Scene #1102: The Burned Library

Owner	Pose
Yunomi Stadler	'Twas a few weeks before Christmas, and all through Nivix A Tanuki was wand'ring contemplating a fix To a cupling problem that no solution was felt For the pieces she's sourced had continued to melt! Yunomi was down in the Burned Library. There was a music player blaring post-punk Japanese rock. Yunomi was bare foot on a floor that had been smoothed over with the passing of much sandpaper and then a whole lot of cleaning. Her hair was all pinned back, blue and scarlet blending into the dark brown of her natural colors. Her ears were relaxed. Her tail followed her as she moved across the floor. Her black work-out pants and bright red T-shirt baring Niv's likeness had the occasional smirth of soot from the wall. She moved with a fluid grace, familiar with the weapon in hand. Every muscle was alert. Every slide of her foot and curl of a toe. Every stretch of her back or bend of her stomach as she eliminated enemies only she could see. PIdge was flitting around over a backpack, stuffed with fruit and dried meats from Tin Street and the little market that had began to grow in the Namamura Quarter.
Rhapsody	After a little 'jaunt' out of Nivix, Rhapsody had finally reported back to the spire. By the time she reaches the Burned Library she seems exausted. Why? Thianel. Sidonia. Angry Magewrights. Etc. She apologized, a lot, but in the back of her mind it was always the same. She NEEDED those moments to herself. She had done everything everyone in the guild wanted all week. By this point she wasn't sure how Niv-Mizzet handled it all the time. By now, she's wandering to the library because she was trying to get ahead of the curve. She expected similar from her second sister but was uncertain if it would come to pass or not. As she walks in, it may be noted that her coat, usually a bright red and blue, was a dull grey color. Not because it was a second coat, but because Rhapsody had actually changed its color on the way out of Nivix and hadn't remembered to change it back yet. Lastshe checked, it was time for another session of training, right?
Yunomi Stadler	Second sister. NOt something Yunomi considered herself. She seemed absorbed in the music and her movements, at first not recognizing the white dragoness, in spite of Pidge's welcoming beeps as the drone moved its way through the air to briefly orbit Rhapsody's head in a fond manner before zipping back to the backpack. "Have some grapes." Yunomi comments as she turns, one eye opening as she brings the staff up, balancing on one foot. IT was easy to forget that Yunomi was a martial artist as well as a mage and shapeshifter.
Rhapsody	A small smile is given Pidge before the guildmaster slips to one side of the room, slowly taking off her coat to fold up and set aside. When Yunomi speaks Rhapsody glances back to the Tanuki, nods a little, and turns to look for the offered grapes. Once she spots them she'd slowly wander over and take a few. She was really quiet, for the moment. The way she even plucked a few of the grapes seemed more somber than normal. Her tail was still, her eyes seemed weighted, shoulder's slumped ever so slightly (which was more visible with her coat off). When she finally does turn back to Yunomi, she watches in silence, occasionally glancing to the side at Pidge before glancing back, one thought repeating in her head. If I'm the Guildmaster why does it feel like everyone can tell me what to do?
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi brings her leg down, slowly, then swings her staff to a rest position, turning until her gaze is on the Guiuldmaster. And she gives a slight smile. "Everyone else had their chance?" She questions, drawing both legs up and sitting in mid-air. Her tail hangs down behind her, swaying slightly as her ears prick forward. She liked it like this. Casual. No armor. No officialness. Just two people about to potentially beat each other up. Ah, the simple things in life.
Rhapsody	"You could say that," Rhapsody replies in the midst of gnawing on a grape. One of the seeds has to get picked out with a claw, but at least the dragon gives the seed a super-tiny breath-blast to atomize it instead of just leaving it on the well polished floor. Seed disposed of, Rhapsody turns back toward Yunomi again, not sure what to expect of her closest friend and devoted guardian. In truth she'd rather just spar it out instead of actually talking about it. She swears, somewhere, she once heard, there are only things you can say to a person in a fight.
Yunomi Stadler	"Good, then it's been covered and we can get to the important thing." Yunomi replies with a grin, and she takes the staff, and breaks it in half, creating two three foot sections. One of these she offers to Rhapsody. "Did you get to blow off some steam?" the tanuki inquires conversationally.
Rhapsody	The dragon attempts to catch the tossed section, fumbles it for a moment, but at least she ends up with it in one hand. She takes a second to consider the question, but she nods, "Yeah, actually, I did.." she replies finally, popping the last of the grapes she'd nabbed.
