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[Aliana Hilt Terras]

3rd of Winter 517 A.V.

Aliana woke up with a stretch popping her neck. She was happy to have a quiet day while Holley came by to watch Larissa. The mother wanted to go see what was happening within the city before bringing her little one out into it. Morwen had not come back at the season change this year, and it made the girl nervous. Standing up, the dark haired woman popped her neck while getting everything ready for a bath. Slipping down into the water with a sigh, she was glad to relax in the warm liquid that covered her from her neck all the way down. After half a bell of soaking, the woman sat up and finished her bath for the day. Getting out, she got dried off and walked to her closet. The girl had to get more clothes, most of what she presently had smelled of forged iron and had soot in it.

“It's going to be another hot one,” Aliana said quietly and grabbed her tank top and pants.

She got dress and put her shoes in her bag. The woman wanted to just go without shoes unless the stone would be too hot. The girl kissed her daughter on the forehead while Holley held the child on her hip. Saying good bye while leaving Ink with the child and baby sitter, the woman walked out closing the door. She smiled hearing it lock behind her meaning the group was secure. Popping her neck some, she walked down the stairs and saw that the front door to the lobby was left wide open. The heat coming in from outside did not surprise her in the least. The young Isur wished more than anything that she could talk to her patron god about what was going on with Morwen. The girl doubted he would answer her truthfully if at all, but at least she could say that she gave it a try.

“Oh well. Hm a trip to the gardens would be nice,” Aliana whispered.

She walked around while looking for some kind of sign or listening for a name. Looking up at the sky, the girl was glad that it was still very early in the morning. Coughing some, she walked across the cobblestone pathway. The rocks were still cool not yet heated by the sun's rays. Looking around the city, the dark haired woman was not very sociable but saw several places that caused some interest. Making plans to come back later it did not take long at a steady pace for her to find a luscious thriving park. Walking inside, the girl looked around and finally spotted the name of the area.

“Semele Park?” Aliana stated almost in a question like manor.

The girl ventured inside and looked around loving the beauty and quietness of the area. She was not a people person; so the few and far between person walking the park put her at ease. The dark haired woman finally stopped and sat down as the sun got higher in the sky. She opened her bag before putting her shoes on before it the stones got any hotter on the soles of her feet. The woman heard the strange sound of chains before noticing a shadow approaching where she was sitting.

[Quzon]

Third Day of Winter, 517 A.V.

Quzon looked very much the same as he always did. He had the same posture, still the same dress as when he ran through the Jungle Wilds of Falyndar, still the same defined jaw and bulky figure; but there were some subtle differences. The first was the piercing intensity to his eyes though they were not scowling, the sign of someone who was motivated to achieve a goal, and was managing to crawl towards it.

And no matter what city he found himself in, his goal was always to get stronger. That was why he now ran through Semele Park in nothing but a loincloth, with a pair two thick twenty five pound heavy chains draped across his shoulders. The heavy metal clattering against each other to weight down his every step as he jogged through the park.

Quzon did not take in the sights, he simply kept an eye out for anything that might disrupt his path. Once he noticed that no was in his way, he suddenly stopped as his bare feet patted against the ground while jogging in place. He tried his best to keep good form while moving. He planted his foot down constantly ahead of him, but had to adjust his foot falls so that they stopped just under his knee for a stable foundation to avoid twisting his ankles.

His breathing grew heavier the further he moved. But that was the point of all of this, he was running to wind himself. The pain of momentary exhaustion was always a threat to overcome. A weakness to defeat. Once his stride slowed by the slightest of increments, the tattooed Myrian shifted his rear end back as he entered into a squatting position, then pressed both of his palms against the ground to support both his weight and the chains.

He then kicked both of his heels backwards to force himself into the upright planking position of a push-up.

"One." He counted in the language of Isur as he lowered his upper body down towards the ground, keeping his elbows tucked into his side. Quzon pressed his palms down against the ground to force the natural two hundred thirty five pound weight of his body up into the starting position. However, he needed to force the added fifty pounds up as well. But he did not do it quickly, he focused on his proper form rather than speed.

His arm shook halfway through the process which caused him to grit his teeth in delight. The slow searing that built in his arms told him that he was working them. And after two chimes of slow repetitions, he softly said, "Thirty." before standing to his feet again. His hands both firmly planting on his hips as he took in deep breaths of air.

And as his eyes glanced around during his moment of rest, that was when he spotted something that intrigued him greatly. The arm of an Isur. Quzon was so focused on self improvement that he walked right over to her, speaking in Isur, and pulled one of the twenty five pound chains off from his shoulders to try to hand it to her.

"You've built your patience enough for the day. You will join me now. Lets move iron." If she didn't reach for the chain, he'd just drop it into her lap. He didn't know her, nor did he give or ask for her name. But it did not even cross his mind that an Isur would reject a chance to 'worship' Izurdin through crafting the body into iron.

