Fantasy Skyheart - Little Feathers

[AncientBird]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik, Marylka

Serik stood guarded. Marylka rushed in and seemed like to punch him with left hand, just to fake it and dodged Serik to the side, punching him by the shoulder instead.

Serik stood solid. Before Marylka could pull her knuckled back, the young man grabbed her wrist. Serik then proceeded to pull Marylka in and swirled himself behind the girl. He thrusted Marylka with his bared palm, right in the center of her back, sending her away by the force. Serik returned to his stance.

“A well punch.” He made a short comment.

Featuring: Saturn_moon
#54ACD2

 

[Saturn_moon]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik AncientBird , Marylka

Before Marylka could retract her hand, Serik managed to grab hold of her wrist. He pulled her forward at the same time stepping out of her view. She felt his hand hit her squarely in the back, the force of it causing her to stumble forward.

"Not so bad yourself." She teased.

As he adjusted his stance, she remembered something Matthias had done in his match against Ord and decided to give it a try. She dropped to the ground and threw out a sweeping kick, catching Serik at the ankles. Strangely, the movement felt smooth and practiced. How did she know how to do all this!?

 

[AncientBird]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik, Marylka

An unexpected low sweep caught Serik off guard. He toppled on his back and missed his chance to counter. Yet, he didn’t stick around for Marylka to land another attack and rolled himself further away and got up on his knee.

He watched Marylka in his amazement, the girl packed more punch than she looked. “I didn’t expect that, really.” He said and smirked. Sweat started to form on his face after some movement.

“Let’s see if you are good at defense as well.” Serik said and in the brief moment rushed at Marylka. He swung his leg, performed a high kick, hitting her at the flank.

Featuring: Saturn_moon
#54ACD2

 

[YumenoTsukishiro]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction:Kari & Gerel

Kari heard Gerel and turned. A broad smile appeared on her face and she pretended to curtsy as if accepting a dance.
"I'd love to."
Gerel began explaining why his skill would be lacking and Kari shrugged, "In all honesty, I only know the little that my mother taught my brother and I, before he, well, she stopped training me after that...but, the weird thing is, I swear I didn't know how to use half those fire magic techniques that I used either...whatever happened in that lost year...I don't think it's gone."
Kari was eager to test her theory, "Okay, copy my stance." She began, and bent her legs, putting up a guard with both arms.
In order for the test to work, she would have to be fast, so Kari moved, she tried to step around Gerel's guard and struck out with a kick to his side.

YumenoTsukishiro
color=#666699

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction:Kari & Gerel

Kari's words made sense. These past few days proved as much. Gerel couldn't shoot with his eyes closed, or fire an arrow from a long distance and still hit the target dead center. Their experiences during the lost year made their mark on them, even if they've forgotten all about it. He tried copying Kari's stance, and discovered that his body already knew what to do. The movements felt natural, routine, ingrained into his muscles. But then Kari moved so fast his brain and body struggled to work together to move. He was stuck in between dodging and blocking that the kick hit his side anyway. Gerel grunted, gritting his teeth against the pain. Right there was an opportunity and he grabbed it with both hands, wrapping them around Kari's extended leg before lashing out with a kick to her side.

SilverFlight
color=#666699

 

[Saturn_moon]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik AncientBird , Marylka

Serik came at Marylka so quickly she barely had anytime to react. His leg connected with her side and she felt the air literally kicked out of her. Thankfully, she had both feet planted firmly in the ground which at least stopped her flying from the impact.
Seizing the opportunity, she grabbed his leg, still hovering in mid-air, and gave a hard tug offsetting his balance.
It wasn't the most elegant of attacks but it sure was effective.

 

[AncientBird]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik, Marylka

Marylka suddenly took a hold on Serik’s leg, trying to tug him off balance. Serik grinned his teeth, he was at disadvantage in this stage. With a decision, his knee retracted and Serik closed the gab between him and Marylka. His arms grasped onto the girl’s head and locked her by the neck, pushing her head down. He managed to free his leg and Serik got behind Marylka, still locking her by the head.

