Fire Emblem: Crestfallen | IC

Marlowe · May 19, 2020

MENTIONS: N/A

And so the feast began-- with much satisfaction and revelry, at that. Both the Green Falcons and the Red Chimeras quickly tucked into the food, each of them lining their platters with steaming heaps of chicken and fish and beef. Sherry was one of the people who took a great interest in the pot roast. The moment the soft meat touched her lips, all of the stress from the battle before melted away into pleasure. She didn't know much about food. Hell, she didn't even care about what spices they used in the dish. All she cared was that the pot roast tasted absolutely divine, and she hadn't had a decent meal like that ever since she left home. For the first time since she got to the monastery, the frustrated flame within her had sizzled out. That was until a rather unwelcome face showed itself at their dinner table.

Sherry had heard many stories of Chenoa; they mostly came from her father, who disliked the Sylmare woman a hefty amount. Then again, he disliked Cretus as a whole, believing that those from the eastern houses would smile at your face one moment and sticking a knife in your back the next. Mael didn't seem that traitorous, and she didn't know much about Leon, but Chenoa on the other hand... she looked like she wasn't all there. Swinging her scimitar around, blaming them for damaging the lands-- they were lucky that the archbishop had taken the blame for them. What was even worse was that said archbishop had invited her to stay, which even Sherry knew was a bad idea. The previously jovial atmosphere had morphed into one of tension and insecurity. Even Lady Sylmare's bannermen hovered at the doorway, shifting their weight from one foot to another in uncertainty. Leon was quite literally a sitting duck, and Doric and Parthenia spoke up with their tongues of gold to further temper Chenoa's angry flames. Just when the tension was finally dying down once again, her fellow Galbian next to her started spouting nonsense. Complete. Utter. Nonsense. The sweet taste of the pot roast soured in her throat.

The heiress to the House Grimdall's throne did everything she could to signal to Alex to shut the hell up. But no amount of clearing her throat or scraping her fork against her plate could deter the boy from his rant. After he finally finished, the whole table was covered in deathly silence. Iris had gone pale with shock. Talbot looked like he was going to pass out. It was difficult to get a read on their professor, but now wasn't the time to sit and look around. Sherry shot to her feet, standing up as straight as she could as she cleared her throat.

"Lady Sylmare, I do apologize for my companion's tactless behavior. House Ravaleth's heir is known for having bees for brains, after all, so I wouldn't take his words to heart. If you have any further issue, you could speak to my father, Lord Grimdall," Sherry told Chenoa with a smile. "He'll surely put this to rest, then."

Solace · May 19, 2020

Mentions: @Nim [Laila], @Demon Shinobi [Alexander], @Luminosity [Sherry],@Rouge Rogue [Leonid], @Psyker Landshark [Theodoric], @Astoria [Parthenia], @Jessica2477 [Lapis]

The tense atmosphere had seemed to loosen in the few passing moments after Lady Sylmare's confrontational entrance, which sent a wave of relief over Maelys. While he had been eliminated too early to see the fruition of the Red Chimeras' apparent infraction, the noble could sympathize with Lady Sylmare only marginally, solely because he had already been aware of her material nature. The mock battle was, indeed, just a mock battle, and it was a matter of fact that utilizing a wartime strategy for it was completely unnecessary and overblown. Knowing her from years past, it was entirely justified that Lady Sylmare would be upset over territorial damages; what sort of liege would not have been? A weak one, his grandfather would say. On the other hand, her threatening approach with the drawn weapon was also completely unnecessary and overblown; doing so on holy grounds, nonetheless.

Maelys could feel the onset of a headache from analyzing the situation too much, opting to solve the affliction with a time-tested remedy; more food. As he was cutting a slice of roast pheasant for himself, the boy smiled in the direction of Laila upon her offer, a bit surprised that she remembered. "I would love to! If I'm still alive," the noble flinched upon his last few words, remembering that Lady Sylmare was seated directly beside him and casting a sideways glance towards Leon. "... from having so much food, of course, ahaha!"

The impeccable timing of his language was soon followed by another disruption of their dining ambience. This time, however, it was from one of their own. Maelys watched all of the faces within the dining hall contort with disbelief and apprehension as their own Red Chimera decided to mock Chenoa, seeing the archbishop's glare turn red with anger when his pseudo negotiation was voided by one vagabond tongue. Lady Sylmare did not seem as offended as the rest of the faculty and students were, observing the glittered nails on her right hand before yawning. The honeyed apology of the archbishop had been perverted by Alex's immature and irrational behavior, something that was ill-befitting not just as a noble, but a young man; it was as if those around the archbishop could sense this thought radiating from his aura.

"Is that all?" Chenoa O'oj Sylmare laid an elbow on the tabletop, laying her chin against a row of loose knuckles. While she was not offended by the boy's sudden eruption of waste, her voice now spoke with a noticeable accent, no longer maintaining her speech for noble ears. Her lips curled into a snake of a smile; she had seen boys and men like this one all too often. Her two bannermen had been in the process of procuring shackles when she waved them off.

"Then let us be truthful with each other. I don't care about my ancestors, or their lands. The dead mean nothing to me. Perhaps they mean something to you, no?"

"Surrounded by friends and sanctuary, it's no question that you would muster the balls to speak to me. Suppose that your entire family was put to the sword before you were even born-- it seems House Ravaleth has such a colorful history in kinslaying. It's a shame that Eliana Grimmond suffered the same fate; had I known that she would bear such a waste of life, perhaps it would have been me instead of Zandus that did it. Alas, as far as my birds will fly, even I would not concern myself with the dirt beneath my heels."

Still awkwardly standing in a paused state, Maelys hear a series of gasps fill the dining hall as Namira sprung up from her seat. "My lady, please excuse my brother for his insolence; he knows not of what he speaks," the blue-haired girl was about to bow towards Chenoa before her expression hardened, clenching her fists. "But you will not slander my lord father with such lies!"

A dagger flew across the table from Chenoa's seat, striking the utensil from out of Alex's grasp and launching it towards the feet of the dean at the entrance. Though, from those watching Lady Sylmare, her hand had simply flicked her hair to the side, cackling before her voice shrieked like an ailing elderly woman. "Perhaps we should ask Eliana Grimmond what she thinks of this?

Maelys had no idea what Lady Sylmare spoke of, but perhaps, it was a personal rebuttal? He watched as Chenoa rose from her seat between him and Leon, her cold eyes sneering contempt towards Sherry. "House Sylmare will cease all trade operations to the Kingdom of Galbia, including but not limited to food exports. Be a dear, and tell him yourself."

This had turned into a far greater issue than anyone could have imagined. House Sylmare was the primary export of all food items to Musentia. Given their stature within the Syndicate, placing an embargo on an entire nation was virtually harmless for House Sylmare, yet major implications for the affected realm. Maelys' mouth was wide open as they watched Chenoa strut towards the entrance of the dining hall, picking up her dagger along the way. Without a word, she gave a wink to the archbishop before disappearing around the corridor, her bannermen following suit.

"The result of the mock battle... would be a draw," Archbishop Augustine mustered enough calmness in his voice to speak without rancor, the crimson in his eyes darting between Alex and the other Red Chimeras. He stood tall from his seat, crossing his arms together while a number of stewards began to clumsily whisk the foodstuffs away. "As a result of the violations caused by the Red Chimeras, a demerit will be issued to ALL students of the house, rendering a victory to the Green Falcons."

Despite this announcement, none of the Green Falcons cheered for their 'victory'. "Effective tomorrow, before dinner, each and every member of the Red Chimeras will handle janitorial duties across the entire monastery. NO Red Chimera will not be allowed to enter the dining hall until your task is completed for the day, and a moderator oversees your completion. This includes all facilities within the monastery; the stables, the cathedral, et citera."

"Alexander," the archbishop had feigned the end of his punishment, continuing onward. "In addition to this, you alone will have the task of cleaning the communal latrines and bathrooms, including but not limited to those in the living quarters for students and faculty."

Maelys slowly crumpled down to his seat as his head hung in shame, unsure if the dread was from the Archbishop's fury or the punishment they were being assigned. "The duration of this demerit for ALL members of the Red Chimeras will last until the last day of the Amber Moon-- the end of next month," Augustine's eyes shifted back to a quiet gold shimmer before he began to walk towards the entrance, with Iris and the two professors following suit. "You are all... dismissed."

Nim · May 21, 2020

Laila Bellwood
Interactions:

Noticing that a few others in the table were beginning to speak to Chenoa, who she just noticed suddenly sat between Leon and Mael. While she had wondered where the woman had come from, she decided to listen as she quietly finished eating her desserts plate. The woman was apparently Leon's mother, and then she understood why the noble was likely there. Due to the fire they had caused. Doric and Parthenia both apologized on behalf of the house, which seemed like a polite and reasonable thing to do. And then Alex decided to speak up.

Laila couldn't help but just stare at the boy, who she shared a carriage with the previous day, who offered her a way to ease her motion sickness, and who she felt was the first friend she made here, and just start to talk without care. She blinked twice as he kept on going, and she couldn't help but want to kick his leg under the table. Or maybe aim for between his legs, as long as it got him to shut up. But with a few others between her and Alex, it was impossible for her to reach him without needing to stand up and just walk to him, which she figured in front of the Archbishop, the professors, and a visiting noble would just look bad, and it wouldn't matter if she had a good reason or not.

As Chenoa gave her response, Laila felt the colour drain from her face. All the food exports towards Galbia? All of it? Her mouth opened slightly in shock as she followed the noble, who left the dining hall without another word afterwards. Her thoughts immediately went to her smith dad, who would most likely suffer hard from it. And it was all because a noble who apparently had mush for brains decided to speak without any filter. She just hoped that he will be fine, thanks to how many noble clients he had. Perhaps the more loyal clients would be capable of helping a struggling smith when he has issues getting food.

Then the Archbishop spoke, and her gaze became fixed on the man. While his voice sounded calm, his words felt anything but. No one in the hall seemed to be able to remain calm after what had happened. He then gave a win to the Green Falcons due to the violations that had occurred, before giving all the Red Chimeras a punishment that would last until the end of the following month. The nature of the punishment didn't bother Laila, as she was used to performing manual tasks and was raised to know the value they held. Then Alexander was given a much more specific, and probably one of the nastier tasks, before the Archbishop dismissed them all as he left the dining hall, followed by the remaining facualty members that were present before.

Once all of those left, Laila just fixed her gaze on Alex. She stood from her seat, and walked to him while trying to keep her walk as steady as it could be, so to not show what she was thinking. Upon reaching him, Laila would try and give him the strongest possible slap she could against his left side of his face "Just because we thought it wouldn't be peaceful didn't mean you had to go and do that." She first whispered, in a voice that would only be audible for him, only to shout a moment after "You absolute dumbass of a Ravaleth! You just ruined it for an entire country!" And without waiting to hear any response from anyone, she ran out of the dining hall. She had no desire to be stopped by anyone, no desire to hear anyone right now. She just ran to her room, locking her door after she entered, before beginning to wonder if there was any way for her to warn her dad about the hard times that would be sure to come.

Psyker Landshark · May 29, 2020

Theodoric Branden Marlon
Mentions: @Demon Shinobi (Alex), @Luminosity (Sherry)

For a moment, Theodoric legitimately debated the merits of punching Alexander in the face, right in the middle of the dining hall with everyone watching. Then he realized that the point was moot. If anyone was about to start beating Alex, it would be Sherry. After all, he'd just deeply impacted the nation she was set to lead. Even the Archbishop's punishment seemed moot in light of the real-world consequences this had. Galbia could survive on its own agriculture, to be certain. But its strengths laid in other industries, and it wasn't as if Mordlind had too much food to divert in trade. They wouldn't starve to death, no. But the price of food for ordinary people would skyrocket. Trade both within and outside of Galbia would be impacted. If Sherry's lord father were so inclined, wars and blood feuds had been declared for less before.

Laila's slap convinced Doric to ease up on his own part, only shaking his head instead of doing or saying anything. There was no point. The rest of the house would make their displeasure more than known in his place. Adding on to it would be overkill.

He stood up, laying a hand on Sherry's shoulder as he whispered into her ear.

"Whatever you're thinking of, don't." Doric murmured quietly, his head tilted in the direction of the Green Falcons and the Archbishop. "Not here, and not now." His grip on her shoulder went firm for a moment in a gesture of comfort before relasing. Theodoric took a deep breath, keeping his composure stoic in front of the entire hall watching the scene as he brushed by Alex without a word or glance in his direction, starting to make his way back towards his own room. Something told him that any further interactions with anyone of either house tonight would be unwelcome.

Marlowe · May 31, 2020

MENTIONS: @Demon Shinobi [Alexander], @Psyker Landshark [Theodoric]

She wasn't going to lie; Sherry thought that her politeness would curry some sort of favor with Lady Sylmare, but it only seemed to make things worse. The princess was completely taken aback at the noble's reply, the shock so sudden and powerful that it rendered her speechless and stagnant. She felt many pairs of eyes upon her as Lady Sylmare left the room. She couldn't even hear anything the Archbishop said; his words filtered in and out of her mind like water. Whatever he did say was definitely not good-- probably a punishment, judging his tone. All that she thought about was the wretched cease in trade between Galbia and Sylmare. How would she even tell her father? She wouldn't be brave enough to tell him in person, so how could she put it in words? She simply stared at the food as it was picked up from in front of them, suddenly reaching out to grab a candied plum from the leftovers. Shoving it into her pocket, she glanced to the side. The Green Falcons still stared, driving her to quickly divert her gaze towards Alex. She didn't even know what to say to him. Laila had gone and smacked him, and even though anger was stirring within her... she didn't have the energy.

Doric was the next person to say something to her. He sought to soothe her, but it didn't do much. At least it did something. As she rose from her seat, she gave Alex an exhausted glare and made her way out of the mess hall. All of the food that she had eaten before felt like a rock in her stomach.

The walk to her room felt super long, but she was just glad to be away from everyone. She lit a candle to illuminate the darkened room, setting it at a shelf that had been previously warmed by the sun. Her hand went to her pocket this time, gently pulling out something small and delicate and placing it on the shelf. It was a bright green, soft-scaled lizard that she had plucked from a tree during her journey to the monastery; Sherry was worried that it wouldn't survive the trip, but there it was, its small, beady eyes flickering about haphazardly.

"Here you go, little one," Sherry murmured as she placed the candied plum in front of the lizard. The small reptile's eyes flicked towards the sweet fruit and went to poke it with its rounded tongue. "I'll give you a name another time."

Another sigh left her lips as she went to her bedside, sitting upon her cushioned bed. It was the first time she could relax in the entire day, so she didn't bother with sitting up properly and whatnot. Slumping slightly, she reached towards a plush that had decorated her bed. It was a large, soft stuffed red wyvern that had been given to her by her father when she was very young. The thing's color had dulled a significant amount with age, but otherwise it still retained its cute factor: stubby legs and wings, a forked tongue that had been sown on, a plump tail, a chubby midsection, and round, black eyes. It had been with her through everything that had gone on during her life-- and it was here now, when she needed it most.

She sucked in a heavy breath, pressed the wyvern against her face, and screamed.

----
THE NEXT DAY...
MENTIONS: @Psyker Landshark [Theodoric]
C-Support Collab

The early evening sun filtered through the pillars of the training grounds, illuminating the soft sands beneath her feet. Sherry's body was cloaked in a heavy film of sweat as she struck the training dummy again and again, each stroke of her sword as precise as she could make it be. To an untrained eye, one might think her session was going well. But her face was screwed up with frustration as her blows became more and more slanted and sloppy.

"Damn it," she cursed to herself, out of breath. She still wasn't good enough, after all.

Just then, Theodoric entered the training grounds, wooden sword already in hand. He lifted an eyebrow as he saw Sherry, walking towards her.

"Well. This still beats seeing Victor here, at least. Though I hadn't thought you were one for blade work. No lance today?"

"Father did say it was best to be efficient with as many types of weapons as possible," Sherry didn't spare him a glance as she readjusted the grip on the blade. "I haven't used a sword in a long while. I need to polish up my skills when I still have a chance."

"That's fair. Speaking of, I could do with refreshing my skills with weapons beyond swords." Doric said, glancing down at his wooden blade and then towards the racks of training weapons at the edge of the grounds.

"How about this, then: we'll spar. You stick with your sword, and I'll pick up a lance. Does that sound agreeable to you?"

Sherry mulled over his proposition for a moment. She was still a bit bitter over recent events and preferred to have her space, though as house leader, it would be unsavory for her to turn him away.

"Very well. I'll humor you," she said with a slight quirk of her lip. "I'll warn you, though. I'm quite adept at the lance."

Doric simply smirked in response as he walked over to the aforementioned weapon rack, switching his sword for a reinforced wooden spear. As he walked back over, he took a moment to test out the weight of the weapon, nodding to himself as old lessons in lancefaire came back to him.

"At your ready, then." He said as he returned to Sherry, taking up a battle stance with his weapon.

Sherry held the blade more tightly than before, eyeing Doric closely as she approached him. The boy was as confident as she was, which surprised her. She hadn't seen him too often as they grew up, and so she couldn't really judge his expertise at the lance. The good thing was that, being skilled at it herself, she should be able to counter his attacks fairly easily. Taking a moment to gather her breath, Sherry rushed forward, her sword raised above her head.

For a moment, Doric thought that Sherry was deliberately baiting him. Telegraphing a strike at the start of her charge? Who did that? Then he took their skill levels into account and realized that she was entirely serious.

Fine, then. He'd take advantage of that without an issue. Theodoric braced his lance and held his ground, waiting for Sherry to get just into range before thrusting the wooden tip of his spear straight towards her gut. At this distance, she'd have no chance to attack before he did.

Sherry's eyes widened for a moment when she saw the tip of the lance aimed toward her midsection, attempting to leap out of the way. Though the strike came too quick, and the point brushed against her side. The strike didn't break skin, but it still hurt, and Sherry found herself wincing as she regained her bearings. In an attempt to catch Doric off guard, she darted to his right side and lashed out her blade again, her attack much more furious than the last.

Doric winced as he barely raised the haft of his lance up in time to take the blow, taking a step back from the force of her strike. He brought his lance around as if he was going to attempt to attack with the spearhead again, but instead whirled it around and aimed to smash the butt of the training spear into the side of Sherry's head.

It appeared that Sherry was a bit too rash. She had expected Doric to fall for the bait, but he was one step ahead of her. Pain seared through the side of her skull as she was thrown to the ground by the attack, her sword skittering out of her hand a few feet away. The room whirled around her as she fought to get up. As soon as the hilt was within her grasp, she staggered to her feet as she lurched towards Doric with an angry war cry.

Once again, Sherry's lack of control made her predictable. Theodoric took a breath to center himself before stepping forward, swinging his lance with both hands and going for a low sweep to knock Sherry off her feet. This time, he didn't give her the chance to recover, instead pointing the tip of his lance at her throat the instant she hit the ground.

"Yield." He said simply, Sherry at his mercy.

She was once again on the ground. Anger and frustration seared through her as she glowered up at Doric, swatting the tip of the lance away with her hand. "Damn... you," she muttered through her panting, forcing herself to sit up. Her head still raged with pain, amplified by the negative emotions that swirled about her.

"That wasn't fair," she growled. "I… still have the energy to fight you!"

"War isn't fair." He shot back simply, the tip of his lance not leaving her throat. "Perhaps if you calmed down, you'd be less easy to read. Though I doubt lack of experience with a sword helps in that regard." Theodoric lowered the training lance, extending a hand to help Sherry up.

"Here. In all seriousness, though, your lack of control in a fight is an issue."

Her gaze became sharper as Doric spoke. Not only had he pounded her in a fight, but now he was trying to talk to her as if she didn't know what she had been doing wrong. "I don't need your lectures," she muttered, turning away from his outstretched hand. "You don't know anything about me."

"Really?" Doric sighed, shaking his head. "You're going to play that card? I know we haven't seen each other in some time before the monastery, but I'd like to think I know at least a decent amount about you. I apologize for giving you advice that I thought was useful, then. Happy now?"

Sherry finally averted her gaze, instead choosing to look at the sword that had once again slipped from her grip. For a moment, she felt ashamed for acting such a way towards a friend, but that shame quickly added onto the pile of tension upon her shoulders. Her eyes narrowed as she forced down the lump in her throat. "Whatever," she muttered. The word itself was physically difficult to say. "Thanks for sparring with me, I guess."

"None needed." Theodoric replied easily, hoping to alleviate her mood somewhat. "Considering I'm the one who issued the challenge, I should be thanking you. Still, considering recent events…" He hesitated, not knowing exactly how Sherry was going to take this. "If you need anything or want to talk, you know I'll be there, right? We are friends, after all."

His next words finally alleviated her somewhat; it was the first time since they began their match that Sherry had looked at him in a relaxed fashion rather than a glare or angry look. "I would sure hope we are," she answered. "We would be sullying the hundreds of years of the Marlon-Grimdall bond if we weren't. That being said…"

Now was the more difficult part. Sherry didn't know how she could be truthful with Doric, since she didn't know how to express a moment of weakness. She shuffled in place, finally reaching out towards his hand and accepting his aid. "I'm fine, really."

Doric looked unconvinced as he helped her up, but chose not to press the issue. "If you're certain. Though I'd hope hundreds of years of tradition isn't the only reason we're friends. I'd be almost hurt if it were."

He turned away, setting his training lance back on the weapon rack and picking up a sword again. "In any case, I still have some training to do, myself. From the looks of it, you'd been at it for some time when I came in, no?"

"O-of course not," Sherry flustered over his statement. "It's much more than that. We've been friends since we were little."

It was kind of hard to believe. It felt like an eternity since she was a child, and there they were, almost adults and nearly ready to take on titles and crowns alike.

"Yes, I've been here since class finished," she answered, raising a hand to nurse the swelling on the side of her head. His attack hadn't caused much of a bump, at least. "I was planning on training more, but it seems you've wrung out the last of my energy."

Unbeknownst to Sherry, Theodoric's thoughts went in the same direction. Hopefully, neither of them would have to take their titles for years to come, but experience had already taught him that life rarely went according to plan.

"Go get some rest, then. We still have class in the morning, after all. I still need to continue with my daily routine. After what happened with Victor, well...Gwendolyn would have been ashamed to see such swordsmanship. I still have a long ways to go until I can consider myself in her league."

Sherry dipped her head in agreement, her hardened expression softening a significant amount. It was comforting to see that she wasn't the only one upset at herself after such a mess of a first battle. "Very well then, Dory. Make sure to get enough rest before class tomorrow," she gave him a tiny wave before walking away, picking up the wooden blade and setting it on the rack on her way out.

Nim · May 31, 2020

Laila Bellwood
Interactions: Maelys (@Solace )
C-Support Collab

Waiting outside the Smith's, Laila had her hands behind her head, waiting idly for Mael to arrive. He was the one who asked her to show him how she trained, and she considered this to be an important step of it all. How she trained her strength and her precision, and why both were so important to her. She just hoped he would be capable of understanding what she would try and pass onto him. She hoped he would be able to appreciate it, unlike how many nobles treated this art. Just a commoner's work and nothing more, unless it was a "Particularly special looking piece". She hated that thought. Shaking her head slightly, Laila looked forward and wondered how long it would take him before he arrived.

After all of their morning lectures and assignments, Maelys was itching to break a sweat. The events of the previous afternoon had left him a bit worried over Laila, but through honoring his promise, the boy hoped that she would feel better in the process. He had been under the impression that they would take to the sparring grounds for a spell, which is why he was pleasantly surprised that it was the marketplace that was their meeting point. Perhaps there would be a change of scenery?

Trotting down the steps, Maelys was greeted with the familiar scent of the tea purveyor, and the sounds of the forge. There, in the midst of it all, he found her. "Laaaila!!!" the noble jogged towards the girl for the remainder of the distance, mimicking himself from the first day. "Here I am! What brings us to the markets?"

Seeing how Mael decided to call out to her, in the exact same manner as when they first met, made her briefly wonder if this was a mistake. They were in the middle of the marketplace, and Laila could already feel some eyes turn towards Mael as he made his way to her. She wasn't used to being at the center of attention, and certainly didn't want to be at the center of rumours. When he stopped in front of him, Laila stared at him for a moment, not saying a word, before pointing towards the Smithy "You wanted to see how I trained, right? Well, this is part of my personal training." She said, turning to fully face the smithy.

"Two things before we enter. One, you stick to me. Two, don't say a word." Laila told him, before moving to enter the Smithy. She glanced next to her to make sure Mael stayed beside her, before he'd get to see what she wanted him to see.

