Class Change

[aspiringknight]

Who: Sophie and YOU
What: An accident-prone knight-in-training ends up in another Deeprealm and has to set aside the lance to study magic. It's going to be a disaster.
Where: Around campus
When: December, before the big event just to make things more difficult for Tyzias
Warnings: Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...none?


Starchime Library

*THUD*

*THUD*

*THUD*

The sound seems to be reverberating through Starchime library, most likely making it difficult for anyone else attempting to use the library for research or study purposes to get anything done. Sophie knows she's making things more difficult for the other students, and that's not helping her mood improve any either.

Hitting the books seemed like a good way to get started, right? Magic comes from books in her world, so when Sophie found out this school had a library that seemed like the best way to get a leg-up on learning how to be a mage. 'Cause that's what she has to do now, apparently! Her mom got sucked into another dimension and ended up in a world of fantastic technology and high adventure to take part in a quest to save all of reality. She's met a few of her mom's friends from that world, former "Heroes of Light" and they're a pretty cool bunch.

Sophie gets sucked into another universe, and it's to go to school. Okay, fine. She had tutors as a kid. She can do this. To the library! She even went to the liberty of taking her shoes and socks off, placing them on the floor next to her, socks carefully stuffed into the shoes, since for some reason being barefoot always seems to help her concentrate better. She can do this!

Her enthusiasm for her newfound studies lasted as long as it took to open her first text on magic and her eyes had glazed over before she'd even finished the first page. Even now, trying to read the (incredibly tiny why is it so tiny) text she's pretty sure all she's making it is line after line of

Womp womp womp womp womp womp womp. Womp womp womp? Womp! Womp womp, womp womp womp. Womp. &!!!Q!!!?*****Q????*&*&!Q!!

And she is certain there aren't actually as many q's in that passage. So, textbook (incredibly big text why is it so big if the text is so small) open in front of her forgotten for the time being, Sophie has settled for just banging her head against the table, slowly, and methodically. It seems about as useful a method of passing the time as any until she, er, explodes or melts into water or whatever.

Help?

Bad Decisions at 3AM; Promenade

Okay, so being a mage is good and all but it's never been Sophie's main goal; that's always to become a knight, like her father. No, not just a knight-a great knight. Well, not actually a Great Knight, she doesn't really like using axes, but definitely a Paladin-actually you know what, we're getting off-track here.

Sophie wants to be a knight, not a mage, and that's a whole different set of skills. And she doesn't even have Avel here with her, which makes the whole mounted combat aspect even harder than having Avel normally makes it. And classes still take up most of her day, but she can't afford to slack in her training. Something's got to give and Sophie is sensible enough to know what.

Sleep, obviously. She can use most of the night to keep up the parts of her knightly training that she can do, and right now that's keep up her swordsmanship and lance-work.

Or she could, if she had a sword or lance with her. But nothing to fear! She found some sticks, and after several hours of diligent work she...she broke them in half. But then she went out and found another set and broke those too but the third pair lasted and with some hard, and very, very, very careful work she managed to turn them into kind of a training sword and lance. Sort of. Close enough, probably.

It was two in the morning at that point and trying to do combat training in the common room would probably make her housemates mad at her, so she's relocated to the Promenade. Is it dark? Yes. Is it cold? Yes. Is Sophie actually very tired because it's three AM now? Yes.

But this is what she can do and it's what she's going to do.

Good decisions, Sophie makes them.

It might be a good idea for someone to check on her.

Wild Card
If there's another prompt you have an idea for, post it here and I'll run with it!

Comments

Bad Decisions at 3AM; Promenade

[temptationaccomplished]

His early (early) mornings are no longer spent in the Library of Ash and Fire, furiously trying to learn unethical and unwise summoning techniques... So while Crowley sleeps away the night, today Aziraphale finds himself outside in the chilly morning air, returning from the temples. The visit had confirmed his suspicion: Eleven is no longer here.

He spots the girl with her makeshift sword and frowns, already starting to shed his own winter coat to offer in concern as he makes his way over. This was not the kind of environment one needed to be out here, sweating and freezing their way to knightly heroics. Human youth have always been so...so...foolishly unaware of their own mortal fragility.

"Young lady, you're going to catch your death out here."

[aspiringknight]

Sophie is so caught up in her training, however improvised it might be, that she entirely fails to hear Aziraphale's approach; she's mid thrust of her stick-lance when he speaks, and she squeaks in surprise.

