summer 9 - a chimera montage (open)

[bluerocks]

a. cabins, morning

[ Soft guitar lines float out from behind Lingonberry Cabin. It's the kind of music that makes you think of someone sitting quietly by themselves on a large flat-topped rock, a little brooding, a little wistful.

That person is Zelgadis. He's moved on from his fantasy-adventure-guy-in-a-cape look to jeans and a white zip-up hoodie, playing a mellow acoustic guitar at the trees. ]

b. woods, noontime

[ You spot this blue guy, back in cape-guy garb, in a small clearing visible from the path through the woods. He's practicing sword thrusts with what looks like a wooden sword, but a closer examination shows that he's taken the brush head off a broom, wrapped cord around one end to form a handle, and tied a small stick as a cross piece to make the guard.

What kind of nerd works on his sword form while on vacation, anyway? ]

c. farm, afternoon

[ There's a goat up on a milking stand, held steady in the wooden head catch while happily munching in a bowl of feed. It doesn't seem to mind that the hands pulling on its teats are hard and stony; it's just happy for the relief. ]

Good girl, Starlight. Nice and easy.

[ Zelgadis gives the goat some quiet encouragement while working on filling up the bucket. ]

d. wildcard

[ Drop me a PM/PP if you want some other flavor of chimera! ]

Comments

[bluerocks]

If you break your weapon, I'm not making you another one. [ How hard could he possibly hit?

Zel watches Spike handle the stick; the twirl shows he knows how to heft it and find its balance point, and the slow circling lets them both size up each other's style. He tracks Spike's arc, keeping a profile turned and his own stick ready to catch and deflect any swipe that falls within normal human response times. Zel's speed is superhuman, so he's a little cocky. ]

[sparkandburn]

Oh yeah, like I need you to make me a weapon. [ He is a weapon, dammit!

If there's one thing Spike's good at it's keeping a casual appearance in a fight. He's also not human, so when that strike does come it's practically out of nowhere - he's not giving too much away with his shift in stance, just gives an experimental swipe towards Zelgadis. ]

[bluerocks]

You're the one who was walking around unarmed until now.

[ That swipe comes faster than Zel expected, and he barely gets to swat the stick aside with a conservative twist. The hard broomstick is stronger than the branch he gave Spike, so he's holding back quite a bit on the contact. ]

Hm, you're not slow.

[ But he doesn't take much time to reset, countering with a low jab right away, following with several short slashes, each move coming as soon as their sticks collide. He's testing Spike's defensive endurance with more quick movements. ]

[sparkandburn]

Aw, a compliment so soon? And here I'm just getting warmed up.

[ His reflexes are good, of course - he would't have been alive for this long if he wasn't great at dodging and blocking pointy sticks being jabbed at him. There's a sharpness in his eyes, a lingering anxiety because if this does go bad it'll go really bad. They say you can't die on this island, but he's already dead. Can't take for granted that they thought of that detail.

Playing on the defence isn't really how he does things even now, so after a moment he strikes out again, two forceful swipes just to see if he can make contact with something other than broomstick. ]

[bluerocks]

You must be desperate for compliments if that sounded like one.

[ Of course, Zel has no idea why Spike seems to be taking this a little more seriously than a friendly spar. But he's impressed that Spike's more than keeping up; most randos Zel's crossed swords with have gone down easily.

He's expecting a strike back eventually. The first one gets turned down, but Spike's recovery is fast, and when the second one lashes out, Zel twists to avoid it. The stick glances off his side, and he takes a step back to concede the round, giving Spike a small nod in appreciation. ]

Alright, I guess you're someone I'd rather have on my side, after all.

[sparkandburn]

[ To be fair, this is as close to a friendly spar as he comes. There's always a sliver of death in everything he does, of seriousness — you have to stay sharp, or you turn into dust at the end of a sharp stick. He has no interest in meeting such a fate here, or anywhere else.

He takes a step back when Zel does, acknowledging that the round is over but not dropping the cocky, challenging grin. ]

That's it? C'mon, you can do better than that!