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Diamond-Refining Exercise

It was a little while later...

A few hours into the afternoon, the rain has stopped. The floors and streets are all drenched, and the Exalted should than whatever god - well, Iron Tears, in fact - that they are not in the Ash or any other normal district of the Boil, or the mud and the stench would.... not be nice. But they are on their Manse, where the day is just darker and they can hear the droplets falling...

... and where the Prince, Moon, Kanti and Hanna get together for the new Dragoness' training...

Hanna: "Sooo...." She asks, tying her long, long white hair down, her skin turning into diamond as she watches the fire aspect... clad in little more than half a shirt tied around her bosom, and small small shorts. Still sporting the gauntlets and boots of broken black jade. "How do we begin?"

Seventh Moon: Moon guessed it was supposed to be a ballroom of some sort. Sure as hell was one of the largest rooms in the manse, almost cavernous in size, walls stretching off into darkened corners. Looking down between his feet, he saw himself glaring back up from the polished stone tiles of the floor. Pale gray sunlight pierced in thin blades through the huge red curtains covering the window, pooling into evenly spaced circles along the length of the room.

Place didn't look like it had been used in a long time though. All the furniture was covered with white sheets and stacked against the walls in ghostly mounds. Was clean enough. He could smell the pungent tang of disinfectants and the bitterness of wax. Only a few dust motes stirred in the light, even when he flopped himself down onto a tarp-covered couch. But still, there was something sort of odd about the room. Emptiness. Loneliness. A chill that went a little deeper than the cold day outside.

Well... that would change soon enough.

"Just fuck 'round some at first, y'know?" Moon offered the two girls, stretching himself out on the couch, nestling back into it for comfort. "Find out just whatcha can do 'n shit. Lotta this stuff comes pretty natural, y'know?"

Kanti: ...how am I to teach her?
...what should I teach her?
...I should start.
..with..what?
Kanti nervously adjusts her robe of screams, dull red in the slightly darkened room, the bright carmine roses in her hair brighter even than her skin, holding her hair in two balls with long, straight tails. She glances nervously at Moon and Alex, seeming to draw strength from their presence, and she turns to the Dragonblooded girl, the one she had seen exalt, the one she had seen Moon use as a weapon. She glances around the large room they were within, and the dusty sheets.
She nods to Moon ...

"Yes, first we should see what you can do ... though, you should take the Jade off for now." she says, almost confidantly.

Hanna: She smiled at Moon, a wide grin, "Oh, like stopping a shadow from goin' at ya and rippin ya head off?"

She asks, then looks at Kanti... tapping her gloves. "Wh... why?"

Kanti: could she be as nervous as I am?
....could she?

"Because ... your natural techniques should not depend on them ... and I don't want you throwing punches with weapons at me that could break bones. Please."

Seventh Moon: The Lunar grinned a little at the almost authoritative tone in Kanti's voice. Made him wonder how often she'd ever been the voice of authority in a situation or how she'd handle it.

Back in his coat, using his arm as a pillow, Moon looked sufficiently comfortable to watch. With darkly attentive eyes, he flicked his gaze back and forth between the two Terrestrials. Waiting for something to happen. Admiring both until it did.

There were things to be done. Problems to be taken care of, not the least of which was another fucking deathknight in his city. But this had to come first. Without Selina and the others, they needed Hanna more than ever. Needed her to be the best they could make her as quickly as they could make her.

And since there wasn't shit they could do until this was over anyway, Moon figured he'd have to enduring waiting and watching while two beautiful young women wrestled across the floor. It was a sacrifice, but hey... leadership demanded those, y'know?

"Yeah, this ain't a real brawl darlin'." Moon echoed after Kanti. "Can hurt someone with that shit. Do like she says and take it off."

Hanna: The mention of breaking bones is what convinces her. She relaxes a little. Kanti was afraid of her! She could hurt Kanti. That made her feel a world more confident, and she slowly let the gauntlets slide... coming down to the floor with a loud clang! She flexed her knuckles, her eyes glinting...

Her hair taking the aspect of diamond as well.
She took off her boots as well, her diamantine foot touching the ground, her eyes fixing Kanti, ready.

"C'mon!"

Kanti: Kanti smiled at the girl and assumed the mortal version of the Viridean Radiance Form and even that small gesture was enough to calm her, the worry vanishing from her eyes, not yet letting the essence flow through her, content to leave this an exercise of purely mortal skill, at least on her part for the moment.