"AH! What the-" and then her foot slips on an icy patch, the stick goes flying out of her hands, and down she starts to go.

Whether she hits the ground or not, at least she's no longer battling exhaustion, for the time being.

[temptationaccomplished]

Funny thing about criticizing the youthful disregard for their own health and safety is that being an immortal being tends to cause the same lack of sense sometimes. Not that he's prone to risking inconvenient dis-corporation, but well... Ice is slippery. But when miracles don't exist, sometimes one must take matters into their own hands. So with more haste than is wise on the icy pathway, he hurries forward and reaches out to catch her with a steadying strength that is slightly too sure for your typical human.

He gives her a hopefully pleasant, unassuming, totally human and not awkward smile.

"Goodness!" He rights her with a pat on the back and picks up his coat from where he'd dropped it. After a quick shake off, he draped it over her shoulders. "What is so important you're out here at this hour?"

[aspiringknight]

It is with great relief that Sophie finds her downward ascent stopped. Whoa, that's a firm grip there. Using the helpful stranger to steady herself, Sophie nods and looks towards him...and then blinks in confusion at what is probably the weirdest smile she's ever seen anyone give.

"Uhhh...oh!" Shaking her head clear, Sophie nods. "Oh, y-you know. Just trying to get a little training in before bed. I'd have done it in the common room, but there's just so much stuff in there to knock over and break, and then people would complain and I'm new here so I kind want people to get a good first impression, but this out here seemed like a good wide space to train and I'd have tried to do it sooner but there's only so many hours in the day and making serviceable training weapons took a lot longer than I expected I'm talking really fast aren't I it's just been a stressful couple of days my name's Sophie how's yours?"

[temptationaccomplished]

He blinks. And blinks some more. Surely she has to breath in there somewhere.

He laughs kindly. How is his name, indeed.

"Not nearly as pretty as Sophie, but I hope mine is good enough. You may call me Mr. Fell." Aziraphale offers a warm hand to shake before suggesting, as if imparting a secret, "May I suggest the Great Hall instead? It will be a little warmer, and far enough from the living quarters that I think it shouldn't disturb anyone's sleep. There are tables and food we might knock over, but during this time of day, I suspect those who are there will be willing to share the space."

[aspiringknight]

"O-oh thank you, my parents gave it to me." She replies somewhat awkwardly. "Um, sorry. It's nice to meet you Mr. Fell." As soon as she says the name however, she blanches. "Ooooh gods, you're not part of the faculty, are you?" Sophie's face is already starting to redden in embarrassment. If she just made a complete fool of herself in front of one of the teachers, she is going to die of embarrassment.

"Oh yeah, the Great Hall...that hadn't even occurred to me." She says, nodding. It's...actually now that she's not focused on her training, Sophie's just starting to notice how cold it actually is, and she pulls Mr. Fell's coat tighter around herself in response. "Y-yeah, you're right, maybe that would be a better idea. Wait. "We" might knock over stuff? Are you...offering to spar with me?" Her voice rises with hope as she asks. Training always goes better with a sparring partner.

[temptationaccomplished]

"Oh no, no, I'm not faculty," he tries to reassure her and save her from any further misunderstanding on that front. Aziraphale is definitely not a professor here; though he's pretty certain at this point he could teach How Not To Summon Demons 101. "I'm a student in the Ka House. And it's certainly nice to meet you, too."

He fidgets a bit, and not because he is cold.

"Well, I was thinking, yes, I could," he admits, cheeks blushing pink. "I mean, it has been a while," he continues with almost giddy excitement of his own, and leans down to retrieve her wooden weapons. "And I'm very much out of practice, but that is, if you'd deign to spar with a silly old fellow such as myself--" He looks over from where he had been hefting one weapon in his right hand, turning his wrist as if measuring the weight and balance, and finding it adequate. "It could be quite fun."

Big Apple, 3 AM

[mithrarin]

Dust recognized the sounds of fighting, or training, every easily. What he heard sounded... well, peripherally like that. Wondering if (and, just a little, hoping that) trouble was afoot, he made his way towards the noise at his accustomed lope. Not drawing a blade quite yet...

And that turned out to be the right decision, as he stepped into this rather unusual scene.

"What... are you doing?"

Starchime Library

[tiredcharmer]

Sophie can feel a menacing presence just behind her, a quiet, purposeful wrath that may be familiar to her. And right now? That wrath is directed at her, sharpened with the fury of a library kid scorned. While Tyzias Entykk may be a rude, vulgar, occasionally delinquent slob, but she's a nerdy rude, vulgar, occasionally delinquent slob. She simply cannot let this insult to the library stand.

