winter sparks a new feeling (p)

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[fancypost borderwidth=0px; color: #D9987C; text-shadow: 1px -1px black, -1px 1px black; font-family: georgia; font-size: 40px; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: -32px; margin-bottom: -4px; letter-spacing: -0px; text-align: center;]Alexander Thorn[/fancypost]
[fancypost bgcolor= #D9987C; borderwidth= 0px; height: 18px; width: 460px; color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: 18px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: +1px; text-align: center; margin-top: +5px;]♚Don't admit defeat♚[/fancypost]
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You would believe that grey was a great colour to wear on a uniform, providing the houses war colours. But no, our general here just had to be difficult in his way of thinking. With the amount of tone that he was already wearing, he supposed that he was missing some colour in his life. To this male, the way he looked had never been a major part of his line of work or even just his way of thinking. That didn't exactly mean that he hated the colour, no no, he actually had great pride in wearing it. Just, staring at himself in the reflection of the glass window right by his line of vision really sprung this thought in his mind. Shaking his head softly at his own thoughts, the man clad in grey and black scratched at the side of his slightly bristly mug, having not shaven in quite some time. Being a high member of the Starks army meant having a lot of work on his plate. Provided the amount of free time he had on good days, this guy never found the time to fix up his facial hair or just his wavy mop of hair atop his head. To those who ever cared to look, they would see a man ready for duty, somebody you couldn't really just walk up to and begin conversation with. Which was truly a pain for the man since he was actually quite the character.

Alexander Thorn, supervisor of one section of the Stark houses army, stood at a height of 179cm (5'10") and had what you would call an Ectomorphic body type. Despite his figure type, this male was strong and agile in his fighting ways and had quite the skill with wielding an array of weapons, his favourite being a steel sword. His skin was slightly tanned and held traces of faint scars on his back and neck thanks to many close encounters that he managed to conquer and take charge of. Thorns eyes held the brilliant colour of navy blue, sometimes looking like grey in various tones of light and were constantly full of confident fire. All that was left to describe was those locks of his, brown in colour and short in length. Alexander was lucky in the fact that his hair had the fortune of staying almost silky, never too greasy or hard to maintain. But, he did trim the fringe quite a lot because of that fact that it often fell into his line of vision and in that future, that would become a problem for the solider. Many a solider would worry about how the females of the area would view them, they would also put effort into how they looked like to whores. Really every man was the same in that aspect of thinking.

Looking down at the flooring beneath his feet, Alexander began his strides once again having stopped for a few minutes just to recollect his thoughts. From where he was heading, well, he was heading off from the meeting room of the major castle beginning to the Stark family. Being in a meeting usually meant that you were needed for a major operation that could contribute to your cause. From what Alexander was told, the Lannisters had provoked the house once again. The way that the lord of the Lannisters thought really didn't agree with Thorns lord, so naturally they needed to make a move and still anything bad from happening in their near future that could affect the way of order. So, what had Alexander been pointed to do? He was to lead one of their armies to confront their enemy up in Kings Landing, hoping to take charge in anyway possible. To do that, blood, sweat and tears would be needed. Was Alexander ready to take on that responsibility? Really he did not know. He had been told that he would have a handy tactician by his side to aid him in the heat of preparation.

As to who this would be, details had been hazy. As long as they could work by his side, Thorn was fine with the ideas. Hearing his own boots clatter across the flooring, Alexander stretched his head to the side as he made his way down the small flight of stairs. Now he was to warn his army that they were going to be needed. Left to his own thoughts could be dangerous so he really needed to head to a crowd of people. Cringing slightly when he heard the familiar grunts coming from one of the many rooms in the castle, that could only mean that somebody had been lucky enough to score a whore for the night. "Enjoy it while you have it I suppose.." his lips murmured, picking up his pace subconciously until reaching the bottom of the stairs. Finding himself outside of the castle in no time flat, his navy blue eyes looked around the outside only to find various groups of soliders sitting around with flasks of alcoholic beverages between their lips or fingers. Typical. Even if Alexander wanted to dodge them, his soliders were too quick. "Why hello there commander Thorn! Want to join us for a drink mr big shot? Tastes like Wildling piss, but it really gets the job done" a slightly slurred voice shot over.

