Fantasy A Knight and Her Squire

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

The bright, warm air of the forest overtook young Ami Takahashi, a young girl native to the Kingdom of Setsuno. She wore a white tunic with light brown pants, wearing simple leather shoes to cover her feet. Her shoulder length vibrant blonde hair shown in the morning sun as they trekked along. A young girl though she was, she found herself in an unusual position: Ami was a squire. A girl in service of a knight, however this was no ordinary knight. The individual who rode on the horse she was walking beside was a strange individual as well. Typically, knights were male in this kingdom, and seeing a woman ride onto the field of battle was almost unheard of, even if jousting and the melee were merely an exhibition. As a result, the pair decided to keep quiet on her true identity.

"Yuri, how much longer do we have?" The girl called up at her armor-clad employer. Though the two were of similar age, she still owed her respect, respect that perhaps the two had agreed was not necessary when they were truly alone. "We should have reached Deregar by now, why are we still in the deep woods?"

They had been walking, well, Ami had been walking, for three days. As a knight, it was Yuri's privilege and honor to ride upon the steed on which she rode into battle. No matter how much complaining she had done, she was not allowed to ride, nor even to sit on the cart the horse was pulling along, which held their food, tent, Yuri's armor, and other such supplies. It was not uncommon for Knights in Setsuno to have long hair. Although Yuri was able to disguise herself well enough that nobody batted an eyelash at the blonde locks that went to her hips.

"Can I at least ride on the cart? I promise I won't move around much!"

 

[BoltBeam]

"I'm sorry, but I can't entirely trust you, Ami." Yuri said to her, shaking her head. "I'd rather keep us under the radar - as long as possible. You know how female knights turn out - as soon as we're seen, we get a few intensive stares... ooh... it's kinda pressuring, isn't it?" She thought aloud for a moment before shaking herself out of it. "I-I mean - the longer we stay out of sight, the less suspicion we can regularly attract... This is one of the few times I 'really' don't like my looks..."

Their travels continued in a longer, more strenuous sense - further and further, winding around the woods and ultimately, their destination or Deregar was in their sight. "...Ah, now 'that's' the ticket." Yuri commented upon seeing it. "I suppose now the big challenge is 'not' standing out, hm...? ...Not a good moment to look like this, shoot... I chose all the wrong junk for all the wrong professions..." She thought aloud again, just laughing it off this time.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

"As did I. I didn't think i'd end up as a squire you know? My father was rather well off, at least, until he was killed. My mother was devastated, and my brother, he, I haven't seen him since before I met you all those years ago." Ami groaned as she responded to that. The journey had been silent, like she was used to, although there were times that she took advantage of to tell some story, such as this one. There were times when they would talk about various things, and others in which they would simply travel silent. As they approached the town, Ami's glum expression faded. This place was absolutely beautiful. Realistically speaking it was a small village barely large enough to even be considered to hold a jousting tournament, let alone being chosen by the crown. It was rare, but things like this did happen from time to time. Taking the roundabout way was just... how they did things. Yuri was unwilling to make her identity known, something that Ami understood all too well. As a squire she was looked down upon less for being a woman than her employer would... a female knight. What folly, at least in the eyes of the aristocracy.

"I'll run along ahead, make known your arrival. The gold?" The girl had looked up at the woman on the horse, extending a dirty left hand upward as she kept pace with the beast. Of course, lodgings were never free, and most only accepted payments of gold. More to house a horse and even more to ensure that their cart would not be destroyed or stolen. It was expensive, yes, but Yuri was skilled enough that she could make ends meet and then some.

 

[BoltBeam]

"Oh, not a problem at all." Yuri said, sorting out the required gold and paying up for the desired 'conditions'. "There you go. That should cover it." Yuri stated, smiling as she handed it over. "I wish I had safer stories to tell, but honestly, I'm not too sure as to enlighten you. It's complicated, I'm afraid... Let's just say this profession runs in the family. I am only obligated to follow through with it. No more, no less... Shame, really. After all, if it wasn't for all of this, I would have just been some grouchy pair's little flower..." Yuri said, sighing in reminiscence.

