[The Hunt] [Wednesday, July 24, 2490 - an hour or two past the end of classes.] Lord Wind put forth a challenge to Lady Crystal earlier that day, interested in sparring. After all, it's The Thing for the Hierarchy Ladies to do. She agreed, they negotiated the arena, and now the appointed hour draws nigh at the snowflakes' beach. [mini start] * John is there perhaps a half-hour early. He's got a little backpack stashed with some bottled water, and a towel. * Farah shows up pretty much on time, looking like she came from a light jog. She also seems to have a satchel on-hand. "Hey..." * John waves. He seems pretty cheerful. "Ever done one of these before?" You mean, a spar? Dude, I've been kicking people and getting kicked ever since I was five, of course I know the basics. Just not the magical basics, if that's what you're angling at. Magically. * John makes a wry face. Nnnnnot really. I heard you guys got smacked around by the pros. I intend to catch up to them. *he says this in a curiously serious fashion* But that's later. * John takes off his EI and sets it on the towel. Then he steps back. "Go till one of us is knocked out or cries uncle, no sore losers?" Wouldn't have it any other way. * Farah puts her stuff to the side. "Apologies in advance if things get kinda messy." * John smirks, and suddenly the wind goes from settled to furious, wrapping itself around the interim Lord. Sand and air so thick it's nearly solid obscure him for a moment, and the transition is complete. Flashy, flashy... CRYSTALLIZE! * Farah snaps her right hand out, snaps her fingers, and it seems like her skin shatters for a moment, leaving behind a glittery storm of crystalline fragments. The better to show off the bright and shiny magical girl underneath, light-lines dancing their way into her eyes. Hercules, give us a countdown. From 5. * Hercules starts counting down in a slow, measured pace. "Five." Four. Three. Two. One. * LadyCrystal has her hands up smoothly, feet bouncing to the count. * LadyCrystal is in motion the moment she hears 'zero'. John can see that she's following a long-memorized playbook - a smooth, guarded approach, a bit of a dip, and then a sudden twist and snap, her boot striking out at John's midsection. The edge gets particularly nasty as it draws close. * LadyCrystal smiles a little, foot held up for a moment. "Nabad... you have any training?" * LordWind dives out of the way - but not by enough - and he curses off something as the crystal draws blood. Not really! *he immediately explodes into another storm of dust and wind - except this time it doesn't go away.* I was wondering how much of yours transferred to this! * LordWind doesn't advance, keeping his distance. Most of it.... if not all. * LadyCrystal stops and ponders. "Defense... here, catch." She strikes that damned goofy-looking post, pointing daintily at John. "Flashing Pillar!" A thin, wicked-looking lance of crystal juts from the beach up at him... * LordWind, despite expecting that, is groundborne just a moment too long after she calls it out. The pillar thrusts its way past the windy barrier, at cost to both the crystal and the barrier. * LadyCrystal relaxes. "Hn... you know, for a moment I was wondering if we were just gonna strap on gloves and wail for a bit." Fu- ... Aerocrush! *he thrusts one palm out viciously. There's no sign at all that anything just happened, just another chaotic streak of wind in the already minor gale.* * LadyCrystal clenches up, but she's battered and it shows, knocked around pretty soundly by the Aerocrush. She does set herself, shaking the cobwebs out. "Shit, that's pounding..." You're pretty fast. Have trouble keeping up. Heh... thanks. * LadyCrystal gets a bit of a running start, then launches at Wind a second time. This is just a full-body strike, knee-first. More jagged quartz goodness as well. Farah, for the record, is smiling even through her otherwise intense expression. * LordWind backpedals, trying to get enough range to sidestep, but ends up taking a crystal knee - that gets a little deeper past the barrier than it did last time. Even as it shoves through, though, the solid air converges and surrounds Farah upon contact. * LordWind grunts, as Lady Crystal floats in place. * LadyCrystal is still smiling for about half a second. And then she's floating in place, making all sorts of grunting noises. "Oh, what the hell!" * LordWind takes a long, unhurried moment to stand straight, and compose himself, before saying, quietly, "Decisive path. Aerocrush Storm." And like a practiced kata, he shoves both hands forward. * LadyCrystal is promptly hammered back to the ground, bouncing a bit as the wind's taken out of her sails. She does get up pretty quickly (perhaps on instinct) and home in on Wind, looking rather unfocused. "Hngh. Sorry about this..." * LordWind seems pretty surprised that she's still standing. @_@ * LadyCrystal is on Wind like a shot - the initial swing of her arm is merely a feint, the elbow coming back around to center mass... while a large, wicked-looking mass of crystalline pain forms around it. "Crystal Burst!" * LadyCrystal finishes the swipe, and the ensuing mass of jagged crystal is more than likely going to cut through both shield and flesh nastily. She doesn't look all that happy at the results (which included the annoying wind- locking nonsense), but a fight's a fight. He'll be fine afterwards, anyway. * ... barring the bits of crystal that linger in the wounds, growing at a staggering rate to form thick, glittering bindings. * LordWind simply falls over, eyes widening. The wind barrier is still up, but it's got chunks missing here and there. He seems content to not pursue the fight further, and - with some effort - makes a 'cut' motion. Un. cle. Ow. * LadyCrystal seems more than content to take that as a sign of stoppage, and continues to float lazily. "... sorry, bro. You