The Stars and the Moon [Moon]

[Kala Leukos]

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Kala smiled.

"I apologize if I inferred too much. Most people underestimate me, either because of my gender or my age." Her smile turned wry. "I thank you for your confidence."

As for relying on oneself, she considered him, and then her boys. She could feel them to varying degrees through their bonds, but she hadn't yet formed a Coalescence as she had learned to do on Atoria. The Coalescence there, massive in scale, had been shared with her. It was the model of Unity for which she strived. She might have dissented, but instead she decided to mull over his words. Now that she was something different from her twin, it called into question the balance they had always shared. Kala knew she could count on him until the end, but his end could come much quicker, much more easily than hers.

"I wish you luck if you do contact her Majesty." She pulled a curved karambit from her belt and twirled it around a finger.

People also underestimated her due to her diminutive stature, but she could hold her own in a fight even without a magical edge. But she wasn't cocky. The man moved like a warrior; surely, he was skilled.

Kala vaulted over the railing into an unused ring, careful of her wings; she was still getting used to those. She had trained as a dancer as well, and she was learning to be graceful as she had been without wings. She circled the ring, pulling forth another karambit.

"At your leisure, Jae-Seong."

She smiled, bowed, and awaited his entrance into the training ring. She could feel the attention of her boys via their bonds, but they were alert rather than worried.

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[Moon Jae-Seong]

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Given the myriad of unique individuals he’d come across in his travels, Jae-Seong had learned long ago that many are beyond what they appear to be, and sometimes they are something else entirely. To make harsh judgments or to dismiss others based upon only surface-level observations was folly, for one, but just as well, doing so would lead one down a path of many missed opportunities.

“To doubt you for those reasons would be…in poor taste.” He replied, and though his expression and voice were largely encouraging, one would be able to detect slight snide undercurrents woven into his words towards those who would judge her for such things.

And to her comment regarding the Queen-Regent, “I appreciate it.”

On the subject of sparring, Jae-Seong was not quite sure if she had meant that they would do so now or at a later time, but the answer to this quandary was quickly found within the girl's subsequent movements. When it came to combat, the swordsman did not prefer to use his present form, nor did he intend to. It was, in large part, for this reason that he wore clothing of a looser, more flexible fit.

“A moment,” he said, though he did not elaborate.

As Kala took position, the mixed-blood would begin to change shape. Though Jae-Seong was only half Rathari, he’d inherited all of their Lycanthropic abilities. Where once there was bare flesh soon became feathered; his face would twist and break; human features were quickly replaced with an avian visage. His bones shifted in density, skeleton warping, shoulder blades shifting to accommodate the growth of glimmering, ebony wings– and though dark as the abyss, direct light would reflect kaleidoscopic color. The transformation of a Rathari was always a strange sight, but the process was as natural to him as breathing. And while some would certainly suggest such a thing was grotesque, he almost made it look elegant. The only part of him that appeared oddly untouched was the brightly colored peculiarity of his marked arm.

Before he himself moved, he took a moment to adjust, flexing his wings and rolling his shoulders. And if one were to look into his eyes, one would note them clear and chromatically similar, yet far colder. It was then that æther burst forth from the palms of both hands in the form of glistening, coruscant shards which quickly appeared to crystallize and then coalesce shortly thereafter into the shape of two longswords. In this case, however, he’d blunted both blades by virtue of Reaving’s Morphosis. Now armed, he vaulted into the air himself, gliding over the railing with apparent ease; he was far lighter in this shape than Zoan.

Once the word was given and with great alacrity, the swordsman moved, lunging forward with unnatural speed. Though swift on his own, the swordsman propelled himself further by taking hold of the wind’s mercurial grace. His intent was to cleave at his opponent with the blade in his left hand, trying to catch her off-guard by swiftness alone; he sought to take advantage of striking first.

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'Thoughts'

"Synskrit Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"

[Kala Leukos]

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If anything, the look on her face as she witnessed his transformation was quiet delight. And she was able to enjoy it on an aetheric level, as well. She felt him pull his longswords out of the aether, and gathering the strength of the wind for his initial lunge. The naginata might have been a preferable weapon against a man with two blades and a longer reach, but she was better with these smaller blades.

