[PP:F3] Training a New Blade <Elvish Rivalries> - Teayre & Baldur

[Teayre 0]

The third floor. The forest was settled down in the distance, Teayre sat on the fence of a farm that she had spent the night in. Watching the morning sun slowly rise up on the horizon, the red haired girl couldn’t help but smile to herself. The sound of several starlings chirping reached her ears. Looking at the top of the barn she saw a pair of beating wings leaving the entwined nest there. It was something quaint and beautiful about the scene. However she didn’t have time to enjoy the pleasures of bird watching. Teayre was here to complete a quest and help some elves get some firewood. At least that was from the information she had gotten from the Info Brokers. Her sword settled neatly into the waistband of her hip Teayre starts to walk towards the woods. Along the outskirts head east until you hit the river, then follow that downstream till you hit a small pool. That’s where the elf camp should be. At least that’s what the red head had been told.

Slowly the woods came closer to her. Slight movements could be spotted by the red head from within the trees. Letting a small grin appear on her face Teayre unclipped the catch of her blade. Ketseuki Kanashiki. She had her friend craft the blade for her, it was the successor of the Oikawa Kanashiki, to cut through sadness. The girl almost scoffed, she knew that a blade could never cut through feelings no matter how sharp. It could remove those that created them however. An image. A single smile. The arrogance behind it. She gripped her blade tighter and tighter before drawing it and dashing towards a tree in front of her. As the metal made contact with it she let out a scream. “THAT DAMNABLE MANTA GAUL, HER ARROGANCE!” The blade stopped as Teayre continued to press it against the immortal object, suddenly she was sent flying back. Landing on her knee she stabs the weapon into the ground slowing her down.

Taking a few deep breaths Teayre glares at the spot she had struck, this was meant to be her first training session with Baldur, why was she getting this angry. “Of course.” Withdrawing her blade out of the ground she settles it in its sheathe. Looking around for the Azure Chevalier she lets outs a sigh.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur hadn't slept much that night. He wasn't sure how to approach his training session with Teayre. They had agreed to go on a quest together, but while Calrex had almost been the ideal pupil for Baldur, Teayre was completely different personality type to himself or to Calrex. But if Cal could find a way to communicate well enough with Teayre to marry her, then he felt like he should be able to. He had to approach this with a clear and open mind. Hadn't he just taught Calrex about Mushin and Fudoshin. They almost reminded Baldur of Hugin and Munin, Odin's Ravens.

Without paying much attention to where he was going, he suddenly found himself already at his destination with Teayre. Now that Baldur was finally finding his place among the frontliners, there were few people he had to be worried about. Even among the PK players there were few who could rival a frontline player. The only thing he needed to really be more of a true one, was to have his own demonic. Though if it came down to it, he had the sword that Teayre had given him. It assured him dominance in any PvP conflict. He doubted many would challenge him when he wielded the most powerful weapon in the game. It was literally game breaking.

"Oh, Ohayo, Teayre." Baldur gave her a respectful bow. He had decided that he had to be completely honest and upfront with Teayre. If he tried to handle her with kid gloves, he may end up hurting her pride or pushing her away by seeming fake. He would be honest, and firm, and do what he could to help put her on the path she desired, and hopefully help rebuild the bond between her and Calrex.

[Teayre 0]

The red head looked over her shoulder to see Baldur approaching her. Coming to a halt the red head turned and watched the man bow to her. Biting her lip she swallowed raising a hand. “Hey Baldur.” She says as she returns his greeting. Her brow furrowed for a moment before she relaxed her forehead. A heavy sigh escaping her lips. “I’m sorry for putting this task on you, however I have a request…” Her left hand twitched as if itching to draw her blade. “You know I am the wielder of Battojutsu. The main reason I swapped out to one handed curved sword in the recent patch was to restrict my use of it.”

Turning away Teayre, walks over to the tree she had struck raising a hand a placing it in front of her on the bark she had struck. The girl lets it fall limp, sliding to a rest next to her. “I don’t know what Calrex told you Baldur. I don’t know why you accepted.” Her head turned at an angle as she faced away from the tree her eyes screwed tightly shut. “I do know what I want to do. I know what I want you to do.” Her voice was cracking as she spoke, her hand tightening clenching at her side even as her other twitched the finger gently caressing the hilt of her blade.

