Moonlit Duel, Starlit Dance

Moonlit Duel, Starlit Dance
Date of Scene:	05 November 2012
Location:	Fluorgis - Shard Seekers HQ - Garden
Synopsis:	Under a moon which drenches the desert sands in a silvery-white, in a garden secluded from prying eyes, steaming wine is shared, swords' sparks illuminate the night, secrets are shared -- and between a man and a woman, a new bond is formed.
Cast of Characters:	Ivo Galvan, Raiya Fujihara

---

Ivo Galvan has posed:
The moon bathes the desert sands in a milk-white luminesence beyond the city walls. Here, in the intimate confines of a garden still half-tamed, that heavenly orb is reflected off the faintly rippling waters of a limpid pool, peeking out from behind the bamboo stakes which obscure it from prying eyes. Beneath a vine-wreathed trellice which overlooks the verdant greenery, a glass-faced table is set with an elegant porcelain bottle, its contents steaming and drawing vaporous curly-cues through the chill, and two matching cups, their design stirring in its austerity.

"This," Ivo says, smiling slightly, "has been a long time in coming."

Posture straight but bearing relaxed in one of the wire-framed chairs, he takes up one of the cups, turning it slowly to admire the craftsmanship. "For all the chaos of this new world," he remarks softly, "still, beauty is born. I bought this set from a modest artisan who had traveled from a small island to Luca to sell his wares. Life proceeds in that metropolis almost as it always has, or so I hear, and newcomers such as he fill in the gaps made by those who have been lost. In one sense, though the players have changed, the game is the same." His smile briefly shows a trace of bitter humor, which soon fades, supplanted by a contemplative tranquility. "But in another... who can say what we might make of ourselves in this new world, unburdened of our pasts?"

His smile broadens and, quirking his eyebrows upward slightly, he lifts his glass in toast to the woman across from him.

"To our future."

And he drinks deeply, wreathed in night.

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
The night sky that has been blessed by the moon holds a special place in Raiya's heart. Places like Traverse Town and its eternal twilight cause great uneasy to the woman who favors the night so heavily. Abnormalities such as that place cause true moonlit nights to become even scarcer and this samurai is thankful for everyone she is able to witness. Not all is well in her moon-viewing as the serenity the night brings also draws forth memories that were better forgotten from the depths of Raiya's mind.

Dressed in her ornate purple and black kimono, Raiya Fujihara has a low profile against the darkness around her. However, what lightning there is draws attention to those green eyes of hers that seem transfixed on the glass in her hands. Bright green eyes now move towards Ivo who does indeed sit across from her as he talks of Luca and state of this new world. Unburdened by our pasts? A small fire ignites behind Raiya's eyes as she ponders those words as someone who is weighed down quite heavily by her own past to the point that she may start sinking.

The ember in her eyes is extinguished when Raiya lifts her glass to return the toast and takes a drink. "The past is what made us who we are." For better or for worse. "One should never forget such things, less they begin to forget who they really are." The ronin's words are spoken in mostly her normal tone, but there is a slight air of lingering sadness to the finale of her words.

Raiya closes her eyes and banishes some of these memories away for now before reopening them. A cautious smile is aimed towards Ivo. "But there is always the hope in the future and what possibilities a chance night may bring."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
The warmth of the wine traces its glow through his veins, a taste like fresh spring water, smooth and dry, enlivening his palate as Ivo exhales, leaning back slightly, blue eyes low-lidded as he meets Raiya's gaze, smile contented -- and faintly wistful.

"I could never forget," he says simply. He shares with her the slightest hint of melancholy. "But perhaps these memories could... become more than weights which bear me down, back to the man... the boy I was."

The lady ronin's smile seems to startle Ivo, his eyes, a moment before almost dreamy, widening almost imperceptibly, but surely enough for his keen companion to notice. She appears almost shy to him in that moment, such a charming gesture from such a mature woman that he is taken aback. A chance night? Possibility--?

"Of course. There is... always hope."

Rather than his usual calm smiles or playful grins, the little upturning of the corners of his lips he offers her is hesitant in its own way, and though it may merely be the wine, his cheeks appear lightly flushed, and his eyes softened, even abashed.