Featuring: Saturn_moon
#54ACD2

 

[Saturn_moon]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik AncientBird , Marylka

Marylka attempted to jab Serik in the side with her elbow as he held her in a headlock, but couldn't quite aim well enough to get a good hit in. She struggled in his hold, trying to force his arm off. Despite all her efforts he barely budged. He was still stronger than her.

"Okay! I give!" She exclaimed, finally relenting. "You can let me go now."

 

[Naberius]

Location: Island sparring grounds
Time: During the ritual
Interaction: Caliban, Katja

Caliban finished his circuit before taking a seat next to Katja as she lay on the ground panting. His own breathing was heavy as well, this had been a much better workout than he originally anticipated.

"People do it because it helps build a strong body. A strong body is better able to handle any situation life might throw at them. If you had started doing this earlier in life, or something like this, then you wouldn't need to be doing it right now. But I think that's enough of a physical workout for today, it's been about an hour. Your arms and legs must be like jelly by now. Rest, you did well. We'll do more when we get to Westeros. Until then, find excuses to lift things to help build your strength."

He lay back on the ground beside her, arms behind his head, smiling brightly. It had certainly been an interesting day. He would have preferred having a go at Ord, but he felt there would probably be time for that later after they arrived at the academy. This was a much better use of his time for the moment, making sure someone he cared about was able to defend themselves and able to have a better quality of life at the same time.

"I mean it, Katja. You did really well. I'm proud of you, going against your own feelings and judgement to give this a try. I promise you when you get used to it, and you adjust, you will be better for it."

explosiveKitten

 

[AncientBird]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik, Marylka

Serik held Marylka tightly, locking her in place. She squirmed, trying to get loose but to no use. Serik was sure of his victory.

"Okay! I give!" Marylka exclaimed. "You can let me go now."

Serik chuckled and released her from his arm. In that moment, Serik realized how close Marylka was to him a few seconds ago. He was locking her head in his arms, her long hair flew into his face and he could feel the heat from her body against his... Serik froze, his eyes widened and his heart pounded heavily like it's about to rip through his chest. He snapped out of it once he realized that Marylka was looking at him. "Ah... Sorry, must be the exhaustion." He said, his face reddened to his embarrassment. "You... Err... Did a very good job. Had you been trained to fight like that before?" He asked, trying to pull her attention from his action.

Featuring: Saturn_moon
#54ACD2

 

[explosiveKitten]

Location: Island sparring grounds
Time: During the ritual
Interaction: Caliban, Katja

Katja sat there in silence but for her wheezing lungs, as she’s secretly began to chide the young man next to her.

You’re sadistic. You know that? This is sadism. I don’t have to take this. I could get up and walk away right now. Yeah! I should! ... if my legs would move... which they aren’t. Look what you did, you’ve made my own limbs rebel against me! It’s all your fault, you... you little... something, gods, I don’t know... I’m never doing this again. You can’t make me!

She rolled her head over to look at Caliban as he sat there with a pleased, sunny smile on his face, and he kept talking about how he was proud of her and that she did good.

Not used to the compliments, her cheeks turned pink and she blinked before she to face the starry sky as she sighed.

...okay maybe I’ll do this again....

Naberius

 

[SilverFlight]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction: Ord and Matthias

"It isn't wind magic." Ord confirmed for him. With another gentle gesture both their rocks began orbiting one another.
"This magic calls to the rocks and earth of the islands. It turns out, there are other forms of magic than those granted by the sky gods...and a person gifted in magic, is gifted in an element of the sky, and one of these other, unknown forms..."
He let the implication hang in the air between them.
"I hope you can understand my caution in using these powers so overtly in front of others, or speaking to openly about them, especially shaman and temple acolytes, this discovery has the potential to threaten our entire belief system...I'm sorry...I did not want to inundate you with change, but...if not now then you would have learned in the heart of Westeros, only a few days in the future. The truth is, our world has been changing a great deal lately...and we've all bee fighting to keep up..."
The fatigue in Ord's voice was not evident until that last moment. The academy had been driven hard by the clan councils to try and come up with a solution to the strange beasts that invaded from below the clouds.


