Home at last (open)

Houka laid on her bed staring up at the ceiling. They had arrived back a few weeks ago and finally her shoulder was healed and she had full movement in her arm. It had taken longer then she anticipated because she had aggrivated the damage by moving the shoulder to shrug or perform some other gesture before she realised she was injured. She sighed deeply. She would have to become more intune with her body to prevent such a thing happening again.

She glanced over to the wall where her sword hung proudly beneath its sheath. She admired the blade's workmanship. It was a beautiful weapon and combined with her alchemy it had rarely failed to be all she needed to succeed. She wondered what would happen next. South City was weak and that was the main defence against Aerugo. Troops of Briggs had been left there along with troops from other cities. Everwhere was weaker then normal and she half expected an attack to be launched at any time.

"The waiting....is almost as bad as the fighting...if not more so." she said with another heavy sigh. She was glad she had her own room as she didn't generally get on with male's and although she was Daigoro's right hand....she didn't think she could stand sharing a room with even him. As for girl's...their lack was probabaly a good idea as it kept her from temptation.

Reila wandered down the hallway in a daze. She had been going through the same mental struggles as Houka, only, she had been beating herself up over it. The long-haired girl hadn't seen or heard from Dai since she had gotten back to Briggs or anyone else for that matter. Her pent-up frustrations and idleness were breaking through the surface of her inner calm, driving her crazy. The surface of her shoulder had healed into a nasty-looking scar, but the bone beneath still ached beyond description. Because of Briggs' efforts in South City, Reila had been promoted to Major General, but she hadn't the heart to correct people when they continued to call her Brigadier General. It just...didn't seem right to her.

She glided into the dorm rooms and walked straight to Houka's, feeling the strong need for company. Reila just felt that Houka would be the right person to seek comfort with. Not only that but... The Major General balanced the weight of two shinais on her back, a smirk on her lips. This would be a nice change in pace. He raised her fist to the door and knocked lightly, hearing what the girl said on the other side. "...then why don't we stop waiting?"

Houka sat bolt upright at the knock and the speech of the newly promoted Major General. She leapt up and quickly tidied the room a bit. She had not expected company as she rarely got it so her room had been a bit of mess. Once she was partially satisfied she walked over to the door opening it and then stood back and saluted. "Perhaps Major General Reila." she said politely standing to attention then dropped the salute. "I apologise for the mess. Please take a seat." she offered indicating the two seats in her room. She rarely had company so one of the seats was actually her bed and the other was a chair at her desk.

"Congratulations on your promotion Major General. It was well deserved." She stood back and awaited for Reila to take her seat. "It is good to see you have recovered from the events in South City." She was indeed please about this and actually smiled. "My shoulder has also healed quite well. I think its stronger then ever."

Reila smiled and stepped inside, looking around. It looked neat to her... Perhaps Houka had never seen her room. The Major General snickered to herself, picturing the disaster of her own living quarters that was strewn with paper work and dirty clothes. Reila never had much time to clean up after herself... She should really get to that... She nodded happily to the redhead and sat comfortably on the bed, crossing her legs, and setting the shinai down behind her. She looked up when Houka spoke again and a grin spread over her face. She stood up from the bed and gave the girl a quick hug. "Thank you so much; I'm surprised you knew!" She settled back down on the sheets and laughed. "I'm glad to hear that, though the bone in mine doesn't seem to want to heal quickly. So I decided to come here and ask if you would like to spar with me?" She smiled brightly and presented the shinai. Of course, sparing wouldn't exactly encourage her bone to heal, but it would at least keep her arm strengthened. "Though don't feel inclined to; I just got bored of training by myself." She laughed nervously and sighed. "I also heard you were working on a new kind of alchemy, could I do anything to help?"

She was surprised at the hug and was surprised at her surprise. Houka was a scout afterall and as such finding out information was part of her job. Besides Reila had deserved a promotion so she had checked if she had got one. Afterall, she was a friend and her commander. "Its my job to find things out. You deserved it."

"Sparring...sounds like a good idea...but is your bone healed enough?" she asked worried that she might hurt Reila. She knew Reila was likely a more skilled swordswoman then her, but she was injured and Reila didn't want to make it worse. She almost leapt back in surprise at the mention of her new alchemy. She tilted her head and then walked over to her desk and picked up three pieces of paper and showed the first to Reila. "Its taken much experimentation, but I managed to change my flame circle to alter temperature around a small area." She focused and placed her hands on the circle. Instantly, the temperature in the room began to increase. It almost felt like the heat of the south. Then with another movement it began to become very cold, as if they were outside in the snow. She then returned it to normal.

