Welcome to Gaia! ::

The fact that Sasha hadn't swung at her came as a surprise. A pleasing one, to be sure, but a surprise nonetheless.

"What a great invitation," Clerise said, her voice a low whisper, ears straining-- ah, there. The sound of air passing through Nona's talons, the feet against the training ground in a rhythmic beat-- identifiable. She stood still, zeroing in on the location.

She lunged, swiping Balthazar down low, his blades cutting through the air with the force of her swing.

hp// 22
dmg// 5
charge// 3/3

The metal from Balthazar pulsed hotly in her hands, flaring to life beneath strips of red leather wrapped around his handles. Where Clerise was fallible her weapon was not: any miss was a result of her own inaccuracies, not any failure of his blades.

She see his runes shimmering to life-- red and angry alive-- in her mind's eye.

They had quarrelled for months, over every detail, over every word, until losing each other had seemed imminent. The fear of going back to being normal and alone in a world swathed in darkness was always at the forefront of Clerise's mind.

Where he had bent and grown more lax in his prudish nature, she had bent, too. When Balthazar advised a decision, Clerise took it into immediate consideration, to meld her mind to his when in combat. He was an extension of her arms, she was a tool to be used by him.

They were one.

Nona's hooks glanced against Clerise's shield, the deadly claws that could slice and dice-- and the redhead spun away, inhaling deeply.

"This could end so great, or so poorly," she murmured, letting Balthazar's charge thrum, the sickle-scythes in her hand nearly vibrating with their contained energy. She wound back her arms and flung them, as hard as she could, the sound of the blades whizzing through the air clearly audible.

She heard them hit, and let out a woop of joy-- until they swung back to get her straight in the gut, sending her flying across the field, her laughter swallowed by her collision to the ground.

"Woops," Clerise grunted, heaving as soon as she was unwinded. "You okay over there?" she yelled, a laugh burbling upwards, incredulous. "Christ, I always manage to get myself gooood, too."

hp// 21 - 22 = 01
dmg// 36
charge// Alkdhasgahfas

The binoculars came in handy for keeping track of the spars on the ground. He was also starting to get a pretty good idea of what shields could and couldn't handle- duelers of the same rank lasted about the same amount of time.

He didn't trot over until it got bloody.

Most duelists backed off by then. Some didn't.

Tensions were pretty high on the island. Nobody had been on leave in months, and personal supplies- favorite cigarette brands, varieties of coffee, alcohol, were either running low or completely out. The holidays were coming up, too- Harrison had signed up to help with a thing Melvin was putting together for a few of the trainees, but nobody had high hopes for a lavish banquet. They were all low on resources.

Harrison undid his tin. He just had his regular bandaid today, along with some gauze, but it was better than the days Sunny sent him out with nothing. Sasha sat up with a grimace. Blood was leaking through her fingers. Maybe if he was lucky, he'd get a chance to practice securing intestines.

"Hey," he told Clerise, scanning her- she seemed fine, if scuffed up. He knelt in the grass near Sasha, eyeing where her hand was keeping her side covered.

"Is it deep?" the question was strangely positive, almost hopeful.

Clerise rolled onto her belly, tugging the blindfold upwards with a grin. She squinted in the daylight, eyes already adjusted tot he darkness that the cloth afforded her. The Life hunter put her head in her hands, elbows digging into the grass. Like she gave a ******** about stains: scrubbing them out with bleach could be worried about later.

"Hahahahaha, that was AWESOME."

She turned as the crunch of footsteps approached, and Clerise offered the moon a two finger salute. "Heya Handsome, long time no see."

Clerise let out a low whistle. "I got you kinda good, didn't I?" She sounded sort of surprised. "Huh. You know, usually, I can't ever do that. Maybe I should spar blindfolded more often."

As Sasha phrased the question ever-so-dryly, the redhead flopped back onto her back with an undignified gigglesnort. There wasn't really any need for a further comment from her, the peanut gallery personified.

Sasha fought the urge to lapse into giggles at the sound of Clerise's laughter - this was serious business, after all, and she had to be careful around Harrison. Clerise was given a raspy, "Quiet, you."

Harrison was treated to a rather droll look.

"Once again, so sorry to disappoint, Harrison - nothing broken. Just the cuts - once the bleeding stops, I'm sure I'll be able to walk it off."

He was such an a*****e.

The shushing from Sasha just made Clerise laugh again, and she bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to behave. With only the smallest amount of wobbling, the Life hunter got to her feet.

"Nope, afraid not. My a** is still in perfect condition." She slapped it through the layers of frilly skirts, blowing a raspberry at Harrison.

She raised a brow at Harrison. "I hate to break it to you, Handsome, but the island has its lion share of ladies. Some of us even get injured! In the field, even!" She put a hand to her chest, giving him a faked, wide-eyed stare, miming a good impression of being scandalised before snickering again. She desummoned Balthazar, sliding his totem form into a pocket.

As always, Clerise remained oblivious to the tension that ran beneath the surface, thinking Harrison was merely grossed out by girls and that Sasha wished to be independent without a babysitter.

As such, she not-so-stealthily pulled out her phone: an attempt to snap a picture of Harrison's interactions with Sasha and her wounds.