[Round 2] Cavelieran vs. Dmitri

[rii]

Cavelieran vs. Dmitri

Round Starter: Cavelieran

[Tashe]

Cavelieran was still in a state of shock, unable to process that he had actually won the first round, and was now about to go up again. Not only go again, but go first. Now, he really did want to throw up. Fianne, the lovely creature that she was, was the only thing preventing him from actually doing so. Her melodious chirps and coos were soothing, and although she was slightly confused as to why Her's was acting so silly, she sent him waves of encouragement. Though it only made a little dent in how he felt. The Journeyman had seen Dmitri and the girl he had gone up against spin their tale, and realized now that going to see it had been a poor choice. He was convinced that the Wherling's level of story weaving was a caliber above his own, and that he had very little chance of winning again. He knew he was being hard on himself, but he couldn't help it. He wasn't normally required to stand in front of a bunch of people and pluck words out of thin air. His nerves were much better when it came to memorizing lines from a small bundle of hides.

Breathe. In and out. In and out. "Unngh." He still felt queasy, but it was time to start, the person in charge was giving him a thumbs up. The universal signal for both you're up and good luck. Standing up Cavelieran flexed his hands and then stretched his back, trying to lose some of the tension that was building up across his shoulders. He was still uncertain as to why he had allowed his cousin to pick out his costume for this round, although he was grateful that Nautic hadn't done anything too outlandish. It was unusual. The tunic was a dark teal color with a high collar and long sleeves, silver embroidery encircled his cuffs and collar as well as the hem of the tunic. Shorter in the front, the tunic fell to his hips while down his sides and in the back it fell to the middle of his knees. The silver figures were of course of Dolphins playing in the surf. The tunic was worn over a pair of black slacks that were tucked into calf high boots. A silver sash with a black trim was tied around his waist to tie the colors together.

He reminded himself that he was going to kill Nautic later. The Dolphineer hadn't worn this outfit since he had accepted the Journeyman knots. In a nut shell, he hated the outfit. It was too formal for anything but what he had bought it for. Though for some crazy reason, the Wherling had thought it fit for him to wear now of all times. Plus, the collar made his throat itch and he wasn't used to the feeling of sleeves anymore. Stepping out onto the stage, Cavelieran smiled slightly as his Firelizard launched herself off of his shoulder and made a swooping circle over the audience who had gathered. Many of the faces he knew, but there were an equal if not more amount of faces he didn't. He was glad that Rukbat had finally come out of hiding, he much preferred her over the clouds. Pacing up to the railing he leaned against it, shifting only slightly as Fianne took her place on his shoulder.

"Listen now, and listen well. For I have a story to tell." He began. "Its one close to home, for us here at Blossom. Its a story about a girl named Melis." He heard a chuckle run through the audience as they recognized the shortened name, and hoped to Faranath that his Master would forgive him for using it (or rather forgive him for using her as a child for a character) in the story. He was prepared to face any punishments that might ensue though, which was the reason he continued. "I bring you back now, to a time when the Dolphinhall was not well liked. So bear with me my friends, as I spin my tale. Now, as most of you know, there was a time when people came to hate our little Hold because of our aquatic friends and their handlers. They had refused to help the fighting and because of it were punished. This is a story about an attack one fateful night."

"She had golden hair that was as wavy and eyes that were as blue as the lake itself. Melis was an apprentice at our very own Dolphin hall, and she was a good one at that. She bonded to a Dolphin Kliki, " He changed up the name a little. "and their training progressed wonderfully. " Crossing his arms he continued. "The day started out like any other autumn day. The leaves of the trees were already dark shades of brown, and the wind had picked up a chilly pinch to it. But the sun was out, and it was warm despite the late afternoon breeze. Melis was wishing Kliki a fair dinner, for they had just finished their daily training. There was a few hours before she had to return to the Hall, so she struck out along the lake. Taking the paths she had so often seen her teachers take. It wasn't long before she lost track of the time, and forgotten how far she had been intending to go. The lake, in all its beauty had distracted her as she walked."

Stepping backward from the rail, he put a finger to his face and tapped it in thought. "It was growing dark by the time she realized she had gone to far. Traveling by the edge of the lake at night without a lamp was dangerous, even for an apprentice Dolphineer. But was she willing to risk it to get back to the Hall? She knew that there was a waystation not to far up the path, a place where Journeymen stayed when stationed far from the hall. Deciding it was better to stay at the Waystation than risk the walk, Melis used her bells to call the nearest Dolphin. A few moments later a Pink head breached the surface and swam over. Leaving only after Melis gave her a letter for the Hall." He glanced over at Dmitri. "There was still light in the sky when she reached the Waystation, so, she decided to explore a little more before setting down for the night..."