"In any case," he proceeds a bit awkwardly, changing the subject with unusual haste, his eyes averting to obscure the vulnerability they reveal, "hope is what I will have to rely on if I aim to best you tonight with my amateurish skills." Now he's grinning again. Sincere, of course, in his playful amusement. But he seems to have needed to escape the tenderness of that earlier moment. "I told you that my teacher believed me to lack sufficient determination, that I am too swayed by the breadth of my interests to be a true devotee of the sword. So I suspect that my only chance at emerging victorious in this duel is to make this engagement as... interesting for me as possible."

Taking up the wine vessel, he tops up his cup, and tilts it toward Raiya's, offering to do the same as he continues to grin unabated, eyes sparkling with rising delight as they gaze into her own.

"I suggest we raise the stakes," he comments, voice rich with impish mirth. "The victor claims a favor from the defeated. What do you say?"

It may be crass of him to break the peace of the night with his jibes. But perhaps he trusts in her own teasing nature -- to allow him to shelter himself from another intimate moment, and betray further weakness.

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
This is actually the first time that Raiya has tasted grape wine. Rice wine was far more popular in Wutai even though they did import other varieties from other nations. A soldier's salary was not very conducive to buying expensive imported spirits even if Raiya belonged to the more elite class of warrior.

"They will in time and upon reflection." Raiya states before pausing her mouth slightly agape. She closes her lips and smiles faintly before adding, "A tough lesson to learn and one that I still struggle with on how the pain of the past can give one strength in the present." The ronin takes moment here to have another sip of wine. She might seem shy to Ivo, but really she is just a very patient person when it comes to certain things.

Ivo's reaction to her words is amusing to her, but the reserved samurai only offers a demure smile in response. Another sip of wine is partaken as she listens to the swordsman's proposition. She raises her brow when Ivo begins a setup for the wager and she reciprocates the downing of the glass of wine with the finishing of her own. The lighting of the room may be playing tricks, but it also looks as if Raiya is slightly flushed too.

"A confident wager to think that you could win a boon from me." The blonde-haired, green-eyed ronin counters Ivo's impish grin with a wolfish one of her own. Two can play that game. Raiya now stands up from her chair and commits to a few precursory stretches. "I do not believe that you require such enticement to fight honorably and well. You have already proved that much to me." A pause as she briefly adjusts her left armguard and then her right one, her green eyes briefly focusing on Ivo once more. A few things are considered internally before she finally moves her lips to speak once more. "Nevertheless, I accept your terms."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Oh, he likes this woman.

Ivo rises smoothly from his seat, taking up the sheathed Hauteclare from where it leans against the chair as he does, brushing his cloak out as he steps from under the trellice's shade into the garden proper, his blue eyes dancing as his gaze never leaves her own. The grasses beneath are pale in the moonlight, their recent cultivation offering firm footing. "As you yourself say," he replies, pleased and entertained, "there is always hope." For all his self-deprecation, he does seem confident, poised as at last his eyes drift from her and upward, toward the starry night sky. Still, her compliment softens his smile, revealing a hint of melancholy once more. "You are too kind," he murmurs, and sounds, sadly, as though he means it. "I shall have to strive to be worthy of such regard."

But perhaps he is simply facing up to his own nature. Ivo is an opportunist, often in the best of ways. Curious, of great sensibility, never disregarding the old but driven to pursue the new, he is a natural aesthete, complemented by an engineer's attention to detail. He is manipulative, but empathetic, and though sometimes distant, never unkind. Never cruel. But how can he see that as a virtue, himself? That unwillingness to ever go too far, even in his games--

Isn't that itself merely a lack of conviction?

Ivo inhales deeply of the crisp night air and allows self-doubt to flicker across his features, for a moment ceases to smother his uncertainties. Briefly, in the moonlight, a pained and helpless confusion is visible in his eyes. And then he exhales, and slowly closes his eyes, and when again they open, they are clear, and the faintest of smiles gently graces his lips.

"It's an honor, Raiya."

He draws his sword.

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
Indeed there is always hope. Hope for a better day, a better tomorrow, a better world, or perhaps someone to share that all with.

The blonde samurai follows after Ivo after collecting her sheathed katana. Once they are both kissed by the unobstructed luminesce of moonlight, Raya literally lets her hair down. Instead of being worn up like usual, she lets it cascade down her back freely. Ivo's comment about her kindness causes Raiya to look his way as she takes the last few hair ties out. "I reserve compliments to those I deem worthy of them. But if you feel you must prove yourself still, then let us see that resolve of yours."

