Gimme Time To Shine

[Kyra of Cavall]

"Break off into partners... Quickly!" The tempermental male barked at his students. On cue, as if by magic, the group of pages, fresh meat, seperated, quite quickly, into groups of two. Kyra, stubborn, stood firmly in place, and sent a disgruntled glare at a bubbly girl who approached. A few eyed the pathetically tall girl dismally, and chose others.

How pleasant. Annoyed, the young page glanced around. Most were partnered within seconds, obviously having met before entering the castle, others, in fear of the enraged instructor, near-clung to eachother in fear. Others, clearly grouped as it was given an order. No one argued. Kyra grumbled, her tall frame sulking slightly.

Not quite the sociable one, she didn't do much to help that with quick retorts, and insults. Still, she yearned for human companionship on occasion, though it did little to effect her overall view, and actions. Perhaps... Dark blue eyes scanned the training grounds, dust having settled after the scurrying, resting in a thin layer over the cobblestone covered area.

Now among only a handful of those chosen, and groups breaking of, the man was quite near exploding, Kyra dully noticed, hasting up her search the slightest. Now among the few unselected, were 4 females, quietly arguing over groups, and 3 males. Oh. Now won't this be quite fun indeed. Her mind echoed in false humor as she calculated the math.

"Ten seconds you little pond scums..." He rattled off. Aww... A remarkable number of explicatives rang out in her mind as she glanced nervously about. Stumbling forward, she glanced between the remaining folk. "Anyone wanna partner, with... Ehm. Me perhaps?" She spat out quickly. She frowned. "P... She gave a long pause, scowling, "Please?"

[Talmage]

Instead of paying attention to their instruction like he should‘ve been, Talmage had been busy having a whispered conversation with the boy next to him; and so, the command to break into partners caught him by complete surprise. He jumped slightly at the loud command, and then looked around, watching his fellow pages pair up in terrified obedience. A little exasperated, he let his eyes sift through the crowds, trying to lock on to someone who was alone. Who to be with? He automatically dismissed many of the choices; too tall, too short, too happy-looking, too skinny… He carefully avoided eye contact with any of those he rejected so he wouldn’t capture their attention, brushing off those who approached him. He had to find a good partner; he could assume they would be sparring, and he didn’t want to be paired with anyone who would make him look bad.

But before he knew it, it seemed like everyone had already found a partner. He let out a soft curse and moved closer to the few that were left. As the instructor spoke again, Tal’s head automatically jerked in his direction; hearing what the man had to say, Tal looked annoyed at being rushed along. It seemed like he would just have to settle for whoever was available; even though he wasn’t afraid of the instructor (well… that’s what he tried to convince himself, at least), he didn’t want to get in any trouble. Making a good impression was the key to success - that’s what his father had told him about the instructors.

The other two boys who were left over seemed to have already decided to pair off, and, with evident distaste upon his features, Tal turned to the girls. He had never had any experience with girls like this. Weren’t girls supposed to be quiet and nice and clean and… well… Ladylike? That was what his mother was like, as were the friends she had over on occasion. But the girls that were there now seemed remarkably boyish. Why did they want to be knights, anyways? Wasn’t that more of a boy thing? But, no matter, that wasn’t the important thing at the moment.

He turned to the nearest of the girls, annoyed by the fact that he had to look up slightly to see her face.
”I guess you can be my partner,” He said, his tone making evident that, although he would tolerate it, he wouldn’t enjoy the pairing. The way he said it could easily be considered condescending, though he didn’t even think about the fact she could be offended by his words or tone. He looked over her boyish clothing, nose scrunched up a little as if he smelled something unpleasant. ”Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.” He offered, quite convinced that he was being a gentleman by saying so.

[Kyra of Cavall]

Within seconds of the instructor announcing the elotted time, she found a boy, who, quickly, and without much thought, approached her. Oh, fun. She had hoped, prayed to Mithros, he instead, paired with another. But noOOoo. She ran her hand over her dark brown hair, and cast him a slight glare, exasperated, and a bit edgy. He spoke. Internally, Kel grinned. Oh, is that disappointment, and irratation I here?

Perhaps. "Doesn't look like you have much of a choice anyways." She said rather neutrally, casting a petty glower downwards in distaste. She crossed her arms, displeased, but relieved as their given time ran down to zero. He spoke again. She scowled, glaring, and snapped a reply. "Go easy and you'll find a wooden sword down your throat. I may be a girl, but, gods, I ain't a pansy. Gets it?"

