[PRP] I'll Go If You Go (Shaheen and Shikoba)

[Seussi]

Firewood collecting. It wasn't the hardest of chores to perform, and was quite mundane in nature. However, this time it only served as a reminder of the defeat she had faced at the hands of a certain tall and overly muscular executioner.

She still wasn't quite sure exactly why it had happened the way it did. Perhaps he was a better fighter then she had first given him credit for. No, it was actually far more likely that something was wrong with her. So many conflicting emotions, so much hesitation, so much self doubt. It was not at all in character for her, and Shikoba had picked up on it right away. It was..disturbing, to say the least, but not nearly as frightening as the thought of possibly having to tell him what was going on with her. She didn't need him, or anybody for that matter, knowing her own personal business.

With arms mostly laden down with varying sizes of branches and dead fall, she began to make her way back towards him, when a couple of voices from behind her made her pause. Now, Shaheen wasn't one to eavesdrop, normally, but there was something about the excitedly hushed tones that had caught her attention. They were discussing some sort of event that was going on at the school. A...Prom? Whatever in the world was that? As the voices continued, they got fainter, as though they were moving away. A quick glance behind her showed that they had merely crossed her path from behind as they made their way elsewhere. Curious, now, she continued to strain her ears to listen. Something about it being a dance for the students, a celebration to mark the end of their academic year. There was something else as well, but she could hardly make them out anymore.

Completely bewildered, as well as dumbfounded by the excitement in the voices of the two horsemen, she continued on to where she had left Shikoba training with his knives, not having any trouble finding the place where they had spilled each others blood on the ground not all that long before. She had cleaned herself up since then, the red tattoo's painted across her body had faded, and so had most of the scars. Her top had been practically ruined, so she simply tied some piece of fabric she'd found lying around across her chest, though it did very little to hold everything in. Whatever, she wasn't all that bothered. Her hair had been freshly washed, most of it tied back from her face in a thick and messy braid, wisps of curly hair falling out, with some larger curls near the front left free to fall against the sides of her face, mostly obscuring the grey scale from view. She had also taken time to put the feathers in her wings back to order, as they had been very ruffled and abused by the end of the fight.

"Where do you want me to put this?" She asked as she approached, eyes scanning the ground.

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

Shaheen's fight was not the only one Shik had initiated that day. He had also challenged one other, Lan, though the fight in and of itself had been brief and irritating; a few broken arrows by his person was evidence to that. He hated the damn things but, more importantly, he hated how inept he had been with them. His rank required a working knowledge of a variety of weapons, yet in the end he always fell back on his favored close-and-personal strategy: the unimaginative slashes.

It made him feel . . . stagnant. Like he was trapped inside a piece of bark that had broken off from a greater tree - made from something that had been alive and had the potential to grow but, cut off from its source, was common and witless. As he sat on the fallen tree by the area he had fought Shaheen in, Shikoba turned inward and mulled over the day's events darkly.

By the time Shaheen returned with the promise firewood, Shik had just finished putting fresh bandages about his palm where he had carelessly diverted an arrow in his agitation. "There," he said simply without looking up, pointing the flat area he had etched an X into using a foot claw. He then reached over the basket of fruit by his side, retrieved more bandages from his satchel, and began to rewrap his left wrist, letting the dirtied ones fall into a heap by his knee.

The damn basket . . . That was a different nuisance altogether.

"I've brought dinner," he added, motioning with his head to the dik-dik behind the tree he sat on, one clean hole in its rib cage.  

[Seussi]

My, somebody was certainly...testy. Though really, this was Shik. What more would she really expect from him? "You look terrible. Was that little creature too much for you too handle?" She narrowed her eyes at him and nodded towards the dik-dik carcass lying on the ground before striding over towards the X that had been scratched into the dirt, dropping the pile of firewood that had been stacked oh so carefully into her arms into an unceremonious heap. Let him start the damned fire, she had done her part. Though...he had bothered to bring food. And..fruit?

"Ugh, did you get one of those too? Those ridiculous students." She screwed her face up in distaste at the memory of the headless ghoul who had handed her a basket much like that one, earlier that morning before her battle with Shik.

She had noticed the broken arrows lying on the ground, and while she was unsure of what exactly might have happened, it was fairly obvious that it was not the dik-dik that had caused him all of that trouble. She collapsed gracefully next to him on the fallen tree, placing her hands in her lap and letting her eyes roam over him critically.

