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Post by taartoq on Sept 1, 2008 14:08:13 GMT -5
Though he was fully aware of his surroundings, Taartoq rolled up that first scroll carefully and diligently. Then, setting it back in the buckskin sack by his side, he started on the next scroll in line immediately after. Though he initially felt indifferent toward his duties as archivist, he now took pride in his work and never allowed himself to slip. He would check for every imperfection, each fold corrected, each crease straightened. Even though his skin-tight gloves, his fingers moved deftly, with grace and dexterity.
The girl's taunt was thoroughly ignored, to the point where Taartoq didn't return a single word, hum, or nod. He would let it die slowly, and leave it to be forgotten. Besides, if she and the boy were about to bombard each other with snowballs, starting an argument would only delay their silly game. At that point, Taartoq knew there was no reason whatsoever to anger them. He would have been happy if they ignored him for the present time. It looked like Taartoq would get his wish.
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Post by aden on Sept 1, 2008 20:34:40 GMT -5
A slight smile creased Aden's lips when he heard Desna's crack at the archivist, but he soon replaced that smile with a look of battle-ready determination. Within moments, Desna ducked down behind her fort and began raining a flurry of snowballs.
The first came at him directly, and Aden merely turned and stepped aside to let it pass. A second followed, and he turned and stepped back toward the other way. Then came a third, and he managed to lean asidefar enough to just barely let it graze past his shoulder.
On the fourth snowball, however, he straightened up and stepped to the side, but accidentally managed to put himself right in line to get hit. He readjusted himself as quickly as he could, and swept his right hand up in front of him with his palm flat. With a subtle bit of bending, he deflected the snowball's path over his shoulder and behind him, where he then reached back with his left hand and mentally grasped at the missile. Aden spared a glance back at the slowing projectile to make sure he had a good hold of it, and then slung his left arm forward.
The snowball reversed direction in midair and shot toward Desna with decent speed. Aden held back a good deal on that throw since this was not anything serious, and he'd already agreed to not using bending.
He just needed the extra moment afforded by that counterstrike in order to take a few steps back and build up his own snowmound for protection.
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Post by desna on Sept 1, 2008 21:40:12 GMT -5
Desna's eyes widened when she saw her own snowball coming back towards her, obviously she ducked down behind her snow wall in order to hide from the assault. With the movement the hood at her back ruffled, nearly encasing her head before falling once more against the far side of the poncho in it's usual place.
Her lips pulled into a small huff of a line before she stood back up pointing an accusing finger towards Aden. He'd broken the rules in the first couple seconds of game play? That was no fair. Then again there was that old saying 'alls fair in love and war" But this wasn't love, it was war, wasn't it?
" Cheater! I said no bending!" Her tounge peeked out between her lips as she physically expressed her distaste for his shifty bending methods. Not more than a couple seconds later did she launch another snowball in his direction. Rather pleased with his aim, not so much with his constant dodging, she hadn't even landed one hit on him yet, but it only encouraged her to go further with her tactics. She ducked into the relative safety of her snow wall and began to scoup out snow, resupplying her stock of snowballs while digging a better nook for herself in the snow drift.
She had no idea what the boy was up to but she'd be ready for it. If she lost in disgrace she feared that she'd never live it down. Something about this made her want to defeat him, well, do something with him, she couldn't honestly understand it all herself. Perhaps she was just ignoring it.
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Post by aden on Sept 2, 2008 23:38:37 GMT -5
Aden dropped back a step and dropped to his knees on the snow. He lifted up a hand in front of him, fingers trailing downward as he drew a fair amount of nearby snow into a four foot tall mound. And once he had the base of his defensive structure formed he spun around and fell backward into the edge of it, depressing a section of the mound for him to rest behind.
"Just a little," Aden called out to Desna from his position of safety. Already his hands went to work and began scooping clumps of snow to form them into sturdy projectiles. If he truly wanted to put his bending to advantage, he could quite easily have raised a fortress of ice in short order to rain head-sized spheres of snow on Desna from two stories up. But he'd agreed to her terms, and he would try to adhere to that guideline as much as convenience would allow.
"Enough to level the playing field," the young warrior elaborated, placing a third snowball within easy reach beside him before flipping over to take a measure of his opponent's activities.
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Post by desna on Sept 3, 2008 8:34:15 GMT -5
" Gonna need a lot more then bending!" She shouted back at him and she scoffed a bit, level the playing field? He was a bender, if he wanted to he could level it, melt it and then refreeze it. In this game it all equated to cheating. She found herself pouting as she packed another snowball into a hasty sphere setting it with the others, her snow wall was no where near as large as his, hers having been made out of a natural snow mound. She lifted her head craning it to see what he was up to but she couldn't see anything over the wall that was almost as big as she was.
