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RESPITE TRAINING GROUNDS - MID-MORNING
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Nesseth wanders into the archery range with a quiver full of bolts and his crossbow slung over his back. He grins over his shoulder at Erika. "Decided on a change of pace for the morning, huh? Guessing the garden's okay for the time being, dear?"
Erika glances behind them towards the garden, but then nods: "Melia has wandered wherever, so I don't think anything is going to go wild or anything in there for today." She smiles at Nesseth: "And I just want that change of pace, too."
Nesseth leads the way over to one of the benches at the shooting line and starts to offload his gear. "A day away can make things a bit more enjoyable, too. Just a little break from checking things day in and day out." He sneaks a little kiss on Erika while he unpacks, "And, hey, I'll never say 'no' to you keeping me company!"
Erika giggles as she kisses back before sitting on the bench: "I haven't actually seen you do this all that much, so should be interesting to watch how good you are."
Nesseth chuckles and likewise takes a seat before he starts to go about his usual prep work to make sure his crossbow is ready to go. "Then I hope I give a good showing and don't let nerves at being watched by such a pretty okapi get the better of me." He gives Erika a sidelong look and smirks as he talks.
Erika giggles: "Flatterer." She admires the lizard's looks in a more... professional setting than she usually sees him. "Not that I mind looking at you. At all. For some reason."
Nesseth hums thoughtfully as he shifts his attention back to his crossbow for a few seconds of close inspection. "A mystery for the ages, isn't it, dear? Ah well, you won't hear complaints from me~" He nods after a moment, then looks around to make sure the range is clear and everyone else using the facility is behind the line of fire, "Alrighty... let's see..."
Erika gets up, not quite able to contain herself to just sitting down. She squints as she looks towards the targets: "Oh wow, they're pretty far."
Nesseth nods as he readies up for practice, making sure he's careful about loading bolts until he's ready to fire. He settles down and shoulders his crossbow, intending to warm up with manual, unassisted aiming first. "Yeah... we can fire pretty far out with bows and crossbows."
Erika smiles: "That's pretty impressive. I mean, I've seen you hunt but... still." She looks around the range: "I guess I've never really spent time here, huh."
Nesseth hums quietly, taking time to line up a shot. It doesn't take long before he finds what he thinks is a good one, and fires. The bolt sails through the air and embeds itself in a bale about halfway down the range... though not quite dead center. "I think I've seen you pop by once or twice, but never really stuck around until today."
Erika tilts her head as she tries to squint where the bolt goes: "Huh. Did you hit it?" She turns to Nesseth: "I mean, never really had a reason I guess..."
Nesseth nods, though he does still take a moment to confirm where exactly he hit with a little spyglass. "Yeah... not really centered, but decent enough." He sets the spyglass aside, then smirks at Erika as he readies his crossbow for another shot, "Until you had a certain, scaly reason, hm?"
Erika shrugs with a slightly knowing smile as she looks aside: "Possibly something like that. Maybe."
Nesseth chuckles and sets up to take another shot at the same bale, though he also spends a moment to adjust the sights on his crossbow by twiddling a couple of small knobs. Once he's done, he takes a moment to aim, then fires again, this time with better results as the bolt buries itself close to the center. "Glad to help broaden your horizons a little, Erika."
Erika squints as she once again can't quite make out where the bolts go: "Mmm... speaking of, did you fire off to the horizon?"
Nesseth blinks, then tilts his head at Erika as he leans back from his crossbow. "Hm? No, I fired at the same target. You okay, dear?"
Erika turns to Nesseth: "I'm fine. I just didn't see, maybe you're just that fast a shot."
Nesseth hums and smiles a bit, nodding as he turns around again to keep practicing. "I don't know if I'm that fast, but the bolts do fly especially quick."
Erika shrugs: "Lack of experience. Don't let me stop you as I watch."
Nesseth chuckles quietly as he gets set for a harder target. "Fair enough, dear. If you want to track this next shot, I'm aiming at the target a bit to the right of the one I was just shooting at."
Erika nods, then squints as she attempts to find the target: "Oo... so that one. I think."
