Luneshale Pass Paws Up, Square Up, Baby Let's go

Safiya tilted her head. The early morning sun warmed the ruined side of her face. And she blinked her other eye into the shadows of the darkest pass places. She didn't have much to give, but her skill set. And as such she continued to build it as best she could. It also soothed a part of her that was all wild and free. That wanted to press the envelope and didn't. 

Today she started out by stretching her legs, and long limbs. Body pressed forward, tail swaying just for a moment as she pressed the muscles there and stretched. A moment of bliss when they cracked and stretched. She closed her one eye in quiet delight. 

Anybody want a spar

haloed in brilliant gold, safiya resembles the seraphims of his homeland as soto comes across her. he marvels how she's grown these last months - her limbs longer, face more angular and full.

she is a woman now, he thinks to himself with a strange species of dread. she had passed the month marker of his own daughter some weeks back, and seeing her stretching against the sun fills soto with a violent sense of sorrow.

safiya, he greets, chasing away the ghoulish sadness with a glimmering grin. que pasa?

Safiya did not know what it meant to be a woman, no more than she knew what it meant to be a sister or a daughter anymore. In time she may find out or she may not. But what she was, was unapologetically herself. 

She had noticed her growth herself. She was no longer a child. An even match of her mother and father size wise with her own features. 

She lifte her head with a smile, turning her singular eye to Soto's face. Hola Soto! ¿Cómo estás? Nada.

someday soto expects a reckoning will come. be it by khusobek or marciela, he will pay for what he's done in his past. but as he looks at the single shardglass green of safiya's eye, he sees hope reflecting back.

such a small, vulnerable thing that feeling is.

no mucho, todo igual. his gaze flicks away, back towards the stone peaks where he'd come.  a lump presses its piercing edge against his throat. ya tienes la edad suficiente como para que sea hora de hablar de tu futuro. qué quieres ser, safiya?

Safiya did not tell Soto at any time. That everyone was gone. There were not even scents left. So were he worried for repercussions. None would come from her father at least. 

He seemed to be burdened on this day. And she wondered at it
 But his tone was light at first.

But his next words and she froze. She jad been asked that once before and quickly following had been her torture, her family her friends death. Could she even voice it. And why did it matter. Was he planning to send her away like her father. Would she be forced into servitude like the fellahin before the reign of Toula. Her mind tried to scramble keep up.

Nufsi

She took a breath and blinked. Yo mismo, sólo yo, un guerrero, un protector

something -- hurt or otherwise -- darts across the shardglass green of her gaze like a wounded animal.

soto softens his shoulders, single eye taking on a liquid aspect. 

herself. a warrior and protector. a fine one she would be, but in soto exists an emotion not easily named. she was daughter of his enemy, survivor of people who'd killed his blood; yet never once did he gaze upon her and see foe. 

in so many painful ways, she reminds him of his daughter-- she always had. what khusobek and muat riya interpreted as predatory interest had been a grieving father's heartsickness for his lost daughter. simply being in safiya's presence had begun to knit together a wound soto feared would never close. 

he had not known that peril could come from within; where he'd failed noemi, he vows he will not do for safiya. 

tú ya eres tú. noemi's solemn face flickers before his vision. de futuro.. it comes fast. te mostraré cómo protegerte. so you will never suffer as i have suffered.

Safiya wore her wounds upon her body and in her soul. She did not hide them. Just becasue she was without fear, did not mean she didn't feel other things. As a matter of fact, she felt perhaps she felt things harder, stronger simply for the lack fo fear. Her emotions were making up for it.  

A tilt of her ears forward. She was a pretty good protector she felt. She had fought and fought hard even as a child. She had not save Machi, but she had given him time. And time was precious.

She nodded. And then shot him a fearless grin. Alright then.

a life lesson soto wishes safiya would never taste the bitterness of learning: not everyone can be saved.

but to do what you can, with what little you have -- that amounts to something.

primero, soto starts as he walks past, knowing saphiya might have learned some of what he's about to share. no confíes en nadie, ni siquiera en ti mismo. la mente y el corazón te juegan malas pasadas. observa, piensa y actúa sólo después de haber evaluado completamente la situación.::

to act without thinking invites death. to move without observation invites vulnerability. and to trust without internal examination was to let down the lives they were sworn to protect. did safiya understand?

Most of the lessons Safiya had learned were bitter. He'll her whole life to a point. She knew well that lesson.

She listened. She jad that down. Another hard lesson. And one Soto had taught her, more so his brothers in arms.

Observe. Think act. She repeated quietly. 

She followed. And turned around looking at the sights.

she follows.

soto listens to the regularity of her light step, and wishes things were not so. 

he would never be her father -- he could never replace the gaping hole in her heart. knowing this, soto's chest sinks like iron.

he turns abruptly upon her with a flash of teeth - she had followed dutifully, but how closely was she paying attention?

this was one of many lessons soto would see he taught her first, before some other filthy bitch did -- think, observe, act, yes -- but above all, remain in a constant state of vigilance.

Safiya did not want another father. She had one, a good one. And the world and the gods had seen fit to take him away. But her father had always been more duty than dad. And though she missed him. Perhaps she didn't miss him as much as she could have or would have. Maybe if she had, had more time with him. 

She heard the hitch in his step and then the movement, and she backstepped, head whipping backwards out of the way. Ears slick back to her head. She snarled. Flash of teeth and immediately went on teh defensive. She felt the hot of his breath, close to her nose and eyes. One second less of her movement speed and he would have given her a new scar.

She stayed in the defensive position. Singular eye narrowed on him, tracking his movements.

while cruelty came naturally to the segundo, he hesitated to ever give safiya taste of such a thing. it relieved him to see the telltale shift of her attention, the quick side-step and prohibitive snarl edging from her teeth. 

he relents immediately, single eye gleaming with approval. good. the segundo growls, brushing past to show her no further lesson would be forthcoming. 

he brings her to a flattened curve of stone, where the tread of wolves churned the sand to dust. there he motions for her to take up her battle stance, and make the first move in their spar.

Safiya did not know what had earned her the good graces of Soto. He kept it quiet. Was it what her father feared or something different she did not know. Didn't care anymore either.

They were finished just as quick as they started at least the first attack. However, more lessons were forthcoming.

She settled into an attackers crouch. Singular eye roving on Soto,  the ground, the landscape. Most of this area was worn smooth by paws. But there were uneven spots where the tread marks had dug so deeply there were grooves. If she could push him to them his footing could potentially become unsteady.

So she did her best to push him backwards. Aiming shots at his face, neck and shoulders and retreating. 

Rolled a 3, hp: 30/30

i hope i rolled right, i rolled a 6 in your kemal/safiya thread

she's ready, soto notes. he sees the way she takes it all in, a hawk's sharpness to her focus.

coming at him like a banshee, soto sidesteps the first series of lunges. he realizes too late her intention; as she swings towards him with a battery of snaps to the air, his hind end slips in a pothole.

his first intention had been to play keep away - it's hard to subdue something you can't catch -- but his slip cost him dearly, and her teeth rake through his cheeks as he recovers.

pressing his hind end under him, soto surges forward, using his shoulder as a battering ram to clear her from his personal space.

[quote="Soto" pid='663524' dateline='1755966297']

Soto 27/30
Safiya 24/30
Rolled a 7 in tabletop 

She was glad to see him step into the pothole. But her good fortune was short lived.

He used his shoulder and brute force on her blind side and it unbalanced her. Cost her a mistep and her paw ended in a pothole. Ears laid back. She snapped at his shoulder. 

Trying to gain purchase on the uneven ground she used whatever space she could gather to regroup.