Talons or Sword? Why not Both!? (Solo/Flashback)

[Sira]

Timestamp: Spring 74, 506 AV A young Sira sat bored at her desk doodling incoherent scribbles on a mostly blank parchment as an instructor droned on and on about some frozen land on the far side of Storm Bay and a race of humans Sira had no interest in learning about. They were called Vantha, but Sira barely even registered the word. History was so boring! The yasi, though physically she appeared closer to adulthood than most of the children in the room and by age she was technically much younger, couldn't wait until she could get out of the classroom and move on to her next assignment. Combat training. "Their goddess, Morwen, rules over the city, which is always in a state of perpetual winter." Perpetual winter? Must suck, Sira thought to herself. Winter in Wind Reach was rarely pleasant, and Sira always found herself looking forward to the end of the cold season and waiting excitedly for spring. Finally Sira heard the rustling of papers and looked up to see that the lesson was ended, the instructor already on his way out of the room. "Yes," Sira cheered quietly to herself as she jumped to her feet and ran out the door and down the hall. Sira dashed all the way to the combat hall, unable to contain herself. They were going to be using real talon swords that day, not wooden replicas, and Sira couldn't wait. Sira ran into the training room and immediately her eyes settled on the gleaming metal of the talon swords laid out for the students. She picked one up, almost reverently examining the weapon from the bottom of the hilt to the tip of the blade. Sira had been asked by her instructor once why she was so interested in the blade. She was kelvic and had a rather formidable animal form, couldn't she just shift if she had to fight? Sira would reply, "I'm not always a wind eagle," but really she just loved the sword. Something about it felt right in her hands, and though she trained more with the bow, Sira had always favored the sword. True, she could shift and rend an opponent to shreds with her talons, but there was something rewarding about training with the talon sword that made Sira feel good. Sira examined each of the blades, testing their feel in her hands. She was no weapons expert, far from it, but her instructors had told her what to look for in a weapon. Was it balanced well? Was the tang the full length of the weapon? Was it too heavy or too light? All these things Sira considered as she held each weapon and swung the each around a few times experimentally. Finally she made a choice and took her place with the other Yasi, noting that the instructor had been watching her. She knew she had done as he wanted, and was certain she would get extra points for doing things the right way instead of just picking up the first one she saw. After all the other students arrived the instructor stepped forward, signaling that class was to begin.

[Sira]

Of course the instructor had to go over all the boring things first, such as safety instruction and a reminder of all the basic forms. Sira waited through it all patiently. Nothing could possibly dampen her mood, she was too excited for the lesson that was to come. Finally the instructor got past the talking and they started doing something, though it still wasn't the portion of class that Sira had been waiting for. "Alright, let's go through some basic drills. Show me a basic middle slash, left and right. Ready, go!" A basic maneuver. Slash to the left, slash to the right. Sira drew her sword and raised it, slashing left across the torso of an imaginary foe, reversing the direction of her swing when she reached the apex of the arc and coming back across for a slash to the right. Sira delighted in the hum of the blade as it slashed through the air. Wooden practice swords didn't do that. "Again!" She slashed to the left; she slashed to the right. "Again!" Sira repeated the actions again. Though it was not the most exciting part of training Sira understood its importance, and she delighted in the feel of swinging a live blade instead of a fake one. It felt so different, it was so different, and she couldn't wait to try it out in a real spar. As they moved to the next drill, diagonal downward slash, top right to bottom left, followed by a thrust and then diagonal from the top left to bottom right, Sira's eyes wandered to her other classmates. Who would she be paired with? She didn't know, it could be any of them really. There were a few other promising students, and Sira wasn't even the best herself. The young kelvic hoped the instructor would pair her against someone challenging, and not some lesser opponent. "Again!" Sira slashed the air, a smile splayed across her face. The instructor moved in front of her and shouted, "Again!"