"You really do look awful." She repeated, as though it were really necessary for her to do so. "Please tell me whoever it was looks worse."  

[medigel]

The corner of his mouth quirked. "The one who forced that on me," a gesture to the basket, "was more difficult to handle than the one who gave me this," an opened palm with thin strips of gauze. "But only by a hair. Dinner, however, all but killed itself for me. Worse than the godsforsaken llamas . . ."

Unprompted, Shik stood up and took his satchel with him to the untidy mess of wood, beginning to arrange the pieces with an aggressively meticulous eye. He didn't just want to be the one to start the fire - he needed to be. "So you've been approached by a student as well?" he asked Shaheen as he worked. "The significance of fruits is beyond me, but I dislike the feeling of being a rare minipet they feel the need to feed. If the situation wasn't already strained, I would have speared her next. . ."

Shik said it in such a way that for once the intention wasn't vague. The day's events had riled him into an uncommonly chatty mood.  

[Seussi]

Good, if Shik was feeling chatty. They could talk about all of his problems and weaknesses and leave Shaheen's alone! She smirked at the horseman as he raised himself up from his seat, heading over towards the pile of wood. And she didn't even have to ask..er...demand! How excellent~

"Yes, something about it being homework. I thought I would humor the poor child and I accepted it but..." His words puzzled her. Fed like a rare minipet? She hadn't actually thought about it like that until now, and she suddenly felt rather indignant. "..But there is no point in wasting your strength on the likes of them. Save spearing for the hunters." There, nice recovery.

Lapsing into silence now, she watched how he built his fire with a critical eye, suddenly breaking the lull in conversation by gesturing vaguely at the placement of the wood and saying "You're doing it wrong." Before clamming up once more. No explanation, no advice. Idly, and somewhat bored, she straightened up and looked down at the flimsy scrap of cloth that she wore stretched tight across her chest. There were threads sticking out and she was tempted to pick at them, before realizing she might just unravel it altogether. Tucking her hands beneath her thighs so as to divert temptation, she wracked her brain for something to talk about before Shik could turn the conversation towards her.

"Have you heard about this..prom..thing?" She asked, her brow furrowing. Obviously she was out of her depth when it came to talking about anything other then..well, battle. She wasn't sure why she decided to bring that particular subject up, but it was likely because it was the freshest thing on her mind after having heard the two horsemen whispering about it earlier.  

[medigel]

At the unsolicited critique, Shik paused, raised a brow at her, and then went about his business as if she hadn't interrupted. Constructive criticism he could take, but flat-out opinions he ignored without specific reasoning. "Baring a sudden Hunter invasion, the fruit would make for decent skeet," he commented, moving about and examining stones to begin encircling the firewood with. Did he think some of the fruit was delicious smelling? Yes. But did the idea of slicing them in midair sound more appealing? Absolutely.

Not like a little dirt from the ground would sour the taste.

"Prom? It rings no bells," he added in passing, not sounding terribly interested in student affairs: clearly making a ring of rocks was more fascinating. And when that was done he moved straight to his satchel, picking out flint to start the fire whether Shaheen liked the way he made it or not.  

[Seussi]

She was reaching out for one of the fruit in the basket, having no qualms about eating any of it even if it was gifted by a student to Shikoba. "Oh?" She said, hand pausing in mid reach, brow suddenly furrowed. "That's actually a pretty good idea though.." She glanced to the broken arrows on the ground once again as she sat back, her hand going back into her lap as it has been before.

"...You would probably do better to practice shooting them rather then slicing them." Another self satisfied smirk at the small insult she directed towards him. Had she just lost in a spar against him earlier? You wouldn't be able to tell by how cocky she was acting, now.

So he did not know what prom was. That was almost a relief, since for a moment, with those other horsemen discussing it, she had felt like she was missing something vitally important and it wouldn't it have just been great if she had been the last person to hear about it?

"Hm, well....perhaps it is nothing to be concerned about then. I just overheard some others discussing it like it was some kind of exciting event. Though why a celebratory dance for the students would be cause for excitement is beyond me." And that was pretty much all Shaheen knew of the subject.

Rising from her spot quite abruptly, she announced. "I will be back shortly. Try to have that lit by the time I come back" She gave the arrangement of wood a very skeptical look, as though already deciding that wasn't going to happen, before striding off back in the direction she came from.

