Glance Back at a Look Forward (Clair/Marle)

[Clair Feldsky]

(OoC: Takes place about three years before Clair's and Marle's first post, while they were training in Arphen)

Fourteen year old Clair was tired, and sore after the day's work, but it was a good kind of soreness. It spoke of the fact that she was on her way to becoming a great pegasus knight, a swift and skillful mistress of the air! She would drop from the sky upon her enemies, and they would never know what had befallen them, for they would be dead, and she, she would be gliding upon the wind of their defeat...All she had to do was graduate the months of basic training, get accepted into the pegasus knight training program, and graduate that.

That and finishing the trip to the mess hall would be good. She was making surprisingly good progress for someone who had just finished doing marching drills for the better part of the day. She hobbled... No, strode-hobbled confidently around the corner and into the mess hall.

In her mind, she had already been accorded the rank of falcoknight, and she was well on her way to equaling her mother's reputation. Perhaps it was merely the excitement at beginning her training towards becoming a mercenary of Illia.... Too bad dreams weren't realized only by excitement.

Somewhere down the road... REALITY CHECK INCOMING.

[Marle Daviau]

The leather armor that beginners wore was...odd...on Marle. It was a bit too big for someone so skinny. The armor sort of hung off her shoulders, and her gloves almost slipped off a few more times during the drills. The only thing that fit her was her clothes, and her boots thankfully. The large rows of young adults like her packed the room. Most of the seats were taken, and nobody really knew her, or her them. Most looked depressed, or sore, sometimes both. The day had been long and hard with marching. it was simple, but a gross amount of it would eventually be tiresome.

One of the heavy set women over the pots dropped what appeared to be beans, with some other kind of slop into her bowl, and slid a spoon inside. This was NOT what Marle had envisioned for knight training. Especially so, that when she went to join, they said she wouldn't be able to make Knight, because she was a girl. That seemed very biased, but she had to understand, that she was little.

Sighing, with her bowl now full, she moved herself around the area, looking for a seat, and sat down at one of the table-benches. Bringing that spoon filled with the contents of the bowl, she gave a small smell of it, and blinked. it didn't smell nearly as bad as it looked, but she dared not taste it just yet.

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair went right up to the line and got herself a plate of... whatever it was they were eating that day. She was a knight in training. She would train, move, speak, and...Ohhh... eat like a knight too.

She went over to the tables and found a seat, plopping down in it and shoving a spoonful of the sloppy mess into her mouth without looking at it anymore than she had to. It actually didn't taste that bad...ok, it gagged her, but that was more a texture thing than than taste. She'd never really been able to eat that bean slop before... but...but....

She thought to herself, trying to talk herself through the motions. Just think of it like another part of your training. Control yourself, and swallow it. They wouldn't try to give us something inedible. Unless they were trying to test us... No that's dumb.

She finally managed to get herself to swallow the...muck. That thought would have set her to heaving it up if she hadn't managed to control herself. She looked up and saw another trainee with a doubtful expression looking at her own dish.

"It's not so bad, once you swallow it... Or it isn't yet, anyway." Maybe the pegasus hopeful was hoping to distract herself from the stuff with some conversation. This other girl was a bit taller and had shared Clair's blond hair color, though in a different shade. She also looked a bit older, so she might be in another class of trainees, but the armor fit with Clair's own group.

"My name's Clair Feldsky." She reached out her hand across the table, the way her family had always said, ready to grip the other's hand. Assertiveness had always served her well in the past, and it came fairly naturally.

[Marle Daviau]

Marle had been startled when she heard the voice of someone else across the table from her. green eyes quickly shot upwards towards Clair, half-wide, and then gave a blushing smile as she mulled the food around for a bit, then put her mouth over the spoonful, and winced a bit. It wasn't as BAD as she thought, but it left a lot to be desired. Putting the spoon back down into the bow, she sighed and then looked at the Trainee once more.

"Yeah, once you swallow it it isn't too bad, sadly, it stays on the tongue."

Marle began to giggle like a little girl, but quickly caught herself, but still the smile persisted and then nodded to Clair, as she introduced herself. Looking at the hand offered, she eyed it as if it were a foreign action, but slowly, she took it in her own, and shook lightly. She didn't necessarily beam at the other, younger girl, but it was a look of warmth, now she knew someone atleast.

