Seven Days Later (Lyra)

[Fawn]

1st-7th of Glade, 121

Fawn watched Lyra in return. Studying. Though she didn't get much from it, the woman was as closed off as a castle and as frozen as ice. So while she may have desired to know Lyra's opinion on the matter, it didn't seem she'd get one. But her decision to fight felt good. Strong. Part of her of course simply just wanted to attack something, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to rid herself of the rage that boiled inside her.

When Lyra stood Fawn followed, though with widened eyes as she was surprised it would start so soon. It was for the better though, she decided, as they walked further from the library with torn books she'd need to return to eventually. Walking down the steps of the stairs felt strange, though. Dirty. Her stomach churned again as the memories flooded through her. The tightly wound staircase and it's narrow walls reminding her of the same horrible hallway in Havershims. But, all stairs had since then. She wished it would stop, and breathed in deeply to calm her nerves as best she could when they finally rounded the corner and stepped out into the shop below.

Following close behind, Fawn blinked as they reached the door. Her eyes wouldn't focus, seeming to prefer the bookshelves and window to the odd enchanted door. She could almost feel how she wasn't supposed to know even as Lyra explained it. As she made her promise. "Yes Ma'am." She said, gulping down some nerves. She had never been one to tell secrets, but the very idea that the woman had such a secret place hidden in plain sight made Fawn wonder if it would be the same as the mans. She kept close as they walked down the stairs. This time, reaching out to hold onto the womans sleeve in some form of comfort. The smells were vastly different, though, as was the lighting when she lit the sconces that lined the walls and lit the room in a brilliant glow.

Fawn let go of Lyra's sleeve then and looked around in awe. It was magnificent. Perhaps normal to Lyra, but the girl had never seen such a space before. Science and experimentation had never been part of her interests, but the countless gems and books lining the walls like tapestries drew her gaze as the woman explained their situation. The novelty of it all was perhaps one of the first 'normal' feelings to return, being wonderstruck by the unknown, excited even. But the follow up was what pulled her from her distraction and she turned with a raised brow to the woman.

"What do do ye mean? There's no one else down here." She said.

[Lyra]

"Consider this another secret." Lyra said as she slowly began to undo the ties of her robes. They were of fine quality, black-edged in gold, and well kept and maintained. When she undid the sash at her waist the robles rippled open, flowing to the floor to reveal a suit of tight leather underneath. The outfit was form-fitting and moved easily with Lyra as she checked the cuffs and sighed.

"I suppose it was inevitable, yet still, I find it disconcerting to be seen like this."

Are you getting shy on me? Naila asked, smirking as she stood in the soul space. She stretched herself, shaking out her arms and legs as if preparing for what was to come.

I care not to reveal parts of myself to others that are unbecoming. Lyra responded. She then pressed her finger to her lips as she looked at Fawn, a sign to keep what she saw here to herself, and then she closed her eyes.

The shift wasn't an immediately obvious thing. Between Naila and Lyra it happened almost instantly. There was a subtle shift in Lyra's stance as Naila took over, the hand drop as she bent forward and pressed her hands against the floor in a full stretch that almost had her upper body fully between her legs.

Naila sighed, a relieved sound as she straightened, flipping steadily lightening hair back over her shoulder, revealing the completely different face of Naila the mercenary where Lyra had once been. The Mercenary smiled at Fawn, and stretched her arms height over her head, groaning slightly in pleasure.

"Damn it feels like it's been forever since I was let out." The woman chuckled and rolled her shoulders, her limber joints popping slightly as she loosened stiff muscles. She hopped on one foot experimentally, frowning slightly at the tension she felt in her body.

"Pleasure to meet ya kid. Name's Naila, but you don't really need to know that." Rolling backward Naila fell into a handstand, shifting her weight back and forth as she turned her whole body so she could look at Fawn, upsidedown, "As that bitch said, you don't know I exist when you leave this room. Better for everyone that way."

Bitch? Lyra whispered, annoyance tinging her mental voice.

Naila merely shrugged and righted herself, continuing into a series of stretches as she said to Fawn, "I heard what happened to you. Shits fucked up. So why do you want to learn to fight?"

[Fawn]

1st-7th of Glade, 121

It wouldn't have mattered if she'd been told what to expect. Nothing could truly have prepared Fawn for what Lyra had been about to unveil. But nonetheless as she spoke once more of secrets Fawn nodded, her brow raised as curiosity began to seep into her fear. Perhaps it was for the best, truly, that when Lyra began to strip Fawn took a brief step back. That was until she saw what lay underneath- a body suit. Of leather. It contoured her body as if made specifically for her, though it likely was, fitting like a glove and flowing with each movement.

