Day in the Woods (Open)

(Current PL: 10,294)

"CHAOTIC REBELLION STAR!" A voice of a young woman would ring out through the wooded area that was known as "Fukurou Forest." The woman, Maeve of the Rakshasa clan, was out and about practicing her swordsmanship alone in the woods. She had been at it for quite some time. Primarily she was practicing her katas (specific exercises that helped sharpen her skill) or going through physical training (various workouts she did to tone her body.) Though once growing restless from the basics she moved straight into practicing her more advanced techniques. She started with the attack that she made her signature: The Chaotic Rebellion Star.  

She began the 'attack' by swinging her great cleaver: "Fateburn" at a nearby tree. The blade seemed to lash out in a wild flurry but if one's vision was sharp and they looked close enough they'd see that the direction of the blade was extremely precise. Using the momentum of the slashes before it the cleaver would be able to quickly lash out five times. Maeve's molten gold eyes narrowed as she watched the tree trunk suddenly splinter.  Almost instantly five deep gashes from the blade would appear in the wood of the great tree. The sudden cuts sent fractures of wood flying into the air. The demon sword wielder ignored these little splinters however as she closed her eyes and put her blade back by her side. She exhaled softly, easing her temperament before opening her eyes once more to inspect the damage she may have caused the large tree. She traced her clawed hands along the perfectly cut gashes.

"Now I suppose I could try out th-" Maeve began to speak to herself, deciding what technique to practice next but stopped as a loud series of thumps filled her ears.  Both her headfins and ears shot up in alarm as she felt the loud footsteps echo around her. She grabbed her sword and began to sprint towards the source of the noise. Her golden eyes narrowed as she weaved in and out of trees as she sprint towards the shadow of the great beast. One of her ear's flicked hearing the faint sound of a young woman claiming she was 'trapped' followed soon after by a fierce roar. She clenched her clawed hands around the handle of her sword and  rushed out into the opening suddenly.

"Stand back I'll protect you!"

"..."

"Where's it going?" Maeve blinked as she watched the lumbering beast amble off with a few heavy footsteps. With a confused tilt of her head the dragon swordswoman would pause before glancing around hoping to spot whatever it was hunting. She had hoped they had gotten away! Such a large predator probably wouldn't have shown any mercy!

She eventually glanced up to see the dark skinned Majin happily suckling on her jawbreaker high above her. "Hey there! Are you alright?" The dragoness called out waving one of her arms to her.

Maeve kept her gaze upwards as she watched the Majin wave back down to her. She couldn't help but break into a soft little smile seeing the chubby grey Majin's wide and ever warm grin stretched across her face. Though she couldn't help but wonder what 'history' the girl and that hulking beast had. The way the Majin woman giggled about the ordeal made Maeve think that it was almost a game of cat and mouse for her. The dragoness didn't have time to dwell on that thought however for in the next instant Xi sprung up and dove down towards the ground below.

At first, panic set on the demoness' face. She was unsure if the bubbly Majin had expected her to catch her or if she was going to fly or even if she was going to stick the landing. Realizing she probably would have said something if she expected her to step in: Maeve would relax a bit and wait for Xi to land gracefully before her. She let out a little startled cry however, as the grey being landed hard on the ground with a heavy 'SPLAT!' "W-Wha?! Are you okay?!" She stammered, the question coming out almost on instinct. She looked to the flattened form of the young woman trying to see if she were still alive before stumbling back as the stretchy Majin suddenly sprung up before her.

Maeve fell on her rear during her stumble and could only watch as Xi concluded her little trick with a playful toot of steam from the various holes lining her arms and head and a dramatic gesture that begged for applause. She blushed a bit at her own clumsiness and quickly stood up. "I-It's nice to meet you Xi. It is also good to see you're alright and unharmed." The swordswoman of fire responded to the strange girls introduction with a quick bow of her head in a respectful manner. She stood up, her embarrassment fading away now as she looked into Xi's eyes and readied her introduction. "I am Maeve Rakshasa. The dragon swordswoman." She said nodding her head once more, before taking a moment to brush some of her spiky ruby bangs that placed themselves in front of her eyes.


"...I must ask though... Why was that beast chasing you? You weren't bullying it were you?" She asked glancing back towards the direction the great dinosaur ambled off to. Given their 'history' as Xi had called it Maeve wouldn't be too surprised if this was a normal thing. She knew a few imps that took pleasure in bullying bigger demons (which she had scolded after saving them from said demons) but she wasn't sure if such practices were normal for the mortal realm.

"Ma...Jin?" Maeve repeated the foreign word to herself, despite the original Majin being a demon creation they were practically unheard of in the demon realm nowadays. They were primarily known as earthlings now but Xitica was sure to know that. Still, the way she described it made them seem to be incredibly durable. Jumping from some high place and landing face first would at least rattle most if not actually hurt or kill them. Perhaps they were similar to the slime demons? She glanced back to Xi briefly observing her for a moment at that thought before shaking her head. She seemed to have a bit more consistency to her form than the runny, drippy, and mostly translucent slimes that often got into trouble in the demon realm.

