The waters near Apopo were neither particularly friendly nor particularly comfortable for Mer. The steam that lay atop the water like scalding fog made the surface just as unpleasant as the depths, and Hadama was reluctant to order his guards to patrol the area when it took a great deal of fortitude to endure the conditions, even for a short period of time.
On the other hand, it made for a challenging training ground for focusing on his own endurance and discipline.
The mermanta cut through the water with his starlight-tined trident, thrusting low and then surfacing to launch a ball of shimmering Arclight water through the air as he tested and pushed his limits in silent, meditative weapons practice.
Open!
The Mer wasn't alone in choosing this place to practice his abilities. Noah, between trading and other such duties, was near the collapsed volcano. He used his teleportation magic to bounce from lava rock formation to lava rock formation. He intended to use his magic to keep himself out of the lava and magma all together, but he chose to come here to gather more of the stones that Frey had called them to use for their hotspring. He thought they would be a good addition to the collection he was making of learning and knowledge for his children.
While stopped, crouched down and gathering some marble sized rocs to take home, Noah's attention shot towards the display of magic. He stood to his full height and took his spear from his back. "Who's out there?"
It was not a place he normally encountered others, and Hadama turned towards the shore with his trident held ready for defense. "Hmm." A thoughtful hum rumbled from the muscular Mer as he saw the human straighten. He gathered his magic and called up a wave beneath himself, one that he used to draw nearer to the stranger even as it raised him higher out of the water.
"I am Hadama," he answered at last, his expression stoic and calm. Tilting his head at the spear the other man hefted with such familiarity, he continued to keep his own weapon at the ready. The night sky seemed to shimmer within the coral that twined its haft, and its tines were made of starlight. "Who are you? What are your intentions here?"
The hunter's eyes instantly fixed on the water as it pulled up and drew the stranger above, yet closer to, him. He shifted his weight back some, but did not move from the position he had chosen. "Noah Olson." He returned, examining the mer in the water and realizing he wasn't as much a stranger as he thought. He had seen the golden-marked king when Safrin called upon them, despite how his attention had focused so closely on the herald and little on the others.
Noah wasn't sure he wanted to divulge that he, a grown (and awfully burly) man were here collecting rocks because he liked them and thought they were cool, or that if he did say that the the dignified looking mermanta would even believe him. Instead, he gave a placeholder answer, with his voice neutral and honest in its tones. "Just exploring. Still getting the map of everything in my mind after the war." After all, everything had changed drastically, and the hunter had only started venturing this far from home in the last few weeks since returning from the Draig.
There was an odd sense of familiarity to the stranger, as if something from a dream, but the name was known to the merman who had become King. He inclined his head, relaxing his grip on his trident as he spoke. "Sentinel of the North. Welcome." The names of those who had gone to the Draig to defend their world were known and respected, and there was that lingering feeling of having seen the face before, bathed in starlight.
"Much has changed," he agreed, his expression easing to a courteous neutrality now that introductions had been made and no serious mischief seemed to be afoot. "Both below and above the waters. Did you come here often before the War?" He released some of his magic, letting the wave lower him back down into the uncomfortably hot water and seeming unbothered at having to look up at the human with whom he spoke.
”No, I can’t say I did.” Although the hunter had ventured to some far reaches of Caido between the opening of the portal outside of the tundra and the Second War, this place had not been somewhere Noah found himself often. After visiting Torchline a few times out of curiosity, the Sentinel found he did not much care for the town and thus his visits were extended only for business after a short time. And now, in the wake of the war and the peace that surrounded, Noah was just only started to let his soul carry him into exploration again.
He shifted his weight and crouched as Hadama magically lowered himself down. He liked being face to face with the mer better than looking down at him. “I’m sure you venture here often, as it is your job to protect the seas.”
Hadama inclined his head in understanding of Noah's rare visits to the coastal paradise. He had protected the North, as Hadama now did for the southwestern coasts, and before the recent time of peace it made sense that it had required constant vigilance.
But the War was over and Caido was healing, and its people with it. There was time to stretch their fins now, and to see what more the world had to offer.
The King gave a small nod of appreciation when Noah came down to his level, but then he gave a small shake of his head at the assumption. "Not often, no. The waters here are... difficult, for my people." Indeed, they steamed lightly from the heat of the nearby lava. "But that is what makes them good for training. Endurance and magic, both." He tilted his head thoughtfully at the demigod. "It is easier with a true opponent, if you have time?" And sparring with one of the defenders of Caido would be educational in showing him how much further he had to go with his own practice.
"I'd be honored." Noah said. "I've never sparred against a mer before." The statement was true, but beneath it the real truth was that Hadama was only the second Mer that Noah had ever interacted with in his entire life. They didn't seem to like the waters of the Sea of Glass (nor could they have surfaced) nor the Svaturis Bay.
