Closed Hit me with your best shot. ( Zandelia )

[Ximal]

Rolling his shoulders Xi stepped backl over to zand. A small laugh erupting from her, Xi just smiled back and let his eyes follow her movements , he wasn't going to lie and say he didn't enjoy what he was seeing. Watching the slow twirl she pulled off and seeing pretty much everything, before he felt himself gawking he coughed and pulled his attention back to the task at hand. Her words though were quick though and very easily following what she was doing. Xi couldn't help but smirk, as he replied. "Well, if i revel said tender target i dont think you'd really miss spotting it. And you'd like me to stop looking, jsut be an easy way for you to hit me in the head." A jokeing smile with a small laugh. Being honest zand was more like a guy than she was a girl, even if her form dictated otherwise. Stepping up to the plate he was serious about not holding back this time and snapped out his arm art full speed and strength not to show off but to show the difference. Though her next words were somewhat more mellow over the conversation. Xi cocked an eyebrow over the words " satisfied over anything." Then he noticed her eye's roving over him again glancing for any weaknesses she could hammer at. Xi simply replied. "Perhaps it's not me that should stop looking." Xi smiled lightly and took a slow deep breath helping him to calm and focus his mind as he then started to filter out and allow djed to permeate through his musculature. Focusing it into his biceps and triceps but he would only activate it for speed, and only if the situation called for it. "Well i'll make you a deal then, regardless of who wins after we'll head to grath's and i'll buy ya a drink, then well see if we don't get to know each other a little better. And before you go there, no i don't mean behind closed doors. I mean a proper chat, that is if you wouldn't mind. " An honest and open smile on his face. Fighting brought out both the best And the worst in him, it just so happened that today was a day he was at his best. A slow breath edged it's way out of him at her next words, a final bout, his skill without weapons against her skill with weapons. Xi now changed his style completely, from his prior stance sh switched, much lower, tighter, one arm by his right hand side the back of his hand facing the ground, his left arm in front of him like a solid iron bracer, his vambrace acting like a focal shield. lowering his body he bent his legs shifting his right leg back and focusing more weight into that one whilst bending his knees to brign his height lower and more level with zand's own. More than likely she'll try her tricks again. Then she spoke, speaking about ana being here agian but no this time he wasn't going to turn his head instead he took a half step backwards, and then saw what she was plannign a puff of dust flew up into the air, not quite into Xi's face but damn close cloe enough to marr his view but not close enough to blind him. Xi then saw spinning, her tonfa were spinning very quickly amidst the debris, and Xi awaited her closing but instead of blocking just one he motioned his arm to over head and felt not one but two tonfa crash into it. Though what he didn't expect wa the boot to his abdomen. However that offered him a good opportunity, with his well grounded footing and much lower centre of mass. Xi motioned his right hand to grip her foot at the ankle and then pull her forwards. but top his right hand side as he lowered his left arm towards her stomach in an attempt to knock her off balance and into the earth. If this worked he'd be amazed. But if she moved her foot before he could grab it he would instead turn his body in, right shoulder loser before snapping his arm out into her abdomen the same as she had done to him. and then bring his left arm down onto her right arm hoping to hit it in the bicep before she covered it with her tonfa again. Zand was very good Xi had to admit that and would admit it freely.

[Zandelia]

The style of combat that they both tended towards was rapid, quick enough that you could go from victory towards defeat in the blink of an eye – she knew Ximal well enough now to know that he was capable of such a feat. As she flowed forwards she noted with some satisfaction that her small amount of trickery had hit its mark, at least partially. Her tonfa though were blocked quite artfully by a mere single forearm, meaty and tough. She felt the impact vibrate down her own arm and could only imagine what her opponent must have been feeling – she had not hit too hard but hard enough to cause a wince or two. Then Ximal seemed to try and take a leaf out of her own book, his fingers grasping at her ankle after her kick hit its mark. She pulled it back, feeling his fingers slip through the leather of her boot, and brought it back to the floor to create a firm footing.

Well well, he learns quickly it seems was all she had time to think before his fist caught her in the abdomen.

