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[Sintih]

Zi'da, 21st, 716th Arc
Early morning
Warden Malcolm's camp, Eastern Campaign

It was five trials now since Sin's major mistake combo that had resulted in his demotion. They had left Welles behind quickly and had been on the road for four trials now. Today, according to the plan, they would arrive in Oakleigh sometime in the afternoon, possibly evening depending on how many problems they ran into during the day. But for Sin most of that meant very little. His world had been shrunk down to tents and saddles and when he wasn't working on those he was following Elyna like a shadow, as agreed upon. Setting up tents in the evening, breaking down tents in the morning and travelling and equipment cleaning every other trill of the day. Today was no different for the young Yludih.

Emily, a woman had spent most of his time with these past few trials and whom he had learned absolutely nothing about in that time sat across from him, working on her own things, keeping an eye on him as Sin sat in front of a set of saddle and bridle of a volareon. The harness of the beast still awaited him after this but they were simply too heavy for Sin to carry so he had to do those on location. If anyone had told him six trials ago that he'd become a master volareon equipment cleaner in six trials he'd have laughed in their face. He knew better now but he would still laugh in their face. Nothing about what he did was masterful in any way, shape or form.

Sin simply copied a set of instructions and motions in his head as he watched others do it and repeated them. Most of it was similar to caring for horse equipment except that these seemed to take apart and be rebuild from more parts. He wasn't really sure why he did half of the things that he did but he knew that he was both slower and worse at it than the skyrider squires, airmen as they were called. Holding the bridle in one hand, Sin was rubbing it down with a cloth with the other hand. Step one, clean the equipment before treating it. He could get behind that one as it was mostly universal. It was boring and honestly below his rank, the rank that he had been stripped of five trials ago. Sin sighed as he moved the bridle through his hands, cleaning the pieces.

The weather hadn't gotten any better and Sin pulled his cloak around him some more. Quickly visible was the fact that Sin no longer wore the tabard depicting him as a member of the Iron Hand. He still wore the armor, it was a war campaign after all, but the tabard lay folded with the rest of his equipment. His sword was still with Elyna somewhere. He doubted she went into her scouting missions double armed so it was most likely in her tent somewhere. When he finished cleaning the bridle, he picked up the smelly concoction that he was supposed to apply now. He wasn't sure what was in it and he didn't really want to know anyway.

Taking a clean cloth, Sin dipped it in the liquid and started applying it to the bridle. He could guess at its uses, especially considering the cold weather they were in, but his mind was mostly empty while doing this sort of brainless work. When he finished applying the liquid to all of the bridle, Sin stood up from his spot, which got Emily to look at him from her work. He hung the bridle with the rest of the equipment ready to be used once a new rider set out for the skies. From Sin's point of view a waste of time but necessary. As he turned back from the equipment rack to head back to his little cleaning spot right in Emily's view, Sin spotted a familiar figure slithering over the cold ground.

The snake man seemed to be heading in his direction as he sat back down, pulling the saddle closer to him to get to work on it while he kept looking at the snake man. He still had to thank the man properly for his work in keeping two men intending to kill him from doing so five trials ago. Or he could wait until after the campaign and see who was still alive that needed apologizing. It would make a more economic use of his time doing it like that. Sin turned his head away from the snake man to focus on the saddle cleaning.

[Atashi]

With his tail wrapped around Lash's body, Atashi continued the four day journey from Welles. It had gone by so fast, too fast perhaps. He'd kept up his training, fed Lash and more-or-less completely smoothed things out with Kylar and Crimson. As tiring as the journey was, he felt it had been more rewarding than not; well, for most. His attention turned to Master Rathaan, acting as the shadow he had been designated. A shame that he lost his rank, but he had drawn the wardens blood and attacked the cook both in one night. He'd behaved rather well since that night also, perhaps it was the best course of action to take after all. Even so, he couldn't seem to shake the feeling of guilt that weighed him down.

