Old Rivals and New Friends (BeoWulf, Aela)

It was a cold morning, as always. The sun was just waking; the sky turned from dark blue to light with streaks of purple and pink. Birds sang, the village of Kryo began to stir. The men either went hunting if they had run out of meat from their last trip, or went to start their daily tasks. The blacksmiths created new swords, axes, shields; they sharpened and repaired old ones. The best warriors were sought out for combat lessons. Fathers took their sons out into the woods to teach them how to hunt. The chief heard disputes and made preparations for the annual tournament. The women, meanwhile, tended to home and children. Those who wanted to be more than the common wife--but didn't want to travel to Gyanikes--learned basic combat from their husband. Children ran around playing; older ones helped either their mother or father.

Svadilfare woke and found his children already hard at work with their chores. The twins cleaned the bowls, spoons, cups. Aurelius had a watchful eye on Clementine while sweeping the floor and tending the fire. Leo brought in an armload of firewood and set it down by the hearth, then grabbed the whetstone to sharpen the axe. Svadilfare greeted them all before leaving the house to get breakfast. While some people--who liked to burn off their food before they even ate it--hiked up the mountains to gather ice blocks in which they stored extra meat, Svad preferred to bury his surplus meat underground. He chose a spot near a creek because the ground beneath was a little bit colder; it was also easy to remember. He dug up two rabbits and did a quick inventory of everything else: half a deer, four birds, and two more rabbits.

Xander and Ami insisted on cooking the rabbits, so Svad let them. He allowed Aurelius to go by himself to pick the greens they'd eat with it. With Leo still meticulously sharpening the axe--and soon his father's swords--Svad was free to spend time with Clementine. The infant sat on a cattle fur blanket on the floor, giggling as Svad crawled around pretending to be a Manticore. He was telling a story of his encounter with one... Clementine seemed to be siding with the cat. Svad growled at the giggling girl and pretended to pounce, then laid her on her back and tickled her sides; it only caused her to laugh more. The twins took advantage of their father's distraction and jumped on top of him. "Run Clementine, we'll hold him off!" Ami yelled knowing of course that her little sister wasn't able to do so.

"Don't worry, I have her!" Xander said as he tried to reach around Svad to grab the baby.

"How, son, when I have you?" Svad said as he lifted his right arm to stop Xander, then grabbed and tickled him, too.

"No.. fair!" the boy squeaked between giggles. "Ami, help!"

Ami was helping... by staying far away. "Sorry Xander."

Leo had put down the axe and whetstone and crept over to his father and siblings. He scooped up his baby sister. "Clementine is saved!" he declared before giving the still-giggling infant a kiss on the cheek.

"Yay!" Ami cheered.

"Hey what about me?" Xander whined as he tried to get away from Svad.

"What about you?" Svad, Ami, Leo, and Aurelius--who'd just returned from gathering greens--asked in unision.

Aurelius set the greens on the table then tackled his father and brother. Ami did the same and all three children tried in vain to tickle Svad. Svad was a bit more successful and had all three laughing and squirming--until Leo lowered Clementine on the top of the pile. "Ha! Clementine has beat you all again!" Clementine giggled and clapped, congratulating herself. Everyone laughed then got ready to eat.

"You cooked the rabbit just right Xander and Ami. Maybe tomorrow you can cook some bird." Svad said as they all ate. "And the greens you picked weren't too bitter this time, Aurelius. You're learning."

"You're not going away today are you Father?" Leo asked.

"No, I haven't received any requests, so I'll be staying right here." he replied, much to the kids' delight. "I will be training some people in the village today. You can come along as long as you promise not to get into too much trouble. Or you can stay here and perhaps visit your Grandfather."

"We never get into trouble Father." Aurelius said. Svadilfare raised a brow in response accompanied by a look that said. 'Not your best lie'.

"Of course not. But should you, you can look forward to a day of teamwork." The four older children grimaced at the word. 'Teamwork' meant chores, but not normal ones. They would be tied together at the wrists and ankles and have to perform some of Svad's chores in addition to their usual ones. All day they would do nothing but these chores, only allowed to stop for food and water breaks. Some might have considered this punishment to be cruel, but compared to the punishments Svad had as a child, it was actually quite tame. And of course Svad never gave them a task that could possibly cause injury. Svadilfare chuckled softy at their reaction. Teamwork was a good deterrent for trouble-making. They hated being tied together all day; it was inevitable that they would start bickering during the more difficult chores.

When breakfast was done and the utensils cleaned again, Svadilfare set out for the village. Xander, Ami, and Aurelius went with him; Leo decided to stay home with Clementine for a while. The village was bustling with activity as usual: children played, women gossiped while washing clothes at the well, men trained in combat and adolescents either joined them or trained for other things. Upon reaching the training area, Svadilfare gave Aurelius and the twins one coin each. "Only one today, so trade it wisely. You may have a sweet if you like but don't eat it all at once."

