Closed We're off to see the Master (Ximal)

[Sayren WindDancer]

The 39th of Summer 513

She looked upon the city, a smile stretched across her face as she patted her loyal strider gently. "We made it, Garel...The city of Nyka. Father said the Master of unarmed combat would be here." The Stallion looked over to the city, simply huffing out and lowering his shoulders in a sigh. She narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't give me that, the city gates aren't that far from here. Then you'll be able to rest my dear friend." She lightly stroked through his mane and he began trotting towards the city.

Upon arriving at the city's gates, they were halted by the city guard. They merely crossed their halberds, cutting off her pathway into the city, "State your business."

Sayren blinked for a moment, reigning Garel to a halt in front of the guards as she gazed at them, puzzled. Then, they took a more hostile stance, raising the halberds to her, "We said, state your business!" Normally, most horses would rear back, but as a Cyphrus Strider, Garel stood defiant, merely stamping his hooves upon the ground. Sayren wasn't so easily shaken either, "Such hostility is not necessary. My business is my own."

The men did not budge, "Then maybe you'd pay the Entrance Fee?"

Sayren narrowed her eyes, "An Entrance Fee? My father never told me of an Entrance Fee for Nyka..."

"Yes, an Entrance Fee." One of the Guards said as they both lowered their weapons, "Think of it as a small tax to pay to see our glorious city."

Sayren sighed in frustration, "Look, I came here to be a student, currently I'm in search of Ximal? The Master of Unarmed Combat?"

Both guards immediately stiffened, "Ximal?!" Their voices cracked as they both stepped aside, "You may enter! Quickly now!"

Sayren merely tilted her head, was Ximal really that well respected? Or feared?... "And what of this Entrance fee?"

"Don't mind it!" The Guard piped, trying to wave her inside the city. She continued with her curious gaze at the guard, then pressed Garel on into the city, "These people are so strange, Garel...Endrykas was so much easier." The stallion nodded his mane in agreement as he trotted along the streets.

She observed the city with intense fascination, being so used to the pavilions of Endrykas, she wasn't used to seeing homes made of stones and rock. The people even seemed friendly...at first. It would be a greeting here and there, but it wouldn't pass much more than a brief moment of eye contact and poof, the person was gone. Blending in with the crowd of locals once more. She even noticed that there weren't any vendors for food, meats, veggies or otherwise.

"Looks like Father was right, Garel. We may have to hunt for food." The stallion simply nudged back, looking at her as if he were saying, and that would be so bad? She smiled and patted the strider, "Always up for a good chase." She looked around them once more, "You'd think someone would at least direct us to this...Master." She tried asking a local, they gave her a moment's attention, then just left. A greeting and continues walking. She blinked, unsure if she even spoke to anyone to begin with. Tries another, but they barely even paused to give her the notice and continued onward. This increased her frustration. She tried another, and they merely brushed her off. Infuriated, she grasps a rather large man by his tight black shirt, "YOU! Tell me where I can find Ximal Thgegni!" The crowd seemed to instantly fall silent, even Garel shivered uncomfortably. She looked around, confused, "What?"

[Ximal]

XI headed out through the streets of nyka, He'd had a hard mornings work he liked to get his training out of the way early and that included the teaching of his students. Xi rolled his shoulders as he walked through the streets of nyka. Before long Xi spotted a new comer to the city atop a strider. Drykas...Female...Please oh please don't tell me she's related... Xi shook his head and carried on about his business, simply grazing through the western quarter looking for something. Namely a new weapon to train with. Or a new pair of gauntlets his current ones were beginning to wear a little. when all of a sudden he heard a female voice call out loudly. Before he felt a hand on his shirt pulling him around and saw the woman from atop the strider yelling at HIM. Asking him where she could find him. Xi shook his head lightly and he saw the crowd around him go a lil quiet...Odd. "jeez, firstly hands off the goods honey. Secondly, why are you after Ximal anyway?" Xi thought it best o play dumb at least until she'd stated her reason. He towered over her like everyone else by a good six inches at least. "Your horse looks a little...Uneasy. And you look a little flushed, What do you want with Ximal? or rather how do you know him? What if he doesn't know you. " Xi smirked looking at her...Strong, at least he suspected.

[Sayren WindDancer]

She paused for a moment, not hearing the words that passed from his lips as she now took more of his muscular form in. Dear gods...he could be taller than Gravun. She gulped as she finally rearranged herself.

"Your horse looks a little...Uneasy. And you look a little flushed, What do you want with Ximal? or rather how do you know him? What if he doesn't know you." She heard him say. Wait, this man is giving her attention when everyone else wasn't? Then again...she did just yell at him in the middle of a crowd after grasping him by the shirt.

