ORIGIN - nature bites

She's back at it again. Pollen's in the woods of Cepheus, in the clearing she's set out for herself. Its ground is beaten down after she's trod over it so many times, practicing on air, or— more commonly— a small pillar of rocks she's tied up with living plants. It's gotten a beating over the cycles. It's easy to fix- just charm it back together— ...

Her magic doesn't listen to her already. Sighing forcefully from her nose, Pollen resorts to tying it herself with what remains of the shredded vines. They aren't going to live long; they need to be replaced eventually, but Pollen will worry about that eventually.

She breathes in deeply once all is said and done, stepping back and slowly unravelling the vines from her arms. It's become an easy ritual for her. When she needs to focus, come out here, work through the motions, perfect them and throw her head into a wall at how little she can improve on her own. Normal people don't talk like Rodd Danger, but...

Well, if he was real, she'd like some pointers.

Left to her own devices though, all Pollen can do is throw her heavy vines towards the target, the guttural smacking of plant meeting plant echoing through the clearing. She just needs to work up to her magic working, is all. That's it. It can't fail her when she needs it; it can't, or else.

And so, she practices.

@Cyneweard

Cyneweard was wandering.

He did a lot of that, lately. Prince Ruvaen always seemed out of reach, so he would keep up his knightly duties in other ways- mostly by patrolling Cepheus and making sure everything was normal. And everything had stayed normal- except for one thing. A pretty big exception, actually.

A number of cycles ago, what he could only describe as a horde of monsters- or maybe a war party- passed through Cepheus. Something about a war, and a "Hive" and "Mother." He hadn't been sure what was going on- and he still wasn't- and he would've tagged along, except it had just been days after he'd emerged from his chrysalis for a second time. And he had recognized one of the monsters in the crowd.

Not in a good way.

In a very bad way, actually.

He didn't want to think about that, though, so he decided to actually pay attention to where he was walking, instead. This was a very good idea, because he 'tuned in' just before he was about to walk face-first into a tree. He was glad nobody was here to see th-

Schlap Schlap Schlap
He'd turn his head instinctively towards the sound just in time to see a green gembound [shaped vaguely like himself] slapping some vines with some other vines. They looked to be concerntaing deeply, and Cyneweard HATED to interrupt that, but unfortunately he cannot keep his mouth shut.

"Hey! You're the... plant-person, right? Like the person wh- The GARDENER, right?" He called, "Why're you beating up plants with other plants?"

@Pollen

Pollen's ear before the rest of her straightens, attention turning to the side to look at Cyneweard. Who..? She squinted, eyebrows pinching together as she tucks her vine closer. Was she supposed to know him? "Um." She glances back to the stack and brushes her mane, as if there's any of it to cover the right side of her face.

It's fine. She's fine.

"Yeah, um— gardener." She'd rather be known as a proper knight now-a-days, even if she keeps up with her self-imposed duties. It's good to practice that magic too, isn't it? But as for what she's doing, "I'm training." She gestures with a paw towards the dummy she's set up. "I'm not—" she sighs roughly— "I'm not getting anywhere with it, though. Only so much rocks can teach me. But um- I don't know, it helps me practice my magic, I guess."

With a step to the side, she turns to hold out one of the vines attached to her arm. "I use them like weapons, but if I control them, they're deadlier. I need to be able to fight, so I can't... not train. And I guess it helps a little, because I need to be able to defend myself in case I don't have the vines anymore. I mean, you can cut them off easily, so— ..."

She clears her throat and thins her lips, the corners of them drawing back. "... I'm rambling, sorry." Her head dips slightly. "I can- set you up one, if you want? I'm Pollen, by the way."

@Cyneweard

It was a moment too late before he realized Oh. this was probably too strong of a greeting for a stranger. But it was too late, she was already looking at him with confusion, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "Sorry!" He'd yelp instinctively, "I got excited!"

He would listen to her talk politely [it was the least he could do, after all] fidgeting restlessly but trying not to seem bored by her. He just really hated standing still, y'know? And there was never really any reason to- I mean, SOMETIMES, yeah, but he generally preferred doing things that DIDN'T involve standing still, like patrolling Cepheus or exploring Pegasus or-

Oh yeah. He was in a conversation. Oops.

