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Post by Cypress Springleap on Mar 7, 2024 13:35:51 GMT -5
“Really?” Cypress tilts her head, listening while the triton tells her that he used to be afraid of a lot of things— the dark, heights, plants, his own shadow. She feels somewhat apprehensive despite relating to many of those fears; a part of her understands that he could be telling her all of this just to make her feel better… but what if he’s not?
She fidgets and tilts her ears, smiling sheepishly when he calls her brave.
There’s something comforting about the idea of growing out of her anxiety, nerves, and fears; and a part of her really hopes that’s possible… if this is the first step though, it’s pretty rough. She feels her knees shaking. “Thanks...” She remarks quietly, gaze shifting when Vonoros suggests they start heading into the fog to find a place to rest.
She nods and heads after him through the bog. “Um… so… what is a Bogaboo? I heard them talking about it, but I’ve never really heard of it before. It must be pretty bad if you got sent out here to hunt it though, right?” To her, a 'Bogaboo' sounds like an awful silly name; like the kind of a name one of the little kids at Shade's Orphanage would make up for the others, to tell over the flickering flame of a candle.
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Post by Vonoros Jedath on Mar 11, 2024 4:11:28 GMT -5
“No problem”, the triton responds to Cypress still trying to look as the two walk through the deep fog. It seemed that there was no seeing in this place whatsoever so there wasn’t a point in trying. The best plan that he had was just to walk straight forward until they hit dry land to rest. The same line of thinking had worked for him before so why not try it now plus it would be foolish to try to find a way out right now. Considering the kid had made her way all the way here he’d assumed she was pretty tired and they both needed to plan and figure out what to do next. He thinks for a second about Cypress’s question deciding it would be best for the satyr child to know what they could run into. He’d gone over Lloyd’s research and reading materials as he would any other job. It was especially important in his line of work to know all about a target and use that as a weapon itself.
“Hm, if I remember correctly then this bogaboo fella is some weird evil swamp bone thing that’s equally as fast as it is sneaky and ugly. Relies on its various tricks and strengths to catch people unsuspecting of its presence. You don’t gotta worry bout a thing though Cypress as long as you’re around me that thing will be too scared to even touch ya. Trust me me and Shu here”, he says pointing at his staff on his back, “Will be more than enough to take it down if it tries anything funny”, he says his voice tinged with confidence.
He’d be fine with just taking down the bogaboo here and now but now there’s an innocent kid here that’s only here because of that lousy professor and him. Because of that, he was going to take full responsibility and keep her safe even if it meant holding back his usual deadly approach and being more careful.
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Mar 14, 2024 19:55:46 GMT -5
Cypress listens but pales slightly when Vonoros begins to explain exactly what the Bogaboo is; it does still sound a little like a child’s tale, but hearing it from— well, not a child— somehow makes the creature in her mind’s eye that much more horrifying. She grimaces, wringing her hands together nervously while he explains the details of the ‘evil swamp bone thing’… yikes.
“O-oh.” She laughs, a nervous edge in her tone while she tries not to overthink the existence of something like the Bogaboo. Living in Capitol Landing for so long really did not give her the edge on knowing which things exist, and which things are just tall tales… somehow, a lot of the tall tales she heard about seem to be based off something scarier.
Vonoros’ confidence when he promises to take it down should they see it softens her nerves just a bit; she doesn’t know him, but the way he talks to her somehow feels trustworthy. “Thank you, Mister Vonoros.” She chirrups anxiously, “I’m sorry to make you take care of me when you’re supposed to be hunting him, though.”
There’s no guarantee they’ll actually meet the Bogaboo out here, but the idea of it still makes her hair stand on end. She takes a big breath to calm her nerves, “You named your weapon Shu…? What’s that mean?” She asks hesitantly, ears turning towards Vonoros while she glances his direction.
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Post by Vonoros Jedath on Mar 15, 2024 13:00:47 GMT -5
“No problem kiddo”, the triton responds, “I swear to ya that if that smelly dumb bag of bones tries anything around us I’d end it in a heartbeat. I hunt monsters for a living so something like this ain’t out of the ordinary”, he says trying to cheer her up.