"Thank you Father!" the children beamed before running off, eager to find their friends.

"You're welcome," he said long after they'd run off. He turned and walked into the training area and grabbed two of the practice swords; he didn't like to use his own for sparring. "Those of you here to train with me, step forward." He said to the only group that appeared to be waiting for their instructor.

Ugh. How embarrassing.

Beowulf had slept late.

It was his idea of late, anyway. As a mercenary, the tall man lived in an inn to appeal to the locals of Kryo or adventurers passing through. It seemed to be the best place to do business, as travellers may stop in the tavern for a rest and citizens would occasionally come in for a drink from the pub. And who knows, maybe a farmer has wolves attacking their cattle that they can't take care of on their own. Perhaps a lone traveller just wants company. . . Although, I think we can all agree that Beowulf's company isn't exactly the greatest!

So, why would an early hour be considered late for the guy? It was quite simple. Beowulf wanted to be advertised as much as he could, and by this time everyone had come through for breakfast and left. He missed a meal that almost everyone in the inn would go to, and that really frustrated him. He would sit in his little spot 24-7 if exhaustion were no such thing.

A glossy suit of ebony armor walked out of the small bedroom, having a slight slouch in his back as a sign of fatigue. He swallowed back a yawn. He caught a few civilians looking at him, and he could understand why. Not everyone skipped around in full armor, helmet and all. Also, Beowulf was quite tall-- freakishly tall. Even without the attire, he was sure he'd get a handful looks as well. However, despite the few looks he got, they were only from the few people in the inn. That was strange. Even at this hour, there would still be a good number of fellows here. Beowulf glanced around in bewilderment.

"Svadilfare."

That was the innkeeper speaking. Beowulf turned to look at her. She was looking at him with sympathetic eyes, which he absolutely despised. "Yeah, what about him?" he replied coldly. Beowulf knew of the local legend who was called Svadilfare. As cool as he was, Beowulf couldn't help but feel envious. Svad could have the title of Legend all that Beowulf cared. All he wanted was a fair chance to show that he could be just as good as him.

The innkeeper wasn't fazed by the Ebony Warrior's curtness. "He is training some youngsters today, from what I heard. Their parents and other family have gone to watch. That is why most of the people are gone. . . If that's what you were wondering." That was expected. It probably wasn't all that common to see the local hero in action. Not to mention it was most likely an honor for teens to learn from such a guy, and the parents wanted to go watch in pride for their child.

Beowulf understood this, but wasn't happy. "Fine." With that, he made his way to the Training Grounds. He recieved more glances outside than he did inside, but that was just because there were more people. At the Training Grounds, he saw Svadilfare in front of a group of apprentices. There was a small crowd nearby, who were mostly commoners. Beowulf recognized a few fellows from the inn. There was, however, a young lady in the crowd who stood out. She seemed like a real traditional type, wearing pelts and leather straps that Beowulf only assumed kept her gear close. Besides himself and Svadilfare, she was the only person in the spectators who looked combat-oriented. The Ebony Warrior turned his gaze to Svad, his face completely concealed under the helmet. He wanted to see why this guy was so special.

Svadilfare was aware of the crowd that had gathered to watch. One usually did whenever he trained someone, be it a group or one-on-one; he actually didn't train others often. His current opponent sat on the ground, covered in dirt and snow, a few scrapes. Svadilfare helped her up and indicated for her to stand with the rest of the group. A boy stepped forward next, practice sword raised. He was the youngest of the group, about the same age as Leonardo. Svad smiled slightly before raising his two practice swords. The boy rushed forward and to the left, his sword raised above his head. The older male smiled again, internally this time. The boy had been paying attention to the fights that came before his: Svad couldn't raise his left arm as high as his right; a weakness.

The warrior allowed the boy to follow through with his attack, a reward for being observant. But as soon as the wooden sword struck him, Svadilfare swung his right arm and at the same time swept his left foot into the boy's right ankle, knocking him down. And as the boy fell, Svad brought his right arm down so his sparring partner was pinned by the end of the practice sword. "Your attention should be everywhere, not just on your opponent's weapon." The boy nodded and got up, brushed himself off. Svadilfare gave a short nod and the boy rushed at him again.

