Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 5: That which is unplanned

[Kanami]

Kamilla's eyes opened as soon as Kelas left and the door was firmly closed. Percy had proved to be useless, but there were plenty of other options she could take. She waited a few moments to make sure Kelas had gone before opening the door and hurrying down stairs, most of the group had departed and were most likely wandering aimlessly around the village but the healer and drugged girl seemed to still be chatting energetically. Paying them no heed she hurried over to the kitchen and slowly opened the door. As she had expected the man wasn't around, most likely off collecting the supplies or ingredients necessary. Kamilla smiled at the woman "I've worked at a few inns, I'm sure I can be of some help" she said trying act confident. "Plus, these kind people saved me from bandits earlier, and are paying for my stay here, I just want to do something to repay their kindness".

The woman seemed unconvinved but allowed her to help with a few menial tasks, tasks Kamilla completed with ease, and within minutes she was helping the woman with most of her dishes.

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan turned to Chase.

"So, this General Jackson person...what is your relationship with him? How did this...issue between the two of you come up? If we are to contact this man, these could be rather vital details."

[Ether]

Morgan had used elder magic to split everyone into rooms.The split seemed fair enough,Damian noted.

'It seems I will be with Morgan,Tessa,Chase,and Helios' He thought to himself,and went to the room to relieve himself of his gear.

Damian felt like a new man,the steel platemail and leather coverings removed,leaving him only in a thin cotton shirt and cotton pants,his hair let down from it's braid and hanging loose towards the bottom of his pectoral muscles.

As he walked into the common room,he seemed to get several surprised looks from the group members.

'Do I really look that different unarmoured?' He wondered to himself and approached Esphyr and Tessa,who had begun talking.

********

"Well,that's an interesting group." Aiya said aloud when she saw the room she had been placed in.

"Well,nothing to do about it,I guess." She told herself,and began to drop her weaponry and armour in her room.

'On second thought...'

She left her armour where she had put it,but reattached her belt,and placed her Silver Sword on it,before going back to the lobby.

Seeing Irina there,she walked u to her.

"Hello Irina!" She said to the wyvern rider happily,waiting for a response.

[Balcerzak]

Tessa had only just settled down, when the mercenary woman with the magic blade had approached her.

"E-eh? Me?" she stuttered slightly at the unexpected visit, then added softly, "...it's Tessa, actually."

She was a bit confused at first, because aside from the brief encounter at the border crossing, they'd never really been much in close contact with each other, but as the woman continued on, the situation became clear. She wants to have a training match... with me? Tessa wondered, oblivious to the actual motives that Esphyr had nearly let slip. She glanced down at her freshly bandaged hands. She had been planning on putting off any sort of heavy activity for a bit, but opportunities like this don't always just drop into one's lap.

Nodding a bit hesitantly, she answered back, "Heh, if you'd have asked me yesterday, I'd probably have replied with baseless confidence. But considering how I fought today, it looks like I might just know only the very basics. Still..." she paused and squeezed her hands lightly in anticipation, "...if it's not any trouble to you, then gladly!"

Initial nervousness fading, Tessa was really starting to warm up to the idea. Even if she were soundly thrashed, and even if Esphyr couldn't find any pointers or useful advice to give, she was continuing to make friends here, and to fit in, and this would be a valuable bonding experience.

She was about to stand up so they could head outside where they would have ample room to move about, when she noticed Damian. She'd had to double-take, as with his hair let down he looked almost like an entirely different person. Her train of thought briefly flickered to pondering if she'd look just as different if she were to put her hair in a braid or something, before turning back to the subject at hand.

"Heya, Damian! Esphyr and I were just gonna head out. She's gonna teach me to swordfight," Tessa said, beaming a smile. "I don't know if you've got anything else planned, but if you wanted to watch, I wouldn't mind."

Edited May 16, 2010 by Balcerzak

[Ether]

As Tessa turned to say hello to him,she seemed to do a double-take,and was staring at him.

'Right,everyone always seems surprised when I let my hair down. Still,he did not yet know very much about the troubadour,and this would be a good opportunity to gauge her reactions.

"Why are you staring,Tessa?Am I that sexy with my hair down?" he asked her,grinning at her,while he ran a hand through his hair,unaccustomed to the looseness of it.

'Damn...that was kinda cliche...wait...is she blushing?'

[Balcerzak]

Damian had surprised her with an unexpected question. Tessa wasn't entirely sure what 'sexy' meant, but had the feeling she probably was supposed to, and didn't plan to let on to her ignorance just yet.

"Sexy, hmm? I don't know, it is very... relaxed and confident, sort of?"

As he passed his hand through his hair, she stopped. Maybe she'd said the wrong thing? She could feel herself heating up a little from being put on the spot, and she turned to look away.

"...it doesn't look bad on you."

[Ether]

OOC:Wow,she's greener than i thought...excellent.

