Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 5: That which is unplanned

[Ether]

"If I do end up maiming her,I'll look at you as much as you want.Deal?"

The statement was odd,that much was certain.Damian was rather perplexed by it,and began to mill it over in his mind.

[riariadne]

Chase watched the whole conversation, amused, and went to put his things (not much) in his room as quickly as he could as to miss as little of this as he could. He found it too amusing and too good of an opportunity to pass up.

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan was rather dubious of Chase's story, it was very vague, but she was willing to respect his privacy for now. She put her things away and returned to the common area to hear the term "maim the healer".

"No, no, no absolutely not." Morgan said, walking into the middle of the sparring match that was about to begin. "I really don't think that hurting the only person with the capability to heal us beneficial at all. If Tessa is going to learn swordplay, she should learn it from someone who is precise, controlled, and efficient. Your wild, erratic style may suit you Esphyr, but you are just going to have Tessa injure herself."

She put her hands on her hips and turned to Damian. "I"m surprised you would have let this happen, I consider this utterly inappropriate."

[Ether]

Morgan had come to observe the training match,and to the unobservant,it would seem to be just that.However,he locked eyes with the shamaness,and pointed her towards his hand,where it was clear to her via the red glow,that if the situation called for it,he was poised to end the match.

"You needn't worry,and it may be good for her to learn to defend against Esphyr's type of sword play."

[Balcerzak]

"Come at me with all you have," Esphyr had invited, but Damian had expressed doubt, and added something along the lines of "Please don't maim the healer."

Tessa felt a sense of shame threaten to burn her up from the inside, but she forced it down, and tried to remain calm, cool, and collected, and to recall what Sir Dustin had taught her.

She started off simple with some lunges, and thrust, which were all either easily knocked aside, or dodged by the mercenary. So far Esphyr seemed content with just evading, but sooner or later Tessa fully realized that she would start to counter-attack, and she hoped that she would be fleet enough on her feet to be able to manage when that happened.

[[OOC: I don't really know exactly where to go with this, but I guess this is a start, yes?]]

Edit: Err, wait, did the match get cancelled on account of Morgan? Let me see what to do here.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Balcerzak

[riariadne]

"... This is great," Chase said as he watched, before realizing that nobody could hear him from where he was watching. "Maybe I could try to learn how to use a sword... nah, I doubt that'd be as fun as it is to watch."

He then heard Morgan's input, and frowned. "Awww, but this is fun to watch! And either way, he said don't maim the healer."

Edited May 16, 2010 by Lightning

[-Cynthia-]

"Fine, as long as you're watching I suppose it's fine." Morgan conceded. She sat down to watch.

[Snowy_One]

Esphyr showed little mercy as Tessa started to fight against her. As the first of the lunges came down upon her, Esphyr quickly stepped to the side, the root swiftly rising up to tap the hilt of Tessa's sword. A droll look covered the mercenaries face, as if Tessa's strikes were akin to babysitting a small child. With each lunge, Esphyr moved a bit more and more to Tessa's left... and then Tessa thrust.

The very moment that the point of Tessa's sword started to lower down, Esphyr took a sudden step forwards, moving her body in close with her shoulder lowered down. Her left hand shot out, gripping Tessa's hands upon the hilt of the sword before she gave a strong push to the side, sending the thrust off wildly away from anyone else. Then Esphyr's shoulder slammed firmly into the healer, aiming firmly for the center of her chest, before she took a sudden rip of a step away; spinning about and swinging her root low to Tessa's calf, aiming to give it a sharp rap before Esphyr came out of her spin, facing Tessa and bringing the root about to lightly tap her on the head.

"Lesson one. Never use a predictable move if your opponent is on the defensive."

[Balcerzak]

Tessa had been taken entirely off-guard. In a sword fight it had been unthinkable to her that the opponent would do anything more than exchange blows. Esphyr's use of full body contact was such a surprise that she had no idea how to even attempt to counter it. As a result she was pushed around, had the wind knocked solidly out of her, and earned a couple stern raps from Esphyr's makeshift weapon.

