Take Back the Crown

Oceana nodded wordlessly and jogged back to her pile of things near the smithy. She retrieved her redwood bow and some dwarven arrows then strode back to Valeiah, and then on to the dwarves' training area.


Once there she spotted the princess and Yaroslav training together with swords.


The elf smirked in approval.


Walking over to the archery targets, bullseyes made of woven desert grass, Oceana handed Valeiah her bow and the arrows.


Sea-green eyes turned serious.


"Donnae dry fire the bow. Only load pointing the arrow down. And donnae throw the bow if you get frustrated."


The elf gave the spitfire human a look.


"I will demonstrate the process without the bow. Follow along. Just... Donnae pull the string. You'll whip your arm with it. And no arrow either. Just follow the motion."


The elf got into a shallow L-stance, going slow so Valeiah could follow.


She drew an imaginary arrow.


Then she made as if she was holding a bow towards the rocky earth; she pulled back the imaginary string, muscle memory making the process smooth as if she was holding an actual bow.


"You'll inhale here."


Then the elf brought the invisible bow up to aim at the target, her right hand holding the imaginary arrow and string, taut, almost to her cheek.


"When you aim," she instructed "you want to exhale to be as stable as possible."


Oceana exhaled and almost froze in time, still as a tree, before letting her hand off the imaginary arrow.


She didn't wish to intimidate Valeiah by actually shooting a bullseye first thing.


@Danika @Lo Alyssa (since they're there too)
 
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Valeiah followed along as Oceana instructed her.


"Wow, even your imaginary arrow would've hit the center. I'm pretty sure of that." She snorted. "So... Should I try it with an arrow now?"


@OlKaJa77
 
"Alright." Valeiah grabbed and arrow. She put it on the bow and then raised it. She was a little shaky and couldn't keep it still, though. She still had her dream printed in her head.


"This is definitely as hard as I thought it would be."


@OlKaJa77
 
The elf shook her head.


"Donnae think about anything but what is happening now; the tension in the bowstring, your breathing. Exist in between each breath where there is only tranquil stillness."


Oceana leaned in and corrected the human's stance a bit.


She pushed her elbow down a little from where it had been pointed a fraction upward.


"Your arrow wants to find the mark. Let it."


@Danika
 
"Okay, okay. Pretend to be alive between breaths." Valeiah narrowed her eyes and looked at the target. She let go as she exhaled, and the arrow took flight. It barely missed the target. "Dang. Missed."


@OlKaJa77
 
<p>


      "I can't-" Hjalmar tried to protest, but just as quick as the elf had given him the bag of coins, she had hopped off the ledge and walked away. Hjalmar swiped at the dust in frustration, he couldn't accept this! She was one of his companions, it was one thing to borrow from a princess who could afford it, but Oceana didn't seem like a particularly wealthy person.


</p>


<p>


      He hopped off the ledge and followed her suit, intent on giving back the goods. He waited until she had left for the training arena, and then slipped her coin purse back with her other belonging she had stashed in a corner at the smithy. It felt odd, usually he was pulling valuables out, not returning them. But there was no argument. She gave it to him freely, and yet he felt as if he had stolen it by giving her a slight sob story. It was true, but he didn't tell her so she'd pity him.


</p>


<p>


      He sighed, and wandered toward the gully. But he took notice of his companions still washing their clothes in the small stream of water. It was Bo, Nameen, and Svetlana who seemed to be quietly listening in on their conversation. Having nothing else to do, he retrieved his weapons and whetstone, relocating closer to the others. He sat higher up the hill, but still only a few feet away from them.


</p>


<p>


      "Such an invigorating pastime, washing laundry is." He chuckled, taking his dagger out to sharpen, "You guys sure are thorough with your cleaning, you've been at it for some time now."


</p>


<p style="text-align:center;">


<a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/36143-olkaja77/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="36143" href="<___base_url___>/profile/36143-olkaja77/" rel="">@OlKaJa77</a> <a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/36151-soundofmind/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="36151" href="<___base_url___>/profile/36151-soundofmind/" rel="">@soundofmind</a> <a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/36171-rydellius/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="36171" href="<___base_url___>/profile/36171-rydellius/" rel="">@Rydellius</a>


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


      Yaroslav circled her, sword drawn, studying her stance. It was most definitely sloppy, but it would make sense considering she had no one to teach her. It made the fact she was going on this journey, inexperienced in the art of combat, all the more braver of an act. Yaroslav was impressed with that courage, it was rare in these dark times.


