Anarion

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Make them stop fighting? Uh, Uusha had an odd view of magic and witches. There wasn't a spell for that. Maybe Peregrine had overpromised? Or worse, Uusha just thought Giriel was competent enough to go down there and get everyone to listen to her! Oh gods...were actually no help at all, that had made things worse!

Though, there was something: I think she’s Blue, I think. Maybe Red. Or Green? Maybe she’s all of them, but Blue the most. She’s wanting ever so much, the little god had said. Blue for love then. A little red for battle, but not as much. Perhaps this was all a game then, a contest of her own. And green for secrets. Nothing of violet, which was a relief, and nothing of yellow which wasn't in keeping with a spirit from the Dominion. If only she had time, damn it! Giriel was sure she could puzzle this out and take a proper divination. But while her head was thinking, her feet were already running. Her mother had always said that knowing all the magic in the world meant about as much as knowing how to hold a broom: it didn't do you any good unless you had a broom and got to sweeping.

And as for Peregrine, well, Giri had to trust that Uusha was on it one way or another. Uusha would be a lot better at the rescue part that anything Giri could cook up. So, run run run it was! All the way to the town, sword back in its sheathe so as not to slow her down. At least she could follow the gods straight to the ring. And what in Creation was all this? She'd seen flower knight tournaments before, they were common enough, but this looked like the spirit of madness had seized the town. Children and old men were sitting equally outside the arena rubbing bruises and nursing knocked heads while a portly baker was running about the arena chasing people with a rolling pin amid the actual wooden swords and spears being flashed about.

There was no way this was natural. And that meant...Giriel let out a long sigh. It meant that she was about to be the center of attention in a hurry.

"STOP!" she shouted, skidding down the road into the town square proper. And because that wasn't going to do anything, she pulled out one of the oldest tricks in the book and casts a simple but spectacular spell. Witches, among other things, are perfectly capable of putting on a good show and conjuring from smoke or steam is about the easiest. In an ideal world, she's actually have a cauldron or at least a big pot, which would work better. But a dust cloud would work and there was so much activity that it wouldn't be that hard.

So, Giriel stops just outside the town square, running and kicking and throwing up as much dirt as she can, and then with a flourish of gestures and shouting, she conjures the dust into a great dust dragon which rears up above the arena, casting its shadow upon all the combatants. And she shouts again: "STOP FIGHTING!"

She really might as well have come with a giant sign that read "Witch in town" with this one!

[Giriel is rolling to defy disaster with spirit. 4+2+2=8. She pulls this off, but with a hard choice or sacrifice]

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Giriel is not throwing herself into a melee with a hostile heavenly spirit and an branch knight. That would be stupid and she is angry but she is not stupid. The most likely outcome is one or the other using her as a human shield, the next best guess would be somebody hitting her by accident. No thank you.

Instead, she takes her greatsword and flips it point down, striking it into the ground with conviction. She begins drawing a circle in the dirt beside the road with thick, deep lines cut by the blade. One big flowing line to make the ritual space first because sacred sorcery is always done within a circle. Then she cuts within it in quick, sure motions that tell you her sword has been used far more often for magic than for combat. She's drawing symbols of the locality. An abstract line for the buildings of the town before them, wavy lines for water, quick ones for the winds and sturdy thick ones for the earth. Simple symbols carved hastily, yes but clear enough in their meaning to call upon the local gods large and small.

Then Giriel begins to chant, low and singsong. She lowers herself to one knee in a posture of service, and calls to the local gods. Gods of the village, of the fields, of the weather.

She beseeches them for aid and succor. For help to her friends and harm to her enemies. Most of all, she beseeches them for information, for surely a heavenly messenger cannot have gone entirely unremarked! She is hungry and expectant that there will be gossip aplenty. She tells them too how she was attacked and wronged, how the messenger wore the guise of one of the mountain cats to assault them and begs their advice and their aid.

