2024-06-11: One's Own Strength
- Log: One's Own Strength
- Cast: Dias Flac, Sable Aomori
- Where: Armlock City, Energy Nede
- Date: June 11, 2024
- Summary: While Dias Flac is busy preparing a weapon for a future battle, Sable Aomori comes up to him with questions. It's more productive than one might hope!
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Armlock is one of the better cities in Nede, in Dias's opinion. The reason why barely needs explaining: it's the one place where weapons are developed and crafted. There's even a forge that's open to public use, right outside the weapon shop. A full blacksmithing would require his companions, but for touching up a sword or even attempting to craft something entirely new with unique materials? That he can do on his own.
And he does do it on his own, on the regular. Dias is more comfortable with his companions than he used to be, but he hasn't kicked his loner tendencies entirely, either. There will probably never be a time when the icy fear of loss doesn't whisper in his ear late at night.
For now, though, after talking to the shop owner, he's at the forge. His cloak is draped on the chair behind him, and currently, he's hammering at a Whirlwind--a wind-elemental sword he picked up during their travels at some point--after crushing up a sapphire to mix and melt into the metal and give it water-elemental properties. When the enemy includes someone whose entire gimmick is setting everything, and we do mean EVERYTHING, on fire, then it's just smart to have a weapon that can counter that.
He raises it up to inspect its molten edges, turning it this way and that. Then he sets it back down on the anvil and resumes his work. He ignores any looks he gets from the local Nedians; working the forge means he's tied his hair back for the moment to keep it from getting in his face or his work, which means his rounded ears are on display for anyone to see.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
At first, Sable's look is assuredly ignored like the others.
Sable, as it happens, is a brown-haired girl of seventeen, currently dressed in a fur-collared jacket over a tanktop and jeans, with Pokeballs at her belt and sturdy, rune-inscribed shoes. She walks like someone with control over her body, but not obviously so--just in a way that someone like Dias might be able to tell. All the same he does indeedd probably ignore her at first...
Up until she actuallly approaches the forge, and comes to a stop just out of the range where it would be dangerous to step closer. "Sapphires," she comments. "The magic in that metal mixture you have is water..."
A pause. "You're a warrior of the other worlds, aren't you?" she asks. "You don't just make weapons. You use them."
She isn't carrying any. But neither does she look disturbed or shocked to see a sword. Then, she is in Armlock...
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Dias is of course not oblivious to the people around him. He remains at all times aware of his surroundings--especially here at an open-air forge. He's aware of Sable and her manner of walking--but she doesn't have any kind of murderous air to her, so he discounts her as a threat and thus someone to pay too much attention to.
That changes when she approaches the forge. She still doesn't seem to have any hostility or ill intent to her, but he does flick his red eyes her way--just a brief acknowledgement that he sees her and knows she's there. He goes back to his work, but it seems that itself is what she's interested in.
"That's right," he says, which serves as a response not just to her observation on the sapphire but on what he is and what he does. "And?"
You can always count on Dias for a bit of friendly conversation.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable isn't like her mother; she can't conceal her intent nearly as well, has nowhere close to the skill at dissembling. This is good in this case; it means her intentions are fairly plain. Curiosity, but also a certain focus that might not go with it.
The work is what she's inteerested in.
He gets right to the point. She brightens very slightly, when he does. It's easier to talk to someone who does that.
"...I'm working on getting stronger. So I can fight the Ten Wise Men. Some of my friends are using weapons of their own for it. I plan to rely on my Pokemon and my other skills."
"I think that... we shouldn't leave our problems entirely up to the Visitors, even if it's your problem too. Despite that..."
"You have more experience in fighting than I do. I've learned a little about the fighting styles of some Visitors."
"I want to learn as much as I can. ...Because they won't just target my Pokemon. I need to be prepared to keep myself safe if I'm going to lead them."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Dias doesn't seem to pay Sable any attention when she speaks, given that he continues to hammer through her explanation and continues to focus on working the blade itself. But he is listening--he has good hearing--and when she finishes, he holds up the blade again. Satisfied, he sets it down in a nearby sword-sized bath, where it steams as it cools and hardens.
