(PRP Jauhar) Weapons and the Art (Iroia and Volka)

[Aukai Oceansoul]

Iroia slunk around the house..where was that daughter of hers, she had been here for breakfast but had poofed into some dark corner while her brother and father talked. Now the manfolk were gone, and she couldn't find Volka. There was a thing she had to tell her daughter, not that she could remember what that thing was at the moment but she was sure it would come to her..eventually.

She walked by the stairs and there she was. "Volka? Whats wrong? You look..like Rue does when there is a problem he can't just kill to solve." Perhaps how she looked when something ate her carefully tended tulip garden.

She knelt on the stair and threaded her hand through her daughters dark hair. "Tell me, I might be able to help."  

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

Volkarosh naturally slunk to dark, secluded corners. It was a habit she'd picked up when - in the rare occasions where Ruelash's presence had actually bothered her - she'd needed to be alone. Lashy wasn't good at telling when she needed space, and so hiding became the most efficient option.

Her chin cupped in her hand, her gaze intent on the wood wall (but really nothing in particular), Volkarosh puzzled over a problem that grew more and more urgent with each passing week until...

Volkarosh was too smooth to startle. She merely looked up at her mother and allowed her to move beside her. Her hands felt nice in her hair, and Volkarosh found herself - to her surprise - leaning into it.

She knew that look. She almost smiled - she'd had to help her uncle with many a problem he couldn't stab. That had been what she'd done for some time, took care of him as he took care of her. She still did, sort of.

Maybe her mother could help.

"Mother..." she said, hesitating slightly as she assembled the words, "... When you chose to train in dual blades, how did you know that they were... right... for you?"  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"Well you see, your Grandma is an assassin while Grandpa took the route of the sentinel, they put up with my super hyper tendancies and let me train as an outlet, so when I was old enough to choose a weapon, like when they actually let me touch them, they let me try both of their own weapons. I knew what I wanted was a sword instinctualy. But what I didn't know right off the bat was what kind. So I tried Mama's, I mean Grandma's twin blades, awkward at first as they were the first weapons I had tried right, heavy, solid. So then I tried Grandpa's single sword, bigger, a comforting presence that felt almost like a sheild between me and the world, but it was so big and unbalanced, forcing my body to conform to one side, two hands on one hilt. It just felt clunky to me. But I practiced more with both and soon came to find that it was the double balanced blades that let me flow like water, they felt like they could become a part of me, were a part of me, and that I would be better with them as I would be one with the flow of the forms instead of fighting the single sword to get it to do what I wanted."

Iroia cleared her throat. She didn't think she had ever talked about anything so much in her life.  

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

Volka reeled internally, struggling to keep up with the half-organized onslaught that was her mother's words. She had not been prepared for... that... onrush of thought.

"So, you tried their weapons and chose what felt right?" Volkarosh asked. That, she thought a little frantically, seemed to be the gist of it.

"Did you try anything else besides bladed weapons? Or... hmm." Volkarosh let the second part of that question die, half formed. "... How did they know which weapons were for them?"  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"The blades sang to my soul, I never tried a non bladed weapon." As for how her parents knew she couldn't really remember asking. "I'm not sure I remember why they chose what they did, I don't know that I ever asked, I was a bit obsessed with what I would chose."

She had been a determined little girl, not unlike her Volka but with more crazed energy and less control. "Ranged weapons come in handy but not for close combat, a crossbow is a hard weapon to hide but so are big clunky swords. I understand your brother is going with a whip, if I tried that I would tangle myself in it. I can't wait until he does that, I'm going to laugh."  

[DraconicFeline]

Duke Edward Drake

Volka smiled wryly and decided not to mention that Arron already had done so. In her presence. It had been massively funny (which meant that she had snorted, once, in laughter) and massively embarrassing and she had been sworn to secrecy about it.

"It sang to you. What does that mean? Did it 'sing' for Father? And Lashy, too?" she asked, lumping them all together. Lashy couldn't articulate anything, and her father... what he did was different, somehow.  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"That I do not know either but the idea of any weapon singing to your father amuses me, he seems to be more of a well I need a weapon might as well be that one sort." She imitated the overall unimpressed look that he usually had on his face. "But that is what makes him beautiful, because I am the only one who sings to him!"

She was most pleased with this. "Have you considered whether or not you want to be far away from the action and still deadly or do the deeds up close and personal?"

Choosing a weapon was proving hard for her daughter, and it distressed her somewhat because there was only so much that Iroia could do for her. Far be it from her to choose for her daughter the weapon that might save her life.

"Lets see, if you were in a forest and a radaku jumped you, what weapon would you pull first?"  

[DraconicFeline]

Aukai Oceansoul

Which would she pull first? "It would depend, wouldn't it?" Volka said, "If it was far off, then the crossbow. But if it was close, the daggers would be better - no need to reload, easy availability..." she trailed off,

Volka thought for a moment. "... I want to control the action." she said finally, "I want to be able to see the action and then... deal with it accordingly." She gave her mother a searching look. "Does that make sense?"  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"That would mean the crossbow wouldn't it? More range more time to think before the action gets closer, you are stealthy enough you can pull it off. The daggers can also be used thusly but their range isn't as long. I did toss a dagger at an Oban commander once with your Uncle, it was nicely effective as a distraction, got him in the thigh, though I believe I was aiming higher. A crossbow bolt hits with more force albeit."