His brow raised upon the girl's reaction, or rather, lack of reaction towards his manner of calling for her. Maelys had only spoken her name; there was no possibility that he'd said something wrong, right? His gaze followed her finger which pointed towards the blacksmith's enclave, observing the plumes of smoke which shimmied from the establishment's chimney. He let out a small puff of confusion as Laila called it a part of her training, and explained two rules before she started towards the building. "H-hey!" the boy realized that he had stood in place for a few moments before running to her side.

As they entered the smithy, it was a rather average looking smithy. There were a couple of Anvils in the room, one with a blacksmith hard at work on a blade of a still glowing sword. Some tools hanging on the walls, blades in a barrel, and other things you'd find in many smithy's. While Laila felt right at home, she stopped a few steps away from the working blacksmith, gesturing for Mael to look at the man. Even though she knew herself it was not the most comfortable thing, for a smith to be watched as he worked, it was the only way to properly show Mael. The man kept working on the blade, hitting it a few times, before finally picking it up with the tongs and then carefully putting it into a barrel of water. After he did that, Laila gestured to Mael to follow her back outside.
Once they were back in the marketplace street, Laila turned to look at Mael "What did you see?" she asked him.

Maelys had seen his fair share of smithies during the long political travels around Cretus. This particular one reminded him of those that lined the streets of Solitaire, though its interior appearance were where the similarities ended. The city and its denizens had a reputation of always wanting to make a profit, and blacksmiths were among the many vendors who often charged exorbitant prices for their wares, no matter their mediocrity or counterfeit production. Though, the hammers of House Valyra rung an entirely different story; avarice and the prowl for material wealth did not plague their territories, their forge genuine and masterful. They forged blades that swung true, swords that heroes wielded in stories; needless to say, their craftsmanship was highly sought after.

Of course, the noble did not expect those levels of prestige in a simple smithy such as this one, but Maelys had a respect for those unlike the ones of Solitaire, ones who had love for their work. He had followed along quietly with this thought in mind, crossing his arms together as they studied the blacksmith who was honing a fresh blade. Though, his eye began to twitch as he watched the hammer clang with the bright metal, slowly bringing a hand up to his face and rubbing the scar from the mock battle along his forehead. The final image of Ariel's hammer colliding with his face was all that he could imagine in that moment, and his expression deflated with meekness.

His blue eyes were aloof as they exited the smithy, shaking his head when Laila questioned him. "I saw the end…" Maelys was quick to snap out of his dramatic trance, quickly throwing up a smile and rubbing the back of his head. "I mean-- I saw the process of fine craftsmanship!"

While she noticed what he said at first, the change in his answer appeared to be what Laila expected as a possible answer. At least it seemed that Mael had some appreciation for the work that was put into blacksmithing. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she nodded before looking back at Mael "While it is right, that is the second most general answer to what you see in a smithy. Let me tell you what I saw in there." Laila glanced towards the smithy "Strength. Precision. Delicate yet accurate movements. All of those are not just needed, but practically required for anyone who wishes to be a blacksmith. It is through work at my dad's smithy that I gained much of my strength, and the precision to striking enemies with an axe. It might be considered a brutal and somewhat barbarian tool, but at the right hands, the well trained hands, it is so much more. While there is the argument that the difference between a smith wielding a hammer and a warrior wielding an axe is different, both end up needing to have precision and strength to properly wield their too. So half my training came from working under my dad, in his smithy. Something I hope to do here too, once they allow it." Laila said, before looking back at Mael.

"Now, what was that about seeing the end?" She raised an eyebrow, while gesturing to him to walk with her once more, this time as she began leading Mael away from the smithy. While there was more to her training, that short statement, with how it was said, was enough for her to become concerned for Mael.

Maelys was inclined to listen deeply to Laila's monologue, nodding intently with her passing words. His smile had faltered into a neutral expression as his usual demeanor diminished, bringing both hands behind his back. She spoke with plentiful passion about the book beneath its cover, and the noble could feel her words resonate with him. He was certain that her life had more than its fair share of hardships, and it was almost inspiring to him that Laila spoke so candidly about where her strength came from.

It made Maelys think on where he drew his strength from, but when he asked himself that very question, he couldn't find the answer. People could imagine how luxurious and grandeur it was to have the upbringing of a noble, but behind the closed doors of his own childhood, he couldn't draw on anything but pain and resentment. He even felt a little jealous.

That was when the boy realized that he'd been clenching a fist so tightly that his nails threatened to break skin, calming himself. Maelys looked back towards Laila with a bit of embarrassment, shaking away those thoughts. "It's nothing, sorry. I was just thinking about the other day," he told half a lie, giving her a weak smile.

"But… I try to find strength in order to be the best fighter around," Maelys' weak smile strengthened as he gave the air a few jabs. "Or the best performer, or even just the best person I can be for someone else. But mostly to be the best fighter, hehe."

Stopping and turning to listen to him, Laila could very much feel that his words hid something. The smile, which felt unnatural compared to how she saw him smile before, also seemed a bit off. But without feeling as though it would be appropriate for her to push him about it, she decided to just continue listening to what he had to further say. What he said next made her just shake her head slightly. Without thinking about it, she grabbed his hand and started to pull him towards the food stalls in the market.

Once they arrived at the food area, with the various smells all around them, Laila turned to look at him. After realizing she was holding his hand, she quickly let go, blushing a bit, before speaking "Do me a favor, stop thinking about being the best fighter, or about being the best person you can be for others, for just a bit. Just think about yourself. With that said," Laila looked around "What would you want to eat? Because I could go for a bite." She told him.

"I wonder how many pushups I can do... oof!" Maelys was in the continuation of his proclamation when he was suddenly dragged from his spot, seeing that it was Laila that was pulling him along. He nearly tripped over himself before she let go of his hand, quickly catching his footing as they were situated closer to the other stalls. "We could always go to the dining hall… oh…" the boy had momentarily forgotten about their predicament, eying each of the vendors. "Hrmm..."

Breaking off momentarily, Maelys approached one of the purveyors with coin in hand, and after a short exchange, returned to Laila with two sweet buns in his clutches. "Here you are," he held one out towards his friend.

After watching Mael go to one of the stalls to buy something, Laila took the chance to shake her head from the feeling of warmth that came to her cheeks. How did she do something like that without thinking? But before her mind could start spiralling down into that rabbit hole, Mael came back with a couple of sweet buns, and offered one to her. Grabbing it, she took a bite and immediately her expression changed into a happy one. Even if it wasn't as sweet as some of the desserts from the previous night, it still had some sweetness to it, and that was all that Laila needed.

Looking at Mael, Laila offered him a bit smile "Amazing choice." She said for a moment with a mouthful, before swallowing and then speaking again "Yeah, they never said anything about us not being able to eat outside, before going to do our daily punishment chore. I thought this could help a bit." Laila offered a cheeky wink "I imagine we still need to go do the chore, but at least we won't be famished by dinner time." She added with a happy smile before taking another bite.

The noble wasn't exactly the most charming character when it came to consuming food, especially when the onset of hunger came suddenly. Maelys had practically devoured the sweet bun in a few mouthfuls, feeling a rush of comfort and energy as he let out a frenetic shout. "WOO! I can go for miles, now," he said in dramatic fashion, not wanting to think about their punishment for the time being. He answered her smile with one of his own, striking a combat pose in front of his friend. Maelys needed some sort of adrenaline before suffering the monotony of cleaning, and there was no better way than his preferred way of training. "Now, spar with me, Laila! Let's worry about that stuff later!"

Rising an eyebrow, Laila had no idea where that idea came from. But looking at his pose eventually made her laugh "Alright Mael, you're on. But let's not spar in the middle of the market. Come on, before I regret the thought that I'm going to hit you on the head." She said, and started to walk away from the food stalls. She had no idea how the spar would turn out, nor did she care. It was a distraction from the worries she had, and that was all that mattered.

Seeing Laila accept his challenge roused a chuckle from him, and Maelys was quick to follow after the girl, staying beside her. "I promise it'll be quick!" he said. "And don't worry about me, I'm used to getting hit on the head now!"

Jessica · May 31, 2020

Lapis and Sherry

C-Support Collab

@Luminosity

It was a chillier day than usual, the beginnings of autumn on the wind as days passed. Juno's lectures served the Red Chimeras well enough, though Sherry noticed that her knowledge of Mordlind's history wasn't as strong as she would have liked it to be. And so, the girl spent much of her day in the library, filtering through books and the like. There had been several people that had wandered into the library during her stay, but they offered her a greeting and didn't stay for long afterwards.

A yawn escaped her lips as she flipped through yet another dusty tome. This one was more thick than the last and detailed how Marlon integrated the idea of Speakers into his new nation's government. It was kind of hard to believe that Theodoric, Parthenia, Francette, and even Victor had a chance of becoming Speaker in the coming years. She would gladly take Francette over Victor though… she'd have to find a way to get on their good side if things were to go awry at some point. Yet, the book was dull; the process of gathering together, choosing representatives, and voting was tediously written out on the thick, heavy pages. By the Lord, why couldn't they just do what Galbia did and rely on successors based on their bloodline? It certainly would be less of a headache…

After the events of the dinner, Lapis had been searching for anything to occupy her thoughts. Ugh, she told her professor that the dinner was not a good idea… The good of it was that the Green Falcons were not the ones responsible for the ill will that befell the Chimeras, but the bad was that now her classmates had their anger focused on one individual. She wanted to go and check up on him; ensure that he was alright after his dramatic outburst that ended the way it did…

The opposing House needn't lift their fingers; the Chimeras were doing wonders at tearing each other apart…

Lapis had decided that her best method of comfort would be to find a spot in the library and do a bit of research. Her research being on the ancestral lore of her classmates. Particularly Sherry.

Lapis had already learned quite a bit about the prolific nobility of the Mordlind Concorde thanks to her father's insistence and the attempts to betroth her to someone of the family. While insightful, she soon realized just how little of her classmates she really knew; particularly the House leader, of all people.

Perhaps looking into her family's history would give Lapis a little bit of insight regarding the redhead, and how to properly approach her?

Most likely not, but she was still interested to learn!

After spending some time reading through the lore of Grimdall, Lapis started asking questions that the book didn't seem capable of answering. It didn't do her much good if she allowed these questions to brew in her mind without some sort of answer for them. She'd simply become more curious and research further for these answers.

Well, there was one way to learn more about the Grimdall name and history. The woman who was heir to the noble house herself was sitting not too far away. But… Would Sherry be one of those nobles? If Lapis asked her questions, would Sherry answer, or would the blue haired girl be forced to ask one of the other nobles?

There was only one way to find out.

With that, Lapis rose from her seat and quietly approached Sherry, placing the Grimdall book on the table.

"My apologies for intruding," Lapis began, hoping that the apology would ease whatever frustration her classmate would have at suddenly being interrupted, "but I would like to learn more of your family's history. When would you have the time, if at all?"

Just as Sherry was about to nod off because of how utterly boring Mordlind was, she found herself approached by Lapis. The other girl was interested in knowing about her history, then? She wondered why. Her family history had been fraught with usurpers and kinslayers, and so she hoped that the topic would not stray too close to such touchy topics. Sherry lowered her gaze back to the book, pretending to be immersed with it. "While I don't know why a commoner such as yourself would be too interested in my personal family history," she murmured, flipping a page. "Go ahead."

Lapis did agree it may seem a little strange for a commoner of a different territory to ask about her family lore at the source, she decided to forego the comment. This was what high nobility did of others they wanted to have a chance of an alliance with, yes? Or to gain favor for more political reasons?

Yes, but Lapis just wanted to have a better understanding of her classmate and leader. With this knowledge, she could use it to try and think of what type of leader Sherry is and how to properly approach her without gaining the princess's resentment from careless mistakes.

So, she gave her request.

"I have already read through the book of Grimdall, but it seems to be missing the more recent events. It ends with your grandfather but to complete my research I would like to learn about your immediate family and your history."

Ah, she was getting right to the point, wasn't she? Lapis seemed like she wanted to get to the meat of things right off the bat. Sherry knew that it wasn't her fault, but these types of questions made her feel anxious. "Alright then, what would you like to know about them? There is my uncle, my mother, my father... "

And my other uncle, along with my half-brother.

She didn't want to talk about those things. Not only was it an incredibly bloody history, but it also made her feel insecure. Sherry's finger pinched along the corner of the page in anxiety.

Much like Lapis had done with Leonid's behavior (that led to the discovery of his secret), she was watching Sherry as well. Was her presence agitating the other girl? Was Sherry not interested, and so would only give half-truths about her family? Would Sherry hardly share a thing because she just didn't like Lapis for some reason? These were the things the blue haired girl was watching out for via Sherry's body language. A person's personality wasn't always conveyed with words, and the princess herself was giving an air of disinterest and… a bit of tension, was it?

Lapis continued to watch carefully, giving Sherry a friendly smile. "Everything you're willing to share about yourself and your family members, please. While I would be happy with receiving a detailed explanation, I will not ask you to share beyond your boundaries."

Sherry glanced up at Lapis at her reply, almost relieved that she didn't have anything specific to ask her. "My father married my mother when he wasn't too young, and they had me right after. Their marriage wasn't very much appreciated by the public, as the union was more of a thing of tradition than something out of love," she began. "You see, in Grimdall, just about anyone can challenge just about anyone else for a duel. Many times, this ends in the death of the loser, and the victor gets everything they had in reward."

Damn, things were getting a bit too complicated to describe without mentioning him. Well…

"My uncle, my father's older brother, was a bad man. As king, he wished to further subjugate the poor and cut off food supply to the Lower City when Grimdall was going through a slight famine. My father wouldn't have it, but his cunning, along with his wisdom that he gained from the monastery, told him it would be foolish to outright challenge him to a duel. And so, my father waited for the perfect moment-- the king became ill, and that was when he decided to confront him."

Sherry sighed. "Many people in Grimdall don't like my father. They said it was dishonorable that he waited for when my uncle was sick, and several partisans have asked for him to lay down the crown."

Lapis was quiet as she listened to Sherry's explanation of her father, the battle tradition, and just how her family received the power of the throne. Yes, the book she had read did mention the battle traditions, the battle of the Galbian Houses, and the large scale war between Grimdall and Ravaleth as well as the recovery process. However, hearing it come from someone who'd been directly affected by such a tradition did have Lapis feel some sympathy for the other girl. Lapis would never truly understand what Sherry went through.

"I assume he has done more to protect the House of Grimdall or the people of Galbia, yes? Are there people that find him a favorable leader?" Lapis was assuming Sherry's father had earned some favor with the people of the Lower City. The more vocal minority, the high nobles, are who she could guess are voicing their distaste of the current leader.

Could they not see past the tradition to realize that the former ruler was not fit for the throne? How can one choose to kill his people and still consider him fair and just?

"Somewhat. As king, he shouldn't only seek the favor of the lowborn, for that would risk revolution in the upper echelons," Sherry replied. "But those of the Lower City are fond of him. At least, from what I can tell. He wouldn't risk traversing the streets to meet with the peoples, but he's kind enough to begin focusing on their numbers. Though there are some who still believe that he's a cold blooded murderer," she added quickly, "His outward personality doesn't help much. Have you heard of him from where you came from?"

It would make sense for the Lower City to be fond of him; he saved them from starvation. It was a shame the man couldn't wander the streets and meet those who look up to him, but it was understandable. One could not be loved by all.

Lapis looked up in thought, the pad of her index finger lightly tapping her lower lip. "Yes I have. My father only described him as someone "not to waste my time with." She answered truthfully. "Aside from that, there was no mention of his character."

"He is quite the dry man. Stoic and cold as well. But he cares much for his country and family," Sherry told her. "Never has he laid a hand on me or my mother. But the snakes in the grass always whisper rumors and weave poisonous tales."

The grip on the tome became tighter. "Even though Galbia might be filled with liars and vipers, it still stands strong," she told herself more than Lapis. "Stronger than all of Musentia combined."

"I see. From what you told me, he sounds honorable." Lapis commented before asking. "What about you, Sherry? What about your history?" She asked. Lapis had a better understanding of Sherry's parents, in a way, but what about the girl who she was going to be associating with every day?

"Well, I had the typical noble upbringing. My mother and uncle took care of me while my father worked to salvage the nation. I took up the lance when I was young, and both my father and uncle helped me hone my skills early on," Sherry's reply came quickly, as if it was a pre-recorded statement. Lapis was poking about her past, edging closer and closer to where she hurt. Her mind went to half-brother again; she wondered if he was alright, and whether his hate for her had faded slightly. She shook her head. "Listen, Lapis, don't you need to do your own studying for a bit? You're running me thin."

Lapis noticed the curt response she received, taking a mental note that there might be something Sherry didn't want her to know. The response was very direct and gave her virtually nothing in regards to Sherry's character or what made her her.

Then came Sherry's question.

"My studying is already complete." Lapis answered, but stood up from her seat. "However, it would be rude of me to keep you from yours. Thank you so much for your time, Miss Sherry."

With a smile and a slight bow, Lapis turned and left the other girl where she sat. She knew better than to poke and prod; especially when she was nowhere near close enough to Sherry to even consider digging for more information.

Still, she was interested to learn more...

Marlowe · Jun 1, 2020

SHERRY AND LAILA
MENTIONS: @Nim [Laila]
C-SUPPORT

She always enjoyed carving. It gave her peace of mind. And after what had happened, Laila needed some peace of mind. She managed to send a letter to her dad, but she was well aware it would still take a bit of time before it would arrive. And even when it arrives in the city, it would take time before it would be delivered to him. The letters always arrived late to the smithy, due to it being located in what would be considered one of the poor parts of the city. Either they were scared of being mugged, or just looking down at them, she didn't know. Laila just knew the mail always arrived late. If they were lucky, by just a few days. If not, well, she saw a letter arrive 3 months late.

As Laila was still just beginning to carve away at the piece of wood, she was walking towards one of the courtyards. Her eyes focused on the wood, she was walking without paying much attention to where she was going, only feeling certain it was the right way towards the courtyard.

Sherry had also been on her way to one of the courtyards, being unfortunate enough to find herself crossing Laila's path. The girl was too entertained with what she had in her hand, and so Laila bumped straight into her, stepping on her foot in the meanwhile. "Ow?" Sherry grumbled, taking a step back in response. "Excuse you."

As she bumped into Sherry, Laila also dropped her wood onto the ground. While initially thinking of cursing, seeing it was Sherry made her decide against it "Sorry Sherry. I guess I was too head deep into this carving." She said, before moving to pick up the wood. Looking at it, and then glancing to Sherry, she put the wood into her pocket, along with the folding knife "Also looking for somewhere more quiet to be at?" She decided to ask.

"You should be more concentrated on where you're walking instead of that," Sherry complained, though not with hostility. At the very worst, she was slightly annoyed. "I have been spending much of my time in the library as of late. It gets awfully stuffy in there, so I was going to the courtyard to get some fresh air. I assume you were doing the same?"

"Yes on the getting some air, though I actually haven't really been much to the library, except getting books that we need to read for classes. Never been too much of a bookworm myself." Laila responded "Since we are both looking for some fresh air, maybe we could go to the courtyard together?" She decided to suggest "And I promise I won't bump into you again like that." She added "Smith's honour."

Sherry didn't say anything as Laila spoke, instead choosing to look at her with a narrowed brow. It was strange to be talking with a commoner on a one-on-one basis like this, though not exactly one-hundred percent unwanted. "Very well. Lead the way," she muttered, nodding her head in the direction of the courtyard.

Nodding, Laila began walking alongside Sherry towards the courtyard. After a moment of silence, she glanced towards Sherry "So, stuffy in the library huh? And why have you been spending much time there? And I know it's to learn," Laila quickly said, realizing the question sounded incredibly dumb "I mean what are you looking to learn, specifically." she decided to just ask. This was the first time she got to talk to Sherry like this, one on one, and she didn't want to just immediately drop the heavy topics she had on her mind.

"Musentia has a long and convoluted history, much more complicated than the nations past her borders," Sherry answered. "Galbia has always been straight forward-- revolution, suppression, and so forth. As for Mordlind and Cretus, their forms of governments have always confused me. Since I'm not well-versed in those areas, I believe doing a fair amount of extra research is wise."

She took a slight pause, tipping her head in another chiding expression. "Why haven't you gone to the library? Reading is important, you know."

Laila turned to look at Sherry "Why? Well," Laila moved to scratch her cheek "Mostly because I'm not used to reading books, especially not ones about most of the topics they teach here. I read a couple back at home about the basics of smithing. I know I should read more, but it just won't come to me as easily. Doing physical tasks comes more easily to me. Learning through actions." She said with a small smile "Most reading I've done in half of my life was of orders for weapons." Laila added.

Laila's words made Sherry wrinkle her nose at her. Of course, that is what a commoner would believe. But as member of her house, she would have to readjust accordingly to the expectations of others. "If I may, Laila, I believe there are more important things to do rather that worry about the way you're taught. Since you're here at the monastery, you must try to adapt to reading the tomes from the library. If you don't, you might fall behind and be more of a liability than a benefit," she told her sternly, this time directly looking at her. "You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

"Of course I wouldn't want to be a liability." Laila immediately responded, sounding a bit angry at the mere suggestion "And it isn't that I don't read at all! I just don't see the use of spending all my time behind books. Books might give you insight on how things were, but not on how things are now. I rather go out to the street and talk to people than read about those that came before them." Laila said, before taking a deep breath.

"You are right that I need to adapt. But we have just arrived here. No one can adapt to a new situation in just seconds."

"If one does not pay close attention to what happened before, you risk it happening all over again!" Sherry retaliated, though with Laila's next words the fire that had come to stir in her belly had been once again doused. "I'm not saying you need to adapt now, but you should focus on trying to adapt before it's too late. Yhirel forgive the Red Chimeras if one of them flunks out. We'll be the laughing stock of the Green Falcons for the rest of the school year."

Remaining silent for a moment, Laila hung her head a bit lower, before shaking it slightly and looking back at Sherry "If you think I'm going to let something like that get me out of here, you are damned wrong. Not going to let a few books get in my way of showing up to those cocky noble bunch. No offense." She quickly added after realizing what she said.

"Not all nobles are bad you know," Sherry scoffed. "Without them, the world won't go around. They're the ones who make the big, necessary decisions, after all."

"No, I know. I meant the Green Falcons. The way they act is just irritating. Not that you can say all of the members of our house know how to act that well." Laila shook her head slightly at the thought of a certain member, before continuing to lead the two of them towards the courtyard "Seriously, what was he thinking." She muttered as she walked.

"Alexander has always been a fool," Sherry scoffed again, crossing her arms across her chest as she glared to the side. "I'm not sure what my father can do to soothe the situation. I haven't even written to him yet. How can I even word the letter? 'Ravaleth's heir has dirtied the relations between Sylmare and Galbia'? I'm not sure."

Crap, she was exposing herself too much. Clearing her throat, she stood straighter. "That being said, I'm certain Lady Sylmare has been eager to cut relations with Galbia for a while. My father and her don't necessarily like each other."

Laila just listened as Sherry initially expressed what she thought of the situation, before turning to sound more professional "Even if that was the case, Lady Sylmare's reaction to a boy talking back to her could seem extreme. Alex is still that, considering his behavior. A boy." Laila spoke with a hint of anger in her voice "As for writing letters, I already wrote one and sent it to my dad. Trying to warn him that he'll likely have some tougher times ahead of him. I can't imagine how much the food will cost back at home because of this."

Sherry sighed at her reply. "That may be the case, though you cannot possibly know what runs through a noble's head when they do such things. Each movement is precise, every decision calculated. Especially those that hail from Cretus," she stated. She became quiet after a moment, kicking a stone from her path. "I only pray this does not become another war. If I don't word the letter carefully, my father may as well be pounding upon Sylmare's door with lance in hand within the day of receiving word."

"Precise movements huh? That's probably one thing I can understand. Though politics are way above my head, I share that hope." Laila briefly looked at the stone Sherry kicked away as they continued moving forward "My dad has a mantra. 'Making the blades is needed, but hope it never sees a drop of blood'. Always made me think he is a pacifist that works as a smithy. But seeing the potential threat, so close, I think I understand that mantra a bit better." Laila spoke with a softer tone now "However you write the letter, don't wait with it. I imagine the news would arrive eventually, and regardless of how it is written, it would be better from someone close than the person who broke the deal."

"You know, for a commoner, you carry some sense in that head of yours," Sherry replied after a moment. "Maybe you do have some potential, after all. Just don't forget to read."

"For a noble, you seem to also judge books by their covers. And considering how much you seem to read, I'd say it's ironic." Laila responded "How many times did a book contain information you didn't expect to find in it?" She asked.

"It seems like this commoner has quite the tongue on her as well," Sherry let a crooked, slightly annoyed smirk on her features, but let the statement slide. "I suppose you are right. Keep on surprising me like that, and I might as well see you as an equal."

