3936/Sylphs and Skills.

Sylphs and Skills.
Date of Scene:	22 March 2016
Location:	Alfheim Online <ALO>
Synopsis:	Zephyr's working on something. Her own Original Sword Skill, and not just the one either. Yuuki and Nagato show up to help out, but some old 'war wounds' show themselves in Zephyr's heart. Nagato helps to soothe these wounds through combat.
Thanks to:	Nagato for being amazing.
Cast of Characters:	162, Nagato, Yuuki Konno

---

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    It's a nice day, the local weather settings are clear, the 'sky' is blue with not a cloud, and the sun is shining brilliantly, and standing in the middle of a beaten flat circle beneath a large tree, is the Sylph known as Mistral. She's gathering up for another attempt at her Original Skill. The blade of her left hand axe glows green, as she holds it near where it's normally sheathed at the belt.

    She steps forward and slashes diagonally upward, half a step forward, twirl and downward chop. She lets the motion flow into a horizonal slice before arcing around into an uppercut chop which causes her to jump, and bring the axe down in an overhead slash.

    She sticks there for a good five seconds, gritting her teeth a little. "Mistimed it."

Nagato has posed:
    That sunny day is seen with a certain Cait Sith flying around looking for a certain Slyph. Tana's still relatively new to ALO and when she heard that Mistral was heading to Aincrad, it got her to perk up a bit, "Well, she was going to do something... what is she doing?" she questions to herself, zipping quickly along the ground. It's here that she opens up her menu to send a party request towards Mistral, a not often used function for the Battleship-Gone-Cat.

    Going back through her menus, she pokes a few skills, hmming softly, she'll have to bug one of the Cait Sith in the Gatecrashers to get a pet one of these days, but for now... she has a Slyph to tackle.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    This is a place Yuuki knows well, considering she's fought many duels here. It's a good place, martial and yet peaceful. Not a battleground, but a place of tranquility and focus. That's why she'd chosen it in the first place, and likely why it'll work well for Mistral's trials.

    Yuuki likely beats the Cait Sith here, unless of course she comes with the Impgirl. She knows exactly where to go after all. She sets down outside the duelling area, choosing to walk there the last little bit rather than fly directly atop Mistral's position. Well, she doesn't really walk. She skips and bounds, not quite in a flat-out run but in a bouncy and enthusiastic motion. She waves vigorously as she approaches, the gesture adding in even more gyration to her bouncy steps.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    The Skill Stun wears off, and Mistral accepts the Party Invite before straightening up. She keeps the menu open, and adjusts some of her equipment, putting on her proper armour instead of the lower level, but slightly better statted gear.

    Yuuki earns a big grin as she bounds up, the Sylph waving back with a grin of her own, waving back at the enthusiastic little Imp.

Nagato has posed:
    Mistral's name appears in her upper left vision and she smiles. Tana scans the horizon and spies where she needs to go and takes off towards it. She's still slower than any of the other girls here but, eventually, the Cait Sith makes it towards... and divebombs the Sylph with a hug. "MI! ST! RAAAAL!" *THUNK!, HUG*

    She pulled a Kongou.

    Then again, Mistral /has/ been pretty integral to her survival in ALO... even if she's not the best Cait Sith.

    "So, you're working on something?" Tana smiles, rolling off the Sylph... "Can I help?"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "Uwaaah!" Yuuki lets out, a startled note of surprise not quite a shout. Then she grins. Oh she recognizes that tacklehug. She's used it herself a few times.... she just didn't expect to see someone else doing so here. Then again, Tana's a Cait Sith. While Yuuki doesn't know any of them all that well, she knows OF them. This behavior's not wholly unexpected.

    "Hey Tana. Not too much trouble getting here?" she asks cheerfully. "Isn't this a great place? One of my own favorites." she confides. "Great place to work on something like this. So Mistral. What can we do to help?"

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Tana's name shows up in the right left of Mistral's view, and then a few moments later, the Cait Sith shows up on the horizon... coming straight at her at full speed. "By the Sai---" she begins, before she's tackled to the ground under the cat person. "OOF!" Groan, cough... even if pain doesn't translate, and all that, it's still a bit uncomfortable to get hit like that. "Ugh... I, guess you can watch, tell me where I'm screwing things up?" she offers, sitting up after Tana rolls off.

