees sparring and even the sounds their clashing swords. Their words straining to contain their excitement, it seemed something was going on. Caught in the moment Kendall soon found himself to a small group of recruits huddled against the wall talking amongst themselves and eyeing a woman who was stalking like a predator through the flock. With her she carried a tool that Kendall was quite familiar with, a scythe. For a moment Kendall’s naïve nature really took a dominating hold of his thoughts. “Why would she be carrying a scythe? Was she a farmer looking for a strong lad to tend her crops? Why would she be at the Barracks?” [/b]His mind raced asking more questions than he could fathom answers too, this left an unsettled feeling in the pit of his stomach, like his internal organs were slowly winding themselves into a tight knot.

If this was true, Kendall desperately hoped she would look him over; he came to Avaren to get away from that life. He was all but sure that was her reasoning behind her visit. Being a farmer himself, Kendall was fully aware of how to use such a tool. What the young recruit didn’t know nor realize was that there were far more grim applications for using a scythe than just reaping wheat from the fields. Still all the same, thanks to a life time of harvesting crops and long hours that started well before dawn and stretched until after the sun set and often all night to spite his father, for most of his young life Kendall could wield one such “weapon” much like an artist could paint.

The buzzing continued, it appeared that this woman had a bit of celebrity to her, briefly Kendall hear the word “Warrior” come from over his shoulder. Pivoting on his heel he turned and looked over his right shoulder to a few older recruits who had obviously heard of this person. Cocking a brow Kendall returned his gaze to the woman. Slowly he let out his breath that he unconsciously had been holding since he first saw her and that winding ball in the pit of his gut began to loosen. “She was no farmer,” he thought to himself “but then if that is so why…” Then there was a sharp exchange between her and another recruit across the room, Kendall couldn’t make out what was being said but a few moments later it had ended and she moved on to engage in conversation with their weapons trainer.

Kendall watched her with great interest, however she seemed rather oblivious to his stares or even to the fact that he out of the many even existed. Then without any hint or preview she let her eyes shift and settle upon him. It was a fleeting glance but slowly he felt the air of unease begin to well making his legs weak. Her attention quickly ripped away from him and once again she began talking to the trainer. Their conversation was shorter than Kendall hoped it would be and soon he watched as she stalked across the space that had formerly separated the two of them stopping let than a stretching arms distance from him and calling him out. Her degrading tone drew a smug brow from him. No one knew him here, he had nothing to loose, for Kendall it was now a matter of sink or swim. Kendall allowed a moment to pass as he eyed her suspiciously.

“Kendall Ducaine Malice…”

He said matching her tone, and then she leant her weapon forward. Kendall didn’t seem phased by it gleaming arch, by mere observation Kendall could tell this Scythe was not meant to cut stocks of wheat. For an instant there was a slight twinge of nervousness that shot through him, he could feel the hot stairs of his peers settling on him and a few of the others who had until this point made fun of him. He could practically hear their thoughts “What makes him so special that she picked him out of all of us… He is a farmers son, my father was a... or served under....” Smiling inwardly Kendall stepped forward towards her putting some space between him and the other trainees. It seemed that he had to earn his respect here in the exact same fashion he was willing to obtain it back home, the only difference was that Kendall had more of a shot actually getting some (respect) for his efforts. Clearing his throat he continued speaking to her.

“If it pleases the lady, you shall….”

True Kendall had only had one full days worth of weapon training, but he was not so much confident in wielding the blade sheathed at his side as he was with the full knowledge and experience of the weapon he faced. Many times he and his eldest brother played White and Black Knight with them. Blowing out a breath he steadied himself. “Here is my first step for making myself known” he thought. Kendall could not afford to fail.

