Anarion

Sunshards

Here's a fun fact about freefall that you might learn if you fly a lot. That feeling of falling that's so scary, that's from changing speeds. Once you hit a point where you're falling as fast as you can, it doesn't really feel like you're falling anymore. When you're wearing a floofy cherry blossom skirt, it only takes about five seconds to reach that point, and then you're just...there. All those muscles relax and your heart stops getting a constant flood of adrenaline (the relaxation response is why cats have a reputation for landing on their feet: they have a good instinct to spread out in a fall and land more safely).

For Chen, it's a moment to just take in everything. To bask in the glow of Yue and Hyra's joy, to lean on Rose's oh so strong arm and feel the pure presence of her girlfriend and have it be the only thing in the whole world she can touch, that's really special. To grin at Cyanis' fluffy tails going swish swish swish amid all the gold and gems, and to lift her head and look back up and wonder which sparkles are loose coins and which one might just be Jessic sparkling through the hole all the way up there.

Chen hoped she'd get to spend time with them again. The sky castle had really been something special. She'd learned all about anime! She'd won a super cool sword duel! She'd made new friends and she felt like she'd found something about herself that she could hold onto. Even when they got back down to the ground and she had to deal with Yin, Qiu, and her Moms. Even then, she had new dreams and wishes and nobody could take those away.

Speaking of getting back down there, how were they all planning the landing? Chen looked down to see the ground starting to have features to it. Streams and rivers, the great lake, roofs of little villages bits of farmland and forest all spread out down there on top of the ruins of the burrows, the occasional distant metal tower or odd ruined building dotting the landscape too with their unusually straight and square shapes. She actually expected that Rose could either stop herself or take the impact with no harm done.

Chen began moving herself with her sword, humming a song from the beginning of one of Jessic's anime games (which they really hadn't had proper time for) where a strange young princess with a ruby necklace in her throat sprouted angel's wings. Later she and her friends seem to be on an epic journey, and there's a cute scene where she leans into her swordsman friend in a town amid the snow and they hold each other close, but Chen doesn't have too much time to reminisce.

She moves herself down and just below Yue and Hyra, giving them a smile and a passing wave if they're not too busy at the moment. And then she starts dancing.

Well, properly, what she's doing is a more complex version of the flight spell Yue had been learning, but with a bit of her own special flare. The story went that the princess who had discovered the sunshard in Sourcefall had originally been scared, but the north wind had called out to her and they had danced over the ice and snow and that's how she had first attuned to her shard. On top of that, Chen had spent her youth in Ys, where Ysel was never afraid to cut loose and where the hot desert sands and cold nights called for dances with flowing, twirling silks and gleaming gems set amid naked chests and bellies.

So Chen, now, is doing what might be a Ysing desert wind dance with her sword, leading with her hips into a step and twirl that sends her cherry blossom skirts twirling amid the breeze and then trailing her chest and lowering her head after. She looks for all the world like a fluttering cherry blossom caught in a breeze dancing up and down, each petal rolling up and down in turn.

And around her, there's more than a breeze! The air swirls and the gems and coins all about them are caught up in a sparkling upwards waterfall, streaming around the lovers. The air slows their fall, gently at first, and then with greater strength as the ground comes closer and closer. Chen angles the air a little so that they don't fall right into a village and break things, instead bringing them to a field full of sheeps milling about.

And so they come to rest, not speeding but gently floating on a swirling blanket of wind. It slows them enough that by the time they reach the field they're going at about the speed of a light jog and can come to rest atop the nearest fluffy coat.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"Melody of Silver Bells" the way Giri says it, it sounds melodious, doesn't it? Like she's chanting. She's looking down with some pride at her little Han. She's not fool enough to say something like you must really like her or she means a lot to you, doesn't she but she's thinking it and it makes her happy. Happy to see the children she remembers minding up in the mountains caring about someone, and maybe even something a little more than that.

Instead she says "you do, Han. And you won't be alone." Her arm around your shoulders is thick and strong, but also soft, gentle, a source of comfort. "Yes, that was great information, Han, more than enough for a perfect divination! Look here, see these leaves, they formed into the shape of the tower and then crumbled into a waving banner, and with them the red dahlia and the snapdragon. A truly lovely blend of tea for its clear signs and its taste both."

There's still that note of concern in her voice, but this is her element and you can feel Giri's own comfort in her specialty, in being good at something that will help. That's a really nice thing, isn't it, to be able to help with something and do it well. "What it means is that Ven has your little priestess, perhaps up in that tower of hers. And she's at the center of many things. There is a...demon, a general of armies that will want her, this Melody of Silver Bells. She's ah...