At the opposite side of the room, Fawn wore an under dress and brown boots. The simple white, long sleeved linen dress, meant to go under an apron or bodice, only clung to the top half of her body before fanning out in a knee-length skirt below. It was the same dress she'd been wearing for days and refused to take off or even wash. In the end, Fawn ended up looking like a dirtied angel while Lyra stood across the room nearly appearing as a prison warden. If she'd been less fearful she might have even thought her dangerously attractive in that moment. But instead she stood confused, heart palpitating as Lyra brought a finger to her lips.

Without much hesitation Fawn nodded. She could feel the ice in the room, the promises of her mortality made should she betray the woman. And then it happened. The woman's body bent forward, stretching, and when she rose up the girl did not see Lyra. Instead, the face of another stared back at her. Fawn let out a scream, stumbling back but catching herself on the wall. Her brow contorted in confusion as she tried to make sense of the woman speaking to her in words she could barely hear over the sound of her own heart.

"Ye- yer not Lyra?" She asked, pulling herself off the wall and taking a hesitant step forward. Where had she gone, then? Why? Had there always been two of them? How? A million thoughts ran through her head as she watched the new not-Lyra stretch and contort herself, as if she'd woken up from a long sleep. Fawn had heard of possessions, even told her own ghost stories during town-wide bonfires and campouts. One of which had to do with an old god who inhabits the bodies of mortals for fun, and kills them in grotesque, exciting ways based on it's mood. Another was simply of a wandering ghost who enjoys screwing with mortals and letting them wake up outside bars in different cities, then watches as they try to figure out how to get home. Or how they even got there. But this was nothing like that. This was real.

Fawn gulped down her fear and took a few steps towards 'Naila', looking her over and checking to see if perhaps she'd seen something wrong. Heard something wrong. But no, the more she looked, the more she realized the truth of the situation.
"I.. what?" She blinked, pulled from her confusion with an exasperated scoff. "Why do you think?!" She asked, perhaps rudely, but continued. "To defend meself! And eventually those I like. But if I canna even protect meself... then what good am I?" Fawn felt tears wanting to well up in her eyes, but she pulled them back and gritted her teeth as she let out a slow exhale of tense, trembling breath.

"Aye, it is fucked up. But I don't intent to let anyone do it ta' me ever again. So.. teach me. How do I fight?" Her eyes hardened, focused now on the task at hand rather than the strange not-Lyra in front of her. She'd muse on that later, but for now, she wanted to learn. As fast as possible, so she could finally be rid of her fear.

[Lyra]

"Not Lyra." the woman confirmed, bending forward where she sat on the ground to grab her toes and pull, stretching her back with a series of popping sounds, "It's a bit hard to explain, but we are two separate people. I'm just the more lovable one."

She is afraid.

"Of course she is." Naila said aloud, tilting her head as if listening to a voice only she could hear, "We just switched on her. I'd be worried if she wasn't afraid."

Naila blinked and stood, brushing off her bottom as she looked at Fawn with a hand on one cocked hip. She considered Fawn's words for a moment, and then shrugged before bending down to touch her toes.

"Fair enough. You don't have to fight though." The mercenary breathed out as she stretched down further and further, wrapping her arms around the backs of her legs, "You could run. Avoid guys like that jackass, and never get fooled by so obvious a ploy again. You could take up poison making. A girl like you can do a lot of damage with a few good poisons."

Naila's words were light-hearted despite their grim nature, but she didn't smile when she straightened, "I'll be honest with you Fawn, I'm not a great teacher, and something tells me you aren't cut out for what I can show you. To be perfectly frank, most girls are better of using other methods. In a straight-up fight, you are more likely to get your ass kicked than do any real good."

She was now bouncing on her toes, rolling her neck from side to side, "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. Lyra said teach you, so teach you I will. Somehow I doubt you will get it without a few bruises."

Then she moved, her motions a blur as she crossed the distance between them in an instant. Naila breathed out a hissing breath, slamming a fist into Fawn's gut hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs. As the girl doubled over Naila would grab her by the hair, yanking her up to eye level and keeping her from falling.

"You got some cracked ribs right? I'll avoid those." She smiled, and then put a fist in the girl's face, sending her rolling on the floor several feet away.

Don't kill her. Lyra said, her presence flooding upwards and threatening to overtake Naila's control. The mercenary just shrugged and shook her fist out.

"I told you I'm not great at teaching. All I know to do is show her the same way I learned. So, Fawn," Naila began to walk toward Fawn then, rolling her shoulders, "Lesson number one. Don't get hit."

[Fawn]

1st-7th of Glade, 121

Fawn just stared at not-Lyra while she spoke, slowly coming to terms with what was in front of her. Her comment perhaps normally would have pulled a small smile from Fawn, but instead she remained still and scoffed. "Loveable?" She whispered it, somehow not exactly believing the words but nonetheless letting the moment pass. True, she could run. But she'd tried that and it hadn't worked. And what if that was no option? What if she were to be faced with someone who would not drink a poison? Was there a way to administer it without them even knowing?