"If anything, I'm kind of doing their wills a favour - passing down what I was taught from them to you. I know it sounds selfish, but when your 'entire' family is in a strict line of knights and/or some form or infantry, the least I could do is try to be as good as they were. ...Key word is were." Yuri ended up frowning a bit - maybe overstepping her recollection a bit there. Seems even with all her questionable tendencies and dragging-ons, there's still a sign of weakness in there. Understandable, as nobody is perfect.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

This was a story that Ami had heard before, well... not quite in this capacity. She did know that her Knight was descended from other knights, although she knew not the details of why or how. What little additional insight this gave her into her employer's past she took to heart. What an interesting woman she was, Yuri. Not one that Ami saw very often. The tenacity, bravery, she was admirable, really. Without anything but a nod, she took the gold and ran ahead.

She ran into town, to the first inn she came across that looked to be fit for a Knight. Walking in to the two story, thatched roof building, she could smell the animal waste already. Yep. There were definitely horses here. Cows, chickens... oh look, there, two chickens running across the floor... Out of all the places in all of Setsuno, the king chose this one for a tournament? The village wouldn't survive if even a single high noble waltzed in demanding shelter. She walked up to the counter where an old, bearded man sat, half asleep. In the most demanding voice she could muster, Ami spoke up at him.
"By the grace of the King, I, Ami, squire of the Lord Knight Hirano, request room and board for the duration of the joust." The man was shocked, and sat upright as the small girl before him started yelling. Once she quieted down, he waved at her acknowledgingly and stood up, going to the back wall for a key.
"Alright, alright. Had enough of your kind come in today, don't need no more of that shoutin' y'all all like t' do. Here's the key. Put the horse and card in the back, my grandson'll be waitin' for him."

Ami nodded and ran out the door without another word, placing the sack of gold coins on the counter. Key in hand, she ran until she came to the edge of town, where she stood patiently waiting for Yuri to ride in.

 

[BoltBeam]

Given a few more clattering hooves of her trusty steed, Yuri rode on in proudly, and of course thanks to that 'disguise' of hers, nobody could tell she was 'not' a male. Looks can do wonders, as she would tell you. She then saw Ami coming on back, happy. "Well, I take it that's 'that' sorted, hm?" She said, looking down to Ami. "With that room sorted, we just need to get ourselves in and - well, accommodated for... Easy pickings." She smiled a bit, obviously happy to have someone she can call dependable, yet still not trust them due to the 'rules' and 'obligations' right on top of their heads.

"All I ask is that - well, hope, is that this turns out nicely. These conditions are not exactly the best..." Yuri sighed a bit as she ceased riding for a moment to even say those words to Ami. But as it stands, I think she's enjoying that ride on that horse a little 'too' much. But that's just Yuri doing her thing.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

Things 'turning out nicely' was not something that Ami had much experience with, well at least before becoming Yuri's servant. Of course, her master's disguise had work perfectly, and nobody could tell her true identity, although they always ran the risk of someone barging into their room at the various inns a tthe wrong time, but at least they were secure in the fact that most wouldn't even dream of doing such a thing. Ami led the horse to the front of the inn and handed the other girl her key.
"Second floor, first door on the left. I'll bring our things up." After letting the Knight down from the horse she took the reigns and led the beast to the back of the building. Her voice was louder, a little harsher as she addressed it. "Come on girl, let's get going."

"Who're you?" A boy, much dirtier and much shorter than Ami was sitting on a bale of hay as she brought around her master's horse.
"A squire, now are you going to do your job or just sit there?" Ami just looked at him as he stood up, rolling her eyes as he took the straps of leather from her. "I'll be taking my master's things up to his room now, don't you dare mistreat her, she's a fine animal."