"That was just the first bit of my experimentation though. With another bit I managed to create this one." she said showing the second bit of paper. "This allows me to condense the moisture in the air to form clouds and make it rain at will and make fog as well. I can use it inside, but I don't want to make everything in here wet." She thought about this for a momen then held up the third piece of paper. "This circle is a combination of the two. It allows me to make it snow, sleet, hail and make fogs of varying density and temperature." she explained and then sighed. "The only thing I can't get right...." she indicated a whole bunch of scraps of paper in the bin. "...is to make a circle that allows me to manipulate the wind. If I had that and could somehow combine it with my circle I could virtually control all the weather...except for lightning."

Reila blushed. She deserved it...? Really? After what she let happen to Mura, Houka, and Dai alike?! She was taken aback and looked down slightly in deep thought. "Thank you..." Maybe... she did? She looked back up and smiled. "Well..." She raised her arms above her head like she was holding a sword and then cut down, her shoulder making a strange popping sound. "other than that, it only hurts a little, plus, I need to keep it strong, ne?" She flexed her muscles jokingly, and they appeared much more defined than a normal girl's.

Reila watched Houka take three papers from her desk and leaned over to get a closer look at them. "Aa temperature is it?" She was smiling with excitement and watched, scrutinizing every movement and change in the atmosphere around them. "Wow. Now that could give us a huge advantage..." She smirked, plotting in her mind what Houka's new alchemy would have an affect on. She listened to the girl speak and focused on the trashcan, scanning the broken images in there and forming the lines in her head. Reila took a breath and whistled, the elegant necklace around her neck glowing a vibrate cyan. All at once, the papers spiraled from the recess of the bin and fell out in neat lines on the floor. Reila stood up and walked up and down the line of them like they were an army ready for battle. She stopped at one and picked it up, holding it to the light. "Now see, this one is almost perfect. If you just move these lines to the side and take out the circles, it would be able to push things with air. Why don't you combine this circle with your precipitation and temperature circle?" Reila put a hand on her chin in thought, grabbing a pen, and drawing her own personal wind transmutation circle on the back of the piece of paper. "This is what I created, which is similar to yours. But I think, it will be made more effective if you somehow manage to combine it with the circle you already have..."

Reila sat back down on the bed, fiddling with the two shinai still there. "I hope that helps, and Yochi--if you don't mind me calling you that--I would like to promote you to Captain." She grinned wholeheartedly and flipped her long hair down her back, crossing her legs.

Houka watched in awe as Reila used wind manipulation to move the papers, unfold them and line them up straight. She looked at the almost complete one and nodded in agreement. She knew she had been close with that one as she had managed to manipulate wind, but she could not push anything with it. She took Reila's advice and made the few alterations barely hearing her words till she heard her first name and turned to look at Reila and then almost jumped with surprise at the mention of Captaincy. That wasn't just a rank increase. That was five ranks. She would be the first to admit that her new combat skills, combined with her new leadership skills gained from training missions granted her a rank increase, but five ranks above what she was? She hadn't ever heard of such an increase except of course for state alchemists who automatically became a major.

"You may call me what you wish Major General. Even the nickname Yoshi." she said and then explained the origins of the nickname due to her own name's similarity and her love of the little green dinosaur in video games. "As for the rank increase...are you sure I deserve such a boost in rank? I'll accept, but are you sure i'm ready?"

Whilst she gave Reila time to think her mind turned back to the new wind circle. It was similar to her other two circles, but due to a few lines it was vastly different. She looked at her combined circle and the two circles that had made it. The combination formed a rough figure eight formed from the two circles. Her initial thought was to add the third circle so it overlapped the two. She took a deep breath and exhaled about to draw the new circle, but her breath blew the three circles of precipitation, wind and temperature into a rough triangle shape. She stared at it for a moment. Could she be lucky enough for that to work? She grabbed another piece of paper, this one larger, and sketched out the circles in their current positions. As she thought the lines that overlapped the circles helped from a fourth larger circle to join them in the centre. She drew carefully forming the fourth circle, but it looked incomplete until she realised some of the other lines could probabaly be extended to form a more complicated design that would allow for greater control of all three elements of her weather manipulation. She stared at the completed design and held it up to Reila. "I think this will work and I think flame alchemist no longer suits me. Any ideas on a new name?"