"Then I'll ken about poisons, too. I want all of it. The more ways I have to defend or run or fight, the better. Aye?" She asked, sterning her brow. "I don'na care if I canna take it. I might as well find out at least." Fawn had found it- some solidity in her chest as she sunk her heart to stone and let her convictions still her fear. Not entirely, but enough to face whatever Naila had to bring towards her.

Or so she thought. The movement from the woman was swift. It wasn't clumsy like it had been from Havershim, but the memory overlapped all the same. His fist in her gut, his hands in her hair, her rough coughing and gasping for breath as he pulled her up to face his sweating, straining face. And at first that's all she saw, his face staring back at her, though flashes of reality came through as she focused just in time to see Naila's face looking through her as if she were nothing. Which, somehow felt better than the way Havershim had looked at her. Could she really do this? Doubt clouded her mind. Was she strong enough to face the bend and twist of reality and the panic that overtook her, freezing her in place?

The next thing she knew she was skidding across the floor with a pained yowl, face throbbing as she lay for a moment before scrambling to her feet.

She had to. Fear coated her brow and trembled in her lip as she squinted through a slowly reddening, swelling eye. But if she couldn't face someone who she knew wouldn't kill her, how could she even plan to face the true harshness of the world that lay outside? Fawn panted and coughed again as the air scratched her lungs, her ribs aching already. Some had fractured, while others had simply bruised, and while they had all healed for the most part she could still feel remnants of injuries lingering beneath her skin.

As the woman walked towards her something suddenly hit her- an idea. Fighting.. it was like a dance. If you move in time with your partner, or in this case opponent, everything has a flow and rhythm. That meant only that she had to find Naila's rhythm, match it, and avoid it. Find a way to both lead and follow her actions to avoid and perhaps even counter her attacks. She knew she'd likely fail today. Many times. But that didn't mean she wouldn't learn anything if she studied the movements at least.

Fawn readied herself then, spreading her stance wide and low as she stared at the woman in front of her with determination an a fire brewing within her soul. "Fine. Then don't hold back."

[Lyra]

"Good girl." Naila said, not quite mocking though she smirked.

"The thing about fighting," Naila said, darting forward and sweeping Fawn's legs from under her, "Is that it rarely is fair."

If Fawn retaliated Naila would absently bat aside the swings and dance backward, humming to herself as if she were on a simple stroll. She then started to walk in slow circles around the girl, checking her nails as if uninterested in their contest. Again if Fawn decided to come for her she would block, bend or dodge with barely a glance at the girl, using Fawn's own momentum to turn her upside down.

"If it comes down to it and you actually have to fight? You've already lost." As she said this Naila would slip in close to fawn, catching her under the jaw with an open palm in a blow that would make the girl's ears ring as the world spun. Naila would then dance backwards once more, flicking off a bit of red from her hand that had come from Fawn's own nose.

Their rounds would go in a similar fashion for nearly a minute, up until Fawn made one error and overextended. In an instant, Naila would attack, face hardening as she smashed her knee into the girl's nose. As she fell Naila would grab Fawn by the hair again, catching her just before her face hit the stones, and then she would let her drop with a thud. Walking around the girl's body Naila would crouch near Fawn's head, tilting it and looking into her eyes.

"I lied. Lesson one kid, if someone else is making the rules, fucking run." With that Naila dusted her hands off and stepped back, leaning against the wall idly as she waited for Fawn to pick herself up.

[Fawn]

1st-7th of Glade, 121

Fawn hit the ground hard, her tailbone connected with the ground first followed by her shoulder. It was pure reflexes that stopped her head from hitting next. She swung her leg out in an attempt to do the same to Naila, but found nothing but air to connect with. She panted, swinging her head around and pushing copper curls from her vision. That was definitely one thing she'd need to fix; her hair. A note for later to at least tie it up.

Fawn quickly hopped to her feet and with an adrenaline fueled scream lunge at Naila. It was sloppy. There was no dance to it or reasoning, her balance was off and she left every part of her body open for the woman to counter. And she did just that, flipping her upside down with her own momentum and leaving Fawn to growl through frustrated grit. "Dammit- I ken! I'm tryin'!" She yelled into the ground, then spun herself around to face the woman again only to find a palm to her jaw. Moments later she was once again on the ground, her head spinning and ears ringing, blood dripping from her nose. Fawn coughed, realizing she'd bit her tongue and drew blood from there as well and spit a wad of the crimson onto the ground.

