To be Free [Jya/Tara]

[Jya]

Jya was up on top of a tree. It was a peaceful place to rest and she enjoyed viewing into the outside. For now she was reflecting about how the day was like. How many people has she killed now? When that thought lost its appeal she went to another topic. Valorian almost died...she was happy that she had managed to do something for him. Now there was another matter that concerned her. She wanted to talk to Tara a bit...That woman reminded her of...not quite herself but a certain characteristic that people like her had... Maybe she was wrong but with that thought she suddenly popped down and hanged upside down on the tree.

[Tara]

Tara sat under a tree, eating a small meal by herself. She was used to being around people, that was part of being the wife of a duke, but... There were always places to be alone in their estate, and there was no such respite here. It was not that she did not like her new companions, no, quite the opposite. It was just that things were... confusing. She felt happy, and she felt free. Two emotions she knew were not for her to be feeling. Guilt and sadness, those were things she should be feeling now.

Tara spit out the bit of apple she had in her mouth and screamed as Jya appeared out of nowhere. "By Saint Elimine! You made the think I was being attacked, you sneaky little thing!" she said to the green-robed assassin

[Jya]

Jya was honestly surprised that Tara was there. She probably wasn't paying any attention.

"Its okay! I'm not, right?" she asked with a happy go lucky voice. With that she dropped down from the tree to land in front of Tara.

"So I see you like the swords," she began, casually taking out her simple slim sword.

"But, I'm just wondering what kind of style you want to go with, I mean if you want I can show you some of my style to help you decide," she said.

"But if you don't want to spar, I can also so show like..." she said taking out her lockpicks.

"I know, but this is really all I know how to do besides stealing." showing her the ring that she slipped out from under her nose.

"At least if you see that you'll have less of a chance to get it stolen!"

[Tara]

Tara was glad that Jya didn't take offense to her surprise. She drew her sword, the sun glinting off of it's blade. She cleaned the honed it after their battle, for one of the things Luth taught her was that the first rule of being a swordsman is to always keep you blade in tip-top shape.

"I think I will never be the best fighter," she began, giving the blade a test swing, "I can hardly lift that steel sword i found in the hideout, let along be agile with it. I do like hiding, though. I've become good at it, since I have been on the run... So, tell me, when did you learn to be so quick-fingered?"

She took a closer look at the ring Jya held up, then realized that her own ring, the one gifted to her by Luth, was missing! "Ah, you don't mean to keep that, do you? It isn't work much, you see, but it is very important to me." she tried to keep her voice and head level, though inside she was almost bursting. "It was given to me by a man who loved me dearly... It wasn't right, our love, but we didn't care. He... He's..." her voice cracked and stopped working altogether.

[Jya]

While Tara was speaking to her, Jya was rolling the ring on the tip of her fingers a few times before using a sleight of hands to make it disappear and back into Tara's possession.

"Don't worry, I don't want the ring, I have plenty," she said, opening the hand that once had the ring to reveal a handful of even more rings. Just as quickly, she made them disappear and pointed over to Tara's pocket.

"I don't really lift the sword as much, its more like, letting the blade be natural," she said, trying to describe her fighting style. If she tried to lift some of her swords, they would be far too troublesome.

[Tara]

Tara was relived to feel her ring back in her pocket. She slipped it on her finger, and felt whole once more. She held up her blade... and let it fall. She tried to make herself feel the blade as an extension of her arm, and swung a low swing, feeling a bit more confidant in herself. It felt much more natural that what she had done before.

She set her blade down and looked at Jya. Such a sickly girl, and so young, already an efficient killer. "Miss Jya, I don't mean to be rude, but, where are you from? I ahve never met such a young girl who is so skilled with the sword."

[Jya]

Jya opened her mouth to answer but couldn't. Nobody asked about her hometown before... She can't even seem to remember the name, Her parents faces were quite vague as well.

"Umm, just a small town in Etruria, nobody really visits, I wish I can tell you more but I really can't remember," she replied as honest as she could.

"Killing only gets easier the more you get used to it," she shrugged, remembering how bad her first kill was.

"Its just a way of survival, the first time I had to kill a man was when I just left home at the age of thirteen, a real...runt," she said, indicating to her original 4'8" size.

"I'm serious, I grew this much in these past few years, it is probably related to my illness."

[Tara]

Tara sheathed her blade, recoiling a bit. "Killing. I don't like it. In the fort, I tried not to cause any permanent damage to our enemies. I just couldn't handle it, killing someone. When I killed that assassin, well, you saw it, how sick was. Does that make me... weak? Does it make me a liability?"

Tara brushed a lock of hair from her eyes and placed her hand on a tree trunk. Life... Everything, even this old tree, was alive. What rights did she have over whether a man lived or died?

[Jya]

Oh great it seemed as though Jya had managed to make the discussion even more serious. Her question was quite hard to answer but she felts as though she had no way out of it. The woman was troubled enough.

"Listen, its doesn't matter who comes after me or why, I want to live so I kill them, the least I can do for the wasted life is live my life to the fullest and I also have something important to protect," she said, looking decisively at Tara and then indicating to where everyone else might be.

"I don't enjoy it and even I get nightmares every now and then but I can't die now, I have reasons to do what I do and you just have to believe me even if it is selfish," she concluded not sure if her answer was good enough. With that she began to thumb around with her lockpick.

[Tara]

Tara looked down. "I am sorry if I was being to bold. I just... I do not think very highly of myself. I want to be strong one day. Strong enough to fight off assassins by myself, strong enough to avenge my family. It must sound strange, coming from someone as old as I, but I was to be strong, like you, one day." Tara put her hand on Jya's shoulder.

"You are a very strong young woman, Jya. Battling sickness as well as people who would do you harm? You should be proud, very proud."

[Jya]

Her? Strong? She never thought of herself that way. Jya was a little troubled by Tara's assessment enough that she stuffed her lockpick back into her pockets. Nobody really called her strong or was it not often enough?

"I think you're probably stronger than me, if its skills and power you want, I can help," she said indicating to her wide array of blades. She wanted to get past the unnerving discussion and perhaps settle on something she knew best and that was her swords and thievery skills.

[Tara]

"You do seem to know how to handle yourself pretty well," Tara said, eyeing the girl's assortment of knives and picks. She felt honored that the girl would offer to teach her how to be a better fighter. "I think I would like that a lot. I hate being a burden to the group, and i can only assume that having two nimble fighters is better than having just one!"

She plucked a leaf off of the tree above her and tore it in to strips. She admired the veins on the leaf, how such a plant could grow to be so complex. "I think we could do some good things together."

[Jya]

"Good things...?" Jya remarked. She thought about it for a second and nodded. Yes it was possible that she could help others and do good things. She just needed someone to guide her and Tara seemed fitting in some way. Perhaps it was her motherly attitude. She barely remembered her parents, she can't even remember where her hometown was. She drew her sword and looked down onto her blade. What would her parents think of her now?

"I'm sure you'll plenty good now."