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Forsterite had just finished tending her community's garden and planned to go on patrol when the very beings she had intended to go on patrol looking for came to her instead. Upon getting a better sense of their energy signatures, however, she realized she was outnumbered two-to-one and, as if that wasn't enough, one of the pair far outranked her in terms of power. There was no point in attempting to escape.

If she had been more attentive to her surroundings than to the plants she had been weeding and pruning, could she have discovered her enemies sooner? Probably, but there was no point in lamenting her lack of awareness now. All she could do was keep her failure in mind and learn from it for next time - if she lived to have a next time.

Her own stance was stiff when she turned to face her addresser, her mouth a thin, firm line. Bright green eyes narrowed when she was issued an order from the knight - if that's what he was, because she hadn't ever met one before and was only going off what she had read and been taught - but she obeyed without a word, her hands behind her back.

Would he think her a fool for acting so obedient? Perhaps, but all of Forsterite's survival instincts told her she would have been a fool not to just then. She supposed, at least, no other Negaverse officers were there to bear witness to her disgrace. If they had been, though, perhaps she might have stood a chance.

"I am Lieutenant Forsterite," the woman answered monotonously. Then, risking a degree of impertinence, she asked, "Who are you?"

The grin from the knight caused the lieutenant's expression to sour. Was he amused that she was willing to do as he asked so easily? Perhaps he only answered because it pleased him to present himself thus. He outranked her in both power and experience and they both knew it. Forsterite got the very irritating feeling that she was being toyed with.

Removing her hands from behind her back, she crossed her arms across her shoulders. Here, though, seemed someone who was actually respectable on the enemy's side. The man appeared observant and was evidently to-the-point, which the young woman grudgingly approved of. She absolutely despised time-wasters and idiots regardless of their affiliation.

And then he began to threaten her. A good measure of the respect he'd gained from her was immediately thrown out the window. "You needn't have insulted me by pointing out that you only chose me because I was the only one around," she answered in even tones, though her annoyance was evident in her words themselves. "And your indirect threat was entirely unnecessary. If you had only asked what you'd wanted to ask upfront, you could have kept your cliche remark as a response only if I refused. If I hadn't, you might have saved yourself some dignity. But ultimately, I admit that's no concern of mine." She waved an impatient hand.

"I care neither for your temper nor your ability to hold a grudge. They do not make you any more admirable or better at your job unless I am mistaken in the goals and ideals of your faction. In fact, I'm fairly certain they make you worse." Were all the White Moon morons this stupid, flaunting their weaknesses as if they were strengths? But that didn't change the fact that she was at a disadvantage. Forsterite sighed at the practical questions finally posed to her.

"I am just beginning. But if it is a spar you seek - for yourself or your companion - " Her bright green eyes shifted briefly to the senshi beyond the knight. "- I will take you on with what knowledge and skill I have, little that it is. Though it is likely I will lose, it appears I have no choice." What was his goal, here? Did he want to show off in front of his less-powerful comrade? Did he want to practice teamwork in ganging up on an opponent? Whatever he had in mind, the lieutenant could see little point in asking her to engage in combat.

Every line of Forsterite's body was tense. She raised her stubborn chin defiantly. "If you didn't outrank me so drastically, I would have already been fighting the pair of you with all I had."

If he didn't give a s**t about any of that, what was he doing any of this for? She followed his gaze back to the senshi. Ah. The weakling who was probably at her level. She studied him as she continued to take in the knight's words.

"How tragic that even you think so little of your fellow knights and have such little conviction in achieving the goals of your faction. No wonder your side is losing."

The woman looked away in annoyance. "This plan is moronic. If you try to teach him this way, he's not going to last a minute in a real battle and all the false confidence you built up in him will come crashing down once he realizes what a hoax it all was. Any trust he has in you now will dissolve once he discovers how little you believed in him to have to tell others to throw battles. As he is now, he might even be able to beat me with me giving it my best. The main trouble, it sounds like, is his motivation if he doesn't like to fight."

She unfolded her arms. "If I bullied him a little - or even pretended to get the upper hand on you, he might actually be spurred into action. Real action, not action just because you told him he had to. Action made of his own free will." Forsterite met the knight's green eyes with her own.

"If you're serious about training this underling of yours, you should let me attack you and allow him to think you might actually be in danger if we make it seem like I took you by surprise."

It was the sight of the knight's grin that caused the lieutenant's brows narrow irritably. "I may be new, but so is he," she pointed out, gaze darting to the senshi. He might have potentially been able to believe the knight could have been caught by surprise. But if the blonde was going to be this condescending, she wasn't going to bother. She probably should have known better than to try to talk sense into him in the first place.