After speaking, Ami took a pair of backpacks along with a few bags of food with her, as much as she could reasonably carry while still opening a door, and went up to their room. Dropping the things on the ground right inside the door, she sighed as she looked at Yuri.
"It's every time. The stable boys are useless and the one running the inn is asleep. Every time."

 

[BoltBeam]

"Asleep? My, my, this is not a sound detail..." Yuri said, sounding dissapointed. "It's not too hard of a job, how can someone fall asleep from it? ...No matter. I trust we're all sorted?"

Yuri sounded darn confident, trusting Ami to have sorted out what needed to be sorted out. That's care.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

"Everything is sorted. Now we just gotta wait for the tournament to start, plus we have to get food, and then there's the warmup in the morning... I have no damn clue where they're holding the dance, were you thinking of going this time?" Ami was still annoyed at the situation down below, but since she wasn't walking through the woods anymore, and that she was able to chat somewhat peacefully with Yuri, things were getting better. She sat down on the ground, resting her back against the bedpost nearest the door, placing her hands behind her head and letting her legs flop out in front of her. Closing her eyes, she continued to speak. "I know we had a close call last time, but I don't think she's going to be here this time, Lady Parkingson? She seemed to be on to you you know? Something about her seemed off. At least her husband did embarrassingly poor in the last tournament, he won't be here."

Amy looked up at the ceiling, wooden beams only loosely connected, a small amount of light shining through from the window above... she smiled softly. Things were good, at least for now.

 

[BoltBeam]

"Honestly, I am not that sure of it myself as to where the next skirmishes shall take place, but I am fairly certain she will show up. If she caught on anything from my last entrance, I recall saying I intended to be to as many as I could, hm?" Yuri stretched herself a bit, seeming relaxed. She's just relaxing and seemingly daydreaming for a while. For now, she can take it easy. But when the tournament actually starts, she'll have to be on top of her game. Peak performance - no more or less - if she wants to make it to the top. Her record wasn't 100% 1st place, usually in the top 3 - especially considering her lack of focused skill, but for what she is, she's an expert for her age.

"The warm-up, I may take a look at. See what fresh and capable bodies I may need to fight with - any insight is valuable, after all. It will help line out threats and easy pickings, should I get matched with them. If I do, I'll be ready."

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

"That you did, which is why we're in this dump of a town. I kept telling you it wasn't worth it, that we could skip this week and save a lot of time and money by going straight to Bolaki from the last one, but no, somebody had to make a promise to go to every single one, which is why we're here... It's fine I guess. I'm not the Knight here, you are." Ami spoke with her eyes closed, squeezed shut really, as she uttered her complaint. It's not like she really disliked being here, at least their room wasn't completely uncomfortable to lounge in. They had some time to kill, and there probably wouldn't be much to do while they were in, so at least the company was good. She stood up and surveyed the room. It was clean, kinda, and there were enough windows that it wasn't dark into midmorning. Last time that had happened was... nearly disastrous. Never get a room facing west again.

"Yeah knowing this town there's no way that that's all set up, but you never know. Did you want to go down there now? You've been riding all morning, so it might be good to stretch your legs I guess."

 

[BoltBeam]

Yuri seemed a little disheartened by that, but sighed for now - pretending to not hear it although she did and it kinda hurt, especially as it wasn't an 'every single one' promise. "Mmm... It's probably best." She said. "Exercise maintains quite a lot of aspects in one's physical structure - I'd be a fool not to do it for that alone. Maybe others just show up for what they can see, but hey, I'd be a fool if I knew not to please a crowd. They want a show? I intend to 'give' them what they showed up for." Yuri said proudly. Of course she puts her pride in her complexion first - this is Yuri, it's the person that she is. But... crowd pleasing? What is this? A circus?

Yuri stood up and intended to get herself ready to attend the warm-up - honestly a tad nervous as to what she 'could' find. But hey. New experiences shall make her stronger and stronger yet.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

It felt like a circius sometimes. From where she stood she looked over to the window, then moved t ostand in front of it, not quite sure what she would see.
"Well if that' what you wish to do I won't stop you. I'll help you into your armor and-oh look... perhaps there's some hope after all. Yuri, come look."