He wanted war? She'd bring it to him, after all she knew these lands, lived on them her whole life, she figured there was a small advantage to gain. Was she really taking it this seriously? The thought dawned on her as she was mapping out the field, where all the snow mounds were, where she could run and duck and hide. It seemed almost... silly to treat this like a true battle zone with life and death hanging on the brink.
One more glance at his wall of bent snow told her this WAS serious business. She began to load snowballs into the inner pockets of her parka. He'd regret taking her on. Still a few giggles managed to escape her mouth.
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Post by taartoq on Sept 3, 2008 13:53:25 GMT -5
Happening a glance up toward the tussling teenagers, Taartoq sighed. Though he was not immune to its reaches, he reassured himself of the pointless nature of being competitive. Always trying to be better, aiming to win at any cost. Petty taunts and arrogant tirades thrived. It could be like a bitter poison, even if the reward felt so great. If the outcome were otherwise, one would feel crushing despair, which often fostered lasting hatred and ill will. It was simply the way it was. Taartoq knew he was wise to remove himself far from any situation where he would feel that bitter sensation.
The next scroll in his lap was unfolded and examined carefully for any damage, not one fiber of the parchment untouched by his studious eye. Perhaps, he considered, there was nothing to fear at all. Even if his scrolls met a painful collision with the icy floor, springing them loose, and a dangerously hasty return to his arms, the 'damage' may have been less than he thought. But again, it never hurt to be diligent.
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Post by aden on Sept 3, 2008 15:45:36 GMT -5
Kneeling behind his wall, Aden focused on the barely visible top of Desna's parka that protruded from behind the snowmound. The young bender shifted his lead foot underneath him so that he was only on one knee and grabbed on of his pre-made snowballs. The additional height afforded him a better angle of attack, and he let loose a solid throw.
The snowball flew through the air and thudded into Desna's defenses, right near the top of the wall. Aden swung his hand down emphatically with the near hit and grabbed for another. "Lucky!" he called out as he threw a second projectile. This time, however, he took a little bit of power off the throw to allow it to arc downward some more. With any luck, the slight adjustment would have it dropping just over the edge of her snowmound and onto her head.
Aden watched the flight of the snowball carefully without bothering to start any sort of rapid-throwing. He just wanted to nail down the range so he could throw with greater precision.
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Post by desna on Sept 3, 2008 15:54:01 GMT -5
Aden's tactfulness was rewarded when a tell tale yelp came from behind the snow mount. Desna's eye twitched lightly and she frantically began to tug snow out of her parka. dang it was cold when it got on the back of your neck. Desna tosses her head back looking over the feild to where Aden was no doubt planning his next assault. If he wasn't a stupid bender this might have been fair.
With a huff she shoved a few more balls into her pocket watching for Aden to sink down behind his defensive shield. What happened to the days when kids could just lob snow balls at one another in point blank range. There was no real way to get to higher ground so she'd have to settle for a better vantage point. She didn't expect him to use his bending again, though he said he wouldn't use his bending to begin with. He was SUCH a cheater.
When his head was gone from her sight she made a dash for a slightly larger snow mount, closing the distance quickly and pressing her back to the snowy ground. Hopefully he hadn't noticed the move, she didn't see his head bob back up over the shield, at least she didn't think she did.
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Post by aden on Sept 4, 2008 21:20:56 GMT -5
From the scattering of snow that followed his snowball's impact, Aden could tell that he'd managed to hit his target. A smile spread across his features and he let out a slight cackle of amusement. While Desna rattled about the chill down her spine, Aden ducked back down behind his defensive wall and began packing more snowballs. One decent hit was not enough to claim victory.
The warrior began grabbing handfuls of snow from the area around him and then clapping them together before rounding them off smoothly. He made two snowballs and lined them up to the side before casting a glance over toward Desna's snowmound. It looked like she was still there, and so he quickly put together two more.
Aden straightened up and peaked over the edge of the snow wall to attempt to relocate Desna and make sure she hadn't tried to charge him.
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Post by desna on Sept 4, 2008 21:42:15 GMT -5
Her chest rose and fell lightly as she focused on her breathing, her heart was racing, not from the short jaunt across the snow as much as from the anticipation of the battle. Tenitively she peeked her head up over the snow to see Aden looking towards her own position, a jolt of stress pricked through her heart and she ducked back down swiftly not wanting herself to be seen.
She pursed her lips to keep from giggling, there was something so silly about this she couldn't help but feel that giddy bubble rise in her chest. Her hand pushed it's self over her mouth forcing herself silent as a wide grin spread despite her attempted restraints. Desna craned herself up to peek again, he was searching, she wouldn't be able to move and thus was forced to wait a while before moving onto the next snow mound.