Reila giggled at her mention of Yoshi and placed a hand on her chin, debating a moment. "Ah, Yoshi...hm...my favorite was the ghost, Boo was it?" She smiled, lowering her hand. "Hey, we should play it sometime, Yoshi~" Reila contemplated the idea of coercing one of her friends in central to mail her a nintendo, and concluded that she could most likely get one. That is...if it didn't freeze on the way over. Then again...she could always order one online. That seemed to work wonders. She smirked, remembering the bulk order of pop-tarts she had ordered secretly. Ah, such a success. The wonders of the internet!

She listened to Yoshi's musings about her rank and held up a finger. "If I didn't think you were ready, I wouldn't have suggested it. Now, you are the one that is supposed to be telling me how prepared you are." She smiled evilly, thinking it better to change the seriousness of the atmosphere. "...prepared to lose at Mario Kart!" Reila laughed and bowed her head in apology. She couldn't help it really, maybe she was just in a fun mood? She shook her head, trying to clear the humor and watched as Yoshi began to go on a drawing frenzy.

As she seemed in deep concentration, Reila remained silent, watching closely as the younger girl went about creating a masterpiece. When she held it up, Reila applauded. "Damn, that could just work. Try it out on me!" Reila was grinning and glanced to the window where the white light poured through the snow gathered there. She blinked and looked back to Yoshi, her grin turning into a smirk. "Blizzard?"

At the mention of playing the games she smiled to herself. "Boo was cute, but I always found his shyness a bit annoying." she said with a smile. She glanced about the room at the mention of Mario Kart and winked at Reila before opening her wardrobe to reveal her TV and N64 next to which was a pile of games. She blushed. "I brought them with me incase I got bored, but I haven't had a chance to play them much."

"I accept then I guess." she said returning to serious for a brief second before turning and winking. "I've never lost at that." She said proudly. She had played many people who had bragged about such a thing, but she had beaten them all. "Though I'm always willing to take up a challenge."

"I think it might work." she said before grabbing her sword and sheathing it at her waist. She opened the door and walked outside her room. "I'm not going to be able to test it properly in my room...I could probabaly test it in the training area though." At the mention of Blizzard a broad smile came to her face. "Captain Yochi Houka the Blizzard alchemist...and Major General Reila Tsukino the Icicle alchemist. People are going to be calling us Snow Queens or something."

"Hahah, it got on my nerves too, though I can be shy myself sometimes, but don't tell anyone that!" Reila laughed, covering her mouth like the evil ice queen she was. She shut up when she saw the wink, expecting the worst and gasped when she saw what it was. No way! She flew from her spot and to the nintendo 64. No way! She inspected it carefully and turned to her red-haired companion with a grin. "We have to play..." She trailed off, thinking a moment. "It'll be a new way of training," She joked, sitting back on the bed comfortably while listening to the rest of what Yoshi had to say.

"Good, you better accept. I need someone like you around that I can trust." Reila winked back. "...And you're on!" She stood up and followed her out of the room and then stopped when she heard her comment. "Ah, okay, hold on." Reila darted back inside and grabbed the two shinai off the bed and ran to catch up. "Sounds like a plan, lead the way." She balanced the two bamboo training swords on her back and followed after her, glancing at the floor. "Well, hell! We are snow Queens aren't we?" She smiled the whole way to the training room.

"Let's make a wager." she said playfully as they walked through towards the training area. "Whoever wins the sparring match gets to be player one when we play Mario Kart." Player one was at the top when the screen was divided in two and if you got used to playing as it, as Houka had and likely Reila as well, it was confusing to be on the bottom. She had a feeling that Reila might win despite her injury. "Of course I accept. How could I refuse a fellow snow queen Major General." Although she had given Reila permission to call her by nickname or first name the Major General had not given her the same permission so she would continue to be formal.

Soon they arrived in the training area. "After this battle I think i'm going to get my sword re-forged and have the new symbol embossed on the base of the hilt." The few men that were in there jumped when Houka entered and virtually ran for the door when they saw who she was with. Both of them were scary. Houka because she tended to beat people up or threaten burn people who annoyed her and Reila because she was the ice queen. "I suppose we best test out this new circle first before we try any combat."

She walked over to the other side of the room kicking the door closed and placed the new seal on the floor. She placed her hands on it and focused forcing the moisture to condense to form a small rain cloud over each door. She tapped a finger and both began to rain saturating the door. With another small bit of focus the water on the door began to freeze as she reduced the temperature. A thick layer of ice was created.

