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[Ximal]

17th. Winter. 512AV

Freezing, the best way to describe the air. So cold it hurt the lungs to breathe. But this was the weather Xi was after. The cold air where breathing was hard so he could attempt to build up his own personal cardioid and strength. Slow deep breaths, pulling the cold air deep into his lungs he held the air there before taking off in to a sprint from absolutely nothing, he needed to to build his endurance. sprinting in a straight line multiple times was a good way to do this . but doing it without taking a breath for as long as he could was an even more effective way. Holding his breath he sprinted around the training grounds. One lap...Two laps...Three laps. Then his breath burst out of him needing for him to drink deep the sweet nectar that was air to fill his lungs. Coughing lightly he sucked down the air. He'd don a three and a half laps of the training grounds. Almost 200 meters at full speed, and without breath but that wasn't good enough. Xi grunted and stood back up to full height. Running in all of his equipment as he was it was difficult but he would try to get further. Repeating the process again and again each time edging further by a few meters until finally he hand to stop and hunched over. His hands on his knees and sucking air down deeply. Sucking down as much air as he could he let the breaths roll back into him Slow and deep just trying to push the air bnack into him and slow his pounding hear down again. rising up from his knees her held himself steady for a few seconds just regaining his balance. Over his time in the spires Xi had learn the couldn't hit trees so he'd ended up hitting something else instead. Picking up a few fallen branches very thick ones before lashing a rope around the top and taking out his axe to carve the bottom of it into a point for him to steak into the earth. Whittling of strands of wood piece by piece before finally he could pierce the frozen earth with a pointed end and have the steak stand under it's own power. Sliding back his sleeves lightly he brought his hand up and thrust out a hard punch at the steak. The impact with the rope made a dull thud and the steak didn't move but his hand was now slightly stinging. Good a full power blow from him hadn't moved the steak. Xi now took a slow deep breath again before letting his fists fly in a flurry of strikes. Kicks, punches, elbows, knees, forearms, shins. Each punch was about a third of his normal speed due to the sheer weight of the equipment he was weapon but it was more than enough for him. Xi took a slow breath before letting the feeling return to his hands. He'd hit hard, but not hard enough to break anything. falling to the floor Xi began to preform push-ups, being in the spires he'd gotten better at climbing things but his strength was beginning to falter as a side excursion. Doing push-ups in almost eighty pounds of gear was a challenge but one he was enjoying mostly as it was helping him build himself and protect others. Slow breaths, Push up, hold...hold...drop, repeat. Twenty three...twenty four...twenty five.

[Nasrin]

Nasrin scowled mightily as she trudged her way through the brittle, dying brush on the ground area of The Spires, making her way from the Winding Way to the training area she remembered from her time living with the other djed storm refugees. She'd been lax in practicing with her weapon lately, and that was unacceptable; it wouldn't do to slip in her proficiency, so she resolved to spend the whole day in the training yard practising her forms, agility, and maybe even hypnotising a small animal or two. The crisp air stung her throat and nose in a manner she was most unaccustomed to, and she longed achingly for the shining sands and dry heat of Ahnatep. The thought of home sent a sharp pang, tightening her chest in an uncharacteristic surge of emotion. It had now been more than a year since she'd seen her friends, her family, her home; she wished that she'd learned to cook her homeland's dishes before she left, but such things had been left to the few slaves her family owned. It was with fond thoughts of light tonic and bread breakfasts that she entered the training camp, surprised to see her herbalism student already there. She supposed that perhaps he did not have gaurd duty that day. "Ximal!" She called his name to alert him of her presence, striding forward to examine the thick bundle of branches staked into the cold ground. She pushed at it with one foot, testing its durability, leaning all of her meager weight against it. She nodded, sasisfied when the post only shifted a scant fraction of an inch and promptly bounced back. The bark seemed strong and would hold up well to the strikes of her blade.

