NationStates Jolt Archive

She grabs two quills from her bag and floats one across the room, keeping the other in her hand.

Keris went to her shoulder and across her arm to try and grab the quill, but Tari moved it to the other hand. So the 'bird' followed it.

"Keris, quit it." the AEagle goes back to her perch and fluffs. "Right, so this seems really stupid at first, but trust me, it's fun."

She tilts her head up, her mouth thinning in concentration. She then puts the feather on the tip of her nose. "Okay, Keris, start the timer." She sits perfectly still, moving only to keep the feather on her nose...she eventually drops it.

"What's the time?"
45.769

"Crap. I normally do better than that. Oh well." She looks at Raven. "Now you try."

Raven took the quill lightly, not mentioning the levitation, seeing as how he'd heard her trying to explain the fundementals at least twice whilst he'd been in the house. He tilted his head back, and balanced the quill as best he could atop his nose. After about ten seconds, it collapsed, and he seemed to scowl and smile at once,"I'd like to think that wasn't bad for a first time"

"Well, most first timers drop the feather immediately, so that's actually really good."

She twirls her feather between her fingers. "So, you seemed to recognise my master's name..."

"Are you a mind reader as well now?"

"I saw your expression change out of the corner of my eye."

"Yes... I recognize the name... I know it well"

"Oh."

Tari sensed that now was not a good time to pry. She laid back down, balancing the quill on the tip of her finger.

"Rhenna is the name of the mage who helped kill my master... for a while, I harboured hatred. Vicious and callous as he was, he'd been the closest thing to a father I could remember. Then I realised she'd done me a favour, inadvertantly"

"You truly have trained yourself to lack emotion...if someone killed her, and I knew his or her name, I would never stop hating them. Not even after they were dead."

"Don't take this as a view of emotionlessness on my part. She probably saved people who Vamp would have killed regardless. She did me a service by getting rid of him... he was no rolemodel to follow. Hating her would only consume me, and lead me off the road that I have worked hard to stay on"

"A difference in our lives, then. Rhenmet has been not only my teacher, but my mother...and Vedt, while he isn't quite the same, has been something of a father...not just to me, but to all of us. I think...more than you need a friend...you probably need a mother...but you can't have one...and that is sad, indeed."

"I can look after myself. My mother... was very good, very kind-hearted. She didn't deserve the end she was given"

Tari shakes her head. "I meant, you need someone to love you unconditionally...like a mother does. It's part of your basic human needs...to love and be loved. Cougar was a lot like you when he first came to us. He's changed quite a lot over the years."

"Cougar is someone who doesn't actually need someone to love him. He's lived longer than I have without any true family of his own. He made the unit his family. But he made the choice to love someone, and could only hope for the same in return."

"But he's a lot better off for loving and being loved."

"Maybe so... but I cannot love anyone in the manner they may desire. Too closed off from the world for too many years"

She shrugs. "I'll let you believe it. You might even be right. I'm not so good at knowing what a human really wants...I only know the one."

"No-one knows what anyone else really wants... it is the nature of the universe"

Tari laughs. "Aras was 715 when she died. She did not claim to know the nature of the universe, and she understood more than anyone else did. So you claim to know it, at sixteen?"

"I know some of it... as does everybody. I was only stating one thing I see"

Tari shrugs, and lets the quill drop. She catches it, and starts doodling in the air. A pale purple light followed her quill, disappearing after a few seconds.

A little while later, Keris whistles, and goes down, unfolding. Shan speaks very rapidly to Tari, who grips the board tighter and tighter during the message.

She says a few things back, then Keris resumes her bird form. Tari leans back, utterly shocked. "Gi...shu..." She seems to have forgotten that Raven was there.

Raven looked bemused, to say the least,"What's wrong?"

She starts, then looks over at him and shakes her head. "I don't know how to phrase it."

Raven nodded,"All right. You don't have to tell me"

She nods. "I might tell you later...but now..." She shakes her head. "It's hard to think of."

Raven nodded mutely, and rolled back onto his bunk, staring at the ceiling. As if from no where, a small rubber ball appeared, and he began to throw it up, his eyes closed, catching it on the way down without looking

"And here I thought I was getting away from that."

"Say what?"

"Shan. If ever he has nothing to do, you can count on him getting out that blasted ball and bouncing it...over, and over and over. It wavers not by the smallest part of a second in its timing."

"Ah, but I'm not bouncing it. I'm throwing it upwards, sometimes high, sometimes less... and then catching it. I'll stop if it bothers you"

"Oh, don't mind me...it's just kind of odd, I think."

