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Once things from Bloodfest had settled down, and his disguises put away the yellowblood was free to walk among his peers without being dressed up. It was actually a nice reprieve, and meant he had time to focus in on a few loose ends. Honing whatever psionics he possessed was of importance to him, rather then relying on timidity and chance. The long walk back up north had given him time to think about ways to test those reactions based on the encounters he'd had since Salmarie Outposts discovery, and recovery efforts.

While he'd shed his blazer to combat the humidity it was a step up from the wintery wonderland that had canvassed this year's Bloodfest. It had been a far cry from the summery, much warmer one. Stryke had a theory to test, and it would require something perhaps more reckless than he should have been willing to try and endure. The first thought that came to mind was a troll he'd seen brandishing a crossbow with a fair amount of accuracy.

Finding Luxara was actually slightly more challenging than he'd initially believed. In a leather pouch, Stryke had stashed his pair of gerbils he'd gotten last year at Bloodfest. He'd created a custom carrying case for them, so they could not only safely breathe but be easily transported. Along with him was his daggers as was force of habit now. What was the real pain in the a** was the trek from the tree he neighboured with near Byakko..only to need to CLIMB up the greenbloods tree.

why wasss there no bloody damn rope?!

Huffing and puffing by the time he made it to the top, the long haired teen leaned into the tree trunk as he shh'd Meriadoc and Peregrin both for squeaking and fussing."you'll both have fun after we're not climbing..i won't drop you." He muttered gently pushing them back into their traveling pouch and gently zipping it closed so only the meshing enclosed them for now.

"evenin'. with any luck, i don't suppossse you happen to be in?" Stryke called out, not wanting to climb her fence uninvited preferable.

Stryke's gaze turned then to the troll as she emerged from her hive. He'd thought for a moment he'd come at a bad time...until she'd instead shown herself as if to dispell his concerns. Trying to adjust to their now new Life in Salamire Outpost hadn't been easy on him in the beginning, anymore than his new life in Chittentown had been. While he had several in the rebellion he felt he could lean on, it went without saying Stryke wanted to extend his knowledge to those others whom had joined. He had only seen her in passing, this was the first time actually approaching the greenblood directly.

If they were to fight and live among the other, it was vital he try and bridge as many gaps as possible. While he wasn't the most forward socially, and was a troll on a mission he did care about those in the Initiative. Not all of them had wound up here willingly, he couldn't help but recall she had come as Kursha's sponsor to the cavern back in Busthind.

"it's stryke, and i don't think we've met formally in the aftermath of it all no. it's a pleasssure." He replied as his shoulder leaned on the mighty tree trunk casually.

Smiling, he inclined his head politely when she asked if there was anything going on. "no, i actually came here on my own accord with two minor request in mind..one being strange, while the second one is by far not as such. let's start with the simpler one i guesss. i seem to recall you may be kept gerbils based on what the kids around here talk about?" He gestured to his bag slung at his side, before also rubbing the back of his neck.

"mind if i come up, i'll try and not take up to much of your time." Stryke answered her finally. How did you even ask sometroll "hey i know we haven't talked much, but i'd like you to fire an arrow at my head and see if i can force whatever weird psionics it is in me to activate!" The very thought made him cringe slightly.

Ah so that was her name? He hadn't been able to recall what it was exactly, he'd been distracted talking to Keionx in the caverns back during the trial member initiations. "i'm not the bessst climber...i'll manage." He replied with a stubborn set to his jaw as he adjusted his shoulder bag. Reaching for a branch just above his head, giving a little hop to pull himself up to the next level. Making the trip the rest of the way up was slow going, but gradually he kept up a steady pace as he went along. That and he had a fence to climb over once he actually made it to the top of the landing that lead onto the balcony that belonged to her hive.

When his fingers laced in the fencing he panted slightly as he paused, looking at her before he got climbing again. "oh really? i didn't do much with the activities...i saw someone i recognized and didn't want to risk being discovered." He half admitted, more that he just couldn't get into the spirit of things like he had previously. "i should have brought my pair to check it out." He mused shaking his head in wonder, chatting back with her. "ah. yesss infact i did!" He replied with a little sigh as he planted his boot in chains and began the quick climb upwards. Before long the small yellowblood was over the fence and landed with a light thud.

"they are pretty good at coming when i call for them, and i know their markings fairly well i'm not too worried." He explained gently, introducing them as well as he unzipped his pouch to let them out. They ultimately scampered off to begin exploring. There were tons of new friends to be made!

Rubbing his neck slightly Stryke smiled then even if it was a tad awkward it was fairly apparent he was mesmerized by the sheer number of gerbils all about her hive. Blinking, he looking back at her with a sheepish look on his face. "you've got yourself an impressive collection miss reverse lusus. congrats on the win." He shook his head in wonder at her explanation.

Pausing he went silent for a moment, before reviling the nature of his other request given she'd been receptive to his initial comment about it being strange. "the other request involves a sparring session. i'm looking for someone willing to shoot me, directly in the head preferably." His eyes widened realizing that sounded odd. "i have this...i guess you can call it psionic shielding that triggers under extreme duresss. i'm trying to learn how to control it, and hone practical battle knowledge on top of that. i've seen you hunt in the woods before while out for a walk...and drew a logical conclusion it wouldn't hurt to ask." Stryke loosely crossed his arms over his chest, easily able to make eye contact as both troll were approximately the same height wise.

