Anarion

Huntresses of Hybrasil

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The Second Match
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Mirror

The clock is ticking down. The cameras are already taking photos. The God-Smiting Whip is the subject of much speculation, as well as the damage inflicted after the last battle. Camera drones are zooming in on the repairs and commentators back on the Akarian planets on stream three are questioning whether there’s a weak point to be targeted in their pre-match banter.

There are potentially lots of other things to have on your mind. If you were checking the local network for gambling, the bets are primarily on the odds of Solarel’s tactics (see below for that). If you are interested in Valentina, her match today starts after yours so you don’t know how she’s done or what she’s doing with her time at the moment. Possibly watching you. She’s facing one of the Jacinta Niares proxies and Valentina is expected to win. If it’s Mayze, there’s a lot of chatter, plenty of orders, maybe a few gems if you want to go digging through her messages but nothing that stands out on first pass.

When you come out, you’re on the hill in your arena looking over the terrain. It’s a stepped terrace, each step about the height of your mecha. There are thick clouds drifting over the upper parts, barely ten meters over your head. The clouds are drizzling lightly, the drops pattering off the surface of your mecha in an even, soft pitter pat.

Solarel is exiting the hangar at the same time as you are. Unlike with Valentina’s small and well-camouflaged mech (not up to Hybrasil cloaking, but nevertheless impressive for its quality) the Bezorel is easy to detect. Your instruments indicate that she’s due south and entering via coming up from a platform raising her into a river delta surrounded by jungle. That said, it’s too rainy to see her with visuals at this distance.

Also, you could broadcast to her safely if you want to talk.

Solarel

The clock is ticking down. Camera drones in your hangar have been scrambled with several different levels of zoom lenses so they don’t have to be placed at risk should you exit your mecha again. Possible perhaps, but do they really think you’re going to pull the same trick twice? Currently, they’re trying to get their money’s worth and get a look at you inside the Bezorel. The early match commentary on your end is that on paper, the match looks pretty hopeless, the Bezorel is simply not a piece of equipment up to its task.

There’s been quite a bit of gambling-backed speculation on what you might try to win the match, with a focus being more on your tactics than their efficacy. Since you probably checked the local network, the current best odds are on some kind of brilliant jungle ambush with complex traps. They’re giving that one 1:2 if you do it. Self-destructing your own mecha while repeating the pilot jettison trick from last time is 2.5:1. Someone did predict the missiles, but they’re at 6:1 because nobody thinks you have the money for them, and sabotaging your opponent’s mecha is at a whopping 25:1. If the sabotage actually becomes known rather than appearing accidental, you stand to make the very astute, the very well informed, and the very lucky bettors quite a bit of money.

You are raised up to your arena via an elevator platform. You come out through the water into a river delta that marks the south end of your battle area. The river meanders north with jungle terrain around it, not too heavy. It’s cloudy and drizzling as well, the rain smudging the upward facing parts of the Bezorel’s old-fashioned cockpit. That’s unfortunate for you because with your neural link, that also means the rain is sort of like getting water in your eyes fogging your vision. Unlike in your previous match where your opponent challenged you to an honorable duel, you are Mirror are supposed to be deploying at the same time. You know broadly that she should be north of you because you deployed in the far south of your available battlespace, but between the Bezorel’s weak instruments and the visual interference, you don’t have a pinpoint on her exact location yet.

Also don’t forget you can broadcast wide-frequency open comms if you want to talk to her even though you don’t know her location yet.

***

Isabelle

Congrats, you’re the number one show today. Ada is, really, but you’re no slouch either. This is the feature match, they think you can at least give her a good run and draw things out. This will be tough though, Ada Smith is a legend among pirates and TC crews alike. Camera drones are snapping everywhere and a lot of this match will be monitored closely.

You step Emberlight out of what seems like the overgrown garage of a five story building. You have to brush aside some hanging vines and moss to exit. You’re in a ruined urban zone. Most of the buildings are covered with plants, some are knocked down, several have chunks missing causing their interior floors to be open. Most aren’t much taller than four or five stories though: bigger than Emberlight a couple times over, but you could hop onto a roof no problem if you don’t mind exposing yourself.

It’s hot and the sky above you is cloudy, blanketing everything in a generic whitish gray coloring. Scan is very limited in this type of setting: anything using sound or light waves is going to bounce around the buildings and give you no real distinction between crumbling bits of masonry and your opponent. Higher frequency radiation won’t penetrate through the layers of stone and concrete. Eyes and ears are your best friends, and if you’re lucky and your mecha AI is good, you could have it dedicate cycles to looking for tremors or building vibrations to try and triangulate. That does present the risk of having most systems running calculations at the exact moment you get punched in the face though. But then again, there’s nothing about this that would make you any easier to find for Ada. Try to keep it that way, big bursts of heat or noise are risky because they’ll give away your position.

Of course, Ada has a stealth system and you don’t, so perhaps you’d like to simply get that pain out of the way first, hope you can take the hit, and start fighting back.

Her dark face and strong, heavyset shoulders pop up over your comms, background replaced by a soothing dark blue for the transmission so you can’t use any details to try to figure out where she is. “Lonzano, you’re new right? Pleasure to meet you, really, I’ve heard great things. My company, the Snow Geese, would be happy to take work from your family if any presents itself. I don’t think any of my girls have worked with you before, though they don’t tell me all their side jobs. Now, I know everyone says that we’re pirates,” she gives a solemn nod here. “But personally I think that’s just an unfortunate description of having to manage an independent company in this trying universe. We’re happy to take legitimate work when it presents itself, and I hope today’s match gives you a show of our skill.”

***

Dolly and Jade

This match is being eagerly watched by the Hybrasilian contingent. Two different rookies from an overall smaller pool of combatants, and a match like this has hunting lodge status implications. Some people are worried the draw was unfair, that one of you has to hurt the other’s odds of advancing. In terms of overall billing, it’s lacking a big name draw like Solarel and Ada though, so you’re around middle billing, it’s being broadcast on stream 6 at the moment on the Akarian planets. The announcers for this one are both Hybrasilians who are themselves a little green at the commentary business.

You’re deploying directly into dense forest. You literally walk out of a humongous tree whose bottom was structured by the planet nanobots to allow for a hangar entrance. Sunlight trickles down through the layers of canopy: clear sky if you want to maneuver at that height.

You’ve got no signs of movement in your immediate vicinity. Many of these matches are asymmetric deployments to ensure some variety in the flow of the fight, and in your case you have the opportunity to take a position and get in the first word when Ksharta deploys. What do you have to say for yourselves?

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"I have never seen a person more consumed by their desire" said Giriel Bruinstead. And it is at once both a judgment and a measure of blessing never before expected because she has called this demon a person and addressed her honorably, even as she is critical of her. Naji is a person. Whatever else she may be, whatever desperation she might feel, she is in the world now, denying the corrupting part of her nature in the name of love. Was this the power of Venus in the flower kingdoms? It offered such a world of ideas.

