[Training] Mistletoe can be deadly

After two terrifying run-ins with twisted flora Alys had asked for some more training and Tal had fervently agreed. The hallucinations and nightmares had been unaffected by armor or willpower. Only praying to a literal god had saved them the first time. The second, his Dagger had shredded the corrupted tangleweed before Boreal had finished it off. It seemed that offense was truly the best defense when it came to the flowers.

So clearly he needed to work on his offense.

And it just so happened that he had a quest from Ludo to focus on exactly that.

With invisible stabby knives and Alys's magic flying, Tal figured they didn't want to practice in town where innocent bystanders might get caught up in it. The rain had lightened to a soaking drizzle for a few hours, so they'd set off until they'd found an empty bridge in the Outer Islands, its stones bleached white from the passage of seasons.

Or were those really, really big bones? Tal shivered and decided not to look too closely.

"Right, so, I've gotta wear a blindfold for Ludo," he explained sheepishly, pulling a length of cloth out of his pocket and starting to wrap it around his eyes. "But it'll be good practice. If we get caught in th'flowers again, maybe closin' our eyes'll help shut out the visions?" Not the nightmares... but it might have helped against the Tangleweeds, at least.

and everybody's gotta breathe somehow

After their recent experiences with what appeared to be some kind of cursed flora, Alys had been shaken enough to ask for Tal's help training. She had her magic, of course, but very little of it could be used offensively. She had her illusions, which were better as defense or as distractions, and she had some minor healing magic that she was still learning to develop, but neither of those would help if she had to go on the attack. Only her telekinesis might help her there, and she'd done very little to develop that particular skill.

Still, she did at least carry knives now that she could hurl somewhat accurately with her magic. Deimos had seen to that.

In any case, the seer accompanied her friend to the Bone Bridges - yes, Tal, some of those are bones - and listened as he pulled out a blindfold. She tilted her head curiously, reminded of the magic training that Hotaru had held in which she'd been blindfolded. For all that she loved Ru, she'd hated having her sight taken away, and she made a face at Tal. "Ludo doesn't seem to like you much," she commented ruefully, remembering her friend's description of Ludo's pranks. "Maybe I'll choose another god to go to, when the time comes."

But that was a concern for another day. For now, Alys readied herself. "Ready when you are," she called, defaulting to defense and happy to let him make the first move.

ALYS

Alys's comment brought a wrinkle to Tal's nose that was perilously close to a scowl. He could only nod in resignation, though, as he heaved a sigh. "Y'can say that again," he agreed morosely. "Or maybe it likes me a little too much? Either way seems t'end in bruises most o'th'time." Maybe others were luckier with the raggedy god...

Then again, maybe not. There were those rumors about what Remi had gone through before he'd become the herald's demigod that sounded even worse than what Tal had gone through in pursuit of his armor quests. And in spite of the older man's power and prestige, Tal wouldn't trade places with him for anything.

"Frey or Safrin, for sure," he finished with a decisive nod. "Hail, they both seem t'like me pretty well. I c'n go with you, if y'want some moral support?" And maybe having an Accepted along would make them look more favorably on an Abandoned, even one as amazing as Alys.

But they could hash that out after they'd worked on their offense, defense, and... blind fighting? Tal tied the blindfold firmly in place and then took a deep breath, readying his dagger. He knew where Alys had been ten seconds ago, so he made a tentative short slash in that direction with his Dagger, triggering the distance of the blade's invisible echo to reach about fifteen feet away. Enough to scratch her if she was still there, but limited enough for her to dodge away from if she foresaw his targeted area.

and everybody's gotta breathe somehow

Alys winced with sympathy. Poor Tal didn't seem to have the best luck with Ludo, whether it liked him or not. She couldn't help but wonder why he kept subjecting himself to such treatment - unless the gods could hunt one down and bestow quests without being asked? Now that was a terrifying thought.

As the pair readied themselves for a spar, Alys nodded gratefully. "Company would be appreciated," she admitted. She wasn't scared, exactly, but neither was she confident about visiting the gods.

Alys watched curiously as Tal fixed the blindfold in place and waited for him to make the first move. When it came, she dodged away, skipping just out of reach of the blade with surprising ease (thanks dice). Still, despite her success, she couldn't help but hesitate before returning the strike. After all, this was her best friend, and he was blindfolded! So she pulled a dagger from its sheath, aimed, and flung the blade using her telekinesis towards Tal's arm - prepared to pull her blow if he didn't dodge.

ALYS

If Alys asked, Tal would answer, but until she did he could only prepare for their coming spar with a crooked grin of gratitude for his friend's help with yet another rough quest task from the god he had the most complicated relationship with.

The other gods, though, he was perfectly happy to visit with Alys, and his grin lifted to something much lighter as she accepted his offer.

