Training belong to the bones beneath the ground
Melita Najya
the Honeybee


Age: 26 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 10 - Strg: 57 - Dext: 58 - Endr: 58 - Luck: 57 - Int: 1
FANGORN - Mythical - Vampire Gourd SILA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Heather Offline
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Posts: 2,913 | Total: 10,649
MP: 9824
#1
MELITA
The youth had thought about returning to the barracks to instill some more blade training into her bones, find another who had the credentials and abilities, hone, learn, and scrape away the inexperience from her movements. Except she’d been sorely tempted by the wind, the waves, and the surf, enticed by the looming mountains, inveigled by the sand.

It didn’t take her long to find an abandoned shoreline, nothing in sight but a few Hels sitting amongst the current, undulating and rippling on its accord, and a few rocks jutting out. Melita pondered using these as some sort of foundation or target, but then worried she might break one of her newly-forged daggers, and then she’d be truly out of luck. So instead, while Fangorn watched along the beach, she took up the ones Sunjata had granted and given her – and began their series of intricate movements, as if warring with ghosts, with invisible beings, with intangible adversaries. They were different than the wooden swords she’d handled, less weight, but requiring a bit more precision, and she twisted them along her hands as if they were her staff, immediately losing one in the sand.

She managed a laugh, a shake of her head, before picking it up and resuming, altering her style for the shorter junctures.
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
Hotaru Kaito
the Valkyrie
Masseuse / Headmistress

Age: 33 | Height: 5'2 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: King's End
Level: 3 - Strg: 38 - Dext: 38 - Endr: 54 - Luck: 40 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
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Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#2
Even in the grip of autumn Torchline is warm and inviting, drawing her in with the promise of forgetting the impending chill. Though she's no stranger to the ice and snow, the glacial reaches of northern lands, she has no qualms with a little exploratory vacation in the sun and surf. It helps to ward away the depressing blues that creep in as the weather chills, chasing away the reminder that this season is dedicated to remembering a lost son she never had the chance to meet. Lost to her mere seasons before her own arrival.

As she walks across the sand, it's easy to spot the flaming hair that disrupts the general color scheme, and her eyes instinctively are drawn to the motions the young woman performs. Motions she has done herself countless times. Though the stranger is alone. Well, Hotaru can certainly fix that.

As she comes closer she hails the lass with a raised hand as her voice calls out. "Looking for a partner honey?" Even from a distance she can tell the other girl is barely in her adult years, though seemingly skilled nonetheless.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You could be my cure
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Melita Najya
the Honeybee


Age: 26 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 10 - Strg: 57 - Dext: 58 - Endr: 58 - Luck: 57 - Int: 1
FANGORN - Mythical - Vampire Gourd SILA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,913 | Total: 10,649
MP: 9824
#3
MELITA
She didn’t expect anyone else, rarely did nowadays; but Fangorn keened and hissed under his breath, a little maniacal sort of sibilance that sent her head upwards, her daggers still protruding out into the air. On her lifted gaze she spotted, and then heard, the newcomer approach – and she could’ve sworn the woman looked vaguely familiar, as if she’d seen her nearby, elsewhere, before. Her eyes narrowed on the briefest of speculations, the gilded, golden ramparts of the other approaching, becoming smaller and smaller. Despite the size differentials, the stranger seemed to embody the space with grace, poise, and finesse; something Melita sorely lacked, striving to compose herself into something more than a fighting stance, pushing her wild, crimson locks out of her face.

A fighting partner, a token offering in an expanse where such extensions might have been bristling and grating with some other fledged terror – she didn’t feel it from this one though. “Sure. I’m Melita.” She maneuvered her hand forward, placing the dagger in the other calloused palm, beckoning a smile across her features. “What kind of spar would you like?” What weapons and munitions did she carry?
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
Hotaru Kaito
the Valkyrie
Masseuse / Headmistress

Age: 33 | Height: 5'2 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: King's End
Level: 3 - Strg: 38 - Dext: 38 - Endr: 54 - Luck: 40 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#4
Familiarity flickers over Hotaru's visage in turn, eyeing the vibrant hair and sharp eyes, the fluid motions she'd seen the girl practicing. The closer they get to one another to more it tickles at her brain, a maddening sort of sensation that mocks her normally sharp memory. Only once she is close enough to the young woman for the other to introduce herself with a proffered hand does it click. Brows rise slowly even as she reaches her own calloused hand forward to clasp Melita's and shake firmly, clearly appraising her with her heterochromic gaze. Though the decision is quite clearly positive with how her lips curl slightly at the edges.