Giriel put on a formal expression. This was not a divination, but it was a pronouncement, a lesson. "I cannot give you someone else's heart. No magic in the world or out of it can do it. Not even the Rakshasa, not your mother, not the gods. You may think, perhaps, given the places you have been and the beings you know, that you could own someone, control them utterly, and play with them as you will. But that is not their heart that you have taken, only their body. You cannot make someone love you, and if you try despite the warning, you will break the both of you in the act."

Giri softens her tone, offers Naji a smile, puts an arm around her, and offers her a sip of tea. "That doesn't mean it's wrong for you to want. The ascetics say that we're supposed to purge ourselves of all desire, but I'd call them fools for rejecting everything of value (and besides, they want to better themselves, but desire is motivation even for the hypocrites!). Look, this will be hard for you, but try to be good to her." She points at Piripiri. "Try to think about what she wants and what will please her. Not as a slave! But as a friend, a confidant, a lover. You might find she wants much of what you want, and besides, people with the dragon's blood are pretty strong to endure the advances of a demonic person such as yourself. If you want her love so badly, show her that you care about her as a person. And perhaps, just perhaps, she will offer you her heart freely. The only way they can be given."

Giri shrugs. "Oh, and take a break for a minute. Drink some tea with me. They're busy yelling about the Rakshasa crashing the big barge and we're going to have at least one hunt on our hands before any of us get home. So, pace yourself a bit."

Huntresses of Hybrasil

When the show is done, drinks are finished, the guests departed, there is then a time for rest and perhaps a little preparation. The information about the next match is released at the same time for everyone. The brackets are revealed publicly (usually in a live show for the interested at home) and each pilot receives a transmission with a new dossier for their fight. With the battlefield revealed now, there is also some information about the expected terrain to give each pilot a chance to think through their preparations.

***

Solarel

Where are you staying for the evening, when the party is done and it’s time to take your things off and prepare? Are you keeping a small room in the hangar near your mecha as the modifications are finished, or do your new connections offer you a more comfortable room at a price?

There’s also the question of what you do with Crescent’s information. You can keep it for later, she didn’t say it would go stale and you may not want to create even more potential debt for yourself. At least not at the moment.

Regardless, you are informed that you will be facing Mirror in your next match. You know a great deal more about her than any dossier can offer, but here’s what’s sent to you.

Opponent: Mira “Mirror” Fisher
Mecha: Gods-Smiting Whip (they left out her other titles, though you’ve heard some of them)

Known statistics:
Power: *****
Speed: ****
Defense: **

Pilot profile:
Mirror has served on mercenary duty on several missions across a large area of space. She is known to deliver results exactly as promised consistently and to remain calm under pressure. Recent match data indicates that she was experimenting and may have extended her fight to obtain data about her opponent and her mecha. Statistical ratings should be considered unreliable.

Terrain information:
Your battlefield expects rainy weather and cloud cover, reducing visibility.
Light underbrush and open waterways should allow maneuverability
One section will have hilly and uneven terrain

***

Mirror

What a show! People were cheering wildly. Will you find Valentina after that? What kind of night will you offer her? What’s the comedown like after a show like that?

Oh, also there are bids being sent into Mayze’s accounts. People are interested in custom work like you showed off. Lavishly so, though how they will use their new clothing may be a point of question for them. As might be whether they’ll really understand what they’re buying.

You receive the following briefing
Opponent: Solarel
Mecha: The Bezorel

Known statistics:
Power: *
Speed: *
Defense: ***

Pilot profile:
Solarel was previously known as a fearsome pilot during the Zaldarian war. Her previous mecha had world-class statistics in all categories and was a pinnacle of Zaldarian technology. Her previous fight was unorthodox in method, and her mecha demonstrated only low power weaponry as well as being an old model with low maneuverability and an outdated crystal fire drive. Analysts believe her method, while flashy, likely indicates the weakness of her equipment.

Terrain information:
Your battlefield expects rainy weather and cloud cover, reducing visibility.
Light underbrush and open waterways should allow maneuverability
One section will have hilly and uneven terrain

***

Dolly

Angela isn’t a jerk, so once the show ends if you feel like departing, she’ll let you. But then again, if you wanted to be carried back to her room, wanted to be paraded through the streets like a trophy, and were willing to let Jade be by herself for the evening, you could. Angela would take you, have her way with you and enjoy it, perhaps have words for Jade too. She’s gotten the gist of what’s going on here after all and isn’t afraid to experiment a little. She’s going to make it very clear she’s in charge though and there will be some rumors. She might get some leverage over you out of this.

Whatever you do there, tell us how you spend the night.

During it, you receive the following dossier

Opponent: Ksharta “Talon” Talonna
Mecha: Pulsar Cat

Known statistics:
Power: ***
Speed: *****
Defense: ***

Pilot profile:
Talon is a new pilot, her previous match was the first recorded appearance of the Pulsar Cat in intergalactic combat. Profiles indicate that Talon is an uncertain pilot and easily intimidated, but has above average reflexes, even for recorded Hybrasilians. Her first match relied on high speed movement to maintain careful spacing to take best advantage of her weaponry. Her autocannon was used primarily for defense.

Terrain information:
Your battlefield will be in dense forest with high trees
There will be a small number of more maneuverable lanes, which may present opportunities for ambush
Weather is expected to be clear, permitting high altitude flight

Jade

Your night depends in large part on Dolly of course. But we do need to ask about that data drive from Marik. Are you willing to risk looking right away? Plan to have your engineers review it? Do you want to wait for Dolly on something like this?

***

Isabel

Asil grins. It’s meant to be a reassuring grin for you. She’s relieved and happy, your vote of confidence is a good one. And it is that. But is also reminds you that she’s young and her team is small and she’s not always going to know how to present professionally the way that you do. She’s got ambitions and desires that outpace her experience so far. Set her up for success or she’s going to crash and burn, possibly as a horrific blackhole for your resources if you’re not careful.

Now your performance is at an end though (if performance is the right word). The News has everything they need to write you up, and Adriana will hear of it with at least some interest (though be careful with the woman, a grand gesture like this is a risk too, she’s going to want to know what kind of game you’re playing before long and she’s not above pulling strings in the matchups).

How are you planning to spend the night? Do you pass it with family? In meditation? Do you have plans to work on, mechanical or tactical? Probably too much for Asil to hope she can come with you. Either way, you’ll be getting your pilot info during the night. By the way congrats, you’re the first of the rookie pilot crew to get matched up against one of the elites.
Opponent: Ada Smith
Mecha: Unseen Goose

Known statistics:
Power: *****
Speed: ***
Defense: ****

Pilot profile:
Smith is a veteran pilot leading the Mercenary Company known as the Snow Geese, headquarters unknown. Smith competed in Arena seasons 1 and 2, but has been absent since then and is returning to competition now unseeded. Her previous combat style was aggressive, using a heavily armored, high-power mecha with stealth systems to allow her to close effectively. The weight means that if her location is known, she can be avoided, but that is the only known weakness of her approach.

