[Training] Slice of life

Did they need an adventure? Probably not.

Were the going on an adventure anyways? Yup.

The Peregrine was anchored at the edge of the jungle and Boreal had strict orders to stay aboard. A large, meaty luxere leg bone had been given to the dragon as an additional bribe for good behavior, since her track record of listening to Tal's orders wasn't the best.

The courier had asked Hotaru along for her help and advice, but also as an excuse for a little vacation... sort of. He'd heard of the glorious oasis in the desert and figured they could check it out, maybe find some plants to bring back for the greenhouse or to decorate the spa with. Maybe do a little training in a different environment, with different hazards to watch out for.

The Hak Etme tourism board might have left out a few pertinent details, though.

"Hey, is this one poisonous, too, d'y'think?" he called back to the Valkyrie, warily eying a brilliantly colored plant with long, slender leaves striped in crimson and neon green.

Could I but ride indefinite, As doth the meadow-bee
And visit only where I liked, And no man visit me

In contrast, Hotaru believes there is always time for adventures. Especially 'adventures' that are more like ill-concealed vacations. Though she would normally decline visiting Hak Etme with anyone incapable of flight given the overall climate, Tal's Peregrine ensured they wouldn't have to trudge on foot through miles and miles of sand and dunes to get to Suvahasi, and so she had happily agreed.

Dazzled by the out-of-place oasis of greenery they've found, she has to turn her head and venture back towards Talyson as he calls for her. Eyeing the plant as she meanders closer, the Valkyrie shakes her head slightly, little blonde hairs around her temples shifting from where they'd escaped the bun atop her head - a rarity in itself to have her hair up, but the heat afforded nothing else. "Vibrant colors are your first sign of a poisonous variety, so I wouldn't touch it." Stepping over a patch of vines that had clustered together over the sort-of-pathway, Ru nudges it with her foot. "Did you know my mother's friend was a master of poisons? She was like an aunt to me - but she'd knock me into next week if she knew how much I've forgotten of her teachings." Mirth plays on her lips as her eyes divert from the plant to land on Tal's face.

And dwell a little everywhere - or better, run away

HOTARU

Gods no, Tal would not be slogging through the desert on foot ever again. The Peregrine made the world a lot more reachable though, even Caido's sweaty, stinky armpit regions.

It still beat the Feverlands, though.

"Aww. So none of the pretty ones?" he lamented, pulling his fingers back just before they brushed the enticingly colored leaves. He scowled at the offending foliage before Ru dropped a few interesting tidbits that had him sliding her a look complete with two raised brows.

"Y'never mentioned her. Or... well, much about your old family at all, really." He eyed the vines at her feet suspiciously for a moment, but when they failed to move in attack or protest he relaxed a little and continued on down the path. The sound of running water was growing clearer though the robust overgrowth though it remained hidden from view until they rounded a curve and came upon a large area open to the sunlight. Running water had formed a wide, shallow pool on the side nearest to them, with flat rocks emerging from the surface at random like the backs of brown and tan turtles. The far end looked deeper, without the rocks that littered the near basin. "Didja need a lot of poisons in your old world?"

Could I but ride indefinite, As doth the meadow-bee
And visit only where I liked, And no man visit me

Ru laughs softly at his disappointment. “Unless they’re flowers, or something that bears fruit. Anything that needs color to attract pollinators is usually safe, but those are just leaves and vines - much higher risk.” Especially if there were thorns or membranes for any sort of secretions.

As they come across where the water pools at the end of the trail, Hotaru makes an appreciative noise at the beauty of it while internally contending with the careful curiosity from her closest companion. “I suppose I do rarely talk about them. But you are much the same about your parents,” she points out, though not unkindly. It was just what grief did to people.

Kneeling at the water’s edge she dips her fingers into it, flicking droplets over its surface and watching them spread. “There was a lot more political intrigue and war between regions, so yes. Most of the lands can run themselves without leadership in Caido, as we can currently see.” Stormbreak, the Grounds, the Greatwood. Even Torchline in some ways. “Resources were sparser, alliances vital, and citizenship was direly important in our society. In comparison, Caido has always felt quite tame and bland to me.” Boring at times even, and easy to offend. She sometimes misses those primordial days of challenges, wars, subterfuge. Often reminiscing over the fact that she herself has gone quite soft and mellow in her time in Caido. Then again, she hasn’t recognized the woman in the mirror for many years now. Or maybe she just needs to accept that woman as her new normal.

And dwell a little everywhere - or better, run away

HOTARU

Well, these plants were useless to them then, and Tal moved on with the sting of betrayal from their deceptively pretty exteriors that lasted until the bright sun dazzled eyes that had grown accustomed to the shade of the jungle. The distraction of both the water and of Hotaru's words were enough to make him forget the leafy traitor behind them.

