[PRP-FIN] I'll Make a Troll Outta You [Deimos + "Perore"]

[nepsah]

As swift as the coursing river,
Be a troll,
With all the force of a great typhoon,
Be a troll,
With all the strength of a raging fire,

...Can't I just hit things 'til they die?

 

[nepsah]

Busthind. That one place all the strong trolls lived. Deimos greatly preferred his forest home, but he could see the appeal in living on the mountainside. For one, he probably wouldn't be as scrawny as he was if he lived here. Probably. The trek up the mountain to the city was fairly daunting- if not for Thypion, Dei would've turned around and went home hours ago. He'd come out to the mountain for one reason: to find a weapon to use when he got old enough to really need it. All trolls had 'em. Thypion wouldn't be able to protect him forever after all. He just didn't know what he wanted.

There were just... too many options. The small troll stared at the outside window display of one of the local shops- this one had an array of knives and other blade weapons. Did he want to stab, or slash..? He turned his head to the side, eyes narrowing as he eyed the selection in the other window... Bludgeoning devices... Now that seemed a little more satisfying. He shuffled over to the window to get a better look, hands braced up against it as he leaned in. These looked heavy.. Maybe the blades were a better option. Ugh, why was this so grubbin' difficult?! He sighed in mild frustration, and pushed back from the window to think some more.

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lemme know if i need to add anything!

 

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Forera enjoyed visiting the main city of Busthind. It was a lot different from NHC, that was for sure-- Colder, rougher, but not necessarily badder. It was closer to her hive than the swamp, surprisingly, so when things looked okay outside, Forera would sneak out on occasion, not keep watch. It wasn't like it hurt anything, and they were so deeply nestled in the woods it actually didn't matter. Taking a break now and then didn't hurt!

Especially when it was to build up her weapons supply.

Forera's expression was one of childish excitement when she looked around the area, finding almost all the weapons around her simply fascinating. Old Serpentmom would've replied the same way, before she'd dragged herself into a pit of worry and suffering. Forera tried not to think too much on her. Instead, she allowed herself to be swayed by the music of clashing swords and dripping sweat. Looking at the shop from the outside, she couldn't help but notice a fellow-- Er, unfellow? Tealblood, seeming agonizingly frustrated. Walking up to the kiddo, the 'blueblood' looked at the weapons, looked at him, then shrugged. Couldn't hurt to help, she guessed. "Heya kiddo. Y'need any help?"

nepsah

sorry, short!

 

[nepsah]

Deimos was rather lost in thought, only really paying attention to Thypion's presence off to his side. With his lusus around he'd never really had to consider fighting very much, most things backed off the instant Thypion showed signs of aggression, so this was making things rather difficult. Was it better to fight up close and personal, or at a distance? He doubted he'd be good at long range weapons like guns or crossbows, that required too much focus. He rubbed at one of his eyes, distracting him enough to not notice Thypion moving closer as an older troll approached- at least until they spoke.

He blinked, turning his head to look up at the... blueblood. Okay. He had to be respectful with this person, right? He spared a glance at the store again, then back to the other troll. "Hi." Greeting: complete. He turned to face them entirely, not really sure how to respond to the offer. "Maybe... um...-" another spared glance at the shop, then back to the troll, "between slashing, stabbing, or hitting what's your favorite?" This troll clearly had experience with fighting, so he might as well ask.

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its all gooood mine is short too whoops;;;

 

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Forera's eyebrow raised at his question, finding his question adorable. She almost said something dirty, but he was a wiggler, so she held her tongue and let the amusement fuel her smile instead. "I love all of em, personally, but..." She raised an eyebrow at his scrawny arms, placing both hands on her hips and releasing a loud laugh. "Punchin's m'favorite." Forera showed off her gauntlets, her robot hand clinking as her thumb shifted. "...Thouuuggghh I don't think that'd fit ya too much. I think y'should try em all out before makin' a decision. Fightin's very serious afterall!" Forera chuckled, nodding affirmatively. She had to learn the hard way that shanking someone just wasn't her thing. Pummeling, however? Definitely. "What appeals t'ya so far, kiddo?"

nepsah

(biting)

 

[nepsah]

He blinked again, face scrunching up a little at her booming laugh. Did she need to be so loud? He didn't think his question was a dumb one, after all, didn't people like being asked what their favorite things were? He perked up a little at the sight of her hand, eyes focusing on it for a few seconds until she started speaking again- at which point they snapped to meet hers.