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana trudged her way into the training grounds, feet dragging with every step, her body was heavier than a boulder could have been. With shortsword at side, the thief kept her body wrapped tightly in her black cloak, the hood offering little protection from the light winds which blew. She was here to stay warm, for when one exercised, they became hot and sweaty, and that- that was what Ana was aiming to achieve today just to stay warm; her skin was cold and clammy feeling. For anyone who saw her now, she could have been drunk from the night before and was still drunk now, her cheeks were so red, and her eyes seemed glassy like water. Her eyes were to the ground, as she watched where she stepped- walking was a chore for her to do right at the moment and required most of her concentration. Had she of known of the two that were there, she might have never came to the training grounds; Ximal, and that perfume seller were here. Ana heard the familliar, enriched voice of the Eypharian woman before she saw her, the woman was going towards Ximal. Who was, not coincidentally, beating up what looked to be a pole in the cold ground. One of two things happened, Ana froze in her tracks and stared; the thief didn't have the perfume on her at all, nor had she used it yet, but she hadn't bothered to change her green hands to cream color. Nor fix that awful red streak in her blonde white hair, at that moment, Ana was glad for her cloak to hide her features. Fear drove her energy, and her actions, instead of running away- Ana grasped at djed strands and directed them to her hands. The cream color of her skin envisioned in her mind as she ran her palm against the green affected limb, slowly, she concentrated hard on changing the green back to their original cream color. Ana just stood there, working quietly, there was no way she could do this without even more retribution coming upon her head. Glancing down at her first hand, she saw it was cream, but only if she kept her djed flowing lightly there, so she worked on her next hand- sending the djed there as well and doing the same thing as the first one. Walking as she did the second hand and arm. Whispers told her she wouldn't have to worry, that if she opened the flood-gates of her djed, everything would be fine. Just fine. Peachy. Swell. But Ana didn't know if she could trust that, just using more was making her feel rather dizzy as she moved slower than before. Her hands would have to be enough, Ana didn't think she could expel more energy, she felt as if she were on her last dregs of it. Coming to the training grounds was a bad idea, but as she came to the two, Ana croaked out in a small whisper "Good morning" to the two, "chilly is-isn't it?" Ana chattered her teeth, voice thick with congestion.

[Ximal]

AS Xi pushed through his push ups he could feel himself working up a sweat even in the shockingly cold weather. Almost as if to show just how much he'd let his usual training slip. Grunting he pushed through the push-ups. Forty-seven...Forty-eight...Fourty-nine...Fif- Then his attention was snapped of course by a call out of his name...In a voice that he recognized and over the course of autumn...Had come to dread for a through inlay of tongue lashings and berating. Drawing himself up from the ground he groaned both in pain and in expectation of a severe striking of words. Standing slowly he brought a gloved hand to his neck and helped it crack. Breathing in both a deep breath and letting out a half sigh he groaned out a response. "Hello nasrin. What brings you to my place of teaching ? I thought that you would be up in the city participating and perfecting that which you adore. Not down here in the frozen mud where, i find myself consistently to perfect my art." Tilting his head back to full position and straining back to full standing he smiled lightly and dropped back his hood letting the cold air bite at his cheeks and swim around his head. however a small figure caught his eye. One that he knew upon sight. The hooded thief that he'd grown a small attachment too, more for her safety than much else. Still He owned her from a time on the third...And he had to repay her but knowing her she might mistake his good will and call him a creep or something of the like. so having received his payment from working he thought he'd do well to repay her in a means that she knew of, and possibly preferred. Taking another deep breath he fished around and pulled off one of the pouches attached to his body pack and called out to ana. His voice raised a little louder than it's usual low volume and it boomed like thunder at full heft. "ANA! I didn't get a chance to thank you for what you did on the third. So, as a show of thanks, take this!" Xi rolled his arm under and hefted a bag of one hundred golden mizas to the tiny thief. He wasn't that good at throwing so he aimed for her chest with low power. Still this was two visitors he had not expected to visit him in the training grounds. One for too light a touch, one for too little an endurance. Before Anything more could be said Xi took three steps back and leapt up into the air and began to pull himself up upon the branch that lay over head. Mostly to strengthen his arms, partially to help his grip when climbing. As he pulled himself up upon the branch he called out again to the two women before him. "Well, if your going to be in the training grounds you might as well train! Exercise is good for you, however ana from the way your talking...and the way you sound i'd recommend having a rest."

