allthenotes | late night 28

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late night 28

[ For a long, long time he stares at the blank, open pages of his journal, tapping the end of his pencil against the paper, cheek resting against the backs of his fingers. Is this a good idea, he wonders? Will it be any more successful than his previous attempts to get into the martial arts? He's already stretching himself thin juggling magic, work, and survival and he's fumbled even the most basic attempts at self-defence. What's to say learning to wield a weapon won't waste even more time?

He scrubs a hand through his hair and heaves a quiet, dejected sigh. This will be the third time he's opened the journal. Does he want it to be the third time he closes the book without writing a single word? He glances around the storage room nervously, suddenly paranoid that someone will emerge from the stairs or the corridor and ask what he's doing.

This is stupid...

Kaito leans back against the wall and bites his lip. Eventually, he starts to scratch out his request. ]

Hey, everyone. I dunno who still reads these, but is there anyone who'd be able to teach me how to fight? I'm dexterous, good at dodging, and I think I have decent arm strength.

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If you're willing to learn how to use stabbers, I can teach you.

-Fraethota

Stabbers? Like knives? I have knives. They're for juggling though.

Aye. Tis thieves' cant I use. I can teach you that, too, If you'd like.

I wouldn't mind. Is there somewhere you want to meet? I guess you'll need to see if I can learn how to use knives or not.

Somewhere open. Going to need room to train you up. Anywhere what's safe right now?

I think the throne room might be empty now. The Lady's not there any more. I'll meet you there?

Aye. I'll see you there, then.

He flipped the journal shut and tucked it away in a pocket together with his pencil. Well, he had committed himself to this. Kaito had no idea if he had the aptitude to learn how to wield knives offensively and he was almost afraid of encountering another skill he couldn't even be mediocre at. But, he supposed, he had to at least try.

Kaito quickly made his way to the throne room. He realised, too late, that he had forgotten to ask how he would identify the person coming to meet him. So the magician stood awkwardly near the entrance, playing, as he so often did, with a coin.

I should probably write another message, he thought, reaching for the journal again.

It's just then that the doors open and in comes probably the most unlikely-looking shinobi one could ever meet, but she wears he daggers proud and in the open. She'll look over the room first and spot him quickly, scratching the back of her head. ...Right, she didn't figure out who she was teaching. But he's here, so it might be him, right?

"...Ye wouldn't be who I was plannin' on teachin', would ya? 'Tis Fraethota."

Kaito's hand dropped back to his side and he looked up...and up and up, at the woman - giant?! - who just walked in. It was hard not to stare.

"Um, yeah. I'm... I'm Kid. Sorry, I didn't write my name down, did I?" The magician had met a few Westerners before and knew he wasn't that tall, but the disparity between them was ridiculous.

~~TBH that icon makes this all the better~~ "Frae" nods and crosses her arms, looking him over. Hm, yeah, speed would best suit him, which a shinobi should use, so he's not wrong. Okay. Good.

"Pleasure to be meetin' ya, lad. Jus' call me Frae. Now, ye wanted to learn the dagger, aye?"

Edited (Correcting a typo) 2018-07-26 05:02 (UTC)

"Yes." He stood straight while she looked him over. His fingers twitched a little, itching to fiddle with a coin or deck of cards. If he didn't have the aptitude for this, what else could he turn to? "Do you think I could learn?"

"Maybe. I'm a ninja--a shinobi. So how much I teach y' depends on how fast ye ar--"

You know, she should have known she might Echo off of this boy. She does it a lot back home. But she didn't expect it. When the hells will she learn?

Kaito at first was puzzled. Her words cut off without warning. Her gaze appeared to grow distant, her expression pained. It took a while for him to realise that it was almost exactly the same look Marian wore whenever she was reading a memory.

Instinctively, he slammed down an expressionless mask. He tensed, fists balling up and shoulders drawing together. He had no idea what she was seeing, but the invasion of his privacy rankled.

Since there was no use interrupting her until the vision was done, Kaito crossed his arms tightly across his chest and waited it out, debating whether he ought to leave before she could direct her pity towards him.

The thing about the Echo is that you don't just see the memory. It's that you live it. Every touch, ever emotion, every sound and smell drawn into you. It's as if she was there, experiencing it right with him. She sees it all, feels it all, as odd as it is. And when she comes back to herself, to this moment, it's with a sharp breath as her eyes suddenly focus once more. She finds a wall to lean against, blinking away the strange visions she'd grown used to.

"...Seven 'ells, you've been through a lot, boy."

She won't touch him. She'd met too many who'd encountered pirates not like her family. And few outside of Limsan pirates held themselves to a code of doing as little harm to people as possible. She's not sure what else to say, though her expression is dark. This is... A most upsetting vision.

"...Sorry. Can't control when it 'appens. Don't like intrudin' on people's pasts like that."

Kaito pressed his lips together. He didn't want to ask what she'd seen. It could be any number of things - negative, by her reaction. It was bad enough being unable to completely forget; he didn't want to dig up the past and relive it.

