Aegis Sanctum

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx sets her jaw angrily.

I have to be in charge. I have to be the best...

Finally losing her cool, Phoenyx lashes out angry, ignoring all pretends of defense!

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-08-11 06:20:37		Phoenyx rolls 2 to Arrow Attack! Str+Brawl+Spec+1(Kung fu) +1(enhanced attack)+2(AoA) -8 (Kaze Def) (10 Again)		6, 4		failure

[Ruach]

wrong account

[Kaze]

Kaze reacts without hesitation, slamming a supernaturally enhanced kick into Phoenyx's midsection as soon as the opening in her guard appears, resulting in a terrible crunching sound as her ribs snap from the impact!

Then he gasps! Too hard! Too fast! He rushes up to cast a healing spell on her.

Oops! 8 Bashing Successes would add to the 3 bashing Phoenyx already sustained to exceed her 7 health at bashing level and wrap around for 4 boxes into lethal damage, right?

  8 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-08-11 22:08:41		Kaze rolls 12 to Kung Fu Strike (Str 6 + Brawling 5 + Specialty Kung Fu 1) (10 Again)		10, 10, 6, 7, 9, 9, 2, 10, 10, 3, 8, 9, 6, 1, 1, 2		8 successes

If that is correct, well, oops again, and I am assuming we are then out of combat turns and Kaze can go ahead and touch Phoenyx to cast his Heart of Healing on her battered, unconscious body! He heals 4 lethal, leaving her with just boxes of bashing, I think? So she should regain consciousness in 15 minutes?

  4 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-08-11 22:25:07		Kaze rolls 11 to rote Healing Heart (Life 3 + Composure 3 + Medicine 2 + Adamantine Arrow Rote Specialty 1 +HS 2) (10 Again)		4, 5, 1, 4, 3, 9, 7, 8, 9, 3, 10, 7		4 successes

[Phoenyx]

Okay! So, going to resolve this in bits.

First, Phoenyx gets a stamina roll to remain conscious...

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-08-12 06:16:23		Phoenyx rolls 2 to Stamina (10 Again)		6, 2		failure

Nope! So second, healing just cures damage, not downgrading it, but checking the Healing Heart spell it cures from the right, meaning Kaze cures the 3 bashing and 1 lethal, and Phoenyx comes around on 3 lethal.

Pain. Darkness. Phoenyx isn't wholly sure what just happened, but it hurt. A lot. And she's on the floor. That's bad. Her chest aches horribly and she moves on the ground, wincing.

Yep, something's broken.

Kaze. Fighting. Spells... and defences I couldn't beat... I failed....

Eyes snap open and the Arrow tries to force herself up. She grimaces at the stabbing pains in her ribs, but makes no sound. Catching sight of Kaze, her eyes fill with anger, and hurt.

Phoenyx tries stubbornly to stand, gritting her teeth to much to respond, but viciously swatting away any attempt at help. She eventually makes it, looking shaky and pale, and starts edging for the door.

"Enough for today." She mutters through a set jaw.

[Kaze]

Kaze focuses on showing Phoenyx maximum respect! After he has healed her while she is unconscious, and examined her enough to make sure she doesn't have a punctured lung or other potentially fatal internal injury, he stands and moves back until she regains consciousness!

Then he suppresses any impulse to apologies or offer unwanted aid or advice or opinions. He nods quietly when Phoenyx officially calls an end to the sparring, saying only, "Thank you for the sparring, Sergeant."

He stands ready to help, if Phoenyx can bring herself to ask, as she makes her way painfully towards the door.

Sounds like an end to the scene? I am game to continue, or start another scene that picks up at some future point. Thank you so much for playing that out! I need practice and refreshers! In retrospect, I realize that I forgot to roll for paradox on both Hone the Form and Healing Heart!

[Phoenyx]

We've still a couple of week's space in this scene. For continuity lets keep this one running and skip a few days. Okay?

For 3 days, Phoenyx will have barely left her room, and when she does she will have avoided being seen. Fill in what Kaze does, and I'll jump in after that

[Kaze]

Kaze doesn't initiate any direct interaction with Phoenyx for a while, until she initiates with him first actually. He keeps busy cleaning the house, mopping the floors and dusting and tending to the house plants that he's brought into the house, all skills he learned when his mother was dying of cancer and too weak to clean house but not too weak to be cheered up a little by the house being clean.

