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 Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:21 pm
Achashverosh always spent the early parts of his morning routine training in a small valley away from the rest of the sisters. The hybrid wasn’t quite as antisocial as before but he still did prefer to train in an area without distractions, something he could not find quite as easily while being near the other Alkidikes and hybrids living in the small settlement his family called home. This morning he had been hoping for another calm session, but it appeared that someone else was already standing in the middle of his training field. Verosh tightened his lips into a frown as he realized that there was a child standing between his training dummies with one of his wooden staffs in hand. “That’s probably not wise.” He groused as he finally emerged from the shadows and walked up to the girl, strange creature that she was.
[Verosh 1]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:21 pm
Quynh had been trying to adjust to living in a more settled location in Jahaur but honestly the girl just wasn’t feeling it. She had expressed that adamantly to both of her mothers but they continued to insist that until the current hunt was over that she would need to be patient. Quynh had huffed at the idea before venturing forward through the jungle, her feet just taking her aimlessly forward without meaning until she found an interesting area full of delightful things. Unfortunately as soon as she grabbed one of the training staffs the girl found herself interrupted. A sigh left her lips as she kept hold of her prize and turned to face the man who had approached. She was surprised to see a hybrid looking back at her. Not that hybrids were uncommon in her life since technically she was one, but Quynh had never really encountered someone like this guy before.
Regardless it did nothing to deter her as she kept her chin up and clutched the staff even tighter. “Why would it not be wise? Anything out in the open should be fair game.” She quipped. Why was it her problem if the hybrid didn’t keep his things put away?
[Quynh 1]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:21 pm
A humph of disbelief left his throat at the audacity of the child. “Is that so?” Verosh crossed his arms as he stared at the girl. “What would a sprout like you even want with a weapon?” So much for his peaceful morning routine. Verosh suppressed a sigh as he stared at the girl, his blue gaze trying to piece together why she seemed so strange. Was she not Alkidike? Her eyes were the green of those Elaria he had seen before and then the pink markings were reminiscent of them as well. Maybe those older Sisters were not joking when they spoke about a new type of hybrid between the Aishan cousins. What a strange world we live in. It would be interesting to see how those purists acted towards an Aishan that was mixed rather than one mixed with earthling blood like him.
[Verosh 2]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:22 pm
Sprout? Her? Quynh lifted her chin towards the taller hybrid. “I’m not going to be a sprout forever.” She answered defiantly. “So why not learn now?” The youngling swept the staff out in front of her, a move that she had mimicked from watching her mothers several times. Certainly it was a larger weapon than something that she would have preferred but the girl refused to look weak in front of the stranger. Quynh did a few more sweeps with the staff before finally lowering it and looking at the older hybrid. What would he do now?
[Quynh 2]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:22 pm
Perhaps he would have been more annoyed if he didn’t have a soft spot for other hybrids. Verosh had learned a lot more patience while spending time with Jhana and it was fairly obvious as he didn’t simply snatch the staff back. “Fair enough.” Verosh finally commented before gesturing towards the staff. “Your sweep was a bit rough though. It needs to go lower if you’re trying to unbalance your opponent.”
[Verosh 3]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:22 pm
He wasn’t going to snap at her? Quynh tilted her head in confusion before throwing her shoulders back again as he suddenly directed her. What was this? Some impromptu lesson from a stranger? The youngling almost huffed before realizing he was giving her honest advice and not chastising her. “So lower then?” She finally asked as she held the staff out and repeated the movements, this time slower and a lot lower than before.
[Quynh 3]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:22 pm
“Exactly.” Verosh watched her before holding out his hand. “If I may.” He motioned with his fingers so that she would hand over the staff. Certainly there were a few more laying around the field, his training dummies holding at least two more of the rough wooden poles for his use, but Verosh didn’t want to walk over that way yet. Right now he was in the middle of teaching and he hated wasting time. So why walk all the way over there when he could just take back his own staff and do a demonstration here?
[Verosh 4]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:22 pm
It wasn’t a trick, right? Quynh pursed her lips as she stared at the hybrid for a long moment before slowly handing over the staff. “Do you have a name?” She asked as her fingers slowly uncurled from the rough wood, her body tense and prepared to react in case he tried to bail on her. Though if he left then that was fine because she had seen a horde of other interesting items in the clearing too! So the joke would be on him if he was trying to trick her because she would just find something else to play with instead.