Giri stops. Han had called her a priestess several times now, did she know that Melody was most likely the daughter of a god? Would that change things? She ought to tell Han at least. "ah...she's perhaps more important than you realize. I think, I can't tell exactly from the divination but she may be the daughter of a god or goddess, something beyond your typical priestess. Perhaps that's why she's so much less terrible than her compatriots." Giri smiles and her hands are firm and reassuring. Be calm, take this in, there will be time to think it through she says without speaking the words.

"It may reassure you that from the signs, this Ven who took her is torn herself. I don't think she wants to give Melody to the demons, but she does want her for something, perhaps leverage over whatever god she's related to? It won't end well though, the servants of hell will try to betray one another and however it turns out this little priestess will be stuck in the middle. Now..." her hand is just a little more firm for a moment because she knows, Han, that you're about to jump up and try to rush off. "...let's take this carefully. We're all going to help. Whatever demons are wanting, we don't want them getting their hands on it, doubly so if it's a shy little lady. So, let's get our things together and find the other knights, we've got three here, miracle of miracles. And that waitress, wherever she got off to, there's more happening there for a certainty. And then we'll all go together and we'll get her out of Ven's clutches and any demons who have a mind to get in your way, eh Han?"

Sunshards

At first, Chen is caught up in the joy of the dance, and the urgency of the moment. She has Keron on the ropes, and her opponent tosses aside her Naginata and flees as Chen takes flight for an advance. But before she can end the fight completely, she realizes that Rose is being forced back by the sheer shock of a dragon wielding a naginata in her tail, and that in turn leads to Chen being thrown back with a wing buffet. And for an instant, Chen is about to zip back in again quick as lightning and rejoin with Rose as she gathers herself so that they can do a proper 2v2 fight to decide the ultimate winner (never mind that more guards were streaming into the room, that was a future Chen problem).

But then, then there are explosions and Hyra making her grand re-entrance and it turns out that Jessic's sunshard is a tiger's eye and it's really huge and beautiful. And and and wow. Hyra is standing on top of it with Yue amid all this treasure and then boom, they're freefalling and the world is rolling over itself like it's trying to get into a circus act.

For a moment, Chen simply lets it take her and relaxes. Falling is freedom, it's escape, and it's an opportunity to let forces that are very much bigger than a little princess like her hold her close all wrapped up in their metaphorical arms.

But only for a moment because there's a lot happening, and a skilled princess has people she needs to look out for ahead of hitting the ground. So Chen opens her eyes and looks around her. The first thing she sees is Rose, and instinctually she flips onto her sword and rushes towards her, but quickly realizes that Rose is quick-stepping from gem to coin like it's nothing and she has nothing to worry about. Chen smiles with a blush of pride at how cool her girlfriend is!

Next, she notices a little bundle of brown and fluff and little white mittens in amid a pile of gold coins and that one actually requires a rush. It's okay Kat, she's got you, she's aaah, no chormps, no chormps! shhh shhhh it's okay no panicking, your second best buddy in the whole world Chen has got you, there there. And she pets Kat with one hand while holding her all bundled up with the other close to her chest so that Kat is shielded from the wind.

Finally, that gives her a moment to actually look around and see...oh. Oh! Oh!!! Yue and Hyra, both girls, no flufferdoodles to be found and they're sharing a kiss that makes Chen blush. The kind of kiss that's like, like the whole world disappears and your heart's flying all by itself and you can see how the two of them are completely absorbed in each other and that kiss and how special it is. That's so special that the fall wouldn't dare interrupt until they're done.

Chen finds herself drifting over to Rose and takes her arm, resting her small head on her girlfriend's strong bicep. It's at once comical as they balance atop flying sword and myriad coins, and yet beautiful as they both look at the pure joy their friends are feeling and let it wash over them. The wind is too loud for words, so Chen just leans her head onto Rose's strong arm (still being sure that her own arm is keeping Kat nice and safe) and with the quickest little flash of mischievous eyes, she gives Rose her own little kiss on that strong strong arm, just above the elbow, and a little nibble too. There'll be more later, it promises. They'll get around to landing eventually, but there's no rush after all.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

For an instant, there is a low growl that begins in the back of Giriel's throat and those of you sitting there may be reminded of a bear that has been disturbed and is offering a warning. Kalaya has stormed out and some new girl has simply joined the table with information about Ven. Just as likely to be the Rakshasa as anything else, being this brazen! Thing after thing after thing, can there be no peace?!