"Ah Henrik, perhaps another time... When you aren't as shitfaced as you are now. Don't want to mop up your mess" Alexander grumbled back, raising an eyebrow in response to the groans he got as a reply. Fixing a lock of hair that had drawn over his eyes, the army man brought his hands together and looked around. There went his mind again, wondering whom he would have the pleasure of working alongside. Other than that thought, he began to wonder what route to take first once they exited the walls of their land. Travelling on a stead for a while was something Thorn actually looked forward to. But, sleeping inside a tent for hours during movements wasn't something all that pleasing. Maybe he would be lucky enough to land a tent without holes? You never know really. Plus, he was actually fortunate, sometimes. Going through his list of known tacticians, the man actually was lost with names since there were so many skilled ones in the field of work. Female or male, it wouldn't matter truly even if females hardly were dispatched to the field of war. [/fancypost]
[align=center][fancypost borderwidth=0px; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 10px; margin-top: -5px; margin-bottom: -15px; opacity: 0.30; text-align: center;]© run of the mill[/fancypost]
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[fancypost borderwidth=0px; color: black; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 15px; line-height: 95%; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 4px; text-transform: uppercase;]alexander thorn[/fancypost][fancypost borderwidth=0px; color: white; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 8px; line-height: 95%; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 4px; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: -6px;]( everybody wants to rule the world )[/fancypost]
[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 415px; color: black; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 95%; text-align: justify;]Biting down on his finger nail as he looked through his tiny wardrobe, Alexander Thorn could not for the life of him decide on what to wear underneath his armor. This was one of his biggest problems of the morning, and it wasn't even an important one! Who cares what you wear especially when its hidden by dark grey metal most of the time. Alexander looked out at the sky through his tiny window just by his side, noon was soon here and he had not even thought about his speech in which he would give his troops. Wow, he really was prepared for this day wasn't he? Well... to be honest, the mornings were always the slowest for Alexander. Men usually only took five to ten minutes to get ready, a lot quicker than females who had to actually pick out a dress, slip into it with much difficulty and then run a brush through their hair. Alexander often thought of this and also grumbled to himself out of embarrassment for how much preparation he took in the mornings to get ready. The commander still stood in his underclothes, trying to pick out some clothing for the rest of the day. Why in seven hells does this take so long? I could really use a squire right about now... the dark eyed man thought with a sigh.

So, after quite a quarrel with his own mind and the contents of his wardrobe, Alexander was ready. The man pulled on a pair of black gloves as he turned around to face the nearest mirror of the room. There standing was Alexander, clad in a grey t shirt and other clothing... ready to bear his armor. The reasoning behind why he didn't have a squire by his side for these kind of things was because Alexander was too stubborn to admit that he needed help with everyday tasks. That really did well for him now didn't it? Good one Thorn. Not a moment later, the commander was stepping out his quarters, the armor now secured around his able body and the clank of his boots met the stone ground below him. Walking down those stairs was now a daily occurrence which meant business. Lucky for him, Alexander wasn't running behind schedule, something that he found hard to believe. Ignoring the greetings from those whom he didn't know, Alexander picked up his pace slightly so that he could prepare his horse outside the castles walls. However, on his 'travels' he found that most of his men were already ready, some bending over in corners of the courtyard, emptying their stomachs thanks to the alcohol they had taken the other day.

Alexander was soon faced with his treasured horse. Now, the story behind this horse was that it had been bred to near perfection, well by Alexanders standards as well as the breeders themselves. The horse would be able to hold his weight with his armor and that worked perfectly for march's. Draping all of the materials needed to board a horse, Alexander strapped his travelling bag by his horses side. There already strapped in was his sword, cleaned and sharpened by the blacksmiths. Smiling at the job well done, he heaved up on the stirrups and swung his leg over the horses saddle. The grey stallion had no problem with this and already began walking thanks to Alexander tugging on the reins twice. Whistling softly as he slowly made his way to the meeting place, Alexander stroked at the stallions neck out of habit. Sure, he was meant to be professional and not act like he loved this horse... but there was no hiding how he felt about this animal. It was loyal to him and him alone, and that was all he needed.

