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Ignis	"So after hearing of your victory in the arena and my business taking me away and so me being unable to put my name in the lot..I was curious." It's a simple enough conversation. An easy one for him really. He knows them well after all and has been a steady face even though he's not been on many adventures with them. "..I thought it time to see for yourself how your skills have advanced and perhaps see where I've been lacking. I've been a touch lazy and after a conversation with Misa concerning the Wyld Hunt..it struck me that I'v been sitting on my haunches for too long..." As he speaks, Ignis rests easily against one of the pillars in the dojo, addressing Amethyst as he absently balances his daiklaive, the slumbering Ein Solis, in one hand. "Plus...if your last major match was any indication there's no telling who you might run into next in the arena. Any gossip on that front?"
Amethyst	Somehow, despite it being an seemingly ordinary wooden mask, it shines strangely in this light as Amethyst gently twirls it. "I think at some point I exceeded what your average dragon-blooded is capable of. I'm not as afraid of the Hunt as I used to be, but that doesn't mean I'm complacent." "It's funny really, I used to go all out and push myself as hard as I could just because I could, because I needed to. It is something adherents of Danaa'd are well known for after all, and once upon a time I was much more dedicated to the immaculates than I am now." She chuckles, and puts on the mask, her features shifting as she does so. "And yet now I'm just as much anathema as all of my friends, if not a bit more so. At least all of them still use Creation's essence. Nowadays mine is more than a little linked with the wyld." Her features darken as the mask makes her look akin to some sort of fae posing as like a wyld-infused dragon, then again, perhaps 'Wyld Dragon' isn't exactly inaccurate for this one. "It'll be interesting to see how you fare against me. But I know better than to underestimate the Celestial Exalted." She says in a voice that doesn't sound entirely like her own, and yet is still reminscient of hers.
Amethyst	Amethyst's mask then... just falls off, pathetically clanking on the floor as she's left there in her mutated form. She's shown this form to some people before, and even went around great forks in it once or twice, but there's nothing particularly notable aside from the sheer number of mutations she has. Wings, tail, slitted pupils, tough leathery scales, the list goes on. Tho she's still /small/, not even quite reaching five feet tall. Embarrassed, she picks up the mask again, and calms herself. "Well, that happened." She rubs her face, flustered.
Ignis	"...." He wants to laugh but he knows all to well the pain of the embaressement of an epic moment gone bad. "Creation has a way of..imposing its sense of humor on us at the most unexpected of moments." he quips with a growing grin that says he is probably more amused the he's trying to let on. He leans up from the pillar, swinging his sword around to send golden sparks flaring up from the floor as he strides forward towards Amethyst and then settles into a relaxed but still defensive posture as he brings his blade up infront of him and stretches an arm out. The daiklaive is held easily in his hand, golden sigils visible along its length and its blue and silver gems and crossguard gleaming softly with a faint ringing sound as the light hits the metal of the blade. "I suspect that you need only let your actions do the speaking for you.."
Amethyst	With a sigh Amethyst grabs the mask and uncermonously places it back on, rethinking how she wants to invoke this power. Instead of trying be a monster, she instead calls upon those older memories she has, the ones involving her in the wyld itself. And she channels /that/ forth instead, appearing to still be a fae but, more regal and less intimidating, projecting awe rather than terror as the essence around her presses down and she works her sorcery, her crimson whip flowing to her side. Yet, she doesn't wield it, instead she grabs what seems to be a sledge made of bronze, not particularly decorated, but still a well crafted weapon. "You're telling me. Embarrasment aside, let's see how fate will land today." She assumes her own battle stance, ready with her alternative weapon.
Ignis	"That seems a touch better. Unfortunantely I've not been working on my 'terrifyign god-king' antics that will in anyway aid me here so plain old me will have to do." says Ignis, smiling abit more now as he looks at Amethyst down the length of the kingsblade. "Well then. Shall we?"
Amethyst	Starting off, Amethyst runs towards Ignis, but as she does so, she seems to vanish entirely, reappearing from behind. She swings the lumbering weapon she's chosen at Ignis' back, but isn't super confident in how this will turn out, so she's not investing heavily into her attack just yet.
