Re: The Island (The non-combat IC thread)
Tamonten -> Zaro'Alk
The shorter woman's pale arm went behind her back as the Dragoness circled her. Tamonten didn't want to rely on her better appendage for that sparring match, even accidentally, she wouldn't get any better with her left hand otherwise. Even as she adjusted herself, the human kept her eyes on her training opponent. The white-haired swordswoman didn't mirror Zaro's circling, wanting to be on the defensive. It was a strategy that she would probably regret much later. The shield-maiden had a fearsome aura about her. Her size, the way she held herself, the strength she displayed in wielding her weapon of choice, and her stoic expression, all were intimidating aspects about the genetically altered female. Had the shorter woman been a bit more green to that sort of thing, she might have thrown her hands up in surrender. Cowardice wasn't in the cards for the pale-skinned girl that day, though. Defeat, probably, but not cowardice.
Tamonten frowned slightly at the noticeable movements before the training spear lashed out at her. The swordswoman's displeasure wasn't at Zaro, but instead because she wouldn't have been able to block the first strike in time if the warning hadn't existed. Even when the lithe human did move to deflect the blow, she had to backpedal away from her opponent. The parry had been too slow, even for the measured strike that wasn't really aimed at her body, and to have remained would have risked a followup from the same direction. In the end it didn't make much difference as the Dragoness lunged at her with the training weapon, Zaro's grace and speed belied her size and that caught the defensive woman off guard. Tamonten simply couldn't bring her sword arm from her previous, almost mechanical, parry in time to even attempt to stop the strike. The swordswoman had to leap back in order to avoid the brunt of the improvised spear, and even then still took part of the intended attack.
Worse, Tamonten found herself almost cornered by the rocks. Between a rock and the Dragoness, as it were. It wasn't enough to dissuade her from the sparring, the swordswoman still had pride, she wouldn't wait in a corner for her opponent to strike her at leisure. Instead, she moved towards the giantess. A few very measured thrusts aimed at the larger woman's legs. None of the thrusts were intended to actually connect with Zaro, it would have been dangerous for the white-haired girl to extend herself that far against an opponent with longer reach than her. Tamonten's primary goal was simply to create some distance between herself and the rocky wall. Her secondary goal was to not get walloped by a stick wielded by a seven foot tall warrior. Regardless of what happened next, the swordswoman's smile had returned. The pale-skinned woman could feel the blood rushing through her veins as the shared practice intensified.
Tamonten -> Auralice, Sleepy-Time Enigma
"Passed out?" Tamonten replied, relief plain in her voice. "Is that what happened?" That put her a little more at ease. For a while there, she had begun to believe that she had actually done all that with Enigma and Auralice. Of course she hadn't, she wouldn't! The matter of what she was dressed in silently fell to the curb. It was especially easy to forget as her mistress coiled around her and began to pet the pale-skinned human, causing her to share the naga's blush. "Yes, Lady Enigma and I have met. And you can call me by," She paused for a second, as though she wanted to say something other than her name but wasn't sure why. "Tamonten. It's an honor to meet you, m...milady."