Begun and Guided, chapter 6

Lyra was finished brushing Jasper down, she had sucssesfully put the bridle on him, he was quite used to this now. But she was having a great deal of trouble keeping herself calm and colected like she needed to be. Today, she had to ride Jasper, she had gone over several excersizes time and time again with Jasper, and she was confident that she could do it, but.... there was always that nagging doubt when ever she thought about it. She shrugged it off, it was probably just the butterflies in her stomach. She walked him out with the reins to the padock outside, the saddle and blanket were sitting by the wall. She stopped and set his reins on the fence post, she didn't know what it was, but if she set his reins on anything really, he would stay where he was. She went and got the saddle and brought it back, she slowley set it down and gave Jasper a few moments to look and reciougnize the saddle. When he was completely calm, she gently picked the saddle blanket up and showed it to him, then she swung it up and onto his back. Jasper twitched slightly, but he remained still. Lyra nodded to herself and turned when she heard footsteps to see Sean leaning against the barn. It was a little hard to see being there was very little daylight, she had gotten to work before dawn so that they could leave before it was to late after sunup. He nodded a goodmorning and watched Jasper intently, Lyra nodded back and then went back to the buisness of putting the saddle on Jasper. She showed him the saddle, then, quietly as possible she gently swung it up and onto his back. Jasper again, twitched, a little longer and more sudden this time, but he remained still. He quickly returned to a calm state and Lyra commenced doing the wieght excersizes that she had been doing for the past couple days, and, as always, Jasper remained calm like he had been taught to do. Lyra took a few deep breaths and then, took hold of the reins and put her foot in the sturrup. Jasper held still. She took another deep breath and the slung her leg over his back, she didn't sit down, however. Jasper twitched, but only because a fly landed on his backside. Lyra waited a couple seconds, and then swung her leg over and put her foot in the other sturrup, she was standing in the sturrups, but this was half what it would be like when she sat down. She held her breath as Jasper looked around at her. He eyed her for a few seconds, and then sat still once more. She breathed a sigh of reliefe and sat, slowley as ever, into the saddle. And...
Jasper held still.
A wide grin spread over her face and she gently nudged him with her heal and he walked forward like they had been doing for the past few days. After a few turns around the padock, Lyra thought it might be a good time to calmly ask for a little more speed, so, she gently nudged him with her heal again. Jasper's first movment was to run as fast as possible, but as soon as Lyra felt the good amount of energy he was suddenly putting into his strides, she held the reins tight on his mouth, and forced him to move a little faster than a walk, but not as fast as a canter. After they had gone around the padock a few times she repeated this, it took a little more efort to get him to slow down this time. But she rode him easily into a more or less nice canter, and rode him at this speed a few more times around the padock. After she had finished, she went over to where Sean was standing.
"Could you run and fetch my blanket roll? he will need to get used to carring a little more wieght than just me. I will keep riding him around until you get back" She said. Sean nodded, looked up at the sky and went towards the inn.
Lyra proceeded to canter, trot, and walk Jasper around the padock several times, before long Jasper had adjusted fairly well to having a rider on his back, and was running around comfurtabley. Sean came back out about ten minutes later with her bedroll and clothes. She nodded and took the bedroll and clothes after she dismounted - normally - and started to fasten them to the leather straps on the back of the saddle. After she had done so, she proceeded to mount again, quicker than the last time, but not quite normally either. Jasper looked like he didn't appreciate the extra weight, but other wise he was calm. Lyra nodded to herself and went through the speed excersized with him again. After about thirty more minutes, she finished and brought him back toward where Sean was. She dismounted and untied the bedroll and her clothes from the saddle straps. She loosened the girth a little and Jasper relaxed his stomach. Lyra looked up at the sky, it was probably going to be an hour before sunup.
