A Trios Journey (private rp with wingfeather and tenebria)

[tenebria]

Galmúr was already sweating as he finally burst through the trees into the clearing, once again throwing himself to the side as Lorcán thundered past before skidding to a halt and spinning, looking as if nothing had happened. "Ok, now then, the first attack" he said with barely a pause. Galmúr blinked slightly, then sighed, resigning himself to the fact that a rest would not be in the future. 

Swan's expression shifted drastically as the filly spoke, her ears flattening against the sides of her head fearsomely. "Do you DARE insinuate my son is lazy and a liar?" She asked, cold anger in her voice. "CINNAMON I thought spending a night in the woods would cure your apprentice of this, and yet she returns blaming my son for something that only she claims happened?" she asked with a snort.

[wingfeather]

Artemis trotted up to Treth, ''what are we doing today?'' she asked. Treth looked down at her with a slightly disopionted expression, ''you're late,'' he said finally. Artemis hung her head, ''sorry, I had to help a friend with something, it won't happen again,'' she responded. Treth's good nature returned somewhat, ''I hope not, we are taking the eastern trail, we call it the Toad Stool Trail.''

[Abbster]

Sugar shifted a bit and felt herself begin to tremble. "I..I'm not blaming him!" Sugar insisted. "I saw it with my own eyes!" she said. "I...I did" Sugar said. "but...I knew you wouldn't believe me" Sugar said, looking down at the ground. "Its ok...I don't mind if you exile me from this herd. Wouldn't be the first time thats happened" she said. Realizing she said that out loud, she flattened her ears. She really hoped the lead mare wouldn't ask any questions

[tenebria]

Lorcán paused, but as his apprentice gave no sign of objection, as he'd hoped, he continued. "Now then, the first move is rather simple, as it is basic. The side shove. I shall demonstrate, and no, not on you" he said, seeing the look of alarm that flashed over Galmúr's face. Galmúr looked slightly embarrassed as he nodded, watching his mentor move to a taller burnt stump, seemingly just standing beside it. "This is not necessarily a powerful move in a true fight, but in sparring it can knock your opponent off balance" he added, then suddenly leapt sideways as if shying away from something, and slammed his side into the tree. To the young buckskin's immense surprise and awe, when his mentor stepped away from the stump, a large crushed indentation remained. "As you can see, you can get quite a lot of power into it, if you move your muscles correctly. It's all about a swift burst of power from your legs, and momentum" he said, then motioned for Galmúr to move forward.

Swan frowned at the fillies outburst. "Ah, and you believe her, Cinnamon?" she asked, raising an eye. "This is not a matter serious enough for exile, unless it continues. I heard my own son's testimony as to what occurred, and you only have yourself as witness. I have, needless to say, spent more time with my son than I have you, and therefore of course I shall believe him as I know who he is" she said sincerely, truthfully believing that. Her eyes narrowed at the mention of them having been exiled once already, but she did not bring it up. If necessary, she could take the young buckskin aside to speak to her, as he had seemed to lead them during the trial, and doubtless had led them before then. His testimony, having the blood of his uncle, Thunderheart running through him, would be true.

[wingfeather]

Artemis was already getting rather used to the strange sounding names of the scout trails, ''has there been any news from the other scouts, I wasn't really able to ask anyone.'' ''No you didn't,'' Treth said, ''no nothing of importance.''

[Abbster]

Cinnamon suddenly looked at her apprentice. "Sugar...are you implying that you and your friends have been exiled from another herd before?" she asked. Sugar looked at the lead mare. "Lead Mare Swan...if I tell you...about my past...will that change anything?" she asked

[tenebria]

Galmúr quickly moved to another log, sizing it up and pacing himself away from it before turning to his side, gathering his muscles and concentrating very hard, then throwing himself sideways against the stump. It gave an unsatisfying THUNK, which was mostly from his own body, and he let out a gasp of pain. OH that was not as easy as it looked. He winced. Lorcán raised an eye slightly. "I did not say flop over sideways, I said THRUST yourself at it, and you have to stiffen up your stomach muscles to harden your side" he explained with a snort.

