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Post by ADMIN-CHAN! on Mar 16, 2011 13:46:35 GMT -5
He was here for an event that would sport a variety of people. Knights, blacksmiths, princes and maybe even a few bandits. It was the Kingdom's second largest archery contest, the largest being held at the castle itself. The crowds gathered around the listings, wanting to get an edge and find out who their competitors would be. Bets were being placed on who the winners would be, on who might as well just bail out, who the true underdog would be. It was a frenzy, of people and competitors and bystanders and carts selling merchandise you could only obtain at this event. Lighth'dge was known for holding a higher standard for everything they did. Whether they were blacksmiths or tailors, singers or knights or anything in between. This is where the true heroes and best leaders were bred.
Cornelius thought it was all a bunch of horse fodder.
He had entered as he himself of course. His keeper had told him it would be wise to enter under an alias, but where would the fun in that be? It was he that was going to smash all of these novices into the ground, not some random blonde from a made up place with an eerie resemblance. Blue eyes gazed half-heartedly at one of the competitors, he was obviously using a new bow, and would take a bit of time before he was truly used to the weapon. His pierced lips turned up in a coy smile. What a pity he would be taken out of the standings so easily. The qualification round would do him in for sure.
Sitting upon a sturdy wooden fence, the prince watched people come and go, not at all interested in finding out who his competition would be. On his back he kept his arrows, strong, specially crafted for his use alone. His family's royal insignia was on the carrier for them, which Cornelius didn't think too much of. He was representing himself not his family. Next time he would bring something a little less showy.
Most were too busy preparing for the contest to worry too much about gazing at royalty. In fact, Cornelius was far from the only prince attending the competition. But that didn't stop the occasional "fan" from popping up and proposing an autograph for some obscure member of their family when you just knew they would take it home and fawn over it. Although there was something... different about children. Which is why the little boy tugging on his pant leg didn't piss him off as badly some random stranger would. Eyebrow raised, he chuckled as the child stood motionless below him, before realizing that he knew him. "Your father brought you along, hm?"
The child nodded.
"The man who raised my horses will be a competitor? Well, wish your da good luck for me, alright?"
"If he wins, he's using the money to get me a horse!" The child said awkwardly, loudly, and Cornelius had to fight the urge to sneer. Still, he kept a pleasant smile as he hopped down and ruffled the young boy's hair. He had to be around ten or eleven, simply a bit awkward with people and used to the animals that he smelled like. All of this time spend with the royal horses and he hadn't one of his own? The prince wouldn't loose, but if anyone were to beat this boy's father he would be disappointed.
"I'll tell you what. If I win? I'll give you the foal my mare birthed a few weeks back." Something to keep him motivated. He wouldn't believe it later, nor would anyone else that knew him... but he now had someone to win for that wasn't himself. Maybe that would do him one better and put luck on his side... well, more on his side than it already was anyways. "Root for the both of us~"
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Post by seadragoness on Mar 17, 2011 3:21:39 GMT -5
Dawn was always the greatest moment in every day; when the ripples of light marked the beginning of change, the sign of a new-born day.
This morning there truly was the hint of change in the whispering wind. Sweeping through streets buzzing with nose and energetic people; it was her second day in civilisation. The second time she had trampled through the nose and scent of many, and it took a lot longer then that to truly adjust. Her heart ached for the quite serenity of meditating in a tree-top, with only the call of birds to announce she was not the only living creature in the world. It hadn’t always been this way, but that was entirely another story... today was not about the past, it was about striving towards a future set in stone within her mind. Today she would begin to make her mark in this world, push past the week and show herself to be of strong blood. In the world she lived in, the weak died, where fodder for the strong. She would get her name out there, and her new life could begin.
Sea held herself with the grace of a princess, but with the humanity of a hard-working civilian. Long coat sweeping by her feet much like a dress would had Sea ever worn one in the past few years. Pushing gently through the crowd to her target point. She vaguely caught site of her predators, the ones she would be ‘fighting’ against this day. She stopped shy of two people, a young boy, easily below the age of 10, and another, a fair age older and yet if a man only recently fallen into the category. She heard whispers of there conversation, something about the winnings, and horses. She swallowed, thinking of her own mount, long dead and buried now. She turned away, unwilling to be caught ears dropping, and shifted the bow slung over her shoulder into a better position. The ivory creation worn with use, yet shinning with obvious care. It was her prize possession, one of the most valuable items in her small possession – without it game would be a far greater challenge.
She4 wished she had time to learn more about the other in this competition, there strengths, there weakness, to truly understand her own position and what the possible place she would fall to today would be. She hated surprises but knew without doubt that life was full of them. She un-slung her bow and held it lightly in one strong hand, eyes raised to watch the excited crowd.
Let the better archer win.
