"It's ok. Redana, I'm fine. Look, she didn't even touch me! I'm fine! I'm fine, I'm [i]fine[/i] damn it, I'm..." But words have always been powerless against tears like that. Reality is often meaningless against fear like that. Against [i]love[/i] like that. All Bella can really do is wrap her strong, healthy arms around her wife and hold her close until the wracking sobs burn down to quiet hiccups and undignified sniffles, and then until the sniffles melt into soft breathing under the moonlight, and then a while longer after that. She is here. She is alive. She is only a little bit humiliated, and that's hardly anything new for her. Is it? Yue is silent throughout it all. Part of the time she spends standing there, equal parts awkward and miserable. Then she gets it in her head to go and retrieve that sword that went flying all kersploosh into the water. Then she fusses with all of the various weapons she brought and arranges them in a nice, neat line. Then a circle again. Then a line. She glances over occasionally. Then a circle. She purses her lips and leaves the swords where they are so she can go fishing around in her bag. She pulls out a stone jug and several little saucer shaped cups. And then she waits. The sound of the jar, 'foomp' unstoppering and restoppering cuts the ambience no fewer than four times each. Finally she pours and offers a cup of fragrant, clear liquid to each of her guests. "Well gosh, I really screwed up there didn't I? That's so typical. I'm really sorry for spooking you." Bella says nothing. With one arm still wrapped around Redana, she lifts her little cup and drains it in a single smooth motion. She tilts her head and licks her lips. "This wine?" "Uh. Kinda, yeah. Did you... want more?" A nod, a pour, a sip, a sigh. Yue sits down on a rock and stares up at the moon. "I'm really sorry. I sure went and put my foot in it, huh? Are you two ok?" "I SAID I'M... nnnn. Yes. We are. Sorry, we've... it's... never mind. Just tell me what happened, please. I've never felt anything like that before in my life." But Yue is quiet for a good while longer. All she does is sit quietly and stare at the moon, making occasional furtive glances toward Redana. It's only when Dany finally settles enough to try her own sake that she finally lets herself relax enough to open her mouth again. She brushes her hands through her hair in a nervous little display of, uh, nervousness I guess. She tries to smile, but it falters. "I had it in my head that if you felt it, you'd just know. Man. The worst part of any anime is when somebody's gotta explain the magic system. I guess I needed Kat for this after all. She could have stood here and given commentary and then we wouldn't be in this mess. But here we are! In this mess. Right. Uh. Where to begin?" "You can start by letting my know what a 'secret sword' is." says Bella in between sips of sake. Yue pours her own, rather overflowing cup before sliding the jug over to the married couple. She stares at her reflection in the liquid and then drains the whole thing in one go, with only minor squeaking and sputtering in the aftermath. Her smile is a little lopsided, but it's there now. "A Secret Sword is, hm. I guess you could call it the culmination of a swordperson's journey? Truths of the heart and blade and stuff, y'know? They're ultimate techniques, ways of cutting stuff that you wouldn't think could get cut unless you practice." "And that's how you defeated me?" "Heeheehee! You're really cute, I'm glad you're not mad. No, that's not how I beat you. Beating you's not that hard that it'd require a super move. Either of you, really. Or both! It's a bit like beating a little kid at a cart racer. Or, like, peeling a carrot I guess? There's no technique required because you pretty much can't fight back." Bella snarls, but she is quiet for a moment. She's been in a lot of fights in her life, but they've all been horrible bloody knock down, drag out attrition fests. She's never [i]danced[/i] with anyone, never understood why Artemis valued her so little until this exact moment. But pride isn't something you can just swallow up and forget inside of a single evening. She drains her cup and rallies. "I know I'm stronger than you." she says. "Oh yeah," Yue agrees with a smile, "Tons! You've been so much help around the house carrying all that stuff for me. Thanks!" "I'm faster, too." "Yeppers! What's this got to do with winning, though?" "Everything!" snaps Bella, but in the moonlit blank stare that follows, she falters. "...Doesn't it?" "Eh, a little. But you don't have any Qi, so like... oh. You probably have another word for it, huh? Or do you? Uh, lemme see... mana? Magical energy? Spiritual pressure? What else, what else? Oh, uh! Uh, uh, uh... aura! Right? That must ring a bell!" "What the f-" "Okokokokokokok ok ok ok ok nope right yup yuppy yuppers no that's a no that's ok we'll just move on! I dunno how to explain this though, especially to someone so... raw? Like, you just don't have any spirit at all. It's like you're