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 Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2025 3:17 pm
Quote: Winter Star Poinsettias: (6) : Poinsettias are common during the winter seasons, so it isn't unusual to see them decorating windowsills and local establishments. What is unusual are the unique Winter Star Poinsettias that seem to have accidentally mixed into the bunch. They look like ordinary Poinsettias reflecting a bit of glow from nearby lights--only, the leaves themselves are emitting a soft, silvery glow. They look like they are covered with a fine morning dew, only with fine silver glitter peppered in to give it a unique sparkle. They seem to have gone unnoticed by most of Destiny City and the landscapers, and it's not clear how these plants were selected, but anyone with a keen eye might recognize them as the catastrophe of Destiny City Botanical Garden's 2016 Winter Extravaganza. Thankfully, these variants are far less dangerous than their counterparts, however, these plants have a strange pollen that acts like an allergen and can cause agitation, oversensitivity, and sneezing to anything with much of a strong smell. Anyone who comes into contact with these plants may also find themselves suffering from flu-like symptoms such as fever, coughing, fatigue, and nausea and no medicine will relieve it, but the symptoms gradually fade. The leaves of the poinsettia are sharp and can sting like a papercut, so be careful! ...If you're worried about an all-out attack again, it might be a good idea to destroy these poinsettias--if you can manage to do so without getting caught. Training was always a good idea, especially if you were young and inexperienced. Tortuga was neither of those but he still found himself out there in the middle of the bitterly cold night, doing his best to ignore the little light that was still flitting around like a damn fly or mosquito while waiting for the young senshi to appear, to help with her training. Somehow he found he couldn’t just let the child be, he wouldn’t let her wander the streets without at least some skills. They had already gone over the proper way to punch, no broken fingers on his watch. He demonstrated a few kicks he had learned from Maia, but overall he wasn’t great at them. She was definitely a better teacher when it came to those fluid kicks and strikes. He was more of a bulldozer, working with his fists and weight to limit the damage of chaos in fights. He had scars to show just how up close and personal his tussles became. Distance was the best option but his magic didn’t really lend itself very well for that. It was a distraction at best and an annoyance at worst. So he would teach Aquitania that she didn’t have to rely on her magic. She needed to know what to do when it wasn’t an option especially since climbing trees weren’t always available. That particular night he was figuring on teaching the kid about using what was around them to fight. Things like branches, dirt, and even trash. Anything and everything could be a weapon depending on what it was. He also had a little surprise for her. It might not be the safest thing to teach but it could be handy… if dangerous. It's why he picked this particular location, an abandoned construction zone. Dark, secluded, fenced off. Nothing around but piles of dirt, trash, and scrubby grass, all coated with a light dusting of snow. Nothing green but some bright a** flowers that had Tortuga grimice. He knew what they were and was planning on using them for target practice once the hand to hand stuff was done. He had no idea who had put those demon plants out here but since they looked like they had just been tossed into the space like the rest of the trash he couldn’t really blame whoever it was. Not that he condoned littering but when it came to those plants he understood. While they looked pretty, with their silvery glow and everything, they were a menace. A down right terror to society. They should have been thoroughly destroyed years ago, but they weren’t so at least now they would be useful in the very literal sense. The knight paced the general area once again. Eyeing the terrain, and the visible detritus, all the while giving the poinsettias a wide berth. It might not be an ideal location for a fight but they rarely got to pick when Chaos attacked. And it had its benefits. Plenty of handy ‘weapons’, no visible cameras, and the fence kept the public at bay. For training it was perfect. For target practice it was adequate. For right now it would do.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2026 10:48 am
Aquitania felt like she'd been learning a lot lately. The proper way to punch without breaking her fingers, some more kicks...though, admittedly, she'd been able to show Tortuga more about kicking than he'd been able to teach her. It was still gratifying to know that both of them were helping each other learn better how to fight, even if she hadn't been expecting to wind up teaching someone more experienced than her the techniques she'd picked up. And the chibi had picked them up in ballet, of all places, not some kind of martial art, but the classiest of all classical dance forms. Very unorthodox...but apparently very effective. Her cousin Keesh said it had to do with dancers; you didn't ever want to get kicked by a dancer, dancers kicked like mules: powerfully, and with alarming accuracy. Keesh thought practicing kicks and pirouettes was a valid form of exercise for combat for her younger cousin.