Yunomi Stadler	"Even better." Yunomi gives a grin, and then gives a bow to the Guildmaster. and then assumes a ready position. She draws the three food section of staff up, like a blade, her fingers curling lightly around it. Her stance os loose, comfortable, and she's watching the dragon carefully. "Balancing work and pleasure is a delicate task. And it's not easy; I remember when I was still learning trying to balance my desires with my duties. I'm still working on it."
Rhapsody	Not... the lecture she expected, but somehow it felt familiar. On second thought, she's almost sure this has been discussed before, now. Whatever tension she had felt when she first came in seems to have melted away, by this point. "It's damn hard," she says, probably venting out the last bit of frustration from returning to the spires. Finally, she takes up a stance herself. It's a sword-play stance, no doubt about it. A stance it seems like she's slid into a dozen times before. While Jeannette taught her well, the 'swordmistress' was pretty rough sometimes. Yunomi was more.. enjoyable. Somehow. Even if she did get clocked over the head once in a while. "Did I ever mention I enjoy these spars more than with anyone else..?"
Yunomi Stadler	"I think it's because you fight with swords way more than I ever did." Yunomi gives a smile, and then she presses forward. Her movements are clean and swift -- and hard. Yunomi doesn't go for killing blows, but she doesn't exactly hold back. She's going for a disarm by delivering a whack towards the dragon's hands. "Who'd you go out with?" she asks, incredibly conversational for a spar.
Rhapsody	Rhapsody's weapon hand lifts up, the 'blade' twisting downward in an attempt to deflect the attempted strike, "There's a new deckmaster running around, like Theo or Connor, but she' uses Red and Blue, huge fan of the Izzet," Rhapsody tells before she swings down, trying to catch the Tanuki after her lunge.
Yunomi Stadler	"I've met Neva." Yunomi reminds Rhapsody. The strike's deflected. Yunomi steps to the side, and draws down slightly, using her shorter stature to her advantage as she braces, and parries the blow, then tries to get all up into Rhapsody's personal space and dig her elbow to Rhapsody's ribs. "She's a total fangirl, but not so much of me. She was concerned that you wouldn't like the decorations in the main hall."
Rhapsody	With blow comes in, however, Rhapsody spins to her left, trying to avoid the elbow into her side. Yunomi would make contact, but not quite as firmly as she may like. With the momentum carrying her around, Rhapsody would bring her weapon low, trying to catch the Tanuki in the legs, behind the knees even, as she finishes her spin, "The Christmas decorations? Silly girl, they were up last year, I love them!" she calls, "I'm glad they're back up, to be honest! I like it being festive. Maybe the sector will get some more snow this year. Enough to not melt in a few hours."
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi jumps -- the blow catches nothing but tail! She then brings one foot up, trying to pin the blade to the ground and bring her own staff to strike at Rhapsody's upper arm. She gives a wry smile. "I don't think she cares for me much, what, being all 'green mana' and 'total outsider'." Yunomi gives a face. "I also may have come off as brash; she seems unhappy that we're different than the Ravnica she visited before... I chose not to tell her about the Namamura District..." she gets distracted. "... I still don't see how I can be a guardian if I failed my people."
Rhapsody	The sword is pinned! Thinking quickly, the dragon rolls back, trying to figure out just how she'd get her weapon back. Oh wait. Dragon. She didn't really need a weapon did she? "Hrm. Well, you're no outsider here, Yunomi. You're as much Izzet as anyone else. If Neva doesn't like it that's too bad..." For now, Rhapsody would wait for Yunomi to make the next move. "Your people are safe, at least. I know your father may think the spires are 'an eyesore on the sky' but at least he has a place to call home."
Yunomi Stadler	"/Sakiaro/ can go suck eggs." Yunomi replies sourly, and bristles visibly. "He approves of nothing I have done since I came to the Multiverse. Had he his way, I would have been married off to a minor noble and lived the rest of my life as an unhappy /human/ wife." She must have spoken with him recently. "He wants me to be contained and safe when everything I am drives me /outwards/. To other worlds, to far off places, to help others." She gives a wry grin, and then reaches into her back pocket, and flicks something out! IT IS TINY SCRAPS OF RED CLOTH! ... wait, why tiny scraps of red cloth.
