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Amethyst	Amethyst has brought Salara to the sparring room once again, this time for a duel lesson. Last time, she instructed her in the proper use of sais and how to strip an opponent of their weapon. Today, she will be demonstrating how to fight effectively with knives. Not only that, but in exchange Salara will be teaching the younger dragon how to properly conceal them. And this time they're not using wooden weapons that'll catch aflame, instead Amethyst has her ritual blade, and moves to give Salara something wrapped in fine black cloth. "I had this special made, just for you." She grins.
Black Pearl	Salara smiles, and takes the cloth-wrapped object. "Well, thank you," she says. "I am delighted you thought of me," she says, "Of course I will have to find something...appropriate to return." She gives a wink, and slowly, carefully, unfolds the black cloth.
Amethyst	Underneath the cloth has a shining steel knife with an black ebony handle. A magnificient water dragon -- Presumably Danaa'd -- is engraved on the face of the knife. It's nicely balanced too, useful for both throwing and melee. "I'm sure you'll think of something." Ames giggles, and draws her own blade: a dagger with Danaa'd's symbology along the hilt, with one side made of steel and the other of silver. Her ritual blade is clearly special built for helping her with her sorcery and one imagines that it was not particularly cheap to produce. Salara's surely seen this blade before -- Amethyst's had it since arriving in Great Forks even before drawing her second breath -- but always in the moment violence, never has she taken it out in a moment of peace around her. "So we'll be learning to make the most of our weapons here. I'll show you the fundamentals of making good use a knife, and you can show me how to conceal them." Amethyst explains.
Black Pearl	"Definitely beautiful," Salara says, lokoing at the blade with a practiced eye. Not necessarily for craftsmanship or use--yet--but with the instinct of what this would cost a collector, and her eyebrows rise a bit with respect. And the best way to respect a gift is to put it to the use for which it is meant, and so she takes the knife in her hand and settles it, shifting her feet to rest, poised and balanced. Not as...diffuse and dissolute as the stance of the White Veil, but a more grounded stance for actual violence. "Of course. Some of the hieing places can be...uncomfortable," she says, teasing gently.
Amethyst	"Uncomfortable?" Amethyst chuckles a little, "I dare ask where you'd hide a blade like that." She assumes her own stance, strong and ready, but clearly the work of someone who's only ever had practical fighting experience. "As far as using the knife, the most important thing to consider, is distance. With a whip, for example," Amethyst starts, and with a surge of sorcerous energy that's become familiar to Salara by this point. With blade in hand her blood just flows out of her arm and up and around the knife, making it into something like a handle. She then backs up and demonstrates just how far a whip can reach, "You can strike foes from a great distance than you can a knife." Just like that the whip vanishes, the blood just collecting around one of her arms, and Amethyst steps in closer to demonstrate. "So it's criticaal that you move quickly. With that sort of reach advantage your opponent might be able to hold you at bay if you aren't fast enough to deal with their blade"
Black Pearl	Salara chuckles, "Not /there/, but often times hiding things means they are pressed tight against the skin, poking, prodding, and hurting, but you cannot let it show at all lest someone suspect," she says. But she watches, and sees the range indeed. "I understand. It is going to be a disadvantage against longer range. The blade has to be dealth with...and since I have to assume any opponent knows what I am doing, well...the usual tricks to conceal myself do not work as well."
Amethyst	"You sure?" Amethyst teases, "I doubt anyone would dare check in those sorts of places." She giggles, but then calms and nods. "It's a good thing I'm used to poking myself with sharp things..." She murmurs, gently poking herself with her blade and shrugging as drops of blood form. She shrugs, "Don't tell Rishi I said or did that, I don't want her getting worried." The fortunate thing, about a knife, especially one that's well balanced," And she demonstrates one last thing, as she tosses it, reaching out much further than her whip ever could. It's not a particularly well practiced or elegant throw, but her latent skill does help a little. "Is that you can throw it. Obviously, you need either more knives," Amethyst goes over and grabs the knife, "Or to recover it. But it can be useful for surprising someone who thinks they got a range advantage on you or for striking down fleeing enemies. But alas, it was not a skill I've had much practice with. My father had intended on teaching me after I returned from Elderloch..." She frowns and glances away, grabbing one of her arms with her other, sighing.
