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Sutai felt it was time to practice further, and who better to practice with than the new friend she made a few weeks prior? Friendly practice sessions were few and far between and knowing that the war was the utmost of seriousness, Sutai needed to step up her game.

And for that, she texted Caliban.



After sending the message, Sutai sat on one of the public sculptures that was donated to the park by a local artist. It was fairly tall at ten feet tall, made of some kind of folded and brushed metal. She swung her legs freely beneath her, wondering if she should be doing pushups or something...

The signature that approached the Squire that night was not what Sutai was expecting. She thought perhaps the person was simply passing through and wouldn't stop to chat while she waited for Caliban.

Therefore, she was startled when her name was called and it was, indeed, Mister Caliban! His outfit was different, as was his power signature. The Squire squeaked in glee and immediately rushed up to the newly-minted Super Senshi for a very thorough Sutai-brand Outfit Inspection.

"MISTER CALIBAN!" she cried, bounding up to the brunette and beginning the first of many circles around him to take in all the details of his now more elaborate outfit. "Look at you! You've gotten an upgrade! Your boots and your ruffles look fabulous!" She couldn't help but tug gently on the butt-bow - something that seemed very common on the senshi she'd met. "I'm so happy for you! Was it recent?? I want aaaaaaallllllllllllllllll the details, please!"

whee whee whee

Sutai clapped her hands over her cheeks, positively beaming happiness directly into Caliban's face. "I'm so proud of you, Mister Caliban! You did such a great job and worked very hard and that's why the universe gave you extra power. That's what I think, anyway! I don't think the universe would give you power if you didn't earn it, you know? I don't know how the Chaos people get their power... I hope the universe doesn't give them power too. That would be pretty awful, but..."

With an audible sigh, the Squire picked at the hem of her tutu. It was best not to worry about such things. They had work to do!

A shake of her head was all Sutai needed to get back in the game. "Mister Caliban! Would you mind practicing with me? I'd like to try concentrating my magic on myself, and then have you try to attack me. I need to learn how to dodge better, you know? I'm not much of a fighter but being able to dodge is so very important! What do you think?"

emotion_kirakira

Sutai nodded vigorously. She must've explained it well enough since Caliban easily understood what she meant.

"You'll have to show off your new moves to go with your new outfit, Mister Caliban!"

She trotted a good ten yards away from the Super Senshi - ample room to start her concentration and begin to move. It would also give Caliban time to adjust to the speed at which Sutai hoped she would be moving. Running and keeping her concentration stable and dodging incoming blows was incredibly difficult without any practice behind it. Other knights were very impressive with their physical and magical prowess.

Sutai hoped to get there at some point.

"Okay! Get ready!"

The Squire closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing and the unique song of her Wonder. The sound of cold winter winds and the chime of her bronze accessories. It was then that she felt the magic coursing through her body and her mystical pool was beginning to drain. Now was the time.

She dropped to a run (or, as much of a run as Sutai was capable of), aiming to dodge around Caliban and whatever blows he might start throwing when she got within range.

Run and focus... run and focus... run and focus...

That was the manta with which Sutai concentrated on maintaining her speed. Compared to a Super Senshi like Caliban, she moved a about one-and-a-half times speed. She wanted to give Caliban plenty of time to grow accustomed to her increased speed (so she wouldn't ram into Caliban like a freight train. Poor Fornax!) Sutai didn't want an unfortunate repeat of last time she attempted this.

"Whoa!" she cried as Caliban's punch came right for her shoulder.

Dropping to her knees, Sutai felt her cheek graze Caliban's fist, and the Squire went skidding about three feet behind the Super Senshi on her knees. Stumbling forward, her concentration broke for a moment as she tried to right herself. "That was a great shot, Mister Caliban! Keep going like that and I'll try again!"

She wanted to practice just one thing at a time, instead of attempting to dodge and fight back. Turning on her heel, magic swirling around her form again, Sutai started another run. Pay attention to his arms!

His next attack was even closer, grazing her shoulder as Sutai ran just wide enough to escape most of the blow. The momentum shifted her slightly to the right and she stumbled for a few feet before righting herself. Leaning down to touch the ground, Sutai used her hand to help pivot and turn more sharply to run at Caliban for a third pass.

This time, Caliban was clever, shifting his entire body instead of throwing a punch. The only way for Sutai to avoid ramming into him would be to change trajectory at the last second, but the move was too quick for Sutai to make the necessary corrections. She was doing well enough trying to dodge his punches and keeping her magic concentrated on her movements. When something else was added to the sequence that she needed to keep track of, everything fell apart.

"Oh oh oh no no ACK!"

Unfortunately, the Squire tripped on a stone and went sailing into the bushes. Only her legs and tutu were visible as she flailed around, stuck. She wasn't hurt, thankfully. She called out to Caliban.

"I'm okay~! I'm just... um... stuck! A little... um... could you help, please, Mister Caliban?"

If looked at abstractly, Sutai's tutu made her look like a giant flower stuck in the bushes. She rustled to and fro, but succeeded in getting absolutely nowhere. She was lodged too far into the bush to use her legs as a counterweight and couldn't reach the ground.

"Oh, don't worry too much about me, Mister Caliban," she said, voice emanating from somewhere deep within the foliage. "I'm not hurt, just... stuck. Do you think you could pull on my leg or something? This hedge is much thicker than it looks! Um... Oh, I think I see a caterpillar! And thank you for helping me, even though I'm not very good at this whole thing... I know I'm not really built for fighting, but we all need to learn to defend themselves, you know?"

It was then that Sutai shrieked suddenly and started flailing in earnest. "MISTER CALIBAN THERE'S A SPIDER IN HERE!! GETITOFFGETITOFF!!"

Caliban’s help was just what the doctor ordered.

The Squire was unceremoniously tugged free of the bush, flailing and shrieking about spiders in her hair. As soon as she was free, she clambered away from the bushes, spitting and pulling twigs and leaves from her hair. Sutai looked a mess - disheveled and dirty, with a caterpillar on her shoulder.

With no spiders in sight, the Squire breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you thank you, Mister Caliban! That was very kind of you. I really appreciate it.” Her braid partially undone, several of the Squire’s crystalline accessories were casualties of The Hedge. Sutai didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. With Caliban’s help, she was no longer a victim of its evil green grasp. “I am so very glad it wasn’t any worse than that… I… I’m really afraid of spiders and didn’t expect on in there… whew.”

All that being said, her sunny disposition seemed to return post-haste. “I’m sorry about that… um… little hiccup. But I have a little bit of magic left if you want to try running around at top speed. Hee hee~”

She didn’t want to waste any more of his time, after all. Caliban was a Super Senshi, which made him that much more important in Sutai’s mind. “You’re probably quite a bit more adept on your feet than I am.”