Militia Training

Leon stood in one of four rows of ten men, the Kyoshi Militia. They were going through particularly difficult motions with quarterstaffs, learning defensive and offensive tactics with each spin. Here, he was content - his old life and his new working together best in practice.

Tatsuya was hiding behind a tree (or something like that), watching the militia train. Since he hadn't had much better to do, stalking the militia and watching them seemed like a great idea.

After several minutes of this, the drill sergeant called a break. Men scattered, some pulling water caskets or wine skins, some drinking from the barrel on a table at the front of the raised, paved square they called a drill slate.

Leon himself walked, thinking to spend the next half an hour relaxing on his own - camaraderie was all very well, but he could hardly maintain his story with men who were exhausted when he himself was... in truth, not.

Walking into the woods, he noticed a shadow behind a tree - a person.

He had been confused, but quickly snapped out of it when he seen one of the men close, too close. In shock, he let out a loud, canine-like yelp, jumping back and curling up infront of a different tree.

Leon watched the 'person'.

"Forgive me - startling you was not my intent, nor was invading your territory."

He looked up slowly, his eyes wide and his arms shaking slightly. With hesitation, he got out of his 'defensive' position, and crawled halfway towards the stranger. He lifted his head, stretching his neck out a bit, sniffing in the direction of the man.

Leon bowed - he couldn't help it. After years of vicious rigmarole, it was second nature to anything that acted human.

He got closer, now directly infront of the man. He reached up and sniffed the guy's hair, then went and sniffed his shoes.

"My name is Leon - shall I leave you alone?"

He backed away, blushing. "I'm sorry.. sort of a habit. I'm Tatsuya, nice to meet you, Leon."

He smiled, still beet red. "You smell nice, like you didn't just come from training like the rest of your friends. And you don't seem affected by it at all, like the rest of them. Do you have a secret?"

"Everyone has their secrets, Tatsuya. I'm just used to hard work."

Leon hadn't expected him to be that observant.

"Wow.." He blinked, his head tilting as he stared wide-eyed at Leon. "I'm so bad with training.. I can't even aim my arrow properly. If I was ever forced into a fight I would definitely lose. But your used to it.. so.. wow.. I've never met a truely experianced fighter before.."

He shook his head. "Am I babling? Yes, of course I'm babling, I'm always babling, sorry!"

Leon smiled. He didn't really know how to deal with people, outside of how he'd been brought up.

"Were the times better, knowing how to fight would not even be necessary, so worry not."

He stopped shaking his head and began staring at Leon again. "Why do you train like that..?"

His eyes widened and put his hand to his face. "That's not any my business, sorry!"

Leon fought the urge to raise an eyebrow.

"It's fine to ask; the times being what they are, fighting is something it's useful to be able to do, although thankfully, this village seems peaceful enough."

He looked up again. "Do you think it will stay that way..?"

His training said to reassure civillians in any crisis.

Instead, he told the truth.

"I think it may get worse, before all's said and done."

"Their going to come.. their going to try to take over Kyoshi.. I'm sure of it. They crave power, don't they? They want to control as much as they can.."

Leon looked at him sharply.

"Who?"

"The person.. the one with insane power.. I felt them around not long ago, near the edge of the village. I don't know much about them, but my instincts are usually right.. I can feel the danger around, and I felt a lot that time.. you think maybe I'm wrong this time..?"

Leon tensed. He had to find a way to contact-

"When was this, civillian? You need to report it to the militia."

His ears flattened against his head and his tail curled around him. "I.. I.. not long ago.. I don't know.. I'm not certain, I just know it's not right.."

He cowered slightly, not liking the sudden serious behaviour.

Seeing the change in behavior, Leon softened his tone.

"It's alright; I'll let the garrison commander know, and you won't have to talk to anyone else about it, alright? Just tell me what you know so we can ensure the village is safe."

He didn't move. "No.. it's.. I just.. I don't like being put on the spot.. I can't really tell you what happened, I wasn't really sure.. all I knew was what I told you already.."

He shifted slightly, not taking his eyes off of Leon. "The only other way I could help is if they came back.. I could tell you if they were around.. I don't know.."

"Do you remember what the person looked like? Anything at all helps."