Demon Shinobi · Jun 2, 2020

Alex and Sherry
Mentions: @Luminosity [Sherry]
C-Support

There were many things Sherry liked about wyverns. Firstly, they were mostly found in Galbia. Secondly, they made very hardy and loyal companions, ones that weren't as prone to spazzing out in the middle of a battle like pegasi or horses were. And thirdly, they came in a variety of wonderful colors, ranging from deep green to bright white to earthy brown to Grimdallian Crimson, which was exclusive to House Grimdall's blood wyverns. What she didn't like about them, however, was the smell of their shit.

Sherry was glad she wasn't due to clean the wyvern stables today. Curious to see who was the poor sod that was forced to shovel out however many pounds of crap, she walked to the rookery where all the steeds were kept. The sight of a small brown wyvern's head sticking out from the stable brought her closer. The creature's mouth was kept shut with a bridle, which upset her somewhat, but she knew that it was to keep their caretakers safe. If the wyvern was in a bad mood, then she could easily lose a whole arm. Yet, the small wyvern seemed friendly as it crooned in her presence, bumping its large head against her shoulder as she stood on her tip-toes to peer over the edge. The familiar sight of Alex on his knees scrubbing a stain on the floor delighted her to no end.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Sherry gave him a sneer. "Seems like you have your hands full today, Alexander. My, how the mighty have fallen."

Alexander had always had a fascination with lizards, all kinds, though a particular love of wyverns had been fostered by his mother and then by the many knights he'd met shortly after his ascension to nobility. But, no matter how much he loved them, there was no way he'd ever love this. Truth be told, he didn't mind the work. What he hated, was the smell. At least he was alone. He wouldn't have to deal with any…

"Son of a bitch-" he mumbled almost inaudibly to himself as he heard the voice of his house leader. Taking a break from falling he tilted his head up to find Sherry's face.

The deadpan expression quickly gave away his frustration at the unrequested visitor. "Fallen, huh? I guess any form of labor beyond lifting one's utensils would seem like a fall from grace for a princess like you." he responded with a slight grin.

"You can talk all the dirt you want, but in the end it's me out here and you in there," Sherry retorted almost immediately. She leaned against the wall of the stable, narrowing her eyes at him as her smirk disappeared. "A well-deserved fate, if you asked me. You might as well have put the entirety of our country into a new wave of famine."

Alex rolled his eyes, as he stood up, dusting himself off. "I can throw dirt too. But I won't out of respect for the Wyverns," he said, crossing his arms as he glared at the red head standing before him. "Is that what you came to do? Lecture me?" Alex scoffed at the notion, rolling his eyes. "What a carefree life you must live to be able to come bother me like this."

"Carefree? Do you think that, after what happened, I'm prancing about like a pegasus?" Sherry grumbled. "I might dislike Cretus as much as you do, but at least I know how to stay my tongue. If you had shut your damn mouth, then…" She paused for a moment, shaking her head in frustration. "Actually, Lady Sylmare would have probably done what she did. But what you did was idiotic! She could have very well murdered both of us on the spot!"

"If you know that childish bitch would have likely done this either way, why bother with the formalities of politics, princess?" Alex asked in response. "All she wanted was an excuse. If it wasn't the burned field, it would have been not getting what she wanted from the Archbishop," he said, shaking his head. "Or he'd have rolled over to appease her. I don't know which is worse."

In truth, Alex was sorry, but he wasn't about to just back down. He didn't think Cretus, rather Lady Sylmare, could be trusted farther than he could throw her. "And she's smarter than to kill either of us just then. It wouldn't have benefitted her in any way. That's all this is. A tantrum to try and get her whatever she wants." He glared at the girl, his eyes narrowed. "Or is the scarlet princess too afraid of the prospect of death to speak her mind?"

Sherry was taken aback at Alexander's reply, her expression screwed up with anger. "How dare…" she spat. "How dare you speak to me like that! You have no right to do so, no right at all!"

She was practically fuming from behind the half-wall of the stable as her fingers clawed at the wooden boards. "I bet you don't have the balls to say that to my face!"

"Ah... a coward and stupid," Alex said shaking his head as he took a few steps closer. "Ya know... Despite this wall, what I'm saying is very much to your face," he added, waving his hand in front of her face. Still, he turned away from her, burying his face in the crook of his elbow as he hung his head solemnly. "Poor princess. Thank goodness Yhirel blessed you with good looks..." he paused, turning back toward her, making a bit of a face. "Well... good is a bit a of a stretch."

Alex seemed to stop, thinking for a moment as he removed the gloves from his hands. "Let's say nobility," he finally spoke once more, pounding his right fist into his left hand as though he'd just realized the answer to a difficult question. "Thank goodness you've got your nobility or I wonder how you'd even survive." He couldn't help but laugh a little bit. But she probably thought this was being said solely because there was a wall between them. "Course, if this really upsets you, you're more than welcome to come in here."

Oh, this Ravaleth boy was a deadman. With every word that came out his putrid mouth, Sherry turned more and more red with fury. She was silent all along, except for when he went on and challenged her. Now, if one knew Sherry, one would know how she took challenges-- she wasn't capable of refusing one. The Grimdallian princess stomped around the stable, throwing open the door and storming up to him.

"You want a fight, Ravaleth dog?" she roared, grabbing him by the collar and attempting to throw him against the wall. "Well, you've got one!"

Alex was laughing, up until the girl threw the door open. His eyes narrowed and soon she had him by the collar. But if she thought he was just gonna let her throw him against the wall, she was crazy. "Oh I'm sorry," he asked as he grabbed her by the wrist, attempting to use her momentum and turn to throw her instead. "Have I offended?"

"You've got some nerve," Sherry yelped when he grabbed her, trying to wriggle out of his grip. The boy was physically stronger than she thought, only fueling her anger as she saw that she couldn't escape his hold. She raised a hand, attempting to grab hold of his face or hair and pull, scratch, anything. "You think I was just going to take it lying down?"

"Me? I've got some nerve?" Alex growled as she began to try and go for his face and hair. "You attacked me princess." He barked before feeling as her nails scratch at him. Wincing he pulled back attempting to throw her to the side, or at least make her stumble as he regained his footing. "Gah! Fuck!"

Alex shook his head, eyes shifting to find her. "All that training and you're so inept you can't even break out of a simple hold like that without resorting to using those claws you call hands?" He asked groaning as he prepared for another attack.

Her attempt at escaping was successful-- Sherry bounced a few feet back, scowling at the boy. "What, did you expect me to play fair?" she snapped at him. Without letting him answer, she rushed towards him in an attempt to knock him off his feet.

"I expected you to at least fight for real. Not like an idiotic child." Alex had regained his bearing, but found himself being stumbling back, knocked over by a sudden rush. He scowled, looking up at her for a moment before quickly swiping at her feet with his leg, aiming to knock her to the ground as she had done to him.

"It doesn't matter if I'm still the winn- oof!" Sherry's words were interrupted as his foot swept her legs from beneath him, finding herself on the ground with Alexander. Another growl left her as she noticed that her clothing had been covered in dirt and other stuff. "You damn rat," she cried out, climbing onto him as she attempted to bury his face into a pile of wyvern dung. "Eat shit!"

"You're really..." Alex growled, stopping to focus on making sure she didn't succeed shoving his face into the Wyvern shit on the floor. He just needed to change positions, regain control of the situation. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" He roared as he attempted to try and flip her off of him. Unfortunately, in the struggle, he was getting dung on his clothes. "Dammit Sherry! You're fucking crazy!"

"Say you're sorry!" Sherry demanded, trying to keep her grip on Alexander. Though, the size difference, along with the positioning on the floor, gave her a disadvantage. "Say it!"

"What?! Fuck you! Get off me!" Alex grunted, shaking his head as he began to forced himself up to try and roll over and pin her down himself. "You came to bother me. You attacked me." He wasn't about to just let her have her way like this. Fuck that! Admittedly it had been his fault, but he was way too pissed to think rationally.

The sudden lurch that Alex gave her was too much for her to handle. With a yelp, she toppled over, finding herself pinned underneath his weight. "You're the one who's crazy!" Sherry cried out, trying to dig her fingers into his body to wrench him off of her. There was fury in her eyes as she glared up at him, about to let loose another string of insults when she heard something fall near the entrance to the stable. Her head tipped in the direction of the sound, seeing Marcus standing there with a bucket at his feet. His face was flushed with red as he gawked at them, his eyes wide as moons.

"Wait, M-Marcus--!" Sherry began, horror-struck.

"I-I-I-I didn't s-see anything! I sw-swear!" Marcus stammered out, backing towards the door and sprinting away before she could say anything else.

A heavy silence fell over her as her own expression became red as a tomato. "Can you get off me?" she muttered, avoiding his look.

"Wait! This isn't what it-!" And Marcus was gone. He groaned, shaking his head until he looked down. Sherry was crimson with embarrassment. And just like that, Alex felt like scum of the Earth. He pushed himself up and sat back on the floor off to the side.

This had to be more than embarrassing for her. "Look..." he began slowly, trying to find the words. "I'm... really sorry... about the things I said." He could at least give her that much. Hopefully this wouldn't spread.

Sherry sat up when Alex finally let her go. The girl's face was still very much pink, and she refused to look at him as he spoke. His words sounded honest, though, and she was sure that if she still heckled him things wouldn't turn out better than now. "I guess it's alright," she muttered, her voice still low and darkened by what happened. "You certainly owe me one, though."

"Owe you?!" Alex reacted impulsively, disbelief evident on his face. "I owe you? Please princess, do explain to me how I, in any capacity, owe you." Now she was just trying to get on his nerves. It took a lot of restraint to not continue further, or add any form of beratement, but he managed. He had been mean enough today, and he really didn't want another fight. Honestly though, a part of him was worried about Marcus and who the misunderstanding might spread to. He wasn't sure Sherry could even keep her cool enough to properly work through such allegations. He shook his head, contemplating all the added baggage and crap, for lack of a better word, he'd be dealing with now.

"Yes, owe me." Despite her words, Sherry was very serious, looking upon Alex with a frown. "You blasphemed my name, and on top of that, dirtied my clothing. Do not fret, I have the perfect idea," she added before he could protest. "I'll let you choose, my dear Ravaleth. Either do my laundry for a week, or take me out to town for tea and cookies every day for a month."

"The perfect idea, huh?" Alex asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the girl. He had certainly "blasphemed" her name. But the dirtied clothes were on her. She'd been the one to attack him. Still as she gave him his options, Alex couldn't help but laugh. "Oh you've got to be kidding me. My options are to either handle your laundry, or take you out everyday. Are you daft? Completely insane? How does the punishment fit the crime?" Of course, he suspected Sherry wouldn't drop this so easily.

"Besides, in the position Marcus caught us..." Alex paused, sighing at the thought. He didn't even want to think about that. Maybe it was best to relent? "I'll take you out twice a week for a month." He certainly wasn't going to be going every day.

"Three times," Sherry said more sternly, crossing her arms as her look hardened even more. "And if you keep whining, I'll make it four. And if you don't stop after that, I'll tell Juno about all the things you said to me."

She sighed, brushing a tuft of hair from her face. "You're lucky I'm not making you talk to Marcus about this. That will be extremely difficult at the very best."

Alex's right eye seemed to twitch as Sherry continued to speak. "Ya know... It's bad enough that Marcus or anyone he happens to blab too will likely believe that I've lowered my standards so much that I'm willing to do anything of that nature with you." He truly was unable to help himself from insulting her again in his frustration. Though this time he seemed to stop himself from going any further.

"You really know how to get under my skin Sherry," he said softly as he stood up, brushing himself off. "Again, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. I'm sure any guy... some guys... maybe a single guy..." He was doing it again. "Three times a week. I can manage that." It wasn't like he had extra chores to manage. Oh wait. He groaned. "But I guess then, since my punishment is already decided, you'll have to be the one to talk to Marcus. I'm sure it won't be difficult for you."

Sherry's face finally broke out into another scowl at his next words. He had a tongue of fire, this one. She wasn't sure how she'll handle him when they had to work together the next time. Nevertheless, she forced herself to remain quiet. Her blood pressure still rose as he spoke, even if he did agree to her barter. Ah, at least she turned out the vic--

"Wait, what?" she nearly yelled. "I am not doing that. You're the one that started to insult me first! You're the one that has to talk to him, not me!" Sherry snarled, rising to her feet again. "If you won't talk to him, I suppose I'll have to speak to Professor Juno about this whole thing."

"So is that how you handle things, Princess?" Alex asked with a sly grin as he took a step back from Sherry, in case she attacked again. "You attack like a mad dog at any provocation thrown your way and then if you can't win that battle you decide to run to the professor? Did you run to mommy and daddy at home the same way?" he asked before shrugging, shaking his head dismissively. "But fine. I guess I can talk to Marcus. I'll let him know how you, Lady Grimdall, approached me." Alex turned away from the girl, hiding his snickering face, as he attempted to play off serious emotion with fake sniffles.

"How you used your status and power, coupled with my most recent blunder, to force me to bend to your whim and give you everything you wanted. I can even talk to Professor Juno should word of the incident spread that far." WIth nothing else to say, he glanced back at her, giving a small smirk. Perhaps she had overstepped. Should have just taken the small victory. "In fact, maybe I should go do that now~ Best not to let any weird rumors spread."

Sherry thought she had the upper hand. There was a confident grin on her expression, though that slowly diminished over time. Was… was Alexander serious? He… he'd really do that? She became grim, lowering her arms to the side as she glared at him with all of the energy she had left in her. "Y-you wouldn't dare," she said in a murmur, suddenly going pale.

But he would dare. That was the thing with Alex. That stupid grin on his face said it all.

"Fine. Have it your way." Sherry's voice was dark. "But know this, Alexander. I will not forget about how you crossed me."

She didn't let him reply. Whirling on her heel, she stormed out of the stables, cursing and fuming as she brushed the dirt from her clothing. Oh, he'd pay.

Psyker Landshark · Jun 2, 2020

Theodoric and Lapis
C-Support

Lapis frowned to herself, a look of concern in her eyes as she clutched a rather thick notebook to her chest; a black, leather bound one that appeared to be relatively new. She stepped around the areas of the monastery that she was certain high nobles enjoyed spending their time at, looking for the individuals whom she had ridden in the same carriage with.

Not too long ago, the blue haired woman had approached her House leader with the notebook in her hands, ready to share the warfare strategies she had thought of during some of her free time after classes. Lapis had become so inspired from the mock battle that she stayed up late a couple of evenings, letting her quill and ink work its magic along the blank papers, turning the once empty space into a tactical warfare handbook. She had even taken the time to rethink her classmates' strengths and weaknesses when she assigned a place for each individual.

Lapis had been so excited to share the fruits of her labor, all that she'd been able to come up with thanks to her lessons, but Sherry didn't seem the least bit interested…

The fact that she'd been blown off so curtly had hurt her feelings, truthfully. If anything, Lapis saw even less of a reason to follow Sherry into battle, which was exactly what shouldn't be happening. Sherry was House leader for a reason, and when someone who was supposed to be a team member came to her with valid suggestions to improve, she did not usher even a second glance? The decision was up to Professor Juno, who most likely looked at all of their individual skills, strengths, and weaknesses, and chose who best fit the role because of it. If this was all that their House leader had to offer, then Juno really needed to consider rehabilitation for her alcohol addiction as it was clearly impairing her common sense.

Sherry was underestimating Lapis's intelligence, and that alone upset her. Though she didn't blame the princess too much. Prejudice was taught, not inherited. Maybe once Sherry realized the error of her ways, she would apologize for it.

For now, Lapis scowered the area until her eyes fell upon a familiar blonde haired man; Theodoric. He'd been kind enough to have a conversation with her, but… Was that just out of kindness, or did he have no issues with speaking to a commoner? Would he disregard her the same way Sherry did? Or the way Professor Juno had when Lapis expressed her concern regarding the dinner between Houses?

Her frown deepened slightly at the thought, but the direct path to failure was not taking a path at all. She decided that the best way to answer this question would be to ask him herself, and so, with a deep breath, Lapis walked closer to her classmate. She approached him, pausing in her steps when she reached the comfortable conversational area. Not too close for discomfort, but not too far that it was awkward.

"Excuse me, Theodoric." She began, "May I trouble you for a moment of your time?"

Theodoric had been resting in a lounge upstairs in the monastery, a cup of tea halfway up to his lips as Lapis approached him. He blinked as she spoke, setting the hot beverage down as he gestured for her to sit opposite of him at the table he was currently occupying.

Next to the teapot on the table was what seemed to be a sheaf of letters, but numbers and figures occupied a large portion of space on the writings.

"Certainly, Lapis. Is something the matter?"

Lapis took the seat across from him, "Well, yes, but nothing too important."

She gently placed her notebook on the table so Theodoric could see it. "I have been working on different warfare strategies for our House after what happened in the mock battle. The labels for each plan has each classmate assigned a number in reverse alphabetical order. So you are 1, with Alex being 8. If the Green Falcons got their hands on this, they would only know of our positioning and not who is where, giving us a chance. Each plan has multiple adjustments for any scenario, times of day, and how to adapt if we are short on numbers.

So, I would like for you to take my notebook and present it to Sherry as if they were your ideas."

Doric frowned at Lapis's last words, already realizing why she was requesting this specifically.

"She'd already turned you down, then." He sighed, taking the notebook and starting to look it over. "For not being a noble, I take it? I'm sorry. Sherry is...difficult at times."

His eyes scanned over the various stratagems written within as he started to think them over. In truth, these were sound tactics by and large.

"This is a good grasp of tactics you have. I'm surprised you've came up with this many maneuvers so soon after our first excursion."

Lapis nodded her head a few times, "She refused to even look at my notebook; told me that I should "leave it to those who know what they're doing." This is insulting to my intelligence, but I believe this was something she was taught by an adult in her life, so I'd rather not fault her too much or cause unnecessary drama."

At the end of his words, she smiled. "My adoptive father was a strategist for the Mordlind Concorde, a very good one if I recall. He taught me everything he knew and drilled me with different scenarios until I was creating plans he was happy with." Lapis replied. Her uncle's drill sessions had been part of her training for knight studies; to give her more value besides her magical capabilities.

Doric gave an exasperated expression at Lapis's description of Sherry's actions, though he lightened up as she spoke of her father. "Your adoptive father has done a good job, then. May I inquire as to his name? If he was that skilled, I may have heard of him by way of my father or his knights."

"As for Sherry...I'd prefer not to steal credit from anyone else. Even if it is for a good cause. I could vouch for you the next time you try to speak with her, though. After all, I wouldn't be lying when I say that these writings are worthwhile."

Her face seemed to lighten up at the praise of both her adoptive father, much different to when she first approached. "Rohan of Mordlind Concorde was his name. He was one of the leading strategists."

Then came his next sentence, which had her a little surprised. "I would be very grateful, but, wouldn't someone of her character see this as an attack on her credibility if you vouched for me? I do want to have her take my plans into consideration, but after how she disregarded me, I'd say she would be too proud to admit defeat. This is why I'm asking you to present it.

If you'd like, you can present it as your ideas first then reveal to her that this is actually mine. I understand not wanting to steal credit, but in this case, a little pretending is necessary for Sherry to grow as a leader."

Theodoric eventually sighed, nodding his assent. She was right, in truth. Sherry desperately needed some kind of attitude adjustment before she took up her father's role or else the future of Galbia looked bleak indeed. He'd have to settle for incremental victories, no matter the method.

"Very well. You're not incorrect about Sherry's attitude. Yhriel only knows I've dealt with it for years. I'll see what I can do, though I'll have to borrow these notes to transcribe them myself. Sherry knows what my handwriting looks like." He returned to his teacup but paused.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Would you like a cup of tea? I'd forgotten to offer, what with the subject matter and all."

Lapis beamed happily, both hands clasped together in front of her, "Thank you, Theodoric! There are quite a bit of notes, so please, only transcribe what's necessary if it's too time consuming."

Then came the word of tea, and in truth, Lapis wasn't sure how to respond for a second. "Ah, if it isn't too much trouble, I could certainly use one after today."

Doric nodded, reaching for another cup and pouring from the teapot on the table. "Cream? Sugar?" He offered, gesturing towards the accompaniments next to the pot of tea. "And now that you mention it, your father's name does sound familiar. I believe my father has campaigned with him before. I'll be sure to ask him about it in my return letter to him after I'm finished with these."

He said, gesturing towards the sheafs of parchment on his own end of the table.

Lapis thanked him and prepared her tea as she liked it. A bit of cream and just a bit more of sugar to combat the natural bitterness. The warmth of the beverage and the soothing smell of it was already relaxing her.

She nodded a few times, "Yes, my father mentioned campaigning with yours. He's told me so much about his travels during his time with the knights, as well as the knights themselves. I would be delighted to shake the hands of his former comrades one day."

Lapis lightly blew on the liquid and took a sip, her eyes catching the parchment that Doric had mentioned. "May I ask what that is for?"

"Reports from all over House Marlon's lands. Agriculture, trade, military, and the like. My father wants me to be prepared to take over his role on a moment's notice in case of the worst occurring. I'm to read through these thoroughly and write back my thoughts, comments, and suggestions on helping to manage our territory." Doric said simply, giving a weary smile as he continued to speak.

"Essentially, extra assignments beyond what our professor gives us. Father likes to keep me busy."

Lapis's eyes widened, a small sweat drop forming at the long list of reports and the mention of what his father was doing. She herself knew the necessity of hard work for a high noble, and she understood that Doric's life was definitely not simple. However she wondered how he was able to make time for all this.

"I understand the importance of preparation, but doesn't this seem a little… excessive? Do you have any time for yourself in the day?" She asked curiously.

"He gives me a rather generous timeframe to get all this done in. So long as he receives the response in a timeframe that suggests I sent it off before the end of the month, my father is satisfied. That, and the reports are generally summarized instead of having to read through raw facts and figures." He shrugged her question off, seeming unbothered.

"I rarely have much time to myself outside of my training schedule, classes, and this work, I suppose. Still, it's what's expected of me. If I'm to be duke one day, I have to be competent enough to be deserving of the rank."

She gazed at him, giving a few nods of acknowledgement to the information as he explained. Lapis was always glad to learn more about her classmates and any history about them. She already knew a portion of Sherry's as well as Leonid's, and now she was learning more about Doric~ How long would it be before she learned the full backstory of one of them, she wondered.

"I see. I'm curious how you spend the time you do have outside of your training, classes, and work. Resting and eating I assume?"

"Somewhat. That, and fishing." He said without a hint of irony. "I've always found it a relaxing hobby, and I enjoy grilling whatever I catch."

Memories of an earlier, better time came to him during that moment. His father taking both him and Gwendolyn out of the keep to fish in a nearby lake. Accidentally burning his first catch over the fire that very same afternoon.

Nonetheless, he forced himself to shrug the memory off before it drove his mood too maudlin.

"And what of yourself, Lapis? I understand you enjoy reading, but do you have any other hobbies to while away time with?"

Lapis perked up at that. Fishing? Theodoric didn't exactly look the type to be going out fishing. He seemed more like the type of individual who paid others to fish for him, but Lapis remembered the old saying about books.

"That's interesting. I used to fish with the common boys when I was just a child, but I never fully adapted it as a hobby. More as a pass time." She took a sip of her tea again, watching as he seemed dazed for just a brief moment then asked her about her own hobby.

"I practice fortune-telling in my spare time; on children, myself, or anyone willing to listen. Though I am no means a professional, I hope one day I will be." She replied. "And I do a little bit of illusion tricks to entertain children. It's a nice distraction."

Fortune-telling? Wasn't that a charlatan's parlor trick, meant to scam the uneducated and the desperate out of their money? Or in the case of some particular nobles, the profoundly wasteful and stupid. Regardless, Theodoric kept the surprise off of his face as he simply nodded.

"I see. What separates a professional fortune-teller from an amateur, if you don't mind my asking?"

Lapis hummed in thought, trying to decide the proper words to explain the difference until she realized something.

"I believe a demonstration would say more than my words could. Would you mind if I told your fortune very quickly?"

After being given permission, Lapis would set her tea cup on the coaster and put it a little bit to the side. She took out a deck of tarot cards from one of its pockets, shuffled it, and placed it along the table to begin the process.

In the end, Doric's fortune would present the Page of Pentacles card upside-down.

"A large loss of fortune awaits you, according to my reading." Lapis answered him, and yet she said this all with a smile. "Keep your eyes open. Soon you will see the difference between myself and a professional."

Doric raised an eyebrow at the impromptu fortune telling. That was it? Just take a deck of cards, shuffle, draw, and interpret the result based on the card? Considering Lapis could cast legitimate magic, this was even more of a letdown than he was expecting. Still, he supposed it was at least somewhat of a diversion.

"Hm." He said politely, not wishing to offend her by broadcasting what he really thought on his face. "Interesting. Fortune as in money, or as in luck? The latter is honestly more foreseeable than the other, considering I'll inevitably lose my father one day."

