middaeg | . summer's play

[The obvious excitement in his voice is infectious and she can't help a small smile that tugs at the corner of her mouth. It's not often that she got to share her culture with others and - well, her sparring by herself isn't really much, but it's still a part of her life that extended beyond the loss of her planet.]

I watched the paladins too, but they are out on a mission right now.

[She explained, casually walking over to the weapon rack.]

Much of Altean technology is imbibed with magic. It comes naturally to us, so it makes sense to use it as, say, steel or platinum.

[Carefully, she touches the weapons on the wall, surprised that she can interact with her memory in such a tangible way.]

Do you want to try one?

[When Allura steps further into the memory, Dimitri follows, trotting behind her. Altea he commits to memory - it must be the name of her country. Perhaps someday he will tell her of Faerghus and his own customs, but...

He's always been more interested in the lifestyles of others.

And weapons.

Weapons are cool.]

Yes!

[Woah there-] Please. If you don't mind.

I'm accustomed to lances, if you have one, but I'm confident with a sword as well. [He tries and is only partially successful to calm his tone, hand clenching and unclenching at his side to stop from reaching out eagerly.]

[His excitement reminds her of Lance when he first became acquainted by any bit of Altean technology. He'd always been the most excited and eager of all of them to lean into his fate as a paladin and although Allura attributed that to a misplaced sense of grandeur at first, she now knew it was just a place of honesty, and she was happy to share her culture with those willing to listen.

Speaking of Lance (so to speak)]

Lances? [She hums looking through the selected offerings. There's nothing here so advanced as the paladin's bayard - able to change and react to it's user's needs, but the Alteans weren't novices when it came to weapon design. Picking up one of the heftier sticks, she twists it's hilt and the metal pieces come apart, shifting to open and draw back, revealing a pointed spear tip inside.

She hands it to Dimitri,] Will this do? It's a real weapon, so please be careful.

[Dimitri watches in enduring wonder as the weapon shifts form - small metal machines all working synchronized so precisely. This sort of work would be impressive even for a master smith in Fodlan.

He accepts the blade carefully - with the respect one would give an ancient ceremonial thing.

Though he doubts there's much need to be too gentle with it.] This is amazing, Allura.

I will take care, of course, but I can't truly suppress my excitement- [Obviously, from the way his smile is glowing and his eyes are locked on the blade.

After testing its heft, Dimitri takes the weapon to the center of the room and immediately works through a round of warm up swings. He's clearly adept with the weapon, though he stops mid-swing more than once to adjust his form slightly - nothing he's worked with has been balanced quite like this before.]

Are there more dummies? [Let him play more!]

[She’s pleased that he’s taken such a liking to her world. Rather, what was left of it. She tried not to let her Altean pride bleed into too much of what she did, but there was something sentimental about when she could share her people’s craft with others.

It’s while Dimitri is doing his practice swings that the memory shifts forward a bit – a man with a red mustache comes through the door, calling for Allura and she dismisses her own sparring robots to go confer with him. The man with the mustache seems jovial, reminding Allura that she is supposed to be resting, following the ceremony to revive the Balmera.

Current Allura blinks, remembering that Dimitri had asked her a question – she’d been hit by a wave of homesickness when she saw Coran, but she shakes it off, turning toward Dimitri.]

Oh, yes. Just a tick- [And the setting seems to have no trouble letting her interact with it. She stands off to the side and calls out,]

Training, level… [She peers at Dimitri and hesitates. Not wanting to insult nor overwhelm him.] Level four.

[And flickering to life are two of the battle drones. Standing up straight and slowly rounding into a series of slow thrusts with their swords. Challenging enough to be aggressive, but not enough to threaten an experienced fighter.]

[While Dimitri notices the interaction between Allura's memory self and her steward, he does not stop for it. The pair doesn't react to him, and he'd be invading her privacy to listen in. He catches a comment about resting, if only because of the familiarity such concerns have to him.