....what?  

[medigel]

"You would do better to be out of the way lest some of the arrows decide you're a better target," he shot back, less out of anger than to contribute to their usual banter. "They've been eager to meet you ever since my dagger had its fun."

An "exciting" event to Shik involved neither students nor dancing, so he couldn't quite understand what was so interesting about it that some of the clansmen would discuss it. Frankly such a large gathering of them would make it a hotspot for enemies to bombard them, and if their "exciting" event involved distractions like partnering up and sporting impractical clothing, then he would welcome the intrusion: if only to see how the students reacted when pitted against a force they couldn't hope to overwhelm.

But none of those thoughts could be put to words before Shaheen decided she needed to be elsewhere. "Look for the trail of smoke on your way back," Shik told her, holding his question in favor of starting the fire. It would take a few corrections and adjustments, but soon enough the flint caused a good enough spark at the base to get it going. Settling upwind of it, he nudged the fire along with a lengthy branch, mesmerized by the embers as it carved little red runes in the bark prior to consuming it.  

[Seussi]

Shaheen just barked a laugh as she wandered off, as though Shikoba had just told the best joke in the world. She was gone for quite some time, having made her way back to where she had left her own basket of fruit, and doing a little bit of sleuth like inquiring before heading back towards where she had left the executioner. True to his word, there was indeed smoke rising in the air, and she walked back into their little spur of the moment campfire area as though with a purpose, as she set her basket down next to his.

"There, more targets for you. You likely need all the help that you can get." She was teasing, mostly, but her tone never actually indicated so. She whirled around on her heel and made her way over to where he was now sitting, the small breeze blowing the smoke away from them both as she settled down next to him, knees up and arms wrapped around her legs.

"It is a dance, and apparently any and all horsemen who wish to attend may do so. In fact, several lost clans members will be going, and it's rumored that some are even going to be attending with students." Yep, back on the topic of prom, as though she hadn't just wandered off for an hour or more. She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, glaring into the fire, her face awash with the ruddy glow as the pumpkin sun began to sink lower in the sky.

Using the fruit for target practice in the dim lighting would be a useful form of training, indeed.  

[medigel]

An hour passed like nothing to him, such was the magic of watching wood burn. Fire was a phenomena unlike anything else to him: almost insubstantial to the foolhardy touch, but insatiable once fed. His eyes were on nothing else even as Shaheen returned, a twitch of the head the only indicator that he was listening.

"It's a shame you'd want to destroy the only token of affection given to you in so long," Shik said at length, glancing at the basket she brought back. He too spoke in a neutral tone so it was hard to determine if he was being serious or still teasing - then again, Shik's affect was often as bland without the dubious cast of firelight.

He turned his gaze to her next, the corner of his lip turning up at her glare. "Some would. A few of us are more open-minded after all. Let them being the representatives - I have no interest in wading through the sea of teenage hormones when there is more important business to attend to." With a rustle of cloth Shik stood and plucked his basket up by the handle. "How about another competition? Best out of five skeet takes the lion's share of dinner."

This was apparently important business.

Seussi

Quick post before work

 

[Seussi]

His words, while more then likely not serious, somehow managed to cut through her defenses. She had to fight the urge to reach up and run her fingers over the two feathers adorning her hair, or to fiddle with the blue beaded bracelet at her right arm. They were the real tokens of affection that she had earned over the years, or at least, the ones she held most dear, even if she never showed it outwardly. But the givers of these items were long gone, destroyed just as their home had been. This basket of fruit? No, it couldn't even be held close in comparison. Anger was building up inside of her at the thought, but not anger towards Shik. No, this was the game that he and she always played. It was anger towards those who had taken everything away from her, and anger at herself for not being able to prevent it.

Somehow, through all of these inward feelings, Shaheen's face never changed or gave any outward indication of her discontent. "Important business?" She all but scoffed, snapped out of her sudden reverie. "Like what? Planting tree's and hauling around bits of rock and wood? Training with bow and arrow, sword and dagger, until we are too exhausted to stand?" Her own lips curled up into a smirk now.

"Killing hunters? We are making great progress on that, sitting here around a campfire, discussing cutting up fruit and childrens dances. Words are wings, but we talk too much and do too little." Regardless of what she had to say, Shaheen rose up alongside Shik, grabbing for her own basket. She could not resist a competition, and he knew it. She didn't even care about the prize. She didn't have much of an appetite.

