Pride Castle: The Dojo

[Balthazar Black]

3 Vhalar 719

Balthazar wandered through a long stone hallway, the sound of his boots beating against the ground echoed against the dark around him. His skin emit a glow that made him all too visible but didn't provide enough light for him to see so he carried a torch in his hand. Why he hadn't manifested the flame, he did not know. All he knew was he walked forward through the hallway with the torch to light his way. This place was familiar. He'd seen these walls before. He'd seen the doors and he'd opened them only to find stone blocking him from whatever room he was meant for. Stone he could not manipulate. Stone he could not break away with his fists.

Yet this time it was different. Balthazar found a door he'd seen before but this time it was changed. Something or someone had changed it. Maybe his own growth had changed it. Regardless the door bore an engraved dragon that it had not before and when Balthazar closed his hand around the handle, it felt like fire flowed through him. There wasn't pain, just warmth, heat, and life. He pulled the door open and there sat the brick wall. Balthazar pressed his hand to the wall and pushed. It did not budge. He dropped the torch and set his other hand on the wall. He pushed and this time the bricks caved inwards, revealing a large and wide open room. The room seemed to be made of a thick paper and wood. The floor was white and soft like a mat. In the middle of each wall there was a wooden grid with thin paper you could almost see through but nothing to see on the other side. The rest of the wall was wooden though the type of wood seemed to shift the longer you looked at it.

It was a place for him to practice and learn... but he was not alone.

[Praetorum]

Date: 4th of Vhalar, Arc 719

Status: Slightly confused

Weapons: None

Armor: Gi

No Current Magical Effects

Praetorum wandered aimlessly through the Veil, his mind conjuring up cobbled streets and faceless crowds and the smell of sweat and summer and blood, a strange mixture of Korlasir and Yaralon and Rharne and even a little bit of what Clarissa had described to him of Etzos. It wasn't real, he was quite certain of that, but it seemed even the space between dreams followed dreamlike logic; his mind conjured up streets through which he could travel, and filled in all the rest to his expectations.

Well. Almost all the rest.

There were buildings in this city. And then there were Buildings. The latter was quite easy to distinguish from the former--a pillar of flame sprouting from the earth, sandwiched between two cottages; a small, innocuous looking tent with a rack of weapons set out in front; a grand oak tree with vines woven into a winding staircase around its trunk, leading into the leaves and out of sight.

Other people's dreams, Praetorum had figured out by now. No two were the same, outside or in, and it was always fascinating to see what plagued the dreams of other mortals. He hadn't realized, until a few nights ago, that it was possible for a dreamwalker to deliberately enter another's dream; all the other occasions he had met with others in Emea had been accidental, as far as he knew.

There was nothing accidental now about the way Prae picked his way through these imaginary streets, scanning the Buildings for a dreamscape he might want to peek into. And one in particular caught his eye as he wandered. Unlike some dreamscapes, it did look to Prae like an actual building, but not one he'd ever seen before. The roof was made of curved red tiles, and the roof swooped outwards, corners ever so slightly upturned. And the walls seemed not to be made of wood or stone, but instead of some thin, nearly translucent material, paper perhaps, set in frames of wood.

Intrigued, Prae stepped up to the threshold, finding there that what he had taken to be part of the wall had actually been a door of some kind. A few careful jostles revealed that rather than swinging inwards, this door slid sideways, revealing an empty room, surrounded by those same walls, and with a heavy mat covering the entire floor.

The door slid shut of its own volition when Prae stepped inside. A moment later, another door, directly across from him, slid open, revealing a surprisingly familiar face.

"Balthazar?" Prae blinked in surprise, and stepped forwards towards his friend. His clothes had changed, Prae realized as he moved, into a slightly stiff white outfit, with a yellow belt tying it together at his waist. "Are you..." Prae stopped himself then, uncertain of Balthazar was fully awake or not. And if he wasn't would it hurt him, to be made lucid abruptly in the middle of a dream?

"Are you... well?" Prae settled on finally, watching his friend carefully to see how he responded.

[Balthazar Black]

3 Vhalar 719

"Praetorum?" Balthazar 's voice echoed softly off the thin walls in a most unusual way. It was strange how the mind of an individual who was asleep worked. As Balthazar saw Praetorum his memories of the hallway, the doors, and the castle he'd walked through to find them seemed to melt away- replaced by the memories of sparring with the Ithecal before him. Balthazar stepped further into the room and as he did he passed through the shadow of the doorway and his clothing shifted to a black gi with a white belt. Balthazar looked down at his clothing curiously but said nothing of it. It didn't seem too strange that he should be wearing the clothing he was. He didn't notice it had just appeared upon him.

