The shadows were still concealing her as the speech ended. Nurina sighed as she stepped away from the belltower and ascended the great church with ease. It wasn’t nervousness that had suddenly overcome her… it was something else. Her heart was beating quickly and her breathing was faster. As a sniper, one could easily control there breathing and heart rate but not this time. She now knew what that feeling was… liberation! It was the moment in which she would finally be able to pierce the heart of those blasphemous Nomeni and she darted towards the army enlistment station. When she arrived, one of the members of the Sancti guard was waiting for her. “Applications for being a nurse are located at the other end of the courtyard” he said as he dismissed her.
Nurina stares coldly up at the guard. "Nurse?" she growls."I didn't come here to be a nurse, you fool. I came to fight." In a flash, her crossbow is in her hand, pressed against the man's abdomen. Still panting a little from her previous exertion, she says, "Would you like to see my accuracy from this range?"
She glances behind her at the line of people waiting to enlist. "I'm sure you must be very busy right now, so just tell me where the snipers go and I'll be off."
"A sniper?" he scoffed, "you may have a fine crossbow but it looks like it would shatter your arm if you fired it." Others were wary of the spectacle, but didn't seem to take notice. Either they were too busy doing their own thing or they figured that the guard could take care of himself.
"Oh really?" Nurina glances down at her own arm. Nothing wrong there, she thinks. With one movement, she pulls back her arm and rams the crossbow head into the guard's abdomen, then pulls it up to point under his chin. "You willing to bet?"
Just saying, she's using her hand crossbow in her left hand. Left-handed, you see, and her hand crossbow is the only one she can reach in so short a time.
Several members of the guard rushed to the spot but the one who Nurina was talking to put up his hand, instructing them to stop. "I'm fine" he said, as he moved his jaw carefully to avoid the crossbow tucked underneath his mandible. The other guards slowly and carefully withdrew and took other applications.
"Impressive agility for such a fair creature" he said, trying to sound unshaken as he stroked her cheek in a taunting fashion, "but that doesn't make you a sniper". In a blink he pulled himself back, took off his helmet and hurled it into the air across the courtyard. "Shoot it" he commanded.
IC: Nurina, seeing the helmet fly through the air, quickly takes action. Plunging her free hand into her pocket, she pulls out a small scope and clips it on. Sighting the falling helmet, aiming down a little to compensate, she pulls the trigger.
The bolt flies through the air, unwavering, and lands with a satisfying clink. Nurina couldn't help but beam with the pleasure of a 'kill', she practised shooting targets on a regular basis and this was no exception. If he meant to test her skills, he would have to try harder than that.
Nurina turns back to the guard. "Does this?" She detaches the scope and puts it back into her pocket. "Or would you like me to try again? You look like you have a lot of armour that you could use."
The grin on her face slowly subsided as she realized that the guard was also smiling. Nurina became aware of something pressing against her abdomen and looked down to see the blunt end of a knife pressed against her. She tried not to show her fear as she realized that it could have just as easily been the sharp end of the knife.
"Not only are you agile and fair, but you also have a good shot" said the guard with a now straight face as he sheathed his blade, "unfortunately, you lack the final quality of a great sniper. Awareness."
Nurina's face turns furious, but she bites her lip and says nothing. Finally, she can stand it no longer. "Well, my awareness is the least of your worries! I doubt that you're that great a guard either!" she snaps at the guard. "Now will you tell me where to go or not?"
"Ah, your fury makes you blind" lectured the guard. He removed one of his gauntlets and showed her a marking. It was that of Sancti royalty, a line of blood that became more and more diluted with each generation. The royal bloodline were the strongest fighters and were the unofficial protectorate of the Immortalis. With a somewhat condemning but instructive tone, he told her, "Do not underestimate any person, friend or foe, because in battle any mistake will kill you swifter than any enemy. If you're willing to accept that, follow me."
Upon seeing the marking, Nurina's anger instantly vanishes, only to be replaced by a sense of horror. I almost got into a fight with a member of the royalty! I could have died then and there! Speaking slowly, almost hesitantly, she says, "I-I apologize for my previous outburst. I understand what you're trying to teach me." Almost meekly, she starts to follow the man.
It's all an act thought the guard to himself, the whole bravado thing is just to test them.
Of course, he would never let them know that. If he had learnt anything from his pupils it was that your own weaknesses would haunt you in the end. He peered over his shoulder and looked at her, "so does this feisty trigger-happy maiden have a name?"
