(Autumn is in her room in Uoknor.)
You feel a tingling sensation in the back
of your head. Someone attempts to make contact with you. Type '!answer' to receive it, '!page'
to request that the caller page you, or '!ignore' or wait to just ignore it.
You have established
contact with Constantine. Prefix your messages to him with '!'. Commands include !offer, !accept,
!hangup, !flash, and !show.
The image of Constantine is outside, near a waterfall; it's
probably recognizable as the cabin. He smiles.
The image of Constantine says "Hey, Autumn.
Busy?"
To the image of Constantine, Autumn is reclining on the floor, legs propped up
against her bed, hands folded on her chest. She swings herself up to a sitting position. "Not at all.
You?"
The image of Constantine says "Well enough; a little bored. Wondering if you'd like
to work out, some."
To the image of Constantine, Autumn grins. "Certainly. One moment."
She reaches over to one side, and picks up her staff. "Here or there?"
The image of
Constantine says "Here, I think. You should see our floor."
The image of Constantine offers
to pull you through.
You grasp Constantine's hand and he pulls you through.
Iende
Falls
A spot of green, rich and vibrant, set into the cliff above the crash of a mighty waterfall:
it's a semicircle of perhaps fifty feet in diameter, as if some giant had pressed down with his palm
at the edge of the precipice and sodded the ground with grass. Natural steps lead up around the
edge, to the forest at the top of the cliff and to the small post and beam house at the forest's edge.
Below, the water crashes on one ledge, then another, and finally a third before reforming into the
river below. One of the steps is occupied by a pale hardwood floor, sanded and polished and
stained a lustrous brown. Four posts mark the corners, and a shining white canopy arcs like a
seagull's wing between them.
Autumn releases Constantine's hand, looking round her. "I do
like this place."
(Constantine)
Solid mass is carried with easy precision; he moves
with a fluid fencer's grace, and a certain pure joy in the movement. His eyes are dark, hooded, but
all the same they speak of quiet happiness. A snow-white UC Berkeley sweatshirt is startling
contrast to his chocolate-brown skin, untucked over black jeans; at his belt hangs a pair of
blackwood shortsticks, and his belt buckle is a crimson crane on a field of cream. On one hand,
he bears a woven gold ring.
Constantine is standing on the floor, stance relaxed. "Thank you.
This is the place Tanith and I kissed for the first time."
Autumn bows her head, formal a
moment. "I am honoured by the sharing."
Constantine smiles, quiet and true. "I'm honored
to be able to share it."
Autumn smiles in return. She pauses before stepping onto the practice
floor. "How shall we play this?"
Constantine says "Mind if I bring Eldrik
in?"
Constantine says "For watching, maybe sparring later. He's wounded, a little, probably
bored."
Autumn shakes her head. "Not at all."
Constantine concentrates,
light.
Constantine reaches out a hand.
Eldrik appears in a rainbow sparkle, grasping
Constantine's hand.
Eldrik has arrived.
Eldrik says "Hey, Autumn. How's it
going?"
Constantine studies Eldrik, with a slight smile. "Looking well enough, considering
the pounding."
Autumn grins. "Well enough, thanks."
(Eldrik)
A lean man in
his mid twenties, roughly six feet tall, with hair the colour of jet. It's cut short in a sensible style
that keeps it from his attractive, clean-shaven face; a tasteful diamond stud rests in his left earlobe.
He moves with the efficient energy of a coiled spring, giving the lie to the nonchalance of his
sharp blue eyes.
A dark green rayon shirt shimmers over his wiry torso, its long sleeves
and banded collar fastened with even-darker chunks of raw malachite. It tucks neatly into the
waistband of his baggy black pants, the wool gabardine as soft and silent as the midnight which
the color evokes. A black belt of braided leather matches the soft suede shoes on his feet, and just
between the first and second buttons of his shirt, a piece of amber dangles, kindling its quiet fire
on the end of a black silk cord. A dagger is hung in its sheath from the back of his belt.
Eldrik
stretches slightly. "Clothing covers all the bruises." He grins.
You say "And you?"
Eldrik
nods to Autumn. "Slightly battered, but fine."
Constantine stretches, and walks over to the
weapons rack, selecting a staff; over his shoulder, he calls, "Staff on staff, Autumn, go until one
cries yield?"
Autumn nods. "Suited. Wood?" She moves over to consider the ones in the rack,
and props her own against it, selecting a wooden one of the same approximate
size.
Constantine nods. "Mmm." He moves away, light on his feet, testing the balance of the
staff he holds.
Eldrik wanders over to a bench, sitting a little carefully.
Autumn moves
away from the rack and steps onto the floor, balancing the staff first in one hand, then the other,
checking the weight.
Constantine watches, poised and balanced a moment, and then with a
sudden fluid speed he steps hard left and towards Autumn, staff angled diagonal towards
her.
Eldrik's eyes suddenly narrow and he watches intently.