All of which was good. Between her having only chibi magic, which was unreliable at the best of times, and her magic being more akin to cheerleading, Aquitania did not have magic to fall back on as strongly in combat--the best thing she could hope for when fighting with magic would be either having animals she could rely on nearby, or that she was tag-teaming a fight with someone else. So, all in all, better to learn how to engage in physical combat, for when magical combat was off the table.
Thus it was that she found herself hurrying out after making sure the rest of the family was in bed, just so she could engage in a late night combat class with Tortuga. Unfortunately, she was losing sleep. Fortunately, she was still on winter break, and would resume being an outwardly normal 4th grader next week. So this wasn't fatal, just cold. Just in case, though, she'd left a message to Khaz's senshi phone right before leaving, telling him where she was going. She accepted her big brother wanted to help and protect his baby sister, but he needed to, sooner or later, get to the point where he accepted that, sometimes, protecting someone meant not interfering when they were going out to get training and experience necessary to get stronger, so they could hold their own until they got backup.
The weather was cold, though at least not windy. Christmas decorations still covered parts of the town, though she was meeting the Jupiter squire in an abandoned construction zone.
Which was why she was thoroughly surprised to note the presence of an odd variety of poinsettia, covered in a sparkly dew, and whose leaves emitted a soft, silvery glow. The city had included them in some of the civic decorations, but none of them had decorated Knightside Academy, nor had her friends, family, or neighbors succeeded in acquiring any. It was a shame, really, they were awfully pretty, but Keesh had been giving them a suspicious look for the last week or so, and steered the chibi away from them, sometimes onto the other side of the street, when they'd passed by them. Unfortunately, they'd been with their mothers at the time for a girls' day out, so no real chance to ask what was going on, but Aquitania just had to take it on faith that her cousin knew what she was doing.
Were they dangerous? Was that why Tortuga had arranged them as target practice? Was that why he was staying away from them, too?
Aquitania waved to Tortuga as she stepped into the construction zone, still covered in a light dusting of snow. "Hi," she said. "What are we doing tonight?" she asked cheerfully.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2026 4:26 pm
When the chibi came through the fence Tortuga smiled and returned her wave. “Some practical skills, but first show me what you’ve learned.” He braced himself and held up his hands, palms out, even as he ordered the younger senshi to basically hit him. The knight wanted her to prove that she had been practicing even when not training with him. Survival depended on her moves being second nature. She shouldn’t have to think about it, just do it. Repetition was the only way to go about doing that. “Come on, give me your best shot.” If she did well enough they could move on to the improvised weapon’s portion before he showed her a trick that, honestly most boys already knew, but very few actually realized how dangerous it could be. It was definitely not ‘civilian’ approved but when your life was on the line… all rules were off the table. What he wanted Aquitania to learn was that using everything and anything in her possession to survive was what was required. There was no love lost between Order and the Negaverse. Child or no, Aquitania was in danger as much as he was. Maybe more so since she was so much smaller then he was, and didn’t have as much experience. He just hoped the young girl would never actually need what he was teaching her. He truly wished it, even if he knew that it was a futile wish.
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2026 7:17 pm
Aquitania nodded, taking a deep breath. Thumb on the outside, hit with the first two knuckles. Other arm to catch and deflect incoming attacks.
The chibi's fist snaked out lightning fast, twisting at the end of her young arms, to strike the squire squarely in the belly button, holding up her other arm properly, before pulling her first arm back, and striking in the same spot with the off-hand. Not even pausing, she spun around, sweeping her leg around in a pirouette in an attempt to knock the squire off his feet.
Dancing back, she watched the Jovian squire cautiously, still balanced on the balls of her feet, arms up and at the ready.
As much as this struck her as less than polite behavior, it came from a good place, ensuring the chibi was prepared for whatever fight she might have to survive. And, given what she'd started hearing about Chaos, Chaos almost certainly wouldn't play nicely. So she needed to be ready to fight with people who would likely play dirty, and, sometimes, that meant doing things she hoped she never had to use.