"However..." She continued after several long drawn out seconds of silence. "I still feel the urge to kill." Her lips twisted slightly, "There's something that can't be sated from killing mobs. Now if this was like any other game. Then it'd be simple." Her eyes flickered open. "However the rumours are that you really die in this game and you don't respawn or even wake up. I doubt there is any way we can test that successfully except for handling Kayaba's crap." 

Slowly the crimson maiden stood up, slotting the sheathe into her belt at her hip. "So." She continues abruptly, "I want to learn how to kill. I wish to know how to kill cleanly without bystanders. Baldur. I have no qualms about killing anyone, why would I? Not after him..." Her eyes glimmered with resdiual fire, her shoulders being pushed back as she held her head up high."The only people who I will not touch are the Coalition. They are my true family. Yourself, Oikawa, Takao when we offer our hand to him and there is one other... "Teayre openned her menu and quickly typed a name and sent it to her guild mate. "Now then, before we start training I want to know you. I want to understand you..." Her smirk turned into a wolf like grin. "Fight me!" She yelled as her foot went forwards the blade coming out of its scabbard her eyes bearing down on Baldur.

(This isn't a KE thread so I can't actually attack you hence no bold writing.)

@Baldur

Edited March 10, 2017 by Teayre

[Baldur 0]

"No."

Baldur was surprised at how firm and powerful his reply felt.

He had felt surprised... stunned! When she had opened up to them at the summit. He had seen a side to Teayre that gave him hope. What he had seen in their quest to fight the Tagas was ugly, and confused Baldur. He had only the faith of his friends to go off of. Then he saw an earnest vulnerability to her at the summit. An honest repentence... which was not what he saw here. An anger grew inside of him, but as he taught Cal, he merely took the anger inside himself and centered it. His steel blue eyes blazed, but he let no other signs show.

He would let her attack him if that was her intent, but he would not fight her. Not yet. He planned to, but not this way.

"I accepted because of what I saw from you on the summit. This --" he gestured to her as she stood before him now. "Is not what I agreed to. This is not who I am here to help. If you want to learn my bushido then you will sheath your sword and listen."

He would continue, assuming she relented.

"I will train you to kill, that is a part of teaching swordsman ship. But the first lesson for you is control. And that means I need to know if you intend to keep your word or not. I need to know if you are capable of honor. If you aren't capable of that, then you won't be worthy to wield <<Muramasa>>."

He opened his inventory and took out an item he had used just recently with Calrex as well. A <<Wooden Bokken>>. It was a normal, good quality katana. In their hands, it could still be a deadly weapon, but never-the-less it would take forever for one of them to hurt the other with a vanity item.

"Now, do you accept." His voice was steel, but it was tinged with a shade of both disappointed and veiled hope.

@Teayre

[Teayre 0]

“No.”

Teayre’s eyes blinked once as she maintained contact with Baldur’s. Her lips quivered for a moment before turning down. Her teeth gritting. “What do I need to do?” Her mind was a spiral, her face calm, the azure eyes locked to her crimson fires simmering in both of them. Blinking once, twice, then a third time each with several seconds in between the silence extending between herself and Baldur.

Her hand rotated the blade around moving towards the starting move of a sword art. Gritting her teeth she flicks her wrist straight before bringing the clenched fist up to her left shoulder. “Who I am is both a killer, one of the more notorious Baldur. I am also learning my own path. Striving forward. Your teachings were to help me on that path.”

Turning her head for a second breaking the contact that had linked them for the past several minutes. Eyeing her blade up Teayre breaths out. In the middle of the breath, she moves. Her armour straightens the sword flying forwards. No sword art used. The blade missing Baldur’s ear by a fraction. The girl’s left hand withdraws the saya from her hip.

“Now, do you accept.”

Moving it to her left she drops it onto the floor. “I am a killer. I won’t hesitate to take a life again.” She pauses her lips pursing for a moment, her eyes shimmering. The azure chevalier stood in front of her. She shifted her weight from central to being on one foot, one hand going behind her back. The other brushing a strand of maroon hair that had fallen over her face, tucking it behind her ear. Then linking her hands behind her back.

Taking in a deep breath she waits. Controlling her breathing. “Remember who you are Narlia, remember Liss.”

Her eyes flicked open. A steel to them, meeting Baldur’s. “If I must take one again, then I would do so with my emotions in check rather than crackling like a flame on a splintered match.” Swiping open her inventory she looks through before selecting a simple weapon. The <<Decorative Katana>> materialized at the hip of the red head. “Calnus…” She whispers to herself, glancing up at Baldur, raising an eyebrow at him before moving on hand to the left hand to hold the saya underneath the tsuba of the weapon. She takes a knee. Her right hand resting on the bent knee of her right leg.

