"Who me?" Nightshade said, pointing at himself with his paw. Now that was something weird to ask of him out of everything else she could have asked him. The young little cat simply pointed at Suzume and then at Aya, still wagging his tail at the reunion. "Well, I help big sis Aya and big sis Suzu with stuff." He would reply. When it came to shogunate matters, he was basically supporting the dragoniers with their things. "I'm a dragonieer too you know!" He would quip soon after, lest the new girl didn't think he was as cool as he was. To show such, he would strike a pretty spot on copy of Aya's battle stance, thus triggering his DragonierCross. It would take but a moment for his own shadow to wrap around his own body and shrowd him in dark colored wyrm inspired armor. Aya's armor...or at the very least, her old armor she had given him.
Hopping left and right for a moment, he made well sure to give the new girl in town an exhaustive look at his garments. He was infinitely proud of them afterall. Though with that done, he would be content to hop back in his usual cat inspired suit and pretty much resume his nagging for cuddles with Suzume. It would be at that moment that his big sis and Lyntael would go on a tangent and start saying alot of things he quite didn't understand. He sounds like him, she something guy in room what?
The cat navi tilted his head to the side, ears flicking about. "Uh? Why are you..." He mumbled confused. Was this why she was here? He thought she was going to train with Aya by the looks of it...?
Either way, he wouldn't have any time to wonder on that weirdness when his other comment elicited a response from both big sis Suzu and the new girl both. He didn't think he was doing anything weird. "...what? You guys don't see it?" Nighty chimed, looking between the ladies and then back at his shining beacon of hope, trust and all the other great things. Thankfully, Lyntael seemed to understand what he was talking about...or at least a part of it. "Your energy. It's like mine yeah. Aya's energy is suuuuuper dark and brooding and edgy but yours is all jittery and spry just like mine." He explained, or at least tried to. "Though...yours is all over the place. Like...it's all jumbled up and stuff. I can feel it bounce around you like crazy. From here it almost looks like you suck at using it, thought the attack you did earlier was like, OMEGA COOL so maybe you're just weird." He would conclude with a nod.
_____________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, Yumi would prowl closer to her mom without a sound and quietly sit beside her, making sure to not disturb any of her super duper mega important stuff she was always doing. As much as she wished for consideration, she had been educated to act quite noble like and well mannered by the eldest dragonieer sister.
White Tower
last edited by
Magistrate continued to do a lot of administrative tasks on her computer system while Yumi padded into the room. She didn't even seem to look up or acknowledge the smaller dragon as Yumi quietly sat down beside her. However, after a few minutes of silence punctuated by loud typing, Magistrate reached over and patted Yumi on the head with one hand. Stroking her hair and fur with the kindness of a mother. Magi's other hand continued to type along. Her eyes never leaving the screens.
After Nightshade showed his best impression of Aya to Lyntael, and he reverted back into his original form, his body language bid Suzume to hug him more. Suzume was inexorably drawn to give more cuddles to the smaller, soft-furred creature. Her arms wrapped around and pulled him into a strong embrace. It was warm and inviting. And the hugs lasted for minutes on end.
Aya listened to Lyntael as Suzume snuggled. Listened as Lyn explained her body processes and state of mind. Aya was also a little taken aback by Lyn's rebuff to her, but gleaned a good deal of critical information from it. Aya's eyes widened as the wheels in her mind were visibly turning. She then began to pace as she speaks, "Aha! Okay so... clearly we are coming at this from the wrong angle," she says, brushing most of what Lyn was trying to apologize for aside. It didn't seem like she needed Lyn's apology to forgive her snap. Aya seemed to wear her emotions on her sleeves more than the others, but was just as fast to move on.
"Yes, yes, we know that you are easily distracted and frightened. You have a good reason to be. Good reason. For now at least. Soon you will be stronger yes? Yes. But first to your problem," Aya babbled.
"We thought that we should build up your power. Strengthen your control. But no, that was the wrong way to think about it. What we really need to do is the opposite of what we have been doing up until now," she continued, her voice chirping more excitedly as she seemed to have thought up a revelation. "We train you to constantly expel your charge in small doses. Yes? Yes! Keep the ejections small. Keep the re-build small."
"As long as you keep a small bit of current in you all the time, while you emit the rest in small doses, the charge won't try to refill. The vessel remains partially full. Constant repeaters... That is the ticket!" Aya exclaimed as she jumped for joy.
Aya was quick to catch herself after a moment and brush down her clothes. She coughed into her hand as she calmed down. "Ahem. So hopefully this causes your 'stabilized pulses' thing to activate more often. Try to focus on them if you feel them. Try to sus them out. If you can somehow control that system inside you, then it will help you a lot."
"In the meantime, I will need you to try to hold a medium amount of charge in you. Not too much as to hurt you and not too little as to cause the feedback loop to build up even worse. And while you do that, you will need to consistantly expel small amounts of your charge into that lightning rod. Now remember: you must not expel enough to lower your overall charge level that much, but just enough to keep up with the building pressure. Just as long as you don't let it increase or decrease too much, you should be fine."
After Nightshade showed his best impression of Aya to Lyntael, and he reverted back into his original form, his body language bid Suzume to hug him more. Suzume was inexorably drawn to give more cuddles to the smaller, soft-furred creature. Her arms wrapped around and pulled him into a strong embrace. It was warm and inviting. And the hugs lasted for minutes on end.
Aya listened to Lyntael as Suzume snuggled. Listened as Lyn explained her body processes and state of mind. Aya was also a little taken aback by Lyn's rebuff to her, but gleaned a good deal of critical information from it. Aya's eyes widened as the wheels in her mind were visibly turning. She then began to pace as she speaks, "Aha! Okay so... clearly we are coming at this from the wrong angle," she says, brushing most of what Lyn was trying to apologize for aside. It didn't seem like she needed Lyn's apology to forgive her snap. Aya seemed to wear her emotions on her sleeves more than the others, but was just as fast to move on.
"Yes, yes, we know that you are easily distracted and frightened. You have a good reason to be. Good reason. For now at least. Soon you will be stronger yes? Yes. But first to your problem," Aya babbled.
"We thought that we should build up your power. Strengthen your control. But no, that was the wrong way to think about it. What we really need to do is the opposite of what we have been doing up until now," she continued, her voice chirping more excitedly as she seemed to have thought up a revelation. "We train you to constantly expel your charge in small doses. Yes? Yes! Keep the ejections small. Keep the re-build small."
"As long as you keep a small bit of current in you all the time, while you emit the rest in small doses, the charge won't try to refill. The vessel remains partially full. Constant repeaters... That is the ticket!" Aya exclaimed as she jumped for joy.
Aya was quick to catch herself after a moment and brush down her clothes. She coughed into her hand as she calmed down. "Ahem. So hopefully this causes your 'stabilized pulses' thing to activate more often. Try to focus on them if you feel them. Try to sus them out. If you can somehow control that system inside you, then it will help you a lot."
"In the meantime, I will need you to try to hold a medium amount of charge in you. Not too much as to hurt you and not too little as to cause the feedback loop to build up even worse. And while you do that, you will need to consistantly expel small amounts of your charge into that lightning rod. Now remember: you must not expel enough to lower your overall charge level that much, but just enough to keep up with the building pressure. Just as long as you don't let it increase or decrease too much, you should be fine."
last edited by Rogan
In the immediate aftermath Nighshade's casual enthusiasm was a good break to the frustration that Lyntael had been staving off as the others tried to help her, to the point that even his juvenile bluntness only made her flick her eyes skyward for a second and offer him a grin.
“Gee, thanks... Nice to know I'm weird and also rubbish at being me, Nightshade... you're such a charming young man... ” It caught her by surprise, but the droll grin that accompanied her response was a genuine one and she felt the good humour seep into her just a little more as she stretched and rolled her shoulders. “Just wait until you see the really flashy bits...” The smile became a small giggle. A part of her almost wanted to reach out and ruffle his ears, but part way through raising and lowering her charge as she was, with the feeling of it in her body and under her skin, she didn't want to risk it, even if the boy was comfortable with electricity. The charge wanted release but she took a breath and held it back, then stepped away from the others for a moment and let the pulse wash out from her again, sending a small ripple of fresh sparks into her immediate space and cooling off the urge to build just a little bit more. Even though they hadn't done much yet, just practising like this and feeling it in a focused way, deliberately and not in any danger... maybe comfort like this was more important than she'd let herself think. She concentrated on slow breaths and calm as she looked at the smaller boy. There was always a chance he was like Ion, she supposed... He'd been able to absorb her charge without getting hurt... but it wasn't something you just thrust on another person without being sure.
“Your costume is adorable. I didn't realise you were a dragonier too.” Gradually, the charge she was still holding began to decay and subside back towards her baseline warm glow. “Did you make it yourself? I love making costumes. I-” Lyntael thought about the variety of clothing and costumes she'd made and found a small pink flush creeping towards her cheeks. She changed what she'd been about to say to the boy. “I'd love to see any others you've got!”
Eventually, Lyntael realised she was putting off the whole reason for this trip to the training area, again. She made herself turn back to Aya and Suzume with a slightly self-conscious grin, and resumed their discussion about what she could do. At length she nodded to Aya's suggestion.
“I think that would help a lot. If I had more control over the stability effects, that would really help. So far, it's all just instinct, and in the early days I couldn't even tell them apart. I'd suppress the stabilising pulses, thinking they were just going to make it worse, and that just made me burn out faster. At least now I can tell what's balancing and what isn't... But I'm not any close to being able to control it, or do it more often yet... I think it's something I could work on though! Though, um...” The blush crept back and she found herself looking down rather than at either of them. “I, um... this is silly, but, I think of it as expending, or expends... can we say that? Saying 'expel' makes it sound like something gross...” For a moment, she rubbed at her neck, trying to shrug off the embarrassment, before clearing her throat softly and pushing on with a nod.
“Right. I can do that. I'll need some space to being with... if I'm touching the rod, the stabilising pulses just get drawn away, like everything else, and it's almost like it's pulling the charge out of me, almost. I had a hard time resisting giving it a full expend before, once the connection was made... So, I'll try to put the main expends towards it, but I'll need space to pull away, for the pulses, okay?” She cast her gaze to the others, giving a mildly nervous glance towards where Drago was watching on as well as a brighter grin for Nightshade.
Once she was sure the others were far enough away that her pulses wouldn't reach them, Lyntael took a longer breath and focused her attention on the lighting rod. This wasn't scary; she repeated it to herself. Build and release until she was just before if began to hurt, then balance out. Don't let it go too high after that, try not to let it decay either. Concentrate. She took a step forward, then let her feet move in the way that felt right, sliding into a neat, high line combat stance without thinking about it. As her charge reached full she shifted and struck, bringing one foot up and around with precision to meet the end of the rod, as the charge cycled in, combined and rushed out again in a discharge that glowed bright around the point of contact.
For an extra moment, Lyntael felt her ankle tugged at, held to the rod by the continuing discharge when the flow didn't break right away and she had to pull hard to regain her stance and force her striker free. A moment late,r the softer pulse answered as her charge started to rebuild, sending a fresh scattering of sparks off her skin and hair. It was okay; just keep going, nothing big, until it was uncomfortable, but not painful. She moved again, striking out twice more in quick succession once with each hand this time in a pair of rapid jabs; again, her strikers made the connection to the grounding rod and held fast as the charge drained itself and two more bright flares of energy filled the space immediately around Lyntael. Her strikers didn't come free as she tried to draw back, and even as her charge cycled up again, the connection remained, pouring the current into the drawing rod. Lyntael grunted, and grit her teeth; another stabilising pulse came but it was drawn away into the rod as well before it could help.
“I can't do it this way...” she began, trying to break the circuit again. “It's... ah!” The glow of light being charged through her strikers hadn't diminished and at the core of it, the lightning rod had rapidly grown orange, then white. It started to warp and deform, until it bent and came away from the base in a melted mass. Lyntael felt the circuit break and pulled back with a bitten-off shout, yanking her hands away and dropping the destroyed end of the rod before the molten metal could get on her. She stepped back, staring at the remains with a wince before they began to break down into data.
“Sorry! Um... Just... Just give me...” Her body pulsed again and she tried to shake her hands out, her breath heavy and her heart beating fast as she resisted the growing charge that was becoming more insistent and more searing with each cycle. She looked across to where DragonierMan was watching near the side of the room.