Nesseth nods while loading up another bolt, then settles in to take aim. "Yup, that one." He trails off as he aims a bit more steadily, then fires again. The shot flies on target, but the smaller profile means even slightly bad accuracy would have made it a miss.
Erika blinks as she loses sight of the bolt again: "Wait, no. Where did it go?" She frowns, kind of knowing that she should be able to see the targets just fine, but not really building the courage to admit it.
Nesseth glances over at Erika again, though he's smiling softly. "Picked the wrong target to look at? I can take another shot."
Erika nods: "Yeah... probably just wrong target. Go again."
Nesseth nods and sets up again, getting another bolt ready. "I'm aiming at the smaller target just to the right of the first bale."
Erika nods, turns to look... and can't quite see the intended target. "Where?" She squints: "Oh. Oh. That one." Pause. "...I think."
Nesseth hums quietly, feeling a little concerned for Erika's apparent difficulty in seeing the target, only to hold off on that until he takes the shot. The second bolt is on-target, burying itself right next to the first. "Did you see that one?"
Erika blinks, squints... and sighs defeatedly. "No. I should have, right?"
Nesseth looks around again and sets his crossbow aside with an air of concern. "Well... maybe? It's not exactly a big target to look at, but..."
Erika frowns, then turns to Nesseth: "...I can't see it." She motions towards the targets: "It's all a bit blurry." The okapi looks worried now that she's said it out loud.
Nesseth hums thoughtfully, and slowly stands up to give Erika a soft hug. "Blurry? How bad... and how long has it been like that?"
Erika looks away and waves a hand: "A bit of a, uh... maybe a while?"
Nesseth breaks the hug and steps back to look Erika in the eyes, his hands still lightly resting on her shoulders. "Hm... so not just something in your eyes." He tilts his head a bit, "Do either of your mom or dad wear glasses?"
Erika blinks, tilting her head as she looks back to Nesseth: "Mom does. What do you... oh. Oh."
Nesseth nods. "You might need glasses if that blurriness isn't because of something in your eyes."
Erika frowns: "Would I? I guess... i-it's possible." She tries really hard to not think of all the times her sight has failed her, especially fairly recently. "...p-pretty possible."
Nesseth pauses, his eyes wandering over Erika's face a bit, and he ends up smirking a little. "Could probably get Plume to give you a quick exam of some sort, just to make sure. But... I think you'd look quite cute with glasses."
Erika blinks, then blushes with a confused smile: "Ubbuh? I would?"
Nesseth nods, smiling brighter. "I think so!" He chuckles, "We can also get second opinions from Vix and Mirriam, if you're worried about having to wear glasses."
Erika nods: "I'm not worried, it's just... well okay, I am a bit worried. I don't see as well as I did before."
Nesseth shrugs a little. "Eyesight gets worse as we get older. I'm probably going to need glasses some time in the future, too. It's just... how our bodies age, you know?"
Erika sticks her tongue out: "Well yeah, but I don't wanna admit that part. I refuse to get old."
Nesseth chuckles, smiling. "Some folks age gracefully. You keep fit enough tending to the garden that I'm sure you'll always look young."
Erika blushes with a sheepish grin: "Well I sure hope so. If I get old Fiora will never let me live it down."
Nesseth laughs a bit. "Then you could just poke fun back at her when she winds up getting old."
Erika lifts a hand to her chin: "Does it work that way? I guess it does." She glances at the targets and sighs: "So... what do we do now? You came here to practice, after all."
Nesseth looks around a bit, then shrugs. "Well, I know it's not a great spectator sport. What do you feel like doing, since I'm going to be firing at things pretty far away if we just stick around."
Erika shrugs: "I can still sit here and admire you. You're close enough."
Nesseth mugs a little just for Erika, before he nods with a smile. "If you're sure you won't get bored out of your mind, I'll keep practicing for a bit, and then we can go and do something more fun for both of us."
Erika smiles as she sits down: "Works for me. You're plenty good to watch, really~."
Nesseth laughs a bit as he goes to sit back down at the bench again and get himself set for more practice. "Am I really that interesting to watch~?"