The chibi hoped.
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2026 5:24 pm
The punches were predictable so he was able to guard against them but the kick was fast and took him at a bit of a surprise. He staggered sideways a bit, feeling the sting where her leg connected solidly with his side. “Good. Never assume your first hits will land, always have secondary and even more strikes available.” Tortuga reached down and pulled a ball from the ground before lobbing it at her. He had found the thing earlier, a sad kids toy that had gotten left behind at this general dumping area. He didn’t throw it hard, just a reminder that until the danger was gone she always needed to keep her guard up. This kind of training continued for a little bit before he called an end to it, praising the chibi for her progress. “Now, while I set some things up I want you to walk around and find at least three things that can be weapons. You don’t have to dig them out if you don’t want to. Just tell me what they are and how you would use them.” While the girl went to do his task for her, Tortuga walked a short path, heel to toe, between the pile of poinsettias and a clear patch of dirt. Once he reached a good distance he scratched a line on the ground with his shoe and fetched the bucket of dirt he had put together earlier. There would be some variation on the range due to the mix of chemicals, volume, and general pressure produced but he was fairly sure this distance would work for the can he had. He was ready, the question was, was the chibi? “What did you find Aquitania?”
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2026 2:29 pm
It was slightly gratifying that her kick was just powerful enough, quick enough, and surprising enough to make the squire stagger, even a little bit. The praise that followed was even better, and she beamed a little, even as she dodged the muddy, slightly deflated rubber ball lobbed at her. In hindsight, Aquitania probably should have tried to kick it back, but the chibi wasn't confident she could have. More similar attacks followed, and by the time he called a halt, she was ready for a breather, fishing a water bottle out of subspace to hydrate.
"Okay!" she replied when she heard the next bit of instruction. It was clear that he needed time to set up for the next actual exercise, and she could use a break, anyway.
Stepping further into the lot, the chibi began to explore, looking for something, anything, that could be used offensively. Which took a bit, but she really thought about it. The first one seemed obvious, as it had worked a treat on the snow wolf a week and a half earlier. Traps seemed like a good idea, but would require set up and careful manipulation of all of the elements of a battle, so she dismissed out of hand the idea of setting up pit traps or the like that wouldn't crumble under her weight, but would crumble under the weight of an adult or even a teenager. Besides, she wouldn't be a chibi forever, so it was key to also think about strategies that would work long term. Right?
Which...considering she was a girl...and would not have a height advantage on the boys...was it possible to get too close for the comfort of someone bigger than her? Plus, even if she couldn't play the body mass card forever, and traps were too involved, that didn't mean the environment was out of the question....
Just as she found the third item, Tortuga called out to ask what she'd found.
"A rock, especially if covered in a thick layer of snow in the winter, can be thrown, as a distraction, or an attack. If it's at the heart of a snowball, that snowball packs a bigger punch than usual, and it's unexpected.
"Dirt or mud or water or sand. Anything you can throw at your opponent that would distract or confuse them, or make them act defensively while I prepare the real attack.
"A shard of glass. It's not much better than a knife, but it's dirty, and unsafe to get cut by it. You need to get close to use it, but if you can, you can inflict a lot of damage. And I think being small wielding a small weapon might be a useful thing, but I don't think I can articulate why," she admitted.
She looked up at him expectantly, wondering what he'd say to the three things she'd found. Were they any good? The chibi thought so, but she didn't know much about actual combat, bar what she'd seen or read about, or the handful of battles she'd found herself involved in. The opinion of a more experienced squire mattered a lot to her.
