[Judged] for all the monsters

[Elena]

Elena Daray

let us live like flowers
drenched in sunlight

L

esson One: Never yield to your opponent.

“Malachi, Malachi, can you teach me one of your sparring moves?” A young Elena asks the silver Malachi, as she does a small leap to the side, as if dodging an imaginary opponent. “Please, please, please, please, please…” and she continues on until finally Malachi tosses those imaginary hands into the air with an exaggerated look of defeat. “Alright, fine, but nothing too dangerous.” His words are a defeat, Elena has won. He sighs and looks at her with brown eyes. “There are some lessons you need to learn first though.”

Lesson Three: Never show an opponent your weakness.  

It snowed during the night. She had been able to taste it even before she opened her blue eyes. It sticks to the roof of her mouth even now as she comes to the Steppe. When she sees it is him, coming to the battlefield, the vibrant colors of his flowers, his wings, it sends her heart flying with a joy maybe she should not be feeling on the cusp of battle, even if it is a spar. He brushes against her shoulder and she laughs, taking the flowers. They smell like summer and for a moment she forgets the snow. The sunlight in her shines through the cracks in him. The passerbys, the ones here for entertainment, look on in disappointment at the two. Laughter was not the sound of war drums, but ask Elena, and she will tell you it is so much better.

She sets her jaw, though the hint of a smile remains as she looks at Po. “Oh, well, I have been sparring since I was little.” Not a complete lie, Malachi did teach her very basic moves, though he mostly concentrated on the theory of battle for the golden filly, so eager to test her limits. 

He moves away from her, and once set in position, Elena offers him a polite bow of her head. “We shall,” she says and stands proud once more. She fights how she lives: impulsively. She breaks into a sprint. The snow is slippery, the fresh powder gathering on top of the ice. There is an unsureness to her footing, and it is only when she reaches him, that Elena realizes how bad of an idea this is. But it isn't a bad idea, not really. Elena would have first had to have an idea in mind for it to be bad. 

She aims at his side, and pushes off the ground in a sideways motion. She moves her golden head out of the way, seeing at the hospital what a head injury can do and she wished for no injuries today, from either of them. Elena lands back down on the ground with the crunch of snow, and the skidding sound of unsure footing. She grits her teeth inside her mouth, she had slipped slightly when she landed, and felt a twinge in her shoulder. She puts weight on it regardless, she did not want him to notice her injury. This is when her blue eyes flitter back to Po like darling butterflies, as a sudden spark of remembrance of a lesson Malachi had taught, a lesson she had forgotten. 

Lesson Two: Never make the first move.

code by rallidae
picture by cannon

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Summary: Elena is remembering the lessons her cousin, Malachi, had taught her about fighting. She enters into the area and takes the flowers from Po. She too backs up and bows her head politely. She runs towards him (not really thinking what she is going to do). She tries to throw her shoulder into him, aiming at his side. She leaps almost sideways, more diagonally. She slips slightly when she lands and hurts her shoulder a little, but she can still fight. 

Attack Used: 1
Attack(s) Left: 1
Block Used: 0 (UPDATE THIS WHENEVER YOU USE A BLOCK)
Block(s) Left: 1 (UPDATE THIS WHENEVER YOU USE A BLOCK)
Item(s) Used: None. 

Response Deadline: September 7 (because I am posting this so late on the 3rd) But also, timeline is still flexible <3
Tags: @Ipomoea, @Sid, @inkbone, @nestle, @layla