RP:Performance Anxiety
Summary:
- Zahrani and Akihiro take notice of a dismayed Kanna fretting about her first duel. Scandal overhears and offers to demonstrate a clever counter-attack he knows, despite the ever-present headache he has.
Kanna sits at a table closest to the fire at the center of the tavern, a cup of her newly favorited winter-berry juice resting between both hands. Ever since the second battle, she has become increasingly convinced that she should forfeit now to spare herself the humiliation and pain of getting shredded to bits. Kanna leans forward and lets her forehead rest on the beer-stained wood of the table, letting out a soft sound of despair.
Zahrani sits at the bar, tail swishing idly. The feline appears to be out of armor, wearing a fitted, sleeveless fur shirt, insulated pants and boots. The androgynous cat often gets mistaken for male; she's built like someone who knows how to climb in heavy plating, her contours defined primarily by conditioned muscle. The paladin's ears turn at the sound of a sigh, her cyan gaze looking upon Kanna. The feline stands, taking her cup of tea with her to the table, ignoring the ogling gaze of a tipsy human woman the way. Zahrani stands at just shy of 6 feet, and her form is covered in a soft coat of black fur. A slightly concerned look is on her face as she asks the songstress, "Are you going to be alright?" Hey voice is a tenor, with a feline roughness accenting it.
Akihiro sits at the back end of the tavern and sees the familiar face of the bard he saw at the duel. He notices the despaired look of the bard when he heard the feline voice. A friend of the bard? Showing concern for the bard, he approaches and asks, "Why are you so worried?"
Kanna lifts her head to look at the feline towering above her. Still wearing her thick, pastel-colored snowcoat, she shakes her head softly, rustling the bushy fur of the hood around her neck as she did. "I am... going to be in battle soon." When the black-haired man also comes over, she retreats a bit into herself, drawing the cup closer to her as she does. "Apologies, I did not think my mood would draw so much attention to me." The freckled girl offers meekly, looking back up at the paladin. "I am just... not very skilled in physical combat the way those two women dueling last night are."
Scandal sat at the bar, drinking what had been his fifth herbal tea for a migraine that just wouldn't end. He was vaguely aware of those around him, and reaching into his furs he pulled out another grape sized emerald for the greedy Drargon, "Another, herbal tea, please."
Zahrani takes a step back so as not to crowd Kanna, the panther turning to the dragon and saying, "If it isn't working, you might try something else. Maybe send word to Bastion." She takes a seat diagonally from the human woman, "I'm sorry for making you feel so self-conscious." At the mention of fighting, the paladin looks to the male druid who had approached, then back at Kanna, "What kind of weapons and skill will you be taking into combat? There's more to fighting than the physical world."
Akihiro leans on a nearby column and looks at each member of discussion. He listens to what the paladin had advised to the bard and thinks to himself that maybe he too should offer some advice to the other human of the group. he ponders for a moment while taking a sip of his ale then says " She's right. It's not all about who hits harder, maybe you could think up of something to go around your opponents physical prowess? " Kanna purses her lips in embarrassment. "You needn't apologize, you did nothing wrong. I am a bard, so I will be bringing my instruments of course. I have recently learned some hand-to-hand combat, but nothing like what has been displayed so far."
Scandal turns toward Zahrani. "You may be right, I had less pain in Venturil maybe I will return there." He glances at Kanna. "Would you like a tip/trick?"
Zahrani nods to Scandal, the feline actually curious to hear what the dragon had to say about fighting tricks. At the mention of musical talent, she offers a genuine smile to the bard. "Remind me never to get on your bad side. Never underestimate the emotionally destructive power that a well-played song can have over others." Zahrani tries to be encouraging without overdoing it or sounding silly.
Akihiro chuckles light heartedly in an attempt to brighten up the mood. "Ah, yes. You are right, paladin, music does have that kind of power. Nature's music itself shows us that, from the calming effect of the sound a river to the fear-bringing howl of a storm. Truly a power not to be taken lightly." He then proceeds to look at the dragon "I am curious to what these tips are."
Kanna turns and widens her eyes slightly at the large man. Intimidating! How had she not known he was there before... She gives a soft nod in response. "Yes, any advice would be greatly appreciated." To Zahrani and Akihiro, she puts a hand up to her chin in wonder, cornflower eyes scanning the tavern. "I suppose you're right. It's just that I... am terrified that my opponent will be on me before I can cast a song of any kind."
Scandal smiles, doing what he does best: ignoring the thing most on his mind, his headache, "Drargon do you have a spare sword, something not too important?" Drargon who had by this point been paid lots of grape sized emeralds didn't think twice upon, putting a short sword on the bar. "Zahrani, how’s your throwing arm, I need you to throw the sword at my head." He said stepping back from her to put some distance. "This was a move I used to watch as a chic, from dragons in the guise of Elves."
