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psl: estinien

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[Krile had always been aware of the missing pages in her memory. The confirmation that Materia had carefully detached and filed them away hadn't come as a surprise.

And it had given Krile to wonder: what was so terrible in her past that Materia thought she couldn't possibly live with it? She remembered her parents' permanent disappearance, and Grandpa sneaking away to go to the other world without her, and almost losing her wind drake. There really was only other possibility, which she had tried very hard not to take as certainty. Okay, Grandpa was prone to saying things like I'm willing to accept any fate and even if it consumes the last of my energies. But there wasn't point in assuming it until she knew for sure...

Well, now she knew. And now she wished that Materia had had any comprehension of what she'd been doing. Krile wouldn't say she'd been over Galuf's death, but she had been coming to terms with it. Now she's that person, and the grieving, horrified girl in the Guardian Tree, at the same time.

But with her manikin's brilliance had come other things than sorrow. Everything that Grandpa had given her before his spirit departed for the afterlife--the strength, the stamina, the skills--they're there again, only it's been ages since she's put any of them to use. She has to relearn how to fight that way, which means asking for someone's help unless she wants to knock someone across a clearing by mistake--or jump up and land in a completely different patch of monsters.

So after hunting around the airship for a bit, she's found the person she's looking for up on the deck.]

Hey, Estinien. [...] Can I ask you something?

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[Wait, all at once?! Did she truly get her crystal without any training whatsoever? Estinien stares down at her, eyes wide for a moment, before he sighs and shakes his head. What's done is done.]

Yes, yes, 'tis important to build your skills from the grou-

[...wait. He sees what you did there, Krile.]

-it is of great importance to grasp the fundamentals of lancework, before you move on to greater things.

[It is... odd, she knows. Grandpa and the others might have gotten the start of their skills from the crystal shards, but they still had to take time to learn and understand what it was like to be a knight, a bard, a summoner. And there were shards that she connected with which Grandpa hadn't, and ones which he had but she didn't. But most of it--it all came in a rush. It wasn't easy to get used to.

Maybe that's why the sigh and the shake of the head. She hopes it isn't because he's feeling bad for her. She doesn't want to feel bad about it, she wants to make use of her grandfather's gift to her...

......heh heh heh. gotcha, estinien.]

Makes sense. [okay, she's done looking overly pleased with herself now.] ...How long did it take you to become a dragoon? I know the soldiers back home start training--well, around my age, but they aren't doing this kind of specialized fighting.

[it's not a question of impatience, since she's aware it takes years to become truly skilled. she'd just like to know how it's supposed to go.]

[He nods along]

And I was only a little younger than you when I was first allowed to train with a lance. Nearly a decade later I was accepted into the ranks of the Temple Knights, and it was a few years more 'til I was deemed worthy of the Knights Dragoon. Even then, I could not rest on my laurels - there is always more to learn, always a way to improve one's skill.

[Wait... really? So if he was twelve or thirteen when he'd started training, then he would have been older than Faris was when she became captain of her ship--for that matter, older than Kain is now as commander of Baron's dragoons. And that was just to become a knight? He must have been at least twenty-five when he became a dragoon.

...How old was the dragoon in the crystal shard when they took up their lance? Or fought Enuo, for that matter? Older than herself, she's sure, but were they as old as Estinien?]

Wow. I didn't realize Ishgard was that rigorous about it. [She knew a little about them from what he's ~~boasted~~ said already, but not to that extent.] You must've had some pretty high standards to live up to.

Me and every other dragoon to join our ranks, for our role in battle was ever the most perilous. While our fellow knights were bound to the ground beneath the feet, we rose to the skies to meet the Dravanians face to face, waging battle against flame and fang as we brought them down low, struggling all the while to make certain that they did not bring us down with them. We were the ones who won the greatest victories, but also the ones who suffered the greatest losses.

[He shakes his head, as if shaking away the memories themselves]

But that is all in the past. However, while we men and women of Ishgard may have abandoned our ancient war, we have not abandoned our standards. You would do well to keep that in mind during our training.

[Oh... yes. Ishgard's war against the dragons. Estinien and Alphinaud have only mentioned it briefly, really just to say that it was something that happened and was brought to an end. While she's glad that end was a peace accord rather than wholesale destruction of the Dravanians, she still can't think about it without feeling sorrow, considering what happened to the wind drakes of her own world.

And it gives her something else to think about. When she leapt into the air--or towards, yes, cavernous ceilings--it took her away from everything. Except for those few enemies that could launch something to knock her down, she didn't have any task other than to figure out the best way to land on whatever they were fighting. (Or how to word her complaints if they defeated it before she landed.) She hasn't thought about how to fight while she's actually up in the air.]

...Then I'll definitely learn new things from you, because I usually didn't have to fight anything between jumping and landing. [She might as well just say it plain now because it'll be obvious immediately.] Even the things that flew generally kept near the ground when they were trying to eat us.

[That earns a dark chuckle from him, though he won't elaborate on what he found so amusing]

There is a grave difference between a starving creature and a swarm of enemies. But worry not - I shall not force you into aerial combat just yet. For now, we shall stick to training dummies and errant beasts.

[He would laugh at that.]

That sounds like a better idea than getting thrown into the deep end. [...] Or. Deep sky?

