Sinter intended for Bloodfest to be a time to catch up with old friends. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:41 pm
Sinter had nearly thought he'd hallucinated the Starlight Talent Agency booth as he passed by it at Bloodfest. He'd spotted Aandes at a distance first. His shade of mint green was unmistakable. He'd nearly approached to go say hello, but stopped when he saw where the other was headed.
"ODETTE!?" Sinter's face paled as much as it could. There was a face he hadn't seen in a good long while. He knew from what he could glean from Tamiya that Odette had a tumultuous past, but this!? He felt the overwhelming urge to approach the booth and find out what was going on. Truly he'd been out of the loop with modern culture to not notice this happening. Redblooded rebel and piteous celebrity were not titles that typically attached themselves to the same person, least of all someone Sinter knew.
It was only Ganyma's presence that kept Sinter grounded. The last thing he wanted to do was cause a scene while sponsoring his own rehabilitated citizen. The dots connected, and Sinter cast Aandes another sidelong glance as he attended to his booth. They must be operating under the same program as himself and Ganyma. It was the only explanation that would allow the two of them to operate so openly--and to this degree of success. Sinter couldn't help but feel like an underachiever in his own sponsorship.
More important than Sinter's professional relationships however, were his romantic ones. Tamiya was smitten with Odette. However, back then Odette was a rebel, and a psychic rustblood at that. Sinter had never thought Odette of all people would come back around to society. If anyone had a reason to be anti-government it was her.
However, now she was even more than an upstanding citizen. She was a role model. Sinter's jaw clenched. It was such a swift 180 it caused his head to spin. Try as he might, he just couldn't swallow it. She had security, status, supporters...
A shot with Tamiya. There it was. There was zero political backlash towards Tamiya pursuing Odette. He knew what Tamiya was going to do more often than not. Odette was an enigma. Sinter resolved himself to figure this bizarre situation out. He spent the rest of the evening tending to Ganyma the best he could. He had a plan.
The plan involved confronting Odette as she left the Starlight booth for the night. He'd seen Ganyma off back to the hotel he'd been staying at and now he was back at the edge of the fairgrounds alone. The patrons that night had all packed up and even the employees were beginning to trickle out. It was only a matter of time before Odette showed up...
Odette had never been happier. With the exception of issues with one hotheaded greenblood, Bloodfest had gone off without a hitch. The queen approached Aandes with business opportunities, and Odette got to spend the entire time surrounded by trolls who adored her. So much warm happiness buzzed inside her that she couldn't help but hum as she packed up to leave. She bid Aandes a pleasant goodbye, then turned to make her way back to her hotel.
For once, it was something high class! Odette sighed dreamily. Long gone were the days where she had to live in basements. Between the hot chocolate waiting for her and Aandes drumming up slanderous articles against Kursha, nothing could ruin Odette's night.
Except, perhaps, old memories she hadn't moved on from. Even from afar Sinter was an unmistakeable figure with his unique horns and his perfect posture. He was very obviously waiting for something. Still walking, Odette did a quick look around the area, eyes peeled for any signs of Tamiya. Coming up short, she turned her attention back to Sinter. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool.
"Sinter Heilig, it's been a while," She greeted, polite but not too over-the-top. Gracefully, she tucked back one side of her hair and shot the younger redblood a bright smile. "What's keeping you here, dear?" Odette asked, more for her own sake than out of actual curiosity.
seekingCylem
Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 3:43 pm
Sinter returned Odette's greeting with a clean nod. "Odette," he replied.
"I would have spoken to you at your booth, but I felt my tone would have been improper for the festivities of Bloodfest," Sinter said upon Odette's arrival. He was almost surprised she confronted him so directly, considering their past interactions had been less than pleasant. Sinter decided to follow Odette's lead and act frankly as well.
"You seem to be doing quite well for yourself these days. While I'm certainly not opposed to a successful underdog story, the circumstances are startlingly fortunate on your behalf. Alternia has never been so kind to us lowbloods," Sinter's speech slowed as he chose his words more carefully. He wasn't rehearsing in his head. He was speaking in the moment with a guarantee of a reaction on Odette's part. "I want to believe your success is genuine. I really do. However, I'm sure you can sympathize with the fact that I just... can't. Not readily, at least."