"Maybe you should find a way to," he couldn't help but retort bitterly. "Is this going to keep happening while you're around me?"

"Doesn't trigger that often. Don't worry 'bout that. Should be good for a long while."

She won't tell him what she saw. Anyone would want to keep that quiet. So with a deep breath, she pushes away from the wall, running a hand back through her hair.

"...But I sure as 'ells am gonna teach y' to fight."

There's an anger, there, bubbling beneath the surface. Not at him, not at all. He's someone who was a victim in all of that. But those strange men? Oh, she'd take pleasure in knowing a few more were dead if she could.

"T' start with, what can you do with a knife?"

'A long while' wasn't 'never', Kaito thought sourly. He looked at his feet, sorely tempted to walk away. But was that all he was going to do with his life? Run from his problems? How would he be able to stand beside Walter then and be seen as anything other than fragile?

"...I can juggle them," he said grudgingly. "Thought about learning to throw them but I don't want to ruin the knives I have."

She considers, for a moment, offering her own daggers to attempt with but. Then she reconsiders when she realizes how they'd be swords compared to him--which only happens because she'd removed them. She nods a bit.

"You'll want to buy some fer throwin'. They're useful, in more ways than you could know. But we'll work on that some other time. But if y' can juggle, then this shouldn't be too hard, I hope."

She's going to take a step back and for the moment this is just showing off some of her moves. A preview. So that's going to be a full combo of her moves plus a few other, smaller knife tricks.

"An' if we do it right and I'm 'alf the teacher mine were t' me, you'll be just' fine and be doin'
stuff like that after awhile. We'll start simple an' I'll teach y' throwing another day. Sleight o' hand is gonna be yer best friend as a rogue."

He was taken aback by the ferocity of her moves. True, he had seen Walter fight before, an elegant dance of man and high-tensile wires, but her flashing steel was more aggressive. It hit home the fact that what he was asking was to learn was how to hurt others. Perhaps even kill them.

Kaito was of course familiar with tales of ninja and shinobi from his homeland. It was actually surprising to hear her call herself one since he assumed she came from a foreign world. Perhaps that was for the best, however; it meant there was a small connection to his roots and he found comfort in it.

"I know how to do sleight of hand already. I'm magician." He demonstrated by holding up his hand, wriggling his fingers. Between the clench of his fist and it opening, a playing card somehow appeared between his fingers. "I don't see what that has to do with being a shinobi though."

"A shinobi's greatest ally is stealth an' moving quickly and sneakily. We move in the darkmans--night and darkness--and it's our job to hit the enemy with surprise. It minimalizes the amount of 'urt. Stun, silence, whatever. The more 'armless you seem, the more dangerous you can become at the drop of a pin."

She's hoping that makes sense. Disguise, stealth, that's her bread and butter.

"For example, lookin' like yer browsin' a busy marketplace while yer followin' someone for information. Or even comin' in as one o' their guards an' they'll get a stabber through the 'eart that way. But it also means our 'ands have to be fast an' good at what they do."

Kaito nodded slowly. "I see..." It wasn't that different to what he did as Kid. The difference was he would be stabbing people rather than pickpocketing them.

"We have shinobi where I'm from as well," he admitted. "They don't exist any more but they kinda do the same thing. And I...I already know how to do those other things you mentioned. The non-knife things."

"That's good." So it'll mostly be knife skills. That much is going to be a lot easier. She's going to have to teach him how to whip one around without hurting himself especially.

"Shinobi come from across th' sea. Othard. Refugees. I got lucky, had a spark they liked."

Thancred would claim it was just accidental reflex that he slipped into the ballroom leaning on stealth himself, but the truth had more to do with a mix of nerves about the Castle lately, and his lifelong game of 'where did you come from'.

"It doesn't hurt that our homeland has a similar tradition, either."

Kaito nearly jumped out of his skin with fright. He hadn't heard Thancred enter. He had been expecting the man to show up, but still...

He quickly straightened, hoping his rapidly beating heart didn't show too plainly on his face. "Uh, if I remember... You were more like a thief than a ninja," Kaito said uncertainly.

Syhrgeim stares for a few moments, at Thancred's arrival, then starts laughing heartily.

"He's a rogue, an' a bloody good 'un. I know 'im, don't worry. The rogue's guild--the Upright Thieves afore at one point. So ye aren't that far off. Long story what they do."

She's going to walk over and pat Thancred on the shoulder.

"Well come, Magpie. It's good t' see ye."

I believe I could be of some service, if you don't mind another for daggers and twin blades.

This place has always been less than kind to those caught in it.

Edited 2018-07-22 04:52 (UTC)

Sure. I don't mind. You can meet me at the same place the other guy's at or we can meet separately. Whatever suits you.

I am already well acquainted with her; I believe I shall meet there to properly make arrangements.

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late night 28

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action!

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And now Kaito is getting adopted

cw: explicit sexual content in the link

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