Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jordan had actually waited until the day after the mission to Alaska to remind Ofelia about the invitation to spar; by the time he'd finished his report and taken some time to warm up, evening had been rapidly approaching, and he'd decided that it could wait. Now, though, he had several hours with no assigned tasks, and since he'd finished his daily workout in the morning, he felt that this would be an excellent time to get a spar in.

He pulled his phone out and checked the contact list; a quick search brought up Ofelia's number.

Jordan raised an eyebrow at the text he got in return. Either Ofelia was over-excited, or her spelling was as terrible as Robert's; he wasn't too sure about the latter, as Robert's spelling was just about the worst he'd ever seen. Maybe Ofelia could also benefit from the spellcheck app his friend had mentioned.

At any rate, the response appeared to be positive, and he headed out to the field to warm up. When Ofelia arrived, he raised a hand in greeting and gave her a friendly smile. "Hey, how're you doing?"

"Doing fine myself. Bored, maybe." The faintly evil grin reappeared. Jordan debated with himself; he should probably go easy on Ofelia, seeing as this wasn't anything more than a friendly spar; then again, she shouldn't get the idea that it was too easy to face off against a more experienced trainee.

Ferros snickered. Just don't let her think you're letting her win.

You're an a*****e.

Yeah, and you're my other half, what does that say about you? the dragon retorted.

Jordan ignored that comment with dignity. "So you had a spar with Marcus, huh? How much did he explain to you? I don't want to be going over things you already know." He chuckled. "Walking targets - well, kind of. Sun division specializes in offensive combat, which means we're getting right up in the freaks' faces and dealing as much damage as possible. It also means we'll be taking a lot of hits in return, since we're getting up close and personal with them. Is your weapon a melee type or long-range?"

By way of example, he summoned Ferros, swinging the massive hammer up to rest across his shoulder. "This is Ferros," he said, his pride in his partner obvious in his face and voice. "We're melee, short-ranged; to do damage, we have to get in close, which leaves us open to attack. On the flip side, though, we train and practice to hit hard."

Jordan nodded. "Good, that's the basics of it. You and Rue will learn to judge how much FEAR she has left as you get more experience fighting; that'll be important. In sparring, it's better to concede when you're getting dangerously low; in actual battle with Halloween creatures, knowing when you're about to be vulnerable to real injury will let you decide when to retreat or patch yourself up. Or ask a teammate to heal you, if you're lucky enough to have someone with a healing specialty on your team." He smiled. "Always good to avoid waking up in the infirmary. Some of the Life division have funny ideas about experimentation on unconscious people. You never know."

He nodded at Rue, speaking directly to the weapon now. "Nice to meet you, Rue. I expect we'll be seeing your specialty; looking forward to it." He focused on Ofelia again. "Did Marcus explain charged attacks to you?"

Jordan watched Ofelia's expression changing, unsettled disgust shifting into courtesy. Was this another instance of a pair not yet comfortable with one another? He was quietly grateful that he and Ferros had gotten along pretty much immediately.

I don't get it, Ferros said, puzzlement shading his tone. Why would you bond it if you didn't like it? I knew when I sensed you reaching.

I don't know either, Jordan said. Still worried about Robert and Jezebel.

I'd tell her how it was if I could talk to her, Ferros said, tone salted with dissatisfaction.

Don't get too distracted. We've got a lamb to teach.

You started it.

Shush. "When your weapon makes contact with a Fear-based opponent, she'll be able to draw Fear out of them to feed on," Jordan said aloud. "When she's gathered enough Fear, she'll be able to use her charged attack. It usually takes about three strikes. She can hold onto it for a while, but not forever, and she'll be bugging you about it when she's charged, as I'm sure you noticed. It's usually a good idea to go ahead and let her let it out when she's ready for it. If you miss a chance, you may not be able to get the opportunity back."

He studied Rue for a long moment. "Has she or anyone else told you what the weapons were and are?"

"It's better for you to know up front, rather than getting surprised with the information when you can't afford a distraction," Jordan said seriously. "The weapons are converted from Halloween creatures. Ferros was a mechanical dragon. Iron dragon, I know," he said to the hammer before his partner could remind him that he was getting the term wrong.

Ferros huffed but remained silent.

"I haven't heard of that type, so I couldn't tell you about it. She probably remembers very little about what her life was before being a weapon, though she may have some information that can help you out. Ferros and I work together as partners; some weapons aren't as cooperative. Depends on the personality." He studied Rue with interest. "Though now you've got me curious, but I can do research later."

"A monster of some kind," Jordan agreed. "What you used to see and hear - that's the ones that come into the human world to hunt. But they come out of Halloween; a world, not just a holiday." He studied her expression. "You probably couldn't see or hear them well before, but you'll be able to now."

"Well, now you can punch them instead of worrying about them." Jordan swung Ferros down off his shoulder and grinned. "Speaking of punching things, now that I know you've got everything covered - go ahead, free shot."