Learning years are not earning years [CLOSED]

Guntram stood calmly, eyes closed as he breathed deeply of the fresh evening sea breeze. Cool, salty, crisp, and laden with many scents of the growing earth - so much just waiting for a quiet mind to take it in.

The knight-captain loved the spring, when one could sense so many signs of the rebirth of the lands. Fresh plants, gently budding into swaths of colorful flowers across the plains, added to the sharp clean scent of afternoon rain. The scratchings and scurryings of small feet, many small creatures seeking out food for their newborn young, could be faintly heard around the joyful songs of the birds. And the laughing bubbling of the river, fed with the melting of the bright mountain snows, blended with the rolling of the waves at the near shores. For one whose life had borne so many brutal fights, painful injuries, and even more excruciating losses of loved ones, quiet contemplation brought great refreshment and renewal of hope.

But now, a beating of hooves came over the hills. Guntram flicked an ear toward the sound, but kept his eyes peacefully closed. From the sound of the new arrival's hoofbeats and nervous breathing, there was more than enough stress coming from him for them both. Arturo... He had been told quite extensively of the proud heritage of this lad, and the sad tale of his recent months. Such a promising young rook, and one with so much passion, it was heartbreaking to see what grief had done to him. Guntram knew that pain well.

In the past few years, Guntram had taken charge of many young knights - mostly, he had been responsible for training them in the basics of combat. It was largely group training, primarily strategy along with sparring and war games. He had been a bit slower in the past year, frustratingly hindered by the injury to his rear leg. At least it had healed enough by now that he was almost fully back to his full duties, just flaring up with aches and pains when he pushed himself too hard.

Arturo was standing close now, shuffling his feet with anxious energy. A small smirk hit Guntram's lips - the poor young stallion probably had no idea how much his tiniest motions were telling. A slow deep breath more, and then he opened his eyes, meeting the hard amber gaze of the young warrior.

Guntram flicked an ear, trying not to show any frustration with his charge. But he was so late, so arrogant. Of all the virtues he sought to impress on his students in training, he gave the highest emphasis to respect and humility. And now, for him to act inconvenienced by a few moments' silence?

Guntram could see the flickers of insecurity in his arrogant gaze - he had a feeling that, as with so many young males, the confidence was just a mask. He had seen so many eager young colts develop such irrational behaviors as hormones and the harsh realities of a war-torn life battered them. Whether to hide the fear of being seen as inexperienced, or to try to run from confronting the pain of the past, or just trying to find themselves, so many poor young boys were so afraid of just being themselves. Even though he had been through it himself, he still couldn't understand why they brought so much extra pain onto their own backs.

Before he would feel ready to test Arturo's capabilities, he wanted to tug a few strings and see what he could pull out of this trainee. Usually it was best to know major sore points, and try to help them achieve their goals - if they knew them themselves. Maybe Arturo would relent his attitude a little bit and cooperate, but Guntram didn't have terribly high hopes.

He stared at the stallion for a few more seconds, taking his time before speaking. "Not useful, you think? Why, do you think that you have no hope for improvement, or do you just think that I'm too old and out of touch with the herd? What are your ambitions in life, young knight?"

((Ugh, crap, that was a painfully long break. Finally, I'm getting my head back on my shoulders... I'm so incredibly sorry, especially if my writing is as painfully rusty as it feels!))

Guntram tried his hardest not to roll his eyes, but sometimes with the youths it was so incredibly difficult... However, he managed to maintain his straight stern face by the time Arturo glared at him again.

Again, Guntram paused a moment before voicing his response. In part, it was to keep his own voice steady, but also a bit because infuriating the headstrong lad was so easy and rather amusing in its own right. The grullo stallion hoped the lad would outgrow this phase and learn to laugh at it someday soon. Some of the older fellows in the herd never had learned that lightheartedness, and it was a heavy burden for those around them as well.

"I knew Acorn of course, lad, he's served the herd well. You feel you've been trained well as a knight, then? I'm sure the elders saw that in you, if so, and you did get plenty of focus from your father. Though it is unfortunate you didn't get some of the team drills of the standard her training - an important part of protecting our herd is being able to coordinate with the others you rely on."

