79/Mahou Training - the First!

Mahou Training - the First!
Date of Scene:	13 July 2023
Location:	Abandoned Theme Park
Synopsis:	Hannah's magical training session invites curious interlopers, and one very worried Runealy.
Cast of Characters:	Runealy Waldia, Coco Kiumi, Melona Mizu, Tori Morte, Hannah Steiner

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Hannah Steiner has posed:
Midnight. Prime Mahou'ing hours! And amidst the abandoned park, it seems someone has decided to make use of the place as shown by the rather sizable time-space altered barrier that's been placed snugly about the whole of that outdoor theater. The caster had been industrious, too, it seems as within the ratty stage several bits from the jousting practice area has been nicked to create little target dummies.

Which, normally would not be too useful to a magical girl's strikes, but the reality-splicing power of a Barrier allows the things to be effective things to beat down with the worst of magic. And best of all, it's not even going to cause any damage!

Being a Device User really is awesome.

Speak of, for anyone in the magical world, it's easy to spot the thing. The blue-greys of Hannah's spell aren't exactly stealthy, and in fact are a bit brazen. Subtlety isn't in a Steiner's vocabulary, and perhaps part of her wants to invite others to her mahou training session.

Speaking of, the Knight is standing before her wooden opponent in its' tinfoil 'armor', Blauer Greif's canesword portion held upwards to the sky while her sheath portion is held in the other hand. She swipes the air, making a duelist's salute to her imaginary opponent, and then her heels kick off with a burst of wind from the power of the physical movement. The thin blade stabs, slashes, and the golden griffin-head occasionally smacking bluntly into various parts in an artful, aggressive dance of blade, Device, and user working on concert as they worked through the motions. Hannah grunts and grins as she does so, her other partner Lyra growling and hissing to help guide her. The massive blue-and-black lizard looks like something dragged out of pre-history, a fuzzy thing despite the scales beneath. And clearly somewhat sentient as it turns out, Razorhound, Device, and Knight a well oiled, familiar team with implicit trust as both help Hannah know where to strike.

Hannah's really into it, too. If one doesn't notice the bleeding obvious Barrier, her laughter of martial joy might tip one off.

Tori Morte has posed:
    That brazen blue-grey dome is pretty noticeable even from far off. A certain, rather tiny Magical Girl descends on the abandoned park from the sky, hovering a few inches above the barrier.

    "It... sort of looks like a Tristes Zone, sure, but there's something... off about it," Tori says to the air. "You can hear the laughter, right? That's not... a normal sound for Tristes Zones..."

    Tori looks down at the barrier, trying to see if she can spot anything through it. With a sight, she shrugs. "Well, better check it out," she decides, and floats down through the top of the barrier.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    Midnight. The park is usually quiet at midnight. Yet here and now, it is not. There is a blue energy field rippling through part of the park, and what sounds like a fight going on near it.

This is enough to attract Rune's interest. When poking at the barrier with bits of gravel and other random debris fails to cause any damage to those objects, she pokes a finger at it... then a little more, then a bit more again, and finally is content that this energy field isn't going to incinerate her. She steps into it, heading toward the jousting yard...

...and slowing down, as she looks up to see Tori float in from above. Rune tenses up, much like a modern-day thief might if a helicopter had cast a spotlight on them.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Thanks to the night's shroud, Coco has taken the liberty to already be in Idol form. She would call herself more of a morning lark, but she felt like breathing the chilly midnight air.

"The rainbow wind blows at a far off coast - Before dawn, there was a melody I heard - It's a very nostalgic song", she was humming to herself, calmly walking alongside the dark path. After aking a right turn, the light of a barrier stands out to her eyes, surrounding what seems to be an abandoned theme park. 'Tokyo never really sleeps when it comes to magical events, does it?' She starts cautiously approaching the barrier, tapping it with her E-Pitch once she has reached the location. 'No reaction... Ok, then, let's see if I can get in.' Pushing her arm through the barrier, it sinks in with ease, and soon enough she is on the other side.

Now she is inside she hears a spooky laughter, prompting her to be on her guard.

