[OPEN] The Glass Spider Had Blue Eyes Almost Like A Human's

[northerndragon]

WHO? Jon Snow, Ghost, and... maybe you?
WHAT? Spider-time Training, Fish Exploration, Direwolf Meet and Greets, Birch Story Grind Sessions, etc.
WHEN? Backdated into late March and forward-dated up to the launch of the Jhashch Mission in mid-April.
ANYTHING ELSE? This network post. Also, everything is OTA whether or not I marked it OTA, unless it's very specifically marked closed.

[For those who haven't met him: Jon is of middling height, slender and well-muscled, with longish, curling black hair and warm dark eyes, sometimes lively and sometimes sad. He speaks with a broad and pronounced Northern accent, which in real-world terms sounds like an English accent from Yorkshire or thereabouts.]

Comments

[goodandtrue]

"It's hard to think of it as a part of my arm when it feels heavy." But she follows his instructions regardless, trying to keep her complaints to a minimum. She was worse than Rollam, who always had to question everything. He at least had the excuse of being a child.

She tries not to think of Robb during this, of the moments she witnessed him training with Raynald or preparing to go into battle. It was difficult to be the wife of a soldier and watch him march off to war, leaving her behind to wonder and worry. Now she was in his place, facing an enemy she didn't understand or truly know. Did that make it better or worse?

"You think I should hide behind you?" She asked with a soft smile. Perhaps there were times she would prefer that, instinct telling her to remain hidden while the men fought instead. But she didn't have the luxuries she did in Westeros...and there was a part of her that needed her anger channeled as well. "He did. He told me about how Ser Rodrik trained you as boys. I heard he went from Castle Cerwyn to reclaim Winterfell from Theon Greyjoy." Though there was no word on what had happened.

[northerndragon]

"Pretend it isn't heavy. If you handle it enough, it will feel lighter and lighter." And gods, if she's having trouble with a rapier, what sort of trouble would she have with a real sword?

"Ser Rodrik died when the Ironborn took Winterfell. I don't know much more than that." Because not many who were there still live. "But we trained at all sorts of things when we were boys -- swords and arrows and spears.

"Try to attack me." He means to turn the attack aside, but he wants to see what her idea of an effective one is, first.

[goodandtrue]

She didn't want to contemplate a real sword yet. Her arms were used to the weight of a needle or a basket of flowers, not a weapon. Her muscles would have to be developed in time, as well as her propensity for wielding a blade. At the moment, her doubt and insecurity was only making it worse. Otherwise, it wouldn't be as difficult as she started to believe.

"I'm sorry to hear that. So many people died because of Theon Greyjoy's actions." She shook her head, biting her lower lip to keep tears from appearing. "Robb was broken when he received the news. I was the only one with him, as he was recovering. Theon was supposed to be his friend..."

His voice grounded her to the moment. Hesitating, she glanced once more at the blade and then at Jon before lunging. It was inelegant, but that wasn't much of a surprise. "I think I overstepped."

[northerndragon]

He knocks her sword arm easily to the side, and more gently than he might otherwise.

"You died, there. You can't throw everything into the attack; you have to guard yourself. Try it again, like this."

And he demonstrates a somewhat more elegant lunge, one where his arm thrusts with power but still stays closer to his body. Still, the kind of fighting he and Robb learned as boys isn't really elegant. The goal is to allow a threat to be a threat for as little a time as possible, not to look like a dancer doing it.

He adds, "Theon wasn't anybody's -- Theon was a fool. I can't say that I have much love for him, but he's much changed now."

[goodandtrue]

She gave a sigh of frustration, turning back to fall into her earlier stance. She was still new to this and understood this, but it was still irritating to fail so badly. "Do you think I will be any good at this?"

He was a patient teacher, at least. She wasn't a very good student, slow to understand and even slower to implement his lessons. Though in her defense, this was going against everything she had been raised to be as a noble lady.

"You saw Theon again, after what he did?" She asked, attempting another lunge at him. "Robb swore he'd have Theon's head, if he managed to root him out from Winterfell." Though she suspected that Robb might waver on that. From what she gathered, he truly loved his former friend.

[northerndragon]

"You can't expect to have the same skill as someone who's been doing it for half their life or more." He demonstrates the lunge one more time, then adds, "But you can expect to have more skill than someone who doesn't know how to fight at all, or someone who doesn't have very much discipline."

At the question about Theon, he lets out a long, contemplative sigh, then speaks with a frown and a little more hesitation.

"Theon Greyjoy isn't what he was -- hasn't been what he was, for a long time." There's nothing in his tone to suggest that he's excusing Theon, or that he approves of him, only that the change in the other man is significant and disquieting. "My sister Sansa told me that the Boltons tortured him, so much that he hardly knew his own name, and then... he helped her escape from Winterfell. She made her way to Castle Black."

[goodandtrue]

She was being stupid, trying to compare herself to others who had trained in this and had natural athleticism. Once he demonstrated the lunge, she did her best to recreate it, careful to keep the blade as steady as she could in her hand.

It is safe to admit that she doesn't like Theon. The small things she heard, how broken Robb had been, none of it had endeared the Iron Islander to her, though she had never met him. But it was hard to deny that he was the catalyst that brought her and Robb together.

"So he lived?" Somehow, that felt wrong. Robb was butchered, killed by men that were supposed to be loyal to him. Theon was a man that had no loyalty and betrayed his friend. He was rewarded with life while Robb had his taken away. But the sudden revelation of torture deflated her anger quickly. "I see. The Boltons are cruel men. It isn't a surprise they live up to their sigil. You never saw Theon?"