Black Pearl	"It causes...intense sensations, and leads to a rush of endorphins. You can easily be trained into finding it pleasureable and crave it," Salara says. "As long as there is no harm, and it does not become an addiction, there is no reason..." She watches the throw and nods. "It is good to be able to throw it, yes. But you also need to have weapons...and not give an enemey one of yours! So if you throw it, make it so he's dead, hopefully." At Ametis's somber look, she looks sober and cobes to give a hug. No words, just being there for the moment.
Amethyst	Ametis holds her soul twin, nuzzling against Salara and allowing just a little weakness to show. After a few quiet tears, she pulls herself back together. "Either way, I have my sorcery and my whip for longer ranges, so I don't worry about it too much." She says, "For now, let's start with both of us fighting with knives, then I'll switch to my whip so you can get a feel for what it's like when someone has a greater range." Amethyst says. She backs up and levels out into her stance, "On three. One, two, three!"
Black Pearl	"And for me, well, I ought to have minions for long range. For me, now?" She smiles and readies her knife, and then on three, she executes a basic lunge, a quickone, and aiming for the gut.
Amethyst	Amethyst, perhaps acting on instinct, easily blocks Pearl's attack and counters with her own, just a scratch on her. "...You are getting faster. But you still have some ways to go. What kind of minions are you talking about?" Amethyst stands, ready for another strike.
Black Pearl	"Probably crime lords and have them assign their own minions, so a layer of deniability." She flexes her arm a bit at the scratch, and closes her eyes, muttering under her breath. "I'm reminded of my dance classes, but they hurt at least as much..." And she strikes again, this time aiming for Amethyst's hand holding the knife.
Amethyst	"Ah. You and Silk should get together and make your own criminal empire." Amethyst says. Her blade clashes against Pearl's, sending a shower of bright blinding sparks out each direction. Followed by not one or two, but three quick attacks, each one just aiming for a tiny little precise scratch. "I guess it is a little like dancing, but with a lot higher stakes." "And one day you'll be able to strike me." Amethyst says. "But I fear that day is not today. I did want to show you at least a little bit what can be done once these skills are mastered. Blinding the opponent with the sparks from your clashing weapons, followed with your own attack and using the power flames to boost your own speed so much. You'll learn one day." She grins.
Black Pearl	"Well, we will see. For now, I need to keep running the local All-Seeing Eye and have it see what I want to." She blinks at the sparks clashing and winces. "Yes, I will. I am getting better with Fire, just...not enough, yet." She grins a bit. "But I promise I will learn. And until then...I will also make sure I keep knives hidden so that I can use them without others knowing. A fair fight?" She shakes her head, "Never if I can help it."
Amethyst	Amethyst nods and sheaths her own knife. "For now, I think it's time you showed me exactly how to uh, conventionally conceal knives on my person." She flushes a little at /other/ thoughts she's had on where to conceal such small weapons. "You mentioned it being close to skin?" Amethyst asks.
Black Pearl	Black Pearl nods and slides a hand back behind her neck casually, and then a sudden fling as a small blade flies out to hit the wall. "There's one way. And if your clothes are right, you can hide them in sleeves, to shrug down like this." A peculiar twitch and another blade comes out--pommel weight first. "Hidden in belt...I wil have to loo at your clothing and devise places where you can hide them..."
Amethyst	Amethyst looks at herself, her typical gear being a menagerie of pouches and belts, with clothing specially treated to resist the various alchemical reagents she likes so to work with. There's also a lamalar shirt that she wears over her garments that is similarly treated. Her clothes rugged and designed more for practicality than for appearance or comfort. That said, Pearl has seen Amethyst and her silken outfit, but even then she /always/ has so many pouches. Of course, not that Ames /needs/ to conceal weapons unless someone can disrupt her sorcery.
Black Pearl	Pearl sees Amethyst look at her clothes, then back to her, and she grins wryly. "Think about it--if you need to /conceal/ a knife, you're going someplace that your visible weapons and armor will already be gone, so you cannot count on normal gear. You have to make it seem as though you cannot possess any weapon at all." She thinks a moment, "Does that make sense?"
