The Secluded Clearing - A Place To Train

[Griffin]

With Elric temporarily injured, Reh made his way to his private training location in a clearing deep within the forest west of the Banshee Woods. There, he sat on a log, sharpening his knives, awaiting a new student, Yumi. He figured, that between Elric and himself, they could cover almost every possible style of fighting, from melee to magic to ranged to stealth.

Yeah, especially stealth.

[Yumi]

She made for the Banshee Forest. There, she pulled out the map and followed it to the spot marked as the secret spot. She came around a tree and saw a figure sitting on a log. She smiled and approached the figure.

"Hi! My name is Yumi!" She held out the note for him to see. "You're my trainer, right?"

[Griffin]

As the rustling in the woods grew closer, Reh's sharply trained instincts brought him to raise his knives, ready to attack. But as the figure became visible, he noted the piece of paper the girl held in her hand. It was his message with the map on it. He lowered his knives and sighed lightly.

After she spoke, he sheathed his knives in the double-knife scabbard around his waist and stood. "Yes, I'm Reh. I find it pleasing that you want to find a master. Usually people train by themselves, but becoming a student to a trained warrior can be very rewarding, but very challenging."

Reh's trainer was a very wise, but very hard to please, Ranger. He never gave Reh any praise, and always made Reh doubt his skills. In doing so, though, it made Reh always practice, even when he was beyond his master's expectations. His words still ring in Reh's ears from time to time. The Ranger planned on using some of the techniques he learned from his master to help train Yumi.

"Before we start, I just need to know about you. How old you are, past difficulties, fighting style, strengths and weaknesses, and what you personally want to learn. Anything will work. Elric can cover any magical skills you require and I'll cover the melee."

[Yumi]

"Whoa...um...Okay....I am 15. Young, I know. I'm not sure what you mean about past difficulties. I haven't got much of a fighting style now, but I have my bow." She held up her bow to show him. "Strengths. Hmm...Um...I can run pretty fast, I have pretty good endrurnace as well." She shifted her weight to her other leg. "Weaknesses. Being short. I don't have great strength, but it's decent and I have no magic skills at all. I want to learn a bit of magic and mostly melee. I think that sums everything up, right?" She stood straight up now and looked up to the man.

[Griffin]

Reh, back against a tree, closed his eyes and began to process this information. He needed to come up with a way to play all her strengths into one, seamless style of fighting. He spoke slowly, random pauses here and there, half to himself, half to Yumi.

"At a young age, speed will be very useful. Endurance is also a wonderful skill for an archer. Strength is no worry as of now, for it will build with practice in bow and melee. You will also need stealth training. The bow is perfect for stealthy shots from the treetops."

"It's likely you will be an accurate archer, rather than a speedy one, making precise shots instead of hasty, inaccurate ones. Your height, though, will hinder you from using a longbow effectively, but a recurve will suffice. You're free to pick which melee weapon you want to master, though I recommend the knives from personal experience."

"With magic, you could learn alchemy. Alchemy will allow you to use nature's gifts to produce your own poisons. It might be possible to learn how to control your environment or channel energy into your arrows, but we'll work on that in due time."

He looked up at the girl, "I'm sorry, I know that's a lot to take it, but I won't come at you with everything at once. We'll practice on basic archery skills first and then begin to develop advanced skills. A word of warning, it won't be easy. You'll have to practice daily. Practice is truly the golden rule. When you begin to do something everyday of your life, it becomes instinctual. But before we start anything..."

In one smooth motion, Reh pulled the already strung bow off his back, nocked an arrow, and shot it into a bush to Yumi's left. A small yelp came from the bush. Reh got up and reached into the shrub and pulled out a small rabbit with an arrow in it's chest.

"...come have a snack. Protein will get your energy up." Reh smiled cheerfully.

He tossed the rabbit in the middle of the clearing and pulled a piece of flint out of his pocket. He gathered a small bundle of wood nearby and started a fire to cook the rabbit.

"Oh, and cooking is a great skill, no matter what kind of fighter you are."

[Yumi]

Yumi nodded and processed all that Reh was saying.

"I can do practice. Practice makes better."

She watched the arrow go by her and shivered a little when Reh pulled the dead rabbit out of the bush. She didn't really like to see her food when it was dead. She liked it better when it was cooked and not...furry.

"I can cook really well." Yui smiled and sat down on a log while she watched carefully as Reh made fire. That, no doubtedly, will be a very important skill.

"So...You think I should stick to bow and maybe do knives, am I correct?" Yumi looked at Reh's many knives.