The Wutai warrior finishes fiddling with her hair and faces Ivo so that she can square herself up with him. Even the strongest blade needed to be tempered at one point in time. Her fellow swordsman is no different. He simply needs to be hammered out and strengthed, a task that Raiya is seemingly up for.

Raiya bends at her knees as she sinks into a traditional Wutai fighting stance. Her right hand holds her sheath steady as her left hovers just above the hilt of her blade, but not touching it at all. "The honor is shared between us. Now let us begin." The blonde woman decides to let Ivo make the first move. As mentioned before, Raiya was a patient person afterall.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo's heart swells.

His opponent's hair tumbles down like a honey-kissed waterfall, causing his breath to catch in his throat. His lips parting, the young man gazes on as she prepares with graceful movements, wasting nothing. Something stirs within him, in his very blood, at the understanding that this is the woman he will fight, that he will face her with all his strength, and be met in turn. He has fought with resolve, with loyalty, with interest in the workings of every different fighting style, every different body which violently resist his own. He has fought with focus, with poise, with a mind honed by careful concentration to apply a deadly technique at a distance. But this feeling--

What is this feeling?

Is this the fire of which his father spoke?

~ Father... ~

Is this a warrior's pure passion for battle?

~ Watch me now. ~

Is this what he has never known before?

~ I'll show you... this sword of yours... now is mine! ~

"Hauteclare."

The raw emotion in Ivo's eyes is almost impossible to decipher, but the impassive set of his features bespeaks a calm beyond even his typical restraint. Adrift in the void which all true fighters have experienced, the only recognizable sentiment which surfaces in his vibrant gaze--

"Dance for me."

--is a hint of gratitude.

And then it is gone, and so is he.

Blurring forward, grass rustling beneath him, his sword's blade emerges from its hilt, as Raiya has seen it do before, and a crackling orb of energy manifesting between steel and guard breaks the still of the night. Blue lightning crackles up the edge, discharge from the magic which suspends the floating half of the sword, and then dance it does, whipping about to test at the lady samurai's defenses, streaking down to chop at her legs even as Ivo himself physically rushes in.

The focus required to attack her in two ways simultaneously must be immense, but Ivo displays nothing but sheer intensity as -- even as his blade draws low -- he closes in and thrusts out with his hilt, the electrical charge there aiming to shock her body and launch her into the air. Immediately afterward, the blade will flip /high/, and then descend, stabbing downward to force her back to earth. It all happens so quickly, it might feel almost like an attack from three directions simultaneously.

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
Was it a slightly unfair advantage for Raiya to let her hair down before the match? Perhaps. But, Raiya was very much a woman as well as a samurai. She is merely reminding Ivo of the former before reminding him of the latter with her swordsmanship.

"Dance for me"

Raiya obliges this request Ivo's attack when he comes at with remarkable, but not surprising speed as she has fought against Ivo before. She knows what he is capable of and decides to be cautious because of this. Her opponent draws near and Raiya begins her dance. The samurai moves just enough to barely avoid getting hit by the flurry of attacks, her long hair flowing behind her as she moves.

"Focus your emotions. That blade in your hands is nothing more than an extension of yourself." Raiya says in a stage whisper to Ivo as she remains near him. "Believe in your blade. Believe in yourself." And then Raiya strikes.

Finally, Raiya's sword leaves its sheath. Her opening blow is a quick sweeping slash that transforms into a diagonal slash which in turn ends in a two handed swing. Her movements represent the three tenets of a Wutai samurai. The speed of a crane, the cunning of a wolf, and the strength of the tiger. Now only the fates will know if Raiya will strike true.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Blinding pain.

There is always a chance that Ivo, in allowing his blade to leave its hilt, will overextend himself in combat, leaving an opening for an adversary sufficiently swift or mighty. He did not make that mistake this time. Yet Raiya's technique is so practiced, her movements so economical, that even his purest focus cannot match her art. When his flying sword misses its mark, he is summoning it back to help him deflect her coming onslaught. He can sense that her response will be overwhelming, and his instinct is to retreat, to fall back.