Erika leans back: "For the moment, at least. Or talk to, we can do that too. I think we occasionally do."
Nesseth hums and nods as he starts to prepare for another shot. "We do occasionally get up to some chit-chat, don't we? You're fun to talk with."
Erika giggles: "Maybe occasionally. So... I don't really understand your weapon, how does it actually work?"
Nesseth smiles as he takes a moment to unload the bolt, then turns the crossbow a little so Erika can see the top of it more readily. "Oh! It's pretty simple, from what I know. It operates off of..." He starts to explain the operation of a crossbow and how the whole thing functions such that it has just as much power, if not more power than a regular bow. He's pretty enthusiastic, and he explains things simply enough, but it's also definitely not how a professional bowyer would explain things... and he likely winds up oversimplifying some of the concepts. Overall, he explains good.
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RESPITE HOT SPRINGS - LATE AFTERNOON
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Fiora walks alongside Ninell, still in her full armor, holding her helmet at her side, the pair walk gingerly into the Bath House following their sparring session, which got rather... intense. She puts some coin on the desk, reserving two adjacent pools, smirking at Ninell, "Least I can do is cover us both, since you were such a good sport about losing. Also I still don't know if you're a pervert so we're not doing the same pool."
Ninell laughs, similarly in full armor, though he's moving with a careful gait after the sparring match, which... definitely drew a good number of spectators from the sheer intensity. "Hah... you have an interesting idea of what "losing" looks like, Fiora. I do appreciate the gesture, nonetheless." He gives the giraffe a friendly nudge, careful to avoid any bruises, "You can rest assured I will be quite the gentleman. Someone already has my heart, and it does not wander."
Fiora laughs, nudging Ninell back a little more roughly, "Hah! Good for you! Me too, so no shenanigans. But I figure after that match... ugh, we both could use a soak." She heads towards the ladies locker room, turning back to the armored Sergal with a grin, "Don't take too long, or the water will cool off."
Ninell takes a second or so to give his back a stretch as he makes his way to the men's locker room, and nods at Fiora with a joking grin. "If I do not come out of the locker room in a few minutes, assume I have gotten stuck removing my armor and might need assistance."
Fiora chuckles, "I hope removing your armor won't be the foe that defeats you today. Good luck, Sir Ninell!" She enters the locker room, and closes the door... once inside, she looks around, and once she's checked to see that no one is around, she simply pulls her necklace chain up out from behind her breastplate, hums, and recites the words that trigger the enchantment, and within seconds, her armor turns to light, and seals itself away inside the small gem set into the necklace. With a stretch, she grabs a towel and heads out towards her designated bath within a matter of seconds.
Ninell spends a bit more time than Fiora in removing his gear and stowing it all away in the locker. He doesn't get stuck, thankfully, but he's definitely feeling the hits he took now that the adrenaline is wearing off. He glances at himself in a mirror as he grabs a towel for himself, then chuckles and shakes his head when he sees the beginnings of a big bruise forming on his shoulder. He makes his way out of the locker room while wrapping the towel around his waist, then makes his way to the pool he'd been assigned.
Fiora is already soaking her sore body by the time Ninell arrives. She chuckles as she hears movement on the other side of the divider, "Heh. I was ready to call for help, but it sounds like you made it."
Ninell nods as he removes his towel and happily slips into the warm water of his pool. He lets out an appreciative groan as the warmth immediately starts to ease the aches in his body. "Ahh... Yes, yes... I made it just fine. It would appear you managed to remove your armor much more quickly."
Fiora chuckles, "Years and years of practice, friend. Bounty Hunting work means you've got a lot of enemies who might appear at unconventional times. Gotta be able to get into armor faster than they expect."
Ninell laughs a bit as he sinks a little more into the water, clearly enjoying the warmth. "Heh, that would make sense, yes. I would like to say I had the luxury to remove my armor while sleeping, but that only happened during training... and much more recently. During the years just after training, we would often sleep in our armor."
Fiora hums, sinking a bit, but it is hard to get her whole neck into the water. "Oh, I've done that too. Long hunts after scumbags who hide in the middle of nowhere. No time to switch out of armor then. Or at least, no time that's worth the risk."