Let his own plans backfire on him. It would only be more beneficial to the Negaverse in the end. "Doll...?" she repeated under her breath, her patience wearing thinner and thinner by the second. It was a good thing her rationality and logic usually triumphed over her emotions or she was pretty certain she would have attempted to attack the knight by then.

She jerked away at the touch of his hand, taking larger strides forward to demonstrate that he could reach the destination he intended for her without guidance. Did this make her a traitor, doing what a knight asked of her? Well...as long as she didn't reveal any Negaverse secrets or help them, Forsterite didn't think she would get into trouble for the actions she was taking. If anything, the tawny-haired young woman thought the knight's way of training the senshi was actually detrimental to his own faction and thus beneficial to hers.

Approaching the darker-haired young man, the lieutenant appraised him with her eyes. Really, what was his mentor here thinking? If he didn't like fighting, what would a few fake wins and a boost in confidence do? Forsterite doubted it would make the senshi enjoy it any more than he already did.

"I was told you require combat practice," she stated, wondering if the sailor scout would be able to make the first move.

The question from the senshi almost caused the lieutenant to smile - if she had been the smiling type. "Whether or not I mind seems to be irrelevant in this situation. It is pointless asking," the agent informed him sardonically. He really must have been new if he was going to ask her something like that. More than new - ignorant. Perhaps even incompetent.

Whether as a civilian or an agent, Forsterite detested incompetence. "Do you inquire this of all your enemies before performing your magic?" She was tempted to attack first, impatient as she was to get this over with and annoyed with the waste of time talking, but she refused to be the one. She hadn't been asked to initiate the fight and, more than his abilities, the lieutenant wanted to test the senshi's resolve.

"I have no magic. Furthermore, my weapon is useless." She indicated her parachute harness by a light tug on its strap. "How do you wish to proceed?"

If he hadn't considered her his enemy, what could he have possibly thought of her as? "It would likely be most beneficial for you if you did so," she answered with an unperturbed air.

She hadn't bothered getting into a combative stance as the other had because of two things. One was she had wanted to see whether Malus would have attacked her anyway and two was that if he did, indeed, attack her, it would probably have been with magic which she doubted her physical combat skills would have any effect on.

Sure enough, the senshi called out his attack and Forsterite did her best to brace herself. Against what, she wasn't sure, because she didn't feel anything immediately. But when she looked around, she realized that everything suddenly appeared to have become stained glass around her. She moved, shifting from foot to foot to see if her perception would change or if the 'glass' was solid. The colors changed and the lighting altered, but...Forsterite felt as though she were an insect with multiple-faceted eyes and each facet was a different color reflecting the world. It was very disorienting to say the least.

Unsure about what had just happened, the lieutenant hesitated. When she thought she could make out the shape and colors of the senshi who had just been standing before her, she brought up her leg high to try to kick him.

The world itself seemed to shatter and fall away as what appeared the be the glass shards that had comprised the stained-glass view broke from reality to shower down and cut Forsterite's leg. She withdrew it with a hiss of pain, falling on one knee and drawing her injured leg in to examine it.

Forsterite's head jerked up at the sound Malus made, wondering what had become of him, but his expression told her he had only cried out from concern of her. But why? What a fool was this to be worried over someone he had just attacked and who had attempted to attack him in turn?

As she watched him with ever-present suspicion, she thought she might have understood. Although he'd said he could consider her his enemy, perhaps he simply thought of her as a sparring partner. Perhaps, new as he was, he didn't have a very strong idea of just how adamantly their factions opposed each other and thus his own opinion of the Negaverse didn't reflect his faction's. He must not have known the agents of chaos were encouraged to drain, corrupt, and kill all the opponents they engaged in combat.

Well...if he thought of her that way, maybe she could play along, but only to an extent. The idea of being so buddy-buddy with a White Moon Senshi unnerved her far more than his magic had. "Don't be sorry," she answered firmly but not as harsh as she might ordinarily have. "Especially if it's not your fault. If we are sparring, you must get into the mindset of a soldier in a war. Soldiers don't shoot someone from the other side and then come running to examine their injuries and apologize."

He didn't look very much younger than her in age, but his mentality seemed nothing like that of a battle-hardened sailor soldier. Forsterite was reminded that some people turned out to be more suited for this war than others.

She tore off a strip of cloth from her sleeve and used it to bind the gash bleeding on her leg. The cloth also helped to staunch the blood. "Perhaps if you find out what the difference is, you can use it to your advantage." She tightened the makeshift bandage. "But for the record, I'm fine."

The lieutenant's lips pursed at the sight of Malus going for his sash and she put her hands on his to stay them. "You are far too kind-hearted for battles of this nature. If you want my advice, you should stay home and forget they even exist." The knight was wasting his time if he ever thought he could turn this one into a useful warrior.