Might Be the First Time, But Wont Be the Last (Vala)

[Ronin]

Time Stamp: 80th of Winter 510 AV

Ronin had a lot on his mind, and he needed to cool off. So he did what he usually did to blow off steam, shooting stuff full of arrows. It was nice to clear his mind and just focus on the target. Ronin did his best to keep his mind from wandering off to other things as he collected his gear. His goal was to think about nothing about archery and archery alone, and not about his master. His master's death hadn't come as a surprise necessarily, as he had been sick for weeks beforehand, but it still didn't come easy to Ronin. He was now without a teacher, and if he did not find a new one in the coming weeks he could face the life of a Dek. But that was what he focused on not thinking about, so he cleared his mind and went on his way.

Ronin brought his falcon along for company. It had been trained well enough to sit nearby and let him talk to it without flying off. As Ronin made his way to the archery range, the bird perched on his shoulder. The people he walked past may have thought he was crazy, walking down the halls talking to himself, but in his mind he was talking to the bird, whether it responded or not.

When he reached the archery range he set the bird on a stone ledge and let it perch there for a while.
"Time to see if I'm getting any better at this, isn't it?"
He said somewhat absently to the falcon. He had succeeded. He had pushed all his troubles from his mind and he was having a nice conversation with his bird and shooting at a wooded target.

Ronin took one of the arrows from his quiver and placed it on his bowstring. He pulled back the string and stood silently for a moment. Ronin could be quite accurate if he gave himself plenty of time to line of the shot. However, when he was hunting, he rarely got that opportunity. Letting out a deep breath, Ronin made his final adjustments before releasing the arrow. With a snap the bowstring flew forward, launching the arrow toward the painted wooden circle in front of him. A dull thud resounded from the target as the arrow lodged itself into it, about six inches from the center. Satisfied with his shot, Ronin smiled and reached for another arrow.

"See that? I am getting better."

[Vala]

Vala walked into the indoor archery dinky, but trusty bow Tak. She noticed one other Inarta practicing archery as well – today was a slow day; she especially noticed the black streaks running through his red hair. She thought the distinction was odd but cute. He was talking out loud. Vala thought he was crazy until she realized he was actually talking to the falcon perched on the stone ledge next to him. The falcon was beautiful, but after being raised in communal nurseries and having to work hard for her keep, Vala never got to have her own bird, and she had always wished to care for something so regal as a falcon. As she walked over to an empty station, she continued to watch the other archer talking to his falcon. She tried to focus on her own practice after she placed her ten arrows at her feet. She was about four stations away from the other Inarta, he hadn’t acknowledged her yet, and she was too shy at the moment to initiate anything herself. She notched the string with an arrow, raised her light, wooden bow up, pulled the string taut, her fingers by her cheek, nose almost rubbing against the string. Vala closed her eyes; quickly opening them in the next second to spot the target and aim her arrow. She released the air from her lungs, holding her breath, or lack thereof, and loosed the arrow. The arrow hit the target with a resounding, Thwak! She had barely hit he target, but at least the arrow was embedded deep enough as not to be embarrassing. She picked up another arrow and notched it. This arrow was Vala’s favorite arrow, with its special blue green feathers that glimmered in the light, but after years of wear and tear it wasn’t as accurate as it originally was. Though the cheap arrows were never that accurate to begin with. Vala knew it almost always hung right, so she compensated by aiming further to the left. As soon as she had released, Vala realized she had overcompensated. The arrow missed the target by a few centimeters, embedding itself into the hay bale behind the target. Nina grunted in annoyance, letting her focus waver. When the next two arrows also missed their mark, Vala realized she needed to regain control. She turned to look at the other Inarta and his falcon, again. She smiled as she watched his mouth move; she tried to imagine what a grown Inarta would possibly be saying to his falcon. She finished firing the other six arrows in quick succession. Five of them made the target, and one of the five actually hit the bulls-eye, but Vala thought that was just from blind luck. Even without a wind factor in the indoor archery range, Vala was missing quite a bit of her shots. She justified it a little from the shoddy quality and status of the arrows, and she knew that the bow really needed a new string, soon. Vala wished she had spent more time practicing. The other Inarte still had several more arrows in his quiver and it looked like he was going to take a while. Vala knew she was far enough that she could probably retrieve her arrows without getting shot, and he did look like a good shot, but Vala wasn’t going to break protocol if it meant she could get an arrow in her butt, or god forbid, somewhere it could cause read damage. Instead, she decided to occupy herself by checking out the other Inarta’s falcon. She hoped he wasn’t defensive and tell her off for bothering his falcon, but he seemed like a nice guy; and Vala would never admit it, but she thought he was a little cute. She reached into her pocket for traces of breadcrumbs, from the bread she had stuffed in her pocket the day before. The falcon looked at her curiously. She held out her palm with a few specks of crumbs, allowing the bird a few nips. As she was feeding the bird the man said, “See that? I’m getting better.” As per usual, Vala spoke before she thought, and responded reactionary. “We’ll you’re definitely better than me.”