"Marle. Marle Daviau. Nice to meet you."

Releasing Clair's hand, she worked more food into her mouth, knowing they had best not linger too long in eating. Though the day was done, there could always be something to do should orders be passed down. Giving another shudder at the taste, she dropped her spoon on the tray.

"Ilia can't be that bad for food, now that we've got stock from Bern..."

[Clair Feldsky]

Marle... So She'd met someone now. That was good, since she'd likely be working with "her batch" of trainees for real someday. Not just the drills and marching exercises that they spent their time doing now, but actual steel to steel fighting, going out to take claim honor and glory for Illia's knights. She couldn't wait.

As she released the other's hand, Clair saw that Marle was glad to have met her too. Caught up in the excitement of meeting new friends, and thinking of all the greatness to come, she scooped up a spoonful of the stuff and put it in her mouth without thinking. She regretted it the instant she felt the stuff.

"Ilia can't be that bad for food, now that we've got stock from Bern..."

Clair managed to talk herself into eating another bite while listening to Marle. I'm a champion of the air. No one dares to stand against Clair Feldsky and... ulp... Illia's mercenaries. A bowl of glop certainly won't stop me...

"Maybe... This is part of the training... Ohh, I hope so..."

She immediately reached for the wooden cup of water she'd gotten, ice chunks clinking. "At least we've got ice water to drink." She mumbled.

It wasn't often, but she'd heard that the trainees occasionally got some type of special treat, like oranges or grapes, delivered all the way from the southlands. She was already longing for something of that sort to cover the taste of their dinner.

[Marle Daviau]

At the mention of ice water, Marle began to laugh after she had gulped down another portion of her food, seemingly getting used to the horrid taste. Her laughter persisted almost a full minute, but was much more a giggle, or a snicker now. Flashing a wry grin at Clair, she held up her cup as well, as if toasting, but then remarked in a humored, sarcastic tone.

"Well! Ice, that's one thing Ilia won't run out of any time soon!"

Her laughter dieing down, she pushed her tray away with the trace food that still resided, and went to lean back, but forgot that there were no backs tot he benches, and caught herself quickly by grabbing the table. Breathing a relieved sigh, Marle thumbed at her armor, the dull brown colour leaving much to be desired to the eye.

"What do you hope to get out of this training Clair?"

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair took a drink, before noticing Marle's reaction, to her words. It didn't take long before Clair joined in, the one's fits of giggling spurring on the other's until they finally calmed a bit. It'd really been a while since she'd had someone to laugh with like that, since she never had managed to stay near enough to friends. Such was the life of a mercenary's daughter.

As Marle leaned back, Clair was just attentive enough to realize what was going to happen, as it happened. Thankfully, Marle caught herself before she went over the back. Clair considered the question for a moment, lapsing out of the over-excited tendencies a bit as she realized just how deep this question could go.

Clair had always had her mother's example before her as what she'd wanted to do. Everything she saw Hera do seemed to have some benefit coming to Illia, but some were more far reaching than merely bringing in supplies. The skilled falcoknight had been one of the ones pushing towards Illia gaining more land, a lasting benefit. Clair had grown up around that, and so that was, perhaps, ultimately what she wanted to do. Inside, unrecognized as of yet, was a call to something more though. A desire to find something to fight for that she could believe in.

While all that was true, the thing that she was most focused on at the time was becoming a pegasus knight. Once that was accomplished, she would strive to live up to the legacy of the Feldsky name.

There was no way to put all that into words, and no need for so much information between new friends. "I... just want to fly. Mom flys for Illia, and I guess I want to do it too..." She glanced down a bit as her foot lightly tapped the tables supports a few times. It seemed kind of silly to her to want to do something just because her mom had done it. She hoped that the desire wouldn't leave her after she started on her training.

Clair looked back over to Marle. "What about you?" She was pretty sure that this girl was trying to get to be a pegasus knight too. Most did. But there are always some arrows that fly different than the rest. It was a common saying of her Father.

[Marle Daviau]

Marle had interlocked her fingers as she set her elbows up onto the table, and rested her chin on her locked hands. The look on her face didn't show a whole lot of interest, but she was, and she listened. Fatigue had took her, so it was the best she could do to be attentive. Wetting her lips with her tongue, she gave a small nod with a smile when Clair finished, and then pulled her hands back, and rested them on the bench, clinging to it, as she leaned back.

