Don't Think Twice [Solo]

[Hilana Chenzira]

60 Searing, Year 123

[Closed - Solo]

"Will you practice with me?" Hilana asked Athalia when she found her sister with her embroidery. She had claimed one of Hilana's plain blouses that was in otherwise fine condition, and had started doing some embroidery to add embellishment to it. It was almost painful the way her shirts had so little decoration on them compared to her skirts, but garment by garment, Lia was seeking to correct that. It gave her something to do and to occupy her time while she and Lykos studied or worked on other subjects, and the elder sister's fingers were nimble and used to working almost mindlessly. There was something quite peaceful about it, but she couldn't convince Hilana of the same.

She was simply too wild, and there was too much energy. Sitting down and trying to corral her for something like this wasn't going to be successful, but fortunately, there were other things that they could do. There were some things in which Hilana was contentedly quiet about and with, and Lia had hardly believed it when Hilana had sat still, and kept on a relaxed conversation while she was grooming Raithen's wings for hours. If one had told her it was doable before she would have scoffed at the very concept, but there she was, doing exactly that.

"Of course. What are we doing?" Lia wanted to know, lowering the hoop.

"I wanted to practice with my falcata. Lykos is in the ice box," she referred to the Frostrylyth seeding room. "So I was wondering if I might trouble you to use your Elementalism so that I might keep working on it."

That was unexpected, but Lia didn't mind being asked. She could see the value of her sister using something to defend herself with if her powers were taken from her again, Founders forbid.

[Hilana Chenzira]

“Very well,” Lia set the hoop aside, putting away the boxes of floss and notions inside the much larger woven bamboo box. “Let us go outside, then. Go and get your falcata, and I will meet you beyond the walls.” She suggested, neatly folding the fabric under the embroidery hoop before placing it in the basket. She didn’t need to ask twice, as Hilana scarpered off at top walking speed to go and grab the sword that she had gotten from (reaving NPC) for practice. She was not about to use her masterwork sword for such things; that was just asking for trouble. As old as the blade was, it was solid when she asked some of the smiths to inspect it, and so long as she treated it well, it should outlast her. The harder she got with it would mean that that prediction could go right out the window. She didn’t know what method Lia would take, and there was a non-zero chance she could have hardened sand or stone coming at her.

Keeping that in mind, Hilana was outside the walls and waiting when Lia came out, her skirts having been folded at the hip and tied with a scarf so that the hems fluttered at her knees in the breeze. She knew that that would be giving Lia free cues to her movements, but it didn’t matter as much since Hilana was doing drills and practicing. She remembered what the older boys had said back when they were teaching the younglings how to use various weapons so that they were able to defend themselves, each other; and the herds. Blades and maces, with Asher and Vorenus. It was all about the muscle memory. Know the basics and then build upon them. She knew if Finn wasn’t too busy he didn’t have a problem practicing with her, but he was busy and Hilana hated to make him do that when there were more fun things to be doing. She wasn’t at a level to challenge him, that much she knew for sure. It was the same with Raithen - she had little doubt he would humour her and show her some tricks, but if she didn’t have it in her to make it interesting, it was just a chore. Her friends would happily help her, Hilana was sure, she just didn’t want to feel like a burden.

That would be the worst part. She remembered how on Kaladon the only thing she could do was deliver blows to the enemies that had been felled by the rest of her party. When they had gone to look for the village, she had had to ride a distance away because she could not be helpful otherwise. She had been able to help in Ecith only with her Elementalism… but she would make sure that she could do more now. She may never be a master of marital prowess, but she would not be defenseless or left to hide behind others again.