[Sira]

Sira's eyes widened but she reacted instantly. It wasn't uncommon for the instructor to present himself as a target when they were using wooden swords, but Sira had never expected that he would put himself in actual harm’s way. Perhaps that was because he knew that he wasn't in any real danger. Sira's blade came down at the man from the top-right, slashing down to the left. In an instant the man's own sword appeared, knocking Sira's blade out to the side. Sira almost closed her eyes in wonder as she listened to the sound of metal on metal ring out, and felt the finite vibrations of the blade through the hilt in the palm of her hand, but she struggled to regain her balance and follow through. The next move in the drill was a thrust, and Sira's blade lowered down to her waist, leveling out with the floor, and she thrust it toward the instructing Avora. Her teacher was skilled, and Sira was not. He had no problem avoiding the second blow as well, pivoting his left foot back and twisting to the side as he brought his sword down and across, once again pushing Sira's weapon away from his body. Sira smiled, barely to contain her enjoyment, and almost laughed out loud as she brought the blade up for the final diagonal slice of the move. Ideally, the instructors last parry would have left his backside open allowing Sira to slice down at it and leave him with a nasty wound, but of course Sira was only a novice and he an expert. Her blade came down and he turned toward it, his hand flying up to grab Sira's wrist before she was able to build up any momentum. His sword came around with his right arm and Sira felt the flat of his blade crack into her ribs. Had it been a real fight Sira would be dead, or close to it, but the grin on the instructors face and the fact that she was not actually dead was proof enough that it was all just a training exercise. "Good job, Sira," the instructor commented followed by a curt not before he moved on to the next student. "Drill three. Go!" They went through all the drills, from the very basic stances to the most complicated forms. Sira was beginning to wonder if they would even get to spar at all that day, not that she would be entirely disappointed if they didn't.

[Sira]

Drills might have been dull and boring, except for when the instructor decided to stand in front of her and give her a target to swing at, but Sira understood their importance all the same. Drills taught the basic fundamentals that could be used in any and every fight, and without them any warrior would be lost. Again and again the instructor drilled them, and though their arms grew tired the instructor would not relent. Again and again Sira and the other Yasi were made to go through the motions, some simple and some more complex. Sira lifted her sword in front of her, preparing for one of the more complex drills. It was one of her favorites, however, because it almost reminded her of dancing. "Begin," the instructor shouted and Sira and the other Yasi all began to move. The opening move was a quick thrust, which was quickly brought back in. In her mind she was supposed to imagine she was fighting against two people. The thrust had been towards the first opponent, and he had parried it. Now Sira ducked and twisted to the right, her sword coming up and parrying an invisible attack from the second opponent. His sword out of the way she continued to twist and spun back up to a standing position, returning to her initial defensive stance. She was now supposed to take out the first of her two imaginary opponents. Her sword came up in front of her in a mock parry, deflecting an invisible attack. Using her already built up momentum Sira swung her talon sword fast in a circle over her head and bringing it back in the direction from which it had come to slash down on her opponent's shoulder and finish him off. Sira didn't have time to bask in her imagined victory for her favorite part of the drill had arrived. In a sudden and fast movement she dropped to one knee, narrowly dodging a blow that would have taken her head. Pivoting on her knee she spun in a circle and slashed across her foe's unseen legs. Sira continued to spin, rising back to her feet, and on her second time around her sword took his head. Sira was victorious... sort of. There wasn't any real person to claim victory over but she still claimed it. "Alright everyone, good work. Let's take a break and then we'll do some sparring." Sira lowered her sword and wiped the sweat from her brow, breathing heavily. The last several drills had taken a lot out of her. Looking around she spotted a group of Yasi talking to each other elatedly and she nervously approached. "Wow, what a workout," one Yasi said. "I can't wait for sparring though. It's gonna be awesome!" "Hi guys, that was fun, wasn't it?" Sira's nervousness could easily be heard in the tone of her voice. She never had much luck talking with the other Yasi. None of of them liked her, for one reason or another. Some were probably jealous of what she could become, while others were just racist against anything not Inarta. And others just liked to make fun of her because of the learning curve she was stuck with. The Yasi all had over ten years experience on her, and while Sira was a fast learner in many of the more physical aspects of life, her obvious disadvantage in class had the Yasi picking on her relentlessly. When she approached the largest of the boys eyed her warily, and when she spoke he outright frowned. "Hey, nobody was talking to you, freak," the boy said cruelly, "Go build a nest or something." The boy turned his back on her after that and Sira opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out of her mouth. She stood there for a few chimes watching the boys talk before finally turning way, shoulders slumped, and slinked away. Just another day for the kelvic. Sira hoped she didn't get paired with the boy, she didn't want to have to see his face again that day, but knowing her luck that is exactly what would happen.

