A Bright Future|Skyheort, Talen'sul

[Northen Light36]

By the time Spice had finished his laps, Amaro had gone and gotten the boy some water to drink. "Good," he said by the way of mild praise. "Have something to drink, but sip it. Don't gulp or you'll be sick. When you're done, we'll go and select a practice sword for you."

[Kender Bard]

Spice smiled at the praise though the prospect of getting a practice sword that wasn't just a plain toy made him grin widely. He sipped the water thirstily and looked at his father. Talon smiled and flashed him a thumb's up and Spice felt warm pride flush through him.

Once done, Spice grinned at Amaro and said, "Ready! ...sir!"

[Northen Light36]

Amaro ruffles Spice's hair. "No need for calling me sir, Spice," he replies. "Come on then." Leading the way inside, Amaro gestures to the wall of training blades. "Well Spice, let's get you your first training blade." Looking over the wall of lead-weighted wooden blades with careful consideration, Amaro takes down three of them. One of the swords he knows will be too heavy for Spice and one is barely weighted at all, but the third should be only a little too heavy - a good choice for building muscles gently.

"all right, which of these three do you think would be best, Spice?"

[Kender Bard]

Spice picked up the lightest blade and made a face, shaking his head. It was barely any better than a toy sword. Then he picked up the heaviest one, grunting at the weight. He hesitated and looked at his father, who just raised a brow. Spice moved that sword to his other hand, letting the tip rest against the ground as he tested the last one. He wavered between the two, thought about it, and picked the third one.

"This one," he answered.

[Northen Light36]

"Good choice," Amaro says approvingly as he put the two rejected practice swords back up on the rack and takes down his own practice blade. "all right, now let's get started with the most important part of swordwork. Holding your sword and how you stand." Walking over to stand beside Spice, Amaro shows Spice the right way to stand so as to lessen the strain of holding the heavy training blade while being able to move quickly and how to grip the hilt properly.

After showing Spice, Amaro tells the boy to take the stance himself. Any part of Spice's body not in the right spot for the stance recives a light, but stinging, slap with the flat of Amaro's practice blade until it's corrected.

[Kender Bard]

Spice winced and frowned at the exercise but complied.

"Again," Talon ordered once Spice had eased out of the stance a second time.

"Why?" Spice asked, but took it again, with more errors.

[Northen Light36]

Once again those errors earned stinging slaps to the limbs that were out of place, slightly harder. "Because a correct stance is the foundation which all swordwork builds on," Amaro says firmly. "Now correct your stance and no more questions until we're done."

[Kender Bard]

Spice breathed sharply out of his nose and fell into place, focusing on remembering what stance to take. It was clear he was rather unhappy with their current pace but he stopped asking questions or even complaining.

[Northen Light36]

Amaro had Spice relax and wander around for a bit before suddenly ordering him to take the stance he'd been taught, giving out the usual stinging corrective slaps. This was repeated over and over for nearly half an hour while Amaro and Talon chatted, catching up on recent events and anything else they felt like.

"That'll do, Spice," Amaro told his nephew at last. "You did well. Now, are you sure you want to learn this?"

[Kender Bard]

Spice shook slightly as he stood, hurting all over. He felt... incredibly miserable and he hadn't even learned how to swing the sword right.

He averted his gaze and frowned, silent.

Talon shifted his stance, watching his son, not pressing. He knew Spice wasn't avoiding the question; that he was thinking carefully about the answer. That was one thing Spice had inherited from his mother instead of his father.

Finally Spice looked up and with a small narrowing of his eyes asked, "Promise I'll eventually get to hit things?"

[Northen Light36]

Amaro chuckles at that. "Yes Spice, eventually you'll get to hit things," he replies in amusement. Of course, he thought, if Spice had been Acqua, she'd have hurled the sword at his head by now... again. The girl had always hated swordswork with the same passion she had for her knives.

"If it helps, Spice, you're doing better then Acqua did when she started to learn," he added, deciding to boost his nephew's mood a little.

[Kender Bard]

Spice smiled a little at that and nodded. "Then... yes. I'll keep at it. But only because you promised it gets better."

"It does," Talon laughed. "Why don't we go home and get you cleaned up? I'm sure Alethia has a nice, hot meal waiting and later I'll go get you some pie from the bakery as a gift."

Spice grinned widely and looked as though he might do a cartwheel from the announcement. "Okay!" he agreed, offering Amaro the practice sword.

[Northen Light36]

Amaro shook his head as he picked up Aria. "Take care of your own sword, Spice," he told the boy. "Go put it back on the rack and make sure you know where it is for tomorrow's lesson." Glancing at Talon and trying to sound completely casual, Amaro adds, "I don't suppose you and Alethia have heard from Acqua lately?" Despite his efforts, there's a hint of concern in Amaro's tone.

[Kender Bard]

Talon frowned, faintly, and shook his head. "I would have thought you would have. Perhaps she's been busy with, ah, work."

[Northen Light36]

"Perhaps," Amaro replies, then sighes. "I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill and nothing's wrong. Acqua's probably just decided not to bother with writing. Still, if neither of us hear from her in a few weeks, I might go check on her." He smirks and adds, "If she's fine, you'll no doubt hear her screams of fury that I'm treating her like a child."

Seeing Spice hurrying back, Amaro changes the subject. "You know, Alethia will have a fit when Spice goes home like that," he remarks in amusement. "Want some company to share the blame with?"