She had been tempted to shout out 'Unfair,' but couldn't get the air to her lungs, and thus was saved embarrassment from a further scolding. Battle was not a game, and the only rules were to make it out of each fight alive. She should have known better, but even still for some reason she found herself clinging to the fairy-tale stories she'd always imagined.

After receiving 'Lesson one' she looked around, and was surprised at just how many people were now watching their match. It was a little intimidating. Tessa'd managed to collect her breath, and though her calf was still smarting from the earlier blow, she was ready to try again. She couldn't quit now.

Can't be predictable, huh? she thought. I guess it's worth trying...

Gauging that Esphyr was ready to receive another round, she began again. This time her blows were a little more fierce and wild, with much less planning behind them, trying to rely on raw energy. She didn't think she was strong enough for the method to really be effective, but if nothing else, she was sure there'd be something worth hearing in 'Lesson two'.

[riariadne]

Chase grinned. This is entertaining, he thought. Maybe I can keep track of every "lesson" by taking a practice shot, because if this lasts a long time, there's going to be a lot of them... With that, he drew his unique bow and fired at a moderately far away tree, hitting it with a resounding "thwack", then resumed watching the sparring match.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Lightning

[Snowy_One]

The new onslaught and sudden change of tactics proved to be effective. As Tessa's sudden flurry of blows came down, relying no longer on planning but now on sheer energy, the change in tactics caused the mercenary to take a quick step back. However, as she stepped away, putting a bit of distance between herself and the troubadour, a delighted gleam shot into her eyes. When Tessa approached again, Esphyr's root suddenly whipped about; catching her blade on the side and locking to it through the natural curves of the root. Quickly, she applied just a bit of pressure, redirecting it before she stepped in once again, her right hand curled up into a fist. A fist aimed squarely at Tessa's shoulder.

As she felt the soft yield of flesh beneath her knuckles, she could feel the pain, the confusion, starting to ebb away from her addled mind. Though Tessa wasn't the best, being in such a sense of danger, relying on something as weak and malleable as a root, and the exhaustion she was starting to feel from dodging and parrying Tessa's strikes which would have been too easy with her normal blade... she could feel it flowing over her. Clouding her mind... wiping away the confusion.

She took a step away, the armor of her fist catching upon Tessa's garb. The sweet release, the desire of freedom from responsibility... the weight of her own damnation... she could feet it floating away... and suddenly, her feet were floating out from under her as her right arm was yanked backwards... and she didn't care. She didn't care as she flipped backwards. She didn't care as her weight smashed into the ground. She didn't care as she felt the force of her momentum yanked Tessa down with her. She didn't care as a sharp pain pierced her left side as her weight came down upon the end of the root. She didn't care as the faint dampness of blood started to fill the ground about her...

She didn't... She...

She was bleeding.

A sudden jolt snapped her back into reality. She was impaled! Impaled upon her own weapon! Impaled... And... Crying... Screaming aloud as if she had been direly wounded.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! IT HURTS! It... IT HUR-*sob*TS!"

OOC: I just found out my god-cousin is getting married. O.o

[riariadne]

Chase's eyes widened at what just happened. He jumped up, startled, and ran over to Esphyr. "Hey! Are you okay?! Wait, that's a dumb question, you're definitely not okay! Where's Tessa? She needs heali-- oh, whoops, you're right here. Um, yeah, she's hurt pretty badly... and she has a sword impaled in her, which I would think hurts a lot."

[Ether]

OOC:So,Esphyr got it pretty bad...

"Esphyr!" Damian rushed over,and saw the root had gotten her at a bad angle,and had caused a wound that was bleeding profusely.

Covering the wound and applying pressure,Damian passed Tessa her heal staff,and gave her a nod,although what had to be done was obvious.

"Okay Esphyr,this'll hurt,but I'm pulling the root out,okay?"

A nod.

"Alright,3...2...1..."

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!" Esphyr let out a shriek as the root was pulled out of her.

