[BATT] Confessional (Byakko + Cerpin)

[Yamashii]

if you had a secret
you bet i would keep it!

 

[Yamashii]

Outside of Byakko's hive, a tall troll sat lazily on a rope ladder, swaying back and forth like a swing. He had been waiting twenty minutes for the leader of the rebellion to come home from who knows where. It was typical for Cerpin to have no clue what the mutantblood was doing. Which was why he was here. That peculiar tuft of hair came into view around a corner and he called out to her.

"There you are. I did you a favor while you were out by the way. I redecorated the walls of your hive." Trolls like Tevini and Byakko were a lot of fun to tease and mess with. He hadn't actually been here long enough to do anything besides put up a poster from Autumn's stint during the Superstar Authority show but Byakko wouldn't know that until she went inside. And she wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon.

"I need to talk to you. It's about Tevini." He hopped off of his makeshift swing and pointed at her with a hint of a frown. "Are you hiding her here in the swamp somewhere? I can't find her anywhere. If I beat you in a fight, you have to tell me where she is. There's no way she didn't tell you." Tevini was not a friendly troll. There were very few people she would confide in. Cerpin was sure that Byakko was one of the rare few to make that list.

"We can turn it into a game even! If I land a hit on you, you have to answer a question!" He grinned, mischief starting to churn in his head. Maybe this was a good chance to learn more about his mysterious leader. Everything about her was a far cry from what he had grown up learning from Alternian culture.

"Deal?"

melona-pan

feel free to start up the fight in your post! Just wanted to set the scene first in mine >: 3 cerpin would nod in agreement if she requested he follow the same rules of hit = answer!

 

[melona-pan]

"Cerpin." Byakko nodded in greeting. Her forearms were slathered in deep red blood- in each of her fists, she carried a dead hopbeast. Evidently, the leader of the rebellion had been out catching dinner.

She hadn't much one on one interaction with the highblood. It was something she meant to remedy, especially when it concerned rebels who joined the Initiative at a young age. The sting of Kursha's betrayal and her inability to sense it coming or prevent it was still sharp as ever. It had been some time since she had spoken with Cerpin, and certainly not since the ordeal Tevini had informed her about; despite what may have appeared outwardly, she was glad to see him.

Her brows furrowed at the comment about her hive's walls, but she merely tilted her head as he continued with his proposal. Akko was certain he wasn't impish enough to do anything outlandish to her hive of all places, but the mild concern she wore on her face was clear. It melted away into her usual deadpan expression by the time he had finished speaking.

"If she didn't inform you where she would be, the safe assumption is that she doesn't wish to be found." Breaking her stare on the purpleblood, Byakko reached for a length of rope and began working on tying the hopbeast's legs together. "I do not have time to be meddling with anyone's personal affairs. I'm not hiding her, and I do not appreciate the accusation." Slinging the rope over a lowhanging branch, she hoisted her catch up, tying the rope off around the tree's trunk. Akko poked at them a bit, checking that they would bleed out properly. Satisfied, she turned back to face Cerpin. "But I can confirm I'm aware of her current situation, and assure you that if I didn't there would be an appropriate response." She wiped her hands off on the skirt of her robes.

"Now I want to be clear- I don't have to do anything because you say so. But I find your persistence... admirable." Familiarly so. Byakko swallowed back the flash of grief she refused to acknowledge, and continued without skipping so much as a beat. "I believe in taking action, which you're attempting. So I'll humor you. A hit for a question- I hit you, you answer one of mine, too. If you win, I'll tell you what I know. But what if I win?"

She crossed her arms over her chest expectantly. "We're all about equality here, after all."

Yamashii

sorry cerp gotta offer a bit more than that
feel free to start the battle in ur post unless the flow isn't right LOL

 

[Yamashii]

Cerpin

HP: 20/20
Damage: 3

So she did know where Tevini was. That was good information, even if he didn't manage to wrestle it out of her later. The redblood had come through the swamp at some point which meant she might come through again. He raised an eyebrow at Byakko's claim of staying out of personal affairs. He wondered how much of it was true. In a small community like this, it was practically impossible not to affect each other's lives.

"Aight, I see what's going on. If you manage to beat me... I'll watch your kids for a week. You can spend all the nights in one go or split em up as you like." It was a risky deal considering Cerpin had no idea how to care for children (or how to do so in an obnoxious setting like a swamp surrounded by daywalkers and swampbeasts) but he felt it made for an even wager. All he had to do was win, after all. Then he didn't have to worry about keeping that crybaby Cynril from eating squeakbeast poison.

"Good? Good." The purpleblood smirked, not really giving Byakko a chance to dispute or reject his offer. He unsheathed his blade and fell into the stance Keionx had corrected about sixty times in their training together. It was about time he tried it out on a high ranking officer in the rebellion to see how he'd improved.

"Alright, let's dance-!" He charged at her head on, raising his blade to prepare for a strike before switching to a slide tackle last minute. Misdirection was one of the few tactics that he was good at pulling off as he was neither stealthy or fast with a swing. His weapon was too heavy to hit quickly and thus he relied on physical strikes from his body comboed with his sword.

"Out of all your wigglers, which one's your favorite?" His eyes twinkled with mischief, knowing it would be a hard choice to make. But hey, that was the point of the game! Asking difficult questions would make it harder for her to concentrate on hitting him back.

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Quote:

Akko dealt 4 dmg.

HP: 17/20

"A whole week?" Akko blinked. Did he understand what he was getting himself into, supervising three young trolls? A slight upturn tugged at the corners of her lips. A whole seven nights. They'd be safe*, staying within the swamp- and Byakko would get some much needed alone time. "Well, now you have my full attention."