Her daughter had to find the hardest question ever didn't she. "But if your enemy manages to sneak too close to you a dagger is a better weapon also dual ranged and relying on surprise and stealth but they require you to get very close if you are not throwing them. Usually you only have two on you whereas you can carry as many crossbow bolts as you like, if you throw a dagger you loose it, if your opponant has a long sword you are at a disadvantage."  

[DraconicFeline]

Aukai Oceansoul

"Really." Had she heard that story? "Was this... when you snuck into the Oban camp and slaughtered the beast masters?" And everybody there, as Lashy had told it, "Or was it some other occasion? As I heard... it was the eye that the dagger struck?"

Volka thought about it. "That is true..." Daggers were easily lost, and had a lower range... "So, the crossbow then..." She was both satisfied and... oddly uncertain. "Mm."

She was quiet for a moment. "Is it all right?" she asked, "If I choose a ranged weapon?"  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"Uncle Lashy sometimes exagerates," Iroia said perturbed, he had filled her youngun with interesting thoughts yes he had. "It was the thigh and I think they all lived unless your uncle snuck a few while I wasn't looking which is entirely possible, he is stealthy, I learned from the best." She chuckled.

"Yes of course it is, you are free to choose whichever you wish, I did not go ranged because of aim and energy and well i hate stringing them. The bows, the crossbows all the same, both hate me equally." She grinned at her daughter enthisiastically.

"Have you finally chosen your weapon?" She vibrated with glee.  

[DraconicFeline]

Aukai Oceansoul

Scene change?

He WAS stealthy. Not always prone to exaggeration, but he did percieve things differently. Especially where it related to himself. One of Uncle Lashy's major flaws - he was not objective. Volka supposed she was objective enough for... everyone, really.

"Ah. Good." She said, sighing. She supposed that was her question answered, then. She still felt oddly uneasy, but... well, she had settled on it.

"Yes." she said, "The crossbow. The bolts. They are reliable. They are steady..." She hesitated, "... But a bow..." she stopped herself. She couldn't be wishy-washy about this. But... she also needed to decide, and soon. "Mm."

"Mother? Do you know where I can find a target range? Or a weaponsmith? I'd like to try out some practice weapons and choose them for myself. I feel like that would be best."  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"A target range is easy enough to set up for you to practice with and I do happen to know a wonderful weaponsmith, her name is Dyakida she is an alkidike and she creates some of the most beautiful weapons! Actually my daughter when I become an assasin I would like her to create my blades you know the ones I have such awesome plans for with the jewels and what not. This is how highly I regard this womans skill. Besides she's a little quieter than your lovely Aunt Kaa. Which is good for a break sometimes."

When Iroia decided to talk, did she ever talk. But her daughter hardly ever blabbered at all so she supposed it all balanced out..where was Vosh..  

[DraconicFeline]

Aukai Oceansoul

Whoa. Volka stared at her mother, blinking a few times in rapid succession. She had never heard so many words pouring out at one time from anyone, let alone her mother, and it was taking a while to process it. Caught off guard, she shook off her startlement.

"Oh! I see. Then I should meet her." This Dyakida... How would she feel about hybrids such as herself? It would probably be fine if her mother thought so well of her. Likely, her father thought well of her two, as that was the only logical reason why her mother would know an Alkidike weaponsmith.

As for 'quieter than Auntie Kaa', just about anyone was. Auntie Kaa was loud and exhausting and Volka had no idea how she did it, and kept doing it, and how her father could handle having such a loud, energetic sister. However that worked.

"Yes, I think you mentioned those..." once, as far as Volka remembered, she'd heard something about them. "Remind me, what, aside from the gems, will be special about your blades?" She was, after all, professionally curious.

"Ah, mother -" She had just realized something, something that she wanted cleared up first. "You said she was an Alkidike, correct? The Alkidike only use bows, spears, and dual blades..." She knew that firsthand, her father was a dual blade (and on the path of the sacred heart, a magic using warrior if she remembered correctly) and Auntie Kaalnia was a spear-wielder (and an Amazon, apparently), and she knew of Alkidikes who rode beasts and wielded a bow (guardians? She wasn't entirely sure about them). "Would she have a crossbow for me to try out? Would she be willing to make one?"  

[Aukai Oceansoul]

DraconicFeline

"By then, I believe that I should have mastered blades enough to make the steel itself custom to my needs, the perfect shape, the perfect balance, the leather wrapped hilt giving the perfect grip and the gems representing the ethereal magic of the blade warrior. Does that not sound fantastic?" She hopped from foot to foot with glee. "The only thing I will be more proud of is my family; you your father and your sister and brothers..and Kaa and Rue but I wasn't responsible for making them."

"Its a dream of mine that I've held onto since I was very young."