Outside the Campus' North Gate, Wednesday Morning

[seeks_truth]

She had heard the first shriek when she'd left the dorms complex for her morning jog. There had been dead eels on the lawn, but she had not paid it much heed.

Then there had been the second shriek, as she approached the gate. It had given her pause. What was out there that was, apparently, throwing fish at the school

Comments

[kenselvren]

Jalian wasn't sure precisely what was going on here, but once an eel tried to attack her, she didn't much care. She started around the dorms, but when she saw the battle by the gate - well, numbers always helped.

So she was striking out at the latest batch of eels, a long knife in each hand, practically a blur as she sliced them neatly.

[kenselvren]

"Morning," Jalian returned, waving back before slicing another eel. She eyed Kathy's curious weapons. "What are those?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Specialized gymnastic ribbons?" Kathy said, trying not to look sheepish about it. "I gave them a little more weight and heft and durability, see?" She flipped the handle over so Jalian could see where she'd (inexpertly) drilled the handles hollow and then filled them with metal. "The ribbons work as a lasso when I need them to and the handle make excellent blunt weapons, especially at a distance. I grew up learning how to manipulate these as part of my routine, so it just made sense to adapt them to my new, err, lifestyle, you know?"

[kenselvren]

Jalian frowned at them for a moment, watched Kathy handle them, and cocked her head. "They seem useful. So, they were practice weapons and you made them real ones?"

Yeah, rhythmic gymnastics weren't really a thing in Jalian's time.

[spin_kick_snap]

Go figure!

"Not exactly," Kathy said, letting her ribbons fly to slam into more of the eels. The handles were her preferred weapons today; there didn't seem much of a point to trying to tie the eels up. "They're more like sports equipment? That I turned into weapons because I already knew how to use them."

[kenselvren]

Yeah, "sports" was basically another word for "ritualized combat" anyway, right?

"Sensible," Jalian decided.

[spin_kick_snap]

...Kathy really needed to sit Jalian down and show her some meets. No one wore a leotard of spandex and sequins while flinging balls around ever thought of what they did as 'ritualized combat.'

Still, Jalian's easy acceptance earned a bright grin from Kathy. "Thank you!" she said. "Usually, I catch more flak for how silly they look."

[kenselvren]

Eh, you said gymnastics, Jalian said martial art.

Jalian kicked one eel and stabbed another. "Why do they look silly?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Do you mean why do people think they look silly?" Kathy checked. "Or why they look silly from some kind of aesthetic principle...?"

Either way, the answer was probably the same.

"I mean, they're bright rainbow ribbons covered in wire and duct tape. They don't look like weapons. Or much of anything really. So, people laugh."

She didn't mind it so much when the guys she picked up in Baltimore laughed at her. It stung a little more when her friends did.

[kenselvren]

Jalian snorted. "They look like weapons to me. If some people don't think they do, it just makes them easier to hide."

It was males that laughed, wasn't it? They were silly creatures.

[spin_kick_snap]

Of course it was!

"It's why I get to keep them on me, rather than having to put them away in the weapons locker," Kathy said, nodding. "I mean, I wouldn't mind something that looked a little more badass, but I can't even pretend that being underestimated hasn't helped me out."

[This past week has been hell on my schedule, sorry! I'll understand if you'd rather drop this thread, just wanted to respond!]

[kenselvren]

Jalian grinned. "Then you get to make them angry, too."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was going to share that grin. "And isn't that a pity?" she said.