Terrain information:
Your battlefield will be in urban terrain amidst an abandoned settlement with overgrowth
Mobility will be high, but sightlines will be limited
Weather is expected to be wet and humid, with dense vertically high clouds making flight somewhat risky for both participants

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Grateful, first and foremost. Giri has a wry smile on her face. There's something about being waited on by a demon who wants to be human that feels like the last vestige of the damned. Agata is busy losing her mind, Piripiri is busy being yelled at, everyone that Giri would consider as her friends and loved ones among the barge has been scattered. So she is left with comfort from an unexpected source. And because it was not expected, it is all the more appreciated.

Had she done the right thing? The curse had leapt readily enough to Kalaya, and even Uusha could not complain that she was denied her vengeance, only had it directed. What had come over Kalaya though? Had the Rakshasa reached her at some point? When though? There was so little time for such things, everything had happened so fast, the Rakshasa couldn't have known it would turn out like this. Had there been an enchantment across the boat, was Kalaya the victim of bad luck and proximity? If so, Giri had done her a terrible wrong, though it would hardly be the first in her list.

She sighed and huddle the blanket closer to herself, her collar jingling beneath it. She, at least, had survived most of the fall unscathed, little more than some ripped clothes and cold muck on her. Small favors from...she didn't know which gods anymore. Even the spirit of Venus had been lost somewhere in the forest, poor girl.

Giri looked back up to the demon maid. Hadn't she been in a love affair of some sort? With the waitress of all people no less, if Giri had it right by those longing gazes.

Giri takes the cup of tea from the tray and before the snake demon can depart, Giri beckons her with a hand to stay. She takes a sip of the tea, blowing on it gently. "Thank you" she says. She lets that alone hang in the air for a moment, her eyes offering her sincerity. "I believe you may have petitioned my assistance on the ship, a little while ago?" Giri offers the slightest bit of extra grin, a little upturn at the corner of her mouth before she turns back to the tea again. "Well, here we are, we've stopped, all the things trying to kill us have stopped, and for the moment we have little else to do but try and recover. How can I be of assistance to you?"

Huntresses of Hybrasil

Mirror

To Valentina

Valentina de Alcard has never felt anything like this before. She stiffens when she’s pulled down, all surprise and wide eyes. She almost resists, there’s a moment of tension in her muscles. She’s not a woman used to be treated this way, the whole evening has held that sense that she’d rather be the one in charge, but then that’s also why she was so intrigued in the first place. She had not expected to lose her match.

So she lets the tension go out of her and lets you work. Mostly. She can’t quite relax all the way. The sense of eyes on her is too strong, she cares too much, even as you work across her body, to completely relax. A part of her mind is on everyone else, everything else, trying to predict the future and the consequences of this moment.

It’s only a small part though. She wants this very much. Her body wants this. Each nip of your teeth sends a shudder running through her. Her back arches, her shoulders pull together as the waves of ecstasy run through her and she can’t stop herself from leaning into them.

When the kiss comes, it’s too much and not enough all at once. She doesn’t understand, she wants to be devoured. She doesn’t understand, she wants to recover and pose for someone else. She doesn’t understand, so she doesn’t move. She allows the chaste kiss, and for a brief moment her confusion is so intense, so complete, that she really does forget everything else. She’s just there, she’s feeling every touch of your lips, her tongue, curious, carefully touches those lips but does not press further. Just far enough to taste a bit of her own blood, and the softness of it leaves her in ecstasy.

She stands because you help her. She moves because you move her. Your words, too fast for translation, snap out and pass into her and she’s there but she’s behind reality. She’s working on a lag. Later, maybe. There will be more later. But you’ve already walked off.

To Crescent

Crescent never tries to resist. She realizes what’s happening and she is impressed all the way into awe. You’re showing her something here, about how your attention works, about how much control you have, how much space there is in your mind, and how skilled and delicately you can move your tail without even having to look at what you’re doing.

Crescent brings herself close to Solarel, never touching, precisely as guided. From the frills of the dress, up the neck, and over the face oh so carefully. Close enough to create the feeling of phantom touch, but never ever breaking that perfect line.

She breathes hard, her eyes are intense, focused. She’s concentrating, never blinks, not even once so long as that tail is holding her. She’s taking in every bit of this, trying to sear it into her memory. She wants this for…herself? No, for someone else. The hunger isn’t there for her, but the desire, the value is.

When the words come out, Crescent mouths each one. “"Eyes. Wait. Soon. Reward. Obey. Misjudge…Dreams.” She’s going to hang on them. She’s going to puzzle over each one, almost as much as Solarel might.

When the tail finally releases, she brushes a paw on it lightly but longingly, leaving just a bit of her scent on the fur at the tip. But she says not a word, and then you walk away.

Solarel

There’s a little movement to do once Mirror walks away. Crescent checks you over delicately and carefully, ensuring that you have a clear, straight, and unobstructed view of the stage.

She’s working efficiently now. No coyness, no toying, just obeying Mirror’s instructions. Her touch is careful, delicate, and skilled. She considers smalltalk. Decides against it. Gets the job done instead, settles herself into a seat across from you now, instead of beside. When your legs recover, she won’t stop you from leaving, won’t even be in the way.

When she’s all settled, she does finally speak. “I guess we don’t have much compared to that” she says, letting out a long breath and relaxing a little. “I still have an offer for you. Here.” She slides a tiny piece of neural mesh across the table to you, enough to hold a short memory impression, little more than a still image and perhaps some location data. “If you ever decide that you need Zaldarian technology and you don’t want to deal with your new empress, take a look at this.”

Content, she leaves it on the table by your hands and turns her attention to the show. She’s not even looking at where you might put it.

***

Isabel

“Linterna?” Asil chuckles, nervously though. “What the fuck am I supposed to do about them, huh? It’s not like they reveal their lines in advance, not unless you work for them.” She tries to shrug, doesn’t quite carry it off, she’s too nervous and cares too much to really manage nonchalance. “I hope you didn’t call me over just to tell me you’ve had buyer’s remorse.”

She sighs, puts an elbow on the table, leans a hand into it, and doesn’t wait for you to answer, just launches into it leaning forward like that. “I’m being a dumbass. You want me to pitch you, right? This is a sales thing. Alright, sure. I came here to show my stuff to the best people, like you. I think it’s good enough. More than good enough! What I’m doing with the drones, Linterna doesn’t have that, they’re just doing cheap neural tech and enhancers. My tech might not have their polish, but it’s got more potential than they could dream of in their fancy high rises. And I did it with just me and a small team of techies. We don’t have four hundred people to polish it off and do all the seams, just me, one seamstress, one patterner, and two techs. You give me the kind of backing that lets me actually do polish and I’ll you show something really special.”

She turns her head then, glances at the Zaldarian designs, riveted. “Or, just think what I could do with a little of that. How about a few hundred micro-drones, mix the best of new and old. Oh yes, I could do some amazing stuff with that.”

