[Knirin Gardens] In Darkness (Closed)

[Aren]

71st of Winter - A quarter past First Bell (that would be a quarter past midnight) Aren had brought Ysane to this tranquil, yet, simultaneously turbulent place for a reason. It was a place possessed of a dual nature, much like the akalaks themselves. One could meditate here for long hours without ever feeling the need to leave, but the foolish could have their lives taken by the river, just as easily. "Welcome to the Knisis Gardens, miss Ysane. This is a place which reflects the nature of my kind more than you will probably ever know," Aren introduced the area to the young drykas with the reverence reserved for something truly important. To Aren, this place was very much so. The akalak briefly recalled the times when he and his father would come out to the Gardens at such an hour. The lack of people made it easy to focus, and the mist which formed in the darkness was almost tailor made for the training of a young akalak's infravision. These had been the times he had most cherished during his childhood. The times when it was just him and his old man, trying to teach him something. "In darkness... much may be learned," Aren quoted his father, a faint smile on his face, made all the fainter by the black in which the pair found themselves. With his eyes closed, he could almost recall the sound of his blood hitting the ground, almost smell it in the soil. "Tell me, miss Ysane... is there a means for drykas to see in the dark, as akalak do?" he asked, assuming a more cautious stance, and stepping deeper into the mist. She wanted adventure, did she? She wanted trouble, huh? Aren was going to give her enough to last her a good long while... if she was up for it, of course.

[Meera]

Meera had taken her time in following him. Her soft soled shoes barely touched the ground as she prowled the edges of shadow, her bow on her back. By all accounts she should have been able to, if not surprise him, then sneak as though she was hunting him. He would know these foggy gardens much more than her, and knew her human eyes would not be able to pierce through the mist. Brown hues could discern the large trees and she was able to avoid them but the brushing of leaves against her face was an unmistakable sound, and one the young girl was sure Aren would hear despite the loud falls overhead.

Meera had found she really liked the tranquility the gardens provided her. Her brown eyes could not find the large rocks through the heavy mist and she was harshly bumped by the grassy stone, causing her concentration to break but for a moment.

It was enough, and the Akalak warrior began to speak. The Drykas had forgotten the fake name already, but the darkness and cover was enough to hide the twitch of her lip.

She had listened and while doing so, made her direct approach. The desire to game sneak all but left her now that she was caught, and he definitely had the advantage. Her mind focused on hearing his words under the loudness of the crashing falls. On the giant's step she approached, uncaring for the sounds of twigs snapping under her toes. The jig was up, and he could see her much more clearly than she would ever see him in this dark hour.

It was nighttime, the fog was thick. The mist held the light and it diffused throughout the park, but it was still not enough for the Drykas to properly see, or at least as well as she could. Meera closed her eyes.
Patros had told her a wide array of basics when it came to protecting herself. She nudged and fixed loose braids once more before she was able to really get her surroundings. She could hear Aren's voice, a pleasing sound of serious and youth, more on her left shoulder than her right, and her right shoulder could have had the falls directly crashing on them. Slight breeze pressed from her right, dampening her cloak in the cold night and icing her cheeks and eyelashes. Her large eyes remained closed as she took a small step to her left, toward Aren, and away from the falls. To her right, Meera understood there to be more rocks. Water usually moved soundlessly. It was the rocks that gave them sound, the sound of water crashing and smoothing the rock. Meera would avoid the rocks, where the sound of water was loudest. They would trip her, and more importantly, carry her away.

Meera had no means of seeing in the dark as well as the Akalak, but she was still smart enough to navigate in its basest form. If he could see as well as he claimed, he would see a pale woman with wet in her hair and snowy eyelashes. Her people knew magic; it would be of great use to her here, but no one had taught it to her.

Meera shook her head no, but kept her head inclined in a position to suggest that she was listening. Her knees had bent and her feet were wide spread. Her arms puffed out under her cloak to give her balance. Meera bit her lip.

She wanted adventure, she wanted trouble. In Aren, this Akalak, she had found it.
Then why was she so happy?