"My apologies. I did not mean to come off so violently. These people wouldn't even give me the time to offer directions to a destination." She lightly dragged her hand across Garel's face, whose eyes were fixed upon this muscular man. "I know of him because my father spoke highly of him. Never actually met the man, but word travels quickly amongst the Drykas. So I don't suspect him to know who I am. I just wish to train under him. Become a better warrior, and finally be something more than just my father's youngest daughter." She sighed as she nuzzled against Garel, "This maybe much to ask after my rudeness, but can you point me to where I may obtain some water if it’s not too much trouble? I suppose finding Ximal will have to wait for now."

[Ximal]

Xi smirked slightly and flicked her a grin as he could now see the look of realization on her face. Well at least she was polite enough to apologize for her violent out burst. Xi rolled aroudn a few thoughts in hi head. And finally settled on speaking. "you'll have to forgive them, nykan's don't particularly like strangers much. They've fair reason to dislike and distrust them. So it's not like i can blame em" Her father spoke highly of him ? Had Xi met this father at one point ? Xi shook his head lightly and looked at her. "So you want to trian under him to become a better warrior right ? Well i can say honestly to you now he's not exactly an easy teacher.That and he's scary, mean and a lil ugly. You still sure you wanna train under him ? I mean i heard the man could punch through a solid oak shield and hit the person behind it with enough force to break their nose." Xi couldn't help but like being able to lie about himself it was...interesting. As she aked about where she get soem water Xi smirked and turned lightly. "Well if your not too busy with your search for him you could always follow me, i ean the best place to get anything i this city is the hostel, or the pub. But considering you asked for water...The hostel it is." Xi lead sayren off down the mains street to the hostel before finally asking her. "Oh i'm sorry I forgot to ask your name miss? And your horse will have to stay outside." Xi smirked letting his deep black blue eye's shine in the light. Before heading into the hostel and asking vysia for a pair of cups of water, which here meant extremely weak ale as water was far too precious for foreigners, even if Xi was now kind of a resident. Xi took them to a table and sat down offering a seat to sayren. "So Your after Ximal to help train you into being a better fighter. I suppose he could do it, after all. It's not like he's not up for training people he runs a school."

[Sayren WindDancer]

"you'll have to forgive them, nykan's don't particularly like strangers much. They've fair reason to dislike and distrust them. So it's not like i can blame em" She looked towards the man, she didn't know much about Nykan history, but she was sure there might've been a reason as to why these people held such distrust against foreigners. "So you want to trian under him to become a better warrior right ? Well i can say honestly to you now he's not exactly an easy teacher.That and he's scary, mean and a lil ugly. You still sure you wanna train under him ? I mean i heard the man could punch through a solid oak shield and hit the person behind it with enough force to break their nose." She smiled, she had heard her father say similar stories about the man. Of course, the tales were much more dramatic, such as, the man could ripple steel with his finger like a child could a pond with a pebble. Least these stories seemed more believable.

"Well if your not too busy with your search for him you could always follow me, i ean the best place to get anything i this city is the hostel, or the pub. But considering you asked for water...The hostel it is." She blinked in disbelief, was she really being treated so kindly by a stranger in these foreign lands? She nodded as her and Garel followed behind him.

"Oh i'm sorry I forgot to ask your name miss? And your horse will have to stay outside." This made Sayren cringe uneasily, but the gentle stallion ushered her on. Strange how the strider's gaze never swayed from the man. The stallion never made any motions to say he was a threat, maybe he's just watching? She shrugged the thought off and kissed Garel's cheek before tailing the odd man once more, "I am Sayren WindDancer. I hail from the Diamond Clan of Endrykas."

She quickly sat down in the seat he offered and gazed up at the man.

"So Your after Ximal to help train you into being a better fighter. I suppose he could do it, after all. It's not like he's not up for training people he runs a school."

Sayren nodded her head as she grabbed onto her cup, "Yes, that is my hope at least...you'd think he'd be a much easier man to find in all of this..." She sighs, running her fingers through her hair, "Oh, and what's your name kind stranger? I realized I never got have yours."

[Ximal]

Xi smirked and Glanced at ehr before mentioing about the horse. "It's not about anthing otehr than people don't like animal's inside. Nothing major. So your name is Sayren. Diamond clan. I knew a diamond clan drykas once...extremely sharp fingernails." Xi smirked lightly before drinking his ale. And nearly choked into it when she asked him his name. Crap, make something, up make something up! "Oh i'm, donnel. Donnel marin" Xi smirked and thought about how to reply to her comment about being much easier to find than all this. "You'd be surprised. He's not exactly easy to find, it's why his school is in the northern quarter of the city. Near the quarries where i work." Xi sighed lightly "So...not really sure what to do now." Xi smirked lightly and brought his hand up to stroke his beard. "If you don't mind me saying you don't particularly look the fighting type, it may just be your age, as you look young. But you've not got a prominent fighters build. Almost everyone in this city can fight some how. The monks better than everyone else but still everyone can fight. Heck the monks are scary, but it's rumoured that Ximal beat five of them at once without killing a single one. Still it's only a rumour." Xi brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head lightly. It felt fun but very odd to be talking about himself like this. Her supposed that this was zandelia felt like a lot of the time.