Ninell nods absently as he lets the warmth just soak into his fur. "At least you had the benefit of just someone trying to get away from you. Knowing that one is being actively hunted is not an enjoyable feeling."
Fiora considers that, "Ambushes aside, I guess I was always the hunter. Got to make my own path. Guessing being a knight means you're always following orders, and your targets are just as intent to come at you as you are at them, huh?"
Ninell nods again. "Quite so. Thankfully, we are more akin to guards, now that the land is unified. But there is a certain... hm... I suppose "thrill" might not be quite the correct word for it. There is a certain... awareness of oneself in all aspects in battle against someone every bit your equal."
Fiora laughs, "Oh hell yeah there is... I mean, uh. I get it. There's the sense of just... I don't know. Adrenaline in the moment, right? I'd have probably said thrill. It's all pretty thrilling to me." She grows quiet for a moment, then sighs. "I tried the whole guard thing in Vamas... but it's a different game up there than I'm guessing it is in your home. Wanted to do some good be noble, catch the bad guys. Easy right? But not so much... if I wanted to make a difference, I had to do it on my own. That's how I started bounty hunting."
Ninell hums quietly. "Truth be told, guard duty as I last remember it is quite boring. With so much being resolved, there is not much to defend against. It was quite a large change for the people who spent long stretches of time in active combat... but we also love to turn that energy to other activities in the various arts."
Fiora perks up a bit, "Eh? What do you mean by 'various arts'? I mean... I know smithing... but I don't know if that's art..." She thinks on that a moment, considering how her Mom taught it to her. "Maybe it is... but I guess I've never treated it like one."
Ninell smiles, though mostly to himself. "The creation of things for others to enjoy. Song, poetry, dance, painting, pottery, metalworking... everyone can create something that others can find value in."
Fiora slashes her hand to make vague gesture, "Well, 'value' like, I can make a spade or a nail, and it can be used. But I'm not much of one for song and dance... or poetry, painting... any of that. But that's probably just cause I'm weird and broken."
Ninell leans his head a bit to look over at Fiora. "Or you simply have not found what activity truly speaks to you yet. Most people do not know what they truly enjoy until they are doing said activity already. After all, is that not the difference between "work" and "a hobby"?"
Fiora chuckles, "Depends. I love fighting. There's just... a feeling to it. It's not just work. Blacksmithing is a means to that ends... Keeping my body in shape too. ...I guess I don't really have a hobby otherwise..."
Ninell hums a bit. "Ah, so you find excitement in combat? You are quite an interesting one, Fiora."
Fiora splashes her hand back down, "Oh, I am. I've got plenty of stories to prove it too." She glances down at herself, "But uh, no scars to prove it anymore... that's a whole other story."
Ninell chuckles. "Perhaps no scars... but I believe I have given you a couple of new bruises today."
Fiora reaches down to poke one under the water, "Oof. A couple at least, yeah. But I figure I gave you just as many as you gave me."
Ninell lifts an arm up out of the water and gestures at his shoulder, which shows the bruise a bit more readily through wet fur. "I would say you have given me at least one good one that will not be going away any time soon."
Fiora rubs a similar bruise along her side, "Eh, same. You got in a good side strike, and my armor's still got a bit of stress from a breach it suffered not long ago."
Ninell grins at Fiora. "I hope you were able to learn what you were hoping to learn about my fighting style." He pauses, then nods at the giraffe, "I also hope I did not cause any lasting damage to your armor."
Fiora shrugs, "Nah. It was a good stress test for it, but it's due for a reforge. Got a few... friends, yeah. Got a few friends who I can ask to help too.
Ninell nods again, still smiling a bit. "I am happy to have been of help in testing your armor, then." He chuckles, "And... are you sure smithing is simply a means to an end for you, as you say? I sense some pride in your abilities."
Fiora shrugs again, but a smile creeps back on her face, "Maybe... good armor keeps me alive. I guess I am pretty proud of what I've forged."
Ninell lowers his arm back into the water as he leans against the edge of the pool. "Have you taken time to forge anything for anyone else, just because you could?"