"I know, that's why I came here." He nodded, tone indicating that he thought that was obvious. He chewed his lip a little, eyes sliding back over to the selection for a few moments... and then back to the older troll. "I dunno. Slashing seems boring. Stabbing could be nice..." As nice as fighting was... he paused for another moment, considering... "But hitting stuff seems kinda nice too. Like if it crunches." He grinned a bit- oh yes. Crunching was nice. Very nice. "I gotta practice somethin' so I came here to pick somethin' to use 'cause what's the point in practicin' if you don't got a tool." It wasn't really a question, more of a statement. Sure, he could pick up a stick or something back hive and pretend but that was lame.

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(forera pls)

 

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His defensiveness made her silently chuckle as he continued to explain, clarifying that he thought maybe stabbing would be fun. 'But hitting stuff seems kinda nice too. Like if it crunches.' Forera distinctly remembered a lot of crunch happening under her fist. She remembered a jaw, namely Sascha's, and a few bruised rubs, namely Aerona's it qwas a weird feeling. She didn't want to kill anyone, or at least she thought she didn't, so...

As he finished his last words, Forera nodded understandably, understanding his desire to practice before trying. She rubbed her chin pensively. "Hmm. So like." She looked at the store again before nodding a little. "There're plastic mats inside. Since it's not just a store, y'know." Forera pointed at the trolls in the back, fighting some and seemingly trying out the weapon. Forera giggled. "If ya want, you can try'em on me. I'm real sturdy.*" Forera winked at him. Another joke she could've made here, but she held back, wanting to help some at least. He seemed like an interesting kid. "As long as ya don't try ta like, actually kill me. Cause that would be not cool." If he did she could just easily kill him back. Maybe he was a spy. (Probably not, but y'never knew."

nepsah

(*flexible
im terrible)

 

[nepsah]

He turned to look into the store again- eyes narrowing slightly. There were a lot of older trolls in there- some kids, but mostly older and experienced people trying out stuff they might already know at least a little bit about. Not exactly Deimos's idea of a good place to start- he'd rather hit a tree or something back in the forest where no one was around. "I know. But I'd... ra...rather not." Ha, snuck in a big word there. He looked back to her, expression changing from mildly annoyed (which seemed to be his resting face) to actual, genuine confusion.

"Practice on you?" What kind of adult would let anyone hit them for practice if it wasn't like... an even practice? He blinked a few times, only snapping out of his flurry of thoughts when Thypion nudged him with one head. His lusus was not exactly sure about this. "I don't think I could 'cause you're bigger and more expi--expe--know more than me 'bout fighting 'n stuff." He shrugged. "How do I know you're not just gonna trick me into goin' somewhere 'n cull me? Thypion says adults do that all the time 'cause its easy." He didn't really think this troll would be able to do it though- not while Thypion was around. Clearly his lusus was the best lusus and he wasn't ever in any real danger while he was around. That sense of utmost trust would probably bite him later but he hadn't yet been given a reason to doubt that his lusus could protect him from anything.

This was a unique opportunity- provided it wasn't fake. He'd only asked the question to put Thypion at ease.

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(omg fORERA)

 

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"Whaa, ya scared?" Forera taunted, a knowing smile on her face as her eyes crinkled in response. She blinked at his confusion, finding it weird that he'd think that but then again, new generation, new ideas or someshit. Forera laughed loudly, obviously finding his reactions entertaining. "Hahaha! If I wanted t'kill ya I would'a just done that from the get-go! I'm a simple troll, I don't like all that sneaky-deaky s**t." At least, not now. "I wouldn't cull ya, anyways. Yer adorable, and ya wanna learn howta fight! How could I cull a troll like that? HAHAHA!" She really needed to chill. She was drawing too much attention to herself... "But yeah. I would loveta! It's been'a while since someone's practiced with me. I'm totes up fer this!" She grinned widely, crossing her arms and tilting her head at him slightly. "I'm Perore. Nice t'meet ya, Thypion 'n...? Whassyer name?" Forera asked, quirking an eyebrow at the kid and opening the door to the store. It would look awkward now, if he didn't enter!

nepsah

 

[nepsah]

Deimos immediately frowned, shaking his head at the notion. He wasn't scared he just didn't want to look like a total idiot in front of a bunch of people. "No, 'mnot scared." He rolled his eyes, though realized that was probably a social faux pas and corrected himself to just... stare directly ahead, or something. Something less snarky. "But that'd be dumb, 'cause we're in the middle of town and nevermind--" He cut himself off, maybe he wouldn't do that because of the probability of other people causing a ruckus but obviously others didn't think that way.

He resisted rolling his eyes again- adorable? She sure had a weird idea of what was adorable. "Okay, then I accept." He nodded once in affirmation. Thypion did not seem particularly pleased with this plan, though. The lusus nudged him from behind with one massive paw, though Deimos only turned a bit to gently push it away with a hushed 'you're coming too, relax.' He straightened himself up again, blinking- oh, he'd forgotten the introduction part. Whoops. "Deimos. Its nice to meet you too." He scooted on into the store, then looked around.