Melona Mizu has posed:
     Misery Melon was not invited to this. Or if she was, she didn't know. She was, however, out on the hunt for grief seeds, as is usual for Puella Magi to be. Witch's Labyrinths were something frequently not necessarily the easiest to spot, but anything major is a pretty noteworthy thing to see. And, well, a g iant time-space altered barrier? That could easily enough be a weird Witch's Labyrinth, right?

     As such, the short magical girl, Misery Melon, was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, until she was at the entrance to the abandoned park. Less rooftops to jump on from there, Melon was just quietly starting to walk towards that giant barrier. Martial laughter coming from within it. This is... probably not a Labyrinth. Probably. But then again it could be a really /weird/ Witch, so it's worth checking out anyway, right?

     Which is why, holding that three-headed flail in both hands, Misery Melon charges into the edge of the barrier, ready to enter combat immediately!


....

     ...A training ground? With target dummies? ... Huh. "...Well. This is unexpected." She mutters under her breath. There did seem to be /some/ sort of monster there. A giant lizard? But this didn't have the feeling of a Witch's Labyrinth. Strange. And others seemed to be arriving too. Well. That's something. She reached to the ground, slipping her fingers through the concrete of the path she was walking on to slip out some of the rebar within, as well as nabbing some of the various bits and bobs from the abandoned park attractions inside of the barrier, promptly putting it together into what looks vaguely like a crossbow of some sort. ... Just, well. Made out of things a crossbow generally wasn't made out of. Yeah. She was getting ready. Just in case. Slowly she starts to approach, her gaze flicking from magical girl to magical girl to Lyra.

     Clearly on guard for aggression.

...But it just looked like training. So far.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Despite the understandable caution those entering show regarding this very strange Barrier popping up in an abandoned Theme Park, the transition in is almost welcoming. The outdoor theater might be a combination of greyscale and vague Steiner blues, but it's like being wrapped up in a hug made of magic, Magitek money and a lot of perfectionism. As Melon, Rune, Coco, and Tori make their entrances from various angles, Lyra first lets out a lizardy hiss and the Device in Hannah's hands pings out a warning, followed by the Belkan equivalent of an Area Search. It seems that Hannah's the last to realize her training space is being invaded, as she makes one more gallant slice to the 'neck' of her chosen training dummy before pausing as all the information hits her brain at once.

Shoving down the headache of painting a mental map for multiple 'assailants' all at once induced by her magical-supercomputer-ancient-friend, she manages to paste a smile on her face as she makes a not-so-subtle tack backwards from the relative arc those entering her barrier collectively come from. Rather than hostility, there's a whole lot of Steiner-style outgoing warmth to these complete strangers and potential enemies, masking more than a little wariness. Seems they're all on edge, and who could blame anyone?

"By the Sankt Kaiser! Just /where/ have you beautiful souls come from!? How did you get i..." Blauer Greif telepathically answers that question, and Lyra gives an amused lizard-growf.

"Lyra, Blauer Greif, I may be a fool but I am by no means LONELY!" Grumps Hannah at her two charges, only to realizes she's....not quite outing herself here, but definitely announcing what she is. If it wasn't already obvious. Again, she's not subtle.

"Ahem! Yes, guten aben mein freunds!" Addresses Hannah to the group, letting her Device hook to her wrist by the head deftly. Then she taps one heel to the other, leans a little, and dips into a formal bow before the assembled, vaguely aggressive magical girls in a way that can only be described as courtly and perhaps even Royal. Her accent, too, is...it's like German, only with quite a bit of cultural drift. Very weird. Also that's a darn lizard over there.

"Are you all here in the spirit of martial impro...NOT LONELY Blauer Greif! ...spirit of martial improvement!? By mein honor, I should be delighted if you were all to do me the joy of your presence! Clearly." She pauses, straightens, and the formality seems done with for the moment.

"None of us are 'normal' shall we say by this little rocks' standards? Come, come, names! Out with it! I want to know whom I am given the honor of making acquaintance with!" Her arms spread out, she's grinning and it's like she's known every single one of the girls in the Barrier since her birth despite asking her name. Friendliness wielded like a weapon.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    Rune looks around as more and more people arrive, many of them in magical form and some with weapons ready. Fight-or-flight thoughts rush through her mind, before she realizes two important things. First, nobody seems to be heading directly for her or threatening her.

