luxanna crownguard (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} luminesced) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} dunwichgame,@ 2024-06-18 18:20:00 |
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Lux & Edmund
(backdated, early june) | tw: light violence, mentions of imprisonment, forced marriage | completeLux was ready for a fight - not a real one, obviously, because there was no danger at this particular moment, but a nice spar. She had on high waisted leggings and a sports bra, something easier to move in. The sword she’d gotten since coming to Dunwich was with her, her staff left along with the sweater she’d worn on the way over here. Starfire was chewing the grass at the edge of the treeline. Lux had figured it would be safer at the park to spar - not one of the parks that people typically frequented, but one where they could really get into the spar without the potential of hurting anyone else. Lux left her hair down, wild curls falling all around her shoulders and face as she took to sparring against the air while she waited for Edmund to arrive.
Ed was torn. He was very much looking forward to sparring with Lux. There was no question about that, none whatsoever. However. He had been talking to one of his fellow MISTakes at the library, the English fellow called Steven, and he mentioned about sparring, and how much he was looking forward to it - telling people about something obviously showed how much he was interested in it - although he wasn't sure if sparring in his armour was the right thing to do. Certainly not in the middle of Dunwich, at least. Steven had been able to tell him that when he sparred, usually with his fiancee Layla, he did not wear his own armour (or "suit", as he insisted on calling it) but rather, he wore casual clothing. A tee-shirt and either a pair of shorts or tracksuit bottoms. It allowed for ease of movement and was easily cleaned after getting sweaty. So Ed had gone shopping, and bought himself a couple of tee-shirts, and a couple of pairs of tracksuit bottoms. And a pair of sneakers or trainers or whatever Steven had called them. They were designed for hiking, so it seemed they would have good grip. So now he was walking to the park Lux had chosen, wearing his sparring clothes and carrying his sword - as always, his dagger was somewhere on his person, hidden away - and feeling utterly ridiculous. "These clothes are utterly ridiculous," he said to Lux as he approached her, raising his voice a little to make sure she heard. "They feel so strange, but I'm told they're good for ex-" He broke off when he realised what Lux was wearing. Goodness. He'd seen those sorts of clothes in the clothes shop on the mannequins, obviously, so he knew they were what ladies wore for exercising in this time, but mannequins were not Lux moving through the guard positions in the park. "...exercising."
“Hi Edmund!” Lux whipped around, sliding her sword into it's sheath as he approached. The hesitation in his voice - the way he'd cut himself off like that - was totally lost on her. At least, mostly. An unconscious blush hit her cheeks anyway, her glow brightening. “They are much easier to move around in than armor, to be fair, but I still prefer my armor. I wasn't sure if you had any or not.” Lux had fortunately been wearing hers when she'd been taken from her world and dropped into Dunwich - and she'd gotten a lovely helmet made for her by Dinn when he was here. Her armor was fixed as well. “Are those brand new shoes?” Lux pointed at his feet, clearly looking a bit concerned. “Brand new shoes might not be good for sparring just yet - you need to wear them in. Although I suppose you did walk here.” Maybe she was talking a bit much and a bit fast because this was the first time Edmund could see her fully with clear sight. Maybe she was a bit nervous. Maybe Starfire sensed that or was jealous that no one was paying attention to him, because he trotted up happily neighing.
"I have my armour, I arrived in it," Ed admitted, before looking down at his feet when Lux pointed at them. "I bought them a few days ago, and I've been wearing them since then," he said, frowning down at the shoes before looking back up at Lux. "Do you think that would be long enough? They rubbed at my heels a little on the first day, but sticking plasters helped with that." He'd asked the Online about that, and felt quite pleased with himself that he'd even thought to consult it. The trainers were quite comfortable, he had to admit, even if they were quite garish in colour. They didn't go with any of his trousers or shirts at all. Of course Starfire appeared at that point, and Ed couldn't help but go over to see his horse friend. "Hello! It's good to finally see you properly," he said, and yes, Starfire was a beautiful horse. He was also a clever horse who seemed to know that Ed would have something for him - two carrots this time, bright orange and super-crunchy - and would be willing to fuss at him for a moment or ten. Well, five or six moments, at least, before Ed was looking back over at Lux again and smiling at her. "It's good to actually see you as well, Lux. I should probably have led with that before complaining about clothes. My clothes, I mean. Yours are fine. Very, uh. Exercisey. And comfortable?" For someone who spent a lot of time talking in public, he really needed to shush.