"Let me guess; he does it to relieve stress as well?"

"Relieve stress, get rid of nervous energy, have something to do, annoy people in general...yeah."

Raven smiled,"Sounds like the kid brother I never had"

"Except for the fact that he's forty. Looks younger than you, though. Kind of an odd thing."

Raven shrugged,"Oh well, not a true problem"

"No, not really...and you'll probably never meet him, either, except through the brief conversations when my friends. They're really an odd bunch, thinking on it."

"We are all working for hidden organizations... still, it would prover interesting to meet him at least once"

"I've known him for thirty years now, and I'll tell you this...it's interesting having classes with him on a day-to-day basis."

"I'm sure it is... I was always taught alone"

"I think it would be very lonely."

"It proberly is... I haven't known much different"

"But you never had a friend before today. I know that I'd really rather die than have no friends."

"But, as you said, you've grown up with those people. So, you've never known anything different. What if this was the only life you'd ever really known?"

"I think that I'd be very lonely...just like you are."

"MAybe you would... but you'll never know, or at least I hope you never do"

"No...we're sent out on solo missions most often, but there are normally over a hundred of us in my hometown."

"You are extremely fortunate... I envy you"

She rummages through her sack some more grabbing an inkwell, then goes over and sits across from him.

"Give me your hand."

He didn't know how to react, so he decided to trust her, she'd not given him a reason not to,"Alright"

He held out his hand for her

She tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear, then took her quill and opened the ink bottle, letting it float in the air. She then took his hand in her left hand, palm up, to keep it steady.

Dipping the quill in the ink, she shook of the excess and then swiftly drew a pictogram on his hand. She cast a spell, and it sunk in.

"There...now you belong, too." She held up her hand and cast a different spell, bringing her (matching) one to view. "You can see yours whenever you want to...don't even need magick to do so. Then you can remember that you have friends out there, somewhere, and not be lonely anymore."

Raven stared at where the pictogram had been, and saw it rise to the surface,"Amazing... thank you Tari"

"You're welcome." She teleports back to her own bed, bringing the quill and inkwell with her. She then corks the inkwell.

He looked at the pictogram for a moment, then thought of a question,"What does it mean?"

"It means 'hidden.' Kind of fitting, for both of us."

"Hidden. Yes... fitting indeed"

As he lay back, the pictogram faded away until it was invisible

"So.....................what sort of classes are they supposed to teach around here?"

"From what I can gather, they teach almost everything. Basic computing to advanced assasination techniques... anything and everything that could help an assasin"

"Computers...heh...can't say I have any experience with those."

"I doubt it's compulsory... still, it never hurts to know"

"Well, probably not...but we aren't a technologically advanced nation. I know more magick than anyone here, I'd be willing to wager, but probably the least amount of technological skill."

"It doesn't matter. You have your strengths, others have different ones. It is those strengths that make you who you are"

"But weaknesses and how you deal with them are more defining. Strength is weakness...and weakness is strength."

"Interesting... good logic, but not something I could honestly claim to hae heard before"

"But if you understand it, you must have heard it before...or if not heard it, dreamt it, or knew it."

"I suppose I must have"

"Wonder if anyone else is going to show up."

"Maybe they will... maybe they won't. Some would say the more the merrier"

"And if more than a couple more show up, we know for sure that the entrance really isn't much of anything."

"Very true... I wonder how many have died on that course"

"Judging from the damage, quite a few. Aust must produce inferior candidates. That is the only conclusion I can come to, as this is the first time they open to outsiders...but one must truly wonder why?"

"Lack of recruits maybe... the guild would have to fold if the numbers dropped too far"

"True....but why a guild of assassins? To make it easier to hire someone when you want to take someone out? Lack of competition? Keep the competition where older, more experienced assassins can keep an eye on it? It doesn't make sense...assassins do better in a master/apprentice relationship, if anything."

"To keep the assasins in cheak," came a voice behind them, "there was a time when there where many, many assasins in Aust, most just decided to do it when they fell on hard times and killed anyone who they got payment for. Or even if they didn't get payment. Many, many people where dieing at the hands of amatures, or the amatures themselves where dying."

"It was getting out of hand and so the best assasins decided to form there own group to train up and recruit assasins. They set up the guild, with the support of the Emporer and decreed that any assasin without a guild licence operating in Aust would be killed. It took many year to get to the state where in now where there are strict rules about assasins and now people can sleep safely knowing that they will not just be murdered. It is the same with robbers and theves. Most of the underworld has been organised in the same way. Any attempt to systimatically wipe us out would be impossable and those who do choose to follow this path will at least be trained to do so."