[Aliana Hilt Terras]

Looking up she instantly knew the language he spoke. The girl was met by a man that had completely blue skin though it was not as dark as the Akalaks. She did not shy away from looking him over head to toe making mental notes. He was well built, muscles bulged in all the right place.

He had a sharp face that was well defined. It was clear the man did not have any fat on his body showing the male worked out quite often. Nodding gently, she looked up into his eyes before standing up. Her first instinct was to take the chains and prove herself to the Isur before her, but the ache in her back reminded her of the constant strain from picking up on Larissa and the metal at the forge.

“Demanding. Don't you know its rude to not introduce ones self?” Aliana asked with a snap in her tone, “besides, I wouldn't be able to keep up.”

The female Isur hated having to admit the truth. She finished lacing up her boots before grabbing the now light bag. The short haired woman wore her normal white tank top that held fast to her body. She still carried some baby fat from her pregnancy, but it did not make her look bad. Turning to her side it was clear to see the extra weight still hanging on to her form. Shifting to some, the girl put her weight on her left leg while crossing her arms.

She almost looked like she was challenging him to put the chains on her. Aliana scratched the exposed skin on her legs between the top of her boots and the bottom of her shorts. The mother did not think after being out of practice for nine months while pregnant then nearly a year afterwords; she would be able to keep up with him for more than a few feet. The lack of confidence was new and strange to the woman.

“If you can't tell I'm still carrying baby weight,” Aliana said while still watching him closely.

[Quzon]

Quzon dropped the length of chain into her lap since she made no motion to retrieve them. When the Female stood up, his emerald green eyes shifted from her to the chains that now rested on the ground. Quzon stepped close into her personal space, hardly two inch away from her as he then stared down at the shorter woman. He looked over Aliana's face, and his eyes flowed down the space between them, as though tracing her entire form with his eyes.

“Then introduce yourself, Arm of the Terras. Or do you wish to be rude?” He said in Isur while a slight smirk pulled at the side of his lips as he then canted his head to one side, clearly eyeing over her body. Quzon was a man. He knew an attractive woman when he saw one, but his gazes wasn’t currently one of a lustful nature. No, he was gauging her like a sculpture.

As a man who was striven to turn himself into Izurdins concept of physical perfection, he moved to casually place the palm of his hand along her sides moving under her tank top. His eyes locked with hers as he nodded. “Nothing more than clay that needs molding. Do fifty sit ups a day and you'll be fine. You hardly look like you had a baby anyway.” Then without any hesitation, Quzon removed the chain that was around his shoulders to drape it around hers like a scarf of clattering iron.

Afterward, he took a slight step backwards to pick up the chain she had dropped to the floor, then let his shoulders bare the weight of those chains. “My name is Quzon Gemshock Pitrius of the Barbed Earth Clan. Now, drop and do twenty squats. Let us tire our legs before we run.”

While still looking her in the eye, he took three steps back away from her. And just as he’d said, Quzon shifted his feet slightly wider than his waist to start preforming squats. He held his arms out straight in front of him parallel to the ground as he stood in a natural position. Then in a slow controlled movement, bent at the knee as he pushed his rear back to force his thighs to brace the weight of his body.

“Always keep you hips back as you lower. Else you ruin your back, let the legs take all the weight. It will help whenever you pick things up.” He kept looking right at her, using her as his focus. Then pushed his heels into the ground to rocket his body upwards into a standing position. He motioned a hand towards her to start doing squats before he began another repetition.

[Aliana Hilt Terras]

Aliana watched the man carefully when he came even farther into her personal space. The Isur did not care for him that close to her person. A growl crawled up her throat when the man put his hands under her shirt. It took everything in her not to punch him square in the face. The young mother was learning that not everything could be solved by just hitting someone when they were annoying. Clearing her voice, the girl grunted some when the chains weighed down her shoulders. It seemed the half Isur was going to make her work out no matter what she wanted. Figuring the least she could do, the dark haired woman sighed and relaxed some.

“My name is Aliana Hilt Terras,” Aliana snorted when the man talked so casually about doing fifty sit ups.

“You act like fifty sit ups with a one year old crawling around is easy,” the mother said with a slight sharpness to her tone.

The woman decided it would be easier to just relent and do what he wanted. She had wanted to get back into working out again, but the Isur had been unable to find the time after the baby was born. About the time she was going good the little one would need something. Breathing deeply, she moved to where her feet were in position. Squatting the woman didn't center herself and ended up on her ass end grunting. It was clear that the day was going to be long and more irritating than it had already started. Getting back up she paused as a sharp pain resonated from her neck down her spine to the curve in her back.

“My back is going to hurt like shyke tomorrow,” Aliana said in a low growl to herself.

