Captain James T. Kirk (
winscenario) wrote in
asgardchrysalis2019-09-24 06:39 pm
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( open ) practice makes perfect
Who: Jim Kirk & YOU!
What: Jim wants to learn how to wield a sword (and some other weapons)
When: Now-ish
Where: Temjask arena
Rating: PG-13 for possible mild violence, fighting and minor injuries
While not unfamiliar with using weapons, it's fair to say that Jim's well out of his depth here. Barring the use of magic, there's nothing even remotely resembling energy weapons, and even projectile weapons are nonexistent. He's checked out what's on offer but some of them he doesn't even recognize, and those that he does...
Well, he can't really remember ever holding a sword in his life, for instance. But he's definitely curious. He goes to the arena to train, keep his body in shape and possibly look for someone willing to spar with him, and after he's worked up some sweat, he heads out to where all those weapons are on display, looking over the selection with interest.
He picks up a sword at one point, a smaller and lighter-looking one, but not knowing what to do with it, he'll put it back down unless someone approaches or cuts in. He also walks around the training grounds, watching others use those same weapons, admiring from a safe distance at how skilled they are.
A more elaborate or showy move will no doubt get an impressed sound from him, and he tips his head at them. "That was brilliant. You're really good."
Not that he'd know the first thing, it just looked impressive.
What: Jim wants to learn how to wield a sword (and some other weapons)
When: Now-ish
Where: Temjask arena
Rating: PG-13 for possible mild violence, fighting and minor injuries
While not unfamiliar with using weapons, it's fair to say that Jim's well out of his depth here. Barring the use of magic, there's nothing even remotely resembling energy weapons, and even projectile weapons are nonexistent. He's checked out what's on offer but some of them he doesn't even recognize, and those that he does...
Well, he can't really remember ever holding a sword in his life, for instance. But he's definitely curious. He goes to the arena to train, keep his body in shape and possibly look for someone willing to spar with him, and after he's worked up some sweat, he heads out to where all those weapons are on display, looking over the selection with interest.
He picks up a sword at one point, a smaller and lighter-looking one, but not knowing what to do with it, he'll put it back down unless someone approaches or cuts in. He also walks around the training grounds, watching others use those same weapons, admiring from a safe distance at how skilled they are.
A more elaborate or showy move will no doubt get an impressed sound from him, and he tips his head at them. "That was brilliant. You're really good."
Not that he'd know the first thing, it just looked impressive.
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"No! No, that's not," he started, then laughed again, shaking his head. "Sorry. No, my feet are... perfectly normal. For a human, anyway. It's just... a saying, where I'm from. When someone can't dance, it's said they have two left feet."
He had to admit, though, that clueless reaction really was very cute.
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Her eyes widened, two silver coins, with the whites visible all the way around. It wasn't that Ariadne was naive. It was only that figures of speech had a tendency to...take practice. And it seemed that every single Human society had its own figures of speech. Sometimes they matched up. More often, they totally contradicted each other.
Such a diverse species, Humans. And Ariadne only knew how to pass for one kind. A kind that, as far as she could tell, didn't really exist here.
She was going to have to try harder.
"I'm sure that can't be true. Anyone can dance. It's just a mathematical sequence. With a little peacocking on top of it."
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"It depeneds largely on the kind of dancing," he pointed out. "Besides, not everyone is good at math. Or at peacocking."
Jim did happen to be exceptional at both, but anyway.
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They'd even forgive him his rounded ears. At least for a little while.
"I suppose so," she said. She turned to watch two strangers sparring with their swords. "We have to use the tools that suit us best."
With that, she reached into her satchel and pulled out her sling. It was a wholly unimpressive weapon. Just two leather thongs tied to a little leather cup, but she offered it to him as though it were made of gold. It was, by far, her favorite way to fight. Especially now that she didn't have her claws.
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He looked down when she took out her sling, letting out an impressed little sound as he accepted it from her carefully. "Wow. I can't remember the last time I've seen one of these," he said. Granted, the slings he and his friends used back at the farm to scare horses while he was a kid were far more basic and of much lower quality. "Mind showing me how you use it?"
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And, honestly, she was beginning to feel her hold on her form weaken a little. She needed to refresh it. The last thing she wanted was to turn green in front of a stranger, however nice. That wouldn't end well. It never did for her kind.
Or so her mother had drilled into her head as a hatchling.