Lapis shook her head a few times, "Fortune, in this case, is in regards to money. So, the prediction I have because of these cards is "you will lose a good sum of gold." However, because I am an amateur, I am most likely wrong and you will obtain gold in the near future."

She explained to him, her smile still present on her face. "You're underwhelmed, yes? Give it time and you shall see."

Doric nodded, choosing to finish his tea and pour himself another cup. He stirred in a cube of sugar, but deliberately left the cream out, taking another sip once he'd finished. "As you say. Should this happen, I'll come straight to you and tell you that you were right." He said, giving a wry smile. "In any case, I'll let you know how Sherry responds, and I'll return the notebook to you as soon as I can. I should return to this in the meantime," He gestured to the reports. "May you have a good afternoon."

Lapis gave him a nod of acknowledgement and packed her cards back into her pocket. She finished the last remainder of her tea then stood, giving him a slight bow, "Alright, and thank you so much for time and assistance. Return the book whenever convenient." She assured him with a smile, and soon, would be leaving Doric to his work.

Demon Shinobi · Jun 3, 2020

Alex and Laila
Mention: @Nim [Laila]
C-Support

Ensuring the training area was in a proper state felt like more of a bothersome task to her than tiring one. As she went over the weapons and made sure they were all placed where they should be, and checking to see if any of the training weapons started to become cracked or broken. Glancing sideways, Laila looked at Alex, who was currently working on this chore with her. She had remained silent since they started working on the training area, but she felt that she needed to talk to him. Say something. Between what happened in the dining hall, and how the kindness he showed her on the way to the monastery, it was just so confusing to her. Laila felt like she needed to clear the air, somehow. But how was she going to begin, she had no idea.

Alex had mostly been keeping to himself as he inspected the training dummies, taking note of what might need fixing or further cleaning. The air was awkward at best there with Laila. He'd wanted to say something, but what was there to say? The boy certainly was trying to think of something, anything. It wasn't like he could make things right. He thought back to that night in the dining hall. "You know... I didn't say what I said because I'd expected the dinner to go poorly," he said calmly as he stood up, finishing what he'd been doing. "I let my emotions get the better of me for sure, but I never intended for anyone to get hurt, much less the country." It wasn't an apology per say, nor was it an attempt at making up for anything. Moreso, he was at least trying to start something of a conversation. Anything was better than continuing to work in silence.

Hearing Alex as he began to speak, Laila was initially grateful for him to have taken the step forward. But then he went straight into what had caused the awkward between them to begin with, and she stopped doing what she was doing, just staring at the wooden sword in front of her for a moment "You didn't really seem like the type to let your emotions get the better of you. At least, not from what I've seen." Laila responded, before moving to the next batch of weapons and starting to look over them "And it doesn't matter if you intended or didn't. If you let your emotion speak for you, then all intentions were thrown out the window. Emotions don't care about intentions." She added, a hint of frustration in her voice over his choice of words.

Alex did often try to keep a handle on himself, but something had been bothering him about the whole situation. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Had Lady Sylmare stayed, it would only have gotten worse, given her following comments. He grit his teeth, thinking about the detestable woman. Still, Laila was right. Good or bad intentions aside, he hadn't really done himself or anybody else any favors. "I know that. I usually try to keep a handle on things, but..." Well, he hadn't managed well in that had he. Regardless, he couldn't very well fix things now. All he could do is move on and hope he had the chance to make things better. "Either way, what's done is done. All I can do is move on and hopefully find a way to either fix things, or make up for the mistake later."

As she kept going over the weapons, Laila kept listening to what he had to say. Well, at the very least, he seemed to be thinking about things in a more proper manner now. Turning to look towards Alex, Laila crossed her arms "Then how were you thinking about beginning to fix things? And with who? Because for me, for example, what happened goes past me. My dad is out there, a smith in Galbia, who will now likely struggle much more because of what happened. That is what made me so incredibly angry at you." She said, before approaching him "How would you think of trying to actually reassure me that you will make things right?" She asked, stopping about a meter away from him.

Alex looked away from the girl for a moment, unable to meet her eye. If he'd had the answer to that, he wouldn't be so worried. "I don't know yet. I've been trying to think of a solution, some way to help, but it's easier said than done. In the end I really can't guarantee anything." He couldn't do anything, but be honest. "I've considered asking my father, writing him a letter, but I wouldn't know where to begin." It didn't help that Alex wasn't entirely keen on relying on his father. Though he was sure his step-mother was having a field day with this if news had already reached her. "It would be tough, but if I could get him to provide relief and rations to the people, maybe..." Alex shook his head, one of the few ideas he had had. "Even if I managed to get him to help, his power wouldn't extend past House Ravaleth and it's territory. I couldn't reassure you with words alone, even if I had all the answers."

Laila took a step closer "Looking away won't give you any answers. And I didn't ask for answers or ideas. Just a way you would assure me you'll make things right." She shook her head slightly "I never expected you to be able to make a change right this instant, let alone with some smith in the capital you never met. I was talking about making things right between us. Because on the way here, you showed me a kind and caring person, unlike any noble I've met before, and then you went and blew it all away with what you did! So, how will you assure me you'll make things right between us?" She asked again, her voice sounding determined to get an answer.

Alex had to force himself not to step back as Laila stepped forward. She wasn't a particularly large girl, but intimidating all the same. Although, maybe that was just because he felt he'd actually wronged, or hurt, her. His eyes finally met her after another moment. She seemed determined to get an answer, but he didn't have one to give. "I guess I really did blow it. But honestly Laila... I don't know how to assure you that I'll make things right." In truth, Alex hadn't thought that his initial meeting with the girl had been that big of a deal. He brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "Of course, I'm going to try, but I barely know you. I have no idea how to make things up to you." Come to think of it, he barely knew anyone. Save for maybe Namira and passing greetings with the other nobles, it wasn't like he'd been fixtures in any of their lives since youth. "I could maybe take over some of your chores? Help you out in some way? Take you out to eat, train with you... help me out here."

Watching him stumble over thoughts and suggestions how to do what she asked was actually more frustrating than anything else so far. Laila turned away from him, shaking her head slightly "You said it yourself. You don't know me. And as I learned, I don't know you. Then why not start there? Instead of letting me just answer for you what you need to do. Or is that how you were taught to do things? Just ask for the right answer instead of actually researching for it?" She asked, before turning back to face him, locking her eyes with his "Just because you don't know me shouldn't mean you just need to skip getting to know me to the step of 'how to make it up to me'." Laila sighed.

"What? No... I didn't mean-" Alex shut up almost immediately, listening to the girl speak. He wasn't expecting an answer on how to make things right. Maybe a hint of where to begin, but not the answer. "I do want to get to know you, Laila. I'm just... not used to this. People I mean. I've done little meet and greets with other nobles sure, but I've never really interacted... or had to anyway beyond a certain point. There was Namira..." he sighed, eyes rolling involuntarily when he thought of his sister. "But we hate each other. My father, Namira's mother, soldiers who help me train. Those are clearly defined relationships already." Yes, he was used to meeting, but never going further. He didn't know who he could trust, or how far. "Or I observe people and figure out how to piss them off. That's a lot easier." He stopped again for a moment. Now it just sounded like excuses. "Can I try again? That is to say, can I try to get to know more about you? You said your father is a smithy. Does that mean you were learning the ways of the forge yourself?" He asked trying to shift gears into a more natural conversation.

Laila actually felt a bit sorry for him. Just knowing the people that constantly surround him was no way of actually getting to know new people, or learn about them. The remark about figuring out how to piss off people made her want to punch him, only Alex continued, and it seemed like he was starting to go in the right direction "Yeah. He's a blacksmith, hard at work for over 30 years now. And I was helping him in his smithy. I know all the basics he knows and some of the more advanced techniques." She responded, her expression appearing to relax somewhat "And drop the word try. Just keep asking questions like that. But I won't let it be a one-sided thing, so, any hobbies or topics that interest you?" Laila asked.

Alex chuckled a bit. He was curious about how things went when it came to working the smithy. "I'd be interested in learning more about that. The techniques, how to tell a good weapon from a bad weapon. How to better maintain them," he said as he turned to begin continuing cleaning. "We should probably continue cleaning while we talk if we ever wanna get done though," he explained, though still listening to her. "As for your question, I like to draw. It was always something I did with my mother. And I like chess. Sparring..." he hummed trying to think of what else. "I really like lizards too, I suppose," he concluded his thought. "And you? You fancy the axe, right? How'd you end up choosing to learn the ways of that weapon?"

Listening to him, Laila raised her eyebrows slightly. After he noted they should keep working, she nodded, before turning and walking back to the training weapons that still needed to be inspected. As she began looking over them, Alex asked his question, making Laila glance towards a nearby training axe "It requires precise and rather accurate movements, while also needing a decent amount of strength. It has a rather small cover with it, but it is what I am used to, since I worked with a hammer for so long. And as for teaching you about the smithing, I could try and explain some of the things, but I still have more to learn myself." She said, smiling to herself at the thought of training her blacksmithing some more "So drawing, chess, sparring and lizards. While I can imagine other nobles also noting those as hobbies, what attracts you to each of those?" She asked, although she was particularly interested in why he was into drawing.

"Huh, I never really thought of the axe like that," Alex admitted softly, as he went back to patching up and inspecting the dummies. To him it'd always been something that he associated with his father and sister. But that bias... "Still, whenever you do feel ready, I'd be happy to learn all the same," she asked more about his interests and he took a moment to think about each. "Sparring... was a way to learn by doing. Figure out how to take care of myself, and make sure I couldn't easily be knocked down. Chess... Was a bit of a fun game, a test for the mind I suppose." Those were simple enough. Lizards though... "Lizards are relatively simple creatures, but there is something about them. They can generally survive in harsh conditions, thye can be tough or soft, and their scales can kinda be like armor for some. I think one of the first things I drew was a lizard. My mother had a ball trying to comfort me cause the damn little thing wouldn't stay still."

Alex couldn't help but laugh a little bit remembering. "My mother taught me about it. It was a nice thing to do with her during the periods of time when we weren't working or trying to make ends meat." He took a deep breath, sighing as he finished with the last dummy. "Anyway, what about you? Other than the axe and blacksmith work, what are your interests and hobbies."

While Alex didn't go into detail about the drawing, he did answer about the other things. And it was nice hearing him go into some more detail about his fascination with lizards. When he returned the question, Laila didn't need to do much thinking "Aside for blacksmithing? I enjoy carving in wood. While blacksmithing has the whole aspect of making weapons refined, sharp, well balanced and all those sorts of things, carving just lets me express my creative side. Go for some weird shapes, don't have to be perfect, and sometimes even try experimenting. It's just pure enjoyment. Also lets me keep my hands busy." Laila responded, as she kept going over the weapons. Removing a training sword that seemed to start to crack, Laila looked at it in her hands "I don't really have much more than that and blacksmithing as my interests. Most of the time I was busy working, and didn't have much spare time." She spoke with a slightly sadder tone, before putting the sword away.

"What did you mean by what you said? You and mother struggled at some point?" Laila asked, glancing towards him with a curious look.

"That's really great. Anytime a person can find something to do that truly brings them joy, they should hold on to that," he said smiling as he began to search the ground. He picked out larger pieces of debris, either from long past broken dummies or training weapons. Luckily they seemed to be nearing the end. "Hopefully, if you find yourself with free time between training... after the punishment period has passed I mean... you can try to explore more activities you might enjoy." He turned away from her for a moment, picking up a few more things to add to his small pile of rubbish. "Ah? Well... Struggled is a bit of a relative term." he answered softly. "Before I actually found out about my lineage as a member of House Ravaleth, I lived with her among the common folk of the Lower City of Fadell. It wasn't an easy life, but it wasn't particularly bad. It was certainly simpler than life as a noble." Sucking in a breath, Alex shook his head. "I'm almost done on my end, how are you doing?"

"Don't need to tell me about how it isn't an easy life." Laila quietly remarked. But since she had no idea how noble life was in comparison, she figured it would be best not to suggest that the noble have it easier. And she hoped herself that she would have a chance to explore more things, but the punishments indeed stood in the way. Removing another partially broken training weapon, she looked over the weapons "Almost done as well! Just need to get rid of these broken weapons!" She responded, before moving to pick the pile up the best she could. Luckily there weren't too many broken weapons so it was manageable.

"Simpler," Alex corrected Laila. Simple and easy weren't synonymous. At least not to Alex. "Mom and I had our fair share of issues, but it was free of bullshit like politics, a step-mother and half-sister who think-" he stopped himself, shaking his head. "None of that matters right now," he said before he could get too far ahead of himself. It wasn't something he liked, or even wanted, to dwell on. "What about your mother? You've talked about your father but not her. What was she like? If you don't mind me asking."

"I meant how it isn't an easy life. How there are times you can struggle to get the money for food if there isn't enough business or if my dad fell ill, then money would also need to go for medical treatments, and then we'd barely scrap what we needed for a month." Laila said, making it clear she didn't mean what he thought she meant. When the question about her mother came, she stopped and fell quiet for a moment "Never knew her." She said, for once feeling unsure if she should share any further details about the matter. He had both of his biological parents. She never knew either, and all she did know was how they didn't want her. Not exactly the most comfortable topic to share.

"Ah, sorry," Alex said rubbing the back of his head as he finished with his pile. All that was left was to dispose of the junk. At least it was clear there'd been a misunderstanding. Still, as she continued, his turned to face her a bit better. He approached her slowly. It had seemed that he'd touched a sore subject. "Hey, if it's a little too tough to talk about, you don't need to share. I imagine we've got plenty of time to get more comfortable sharing things like that with each other." He spoke softly, placing his hand on her shoulder once he was close enough. "I'm not gonna force you," he laughed a little. "Hell, with that swing of yours I don't think anyone could force you," he said rubbing his cheek, where she'd slapping him. He hoped a little joke would help lighten the mood, if only for a bit.

As Alex made his little joke, Laila smiled "Better not try. Otherwise it won't be a slap that you'll get." she told him, though her tone would make it clear it was a joke "Now let's get going. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to be hungry." She told him, before beginning to walk away with the broken weapons in her hands. She couldn't wait to get to the dining hall and get herself some dinner.

"I'll keep that in mind," Alex said, laughing a little more. "Right," he nodded, as he went to pick up his own pile of trash to get rid of. He still had some work to do for the day. So, once they'd finished with this chore in its entirety, he'd say his goodbye. Then, he'd strike off on his own to go about finishing his... extra chores.

Jessica · Jun 3, 2020

Lapis and Laila

C-Support Collab

@Nim

Lapis could feel the excitement surge through her as the memories of what she'd read had crossed her mind. She just happened upon this book in the library; one of blacksmithing and history it held all throughout the craft's lifetime. The delicate yet precise craftsmanship that required strength of body and mind had Lapis incredibly curious to learn more. And who better to ask than a blacksmith herself?

She had asked around and learned that Laila enjoyed hanging around in the courtyard, and so that's where Lapis moved to find a familiar blonde girl sitting by her lonesome.

With a big smile, Lapis would approach her classmate, shadowing the sun as she peered over the other girl.

"Hello!"

Sitting on her own, Laila had a book in her lap. It was a book about the history of Galbia, something she didn't get a chance to learn much of, even if she grew up there. The way it was written in the book felt rather dull, but she figured she should still read it. Not everything could be a legend or story of a knight or king that would be told in an interesting manner. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she leaned her head against the pillar she sat by, feeling the sun over her skin.
Only a moment later the sun got blocked by something. She was about to try and call whoever it was for blocking the light and warmth, only to hear Lapis greet her. Opening her eyes, she looked at Lapis "Hey. How are you Lapis?" She asked.

The blue haired woman returned the other girl's greeting with a smile. Compared to Lapis's usual composure, she seemed rather chipper. She crouched down so that she could be more on Laila's level while they spoke.

"I am doing well, yourself?" She asked in turn out of politeness before adding, "You are a blacksmith, yes?"

"I'm doing good." Laila said, closing her book as Lapis moved to be on the same eye level with you "You can sit down next to me. It's free." She first said before answering the second question she heard "More of a blacksmith apprentice. I know all the basics that my dad taught me, and some of the advanced techniques, but there is still a lot more to learn." She said, before patting on the spot next to her, yet again indicating Lapis could just sit down.

She went ahead and sat down next to Laila, already trying to think of as many questions as she could to ask the other girl. There were so many places she could start, so Lapis decided to begin with the first question that came to mind.

"How long have you been learning to be a blacksmith?" Lapis asked, followed by, "What about your first weapon? How did that turn out?"

Seeing Lapis sit down, Laila wondered what Lapis had in mind, and soon enough, the questions came flowing towards her "How long? I think since I was around 9 or so. My dad didn't like the idea at first, but he let me join him after a while. So that would be 7 years. As for my first weapon, it was a sword. The blade was far from being well balanced, but I managed to get it to be sharp enough to impress my dad. That was when I was 11." She answered, before deciding to ask a question of her own "Where did the sudden interest in my blacksmithing come from?"

She sat quietly, listening to the other girl answer her questions. Lapis had more in mind, and took in a breath to ask her next one, but stopped when Laila asked her own question. She needn't more than a moment of thought before she answered.

"I found a book about blacksmithing in the library today, and being curious, I decided to read it. It was so fascinating to learn about the different forges and the precision necessary for such a delicate art. And yet, despite the delicateness, the smith themselves require about as much strength as needed to even hold their own creations. The blacksmiths are the backbones to wars and protection, and yet we don't even know the names of those who give us the weapons our knights use every single day."

Lapis's smile widened, "I love to learn about arts of all kinds, and I thought it would be a good idea to ask someone who knew blacksmithing well. Forgive me if this is all so sudden."

As she heard Lapis's answer to her question, Laila nodded. She certainly agreed with her on how many blacksmiths were just ignored or forgotten in the history books, when some of their creations were as notorious as their wielders. When Lapis apologized for being so sudden, Laila shook her head "It's sudden, but I was mostly just curious to know where your curiosity came from. And you really are quite the bookworm huh? I think I saw you go to the library more than anyone else in our house." She said "But I'd be happy to try and answer whatever questions you have regarding blacksmithing to the best of my abilities." Laila added.

Lapis nodded her head a few times in confirmation, "Knowledge is everything to me. Without it, civilization would never grow, and humanity would never adapt. I want to learn everything that took society years to obtain." She responded.

Laila was happy to answer her questions, and in turn, it made Lapis happy as well. "Wonderful! Oh, but I should only ask the important questions, or we'll be here all day…" She gently tapped her bottom lip in thought as she tried to think of her next question. "Blacksmiths require different types of ore to create something, with the most common being bronze and steel, yes? What is the most precious ore you made a weapon out of? Did it work well?"

"Sounds like you're gonna spend the rest of your life in the library learning what people learned before, but not about current events that way." Laila remarked, before listening to the next question Lapis had "The most precious ore I used to make a weapon out of? I made a pair of gauntlets from steel. I've watched my dad make plenty of weapons from Silver, and he told me of some more unique weapons he made, but he never let me make anything that was better than steel. He wanted me to master that before I move on to the next metal. Although steel isn't an ore itself, it's made from a few ores mixed together." Laila smiled at the memory of when she made those gauntlets "My dad told me those were some of the least comfortable gauntlets he had ever seen in his life, so I took that as 'more practice needed'."

Lapis giggled a little, "Maybe, but that is what conversations are for, yes?" She answered.

Then Laila went on to talk about the weapons she made from steel, making Lapis go "ooh" as she thought about it. She understood the general idea of blades and how they were made, but gauntlets? How did that work? Was there a special mold blacksmiths used for it? She might just have her next questions!

"I see. Is there a special mold needed for gauntlets? I assume it's much more difficult than a sword or a knife, yes? I have never really thought of gauntlet crafting before."She asked.

"Yeah, there is a special mold for gauntlets. And it is more difficult because you need to factor in the movement of the fingers, make sure they won't be restricted by a poorly made piece. But I know some blacksmiths don't actually keep the gauntlets in one piece, instead choosing to make the pieces with the mold, and then put them separately onto a piece of leather. It both provides a layer between the person equipped with the gauntlets and the metal, and it can ease the work a bit. I know it's something that was adapted more in the past century, but my dad taught me about both that and the older way." Laila explained.

Looking at Lapis, she had another question that rose to her mind "Besides reading and learning about things, what interests do you have Lapis?"

Once more she listened to the answer of her question, looking just as happy to be there as she was when they first started. A few nods of acknowledgement to the information. The more she listened to Laila speak, the more and more intrigued Lapis was becoming; namely about the person she was sitting with. Laila had not been born a noble first, then a commoner after. She wondered what her upbringing as a blacksmith entailed.

Another question for her, "I enjoy telling fortunes to anyone who will listen, and doing some illusion tricks. I am by no means a professional though, but I hope to be one one day." She answered. "What about yourself? Do you have other interests aside from blacksmithing? I am also curious about your upbringing, if you don't mind me asking."

The conversation seemed to be straying away from the original topic, but in truth, Lapis didn't mind. She was always interested in learning more about her classmates and anyone else willing to tell her about themselves.

Laila's eyebrows rose a bit as she listened to Lapis's answer "Fortune telling and illusion tricks, that's pretty cool!" She said with a smile "And about any other interests for me? I enjoy carving things in wood. I didn't have much time to explore a lot of interests growing up, I always looked for ways to help my dad pay the bills. And growing up wasn't the easiest, but I've learned to appreciate it. Taught me the value of hard work. And I never really had a dull moment." Laila said.
"If you're asking about how my upbringing was, then let me return the question to you. I can only imagine you grew up surrounded by books, with how much you seem to enjoy reading." She told Lapis, her voice suggesting that she was certainly curious.

Lapis couldn't help but smile brightly, "I'm glad you think so! It's an art in itself; I can demonstrate for you one day if you like."

Now it was her turn to answer Laila's question regarding her upbringing. A simple yet eventful life that seemed to be filled with financial struggle and worries. That was the life most commoners endured, and Lapis felt sympathy for them. But Laila seemed relatively happy now, which Lapis was glad to see.

"Yes, you are mostly right, but that isn't all." She began, "I was originally born to a house of nobility, but because I held no Crest, I was stripped of my title and sent to live with my aunt who had suffered the same fate. She and my uncle owned a library just on the outskirts of the Mordlind Concorde, and it was at that beautiful library where my love of reading, knowledge, and storytelling was nurtured."

Lapis couldn't help but giggle. "I was very much a hermit in my own cave when it came to that library. If it wasn't for my adoptive father, I would have been quite socially inept."

She sighed at the memory. "Tell me, how did you manage to enroll in the Officers' Academy? It's rare for commoners to be attending."

The answer Lapis provided made Laila's smile go away. How could anyone just send away a child for being born differently than what desired? Then again, she herself knew well about how it felt to be unwanted by her birth parents. But seeing Lapis giggle at her own time in her family's library did cheer Laila up a bit. The next question came, and Laila took a moment to properly remember the details before answering "I got an official recommendation from the knights of Friedrich. Apparently they saw potential in me while I made some weapons for them, and after a while I got the recommendation."
Laila raised a questioning eyebrow "How did you enroll in the Academy then? What you said should be true for you too." She said.

Lapis was a bit surprised to say the least. "A recommendation? Wow! You must be pretty amazing with your craft if you received an official recommendation! Will you show me how you make your weapons one day? I don't mean as a student, but as a spectator." She requested with a smile, as if what she said about her past hadn't been upsetting at all.

Then it was her turn to answer the same question, "Ah, unfortunately that is not the case for me. You remember the library I mentioned? We have a donations area for funds for those willing to contribute. It pays for the books, the furniture, the food, and whatever else my family needs to survive… Well, it was with a great sum of those donations that paid my enrollment fee.

My adoptive parents assured me that it was alright, but… it's a reminder that failure is not an option for me. Once I graduate, I want to pay back every single piece of gold that was sacrificed to put me here."

It pained her to say it, it truly did. The fact that she almost bankrupted the place she considered home to enroll in this academy hurt her heart. But, it was that motivation that drove her to excel in her studies and do the best she could.

"I apologize again. My story is not as cheery as one might imagine. I'm not intending to put a damper on the mood of this conversation."

"Well, blacksmiths don't normally work with spectators, but I suppose I could make you an exception." Laila said with a wink, before Lapis moved on to answering. While it wasn't cheery, Laila did see something positive in Lapis's story "Even if it isn't as cheerful, it means that your uncle and aunt really believe in you. And honestly, that looks like something that is worth a whole lot more than a recommendation. So just try thinking about that a bit more." Laila said with a smile "And I'm certain that as a graduate from here, you won't only be capable of finding workplaces that will let you pay them back in a short time, but they might find more attraction to the library. After all, who wouldn't want to learn at a library that a successful graduate of the Monastery came from?"