[Sira]

Sira was used to being called names, freak and other worse things, but that didn't mean they stung any less when she heard them. Sira fought back the tears that were beginning to well in her eyes. She couldn't let them see her cry, she couldn't allow herself to be vulnerable. Though it always hurt when the other Inarta shunned her, Sira was getting better and better at hiding it. She was building a fortress around her emotions, something that would defend her for years to come and rarely be broken. She would close herself off, and one day her fortress would be complete and she wouldn't have to hurt ever again. That day had not come yet, though, and Sira could hear the boys snickering at her as she walked away. Don't worry, Sira. One day you'll be an endal, and then everyone will love you. Comforting though the thought might have been to the child, it was far from truth. Little did she know that becoming an endal would bring about an entirely new set of troubles for the young kelvic, but Sira didn't have time to ponder such possibilities of the future. The instructor called class back to order, announcing the first sparring partners. One was a boy named Markus, a scrawny but fiesty little Yasi, while the other was Sato, a huskily built ball of muscle. It didn't seem like a fair match, but the talon sword wasn't just about brute strength. It required finesse to master as well, so it was hard to predict who would win the bout. "Ready, begin!" As soon as the order to begin was given the husky boy opened with a rather aggressive attack, hacking down at his opponent with an over the head chop putting all of his strength into it. Well, maybe not all of his strength, it was just a sparring match after all, they weren't actually trying to kill each other. Sira watched in rapt fascination as the smaller boy desperately tried to block the attack, his arms nearly buckling under the weight of the larger ones blow. Sira shook her head in disappointment. She would have tried to dodge or deflect, not outright block the attack, but Markus had never been the best student from what Sira had seen. He was more fit to be a scribe than a warrior. The spar went on like that for a while, Sato aggressively attacking while Markus did his best to defend. Eventually the instructor called an end to the match and called up the next pair of students. Two more pairs went before it was finally Sira's turn, and when the instructor called her name Sira excitedly stepped up and took her place. "Sira. You will be sparring with Aaron. Ready.. begin!" For a brief instant Sira's heart sunk. Aaron was exactly the person she hadn't wanted to be partnered with. He was the boy who had been mean to her earlier, and Sira really didn't want to face him. The despair passed almost as quickly as it came, however, when Sira reasoned that if she beat him maybe she would prove herself worthy to hang out with the other Yasi. Aaron was a good student, however, a born warrior and rumor had it he was already making progress with the fledglings up in the aeries. Sira lifted her sword in front of her, locking eyes with the Yasi. He was nearly fifteen, he wouldn't be a Yasi much longer, so it made sense why the instructor had paired him with Sira. Though she was only three years old, she had the body of a teenage girl closer to seventeen or eighteen. It did give her a physical advantage over many of her physically younger classmates, though not by much. At the instructors word the fight began, and both Yasi began circling each other slowly. It looked like Aaron wasn't going to take the aggressive approach like many of the other boys would have. There was something in his eyes however that had Sira on edge, a mischievous, almost malicious look to them. Sira's body was tense. Would this boy actually try to hurt her, right there in front of the instructor? Sira had suffered the abuse of her fellow Yasi before, but it was always away from the prying eyes of adults. That look in his eyes, however, had Sira worried. "Kick her ass, Aaron!" At the prompting of his classmate Aaron attacked, his right leg sliding forward while he tried to thrust his blade in under Sira's guard. Sira's keen eyes could see the flexing of muscles in his arms as he pushed the sword toward her. He wasn't pulling his attack, it was real! Aaron wasn't sparring. Wide eyed, Sira shuffled her feet and backed away as she swung her talon sword down and across, deflecting Aaron's attack to his right side. The instructor apparently also recognized the attack for what it was and shouted a warning at the boy, but Aaron either did not hear the man or ignored him completely. The deflection hardly phased him, and the soon to be Yasi no more whipped his weapon back around and sliced it toward Sira's neck. Still wide eyed from shock that he actually seemed to be trying to kill her, it was all Sira could do to bring her weapon up vertically in front of her and stopping Aaron's sword before it reached her neck. She grunted as her arms absorbed the force of the blow, and then Sira shoved the blade away from her. Aaron did not relent, and unleashed a series of aggressive attacks all aimed for vital spots on her her body. Sira blocked them as best she could, though she was bleeding with a few minor cuts and scratches before the instructor finally intervened. A third weapon entered the picture, and as Aaron's blade veered toward Sira's neck ready to deliver a fatal blow if she failed to stop it, the instructors sword came in and knocked the Yasi's sword aside. Taking Sira's place, they were both surprised when Aaron roared with fury and tried to attack the Avora. The man was an experienced swordsman, an expert in his field, and easily blocked the attack before pinning the tip of his blade to Aaron's throat. "That is quite enough, Yasi Aaron. Class is dismissed! You two come with me."