</p>


<p>


      He stood in front of her, "We'll start with the footwork." He muttered, turning her to the side and straightening her legs, "Keeping the side of your weapon arm to the enemy makes it easier to swing, and makes you harder to hit. Your legs must be firmly planted on the ground, tangle them up like they were, and you'll be easy to knock over. If you fall to the ground in battle, it could very well be the last move you make." He said looking at her. He then positioned her arms, "Hold your sword in front of you, and since this is a short sword, leave your other arm open for a shield. Keep it near your chest, otherwise your vitals are exposed and you can not block quite as easily. Same goes for the shield. If you had armor, perhaps it would not be quite as important, but even then, armor is not invulnerable. It has it's weak spots, and you must know them in order to better protect yourself... Now," He backed away, grabbing two round wooden shields from a rack, he gave one to her and strapped the other on his arm, "I want you to come at me. Show me what you know, and I can teach you from there. And don't be afraid to hurt me, strike me like you mean it." He said with a smile.


</p>


<p>


      It had been a long time since he had trained anyone. The last time he remembered was during the war when men came flooding in and required teaching in groups. But the burly man would be far more gentle with the princess. There was more courage in her heart than most of the men he had trained back in those days, so he found pounding the dangers of war into her head was unnecessary.


</p>


<p style="text-align:center;">


<a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/10969-queen-of-fantasy/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="10969" href="<___base_url___>/profile/10969-queen-of-fantasy/" rel="">@Queen of Fantasy</a> <a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/36137-danika/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="36137" href="<___base_url___>/profile/36137-danika/" rel="">@Danika</a> <a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/36143-olkaja77/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="36143" href="<___base_url___>/profile/36143-olkaja77/" rel="">@OlKaJa77</a>


</p>
 
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<p>


Bo's eyes widened for a second, as he didn't expect anyone to interject in their conversation. It had, however, ended at a decent conclusion. It was probably actually for the best. He had a feeling that he would have had to direct the conversation elsewhere anyway, so this seemed to be as good a segue as any. He'd just recently finished washing his clothes and had just been sitting by the gully because that's where they'd been talking. He smiled and shrugged, turning to Hjalmar. "Pff, well, ya know. I don't think you can ever really be <em>too</em> clean, especially when you don't get many chances to get clean in the first place. So we might as well go all out." Squeaky-clean party.


</p>


<p>


<a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/12017-lo-alyssa/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="12017" href="<___base_url___>/profile/12017-lo-alyssa/" rel="">@Lo Alyssa</a>


</p>
 
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<p>


      "Heh." Hjalmar laughed, "Hardly had time for that when I was- well, doing my<i> job</i>. Kinda put a damper on the whole charmingly irresistibly handsome thing." He winked jokingly. He unsheathed his knife and a clear ring filled the air with each stroke as he sharpened it.


</p>


<p style="text-align:center;">


<a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/36151-soundofmind/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="36151" href="<___base_url___>/profile/36151-soundofmind/" rel="">@soundofmind</a> <a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/36171-rydellius/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="36171" href="<___base_url___>/profile/36171-rydellius/" rel="">@Rydellius</a>


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<p>


"Hm. Yeahh. Smell can be a bit of a turn off. But there are worse fates. At least you've got your charm going for you. Some people don't even have that." <em>Like me! I'm just awkward in a hopefully endearing sort of way, or so it appears. </em>"And it's actually better to have a generally more attractive appearance in your line of work! I think psychologically, aesthetically pleasing people are generally found to be more trustworthy by the average person. But I guess it depends on what kind of crowd you're around too."


</p>


<p>


</p>


<p>


<sub><span style="font-size:14px;line-height:22.4px;"><a contenteditable="false" data-ipshover="" data-ipshover-target="<___base_url___>/profile/12017-lo-alyssa/?do=hovercard" data-mentionid="12017" href="<___base_url___>/profile/12017-lo-alyssa/" rel="">@Lo Alyssa</a> </span>(in which Bo succeeds at small talk but doesn't end up really talking about anything of much substance... like anything remotely personal lol. also enjoy the random possibly legit™ facts)</sub></p>
 
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Even though Valeiah missed the target Oceana unknowingly smiled wide.


"Very good!" She exclaimed, giving the human a celebratory nod.


Valeiah gave her a what the elf considered a skeptical look.


"Trust me." She said " I've seen other humans bumble their first shot terribly."


She glanced over to watch Yaro and Lucasta across the training field.


" One even flayed his arm open because he didnae listen to the instructions and dry fired."


The elf turned back to regard the brunette, ultramarine gaze severe.


"The bow shattered and the string whipped across his forearm. You could see the bone and blood puddled at his feet as the young man bawled pathetically like a babe. Ah the hubris of man."


