010 [Action]

[swordprincess]

[After her shift at Good Spirits, Karla decides to wind down with a workout at the Battle Dome. Now would be as good a time as any to try Saori's battle scenario, to fight the demons and other lesser creatures that did not exist in Elibe.]

[The Sword Princess draws her Wo Dao, waiting for the creatures to attack. She dodges quickly, seamlessly, apparently biding her time to strike back. She times her attacks just so, connecting each time. The opponents may have needed several strikes to go down, but eventually they all fell.]

[Karla stands before the fallen creatures, the Wo Dao trembling in her hand. The battle lust is still fresh. It was a satisfying battle, and yet her blade craves more. But she won't overdo it. She'll make herself sick again, or worse, insane. Finally, Karla silences the hunger by shoving the sword back into its sheath, and then lets out an exasperated sigh, as if she'd just been released from a vice-like grip.]

[Enough.]

Comments

[needlepricked]

( Annie is an observer out of necessity, and a part of her nature that would have been shy if it hadn't been overriden into subterfuge. None of that matters here so much, outside of leaning her toward certain tendencies. Watching over speaking, trying to understand situations and intents through taking in actions, words, and setting as much as she can.

Eventually, it's a matter of being some version of polite to announce her own presence. The Battle Dome is a new experience on its own, one she's not sure she wants to launch into as it is. Recent readings prove it to be something of a watched space, by eyes outside of the enclosure, and she's wary of unknown benefactors on high. They rarely had good intentions more than vaguely in mind.

They don't need to know what it is she can or cannot do. But those are thoughts for another time. )

Are your mock battles usually so intensive?

[swordprincess]

[Upon exiting the room, Karla raises an eye at the question and the person asking it.]

Um...yes...

"Not intensive enough," a voice in her mind says, but she shrugs it off. How else can she become stronger? How else can she reach her brother? What else can she even do?

[needlepricked]

( Annie's own expression is neutral in return. Until she glances back at the room - she looks more mildly curious at that point. )

I hadn't seen this place in use before. I didn't mean to pry.

( The sword used hadn't been familiar, either, but it makes sense why it isn't - the swords still used in the Walls were ones designed for one particular function. Blades had to be disposable and replaceable. They broke down swiftly under use. )

[swordprincess]

[At least Karla offers her pleasant smile now.]

It’s interesting, isn’t it? We didn’t have anything like this where I came from.

[needlepricked]

( Annie seems to soften in return, but it's in the line of her shoulders and the way she seems less obviously on edge from earlier. Smiling doesn't come naturally to Annie, not yet. )

The same may be said for where I'm from. There were training grounds, but not ones that made it seem as if the battles you fought were your actual enemies.

( She supposes there's some sort of safety mechanism to what's going on here, despite having no idea how something like that can work. People die in training. It' a fact. Limited groups of people can be afforded much less readily. Even with the Malnosso playing around with what living or dying meant...

She shakes her head. )

It's overwhelming.

[swordprincess]

I like it because I can give it my all. The simulations may not be real, but the experience is. If I were just sparring with someone, I would be forced to hold back so they don’t get injured.

[needlepricked]

Or meet them at full strength when they forget the meaning behind "holding back" themselves.

( Eren. )

Do you enjoy fighting?

[swordprincess]

[Hey, an opponent who refuses to hold back can be nice sometimes, especially when they’re arrogant. Who’s to say there isn’t a little pleasure in putting the arrogant types in their place?]

No...I hate it, actually.

[needlepricked]

( There's a lot of satisfaction in making people realize how ridiculous they're being. In helping them learn, too, by teaching in whatever way sticks. Usually the whole pounding it into their head, literally or otherwise, works.

Annie looks openly curious now. It's a sentiment she's not too far off from, but she doesn't know what this woman's reasons might be. )

What is it you're training for, if you hate fighting?

[swordprincess]

[She seems to stare out into nowhere.]

I’m on a journey to find someone. Or, at least I was, before I ended up here.

[needlepricked]

( Such a thousand yard stare... Annie finds her curiosity continues, though she also knows it borders on rude. Still, she asks; there's little to lose in asking. Understanding the motivations of the people here is an important part of the process of adaptation. )

Do you mind me asking who?

[swordprincess]

My brother...

[She answers without hesitation, still staring off.]

He's been seeking strong opponents, so I took up the sword and went into the coliseums. But I've found no leads so far...

[needlepricked]

( Everyone runs in the pokemon league She can't say she understands. )

Coliseums? Then you're tracking him down through the places he went to fight and prove himself?

( What odd worlds all around her. )

[swordprincess]

If he is to be found, that's where he would be.

[Or so she thought. The fact that she hasn't found him yet is getting rather worrisome.]

[needlepricked]

Is this all within your country?

( Or nation, or... she's not even sure what context there is to be had. Single mindedly pursuing a goal through the avenues available... that she can understand. )

[swordprincess]

Throughout the territories of Elibe...yes.

[And single-minded, she is.]

[needlepricked]

He wouldn't have ventured further?

( Problems you have when you don't know how large the territories of Elibe might be... you know, right after having no idea what they are in the first place! )

[swordprincess]

He...might have?

[Where else might he have gone? The Western Isles again? Or perhaps even Ilia?]

[needlepricked]

Had there been any indication in all your fighting travles of someone like him having been through those places earlier on? I don't know if it would then indicate if he's gone on elsewhere. There might be a chance.

( He might also be dead, practically speaking, but that's... just... rude. )

[swordprincess]

There had been. I was following the rumors, trying to catch up to him. Perhaps that's not the best way...but I don't know what else to do.

[As for Karel being dead? Very highly unlikely. Karla would know about it for sure if he were.]

[needlepricked]

( Karla is lucky to have such assurance -- it's a kindness in any world. As for finding her brother? Look for patterns, perhaps, but Annie doesn't presuppose that she can understand the situation or way of another world when she's so caught up and pulled along by the way of things in her own world. )

It's not as beneficial to consider here, is it? From my current understanding, there's no evidence to say what we learn here comes back to our worlds with us, if we're sent away.

( If "home" is the place they're disappeared to in the first place, but that point is in and of itself moot. )

[swordprincess]

Maybe...but...I have nothing else. Nothing I've learned here would be useful in my world anyway.

[Learning how to work the Battle Dome is nice, but no Battle Domes exist back home.]

[needlepricked]

( That seems like such a limiting thing, but Annie has to also consider the things she's learned. Teleporters, strange foods, working indoor plumbing that went through the whole of a building, water heaters... not particularly useful knowledge to carry back outside of potentials that may or may not apply to the world she may or may not be living in for much longer.

She gives a small shrug of her shoulder. )

I suppose living here for the sake of what one carries back home might not be the best way to approach the situation, anyway.