That last one’s probably a better pitch than the actual pitch because she’s really dreaming. There’s a head full of ideas there. Creative in everything she does. Everything~

***

Dolly
Angela’s chatting now, a little with every dress. She’s impressed by the Zaldarians, especially the canine outfit. “Wonder how you’d like to be on all fours?” she asks. And “wonder how that might affect piloting, what if the neural interface could be reactive differently, shifting over the body, changing how it delivers feedback as the pilot needs it, maybe with a more complex AI directing it?” She’s a smart one, not just piloting a simple mecha with nothing going on.

She’s also getting comfortable with this arrangement. You’re stuck, she gets to hold you close in your wrap, tell you what she’s thinking, and you squirm and moan a little and have rapt attention for the show.

This would be perfect if not for the fact that Jade is still distracted somehow. And for the fact that several of the Hybrasilians at nearby tables continue to stare and hide their grins. They seem to have settled on the explanation that you’re just into this and were hitting on Angela and got what you wanted. They’re just smirking about it, you can feel it even from the ones behind you.

Mayze’s show is about to start though, and that’s going to be an exciting one for sure. Pity Jade’s still distracted, hopefully she set this up to record for her later review at least.

Jade

There’s a flurry of quick chats and hand signs again. The Zaldarian, Marik, doesn’t seem to think that he’s allowed to address you, and instead he’s trying to correct things with the engineer.

After a short burst, Nine Forests speaks again. “Marik wishes to apologize. He indicates that he was concerned that we would destroy his offering because of its suspicious nature and wished for your [blessing of protection]. He also tried to explain that Zaldarians have a different relationship to their gods, one in which they more clearly negotiate terms before making an offering. He begs forgiveness for his misstep and makes his offering freely. He says that he will remain and receive any blessing you would now willingly give.”

So there it is then. He wants to be well-received, did the best he could, followed your directions now. At least mostly. He’s waiting on your blessing, but then again he’s also waiting to watch what the engineers do with the data stick he handed them. Perhaps if they tried to destroy it, he would leap up, seize it, and flee. Awaiting your blessing is a good excuse for that, as well as perhaps sincere. Not that you necessarily know how to read a Zaldarian, but it makes some sense that when one can speak directly to a goddess, one wouldn’t assume their blessing was received until they stated it was so.

[If you want more of a read on him than this, you’ll need to roll]

***

The Fifth Fashion Line by Mayze Serpaws

Take it away, Mayze.

Huntresses of Hybrasil

Mirror (and Solarel)

Crescent gives you a relieved nod. Yes, she’ll do exactly as she was asked. She’s quite the obedient pirate, really. She must care a great deal about the offer she wanted to make Solarel, but the what and the why of it aren’t there with the information you have.

She’s a different sort of mystery for another time though, no time for it now, not when you’ve got to make your way across the room again, right? Though Valentina does indeed stumble. The shiver as you touch her arm runs through her whole body and she moans. Oh yes, she bites her lip, and with all the ambient noise and music it’s doubtful that anybody else can hear it, but you can feel the moan run through her, that beautiful “mmmm” and of course you hold her tight so that nobody sees her stumble as it takes her.

It’s a busy night for you though, there’s just so much happening. The Zaldarian show is starting, and that means Mayze is up next. And the way Solarel is looking at you, she dressed that way for you, didn’t she? It’s just a lot to take in, so much history and so much happening all at once. How are you handling it?

Solarel

That look you gave Mirror, she saw it. Crescent has already agreed with her instructions, and she’ll position you for the big show, and for the Zaldarien show that’s starting now. But, something is about to happen, you know Mirror well enough to tell. Just watch for another moment.

***

Dolly

Jade seems a little distracted. A question for you. How well does your neural mesh go the other way normally? Do you get any of what Jade is dealing with, or are you in the dark?

Of course, now that Angela is comfortable, she has started to chat with you again between shows. “...loved the strength there. You seem like you’d love those boots hm, do you think your goddess could jump further if you wore them piloting her? It would be a sight, even I admit that, maybe you can buy them if you advance far enough in the match for a proper reward. Or offer to model them, hm? That seems more your style. Maybe I get you in just the boots and nothing else sometime.” She’s grinning and enjoying teasing you, she even gives your bundled up body a little jostle.

Jade

The Zaldarian, whatever else they may be doing, does appear to take a hint. You see a rapid exchange of information with Nine Forests, both spoken and hand gestures simultaneously. Given your displeasure, they are doing it intentionally quietly so that you won’t be bothered until there is a presentation ready for you.

Presently, Nine Forests steps forward with a deep bow. “The Zaldarian says that his name is Marik Ka’Stockar and pays his obeisance to the goddess Smokeless Jade Fires. He wishes to make an offering...” Nine Forests gestures to the Zaldarian, who holds up a small data stick. This sort of data stick can hold a variety of data, up to a simple AI system. It could be dangerous, you’d want it scanned carefully first or read out to you via an external system. Nine Forests continues, “Marik claims that it contains information on your…um [fellow gods] whom you do not yet know. He asks only for your promise that we do not destroy it and then he will offer it to you freely and take his leave.”

The term “fellow gods” is a Hybrasilian term relating to spirits of a certain overall rank and power. Nine Forests is using it with some uncertainty. In the mythological sense, she seems to be interpreting the Zaldarian’s offer as something like a meeting of equals, spirits somewhere lower on the metaphorical pecking order than great creator deities, but higher than small or minor spirits. These would be spirits somewhat like Jade herself, or similarly spirits of very old trees, large rivers, or lakes, hence the choice of term.

How could he have known all this? Did he hear about you? Extrapolate from what you said in your match earlier? What do you do with this offer, Jade?

***

Isabelle

For sure you’ve unsettled her, she’s flustered. She wanted you to lead so she could follow, and instead she’s fidgeting, can’t sit still with your attention on her like this. She shakes one of her legs rapidly up and down in excitement and doesn’t even seem to realize she’s doing it. She’s blushing, you can see it even in the dim light. Her eyes are on you, but they’re on you, she can’t keep them to your face, she’s thinking about all of you, your breasts, your body, your butt. She’s not very good at hiding it, way too flustered, but way too deep to be self-aware, at least so far.

See, you gotta be careful of the nerdy ones, you never know what they’ve got going on. Because of course she wants your money and your patronage, she wants you to springboard her to power and glory, and of course she’s turned on by you. But look at the hunger in those eyes, the way her whole body is agitated. This one, Asil Marina, she wants to own you! She’s imagining what it would feel like if she had you tied down, helpless, the ropes pushing out your breasts, your belly. She’s imagining running a finger along your side, pressing in with the nail, drawing a thin line of red upon the skin until you can’t help but let out a yelp and then teasing you for it until you blush crimson.

[Take a string on her for your entice, you’ve got her dead to rights if you feel like it, even if you may not have expected what that was.]

If you think about it, specifics aside, this shouldn’t be that much of a surprise though. Asil isn’t just a random nerd. She’s the nerd that put her stuff on display for one of the top crowds in the known galaxy. The nerd who wanted it badly enough to push through layers of applications and contests, to sell herself, and to put herself out there even knowing that the most likely reception is a footnote mentioning that she did something similar to Linterna Brilliante with less polish (and gosh, weren’t they jerks for not coordinating better with the amateurs? They had all the time and money, and they just ignored the first part of the show and didn’t care).