As she explained the nature of the relationship between her and her dinosaur 'friend' Maeve seemed to noticeably relax a bit. From the sounds of it: despite having fun at the great tyrannosaurs rex's expense Xi took precautions to make sure that the great beast didn't get hurt or lost during their little 'games.' "I see..." She said giving a little sigh of relief after being assured the situations were pretty harmless. Despite the beast being a (mostly) mindless predator, the demoness still wouldn't stand for someone hurting it for no reason other than their personal enjoyment. She didn't like the idea of any living thing suffering for the sole purpose of another's sick pleasure.

"...Just be careful then, as durable as you are I imagine that something like that would turn you into taffy if they got a chance." Maeve said with a bit of a smile despite her warning being mostly serious. "...I'm also glad that you're making sure to keep it safe despite everything. It most likely doesn't know any better after all." She said crossing her arms in a relaxed stance (or as relaxed as she could be wearing a full chest plate, cape, and pauldrons.)

"I recall a few Imps back home would try and play a prank on some of the nastier demons of the realm. They're a mischievous sort, mostly harmless but they've got that wicked sense of humor." She began, thinking of the child sized demons  and their nasty little jokes. "Often times they'd get wrapped into something bigger than they were expecting, meaning I'd have to step in to save them." She said closing her eyes with a disapproving sigh. "I've had to cut down many a rampaging demon who was so enraged that they wouldn't listen to reason...If you intend to play games like that with the beasts here just make sure you don't find yourself at that point. Being forced to put down something that was driven into a frenzy is...Unpleasant...Especially when it can be avoided." She said opening her eyes and looking back to the Majin.

"You live out here?" Maeve asked looking to the grey skinned girl with curiosity. She turned her gaze back to their surroundings suddenly. Her golden eyes scanned about. The lush green grass, the towering trees, and various delicate looking flowers lined about painted a scene of lush color and tranquility. It was the perfect setting for what was said to be a very spiritual and sacred place (though Maeve hadn't heard of it being so.) Despite her ignorance, she could certainly feel that the atmosphere in these woods was different. Unlike most of the mortal realm that was filled with It was a solemn yet oddly peaceful feeling. It was not completely dissimilar to the feeling she had while being in the shrine of her friend: The powerful fox spirit known as Akemi.



"I can certainly think of worse places to live." Maeve merely said in a cool tone after her brief moment of thought. Those 'worse' places typically being a few locations in the demon realm funnily enough. "It certainly is beautiful out here... I imagine that even though you must deal with a territorial beast it is quite worth it." She said with a faint smile. "Though, as you said: evasion doesn't seem to be a problem for you... So the bit of a chase must not be too troubling." She said returning to her cool tone. "You keep mentioning something about flight. You've attained it? That's actually quite impressive. Not a lot of demons even use flight so the fact that that you, a mortal, can is certainly worthy of praise." She said with a light nod of her head.



She paused for a moment after realizing that the way she worded that might have been seen as offensive or crass. "T-That isn't to say that mortals are incapable! Far from it! I've seen some genuinely impressive feats upon arriving to this realm. I-I also have been surprised by the sheer progress your kind has made, this world is so much more impressive than I could have ever imagined." She stammered looking over to Xi with wide eyes and a slight blush on her cheeks as she tried to apologize (or rather, clarify what she meant) in a flustered state. She quickly bowed her head low as if seeking forgiveness as she finished her awkward little tirade.



"P-Please forgive my lack of tact." She simply said trying to regain her composure. "I didn't mean to offend, honestly I did not." She said keeping her head down for a moment longer. She never was really good at dealing with people. She either tended to be aloof and cold or just plain awkward. It seemed that it was easier to the dragoness to fight with her sword than it was to keep up a decent conversation. She internally cursed herself as she glanced back up to Xi trying to gauge her reaction.

Maeve looked to the majin as she explained various things to her. The strange city known as: Avalon peaked her interest a bit. She mentioned it wasn't floating like they had intended but the fact that mortals would even attempt such a feat was curious to her. She remained quiet though, and let the grey skinned female happily chatter on about a few various topics. The things she talked about included how she was taught how to fly and how she was taught to use the mystical energy known as ki primarily. The young dragoness watched curiously as the girl finished her demonstration with a display of her energy control. With little effort the majin had created an orb of light between her palms that she was playing around with.