[Ronin]

Ronin readied another arrow and pulled back the string once more. He had barely gotten the bow aimed at the target when Vala spoke. Absolutely startled, Ronin let go of his bowstring, sending the arrow whirling past the target and into the baled hay behind it. He whipped around to see who was standing behind him. His face reflected the bewilderment he felt. Had he been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed the girl walk in? He didn't know, but there she was, feeding his Falcon from her pocket.

"Oh.. Thanks. I see you met my Falcon. I uh.. I didn't.. Didn't realize you were there."

He stammered, trying to hide his embarrassment. She had caught him off guard and he figured he had probably already made a fool of himself. Who talks to things that can't hear? He thought to himself. She probably thinks I'm crazy. that is when he noticed that he was standing there silently, making a fool of himself. He glanced behind him and noticed her arrows strewn across the target and behind it. She was right, she wasn't very good, but he wasn't going to say that. He started speaking as he turned back to look at her.

"We all have out talents.. And you're not that bad yourself. You got a bulls-eye, that is better than any of mine so far."

When he turned back to face her, Ronin realized that the woman who had startled him was quite attractive. He pushed his hair back like he always did when he was nervous. The Inarta were a very physical people, and this didn't exclude Ronin. It wasn't unusual to touch people you were speaking to, and out of habit Ronin place his hand on her arm. He also placed his bow on the ground so he could extend his other hand to shake hers.

"I should introduce myself, I am Ronin. And you are?"

He flashed a wide smile and nodded his head toward her when he introduced himself. Though Ronin had come here to get away from people, her company he did not mind.

[Vala]

He was nice, Vala thought. She saw him look at her target and was flattered by his self depreciating compliment. She blushed a little when he mentioned her accidental bulls-eye. Rarely did Vala appreciate compliments, always wary of the giver's intention, but she had begun to trust in the man. His open nature, and quirky habit of talking to his falcon just made Vala feel more inclined to open up herself. She too talked to inanimate objects, especially when important events in her life, but she had always made sure to whisper or do so in the privacy of her rooms.

She almost liked the guy, almost. She watched n horror, as if time had slowed down to an ominous crawl, as his hand came ever closer. She tried to pull away, to jump back, to duck, to do anything, but she was frozen, entrapped within the prison of her own fear.

His fingers were warm, but they felt like a raging fire against her frozen flesh. His fingers were rough, but they felt like jagged glass against her sensitive skin. His aim was friendly, but from that moment on, Vala hated him with all the passion of her raging soul.

After years of dealing with her irrational fear of touch, Vala had nearly perfected the art of avoiding almost all forms of physical contact. There was the occasional brushing of hands or congratulatory head pat, but she was careful to wear gloves and hats to at least prevent the touch of bare flesh. Her ability to dodge hugs was legendary. Just yesterday, she had accomplished a near impossible maneuver: after helping a nursemaid cajole an unruly child to behave, by making silly faces, the friendly maid tried to hug Vala. The lady had been so close, that Vala barely dodged the incoming arms by dropping to the ground, pretending to sneeze violently, flustering the nursemaid, until she could get away. Now her mind screamed ‘Idiot’ as she lay powerless under the stranger’s grip: she had let her ‘guard’ down.

He had extended his other hand to her and had also politely introduced himself, but Vala was too far gone to catch his name or other friendly gestures.

As Vala’s mind spun, trying to react, whether violently or defensively, the man continued to smile pleasantly.