Now, here’s the thing in all this. You’re setting the pace, absolutely. Asil is flustered and you’re holding the cards. But that intensity she’s got, it’s making you let something slip. So tell us, if not her in so many words. How could Asil Marina get you willingly alone and tied up for her to play with as she pleases?

***

The Fourth Fashion Line by Guildmaster Marinius Trilaka

We won’t bore you with the extended history lesson, but it is a big coup for a Zaldarien to be participating in this show. They don’t have fashion houses in the same way as TC does, but they do have crafting guilds and Marinius Trilaka is renowned as a master craftswoman among the Zaldariens. Her hold (Trilaka, the fact she shares the name is an honorific) is not far from TC space and they’ve been relatively friendly to trade since the Arena games started and the active conflict broke off, though most people are still hesitant.

All that is to say, Marinius brought several of her artisans with her to the show, and they appear to be working furiously to the last second to ensure everything works properly with the models. They fuss a bit with each one even as they walk out onto the stage.

This Zaldarian line is showing off a more modern look. Traditional Zaldarian formal clothing is made up of long, flowing robes, and more casual clothing tends to loose shirts, tunics, blouses, and tailored pants. Marinius has gone for tighter clothing designed to move with the model’s bodies. Most of the models are TC (as that’s what was provided with the show) but two of the artisan attendants are, somewhat awkwardly in their movement, also participating in the show, showing off the cut of the clothes that reveal copper and bronze midriffs and long loose arms.

As the models make their way out onto the carpet, though, the true effect of these clothes is shown off. The clothing that Marinius has worked is infused with nanobots to an extent normally only seen on core Zaldarian planets, and each piece of clothing is granted its own small spirit in tune with the model showing it off. As they walk the nanobots reshape the clothes themselves. This isn’t like the holograms or the neural mesh from earlier. This is real-time materials refabrication (with a bonus for modesty that the nanobots can create an opaque fabric cloud as they work to hide the body while the garment is being reshaped). The first model goes from a tight curve-showing short shirt to a one-shoulder longer blouse that grows loose at the waist and flutters, and then as she reaches the end and turns, the garment reworks into a backless shirt combined with a trailing scarf that flutters up behind her with the motion of her twirl.

The others are doing similar things. You see garments switch from short skirts to long dresses and back, legs revealing and then hidden and then revealed again. The fabric can change texture, rough and textured into smooth and silken for different stylings.

The two artisans, though they move awkwardly, show off the look on a Zaldarian body. One is avian, the other somewhat canine, and they go through a series of different changes to show off their features. Their garments almost seem to flow along their bodies, perhaps due to their greater comfort interacting with Zaldarian spirits than the normal models, so that the canine one can leap to all fours as she reaches the end of the runway and the dress she was wearing moves fluidly to a collar and a cape that runs down the shoulders while leaving her elbows and knees free to pivot as she turns and races back. Those who recognize Zaldariens will see that she had an intense blush, but carried it off with aplomb despite her embarrassment.

Marinius herself stands at the head of the stage and gives her each model and her students a hug at the end. This is a big deal for her and the way everyone is appreciating her work seems to have moved her deeply.

Huntresses of Hybrasil

Isabelle

“You wave that sort of money in front of me like that, I’ll think you’re trying to stuff it down my breasts, girl.” But Madame Toldeo is smiling wide, and it’s not actually the money that got her. You really got her with the weather effects, you could tell from the way her eyes lit up. The tails not so much, seems like she’s already seen plenty of Hybrasilians and Zaldarians and doesn’t think much of you trying to imitate them, but that first idea of a dress that trails mist and light, that gives you your own environment as you move through a room and can still adjust for everyone close to you and far from you, that has her feeling inspired. And a woman like that, she hasn’t felt inspired in a long time because so many things are rote to her, business that she’s done a thousand times. But this, setting it up, supporting it, taking these technologies and doing something new with them, new even to the people who have come from across the galaxy, that she is excited about.

Isabelle, Madame Toldeo really shows off those strong thighs as she picks you up into a strong and affectionate hug. You can feel her press you tight, and no this isn’t just something for everyone as a personal affectation, this is what you get for pulling her in and making her see the stars again. She wants this, she wants to be with you, now, wants to be a part of what you’re making.

Emidio can see this is something special and he’s got all his notes happening as well as getting carefully out of the way as Toldeo closes in on you so he’s not blocking anybody’s movement. When she finally lets you go, she’s still beaming. “Teresita Bioluminescence, that’s the young designer’s brand. Too long if you ask me, but it’s memorable to say out loud, less so in writing since nobody ever gets it right, you ask me. But no mind that. Sit here, watch the show and I’ll introduce you. Teresita I can get out for you now, the others you’ll need to get after the show if you can catch them. If not, I’ll be sure they get your offer and that it’s received very favorably!”

Then she walks away to grab the mind behind Teresita Bioluminescence, though not before giving you a kiss on the cheek as she departs.

[Take a string on Madame Toldeo.]

Teresita Bioluminescence is represented (headed? You’re not sure and Madame Toldeo didn’t make it clear) by a thin, somewhat scrawny woman with short hair in a pixie cut who joins you at your table. She’s wearing white tuxedo pants, a white shirt, and a teal blue double button vest for the evening, not currently displaying any of the tech she was showing off, though she’s got quite a number of monitors with neural mesh links on her left glove for various things, probably controls for some of the drones, or at least status screens. She introduces herself as Asil Marina, lead designer. Hands you a card. Paz is still here, he’s eating up this exclusive (too much?). This girl though, she’s not sure what to do. Folds her hands awkwardly. Looks at you, opens her mouth, closes it. You’re too important, she doesn’t know what to say. It’s on you to make the first move here.

***

Dolly

You’re being held by two goddesses. Or…of course you’re being held by one goddess and one very strong woman, how ridiculous that even your blissed out mind would equate the two. Just watch the show, no more thoughts.

Jade

The vastness of the hangar must be something, even for a deity like you. The scale of being within Akar the Arena really is something. The pilots may be gone, but that leaves the engineers to bustle like hive insects as ships great and small move things in and out of the space.

You are, of course, very focused on your priestess and your new prey. But, you’re also having some work done. Angela Victoria Miera Antonius may not have been able to really hurt you, not with Dolly’s lovely dancing, but you were bitten by quite a large number of gnats. Each one, though it has no effect upon core systems, leaves a little part of your body feeling not quite perfect. Internal diagnostics indicate that this will only affect your overall performance by 0.01% (your scenario planning module has come up with a very small number of scenarios where modification to aerodynamics at that level of precision affects the outcome of combat, mostly involving long range ordinance with unexpected payloads at precision distances), which is to say that it’s not important, but on the other hand, a goddess deserves no less than perfection. So, it must feel nice to have engineers working over your body and fixing all those little gnat bites, smoothing your great metal skin and ensuring that you look pristine as a goddess ought.

