How Aerith Got Her Groove Back, Part 2

How Aerith Got Her Groove Back, Part 2
Date of Scene:	11 December 2012
Location:	Chocobo Fields
Synopsis:	Aertih discovers that when Pixi said training with her would not be easy, she meant it. The difficult process of learning how to truly defend herself however merely makes her look at it like a puzzle to be solved. A very intricate and long-winded one.
Thanks to:	Pixi, for agreeing to do this with me!
Cast of Characters:	Aerith Gainsborough, Pixi, Kaydin

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Pixi wrote:
Pixi had kept her promise to Aerith. The next day, Pixi was up early and she headed out. The irony was that Pixi travelled light, and carried little more than a backpack of food and such, but did not carry very much. She didn't even carry this much when she left Rabanastre to head to Goug. However, once there, she set her pack down and started to stretch her arms out. "I think this'll do. Just becareful of Chocobos while you're out here. We don't want to harm them while we're out here..."

Aerith wrote:
Aerith however had packed for a few days, and didn't expect to end up so close to the city. But this didn't confuse her. In fact, as long as they had a place to sleep nearby, it would be decent enough. She didn't doubt they'd probably return to the city now and then from this distance, though. Still, just in case, the suitcase was a good idea. She'd have to change sooner or later.

Aerith stretched her arms above her head until her elbows popped, and with a sigh, she turned toward the Viera. "Well then, how do we start? I'm ready to unlearn everything I know!" Hell, even she knew she'd have to. This was the real thing, not just the basics.

Pixi wrote:
Looking behind her, Pixi snickered at Aerith. "Unlearning everything you know would be somewhat counterproductive in this case, Aerith." She says with a chuckle. However, Pixi's flexibility is shown as soon as she steps to the side and slides herself alllll the way to the ground, tucking her loincloth under her. She then rests her elbows on the ground. "We start by stretching, Aerith. Always start by stretching."

Aerith wrote:
Aerith chuckled and started her stretches, the ones that Tifa had taught her anyway. She was certain there were others, but these were the ones she knew. It wasn't long before she'd finished the full set, knowing she'd have to do it again at the end. "By the way... where's Kaydin at?" He said he'd be there with them.

Kaydin wrote:
The sound of a Wark is heard as Kaydin comes in with a yellow chocobo with black armor on it. He had several bags set along the Chocobo and he moves to them. "Got some extra supplies, We could probably spend a week or two before needing more, based on your diet resistance." He says as he gets off the chocobo. He then wraps the chain about the sword sheathed along the chocobo's saddle.

Pixi wrote:
"I'd rather he stayed..." and before Pixi can finish saying the sentence, Kaydin steps out. "Aerith. Why haven't you asked him to train you? He follows you everywhere like a lost puppy." She then shakes her head. "Well.....I guess I should've expected this anyways."

Aerith wrote:
Aerith pouted for a moment. This wasn't the way she wanted to start this. "I'm not keen on swords. The only way I'll spar against him is when I know my weapon back and forth." That or when he starts using wooden practice weapons, which she didn't think he'd be inclined to. "So then, let's get started." Pixi would then notice that Aerith hadn't picked up her staff yet...

Kaydin wrote:
"Away? I leave my nation and everything I know and your still under the impression I am going to kill you. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside." Kaydin says as he begins to undo the armor off of the chocobo. When he finally gets to the helmet, the chocobo warks and moves it's head back. "He likes that thing for some reason..." He says as he would then look to them. "Would practice with you but none of your practice weapons have a chain on the end of it." He says with a sarcastic tone.

Pixi wrote:
"Who said we were going to use practice weapons?" Pixi says as she stands up, and begins to practice her own balance drills. "We're using your staff and I'm using my spear. I'm going to show you just how serious what you're asking is."

Aerith wrote:
Aerith's head tilted to the right a bit. Was she practicing her balance? Well of course she was, Tifa said it was important. So she began to mimic the Viera's movements, finding them a tad... difficult.

Okay, that wasn't the word for it. Frustrating was more like it, because she fell down twice during one of them. "Okay, stop. I need to learn those, I think."