    "I think I'm missing the timing on the last strike, cuz no matter what I try it keeps popping up a 'Fail' message." she offers, looking to Yuuki for some guidance. "Did you have this trouble when you were making your Original Sword Skill?"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "Of course I did." Yuuki says, grinning. "Practiced for hours to get everything just right. It's not really that HARD of an attack to use, not as complicated a series of motions as yours... but it had to be FAST. And that meant making sure my body was in balance the whole time, not throwing myself left and right with every move." she explains.

    Yuuki shrugs, looking. "I'm not sure about yours. Might need to be faster." she suggests. "Or maybe some part of it is offbalance. Maybe you need to transition between two strikes with something... more." she shrugs again. "Want to try it on me? If you're offbalance or overextending at any point I'll see it." the Imp grins. Impishly, of course.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Mistral hops back to her feet, and tilts head head at Yuuki. "I guess I could show you." she muses, looking at Tana curiously... it's not like the Cait Sith to be so quiet. "You okay, Tana?" she asks, "Been up to anything interesting lately?" she enquires next. It had been a while since she'd seen the Cait Sith, after all.

    Regardless, Mistral looks to Yuuki, then gets into position, grasping the axe haft at her hip, the blade beginning to glow green.

Nagato has posed:
    Tana hmms softly, thinking, "I'll sit and watch this, I'm not sure what an original sword skill is so, this will be interesting to see!" Tana smiles a bit, that tail swishing some. Though, when Tana's asked about things... "Well, I learned a new skill. And.. I finally equipped my Beast Taming skills so I want some help later to do something like that." she thinks a moment, "Umm, I also want to try this Switching thing too!"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Yuuki draws her blade, readying it before her in one hand, her body facing forward rather than angled defensively. "Don't worry about my sword." she advises. She didn't think she needed to draw it, not to see the technique in action, but if Mistral's afraid of hurting her she'll hold back and not show off the true technique. "I'm just going to keep myself safe, not interfere with the technique. Show it off without triggering the OSS training mode. Let me see the purpose of each move." she requests.

    Aside to Tana Yuuki says, "An Original Sword Skill is something spectacular." she explains. "You have to be able to do the move, to do something no one else has ever done. If you do, you can teach it to others, and you can add elemental damage to your attack. Of course the system takes over anyone's movements while executing any of the Sword Skills, and it takes some energy to use the attack unlike just swinging your weapon..."

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Mistral closes her eyes for a moment... likely visualizing the flow of her strikes, how they link together, getting the motions into her forethoughts... and then she launches. The glow fades away, and she just uses her own skill instead of attempting to train the Skill. She goes through the strikes, hacking, chopping and slicing towards Yuuki, as if she were actually trying to connect!

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    It might not be enough to attack as if trying to connect. Yuuki'd prefer to see her ACTUALLY trying to connect. Regardless, she effortlessly avoids the blows. She's seen the technique once, somewhat, and between that and her reaction speed it's easy to dodge. She looks serious though. That everpresent grin fades, and she faces Zephyr with an intent look. "Better." she says. "If you want to make an OSS, you need to be able to do it yourself. Not just go through the moves, but make it work in a real fight. Do it again."

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    She can't connect. It's nothing to do with her skill, she knows... but Yuuki's the strongest player in ALO in terms of pure skill and reaction speed... but it strikes a cord deep down.

    "... what if I'm not good enough..."

    That everpresent doubt in the back of her mind, ever since the Magus Foundry incident three years ago. It's gnawing at her making her sloppy, second guess herself... and with the direct link to her brain that the Amusphere provides... that conflict is easy to see, she can't hide it like she does in the real world.

    Despite this, she sets up again, taking a breath to try and steady her shaking hands, before launching again. She's overextending on the very first slash, not stepping forward far enough to ensure balance with the swing, so it throws her entire combo off after that.