Once they had stopped, he tended to his gear appropriately and tied down Lash - he wasn't sure how long they'd be stopping for so made no effort to put up his tent just yet. He was once again left to his own devices, and while cleaning his shield was something he enjoyed doing - there eventually came a point where he was unable to clean it further or where the cloth he was using had fallen apart from excessive use. Taking care of your gear was particularly important - it might just save your life after all. Atashi took this perhaps too seriously. But no matter how much he washed and scrubbed the surface of his shield, the scratches and carvings left by the unfortunate crook in Andaris wouldn't seem to fade.

With his fingers going numb from the cold, he decided that he'd cleaned enough. He re-mounted his shield to his back and went for a walk around the area they'd stopped, originally searching for Kylar and Crimson. As he slithered however, his thoughts turned from his friends and to the man Kylar had wanted to kill a few trials ago. He wouldn't have killed that man surely? Atashi couldn't have been the only reason kylar hadn’t murdered a man? As much as he assured himself, the feeling wouldn't stick. The look in his eye - he remembered with detail, it gave him chills. Then returned the unshakeable feeling of guilt. He shouldn't have let Kylar get as close as he had, made him drop the weapon or even straight up taken it from him. If he'd pulled the trigger that night, he didn't doubt for a second that his hands would have been soaked in the man’s blood also.

Unable to stand it anymore, he changed course. He'd speak to Kylar later, for now he had a shadow to apologise to. He scoured the area, eventually spotting the man he was looking for - he was sat opposite a female while cleaning a rather large saddle, a saddle he assumed to be for an animal a little bit bigger than a horse. The man looked to him briefly before returning to the saddle, Atashi prepared himself mentally. He struggled with apologies, even when he knew the person well an unbearable pressure held his jaw shut - Like Kylar those trials ago. Sighing to himself, he approached the Master Rathaan. He cleared his throat before speaking "Master Rathaan it is, yes?" he asked, not entirely sure if that was his name. Go on, spit it out already. "I just wanted to say..." If choking in silence were possible, he'd be doing it right now. "Uhh, how have you been since we last met?" He asked, almost too obvious that he'd changed what he was to say. 'Idiot! You couldn't just say those two little words, could you!? Watch now as you make a fool of yourself. Remember this!' Ranted the voice in his head, he paid no attention and looked to the man, expectantly.

[Sintih]

Sin looked up from his saddle and Emily looked up from her work towards the Ithecal squire as he approached Sintih. The race had always seemed interesting to him, half snake, half man. Did he freeze from the constant touch to the ground as he moved about? Was it the same for the snake as for a human crawling around on his knees in the camp? Did he take extra baths to keep his tail clean or did the tail part hold as much value to the snake man as the soles of his boots did to Sintih? All questions he wouldn't mind getting answers to but none he could ask out of the blue like this, face to face with the man for the first time since he and his friends had come to Faith's 'rescue'.

It wasn't hard to tell that the snake had come here to say something different but decided to go with something more casual first. Sin couldn't help but think that casual in this case was most likely worse than whatever he'd really wanted to say. Emily went back to working when she was satisfied that the Ithecal didn't attack Sin outright. "How have I been? Since your friends tried to kill me, you mean? By Raskalarn, I've been just peachy, sir. Just great. Fan-tas-tic." Sin looked up to the Ithecal next to him before standing up, pulling the saddle with him. He waved the cleaning cloth around to stress each syllable of the last word. "How do you think I've been?" With a rather theatrical motion, Sin tossed the saddle down on the ground which got him a look from Emily.

The insistent glaring look remained on his person until he finally acknowledged it by returning it. Her eyes told him enough. Sin took in a deep breath and let out a loud sigh before he turned back to the Ithecal. "But I guess none of that was your fault or anyone else's. It was all mine." The eye rolling that came with the last sentence would've told the Ithecal just how much Sin believed that statement if he'd had any pupils to roll around. Instead, the perfectly white globes that were his eyes seemed still in the eyes of a non-Eidisi.

Sin wondered if the man, a squire by the look of his outfit, had been ordered or asked to check on him by someone else but he discarded that thought as soon as he got it. Elyna wouldn't risk him holding a grudge and none of the other people there would even want to check on him after what had happened. Maybe the Ithecal was just a nice guy? Sin held up a single finger to the man, who stood about a head taller than him even now, to stop or prevent him from talking as he turned back towards Emily. "Can I take a break?" She nodded to him and the Ithecal and started ordering people around her, most likely preparing to follow Sin in case he decided to make a run for it.