Kaydin wrote:
Kaydin whistles. "Sounds like the instructor who trained me to be a dark knight. Said only children play with toys." Kaydin says as he pulls the sword off his chocobo's saddle and just inspects the sheathed weapon. He watches them and tilts his head at Pixi. "You must be pretty good with balance and stretching, doing that in high heels."

Pixi wrote:
"We have to be in heels. Because of the structure of our feet, we either have to stand on our toes, or relax a little with the heels. I chose the heels." Of course, the position in which she said it, standing on one leg and her other held against her chest, made it seem easy. "You'll see the reason for needing balance in a minute or two, Aerith. And to do this, it'll take a while. Even I fell on my face the first few times I did it."

Aerith wrote:
Aerith sighed and made her best attempt to follow Pixi's lead. Only this time she wouldn't stumble. This one was pretty easy, and she'd done it before. "Oh trust me, I know about that. Tifa's drilled that concept into me more than enough times... and shown me that mine's not good enough."

Kaydin wrote:
"Ah so it isnt so much a fashion statement just your type of shoe." He says as he looks to his own feet. Without his armor, he wore only a black sleeveless tunic and trousers so his bare feet could be seen. Course with how scrawny his arms is, one wonders how he can move in that heavy armor so easily.

Pixi wrote:
Pixi looks to Aerith and puts her leg down, after stretching out the other one. "You'll get better in time, Aerith." However, then the stick off of her arm. "Time to get serious though." She gives the stick a twist, and slides her hands apart......making the spear extend from that mundane little stick. "You may want to pick up your staff now."

Aerith wrote:
And indeed, she can sense the shift in the air, a tension of sorts. Aerith finishes the combination of balance act and stretching technique, and heads toward her staff. She treats it kinda like a soccer ball, rolling it onto the top of her right foot before kicking it upward into her left hand. "Right, so then. How are we gonna go about this?"

Pixi wrote:
"Simple....I won't kill you. On purpose." Pixi then rushes at her, and aims the butt of her spear at Aerith's stomach with every bit of speed she has to close the distance. This one plays hardball.

Kaydin wrote:
"You wont kill her accidently either." Kaydin says as he watches them. " So we camping here or simply just using the field for training purposes?" He asks as he watches the women spar.

Aerith wrote:
Aerith's senses kicked in, but that didn't mean she had the reaction time to act on what the Voice told her. Within a fraction of a second, she had a focused and determined Viera rushing at her, and only at the last moment did she parry, eyes wide with shock. Yet she wasted no time in returning the favor, sending an overhead strike toward the top of Pixi's head.

Pixi wrote:
Pixi even moves her ears out of the way to take the hit on the top of the head, but her hand swiped at Aerith's face even as the staff clonked onto her head....with claws extended. Then her leg comes around to kick her in the side, followed by a spin kick to her middle and lastly a swing of her spear at Aerith as well.

Aerith wrote:
All right, she--

Aerith stumbled back as the claw swipe hit home, then the roundhouse kick rammed into her right side, making her gasp out what breath she had left. The heel kick forces her back even further...

But just as the wide circle of the spear starts, the flower girl decides she's had enough. Aerith lowers her stance, letting the spear pass right over her head, and tries to take the Viera down by the ankles with a sweep of her staff.

Kaydin wrote:
Kaydin just watches the goings on before pulling his sword out and unwrapping it to look the black blade over. He then reaches within a bag and pulls out a sharpening stone and begins to work on sharpening the weapon.

Pixi wrote:
Aerith DOES catch Pixi's legs, but the fact that Pixi has metallic greaves protects her ankles from such attacks. It knocks her only slightly off balance, even with the sheer amound of force behind it that Aerith could muster, but Aerith then sees just how much balance comes into play. Pixi is able to step backwards to keep her balance and resume her attack upon Aerith, not letting her catch her breath, aiming a kick at Aerith's side again, with the greave shin guards leading the way.

Aerith wrote:
No, not this time.
The backward step is an opening, and Aerith intends to capitalize. As she rises from her crouch, she pulls the staff back just enough, then takes a step forward and tries to thrust into Pixi's middle in an attempt to get that balance of hers off-kilter. She intended to actually survive this first day of training...