Elenion Aura
color=#009999

 

[SilverFlight]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction:Kari & Gerel

Kari squeaked as Gerel grabbed her leg before she could put it down, it threw her off balance and she couldn't block. She went down, kicking her foot free and lay in the grass for a moment.
"Well, if you didn't learn how to fight, I'd say my theory's pretty good." Her tone was bright. She got up again and lunged, this time with a fist.
((rolled a 1, so Gerel can block it))

YumenoTsukishiro
color=#666699

 

[Naberius]

Location: Island sparring grounds
Time: During the ritual
Interaction: Caliban, Katja

Caliban stretched, his arms coming down to rest at his side. It had been a pleasant flight, followed by a decent bout of exercise. His left hand came to rest on a rather smooth, soft rock...Only for him to then realize that no, it wasn't a rock at all...His hand had somehow landed directly on top of Katja's own hand. He jerked his back, instead draping it across his stomach. For the first time that he could remember, Cal's cheeks had just the barest hint of pink.

"Sorry, sorry I didn't realize your hand was there. Uh..."

The awkward silence hung for what felt like an eternity before he finally managed to speak again.

"So uh...Westeros huh? Gonna be pretty hot there, and all the sand and..."

He felt like he might be making the situation a bit worse.

explosiveKitten

 

[SilverFlight]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction: Ord, Lea & Marylka & anyone else

Once the fire was sorted and the tea made, Ord whistled for his skybeast.
"I'll do a bit of scouting, make sure the sky is clear of traffic before we start the spell."
Keshka was busy pouring lines of sand out onto the rocky surface by the river. "Hnn." Was all she said in reply.
Pasha bend his neck down and snuffled Ord's hair affectionately.
"Is anyone interested in coming with me?" Ord asked the group.
"We'll need to be relatively inconspicuous."

Once he had his volunteers Ord took off, circling around the cliffs and above, getting a bird's eye view and looking out over the vast ocean of cloud.
There was nothing out here, just cool evening air and the open sky. Ord reached into his bag and drew out a small, copper object. He tossed it to on of his volunteers ((whoever wants to grab it first)).
"Here! Have a look through that, tell me what you see!"
The spyglass was beautifully-crafted, with an ornate rim, and a body polished until gleaming.

((There is a flock of deathborn headed straight for the island, that's what the person with the spyglass would see, breaching the sea of cloud.))

Saturn_moon Lioness075
color=47cd72

 

[explosiveKitten]

Location: Island sparring grounds
Time: During the ritual
Interaction: Caliban, Katja

Katja was staring up at the stars, wondering what she had done to anger Celesta to make her put this crazy idea in Caliban’s head, when she felt something fall on her hand. At first she and tried to shake it off, but only found that she couldn’t move her arm.

She watched as he didn’t seem to notice and her face started turning more and more red the longer he didn’t notice. And when he finally did, he flinched and retracted his hand, apologizing and getting a light pink tinge to his cheeks. Probably just embarrassed.

“Yeah, Westeros... I have no idea what to expect there...” She let herself fall into an awkward silence. “... it’s gonna be hot.”

Naberius

 

[Saturn_moon]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik AncientBird , Marylka

Marylka smiled brightly at Serik. "Thank you." She replied, proud that she had somehow managed to hold her own in the match. Back in Estendor, she would never have done anything like this and her mother would probably get a heart attack if she found out Marylka had been sparring with boys. To be fair, if she recounted literally anything that she had done since waking up in that tent five days ago, her mother would have gotten a heart attack anyway. Focusing back on Serik, she noticed a faint flush in his cheeks. It was probably a result of the workout they just had.

"If I was relying on just my memory I would tell you, no, I've never been in a hand-to-hand combat in my life." She said, as she untied the leather strings holding her hair together and combed her fingers through to tame the strands that had managed to escape from the braids. "But when I was sparring with you and Matthias, my body just... moved. Like it knew what to do. I would think it strange except stranger things have happened to us."