"It seems a bit well publicized to me. So...organized crime is extreme here. Interesting." She stretches her arms languidly. "So, who are you?"

"Sounds like something out of Terry Pratchett to me," said Raven, lying on his bed,"Too well publicised... still, what works works for a reason"

She shrugs. "Haven't heard of Terry Pratchett...but seriously...if they put that much effort into organizing crime, they could have extinguished it."

"Same. Snake Eaters has a very low crime rate... we put almost as much effort into destroying it as they have forging it into a buisness of sorts"

"In Kaymiril, most criminals find themselves executed. I would find that something of a deterrent."

"Yes but the assasins are needed, for the emporer and for tiems of war."

OC: And snake eaters, you seemed to have reconised where I got the idea from. :D

OOC: Well duh... just don't bring Death into it. I don't think I could STAND SOMEONE TALKING LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME

IC: Raven scoffed,"Times of war? In times of war, an assasin is at their most vulnerable. You must know the code; if an assasin gets seen, they have to eliminate that person. If you have to kill anyone other than the mark, you don't deserve to be known as an assasin"

"Why would you have to be seen at all?" She casts a cloaking spell around herself, turning momentarily invisible.

"Because not everyone can do that"

She drops the spell. "Actually, it's not so hard. It doesn't even require much ability to use magick. And everyone has some little bit."

"Just tell me, how long did it take you to learn that?"

"Time to understand how the spell worked was half an hour, time to cast the spell correctly was twenty minutes, and the time it actually took to perfect it was about an hour."

"And you'd been learning magick how long?"

"Twenty-three years, by that point."

"My point exactly. You'd been learning magick for twenty-three years... I have never recieved magickal training... therefore to master the spell would take up large amounts of time that could be better spent honing other skills"

She shrugs. "If that's what you think, okay."

"Don't get me wrong, those who practise magick have my utmost respect... I just prefer the way I have always been taught, simply because I am familar with it"

"Familiarity is what we like, it is our comfort zone. But those things that are alien to us should also be learned, so that it doesn't take us utterly off guard when we encounter it."

"Then let us pray that I never have a magickal target"

"And if you do, and they sense you, you're pretty much dead."

He shrugged slightly,"So be it. We all die at some stage"

"Yeah, true...but that doesn't mean you want to die young."

"No-one wants to die young... sometimes that what life gives you though. Ironic as it may seem"

"I think you just don't want to learn because you're stubborn."

He laughed slightly,"Stubborn... as is Cougar, no?"

"But Cougar tries to learn."

"Maybe I am stubborn... too stubborn"

"That's probably just the way humans are."

He smiled,"Proberly true"

"Hey, what time is it?"

"Getting quite late *looks at watch* About eleven pm"

"And we're up at what? Five in the morning?"

"I think so... time to bunk down for the night"

"Pretty much. Just remember...sleep with one eye open."

"Easy enough for me to do," he said, settling down to get some sleep,"Gd'night Tari"

"Good night." The mage props her pillow against the headboard and closes her eyes. It'd be her ears that kept on alert for any potential threats.

Raven had similar implants to Cougar. His Calipsian Node would take care of him. He settled back, and fell asleep quickly

Tari woke at three am. Her race only needed four hours of sleep. She looked around the room, letting her infrared vision see who and/or what was in there. No one out of the ordinary...

She pulled out a book and lit a small magick light on its pages...not enough to be disturbing, just enough to read by.

He woke soon after, around four in the morning. His hand automatically went to the knife in it's sheath, but then he relaxed. He checked his watch, seeing that it was the time it was, groaned slightly

"If you don't like the time, then go back to sleep."

"I would... but now I'm up, I may as well stay up"

"Interesting logic, as humans don't function well on only five hours of sleep."

"I'll manage... just remind me to get more sleep tonight"

"Like you'll listen?"

"A little bit, yeah"

She arches an eyebrow and goes back to reading.

"Fine, be that way... what you reading?"

"Magickal theory. I won't be covering these with the rest of my age group, so I have to see how much I can learn on my own. Don't want to get behind, after all."

"Ah. I see. Yes... falling behind wouldn't be good. Sorry to disturb."

