Words of Wisdom (invite only)

"He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious."
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War


Amir didn't feel particularly victorious. He felt somewhat angry and a little dirty. Why the hell had he kissed Mara, of all people? Which part of his psyche had driven that car off the cliff?

Bad enough he had contemplated doing things in the past few months that would undoubtedly hurt her but throw that into the mix and he was lucky she was still in Nachton. She was still in Nachton... she just hadn't contacted him in the past few days.

Amir knew there was something wrong with him and somewhere in the back of his head he even knew what it was, but he'd figured out along the road that it wasn't time to fight yet. He wasn't even sure this particular fight was his. That's why he'd created Mara after all. Insurance. Against this sort of thing.

You don't screw with your insurance. No matter how badly you really, really want to.

Amir closed the cover of the hard-back copy of Sun Tzu's book and tipped his head back, looking up at the stars. He was in an out-of-the-way section of Heolfor's gardens. He wasn't hiding. Amir didn't hide. He was reflecting. And ruminating.

He groaned to himself and dropped his head forward again, bringing the book up to hit himself in the forehead as he did so.

Ambrose 13 years ago
First she got him back on a horse and now, without even knowing it, Ysabel had Ambrose working on doing without his cane. He -hated- it, loathed it, with a blinding passion. It was stiff and awkward and he didn't feel confidant. He was actually considering finding a doctor or better yet some one in the clan and seeing if there was a better leg for him. Maybe this prosthetic wasn't quite right. Still, he was practicing.

Tonight he was wandering through the garden and he'd made his way off the beaten path. He didn't like the idea of some one seeing him like this. As he rounded a corner, he heard an odd thunking and cursed his luck. Of course, some one was out here.

Ambrose sighed to himself but then did his best to walk naturally, to move confidently and without his usual limp. He was more or less successful, it would depend on who was looking at him if they'd notice or not.


"I have it on good authority that hurts."Â?

He said companionably.
Amir 13 years ago
Amir thought the voice sounded familiar, but with his face buried in the front of his book he couldn't see who was there. He was in a bad enough mood, ironically, not not be annoyed at being discovered. His usual mood, he guessed, was surly and slightly annoyed. He was definitely off-kilter tonight, had been for the past several nights, and surprisingly didn't lash out at the unfortunate intruder.

"Yup," he said agreeably, his voice muffled by the book.

Sliding it down his face a little he arched his brows and peered out at the person who stood nearby.


"Ambrose, isn't it?" he asked, remembering the man sitting on horseback at the Park several months back. Ysabel Yolgrave's... friend.
Ambrose 13 years ago
Screw this walking. Ambrose decided he deserved a break. Besides, he had to practice standing up too. He spotted a chair across from Rashid, who he still wasn't sure he liked, and lowered himself down. Thankfully, it wasn't like some of those stupidly soft extra comfortable ones in the manor. Cast iron was a lot easier for him to deal with minus his cane.

"Last time I check that was me. Amir right?"Â?

It seemed rude to call the man 'Rashid', it was a little impersonal and he was trying to play nice and not pick a fight.

"Subject matter getting the better of you?"Â?
Amir 13 years ago
Amir nodded shortly at Ambrose, confirming the accuracy of his Clanmate's memory. He noticed Ambrose walked with a slight hitch. Curious. But he shrugged it off and lowered the book the rest of the way, wrinkling his nose at the cover.

"No, not exactly. More like the subject of the subject matter."

He turned the book so Ambrose could see what it was. "You know they say you never stop learning," he mused, "but just when I think I've applied Sun Tzu to everything I can think of, another use pops up."

He shook the book slightly. "Wise man, Sun Tzu."
Ambrose 13 years ago
Ambrose craned his neck to get a look at the title of the book. The Art of War. He groaned a bit and shook his head. Dammaris loved that damned book She must have tried a hundred times to get him to read it and he tried but it just never stuck. He wasn't saying this Sun Tzu guy wasn't smart, but a lot of that crap he'd learned on the fly. He sure as hell didn't need all that poetry, it got in the way.

"Planning on launching an attack?"Â?

No sense trying to look smarter than he was and just called a spade a spade.

"Yeah. I never went in for him. I remember the whole when to fight and when not to and the volcano's edge but other than that it never stuck."Â?

It applied to real life, he had to give the man that much.
Amir 13 years ago
Amir shook his head vehemently. "Hardly," he said. "'Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting,'" he quoted solemnly.

There was something about Ambrose's frankness that brought a fleeting half-smile to Amir's lips. Amir could be straightforward but his logic, thoughts, and plans often followed complicated, convoluted paths. Ambrose seemed to be the opposite... kind of a "shoot first ask questions later" sort.


"It's an excellent book to read," he said, "particularly in your line of work." He recalled Ambrose being a Hunstman. "You're welcome to borrow it. I have several copies."

