"Wouldn't dream of it." Kalaya says, grinning back at Petony's good natured finger-wagging.

Kalaya was feeling alot better, all things considered. The evening of carousing and commiserating with Petony had lifted a weight off her shoulders that she didn't know she'd been bearing. She'd felt alone for a long time and at no point had that bitten harder than on the deck of the [i]Beneficence[/i]. Now though, it felt like she wasn't - she'd found family, and the world was warmer for it.

Or maybe that was just the alcohol talking.

She'd finally managed to fall asleep too, at long last. Whatever spell or curse Giriel had laid on her was, it seemed, not [i]completely [/i]invincible to booze, a fire and good company. The two continued to banter as they made their way through the woods, their talking only interrupted by the odd patch of difficult terrain or the odd N'yari ambush.

Speaking of which ...

Kalaya manages to stumble to the ground as Machi of the Ōei bursts from hiding and ... [i]wow[/i]. Those arms are seriously amazing. I mean, Kalaya herself favoured the more normal proportions and huggability of someone like Ven, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate this ... this edifice in front of her.

"Holy petals and stars, you are [i]buff!"[/i] she squawks, before using her scabbard to push herself back to her feet. Carefully grinding it in the dirt on the way.

She bows, and then looks up again at the N'yari.

"I'd love to play!" she replies, before glancing down at that empty scabbard. "I'm a bit short on swords at the moment though, see?"

She holds the end of the scabbard up to Machi, waiting for the cat's eyes to lock on it, before slapping the other end as hard as she could. The dirt and mud that now caked its opening dislodged, flying straight into the big cat's face.

Kalaya ducked to the side from the inevitable counterstroke and swung the flat of the scabbard (not the sharp edge, she isn't a monster after all) into a [i]very [/i]sensitive area on the cat. A childhood spent fighting with opponents larger than her helped guide her next attacks to leg, side and back as she did her level best to both disable her opponent and provide Petony with an opening.

She felt a bit guilty about the underhanded tactics, but hey - when you're not seven feet tall and sporting muscles up the mountain, you have to make do with what you've got, right? Even if that means ganging up on her opponent.

[i]Wap. Wap. Wap. Wap.[/i]

[Kalaya elects to Fight - 3 + 5 + 3 = [b]11[/b] Inflicting a condition, taking a string and giving Petony an opening. She takes a condition (Guilty) to inflict a second condition through this doubleteam fight]