Your team of Hybrasilian engineers is, of course, well-trained in work on you. They are also well-trained in ensuring that someone unknown does not approach you without making appropriate supplications. In Dolly’s absence and in an unfamiliar hangar, that at least includes a hangar ID card with authority to outrank the engineering team. The mysterious visitor here, however, has no such card, and your attention is first drawn to them as they start gesturing vociferously and signing to the outermost of your engineers on the edge of your docking bay a story below you.

The visitor is Zaldarian. You do not know them. You’ve never actually met a Zaldarian before (having been incarnated too recently to have fought in the war) but the programmers whose work attracted your essence provided data on them. Thus, what you recognize is that this Zaldarian is in the traditional form: they appear as a bipedal bird-like creature with dark dull-iron skin, and wearing a set of loose robes that leave only the face, neck, and lower arms exposed in what the Hybrasilians understand to be traditional Zaldarian dress. This particular Zaldarian is wearing black with gold highlights around the neck and edging of the cloak down the sleeves and along the back. Your data does not indicate whether the colors and dress have any specific association with a Zaldarian community or sub-group.

Your engineers probably will not let this visitor approach you. Sensors do not indicate any weaponry, however. They are simply an unexpected guest with a strong desire to meet you. Do you intervene?

***

Solarel (and Mirror)

Crescent is taken aback by the attack. She specialized in fighting Zaldarians and came into this encounter extremely prepared for that. She obviously did not brush up on TC anime culture to the same extent and the called attack confused her, so that rather than going for an opening, she went defensive and didn’t expect the hard roundhouse kick, which shook her.

[Crescent marks Frightened, one of two conditions before she would be taken out]

Left on her own, she’d probably have stayed defensive, tried to get back on top of the situation and moved it back into her rhythm. She’d have enjoyed that in her way. Even in the dim light of the booth, Solarel, you can see the way she adjusts, her lithe motions, the strength behind her swaying body. Hybrasilians are attractive in a fight and seeing one start to take it seriously, knowing what those paws of hers are capable of, it’s hot.

[Crescent responds to the Fight by taking a new string on you.]

But then, you hear an old voice, and it’s calling out a command. Crescent hears it too, and she’s a catgirl who understands the tone of command and is used to following it. She changes tactics instantly: she drops out of her defensive stance, leaps against the booth wall using all four paws for balance, and then pushes off before her momentum even settles, shooting herself behind you. There’s an instant of pain, the feeling of claws tearing into the neck right where Mirror said to hit you, and then you slump in place and you can’t move your lower body, the connection’s been severed.

This is temporary. Your nanobots, directed by your body’s needs and any local spirits you’re carrying with you, will repair the damage if you’re left alone. From how fast the pain was, it probably wasn’t even that deep a hit, you’ll be fine in a few minutes (well, you’ll still hurt, but you’ll be functional). You can still speak and gesture, can look out and see Crescent standing in front of you, and behind her, Mirror holding a Consortium woman possessively.

Also, be reassured that your dress was not touched. This was a single clean blow at the open neck and your clothing and all your scale decoration remain untouched. You look rather like a broken doll at the moment, beautiful and pristine, legs simply unworkable.

This fight wasn’t ever about really hurting you though. Crescent stopped immediately after this, leaping out of arm’s reach and balancing herself on the edge of the booth seat. She’s looking at Mirror with respect, back at you with desire, back at Mirror with uncertainty.

Mirror

Mirror, you probably don’t know this Tigress. She never served on any science stations where you were, and she obviously didn’t know TC space. It’s possible Solarel mentioned her once, but their fight was brief and more meaningful for Crescent than it was for Solarel herself, so no guarantees you have that connection to make.

She knows who you are though. Well, no, she knows who you are now, you were just on a lot of very large TVs a short time ago embarrassing your current date.

She addresses you by your star name. “Whispered Promise, my star name is Waxing Crescent Moon. I was…speaking with this Zaldarian just before you passed by. I wished to make her an offer, but she insisted on a contest of dominance first and I granted it. I hope I have done you credit. How can I assist you?”

She’s giving off a mixed scent of fear and heat. She was enjoying herself, got thrown, not hard to see. She’s nervous about why you intervened, some of the fear is that she’s done something to offend you, and her body language is respectful in the self-introduction: fur down, back straight rather than arched, facing you directly with her stomach open. She offered only her star name though and didn’t offer a clan. Might be a pirate. Hardly surprising in this area, but worth consideration. Also, isn’t it nice speaking with another Hybrasilian? Much clearer than everybody else.

***

The Third Fashion Line by Linterna Brilliante

Mirror, this is the one that Valentina said she liked, useful pilot tech in addition to the fashion.

There’s a brief pause after Murasaki finishes, as the stage is reconfigured. A new platform is laid atop the existing one with a set of stairs and open underneath it, creating two tiers for the models to walk simultaneously, one directly above the other. The supports are spread out, so a model could reach down and touch the model below her through the sides at most points.

The line is interesting. Stylistically, they did focus on pilot garb: flight suits with pants and vests, a few matching three piece suits that look comfortable to move in for more formal occasions. Modern and extremely well-made (close inspection shows the quality of the cut, seams, and styling are just absolutely top tier). But what really makes Linterna Brilliante stand out, and why they needed the multiple levels of walkway, are the gadgets. The first pair have a set of high heeled boots that are obviously designed for improved mobility and wrist cuffs that offer leveraged strength. The lower model, with the boots, repeatedly leaps into the air, and the upper model catches, swings, and tosses her, then the lower model comes down on the other side to be caught again and swung back into her walkway. They continue to advance while doing this, performing three stunts through each open section of the walkway platform.

The next performers have boots that can either stick to a surface with high strength or do some local gravity alteration, you’d have to get really close to tell which. Their paired walk is both of them rotating themselves around the upper platform one behind the other, and using just their feet.

Several models after them do variations of this. Linterna is still a fashion house, after all, and they want to show off their suits for cold climates (fur lined, with accents at the cuffs and the neck and big fluffy hoods) and their suits for hot weather which mix a more revealing look including the models’ very pretty open bellies and a bit of high tech environmental regulation and liquid monitoring software.

Their big finisher is a set of paired models. These two are in formal dress, both in tuxedos with gloves and tails, tight cut, revealing their curves under the jackets. And they’re putting on a magic show for the audience. They’ve got setup with watch style gadgets and something worked into the suits that’s giving them a light show and some limited conjuring. This isn’t anything as complex as on the spot fabrication (though rumors are that the Zaldarian showing next will be pulling that out), this is more about lasers, holograms, big shows of animals running about with them, one of them pulls a rabbit out of an actual top hat (that was definitely in there but the suit let them obfuscate the trick and offered some pretty neat visual distortion), they the two models do another round of acrobatics near the end, this to flashing lights and soundless fireworks. The whole thing is showing off a kind of glamorous and formal utility. Look how well these clothes move, how they hold up through a performance, how you can be stronger, faster, more mobile!