It was a strange situation for sure to have to keep an eye out for someone else while on a mission so this was going to be a little more difficult to navigate especially considering how tired and inexperienced in fighting he assumed Cypress was. It was pretty strange to continue to act as some sort of wizened monster hunter but he needed to keep up the act. After all, how was he gonna casually drop that he has a hired killer and that the monsters he dealt with were of the depraved human criminal variety? He shoved those thoughts back into his head and focused on the task at hand keeping the satyr child safe from any threat until they made it out.
“Hey don’t worry about alright Cypress? You were brave and strong enough to make it here and let me know what’s up. That’s all you need to do now, let me take care of the rest. I’m a grown-up alright so it’s my job to take care of the dangerous and scary stuff so you don't have to”, he says trying to reassure her. Growing up he had no adults to trust or take care of him having to depend on his abilities for survival. Now that he was an adult he was going to make sure that he would never be anything like them.
He takes out his quarterstaff for a moment and shows it to Cypress letting her hold it just a regular long wooden quarterstaff, nothing too special, “Yep, Shu here has saved me from a lot of dangerous encounters. It ain’t much but it does the job right and is a pretty useful weapon. As for the name, it’s nothing too interesting meet a weird fellow from the outskirts of Frostgale who worshiped this ice deity there and took their name".
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Mar 23, 2024 12:59:40 GMT -5
Cypress giggles when the triton tries to lighten the mood by insulting the Bogaboo; it’s still scary, but mister Vonoros seems genuine; and she finds herself trusting him little by little as they talk. It’s naive, but she just feels like he has a good heart— a little like how she felt when she met mister Everett. “Okay…” She agrees, finally letting herself relax a little. “I can help, though— a little… at least enough to back to Lilicors. I don’t wanna weigh you down any.” She glances sidelong into the fog, perking her ears towards the sound of a small plop in the water. It sounds like a frog hopping in.
She blinks, turning her eyes back to Vonoros when he offers her the quarterstaff to look at. She tilts her head, reaching up to take it; it feels heavy, but not heavy enough for her to drop. It reminds her of using sticks as swords on the streets of Sol City, but this one’s a lot heftier. She smiles to herself, trying to position her hands in such a way that she could reasonably use it, but it’s still much too big for her to properly use. “ Really?” She asks, glancing up at Vonoros before looking back at the weapon. “ There’s an ice deity named Shu?” She hasn’t heard of a deity like that. She hands Shu back to Vonoros, holding it up towards him with a grin. “ Shu’s really cool! How do you kill monsters with it, though? Don’t most people use, like… swords, or bows and arrows? The heroes in the stories always use those."
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Post by Vonoros Jedath on Mar 23, 2024 15:38:01 GMT -5
“Of course you can Cypress I believe in ya, I’m sure that old bag of swamp bones is scared of us already. With both of our abilities there is nothing to worry about here about anything. Heck the darned heavy fog is probably gonna be the strongest thing we have to face here”, Vonoros says in response.
His eyes sharpen and his body tenses for battle when he hears the plop of the water. Only to ease up when he realizes it was probably just some silly frog. For as much tough talking he was doing he was still a little worried about taking that beast down in front of Cypress. They were on its home turf and in a fight having home field and was a really big advantage.
“Yep, I think that’s what it was called?”, he said trying to think back on his trip to that village, “Something something god of ice and cold winds. Didn’t really pay much attention just thought the name was pretty fitting for this oversized stick.”
He then takes back Shu and with little effort twirls it around and places it back in its sling.
The triton chuckles at the satyr child’s enthusiasm, “Thanks Cypress and that’s pretty simple”, he says looking into the fog, “Yeah sure people use swords, bows, and hammers but I like using like polearms the best. All of those other weapons are a bit too much hassle and boring to use. Hammers are too heavy and slow, bows are too weak and swords are easy to predict and disarm. Polearms though are simple and tricky, giving you a good range between you and your enemy. Plus it’s pretty easy to beat up and some monsters with a stick I mean all you gotta do is just smack them with it enough times and they give up with a good whack”.
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Mar 31, 2024 19:41:49 GMT -5
Cypress giggles while mister Vonoros continues talking down over the Bogaboo’s rather frightening reputation. The hesitation in her eyes seems to fade away the more he jokes around, easing some of the tension of their meeting.