Second, the 'fight' seems to be... "...late night training?" Something said aloud, both to confirm her own thoughts and to ask those nearby if that is what this is. Apparently that is what is going on, as Hannah is outright greeting people.

Greeting them, and making imperious demands about companionship and training. Which means this is all an incredible coincidence - her home is hosting unwitting 'guests' rather than being attacked. Tension fades, and she approaches Hannah. "I am Runealy, or Rune if you prefer." No last name provided. "I do not believe I have met you, or most of your companions? Perhaps save one," She nods over to Pearl Voice, recognizing her from the recent toy sales event.

Notably, Rune is in full student uniform at the moment - not transformed, though anyone who has seen her in that guise can easily recognize her as-is.

Tori Morte has posed:
    "Oh, is that what's going on?" comes Tori's voicer from above as she floats down toward the ground. She doesn't actually land, though, staying hovering a few feet above the platform. "Aren't there better places to train? Although I guess if you were lonely maybe you intentionally parked yourself out in the open..." the little girl muses.

    "Well, I guess I can play. I don't have anything else to do tonight~ Memoriatrix Tourmaline, at your service," she says, giving a twirl and then bobbing a courtsey.

    This girl also has a European accent - an English one - although it's not very noticeable unless you really listen for it. "Sorry for not giving my real name, but it's a secret~"

Melona Mizu has posed:
     Ah. Yes. A noblewoman and her pet was in this, not a Witch. "..." Hm. Well. Could be worse? Misery Melon continues to keep that crossbow lifted and ready, juuuust in case. Even as she listens to the woman talking to... her lizard... thing... and... something else? When Hannah says 'Blauer Greif', Misery Melon's eyes quickly scan the sky, spotting Tori in the process and then looking back towards Hannah. "...Where is the blue griffon? I do not see one."

     Misery Melon is now wondering if there is an invisible griffon. That would be terrifying, frankly, and she was now on the guard for incoming flying angry bird lion monsters. When there don't seem to be any, Misery Melon's gaze lowers back towards Hannah. "Guten Abend, obwohl ich nicht dein Freund bin. <Good evening, though I am not your friend.>" She responds simply to Hannah. "Your accent is... strange. ...Must be from a different area of germany." She mutters, half to herself. The talk of being here in the spirit of martial improvement seals it for Misery Melon though.

     This isn't a fight. This is training. 'Little rock's standards'? Hm. Suspicions are spreading in Misery Melon's mind! ... ... "Uh." She breaks the crossbow apart, shifting it from crossbow to something more akin to a blunt sword. "You..." She pauses. What /does/ she call herself in this form? She could use that nickname she got from that other Puella, but it's kind of embarrassing. Well, whatever. "...You can call me Misery Melon." She states simply, lifting that sword towards Hannah Steiner, pointing the blunted tip directly at her. Is she getting into this?

     Nevermind each second she was wasting energy of an ever-darkening soul gem. "And I suose this sort of dance would be nice to vent my chxfrustration before my hunt continues."

     The others are glanced towards and acknowledged, but frankly, they're just... there at the moment. And they just seem to be normal magical girls. Normally not a threat unless you're a monster. Well, okay, except for the one girl who might just be a normal girl caught up in all this? She's still in her school uniform and everything. Oh well.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Making her way to the source of the laughter, Coco sees a figure repeatedly messing up some sort of dummies. 'Huh, is someone training? They must be really into it to laugh so strongly.' The girl couldn't have picked a more themed location for her training, looking at the armor she is wearing. Coco is still cautiously moving towards the figure, but she seems to have realised her presence anyway.

The speech the knight gives then is quite pompous, as if she is fully playacting the role of a noble knight. 'I wonder if that makes the giant lizard next to her her steed. No, despite its size it's still probably too small for that' Coco presumes, analysing the distant figure. She is going to ask the knight for a name, when she catches something about martial improvement and... Blauer Greif, was it? 'Is that her name?' Coco wonders, before deciding to take that bet and address the suspicious figure by that name.

"Thanks for the offer, Blauer Greif, but I was just taking a midnight walk." Hearing some movement, Coco realises she isn't the only one having heard the training knight. In fact one of the other passersby nods at her. 'Isn't that another magical heroine from the day I almost got trampled by Red Hare?'