[Giriel is communing with the local gods. 5+1+2=8
She chooses
-Learn something important from the Unseen (as much as she can about Zhaojun)
-Change the nature of the unseen here so that they are angry at Zhaojun for her rudeness
-Being angry, she has almost certainly stirred up too much sentiment and so has also caused a haunting]

Sunshards

Rose

Little Chen is blushing and wiggling and squirming beneath you. She's hot and she's red, and her eyes grow so wide and sparkly when you start talking about all the things that you can do with gags. Because of course she wants this, she wants everything you'll do to her, she wants you to trust her and play with her, and most of all she wants you.

You could already be over the moon at this, but you stop and ask for something else, that moment where Chen chooses to be your girlfriend, to invite everything you're doing. When you do that, she stops moving too and she blushes even more and she bites her lip for a moment. Then she nods, slowly and shyly but with certainty. Because yes, she wants to be under your spell. She wants everything you're going to do.

And even that could be the end of it and you could be exultant. But look at her eyes Rose, and the little smile on that shy face. Look very closely at that sparkle, and the curve of those lips and you might, just barely, see that your girlfriend, for all that she's drowning in you, has more presence of mind than you might have thought. You might be able to see that for just an instant, what she thought about was where you were putting your weight and how...front-heavy you were as you were sitting. How even a very tiny person can apply force at just the right angle and take advantage of a momentary disadvantage to move something...or someone much larger. How a sudden change in balance in a wrestling match can wind up flipping who's on top and who's in the pin.

But of course, that's just a passing fancy. Her eyes are wide because of all your promises and her smile delighted and dreading and cute all at once. And besides, there's no way she chose not to do that just because she wanted both of you to share this even more. Right?

Have fun, Rose.

***

Yue

That look! That little mischievous smile! Do you see Chen's reaction? Do you? Do you see Chen's utter, unabashed delight when you get that look, or are you already in motion floating above her?

That's the look she had when she first dueled Rose. The look she had the first time she really got one over on her teacher, and then on her moms when she was younger. Because because because it's got so much happening. It's a look that proves you're having real honest to gosh can't fake or hide it fun! And it's a look that says that you feel comfortable. Not perfect, you understand, but comfortable. Like you're okay in your own skin and you've forgotten to constantly pay attention to everything you're doing because you've got a trick up your sleeve. Comfortable like you think you came up with your own idea how to move and and and it's yours! It's not just copying somebody else or trying to keep up or matching something you saw in a book or an anime or that you heard in a story.

Of course, what you may not have heard yet is that the first time Chen dueled Rose, she wound up tied up tightly and bound to a stick. The first time you pulled this sort of stunt on her instructor, she landed a single hit and then got whapped thrice in the back because she had no recovery plan. The first time she pulled it on Ysel, she found herself with a solid hit only to wind up in a headlock, which was not supposed to be legal in sword-fighting. And, well, the first time she'd tried it on Hestia she never even got the blow in, she just went flat on her face to the sort of elegant one inch sidestep that makes you not even realize you missed until it's too late to stop.

So, you should count yourself lucky because she has something to teach you here, and because she doesn't want this lesson to hurt. One of the things she learned is that if you make it too harsh like her moms did, that's when the pressure really starts, when you start beating yourself up over this stuff. But no, what happens to you is that you get one really beautiful overhand strike with Chen on the back foot, where she makes the block still in motion, and for a second you're maybe thinking "yeah, this is it, I got her, I just need to give it one more solid hit while she's off-balance and I could really win!"

But then something impossible happens and Chen shifts with your blow in the air without touching down. The momentum of it works differently airborne, almost as though she's sliding backwards on ice, and you realize that with your spell as you've done it, you don't know how to follow her this way. She simply swishes right out of your grasp and she's got her sword out and, oh gosh, oh gosh you haven't finished righting yourself in the air, which is a lot harder to do when you're panicking and she's flying forward a lot faster than when she's on the ground and suddenly her wooden sword hits with a *whap* right in your butt and you're tumbling end over end in the air like some kind of windmill, until Chen catches your ankle and holds you upside down, your face turned towards hers.