[Honestly... she's looking forward to learning the thing properly. She had been learning magic that way before--before, and there was a satisfaction to mastering new spells or deepening her MP stamina. She felt the same way about connecting to the crystal shards that Grandpa had never bothered or just hadn't gotten along with and learning things from them piece by piece. It helped her feel like she was able to be strong in her own right rather than just wearing her grandfather's old things.

Really she's very relieved that Estinien's agreed to teach her. She could ask one of the others, but they're feeling Grandpa's loss too. And she couldn't ask Grandpa without getting too emotional and she--she doesn't want to let him down in that way.

...So Estinien's probably not going to be thrilled about this, but there isn't another way to express how she feels and anyway he's not wearing all his dragoon spikes right now. That makes it easy to hug him around the waist.]

[What. The hell. One moment he's answering questions and trading jests, and the next there's a pair of tiny arms wrapped around his waist. Estinien stiffens immediately, and his first instinct is to push her away-

-but then he remembers how overjoyed he was when Alberic agreed to teach him the ways of the lance. So, instead of shoving her off, he simply sighs and gives her one (1) pat on the shoulder.]

Alright, alright, that's enough of that.

Edited 2020-06-12 04:46 (UTC)

[Krile had more or less figured on Estinien acting like this was some kind of treacherous ambush. She can't help but giggle at that and his declaration that hug time is definitively over now.

...But the single pat on the shoulder does surprise her. Not in a bad way, of course. And the feeling stays with her as she lets go and steps back.]

Okay, okay.

[...Okay... Shoot. She's going to cry. She's going to cry very soon. No amount of silly dragoon puns is going to stop it, she'd just be doing it while also crying, and that's a waste of a good pun.

Which means she has to go find somewhere to hide and wait for it to pass because if she were to sit down and write out a list of people she did not want to cry around, Estinien would be in the top 5. Especially since she came to him so she could get stronger again. Fortunately she has just enough composure left to not have to run off in tears.]

I'd better go find myself a lance. Don't want to break the gem off my staff on a training dummy.

[And with that she's walking quickly away, hands pressed over her heart with one hand around the twig-and-gem bangle she knows the meaning of now. She is going to the armory, just... hopefully without running into anyone else along the way.]

[He waves her off, and while he is ready to return to his solitude (and allow Krile her own), he starts to think better of it. If the girl is going to pick out a lance, she might need help picking out a proper one - though probably not, if she is truly experienced in combat. On the other hand, it would do him some good to see what weapons they have at their disposal...

Bah. Here he is, following after her like some nagging nursemaid. She is still a ways ahead of him, but even with his slow pace, his long legs allow him to catch up easily to her.

...just in time to notice the start of a carefully hidden crying fit. Uh. Estinien crosses his arms and glances away, doing his best to spare Krile her pride.]

I suppose I've come too soon to see if you've had any luck.

[Just keep it casual...]

[well if there was going to be karma for her dastardly ambush up on deck, this is it. because those footsteps are definitely his. not that she's looking, because she can't, because if she does then he's going to see--

She does risk a quick look when he speaks--well at least he's not staring at her. Even so she turns to face fully away as she tries to get command over herself enough to make an answer. Her first attempt is a croak, not unlike the sounds Estinien made during that misadventure--okay, try again.]

We--we sure do find a lot of junk ones. [Probably collected by their comrades who are used to fancy technological weapons and can't tell between a real spear and a pointy stick. She'd like to say that, but.] There'll be a right sized one somewhere in here.

[think about lances, think about lances. she's pretty sure estinien's is taller than herself twice over. the Holy Lance, that fitted whatever Light Warrior had it, that's legendary weapons for you. though it didn't have to be that different between Grandpa and herself. and that's what she's trying not to think about.

she's not going to tell Estinien to go away, though. because as much as she is trying to hide... she doesn't actually want to be alone.]

[It would take a fool not to recognize Krile's sob for what it was. Still, she showed no sign of wanting comfort, no sign of wanting it acknowledged at all. So, just for this moment, he would play the fool long enough to get Krile out of her own head]

Hmph! "Junk" is one way to put it - I've no idea who's taken charge of the armory, but whoever they are, they wouldn't know a proper lance if it stabbed them right in the arse.

[He picks one up at random and looks it over. Not too flimsy. Good.]

Here - test your grip on this one.

[Gosh, who is in charge? Something about the way Estinien says it makes Krile instantly picture Laguna, fleeing from a pack of outraged dragoons with his arms and legs flailing. The image sets a laugh bubbling out through the tears, and the absurdity of the sound makes her laugh again.]

That would--that would sure teach them good work from bad.

[But now she has to turn around. She doesn't want to. She knows that just facing in the other direction doesn't fool anyone, but still...

on the other hand, refusing to answer him would be pretty childish, and he's being kind and pretending this is a normal conversation instead of telling her off. besides, she is here for a weapon.]

O-okay. [ugh, no, DEEP BREATH so she can take hold of the weapon in a dignified way. Actually getting into her usual battle stance feels awkward, and it takes a moment for her to move her feet into the right spot and how to hold it for ground fighting. But it's preferable to having an imperious ghost shove her into a stance and telling her to start jumping.] A little long... but it feels familiar enough.

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