Kaydin
Kaydin continues to sharpen the sword. "So does anyone mind if I make some food for us?" He asks as he would continue to sharpen the sword. His chocobo just watches everyone, the chocobo's face hidden by the black helmet. It is now... Bat-chocobo.

Pixi wrote:
Aerith was quick, Pixi admitted that... but Pixi was quicker. She spun to deflect the staff away from her middle, which is somewhat effective, but the staff still stings. Getting closer, she wastes no time in trying to grab Aerith... and suplex her into the ground.

Aerith wrote:
Heaven and Earth, but she's fast! Aerith doesn't have time to answer Kaydin as she spins out of the way, turning her staff above her head as she does so. A split second later, she sends a horizontal reverse strike into the small of Pixi's back, trying to make her overstep. For the first time since the fight began, she had a slight advantage.

Pixi wrote:
Holding out her hand, Pixi grabs her staff... and tilts her head. "If you can do all of this, since when did you need training?" She says quite bluntly. "It took me the better part of a decade learning all of that, even how to take a hit when I am hit... and you're getting all of it on the first try." She then collapses her spear and puts it back on her forearm. "You don't need training."

Kaydin wrote:
Kaydin shrugs and begins to go about setting things up for a campfire and before long he has one going and he pulls a sack off his chocobo and begins to open it, pulling out a large metal pot and begins to put things back. "Because she is doing all that on impulse and reaction." He says as he cooks.

Aerith wrote:
Aerith nods, short on breath. "He's right... I'm not judging distance, timing, reactions... I'm just trying to get out of your way. It's just luck." She swallows. "I don't want to rely on luck. I do need training, and you're good enough to teach me. More than good enough, I barely got out of your way!"

Pixi wrote:
"Sometimes luck is better than skill, Aerith." Pixi says with a sigh, but she turns to Kaydin. "Did you speak for others in baron too? I'm pretty sure Aerith can speak for herself, Kaydin." She then looks to Aerith. "It seems Luck is one of your best attributes. Unfortunately, it's going to keep you from getting formally trained..."

Aerith wrote:
Aerith shook her head. "I'm not about to take that for an answer." She rests her staff against her right shoulder. "Luck can only last so long." If you could call what she had luck. It wasn't, not really. But for Pixi to understand, at least now, would take too long to explain. "You're going to have to trust me on this. Please, help me get better, any way you can."

Pixi wrote:
Turning her head away from Aerith, Pixi thinks about it for a few moments. "I'll admit I'm fast, Aerith. I can outrun a Chocobo at a brisk jogging speed, and I was the fastest of my clan in the Golmore Jungle." She then looks to Aerith. "I even rescued a pair of children from heartless inside of a few minutes, what should've been a four hour hike into the mountains. You avoided most of my attacks even when I was moving at my fastest, Aerith, even my Meteor Strike. You can't teach that, Aerith."

Kaydin wrote:
Kaydin shrugged. "Just offering another warrior's opinion." Kaydin says as he would go back to cooking. He had kept looking at Pixi while she spoke and after a few minutes he goes to cook something else and just focuses on that.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith bit her lower lip. She really had avoided... most of those attacks. Not all of them. "Hey, I didn't dodge everything. You're still faster than I am, and that's a disadvantage. And you have better balance, better timing... better everything for the most part. I'd rather have you teach me what you can than rely on my own skills for much longer." It wasn't that she was desperate. Just that she needed to get herself in gear so she could do something about Manhattan. And everything else that was on her plate.

Pixi has posed:
"The fact that you dodged most of them says you're better than most I've taught....or raised." Pixi says with a sigh. "You also have an advantage over me. As a mage, you can sense when an attack is coming. I have to listen to the wind, the shift of someone's weight, how their foot turns on the grass. Smell the change in their body chemistry. Watch the beads of sweat change direction as they try to get around my defenses. Look where their eyes go as they aim an attack. I can't teach you that, Aerith. Even Tifa has little giveaways when she fights, whether she wants to admit it or not."