"I can respect that, I can...things that run in the family must be great.."

Marle trailed a bit as she went back tot he question of why she was here now, and a mild shrug was all she gave for the moment, trying to compose the words in her head. Glancing about now and then, as if looking for some sort of visual aid, but none came, which seemed to panic her. her reason wasn't so well as Clair's, and her's was a bit more embarrassing if not selfish.

"I always admired the strength and bravery of Knights. I actually came here in hopes of being one of the few female knights of the world...but I was laughed at when I asked to enroll into that division, and was signed up for Pegasus training instead.."

Pausing for a moment, Marle rolled her neck, an audible crack was heard that even startled her.

"I also joined to get out of an arranged marriage I was supposed to have when I turn 18, to a boy I have met seldom, three times at most, I think. I'm not sure which is the true reason."

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair listened to Marle talk of wanting to be a knight, an actual armored knight. She was impressed. To dream that big, breaking the mold... she knew that took courage. The pegasus trainee couldn't understand why anyone would want to train in anything other than how to ride a pegasus, when given the chance, but she knew that she would have been upset, very upset, if someone had tried to steer her away from her intended set of training.

She heard a loud, rather distinct pop and looked around briefly, looking for the source, before returning her attention to her dinner partner.

An arranged marriage? Really? What a quaint custom.... Clair couldn't say she held with it all that much. Perhaps some people would be fine with it, even benefit from it, but the idea seemed so foreign to her, being born to a mercenary family. It was clear that Marle hadn't held with that idea, at any rate.

"Coming to train for those reasons; leaving to claim your own path... It's almost like you're already on an adventure... Truth be told, doing something only because I have family that did it never really set well with me, but I think I really want to do this for myself.... But they denied you the chance to train as a knight?!" Clair was a bit angry over the refusal. She should've at least been given a chance.

She calmed down after a moment. "Will you be ok? A knight is pretty different than a pegasus knight."

[Marle Daviau]

"Adventure? I suppose it is. Hasn't been very fun so far though."

Marle gave a small shrug of her shoulders, and peeked around now, eying a few other novices and trainees. Leaning away from the table as she sat up straight, Marle half-frowned at her boots, and leaned down to tie them, while trying to keep her head above the table so she didn't disappear completely from Clair.

"Nah, I'm too little, and they said the armor would be too much of a burden for someone like me. I just wish they would have let me try, but who knows, if I suck it up with my Pegasus training, maybe they'll reconsider!"

With a gentle laugh, Marle picked herself back up, and moved one of the heavy leather shoulder pads until it actually rested on her shoulder, and not on the side of her arm. f only Ilia was a little more wealthy to get proper gear to train in. Now that Bern was under their rule, perhaps things may lighten up a bit.

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair listened as Marle reached down under the table. Probably tying her boots.... They really should do something about that armor's fit.

"Nah, I'm too little, and they said the armor would be too much of a burden for someone like me. I just wish they would have let me try, but who knows, if I suck it up with my Pegasus training, maybe they'll reconsider!" Marle came back up then, fidgeting with her armor.

"Well, maybe it will suit you. Pegasus training I mean." Clair said, her voice bouncing back up into controlled excitement and optimism at the reminder of her training. She tapped her foot lightly a few times on the floor, before straightening her own armor, which fit a little better than Marle's. Most of the girls were closer to Clair's, smaller frame, so it wasn't as much of an issue to find something that fit right.

[Marle Daviau]

Marle gave an amused grin to Clair as she nodded, trying to keep hopes alive at the very least. Patting her hands against the table's top as if it were a drum, Marle began to stand up, fixing her armor again as it slouched off her form. Rolling her neck once more for good measure, she picked up her gloves and tucked them behind a buckle-strap.

"Well, Clair! I think I should get going, might as well rest up as soon as much as I can, we got weapons training tomorrow, and well, I'm pretty pooped as is!"

With a soft laugh, Marle gave a inclined bow of her head towards the Peg. Squire, and lifted her head, straightening then. Humming quietly, she began to walk off and seemed to have a light bounce in her steep, mostly because she was happy about the aspect of meeting a new friend, as well as a slight burn she could feel on her muscles.