[RP]Obake Blade

[JasraLantill]

"I would be delighted to share the tale of the perilous adventure with my four-legged nemesis, but I feel weak--" he splayed his hand over his chest and lolled his head with a touch of the dramatic, "from the chill of these damp clothes, and I desperately need a small bite to eat to replenish my energy and a large mug of a warm ale to warm my bones and my throat to properly tell the story."

"Story?" Aya couldn't help but smile in anticipation of the green-eyed bard's tale. "Oh, I love stories!" She would like nothing more than to just curl up with Carwyn in front of the fire with an ale and some cookies and listen to a good yarn, but she also really did need to get Bob's pack semi-loaded if they were going to take off at first light. She glanced up at Carwyn, trying to discern if he felt the same way, but the sack of grain he had hoisted on his shoulder was partially obscuring his face and she couldn't tell.

 

"Erm... if you just stay right there, Master Takumi," and she used the word 'Master' to show deep respect for his craft, "I'm sure Toa won't mind keeping you company for a bit. And I've no doubt Brother Hanzo will soon arrive and get you set up with some dry clothes to wear while yours dry. They'll be plain clothes, of course," she added tentatively. "But dry is better than fashionable, yes? And there's still ale on the table. And cookies." She pointed to them. "Just help yourself." She smiled. "Carwyn and I will be back very shortly. We've just got to get our things packed and ready for tomorrow. We've got an early start and a long journey West ahead of us."

[Rogue Nine]

"Interesting fellow," Carwyn observed as they approached the door leading outside to the stables. "His clothes are bright enough to light up a room and his speech is quite peculiar..."

 

He leaned against the door with his back and pushed it open, the hinges creaking in protest. The hard, driving rain showed no signs of letting up as Carwyn could just make out the outline of the stables through the sheets of water. Hefting the pack above his head, he quipped, "Looks like we're going to get our shower out of the way tonight."

[JasraLantill]

"Well, let's hurry then!" Aya said to him, and they both darted across the yard to the stables.

 

Bob greeted them with a soft whicker as they entered. He was munching some hay, the tendrils sticking out at odd angles from his mouth, and seemed quite contented.

 

"Hey, Bob. How'ya doin'?" Aya rubbed the pony's nose. "Getting ready to go on another trip." She turned as Carwyn deposited the sack of grain with a loud thud on the floor. "See? Even bringing extra grain for you."

 

Bob stopped chewing. He stared at Carwyn and then the heavy bag of grain. Then he flattened his ears into a horsey frown.

 

"Aw, Bob, don't be like that," Aya said soothingly. "The further you travel, the lighter the load."

 

One of Bob's ears pricked.

 

"And we're going west. It's a lot warmer out west. And drier, too. No more sleeping standing out in the rain."

 

Bob's other ear pricked.

 

"And when we get home, you can have a nice, long rest out in the pasture."

 

Bob snorted, both ears now pricked forward, giving his full attention to Aya.

 

She smiled. "That's better." She rubbed the pony between his eyes, then straighten out his forelock.

 

Turning to Carwyn, she surveyed the pile of supplies they had managed to gather for the trip. It was substantial, but it wasn't anything Bob couldn't or hadn't carried before.

 

"I think that'll do us for a while," she said to Carwyn. "C'mon. Let's go back inside and listen to the bard's stories." She paused thoughtfully. "You know, if he's any good, he'd be quite nice to have with us on the way west. Entertainment along the way would be a good thing to have, don't you think?"

[Quist]

He has an idea of how I fight now, Maggie told herself. I've got to mix it up, throw something different at him.

 

"Thanks," Maggie gritted out as she used the momentum from Kyo's push to twist her body, planting her left foot to the mat and pivoting off of it to spin her body while simultaneously lifting her staff to a horizontal strike aimed at Kyo's midsection.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo ducked as she moved past him, his shoulders lowered so as to keep their bodies seperated. He came back up to standing as she aimed a horizontal strike at him, holding his staff vertically so as to block it. As the staves met with a crack, one hand shifted from the end of the staff to the middle, catching hold of hers and holding it tightly against his as he twisted his staff and body, pushing the staves away from her and pulling hers from her grip - all of this happening in a flash of movement. As her staff went clattering to the floor a few feet away, Kyo twisted so that he faced her, the end of his weapon coming to rest at her adam's apple, causing her to freeze.