He hoped he got all the important bits [She WAS a gardener. She was training. Something with plants and rocks and magic?] He tuned back in just in time to hear what was directed towards him. Did HE want to train with a rock? "No thanks- Uhm- punching a rock doesn't seem like very good training." He replied- and then quickly, "-And I don't use magic.." Wait, would that seem...? "It's cool that you do, though! You make the plants attack people and stuff? Imagine squishing someone with a tree! ....Sorry, that'd probably be gross, actually."

He was probably-definitely talking too much, and she- Pollen- probably just wanted to get back to training. "Uh- I can leave if you just wanna train- Unless you want me to help....? Oh! And I'm Cyneweard."

@Pollen

Her blinks are probably a little too obvious, with how she stood perfectly still during them. "... huh? No, you're fine?" Cyneweard sort of reminded her of herself as he rambled in turn. "I was just trying to figure out if I recognized you. You've been— ... around the palace?" That seemed about right, but she hadn't been paying attention all that much anymore.

"You don't have to punch it, though!" Pollen laughed, getting the hang of actually talking to Cyneweard. "And— I mean, you'd have to be in a forest to do that, but it'd let you win a fight, if they don't have magic..? ... not like you have to, uh— clean it up, afterward. It'll just go in the dirt anyway." Her shrug was loose as she looked between Cyneweard and the dummy. "You can stay and watch, or join or anything. I never get company anymore. It's nice."

She turned back to the rock pile, looking over her shoulder to her companion. "It's less about— ... beating up the rocks, but more practicing the moves around it. It's a target, not something to knock over. A place to focus on so you can practice your swings. Or magic. Or whatever. Here, watch." Twisting as she rolled her shoulders, Pollen let the vine go loose in her hand before using her full torso to sling it forward. With a surge of her magic, she could make it stretch further, wrap more around the base of the rocks and constrict.

As a rock popped free from the binding, Pollen returned her gaze to Cyneweard. "If you don't have a target, it's harder to know if your stuff's worked! ... or, my stuff, at least, 'cause I want to be able to use my plants better. I can't really use them on air."

Though... "If you want to join, you can? I mean, like— I could—" she snorted a little, smiling— "I could use you as a target, if you want to fight my plants. Or I could try without them! Up to you, is all. I need to practice in other ways anyway, 'm tired of fighting rocks."

Pollen's vine returned to her arm as she lost her stance, standing normally. Cyneweard didn't need to join her, of course... but it was nice. She'd be fine even if he wanted to just hang out.

@Cyneweard

"Oh, S-ss..." This trailed into an awkward hiss as he realized he was probably saying sorry too much. "Yeah, I usually hang around the palace! -There was a time I- uh- didn't. I kinda just got back from that." He hoped she didn't ask questions- even though it was definitely reasonable to. He'd gotten better after all, so there was no reason be feel so weird about it.

He'd listen to her explanation, laughing a little awkwardly as she laughed. It made a lot of sense- although he didn't particularly like the imagery of someone 'going into the dirt.' Cyneweard didn't have much to say on the subject of training- before his... 'nap', it was more 'playing' than 'training.' Even though he cared so much about it, it had still been a game. And now still he barely knew what he was doing.

He could probably use some real training.

An almost-response would fall silent as he watched her vine-whip with fascination. He hadn't seen anything like it- the way it coiled around the rock like a snake and pulled it from the tower without even knocking it over. It was quite clear he was impressed- he never really bothered to HIDE his emotions ever, anyways.

"Yeah! That makes sense. And I sho- I want to train! You can use your plants- I think they're cool!" He had never fought plants before- animate or not. But new experiences, right?

He would move what he hoped was a good enough distance away. "This is good, right? You can-" He made a vague motion mimicking the way Pollen threw out her whip. He would hop from foot-to-foot a little, a goofy grin splitting his face- just because it was training didn't mean it couldn't be FUN, right? "Come at me!"

His form was.. alright, although it was more 'excited' than 'defensive.' Arms slightly raised in preparation to block, footing ever-moving but otherwise stable.

@Pollen