Then suddenly she flows into the attack, her whole body moving with near impossible smoothness as she punches at the earth aspect with open palms.

Hanna: She tries to block it, but fails by a hair, taking the open palm that strikes to her cheek... and Hanna smiles, kicking at Kanti's legs, trying to push them with her own to bring the fire aspect down, less worried now, Kanti's saintly form making her more and more relaxed... but strangely, no less eager to strike at the Fire Aspect! Kanti sees she is good... fighting in a very loose, flowing... but missing something, a lack of ability, of vision.

Kanti: Kanti leaps easily above the legs, faint trails of smoke wrapping around her body as she does, easily evading the strike, her body twisting as she does, bringing own feet around to kick at Hanna's side, landing in the same perfect fighting pose.

Hanna: She misses Kanti's leg, and pushes down... air. Out of balance, the Earth Aspect falls down, and yells, " 'Ey! That was magic! You cheated! You used Magic! Moon!" She calls to him, angry, her fingers... digging on the floor... digging into stone tiles as if they were not there. Her strength was great when touching the earth...

Seventh Moon: "Yeah? What 'bout it?" Moon answered back, lifting his head up slightly. Glaring at her expectantly. She was going to have to learn this part fast. The magic, the powers, they had to come instinctive. You had to stop thinking about if you should use them and just use them. They were a part of what she was now. She had to learn that. "The fuck you think I'm gonna do 'bout it? Can't fuckin' come bitchin' ta me 'bout it when someone smacks ya ass through a wall later." Moon lowered his head again, raising a hand to wave her off dismissively. "She used that shit, you use it right back. You ain't helpless."

Hanna: Her fingers leave the floor. She rises slowly, eyes narrowing at Kanti...

"I use it, eh? Well, I don't know how to do it! Aren't you going ta teach me?!?"

Kanti: "He's right, Moon is right." Kanti says quietly, trying to keep her voice calm, though it was hard...so hard for her to chastise someone ...though, she must.

"First, you must accept that you can."
...He'd said that to her...oh so long ago..
He...He...focus!
calm.
...calm?
Hanna was far too calm. Kanti took a breath.

"Hit me. I don't think you can hurt me even if you do land a blow. So go ahead." she says, triumphantly.<btr> ...please don't be angry with me!

Hanna: "Alright, then..." She smiles. Her fists clench. She was not an 'old warhorse' like Moon. She may not look like it - not in the least - but she was barely close to sixteen. She had been schooled many times in her life. But she was Chosen now! She would show Kanti she was good... that she needed more than the basics to be taught... yes, she would! She would show her... now!

"Altight, bitch, here I come." She says, in a pleasant way... like she was adressing a friend, not as an insult. Well, not more than a teasing one, at least! A quick shift on her body, a few steps, and she comes, smiling... The punch comes, diamond-hard to Kanti's face!

Kanti: Kanti dodges her with an effortless flicker of flames, not even bothering to move her feet from where they stand.

"Try harder."

This is really gonna hurt when it lands...

Hanna: She misses, then goes angry... and loses a little, Kanti can see. No discipline, she misses Kanti, and again, and again, then stoppiing.... panting a little.

"Quick..."

She clenches her fists more... the sound of stone on stone as she digs her nails on her palm...

And fights as she know, a punch... as a feint to another... and even if she dodges, a kick, sweeping around!

Kanti: Kanti is forced to give ground this time, receeding before the oncoming avalance of diamond and stone, dipping and dodging and twisting in a cloud of smoke and flickering flames, long ponytails trailing behind her in the cloud, slicing through it as she does.

...it's working!

"Better. Can you feel it burning? Can you feel it coursing through you?" she asks as she backflips over the sweep.

Seventh Moon: No smile or praise or even a change in his expression, but Moon was happy with what he was seeing. She was catching on. Hanna was a bright kid, always had been. Probably smarter than he was. Shit knows she was learning this faster than he had.

"Feels like a fuckin' high, doesn't it?" he interjected, watching the Pack girl strain and lunge at Kanti. Ultimately missing, perhaps, but doing a damn good job of driving her back. Something Shadow Eyes had said to him once came back, long ago when it was Moon learning how to do this stuff and the dark eyed old Lunar doing the teaching. "Like the rules don't even fuckin' mean anythin' anymore, y'know? Ya can make 'um or break 'um much as ya want. Just gotta feel out how ta do it."