Sin turned back to the Ithecal. "Let's go and stretch -my- legs. You were saying?" Was that a thing non Ithecal did around Ithecal, making leg jokes? Sin hoped the snake was used to it by now. Without really waiting or expecting the man to follow him, Sin started his walk around the camp, not really going anywhere in particular. A few trills later, he could feel the presence of Major Emily Warren behind him. He wondered if she appreciated the extra breaks in between or if she thought him more of a burden and an annoyance her loyalty had gotten her stuck with.

[Atashi]

He wasn't at all surprised with the man's reaction, granted - he'd have preferred a more peaceful response, but a stupid question gets a stupid answer. The man was clearly upset the consequences of his actions, as the one-handed sky-rider had been in the last campaign. But the man's choice of words in particular caught him off guard 'By Raskalarn? Does this man follow Raskalarn? Or is he just trying to get on our nerves?' he pondered for a moment, looking to Master Rathaan warily. Was he really a follower of Ethelynda's greatest enemy, the driving force of the Raskithecal? Unsure of how to act, he found his hand straying to his belt where his hammer rests. Clenching his fist, he halted 'Keep an open mind, he might have just been cursing.' then lowered his hand.

Finally finished with his sarcasm, the man asked his rhetorical question. Feeling uncomfortable with this, he looked to the left as if searching for a distraction from the situation. He'd let the man get it all out, he pondered whether he'd had the opportunity to vent at all since what had happened - probably not. He was fortunately good at taking hits.
He'd stayed silent for the entirety of his rant which, in all honesty, was probably for the best. He'd rather not fuel Master Rathaan's anger.

Ethelynda behold, the man wasn't at all finished with his sarcasm. He looked to him ever-patient, the tone of his voice told him enough: he didn't believe for a second that he'd done anything wrong. So, Master Rathaan is an arrogant one among other things? 'Don't be so judgemental, it could have all been a big misunderstanding after all.' right. Keeping an open mind, he let the man finish. "As unfortunate as it is to lose your rank," He spoke, looking back to the man "I stand by what i told you that night: an argument can be made with words alone." He finished and felt as though he'd made a good point, there wasn't really a justifiable reason to grapple someone, at least not with not without consent. His thoughts strayed once more: first to the knife fight outside the tavern in Venora, then to the unfortunate crook's mangled jaw bone in Andaris - the image still fresh in his mind.

Returning to the present, he found that his hands were shaking, his breathing and heart rate had picked up and he was sweating. Granted all symptoms were minor, the man probably won't have noticed. His tail shuffled uncomfortably beneath him. What was wrong with him? Was he ill? Pushing his thoughts into the back of his head, he looked to Master Rathaan who had been given permission to have some time to himself. To his surprise, he wanted to spend it with Atashi - Wait, was that a leg pun? He smirked before starting to chuckle a little - then erupting into laughter. It had caught him off guard for sure. He had to force himself to stop laughing before too long - Hysterical! How long had it been since he last laughed like that? 'Too long!' Wiping joyous tears from his eyes, he spoke "That was a sly one... Alright, I'll join you." trying his best not to interrupt his own sentence with more laughter, coughing or wheezing.

He only realised after they had started walking that Master Rathaan hadn't invited him and instead asked what he was saying, did he mean earlier when he asked how he was doing? It was obvious enough that he hadn't intended on seeking out the shadow only to ask how his day had been, perhaps he'd seen through the Ithecal? Euphoria dancing through in his blood, he felt a little more comfortable talking "I wanted to apologise." he started, turning to look at the man as they walked "On my behalf and 'blondie's'. I shouldn't have let him put his weapon to your head like that - It was a huge overreaction on his part and a mistake on mine." He continued, his chest feeling heavier and heavier as they pressed on. "You might not believe me, but he's a good guy deep down. I don't think he would have killed you." he spoke, trying to stand up for his friend in his absence.

"I'm not exactly pristine in my conscience either, I'm not trying to say I am. I might have deterred their intent to harm you physically but as for their words, I took no action." It sounded a lot worse to say it out loud rather than keep it in his head. He would have put a hand on the mans shoulder, but decided it wasn't appropriate. "I'm sorry I let them bully you." he spoke, almost in a confessing tone. He waited for his reply, bracing himself for any explosive reaction that she shadow could throw at him.