He opened his mouth to protest her point, but something made him hesitate. A pause as he tried to put into words why he'd rarely spoken of his parents to his best friend. And a question to buy himself time to sort through his feelings while he watched the light sparkle on the crystal clear water.

He had never been more grateful to have kept his mouth shut. He remembered his father's death. His aunt's missing legs. The scars on his own side. And he remembered Enzo's death, too, and all that Ru had lost. When he looked over to Hotaru it was with a smile quite unlike his usual mischievous smirk or crooked grin. It was small and sad and tired, and it didn't match the words he mustered to try and lighten the mood.

"Wanna liven things up a bit, then? Make it more exciting?" He nodded to the pool and its stones. "Knife fight on the rocks, maybe? No magic, an' the first one t'fall in the water loses?"

Could I but ride indefinite, As doth the meadow-bee
And visit only where I liked, And no man visit me

She doesn’t question why he hesitates, mouth open but silent, in much the same way he doesn’t ask any further after her aunt or homeland. Maybe later, when the sun is lower and the shadows easier to hide in, she will feel inclined to talk. Just the easy things to start. Lakota’s gruff exterior but gentle hands, her twin’s showy beauty that she sees in Flora every day, her parents’ storybook love story that had ended in bittersweet tragedy aided by her own unwitting hand.

Though his proposal and accompanying grin are lackluster, Ru moves on gracefully from the topic, her own grin smaller but still smug. “You’re on, Seawright,” she purrs, and stands and stretches like the big cat that resides in her soul. Hopping over the rocks until she finds her chosen perch that is sufficiently close to the water, she unsheathes her dagger (the one she has kept after all this time, years after Sunjata gave it to her, years after she’d stabbed him in the thigh with it) and takes up a stance. Tilting her blade in a ‘come hither’ motion, the Valkyrie grins and strikes like a snake the second Talyson has his balance, aiming for his knife-arm.

And dwell a little everywhere - or better, run away

HOTARU

Later, when the wound wasn't quite so fresh, he'd ask about her family again; their personalities and adventures under that faraway sky. Their wars and loves and losses. Those who were related to her by blood and those she'd chosen along the way. He would listen, and marvel, and offer unsolicited opinions on some of them.

Of his own tame, bland little family though, he would say little, too self-conscious now to tell the small, boring stories of a merchant and a simple guard. It wasn't pain or grief that stopped his tongue but embarrassment that his family couldn't measure up to the fairy tale lives of Outlanders and their kin - each one a king or queen, noble or royal thief, assassin or warrior-hero in their own right, it sometimes seemed.

He loved Hotaru too much to resent her for it, but it didn't stop the pain of that realization.

Her acceptance of his challenge came as a relief, then. A welcome distraction from the bruising in his heart. He followed her onto the rocks, hopping lightly to find one that he liked the feel of under his boots. He didn't know the history of her own dagger, but his was comfortable in his grip, even if he wouldn't be using its special abilities today. "I should warn you, I'm gettin' pretty good with-- Hey!" His cocky boast was cut short by Hotaru's lunge, and she took a generous slice out of his sleeve as he made a desperate, awkward hop to another rock off to the side to avoid further damage. "Rude!" he informed her, torn between laughter and a scowl at his own sloppy footwork.

He made a quick slash towards her shoulder as soon as he landed on his new perch, hoping to keep her at bay and buy himself a few seconds to get his aplomb back.

Could I but ride indefinite, As doth the meadow-bee
And visit only where I liked, And no man visit me

A foxlike grin chases across her lips as his boastfulness is cut short, and she recenters on her rocky platform as he goes floppy-hopping sideways to safer ground. "Not rude, you're just too slow!" Using her height to her advantage she ducks at the same time as she leans to the side to avoid his slash, and reverses her grip on her dagger so it aligns with her forearm to slash horizontally at hip level.

Lingering would leave her at a disadvantage for any attacks from above, so she hops backward immediately after, rocks tumbling from beneath her heels as she sightlessly tries to take herself back out of range. Grinning all the while and happily poised in her crouch like the cat she is at heart.

And dwell a little everywhere - or better, run away

HOTARU

Tal was sensitive about his height. Sure, he was tall for a Natural Halovian! ...But he tended to come up a few inches short of most Outlanders he'd met. Hotaru was an exception and normally he felt subconsciously glad that there was one person who didn't look down their physical nose at him, but in a fight her short stature was a real pain in the neck ankles.

"I'm just gettin' warmed up first!" he shot back, trying to sound offended but ruining the effect with the adrenaline-grin plastered on his face. This time he was ready when she slashed and he pulled his hips back with a gut-sucking rock back on his heels that put him perilously close to slipping into the water.

He didn't fall this time either, though, instead recovering quickly and following Hotaru as his momentum brought him forward again to land on her original stone. "See? I'm doin' my stretches!" And stretch he did-- reaching out across the water to take a slice at a lock of her hair, since she was crouched down far enough to make it hard to hit most of the rest of her!