“Hahh... this is for training, right? Can... Can you just give us some targets, maybe? Something I can spend on, and it won't actively try to ground or conduct? Just dummies or targets or something?” With a self-conscious grin, broken by her slight panting, Lyntael waited a moment before the open space in the middle of their training field was populated with a variety of standing targets and marked wooden poles. She gave a grateful grin towards her friend for picking options that were comfortably inanimate.
“Take three...” As she focused this time, looking around the different objects she could use and all of her friends far enough back to feel safe, she felt more comfortable. When she lifted her head and took a breath this time, it was accompanies by a gust of wind rising and swirling about the area, tousling the short grass and making her clothes flutter. Her already wild hair began to snap as a light pattern like the caustic refraction scatter of light in water began to dance across the surface of her skin. As before, the more trained eyes of Drago and the twins would see a certain element of refinement in the stance she adopted; a light-footed stance, on the balls of her feet, with a high balance, but her line was clean, her guard precise. She began to move.
A small amount of lingering charge was already with her, but she pushed it to build now, moving towards the point where it would rise without her. The target right in front of her received the first expend in the form of a low sweeping kick as she ducked in close; a now familiar flare of bright electrical light burst as her striker reached her target. The drain left a brief sense of emptiness inside her chest as the current rushed out, then rapidly started to rebuild again. Keep going; it was still calm enough.
As she corrected, spinning around the first target and striking it in the back with a succession of two more quick blows that seemed to follow on naturally while her charge rebuilt. These ones didn't contain any clear charge, but still had enough force to make the dummy shudder. She stepped through, turning with a light step that carried her back a few more feet, curling winds wrapping about her as she manoeuvred. She felt the first pulse and welcomed it, sparks cascading off her form and stinging the closest targets as she skipped back once more, then kicked off the ground into a small leap that took her arcing over the top of the dummy she'd almost stepped back into. Instead of colliding, her body twisted in the air, passing it and as she came down on the other side her right foot whipped around in a flash, connected with what passed for the dummy's head; this explosion of light and sparks was enough to knock the new target down entirely.
As she landed, Lyntael scanned the objects surrounding now and put out one hand, palm flat; her barrier answered, expanding with a static reverb before stabilising itself as it passed each of her strikers and fading from sight. Her charge rose on its own, though without her drawing to it it was still sluggish; she could push further than this before stopping. Get to the uncomfortable point, but not out of control. It was okay. Maybe if she'd been able to fight in the first place, Rogan wouldn't have needed to go to that stupid compound...
She rounded on the next nearest target as she stood from the landing, a back-handed sweep with her leading hand that was only a light blow, in feint of the driving punch that followed, blasting a hold in the middle of the wooden dummy amidst a burst of lightning and wind. Her body pulsed with sparks but she reached past it, drawing harder on her charge, encouraging it. If Rogan hadn't had to go to that stupid place, then none of it would have happened at all. He wouldn't have made any stupid mistakes, wouldn't have had to kill anyone...
Her charge rushed up to meet the distracted train of thought as it bubbled inside her and Lyntael grit her teeth as it filled her to bursting again. With a small growl in her throat she lunged in close to one of the larger shapes, and pressed her hand up against it; the charge flowed without thought, coalescing in her chest and racing down to her hand in a burst that made the dummy quake and crack; a gale of wind lifted it up into the air, even as two further streams of lightning thundered out from the far side of it, piercing through to blast into two other distant targets. She hadn't even done anything wrong! She'd done it all right, for once. It wasn't even her fault, so why had it all gone wrong?
Lyntael jumped, springing lightly into the air and passing the thrown dummy as it reached the top of its arc. Her charge raced back and she turned over, her body making a graceful twist that finished with her left heel slamming back down on the object and obliterating it into wood chips before it could fall to ground. The charge burst through it and split, arcing down to smite two more targets below, just as Lyntael landed in between them, one hand on the grass in a crouch, winds of a circling updraught calming slowly around her. Despite the acrobatics, her skirt had managed to defy all gravity and physics to maintain her modesty, ever valiant in its base code, and far better at it than any of the girl's own personal designs.
Each expend had been a searing sensation, wild and ragged, and already as she stood it was there again, filling the void and aching inside her, straining for the relief of just one more release. Lyntael stood, panting hard, and wavered. Too much. Maybe too much. She could feel it, the anger that wanted expression in wild blasts, and the way her body felt tense and strained just holding it back. She stopped in the middle of the area, head down, and wrapped her arms about herself, hugging tight and trying to concentrate. No more; this was the limit. Hold it. Don't let it go too far.
Her form pulsed again, one more cascade of smaller, softer electricity that danced as it scattered away. Her eyes stung, but she blinked it back and tried to breath.
“Aya! This is... this...” She gasped, struggling against the aching sensation. It wasn't truly painful, but it wasn't good either. The charge continued trying to swell within her, but she held on, not giving it any release; her body convulsed instead and she grit her teeth but pushed through it. “Like this... I can't stop it building up now... If... If I spend any more, It'll be... ah... if I spend more, I won't be able to stop from spending more... ahh...” The pulse came, and she drew a breath, in between the swell making her hunch and fight off the need to let the charge burst. She could hold it here, probably... maybe... Again, her body pulsed off the excess electricity while her inner charge strained. She looked up, trying to focus on breathing and holding back the instinct to release.
“Okay... Okay... Aya, this is... I think this is... ah... stable, maybe. I can hold this... doesn't hurt, but... if I lose focus I'll probably lost it entirely...” As she found the eyes of the others, they'd each see the beginnings of a sparking glow just starting to cover over the green of her eyes with yellow static, but it wasn't obscuring them yet. “I can... I can feel when the pulse comes. It's regular, like... like a slow heart beat, underneath... ah... underneath the harsher one of my charge...” Light, her actual heart was beating like she'd run a marathon already, wild and rapid as she panted for air. “I... I don't know how to make it come quicker... but if I hold like this, I think I could...” Wincing, she focused and extended a hand, pulling out a fresh barrier that drew some of the vigour from her charge as it did. As it passed her strikers, she felt her wrists and ankles throb uncomfortably and a further swell fed back through her body. Too much charge already here without release. It had still helped, a little bit though. More than it had hurt.
“I... I could calm down from here... I could. But no further.” She closed her eyes again ,trying to focus on the stabilising pulses; each one was a slow tension and then relief sensation that she could feel coming just before it arrived, but how to stabilise her charge more often... or perhaps she could strengthen the pulse itself, to balance her out more per pulse? Would that work, or would it just lessen the effect? She wished she knew. The urge to release properly wasn't going to go away as long as she held on like this; even as she tried to stand straight and forced her body to relax, her hair was still wild with crackling static, and her skin still dances with light. There was more she could do; brighter, fiercer, more forceful and violent; her body wanted to and she resisted it.
“I'm... I'm okay, I think. What do you want me to do now?” She didn't have to raise her voice too much, so she stayed where she was, a safe distance from her friends for now as she called out. Maybe Aya or Suzume would reach a conclusion and she could stop this again. Just work out something she could practice on her own, maybe, and then she could do it later, and not bother all of her new friends with her personal issues. She tried to relax her body properly, despite the way it felt; panting and flushed, smooth features giving way to uncomfortable expressions every few moments. From an outside perspective, it looked – and sounded – almost like someone edging, though only a certain type of mind would see it that way; for her part, the thought never occurred to Lyntael.
“Gee, thanks... Nice to know I'm weird and also rubbish at being me, Nightshade... you're such a charming young man... ” It caught her by surprise, but the droll grin that accompanied her response was a genuine one and she felt the good humour seep into her just a little more as she stretched and rolled her shoulders. “Just wait until you see the really flashy bits...” The smile became a small giggle. A part of her almost wanted to reach out and ruffle his ears, but part way through raising and lowering her charge as she was, with the feeling of it in her body and under her skin, she didn't want to risk it, even if the boy was comfortable with electricity. The charge wanted release but she took a breath and held it back, then stepped away from the others for a moment and let the pulse wash out from her again, sending a small ripple of fresh sparks into her immediate space and cooling off the urge to build just a little bit more. Even though they hadn't done much yet, just practising like this and feeling it in a focused way, deliberately and not in any danger... maybe comfort like this was more important than she'd let herself think. She concentrated on slow breaths and calm as she looked at the smaller boy. There was always a chance he was like Ion, she supposed... He'd been able to absorb her charge without getting hurt... but it wasn't something you just thrust on another person without being sure.
“Your costume is adorable. I didn't realise you were a dragonier too.” Gradually, the charge she was still holding began to decay and subside back towards her baseline warm glow. “Did you make it yourself? I love making costumes. I-” Lyntael thought about the variety of clothing and costumes she'd made and found a small pink flush creeping towards her cheeks. She changed what she'd been about to say to the boy. “I'd love to see any others you've got!”
Eventually, Lyntael realised she was putting off the whole reason for this trip to the training area, again. She made herself turn back to Aya and Suzume with a slightly self-conscious grin, and resumed their discussion about what she could do. At length she nodded to Aya's suggestion.
“I think that would help a lot. If I had more control over the stability effects, that would really help. So far, it's all just instinct, and in the early days I couldn't even tell them apart. I'd suppress the stabilising pulses, thinking they were just going to make it worse, and that just made me burn out faster. At least now I can tell what's balancing and what isn't... But I'm not any close to being able to control it, or do it more often yet... I think it's something I could work on though! Though, um...” The blush crept back and she found herself looking down rather than at either of them. “I, um... this is silly, but, I think of it as expending, or expends... can we say that? Saying 'expel' makes it sound like something gross...” For a moment, she rubbed at her neck, trying to shrug off the embarrassment, before clearing her throat softly and pushing on with a nod.
“Right. I can do that. I'll need some space to being with... if I'm touching the rod, the stabilising pulses just get drawn away, like everything else, and it's almost like it's pulling the charge out of me, almost. I had a hard time resisting giving it a full expend before, once the connection was made... So, I'll try to put the main expends towards it, but I'll need space to pull away, for the pulses, okay?” She cast her gaze to the others, giving a mildly nervous glance towards where Drago was watching on as well as a brighter grin for Nightshade.
Once she was sure the others were far enough away that her pulses wouldn't reach them, Lyntael took a longer breath and focused her attention on the lighting rod. This wasn't scary; she repeated it to herself. Build and release until she was just before if began to hurt, then balance out. Don't let it go too high after that, try not to let it decay either. Concentrate. She took a step forward, then let her feet move in the way that felt right, sliding into a neat, high line combat stance without thinking about it. As her charge reached full she shifted and struck, bringing one foot up and around with precision to meet the end of the rod, as the charge cycled in, combined and rushed out again in a discharge that glowed bright around the point of contact.
For an extra moment, Lyntael felt her ankle tugged at, held to the rod by the continuing discharge when the flow didn't break right away and she had to pull hard to regain her stance and force her striker free. A moment late,r the softer pulse answered as her charge started to rebuild, sending a fresh scattering of sparks off her skin and hair. It was okay; just keep going, nothing big, until it was uncomfortable, but not painful. She moved again, striking out twice more in quick succession once with each hand this time in a pair of rapid jabs; again, her strikers made the connection to the grounding rod and held fast as the charge drained itself and two more bright flares of energy filled the space immediately around Lyntael. Her strikers didn't come free as she tried to draw back, and even as her charge cycled up again, the connection remained, pouring the current into the drawing rod. Lyntael grunted, and grit her teeth; another stabilising pulse came but it was drawn away into the rod as well before it could help.
“I can't do it this way...” she began, trying to break the circuit again. “It's... ah!” The glow of light being charged through her strikers hadn't diminished and at the core of it, the lightning rod had rapidly grown orange, then white. It started to warp and deform, until it bent and came away from the base in a melted mass. Lyntael felt the circuit break and pulled back with a bitten-off shout, yanking her hands away and dropping the destroyed end of the rod before the molten metal could get on her. She stepped back, staring at the remains with a wince before they began to break down into data.
“Sorry! Um... Just... Just give me...” Her body pulsed again and she tried to shake her hands out, her breath heavy and her heart beating fast as she resisted the growing charge that was becoming more insistent and more searing with each cycle. She looked across to where DragonierMan was watching near the side of the room.
“Hahh... this is for training, right? Can... Can you just give us some targets, maybe? Something I can spend on, and it won't actively try to ground or conduct? Just dummies or targets or something?” With a self-conscious grin, broken by her slight panting, Lyntael waited a moment before the open space in the middle of their training field was populated with a variety of standing targets and marked wooden poles. She gave a grateful grin towards her friend for picking options that were comfortably inanimate.