Standing, and taking a few steps to the side, Noah gave Hadama only a firm nod before he started. He thrust forward with his spear quickly, letting the magic fire arc out from it. He didn't intend to singe the merking, but if he would be considered a true opponent, he also wouldn't hold back.
Fire was a personal fascination of Hadama's, but he was not so bedazzled that he simply floated and let it strike him. He let loose a blast from his own trident, aimed not at Noah but at the fire in front of him. Starlit Arclight water hit flame, and though some of the fiery tongues licked past his lesser weapon it still blunted the worst of the attack.
Emerald eyes flicked momentarily to sapphire as Hadama lunged to the edge of the water with his trident extended in a thrust, but it was only a feint. The true attack came from behind as a wave lifted low over the steaming stones in an attempt to impact the back of Noah's oddly-jointed legs and knock the man down to the mermanta's level.
While Noah was focused on the sharp, tripointed weapon slicing the air in his direction, he hadn’t noticed the wave of water coming up behind him. An alarmed oof left his lips against his will as the water crashed against his knees. He buckled, but was able to use the end of his spear to keep him from going all the way down.
While in a half-kneeling position now, Noah Angled his spear to protect himself from any more assaults from the King. From behind him, formed out of nowhere but charged with violent intent, a sunlight stag arced around the Sentinel. Ground was not necessary for the demigod’s magic conjugation, and so the stag raced out onto the water and lowered its antlered head to charge into the mer’s right shoulder and side.
His trident was blocked but his wave struck true and Hadama's eyes glinted in satisfaction at a well-struck blow. Noah might not have come all the way down, but his position looked less stable than it had before and his weapon was being used to support his weight instead of endangering the mermanta. It was a good time to land a more solid strike and Hadama raised his trident again for a follow-up attack as the stag manifested. It hardly seemed like a threat, landbound creature that it was, and the King paid it no heed--
Which was clearly a mistake.
He was unprepared for the summoned spirit's ability to run across the water and he was forced to abandon his attack in order to meet the sunlit creature's charge, twisting his grip on his trident with both hands as he interposed it between himself and the antlers just in time. A grunt of effort escaped as muscles bunched and strained to hold the beast at bay. Nevertheless, he was pushed back through the water a ways before he brought a battering column of water up to crash towards the stag's belly and attempt to lift and fling it up and away.
The advantage of the spirit stag was that it gave Noah the chance to regroup. With the merking’s focus on keeping himself from being scorched by the stag’s sunlit horns, the Sentinel got himself right on his feet again.
The rocks that once gave the hunter great purchase were now soaked down with the remnants of Hadama’s assault. This made it rough for Noah to try and take any advantage attacks on speed while the King was distracted by Noah’s stag.
The hunter gritted his teeth and let the spear fall to his ankles. He shifted and in his stead he was a massive polar bear, diving headfirst into the waters that he knew were quite warm. He wouldn’t be able to stay in this form long. He propelled himself in the water with massive paws and went to aim a slashing hit to the mermanta’s fins.
The water pillar was an exceptional attack to use against Noah’s magical beast. The stag dissolved into brilliant, shining stars before it totally dissipated around Hadama.
The stars were beautiful and Hadama would have liked to have taken his time to admire the remains of the solar stag, but the hot water shifted and the pressure danced across Hadama's skin and scales, warning him of an approaching predator in the sea.
The white bear was unexpectedly swift despite its ungainly appearance and the King's eyes widened briefly in surprise as Noah closed the distance. There was no time for Hadama to dodge--
But he was willing to soak the blow as his body grew soft and yielding beneath the Sentinal's heavy paw. There would still be bruising tomorrow, but the Tidebreaker's tail split apart beneath the attack, lengthening as he rolled through the water and reached out to try and grapple at the bear's neck with arms that had extended bonelessly and now ended in hooked tentacles. Eight arms stretched from where his tail had previously been to entangle Noah's paws while the colossal squid's body flexed in preparation for dragging the bear down deep below the waves if Hadama managed to catch it in his powerful, many-limbed grip.
The polar bear hadn't expected the shift. He did not know that, quite like himself, Mers could control both magic and feel the blessings of a shift. Panic filled him instantly. It was bright, clear, and loud over the bond. Not unlike the form Remi took to destroy and devour, Hadama claimed a (much smaller) version of the aquatic hunter.
Blood filled the water as hooks stuck into once-white-fur-turning-into-human-skin. Noah felt the strong, unbreakable arms grasp around him. One of his limbs was completely in control of the squid, while another of its arms grappled him at the waist. His heart thudded against his chest as he felt the tightening in his chest from lack of air.
He couldn't stay here.
Suddenly, from out around the Sentinel, a bright dome covered far and deep. Celestial energy, unfazed by the water surrounding and choking, brought healing to its originator and damage to the opponent.
Should Noah break free from the king's grip, immediately he would start for the surface.
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