[Training] watch them get hung up in it

Noah Eyes blinded Hope seems gone But we'll make it out alive With Hotaru's blessing, Noah came to the academy to utilize its training room. He entered the great hall with its slightly padded flooring, many targets and sparring dummies lining the walls, with little pomp and circumstance. He started his day like he would any other training session. He stretched and readied himself mentally. Honing and training his magic as well as his body was important to him. It was the right thing to do, with his title and station and position. With how he was known. With Vi looking down on him, guiding and ushering each step he took for the sake of his name. With no one else in the hall (in classes, or out being productive members of society), Noah pulled some dummies and targets out from their place along the wall and placed them in different, spaced out sections of the hall. Then, he stood in the middle of them, and summoned his spirit stag. The ethereal, bright creature took shape beside him. It snorted silently and bobbed its massive, crowned head, a foot scraping at the ground impatiently. Noah closed his eyes and let out a long, whispy breath, and then sent the stag to charge several targets in sequence.

You made yourself a bed
At the bottom of the blackest hole

It had been a long day of classes, and Alys was ready to unwind. Perhaps surprisingly, she found herself drawn more and more frequently to the training room when she needed to de-stress. It used to be that she disliked physical labor, but as her body had grown more taut and defined, she found that it was actually quite relaxing.

So it was that she ended up heading to the training room, her curls piled messily on top of her head, dressed in stretchy pants and a tank top, prepared to stretch her physical muscles as well as her magical prowess. What she was not expecting was to find Noah there, accompanied by an ethereal stag, attacking a variety of targets that had been set up around the room. For a moment, Alys simply stood and watched, but then she called up her magic. Settling on an illusion of a practice dummy, stretching her effigy as far away from herself as she could (which, admittedly, was not very far), she called, "You missed one!" and pointed to her illusion.

And convinced yourself that
It's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore

Alys

Noah Eyes blinded Hope seems gone But we'll make it out alive There was no surprise that a student would show up eventually. When Noah recognized the voice, without turning his head to see whom it belonged to, he let a smirk curve the corner of his lips. He turned his head towards the dummy she was calling about--and he could of sworn that there wasn't anything there just a minute ago--but sent his stag after it anyway. Just as the stag went for the dummy with lowered antlers and a snorting of pure starlight, it seemed to run right through it rather than burn it like the others. The stag dissipated, Noah's endurance over the magic running out, and he turned to face Alys. He couldn't help but see a flash of a memory behind his eyes at the illusions that Neron could create, and had multiple times in different circumstances. Shaking his head slightly to dislodge the memory, and the distrust, Noah rested his hands on his hips. "Feel like sparring?" He asked.

You made yourself a bed
At the bottom of the blackest hole

Alys watched with some satisfaction as Noah send his stag through her illusion, seemingly none the wiser for her trickery. She couldn't help but flash a delighted grin at the man; she was improving, and that was something worth celebrating, unaware of the distrust and suspicion she had elicited in Noah.

As for a spar, Alys paused. Even with all her training, it was unlikely she would win such a thing against Noah. Still, it would be good training, and she shrugged a shoulder as she approached him. "Sure," she said. "Just go easy on me, okay?" Then she grinned, showing she didn't necessarily mean it.

And convinced yourself that
It's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore

Alys

Noah Eyes blinded Hope seems gone But we'll make it out alive His tongue rolled on the inside of his cheek and he chuckled. Take it easy? Surely. "I've got this from Safrin." He said, taking the vial from his breast pocket and holding it up for her to inspect. "I need to protect it in a spar. You need to try and destroy it." He nodded and gave her a playful wink before taking a step back, replacing the vial in his pocket. He lifted his hands and invited her in. Once she was inside the ring, the area cleared and ready for training, lined and littered with smoldering, smoking targets, Noah struck. He stepped quickly towards her and lowered his center of gravity. He ducked his shoulder and intended to body check her. It was lighter than he would against Deimos or Sah, lighter even than he would against Talyson. But, given his mass and greater height compared to Alys, it was still a considerable first strike.

You made yourself a bed
At the bottom of the blackest hole

Satisfied that at least Noah wouldn't kill her on accident, Alys peered curiously at the vial from Safrin. She had for so long been disdainful of the gods that every gift from one of them was still a novelty. Now that she was on longer sure of her resentment, she found herself with a bit of a question mark where once certainty had been. Still, her spirituality - or lack thereof - had no place in a spar, especially not when she was being asking to target a specific object in Noah's breast pocket.

Mind already whirling with ideas on how to best achieve that, Alys was not entirely prepared for Noah's sudden action. He hit her squarely, eliciting an 'oof' of surprise from the young woman as she staggered back a few steps to try to regain her composure. Fortunately, since Noah had lowered his center of gravity, the breast pocket holding the vial was a little closer to her height, and she reached for the pocket as though to grab the vial. A bit of an obvious attempt, sure, but maybe he'd be expecting more ingenuity and this would come as a surprise?

And convinced yourself that
It's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore

Alys

Noah Eyes blinded Hope seems gone But we'll make it out alive Noah didn't advance on Alys as she stumbled back. Instead he rocked his weight back on his heels and prepared for her counterstrike. He didn't expect it at all. In fact, it threw him off to such a degree that he laughed. Alys' hand scrambled for his chest and he laughed. Not a sinister laugh. Not a laugh intended to embarrass her. But a throaty laugh of surprise, an airy sense that somehow he was impressed with the attack. He could easily take the woman, pick her up and throw her, but instead he used his magic. As if a glitch in reality, not unlike her own illusions, Noah disappeared from the space in front of Alys. The vial in his pocket dinged against the seams of fabric, but stayed intact. The demigod reappeared several paces away, behind Alys, and beckoned her towards him with another chuckle. "Better try something else." He taunted, joy glinting in his glacier eyes.