"I keep meeting Nedians like you," he comments as he does so. "Ones who want to handle your world's problems yourselves. You all aren't as rare as I thought at first." A beat. Then he finally turns to regard Sable. "I'll tell you up front: I'm not a teacher. If you're looking for a master to teach you the way of the sword, you aren't going to find one in me."
But at the same time, he doesn't shoo her off or tell her to get lost. He just wants to make it plain what she can and can't expect from him.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable looks to the sword for a moment. Then, back to Dias, when he finishes putting it in the bath.
"There are some of us. .I guss the others are afraid. That's okay. I'm afraid, too. But I'm going to do it anyway."
A pause, as she considers his regard, and theen inclines her head. "I have my own skills. My mother trained me in the ways of the Fuschia ninja. ...It's a secret, but if I'm asking you to help me, you should know."
"I know how to avoid danger, and I could use small swords. I prefer throwing weapons if I need to fight for myself, but usually I don't, because I have my Pokemon to lead."
"...So I don't need you to teach me. I just want to know your approach to battle."
"...I've been to two of the Four Fields, now. And they taught me things about myself..."
"But Power might be the hardest yet. So I want to be sure I understand 'power'. And I can tell you're a strong fighter."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
"Hm. You're forgiving, too," Dias observes. It's hard to imagine why someone like her would want to fight; it gets easier when she mentions that she's the daughter of a kunoichi. Dias isn't familiar with the Fuschia ninjas, but he knows he's met one. He frowns. Still, Sable says that she doesn't need teaching, she just wants his perspective as a more experienced warrior.
Ironic, then, that she says she's been to two of the Four Fields already. He hasn't been to any yet--he agreed to go with Rena and the others, and they'll be essaying those this week. Tomorrow, even, which is part of why he's working on his customization. Ironically, it's the Field of Power that they intend on going to first. An interesting perspective.
"Power, huh," he says aloud. "You have good senses, at least, if you can tell I'm strong just by looking at me." Probably more like looking at his forging technique, he knows. There are ways to gauge someone's ability beyond simply seeing how they swing around a weapon.
"I don't train Pokemon, so I can't help you there. But in terms of a normal fight--" and here he betrays his mores as a Filgaian, that fighting directly with weapons is 'normal'-- "the most important thing is to survive, and survive intact. You need to challenge yourself to improve, but at the same time, you can't get stronger if you're dead or crippled. So being able to size up an enemy at a glance is crucial."
Which she seems already able to do. But she seems pretty young, and sometimes the young don't really understand how talented they already are.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"It's hard to blame them. We've known peace for a long time. ..But at the same time, I wish more of them showed more concern."
She doesn't know that Dias hasn't been to them, or whether he intends to; she just... saw what she saw. But he answers, at least.
"Mm," she answers of her senses. "You not only know how to fight, but you can customize your own weapons. Being able to make your own tools... I respect that."
A 'normal' fight. Yes, that would be how they'd put it. She listens anyway. "...I see," she answers, thoughtful. "I'd thought that worrying about my own safety might be holding me back..."
A nod. "Mom... taught me how to sense someone's inner energy. To see if they carry themselves like they have body control."
"...But she's one of the people I might have to fight, now," she says, her face falling a little.
"For Pokemon we try not to let our Pokemon faint--they heal very quickly, even from terrible injuries, but it hurts their confidence, and makes them hesitate in future battles. ...And it's mean," she adds. "They count on us to guide them so that they'll be safe and effective. That's what they get out of working for a Trainer instead of on their own," she explains. "Strategy. Teamwork."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Dias nods once. His understanding is that most Nedians rely on authority to handle problems, and so they're simply waiting for someone else to deal with Team Rocket and the Ten Wise Men for them. Given that understanding, he's met more people eager to join the battle and fight for themselves and their world than he would've expected. Good for them--even if some of them sure have an attitude about it. Not this one, though, which makes talking to her even though neither of them have introduced themselves yet easier. (Maybe they'll swap names later.)
"Likewise. You've already got your fundamentals down, but you aren't resting on your laurels either. That's something else that's important for growing stronger," Dias replies. "As for worrying, it's a balancing act, like I said. If you're worrying so much you won't ever fight anyone stronger than you, then you won't get stronger yourself, either."