alright?" I think I'd have trouble taking that at full strength. Even. I'll. *pauses, and looks over the effects, careful not to move much* I'll be okay. You? My head's swimming. Used to that, and it's fading. Surprised you didn't just lift off and blast me to Fuck City. You noticed? We've fought together before, I know enough. I don't have much for keepaway. Maybe wing a Diamond Fire at you or something. I wanted try you in your enviroment, not mine. Heh. It's a messy place, toe to toe. You should've seen how much Pops roughed me up when he came by. Well, next time maybe we'll play in my field. *he bangs on the thin crystal shell on his stomach, and cracks it with a wince and a cymbal- crash* * LadyCrystal works her bindings a bit, and then finds herself landing ass- first on the ground. "Ugh. Well... that was kinda fun." * LordWind laughs, despite himself. "Yeah." I am definitely going to have to get some lessons from your dad. Pops is awesome, when he's got the time. * LordWind stands up, and does some slow, forced stretches, trying to gauge how much that's going to linger. You're born to this. I'm going to have a challenge keeping up. Well, you're a Lord! Highly-favored, and lusted after by all the rich, tittering little teenyboppers in T3M. You should be fine. * LadyCrystal is up soon enough, stretching some. * LordWind retrieves one of the water bottles he brought. "I guess. Different worlds, and all." I'm curious. What was running through your head when you went in for that last blow? * LadyCrystal looks to Wind. "'Win'." Pops always taught me that. Sometimes, you just can't have any reservations. You hafta go, fight, and win. Sei's not there, at all... he wears his heart on his sleeve, and I hope it doesn't get him hurt. I mean, it's good that he does, but he's so damned naive. * LordWind looks at Lady Crystal with an intense, gauging look for a long moment, then feels his stomach again. "That's definitely going to linger a little bit." Sei. Well, he's got some roughing up to do. He's not. Well, he's not smart, but he's not dumb. He's got enough of the right things in his head to get by until that happens. No kidding. I hope he keeps his heart, though. Not let it just turn to stone. Callous up some, toughen, sure. But it needs to stay like it is on the inside. We need a guy like that. * LadyCrystal smiles a little. "He needs to stay a goofy, cute little kid as long as he can. We're gonna have do some growing up, and fast." As long as I'm in the front of this team, I'm going to try and let you all keep as much time as you can before you have to grow up. * LordWind sighs. "Don't know how much time that will be, though." Not long. The darts will be darts, the Ladies are getting more familiar, and we'll all be known entities soon enough. It's not the darts or Ladies that I'm worried about. They follow the rules. Sorta. Sidser fringe bastards? How do you think Sei would have handled that? ... well, I'm just glad he didn't have to. Total and utter shellshock? * LadyCrystal frowns. "It's bad enough we lose Unicorn to that damned building-squid. Magic bless her horny soul, I'll miss her antics." But more? Ugh, it would be a mess. There're few Ladies as is, and no telling if the Magic'll decide to spit out some more Snowflakes. * LordWind shrugs. "Who knows? There's some guesses off the early Earth patterns, but that's them." Well, super-early Earth was just the First Queen's team... but this is a new world, and everything's all out of whack. No telling what'll happen. Hell, the darts might start jacking people. They've pretty much gone for more and more advanced creatures, and we know they can ride something from Earth now. * LordWind eyes the mess of sand, crystal bits, and blood, and forces a focused, small, strong breeze to try and cover up the worst bits with displaced sand. Thanks. So... I think I'm good enough to normal out. You? I'm going to cook a little longer. Just to make sure. You up for doing this again sometime? * LadyCrystal grins, even as she 'bursts' once more, revealing plain ol' Farah. "Of course. Uh..." I know this is kind of touchy, but any word on the girlfriend? * LordWind makes a face. "Is it bad that I don't think that we'll make it?" But even so. She's my last anchor to just being John. I think that's something I should talk to one of the Ladies about, though. It is weird, really. Knowing that I'm not... just Farah anymore. But you're still Farah first. Please see you and they see this tomboy, not some over-important avatar. True. Wanna stay that way, too, but the old saying may be true. 'Power corrupts'. Well, it might at least change us... and well, of course, I haven't been outed yet. Might not change even then, though. * LordWind shrugs. What's your take on Tasiya? She... well, I don't get her. And I can't quite figure out how to get her to engage without trapping her in a room. Nice big friendbase even without being outed. Pretty popular. Down to earth enough. I am sure she's the only person alive who dresses the way she does. * Farah idly nibbles on her knuckle. "I'd make a joke about her chest, but nothing comes to mind." * LordWind leans over, and slowly, slowly, stretches to touch his toes. "Nngh." Jaimie's kind of in my league, but she's better off, I think. A little. Sei is Sei, and full of mysteries and water and that damned turtle- thing. Jaimie. She's got some inner steel that she doesn't show much, but it's there. She'll be fine, wherever she is. * LordWind glances at the sky. "Well. I don't want to hold you up too long, and I've got some more thinking and scheming to do. ... and healing." Thanks again. That match helped me figure out a couple of answers. Feel free to challenge me anytime. I'll be up for it. I'd like that. No, really, I would. And you're welcome. * Farah salutes lazily, and then nabs her stuff before walking off. "Ta." Later. [end mini]