"Someone,go get a cloth and some water,we need to clean out the wound,that root was pulled up directly from the ground!" Damian yelled out into the crowd of bystanders,while still applying pressure to the wound.

Edited May 16, 2010 by Ether

[Kanami]

Upon hearing screaming Kamilla, asked the innkeepers wife to be pardoned, and hurried out of the kitchen and towards the entrance. It didn't take long before she saw Damian pulling what looked like a root out of her, blood was seeping into the dirt around Esphyr, while the healer just stood there, stunned by what had happened holding her staff, but taking a bit of time before reacting.

Kamilla looked back at Esphyr, still shouting that it hurt. She wasn't sure what they had been doing but she didn't really care either, she stared at the screaming woman for a bit longer before turning away and heading back to the kitchen, as she passed a large mirror in the common room she noticed she had a big grin plastered on her face. Quickly she removed her grin, but couldn't help a smirk. As she entered the kitchen the woman looked at her curiously, "It' nothing, just a small hiccup in a training exercise" she replied, not entirely sure if it was true.

[Balcerzak]

Tessa's new strategy had been strangely effective at first, but then Esphyr once again had turned things to her advantage, locking the weapons together and again using her body to her advantage. However, after punching her in the shoulder, something unexpected had happened. Rather than Esphyr continuing to press her advantage, she staggered backward, yanking Tessa with her. She lost her grip on the sword and it clattered away a few feet to the side, but Esphyr maintained her graps on the root, and the three of them tumbled into and undignified heap.

Tessa was still working on getting untangled when a loud cry pierced her ears from right next to her. Esphyr was wounded, and badly too, by the sounds of it. Successfully pulling away she saw that the root had snapped, and somehow landed under her, but pierced its way through.

Shocked and a little afraid, Tessa cried out shrilly, "Damian! Staff!", but as she turned to look, it ended up being needless effort, as he was already on top of the situation and had already arrived. Passing her the staff, he quickly went to work as well, and had quickly pulled the root free, leaving the wound open, and causing Esphyr to let out another cry of pain.

Dear Lady, Tessa prayed, It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I wasn't supposed to win. This isn't winning! Just let me make this right, now. Not wasting any more time than she already had, she put her magic to work, and the soft healing light seeped forth, and the major bleeding was stopped and most internal injuries were swiftly healing, though on the outside it still looked like quite the nasty wound.

Her work done, she stepped back from the scene, feeling horrid, guilty, and as if she were about to cry.

[[OOC: Technically removed the impaled object is a huge no-no unless you have trained professionals on hand, as usually it's providing blockage and minimizing the blood loss. With surgery, or magic, nearby, you don't really need to worry about such things, however.

Oh, also, Tessa actually is crying a little, she's just too stunned to realize it at the moment.]]

[Ether]

OOC:Damian removed the root so that the would could be cleaned,to lower the risk of infection.Plus,as you said,Tessa was nearby.

[riariadne]

"Geez... that's still pretty bad... Here, use this for the cloth," Chase to Damian, drawing his dagger and cutting off part of his cape. "It's... not the best, but it'll work. And yes, it's safe. I bought this yesterday along with that disguise."

[Ether]

"Alright." Damian took the Cloth from Chase,and looked at him.

"Go get some hot water from the Inn,okay." He told Chase.

"Are you okay Esphyr?The bleeding has mostly stopped,we just need to clean it now,you'll be fine."

[Snowy_One]

Esphyr gritted her teeth together, trying to get a hold of herself and to stop bawling like a babe. What the hell had just happened? How had she goofed up so bad? How had she-

All thoughts were shattered from Esphyr's mind as Daiman pulled the root from her body, sending a fresh wave of pain throughout her form and causing the mercenary to quiver in agony. She looked up, her vision feeling slightly blurred and her mind addled. She could barely make out Daiman's face, and Tessa's seemed surrounded in the faint glow of angelic light. A think and heavy sinking feeling started to form in her heart; causing tears to well up as she watched Tessa heal her through her staff. This was all wrong. Wrong... So very wrong.