He moves on quickly - focusing entirely on the animated dummies that appear in the room. They're amazing, moving on their own. Internal clockwork? Magic? He'll ponder it later.

Now he moves forward, crossing through the first machine's attack with a dodge that's as narrow as it is practiced. His spear presses through it with unprecedented ease, enough to throw his footing.

The ball of his foot catches the brunt of his weight, and although it hurts, he presses on. With how easily this blade cuts... a swipe that simply grazes the other dummy with its tip is enough to entirely decapitate it.

It's all over in seconds, and Dimitri straightens with a smile - already starting to sweat.] Level four, was it?

May I try something higher? [He's not feeling patronized, just invigorated. Excited!]

[She’s impressed. Dimitri clearly knows his way around a battle, especially with how easily he adjusts to the unusual opponents and the unfamiliar heft of the weapon. Of course Allura is beaming because she quite enjoys sharing her world when she can, and Dimitri’s excited energy is infectious.

The battle drones he dispatches flicker out of existence and Allura nods before hefting a staff for herself. Not unlike the one in her memory had been holding.]

How do you feel about teaming up? [To the castle,] Level nine, please.

[Hopefully the answer is yes, because there’s a half dozen robots now flickering to life as Allura joins him in the middle.]

[Seeing his training put a smile on the Princess's face only energizes Dimitri more. The first scuffle had been a good warm up, and he can't wait to really work through learning the new weapon in his hands.

To Allura's proposition he nods, still smiling himself while he resets his position and readies the spear.

There are more now, and given the jump in number, Dimitri assumes they're all tougher as well. A test prod towards one of them confirms his suspicion; it twists out of the way and attempts a parry. When Dimitri blocks it, another comes rushing towards his side, and forces him to make a sweeping lance motion to punish the advance.

It cuts through the both of them - a move that would have been near impossible even with his enhanced strength back home. He laughs, and it's not too quiet - he's having a great! time!]

[Harder indeed. The six battle bots are not only better fighters on their own, but they work together. One of them feints towards Allura but she’s familiar with this battle program and she’s wise to the second one that is actually lancing forward, and she dodges out of the way, bringing her staff around in an elegant arc to smash into the side of the robot. She doesn’t have her old Altean strength, but she hits it with enough force to send it flying and that makes her smile.

At the same time she hears Dimitri laughing, and looks over to see the other two robots lanced through, sparking and falling to the floor. It would be barbaric if not for the fact that they’re robots.

Well, she’s glad he’s having a good time, but there’s no chance to comment before another robot is moving in on him, taking advantage of his distraction.]

Watch out! [She jumps in, thrusting her staff forward like it’s a spear – it doesn’t pierce the robot, but it connects with its carapace with a loud clash of metal and it sends it sparking to the floor.]

[When Dimitri notices the attack, he knows it's too late. He won't be able to parry, and all he can do to block is turn his body to catch the blow with his shoulder instead of his torso-

Allura's voice rings through the room, and Dimitri recognizes the sure step to her foot along with the crash of blunt weapon into metal.

She must have battlefield experience as well - a realization both grim and exciting.] Thank you! [He speaks quickly, breath caught in his throat as he moves to stand facing one of the two remaining dummies.

The strange doll ticks from side to side, smooth motions meant to catch his eye and distract him from any tells as to its next attack. A second stands between Dimitri and Allura, blocking the pair from working together but also precariously situated in potential crossfire.

Though, should they attempt that, the first will surely lunge for Dimitri.

It's a situation where tactics are more important than brawn; Dimitri looks to Allura.]

[It's a stalemate, and Allura's eyes snap between the training robots, and then Dimitri, making a quick assessment of the situation. Then, an idea. She doesn't know if it will work - her strength isn't what it was before she came to Aefenglom, but it's worth a try.

She hefts the staff up, and through some unseen mechanism, the weapon starts to transform. A lance.]

Get down!

[And she lines it up, throwing the spear in an attempt to pass through the first one, and into the second, hopefully sailing safely over Dimitri in the process.]

. summer's play

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I have no idea if this works yoloooo