A Subtle Shift

A Subtle Shift
Date of Scene:	07 March 2013
Location:	Fluorgis - City
Synopsis:	Angantyr delivers some wisdom to the young princess as she struggles with the difficulties of being an avatar of shadows in a world that detests the dark.
Cast of Characters:	Angantyr Vespar, Leida

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Leida has posed:
Noon is the absolute worst time of day in the desert. The blazing orb of the sun hangs high above in the sky, shooting its waves of oppressive heat directly down into the sands and the city. Where normally the short awnings and the walls of the rough stone buildings would provide some measure of shade, the high angle of the light circumvents these pitiful shelters and bathes the entirety of Fluorgis in its crispy golden rays.

For various reasons most of the Shard Seekers have been away from the city of late leaving the young princess behind to mind the shop as usual. Despite the protection the roof over her head provides within the headquarters, the stifling air and lack of anything to entertain her beyond counting grains of sand has set the girl's feet in motion.

The frilly pink and black dress that drapes over Leida's slender form seems rather out of place among the drag browns and reds of the stone buildings that make up the majority of this desert city. Even the townsfolk tend to dress rather plainly though some of the more modern styled outfits can be seen here and there thanks to the city's blossoming trade connections across the various worlds.

What really sets her apart, however, is the golden hue of her serpentine eyes as they drift about scanning the narrow alley she treads for something more than dust and discarded garbage. The quartet of crimson horns protruding from her head are fairly new but she's ventured into town over the last few days enough times that people have stopped cowering in fear at the very sight of her. They still avoid her though.

Leida slumps against the rough surface of a wall as she meanders through the city with no real purpose. Nearby the cool trickle of water flows through the streets and various aqueducts providing the nurturing life needed for the splashes of greenery that spiderwebs out from their cracked surfaces. The princess makes her way slowly over towards one of the raised stone basins and splashes water onto her face, once more wishing fervently that she was /anywhere/ else right now.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr had come into the city a day ago, but with his run into with Judge Bunny trying to take Sora's keyblade, and the subsequent fight that erupted because A) Evja is a dumb<GOOSEHONK> and B) A Judge, left the Rabbit eating sand, and Ang needing some medical attention. Angantyr finally, however, was back on his feet at full capacity, and has been following Leida for a little more time. For someone in dark armor and large as Ang, he's fairly good about using shadows to conceal himself. But lets see if Leida was too self absorbed to notice..

Angantyr finally breaks from his watch point, drawing a wooden sword which causes some people to initially start scattering...then realizing it was only a wooden sword...then realizing it was ANGANTYR with a wooden sword. He approaches Leida, standing over her with the weapon drawn, and if she doesn't turn around, it lightly (though light for Ang is enough to leave a bump) moves to tap her on the top of the head.

Angantyr, luckily, was not Garland Leida. He would have struck to kill.

Leida has posed:
The sudden shuffle of feet is nothing new to Leida. People are quick to vacate the local premises when she comes along of late or atleast give her a rather generous amount of personal space. She didn't mind it terribly. Where once spending several minutes listening to the inane chattering of the local gossiping women would have been endured simply because she was too nice to say no, the emergence of her horns seems to have infused the small girl with a great deal more spine than she was used to having. She had no problems telling people off, as poor Sammy would be sure to testify, except that suddenly no one wanted to talk to her.

A few more handfuls of water are tossed into her face to try and clean away some of the constant flow of sweat dripping down through her hair and into her shirt. However, her hand remains pressed against her face as it slowly brushes the water out of her eyes in a downward motion.

She stares directly ahead as her eyes lose focus, other senses that she is only recently becoming aware of kicking into high alert for some reason. The shadows seem to speak to her and a tingle runs up her spine as if in warning. Someone was drawing closer.

A faint smirk twists the corners of her lips. There could only be one person who would try to approach her from stealth; someone she's been waiting for, if her guess is right. Her hand dips down into the basin once more as if to get more water but instead of bringing it up to her face, Leida spins in a sudden burst of motion and hurdles the small measure of liquid into the direction of Angantyr's face while stepping swiftly to the side to avoid the falling wooden blade.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr gets a face full of water, he wasn't terrible worried by this. Instead of reacting, he instead takes a moment to wipe his face and drink a bit of the water that flows over his smooth face. Water was /delicious/, especially out here in the desert. Slowly he looks towards Leida, who is already moving, avoiding the blade and he raises an eyebrow. "Now when did the little Princess start getting some spine?" he asks, curiously. The look does not escape him, the blade coming down and around again as he points it back towards her. Well, wooden blade. Yeah, scary.

"So what has happened to you lately, not already starting to fall to the darkness in you? While I think the reaction is a good step..." he looks at her, trying to sense out the darkness for a moment, "You have to be vigilant against it." he comments as the blade is held even. "Good improv though, I'm impressed...but well, I would have moved for the sand. It would have blinded me." he says, with a grin.