[Zandelia]

Zandelia had watched with some amusement the antics of the others. She knew them all, if one only by reputation, name and face. Ana and Ximal were, of course, well known enough to her – having been led to the Spires by her in the first place, at least after Cade had died. The Ephyrian, however, was an unknown. She made it her business to know as much about those whom lived in her ‘domain’ as was mentally and physically possible, yet gathering the requisite data was hard at times. She knew the Ephyrian as Nasrin, a creator of scents by trade. It was an amicable enough profession, but Ephyrian’s were tricky to discern true motives with.

They tend to have at least half a dozen at once, all of which are generally conflicting. For all I know she likes making scents for money, yet her real ambition is to open a manure business she thought, dismissing it instantly as ludicrous but smiling all the same as she waked slowly down into their midst.

It was not a surprise to see Ximal there, it was the only place he really spent any prolonged period of ntime. He seemed truly devoted to turning himself into another block-headed, brawny grunt like Cade. In all fairness, there was some intelligence flickering inside his skull, reminding her of Mok in some ways, but he chose to waste it. Why was not her concern, she had her uses for muscle as and when they were required. At least this muscle she would know could understand orders when given concisely. Why he owed Ana a hefty purse of gold, however, was something she would need to ask the young woman in private. She sought no claims over independence, however she liked to know what was owed where – it made it easier to plan properly.

“Ximal, when are you going to learn that climbing trees won’t turn you into a Jamoura?” she called out to him, shaking her head as he continued his routine without pause. He was dedicated, she had to credit him with that.

“Training are we Ana?” she asked the young woman as she came to stand beside her now, their gazes watching Ximal’s form pull itself up and let itself down repeatedly. “You know, that boy has far too much energy for his own good” she smiled wryly at her companion.

“Still, if training means I perhaps get to spar with an exotic beauty possessed of four arms, who am I to grumble?” she asked the universe at large as she winked at the Ephyrian and began to pull off her Shadowsilk robes and armour. She was left with her tight leather pants, blouse and corset – everything else draped across a small shrub nearby.

“Last one to fifty buys the drinks eh?” she called as she paced to Ximal.

She was rather more graceful with finding her own branch, running up the tree trunk and kicking outwards so that she could clench her grip around the rough bark of a lower beam. She began to pull herself up and let herself down as Ximal was doing – finding the going much harder than expected. After all, she hadn’t really trained properly in some time, she had grown softer over time. Her breathing began to heave after fifteen repetitions, sweat drenching her clothing in places she was sure she would rather have stayed dry. Still, she had begun now and she had never backed out of anything in her life, not when she had put her mind to it at any rate. Twenty five repetitions was almost at her breaking point, her muscles screaming at her and her pace much slower now, and worse of for it. She knew that the quicker one was done the better it was, but she could not summon the reserves in her muscles – now seeming to tear apart from the inside out. She managed a further ten – making her total 35 – before her grip gave out and she landed, rather unceremoniously, upon the ground.

“I tell you what you oaf, you may have a smaller brain than I but your body is certainly better. We’ll have to trade one day methinks” she told Ximal as she experimentally stretched her shoulders and arms, mostly to see if they still existed.