She nods and waves in response, before giving her attention back to the knight, relieved by having companions at her side if things went south.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah gives a firm nod in full confidence as Runealy assesses the situation, her smile not fading in the slightest. "Best way to keep the...begging pardon for the phrase...non-magical proles away. Und makes the 'targets' well, /useful/! Besides I would hate to ruin property, despite the...well. Abandoned places of strudel und beer are often legal /nightmares/ to find the proper owner to ask permission, so I thought to have a care. Lawyers are far more terrifying than youma, trust me!" Shrug!

Then she taps her chin. Her head tilts a bit. "I have not. Nor...mmm. Most of these souls gathered here! A shame, Frau Runealy, a voice as beautiful as yours is one I should liked to have heard often." She's smirking, and openly teasing the unhenshined pinkette rather shamelessly.

Tori is next to be bludgeoned with Hannah's regard! "My, such an interesting name! I very, very much wish to pry, however, I am...acht, we all have secrets! Und so regrettably I shall stow it for now. Such a burden, hm? Welcome! I should like to see what you are capable of, mein mysterious Memoriatrix!" Comes Hannah graciously. Lyra is wandering up....and despite being a massive lizard, is clearly angling for pets!

Melon is /fascinating/. "I swear I am meeting so many curious people with odd names these days. It is, however, an utter pleasure Frau Melon! Ah. Well, no point in hiding it now I suppose." She slowly sheaths her sword-cane, and her Device suddenly lights up in magitek-streaks of blue down its' surface. She casually tosses Blauer Greif into the air, and both Knight and Device are glowing blue as gravity seems to cease being a thing for the both of them. Hannah crosses one leg over the other and sits as if she is in a chair, gravitics letting the pair float casually.

Coco similarly pipes up, and the confusion is very much understandable. Device and User seem willing to disabuse any of misnamings, though the strikingly tall and very, very yellow mahou sparks recognition.

"You! The one with the voice of an angel of pure melody! Valiantly fought. It is a pleasure to see you again!" Comes Hannah, clearly recognizing her from that museum night and very happy to encounter her properly.

Blauer Greif audibly 'speaks' in that strange Device tone, Belkan understandable with or without fluency. Magitek is amazing, and so is narrative convenience.

<I am Blauer Greif. It is an honor. May Justice and Prosperity follow you all so long as your works are Righteous> Comes the rather mechanical, very dour voice of the Ancient Belkan device.

Melon makes a point thought. Ahem!

"Right then everyone! Now, I had not exactly planned for meeting you all but I am most happy to change things." She vaguely gestures to the couple of similar 'striking dummies' she's set up, one for each of them if they'd like.

"Enough to go around. However! A solid sparring session is ever a great pleasure! What will it be!? Don't be shy!" Encourages Hannah as she tries to get a bit of group coherency going.

The fact she's very much avoiding giving her own name, yet willing to out her two friends might be telling.

Tori Morte has posed:
    "So are you going to..." Tori begins, then trails off. She looks over the training dummies. "Useful? I dunno if a stationary target is that useful. You can just take as long as you like to line up an attack. Monsters don't just stand there waiting for you... usually."

    The floating girl extends her hands out, fingers spread. There's a faint tingling in the air as all of the training dummies soon begin to lift up off the ground... and Tori's hair starts to float about like she's underwater, for that matter. "Well, we've been wanting to work on our multitasking~"

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    "'Non-magical proles'...?" Rune has to think through that last word, making a best guess as to what it means. "Ah... the citizenry, then. It is well enough that you are avoiding putting them at risk during your training!" She smiles at this conclusion, then blinks as Hannah enthusiastically greets Coco. "I take it you are familiar with her as well? And..." Blink, blink. She stares at Blauer Greif, "Did it... he... they...?" Rune makes repeated guesses, "Just speak?"

She makes no response to the offer to spar, but does glance over at the training dummies - and then at Misery Melon, taking in the sights of her shifting weaponry.