[Sira]

The chewing out that Sira and Aaron received was enough to terrify any young Yasi into never misbehaving again, or at least it should have been. Class had been dismissed, but several of Aaron's friends waited around for him to be released. When finally he and Sira were let go, he was immediately met with praise from his peers while Sira simply gathered her things and prepared to head down to the baths for a quick wash. "Hey Sira!" Aaron's voice called out to her just before she left the room and Sira froze, a feeling of dread sinking in. What now, the young kelvic thought as she slowly turned to face her former opponent. Sira was shocked when she found a hand outstretched to meet hers, and she tentatively took it in hers. Aaron gave her a firm shake, a smile on his lips. "That was a good match. Sorry if I got a little carried away, but I knew you could take it. So we were wondering, would you like to hang out with us. We're going down to the Shivias for a swim, wanna come?" A million bells went off in Sira's head but she ignored them all, able to think of only one thing. The Yasi wanted to play with her! Sira should have been skeptical, she shouldn't have trusted Aaron and the other boys, but all Sira wanted was to fit in and she couldn't see past that which was her deepest desire. For all her powers of sight, Sira could not see the devious looks in the eyes of all the boys. "Yes, I'd love to come!" Sira could barely contain her excitement as she followed the boys out of the classroom and on to the smaller of the twin lakes. She walked a bit behind them, still feeling shy even though they had invited her along. Every so often one or two of the boys would glance back at her and whisper something which would have them all snickering, but Sira didn't notice. She was just too excited to finally have some friends. As they neared the exit to the inner warrens the boys all broke into a run, clothes flying as they stripped down without stopping and dove into the lake. By the time Sira had caught up they were already splashing and swimming together. One of them called out to Sira, "Come on, Sira. Take off your clothes and get in, the water is great!" Of course the group of teenage Yasi just wanted to see the girl naked, but Sira didn't even think of it that way. It made perfect sense to take off her clothes. She only had the one pair and she didn't want to have to walk around all day in wet clothing after they were done. Sira stripped off her clothing, much to the boys delight, and none of them could take their eyes off of her as she tossed her bryda and vinati aside before joining them in the water. It wasn't until she had almost fully submerged herself and their view was obstructed that the boys stopped staring, and for the next few chimes Sira got to feel what it was like to be a normal Yasi for a change. The teens splashed and played, even including Sira in the fun, and for a time all was well in the kelvic's world. Eventually some of the boys started to complain that it was getting cold, and Sira couldn't disagree. The mountains got cold in the evenings, and the sun was beginning to set. Sira climbed out of the water with the last of the boys and started to search