Her happiness about the accepted offer didn't have time to be expressed as her new friend continued. Lapis listened to her, eyes slightly wide as Laila explained to her what she heard from Lapis's story. She couldn't deny anything Laila said, despite her humility wanting to. And, by the end of Laila's words, the blonde girl would find Lapis's arms wrapped around her in a hug, squeezing her a little bit.

"Thank you. Sometimes I forget there's more to-" Lapis quickly let go of the hug and pulled away with her hands up in a defensive manner. "A-Ah! Sorry, sorry! I lost my composure there for a second. My apologies if you don't like being touched. But yes, I tend to forget the deeper meaning to the use of the donations… Thank you for pointing it out to me. I know you will do wonderfully as well. Who wouldn't want to purchase a sword crafted by the blacksmith to not only graduate from the Monastery but be officially recommended there in the first place?"

The sudden hug caught Laila by surprise. She wasn't sure how to react as Lapis began speaking again, before she let go and apologized for the hug, and then continuing to believe that Laila will do well as well "Well, I think a lot of people will think it's a waste for someone who has studied in the Monastery to have gone back to a job of a mere blacksmith, but who knows." Laila said "And I'm mostly just not too used to hugs and those things. But I suppose it might be another thing I should learn to get used to." She added.

"Mh? I'm not so certain about that. High nobles and royalty do not buy their weapons from just any blacksmith, do they?" Lapis asked curiously. Laila's recommendation had been because of her craftsmanship, yes? Would she not become a highly sought after blacksmith if she was not only a graduate of the Monastery but a recommended student on top of that? What did Laila plan to do after graduation? She decided to ask that very question, "Is becoming a blacksmith not what you want to do after graduation?"

Lapis blushed a bit from embarrassment, "N-No, truly it's my fault. I touched you without ensuring consent and proper mannerisms beforehand. It is something I learned from a very young age not to do, and even now should not have done."

"Oh, I want to go back to being a blacksmith after graduating, yeah. But there are just rarely any records of the blacksmiths across history, that I have no idea if it will even matter." Laila said. Upon seeing Lapis blush, Laila shook her head slightly "And yet, expressing yourself like that just shows you know how to express yourself well. Showing the positive emotions is good, as long as you won't let the negative ones take charge either. We don't want another case like what happened back at the dining hall." She muttered the last sentence under her breath.
Offering a smile, Laila shrugged "But do what you feel is right."

Lapis hummed a bit, trying to think of a solution that could help with Laila's dilemma but there wasn't much that could really be done. The only ways Lapis could really make blacksmiths more well known is if they included a signature somewhere on their craft, or that publishers begin printing notes in the margin of pages that mentions a noteworthy weapon and who the blacksmith of that weapon was. Neither idea was very pleasing and would certainly arise its own issues.

By the end of Laila's words, Lapis returned her smile. "You are absolutely right. That sounds like something I would have said to you if our roles had been reversed. You know, I believe this conversation has been my most pleasant experience upon arriving so far. Thank you."

Remember something Professor Talbot said to her, Lapis knew curiosity would eat her alive if she didn't try to ask.

"How has your experience at the Monastery been so far? Is all well?"

Happy to hear what Lapis thought, Laila wondered if Lapis was going to go back to the blacksmithing topic, only to hear her ask about her experience in the Monastery. That very much sounded like a question that would come from a staff member, not a fellow student "Errm, I guess it's good? Aside from what happened in the dining hall the other day, I can't say I have much reason to complain." Laila answered with a confused look "How has your experience been so far?" She decided to return the question, still unsure of where it came from.

"Relatively well." Lapis paused, thinking if she should share this particular piece of information regarding Sherry, but telling her would further strain the relationships between the redhead and her classmates. Would letting Laila figure it out for herself be best? Or should Lapis tell her?

Telling Laila would prevent an emotional outburst such as what happened with Alex, as it would allow her to plan ahead. But that exact reason would be reason for not saying anything at all...

The least she could do was explain herself. Laila did seem a tad confused by her question.

"I was informed by one of the professors that discrimination against commoners is still very much present on Monastery grounds. I asked because I wanted to ensure all has been well for you. Fortunately, the worst I have experienced is not being taken seriously, nothing but a little time and reading won't solve."

Tell her? Not tell her? Did it matter?

As Lapis started explaining why she asked that, Laila couldn't help but roll her eyes. She let her friend finish speaking before she began "Right, that whole thing. If someone decides to be an idiot like that, then I just won't bother with them. Sherry gave me a bit of 'for a commoner' kind of talk, but it didn't stop me from having a proper conversation with her. If anything, people like that will normally see no respect from me. Like that guy from the Green Falcons, dicktor? Or whatever his name was. The one who was so quick to jump on 'I don't want to be in a room next to commoners' and that crap. No one in our house has been like that towards me so far. And trust me, I've seen worse in the streets of Fadell." She said, moving to lean against the pillar once more.

Oh, looks like Laila already knew.

She listened to her friend quietly as she spoke about her experience with Sherry and about the Victor boy who was eager to get away from them. Well, at least Sherry's behavior wouldn't come as a surprise like Lapis had originally feared.

"I see. I was worried for a moment, but clearly I was concerned over nothing." She responded with a smile. "I really enjoyed speaking with you Laila, do you suppose we could sit down and have another conversation soon?"

"Of course! I'd be really happy to talk again soon!" Laila said with a delighted smile "But I suppose I should get back to studying. The materials about the countries and all of that won't just put themselves inside my head on their own." She said, patting the book that was sitting on her lap.

Lapis, too, was delighted to be able to have a conversation with her classmate sometime soon, then she pointed out her studies and she nodded once in understanding before standing up, brushing the grass off her skirt. "Of course. Please, let me know if you need any assistance. You can find me in the library if you need to." With that, she gave a respectful bow of the head and turned to leave. After that conversation, Lapis felt much better than she had when she arrived.

Marlowe · Jun 7, 2020

LAPIS and TALBOT
C-SUPPORT COLLAB
MENTIONS: @Jessica2477 [Lapis]

She felt like she was betraying her teacher and her House for peeking into the classroom of the Green Falcons, in hopes of finding their teacher. Though, was it truly a traitorous act if her teacher was unable to provide the help Lapis needed?

After the mock battle and the encounter she had with Professor Talbot, Lapis had grown a bit curious in regards to his magical prowess. He was most certainly capable of wielding powerful spells, and unlike her teacher, he was sober. However, she was still a Red Chimera asking for help from the Green Falcons professor, which did look bad no matter what.

Still, her teacher was the one to blame in the end.

"Professor Talbot?" She asked as she approached him, "If it's not an inconvenience, I would like to ask a few questions."

Talbot had always been a hard worker, ever since he was born. He had also been a skilled learner and thinking, so it was little wonder why his students always approached him after class. Even the more arrogant of his students asked him questions. It was a good sign, indeed. If he could imbue some of his wisdom into them, maybe they'll be able to calm down.

What he didn't expect was for someone of the Red Chimeras to approach him with a question. Having decided to take a moment of rest behind his desk, he perked up at the girl's approach. Oh, this was Lapis, one of the prominent commoner members of the Red Chimeras.

"Of course," he answered immediately. "What do you need?"

Lapis smiled appreciatively and pulled out the fire, blizzard, and thunder tomes, opening them to the pages she was stuck on, "I have a few questions regarding different types of magic, specifically fire, blizzard, and thunder. I am trying to get an understanding of the core principles before I attempt anything, but I'm unsure what these particular runes mean." She pointed out the runes in question to Talbot. "I went through the runic alphabet again but I couldn't find them."

"Hmmm," Talbot leaned towards the books and squinted at the runes that Lapis pointed out. He looked at them for a couple of moments before shaking his head. "From what I can tell, they're a certain type of runes that show how to cycle your energy, but I'm not certain. Why don't you ask your own professor? Juno is more read on magic than I am."

His explanation gave her an idea of what they could be, but she was still clueless. She hummed softly in thought before deciding to answer his question. "Because she reeks of alcohol and her ability to answer my questions are uncertain at best right now." She told him.

Talbot gave her an uneasy laugh. "Juno has always been rather eccentric. Her behavior can get out of hand, I understand, but you should be patient with her," he explained. "I've known her for a long while. She has more knowledge than you and I both know."

Lapis sighed at that, a frown on her face. "Professor Talbot, it doesn't matter how much knowledge a person holds if they are too impaired to share it. Even though you do not know as much as her, as you claim, at least you put me in the right direction of obtaining my answers whereas if I tried asking her I would still be in the same clueless predicament."

She gave him a small, respective bow of the head. "Thank you very much for answering my first one, but now I have a second.

Is this a regular occurrence? Professor Juno's drinking?"

Talbot could tell that Lapis was a student that was extremely focused on her studies; it endeared him to see such a spark within an individual. "Perhaps you're right," he admitted. "As for her drinking, she does have a bit of an issue. She's always been one for carnal desires. But she's not the type of person to let it get in the way of her lecturing. Even if she was, the Archbishop would subdue the issue before you know it."

Another soft laugh left him. "Give her time. She hasn't taught for a while-- maybe it's her way of coping."

The blue haired woman thought about it. While yes, she did deem it pretty irresponsible of her teacher to be drunk at the monastery, Professor Talbot was still vouching for her. Perhaps Professor Juno was a diamond in the rough to Lapis, and she just experienced a misstep? Maybe things could become better, or maybe they could become worse. Regardless, there really was only one way to find out.

She smiled at him, "I suppose it is too soon to pass that sort of judgment on her. You have known her far longer than I have, and if you can so confidently put your faith in her, then it is only fair that I be more patient. Though, if the day comes where I believe Professor Juno is not someone who can help me, please don't be surprised if I request a change of House."

"Of course. The Green Falcons will welcome you with open arms if it comes down to it," Talbot began. "Though, Lapis, aren't you one of the commoner girls that was permitted to attend the Officers' Academy? How are you adapting?"

"Yes, I am." She answered his first question, "Adapting has not been too much of an issue. I believe the worst that has happened is not being taken seriously because of my status. Aside from that, all has been relatively well. I take it that commoners are a special case?" Lapis asked.

All she knew from her aunt and uncle was that it was possible for her to attend and the price that went into her enrollment. She could understand if it wasn't often a commoner found themselves attending the Officers' Academy.

The professor let out a hum and a nod, taking on a rather solemn look. "Many times, commoners don't have the funds to pay for the Academy's tuition. With good reason, too. It asks for a hefty amount of gold in return for a person's studies. Though, the Archbishop has mentioned plans of being more lax with payments in the coming times."

"Not many people are fond of such ideas, sadly," he shook his head. "There's still the old fashioned thought that nobility and those with Crests are worth much more than commoners. You must have faced such discrimination here. I can think of a couple of students that look upon commoners with disdain rather than acceptance."

Lapis's own look softened at that, "It's funny you mention that, Professor Talbot. The entire reason I came to study here is to prove that a Crest does not guarantee success." She began, "You see, I was born into lower nobility, but stripped of my title and sent to live with my aunt because I was not born with a Crest. My biological father lost himself to the obsession of having a child with one so that the Zuval name could rise to power again. It's because of Crests that I have no idea who my mother or my siblings are. It was also because of this that I would come to realize that I was most certainly not the first noble to be thrown away because I was not born with one, and I would definitely not be the last.

Which is why I want to do well and become someone other people can look up to! An example that not having one of those accursed things is not the end of the world.

While discrimination is prominent, I can't say I fault them for thinking that way of me or any other commoners here. Prejudice is a trait taught to others, not something someone is born with. All I have to do is prove them wrong with my actions, and pray that they begin to see the errors of their ways."

Lapis paused for a second, then smiled again. "Heheh, I came here with questions regarding magic and here I am explaining my ambitions and past. I apologize for taking up more time than I thought I would Professor."

Talbot wasn't expecting the girl to go ahead and tell him the story of her father, along with the strife she suffered. It was difficult to hear; Crests and the prejudice against those who don't have them was saddening to watch. Yet, Lapis was very much still motivated to prove them wrong. A smile crossed his lips. It was endearing to experience a student's ambitions, especially if they were wholesome.

"It's not an issue at all. I'm glad that you're getting along well in your studies and relationships, and I'm more than happy to see you have a sound mind. Prejudice fuels hate, and hate fuels more hate-- many commoners look upon nobles with naught but contempt. If this generation of students has the potential that I hope they do, then they have the ability to chip away at the chain that has plagued society for ages."

Lapis nodded once, "Thank you very much Professor, truly. True unity can only be reached through time, wisdom, and the determination to see it through. While I doubt we will see change in the near future, this generation can begin paving the path for the next ones to continue."

She fell silent as a thought suddenly passed her mind. It was unrelated to the topic at hand, but curiosity got the best of her.

"Professor Talbot, I have one more question before I take my leave. It has me curious." Lapis gathered the books into her arms as she continued. "During the mock battle, you pointed your thunder spell in my direction, then suddenly changed its course towards the battleground. Was that a tactic to frighten me or am I looking too far into it? Your presence alone would have intimidated me enough, if that had been the case."

"I'm glad you feel that way," Talbot smiled at Lapis, only to perk up when she asked yet another question. This one was very curious indeed. It was a shame that he wasn't able to have her in his class yet. "Oh please, I look the least bit intimidating," he admitted with a laugh. "Actions speak much louder than words or appearances."

Lapis inwardly noted her original question hadn't been answered. Curious~

"While I agree you don't appear as frightening as Professor Juno, I must say that strength and intimidating appearances are not everything. You would certainly have the power of misdirection on your side. If your opponents do not know what to expect of you, then you could manipulate the battle in your favor. You could even intimidate them through words alone if you pique their paranoia, then win the battle without even raising your spellhand! Heehee~ the beauty of psychology, yes?"

She seemed happy to be able to discuss these topics and be taken seriously, "But I digress. Your unpredictability was what intimidated me the most during the mock battle, not your appearance. A valuable skill, Professor Talbot; one I hope I can learn to master during my time here."

Talbot blinked at Lapis' next words, his smile only becoming ever widening. "You are correct. Psychology does much to an enemy's mind. If you manipulate them enough, you can even make them cause more harm to themselves than to you or your allies. When I was younger, I took a gamble in a card game, and I rendered my opponent's strategies useless by simply remaining nonchalant during the whole charade."

"They were good times!" Talbot laughed. "And I'm sure you'll have just as much fun planning such strategies under Juno's guidance. Like I said, be patient. Everything will come with time."

She laughed with him, then gave a small nod and a smile. "Ah, I want to listen to your stories, but I should really resume studying. I'll take your words into consideration and be more patient with Professor Juno. Thank you Professor Talbot, it was a pleasure speaking with you!"

Though she still didn't have an answer to her original question, Lapis didn't regret coming to the Green Falcons classroom. She still felt like she obtained something worthwhile~

Astoria · Jun 8, 2020

Parthenia and Sherry
Mentions: @Luminosity [Sherry]

Parthenia sighed, setting her tea set on the table. Ever since the disaster in the training battle and the subsequent mess created by Alexander, the silver-haired girl had been in a foul mood. While she personally didn't think that Lady Sylmare's threats to cut off food and trade to Galbia would ever amount to much more than hot air from the crazed lady, she was still hardly pleased by the behavior of the Raveleth heir, and the collective punishment that it wrought. Because of this, she and her peers were forced to play the part of servants, a humiliating and dishonorable punishment that she felt was a disrespect to the station of nobles, and a waste of time for the learned commoners that were in her house. She thought Alexander had gotten his just desserts with cleaning the latrines, she was of the mind that there were far more reasonable punishments for the rest of the house. Although she never complained, she still went about her required tasks with a sour expression.

The sole saving grace was in tending to the pegasi in the stables, and taking care of the monastery garden, which Parthenia had just finished. After tidying and tending to the plants and flowers in the bed, she retreated to the gazebo to relax after a day's hard work, where she could enjoy some tea and relax in the shade with a book or two.

She was soon sipping chamomile tea. As she was admiring her handiwork, Sherry stepped through the garden. Parthenia contemplated simply offering her a wave before cracking open her book, but she quickly realized that in the whirl of the incident in the cafeteria, and her foul mood afterwards, she never had gotten to properly talk with her childhood friend since they'd entered the monastery. She waved. "Sherry! If you're not busy, would you like to join me for some tea?"

It had been another long day of work and studying, and Sherry was exhausted. Never did she have to work so hard in her life. Being a noble and all, she was very much accustomed to having things done for her than doing them herself. It wasn't like she disliked it. What she didn't like was the fact that many hours of her day had to be spent on her hands and knees, pulling weeds, or cleaning the stables. It was nasty work, and there was one person she could blame for it.

After having done a decent amount of chores, she decided that it would be for the best if she got some fresh air in the courtyard. Sherry hoped that she wouldn't see any unsavory faces, and was more than delighted to find herself in Parthenia's presence.

"I would love to, Parthy," Sherry replied as she approached. Sitting across from her, she offered the best smile her tired self could muster. "How have things been? Adapting well enough?"

Parthenia smiled back at Sherry as she came over. "Fantastic," she replied, clapping her hands together. "There's chamomile in the teapot right now, but you'd prefer something else, I can brew up another one." For some reason, Parthenia actually had another teapot laying around.

Pushing a plate of cookies pilfered from the dining hall towards Sherry, she shrugged. "School itself? Sure. These chores… Mostly," she admitted. "I think it's an absolute disgrace to our station to be forced to do them. They're not new to me though, I've done a lot of them at home. It's good to round out your skills, so I don't mind the actual labor if it weren't for this abhorrent situation," she sighed, thinking of how pitiful her house was looking now against the Green Falcons. Taking a sip of her tea, she paused to look at Sherry again. "How have you been coping? I do get the impression that this has all been a bit much for you, huh?"

"I am sure that, at this point, I need the chamomile," Sherry admitted. Serving herself some of the tea, she was delighted to see that Parthenia also had cookies. Satisfied with the presentation, she nibbled on a piece of cookie. "I completely agree. The Archbishop should have just given the punishment to Alexander, not us. We hardly did anything wrong."

Sherry took a sip from her tea cup. "I haven't been able to adapt well, if at all. The others are very difficult to work with. Have you encountered the same issue?"

Parthenia chuckled, sympathizing with her. If she herself was getting worked up over this, Yhirel only knows how Sherry was taking it behind the scenes. Chamomile was a good cure.

"I'm loath to admit it, but some punishment was warranted over the forest. No matter how much he actually cares about it, it's a mark against the prestige of the monastery. As a leader, punishment to get the students into line makes sense, I would do the same. Now, when he made the punishment what it was, and in response to Alexander, he stepped far out of line, and that questions my confidence in his leadership of the monastery," she replied, in a seditiously nonchalant manner.

"Don't let it show. A smile more befits a leader," Parthenia suggested, hypocritically; she herself had shown a pretty foul mug for a lot of the chores. "How bad are they, really? I'm trying to get to know them better myself, but I actually haven't had the chance to get to know most of them yet. Besides Dory."

Parthenia always seemed to understand her. Every conversation they had further proved she was a true friend, and for that, Sherry was grateful. Nodding as she spoke about Alexander and the monastery faculty, she took a sip from her cup. "I'm glad we understand each other. You would be surprised by how many brutes there are on campus."

"As for the rest, they're terrible. Dory's practically the only one that isn't horrid, and the commoners tail me to no end. Alex is just as vulgar as always, of course."

"Mm." She silently sipped her tea, nodding at her comments. Of course, as good friends, she would have to get on with some teasing… but this wasn't the time for that. There were cretins to bash.

"By default, I don't really mind the commoners. You would think the ones that made it into the monastery would be quite competent and interesting, but so far I haven't been impressed. I've been quite roused by Laila's ability to follow directions…" Parthenia ignored the fact that she'd completely ignored Sherry's, too.

She leaned forward, looking intrigued. "Oh? Tell me more about Alex. Did something else happen?"

Sherry nodded at Parthenia's interest. "Oh, Parthy, it was horrible. The boy has no sense of decency. He had the gall to spit insults at me a couple of days ago," she shook her head, a scoff leaving her lips. "I don't think that boy will ever change."

Parthenia reached for another cookie, taking a moment to enjoy it before frowning.

"Shouldn't you take responsibility as the house leader and punish him? Surely you could deprive him of some additional privilege. How much power does the position afford you, anyway? I certainly wouldn't mind seeing him suffer some more."

Parthenia did have a point. Perhaps further subduing the boy to further punishment would be the best course of action, especially if he was still acting up. Yet, something bugged her. Deep inside, she didn't know if it was truly the right choice.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I'll surely be pestered by the professors if I show any sort of abuse towards him," Sherry admitted. "If not, my father will reprimand me for my behavior if he caught wind. It's a hefty gamble, surely."

Parthenia fell silent, taking a moment to consider Sherry's words. Finally pouring some more tea for herself, she scratched her cheek, before continuing in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

"You're absolutely right, but I don't mean beat him up or something like that. As a leader, you need to whip up the house into shape, because, well, I think we've both complained enough just a moment ago," she chuckled. "At least, we need to get some proper discipline within the house, or we'll keep losing to Francette, Victor, and the rest of the Falcons, and that discipline includes Alex. I don't know what happened, but you can't really let him walk all over you like that..."

"He is not walking over me!" Sherry exclaimed at Parthenia's last part. If she thought that she was letting herself be pushed around by a heathen, then she was dead wrong. "... but I can see what you mean. Our house is very disorganized and needs some upkeep. I'll have to speak to Alexander more seriously."

Sherry nibbled on a cookie after finishing off the rest of the tea in her cup. "By the way, I love these cookies. Where did you get them?"

"Well, if you say so," Parthenia shrugged, before nodding at her again.

Taking another one for herself, she thumbed in the direction of the cafeteria. "The kitchen, of course. Where else?"

"You should go and grab some more next time. They're delicious," Sherry popped another into her mouth. "The others won't miss them. They'll be far too busy devouring their meals before they even stop to think about dessert!"

"Oh? I don't remember you being such a sweet tooth." Chuckling, she also went for some more. "Sure. You're covering for me if I get caught taking too much, though."

"Of course. It's not like you're going to get caught anyway," Sherry shot back playfully.

"You're probably right," Parthenia agreed, with an equally playful chuckle. "Now then, more tea?"

Demon Shinobi · Jun 8, 2020

Alex and Lapis
Mention: @Jessica2477 [Lapis]
C-Support

The dining hall was relatively crowded today, but that did not mean that Lapis minded. If anything, she saw this as the perfect opportunity to sit with someone who she wasn't too familiar with, or with a complete stranger, and learn more about them! She understood why this would be a social nightmare for certain individuals, but to her, she wanted to listen to all of the stories she could get.

However, her eyes fell on another individual who she'd been wanting to speak to. Alex.

After the events at the dinner, everyone was quite upset at him and for good reason. Though Lapis knew she should be angry as well, she wasn't. In fact, she was more intrigued by his behavior and why he chose to do such a thing…

The thought of sitting with a stranger was swept from her mind. Instead, Lapis was more concerned about Alex's wellbeing and approached his table.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked him.

Lapis knew that giving Alex the choice of letting her sit there would be best; it would help her determine the next course of action based on what he says.

Alex was sitting there in the dining hall, mostly a lot. Mostly because he wasn't alone in the room, or even at the long table, the immediate spaces around him were most certainly empty. It had been like that for a bit now. He rarely found this to be the biggest problem. He knew he'd fucked up. He was reminded of it every time he had to clean the latrines. And part of his cheek still stung when he thought about Laila's slap. Yhirel that girl was stronger than she looked.

He groaned thinking about it as he shifted the food on the plate around with his fork. Eventually, he would eat it. Yes... he wouldn't be seen wasting food. But... after cleaning the latrines, particularly the boy's latrines, he hardly had the appetite to eat.

Sometimes he thought they might be messing it up more than necessary just to fuck with him. Even when he bathed, which he did every night before dinner, he found himself feeling dirty and rundown.

"Hm?" his head perked up a bit at the sound of a somewhat familiar voice. "Oh, Lapis right?" he asked calmly, not initially registering her question. When it did occur to him to answer, he shook his head.

"No, yeah..." he combed the fingers of his free hand through his hair before exhaling a soft groan. "No, I don't mind. Yes, you can sit here," he clarified, his mind a veritable mess. Why was she here though? To berate him like Sherry? Wanting to know how he planned to make up for things? He was overthinking it. "Sorry. I'm all over the place. Did you need something?"

For a moment she had been worried that he would tell her no, or become immediately hostile when asked why she wanted to sit there, of all places. Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case. With a smile, Lapis set her meal on the table and sat across from him.

He then asked if she needed something, to which she shook her head. "No, I don't need anything."

Lapis took a bite of her food then swallowed, "I've been meaning to ask how you were, if that counts as "needing something."

