Welcome to Gaia! ::

He had to give the trainee points for trying, he hit hard and was hit hard in return but it didn’t seem to deter him. As he swung again, Shiloh almost found it hard to picture him as the nervous kid he’d just met only just before but then the axe went wide, slicing through the air beside Shiloh in quite a spectacular miss and the image came rushing back.

Still, he was trying and, no matter how much he protested, Oliver kept getting back on his feet. Shiloh found him scrappy, resilient – he liked him already. In earnest, he spun back at Oliver with his weapon, Haruko’s chain whistling through the air.

HP: 43/50
DMG: 7

Shiloh had long since gotten used to this ‘way of life’, and after fighting for his life, spars like this were not only a welcome reprieve but a necessity. Being in anything less than tip-top shape was a recipe for disaster on the island, and even then, safety was far from guaranteed. But giving up was not a concept Shiloh had really ever understood, even if the axe slicing through the air made his nerves stand on end. It connected this time, solidly, and he gritted his teeth against the slash, pushed back several feet by Oliver’s momentum.

“That’s it,” he called out, giving in to the pain only long enough for a wince and then he was back on his feet, once again whipping Haruko’s metallic jaws around

HP: 35/50
DMG: 7

The axe flew wide of Shiloh, and he was glad, fear shield or not, it was an impressive weapon and quite honestly terrifying. But instead of volleying back another blow, he pulled up, raising a hand to Oliver.

“Let’s take a time-out,” he said cheerfully, resting Haruko’s jaws against the ground. “How’re you feeling?”

Shiloh had expected him to be out of breath, probably sore and maybe a little uneasy about the whole thing but he had never expected the quivering lip, or the glistening eyes that threatened to spill over with tears.

“Oh, oh, oh no, no, no,” he scrambled, “Hey, it’s okay! It was just a spar and all, and you know I’ve been practicing a lot lately so I might have gone a bit overboard, after all, I’m a rank above you so it’s not like you know… It’ll be fine, okay! You’ll be alright!”

He patted his back, slinging his arm over his shoulder.

“It just takes some getting used to is all. I used to get my butt kicked all the time, I still do, in spars I mean. But you know, those people who kick your butt in practice, we’re the ones looking out for you in the field, right, so you don’t have to worry about being on that level just yet.”

He smiled at him widely, doing his best to try and cheer him up.

“I swear, you’ll get the hang of it. I’m out here most mornings, or after shifts, you can come practice with me if you like!”

Shiloh paled; this wasn’t the way he wanted his cheering up to go at all.

“You aren’t useless now, Oliver, let alone forever! Heck, you got a couple of really good hits in there on me, you’ll be a real powerhouse if you keep at it. And in battle you know, it’s like I said, we’re working as a team. So no one has to be perfect all the time, all you have to do is try your best, and if your best is only a hit or two, it’s still something! Every little bit of help is so, so important in battle, you know, one person can be the difference between winning and losing.”

He tried to smile again, patting Oliver’s back.

“You don’t have to be great, you just have to be you, okay? And if you want to get stronger, it’s totally possible, it just takes a little time a practice, is all.”

Shiloh didn’t push much more, suddenly aware that his bright and bubbly overbearingness might have been a bit much for Oliver. He had no intentions of dialing it down completely, because it was clear that Oliver needed something bright around him, something to maybe pull him along, to remind him that things weren’t always that bad. On Deus, mind you, they usually were, but he hadn’t the heart to let him in yet. He wondered vaguely if that was setting him up for failure, to not warn him of everything but when he looked at Oliver’s rounded little shoulders, he couldn’t help but want to keep him safe from it all for just a little bit more, or at the very least, break it to him in the gentlest way possible.

Then too, Shiloh thought, it wasn’t like him to have given up hope so easily. It was true that the island had brought him a lot of hardships and he found it harder and harder to find any good in it, but that didn’t mean that good things hadn’t happened and given the circumstances, there were worse places to be.

“Jökul is awesome,” he agreed. “And you know, he’s your partner so you’re allowed to lean on him a little bit. I mean, you work together but that doesn’t mean he won’t do his best to keep you safe. After all, he needs you too, you know.”

“Yeah, that’s the spirit,” Shiloh said, beaming at Oliver. His hand whacked his shoulder again, in a show of kinship or happiness or whatever happened to be running through Shiloh’s head to make him think that an enthusiastic shoulder walloping was what Oliver really needed.

“See, it’s not so bad! Not even an a trip to the infirmary.”

He grinned, de-summoning Haruko.

“Say, you’re friends with Ian right? We should all catch a bite sometime, we can talk about sparring! Well, and other stuff, of course, I’m sure there’s plenty of things… Anyway, I try to get out here at least three times a week, so if you ever want to join me, you can always text me.”