As Sophie raises her head for another thump, Tyzias's hand darts towards her collar to restrain her. "This. Is. A. Fucking. Library," she hisses directly into her ear, the distinct insectile click underneath her words sounding very familiar indeed. "What the calamity do you think you're doing?"

[aspiringknight]

Sophie breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. It's been hard enough here without the teachers thinking I'm hopeless too. I'm a student in, um, A-Aer et Calculum." Boy that's hard to say.

The stick actually seems to mimic the weight and feel of a sword quite well; Sophie's obviously someone who's spent enough time with them in her hand to know what they feel like. It's the same for the lance; they should serve quite well despite their rough appearance. She's positively beaming when Aziraphale confirms he'd like to spare with her, even clapping her hands together excitedly. "Yes! That'd be great, thank you so much. Come on, night's not getting any younger!"

They walk in silence towards the hall, but not for long; one might get the sense that silence is never long when Sophie's around. "Hey, were you a knight yourself?" She asks him curiously. "You said it'd been awhile, but you have had martial training, right? Being a knight's all I've ever wanted to be since I was a little girl, but this..." She gestures vaguely at the darkened academy all around them. "I don't think I'm cut out for this magic business." She sighs. "It's been a rough couple of days. I miss home." Now she knows how her mother felt when she got pulled into some weird Deeprealm; found a quiet place to herself and bawled her eyes out, is what she told Sophie. She knows the feeling.

[aspiringknight]

Sophie is right in the middle of a complicated sword combo her father taught her when the voice from behind her startles Sophie and she whirls around with a yell; the act is instinctual, as the stick goes flying through the air towards Dust's head, a look of alarm on Sophie's face as she can't quite stop her muscles and training from reacting in time.

It's not actually a sword, just a piece of wood but with the force she's swinging behind it, a bop on the head is still not likely to be pleasant, if it connects.

time to ruin Tyzias' day

[aspiringknight]

"Urk-" Sophie grunts in surprise as her head is suddenly stopped right before she begins to drop it onto the table.

"S-sorry! I'm sorry!" She yelps, hearing the anger in the other person's voice. "I'm just...wait a second." She's...heard that voice before? She doesn't know the speaker terrifically well, but there's no mistaking that clicking noise...or, frankly the attitude.

Sophie turns around and her eyes go wide with recognition. It is her! Her mom's friend! Despite herself (Her mom's introduced them and all that but they've never really interacted all that much the few times Sophie's seen her when she came to visit), she breaks into a huge grin of relief.

"Miss Entykk!" She declares. "Oh wow, am I ever glad to see you!" If Miss Entykk is here, then that means that Wolfskin guy she hangs out with is probably around...and his weird Deeprealm-traveling ship. She's saved! No magic-learning at all!

"It's me, Miss Entykk, Sophie! Corrin's daughter, remember?" Then she blinks. "...Why do you look different?" She asks, probably entirely too loudly for Tyzias' liking. Wasn't she missing an eye or something?

[mithrarin]

That might have been a problem with the Dust of months ago, who himself would've reacted swiftly and decisively. Not that he'd have hurt her, but pulling out a glowing-runed blade and parrying the stick with enough force to create a shockwave was not a great way to meet someone.

No, other reflexes kicked in instead; by the time the stick reached where it would've bonked Dust's head, said head is no longer there as he half-rolls, half-vaults past her in a sweep of cloak and tail, coming back to his feet on the other side of her.

*dial-up noises*

[tiredcharmer]

The moment that Sophie speaks, Tyzias realizes her fatal mistake. Not only did this person know her, not only did she look painfully like Corrin, but she was also the most blabbermouthed out of all of the queen's family.

Fantastic.

Tyzias stares blankly at Sophie for a moment, calculating her options before settling on the only possibility left available to her: deny, deny, deny. Taking a slow sip of her mug, Tyzias smacks her lips and gives Sophie an annoyed glare. "Who the hell are you?"

[aspiringknight]

It's hard to deny the resemblance; unlike her mother who wears her hair long and lets it cascade down her back, Sophie has settled for a shorter, somewhat more practical bob. But it's a painfully familiar shade of white, and her ears, much like that of her mother and younger brother, are pointed in the same way, a symbol of the draconic lineage Sophie also possesses. At least her skin has a healthier glow to it; Corrin's always veered towards the pale.