He crossed his legs in the lotus position, and closed his eyes, concentrating on a single image in his mind... a candleless flame in mid-air

OOC: Okay, Aust, you got the interaction you wanted, now start the bloody rp.

OOC: I can't RP if I'm not here-school takes time.

IC: A bell rang in the dormantry and a corus of grones followed it. On the breakfast table in the main roomthere was a selection of foods and drinks, tailored to suit any dietry needs, . A toster sat in one corner as did a fridge if anyone needed milk.

On the wall timetables where placed, with instructions how to get to each room, Taris and Ravens was:

5:30: combat skills, room 4, left from start of passage,
7:00: Elixers and poisons, room 2, right from passage then right again
9:00: Demolitons, room 5, left from passage 4th door on the right,
12:00: lunch,
12:30: languages. room 1, end of passage,
2:00: sciences, room 1
4:00: Infiltration, Palace grounds
6:30: dinner
7:00: Music, Room 8, Roght from end of paggae, 2nd door down.
9:00 lessions end-free time.

A crowd of students where stood round the board.

Tari looked over her schedule while munching on a (tested for poisons) pear.

"Doesn't look that much different from the schedule at home...except instead of sciences and demolitions, we have magick. At least there's music. Life without music would get very dull."


OOC: I've done my time, nyeh! Actually, I have summer work for next year's courses. *dies*

OOC: *resurrects Kay*Don't do that

IC: Raven moved quickly and lithly, ending up next to Tari,"Hmmm... music... tad unnecessery. Still, balance is key I suppose"

"I like music. It's relaxing, if nothing else. Aside from that, if you've got a big target and there's some big occasion, you can sit at a harp, nock an arrow, and let it loose. Not many people think of harps like that, so no one would suspect."

He thought about this,"Interesting take on the world... everything is a potential weapon. Very true..."

"Actually, I know from experience you can do that with a harp" She clears her throat. "Aside from that, harp strings are very convenient items. They only give so much...but get one around someone's neck, and you can decapitate them easy."

She laughs. "What a time in the morning for such talk."

He smiled. That was becoming more common, and he started to get a little bit nervous,"If you live here, you'd have to think like that, otherwise you could end up dead yourself"

"That's true..." She frowns thoughtfully. "You don't really know who to trust here."

"Keeps you alert though... still, would make it hard to make friends here"

She perks up. "Well, I've made one." She then looks at him thoughtfully. "Or at least, I think I have."

He laughed,"Don't worry, I wouldn't kill you anyway"

"Oh, good. Anyway, how long do we have until we have to be there?"

Tari decided it was convenient to have a human around...that way she didn't have to ask Keris all the time...the human watch was a convenient invention.

He watched her eyes flicker to his watch, and shook his head,"Is that the only reason you befriended me? Because I wear a watch"

*Teasingly* "Well, that was part of it...but, seriously, we don't have them in Kaymiril, and I have to lug around five pounds of metal to ask what time it is constantly. That weighs what...a few ounces?"

"If that. This is one of the best, just recently developed. I know Cougar has one as well... most people in SESOU do."

She shrugs. "Well, it's not exactly like I can just go to your planet and buy a watch. Anyway, it's probably almost time for class, so I'll see you there."

She heads out, going toward the classroom.

He shook his head again, running a hand through his short black hair,"Never will understand Drow," he muttered to himself, leaving the house, and starting to find his way around

Tari makes it out of the 'entrance' hall, then goes to the room and waits.

The room was full of first years, most of them brimming with excitement at the prospect of there first days lesions, most came from the streets or from rich famillys and and had never had proper lessions.

The teacher called himself Mr Jones, like most assasins he was dressed entirly in black and he sat on a practice mat. He was said to be a black belt at several martial arts and a dead shot with a gun.

He waited until the class had settled down and smiled, "Welcome," He said "To you first lession at the guild. Combat training. we shall begin with some hand to had combat and then shall move onto the weapons range. I presume only a few of you have had experience at combat."

He looked down his list of pupils and picked a name that interested him. "Tari, the Drow, come out here." he had picked this name because he had had contact with Drows before and wanted to see how she preformed. From experience he had had his room was heavly warded and he knew her magic wouldn't work.

Raven watched with interest from the side of the room. He wanted to see how good Tari was... he had no doubt she would be good... but how good remained to be seen

Tari had sensed the wards, and knew she could break them with but a little concentration. However, these wards, like some at home, were put there to tell her to not use magick in this setting.

She came out, watching the instructor, but listening for other sounds behind her and to her sides. She appeared relaxed, but every sense, every muscle, was keyed for instantaneous movement.