"Well, I'm going to feed and water the horses, but until sunup we need to let Jasper rest and re colect himself and at sunup we can start riding" She said. Sean frowned slightly, but nodded. The two took Jasper and the tack into the stable and Lyra unsaddled him and took his briddle off. After she had thouroghly brushed him down, she fed both Jasper and Yate and watered them both. Then she put all the tack away but left her bedroll and things by Jaspers stall. Then, she followed Sean back into the inn.

Falon paced back and forth in her rooms. The parchment and pen had arrived, and she had already written and sent off the letter to Lyra. But other then when Kiecah had come by earlier, she had had no other activity all day, she remembered what Aketa had said earlier and a smug grin passed over her features.
If you want to move around I don't care, just stay out of sight.
That was exactly what Falon was planning to do once darkness fell. Fairly few of the people in the Sister's Glade had seen Falon, they had simply dissmissed her as another apprentice and had gone back to their chores, so she would be able to move amoung them easily, all she had to worry about, was the night guards. They, on the other hand, would reciougnize her. So she simply made a mental note to stay away from them, she was planning on visiting some of the shops and get a good weapon or two, and then go to the stables and make a claim for a horse. Aketa had told Falon how to make a claim for a horse before she had gone when she had first visited. All one had to do, was give the stablemaster an amount of money to hold the horse for her and then, later when she went to get the horse, the stablemaster wouldn't have sold it to someone else so she would be able to buy it.
Falon continued pacing. It was still some hours before dark and she knew that she was going to be extreamly bored until then.
"Welcome banquet my foot" She said to herself. "Why not just have the class give a huge hello and call it good?"
No sooner had she said that then a knock come at the door. Falon jumped slightly, wondering if whoever it was had heard her. She straightened.
"Identify yourself" She said, politely.
"I am Cherilynn, I'm an apprentice of the Kaylan clan, I was sent by the Aladia clan director, Aketa, to visit with you" She said. Falon frowned and opened the door. The girl in front of her had her hair in stick braids that ran over her shoulders, her hair was a cherry color, she had hazel eyes and a number of freckles across her nose and below her eyes.
"Hello there" She said pleasently. "You are Falon correct?" She asked. Falon nodded and welcomed her inn. She nodded her thanks and walked inside.
"I always wanted this room you know" She said. "But I rather don't like the ice blue, I preffer a red"
Falon was stairing at the figure, she could guess her favorite color was red, she had a tan tunic on with matching breeches, brown leather walking-riding boots, like Falon's, and a dark red-and-green cloak on. She turned to Falon and giggled slightly.
"Well look at you, you're very young. Fourteen it looks like, and five five even am I right?" She asked, still smiling. Falon nodded.
"That's right. And you?" She asked. Cherilynn, still smiling, answered.
"Oh I'm sixteen, I'm in my second year as an apprentice, and I'm five seven" She said nicley. Falon was starting to get uneasy with the fact that this girl always had a rather large smile on her face and seemingly never dropped it. Falon looked her up and down again and Cherilynn seemed to notice the movement.
"Oh don't worry, I'm quite nice. Aketa is too, she sent me here because she thought you would probably get bored, and thats never a good thing with a first year. How long have you been here?" She asked.
"Oh, about a day, since yesterday I think" Falon said. "Hard to tell when you're locked up in your room all day" She added biterly. Cherilynn frowned for once and clucked her tounge.
"Very bored indeed I see, well, hows about some practice with a second year then? I can show you how to hold a bow the correct way if you want and save you about a day's worth of training" She said, smiling once more. Falon's eyes got huge.
"You all spend a whole say just learning how to hold the bow?" She asked, bewildered. Cherilynn went strait faced and considered the question for a few moments, then shook her head.
"Not a day just learning how to hold it, a few hours on that subject, and then the rest of the day hammering the position into your muscle memories so you automatically fall into that position when you shoot" She said. She was grinnig, yet again.
"But you will be able to move right along to the next day's worht of training on the first day if we can get holding the bow down today. Don't worry, I brought mine" She said, producing her bow and a quiver full of arrows out from behind her cloak. Falon watched with amazment mized with amuzment as Cherilynn pulled them free of the cloak. She handed the bow to Falon.
