Dawn struck the town of Ralstead. The warm sunlight hitting the dew upon buildings and lawns and creating a gentle cloud of steam that surrounded the town. Roosters crowed at the new day, awakening all but the ones already busy at work.
With a start, young Brandt shot out of bed. He was going to be late. No, he already was late. He quickly tugged on his trousers and threw a fresh shirt over his head, he ran out through the kitchen, grabbing a small loaf of bread on his way out the door to satiate his morning hunger.
He ran through the streets of the town, heading towards the center, towards the guards barracks. Today was supposed to be initiation day. "Damnit", he muttered to himself, "I am going to be late".
As he rounded the last corner he came to a sudden halt. All the new recruits were already lined up and standing at attention in the plaza out front of the barracks, the captain of the guard, Gerhart, pacing in front of the three young men that stood there. Brandt quietly walked up as the captains back was turned, and took his place in the line, standing at attention, but still with a mouthful of bread. As Gerhart turned back around he locked eyes with Brandt immediately.
"Well, seeing that you're all here now..." he trailed off with a disgruntled look on his face, "Perhaps we can get started with the initiation, that is of course, if you're fully prepared, young Brandt".
Brandt stiffly swallowed, "Oh, um, yes. Of course sir. As you please sir, don't mind me sir".
With a grunt of acceptance, Gerhart went on, "Today, I will be overseeing you four as you accomplish several tasks" His voice carried loudly over the plaza, "You will be judged according to your actions, and from there it will be determined whether or not you're fit for the job". He glanced over the four young men once more, eyes resting finally on Brandt, "I don't expect all of you to be up to the task. But we'll see". With that, he raised his hand and waved it toward the barracks, "Follow me".
The barracks was a rather large building, dwarfing many of the smaller ones surrounding it, it was probably one of the largest buildings in town, next to the Raspy Asp Inn and the town hall. It stood three stories tall, and almost as wide, boasting the largest holding cells this side of the Grantree forest. Aside from that, there were also personal quarters for guards as well as training grounds around the backside of the building.
Captain Gerhart led the four of them into the barracks and through to the back to the training grounds. "Here is where you'll perform your first and most important task. You will all need to prove to me that you're worth the gold I'll be paying you", a smirk breaks his usually stoney face, "I look forward to your performances". With that, he gestures to a few guards standing by. They approached and handed out blunted practice swords and shields to the four young men before readying themselves with their own blunted swords and small rounds shields.
"A blow to the torso counts as five points, the head is ten. You will need a total of thirty points if you wish to pass", one of the guards explains, "We'll mostly be on the defensive but don't expect us not to fight back". With that the two guards began to take their positions beckoning for one of the young men to step forward.
Brandt glanced at the other young men, none of them seemed very prepared for this test, but luckily for him he's been practicing swordplay since he was a child. Granted, it was usually with a stick, and usually up against a wooden barrel, but that didn't dampen his spirits or his self confidence. "I suppose I'll go first then", he declared loudly, "Show you how it's done!".
He quickly readied himself, striking a pose that he thought would be fit for a swordsman. The two guards looked at each other, one raising an eyebrow and the other shrugging, Brandt took that as a good thing. He slowly started to step forward, making sure his legs stayed an even distance apart and keeping his shield level with his chest. After a quick moment of deciding which guard to attack, he charged in, shield raised and sword at the ready. The guard took his own stance, but Brandt paid it no mind, as he drew near he dodged to the left to try and catch him off guard and swung his sword at the guards head, but to his surprise his sword bounced off of a shield, and soon after the guards sword came crashing into his side knocking him to the ground.
"You'll have to do better than that boy", the guard snickered, "Fancy footwork and running all about isn't going to do you any favors". Brandt stood up, clutching his side where he was struck. He wouldn't let himself be made a fool of. Readying himself once more, he took another stance and made a much slower approach this time. Analyzing the situation, he figured it would be best if he were able to find an opening before attacking, at least, thats what he thought fights were supposed to be like. With that, he made his move. He sidestepped to the left once more, but this time instead of wildly attacking he waited for a reaction. The guard pivoted, bringing up his shield once more in anticipation of another overhead swing. Instead, Brandt swung from below, aiming for the torso. The guard wasn't able to react quickly enough with his shield, and Brandt landed a solid blow to the stomach.
He quickly stepped back, beaming at the fact that he got in a blow. "Five points", Gerhart proclaimed, causing Brandt's smile to dim somewhat. He still needed twenty five more to pass. Once more he took a stance, this time trying to imitate the guard, it was time for him to get serious, he thought. He hopped forward, shield up, and squared off with the guard. He slowly began to circle him, searching for a chance to strike. He swung his sword out to the right, only to have it blocked as the guards sword came toward him. He was able to block it, his arm jarred by the impact, before swinging his sword once more only to have it clang against the guards sword. This exchange of blows went on for some time, Brandt occasionally landing a hit to the torso, and the guard occasionally landing a hit on him. Finally, after several more blows to his sides, Brandt disengaged panting heavily, sweat dripping into his eyes.
"Congratulations lad", Gerhart said, "You managed to scrape together enough points to pass, rather impressive considering how you started". Brandt smiled at him, all he cared about was that he passed, he retreated to the sidelines, clutching his now thoroughly bruised arms and sides.
The other three young men took their turns as Brandt watched on, two of them actually did quite well, much better than he, that was for sure. But the third on performed poorly enough that the captain had to call the match early, and fail him outright. Brandt was just glad that it was over, so much for all his 'training', he thought.
With the fourth of them now gone, the remaining three young men lined up as Gerhart began to approach. "Good work the lot of you, as you may have noticed not everyone gets past the combat test, so pride yourselves in your success", he began pacing in front of them, "As you may have guessed, there are no other tasks or trials", Brandt tried to hide a shocked look as Gerhart continued, "Knowing how to fight, at least, a little bit", he glanced at Brandt, "Is almost as important as knowing the law. I expect that the three of you will do well enough within our ranks, and I look forward to seeing you in the line of duty".
As Gerhart continued his speech, Brandt smiled, he managed to become a guard, if just barely. He couldn't wait to get home to tell his mother the good news, especially with the added income it should take a big burden off of her shoulders. He smiled even wider, a guard, he actually managed it.