"We shouldn't be disturbed now Major General." SHe focused and moved the clouds combining them and creating more till the entire ceiling was covered in clouds. Soon rain began to fall, but with an alteration of temperature this turned to snow. "Seems temperature and precipitation work...." she focused and activated the last part of the circle turning the simple snow into a blizzard. "...and the wind." She cancelled the storm and picked up the paper. "So what do you think Major General?"

"Ah..ah!" Reila held up a finger to stop her from going any further. "You can just call me Reila when we're alone, ne?" She smiled sweetly, wiping bangs from her eyes. It was weird being friends with someone who kept calling you by your rank... She smirked soon after and spoke in a crisp voice. "Perfect. And that sounds like a plan." Reila giggled to herself when she saw the few men run out in fear and waved to their retreating forms. "They'll learn some day that running never pays off."

She nodded at Houka and followed her, watching the display and results of her new transmutation circle. When it worked, Reila stepped back with her hands on her hips and a proud look in her eyes. It was perfect! Though the door was definitely toast, and the room completely drenched, it was a success. It was literally blizzarding inside now. Damn that was some power! How awesome. "All I can say is that you'll never be cold here again!" She laughed and whistled a short, low tone. Almost instantly it seemed, the room became dry. "Now then, Blizzard alchemist. What say you to a duel with the Icicle?"

Without answering she activated the circle again directing the force of the blizzard staight at Reila with as much force as she could muster. However, it was no longer snow. It was hail. Houka kept herself pretty much dry and hail free. With one hand on the circle she drew her sword and swung it in an arc focusing the wind generated into a blade of wind that would be able to slice what it hit. "I know this is a spar Reila, but....I thought I might as well go all out and test the capability of this circle." she said as she launched two more wind blades. These not aimed at Reila, but at the areas she could move to.

She know hail was probably not the best idea against someone called the Icicle Alchemist, but she wanted to see what Reila could do. Afterall, she had not really seen her use her alchemy much. Once she knew that she had a plan on how to tire Reila quickly and prevent her alchemy working as well or at least that was what she hoped. "Show me what you've got Reila." When fighting Houka changed. She became a bit more boisterous and confident. She had grown up fighting and was more herself in combat then out of it.

Reila smirked. "I expect no less." She spun around, the circle on her necklace glowing a vibrate cyan. She kicked the two shinai to the side and unsheathed her tachi, swinging it with unbelievable force at the cuts Houka had just made. The two winds collided and vibrated, making a sound like two swords connecting even though they were far apart. As the cuts dissipated, the air from their collision flew out, crashing into the right and left walls and scarring them. As she had swung, the tattoos on her fingertips also shone in the same light as her necklace. Small, nearly invisible ice crystals sprung out from her one cut, flying in unreadable zig-zags at the red-haired girl. Not wasting a moment, Reila whistled, a spiral of wind wrapping around her and redirecting the hail back at her. But the hail was no longer hail. The large hunks of ice changed in midair, shifting into thin, sharp icicles that were as thick as her blade. Reila sheathed her sword once more and made an iaido stance, planting her feet hard onto the concrete. In a flash, she withdrew her tachi, a faint ringing echoing throughout the room. The momentum from her sideways cut, expelled a wind so sharp it could tear straight through a human body. Reila just hoped Houka could dodge all three of her attacks...

The first two attacks were easy for her to dodge. She merely changed the temperature of the room making it incredibly hot thus when the icicles hit they were just water though the force pushed her back a bit. She saw the blade of wind and nodded moving her blade. As it was about to hit she turned catching it on her sword using alchemy to manipulate it and launch it back at Reila though the force was greatly diminished. The force of the wind did slide her back a bit. She focused and removed the clouds turning the room back to normal though the ground was soaked making straight combat impossible. She sighed and focused increasing the temperature to turn the water to steam. "I could make a sauna here." she joked quickly folding the paper and pocketed it before assuming a defensive fighting stance. This battle was not over yet. They had shown what they could do with alchemy and now it was time for them to show what their blades could do.

Reila laughed when it got hot, amused to no end how the icicle hail turn to mere puddles. She pointed to the redhead, laughing still, "Hah! My plan was a success I've dampened your clothes!" She stepped back slightly, preparing herself for the invisible blade Yoshi sent at her. She felt the air, the hair on her arms rising. Reila brought her tachi high to the ceiling, holding it tightly with her left hand and loosely with her right. When it came, she tightened her right hand and sliced down, cutting the attack in half and diminishing it. Her sword sang, the sound filling the room as the wind spun into the walls and shook the training area. Her hair flared out in spirals, her skirt billowing. Sweat gathered on the major general's forehead, her breath picking up slightly. She watched the water evaporate, and wiped her face with her sleeve, laughing slightly. That may come in handy later... She sheathed her sword.