Kala dodged the one while being mindful of the other. Though Semblance gave her a bit of an edge in reaction time, his style was still largely unknown to her. Her wings remained tightly folded, allowing her to torque her body with less effort. They were necessary for airborne combat, but in many ways still a hindrance on the ground. All the same, she would never complain about having to relearn how to do just about everything; she had yearned for wings since she was able to differentiate herself from her twin.

The boys paused in their sparring to watch. They didn't fear for her, but there was a tension suffusing them. Not only was she Kaus' twin and the boys' friend, but she was the only winged Avialae woman on Ransera and a newborn Moritasi to boot. She was precious to them on so many levels now.

But she was used to fighting men bigger than she was. Practically everyone was bigger than she was. Even when she reached her full height, her elder brother had teased that she was only fit to fight gnomes. But Aquilios knew better than to underestimate her by now.

For the time being, she focused on dodging and weaving, getting a sense for how Jae-Seong fought—the better to identify an opportunity to attack when patience afforded her an opportunity.

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[Moon Jae-Seong]

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His opponent was much shorter than him, which afforded him quite a bit more reach on top of the difference in size of their respective weapons. He hated to fight spears with his swords, superior reach that they had, and he imagined those who favored daggers, knives, the like, might feel similarly against somebody armed with longer blades. And though he hated to fight against spears, he would very willingly spar with practitioners thereof– the only way to get better, that. So while in a real fight her choice of weapon would be patently unwise against him, it was always good to practice for if this weapon were her only option.

The swordsman did expect her to be swift, if nothing else. Smaller fighters usually were, as they were unable to rely on brute strength alone. Those who chose smaller weapons also veered more strongly into this trend. Quick on her feet, she sidestepped his first attempt to strike. Though his movement was further guided by continuous gusts of wind, it would appear that she was well able to keep up, at least when focusing on the defensive.

He knew what she was doing; she was trying to read him, as any calculating opponent ought to do. And yet, without notable endurance, delaying for too long was a dangerous game. Particularly so if one knows not their own limitations, but since her life wasn't actually at risk, this was also a decent opportunity to test those.

On his end, Jae-Seong kept up his offensive, but he was fighting on the edge of his range, making full use of the advantages provided by both length of limb and blade. Each time he tried to strike her, he held himself as much out of her reach as he could. The downside is that doing this was somewhat noncommittal and it made him slightly easier to dodge.

After a bit of this stalemate, he would try and feint, hoping to catch her off-guard and land a sweeping strike, aiming for her torso.

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'Thoughts'

"SynskritTongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"

[Kala Leukos]

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When she sensed him plying his aeromancy, she supposed it was only fair. When training all out, she was in the habit of using whatever she had. As for her Semblance, she often had to remember to pull her aether out of the Rune, letting it lie in dormancy when she wanted to work on her skills in isolation. But whether she was at court politicking, in her office working through macroeconomic problems, or working on something magical, the power was essential. For now, though, she would engage with the one Rune while her opponent engaged in his. His mind was new to her, but she was practiced at using Semblance to anticipate the flow of battle.

Between that and being used to fighting those with longer reach, it wasn't terribly difficult to dodge and deflect. The feint came, and she managed to hook his blade with the curve of hers and adjust its path while spinning out of the way of his follow-up. He was good, though; too good for comfort. A year ago, they might have been better matched, but she was still growing accustomed to her wings and how they changed her centers of gravity.

No matter how well she could read invisible tells, he was good enough that she didn't see any openings. All she could do was anticipate, react, and try to do so in as economical a manner as possible so as not to be the one who wore out first.

For a moment, she sensed the attention of her brother and her friends, but she narrowed her focus once more on Moon. They were overprotective, but she wasn't worried. She was, however, starting to sweat. The diminutive warrior could only hope she was giving the bird man an equal workout.

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[Moon Jae-Seong]

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It was always the swifter opponents that gave him the most trouble; a more dextrous fighter himself, Jae-Seong found it easier to cut bigger, slower opponents to ribbons, to bleed them whilst still being able to dodge and weave ‘round their strikes. Sure, if hit, he’d crumble– though such a thing was always a risk he had been willing to take. But other nimble fighters? These duels were longer and always more strenuous in both physicality and aether.

And she was nimble, indeed. The swordsman could gamble on whether or not she would tire first, but in doing so, he’d be racing against his own timer; he was a patient man, but patience cannot negate the eventual reality of one’s body giving in to exhaustion. With the wish to avoid that, he kept his wings folded tightly against his back both to avoid drag and because aerial combat was an expense of energy he did not currently deem necessary. Further, his mind was set on watching for weakness, seeking opportunity in a misstep, a lapse in focus, in judgment.