“Take three...” As she focused this time, looking around the different objects she could use and all of her friends far enough back to feel safe, she felt more comfortable. When she lifted her head and took a breath this time, it was accompanies by a gust of wind rising and swirling about the area, tousling the short grass and making her clothes flutter. Her already wild hair began to snap as a light pattern like the caustic refraction scatter of light in water began to dance across the surface of her skin. As before, the more trained eyes of Drago and the twins would see a certain element of refinement in the stance she adopted; a light-footed stance, on the balls of her feet, with a high balance, but her line was clean, her guard precise. She began to move.
A small amount of lingering charge was already with her, but she pushed it to build now, moving towards the point where it would rise without her. The target right in front of her received the first expend in the form of a low sweeping kick as she ducked in close; a now familiar flare of bright electrical light burst as her striker reached her target. The drain left a brief sense of emptiness inside her chest as the current rushed out, then rapidly started to rebuild again. Keep going; it was still calm enough.
As she corrected, spinning around the first target and striking it in the back with a succession of two more quick blows that seemed to follow on naturally while her charge rebuilt. These ones didn't contain any clear charge, but still had enough force to make the dummy shudder. She stepped through, turning with a light step that carried her back a few more feet, curling winds wrapping about her as she manoeuvred. She felt the first pulse and welcomed it, sparks cascading off her form and stinging the closest targets as she skipped back once more, then kicked off the ground into a small leap that took her arcing over the top of the dummy she'd almost stepped back into. Instead of colliding, her body twisted in the air, passing it and as she came down on the other side her right foot whipped around in a flash, connected with what passed for the dummy's head; this explosion of light and sparks was enough to knock the new target down entirely.
As she landed, Lyntael scanned the objects surrounding now and put out one hand, palm flat; her barrier answered, expanding with a static reverb before stabilising itself as it passed each of her strikers and fading from sight. Her charge rose on its own, though without her drawing to it it was still sluggish; she could push further than this before stopping. Get to the uncomfortable point, but not out of control. It was okay. Maybe if she'd been able to fight in the first place, Rogan wouldn't have needed to go to that stupid compound...
She rounded on the next nearest target as she stood from the landing, a back-handed sweep with her leading hand that was only a light blow, in feint of the driving punch that followed, blasting a hold in the middle of the wooden dummy amidst a burst of lightning and wind. Her body pulsed with sparks but she reached past it, drawing harder on her charge, encouraging it. If Rogan hadn't had to go to that stupid place, then none of it would have happened at all. He wouldn't have made any stupid mistakes, wouldn't have had to kill anyone...
Her charge rushed up to meet the distracted train of thought as it bubbled inside her and Lyntael grit her teeth as it filled her to bursting again. With a small growl in her throat she lunged in close to one of the larger shapes, and pressed her hand up against it; the charge flowed without thought, coalescing in her chest and racing down to her hand in a burst that made the dummy quake and crack; a gale of wind lifted it up into the air, even as two further streams of lightning thundered out from the far side of it, piercing through to blast into two other distant targets. She hadn't even done anything wrong! She'd done it all right, for once. It wasn't even her fault, so why had it all gone wrong?
Lyntael jumped, springing lightly into the air and passing the thrown dummy as it reached the top of its arc. Her charge raced back and she turned over, her body making a graceful twist that finished with her left heel slamming back down on the object and obliterating it into wood chips before it could fall to ground. The charge burst through it and split, arcing down to smite two more targets below, just as Lyntael landed in between them, one hand on the grass in a crouch, winds of a circling updraught calming slowly around her. Despite the acrobatics, her skirt had managed to defy all gravity and physics to maintain her modesty, ever valiant in its base code, and far better at it than any of the girl's own personal designs.
Each expend had been a searing sensation, wild and ragged, and already as she stood it was there again, filling the void and aching inside her, straining for the relief of just one more release. Lyntael stood, panting hard, and wavered. Too much. Maybe too much. She could feel it, the anger that wanted expression in wild blasts, and the way her body felt tense and strained just holding it back. She stopped in the middle of the area, head down, and wrapped her arms about herself, hugging tight and trying to concentrate. No more; this was the limit. Hold it. Don't let it go too far.
Her form pulsed again, one more cascade of smaller, softer electricity that danced as it scattered away. Her eyes stung, but she blinked it back and tried to breath.
“Aya! This is... this...” She gasped, struggling against the aching sensation. It wasn't truly painful, but it wasn't good either. The charge continued trying to swell within her, but she held on, not giving it any release; her body convulsed instead and she grit her teeth but pushed through it. “Like this... I can't stop it building up now... If... If I spend any more, It'll be... ah... if I spend more, I won't be able to stop from spending more... ahh...” The pulse came, and she drew a breath, in between the swell making her hunch and fight off the need to let the charge burst. She could hold it here, probably... maybe... Again, her body pulsed off the excess electricity while her inner charge strained. She looked up, trying to focus on breathing and holding back the instinct to release.
“Okay... Okay... Aya, this is... I think this is... ah... stable, maybe. I can hold this... doesn't hurt, but... if I lose focus I'll probably lost it entirely...” As she found the eyes of the others, they'd each see the beginnings of a sparking glow just starting to cover over the green of her eyes with yellow static, but it wasn't obscuring them yet. “I can... I can feel when the pulse comes. It's regular, like... like a slow heart beat, underneath... ah... underneath the harsher one of my charge...” Light, her actual heart was beating like she'd run a marathon already, wild and rapid as she panted for air. “I... I don't know how to make it come quicker... but if I hold like this, I think I could...” Wincing, she focused and extended a hand, pulling out a fresh barrier that drew some of the vigour from her charge as it did. As it passed her strikers, she felt her wrists and ankles throb uncomfortably and a further swell fed back through her body. Too much charge already here without release. It had still helped, a little bit though. More than it had hurt.
“I... I could calm down from here... I could. But no further.” She closed her eyes again ,trying to focus on the stabilising pulses; each one was a slow tension and then relief sensation that she could feel coming just before it arrived, but how to stabilise her charge more often... or perhaps she could strengthen the pulse itself, to balance her out more per pulse? Would that work, or would it just lessen the effect? She wished she knew. The urge to release properly wasn't going to go away as long as she held on like this; even as she tried to stand straight and forced her body to relax, her hair was still wild with crackling static, and her skin still dances with light. There was more she could do; brighter, fiercer, more forceful and violent; her body wanted to and she resisted it.
“I'm... I'm okay, I think. What do you want me to do now?” She didn't have to raise her voice too much, so she stayed where she was, a safe distance from her friends for now as she called out. Maybe Aya or Suzume would reach a conclusion and she could stop this again. Just work out something she could practice on her own, maybe, and then she could do it later, and not bother all of her new friends with her personal issues. She tried to relax her body properly, despite the way it felt; panting and flushed, smooth features giving way to uncomfortable expressions every few moments. From an outside perspective, it looked – and sounded – almost like someone edging, though only a certain type of mind would see it that way; for her part, the thought never occurred to Lyntael.
last edited by Azureink
Nightshade watched intently as Lyntael did...whatever fhat thing was meant to be. "Aya gave it to me." He replied on her inquiry ablut his jet black armor. The SP had bequeathed it to him the first time they had merged together, which was also one of the first time he had really shown he could be receptive towards Drago's code and compatible with some of his routines. "I'll show you the rest once I have them all updated to fit me again. I am a big boy now." He would add, chest puffed out with pride.
He watched the younger lady struggle again with her energy and then ask to be forgiven for melting the rod. Man, not to be bad at Aya but it looked like his big sis had little idea how Lyn's energy worked. Then again, she didn't have alot of experience with his own energy either, though the way he used it was similar to her own. Her own energy was also much more...slow flowing in nature so perhaps the thing that was missing there was the fact that Lyn's stuff just couldn't be used the way they were used to.
"I dun get it, Your energy is like...uuh...what was the word... a cacaphone of wobbly screwy thingy..You're all over the place, one moment you're low then you shoot up then it goes down and up and down and up and down again." He mumbled, gently wiggling out of Suzume's warm cuddling and hopping closer to Lyntael, tail helping with balance as his feet paws pranced around. "You should be wanting to be always full, how else you gonna use your power if you can't even store it. " He pirouette'd on the spot, showing something Lyn probably wasn't able to percieve. "Something like this, a nice steady hum."
The youngling stopped in front of the guest and held his hand-paw at Lyntael. As soon as he saw her hesitate to grab it, he would shake it at her again. "Charge me up! I'll show you how to do it!" He stated, super serious. "I want all the energy I can get!"
He watched the younger lady struggle again with her energy and then ask to be forgiven for melting the rod. Man, not to be bad at Aya but it looked like his big sis had little idea how Lyn's energy worked. Then again, she didn't have alot of experience with his own energy either, though the way he used it was similar to her own. Her own energy was also much more...slow flowing in nature so perhaps the thing that was missing there was the fact that Lyn's stuff just couldn't be used the way they were used to.
"I dun get it, Your energy is like...uuh...what was the word... a cacaphone of wobbly screwy thingy..You're all over the place, one moment you're low then you shoot up then it goes down and up and down and up and down again." He mumbled, gently wiggling out of Suzume's warm cuddling and hopping closer to Lyntael, tail helping with balance as his feet paws pranced around. "You should be wanting to be always full, how else you gonna use your power if you can't even store it. " He pirouette'd on the spot, showing something Lyn probably wasn't able to percieve. "Something like this, a nice steady hum."
The youngling stopped in front of the guest and held his hand-paw at Lyntael. As soon as he saw her hesitate to grab it, he would shake it at her again. "Charge me up! I'll show you how to do it!" He stated, super serious. "I want all the energy I can get!"
last edited by Azureink
DragonierMan activated the panel on the wall at Lyntael's direction, creating an obstacle course of various targets. Then he and Aya watched as Lyntael began her routine. It seemed that the young woman learned a little martial arts from somewhere, but she was still quite the amateur. Her power was impressive enough - able to blow holes in the target dummies as she lay into them - but her movements were still a little unrefined from a trained warrior perspective. Despite this, no one could deny that she was as smooth and graceful as a dancer. Her flow was instinctual. Of course, she was also balancing her own actions against trying very hard not to explode like a target dummy herself. So one should give her some leniency.
Aya frowned and glanced at the melted lightning rod. It smoked a bit as a gold river flowed down to the ground below. It wouldn't be that hard for Lyn to burn herself out, if she pushed herself too much. And without the protection of her PET, Lyn might suffer terrible injuries. Or worse.
Her student's words ran through her mind as she tried to pay attention to Lyn's form. Would Lyn suffer more from this exertion? Less? Was Aya right about what needed to be done? Or was she leading Lyn to an agonizing end if she didn't put a stop to this now?
With reluctance, Aya decided to hold out and not to stop Lyn from her course. It was a dangerous play, but thankfully it seemed that their efforts bore fruit. Lyn was seeming to struggle with her charge as normal, however, she was now claiming that she could feel where her limiters were. Aya was right, and very lucky, in giving Lyn the benefit of the doubt and letting it play out till the end. They were finally making some progress.
"Hold back," Aya called out to Lyn. "We don't want you to expend more if that will cause a feedback loop of greater power. Only expend if you sincerely believe it won't cause you more problems. Concentrate on the pulses. We need to learn how you can use them to your benefit."
"Does it synchronize with your heartbeat? Is it beating at a different rate? Where is the pulse originating from?" Aya asked Lyn. "If we could control those stabilizing pulses, we might be able to strengthen them through training. That would help a lot towards any further training of your powers."
Suzume released Nightshade, as the latter squirmed out of the former's grasp. She stood up and backed away towards where Drago was standing as Nighty approached Lyn. "Careful!" Suzume exclaimed as Drago placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "You don't want to hurt Lyn. Her powers aren't as stable as yours are."
Aya frowned and glanced at the melted lightning rod. It smoked a bit as a gold river flowed down to the ground below. It wouldn't be that hard for Lyn to burn herself out, if she pushed herself too much. And without the protection of her PET, Lyn might suffer terrible injuries. Or worse.
Quote (Lyntael)
"You could go run a few laps around this training area, until you're good and out of breath... and then when you come back, you'll feel your heart beating much faster than normal... but I guess you can just tell it not to, right? You just 'don't let it' beat that quickly, and just tell it to beat at the same slower pace it does at other times. Let me know how that goes, and then tell me how you do it, because I can't.”
