Daylight Dancer

[Kavan Siron]

Kavan nodded, appreciating the witch's more detailed translation, and her well wishes. Really he was baffled by her behavior; but kept that to himself. And he was certainly not going to waste an opportunity to learn more about the ways of the Clan, or about the language. Everything he could glean could make him more useful to them, thus extending his life and hopefully raising his status at some point.

"Chof, hompleier," he replied.

He was definitely keen on practicing the language, for he really needed to master it down the line, and if he didn't speak it, he couldn't improve. It had been worth even getting smacked for his horrible accent, so at least he knew better how not to pronounce certain things.

When told to hand the spear, he did as such without hesitation. He knew she could take it away from him if she wanted to; but their exchange so far made him believe she wouldn't. And regardless of what she did, he knew better than to say no to a witch.

If he was honest with himself, he was curious about what she had in mind.

[Spark Vallen]

Spark watched her and nodded uncertainly, then repeated one of the phrases he heard often: "Ai nou get in hashta em."

He thought it meant "I don't know," and didn't realize it was "I don't know about him." And so, he unknowingly came off as strange or ironic at the least as he leaned forward to help her start digging again.

"Spark," he added. "I'm Spark."

[Cearia Tserta]

With a nod, Cearia took the spear and held the weapon horizontally, lightly tossing it up until her grip was center. The design was crude but the weight was nicely balanced with one end whittled down to a point. Then she placed a foot back as her arm dropped to twirl the weapon side to side gauging its use until on the last spin, the weapon came to rest against the back of her arm.

"Yuj java. Wood strong for spear." Her body relaxed, feet returning to a causal stance and regarded him. "You find better java."

She flipped the spear forward and had it rest diagonally across her front non-threateningly. "Den osir gonplei."

Since Cearia had become more active with the hunters in training and guiding them, her ability to recognize talent for this difficult, but rewarding life, had assisted in building their numbers. It was why she impressed upon the trio of terrors that they could become a hunting party and now, she was going to see if her intuition about the skai man was right. He was a warrior and was quick of mind to arm himself with an acceptable weapon that he was still in the process of making, and to adapt. The skai man was learning the language and their ways. He needed to learn more if he were to pass the trials.

"We fight. To ... train. Yu ned em." Cearia widened her eyes expectantly, waiting for his response. "Yu nou don kom. Choyce. Yours."

[Daca Tserta]

She gave him another funny look as their arms quickly worked at digging and eventually she guided him to smooth the sides. Daca had no idea what him he referred to, unless the skai man meant himself. Or the other skai man? She peeked around the immediate area to see if there was a nightbrother he was referring to, but it was just sisters.

"Skai man koken ..." Though she did look up when it sounded like he was trying to explain something.

"Spwak?" She smiled and started to giggle. "Yu laud as taim ... ah... bird ..."

She lifted her arms and folded them like wings before flapping them. "Spawk! Spawk!"

[Kavan Siron]

Kavan observed the hunter inspect his spear. He wished he had had more time to devote to it; but even with excellent stamina, he still tended to crash when the night sisters were done having him do every task they required of him. He knew that he'd have to do better if he was to make a place for himself in the clan though. Every moment he could make progress was a small victory. Granted, he knew that rested was part of it, for he had experienced a few times when he had pushed too much; but he would still try do better, and put more time aside to improve his weapon.

Watching someone else use the spear also made him more aware of how he should work on it. He was even tempted to almost start from scratch again, although the wood being strong for it was at least a decent point. Having to learn the local resources, and what he could actually get his hands on as a slave was more challenging than walking into an armory and picking up gear from a large stock.

The hunter's stance then wasn't threatening and she told him to go get another spear, based on his little understanding. He realized he might be staring as he was shocked, because he was under the impression she might wish to spar him. He lowered his gaze quickly and then was proven right, he nodded.

"Cha, hompleier."

He had no idea how to get another spear right away. He had few options, and making a new one wasn't among them. Asking any of the night sisters was useless, for he would just be punished even if he managed to make himself understood.

Yet he stepped back and took a hard look at those in proximity. He saw a couple of actual night brothers staring at him. He had already brawled with one of them within two days of having joined. Either it was some old fashioned right of passage, even though he didn't even know whether he'd be allowed to go through the trials Tristan had mentioned, or they just thought that beating a slave and skai man, made for merry times. Regardless, Kavan had kicked his ass, even though he had earned himself a good number of bruises and had feared a broken bone.

He knew they had heard the hunter. He managed to put a few words together. The other just walked away; but the one he had been in a fight with, eventually handed him his own spear, making it clear Kavan wasn't to keep it. The foreigner thanked the night brother and promptly returned to face the hunter, still confused as to why she would spar him.

Kavan mirrored her stance; knowing this was likely going to bring back memories from the academy, if not worse; but he was looking forward to it.