Kaydin has posed:
"Everyone has giveaways. Even monsters and heartless." Kaydin says as he continues cooking. He sprinkles something into the pan and puts some vegetables in there as well, the smell of frying vegetables can be smelled in the air as he cooks.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shrugged. "It's not a mage thing... most mages can't sense an attack before it happens, not like you." And not like her, either. Hers was a different kind of sense. "My giveaway is simple... you hit me because I couldn't keep up. One step out of place and you'd have given me a good scar to remember you by, or worse." Aerith shakes her head, adamant about her stance on this. "There's no real way around it, I need to be better. If I can at least fight on even ground with you to the point of stalemate, I'll know I'm ready." She took a few steps away. "Please... whatever you can offer."

Pixi has posed:
"You're not going to Aerith. To learn that sort of stuff would take years, and it sounds like you don't have that sort of time. Is it because of Manhattan?" Pixi didn't realize how right she was. She turned completely away from Aerith and pondered. "I'll have to think about it, Aerith. Otherwise you might be better off learning from Tifa. She's a good and patient t-..." Her sentence stops, right in the middle of a word, and her tattoo flashed......and stayed glowing. She then turned towards Aerith.....and both eyes were no longer blue....

But glowing white, with holy energy 'bleeding' out of the corners of her eyes, and her voice had an odd echoing quality to it.

"She will teach you, Cetra. Have faith in that. Just know that the way of Pixi's teachings are not easy, nor quick. Pixi herself admits to still being a student of multiple forms, including one that she started to learn when her heart closed to darkness." 'Pixi' then smiles to Aerith. "Just give Pixi a little bit of time." She then closes her eyes, and her normal blue eyes have returned. "...eacher. How did I get turned around?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith blinked for a moment as her tattoo... seemed to take over somehow. It sounded like something she'd seen before, with that girl Maira and Uist. But this had a different quality to it. And whatever this was... knew what she was. Thus was she compelled to listen, and thus did she nod. Before this entity left, Aerith smiled.

"Thank you, kind spirit."

The smile remained as Pixi asked how she got turned around. "Don't worry about it, you don't want to know." Aerith sat on her knees and closed her eyes. "I promise you... I'm going to sit here until you start training me. I have all day..." And she really did. With that, she steadied her breathing and tried to get her heart rate under her power again.

Kaydin has posed:
"And she badmouths me about my power." Kaydin says, not even blinking or looking surprised at the viera's slight transformation and he continues to cook. When the viera returns back he just gets out plates from the sack and begins serving fried vegetables and meats on plates. "Well if your going to sit there until she trains you, would you like some food?" He asks as if nothing was going on.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "Probably not." She says with a sigh before walking over to Aerith and bonking her on the head with her stick. "Get up stubborn one. I'll train you." She then points to Kaydin. "Without him as the gallery. That part's not negotiable." She then heads over to her own pack. Apparently, she has no clue that she had ever been... 'possessed'.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled, opened her eyes, and stood. She picked her staff from the ground with a sigh and started to stretch again. Because hey, she needed it after that. "Right, well... perhaps this time we'll do it without the possibility of near-fatal incidents. It was good for a test, to see what I knew and what I needed work on, but if this is your training style, I'm going to be in for a lot of... interesting surprises."

Kaydin has posed:
"Glad to know that I am such a threat that you cant train her with me around." Kaydin says sarcastically as he would watch the two now. "Food's ready now. Since it seems Pixi wont train you with me around, I should probably leave." he says as he begins to gather his things.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith turned to face him for a moment. "Well if you're going to leave, I want you to come back sooner or later. I'm going to really need someone else to spar with." Wait, was she suggesting that the two of them go against her?

Pixi has posed:
Making a face at Aerith, Pixi chuckles a bit. "Would you have reacted like you did if you knew I wasn't going to hurt you? No you wouldn't have, Aerith. I had to smell your actual fear. See the desparate twinge of your muscles as you struggle to get out of the way of my attacks. Hear your heart beat faster as you realized I'm not playing around." She then scratches her arm.....right where her tattoo is. "Why does my arm itch? Sheesh."