Back on track, the solider made his way past his many soldiers, seeing that they had arrived on time and they were wearing their armor correctly for once. There had been many situations where they had arrived without certain wears... Ah, being a commander was fun especially with this crew. Those navy blue eyes of his looked forwards as he soon came to a stop at the front of the lines and once he was at his destination, one of his soldiers squires brought over his coat. Downing this coat and mumbling a thank you to the young man, he soon had to wait for their female companion to arrive. So she was a late comer? That was to be expected since this was her first time. Alexander wouldn't look too much into this. But his stallion sure hoofed the ground impatiently as though it wanted to begin leading the army as soon as possible. Sensing this atmosphere coming from the mammal, Alexander rubbed his leg against its side in a comforting manner.

Few minutes passed until a sound told Alexander that Amelle had pleased his army with her arrival. Straightening up slightly, the commander watched as his tactician made her way over, riding her own horse and wearing an expression of calmness. So, now that she was here, he could begin telling his army of their plans. But first, an introduction. [b]"Ah, Ms Dubois, we have been graced with your presence at last. And here we were about to leave" he spoke, tease lacing his words as he nodded to her and wore that look in his eyes that meant he was happy to see her. Clearing his throat next, he moved his head to look at the lines of men now ready for whatever was to be thrown at them. Words were thrown over towards Amelle, but those were silenced by a look from Alexander that just dripped with a chilling expression.

"Men! Unless of course you are too busy eyeing off Ms Dubois over here, I do hope that you are ready for the march to our first fight in months. I have a few rules to make clear of before we even begin walking. First of all, I want no drinking on this journey whilst riding. That is just a disaster waiting to happen. Second, I want no fighting unless it is for training, remember that I can decipher whether or not it is training or just some cock bull argument you feel needs to be settled by cutting one another up" Alexander began, raising his head so that he was looking at each man, right in the eyes. Sure, these were the boring words that you needed to hear, but he could not stress how important these were. "Away from the rules... Today we begin our decent to Kings Landing to take charge in this ongoing battle that we the Starks have with the enemy, the Lannisters. It has been a quarrel that has ended with serious damage and we won't be taking any more of it! It's time for us to take control and stop it at once before anything else is destroyed! I want your all to be made on this march, for this is the first step until we raise our swords and confront Kings Landing and their army"

Once completed with his few words, Alexander looked to Amelle and narrowed his eyes encouragingly. "Anything you wish to add Dubois? Anything to set these men true?"[/fancypost][align=center][size=5pt]©BOKEH | BOKEHFANCY[/size]

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; color: black; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 15px; line-height: 95%; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 4px; text-transform: uppercase;]alexander thorn[/fancypost][fancypost borderwidth=0px; color: white; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 8px; line-height: 95%; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 4px; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: -6px;]( everybody wants to rule the world )[/fancypost]
[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 415px; color: black; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 95%; text-align: justify;]Alexander took note of the many expressions he had earned from his soldiers. Many of them look distressed at the fact that Alexander had not permitted drinking on their march, tough luck. If you wanted a job done well, then you would have to establish a few rules whether they were fair or not. For sure however, Alexander would pick up that all too familiar burst of hatred and annoyance directed right at him. But this would soon disappear over the next few hours. Keeping such grudge over something so trivial was childish and unneeded and for certain, the commander would not tolerate it at this stage. This was to be expected since no man wanted to be told that they were not allowed to delve into what every man of that era loved most, that being alcohol and having a chance at proving themselves stronger than those around them. Alexander would be lying if he said that he wasn't enjoying the look on his men's faces. It was quite the sight to see too, so many men having to listen to one man and his tactician. But that was life in an army. Seeing all those soldiers wearing such grim looks on their faces told Alexander that he had gotten through to them and that they had fixed their attitudes. Moving from a drunken fool to a strong soldier in a matter of seconds. Now that was what Alexander was striving for.