 

"Check mate, Miss Roche." he said with a grin.

[Quist]

Well, that didn't work out so well.

 

Holding up her hands in defeat, she said, "All right, I concede." Kyo obviously was far quicker than she'd originally perceived. He'd managed to disarm her and hold her at stavepoint faster than she expected. Her eyes twinkled as she locked them with Kyo's and tilted her head. "That went far quicker than I would have liked it to," she said, a rueful tone in her voice. "But don't think this counts as that match you owe me, as I asked for an unarmed spar."

[ForceFightWMe12]

He smiled, lowering his staff. Using the back of the weapon, he hit the one that Maggie had dropped at such an angle that it flipped it into the air. He caught the weapon in his open hand before turning to look at her.

 

"Well, seeing as you're already unarmed," he said, setting the staves against the wall, "Perhaps we ought to take care of that now."

[Quist]

"I thought you might say that," Maggie stated, fixing her hair up again. "If I had known you'd oblige me so soon, I would have kept that other skirt on," she said idly as she discarded her blouse, then stared down at her long, unslitted skirt. "My wardrobe can only take so many hits."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo smiled at this, backing up and motioning towards the door. "I could allow you to change, if you'd like." he said, "I wouldn't want to be blamed for owing you a new skirt."

[Jae Onasi]

Takumi regarded the unremarkable beige shirt and brown pants in the mirror in the small room where Brother Hanzo had taken him. He turned slowly and looked at the different views.

 

"Weeellll, indeed not fashionable, but yes, dry is better. And a good bard can make due with any situation. I shall consider this a wardrobe challenge to overcome." He rummaged around in his knapsack, found his favorite mug, a small book with his favorite songs and stories, and an 'accessory' for his outfit.

 

He strode back to the common room, inhaled appreciatively above the large pitcher of ale and poured himself a large mug, and then found the cookies. He took a nibble and approached the person Aya had pointed out--Toa, was it?

 

"A cold, wet journey always makes one appreciate a fine mug of ale and good food even more, does it not? Aya suggested I say hello to you, good sir Toa."

 

Takumi offered his hand to the quiet man.

[Quist]

Maggie shook her head as she bent down and ripped the side of her skirt, creating a long slit. She repeated the procedure on the other side, then high-kicked experimentally to test the ease of movement. Satisfied, she squared herself up into a stance. "If I'm going to be traveling with you and your companions, wearing restrictive clothing would only hinder me," she stated. "I suppose I should hem up my skirts properly, but that may be done later."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo rolled his sleeves back just above his elbows as he watched her tear her skirt once more. He stepped backwards, bending his knees and holding his hands up in a fighting stance.

 

"I suppose that's true enough," he said, brushing a strand of blonde hair from his eyes as he watched her. "So, shall we begin?"

[Quist]

"Lets," Maggie responded as she bowed towards Kyo. Instead of straightening up from her bow, however, she pitched forward, rolling on the ground, then peformed a forward somersault, coming to stand less than half a meter away from Kyo. Setting her feet quickly, she snapped out her left leg into a roundhouse kick.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo hadn't been expecting her little show of acrobatics. Stepping to the side as she came up, he threw up his arm to block her roundhouse kick. Also pitching forward, he threw a punch towards her stomach. He knew it would be blocked - somehow - but he was interested to see how she would do it. After all with her body not as firmly planted on the ground as it could have been, seeing as he foot was still up in the air, blocking an attack to the torso would be a bit of a problem.

[Quist]

Maggie saw the punch coming towards her abdomen. In her relatively precarious position, she knew that she wouldn't be able to block or dodge it completely. Twisting her body, she yanked enough of her midsection out of the way enough to only take a glancing blow to the side. Even so, it still stung, as Kyo was quite strong. Grimacing, she used the momentum from her turn to pitch herself to her right while simultanously reaching out and grabbing Kyo's arm. As she came down on her left foot, she shifted her weight and pivoted, pulling Kyo towards her, then using all her strength to flip him over her body.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo fell to the ground with an oof, bouncing ever so slightly on the mat. He hadn't landed on his feet - she had moved far too quickly and unexpectedly for him to manage that - and so lay spread-eagled on the ground. Sighing into the mat, he looked up at her with a grin.