Ignis	Previous engagements with Amethyst, sloppy fighting and big free for alls have led Ignis to lean into not underestimating her. So he probably put far more into this then he needed to and yet at the same time things could have gone much differenlty. This is especially true as she seems to vanish from his sight and then lunges towards him with that tremendous weapon. He remains still, seemingly frozen in time, before suddenly spinning around and bringing his blade up in a tremendous clash of sparks, flames and golden light, as the sword seems to awaken and the solar moves with blinding speed to parry and redirect her force. He slides backwards and then suddenly dashes in..and in contrast to her, commits fully to an attempt at a terrible assault. His blade swings around like a cracking whip, arcing low and then up again..trailing golden light as he slides into play and makes a tremendous assault.
Amethyst	She wasn't terribly surprised that her attack was intercepted. She figured she'd give it a shot. Tossing the sledge away she suddenly surges forward, still not glowing the slightest, challenging the Dawn in a pure test of skill against skill. A test she'll probably lose, but she's never been one to really play it safe.
Ignis	He's not been seen like this before by them. Most of Ingis adventures have been in other places. Other times. He didn't go with them to Elderloch and the few times he's engaged them in this dojo were..bizarre circumstances to say the least though fitting. A free for all where he was pelted with arrows, had his weapon stolen and then failed to hold his ground against this very same dragon blooded. They've all changed, since then but now - Ignis blazes. His body is wreathed in a corona of sunlight and his blade trails contrails of streaming light as it flashes around and cracks into the whipping assault of Amethyst producing flames, sparks and rays of light. His sword whirls around in a cascade of blurring speed to follow up on his assault even as she's recoiled backwards. "not this time." says Ignis, tone even and confident. "We've played that scene before." His words manage to somehow slide in despite the speed of his attack as his sword arcs around again, singing orichalcum and sunlight which bears down on her and forces her back. Her fortified body weathers the assault better then most others would be Ignis is on her -again-. Another blow sails in - this one coming up with his body braced hard against the ground as he slides to a stop and arcs his sword up in an attempt at a move that'd normally be reserved for attempting to fell a behemoth - but for the magic of the dojo allowing him to be so excessive.
Amethyst	Amethyst's anima comes to life, subtly shifting as she completely misses. It knocks the Dragon off balance and onto her back foot. And though she's tough, though her body reinforced by wyld magic and the strength of the earth, she stands no chance against someone this skilled, this fast, this powerful. She didn't expect this to be an easy fight, but she doesn't even have time to balance herself before the final blow comes down. Too fast even for her whip to try to block. That mask of hers shatters and she's thrown against the wall as her blood whip splats next to her, leaving her entirely unconscious. Her anima vanishes and her tattooes go dark, but she's still breathing and it doesn't even look like the blow broke her skin.
Ignis	A shimmering rainbowed halo as if seeing it through the cascade of a waterfall, blazes forth from Ignis. Multi colored massive wings of essence unfurl behind him though each feather seems formed from smaller blades of exquisite beauty and craftmanship. The wings continue until the framing features of a bird of prey of some sort can be seen, enveloping the solar whose eyes trail contrails of shimmering light. The phoenix screeches, the sound of blades ringing, as Ignis drives forward again on a follow up strike which sings with sparks light against her body. The blow would have been devestating but for the magic of this place and its mysterious sorcery..hence why this was even possible to begin with. Better her mistake be made in here then in the arena or, even worse, out somewhere with her friends in the depths of a shadowland with Deathknights watching.. "Upon seeing her fall, and seeing the magic of the place yet intact and her skin unmarred, Ignis sighs and breathes out as if tempering his own essence. There's a pause and then a sudden *FWHOOOOOSH* occurs as his anima is abruptly sucked down, wings and all, leaving only floating bladed feathers and wisps of light into his blade. He spin, turning and whirling his sword around to unleash an arcing wave of light through the air towards one of the distant pillars. It crashes into them, doing little visible harm, again no doubt due to the sorcery at play.. ut it was a quick way to bring his anima back down to more reasonable levels while he waits.
Amethyst	Some time passes before the alchemist comes to. She breaths as she rolls and sits up. She focuses and the blood on the wall flows back to her, around and forms a loose band. No whip, but better it on her than for someone to clean up. "You know, once upon a time I thought I could do anything. The rush of the power of taking my second breath made me feel like anything was possible." A bit of sorcery and focus and her blood lash recollects itself proper, though now 'sheathed'. She gets up and looks at the broken mask, "I think I need to accept that I can't. I never imagined that Solars and Lunars could be so powerful. I gotta say, I underestimated both. At least I learned my lesson here in this dojo rather than out there against one who's less than kind to folks like me." She stretches and her mutations gradually fade, leaving her the fae-blooded dragon that first walked in here. "It's pretty telling how once upon a time me and you were about equal in strength, but as time's gone on, you just kinda left me in the dust." She chuckles. "My tricks weren't enough to save me there, and maaaaaybe if I wasn't so reckless there I could've stood a chance. It also helps that, well, go figure that us Dragons work better in groups than solo."