Tears welled in her eyes. Frustration and anger directed at herself while fear permeated every movement. She wanted to fight, to run, to scream, to cry, to simply fade into oblivion or explode into the sun. But none were options, and the simplicity of Naila's words pissed her off more than anything. She knew she'd lost. But that wouldn't stop her from trying. It was the only thing she could do.

She staggered as she straightened her back and shrugged the pain of her ribs and eye off, then with a slow breath to steady herself launched herself forward at Naila.

Each round was the same. She'd throw punches, get thrown on the ground. She'd barely have time to stand up before another hit would come to break the wind from her body and send her skidding across the ground again. Countless times over the course of a full minute that felt like hours until she made a much larger mistake. It was inevitable, she could see Havershim standing in front of her as an illusion or a hallucination of her mind, taunting her, laughing at her, cooing and stroking himself. Rage welled inside her and she ran at full speed, without restraint towards the woman with a scream. But Naila was ready, and Fawn felt the world crash into her nose. In that moment she fell forward in a yelp of pain, only being caught by the woman's hands fisted into her hair before being dropped like a sack.

She groaned, coughing blood from her mouth as more trickled from her nose. She could feel the woman moving her head and blinked through a swollen eye at her. But through that swollen eye still glared at her. Havershims face was gone, but it was hard to make her out over the blur caused by shock. "A-aye..." She muffled, spitting blood from her mouth. Her body wobbled as she got on all fours. Her dress had torn in multiple places from contact with the stone ground, speckled with tiny droplets of blood from scrapes upon her legs and arms. As she began to stand she staggered, catching herself on the wall beside her and looking up at Naila.

Her breathing was heavy, ragged, and her body ached while her vision blurred. Was the world tunneling?

"Again." She croaked out through raspy breaths, limbs trembling. Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea but she didn't care. More than learning part of her simply wanted to feel and to fight and to win. And if that meant getting thrown around by another woman, then so be it. The only issue might have been that Fawn had no idea how in over her head she was, or how horribly outmatched she was.

[Lyra]

Naila grunted and raised an eyebrow as she looked fawn up and down. A nice black eye was building, and her face was swelling over the bridge of her nose. Several places where her skin was exposed were already beginning to purple and bruise. Still, the Mercenary had to give the girl credit. She had tenacity, if not brains.

Enough.

Naila stiffened, and then sighed, shaking her head as she straightened off the wall, "We're done for the day."

If Fawn even began to protest she would dart forward, backhanding the girl with enough force to make her drop once last time and have blackness overwhelm her.

"I don't think this is the right thing to do." Naila said, shifting back on her heels and looking into their soul space. Lyra floated there, half-formed from smoke lazily listing through space like a cloud on the wind. The old elf shrugged and waved a dismissive hand.

She chose this path. In any case, it is for the best. If I cannot chain her down then I would have her at least be able to defend herself.

"This isn't the way to do it." Naila countered, frustration tinging her voice as she looked down at Fawn, "She's more likely to take what she learns here and turn it on someone else, or worse herself. Blood is like a drug. Once you learn to draw it, it becomes harder and harder to resist."

Lyra smiled, flowing upward and taking back control of their vessel. Their hair darkened as Naila returned the illusion to its proper state, and Lyra now gazed through Golden eyes down at the bloodied and bruised body of Fawn.

"Perhaps so... That could be of use as well."

Lyra retrieved her robes from where they lay on the ground, putting them on once more before walking from the storeroom into the main Lab. She then made herself comfortable, content to let Fawn rest in her own pool of blood until she awakened. Perhaps this would be enough to show the girl the error in her ways. If only it were so simple to curb the minds of the youth.

[Paragon]

R E W A R D S

Lyra
XP: 8. Cannot be used for magic.
Lore Requests
Persuasion: Using guilt hidden by anger
Persuasion: Turning blame around
Persuasion: Recognizing when the other person isn't swayed

Negotiation: Offer the deal when they are weakest
Negotiation: Calm tones imply threats better than loud voices
Negotiation: Everything is secret, except when it is not

Unarmed Combat: Using another's momentum against them
Unarmed Combat: Stay out of the other person's reach

Acrobatics: Basic Stretches
Acrobatics: Balancing on one foot

Fawn
XP: 8. Cannot be used for magic.
Lore Requests
Socialization: Apologizing for Wrongdoing
Socialization: Fixing What You've Done Wrong
Unarmed Combat: Charging In Can End Badly
Unarmed Combat: Fighting is like Dancing
Unarmed Combat: Start in a Defensive Stance
Unarmed Combat: Maybe Run, Next Time
Unarmed Combat: Duck To Dodge
Unarmed Combat: Remember to Block Your Face
Unarmed Combat: Get Up When You're Down
Unarmed Combat: Move Quickly To Avoid Followup Attacks
Unarmed Combat: Use fear to drive you

Note: I changed "Charisma" to "Socialization" per discussions had with all involved parties.