He fell silent again as he watched, echoes of his own initiation in the way Chosen did business coming back to him in their sparring. Hanna was lucky. Moon would have taken a crazy little Kanti over a crazy old Shadow Eyes any day.

No fewer bruises maybe, but at least there was something worth looking at doing the bruising.

Hanna: She pants a little... feeling it... feeling.... "I... can."

She takes a step, and does not notice diamond dust is left on her wake. True one.

"It... does.... Moon." High. And then, she got it. She let it kick in. As if she had smoked something, she let it kick in. And lunged foward. The dragon roared. Her fist was not a fist anymore. It was the head of the dragon, and she was fading diamond...

Kanti: Kanti had to exert far more skill to dodge this one than any of the other blows, dodge it with the most equisite timing, dodge it with a swirl of smoke and flame.

Dodge it just well enough that it hit, but didn't actually break anything, though still she gasps from the force of the blow.

"...Good. Doesn't it feel wonderful?"

Hanna: She hits... just a bit.

But damnit, it was a fucking hit!

The head of the dragon breaks, the sound like breaking glass, and she yells "Yes!!!! " as she hits, her long white hair waving behind her, her breasts bouncing, her posture playful... tip-toeing, a wide, toothy grin... the motes of broken glass... diamond? ... coming back to her, hovering around her... "Yes!"

She punches the air, she kicks the air, burning more and more of it, beggining to scorch the ground beneath her, not noticing...

Kanti: "Then you have learned the first lesson."

Kanti glances down nervously at the diamond dust tearing up the floor.

"....and the second. Your power has consequence." She gestures at the floor.

Hanna: She shifts to the Fire Aspect, with a kick that stops inches from her face... smiling... retreating the leg slowly, increasing her skill, her unity with power with total abandon. And then, when her leg retreats... she hears... and looks down. "Oh..."

"Um..."

"Sorry?"

Seventh Moon: Holding an arm protectively over his eyes as dust and bits of tile begin to fly, Moon said nothing to Hanna's destruction of the floor around her. There isn't much he can say to it. Not his field, that. When he lit up, there was a lot of noise and a lot of light, but not much else. Not like Kantis. Or apparently Hannas. Or Selina's for that matter. He could still remember the painful bite of it when he'd pinned her down back in the Red-Lantern, when shit was just starting to fly.

Actually, maybe there was something he could say about it. "'oughta keep'a step back from folk when ya do shit like that." He told her, swinging his legs around and sitting up on the couch. Too much crap was nailing him in the face laying down. "Might not feel bad ta you darlin', but hurts like a fuckin' sonovabitch for the rest of us, y'know?"

Hanna: She looked at him.... "I'll try. Though... this is good, eh? If none of you are around..."

"I guess those crystals can beat a bunch of thugs around me by themselves?"

Kanti: "That is you anima ... unlike Moon's, unlike Prince Alexander's, it will rip and sear at everything around you ..."

Kanti winces at the thought of those shards ripping at people.

"...Yes, they will hurt people, but slowly ... your own punches and kicks, enchanced by the charms that fuel it, are far better..."

Kanti murmurs something into the room, and Hanna feels her self lifted, feels essence returning to her, filling her up.
I hope she learns this fast...

"Now...try and hit me without your magic."

Hanna: Cracking her knuckles, holding the diamond dust to raw circles around her arms, she smiles. "Oh? We are going magic-less again, eh?" her feet tap the ground, as if she was listening to some primal, inaudible beat, before she lunges foward... and tries to place her fist right into Kanti's nose!

Kanti: Kanti receeds from the blow, flowing backwards with smoothness and flame.

"Good. Now with essence again."

Hanna: She closes her eyes... and begins to channel the feeling again. As if picking from Kanti's words, the feeling, warm, powerful, like an elemental melody... she begins to sing it within her soul, and it comes forth, her strike more sure, more precise than it could otherwise be!

Kanti: Kanti flows backwards in a whirlwind of flames, just avoiding the diamond perfect strike as it pushes toward her.

Did I learn this fast?

"...Very good."

She alights in her perfect fighting form, and then it changes, and she becomes a true saint, and all who would strike at her must feel their guilt, ribbons of flame dancing about her as she assumes the form.