"Melita? Your name is familiar. Mine is Hotaru, pleasure." She alludes to it in hopes it will help trigger something in their collective memory. Though her own name and title had been well known in Helovia, Melita had been young when their home was destroyed. In turn, Hotaru had seen the little thing roaming about during her capture, had learned most of the names in the Throat as she'd infiltrated the ranks of those who hadn't even known she was an interloper. But it's still right there on the tip of her tongue, that last connection that defines them as having hailed from the same land.

Instead she focuses on the posed question. "I don't have any practice weapons on me, only real steel. Hand to hand? Unless you have bandages." She has her own salves, but not enough for the both of them if they commit to using real weapons to spar. Hotaru isn't the type to hold back much even in a spar, and accidents can always happen even between skilled partners.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You could be my cure
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Melita Najya
the Honeybee


Age: 26 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 10 - Strg: 57 - Dext: 58 - Endr: 58 - Luck: 57 - Int: 1
FANGORN - Mythical - Vampire Gourd SILA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,913 | Total: 10,649
MP: 9824
#5
MELITA
As the other woman seemed to sense some keen edge of familiarity too, the youth tilted her head, striving to perceive and understand where those layers met and unfurled. Hotaru felt like a recognized title, but from where and when? She tested it in her brain several times, stretching the synapses, the broadening expanse. “Where are you from? I was born in Helovia, the Dragon’s Throat, and then I had to go to the Rift.” Nothing else of the story lacquered, the rest sticking to her tongue. Maybe this was one more individual from a world long since left behind, with its sacrificial fringes and devastating losses.

She considered the next question, with its collective parameters, particulars, and problems. On impulse, she might’ve said yes on anything or everything – steel upon steel, fast and furious. Except she wasn’t totally capable with them yet, and most of her training sessions had been safe, neglecting the time Loren broke her leg, or anything she’d ever unraveled with Kiada. Her eyes went briefly to Fangorn, nestled amongst the sand, knowing full well she didn’t have any bandages with her either. It would’ve been a smart, clever thing to have, which, unfortunately, she had the tendency to not be. “I haven’t done a lot of hand to hand,” at all, really – but how much more different could it be all the other techniques and weaponry she’d utilized in her short lifetime? “Would you be willing to show me?”
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
Hotaru Kaito
the Valkyrie
Masseuse / Headmistress

Age: 33 | Height: 5'2 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: King's End
Level: 3 - Strg: 38 - Dext: 38 - Endr: 54 - Luck: 40 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
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Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#6
Ah, another Helovian then. Hotaru smiles warmly, pleased to meet another voyager despite their vastly different beginnings and allegiances. "I was born in Helovia as well, and ruled the Aurora Basin for many years. Though I never made it through to the Rift." She desperately wants to ask if the girl had seen her family, but it's not a weight she intends to place upon the young woman, not when she is so young and surely full of grief and trauma herself.

As bright eyes drift away from her own, Hotaru follows the line of sight and smiles upon seeing a gourd with a manic grin on its face. Clearly a companion of sorts, if she is safe to assume so. It makes her long for her own broken ties yet again, an old ache that she is not sure she'll ever part with. But that is why sparring is such an effective coping method - you can't focus on grief when you're fighting someone. "I'd be happy to, we can go slowly. Here are some base tips: keep your eyes between the sternum and your opponent's eyes, you'll see all movements translated from there. Keep your hands away from your face, closer to your collarbone instead." She demonstrates, keeping her body language loose and flexible, shifting slightly in the sand as her gaze narrows down upon the young girl. "Don't overreach, strike from a comfortable distance or you'll lose your balance." With that warning given, she strikes out with her left fist, keeping it relatively loose and a bit slower than normal to allow the girl some reaction time. Ready to pull back or redirect if need be.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You could be my cure
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Melita Najya
the Honeybee


Age: 26 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 10 - Strg: 57 - Dext: 58 - Endr: 58 - Luck: 57 - Int: 1
FANGORN - Mythical - Vampire Gourd SILA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,913 | Total: 10,649
MP: 9824
#7
MELITA
Her jaw dropped open in rapt attention and enthusiasm the moment Hotaru mentioned Helovia at all – that she’d ruled the Basin for years, forgetting the notions of the Rift entirely when meeting another of her ilk. Her rapport was instantly magnanimous and ebullient, wondering if it would be all right to shake the older woman’s hand again, but tucked the excitement into coils of movement and motion, light on her feet. “Wow! It’s so nice to meet someone else from there. I never got to go to the Basin, but I heard a lot about it.” Legends, tales, of invasions, of rage, of revenge, something she would’ve loved to witness for herself – but she’d been born into fire, and not ice.