Kaydin has posed:
"Maybe because I put poison ivy on your arm while you werent looking." Kaydin says as he then looks to Aerith. "Depends if I am allowed back. I leave my homeland and help fight with you and I still treated like an enemy." He says as he puts the armor back on the chocobo.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith turned to look over her right shoulder as she walked away. "Well you're not one to me! Don't forget that!" Then she continued on her way, following close behind the Viera. "Did you really have to be so acidic to him? I mean, he came with me to make sure I was all right."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "I can respect that he came here to make sure you're okay, Aerith, but every step of training today, he decided to open his mouth and insult things I did to teach you. I can hear every word he says, even if he mumbles it, Aerith. It's why I wanted him to leave. It's like if you were trying to heal someone with a healing spell, and before you could utter the final phrase of the cure spell, someone slapped you to keep you from helping someone else. My mentor, in the Jungle, taught me to keep calm when you're trying to teach someone, and if you can't keep calm, you lose your temper, make no progress... and end up hurting the one you want to teach."

Kaydin has posed:
"I insulted you? I didnt do anything." Kaydin says calmly. "the only time I insult you is when you insult me first." He says as he then turns to her. "All you ever do is insult me, always commenting about how everything I do or say is completely and totally wrong." He says as he watches her. "If you want to settle this once and for all, lets do it, right here and right now."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi rolls her eyes... then steps towards Kaydin, her hands behind her back. "Tell you what Kaydin. Take your sword, and run it through my heart. Then you can be mister right, mister perfect and mister godly.....all at once. Just kill me and end your suffering."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed and headed back toward the two bickering... she sighed. Were they really going to do this? "Please don't make me lock you two in separate rooms when we get back." She glanced toward Kaydin. "Look... I'm going to be all right out here. Pixi's going to take care of me, I trust her as much as I trust you. She won't hurt me." She glanced toward Pixi. "We should go before... this... gets out of hand." Or rather, before what she said in jest yesterday actually comes to pass.

Kaydin has posed:
"I would rather take my fist and break your nose." Kaydin says to her as he looks to Pixi. "I dont kill unless I have no choice. Even when I served Baron. I do however like to fight and maybe beating the crap out of you can get you off that high horse of yours." He says as he watches her, fists clenching.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi just shook her head. "Did you ever think that maybe I don't like to fight? That thought ever cross your mind?" She then then shook her head again. "I've got a better idea, Aerith. Let mister 'Likes to fight' teach you. He'll probably be a much better teacher than I am." She then turns away and begins to walk. Her tattoo flickers, but it winks out just as quickly.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "No stupid. That was if you became a heartless or became a servant of the Shadow Lords." She then rubs her face as he mentions joining Baron, and every bit of confidence she had just.......disappears, Aerith would definitely be able to feel it. "Aerith....Kaydin's your teacher." She then turns and leaves. And no... no one's gonna stop her.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith placed a hand on Pixi's right shoulder... just before she feels a sudden drop in Pixi's mood. She didn't even know who to blame, they'd both made this bad! Aerith groaned and jogged after Pixi. "I already told you what I thought of that!" She tried to catch up to the Viera, leaving all her things behind. "Please stop!"

Kaydin has posed:
Kaydin sighs as he gets on the chocobo and rides after them and moves to try and block their path. "I am sorry. Dont take this out on Aerith, she wants you to stay and train her. I will go." He says to them as he looks to them. "Maybe I should wander about for a while." He says as he looks about before riding off.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi is already gone before Kaydin can block her......and she can outrun chocobos.

Aerith has posed:
Not even Aerith can keep up at this point, and now she's out in the middle of nowhere without a real clue as to what to do now... so she sighs, sits, and closes her eyes. She didn't have the senses of a mage, because mages could only sense magic. What she did have was her own unique senses, and this would help her find out which direction Pixi had gone in... Or at least, figure out just what was wrong.

She muttered under her breath, hoping this would work. "Benevolent spirit, protector of your charge, speak and I will listen." She reached out in timid fashion, having never done this before. "I'm a bit new at this, so I'm just going to ask... what happened there?"

And she waited.

