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RESPITE TRAINING GROUNDS - NOON
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Louma finished with yesterday's reports fairly early, finding herself very interested in everything to do with the saurs. She's found that the reports of theft have been dwindling a bit, though she's not sure if all of them were completely legitimate or not. She's a bit distracted, wondering if she should start an investigation to make sure as she slithers automatically through one of her spear practices, not striking at any real target for now.
Nesseth arrives at the training grounds, having missed Louma at the barracks earlier. He'd been wanting to report to her about the new arrival, but it was too late in the day to do so when Leana first arrived. He lets out a bit of a sigh of relief when he spots Louma practicing, and makes his way over to her. "Hey, Louma, you have a moment?"
Louma grunts quietly at the initial interruption, losing her train of thought, even though she doesn't falter in the flowing movements. "I will have a moment-" feint stab, hook "-in a moment-" shaft strike, reel back "-Nesseth." grounded stab. She huffs, leaving the practice spear buried hooks-deep in the dirt and looks to Nesseth. "Okay. I have a moment."
Nesseth nods as he approaches the lesser coatl. "Sorry for the interruption, but, uh... I've got something to report." He shrugs with a sheepish smile, "I would have reported yesterday, but by the time it happened, you were already gone from the office..."
Louma tilts her head a little, humming. "Is it a secret of sorts? Important enough that it needs to be reported in person, but not important enough to seek me out after leaving the barracks. You've got my curiosity, Nesseth." As she's speaking, Louma slithers over to the staging tables, dipping a wooden tankard into a barrel of clean water, and taking a drink.
Nesseth shrugs again as he moves with Louma over to the tables. "Well, more because I think you'd rather hear this one personally. So... it's about someone new who arrived..." He pauses, letting that detail sink in, "...I know, I know... again. Anyway, she arrived by flying through the weather shield when May was testing it the other afternoon."
Louma blinks, finishing her drink and setting the tankard aside. "Oh? I see. Was she injured by the shield, or I assume the fall after? I hope she was taken to the clinic either way. I'll have to ask May what sort of effects one might suffer by passing through the shield like that."
Nesseth hums a bit. "She crash-landed in the park, but I got her to Plume's quickly enough, I think, and she was well enough to get there under her own power." He shakes his head, "But that's not really why I wanted to report it in person. The main reason is because she's another lesser coatl, like you."
Louma pauses at that, her tone shifting to match a colder look in her eyes. "Breed?"
Nesseth nods at Louma's change in tone, having figured there was going to be something unwelcome about the news. "Swan, black-feathered upper body, rainbow wings."
Louma narrows her eyes as the description starts, but seems to mentally stumble. "Rainbow what?" She blinks through a moment of pause. "No... Yeah, that seems like something she might do."
Nesseth hums thoughtfully. "Rainbow wing feathers... like a coatl." He tilts his head at Louma, "You know her, then?"
Louma grunts. "Unless she' a distant cousin, I would bet I do. This bodes very ill, Nesseth. As long as she doesn't know I am here, we can send her away before any issues come of it." The end of her tail wraps the shaft of her spear, returning it to her hand.
Nesseth raises an eyebrow at the weird proclamation. "Care to give a name, just in case? I don't know how big your family is, so... maybe it's not someone you're thinking of?"
Louma nods. "I have an older sister, Nina, and a clutchmate sister, Leana. I honestly couldn't name any of my cousins, my aunts both left Orela long before I was born. I know they exist, though."
Nesseth hums, his expression darkening a little. "Then... it's your clutchmate sister, Leana. She said she'd had an urge to come here for some reason, and left Sarn to do so. It didn't sound like she knows you live here, if it matters that much."
Louma narrows her eyes a bit again. "She said she needed to come to Respite, specifically? It does matter. They know I wouldn't listen to Lucas, that would come to blows. An urge. Bullshit, she's here to take me back home."
Nesseth gives Louma a lingering, curious look, but lets the obvious question drop for the moment, as much as he wants to ask it. "Well, you've obligations as one of the town's guard captains, not to mention both you and May being pretty essential to town functions in general." He sighs a bit, "And, well... if you need to get her out of here, you're going to have to lie low for a bit, I think. She knows a lesser coatl is here, and I gave her a general description of you. Didn't mention you by name, though."
Louma sighs, her look softening a bit as she looks to Nesseth. "If you told her a white swan 'lesser coatl' is here, she knows. And I didn't say I would go, Nesseth. You're not getting rid of me that easily."
Nesseth smirks a bit. "I didn't say I'd sell you out. I'm just saying you should probably keep a low profile around town so she doesn't just stumble into you."
Louma gestures to herself and puts on a mock high-brow tone. "Impossible. I am far too glorious."
Nesseth chuckles and prods Louma in the side. "I mean, if you're that radiant, maybe we should just bow to the inevitable and have me bring her straight to you. No doubt she'll see your glory from miles off."
Louma bops Nesseth gently on the forehead with the side of her practice spear. "No doubt indeed." She sighs. "This is not good news. Shame, I like Leana, that makes this harder. Lucas I could just kill and be done with it."
Nesseth oofs and recoils a little on reflex. "So, what's the plan, then? Assuming she doesn't just happen to run into you while you're on duty, the longer she's here in town, the more likely she'll eventually find you."
Louma nods again, looking toward the center of town. "I don't know. It would probably be better for me to seek her out, tell her she can go back to father and tell him to eat his tail for me."
Nesseth hums in agreement. "Mmh, probably. I mean... she did enter the town in a way that's not really allowed, so..." He tilts his head a bit again, "What's the penalty for unauthorized entry again?"
Louma thinks for a moment, nodding affirmatively. "Most days, it's a fine and proper processing. On Tuesdays, exile."
Nesseth gives Louma a lopsided smile. "So... either way, you're going to have to see her face-to-face. Want me to go and find her tomorrow morning and bring her to the office?"
Louma hums, grinning after a few moments. "Yes. Don't tell her who you're bringing her to see, of course, just that it's a formality to rectify her error in arrival."
Nesseth looks at the grin Louma is sporting, then shakes his head. "Alright, just... if you're intending to stab her... don't. As tempting as it might be, I'm entering first when we arrive at your office, and I'd rather not have a blade in the gut."
Louma huffs, shaking her head. "Nesseth, why must you suck all of the joy out of my life?"
Nesseth grins. "I'm your lieutenant, Louma, it's what I do best!"
Louma sighs, shaking her head. "Well fine, but I need to stab something sometime. Hm. Do you have ten minutes free to pick up a weapon and spar?"
Nesseth nods with a smile. "Sure. I've got the time since everyone's busy at the moment." He chuckles, "And I might be a bit quicker on my feet than you might expect. I've been exercising a bit as of late."
Louma hums, nodding to that. "We'll compare footwork in the ring, then." The two head to an oppen sparring ring, and as the action is about to start, the scene fades out.