"I'm guessing you've been trained in hand-to-hand combat before?" She asked.

 

[Saturn_moon]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction: Ord, Lea, Marylka & anyone else

While the sparring session had more or less taken her mind off their rather dismal situation, Marylka knew she had a tendency to spiral when left with her own thoughts. So, when Ord called for assistance scouting the island she readily volunteered. It was also one of the few things she was certain she was capable of doing having done similar tasks while tending to their herd back in Estendor.

Archie came swooping to her side the moment she called, looking rested and fed. He happily nuzzled against her and she felt the genuine affection radiating from the hippogriff. Hard to believe that only three days ago he had attempted to kill her.

They circled the island for a bit before stopping to survey the surrounding area. Marylka caught the spyglass which Ord tossed over, admiring it briefly, and brought it up to her eye. Scanning the night sky before them, all she saw was a dense sea of clouds. They moved steadily, flowing gently like waves in a great lake. She was about to hand the spyglass back to Ord when she noticed an odd movement which she could only describe as a pocket of something rising up from the clouds. Her body tensed, as did Archie's.

When the first creature broke through the cover, she almost missed it for it looked like nothing more than a speck in her vision, a trick of the eye. Then came the second, then the third. Within seconds, an entire flock had emerged. "Crap, it's the deathborns!" She exclaimed, throwing the spyglass back to Ord so he could look. "They're heading straight for the island." Straight for them.

SilverFlight Lioness075

 

[kase9187]

Location: Island off of Westeros
Time: After the Proving
Characters: Ord, Lea, Marylka, Aldaf, others

Aldaf decided to tag along with the scouting mission. He needed something to do while Zeke cooled off.

Aldaf was half-heartedly keeping watch when he heard Marylka.
"They're here? Again?!"
He pulled out his bow and notched an arrow, Spica's scales rattling in annoyance that these damned things were back.

SilverFlight Saturn_moon Lioness075
47cd72

 

[YumenoTsukishiro]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction:Kari & Gerel

Gerel saw the fist coming and was surprised to find himself moving to meet it. "Maybe yes, maybe I just really want to knock you down a bit," Gerel marveled at his words. Every time he competed with Kari, it was like something else inside him took over, a person who wanted to prove himself to... what? Who?
Shaking the thought away, he grasped Kari's extended wrist and stepped back along with her momentum, before grabbing at her other shoulder and pulling himself closer to her. He slipped a leg between hers, trying to hook it around her ankle to try and trip her to the ground.

((I rolled a 2 so feel free to have Kari payback in spades))

SilverFlight
color=#666699

 

[SilverFlight]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction:Kari & Gerel


Kari was surprised at the answer he gave, but it also touched her temper. "Fat chance!" She said. Kari watched him move, and her body reacted without thinking. She moved with the weight, not against it, pivoted and shifted and pulling Gerel along now, then back, forcing him off balance and they went down together. Kari rolled and shoved him away, using the same movement to get to her knees. Her face was burning again and she couldn't explain why.
"Why is that anyway?" Kari asked as she got back to her feet. "Why do you have to beat me?"

YumenoTsukishiro
color=#666699

 

[AncientBird]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik, Marylka

Marylk didn’t seem to notice or mind Serik’s awkward behavior. Serik dropped his concern and continued their casual conversation.

“My father had trained me to defend myself since I was much younger. I sparred with him and my uncle every afternoon, up until I began to take a role as herder, still I practiced every now and then... Sometimes it became handy in the situation that violence couldn’t be avoided.” Said Serik.

Serik then smiled mildly at Marylka, his dimple flared. “Thank you for asking to spar. I never like fighting no matter what... But a good sparring with my friend is a good exercise... And also it’s good to know each other better. If this was a few days ago, I would ‘t have thought you could fight this well.” Serik said.

