[closed post: I have been made to protect you]

[ravkanwitch]

Nina had told Lan Wangji that she was searching for more purpose in her life – and then they found her sword together. The timing was perfect. Her sword is perfect. The blade is straight and double-edged, narrower at the base, similar to some of the Fjerdan weaponry she has seen before. That association doesn't bother her as much as she thought it would. She could use some Fjerdan ruthlessness; sometimes she does wonder if she would be able to kill Jarl Brum if he ever came as a visitor, as she and Luo Binghe had discussed. The hilt and the scabbard, though, is where the sword truly shines. Both are made of a creamy white-colored bone - though of what animal (human included) is uncertain - and carved in a darker color with intricate designs of waves, wind, electricity, and other elemental ornamentation. She notes that it seems to be everything Grisha can control through the Small Sciences. The sword is currently sheathed in its scabbard and it thrills her that she can sense it near her, an almost comforting presence.

She's carrying it as she searches for a certain someone. There are many skilled swordspeople at the mansion but there is only one person she wants to learn from.

Comments

[sagramore]

Sagramore is at home -- specifically, he is in the chicken coop, trying to coax the tiny chicken to perch on his knee by placing a breadcrumb trail of mealworms that runs from midway through the run, along his leg, and ends on his knee in a little wriggling pile. The chicken is at his foot, gazing dubiously up at him as it weighs greed and fear.

[ravkanwitch]

"You found your chicken!" Nina exclaims happily, having made it out to their cottage after half-heartedly poking around the mansion for him.

[sagramore]

"We found her!" Sagramore exclaims, sitting up and twisting around to look at Nina and sending the chicken squawking away in a flurry of feathers as mealworms scatter around her. "This is Tachetée, thou canst call her Tachi."

[ravkanwitch]

"Tachi. What a lovely name," Nina repeats, giggling a little as the chicken scurries away. "I've been looking for you, by the way. I wanted to show you something."

[sagramore]

"What is it?" he asks, as he stands and brushes off his jeans.

[ravkanwitch]

"I forgot to mention it when it was your birthday, because we had cake and you know how much I love sweets--" She's chattering as she grasps the sword in both hands, then holds it up for Sagramore to see with a dramatic flourish. There's something different in her eyes, though, some sort of spark.

[sagramore]

"A sword! Hold on, let me get out of here, I'd like to see it-- hast had it that long? Art thou getting lessons from Lancelot, or Lan Wangji?"

[ravkanwitch]

"Sagramore," she says, laughing a little. "Remember what you promised me when we were fighting the undead? I would love for you to teach me basic sword stances."

[sagramore]

"Oh!" His expression, already pleased, melts into pure delight. "Of course. Let me go in and get mine -- didst thou mean now?"

[ravkanwitch]

"If you're free, of course," Nina says, trying to tone her excitement down slightly. "I could always come back later."

[sagramore]

"No, no, this is perfect! Come inside for a moment, I've just got it."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina follows him into the house, sword held in both hands. It still makes her feel slightly awkward to wear her scabbard; she's afraid that if she bumps into something, she'll chip the bone or otherwise make a mess of things.

[sagramore]

He notes that, and once they're inside and he's retrieved his sword -- he has her wait at the bottom of the sex loft ladder -- he buckles it on demonstatively. It sits at the top of his hips, which are narrow enough to let it hang straight down.

"Thou'rt shaped differently from me, so it may suit thee better to wear a wider belt and buckle it here," indicating the widest part of her hips, "so it hangs better."

[ravkanwitch]

"Stylish," Nina says, but she solemnly considers both how his belt hangs as well as the length of her sword. "I wonder if the same belt could also hold my bone shards." Right now, she simply has them in a pouch, sometimes on her person and sometimes misplaced. She hasn't really used them recently, only to entertain Sunny once.

[sagramore]

"It could! The other thing thou couldst do is wear it on a strap over thy back, so it hangs behind thee. The important thing is whether thou canst easily reach it; a sword thou canst not draw when thou hast need of it is no use to thee, only extra weight."

[ravkanwitch]

"I do have some extra reach with this sword, though," Nina says, a little slyly. "Look--"

Using her abilities, she essentially levitates the sword and keeps it floating in the air. When she moves her hands apart, the sword slowly draws from the sheath.

[sagramore]

Sagramore's eyes light up, delighted. "Oh, Nina, marvelous!"

[ravkanwitch]

She beams, holding it for a second more before she carefully lowers it into her hands again, displaying it for him to get a closer look at.

[sagramore]

He takes it by the hilt, then rests the blade on his hand to test the balance. "It's well-made. Where didst thou find it?"

[ravkanwitch]

"Lan Wangji and I found it together in the armory, after we talked. I opened a cabinet and... there it was."

[sagramore]

"Marvelous. And it will respond to thee by thy Science as much as thy hand; that's well. Thou wilt have the upper hand on thine enemies."

[ravkanwitch]

"Exactly. I didn't mind fighting the undead, but I think I realized that with bigger enemies, bone shards aren't enough." She rather enjoyed the battle, honestly, despite her dismay that she couldn't actually control the undead.

[sagramore]

"All right. Given the nature of thy Science, I think we'll have two parts to training -- the first part is going to be getting thee used to using the sword normally, the way I might, and the second part will be manipulating it as thou dost and how that might aid thee in a fight. --Or, I'm getting ahead of myself, hast thou another teacher for that? Needst thou one?"

[ravkanwitch]

"Lan Wangji told me he could teach me some cultivation techniques," Nina muses. "We're not sure if it would work with my sword, but we could try and adapt it."

[sagramore]

"I think we could definitely work out some interesting things."