Sinter sighed, but his rigid posture restricted the action to a brief exhale. He blinked slowly and returned his focus.
"I know there's a very real possibility of Tamiya contacting you. I'm not asking you to reciprocate for her sake or anything of the sort. However, I want to be certain of what, and who, she will be involving herself in."
Sinter's hands had until this moment been hanging motionless at his sides. With a single, swift maneuver, he unsheathed the saber he kept strapped to his hip. While he made no move to point the blade at Odette, it was clear from his posture that he was prepared to react at any moment.
"I want to see if you've changed. Unfortunately the only context I have is your reaction to great stress."
Sinter had prepared considerably, hadn't he? Odette frowned, closing her eyes. She had really hoped she wouldn't have to deal with something like this tonight. And with no Aandes in sight, she was alone to smooth things over. In fact, there weren't too many trolls in sight at all. Perhaps she had more freedom than normal, thanks to Sinter's polite efforts and considerable patience.
"I'm sure you know I haven't achieved this success all on my own. My agent is wholly responsible for the prosperity I've been able to achieve," She explained in a jovial tone, though her words were entirely serious. She was almost willing to have a more political discussion with him, but then he brought up the tuskbeast in the room, as Odette expected.
"Sinter, what's between me and Tamiya is considerably complicated," She admitted, closing her eyes and massaging her temples in an attempt to keep her poker face. She frowned, realizing that because Sinter had neglected to approach the booth probably meant he was still in the dark about their history. She almost felt sorry for the troll. He deserved to learn it from Tamiya, but even when the clues were in plain sight he couldn't piece them together.
Odette sighed, watching him unsheathe his saber. "Is this really necessary? I don't have any qualms with you," She said, which was only a half truth. She didn't have problems with Sinter, only his company. Giving another glance around, she made the snap decision to entertain Sinter's stress test.
She withdrew her glaive, curling her fingers around it. "Let's keep things cordial, alright?" She asked politely. She didn't want either of them to get seriously hurt. It would be horrible publicity.
Sinter waited patiently as Odette spoke. His face may as well have been made of stone. While he knew Aandes was charming, it only explained his success as an agent, not why he would have taken on Odette in the first place. It was one thing to sponsor a troll from the Rehabilitation Center, but actively turning them from what was basically rusty cullfodder into a beloved star? While advertising prior rebel connections? Either Sinter was missing something or Aandes had an eye for talent that bordered on the supernatural.
"It's precisely because everything is so complicated that I'm even doing this," Sinter replied, finally beginning to show signs of frustration. "The first to bring their opponents to their knees shall be the victor." He tilted his sword up into the proper stance. "Show me what kind of person you are."
Without further pause, Sinter rushed at Odette. His swing made no attempt to cut deeply, or even at all. The intent was to throw Odette off her balance and take control of the small distance between the two of them.
Odette hummed, twirling her glaive and starting to summon a gust around herself. "I don't understand how this is supposed to reveal anything," She said, genuinely confused. She did her best to dodge out of Sinter's path as he jabbed at her, but it still managed to nick her new coat.
"I've already bared everything to the world, haven't I?" She added, spiraling a gust of wind under her feet. Then she spun around Sinter, trying to disorient him in turn, waiting for a good opening.
Aerokinesis — Adept Agility Style A (opponents must roll a 5 on accuracy to hit, 2x per battle)
Gartifact — Novice Agility B (2 2d6 hits with +1 to accuracy to each on this attack, 1x per battle)
Expert Trinket, Offense Style B (3/3 Charges) (2d6 Deal double damage on this attack, 3x per battle. 1 ongoing damage for all turns after. The ongoing damage from these stack.)
Sinter could have kicked himself. Of course the goddamn aerokinesis. She was clearly more skilled with it than he'd anticipated. Odette merely rolled with the swing and was now orbiting him like a dust devil. He went into a defensive stance. Chasing after her would be foolish both in strategy and appearance.
"I need to know if you're sincere," Sinter stressed while trying and failing to track Odette's motions with his eyes. "Why did you defect? Why did you choose to become famous after all you've been through? Why any of this!?"