But then the growl is gone. Drowned out in the sudden downpour that so marks the flower kingdoms. And in that moment, the cool air from the fresh rain and the smell of the damp earth wafting into the tea house lowers Giriel's anger from a roar to a low and gentle flame. This, she loved of the flower kingdoms. The sudden change in the land, the remembrance of the world around them, sounds and scents. This was a blessing of the gods and the kindest thing, perhaps, to have come from her summoning in anger earlier. Even more than that, the rain simplified things. Petony had run off, and there was no point running out into all this. And what had the new girl said? That she'd left kingeater castle and that Ven was 'based' there.

"Ven's not home at the moment, is she?" Giriel's lips twist into what might be a smile and she takes a long sip of the steaming tea. You can see her large body shudder with pleasure at the warmth suffusing her and her shoulders lower and relax from their tension. Then, she turns to Han. Where was the rambunctious little mountain monster she remembered? Han was all menace and tension, even more than Giri was. That was no good!

"Han, drink your tea" she says it in that big sister tone of voice, Han. The one you remember from being young and playing in the highlands, the one that you trust and you find yourself reflexively taking a sip before you can really think about it. Which is good because you got such a fancy tea, didn't you? A perfectly brewed orchid oolong, well that's the kind of tea that when it touches your mouth makes you feel as though everything's going to be alright. It's warm and just a little naturally sweet, and it has that floral feeling that you would never admit in a million years makes you relax but you're relaxing now and it's good. Besides, it's Giri, she knows what she's doing. Right now, that even happens to be true!

She's stood up from her little chair and come to stand behind you now that you're a little more calm. Then her large, skilled hands are massaging your back with a firm but gentle pressure. It makes you feel like you could melt and like all the harsh energy is being pressed up and out of you. She's breathing slowly too and it's natural that your own breath would match her rhythm when you can feel her chest rise and fall against you. You might want to take another sip of tea as you breathe deeply in and out.

You might want to complain as well, that this isn't the time for such things, but it's clear from that first tone of voice that Giriel is doing something more than just trying to relax you, and you can realize it when you've had a little more tea and she takes your arm with one hand and begins to swirl your cup while the other holds you around the shoulders. "Han, describe to us who you're looking for, slowly and calmly, with as much detail as you can," she instructs. You move together in slow, calm motions, her hand gently guiding yours, and as you begin to speak, she follows along with you chanting your words in the language of magic.

This is not unlike Red Wolf's divination. Tea leaf reading is a classic for a reason and usually caused less of a scene than burning bones. But where Red Wolf's was hesitant and blushing, a forward and almost rude thing to do, here Giriel is taking charge in her role as a big sister, bringing Han into a safe place where the magic can do its proper work.

It's hard to say exactly what she'll get here. Han is looking for Ven and for a priestess. They might be in the same place or they might not, and since this is a focused reading, it's going to be up to Han what she describes for the magic to follow. But one way or another, it is going to work.

[Divination: 4+4+2=10. Giriel will tell the truth once she gets the reading, allowing Han to clear a condition.]

Sunshards

This fight was always a hurricane. What else could it be with the magic that Hyra of the wolves had wielded? It was a fight to make the viewer spin about, to look here and there and see everywhere something happening. Maidens collapsing, explosions, a dragon bursting onto the scene. Then once the team was free, people were dashing across the room, criss-crossing this way and that, toppling groups of guards, slowing the reinforcements, and making a general mess of everything.

Chen had begun as a piece of that hurricane, and Rose had become the whole of the storm. Her eyes were the lightning, her arms the thunder, her hair the swirling clouds. Within it, Chen was flying. She had already circled the room, then found herself momentarily on the back foot as the Countess, freed from her grapple with Hyra, had gathered her bow, her naginata, and her guards. But of those, the latter had been scattered by Rose as Chen dashed in and out among them flowing like water.

It spoke too of their bond that Chen could operate so with Rose. That she manages, in what is almost certainly for her, the best presence of mind she has ever shown, to grow warm with a blush as one of Rose's arms gently brushes her cheek and yet maintain her form perfectly, disarming one of the guards and sending her flying. That she then completes a parry and riposte of another who goes flailing to the floor and in completing the move finds herself with a moment to smile at Rose and, as she slides through the storm again, run her own free hand through Rose's soft, supple hair en route to the countess.

You see, at first, the hurricane was made for Hyra. She was the eye. She stood still amidst the chaos. But, she has vacated that position and Chen has claimed it in her place.

The guards are scattered and as the Countess looses another arrow, Chen's arm is already in motion. Her muscles ripple and her wrist snaps the blade forwards, cleaving the great arrow in two along the tip. Yue, did you catch that one as you were running? That might come in handy at some point.

And then Chen is upon the countess and she's matching her new sword vs. the Countess' naginata. Here, then, is the final lesson of training at the sky castle: winning a duel is about who learns the best.

