In Pursuit of Strength [Clair/Cefia]

[Clair Feldsky]

OoC: Takes place towards the end of Through the Elements.

BiC:

Well... At least they'd made it through the fight. Clair had finished her patrol, and found nothing dangerous.... Well, there was the pirate, but she was helping this Cefia woman. See somone in need of help, and the first thing she did was step up to the task. Nevermind the past actions, or the occupation of said person. She thought to herself bitterly. Perhaps it would be fine. In Illia, accepted practice was to kill bandits on sight if you could. At least her parents thought so. Somebody somewhere was getting hurt from banditry, whether the merchants themselves were harmed or spared. In Illia, that generally meant that someone went without a meal.... Why couldn't all the thieves and raiders move down south, where there were actually things worth stealing to be had. The southlanders could afford to lose some food. At least the places she'd passed through. What a lush, fruitful environment....

Nothing like here. The Falcoknight did another chin up, her fingers feeling the chill of the bar she was gripping, even through her gloves. She'd fought earlier with a sword, swinging it one-handed into the enemy's armor. And it had the nerve to just, bounce off. Well, there was nothing wrong with her sword. She just lacked experience with it, and didn't possess Richter's great strength. Naturally, the effects had been far less impressive than when he fought....

She was fit, and strong enough for how she fought. You didn't need to be all that strong to lance a man through with a polearm. Just be skilled at handling it, and know where to hit. Similarly, she'd managed to get some success with the sword once she'd started stabbing people with the sword, instead of flailing it like a lunatic.... She wouldn't accept this limit though. She needed to build up more strength, so she could fight better. And that was the reason she was out here.

She'd spotted this spot around the back of one of the buildings while she'd been assigning sentries. It was sheltered from the worst of the wind, and the snow, and had things that reminded her of her past. Of her training in Arphen. The bar mostly. It'd taken some creativity to get up here, and a few tries. She hadn't been tall enough to simply jump up and grab it, so she'd instead managed to run up, and spring off the wall, giving her another couple feet of altitude.... Kind of silly now, she thought to herself. Perhaps she was just indulging her "inner child".... Another chin up.

[Cefia]

Cefia got tired of partying, gambling, and drinking relatively quickly. Her body was just reluctant to do anything more exciting. She was staggering and trying her best o hold herself off as she tried to find somewhere quiet to read. She stumbled into a little spot where the sounds weren't nearly as loud and plopped herself onto the ground. With a careful hand, she took out her monocle to prepare her eyes. She was far too distracted to see Clair just yet.

Before long she took out the book she had. It was a detailed anthology on the studies of Louis Knox titled:The Mind and Itself: The Representation of Thoughts and It's Extremities. It was quote a mouthful. She flipped to the first page and it appeared to be signed by various people, many of which seemed to barely be able to write. To Cefia for her 23rd birthday... 23rd? When did she become 23 years old? Her mind was still full of alcohol so she didn't care for details that much, especially before the book started. She simply began to dig into the book itself.

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair did another chin up. How many had she done now? Well, actually, she'd not been keeping count all that hard in the first place. She'd probably done enough for now though. And just how many more times would she need to do this? The Falcoknight knew that repetition was going to be a big part of strengthening herself. She just wished it wouldn't take so long. She could go whatever distance it would take, but it would be better if the results were already in, instead of days and weeks away.

She was about to let go, when she realized something. Her fingers weren't wanting to release. Apparently, her gloves had frozen to the bar. Clair hung there for a moment, considering her options, before deciding on the simplest. She fell, letting her hands slip out of the gloves as she went, and grabbing them before she fell out of reach. The resulting sound, a sort of metallic "chink" noise was covered up as ber booted feet landed in the snow. The gloves still had a thin crust of ice on them, but were made sturdily enough to withstand any potential damage from the misadventure.

Clair turned around, ready to leave, when she saw Cefia, leaning up against a wall,... reading a book? The Illian recognized that she knew very little about pirates, but seriously, what pirate story ever had a pirate reading a book? It was all treasure maps, and "yar har harr", and "walk the plank".

"Find yourself a nice book in the rubble, Cefia?" Clair said, She tried to contain herself, but it was hard, after a life time built around her parent's teachings.

[Cefia]

Cefia was well engrossed into the book until Clair's voice snapped her out of her trances. She looked up from the spot and sure enough, the commander was right before her. She got up with some ease as to speak to her face to face. It was proper etiquette after all. It took her awhile to register her tone of voice and question after having her head stuck in the book.

"No, it appears to be a gift from my companions," she said forgetting to trouble herself with her usual vocabulary. Besides it would be impossible to explain the book otherwise.