[Spark Vallen]

Spark breathed an exasperated sigh, caught between dismay and amusement.

"No, it's Spark."

His gaze shifted from her theatrical bird dance to the slight commotion a bit over from them. The other "skai man" - Kavan, Spark thought, seemed to be on a suicide mission, in his pacifistic view.

Is he really challenging her? What the frell?

"Hei..." Spark said, waving at the girl as she did her bird dance, pointing toward Kavan and the Nightsister. "Look."

[Cearia Tserta]

His surprise was palatable and her only acknowledgment was a firm nod that he could go. Kavan would have to prove himself resourceful in retrieving a suitable spear to fight with and Cearia was patient. She was a stoic figure holding the crude one he made, watching the skai man's every move and eventually followed his line of sight to a couple of brothers that had lingered. They were curious why the hunter had spared time to interact and speak with the slave. Their eyes were also familiar, hard set and glaring, towards him that spoke of an altercation. One backed away and cared little for the skai man, the other offered his spear with harsh reinforcement that it was to be returned.

Cearia nodded to the brother that relinquished his spear. "Ai na tran en kom daun java ha em Yu gav em."

He chuckled and offered a bow. "Em na na an koma taim em braks wen Yu bos op em, Grat Sis."

A rare smile touched her lips and she chuckled. "Oso na ai op."

Her face turned serious, forest greens locking on the skai man before her who had mirrored her stance. It had been many moons since she had fought another sister or brother in combat. The last was during the great reckoning when another survivor had decided to take instead of join for survival. Cearia took no pleasure in taking the woman's life, but it was her decision that the only chance to live was through thievery. Cearia may not have magick at her command, but she had been fighting since she was able to pick up a weapon and her mother realized that hunting was her daughter's calling. Cearia learned quickly that her deficit made her a target for ridicule and teasing. It also made her a quick and tenacious student of war and won many battles with skill, speed and calculated predictions of her opponents.

"Gon daun kom taim Won yeld," she stated crisply. "Say ... give up. When ... time..."

In a flash, Cearia circled the spear before her and thrust her back leg out, securing footing against the ground. The spear came to a halt along her right side, slightly pointed upwards to where it would align with Kavan's forehead. Her grip was as firm as her stance was loose, eying him. He had weight and height on her, but Cearia had faced great beasts and intimidating witches throughout her life. He would fall. It was up to him if his defeat would be honorable as she waited for him to make the first move ...

[Daca Tserta]

She smiled bright and toothy at his reaction, appreciating that the skai man slave liked her ribbing. Daca canted her head like a little lost bolma, eyes blinking slowly and nose crinkling upwards in thought.

"Nou Spwak? Sp ... ark. Spwark." Daca frowned, knowing that didn't sound right as she lowered her flapping arms. "Sparrk?"

The roll of the r's didn't work either but before she could try again, the skai man was trying to get her attention. He was quite spirited about it too. She curled her nose and looked over her shoulder, eyes bugging out at seeing Sister Cearia standing at the ready for a fight with the other skai man!

"Oh skrish!" Daca saw that others, including Sister Ibis, were slowly converging at the surprising sight. Fighting in the camp occurred for training or misunderstandings, but it was a rare sight to see a sister fight a slave, unless it was to punish them. The way that Cearia had not immediately attacked meant this was a simple challenge.

She got up to get a better view over the much taller people getting in her way. "Bilaik Skai hef lukot ste going gon get bash op meizen foto."

Daca smiled down at him. "Gaf in gon gyon au ai raun? Want to ... to see?"

[Kavan Siron]

Kavan knew that many members of the Clan could kick his ass; but he also knew that he had skills and a solid resilience. He used all of those to his advantage. He had no Force training, which put him at a disadvantage to all Force-wielding witches and Night brothers; but even without it, they were all survivors. He had managed to gather a few things that appeared to point towards a cataclysm that had ravaged much of the land. It had piqued his curiosity; but he had way bigger priorities in terms of figuring his way around, and carve himself a decent position.

He watched the brief exchange between the Night brother who had let him borrow his weapon and the Hunter. He was still struggling to grab words, but he always forced himself to be attentive to the language.

His past in the military had him unfazed that someone who served as hunter would challenge him and know how to fight. After all, the academy had taught him a lot of basics he had shared with all comrades, before they all went towards their own specialization.

He nodded when she told him to tell her he gave up when he couldn't take it anymore. There was no doubt in his mind that he would lose this fight. It didn't change how he would give his everything and do his best to endure as long as he could, and then some more. It was the only way he would be able to to get stronger.

His eyes were glued on her movements as she adjusted her position. His own footing was lighter at the moment, even though he was taller than her. When she beckoned him to go for the first move, he flicked his wrist and brought the spear before him. He half circled her before lunging towards her. At the last moment he shifted so the spear came towards her shoulder instead of her midsection.