[Ronin]

Ronin instantly knew that there was something bothering the her, but he could not figure out what it was. He never would have guessed it was his hand on her arm, since a fear of touch seemed completely irrational, especially in Wind Reach. Ronin's mind raced over what he had been saying to the bird and that what he had said to her to see if he had said something offensive. He remembered nothing of the sort.

"Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?"

He asked out of genuine concern. The girl had just frozen there in front of him, and Ronin had no idea what to do. He could now detect the anger in her eyes, but he couldn't imagine what had caused it. Unable to think of anything else to do, Ronin lift his hand that he had offered her and placed it on her other shoulder. He shook her, just slightly, to try and snap her out of it.

"What is it you want? What are you staring at?"

Ronin was getting frustrated now so he tried to guide her over to a bench so she could sit down and maybe get her wits about her. He had never seen anything like this, she seem frozen to the spot where she stood.

"If you don't answer I'll carry you straight to a doctor, and he'll tell me what is wrong with you."

[Vala]

When the man brought up the word Doctor, Vala broke out of her mute trance: her mind had chosen – violence it was.

Vala couldn’t believe he had the audacity to shaker her, try and move her, and to top it all off, mention that horrid word – Doctor. It was just too much for Vala, her body went numb as she let the blinding rage consume and guide her.

Vala ripped his hand off her, making sure to dig her nails deep into his exposed flesh. With the smell of blood now in the air, Vala grew even more frenzied. She reached out to grab a lock of his black streaked hair, she pulled as hard as she could, tearing out a good sized chunk, accompanied with bits of flesh and blood.

Keeping her fist clenched, holding the hair tight, Vala pounced onto the poor, innocent man who had been at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and began to beat him with her fists. She didn’t seem to be doing much damage with her weak upper body strength so she hopped off him before he could get her and reached out for anything.

She grabbed the man’s falcon, still perched on the stone ledge. In one hand she held the man’s hair, matted with blood, and in the other hand she held the angry, flustered falcon by the feet.

As feathers from the flailing bird filled the air, Vala’s rage dissipated. What was she doing using a bird as a bludgeoning tool, she thought; birds were meant to be loved and cared for; they weren’t cruel, like men. She opened both her fists simultaneously, releasing the hair, which dropped to her feet, and the bird that flew to another perch, far away from the crazy girl.

Vala brought her blood stained hands to her face, her bright blue eyes filling up with tears. The watery glistening of her eyes made them appear wider and more childlike. She pouted, ashamed of her lack of control. “I’m so sorry.” She offered meekly to the man, quite genuinely.

[Ronin]

Ronin did a pretty good job of protecting himself from her punches, but there was nothing he could do to stop her dirtier tactics. The blood from his head ran down into his eyes and when he went to wipe it away with his hand he noticed that it was bleeding as well. Ronin was infuriated, he was seeing red both literally and figuratively. He could hardly believe her actions, and he decided she would pay.

"Shyke! You, petching imbecile. I'm gonna bash your face in, you petching vagik!"

Ronin was not only angry about his own injuries but also what she had done to his bird. By harming that bird and attacking him she had broken enough laws that if Ronin wanted to he could have her arrested. Instead, he want to exact his own revenge first. Lunging toward her he grabbed her by the throat and thrust her against the wall. He lifted her off the ground as we spoke.

"Give me one reason why I should not have you arrested. Or better yet, why shouldn't I just kill you myself?!"

Ronin let her feet touch the ground again and loosened his grip just slightly so she could speak.This was very unlike Ronin, he was usually the calm, reserved, forgiving, kind. But he had done absolutely nothing to deserve this, and he would not stand for her unwarranted brutality. If she didn't like being touched, this probably would have driven her insane. Because, with one hand he held her throat and the other he had on her stomach pushing her back against the wall. His eyes were once again starting to cloud with blood but he didn't care, all it did was fuel his fury.

[Vala]

This was not the first time Vala had been thrust against a wall by an angry man stronger and larger than her, it probably wasn’t going to be the last time either.

Vala learned skills and facts quickly, but she was as dense as a rock when it came to her (many) behavioral issues.

The violent explatives that the man spat out made Vala cringe. She didn’t mind violence at all, but she hated cursing – should found it extremely uncivilized. She put her hands to her ears as he yelled at her, pressing hard with her palms until her head hurt, but she was still unable to block out his spiteful name calling. His booming voice penetrated her mind, seeming to echo around the range. It was surprising no one else heard him and came running. Vala actually began to wish he would hush and just hit her again.