Nagato has posed:
    Tana's watching this, that tail twitching behind her as she fiddles with her axe a bit. "Real fight?" she thinks a moment, looking at her menu... before giving a slight nod, standing up and brandishing her axe. "Mistral." she gives a smile, a DUEL REQUEST pops up. "Why don't you try it while you're under fire from someone attacking. Some people learn better that way." a pause, "Besides, I want to do something other than sit around..."

    A nod is given, "MIstral, shall we have a sparring match right here? I may not be as high leveled or anything as Yuuki here, but I should pose some threat."

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Yuuki frowns as the technique goes by a second time. She spots the overextension, but it's probably the least of Zephyr's issues here. Those unsteady hands say that much at least. Yuuki's no psychology expert, and she can't identify the problem here, but she knows there is one at least.

    She considers trying a third time, to demonstrate the overextension by tapping the axe as it whistles by. A slight redirection of it would be likely to make the Sylph stumble... something that's honestly not at all hard to do when someone does a body rotation while also stepping.

    But yes, that overextension isn't really the problem. "Why don't you try that?" Yuuki suggests, agreeing with Tana. Yuuki herself can take the chance to try and figure out what's wrong. Not mechanically wrong, but what's setting Mistral's fighting will off so much that she's shaking.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Mistral blinks a little, looking between Tana, the duel request window, then over at Yuuki. Indecision crosses her face, and for a brief moment, it looks like she's about to run away.

    "... What are you so afraid of!?"
    "You're a Mage, aren't you? Stop acting like a helpless child!"
    "You want to prove yourself, do it!"

    Mistral steels her resolve, shaky as that is, and lifts her right hand to hit the Accept button, tapping the 'Until HP hits 0' option, then setting her stance as the timer starts ticking down. "Don't you dare go easy on me." she says.

Nagato has posed:
    Tana's face contorts slightly, gone is that cheerful girls face and it turns into that of the Admiral's, at least, the admiral's classic stoic look. She stretches and gives a brief nod, that great axe at the ready. "Mistral, I've seen your emotion before... I've seen what is going on." a pause, "You're talking to the Admiral of the Fleet Daughters, easy is not in my vocabulary."

    She watches the timer tick down... the Until HP hits 0 option makes her slightly nervous but this isn't the ocean and she won't sink. "Mistral, do your best." she stretches out slightly once more and...

    3

    2

    1

    "VIOLENT SPIKE!" once the timer hits 0, Tana's already leaping into the air to make a smashing attack right at Zephyr, "Do not treat me as a friend, Mistral. Treat me as your enemy. Show me what you're doing. Do not hold back or I will show you why you shouldn't!"

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Mistral's eyes go wide for a moment... that isn't Tana, not anymore... and it shakes her again. "Wh..."

    And the Duel starts. Mistral's reaction is to leap backward, her wings manifesting and her entire body pulling into the air, driven by instinct... her eyes tell that she's not seeing the Cait Sith. "... Aurora, why?"

    She drops back in, having barely avoided the Sword Skill from Tana, hacking wildly with both her hand axes. She's not even attempting to do the Skill she's working on, a mad desperation entering the Sylph's face and posture.

Nagato has posed:
    "SENKAN NAGATO!" she shouts towards Mistral. She should know that name quite well. "Not Aurora." the miss of that Sword Skill makes her frown but the wild hacking and slashing with those hand axes has her ducking back and back, each wild slash is parried, though that green bar of hers is slowly going down. "CALM DOWN!" she shouts as she raises a hand, point blank, and lets out a fireball from it, only to jump backwards. "You will get nowhere hacking and slashing wildly!"

    Once she deems it safe enough, she'll charge back in, this time for a horizontal slash that sends the Cait Sith spinning around and around, trying to smash it right into the Slyph!

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Clank, clang, clink.

    As she's parried, then blasted point blank with a fireball, the Sylph tumbles backward, her chest glowing an angry red with that pixel grid showing underneath her chestplate.

    She pants as she gets back to her feet, setting her stance to take that roundhouse swing, but her Defense isn't as good, so the sheer momentum overpowers her block, and sends her careening into the tree.

Nagato has posed:
    Tana shakes her head and stalks forward, dragging that axe down on the ground. Hey, this was a duel to zero hp, she wasn't about to play around with this. "What's wrong? The newbie here is beating you. And you still can't do your original skill." she taunts and continues stalking forward, "Earth Shield..." a rock shield starts putting together around the Cait Sith, and she smiles.