She had noticed it at the last minute and so had managed to crumple her body just enough to absorb some of the blow, yet still it hit like a hammer and caused a hiss of expelled air to pass her gritted teeth against her own volition. The attacks were not over though, his other hand lashing out in an attempt to cripple her arm, a wise move considering her advantage was her mobility of two weapons at once. This attack, though, she saw early enough to react against. She moved her arm upwards, letting her tonfa shift upwards and spin down vertically to smash into the crook of the lunging arm’s elbow – enough to cause the attack to buckle but cause no real injury. She snarled and twisted her body further, her left arm pushing the hand at her torso to the side.

She was inside his guard now, though visibly shaken and breathing hard. She had to buy time and she knew it, time enough to retreat slightly and recover.

“Hello chin!” she growled at him as her head snapped forwards, her neck straining with the violent movement, a desperate move that she knew would injure then both but buy her the time she needed.

He snapped her eye shut at the last moment, the ridge of her brow smashing into Ximal’s chin, her head following through into his throat before the pain became too much that she was forced tore coil – sparks shattering her half-vision as her teeth bit into her lip to draw blood, the iron tang flooding her mouth. She knew he would recover quicker, his bones felt like a bloody rampart, so she put her last strength into a double kick as they both reeled away, her feet leaving the ground and lashing out to push the man back and away from her. She hit the ground hard, her spine seeming to snap as she tried to roll away and find her feet again.

She still held her tonfa but that was no consolation to her as she pushed herself up off of the floor and shook her vision into a semblance of correction. She crouched there, her gaze flickering around until she saw Ximal, fully expecting him to attack her with force.

[Ximal]

He knew it wouldn't be that easy. and damn it his arm was wringing now. even though laced with steel to block out most of the blow he could feel the shock reverberating in his shoulder, and boy wasn't that fun. A sharp breath and he'd seen both of his moves towards her torso fail after his attempted grabbing of her leg. Well damn it at least she knew how to counter her own tactics. Xi smiled lightly but kept his mouth shut. He'd missed her foot by a hairs breadth. But His first strike to her stomach sank deeply into her and Xi focused fire on following it up. Xi had twisted his body around lightly so as to offer the best possible impact on her right weapon arm. Though she countered it by snapping the tonfa out at his left elbow, nullifying the blow and sending a charge of pain through it causing him to retreat his left arm. Her way of countering his right arm was in typical zand form by closing the gap with almost instantaneous speed and bushing past his right arm. If only he was a little fast just a smidgeon. He'd closed his form considerably but it was still more than enough of an opening for her to squeeze into and hold her self within his area of attack, right now he was wide open and could not get an attack on her in this position. I really really have to learn a thing or two from her here. Well played zand Very well played. Her next move though was not what he'd expected, he'd thought she would go for his liver or even his diaphragm...no instead she growled out the words hello chin. and smashed her for head into his chin. In that instant he felt one of his knees go, and he dropped and he held himself up with an arm bracing him upon his bent leg. He didn't have a glass jaw but he'd be damned if that wasn't effective. Then cam the response for her retreat. A double shot to his chest in the from of a jumping double footed kick. The impact alone knocked him off balance and he found himself with a hand on the ground behind him to help hold himself up. Breathing faster and harder now he could feel the tension mounting and a pool of djed in his arm burning with want to release. Pulling himself back up with grit and determination he stepped into a stumbling roll to a knee infront of her. His arm raised high and then he snapped out his arm, his bicep and tricep releasing the djed trapped inside in them form of pure flux speed, snapping hsi arm out with full force towards her face. His hand stopped just shy of impact though, about a half inch from her face his left hand stopped and held there as he felt the tasted of iron build in his mouth lightly. That chin shot had cut the inside of his mouth lightly and he took a slow deep breath before spitting out a bit of blood to the side. Pulling his mouth into a smile he eased out the words slowly holding his left hand infront of her face. "Looks like it's my win....If only just. I've learnt a lot today...Hiow about we go get that drink now ?" Xi moved his left arm out of the way slightly and offered her his right arm, his palm open to offer her a hand up. If nothing else he'd maintained a friendly state even if his ...everything hurt. A small smile on his face as after helping (or not helping her up) He went to retrieve his equipment. Replacing it methodically as the cold air took the heat away from him like steam. His breathing slow still but much deeper and raggedy than before. That really was close. One more shot and it'd been her win...One more shot...