Cerpin's advance was sudden, and while she had expected it, she had been far too busy focused on his blade and not enough on his footwork. "Nnf-" Byakko slid backward in the mud with the force of his tackle, arms crossed over her torso to sheild herself. When Cerpin drew back and asked his first question, her body locked. She outright recoiled. Her eyes widened, arms dropped limply to her sides, and lips parted far and long enough that one could describe it as a 'gawk'.

"W-what?" Taken aback by the sheer audacity of his question, Byakko's stony demeanor was momentarily shattered. Her thinkpan stalled. "I-" Slamming her jaw shut when the shock subsided and outrage returned, Akko clenched her teeth and exhaled slowly. Her fingers curled into her palms, then relaxed. That's how he wanted to play this game, then? Well, she could play fastball.

"I don't have any quadrants filled, and I've never touched a bucket in my life. I don't have any genetic offspring," Byakko shrugged. "Maybe you meant the wrigglers in the Initiative, or the literal wrigglers in the cavern, or perhaps my mutantblood brethren," she gave him a pointed look, "Well- I just can't discern your meaning. I suppose you're going to have to strike me again and rephrase your question if you're not satisfied."

"But first-" The kanabō she usually fought with was above them, in her hive. Drawing a small blade of her own- one she used for hunting and cutting rope- Akko leaped forward and wound her arm up for an overarm attack. At the last moment she froze her arm midair, defending her face, and instead bounding off one foot and kicked him swiftly in the gut.

Hopping backward, she settled. "My turn. Why do you think Tevini left Salamire? Be honest, now." She very well knew, and figured he'd dodge a proper answer as she had, but Byakko wanted to test the honesty waters. If he was willing to play nice, maybe she would, too.

*probably. hopefully.

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

Cerpin

HP: 16/20
Damage: 3

"Come now, boss, you can't expect that answer to fly!" Cerpin laughed in amusement at her carefully worded response. She had expertly deflected his question and was doing a decent job dodging dangerous blows from his sword as well. He hopped backwards as she unsheathed a knife and leaped into the air with the blade aimed downwards. The switch to a kick to the gut was unexpected and knocked the wind out of him as he crumpled forward while clutching the point of impact.

"She left because of a misunderstanding. We confessed different feelings for each other. She ran away before we could talk about it!" Cerpin's normally cocky and sly face had been replaced by an awkward irritable frown at having to answer the question. It was not a fond memory of his and was the current source of most of his frustrations. He sidestepped around the woman and slashed at her from behind. Unfortunately he only managed to cut up the backside of her cloak but hey, nice view of the underneath.

"So next question. What happened to your boyfriend Zeff?" He ducked to dodge any attacks aimed at him as he re-positioned himself, "I haven't seen him around in a long time." Was the blueblood out on a special mission? Or had Cerpin magically missed the guy every single time he'd visited the swamp? It was certainly a possibility. He grabbed a fistful of grass and rock from the gross swampy ground and threw it at her. He wasn't above fighting dirty. Literally.

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Quote:

Akko dealt 0 dmg.

HP: 14/20

Cerpin's next question hit Byakko like a brick upside the head.

At first, she seemed almost stunned- frozen like stone, with a wide eyed expression painted across her face. The rock Cerpin had thrown whizzed past her head, barely missing, but a spray of mud splashed against her cheek. She didn't flinch. Akko knew that if Zeffer had still been with them, she would have immediately and vehemently denied the 'boyfriend' comment. Instead, her eyes hooded and slipped down to lock on Cerpin's feet.

She was used to death. Used to being alone. Accustomed, even. It was what her world had been while lost in the caverns, until Trolldad stumbled upon her by chance. Even he had only been able to give her a few sweeps of bittersweet memories before he left on a mission and never came back. Practically all the surviving older rebels had died at some point under her watch. Everyone she knew as a wriggler, gone. Everyone she ever cared about, dead. She wasn't naive- it came with the territory of being a mutantblood in a rebel faction. What Byakko didn't know, however, is how she managed to trick herself into thinking Zeffer would end up any differently. Perhaps because they kept finding one another through tremendous odds, escaping death and the military time and time again, always pulling through. Always ending up together again. She thought they were invincible.

They weren't.

Byakko stomached her sorrow the best she could, concentrating instead on forcing a steady, impenetrable stare aimed back up at Cerpin. Her face remained hard, effectively expressionless, but her eyes seemed almost cloudy and lacked the peircing quality that was so characteristic of her.


"He..." her voice cracked, betraying her. No, no, hold it together. While the aching in her chest had never quite faded, stirring up these thoughts returned the waves of grief at full force, threatening to crash down her carefully contructed dams. Akko could feel her throat tightening around the next word. She swallowed and tried again, forcing them out.
"Zeffer's dead."

Yamashii

 

[Yamashii]

Cerpin

HP: 16/20
Damage: 1

Cerpin stopped in his tracks, eyes watching Byakko with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Zeffer was... dead? It didn't seem possible. He remembered looking up at the blueblood when he was smaller and marveling at the scars painted across his beat up muscular frame. He had seemed invincible as if he could weather anything. But she stood in front of him, a storm threatening to burst out of her eyes and he knew this couldn't be a joke.

He grabbed a hold of her wrist, pulling her into a rough hug. Cerpin knocked on the back of her head lightly to land a 'hit'.

"Hey. Are you okay? Be honest." He was impressed with her ability to remain stone faced and collected despite the initial pain that had flashed across her features. He could not imagine the life Byakko led and the stress that came with it. Growing up a mutantblood in a rebellion without a typical lusus, shouldering the leadership after the passing of the previous leader... betrayal by someone she had trusted and now the death of her partner.

It sort of put his own problems in a different perspective.

"He was a good man." He mumbled, partially for her and partially for himself. Grieving was painful and hard.

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

dramallama dramallama dramallama