Ignis	"I'm surprised to hear you say that. I haven't travelled with you all but surely you've born witness to the feats of your friends. I'm not privvy to all of their secrets, of course, but..." Ignis nods his head, "It's ...a lesson to learn but..one that needs learning. However, I don't think you should under estimate yourself. Even considering when we past fought...at least one of those was slightly unusual circumstances and I think it should be said that personal strategy play sa part as well and a little bit of luck." He sheathes his sword, peace binding it against his back once again, "I decided I needed to push myself to be more aggressive, as one example, after talking with Misa just prior to the tournament. We were sharing our thoughts on the wyld hunt using the tournament as a means to suss us anathema out and she saw no reason to hold herself back just due to the possiblity. To paraphrase - if you find yourself in a burning house with the doors locked by magic. Then cut your way out through the roof. It made me realize that more doing and less worrying was what I needed to be up to. When we last fought that wasn't my approach."
Amethyst	"Haven't had much luck lately. Maybe tapping into the powers of the wyld's cursed me somehow." Amethyst muses. "And when you're brought up being taught that the Dragon-Blooded are the top of the spiritual hierarchy and that we're the strongest among the Exalted, coming to terms with how wrong that is, isn't the easiest. I had to be a damn Dragon-Blooded born to a family from the Realm. And I couldn't even have the advantage of actually being /in/ the Realm, no we had to be a bunch of damn exiles." "So I had nothing to my name, and then, then I got to learn that so much of what I believed in what fabricated or wrong. I've managed to do so much and yet I've never felt /satisfied/ with any of it, no matter how many barriers I break or how much I try. I just feel inferior somehow, even if I know I'm not." Amethyst takes a moment to breath and calm herself, doing a tiny bit of meditation to focus herself. "...Sorry, I shouldn't be going off like this." She rubs her head.
Ignis	"Perhaps you're thinking about this wrong." suggests Ignis, tone patient and so seemingly not bothered by her unloading and venting frustration at him. "For one.. as mentioned..you are assocaiting with..a number of the 'anathema'.. Yes? So..consider this. You may have been brought up a certain way but that same hiearchy you speak of has put in place a wyld hunt that by design is built around the premise of a number of highly trained monks and support who exist to attack -single- anathema more often then not. In other words..most of hte time they are dealing with newly exalted Solars who are in terror and uncertain of what they are and who they are..and then set upon by highly trained and effecient killers. It is -not-, by design, meant to be a situation wherein the Dragon Blood expect to be on equal footing with the anathema, especially those who have gleaned experience and power. Perhaps not impossible but at the same not ideal. COnsider the damage done by the Bull of the North.." Ignis gestures idly, "Or the lunars. They persist, do they not? So you should consider that the task has not and never has been to be on equal competitive footing with the celestials. That is simply not the lot of a single Dragonblood. Yet despite those limitations you pose a signifigant threat to many who are so chosen and certainly all of your peers."
Amethyst	"I just need to control myself better, keep my temper in check, keep my emotions down." Amethyst says, "'Cause I know that I'm skilled, I know that I can do a lot. Sometimes I just let... I guess it's some sort of jeleousy? Or maybe frustration. I know I'm good at what I do, I know I'm capable, especially considering that I'm a dragon-blooded and like you said, typically teams of us go against the um, 'anathema' as it were. With a bunch of mortal monks in toe too." "I need discipline and to just fucking get over myself already. But knowing that and /doing/ that are different things." She calms herself again, "I'm trying. If I can keep my head cool, keep my neck on straight, think through what I do on the battlefield and off before I do it, I think I'll be fine."
Ignis	"If I'm not mistaken, you handily defeated an exigent of mysterious origin and power in front of thousands of watchers..." Ignis tone is understanding yet cool at the same time. Not exactly verbal chastising her but it seems he's inclined to want to push her out of her mental funk. "You can hardly compare a loss against at celestial exalted as a means to judge yourself inadaquate. I would advise against jealousy because it's simply not needed. I suppose I"d rather much like to know what it's like to soar like an eagle but..I'm no lunar. It'd be a misuse of my energy to be envious of that beyond what envy idle curiousity brings for experiencing new things." He runs a hand through his head and then turns, "I suspect you're simply way too hard on yourself, Amethyst. You can't create an unattainable goal and to be certain you can't make mistakes in the arena like you did in here if you expect to win. You seem to be second guessing yourself and we've yt to see the true contendors of the Congregation of Victory emerge. WHat will you do then?"