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Post by ADMIN-CHAN! on Mar 18, 2011 13:04:41 GMT -5
The only reason that the girl caught his attention was her hair. Reminded immediately of his sister, and then of a friend that seemed to be a bit lost to him. She couldn't be her, right? Blonde head tilted just slightly, but the moment was gone as soon as she turned away. She was competition, huh? Well, he wasn't worried, although he could tell immediately she wasn't from Lith'dge. The way she carried herself wasn't nearly as bold, arrogant and cocky; much like many people here and Cornelius's own when he was actually competing. For now, he was rather laid back, but that would change once this competition started. The prince waved to the kid that went to search for his father; and then joined the other competitors as they gathered around for the first round of qualification. Cornelius was surprised at how many came here nervous; what was to be nervous about unless you thought that you weren't good enough? Still, nerves weeded out those that had no sure shot of winning.
She hadn't been facing him when he first spoke to her, but he figured that she would either ignore him or turn around. Curiosity held within his gaze, although the fire of a competition simply wouldn't fade. "Are you competing?" It was rare that a woman would enter these competitions. The prince figured that all of these arrogant men wouldn't attract many female competitors, but this particular girl had come anyways. It was intriguing, the prince was already hoping that she would be good at this; it would be interesting to compete against her. Of course, there were chances that she wouldn't be very good; but he would save that for the qualifications to decide. Keeping a neutral facade was the only way that Cornelius would face certain things, and this was one of them. The last thing that he would let himself adopt from his family was a sense of sexism. Really, with all of those sisters he couldn't help but roll his eyes at those that counted women out. His older sister managed to scare most people, let alone the authority his mother held...
I don't know many of my competitors, I might as well start somewhere. A simple thought, and he shrugged it away. "Good luck if you are; the show's about to start." He didn't have as much time to speak with her now as he wanted to. But it didn't matter, he had the feeling that he would be seeing her again. She wouldn't be here, unless she was good at what she did. He couldn't read much from what he caught of her gaze, but nervousness didn't seem to stick to her the way it did some.
When it was his turn along with eight or nine others, the blonde nodded a quick goodbye to the girl, not wanting to hold anything up.The prince didn't show off here; not quite yet. He'd rather those that didn't know him wonder just how the little prince from Vaminere's palace would place. Ending with a bullseye caught some off guard, but it could have been luck. Could have been, but the blonde knew that it wasn't. He didn't have to rely on his lucky streak for this, would try not to unless things slipped completely out of his favor; and they hadn't yet. Eyes fell onto the stableman, he was nervous, his arrow was shaking just a bit. But he concentrated and pulled through; those eyes were narrow, impressive. He really wanted to win this for his kid, hm? The prince watched the three arrows fly, and wasn't surprised when he made the cut; yet... he was also disappointed. If this was how he would shoot throughout the whole thing, then there wasn't a way in the world that he would win later on.
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Post by seadragoness on Mar 18, 2011 15:06:13 GMT -5
Sea’s grip on her bow was assured, and somewhat protective. Maybe it wasn’t as fancy and expensive as that some nobles might own, but it had served her well and she couldn’t do without it. She had turned from the young contestant that had spoken to the boy+, but it seemed she had caught his eye regardless. She turned partially, enough so that her eyes where upon him, a light curtain of hair falling smoothly down upon the eye hardest to see from his angle. He had called out to her, asking if she was competing. Her mouth tilted into a half smile, realising he too wished to understood the others in this competition.
“I am”
She murmured simply, unadjusted to the use of idle conversation, her voice sounded rough before it cleared; lack of use clear in those two words. She looked for his bow, knowing that the look of it in itself could tell her something about him. if it was brisk with unused or new then it would be tight, harder to pull the one taunt with use. If however it was worn, pulled to his exact customisation then it would be a bow he was accustomed to, one he knew how to handle. The differences could easily be the difference between winning and losing, and she pitied them that brought a new bow simply to look rich and fancy in this competition.
He told her good luck, and that the competition was about to start. Sea felt a pang of familiarity with this man now. Of all the competitors, he had made himself known to her, and she hoped he went far.
“Thank you, kind sir. I wish your bow worn, your arm strong, and your arrows true”
She murmured as he turned and made his way through the crowd with a nod towards her.
Sea’s attention turned back to the pressuring and nosy crowd about her with an unwilling sigh. She loved the idea of competition, she did not, however, approve of observers. Regardless, she had entered now and would not appear as a puppy with her tail between her legs and escape now that she was already signed up. She followed just after the prince, another competitor falling in place before her – it seemed she would draw her own bow just one after the talkative stranger.
The ‘show’ as he had referred to it as, truly had begun and she watched a male pulled back his bow with nerve-strung hands and let fly an arrow. His mark was good, granted, but not as good as it could have been. He turned to prey within her mind, and her eyes shifted over him, looking instead at the others, wondering who would truly be competition, and if one of them would mark her as prey before the day was worn.
