[Regular] Nightly Knight Duties (Eskimo/Shalott)

[ZaiaFantasy]

It was fair to say Shalott pouted her way over the landscape of Crystal Academy. School was back in session by day and by night the knight was losing her drive to patrol. Long nights and early mornings did not a happy woman make, nor did the fact that she was a very enthusiastic newlywed. It was with bleary eyes that the night took a seat on the stone stairs and put her head in her hands.

Very soon she'd need a night off. Maybe this weekend.

She didn't sense any power signatures very closeby but she wasn't trying very hard to look for them, either. As long as it wasn't chaos she couldn't care if Princess Polaris herself appeared. She just wanted a quiet night to go out, sweep her territory and go home to her husband and now to their dog. No, his dog. Their dog?

Combining households was a difficult process.

A youma was off to her right, something small. She grabbed the ends of her garland and activated her holding power, letting the vines cover the thing entirely as she walked over. She'd discovered she could do that recently, walk as she used her power. She hadn't known before that she could. It was useful when she was alone to be able to slow an opponent. This let her catch up, maybe overtake them.

Right now it was covering the little rat youma and keeping it from going anywhere. She calmly kicked it twice, got snagged in her own vines, and stomped down on the thing. Problem solved. As the youma turned to dust her vines began to wither and fade away.
 

[Marsh the Sex Panda]

If Senshi had annual reviews Eskimo would have definitely gotten an F. Ever since Elysion (which was over a year ago) she had started pulling away from being a senshi. It was dangerous and difficult and she wasn't sure if it was something she really wanted to deal with. It took a pep-talk from the tiny kitten Derp to get her back out on the streets- the jaunty new hat the guardian cat gave her didn't hurt either.

Becoming Eskimo for the first time in months had been odd. She had gotten used to her bare midriff, but it didn't mean she had to like it. Her patrol started off near the park and then she just wandered for most of the night. It was when she was heading home, passing by Crystal, that she felt the odd energy signature. Negaverse? She didn't think so, it didn't feel like chaos, but it didn't feel like another senshi either.

Following the energy signature she happened upon its owner just in time to watch the older woman dust a youma. Well, if she had any doubt about her being an enemy that was squashed. She was still curious though, she'd been a magical girl for over two years now and the idea that a whole new faction cropped up without her noticing made her feel incredibly out of the loop.

Stepping out of the shadows not too far from the other woman she called out. "Hey."  

[ZaiaFantasy]

Shalott wasn't expecting an audience.

She jumped when a voice sounded wondering how a power signature had snuck up on her like this. She checked first to see if it was chaos, it wasn't, and then she looked at the girl with appraising eyes. It wasn't hard to imagine she supposed. She'd been distracted with the youma and hadn't been actively paying attention to much else in the moment. Or, really, anything at all tonight. It was safe to say the knight was off her game. Still, she wasn't going to be rude about it, either.

"Hello." At lease she wasn't chaos. Shalott waved her over glad for the company. "What brings you out tonight?"

Clearly this girl was a senshi if her costume was any indication. Shalott was beginning to recognize the telltale marks of such distinctions. It only took her almost a year to do it. (God, had it really been so long?) She went back to her perch on the stone stairs and stared up into the night air again. The sky glittered like diamonds with stars.

"I'm Shalott."  

[Marsh the Sex Panda]

ZaiaFantasy

When the other woman jumped Eskimo simultaneously felt bad that she had startled her, and proud that apparently she was stealthier than she thought she was. Maybe being a senshi was like riding a bicycle.

Her question was easy enough to answer, and while she wasn't completely sure of the woman's allegiances there was no reason not to answer it. "Patrolling, attempting to keep the city safe." Actually now that she thought about it the streets seemed a bit tamer than the last time she'd roamed them. Then again that could be because she hadn't run into trouble just yet.

When Shalott gave her name Eskimo figured that a proper introduction was in order. Reaching up she pushed her hood back so her face could be seen clearly. "Sailor Eskimo, Senshi of Snow, nice to meet you." Shifting her stance she rested a hand on her hip, glancing about them and checking for energy signatures even as they talked. It never hurt to be a bit paranoid.

"You're not a Senshi, and you're not a Nega, so I have to wonder what you're doing in front of a school in the middle of the night." Her tone wasn't accusatory, but there was more than idle curiosity behind the implied question.  

[ZaiaFantasy]

"Well, I'm not a creeper, either. You should include that bit."

She grinned to indicate she was joking. Shalott was more than a little surprised by that. It wasn't often she ran into senshi that had no idea what she was. Usually the Earth symbols everywhere gave her away but maybe this senshi was new to the fold and couldn't be faulted for ignorance. She had certainly been mostly clueless coming into this fold.

"I'm a knight. Well, a Squire right now but of the knight line. I'm an Earth knight."

That didn't come out at all awkwardly, did it? She tried again.

"I'm Shalott, Squire of Earth of the knight faction."

At least they seemed to have the same goal, patrolling. She'd just rid the world of a minor youma to prove it. She patted the concrete beside her, unwilling to say why she chose to patrol the school and partially give away her civilian identity. She needed to keep these grounds safe if nothing else.

Marsh the Sex Panda