Ami pointed own at the window, frantically being setup was a single long wooden fence some feet in the distance, with rows and rows of benches being erected. They were preparing for the joust. At least they had something in mind for it.
"If you want to go down and practice, get the horse up to a real gallop, hell even they probably wouldn't mind if you stole a bale of hay to swing at or poke. "

A moment after, she left the window and grabbed hold of the breastplate and one braver, bringing the armor over to the bed piece by piece.
"Gods' know I can put this on. Are you ready?"

 

[BoltBeam]

"I don't see why I wouldn't be... Might as well reap what it sowed for me." Yuri said, preparing herself accordingly - taking what she needed - evidently her own armour (dunno if that's the set on the bed, but who cares), weapon, etc., she's ready to go in no time, and then swung by to go and check on the horse. "C'mere, girl..." She said softly. "We have work to do." She then said. The horse neighed and looked away. "I'll give you a hay bale~." Yuri teased, to which the horse shut up and looked right back at her. "Heh. Always rouses her."

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

Gettin her Knight into her armor was no trouble, and before two long the two girls were making their way down the stairs in no one. A scowl quickly formed on her face as she passed by one of the tables. It was dirty, dusty, with remnants of a spiderweb on one end... this was the place that the king had chosen for his little tournament.

Ami smiled, crossing her arms and leaning on a wooden support beam as she walked into the stable, kicking up one foot to let her toes rest on the ground.
"Aye, that it did. Works like a charm. Gonna go show these village folk who's the best around? No doubt you'll win again. Joust, melee, no matter which category you enter i've rarely seen another do better. Given your... unique circumstances I think you're the best."
Of course, by that Ami was referring to the fact that her Knight was not a man, however there was little stopping her from competing, and winning, despite that.

 

[BoltBeam]

Yuri giggled. "I'm sure I will. And if this training I plan to give you goes well, it will be your turn in the future." She said, reassuringly patting Ami on the back. "Regardless... In theory, this 'should' be an easy warm up. I feel it'd be best to 'not' perform at peak performance so people let their guards down until they see me in the actual tournament... Hm...? Maybe? I'm not sure how to take this..."

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

"Depending on who shows up of course. If that Rat-whatever-his-name-is, Lord of Who-Knows-Where, then I don't think it'll work. It's a good thought though-and hey! Some day I'll be an even better knight than you! And I'm a girl!"
It was a quip that Ami often liked to give. Of course, she had greatly enjoyed having the training program, it gave her something to work for, some grand goal to chase rather than just attending her Lady day in and day out without any end in sight. She turned around and surveyed the jousting lane. It was nearing completion, it seemed, but even the most skilled Knight could only do so much alone while training. The Squire followed out into the clearing, once more walking beside her Knight's horse as she gave a suggestion.

"Perhaps practicing in swordplay would be your best bet? Warming up for Joust would be hard to do, and it doesn't take much to swing a sword around. Melee was always your weaker competition of the two." Not by much, sure, but Yuri always did better in the Jouse.

 

[BoltBeam]

"Well, it is true I'm lacking in sword compared to my traditional fare... I just find swords somewhat difficult to use, if you know what I mean. I have no problem using them, but each time I do, it keeps feeling so different, and that's what takes me back." She sighed. "Mmm... I guess that's what a 'turn off' for weapons is... We all have our favourites, I suppose..." She said, deciding to give swordplay a shot anyways.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

"You're allowed to have a favorite, definitely, just don't let it hold you back. I mean, it's still serviceable, your skill with a sword, but there's always room for improvement, ya know? Remember the routines, keep the steps the same."
For a moment, Ami turned into Yuri's coach, reminding her of all the things she needed to do. Basic advice though it was, it was perhaps the best the girl could manage. She was a mere squire, having begun her training only a short while in the past. She knew not the intricacies of swordplay, truly little more than where to stick the pointy end... but she still knew a skilled swordsman when she saw one. The two walked out towards the clearing, where the wooden fencing was still being constructed. Ami made sure to take a step back, not necessarily fearful but not wanting to be skewered by her Knight's blade all the same.