(Sorry it too so long to reply)

[Tori Shiroishi]

Tori looked at the man as he stood there. Eying him up and down, she decided how much of her strength she would need to use to keep even with him. She knew that she was definitely stronger, but she did not want to kill him. After all, her purpose was not to eliminate a threat this time, but to find one worthy of the Lord God's light. She eyed the man with an air of approval, knowing that he would be a strong one, and a true warrior of the Lord God. This she had planned already, but she knew he would have to be trained. What she wanted from this fight was to decide how much training he needed. Her small frame betrayed nothing of the awesome strength that she possessed, and she knew that this man would underestimate her. After all, who expects such a woman to be so powerful?

The crowd cleared around the two, before the fight even began, a circle of people, forming a ring around a battleground. The commander looked at Kendall, impressed that he had caught the eye of the "Holy warrior of the Lord God." He thought of how strong Kendall might be, to be picked by Tori as a sparring partner. If Tori expected greatness, who was he to argue? Some soldiers began talking among themselves once more, some arguing about how badly Kendall would be maimed, some still whining about not being picked themselves, and others still were asking each other why the commander allowed this.

Tori was not so easily daunted by this man's stature as one might expect. Being shorter than most to begin with, height differences often did not bother her at all. In fact, had the phrase existed then, she would have often said, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." She was looking forward to fighting this man even more as he spoke to her, "Kendall Ducaine Malice? Pleased to meet you. I am known as Tori Shiroishi. You may not have heard of me, yet I intend to find your strength. Perhaps you would like to take the first strike?" She smiled pleasantly at him, her warrior's eyes also showing a gentile spirit. She raised her scythe, preparing for the battle at hand, her warm smile contradicting her battle hardened stance.

OOC: Just don't take an absurd amount of time, k? I'm not gonna bother you about it otherwise...

[Kendall Ducaine Malice]

With so much attention being directed at him Kendall didn’t have time to stop and ponder what whispered words were being said about him. No doubt they would all be derogatory, and he could feel his “peers” waiting with baited breath for him to fail. The very thought was enough to make his blood boil. Why had they hated him so? What wrongs had he committed in his humble life against God to force his hand against Kendall? It was all rather frustrating, but Kendall refused to let his anger drive him mad, no rather he used it as a fuel supply to drive his ambition. One day he would stand before all those who had once looked down upon him and told him that he would never amount to anything more than a farm boy. Kendall’s eyes betrayed the facade of his calm exterior, like a duck on a pond that seemed at ease yet under the surface its legs were pumping like mad.

There was a struggle of logic in Kendall’s mind, one side looked upon his opponent and easily dismissed her, merely a girl with a big “weapon” the other, more reasonable side of his mind rationalized that she was not one to be trifle with. The way the crowd reacted to her, the way they mocked him for being chosen to spar with her, the way the officers and trainers respected her. The last was the key point that let Kendall know he better tread lightly. From where he was from, respect wasn’t easily, Kendall was right to think that such a petite woman must have something unseen to garner so much clout. Clearing his throat he heard her speak to him once more.

“The pleasure is mine, and forgive me but unlike some of the other well bred recruits, I know little of anyone from the city. I am but a simple farmer who got tired of reaping soil.”

Kendall spoke after she had finished addressing him. First strike? Kendall truly doubted real combat would be so formal, however they were sparring and that was far from “real” combat, still the lessons and techniques he learned here would aid him when the time actually came for him to prove his quality. As he drew his blade Kendall felt the cold twinge of nervousness quickly course through his body as if he was sharply struck with a switch causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. “A real warrior…” he thought to himself. This was a test, she was going to test him, and she told him as much…

Nodding his head to her in acceptance of the first strike, Kendall himself took up a crude stance. The day prior their training consisted of balance and footing, Kendall did his best to assume the position that would best afford him a chance at penetrating the ark of her scythe’s blade. It was a medium ranged tool, wielded best at two to three arms length distance, if he could get in close he could possible wrangle her. She was small, no doubt could she be as strong as the Oxen the he had been used to handling. Or so Kendall had hoped, looks can be deceiving, that was one thing he kept forcing to the forefront of his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was to look the fool and her loose all interest in him, that and hear the rollicking jeers of the other recruits. Even if they faired as bad as he did against her there would be no tapering off in their relentless hazing.