    There's something unsettling about this smile, the normally cheerful Cait Sith, even if it's a stark contrast of the woman behind it, is now echoing the Admiral's stance... "Get up." she smiles even bright, "Get up and face me, Mistral, or do you concede?" and with this, she runs. Runs forward and... "VIOLENT SPIKE!"

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Mistral pushes to her hands and knees... A quick glance to her HP bar... orange zone... she's losing, she really isn't good enough, is she?

    She pushes up to a crouch, watching the Cait Sith approach... She chants in false norse, and a Speed Buff appears on her HP bar. She stands, settling into her Skill stance...

    "... You're weak, you're nothing but a useless excuse for a mage..."
    "... What's wrong? Can't fight without your useless little Device huh...?"

    Green eyes flash open, and with a standard skill, she parries the Spike, hitting the Great Axe at an angle to deflect it with a one-hit Skill. She then adjusts her stance back, and with a green glow on the blade, goes into her OSS sequence.

    Something's changed now, though, the shaking hands, the wild look of desperation, they're gone, in their place, cold anger. Her eyes seethe with killing intent.

Nagato has posed:
    "Come on, Sylph. Are you going to be bested by me?" Tana's grin fades, watching the Sylph get up. "Good. Good." her strike's deflected and she watches. She's very familiar with that killing intent, that's the thing she was going for. "Good... show me your skill." she readies her great axe... and goes into a defensive stance, wait, did Tana pick up tanking skills? "Come on... bring it!"

    Tana rushes forth to meet up with the Sylph, the shaking's gone, the desperation's gone.. this is the Mistral she wanted to see, "Come on! My health hasn't even hit orange! Are you afraid? Are you not good enough to best me?" she keeps taunting the Sylph, apparently this being a good thing to get her friend going.

    "Can you bring my HP down?"

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Hold it... wait until you can feel it about to burst, then...

    "HYAAAAAAAAAH!"

    She steps forward, drawing her axe in the same motion. Slash, step, slash, turn hack, arch uppercut slash, jump, downward hack!

Nagato has posed:
    Tana lets out a yell herself, bringing the axe to bear to parry a couple strikes. The ones that make it through chip down her HP bar: green... yellow... Orange... There's the thing she wanted. She stops still for a moment, getting into a trained stance, the Whirlwind sword skill... She lets the system take over for this, plotting her next move, but knowing what may come next... "Whirlwind!"

    Tana's ears are perking, that defensive buff she applied earlier is whittling away too... she's not sure how much longer she can take this but she's going to try to bring the Sylph down. "Mistral, I'm urging you to try it! HIT ME WITH ALL YOU GOT!"

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Mistral shifts backflipping away from the attack. It catches her a couple of times, leaving those deep looking red 'slash' decals. Red-zone.

    The Sylph grits her teeth, and settles back into the stance one last time... she could feel it that time, so she activates the training mode, and gathers up, letting the system start reading her motions. Muscles tense, and she lashes out with the first step back in. "DANCE OF THE WIND DRAGON!" Slash, step, slash, turn hack, arch uppercut slash, jump, downward hack.

    This time, the program registers the motions, and the Skill activates into a Grimoire, as the Sylph is put into Skill-Stun for a moment.

Nagato has posed:
    Tana's skill finshes and she's put into her skill-stun, that vulnerable time between being able to do something else. This... will more than likely be the end of her. She closes her eyes. The slash hits and the red slash appears on her. The slash hits again... the uppercut slash... the downward hack.. Many red lines streak across the Cait Sith's body. Orange... red... there's a sliver left...

    And now... there is no more.

    She gives a brief nod, a content look on the Cait Sith's face. She slumps to her knees and then falls face forward and, bursts into her remain light, the floating orange ball of energy showing now.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Mistral lets out a breath, dropping her axes and reaching into he belt pouch. She gathers up the ReAnim Light, and gently presses a small, glowing crystal into the flickering flame-like ball. She murmurs softly, before releasing Tana's core essence and letting the revival item take effect, rebuilding the Cait Sith's form.

    What she said, was "Thank you."