[b]Yuki![/b] It's on your way to go see Sulochana, post-Aadya, that the ambush happens. Aadya's off following up a lead and doing her part with the reconstruction of the Chrysanthemum, and here you are in a part of town that's mostly deserted, off the major arteries of repair for the time being. That's when the Nagi [i]strike.[/i] The first one slithers from the shadows on your left with a long forked spear, and while you're reacting to that, a second is already coming around behind you with a sort of curved halberd for a heartblade. They're wearing armor in the segmented Crevas style, and they are coming at you hard. The glint of faint northern sun off the decorative gorget of the first one- for a moment, it's like light bouncing off a mirror. You've had this fight before, and you won that time through luck and pluck and friends beside you. Not now. Not here. Now it's just whatever you've managed to hone yourself into back on Yukisearth. [hr] [b]Erika Fullbright![/b] It's the [i]agonistes[/i] that flips the table, which means it's towards you, cards tumbling like rain. It's the huntress who reflexively interposes herself and catches the table, arms straining as she stops it from smooshing you into your seat. The telltale sharp ring of heartblade on heartblade, well, rings out on the other side; someone slams into it and makes the huntress strain, too busy with physical exertion to decide whether she should just drop it on your legs. "[i]Never[/i] trust a maid, yah?" This is a cramped space, which means that the sound of the fight on the other side of the table - and I mean quite literally the other side - is as much bodies as heartblades, hammering each other as they lock up for position. "No one plays Osorio Scarlett for the fool!" "Whatever happened to professional courtesy?" Timtam's snappy when she's angry, no matter her disguise. "At least give me an opportunity to explain--" The sound of a headbutt going through beads is unmistakable, as is the sound of a knee slamming Osorio Scarlett right in the fork. You're running out of time to figure out what to do in this cramped little space, crammed up against a probable enemy who hasn't figured out what to do yet, and a roiling foxgirl spat is raging on the other side. Also, this establishment does have cookies. It's important to me that you know that. Rest assured that you might still be able to snag one, depending on how all this shakes out... [hr] [b]Hazel![/b] Juniper giggles and can't help herself. She very much can't. She ruffles your hair without mercy or reprieve. The great rufflening is upon you, boy. "Oh, you are just [i]precious![/i] No wonder the stars decided to bring you along. Don't you think so, Olesya? So earnest," she says, playfully deepening her voice in a way that suggests she's attempting boyness, "so kind! Maybe we should have tried to just keep you as a sluzhanka and fought off anyone who tried to steal you~!" The effect of the whole is like getting simultaneously talked up and talked down by a big sister. "Protect them," Olesya interrupts. "Tease them. The old laws." Her tone suggests that this is, in fact, extremely serious. You [i]must[/i] protect them. You [i]must[/i] tease them. You must, in short, be strong and also confident. These are very definitely two things that you can be, don't you think? Two expectations that will settle on your shoulders with ease and not crush you immediately. "As for comfort, well, they have [i]pillows,[/i]" Juniper says in a way that very much suggests which pillows she is talking about, and how they are not providing support for heads. She jingles a ring of keys that was on her belt, swirls them along with a show-offy flourish, and hands one key in particular to you. "Go ahead," she says, with the enthusiasm that is the mark of any good Aestivali and definitely is not, whatever anyone says, 'wicked glee.' "It's a rite of passage every huntress goes through, if she doesn't go to the trouble of hunting down her own..." [hr] [b]Handmaidens![/b] Morning thrashes and collapses like a dying serpent, tail bringing down entire pillars, perfect sword plunged into the soft spot between two scales. The floor cracks. The roof sags. The smell of ginger is overwhelming and everywhere at once. Finally, she comes to a stop, rolled over on her back, sword tilted to one side: the side closer to Injimo. [i][that was amazing and i am going to figure out how to counterplay that][/i] Morning says, lifting her head. Her tail is already shivering out of existence, but these dreams of a sleeping dragon go slowly when they go. [i][so the skating, i get that bit, but the triple jump into a corkscrew thrust?? who taught you that, not!heron??][/i] Her grin is red and joyous. Her delight is literally infectious here and now, as she unravels, as somewhere Morning twitches in her sleep and lets loose a happy exhale through her nostrils. Joy floods the room, the joy of finding someone who beat you and now you have to figure out how to beat [i]them[/i]. More to the point, a token from her, given freely, would open the doors to the Mansion immediately. Get Injimo an apron and a skateboard straight away. She might have to explain herself, but it's one hell of an opening move, socially.