[Sintih]

Sin was pleasantly surprised by the man's laughter. He didn't seem to hold a grudge for the leg joke. He even managed to bring a smile to Sin's lips before he could control it. It didn't seem like the Ithecal was here for trouble, nobody would laugh like that with someone they had come to harass or worse. They walked in silence for a moment, as relative as silence could be in a camp of over a hundred knights. Sin was keenly aware of the footsteps behind him, keeping pace with his. The Ithecal didn't have any footsteps to keep pace with. Another small smile.

When the Ithecal spoke, Sin turned his head in surprise. The lack of understand from the Eidisi's end was quite visible on his face when he listened to the man talk. Apologise? What for? Did he regret stopping people from killing Sin? His explanation followed quickly and Sin's face turned back to normal, understanding now the context of the man's words. On top of having, most likely, saved his life, the Ithecal wanted to apologize for Sin's discomfort during the whole episode with Faith. While he could easily accept the man's apology on his own behalf, he had no intention of accepting it on the blond man's behalf. As the Ithecal continued to speak, Sin started to turn his angry rant into words that wouldn't be turned into a report towards captain Elyna by the woman following them.

"Well, I can easily accept your apologies regarding the incident. In fact, I wanted to thank you for your involvement back then. But I'm afraid that, despite your word, I can't look past 'blondie's actions. If he ever wishes to come and apologize in person, I'd be happy to receive him but through others, an apology is just empty words. As for the bullying, I'd like to think I'm tough enough to survive a few hurtful words." Did he vent his anger by devising several foolproof strategies that would result in only the loss of the unit he had assigned Padriag and the blonde ranger to? Sure. Had it helped? Definitely. Would it ever come to pass? No.

As they were walking, they passed the training grounds, this time set up differently then the last time the two of them had stood on one together. Sin stopped to look at it from a distance, watching the groups of knights and squires practice together or alone. He remained like that for quite a few trills, seemingly lost in thought. When he suddenly pulled himself from them, he turned his head to face the Ithecal next to him. "Would you mind if I asked you something personal?" Sin waited for a moment to give the Ithecal a chance to reply before asking his questions, no matter what the Ithecal had said.

As he pulled his cloak closer around him to keep the heat in and the cold out, Sin asked his question. "Aren't you cold?" It was short and to the point, Sin thought. Only after voicing it out loud did he realize that a lot of information from that question was missing. "I mean, if I had to drag my rear end over this frozen ground all day I'd just stay home all of Vhalar and Zi'da every arc." Sin looked up from the man's tail to his face as he smiled at him. He wondered, besides leg jokes, how often the Ithecal had had to answer a question similar to that one. Genuinely interesting, Sin listened to whatever the man had to say next. As he was listening, it occurred to him that he'd teamed up with a snake, got his life saved by a snake and had just spent the past ten or fifteen bits or so talking with a snake whose name he had absolutely no clue about. Had he mentioned it before and had Sin just forgotten in the recent events? Sin decided to rectify that mistake as soon as the Ithecal stopped answering.

"I keep thinking of you as 'the snake man who probably saved me from two more holes in my body'. But I've come to find that to be too long so do you happen to have a name I could call you by? Something I could pronounce, perhaps?" Sin's knowledge on the Ithecal race was limited to the fact that they had, much like every other race in Idalos, a language of their own and they had half snake bodies. There was also something about trouble with an immortal but he didn't remember which one in particular. That said, mostly every race had trouble with some immortal or another, like they didn't have better things to do than to cause problems for others.

[Atashi]

Atashi listened intently as the man said what he had to say, his response both pleased and disappointed him. He was glad that the Eidisi hadn't been too badly offended from the whole ordeal, and disappointed in the fact that he wouldn't be accepting Kylars apology, real or not it was worth a try. He wouldn't reply to the man with words, he instead nodded in understanding as they continued their walk. It was such a relief to have that weight off his chest, coming out here to apologise to the man might not have been a total waste.

