Snippet #2209230

She was lying on her side in the snow, her arm pillowing her head. More snow fell in soft drifts from the darkened sky, but the ethereal glow of Motina's presence gave the clearing a faint blue hue. Aja gazed across at the big cat, her brow knit together as she idly traced patterns in the snow between them. Motina was lying on her belly, gazing back at Aja with an intense, focussed look to her eyes.

Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?

"I think so." Aja replied, her lips pursed. It had been a warning, one she'd been receiving for a long time. This time, though, it seemed as if Motina was more serious than she had been before. Licking her lips she sat up, dusting snow from her cloak before she began to idly scoop snowballs into her palms.

You're doing well, you know. I'm very proud of you.

Aja smiled, glancing to Motina before looking back down at the snowballs. "I'm doing what you asked. That's all."

The big cat stood, padding forward to drag a warm, rough tongue over Aja's cheek. It's more than that. But no need to discuss it now, your trainees are arriving.

Aja's brow perked. "Trainees?"

She looked towards the entrance to the clearing, hearing the faint sound of hoof steps coming from within the darkened treeline. With a grin, she scooped up her snowballs and raced across the clearing, the sprites tossing their bodies her way as she came to a skidding stop on her knees, launching snowballs towards the horse as it finally came into view.

The horse was white as the snow beneath them, and it raced and skidded to a stop the moment that a snowball had hit it. It gave a defying whinny, before laying down. One of the riders on top of the beast huffed and stood up, only to be met with a snowball to the neck. He haphazardly threw himself off the horse, before gloved hands reached to pack snow up and send it at the assaultee; Aja. Snowy figures danced around her; something that'd surely raise a brow to his riding partner.

But, first, he raised his hand and waved to the girl. Then, he reached back to tug Xander along.

"C'mon, Sandy. Don't wet yourself, eh? We're here. Ajani'll explain it t'you."

"Yeh don't have teh pull me like tha'!" Xander hollared, flailing as he went sliding sideways into the snow. Aja threw another snow-ball, crying out with laughter when Adrien's projectile smacked her full in the face.

Overhead, stars and faraway planets dotted the vast, black ceiling above them. Their moon hovered close to them. It was a lumbering, celestial giant. Never in Blakestown were the stars as bright as they were out there. The contrast between them was the contrast of light and dark.

Adrien raised a hand, then, to block another incoming snowball.

"Come on then!" she called to the pair, sitting back on her heels and waiting for them to show their faces. "Xander! Welcome to the Forest of Whispers!"

"I'm feelin' welcome!" he called back, shaking the snow out of his hair. He looked around a bit nervously, but he didn't seem to be too bothered. After all, Adrien trusted the girl, and no real harm had come to him, had it? He looked out behind her, at the figures who were much more easy to see due to the steadily falling snow. Transparent visages, people dancing. They were all over the clearing.

His eyes widened.

"They're sprites! Forest spirits. Come on, they won't harm you." Aja said, standing and turning around to jog back to the horse.

Xander looked to Adrien.

"What kind of trick is this?" he breathed. The scene was ethereal, with the winter sprites dancing, and the girl who was just as mysteriously beautiful walking among them like she somehow belonged there. "I feel like I'm dreaming."

"Y'aren't dreaming. This is what y'get when y'wonder past the walls. I guess y'never really get used to it, 'cause I feel like I'm dreaming too." He said, with a chuckle. He opened his arms and walked backwards from Xander, as if introducing the clearing to the boy. "'Ey though, watch out, will y'? They won't hurt you, but they'll certainly knock y'down!"

As he'd said so, one of the forest spirits came to throw itself at Xander.

"EY STOP!"

The soft 'pft' of snow slapping against skin echoed towards Adrien. Xander lay on the ground, a deep frown on his face, before the boy scrambled to his feet and dusted the snow off. "What was that for? I'm jes sittin here mindin my own--"

Another sprite threw itself at him, but he deftly smacked it with the back of his hand, and it dissolved with the faintest sound of laughter.

Xander scrambled back, running for Adrien while he looked all around the pair. Aja was standing off at a distance, laying out a few long staffs that were evidently meant for sparring purposes. Xander watched her a second, his brow knitting.

"She really is teachin' yeh t'fight. A girl." He looked pointedly at Adrien.

Adrien scoffed at Xander. Then, he grabbed the back of his jacket and playfully pushed the boy in the direction of Aja. "Y'spar with'er. Then y'ask me why a girl is teaching me t'fight. Go on!" He pushed Xander again, before running ahead to Ajani and picking up one of the staffs. When Xander would approach him, he's toss the weapon to the man, but not before tapping Ajani on the shoulder.