So, he was that kind of boy. That little... I swear... She mentally cursed her bad luck. She would have given her magic just to be with another girl quite easily at this point. The current situation looked grim, though, obviously she had little choice. It was stay, or be killed by the muscled lump of a man she called an instructor. His face had taken to its natural red-tint as he calmed. Everyone was paired, some, as she did, looked at their partners, annoyed, and irked.

"So, boy. I'm Kyra of Cavall." She turned her attention back to the mutt standing beside her, casting a glance the full-length up the page, before stopping to meet his eyes. "And who, so bold, are you?" She questioned. Not that I really give half dog's behind. She uncrossed her arms, letting the long limbs fall to her sides.

He had grey eyes. Rather unique. A his hair, a bit scruffly, it seemed, was brown. His looks, overall, were good, passible, though his younger age evident. Quite surprisingly, he near reached her own tall physique, however, was more gangly than she was. Her hands settled now, constantly moving, it seemed, and settled in a more comfortable position, propped up on her hips.

[Talmage]

Obviously, he wasn’t the only one who was displeased with their pairing. As she spoke, he noticed her glowering and his own expression swiftly changed to an irritable one, eyebrows narrowing as he mustered up his best glare. The idea was to try to look a bit menacing, but in fact he felt a bit ridiculous, trying to intimidate someone taller than him. He automatically tried to stand up a little higher and puffed his chest out slightly in hopes it would make him more manly, though in reality, it didn’t do much to add to his image.

”No, unfortunately not.” He retorted irritably, his voice clipped and now openly hostile. He positively bristled at what she said next, folding arms over his chest in a defensive and unhappy manner, much like she was doing. ”If you say so. But I think you‘re overestimating yourself, little girl.” He said in a scathing tone, obviously still not convinced that a girl could ever rival him. Even if she was a little taller, that didn’t make her the superior one; at least, as far as he was concerned.

This is going to be no fun at all. I’ll beat her in a second! He thought to himself arrogantly, turning his body so he was faced towards the instructor. Keeping turned that way, he glanced sideways at his partner, giving her the once-over again. She was tall for a girl; tough-looking for a girl; oddly dressed for a girl… But she was still a girl. And he wasn’t about to lose to any girl, even if she seemed oh-so-convinced that she could rival him. Pah.

As he heard her speak again he turned his head in her direction, still keeping his body angled toward the instructor, not wanting to be scolded for “not paying attention” or anything of that sort once further instructions were given. He met Kyra’s blue eyes with his own gray ones, his gaze intense and fiery as he responded in a haughty tone.
”Talmage of Sademin.“ Obviously proud to introduce himself as such, he raised his head slightly, still intent upon trying to match her height, futile though his efforts were.

Soon I’ll get taller. He silently consoled himself; unfortunately, though, he was currently stuck as he was, with gangly limbs that he had yet to grow into. And, of course, his rather large and ungainly feet. Now that he thought about it, his feet did pose a bit of a problem if they were going to be sparring. What if he tripped, like he always did? Ugh, he wouldn’t be able to take that kind of embarrassment. Looking away from Kyra, he glanced down at his own feet, shuffling them slightly and now a bit worried.

[Kyra of Cavall]

Well. This is going to be rather interesting. She gave a soft, however nervous, mental chuckle. He attempted to cast a glare, face contorting, though ended up with a rather comical appearance. Kyra grinned, and, quickly turning, childishly stuck her tongue at the little git. He gathered himself, and, seemingly, attempted to spurt another inch to shorten the height distance between the two.

He quickly retorted. She glowered, though said nothing in reply, the corner of her upper lip raised in a twisted scowl. "Overestimating?" She scoffed aloud, a few heads turned, though quickly brought their attention away after a moment. "Pfaw. You'll be lucky to even bring your stick up in time to stop me from running you through. And." A lopsided grin crossed her features. "I ain't little." A meaningful gaze was cast downward.

The shrimp thinks he can best me?! She cracked her knuckles in a quick motion, eyes narrowed. The slightest nervous, she cast a glance to her side, reassessing her partner. Meh. I'll last longer than him. Worst comes to worse... It'll take me 'bouts a minute to best him. She crossed her arms once again, content, and reassured of her victory.

He soon replied to another of her questions. She grinned. "Talmage of Sademin." She echoed his words, nodding slowly. Never heard of the place. She internally shrugged, coming up with a blank. Probably from one of those little fiefdowns up north, or somethin' or other. He was quite proud, however, of his title. She opened her mouth to retort, though quickly closed it, leaving Talmage to wallow in his pride.