[Zandelia]

TThe last few moments of their bout lasted but a few chimes in time but a lot longer in experience, Ximal staggering and knocked back to the point where he was almost put to the floor. It had been a last resort move that she had tried, a trick some move designed to teach him as well as attempt to win her the fight. She could feel pride in the fact she had brought the mighty Ximal almost to his knees, something that no one else in the Spires could claim. She knew she had lost when she saw he was not upon the flat of his back but it did not matter to her, it was a mere wrinkle of annoyance in her martial history. She had proven enough to herself and learnt much about his fighting style – enough to perhaps give an edge in the next coming to blows she was sure would occur. She merely stared at him, his fist making her blink but she refused to wince or otherwise react, was too tired to at any rate.

“Well, this time perhaps. It was close, I have to say. Perhaps next time it will be different” she responded to his words, tiredness in her tone, as she accepted his hand to help her to her feet.

From there it was a simple affair to traipse back to her pile of belongings, swinging her tonfa around a little in order to ease her cooling muscles so as to prevent any crap – though crap was the least of her concerns. She spat out blood rather than swallow it as she set about redressing herself. As she did so she could not help but feel the bruises that were scattered about her body, the reminders that serious training bore serious consequences. Her armor went on top of her sodden clothing, for once a blessing as it would reflect her body heat back to dry them quicker than usual. Her robes followed, her gauntlets and all other accoutrements slipped, buckled and tied on over the course of five chimes of time. She pulled her hood up against the cold and turned to face Ximal, fully clothed now.

“Let’s go and get those drinks then, by Dira I know I mean to have many. Anything to dull these bloody aches” was all she said, motioning for him to follow her towards the humble house of Grath’s rest.

It was a short and silent walk, Zandelia reflecting upon the day’s events and Ximal reflecting upon God’s knew what, her tits probably. She had grown in ability in the Spires but Ximal had grown quicker it seemed. He was more dedicated than she was, her own life taken up with many more concerns than his was. She could use that as an armored excuse but she didn’t have the heart to lie to herself – or strip Ximal of his achievements. No, she had merely not been rigorous enough, disciplined enough. She would change that, she vowed that to herself as strongly as she could vow to anything. It seemed a small portion of time but they found themselves entering Grath’s Rest and feeling a wave of noise and joviality wash across them as the sea on the rocks.

“You get the drinks Ximal, I need to sit down before I fall down” she told him, passing him a few coins to make the purchases.

With that she eased herself into a padded, comfortable seat and tried to ignore the throbbing of her body.

[Ximal]

The whole event had ended rather abruptly but then again most bouts did regardless of who fought them, often even the best could be brought down by not catching a simple move. Even putting his equipment back on was an issue, there hadn't been many people he'd seen or fought in the spires who'd given him this level of issue. Xi smiled, at least he'd fought a spar with her to failing a slight win which he didn't class it as. No he'd fought her to a draw. And that was good enough for him, he didn't want prestige, nor did he want glory no all he wanted was acknowledgement. A small smile appeared upon his face. He'd known now that he might have brought her to a draw but she'd had vastly more experience and he'd stuck to a moral code. She;d cheated left right and centre but he'd fought her to a draw without resorting to targeting a weak spot. To him if nothing else that was good, even if he'd lost he may have felt a little upset that his training wasn't to the same fruition however he'd know that it was her experience more than anything else that had won her the bout. The walk towards graths was silent, slow but it gave Xi time to think, mostly about how sore his muscles were. Mostly though Xi was thinking about how to make himself faster, he was as zand often jokingly mentioned " a lumbering ox" It was true he wasn't the fastest but he could take blow well and could dish them out with punishing power. He really also couldn't rely on his flux to boost his speed as that wore him out more than anything. Lifting his arm slowly he looked down at the one weapon he'd relied on more than anything the things that had saved his life more than he'd care to admit. And closed it, untill his knuckles rang white. The incursion into graths was met with the traditional fair until he walked in then there was a slight cut of the speech, it's been this way for a long while He sucked down a short breath and nodded at zands request. But instead of taking her money he handed it back to her before saying. "I believe i said i'd get it, don't worry i've got enough money to cover it. you just ease the sores, hehe and sorry about those. They should be better pretty quickly." Xi headed up to the bar and grabbed a pitcher of the sweet alcohol he'd grown a taste for, his sweet tooth he'd discovered was absurd. And shockingly strong, still the alcohol was pretty cheap and that Xi liked. Xi handed the money over for two pitchers worth but only brought over one and two mugs. Placing it on the table Xi placed another mug infront of zand before plopping down opposite and offering a hand towards the pitcher for ehr to take the first draw. Xi then grinned lightly before saying. "I think we'll call that a draw. After all both of us were running on empty. The pain should be fully gone within a week, and i apologize for hitting that hard." Xi then lowered his head lightly and looked towards the table and reached his hands up and back pulling the hair out of his face and then held it away for a few seconds. "Well zand this is a rare instance where i get you alone and get to have a quiet chat. "