Her student's words ran through her mind as she tried to pay attention to Lyn's form. Would Lyn suffer more from this exertion? Less? Was Aya right about what needed to be done? Or was she leading Lyn to an agonizing end if she didn't put a stop to this now?
With reluctance, Aya decided to hold out and not to stop Lyn from her course. It was a dangerous play, but thankfully it seemed that their efforts bore fruit. Lyn was seeming to struggle with her charge as normal, however, she was now claiming that she could feel where her limiters were. Aya was right, and very lucky, in giving Lyn the benefit of the doubt and letting it play out till the end. They were finally making some progress.
"Hold back," Aya called out to Lyn. "We don't want you to expend more if that will cause a feedback loop of greater power. Only expend if you sincerely believe it won't cause you more problems. Concentrate on the pulses. We need to learn how you can use them to your benefit."
"Does it synchronize with your heartbeat? Is it beating at a different rate? Where is the pulse originating from?" Aya asked Lyn. "If we could control those stabilizing pulses, we might be able to strengthen them through training. That would help a lot towards any further training of your powers."
Suzume released Nightshade, as the latter squirmed out of the former's grasp. She stood up and backed away towards where Drago was standing as Nighty approached Lyn. "Careful!" Suzume exclaimed as Drago placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "You don't want to hurt Lyn. Her powers aren't as stable as yours are."
last edited by Rogan
Her muscle burned and her charge roared in her senses as she held herself at the edge of the next release and gradually pulled back from it; another ripple of sparks cascaded out from her body as she let out along breath and tried to focus on calming down again, while she listened to the others talk. The angry thoughts that had flooded up in the middle of her expenditures still vied for attention, and she realised her fists were clenched tight, her teeth gritted.
She nodded to Aya at first, relaxing her body as best she could and walking few steps closer, just to move in away that wasn't immediately combative. Like this, the charge wasn't searing pain, but holding herself at this level of tension was discomfort that was growing into a building ache and burn. If she released now, it would give her a couple of seconds of blessed calm from the feeling, she knew that, and longed for it, but it was still too close to the edge, or.. or what she felt it must be. She'd almost gone further than she could pull back form the first time, and it frustrated her how much she was still guessing at the instincts and sensations that accompanied the process.
“I can hold it here... for a while. It'll calm, slowly, on its own... and if I expend again... it'll bounce high again... but I think I could keep that balance... a little longer. It's not painful right now, but... but the longer I maintain this feeling, without letting it go further or recover... it's like... like strain. It's starting to feel like it's tension that turning to fatigue... you know? My whole body feels like a muscle that's been carrying something for too long.” She kept her distance, at least part way as she tried to answer Aya's questions with small nods and shakes of her head, listening to her body as she did.
“No... no it's different.... The charge has a beat to it... harsh, strong, rough... gets more... jagged the worse it gets, and it gets faster. The lower pulse, the softer one... that's there too...” her body crackled with another circle of dancing sparks that fanned out from her as she spoke. “It's always the same... a stable beat... Slow. When my charge is calm, they're the same... like a hum inside that's always there.... when I burn out, and they're both just gone... I feel like I'm dying, if I'm conscious... like there's a hollow in my chest... But when the charge is high, it gets fast, and rough, and jagged, and painful, and it sears, and burns, and just when I think it's about to burn me away to nothing... snap... it all goes.” She tried a grin, though it was a bit strained and ragged as she looked towards Aya and the others, putting one hand to her chest as she did.
“My heart... light my heart is beating so fast right now. I feel like I've run a mile already... that's just my heart beat... it doesn't seem like it's really lined up with any of that... except maybe, when I'm really calm, and it slows right down...” Closing her eyes briefly, her other hand came up to the first and she cupped them over the centre of her chest, feeling the different forces rising and falling within her. The core of it all, she felt sure, was here, in her chest... “It starts... here... I think.” Her hands patted and pressed; it was a warm glow and a fierce hum, right there; externally her hands had covered her emblem, though mostly without realising it; Lyntael was focused on the sensation in the middle of her chest instead. How to make the soft pulse... do more...? It was still a question she didn't have much of a feeling for how to solve yet, but even so, just taking a calmer moment to examine everything she felt a she felt it was helpful, and spending this time with Aya and Suzume, and Drago and Nightshade, she added to herself, was still worthwhile.
As Nightshade came close,r she focused on the smaller boy, while watching him cautiously to make sure he didn't come within the range of her pulses. She was feeling the force of her charge beginning to settle back now; she could probably expend again safely, push herself back to that edge without going over, and come down again, she thought. Probably. The strain of keeping her focus and not expending early was getting taxing though, and she didn't want to lose her concentration on that at the wrong moment. She gave the energetic cat boy a smile, amidst the light show on her skin and the crackling in her hair.
“Yeah... it's weird... really weird. But it's me, so...” she shrugged and made a small gesture to either side with her hands; another small pulse rolled out and she took a longer, slower breath, trying to ignore the strain of holding the charge while her body slowly calmed. He was trying to show her something, she was sure – the way the boy talked, it made it sound as though he had keener senses for the energy flow that moved within each of them, but her eyes only showed the same eager and enthusiastic boy as always. When he reached out, she pulled back in response, hesitant. He'd seen the way she'd been expending before... Lyntael bit her lip, brow furrowing, then glanced across to Aya and Suzume. Suzume's answer was more directed to Nightshade about causing problems for her, so... Perhaps he was something like Ion had been. The dragoniers didn't seem worried, so she nodded and gave Nightshade another, more nervous grin.
“Okay... but, just be careful, alright? I can store some of this, about as much as I can hold at once right now... so... Are you sure?” His continued enthusiasm was almost overbearing, considering the boy was asking her to shock him. Her nerves fluttered but she nodded and stepped forward. “If... if it's too much, just pull back, okay. I'll do the same...”
With one more nod and a deep breath, Lyntael relaxed and shook out her hands, then reached out to take Nightshade's grip in her own. At first, he'd feel a strong electrical tingle; the kind of static shock that might make a normal person pull away, and underneath her skin was very warm. Nightshade's sense would probably tip him off moments before it happened, but after only a moment of contact, a straining surge of energy pressed forward through Lyntael. Too long holding the one charge, desperate for release and too much time under strain, aching at the tension. Lyntael felt it too; she'd tried, initially to just spend off a portion of her charge to Nightshade, cautiously, but as she began to let the energy flow it all rushed at once. Her other hand snapped up, clutching onto the other side of his hand so she was pressing both of her wrists to him. The charge coalesced in her chest, drawing in from every part of her body, then exploded down both arms in a fierce torrent of destructive lightning. Lyntael's eyes flew open as she lost control to the release and she started trying to pull away, a shocked cry of denial on her lips, but there wasn't time to stop it once if started.
Rather than an arcing beam, the burst expended itself in a bright chaotic flare of light and crackling sound, as the force of the beam passed directly across to Nighty. A second later, Lyntael pulled herself away, stumbling backwards and gasping for air as her limbs shook, momentarily weak.
“Nightshade!” The girl hurried to pick herself up again, blinking her eyes past the fading flare of light as she moved towards her friend on instinct, then stopped out of equal fear. “Nighty, are you okay? I... I'm sorry, I lost it. I didn't mean to! I just tried to give you a little, I... It was just all there, and I couldn't stop it when it started! I'm sorry!”
As she gasped for breath and tried to make sure the young boy was alright without getting close, Lyntael looked to the others in a panic. It was only a moment later that she noticed what hadn't happened. Her charge was there, already swiftly rebuilt, but... that level of expend should have set her body screaming. The resurgence had only been small, though. Softer. She was still in control, albeit barely, and part of that was being helped by the desperate panic over her mistake. They could sort it out later... Nightshade was more important right now.
She nodded to Aya at first, relaxing her body as best she could and walking few steps closer, just to move in away that wasn't immediately combative. Like this, the charge wasn't searing pain, but holding herself at this level of tension was discomfort that was growing into a building ache and burn. If she released now, it would give her a couple of seconds of blessed calm from the feeling, she knew that, and longed for it, but it was still too close to the edge, or.. or what she felt it must be. She'd almost gone further than she could pull back form the first time, and it frustrated her how much she was still guessing at the instincts and sensations that accompanied the process.
“I can hold it here... for a while. It'll calm, slowly, on its own... and if I expend again... it'll bounce high again... but I think I could keep that balance... a little longer. It's not painful right now, but... but the longer I maintain this feeling, without letting it go further or recover... it's like... like strain. It's starting to feel like it's tension that turning to fatigue... you know? My whole body feels like a muscle that's been carrying something for too long.” She kept her distance, at least part way as she tried to answer Aya's questions with small nods and shakes of her head, listening to her body as she did.
“No... no it's different.... The charge has a beat to it... harsh, strong, rough... gets more... jagged the worse it gets, and it gets faster. The lower pulse, the softer one... that's there too...” her body crackled with another circle of dancing sparks that fanned out from her as she spoke. “It's always the same... a stable beat... Slow. When my charge is calm, they're the same... like a hum inside that's always there.... when I burn out, and they're both just gone... I feel like I'm dying, if I'm conscious... like there's a hollow in my chest... But when the charge is high, it gets fast, and rough, and jagged, and painful, and it sears, and burns, and just when I think it's about to burn me away to nothing... snap... it all goes.” She tried a grin, though it was a bit strained and ragged as she looked towards Aya and the others, putting one hand to her chest as she did.
“My heart... light my heart is beating so fast right now. I feel like I've run a mile already... that's just my heart beat... it doesn't seem like it's really lined up with any of that... except maybe, when I'm really calm, and it slows right down...” Closing her eyes briefly, her other hand came up to the first and she cupped them over the centre of her chest, feeling the different forces rising and falling within her. The core of it all, she felt sure, was here, in her chest... “It starts... here... I think.” Her hands patted and pressed; it was a warm glow and a fierce hum, right there; externally her hands had covered her emblem, though mostly without realising it; Lyntael was focused on the sensation in the middle of her chest instead. How to make the soft pulse... do more...? It was still a question she didn't have much of a feeling for how to solve yet, but even so, just taking a calmer moment to examine everything she felt a she felt it was helpful, and spending this time with Aya and Suzume, and Drago and Nightshade, she added to herself, was still worthwhile.
As Nightshade came close,r she focused on the smaller boy, while watching him cautiously to make sure he didn't come within the range of her pulses. She was feeling the force of her charge beginning to settle back now; she could probably expend again safely, push herself back to that edge without going over, and come down again, she thought. Probably. The strain of keeping her focus and not expending early was getting taxing though, and she didn't want to lose her concentration on that at the wrong moment. She gave the energetic cat boy a smile, amidst the light show on her skin and the crackling in her hair.
“Yeah... it's weird... really weird. But it's me, so...” she shrugged and made a small gesture to either side with her hands; another small pulse rolled out and she took a longer, slower breath, trying to ignore the strain of holding the charge while her body slowly calmed. He was trying to show her something, she was sure – the way the boy talked, it made it sound as though he had keener senses for the energy flow that moved within each of them, but her eyes only showed the same eager and enthusiastic boy as always. When he reached out, she pulled back in response, hesitant. He'd seen the way she'd been expending before... Lyntael bit her lip, brow furrowing, then glanced across to Aya and Suzume. Suzume's answer was more directed to Nightshade about causing problems for her, so... Perhaps he was something like Ion had been. The dragoniers didn't seem worried, so she nodded and gave Nightshade another, more nervous grin.
“Okay... but, just be careful, alright? I can store some of this, about as much as I can hold at once right now... so... Are you sure?” His continued enthusiasm was almost overbearing, considering the boy was asking her to shock him. Her nerves fluttered but she nodded and stepped forward. “If... if it's too much, just pull back, okay. I'll do the same...”
With one more nod and a deep breath, Lyntael relaxed and shook out her hands, then reached out to take Nightshade's grip in her own. At first, he'd feel a strong electrical tingle; the kind of static shock that might make a normal person pull away, and underneath her skin was very warm. Nightshade's sense would probably tip him off moments before it happened, but after only a moment of contact, a straining surge of energy pressed forward through Lyntael. Too long holding the one charge, desperate for release and too much time under strain, aching at the tension. Lyntael felt it too; she'd tried, initially to just spend off a portion of her charge to Nightshade, cautiously, but as she began to let the energy flow it all rushed at once. Her other hand snapped up, clutching onto the other side of his hand so she was pressing both of her wrists to him. The charge coalesced in her chest, drawing in from every part of her body, then exploded down both arms in a fierce torrent of destructive lightning. Lyntael's eyes flew open as she lost control to the release and she started trying to pull away, a shocked cry of denial on her lips, but there wasn't time to stop it once if started.