Swan frowned at the healer. "Cinnamon, I am not wishing to have that discussion at this moment, and I would appreciate it if you would refrain from asking your apprentice until I have spoken with the young stallion that accompanied her" she said in a mildly stern voice, then glanced at Sugar. "I do not wish to hear of your past from you at this time. It may or may not change anything, depending on what deeds have been done, and reasons for the deeds. I do not usually judge from your past, rather from the point which I know you. The trial was run with honesty and teamwork, and that is what I evaluated to allow you into my herd. As to your past... I wish to speak to each of you alone, separately. I will begin with your young warrior friend, as he was the one to lead you here. Until I speak to you of this matter, do not discuss it with anyone" she said very sternly.

[wingfeather]

Artemis trotted beside Treth watching what he was doing and trying to mimic him, she observed as his ears seemed to swivel in all directions at once, his calm alert eyes seemed to take in everything around with an acute deliverance. She found in rather difficult but was still trying when Treth asked, ''hows your side feeling Artemis?'' ''Very well,'' she answered. ''Good, then we will start on some endurance training.''

[Abbster]

Sugar nodded. "ok" she said. "im sorry if you don't believe me" Sugar said. "but I promise you...I wouldn't lie" She said. "My mother raised me better than that" Sugar said, shifting a bit as she brought up her mother for the first time. Sugar blinked away tears at the thought and looked over at Cinnamon. "can we go now?" she asked

[tenebria]

Galmúr gave a disappointed toss of his mane, thinking hard and then nodding, ready to try again. Forming himself up beside another log, he focused on thinking about thrusting himself sideways, with power, closing his eyes slightly to concentrated harder. Snapping his eyes open he impelled himself sideways, stiffening his muscles just before impact, and getting a much more satisfying crunch of the dry wood, although he still got bounced back a little bit. Landing on his hooves he shook himself, his side a bit sore now, then looked at the damage, smiling as he saw a few cracks and indentations on the wood. Lorcán moved over to look, then gave a satisfied nod "Precisely. Now do it again, the other side" he said, stepping back.

Swan's eyes flashed slightly again, but at this point she could see that the filly was caught up in her own self pity, and wisely held her tongue, although the insinuation of her being a bad mother was a bit too much. "Enough, you may both leave and tend to your duties" she said sharply, this last comment putting her in a foul mood.

[wingfeather]

''I find that this is the easiest training to explain, but probably the hardest work,'' Treth began, ''anyway, we are going to run at a gallop all the way back to the scouts, ready set go.'' With that Treth took off Artemis right beside him, this she would enjoy, or so she thought.

[Abbster]

“I…I didn’t mean that Stormflash lied. All i meant was that my mom always told me to NEVER lie to the lead mate. That’s all” she said as she trotted away with cinnamon.

[tenebria]

Galmúr slammed himself against the trunk, his side and shoulder hitting it hard, and causing quite a satisfying crunch, although his sides were already aching. "Ah, there it is!" Lorcán said in a surprisingly complimenting tone, trotting over to examine the indentation. "I believe we may move on to another move now, although some cannot be practiced without a sparring partner, but we can do those after High Sun" he said, then continued "Next we have the rearing thrust." he said, then glanced around, finally setting his eyes on what he was looking for, which was rather a phenomenon. A large log hung between two large sprawling oaks, with strong vines entertwined around them both. And the log was held by these vines, wrapped strongly around it and connecting to both trees from all sides. Galmúr blinked in surprise. How had that happened?? He trotted closer as Lorcán moved towards it, nudging it cautiously with his nose, until he felt foolish for doing so, noticing that the hardened smooth log had many faint hoofmarks in it. Obviously it had been there and been used for quite a while. "Now then, you will practice on this log. The Rearing thrust is not a hard move, but it takes precision of power. You rear as the log is swinging towards you, and you must thrust forwards with both front hooves. The trick, is I do not want to see any cuts in the tree, or even imprints of your hooves" he said.

Swan watched the two leave then gave a snort of annoyance. What an impertinent filly!!!

[wingfeather]

Artemis was loosing energy fast, her chest started heaving with exertion, the scouts were just coming into sight. She had to make, she had to push herself harder.

[Abbster]

Sugar trotted along side her mentor. “Sugar.” Cinnamon said. “Why would you say that?” She asked. Sugar shrugged. “I was just being honest” she said,