"Well,I'm glad you think so,Tessa." Damian said to her,it was pretty obvious that she was not well versed on the subject,and was

nervous.

"You don't need to look away," he told her,cupping her cheek to turn her face towards him. "I'm not gonna bite you." he said playfully.

"Well,if you are gonna train with Esphyr,I may as well head out to the field to watch,it's always best to know what your teammates are capable of."

[riariadne]

Chase glanced around the room, not really having payed attention to who else was with him. So I'm with... Morgan, Tessa, Damian, and... well, dammit, Helios. I guess it could be worse, but...

"I'll take the floor," he quickly volunteered. He nearly laughed at the conversation between Damian and Tessa, then, after calming down, replied to Morgan, "Err, to be honest, I'm not really proud of how the rift between me and General Jackson occurred, but you're right, it would be important to know. I was drafted into the army because the king felt insecure about the standing defenses or something. As you can see, I'm not too, uh, polite, and it was worse back then. So I got in trouble a lot. Long stroy short, it got really bad at one point, and I got kicked out of the army and had a bounty placed on me. That's mostly it."

Edited May 16, 2010 by Lightning

[Snike]

OOC: Just a side-post. No need for it to develop into a battle. Damn. >.<

As Eric headed toward the capital, he met a group of mercenaries, who stopped him.

"Where did you come from?" one of them asked menacingly.

"Istample," he replied. "Was looking for someone."

"Oh. Did you see a group traveling near there?"

"Actually, yes. They're in the inn."

The merc grinned, sending off an alarm in Eric's head. "OK, thanks," he said, before talking to his companions. Swiftly, the began to advance twice as fast as before. Seeing this, the traveler resumed advancing towards the capital, checking over his back to track the progress of the mercs. When they were out of sight, he turned around and followed them.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Snike

[Balcerzak]

[[OOC: Yup. You're horrible.]]

She hadn't seen it coming, obviously, so when Damian put his hand to her, Tessa tensed up. But the touch of his rough hand against her smooth skin was actually rather gentle, and simply turned her head back in his direction. She tried to will herself to relax, but for reasons she couldn't comprehend, her heart simply wouldn't slow down.

When he said, 'I'm not gonna bite you,' though, and it started to seem as he was having a little fun at her expense, her emotions shifted to something more easily understood. Feeling peevish, she huffed, and removed his hand from her face, which was now taking on a bit of a scowl.

"I-I'm not sure just what you were thinking," Tessa spluttered, trying to regain composure. Finding it, she continued, "But, yes. If by watching you can gain some insight, then that would be valuable. Please do."

Edited May 16, 2010 by Balcerzak

[Inactive Account]

Arrin blinked. What-- where-- oh, he'd fallen asleep at the table. Tessa was sitting by him now, and Damian was on the other side, talking to her. She looked flustered. "Wait what?" Arrin asked. "You all right, Tessa? What are we doing now--- ah," he said, quieting down as Chase began to talk.

edited: punctuation >_<

Edited May 16, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Ether]

"No need to get angry,Tessa." Damian chuckled a little.

The girl had,within a minute of so,turned a shade of red that would put his Gae-Borg to shame,then seemed to realize he was playing around,got angry,and threw his hand aside.

'Still,her skin was rather smooth,I guess she wasn't lying about spending her whole life in a sheltered monastery...'

She then stuttered out the words "I-I'm not sure just what you were thinking",and then seemed to calm down.It seemed she was more sheltered than he had thought to imagine,and realized he had likely confused her,being surrounded by priests and monks for her whole life meant she likely knew nothing at all about sexuality and the like.

"I apologize if I confused you,Tessa." Damian told her sincerely,looking her in the eye so she wouldn't blow it off as a joke.

"I'll try to keep your upbringing in mind in the future,and I hope you don't feel too offended."

[Ether]

OOC:Dammit Snike,we were just getting some downtime.

[Snike]

OOC: They're hours away. >.> Plus, Snowy wouldn't give you that much downtime, anyways.

[Ether]

OOC:Still better than having one of our own swipe it from us!I thought I could trust you,but alas,you seem to be no more than a wretched cur to be put down!*sharpens lance*

[Snike]

OOC: Also, they might stop for the night, before getting there. Don't point that thing at me. It's more EXP, so relax.

[Snowy_One]

"Daiman, you look very different. Like a tamed horse gone wild." replied Esphyr, her hand tapping on Daiman's shoulder in annoyance. "While I don't mind you flirting with the cleric, after all I'm in your employ, please... Don't do it while I'm trying to train her? I would rather we all stay alive." Damn it! Daiman was not about to steal her chance for some easy bruises and knocks away from her! She needed the chance to blow off some steam, vent her frustration... and she would prefer she not do it by looking Daiman over like a giggling schoolgirl! In fact, as she tapped on his shoulder, chewed him out for stealing her match, and all the rest, she made a point to deliberately NOT look at Daiman in anything more then passing.