Stryke frowned slightly as he listened to the older troll explain herself. Rubbing the back of his neck he nodded slightly. "yeah...i suppose so." His voice trailed off, recalling the brief encounter with Kursha as he shook his head. "i might have had more fun if i took that attitude, ah. no matter." He mused with a thoughtful look on his face. This greenblood did have a valid point. He should have said ******** it, but that was in the past now. Stryke couldn't help but squint at the other troll, who had she run into? Perhaps another time he would ask her as a follow up to this conversation.

For what it was worth, one of the local rebel born troll children had talked about this trolls gerbil collection. "they come for food too, but after i stopped my lusus from eating them..they started minding me better. especially after i picked them up from my old hive after the swamp fiasco." The yellowblood chuckled good naturedly, glancing away in equal admiration for her gerbil-prowess. "yesss. litter box trained, and thankfully know to avoid dad..they know their names. not to much else besides maybe using them as bowling pins." Stryke looked bemused as she talked about her own gerbils. He'd have to have a follow up conversation and ask her more about Li'l Cap and Pennii.

Stryke was good at gathering information, and namely in asking around. The hunting bit was accidental purely on his part, he'd just seen her at work. The real problem was the matter of trust. Did he trust her to shoot bolts at him rather than paint balls? Stryke swallowed at the thought.

"no. maybe not this time, but when i feel i have better control of it..perhaps yes." Stryke replied in a serious tone, before he actually seemed to smile..and laugh a touch even. "i'm afraid if i did that now i'd be very dead." He added in a grim tone shaking his head slightly.

"so yes, i suppose like that. a sparring session if you wouldn't mind?" Stryke finally settled for with a nod.

Stryke gave her a considering look..before nodding slowly. As eager as he was to try this out, using live ammunition could wait until he knew this troll perhaps a little better. Issues with trust had become common for him now, with good reason. Going out on a limb and letting a near stranger fire arrows at him while he was struggling to grasp the concepts of how exactly his powers worked might indeed be asking for being culled. Rather than that until he felt he could in fact safely do what needed to be done. "I have a change of clothes, and can wash these down by the springs trusting none of those day walkers are shambling about." He clicked his tongue in a tsking sound almost.

"red's fine. i won't cut you with my daggers either, perhaps some of the paint if i get hit, if anything?" Stryke replied he pursed his lips slightly as he watched her move about. Watching her climb down was nothing short of impressive. The yellowblood looked horrified, swallowing nervously as he slowly made his way after her. He was not nearly as confident a climber as her, and his descent was slow and steady. Near the end, a branch gave out as he landed with a thud on his booted feet heavily.

Dusting himself off he raised a brow as he peered back up the way they had come...that was one hell of a workout. Glancing at her his brow arched slightly. "you're quite nimbly..also that trek is grueling luxara." He groaned slightly, pointing out his observation as he adjusted his long tied back hair, wiping the sweat from his brow as he moved to get himself ready for what would likely be a painful sparring session. He was pretty sure that paintball gun was going to leave many nasty welts while he tried to figure out how to use this time stasis psionics nonsense.

Stryke's expression was serious, his brows knit together slightly in anticipation. He wasn't really sure what to expect from her..he would find out soon enough.

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The comment about the wilderness earned her a shake of his head, and a small groan of dismay. It wasn't enough she could swing from tree to tree like some of the local fauna..she was also laughing. His grey cheeks tinged a slight yellow shade before glancing to the side, scoffing slightly. Stryke had very little time to get setup when he saw the fancy device on her eye light up, and her sights were set on him.

"w..wait what?!" Sure. He'd asked for this. Even told her it was okay to shoot at him, but the sheer panic of knowing how much it would hurt to get washit looming over him. The yellowblood threw out his hands in a reflexive, defensive way. Given she'd lined up her shot perfectly, Stryke had a split second to react.

His body couldn't move fast enough. His yell of surprise followed the barrier around him. This time he felt the trigger, the intense response to the fear of the unknown. While grasping it, and focusing on the point the pellet had stopped at was admittedly very difficult. Narrowing his eyes, he watched as it remained there, frozen in time and space, giving him time to move out of the way as the successive shots seemingly resumed as if a button had been pressed and sailed off into distance uncontested.

Panting he moved forward, closing the distance and take a "swing" at her. Coming up short right before cutting her. "point." Ryk actually looked like he was smirking just a tad.

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His eyes widened at her complimenting him. She was so genuine about it, he couldn't help but look flustered. "t..thanksss. it's taking some getting use to." He muttered a bit sheepishly rubbing his neck slightly. Stryke's expression turned stern as she moved into action, forgetting the pleasantries for the moment. Keeping an eye on ones opponent was best after all.

For a moment Stryke actually stared at her like a sour wriggler might have when she climbed up the tree. There was no way he was going up after her! As he had tried to rush after her, it lined him up for a perfect shot to the torso. There was no trigger of his psionic this time, even if he tried to flip that switch. Short of a dim yellow glow, he yelped as the pellet scored a hit. Bright candy red exploded all over his chest. He swore, feeling the bruise without even needing to look. That had bloody damn well hurt! At least he didn't have to try and throw things at her from up in a tree.

Wincing he moved in to take another swing at her, although it didn't connect the way the other "had".