Maeve shook her head lightly at one of her final comments, the one about shooting beams and how it was 'cool.' The demoness looked to the majin and how she was casually toying with the bolt of energy once more before she finally spoke up. “You'll never attain true strength with your ki if you just play around with it.” She said as she turned away from her while drawing her blade and getting into her battle stance. “Here, since it seems like you wish to grow stronger let me tell you what my master told me.” She said looking back to the majin with a small smile. “Discipline is required in order to attain your maximum strength... While also keeping complete control over your actions.” She said returning her gaze forward as she slowly closed her eyes and began to focus her mind and body. The words of her master ringing through her mind as she readied herself.

“You need to be swift as the wind. Sturdy as the earth. Free as water. All with a spirit of fire! Only then will you reach your maximum potential and push your ki past it's limits!” She said as she began gathering her energy and focusing it on Fateburn. She let out a slow exhale before slashing her blade to her side. “With ki, you can do far more than create beams! You can push your body to it's limits and exceed them!” She said as she took one step forward and let loose a flurry of five insanely quick but precise slashes. The flash of speed was far faster than anyone could manage without ki control and to the untrained eye it looked almost like five blades were cutting at once. She finished the attack, her Chaotic Rebellion Star, and sheathed her sword, crossing her arms as she looked back to the Majin.

“Energy projection is a worthy use, but without discipline control is hard to maintain. Please remember that.”

Maeve's eyes widened as she suddenly was face to face with the grey skinned majin. The dragon woman took a step back, her headfins shooting up in alarm as the girl's afterimage flickered before her eyes. She was fast, faster than Maeve could have anticipated. With wide eyes she would try to speak only to watch as the woman once again faded away in a burst of blinding speed. What was this strange technique he was using? Was it a technique? Her eyes couldn't pick up on her movements so she wasn't sure. She briefly wondered if her Serene State would be able to pick up on her movements but before she acted on any thoughts she heard the majin's voice behind her causing her ears to perk along with her headfins (again.) She whipped around and turned coming face to face with the woman who was currently teasing her by casually floating with her legs crossed and her finger's tapping on her leg in a display of her boredom.

The girl was practically rolling in the air as she began to criticize her way of thinking. Maeve's ears lowered a bit as she frowned noticeably at her words. She wasn't sure if she was just teasing her or if she was being genuine with her response so she didn't know how to respond. "That's...Not the point." She finally said, her voice soft as she shook her head. "...It's not really something to be taken lightly either." She said looking to the girl with a more serious expression momentarily as if to stress the point of her words. She glanced away, cutting her gaze while she brought one of her hands to her mouth as she tried to think of her words carefully.

"...Though I can't deny that you do. In your own way exemplify those traits. In a different way than I was really meaning." She said, after all she did see the girl's speed and a bit of her durability. The 'free and spirited' bit could be argued for sure. It just didn't seem right though, it seemed like it was just over simplifying everything Akemi had taught her. Not wanting to get upset with the majin who she was convinced didn't mean any ill will she decided to shift topics a bit.

She cleared her throat before she spoke. "...So, what is the story of this Avalon place? It was supposed to be a floating city you said? How were you mortals managing that?" She asked, was it some sort of technology? Maybe some sort of magic? She was hoping Xi could shed some light on this mysterious 'Avalon'

"So you don't know how it flies?" She asked, canting her head to the side. She looked to her expectantly for a moment before moving her gaze down to the ground once more. She looked over the girl, the way she seemed to be just floating around idly and rolling about made Maeve believe that she was disinterested. Though there was a high chance Maeve was seriously overthinking this whole situation (as she was apt to do.) "Ah sorry, it's okay..." She apologized, with her headfins lowering in sadness. Though she was not sure exactly what she was apologizing for at first. It was almost automatic. She shook her head idly, her ruby bangs falling into her face briefly as she did. She blinked, hair getting in her eyes briefly, before she brushed the bangs away. She looked back up to the majin.

"...And sorry for insinuating that you were bad or destructive with your ki." She said with a pause. Though Xi chuckled with a light heart as she described how she was in complete control earlier she wasn't sure if that were merely a 'happy mask.' "I...I didn't mean to offend or to bore you with a lecture. I-I just thought you might like the advice, I mean...Given your statements I assumed you were...Inexperienced. I'm sorry." She continued, finding it hard to keep her gaze focused on the girl's eyes. "I...Er..." She bit her lip, a crimson flush forming on her face as she tried to formulate her thoughts clearly. "That is... Back at my home, in the demon realm, I didn't get that many opportunities to socialize... I also faced constant judgement for..." She lost her voice briefly as she closed her eyes briefly. "For how I am."

Timid. Gentle. Protective. That's what she meant when she said: 'How I am.' Though she clearly didn't articulate it. She bowed her head. "Please accept my apologies...I'm more graceful holding a sword in hand than I am with holding a conversation." She said, cracking a joke at her own expense while keeping her head bowed. It was probably a little silly. Maeve was most certainly being overly critical and overthinking things but she didn't acknowledge that. She just didn't want to upset the girl over something she did or might have done.