That's not to say that it's not about other things as well. Speed and strength, conditioning, reflexes, and technique all play a part of course. If one duelist is slow and out of practice, they might well lose to an opponent who attacks quickly before there's even a chance to size anyone up. A reckless beginner may find themselves face first on the floor without even knowing what hit them. But we are imagining skilled combatants, people who have dedicated themselves to the craft and, as with anyone who dedicates themselves to something, have developed their own preferences, specialty, and style. And in such a match, the winner is the one who learns the best.

There is a second part to this grand secret as well. You learn more from losing than from winning. If we may, again, reflect on Qiu for a moment, this is her great source of frustration. If nobody can offer her a proper challenge, she cannot learn and grow. For Keron, the last fight with Chen was an exercise in what she already knew: fight with crushing power and punish a poor fool who hesitated and left an opening. If you didn't want with all your heart, she knew how to punish that and offer something better. But for Chen, it was the start of completely rethinking how she approached her fights. Importantly, it was also rethinking how to fight a naginata.

If you saw the duel between Chen and Yue, you might have figured out what she was testing back then. When she slid backwards in the air in response to Yue getting a good shot, Chen was using the dynamics of magical swords to change the shape of the duel and then she countered before Yue was ready. Keron was much, much stronger than Yue, but that also meant that her swings had that much more momentum to play off.

Chen closes forwards past the arrow, dodges sideways in response to an overhead swing, and then when the countess rotates and brings her naginata around sideways with all the strength of her powerful hips, Chen takes it for a ride. Her sword blocks the blade with a resounding clang and her free hand grabs the haft as she's thrown from the impact, rotating her in a circle around the countess with all the strength of Keron's blow. She comes around the side faster than Keron can rotate after she's already committed to her move and this time, there is no hesitation. Instead, there's a smile and a promise, unspoken, that she had to keep: "we can do something beautiful together." And then she strikes and her thrust hits with enough force to shatter a piece of breastplate and send the Countess flying onto her back.

[Fight: 6+2+2=10. Chen is taking a string on Keron, Seizing a super position of landing a decisive blow and sending her sprawling, and creating an opportunity for Hyra to make her escape. Keron may pick one in return.

This also triggers impressive swordplay and, if Phoe agrees, I want to take a string on Yue, who may be taking a bunch of notes on this as Chen's friend and dueling partner.]

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Well they had...dispersed she guessed. That was something. And everyone had calmed down for tea, which was something too. This was a good way to tackle problems. It didn't make Giriel feel all that much better though. Today had been impossibly hard. People went entire lifetimes just farming the same hillside. Yet somehow Giriel, in the span of a day, had encountered ghosts, demons, and a crazy divine spirit (she had downgraded from hostile based on her info, but crazy was definitely right). And now she felt overwhelmed. There was a Rakshasa somewhere and it had influenced Kalaya. That's assuming it wasn't Kalaya, but she was not going to let herself jump down that suspicion rabbit hole. Besides, tackling a Rakshasa was a slower matter. You had to bait the trap for them and wait, and no Rakshasa was just going to up and announce herself after the entrance Giri had pulled.

She would have taken a sip of tea at this moment to hide her consternation, but it hadn't been served yet, and so she contented herself with clearing her throat instead as she addressed their gathered table. "Of course" she started, looking at Petony and then sweeping her gaze over the gathered. She tried not to look too annoyed, but she really had been through a lot today and her patience was short. And it sounded like Han needed something important too, enough that she was sitting here and managing to just look uncomfortable instead of squirming out of her own skin. Okay, imagining that almost brought a smile to Giri's face and that let her continue forward. Thanks, Han.

"Like I was saying, I'm not claiming that idea of the tournament was a problem, I know you knights do that sort of thing all the time. It's just that the way everyone reacted to this one was very clearly the work of a rakshasa. Old folks and children were running around out there trying to get in a knight's retinue." She sighed. "So, there is a rakshasa around and we'll need to be on our guard. Try not to suspect everyone you meet just...try to stop and think and maybe don't do anything incredibly stupid?"

Giri let out a sigh. "That's the immediate problem. The bigger problem is that there's a lot happening. In the past day, I met Holly's Stag Knight, who's here somewhere, busy chasing after a heavenly spirit disguised as one of the N'yari who assaulted us. She's busy raising the dead to try and chase off the dominion, fool plan that it is. And on top of that, somewhere nearby there are demons on the move and I have it on...good authority that their summoner is someone named Ven who's based at Kingeater Castle. The knight and I and another witch she was working with named Peri...er Peregrine were traveling together to look into that when we got waylaid here and the Stag Knight charged me with stopping the tournament."