She perks her ears when Vonoros begins to explain the ice deity, Shu. She finds herself a little disappointed that he doesn’t have more details, but she thinks a trip to Frost Gale… wait, what is she saying? She’s definitely not going to Frost Gale, she can barely survive the Marsh Flats.
She shakes her head, ears twitching slightly until mister Vonoros twirls Shu around in a flourish before placing it back in its sling. The action gets her twinkly-eyed attention once again. “My friend, Astrid, uses a hammer! A big one.” she chirrups with pride in her voice. “She’s real strong - when we met, she knocked the memories out of a guy who was being mean to me.” Cypress gears up, balling up her fists, and uppercutting the air as an example. She giggles, tail wiggling while she looks back up at mister Vonoros. “I think she’s an exception though, ‘cause she’s been adventuring a long time! So I guess she... built up her strength? I didn’t know sticks were effective against monsters… so you just… smack ‘em until they give up?”
Do monsters ever really give up?
“I guess in a way, Shu's kind of like a big hammer without the hammer, huh? I guess that makes sense, 'cause it'd be easier to swing and there's less weight, so it would be easier to move or change direction?” Cypress mimics the swing of a stick as if testing her theory.
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Post by Vonoros Jedath on Apr 1, 2024 3:11:21 GMT -5
The triton’s eyes eased up a little seeing the little satyr calmed down and happy, that’s what he wanted to help with considering where they were in. He needed to keep her calm and hopeful because the number one rule of hunting monsters he learned when he was her age was to ‘stay calm and follow your heart’. He turns his head at the mention of Cypress’s friend, ‘Astrid?’ Vonoros thinks he might’ve heard the name before. Some sort of strong adventurer type which made him a little confused at how Cypress knew her. Whatever connection the two had it made him worry less knowing the kid had someone looking out for her.
“That’s glad to hear Cypress and it makes sense, I’d gladly do that too as well”, he chuckles before continuing his combat lecture with a glint of excitement in his eye. Seeing the little satyr so excited about combat even copying his movements was a little amusing.
“Yep, polearms are probably the most useful martial skill an adventurer could have in my humble opinion. Hammer’s are slower and their user’s gotta be strong but usually, they’re pretty slow giving their opponents an easier time dodging. Bladesmen are usually too overconfident since they swing sharp metals and with enough training disarming them becomes easy. Marksmen’s projectiles are deadshot but if you’re skilled enough with a polearm you can avoid that. Plus I can throw Shu over here if I need to knock out some kind of Marksmen. Another plus of having a big stick as a weapon”, he chuckles before continuing, “Using your fists is another good option although it takes a toll on your hands, and especially for hunting that's a no-no. Polearms are the best because they provide range, defense, attack, and unpredictability. Moving directions and swinging Shu around is a huge advantage in fighting beasts, rather than the other weapons where you have to truly commit to each blow and receive the punishment if you miss”.
“I tell you all this to give you a heads up in case you run into any monsters after this”, Vonoros says sincerely taking a liking to Cypress, “Monster-hunting isn’t that hard, to be honest, all it comes down to is experience”.
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Apr 6, 2024 13:22:30 GMT -5
Cypress perks her ears in mid-swing when Vonoros addresses her; she blinks, lifting her eyes back up to him with a small, curious smile while he explains about the weapon he’s chosen as a monster hunter. “Astrid’s real strong.” She points out as if she hasn’t already done so multiple times; but honestly, Astrid’s strength for her size and age still utterly baffles Cypress.
She struggles to move her nightstand to the other side of her bed, let alone lift and wield a warhammer like it’s nothing! It’s really cool! She tilts her head, listening to mister Vonoros’ opinions on other weapons: about how bladesmen tend to be overconfident in their abilities - and Cypress knows that many kid’s stories feature a confident knight with a sword - and how Marksmen have a deadly shot, but could be parried with enough skill. She looks between mister Vonoros and Shu with a blink, but is overall attentive to his opinions and advice.
He makes a polearm sound really unique - something which Cypress has never considered... Blades have always made her uncomfortable - and she’s not strong enough to hold a hammer like Astrid is… " Thank you, mister Vonoros." She wiggles her ears, looking away for a second while mister Vonoros admits he’s giving her advice for the future. “ Um... do you think… someone like me could use a polearm like Shu…?” she asks finally; she looks a little embarrassed by the question, and glances down at her hooves while she continues. “ I don’t really like fighting much, but… I like the idea of being able to defend myself if I’ve got to.”