Listening in on that small add on that Amelle was in need of alerting his men on made Alexander nod and give off the faintest of smiles. She was right, being a woman meant that the men of the army would just their best to get her attention, nothing work related at all. So this was important if they wanted the march to move on successfully. Lucky for him, he caught a few men nodding at Amelles demand, soon whispering to their neighbour about something that Alexander could not pick up on. He hoped that it wasn't anything sexist or anything to do with a disagreement. The last thing that the army needed was for their to be a raging argument present before they even got the chance to leave the territory of the Starks. So, Alexander cleared his throat and looked off to the side where Amelle had moved in closer to speak with Alexander quietly for a few words. He was ready for whatever her wishes were and was surprised to find that she was only talking of her 'weakness' to encouraging loud crowds.

Alexander nodded sharply and nudged his horse in the side with the heel of his shoe, urging the mammal to begin its steps forwards so that they could lead the huge crowd of soliders. Before he was too far off from the lines of men and Amelle, he turned his head and spoke up once again, using that loud voice of his. [b]"Right then, now that we have everything in order... I'd like for us to move on before the sun moves any more. Keep in your ranks and do please control yourselves. Anyone who is still affected by the drinks you may or may not have had yesterday, do stay in the middle of the group so that you don't trail behind or cause any problems up front" Having problems so early in the March would be a huge unconvience to the army, so the commander would have very much so liked to keep things in order. Well, in the beginning anyway. After his words were spoken and were taken into account by his soliders, Alexander heard the words being spoken behind him now. Many let out roars of agreement and some even attempted a battle cry. That in itself made Alexander smile.

Off they began with Alexander leading the way. All that was left to do for the next day was to walk along the designated path which was suggested by their lord. Now then, how to spend that time sensibly. The man clad in grey kept his eyes forward and listened to the sound of his horses hooves, the sound becoming rhythmic and all too familiar to the man. "Dubois, how many marches have you been in before? Or am I lucky enough to see you experience your first?" he asked out of the blue and back to the blonde, keeping an ear out for her answer. Bringing this up made Alexander's mind go back to his first March as an early soldier who's mind was only on proving himself and trying to climb up those ranks so that he wasn't stuck as somebody who nobody would remember. It had been a tough first few years and him and his younger mind had many troubles. It wasn't fun being left in the dust by others and constantly being teased for being a 'newbie'. Being pushed around and played with. Hell, once he had been treated as dummy to be practiced on for sword play.

But he showed them over the years and before long here he stood, now leading those soldiers as a commander. A very proud one at that. It really did show how grateful he was for this role with how he woke up every morning and made sure to make a mark of lead his army to victory. One thing about Alexander though, he was never a man looking for power. Power was dangerous and not once did this man want to be responsible for it. Being a commander was enough work in itself and sent Alexander nervousness if he was required to do an important job. Lost to his own thoughts, the male looked downwards at his horse and tried to rid himself of those feelings. "A March that could last days... Let's hope that everything doesn't go to shit in those hours and hours, that's the last thing I need" he sighed, narrowing his eyes suspiciously back at the hundreds of men behind, knowing full well that there was a possibility of that happening.[/fancypost][align=center][size=5pt]©BOKEH | BOKEHFANCY[/size]