for her clothes. She couldn't find them. After a chime or two all the boys had dressed themselves and Sira still couldn't figure out where she had left her clothes. Finally one of the boys called out her name and when Sira turned in his direction her heart sank. The boy was standing on the edge of the cliff, Sira's clothing held high over his head as they whipped about in the wind like a flag. "If you want these back, you gotta earn them!" The boy flashed Sira a cruel grin and looked to Aaron, who nodded. "You have to... um.. let us all feel your boobs!" Sira didn't know what to say. She wanted her clothes, but she didn't want a bunch of strange boys feeling her up either. All their eyes were upon her, waiting for an answer, but before Sira had a chance to respond the boy shouted again. "And! ..you have to kiss Aaron. On the lips!" Sira's eyes widened and all the boys snickered at one another, waiting for her answer with almost hungry expressions. Her gaze darted back and forth between Aaron and the boy with her clothes, and finally she let out a long sigh and her shoulders slumped. With a downcast gaze she muttered, "Okay.. you can feel them and.. and I'll kiss Aaron." A cheer was let out by all the boys and before she knew it Sira was surrounded by groping, squeezing, pinching hands fondling her breasts as well as other places. Though the deal had been chest only, many daring hands reached for other places and even more so when they realized Sira wasn't going to fight them. She knew that to do so would mean to lose her clothes forever, and so she let the boys have their way with her as they explored the naked female body before them with curious and violating hands. Most of them had only seen naked women in the baths, and it was unlikely any had ever gotten to touch one. Finally Aaron's turn came, and the other boys stepped aside to allow their leader through. His hands went straight for her boobs, a vile grin on his face as he brought a wince to Sira's with his firm squeeze. "So, how about that kiss,", he asked, still playing with her breasts. The boy closed his eyes and puckered his lips, and after a bit of hesitation Sira leaned forward and gave him a kiss. It wasn't her first kiss, Sira had been with more than one man already, and she was quite experienced. Though the boy disgusted her for making her do it, Sira couldn't help her habit as she slipped in tongue and rolled it around his mouth. To her surprise the boy's eyes shot open and he shoved her away. "Ahg! That was.. that was disgusting! Why did you do that? I said kiss me, not.. not. Uhg.. so gross! You broke your promise. Throw her clothes away, Ben!" Sira didn't know what to think. She was shocked. The grown men she had slept with all seemed to like it when she did that, why didn't Aaron? She didn't really care about the boy, but the fact that he was so repelled by her kiss wounded her pride. Sira didn't have time to worry about that, however, for when she saw the boy toss her clothes off the cliff she cried out in protest and ran towards him. Shoving Ben out of her way Sira dove off the cliff in pursuit of her clothes, shifting in a flash of smoke and light into the wind eagle she was famous for.