“Oh! I should have asked you before. We’ll have to be more careful this time, but with armor, next time we can really go at it!” She certainly planned to spar with Edmund again, even if they hadn’t sparred yet. Lux loved to spar, and she didn’t ever want to grow rusty with using her sword. Even if she had magic, and she had a staff to use instead - maybe one day she wouldn’t have it. Having the knowledge and skill to still defend herself was very important. Watching Edmund with her horse, Lux couldn’t help but smile absentmindedly, content to see their interaction. “A few days should be fine enough. We’ll just go barefoot later if your feet start to hurt.” She shrugged, not bothered by much of anything. Lux was very much able to go with the flow, able to find the positive in most situations. It’d been more difficult lately, but she felt like she was getting back to it. Especially around people who didn’t know how broken she had been, who just saw her as Lux. And who were happy to see her. “Well thank you, I’m glad you can properly see me! I’m so happy you’ve got your sight back, it must have been awful scary.” She couldn’t imagine - she’d dealt with a lot of things but not something like that. “Thank you, I hope - I mean, I guess I wasn’t thinking about it being immodest. I forget sometimes when people come from. Are - should I get a jacket or something?”
Sparring in armour sounded like a wonderful idea, and Ed was nodding in agreement before Lux had even finished speaking. "Being blind was... upsetting," he said, comfortable with admitting that much at least. He didn't much like remembering how he'd stayed in the house for a couple of days after his sight had gone completely, even if he had justified it at the time with the need to properly learn his surroundings so that he would be comfortable with moving around in his own home at least. "But I had a lot of help, and it meant a lot to me. You'll have to let me make it up to you someday." The offer to get a jacket confused him somewhat, though. "What? No! I didn't mean..." he blurted out, and then forced himself to stop talking for a moment to gather his thoughts. "You wear your clothes very well, Lux. They look far better on you than they did on the mannequins in the clothes shop, and I don't think you're being immodest. Please don't worry about that. If I could introduce you to some Narnians, you'd know that I'm used to people wearing a lot less. Do you have centaurs or fauns on your world?" he explained, absently petting Starfire's neck as he spoke.
Lux shook her head. “You’re making it up already, just by being my friend. And sparring.” Lux didn’t require much, and she didn’t do things in order to get anything back. Lux had had fun with Edmund anyway. “I’m glad I was able to help at all, even if it was just to teach you about music and for you to become Starfire’s favorite human.” She giggled, watching as the two of them stood there, Edmund petting him and Starfire looking just as pleased as anything. His expression had Lux smirking, but also blushing, her cheeks a little more pink but also a little bit more golden, her natural glow increasing. “Thank you.” She replied, tugging a little at the bottom of the top she was wearing as he spoke about the centaurs and fauns of his world. “I don’t think so, but I grew up in a city that was quite… sheltered. We had yordles, though, and poro’s and a few other species around.” Mages, too, but Lux still wasn’t all that familiar with the rest of her world. She had gone out and explored as much as she could, but Demacia had always called her home, even if they didn’t deserve her. Which she knew now, having been here so long. “Why don’t you tell me about some of your favorite Narnians as we fight?” Stepping back, she unsheathed her sword, holding it in a casual but defensive stance. “I’ve been training nearly my entire life in this. Are you sure you’re prepared?” She said with a grin, obviously teasing.
"Favourite human? Is that right, Starfire?" Edmund asked, glancing back to smile at the horse who nickered in response. "High praise indeed." Yordles and Poros sounded interesting. This whole conversation was gearing up to be one he'd keep coming back to, he thought, comparing and contrasting their respective homes and inhabitants... and then he was being teased, and he couldn't help but laugh. “I might be! Although I’ve only been training since I was ten, so you may have me beat.” He drew his sword, nothing as important or ornamented as Peter's blade, Rhindon, but still one that had served him well throughout the years, and moved through a couple of simple flourishes as a quick warm-up. "Centaurs," he began to explain, "have the body of a horse up to where their neck should begin, and then they have the torso of a person from the waist up. They are very wise, and watch the stars to learn the future. And they are ferocious warriors and excellent with both sword and bow. Tell me about Yordles, please?" His blade spun in lazy circles as he walked over to stand in front of Lux, and dropped into a ready position before moving in for a quick attack to begin sounding things out.