As Lapis sat, finally taking her seat, he seemed to study her, if only for a moment, before his eyes returned to his food. "Me? I'm fine." His answer was simple, his voice calm. "Well, about as fine as a guy who's almost single handedly screwed over a country can be," he said, followed promptly with a small half chuckle.

"Got into a little fight with Sherry. I think I might be on the road to working things out with Laila. Don't know about the others really." He hummed softly, trying to think of whatever there was. Sure he was forgetting a few things. Still, after a moment, he shrugged, letting it go. "I guess, overall, I could be worse." Certainly there were those who would be worse off. He still hadn't heard from his sister or father yet either.

"How are you handling all this? Anything you need to say? Anything to get off your chest? Now would be the time." He didn't know why he said that. Maybe part of him just assumed there was something coming.

She, honestly, wasn't surprised that Alex had gotten into a fight, but thankfully he was on the right track to recovery with Laila. After a slap like that, Lapis had sincerely hoped that Alex wouldn't hate her for becoming emotional. She had every right to be, considering the circumstances.

She gave him a small nod of understanding after he'd finished explaining himself, but then came the question about her.

"Me?" Lapis repeated, "Well, I am upset that Lady Chenoa would do something so rash, and how she is willing to starve innocents over something someone else said. Aside from that, I have nothing else to say." She assured him.

"In truth, I'd like to know your motive for saying such things in the first place. I am not angry at you, I promise. I am simply curious."

Alex sighed. Part of him didn't think it was wrong that she might want to know, but still wanted to know... why it was she wanted to know? Still, she was being kind enough, and she'd chosen to spend her time on him. He might as well have given her an answer.

"I... lost my cool. I was frustrated with the situation. The field, the defeat. I mean, we know we lost. And then Lady Sylmare..." he stopped himself before he could get too riled up. "I normally try to keep myself under control. I much prefer to screw with others. But I failed." Alex couldn't help but laugh a little at himself. "Quite spectacularly at that." He'd had a little time to think about this since his talk with Laila.

"Still, I'm surprised you aren't more upset. Seems everyone else is." He shrugged, taking a small bite of his food.

Lapis took a bite of her food as she listened to his answer, giving him a few nods of understanding. An emotional outburst, not uncommon but certainly something that needed an outlet before it got out of hand. Unfortunately, Lady Sylmare had been that outlet and Alex made a mistake.

"If a man insults a king, and the king chooses to pick up his sword and slaughter a village in his rage, does the blame fall on the man or the king for the destruction of that village?" Lapis asked him in turn.

"I am not going to isolate and punish you over a mistake, Alex. In truth, I believe hearing it from you myself allows me to understand why you did it in the first place, then come to my own conclusion.

I do not believe the man should go unpunished, but I do believe he should not suffer the consequences that should be given to the king. If Lady Sylmare had been insulted by a child, I can imagine she would have done the same thing. It's foolish and a cowardly way to assert power." Lapis replied to him, hoping he would understand what she was trying to say.

Alex listened, nodding along as he continued to slowly work on his first bite. When he finally swallowed, he returned to poking at the food on his plate with his fork, moving it around ever so slightly. "That's easy to say if there's nobody left alive to blame the man. Then the only person he has to face is himself. But this isn't the same now is it." He took a deep breath, taking another bite of food.

It took a moment for him to chew and swallow once more. "I told Sherry that I believe we may have been headed this way regardless of my outburst. If it all hinged on Lady Sylmare's attitude, then..." he stopped. Any further discussion of that would bring about his own thoughts on not only her, but the archbishop and whether or not he'd have rolled over to meet her every whim. He thought back to the dinner, his outburst, and the things Lady Sylmare had said. He grit his teeth.

"And yet, that bi-" he forced himself to pause, remembering where he was. "That woman is out there, enjoying her freedom, acquiring her every desire, and here I am. Struggling to eat after..." Alex shuddered a bit. "Latrine duty." He exhaled softly. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I were handed off to my death. I don't think I could blame the Archbishop either. Though I certainly don't think it would do anybody any good."

She listened to him quietly, noting his body language, his tone of voice, and his words. Lapis hummed silently in thought, thinking of her next move to decide what to do. Alex certainly had a lot of steam he needed to release, and here, where others could witness and twist his words into something more devious and get him in deeper trouble.

It didn't take too long for her to decide a plan of action.

"You are right Alex. Just by first glance of Lady Sylmare one could see she holds far too much power for anyone's well being." She said that last part more quietly. "I hope you don't mind me asking so suddenly, but would you be willing to take a walk with me after we finish?" She said this part a little louder.

Alex blinked a few times at the girl's response. "You don't have to say that... Or..." he paused, taking a small sip of his water before looking back down at his food. "Alright. Sure. I was just gonna go find a quiet spot to draw or something after this. So I might as well spend my time productively getting to know a kind housemate." What did he have to lose really?

Of course... there was the chance that this was all part of some dirty little prank or something, but Alex didn't think Lapis was the type. He took a few more bites. Bite, chew, swallow. Rinse repeat. About half way through.

"Bring your sketchbook if you like. If we find a nice area, you can sit and draw while I look around."

Lapis ate her meal as well, having an easier time doing so since she had been assigned to clean the church for her demerit. Being able to listen to songs and the praises to Yhirel while she mopped was far better than cleaning the restrooms, she's certain.

When the meals were finished and Alex had gotten his sketchbook, she would walk alongside him, leading him to a more quiet part of the monastery, away from the other students.

"This is fine, yes?" She turned to look at him. "No one seems to be lurking about these parts, right?"

Lapis then began her explanation, "I assure you nothing devious is going on. I brought you all the way out here because I could see you still have quite a bit of frustration inside. All anger needs some sort of outlet, and everything you need to say could be misconstrued to something far worse if the wrong person were to overhear it. So please, feel free to express your anger any way you can. Sit and draw if it soothes you, or you can pretend I'm Lady Sylmare and yell all your profanities at me if it makes you feel better. I promise I will not take it personally."

Alex hadn't known what to expect after he'd gotten his book. Part of him was still worried that he was walking into some kind of trick, but the longer he spent with Lapis the more he saw that she really wasn't planning on doing anything wrong. In fact, when she finally did speak, once they were alone, he found himself laughing. He laughed probably a bit harder than he should have, probably even a bit louder than he should have.

"Oh no... I'm so sorry... I don't mean to laugh, but... Yhirel help me, you are such a kind person." He took a deep breath, calming himself as his laughter died down.

"Lapis, it means a lot that you went out of your way to provide this space for me, but you didn't have to go through the trouble." She'd even gone as far as to offer playing a stand in for Chenoa.

Alex shook his head, looking at the girl. "Honestly, I wish you were angry at me, or had treated me poorly. As it stands now, you're much too nice for me to even consider treating as poorly as I wish I could treat that stupid bitch." He certainly didn't mince words when it came to Lady Sylmare though.

Still, Alex was in a considerably better mood after that. He turned, taking her hand in his and leading her to a nearby bench. "Come sit with me," he said softly. He sat down, releasing her hand in order to pat the space next to him. "Tell me there is something I can do to help you or something we can talk about so I don't feel like I've completely wasted your time."

Lapis looked at him, puzzled as to what was so funny. Nothing she said could have been taken as a joke, as far as she was concerned, so why was he laughing?

By the end of it, he started to explain himself, and hearing his words she couldn't help but smile. Ah, so that was why he laughed, now it made sense.

"I understand I didn't have to, but I felt you should have a place to vent. All anger needs to be released, yes?" She told him, though she fell silent again as he continued speaking. He wished she was angry with him, and while she was aware she should be, Lapis couldn't bring herself to do it. She believed he shouldn't be the one punished for Lady Sylmare's actions, and her mind wouldn't change about it.

Still, she let him take her hand and be led to the bench, where she sat down next to him.

"I do not consider this a waste of time, anything but." She began, "Though, if you insist, then I would be happy to hear all about your history. Anything you are willing to share."

Alex sat back, relaxing a bit as he opened his sketchbook, listening to the girl. "I'll keep you in mind next time I really need to vent Lapis," he said, as he pressed a pencil to the paper, only to stop, tilting his head back. He thought about it. Did all anger need to be released? He wasn't so sure. And yet, he couldn't deny that he did have a lot to let out at times. He shook the thoughts from his mind.

She was asking about his past. "Huh? My history huh?" he thought about it for a moment. She was a girl who liked to learn. "If it's Ravaleth history, beyond what you'd find in books, and a few tidbits about my quote-unquote family, I don't have much to I could tell you." Still, she might always have meant information about him specifically. "As for me, I'm... not new to nobility per say. But certainly inexperienced. At least when it comes to the social... political..." But that much was clear at this point wasn't it?

"I grew up in Fadell's Lower City. It was where I spent the majority of my early life. I lived there with my mother." He smiled as he remembered his, his hands finally beginning to move as he shifted his focus to the sketchbook. Occasionally he'd glance up to observe, or maybe exam the scenery surrounding them. "She taught me to draw and a number of other things, but mostly we just worked together to try and make end's meat."

Alex was quiet for a moment as he continued to draw, sketching out the small portion of the area he was eyeing. "I've only really been a member of House Ravaleth for... I don't know... a few years now?"

Lapis sat quietly and listened, wondering what Alex was thinking about and what parts of his life did he deem shareable. It made her curious, though before she even thought to question it, he began talking about his history. Her mind went blank, listening intently to his words. Every now and then she would nod her head once in acknowledgement to the information, letting him know that she was still engaged in the conversation.

Her eyes wanted to look at the picture he was drawing, curious about it, but she didn't want to make Alex feel shy about his work so she kept her gaze on him.

"Interesting, I'm happy to be learning more about you! It's obvious you enjoy drawing, but how does one start? Is there a process?" She asked him.

Lapis was already familiar with a few techniques because of some art books she read. However, she was also aware that people enjoyed talking about the things they loved to do, and if it meant Alex leaving this conversation happier then she could feign ignorance for a little bit~

Alex would glance at Lapis every so often, unsure of what she may have been thinking to hear him talking about his mom or his upbringing. Still, he was glad when she didn't seem to initially attempt to get more out of him. Or maybe it happened that she didn't think she could learn much more from it at the time. Regardless, the subject soon shifted to art. He smiled.

"I do enjoy drawing. It's oddly calming. At least, I feel like that considering I don't need to worry about pleasing others with it," he mused as he continued, short strokes running up along the side of the page. "How does one start? Drawing altogether? Or drawing a single piece?" he answered her question with a question.

Alex wasn't sure how to answer either way. In his case, he tried to draw at least a little throughout any given week. Usually to try and maintain something he'd always done with his mother. "I'm a little surprised. You seem really well read and a whole lot smarter than, well me probably. I can't say for the others. But you seem like you'd probably know a lot more, at least technically than I do. About most things."

Alex hummed a bit. "I do find that I have a lot less on my mind when I draw. I don't think much. Or maybe I think a lot? It's hard to explain. A lot of planning and figuring out spacing. What colors I want to use, if any." He rocked a bit in place for a moment. "What do you do to calm yourself, or vent, or entertain yourself?" he asked, not wanting the conversation to be too one-sided. He'd learned a bit from his discussion with Laila after all. He should try and get to know Lapis if she was going out of her way for him.

"Altogether." Had been Lapis's answer.

She fell silent for a second, watching as the scenery Alex was drawing was slowly taking form. It was fascinating to watch what she could see right now slowly being immortalized on the piece of paper Alex held.

As he spoke, she listened to him, and couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, but I believe you are not giving yourself enough credit. While yes, I may be well read, an extensive vocabulary and being knowledgeable of facts does not always signify being "more intelligent." While I may be more familiar with books, I'm certain you are more intelligent in many ways." Lapis told him, soon listening to his next question and thought for a second to come up with an answer.

"I like to get away from everything, find a secluded spot, and think to myself for a little while if I'm upset. I know people scream, or break something, or have their own ways of venting, which is why I brought you all the way out here." Lapis smiled, "As for entertainment, I enjoy reading, learning about people, and I like to perform fortune-tellings and illusion tricks for others." Lapis answered him.

Alex couldn't help but blink a few times as the girl spoke. She seemed fairly humble, kind to almost an unbelievable degree. He turned his head to look at her, his hand stopping in its tracks. He wouldn't have dared ruin the drawing with a misstep or off stroke. "Are you…" he seemed perplexed, perhaps unsure of how to ask. "Are you an angel, Lapis?" It wasn't until the question left his lips that he found himself pulling back a bit. He shook his head.

"Sorry… That's a stupid question without context." His eyes came to rest on his sketchbook again, a slight blush noticeable on his cheeks. "You seem like way too good of a person. I'm almost shocked that someone who can be as kind, curious, humble, and as genuine as you can even exist." Of course he didn't really know her. He looked at her again, his eyes narrowing for a moment.

"Hmm…" He paused, his head cocking to the side. "Ugh," he relented. "What am I saying?" Alex groaned, shaking his head. "If you can really get upset, which I'm not quite sure is true," he chuckled softly before continuing, "I'd pay to see that." The boy shrugged, a small smile forming on his face. "I would settle for seeing a fortune or an illusion though. Ya know, since I'm not about to try and purposefully upset you just to see if it's true."

Lapis was most certainly caught off guard by this, judging by her widened eyes and subtle blush. Though it wouldn't be too long before she was giggling.

"Please don't apologize; I'm flattered, truly." She assured him, happy to see that Alex was not only calmer than before, but the two of them were able to get along much better than she had with Sherry.

"But thank you. I have my adoptive parents and their morals to thank for it. Without them… I don't know how I'd behave. Maybe a hermit somewhere, too scared to even talk to another person." Though Lapis said it with a smile, she was certain it would have been true. It was all thanks to them that she didn't lock herself in her room every day doing nothing but reading books.

"Oh? My fortune-telling?" Alex would pay to see it? That was the first time she'd heard that! "I must warn you, I am no professional fortune-teller. But if you're interested, I can perform a reading for you whenever you like and demonstrate some illusion tricks. It would be good practice for me as well."

Alex chuckled a little bit. What'd gotten him was her reaction. Had he said something all that flattering? he shrugged. Still as she continued to speak a number of things stuck out to him: adoptive parents and the potential for a hermit Lapis. "Well, I'm glad you aren't a hermit. You can really see how much of an impact your parents have had on your life. They must be good people," he mused softly. The way she spoke, what other conclusion could he reach.

He was glad to see he wouldn't be the only one under the spotlight. "I'd be happy to hear a fortune. Although, I can't imagine it being very good right now..." he sighed, looking away from the girl for a moment. "How about a little illusion. We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other. So, you can always tell me my fortune later, if there's time." he said, smiling once more as his eyes returned to her.

Lapis's smile widened a bit, "They really are."

There was plenty she had to say about them, all of which positive. However, that would best be saved for another day.

At his last sentence, she nodded once. "Of course. Allow me to show you a few simple tricks~"

Marlowe · Jun 8, 2020

MENTIONS: @Psyker Landshark [Doric]

Wow, this place really was huge.

Orianna found it rather easy to get lost in the multiple halls and corridors. The monastery was definitely bigger than the manor she had back home, and even she got lost there sometimes as well... She was far too timid to ask the monks and bishops that roamed the halls for help. No, no, they looked far too busy to help her. Even the students that she came across seemed to be in deep conversation or studying their notes in courtyards. As she roamed the halls, she found herself more and more lost than before. Yhirel, didn't she already pass the dining hall? And she was sure that she had seen those types of shrubs before.

Oooh, why is this so difficult..? Ori couldn't help but frown as she glanced up and down the corridors she passed. It would have been much easier if her brother had just gone ahead and met her at the front gates, but then again, he might have been too busy. She could have just asked the dean which way it was to the dormitories, but she had been far too overwhelmed with everything to ask, much less pay attention to every little detail that she was given.

The morning class ended, and Theodoric filed out of the lecture hall, intent on making his way towards the stables. Fortunately, his punishment detail for the day was later, and didn't involve cleaning the structure. Yet. Instead, he simply wanted to help groom and maintain the horses stabled, being rather fond of the beasts.

He tucked his lecture notes under his arm, intending to set them aside in his room first on the way to the stables as he weaved through the monastery's halls.

Luckily for Orianna, she saw another person coming her way. At a distance, she could tell he was a student.

"Hello!" she called to him in greeting as she walked up to him. Somewhat out of breath from all of the walking and climbing of stairs, she gave him her best smile. "Could you tell me where the Green Falcons' dormitories are? I'm a new student and I just got here, so I missed the introductions and whatnot…"

Something bothered her. Was she forgetting something? "O-oh, I'm Orianna by the way. Orianna Schuyler Keryth," she added. Leaning a bit closer, she peered at him with wide eyes. "Do I know you? You seem awfully familiar…"

Doric blinked for a moment as he was approached. They were already days in to the start of the year, so it was somewhat of a surprise to see a latecomer to the monastery. As for her name...Keryth? Victor had a sister? Theodoric strained to remember if there had been such a girl on his visits to Keryth lands in his childhood, but found he didn't quite remember her. Strange. A legitimized bastard? Or perhaps the girl had simply not been well when he'd visited.

"Theodoric Branden Marlon. A pleasure." He said, giving a slight bow. "I don't believe we've met, considering Victor's never mentioned he had a sister. The dormitories are shared among the houses, and I'm on my way back as it is. I'll be happy to take you there, though I don't know if they've a room prepared for you or not. Have you spoken with any of the faculty about this?"

"Vicky didn't mention me? I'm hurt. The two of us are very close!" Orianna pouted for a moment, only to smile again at his offer. "I'd love for you to help me out. As far as I know, my room should be ready."

Wait. Did he say what she thought he said?

"H-hold on. Did you say your name was Theodoric? A-as in the Theodoric Branden Marlon?!" she squeaked, practically clinging to his sleeve in excitement. "I've heard so many things about you! Are you perhaps one of the house leaders? That's amazing!"

It was only years of etiquette and social training that prevented Doric from shaking Orianna off of his arm in surprise.

"I...yes. I am him. Though I'm not one of the house leaders, no. Those titles belong to Sherry Millefore Grimdall and Francette Albillion Luralei. Francette is the Falcons' house leader, and Sherry is my house leader." He paused, thinking of how to word this.

"Though if you could release my arm now before anyone passing by gets the wrong idea," He said with a light tone. "We wouldn't want your brother to get too angry or anything." Doric joked.

As Theodoric spoke, Orianna beamed up at him with vigor. Lady Luralei and Lady Grimdall were there too!? How exciting! She wondered who else roamed these halls. Her smile persisted even as he asked her to release him, as if she didn't understand his question. It took a moment for her to falter, moving her hands away from his arm as soon as she realized her folly.

"O-oh, I'm sorry," she stammered as she dusted his sleeve off. "I just didn't expect to meet such an amazing person on my first day! I never really left home before now, either, so… it's all a bit overwhelming!" Orianna continued with a light blush. "Either way, I'd be delighted if you were to help me, m'lord."

Doric shook his head. Amazing? What was she talking about? The only thing he knew for certain at this point was that Parthenia would have to never learn of this. He'd never hear the end of it should she find out. Though her diction was...coarser than he'd expected. "M'lord" was something commoners said. Nobility were taught otherwise.

"Nonsense. I've done nothing of note to deserve being complimented so profusely. There's no need to call me lord, either. I'm still only the heir to the house, and students in the monastery are of equal social standing, despite what others may assume. In any case, follow along, then." He paused.

"Victor is in your house, you know. Have you not sought him out?"

"O-oh… but you're so famous in Mordlind! Of course you deserve such praise," she told him. "Along with the Cirans, of course. Though, I'd say you were more so! Everyone always says, House Marlon this, House Marlon that…"

Oh dear, she was rambling again. Orianna bit her tongue to stop herself before drawing in a breath. Okay, Ori, just breathe…

"I think he mentioned something about that. It'll be so nice to study with him!" she piped. "Though, it's quite sad you won't be able to study with us. He should be at the waiting for me at the dormitories."

"Perhaps my family is, but I doubt I am." He gave a wry, self-depreciating smile. "Gwendolyn was always more talented than I, and my father's had decades to build our family's reputation in this generation. Compared to them, I'm still untested." Though it was probably best to change the subject for his own sake before thinking too hard on Gwendolyn and her fate soured his mood too much.

"Indeed. Victor is...talented." Doric said neutrally, trying to conceal his feelings over his loss to his peer as best he could. "I'm sure you'll do well with such a study partner available to you."

"I bet you'll be twice as good as your sister was!" Ori chimed in reply. "You are the star child of your family, after all. Why, if you worked together with my brother, you'd both be unstoppable! Even if you are a bit better than he is… don't tell him that though, you'll hurt his feelings."

Orianna giggled as she walked alongside Doric, hardly a foot between them. "I have the perfect idea!" she said. "Why don't you join the Green Falcons? We could be study partners! Please?"

Doric didn't respond to her compliments. There was no point in saying otherwise, considering she likely didn't know what she was talking about. As for her offer…

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to politely decline." He shook his head. "I've a number of childhood friends in the Chimeras, and I'd be loathe to leave them. Besides, we're only a few days in to the school year. Switching houses immediately at the beginning would look rather unbecoming, no?"

"Oh, I guess you're right… I didn't think of that…" Ori murmured, rubbing her chin. "But we can still be study partners, right? I'm going to need help with my studies in reason magics, and I don't think Vicky can help me."

Doric paused. "I'd be willing to study, certainly. Though you're aware that your brother does know how to use Reason magic, do you not? He certainly had no problem using such during the mock battle."

He glanced in the direction of the dormitories they were approaching, silently debating to himself whether or not dealing with Victor was going to be worth the hassle. After a moment, he resigned himself to continue on. Those of Marlon's line were no cowards, and he hadn't done anything untoward. If Victor decided to comment, that was his prerogative.

"Oooh, but I want you to teach me," Orianna smiled up at him. "If Vicky knows reason magic, then good on him, but it gets awfully dull when you have to spend much of your life talking to the same person. Hey, aren't those the dormitories over there? And look, Vicky's there too!"

Indeed he was! Orianna ran up to the figure standing near the entrance, almost barreling him over as she wrapped him in a hug. Victor was quick to embrace her too, only to look up at Theodoric.

"Orianna, good to see you," he mumbled to his sister before he looked directly at Doric. "Why, if it isn't Theodoric. What were you doing with my sister?"

"He helped me, Vicky! I was lost and couldn't find the dormitories," Orianna said with a smile. "Right, Theodoric?"

Doric simply nodded, keeping his space. "Indeed. I was on my way to drop some things off in my room anyways, so there was no harm in escorting her over. That isn't a problem, I hope?" He asked pointedly, unable to resist needling Victor just a little. No one ever said he wasn't somewhat petty.

"Though I was never aware you had a younger sibling. I doubt any of the others were, either."

"I didn't have a reason to bring her up to the likes of you," Victor's voice became a bit sharp as his look hardened. He maintained his glare for a moment before he nudged Orianna, glancing down at her. "Remember we have class tomorrow. Don't spend too much time unpacking."

"Alright!" Orianna chirped as her brother turned away and sulked back to his room. She turned back to Theodoric, grinning obliviously. "Isn't he just great?"

Well. That explained some things. Orianna simply had abysmal judgement in character. Both in Victor and himself. Though he supposed Victor may have more of a soft side in private.

"...As you say. If that'll be all, I ought to drop my things off and leave. I've somewhere to be before afternoon classes. I look forward to seeing you around then, Orianna." Doric said politely, turning to leave.

"Alright! Goodbye!" Ori called after the noble boy. Well, at least she had found the dormitories. That, and she had actually met someone interesting-- someone much more interesting than she ever had met in her entire life! A soft giggle left her lips as she walked down the dormitories' halls, searching for her room. Ah, there it was. She unlocked the door and stepped inside, faced with a somewhat small but cozy room. It was unbearably plain and due for a massive makeover. Good thing she had enough things in her bags to fix it up.

Psyker Landshark · Jun 8, 2020

Theodoric and Alexander
C-support

Theodoric grunted in dissatisfaction as he finished emptying the latrine in the outhouse he'd been assigned to clean out, a deep frown on his face. Finally, he was done with punishment detail for the day. Fortunately, most of the...contents had dried up enough in the pit that it didn't quite resemble nor smell too much like more fresh matter. That was reserved for cleaning out chamber pots in the bathrooms inside the monastery itself, which he'd had the displeasure of handling once already.

At least he didn't reek. Doric set the shovel he'd been using back into the shed he'd taken it from, pulling a timepiece out to check exactly what time it was. Hm. He'd been faster than he'd given himself leeway for, and now he had a decent amount of time to himself before late afternoon training and dinner after. What to do…?

Alex groaned, having finished his most recent chore. He had still had a little more work to do, but decided it would be best to take a break. Maybe he could get a little early training in. He groaned. Training by himself helped, but it was also a bit boring. He'd have loved to be able to take some time to spar.