"I just want t'see how he fairs. Don't kill'm."

Aja glanced back at Adrien, smiling secretively before looking to Xander and lifting her hand in a wave. "Good to see you again, Xander!" she said, taking up her own staff and letting her cloak fall from her shoulders. She wore a kind of cotton tunic, tucked into the top hem of her brown slacks. Soft-leather boots barely made a sound as she stepped towards him.

Xander fumbled with the staff a moment, confused as to what to do with it. "Yeh fight with sticks?"

"A staff." Aja calmly corrected. "And yes. We're using a handful of different tools, but today's is the staff."

Xander looked unsure. "Dunno how I feel about hitting a gi--"

Aja had passed the staff around behind her, before lowering into a crouch and swinging the staff out to catch Xander in the heels. With a yelp, the young man fell flat on his back, knocking the breath clean from his lungs.

"I insist!" Aja said cheerfully. Xander scrambled back to his feet, a bit out of breath, but looking more determined than before. He swung for Aja's shoulder, but she brought that staff up, ducking sideways and knocking his staff away from herself.

"Don't throw your weight around." she told him. Xander didn't seem to listen. He began a series of unorganized blows, ones that were easy for Aja to block or dodge. Finally, she spun the staff in both hands, pivoting closer to Xander before smacking the hand that held his staff. He yelped, dropping it into the snow, and staggering a step back when the end of the staff Aja held came up under his chin.

She smiled again.

"Not a bad start."

"D'y'wanna ask me about why I'm being trained by a lady now, Sandy?" Adrien asked loudly, before jogging over to their position and grinning madly. In his hand, he held a staff as well. He used it to lower Ajani's. "The way you're fighting, y'might get a bit bloody n'bruised before y'actually start learning anything. Hope y'don't mind explaining t'the townspeople why 've got that nice purple round, aye?" He teased, and poked the boy in the chest himself.

"Y'might want t'start with the snowmen, though. Y'think, Aja?" He asked. Behind them still, figures frolicked and danced in the form of the snow underneath them. "Or me."

"Let him dance," Aja said, taking her staff and running it down the length of his. "I'd like to spar with you, if that's alright."

Xander was eyeing the both of them, and he looked like he was ready to say something inappropriate. Just as his mouth opened, though, a sprite slammed into him, nearly knocking him sideways. Aja laughed.

"Just hit them with the staff! They'll dissipate, I promise. Try not to use so much energy when you swing it around."

"Y'don't have to hit'm hard, Xander. Just keep swinging at'm. Y'think y'd think to turn around, by now!" Adrien said, with a laugh himself. Then, he looked to Ajani, and a slight smirk had come upon his face. "Well, if y'promise not to beat my ass."

His staff met the floor, and he'd waited for Ajani to make the first move. His eyes trailed to Xander, if only for a moment.

"Look at me."

And the moment he did, she was stepping forward, aiming the staff in an abrupt thrust forward for his chest. Xander, in the meantime, had taken to swinging at the sprites, letting out a sharp cry when one of them dissolved just as they said it would. They regrouped, attacking him at once, leaving him to flail about before he finally threw the staff off to the side and just started throwing his arms around.

Adrien's staff rotated as he looked back and stepped back. He knocked the staff away from his chest, and it laid across his arm, as if it were an extension. Then, he released and swung it around, aiming to hit Ajani in the side with the staff.

Xander, however, was on his own. With the two of them enthralled in their sparring, various srites still attacked the man, though the ones he'd hit dissolved into piles of harmless snow.

She parried the blow, pushing the staff away before swinging in close for his opposite side.

"You're getting faster," she told him, nodding with approval. "Learning quickly!"

Adrien yelped as the staff had hit his side, and staggered before catching himself. Meanwhile, his staff swept under Aja's and brought it in an arc motion over his head, before it landed on his other side. Then, he made a Jab for Aja's own stomach, similar to the one she'd given him when they'd first started.

While he fought, he yelled, "Xander! Not dying over there, yeah?"

That time, Adrien didn't look.

She caught the blow in her abdomen, huffing a breath before lowering into a crouch and spinning the staff out for Adrien's ankles. Xander, in the meantime, was getting a better handle on his form. He was street-brawling, but it was definitely working for him.

"These powder beasties don't know what's commin to them!" he called back, grinning like mad.

Adrien's foot lifted, but he hadn't lifted the other one in time enough for the staff not to catch it. It was swept under his foot, and soon, his entire body came along with him. His arm spread out to catch his head, before he'd collapsed into the packed snow. For a moment, he grumbled in pain.

"He's doing better than I am." Adrien said, dully. For a moment, he relaxed, as if giving up the fight. Whether she'd pointed her stick at him or not, though, he'd clutched onto the pole with a firm grip and swept it at her feet as well.