But she's smiling. She's smiling so wide she can't help herself. And when she says "first lesson of aerial combat, never leave your rear open to attack" you can tell that it's taking all her willpower to suppress a giggle fit.

***

An upper Skycastle garden, just Chen and Jessic

"I think I know what I need to do, but doing it still sounds really hard."

Chen offered Jessic a bowl of fruit, bending very low so that her purple silks and her veil hung loosely on her. She didn't quite prefer the outfit as much as Rose did, but she'd learned enough about this sort of thing in Ys and it was rather fun playing the servant handmaid. Chen enjoyed slipping into a role like, knowing how she ought to act and being able to meet it reasonably well.

They were alone in one of the upper gardens, Keron having selected Chen to wait on Jessic personally today. That was probably designed to humiliate her a bit, after she'd spent time with Jessic more as a peer. Something to really emphasize that Chen had lost a duel and now she was Keron's handmaid until such time as her training was complete. But it was also fun in a certain way, an opportunity to live differently, and this part of princessing had never much bothered Chen.

After Chen had gotten her lady of the day properly set up with a seat and table, and something to eat, she took the privacy as an invitation to talk, though she was of course prepared for Jessic to interrupt her with more requests in her new role. A good handmaid had to be prepared to be a good girl at any moment.

"I want to fight Qiu again and give her the sort of fight she was looking for, actually do the whole big archrival sword duel thing. But before that I need to talk to my moms and get them to see me differently. No more little double heir princess who's just there to be everything they want. It's just hard, you know? I'm not telling them to get lost or leave me alone. I'm trying to get them to, I don't know, to see me and not just this bundle of skills and training that they can move around however they want."

She sets down the fruit once Jessic has picked something and kneels to await a response.

Dark Age (playtest): The Lands of Pendragon

Robena

The boar is dispatched. Rather than focus on violence, perhaps it is a moment for thanks. The hunt is many things, after all. For knights, it may be a matter of valor, or perhaps a way to display a mixture of youthful impetuousness and undeniable skill mixed together. But before that, it was a matter of nourishment. It is cold, the ground full of snow, and the threatened storm cannot be put off forever. A large boar brought to the castle will feed all the inhabitants for several days, and salted or smoked can be made to last much longer still. This, at its heart is the source of any valor that may attach to it, which perhaps distinguishes the act from the axe upon Pellinore's neck. That here, your prowess will let people eat amidst the cold, while Pellinore's death served some more abstract purpose that holds less meaning now.

Hector is workmanlike in helping the squires prepare the boar for travel. On the ride back she speaks little, looking mostly to the weather, the horizon, and the cleanliness of her gear. But before you reach the castle and your presentation of the final day's earnings to its lord, she offers you a nod. "You have my blessing, whatever may come of it" she says.

And then you are returning, and here you are met by the lady herself, dressed in her finest armor and skirts, covering an ethereal body that is far from human. She has spoken little to you in all your time here, mostly a distant figure even on the hunts where she rode along. But now she is arraigned to greet you and ride with you to the castle chapel, where you realize as you see her arrayed as she is that your judgment is prepared.

What do you say in this moment, if anything?

Tristan, Constance
There is quite the question in the air for you. Answer it, and then array yourselves as you see fit for Robena's formal return. For lady Sauvage has determined that the time for judgment is now, and it seems that the heavens themselves will not stand in her way.

Dark Age (playtest): The Lands of Pendragon

Robena

The miracle is that there is a sun. You're busy, there's not time to think about that, but on a day where the clouds were thick and the snow and sleet constantly felt moments away, now there is sunlight. There is a rightness to the world, that you should ride forth on shining armor to face the boar. Apricot's hooves are the wind, the braying of the dogs the only guidepost you need.

You may remark that in your ride, Sir Hector keeps up with you. She is not so shining or so grand, but she is with you through this and that too is something special.