Prae posed a question and Balthazar tilted his head. "I am." Balthazar said in simple response. He did not know what more to say and he did not understand why Prae had chosen his words so cautiously. "What brings you by?" Balthazar asked as if he owned the room they found themselves in. He did but it was in a way he could not understand at the moment. Not due to a lack of skill so much as a lack of awareness. How could you know you were dreaming when you didn't know you were asleep? Balthazar stepped onto the mat with his bare foot and looked around the room once more as he awaited Praetorum's response. He'd never seen architecture like it- certainly not in Yaralon.

[Praetorum]

Date: 3rd of Vhalar

Status: Slightly weirded out

Weapons: None

Armor: Gi

No Current Magical Effects

Balthazar seemed unaware of the fact he was dreaming, something Prae found deeply curious. Prae had peeked in on the dreams of others a few times in the last few nights, but he'd never really interacted with the dreamers before, simply letting them play out as he watched. Now though, he was holding a conversation with Balthazar, while one of them was lucid and the other was not. It was... a deeply surreal experience. 



Now, what to do? Prae wasn't sure if doing something like shaking Balthazar awake would be a bad idea, if it would hurt or confuse him. Prae was pretty sure his own awakening in dreams had been due to a well, so he had no idea what the normal way to do this was. 



Probably best to just... play along with the dream then, at least for now. Until he figured out what was safe to do. "I was just passing by, figured I'd drop in." Prae looked at both of their clothes, and tested his movement in them. He was surprised to find he could move quite freely in the slightly stiff canvas, and knowing what he did of his friend, hazarded a guess as to this dream's purpose. But the best thing would be to confirm it. 



"I have to say, I don't think I've seen this room before. A training room?"

[Balthazar Black]

3 Vhalar 719

"Yeah, yeah it is." Balthazar replied, becoming a little more lost in his dream. This was his castle and this was where he taught himself to fight. This is where he learned. This is where they could learn. Balthazar slowly stepped over to one of the walls and ran his fingers along the thin paper-like material. It seemed almost as if something was shining a light at the paper to make it brighter but that effect was only amplified when suddenly shadows danced across the paper walls. They dashed from the north wall to the east wall where they stopped and stood in ready positions. A moment later they began to fight. One figure struck and the other defended then countered over and over in a rhythm like dancing. Balthazar didn't seem to notice even though it was occurring on the very screen he was running his hand along."I'm glad you came by. It's been too long."

Balthazar turned from the wall and walked directly toward Prae. He didn't understand the difference a touch could make or at least he did not remember it. If he'd ever done what Prae was doing, he was too deeply in his dream to recall it now... but a touch changed many things. Balthazar stopped a few feet from Praetorum and stood with his arms at his sides. "How have the elements been treating you?"

[Praetorum]

Date: 3rd of Vhalar, Arc 719

Status: Catching up with a friend

Weapons: None

Armor: Gi

No Current Magical Effects

As the shadows on the other side of the wall began to dance, Prae stepped up to his friend, so they were standing shoulder to shoulder (in a manner of speaking. Prae was over two feet taller than Balthazar, after all).


"Yes." Prae said at Balthazar's statement. "It has been too long." And with the casualness of a dreamwalker who still knew so little, he clapped Balthazar on the back, just for a moment, before retreating back towards the centre of the room. 



Inexperienced as Praetorum was with Emea, he had no idea that lucidity was, as it were, transferable, and by the mere act of contact. So he continued to try and maintain the illusion of the dream, even as his touch dragged Balthazar into full awareness. "The elements have treated me very well indeed; I should mention, flame and I have also come to become kin. And it seems that air and fire can be... convinced to mingle, briefly, into lightning. I haven't had much cause to experiment, as I've been.... busy." Prae just managed to catch himself before mentioning that he'd been busy traveling, uncertain if that would remind Balthazar of the conversation they'd last had while awake.


"And how have you been? Both with the elements, and with the fighting forms you've been developing? I've been practicing what you taught me, and I've found it quite useful. A different pace of combat than I'm used to, but I'm adapting."

[Balthazar Black]

3 Vhalar 719

When Praetorum clapped Balthazar on the back everything seemed to sharpen into focus for Balthazar. His eyes widened and he looked around the dojo as if seeing it for the first time. Balthazar stepped backwards and further into the middle of the room where his bare feet squished into the padded floor and he seemed surprised by how his foot had sunk into it. His head shifted back to the doorway he'd come through as Praetorum went about answering Balthazar's question. Admittedly Balthazar did not pay Praetorum's response the attention it fully deserved because he was lost in the realization that he was in his dreamscape.