HP: 37/40 Odette is using her artifact! Novice Agility B! 11 dmg holy s**t
"Why?" Odette repeated, raising her voice so Sinter could hear her clearly over the wind encircling him. "I was led astray and then left behind with nothing." She dramatized, clicking her garter artifact on. Her muscles tensed, finally spotting her opening.
Swerving around to the front of Sinter, Odette delivered a barrage of kicks to his chest, cementing the move with a powerful kick to the jaw. Then with an aerodynamic backflip she fell back, twirling her glaive as she waited for Sinter to collect himself. "Aandes saw something in me, offered me a deal to get my life back together, and of course I took it. How could I not?" She explained the rest of her story to make up for wasted time.
Aerokinesis — Adept Agility Style A (opponents must roll a 5 on accuracy to hit, 2x per battle)
Gartifact — Novice Agility B (2 2d6 hits with +1 to accuracy to each on this attack, 1x per battle)
Expert Trinket, Offense Style B (3/3 Charges) (2d6 Deal double damage on this attack, 3x per battle. 1 ongoing damage for all turns after. The ongoing damage from these stack.)
Odette sounded so calm given the circumstances. Meanwhile it was taking all of Sinter's composure to not squeeze his eyes shut against the icy wind.
It was too little too late, however. Sinter didn't even see Odette land. One second she had disappeared into his blind spot and the next she was directly in front of him. She pulverized him with enough speed and control that he didn't even fall until the last kick was delivered. Sinter was sent spinning. He only caught himself at the last second before his knees hit the ground. He'd caught himself on his sword, pierced into the snow like a crutch. He could barely hear Odette over the sound of his own heaving. Finally, he spat red blood into the snow. He'd lost a tooth--not one of the front ones, thankfully. He'd come close to biting off his entire tongue. Odette probably would have liked that, he thought bitterly.
He returned to a standing position. It wasn't nearly as precise or stable as it had been in the beginning, but he stayed on his feet nonetheless. He took Odette's patience as an opportunity to pull his handkerchief from his pocket and wipe the drizzle of blood and saliva from his mouth and chin. With a sharp movement he shoved the dirtied cloth back into his coat. A small part of him was impressed, but it was greatly overshadowed by the blow to his ego and the many blows to his torso.
"Just like that, huh..?" Sinter's voice was guttural from the excess liquid in his mouth, but he was gentlemanly enough not to spit intentionally. There was no look of acceptance on his face, but it wasn't as though he had any way to disprove Odette. "So this is your way of getting back at the rebels who scorned you? Revenge via success?"
Sinter shoved aside his abdominal pain and made to close the distance once again. This time he took a page from Odette's book. He skidded out on the snow so he came to a stop behind Odette, rather than engage her head-on. He aimed a quick back swing with the blunt edge of his sword. It was only her legs he needed to take out. He couldn't afford to get kicked like that again.
"I wouldn't call it revenge—" Odette gasped through her teeth as she felt Sinter's sword make contact with the back of her legs. It was with the blunt edge of his sword, thank gog, but still it made Odette panic. She had hurt her legs once before, and now that they were her selling point, losing them was a devastating blow.
Sweeping another powerful gust around, she started to lift Sinter off the ground. "I don't think I'm hurting anyone," She continued, leaning back, and gripping Sinter's shoulders. "Just by living my life—" The last word came out stressed as Odette hoisted Sinter up and over herself, flipping him onto his back.
Aerokinesis — Adept Agility Style A (opponents must roll a 5 on accuracy to hit, 2x per battle)
Gartifact — Novice Agility B (2 2d6 hits with +1 to accuracy to each on this attack, 1x per battle)
Expert Trinket, Offense Style B (3/3 Charges) (2d6 Deal double damage on this attack, 3x per battle. 1 ongoing damage for all turns after. The ongoing damage from these stack.)
Sinter's arms windmilled as he suddenly lost contact with the ground. He'd never trained for this. He was literally out of his element. It made it difficult to focus on the words Odette was saying, but she "assisted" by grabbing his shoulders. Her upside-down face filled his vision. If he had words, they left him the moment his torso was yanked over Odette's. He hit the snow hard enough to bounce.
He lay there spreadeagle looking up at Odette with an expression both pained and frustrated. The snow around him was pushed up and away with his impact like a particularly abstract snow angel. His teeth were gritted together and lined with residual blood from the previous kick to the jaw. It took him a while to unclench his jaw enough to speak.