"Go on then" She said, low and behold, grinning. Falon smiled shyly and held the bow. It was lighter than she thought it would be, she tossed it between her hands experimentaly. She liked it, she thought.
"Let me guess, oak wood?" She asked. Cherilynn laughed.
"Almost but not quite, its elms wood, elm is a more flexible and strong wood than oak. We have all the wood imported here and we make the bows ourselves. I got mine about two years ago, when I started. It has about a sixty pound draw wieght, but when you get your full sized longbow, now those have about seventy-five to eighty pound draw wieght. But your muscles will develope enough through the years as an apprentice" Cherilynn said. The she gestured towards the bow.
"Lets see you hold it then" She said. And Falon set her feel parralel to eachother, and held the bow up and pulled the string back. And the barage of tiny details that she had missed were suddenly very obvious as she and Cherilynn started to work on it.

"I say we just get this over with already" Aketa said. In the room were the other six clan directors, they were deciding on how to announce the knew addition to the Kaylan clan, Falon.
"Everyone here was a new addition" She continued. "You all know what it is like to sit, locked up in your dormitories for days on end while the ceremonies are planned, and besides it's best to get her a master quickly, I see much potential in her. So lets just have Jerry cook up a large banquet as quickly as possible, have a night of feasting, do the whole intruduction blah blah blah and-"
"You seem to be forgeting Aketa" Intterupted Bella Donne. "That the introduction process had been a tradition amoung the clans for a century, wht should we change it just because another introduction shows herself? It is true that the Kaylan clan has fewer than all the clans, and rarely gets and addition, but the amount of women and girls in the clan are high enough, and the amount of introductions in increasing with the new generations" Bella Donne said. Aketa had a stern look on her face and her features were red. She had to admit, history or not, she never trusted Bella Donne with anything and she hated her.
"So says you, Belladonna. But what say the rest of the clan leaders? We do not have the time for ceremony in any event because we are on the brink of war with one of our own" Aketa said. And she could tell that it struck a cord to all. It was hard, even for her, to have to war with one of the clans. It was not right.
"Best that we finish this quickly and get her trained, so that we can finish this war all the quicker without any bruhaha, besides, she will be eager to fight along side her real sister once she had finished a certian level of training. What say you?" She asked to no one in perticular. The other six women were silent for a few moments, then Kiecah, spoke up.
"I, personaly, agree with Aketa. We do not have weeks to do this, and I visited the child earlier this morning, she won't want to be locked up in her dormitory that long, even though she likes her rooms very much" Kiecah said. Aketa silently nodded her thanks to her. Another spoke up, it was Abenaki, the Larrah clan leader.
"I agree with Bella Donne, we should grant the child the introduction to the clans that ever child has and will be given, we do not want to cut her off from what the others will recieve later on" Abenaki said. And one or two others whispered their agree ment. Aketa needed another alli, other than just Kiecah. Betweene Kiecah, Aketa, and one other clan, they could do much in the lands, but on this, little matter it would take a majority vote, not just the three. Aketa looked around the room, willing someone to stand up. And one did, it was Peppy, the leader of Anna Beth's clan.
"I agree with Aketa and Kiecah, we do not have the time for this, and I hated being locked up in my dorm when I first arrived here with nothing to do, lets save her that frustration and restlesness and just get on with things" Peppy said. Then, after a few more minutes, the majority agreed.
They would go with Aketa's suggestion.
Aketa grinned at Bella Donne, who refused to look at her. Rather, she seemed to be suddenly busy with the state of her nails. Aketa nodded her consent, and the walked out of the doors to the meeting room. She looked to her left to find and ever-present guard and sent her to give word to mastecook Jerry and have her chefs get to cooking food for the banquet. The guard nodded and hastily walked in the direction of the main tree bakery. Aketa looked around once and then walked up the stair case directly to her right and found herself on Falon's dormitory level. She decided to tell Falon that it would only be a couple more days before she was free to move about, and to see if her friend had any plans for tonight.
