A meeting of clay and flesh [Nira'lia]

[Ball]

2nd Fall 512AV

The spherical Pycon left his mount several feet away as it wasn't really required for what was about to happen. Ball was currently stretching himself out into varying thicknesses, getting his body into a more flexible and elastic shape. What he was about to do was going to bring on large amounts of searing pain, but he'll survive it this much Ball knew very well.

Once he was done stretching out the Pycon went back to a rested state, his full spherical shape only quivering occasional as he breathed in and relaxed every fiber in his body, thus allowing for more fluid motions to happen.

Ball was waiting for someone he met extremely briefly the day he stumbled upon his liege lord, Imass. It was one of the lovely and beautiful Konti ladies. The Pycon never seen one before that time. She was a sight to behold, the fire dancing shadows across the others, yet brightening her even more.

Enough. Clear your mind. You are a Squire. A Man of Dignity and Honor. Act it! The spherical being quivered abruptly and settled back down. Calm and relaxed his outer form appeared, the inner part of Ball was going through a crazy and awkward transformation, never truly staying in one place for more than a second. Each miza he owned was swirling around his nexus. It was a truly uncomfortable feeling and the Pycon knew he needed to end this feeling soon before it became impossible to do so. The lady was going to be here soon.

So with that the Pycon moved quickly. Getting to his mount the pycon quickly rolled on the otherside of the laying dog and started retching up everything he owned. It wouldn't do him any good if the good lady returned to the party and Ball's liege lord saw spherical markings caused by too much weight behind each pulled blow.

Remember, the amount of resist you apply to yourself gets doubled or more once released. So lower the resistance, this isn't the Blue Pycon. This is the Pretty Lady Pycon.

Once finished retching his belongings up the mass of clay made sure his furry companion known to protect the mass of gold and objects for the Pycon. After that Ball went back to where he sat before he went back to as calm a state as he could.

[Nira'lia]

It was that time of the day when the group wasn’t marching forward to Sunberth. Camp had just been set up, and the different people were attending to their own interests. Some had turned in for the day, others were preparing their supper, and a few were training to themselves. Nira’lia was looking for Ball, whom she knew was Imass’s squire. She hadn’t had much time to talk to him so far, but she did find him incredibly interesting. Nira’lia didn’t have much knowledge about Pycons, and this was one of the most unique being she had ever met. He was literally a Ball, and she couldn’t help but watch his every move when she had the chance. The Konti had just finished checking up on the people she knew were sick. She flinched at the rotting skin and wounds, and at the terrible fevers. Nira’lia only had Rak’keli’s first mark, but she tried her best to help them with how she could. When she was done checking on them, she decided that she needed something to take her mind off things. Finally, she found the Pycon. From a distance, she blinked and watched him curiously. He seemed to be retching objects from within himself. The whole sight was simply fascinating, and she had never seen anything like it. The Pycon didn’t seem to notice her, and so she just watched, not calling his attention. When he was done, the Pycon settled down. With a huge grin, Nira’lia quickly walked over to him. The expression on her face was simply childish, and she couldn’t hide her fascination at all. As she approached him, she waved her hand energetically to call his attention. “Ball!” she called out once she was near enough. “Here I am!”

[Ball]

Ball nearly flinched when she called out his name. The Pycon wasn't quite used to having his name being called out like that. When she got closer Ball managed to do a half bend sort of bow to her before rolling back up into his full spherical shape.

Soon after he bowed to her Ball tore a hole into the side of his spherical being and started to speak, each of his words were accented by popping sounds, like bubbles bursting, “Hel. Oh.” The hole remained open, just a thin slit was what denoted it.

“How. Iz. Per.Et.tee. La.Dee?” Ball shifted his 'mouth' upwards towards her. It was an uncomfortable tear, but a necessary tearing so he could speak. Ball has yet to figure out a new way to speak without the painful tear.

The ball of clay really didn't know what more to say, so he wanted on her to respond and advanced the conversation. The ball rocked a little in place, a weird thing to see, seeing as he was just stationary in the same spot just seconds ago.

[Nira'lia]

Happily, the Konti kneeled down before the Pycon. She put her hands flatly on her lap and listened to Ball speak in that strange way that he did. The Konti had a hard time understanding what he said and he seemed to be having a difficult time speaking as well. Did he just call her a pretty lady? The Konti giggled, a soft red tinge forming on her cheeks. It felt strange to be complimented by a clay ball, but she found it flattering at the same time. “I’m doing okay!” she replied enthusiastically. That was a lie. It had been a tiring day. “And how are you?” She smiled down at him. Then, she reached to her side and unsheathed the strange weapon which she had strapped there. It was a dagger-like weapon except that it was three-pronged. A weapon exclusive to the Konti race, it was called a Suvai. Nira’lia gripped it and looked back at Ball. “You wanted to train a bit, right? I’m not very good at handling this, but I’ve got some time to spare, if you’d like…”

[Ball]

The first thing out of her mouth was a question of well being which the Pycon couldn't really answer and just sort of shrugged in an odd formation of curving his left and right sides upward slightly before resting them back into place in their original locations.

Seeing the Konti pull out her blade the pycon shifted his form back a short bit and sort of squatted a little, flattening out his person slightly. Then she mentioned the training bit and nodded, “Yez.” He was getting slightly better, but words were still hard.