[Zandelia]

Zandelia merely shrugged at the giant brute as he placed her coins upon the table with his affirmation that he would purchase them, it did not matter who bought the drinks just so long as they were delightfully drinkable – they always were too. In reality she had not expected to be able to buy them, but she had learnt over the years that one of the best ways to ingratiate yourself to someone, or manipulate them, was to offer what she liked to call ‘false charity’. Honorable people never figured it out as they usually assumed she held the same morals as they did. She offered to buy and that made her seem generous. Whether she ended up buying them or not was irrelevant – they would remember the gesture going forwards.

Building the need for reciprocation, one tiny little gesture at a time she mused to herself as she decided to take Ximal’s advice and massaged the various portions of her body with a barely concealed wince as her fingers probed and eased.

She gazed about Grath’s Rest and noted that a few of those who gave her information – willingly or by purchase – were in attendance also. She nodded to herself, satisfied that at least one of them would ferret out something of import for her to follow up on. She filed away their faces for future consideration and awaited Ximal’s return. He came quickly, placing a pitcher and two carved wooden mugs upon the table. Tiredly she sat up properly and poured herself a potion before pouring for Ximal also – another small gesture for ‘nothing’. The chairs, or course, were carved out of the tree they sat in so she was unable to move it closer to the table, as such she took advantage and leant back, resting her crossed ankles upon the table’s edge.

“A draw is not what it was, but as you wish. I have grown slower over the season, pinned down in the Spires now that everything has been lost in the Crimson Edge. I need new purpose and training is something, at least” she responded to his comments upon the ‘draw’.

She was not quite sure if he was mocking her or not but she could see no deception in his features, leading her to believe he was being sincere. In a way it was touching, in another it was strangely crude. His mannerisms were not that of the Sunberthian. No, he had changed after he had left, becoming more of what he had been before perhaps. She knew little about him but enough to know that his own personal code would rank highly – as a slave it was almost all one possessed. She knew that all too well, except she had not had the luxury of a code, not until the halls of the manse had run red with blood. She sipped her drink and found it to be sweetly numbing to the palette. She sipped for a few chimes in silence, allowing the man the luxury he had just applauded himself upon.

“The pain will dissipate when I have drunk enough, as for tomorrow we will see what it brings. Necatr’s Delight, you have good taste, in drink at least” she responded lightly, almost as an after-thought.

“As for getting me alone, well it would have been easy enough had you spent less time training and more time connecting with people. Some might say that you are actively avoiding others my dear Ximal, whisperings of the sort abound I’m afraid. I’m starting to think there is something about the Spires you don’t like” she finished, the un-asked question hanging in the air, mixed artfully with the words in a way that folded them casually into the conversation.

Let us see if we can get some blood out of this stone she mused to herself as she watched him carefully over the rim of her mug.