[Nasrin]

Nasrin scoffed lightly at Ximal, only partly facing the human as she began warming up. "It does not do to be proficient in one thing only. You know this, it is why you learn form me. Why should I not also practice more than one thing?" As she spoke, she planted her feet well apart on the coldground, leaning back and forth, feeling her calf muscles and hamstrings stretch with a pleasant twinge that spoke to how long it had been since she'd done any proper training. Hissing, she reached her arms forward, feeling her tendons practically whimpering with the strain as she worked towards touching her upper hands to the ground. She mostly ignored Ximal as he spoke to someone else that had arrived, though there was a niggling sensation in the back of her mind that she knew this other, smaller human from somewhere. Perhaps it was the cloak? It did seem quite familiar, and though the voice was also ringing a bell, it was thick with congestion and she could not place her finger on the identity of the owner. For now, she pushed that feeling back. She'd come here with a goal in mind and she would do it. An older woman, clearly more sensible than Ximal simply by her appearance, also entered the grounds, speaking to Ximal and the other human quite familiarly. They knew each other, then? She'd not seen the woman about The Spires before, but that didn't mean she didn't live there; Nasrin hardly kept up with the comings and goings of every single person in the city. Nasrin sent her a quick raise of the hand and a curl of her lips; compliments were always well-recieved. At least this one had some manners. As the woman and Ximal took to some sort of contest, Nasrin figured it wouldn't hurt to do the same. She approached the cloaked girl with sure steps, leaning forward a bit to speak. "What do you say, girl? Let us also contest, blade to blade. I could use the practise against a live opponent."

[Ana Sol Starris]

Ana shivered very lightly in the cold, feeling her nose run slightly as her body attempted to heat itself up. If she hadn't been so focused on keeping her hands the color of cream, she probably would have reacted faster to the coin purse being tossed to her suddenly. Her arms lashed out to grab it on reflex but fell short and fumbled with the bag, it fell to the ground, and with a sigh she picked up- having of not completely noticed the familliar sounds of coin jingle-a-ling in there. Shrugging her back pack off, she knelt to the ground and then peeked into the bag by a hair, eyes going wide with utter surprise. That was a lot of mizas' right there, in that bag, Ximal had given her a lot of miza's of which she didn't exactly know how many by just looking in the purse (she'd have to count later) but with a quick estimate... It must have been 50+ gold rimmed mizas. Her eyes, round and as large as the mizas before her lolled their way up to Ximal thinking maybe this was a trick.... But money spoke better to her than words would have ever did. So maybe his 'thankyou' was genuine.. Maybe it wasn't, who was she to complain over free money? Hah! The thought was ludricrous! Free! Money! Ana wanted to thank him for the generousity of his own gesture of thanks, he didn't have to give her that much for having done something as simple as redirect trouble elsewhere. No sooner had she opened her mouth, was Zandelia there, the thiefs head turning slightly and waved slightly to the woman before her in a friendly manner. "Training keeps us warm," she replied to the older woman, sighing tiredly afterwards. Putting the bag of mizas right into her backpack, and setting it off to the side with many of the others bags and items. Returning shortly after to find that Zandelia and Ximal had gotten into a sort of contest, both appeared to be training very hard in Ana's eyes and she wondered... How did they get their energy? Next to her was the Eypharian she had stolen from, and felt immensely nervous being so close to her, had her disguise just a few days ago worked? "What do you say, girl? Let us also contest, blade to blade. I could use the practise against a live opponent." The voice had made her want to jump out of her skin, and she may have shown the surprise by the offer a smidge if her hood wasn't shrouding most of her face from veiw. Ana scoffed a bit, shook her head, and then smiled... a rather... knowing smile. Despite her feeling ill, she pressed her hand on the hilt of her shortsword and absent mindedly felt the handle before speaking, as if in thought. "This is a real sword, I'd imagine you have a real blade as well..." The voice, as clear as Ana tried to make it, as confidently spoken as she tried to be.. She felt a bit off, mentally, at least "I'll take you up on that offer... Just know that neither of us are responsible for any injury, that may, or may not occur.." Ana gripped the sheath of the shortsword, not too close to where the blade would come out, but just under and firmly enough to make the blade not come out lop sidededly or crookedly, drawing the sword she held it some what loosely in her hand, a grip to it to keep it in her hand and not on the ground "sound fair?"