Could I but ride indefinite, As doth the meadow-bee
And visit only where I liked, And no man visit me

His responses are hilariously unique and free of any form or training that was implemented from a young age. It's clear he's accustomed to more solid ground under his feet, but it doesn't change how adaptable he is; it's apparent to the Valkyrie, who is now a teacher more days than not, that his instincts are more than good enough to make up for his lack of formal style.

It's why she finds him unpredictable, and why the fights they have never fail to intrigue her and keep her on her toes. It's hard to spin in her lunge, so as he slices out at her he indeed catches a lock of hair - the clump of golden strands go spinning out onto the water, and the Valkyrie makes an offended noise. "Oh you're in for it now!" Using her squatted form as a base, she bursts up from the ground and lunges straight for him, immediately resorting to surprise and close-contact fighting to try and make him stumble as she keeps her reversed-grip aimed for his left hip in an upward swing.

And dwell a little everywhere - or better, run away

HOTARU

He had the natural reflexes of a scrawny youth who'd been a natural runner rather than a fighter. Any dodge was a good dodge so long as it was successful, and though he'd had a year of training with Deimos that had been before the War. Now he picked up whatever he could from whomever he could cadge a bout from and whatever he survived on his own, and if that meant he was unpredictable, well...

Planning ahead had never been his strong suit.

Sometimes it paid off, like when he was able to give the Valkyrie an impromptu haircut - and he let out a brief crow of triumph before he realized that he was in trouble. He wouldn't have over-extended if they'd been on solid ground, but they weren't and he had - just a little. Just enough to make evading Ru's attack the next thing to impossible.

He pulled back, making a desperate blind, backwards leap to his previous stone and lashing out wildly with the pommel of his dagger in the hopes of hitting something, but not before the back of Hotaru's blade caught him across the hip mid-jump. He grunted and landed precariously, teetering and almost falling in before he managed to drop to one knee and regain his balance. "So this is what the view's like from down here," he teased, down but not yet out!

Could I but ride indefinite, As doth the meadow-bee
And visit only where I liked, And no man visit me

They are close quarters now, and as her blade finds his hip so does the pommel of his dagger find her shoulder - but neither of them is the type to quit easily, and as Ru stumbles on the rocks and watches Tal go down onto one knee (so close, but not enough) she narrows her eyes at him to conceal the plan whirring to life behind her eyes.

It's easily put into motion by his teasing rapport, the perfect opening that it is. Without a word to show her hand, Ru leaps for him a second time - but this time she keeps her dagger held more carefully away, aiming to tackle Tal backwards into the water even at the cost of following seconds behind him.

And dwell a little everywhere - or better, run away

HOTARU

Tal had been expecting some witty banter in return, but you know what they say about people who assume things. Ru was in motion before he could get back on both feet and the courier was only halfway up as she flashed across the short distance between them. There was just enough time for a yelped protest of "Hey!" - as if that had ever stopped an attacker - and a desperate twist to the side, trying to throw himself over to another nearby rock when the Valkyrie his his knees and knocked him back.

There might have been days where youth and exuberance beat old age and treachery, but this was not one of those days.

Taken by surprise at his friend (and sometimes mentor)'s willingness to engage in mutually assured destruction, Tal couldn't even flip them so Ru would hit first. It was the courier's back that impacted the shallow pool with a mighty splash from the awkward angle of entry - and his flailing arms didn't make it any more graceful, though he was instinctively careful not to catch his partner with his blade in the process.

He surfaced a moment later, spluttering, as he sat in the knee-deep water and tried to glower at Hotaru without laughing and ruining his aura of wounded betrayal. "What if this'd been lava?" he protested, even though no such rule had been declared at the beginning.

Could I but ride indefinite, As doth the meadow-bee
And visit only where I liked, And no man visit me

His protestation is a muffled sound with her ear to his clothes as she tackles him down, but it supplies her with a vindictive glee as they go toppling down into the water as a lumpy, uncoordinated unit. The water is shallow enough to be warm from the oppressive desert sun overhead, making it a far more pleasant landing than the Valkyrie had anticipated - Talyson's bony knees aside.

Shamelessly planting her hands on his body to push herself up to sit on her shins, hair half-wet and sticking to her cheeks and temple, Hotaru laughs brightly. It feels so good to do it, and Tal's feigned pout only makes the ballooning feeling of sunlight in her ribs shine stronger. Holstering her dagger on instinct alone, the Valkyrie grins down at her best friend and pokes him in the chest from where she sits over him. "Then you'd have to immediately deal with my antics in the afterlife with no reprieve." The mischievous light in her eyes assures that he will likely never get that reprieve anyway, but if one of them dies first they'll have to take advantage of their short vacation from the other. "Either way, I'm considering that a win for me. And you owe me a haircut." Though given she never cut it after Enzo died, she has far too much to spare and desperately needs to cut it anyway given it is to her hips now.

And dwell a little everywhere - or better, run away

HOTARU