Amethyst	"Hmm..." Amethyst says. "I think I understand." With that, she unbuckles her myraid of belts and pouches and takes off her armor, leaving her in just her garb. Her clothes fit rather nicely, a tunic with long sleeves and pants, also strong leather boots. All blue with a little golden trim, and made of high quality cloth.
Black Pearl	"And then there are two different questions...do you need it immediately, or do you need it hidden so well, you can get to it later when you have time? Two different criteria." She walks around, and nods, looking at the clothes. "Boots are obvious places to hide things. If you have alchemically treated steel, you can make it flexible enough to go in the overlapping seams of clothes, like here..." She slides hands into Amethysts' pants, and strokes the thicker fold of cloth at the top where the belt goes.
Amethyst	"I wonder where I could get alchemically treated steel." Amethyst considers, rubbing her chin. She's doing her best to look /completely/ serious, but then just giggles. "I never would've thought of that." She rubs at the seems herself. "And I could always get clothes specially made to have such spots in them if I wanted." She considers, "Rishi has a particular demon spider that really enjoys making clothes." "I think I'd want it immediately, when I can't even take the time to summon my blood whip. To say nothing of how everyone near me's gonna /know/ that I'm doin' something if I summon that particular whip. It's the exact opposite of subtle." Amethyst says.
Black Pearl	"So disarmed and armored, but not a prisoner, or under obersvation...that makes sense. Of course, if you can somehow become unseen, there are far more options as well." Salara smiles. "We complement each other well, each thinking of ways the other does not."
Amethyst	"I'm pretty good at being unseen." The alchemist grins. "Lots of options for vanishing. Even more if there's any water nearby." "We have a skillset that's almost polar opposite from one another thanks to our upbringings, and yet somehow we're similar in a way I can't quite place. Maybe that's because of what happened to us in Elderloch, or maybe because of us both being water dragons."
Black Pearl	"Elderloch. We were different before. At least /I/ think so. But ever since then..." She flushes, "I'm not sure we ever fully seperated...and I'm not sure I want to anymore." A grin, "I want to teach you moreso we can flow together...and see what happens when we do that in Rishi's pool."
Amethyst	"Oh boy, that would be... interesting. Rishi will kill both of us if we don't tell her our plan first tho." Amethyst giggles. "And, well, I remember a lot more about my past now. Friends I'd made, hijinx I got up to, that sorta thing. Definitely would need to pick out some new clothes if I was gonna go back to Champoor and try to reconnect tho." "But yeah, let's begin with showing me how to stash things on my person like you were sayin'..."
Black Pearl	Starts by showing how the small knife is hidden in her hair so that it is undetected. "Have to be careful it doesn't sway out of your hair and get seen. And then the best way to do things is to have your clothes custom cut to assist in hiding, and then leather sheaths to be strapped where you want..."
Amethyst	"Or so that it doesn't just cut a bunch of my hair off!" Amethyst says. But she's paying careful attention, watching what Pearl is doing or at least doing the best she can. "I'll probably get a leather sheath stuck in one of my boots, maybe have a decoration actually be a little knife or something."
Black Pearl	"And you can get custom work done, especially if you want a throwing blade rather than a holding blade. Those can be shaped and balanced very differently, after all. Still..." She smiles and then rests her hand on her Hearthmate's cheek. "Thank you for working with me. Teaching. Do you...want to be there when I ask Rishi to join me?"
Amethyst	Amethyst hmms, "Not great at throwing, would rather have a blade in my hands." And then at the mention of Rishi, Amethyst's cheeks flush and her ears pull down. "J-join with you? Like, like the way I did with Hoarfrost?" She seems surprised. "Maybe some of me really did end up in you..."
Black Pearl	Pearl simply grins and gives a faint nod. "And if we join as water, well....that might makes things deeper still...and that thought is no longer scary," Pearl says as she smiles. "More...delightful. Intoxicating."
Amethyst	"It definitely has that forbidden fruit feelin' to it." Amethyst giggles. "But, I leave it up to you. If you want me there when you and Rishi join, I shall be there." "And again, let's tell Rishi about our plan before doing anything." Amethyst says again. It's obvious, at the least, she's still a little nervous about the whole thing.
Black Pearl	"I'll go back to the temple and ask, and...we will see." She smiles, "And I mentioned wanting to bathe in the pool, possibly turning liquid...so...it will be fun, but we'll save it for later."