The boar then is a great thing. Dark, its shaggy fur nearly black, its back full of thick, course bristles that come up on the arch to your head mounted atop your horse. It's tusks are long and sharp, and its legs corded with muscle. In its eyes, you see, not exactly what you'd expect. Not fury, no. There is a weariness and almost a relief when you come upon it in the glade and it sets to charge you. And pride too, and a certain fierce competition that says that you will given nothing this day unless you earn it.

Sir Hector is at your disposal, and the two of you both have mounts, shields, and boar spears for your use. It will be an even match, and one worthy of epics should either of you ever care to relate the details to a poet.

[Tell us how you take the boar and roll as appropriate for this final labor.]

Constance and Tristan
Now there is a smile from the lady, and the sun is out. The clouds are not broken mind you, but there are gaps in them and the sun is shining in little beams into the room. You might have the thought cross your mind that being a cat in such a room as this would be a truly sublime pleasure, for you could simply roll yourself into that sunbeam and stretch out to your utmost comfort.

The lady's voice is lighter then. "You have a decision then. Good, that's good. I feared that you might still need another night to determine your feelings. But if you are certain. If...if you are certain then I think we may move to judgment upon the hunter's return. I do not know yet what her judgment will be. Your thoughts weigh greatly, both of yours Lady Constance and Sir Tristan. But there is still a hunt to finish and then we shall see the doom. Thank you." And here you can see already that her grip on the world is more ephemeral than real, and it is a great effort for her to wave a hand and thus let you know that you are free to leave her presence.

Perhaps the two of you would care to walk the hallways and discourse on what is to be done after all this that you may be properly prepared for Robena's return?

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Giriel blinks and before she realizes it, she's thrown several feet and shoved aside. What?! The spirit has seized Peregrine as well. Is it a fool then? Or perhaps an enemy? Were the rumors of Red Wolf more true than Giriel had thought and the spirit served the Dominion and was come to kidnap Uusha? A single N'yari, even a powerful one, wouldn't provoke two witches and a flower knight with a full retinue. Giriel had tried to offer her information covertly and she had revealed her identity instead, which meant she bore them hostility.

Fine then. So be it. Giriel stands and draws her sword. It's an odd weapon, large and heavy, but she doesn't hold it with the expertise of the knight. She's moving it differently. You're a smart spirit though, N'yari, you can see the danger. A witch's blade doesn't need to touch you to cut, it just needs a little time to focus. And for a spiritual possession, a spiritual blade is the far greater danger. Giriel is already speaking her spell as you heft Peregrine over your shoulder. You've got a strong hold on the world, but what happens if one of the threads is snapped? Will it change your personality? Bring that human's fears and worries to the fore?
[Giriel is inflicting a condition on Zhaojun in return in return as part of her Fight.]

"Heavenly Spirit, what brings you before us?" Giriel calls out. Cat's out of the bag (cat is so very out of the bag). "Stop fighting and announce yourself, or I'll banish you if I must." An empty threat of course, you're far too fast to allow Giriel to get that far. But, if the knight intervenes, and if the second witch were to start helping...she's looking for a reaction in this fight.

[Rolling to Figure Out Zhaojun: 4+2+2-2=6. Giriel's only question on a miss is: What makes you insecure? +1 xp]

Sunshards

Rose

Chen was delighted to be led. To be placed in a room and have you set things out for her and take her through whatever you had planned. You could tell the second you saw her by how she couldn't quite sit still but was quivering with excitement. You could probably think of lots of reasons for that. After all, you're giving her a special surprise, so she ought to be excited. And a proud Rose would think that Chen ought to be excited simply because it's something you're doing for her. And there's time alone under Keron's care, which is always precious in a world where much time is spent on appropriate behavior and service of handmaidens.

But do you want to know a secret, Rose? The secret is that she's excited because you're doing this for her. Because it's her Rose, and she's your Chen. And that's before we get to moment when you lay everything out!