[Spark Vallen]

Of any of what the child had said, Spark only caught the words that came in Basic: "Want to ... to see?" He nodded in agreement, looked around and saw that the elderly Night Sister had already abandoned them to see the fight, and pulled himself to his feet.

"Let's go see, kid," Spark agreed.

He dusted his pants off and extended a hand toward the girl, not that she needed his help, of course.

[Cearia Tserta]

Cearia was keenly attentive to the skai man's face once he settled into a stance, much like he was doing to her. As he lunged forward, she took a step back to keep distance between them, watching his eyes flicker towards her shoulder. The spear became an extension of her upper limbs, guiding the wooden tip into a semi-circle towards the far sharper flint tip coming towards her and halted its attack. With momentum on her side, the weapon was forced to point downwards.

Switching quickly to offense to keep him off guard, the spear came at him in a flurry of quick jabs with light footwork, ready to bounce into a new position to defend or capitalize on an opening.

The crowd that gathered had given both the Great Sister and slave ample room for the challenge to take place, forming a wide circle around the pair. Under normal circumstances, the crowd would have caused unease with Cearia and quite possibly would after the fight was over. For now, her focus was only on the skai man. She would assess his skills and mind with every attack and counter as he proved his potential worth.

[Daca Tserta]

Daca was absolutely certain that skai man Spark could come watch the fight along with everyone else since she was in charge of him! Age mattered little with rank and the young nightgirl held considerable power over the male slave. A slave that reached out to help her to her feet. Daca was a proud nightchild and sniffed at his hand in insult before hopping to her feet on her own power.

She thought the skai man funny, but there were limits. Daca wouldn't even allow Lantess to help her and he was a nightboy with the rights of one.

Waving him to follow, Daca fell into a quick excited jog as she darted around other gawkers since the crowd wasn't too thick yet. She spared a glance behind her to make sure the skai man slave was keeping up. When they reached the front, she noticed looks of annoyance that the other offworld slave was present.

"Em beda na bakon ga sises gon ai op," groused one of sisters.

Daca shrugged. "Em's kom ai. Em beda get in ha kom gonplei taim em ste kom kom Em gon daun."

The woman gave Spark a stern look in warning before returning to the fight. "Ste far kom em."

The nightgirl shrugged, grabbed him by the sleeve and tugged him closer, pointing to Cearia as she advanced on the other skai man slave. "Em's a hompleir. Hunter. Leads hunters. Grat Sis Cearia."

She couldn't contain the enthusiasm in which she spoke watching Cearia fight. Daca had never seen it before and as her young face lined with thought, she was certain that no one ever saw it. At least within the settlement by the looks of awe and surprise on the sisters and brothers that came to observe. The confusion was fleeting as she watched with doe-eyed wonder at the woman she hoped would mentor her one day.

[Kavan Siron]

The gathered crowd didn't disturb Kavan at all. He didn't feel distracted by it in hope it might increase his low status in the Clan, nor did he feel uncomfortable because he was being watched. That was something else he had learned at the military academy, when they all had to train against one another at times, being watched by both peers and instructors. What mattered was what one was doing, and their target or opponent. Given that Kavan wasn't part of any team at the moment, it also facilitated his focus for he only had to watch after himself.

Having had his ass handed over to him when younger and thinking that a shorter foe might prove easy, he was also very aware that besides the whole witch training the hunter had, she could generally be as fierce and devious regardless of her body type.

And even before Dathomir, he was no gentleman if he fought a woman. If fighting was involved, all bets were off.

His crud weapon turned into an actual one in the witch's hands, and when she used the momentum after parrying him, he had to quickly step back, dodging some of the jabs before quickly putting his own spear up to block with greater results, as the scratches on his forearms indicated.

He had no other choice but to keep parrying the flurry for a while, until he could get a brief lock with her weapon, using his strength to briefly push back, but instead of unlocking, he used the nearness to kick her in the shin.

He stepped back fast, and pivoted to attempt for a stab at her back.

[Spark Vallen]

Spark didn't understand why the kid was opposed to basic courtesy and just sighed to himself after she frowned. He felt he'd never get the hang of their ways and customs.

Why does it have to be SO different here? he thought. And why can't they have caf? It would be hot enough to grow the beans here...

As usual, his musings were cut short as the girl made her way through the crowd, tugging him along. He didn't know why she wanted him close; Spark worried that he would be thrown to the hunter next for an easy foe to beat on. He only caught snippets of what the other clan members said about him and frowned.

"Yeah, I know of her," Spark said to the kid. "Hey, she's not gonna beat on me next, is she?"

[Cearia Tserta]

The skai man soon brought up the staff to block her assault, a little too late by the superficial wounds on his arms. Their weapons exemplified their fight, both taking the fleeting moment to reassess for an advantage. He was strong, Cearia wouldn't deny that but she was able to hold her own against a more powerful counter. His feet stirred the ground below, a wisp of dust fading into the air, as warning. She brought her leg up to block the kick, which still stung but balance was maintained.