But then it was down to business, and Tal wrinkled his nose as he heard Alys's feet dance lightly across the bridge and away from his attack. At least he'd been close enough that she had needed to dodge? He took heart from that but he didn't dare just stand around like a lump. He knew there would be retaliation incoming and he moved his own feet, picking a side at random to try and dodge.

It was fifty-fifty whether he'd avoid it, right?

Unfortunately for Tal, he chose the wrong fifty. The good news was that he did, indeed, dodge, and his arm was unhurt! ...The bad news was that he dodged into Alys's dagger, and earned a scrape along his chest instead before she pulled her blow back.

His armored vest absorbed the damage, at least, and so he didn't slow down. He made a tentative stab in the direction he'd heard Alys's feet stop moving, trying to gauge the distance right from hearing alone. "We can stop any time an' I can heal us up," he remembered to pipe up, uncertain in the heat of the moment if she knew that he had a healing item now.

and everybody's gotta breathe somehow

Alys winced as her blade found its mark. She hadn't pulled her strike quickly enough, apparently, the blade caught up in the telekinesis that propelled it and unwilling to withdraw. "Sorry, sorry!" she yelped as the blade scraped along Tal's armored chest. And, for a moment, she forgot where she was and what they were doing, and started forward to check on him.

Unfortunately, her movement put her directly in the path of Tal's next stab, and she hissed as she stumbled to the side - but not quickly enough. Tal's blade had nicked her arm just enough to draw blood, and she took a moment to stare at the bright red droplets before shaking off her paralysis and moving back again. Maybe it would be better if she stayed out of range.

"Since when can you heal?" she asked, hoping to distract him. At least he had armor - unlike her. She was starting to regret that she hadn't gone to the gods sooner, if only for something to protect her most vulnerable places.

Using her illusion magic, she sent a few steps off to her right, hoping to draw his attention to that side. Then, in silence, she sent her blade again for Tal's side, hoping that she could either pull the attack or that his armor would deflect it, if she were lucky enough to make contact.

ALYS

"No harm done," he assured her, more worried about Alys feeling bad than about himself. He trusted his armor to keep him safe, but the last thing he wanted was her beating herself up over a spar! So to prove he was just fine, he returned the attack, albeit with a hesitancy that came from the dratted blindfold screwing up his aim.

He knew he'd gotten lucky when he heard her hiss and the stumble of her feet, and then it was his turn to pull back and freeze. "Shit, sorry, Alys! Are you--?" He started to reach for his blindfold to check on her, but paused with his fingers on the cloth. The whole point of the training was to get stronger, not to baby each other, and he had to trust that she'd call a halt if she needed it.

Her voice came from a slightly different spot, and her words gave proof to her determination. Tal let his hand fall back to his side with a soft sigh of relief before he nodded with enthusiasm. "Since I got a fancy ring from Frey," he informed her smugly. "Just afore we set out on the trip." Suffice to say her distraction worked, and his head turned to follow the sounds of 'her' foot steps off to the side. He wrinkled his nose in an agony of indecision and then started to throw a careful jab in that direction--

"Oh shit!" He almost dodged by accident, his shift into his attack putting him slightly forward of where he'd been, but her blade grazed lightly over his armor a second time and the courier swore in surprise rather than any pain when he felt the pressure. "This fuckin' blindfold--!" He growled in frustration and shifted from foot to foot, balance a little unsteady on the uneven stones and bones of the bridge. Realizing he had to do something, he sent three short jabs out in three random directions, trying to keep Alys at bay and maybe distract her into making a sound again. "So, uh... whaddya think I should ask the gods for next?" he asked totally casually.

and everybody's gotta breathe somehow

It was just a little scratch, and Alys put it out of her mind easily enough, even if it did sting a bit. She'd known what she was signing up for when she agreed to spar with Tal, had known that they were going into it with live blades. She also knew he wouldn't hurt her - not badly, anyway, and not on purpose. Although with that blindfold on... well, he could hurt her on accident, just because he couldn't see where he was aiming.

It wasn't a comforting thought.

So when her ruse worked and he turned to follow the sound of her fake footsteps, and when her dagger scraped against his armor once more, she turned to move away, following the illusion she'd set only moments before even as she sent a new one in the opposite direction. Let him try and figure out which was real.

Of course, it didn't seem to matter as moments later, three short jabs interrupted her path. None of them hit the mark, but such a burst of attacks in such a short time frame had her squeaking in surprise and twisting out of the way.

It was strange, this sparring with her best friend. She wasn't keen to continue, really, even if it was important to prepare for whatever was out there. What use was it to fight while pulling her punches (or stabs)? If this was a real fight...