[Requiem]

There was something to be said for being slender almost to the point of being thin. It allowed Dmitri to stand, unnoticed, leaning up against a pole while waiting for the competition to begin. It was more formal than his first one...he'd only really joined on a whim, because it seemed like fun. Not that he protested a competition, mind you, but that hadn't been the initial intention. (He'd really enjoyed his story with Erilena, and was wondering if maybe she wouldn't want to do it with him again. Informally, of course. A shame they couldn't go on as a team. She was definitely more attractive than his current opponent, though that could well be because he was biased toward females.)

Actually, this dolphineer was nearly the same build and height as Dmitri...a bit larger and more muscular, and his face wasn't quite so feminine - nor did he have a head of curls that were ridiculously long - but in general it was pretty close. Not at all attractive, then. (Dmitri wasn't too impressed with his own looks. Then again, he didn't look bad in the white shirt and trousers with the blue sleeveless tunic belted over it that matched the clothing of the rest of the harpers who would be performing later this evening. He'd even tied his hair back at the nape, though it still flared in a mass of curls and danced whenever a strong gust blew though.)

Slipping around the column as Cavelieran began and all attention was on him, Dmitri still lounged casually, listening and watching the man's expressions. Hm. He had absolutely no knowledge of Southern history, especially as it related to Blossom Hold and dolphineers. (To be truthful, he didn't even know what dolphins were like.) The older man certainly hadn't made it easy on a native northerner, now had he? Well, there was nothing for it. If he didn't know, he didn't know.

"The light played off the leaves," he picked up with deceptive softness, his voice projecting easily. "And the wind stirred playfully. It was a truly lovely evening for our adventurous Melis. As with many young women in the hour of dusking, her mind went to dreams and romances, of future great deeds and gentle, murmuring lips." He slipped upwards fluidly, moving for the front of the stage, his hair blown gently by a wind similar to the one he described. Coming to lean against the railing just far enough away that the hair didn't quite touch Cavelieran, he rested his chin on his crossed arms. "So captivated was she by her own fantasy world, far from the humdrum of routine - though she loved her dolphin, training still could become tedious - that she didn't notice dusk had crept into evening, bringing with it a stillness that was only on the surface peaceful."

He let that statement hang in the air for a moment, weighty. "It was quiet, you see, but not the quiet that promotes ease of spirit. There was a crackling expectancy on the air, and all creatures seemed to hush in anticipation of it. Even the wind didn't stir the leaves. There were noises, here and there, cracks that followed no pattern, rustlings that were more a suggestion than anything properly discerned by the ear. As she became aware that her mind had drifted, an uneasiness stole upon her."

Straightening, then, Dmitri began to walk the front of the stage, skirting around Cavelieran with a trailing touch. "Something drew her eye," he commented, his words still quiet, forcing the audience into utter silence. "A shadow on a shadow." He stopped just to one side and behind the dolphineer, capitalizing on their similar appearance. "No, not quite." And he moved again, the wind carrying his hair around Cavelieran. No one ever said Dmitri didn't know how to use what tools came to hand. "A light on the water, lurid and dark. She moved toward the edge of the lake, unbelieving, staring at the phantom of light as the night deepened and a queer, unfamiliar sound - yet faint - replaced the utter stillness."

Stopping on the other side of the dolphineer, he brushed a hand through the hair on that side of his face, wrapping it around to the other side to remove it from the other man's way. "It was fire that danced on the water - or the reflection of fire, licking at the heights of Dolphinhall." He nodded slightly to Cavelieran.

[Tashe]

His eyes tracked the younger man as he moved across the stage, slipping immediately into the story as if it really had been scripted. If he wasn't nervous enough to melt through the cracks in the wood, Cavelieran would have found it amusing that they matched. If he could, he would also have been slightly envious of the way the boy stepped surely up to the rail, no trace of stage fright to speak of. He took cues from the Wherling's story, watching and shifting in what he thought was the best place to do so. Crossing his arms behind his back, the Journeyman stood in loose Attention, his eyes lidding half way as even he began to imagine what it would be like to see the DolphinHall going up in flames. It wasn't a pretty picture that the other boy had begun to paint. Yet he spun it well.