For five minutes, she sought the counsel of the spirit she'd heard before... but heard nothing. Flowergirl stood with a sigh. The only thing she'd gotten was a small sense of where Pixi was, but that was... how long ago exactly? She just moved so far, so fast... but Aerith had to do something about this. And so she began to walk in the last known heading of the Viera, trying to find bits and pieces of that feeling she'd sensed earlier.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi was extremely fast when she ran. Unfortunately, she decided to run at full speed. The holy energy she felt would pulse for about a second, then wink out completely. It wasn't striaght ahead anymore, but off to her right.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith caught a brief snatch, something that barely registered on her radar, but was there none the less. She turned her head toward the east, eyes narrowed. "Right... let's play hide and seek, then." She turned and followed her nose, so to speak.

Pixi has posed:
It takes a good while to get the 'signal' again, but the blip comes again, still in the direction she's going in. It takes her close to a rather dense forest.

Aerith has posed:
Well this was a new sight. She'd never seen a forest like this before... though there was another one. That was to the west however, not the way she was headed. So Pixi wanted to turn it into a literal game of hide and seek by heading in there? Okay, fine. Just as long as they both got what they wanted, everything would be okay. With that in mind, she entered... hoping to find Pixi and get her back to their camp site before the day ended.

Pixi has posed:
The blip didn't com from inside of the forest, but overlooking it. Off to the right was a hill, that went high above the forest. It looked like it was going to be a hell of a climb though.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shook her head with a smile and wasted no time heading through the trees. Right, so she was further off in the direction she walked. Fine. But why'd she have to run so fast? Couldn't she just... y'know, walk away? She shook her head and, in just under an hour, cleared the forest and looked up at the steep incline.

"You... are doing this on purpose, aren't you?" She huffed and began the climb...

Pixi has posed:
Big hill too. This'll take most of the day to climb.

Aerith has posed:
By the time she was a third of the way up, Aerith's legs burned, her breathing heavy and labored, and she relied on her staff in order to keep going. "You really are doing this on purpose!" She almost laughed, but couldn't. Her heart and lungs wouldn't let her have any fun. "Phew... I think it's time for a rest..." Not like she could find anywhere to do it without slipping. But she made the attempt anyway, and minutes after she started looking, she caught a break on some relatively level ground.

Pixi has posed:
The holy energy is still above her. At the top of the hill.

Aerith has posed:
Well at least it hadn't moved. So she'd zeroed in on her, had she? Good. They needed to talk.

Aerith stood after half an hour and continued her climb, doing her best to ignore her body's complaints on the matter. Didn't really matter what her muscles had to say on the subject, she'd get done what she aimed to get done.

The sky turned orange once she neared the top, and there was the Viera, sitting atop this grueling climb... that probably was a cakewalk for the bunny. "You have no idea how much I've been through just to find you."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "Actually, yes I do. I used to run here a lot when I was younger, Aerith. This hill can really make or break your muscles." She then sighs and looks out towards the forest. "Reminds me of home."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith plopped down next to Pixi with a sigh, her body finally wearing down. "I can see that. I swear if I climbed this once every day, I'd be as fast as you are." A silence fell for a few moments as she admired the sunset, then she took in a breath and spoke again. "Tell me about where you're from."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "No you wouldn't, Aerith. It'd feel like your legs were gonna fall off. Or you'd have a gigantic butt and really really huge legs, but a tiny waist.

She then looks to Aerith. "The Golmore Jungle. To say it was beautiful would be a large disservice to what it was. It had little wisps flying everywhere. GLowing plants at night. Mostly everything lived in harmony. Not only the plants, but the animals as well. Food was taken care of from either the plants or the animals if you wished to hunt. Usually, there were times for festivals when game was hunted. Like during a full moon, we painted ourselves up and went hunting for a designated game by the head shaman.

"Usually, our target knew we were coming. Usually it was a really huge deer, but every now and then, we hunted for bigger... like a dragon. It was exhilirating. If our prey got away though, it usually led us to some place suitable for our feast and, if it was a very clever prey... it would be honored as a sacred animal. And the Golmore Jungle has very few sacred animals. One of the Sacred animals is a dragon named Ixilthain." and upon speaking the name, she moves to her knees, and lowers her forehead to the rock she sits on, in reverence.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith closed her eyes as she listened to the description Pixi gave... and smiled at the end. For a moment, she could almost see herself living there, watching what went on, but as an observer. She didn't think she could really be that way, though what she was made her a viable candidate.