"I'm dreaming." He whispered more to himself than to Praetorum before shaking his head and trying to refocus on what his friend had said. "Kin to fire, you say?" Balthazar mulled over that development in his head for a moment as well as Praetorum's statement about being able to refine wind and fire into lightning. He felt the potential every time he began to call upon the elements but had only ever conjured a significant amount once and it was in a time of rage. "Congratulations on your progress. I've been having a harder time as of late. I find my focus divided but I'm try to make progress where I can. I made it to Viden but I've yet to do very much. I've been looking into an old acquaintance who I think is hiding in the city. It has consumed the time I'd have spent training in Yaralon."

[Praetorum]

Date: 3rd of Vhalar, Arc 719

Status: Hoping to get some training done

Weapons: None

Armor: Gi

No Current Magical Effects

Praetorum blinked twice as Balthazar seemed to sink into lucidity. Still, it didn't seem like it was harming him, mental or physically, so at least there was that. "Viden, huh? Count yourself fortunate you're kin to flame, then." Prae laughed softly. "You'll need all the warmth you can get, visiting that frozen city in the cold cycle." Prae's own time in that city had been resoundingly miserable, save for the time he'd spent with the friends he'd made there.  



"I've been traveling as well; I've almost made it to Etzos, in the Western Continent." Prae said. "And I expect I'll be traveling on from there soon enough, so I'm in the same boat as you, my friend; no time to train. At least, not while waking."


Prae frowned in thought, tapping a claw to his muzzle. "I wouldn't risk using defiance, not in Emea. You recall how volatile fractures could get. And I don't know if you'll stay... awake, let's say, without me. To be honest, I don't have a very good idea of what I'm doing with this whole lucid dreaming. But I've been injured in dreams, and woken bloodied before, so I don't see why the good wouldn't carry over as well as the bad. It might be possible for us to train in this room you have here, to make up for time we don't have while awake. What do you say?"


If Balthazar agreed, which Prae expected he would, Prae would take up a Solum stance, and wait for Balthazar to make a move.

[Balthazar Black]

3 Vhalar 719

"Etzos? You have been traveling." Balthazar remarked. He'd been to Etzos once before but that had been a long time ago and he could remember little of the city. When Praetorum specified that he had no time to train while waking the same thought must have crossed the two mages' minds. Balthazar was familiar with the way their combat would translate to their waking bodies because he'd done this at least once before that he could remember. Praetorum suggested they use the Dojo to train and Balthazar nodded. He would have cautioned Praetorum against using magic had the Ithecal not already pointed the danger out. It was refreshing to be in Emea with another who understood the danger of openly using magic.

"The room seems suited too it given the padded flooring. Shall we begin?" And as if answering that very question, Praetorum took up a Solum fighting stance. Balthazar recognized it and took up his open palm stance a few feet from Praetorum. His palms face outwards towards Praetorum and his feet were just wide enough apart to give him solid footing that he could quickly turn to the offensive. It would be different here where the two of them would have to engage in hand to hand combat without magic. Things would be faster and far more difficult to track until it was all said and done. Knowing this, Balthazar stepped forward into combat.

[Praetorum]

3rd of Vhalar, Arc 719

It seemed that when their combat began, the floor became marked with rings. A ring in the middle but also two smaller rings following Balthazar and Praetorum that seemed to represent the physical reach of each combatant. Yet Balthazar had not noticed yet. He pushed into the middle ring and by extension into Prae’s ring to strike.

Balthazar lashed out with a swift cross jab towards Praetorum’s left shoulder as soon as he was close enough to strike. Prae parried it, his arm coming up to bump the blow off course as he stepped closer into Balthazar’s range, trying to deny him the space he would need to bull his full force behind his blows.

A moment later, Prae’s tail swept in around his side, and made to curl around Balthazar’s right leg to restrict his mobility. As it did, Balthazar seemed to plant his foot rather than pull it away. Balthazar let Prae’s tail wrap around him but as it did he turn at the hip and brought his left leg swinging quickly around at Prae’s head.

Too tall to duck under the attack, and having trapped himself in Balthazar’s range with his tail, Prae could do nothing but block hastily, right forearm taking the full force of the blow. Well aware that this left him wide open to a followup attack, Prae tightened his tail’s grip, and tried to pull Balthazar’s footing out from under him.

Having just landed from his kick, Balthazar was unable to adjust his balance in time to stop Prae from pulling his footing out from under him. Balthazar fell to the padded floor, landing on his back but facing up towards Praetorum.

Disentangling his tail from Balthazar’s leg, Prae stepped preemptively to the side, wary of how fast Balthazar might be able to kick at him from the floor. “Count that as a point?” He asked, rooting himself once more. “Or should I be trying to pin you?” In hindsight, that was something they ought to have established earlier.