....she's going to complain again.
.....I know it.

"...Now, we see how you can defend."

Hanna: Her eyes widen.... "Oh, fuck."

"W-wait a minute... hey, Moon! She's she's ... you know!"

Seventh Moon: "Show her whatcha can do darlin'!" Moon cheered from the sideline, though made certain it wasn't too clear who he was cheering for. Both, really. They hadn't gotten into grappling just yet, which was a damn shame, but it was already getting good. The give and take, careful dancing back and forth. Different from the usual, intuitive style of brawl he was use to. That was all fists and blood until you were blind with it. Here, you could watch every swing, every duck, every leg stretching out to kick. Each swing made him try to anticipate if it would connect.

"Keep ya guard up!" He encouraged Hanna. "And don't fuckin' stop movin'! Bein' hard as stone don't mean she can't smack ya 'round good. People like us, we ain't got too much trouble findin' ways ta make it hurt."

Hanna: "Alright...." Fists clenched, she took a protective stance, eyes fixed on the Fire Aspect - who could stop looking oh-so-heaveny and therefore oh-so-supernatural and therefore oh-so-scary, hoping it would not hurt too much...

Kanti: Kanti murmers the same soft words, once more filling Hanna with strength, replenishing her with the essence she would need.

Then she does not merely move, but rather flows towards the young earth aspect, every single step martial perfection and grace, every single step proclaiming her innocence, even as she starts to make more of the open handed punches, this time moving with far more surity, much more precision.

Hanna: Hanna barely manages to stop all of them, mostly out of luck... no magic augments her defense, no power augments her fists, and she can do little else than to stand on the defensive under Kanti's onslaught...

Kanti: ...I'm going to hurt her when I hit.
..but...it will be worse if someone else does...
Kanti keeps on pushing as she flows through the kata's of her style, linking them togther in a perfect demonstration of the viridian radiance style, and then she increases the speed of her advance, of her flurry of blows.

"Open yourself up to the essence, or I will hit you." she speaks, her voice saintly, despite the words she utters.

Hanna: Some nearly hit, but Kanti countains herself, sending Hanna against the wall, both cold sweat dripping from her....

Some nearly hit, but Kanti countains herself, sending Hanna against the wall, both cold and warm sweat dripping from her forehead as she looks at Kanti, puzzled.... "Open myself to what? I am doing my best, what else do you want?!?"

Seventh Moon: "Same shit ya tried ta hit her with darlin'." Moon called out, easing closer to the edge of the seat. He'd never really watched Kanti fight before. Seen her before it started. Seen it after. First time he'd ever had a chance to watch it happen from the sideline though. Nothing to distract him from the spectacle of it. Reminded a lot of what he'd seen her do in the clocktower, the dance she'd done for Selina and himself. Graceful. Peaceful.

Kinda creepy, when you realized this is how she looked when she killed someone.

"Find the high again." He went on to Hanna. "Don't fuckin' think 'bout, just feel it. Let it do what it does, y'know?"

Kanti: Kanti steps backwards and gestures, getting hanna to follow her out into the centre of the room once more.

"This time, I will hit you if you can't avoid me. And you will need essence to avoid me. This time, I will not hold back."

"Defend yourself."

She pauses, and then the dance begins again, smiling beautifically as she moves with grace, with certainty.

Hanna: She feels it coming.... eyes closed as she walks to the center of the room.... feeling nearly ashamed now. So many embarassing moments before, this would not be one... this would not be one, she whispers to herself. And then, she feels it coming.... and the magic comes again. On her fists, stopping the strikes, the earth telling her where Kanti will strike, the water telling her how the fire aspect flows... and she begins to stop the blows, inefficiently, but surely, her light coming again...

Kanti: Kanti whispers as she does, restoring Hanna's reserves of energy even as she drains them, each and every strike on the very edge of the capabilities she sees that Hanna possesses, pushing her to the limits of her essence, and just a little beyond.

I hope this works....

Then, with a smile and strange motion, she suddenly takes the Earth Aspects legs from under her, twisting her arms in Hanna's and smiling down at the girl.

Hanna: Hanna sees it. She does.

She is just not able to respond in time.

In a blur, the world spins, and she is in Kanti's arms, struggling against the fire aspect... she growls first, a near-yelp, near-scream, at being so played for a fool... but then she smiles, a feral, challenging smile as she looks up to the fire aspect, her fingers digging on Kanti's arms, trying to not let herself be dominated... "Think I'm helpless up close, dear?"