You made yourself a bed
At the bottom of the blackest hole

Noah's laughter was not ill-intentioned, and Alys reacted by sticking her tongue out at him - or, at least, at where he had been. For she blinked and he was gone, only to reappear some paces behind the young woman, who twirled to face him squarely. She'd not managed to get a hold of the vial, or to break it, and her rather obvious attack would not work twice. She was quite sure that should she go for the obvious, she would fail.

Instead, she darted forward, reaching towards the pocket only to pull back with a beckoning motion, using her newly-acquired telekinesis to tug at the vial, hoping to yank it out of Noah's pocket and drop it towards the ground, where it would hopefully break upon impact.

And convinced yourself that
It's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore

Alys

Noah Eyes blinded Hope seems gone But we'll make it out alive His chuckle turned into a laugh as Alys spun to face him. His blue eyes glinted with the enjoyment of surprising her. But, she was not without her own tricks. That much he knew. He prepared as she came towards him — body lowering some, knees bending, arms coming up to brace for her impact — but she stopped short. Noah’s eyebrows drew together but he didn’t change his posture. She seemed to be beckoning him with her hand so he stepped forward. He stepped again. Just as he set out to strike with the side of his hand, he felt it. He felt the vial slip up and over the top hem of his pocket. His breath hitched and he sputtered forward again, eyebrows backing off each other and eyes widening as he saw the vial start going down. He grasped for it quickly, and snatched the vial just before it tinkered and shattered on the floor. He held it tightly in the crevice of his palm, and then surged forward and up. A quicker movement than even what he used to grab the vial, with a great laugh he intended to scoop Alys up by the waist and hoist her over his shoulder.

You made yourself a bed
At the bottom of the blackest hole

It was Alys's turn to laugh as her trick nearly worked: the vial lifted free and tumbled towards the ground, only to be caught by Noah before it could shatter upon the floor. Well, damn. It had been worth a try.

In a rapid movement, Noah surged forward. Again Alys was surprised by the man's speed. How could someone so large be so gods-cursed fast? She stumbled backwards, narrowly avoiding Noah's grab for her waist, but tripping over her own feet in the process. She caught herself and skipped to the side to try to avoid any follow-up strikes, then circled Noah, her lips pursed in thought. He had the vial in his hand now; how was she to get it?

She darted forward, aiming to strike the hand holding the vial with her open hand, wondering if perhaps she could knock it loose.

And convinced yourself that
It's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore

Alys

Noah Eyes blinded Hope seems gone But we'll make it out alive Noah’s grip was too strong. His hand covered the vial like a protective shield of stone. Alys’ hand smacked against his, but his hand didn’t move much, except for what movement the Sentinel let it have to follow the woman’s momentum through. As she closed the distance between them, Noah turned his body abruptly and body checked the woman in a cultivated, raw force of strength. He didn’t retreat thereafter. Instead, he brought his arms in closer to his body and prepared to defend himself, wondering if Alys would strike out with some means of magic or another way. Glacier eyes watched her sidelong, waiting the mere seconds he knew that it would be before she retaliated. His smirk returned to his face, enjoying this time of sparring and of getting to know the woman better.

You made yourself a bed
At the bottom of the blackest hole

Luck was not with Alys this time, it seemed; she accomplished absolutely nothing with her attempt to smack the vial from Noah's hand. In truth, she hadn't really anticipated it working, but she was running out of ideas, and it seemed like something that she could try. Maybe if she'd managed to catch him by surprise...

But in the time it took her to realize that her ploy hadn't worked, Noah had body-checked her, sending her flying with an audible oof as the air rushed from her lungs. She cursed - or tried to - as she regained her breath, forcing herself to her feet as she wheezed. She really shouldn't try to spar against men twice her size. Or maybe she should get better magic that she could wield more efficiently.

As it was, she had illusion and telekinesis at her disposal, neither of which was very strong. Still, she wondered if she could trick Noah with her illusions. This time, she concentrated on making it look like his hand was opening and the vial falling to the floor. It probably wouldn't work, but maybe it would be disorienting enough that he would loosen his grip. As the fake vial fell toward the floor, Alys lunged forward, attempting to throw her shoulder - with her full weight behind it - into Noah's stomach.

And convinced yourself that
It's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore

Alys

Noah Eyes blinded Hope seems gone But we'll make it out alive Had Noah not already been tricked by her illusions, had he not been expecting it, he may have fallen for it. But as the image of his hand opening and dropping the vial happened before his very eyes, he willed his own fist to tighten over the vial. He felt it, the liquid within warming with the time spent in his hands. His focus, shifted so fully on keeping the vial in his hands and not succumbing to her illusions, missed her attack. She was able to shove into him, and he had to take a side step to recover his balance. His smile broke further over his face, and he even let out a one-syllable guffaw of laughter. ”Oof.” He said, turning to her fully and lifting his hands. He kept one closed over the vial, but the other he opened up to show his palm. ”Thank you, Alys, for your time. You are a fierce opponent.” FIN