Which reminded her... sooner or later, she'd have to explain how she did what she did earlier in the day. Pixi was right, no one else could have evaded so many swift, powerful strikes and thrusts. Most of them hit Aerith, and she could feel the intent behind every one. But the fact that she wasn't completely overwhelmed...

Aerith dismissed that line of thought for now. She wasn't here to rely on that alone.

"It sounds beautiful..." She chuckled. "Nowhere near like where I grew up. I'm not going into detail about it, let's just say that I didn't have the best childhood, or the best place to grow up, either."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi sighed softly. "Ixilthian was the high sacred animal of my clan, Aerith." She says taking off her gauntlets......showing the dragon burn marks upon the inside of both forearms. We had other younger sacred animals, including a unicorn, but none of them were like Ixilthan. We hunted her once a year, and she always eluded us. Every time we would spot her, and she would narrowly escape, saying 'better luck next year!'. But she always left us enough food for a feast and, when the hunt was over.....she joined us in the feast, even dancing with us in Viera form. Unfortunately, when we're not hunting her, she lived in a cave outside of the Golmore Jungle.....and the Viera are stubbornly isolationist. To leave the safety of the jungle is fiercely forbidden, punishable by banishment." She then takes a long and deep breath, hanging her head. "It....was what I had to do to save the members of my clan from a wasting sickness. I left and had to find Ixilthian. She was the only one that had the knowledge to help us in our moment of need." She then sobs once clenching her fist. "AND I WAS BANISHED FOR HELPING MY CLAN!!!" at the last word, she brings her fist down upon a rock, obliterating it in one blow.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith grimaced as the rock shattered from the sheer force of Pixi's strike, but she wasn't afraid of the Viera's power. No, it was something else that made her concerned. Pixi radiated pain, suffering, loss... betrayal. The Cetra had a distinct feeling that she'd carried this with her for a long, long time... and Kaydin's thoughtless words had brought it back up all over again. Perhaps he'd meant to say it, maybe it was a direct verbal assault on her.

Either way, Aerith could feel some sort of common ground. She'd lost everything as well... only in a far different manner. But again, she had no idea what to do... so she did the only thing she could think of in situations like these.

Aerith placed an arm around Pixi's waist and made an attempt to pull her close. "I'm..." No. Not that. Don't say that. She wasn't sorry to hear any of it.

Aerith cleared her throat. "I have an... idea... of how you felt. Not entirely, but some part of it." She glanced up at the Viera. "I'm not sure what to do for you... but if you need anything, I'm here."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi's eyes were buried into Aerith shoulder as she sobbed. aerith shoulder becomes quite wet after a good few minutes of Pixi crying onto her shoulder. Eventually, as her crying slows, the tattoo upon her arm begins to flicker and glow again, but not with the intensity that it showed when it spoke to Aerith through Pixi.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi's eyes were buried into Aerith shoulder as she sobbed. aerith shoulder becomes quite wet after a good few minutes of Pixi crying onto her shoulder. Eventually, as her crying slows, the tattoo upon her arm begins to flicker and glow again, but not with the intensity that it showed when it spoke to Aerith through Pixi.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled as her senses registered that presence again. Not strong like before, but steady. Alive. She couldn't help but sigh to herself, partly in relief. She might not be able to speak with whatever spirit this was, but she could take comfort in knowing it was there.

Pixi's crying slowed, and Aerith glanced over at her. "Y'know... I originally came up here to bug you about training me. But I'd forgotten all about it. Funny how that happens, huh?"