"I suppose a training dummy will have to do again for now," he groaned, speaking to himself primarily as he walked along. It wasn't like he had people beating down the doors to want to train with him after his spectacularly abhorrent display. Stupid. He couldn't help but criticize his behavior the more he looked at it. He could have handled it better. Much better. He'd just been so annoyed.

Looking up he caught a glimpse of Theodoric. Had he just finished a chore himself. "Come to return something yourself?" he asked calmly as he returned a few cleaning supplies.

Doric nodded as he glanced behind him. As much as he'd like to castigate Alexander for causing this entire debacle, he already had the feeling that the others were giving him much worse. Adding on to it wouldn't help beat the lesson in. Best to just...not bring it up.

"More or less. Finished with clearing out an outhouse's latrine today. I take it you've finished your punishment detail for the day as well, then?"

"Well part of it. I was given extra chores, remember?" Alex said calmly as he finished replacing his own equipment. He'd half expected something more from Doric. "I was thinking I might try and get a little training in. If all I did was clean, especially other latrines I'll need to take care of later… ugh, I'd keel over of boredom, and disgust, before long."

He reckoned many would feel the same. "What were your plans for the day Doric? Anything fun planned? Teaching Sherry a thing or two about humility and leadership perchance?" He asked with a small laugh. Ah yes, poking fun at sherry. His quickly growing new favorite past time. Although in this case, given his only real experiences with Doric involved Sherry in some way (the battle and dinner), it felt appropriate.

"Directly? It'd do nothing. Yhriel only knows I've tried that before." Doric scoffed, inwardly lamenting said failures to calm Sherry down even remotely. "Debate and arguments don't quite reach her, and I'm not good enough of a schemer to be able to manipulate her into at least making an attempt at being a more reasonable person. I wouldn't even know where to start." He had many, many more opinions on this matter. But none that were appropriate for someone he'd only just met. Let alone for someone who'd already shown he was incapable of not running his mouth upon getting angry.

A pause. "As for plans...truthfully, I'd budgeted more time for this than it actually took, and now I find myself at a loss for what to do with my extra hours. You said you were planning on training? Would you mind at all if I joined you?"

"Not a good enough schemer, huh?" Alex chuckled a bit at the thought. "Could have fooled me with how quickly you seemed to take the reins during the mock battle." Alex couldn't help himself. Doric seemed far more capable than he let on, though it seemed like something (possibly himself) was holding him back. Still, the young would-be Ravaleth heir shrugged. "Although I could definitely see even the most gifted of minds giving up on 'educating' the young Lady Grimdall." And he did use the term lady quite loosely in this regard.

"Regardless, I wouldn't mind at all if you joined me. I'd love a good spar." Alex grinned, rolling his arms back a bit at the shoulders to help himself loosen up. "Nothing like a little friendly combat to help find out your own strengths and weaknesses. I'll just color myself lucky you seem to have an extra bit of time on your hands." He turned to make sure the shed was sufficiently closed and then nodded. "Off we go then," Alex said, a slightly more enthusiastic look in his face as he led the way to the training grounds.

"If I were better in that regard, perhaps we would have had a more definitive advantage during the mock battle. Though I'm mostly speaking of politics and backroom deals." Doric deflected as they started to walk off. "Again, I'm sorry about Sherry. I know this doesn't excuse her actions, but she's had a...difficult childhood. She wasn't quite always so severe." He sighed. "Anything beyond that isn't my business to say."

He wasn't quite going to say that Sherry was more than justified in whatever she'd said to Alex this time, considering that Theodoric had the lingering suspicion Sherry had likely escalated whatever feud they'd had beyond reasonable leeway. Still, considering Alex didn't seem too resentful at the moment, perhaps it wasn't as bad as his worst-case scenario.

As they reached the training grounds, Doric made a beeline for the weapon racks, picking out a larger wooden sword that suited his fighting style before glancing back at Alex.

"At your ready, then. How do you wish to do this? First to a number of strikes, or until first surrender?"

"I'm not so sure. Who could have accounted for the combat strength Victor portrayed? Even if we'd established a better advantage, there's no guarantee we would have been victorious," Alex replied calmly as he inspected the training swords. When he finally settled on a sword he moved a few paces away. "And don't apologize for the princess. She may be a hardass, stuck up, and more than a little arrogant. But she's at least honest." He liked giving her a hard time, but part of that was because the girl made it so damn easy. "Besides, if you spend all your time trying to cover for others, I doubt you'll end up getting very far yourself."

Alex hummed a bit as he swung the sword. He needed to check the weight, see out it felt. It wasn't particularly large, but seemed to fit well in his hands. "Besides, I can at least trust Sherry enough not to play an underhanded trick behind my back. She'll come try to fight me head on," he added before getting into a ready stance, the sword held tightly in both hands, his stance a bit lower with legs bent slightly at the knees. "Let's say until one of us yields. Usually makes for a slightly more interesting session."

Doric pursed his lips as Alex responded, but eventually shrugged. If that was how Alex chose to see the mock battle, fine. Though it was good to see he wasn't that badly inclined towards Sherry. Yet. "Well, I'm glad you're not holding a grudge against her, at least. It would have made working together as a house far harder in the long term if you did."

He took his training sword up in both hands, sword parallel to the ground in a high stance. "I do prefer yield, anyways. Makes for longer matches. Have at you!" Theodoric surged forward, opening with a quick pair of slashes towards Alexander's chest.

Alex chuckled a bit at Doric's expression. It seemed the blonde swordsman didn't quite agree with him about the mock battle. "You're quite adept at holding your tongue Dori. I could learn a thing or two from you," he poked a bit of fun as he step back, avoiding the first of the slashed. Doric was quick, clearly skilled, much more so than Alex at least. He turned on his heel, shifting his weight to the left as he parried the second slash, and the moved in to attack himself.

"I'm glad we agree on our preferred method of sparring though," he chuckled. "As for Sherry... she's ultimately harmless. I'm not looking to hurt her or let her do anything stupid to get herself or any of us killed on the battlefield," he said as he stepped in, swinging a horizontal slash toward Doric's midsection. Still, that was a rich line considering his behavior at the dinner. Was he baiting Doric to see if he'd get a legitimate reaction?

All the while, Alex anticipated a block or parry, perhaps a dodge. So, he'd press his attack with a following downward diagonal slash aimed at Doric left shoulder.

"I'd hope not." Theodoric grunted as he parried the first blow, eyes widening as Alex pressed the attack towards his shoulder. Without enough time to bring his sword back up for another parry, Doric dove to the side, tucking and rolling before coming up on his feet, sword leveled for another exchange of blows. Alexander had good instincts for combat, at least. Even if his bladework could use polishing. But that was what the monastery's instruction was for. "She needs the leadership experience more than anyone else here, considering she's slated to rule a country."

Doric stepped forward again, sword raised up with both hands as if to bring it crashing down vertically. However, before he completed the stroke, he dashed forward and sought to smash the pommel of his wooden sword into Alex's forehead with a hilt bash.

"Nice roll," Alex couldn't help but comment as Doric parried and evaded the attacks. He smirked, turning to meet his house mate. He had a point about Sherry, though Alex was sure there was more to it than that. "But shouldn't we also try to make sure that we're able and ready to back her up? Even if she makes the wrong decision, especially if she makes the wrong decision, while we still have the chance to learn from mistakes that would otherwise get us killed?" He thought back to the mock battle. None of them had really chosen to follow her or back her up. Even when Doric or Laila did, it had been long after the initial division of the team.

Still, Alex's eyes widened at Doric brough the hilt down toward his forehead. Alex brought the sword up to block with the flat of the would-be blade, grunting and gritting his teeth on contact. "You're stronger than you look. Which is saying a lot since I didn't take you for the weak type," Alex said as he brought his leg up to try and kick Doric back. He was sure in a real battle he'd have stood no chance. Doric was clearly more powerful. But that wasn't about to stop him from trying.

Doric stumbled back from the kick, exhaling sharply as he sucked in a breath. "That was the idea regarding Sherry, yes. I'm glad to see someone else understands, at least." He drew himself back up, smiling slightly in response to Alex's compliment. "Don't sell yourself short. You're holding up quite well."

Theodoric brandished his sword in a defensive stance, knees braced as he waited for Alex to attack this time. In a real battle, he'd stay on the offensive and maintain pressure. But considering this was training, he was curious as to how Alex handled the attack himself.

"Heh, thanks. That means something coming from you," Alex replied calmly as he took the brief moment to collect his thoughts. Doric had backed off and assumed a defensive stance. He wanted Alex to attack this time. Well, he wouldn't keep him waiting. Alex took a deep breath and charged forward.

"Still, it's a little ironic to hear you say that," he said as he led with a cross slash, each one aiming to due damage to Doric's shoulders. A swordsman who could no longer wield his sword in a battle, after all, was hardly a threat. "You seemed more than ready to leave her to the wolves and take control during the mock battle." In truth, Alex hadn't done much better. He'd stayed behind to follow Doric's lead. Were it a real battle, that would have been the smart choice. Didn't mean he wouldn't question it after the fact.

He had to try and anticipate how Doric would counter. "How would that have helped Sherry grow? Or any of us for that matter? Seems it'd sow seeds of division if you ask me." One thing was for certain, Alex liked to talk. For better or worse, he would get a genuine reaction from Doric, or just walk away having learned a little more.

Doric grunted in exertion as he parried both strikes with the flat of his blade, taking one hand off the hilt in order to brace his sword. "I can see how you'd think that," He murmured as he strained against Alex's blows. "But Sherry needed...needs a humbling first and foremost. For her own good."

He moved in to deliver a shoulder check to Alex in the hopes of knocking him back and following up with a lunging thrust should he succeed. "Otherwise, in the worst case scenario, you, your house, and the rest of Galbia are ruled by an overly arrogant tyrant in the years to come. I'd be a poor friend if I simply let her continue down such a path when I could make an attempt to influence it otherwise."

Alex grunted as Doric not only parried both strikes, but followed up with a shoulder check that would send Alex reeling back. "Shit-" he murmured as he raised his sword, managing to just barely throw off the thrust, though he winced in pain. He might have avoided full damage, but the thrust had still nicked his side.

"I have no doubt she needs a lesson in humility. But in case you've forgotten, and as I've so poorly shown... time and place are everything." Alex stepped in once more. Many others might have attempted to back off, but it was likely Doric would simply press his assault now that he'd gained a bit of head way. "Was the mock battle really the best place to make your point? Wouldn't it likely just make her resent you? Make it harder for herself to admit needing help or grow as a leader?" he asked, as he raised his sword to bring down on Doric from above.

Alex was under no impression though that he could overpower the blonde so easily in a clash of swords. He would have to follow up quickly. He'd follow the slash with a quick elbow aimed to the solar plexus. Doric would no doubt put a little more energy to stop from being winded. If things went well, Alex could press his attack with a slash aimed at Doric's side. Of course, there was always the chance Doric was good enough to counter this. There was a disparity in skill and experience. This seemed more a last ditch effort or perhaps a chance for Alex to see what his housemate was really made of.

Theodoric grit his teeth as Alex proved himself faster than he was, the blonde pushing himself to keep up with his classmate's quick slashes. "Perhaps you're right. That decision was made under duress at the time as well. I hadn't expected Sherry to simply call for a suicide charge-oof!"

He grunted as Alex's elbow slipped through his defense, knocking the wind out of him. Doric staggered back, gasping for breath as Alex's sword came towards his side. He mustered all the effort he could, forcing his sword to his side to parry the blow before flicking his sword up in a disarm, tearing Alex's blade out of his hands. Doric leveled his own training sword at Alex's throat immediately, still trying to catch his breath from the blow to his solar plexus.

"Yield…?"

And there it was. Disarmed and defeated, Alex breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. "Damn… you really are good," he laughed as he helped up his hand to shake. "I yield." Even if he'd wanted to continue, winded with a sword pointed at his throat didn't paint the picture of a victor.

"You should work a little on speed. And maybe speaking your mind. You seem more sure of yourself now than on the battlefield. Or any other time you interact with someone. Like Sherry perhaps." Alex smirked. "And if you have any advice for me, now would be the time."

Doric smiled as Alex surrendered, but his smile tightened somewhat as Alex mentioned his lack of confidence. A noble, speaking his mind? Between this and the incident with Lady Sylmare, how sheltered had Alex been to politics?

"You have a point on speed. As for the rest...we'll talk about that some other time." He tapped his chin in thought as Alex asked for tips.

"Hm, as for advice...let's see. Your swordplay is still somewhat sloppy. You compensate for it well just by being quick, but it's still evident. Work on tightening up your sword strokes and your transitions between strikes. Your cross slash had a bit too much follow-through, and the second blow likely would have struck me if it hadn't."

"I'll keep all of that in mind, Golden Boy," Alex replied calmly as he moved to pick up his training sword. He figured it would be best not to press the issue of speaking one's mind. "We should spar again some time. I could stand to learn a few tricks," he added with a small chuckle as he replaced the training sword in its original place. Alex sighed though. He still had more work to do.

Glancing back, Alex smirked as his eyes fell on Doric. "I'll be looking forward to our next match. Maybe I'll even manage to get you to yield," he said calmly as he made his exit from the training area.

Marlowe · Jun 9, 2020

MENTIONS: @Rouge Rogue [Leon]
C-SUPPORT COLLAB

Never did Sherry expect to have to shovel dung out of a stable alongside a noble-assassin. But here both of them were, having been scooping out the pegasus dung from the monastery's stables and dumping it into a wagon that was already nearly overloading with crap. Sherry's crimson hair had come from her trademark ponytail, thick with sweat and grease and bits of hay as it tumbled over her shoulders and back. Her brows were furrowed as she piled on another plop onto the wagon, grunting with excursion at the weight. It was almost hilarious to see how much a horse can poop in a couple of days.

Despite having been at it with Leon for an hour or so, Sherry had hardly uttered a word in his direction. The anger she had for Lady Chenoa was clearly being directed towards Leon. She wished she could bring herself to say something, but she was worried that whatever she would say on the matter would anger him and thusly anger Lady Chenoa even further. And so, Sherry remained quiet, giving Leon the cold shoulder… until she had something to ask of him, of course.

As if on queue, the pegasus furthest from them dropped a heaping pile of poop onto the ground. Sherry wrinkled her nose at the stench, tossing a glare at Leon. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go pick it up."

The word of the day was shit.

Leon's mood was shit, his job was shit, his shoes had literal shit all over them, and most frustratingly of all--

He glanced at the royal a couple of feet from him. She hadn't said a word during their past hour of shared stable labor, which meant Leon had been able to ignore her well enough. Once she did open her mouth however, one thing became clear: the company was the shittiest part of his day so far.

"Oh, my apologies," Leon drawled in as unctuous a manner as he could, "do let me get that for you, your highness."

Without further ado, Leon waltzed up to the fresh pile of pegasus droppings. He stuck his shovel in as far as it would go, then gave the tool a light kick to ensure it would get filled to the brim. Shovel full, he turned back to Sherry.

"Here you go." With all the strength he could muster, Leon swung the shovel like a particularly heavy sword - sending all its contents flying straight towards Sherry's unsuspecting face.

Leon waited for that sweet, sweet splat before cracking the sweetest, most innocent smile he knew to mimic. "You're welcome!"

Sherry did not expect the sudden rain of feces that fell upon her head and shoulders. Absolutely stunned by Leon's monstrous decision, she stood there in the midst of musty pegasi and a smiling snake. For a moment, she did not react, only quivering with the rage that built inside of her. "You son of a whore," she muttered under her breath. In a sudden release of energy, she rushed towards him. "You're dead!"

Sherry's reaction was priceless. Leon couldn't have hid his amusement even if he'd tried; his grin was wide enough to hurt his face, and his snickering was both loud and involuntary. It felt good. He'd needed a laugh.

At the insult towards his mother, Leon chuckled. "Careful now, you saw what happened to the last guy that called her names."

Then Sherry charged.

Leon crossed his arms and met her gaze with his own. The red hue of his eyes was aglow with mischief.

"Only if you catch me," he challenged.

With that, he spun around and dashed the opposite way, knocking back barrels and hopping over carts as he went. He wasn't exactly sure where he intended to run, or for how long - for now, the wind felt good against his face, and the adrenaline in his veins burned nicely.

"Leeee-ooooon!" Sherry screamed after him as she followed, dodging the barrels that he had toppled over in his run. She kept her eyes locked on his retreating figure, practically breathing flames as she chased her quarry. "I'll skewer you and parade you around the village when I get my hands on you-! There isn't a place you can hide from me!"

Well would you look at that; the princess had some commendable agility when pissed. He'd make a note of that.

"Skewer me? Ah, right, like you did with the Green Falcons. No offense, your highness, but it's not your lance that scares me - it's your smell."

Leon grinned over his shoulder, continuing to lead Sherry through the stables all the way to the monastery proper. He made sure to pass by students and faculty on the way, if for no other reason than to make sure they saw their princess in all her feces-covered glory. She did want to parade, after all.

"Oh, whoopsie," Leon weaved his way through the crowds, offering apologies as he did. "S'cuse me, coming through-- ah, wouldn't eat that here if I were you, her Royal Highness back there is gonna stink up the place in a sec."

He still had neither direction nor destination in mind, which was probably why he found himself running up the spiral staircase to one of the watchtowers. Usually, escaping upwards was a bad idea - but honestly, he was in no real danger here.

As he made his way up the narrow tower, he made sure to show off a little; running up one of the walls before kicking himself back onto the stairs and into another turn. Was there a place to hide where he was going? Who knew.

How could one person be so fast? Sherry was out of breath as she pursued, but continued anyway. Anger and purpose was a decent enough fuel to keep her going. Especially when the villain heckled her as he ran. Did he want to get in more trouble than he already was? It sure seemed like it. Her glare penetrated the back of Leon's head as he weaved through people simply making their way through their day. They received bewildered looks, on top of ones of amusement and enjoyment.

They ran for another short while before they came across a small watchtower. Leon was just as fast as always, bouncing off of the walls like an acrobat. Meanwhile she was panting heavily, very much out of breath. As they ran up the tower, Sherry very much knew the chase was over.

"End of the line," Sherry wheezed once they reached the top. A small window was behind Leon, dappling the dark, narrow stairway with light. Her glare was vicious as she staggered towards him, dung still falling off of her in thick glops.

Sherry might have had more agility than Leon anticipated, but her stamina was another story. Leon could hear her wheezing approach even without turning around. To think that she'd still managed to keep up, though... guess there was a lot to be said for the power of anger.

For what it was worth, she was right. The room really seemed like the end of the line - for some people.

"Well damn, guess I'm dead then," Leon drawled as he waltzed up to the window on the other side of the room. He glanced out of it, sitting precariously on the sill as he turned around to face Sherry. His grin never faded. "Think you got the energy to walk this far and finish the job? Or should I help you out and do the honours?"

As Sherry slowly approached, Leon had decided to sit on the windowsill. The angered expression on her face faded away, becoming wide-eyed at his decision. She couldn't get a good read on him, and with the way he was positioned…

"Leon…" she began. She took another few steps closer. "Don't you dare."

"Don't I dare what?" Leon asked innocently, cocking his head. "Thought you wanted me dead."

He let the words linger in the stuffy air of the room, watching in concealed amusement as the implications started to set in. The wind was nibbling at the back of his clothes, beckoning him closer - and ever so slowly, Leon began to comply. He readjusted his sitting form, inching closer and closer towards the open air behind him.

"And since you aren't coming, guess that means I should go," the nonchalance of his words was matched only by his final gesture; two fingers, raised to his temple in a playful mock-salute.

"Bye."

With that, he pushed himself backwards - and disappeared into a free fall.

"Leon," Sherry's voice became firmer. She couldn't believe this was happening. Was he really going to throw his entire life away just because she wanted to beat him up a bit? Anger turned into worry, and worry turned into fear as he leaned further and further towards the edge. With a farewell, he toppled backwards-- and before she knew it, the ledge was empty.

"Leon!" Sherry cried as she rushed to the window and peered over the ledge. Heavens damn it, he actually did it! He'd gone and killed himself! What would everyone think? What would the Archbishop think?!

Although Leon didn't fling himself out of a window without a plan, the brief moment he spent falling still filled his unsuspecting body with alarm. Momentary vertigo ravaged his head, and his stomach felt light - almost as if it had fallen at a pace of its own.

It didn't last.

An instant later, Leon wrapped his legs around a gargoyle jutting out from the tower's side, just where he remembered it to be. With a heave, he pulled himself to sit atop it, head still spinning as he took in the ground far below. Just one mistake, and he'd be a splatter on the sand by now.

Of course, he'd been pretty sure he would make no such mistake - but that fleeting chance of failure was enough to keep his heart racing for a while, he reckoned. That's how it usually was.

At Sherry's shout, Leon tilted his head upwards to meet her terrified stare a few feet above him. He chuckled, rubbing at his ear.

"Damn, Sherry, you're gonna wake the dead with a shout like that."

She expected a "splat" or maybe a "thud"-- whatever sound, it would be the one that came from Leon's body colliding with the floor. The girl trembled as she focused her gaze below her. To her surprise, she didn't see the crumpled corpse of the other noble boy. Instead, she saw Leon perched upon the statue of a gargoyle, complete with a smile.

"L-Leo… I-I… you…" No words came out from her lips for a couple of moments as she stared at the boy. She couldn't believe it. He was alive! And uninjured! She wanted to be angry at him, angry at herself, but all that washed over her was a warm wave of relief. Sherry found herself somewhat dizzy, having to lean heavily against the frame of the window.

After a long moment of silence, she finally shouted again. "You could have killed yourself!"

Sherry's shock was funny at first, especially after she'd spent the better part of the hour yelling death threats at him. But... seeing her choked up made Leon realize she had actually, truly, feared for his life. Which meant that, somewhere under all the sass and anger, she cared.

Hm. That sure made him feel like an ass.

So instead of replying with a quip, Leon swatted at the air dismissively. "I could have, but the chances of that were slim. I know what I'm doing. 'Sides, Chenoa would've killed me if I died from something like that."

He hopped up to stand on the gargoyle, head on level with the window again. He was half smiling, half grinning. "Thanks for worrying though."

Sherry was still very much flustered, even as Leon explained. He was just as nimble as he looked like at the very least, though she remained with a furrowed brow as he stood on the precipice. Another silence passed between them before she grabbed onto him and tried to drag him back into the watchtower.

"I didn't care about you losing your life or anything like that! What I cared about is if I had to write another letter home explaining how I caused your death!" her voice rippled with a melody of emotions as she yelled at him. "You're the biggest idiot I know, and that's saying a lot!"

Leon wasn't sure what he'd expected of Sherry next, but trying to violently manhandle him back into the room was not it. Leon stumbled a little as she jerked him towards the window, having to readjust his footing so as to not slip. Man, she had some strength. Was that due to anger as well, or was she just born a half-beast?

"Hey, caref-!" She launched into a barrage of excuses for her shock, and Leon rolled his eyes. It didn't disperse all his sympathy - only most of it. "Okay, okay, sure, whatever. I'm coming up, just give me... a..."

Hm. As the words left him, an idea took their place. Up, huh? Leon glanced upwards at the roof of the tower; a triangular brick structure, with a flag pole atop it.

"Actually..." Leon wiggled himself free from Sherry's grasp, then kicked himself up from the windowsill. He found a brick under each hand and foot, until he sat comfortably above the window. "Why don't we both go up?"

He gave her no chance to protest. Reaching downwards, he grabbed Sherry by the pits of her arms and pulled her up towards him. He needed her to find her own footing, but he suspected that the fear of falling to her death was good enough a motivator to have her scramble for it.

It seemed like Leon had little plans to come into the watchtower. She was about to yell at him some more when he suddenly grabbed her and pulled her out of the window. "W-wha--" she cried out. The feeling of having nothing beneath her feet terrified her, so much so that she practically clung to Leon's arm like a cat.

"You're crazy!" she screamed, though her voice was one of desperation and fear rather than anger. The ground was so far below her feet… what happened if she fell?! "Let me go this instant!"

"Let go?"

Sherry was practically glued to his arm, so Leon had to lean against the roof to properly distribute their weight. He pulled her along, managing to hold onto her side with the arm she had seized. The longer he let her teeter on the edge, the more likely she was to plummet them to their deaths in her panic.

"You sure that's what you want?" He asked with a quirked brow, fingers slowly threatening to loosen the grip they had on her waist.

Her heart was about to leap out of her chest. It wasn't like she was frightened of heights; much of her childhood was spent on the back of her father's wyvern. What scared her most was that she knew if she slipped, or leaned too far to one side… just a little bit… she would surely fall to her death. Damn it, Leon and his stupid mischief!