Rather than an arcing beam, the burst expended itself in a bright chaotic flare of light and crackling sound, as the force of the beam passed directly across to Nighty. A second later, Lyntael pulled herself away, stumbling backwards and gasping for air as her limbs shook, momentarily weak.
“Nightshade!” The girl hurried to pick herself up again, blinking her eyes past the fading flare of light as she moved towards her friend on instinct, then stopped out of equal fear. “Nighty, are you okay? I... I'm sorry, I lost it. I didn't mean to! I just tried to give you a little, I... It was just all there, and I couldn't stop it when it started! I'm sorry!”
As she gasped for breath and tried to make sure the young boy was alright without getting close, Lyntael looked to the others in a panic. It was only a moment later that she noticed what hadn't happened. Her charge was there, already swiftly rebuilt, but... that level of expend should have set her body screaming. The resurgence had only been small, though. Softer. She was still in control, albeit barely, and part of that was being helped by the desperate panic over her mistake. They could sort it out later... Nightshade was more important right now.
last edited by Nightshade
Nighty didn't expect the release to be that powerful. Their energies were similar indeed but it looked like their respective charges were opposite, thus the opposites did attract. It stung. It stung really really bad.
The small kid yelped in pain as his entire form was ravaged by the current and his own energies were almost completely depleted. He was at least swift enough to redirect the current through his legs and into the ground, though the result would have his cat shaped outfit rip, tear and singe.
Falling backwards, his defense were able to keep him from EJO, but his current outfit had been completely ruined and rendered in tatters. Perhaps he should have remembered Aya's advice to always be on guard but he didn't expect Lyn's energy to be of that kind that completely overwhelmed everything it touched. It looked similar to his own and did feel like his own but the quantity difference between them was immense. He was a puddle and she was an ocean. No wonder she was bad at holding it in!
Sitting back up, he could feel the refreshing touch of his self healing protocols, Magistrate's expert tinkering with his code coming in handy. He would be able to return to normal very soon. "I'm fine....I'm okay...." he wined, looking at his tattered uniform. His paw gloves and paw-boots were ripped and the soft paw-padding was singed just like his half bodysuit.
"We going about this the wrong way." The cat navi said, getting back up and wobbling a few stumbles forward. "We shouldn't be trying to contain this." He stated, looking over to Aya. He pointed at her." It's like when me and big sis merge together and her energy is too big to contain. I'm going to sound mad but...I think you should always try to keep up as much energy as you possibly can and just let it flow instead of holding it in."
He needed a change of clothes, as pieces of his stuff were even falling off of him. Though he could use that occasion to show off his eureka plan that shock had revealed to him. Gently patting his chest he would implicitly ask Aya to help him don her armor and fuse with him, as his still shaking hands wouldn't be able to fiddle with the holopannel on his own. If Aya's willed it, Nighty would slightly spread his arms and wait for her sister energy to wrap eround his body and take hold within him.
The new pair of boots and the all black armor would appear over his now dematerializing ensemble and not before long the youngling was once again suited up in Aya's colors after a good while. More on aya's energy condensed into a short sword that nighty quickly grabbed and sheathed behind his back. He took a good few big breaths and turned over to Lyntael again. Even if she couldn't feel energies like he did, his more calm demeanor and completely differend vibe would be enough proof.
"My big sister's energy is so incredibly massive compared to my own that she completely drowns mine out." He stated, showing how his steps were muffled, something more akin to shadow element programs rather than elec. Compared to the Nighty of before, this Nighty was exhibiting the same maturity and seriousness of his elder sister Aya. A totally different vibe.
"We are trying to drink an ocean to get to the other shore. Just like you, me trying to hold all of Aya's power within me would simply make me pop like a balloon. Insead, how about we try floating in this ocean towards our goal. See, I just let Aya's energy flow around me and through me. I don't try to hold it in so that it tries so hard to get out, but rather I let myself be immerse in it. As it stands, even if it's so much energy that mine own is completely snuffed out, I don't feel pain. All in all it's quite comfortable. Then, if I need to use it..." He drew Aya-Sword and red energy condensed around his blade. "I just use something as a conduit in which to channel the flow of energy around me and focus it for my use. Maybe that is what you should do too. Purposely let your natually high energy flow uncondensed and then learn how to direct that uncondensed flow into a focused blast!"
By slicing the air, he released the red energy around his blade into a red projectile that travelled a few meters before dissipating. Once the blade was back to normal he would sheath it again, having concluded his demonstration.
Yumi would happily purr and nuzzle her head into Magistrate's palm as her mother shared a few moments to pet her. She would sit quietly beside her and curiously observe her work...until she too would yelp in pain and seize up slightly as her link with Nighty caused some of the navi's suffering to be shared. Once she would wobble back up in a sitting position her ears would droop, thinking her sudden squeal would have startled and distracted Magistrate from her important work.
"S-sory mom..." She mumbled. "Something happened to big brother!" She would quickly add, tugging the other sp by grabbing her sleeve with her mouth. "We need to go help!"
The small kid yelped in pain as his entire form was ravaged by the current and his own energies were almost completely depleted. He was at least swift enough to redirect the current through his legs and into the ground, though the result would have his cat shaped outfit rip, tear and singe.
Falling backwards, his defense were able to keep him from EJO, but his current outfit had been completely ruined and rendered in tatters. Perhaps he should have remembered Aya's advice to always be on guard but he didn't expect Lyn's energy to be of that kind that completely overwhelmed everything it touched. It looked similar to his own and did feel like his own but the quantity difference between them was immense. He was a puddle and she was an ocean. No wonder she was bad at holding it in!
Sitting back up, he could feel the refreshing touch of his self healing protocols, Magistrate's expert tinkering with his code coming in handy. He would be able to return to normal very soon. "I'm fine....I'm okay...." he wined, looking at his tattered uniform. His paw gloves and paw-boots were ripped and the soft paw-padding was singed just like his half bodysuit.
"We going about this the wrong way." The cat navi said, getting back up and wobbling a few stumbles forward. "We shouldn't be trying to contain this." He stated, looking over to Aya. He pointed at her." It's like when me and big sis merge together and her energy is too big to contain. I'm going to sound mad but...I think you should always try to keep up as much energy as you possibly can and just let it flow instead of holding it in."
He needed a change of clothes, as pieces of his stuff were even falling off of him. Though he could use that occasion to show off his eureka plan that shock had revealed to him. Gently patting his chest he would implicitly ask Aya to help him don her armor and fuse with him, as his still shaking hands wouldn't be able to fiddle with the holopannel on his own. If Aya's willed it, Nighty would slightly spread his arms and wait for her sister energy to wrap eround his body and take hold within him.
The new pair of boots and the all black armor would appear over his now dematerializing ensemble and not before long the youngling was once again suited up in Aya's colors after a good while. More on aya's energy condensed into a short sword that nighty quickly grabbed and sheathed behind his back. He took a good few big breaths and turned over to Lyntael again. Even if she couldn't feel energies like he did, his more calm demeanor and completely differend vibe would be enough proof.
"My big sister's energy is so incredibly massive compared to my own that she completely drowns mine out." He stated, showing how his steps were muffled, something more akin to shadow element programs rather than elec. Compared to the Nighty of before, this Nighty was exhibiting the same maturity and seriousness of his elder sister Aya. A totally different vibe.
"We are trying to drink an ocean to get to the other shore. Just like you, me trying to hold all of Aya's power within me would simply make me pop like a balloon. Insead, how about we try floating in this ocean towards our goal. See, I just let Aya's energy flow around me and through me. I don't try to hold it in so that it tries so hard to get out, but rather I let myself be immerse in it. As it stands, even if it's so much energy that mine own is completely snuffed out, I don't feel pain. All in all it's quite comfortable. Then, if I need to use it..." He drew Aya-Sword and red energy condensed around his blade. "I just use something as a conduit in which to channel the flow of energy around me and focus it for my use. Maybe that is what you should do too. Purposely let your natually high energy flow uncondensed and then learn how to direct that uncondensed flow into a focused blast!"
By slicing the air, he released the red energy around his blade into a red projectile that travelled a few meters before dissipating. Once the blade was back to normal he would sheath it again, having concluded his demonstration.
Yumi would happily purr and nuzzle her head into Magistrate's palm as her mother shared a few moments to pet her. She would sit quietly beside her and curiously observe her work...until she too would yelp in pain and seize up slightly as her link with Nighty caused some of the navi's suffering to be shared. Once she would wobble back up in a sitting position her ears would droop, thinking her sudden squeal would have startled and distracted Magistrate from her important work.
"S-sory mom..." She mumbled. "Something happened to big brother!" She would quickly add, tugging the other sp by grabbing her sleeve with her mouth. "We need to go help!"
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"Nightshade!"
"Nighty!"
"Nightshade!" DragonierMan, Suzume, and Aya called out in alarm as the young kid was shocked to the core, startling the large man from his relative silence in the corner of the room. The three rushed toward to Nighty's aid and placed their hands upon him. Soothing and rejuvenating energies flowed from their hands as they all activated their healing signatures and channeled them into Nightshade. Magistrate and Yumi were not far behind them. The older woman getting up from her desk and moving swiftly into the training room, as the link between Nighty and Yumi warned of something dangerous happening in her tower.
"What are you doing in my domain that is causing such a ruckus?!" Magistrate barked as she entered. "How can I get any work done if every time I look away you are blowing holes into the side of my tower?" she added angrily. Clearly this wasn't the first time the dragoniers caused problems for the poor, overworked administrative program.
"We aren't damaging the tower you bat!" Aya called back indignant. "What did you call me?!" Magi snapped back. Suddenly, both drew swords on each other. Suzume stepped forward, moving her arms to indicate that they should settle down. "Hey! Hey! Let's all calm dow-"
"Stay out of this harlot!" Magi snarled. "What'd you call me?!" Suzume flared as she also drew a sword. It was like three cats that were all hissing with their hair standing on end.
"ENOUGH!" Drago bellowed, freezing the three women in their tracks. "You can all fight some other day. Right now we have guests." The three retracted their claws and straightened out their appearances with reluctant grumbling. Drago turned towards Lyn. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Now, let's get back to the training. And don't worry, Nighty is a tough one and he will recover."
After a few minutes, and Nighty's conversation, Aya embraced Nighty in a hug, before dissipating into a dark cloud. The mist wrapped around Nighty and turned into a set of armor and weapons. "I'm proud of how well you took that electrical discharge," Aya said, her voice coming out psychically from the armor for all to hear. "Guess you've done some training while we were gone."
She seemed to be impressed enough to let Nighty take over Lyn's training, for now.
"Nighty!"
"Nightshade!" DragonierMan, Suzume, and Aya called out in alarm as the young kid was shocked to the core, startling the large man from his relative silence in the corner of the room. The three rushed toward to Nighty's aid and placed their hands upon him. Soothing and rejuvenating energies flowed from their hands as they all activated their healing signatures and channeled them into Nightshade. Magistrate and Yumi were not far behind them. The older woman getting up from her desk and moving swiftly into the training room, as the link between Nighty and Yumi warned of something dangerous happening in her tower.
"What are you doing in my domain that is causing such a ruckus?!" Magistrate barked as she entered. "How can I get any work done if every time I look away you are blowing holes into the side of my tower?" she added angrily. Clearly this wasn't the first time the dragoniers caused problems for the poor, overworked administrative program.
"We aren't damaging the tower you bat!" Aya called back indignant. "What did you call me?!" Magi snapped back. Suddenly, both drew swords on each other. Suzume stepped forward, moving her arms to indicate that they should settle down. "Hey! Hey! Let's all calm dow-"
"Stay out of this harlot!" Magi snarled. "What'd you call me?!" Suzume flared as she also drew a sword. It was like three cats that were all hissing with their hair standing on end.
"ENOUGH!" Drago bellowed, freezing the three women in their tracks. "You can all fight some other day. Right now we have guests." The three retracted their claws and straightened out their appearances with reluctant grumbling. Drago turned towards Lyn. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Now, let's get back to the training. And don't worry, Nighty is a tough one and he will recover."
After a few minutes, and Nighty's conversation, Aya embraced Nighty in a hug, before dissipating into a dark cloud. The mist wrapped around Nighty and turned into a set of armor and weapons. "I'm proud of how well you took that electrical discharge," Aya said, her voice coming out psychically from the armor for all to hear. "Guess you've done some training while we were gone."
