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 Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 7:13 pm
Odilon sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down at the woman on the ground. Every instinct told him to leave right away, but... he couldn't. After his fight with that Hong soldier, he'd awakened in his bed, safe and sound and well-tended, and while he couldn't do the same for her, he could at least be gentlemanly.
He knelt down beside her, checking her wounds and wondering if he could manage to carry her across the border, or at least to lay on it. Once he knew she was all right, things would be just fine, and he could leave, content in the knowledge that he'd bested her and she'd probably (hopefully) head back to her lands, defeated and unwilling to return.
...Right?
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Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2011 7:35 pm
 Phea came too slowly, hearing being her first sense to return. Well, maybe it was vision, but with closed eyes she could not tell. She has no idea how long she was out, not long she guessed based on the weather. If night had fallen surly she would be colder and birds would not be singing.
Sensing someone near, Phea's first instinct is to snap open her eyes. After all if it is an enemy she should prepare to defend herself. Of course that is what would be expected of her. So her eyes remain closed, breathing even as she pretends to still be out.
After several minutes, though, Phea can take the suspense no longer. With hearing alone she can not tell anything about this person. She suspects it to be her opponent, but will assume nothing.
Slowly she opens her eyes a crack, the movement smooth enough that who ever it is would have had to be looking right at her face to catch it. It takes another moment for her vision to adjust, and when it does Phea sees that it is indeed her opponent.
Still she lay there, feigning unconsciousness. She wonders why he is still here. Has she caught him in the act of searching her person for treasures? So called spoils of war. Certainly he can not actually care if she is hurt. Can he? Or maybe she was not out for as long as she thinks and he is just about to go.
Only one way to find out. Phea fully opens her eyes, pulling herself into a sitting position after checking to be sure they are alone. "Still here?" She asks, though her tone asks Why? instead.
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:46 am
In the battle, Odo had been... not precisely decisive, but definitely focused. And likewise, he had focused on checking his opponent's wounds, silently wondering whether what he was doing was right... or fair. He had won the battle, certainly, but he wasn't a monster, and wasn't inclined to leave someone helpless with no one around to find her and help her, though he wondered if what his Knight would think of him if this got out.
When she finally moved, Odo almost jumped, then sat back, one hand hovering near his sword as he tried to figure out the look on her face. Were Noir so different that she might attack him, even now? Her words brought up a defensive sort of panic in him that fluttered below the surface, leaving him ready to break and run at the first sign of danger, for he didn't really think he was ready for a rematch. Not here, not now.
Though surely she wasn't, either.
"I defeated you," he said, and the defensiveness had crept into his words as well. "I didn't think I needed to kill you as well."
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:20 am
The first part of his answer is expected. Phea very well would not be waking up if she had won. The second part answered her. She had never heard of a one on one match like this ending in death. Not in living memory at any rate. So why had he said that last?
"My defeat is a given. What I mean is, why wait for me to wake up? Why not just claim anything of value I am carrying and leave? That is the way of things." In essence Phea is asking him if, and why, he is different. She also wonders if the difference is permanent or temporary personality trait.
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:26 am
Odo frowned deeply at that, his hand slowly creeping away from his sword as he watched her. She didn't seem inclined to leap up and attack him again, at least.
"I'll claim one thing," he said quietly, not so much because he wanted a reminder as because he had always been taught that it was the thing to do. "But not everything." He paused, then added, "Would you have just left me to wake on my own?" Though really, hadn't her words, her tone, her very confusion about his actions, already answered his question?
So... what had Jiao done? Who had helped him?
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:21 pm
Phea blushes, wondering if she had things backwards. Or maybe it is a culture issue. Were all Blanc soldiers like this one? She turns thoughtful for a bit, thinking back to her last - and first - battle. the one she won. How she had left the Hong Ambassador there. Was that wrong to do? Would he have left her had she lost? Perhaps she will ask him.
"Is that not the way of war? If our purpose is to fight one another then why should we show concern for each other? If we do that eventually we would become reluctant to battle." Now there is a thought, Phea thinks. To care about each other. If that happened, would Noir and Blanc reunite?
Phea shakes her head, then asks two questions to distract her mind. "What is your name? And what, exactly did you claim?" She did not think she had anything worth taking. Well, maybe her hair clip, but it still dangled from her hair, though just by a few strands from the feel of it.
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Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 4:32 am
Odo caught that blush, and it made him wonder about her all the more. She'd sounded so... pragmatic. Why, then, should his own confusion serve to embarrass her? Well, if that blush even signified embarrassment, but he didn't think the Noir were that different from the Blanc.
"If it's the way of war," Odo found himself saying, though he wasn't entirely certain even of what he was saying as he spoke, "then shouldn't those that skirmish on our borders, alone, and lose... shouldn't they never return? But they do. So... why? I mean, I was never told to help you, but I didn't know how badly I hurt you. You don't seem like you're dying now, but when you were laying there..." He trailed off, his brow deeply furrowed and a frown etched in his face. What was the point he was even getting at?
After a few moments of silence, one hand held up to hopefully keep her from speaking as he let himself think, he remembered her other question, and looked up at her again. The consternation was still in his face, and he searched her for anything he might take. The only thing he really saw was her hair clip, but... it seemed to suit her. "Do you have something other than your hair clip that I could claim? I've taken nothing yet."