 

"You've flipped me again." he said. With a soft grunt, he pushed himself to his feet, resetting his fighting stance. "Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me."

[Quist]

Maggie returned his grin as she cracked her shoulder blades. "I can't help it if you like to fall for me, Mr. Ruroni," she said playfully. She bent her knees and splayed her arms into another stance, this one fully defensive. With her palm up, she beckoned towards him.

[ForceFightWMe12]

He smirked as she beckoned, tensing his knees in preparation for the attack. "We'll see who will be falling for who." he murmured softly.

 

The warrior shot forward, watching her body for any hint of movement. Raising his knee once he had come within touching distance, he fired it forward, aiming to hit her right in the stomach as he moved by her.

[Quist]

Maggie saw Kyo's knee raise and square up to hit her in the abdomen. Shifting her feet, she twisted her body and dodged the move by the thinnest of margins, close enough that she could feel the air rushing past her stomach. Shooting a foot out, she attempted to catch Kyo's other leg as he sprinted by her.

[Rogue Nine]

"Entertainment along the way would be a good thing to have, don't you think?"

 

"What, you didn't think fighting off bandits, bone dragons and giant rock snakes was entertaining?" Carwyn asked Aya facetiously as they ran back into the monastery, the rain still driving down hard. Once they were inside, Aya pulled her wet bangs out of her eyes and rolled them at the ranger. Carwyn laughed and took her hand. "C'mon, lets go get some dry clothes on and see if that bard's stories are as flamboyant as the way he dresses."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo felt the blow of Maggie's leg as she knocked his leg from under him. Falling backwards, the warrior put his hand out to catch himself - and flipped himself backwards in a strange sort of cartwheel, landing on his feet. Falling back into a kicking stance, he smiled at her. "Nice try."

[JasraLantill]

"C'mon, lets go get some dry clothes on and see if that bard's stories are as flamboyant as the way he dresses."

 

"Okay." Aya glanced towards the long staircase that led up to the second floor and their rooms. Without warning, she gave him a kiss, then, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, said, "I'll race you!" She darted away, making a beeline for the stairs. With her skirt hiked up so that she could take the steps two at a time, she called out to Carywn over her shoulder. "Last one to the top cleans Bob's stall in the morning!"

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn snorted as he took off after Aya. "I love Bob, but I'm sure not going to clean up after him!" he called as he sprinted towards the stairway. Aya was already a good ways up in the staircase, taking two steps at a time. We can't have that..., Carwyn thought as he churned his legs forward, taking the steps three at a time. He caught up with her at almost the very top, both of them running neck and neck to reach the last step.

[JasraLantill]

At the last moment, it was Carwyn who reached the top of the stairs just a split second before Aya.

 

"Aw, no fair!" Aya teased, her cheeks flushed from the exertion with a healthy pink glow. "You've got longer legs than I do!"

 

She gave him a wink to let him know that she really didn't mind losing, then slowly started down the hallway towards her room. "Anyway, let's get changed out of these wet clothes and get back down stairs. I'm anxious to hear this bard's stories of his 'four-legged nemesis.' Could be scary!" She paused a moment. "Hmmm... I wonder if I have any marshmallows left.... S'mores would be a good snack to have over a story, don't you think? Might even tempt Maggie and Kyo from whatever nook they ran off to...." She bit her lower lip, grinning wryly as she did so. "Say, do you think Kyo took Mags someplace private to do some flirting, because he seems to be so shy about stuff like that?"

[Rogue Nine]

"Kyo?" Carwyn repeated as he stopped in front of his door and tugged off his shirt. "Flirting? That concept is almost unthinkable." He rubbed his chin in thought. "Though, if he were to do something like that, it would be like him to do it in private. Even so, he very well could be just trying to negotiate into making her stay here." He smirked. "Knowing them, they're probably very aggressive negotiations."