"The premise of this examination delves into the complexity of one's thought. Truly groundbreaking in one sense however it emerges with an antipathetic tone that I sporadically but surely find aggravating," she said, flipping over to a page she didn't agree with. She turned the book over to let Clair see, the words printed was barely noticeable with the size of the text but it was surely there.

"Asserted here is a expeditious summary of the current topic, of course it will no doubt be elucidated further but for now, I find it progressively irritating how it has such an obvious inclination towards the subject when it stated impartiality. I know, I know. All books are subject to bias but even so, it galls me to no end that it would even state such a claim almost as much as compendiums."

"Oh enough of my perpetual chatter or was it common to call it prattle in these days? What might you be out here, my friend?" she asked, remembering that Clair was there.

[Clair Feldsky]

Being assaulted by such a flurry of words was hardly what the blond haired young woman had expected to hear from a scallywag. Under that blistering literary assault, even Clair wasn't quite sure what hit her. Ordinarily, she'd be able to keep up with it, if she tried, but caught off guard like this, there was little hope. She actually found herself trying to read the words in the book, before remembering what all was going on around her.

The pirate dialect was completely gone, and Clair couldn't help but wonder at that as well. The Falcoknight was beginning to wonder if she'd fallen asleep and was having a weird dream. Cefia, reading a book, speaking normally, while she'd been doing chinups outside? It sounded strange enough to be a dream. Nevermind that though.

"Your voice! It's... normal. Why is it normal?" Clair's face was about splitting with confusion from being hit by a philosophical sledge hammer by an uncivilized brute, or so she'd thought.

[Cefia]

Cefia was caught off by Clair's confusion. What was surprising about what she said, at most she only stated her opinion on the book. She glanced down and skimmed the text to see if she messed up in what she said. Nope. She didn't want to seem like a dunce, so she might as well answer back to the confused woman.

"Normal? Normality is defined by one's society in more aspects than most people care to inquire, education, experience, relationships, and so on alter's one's view of what is 'normal'. I cannot deny that the structure of my dialogue, what was that saying, go hand in hand with existence. Let me rebuttal and perhaps enlighten you by entrusting you with a question of my own Commander, why is it that you speak the way you do? Is it because of the circumstances thrust before you by the world or do you believe you define yourself?" she asked, her questions was her answer.

[Clair Feldsky]

And here they were discussing what defined normal now. This was definitely odd dream material, except it wasn't a dream.

"In general, I consider normal to be gramatically correct...." Clair griped under her breath. The words and questions were not something a dumb brute, as she'd considered Cefia to be before, would bring up. Clearly, she'd been to quick in her assessment of the pirate woman. Was she even really a pirate...?

As to the actual question, Clair hadn't put a great deal of time into identifying what exactly she believed in that area. She'd never been asked about it or had to explain it before, so a simple unconcious acceptance of what she believed had been enough. Now that she thought about it though, she was the perfect representation of her own belief. Illians were forced to learn to survive in their circumstances. They were a tough people in a tough land, and in this way the world shaped them. But her generation, and the people before her had begun to alter the equation. The opportunity Bern afforded her people had been taken, and used perfectly, and the Illian children raised during the influx of resources were taught the value of loyalty to their nation, as well as the will to survive, no matter the hardships. Illia had begun to redefine themselves.

"I suppose, a bit of both happens. We learn from our experiences, while trying to improve our own abilities, places, standing.... Or at least, I do." The Falcoknight looked consideringly at the green haired woman then.

"You're not a simple pirate, are you. Why did you speak the way you did earlier?"

[Cefia]

"Simple? Why yes, I'm a simple pirate. I am very well part of the crew, I know my stars as well as anyone, I understand the pirate code for the ship, I respect my mates and gladly stand beside them in combat. I have all the qualities of a 'simple' pirate," she stated in her own way. To answer her other question was more tricky. Cefia knew that her answer might not seem adequate in one sense, but it is very true for her case.

"My speech is a force of habit, generally speaking, my mates often do not agree with ideals such as literature and philosophy and one can say I willingly close my mind at times out of due habit. Do not let my experience fool you though, the captain I serve can be far wiser than any noble scholar but you will have to take my word for it."

[Clair Feldsky]

"I'd expect your Captain to be clever. Every leader has to maintain a level of skill to remain a leader for long." Clair refused to use the wisdom, in her example. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing wise about piracy. Plenty of criminal types could be crafty or skilled though.