Once you're there, you can see Chen's eyes grow as wide as saucers. You can see the way they sparkle when she looks at the deep purple silk and the way her blush gets hotter and hotter as you bring yourself closer until a little squeak escapes her and a quiver shakes her entire body when the pressure of your thumb reaches her lip and her mouth and her tongue. You'd think it perfect if not for a tiny little nibble of those teeth when your thumb is pressed in the closest that might, for just the briefest of instants, bring a blush to your own cheeks.

Of course, that's impossible because you, Rose, are completely in control here, which is devastatingly obvious when you cup yourself and bring the whole of your chest to Chen's face. She looks for all the world like she will instantly lose all coherence and melt into a puddle on the ground in front of you. And when you ask...when Chen squeaks and blushes and squirms and you demand that she answer you, there is the tiniest little nod and she manages, just barely through her squeaking and flustering and dying, a faint little yes that's enough to rocket through your whole being.

***

Yue

Today's the third day that Chen and Yue have been training together. The Countess had thrown both girls into a sparring room mumbling something about compatibility and synergy that seemed like she didn't want to give away the game when she knew perfectly well that you were already friends.

The first day had been tentative. There had been a need for hugs on both sides after everything that had been going on and how long everyone had been apart. And a need to catch up about becoming a flufferdoodle and to learn all about anime and swear to catch up together with Jessic's collection when there was time. And on top of that, Chen wasn't really sure where Yue was this whole time. She'd caught most of the duel, but that had been very much about how Yue had been bringing out Tianic's talents. And, if you remember, the first time Chen had ever seen Yue was when she showed up in her new ghost armor bearing a real sword and looking for all the world like a sword saint fit to challenge Qiu herself. So, there needed to be a bit of apologizing and adjusting when Chen's first attempt at sparring resulted in Yue dropping her sword in a fumble because she wasn't ready and that wasn't fair, actually! And then the second attempt ended in two moves with Yue's nose head bopped and Chen realizing that she had to recalibrate.

The second day was a little different because Yue was in wolf form, which meant first pets and ear scritches and nuzzles. And then Chen explaining very carefully to Yue that swordsmanship was first and foremost about knowing and feeling your body, which meant they spent wolf day working on a different variation of wolf sword style, pushing how fast Yue could move, how quickly she could turn and pivot, when she was in control of herself and when she wasn't. This was maybe the first time that Yue had seen Chen just enjoy herself like this too. This wasn't a high stakes duel, it was just play, practice, and using a skill Chen is good at. And that is visibly different. Chen darted about, laughing and teasing. She danced. She even sang a song at one point in the middle of the training, a fast-paced training theme that, though neither of you knows it, came from people playing bullet hell games in the burrow world.

And so now it's day three and this is the first time the two girls are dueling properly. Chen takes a different tactic this time than on the first day. She starts slowly, like she might if sizing up an opponent, coming at Yue with single moves that can be blocked and then backing off. It's a way to build confidence and to train certain skills because it's hard to just change what you're doing. A panicked parry doesn't become a perfect parry with one repetition. It's a panicked parry, and then a panicked parry, and then a...panicked parry. And then a panicked parry with a little note of frustration because jeez that was like the fourth time how come she's still doing the same thing?! And then because there's a little breather there's time to think about it, and then it's still a panicked parry because it's harder than it seems to go from having an idea in your head to actually executing it instead of responding according to your first instinct. But then, then it's a little bit earlier and a little bit better all of a sudden. And then it becomes something more like wondering why this was so hard in the first place, until Chen changes it up and does two attacks.

That's the point where it takes off, where the duel starts becoming an ebb and flow like water. Chen does a move, and then another, and they're not that fast, but Yue is keeping up and even trying a few of her own where she thinks Chen is going to be. Those prompt Chen to move and counter, and Yue has to counter in turn. Dueling training swords become like ocean waves as the tide rises, each move imparting energy and momentum to the other person. Yue tries to thrust and Chen sidesteps and swings just a little faster and so Yue throws her sword in the way and that's pushing Chen's sword into its next move and on and on, accelerating little by little.