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Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2026 4:11 pm
“Good. All three will work,” He nodded and added, "practice your aim because a rock to the head is more distracting then to the torso, but when in doubt aim for center mass.” Tortuga tapped his chest. “Sand, and even glitter, works but go for the eyes. If you can’t see, you can’t fight. Glass also works but that is a literal double edged weapon so use gloves or something if you can.” He mimed wrapping his hands before adding, and pointing to their corresponding parts. “Slash at the eyes, the wrist or the neck, or stab here.” He pointed to where the kidney was. All very vicious but if it kept the kid alive then there was no such thing as fighting dirty. That was one of the reasons he brought her here to this particular spot actually. “There is also something you can use that most people don’t even think of.” Tortuga pulled a can of hairspray out and handed it to the chibi. “I am sure you know about mace well hairspray, or other aerosolized items, can also work in a pinch. They just aren't as effective unless you are very lucky but that isn’t the only thing you can do with them.” This time he guided her to stand at the line he had drawn earlier, facing the poinsettias that needed to be destroyed, and pulled a grill lighter out from his waist band after palming his own can, this time of body spray. “Most pressurized cans use a flammable propellant, the cans even warn about using near fire.” He knew the danger quite well… teenage boys tend to be stupid and the fire department is inevitably called. With caution he showed the chibi what he was talking about, turning the lighter and spray into a semi-effective flame thrower. It didn’t have great range, and the fire quickly went out. At least everywhere but the plant that he had just set on fire. “It’s not about defeating your opponent. It's about giving yourself enough of an opening and time to get away.” Tortuga knew escape wasn’t always possible but for her, for the young girl who never should have been put in this situation, it should be her priority. No child should be in this war. Or any war. But she was, so he was going to teach her what he could to give her all the options. “Now you try,” He held the lighter out to her and kept a watchful eye on both her and the burning plant.
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Posted: Sun May 31, 2026 11:34 am
Aquitania nodded, and watched the squire mime how to use each improvised weapon effectively. All of it sounded like really helpful advice. That said...
She looked down at her gloves. "These ones don't really protect my hands very well, at least not yet, so I probably should be really careful about anything that could cut them," she said, half to herself. Her elder brother didn't have gloves at all, so there was no guarantee she'd ever have more covering, either. That said, her big brother was clearly the senshi of an ancient Egyptian-style world, and she was just as obviously the senshi of a world rooted in the European Middle Ages, so maybe Khaz didn't get gloves because they just fundamentally weren't part of his fuku the way hers were part of her fuku. That said, her fuku seemed pretty girlish, rather than ladylike, and Khaz had said he'd been a girl in his past life, and thought it possible a fuku could adjust to its wearer. So maybe she'd get gloves later? At worst, maybe when she was old enough to no longer be a chibi. Better to be careful until she knew what the glove situation would be.
The next bit made the chibi really glad her hair was pulled back, and not flowing loose, but also, for the first time, if she shouldn't consider binding her hair more completely up, as a short gout of flame issued from right in front of the aerosol can. "I know about pepper spray, but not that you could do that with it," she admitted, transfixed with both wonder and a dollop of horror. Fire...would certainly be one way to stop a fight. But also really, really dangerous, and probably easy to accidentally burn herself. Or, more likely, set her hair on fire.
Aquitania reached up, and managed to undo her twinned ponytails, recombining them fully behind her in a loose single ponytail, before accepting the lighter and the can. "I don't think I'm going to want to use this option a lot," she admitted as she shook the can a few times, and took a few tries to flick the lighter on.
Turning around, the chibi sprayed the can, hesitantly raising the lighter up in front of it from below. The gout of flame that consumed the remaining pile of poinsettias was spectacular, and reminded the startled senshi why the word "awesome" had once often accompanied the word "terrible". Yelping, she stopped spraying before dropping the can and trying desperately to flick the lighter off again. It occurred to her that, if she ever wanted to try this method again in a battle, it would be better to come practiced and prepared to play with fire. But probably not for a while. Her brother and cousin would both probably freak out if they found out she was playing with fire, even if it was in the name of self-defense.