About five minutes later, Aketa walked down the halls toward Falon's dormitory, she hoped that Cherilynn was still there, she had sent the young happy-go-lucky girl up to keep Falon company, and, judging by how much she knew Cherilynn, she was more than capable of doing so. Aketa smiled, Cherilynn would have been her apprentice had she been in her clan. She went down the hall to the last door on the right and knocked. And, after a few minutes she was supprised to see that Cherilynn opened the door.
"Oh, hello Aketa" She said, politely making the gesture of greeting with her hands. Aketa repeated her movment.
"Hello Cherilynn, how are you and Falon getting along?" She asked, stepping into the room. She looked over in the corner to see Falon testing the draw weight of what could only be Cherilynn's bow in her hands. Falon looked over, hearing Aketa's voice.
"Hello Aketa, how did the local court room visit go?" She asked, handing Cherilynn her bow. Cherilynn frowned.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Falon, It's called the Sisters court, and it's not a bunch of hulla-"
"It's alright Cheri" interupted Aketa, doing all she could too keep fro laughing. "Falon doesn't understand everything yet, nor should she be expected to" She said. Cherilynn was still frowning but nodded. After a few moments of silence Cherilynn thought it best to leave gracefully.
"Well, it's been a pleasure Falon, I can come by tomorrow after my morning training and show you some more if you'd like" She offere. Falon grinned.
"I'd like that, thank you" She added. Cherilynn smiled at her attempts to be polite and to some extent follow protocal. Cherilynn made a farewell gesture with her hands and, after doing the same to Aketa, she left the room. Aketa took a deep breath after she left.
"How do you like her then?" She asked. Falon smiled lightly.
"She's a perfect little bussy body, she'll be a good.... Whatever it is when she graduates from her apprenticeship. I rather like her" Falon said. Aketa nodded, she was happy that she wouldn't have to go through apprentice after apprentice trying to find Falon a friend too keep her mind off the events of the past couple of days. Falon welcomed Aketa to sit and, after she did so Falon sat too.
"The council has agreed to comence with the welcoming banquet instead of all the ceremony hullaballo, so you will be out of here within the next couple of days, oh and I have something for you" Aketa said. She handed Falon a crimson velvetine bag, it was heavy to Falon. She looked inside it and found an abundance of strange looking gold coins. She looked up at Aketa, a question in her eyes. Aketa smiled.
"That is the currency we use here, it's slighty different than a regular gold coin of Maladine, instead of the queens air-head figure on the back of the coin. All seven names of the huntresses are on the back. You have enough in there to put a claim on a good horse and, to get some tack and clothes if you need them. I think theres enough for a bow too" She said. Falon looked at Aketa with some suprise.
"How did you know....." She started, but the rest spoke for itself. Aketa laughed.
"Because you remind me of me when I was your age, when I first got here, on the first night, the woman who had found me did the same thing for me, and thats how I got Brit. She just felt right when I rode her, so I put a claim on her and went to see her every night until they had finished with the welcoming hullaballo, and then I went with my mentor and picked her up" Aketa said. Falon grinned when she heard this. She too, had hoped to spend the night out in the Glade, just taking in everything. She didn't know what horse she was going to get, or what kind of bow she was, but she couldn't wait to get out of her rooms. But she did have a question.
"Did Cherilynn?" She asked. Aketa laughed even harder at this.
"She wouldn't tell you, and you would never know but I think I did see her once or twice outside at night, she's a natural expert at unseen movment Cheri is, and that will serve her well later on" Aketa said. Falon frowned.
"Cheri?" She asked.
"Yes" said Aketa simply. "A nick name I just sort of fell into calling her, it's easier than pronouncing her full name. And, she doesn't mind. But she doesn't let just anyone call her that, only her best friends. But I think she likes you, you never know" Aketa said.