Amethyst	Amethyst is silent, deeply considering the words of Ignis before her. Then she sits, closes her eyes, breaths deeply, and looks up at Ignis. "Do you know someone who could teach me how not to let such thoughts control me? I know I shouldn't be jealous and second guessing myself like I do, but sometimes I feel like I almost can't help it. Ever since I exalted it's been like this. I used to have control of myself, but my exaltation finally broke my calm, and I've felt like I've been drowning ever since."
Ignis	Ignis considers that for a long moment and then says, "Amethyst, if I may be so bold, do seem as if you're buffetted from many different directions and...you're quite honestly not like any dragonblood -I've- certainly ever met before and likely will never meet again. You seem rather sigularly unique or at the very least very rare to the point that I hesitate to suggest someone who has...the perspective that you may need. At the same time maybe you are spending -too- much time around us and not enough with other Princes of the Earth to better understand how they've mastered the influence of the elements on themselves. To do that you'll need to either be able to hide your mutations or find a dragon blood who is willing to speak to you as an equal and without concern of your anathema...celestial friends..hovering over your every mood. If I were to offer the guess of some cold hard facts... hanging out almost exclusively with celestials and being so embraced by them has not entirely helped your world view...and I don't mean in the sense that, yes, you know the truth about us.. but in the sense access to the perspective of your peers is lost." He considers this further and then adds, "You've attempted to embody many worlds at once but maybe need to pick one to settle before it pulls you in too many different directions. Someone who may also be able to help is Misa. She is calm and meditative. She may have knowledge of universal techniques that can guide you."
Amethyst	Amethyst is quiet again, and then a single tear falls. "...I miss them so much, my father, those of my family I have never and likely will never meet. Most of which don't even know I'm still alive. The closest family I've had are the lunars that've embraced me so much. But, they aren't Dragon-Blooded, and can't fill that need." "The only one I'm close enough to is Black Pearl, but she has so many secrets of her own. She's taught me social discipline, but she knows nothing about real fighting, nor do I particularly want to... emulate her ways, so to speak." Amethyst explains. "I'm a capable enough sorcerer that it would be trivial for me to do the working needed to hide the last of my mutations and conceal my tattoos. Then it would just be a matter of trying to get through the red tape to reclaim my place as Peleps Yim Ametis if I wanted to meet the rest of my family. But, dragons know they'd learn that I'm wyld tainted sooner or later. And I'd surely be caught up in a war beyond my ken in time. I'd practically have to leave everyone and everything I know behind if I wanted to go to them." "And even if they never learned of my connections with the wyld, I'd have to hide my sorcery too, or I'd forever be even more of an outcaste among them. It's not a life I want." "Most of the other Dragon-Blooded nations I know of come with similar issues. Lookshy would allow me to stay here, but then I'd be playing a very dangerous game. Prasaad is a ways off, and I'm not even sure if they accept outsiders. I'm sure there's smaller gatherings too, but I don't know of any." "Final option would be finding more dragons who live among these streets. Those who are not strongly affiliated with any of the nations. But that isn't becoming part of a community. That's... just me getting to know another of my kind. Maybe one here somewhere could help me, but if so, I haven't met them yet."
Ignis	"I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you. The world we live in doesn't allow for easy solutions and ultimately must be changed and ..that will not be easy and there will be hardship and bloodshed..and people will even despise the transition but..." His voice trails off and then he shakes his head. "Nevermind that... My point is that there is no clean solution and sadly it sounds like simply rejoiing your family isn't feasible but that doesn't mean that your more -immediate- challenges can't be dealt with by simply meeting with other Dragonblood in the here and now. Locals. Outcastes, yes. Individuals whose perspective isn't necessarily rooted in the immaculate thought but who still have to navigate this world regardless of that." Ignis offres a smile, "Start with what you can do now and worry about those more daunting tasks as you find solutions and settle yourself."
Amethyst	Amethyst gets up, and hugs Ignis. No words this time. Only the quiet tears of a young dragon who feels so lost in this world. But maybe she find a way to change things, maybe. But for now? For now she just needs a hug.