[Sira]

As soon as she shifted Sira sought out her clothes. Her keen eyes quickly spotted her bryda which had gotten stuck to a rock. Sira would come back for that later, for her vinati was failing through the air headed for the river. The leather made it heavy and it fell fast, but Sira could dive much faster. She would have gone for the article of clothing right then, but a movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention. Turning her head to see better, Sira let put a piercing shriek at what she saw. After Sira had shoved him aside, the boy that threw her clothes off the cliff had struggled to keep his balance. Seeing he was about to fall several of the other boys ran to his aid, but they could not reach him in time. Ben teetered precariously on the edge of the cliff for a fraction of a chime, and then he fell. His scream was quickly lost in the roar of the waterfall, and it was no small miracle that he had not crashed into any of rocks as he fell. All of these events occurred over the span of a few ticks of the clock, mere seconds but to the boy and to Sira who spotted him it seemed like an eternity. Sira twisted in the air, her wings straining as she turned almost completely upside down. Sira let out another screech as her talons shot out for the boy, missing as they clamped shut on empty air, but Sira desperately reached again and managed to catch the boy's sleeve. She yanked him toward her and grabbed him more wholly. Sira felt the crunch of one or two of his ribs break as her talons clamped down, but a few broken ribs would be better than death. ..assuming Sira could stop herself from also crashing into the rocks and water below. Sira twisted and flipped her body right side up once more, her wings and tail feathers spreading to try to slow her descent. It was futile, and all Sira could really do was alter the course of her fall so that she landed in water and not on the rocks. The boy in her grasp screamed in terror and Sira let out a shriek of her own as they splashed into the cold running water of the river. The wind eagle tried to hold on to the boy, she tried to right herself and get out of the water, but that close to the falls the water was just moving too rapidly and Sira couldn't manage as a bird. She shifted back to human form, the water rushing in around her as it suddenly had to fill the space that her eagle form had formerly displaced. Sira fought her way to the surface, grunting in pain as she bounced off a large boulder. Up ahead she spotted the bright red of the boys hair bobbing around a few yards away. It took all of her strength to swim to the boy, and even more to drag him ashore. When they were both finally on dry land, and quite a distance down river, Sira fell to her hands and knees, coughing and panting with exhaustion. The boy beside her wasn't moving, and suddenly Sira realized he wasn't breathing either. "Oh no, no, no, no ,no, don't drown! Oh gods.. okay Sira. Calm down, remember what they taught you in first aid. He needs mouth to mouth!" Sira wasn't always the most studious of Yasi, but she had realized the importance of first aid when her instructors went over it. Not that she had ever actually done it before, but she at least had an idea of what to do. Pinching the boys nose and forcing his mouth open, Sira pressed her lips to his. It was nothing like the kiss she had given Aaron, this was a life or death moment. Sira pushed her breath into the boy's lungs, his chest rising slightly as she did so. Nothing happened and she did it again, repeating three or four more times before she stopped and turned her head sideways, listening for any signs of breathing. "No, no, this isn't good. Not good at all." Sira heard nothing, and her keen eyes could detect no movement in the boy's chest. Desperately she tried to breath into him again. Somebody help!! It was rare in those days that Sira used her psychic voice, but in that instance she had no other choice. Sira called out desperately to the skies as she tried to revive the boy, hoping that a rider or his eagle would pick up her call and come to her aid. Sira tried to pump the boy's chest, she tried to breath, but he just wouldn't wake up. "Come on, come on, wake up!" Sira didn't know if it was her cry to the heavens or the boys who had seen the fall that brought her aid, but when the shadow of an eagle passed overhead and she looked up see an Endal and his mount coming in for a landing Sira began to weep tears of hope a relief. The endal jumped out of the saddle and ran to the Yasi before his eagle even fully touched down, dropping to the ground next to them and quickly taking control. "How long has he been out!?" "Um.. um.. I don't know. A chime, maybe two," Sira scrambled to answer as the endal began to give proper mouth to mouth resuscitation. Sira watched in tense silence as the man tried and tried, and when Ben suddenly began to cough Sira let out a joyous yelp and a whole new set of tears began to pour from her eyes. "Here, help me strap him to the saddle, we need to get him to the infirmary as quickly as possible. You can ride behind me, he'll be strapped to my lap. And where are your clothes? What were you two thinking swimming so close to the fall!?" "We uh.. I mean.. um. I don't know where my clothes are. We weren't swimming, he fell from the cliffs and I tried to save him. And.. and I don't need to ride with you. I can follow. My.. my name is Sira, the wind eagle kelvic."

[Sira]