Pixi has posed:
Pixi snickers at that, and rubs her eyes. Oddly, what looked like makeup on her face, doesn't run. "Part of training is knowing where your teacher is coming from." She then chuckles softly, and looks to the insides of her forearms. "Ixilthian was mine. She must be....." She exhales a slow breath. ".....around 800 years old now. She was an enormous and beautiful red dragon, but she also wandered the planet as a viera. She learned many fighting styles from humans, bangaa, Nu Mou....and if you can believe it, Moogles." She then looks down at her left gauntlet and chuckled. "You know, I think she could see that I was going to be banished, for when she taught me......she taught me how to use a spear. I thought she was the silliest woman in the world when she taught me. Then I was banished and got the ELder Spear there." She then smiled a bit. "It didn't hit me until now..."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled. "You know... my mother had something to say about that." She cleared her throat. "No one knows the reasons why things happen until they are where they're supposed to be. Only then does one see the pattern in things, the connections." She sighed and looked up to the sky. "I was too young to understand it then. But after ending up here, I think I'm starting to get it."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "Sounds like you had a cool mom, Aerith." She says with a small smile. "Now if only other people knew about such wisdom." She then huffs out a bit. "I think we can camp here for the night. I figured I can go back to our original campsite and get our stuff, then be back before night falls. Hm?""

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded, her smile persistent. "Sounds like a good idea to me... but what are we going to do tomorrow? Do you have a plan for this, or are we just going to wing it?" Either way was fine with her, just as long as she didn't have another impromptu sparring session like last time. The Cetra couldn't move at nearly the speed the Viera could, and with the tall woman's heightened senses, it would be easy to sniff out a moment of hesitation, quite literally.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "Well.....tomorrow, we're going to have to find you a staff that is a length you are comfortable with. Then your training begins." She says before putting on her gauntlets again. "And I have a dimensional anchor in my pack. If Kaydin tries to join us, his trip will be cut very short.....byt a good few miles.""

Aerith has posed:
Aerith ran a hand through her hair. Why'd he have to go and say all that? She really enjoyed his company for a few moments, too. "Fine by me. He'd be a distraction." Besides, she wasn't here to learn how to swing a sword. "I'll stay here for a bit longer, watch the sun set." Aerith smiled yet again, and it was free of trepidation. "It's nice, this view."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "Enjoy it while you can. You'll be frustrated before long." She then trots a few steps down the hill, the footfalls becoming faster and faster until she's nearly out of sight. A few seconds later, a very very distinct BOOM can be heard from where Pixi was headed. A sonic boom."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith's eyes widened for a moment as she heard the distinct sound of the sound barrier being torn a new one, and glanced over her right shoulder. "Definitely, definitely outmatched..." This proved it. Pixi said Aerith didn't need any training. Obviously, the long-eared Viera overestimated the situation. And what did she mean by frustrated?

Flowergirl turned toward the horizon again. "This is going to be... very, very interesting."

Pixi has posed:
It doesn't take long before the BOOM can be heard again, and Pixi arrives a few minutes later, slowing to a stop JUST at the top of the hill. "all righty." And she flops on the sitting stone she was at before. "And time for food." She says putting out food for her and Aerith.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith blinked for a moment. "You're telling me that you brought my suitcase, what Kaydin started cooking, and everything else up here in less than..." She calculated the time in her head. "...Two minutes?" Aerith shook her head. "And you say I don't need any training."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "No. I left what Kaydin cooked behind. Despite his posturing on how he left his country and all that woop-de-doo, I still don't trust him. And he'll have a hard time convincing me otherwise, especially after today." She then sets some sandwiches in front of Aerith. "You're not just learning how to fight out here, Aerith, but how to hunt as well.....""

Aerith has posed:
Aerith turned toward Pixi. "Well then, I'm glad you're giving me the full treatment. Because I'd hate to have to ask you what else you've been hiding from me." She took what was offered and started to chow down. "Just so you know, I'm not just going to give up because it's difficult. If anything, this is something like a puzzle to be worked out for me."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi chuckles softly. "I'm not hiding much more from you, Aerith. Of course, it'll be told when it's time, not before." She says softly before pointing to Aerith food. "Eat. I know I am." She says before eating her lettuce and tomato sandwiches.

Aerith has posed:
As Aerith ate and watched the sun dip below the horizon, she again thanked whatever saved her and brought her here. Sure it was the same old situation with Midgar and Wutai that she'd seen before, but now all that seemed so far away. Besides, she'd always known there was something bigger than that little spat, and since Manhattan fell, it was confirmed.

She had to be far more prepared for it than she was now...