Melona Mizu has posed:
     Runealy gives her name. Memoriatrix Tourmaline gives her name. Yellow Pearl Voice... is already known so she doesn't give her name. Melon even gave her own name. Lyra, the lizard, and the ... sword? Robot? Thing? Are even named. And yet, it seemed... that the woman who was the handler of all of them had not given hers. Misery Melon sighs as she shifts the sword, stepping closer to the now-floating Hannah.

     "It is unehrenhaft<dishonorable> to ask our names, but not offer your own. And here you seemed quite noble. Perhaps I should reconsider my assessment of you." Melon comments, her tone biting on that last sentence, an edge of scorn towards the seemingly cheerful knight. She shifts one hand down to the edge of her skirt, dipping into a curtsy towards... Blauer Greif. Specifically towards it, her gaze locked on the device. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Blue Griffon." The other hand holding the sword pointed towards Hannah the whole time, and that previously-dull edge suddenly growing sharp, a glint on the edge and tightness of it becoming more obvious as clear distrust grew in the one who literally called herself 'Misery Melon'.

     Also now the dummies were starting to float and move. "Hm." Some sort of telekinesis? But it was like the other girl was underwater, so maybe more like... simulated water control? Fascinating.

     Watching Melona change her weapons is ... almost like watching someone work with clay, simply seeming to mold the items into a shape she wants, and then them snapping more fully into the form. "You just watched me turn a crossbow into a sword and you are surprised by an enchanted item speaking? You must either not be graced with magic, or new at this." She comments towards Runealy.

     Still. She was encouraged not to be shy. So she does just that, the small girl jumping into sudden and quick movement, darting closer to Hannah with blade held at the ready, sliding down as she moves into closer range to dip her other hand into the ground below her, her hand lifting up with a rocky shield attached to it. Also a handful of rocks, which the motion of lifting her hand out of the ground is turned into a throw of towards Hannah.


Yes.


That was her opening. She threw a rock.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"You were at the museum?" Coco looks better at the figure under the dim light of the barrier, before recognising the armor.

"Oh, nice to meet you again! Good job with the Noh Masks that day, you were great too!" As the Device corrects her, Coco remembers the knight did have that talking device during the museum visit. "Oh, sorry about that, and nice to meet you, Blauer Greif', she says, a bit surprised at actually addressing a mechanical device.

"I'm Yellow Pearl Voice, though you can also call me Yellow Pearl.' Coco is a bit As you know, my magic is purely about songs, so maybe I can entertain you with some while you train? I do need to find some self-defense course so I can actually hold my own if attacked by something resisting my songs, but as I am now, I would probably hurt myself more than the dummies."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah actively 'tsk's the young mahou like she's some friend or mentor, though there's no malice in her reproach.

"Which is exactly the point! To ensure your form and strikes are not only elegant, but perfect in application as well as ensuring you can apply them without conscious thought! That is the /essence/ of training! However!" Things are floating, and Blauer Greif tells her that Tori is floating less like another gravity-manipulator and more like she's swimming through air. As are the dummies. Grin!

"Oh I am not going to turn down a good bit of spice in a session! Chaos rules the battlefield after all, and any who say otherwise are gutless curs never stepped upon one!" Comes Hannah with approval. Probably.

Not one to turn down an interesting opportunity, she mentally commands her Device and advisor.

<Fluss: Aufhellen> Comes Blauer Greif, and suddenly one of those floating Target Dummies has Hannah neatly gliding after a quick kick from the ground towards it as if air was merely ice to skate upon. Muscles flex, and she grips her Device solidly, raining down a solid, elegant, completely unsubtle hammer-blow of the Cane upon the manipulated Dummy, trying to smash it into, then through the ground in a crater.

With Tori occupied in Magicry, Lyra decides to invade Rune's personal space instead. Hi Rune, there's a lizard here, clearly bugging you for pets! Also probably trying to bap you gently with a tail in delight. There's a tongue, too, Lizard Licks being threatened upon the Princess of Waldia.

"Und risk injuring good people? Never! I would do a disservice to mein House for such a thing. There is enough to get caught up in, in Tokyo without making commoners' lives more hard than they already are." Comes the girl with quite a bit of empathy despite all of her bluster and royal arrogance.

