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 Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2025 3:17 pm
Quote: Winter Star Poinsettias: (6) : Poinsettias are common during the winter seasons, so it isn't unusual to see them decorating windowsills and local establishments. What is unusual are the unique Winter Star Poinsettias that seem to have accidentally mixed into the bunch. They look like ordinary Poinsettias reflecting a bit of glow from nearby lights--only, the leaves themselves are emitting a soft, silvery glow. They look like they are covered with a fine morning dew, only with fine silver glitter peppered in to give it a unique sparkle. They seem to have gone unnoticed by most of Destiny City and the landscapers, and it's not clear how these plants were selected, but anyone with a keen eye might recognize them as the catastrophe of Destiny City Botanical Garden's 2016 Winter Extravaganza. Thankfully, these variants are far less dangerous than their counterparts, however, these plants have a strange pollen that acts like an allergen and can cause agitation, oversensitivity, and sneezing to anything with much of a strong smell. Anyone who comes into contact with these plants may also find themselves suffering from flu-like symptoms such as fever, coughing, fatigue, and nausea and no medicine will relieve it, but the symptoms gradually fade. The leaves of the poinsettia are sharp and can sting like a papercut, so be careful! ...If you're worried about an all-out attack again, it might be a good idea to destroy these poinsettias--if you can manage to do so without getting caught. Training was always a good idea, especially if you were young and inexperienced. Tortuga was neither of those but he still found himself out there in the middle of the bitterly cold night, doing his best to ignore the little light that was still flitting around like a damn fly or mosquito while waiting for the young senshi to appear, to help with her training. Somehow he found he couldn’t just let the child be, he wouldn’t let her wander the streets without at least some skills. They had already gone over the proper way to punch, no broken fingers on his watch. He demonstrated a few kicks he had learned from Maia, but overall he wasn’t great at them. She was definitely a better teacher when it came to those fluid kicks and strikes. He was more of a bulldozer, working with his fists and weight to limit the damage of chaos in fights. He had scars to show just how up close and personal his tussles became. Distance was the best option but his magic didn’t really lend itself very well for that. It was a distraction at best and an annoyance at worst. So he would teach Aquitania that she didn’t have to rely on her magic. She needed to know what to do when it wasn’t an option especially since climbing trees weren’t always available. That particular night he was figuring on teaching the kid about using what was around them to fight. Things like branches, dirt, and even trash. Anything and everything could be a weapon depending on what it was. He also had a little surprise for her. It might not be the safest thing to teach but it could be handy… if dangerous. It's why he picked this particular location, an abandoned construction zone. Dark, secluded, fenced off. Nothing around but piles of dirt, trash, and scrubby grass, all coated with a light dusting of snow. Nothing green but some bright a** flowers that had Tortuga grimice. He knew what they were and was planning on using them for target practice once the hand to hand stuff was done. He had no idea who had put those demon plants out here but since they looked like they had just been tossed into the space like the rest of the trash he couldn’t really blame whoever it was. Not that he condoned littering but when it came to those plants he understood. While they looked pretty, with their silvery glow and everything, they were a menace. A down right terror to society. They should have been thoroughly destroyed years ago, but they weren’t so at least now they would be useful in the very literal sense. The knight paced the general area once again. Eyeing the terrain, and the visible detritus, all the while giving the poinsettias a wide berth. It might not be an ideal location for a fight but they rarely got to pick when Chaos attacked. And it had its benefits. Plenty of handy ‘weapons’, no visible cameras, and the fence kept the public at bay. For training it was perfect. For target practice it was adequate. For right now it would do.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2026 10:48 am
Aquitania felt like she'd been learning a lot lately. The proper way to punch without breaking her fingers, some more kicks...though, admittedly, she'd been able to show Tortuga more about kicking than he'd been able to teach her. It was still gratifying to know that both of them were helping each other learn better how to fight, even if she hadn't been expecting to wind up teaching someone more experienced than her the techniques she'd picked up. And the chibi had picked them up in ballet, of all places, not some kind of martial art, but the classiest of all classical dance forms. Very unorthodox...but apparently very effective. Her cousin Keesh said it had to do with dancers; you didn't ever want to get kicked by a dancer, dancers kicked like mules: powerfully, and with alarming accuracy. Keesh thought practicing kicks and pirouettes was a valid form of exercise for combat for her younger cousin.
All of which was good. Between her having only chibi magic, which was unreliable at the best of times, and her magic being more akin to cheerleading, Aquitania did not have magic to fall back on as strongly in combat--the best thing she could hope for when fighting with magic would be either having animals she could rely on nearby, or that she was tag-teaming a fight with someone else. So, all in all, better to learn how to engage in physical combat, for when magical combat was off the table.