The woman standing before her puzzled the Illian Falcoknight. Intelligence, and thoughtfulness one hour, and a brash raucous nature the next, and in a way that seemed completely unable to be reconciled with each other. That's what Cefia was displaying here. It made for an unusual person to deal with

Clair thought for a few moments. She would be rubbing her face in an effort to wipe away the confusion, if she wasn't busy rubbing her hands together in the cold.

"Cefia, if you read books like that, you could have gone anywhere with your life." Clair said looking at the green haired woman. Then she spoke up, a bit more forcefully.

"Why did you pick piracy?" The Illian couldn't understand why someone would go down that route. Let alone someone like Cefia.

[Cefia]

"Adventure!" Cefia exclaimed, plain and simple. It was hardly a satisfactory answer for any profession. She could have been anything else and still have adventure. Might as well tell seeing as she had no reason to hide.

"Well adventure was one reason but I wanted to see alternative lifestyle, being born into a well off merchant family makes just about everything...simpler but a pirate, aye, is restricted in another manner. I was intrigued from the beginning and well, I never regretted my decision for I very much agree with my current set of pirate code." she smirked at the end.

[Clair Feldsky]

Pirates Code... Pheh. They still robbed and plundered. She was bound to be a decent fighter though. Clair's own intolerant nature was warring with a more practical approach, and she hated every moment of it. It felt like a part of her was fighting for its very life, and she knew she needed that part to continue on. Accepting a criminal into their ranks.... She just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Cefia had a family. She had friends. A desire to go on an adventure. Could she be held accountable for her poor choice in the type of adventure? Yes, Clair decided. She could. The Falcoknight could feel herself beginning to reach a boiling point again. The green-haired pirate was also a guest though, in a sense.

"Cefia, I'd like you to stop robbing and pillaging. If it's adventure you want, make it count for something more. Prove to me that you're not just in it to steal and hurt others." Clair's voice hardened, but there was a strain of hope in it as well. Cefia was a special case. The Illian would give her a chance.

[Cefia]

Cefia listened to Clair's orders, they were understandable but misguided. The prejudice people had about pirates, it was actually quite sad. She wished she could simply explain the whole matter but it was going to take much more than words to convince people. She kept that lesson her entire life and knew it by heart.

"Very well, I can adhere to your demands during our travels but condemning such simple ideas of pillaging and robbing without knowing the details, is simply misguided," she warned Clair, maybe one day she could convince the her otherwise but for now she had to tolerate it.

"With that, I would like to ask, what might you be doing out at such a time?"

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair decided to let the misguided comment go. She'd gotten what she wanted, even if it was reluctant. She just wasn't sure whether Cefia would remain cooperative in the future. For now though, the Falcoknight intended to convince herself that the pirate was an ex-pirate, and had taken up the mercenary profession instead. At times, the line between the two was very thin, but it was enough for her.

Then Cefia asked about what she had been doing out here. Clair looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment, before overcoming it. There wasn't any need to hide it, was there? Everyone did exercises, after all. Even the commander. Perhaps especially the commander, since they often were among the best soldiers in a group.

"Evening exercises, if you must know." She put her hands out in front of her, dusting them off on each other as she spoke. "Just finished checking the watchmen for the night, and found this cozy little den." Of course, though it was protected, it was hardly cozy.

[Cefia]

Cefia looked around, cozy, eh? She has been through worse conditions, actually no, being trapped on a ship is totally different from being stranded and lost in snow. She shivered even more just by the thought of it. Snow was definitely her weakness here.

"May I ask to join you? Exercise helps rid the system of alcohol and I much prefer to 'sober up' as quickly as possible," she asked. The alcohol warmed her body but she always regretted the after effects. The headache was the most painful part but after so much, it was more tolerable nowadays.

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair rubbed her hands together, trying to build up some warmth through the gloves. She certainly wouldn't turn away some company, now that their differences had been squared away.

"Sure. Exercising is always easier with someone else. I'd suggest we find somewhere else though. My gloves about froze to that bar a few moments ago." Clair said, nodding up at the imrovised chin up bar she'd found.

"Somewhere indoors, and preferably warmer." The Falcoknight thought wistfully Arphen. Her home had often been a bit chilled growing up, but it had done the job. And much of the training academy there had often been cold too. But there had been times when it had been downright cozy. On celebrations, everyone had pitched in and cranked the fires way up. It had been enough to melt the snows in the streets on some years.

"Hah.... warmth. We all crave it. Sometimes I wonder why we Illianers still live here at all." She turned to leave the little sheltered place behind the building, and gestured for Cefia to follow. There was bound to be someplace in one of the buildings with a fire which they could use.