So she unsheathed her second dagger and, using her telekinesis, flung them both in a one-two punch in his direction, praying that his armor would hold and that she wouldn't accidentally disembowel her best friend.

ALYS

Well, shit. Now there were two sets of footsteps instead of just one. One of them was definitely a ruse... but maybe both of them were? Beneath the blindfold Tal started to sweat, swaying first to one side and then the other as he turned his head fruitlessly between the two separate sets of sounds.

And Alys wasn't answering his question, either, being too smart to fall for such a blatant ploy.

The courier scowled, unleashing his short, sharp barrage, and a squeak came from one direction that had him lighting up as he figured out a general direction, at least. He shifted his feet, pushing himself to the side so he wasn't quite as much of a sitting duck, and this time luck was mostly with him. The first dagger missed wide as the courier's graceful dodge took him lightly over the width of the span of stone and bone.

The second drew a hiss of pain as he bumped into the guard rail of the bridge and ran out of room to run. The dagger's kiss barely drew a line of red across his bicep, and Tal pushed himself away from the edge and back towards where he thought the center or the bridge was. "Not bad!" he called, shaking the light injury off easily enough; his pride had been cut far more deeply than his flesh. He turned his head, questing much like one of his hounds might cast about for a scent, though he was seeking sound instead of smell. "One more pass an' then I'll get us fixed up, yeah?"

And if Alys answered, Tal would grin sharply and flick a shallow cut in the direction of her voice.

and everybody's gotta breathe somehow

Truth be told, the seer wasn't really that smart - she'd just forgotten that he'd spoken in her efforts to outmaneuver him. (Oops.) She'd thrown her dual blades in silence, only realizing belatedly that she should have answered his question. Oh well - a conversation for another time.

The first dagger missed its mark and, called back by her telekinesis, returned to her side to hover over one shoulder. The second, though, drew blood, and Alys winced at the courier's hiss of pain before returning that dagger, too, to her side. "Sorry!" she called, realizing too late that the sound of her voice would give away her position.

And it was that call that gave her away as Tal flicked a blade in her direction. She moved, but she hadn't accounted for the weather - her foot slipped on the wet bridge and she flailed wildly as she tried to keep her footing, only barely managing to call her dual daggers to block Tal's advance. The ring of steel on steel took her by surprise - she'd blocked out of some innate sense of self-preservation rather than skill - and she quickly returned fire.

ALYS

He didn't have long ears to perk up, or a tail to flag out behind him, but when Alys called her apology he certainly gave the impression of both. The courier unleashed his attack - a fairly light attack, for all his eagerness - but the ringing sound of the block told him a tale almost as useful as what his eyes might have read.

He didn't wait around for his closest human companion to recover, not with her location finally pin-pointed to a direction and distance he felt confident in.

"Gotcha!" he crowed, lunging forward with confidence in every line and one hand open to make a grab for the arm he knew was almost in reach--

And his foot slipped just as surely as Alys's had a moment before, only thanks to his momentum there was no flailing for balance. Instead the courier went down hard, dropping flat beneath Alys's daggers and cracking his elbow on the stones. "Oh holy fuck," he gasped, tears springing immediately to his eyes as his funny bone rang like a bell and he curled up into a fetal position around it. As soon as he could think straight he activated his Ring and Frey's healing energy washed through him, taking with it the minor cuts and bruises of the battle.

Pushing himself slowly up to a sitting position, he slid a thumb beneath the blindfold and lifted it so he could peek out at Alys, expression warring between rueful grin and embarrassed scowl. "Uh... so... feelin' any stronger?" he asked, holding out his hand for hers. And if she took it the Mastered Healing would fill her as well, soothing the minor hurts and leaving her scratches gone without a trace.

and everybody's gotta breathe somehow

Under any other circumstance, Alys might have laughed at the outright glee in Tal's voice as he lunged for her, but then he'd slipped and was falling -

Alys reached as though to try and catch him, not only with her arms but with her telekinesis, but her magic wasn't strong enough and she wasn't close enough to make a difference. Tal fell hard, eliciting a sympathetic wince from the seer as his elbow cracked against the bridge. "Tal!" she cried, falling to her knees beside her friend, worry creasing her brow. Healing item or no, concern was clear on her face as she hovered over him, hands fluttering uselessly, unsure if she should try to help or if she'd only make it worse.

After a few moments, the courier pushed himself up into a sitting position and removed the blindfold to reveal Alys wringing her hands. She took his offered hand eagerly and was amazed to feel the scratches, bumps, and bruises she'd sustained healing instantaneously. She raised her brows. "That's some healing magic," she said approvingly. It was good that he had such an item - it would be one less thing for her to worry about when he was off delivering packages.

"Come on," she said, pushing herself to her feet and dragging Tal along with her. "Let's go get dried off."

-FIN-

ALYS