Bright Flame In Dim Winters [ Willa Isard ]

[Chi'Yun Xhao'li]

Chi'Yun's face was pelted by snow, body covered in an ordinary snow coat. She knocked on a door, clearing her throat. "Chi'Y-" Before uttering the entirely of her own name, a faint gasp was heard, a chest closed and a male figure whispering orders for his children to flee. She rose a brow, pressing her ear against the wooden door. "Don't make this hard, sir. I simply come for the money you owe me. Plus interest." A bang was heard, a bullet whizzing through the door beside her. "I-...I..I ain't got no money! I'un even know who you are!" She sighed, this again. The woman would reach behind herself, gripping her father's sword hilt and effortlessly pulling the blade before her. "Then sadly .. I will have to remind you!" She allowed herself a calming breath, taking stance before raising her blade and executing a precise vertical slice down the door's length. Slicing it in half, she rose her foot before kicking i-.. NOPE! She almost fell over from trying to kick the door down. Being physically small and weak had its weaknesses. She looked about, clearing her throat after ensuring no one witnessed her failure. The door was cut again, chunks of wood falling and herself leaping between the cracks and into the small home.

The back door was open, swinging infact as if tugged intently with an emptied blaster thrown on the table. Chi'Yun looked to the side, noticing a mother with a child in arms, rocking it to sleep. She offered a smile, bowing toward them. "Pleasure." Afterward, her face took on a more serious expression as she leaped over the table and out the back door in pursuit. She noticed a humanoid male, her prior associate, running aimlessly into the winters of Toola. "Stop!" She called out. Instinctively, she sheathed her blade and pulled out her composite bow and iron-tipped arrow, steadying it before her and drawing the arrow back before calculating its impending trajectory with one eye closed and releasing the arrow.

Moments later, she'd walk over toward the squirming body with an ..arrow in the knee. "You've made your choice, sir." She motioned her head in a 'gimme' fashion, the male grunting before holding out a large pouch before her. "It was a pleasure doing business with you. Only.." She began, raising her blade and cleaving the male's head from his body. "Not.." Her angered face remained, snow kicked over his body and herself walking back to civilization and waving towards the mother with a mouth-open expression. "Your child is beautiful." With her credits collected and a proper lesson taught, the frail female returned to town and into a marketplace. She was in search of both kerosene and torches, tools she hadn't used for her art in quite some time.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Chi'Yun Xhao'li"]

The world was a fun place she had t admit and standing there in the jericho armor well she was getting to test out in the desolate wasteland of it all the upgrades for the cloud car from the auction. Twin Gatling cannons mounted and she was hunting some of the jakobeasts for more then their pelts and tusks. The meat was important and some of them could be raised for captivity within Satochi. It gave her as one of the remainign rangers a thing to do while she was holding her pistol in one hand and bringing up a flame in the other. The coating on the armor let her blend into the snow while the targeting system watched the horizon.

She had been in the marketplace earlier getting what information she could and supplies that were just the tactical cans of jerky and sack meads that Saori made to give and use. With all of the things she could think of a few special techniques before turned her attention to the really fun and dangerous things like hunting and avoiding the massive whipids on the world who were always the most welcoming or friendly. Her hand shot out letting a jet of fire erupting while she struck a clay pidgeon shattering it in practice and to hopefully attract the jakobeasts all the way out here from their homes in the caves and mountains.

 

[Chi'Yun Xhao'li]

Chi'Yun wiggled her small frame past the crowds of racially diversified consumers in the marketplace. She'd stumble upon a settled traveling merchant, "Aye, Aye! Little girl interested in explorin'? Well around here you'll be seeing JACK in caves without a torch." She paused, a faint smile appearing as she turned towards him. "Yeah, yeah? And what of kerosene? Have you the fluid?" The merchant leaned back, grunting before slamming a large waterskin full of kerosene and a torch onto the table. "...You got credits, gir-" Before he finished, she slammed the respective credits on the table and walked away with her newly purchased items. The pouch of kerosene was clipped on to her side, the torch equipped to her right. She'd wave, bowing even. "Beautiful trading, sir."

Walking out the town, she aimed to return to her ship. She followed the tracks scarcely combed over by the winters of Toola and found two small creatures carrying parts off from her small ship and sparks flying about. She blinked, "You there!" She called out, running toward them with her blade drawn. The small creatures panicked, fleeing backward into the wasteland with ship parts in their hands. "Bahggoooo", a curse word, "Bahgoooo" She called, hitting her broken ship as if it would force the scrapped machine into activation. It would seem the ship she acquired without 'permission' [ stole ] was equally stolen from her without 'permission'. The circle of life. Nevertheless, Chi'Yun aimed to follow the small creatures before hearing a flame in the distance. From her peripheral, she noticed a blip of flames appearing and a camouflaged figure as well.

Having no bearings on her current location, she made way toward the flame. She remained quiet however, whether [member="Willa Isard"] was friend or foe had yet to be determined. She cared little for Willa herself, but was more than interested to discover the source of her fire.

