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WHO: Kain and OPEN!
WHAT: Riding, training, generalized brooding
WHEN: Now-ish, give or take? Or at least consider this taking place some while after he returned from the Erimond mission!
WHERE: Stables, Training Grounds, Library, Battlements... take your pick
NOTES: N/A

Stables and... Around (can be approached at any point!)

Seriously, though. Why horses? He's tried to tell himself they're no different than what he knows, but there are still differences from the chocobos that he's used to. Kain isn't entirely at ease around them just yet. So he's taken it in mind that he needs some riding practice.

He spends a little time thoughtfully eyeing the dracolisks that are there, he definitely has a curiosity about them given their appearance.

But for now, it's a standard horse. His style of riding was all learned on a bird so it's evident he doesn't quite know what he's doing as he rides a bit wildly around Skyhold.

Training Grounds

Pushing himself to get stronger is the only answer after what happened out the Western Approach. They'd met their main objective... but even still, Kain is beyond frustrated with himself, feeling a great deal of guilt over what happened. So, training. He gets to the grounds anyway, but even after he starts in with a jump, he lands and grimaces... Ugh, no, while it's improved for regular activity, his leg really isn't ready for anything like that. Whoops.

Library

Even after a good couple months here, Kain has realized he... still has a lot to learn about this world. Now is as good a time as any. So he's busy glancing through various books that catch his interest. Of course, it's noticeable that most of the titles in his stack are about dragons.

Tower/Battlements

By now, Kain has a usual spot he likes going to up along the battlements, a place with a great view of the mountains surrounding Skyhold. He often comes here to just think or get some solitude. At the moment, he's seated, staring off into the surroundings, a dragon scale in hand.

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Korrin, watching all this, frowns and crosses her arms. She's seen this happen often enough; a soldier or mercenary injured, and far too impatient to let their body heal properly. More often than not, their impatience is rewarded with even more healing time when they inevitably strain their bodies.

She approaches Kain with a sigh, tossing him a potion. "Take that for the pain, but you need to cut that shit out for now unless you want your leg to heal wrong. Let it heal, then go back to showing off for us."

Kain has been back long enough to be up and about, at least. The first days were definitely rougher going. He'd not even been very bothered by the leg until that jump... but it seems he was pushing too hard too fast. That's beyond frustrating, and it shows in his expression.

He narrows his eyes as he catches the potion. "I'm fine. This is nothing... it's just a matter of getting back up to speed."

Her expression plainly disbelieving, Korrin doesn't back down at all. "It's not 'nothing' if it's hampering your movement. So, take a break and do some exercises that don't involve straining it.

...what exactly happened to you, anyway?" It's been a while and given recent events, she's been rather distracted. He certainly wasn't like this after the dragon battle, though, she knows that much.

"We captured Erimond. It was a challenge, that's all. This is nothing." He had said the same thing as his leg was bleeding out and he was limping along, doing his typical Kain-thing and insisting he could fight when he really couldn't. He doesn't like to appear weak and he's not going to now.

He folds his arms for a moment, giving her a hard look and forcing himself to stand straighter and not look at all pained. Nope, not even the slightest bit. Ow.

Kain can stand as straight as he likes, it still doesn't impress the woman who's nearly a foot taller than him. And spotting that pained look easily, she narrows her eyes. "The hell it isn't."

She walks over and gives the leg a kick. Well, more like a tap. But given his current state, she suspects it'll feel like one to him. "'Nothing', huh?"

"Wha- Ahhhh!!! Ow, why would you do that?" Kain glares at her, hopping back a couple steps, grumbling curses under his breath. He picks it off the ground for a moment, balancing on the other leg. "It was nothing until you did that!" He looks up at her, reminded in that moment just how strange it feels to have someone tower over him like that. It's not something he generally gets to experience.

"Keep up like that you're gonna fall off first time you jump." Not that he much imagines this fella will be do'n much jump'n with how stiff and unfamiliar he seems to be with the motions of his chosen horse. Mal, well accustomed to riding and taking Sasha out for a little spell, comes up alongside at a respectable distance to offer a few pointers.

Or just to sit and poke fun, whichever ends up being the more interesting tack.