Zahrani raises a brow at Akihiro. “I suppose you could sense my aura, if you can guess my work correctly on the first try. I could have been a priest, for all you knew.” She offers him a wry grin before looking back at Kanna. Her blue eyes lock onto the bard’s before she says, “Your best bet in that situation is to focus on your opponent's body, while training the memory in your fingers to start playing. A person's shoulders usually give away how they're going to strike, and their hips will do the same with kicks. A strong physical blow requires a “wind up” phase, and the harder the blow, the more obvious the wind up tends to be.” That seems to be something the paladin is well-versed in. She turns to Scandal, accepting the sword and saying to the dragon, “You have a migraine, and you want me to just throw a short sword at you? Indoors?” She chuffs, a somewhat disapproving noise at her friend's trademark recklessness. To the humans, she says, “Let's all go outside, and I’ll show you what I'm talking about.”
Akihiro raises an eyebrow at the dragon’s suggestion and he thinks to himself Is he crazy? Still he feels uncomfortable after that look the feline gave him. Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned the word “paladin” He addresses the dragon, “she does make a good point, are you sure you can handle it at your current condition?”
Kanna considers the feline’s words carefully. Her expression changes from its panicked and despaired look to one of seriousness, one that revealed the side of her that often picked apart empirical information when alone. When she speaks, it's more as if she is speaking aloud than conversating. “The opponent ‘winds up’ before attacking.” A pause. “I think I understand that, even in a non-duel settings, there are several non-verbal indications of a person’s intent to do harm and how they do so. It was always easiest to tell with drunk patrons because they hadn’t any logic in them to conceal their actions; You knew they were about to become violent from the way their knees bent if they wanted to lunge forward.” She says all this while Zahrani reprimands Scandal for his carelessness and Akihiro questions his fitness to be roughhousing in his state. The idea of going back into the cold was unpleasant, but she stood anyway. If she was going to learn something that would keep her from getting killed at the duel, then possible frostbite be damned.
Scandal sighs, “Zahrani, if this were truly debilitating I would have left as soon as it got crowded.” But he obliged her by stepping out doors. Handing her the sword, he moves a ways back to give it some distance. “At the head zahrani.”
Zahrani takes the sword, her gloved fingers wrapping around the hilt with decisive motion. Turning to Kanna, the feline raises her other hand to place it on one of her shoulders, then the other, “When I throw, I want you to watch the central part of my body. My shoulders, my hips, my core…right until I release the sword.” The cold wind blows through the paladin's braided hair as she turns back to the dragon. In a continuous, fluid motion, she winds up, stepping back. She steps forward, then the energy of her throw gets driven by her shoulder, then her arm, and like a tomahawk the sword is loose, spinning along its center of gravity as it cuts through the wind, the path lined up right between Scandal's eyes.
Akihiro studies of the form of the paladin, crimson eyes watching intently in hopes of learning something new. He notes how Zahrani, like water, moved smoothly like water and without err and how the throw was precise and delicate at the same time. Crimson eyes now follow the flight of the sword. Bearer of said eyes was watching and waiting in anticipation on how the draconian decides to act.
Kanna gives a quiet discontent hum as the unusual group walks back out into the bitter cold. A dragon and a feline may be more accustomed to this, but she could feel the last drops of winter-berry juice freezing on the inside of her cheeks! Her attention snaps back when Zahrani addresses her. She gives a nod in reply and keeps her eyes trained on her figure. His figure? When the feline moved with such practiced skill, she realised could not tell. Many humans took offense if asked, and so she falsely believes Zahrani may take offense as well. They? They. The short-sword spins through the air far faster than the bardess had anticipated. “Ah!” The small exclamation is the closest thing she can manage to a ‘be careful’ to the red-haired dragon.
For Scandal even with his migraine was able to see the blade coming. As the blade comes his three fourths of the way to him, he uses his legs to lean backward, and raises his arms behind his head just as the blade passes his hands grasp quickly the handle of the blade then, transferring the momentum into a turn, he sweeps with the blade before planting it down in the ground. “Under normal circumstances, if Zahrani, were an enemy, one could if she were charging, use the momentum to empower the swing and land a more devastating blow.” He pauses, “However fair warning, the weight of the sword can cause many variables, one being the swords weight make his fall lower thus making you have to duck farther back, and the momentum of the increased weight could cause you to be pulled off balance.” He stands from a formerly kneeling position. “Zahrani, you should take up throwing knives, that's good aim.”
Zahrani appears...mildly impressed. She crosses her arms and offers the dragon a wry grin, “We could join the circus, you and I. You could strap yourself to a spinning wheel and I’d throw knives at you.” She then turns back to Kanna and Akihiro. “If your opponent only has one sword or weapon, they’re not likely to let go of it, unless they have some way to get it back quickly.” Like an enchantment or a tensioned cord attached to the hilt. “But it is good to be mindful of how a weapon is weighted. Not every weapon is balanced the same way.” She pulls her cloak back, revealing a well-crafted mace hanging from her belt. “That’s just one example of a weapon that’s heavier at the front than a sword.” She then realizes it’s very cold with her cloak open, and says to everyone, “Now that the fancy swordplay is finished, shall we go back inside?” The paladin wraps her cloak around her once more, heading towards the tavern entrance.