"Think again!"

Kanti: ..submit.
...no. show her.
show moon.
show him.

"...You won't get out without essence." she says calmly, twisting her limbs around Hanna's all the tigther, stopping just short of actually hurting her.

Hanna: "Oh yeah? Then... get.... this! She says, using her Essence, the dragon roaring... holding to Kanti, she lowers herself to the ground, her knee going to Kanti's belly, intending to throw the Fire Aspect away in a roll....

Kanti: Kanti twists her leg in a way that just isn't human, aided by both her charms and her natural flexibility, pushing the knee aside, almost so far as to break it, pushing her arms around behind the earth aspect, taking the diamond studded limbs with her, feeling them trying to tear her skin.

Hanna: "Did... not work, eh?" She sighs, trying to regain her footing, Kanti all around her... moving that way. For a moment, Hanna was... disturbed by how she moved. And then she was all held, without the possibility of movement... Kanti smiling... that smile...

She lunged foward, her legs entwining with Kanti's, her hands going to the Fire Aspect's back, trying to hold to her clothing to push her back, with some luck to asfixiate her a bit...

Nobody ever said she fought fair.

Alexander: In a corner of the room, sat on one of the most comfortable chairs in the hall and eating from a basket of fruits - a rare treat they could afford, being such heroes - Alexander watched.... intrigued. Kanti was an interesting teacher. Not to the level of the Pale Angel in the least, but...

... and then, the women were together, locked almost like lovers.

Kanti's arms twisted around Hanna's... impossibly.
It is not like he had never seen things like that.
No, he had seen many entertainers, many of them contortionists...

But all of those took effort and learned routines to do such things. Kanti... she did it in the middle of the battle, naturally... contorting the body in such a way... "She sure is... flexible..." he murmurs, part to Moon, part to himself...

'Seventh Moon: "So's Hanna." The Lunar answered, watching them both with a devious grin. Now this was more like it. It was too bad that they hadn't gone outside after all. The rain would have made it pretty muddy out there... "'oughta see her touch her ears with her ankles. Fuckin' amazin."

He flashed the prince a wicked grin, but turned his attention back to the Terrestrials. Hanna was good in close like this. She use to be able to manage to pin Moon down himself. And like any proper punk, she cheated like a housewife in heat. But Kanti was slippery and lithe. The way she moved made it look like her bone had turned to jelly. If this had been a serious brawl, it would have been a good match. Even as just fucking around, it was still a good match... though maybe not for quiet the same reasons.

"Go lower!" he advised loudly. To one or the other, didn't matter who went low, really.

Kanti: Kanti pushes her elbows out, trying to get Hanna to release her grip on the robes she wore, her legs moving, and twisting, trying to return them to a more favourable position after Hanna's unexpected twist.

She pushes down and inwards on the girl's shoulders, trying to force them back and together...

Alexander: "See Hanna doing it? Or Kanti...?" or both? He asks of himself, trying to imagine they doing so.... it would be... an interesting pose! Hard to imagine people doing that, and he did enjoy the contortionists in the shows he had seen as a child... yes, yes, he would ask.

Hanna: Hanna grits her teeth, so hard that the ringing from them can be heard loudly... as her face goes close to Kanti's, almost nuzzling.... as Kanti pushes her down... but then, she lets herself be taken down, pushing Kanti to the side, finally applying much pressure to the leg, making Kanti hit the floor with her back, standing above Kanti, smiling a broad grin now, panting ferally on Kanti's face......

Kanti: Kanti lies there, looking up at Hanna, apparently unwinded but sprawed in a way others would consider uncomfortable.
defeated
submit..
what do you want from me?
ask and I wi-...
teachings, I am teaching her.
Kanti rises to her feet in a wash of flames that mildly singe the carpet, one moment sprawled beneath her, the next on her feet in a relaxed pose.

"Well ...well done." she says with a smile for the young girl. "I ...need to ask for a volunteer now..."

Hanna: The essence she used fading from her, she looks up, getting up with a smile... a smile that is not wholly comfortable however...

"Well done, eh?"

'Twas weird, tho...
Was like... kinda like...

"Moon?"