One major difference however, is Sophie's complete lack of intuition; Corrin would have played along with Tyzias' denial even if she didn't know why. Sophie however, meets it with a look of bewilderment.

"Um...Sophie?" She offers again, trying to be helpful. "Sophie of Nohr? I mean, I know we never spent a huge amount of time together since you were always there to visit my mom, but she did introduce us. Wait, is that why you're here?" Her eyes widen in hope. "Oh gosh, she sent you to come get me, didn't she?" She pushes back her chair and starts to rise. "Thank the gods, I do not think I'm going to hack it here." She laughs nervously, since for some reason this situation still feels really tense for reasons she's not certain of! "Figures, right? You and my mom get sucked into another dimension it's to fight off some big dragon god and save reality, but it happens to me and I have to go to school. W-Well, no harm done, where's that ship of yours?" If it wasn't already apparent she's a nervous talker, it's certainly is now. And that she has an issue with volume when she's nervous.

It's true Tyzias doesn't look precisely the same as she did the last time she showed up to have tea with her mom, but this place is weird enough without having to worry about that. Right now, at least. She'll probably enquire about it on the ride back.

[temptationaccomplished]

"You're not hopeless, and I doubt anyone thinks so. Everyone is new to it at some point."

It's obvious to him, despite years since actually using a weapon as intended (holding a flaming sword at the end of the world is hardly doing something with it), that she's got more than a little experience with the weapons she wants to learn. A squire, perhaps, or a blacksmith, or some other kind of knight-adjacent person.

He's swept away in her enthusiasm, following back towards the hall, pleased to at least be getting the determined young lady into a temperature more suited for existence. The unkind, chilly weather reminds him of his early days in Britain, as they followed the path of the Roman conquests and subsequent spread of Christianity into the reaches of Europe.

"I've been a knight before, yes. And a commanded a platoon," he adds with a slight unease. "My role has mostly been that of Guardian and less of a front-line swordsman, but I assure you, I've been trained adequately." Not that he much cares for war, or is at all in the right(? by Gabriel's standards, anyway, which suggests the opinion may not actually hold merit) shape for battle, but he knows his way around a sword. When he bothers to keep it.

He smiles softly. "I understand. I miss my home as well, but we are all here at varying stages of adjustment and there is plenty of support. As for magic, you'll get it with time and practice. It just doesn't come naturally to you. But I feel like some of the greatest things I've learned are those outside what I believed was my natural purpose."

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias loves Sophie like family. She really does; anybody of Corrin's kin is as good as Tyzias's flesh and blood. But holy shit Sophie is so god damn obtuse that she could probably sub in for MSPA Reader in an emergency.

As Sophie rambles, Tyzias's eyes grow more and more blank as she sees the carefully-crafted life that she's built (and Sophie's vain hope of escape) collapsing down all around her. Taking a deep breath, Tyzias locks eyes with Sophie and deliberately says, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Did you get a head injury? Here, I'll take you to the nurse's. We'll teleport, that'll be a lot faster."

The troll claps her hand on Sophie's shoulder, preparing to Sunder her and Sophie to her dorm room.

*instant transmission pop*

[aspiringknight]

"Huh?" Sophie blinks in confusion, before turning to look back at the table where the book she was trying and failing to study still lies. "Oh, because of all the head-banging? No, trust me, I'm fine." She turns back to grin at Tyzias. "There's really need to-sorry, teleport?"

Tyzias has a very firm grip on her shoulder and Sophie's smile suddenly looks a lot more manic as she tries to fight her panic at her imminent teleportation. "Oh no, really that's okay really you don't have to waitmyshoes-"

[aspiringknight]

"OH NO I'M SO SOR-huh?" Sophie's panic turns to confusion as the poor fellow she expected to suddenly whack on the head suddenly isn't there. She stumbles forward a bit as her strike doesn't stop as she was dreading it to, but she manages to keep her footing, even on the icy surface. Panting with relief, Sophie takes a moment to collect herself, and then turns to face the stranger.

"Sorry, I am so sorry about that!" She exclaims waving her hands in what she hopes is a placating gesture. No doubt this guy's mad at her for almost attacking him. "I didn't expect anyone else to be out here at this hour and you startled me and my training kicked in and I'm so sorry are you okay?"