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Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 1:06 pm
She shrugs off his rambling statement. "I would have woken and gone home. Rested up, healed and come back. It is a never ending cycle." She pauses here, thinking. "Or one of my comrades would have found me and taken me home. If all who lost died I doubt our commanding officers would send us out alone." Another pause to collect her thoughts. "Pawns may be cannon fodder, but it does take time to train us. Energy and gold too, so I doubt those in charge would waste all that by sending us solo if death was certain."
Again she stops, wondering if this were true or wishful thinking on her part. Phea shrugs again and continues. "If they felt single man missions were equal to death, then surely we would be sent in groups." This thought is unpleasant. Noir and Blanc were at war, yes, but so far it was just single skirmishes. What would it spiral into if one or both sides started sending whole battalions?
His next question, and statement have Phea looking sharply at him. He had not claimed a prize. Why not? Was he so worried for her that it had not occurred to him? She raises her hand to her hair clip, her only visible bit of ornamentation. Of course he had not taken it, it is nothing but cloth and regular metal. Pretty to look at, but worth nothing.
Her mind wanders back to this morning, as she had gotten up and gotten ready for the day. Her memory replays everything she had done, trying to recall anything worthy to be called a prize she may have put on. Nothing. No rings. No bracelets. Nothing. And yet something tugs at her memory.
Stalling for time, Phea asks her earlier question again. "What is your name? Mine is Amalphea." Though it is plain she is distracted. An almost memory tugging at her mind's edge, something to do with the shower she had taken... But what? How could her shower- "Oh! Yes, how silly to forget that."
Reaching up behind her neck, Phea first undoes the button holding her collar. After a fe seconds of searching she finds it, the clasp to her necklace. As normal she fumbles with the clasp, scowling at herself for such foolishness. Finally it is off, and she carefully removes it. Redoing the clasp, Phea hands it over to him. "I always forget I have it on." She explains, keeping her voice neutral.
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Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 1:53 pm
Odo took the necklace, looking down at it solemnly for a long moment. It was his right to take it, and according to some, his outright duty. But for her to forget that she had even worn it at all.... He looked up at her, and where his eyes had been awkward and confused, they were now steady. All those other questions, all those other ideas... they still circled around his head in an endless, confusing whirl, but this much, he knew for certain. "We'll battle again."
He lifted the necklace, opening the clasp with careful fingers and fastening it around his neck as he stared at her steadily. "At some point in the future, we'll have a rematch. And then... maybe I'll claim something else." He paused, then offered an awkward smile that held none of the confidence in his voice. "Or maybe you'll go back to forgetting you wear this."
On his feet, he dusted off his hands against his uniform pants, watching her thoughtfully. "I'm Odilon," he finally offered, though he'd almost forgotten to answer her again. He'd almost told her to call him Odo, but nicknames were a friend's right, an ally's right... not an opponent's. So the words were short, as though he'd cut off partway through a sentence. He wanted to do more, however... to at least show her that she'd made him think. Finally, he held out a hand to her, waiting to see if she'd take it or leave him there looking a fool.
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Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:45 pm
Phea does not bother trying to defend why she forgets the necklace. The memories swirling around it are both sweet and bitter, and nothing to get into at the moment. Instead she smiles at him. "Shall we set a date or let fate guide us?" Phea has never been one to believe that fate or destiny are the only things that guide life. But she does believe there is someone or something that plots certain events to happen.
A name. His name, Odilon. Such an interseting name too. Though he did seem reluctant to give it. Then Odilon did something Phea was not expecting. After standing he offered her his hand. Why would he do that? Is it possible her words have given him things to ponder, as his had done for her? But still, why the offer? Did he think her weak, or still too injured to stand alone? Or perhaps both?
Her first thought is to ignore his offer of help, to prove to him (well okay, more to herself) that she is not weak or hurt too badly. Something in his face, though, has her changing her mind. Even as she reaches up to take his hand, Phea wonders if refusing would hurt him somehow. And why. More so, why should she care? He is the enemy after all. Why care what he thinks or feels?
Phea allows herself to be helped up, though she does not act completely helpless and helps herself as well. All the while thoughts swirl in her head. Her earlier questions warring with the new. You do not care about an enemy. You do not show him any kindness. In fact, the only mercy they show is not to kill, only incapacitate. So does this mean she will just forget her earlier questions? Go back to how things were before she met this man? Or should she give them more though? A dangerous thing, it could take the fight out of her. And what is a Pawn worth once she refuses to battle? Simple. Phea would be worthless.
She reaches this thought just as she gains her feet. The impact of it nearly knocking her over, only a hand quickly placed on Odilon's shoulder keeps Phea upright. Hoping he thinks she his simply dizzy Phea gives a sheepish smile and forced chuckle. "Thank you.. for everything." Letting go of him, hand and shoulder, she backs up a few steps. "See you later." Then Phea turns and walks off.
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Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 3:40 pm
Odo watched Phea's back as she walked off, blinking a bit. What... really... had happened here? Noir was so... strange.
Left alone, Odo reached up one hand, fingeriing the necklace he'd taken. He turned to go, glancing back over his shoulder once or twice, but she hadn't turned back. And left alone, all he could do was think thoughts that whirled around his head in chaotic disarray. He would have to go to his journal to sort them out... Maybe in the process, he'd figure her out, as well.
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