Hurting Dek wasn’t a crime in Wind Reach, but hurting a Chiet and his falcon most definitely was; Vala did not want this to reach the authorities, but she did wish by some divine miracle, for some help. Vala could tell from his scars and fairly athletic build that he wasn’t one to shy away from a fight, even one with a girl. He was also quite obviously trained, he was in an archery range after all. Vala cursed her weak body, petulant temper, and irrational fears for getting her into yet another life threatening scrape – at this rate she would never survive long enough to become a master glassblower, let alone a competent one. At first Vala had been grateful there had been no one to see her idiocy, but now she was growing nervous at the lack of witnesses at the face of the man’s anger. Unfortunately for Vala, it was a fair day. It had been long coming and many of Wind Reach’s citizens were taking advantage of the god sent opportunity and spending most of their time socializing at the Courtyard of the Sky; which left the two strangers alone to their little scrap.

Always losing her breath, Vala wished that sometimes it was from the traditional reason of liking someone, than from being choked: breathlessness from love seemed like it would be less painless and maybe even a little enjoyable. The man was getting hysterical as he throttled her, demanding answers when she obviously couldn’t answer, suspended from her neck. Thankfully he regained some compassion when he loosened his grip enough to let Vala take some desperate gasps of the cool, delicious air. As her feet touched the ground, her legs wobbled dangerously, feeling numb and tingly. Her head throbbed painfully but at least she wasn’t in danger of passing out anymore.

The air was charged with the man’s anger. Heat radiated in forceful waves between the two; a cool sweat dripped down Vala’s pale, blood drained, and almost bluish face. Ronin’s falcon preened calmly at the other end of the room, watching his master take care of the pesky girl that had dared harm him. He even squawked, as if egging Ronin on. Vala didn’t notice the bird as she was busy trying to think of a way to save her ass.

She could feel his invading hands touching her all over. One brutish hand was pressing against her fragile torso, her ribs felt like they were going to crack under the pressure; the other fiendish ‘claw’ was gripped securely around the bare flesh of her neck. The feel of his coarse skin against hers, made her flesh crawl. No longer did she want to rip his face off, but rather, she wanted to rip her own ‘contaminated’ flesh off.

She needed to distract him, to make him let her go so she could get away, maybe hide away with Fois or Kirna and get the blasted feeling of another's flesh touching her flesh out. Yes, Kirna could maybe help her: probably not though, responsible Kirna would have Vala arrested for her actions. Vala would have to solve this on her own, but first she needed to get him off her. He was angry, so angry. This was beyond sweet talking, she would have to beg, maybe illicit pity. Vala tried to calculate how much ‘acting’ she needed to do, it was a delicate job, too much desperation and she risked sounding false, which would probably anger the man further.

She needed to think fast, but it was hard when she was in so much pain. She had to push through it, her ‘life’ depended on it. She hated feeling this helpless; how did she always manage to lose control. Even though she was nervous, she wasn’t nervous enough to fear dying at his hands… she was almost sure he wasn’t the type to kill, especially a girl.

Running on pure adrenaline, any anger or fear melting away, Vala put one of her many ‘masks’ on. “I’m sorry, please.” Her voice wavering, perfectly pitiful. A single glistening tear, ran slowly down, Vala’s round cheeks. “I can’t breathe. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Her voice faltered as she coughed weakly; Vala stopped herself from apologizing again, any more would sound desperate. She instead drooped her head to look at him from under her long crimson eyelashes, with pleading eyes. She knew it was cliché, but she anxiously hoped it worked.

[Ronin]

Ronin didn't really want to kill her, though in a brute rage like he was, he may have. Luckily for them both, he snapped out of it. Lowering his head, Ronin loosened the grip further. His mind was spinning trying to figure out what had just happened. He had never really decided to attack her, it just happened. Ronin felt slightly ashamed. Sure, she deserved it, but doling out punishment was not his responsibility. Ronin removed his hand from her throat and placed it firmly on her shoulder to ensure she wouldn't run off.

"I am sorry as well. I acted rashly. I have a question though, for the love of Priskil, why did you attack me? You froze and then you just lashed out."