Starfire made sure to give Lux a nudge before he wandered off, not wanting to be anywhere near the swordfighting. He wouldn’t go too far, still within earshot just in case - as much as Lux was protective of him, he was protective of her. They were forever bonded. At the ready, Lux had to admire his sword as he explained what a Centaur was, and she gasped. “Wow, they sound so cool.” Lux wished she could meet a Centaur, maybe one would show up someday. Edmund warmed up a little, and Lux nodded, impressed. He did in fact know what he was doing, even if he’d been training for less years than she had. Though, given he was a few years older than she, it was probably fairly even still. His attack was quick, but Lux was quick as well - her sword came up easy to block his attack, her footwork clean and quick. It was like she danced on her feet. “A yorlde is a race of spirits, they take the physical appearance of some kind of mammal, but they walk on two feet. Usually they’re quite small and furry.” Lux flourished a little, feinting an attack to the left before going for one lower on the right instead, her movements fluid and quick. “They’re tricksters, love a prank.”
"Centaurs are wonderful. My friend Oreius is one; he's a general in Pete's army. I've fought by his side many times." Lux blocked him, and Ed smiled as he dropped back, tracking her feint and blocking the follow-up attack before stepping forward into his own attack, probing for any gaps or weak spots in Lux's defense. "How small are we talking? They sound quite like some of the foxes I know from back home. They're very cheeky and enjoy a good joke at times," he asked, constantly pressing forward. His spatial awareness was excellent, a result of having trained with so many different opponents, from various centaurs to gnomes and even a giant a few times, and it showed in how he was moving - his feet and his eyes were never still, always a moving target and scanning where he was. Part of the reason why being blinded had been so upsetting for him was the lack of that awareness.
His block was impressive, too. Lux was perhaps a little out of practice, but not so much that that should have been that easy for him to track and block. No, she could tell he was a well trained swordsman, and Lux easily admired that. Had Lux not been born a mage, swordsmanship would be her bread and butter - she’d been trained for it just like her brother had, even though he was far better than she was. “They’re quite small, probably the size of… a dog, maybe? A regular dog, not a big dog type. Oh, I know, they go about to my hip! Most of them, anyway, they do have some that are smaller and some that are larger but not by much.” Lux was just under 5” so her hips didn’t go very high, it would be a good indicator of the small nature of Yordles. His footwork was also impressive, and she found herself a little distracted by it. “It’s not often I meet other people who were in armies from a young age, fighting actual battles.” For all that Lux did love the people she’d met here, it could be very difficult to relate. Maybe it was because she was from a world entirely different than theirs. She went for another jab, this one quick and hopefully unexpected.
"I find it very strange here at times. When I left London, Europe was at war," Ed replied, before quickly adding, "not that I was fighting in that war. My father was, though. And almost instantly, I... I was caught up in Narnia's war, and spent years clearing up lingering enclaves of Jadis' followers and dealing with border skirmishes and the like. Narnia was at peace, yes, but we fought to keep it that way. And now I'm here, and it's nothing like I'm used to, and I reshelve books and help people research the best way to plant a north-facing garden or find the reference books for an essay and it's... strange. Su understands. And you." Lux's jab after that was unexpected, and got through Ed's defenses enough that his block only made contact after her blade clipped his thigh. First contact to Lux. He grinned, made a quick mental note of her speed and dropped back as he raised his sword to signal a brief respite. "This, though. This makes sense," he added. He spun his blade a few times, wrists loose, and settled back down into a ready pose, this time waiting for Lux to make the first move.
As much as Lux wanted to make sure he was alright, she realized that would be a bit much - Edmund was obviously a man with pride, who had waged war and peacekept in his time in Narnia as a King, and she would not do something so rude as gush over a scratch. As much as she hated the idea of hurting anyone while they were just having fun, practicing. “We were essentially raised for war, and it is so very different here. All the food, the technology. I’d never even seen a shower like they have here, you know? We had baths, but not like that. They were just basins you filled with water.” She let him reset, get ready. He was waiting now for her to make a move, which was more difficult to accomplish when he was ready for it. This did make sense, though, and it felt good. Really good. It had been too long since she’d had a proper spar, with just a word. She went for another slash, this time backhanded and not from her dominant side, having quickly tossed the sword from one hand into the other as she spun around. It was dramatic, too much flourish - but damn, it was smooth.