It looked like Houka was done with alchemy for now. Reila took her stance, her hand hovering above her hilt. She waited, watching the redhead carefully with sharp golden eyes. A moment passed, and then another, and then Reila withdrew her blade, the silver dancing through the air like ribbon, unreadable. She cut, letting the force turn her and bring her sheath in next aimed straight for Yoshi's abdomen. She brought her sword up to her forehead and turned, cutting straight down with the back of her sword. Without pause, she whipped her sword to the side and back, sheathing it once more. But as she did, her shoulder seemed to freeze in motion. Her grip on her sheath slackened and her tachi fell to the floor followed by Reila herself. She held her shoulder with her other hand and clenched her eyes shut. Shit shit shit shit. When the onslaught of pain past, she took a shaky breath and opened her eyes. "Guess I overdid it..."

Houka blocked as best she could, but Reila was clearly a more skilled swordswoman. If it wasn't for quick movement Houka was sure she would of been hit and cut several times. Her blocks were ungraceful and unrefined seeming desperate and full of fear. The sword sheath had knocked the wind out of her, but she managed to block though only just. When Reila fell to her knees Houka dropped her sword and went down to her looking at her carefully. She was worried that the Major General had made her wound worse. However, she was glad when she opened her eyes.

"Aye." she replied softly helping her to her feet. "If this is you with a weakened shoulder I'd hate to fight you at full strength. The only reason i'm not cut to ribbons is due to luck." She offered the Major General her arm to hold onto for support. "Let's get you back to your room so you can rest that shoulder. I think...we'll call this one your victory so you get to be player 1." Before Reila took her arm, if she did, Houka quickly dropped down picked up her own sword and sheathed it. She grabbed the two shinai and the tachi and held them in one arm. "I'll carry these."

Reila grinned through her panting and leaned on her new friend, shutting her eyes for another moment. She felt so content despite the pain and she really didn't understand it. Care... that's what it was, it resonated from the redhead and Reila could feel it clearly. She didn't know how to react exactly, but her happiness glimmered through her eyes as she opened them. It was amazing, she hadn't felt this alive in so long... The meeting of two blades, the quick aversions of the cuts. It excited her to no end. "No Yoshi, I know when I meet someone who's skilled, and you are. It wasn't luck, it was your instinct. You have it in you," She continued to smile, "we just have to refine it." Then she laughed, determination swarming around her, adding a glint to the gold. In the times to come, life at Briggs was only getting better. Her demeanor changed a bit then, resorting back to her playful self and leaving the serious one for a different time. "You mean let's get me back to your room. We have a different battle to wage!"


Despite being first player and having the obvious advantage, Reila just couldn't win. Well, she won once by a last minute shell shot and spun over the finish line half a second before Yoshi. She wasn't completely obliterated at least. Still, she lost horribly and sulked. She concluded it was because she was rusty and really only played a few times with Danny. Reila never had any real friends before, so something like this was new for her. It was a fun she never had and losing didn't matter at all. For once, being defeated wasn't a sin! She declared a rematch at some point and expressed many times her love for playing it with Yoshi. She also mentioned how much she enjoyed their spar one last time before she left and returned to her office to the large stack of paperwork awaiting her. She really had to heal her shoulder soon...she felt as if something were coming...


[Dun dun dun~~ the arc starts tomorrow >D]

With the exclusion of the single loss Houka always won the races by a couple of car lengths. It was closer then she had expected, but her practise had paid off and she won. "I'll look forward to a re-match. If you want to practise just ask." she said in a friendly manner. "I know. You teach me swordsmanship and i'll teach you Mario Kart." she said quite seriously. She agreed that the match had been good and was sorry when her new friend left. It was weird hanging with a girl and not trying anything on with them. Reila was different somehow. It was almost a family feeling. Reila had become like a sister to her.

When Reila left Houka rose to her feet and headed down to the blacksmith's and ordered for her sword to be re-forged and a new sheath made for it. She took out the paper. "Listen, this is the most important bit, on the base of the hilt I want this enscribed exactly as I've drawn it in red." The man nodded and assured her that the sword would be ready by the next day. Houka was glad of this. There was something in the air that made her cautious and she needed time to get used to using a new slightly heavier sword-style with a dual-edged blade. She was used to a katana, but felt it was wrong for what she would call the Blizzard Blade.