Shrug. Melon beats her to the punch. "Blauer Greif is very much alive. Friend, advisor, mmm. Family is true, and yet almost seems an insult from someone as young as myself." Comments Hannah, and the Device gives an audible ping that's the equivalent of an eye-roll at her sudden mushy User.

Melon is merciless. Hannah looks at first afronted, but realizing she's entirely correct, has the dignity to offer another bow as she regretfully nods.

"Und there is the trouble. I would not deign to break peace and offer our real names without cause, as good Memoriatrix so rightly says. Thus, I am at a bit of a disadvantage for...I suppose I have none." A brow rises.

"Perhaps you wonderful Sankt Kaiser-blessed souls would do me the honor of an appelation while in....this?" Suggests Hannah warmly to the crowd.

Luckily Misery attacks, and Hannah responds in kind! She doesn't retreat, standing her ground as Lyra growlf's out a warning. She unsheaths her blade as well, held up defensively...and then a rock is chucked at her. Pocket rocks.

She's a good sport though, as she ducks several of them, one of them manages to take her hat off, and aside from a bruise to the wrist under her Knight Armor, a sudden gravitic shield before her takes the rest.

Coco helpfully reminds her of her trick with the Noh masks, and she uses the spell she hoisted upon them once again. Fingers snap.

<Fluss: Anlocken> comes her Device, and to Misery's right? An anchor point of gravity starts to strong tug and pull at her, hoping to obviate her charge with sheer attractive force. Hannah's approaching like she wants to use her blade on Misery too!

"You are far too kind, Yellow Pearl! I should like to hear you sing many times, mein freund! Do you have...what are they called here? 'Albums'? I should like to listen to your music more often!" Comes Hannah approvingly, apparently not only able to carry on multiple conversations all at once, but in the middle of a fight.

The sheath of Blauer Greif meanwhile, floats over to Yellow Pearl. The Device's voice floats towards her.

<You may learn. Take hold of me. Generations I have taught. You may not be of our House, but you are Worthy. Strike true. I shall guide

Hannah Steiner has posed:
<You may learn. Take hold of me. Generations I have taught. You may not be of our House, but you are Worthy. Strike true. I shall guide you> Comes Blauer Greif in that dour, yet helpful monotone. There's plenty of now floating Striking Dummies, and the solid sheath is a good weapon in its' own right.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    "I..." Rune winces at Melon's remarks, taking them as if they had been an in-depth scathing review rather than a relatively simple comment. Rune ends up having no good 'retort' to it, her voice trailing off. Instead, she lets Misery Melon begin the mock battle.

Hannah introduces her Device, and Hannah's lizard companion 'introduces' itself - the latter causes Rune to tense up, silently wondering if she needs to run away or transform. Neither ends up being the case, and after a few seconds of the lizard prancing around and pushing for attention... Rune relents, reaching down cautiously at first to try patting Lyra a few times and then more naturally afterward. "What a fascinating creature...", a comment made with a breathy gasp at the end.

Then Yellow Pearl's self-assessment ends up drawing the princess' attention. Rune paces over to join her, and speaks up: "A person much more capable and wise than I said this about training..." Rune takes a breath, changing her voice to be more solemn and sound like someone else - still a woman's voice, though: "Begin with one. It need only be one."

Her voice returns to normal. "Would it be worthwhile to do that, here and now, with Blauer Grief?"

Tori Morte has posed:
    "Are you training to be an exhibition fighter or a magical girl?" Tori teases Hannah lightly. "All that matters in a fight for justice and peace against the forces of darkness is that you win!" Tori attempts to maneuver Hannah's target out of the way of her attack, but she's not quite quick enough - manages to dodge just enough to turn a blow to center mass into a glancing blow to the side, but it still ends up in a crater anyway. It seems to be completely undamaged, however, soon floating back up into the air.

    "Hff... commoners? <Ugh, don't tell me she's royalty. Royalty is such a waste...>" Tori mutters to herself in English.

    Blauer Greif offers its services, so Tori does the same, one of her floating training dummies approaching Coco with 'hostile' intent!

    The other four dummies are now floating about, up and down and side to side, as if daring someone to hit them.