"I don't understand... How you can face all of that. And just. Continue without another glance back." Sinter was clearly working against his winded body. "Why... You have power now. More than any of us. You can't tell me you don't want to hurt the people who hurt you." Sinter's body slackened slightly against the ground.
HP: 33/40 Odette is attacking like a normal troll! 6 dmg!
"Because, Sinter" Odette spoke slowly, clearly, so the message would have no issue getting across. She stepped toward Sinter with similar deliberation, boots crunching softly in the snow.
"Unlike most of the trolls on this planet, I don't want to hurt anyone," She explained, twirling her glaive around to offer the blunt side to help him up. Her smile was almost sickeningly sweet. Inside, she was screaming from the irony of the situation, the partial lie, and the fact that she had taken Sinter down in no time flat. Since when had she become so cool? She felt like a full-blown superhero.
Aerokinesis — Adept Agility Style A (opponents must roll a 5 on accuracy to hit, 2x per battle)
Gartifact — Novice Agility B (2 2d6 hits with +1 to accuracy to each on this attack, 1x per battle)
Expert Trinket, Offense Style B (3/3 Charges) (2d6 Deal double damage on this attack, 3x per battle. 1 ongoing damage for all turns after. The ongoing damage from these stack.)
seekingCylem
Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 11:21 pm
Despite Odette's words, Sinter visibly flinched as the glaive was presented to him. He stared up at her from his place on the ground for several seconds before responding. With much hesitation, he grabbed hold of the polearm and twisted himself onto his knees. From there he pulled himself up into a standing position, pausing to pick up his sword. He wiped the wetness of the snow off its blade with his handkerchief before sliding both of them away. Despite his bruises, he'd returned to his usual straight-backed posture. It was only then that he looked back up at Odette's face.
His mouth was a thin, troubled line. His exposed teeth dug slightly into his lip. His eyes just looked tired. Even under the best-case scenario of Odette actually telling the truth, Sinter still couldn't understand her. He'd been through a hell of a lot himself. He doubted a lowblood that grew up attached to a terrorist cell would have had it any easier. He couldn't understand the desire to just live and let live. That wasn't how things worked. If it was truly how Odette was going to play her hand, then it would only be a matter of time before the status quo tossed her back into the faceless rabble. As much as Sinter loathed being wrong, he wasn't sure being right would give him any sense of satisfaction either.
"Then I suppose there's nothing more to say on the matter." Sinter's voice was curt and forced into evenness, but not intended to be impolite. He offered a minute bow at the waist, signaling the end of their duel, and took a half step to the side. The gesture indicated that he would allow Odette to pass by him with no further argument.
As Sinter moved, Odette fought to maintain a composed smile. A rising tension caught in her chest, and she felt her fingers gripping tighter around her glaive. Her eyes flickered away, unable to keep her eyes on him. He just didn't get it! And of all the trolls she'd expect to understand where she was coming from, he'd be the first. Looking at him was the closest thing to looking in a mirror, down to the fancy clothes and the permanent blush. It was no wonder why Tamiya was so fixated with them both.
She clicked her tongue and sighed, pulling her glaive behind her back. How was it so hard for him to figure things out, to understand. To understand about her, about her history with Tamiya, or whatever else seemed to be bothering him enough to challenge her to a fight. Her brows furrowed. She would be personally unsatisfied leaving this stone unturned.
Rising to the challenge, Odette's pleasant smile returned as quickly as it left. She stepped closer to Sinter, giggling. "Goodness, I really roughed you up though, didn't I?" Odette doted, moving with slow apprehension to fix a stray part of Sinter's bangs. It was a bold move, and she fully expected the other redblood to flinch considering the circumstances. "And after I suggested we keep things light, too," She hummed a small laugh. "Please, do forgive me for that."
Odette brought a hand to her cheek, holding her elbow with her other arm. "Actually..." She continued, eyes flickering away and back. Her smile grew, fingers tracing the back of her jaw idly. "If you'd let me, I'd love to make it up to you." Her gaze was fixated on Sinter now, unwavering. "Perhaps, if the rest of your night's free... we could get some drinks to dull the pain?"
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