Korrin doesn't look terribly apologetic, lips thinning as she shakes her head. "Bullshit. I just tapped it and looked what happened. How the hell did you survive as a soldier back where you're from if you didn't learn to rest up or heal up first?"

Kain makes a frustrated expression as he attempts to slow the horse down a little bit. It's not exactly an easy task, the larger animal doesn't respond in the way he's used to. He glances over at the other man as he comes riding up. He supposes this means that his total lack of practice really is that obvious.

"I'd hoped to work myself up to jumping," he replies, the horse throwing back its head and trying to veer off in a totally new direction. "What are... Stop doing that..." He tries to correct the horse's path, and fails totally. Well, great.

"But it has been healed up, this is just... a little residual soreness. The healer who saw to it knew what he was doing." Ok, he was perhaps supposed to go easy on it for a little longer yet, to be sure it got back to full strength. But he couldn't help trying to get out there and jump around, because he's him. Kain get very impatient when waiting to resume his normal training.

He shakes his head. "I survived just fine, even if the white mages could be aggravating sometimes with their nagging."

"I'm not going to nag. I'm not your mother or a white mage. But if you slow us down because you didn't let yourself heal, expect me to get in your face about it. It's not just your ass out there, it's all of ours. Understood?" Korrin will loom just a little, hoping he gets the point.

"Nor would I mistake you for either." Kain really, really isn't used to someone looming at him in such an intimidating way. He doesn't let it bother him, though, clenching his fists as he stiffens his stance. His reaction is never to cower away, but to meet any threats head-on. "Trust me, I can handle myself out there just fine. You've nothing to worry about."

Oh, he's had this conversation so many times, both home and in the war... and now here. It was only a matter of time, really.

"Might wanna work yourself up t'walk'n-" And there they both went. Mal leans a little, draw'n his horse up that much as the fella and his horse wanders off. Think'n nothing of it and pretty determined t'make sure neither man nor beast ended up fall'n off a cliff or somth'n, Mal reaches over to gently tug a bit of slack into the reigns. "You gotta give 'em a little more room to work with. D'you know what kinda horse this is?"

Quarter, rancher, sprinter, war- well. Probably not a war horse. Didn't much have the muscle for it.

"Stop... stop, I said!" He tries to pull back on the reigns, the horse stubborn for a moment, but finally slowing to a stop. Shifting around on the seat, Kain tries to position himself better. "I'm not certain... I know it's one of their standard varieties for riding distances, not a sprinter..."

He glances toward the horse, looking wary and ready to react at any moment to whatever it does next. "The animals we ride back home are different enough that it's hard to get used to this."

"Deep breaths. You tense up if you're nervous and they get a feel of that. They gotta know you know what you're do'n so they'll listen. Use the reigns gently- they'll listen." Mal pats Sasha on the side of the neck and swings down, com'n round the front of Kaine and his horse to pet it's nose gently.

"He don't mean any harm, yeah? Handsome fella like you ain't try'n to make trouble. You know it's name?" Been awhile since he worked with a horse or someone that needed help with a horse- but it's familiar enough.

Skyhold's towers and rooftops have felt like her own since first she arrived. True, she isn't the only one to scale them and find peace or joy when so high above the rest of the world but there are precious few up here most days. Usually if she wants to be left alone, this is where she'll go and she respects the privacy of others.

Still, it's been some time since she last saw Kain and she offers him a smile as she takes a seat next to him, near silent on the approach.

"I see you were one of the mad ones fighting dragons then," she says, giving the scale in his hand a significant glance.

Asher's bad at letting himself heal up properly, which is an unfortunate position to be in when he's the guy up front that takes the brunt of the damage in battle, usually chased by a dwarven alchemist (though that seems to imply Gunnar knows what he's actually doing) and a mage that makes healing feel like a punch in the face.

He's running through drills himself, Bronson guarding his gear because Bronson looks scarier than most mabari with all the heavy scarring over his body but he pauses to watch Kain, snorting.

"Mate, you're going to end up with that leg cut off if you're not careful."

Lost in his thoughts, Kain wouldn't have heard her approach even if she were loud. He jumps a little, a bit startled when he realizes he's got company. Right... Araceli has a thing for climbing around and such, he's sometimes spotted her running around the rooftops and such while he's at one of his high up perches. It's actually a quite dragoony practice, he's been meaning to ask her more about how she does it.