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Post by ADMIN-CHAN! on Mar 21, 2011 22:11:19 GMT -5
Her voice seemed to fade away, almost as if it was cracking with misuse. Cornelius heard her answer though, her simple words were enough to satisfy him. He caught her glance at his bows, and he wondered whether she would recognize his family's insignia. Whether she did or not, he couldn't tell. He watched her a moment, wondering just where she had come from. What reasons that she had to compete. But his questions went unanswered, and soon he was listening to her speak again; this time with more confidence. He smirked, watching her leave, before joining the other competitors. She might not have been sure about the crowd, or even the competition itself, but he knew that she would be excellent at archery. As much as he hoped that she would go far; the competitive side of him couldn't wait to beat her.
The scorings for the qualification round didn't count toward the rest of the competition, but Cornelius was interested now; and he pushed his way forward through the crowd of people viewing the standings. Knocking into others wasn't such a big deal with these ruffians, most either ignored you or pushed back. Some seemed to give a bit of care to him being a Vaminere, but most were too busy enjoying the competition to do so. That was just fine with the blonde as well. The prince's ice blue eyes scanned through the people that had done the best. He was in the top ten, as expected... but the name that stuck out to him was the one just before him; a single place, and a single point, but it stood out because he could have sworn... Is this her?! He wondered, his tongue flicking at his lip ring just outside of his mouth. He wished now, that he would have been just a touch more showy for the qualifications. Because she was winning now, whether these results were part of the standings or not.
She was winning, but he gave her the win, in a way. He would do better where it really counted.
The Vaminere waved off her unknown victory -and his private loss- with ease. Eyes searched the list for his stableman, and he was glad that the fellow got into the competition. He wasn't a threat, so it was easy to wish him the best. That was the way the world worked, right? Once someone was a threat it was a bit harder to be their friend. Cornelius frowned, he wasn't sure that was where he wanted to place himself in this competition, let alone the world. Maybe he could use a bit of cheering on that didn't come from his son... the prince searched for the little boy and his father, but it was no use. The crowd was too big, and as the arrows were cleared and the competition began to heat up it would be impossible to find anyone in particular.
At least; it should have been.
"I say, if my inkling is correct you did a wonderful job miss." He said to the girl from before, this time speaking to her face opposed to her back. "Fifth, out of everyone here, in case you haven't gotten to the listings yet." Speaking to someone that had done better than him should have been harder. In fact, he really shouldn't have bothered to do so at all. But here he was, breaking his own tendencies without a care in the world. Really, it would be a miracle if the prince could stick with a single temperament.
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Post by seadragoness on Mar 21, 2011 22:55:45 GMT -5
Sea, unadjusted to the crowd, entirely new to the tournament, found herself a little lost. Not only in where she was, who the other competitors where apposed to the crowd, but also in what exactly was going on. It seemed the arrows recently fired where in test only apposed to part of the competition itself. Or... something like that. She hadn’t pulled her best yet, she was warming up, weary to give too much of her abilities away so soon. Giving an average result (or what she believed to be average, having nothing to refer to) and took the time to watch her opponents. She easily dismissed a few as prey, brushed them from her mind. They where incompetent fools if they truly believed thewy held a place in this competition. Surely they at least knew what the standard was, that they didn’t stand a chance. So why come up here and be prey to all the betters? Shaking her head, unable to understand there mind sets, she attempted to understand what was going on around her.
She heard fragments of speech as she watched workers picking up the fallen arrows. She ached to fetch her own, she had fletched them herself and loathed the idea of others benefiting from her own work. No matter, she would put everything into this competition, if that meant giving up a few arrows, then so be it. There was movement in front of her, the boy she had seen a little earlier had moved towards her. Her face twitched, barely noticeable, but she held back the surprised growl that attempted to slip through. She wasn’t in the forest now, and she knew these people would not understand her ways.
He spoke cheerfully enough o her, so he must have missed the very subtle movement. He gave her a congratulations and informed her the place she had gained in the competition. Hasn’t it been a warm up? Certainly she was glad she hadn’t done her best, hadn’t let the other competitors get a handle on her yet. Fifth? That wasn’t too bad, but she doubted the really good ones had given there best in this round. Not if they where smart, anyway, and in her opinion anyone who trained to be a brilliant marksman was worthy of an intellectual praise.
“Thank you, kindly sir. I don’t believe I caught your name last time. I’m called Sea”
She murmured lightly, holding out her hand in a mimic of what she had seen others around her do in introduction. It didn’t seem all too different from some animals rubbing there noses together in interaction.
“May I ask you place?”
She added in, put in a fairly light tone despite the importance of the answer. She hadn’t gotten her chance to class him yet... and if he continued to engage her in conversation she must get a handle on him.
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