She wanted to die. Right then and there. She wished that the root had come up and pierced her heart instead of simply wounding her. She wanted to die.

"I... I wa*sob*nt... T*sob* die."

[riariadne]

"Err, no problem. I'll be back in two minutes tops."

Chase ran inside, fumbled with the keys to the room, opened the door, and grabbed a waterskin. He rushed down the stairs, jumping the last ten, and ran outside. "Here it is. I didn't take too long, right?"

[Ether]

Taking the water from Chase,Damian began to clean the wound.

"It's okay Esphyr.I know it hurts bad,similar thing happened to me a couple years back,but you'll be fine.The pain'll go away,and you'll feel silly for even thinking of giving in to something like this." Damian was trying to calm Esphyr down desperately,and began to stroke her hair gently with his free hand.

She stopped thrashing quite so much.It gave him time to clean up the wound.

"Okay,it's clean.She shouldn't get an infection now.Tessa,can you give her another shot from the heal staff?"

Esphyr was still sobbing,and whimpering.

"It's alright Esphyr,it's alright..."

[Balcerzak]

While Damian was continuing to tend to Esphyr, Tessa had snatched away her fallen sword and sheathed it, so that nobody further would wind up hurting themselves by accident. She was about to leave to go put it away when Damian called her over again. He'd finished washing out the dirt, and she was ready to be closed up.

Finding herself unable to really look at Esphyr at the moment, she closed her eyes, and once again let the magic flow. As soon as it was done, she turned and ran for the stables. She was going to find Trevor, and hug him, and pour out her problems to him.

Rushing inside, she dumped her staff and sword unceremoniously in a corner out of the way for the moment, before running over to her horse. Digging her fingers into his mane, she choked out, "Oh, everything went all wrong just now. I shouldn't have taken her up on it. I had an excuse, I should have used it." Tessa buried her face into his neck for a bit and continued to sob. After a moment Trevor let out a soft whinny of encouragement, pushed her back a little, and nuzzled her cheek.

"Thanks, boy. I'm, I'm feeling a bit better now. I always do bounce back fast, don't I? But you're always there for me when I need it." Tessa broke of the close embrace, rubbed her eyes a bit, adjusted the bandages on her hands, then patted the horse on the nose before hugging him once again.

"But how will I talk to her again after this, I wonder..."

[[OOC: Kelas is free to spy on this if she wants too. Tessa was too oblivious to notice or care if she was still chilling near the stables or not.]]

[Snowy_One]

"I... I just..." started Esphyr, her voice trying to calm down and even out. "It's just so much more complicated then that! I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think! I'm torn between freaking out and leaping up in joy. I, we, did something today that was not a minor feat. Now I don't know what to think! I just wanted to blow off some steam, maybe... just maybe... I thought I was truly free at last! And now... I hate her! I hate her and I envy her more then ever! I... I don't know what to think. I'm so confused... So confused... and so badly hurt... It hurts so much..."

[Inactive Account]

Kelas just stared. It had seemed like an ordinary training exercise, up until Esphyr fell on her practice sword. The whole thing was over quickly, since Tessa was close by, and Kelas didn't even move from her perch on the fence. As everyone disperse Tessa ran into the corral, not noticing Kelas. Kelas turned her attention to Amari and the packhorse; the cleric probably could use a little while alone.

When Tessa had calmed down, Kelas spoke. "He's a good one, isn't he? Looks like--"

Arrin had run outside, interrupting Kelas (and everyone else.) "Dinner's ready!" he announced. Noticing everyone's expressions, he ran to Tessa and Kelas, nearly tripping over the offending tree root on his way. "What happened? Are you all right?" he asked Tessa.

OOC: Regarding Arrin and the so-called fever: I was thinking he was just misinterpreting "symptoms" (i.e. blushing), but Tessa can diagnose him however she sees fit; him actually being sick could be just as interesting.

[-Cynthia-]

"What are you babling on about?" MMorgan asked Esphyr impatiently. "A simple training accident really should not cause this much fuss, you've been wounded before."