Rhapsody	Considering how she reached back, Rhapsody jumps back from the scraps of cloth, only to tilt her head at the lot of them. Still, she's suspicious! Very suspicious. She decides to change the subject. "Ryxinel keeps trying to 'reorganize' the Dragon's Forge, and a certain duo keep putting things back the way they want them. It's kind of amusing to see him try to stay angry, but he just can't do it."
Yunomi Stadler	"You were just hit by my surprise fireball." Yunomi comments lightly, and she brings her 'sword' up, resting it on her shoulder. "Yu and Mi do a lot of hard work trying to keep it organized... but I think at this point they're doing it to watch him try. THey're setting a bad example. What if a goblin tries to reset everything to get favor from Ryx, and then the kodama put them all back -- you know, those grapes, they looked pretty good."
Rhapsody	"Oh no!" she mocks being struck by a fireball, staggers a step, then ends up by the grapes. A few suddenly get tossed toward Yunomi, "Seeing as that was a fireball," she muses, "I'd say that's a spar point for you.." smile. "The only goblin allowed in the Dragon's Forge is Rizix, and all he's been lately is grouchy," Rhapsody reports.
Yunomi Stadler	"Can't hardly blame him. Mi keeps dumping soapy water on him." Yunomi fires back, accepting the grapes, and going to grab some of the dried meat sheets from the shopping trip. She rolls a couple of the spicy meat slices with some cheese, and offers them to Rhapsody. "Technically the only Kodama allowed in the Forge is Chugi-Yu, but Yu and Mi keep going in reguardless."
Rhapsody	A blink, "I didn't know that. . . Doubt Ryx does either. He swears he keeps locking the door too, doesn't work," she muses before giving the offered spiced meat and cheese a shot. ... Don't mind her eyes widening a little. Maybe a little to much heat? "Mm.. that's got a kick to it," she admits. "Cheese mellows it out at least." Kinda. Seems the Guildmaster doesn't have a big scoville tolerance.
Yunomi Stadler	Yunomi appears to enjoy the spiciness. The cheese does mellow it -- after a moment, once the oils and fats from the cheese coat the tongue. "It's highly problematic, these rebellious youngsters whose spirit is determined to remain undwindled." Yunomi replies ruefully to the Guildmaster, and rolls another pair of meat-cheese tubes. These even smell less spicy, more smokey. "I've been considering asking Ryx to remake a sword for me. Make it stronger."
Rhapsody	The comment earns a smirk from Rhapsody, "Mm.. imagine that," she comments before considering Yunomi's thought, "Ask him? He's found a lot of confidence after helping out Amalthea when she needed Faith reforged. He's been wanting to work on swords a lot since then. He'd probably leap at the offer if you asked."
Yunomi Stadler	"It's just..." Yunomi frowns, and sits on one of the long-abandoned bookshelves that's been sliced in half. "I lost Nikkou-You. I lost my mother's weapon. I can't touch it, or feel its presence anymore... and as skilled as I am with magic, I just... it doesn't feel right." she replies, and gives a shrug. "He could reforge the sword. Or help me build a new one."
Rhapsody	A thoughtul noise is made by the Guildmaster before she speaks, "You probably would need to speak with him about it. I'm sure he could do either, but he would want to hear it from you first, Yunomi. He loves to make swords, don't misunderstand, but he would want to make sure what you want first."
Yunomi Stadler	"... I want my naginata back." Yunomi replies, after a moment's quiet. She hangs her head. "I want to go back and time and find a way to beat Gohan and get Namamura back, and be honorable about it... but... I can't."
Rhapsody	For a moment, for the briefest of moments, Rhapsody almost replies with 'I want Niv back', but she bites back the thought before it ever has a chance to make her jaw move. "You're family is here, and your people have a home, Yunomi. I would set the entire guild behind you if you wanted another shot at it," she says, knowing full well what the counter argument may be. "But," she starts, "We have to walk the road we're on. There's a lot of roads that have to go untravelled, Yunomi, and that's one we can't take, now. We'll find another road, someday. Today, though?" Another grape is offered, "We work with what we have, yeah? Talk to Ryx. He'll help you with a weapon, and I can promise, he'll pour his soul into it for you."
Yunomi Stadler	"... I'm sorry, Rhaps." Yunomi replies. and she rubs the back of her hea.d "You're probably the last person I should be complaining about this to." Yunomi mutters, but accepts the grape.
Rhapsody	A shake of her head is given, "You're family, Yunomi, you -are- a second sister to me. You can always talk to me, I promise. If you -ever- need a friend to talk to, there will always be a place beside me for you."