The Tournament of Blades (Private rp with Abbster)

[mainehorse]

(For some reason I thought Glimmer was a female this whole time lol, my bad. You don't have to change that if you don't want to.)

"In the forest. Not far from where I live. I'm not sure if he had any siblings, but if he did then they weren't in the nest with him. I brought him home, figuring I could keep him safe until he was old enough to fend for himself. But each time I tried to release him once he had fledged, he kept winding up coming back later that day. Eventually I just figured I'd keep and train him to hunt." Cass says, gently stroking the top of the falcon's head. She had started out just calling him falcon, since she had been trying not to get attached, since he was a wild animal. But eventually, the name had just stuck even after she decided to keep him. And so she still affectionately just called him 'Falcon'.

[Abbster]

(Hahaha that’s totally fine. I think it makes more sense for Glimmer to be a girl anyways)

Kennadee smiled. “Wow” she said. “That’s an amazing story” she said smiling as she brushed Shadow. “So tell me how you got your horse” Kennadee said as she began to pick out Shadows hooves. When she finished with his hooves, she grabbed a mane a tail brush and began to brush out his mane so she could braid it for teaming. “His mane is insanely knotty right now” Kennadee said.

[mainehorse]

"Got him about seven years ago. He was a yearling at the time and a real ornery young thing. His dam's owner couldn't deal with him and didn't think he was fit to be a war horse, was going to put him down. But they were willing to relinquish him for the right price. I suppose I saw something of myself in the young horse. Couldn't just stand by and let em kill him." Cass says pausing. "How did you get your horse? He's a good looking animal. Strong." She says.

[Abbster]

Kennadee smiled. “Well my father actually got him for me as a birthday gift when he was a yearling” Kennadee said. “I don’t exactly know where he came from, but what I do know is that he loves racing. Apparently he was going to be used for the racing life, but when they realized he was lame right after he competed in his first race, they almost killed him on the spot. But thankfully, my father had gone to that race and he said that he would adopt the horse so they wouldn’t put him down.” Kennadee said. “My father called a vet and they helped with the lameness in his leg. Once he healed, my father put a purple ribbon around his neck. Purple because purple is my favorite color, but then I got him for my 15th birthday” Kennadee said, kissing Shadows nose.

[mainehorse]

"Unfortunately many people can be all too quick to put them down at the slightest injury. Even if it's a minor one that they can recover from quite easily." Cass says, gently patting Bayberry's neck. It was nice that Kennadee had apparently had parents who cared about her, to the point where he got her a horse. She couldn't remember her father at all. She wasn't sure if he had ever been present at all. And any memories of her mother were too foggy for her to really recall. At most she knew that she had lived with her mother for a few years prior to being dumped at the front door of the capitol city's orphanage. But beyond knowing that her mother had been there, she wasn't sure what she had been like or why she had been abandoned. She had been old enough to have formed memories, so she wasn't sure why she couldn't remember much before that. But maybe it was best that way. Either way, she had her life together now.

[Abbster]

Kennadee finished grooming Shadow and she put on his halter. “I may lunge him in the arena. If not now, then definitely later.” Kennadee said as she lead him out of his stall and into the arena. “Glimmer” Kennadee whistled swiftly as Glimmer swooped towards her owner, landing on Shadows back. “Good girl” she said as Glimmer casually just sat on Shadows back.

[mainehorse]

Cass nods slightly, glancing over to Bayberry. She'd probably be giving him the day off and practicing on foot for today. Her sword was freshly sharpened from yesterday and she could take it to one of the training dummies in the arena. Of course, she'd turn Bayberry out so that he could still get some exercise and graze a bit. She needed him rested for the tournament, it was equally as important as training. An overworked horse wouldn't preform well after all. Nor would an overworked knight for that matter.

[Abbster]

Kennadee did about 30 minutes of luging with Shadow before she brought him back to his stall. He would now have a day out in his stall paddock. Where he could just have a relaxing day. Kennadee opened his outside door and then gave him some fresh water before dumping some hay into his stall and heading back to the barracks to grab her bow and arrow. Kennadee mainly used her bow and arrow, but from time to time she also used a sword.

[mainehorse]

Cass stows her sword back in it's scabbard after the straw head fell off the training dummy. She'd have to take it in for repairs before it could be used again. But that was the norm for training dummies. Simply because of the nature of what training for knights involved, they often had to be repaired. It was easier to get them repaired than it was injuries on an actual person or war horse after a genuine battle, or should something go wrong during a tournament. Even with the more casual nature of a tournament, injuries could and did occur. Especially when real weapons were involved. It was the reality of life as a knight.

[Abbster]

Kennadee looked around and then she set up the target for her shooting practice. It was really close to where Cass was training with her dummy. Kennadee put an arrow in her bow and then pulled back, eyeing the target swiftly before she released and the arrow soared through the air....just missing the target. Kennadee stared at it, confused. She never missed. She blinked a bit as she just stood there, wondering what had just happened. Maybe I did something wrong? She thought as she put another arrow in her bow. Again, she missed.

[mainehorse]

"Here... allow me to be of assistance." Cass says, stepping closer to the younger knight as she slipped her sword back into its scabbard. She favored fighting with great weapons like her greatsword, but she knew a thing or two about bows as well. "Can I take a look at your bow for a moment? That bow string is looking a little bit loose. Once it's tightened, you should have an easier time making the shot" she says.

[Abbster]

"Sure" Kennadee said, handing Cass her bow. She hadn't realized that could've been the issue all along. "Where did you learn to fix that?" Kennadee asked as she watched Cass tighten up her bow string. Surprisingly enough, Kennadee had never had a problem with a loose bow string before. "Would you mind showing me how you did that?" Kennadee asked. "I was never actually taught how to do that" She admitted.

[mainehorse]

"You tend to pick up a thing or two over the years. And if you want to be captain of the guard somewhere, you have to learn how to handle all weapons in order to aid the soliders serving under your command. So I made a point of teaching myself the basics." Cass says. She was working her way up to that position. But it wasn't an easy task when people automatically assumed a woman couldn't be as capable of a fighter as a man. "Sure, watch what I do here. Then you should be able to tighten it yourself next time" she says, going through the steps slowly this time so that Kennadee could see what she was doing

[Abbster]

Kennadee nodded and listened. "Well, honestly I could see you making a really great captain some day" She said as she watched Cass work with her bow. "Thanks" She said when Cass handed it back to her. "Let me try this out" She said, grabbing her arrow from her back and putting it into her bow, swiftly she pulled it back and then released, making a perfect bullseye. "Wow" She said. "That did the trick" She said. "Thanks, Cass"

[mainehorse]

"That's very kind of you to say. I hope to be one day." Cass says. She had been working hard for years to build a name for herself in the hopes of getting there one day. And this tournament would hopefully help with that. "No problem. I'm glad to have been able to help" she says. Kennadee would be able to fix it herself next time it happened. There was always more to learn, no matter how much one thought they already knew.