She was nearly gloating in her victory, up until the point where his pole suddenly snaked out, catching her ankles and sending her collapsing to her back. Her breath left her in a rush, and she stared at the sky, breathing a bit labored from the impact.

Then she laughed, tapping his abdomen with the end of her staff.

"You got in a hit and knocked me to the floor." she told him, turning her head sideways to look at him. "I'd say it was a pretty good session."

"Getting good, am I? S'pose I may have t'beat you, next time?" Adrien asked. Then, he rolled to his stomach and pushed himself up to his feet. He left the pole on the ground, and looked to Xander, then went to help the boy. He'd come up to the group that seemed to still be throwing themselves at Xander, before swatting a palm through one of the snow spirits and reaching in to tug Xander away.

"Hey! Almost good enough t'rough me up!" He yelled, and pulled the boy into a headlock. Then, he tumbled backward, intending on bringing his friend to the ground.

Xander made a sound like a choked snarl, flailing his arms as both of the boys tumbled to the ground. Aja bit her lip, watching the pair in amusement as Xander rolled, trying to sit on Adrien's chest. "Aha!" he cried as he attempted to pin Adrien's arms.

"Yer a wee pancake beneath my arse." he stated proudly.

Adrien's wrists pivoted enough to grasp Xander's, and he'd shoved a knee straight between Xander's unmentionables, before his arm shot up to the boy's pit and shoved him sideways. They rolled like a barrel, and the tables turned. Instead of trying to pin Xander's arms, though, he began to shovel the snow underneath onto his face.

"What y'say about pancakes? I'm more like a cinderblock on a stick now, innit?" He teased.

Xander was unable to speak. His face had turned bright red, his body rigid with Adrien's strike. As they rolled, he could barely get a breath in before Adrien was burying him in snow. Aja watched in amusement, before lifting a hand, turning it in closer to herself, and making a flicking motion.

A wave of snow suddenly surged, rolling over the boys and burying them fully.

The sounds of Adrien spitting out snow and flailing arms was heard beneath the snow before a dirty mop of brown-blonde hair peaked from above it and scrambled out from underneath it. He'd made no attempt to grab Xander, and forced back the attempt to bring Ajani into the snow with them.

Instead, he dusted himself off.

"Sorry for the dirty shot, Sandy. You alive under there?"

Xander's fist rocketed out of the snow and connected with Adrien's jaw.

"Jes fine, Dree!" he crooned as he scrambled to the surface.

Aja meandered closer, before plopping down into the snow next to wear Adrien was sprawled.

Adrien's jaw let out a loud smack, before he sorely rubbed it. Instead of taking his place next to Aja, he'd slid over and flopped his body onto Xander's, perhaps in a last-ditch attempt to subdue his brawling friend.

"Don't mind us, Ajani!" He said, perhaps a bit louder than necessary. "When I was a little smaller, Xander'd found he'd owed me 20 bucks for taking care of a horse'e'd forgotten. I just wail on'm every day that he doesn't pay it back. Like a mob serta thing!"

"You both look ridiculous." Aja noted mildly, kicking snow in their direction as she watched Xander simply go limp. Aja stood, taking up her staff and meandering over to the sprites, who had started to toss themselves one way and another.

She paused, before swinging her arm out and taking one sprite in the torso. In that same motion, she brought her leg up as she spun, taking out two in one kick before completing the turn. It was almost like a dance, the way she moved so easily.

"So what do you think?" she asked, referring to Xander. The man said nothing, just lay there.

"I hadn't killed him there, had I?" Adrien asked, his head turning to look to Xander. "Just knocked the breath out ofh him. He thinks it's fantastic." The boy was sitting on the other boy's stomach. He pivoted his torso, and gave a light smack to Xander's face.

"Can tell by the stoic, dead-like expression on his face."

Aja laughed, before she sprung from her position, wrapping an arm around Adrien's neck and another around his waist before she pulled him back, her chin at his shoulder as they leaned.

"The way you fight is different." she noted with a soft grunt. "The way I see animals play..."

"Don't need to hold me back! I wasn't intent on killing him! Playing possum isn't going to get you very far, Xander, y'tried it with me too many times." said Adrien, as he staggered back with Aja's grip.

"Yeah, well... We don't train or anything. Not with staffs or knives. We're not in the military."

She managed to switch their positions, getting him into the snow while she half-leaned over his body. Xander had lifted his head, and was looking on in amusement. Aja's brow furrowed as she looked at Adrien, her hair hanging over her shoulders and brushing against his chest.

"No, that isn't it. This kind of play reminds me of coupling."