"Refer to me by name. I know it. I will not call you rivvil if you do not call me Drow."

"Okay then, Mrs Tari." The assasin replied, "By now I presume you have senced the wards in place to stop your magick, no doubt you could break the if you really tried, but come lets see what you made off." He moved into the treditional O'cel (beginning) position of the Austian martial Art Jitsi at the oppersit corner of the mat to Tari.

OOC: She's just a kid! She's not married!

IC:
Tari slid into her most familiar hand-to-hand starting position. She was low, sort of crouched. Her weight was on her back leg so she could move swiftly, yet powerfully.

I can't hold back here...nor will I. This guy looks like he could take a hit.

She waited.

OOC: I never said she was, it's just a figure of speech.

IC: The instructor began to slowly circle her, keeping his body facing her at all times. He stayed in his low crouching poition like a coiled spring.

OOC: Then instead of 'Mrs' it should be 'Ms'

IC:
Tari stayed where she was...she didn't need to turn to locate him with her eyes, she could hear him all too clearly.

Come on...move...

Raven just watched, his interest fading with every passing second

Why is he just standing there? If the teachers wants to test them, they attack first, despite the inherrent disadvantage... I wonder if he knows anything tru about Drow physiology though

OOC: Actually I'm just guessing, I could do with some info, anyway...

IC: The Master leapt forward suddenly with a lightning attack, moving into a fist, knee, fist combo thats aim was to drive Kari back...

OOC: I could give you the information.... but that would spoil it. Just rest assured, hurt her, and Raven will step in... and Raven is dangerous

OOC: Actually I'm just guessing, I could do with some info, anyway...

IC: The Master leapt forward suddenly with a lightning attack, moving into a fist, knee, fist combo thats aim was to drive Tari back...
OOC: Her name starts with a T!

IC:
Like you couldn't see that coming a mile away...humans...so slow in their motions...

Instead of going back, Tari moved forward. Moving past the teacher's slower fist/knee/whatever combo, she darted around, just narrowly missing getting clipped by his one fist. She drove her elbow into his side, and kept going, whirling around and waiting for a return attack.

OOC: Thats is a T!!!

IC: Jones felt the imact in his side and shurgged it off, it was not the heavest blow and though it stung it was not major pain. However it had proved that she was worthy opperpont and quick. He did nowever think that he had the edge in strength.

"You are a good opperponent." he told her, adn then lunged forward, trying to get a respoce similar to the one he had alread had. He then planned to fall back and let her momentum bring her into him.

OOC: It was a K in your original post!

IC:
Weight started on the back foot, but switched to the forward...

She stayed put. Wait for it...

Raven stepped forward, away from leaning on the wall,'She'd best be careful... he's got weight, size and sheer muscle over her

OOC: Aust, I did post for you. Bottom of last page.

Jones kew she wasn't taking the bait, she was better than he had thought, time to up it, be a bit more agressive, get her to move, he launched into a kick that headed straight for her midrift, staying with his other foot crouched, ready for her to move out of the way.

Instead of moving away, she darted in, heading for his other foot. Grabbing it, she continued moving forward, to try and send him flying.

If this doesn't work, I could be in for a world of pain...

He felt her grab his leg and began to fall backwards, throwing out his arms to spring him into a summersault he landed on his feet lashing out towards her.

Gi, shu.

Her own forward momentum took her into the blow as she started to skid back.

The blow connected sharply, and there was an audible crack as a rib snapped.

One of the thing that the instructor had probably not known about Drow physiology: Drow are fragile.

Their skeletal structure was not designed to take as much abuse as the human skeletal structure.

Something else he probably hadn't known: Tari's class of mage was trained to withstand pain.

She launched herself at the teacher, faster than before, a barely visible blur (because Drow are also fast). She lashes out with her fists, feet, knees, never staying within arm reach for more than half of a second.

Raven winced as he heard the rib snap under the blow. He'd known Drow were fragile... it was something you learned when your nation and theirs had become firm allies. He watched on, his hands hanging loosely by his sides, his muscles tensed. He could move and intercept any blow within half a second

Jones heard the crack and wince, then she was upon him, slamming into him with a flurry of blows he could barley defend, he was forced abck unable to coutner, he felt a rib crack under the force one blow and a finger break defending another, minor injurys, and his head was safe and rpotected, he waited for her to tire or lower her guard then he would strike.

After a couple of minutes (and many blows), she pulled back, on guard, watching, waiting. Her side was going to hurt later...but that was then. This was now.