Melona Mizu has posed:
     "Yellow Pearl. Runealy. ... ... Memori.. memo... motria... Tourmaline... I'm going to remember the first two of your names, as well as Blue Griffon." Misery Melon says. Look. Memoriatrix's name is long and hard to pronounce. Melon finally properly acknowledging the others in a not particularly biting or mean way! "...Your power is interesting, Tourmaline."

     Hannah's speech is listened to, and her talk. And her House... and stuff. Really, it's some sort of noble house, but those are basically gone. Plus the whole 'this tiny rock' thing. Hm. The confirmation that Blauer Greif is actually alive is good to know as well, though she doesn't comment on such, mostly just making note of it for later.

     "Hm. ...My name was given to me by someone else. So clearly someone will have to do the same for you. For now, Blauer Greif Trager<Bearer> shall work. Or just Trager for short." That's with an accent over the a. It's not exactly the most elegant of names, but better than nothing for at least a short duel. Still, there is combat occurring.

     And her rocks are being deflected, blocked, and stopped by a gravitational shield it seems? The anchor point of gravity is met with an immediate course correction by Melon, aided by her combining her weapons into a large hammer to swing and use its force towards the left to attempt to counter the worst of the gravity, though this mainly keeps her upright more than anything as she continues her charge towards Hannah!

     Though the gravity well did serve its purpose, the force of her final engagement much weaker than it can be, even as the head of the hammer is swung with intent to shatter on impact, creating a blast of rock flying outward from the hammer head even if she misses, the 'shaft' of the hammer turning back into a shortsword to allow an easy recovery from the strike for Misery Melon. She seems to have at least some moderate experience with fighting it seems, and fighting dirty at that.

     "Ja! Rune is right. There is no shame in being unskilled, only in making no effort at all." Misery Melon adds as she recovers, her tone a bit breathless. Look, fighting a gravity well when you weigh next to nothing is hard.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco looks surprised at Blauer Grief's gesture, before grinning and nodding. "Thank you, I will pay the proper respect to the honour you give me. Let's do this!", she says gripping the hilt decisively, Coco's sudden energy so intense it was as if a flaming aura was appearing around Coco.

This aura slightly calms down as Runealy approaches her with her suggestion. "Only one? Got it." Coco gazes intently at one of the dummies before trying out a lunge. It ends up missing a bit, though this doesn't deter Coco, who gets back in position before going back to doing lunges at the dummy again and again.

Soon she is starting to get the hang of, well, not actually using the weapon on her own, but at least being guided by Blauer Greif well. "You are a good teacher, thank you", she addresses the device with admiration.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    "'Begin with one' is what I was told," Rune assures Coco. "And so it was always a single step, or a single strike, or a single sparkle. Then a single more after that, again and again. And once at my limit?"

A single nod. "One more. Nothing beyond that. My limit, plus a solitary addition. That became my new limit, for the next occasion I trained. I believe it will be of some use to you as well."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Keeping in mind Runealy's suggestion, and under the guidance of Blauer Greif, Coco gradually falls into a scheme with her strikes. She feels quite happy at having such good tutors to watch over her. 'I have to thank you both a lot, you are really helpful', she declares.

The rest of her training passes in this fashion, almost obtaining a dreamlike quality under the mantle of the night. Coco ends up putting her all until its end.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
The rubs and scritches quickkly make Rune-chan a new friend! Lyra leans right into them, bumping and bapping fondly as she makes sure to shed lots all over Rune's clothes!

Yup, the lizard sheds, enjoy all that blue lizard fur on your stuff Runealy!

There's the sensation of a nod from Blauer Greif towards Runealy as she speaks wisdom. Hannah is less subtle about it.

"May we all have one with such lessons to teach us in our lives!" comes the girl encouragingly! The formality, too, has her eye but she also has magical girls to contend with, so she can't pry as much as she'd like!

Tori, again, gets a playful tsk! "Bladework and the martial spirit is both a practical skill /and/ a form of art! What is the point of a pursuit of Righteous Perfection if you cannot be elegant about it?" Comes Hannah, smiling and letting Tori's muttering slide off of her like rain.

Hannah also takes a page out of Melon's book, hackey-sacks a rock into the air with her foot, and then kicks it hard towards one of the dummies...said rock's velocity increases far beyond what should be possible as blue magic forms about it, its' association with gravity lessened severely. It's basically being Rail Gun'd at the floating dummy.