Akihiro inwardly cursed himself, he knew that technique, too bad he never practiced it often. He was mildly jealous of the dragons skills, maybe if he still practiced he wouldn’t be in this atrophied state. “Yes, I am not a fan of the cold weather here, it is a tad too much for me”
Kanna gapes, practically with stars in her eyes at the display of dexterity. “That was wonderful!” She exclaims, clasping her hands together in front of her. “I do not believe that I would have any capability of redirecting a sword thrown at me, though it does give me an idea.” She opens her mouth to call for the dragon, and realizes that they have not been properly introduced, and she has not heard his name called. And so the bardess improvises. “Mr. Dragon, sir--” She shouldn’t have improvised, she thinks as soon as it leaves her vocal chords. “--can you throw the sword at me, please?” A finger appears from under the coat sleeve to scratch at her freckled cheek nervously as she moves a safe distance from Akihiro. If the sword is thrown, she sings a single note, low in pitch at first, then jumping up an octave, then another. When the notes change, the leafless trees nearby give off a low rumble, and thick tree roots break out from the frozen floor, creating a protective wall between herself and the weapon. After a pause, she looks back out from behind the roots to silently gauge if her defense was considered good or not.
Scandal looked at Zahrani, and then at Kanna. “Sure.” Once she was some distance away, “I gonna try to throw lighter, trust me you and the boulder behind you don’t want a hard throw.” Taking the sword in hand and adjusting it carefully, he drew back his shoulder and hurled it at Kanna, aiming as Zahrani had. As the sword sailed through the air, Scandal watched as Kanna’s shield seemed to come up, and sure enough it deflected the sword that was incoming. “Well done, if a human were throwing a sword, like I did, I think you’d fare well. Though if it were Zahrani, I think you’d want a redwood or ironwood, being your protective shield.” He chuckled at where zahrani had been.
Zahrani turns towards Kanna as she asks Scandal to throw the sword at her. She stands if the the side, near the tavern entrance, her hands glowing slightly with divine aura, just in case she needed to perform any emergency healing. Fortunately, that is not the case. Her panther ears turn away from the songstress as she sings, eyes widening at the sudden eruption of plant matter. A smile forms on her feline face when the sword bounces harmlessly away. “Well done.” She applauds, then asks,”Can you do that with other materials as well?”
Akihiro was alarmed at the bards suggestion. When Kanna has moved further away, Akihiro started mumbling an incantation, he was not planning to interfere, he was just trying to be prepared if anything goes wrong. The dragon took aim, then he threw the sword. Akihiro unknowingly held his breath in anticipation of the worst, eyes tracing the path of the sword. He hears the bard sing and a wall of plant life erupts, catching the attention of the druid, making him take his eyes away from the sword and see that the bard was singing. The sword was deflected, and with a thud, planted itself on the ground instead. Akihiro breathed a sigh of relief. That was one life not wasted today, he thought.
Kanna gives a relieved smile when she sees that the unusual magic has impressed them. She is a performer, not a fighter, so to see these warriors praise the defense made her ecstatic. She gives the roots a soft pet and a quiet thanks before they slowly recede back into the earth. “If I were fighting Zahrani, I think I’d be too afraid to even do so much!” She laughs softly at Scandal’s comment. Cornflower eyes flicked to the red-eyed druid and she gave a nod of her head as if to indicate they could go back inside now. To Zahrani, she wrinkles her nose just a tad to the left as she thinks of how to answer that. The magic she has to use that skill was only gifted, not innate and certainly not learned. “Unfortunately not. If the battle is somewhere too much colder, I’m afraid the trees might damage their roots trying to break through the ice.” She comments. Back at the table, Kanna hands over two gold pieces, which is returned with four steaming cups of hot Winter-Berry juice. It seems she’s become infatuated with the sweet drink. “Here, this is the least I can do for your kindnesses.”
Scandal smiled reentering the tavern, and taking a seat next to Zahrani. As soon as the juice arrived, he raised his glass. “To your duel, may be it be both exciting and safe, let neither walk away in permanent damage, but walk away as more learned, friends.”
Zahrani listens to Kanna's explanation for how her power works, the feline taking a seat across from the songstress. The paladin smiles at the young woman, accepting the warm juice and raising her glass with Scandal's. “To self-confidence, may the duel illuminate you and your opponent in good faith.” She hopes Kanna doesn't get badly injured, and that she becomes more sure of herself in the future. The juice gives her much-appreciated warmth, almost as much as the company here.
Akihiro followed Scandal’s toast, raising his glass as well. “ to a spectacular duel. May we all learn something from this.” Akihiro took a sip of his winter-berry juice warming his cold bones.