The blade swings out in a few more swipes, aiming to test her defenses and put her on the defenses.

Leida has posed:
"Hmph." Leida turns her nose up at her chosen master's appraisal of her tactics, managing to look more like a haughty princess in that one moment than every other time they've met combined. "I thought you would appreciate a drink. It is absolutely-"

Her hand goes down to the slender loop of leather affixed to her waist where the wooden sword that was gifted to her for this purpose hangs against the fabric of her dress. It look rather out of place and uncomfortable in that position but having it strapped to her back would be even more silly. The blade slides out in a smooth motion but the parry she delivers to his swings is anything but. The girl flails almost wildly at his attempts to strike her, thanks to the heat sapping away her strength and ability to control the blade.

"-dreadful out here! Honestly, who lives in the desert? At this rate my delicate complexion is going to be ruined not to mention the toll this heat is having on my constitution." Leida exhales her disgust sharply after knocking away the probing strikes. "I would far prefer the mountains or atleast somewhere without so much /sand/. Ugh, you have no idea how much effort it takes to get it out of my hair every day."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"It's almost like I never lived in a desert for years or anything." Angantyr says, just as sarcastically back to his student. He notices the change in demeanor...and while he can appreciate the backbone...

The attitude is not something he likes. He moves in this time, stronger, the blade no longer probing, but instead attempting to strike the blade HARD. Not enough to crack the wood, though he certain could if he wanted too. The point was to try and force the blade from her hand. Today's lesson, apparently, was going to be about control...though he was expecting it to be about willpower. BOY, was this surprising.

"People who have no choice, or born here. I would imagine that where you want to go is bad for them." he says, as he finishes the strike.

"So what brought this on? Your change, your sudden haughtiness."

Leida has posed:
Leida takes a step back after successfully deflecting the first wave of attacks, feeling rather proud of herself and it shows in her face. Her mouth opens to respond to the sarcastic remark but before she can even get two words out the heavy-handed blow drives in towards her body. While an experienced fighter might be able to tell that the strike is harmlessly aimed at her blade, the princess is flustered into a panicked response.

Her grip tightens on the hilt of the weapon as she holds it up to ward off the strike. The two practice blades meet with a resounding crack that echoes through the small plaza. The force travels through the weapon and into Leida's stiff arms, jarring her down to the bone and earning a girlish shriek of pain that causes her to drop the sword in surprise.

The girl takes another instinctive step back when she realizes that she has nothing to protect her from further blows but finds that words are what follows instead of punishment; atleast for the moment. Her cheeks puff up indignantly at being called haughty to her face and she balls her fists up at at her sides. "Hmph! I am /not/ haughty! I merely decided to stop being a rug for people to wipe their feet on. Is that not what everyone has been urging me to do since I washed up on this miserable little world?"

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr smirks a little.

He kicks the sword back to her, allowing her to pick it up...or seemingly so.

"There is a fine line between having a spine and being haughty. Having delt with royalty in the past..." Angantyr shrugs. "Looking down on others and how they live is a first step. However, I won't say that some people you hang with don't deserve it." Angantyr says with a slightly bigger grin. He waits, as she moves to pick up the sword, he comes in, aiming to aim to bonk the sword against the back of her head. This time, lightly...assuming she falls for it.

"Our lesson today is going to be about control and vigilance. It is not enough to know what is there...but to understand how it can strike at you. Darkness is a foe that does not fight straight if it does not have to. It will fight with any advantage it can take...even if it has the advantage. It will try to make it's power absolute...because why crush your opponent when it can crush it completely."

"Ever heard the phrase Good looses, because Good is dumb? Darkness often looses because it is arrogant. Learn the weakness...learn to anticipate it, and you'll be able to bend it to your will, and not have it make you think you are."

Leida has posed:
The sword spins across the smooth cobblestones when kicked, coming to rest against Leida's feet. She continues to glare up at the much taller, heavily muscled, and imposing man before her as if none of that matters to her in the least for several seconds. Finally, she relents and kneels down to scoop the blade up in her hand once more. After all, the only reason she was putting up with this kind of treatment was to get the training she so badly-- *bonk*.

"Hey?!" The wooden sword smacks against the soft spot between her horns with a dull thud. There isn't much force behind it but the move is sudden and unexpected which again leads to an over-reaction on her part. Leida scrambles backwards and rubs the tender new bruise she's sure is forming, taking great care not to slice her hand open on the boney protrusions - again. Of all the things she wishes the darkness would do away with already it's her clumsiness.