But he hears her whisper.

And somehow-- he cannot.

Though his mind screams at him of the peril he is in, his body yearns for this collision, to embrace her through their clashing blades. That intimacy he feared. It is here, too, in battle. There is a total openness to the world to be found in a warrior's honed resolve, tempered like the edge of his blade. Sheer dogged tenacity is not something Ivo understands, and he has always feared that renders him unworthy.

But this endlessness, like the vastness of space--

Perhaps, in this moment, he begins to understand why men crave battle.

Her blade slams into him, savagely crushing the breath from his lungs. Had she used the keen edge of her blade, such a fierce blow might well have torn him apart. Yet even if it had-- his attack would have still followed through. For, even before his sword is whole again, he has taken up his reinforced scabbard from his hip, instinctively seizing whatever weapon he could in his overwhelming /need/ to strike back, in his uncompromising belief, and thrust its blunt tip into her belly. Though not at all equal to her own, it is a stunning blow, and it will continue to pain her as the battle progresses.

After that, though, he can't help but stagger back from her brutal attack, agony searing him. Still, he does not hesitate, but instead leaps upward, creating room between the two of them without retreating. "How can I focus?" he calls down, amazingly managing a light-hearted tone, though his breathlessness suggests how much that must have hurt. "All I can think of is what I'm going to make you do when I win!"

But his eyes are obviously focused indeed as he aims down and thrusts out, blade once again piercing down at a distance from his hilt, striking from above as he slowly begins to descend.

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
Raiya had punished Ivo for his somewhat reckless and furious attack, but she too is punished for not expected such a quick reprisal. Perhaps she should have not remained so close as the hilt of Ivo's exotic smashes against her midsection. It seems they were destined to blows as each of their weapons leave their marks in the opening strikes.

Ivo's quick counterattack leaves Raiya in a vulnerable position and it is now Ivo who deals out the punishment. The samurai is overconfident that she can dodge this next attack as easily as the first and is provoked into getting kissed by the swordsman's blade. "Tch," laments Raiya at her own hubris as she suffers now from this attack and the linger effects of the last.

The light hearted banter draws a frown from the samurai as she watches the near constantly airborne Ivo. She is trying to bring out the warrior within Ivo, but it looks like she have to let her sword to the talking. "Your mind should be focused on the fight at hand! Watch my movements, watch for your opening." Whether or not Ivo is joking is not the point right now. The ronin moves left then right, her hair trailing after her with everyone of her moves. And then she leaps up and strikes at Ivo with a two-handed downward swing that is quickly followed by two harassing swipes of her katana.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo did say at the park that the tricks would be included, yes?

"Oh, but I am watching your movements," he replies, his voice playful as is his wont. "That's the problem." Yet a cursory examination of his face would reveal that whatever his lips may say, his eyes show no evidence of distraction. He might sound unserious, and that might be disappointing, but the truth is rather obvious: he is being himself, fully himself, and this is an integral part of the way he fights.

To be silent and stoic in Raiya's own style would be disadvantageous; after all, that is the mode of being that /she/ has mastered, that is most natural to her. There is another battle being waged here -- an attempt to draw his opponent into his own mental pace, to break that incredible focus of hers, if only for a moment. For him, such teasing is effortless. Paradoxically, when he's teasing--

"Hrgh!"

--he can keep his mind on the fight.

When she suddenly leaps, he's able to bring his buckler up and deflect her first strike, allowing him to maintain control of his movements mid-air, but he is not so fortunate with the two that follow. One glances off his blade and the other strikes home, elicit a grunt and a wince. He descends first, using that momentum, but--

"Your skill is so great, the only opening I can see..."

--his scabbard, still in his off-hand, flickers up.

"...is the slit in your kimono."

It's a harmless gesture. The blunt instrument slips up under her sash and tugs lightly, loosening it just a little. He wouldn't dare actually try to disrobe her, nor is he even attempting to. Despite his words, his eyes prove he aims only for victory. But the /threat/ that he might do so, that brief little pull, /might/ be enough to take /her/ mind off the fight.

And that's when his blade will swing up, aiming to slam into her from below and hurl her back up into the night sky even as he touches down upon the moon-stained grass.

~ You must think I'm ridiculous, Father, but... ~

Whatever the results, Ivo will be ever so slightly smiling.