For now, he glances over, turning the scale around in his hands as he glances toward it. "I was... Though it was a challenge, the battle was entirely worth it. It'd been too long since I'd fought a dragon."

Ugh, someone had actually seen that bad landing. Kain is a bit perturbed, though more at himself than Asher, actually, who just happened to step into the wrong place at the wrong time to witness that. He was sure that he felt well enough to get back to his regular routine and use his jumping skill, in particular.

"That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all..." Kain says offhandedly, trying to downplay the whole thing. "It's not nearly so bad as that. The wound is largely mended." But still at that stage where he's not back to full speed... and the jump did seem to aggravate something.

"Right... I suppose that advice isn't too unlike what I'm used to. I'm trying to adjust... I'm much more accustomed to riding large birds." Well, and dragons as a boy, but that was so long ago, plus that's another creature entirely. He realizes that perhaps he's not been adapting quite as much as he's thought, still doing what he instinctively knows from chocobo riding. But everything about the horse is just different enough, the way you balance upon them, even their general temperaments.

Kain leans a hand forth to pat the horse as well. "I was told her name is Embrium... and that she's good at handling any sort of rider." Ha ha, yeah right. She seems to have a bit more of a mind of her own than he'd bargained for. That or she senses his uncertainty.

"...huh." Birds. That- that's a new one. He blinks up at the fella for a moment before going back to pett'n the poor mare's nose. "Aw, see, with a name like Embrium she's a kindly lady. But if you know much 'bout kindly ladies you know they also got their own mind. You don't just order 'em around. You ask all civil like."

He rubs the underside of Embrium's velvety muzzle, murmuring soft comforts. "Use the reigns gently. She's got a mouth up here, not a beak. Tug too hard and you might hurt her. Lemme see..."

Peek'n at the bit shows no real damage, just a little chaf'n. Noth'n a horse gnaw'n on it wouldn't do to themselves. "Ease up a li'l and scooch back in the saddle a bit. You want your weight to her middle."

"Good. I've have worked with too many other mercenaries who did the 'I can walk it off' song and dance. Those people never lasted. Either they got themselves killed or crippled themselves making a bad situation even worse." And given Kain's skill in battle, she'd hate to see either fate befall him.

"Apologies," she murmurs softly once she's settled herself, taking a good look at the scale; she had only seen what happened in the attack on the camp and that's hardly a matter she wishes to dwell on. Not when she had been so frightened at the time, when her heart hadn't stopped pounding until all those who had fought them returned safely, Korrin especially so.

"Korrin went too." No she's not still terrified about how she went off to do that, Korrin's life is hers to life and Araceli won't stand in her way. "I remember you spoke of them before, when first we met in the Mire. What was it like? Which one of the three were you battling?"

"Korrin and I had a chance to talk immediately afterward... There's no victory quite like after a dragonslaying." The excitement and relief from bringing down something so massive and destructive is an incredible feeling. It's almost a celebration of doing the impossible. Then there are the things you get to take away as spoils of war in a sense... Kain holds the scale up so she can look at it closer, touch it if she wants.

"The one my group fought was a Hivernal... quite an agile beast, used ice-based attacks along with everything else you'd expect of a dragon..." Definitely not something to be fought alone, and he's again glad he was stopped from rushing after them alone, before. "We had a real challenge on hand."

Oh yeah, he saw it Kain and he's not really bothering not laughing.

"I know that one well enough." Perks of being a Reaver means he shrugs off plenty but even he's had times when he's reached up a bloodied hand to the Lady of the Skies, ready to go only to wake again, stiff and sore but very much alive. "If you want to keep fighting, you let it heal."

Setting down the blunted practice sword, he hauls his shirt up at the back, turning to show Kain the thick line of scar tissue running up over his spine, fish-belly white where the rest of him is faintly tanned.

"I spent months doing nothing except light duties and stretching. If I'd kept fighting I wouldn't be able to move smoothly. Got more like that in a few places. Keep doing that and I'll tell the healers on you so I get a good show. You're a good fighter, we took on the same dragon and lived to tell the tale."

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Training Grounds

Training Grounds

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Stables

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tower/battlements;

training grounds;

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