Now, Sherry wasn't one to beg. When she was little and begged for a toy, her father used to tell her that begging was something little kids did. "Ask once, clearly, concisely, and politely," he used to tell her. "People will think you're a fool if you throw yourself at their feet."

And so, that was what Sherry did. She mustered her energy, ground her teeth together, and buried her face into Leon's shoulder so she would no longer see the dangerous distance between her and the ground. "Please," she whimpered. "Get me away from this ledge!"

Leon thought he'd misheard Sherry at first. The winds were strong at this altitude, liable to muddle words or snatch them away completely. Her body language however, was clear as day; she really wanted down.

"Okay. I'll take you back, I promise," Leon offered in as comforting a tone as he could muster. To think that Sherry had a side like this to her. It was... strangely endearing. "Lemme just show you something first, alright?"

Moving slowly, Leon took Sherry up all the way to the top. He wrapped an arm around the flagpole and pulled them both to stand at its base, holding Sherry securely so as to not have her stumble in panic.

From there, one could see not just the entirety of the monastery, but much of the surrounding lands as well. The mountains, the fields, distant bodies of water glistening in the sun. Above it all, an endless blue sky draped over the scenery, like a frame to a picture.

Leon nudged Sherry gently, hoping the scenery would do as an apology for freaking her out, "Look."

Luckily for her, Leon was willing to get her back to safety. Unfortunately, he wasn't planning on letting her down at that specific moment. She held onto him as he brought her further up, not because of malice, but because he wanted to show her something.

Oh well, it wasn't like she could say no. Before she knew it, they were upon the roof. Leon clung to the flag poll as he nudged her to look up at the sky.

Wow, they really were surrounded by sky. The wind whipped around them, but she didn't care. It truly was a wonderful sight. "It's so beautiful," she said, taking in the sight before them. Even the clouds seemed more puffy and white from this angle.

"It really is, huh," he took in the scenery for a moment longer, all the while carefully guiding Sherry towards the flagpole. Judging by her reaction, the scenery sufficed for an apology. Which meant that he was rid of guilt - and therefore free to do as he pleased.

"I've seen this view a bunch of times, from different angles. But you should take your time and enjoy it." He made sure Sherry had some form of a grip on the pole instead of his arm, then continued: "I'll be going ahead."

Leon practically threw himself to slide down the roof all the way to its edge. He jumped back up to teeter on the precipice for a moment, turning to Sherry with a smirk.

"Been fun, your highness. Feel free to get down at your leisure." A wave. "See ya!"

With that, he was gone, leaving Sherry to - presumably - scream profanities in his wake.

He'd come get her later - if he didn't forget.

Solace · Jun 10, 2020

"Again! Properly!"

The whip of the pointer rod stung against the child's hamstrings, realizing that his knees had been very slightly bent forward instead of properly straightened. He winced at the pain, wishing to turn towards his liege and beg for ease but knowing it would turn into another lesson. The ten year old resolved to appease his grandfather, standing firmly as he stared into the mirror situated before him. "I-I am grandson of the First Seat, and heir to--"

He began to bow his head down, only a few inches and words in the process before another crack of the makeshift weapon struck his lower back. When the boy drew his head back in hurt, he was sitting on one end of the keep's long dining table, where he was the only seated individual. The rod promptly slammed against the back of his hand, causing the boy to fumble the knife that was in his clutches. "Straighten your back, boy. Use your fork to eat, not your knife."

As the knife returned to his fingers, his eyes returned to the utensil in his other hands, only to find that his palm was covered in grubs. The boy closed his eyes as he forced them into his mouth, feeling the wriggling along his teeth and nearly choking them down his throat. When his eyes opened, he was staring into the weary face of his reflection from above a small pond, his skin smeared with grime and dirt. Sweat poured down the boy's face as he tried to come to his feet, only to crumple helplessly in his malnourished state. "It is by her Path," his grandfather's voice spoke from the mouth of a small rabbit that was unaware of his presence, prompting the boy to brandish his knife without hesitation. "That is the path you must take. To become the lord of our house..."

He sprung from his prone position to ambush the defenseless animal, and his left arm veered back to end its life, suddenly stopped in his tracks as the pointer rod struck his wrist. "To bring glory and honor to our name..." the boy now found himself in the process of sparring with Lord Pleiades, seeing that his knife had turned into a longsword when the rod guided his arm down. His grandfather's hand stroked the side of his face as the older noble looked down at him with absolute resolve. "To become a man of this world, Maelys."

30th of the Traveler Moon, Divine Year 781

It had been an hour past his usual time of awakening when Maelys finally stirred from his slumber, covered in sweat as his upper body floundered from the blanket. He took a moment to compose his breathing, staring into his palm before the brands all over his arms. "Another nightmare," the noble shook his head to clear away the apparitions of days long past, slow to rise from the bed for the start of another day. "As if I could... As if I wanted to."

He had opted to skip his morning routine in fear of being late to class, scratching at his chest while suiting himself in the multiple layers of uniform. Maelys was more than displeased about the Red Chimeras' demerit issued by the Archbishop, and even moreso when their punishment was given greater severity. There was little to look forward to in the days to come outside of exercise and training, but at the very least, he had an arrangement with Laila to attend sometime after class. Perhaps it would've helped take his mind off of the nightmare.

See: Laila & Maelys C Support with @Nim

Summary of Red Chimeras' Classes
30th of the Traveler Moon — 13th of the Amber Moon
Professor Juno Cybille Qetesh
Divine Year 781

Outside of the obvious tension between the Red Chimeras as a result of their issued demerit, the afternoon classes were absolutely still proceeding as mandatory over the weekdays, with optional evening seminars when requested. As the students were required to be present within the academy to complete their punishment, there was no option of spending free time outside of the monastery for the time being. The Harvest Festival was still to occur as planned on the 25th of the Amber Moon, but there was speculation between the professors that the Red Chimeras would not be allowed to partake in festivities unless duty completion and good behavior was demonstrated across all members.

On the 30th of the Traveler Moon, the day right after the mock battle, Professor Juno was suffering from a hangover once again from presumably drinking the previous night after certain events. She was quick to sober up, as usual, and immediately commenced martial training across the entire week. As a master of all fighting styles and disciplines including magic, those who once questioned Juno's aptitude would learn a lesson in humility with embarrassment in front of the class if one brought an ego to sparring. Her first focus was primarily in sharpening the swordplay of her students during practical experience at the training grounds, emphasizing a number of topics such as preferring ease of use and reach over the sheer size of a blade and the importance of especially protecting one's hands and arms. In sparring, she was particularly harsher towards Alex compared to the rest of the Red Chimeras, but not out of malicious intent.

Juno also traversed into the topic of reason magic, noting all forms of the arcane to be a difficult principle to come into practice. Even with knowledge of the most powerful recorded spells, she urged would-be practitioners to keep in mind the flow of energy within their bodies, and how easily it was to exhaust said reserves. She noted its destructive capabilities even in its simplest forms, drawing on the forest fire during the mock battle as an easy example. Without natural talent and a magically dense bloodline, it would be difficult to pursue both magic and another discipline at the same time, hence why it often became an individual's sole focus. As a result, Juno specifically stated her preference with instructing magic on a personal, individual basis, but still resolved to get a sense of her class' general aptitude in reason magic at the training grounds.

It was on the 4th of the Amber Moon that Juno informed the Red Chimeras of their mission for the month; the Knights of Yhirel had managed to track down an elusive band of poachers prowling the Mordlind Concorde, and tasked the Red Chimeras with their extermination when the opportunity arises to give the students practical experience in real combat. Requested by Sir Horatio Talvern from the Knights of Yhirel, they were actively tracking the movements of the poachers and planned to surround them somewhere in the territory of House Ciran on the 14th of the Amber Moon. While the knights dealt with their stronger elements, the Red Chimeras would move in secure any of the poachers' plunders and engage any stragglers, and in the event of an emergency, another regiment of knights would be on standby to assist them.

After (hopefully) seeing her students' advancements in swordsmanship and reason magic, Juno spent the last week of instruction before the mission on various topics of academics, which would be the first week of many. In lieu to the upcoming mission where their lives were actually at stake, she went over basic formations for military units, hoping to put them into practice for the battle to come. Other than herself, Juno entrusted Theodoric instead of Sherry with maintaining control and order for the encounter, and made it absolute that any dissenters would face expulsion if they weren't already dead for their stupidity. She hoped that the children would realize that it was not a laughing manner, and it was not a mock battle.

Outside of the serious discussions and planning for their mission, Juno taught the Red Chimeras about the flock of wildlife that was abundant in the Mordlind Concorde. The country had always seen its fair share of banditry towards the southern expanses, where the terrain was mostly mountainous and forested; it was this environment which made it difficult to investigate and quell said banditry. She went over the most trafficked animal around the entire continent, which was the Black Marlin; they adapted to the harsh weather of Mordlind and were less inclined to attack humans unless provoked, having far less casualties than their closely related Galbian cousin, the Gray Fadellian. Outside of differences in their appearances like the color of their coats, while the Black Marlin also mated for life, they would not mate again if their partner died, unlike the Gray Fadellian who would usually mate again after some time.

Her lecture on the two wolves would coincide with a lesson on the saturation of magical energy in the world; long ago, when the Dream of Musentia vanquished Azaral and the dark swarm, the ancient magics rendered from the Hero's Relics at their fullest power caused the land to become over-saturated with magic, giving existence to several natural phenomena. While this saturation of magic had all but dissipated since then, certain species of animals had become imbued with this congestion, causing them to turn gargantuan in size. Although exceptionally rare, one could possibly discover one of these giant animals in their lifetime, and quite possibly for all the wrong reasons. Things such as wolf pelts and coats fetch a hefty price on the black market; one could imagine the fortune that a colossal aberration could amass. These magically-saturated animals could live far beyond the life expectancy of their normal counterparts; sometimes, it was even speculated that the ones originally transformed after the Days of Ruin still roamed Musentia.

Two days before the mission would officially commence, Professor Juno noted that it was possible to request the assistance of one member from the Green Falcons to accompany them. She would leave the choice to her students, and approach Professor Talbot about the subject if and when they tallied together a vote.

Maelys & Sherry C- Support
9th of the Amber Moon, Divine Year 781
Mentions: @Luminosity [Sherry]

It was a humid day near the end of the Traveler Moon when Sherry was assigned to work in the dining hall alongside Mael. She would have been content scrubbing the floors by herself; everyone that she had interacted with seemed to pester or interrogate her, so far. She had had to roll up her sleeves in order to prevent them from getting splashed with the dirtied water as she scrubbed the floors.

Speaking of which, no matter how long she scrubbed for, or how hard she scrubbed at all, she couldn't penetrate the thin layer of grime that coated the floors. Sherry ground her teeth together as she pressed hard against the pighair brush, growling as she rubbed the floor viciously with the tool. And yet, it still wouldn't get cleaner.

She tossed a glance over at Mael. The boy hardly spoke a word to her ever since they got to the monastery. Sherry assumed that he was upset that she called him out after the mock battle, and so she didn't press him for an answer-- until now.

"You're certainly quiet," she said in a huff, brushing her hair away from her face.

Maelys had found out that he was more than unhappy with the Red Chimeras' punishment only a few minutes into the routine. What eventful moments he adored were swept away by the dreadful monotony of housekeeping, yet somehow, his mind was not yet broken by the twentieth minute. The aroma of the kitchen had begun to waft into the dining hall, drawing a hungry growl from his stomach and threatening to hamper his task's completion. The worst of it all, though; he had been paired with Sherry Millefiore Grimdall for the evening.

It's been nine years since then, but damn, I'd be lying if it still didn't make me angry… At the very least, Maelys' itch for a small prank had led him to take advantage of the situation. He had arrived very early to begin scrubbing his section of the dining hall, and after extensive use of his dirtied mops, he would exchange them for the clean ones on the other side reserved for Sherry, leaving the girl at the mercy of his soiled instruments. He would find himself cackling quietly to himself as he occasionally glanced over his shoulder, watching the redhead's futile attempts.

That was when Sherry called out to him, forcing the boy to hush his laughter to prevent her from catching any wind of his scheme. Maelys tossed a dry look towards the redhead, raising his chin. "Just trying to finish in time to have dinner," the noble curled a brow in feigned recognition as he looked at the grimy floor below her feet. "You should, too, if you don't want to go hungry."

Sherry wasn't sure why Mael was treating her so dryly, but she decided against bringing it up. She was weary after scrubbing the same spot over and over, so she wasn't about to go around and ask him questions. Following his glance to her feet, her mood was soured by his comment. "I've been cleaning the same spot since I arrived, but no matter how much I scrub, it only gets filthier."

She grumbled a curse as she lifted the brush, gazing at the bristles. It was filthy, of course, but upon further inspection she noticed that the roots were filthy as well. Not only filthy, but extremely dirty… as if it was used before she got there.

"Maelys," she began, her eye twitching slightly. "Were you using this..?"

Ugh, of course. Maelys had figured that it was only a matter of time before the jig was up, and Sherry would notice. "What do you mean?" he continued to hold up the charade, twirling his mop around in his hands while the girl studied her own. "I've only used my own since I arrived. How's about trying the other ones behind you?"

Sherry glanced at the other mops behind her. They definitely weren't clean; the threads that hung from the ends were all matted and gray. "Those are even more dirty," she commented, already beginning to feel pressure swelling in her chest. "You did use them all! And you left them for me! Why in Yhirel's name would you do that?!"

He attempted to maintain composure until his face deflated with a chuckle, hanging the shaft of his mop atop of his shoulders. Maelys spun in a circle before facing Sherry directly, pointing a finger towards her. "All right, all right, you got me," the noble finally admitted with a casual smile, almost feeling sorry for the redhead. "Just pullin' your leg a little, Cherry. Relax!"

Pulling her leg seemed a lot like bullying; Sherry knew what was the difference between a harmless prank and a malicious one. He was almost done with his chore, and she was hardly finished with hers. She had fallen behind a significant amount.. It wouldn't surprise her if she was the last one to eat among their numbers. "Pulling my leg? I'll starve before I finish cleaning these chores!" she huffed. "This isn't like you."

Maelys took a long breath, placing the one hand on his hip and meeting Sherry with a neutral expression. "Ugh, fine. If it's help you want, you could've just asked," he conceded, already growing complacent with her complaining. "Maybe you just don't know me that well," the noble took one of the clean mops from his side of the dining hall, tossing it to the girl's feet and swaying past her. "Eight years'll do that."

Honestly, Sherry wasn't sure why Maelys was treating her so poorly. Sure, she had yelled at him after the mock battle, but she hadn't done anything necessarily serious or insulting. He was acting like she had killed his pet or something. "What?" she asked, her tone one of confusion. Bending over, she picked up the mop he had practically thrown at her and whirled around to face him. "What do you even mean by that?! I haven't done anything to you!"

That was where she was wrong. In retrospect, it may have been childish for Maelys to hold a grudge for all those years, but it had meant everything and the world to him. Perhaps it had been so insignificant to Sherry that she had forgotten, but entertaining the thought would only serve to embitter him further. "Shucks! If you say so, princess," the noble shrugged, turning his back to the redhead and beginning to wipe at the floor.

Now Sherry was curious. Something she did was bugging Maelys, and apparently that something was eight years ago. That means she would have been around eight or nine years old… when she tried to think back that far, all there was was a muddled mess of memories. Everything blurred together. It bothered her; she wasn't used to being wrong, but if she was by any chance… she would have liked to know what exactly she did to Mael that got him so heated.

"Oi," she pushed the handle of the mop against his shoulder in an attempt to garner his attention. "If you're going to act so poorly towards me, the least you can do is tell me what the hell I did to you."

Maelys would have been taken aback by the redhead's manner of approach had it not been expected, but as the handle shoved against his shoulder, his face flashed with irritation. His hand brushed it away rather forcefully as he wheeled around. "Maybe if you weren't so stuck up, you would be a better judge of character," the boy spoke in partial restraint, his brow slightly twitching before his expression defused. Sighing, his eyes looked to the ground before returning to Sherry. "My apologies. If the little prank was too much, then sorry to that, as well. Now do you intend to finish your part or not?"

Sherry was taken aback by Mael's reply. Something was up with him-- something serious, if he had gone so far as to snap at her. She held onto the broom tightly as she glared at him. No, now wasn't the time to argue. She had to stay her tongue for the time being. "You are forgiven," she said a bit hesitantly. "If I may ask, how goes you? You seem a little on the edge."

The noble wore a disconnected look on his face, shaking his head. "A little on the edge? I played a small joke on you, you responded in your usual fashion, and I'm the one on the edge?"" Maelys took a small bit of offense in her misguided observation, but opted to turn the interaction back with an ounce of normalcy as his shoulders deflated. "Ugh, nevermind. To say that I'm content with our state of affairs would be deception. Cleaning is so monotonous! And to withhold the right to feast until it is completed each day… such a cruel fate..."

So he was against her after all. Nevertheless, Sherry stuck to her choice and remained silent. She turned back to her work at hand and passed the mop over the wood. "Now that I actually have a clean mop, we can finish things much faster," she replied without looking at the boy, instead focusing on her work. She didn't want to admit it, but she was rather hurt by Mael's cold behavior. It would have been better if he was upset at other people as well, though she appeared to be the only one he was cross with. What made it worse was that he refused to tell her what she did wrong. It made her feel helpless. "If we're lucky, we'll make it to dinner before the others."

Maelys was unsure if he could endure their cleaning punishment for any longer than an hour, much less, for the remaining weeks of the Amber Moon. He could feel himself growing drowsy from the ordeal, pouting with an agitated sound. "If I'm lucky, I won't fall asleep," the boy somewhat regretted his prank on the redhead, though it was solely because his right of nourishment required completion from both of them. Without a gander in her direction, he swiped the mop all across the floor at a fast pace without much coordination as he swept over some of the same spots that he had already cleaned. "Let's go, let's go, let's go! The promised land is waiting for us, Cherry!"

"Hey!" Sherry couldn't help but utter the complaint when she saw Maelys' haphazard method of cleaning. She was desperate to finish as well, though if she permitted the boy to mop the floor in such a sloppy way, they'd find themselves more behind than before. "Didn't you clean that part already? Over here's still…"

Whatever. It was obvious that telling him what he was doing wrong wouldn't make him listen. Best focus on her own part of the cleaning. As she turned back to work, she tossed a question at him once again. "You didn't answer my question from before, by the way. How have you been throughout the years?"

His ears did not catch her first words, continuing to circle around her side of the dining hall until Maelys' path came to an abrupt end when the soiled end of his mop struck the wall that was Sherry's boots. His eyebrows lit up with surprise until he looked up, his expression neutralizing upon seeing her. "Throughout the years?" the noble drew back his weapon of cleaning, pondering over the countless things that had happened over the decade since he had seen Sherry.

"Well, I got these," his face motioned down towards his arms, the wild array of tribal tattoos painted beneath his rolled sleeves. "Uhh….. I got taller. I was way shorter than you last time, if you remember," Maelys included the unnecessary hand gesture to compare their heights, scratching the side of his head. "I guess you could say a lot's happened to me, since then? Not the most glamorous or noble type of things to talk about."

Even though Maelys was still upset on the inside, he couldn't bring himself to hate Sherry entirely. 'At least, not at the moment.' He reached a long arm over to poke the redhead on the shoulder, nodding at her. "How 'bout you, Cherry? How's that love life going?"

Sherry couldn't help but stare at the boy's tattoos, surprised at how many he had gotten. She wondered if they had hurt-- not that she cared much. He did get a little taller like he said, even though she hardly remembered the time when he was small. It appeared that Mael had experienced a couple of good years. Lucky for him.

She was somewhat taken aback when he asked a personal question, glancing down at the boots which he had accidentally soiled with his mop. The query had come so suddenly and directly that it left her embarrassed.

"It's not anything special," she replied tersely, focusing on the floor instead of his face. She turned away from him, mopping the floor in a rougher manner. "What is it? Do you have feelings for me or something?"

"Huh?" Maelys' face flinched after being initially surprised by her sudden embarrassment, caught unawares by her jagged response. "I didn't mean it quite literally, obviously," he bumped the wooden end of the mop against the back of her head, tapping his foot. "And no, I don't?"

"Are you sure about that?" Sherry pressed on in an attempt to tease him. She turned back to face him. "You seem awfully sure of yourself when you say you don't."

It seemed clear to him that Sherry was the worse for wear, as Maelys was entirely confused with their scatterbrained exchange. It had been by the luck of the gods that he'd looked past the grudge for a short moment to make an attempt at interaction, but apparently, there was nothing interesting that she had to share. He was not flustered in the slightest, showing his past agitation once more as he tossed the mop aside. She couldn't hold a proper conversation even if he tried.

"If you've nothing interesting to bring to the table," Maelys dug his hands into his pockets, beginning to walk around the corridor and out of the dining hall. "Then good luck!"

She didn't plan on him actually deciding to leave her to her fate, even after what she said. Sherry watched as he tossed the mop to the side and walk away, almost in disbelief. It took her a moment to react, chasing him in a hurry. "Wait, Maelys! You can't just leave me with all this work!" she called after him.

Marlowe · Jun 11, 2020

MENTIONS: Everyone
DATE: 14th of the Amber Moon

It was a warm but windy early afternoon. Unlike when they arrived to the monastery, the skies were overcast. Clouds, swelling with rain, rolled past their heads, though they were lucky that it didn't storm. From their spot near the front gates, one could tell that the rain clouds were rolling in from the east, in the direction of Cretus. As the Red Chimeras gathered about her, her mind back went back the the events of the past week. Doing chores was expected of all of the students of the monastery, but thanks to Alex, they were stuck with the more unsavory ones. She was lucky she didn't have to clean out the chamber-pots or any other nasty things. Save for the stables. But animal excretement was different-- and better-- than human feces. Right?

Her mind wandered from the weather and chores back to her classes and what she learned. Surprisingly, Juno had been adept at lecturing them, being much wiser than she looked. All of her classes were interesting, even the ones that taught arts and skills she was not interested in taking up, personally. Sherry was one of the students who fared poorly in practicing magic, and she was certain it was because of her bloodline's weak link to magic. She was quite wounded when she saw some of the other students be almost natural at channeling and casting the simple spells that their professor assigned. However, where she faltered with magic, she made up in her exhibition of her skills at the lance, and even the blade. Though, her aptitude at the sword could use some sharpening and cleaning up, as stated by Juno during their vehement sparring sessions. It was obvious that Juno actually cared about her class, and that brought Sherry some comfort. At last, she found herself unwinding slightly, even after having to send that wretched letter to her father... to which, he still hadn't replied.

Her gaze wavered from the clouds back to her classmates and Juno, who hovered about near the front of the small crowd. All of them appeared ready, their weapons strapped to their bodies or slipped into their sheathes. Sherry had held weapons meant to kill, not wound. It still chilled her to the bone and brought back bad memories. To think that they were to go out and slaughter human beings... no, she couldn't think like that. She had to stay strong-- and look strong in front of her peers. It was him... no, it was the poachers or them. She couldn't hesitate.

There was someone new among their numbers. For a moment, Sherry wondered if they had gotten another student all of a sudden. It was a girl with long, almond brown hair and warm amber-ish eyes. She looked cheery and bright at least-- and she definitely was already close to Theodoric, apparently. She was basically attached to him at this point. Who was she? Was she the Green Falcon they had chosen? Now that she thought of it, she did remember approaching someone for help during the mission. Ah, yes, wasn't she the healer? Ophelia? Octavia? Oleander? She didn't know.

Her eyes swept across their numbers, making sure that everyone at least looked ready. "Is everyone prepared for departure?" she asked them. Damn it, her voice came out a little more timid than she would have liked it to be. "Weapons ready? Necessary potions equipped, and all?"

Yhirel, she really was worried. Even though she was not actually in charge of this week's mission, she was more than concerned for the well-being of her classmates. She never even had to worry for this many people at once before.

"I'm ready~!" the girl whose name she didn't know shouted out, despite her not having a weapon. Alright, then-- she was definitely the healer she had asked for.

"How about everyone else?" Sherry tossed a pointed glare at Theodoric. He had been quite the golden child during the first week of classes, which garnered a significant amount of jealousy from Sherry. But even then... she was specifically worried about their temporary "commander". "Especially you, Doric. Since you'll be heading the charge, you will want to make sure you're well-equipped to lead."

Fire Emblem: Crestfallen | IC

Loner

The Disaster of Passion

I am... Who am I?

monke mode

Loner

I am... Who am I?

Your neighborhood artist

Loner

Aspiring Demonic Mafia Ninja Pirate Dragon God

monke mode

Aspiring Demonic Mafia Ninja Pirate Dragon God

Your neighborhood artist

Loner

Gloriana

Aspiring Demonic Mafia Ninja Pirate Dragon God

Loner

monke mode

Loner

The Disaster of Passion

Loner