"Now, Tessa, let's start. Come outside with me, and bring both your sword and your staff. I can already see one of the first problems. Namely, your wrists and arms are far from trained enough to handle the impact of a blade as massive as my own; so you will use you sword, and I will wield your staff. If that's not fine with you, I can probably find a thick stick. Okay?"

[Balcerzak]

[[OOC: No fun. If Arrin slept through it all, he can't get jealous. :( You brought this upon yourself.]]

Tessa nodded as she accepted Damian's apology. His behaviour certainly had been a bit confusing, and she still wasn't quite sure she knew just what had happened, but there was apparently no ill will, so that meant it was fine in the end.

"I'm not really offended, just, yes, as you said, a little confused is all. And it takes two to misunderstand, so I'm not entirely without fault here. But I do thank you for future consideration." She ended perhaps a bit too formally, but it was somewhat of a fallback for when she lost her footing amidst the unstable ground of unfamiliar conversation.

An interjection of "Wait what?" from beside her indicated that Arrin had just woken up, and he was looking around slightly groggily. The poor boy must have been tireder than he let on, even after having spent more time riding this afternoon than walking. Perhaps he really was coming down ill? He seemed to be worried about her though.

Turning to allay his fears, Tessa answered, "I'm fine. Just got teased a little... I think? Anyway, it's still some time till supper so I was going to go out with Esphyr for a bit. Are you sure you're all right, though? You did mention something about a fever..."

She sat back down for a moment, and brushed up his bangs before putting a hand to his forehead. It was a bit warm, but not to an unexpected level. It was probably just exhaustion then, she surmised.

Edit: Oh, and Snowy posted just before me. Hopefully this will stitch well enough together...

Edited May 16, 2010 by Balcerzak

[Ether]

OOC: Wow,everyone wants to bang Damian today... Can I rearrange it a bit so Damian/Aiya/Tessa/Esphyr share a room?

Damian followed the pair outside,and Esphyr's advice seemed...suspect,to say the least.

"Esphyr,would it not be best to teach her to parry,so she needn't take such impacts?"

Esphyr seemed to dislike his comment,and Damian grew even more suspicious of her intentions.

[Snowy_One]

"Yes. But parrying requires dextariy, which she lacks. So, we will start by working on that."

[Ether]

"Ah,yes.The dexterity required to parry...while I am not familiar with mercenary training methods,in Halton we would train dexterity by attempting to get through a faster opponents defenses,not by blocking attacks." Damian responded quickly.

"Also,you seem to be avoiding looking me in the eye,Esphyr.Is there any particular reason for that?"

[Balcerzak]

Esphyr was itching to get going, so Arrin would have to wait. Waving 'bye', she grabbed her sword and staff as she'd been instructed and headed out after her, and Damian followed to watch.

When they'd got out to the yard, Tessa did have second thoughts about just one thing. She really would hate to see her staff marred by chips and hack marks. She spoke up and said as much, "Actually... on second thought, I really rather wouldn't have to strike against my staff. If it won't inconvenience you too much, I would find it better if you used something a bit less valuable. A tree branch would probably be awkward for you though, wouldn't it?"

She stopped and looked at her wrists and forearms. Would the other woman's sword really have been too heavy? Perhaps so, and Esphyr should obviously know, as she does this for a living.

While the other woman was finding something suitable, Tessa unsheathed her sword, and took a defensive stance. Then she stopped a bit, and added. "Wait, is it even alright for me to still be using steel when you're not?"

[Snowy_One]

Esphyr gave a quick flick of her head, turning about to quickly look Daiman in the eye before reverting back to avoiding looking at him. She wasn't interested in him one bit, and was not keen on the idea of dismissing her frustration by flirting with him, which was the only thing looking at him would accomplish. "There. Happy? As for mercenary training, I learned by avoiding bandit axes. One miss, I got split in half. It worked for me thankfully enough. I plan to raise Tessa a bit the same way." she said, a wicked grin flashing across her face as she glanced back at Tessa. This was going to be fuuun!

"Yes, it's perfectly alright." she chimed in, picking up a small root and ripping it free of the ground. "Now, I wanna know what you know." she said, holding the root at her side in a lazy recline. "Come at me with all you have, and Daiman, fetch her staff for when we separate."

OOC: Washing my face. BB in 5 min.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Snowy_One

[Ether]

"Something tells me that maiming the healer is not in the best interests of the group,Esphyr."

'What is up with her?She isn't usually this rowdy...'

Damian stood a little bit closer to the action than he had originally intended,but he knew if his suspicions were correct,it would be well worth it.

[Snowy_One]

"I'm not going to maim her. I promise." said Esphyr, running the root through her fingers. "If I do end up maiming her, I'll look at you for as long as you want. Deal?"