“Defensive position,” Athalia stood perhaps 30 feet away from her, as Hilana raised her falcata, spreading her feet and bending her knees to pick up a reflexive stance. Lia focused her aether, and held her hands out to her sides. She soaked the aether into the earth, and began to raise her hands, palms up. On either side of her older sister, pillars of earth formed, rising from the sands as she continued to raise her hands until the pillars were taller than she was. Both regarded the other, and Lia twitched her finger. From the top of the pillar to her right, a slice of earth peeled off and was flung via the air directly at Hilana. The slice of earth was not much wider than said finger, and perhaps the size of a dinner plate. That was certainly a big enough target for her to start with. She did not, however, go particularly slowly, flinging the dirt disc directly at her with considerable velocity.

Hilana, in her defensive stance, swung the falcata upwards, using the blunted non-edge of the sword to strike at the disc and shatter it. There was no time to prepare for the next one, because Lia had a second disc coming directly for her. This time, she rotated her wrist, bringing the belly of the blade up - if she wanted to strike and cut another person, she needed to use the blade. A falcata was a single-edged sword, after all, but the handle did allow for freedom to twist and strike, provided one had the flexibility in their wrists, arms, and shoulders to do so. That time, she hit it squarely, breaking the second disc.

The discs kept coming, and Lia was testing Hilana's footwork and balance as well as her coordination with the sword. She wanted to see if she could make her stumble or get her flummoxed with her sense of direction. So far, it wasn't working, but she wasn't done with her yet. So far, all of these discs came from the front, where Hilana could clearly see them coming. She was gradually decreasing the size of the discs, so that they had gone from being the size of a plate to more closely resemble the size of the palm of her hand. She experimented with altering the speed at which they were being directed at her younger sister, changing the rate of acceleration to change it up and see if she could catch her while she was expecting the current speed.

But Hilana had energy and to spare, and where most would have started flagging, Hilana kept going. So Lia decided to change it up. While she was focusing on what was coming in front of her, Lia called a greeting out to her sister's favourite Avialae and mate, who was flying down for a visit, and while Hilana was distracted calling out to Raithen, Athalia took the opportunity to sling a disc from the ground behind her directly for her head. Had it not been for the shadows being surprised by it, she might well have gotten her clock cleaned by the disc. She did, however, duck and twist, swinging her falcata to try to hit it, and the swing barely clipped the edge, certainly not enough to break it down. She didn't grumble, though; she had asked for this. And now that her lover was watching, there was a little extra pressure on Hilana to do her best and stay focused.

Though it was hard to focus when Raithen in her shorter skirt from his chiton was doing a little dance on the sidelines. That was, Hilana knew, probable payback for her doing the same thing to him when she had watched him sparring with Finn. Every time she tried to focus on the discs, the lithe Avialae was shaking it pretty good, and Hilana was trying not to giggle while she kept the sword going. And Athalia was taking full advantage of the distraction. She made sure to bring discs from the direction in which Raithen was on the sidelines to make sure Hilana was catching an eyeful of her partner, and then slinging another one while her focus was not completely on the exercise anymore. Somewhere along the line, Lia did catch her on the shoulder. "And now you've lost an arm. Don't think twice, Hilana. Focus on what's coming your way, and then you can focus on what you're going to do later. But if you're dead, you can't enjoy His Resplendence, can you?"

Her sister had a good point, and even if they had been at it for a while, she had asked for this, and even with Raithen here, she needed to keep on working on it. It wouldn't ever be an ideal situation for a fight, and losing focus for a split second meant you might lose your life in that instant. So even with the Duke of House Phaedryn doing his dances, Hilana made herself concentrate on her sister, settling down and focusing on her breathing to find that flow again. Just had to think about what she was doing and get back into the swing of things. The falcata felt more and more like a part of her, and an extension of her arm. Go with the flow, and focus.

She could enjoy Raithen's sexy little dance later... especially in the sheets.

[Talisman]

Review

Name: Hilana Chenzira

XP: 8 Points, no magic
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: Fun times with Raithen. Maybe a massage. And shower. Something like that.

Notes: It's always interesting to see how these solos go, but it's nice that Solunarium's resident royal Avialae likes to support his girl.