"We have plenty of time before the ceremony, so we can warm up now and save our energy for tomorrow. Don't exert yourself too hard."

 

[BoltBeam]

Yuri just seemed proud of her, happy for the help. It meant a lot to her to have someone to share information to and from - between them both. "I suppose I will. Thanks, Ami." She gave the thumbs up, obviously happy. She then proceeded to get a bit of practice in as the warm-up entailed, but not pushing herself to the very limits as to not overwork herself.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

The girl flashed a thumbs up back, watching as she rode out into the clearing. In order to watch, she looked towards the edge of the forest, and... ah, perfect! A single tree close enough that she could get a decent vantage point from. Running over the short distance that separated the blonde from the large oak that was growing nearly isolated from the forest, she wrapped her arms and legs around the trunk, intent on climbing up to the nearest branch, sitting down on it without much difficulty. It was here that Ami always learned the most. Not during actual tournaments, when she was forced to watch her Knight do battle, getting her a drink, an additional lance or sword, whatever she may need. It left no time for actual intentful observation. It was lost time that she was intending on making up for now.

 

[BoltBeam]

Yuri, even though in warm-up, was not making her life too hard or easy. She was doing a few average-levelled kind of tricks and skills, so everyone would go under the impression she's an averagely strong target, which, on tournament day, would give 'her' the upper hand for them misjudging her. Of course, she excelled on the lance when she came to use that - oh damn did she ever - with her sword play not too bad either. Yuri would occasionally bother Ami for the occasional drink and a short rest, but apart from that, it all went as planned.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

By the time Yuri's exercises were over, the area had been made ready for the tournament in the morning. The jousting lane was set, and the ring for the melee had been erected. Not quite a perfect circle, but when many dozen armored lords enter the area with the intent to beat each other over the head with blunt swords, that wouldn't matter too much. it might even work out well for the woman's strategy. The bleachers had been placed along one side of the jousting lane, with a sizable throne-type chair in the center of it, should the King himself grace this little town with his presence. Getting down from the tree for the final time, Ami crossed her arms as she surveyed the few workers that had remained to finish up as they walked off, surely headed home after a hard day's work.
"Can you believe it took them this long to put all that up? The tournament is tomorrow and they're only just getting to this point. Nearly any other place already had all this set up by the time we got there, and sometimes we were two days early instead of one like we were today. This might be considered treason if the wrong ears were to hear it but I question the King's judgment in choosing this place. Come on, let's find you a tub, there's got to be somebody we can convince to haul you some water up to the room."

Ami started to walk back to the inn with confidence that she'd be able to get everything her Knight needed.
"You coming?"

 

[BoltBeam]

"Heh, surely he had some reason, but if not, it still brings many people to this place, which it surely needed. People may come and go, but ultimately, it's for the tournament." Yuri said calmly, proud of her efforts. "I don't see why not - might as well rest easy for now." She said. "Nice and easy..."

She gladly took up the offer of a rest, and as such, well, I think it's clear what happened next.

 

[AlexanderSpeedwagon]

"Alright you lot, the good sir Knight needs a bath, and he'll have it privately! Send up a tub to his room, and make it snappy! We don't want him sweating his armor out, do you know how fast metal rusts with sweat? Probably not seeing as how you look like you've never picked up a sword in your life! Well? Go on! Find someone!" Ami's words were harsh, yes, but they were necessary with these kinds of people. The moment she walked in to the inn once more she started shouting, pointing at the old man sitting behind the counter. Miraculously, he was awake, and within a few minutes, had two boys haul up an empty aluminum tub, then in very large buckets that they had trouble lifting up a single step, filled it. It took each of them three trips, but by the time they were done, the water wasn't so hot that Yuri couldn't sit in it comfortably.

"Alright, let's get your armor off then."