It's rather painful that she can't do Melon proper honor for gifting her a precious thing like a name. She's basically out of resources, on a backwater with no access to any kind of clout, and even has to hide her Proper Name like a coward. It galls her. But at the same time, dragging these beautiful souls into her vendetta against her Uncle would only hurt them. And so she nods firmly, with naught but regret in her face.

"Thank you. I mean that. I shall take the name Trager, and do much honor upon it, such that I am able. May Prosperity ever follow your steps, Misery Mellon, for the kindness you give upon this lost daughter of..." She bites her lip.

"I hate secrets." She deflates a bit as she stops herself.

Thankfully a massive hammer is good at making one ignore regrets and trauma that isn't cranial. She steps in, and as Misery's strike is slowed by her Anchor, and slices firmly through the junk-based stone. There's little artistry to the other girls' works, but the earnestness and sheer creativity of it has Hannah utterly fascinated. Like many she's seen, it's like the girl doesn't have a Device, but wields strange abilities inscrutable. Which seems to be pulling together objects.

She'll have to track all of them down again, really, for reasons Friend and Mahou shaped.

Of course, dirty fighting works well on haughty nobles. That short-sword formed of the remnants in a cunning feint rips across the armored gauntlet of one hand, tears much of it off in a burst of fading magic, and seems to be going for her kidneys. Thankfully while Hannah isn't especially used to dirty fighting, she /does/ know how to avoid getting assassinated. She floats aside just /slightly/, turning it into a grazing blow and then catching the blade between arm and rather impressive abs as it turns out. Flex! This is no dainty noble, but one used to activity alongside their excess. Clench.

And then it's boot to the chin time in a vicious axe-kick, sending Hannah sliding back to catch her breath in a laugh.

"How horridly clever of you! How cruel of Fate to not allow us to meet earlier, you are /wonderful/, Melon!" Oh yes, she approves!

Yellow Pearl's strikes are...well the guidance is somehow visual, instinctual, and audible all at once. Its' very strange, but probably a good feeling. Blauer Greif critiques as well as praises Yellow as she gets used to each melee blow. The Device in her hand doesn't change shape, but might well have a greater weight to it as it adjusts to Yellow's work. Almost as if she was wielding a microphone and stand, but using it like a very long blade, or a spear. Gravity magic is nice like that.

<A pleasure. Mein herein likes you. May you be allies. And perhaps, friends> Muses the dour Device before suddenly pushing Yellow to reach for more. Better. Faster. You can

Hannah Steiner has posed:
<A pleasure. Mein herein likes you. May you be allies. And perhaps, friends> Muses the dour Device before suddenly pushing Yellow to reach for more. Better. Faster. You can do this. You just need to reach a little beyond what you are now. Just one step. You are more than you think.

The group's 'training session' is really half wild sparring, half actual punching of floating dummies and a lot of shared joy. A night to remember, as magical girls of Justice and Villainy share memories, sweat, and perhaps a few bruises and tears as they wield magic of the heart of so many kinds.

By the time it all disperses, it's like nothing happened. Just a few out-of-place dummies in no worse condition than before. But just a little feeling of laughter and exertion paints the place for a while in mirth.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori hums idly to herself as she makes the dummies 'dance', even if only one of the trainees is using them at the moment. She's got plenty of stamina and can keep this up for a long time yet - that's part of why she wanted to practice like this!

    "This is fun, isn't it?" she asks... herself. Or an invisible person right next to her, who knows. "Much better than just lifting and playing around with things on our own."

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    As the training continues, Rune has bigger problems to worry about than lizard-fur. While nothing bad happened tonight, when things wind down over time she quickly takes the chance to walk away.

It is only once out of view of the others that she shudders, eyes wide as she speaks to herself: "Was this pure coincidence? Or is this an incredibly subtle warning that we have already been found and a show of force to warn us to cease our plans before they have even begun...? If they located us once already, wittingly or not, they may yet do it a second time."

Anxiety, a chill that causes her heart to race and breathing to quicken, floods through her as she envisions just how badly this 'second time' will go. Nobody here tonight threatened her, or even hinted at it, yet their being here has unnerved her and sleep will not come easily.