They're both battered, broken, bleeding... never thought a Drow could do that much damage

OOC: I'm going to be out for two weeks, so SE has control over Tari until I return.

Jones knew he looked bad but he was okay, his nose would neeed surgury but other than that he was fine, and he ahd all his energy, he launched into a serise of attacks, aiming for the head and midrift.

Tari defended, using all of her skill. She was fast, and took a few minor blows, before striking back herself

It was a test of fitness and mucle now and Jones keapt attacking, ignoring her blows knowing he had to get a decent strike in soon.

If he lands that blow, I'm dead, or thereabouts.

Like a serpent or spider, Tari utilized her agility more than her strength. This was a test of muscle to the instructor...but what good was muscle if he couldn't hit her?

Utilizing a new strategy, she kept slightly away, and low...forcing his blows to come down at an angle. He could hit something...just not her...and thereby waste that 'marvelous' rivvil strength of his.

Jone was experenced and sensed her change of stratagy, she was keeping out of reach, his blows weren't landing, she was trying to wear him out, what could he do? He couldn't match ehr elvin mobility, he had experience on his side and he knew she would have more staminar, he stepped back and conserved his energy, only trying to strike where she came in range.

He wants to play that game, then...

Tari waited for him to come to her. She was still ready to move at a moment's notice, but she was going to fight this battle on her terms...because the field allowed for it.

It was a test of pacence, who would get tired first, Come on, attack

Tari stood up a little while waiting, apparently presenting an opening.

Jone knew that she would strike if he attacked it was too easy, far too easy, she was a too experienced fighter to leave a gap like that.

OOC: RP you 2 mite be interested in, 'The Blue Boy' have a look, I need some more quality Rpers in.

Jone knew that she would strike if he attacked it was too easy, far too easy, she was a too experienced fighter to leave a gap like that.
"Is this a test or a fight?"

A tinge of disgust laced the Drow's voice. If this is a test, he's seen what he needed, and this would have ended already. If this is a fight, then he should be trying to use his advantages properly. If this is the case, how the heck is he a good assassin? Direct hand-to-hand? Oh, please.

Such were the thoughts that ran in her head.

OOC: SE really still has control over this char.

OOC: I've been neglecting my NS forums recently... I'll get it sorted, now I'm home

come on attack Jones thought, his pacents was being tested, If only she surrender quickly, she wouldn't be hurt.

OOC: Patience

IC: Tari just held her ground. This man obviously didn't know how to use his advantages

OOC: His advantages are everything except speed, thus his attacks will be blocked, if you attack he can counter attack, besides the martial arts he practices are defensive.

OOC: He's got sheer strength over her! Use it! I'm looking for a chance to get Raven stuck in anyway

He couldn't stand it anylong, he leapt forward, drew her into a defence and pushed back off his front foot. trying to goad her forward or to overbalance. The he would strike.

She should really have seen it, but she didn't. She moved forward, her hand slicing through the air. ONly at the last moment did she realise her mistake,Gi Shu

She should really have seen it, but she didn't. She moved forward, her hand slicing through the air. ONly at the last moment did she realise her mistake,Gi Shu
He moved with lightning speed, his hand slamming into her cheast with huge force, his other in a fist aimed for her head, he lashed out with his leg towards her midrift.

She winced as she felt another rib snap under the first blow, but dodged the other blow to her head. The first blow had also sent her sprawling, so the kick to the midriff missed also. She lay there for a moment, wincing in pain, knowing that she would have to dispell the magickal wards around the room in order to heal herself... and resetting bones was a painful spell to do. She got up, slowly, moving over to the wall, making herself move slowly to minimise the additional damage. She limped out the room to fix herself up

*************************************************************

Raven moved. His hand grabbed the man's outstretched foot, and with his other he pulled the other leg away from under the instructor, a technique guranteed to knock him to the floor,"You've had your fun... now try it with someone who can match you strength for strength"

OOC: She has to dispell the wards, remember. And putting broken bones back into place is a painful spell.

OOC: Damn. I knew I'd forget something. I'll edit to fit

OOC: Jones is already banged up from our little pointy-eared friend. Whatcha plannin' on doin' to him?

OOC: It should prove mightily interesting. If the man can fight Raven that is... imagine Cougar, small and no remorse at all. Ever. Cougar fights remorselessly, but he still thinks about it afterwards. Raven doesn't

OOC: I figured.

Ooc:^_^

OOC: Shit....