"I have to say, though, showers are wonderful inventions," he replied, "and I'd like to bring them back to Narnia with me if I do get sent back." Lux's opening gambit was smooth, and Ed was very impressed with her sleight of hand. He was quick to counter her attack, though, used to training with some sneaky fauns who liked similar methods of fighting. His counter flowed into a quick flurry of strikes, each move and block the natural progression on from the previous one, and it was very easy to fall into the rhythm of the spar. "By Aslan, you're good," he said with a grin as they kept going.
He was fast, too, and wasn’t thrown by any of her flourish. This was fun. He countered and then threw a flurry of attacks back at her, and she countered almost every single one of them - except the last one. Instead of getting cut, though, her abilities shot out a shield, which caused both of them to bounce backwards away from each other, just a little. “Oops! Oh, Gods, Edmund, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that!” Lux’s abilities were, at times, quite reactionary. The first time they really manifested was in protection of her, as well. The shield had dissipated almost as quickly as it had popped up, and she took a step forward, sword down and obviously not at the ready for any further fighting. “That didn’t burn you, did it?”
"No, no, I'm fine. Don't worry," he said quickly, wanting to reassure Lux before he even thought to check himself for any possible injuries. He couldn't feel anything, at least. "Are you alright? Did I do something to trigger that?" He kept his sword down as well, until he was finished talking, and then he set it down on the grass to check himself over. The only thing he could find was the small tear in his tracksuit bottoms, and the small scrape underneath, and he said as much to Lux as he showed her. "So... you can make your own shields and armour?" he asked, "Because that's extremely impressive."
“You were going to cut me, I wasn't going to be able to block the last one and my magic just reacted.” She sheathed her sword for the time being, watching as he checked himself. Lux took hold of his arm, just to double check the cut on his arm, and to see if there were any burns. Satisfied that there weren't any, she let go of his arms, her touch lingering on his skin ever so slightly before falling to her sides. “It's all light magic, I can shape it into anything. Lux demonstrated, mimicking her real armor with her magic, shimmering like a rainbow. “It's difficult to fight and keep that up though, regular armor is better.”
He couldn't help the little smile as Lux checked him for injuries, watching her hands as she worked. "I'm alright, I promise," he said, before looking back up as she explained her magic. Reaching over, he intended to run a hand over the light-armour to see how it felt when it wasn't shoving him backwards. "I have no idea why people wouldn't see this as an advantage," he said, "you could do so much... you probably do do so much with your magic." He laughed as he cut himself off from thinking out loud. No doubt Lux knew all kinds of things she could do with her own magic, and he'd just be telling her things she already knew.
It felt solid, like glass. Warm glass, really. There was certainly a solidity to the light that made no logical sense but somehow it just was. When he was done examining it, she dropped the armor and took a few steps back. She did, indeed, know there was a lot she could do with her magic. “Watch.” She instructed, grinning. She turned around to grab her staff out of her bag, it light up at her touch and what looked like just a small wand became a full-sized staff. She put it in front of her and let go, the staff moving on its own in front of her as she and the staff lifted into the air. She was floating, literally. From her and through the staff, light shot straight into the sky before it exploded soundlessly, and a thousand drops of bright, rainbow-colored light fell around the like raindrops. “I can do anything with it, as long as I can think it.” She said, as she touched the ground again.
Ed had seen many amazing things in his lifetime. An endless winter melting into spring and then summer in the course of a day, mermaids playing with baby fauns, centaurs simply existing, and many more. Not to mention, of course, Aslan returning and defeating Jadis at Beruna. But as he watched Lux float and then make light rain down around him, he was hard-pressed to remember anything else being as beautiful as he looked up and all around him. He reached out again, this time to try and catch a light-drop or two. "I've never seen anything like this before," he said, grinning over at Lux "it's wonderful."
Lux was happy to show off - here, in the safety of Dunwich where she didn't have to hide her magic, she'd truly been able to see how beautiful it really was. Dangerous, too, she knew from experience. Still, beautiful as well. Light gathered in his open hand as it fell, glowing and soft amber when it hit his skin. “It's been such a source of shame most of my life. Shame and fear. It's different in Dunwich, though. I've really been able to explore the good parts of it.” The light that had gathered in his hand changed shape now, becoming a tiny cat in his palm, lifelike and moving except for being made of light and impossibly small. She came back down, stowing the staff away and walking towards Edmund, glowing more than usual. “Doing that back home likely would have been the end of me.”