~ ...this is who I am. ~

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
Maybe the carefree attitude is apart of Ivo's fighting style as well as his normal personality. Raiya was perhaps wrong to try to change such a thing. One must always be true to oneself. Then again, the female samurai is attempting to pierce through Ivo's bravado just as her sword is attempt to pierce past his defenses. At its core, the intriguing aspect of this duel is the clashing fighting styles and personalities.

But then again, sometimes opposites attract.

The sash which keeps Raiya's kimono closed is fastened rather securely to her and yet Ivo manages to get his scabbard to loosen it. Where as the warrior's kimono modestly offered nothing to wandering eye, her sarashi body wrapping is now clearly visible when she moves in certain ways.

Raiya appears quite flustered by the audacity of Ivo's 'attack'. She is so caught unawares by this that she gets struck by her opponents next sneaky blow. Thankfully, the samurai's footing is strong enough that she remains on the ground with Ivo which is right where she wants him to be.

The blonde swordswoman attempts to put her stoic demeanor back up which knocks the surprised look off her face, but her ears are still beat red and stand out amidst her pale skin and blonde hair. While she doesn't say anything outright, it appears that Raiya will let her katana to the talking for her as she dashes forward and lashes out with a quick wide strike. Her sudden attack is followed by a more powerful looking strike that is seemingly targetting Ivo's sword arm.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Opposite in some ways, but--

Sparks fly as Ivo's sword meets Raiya's.

--in other ways, Ivo may have already changed.

Perhaps it is strange to say so, but behaving so audaciously in an honorable duel is its own kind of risk. Raiya would have every right to be infuriated, to be disappointed, to denounce him. In fact, this is the last thing Ivo wants. He wants to win. But victory is more than overpowering her. Victory is meeting her with every ounce of strength he possesses. This is part of his strength. This is part of who he is.

Ivo wants Raiya to know who he is.

For behind the teasing and the playful gestures is, indeed, the spirit of a loyal and kind-hearted man who cares for his friends, who doubts himself and hopes that his value might, impossibly, be proved. She has seen that he does, indeed, have his own kind of honor, that he is in his own right a knight worthy of the name. But in this fight, he is not simply showing her what he has been.

"Ghh--!"

He is becoming something more.

Resolve he possesses, and a vital spirit which takes the form of curiosity, but this passionate intensity he feels when facing her, when she /acknowledges/ him-- he doesn't yet know what to make of it. All he knows is that when her second strike numbs his sword arm, weakening his grip on Hauteclare, it does not even occur to him to relent. The tantalizing sights of her body wrapping, captured in his memory as though his every blink were a camera's shutter, do not distract him, but are themselves swept up in the arresting beauty of the whole battle. He does not hesitate.

He presses the attack. Forcing his arm to respond, his blade, clicked back into it hilt, bobs and weaves about her own, seeking an opening. Meeting her on her own turf, as she sought, he then quickly steps forward, pushing out with his buckler in an attempt to force her back a step, and then, that blue lightning crackling up the steel, he lashes out with a shocking blow, aiming to numb her body, an attack designed to limit a person's capacity to recover themselves mid-fight.

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
Raiya -knows- there is something more to Ivo than his womanizing exterior suggests. She has seen him act with kindness in the defense of Reize and Lily which he continues to safeguard. It is for that she had begun to hold Ivo in high esteem. This was even before the fight in the colosseum where the samurai witnessed Ivo's incredible strength and martial prowess.

And the ronin is reminded of this by how Ivo is fighting. She has been stricken with nearly every ailment that she could think of. Her body is protesting her every action and this only further complicated by Ivo's latest attack. Raiya's kimono is singed as the numbing lighting travels thoughout her body. It is almost enough to overpower her as she drops to a knee for a brief moment.

Sheer tenacity and determination are two that Raiya does not lack as she forces her body back up onto her feet. If she is going to win this duel, she will have to end this and fast. Her green eyes focus in on Ivo, she watches him closely in a near predatory fashion. The inappropiateness of her half-opened kimono forgotten for now.

