Ashe flicked a fire-blue gaze to the bare and brittle trees around them as a chilled wind rattled their branches together, and her eyes fell back on him with a wry smile. "No, I don't," she answered. While Ashe ran every day, she stuck to meandering game trails, trying to find a new way every day, and some days she picked entirely different places from the woodlands. Since she started her workouts again, she stayed true to unpredictability. Old habits and all that.
Her smirk grew into a slow grin, and she crossed her arms over her chest to tilt her head at the white-haired male. He wasn't so bad, was he? It had been a long while since she'd met anyone knew, not since leaving the vast empire of Northwind for the small settlement of Northaven - where everyone knew almost everyone. She had yet to decide which she liked better - knowing everyone and everyone knowing her, or becoming anonymous again and the uncertainty of strangers. What kinds of intentions lurked in this man?
"Fair enough, Jigano," Ashe quipped back with her smile, narrowing her eyes at him. "But I wanted to spar, not fight. There's a difference."
She glanced between him and where he'd indicated for sticks, and she pursed her lips in thought. While sticks didn't carry the same weight or balance as a blade, he had a point - it would save her sharpening the blade later. She didn't wait for the man to move, Ashe stepped with ever-silent feet over the leaves of the forest floor,. She was keenly aware of Jigano as she moved in a modest arc around him and to the area he'd indicated, brilliant eyes scanning for... ah!
Ashe swooped down and turned back with a stick held at the ready towards her unexpected companion, eyes glimmering. The stick was the right length to mimic her sword, close in shape, but of course it was dramatically lighter than the fine blade. She gave it a few experimental twirls in her hand as she made careful steps around him, keeping the stick level and her eyes sharp - awaiting his move. "Are you from here?" she asked casually.
Her smirk grew into a slow grin, and she crossed her arms over her chest to tilt her head at the white-haired male. He wasn't so bad, was he? It had been a long while since she'd met anyone knew, not since leaving the vast empire of Northwind for the small settlement of Northaven - where everyone knew almost everyone. She had yet to decide which she liked better - knowing everyone and everyone knowing her, or becoming anonymous again and the uncertainty of strangers. What kinds of intentions lurked in this man?
"Fair enough, Jigano," Ashe quipped back with her smile, narrowing her eyes at him. "But I wanted to spar, not fight. There's a difference."
She glanced between him and where he'd indicated for sticks, and she pursed her lips in thought. While sticks didn't carry the same weight or balance as a blade, he had a point - it would save her sharpening the blade later. She didn't wait for the man to move, Ashe stepped with ever-silent feet over the leaves of the forest floor,. She was keenly aware of Jigano as she moved in a modest arc around him and to the area he'd indicated, brilliant eyes scanning for... ah!
Ashe swooped down and turned back with a stick held at the ready towards her unexpected companion, eyes glimmering. The stick was the right length to mimic her sword, close in shape, but of course it was dramatically lighter than the fine blade. She gave it a few experimental twirls in her hand as she made careful steps around him, keeping the stick level and her eyes sharp - awaiting his move. "Are you from here?" she asked casually.