She finally turned her attentions to the instructor, who, now, happy with the pairings, made a move to open a small closet at the corner of the training grounds. A few heads craned to see what he was opening to reveal. Little impressed, Kyra paid little attention, instead, choosing to play a little scene of herself crushing the stupid page beside her in a fight. It was quite fun, if quite impossible.

M'wonder what's in there? She suddenly thought, curiousity besting her. She did little, however, to crane her neck to see, as she already towered over a good portion of the rest. She grinned, mentally noting to thank her father for good genes.

[Talmage]

At such a childish action of Kyra sticking her tongue out at him, Talmage looked quite affronted.
”Well, aren’t we a mature one.” He muttered; the comment was quiet enough that he could try to pretend he hadn’t meant for her to hear it, but at the same time was still clearly audible. His features were now locked in a moody, aggressive scowl, and he glared not only at Kyra but at anyone else who happened to look over, letting them know clearly that he was unhappy to be associated with a person like her.

As she scoffed at his words from before and did some boasting of her own, Tal looked at her, giving a quick eye-roll and then sneering at her.
”Yeah, right. You’re a girl. Girls are weak. You won’t stand a chance.” He answered in a matter-of-fact tone, quite convinced that he was in the right. However, her purposeful downward glance wiped the sneer off his face, and he simply frowned instead. ”Oh, you think you’re so high-and-mighty because you’re tall… Height isn’t everything, you know.” He told her in a scolding manner, and then added, ”Besides, I wouldn’t want to be that tall at this age. It’s kind of freakish, actually.”

As she cracked her knuckles he eyed her critically; though he would never admit it, he was a bit intimidated by her. But he tried to keep a cool head and not let her get to him, silently trying to convince himself that she was just a “little girl”, as he himself had stated. I’ll send her home crying to her mommy and daddy. He thought to himself, and his confidence was boosted once again at the mental image.

She repeated his words but made no comment about them; he was rather relieved at that. He saw her open her mouth and then close it as if she wanted to say something, and, unable to help himself, he raised an eyebrow and smirked in a challenge, practically daring her to go ahead and say something about his title. It would just be another excuse for him to hate her; and every little thing that angered him would help in a fight. So long as he didn’t let the rage take over and blind him, he fought better when he was angry; it was much easier to fight if he had a purpose to do so, and the purpose of this was already clear: defeat Kyra; no, not just defeat, crush her. Humiliate her. He kept his mind set on that.

The heads of pages who had before been chattering among themselves absently began to turn towards the instructor, necks craning and eyes searching as they evidently found something of interest. Catching sight of this, Talmage turned away from Kyra and peered in the direction that the others were looking. But even by standing on his tip-toes, stretching himself to his full length, and tilting his head in various ways, he couldn’t manage to see what the instructor was revealing.

Once his actions had proved futile, he stopped trying and sulked for a moment. But after a moment he couldn’t help it, and momentarily swallowed his pride, asking Kyra,
”Hey, can you see what’s in there?”

[Kyra of Cavall]

"Hmph." She looked away, frowning, but said nothing. Hope this isn't going to be permanent. The thought of being stuck with Talmage was enough to strike terror. Gods, I'd rather be stuck with a prissy lady over this lad. Least I'd be able to hold somewhat of an intelligent conversation, instead of exchanging glares. Kyra cast a glance over her shoulder.

"Girls are weak? Have you been living in a hole your entire life? Look around." Had he not met any female knights before? There were more than a handful running around the land, and doing quite a good job at that. "Half the girls here could whip your scrawny behind." Beat that. She smiled smugly. "Look at all the female Squires and Knights now boy. Doin' a much better job than the men ever did." She grinned smugly, glaring challengingly at him.

He had lashed out, calling her freakishly tall. Indifferent, she shrugged, hiding the fact that she was mildly offended about the self-concsious matter. "Freakishly tall eh? Take a look at your face. You look like your a city tramp, nots a noble. Least I can see over most people. Very intimidating in battle too." Take that. Let's see him beat these. Smug, she could only grin, Definantly won this battle. Hah.

After that, he seemed to have quieted, and taken to his own thoughts. Scampering away to her own, she zoned out in the near distance, the words the instructor spoke slipping through her ears. I can beat him, right? Father said I was good. Whupped those country boys butts in the forest. An' they were big brutes too. Her hands curled into a soft fist, muscles twitching at the thought of a good fight.

He seemed quite content with the fact she had not lashed out at the mention of his name. Now annoyed at her choice, she could only glower at the ground. Lost the battle, but not the war. Talmage looked, as if expecting a few harsh words to sprout once again from her mouth, but she kept it clamped shut. For a few moments. "I'll let your ego stay slightly inflated till' I whup you." Kyra returned the expectant stare. "Country boy." She muttered under her breath. Probably raised up by those ferocious mountain tribes or somethin'.