from the void or somethin'. Lots of power, but it's all, like, external and graspy? I'm not even sure where it comes from, but whatever it is it makes you real weak in a fight. "See, like, in a Princess Duel it'd be way normal to see them, like, parry an attack by cutting the [i]idea[/i] of the attack, or pushing out a bit of Qi so that a deep cut turns into a little nick or just, well if you ever see Qiu fight you'll understand in a heartbeat. But when you guys attack it's just kinda, like, rawr~! Playfightin' with sticks, y'know? That you were even surprised I could cut a ship in half says a lot about your level of experience. Not that there's anything wrong with that! No shame at all in bein' a beginner, right? I'd be the last person on earth who'd have any room to criticize you on that point. But just, you seem like you want to be in a lot of fights. Like you've [i]been[/i] in a ton of 'em. And to me that just seems really scary. You could get hurt." More silence covers the shrine. Which is a little weird and more than a little bit sad, because with drink as nice as everybody's got (I assume anyway, I've never touched the stuff) this really should be a moment for a song or six. But Bella just looks at Yue through those shining golden eyes of hers like she's trying to stare a crack into her armor or something, or like she could defeat this whole nonsense explanation with, well not facts and logic, but a really mean gaze. But more than that, she's thinking. She's been on eggshells since she got here. Everything she expected, everything she was so excited to see, was all ruins and remnants of a wonderful but ultimately failed civilization. She never expected to land and find what grew out of the last seeds, right? Never mind that those seeds might have sprouted into something that surpassed her understanding of the universe. It's very tough to suddenly be told you're a kid again. It's even tougher when you don't have any way to refute that. Most people tend to dig in their heels in a moment like that. "Well," Bella begins carefully, "You could give me a little credit for making it this far. I might not be able to fight a master like you, but--" "Ha, well. See. That's the thing right? I keep trying to tell you, I'm pretty bad at this myself. All of my friends are better than I am. I'm all flash and no fundamentals and even then it's like... so I told you about my Secret Sword, right? Have you figured out its effect?" "No. Is it some kind of invocation to the gods? That might make you stronger for a bit, if that's what you're getting at." Yue laughs with a sad expression in her eyes. In this moment she's got the chance to recite the opinion of a recent friend on the matter of gods, but she chooses not to. "It, uh, doesn't make me stronger. Or you weaker. The duel is not about who prays to what. The duel is not about cruelty, or about kindness. The duel does not prove right or wrong. The duel is about the duel. That's The Nature of the Duel. It just... makes those things be true, so that sillyheads with no idea what they're doing can have a pure fight without it hurting anybody. Or, like, my other big move, the Sword of Validation? All that does is make it so I can push beyond my physical limits in a fight, but only until I succeed in making my opponent feel loved. Isn't that so lame? Everything else is just stupid little parlor tricks, and the heart of my swordsmanship is just... different ways of saying I love you." See, Bella and Redana? That's what you lost to. That's what terrified you. Just this scrawny, now slightly drunk and sniffly girl. If you're willing to believe her, there are entire hosts of duelists far more skilled than she is. ***** "You're not very good at this, are you?" Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits is standing in the woods. More specifically, she is standing in the woods looking up at a tree. More specifically still, she is standing in the woods looking up at a tree with a sheep dangling from a net. She's got an expression on her face that is half deeply annoyed and half wanting to die of laughter. See, in terms of the amount of effort she put into this particular trap? Well it, it was [i]meant[/i] to be the decoy trap, you see. The obvious net on the ground with a tiny handful of leaves scattered across it that's soooooo obvious the prey rolls their eyes and steps around it, only to fall into the REAL, deviously clever pit trap with a soft down mattress at the bottom so nobody gets hurt. The real trap, which is so perfectly concealed that even now an onlooker would have no idea how to spot it unless they already knew where it was. And possibly even then! And the reason [i]why[/i] it's so perfectly concealed still is because this silly floofleboofle WALKED RIGHT INTO THE DECOY! "You big jerk." she sniffs with fox offense. Which is like mock offense, but foxy. Nyeh heh, and stuff. Allow me to break down the allegations against Mr. Dolce thusly: One! He is a jerk. Two! He is big! QED! He is a big jerk! Furthermore (because I don't want to count higher than two and risk breaking Fox Law), he is accused of falling for a dumb and obvious trap [i]on purpose[/i]. Because what other reason could he have? A body that gets stuck in a net this lazy can only believe he belongs in that net. Or else I guess he's so wrapped up in his own nonsense that he literally can't see his own two feet for the trouble. Either way, my card sir. Again. It is still a leaf, I'm sorry. My card guy is out of town. Actually I don't have a card guy. My credentials are actually a different, bigger leaf. Please don't ask to see them. I've got a good thing going as a Cutie Lawyer, you understand. "Not a single Duper. Not one! You didn't say any of the lines we rehearsed, it's like you don't want to be a shining stage girl with me at all! What the fluff, dude?" Kat huffs and then leaps into the air, in that order. She draws the sword she wears on her belt with a smooth, very foxy sort of surety and slices the rope suspending Dolce to that fateful tree. This does nothing to free him from his Netty Doom but does everything to put him on the ground again, where he can watch Katherine land lightly on her toes and return her blade to its sheathe without consideration for pointing it at her prisoner. She uses her finger for that, which is far more devastating. "I tried to be nice about this, y'know. But the kiddy gloves come off now. No more Ms. Nice Fox. I'm gonna revenge you so hard your head'll spin." She grins her Wicked Fox Grin. She pulls out her Wicked Fox Phone. And she calls for a Wicker Fox Taxi, which turns out to be a very tired but sweet looking farmer in a beat up old kei truck. Which is the story of how you, Dolce, wound up in the bed of said truck riding down the winding hills toward the Big City, while a slender and devastatingly beautiful foxgirl watches you with a cute little smirk on her lips. What devious, awful plans could she have in store? "So," she chirps, "You like ramen?" ***** "...Don't mention it." It doesn't take long for Yin to leave, after that. She's got a... well calling it a 'home' doesn't feel right, but a house at least. Somewhere she can wash herself off, put on pajamas, and sleep off the day's work like any other girl. But that doesn't really matter, at least not right this second. I want you to understand about the sunset, Dyssia. It is orange, and it is pink, and it is soft, melty yellows that turn the sky into a strawberries and cream painting. It permeates the clouds and turns their puffy whiteness into a study in shading and texture that is sure to set your mind ablaze. And that's wonderful enough to be getting on with, but that's not all a sunset is around here. There were ten suns, once. Bits of them still hang out in the sky, and I'm sure you bumped into a piece or seven on your way down here. But as the one living sun passes the remains of her sisters, she shares her light with them again. And that is when sunset [i]really[/i] begins. The flashes of green, Dyssia, so pale and ethereal they scarcely feel like they belong to the world of the living. The light stretches on and forever into space like a winding ribbon with a smaller purple ribbon wrapped around it. It shimmers and dances, this light does. Just like you did. Just like a snake does. It doesn't swallow the pinks and oranges and yellows and cream, but it does slash across them, and wind back around them like it's trying to wrap the whole first sunset in a giant hug. It is everywhere, this portal to the world where spirits must live, and then it is gone. And when it leaves it takes the pale oranges with it, and you are left with only a shining white orb in a sea of ink. Did you know the sky could be black? I know what you're used to, I asked. The blindingly brilliant sky, the Endless Azure one or the wild blot painting that is the untamed rest of the universe not yet brought into enlightenment. But here it is not that. Here, at night, the sky is... black. Not so terrifyingly pitch that it robs you of your vision? The kindly moon is here to watch over you, after all. There are brilliant little dots of white peaking out of the dark. They're swallowed up by wisps of dark cloud, only to be revealed again right where you left them when the breeze carried that misty veil away. And I know you're not stupid, Dyssia. Those are stars. You've been to many of them yourself. H*ck, you've been [i]in[/i] one, I think I've heard. But the thing is, they're really far away now. I guess a lot of them always were, but not like this. They're so small you could pluck them all out of the sky and not even have enough harvest for a pie, it feels like. But they're also so vast and amazing and [i]deep[/i] that it... do you know what I'm saying, Dyssia? When you see a sky like this, you know. Y'know? There was never anything else you could [i]be[/i] but Dyssia. Just a girl, against the sea of stars. In this moment, they feel unconquerable. ...Hey. Hey Dyssia. You wanna check out a hot springs next? Or do you have another adventure in mind?