Practice, But Not For You [Skeet]

[Lumino]

The days had dragged on slowly for a while now, nothing really broke Roa or her family out of their daily ruts, which was starting to feel almost a bit peaceful. That is until one day when she came back from her daily trip into the woods and her father was engaged in conversation with Heral, her oldest brother, which was odd because he was usually either in his study, focused on whatever business he had buried himself into that day, or out of town via carriage, to attend to ´most pressing matters´, rarely did she find him leisurely on his porch, having a chat with one of them.

She gave them both a courteous nod walking past them, when Heral stopped her.
"Hey I´m having a veteran, from way back, coming over today, train some. Maybe we´ll have a little sparring match, exchange some techniques." Exchanging an amused look with her father as he patted her shoulder as he added, "Wanna join in, show him who´s boss?", He chuckled brightly, as if he expected her laugh.
"Mhhm, yeah sure.", she mumbled quitly and pressed past them.
"Oh, gather your brother´s blades please!", her father called after her as she dissappeard into the house.
"Sure!", she called back, hoping she din´t sound too annoyed.

From a corner of the kitchen Kasper -the younger older brother- emerged, appearantly in the middle of cutting up a mix of vegetables and meat, to greet her.
"Hey there!" He said with a smile.
"Yeah hi.", she replied. He looked down at her bag, very obviously exactly as empty as it had been when she left.
"Oh didn´t catch anything?" he asked in a voice that showed little to no surprise, almost as if it was routine. It was routine.
She ignored him to walk into her room.

That night she did not sleep well. Tossing and turning, she felt she simply couldn´t come to rest. Not really anyway.
Hence it was little surprise that when she woke up the next morning she could see a carriage already standing in the middle of the yard.
Shit.

Racing out of her chamber into the cellar, back up again - she forgot a cleaning cloth-, and in front of the weapon rack, scurrying to grab two swords, two rapiers, bows, arrows...what else? Hunting knifes! Now to clean them all, shit, that one fell down, when suddenly she heard steps above her. No time to clean, weapons in hand she bolted out into the living room.

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@Skeet

[Skeet]

Eric Redding had not been out of his house for the last three days, except for the occasional smoke or leisurely stroll through his blooming garden. He had received a letter a few days back from an old friend, if you could call him a friend. Someone Eric had met in the army, a good man, and an even better warrior (though he could use some work on his form).

He had received the letter just yesterday, and had come upon it while sorting through his mail over his morning coffee. It was an invitation; apparently, Heral Avalluck (this was the name of the friend, who was quite a bit younger than Eric was) wanted to brush up on his swordsmanship, and had invited him to his house. For what reason, Eric did not know, but he was not one to decline the company of an old friend, one of his very few friends, in fact.

Eric decided to take a carriage to Heral's; after all, he was sitting on a modest fortune that had no purpose but to fill the pockets of his maid, who charged quite a bit, perhaps more than her particular services were worth, but this is off the topic at hand. The carriage itself was modest enough, though most of the money had went to the horses, which were specially selected by Eric himself, an excellent breed, their coats a milky white that almost reflected the morning sunlight. The chauffeur was rather moody for Eric's taste, having been interrupted during breakfast and forced to abandon his sausages. Eric clambered into the carriage rather slowly; his back wasn't in the best condition, whether from some injury on the battlefield, or just the result of age, or both.

All along the way, Eric reread the letter over and over to himself. He had not seen Heral for quite some time, years perhaps, and struggled to conjure his visage from the deep recesses of his memory. Mid-thought, the carriage quickly came to a halt, and as Eric looked out the window, he found that he was now on the property of the Avallucks. After a deep sigh and a short pause, Eric slowly stepped out of the carriage.

@Lumino

[Lumino]

Her father who hurried outside with long steps shot her a sharp look, then proceeded to welcome the man stepping out of the vehicle. She knew she´d get a talking to this evening, about impressing a guest, preparing everything for their arrival and such, "we don´t want to come to be known as bad hosts now do we?" She considered just going to town that night so she wouldn´t have the corrections rain down on her.

The man had at least not noticed her yet. From what she could tell he was a tall, middle aged man, the scars on his face telling of his days in battle. He had that certain air about him, perhaps this was something only veterans possessed. That weariness, tiredness, yet a calming sense of strength at the same time...

Distracted as she was, Heral calling out to the man and engaging in a quick but likely familiar handshake, pulled her out of her thoughts.
The man, Eric was the name she heard, seemed warm enough toward her brother, they truly were old friends. She didn´t know how someone like Heral could make friends, especially such respectable ones, but that wasn´t for her to figure out.

Realizing she still had an army´s worth of weapons on her hands she quietly snuck out the door to place them next to the strawman targets in the yard, where her brother frequently practiced his skills with a sword.
The beat up dummy fiend was slumping over and his stuffing was spilling out of the seams, perhaps a renewal of the prop might have been wise.
She quickly put the arrows in a quiver, and placed the swords against the wall where they would wait for their use.

Just as she was about to hurry back inside to not be seen out here in her nightgown - she had completely forgotten she was wearing it still - she bumped into the broad shouldered man who now stood in front of her.
"Uhm. Well-well met!"

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@Skeet

[Skeet]

As Eric stepped out of the carriage, he was greeted by both Heral and his father. It had been years since he had saw his old friend from the army. Heral was older since the last time they met, but he was still easily recognizable.

Eric followed his hosts toward the house, and as he did he took a quick glance around, surveying the property, studying the architecture, which wasn't quite unlike that of his own home. He realized he had stopped unconsciously, and it would seem that his hosts had kept walking ahead of him.

Eric started walking again, rather quickly, attempting to catch up with Heral and his father. Had he been paying attention, he would have noticed a young girl, looking to be around 16 or 17, hurrying toward his direction. It was too late for that now, and the two bumped into each other unexpectedly.

"My apologies, little one," he said with a smile that exposed his slightly crooked teeth. "I should have been paying more attention." He was about to keep walking when he remembered his manners. "I am Eric, though you probably already knew that," he said as he stretched out a hand, a small scar slightly visible under the sun. "I don't think I got your name." He had heard that Heral had a younger sister, though he wasn't really told much about her. The girl was short, with long, dark hair, and she was still in her nightgown.

@Lumino