Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had rained all morning. At least that had been Dash's assumption after noticing the same weather at both breakfast and lunch. Before breakfast he was training so he could not be certain of that period of time. And after breakfast he had taken a rain poncho out and looked for creatures that only came out in this weather.

Now with lunch over so was the rain. He went back outside. Should I go swimming today? he wondered as he stomped in a rain puddle. It made a large, satisfying splash. His feet were already wet from earlier and he had no problem getting them wetter, especially since after that his feet made squelching noises that were also fun to listen to. He squished all the way down to the water's edge where he stood looking out over the water. He was wearing the poncho again; the wind whipped up from the lake and rustled the waterproof fabric.

It was not a good idea to swim so soon after eating so he turned back toward the ship with the intent to do some more training, specifically some stretches and other exercises that would not lead to a cramp in his side. He took half a step and caught his foot on the fabric of the poncho as he started up an incline. The slick grass served as a water slide and he hit chin first before sliding down to a stop in a now-muddy puddle. He tried to rise, caught the poncho again and landed squarely on his butt. The poncho spread out over the water's surface like a lilypad. "Oww..." He rubbed his chin.

Dash looked to either side, then leaned back to look up at the child standing over him. The voice was too high to be Argent, so it seemed natural to assume it was Chrys. There was something different about him, though. He blinked the thought away and prepared to reply, only to re-think the situation. Sliding down the hill had been fun, if a little bumpy. "Well, actually... It was fun until the landing." Or both landings, in the puddle then back again in the same puddle.

He was much more careful this time when he rose to his feet. Since the other boy was so close, he found himself nearly nose-to-nose with him when standing upright. It was then that he saw the boy's eyes. They were different than Dash remembered. He did not bother dusting himself off, he was too wet anyway. He carefully stepped away from the puddle. "How are you, today? Er, my name's Padparadscha." If this really was Chrys, he would be confused by the introduction. If it was someone else, well, he wouldn't know any better.

Dash! But Chrys knew him as 'Dash,' anyway, so that little test was not helpful, now, was it? Especially if Argent had mentioned that Dash's full name was long and unpronounceable. "I'm all right. If the landing had been straight into the lake, that would have been something." Aside from the landing he could not precisely complain about anything. "He probably did not think I needed any instruction for today," he commented. It was not that he did not need to train, but for the time being he just needed practice. A lot of practice.

"No, it wouldn't," Dash agreed. The poncho was a hindrance except in the rain. He did not want to think about it pulling him down in the water. He may be able to swim now, but he still harbored some residual fear of deep water without a diving apparatus. He mentally shook memories from his thoughts.

The boy wanted to train with Dash? He had only trained with Argent, a child must be very different, even if he had been trained by his father. "That... would be great!" He nodded vigorously with a big grin and looked around for a place without puddles. "I have trained unarmed, yes. How about over there?" he suggested, pointing to a spot nearby.

The more Dema spoke, the less sure Dash was that this was a different person from Chrys. The eyes were different, and the hair was different, but saying things like getting to train with someone his size strengthened Dash's doubt. Wordlessly, Dash removed the poncho and tossed it aside. He did not want to trip but he wanted the other boy to trip even less. Dash followed him to the place he had pointed out. "We could look elsewhere, like in the woods under the trees," he suggested.

"Right." He smirked. "It didn't hurt. Much." He got into a similar stance then just a heartbeat later leapt at Dema to see how he reacted to an assault, while Dema might have the advantage in learning Dash's moves before moving offensively. He did not slip this time. "But I won't go easy on you!"

Dash shifted his weight back as the shoulder rammed into his chest, or would have if he was still coming at Dema. He started to lose his balance and used it to sweep his foot under one of Dema's to try to get him to fall. Of course Dash landed on his butt in the process, making a nice skid mark in the grass.

Woah! Dash narrowly missed Dema's flailing hands, but the big muddy splash only splattered half of his body. Good thing he was already wet. "Thanks!" He was not able to jump to his feet like he wanted and Dema's tackle sent them rolling into a heap in the mud. Dash blinked water from his eyes, or he hoped it was just water. "Nice tackle!"