"I could meet you out back, if you'd like to see it done properly."
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The way she put it intrigued him, though. He lifted an eyebrow, a shoulder raising minutely. "We can't just go together?"
He didn't quite understand why she'd want to go separately, but then it hadn't really crossed his mind that she might be hiding her real appearance. Honestly, she'd be in for a real surprise if she thought Jim would be shocked in any way, he was far too used to living among all kinds of different people.
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She made the universal gesture for 'after you.'
And hoped that he wouldn't turn around, if she reverted too soon.
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He didn't seem to react in any way whatsoever, but then it was only her attitude that seemed to be changing, like she was getting nervous for some reason. If anything in her appearance had changed, he hadn't seemed to notice yet.
"It's not a very common weapon. Are you very precise with it?"
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The gods only knew what she would do in another ten minutes, but she'd burn that bridge when she came to it.
...was that how the expression went? She couldn't remember.
Outside, feeling a little bit better, Ariadne leaned over to pick up a smooth, flat rock along the side of the path. She ran her thumb over its surface, smiling faintly. It was absolutely perfect. Like it had been made for a sling. And perhaps it had. Who knew, with whole swaths of the village suddenly appearing by magic?
"I like to think so," she said, trotting along after him, turning to eye the targets. "I've been training since I was a little girl."
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He took a few steps back to get out of her way, gesturing to the targets set up.
"Dazzle me, then."
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As soon as she felt she had enough speed, she threw her arm forward. The stone sprang out of the cup and went hurtling across the space between. It hit one of the targets.
While Ariadne wasn't strong, she was precise.
The single hit knocked over the whole target.
She turned back to Jim with a shy smile. "Dazzled?"
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He let out a surprised sound when she threw the stone, clapping when it knocked the target over. Her question earned a soft laugh from him. "Thoroughly," he dipped his head. "That was very impressive."
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It was fun showing off. At least a little bit.
"There are certain parts of the body where you take aim," she said. "One shot can knock a man out. Then the killing stops that much sooner."
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"Best way to avoid a needless fight," he agreed with a nod. "I only ever used a sling to spook horses and other farm animals when I was a kid."
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She shuddered an exaggerated shudder.
There was something strangely likable about this Jim. He had the bearing of a prince. But not the temperament, not that she could tell.
"My name is Ariadne, by the way," she told him. "But you can call me 'Airy' if you like. Almost everyone does."
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He dipped his head, smiling at her. "Airy, then. I'm James, but everyone calls me Jim. It's nice to meet you."
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But she had yet to master who was allowed to wear silk. Everything was a little scattershot there.
"James is a very pretty name," she told him. "Does it mean something?"
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"Thank you. I don't hear that often," he said. Mostly because it was a fairly popular name where he came from. "I'm... sure it has some kind of meaning, if you go back to its roots, but I never looked it up. Does Ariadne mean anything?"
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It was funny, too, because everyone said 'Airy' was a nickname that suited her well. The way she talked, the way she acted, the way she moved. It was like gravity was just barely holding her down. Any moment, she would sprout wings and fly away into the day like a sparrow.
But that came about long after her hatchling days.
She shrugged. "My father just liked the sound of it."
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It really didn't matter anyway whether a name had a meaning or not. Not to Jim, anyway.
"Wanna have another go?" He gestured to the other targets, still waiting for her to knock them over too.
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She smiled slightly, offering the sling to him. "Why don't you give it a try?" she asked. "You came to learn, didn't you?"
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"Well... I did, yes, but I'm not even sure how to use one of these," he admitted with a soft smile. "But, uh," he started, looking around himself and picking up another rock. It wasn't as perfect as hers, but at least it was smooth. "I guess I can just... try to do what you did?"
He shrugged, pursing his lips. What was the worst thing that could happen, right?
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That was, without a doubt, the worst lie she'd ever come up with.
She smiled meekly.
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He took a few steps aside and tried to mimic her stance, then started twirling the sling in much the same way she had. It was difficult to figure out how fast he should be going, but he did his best to come close to what she'd managed, then once he had enough speed, he threw the sling forward. It had no stone, of course, so there was no way of knowing where it would have landed, but the sling seemed to cut cleanly enough through the air. Not as precise as her throw, he was sure, but still.
He looked at her, waiting for her to correct whatever mistakes he might've made. "So how bad was that?"
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