It’s an interesting take for haute couture, less flashy than either of the previous ones, but better executed than the amateur designers. It’s a little hard to tell where Linterna Brilliante is coming from on this though. The show would have looked like this from designers who failed to read the room on regular expectations or from designers who had nothing to prove and wanted to just revel in their own work. Most people will give them the benefit of the doubt given how well their clothing sells, but it’s hard to be sure.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"Have I told you about curses yet?" Giri's mother was stirring the pot. For dinner, not magic, it was a lovely stew flavored with spring leaks and a hint of cinnamon. The evening was sunny, the sun was still out and wouldn't set for another hour yet, and it was warm without having yet reached the summer heat. Giri had finished sweeping and was sitting with a book as her mother spoke. She had been studying magic for a few years at this point, knew some sigils, a basic calling for the most minor sort of demon, but still her breath quickened.

"It's a good night for talking about curses. The farmers tell their stories of such things on cold fall nights and in the dark of winter because it produces fear, but you don't want that when learning. It can make them go awry. Curses aren't just magic. Oh, you can give someone boils or rot a few crops with the right spell if you really want, but that's brief, no different than putting conjured fire to poor use. A real curse worthy of the name comes with emotion. It comes with hate in it, with spite." Her mom looked nervous even in the spring light. Stirred the stew a little more, tasted him, sighed with contentment. "Real hate, you've got to feel that in your heart and your soul. It's got to be strong enough that the speaker will ruin themselves for it, will offer anything, desecrate anything. When a person feels that way, even one without any magic, they can bring doom upon the source of their hate. Someone with magic like us, or someone with an ancient right or a high station, they can bring down something lasting, something hard to break. That's a curse, a real honest to the gods curse. That's why we talk about it on a night like this, when things are good and we can stop and enjoy this stew. Because when a curse sets in, things can get bad and stay bad. They'll follow a person or a place they're cast on, and they'll ruin and ruin and ruin. Sometimes they follow their children, their friends, even bounce to the people who try to help them if they're strong enough."

She sighed, sipped the stew again, and offered it to Giri with a smile. "It's good, try it." Only after they had eaten and drunk, wine as Giri was already in her teens, did her mother continue. "You may be called on to break a curse someday. Tread carefully. A curse may not be yours to break. Ask first. Understand if those afflicted are innocent or guilty and why the affliction is with them. Most curses are best broken with symbolism appropriate to the wrong they stem from. Forgiveness, even belated will often do best. Children are more easily forgiven by magic for the sins of their parents, grandchildren even moreso, but those who have learned nothing may find the curse never broken and you will only harm yourself intervening for them. Being a wise woman requires that you be wise. It can be a heavy burden on these matters. For most people, a curse is like a storm. It comes, it passes, it is beyond them. But if you have the learning of it, then a curse is more akin to a rabid beast: dangerous and powerful, but you can hunt it, fight it, trap it. And therefore just as a hunter will be called on take responsibility for the problem of such a beast, a witch may be called on to be responsible for a curse. Be wise, Giri."

***

Damn it mom, what the hell was wisdom in all this? Uusha had a Right, gods be damned. She was many things, but stabbed, wounded, holding the role of the stag and following the ancient ways, she had a Right to this. A deeper one than Giri's promise to the Red Wolf or any penance for her blood magic on unwilling subjects. And here was this curse spewing forth like a flood, a darkness that would wash over everyone here.

Giri had a debt with almost everyone on this deck (and was sorely lacking a certain Rakshasa at whom she'd gladly have directed the whole thing with glee). Even the fool priestess and her spirit of Venus, that had become a tragedy and she could not inflict this on them, they were not the target of Uusha's ire. To the Red Wolf, a debt of service, to Piripiri two debts of life now, to the maid a debt of service. To Uusha herself, a debt of protection.

Only the knight she did not know, who had done no wrong, and her friendship with Kalaya, who had. Kalaya. Why? Did you so disagree with Uusha's methods that you would do this? Was it the prophecy, did you hope in this madness to protect Ven? You don't deserve this, but you've done a great wrong. A wrong not only of harm but of the special sharp sting of betrayal to her own order, her land, her people. That drew the curse, called to it like the blood-crazed hound it was.

Giriel looks at Kalaya, eyes pained. She prays to every one of the planets that you can forgive her someday.

Then she raises her arms outstretched, palms out, the oldest gesture of warding there is. She chants in the old tongue, the tongue of magic, and what she says is "not here, not them. Seek thou the heart of thy betrayal and them alone." And then she points, and her finger is upon Kalaya, alone upon the deck, and the great shadow that ushers forth from Uusha has its direction.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

She's not dead.

Giriel blinks. Looks around her. The teahouse waitress. She might never stop thinking of Piripiri that way. She was there first, the obviously too well-informed waitress. She carries herself like one too, even when she's demonstrating her full dragon-blooded strength, still moves like a waitress. Always serving. Giriel will hold onto that, might even bring it up someday, but there's little enough left of her to talk now. She's just grateful she's not dead. Not even on fire! Like she didn't owe Piri enough as it was. Some debts simply can't be repaid, you can only try to be someone worthy of what you received.

She shakes her head, trying to clear it. The tinkling of Agata's collar drowned out by the sound of the barge still plowing through land. Three demons to counsel now. One of Venus. Never had she imagined that a spirit of the goddess of love could know such despair.

"I want to have a life that is more alive than 'I guess the fexin leaf is strong enough that I won't kill myself today'" the words rang in Giriel Bruinsteads head over and over. Was that the first true thing she'd ever heard from the little masked priestess? She'd overthrown the General for that. Ha! Madness. The highest sort of madness, the kind unmoored from any miscreation. No cosmic grudge this, nor ordained mistake of nature, nor antagonist from beyond the realms. No, this was the sort of madness that existed entirely for itself, for its own sake.

So she had three demons to counsel now.

The Rakshasa was gone. Well, the Rakshasa wasn't on the boat visibly, that was basically the same as gone in her case. Heavens willing, she'd actually fallen.

What then? What was Giriel's duty now? She stood slowly, her muscles straining. The net was heavy, but she was a strong woman, and she had something to do as she took in the deck. She picked it up with her and gazed at Uusha and the Red Wolf. Ah, there was her prophecy, the combat between the Red Wolf and Uusha, all the doom she had seen. And Kalaya throwing herself into it. Will they hear her, perhaps?

Giriel steps forward. Into the combat, into the heart of it, placing a hand over Kalaya. "Stop!" she says, for what good it will do. Her body will do more. "No more fighting. No more chaos. Not here, not now. Peace, above all, whatever it may take." Her glare is for Uusha and the Red Wolf in turn. And it is on Cathak Agata that she lingers. Let them go, stop the boat, focus on what must be done, and let Kalaya and Petony drag Uusha away.

[Giri will spend her string on the Red Wolf to influence her and ask what it will take to make her abandon the fight and let the knights go free, dragging away Uusha if they must. She may simply do it given that Giri is cashing a string on it.]

Huntresses of Hybrasil

Solarel

“Sure, yeah, I can work with that. In fact, this will be fun.” Crescent smiles and licks her lips, showing you her fangs. They’re thick and long, and you have just enough time to catch the metallic gleam of what seems like some slight strengthening from nanobot technology before she plants her paws into the bench and hard shoulder checks you into the wall.