As they continued their walk, they came to pass by the training grounds. Atashi barely paid attention to it, something you see every day in-camp after all. But the man he was in company with seemed awfully intrigued by the display. He watched as though deep in thought or contemplating something - a sight most peculiar over some soldiers doing what soldiers typically do. Saying that however, the man he was with had been rather 'peculiar' since they first met. Suddenly, without warning, the Eidisi turned to him. Unsure, Atashi replied "Err, yes. Go ahead." half confident, half sceptical. He had a feeling that the man would have asked his question regardless of permission and so didn't see the harm in giving it.

The man's question caught him off guard, what kind of question is that? Isn't everybody? Then he explained and Atashi came to understand the man's curiosity. He hadn't thought much of the cold since last season despite the trials getting colder by the break. His tail shifted uncomfortably beneath him as he thought for a moment. "I suppose..." he started, sounding unsure of himself. "I mean, surely your legs get colder? Sure, you have clothing and shoes to protect yourself, but you've got two! That's double the limbs to worry about, and they're not as thick either... I imagine your legs get far colder far faster without as much flesh to insulate them!" He continued into a rant. "That and you can't pick up stuff with your legs, I mean, how do humans go on with full hands? Is that why they invented juggling!?" he continued, blowing the whole discussion out of proportion.

He gasped suddenly - looking to the man with wide-eyes. Had he said something to offend him and all two-leggers by accident? He had plenty of questions himself for the legged-ones, it just didn't seem practical having to constantly shift your balance with every step. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so quick as to blast the poor man with all of his questions "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say anything that would offend!" He pleaded.

Regardless, the Eidisi asked his name. Complying completely, Atashi spoke "I'm Atashi, that's pronounced 'Ah-Ta-She'" putting a lot of emphasis into the syllables that make his name. He looked to the Eidisi expectantly for a moment before speaking once more "And what about you? what's your name?" he asked in a patient tone. He seriously needed to cool off from his little outburst regarding legs. he smiled as he anticipated the Eidisi's answer, hoping that he wouldn't take offence from his questions.

[Sintih]

Sin had expected any possible answer from the Ithecal when he'd asked the question regarding his tail. There was so much wrong with the question itself that Sin wouldn't have held it against the snake man if he'd replied in angry tones and never wanted to see such an uncouth person as Sintih ever again. Instead, he delivered a such a philosophically charged answer in such an honest way that Sin had to fight against his lips curling up into a smile. He turned his head away slightly, trying to hide the fun he was having as the Ithecal went into a rant about full hands and humans.

Trying to fight the bubbling up laughter deeper in his core, Sin brought his hand up to his mouth, holding it tightly in place as the fun reached his empty white eyes. His glee turned into withheld mirth as Sin started laugh through his nose, releasing puffs of white cloud from his nose as he fought to keep control of himself. Can't pick up stuff with legs... Sin forced himself to suck in a big lungful of air to calm himself. He managed to wrest control back and asked the Ithecal about his name. Finding himself back in control, Sin relaxed his muscles slightly as he listened to Atashi's response.

The problem with lowering your guard was that things snuck up on you. Double the limbs, double the cold... In the middle of Atashi's question, Sin suddenly burst out laughing. It just exploded out before he could really stop it. "Juggling!" He managed to get out between two fits of laughter. Unlike the last time Atashi saw Sin laugh, this time it felt honest and true. Whatever Atashi had asked him got completely lost in Sin's hilarity. He couldn't stop laughing as a quick image of some human juggling some items as he tried to pick up another one from the ground. For several trills, Sin kept laughing, unable to control it now that the proverbial dam had burst. The eyes of some of the knights and squires close by turned to see what was so funny.

Gasping for breath between laughs, Sin held a hand to his chest as it began to hurt from laughing. A tear rolled down his face as Sin leaned forward, trying to catch his breath properly. Between catching his breath and shorter fits of laughter, Sin managed to bring out a few words. "No... no-ho, Atashi." The last syllable of the Ithecal's name turned into another burst of laughter as Sin turned away from the snake, unable to hold himself in while he looked at the man's face. His sides were beginning to hurt as Sin worked to control his breathing, in through the nose, strongly out through the mouth. In through the nose, strongly out through the mouth,... Once he had a little control back he dared to turn back to the snake man.