Xander choked on his own breath.

Adrien blushed mildly. The red hue that hinted his cheeks because of the snow had hid it.

"It isn't!" He cried, defensively as ever. He rolled into her arm, and if it gave leeway, out from under her, before climbing to his feet. "Couples don't wrestle, anyway. Ladies aren't supposed to fight."

He faltered.

"In Blakestown, I mean."

She aimed a kick for his ankles.

"They should! Those dresses are so cumbersome! Women were not made to simply be dressed up so they're nice to look at."

"Sure is a benefit though," Xander muttered, before getting a snowball to the face.

A yelp came from Adrien, as he'd struggled to keep his footing. Ultimately, he ended up in the snow again. The hitting he'd gotten from Xander began to bruise his jaw, which he idley sat in the snow once he'd come upon it. "Ladies aren't even supposed to show their ankles, Ajani. Teaching them t'fight would be a leap."

A thought came to his mind, and he suddenly chuckled. Ellie, wielding a weapon, fighting. And without cause to the others, he rolled on his back and began to chuckle some more. His eyes met the moon above, whose position hung dangerous.

"Dree allays giggles when he thinks of the couplings." Xander said knowingly.

Ajani was watching the other young man for a moment, before she pulled in a deep breath and turned to look at the sky. It was beautiful tonight. In her eyes, every night had its own unique kind of loveliness. Tonight was special though, because she could enjoy it with others whom she considered to be friends.

"It's good to see you smile." She noted absent-mindedly. Xander, quick as ever, laughed aloud.

"I'm always smilin', miss."

Adrien threw his arms forward, and in turn, put himself into a sitting position. He looked up to Xander, an expression on his face that almost seemed dumb with curiosity. "So then, you'll be joining us - me n'Ajani - from now on? Maybe learn to fight like you're not a first-year school student." He said, a grin encroaching on the lower part of his face.

"Thinking mayhaps it's about time to get back. Want to do it before the sun rises, y'know, and cleaning up horse dung isn't going to be so easy if you're tired as all getout, Sandy."

Xander chuckled. "Aye mate, this is more fun than sitting mopin' around in town all day." He got to his feet, dusting the snow from his breeches before stretching his arms over his head. "I'll get you yet, Miss Aja. Just you wait."

Ajani was smiling, but something had changed about her expression. She was a bit more somber than she had been before, for seemingly no reason at all. She glanced to Adrien briefly.

"Can I speak to you alone for a moment?"

"Xander, go kick up the horse. Be over in a mite."

Adrien nodded to Ajani then, before waiting for Xander to leave.

"What's what, then?"

"I was talking to Motina, before you and Xander came." she said, keeping her voice low as she gently wrapped her arms around her waist. She seemed troubled. "She's giving me the impression that something awful has happened, but I can't get any kind of direction as to where the danger is coming from, or how soon we can expect it. She's only encouraging us to be ready."

She looked away from him for a moment. "I thought the immediate threat was towards us, the Vanduo tribesmen...but she insists that those who are truly in danger...are you. The colonists." Her lips were pursed, brow furrowed with concern.

"And the walls won't keep you safe."

Adrien furrowed his brow. His eyes slightly shifted to Xander, before they came to rest on the snow in front of his boots. Those boots shifted and sideswept the snow as the boy in them considered Ajani's warning. "I can't do anything about that, Ajani." He suddenly said, and his eyes met hers.

"I'm not Illiam. Or Radimus. People don't listen t'me anymore. I guess what's coming's just going t'come, whether we like it or not, unless Motina suggests some sort of alternative."

"She'll provide a way." Ajani said it firmly, fully convinced. "She won't just allow us to sit and wait for danger. Something will happen."

There was something else she wasn't saying, like she didn't know how to say it in the first place. But she wasn't looking at Adrien, and her hands were pressing tightly into her forearms.

"Something like what?" Adrien asked. "The way you're speaking tells me you're convinced, but the way you're looking down tells me you're not." He said, an unsureness still tinting his face.

"I know we will be given a reason to trust each other, our groups of people, but the fear that I have, the feeling that I'm getting...is that the threat is familiar. It concerns me."

She met his eyes. "Just be watchful. I think, whatever happens, this is going to come from someone we trust."

Adrien gave a reassuring smile, and his hand met Ajani's shoulder. "Always am. If it'll set your mind right, I'll keep a club by my bed."

It was supposed to be reassuring, but perhaps it wasn't. Regardless of whether Ajani felt comforted, distraught, or otherwise, the boy turned and looked to Xander, to whom of which he raised a hand. Not before he turned his head, though, and nodded at Ajani.

"We'll be fine."

was the last thing he said, before departing for Xander and the horse.