IC: Jones hit the ground heavly, grunting as the breath was forced out of him, his ribs ached from the blows they had recived. HE rolled and jumped to his feet, "You challange me?"

OOC: At the move? I've done it in RL

IC: Raven was slightly crouched, one hand slightly in front of the other. It was a classic start to the form of combat known only as CQC - Close Quaters Combat. It fused any number of techniques to create a skill that was unique to each person that used it.

"Depends on what you class as a challenge."

"I'll face you later, however you'll notcie that I have a class to teach. If you'd be so kind as to escort Miss Tari to the medical room I'd be very much obliged." He turned back to the class.

OOC: Coward.

IC:
Tari stood outside the classroom and braced herself against the wall. She ran a diagnostic spell to see how extensive the damage was. Bruises were in abundance, as well as a few lacerations to the liver, and two broken ribs, three fractured ribs, a bruised sternum, and a twisted wrist were what she found.

Concentrating, she drew in energy, and whispered a spell. If anyone was out there, the snap of bones going back into place would have been easily audible. A further moment, and they had bound themselves back together. The lacerations on her liver were prodded toward healing, but wouldn't be completely healed for a few more minutes. The bruises would be painful, but nothing serious, so she let them be. Casting a spell to realign her wrist, she then flushed heat to the injured place, then cool, to soothe it. She decided to wait a few more minutes before going back into class.

I should have hung in there...I could have.

"I'll face you later, however you'll notcie that I have a class to teach. If you'd be so kind as to escort Miss Tari to the medical room I'd be very much obliged." He turned back to the class.

Raven rolled his eyes, making for the door,"Letting a class see your weaknesses is a learning expiernce for all concerned. You can see what you can improve, and they can learn to spot weaknesses in any one"

He went out the door,"I take it you won't need medical treatment? He told me to take you, but I won't go back anyway. Not today"

Raven rolled his eyes, making for the door,"Letting a class see your weaknesses is a learning expiernce for all concerned. You can see what you can improve, and they can learn to spot weaknesses in any one"

He went out the door,"I take it you won't need medical treatment? He told me to take you, but I won't go back anyway. Not today"
"No, I won't need medical treatment. And I don't think I'll go back, either. If I could do that much damage to him, he fails as a fighter. If he treats a class as a real fight, he fails as a teacher, as well."

"His teaching is not inspiring, nor is it effective."

"Neither is his fighting. An assassin does not attack from the front, where you can see and defend...an assassin strikes from the shadows. Better to never be seen and known."

"Essentially then, that was a complete waste of time. I believe that if he teaches all his students that a head-on confrontation is the only way to deal with a target, we will not see many, if any, return from their assignments"

"Yes...that was a waste of time.You got up early and didn't have to."

"It was entertaining to send him to the floor though. He overstretched with the last move... still, I have a wish that he hadn't backed down."

"You'll get your chance." She sits down and conjures a couple of glasses, handing one to Raven. "It's a bit bitter, but it'll pick your energy levels straight up."

She waited for him to take it, then looked at him. "So, why'd you step in?"

OOC: GTG, class in five.

OOC: Alrite

Raven took a sip of the drink, and noted it's effects. He sat down as well, next to her,"Why not? You help out your friends"

OOC: That was just basics in close combat, he'll do some proper teaching while your out. It was supposed to be just a show of what a trained assasin could do, you made it a bit harder than he attended.

OOC: 'he intended'. And as Kay put, an assasin doesn't need those face-to-face tricks. They shouldn't be seen at all. They strike quietly, and quickly. Without a fuss.

OOC: They should hawever most of time they will be armed, but say they got caught, hand to ahdn comabt would be nesscary,

OOC: W/e. Anyway, as you may have noticed, Raven is not best pleased. At all. Say the teacher wants a word with him or something

OOC: Alrite

Raven took a sip of the drink, and noted it's effects. He sat down as well, next to her,"Why not? You help out your friends"
She smiles. "Well, thanks. Knowing me, I'd have continued to fight, and done something stupid like gotten myself killed."

OOC:
Well, that was dull.

And seriously...dude, you aren't ranking many Drow points. Tari writes daily reports and sends them home. It's going to start out with "Well, they can't really fight..."

She's watched Cougar fight, man...so she's got some high standards.

She smiles. "Well, thanks. Knowing me, I'd have continued to fight, and done something stupid like gotten myself killed."

OOC:
Well, that was dull.

And seriously...dude, you aren't ranking many Drow points. Tari writes daily reports and sends them home. It's going to start out with "Well, they can't really fight..."