He trains in the pool, using the water for resistance as he practices his kung fu forms at full speed with enhanced strength. He is determined to get more accustomed to having supernaturally enhanced strength, speed or stamina to try to avoid accidentally seriously injuring anyone as he did to Phoenyx!

He does the grocery shopping, making sure the house is stocked with the foods and beverages that Phoenyx likes as well as his own rather simple diet.

Kaze also spends about six hours of the day in four, separate hour and a half chunks in the morning, afternoon, evening and night, basically hanging out at the Circle of Life. He studies his occult and medical books there, just in case any new (or old, returning) arrivals show up.

[Phoenyx]

It had been three days since the last Arrows of Sacramento had sparred.

To Phoenyx’s mind, three days since she had shown she wasn’t good enough to lead the Adamantine Arrow. Three days of lurking in her room, nursing her broken ribs and shattered pride, stubbornly refusing to call on her Arcana to heal herself. Three days without showering, or using magic, or doing any of her routines.

Three days of avoiding Kaze.

Losing to Alastor when he lead? That was fine. He was the leader. A superior. But losing to Kaze hurt. Not just physically. She had been put in charge. Somewhere in her mind she had always considered herself better than him. And now he had bested her. Not just that, but she had failed the very basic tenants of martial arts. She had lost her focus. Fallen. Lashed out in anger.

She had been punished for it. She had made mistake after mistake, at things she had lived her life doing and it was too much for her surprisingly fragile ego to take. She was mad Alastor and Galatea for leaving. She was mad at this place, for promising a safe place and crumbling. She was mad at herself for failing, for not being the leader the Arrow needed, for not living up to the trust Alastor had put in her.

She was mad at Kaze for... for...

For what? Beating his opponent? Hurting you in training? Grow up Kami.

Afterwards… he had seemed utterly indifferent. That hurt. In a strange, uncomfortable way she couldn’t describe. Sometimes it was in the gut, or her chest, or her head. Each day it felt worse. She was always one who gave affection on her terms, but not having him there, waiting? It felt…. Cold? It was hard to describe. Since they arrived, practically to the day together, they had been partners. Companions. Then, lovers. And now he was outpacing her. He didn’t need her. He nearly broke her in half, and he had bately flinched. He didn’t care.

Maybe that was best.

It should have made things easier, better to do their duties to the Order - but it didn’t. There were all these unfamiliar feelings rolling around inside her. But they all came from the same place.

Maybe I can put them all back there.

Slowly, Phoenyx edged out of bed and very quietly went down stairs.

I know Kaze actually does care, but Phoenyx didn’t pick that up, ran away, then stewed in her negativity for three days. She real bad at feelings

[Kaze]

Despite his best efforts to keep busy, the quiet house and Phoenyx's distance gives Kaze a lot of time to think. Phoenyx always seemed to focus on the physical aspects of the relationship, and now that she's deliberately keeping him distance, Kaze finds himself questioning the relationship. In the beginning, it almost seemed like a natural progression of their training. They kind of skipped being friends and went straight to... what exactly? Kaze helped Phoenyx with her social anxiety, and Phoenyx helped Kaze to be more grounded and consistent in the philosophy of the Order, by her example and her direct feedback, quick to call him out when he got "wobbly". But Phoenyx had improved in social situations to the point that she really didn't seem to need him anymore. And Kaze, he didn't feel like he really was that much more grounded on his own in the Adamantine Way than before, when he was considering leaving it....

When Phoenyx comes down stairs, Kaze is there. He smiles slightly and says, "How are you feeling? I'm going for a trail run later if you want to come?"

[Phoenyx]

Put bluntly, Phoenyx looks like crap. She looks pale and has one arm wrapped around her ribs, in what look like the same sweat-stained clothes Kaze last saw her in. Her hair is uncharacteristically wild and unkempt, and her eyes look sore.

Seeing Kaze, she starts to turn back upstairs as another jabbing pain makes her hiss unvoluntarily and and lean against the wall. She somehow manages to flush awkwardly and look angrily defensive at the same time.

"No... running," she winces, and tries to hobble back upstairs.