Then it was back to basics in fighting. Melita had always been one who used her weapons (and the running of her mouth) to do the talking; eloquence in the motion of her staff, of her bow, of her sword, but not her own fists. The youth adhered into listening, following the instructions immediately – hands away from her face, eyes between sternum and eyes, watching, waiting for movements, pondering the parameters of an overreach. She knew the concepts of balance, something Alistair, Roana, and Wessex had instilled in her long ago, quickly grounding her feet, her soul, into the earth, remembering she could be a form of armaments and munitions too.

She saw the motion from Hotaru coming – as advised – but counteracting it was a different story. The slow, moving fist gave her some time to plot out the notions, and so she followed through with her right hand, trying to catch Hotaru’s movement in her palm.
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
Hotaru Kaito
the Valkyrie
Masseuse / Headmistress

Age: 33 | Height: 5'2 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: King's End
Level: 3 - Strg: 38 - Dext: 38 - Endr: 54 - Luck: 40 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
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Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#8
The girl's enthusiasm and awe imparts a swell of nostalgic pride in Hotaru's chest, an old one that had often swept her away in her later years of ruling. The awareness that people knew her name, her title. That she had made an impact, that she could be a role-model for another lost little girl full of spitfire and soul who couldn't fit into the molds life had offered her. Melita is too grown into her own skin to be that person, or at least to not have the same encompassing effect that Ophelia and Phaedra had once had on Hotaru, but her excitement is a gift unto itself. "I can tell you all sorts of stories after our spar," she promises with a mischievous twinkle to her eye and a warm smile, charmed by the young desert girl.

But that promise is for a separate time, a time after this exercising of muscles and memorized defenses. Hotaru is eager to test the girl's mettle, to cross their proverbial swords and see just how far Melita's spirit has taken her. There is at least some sign of confidence in the physical boundaries of her body, a firming and widening of stance that lays solid groundwork. However, the reaction itself leaves something to be desired, and as the girl's palm tries to catch and stop her motion, Hotaru gives a small spark of electricity across her knuckles - no more than a small zap, but enough to get the point across. Her free arm comes in for a short jab at Melita's exposed torso, hoping to force the girl backwards and take the offensive stance.

"Divert, don't try to directly stop an attack or you're liable to hurt yourself," she calls out in a quick, militaristic fashion to explain the little shock she'd given.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You could be my cure
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Melita Najya
the Honeybee


Age: 26 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 10 - Strg: 57 - Dext: 58 - Endr: 58 - Luck: 57 - Int: 1
FANGORN - Mythical - Vampire Gourd SILA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,913 | Total: 10,649
MP: 9824
#9
MELITA
The thrill, the potential, of other stories to unfold filled the girl with more fire and enthusiasm, an ignited smile lingering well after they’d established ties, after they’d grounded themselves into the earth, after they started taking jabs in the light of day.

Let it be known that Melita had never thought of defensive procedures in her life. Too much impulse, too much impetuousness reigning and entangling over her mind, prone to leaning into attacks and offensive sieges the moment she could – then scraping away into evasions, or slaying the downed, felled beasts. To process, to think, to do something other than lay waste to the world was a more difficult measure for her to embody and encompass – so much so that she was stunned by the electricity suddenly pouring into her fist.

Reminding her of ghosts, of burns scalding down her back, of days where all she wanted to do was protect, shield –

A gasp, and she pulled away, reeling backwards from the other blow too, furrowing her brow into some measure of concentration, nodding, no voice, no sound reeling from her now, as Hotaru spoke. She shook that particular hand, breathed after the block to her sternum, then curled her fingers back into a fist. The girl didn’t have any magic to divert. She just had her gut, her mettle, her grit, her persistence – beginning to move, instead of standing there like a dunce and dullard. Twisting, turning, roaming left and right, until she rapidly shoved her fist forward, intending for Hotaru’s shoulder.
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
Hotaru Kaito
the Valkyrie
Masseuse / Headmistress

Age: 33 | Height: 5'2 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: King's End
Level: 3 - Strg: 38 - Dext: 38 - Endr: 54 - Luck: 40 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#10
Had Hotaru known of the girl's past, of her potential triggers, she would not have been so lenient with her magic. Though a woman in her own right, she is still so young to Hotaru, and she would no sooner drudge up such trauma than punch herself in the eye. But there is little time to dwell or question, to discern Melita's reactions when they are immersed in movement and munitions.