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2026 4:10 pm
“Most do, but you can always check the can. Anything that will work this way will have a warning on it.” Tortuga assured the chibi, waiting until she was ready to give it a try. He was glad he kept his hair cut relatively short because, as she tied hers up, he could imagine just how big of an issue longer hair could be with this particular trick. He would have to think of some other things to teach her. Something that didn’t include fire. Just in case. “I agree, it's definitely not a daily occurrence option. But in a pinch it works wonders.” The redhead watched as the chibi flamed the plants, only to move quickly when she dropped the can with a yelp. He kicked it out of the way, deeper behind them and away from any possible flames. “Are you ok?” He asked even as he checked Aquitania’s hands. He didn’t see any damage but she might have gotten singed. “It is dangerous but it works,” The knight explains even as he moved his checks from her hands to her forearms. When he didn’t see any signs of burns he backed off with a sigh. “But it looks like it would be best to practice more before using it in a real fight.” Tortuga absently wondered if there was a spray that covered a further distance… he could think of a few but all of them were abnormal for a young girl to be carrying with her. Unless she kept it in her subspace and only utilized such a method when facing Chaotic agents. “Oh, that reminds me, while this method can be used as a civilian… don’t. It can go sideways fast and it's hard to explain to a cop why you happen to have a lighter and hairspray on you.” There were ways around those particular questions but he wasn’t going to elaborate, and add to the degeneracy of the younger generation. Tortuga eyed her hands once again before adding, “And you might want to keep a set of heavy duty leather gloves in your subspace to protect your hands.” Aquitania had been right earlier, her current uniform gloves wouldn’t do much to protect her. “Do you want to try again?”
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2026 7:22 pm
"Yeah, I'm okay," she told the knight, even as he checked her hands, wrists, and forearms. And she was. Just very, very startled. "I think practice on all of this stuff would be good," she replied with a slightly crooked smile, still trying to relax after that gout of flame. Not that she'd be trying this again soon. Probably not until she grew out of being a chibi.
Speaking of...there had to be a way of growing out of being a chibi. Her elder brother was older than her, and clearly had never been a chibi. So maybe one had to grow out of it? Something to ask about later. And, until then, probably no fire and aerosol cans. She could practice that kind of stuff at a later date. But it was still useful to know that it was a possible stunt to pull off in battle, just a very risky stunt.
"Yeah," she agreed, "it would be hard to explain. I can try to get some gardening gloves and keep them in subspace," the chibi suggested. Honestly, if she ever got around to spending more time on her homeworld, it would probably be a good idea to protect her hands while exploring and doing...well...whatever it was Khaz did when he was up on his homeworld, he'd certainly talked about trying to fix it. "I think I'd like to try the other stuff first. I think I'll wait until I'm a little older to try the fire and the hairspray trick again," she said with a weak smile.
The fire would have to wait. But the other techniques he was teaching her...those, she could keep on working on, and make it so she'd be more prepared for the next big fight. In the meantime, there weren't very many of those weird, sparkly poinsettia left, and they should probably wrap up their training session. Besides, she'd need to get some sleep at some point....Fiction1119 I think we can start thinking about wrapping this one up, too!
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2026 2:43 pm
“Good, good,” Tortuga muttered as he let the chibi go. She said she was fine, and he didn’t see any injuries, so she really was fine. Or as fine as a senshi, or a knight, could be. Instead of worrying both over the child, and his own mental struggles, the squire focused on the here and now. What he needed to do right now. “It’s late and while practice is good but it's definitely something that can wait for another night.” With a sigh and a check at the time the older knight. “Yeah, definitely time to call it a night. I’ll stay behind to put out the fire, you should head back but,” He looked over at her even as he started to work on smothering the plants, and repeated what he always said at the end of their training, “don’t forget to send a message when you've arrived safely.” It would be safer to escort her home but this was the next best thing. It was a compromise they both lived with. Besides, sometimes traveling with multiple order auras could draw more attention then just one or two. So rather than continue any more training that night Tortuga went about putting out the plants that were still burning. Dousing them in dirt to smother the flames, before soaking them with water. He would still need to monitor them for a bit, maybe add more dirt, but soon even he would call it a night. At least the chibi learned that nearly anything could be used in a fight, if you thought hard enough about it. elfstar89 yeah, I would say your next post could close it nicely ^_^
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2026 5:45 pm
Aquitania nodded, and noticed the little spark hovering, seemingly worried, in front of her face. She smiled, and offered a finger for it to land on, which it did, harmlessly. It felt like sunlight or starlight, warm, insubstantial, but she hoped it felt happier on the inside to know she was unharmed.
"I'll send you a message as soon as I get home," she promised, transferring the spark to her shoulder. Then she dashed over, and gave Tortuga an impulsive hug before hurrying homeward. "Thanks, Tortuga! We should do this again! Take care!"
And with that, the chibi, and her spark, were sprinting homeward, and back to bed.
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