She narrowed her eyes. Then they returned to being filled with amusement.


"So! Donnae dry fire, alright?"


.....


"Sorry didnae mean to scare you. Give it another go, hm? Look over the tip of your arrow and make sure you see the center target."


@Danika
 
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Valeiah blinked and laughed nervously. "Okay. I definitely won't do that."


She followed the steps that Oceana had told her before and moved to release the arrow. Now she was worried about her arm being split open. When she exhaled and let go of the arrow this time, it planted itself on the outer edge of the target.


@OlKaJa77
 
Lucasta gripped her sword and shield tightly. She focused her eyes on Yaroslav as he took his stance to prepare for her offense. She lunged toward him, swinging her sword and keeping her shield around her torso, just like he had told her to do. 


@Lo Alyssa
 
      Yaroslav raised his shield, sparks kicked off the surface as steel met steel- er, wood in the shield's case.


      "Good, good!" He said with a smile, "But you need more force. When you bring the sword down, don't falter, hit me like you mean it!" He exclaimed, raising his own sword in preparation. It seemed the princess was still hesitant about striking him.



 
​


      "That is true." Hjalmar chuckled, "I've squeezed my way out of tight situations that way more than you'd think." He stroked his knife again, another curiosity growing in his mind, "Tell me, what was your occupation before joining the odd ones?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, he couldn't tell just by looking at Bo, unlike himself, whose appearance just screamed thief.

 
Nameen had just been about to say her thanks to Bo, when Hjalmar seemed to materialize out of thin air.  She stiffened at the sight of him, but based upon his greeting he didn't seem to have been eavesdropping.  Still, she eyed him and wondered how anyone could move so quietly.  


Hjalmar seemed to have struck up a conversation with Bo, one that she didn't see herself joining in on.  Taking this as her cue to leave, Nameen made to sure to send Bo a weak smile of appreciation before snatching up her cleaned garments and quickly treading away.  She would make sure to give him a proper thanks later.  


After only several steps Nameen halted abruptly, having spotted a figure standing inconspicuously and quite close to the gully, though they didn't appear to be washing clothes.  Turning her head to look Nameen noticed that it was Svetlana, head down, standing in the shadows with an expression that indicated that she was lost in thought.  She twitched nervously, not being able to help but see how close the old woman was to where she had just left Bo and Hjalmar.  


Shaking her head, Nameen set out down the corriodor, on a hunt to find the supply wagons so she could put away her clothes and retrieve her sword, since she'd left it there when they had gone to dinner.  Already Nameen was more edgy than usual after her discussion with Bo, and being without her weapon made it even more so.  


The dwarven home was filled with twisting and turning corridors, but Nameen managed to backtrack to find her way back to the carts, though not without some dead ends.  She threw her extra garments with the rest of her things, and then grabbed her sheathed sword, fiddling with it before strapping it to its usual position across her back.  


 


@soundofmind @Lo Alyssa


 
 
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He watched as Nameen left, smiling in return to her own, before giving his attentions to Hjalmar. He could sense she was still tense, but at this point, there was little he could do to help her with that. He said what he could, by agreeing to confidentiality, and being as kind and gentle as he knew how. Beyond that, he didn't really know how to help her cope with... vulnerability, or whatever it was that was going through her head. 


@Rydellius


"A mercenary." He answered, with a relaxed smile. "And a bit of a wanderer. I caught wind of the princess's mission, and I wanted in. It's a good cause... I uh, I guess you weren't around yet to hear the little history lesson we got in the beginning, were you?" He shrugged, not sure if he'd want to hear it anyway. "... How much do you know about - y'know, uh, all of what we're doing? I mean, we were all there when you decided to hop on board, but, I dunno. Seems like it's good to know what you're doing and why. Unless you're really content with just... not?" Bleh, there was probably a better way he could've worded that.


@Lo Alyssa
 
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Oceana hummed in annoyance slightly as Valeiah's arrow hit the outside of the target.


Teaching this to a human is


 a wee bit more challenging than I'd hoped.


"Well then... It's alright. We'll come back to it some other time. Though there is an urgency to get you lot fight-ready. It's getting dark though."


The elf thought for a moment, contemplating the starry night sky.


"hrmm. I'll speak with Thora and the other archer-types and see if they have any advice for you too." Oceana smirked at Valeiah, speaking unusually open and relaxed in the one-on-one setting.


"That's what archery and combat is all about after all; finding the best angle."


Giving another appraising nod the raven-haired elf started to march back to the heart of the canyon where the others were, expecting the human to follow.