“Hai. Sensei.”

@Baldur

[Baldur 0]

Baldur felt the stern teacher mask he was trying to maintain strain against the internal struggle Teayre fought, but ultimately his patience paid off. She took a knee before him, and called him sensei. Very carefully he did not let her see the breath he had been holding. In a surprisingly ritualistic manner, Baldur sits down before Teayre in seiza style and lays the wooden blade on the ground in front of him. He took a deep, meditative breath, and then resumed eye contact with Teayre. The steel was there, but it was softened now.

"We all know you are a fire Teayre. I do not know what happened to cause this fire to burn out of control inside of you, but I know that people whom I love and trust, love and trust you. We are a family now, and that means I put my life and my honor in your hands. What you do, what Oikawa does, what Cal-kun does, what Takao does... all of this reflects on our, and my honor."

He kept his voice even and calm, he was too invested for it to feel conversational, but there was no judgement in his words. He was making observations, not valuative judgements.

"I was uncomfortable, and a bit frightened of you when we ran through the Tagas quest with those kids. I really thought you might hurt them, or go off like a firecracker. That uncertainty makes it difficult to put my life into someone's hands. It also makes it difficult for people to put their faith in the Spectrum Coalition. Whatever the reason or cause, your and Oikawa's actions have made many find trusting us a... difficult situation."

His chest rose and fell as he sought to find those words.

"Before we can be worthy of the trust we want placed in us, we must first deserve it. And before we can deserve it, we must first trust one another. This is going to be as much a journey for me as it will be for you. As you just said, if you need to take a life again, it should be for your own, rationed reasons, not because of the uncontrolled rage within you... I feel it, when I hold the <<Muramasa>>. The power, the temptation, the chaos. We need to give form to your rage, so that you can understand it, and through understanding it, conquer and control it."

He paused again, his steel blue eyes were watching her deliberately. Did her eyes wander? Did she fidjit? Was she bored talking through this with him, or impatient to fight still? It would tell him what he needed to know.

"You don't have to reveal all of this to me, it is enough that we work through it and you do as I say. I will teach you what I taught Cal-kun, because while his fire needed to be stoked, yours needs to be reigned in. Not changed completely, but controlled. You are the Yin and Yang of each other, and I do not wish to alter that balance. However, fire out of control benefits no one, but a controlled burn brings new life to an ancient forest."

Baldur slowly, and ceremoniously bowed to his sword, left hand first, then right, creating a triangle with his fingers and thumbs as he bowed. Then he picked up the blade and set it to his left side and held is with his left hand as if it were sheathed. He then leaned forward in a half bow, his right hand touching the ground between them as he bowed this time to Teayre. Slowly, perfectly, and with much obvious practice, he rose smoothly with the grace only ritual practice can achieve.

"Here is what I will teach you, and if you wish to end our deal, then that is your choice. There are two things you must master to gain control over yourself. Mushin, and Fudoshin. They are twin, opposite, and complementary frames of mind. However, if you practice them to my satisfaction they will help you remain in control, and you won't be able to be baited by your enemies, or by your inner demons. As you learn these, I will practice Iai with you. Your unique skill is Battou-justu, also known as Iaijutsu, the art of drawing the blade. Battou-jutsu is the violent form practice by samurai who needed to expect death at every turn. I will teach you Iaido, the art of perfecting oneself, and steeling the spirit. I do not wish to change you, I want to put you in control of yourself, and find what my friends fell in love with. That is my bushido."

He took a deep breath, and met Teayre's eyes.

"Do you agree?"

[Teayre 0]

Her ears twitched for a second moment as a gust of wind blows by, perfectly concealing the sigh that Baldur lets out from the red head. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, her vision starting to become hazy as the azure hakama teetered in the top of her vision. She blinked once, the blurriness vanishing before reappearing. “What we all do, reflects on each other?” Her eyes screwed tightly shut her whole body began to shake. Her hand clenching and reopening extremely quickly.

Fire bristled in her mind, the ash that lay on her. The disappearance. Her wedding day. The coarse hand. The soft hand. The brown hair. The red hair. “Teayre.” Teayre looked up, a bundle of blue hair greeting her, her eyes began to stream, no holding back. “Calnus.” She mutters aloud, her hand seizing and finally remaining clenched the crimson maiden shut her eyes tightly for a minute.