At this point Beowulf was wondering if this Svadilfare dude was really oh-so-majestic like everyone gawked, or if he just got his fame by beating up little kids. Despite the Ebony Warrior being skeptical, watching the Pride of Kryo left him wondering if Beowulf himself could train children just as well, and if he could get some more business by beating up some whelps. Of course, he was well-aware that Svad was only mentoring the children rather than 'beating them up'. . . That's just Beowulf's snarky side talking to himself. Besides, even he did decide to take on a few apprentices, it wouldn't go well and it was likely that Beo would be fired by the parents within a week. The man was good in battle, but around kids he grew awkward. If the children were small, he probably couldn't understand what they were saying and reply with "really? cool. . ." when they were actually reporting that their dog just died or something. As for older kids, they were more tolerable, but that didn't make Beowulf any less awkward.

Something white with similar anatomy to a ferret caught Beowulf's eye, and he turned his gaze once again to the young lady in pelts he saw merely seconds ago. He didn't realize she had a pet at first glance (probably due to its white fur and how well it blended in with the snowy background), and expected something like a cat or some friendly rodent. However, he was surprised to see that it was a dragon, and the man stiffened. The Ebony Warrior had looked just in time to see the woman's gaze turn from him to Svadilfare. So she had noticed him just as he had noticed her. How delightful. The brief second she turned her head away Beowulf noticed bright blue eyes. Hey, that is pretty rad.

Turning his gaze from her for the second time, the knight shifted on his feet and continued to watch Svad, trying to ignore the dragon he just noticed. It was small, but then again all dragons are the same. Beowulf took his mind off of the beast by deciding to approach Svadilfare after the spar. Maybe he could ask the man a few questions. . .

And perhaps Beowulf himself could have a spar against the Pride of Kyro.

The boy lasted longer against Svadilfare than the others in his group before him. He was surprised; maybe he would take the boy under his wing. But now it was time for the last person in the group. While most of the group had been teens, there were some adults. A woman from Gynaikes (think I spelled that right) stepped forward. She was no stranger to Svadilfare. "Nika."

"Heya, Svad." the woman replied with a grin as she raised her two wooden swords. "Bet I beat you this time."

"Mm, I bet you think you will. Darian couldn't make it?"

"He's either off spilling enemy blood or spending time with his mistress." Nika said in a tone that suggested she really didn't care which. She adopted a fighting stance and started to circle her fellow warrior.

"Which mistress?" Svadilfare asked as he followed suit and started circling as well. He wondered what it was about Darian that prevented Nika from leaving him. It couldn't possibly be his looks; Darian was a portly fellow. He had short blond hair. Despite his weight, he was surprisingly agile. Many liked to joke that he was built like a whale: a layer of fat enabled him to take blows that would have ended most others. Who knows? Maybe he did. And Darian had no problem eyeing other women, even when Nika was with him. Everyone knew he had quite a few mistresses that he visited at least once a week. For reasons known only to her, Nika remained married to him. Some said it was for the sake of their daughter, some that she intended to cut off his ring finger before she left him so he could never marry again. Others still said it was because she still loved him... or just didn't care about the mistresses as long as they didn't end up in her home and bed.

"Hm, probably the red head with the birthmark. She's his current favorite."

"I thought they had a fight?" Svadilfare would have to wait for that answer--if he ever got one. Bored of talk about her husband, Nika attacked, deciding to start with a combination of kicks and sword swings. She'd been practicing since their last spar and was eager to put him in his place. If there existed a woman from Gyanikes who could best Svadilfare, Nika came the closest to it. What she lacked in strength, she made up for in speed and knowledge of the human body. She knew exactly where to strike to give her the upper hand. To dislocate a shoulder. To cause the most bleeding.

Svadilfare knew all this because he'd sparred with Nika hundreds of times and worked alongside her for years. The two knew each other so well in fact that their fight seemed almost rehearsed, like they were putting on a show. In the end the winner would be determined by which one slipped up first.

My, oh, my. Now are we talking about a player in the Gynaikes prancing around with a few ladies? At least that's the vibes the Ebony Warrior was picking up, with Svadilfare and this new woman talking. Svad did ask which one mistress this gal was referring to, so at least Beowulf won't fall asleep when Svad actually turned out to be mediocre with a sprinkle of an interesting situation resting upon his conscience. However, much to his disappointment, the two stopped running their mouths, and the battle commenced.

Beowulf realized that the two were quite the match. It seemed like one of those fights that can go on and on and on for eternity. Letting out a huff of amusement from his lips and shaking his head, the Ebony Warrior rose his head back to the woman he spotted earlier. Yeah, the one in the pelts with the bright azure irises. However. . . she was gone?

Oh, wait, there she is.

Standing a mere length from him was the woman and her dragon. He was surprised at the distance the gal had closed when his gaze was away only for a minute or two. Intrigued and deciding to finally initiate conversation, Beowulf inhaled and turned his head to look at her. If she were to look closely, now that he was gazing directly at her, the glint of his silver eyes could be seen in the shadow of his helm. They were only two tiny white dots in the shade that dominated. . . Kind of eerie, really.

"Hello."