The samurai's sword is sheathed in a flourish and she grits her teeth as she steadies herself. It was time for her to attempt to show Ivo the power of her long last comrades who perished long ago. At first, she appears to do be doing nothing at all. And then she dashes forward and past Ivo with her sword striking out quickly in increasingly rapid succession as she moves. While she is using the blunt edge of her sword, Ivo would be in for a world of hurt should he be unable to get out of Raiya's way.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Soon. Ivo is almost ready. Soon, the full power of Hauteclare will--

The hair on the back of his neck stands up, a sense of danger searing through him.

His body understands where his mind does not. He sees her briefly fall to one knee, sees her loosened kimono open to offer a glimpse of her figure's curves, which he shall surely store away for later, but does not perceive why he feels himself to be in such peril. On the contrary, now seems the perfect time to break through her defense. He has been wittling away at her guard with his debilitating fighting style, and within moments, he will be able to hammer down upon the cracks he has chiseled.

That moment never comes.

Raiya blurs past, and all at once, Ivo realizes what is to come. His intuition grants him just enough warning to mount a valiant stand. His own sword whips out, a fierce flurry which attempts to parry her strikes as they come, his buckler raising in an attempt to shield him from the brunt of the assault.

Flickering moonlight. Rippling pond.

Stillness, as both warriors stand in silence.

Then--

The sound of Ivo's sword landing several meters away, of his shield landing the same distance back in the other direction, of his limp arms falling to his sides, of him falling powerlessly to his knees.

"You know..."

Ivo's voice, rasping but calm.

"When the Heartless took my world, at first, I was powerless to stop them."

Speaking slowly, punctuated by deep breaths.

"I couldn't protect the people I'd sworn to guard. I was forced back to the home where, a year before, my father had died. And in desperation, I took up his sword, Hauteclare, which a decade before, he had ceased to train me in, declaring me unfit to succeed him." For a moment, he is silent. "I would watch him, when he didn't know. I would watch him train, and by watching, learned. But I had never wielded Hauteclare itself before."

He swallows, to moisten his dry throat.

"When I took it up, I could hit them. The Heartless. I struck true."

His body shudders once, an uncontrollable spasm.

"And as darkness fell upon us all, unstoppable, for the first time in my life, I fought for fighting's sake. Beyond hope, beyond motive or ambition, I... battled it. For my only choices were to accept my own disappearance or, however meaninglessly, struggle until I faded. Even though it changed nothing, I... I wanted to... /exist/. And that was... the only reason I fought."

Slowly, his head tilts back, to gaze blearily up at the moon above.

"My father told me I lacked 'fire'. I never understood what he meant, but I knew that he had it. And recently, I've begun to wonder if that's what I experienced then. But I didn't know. I couldn't know, because I haven't felt it since."

The ghost of a smile.

"I felt that again, just now."

His shadow rippling, as he begins to topple.

"Thank you... Raiya."

The muffled sound of his body hitting the ground.

"...Well... fought..."

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
An inadvertant distraction on Raiya's part proved to be the key to her own success. It gave her a small opening to exploit and that proved enough for her to use a technique that she had mastered years ago....a lifetime ago where she went by a different name and was nearly a different person.

The past makes the present and it seems that the deadliness of the Wutai samurai's sword technique has not dulled with time. For that a meager few seconds after that pivotal moment, time seemingly stood still. Raiya was replaced by the woman she used to be, the woman she still mourns the death of. The woman who was sworn to defend Wutai to her last breath. And then. The moment passed.

The blonde ronin clinks her katana back into its sheath with a clink as Ivo falls to his knees . Next, she turns swiftly to see if she had gone too far and hurt Ivo too badly by using that old technique of hers. Her breath momentarily leaves her as she fears that she had lost control too greatly, but then Ivo speaks to her and she listens.

She listens.

Her face shows the cold veneer of the seriousness of a samurai, but her eyes are lit afire by what Ivo has to say. Her once opponent's body shutters and then drops. In a similar speed to that of her in combat Raiya runs to the fallen warrior's side with concern on her face. "Ivo!" She shouts as runs and then quickly drops to ground next to him, attempting to cradle him upwards if she is allowed to do so. The samurai attempts to survey his wounds to see if any of them are life-threatening, still concerned that she went too far.

Ivo being concious or not, Raiya speaks these words next. "I had not had to muster that kind of strength in a duel for years. You...you brought out the best of my ability..of me." Her stoic expression is cracked now by a warm smile. "For that, I should be the one to thank you."

