[Training] bookish men must be more quarrelsome than others

"Outsiders?" They cocked their head as they looked up at them. They were about to protest that they'd been born on Caido, too, but then realized. "Oh! You mean outside of the Greatwood! Uh, n-no, I'm new to this."

They gestured to what few soldiers were around, sparring amongst themselves. "The militia is better than I am." They paused to give a self-deprecating chuckle. "Pretty much everyone is better than I am. But I wanted to learn, to get better."

They held no animus or suspicion about a Fae asking about the martial strength of the Hollowed Ground's forces. A question had been asked, and so Quanil was going to answer honestly. "I didn't do too badly for my first time, did I? I mean, I know it wasn't great..." They rubbed gently at their gut.

Scoffing at her opponent's response, Alina shook her head. "Of course I meant outside the Greatwood." It very much sounded as if she felt nothing else mattered. Smirking a bit, she let herself drift to the ground a short distance away from them. "And it's quite clear you're new to this. And that everyone else is better than you." Her tone was tart.

Raising her eyebrows, she snorted. "You were terrible. I've seen children give better performances." Her voice and words came out bluntly, without a hint of sympathy. "Didn't anyone teach you to defend yourself growing up?" Honestly, she was legitimately surprised at how bad they were.

make me a big tall tree

so I can shed my leaves

Alina

Base Code by Sky!

They winced a little at her blunt assessment, but... well, hard to argue otherwise.

"Most of the main threats when I was growing up were landsharks and Long Night, and there's not much you can do about either of those. And I haven't found a book about self-defense yet. I'm still looking!" they added, as if that would help. "I'm sure there is one! There's just a lot of books to go through."

They smiled. When Quanil didn't know what else to do, they smiled. They smiled as their default action to everything, all the time. "You're really good, though! I'm Quanil; what's your name?"

Alina snorted at her opponent's response. "Excuses. And pitiful ones at that. No doubt you simply haven't tried hard enough to fight back." Sniffing, she scowled at them.

Scoffing as they continued to speak, she gave them an unimpressed look. "No amount of book learning could possibly teach you how to fight." She spoke with the conviction of someone who knew she was right.

At the smile, she pressed her lips together. Brandishing her spear, she rose off the ground again. "I have no interest in getting to know you, outsider." Indeed, her tone was quite certain about that, and more than a bit hostile.

make me a big tall tree

so I can shed my leaves

Alina

Base Code by Sky!

Quanil had a lot of curiosity. It was one of their most enduring (and often annoying) traits. Her haughty disinterest piqued it. And, as was their habit, the questions they had bubbled out like a babbling brook (or, more accurately, babbling Grounder).

"Do you not have landsharks in the Greatwood? OR LONG NIGHT? WOW, is there really no Long Night in the Greatwood? Do you know about them, even? Maybe whatever comes out during Long Night is actually afraid of Fae! That'd be interesting, if it's true!

I guess Fae are really good at fighting, maybe that's 'cause you know how to fight landsharks and whatever it is during the Long Night! Or maybe the creatures or whatever are afraid of your wings? I don't know, I think they're lovely.

"And if you've no interest in getting to know people here, then why are you here? Why would you come here if you weren't interested? You have to be at least a little interested, a little curious about something, at least. Though I admit I'M not very interesting, but really, there has to be some reason you left your village, right?"

Alina found her eyes narrowing as her defeated opponent began to spew a series of questions at her. Clearly displeased at the interrogation, she found her grip tightening on her spear, fingers growing almost white-knuckled. Rising higher in the air, she pointed the sharp end at them again. "As I told you, I came here to test myself against a Hollowed Grounder."

As for the rest, she just sneered again. "In that, I succeeded. My curiosity, as you call it, has been entirely sated." With that, she turned and began flying slowly away. Her head was held high as she drifted past the others in the training grounds.

make me a big tall tree

so I can shed my leaves

Alina

Base Code by Sky!

This was exactly the sort of response Quanil got when they asked a lot of questions growing up. They considered letting their new not-so-friendly friend know that, buuuuut... that seemed like it might do more harm than good. And she was flying away anyway.

"Okay. Bye!" They tried to be friendly, anyway. Then they winced at the pain in their gut again. "I should... probably stop by the Infirmary..." they muttered to themselves. Their leg was tender, too, each step shooting pain along their calf and the side of the leg.

Some lessons were definitely more painful than others, and some New Experiences left marks. Likely not permanent ones, at least, but Quanil doubted they'd forget about the aggressive Fae anytime soon.

{Finished}