She seemed to be impressed enough to let Nighty take over Lyn's training, for now.
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Unable to do anything in the moment, Lyntael was forced to hang back, hands clutched to her chest and the leaden, sinking sensation of shame and dread dropping through her as the other dragoniers rushed in to make sure Nighty was okay. The feeling let up as it became clear that the boy was okay, and bouncing back without problem, though the singed appearance and destroyed outfit he was left with did nothing to relieve the sense of guilt. Within seconds, Magistrate burst into the room, trailed by another figure she didn't recognise. It derailed her train of thought for an extra moment or two; she'd ever seen a creature quite like it... him? … her? Her mind mentally settled on 'her' after a cursory glance at the lithe shape and finer features, though she knew that wasn't necessarily a guaranteed tell.
The distraction was interrupted by Magistrate's more immediate ire, and as harsh words broke out Lyntael felt herself cringe away from the scene further, wishing herself smaller and ever further from notice. Small ripples of sparks rolled off her every few moments as she ruthlessly suppressed the lingering urge to expend again, and didn't dare to intrude upon the shouting match that had sprung up from her mistake.
She winced again as Drago broke it up with a roar of his own that drowned out the others, but at least it did curtail the fighting. She cast her eyes down, rubbing at her neck with one hand as Drago addressed her, and nodded.
“I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, um, to cause all of that... It was an accident. I'm just glad he's okay...” She looked across to where Nightshade was still taking stock of his ruined clothes – aside from the unfortunate wardrobe difficulty, the boy seemed like he was already more or less fine again. Despite the injury and rapid healing he'd received, the boy jumped right back into discussing what had happened and how it felt for him; he was every bit as good at shaking that kind of thing off as all of her other friends, it seemed – it was just her that faltered. She pushed the thought away, and focused instead on the feeling of her own charge. The heavy, cold sensations of guilt, shame and dread had covered over the violence of her charge in the intervening moments, and already the force of it was decaying to a much more manageable level as she tried to listen to Nightshade and nod along as he took over.
Watching the way Aya changed and became his new outfit made Lyntael blink and start, confused for a moment or two while she tried to work out what had happened. She had to remind herself, after a moment, that Aya and Suzume were the kind of programs that were designed to do that kind of thing – a detail that had slipped her mind long since – and she nodded again as she caught up. It sounded like it worked well enough for Nightshade, of course, but as she settled down and sat on the grass across from him, trying to relax again, translating that to her own situation got more confusing. She lay back, hands behind her head and legs stretched out, looking up at the simulated sky above. Subconsciously, one hand smoothed and pressed down her skirt as she settled, even though it didn't need it.
“Okay... That sounds good, but... how would I do that? It's not someone else's energy, after all.. It's mine, and it comes from me. I guess it's safe when it's passing from my strikers, out into the world, or, after it's left my body in other ways... but if it starts here,” her hands moved up to the middle of her chest, “I don't know how I'd go about trying to guide it in a different way to how it just... goes... you know? If I could have the power move in a way that didn't pass through my body at all, that would probably stop it hurting too... but it starts inside me, so... I don't know... How do you think I could change that? Er...” almost completely calmed down now, her cheeks blushed slightly as she tried not to think about where Magistrate was still in the room. “But, you know... without, um, invasive surgery or anything like that...” The other woman had been suggesting methods of doing exactly what they were now talking about, it seemed, but the idea of any kind of physical implant was just too uncomfortable for her to contemplate. She sat up again, crossing her legs as she looked for a quick way to change the subject before Magi could tell them off. Her eyes settled on the peculiar creature that had entered the room with her. She looked towards the interestingly furred and scaled newcomer, then up to Magistate with an attempt at a bright smile.
“Who's this? She's beautiful! Ah... she...?” Lyntael spared a brief querying glance towards Magistrate to confirm – it would probably be rude to try to look underneath, better to just ask – before looking back to the wyvern. “I've never seen anything like her before...” There was no disguising the fascinated coo in her voice as she examined her from where she was sitting.
The distraction was interrupted by Magistrate's more immediate ire, and as harsh words broke out Lyntael felt herself cringe away from the scene further, wishing herself smaller and ever further from notice. Small ripples of sparks rolled off her every few moments as she ruthlessly suppressed the lingering urge to expend again, and didn't dare to intrude upon the shouting match that had sprung up from her mistake.
She winced again as Drago broke it up with a roar of his own that drowned out the others, but at least it did curtail the fighting. She cast her eyes down, rubbing at her neck with one hand as Drago addressed her, and nodded.
“I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, um, to cause all of that... It was an accident. I'm just glad he's okay...” She looked across to where Nightshade was still taking stock of his ruined clothes – aside from the unfortunate wardrobe difficulty, the boy seemed like he was already more or less fine again. Despite the injury and rapid healing he'd received, the boy jumped right back into discussing what had happened and how it felt for him; he was every bit as good at shaking that kind of thing off as all of her other friends, it seemed – it was just her that faltered. She pushed the thought away, and focused instead on the feeling of her own charge. The heavy, cold sensations of guilt, shame and dread had covered over the violence of her charge in the intervening moments, and already the force of it was decaying to a much more manageable level as she tried to listen to Nightshade and nod along as he took over.
Watching the way Aya changed and became his new outfit made Lyntael blink and start, confused for a moment or two while she tried to work out what had happened. She had to remind herself, after a moment, that Aya and Suzume were the kind of programs that were designed to do that kind of thing – a detail that had slipped her mind long since – and she nodded again as she caught up. It sounded like it worked well enough for Nightshade, of course, but as she settled down and sat on the grass across from him, trying to relax again, translating that to her own situation got more confusing. She lay back, hands behind her head and legs stretched out, looking up at the simulated sky above. Subconsciously, one hand smoothed and pressed down her skirt as she settled, even though it didn't need it.
“Okay... That sounds good, but... how would I do that? It's not someone else's energy, after all.. It's mine, and it comes from me. I guess it's safe when it's passing from my strikers, out into the world, or, after it's left my body in other ways... but if it starts here,” her hands moved up to the middle of her chest, “I don't know how I'd go about trying to guide it in a different way to how it just... goes... you know? If I could have the power move in a way that didn't pass through my body at all, that would probably stop it hurting too... but it starts inside me, so... I don't know... How do you think I could change that? Er...” almost completely calmed down now, her cheeks blushed slightly as she tried not to think about where Magistrate was still in the room. “But, you know... without, um, invasive surgery or anything like that...” The other woman had been suggesting methods of doing exactly what they were now talking about, it seemed, but the idea of any kind of physical implant was just too uncomfortable for her to contemplate. She sat up again, crossing her legs as she looked for a quick way to change the subject before Magi could tell them off. Her eyes settled on the peculiar creature that had entered the room with her. She looked towards the interestingly furred and scaled newcomer, then up to Magistate with an attempt at a bright smile.
“Who's this? She's beautiful! Ah... she...?” Lyntael spared a brief querying glance towards Magistrate to confirm – it would probably be rude to try to look underneath, better to just ask – before looking back to the wyvern. “I've never seen anything like her before...” There was no disguising the fascinated coo in her voice as she examined her from where she was sitting.
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"I am using Aya's energy as an example, the fact that your energy comes in large supply should make it easier to deal with." Nightshade said, turning towards Magistrate as Yumi's presence approached him from beside the administrative program. He tried to keep a straight face but everyone could tell that Aya's compliment prior to their fusion had given him a big ego boost. The boy lived for the assassin's recognition.
Outside of some shouting, the three sister were on roughly the same page when it came to .any things, so Nighty wasn't surprised. When Drago quenched her spirits he couldn't help but shirk a little in respect of his authority. He was the leader there, for good reason. Yumi would walk forward, paws making no sound as she did so, sitting down beside her navi brother while focused on Lyntael.
"Hello Lyntael. I am Yumi, Nightshade's companion." She politely replied to the other navi with a bow of her head. "I was created by Magistrate through a fragment of Nighty's source code and parts of Aya's/ Suzu's code too. My duty is to help and protect him just like the original dragonieers would" She would add, concluding her explanation. Nightshade himself would confirm with a nod.
"She is part of me as I am part of her so that's why she knows your name. Our minds are linked, but our bond is way deeper than that. As per what kind of animal she is well, she's a flying wyvern as you can see. Not quite a dragon but shares much with them in terms of source code. She is very well behaved so if you want she can probably cuddle with you a bit and get to know you better." Nighty would comment, before remembering they were training before remembering they were training kind of an important thing. He was Aya's avatar right now,
"Anyway, we were saying...I know it sounds crazy but my plan is of trying to have you 'float' in your energy rather than holding it in. This means that you should try to charge up as much as you can but also just let the energy flow. So you charge up but you don't hold it. You continually release it around you or move it around inside you. The objective would be to create some sort of motion in your energy that allows you to just redirect the flow and focus it up in your attacks."
Outside of some shouting, the three sister were on roughly the same page when it came to .any things, so Nighty wasn't surprised. When Drago quenched her spirits he couldn't help but shirk a little in respect of his authority. He was the leader there, for good reason. Yumi would walk forward, paws making no sound as she did so, sitting down beside her navi brother while focused on Lyntael.
"Hello Lyntael. I am Yumi, Nightshade's companion." She politely replied to the other navi with a bow of her head. "I was created by Magistrate through a fragment of Nighty's source code and parts of Aya's/ Suzu's code too. My duty is to help and protect him just like the original dragonieers would" She would add, concluding her explanation. Nightshade himself would confirm with a nod.
"She is part of me as I am part of her so that's why she knows your name. Our minds are linked, but our bond is way deeper than that. As per what kind of animal she is well, she's a flying wyvern as you can see. Not quite a dragon but shares much with them in terms of source code. She is very well behaved so if you want she can probably cuddle with you a bit and get to know you better." Nighty would comment, before remembering they were training before remembering they were training kind of an important thing. He was Aya's avatar right now,
"Anyway, we were saying...I know it sounds crazy but my plan is of trying to have you 'float' in your energy rather than holding it in. This means that you should try to charge up as much as you can but also just let the energy flow. So you charge up but you don't hold it. You continually release it around you or move it around inside you. The objective would be to create some sort of motion in your energy that allows you to just redirect the flow and focus it up in your attacks."
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"Hmph!" Magistrate scoffed at the situation. She turned up her nose and stormed back out of the room. She would probably return to her desk and continue her work, now that everyone was out of her hair. She probably wouldn't be a further problem, unless someone went to bother her again. Although, given how bad the last two interactions with her were compounded, she would probably be in quite the sour mood.
"Nightshade, I feel like we've already covered this situation," Aya!Armor stated in a somewhat exasperated manner. "Did you see how she destroyed those dummies? And she's already tried both 'build up and expend' and 'expend consistently'. I don't know how much more we can teach her beyond our style of fighting. She'll just have to figure out the rest for herself. Practicing and integrating what we've taught her with her own way of doing things."
Suzume nodded and tried to grasp Lyntael's hand in a friendly way. "As friends and fellow members of the Neo-Shoguns, our tower is open to you whenever you need a place to go. You have our number," she said, trying to place a silver key into Lyn's hands. "Come by whenever you want to use the facilities, or you want to see us again, or you just need to get away from your problems. Think of this place as your home away from home."
"And if you come into any trouble, you let us know. We'll make sure you're safe," DragonierMan concluded with the same fire in his eyes as before. He still really wanted to delete that evil guy that Lyn told him about.
A digital ringing sounded around him for a moment, before fading. He stiffened a bit and turned to leave. "Looks like My Lord is summoning me. A Navi's work is never done, right?" he smiled at Lyn. "Lyntael, Nightshade, Yumi, I'm off to serve. I'll be back later. Since this is my normal non-combat duties - Magistrate, Suzume, and Aya will be staying here. Goodbye," he said as the big man started to leave the building.
"Nightshade, I feel like we've already covered this situation," Aya!Armor stated in a somewhat exasperated manner. "Did you see how she destroyed those dummies? And she's already tried both 'build up and expend' and 'expend consistently'. I don't know how much more we can teach her beyond our style of fighting. She'll just have to figure out the rest for herself. Practicing and integrating what we've taught her with her own way of doing things."
Suzume nodded and tried to grasp Lyntael's hand in a friendly way. "As friends and fellow members of the Neo-Shoguns, our tower is open to you whenever you need a place to go. You have our number," she said, trying to place a silver key into Lyn's hands. "Come by whenever you want to use the facilities, or you want to see us again, or you just need to get away from your problems. Think of this place as your home away from home."