“Ter.an.” [“Train”] The Pycon rolled forward and then backwards a bit. Once he spoke he sealed his mouth shut and sat in position, waiting on her. Having enough training in unarmed combat he felt confident in fending off her scary three-pointed blade, but only time will tell.

Remember. Pull punches. She is the Pretty Lady Pycon.

[Nira'lia]

oocGot permission from Eri to mention that he shielded the Suvai beforehand (it would be a simple task for him). ‘Ter… ran? Terrain? Oh, train!’ She nodded vigorously. It only took her a few tries until she understood that single word, but at least they were getting somewhere. It also appeared that they were at least on the same wavelength at the moment. At the same time, she wondered how such a little clay creature fought. With a smile, she laid the weapon before them and pointed at the edges of its dagger-like blades. “Ball, you should know, just for the future… these are poisonous to non-Konti. But don’t worry, these are blunt at the moment. I asked Eridanus to shield them for me.” To get her point across, the Konti poked one of the blades. There was an invisible layer that kept the blades away from her skin. It wasn’t sharp at all, and getting hit by it would be similar to getting hit by a stick. This was a training session and she didn’t want any accidents, and that included not wanting to poison the Pycon. With that, she held the weapon again and stood up straight. Blinking down at the Pycon, she asked, “Should we start?”

[Ball]

Ball responded as soon as the Konti asked if he was ready. It was simple knightly training that cause his reaction, she stood up and acknowledged their training session. When she ask if he was ready the spherical squire assumed she was too.

And with speed only a small being could possess and launched himself toward the Konti's left ankle using his body's natural elasticity and momentum to carry him forward, at the last minute though he pulled back a little, his body moving a nearly a fourth of his initial lunge.

If the blow connected the pycon's next move was simply a ricocheting bounce off her left ankle at an upward angle to the back of her right knee. If the blow didn't connect then Ball knew he was going to be sliding past the Konti's body to her left and within reach of her weapon.

[Nira'lia]

The Konti was startled by Ball’s sudden movement. She had expected him to give her an answer that would at least signify the start of their training, but she got none of that. Instead, she saw him lunge forward with the speed of only someone as small as him could do. “Eep!” she squeaked accidentally as she evaded him the best way she could. Her body seemed to react on its own, and she pulled her leg back. Still, her ankle was hit, although it wasn’t as powerful as it would have been if she had not reacted as such. The Konti was surprised by the stinging pain on her leg. He was a tiny creature, but it was evident that he knew how to take advantage of that. That was likely going to bruise, something which she would take care of later on. After he had been able to connect with her ankle, Nira’lia realized that he wasn’t stopping there. It seemed that he was aiming for the back of her knee next, but before he could do so, she swiftly attempted to block him with her suvai. It was an awkward angle, but she didn’t know what else to do when dueling with a Pycon of his size. The suvai was bigger than him, and it would be unlikely for him to get past the three prongs. Thus, she used it to shield herself. If she were successful, he would come crashing against the blunt blades of her weapon. As if on instinct, she pushed her suvai forward as well, making a blow at Ball the same time that she defended herself.

[Ball]

The ankle hit was a success, on his upward arching motion towards her back knee the protected Suvai blocked his path. Bouncing him off the three prongs the Pycon found himself hitting the ground and then ricocheting off it back towards Nira. The surrounding areas around him were after all, not as pliable and bouncy as he.

The small Pycon couldn't control his momentum or really his current projected path. He tried to twist and force himself into a different form, in midair that took some real effort and right before the clay being was within contact point of Nira's body he managed to flatten the side of his body going straight towards her.

Ball had a feeling that this was going to hurt both him and her... What to do? What to do! Too late to just drop, he had no true weight in his body, so instead he pushed out an odd tentacle stub and use it to wrap around her free hand and both slow down his momentum forward.

Too bad though that it also pulled him in a backward arch, thus gaining more momentum and no where to release it, so he was swinging now up towards her wrist, it what appeared to be in the shape of a dome with a weird tentacle on it's rounded edge.

[Nira'lia]

Before this moment, Nira’lia had no idea that Pycons could change shapes so easily. Ball had done so in a matter of seconds and while he was in mid-air. The Konti was very much startled when she felt a tentacle-like arm wrap around her hand. His movements were unpredictable, and the Konti had to force herself to think as quickly as possible every time. Fortunately for her, her instincts seemed to be working. Judging from the force and angles of the Pycon, she was able to more or less understand where he was going to ricochet towards. However, in the end, that did not mean she knew how to react. The Konti wouldn’t be able to use her suvai to strike at him at the moment. For one thing, he was wrapped around the hand that held it. And if he wasn’t, she risked the chance of hurting herself as well. But she had to do something quick. If not, he was surely going to use his momentum to strike at her, and Nira’lia was certain that it was going to be painful. Her mind was in frenzy, trying to figure out what she should do to defend herself. If she were near a wall or a tree, she would have slammed him against it. There was absolutely nothing but open space around them. At the last moment, she realized that she didn’t have a choice but to withstand the attack. He came crashing against her wrist in a painful slam. All his weight and force had been put into it, causing her to drop her weapon. With her other hand, she grabbed him and tightly. As soon as he had slammed against her wrist, his momentum was gone. Amidst the pain, Nira’lia wasn’t thinking straight. She just wanted him to loosen his grip on her hand as she clutched him as tightly as she could and pulled him violently away from her skin.