[aspiringknight]

Sophie smiles-somewhat wearily, the late, or possibly early hour is starting to catch up with her-at the encouragement. "Thank you." She says gratefully, before attempting to rally her spirits. "I mean, it's not like I've never encountered magic, it exists back home, and most of my family's really good at it. I've just really never had much of a head for it." Boy howdy does she not. "It doesn't help that my mom got sucked into another Deeprealm a year back or so and she got to go on an epic quest to save reality from some big Calamity, or whatever. There was an evil dragon and everything." That's the sort of epic quest Sophie could be doing with; she'd rather tackle a dragon than crack open another magic textbook. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind if that sort of thing ever happened to me, y'know?"

Still, talking about knight-stuff while they walk seems to be lifting her spirits; this is stuff she knows, stuff she can do. "Oh wow, you're a commander too? You've got to teach me everything you know! Did you ride a horse or a wyvern? I prefer horses, I get nauseous at high altitudes." Almost puked over Aunt Camilla's wyvern when she took Sophie up for a ride once but she was able to turn her head and close her eyes and vomit over the side; never doing that again. "Avel's a good steed, m-mostly. In battle, at least." In battle, she and Avel were a well-oiled fighting machine, coordinated and, dare she say it, deadly. It was just once the battle was over he became a little on the...obstinate side. And surly.

Mr. Fell's encouragement really seems to be working; this man is a veteran knight commander with decades more experience than Sophie, and he learned magic. And Sophie has the blood of heroes in her veins! And dragons! She has hero-dragon blood! Indeed, she's positively beaming now; Sophie has always bounced back quickly from her screw-ups, which is probably good considering how often they happen. "I think you might be right! I'm gonna...gonna..." Sophie pauses to stifle a yawn. "...goodness, do my best!"

[mithrarin]

Even if he'd been inclined to anger, her hurried and frantic apology would've been more than enough to placate him. He lifted a hand to slow it all down, smiling. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I shouldn't have startled you."

1/2

[tiredcharmer]

Suck it up, Sophie. If her mother could fight an ancient dragon god and the corrupted remnants of hundreds of dead worlds with her toes out, so can she.

As soon as they arrive in Tyzias's dorm, the troll flashsteps to the door to do several locks. Some magical, some mechanical, most a mix of both... wow, she's really paranoid about her privacy. And for what, an extremely messy room? Books everywhere, dirty laundry instead of carpeting, notes taped to the wall and scattered across every available surface, a bunch of knickknacks, a training dummy, several throwing weapons of various kinds embedded in the back wall (are those bullet holes?), scorchmarks... okay, maybe Tyzias has good reason for this level of security.

With the final lock double-checked, Tyzias sighs, turns to Sophie, taps her glasses, and-

2/2

[tiredcharmer]

-in a flash of light, she's just like the Tyzias Sophie knows from back home. Except somehow even more irritated looking. "Hey, kiddo."

[aspiringknight]

Sophie barely has time to emit a terrified squeak as the Sundering occurs, which is actually a lot less disorienting than she expected it to be, and she takes a moment to collect herself while Tyzias attends to her many, many locks. Sophie looks around, curiously. "I thought you were taking me to the infir-WHOA!"

Tyzias' sudden change back into the older, battle-scarred version she remembers that used to pop in for tea and sparring with her mother catches Sophie off-guard, and she sort of collapses into a sitting position on the edge of Tyzias' bed. "You could have warned me you were about to do that!" She rubs her temples. "I'm stressed enough as it is."

She looks back up at the troll and she can see the irritation on her face. "So you did recognize me! Why didn't you just say so? What is going on Mrs. Entykk, are-" She looks concerned. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

[tiredcharmer]

Being so guileless would be an endearing property if Sophie wasn't the daughter of a princess of Nohr. Tyzias really needs to give a kid a lesson in how to think and act like a lawyer before she gets burned for real, adorable innocence be damned.

It turns out that Tyzias somehow managed to disguise her toothpick-chewing habit beneath the magic that she acquired from Ena's world, since the sliver of wood she's currently gnawing on is already showing signs of intense wear. Groaning, Tyzias pinches the bridge of her nose. "One, I'm not on the run or anything. It's just that if I go out looking like this, every idiot who wants something vaguely heroic done will mob me with their inane sidequests. I'm viewing this as a fucking vacation from hero'ing, it's the only way to stay sane.

"Which leads into two. I'm not here to pick you up and take you back to your mom's. I got abducted and lost basically all my powers, same as you. We're in this together."