Ivo Galvan has posed:
"Oh..."

Ivo, eyes dim, smiles slowly.

"...this... isn't so bad..."

The young man sighs softly, basking in the warmth of Raiya's body as she cradles him close, all he can feel now that the pain has given way to total numbness, leaving him powerless to move until he recovers. But he is conscious, and hears her words. His eyes open again at what she says, and he sees her smile.

"Raiya..."

And feels his heart skip a beat.

"...I... could ask for nothing more."

His solemn sincerity endures for-- a few seconds. But then, unable to resist, his lips tug upward in another mischievous smile, his blue eyes, though weak, regaining a hint of their sparkle.

"Well," he amends, "I suppose I /could/ ask for more."

His gaze flickers to the loosened front of her kimono, still in disarray, and his smile widens for a moment, but keeping his eyes open seems to pain him, and with a sigh he regretfully must close them again.

"Then again," he continues quietly, "the favor is yours to ask tonight."

A pause.

"Though," he then says, and this time sounds a little hesitant again, as he did before when the wine was shared -- a hint of rare revealed uncertainty -- "even if I've no right to request it, if... I could stay like this for a little while... that... would be nice."

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
Life is full of precious moments. Some are forgotten, some and treasured. And apparently some are born out of a heated duel between allies. This night is a precious memory for Raiya as she sits their on her haunches, holding onto Ivo as the moon watches down over the two of them. Because of this, Raiya does not catch or ignores Ivo's glance down her kimono. Her mind is elsewhere right now.

Ivo's bringing up the won favor draws her green eyes back down towards him. She closes her eyes briefly and ponders what she wants before opening her eyes and giving her answer. "I want to become your teacher, to instruct you in the ways of Wutai, and to train with you." This also has the more selfish benefit of causing Raiya and Ivo to be around each other more often. "I feel there is much that I could teach you. And..." It is the samurai's turn to flash a slightly mischievious smile of her own. Perhaps Ivo's personality has begun to rub off on her. "...I could learn a few things from you as well."

Ivo's request is considered by Raiya and she consents with a simple nod to them before gesturing upwards towards the moon. "Look how brightly it shines down on us." Raiya is smiling once again.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo didn't anticipate this.

His eyes widen slightly again, even though even that strains him. "Teacher...?" The thought had not occurred to him, and yet, when he first met Raiya, his initial thought was, after all, to ask her for lessons. Oddly, the two of them have come full circle, and somehow it seems right. "Yes... of course." And at her smile, almost automatically, he responds with a playful little smile of his own. "I'll teach you everything I know..."

He's heard of this Wutai, in his endless curious meanderings and socializing. He even picked up a few common words in their language at one point. In the fog of his mind, one that seems appropriate surfaces unbidden.

"...Raiya-sensei."

With the last of his strength, his gaze lifts to the moon, which bathes them in its blessings, as though sanctifying this moment. And slowly, wounds forgotten, in perfect comfort in Raiya's arms, Ivo's eyes close, and his thoughts give way to peaceful slumber.

Raiya Fujihara has posed:
Who could have anticipated this? It was only the fates themselves who can see what they have orchrestrated for us all. Raiya and Ivo are mere players on a grander stage. But what role they will play in it, towards each other is concealed for now.

Raiya continues to smile when Ivo accepts her offer. If tonight was any indication of the future, this agreement of theirs is sure to spell a certain doom to their wouldbe foes. Those Heartless just might not even know what hit them when you combine Raiya ruthless execution with Ivo's unorthodox finesse.

As Ivo begins to fade into slumber, Raiya makes one last request of him. He might not hear her and she is slightly surprised at her own asking. "Please Ivo, call me Asteria. It was my name once, a name I earned the right to use. But now, few live to remember it and...that name....has special meaning to me." It might not be a very difficult request, but Raiya speaks those words solemnly with a tinge of sadness to her voice.

Ivo Galvan has posed:
Ivo almost doesn't hear. In fact, when he awakens, he will doubt that he heard it, and think maybe that he dreamt it. But as his swimming vision fades to dark, he catches one last glimpse of the stars, which seem to dance above.

"As...teria..."

He will doubt at first -- but he will remember.

For that precious word is now engraved upon his heart.