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Chi'Yun Xhao'li"]

Willa continued to work with the clay pidgins as another one shot up and she blew it up with the blast before she was relaxing. A smile on her face under the mask before she was sensing something and turned in the armor. Her cloaks hood going down while the motion tracker told her someone was coming. The small ping before she stood there at the ready for anything justt returning to her cloud car, might be a jakobeast so needed to be safe after all and she didn't see teeth or hear roars. Just someone standing there as the vahla popped the helmet and shook out her short hair with the facial tattoo gleaming a little and her golden eyes at the ready for anything. "Not many people would brave coming out here, let alone approaching a vahla. Aren't you afraid I'll sacrifice you to my heathen god?"

 

[Chi'Yun Xhao'li]

Chi'Yun paused after stumbling across Willa, her hair brushed to the side from within her own coat's hood. Her eyes brightened to [member="Willa Isard"]'s face being revealed, tattoo and all. Uniquely pigmented eyes was one thing her own Vahlan blood didn't permit. Pitty. Nevertheless, she would look up to Willa's face, being only 5'7" in height. "Can't admit to being brave, honestly. I'm lost, okay? It's karking cold, I can't barely feel my fingers and my ship was scrapp-" She paused once more, shaking her head abit. "To be frightened of a vahla would be denying my own heritage. Or, at least, a portion of it. Can't say I care too much for the stereotypes that've been pegged on the vahla. What I could care for is some heat! Sheesh, I'll know not to come back here next time I go lending money to people." The small woman went off ranting incomprehensible words, pacing back and forth with grunts and complaints.

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Chi'Yun Xhao'li"]

"Being cold denies your heritage." She said it quick based off what she heard as she stood there not feeling a threat but bringing her arms up to cross her chest while she moved around to look at the girl more closely but not with scorn or anger. In truth she could admit to not being the best vahla either she didn't follow the bulk within the one sith serving the dark lord so she was mostly alone except the rare few. She moved over to stop her though with a smile on her face and the sniper was more then willing to help while she brought her hand out igniting the air above her palm to make a fireball. "Here this can help but you should have been taught how to keep yourself warm."

 

[Chi'Yun Xhao'li]

Chi'Yun pondered upon her vahlan heritage, or lack there of she understood of it. She continued pacing back and forth while ranting until she was stopped by Willa. She stepped back, looking up to see a smile and Willa extending a hand her way. Before the woman, a bright flame emerged from her very hand. Such was magic. Chi'Yun's eyes brightened as she taken off guard, taking a step back even. There was were no torches, no kerosene or other lighting fluids to turn into flames. It simply appeared. Eventually, Chi'Yun stepped closer, using the fireball for heat. "You .. You are a sorceress, yes? A-..A witch? This flame appeared from nothing!" Despite her awe, she remained intrigued. "Taught to do this, you mean? Ha! I know no magicks. Where I'm from, we use only torches and tools to provide warmth." [member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Chi'Yun Xhao'li"]

Willa was more curious now and well that could explain it. Vahla were nomads searching for their ancient homeworld. So one being born on a world would prove useful but one born and not raised as a vahla... that was surprising to her while she was looking at her wondering a few things now about her. She was letting the force sit there between them and now just had to probe and get to know some of the things. "Well I do not know about the sorceress part but I am a force user and the fire comes naturally to the vahla. It is within you we just have to try and find a way to bring it to the surface and then you can bring all the sparks you wish to."

 

[Chi'Yun Xhao'li]

Chi'Yun shook her head in denial, "Despite my people being half vahla, not one has ever displayed aptitude for these sorts of mag-.." Chi'Yun paused mid-speech, her eyes glaring in the distance whilst a flashback of herself peeking through a closet door and watching her elderly father spew flames towards his enemies before his head was cleaved right off. Blinking, she looked back up at Willa Isard. "This .. 'force'? What is it? I am not familiar with it. To be able to create flame from nothing would be a miracle from Gao-bei himself. The Xhao'li have been subjected to other sources such as torches and lighter fluid to produce our flames for centuries. I-..I still don't believe myself capable, in all honesty. I'm only ordinary, Miss Vahla. Chi'Yun Xhao'li," she said, bowing lightly in respects.

[member="Willa Isard"]

 

[Willa Isard]

[member="Chi'Yun Xhao'li"]

"I am a vahla, not Miss Vahla. THe ones who know me call me Willa." She said it while looking at her and motioning her to come over to the cloud car as the protective shield keeping the snow out of it allowing the interior to be dry for them. "Take a seat and we can talk, there is free candy in the glove box." She said it as a bad joke and with terrible delivery looking over at her while she wondered what the girl had been going through. "All cahla can feel the force, we are given the power of it and within it we can summon and control the fire. It makes serving the goddess possible." She sat down shifting in the armor and seat while remaining there looking over some of the things. "That you do not know this is saddening but there is potential given how most of our people have become servants to the dark lord by lies."