She looked around again at all of the assembled. "And somehow, despite all of that, I'm getting the feeling those aren't our only problems. Am I right?" She shook her head and looked imploringly for someone to bring them tea so that she could at least clear her dry throat.

Sunshards

Rose

The first thing that Chen does when you're all done and you ask what to do with her is the wriggle and squirm. She lets out a muffled sigh and tests her bonds. Flex on the back and around the hands but oh gosh it's so tight! She can't move, she can barely manage to rock herself! "mmmph! rrrrrph!" she sighs and tries to press against her gags, but there's no space for her tongue to get anywhere near her teeth or anywhere that would let her make anything more intelligible than a grunt.

She gives you the full opportunity to admire your handiwork, top to bottom. The amethyst in her navel catches the faint candle-light and blazes purple and orange as her stomach gyrates back and forth for you. She can't move it more than an inch, but that's enough for the light to flare across it and back and isn't it just so beautiful, knowing that you've made this? She tries to flex her legs, then clench them, knees together, tries to bend or straighten them, but there's barely any give because you've gotten the tension in the ropes just right. Her toes wiggle through the slippers but they're not going anywhere, no matter how hard she strains and squeaks through all the muffling you've provided. No matter how much she desperately looks like she wants you to kiss every bit of exposed skin so much she's covered with your lips for all to see. It's really a perfect job for your prize.

You remember when you had bindle Chen, all tied up on a stick, squirming and wriggling, utterly bound and helpless in your old world magic-binding caution tape? It might feel like you've had a world between that time and now, and you can see the shape of that here too. But this, this has come so much further than that ever did. Do you know why? It's because after she's strained and tested and grunted and sighed and come to terms with her distress, your little Chen relaxes.

And what she does next is a nuzzle. There's barely enough slack, but there you are so great and strong before her, and she so perfectly bound and trapped. She manages just the slightest little rub of her head, hair loose and soft as she relaxes into you. It's that moment that lets you know that she feels safe and loved. That she doesn't need to worry about anything or think about anything because she can't do anything. She's in the zone, Rose, in a state of blissful trance, all dressed and pretty and safe here for you. That's your doing, Chen's girlfriend, who understands her and she who understands you. And as she snuggles her little chin into your leg, with her purple silks rustling ever so softly, it must be the most perfect thing in the world. At least until you get the chance to switch spots.
[added a comfort and support roll, spending a string: it was a 12 and we each healed a condition.]

***

Yue

What's Chen supposed to say to that, huh? How's she supposed to manage a thousand words all at once when you're crying and hugging and talking about how hard things are. She'd need at least an hour of telling you all her early sword training, the times she sat and cried and was all alone even when she kept swinging her blades. And the times she cried with both her moms. And the times she cried with the handmaidens. And all the times she smiled in between those times. At least an hour for that and that's if she could manage even half the words, which let's be completely clear here, she's got maybe a quarter of them and that's being entirely too generous, you know?

But then, sometimes the thing about friendship is that you don't need to say anything at all. That's one of the most beautiful things about it. When someone who knows both the pain of things being hard and the joy of things being hard all at once gives you that hug and knows exactly when to give your arms a little squeeze to say "I see you" and "I felt the same way" and "you're not alone" all at the same time.

Did you know a little squeeze of the shoulders and a little press together could say all those things all at one time? Maybe you did, actually because you've had all that time with Hyra and before that with your sister and with Kat and with all the sheeps and foxes and the sunstones before that too. In fact, maybe you knew it so well that when you think about it later (even though you'll immediately dismiss the idea because you're a sillyhead) you'll think that maybe the reason people in your life know how to hug you like this is because of you and how special you make them feel.

Because you and Chen are really for real friends now. She's gonna be happy for every step you take, and sad when you're having a hard time, and she'll be there to share the joys and the burdens. Come what may.

***

Hyra

You really couldn't have asked for better chaos, could you? The second that sword leaves Elkibrant's hand, Chen is in motion. That serving tray she was struggling with? She's tossed the whole thing, nuts and grapes trailing in the air, to half the handmaids who have drawn swords to oppose you. And they're going to have to catch it because Keron would expect no less from them than to be able to preserve the fine silver dent free and not even a single grape spilled.

By the time the serving tray is out of her hands, she's snapped a foot down and is in motion to meet the sword in the air. She catches it like it's a feather and to the half of the guards streaming forward who aren't busy with a heavy serving tray, Chen is a whirlwind. You, Hyra, probably remember the fight at Qiu's pyramid better than most. Rose was off her game and Yue at that point wasn't trained, but you saw Chen at the time managing to hold off a handful of guards airborne, but also looking incredibly off her game herself. She had needed to retreat along with the car and it really had seemed like not just Qiu herself, but her army was too much for the plucky do-gooders to take on.