[Ximal]

leant over the table, his massive frame filling out the chairs here with ease most of the time. And gave her a nodding smile as she poured him a mug full too. Xi knocked down a good swallow, indulging his sweet tooth, which he'd recently discovered since entering the spires. Zand get "comfortable" by putting her feet up on the table and xi just hunched over the edge his finger tips rubbing the bridge of his nose lightly. The way she was speaking was some what of a returned argument. she'd grown slower? Xi shook his head slowly and gave her a look of both confusion and surprise. though her next words were strong, she'd lost a bit of purpose. That was probably less true than she was letting on. "Zand, if you've gotten slower, then i really would have lost. Which is why i call that a draw. When it comes down too it i'm not exactly the most well versed fighter. And if i'm being honest, you probably would have won that if you hadn't gone for the head butt to the chin and had instead gone for the liver or beneath the chest bones. Either of those and you'd of won that with ease." Xi smiled his usual honesty there, if nothing else he was at least sincere. Xi kept himself hunched over the table and gave his chin a light rub. The effects had cleared but the pain was still there. Pain cleared with alcohol that was true but that was only a temporary release, Xi sighed and swallowed another deep swig. Though a smirk appeared after the comment on good taste in drink. After the swill in sunberth ANYTHING was better. Xi smirked again a kept hunched over the table. Though her next words were half stinging but wholly true the simplicity in them was evident. He did spend a lot of time training but that was out of forced habit. Xi sighed before speaking to zand. "Your right there, i do train a little bit much but then again, its the only thing i've ever known. Most people from my type of background don't exactly fit well with the rest of the world after that. It's not the best answer but it's the only one i can give. Having said that, how many people truly know about your past zand ? Strong people had harsh backgrounds. You know about mine...I don't know about yours?" Xi shifted in his chair lightly some thing about this as always felt uncomfortable, he wasn't really one to talk much he preferred to fix things with his hands, it was just more his way. Taking another long swallow he finished the rest of his cup. The alcohol in the spires as a lot less potent but a lot sweeter, which often meant it was a lot easier to consume vast amounts quickly.

[Zandelia]

Zandelia did not answer him immediately, bringing her cup back up to her mouth and disguising her reticence with another few sips of sweetened alcohol. She considered the man before her, his ideals and his assumptions about her own knowledge. It amused her how people naturally assumed she knew something about everything and everyone. His words were only half correct in truth, she knew a considerable amount about Ximal after he had made his destructive debut upon the streets of Sunberth. What had come before she had gleaned small pieces of information but nothing more than logical extrapolations beyond that. Tilting her head slightly to her right she could not help but smile over the rim of her beverage – it seemed she had garnered a reputation without actually intending to.

I wonder what could be shaped if I actually tried for once? she mused to herself as she closed her eye and leant her head back into the hard wood at her back.

She allowed her mind to still as much as possible, concentrating upon the vital forces inside her body, feeling them ebb and flow in their natural and un-concentrated form. She began to manipulate her Djed, easing it down new pathways rather than force it, redirecting the natural flows towards a singular destination – her vision. Letting it pool around her single working eye, feeling it gently infuse the organ until she felt the frisson of changed perspective overcome her. She opened her eyelid then and the world was full of color. She concentrated it, narrowing her vision from a simple assimilation of the world around her and honed her perception like a beam of light until it encompassed only Ximal and his aura.

“I know much, perhaps, but there are limits to my own knowledge Ximal,” she told him as she assessed his aura for any subtle changes beyond the generally fading and coalescing of the vibrant and the dulled, “why should I tell you of myself when my story is of little interest? Yours is by far the more interesting” she continued as she noticed a hazy yellow begin to infuse his aura like the gathering of dust clouds in sunlight.

I wonder if that means he is worried? Preparing a deflection perhaps? Uncomfortable or comfortable? Let’s push and see if her responds she told herself as she kept her gaze focused upon the beyond.

“You were a slave, that much I know, from both the whispering on the wind and personal deduction. You fight so that you don’t have to relive those times, do you not?” she asked him, assumption seeking to become ratified into fact, “you are stronger than me and so your background must be the worse for it. I tried to find out you know, there is no point denying that, but your life begins in Sunberth apparently – fully formed and vibrantly aggressive” she did not allow him much time to push her questions away.