The dance goes on for nearly two full minutes in which the only sound is the clacking of wooden swords and the whisper of their feet on the rush mats. Chen almost lets Yue win. She can see moves where she could let herself take a light blow and break the duel with applause and a pat on the back for her student. Except...except when she imagines that, she's not seeing Yue, she's seeing Qiu and Keron, and that hurt in their eyes. And it...it wouldn't be right to Yue to do that. She's not here to build up false confidence, she's here to show her the heights of what's possible and to help her get as far as she can towards it. She deserves to be treated with respect precisely because she's still learning. So, when Yue puts too much weight into a horizontal slash, Chen is already pushing it up and out of its proper plane and her blade is just below Yue's throat before she can even gather that her move was thrown aside.

They stop, frozen at the end of the duel, and a huge smile bursts onto Chen's face. "That was so good! Yue, that was amazing! Let's take a break and then go one more time before we're done." And you can hear, Yue, that Chen would love to hear how it felt, every little detail because she hasn't felt like this in forever and she wants to know everything about how it feels for you!

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"Hail N'yari traveler" Giriel calls out, holding up a hand in a wave. She's been in the mountains and her calm confidence might be recognizable for someone who is familiar dealing with N'yari. Not so submissive as to be a target for teasing, but neither so aggressive as to a rival or challenging. Just someone who knows what they're about.

Giriel's confidence is only a little betrayed by the bags under her eyes and the slight sag in her shoulders that speak of sleepness nights and weariness. For what she most took from hell is a haggard fear that has caused her to go over and over again what had happened. Had Peregrine tricked her? Or Uusha? Or had their spell just gone far over what they were expecting? She couldn't hold it against either of her traveling companions, nevermind Uusha's retainers, not when it could have been her own failure or some odd result of the combination of her powers with Peregrine. Or even some malicious act of the demons themselves being closer than anticipated and influencing their magic. Too many possibilities to blame anyone, but that just meant that she had been going over it and over it in circles. The best she had come up with was that she might manage some new magic by replicating some of what they had done with a little better intent behind it. So, though she puts on a good show of their travel, Uusha is already pushing hard and it's clear enough that she's tired.

But, now she's presented with a spirit from the heavens. So she continues "We are in a hurry to deal with matters of demons, so I apologize but we do not have time for sport." and then because she wants this spirit to understand that she's offering her capabilities without really doing so, she adds to Peregrine and Uusha but loud enough for the N'yari to hear "I've been working on magic that could simply transport us past the rock, but I don't think I could take the whole party, just a couple of us. Still, that might get us to the castle faster." She glances back to the spirit and offers just the hint of a nod as she does so, indicating perhaps, that her services are equally at the spirit's disposal if they are needed.

Dark Age (playtest): The Lands of Pendragon

Tristan and Constance

"I do not" that is definitely a smile. On that cold face and those empty blue lips, it is a smile. "The people gathered here are liminal in their nature. Each of them not in their expected role. So they play the castellan, the warrior, and the maiden instead."

She looks up then, a terrible motion slow as the crone, and gazes out the window. At the first flakes of snow. "When our pageant is done, it will no longer be safe here."

She doesn't look down, her gaze still to the sky, but you see again that slow smile on that ashen face. Almost sardonic in its guise. "That is not to say that it will be safe anywhere else. This place will simply cease to be more than a castle in the woods. Subject to all that entails. All who remain may decide then what to do with it."

And lastly she turns to Constance, her gaze fixed upon you, her eyes focused but cold, her arms resting upon her small throne as a statue to honor a past king. The contrast is high between her fading and your life. In truth, much of her next question is already answered by this moment, but she asks it anyway, as she must. "Lady Constance, I brought you here to benefit from your judgment. How stands your mind?"

Robena
You are peripherally aware that servants are moving about. The horses and dogs are made ready, Hector checks her equipment again, the grooms check the harness and saddle with care and love. The hunt will not be ruined by the betrayal of an old strap or a rusted hilt.