"My name is Nurina. And I would appreciate it if you didn't make any more jokes about my height, or my skin colour." Her voice is back to her usual surly tone.
The reply was smug, "I'll try to refrain, but it's not like you can do very much to stop me". He led her into the enormous church where she had been many times before. As they entered he nodded to another guard on the other side of the foyer and two massive sweeping doors opened to reveal a very long hallway, one that Nurina had only glanced in a few times and had never stepped foot in.
"Nor should you have" he stated in a subtly vehement unequivocal way, "unless you have friends in high places, I don't see why you would have. This is where the highest ranking members of the guard reside. Consider yourself lucky to be here."
Again, Nurina lets the veiled insult pass, although inside she is seething in frustration. "And why have you brought me here? This doesn't seem like a place that rank-and-file soldiers would stay in, I'm sure." After a pause, she adds, "I don't think I should consider myself lucky if all we're doing is walking along a hallway."
He stopped abruptly before a large oak door with the royal marking on it in a golden metal. "I was bringing you to my sleeping quarters. I do hope you don't mind" boasted the guard as he pushed open the door with less effort that it should have taken.
The room was large but not as extravagant as Nurina would have presumed. Fragments of broken shields adorned the walls and shards of swords were placed in cases in a closet. There was a large bed in the corner of the room underneath a window with a red cloth hung over it. He prompted her, "Please come in."
She enters the room suspiciously. "Why did you bring me here?" She stares at him, gesturing to the shattered shields adorning the walls. "Showing me evidence of your blacksmith's incompetence?"
"Those are just keepsakes of when I pushed myself to the limit. A warrior's spirit is held within what he carries and those few instances were when I pushed my spirit and my steel to beyond their limits" he was moving toward her as he told her his story. "When your weapon shatters, it is natural to look for something stronger and with greater limits. The same can be said for your spirit." The guard was now right in front of Nurina. She hadn't had a very good look at him since he hurled his helmet and now that he was close, she noticed that he was young. He spoke with the tongue of an elder, but he couldn't have been any older than she was. He reached out and pulled her in, "and why do you think I brought you here?"
Nurina returns the gaze back up at the guard. "That's not an answer, you know. Granted, you don't look like the sort that... and what's with your voice?" She sounds curious, but her face is still the same expression it was a few minutes before. She pushes her way in, past the guard. "Well, I think... oh, I don't know. You tell me. By the way, you haven't given your name."
Nurina steps forward, putting her within arm's reach of Coliveri. "Well, Coliveri, I don't know what I'm doing here, but I should think that I'd rather be out on the practice range than be doing whatever it is you have planned for me here." She sticks her hands in her pockets.
Once again, he pulled her in. "We will get there soon enough" he stated assuringly, "however, you have one more test before you can train with the others. This test is a little bit more... personal."
He grabbed her hands from out of her pockets and leaned in so that his mouth was next to her ear. "Do you trust me?"
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She glances behind her at the line of people waiting to enlist. "I'm sure you must be very busy right now, so just tell me where the snipers go and I'll be off."
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Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
"Impressive agility for such a fair creature" he said, trying to sound unshaken as he stroked her cheek in a taunting fashion, "but that doesn't make you a sniper". In a blink he pulled himself back, took off his helmet and hurled it into the air across the courtyard. "Shoot it" he commanded.
OOC: I understand. He's just a chauvinist is all
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IC: Nurina, seeing the helmet fly through the air, quickly takes action. Plunging her free hand into her pocket, she pulls out a small scope and clips it on. Sighting the falling helmet, aiming down a little to compensate, she pulls the trigger.
OOC: Rolls? Or not?
OOC: No rolls. Just straight up story-style.
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Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
"Not only are you agile and fair, but you also have a good shot" said the guard with a now straight face as he sheathed his blade, "unfortunately, you lack the final quality of a great sniper. Awareness."
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
Of course, he would never let them know that. If he had learnt anything from his pupils it was that your own weaknesses would haunt you in the end. He peered over his shoulder and looked at her, "so does this feisty trigger-happy maiden have a name?"
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
The room was large but not as extravagant as Nurina would have presumed. Fragments of broken shields adorned the walls and shards of swords were placed in cases in a closet. There was a large bed in the corner of the room underneath a window with a red cloth hung over it. He prompted her, "Please come in."
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226
He grabbed her hands from out of her pockets and leaned in so that his mouth was next to her ear. "Do you trust me?"
[Left Play Designs][Coffeehouse][DeviantArt]
Winner MTGS Weekly Sig/Banner Contest
Weeks: 37/85/87/94/135/159/160/226