“Truly a miracle, but one such as I knows better. Who died Ximal? It must be something terrible like a murder or two to make you so withdrawn after all. Either that or you are like many who are numbed with pain and suffering, you bury it until it is forgotten?” she tried to pinpoint exactly what it was that was making his aura shift and change through a multitude of shaded color with soft, lulling tones of persuasion.

“Tell me Ximal, I truly wish to know. I shall give you a bargain hmm? You tell me something about you and I will tell you something about me. You could ask anything you like. Knowledge should never be freely given, it is far too malleable to be dolled out without thoughtful consideration” she finished.

If he was a smart man he would realize she was being evasive to his question – though he would not know she was doing it out of practicality perhaps. He knew nothing of her magic or her hidden abilities, he only had assumptions. She liked playing games with people, they were always so revealing if you just knew what words to say and which levers to pull.

[Ximal]

The long still moment sat and hung in the air between him finishing speaking and anything else happening between them Xi leant over the table and motioned his finger rips over his temples. He was not in the best of places he could feel liro coiling within his mind readying himself to strike when Xi's mind let go of any form of restraint. Then came zand's voice. Limits to her own knowledge, that was obvious everyone had their own limits everyone had their own point where they knew nothing more...His own limits were almost choking in tightness. Xi lent over the table and began to roll thoughts around his head but listened to zand as she spoke. Little interest? His more interesting. Hardly, he knew his past it was bleak, uninteresting and above all...Something no person should ever have to live through. Xi took a deep breath, and rolled the thoughts of lament about his past over and around in his head. As she continued it became amazingly abundant as to how much about him she knew. And how little. "i would say that you knew a lot but instead you don't know as much. I don't fight so that i have to not go back to what i've lived through...I do it so others don't have to live through it." She said he was stronger than her though this he really didn't know, was he stronger than her ? Or was she stronger than him, after all she'd kept her composure when others had cracked under the same forces. Xi took another deep slow breath whilst he re filled his mug, formulating his reply to zand. It was true there was nothing he knew about himself that others didn't. At least for a large portion of his life. "That much is true...There isnt much i know that everyone else doesn't...Well everyone with a stable head on theri shoulders and an inquisitive nature. But everything i remember stems from the time i was in sunberth. From as far back as i can remember till the spring of this year..." Xi let the thoughts swirl around his head whilst he lifted the cup and took long deep swallows of the sweet liquor. Xi recognized the "light tones" in her voice, a stark contrast to her normal ones. Normally she shot out her words like any other with a sense of self importance. Only when she wanted something or was attempting to draw some attention away did her tone change. Her words toned out and thrummed out a string of events in his head which brought forth both an overwhelming anger...and a deep long riding string of regret. " A murder or two...If only it was that simple...pain and suffering? That's something that you don't bury you carry it and shoulder it with you no matter where you go....Until you learn to fear the very thing that you crave the most...The thing i want most i've killed for more times than i'd care to mention...And i'm still searching for it. " It was clear that she knew more about him than he ever said. Whether by deduction or by bribery or threatening. She knew...Though she was willing to barter with him for the information? He could ask anything he wanted if she could do the same, information was the currency of the smart...All Xi knew was that force was the currency of the brave. And that it was also the currency of the coward...Thing is there was only so much she could deduce after al there was a few things that even he wouldn't tell her. "I'm afraid zand you have me at a disadvantage. There isn't much about me that you haven't already deduced though your own knowings and nimble little mice. Truth is that i can't bater for any information. In fact everything you've just said even if i was to deny it'd only me me lying to myself. So i'm afraid there isn't much for me to ask for in return... Xi rested his head on his knuckles and drank down another large swig of his liquor... Before speaking out his signature four words, at the end of his next sentence. "There is a simple truth to this world that all knowledge points too though, no man is free."

