Chapter Two-Hundred Ninety-Four

Chapter Two-Hundred Ninety-Four

I have a bit of fun at Berdol’s expense as I watch him meet Violet’s other scions, and do the rest of the inspection. Olander looks like he’s mostly having fun, too, but I don’t miss the fact that he always keeps Onyx within his line of sight. He might have found Slimy to be cute, but Violet’s shade definitely puts him on edge.

As the inspection winds down, I think Olander is looking forward to being done, but Berdol and Onyx seem oblivious to his unease. The last thing Berdol does for the official inspection is check the hatching chambers for the scythemaws. They’ve long since cleared out, but they’re still an interesting thing to look into.

“I think that’s it, Onyx. From what I can see, Violet is a thriving toybox and will only get better as she gets used to the sewers.”

“Great! Mentor Thedeim seemed pretty confident, but it’s good to hear she’s doing well by delver standards, too.” Her confidence and happiness at hearing the report slip a bit as she continues. “So... that’s it for official inspection things?”

Berdol nods. “Yep.”

“Then do you want to spar some? I really want to see what I can do now!”

Olander’s eyes bug out, where Berdol only looks a bit uncomfortable. “I mean, sure, but I don’t think I’ll be a good spar for you anymore. I can try to give you a couple more pointers, but I don’t know how much they’ll help you.”

Onyx slumps a little at that. “I was kinda afraid of that, yeah. Maybe it’d help you out, though?”

Berdol laughs. “Maybe some, but I think I’ll need to do some more regular delving to close the gap enough to really make a difference. Maybe you could spar with Olander?”

Onyx turns begging eyes upon the experienced elf, but he’s having none of it. “No.”

“Aw, why not!” comes the reply from both Onyx and Berdol, earning an exasperated sigh from him.

“I already told you: I’ve had bad experiences with shades. If I fight her, it’ll be a fight, and one I intend to finish quickly.”

Onyx tries to turn up the charm with a big wobbling lip, but Berdol has a better idea.

“What about Rocky?”

Olander raises an eyebrow at the tabby catkin. “There’s still several days before the prize fight.”

Berdol shakes his head. “I don’t mean you. Her!” He points at Onyx, who is looking surprised as well. “If anyone can keep up with her, it’ll be Rocky, and you can get an idea of what fighting him will be like if we get to watch.” He turns his focus to the friendly shade. “We’ll get to watch, right?”

“Er... maybe? Mentor Thedeim has a secret training room in the caverns, but I don’t know if delvers are allowed to see.”

“He says she’s not bad, but she needs to get more used to her shadow affinity. Leo can give her some tips on that once he gets back. For now, he thinks he can give her a good spar to get her thinking about how to better attack and defend.”

Olander looks doubtful. “He’s going to teach her? I’ve read the reports, but still... a shade should have no problem at all dealing with a zombie.”

Rocky’s laugh is echoed by Onyx, the two each making it sound way creepier than I think they mean to. “Are you kidding? Rocky’d wipe the floor with me if this wasn’t a friendly spar.”

Even Berdol chuckles and nods at that. “Just watch, Olander. You’ll see.”

He still looks doubtful, but the elf quiets to focus on the spar. Rocky sets his mouthguard and takes his stance, looking light on his feet and ready to rumble. Onyx tries to mimic him, but he grunts a negative at her. While I think she could adapt a boxing stance to work with her claws, she should use what skill she already has, rather than trying to improvise on the basics.

Her stance makes me think more karate than boxing, with her hands at different levels, slightly open. It’s a versatile stance for attacking, blocking, or parrying, but I think the boxing stance is better for absorbing blows or ducking around them. Onyx takes a moment to focus herself before launching forward with a diagonal slash of her claws.

Rocky easily steps back before stepping in and catching her off guard with several body blows, before he steps back out. She tries a couple more slashes before she figures out what my zombie is telling her with the pulled punches, and she starts letting her shadowy form shift to try to avoid the attacks.

She looks awkward doing it, but Rocky nods in approval. Getting the idea is often the hard part. The rest is just practice. He grunts and she changes from slashes to stabs, which he easily parries with his raised dukes, letting the gauntlet sail just past his head, or ducks and weaves to launch counters.

She gets plenty of practice with her own dodging, but she doesn’t seem to get any ideas for how to tighten her form with the stabs. In frustration, she tries to grab his raised hands, only to get a firm rebuke in the guise of a headbut that sends her staggering back a couple paces. Rocky grunts as she recovers, and Teemo once more gives Olander and Berdol the gist.

“He says it’s a bad idea to grab someone if you don’t know what you’re doing. He might try to teach her a couple techniques that could work well for her, but a lot of it will require her to figure it out on her own. The Boss calls it judo. He only understands the basics, but the basics were all Rocky needed to build his boxing style. Now he wants her to do that shadowy strike, the one that comes from weird angles.”

Onyx looks a bit winded, but the determined smile on her face makes it plain she’s having the time of her life, even if she hasn’t landed a solid hit yet. “Here it comes!”

Her gauntleted hands vanish into her body as the shadows seem to lengthen, casting the room in an eerie umbra. The attacks come without warning nor shout, two spiked hands: one from behind and above, one directly from the side.

Olander and Berdol’s breath fogs as the temperature in the room plummets, Onyx’s shadowy limbs freezing solid as Rocky flexes his affinities. A heartbeat later, light and heat wash over the area, the shadows beaten back. The temperature and lighting quickly normalizes, revealing Rocky standing before Onyx, a glove with a lick of flame not even an inch from her face. She stares at it for a few moments, needing the time to process what just happened, before she smiles wide. “That’s amazing!”

Berdol looks like he agrees, but Olander looks flabbergasted.

“But... that’s-”

“Not how that works?” interrupts Teemo with a knowing grin. “Trust me. That’s precisely how that works.”