[Quynh 4]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:22 pm
Ah, introductions. “Achashverosh.” Taking the training staff back from the youngling, Verosh twisted it in his hands. “Verosh if that’s too much for you.” He teased before taking a few steps back to give himself more room. Was it just him or did the youngling tense? Verosh almost shook his head before simply giving a few practice swings. Once he found his balance the warrior started to go through some basic steps, stopping every so often to look at the youngling. He wanted to make certain she was actually following his movements and catching onto how the swings should go. “Easy enough?”
[Verosh 5]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:22 pm
Achashverosh. That was a mouthful! Quynh shook her head at the offer. “I’ll call you whatever works.” She quipped back as she bristled against the teasing. “I’m Quynh.” Even if he didn’t ask, it was only polite to share her name as well. Quynh almost thought he was bailing on her when he took those few steps back but she held her ground and was relieved to see that he was actually moving backwards so that he could show off a few moves. Confident, huh? Quynh grinned as she watched him showing off, but honestly she was enjoying the show. It was rare that she saw someone like that and even rarer that a warrior following Aisha didn’t turn their nose up at the sight of the hybrid youngling. Even if they saw her as a pure Aishan, a lot of sisters still had issues trying to adapt to the fact that a child of Elaria and Alkidike blood existed. He even seemed willing to allow her to learn some moves which was….nice? Quynh definitely was surprised but she wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to learn more fighting moves. “Easy peesy.” She replied as she held out her hands for the staff.
[Quynh 5]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:22 pm
“If you’re certain, Quynh.” Verosh actually chuckled before handing over the staff. The young warrior gestured for the girl to take his place before taking a few steps back so that she could have a go at things. If anything it would be a good time to observe how strong the new hybrid was. She was still just a youngling though so there was still a lot of time to grow. “Just make sure you swing more towards the right to complete the movement. Your earlier swings ended too soon and weren’t as strong because you didn’t gain enough momentum.”
[Verosh 6]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:23 pm
Momentum was also a mouthful. Quynh pursed her lips in protest but made certain to listen to his words as she prepared for the next swing. Her mothers had taught her that she should always have a secure position, her legs spread enough for balance, and then it would be fine to swing. Quynh took a deep breath before moving to swing the staff around, the moment nearly causing her to stumble as she forced her body to bend more than last time and do the full swing. “Ooof.” The youngling winced before catching herself and looking towards Verosh. “Is that better? It’s hard to tell you know.”
[Quynh 6]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:23 pm
“It’s easier to tell if you actually hit something, right?” Verosh chuckled before gesturing towards the two dummies that were a few feet away. “Why not try it out on them? If I fight you then you’d only get hurt.” The hybrid strode past the girl before bending down and picking up a spare training staff. “I’ll attack the left and you can copy my movements on the right one. Do you have any training at all?” It did look like she did have some basic understanding of the foundations at least. Verosh nodded in appreciation as he recognized the beginner’s stance, the importance of balance was acknowledged by Quynh at least so that was a good sign.
[Verosh 7]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:23 pm
“Pfft.” The youngling tossed her dreads over a shoulder as she followed towards a dummy. This Verosh wasn’t super conceited or anything like that. The girl giggled at the thought before walking up towards the dummy. The poor thing definitely had seen better days and she was slightly irked that he had picked the sturdier looking one. Though it did look like the dummy she was standing before would have fallen over with the way he was striking the other one. Quynh frowned as she focused on the warrior and started to slowly copy his movements, her stance shaky at first until she started to get into the swing of things.Eventually she thwacked the dummy hard enough that the head actually started to flop to the side before another hit made it fall off completely.
“Uh…you didn’t need that, right?”
[Quynh 7]
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:23 pm
Verosh was so caught up in the moment with the training that it took him a full minute to realize what had happened. “Oh.” The man blinked as he looked at the headless training dummy. Perhaps a couple of years ago he would have exploded at the sight, but today he was surprisingly calm about it. Truly it was crazy how love and perhaps the passing of time changed a person. Verosh chuckled at it before waving a hand in the air as if to disregard the damage. “It just means you had a good attack.” He mused as he bent down to retrieve the head. “It may be time for me to make a new one.”
[Verosh 8]
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