Alexander: The prince looks at Moon, hurt like he is, then jumps out of his chair, picking an apple and chewing on it as he walks to the ladies. "No, no, leave this up to me! If someone with so little ability in hand-to-hand such as myself can be of any service, that is..."

Seventh Moon: Tch.

That could have lasted longer. But Moon supposed this wasn't supposed to be that sort of lesson anyway.

"Good job darlin'." Moon applauded Hanna, clapping his broad hands together slowly. He was already starting to push himself to his feet at the call for vollenteers, when someone else beat him to it.

Moon looked at Alex...

"Be of any service."
Right.

...and then back at Hanna with a grin, passing her a wink. A little sly. A little goading. People like them healed fast from bruises, didn't they? And it was so damn easy to slip up in a brawl and nail the wrong person... or just grab the wrong spot. A little luck and misfortune both probably wouldn't leave a scar on Alex...

Moon settled back onto the sofa easily, as if he'd only moved to shift in his seat a little. "Yeah, let the kid help. Maybe he can learn a thing or two too, y'know?"

Kanti: my prince...why did you volunteer ... what if I hurt you?
though...moon is injured...
I can't hurt him though..
he suvived the boil..he can defend..
...I hope.
I know!..you shouldn't doubt!
Kanti glances over to the approaching Prince.
"Thank you, my prince." she says to him, before looking back to Hanna.

"The technique I want to show you now is called Safety Amongst Enemies."
she says, with more confidence now that her prince is so close ... even if she was...
"My prince, you should get ready to defend yourself, if you please."

Alexander: "I shall, my dear." He says, confidently as... he never is, and gesture.... white flame pouring from his hand, golden motes coalescing to form the blade.... the blade made of ivory, the blade in the shape of a wing, the blade forged from white fires themselves. The blade of Whiteshield.

Ainerach.

In a moment, he shifts his stance with it to the defensive, like a true pillar of the sun...

"Ready!"

Kanti: Kanti stares at him just briefly as the flame pours from his hands, coalescing in the golden swirl that is the blade.

Then she quickly pulls herself away, turning back to Hanna.

"Hit me. ... ... Without charms!"

Hanna: Well, that was easier. No entanglement. Now it would be just punching... she guessed. Or something.

"Gotcha!" She said. She was never *too* bright.

She straightened her stance, and rushed foward, a short jump to deliver a kick to Kanti's face!

Seventh Moon: The sword seemed a little much. Moon frowned somewhat at that. What was the kid thinking? Bringing a blade to a fist fight? Low... that sort of thing would have gotten his punk ass piled on hard. The ladies didn't seem to mind though. Maybe they figured he'd need it. Just as long as he didn't cut anyone on accident...

Too late to say anything anyway, the fight was on again.

"Keep pushin' darlin'!" Moon shouted to Hanna. "Don't fuckin' slack it off!"

Kanti: Kanti fought down the briefest flinch as Hanna lept up, kicking for her head. And then suddenly smoke poured off her, wrapping her and the prince and Hanna in a haze of smoke and poor visibility.

When the smoke clears in the next instant, Hanna finds herself flying for Alex's head.

Hanna: Hanna misses... and redirected through the smoke, through the world, has her fist towards Alex's

The prince blinks, moving the flat of his blade to try and stop it.... and barely managing to redirect it, the Dragon-Blooded's gleaming fists crashing into the wall, sighing in relief now that that was out of the way... while Hanna looks at Kanti... "Hey, that is no fair! That was smoke! It is not like I can do it..."

Seventh Moon: Moon grinned, pleased already that it was the prince up there and not him after all. He'd have been more than happy to help out if they were getting in close and trying to pin each other again, but to get beat on like a sack of flower on a rope? Shit no, Alex was perfect for that job.

"Yeah?" he asked the prince, cocking his head to the side. "Ever seen either'a them pull a fuckin' sword out their ass like you just did?"

Alexander: Now, there was a question. Not that he knew much about Dragon-Blooded abilities, but... "Hmmm... no?"

Hanna: "Not like I can do something like that either!" She calls, picking her hand from the wall. "All earthy 'n stuffs."

Kanti: ...sorry! "And yet you channelled water to escape me when we wrestled. Why is fire different?" She asks of the earth aspect.

"Is it .. beyond you?"

