001 ➛ audio

[squanderlust]

If this magic works the way it was described, somebody should be able to hear me right now. [though the voice of the young lady that's coming through sounds incredibly skeptical about this entire endeavor.] If you can, and you can actually understand me, I want you to tell me whether 8,000 "creds" is a lot of money around here, and what I can do to get it. I can't believe your merchants don't take something as simple as gold for war supplies.

[there's ambient noise for a while, and some confused sounds from somebody who has obviously never seen, much less used, an omni-tool before. eventually she groans in exasperation.]

My sword's been stolen from me and you expect me to do repairs to survive. This is entirely unacceptable.

Comments

[shutupmarco]

God, no. I mean, most of the people here are, as far as I know. But most of us living in Zeta District, none of us are really from here. Anyway, nice to meet you, Severa. I'm Rachel. Watch out around this place. It can be pretty nasty.

[squanderlust]

I'm not worried. I can be pretty nasty, too. [listen to how smug she sounds!] You can't be a soldier if you're some softie.

[shutupmarco]

[ Rachel laughs. She sounds a little stuck-up, but hey, that's what Marco always says about her, too. ]

Now that is definitely true.

[squanderlust]

Oh? [well, now she just sounds amused.] Would you know? I didn't expect to see other soldiers here.

[shutupmarco]

Then I think you're in for a surprise. But I wouldn't consider myself a soldier. More of a...warrior.

[ Yeah, warrior. Rachel likes the sound of that. ]

[squanderlust]

There's no difference between the two!

...Is there?

[shutupmarco]

Sure there is. A soldier just follows orders. A warrior knows how to take the fight into her own hands.

[ now who's the smug teen here ]

[squanderlust]

Is that so? [if it's a smug-off she wants...] And how many battles have you won without someone giving you orders?

[shutupmarco]

As if I could keep track at this point.

[ Actually she tends not to do so well when she stops listening to Jake and the others but shhhh it's a point of pride. She considers herself a badass, okay. ]

[squanderlust]

Zero seems like an easy enough number. You don't win battles by swinging your sword left and right until everything's dead like some... barbarian.

[shutupmarco]

[ Barbarian? Well excuuuse you, princess. There's nothing barbaric about practically being Xena.

...Like she'd ever admit thinking that to Marco, though. ]

Please. I've won plenty of battles, and I didn't need a sword or gun to do it.

[squanderlust]

Oh, congratulations! [there is sarcasm dripping from every syllable of that word.] Do you think you're the first lancewoman I've met?

[shutupmarco]

[ She actually lets out a short laugh at that, shaking her head. ]

Nice try, but no dice, Severa. I don't carry any weapons. I've got everything I need to win a fight right here inside me.

[squanderlust]

[that doesn't make sense, but she's too fired up to admit it right now.]

You fight with your burning spirit, is that it? Gawds, Owain has infected all of you!

delighted giggle

[shutupmarco]

[ All right, Severa is at least as intolerably smug as Rachel can be herself, but Rachel kind of likes her all the same. She's funny, and not in a gross way like Marco. ]

Not so much. Not that you'd believe me unless you saw it. But that doesn't matter. I know I'm a real warrior, and that's all that matters.

[squanderlust]

Psh. Have you seen this station? If I can believe some place like this exists, I can definitely believe that you get your fighting ability by thrusting your hand into the air and wishing really hard, or whatever it turns out to be. [oh, she just came up with something good.] A true warrior wouldn't underestimate people like that.

[shutupmarco]

I'm not doing any underestimating here. I didn't say you don't seem capable of handling yourself, did I? And for the record, there's no wishing involved.

[squanderlust]

[can smirks be audible? who cares, this is fun.] If you keep dodging the question, I'm going to start believing you're not a warrior at all.

[shutupmarco]

[ tee hee ]

I don't remember you asking me a question.

[squanderlust]

[dang, Rachel has her there. fun as it would be to keep up the charade, she just decides to ask.]

How do you fight? Try me.

[shutupmarco]

Oh, I don't know. You might have to see it to believe it.

[ She hesitates, just a moment. Ideally, she shouldn't just fling this information around just anywhere, but the cat's kind of out of the bag, and...well, okay. She wants to be smug. ]

I can turn into animals. Any animal.

[squanderlust]

Is that all?

[okay, yes, being able to turn into any animal is slightly different than what she's used to, but the unbearable smugness is just too great to let go.]

Do you really think I've never heard of a taguel before?

[shutupmarco]

[ what nO SEVERA STOP IT YOU'RE RUINING RACHEL'S PERFECT SMUGNESS ]

Uh, well, I haven't, for starters.

[squanderlust]

You wouldn't have. [victory: Severa.] There's only two left where I come from. Your great-great-whatever grandparent is probably one of them.

[shutupmarco]

[ UNACCEPTABLE ]

Uh, whatever they are, I'm not one of them. I'm human. I mean, I wasn't born with the morphing power.