"You say that like I do not know it already. That forces of evil never play fair, I have read enough stories to understand that much." She continues to back talk him but some of the fire has left her tone and she looks a little pouty as a result of being made a fool of. However, the sword is brought back up diligently.

Sweat runs freely down her face already from the extra exertion in the terrible heat, plastering the fabric of her blouse to her body in a very undignified manner. "How do I anticipate it?"

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"It comes with time." Angantyr says, a bit more seriously. He doesn't regret his actions, she needs to grow, and sometimes a bit of pain will help this along...again, he wasn't his master. Oh boy, he sure wasn't. "You have to always watch, scrutinize everything." he says, with a sigh, "There is a balance, in it that you can only learn...that I can never teach, because it is not the same for everyone, nor is everyone's darkness the same. But you have to watch, you have to listen...understand the darkness in yourself, know it...know it's tricks...the better you know it, the better you can shield your light form it."

"That is what I failed to mention too. Light and darkness, there is both in everything, even us." he points that sword at her heart, "That is all there is of yourself. It is the most precious thing you have, more than anything else. You need to master it, as well as the darkness. But that...that is something I can not teach. I will be honest, even I am learning to do that."

This time, he lets her compose herself, and the sword is back up.

"This training really isn't about sword play. It's a metaphor, I am teaching you in a way you can understand physical. You need a reference, to understand the next step. You will need to learn how to control your own mind, to make the battleground you can control. But for right now, learning this will help you focus. Watch for the unexpected, Leida." he says, and as he says that, he moves forward, aiming to take her next strike, and this time aims to grab her by the front of the shirt. "Sometimes darkness gets desperate when pushed too far. It'll try anything and everything to get at you." he says, attempting to use his strength and leverage to push her back, right into the water.

Leida has posed:
Leida sighs and rolls her eyes a little at his incredibly serious speech. One hand leaves the sword to push some stray strands of hair out of her face that have fallen out of place in their short scuffle. "That sounds like an incredibly monotonous way to live. Being paranoid all the time cannot be much fun."

Ofcourse, she's forced to eat those words a few moments later when he rushes in. Her blade comes up to whack at his chest but the heavy metal armor isn't phased in the least by her blow. The 'contest' of strength that follows looks a great deal like Angantyr tossing her backwards like an empty sack than any sort of struggle as the small girl has little strength to speak of.

Leida's eyes go wide as she sails into the wide stone basin, creating an unimpressive splash upon entry into the water. The girl disappears beneath the surface for a few moments but quickly thrashes upright with a loud sputter. Her massive locks of raven hair and the poofy dress adhere to her body and face, soaking up the liquid like a sponge.

The princess sits silently for a few moments save for the sound of her teeth grinding together like a millstone. A part in her hair allows for one of her eyes to have a clear view at the dark knight and she glares at him as if willing her gaze to burn a hole through his head. "That was totally uncalled for!"

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"Would you rather I just thrown you into the ground like a sack of potatoes?" Angantyr counters. "There are a number of things I could have done from where I was, I chose the one that would bestow humility into my young charge, instead of breaking all of the bones in her body."

"Besides...you looked a little hot, Leida. I was thinking you needed a dip to cool off and keep your head." Angantyr says, with a grin, and then he starts laughing. "Like a cat, you look like right now..." he laughs again, He says and offers a hand out of the basin. Angantyr looks infinitely amused by this whole situation, showing that there was a little kindness in the dark knight. "And yes, it is a life that can by lonely, Leida. I won't lie to you...but I have to ask, is it lonelier than what you were before? I can only give you the tools, what you do with them is up to you. Can you find a way better than I have carved? Please, show me wrong."

Leida has posed:
The princess' pouty look returns upon being told off and unable to think of a good counter. She crosses her arms and looks away to hide the faint blush of embarrassment that colors her cheeks upon having her earlier comment turned around in such a fashion. The indignation she displays is quite akin to a wet cat which makes his observation all the more galling.

When the hand reaches out to assist her from the basic, Leida swats it away and pushes to her feet. She's not about to fall for any more of his tricks. However, instead of getting out immediately the girl begins to wring out her hair while doing her best to look aloof and unperturbed by his behavior.

"Perhaps being alone is for the best. All of the humans that I encounter of late shun and fear me now. And why? Because of a few little horns. You would think I was a monster straight out of legend. Hmph. Maybe I should be. I spend months putting up with their dull stories and pointless gossip, greeting them every day, learning their names - all so they can scurry like mice when I approach."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"People fear what they do not understand, Leida. People sometimes hate what they fear. You can hate them, for being afraid of you...or you can show strength and greater character by shrugging it off and accepting that you're showing signs of what they fear. Scorn them not, but instead power on through their fears. Show them that you are still the person you were...or perhaps a different person who is...still a person." Angantyr says.

t"Hating them is the trap of darkness. It too is how it lures you in...it tells you want you want to hear, that it's THEIR fault, not yours. Maybe it isn't your fault, but it IS what you look like what puts fear into their hearts. People are creatures of light, we are not. You have to understand that." he continues, "It's a fine line to walk."