Fiora leans her head back and sighs, "I don't... not really? My armor, my axe... the rest is usually orders I do for folks when I need to do a job. I'm not really a hunter anymore. Trying to settle down, make some real connections here in town... live a 'normal' life, whatever that means."
Ninell hums in thought as he listens to Fiora. "...Then perhaps... if you wish to settle into a 'normal' life after living such an extraordinary one for so long, maybe take your smithing knowledge and try to shape that into something creative to occupy your time? Many warriors in Eukune take up a hobby just to do something with themselves so they do not become unhinged by a lack of things to do in peaceful times."
Fiora nods quietly. "Never consider this uh, 'peaceful times', but maybe you're right. Your fighting style is interesting, for sure... but maybe I need to start thinking about that knight in peace mentality you got."
Ninell chuckles quietly. "Would you believe that my unarmed style is meant for defense? The school teaches that debilitating or killing blows should only be used if all else fails... and if it is absolutely necessary." He nods towards the locker rooms, where his gear is stored, "My halberd and gauntlets, however... their purpose in combat is clear."
Fiora nods, "Just like Grieve... my axe, that is. I only use it if I'm out to kill. It's why I'm learning that sword... something about it feels different, you know? Like it was meant to protect, and not to kill. That's... a different mindset for me."
Ninell nods in agreement. "I understand perfectly, Fiora. I have had to kill with my halberd and my gauntlets, but never with my bare hands. It is a good mindset to have, I feel, a limit that you only cross if you must."
Fiora lifts her hands out of the water, staring at them with a sigh. "I've... done that. I mean, it just sort of happens, you know? Was a big fist fight. We got ambushed, my partner and I were seperated, and the first thing they did was pull my weapon away. I was pissed... I remember everything going red. Needed to make sure Gareth was okay, get my weapon back, and kill everyone in that room." She shakes her head, voice a bit distant. "Was a hell of a rush. Took a long time to scrub the blood out of my gauntlets... the blood had seeped through, covering my hands. A lot of my scars have healed up, but I can still see it..."
Ninell listens to Fiora as she talks, then hums quietly. "That is... why I prefer my gauntlets. I do not recall if I showed them to you, but they each have a dagger hidden within. I may lose my halberd, but I am never unarmed unless I lose my arms while wearing armor. It grants me peace of mind, in that regard..."
Fiora hums, lifting her head back up and driving the funk away, "Heh. Nice trick. You'll have to show me, maybe I can incorporate something like that in my armor too."
Ninell chuckles, though his smile is soft and sympathetic as he looks over at Fiora. "Of course. I can show you the mechanism by which it operates, too, since I have had to repair it once or twice in the field."
Fiora nods, "I'm not so good with that kind of stuff, but if it's simple enough, I bet I can make it work. Make something like it at least..." She slips deeper into the water, "Ahh, sometimes I want to just take my armor and go back to Bounty Hunting... and other times I hope to never put that armor on ever again."
Ninell hums quietly. "A difficult decision, I am sure. Though... may the day you no longer need your armor be a peaceful one."
Fiora laughs, "Better to hang it up then to leave a beautiful corpse behind on the battlefield, eh? Still... I'll have to think about this knightly mentality of yours. A hobby, a pursuit of something for its own sake... I dunno... I probably need something like that in my life."
Ninell smiles at Fiora. "It helps to keep me at peace, having something outside of combat to focus attention on." He pauses, his smile shifting to a smirk, "That said... would you like to perhaps discuss some of our techniques during our spar? There is still knowledge to gain in that regard."
Fiora smirks, shifting a bit to turn her head towards Ninell. "Yeah, sure, but you gotta share to. I'm mixing in a lot of styles... keeps enemies guessing, and gives plenty of stuff to share in a fight like that."
Ninell laughs a bit. "Of course, of course. Perhaps the more we spar, the more you will learn of my fighting style to add to your own. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have about our match, as well." He grins as the two start to chat less about philosophy and such and more on the hows and whys of their unarmed skills, teaching each other just as much as they just poke fun at one another about the sparring match.