Hanna: "I... did?" She breathes more heavily, trying to think on it... to understand all she had just done... and feels it... flowing through the blood of the earth, flowing through her own blood, flowing, flowing to strike, flowing to attack and rethink, flowing out of fire's grasp... yes, yes... she had flown... "I... did... was water colored with earth, tho..."

"I... guess I can try, right?"

Kanti: Kanti nods to the girl as she thinks.

"...So...do you want to try?"

Hanna: She tries to look confident. It was one of the first things the streets taught you. Always, always be confidant. Or look like it. Or try. At least, try. Her icy-blue eyes watched the fire aspect, thinking... "You think I can do it already?"

Seventh Moon: "Tch, course ya can." Moon huffed. Leaning back and stretching his arms over the back of the couch. Sultan on his thrown. Unworried. Confident for her. You learned that early on the streets too. Always back your peoples play and never once doubt they could pull it off. "All the other shit ya learned, think somethin' like thats really gonna be any harder? Ya did the last one without even thinkin' 'bout it."

Kanti: Kanti nods at Moon. I..would be...surprised if she can but...that won't help...

Kanti assumes a fighting pose once more.

Hanna: Hands down, relaxed, but ready, she takes on Moon's words... she does not reply, but they are, to her, like the words of a god. They fill her with confidence, with power, with will. If he says she can do, then she can. Then she is sure she can. Warmed, encouraged, she looks at Kanti... and gestures. "Come on. Let's try!"

Kanti: Kanti nods, then, with a warning glance at the prince, pleased he was able to defend.

She throws a textbook punch at Hanna, one that wouldn't hurt much even if it did connect

Hanna: Hanna does not move... she lets the essence flow... touching her inner fire, the one Moon's words stoked... the bonfire that burns for him... lets it flow... lets it grow.... her anima exploding in light and in pieces of broken gesms, diamond dust all around her... and then, it....

Does nothing as the punch hits her face.

Kanti: Kanti winces.

"...Sorry."

"... That is the problem with this technique. If it does not work .. then.."

Seventh Moon: Moon winced. Hard, putting two fingers against the bridge of his nose and rubbing in sympathy pain.

That... could have gone better. Maybe there was something to be said for urging caution sometimes.

Hanna: She holds her face, then shakes it a bit. "Nah, 'ts fine, it dinna even hurt."

... just my ego...

"... again? Mighta want to make it more... dangerous, this time?"

Kanti: ...you want to get hurt?

"...As you wish."

Then she brought her leg around and up in a perfect arc, a powerful kick that threatens to send the Earth aspect flying, should it connect.

Hanna: Hanna sees the kick, sees the light.... she begins to flare again, the dust covering the air, covering... everything on the air... everything... until there is no Hanna anymore, nothing anymore, simply currents of dust, like a sandstorm....

Alexander: .... delivering Kanti's kick straight to the Prince's face, sending him flying on a bunch of chairs... quite painfully.

Hanna: The dust settling, still felt all over Kanti - and all under her clothes, as with all elemental energy, it does not fade - the fire aspect can finally seen Hanna... on the ground. Knocked out cold by the rush, exausted.

Seventh Moon: It happened so fast, he'd barely been able to register the sudden flurry of motion and light. If he had blinked, he would have missed it. Kanti's high, elegant kick soaring up towards Hanna's face and finding Alex's instead. His head rocked to the side to bare witness to the prince's less than graceful landing, sheets and wooden legs flying up as Alex came crashing down. The couch creeked as Moon unhurriedly leaned over and peered over the edge at Alex. "Still livin' man?"

Alexander: There was some violent movement... then all twirled... then there was the roof... then the two people with Moon's face asking him something.... what was it... ah, if he was still alive? Well, he still seemed to be alive.... from the ground, came the hand with a thumb up. "Kinda."

Kanti: "....My prince!" Kanti exclaimed, looking worriedly over to the chairs the prince had landed in.

I hope he's okay
I hope he isn't angry with me.
...I hope...no.

Kanti looks around, for the girl as Alex responds and then...

"Hanna!" she hurries over to the earth aspect, kneeling by her, checking she's alright.

Hanna: She is... out cold. Passed out for the moment, exausted with her frame channeling too much essence, too fast...

Seventh Moon: The face hovering above Alex's broke into a grin, a large hand coming down to close over his own and yank the prince out of his nest of broken furnishings. Moon had to get up to haul Alex back to his feet, but he'd already been starting to rise anyway.