Featuring: Saturn_moon
#54ACD2

 

[YumenoTsukishiro]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction:Kari & Gerel

The weight shifted, and suddenly it was him falling down. He hit the ground with such force that it knocked the wind from his lungs. Gerel quickly moved to push Kari away, but when his vision oriented he saw glittering gold and brown eyes on a face flush with heat. He froze. She was close. Too close. And then she shoved him away. He just laid there, blood pumping, mind rattling, chest heaving.

"Why do you have to beat me?"

That gave Gerel pause. He rolled to his knees and stood up, chewing on the question. But the words were already out of his mouth before he could think about it some more.

"Because I want to be strong enough to stand..."

By your side.

"...with everybody else. I don't want to just shoot arrows in the middle of a fight," Gerel continued, then he grinned. "Besides, you make for good competition. You keep me on my toes."

It was a flimsy excuse, but he just couldn't say the other thing outright. He wasn't sure if it was what he truly felt, or if his other self -- the one he forgot about -- was the one talking. Besides, it was true in a way; just in case an enemy got too close, he wanted to be ready.

SilverFlight
color=#666699

 

[Saturn_moon]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik AncientBird , Marylka

"On the other hand, my mother would be absolutely appalled if she found out what I've been up to. Marylka Altahan, this is NOT appropriate behaviour for a young woman!" She said, mimicking her mother's tone. Marylka's mother was a beautiful woman who, while growing up, had dabbled in her fair share of crazy adventures. Her grandfather would often fondly recount his woes raising a child as rebellious as her mother much to Marylka's incredulity. It was hard to believe that the quiet, austere woman who she had known her whole life, used to be a completely different person. Somewhere along the line, her rebellious streak was tamed but so had her passion and energy. Marylka would occasionally catch a glimpse, a spark, of her mother's old self only for it flicker away as quickly as it had appeared and she wondered what could have possibly happened to make her mother so.

It was nice seeing Serik's regular cheerful disposition return. It helped her feel more at ease and re-establish a sense of normalcy. Whatever normalcy was for them these days. When he commented on her fighting skills she could only laugh. "Yes, well, I didn't think I could fight at all." She said as she tied off her braids "Guess there's a lot I have to learn about myself as well... but that's the same for everyone, isn't it?"

 

[AncientBird]

Location: Island campsite
Time: After landing, at the sparring
Characters: Serik, Marylka

“I think we all do... We all have changed in some ways, even if we don’t remember it.”

Serik then brought up about his family in exchange of Marylka’s.

“My mother is pretty loose in letting me choose my path. As long as I don’t cause or get into trouble, she is fine. It is my grandmother that always want me to do something. She used to say ‘Life is short, so always strive for more or you will die wasting valuable things away.’ I didn’t really understand her, it seemed like she want me to be more, to do more... But what could I possibly want more? I have a loving family, the one that always supports me. I like my job, I like the life I have always had... I don’t want fame, I don’t want fortune... Perhaps someday I will actually understand her. Aside of that, she is a really nice old lady, a bit wild and short tempered. She used to live a life as vigilante, roaming the land with my grandfather. She always have these wild stories to tell after dinner. Sometimes I can’t even tell if she made them up or not.” Serik said and chuckled. “Wish we all could go visit my home sometimes, you and the others are probably going to like her.” He added.

Serik started to get thirsty from the sparring. Ord’s warm tea had returned in his mind. “What about we go for some tea? These tea Ord brought is really good, way better than what I usually had at home.” Serik asked cheerfully. If he would get to hang out with Marylka longer, he would seize it as much as he could...

Featuring: Saturn_moon
#54ACD2

 

[SilverFlight]

Location: Island en route to Westeros
Time: After the proving
Interaction:Kari & Gerel

Kari considered his answer, she hadn't been expecting it. Having anyone measuring themselves against her felt...strange. "Huh."
She considered him carefully for a moment, and then her expression softened. "You know, for what it's worth...I think you're plenty strong. You certainly proved yourself riding those skybeasts last night." Just the thought of Gerel winning that competition set butterflies in her stomach again.
She laughed at his last words.
"Well, good. I hope we keep pushing each other to get stronger."
She held up a hand for him to take. "Deal?"


YumenoTsukishiro
color=#666699