"You're stance isnae half bad. And you're a very quick learner. I'm sure you'll have it down in another lesson or two. The main point is to avoid making a wrong judgement and hurting yourself."


Turning around to look at the human, walking backwards, the elf said,


"Well thanks for letting me teach you. I enjoyed it. We'll give it another go later, yeah?"


Turning to go down a walled corridor that led to their belongings Oceana raised a hand in temporary farewell to the human.


"Tioraidh an-drásta, Valeiah."


And then she was gone, down the path and out of sight.


@Danika
 

Phaedra hovered closer to Foxrun, obviously incredibly intrigued, regardless of the seamless shift of conversation from lighthearted to something darker and back again. She nodded, listening attentively.
​


"You should do something happier with them." She spoke with a small smile. "Make them something of your own, while honoring the roots they were born from."
​


Suddenly, her expression became playful, her smile broadening into a grin. "So, how would you paint my face with that stuff? Would that be too strange to ask?"
​


 
​

 
His eyes widened slightly at the mention. "I usually do it for fun now anyways." He stated before narrowing his eyes in thought " it would be interesting to try. There are ways of doing different colors as well. Although I think the usual bright red would look astonishing against the contrast of your complexion." He noted, trying not to come off as awkward while choosing his words.


@TeeKay
 

"If red is what you have, I wouldn't ask you to make more. I mean, you don't need to make anything different for my sake."
​


She didn't seem to catch the compliment, too caught up in her own enthusiasm. Phaedra seemed to only get more excited with every word. For whatever reason, the thought of having her face painted was so thoroughly entertaining that she couldn't help herself. All she could imagine was lines of paint on her face in varying patterns - some subtle, like Foxrun's previous markings, and others covering her entire face.
​


"But, ah, I mean - you don't have to if you don't want to. Or you could make our markings match? That would be really interesting."
​


This seemed to amuse Phaedra even more as she drew a hand back up to her lips, tittering. She normally wasn't quite so playful to someone she hardly knew, but the warm bath put her in very high spirits and re-energized her. The image of herself and Foxrun running around with matching painted markings just tickled her pink.. or, rather, purple.
​


 
​

 
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His face reflected nearly as much amusement as her own as she went on about the markings. Letting out a chuckle as he tried to answer between her questions. "I could do whichever you like. Your own, or matching my usual." He offered, assuring it wouldn't bug him in the slightest "or even something similar? Like doing dots under your eyes instead of lines." He shrugged as he gave the example


@TeeKay
 
"Oh, alright." Valeiah said. She was a little surprised it was over so soon. "Wait, don't you want these back?" She asked, regarding the bow and arrow but the elf was already gone. "Oookay. Nevermind, I guess."


@OlKaJa77
 

"Whatever you think would look best!" Phaedra insisted. In actuality, she was just incredibly indecisive. She couldn't figure out what exactly she wanted, but she knew she wanted it and if Foxrun was as willing to paint her face as he seemed to be, Phaedra would get it. Her happiness depended on it right now. "But if you think the dots would look good on me, then we can go with that."
​


If she were capable of doing so, Phaedra would probably be vibrating with excitement. She did her absolute best to keep this on the down low, however. It is hard to be taken seriously when you are a bubbly ball of pure exuberance, after all.
​


 
​


"What do you like to do, Foxrun?"
​


Phaedra suddenly changed the subject, curiosity burning in her eyes again as she eyed the slender man up and down, tilting her head from side to side. His form was almost feminine - slim and slight like her own.. Mostly. It was hard to compare anyone to herself considering just how petite she was, but comparatively speaking. She mentally shook the thought out of her head, finding it distracting.
​


"You don't seem like a fighter."
​


 
​

 
Once out of sight from Valeiah, Oceana sagged against a wall and sighed.


"I'm horrible at this teaching thing." The elf muttered, head in her hands.


"How did Master Aisling do it? I cannae remember.... Ugh!"


She crossed her arms and then uncrossed them. She started ranting to herself, unaware Nameen was just around the bend within earshot.


"Aaarrgh! I cannae ask the others for help! That's ridiculous."


"But if I cannae teach Valeiah how to shoot a bow I'll be a failure."


Then came the quieter,


"And I'll let her down.."


"Bah! She's just a stupid human..."


Oceana looked up at the sky, stars just beginning to twinkle in hordes upon a carpet of violet.


"Oh Duane and Jakodi lend me your peace and wisdom. I cannae handle all of this without help." She prayed, reaching in her mind for the night sky.


But all that met her was the quiet desert breeze.


@Rydellius
 
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