Well, this is night and day to that. Chen's been training with a good partner, body and mind, and for once she's not holding back. She's giving the guards the honor of receiving everything she's got and what that means for them is that the first set trying to run towards you and the countess go flying away like bowling pins.

There are more guards of course, but some of them are caught up fighting the incredible show that Rose from the River has become, wielding her sword in her hair and growing extra arms so that she can fight while bound all at once. And here too, Chen and her girlfriend are in sync beyond expectations. Chen is airborne, dancing her way in and out of Rose's braids like a snake charmer, confusing and dazzling the guards, never letting them get anywhere near you. Oh, did one try to break away from the pack and sprint for the throne? Well she can't do that when a vine is tripping her up and her sword has gone flying the wrong direction, forcing two more guards coming in the door to pull up short and put their own blades up in a sudden block to avoid having to catch that flying sword with their chests!

Last of all, she's up around Jessic, where she takes the moment to give her friend an apologetic shrug before she zips over the top of her and uses her sword to cut the straps for Jessic's bags, sending the dragon princess in a curlicue in upon herself to keep all her things from spilling all over the throne room in a panic.

So it goes, Yue sprinting around the room like a rocket wolf, Rose creating an entire field of impassible monk warrior, and Chen performing a dancing circuit like a dervish from one end of the room to the other tying up Jessic and all the cards as everyone goes flying about. All for you, Hyra, to stand with Keron in the eye of the hurricane, secure that nothing is going to interrupt you.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"Han, Kalaya? You...know each other?" Giriel pauses, dumbstruck, the sand dragon bobbing its head in time with her own. She's in the middle of a spell here, hands raised to control the dragon, face looking up and out with the idea that she'd be speaking to a surprised crowd with her full and fairly ample stature, not getting bum-rushed by too old friends. Who...also knew each other somehow and were...in a relationship? She wasn't sure, but one didn't normally carry around their friends unless they were close so that seemed reasonable at least.

She cocks a head at the two of them, Han shouting about tracking a coin, and then Kalaya saying...my tourney. That did it? "Your tourney?" she asks, pulling the combined pair into a sudden bear hug, letting the sand dragon fall forward and crash into dust with a sigh.

No, listen, sure either of them could be a Rakshasha, or anybody else here could be, but it wasn't going to do her any good in a Rakshasa contest to start treating her old friends with distrust. None at all! She needed to keep them close. Either they were legitimate and they could work together or one of them was a Rakshasa and being close would help her figure it out!

"Your tourney?" she says again incredulously. "I haven't seen you since you were this tall, Kalaya!" She makes a very low hand gesture that doesn't even come up to her waist "and now you're here running a tournament that was under the control of a Rakshasa?!"

She raises her voice then because, oops, she was shouting to an entire assembled town and gods. "Everyone, please head to your homes. This tournament was influenced by a goblin that was affecting your emotions! Please go back to your homes. I and my friends are trained in finding the goblin, so please don't worry!"

(they were going to worry, nobody had said that Giriel was a great public speaker!)

The sound of her shouts reverberates through her chest, so that both friends can feel the speech coming through her just as much they can hear it, for she hasn't let up the hug for even a second. And she owes Han some kind of response too, can't hold off everything in a hug forever, after all. "Now what's this all about with coins and bastards and Rakshasa tournaments, and...and how did you two meet, you're so cute together!" She smiles at the two of them and hopes that the crowd is dispersing behind them. She really, really hopes it.

Dark Age (playtest): The Lands of Pendragon

The spirt that once was King Pellinore

As Robena kneels, it is obvious to all involved that this is sacred ground. Perhaps it always was. No chapel for you, who were once a king, no artifice or worked stone will hold your fast-fading feet. Here, there is soft earth, free of frost, to receive Robena's knee. Here there is cool air that caresses the cheeks and lifts the spirit, reminding you, however briefly, what it felt like to be alive. Here there is still a faint evening sunbeam in a shade of orange that defies the brightest marigold to bear its match.

You turn your face to Sir Hector, and without hesitation she fetches for you your great axe, for such a weapon is needful to match the strength of Robena's blow, nearly a year prior. You hold it in hands that barely obscure the wood, but your grip is firm, steady, and true. It is always like this, is it not? That even as things fade, the tools remain to the last. Tools for killing, yes, but so too for gathering and building. An axe can always be a tool to gather wood for the fire. You know that your grip on your axe will be the last thing, the final thing of all things to fade from this world.

When you look upon your charge, the earth embraces her. To your eyes, it is clear as day. In this space, the world bears her gladly, holds her fast and will not let her slip from it. Your oath was an oath of justice, a fair balance, and the earth has said that it would not be fair to take her. So too did the Lady Constance, and her retainers, and privately in turn each of your knights whom you asked.