One of those odd things about being long-lived... you accrued multiples of certain items, and this particular treatise was one of those things for Amir. He had three copies of it. This particular hard-back was the most recent of them.
Ambrose 13 years ago
Ambrose just raised an eyebrow at that. He tried to think of one single time he'd won without fighting. He couldn't come up with one. Somehow, he suspected that was one of the passages that he'd blocked out while Dammaris was trying to teach him.

"That only works if you can be sure the enemy isn't going to shoot you in the back later."Â?

In his opinion, a dead enemy couldn't betray you or come back and haunt you, so they were the best kind.

He gave a lopsided smile and a half snort.


"Yeah my maker tried to take me through it more times than I can count. Lead to some damned fine arguments but I've never been able to get through it."Â?

And if she heard of him reading it, studying it, he'd never live down the hundred years worth of 'I told you so.'

"Don't think I don't appreciate the offer though. She thought highly of the man too so there must be something to it."Â?
Amir 13 years ago
Amir snorted at Ambrose's suspicious nature. "Too right," said agreeably. "There are ways to make sure that doesn't happen though, and believe it or not they don't always involve a trail of corpses."

Amir was starting to get the impression that Ambrose did pretty much everything bluntly. It couldn't hurt to learn a little bit about subtlety. Even if Sun Tzu wasn't his cup of tea.

He raised at eyebrow at the polite decline.
"The offer stands if you change your mind," he said. "It's useful to know even if only to know how your enemy thinks."

Amir looked at the book and considered hitting himself in the face with it again... it was a good heavy version, and he was no closer to solving any riddles in spite of this pleasant interlude. Then again, perhaps he wasn't looking to solve any. He wasn't really able to. The time, as he'd noted previously, wasn't right for it. Yet.
Ambrose 13 years ago
"Trails are a dead give away. You've got to hide them."Â?

It was funny because it was true and Ambrose couldn't help but smile at that.

He wasn't so inflexible as to not recognize a good idea when he heard one though and leaned back in his chair to consider. There wasn't just one way to do things, he was starting to learn that.


"It never hurts to give it another try."Â?

He said slowly, cautiously considering changing his mind.

"So long as it has practical applications that is. Not like algebra."Â?
Amir 13 years ago
"Not always," Amir responded, dark eyes glittering in the dim light. He could think of many, many times when leaving corpses to be found was useful and effective.

"How are you supposed to let your opponent know the game is on without leaving a little token of respect?" It was said with a quick, feral grin as the predator within surfaced for a moment.

Ambrose's change of heart wasn't complete but Amir was pleased to see him considering it. He'd been training younger vampires far too long to pass up on learning opportunities when they presented themselves to him. He snorted at the last bit however.


"Oh trust me, Sun Tzu knew what he was talking about. There are practical applications like no tomorrow for this shit."

Case in point, his current situation. Who knew, women and warfare were apparently very similar. How ironic.
Ambrose 13 years ago
Ambrose chuffed a quick breath; it could have been a laugh before inclining his head with respect. That was logic he could get behind, and had used on occasion. Not everyone agreed with him on that point, you had to enjoy it when some one did.

There was still some doubt in his mind about the practicalities of a dead Chinese warrior poet. But it sure looked like Rashid had been thinking pretty hard when Ambrose encountered him. Maybe he was working on an application.


"Do I get an example or do I have to take you on faith?"Â?

It wasn't a challenge, but Ambrose was making it pretty clear if Rashid wanted to teach he might have to give a sample lesson right on the spot. Ambrose, after all, had little patience for information he was never going to use.

"The only thing I've ever really understood is knowing when not to fight, and damned if Belle hasn't taught me a new thing or two about that."Â?

It was a strange thing to realize, and even stranger to admit, but for all Ambrose had started convincing Ysabel that she could and should express herself and even disagree with him, and any one else she wanted to, she was teaching him to pick his battles. When it came to physical confrontations Ambrose was good at that, it was the every day more subtle battles she was helping him with.
Amir 13 years ago
Amir snorted and addressed both the question and the statement at once. "Women are similar to warfare but they're also a law unto themselves. Trying to figure them out might actually make Sun Tzu combust."

He couldn't keep the irony from his voice. Amir was currently stuck between two women, three if you threw Dana into the mix although he hadn't seen her in some time.


"And I'm pretty sure the 'when not to fight rule' is answered pretty easily with the rejoinder, 'ever.'"
Ambrose 13 years ago
"He probably bursts in to flame pretty easy. Being that dead has got to dry you out a bit."Â?

Ambrose actually disagreed with that statement. He shook his head.

"I might have to disagree with you there. Some times if you don't fight you don't know what they are thinking."Â?

There was one argument a while ago where Belle had agreed to some pretty absurd things just to be agreeable. It had both confused and frustrated Ambrose. He much preferred to know what she was thinking.

"Opens up all sorts of doors. Granted you'll get a few of them slammed in your face and I always wind up in need of flowers but I at least get my answer."Â?
Amir 13 years ago
"Aha," Amir said, tapping his book knowingly with a finger. "So you have learned the value of picking your battles." Having mislead Ambrose into answering his own question, Amir let his lips quirk into a smile.