Almost akin to a dance, they both wove ‘round one another, him mostly striving to ingress, her mostly acting in egress. Exhilarating as combat, even sparring, always is, it was becoming more difficult to ignore the expense of the exertion involved– this being incipient in application to each, differing slightly in intensity. And yet the swordsmen still felt quite alive, alert, allowing adrenaline to push him ever forward; he did so love a good fight.

But it had a been a minute and, in an effort to create his own opportunity, the man shifted the air backing Kala, the air beneath her wings. This change was the creation of a simple little zephyr; it was meant to cause her wings to ‘catch’ in the air, however briefly, creating excess drag and throwing the girl off balance. He’d picked up on the fact that the newness of her wings had her slightly unsteady in her gait, her movements, in that regard.

If this idea worked, he would move to strike, to connect dulled blade to belly.

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'Thoughts'

"Synskrit Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"

[Kala Leukos]

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Even with her wings as tightly folded as they had been since the beginning of their sparring match, his aeromancy found some purchase and it was enough to put a stumble in her step. She recovered, but found herself behind the beat, her rhythm stuttering. Even so, she managed a parry here, a block there, and if she had been able to initiate her next move a fraction of a moment earlier, it might have succeeded, but even against his dulled blade, she wasn't prepared to take a blow to the head and so she had to leave herself open to a blow to her belly. Her karambit fell to either side of her.

"I yield," she said between breaths that were quicker and deeper than when they had begun. She felt the razor sharp attention of several warriors around the place, certainly those who had been ordered to keep her safe. Sahfri's hands were everywhere in Kalzasi except in her home. Perhaps that was why she worked so often from her home office. "Well sparred, sir." She waited for him to sheath his blade before she picked up hers, slung them in their sheaths, and she stood to her unimpressive height.

Kala bowed.

"I will seek you out again for a rematch once I am more comfortable with my wings," she promised with a smile.

She could feel Kaus' critique on the edges of her awareness, but he and the boys were already turning back to their sparring. Kala had lost, but Indric was the one who had to get smacked around with polearms, so she wasn't exactly jealous of him.

"In the meantime, Kalzasi is fortunate to have so keen a blade as yours."

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[Moon Jae-Seong]

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Given how many of his maneuvers she'd thus far been able to dodge with an agile grace, Jae-Seong was pleasantly surprised that his little gambit with the breeze ended up working. That surprise, however, did not delay his reaction– when one sees their opponent stumble, one must press the attack. Despite his waxing exhaustion, he steeled himself and with concentrated effort, forced his body to orchestrate several quick strikes. Due to her off-balance defense, he managed to create an opening and then take it. And though decisive with his strike, the moment he realized his blow would hand, he slowed the force of his hand to lessen the weight behind it. His blade might be blunt but there was no need to wind her with a dull strike to the gut.

When she stepped back after yielding, the swordsman did the same, giving himself a moment's pause just to breathe. And to her words, he nodded, but rose a hand to indicate she wait; in his Lycan form, he could not properly speak; a crow's voice was…odd, raspy, and hard to understand. It was significantly more effort to force out sounds that resembled words than, in moments like this, simply reverting back to Zoan. As beak, wings and feathers all receded back to his more elvish shape, he adjusted his shoulders and neck to the lack thereof.

"Your words honor me," Jae-Seong smiled and bowed in turn.

"Swift as a mantis, you are. I thought I'd yield to exhaustion 'fore I handed a hit," he continued with a soft laugh, words slower now that his breath was faster.

When she spoke of seeking him out, the swordsman replied, "...and I do look forward to seeing you again, context similar to this or not. I can sometimes be hard to find but if you let anyone in House Novalys know, word will get to me eventually. That being said, I'll also let the Queen-Regent know of my interest in being on your guard."

And as he moved to depart, he would wish her well, as well as giving a friendly acknowledgement to those of the onlookers who had not yet gone back to their own business.

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'Thoughts'

"Synskrit Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"

[Finn]

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Experience: 10 xp, available for magic.

Lore: 14

Injuries: N/A

Loot: N/A

Note: Deep breath...

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...everybody was kung fu fighting!