Sir Harold offered that she was yet young and had much service to give. That wrongdoing must be met with an opportunity for repentance and that he saw her on such a course. To him, no blow was needful at all. He always had a soft heart and the Lady Constance had softened it further.

Sir Liana offered that she wished for tutelage and asked you spare your blow. She reminded you that justice was not a matter only of the person affected, but of those around them and their needs, and so too could they bear the burden of your blow shared among them. She had spilled a drop of her blood for you on Robena's behalf the night prior, a gesture that befit her royalty. She would have her take the blow, but lightly as almost a mirror of the Lady Constance's suggestion.

Sir Hector had thought long and hard on the matter. She, more than all the others, felt the weight of this thing, the burden that it would carry forward into the future. Would it be well understood how hard Robena had worked to reach this moment or would the lesson be taken wrongly by future generations? She tried, in her way to balance the matter. She had told you that it was Tristan's words that had moved her in the end, and so she too asked you to stay your hand and offer only a nick.

And as for the Lady Constance's advice. You judge her both wise and mortal. As you are no longer either of these things (if ever you were) you offer them each great respect as they are due. And now the earth confirms her judgment and stands firm beneath you both as sacred ground.

Last of all then, was Robena herself. She had not sought refuge in loyalty, nor in ignorance, nor in strength. She sought penitence, but did not shy from her duties as a knight. In each hunt in turn, she comported herself well, neither with wanton glee nor unbecoming hesitation. What was the ideal of chivalry if not the striving itself? To strive towards wisdom and action joined together, to boldness well-directed, bravery in humility, and strength for those most in need.

You lift your axe. In your heart there is no rage to match that which consumed the Lady Sandsfern and burst from Robena a year prior. You swing with calm. The blade fast and sure strikes her neck. A nick upon the side, clean and small. A drop of blood falls from her broken skin onto the earth below, and the earth is content. The assembled release a breath they had all been holding.

The lady's voice speaks, though her mouth barely moves. It is quiet and yet all hear her words clearly and no sound stirs to interrupt her.
"Robena Coilleghille. Your blow has been answered in kind. The doom upon you is complete."

The clouds and the king release a sigh one and the same, and a flake of cool snow falls upon Robena's neck, soothing the wound. The axe is upon the ground and of the Lady Sauvage, who once was King Pellinore, there is no sign.

It is snowing, and it is time to go inside and be warm for another day.

Sunshards

Rose

You can feel the eagerness of your subject as you work. It's perhaps the highest compliment you could hope to receive. She's letting you indulge, she's in fact intensely paying attention to you and everything that's making you feel happy and strong and powerful in this moment. But at the same time, she's not just doing this to give you a chance to feel good, oh no no. She is bursting with excitement beneath you. She shivers at your touch and it runs through her whole body. You feel a couple little kicks as she squirms and can tell that your little Chen is just barely resisting the urge to make those stronger kicks that might push your full weight onto her. Because she wants that. She wants you.

In this first part, there is no swearing of revenge. Really, there is a complete squandering of use of Chen's last moments of unencumbered speech this night. She's far too busy taking turns being enraptured and letting out noises when you touch her that bring a blush to both your cheeks. How fortunate that you'll never remind her of this in the future for any sort of embarrassment, isn't that right? Of course that's right! You'll certainly never bring up the gasp that escaped her when your fingers brushed her stomach and moved just a little further down, no that will never come up again ever.

It's only when you're done and admiring your handiwork that she offers a little different side of herself. For all of Chen's other issues, you can see clearly that shame in her body isn't one of them. She squeaks and blushes at how exposed she is to you, but so too does she touch her own thighs and run a hand along her chest invitingly. Does that bring a blush to your face? What a lucky thing that you'll be binding up that misbehaving hand very soon!

And here too, she dons the impish smile she can wear and whispers to you: "I can't wait to pay you back double for all this. My little flowerbud~" And oh, it won't do to let that little mouth keep running at all, will it now? Not when she's practically begging you to get on with it.

So hop to it Rose, your girlfriend is getting impatient!

***

Yue

Chen's look is excitement. Nerdy nerdy excitement! It's the excitement of having someone else be excited about your thing! Her face lights up and for a moment she gets lost in her own fantasies. Time spent working with Yue on honing her craft, building the right muscles and practicing things like grip and follow through, teaching the balance exercises that form the basis of strong swordsmanship air or ground. And time spent talking and comparing notes and coming up with plans and counter-plans, and just sitting and laughing. Sharing a meal and using the little bendy straw as a makeshift sword to gesture about something that just came into your mind! And then going back to it over time and pushing each other. Coming up with totally new moves in the heat of the moment, pushing each other to always be better but without that harshness that comes with needing to be the best.