Autumn retreats a pace, then
another, left hand at one end of the staff, right hand in the middle, tapping at Constantine's staff
in a light blow before retreating again.
Constantine angles sharper, to take Autumn's blow,
circling towards her left side as he does so: his staff's ready but not yet attacking.
Autumn
spins to her right, moving round to avoid being backed against the side: she taps with her staff
again, towards Constantine's feet, a quick in and out.
Constantine grins, with a fierce pleasure,
and floats back the distance needed to avoid the tap. In seemingly the same motion, his staff
whirls up and around and down at Autumn's left shoulder.
Eldrik scratches his
chin.
Autumn spins out and back, staff returning to a ready blocking posture, in a quick twist
of body: her eyes narrow slightly as the end of the staff whistles past her.
Constantine settles
back, on the balls of his feet, quiescent for a time; his eyes are warywatchful, and he's still
grinning.
Autumn pauses: then she's moving again, a quick straight lunge with the tip of her
staff for Constantine's chest.
Constantine ghosts back, with a quick spin of his staff that seems
to serve no purpose but perhaps an attempt to distract; he's certainly chosen to dodge, rather than
block.
Autumn follows up on the attack, tip of her staff jabbing at Constantine's head, poised
behind the staff.
Constantine sidesteps, rolling his shoulder up to catch the blow, letting his
hand on that side just guide his staff in a counterattack: choppy and short, a quick swing at her
shoulder.
Autumn isn't quite fast enough to evade this blow, and annoyance shows in her face,
together with a moment of pain, as the strike connects: she throws herself into a backward
tumble, and comes up rolling, but her staff's just held by her right hand now, and she wriggles her
left arm in an attempt to restore feeling to it.
Eldrik tisks once.
Constantine follows up
with a sweep, gliding forward and lowering his center of gravity for stability: his staff comes
across parallel with the ground, at the level of Autumn's knees.
Autumn's mouth quirks, and
she's suddenly jumping forward, discarding her staff, one leg out in front of her, in a turning kick
aimed at the side of Constantine's head.
Constantine's eyes flash with delight, and he's turning
and dropping his staff and whipping his arm up in an attempt to catch Autumn's leg and throw
her.
Constantine fails to get a grip on Autumn, and her foot catches him across the arm,
glancing into his head; he rocks back on his heels, offbalance, one hand going down to the floor
to steady himself.
Eldrik hehs, watching.
Autumn clearly didn't expect Constantine's
defence to be that rapid, and she is caught off-balance, tumbling again as she hits the ground, and
rolling to her feet a metre or so away.
Constantine recovers quick, and rolls forward once
before springing to his feet, covering the ground in a rush and jabbing a quick, unaimed punch for
Autumn's stomach as he comes.
Autumn pivots to one side again, left arm swinging down in
an attempt to block Constantine's punch as the right hand slices at the side of his
neck.
Autumn's deflection fails: Constantine's blow forces her wrist back and connects with
the side of her stomach. Although she manages to bring her hand across against his neck, the
impact loses its force as she is driven back, retreating rapidly several paces.
Constantine's
breath is quick, exhale and inhale as Autumn's blow lands. With a quick shake of his head, he
bursts into fluidity again, gliding just a little to the left and pressing her: fingers extended for the
jab, he strikes in for nerve points on her hurt wrist.
Autumn's breath comes in a quick hiss as
he connects, and she jerks her wrist away, but at the same time she spins, a quick pivot on her left
leg, right leg coming up in a straight kick at his chin.
Constantine floats back, delicate on his
feet, and repeats his last strike: this time, it's pointed at Autumn's right inner thigh,
precise.
Autumn is caught right open: she goes backwards in a flurry of legs, and when she
rolls to her feet again, her weight is clearly on her left leg.
Autumn holds up both hands,
palms flat towards Constantine. "Yield."
Constantine drops back, rotating his head on his
shoulders, with a thoughtful air about him; as Autumn speaks, he stops, relaxing, his grin
returning in full force.
Autumn's hands fall to her sides again. "Ah well." Her smile is friendly
and open. "We must try this again sometime."
Constantine says, contentedly, "Done," and
steps forward to offer a hand. "That's a lovely style. Are you alright?"
Eldrik nods
approvingly of the fight.
Autumn nods, favouring her right leg as she walks. "Give me a
couple of minutes to ease up. You're very accurate on those point jabs."
Constantine says
"Thank you. You have nice kicks. Very fast, very fluid."
Autumn grins again, leaning on him
slightly as she moves off the practice floor. "And thank you."
Constantine says, approvingly,
"Some muscle behind them, too. Eldrik, you think she can keep up with the rest of the
House?"
Autumn chuckles. "Maybe they'll even be able to keep up with me. If they're
lucky."
Constantine looks rather pleased.
Eldrik mms. "Yep. Not bad at all."
Autumn
grins again as she takes a seat, and begins to massage her left wrist back to
normality.