"No, that's not why they invented juggling..." Sin wiped away the beginning of a tear from his eyes. "Haaa...haha." Sin let out another snicker but managed to control it beyond that. He sucked in a good lungful of air before releasing it. "Whoooo... I haven't laughed like that in a long time. Double the limbs." With a big and genuine smile on his face, Sin looked up at the Ithecal next to him. "I'm so sorry. That was just too funny." He shook his head before massaging the front of his face and jaws. Everything from his jaws to his stomach was hurting from laughing. Sin hadn't felt so good in quite a while. Flexing his jaws by opening his mouth wide, Sin took a moment before turning back to Atashi. "I think that's why there are so many of them. Once two of them have their hands full they make a new one."

Sin drew another breath through his nose and blew it out through his mouth, finally back in control. "I apologize for that. I'm not sure what just happened. I'm squ-... I guess I'm not a squire at the moment. Sintih, you can call me Sin if you like." Sin held out his hand towards the Ithecal, a little impressed by the snake man's height and a lot impressed by his sense of humor. It was refreshing to have to look up at someone every now and then. There weren't many humans who could make that happen for an Eidisi. There was another chuckle as his mind popped back to the juggling image for a moment.

[Atashi]

The man's response surprised him - laughter? No way. Legged -people can't honestly react so positively to being interrogated over their biology? Surely? Perhaps he'd just said something funny? By the end of it, he found himself chuckling with the man - one thing he'd said during his fit of laughter caught his attention though more how he said it than what he said, but he spoke of two-leggers as a 'them' or 'they' As if he wasn't one of them? If he had no eyes he would have though he was talking to another Ithecal!

It then dawned on him what was truly going on here. His expression dropped with his chuckling and he looked to the man that introduced himself as 'Sintih' very seriously.

He clearly no longer regarded himself as a part of the Iron hand, a very sad thought indeed. even going as far as to distance himself by addressing such members as 'them'. Sincerity in his eyes he spoke "Another thing I'm sorry about is your rank, my friend. I've seen it happen once before, the man went mad..." in a confessing tone, expressing concern for Sintih."What are the conditions for your reinstatement? I'd really like to help you in any way I can." he continued, his words true enough. He could see that he wasn't stood with a bad man, perhaps some attitude problems here and there, but everyone has their quirks, even he has judged people many a time.

He looked to his new friend with a gentle smile, ignoring the baffled soldiers looking their way. "What do you say, Sintih?" he asked in a calm tone. "Will you let me help you?" he finished, feeling rather pleased with himself. Sure, Sintih had laid his hands on a woman, but people do weird things when they're mad 'Is that your excuse for what happened in Andaris?' - What? No, no no no not at all. Perhaps helping redeem Sintih would also help him quite significantly.

[Sintih]

Sin disguised the missed handshake as him putting his hand on his own shoulder and squeezing. Too much skyrider leather polishing. His muscles weren't used to that, that's what that was. Despite just having shared a good laugh, Atashi looked like there was something more he had to say so Sin let him. He could see that the Ithecal felt very strongly about what he said next, despite the fact that he had absolutely nothing to do with it. Sin could understand feeling guilty for something you had a part in but nothing the Ithecal had done five trials ago had made things worse for Sin so he didn't understand it fully. Maybe he just had one of those personalities.

Sin waited for a moment to respond. Not because he had to think of one but because he didn't want to insult anyone by saying what came to mind first. "It wasn't your fault. You're not the reason I lost it nor are you the one currently holding on to it. As for getting it back, I'm still waiting on the official verdict. Captain Elyna is looking after me for now but I haven't heard anything from the warden as of yet." Sin shrugged. The warden did what he pleased so it didn't really surprise Sin that the man hadn't taken a moment to address this issue. Obviously, having completely untrained civilians in his camp was the problem.

Now that the loud laughing had stopped, the knights and squires around them had turned back to their training except for two who kept their eyes on Sin and Atashi. "Your help is appreciated but at the moment all I'm doing is cleaning equipment, all trial, every trial. I'm sure you've done enough of that in your time as a squire. Their faith in me having anything else to offer this campaign is all but extinguished now." Sin shrugged once more, trying to pass it off as if he didn't care. For six long arcs, this part had always been the hardest. Nobody had stayed to see what else Sin had to offer them after testing his skills in combat. It didn't matter that none of them could even touch his ability to out think others.