She moved a step back as did her opponent, bringing the staff above her head that twirled twice within both hands to gain swift momentum and brought it down as if it were hammer deflecting the intended blow towards the ground. In the next moment she pivoted around her opponent with a dancer's grace, swinging the weapon over her head in the opposite direction as before, and swiftly brought it down at an arc to crack against the skai man's lower back.

[Daca Tserta]

She paused and turned to Spark, slapping him on the chest in exhilaration of the fight so far. "Nau Yu get in mou! Know her more! See! She fight ... hard!"

Cearia blocking the skai man's attack was met with adulation and one of the voices that tried its best to be the loudest among the crowd was Daca.

"Flosh klin em, Grat Sis!!!" She bobbed up and down with fists in the air and cheered on the hunter, her voice emoting over the various shouts of encouragement and jeers thrown towards the combatants.

"You no fight. You break by her ..." she answered with an amused laugh. "You watch. You learn - Wow!"

Whatever the nightgirl wanted to say was cut off at the offense Cearia was doing. Her enthusiasm was palpable as Daca watched the impressive control the hunter had over the spear and thought of her own weapon, already planning on practicing every move seen here.

[Kavan Siron]

The whole point of this spar wasn't to win, but to survive for as long as he could. And that was why Kavan was pacing himself. He knew that he had to give his everything because of his opponent, and the gathered crowd that had began chanting in support of the huntress, which made complete sense given the bizarre situation. Yet he knew better than sap all of his strength from the get go. It was a delicate balance, likely the only thing delicate about this whole fight anyway.

He registered how she blocked the kick and maintained her balance, a not so common occurrence given how he had positioned himself.

He went to block the blow that came downward at him; but the witch proved her skills when she moved around him with fast and efficient ruse. He had but instants to respond. He threw himself to the ground to avoid the kick, feeling the weapon way too close for his liking, but he managed to avoid the attack.

He rolled to his side, not giving two shits he was on the ground. He had gone through worse. He went for s swiping kick towards her feet, but used it mostly to curl closer to her and go for an upward stabbing motions at her hips or midsection depending on how she would counter.

He'd get back to his feet eventually, but using everything to his potential advantage was what mattered most.

[Spark Vallen]

While the locals cheered and hollered and the kid laughed at him for worrying he'd be thrown into the bout, Spark spent most of his time watching and flinching with each impact - from blows to Kavan's kicks from the ground. This was not his idea of a good time, and he wondered how he was ever going to survive on this world, in this clan.

The enthusiasm around him felt almost palpable, Spark thought, and the energy of it was making him nauseous. He held his forehead and closed his eyes, trying to shut out his surroundings. Sometimes, that helped. When it didn't, he thumped the kid on the shoulder and said, "Hey, I'm not feeling so good."

[Cearia Tserta]

The spear missed its target but quickly put the skai slave on the defense. A quick roll of Cearia's wrist brought the weapon at the ready tucked between arm and side as she jumped up to avoid the attempted sweep of the legs. As her descent began, it felt like time slowed as Kavan's spear was noticeably going to cut her if she didn't quickly counter. Her left hand pushed the weapon back through the snug hold between her arm, leaving only a foot in front before she thrust downwards in a rowing motion to bat his attack away and land safely.

As her feet hit the ground she immediately jumped again, tucking into a forward flip to put some distance between them. Astute with awareness where the spear was in relation to her body - as all weapons had to be learned as an extension of ones self - she landed safely and with a necessary flourish, whirled the unrefined weapon in hand. It spun under her body as hands adjusted their grip to hold it sturdier before leaning forward as the weapon now circled across her back - arms and spear a flurry of purposeful movement. This was not for show but to readjust her stance.

Now with Kavan's weapon secured in her right hand, Cearia paced around the skai slave as if prey with a focus glint in her eyes that was not there before. She bared her teeth, shouting at him with the vigor of a war cry. "Gyon op en gon daun!"

[Daca Tserta]

"OH SKRISH!"

Daca's response was a common one throughout the crowd, as well as the oohs of surprise that were quickly drowned out by the erupting cheers. The nightsisters and brothers were impressed with Cearia's display and viciously taunted the skai man.

"GYON OP EN GON DAUN!!! Daca shouted to emphasize Cearia's words and soon a sister here and there started to do the same, bordering on a chant. She was going to say it again but the hard tap on her shoulder kept the words in her throat.

She glared at him for the interruption, but Daca's expression turned soft with understanding. "You ... sweaty. You ... haken? Sickness?"

Having her skai man fall ill with fever right now was the worst time! The gods were being mean to her for making a mess of Sister Ibis' fish and now she might miss the rest of the fight.