Dias is always searching for strong opponents to fight, himself. Battle is the one thing he lives for, after all. But, what this girl says about her mother...
"I see. So she's in Team Rocket," he states. "Unless there's some other powerful ninja woman working for them, my travel companions and I fought her once over in the Cavern of Crimson Crystals. She was trying to steal a Psynard."
The perspective on Pokemon and not letting them faint is an interesting one. Dias certainly hasn't considered it before, and he nods slowly. All of that is precisely why he *doesn't* train Pokemon. He'd rather only be responsible for himself. ...Rena, Claude and the others notwithstanding. "Makes sense," is all he says out loud.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
He's not wrong, either. It can be someone else's responsibility, for a lot of Nede. Sable is just one of those who have made it her own. ...She also hasn't remembered to do introductions, because frankly she is only kind of mid at dealing with people as a rule.
She's friends with some of the more difficult ones, but it isn't her way.
"Thank you." A pause. "I do make many of my own tools, at least, even if they aren't usually weapons." Then she considers that. "Hmm... I see. I do want to be stronger."
She blinks in surprise when Dias states her mother's affiliation. Then she hears why he thinks it's her, and nods. "So far as I know she's the only one. I see... She's very serious. She seems to think it's the best way to change the world and protect us... But I don't agree with her. And I'm going to show her a better way. That's another of the reasons I'm fighting. So that I can find a way that doesn't make people sad."
A Psynard, though. "Oh! You're friends with Rena, aren't you?" she asks. "She rescued a Psynard... I didn't realize it was from Mom."
There aren't that many Psynards, after all. Not in the wild.
Then, she nods. "Yes. But maybe I'll practice my own skills some more anyway. If what you say is true... Then maybe I can lead my Pokemon better if I can give them the perspective of my own strength."
Pause. "Thank you. My name is Sable, by the way. Sable Aomori."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Sable seems self-sufficient in general, to Dias's eyes. Not only does she have fundamentals, but she also makes her own tools. Is that because of her mother's raising? Hard to know. But from the way she describes her, it seems that way. It's strange, hearing about a member of Team Rocket from the perspective of someone who knows them closely but isn't in Team Rocket too. Still, he nods.
"Good luck with that," he says. Especially finding a way that 'doesn't make people sad.' In Dias's experience, that's a pipe dream. Still, he's not going to tell a child to give up on something like that. Dias may be rude and brusque, but he doesn't see a point in actively crushing her dreams. It's better than signing up with Team Rocket, to say the least.
His eyebrows rise a bit when Sable brings up a very familiar name. "Yes. That's the Psynard I was talking about," he confirms. "Rena and another friend of ours are raising her Psynymph babies."
(Did Dias just acknowledge that Claude is his friend?? Will wonders never cease?)
"It is true. You don't want your Pokemon to die either," Dias points out. She gives her name at last, though, and he nods. "Dias Flac," he replies, by way of self-introduction. "What's your mother's name?"
He glances at the bath then. The sword looks ready, so he reaches in with a gloved hand and pulls it out. The blade glistens with an illusion of dampness beyond simply that of the water dripping down and off it; it looks like the water element took. He nods in satisfaction, sweeps it to one side to dry it, and then sets it down.
"...And is that everything you wanted to ask about?" he adds.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable is unaware of how strange it is, of course. But it certainly feels strange to her in her own way, talking about her mother that way.
"Thank you," Sable says politely. Maybe she won't find a way that doesn't make anyone sad, but she's certain she can find a better way than Team Rocket. ...And that dream is important to her.
"Oh!" Sable says. "I see. Yes, I've met one. I like Rena. She's very nice, and very strong. I met Lady Brightwing when she called her to help us fight against one of the Ten Wise Men's minions. My Prinplup evolved in that fight, too."
A pause. True, she doesn't; Sable nods to that. But then, he gives his name. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Flac." A pause. "Anne. Anne Aomori."
Thee sword seems to have been successful! Sable smiles slightly at that. "Yes," she answers him when he asks if that was all. "So I'll leave you to your work. Thank you for your time, Mr. Flac."
"I hope you can achieve what you want to, too." She steps back, and, if he doesn't ask her to stay, will move to do as she said and leave him be.