"What'd you start with when you were learning?"

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"I'd kill anyone who'd get in m'way." Forera stated plainly, almost emptily. She'd never culled another troll, not intentionally at least, but the thought sat surprisingly well in her thinkpan. Suddenly, her expression went bright at his acceptance, nodding affirmatively. "'Knew ya'dsay yeah. Helllaaa." Forera's shoulders wiggled, feeling happycited and watching him enter the store before moving to walk next to him. His question actually made her think some. "Ahh. Well. I'd train with m'fists, y'see. But then I thought, whatif I had'a tiny knife people didn't think I'd have? And I just started bringin' a scalpel wit'me everywhere n'stuff." She said, walking over to the front desk and tilting a head to one of the training mats. She rubbed her chin at the weapon options and then turned back to him. "But like, I didn't like it too much. Then I lost it n' I couldn't get me another because of some bullshit drama that went down. Now I just don't like'em." Forera shrugged. "It's weird. I dunno. What do y'wanna take?" Forera's asked, jutting a finger at the options.

nepsah

 

[nepsah]

He probably should have felt at least a little more on guard with such a casual statement- but no, Deimos was far more interested in looking at all the shiny and pointy things in the shop. He was half-listening to what she was saying, nodding a little when he felt it was appropriate. Fists. Tiny knife. Not very satisfying. Okay, stabbing was out. Slashing was also kinda lame, at least in theory. He could try it later with a stick or something. Then again slashing weapons could also stab, couldn't they... a two-for-one combination.

He hummed in thought for a moment, then looked back to Perore. "Knifes sound kinda lame so maybe..." He looked around, zeroing in on a simple rod with a fist-sized ball on the end, no longer than his forearm. Now that looked interesting. And, the rod's other end was pointy. "That thing. It looks like it'd make a cool sound." Probably not the best justification for picking a weapon, but despite all his affection for logical decision making, in the end he just had to go with what seemed the most satisfying. "And, maybe if you hit right, stuff would not bother you again so that's ideal." Of course he seemed rather oblivious to the fact that he was not built to hit hard just yet, being a scrawny little scrap of a troll at the current time.

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Forera raised an eyebrow. "I mean, not all knives suck, y'know." She shrugged. "I know how t'use 'em, cause like, huntin' n'stuff. But it's kinda like a copout, I guess? Not real fightin'. Y'stab someone and it's like, oops, ow, I'm dead!" Forera's hands lifted, expression dull as her hands shook a little in a way that could only be described as jazz hands. "It's no fun, y'know? But like, it does it's job. I guess." Forera blew a spare strand of hair away from her goggles before arching an eyebrow at him and chuckling. "Ifff yer sure ya can cull with that weapon, go for it. Ya can take more than one, since yer like, tryin' 'n s**t." Forera giggled, a half smile on her face as she crossed her arms.

nepsah

 

[nepsah]

"You go hunting?" He looked back at Perore and tilted his head curiously. Thypion wouldn't let him join whenever he went hunting... It was "too dangerous" and he might "get lost" or something. He snorted, eventually giggling a little at her animated yet lackluster display. "I guess then maybe it'd be good to have as a back up, but if you're gonna fight why not really do it?" For a kid with zero experience doing the actual act, he'd certainly formed some opinions on the matter.

He shuffled over to the weapon and picked it up. It was... heavy, but felt good in his hand. But, like Perore mentioned, he was trying things out so maybe he should get a knife. "Okay then. I guess that's a good way to do stuff." He shrugged, wandering over to a collection of knives... then picked one up, decided it didn't feel quite right... put it down, picked up another... yes. Much better. ".... I only have two hands though so I guess this is good for now." He squinted a little and looked back at Perore. "What do you think?"

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Forera blinked. "Yea, fer animals. Not trolls." She laughed nervously. She had one too many experiences with trolls being hunted. "Cause like. Y'don't really got the luxury to buy yer own food here. The mountains are like, totally barren." Or at least, that was her cover. She'd learned to hunt food for the swamp, and she guessed those in the mountains had similar circumstances. She cracked a smile at his giggle, rubbing her nose a little before her smile stretched into a full out grin. "Yeah! Yeah. That's how I think! It's good t'be noble n' fight someone with all y'got. Unless they're not worth a good, wholesome fight. Then y'gotta fight dirty with'em." She shrugged, watching him head to the weapons rack and pick up a knife, leave it, and pick up another one. "Yeah, that looks good fer ya. Tiiinnnyyyy tot." Forera snickered, patting his head, though her grip was unintentionally too firm. She raised a brow before heading to her place on the practice mat. "Awright. Letsee what'cha got!" Forera exclaimed, ready for a good fight.

nepsah