"And if you come into any trouble, you let us know. We'll make sure you're safe," DragonierMan concluded with the same fire in his eyes as before. He still really wanted to delete that evil guy that Lyn told him about.
A digital ringing sounded around him for a moment, before fading. He stiffened a bit and turned to leave. "Looks like My Lord is summoning me. A Navi's work is never done, right?" he smiled at Lyn. "Lyntael, Nightshade, Yumi, I'm off to serve. I'll be back later. Since this is my normal non-combat duties - Magistrate, Suzume, and Aya will be staying here. Goodbye," he said as the big man started to leave the building.
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Despite her attempts at deflecting, Magistrate's aggravated exit wasn't exactly what Lyntael had been hoping for, but she was distracted from the thought barely a moment later when yumi introduced herself instead. A brief shock, followed by a fresh way of embarrassment flooded over her and both of her hands jumped up to cover her mouth and most of the est of her face; she had expected the creature to be a companion, just like Sparky was to Eternalis, but when the young wyvern's own voice touched her mind instead, she realised her mistake.
“Oh! I didn't mean... Uhm... Sorry. I thought maybe Magistrate...” She trailed off then focused back on Yumi and inclined her head in mixture of greeting and apology. “Sorry. It's nice to meet you... you're Nightshade's companion? You're very pretty!” In the back of her mind, she wondered whether that was an appropriate thing to say. It felt alright, but she caught herself thinking that it might be weird to say the same sort of thing to Aya or Suzume right out of a first meeting, so Yumi should be the same, if she could talk. Well, not talk exactly. The next thought that rushed across her mind was the sudden concern that Yumi might be able to hear her own thoughts as well, if she could speak telepathically. Lyntael glanced around, one hand lifting to brush fingers against her temple gently.
“Er... if you're talking in our minds, can you hear what we think as well...?” A fresh blush was accompanied by a nervous grin. Despite the concern, she shrugged slightly and shook it off – she had to stop seeing the most worrisome possibilities in everything. It was fine. Instead, she tilted her head, glancing between Yumi and Nightshade with a slightly more amused grin. “Let me guess... you're the more serious one, and you keep Nightshade from bouncing off the walls too badly, right?”
At Nightshade's urging, Lyntael glanced down at her own hands, gauging herself, then focused to make sure her skin was safe to touch. After a second or two, she tentatively reached out a hand, first as though to let the wyvern have her scent, and then into a small gesture that rubbed behind her hears and down her neck. She was tentative about it, and waited to see if Yumi herself was receptive, despite Nightshade's words – she was really unsure of the etiquette, between Yumi's appearance, and her obvious sentience.
While she attempted to stroke and familiarise herself to Yumi, Lyntael listened to what Nightshade and Aya discussed about her. She caught herself wondering what it would be like for the power to just be there, and to simply flow when she wanted, without tension or burning and the draining and drawing feelings that accompanied it. If it were just... comfortable. It would probably be more like her relationship with the wind, she supposed. If her electricity just felt like moving the winds around her instead, that would be nice... but that was also a bit like wishing that fire would feel like water, so it didn't burn when you put your hand in it... a nice idea, but not really a sensible one, she didn't think. Even so, she glanced up and back towards Aya... Nightshade... it was still a bit confusing.
“I think I do get what he's thinking, in a way at least. The way it works for me is very different, I think, but I feel like we're all looking at the same rough answer, in slightly different ways, you know? Different ways of saying the same sort of thing, more or less. If I could get to a point where my body can stabilise better, well, I should be able to operate at any level of charge, without losing control. I've not really practised that before... If anything, I've caught myself suppressing that stabilising reaction more than anything else. I should work on it. If I can get a better handle on it, and make that part of myself stronger, the rest of it might not be as dangerous to me...” She shrugged softly and smiled, eyes blinking closed as she let a curl of wind draw up around them and ruffle the grass while it tousled her hair and clothes. “Maybe it'll even feel natural one day, if I work at it, right?” She opened her eyes properly and started slightly as Suzume took her hand, but this time there were no errant sparks – just the warmth of her skin. She shook back and nodded.
“Thanks! That would mean a lot to me... Um...” the phrasing of Suzume's words made her arch an eyebrow. “Do you need me to take off? How long have I been...” mentally, she checked how long she'd been out and her eyebrows jumped up. “Ah... actually you're right, I shouldn't stay out too much longer... Rogan might notice I'm gone soon. I lost track of the time... I definitely think that's enough training for today...” This last was followed by a short giggle. They were distracted as DragonierMan was summoned away as well, and Lyntael turned to face him and wave top him quickly before he could disappear.
“Okay! Thank you again! It was nice to met you! Thanks for looking after me during the mission, and speaking up for me to Yasu, and for everything else! Maybe I'll see you at the public camp some time? Bye for now!” She kept waving as she called out, then let out a short breath, stretching and looking back to the other once he'd gone.
“So... I probably shouldn't stay around too much longer anyhow... but did you guys want to do something that wasn't all about training for a bit? Just a little while... What do you two like to do for fun?” This last question she directed more specifically towards Nightshade and Yumi, since she already knew of Aya and Suzume's somewhat tenuous relationship with free recreation.
“Oh! I didn't mean... Uhm... Sorry. I thought maybe Magistrate...” She trailed off then focused back on Yumi and inclined her head in mixture of greeting and apology. “Sorry. It's nice to meet you... you're Nightshade's companion? You're very pretty!” In the back of her mind, she wondered whether that was an appropriate thing to say. It felt alright, but she caught herself thinking that it might be weird to say the same sort of thing to Aya or Suzume right out of a first meeting, so Yumi should be the same, if she could talk. Well, not talk exactly. The next thought that rushed across her mind was the sudden concern that Yumi might be able to hear her own thoughts as well, if she could speak telepathically. Lyntael glanced around, one hand lifting to brush fingers against her temple gently.
“Er... if you're talking in our minds, can you hear what we think as well...?” A fresh blush was accompanied by a nervous grin. Despite the concern, she shrugged slightly and shook it off – she had to stop seeing the most worrisome possibilities in everything. It was fine. Instead, she tilted her head, glancing between Yumi and Nightshade with a slightly more amused grin. “Let me guess... you're the more serious one, and you keep Nightshade from bouncing off the walls too badly, right?”
At Nightshade's urging, Lyntael glanced down at her own hands, gauging herself, then focused to make sure her skin was safe to touch. After a second or two, she tentatively reached out a hand, first as though to let the wyvern have her scent, and then into a small gesture that rubbed behind her hears and down her neck. She was tentative about it, and waited to see if Yumi herself was receptive, despite Nightshade's words – she was really unsure of the etiquette, between Yumi's appearance, and her obvious sentience.
While she attempted to stroke and familiarise herself to Yumi, Lyntael listened to what Nightshade and Aya discussed about her. She caught herself wondering what it would be like for the power to just be there, and to simply flow when she wanted, without tension or burning and the draining and drawing feelings that accompanied it. If it were just... comfortable. It would probably be more like her relationship with the wind, she supposed. If her electricity just felt like moving the winds around her instead, that would be nice... but that was also a bit like wishing that fire would feel like water, so it didn't burn when you put your hand in it... a nice idea, but not really a sensible one, she didn't think. Even so, she glanced up and back towards Aya... Nightshade... it was still a bit confusing.
“I think I do get what he's thinking, in a way at least. The way it works for me is very different, I think, but I feel like we're all looking at the same rough answer, in slightly different ways, you know? Different ways of saying the same sort of thing, more or less. If I could get to a point where my body can stabilise better, well, I should be able to operate at any level of charge, without losing control. I've not really practised that before... If anything, I've caught myself suppressing that stabilising reaction more than anything else. I should work on it. If I can get a better handle on it, and make that part of myself stronger, the rest of it might not be as dangerous to me...” She shrugged softly and smiled, eyes blinking closed as she let a curl of wind draw up around them and ruffle the grass while it tousled her hair and clothes. “Maybe it'll even feel natural one day, if I work at it, right?” She opened her eyes properly and started slightly as Suzume took her hand, but this time there were no errant sparks – just the warmth of her skin. She shook back and nodded.
“Thanks! That would mean a lot to me... Um...” the phrasing of Suzume's words made her arch an eyebrow. “Do you need me to take off? How long have I been...” mentally, she checked how long she'd been out and her eyebrows jumped up. “Ah... actually you're right, I shouldn't stay out too much longer... Rogan might notice I'm gone soon. I lost track of the time... I definitely think that's enough training for today...” This last was followed by a short giggle. They were distracted as DragonierMan was summoned away as well, and Lyntael turned to face him and wave top him quickly before he could disappear.
“Okay! Thank you again! It was nice to met you! Thanks for looking after me during the mission, and speaking up for me to Yasu, and for everything else! Maybe I'll see you at the public camp some time? Bye for now!” She kept waving as she called out, then let out a short breath, stretching and looking back to the other once he'd gone.
“So... I probably shouldn't stay around too much longer anyhow... but did you guys want to do something that wasn't all about training for a bit? Just a little while... What do you two like to do for fun?” This last question she directed more specifically towards Nightshade and Yumi, since she already knew of Aya and Suzume's somewhat tenuous relationship with free recreation.
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Yumi tilted her head to the side. Was this other elec navi new to the whole navi thing? Considething how she almost killed Nightshade, she had to at least have a good while of combat experience...or just be so strong than even by being so laughably bad at it she would still be able to kill viruses.
"If I only could talk and not listen, then it wouldn't be quite that good of a way to communicate no?" The blue wyvern replied with a curious yet puzzled tone. She didn't know what to make of this Lyntael navi. She was blushing or something. "Oh yeah. Absolutely!" She would add as Nighty was too busy moping at Aya for telling him that his plan wasn't going to work. "I share part of my code with him, but much of my offensive and defensive prowess is a direct result of big sister Aya. She is much better than me in straight up combat, but I like to think I'm the better prowler." Yumi would nod proudly.
Having recovered from the pouting, Nightshade patter his companion on the head, Yumi reacting to that with a wag of her tail and a purr. "She is as intelligent as Magistrate too. Big sis didn't come to a compromise when it came to creating my partner. She made sure I'm in good hands...well...paws." He would conclude.
When the question came about their free time, the two younglings looked at eachother then grinned "maliciously".
"We huggle." They both said in unison.
Yumi's tail began to wag at Lyn.
If Nighty still had a tail, it would be wagging too.
"If I only could talk and not listen, then it wouldn't be quite that good of a way to communicate no?" The blue wyvern replied with a curious yet puzzled tone. She didn't know what to make of this Lyntael navi. She was blushing or something. "Oh yeah. Absolutely!" She would add as Nighty was too busy moping at Aya for telling him that his plan wasn't going to work. "I share part of my code with him, but much of my offensive and defensive prowess is a direct result of big sister Aya. She is much better than me in straight up combat, but I like to think I'm the better prowler." Yumi would nod proudly.
Having recovered from the pouting, Nightshade patter his companion on the head, Yumi reacting to that with a wag of her tail and a purr. "She is as intelligent as Magistrate too. Big sis didn't come to a compromise when it came to creating my partner. She made sure I'm in good hands...well...paws." He would conclude.
When the question came about their free time, the two younglings looked at eachother then grinned "maliciously".
"We huggle." They both said in unison.
Yumi's tail began to wag at Lyn.
If Nighty still had a tail, it would be wagging too.
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Suzume backpedaled at Lyntael's questions. Her hands waving it off. "What? Oh, no, no, no. You don't need to leave or anything. It's just like we should have dealt with this earlier is all," she said. "I'm sure you'll figure it out one day. We just wanted to give you a place to figure it out in."
Aya separated from Nightshade in a cloud of dark smoke. She drifted away and reformed into her humanoid form nearby. She rolled her eyes a little. "It seems like all those two ever want to do is 'cuddle'." She shivered a little. "What do you want to do Lyntael?" she asked.
Aya separated from Nightshade in a cloud of dark smoke. She drifted away and reformed into her humanoid form nearby. She rolled her eyes a little. "It seems like all those two ever want to do is 'cuddle'." She shivered a little. "What do you want to do Lyntael?" she asked.
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Lyntael bit her lip and glanced aside at Yumi's answer. There had to be some level to which they were misunderstanding – it didn't seem likely that the wyvern, however young, wouldn't be see trouble, if she was as astute as she seemed. She let it rest for now and turned her attention to the other conversations.