It's not that Chen imagines everything happening just like that (has Yue even seen a bendy straw in the countryside?), but she lets herself indulge for a moment in the fantasy. Yue doesn't know it, but this is so much of what Chen had wanted with Qiu before. Qiu was already so skilled, so Chen hadn't thought of herself as the teacher there, she could have melted into Qiu's world and been her peer. But she had wanted that shared fun and excitement, that support for each other and shared growth out of it. She maybe still wanted that too, but she wasn't sure if that was something Qiu was up for. She'd seen a different side of Princess Qiu at the step pyramid and gearing up to meet that on its own terms was part of what Chen was working towards now.

But, in the meantime, here was Yue surprising Chen! First it had seemed like she was a master because of the armor and the spirit and the gleaming, so much gleaming! And then it had seemed that she was a novice and she had a lot going on and so much to take in and Chen knew that Keron wanted to have her trained properly but there were a thousand thousand variations of what a handmaiden could decide to focus on. So, so obviously Chen couldn't have expected Yue to delight in their shared training or to go in for the swordsmanship or to have this expression, this look! So let her nerd out for a moment and just have this whole fantasy!

Okay, moment done, moment over. Now's the time to teach Yue about good practice schedules and cooldown exercises and how you need to balance learning something to perfection with taking a break from it to let your muscles rest and your brain process and then going back again. But...she was laughing at...the rear joke and...oh no. I-it wasn't that funny. It wasn't! And Chen had already been suppressing her giggles before at her own joke, and then when Yue shouted "another word for butt!" Chen just lost it herself. Because obviously, but she was just getting it, and it was so silly, and they were both floating and she was and they were and and it meant butt! Pffffffttt ahhahahahaha!

And so poor Kat is left to fend for two completely disabled girls rolling about laughing and gasping for breath like fish out of water. Never fear, though, there will be tea. Good tea with honey and maybe some lemon because Chen's been working in the gardens for her duties this week and might just have noticed a ripe lemon that nobody would miss. You won't tell Keron, right? Or you can, that would be okay too.

***

Hyra!

It's cherry blossom festival day! The perfect time to open a door in a suit, but also the perfect time to show off all the handmaids and dress them up for the season. Rose, of course, finds herself in absolute pleasured disability as a show of Keron's indulgence and power. Chen, for her part, is positioned nearby to strategically show off a Princess in submission for the room. She's got a costume matching Rose's. Cute little wooden sandals with pink straps, and then a pink and short shrine-maiden's skirt that doesn't even reach her knees much less hide her thighs, though the pleats and ruffles give it a nice full look with some shadow mixed in as well. Above that, she's got the lace shirt with fabric embroidered with lovely pink cherry blossoms around the stomach and lower chest. But the shirt parts far below her neck, leaving plenty of skin to show off her entirely appropriate collar, necklaces, bracers and earrings all in the same rose-pink gold of Rose's outfit. Chen, not presently being doted on, also has her face veiled with thin pink silk.

But, Rose is in her full splendor today, and so Chen's barely bigger than half Rose's size. This means that Chen looks very much like she's wearing the kid's matching set to Rose's festival outfit, the little princess all dressed up to match to be shown off for the court! It's incredibly cute and embarrassing, a carefully calculated choice to both make Chen blush and emphasize the prize that Keron has captured and has fully under her control (we won't discuss the lemon theft!).

And on top of that, Keron needs somebody to wait on her. So Chen is loaded down with a big silver serving tray that she needs both hands to keep upright. On it are plates and saucers with all manner of treats: fresh nuts and candied fruits, little cakes and cookies, tiny crustless sandwiches with cucumber, and three different types of tea all freshly brewed. You can smell the scent of jasmine as you come in, and that floral one must have some cherry in it for the day! Other handmaids have been adding and removing items as they're indulged in by Keron or the entourage, while Chen has to keep everything steady and not spill a drop or a crumb, lest she face Keron's displeasure and add to her own embarrassment. She's managing with all the grace of her years training (and some past maid-play that nobody needs to be thinking about right now!), but it's clear the task takes her full attention, especially with how she's strategically positioned to both wait directly on Keron and constantly glance at Rose, the latest of which has brought a bright blush to her face.

It's not exactly the well-armed, gallant, and full-powered hero squad, but then it never actually is with these sorts of stories, isn't that right? The real trick is that the squad comes together at the last minute with a little combo of readiness and luck mixed with a generous dash of chaos. It's unexpected and exciting and just the sort of thing that a handmaid on a gallant rescue wants to set in motion like a line of dominoes.