Drawing a deep breath, Kendall tensed his leg muscles. Then like a spring he shot forward, pushing off with his left leg, twisting his body slightly so his right shoulder shot out to meet her, his sword hand (right hand) was kept near his left hip, griped tight in his hand. As he neared her, Kendall brought the pommel of his blade quickly across his body as he turned “opening up” his stance and sweep the blade across. The issued blade had not yet been sharpened, so even if Kendall by some miracle he scored a hit it would do little more than leave a painful bruise. Not pausing to see if she would react Kendall planted his right foot and moved to throw a knee aimed at her mid section. Kendall may have not much real training but he had learned to defend himself from his older brothers.

[Tori Shiroishi]

Tori didn't intend to attack him immediately, and so moved her scythe in the path of his sword, allowing the blow to fall there, instead of doing anything very expert. She didn't intend to wear herself out with this fight, so she used short, easy movements to block his sword. She watched him for a bit, memorizing his movements, his attacks. She decided that he didn't think much of her, swinging his sword around in such a haphazard fashion. He must not understand why she was famous. Oh, well. He would know soon enough.

The crowd around them looked upon with extreme interest. The captain looked at the other students, who, for all their boasts, had frozen at the sight of her eyes. They were truly inexperienced. Far more interesting to him, however, was Kendall himself. He hadn't shown the slightest bit of hesitation, even after she had stared right at him. This was surely because of his skill, and was the same reason that Tori had chosen him. She saw his confidence above those others with false confidence. Being a warrior, herself, she was not one who liked to take time to play with the weak. She only had her eyes on this one, who would surely become strong.

As she let fall his blade on her scythe, she noticed his foot coming around to attack her. Surely he did not expect this to hit? She moved the handle of her scythe in the path of his foot, allowing his kick to strike the weapon as well. She was not concerned for his attacks, yet. He would have to show his true strength, or would lose. She was not the kind to be defeated easily, and she knew ways to attack with the scythe that were far more effective than children playing on the farm. Plus, her scythe was not that of a farmer, but one suited for battle. The tips of the handle were pointed, allowing her to stab at those she could not cut. The blade was sharpened beyond that of one used for farming, and the handle far sturdier. This scythe was obviously not for reaping grain, but instead, foolish heathens.

[Kendall Ducaine Malice]

It was quickly becoming apparent that Kendall was out matched. No, not merely out matched but out classed. But really was that any surprise, however Kendall did have enough wit about him to know that she was passively probing him. With fluid grace, and hardly any effort she managed to block every single blow he managed to throw. She was experienced, there was no doubting that and Kendall didn’t let go the fact that at any moment she could perform some maneuver what would leave him on the flat on his back looking up at her. In fact Kendall would have bet the farm that was how this was all going to end.

As his leg ricocheted off the shaft of her Scythe, hot stinging pain shot up through his leg, swelled around his knee then shot up his inner thigh like lightning coursing its way up his body. Pulling his leg back he planted it behind him as he evenly distributed his weight on the balls of both his feet. Kendall then brought his sword up in a defensive posture as he to a few steps back granting a respectful distance just outside her scythe’s range. Adrenaline pumped through his body like oil threw a machine; beads of sweat from nervousness mixed with excitement cascaded down over his lips. Their salty sweet taste left his mouth feeling bitter, which was likening his mood. She was more agile, faster, had him on range and experience, she was calm as a cat so how could he turn the tide. It seemed like an eternity as he stood there opposite of her sizing her up once again.

“Go for her scythe, strip her of her weapon”

His mind screamed, however Kendall doubted that would work, so far she had been passive and he had his hunches that it soon could turn into passive-aggressive. Kendall was forced to see what advantages he did have over her. The only thing he could think of was leverage, which until he thought up of something would do him no good at all. Slowly he circled her trying to put something together, or hoping that she would show a weakness that he could exploit.