[Zandelia]

Zandelia could not help but feel the warmth of triumph as the conversation began to turn more into what she wanted it to be - a mild investigative interrogation. She liked to know who she spent her time with, to ferret out as much of what they did not want her to know as she could. She had heard of the saying ‘what you don’t know can’t hurt you’ and considered it a pretty saying. In reality, however, it was often what one did not know that led to their downfall. She would not be caught out by such a lack of forewarning if she could help it. She watched the giant opposite her as he spoke, looked beyond him and into his aura as the sound of his words floated through her ears. It was something she was still trying to get used to, could not keep up for long, and so she had chosen a quick approach.

I need to get as much information as quickly as possible, but look at those hues! He’s feeling several things at once, so quickly it’s as if he’s several people packed into one body! Yellow…the yellow means sorrow. I think. Red is anger, that’s easy enough. And he has the crackle of gold that denotes the truth – at least some of it she told herself, trying to relate when the colors had appeared to the conversation.

She mused upon that, letting her mind shift back through the words he had said as she recalled the sequence of colors. He had been angry when speaking of murders, which meant he knew what she meant, if not in the way that she understood it. The sorrow, that was when she was speculating upon his past – or lack of it. His words proved that he felt sadness over it, a usable emotion indeed. A purple shifted into his aura as he spoke the last words, or she assumed it was bitterness based upon what he had said. She sighed and let her Djed dissipate and flow back into her – her energy reserves far more diminished than normal. She did not want to risk overgiving, she could not handle that embarrassment today.

“So others do not have to live through it? Life is conflict dear Ximal, there is no avoiding it. You train well enough to withstand it but that does not mean you should act as a shield for every bastard in the world” she cautioned him gently, taking a larger gulp to finish her cup of alcohol before refilling it and sipping a few more times. She would need the restorative effects as she could feel the chill of exhaustion creeping into her limbs after her auristic dabbling.

“Not knowing one’s past can be a blessing, after a fashion. Some things are best not remembered if you want my opinion, which I doubt” she told him, her gaze shifting to her right in slight discomfort.

Oh how I wish I could forget some of the things I have been through she told herself as she bit the inside of her lip in thought.

“Killing has little point if there is no focus to it either, and it often brings unwanted attention. I fear for you Ximal if you truly feel the way you speak. I’d like to think it is an act but I suspect it is not entirely so,” she continued, seeking to persuade out the smaller details that were often so important, “I have survived because I try not to leave dozens of bodies in my wake. Or by choosing targets that will never be missed enough for vengeance” she told him, her gaze pinning his again and attempting to read the depths of his azure blue eyes.

She could not help but laugh as she considered his last point, though it was partially calculated to see if she could goad the subtext of his thought from the tip of his tongue. He was an interesting specimen of fractious existence, that much she was sure of. She had gained a few answers in their exchange so far – enough to begin slotting piece of him into place in her mind from her own garnered information. He was a self-styled warrior who claimed to fight for the common good, but ultimately sought personal gratification like most other humans. He remembered nothing of his past he stated but she thought that to be a lie. He could remember if he chose, he just chose not to – perhaps it was too painful to recall without self-destruction. He had been a slave and that was reason enough she supposed, though there was probably more to the tale. He was reserved to the point where he secluded himself and she had never heard tell of him opening a woman’s legs, or a man’s for that matter.

An interesting specimen indeed. Lets us see if there is another layer beneath the surface she reaffirmed to herself.

“Very well then, I am not averse to revealing some of my secrets in exchange for truthful answers from yourself. A new bargain would be that you ask me about my past and I ask you about…you” she smiled at him disarmingly, wondering if he was being intentionally evasive. That, in itself, would be worth learning for the future.

“Or, I could get us some pretty young ladies and we could drink and sleep our way into oblivion. You certainly need some release my dear, if what I hear is true enough. Or…would you prefer me to find you a boy?” she asked him, leaning forwards slightly with an eyebrow raised.

“Or…we could exchange tales of our exploits upon anything of our choosing?” she offered with a small shrug before finishing her second cup and filling it once more, draining the pitcher they had dry.

Either way I learn something new and useful. Your move in this social game of stones my dear she smiled at herself internally, teeth large and bared.