[Ximal]

Pulling himself up and down upon the branch was easy enough even in all of his gear, but he hadn't really expected anything else to happen the returned statement from nas was something he was used to the "nonchalant" tone. The scoffing remark of why it was bad to be good at only one thing. Xi shifted his grip to be narrower in an attempt to help increase the strain. Though he spoke like this was all nothing for him. "It's true, there's nothing wrong with growing in other areas, it's just i didn't expect the martial area to be one to suit you nasrin. I'd think you'd be more they type to hire a couple of guards rather than dirty her own hands with another's blood." Ana on the other hand, her face was a picture, both a mix of surprise and delight, and quite bit of shock, sure he'd given her a lot of cash but she'd helped prevent him from loosing his collective shyke, turning liro and then going on a mass killing spree. So he felt like every single penny he'd given her was earned. Hauling himself up and down upon that branch was starting to chip at his arms but still it was an easy enough thing to resolve, he'd just switch where most of the train was by changing muscle groups, thankfully his flux had helped him learn what each group of muscles did. Then there was the familiar call of the, latest addition to the little band of people. Zandelia. Xi took a slow breaht and held himself at pull hold upon the branch as she spoke, her sentiments bringing a slight smirk to his face as usual. "Just because i climb trees doesn't mean i want to be a jamoura. " Xi lowered his lumbering frame form the tree branch slowly. re rising his frame again at the same pace trying to maximise the strain on his muscular structure. Whilst concentrating upon what he was doing, he could just make out zand's voice again, having a little dig of sort's probably. Then without warning zand stripped herself of her armour and robes, leaving herself in the simple clothes she wore beneath. Then she hopped up onto a different branch whilst calling out that the last one to reach fifty bought the drinks. Xi smirked perhaps it would be him buying, after all she looked to be in good form. Still after a short while her arms gave out, from Xi's count she'd broken down in around the thirty mark, but Xi was till going strong, pushing forty-six, slowly draining his ever growing stamina before he switched muscle groups and his slowed pace sparked back into renewed life. Changing from his biceps and triceps to his back muscles mostly to help bolster his arms strength. Now he was inching on sixty, but around the fifty-nine mark he dropped landing on both feet but dropping himself to a knee and swinging his arms out to the sides, loosening the muscles and easing out the tension. Still the joking sentiments of zand reached his ears. "Well, if you can trade I'd like to see how. But my brain isn't that far behind, i just don't think down the same avenues as you do. " Now ana and nas were going to fight with blades, great...Xi just hoped that neither of them would get hurt. Stretching out his arms he cracked his neck lightly before massaging his temples. Xi slipped the cloak from around his back and tossed it over the branch he'd just been using. Xi then pulled the bow from over his shoulder and nocked an arrow. He'd be damned if a simple round of pull ups would stop him firing this monster, pulling the taught string back he drew the bowstring back. The bow drew back to reach the ear of his jaw. Glanceing down range he spotted a dead tree, that was his target. twisting his foot sideways to gazin a more stable firing platform he adjusted his aim, the large haft of the arrow sighting down range towards the target. Puling his arms to the left a bit he angled the shot, the slight twinge of aim falling. The he released the arrow, and as usual it shoot slightly wide landing in the bottom left hand corner of the dead tree trunk. Taking another slow breath he drew another arrow nocked it and tried that shit again, this time the arrow trailed of slightly wide and up to the right. Xi was not happy with his progress with this weapon he needed a way to line up his shot more easily. "Well zand, what do you wish to trian next ? i mean you could join the two in their bladed spar, or you could join me in the endurance training i'm going to be doing shortly? And ana! Diont spend that foolishly i know what your lie with your money."