"Let's see..." Guntram looked out toward the horizon, judging the position of the late day's sun. "If you're not an expert in war already, I can't work any miracles tonight. In part, it takes experiencing the real turmoil to become anything close - not just the exhilaration, heroism, and glory, but also the chaos, fear, and pain." He paused again, hoping some of his sentiment would sink in. He didn't much like war anymore. His herd had seen so much of the pain, and he wished it never had to continue - that nobody would ever again have to bear its scars. But unfortunately, life was never so easy. His goals were therefore to really prepare his students, bring them down to earth, and hope that the reality wouldn't break the best of them.

"I suppose a test of your skills would be appropriate, though? We should have plenty of time for a run and a bit of sparring."

Guntram gave a slight snort. Well, at least something he said caught the lad's attention. Or maybe another rash of overconfidence. It was hard to tell with Arturo.

"All right, then." The grullo gestured toward a faintly worn path over the field. "This loops out toward the shore. We'll follow that along the water's edge to the cliffs, then back around in the direction of the City. There's a wooded patch along the way. The shade of the trees should be a nice place to pause before a bit of sparring practice."

This path Guntram planned to take was one he regularly followed in his personal training - the gentle hills and varied terrain provided an excellent challenge for endurance, and yet was short enough for his morning routine. He didn't think it would be overly exhausting for the young rook, but it would certainly be easy for him to underestimate the course.

The slightest mischievous glint caught Guntram's eye as he spoke again, "Think you can keep up?" Then he turned and took off at a smooth run - loping with long, rhythmic strides. It was no sprinting canter, but it covered ground well and he could easily up keep the pace.

Guntram calmly continued at his steady pace as he watched the buckskin charge on ahead, sand flying from his heavy hoofbeats. Yes, as he had guessed, he was putting in a desperate effort to show his prowess so early. If only he knew how many did that, only to fall flat on their faces when pushed the extra mile.

As they reached the steeper hill, Guntram continued his calm lope, watching gap slowly close between Arturo's dark tail and his own reaching hooves. He tried not to grin obviously much as he heard the young knight's breathing becoming more labored. Keeping his rhythm, but pushing his stride to lengthen just the slightest bit as they crested the hill, he pulled alongside the stallion. He made an extra effort to keep his breath steady for a few choice words - "Perfect evening for a run, isn't it? The beach isn't too much further - I do love how it looks at the early touches of sunset."

Guntram shook himself as Arturo skidded to a stop. His muscles were aching, and he wasn't ready yet to show his own degree of exertion to his charge. He wanted to emphasize that there were lessons of persistence and humility to learn first. Plus, the dust kicked up from the younger stallion's hooves made his nose tickle.

He took a few moments to breathe, gazing out over the landscape. He wasn't in any rush, and wanted to give Arturo to speak up if he had something to say.

Turning back toward the young knight, he looked him over with his piercing green gaze. "Well, what have you learned?"

A touch of sympathy came into his eye, and he spoke more gently. "We may have done enough for this evening. Perhaps we can put off sparring to another day."

~~~ A few months later ~~~

Dodging to the right, Guntram snaked under Arturo's lunging teeth, his curly mane barely escaping the grab. He shifted his weight as he landed, kicking a back hoof toward the buckskin's chest.

Over the past weeks, Arturo had hugely developed as he trained with Guntram. Sure, there had certainly been rocky patches. The young stallion was, well, a young stallion, and naturally had days where he bowed to the whim of his hormones.

However, Arturo was slowly learning to temper his emotions and tone down his ego. Guntram had found he had a good head and a caring heart under all of his angst and chaos. He had great hope for the boy, and he desperately hoped Arturo wouldn't lose himself to hurt and hopelessness again. With time and dedication he knew the stallion could forge himself into a proud and loyal knight out of his insecure and overcompensating youth.

As his kick missed his target, striking at an angle off of the sooty shoulder, Guntram let out a huff of breath and swung around to defend himself. His dark coat gleamed with a sheen of sweat. It pricked in a few fresh grazes where Arturo had landed some solid strikes. The lad had built up impressive strength and reflexes through their training. While Guntram still had an advantage in his years of experience and studies of tactics, and patience and endurance that had come with dedicated training, he had nevertheless lost his fair share of sparring matches over the past few weeks.

Spotting an opening, he sought to knock the buckskin off-balance - he swung his shoulder across into Arturo's neck, and twisted his head to grab at the crest of his neck ---

Arturo, you will do your father proud.