Leida has posed:
Large rivulets of water run down her arms as she squeezes it from her hair creating noisy splashes with each twist of her hands. She continues to look unimpressed by the wisdom being handed down to her. "Hmph! You would have me bow and scrape to them so that I might be accepted as I once was, is that it? Try to please them and show that I am harmless and tame?"

Leida gives a final good wring that brings her hair to a satisfactory level of dryness. Stepping out of the basin, she drops lightly onto the street and rounds on Angantyr with nary a pause between her actions. "Humans are cruel and selfish. They care only about what fits into their narrow view of the world. I spent many years at court watching the scurrying and favor-mongering of small men trying to control everything they could. Stamping on the weak and the helpess to get their way. How can you call such beings 'creatures of light'? Their darkness is merely less plain to see."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"Oh and I have not certainly felt the sting of such people." Angantyr says, resting the wooden sword on his shoulder, "Had my home destroyed by the Arcadian empire, betrayed by someone in our home, family no less." Angantyr says, "It is not what you think it is...this is the world of light, Humans might have darkness in their hearts, but they are naturally beings of light. We're different, beings of darkness with light in our hearts. It's a strange paradox, but it is still true. I never said you had to be anything, Leida, I said that you have to accept the reason why they fear you, accept that it is a part of yourself, and they have every right to fear you. Don't become embittered, because you'll fall to that darkness. It isn't about them, it is about YOU."

Angantyr stands up, "So what, they fear you. You do not need yourself to be defined by them. Show them that you don't need their approval, that you are able to stand on your own feet. You'll find that the strength will either attract the strong willed ones to you, and cause the weak willed ones to scatter."

Leida has posed:
"Is not the fact that the weak masses flee at the very sight of me the core of my problem?" She casually sidesteps acknowledging the points of reference to his past, lest those lines of questioning lead to talk of her own. She's covered those bases enough in the last few months to be sick of thinking about it. Despite being the only one left alive to deal with the mistakes she's made that hasn't made it any easier. If anything the guilt she piles on herself is all the worse for her own imagination's attempts to fill in the accusations and outrage that she fears.

"I understand well why they fear me, Vespar-san. I merely detest such weakness." Her arms cross over her chest and she turns away, muttering softly under her breath. "They remind me of how I used to be."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr rests a hand on her shoulder, "Yeah, I know. You feel the same way." Angantyr says, "I think we all do, on some level. Admitting it or not is ...well, something not many people can admit to. I think our lesson is over for today, you've learned a lot in a short time, and you have a few more lessons to consider today." Angantyr says as he stands up, "You have to accept what you are. Nothing in the world can change that, but you." he points at her, "Real strength is not about lording your power, or causing fear in others...but about having the wisdom to know when to use it, and how to use it."

Leida has posed:
Leida gives a little start at the touch on her shoulder, fearing for a moment that she was about to get another flying lesson. However, all he has for her are words and she shrugs his hand away after they are spoken. The sword is returned to the loop on her belt with more force than is necessary, sending droplets of water spattering off the hems of her sleeves.

"Thank you for the lesson, sensei." She says after a few moments, turning partially to face him at first. After a short hesitation her old habits get the better of her and Leida gives him a proper bow. "I will consider what you have told me. Forgive my attitude, being treated like some kind of leper by the world at large has unbalanced my humors."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr nods, "I understand," and he does.

"I can only tell you to not let it bother you...but it will." With that, he slips the weapon into his pack, and starts walking. "You should go get some new clothes, though I think you'll be cool for a bit." And with that he starts walking, "I'll be around the inn to the south tonight. If you need anything. I head out on a mark tomorrow so I might be gone for a day or two...or maybe I am lying." He says, making her think about it.

Leida has posed:
Angantyr gets an annoyed glance out of the corner of her eyes. She didn't have any other clothes. What little money she'd acrued up to this point was spent on buying the dress that Imi picked out for her, followed by the replacement she'd had to buy after the Heartless in the Mako reactor shredded them to the point of uselessness.

She still felt bad about that. Somehow it felt like she'd been irresponsible with the gift her only friend had given her and she was trying to hide it by wearing a copy. Thinking about Imi made her want to go visit the strange clone again, if only to see her face when she saw the strange new hair accessories she's acquired.

"Do not think to throw me off-guard! I will not be caught unawares." The girl turns away and heads down one of the back streets to avoid attention as she continues her walk around the city. Despite her outwards annoyance, the dip in the water was quite refreshing and she felt like she could stand to stay out of the HQ for a little longer.