Thus it was that she found herself hurrying out after making sure the rest of the family was in bed, just so she could engage in a late night combat class with Tortuga. Unfortunately, she was losing sleep. Fortunately, she was still on winter break, and would resume being an outwardly normal 4th grader next week. So this wasn't fatal, just cold. Just in case, though, she'd left a message to Khaz's senshi phone right before leaving, telling him where she was going. She accepted her big brother wanted to help and protect his baby sister, but he needed to, sooner or later, get to the point where he accepted that, sometimes, protecting someone meant not interfering when they were going out to get training and experience necessary to get stronger, so they could hold their own until they got backup.
The weather was cold, though at least not windy. Christmas decorations still covered parts of the town, though she was meeting the Jupiter squire in an abandoned construction zone.
Which was why she was thoroughly surprised to note the presence of an odd variety of poinsettia, covered in a sparkly dew, and whose leaves emitted a soft, silvery glow. The city had included them in some of the civic decorations, but none of them had decorated Knightside Academy, nor had her friends, family, or neighbors succeeded in acquiring any. It was a shame, really, they were awfully pretty, but Keesh had been giving them a suspicious look for the last week or so, and steered the chibi away from them, sometimes onto the other side of the street, when they'd passed by them. Unfortunately, they'd been with their mothers at the time for a girls' day out, so no real chance to ask what was going on, but Aquitania just had to take it on faith that her cousin knew what she was doing.
Were they dangerous? Was that why Tortuga had arranged them as target practice? Was that why he was staying away from them, too?
Aquitania waved to Tortuga as she stepped into the construction zone, still covered in a light dusting of snow. "Hi," she said. "What are we doing tonight?" she asked cheerfully.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2026 4:26 pm
When the chibi came through the fence Tortuga smiled and returned her wave. “Some practical skills, but first show me what you’ve learned.” He braced himself and held up his hands, palms out, even as he ordered the younger senshi to basically hit him. The knight wanted her to prove that she had been practicing even when not training with him. Survival depended on her moves being second nature. She shouldn’t have to think about it, just do it. Repetition was the only way to go about doing that. “Come on, give me your best shot.” If she did well enough they could move on to the improvised weapon’s portion before he showed her a trick that, honestly most boys already knew, but very few actually realized how dangerous it could be. It was definitely not ‘civilian’ approved but when your life was on the line… all rules were off the table. What he wanted Aquitania to learn was that using everything and anything in her possession to survive was what was required. There was no love lost between Order and the Negaverse. Child or no, Aquitania was in danger as much as he was. Maybe more so since she was so much smaller then he was, and didn’t have as much experience. He just hoped the young girl would never actually need what he was teaching her. He truly wished it, even if he knew that it was a futile wish.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2026 7:17 pm
Aquitania nodded, taking a deep breath. Thumb on the outside, hit with the first two knuckles. Other arm to catch and deflect incoming attacks.
The chibi's fist snaked out lightning fast, twisting at the end of her young arms, to strike the squire squarely in the belly button, holding up her other arm properly, before pulling her first arm back, and striking in the same spot with the off-hand. Not even pausing, she spun around, sweeping her leg around in a pirouette in an attempt to knock the squire off his feet.
Dancing back, she watched the Jovian squire cautiously, still balanced on the balls of her feet, arms up and at the ready.
As much as this struck her as less than polite behavior, it came from a good place, ensuring the chibi was prepared for whatever fight she might have to survive. And, given what she'd started hearing about Chaos, Chaos almost certainly wouldn't play nicely. So she needed to be ready to fight with people who would likely play dirty, and, sometimes, that meant doing things she hoped she never had to use.
The chibi hoped.
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2026 5:24 pm
The punches were predictable so he was able to guard against them but the kick was fast and took him at a bit of a surprise. He staggered sideways a bit, feeling the sting where her leg connected solidly with his side. “Good. Never assume your first hits will land, always have secondary and even more strikes available.” Tortuga reached down and pulled a ball from the ground before lobbing it at her. He had found the thing earlier, a sad kids toy that had gotten left behind at this general dumping area. He didn’t throw it hard, just a reminder that until the danger was gone she always needed to keep her guard up. This kind of training continued for a little bit before he called an end to it, praising the chibi for her progress. “Now, while I set some things up I want you to walk around and find at least three things that can be weapons. You don’t have to dig them out if you don’t want to. Just tell me what they are and how you would use them.” While the girl went to do his task for her, Tortuga walked a short path, heel to toe, between the pile of poinsettias and a clear patch of dirt. Once he reached a good distance he scratched a line on the ground with his shoe and fetched the bucket of dirt he had put together earlier. There would be some variation on the range due to the mix of chemicals, volume, and general pressure produced but he was fairly sure this distance would work for the can he had. He was ready, the question was, was the chibi? “What did you find Aquitania?”
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