Ed smiled down at the little cat, letting it pad about on the palm of his hand while Lux spoke to him, and glanced over at her as she approached him. "You know, in Narnia, I'm known as Edmund the Just," he began, looking back down at the cat again, "because I'm determined to be as fair as possible. I always listen to all sides of an argument, I try to find out as much as I can about any dispute I'm asked to oversee, and I like to learn all that I can so I don't make biased judgements. And I realise that I only know what you're telling me about your magic, but I cannot for the life of me understand how this should be a source of shame or fear. I can see how it would be dangerous - it's power, after all, and all power in the wrong hands is problematic. And I've seen magic used for evil, extremely closely - it nearly killed me as a child. This is nothing like that, Lux."
“Edmund the Just.” She repeated, smiling at him in awe. “That's amazing and I think it suits you really well. Not everyone is so kind and understanding.” She didn't need to demonstrate how dangerous her magic could be, he seemed able to grasp the danger in it just from the beauty. The cat faded, disappearing in a soft, sun-like glow. “Demacia - where I come from - has a complicated history with mages and magic in general. Long ago our people were run out by some bad magic users and they fled and founded Demacia, vowing to never let magic in. They stayed that way, always. Never changed their minds.” Maybe they would, eventually. “They found out about my magic, just before I was brought to Dunwich. They were trying to marry me off to spare me from being imprisoned for being a mage.”
Edmund closed his fist to try and catch some of the glow as he listened to Lux's explanation for Demacia's attitude to magic. Then he shook his head. "While I can understand how people can come to that sort of decision - the desire to protect your people is one I know all too well - I think I might be unpopular in your world. A tool is a tool, no matter how powerful it is, and has no sense of good or evil. Granted, it may be different in other worlds, but as far as I'm aware, magic simply is, and it's the person who wields it who determines what it's to be used for. As an example, Lu has a bottle filled with a healing cordial, and one drop will heal any wound." He rubbed absently at his chest at that point, thinking back to when Lu had needed to use it on him. "Amazingly good magic, you might think! Unless you've been captured and tortured and your captors want to learn more from you. Then the cordial could be seen to be something awful. Did your ancestors think to ban swords, simply because they were beaten in a swordfight once? Your light is beautiful, Lux, and because it's yours, I don't believe it could be used for evil, and it's certainly no reason to imprison you or try to marry you off to someone." He had picked up his sword as he spoke, and quickly wiped it against his trouser leg to get rid of any bugs or dampness that the grass might have passed onto it. "But that's just my opinion, based on what I know at the moment. I'd fight on your side, though. Aslan only knows how many times I have argued with various ambassadors and visiting monarchs. You should ask Su, she might know since she was there for almost all of them. I think she enjoyed the arguments, actually. It made for a change from all the hopeful suitors trying to catch her eye, at least!"
There was nothing Edmund said there that Lux disagreed with. She took a step forward when he picked his sword back up, just so she could put a hand on his for a moment. “I’m so sorry that magic almost killed you when you were young.” She said earnestly, because she knew how terrifying that could be - she’d seen it herself, though her own life had not quite been in danger at the time. It had been her magic, though, stolen by someone else. “I agree with you, for the record. My magic has been used for destruction, someone took my magic and used it to harm a lot of people. I would never do that, never.” She shook her head earnestly, the memory of it all was still devastating to her. She hated that that had happened at all. “All magic can be used for good or bad, you’re right, and I would never use mine to harm anyone if I could avoid it.” Although she had used it in battle, but that was necessary and not something she enjoyed in the slightest. She much preferred to use it to shield her friends than to harm her enemies. “Thank you for being so kind and understanding, Edmund. It can be hard sometimes, even here, to remember that I’m not… what they think I am, in Demacia.” She smiled and patted his hand again before taking a step back, her sword back up at the ready. “If you’re ready for more, so am I.”
"Magic also healed me," he pointed out with a soft smile. "I know Lu's cordial works well, because I wouldn't be here otherwise." He nodded as Lux continued to talk about her magic, but said nothing when she said he was kind. He was well aware that Justice was not Mercy, and fairness was not always kind, no matter what his personal feelings were on matters. However, in the case of Lux and her magic, his personal feelings meant that he was delighted that both justice and fairness were kind to Lux. A couple of quick flourishes later, his blade spun through the air and came to a stop in a relaxed and ready position. "I'm always ready for more," he replied with a grin. "My turn?" he asked, before stepping forward straight into an attack.