"You're on." Challenge accepted.  

[medigel]

"One step at a time, Shaheen. That is the most we can do for now. If it means replanting and training and catching godsworn llamas, or whatever else the Head Priest says, then so be it. War is inevitable."

Shik didn't sound particularly pleased at the turn of events, though. He was a willing set of hands, but not a happy one. But then, what brought Shikoba happiness other than violence, competition, and the smell of blood?

Music, he supposed. But he had not brought his flute.

"Now then. See what you can hit," he challenged, alighting into the air with the basket. He picked up a fruit and launched it into a tall arc in the air towards her.

Seussi

I guess we could say they make attack rolls and if it does damage then their weapons did varying degrees of success?

 

[Seussi]

"If you're going to be so...complacent..then perhaps you should join the others with the sweaty, hormonal teenagers." She countered with a smirk, the basket of fruit held in her hands gently swaying as she rocked back and forth from her heels to her toes, impatient, though she almost seemed distracted, as though she were staring off towards something that wasn't actually there.

When Shikoba alighted into the air, she cursed inwardly, having missed the movement. She dropped her basket hurriedly, eyeing the melon-like fruit that was now arcing in the air towards her before summoning her blade and giving it an odd, underhand toss into the air. She caught a glimpse of the blade flashing in the darkness as it just barely grazed on by, a hairs breadth from connecting. Cursing again, only this time out loud, she took a quick running leap into the air, her wings unfurling behind her and beating downwards. She was quick to grab the fruit, tucking it into her chest and twirling in the air before shifting it to one hand and hurling it towards Shikoba's head.

Oh ya, and at some point she re-summoned her dagger to her hand, because letting it hurtle back towards the ground haphazardly was probably a terrible idea.

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

The dim light made it hard to make out, but the flash of Shaheen's weapon didn't stop moving, so he assumed a miss. As the chieftain dove to catch the fruit, Shik summoned his own weapon and appropriated himself further back, waiting for his turn. The flicker of firelight made it hard to pinpoint the melon, and he fell to the same curse of missing by a sliver; the kris dagger twirled past Shaheen and into the woods.

"What, at their prom?" he asked with a snort, grunting as he caught the fruit at his chest, feeling its juices begin to trickle down his skin from the impact; it was weak and cracked now. He tossed it away, and the melon split into pieces by the fire with a squelch, wiping himself with the cloth at his waist. "I'd sooner willingly surrender a fight."

Now smelling of melon juice, Shik dove down and plucked a pear-like fruit from his basket in passing, tossing it up at Shaheen as he gained altitude. "The only wars to be had there are for space and affection, neither of which interest me. Why do you keep bringing it up?"

Seussi

 

[Seussi]

Well, at least he had missed as well, though she was forced to spin to one side as the other horsemen's dagger flew past, her wing just barely making it out of the way in time before getting nicked by the blade. She turned back into the air towards him, hovering, her large wings beating almost lazily as her arms went to cross over her chest. "Yes." She stated, simply. He didn't enjoy planting trees or scavenging for supplies, yet he would do it anyways. Why not attend a school dance as well? Actually, the very idea of Shikoba attending a school dance, possibly even dressed in a suit, or better yet, one of those ridiculous outfits that the conquest horsemen insisted on wearing, brought a much larger smile to her lips and she had to hold back the laughter that was suddenly bubbling up into her throat.

The new fruit that came towards her was much smaller then the melon of before, but she felt like she was in a better position now, and not nearly as hurried. Still, the lighting was terrible and the fruit itself almost seemed to disappear as it was thrown towards her, only to emerge when it was much too close for her to comfortably throw her blade at. Still, she gave it a go, and missed by little more then she had earlier.

Curses.

This fruit she let sail on past, glaring at it even as she moved out of it's way, and listening to it as it thudded against tree.

Wait, why did she keep bringing it up? Shaheen frowned in thought, even as she swooped down out of the sky to retrieve a fruit from her own basket before climbing upwards once more. "I suppose I am just bothered by it, that's all." She replied, even as she sent the star fruit in her hand spinning towards Shik now. Still, she had to admit to herself that the idea of prom itself was almost intriguing. How excited the horsemen she had questioned seemed to be about it, and how curious as well. In fact, it was almost as if some very small part of her actually wanted to go, though whether or not that was to just scoff at those others who were attending was another question entirely.