It’s relatively lucky that The Jungle has such a strong Hybrasilian aesthetic. If this wall had been all concrete or metal, a part of your body might have broken and even if it could have been regenerated with nanobots it would have really hurt! Instead, you’re slammed into a wall of hanging vines and ivy, which still fucking hurts but not in quite the same debilitating way.

Crescent is taking advantage of the power of Hybrasilians in personal combat though. Being a head shorter than you, she’s got a low center of gravity and that lets her rebound like a gymnast from the hit and have her balance faster than you. You catch a glimpse at your cores before she goes in for a punch to the face, claws out. She’s fought Zaldarians before and not just at long range like your mecha fight, she was checking to see how your energy was doing and whether she needed to brace for an explosion.

Oh, one other thing before you hard launch into a fight here. If you wreck the place or disrupt the show, you will be escorted out of the building by a lot of guards, important pilot or not. No seeing Mirror or the Hybrasilian designer tonight if that happens.

So, response to this?

***

Mirror

“I…I…” Valentina’s breath is hot, intense. Definitely the first Hybrasilian she’s ever kissed. You can tell she liked it, the way her tongue brushed your lips. She wanted more, wanted you. She’s so unsure though, and you can see the way her mind is going. There’s an internal decision happening there, a woman who’s getting tired of feeling that unsure.

“Yes” she says and means no. She looks like she wants to kiss you again. Stands up instead. Straightens her back. There’s a blush in her cheeks. She wants more. She wants to know what your tongue feels like. In her mouth. And in other places. You’ve got something over her here, but she’s not falling all over herself, not yet. Honestly, it’s impressive poise all told, you’ve seen trained huntresses that would collapse into a mewling mess over less than this. But not this woman. Valentina de Alcard has pride and she’s going to hold herself together through the fashion show come hell or high water. After though, get her alone and you could curl her into the palm of your hand.

[Take a string on Valentina de Alcard]

You watch the stage for a moment. The next house is starting. Murasaki from Shiki. They’re an odd one. They don’t incorporate any modern technology into their designs at all. All traditional techniques, hand-sewn embroidery and stitched long robes. The most sophisticated piece of tech that goes into their designs are tools powered by electric motors. They manage beautiful lines though.

There’s something else odd. You’d drifted with Valentia a bit further from the stage, you’ve still got two shows to get back, but you notice that there’s some kind of fight in a booth near you, a Hybrasilian Tigress going after a tall Zaldarian. Almost looks like Solarel in fact, though the light is dim in the booth and the glint of pink scales and a very feminine cream dress don’t particularly speak to you of the former Zaldarian champion.

***

Dolly and Jade

Angela’s eyes go wide for a moment. She stares. At you, at your paw, the bodies close, the softness over her face, no sharp claws of any sort, but that pressure. And you call yourself the jackal for your huntress, isn’t that something. She doesn’t know what to make of all that, your impish tail curling around. And then Jade cuts you off and oh no, oh no, that face, that glare building and building. What…what’s she going to do?

And then she has it. Angela humphs and grins, so wickedly. “You are through then? Your goddess does not wish me to know anymore? Fine, little imp, you clearly cannot be trusted to sit with me by yourself.” With one hand, Angela pulls the tablecloth clean off the table near you all in a swift motion, the oval vase of pink flowers in the center barely shakes. Then she’s got her hand on you, and the linen cloth is over you. First over that arm, the one with the mesh, she knows what that looks like, she’s a pilot! She knows you didn’t touch her, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous, and so arm first, pinning it to you safely wrapped in cloth. Then around, pulling your legs together tight, so the knees touch, and up over the tail too. Now, only now does she pull your arm from her face, you silly kitten. She’s pinning you, wrapping that arm against you too, tight to your side, pulling you into a cocoon of tablecloth. You pulls it once more around your whole chest, pressing your breasts in, you can feel the constant pressure of the wrap against them too, and then with a final cinch she pulls it tight and knots it about your back.

“Mm, now, now we watch the show, little Dolly. Murasaki is my favorite. You’ll tell me yours when it’s done, aye? Assuming your goddess permits you speak again before the night ends?” Then she hefts you over one shoulder and positions you to look out over the railing with her. They’re showing silk robes with beautiful designs on them, embroidered with trees and flowers you’ve never seen before from a planet you’ve never visited.

So, good luck moving now, enjoy the visual treat. How are you both feeling about all this?

***

Isabelle

Madame Toldeo looks only slightly stern at being fetched by your attendants. She expects this to be worth it, she’s a busy woman and the showing of expensive dresses takes a great deal of logistics. Every model must be at the top of her game, must show the fabric and the make and the design to its fullest. Many aren’t used to the traditional fabrics from Murasaki of Shiki on display here either, though you’ve seen them before, they are popular with a certain kind of elegant upper crust on TC Prime.

But anyway, the point here is that Emidio is very ready to take notes and Madame Toldeo is impatient and would be more than happy to snap even you in half if you’ve wasted her time.

Also, a word of warning to you. Adriana Teresio is a woman of style. Sponsoring a fashion house would get her attention because it is a declaration of style. You would be a patron of the arts, the prime model for their work, beautiful, powerful, and therefore valuable. Sponsoring two houses is a show of extravagance, but you can’t just wear two competing designs at the same time and expect to look good, you need aesthetics. You’d better have a plan for putting your two choices together into something new, something really spectacular. If you don’t, this might backfire on you.

So, what is your plan here?

***

The Second Fashion Line by Murasaki

Murasaki of Shiki is all about the classics. They’re showing a mixture of long dresses, kimonos, and court robes with wide sleeves. They emphasize pinks, blues, and purples interlaced with gold and silver. Embroidery on the outfits is focused on Shiki: local flowers, birds (real and mythological), trees and mountains, the bright sun of Shiki setting over water.

The thing to understand about them, as Mirror has already noted to herself, is that the work of Murasaki is all low tech. They make their dresses with classic sewing techniques and locally grown or raised fibers. The most sophisticated they’ll get is a sewing machine powered by an electric motor. Patterns are hand drawn and hand cut, the artwork hand-stitched for the most part, perhaps a bit of machine stitching if you look very closely. No nanobots, no projectors, no neural mesh, nothing hovering or doing weird light shows. Just classical beauty. Murasaki has nothing to prove, and the house’s line is them exalting in their planet and its unique beauty.

The crowning piece is a dragon robe, a long gown with wide sleeves depicting a mythological beast from Shiki’s tradition (and a shockingly high number of other places it seems, giving some credence to the theory that celestial dragons are a real sort of being that roams deep space). This robe is in bright pink silk fabric, and it is decorated with a pattern of gold and silver waves that run across from the shoulders down to the waist on both sides. Rising from them across both sides of the chest is the great dragon in gold and some kind of precious green gems woven into the fabric. Its mouth is open and a roaring red gout of fire blows forth from it in triumph towards the sky above. It’s quite the sight, and it sparkles and glimmers with every step of the model, who carefully waves her hands so that the sleeves sway and shimmer in the light but never obscure the dragon.