"And how often does Lady Ysabel favor you with this look?"

He turned his face into a reasonable impression of the one he had actually seen the woman in question use before, a mix of expectation, patience, authority, and defiance all put together in one 'I know you can reach this conclusion yourself' look. It was an argument-diffusing face and he was willing to bet Ysabel had used it on Ambrose many times.

"She's very good at it," he pointed out, letting his face fall back to its normal expression. "Your Lady has a talent for diffusing arguments before they begin. Perhaps she's read this book too."

Amir smiled softly; he had known the Yolgraves for hundreds of years and liked them a great deal. He didn't know Ysabel as well as he knew her parents but from what he'd ever seen of her, their child was competent, kind, and clever. Interesting, that she and Ambrose seemed to have something going on. Ambrose didn't seem like her type. But then, there was the attraction of opposites and all of that.
Ambrose 13 years ago
He knew that look. It was odd coming from Rashid, but it was unmistakable. Ambrose saw it often enough that out of habit he stopped for a second to reconsider his choice before plunging blindly on.

"Far, far too often."Â?

Ambrose admitted with some chagrin. He nodded in agreement with the other man. Belle had a gift. It wasn't a talent he'd want or know what to do with but it was a skill some one had to have and it had come in handy once or twice, often when they were dealing with the waif's teachers. Ambrose had no patience there, not since that first bastard had hinted... Well that was over and done.

"You may have a point about practical applications then. Any other simple lessons in there that might come in handy when dealing with her?"Â?
Amir 13 years ago
Amir felt a glimmer of amusement at Ambrose's unconscious reaction to the face he'd pulled. Poor guy. Ysabel appeared to have him pretty well in hand. Not that Ambrose was some kind of mindless love slave or anything, but he seemed the opinionated sort... Amir was an expert on them, being a perfect example himself.

"You seem to be doing fine," he said to Ambrose with a soft laugh. "Although you might want to prepare yourself for further strategic advances."

It wouldn't surprise him if Ysabel had read Sun Tzu; it wasn't exactly a ladylike book but then, not everyone was exactly as they appeared.
Ambrose 13 years ago
Ambrose made a vague noncommittal gesture. He did his best. They were so different, most folks probably wondered how they managed together. But Ambrose didn't. He didn't care why they worked he just took his job, which was taking care of Belle and the waif, seriously and did his best to keep her happy.

"All right, you win. I'll give it another go."Â?

Damaris would never let him hear the end of it. And Ambrose knew he was total crap as a student and they'd probably wind up in a fight at some point. But why not, a huntsman was supposed to learn and adapt.
Amir 13 years ago
Amir nodded knowingly at Ambrose's decision and once more offered him the book. "A wise man goes into battle knowing everything his opponent knows," he said.

That was more Amir than Sun Tzu, but he imagined the great general himself had said that at some point too, with different words. You didn't get much more comprehensive than Sun Tzu when it came to war, tactics, or strategy.


"I'm curious to know what you'll think of it when you actually read it," Amir said. "I have a feeling you already know a lot of it, and what you don't will make plenty of sense."
Ambrose 13 years ago
"Then I can't think of a single time I've been wise."Â?

And that was the god's honest truth. Most of the time Ambrose considered himself lucky if he knew half of what the other guy was thinking and could reason out another quarter of it. But the day he thought he knew everything the other side knew was the day he'd get too cocky and die for his trouble.

He thought through how best to stand up without looking like he was an invalid and was pleased to succeed with only a little apparently stiffness. He was getting better at this.


"This'll go better if I can find it as a comic book."Â?

Ambrose said with a combination of wry humor and dread.

"I'll look you up again when I get through it though."Â?

He only nodded as he took his leaved of Rashid, some how a formal good bye or even a friendly catch ya later didn't seem right.

Again concentrating on his walk Ambrose made his way back to the manor and his rooms where he'd left his cane. He'd done enough practicing for one night.


((OOC... Ambrose out))
Amir 13 years ago
"Another smart observation. There's hope yet," Amir said wryly as Ambrose prepared to leave. Raising his eyebrows in speculation about finding Sun Tzu the comic he said, "It wouldn't surprise me if you did."

He watched with observant eyes as Ambrose rose, looking stiff. There was definitely something odd about his gait. Who turned a lame human, anyway? Was that what he'd been? Still curious.

He returned Ambrose's nod and waved his hand vaguely. If Ambrose didn't want the fuss of finding Amir he could always ask Heolfor's helpful staff to deliver the book back; Amir wasn't worried about it.
"Pleasant reading," he said as the Huntsman left, a slight hitch to his walk that had Amir thinking.

His book gone, Amir leaned back, crossed his arms behind his head, and proceeded to star at the stars as they made their slow progress across the sky.


((ooc: out))