“Right, I guess that was something we should have fixed up first, wasn't it? I don't really have a lot of friends, just a few, but if we're all going to be working together I think it might be nice to visit again. I'd like that. I could show my my place at some point, too, if you like. It's not really a great big place like this, with training areas or anything like that, but...” she shrugged and a small, self-conscious smile curled across her lips as she looked up and away, thinking of it. “It's a home, at least now, and it's cosy and comfortable, and there's a garden, with a river...”
She relaxed and settled down again, crossing her legs as she relaxed on the grass again and began to pluck longer blades of grass from around her. With careful, dexterous motions, the girl started to weave them together, one at a time. She glanced up at the mischievous expressions of Nightshade and Yumi and grinned, one eyebrow lifting up.
“You know... hugs are nice, as a greeting, or a farewell, or when something special happens... but it's not really an activity... I can't really say I like shaking hands as a hobby, you know? Some people might find that a bit weird... or even creepy.” Despite herself, she giggled, eyes dancing, and shook her head – judging from the reactions of the others, this was the standard fare for both of them, no matter how she might try to pry more out. She glanced down at what she'd made, and twisted the two ends of the grass plait around one wrist, carefully tying them together with delicate finger work. She had no idea if it would last once she took it out of the training room, but there was only one way to find out after all. She stood and brushed down her skirt properly, stretching.
“Well, I am going to have to head home soon, before Rogan notices I'm away, but the emulation point isn't actually too far from your tower's entrance... so we could always take a wander into the city for bit, before I have to go, if you want? I've never really had a chance to explore the city properly, or see the sights...” she briefly thought back to her very first attempted outing and fought down the faint shudder that came with it. “It might be fun!” With a grin and a slight bounce on her toes, Lyntael reached out a hand to see if either of the youngest present wanted to take it. She cast a quick look towards Aya and Suzume to make sure this was okay as she turned towards the door.
“Right, I guess that was something we should have fixed up first, wasn't it? I don't really have a lot of friends, just a few, but if we're all going to be working together I think it might be nice to visit again. I'd like that. I could show my my place at some point, too, if you like. It's not really a great big place like this, with training areas or anything like that, but...” she shrugged and a small, self-conscious smile curled across her lips as she looked up and away, thinking of it. “It's a home, at least now, and it's cosy and comfortable, and there's a garden, with a river...”
She relaxed and settled down again, crossing her legs as she relaxed on the grass again and began to pluck longer blades of grass from around her. With careful, dexterous motions, the girl started to weave them together, one at a time. She glanced up at the mischievous expressions of Nightshade and Yumi and grinned, one eyebrow lifting up.
“You know... hugs are nice, as a greeting, or a farewell, or when something special happens... but it's not really an activity... I can't really say I like shaking hands as a hobby, you know? Some people might find that a bit weird... or even creepy.” Despite herself, she giggled, eyes dancing, and shook her head – judging from the reactions of the others, this was the standard fare for both of them, no matter how she might try to pry more out. She glanced down at what she'd made, and twisted the two ends of the grass plait around one wrist, carefully tying them together with delicate finger work. She had no idea if it would last once she took it out of the training room, but there was only one way to find out after all. She stood and brushed down her skirt properly, stretching.
“Well, I am going to have to head home soon, before Rogan notices I'm away, but the emulation point isn't actually too far from your tower's entrance... so we could always take a wander into the city for bit, before I have to go, if you want? I've never really had a chance to explore the city properly, or see the sights...” she briefly thought back to her very first attempted outing and fought down the faint shudder that came with it. “It might be fun!” With a grin and a slight bounce on her toes, Lyntael reached out a hand to see if either of the youngest present wanted to take it. She cast a quick look towards Aya and Suzume to make sure this was okay as she turned towards the door.
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Nightshade just quieted down and remained by Yumi's side, somewhat sad he was being told that hugs were not nice. Oh well. He could always ask Drago for more hugs later on. He was always down to give him all the love and affection he wanted.
Yumi looked between Suzume, Aya and Lyntael. So she had just arrived here and she wanted to go outside again? Also what was the thing she just said?
"Lyn...did you say you need to be back before someone notices? Are you doing stuff behind someone's back?" She asked, ignoring her partner cuddling up to her blue fur. "That doesn't sound nice. Why do you need to hide?"
Yumi looked between Suzume, Aya and Lyntael. So she had just arrived here and she wanted to go outside again? Also what was the thing she just said?
"Lyn...did you say you need to be back before someone notices? Are you doing stuff behind someone's back?" She asked, ignoring her partner cuddling up to her blue fur. "That doesn't sound nice. Why do you need to hide?"
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Suzume smiled at Lyntael's offer to show them her home. "I would love to come over to your place someday. Just give us a ring whenever you want and we'll work something out." Suddenly, she brightened up a bit as she thought of something just then, clasping her hands together in glee. "And we can bring you some house-warming gifts! Oh wouldn't that be just lovely?"
Aya nodded along with Lyn as she talked about hugs being overrated and overused. "Yes good, Lyn knows what's up. You need to be choosy with your hugs, like a sort of rare currency. You can't just give it away every few minutes, it cheapens the experience," Aya said. "But yes, we can accompany you on your walk through the city. When we first met these two, they were wandering about the city and we took some time to see the sights."
"Actually, hold on a moment. I think I got a map of the city around here someplace," she said, returning to her sack in the corner of the room and began rummaging within. This was the same sack that she retrieved the now-melted lightning rod from earlier. "No, no that's not it..." she said as she began tossing random objects out of the sack as she dug through it. "Aha! There it is," she exclaimed as she pulled out a large, rolled-up map.
Aya laid it out on the grass and unrolled it. "We are currently here," she said, pointing to a little park on the outskirts of the city. She then began tracing her finger towards the center of the city, "And the GNA job boards are aaaaaall the way over here in the center district. I swear, the city seems to expand every year," she sighed. "We can walk and take the various commuter transit options... OR we can fly there. You might not know it, but we can transform into full-blown dragons, with wings and tails and everything. Nighty can tell you about the adventure he had flying around the city on our backs. Hue hue hue," Aya said with a prideful laugh.
She then caught herself laughing with a small blush, then tried to push it down with a cough into her hand. "Ahem! Anyways, we can get you there in no time at all. But you would of course miss out on most of the sights on the way... Though I guess you would be trading the sights of the ground for sights in the sky," Aya reasoned. "How do you want to proceed?" she asked as she let Lyn decide how they would travel. Then joined everyone walking out of the tower onto the paved streets of Internet City.
Aya nodded along with Lyn as she talked about hugs being overrated and overused. "Yes good, Lyn knows what's up. You need to be choosy with your hugs, like a sort of rare currency. You can't just give it away every few minutes, it cheapens the experience," Aya said. "But yes, we can accompany you on your walk through the city. When we first met these two, they were wandering about the city and we took some time to see the sights."
"Actually, hold on a moment. I think I got a map of the city around here someplace," she said, returning to her sack in the corner of the room and began rummaging within. This was the same sack that she retrieved the now-melted lightning rod from earlier. "No, no that's not it..." she said as she began tossing random objects out of the sack as she dug through it. "Aha! There it is," she exclaimed as she pulled out a large, rolled-up map.
Aya laid it out on the grass and unrolled it. "We are currently here," she said, pointing to a little park on the outskirts of the city. She then began tracing her finger towards the center of the city, "And the GNA job boards are aaaaaall the way over here in the center district. I swear, the city seems to expand every year," she sighed. "We can walk and take the various commuter transit options... OR we can fly there. You might not know it, but we can transform into full-blown dragons, with wings and tails and everything. Nighty can tell you about the adventure he had flying around the city on our backs. Hue hue hue," Aya said with a prideful laugh.
She then caught herself laughing with a small blush, then tried to push it down with a cough into her hand. "Ahem! Anyways, we can get you there in no time at all. But you would of course miss out on most of the sights on the way... Though I guess you would be trading the sights of the ground for sights in the sky," Aya reasoned. "How do you want to proceed?" she asked as she let Lyn decide how they would travel. Then joined everyone walking out of the tower onto the paved streets of Internet City.
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A flash of excited joy made Lyntael's return smile bright and more carefree at Suzume's interest in visiting. She nodded back eagerly.
“That would be great! I mean, you don't have to bring anything, but if you want to, that'd be really nice! I'm always on the look out for physical, traditional styles of board games and books – real ones, that aren't digital copies, can be really hard to find, but I really like the idea of having a nice board, and feeling the pieces in my hands, you know?” Still grinning, she let Aya draw her attention as she brought out a map of the city, though her interest in following the details was only passing until the other woman mentioned the dragonier's special trick and she looked up from the map, eye opening wider with surprise.
“Really? Like... you mean, full-size, dragons, with all the flapping and fire-breathing and sleeping on huge piles of treasure?” She paused, her eyes glancing off to the side and then back again. “I mean, I think I'd like to walk for a bit, but... but I kinda want to see now...though maybe not inside?” She stifled a short giggle, but sobered a moment alter as Yumi interjected with a more astute question. Lyntael winced, then rubbed unconsciously at one arm with her other hand.
“It's not... Well, it's more complicated than that. I'm exactly doing anything behind his back, but...” She trailed off. Wasn't she, though? Wasn't that exactly what this was? She rolled her shoulders and glanced at Aya and Suzume, then back to Yumi with a softer smile. “It's a whole conversation... come on, let's get some fresh air, I'll tell you on the way...?” She gestured with a short nod towards the training room exit, then made for the tower's front door along with the others.
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((To → The City))
“That would be great! I mean, you don't have to bring anything, but if you want to, that'd be really nice! I'm always on the look out for physical, traditional styles of board games and books – real ones, that aren't digital copies, can be really hard to find, but I really like the idea of having a nice board, and feeling the pieces in my hands, you know?” Still grinning, she let Aya draw her attention as she brought out a map of the city, though her interest in following the details was only passing until the other woman mentioned the dragonier's special trick and she looked up from the map, eye opening wider with surprise.
“Really? Like... you mean, full-size, dragons, with all the flapping and fire-breathing and sleeping on huge piles of treasure?” She paused, her eyes glancing off to the side and then back again. “I mean, I think I'd like to walk for a bit, but... but I kinda want to see now...though maybe not inside?” She stifled a short giggle, but sobered a moment alter as Yumi interjected with a more astute question. Lyntael winced, then rubbed unconsciously at one arm with her other hand.
“It's not... Well, it's more complicated than that. I'm exactly doing anything behind his back, but...” She trailed off. Wasn't she, though? Wasn't that exactly what this was? She rolled her shoulders and glanced at Aya and Suzume, then back to Yumi with a softer smile. “It's a whole conversation... come on, let's get some fresh air, I'll tell you on the way...?” She gestured with a short nod towards the training room exit, then made for the tower's front door along with the others.
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((To → The City))
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Suzume furrowed her brow in thought. "Board games huh? What board games do you already have? I don't want to get you something you already have. Also I'm not sure about books either. What subjects or genres of books are you interested in?"
"Well I got a book for you," Aya said after searching her bag again. She produced a thin black book with a reflective green title and handed it to Lyntael. The book was titled: The Art of Net War. "It changed my life for the better," she said with a grin. "You can keep that one, I got another in my room. That's my travel copy."
Suzume smiled at Lyn's wide-eyes at the mention of dragons. "Yes really. Although we specifically don't sleep on piles of treasure. We usually immediately spend whatever treasure we gain. I assume other dragons don't wisely invest their hard won treasures. We've even hunted down other dragons for their treasures, since they don't seem to be using them," she said, producing a set of four different colored Dragon2 Battlechips in her hand and fanning them out to show Lyn.
"We'll show you the transformation outside," Aya said, following the group outside.
"Well I got a book for you," Aya said after searching her bag again. She produced a thin black book with a reflective green title and handed it to Lyntael. The book was titled: The Art of Net War. "It changed my life for the better," she said with a grin. "You can keep that one, I got another in my room. That's my travel copy."
Suzume smiled at Lyn's wide-eyes at the mention of dragons. "Yes really. Although we specifically don't sleep on piles of treasure. We usually immediately spend whatever treasure we gain. I assume other dragons don't wisely invest their hard won treasures. We've even hunted down other dragons for their treasures, since they don't seem to be using them," she said, producing a set of four different colored Dragon2 Battlechips in her hand and fanning them out to show Lyn.
"We'll show you the transformation outside," Aya said, following the group outside.