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Post by Vonoros Jedath on Apr 8, 2024 12:36:39 GMT -5
“I’m sure that she is, if she’s a friend of yours then I’m sure she’s pretty strong and brave like you”.
He chuckles softly, “No problem at all Cypress”, the triton then smiles, “Yep I think you could someday, I’d rather you use polearm than anything else. After all, it’s the easiest weapon to master. If a surfer fella like me can master it then I’m sure ya can too. I wouldn’t want ya to go out there and beat some people up even if it would be kind of funny. Picking it up to keep you and your loved ones safe though is a good idea. Seeing how determined and brave you are I’m sure you’re gonna run into your fair share of trouble. Considering you came into the swamp for a guy you didn’t even know”.
He pauses thinking it over and weighing his options, he could just let the kid figure it out on her own. However, Vonoros wanted to be sure that she learned from the best to keep herself safe.
“You know what kiddo? I’d be more than ready to teach you sometime if you’d be willing to learn from me. I’m sure we could find you something in the market to fit your style and someday you’ll be even stronger than I am”.
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Apr 14, 2024 17:24:12 GMT -5
Cypress flusters over mister Vonoros’ comment, “Oh- no, I mean, she is strong and brave! I’m nothing like her, though. Not really.” She purses her lips while she considers it; Astrid’s a lot stronger and more brave than she is. She’s been on lots of adventures! She blinks, glancing back at mister Vonoros while he speaks; her eyes get wide, and a sheepish smile quirks her lips when he agrees that she could learn someday. She’s not sure if he’s saying that just to make her feel better, but she feels a buzz of excitement in her chest nonetheless. She’s not sure she’s ever seen anyone fight with a quarterstaff; a part of her wants to ask if mister Vonoros would show her how it’s done, but the request dies before it ever lingers on her tongue, because mister Vonoros continues after a small pause. Cypress stops in her tracks. “Really!?” she squeaks, ears standing straight up in the air with her excitement. She picks up her pace to catch up to mister Vonoros, splashing around in the bog without seeming to care too much. “If we find a good place for camp, can you show me some moves with Shu? Just a few? But if you’re too tired, you don’t have to! We should probably be focusing on the Bogaboo, anyways, so maybe that’s not such a good idea after all... Um, nevermind. Maybe I'm getting too ahead of myself.”
Cypress glances away from mister Vonoros.
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Post by Vonoros Jedath on Apr 16, 2024 3:32:01 GMT -5
“Yep”, he chuckles, “I’ll teach ya as long as you promise not to go around smacking people with polearms for no reason..okay well you can do that just make sure it’s deserved first”.
It seems that it finally happened. Something he promised himself never to do, never to teach anyone the skills he had. Vonoros had promised himself that he’d never pass down the skills he’d learned during his time as a living weapon. However this was different, Cypress didn’t seem like some sort of rookie assassin trying to steal his techniques and if she was it was certainly very well hidden. But he pushed that slight thought away because she seemed like a good honest kid. Someone with a truly good heart and maybe with his guidance she’d be a real force to be reckoned with, like the same storybook hero she’d called him earlier. Sure he didn’t exactly plan to ever teach someone anything but teaching Cypress how to defend herself and others seemed like a pretty good idea. The triton continued forward walking into the fog with no real sense of goal just hoping to hit dry land soon as he listened to the excited satyr.
“I’d be happy to do so Cypress don’t worry about me getting tired, Shu, and I will show ya a few basic things. Nothing too major just a few things since it’s not exactly the best environment to learn considering the swamp but don’t apologize it’s never a bad thing to be excited to learn. That’s a sign of a good student so I’m glad to see it. However, it’s you who we’re gonna have to worry about getting sleepy. I’ll stay awake and keep watch if some sort of nefarious frog or the bogaboo tries to sneak up on us”, Vonoros would say with a slight curious smile, it seemed like she was excited which was a little odd. Usually, no one was ever excited at the sign of the triton. Usually the only emotion felt by those who crossed his path was fear and terror.
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