"And then it reached her ears, the harsh tolling of the Emergency Bell, now made soft by the distance." Moving slowly, he pulled one of his own bells out of its leather home lifting it so the crowd could see. It was the larger of the two, silver and newly polished and as he flicked his wrist, it sounded gently. But the way he twisted the bell in a pattern made a mournful tolling. Lowering his hand, Cavelieran settled his gaze on the audience as he continued the mock distress call (not wanting to do the correct one, lest it was mistaken for a true emergency). "Her brain wanted her to move, but her body didn't let her. Melis stood rooted to the spot as the chiming of the Bell washed over her." A pause. "How could the Hall be on fire? Had an Apprentice knocked over a candle? Or... or was it another attack? But as she stood listening, Melis realized she too had a bell. Small and quiet compared to the one at the hall, but still a bell. Shedding her tunic in favor of the light vest she wore under neath, the Apprentice ran back to the Waystation as quickly as she could."

He put a hand on Dmitri's shoulder and turned, as if he had been telling the story to him instead of the audience. "You see, there is a balcony that extends out over the Lake at each waystation, its there that a person can simply just dive in." He patted Dmirti before walking to the edge of the stage. "That is where she rang her bell." Lifting his own, he paused the story long enough to ring his own personal Dolphin call. The one he used to call Raidy to him when it was time to train. Though, no one but the very few Dolphineers in the audience would know. "Twice, three times she rang for Klikki. And when she had lost all hope that her Dolphin was near by, that she hadn't gone to answer the distress call, a high pitched trill came from her right. It was her partner, her friend. She must have been passing by to answer the emergency bell when Melis had rung her own." He used his other hand to cup the bell, silencing it.

"And so she jumped, bracing herself for the chill of the water and the night that cooled it. Melis broke the surface and struck out to meet her Dolphin, latching onto Klikki's back fin so that she could be towed." Replacing the bell with one hand, he switched his other hand so that it moved in a flat arch before him. "But as they moved through the dark, our young duo reduced their speed as they saw dark forms bobbing in the water before them. There shouldn't be boats that small near the middle of the lake at this hour of the night. Melis turned to Klikki, asking the small female to observe from a closer vantage. Releasing the Dolphin, she treaded water. Waiting for the Dolphin to come back. Minutes passed, but Klikki emerged next to her. There were men in the boats, all dressed in black..." He stepped back and inclined his head toward Dmitri. His turn.

[Requiem]

The bell was a nice touch, but his brow still rose in clear disapproval at the touch. This dolphineer was a stranger, and not a pretty female (they were allowed to touch Dmitri as much as they wanted, within reason). Normally he would have brushed the hand off, but it didn't fit in the yarn they were spinning, so he settled for radiating prickly haughtiness instead.

"A troupe of players, it turns out, practicing for a funeral farce (complete with bereaved widow played by an unfortunately stocky and middle-aged man) while they waited for rescue. They had no earthly idea, you see, how to handle a boat and had become quite stranded on the lake, though why no one had noticed them yet with the dolphins nearby was mildly distressing. They had an appointment on the morrow and it would be ever so inconvenient to remain floating on the lake all night, wouldn't it?" His tone had taken on a dry edge at the slightly ridiculous turn of the tale. Wouldn't do to be too predictable, though...especially since there was still a good bit of story left to go.

"Certainly not the evil men Melis had feared they might be, but it did tell her a few things. Namely, that whatever was taking place at Dolphin Hall had been for some time, that the distress of the traveling players wasn't noticed. A distress that was becoming more serious, as it seemed one of the boats was taking water quickly. The players were in a right good uproar, crying out in the hopes that their voices might be heard and rocking the boat so terribly it threatened to capsize at any moment. One was wailing that he couldn't swim, while the 'widow' tugged off his dress and boots so as not to be dragged to the bottom. Yet, in the distance, the fire still raged, and the emergency bells still tolled."

The harper began to pace, the easy grace adding to the illusion of a woman's indecision. He paused at one end of the stage. "Now she had a dilemna, did Melis. Dolphin Hall was her home." Resuming his motion, he let his hand drag along the railing. Nearing the center again, he continued, "But could she really leave these poor people to the lake and a possible drowning? What was the right thing to do?" Reaching the other end of the stage, he turned his gaze full on the crowd, voice dropping with the forbidden wickedness of his next statement. "They hadn't seen her. No one else knew they were there. If she left them there to go help the others at the Hall, who would know? They would have been dead, anyway, if she hadn't stumbled upon them."

Whirling, he returned to the center, tugging at his hair. "What was she to do?" Continuing forward, he nudged at the dolphineer's foot so that the man could move center stage as he passed and pick it up from there, Dmitri leaning bonelessly against the rail to one side.

[rii]

Winner due a voluntary withdrawal:

Dmitri.