[Aren]

Using his infravision, Aren could detect every movement of Ysane's body, even through the thick mist and the piercing darkness. He could see her inching forward, wary of the angry river her ears told her was there. "No? Then perhaps you had better learn to see, without seeing," the booming voice of the akalak came clear over the sound of the raging water, and she could have easily guessed his position from it. That, however, was exactly what he wanted, as he circled around his drykas companion, the sound of his steps all but inaudible against the noise of the river. The akalak inspected her from every angle, as a hungry animal would inspect a meal that was too good to be true. His keen eyes noticed every patch of heat on her body, the flush in her cheeks as plain as the midday sun. Eventually, however, he settled behind her, so close he could almost reach out and touch her. After a moment, the akalak took a couple of rapids steps forward and gave the young drykas a gentle push, seeking to keep her off balance. Of course, he backed away immediately, knowing she was likely to react instantly to his intrusion into what she was now keenly aware of as her personal space. "I'd suggest you get a feel for the darkness... before you take a tumble down the waterfall," Aren laughed loudly, almost malevolently, but he was keeping a close eye on her, making sure she wasn't in any real danger. The mist was getting thicker, making the blackness even harder to penetrate. Soon, it would be difficult to see one hand's in front of one's face, let alone someone else.

[Meera]

She shivered at his foreboding words. A tumble down the river was not exactly on her docket for adventure, nor something she wanted to attempt so early in her life. She took a hesitant step forward towards his voice in her low stance. The whole purpose for the low stance was to keep her centre of gravity low so Meera was not so easily toppled over.

She waited for more of his voice to alert her to his position. She couldn't be so sure of the boundaries of the gardens. If she had known how much space she had, she would have allowed herself a stumble to follow the push, but as she did not, she made herself follow the push into a tuck and roll, her hands scrabbling for any large protrusion or grass to keep her away from the water and the stone edge.

In a flash with wiry speed she had her dagger from her boot and facing behind her, where she suspected Aren to be. Even with closed eyes, Meera knew Osri would shimmer in the fog. She snarled, eyes closed. Short faint hair rose on the back of her neck and she let out hot breath. She shouldn't hesitate to make her own attack, and so she didn't. Every moment of inaction Aren would move again. She launched her body towards his suspected position.

[Aren]

"Ooooh, saucy," Aren commented with a chuckle as Ysane drew her shimmering dagger, a green toothpick in his eyes, "That's a nice blade. Just what do you think you're going to do with it, if you can't even see--" Ysane responded to his running commentary by flinging herself at him with almost reckless abandon, hoping, one would assume, to pinpoint his position using her own body as a measuring stick. Of course, Aren wasn't going to make it that easy, even if he was a little surprised by her recklessness. Swiftly sidestepping the slightly off mark lunge perpetrated by his drykas opponent, the akalak warrior gave her a push in the back as she flew past him, likely causing her to lose her balance once more, "Never put yourself in a position to lose your footing, lest you find a blade in your back before you can regain it." The mist grew more impenetrable by the moment, and the darkness somehow found a way to become blacker still. At this rate, whether her eyes were closed or open would cease to make a difference, soon enough. "Come... if you think you have what it takes to lay a finger on me," Aren looked, first and foremost, to anger her, so that she could learn that the emotion would serve her for naught here. Clarity of thought was her only ally in this fight, and the sooner she learned that, the better she would do.

[Meera]

With hardly any dignity left to her name, Meera clawed herself upright. She felt for stones and used one to lift herself. Her eyes felt wet as she opened them, her lashes daring to tangle together. Her cloak was dampening and so she bit her jade blade to free her hands for her clasp. Her bow and quiver landed to the ground, next her long sword in a pile.

Having shed her cloak Meera further undressed to make herself less bulky and lighter. Her speed would be her salvation. Her leather vest was removed and she was dressed only in a chemise, a long sleeve tie up, its colour the shade of cream. Her breeches were thin material, and it was against her thighs that the wet cold threatened to freeze first.

It was all the better that she planned to continue moving. Keeping her eyes closed to further focus on her hearing was all well and good, but he was armed with a scythe, a slow weapon but long and quiet. She would need to attempt to see it. Why hadn't she thought that before?