She's watched Cougar fight, man...so she's got some high standards.

OOC: ^_^ about C

IC:"It's alright. I doubt your teacher would have been very happy if you'd got yourself killed on your first day"

"Probably not. Y'know...if all the teachers are that bad, I'll probably be called home fairly shortly."

"I came to see if this place could finish my training... no, hits will do that instead if this keeps up. I'm sure the unit would love to hear about this"

"Maybe. I bet that if we sent in a couple of our century-old people, we could take this place down in broad daylight."

OOC: Gtg again, back to class. *cracks whip*

OOC: *Hugs*Poor you

IC: "Most likely. Having seen the damage that magick can wreck, especially after the Kaelis Ra times, I have a deep respect for it's potentency"

OOC: *Ish now done for the day*

IC:
"Magick isn't destructive by nature, though. By nature, it's neutral...the caster is destructive or creative, depending on the nature of their will, and the situation into which they cast."

"But it can still cause great damage and destruction if used in that manner."

"True."

Raven finished off his drink, and then started to sharpen his knife, kept in his boot when he wasn't using it

OOC: *Assuming this is one of those lovely 7-inch combat knives...*

IC:
Tari raises an eyebrow. "That doesn't look like it would be pleasant to get stabbed with."

"Stabbed, slashed, throat cut... any of the above would be fairly painful to with this weapon. Add in that I have a vial of poison from the Brazilian Wandering spider to coat the blade with, and it gets worse. That venom paralyses the nervous system... the death is slow"

"Oh...I have a few poisons that do that...there's one spider native to Kaymiril that eats its victim's brains...so its poison dissolves the brain over the period of a few minutes. And then there's a synthesized poison that puts its victim through agony, then this insane inability to stop laughing, then it kills them. It's kinda grotesque, thinking about it."

She spreads her hands a small distance apart, and a little light starts flickering between her palms.

Raven finished with his bladework, nicking his thumb to check the sharpness, before sheathing it,"That's kinda pretty"

"Raw magickal power...just present...no intent to destroy or create...perfect. The imperfections we give it when we focus into spells make it useful."

She holds her hand out. "Here...take it. You'll feel a slight tingling, but it won't hurt you."

He took it, and almost dropped it as he felt the tingling,"Thats an odd sensation"

"Only at first. But you've just proved something."

"Which is?"

"You have a limited ability to work magick. I thought you would, but I didn't know. If you didn't have any magickal ability, it would have gone straight out."

"Doesn't everybody have a limited ability though?"

"Yes, but the vast majority of humans have too limited of an ability. You have to be able to utilize at least two anthen of fashka before you can hold that for even a second. You're still holding it...although I'd advise putting it out soon, or you might start drawing tupora fashka."

"All these magickal terms just clutter my thoughts at the moment," he said, bringing his hands together and extinguishing the light

"Would you like an explanation, or would you rather not just think about it?"

"Explain, please. If I decide not to bother, I'll just not listen," he said, a wry grin on his face

"Anthen are units of measurement for how much fashka -- power -- is used. One anth can produce an electric shock equal to 2000 watts. Tupora fashka is living energy, energy required of the caster. Fashka is energy surrounding, and a mage can draw it in so that they don't have to risk harming themselves by overdrawing tupora fashka. And that's magick in a nutshell."

"That will take a little time to process... give me a moment"

"Okay. It was a hard concept to grasp, at first."

"Even harder for a human to grasp," he said, running a hand through his hair,"How much longer is that class going to be in there for... isn't there another soon?"

"Yeah, there should be."

He looked at his watch again,"I never thought time could go so slowly"

"Only when you're not patient. I hope that teacher has some slight amount of intelligence."

"It's good to have a dream, isn't it"

"I wouldn't know. I am what I am, I do what I do, I train as I am told to. I don't see what good a dream would do me."

Raven shook his head,"I think you misunderstand. It's good to have a dream that the teacher has an ounce of intelligence is what I was trying to say"

"Oh, that." She laughs. "If not, there will be mischeif in that classroom."

Raven smiled,"I'm sure I could concoct something that could add to that... I wonder if they try and administer punishments here"

"Probably...but you've never seen mischeif like we deal it out back home...and I doubt they'd be able to stop it, even if they knew who was doing it."

"I have no doubt... you guys must have some very bad habits when it comes to that"

"Not really. Our teachers know how to deal with it."

"I'm sure Cougar suffers at your hands."