[Sayren WindDancer]

She offered a pleasant smile, "Pleased to meet you Donnel." So other Diamond Clan HAVE had been here. Makes sense considering how the stories spread. She felt her spirit go down when "Donnel" said that the school was in the northwestern quarter. As if this maze of stones wasn't difficult enough to traverse around. And she knew Garel would need rest soon.

"If you don't mind me saying you don't particularly look the fighting type, it may just be your age, as you look young. But you've not got prominent fighters build. Almost everyone in this city can fight somehow. The monks better than everyone else but still everyone can fight. Heck the monks are scary, but it's rumoured that Ximal beat five of them at once without killing a single one. Still it's only a rumour."

She quickly stood up in protest, "I can fight! That is not the issue!" She took a big gulp of the drink, her eyes widen when she realized it wasn't water, but she managed to keep the weak ale down. Calmly, she sat the cup onto the table and returned to her seat. "Many would look at me and see a child. Not a warrior like my brothers." Her cheeks were already beginning to redden...curse her light-weighted resistance. "I assume there's no real water around here to spare is there?" She closed her eyes, taking tiny sips of the drink in front of her now.

[Ximal]

Xi watched her shoot up from her seat in protest of his statement about her not looking like she could fight. Xi sighed and watched her eye's go wide at the ale. it was almost as weak as water, at least as far as he was concerned having grown up with sunberthian firewater. slowly she returned to her seat and Xi leant back in his chair. And examined her looking at her and listneing to what she had to say about her seeming like a child. Xi took another swallow of his drink and caught the red flare in her cheeks. So she's not used to alcohol...Might not have been a good idea then but still. Didn't expect her to be that much of a light weight. "Well, It looks like your not used to ale, but yeah the water is too precious here to be given out as easy drinking substance. So yeah...But i doubt Ximal would look at you and think you arent a warrior. More than likely he'd just question you to see how you think. Fighting isn't about proving yourself. It's about prooving that you will stand up for what you believe in" Xi leant over the table and flexed his fingers lightly. "Y'know your not the most observant of people. You talked to Ximal whilst you were out on that street. Finish your drink and i'll lead you too his school." Xi downed the rest of his ale and stood up from the seat handing his cup back to vysia. Giving her a smirk and nodding lightly. After that if she followed him he would lead her through the city upto his school in the northern quarter it wasn't a long walk only around twenty to thirty chimes worth. As they reached the gate Xi spoke. "Well there it is. Y'know Xi's school has an entrance exam, to make sure that you've got enough spirit in you as well as enough will power to take his training. It's a fairly simple exam...You have to fight the master. If you cna last five chimes...You can then join. At the moment three people passed with flying colours, others have struggled but passed but his second teacher managed a full thirty chimes. and his top three students managed seven chimes a piece."

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren took the words to thought. Her father mentioned that phrase before. And then Donnel says she met Ximal?? In the streets?? Oh by the gods that would be her luck...she thought back, who could it have been?! Donnel says he's ugly, and scary too! But surely she hadn't met a man that even crossed that. Not saying every man in Nyka is handsome, but surely they aren't ugly. She gazed up at him, he offered her yet another kindness, he would personally lead her to the school? She finished the drink, going off to Garel and quietly followed behind Donnel.

When they had finally arrive to the place, before she could give her thanks, Donnel spoke. Telling her about the Exam. She blinked, thinking aloud, "How could he know so much about this school?" She took a deep breath and clamped her fists together. "Thank you for leading me here, Donnel. Hopefully I can repay your kindness by not failing at his test." She listened closely for the chimes, "Five chimes...seems easy enough." Mustering up the last bits of courage for herself as she walks through the gate.

[Ximal]

"I meant , what i said when i said you weren't that observant." Xi smirked and Placed a hand on her shoulder before she even got to the gate. "You aint going in yet. You haven't passed the test. You've gotta fight the master of the school." Xi cracked his knuckles through the steel plating over his hands and took a deep breath before holding his gaze at her. " You did meet Ximal on the street." Xi stepped then between her and his school. before stretching slightly. "And he then brought you to his school." X took a deep breath an let it out slowly. "You think you cna last a full five chimes against me. Show me. Show me where you have such confidence from. " Xi lowered his gaze at ehr and kept up his formless stance. "If you think that you posses enough skill to join MY school, then prove it to me here and now. I challenge you Sayren Winddancer. Five chimes, and you may enter my school. Now Show me what you can do!" Xi smirked and looked at her. She may have not had a fighers build but he wasn't going to take her lightly regardless.