As Sin turned back to look over the training field, he noticed that the two squires were walking over to them. One looked like someone had just carved a human out of a tree trunk somewhere. At first, Sin thought that maybe he was one of those Qiori or something guys but he was human enough when he got closer. The other one was less impressive next to his friend but Sin could tell that he was one of those poster boy knights, good brawn, little to no brain and no free will what so ever. Basically, the perfect soldier. Their tabards told him they were from Krome and Warrick respectively. They were obviously aiming for Sin as they stopped in front of him.

"Hey. Would you like to spar with us?" While both of them had to look up to face the Eidisi and the Ithecal, they didn't seem like they felt inferior to them. The smile on Krome's face told Sin that in this case 'spar' meant 'be a punching bag'. While the Warrick squire seized Atashi up, the Krome one continued to smile at Sin. "We could give a civilian like you some tips and teach you some tricks, if you'd like." Sintih seemed unimpressed as he let his gaze slide over both men before turning to Atashi. "I -do- think that there is something you could help me with, actually. How about a two-on-two with these friendly squires here?" Sin had totally forgotten about Emily while laughing before and she didn't enter his mind again as he recruited the Ithecal in his soon to be total victory. The Warrick squire puffed his chest up in front of Atashi. "Yeah, big guy. We can teach you something too, if you want."

[Atashi]

Atashi's heart sank as he noticed the shorter man's attempted hand shake all too late. An expression of regret filled his features. Not wanting to draw even more attention to the poor man's unintended humiliation, he said nothing about it as if to pretend it hadn't happened. 'Dammit, just as you were getting through to him, too' - I know, boo hoo. Sure enough Sintih would now decline his offer to help, right? Right, sort of. Instead of straight up declining, the Eidisi instead explained that there wasn't much he could do about it, not yet anyway. He sighed a breath of disappointment. If patience he would need then patience he will have.

Patience would have been useful for more than one of today's events it would seem, as two squires approached them from the training field. Their walk told him enough, slow methodical - seemingly arrogant. Why they would throw their light weights around the higher-ranking soldier, he didn't know. He would soon find out however. It wasn't just the human's tone that had his slitted blue eyes narrowing, it was a mixture of both the man's arrogance and his sinister smile. What, they wanted to beat down on the Eidisi? It didn't seem as though they were much interested in the Ithecal. As he was to intervene, Sintih asked that Atashi help him. With one of the squires then challenging him as if prompted, how could he decline? Not only did the little man puff out his chest like some sort of toad, but he had the audacity to mock a higher-ranking soldier while doing it.

With his anger bubbling up to the surface inside of him, he hadn't realised he war baring his fangs or rising on his tail. Both actions being tell-tale signs that he was 'unhappy'. "Bare knuckle, or training weapons?" he asked in a grave tone. "What do you think, scales? Both!" Declared the Warrick, most boisterous. Scales? He asked himself, suddenly struck with déjà vu. Re-emerging from less-than-pleasant thoughts, he found himself holding his hammer. 'Looks like someone wants a repeat of Andaris...' taunted the voice in his head as he looked to the hammer, almost completely absorbed for a moment. In a panic, he threw it to the floor, backing up a little having realised what he was doing. His fierce visage faded soon after, calming himself. Looking up from the hammer to the two rather confused-looking squires, he spoke "S-so be it. I won't even need my hammer, I want to give you a chance after all." Sort of the truth.

This wasn't illness, it was guilt. Finally coming to terms with just how bad he can hurt people, he had a responsibility not only for the safety of the innocents, but the safety of his opponents too. Taking his oversized Tower Shield from his back, he looked to Sin and spoke "I will help you, I can't back down from a challenge like this." in a quite tone, not wanting the squires to hear. "But I won't be striking too much, I'll be your shield and you be my sword. We'll have to work together to beat them, those are my conditions." he explained. Before the Eidisi could reply, they set off for the training grounds, leaving his hammer behind.