She had not really intended for the man to hear her or think it was his fault. The young Isur had been the cause of her pain. The girl knew how to properly pick things up in the forge to keep from hurting herself. But the woman had become so used to just muscling everything around; it was no surprise when the strain finally caught up to her. The baby growing in her had put a whole new strain on her back, then the girl working through a large majority of her pregnancy had not helped.

“This is going to take me a minute,” Aliana stated looking at the man.

Getting back into position once again, the Isur forced herself to breath deeply focusing on the chains that gave her extra weight. Adjusting her feet some, the girl squatted again letting her butt go back first. The familiar burn in her legs told her the second round was more successful than the first. Counting in Isur, the mother stood up straight once again before going back down again. Each time the girl held the form for a good thirty ticks; then returned back to her standing position.

[Quzon]

If there was one thing in the world that Quzon loved, it was working hard to build muscle into iron. Whether it was his body, or helping someone else. It brought a smile to his lips, despite that smile quickly fading away into grins of strain from forcing his body to lift weight. He had already progressed to his fifteenth repetition while making sure to follow the instruction that he'd given the woman: keeping his hips back and his back straight as he bent down at the knees. The twinge of exertion tingling through the back of the leg through his hamstrings. His hands both lifted to his chest to grab each ends of the heavy chain he wore to keep them from swinging around.

He pressed his heels back into the ground to simulate the movement of jumping, but never left the ground. He only rocketed himself back up into a standing position. When Aliana fell flat on her backside, Quzon could not help but laugh. However his words, despite being spoken boisterously, sounded harsh and distant, as was the normal sound of the Isur language. “Mind you footing, female. Keep a stable base. A wide stance is not necessary for you right now. Just a narrow one with your feet aligned with your shoulders width apart.”

He stopped squatting when the woman kept talking about her child. "The normal amount a person should be able to do is fifty. With proper form and technique, it should only take one five chimes. I suggest you let your baby sit on your chest as you do them to act like more weight; just like the chains you wear. Many Myrian women go into combat shortly after giving birth to test themselves. Maybe you need to get into a fight?"

Quzon noted the sharpness in her tone, but it hardly bothered him. "Pain is pain. If it bothers you, rest. If it disrupts your day, see a healer." He walked over to Aliana where he set the palm of his hand against the curve of her back to make sure she was keeping her back straight. As he did so, he pressed his fingertips along the lumbar of her spine, simply rubbing his fingertips in a small circle to feel below the skin to trace those fingers along the muscles which held up her spine. It was an action he usually did on himself to get rid of any random spasms in his arms or legs after an intense workout. Quzon could feel the tension along her lower back which caused him to quirk a brow.

"What is your profession? This tension in your back is not all from a past birthing? And you clearly haven't exercised daily to build up such stress. " He asked with some amount of curiosity. "Enough squats. Let us run and talk."

When the loincloth clad man started to run off, he didn't take off like a mad man. No, he simply relaxed his shoulders as he clenched his fingers into soft fists. Then started to swing his bent arms like pendulums as he started to jog off down a path fast enough to not be considered walking, but slow enough for the woman to catch up with him.

Quzon concentrated on lifting his knees up perfectly straight behind him, then guided his feet back down to connect his bare feet as softly against the ground as possible. "Keep up, Aliana Hilt. Or shall I carry you around like a chain?" He jokingly said from over his shoulder at her.

[Aliana Hilt Terras]

The girl watched the man and nodded adjusting her stance to where it would not put as great a strain on her back. The narrowed stance certainly seemed to help the pain ebb away some. She allowed him to feel the large amount of tension that was cooped up in her back. The Isur was glad to finally finish the movements as he asked about her job. A smirk appeared on her face when she thought of the labor involved with her work. The girl was in pain at the end of the day; but that meant she had worked hard.

“I own a business here in town. Isurian Bladeworks,” Aliana stated.

A smirk appeared on the girl's face when he took off ahead of her. The woman loved a good challenge; she took off and raced after him. She pumped her legs harder and easily caught up with him. The chains soon became a problem, so the girl wrapped them around once more. She then slipped the loose ends through the hoop that way it would stay in place. Shortly after the girl caught up to Quzon as they made their way through the park. She allowed him to ask any questions that he could think of and in turn asked her own.

“Isurian Bladeworks is a weapon shop. I have two employees a woman named Holley who runs my front desk, and Rehim who is my apprentice,” Aliana stated with a smile, “If you can not guess I am a weapon smith by trade.”

The girl started to pick up the pace with a smirk. She wanted to see just how fast the man could go. The woman pushed her legs faster. Getting back into the swing of working out was proving not to be as difficult as she had originally thought. Looking back a smirk played on her lips as the woman kept going.

“What? Can't you keep up with a girl?” Aliana called back with a laugh.

The burning in her lungs and legs brought a sense of normalcy back to the woman's life. If it was easy for her to jog with Larissa with her the pair would be out every morning, but that tended to be a problem with having children. It had been a long time since she was able to have fun and just relax the way she had in the past.