She was soon, once again, focusing on the intructor as he opened the supply closet. Beside her, Talmage strained to see. She grinned once again, feeling victorious. He swallowed his pride, and spoke up. "Hmm... She paused, though decided she could momentarily stoop low enough to answer. "Bunch o' wooden swords, and staffs, and bows. A few other things of gear too."

[Talmage]

Obviously not convinced by her arguement, Talmage responded with an eye-roll and an exhasperated sigh, as if dealing with a stubborn child.
"Well the girls around here hardly count as girls, with their dressing-like-boys and trying-to-act-like-boys and stuff." He said, looking pointedly at her as he said so. "And just because all these girls are trying to imitate us men doesn't mean they can ever be equal to us."

He was rather disappointed to see that she didn't really react to being called freakishly tall and, much as he would've liked to feign indifference as well, he automatically raised a hand to his face when she commented on it.
"What's wrong with my face, hmm?" He asked defensively. "I don't look like any tramp! And you're one to talk! You're the one who looks like an ugly brute of a servant. Which is clearly the rank you really deserve!"

Her insults had got him quite riled up, and her smug expression just further irritated him. After that outburst he just stood and fumed for a few moments, trying to get himself calmed down until he could actually use the anger for something helpful. For now, the only thing he was using it for was to fling petty insults at the girl, and that wasn't helping anything at all, except to relieve some of his rage, make him feel a bit better about himself.

As for the arguement about her height - well, he was ready to drop it. Admittedly, her height did give her an advantage, and he knew that. What was the use of arguing when he knew that he was wrong? So instead he just chose not to say anything further about it. Hopefully she wouldn't think that she had won, just because he didn't want to continue the arguement... Because of course, then he would just have to insult her about it again, to defend his honor.

"Whup me? Ha, right." He said, tone calm and self-assured. Oh, I can't wait to prove her wrong. He thought, excited by the thought. "You just wait and see." As she called him a 'country boy', his expression hardened and he glared at her even more heatedly. "Oh, going to stoop that low, are you?" He said bitterly, but made no further comment.

As Kyra revealed to him the contents of the closet, Talmage's angry expression faded for a moment, replaced with one of delight. Momentarily distracted from their arguement, he bounced up and down on his heels with anticipation.
"Oooooh." He said, with a hint of a smile.

[Kyra of Cavall]

She turned to conceal a grimace as he rambled on, clearly believing girls, were in-fact, inferior to men. Apparently he has been living in a whole for the past decade. She gave an mental snort. Women, in most other countries, were far below men in status. Here, however, they were catching up, given more say. But, of course, some men don't like that. She clenched her fists, and turned back once more.

"Not equal? Who gave birth to you anyways?! A woman. Without us you would be without food, and clothing. We now fight, in the Queen's Riders, and as knights. Just accept it. We are equals now." Kyra spat, temper flaring. Deep breathes were taken slowly, nails digging into the soft flesh of her palm. Just give me one good reason not to strike you down. She mentally challenged him, keeping the words to herself however. Calm. Cool. She repeated, loosening the digging grip of her nails, revealing bloody indentations. She bit away a hiss of rage and pain.

He seemed to have dropped the fight over height quickly. That, she revelled in. Knows he can't beat me in that. She mused silently. Things, clearly, weren't going along well. My first enemy. She frowned. Pausing. Meh. Another mental paused, she faced forward once again. If he would just get rid of the silly notion that girls suck, and boys are supreme, he could be bareable. I think. She eyed him, mentally shrugging.

"I would gladly wait years just to spar with you. She sneared. "Beating you is just... A slow pause, she grinned slightly. Inevitable. Talmage was, quite, riled up at her calling him a 'country boy'. She said no more. No reply. She had stooped quite low at that one. Mother taught me better. She thought shamefully, heat rising in her cheeks. But I won't apologize. No.

Kyra could only smile as he bounced in delight, she herself, could barely contain the glee, and resorted to cracking a wide smile, rocking back and forth on her feet, from heel to toe. "M' can't wait for this." She murmered. My first lesson to becoming a knight. She refrained, just barely, from hugging her frame in childish happyness.

The instructor, taking a large armful of wooden swords, made his way out, scanning the first-year pages. They looked excited, nervous, and many anxious. He grunted, and let down the weapons on the flagstone the fronted the closet. Turning his attention to the pages, he opened his mouth to speak.