Your time with the beasts, however, is undisturbed. The servants are distant, as is Sir Hector who respects you enough to allow you this time. Apricot, briefly, is compliant and enjoys being brushed. Not tempted by nearby sugar nor apples, he takes a rare moment to accept your ministrations. The cat brushes you and you feel for a moment as though the whole weight of the world has passed you by, and then it slips away and hops upon a wall to fix you with its gaze and you judge that it, at least, thinks you might be worthwhile to it in the future.

Presently, the time has passed and all is ready to set out. Sir Hector calls to you gently and you can see in her, despite her criticism before, an understanding that few others here have shared. Of power and of frustration both.

You ride out then in the cold and the gray for the boar. It is the final test in this great hunt. A boar is strength itself and so it will test the strength of knights. And this boar will be great indeed, one of the strongest of its kin, a trial even for the greatest of knights.

Tell us, Robena, how it appears before you and how you and your companions hunt it.

Sunshards

I never wanted it is the first verse of the song of swords. The Countess is more than good enough to tell. Chen's too defensive, her very first move is to use her stance to block and roll backwards, gaining distance, putting the next move on the Countess again. It's not a bad move, it's skilled and its fast.

Though, if we may make an aside from the dance, that first move isn't as fast as you might have thought, Yue. You might have been taken by surprise and gone "why does everyone have more reach than me?!" while getting hit, but Chen's dodge wasn't so quick that you missed what happened. You could see the Naginata, and Chen's move is a single clean parry going downward and out from the center of her body to put her weight into it, followed by using the force of the blow to roll and re-center further away. In fact, if you think about that later, you might even realize that if Chen tried to parry that huge Naginata with just her arm strength, she wouldn't have been able to do it, which is why she had to be able to put her legs and waist into the movement.

But back to the duel. The Countess would know immediately that Chen's heart isn't in the victory because if Chen had wanted to win, she'd have moved forward on a parry like that. She has by far the shorter reach and should not have given up that sort of opportunity, but instead she's opened herself to follow up strikes without being able to retaliate.

When the duel whirls back to her, she dodges without the parry this time, judging the measure of the timing, eyes always on the Naginata. Her response is yes I can be faster and it's asking Keron to press her, by saying that no single blow will catch her, not when she's balanced and ready.

Then there is a series of blows, each thundering through the stadium. Chen takes a step back, and uses that momentum to whirl into a parry with the force of her motion, and then ducks under a horizontal strike using her height to her advantage. And here Chen is smiling again. She's smiling a feral smile, with hungry teeth and a light in her eyes. A smile that's just for the Countess.

I never wanted to win, but I want you to see me The naginata thrusts forward. I want you to see me and know that I see you and that we're both good enough to do something beautiful together. Chen doesn't move, there's no sidestep or backstep this time, and her hand isn't moving at all, the sword is perfectly still. I want you to know, for just an instant, that if I could find a way to give this everything I have, everything in the whole wide world, that I could be transcendent...

In a movement that is too fast to see, Chen steps on the blade. She wasn't even looking at the naginata, her eyes were on the Countess' hands the whole time. This is a savant's move, possible only at the last instant, utterly stupid if done wrong. But it's not wrong and her laced up boot slams the naginata to the ground and suddenly Chen is sprinting up the shaft of the Countess' own weapon, crystal sword gleaming in the sunlight.

And this is where she might have landed a decisive blow but ...but I can't give this everything I have. I don't know how. Help me!

She hesitates. Even as she's running up the shaft of her opponent's weapon with a mixture of pure training and the sort of natural magic that animates the best masters of the sword to superhuman levels, she hesitates. Even as the audience gasps, she hesitates. Because she doesn't know what sort of blow she wants to land. She doesn't remember how to go all out, she doesn't want to defeat the Countess here. And a move like this delivered with anything less than perfect precision opens the practitioner up to a devastating counter-attack. It's only a question of how the Countess wants to take advantage of her.

[I rolled a fight here, but the dice result was a 3, so no amount of boosts would help. +1 XP]