[Zandelia]

Zandelia had spent a number of minutes stretching her muscles, the initial fiery pain ripping through them being further reduced to a small flicker of an ache with each round she completed. It was such a simple idea, that to stretch the muscles after exercise was beneficial, however she had never thought upon it enough to put them together. Truly she was not a trainer by trade, her own development techniques somewhat different from Ximal’s. Still, she could understand why he spent so much time trying to perfect his form – it was a pleasant feeling of euphoria that coursed through you afterwards. It was with a high of the moment that she was carried away into further training as Ximal kept pulling himself up with the branch.

I can’t do anymore of those damned things, but what about the pushups he was doing before? Might they develop other muscles? she thought.

She took a few moments to focus upon her body, f eel out which parts hurt the most and which others were not in the least affected by her exertion. She found, not to her surprise at all, that her shoulders hurt the most. Astonishingly her arms were little affected, though they burned a little. The second hardest hit of her body was her upper back, pulling tightly as it complained to her. Tilting her head she found herself musing whether the fact that Ximal knew which muscle groups would be tired and which wouldn’t allowed him to train everything in one day. It was a question she made a note of for later. Instead she lowered herself to the ground and assumed the same position she had seen Ximal in.

“Right,” she muttered to herself, “it was prone above the ground, body straight, arms fully extended and hands below the shoulder. Check. Feet together but on the balls of the feet. Right” she finished, altering her position until she thought it seemed to be correct – or as correct as she could make it without instruction.

With that done she began to lower herself towards the floor, slowly and trying to control it as she had observed, and stopped herself when her nose was literally brushing the dirt beneath her. As she took stock of her position she knew she had done it wrong, her elbows rotating outwards rather than locking to her sides. Still, she pushed herself back up quickly and chalked one victory to her name – it hadn’t gone terribly wrong. She repeated the process, this time keeping control of her elbows, and came back up once more. She continued this as many times as she could, quickly finding that her breathing was out of time and hindering her, so much so that she could no longer continue after twenty seven repetitions. She pushed herself into a squatting position, heels supporting her rear, and dusted off her hands.

“Better than I thought it would go at any rate. I may have to do it more often if it leads to a stronger, deadlier physique” she told herself, pushing herself up into a standing position just in time to see Ana and Nasrin discussing a spar and Ximal addressing her directly.

She looked between the two options, knowing that she had many occasions to spar, but fewer to learn something new and possibly improving. Her decision was quickly made inside her skull, but she let her lips purse with feigned thought for a few moments so as not to give away her interest – such a knowledge was a powerful lever, and she had to get used to hiding those again.

“I will train with you, Ximal dear, I think another set of arms in that melee might just hinder everything. I know little of training, though, so if you would do the honors of beginning – I shall follow” she returned simply.

[Nasrin]

A competitive, but not yet menacing smile crossed Nasrin's lips. It had been far too long since she had crossed blades with anyone, let alone real ones. The promise of a challenge excited her, causing her blood to pump slightly faster through her veins, lending her gilded skin a healthy flush. The risk of fighting with sharpened weapons instead of dull wooden ones was thrilling. "Indeed, my weapon is as real as yours." She lowered her center of gravity, angling her body slightly away from her opponent, reducing herself as a target. She did not yet draw her weapon, but instead observed her. She could tell little about the human female thanks to the large, dark cloak shrouding her, but there were both advanages and disadvantages to such a garment. It hid any actions she was about to make from Nasrin, but it also had the potential to get in the way, especially of the Eypharian were to reach up and pull the hood down over their face. Nasrin knew her greatest advantage was the use of her multiple arms. WHile she struck using her blade with one hand, her other three could all be doing something else; delivering a punch to the gut, pulling on loose clothing or hair. She had no way of knowing how skilled this person was, so it was best for her to err on the side of caution until she could guage their level of ability. She began swaying back and forth, a movement designed to keep her kinetic energy up, more able to move with greater force and speed than if she had been standing stationary. Along with the motion of her legs that swayed her, her lower set of arms also moved back and forth in front of her body, which would allow her to strike with them and also was a distraction for the opponent. Her upper left arm withdrew her double-sided dagger from its sheath, holding it out horizontally in front of her body.