Her tie up chemise had loosened as she moved. The blade was returned to her hand and she searched for him.

"Plan to land more than finger," she said gruffly. She gave a smile that perfectly displayed the fun she was having.

[Aren]

Aren watched the young drykas lose pieces of her outfit with growing interest, and the amount of weaponry she carried was of interest all on it's own. "A bow, a sword AND a dagger?" Was she planning on waging a war all by herself? After a moment of idiotic leering, the akalak couldn't help but admonish himself for being distracted by the display, realizing that perhaps the whole show could be a performance to catch him off guard. Regardless, as his opponent took her blade (one of them anyways) in hand once again, he could see that the girl was a different combatant than she had been a few seconds earlier. "Good answer," Aren could see the smile on her face, as clear as day, a mirror of his own. The akalak knew that now that Ysane was calm, and focused, she would be a much more dangerous animal than that of a moment ago. Centering himself, knees bent, breath even, the blue skinned warrior ushered a challenge, "So show me what you've got!" His intention was no longer to avoid her, keeping her off balance, as that probably wasn't going to be possible anymore. Now, he would stand his ground, he would make her realize that she wasn't likely to beat him in a fair fight, as all the advantages were squarely on his side. She would have to be clever if she wanted to come away with any semblance of victory.

[Meera]

So he wanted her to attack, did he?

Perhaps the loss of clothing had something to do with that, she mused. She wiggled her hips in anticipation, much like a feline before a pounce.

Two solid beats of a run were cut short as he appeared through the fog faster then she had expected. It made her sloppy, and she a cocked her fist around the hilt of the dagger backwards to expose the rear bolster. Meera swung her fist to fight at the fog, barely seeing the outline of his blue face. It was difficult, she had to remember to swing upwards as well.


Knowing her punch would fail, she pushed the weight of her body into his stomach. If she could knock him down she could at least gain the advantage that way.

[Ward Anol]

Ward walked through the gardens the mist at night was so thinck that he could only see clearly for about 5 feet infront of him he could only collect his mind a second before he heard it the sounds of two warriors fighting so he decided to check it out. ward followed the sound for a minute but by then he could see the warriors as clear as he could hope to be able too with this blasted fog he saw a big one presumably male and a small framed girl for he could see that she was female fighting he coud not make out exactly what they were saying but the man sounded like an akalak the girls voice thick with an accent but he could not make out what kind.He rapped himself in his cloak and tride his best to hide from veiw of the warriors though he was no sneak he doubted a focused warrior would be able to see him during combat.ward thaght that he should watch more of the battle before he got involved in any way.

[Aren]

Ysane acquiesced to Aren's request admirably, shaking her hips provocatively before breaking into a mad sprint towards him. The akalak couldn't help but smile at her audacity, to come at him head on, or perhaps it was another about of recklessness rearing it's ugly head. Either way, he did not put much stock in her plan resulting in the landing of a blow, but that was before he noticed the audience they had garnered. Distracted for just a moment by the presence of this unknown observer, Aren was a little late in intercepting his drykas opponent's blow. The pommel of the dagger had just barely connected with the bottom of his jaw, but at least it had not resulted in any real damage, if he did not count his pride. Mitigating the momentum of her body effortlessly, Aren gripped Ysane's weapon arm with one hand, whilst he wrapped another around her waist, effectively holding her immobile. Because of the threat he could represent, the akalak's eyes did not budge from the mysterious intruder for a good moment, even as he continued to hold Ysane in place. "Heh, you got me," Aren admitted, with a smile, as he looked down at the girl he held in his grip. Promptly releasing her, the blue skinned giant shifted his position so that the observer was firmly in his view. Although that would force his companion to give the stranger her back, there wasn't much she could do even if she knew the man was there. Preferring to keep Ysane in the dark, Aren was willing to let the man remain, for now. She was making good progress, and he wouldn't want to see the whole exercise ruined if there was no need. As long as he could keep an eye on this voyeur, the akalak felt confident he could handle the situation.