Looking away from the fight she found herself rather close to Taartoq, facing him even. She blinked lightly wondering what he thought about it, by his look he wasn't pleased. If he gave her away he'd be in for it.
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Post by taartoq on Sept 5, 2008 14:56:39 GMT -5
His casual observation, punctuated by careful maintenance of every scroll in his possession, was interrupted before he even expected. Truthfully, he thought they'd at least wait until their game was over before they came over and bothered him. No doubt they, or at least the girl - the boy, like plenty others his age, seemed a rather solitary sort - would ask all sorts of questions. Taartoq could only guess she was like that.
When they met face to face, Taartoq was caught at a loss for words. In part, he wanted to halfheartedly tell her to go away, or at least find someone else to bother. Yet when he saw the expression upon her features, he knew exactly what he was up to, if only by judging, perceiving, observing, and anticipating where this game would take them next. He was far enough away from the 'battlefield' to be certain the male of the two teenagers wouldn't spy her right away, but all he could do was hope he wasn't walloped by another snowball. It seemed to be a popular pattern that day.
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Post by aden on Sept 5, 2008 23:32:30 GMT -5
Aden couldn't manage to spot Desna right away, and so he swiveled his gaze around the surrounding area. There were two or three other places she could be lurking, but if she was low enough to stay out of sight behind such meager snowmounds then it would take her a few moments to stand up. The young warrior figured it would be safe enough to risk exposing himself for a moment, and so he stood up from behind the wall with a snowball in each hand.
Desna's original defensive position was empty, as he couldn't see her feet lying prone behind it. He turned his head quickly and examined a second mound, but saw nothing but pure white snow. Aden turned his head again, over towards the direction where that frail-looking man was dutifully rolling up a scroll. He seemed so out of place on this field so usually reserved for the shenanigans of younger kids.
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Post by desna on Sept 6, 2008 14:56:18 GMT -5
It was hard for Desna to not move, he'd cornered her somewhat, all she could do would be run into the battle with snowballs flying hoping she could tackle him before he'd be able to get her. She rolled onto the balls of her feet, keeping her head low so he hopefully wouldn't notice her until it was too late. The man across from her seemed to be looking at her despite him being a good few feet away. Honestly she wondered if a full grown adult had nothing better to do with his time. Sitting around rolling scrolls in a field mostly dedicated to playing or training.
She rolled her eyes and sprung to her feet dashing for the next safe hold but her foot slipped letting her body give out as she fell into the snow. With a groan she got up and scampered behind the next mound rubbing her back. Well that was dumb, but there was only a little left before she'd be close enough to properly attack him. At point blank range of course.
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Post by aden on Sept 7, 2008 11:15:02 GMT -5
Aden's focus was drawn almost immediately to the sudden movement as Desna tried to charge over the hill. With a snowball ready in hand, he reared his arm back and took aim. Too easy, he thought as he snapped his arm forward and threw his snowball at her.
However, instead of continuing to stand as he'd anticipated, she flopped right back down to the ground. Aden's expression was laced with disappointment as the snowball soared right over her head and missed its mark. If he had continued watching its flight path, he would have seen it head right towards the unfortunate archivist who decided to set up shop in the middle of the snow field.
But instead, Aden continued to press his advantage and shifted his second snowball over to his throwing arm. Desna was scrambling back to her feet, and after taking aim and giving her a bit of lead, the young warrior threw the secod snowball at her.
Once again, though, he was denied a successful hit. The wiry girl dove for cover and managed to find safety just before the projectile thudded against the snow mound.
"Lucky!" he called out again, "Like snow-hare with nine lives... That just leaves seven more!" Despite himself, Aden was actually having fun.
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Post by taartoq on Sept 7, 2008 14:23:10 GMT -5
Sooner or later, Taartoq knew he would get caught in the fray. Why, oh why did he feel so compelled to sit off on the sidelines of two teenagers' little skirmish, where snowballs were without a shadow of a doubt, going to fly? Before that snowball's ended its trajectory, Taartoq rued his decision. He rued it greatly. Rue, rue, rue.
That was before he, with so very little effort, raised up his hand straight as the snowball neared him. If it actually hit his hand, a loud and satisfying thwack would have sounded, but instead his bending aided in a midair catch. Though by no means immediate, and considering the speed at which it traveled required him to duck a bit and shift his seating position considerably, he managed to stop the snowball without it hitting him. Success!
If his scroll hadn't fallen on the floor before he could examine it fully, he wouldn't have heaved a rather annoyed, impatient sigh. Sadly, that was the case. He was quick to discard that wretched snowball.
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