The endal blinked in surprise when Sira told him who she was, his jaw dropping slightly. Of course he had heard of her, there wasn't an endal in Wind Reach who hadn't at least heard rumors of Sira's existence, and any of the eagles could easily confirm she was real. Sira was barely three years old, but she was already famous throughout the mountain. She was either despised or envied by all. But that was neither then nor there, and the endal quickly regained his composure, giving Sira a curt nod. "Right then. I'll lead, you follow. We need to get you checked out also." After Ben was strapped in the endal mounted up. He couldn't resist the urge to glance back and watch as, in a whirl of glittering smoke, where once there had been a teenage girl was suddenly a beautiful, young, golden-feathered wind eagle. Shaking his head in amazement, the endal faced back to the front and with a thought to his mount they took off into the sky. Sira was quick to follow and took up a position to the right and slightly behind the other eagle. As much as she relished the chance to fly with another of the massive raptors, Sira could not even begin to enjoy the moment. She couldn't get her mind off the sight of the boy, lying there lifeless as Sira desperately tried to revive him. She couldn't forget the desperation, and the utter terror that she felt in thinking the boy was gone forever. She couldn't bear it. Sira wanted to be an endal, and yet it was her fault the boy had fallen. She should have just let it alone, let the boy throw her clothes away. She could have gotten a new pair, but still she went for them and now a fellow Yasi was at risk. When they reached the city the rider quickly dismounted and Sira shifted back, helping him unload the boy and carry him to the infirmary. It was a testament to her perseverance that Sira held it together for that long, because as soon as they arrived and the healers rushed over to take the boy off their hands Sira broke down and started crying. The healers took Ben into another room, leaving Sira and the endal in the waiting room. Sira crumpled down against the wall, pulling her knees to her chest as she wept and shivered, still cold from the river. The endal placed his kantinu over her before taking a seat on the bench next to her. Sira could hear the shouts of the doctors through the door. "He's going into shock! The cold of the flight and the river must have been too much!" "Doctor! I feel broken ribs! And his shoulder is dislocated!" Sira cried and cried as she listened to it all. It was all her fault, all of it. Why had she been so stupid? Why had she shoved him? She could have just gone around.. "What!? Are you serious? What the petch!? Aidara, how many time have I told you to stop sneaking in on the medicine carts? Get out of here!" "But I can help!" "OUT!!" A few seconds later the door opened and Sira glanced up, her jaw dropping at what she saw. Exiting the operating room was the single most beautiful creature she had ever seen. A young Addy walked into the waiting room, sighing and muttering in frustration before she noticed Sira on the floor and the endal. "Goddess, what happened to you?" Addy ran to Sira's side, kneeling next to her and examining her wounds. Sira, for her part, was speechless. Something inside her, something she had sought to repress her entire life, called out to her when she looked upon this mystery girl, this Aidara. She wanted this woman, and wanted to be wanted by her in return. The feeling terrified Sira. "She got banged up saving that boy, but I think she'll be fine. Just a little shaken up, I think," the endal answered. "You saved that boy? That's amazing! Here, let me help you." Sira wasn't entirely sure what happened next. The girl laid her hand upon Sira's bruises and the next thing she knew the pain started to go away, replaced by a warm, pleasant feeling. Sira had never felt anything like it before, but before she could thank the mysterious teenage miracle worker they were interrupted by an angry shout. "Aidara, I thought I told you to get out of here! Leave her alone, she's been through enough!" "Gotta go," Addy said with a wink to the young patient before she darted out of the infirmary. Sira stared after her, still speechless, but she soon forgot about the mysterious beauty when the doctor invited them in to see the boy. He was breathing heavily, and wrapped in bandages, but he would live to see another day. Sira nearly collapsed in relief, and would have were it not for the quick reaction of the endal who caught her. The boy would live.. Ben would live. Sira turned smothered her face in the endals chest, tears of relief pouring from her eyes. It was over. Her horrible day was finally over. Fun Fact for Those who don't KnowWhen Sira and Addy first met, she was terrified of the feelings she felt. The kelvic in her wanted to bond the moment they met, but Sira had always resisted that urge for fear of what it meant.

[Halcyon]

Sira

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Talon Sword	5
Observation	4
Socialization	3
Sparring	4
Swimming	4
Flying	5
Kissing	2

Lores

• The Dull Classroom
• The Vantha
• The Talon Sword
• Talon Sword Maneuvers (Basic)
• Being Bullied
• Freak
• Sparring the Bully
• Maybe they’re not jerks afterall!
• Trip to the Shivias
• Kidding. They’re definitely jerks.
• Blackmailed into sexual favors.
• Saving one of the Jerks.
• Administering First Aid.
• Mouth to Mouth.
• THE Wind Eagle Kelvic.
• Young Aidara.
• Miracle Worker.
• What is this feeling?

And another lovely thread by Sira. I love it, really. When I first began reading, I expected it to be a short training solo, but it quickly manifested into something more complex. Very interesting how that sudden twist took place, and I'm so glad I got to grade it! Sira is such a deep, fascinating PC. (: Keep 'em coming. I can't wait to keep reading!