"Nice fuckin' landin' man. What the fuck ya even have wings for if ya can't use the damn things?" He ragged on Alex good-naturedly, patting the fine layer of dust off the prince's now less than white clothing. There was a splinter of wood on the kid's shoulder than Moon made a show of plucking off and flicking away. "Hope you got pocket money spare ta pay for all this shit ya broke."

Speaking of broke. Moon flicked his gaze over his shoulder to Hanna. He'd noticed already that she wasn't howling up her victory like she should have been. Moon had been expecting to see her dazed a little, dizzy from trying to grasp what she'd just done. He'd gone through that sort of moment more than once himself. What he hadn't been expecting was to see her collapsed on the floor. "... Hanna girl?"

Kanti: Kanti looks up at Moon, guilty.

"She...she will be okay...I...pushed her too hard...she needs to rest."

Alexander: "Kick a bird and see if it can fly straight" The prince calls sas he is pushed up and cleaned... "Thank you, Moon. And... I guess I still have some, yes. I get quite a bit of it in Windia..."

"How did she do, Kanti?"

Seventh Moon: Moon left Alex to stand on his own, stalking over to the two Terrestrials. He crouched down beside Hanna, across from Kanti. There was a fine gleam of sweat on her face, a face too flushed to be stony and cold anymore. But she was breathing. And there was a hint of a smile on her lips, an almost climatic afterglow.

The worried knit in Moon's brow unwound itself and he touched a finger tip against Hanna's brow, gently pushing a few damp strands of hair aside. "Yeah. She's a tough girl, y'know?" Moon smiled, at Hanna at first, but then at Kanti. He'd had a lot of reservations about letting her near Hanna at first, but he had to admit that it was working out okay. It even seemed to be doing something for Kanti too. Sure as hell he'd never heard her speak in the same tone she'd been doing with Hanna. Moon reached over and mused Kanti's hair slightly, hand falling to pat her shoulder. "Doin' a good job teachin' her darlin'..."

"... shit man." Moon raised his voice, eyes peering back at Alex over the top of collar. "She got hit ya so fuckin' hard, she knocked herself out."

Kanti: "She did ... very well, my prince. Are you ... alright? I'm ... sorry I kicked you so hard." she hangs her head a little, beofre Moon's hand on her shoulder makes her look up at him, smiling.

"Thank you.." she says softly.

Alexander: "Nearly did me, too. It is all still spinning... but I am alright, I am alright. I have had much, much worse..."

He looks at himself, covered in the splinters of wood... "I just might need a bath."

Seventh Moon: "'oughta go take one. Seein' how the student's layin' out flat, trainin' times over for the moment, y'know? Think maybe everyone can use a break, y'know?" Moon chuckled as he scooped Hanna up into his arms. She needed rest now, just like Kanit had said. But there would be more later. As much as they could manage. And she'd get better every time. He knew she would. Hanna had never let him down.

"You go on ta keep doin' this later darlin'?" Moon asked Kanti.

Kanti: Kanti relaxes.
he isn't mad with me.
he isn't badly hurt.
he's okay.
: ...
will I?

"...Of course Moon, if my prince still approves. Hanna .... should be fine when she wakes, though she will be very hungry."

Alexander: "Of course I do!" He nods, approvingly, his hand reaching up to her shoulder. "Whatever we can do to become stronger, here..."

"We are all in this together, right?"

Seventh Moon: "Shit yeah, man." Moon grinned then, something a bit more self-aware than his usual feral smile. He looked down at Hanna in his arms. He looked up at Kanti before him. He looked back at Alex behind him. And then he shrugged. "Ain't no one else."

Kanti: Kanti smiled a little as Moon looked at her, then she turned back to the young Prince.

"My prince, would you like me to prepare your bath?"

Alexander: "Hmmm, of course, Kanti! Get yourself ready for later on, too... I would like to talk to Lord Iron Tears. Got a thing or two to talk to him about." He nods to her, taking a few steps... and trying not to wince at the pain. Superficial pain that would be gone in minutes, but still...

Kanti: "As you wish, my prince."
Kanti courtseys.
what should I wear?
will he want me in whiteshield livery?
will he want me in ... less?
ask him while he baths.
....I really hurt him.
..I shouldn't have done that...
...next time I ask him to hit me...
Her thoughts a whirl, Kanti walks off to run her prince's bath...

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