Her fist lands true against the redhead's torso, and Hotaru dances backwards across the sand to give Melita a slight reprieve, a chance to strike on her own merit. Not too far, but just enough. The girl is fast if nothing else, and Hotaru rolls with the blow, letting it skim over the pointed tip of her shoulder and using the momentum to twist her left leg and raise the right, aiming a kick from hip level at Melita's center mass even as her shoulder smarts from the glancing blow.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You could be my cure
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Melita Najya
the Honeybee


Age: 26 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 10 - Strg: 57 - Dext: 58 - Endr: 58 - Luck: 57 - Int: 1
FANGORN - Mythical - Vampire Gourd SILA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,913 | Total: 10,649
MP: 9824
#11
MELITA
A breath or two, fanning away the trauma of the past, trying to immerse her concentration into the here and now, not sliding away into those details and particulars that blurred, blinded, and halted. Her fist connected with Hotaru’s shoulder, but just barely, and there was some amount of frustration behind that – for all her efforts in weaponry, in munitions, in those armaments she so favored, she’d left herself open. What would happen if she didn’t have rocks, bows, or staffs?

Hotaru’s kick came at her, and the youth shifted, attempted to back off, away, but felt the other woman’s foot brush against her right hip, a smarting insulation doomed or damned to slow her down had it been any harsher. In retaliation, the honeybee youth abruptly maneuvered forward, as best she could, intending to lash out with her left leg towards Hotaru’s stomach.
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
Hotaru Kaito
the Valkyrie
Masseuse / Headmistress

Age: 33 | Height: 5'2 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: King's End
Level: 3 - Strg: 38 - Dext: 38 - Endr: 54 - Luck: 40 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#12
They are both slim and swift figures, which makes each hit more of a glancing tease of what it could be. Perhaps it is her age or history affording her more temperance, but Hotaru does not feel the same frustrations at her misses. There will always be someone stronger and more skilled than you, and there are few in the world who would hesitate when backed into a proverbial corner and attacked head-on.

Melita does no such thing, imitating Hotaru's strike with one of her own, connecting with a solidness that drives the breath partially from her lungs. A good hit considering she'd not had time to recover her balance, and a feral-tinged grin appears as she simultaneously attempts to grab beneath Melita's knee and shove it up and back to try and throw her to the sand or knock her off balance. Hand-to-hand cannot be solely deconstructed to kicks and punches after all. "Good!" she barks in clear approval, hoping to keep the girl inspired and active.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You could be my cure
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
Melita Najya
the Honeybee


Age: 26 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 10 - Strg: 57 - Dext: 58 - Endr: 58 - Luck: 57 - Int: 1
FANGORN - Mythical - Vampire Gourd SILA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,913 | Total: 10,649
MP: 9824
#13
MELITA
A brief moment of satisfaction in landing a hit; but Melita knew better than to gloat. Were it any other time she might have – contemplating snickering, smirking, enjoying and reveling in the most minute of victories – but there were times and places. Not in the midst of a skirmish, when concentration had to be funneled down to another’s movements, actions, and where to go, where to maneuver, how to employ the best tactic. Calculation had never been her style – more of a impulsive, impetuous, muscle-memory designation.

Except she hadn’t anticipated this motion either.

No sooner had she made her connection, than Hotaru took full advantage of it, grabbing hold of her knee, and the youth’s instinctual pull to get away, sent her reeling backwards, ass into the dirt. For a moment she sat and stared, blinking rapidly, going over the previous notions in her head. “Well,” she uttered, but then had nothing else to go on – the approval bizarre, when she thought she hadn’t earned or deserved it.

From here though…

She kicked out again, heading towards Hotaru’s right knee.
See I've come to burn your kingdom down
Hotaru Kaito
the Valkyrie
Masseuse / Headmistress

Age: 33 | Height: 5'2 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: King's End
Level: 3 - Strg: 38 - Dext: 38 - Endr: 54 - Luck: 40 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#14
The girl is impetuous and intense, and Hotaru wonders if she will always be cursed with the desire to take every fierce or forgotten soul beneath her wing. She has fine instincts, and Hotaru appraises them with a proud eye that she does nothing to conceal as Melita does not crow in victory or otherwise distract herself. Of course that does not make her infallible, and the simplicity of her own attack seems to take the redhead off guard. Leading to her landing straight on her ass in the sand.

Hotaru stares at her in surprise, laughter bubbling up and out in an almost uncontrollable manner at the simply-stated utterance. It's just too ridiculous, too hilarious, and she is kicked right in the bottom of her knee due to her overflowing mirth. It buckles and takes her down to one knee in the sand, though her giggles continue even through her gasp. Screwing up her face in a playful, predatory expression, she digs her toes into the sand and launches herself bodily at the girl to take the fight to a horizontal level. Hoping to knock her backwards and begin to wrestle for her arms to pin her.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You could be my cure
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.


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