[fancypost borderwidth=0px; color: black; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 15px; line-height: 95%; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 4px; text-transform: uppercase;]alexander thorn[/fancypost][fancypost borderwidth=0px; color: white; font-family: times new roman; font-size: 8px; line-height: 95%; text-align: center; letter-spacing: 4px; text-transform: uppercase; margin-top: -6px;]( everybody wants to rule the world )[/fancypost]
[fancypost borderwidth=0px; width: 415px; color: black; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 95%; text-align: justify;]Feeling the rest of the March follow behind Amelle and he, Alexander looked around the terrain which surrounded them, trying to look as farr as possible so that he could scout out the area, possibly pick up on any trenches they were to avoid or just anything in general, something to allow Alexander to look forwards without much boredom. To be frank, all he found was a few holes in the ground which they would have to urge their horses to avoid, nothing too special. As this was to be a long journey full of patience and duty, the commander had to lay out things to do in his mind, one of those things being a few conversations with Amelle, perhaps even the higher ranked soliders to see if they had any idea for the future of the March. Lost to his thoughts for a while, it took him a few seconds to make out what Amelle had just spoken and when he heard it, his eyes whirled around on her, ready to answer. Truth be told, it took him a moment to pull himself together after being alone to his thoughts. [b]"Well, look at it as a sort of text if you will. Leaving the more vulnerable of the men to the middle would leave our men having to look after him, keep their eyes on him and make sure that nothing bad will happen to him. As lame as this task is, it's important to see how they would react to one of their own falling off their horse." the dark haired male responded, being patient and willing to explain himself further if needed.

Though hearing that her words were nothing more than a mumble of sorts, Alexander carefully looked to the blonde and that gaze of his softened for a moment. The fact that she was so nervous to speak her own mind left Alexander feeling guilty for seeming like the sort of man that wouldn't allow a woman to speak on her own accord. There were too many men like that now-a-days. Only bastards who treated the females as lesser presences, a lot of beings that didn't need proper care and only to be used as a source of either pleasure or just to house their offspring. It was darn right disgusting to think of what some men accomplished. Though, that was the way of their era... And only one man couldn't change that with his mind, even if he was a commander, somebody who held power. But that power only rested in the walls of house Stark and perhaps on the battle field. Outside of his missions, Alexander was just a solider who was built for war... Nothing more.

Hearing Amelles answer, Alexander simply nodded and took this into account for their battle. If she had already been out on a March, then hopefully she did know the troubles it had. Some people believed that when taking part in a march alongside your army it would be quite easy and would lack in any effort. Sadly, that was not the case due to the fact that you had to look out for one another, watch out for any injuries, danger and you had to make sure that the numbers never decreased before actually risking your neck out on the battle field. A whole army only worked if you treated the large numbers as one indidivual. Treating it like a family of great importance. Or something along those lines. What Alexander thought was this. Naturally some people disagreed and thought of an army as nothing more than a trouble that made things difficult. "Being a pessimist is just in my package Dubois, makes me more aware of the dangers of our surroundings. Though, a bit of cheeriness would be expected from me I presume? Seeing how we are on an important mission" the man chuckled ever so softly, shaking his head in amusement.

"But drinking is ones way of relaxing after working, it's much needed to calm the mind after such a stressful task of walking around, completely exposed to whatever can possibly attack you" he sarcastically replied, raising an eyebrow at the curly haired tactician in response to the tease. This was of course true. Even for our commander here, Alexander enjoyed drinking, though at a minimum. Never over doing it. It made him forget slightly that they were on a March and left him feeling at bliss. But not for long. Glancing back over at the men who looked most capable of staying up straight, Alexander caught one of them looking to their neighbour, speaking in hushed tones and looking around nervously. New recruits perhaps? Well that was uncommon seeing how the army was in dire need of new soliders no matter what the age. But the main thing was that they had passed the many tests that were lain out, so they were very capable of completing their tasks.

Deciding to open up a bit to Amelle, Alexander played with the reins at his hands, leaving his horse shaking it's head and continuing its strides. "Seeing all these younger members of our army leaves me feeling a great wave of nostalgia. To think that I was at that stage in my life here in the army leaves me feeling like this is a dream. Guess that's one thing that never leaves you. That young moment in your life where you think that everything is fun and games. That is until you reach the real sounds and sights of war. Then you are left a shell full of strength and seriousness. Gods... Look at me sounding like an old man" he grumbled, raising a hand to play with one of the longer locks of hair closer to the nape of his neck, twirling it around his finger and biting the inside of his cheek ever so nervously. Each one of those words were true, and it felt strange admitting them. But that was important if he ever wanted Amelle to understand him in the slightest.[/fancypost][align=center][size=5pt]©BOKEH | BOKEHFANCY[/size]