Ronin also took the hand off of her stomach and reached up to feel how bad his head wound was. It wasn't bad, although he would have a bad scar and some hair missing for a while. He was angry about it, but time would cover the scars. Ronin looked up into Vala's eyes and gave a crooked half-smile. He had a feeling that she was just being nice because she knew he would beat her in a fight, but he didn't care. He would let her off this time under certain conditions. He had experienced what rage could do to a person, and though he had no idea what had caused it in her, he was not going to have her punished for it.

"I will refrain from reporting you to the authorities under a couple conditions. First, you will need to come with me to help me fix this." He said as he pointed to his head. "And then, you will have to make it up to my falcon." Ronin smiled widely. "For that, a genuine apology to the both of us will do."

Ronin considered his offer merciful and expected she would except it. Finally, he let her go entirely, but he also positioned himself between her and the door. He didn't trust her, but still, he kinda liked her. She seemed quirky beyond belief, but deep down, she seemed like a decent person. Ronin tried to be inconspicuous in his choice of where to stand, because he didn't want her to know of his suspicion. She had made quite the first impression, and, if by some slim chance they became friends, this would be a great story of how they met.

[Vala]

Her begging worked: he let her go, but he still held his ‘filthy’ hands on her. Vala bit her pouting lip, hard, until it split open; she drew blood. Vala licked up the warm drop of metallic wine; the familiar taste helped calm Vala’s racing heart. Vala’s simple and over conservative black Vinati covered her shoulders and arms; Vala was just grateful that she no longer had to bear the touch of another’s flesh against hers. She was also a little disgusted that the man hadn’t yet realized her aversion to touch, but she did concede it was a ridiculous and a somewhat dangerous quirk for an Inarta.

It was obvious from his stance and the hand on her shoulder that he was still quite wary of her. Vala saw this as a challenge. She still resented him for touching her and then setting her off with the word doctor: even if it was by accident. She wished she had never met him; he was a nice guy, and he didn’t deserve to be losing hair over her, nor did he deserve the giant target mark Vala had painted on him in her mind.

It had been reasonable to attack Vala after her vicious fit, it was in self defense. Vala was unable to see this reasonability under the warping haze of her pride. Even if Vala was willing to grovel for her life, she never let someone get away without Vala getting even first.

He asked her on the love of Priskil Why she had frozen and attacked him. She now debated whether she would lie or tell the truth. She weighed the options 1. Truth – he would know her weakness at could then use it agianst her later, but judging from his understanding though violent nature, he would probably pity her for her irrational fear; Vala scoffed at the first option – pity was far worse than any physical torture to her. Option 2. Lie her way out of trouble – fake pity was far less hurtful than real pity. Real pity would mean Vala was actually deficient, maybe even worthless, and she couldn’t face that, yet.

As Priskil’s name rang from his lips, Vala frowned. As an avid follower of Priskil, she was offended to hear her name in vain. She was only further motivated to lie.

Vala smiled weakly, very convincingly. “I uh,” she stuttered.” He finally took his hand off her. Her heart slowed to a more comfortable pace, and she released the tight fist she had been hiding in the pocket of her Byrda. Vala was trying to change, she didn’t want to admit it, but she was wrong and quite messed up; she honestly wanted to get better.

A quiet humming could be heard from the open doorway as Ronin touched his new bald spot. Vala cringed alongside him as he felt the raw flesh of his scalp. A cheery Yasi, singing a happy tune under his breath, passed by the doorway. Vala lost a litte more of her malicious intent from the distraction. She was also a little grateful for the ‘out’ Ronin had unintentionally offered her, from answering why she was crazy, but she was still a little angry at his positioning between her and the door: no one liked feeling like a trapped animal.

Ronin’s falcon, still perched far away from his violent assaulter, hooted gently at his master’s mention of him. It’s tone quickly changed as it glared angrily at Vala, its glassy eyes full of mistrust and animosity. Vala truly did feel guilty for hurting the falcon, even if she only felt a little shame for hurting Ronin, and so she apologized genuinely. “I’m really sorry for hurting your falcon,” she looked down at her feet. “I never meant to hurt him, or you. I didn’t mean to lose control and freak out on you like that, but thank you for letting me off so easily, “Vala couldn’t help it as a malicious twinkle shone in her eyes, “I promise I’ll make it up to you. If you want I can fix your hair in my room; I have a pair of scissors and some bird treats,” Vala smiled, wondering if he would accept one of her rare attempt at true friendliness.