Listening quietly, motionlessly until Baldur paused for the second time. Her blazon eyes meeting the steel gaze of her teachers.

“The Muramasa…” Teayre laughed, “There’s not much in there when you feel the impulse to take a life. The impulse to see and feel the blood of another human. The joy of being that much in control… Over other people.” She paused for a moment, her body motionless, not even the fluttering of eyelids. “That can’t keep going on Baldur. I know it, I will train your way. I…”

She paused turning her head away as he continues, “You don’t have to reveal all of this to me…” Watching as her master bows to her. Watching as he shows her exactly what he wishes to teach her. This perfection. Her finger twitched, her hand slowly reaching for her own blade.

“DAMNIT TEAYRE!”

Her voice echoed in the silence she wrenched her left hand down trapping it against her womb. “Baldur...” She mutters, through gritted teeth “Please. Take my blade away…” Her eyes began to swell again as if they were an ocean. “I… need to share with you my story… I… I…” She falls silent. Her hands catching on the floor the red head begins to gag.

Her chest rising and falling, eyelids screwed tightly shut. Her fingers dig into the grass below her earth lining her finger nails. “Bal- Dur-“ She mutters “Save… Me…”

[Baldur 0]

This was not the reaction Baldur had expected... but then Teayre had never been one to give him that luxury anyways. His steel blue eyes widened and softened as he saw her struggling with herself. He did as she asked, reaching down and drawing her weapon away from her, taking it into his right hand with his own bokken. As she fell to the ground, he knelt down with her, setting the blades aside behind him. 

"It's alright Teayre, I'm here, I'll help... tell me... tell me your story."

He placed a soft hand on her shoulder and let her continue as she liked, be they body wracking sobs, or a deluge of words that opened up her heart and soul. He knew that the woman his friends loved was in there, and he wanted to discover this woman who engendered so much loyalty.

Come on Teayre, stay with me.

They were the words of his heart, which poured out through his eyes, but he made placating sounds and rubbed her shoulder soothingly until she began to speak, and then he would sit back and listen intently. Who was this woman? She was the most feared player in the castle, wife of one of the most trusted and beloved. They were definitely the Yin and Yang.

[Teayre 0]

The retching didn’t stop as the girl continued to sob, the gently warmth of a hand pressed on her shoulder. Her vision pitch black as mud stuck underneath her finger nails, the gentle reassurances from her mentor slowly helped. The sobbing slowly dying down, slowly the tense muscles on Teayre’s arms relaxed as the girl pushed herself into a sitting position. The dampness on her face was still evident to her outburst. Her chest moved erratically every so often as the sheen on her face began to fall, dripping onto the ground around her. “My... Story…” She muttered quietly, a sharpness to her voice, her jaw setting itself.

The thinness of her eyes met Baldur’s for a split second, the lifelessness in them, cold as stone. As she began to speak, her voice caught in her throat.  “I…” She pushed herself to her feet staggering backwards. “What do you know about me?”

She spoke her hand going to her hip, clenching around thin air. “What do you know of my past?” her eyes narrowed as she looked at Baldur’s eyes. There was a cold steel in the contact she had with them, her head cocking to one side. “What has my husband told you Baldur?” Her words were short and sharp. A small spark coming into her eyes for a moment, dimming again as she turned away a sigh escaping from her lips. “The blood of Manta Gaul and Ebony Rose.” The red head looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them. “The blood of those who tried to kill me.”

A soft slapping sound came as her hands hit her thighs. “The blood of Akarim Thar. My father.” She turned to face Baldur now her entire body shaking, “Several people have easily fallen by my blade. More than most know. Only one however saw my unique skill before he died. Only three people alive other than myself that I know of, know about my Battojutsu.”

Counting the people of on her fingers she spoke, “Calnus, Oikawa and You. The muramasa that you now wield came from the mob I defeated in a single blow, striking before they had a chance to. I have a bloodlust that can’t be sated. My entire body shakes as I wish to kill, Baldur, why?”

A tear began to roll down her cheek, “Liss Thar. My sister, died because I was too weak to protect her. She died because of him.” Her voice was torn, bitter as the words trailed off into silence.

 

@Baldur

(Sorry it's taken a while)

Edited August 11, 2017 by Teayre