A Beautiful Morning (Open)

[Leif Adamson]

Leif had gone for a morning jog around the city. Sitting idle was doing nothing for all of the things going through her mind, and she was tired of trying to find something to do. As per usual, she ended up at the beach, where she seemed most comfortable despite the threat of water.

She stretched her arms high above her head, breathing in the salty air with a smile. Taking her shoes off, she tossed them further up shore, and began to move through her old training routine. Her body was still nimble, and the familiarity of it all was comforting. Step, kick, swing, punch, duck, uppercut. Step by step, she moved through the familiar motions, a brilliant smile plastered across her face.

[Brianna Valdyr]

Normally, Brianna didn't make it out to the beach. Not from paranoia or worry who might see her, but for simply being too busy working at the gym and helping out where she could. But the gym wasn't open for a while yet, so she had time to chill and enjoy the view.

"Oh." She slowed at the sight of a girl about her own age in the water in the water. She watched in silence, watching her go through her routine with a smile on her face. That was something worth seeing. With everything as it was since they had arrived in this place, it was rare to see smiles.

"Morning!" She waved if the other girl turned to look at her, a relaxed half smile of her on still in place.

[Leif Adamson]

Leif balanced easily on one leg for a high kick just as she heard somebody call out to her. She finished the move set, her foot hitting the ground as she spun, throwing the other leg through the air. It brought her around to face the stranger.

Breathing deeply, surprisingly not out of breath, Leif offered the stranger a smile. She glanced towards her jacket and shoes, mostly just reminding herself where they were, before she walked over to the person.

"Hey! Good morning. Just getting a good workout in."

[Brianna Valdyr]

Brianna watched the other girl spin and turn with enough skill not to fall over in the water in the process. Girl had some moves; she could appreciate that.

"Looks like it. Might have to start trying it out, myself." Brianna chuckled, knowing full well that the cold water would be an unforgiving wake up.

"Name's Brianna. You come out here often?" It didn't seem like the most popular place, which was fine with her.

[Leif Adamson]

Leif nodded, chuckling to herself. "Honestly, I come out here more often than I stay in my apartment. Its calm. Peaceful."

She made her way over to the girl, pausing to shake out the tension in her arms. Going through her move sets was comfortable, and working her muscles out felt fantastic, but she was still a bit more out of shape than she had been when in Cabal. Years of running away hadn't given her much time to stay fit. At least, not the same kind of fit.

"No one really comes out here much, anymore."

[Brianna Valdyr]

"Fair enough." She nodded towards the ocean where they stood, letting Leif grab her things when she chose. Normally, she'd grab and offer them, but if she still wanted to train or didn't like people touching her things, then it wasn't worth aggravating her when it was already peaceful here.

"Nice view, too." She reached up towards the sky, fingers interlacing as she stood on tiptoes.

"Yeah, it's too bad, but probably for the best. Not everyone wants to be stared or pointed at,, y'know?"

[Leif Adamson]

Leif snickered, nodding. She walked over to where she had her things, but sat down beside them instead of grabbing her shoes. She stretched her legs out in front of her, leaning back and staring up at the sky.

"So you're from the old world, too, hmm?" She asked, closing her eyes and letting the sun beat down on her. She didn't outright invite the girl, but had no problem if she wanted to stay and talk a while. It was always nice to talk to somebody who understood.

[Brianna Valdyr]

Her gaze went from the horizon to the other girl at the mention of 'too,' nodding as she looked back out to the water. It was always nice to meet someone who knew the old world and wasn't still locked up in their apartment. Even mostly locked in meant they were making steps in this world.

"Yeah, out west. Kind of nice to see something that's similar to home, even if it's not the same." She dropped to a crouch, folding her arms over her knees as they spoke. A lack of invitation was enough of one for her.

"Name's Brianna. You?"

[Leif Adamson]

"Leif. Pleasure, Brianna."

She made an active effort to repeat the girl's name multiple times in her mind, hoping to commit it to memory. Names weren't easy for her, especially when she gave most people nicknames most of her life, but since coming to this new world she had decided to make an effort. She leaned back in the sand, watching as the water came towards her feet. She was careful not to let it touch her, but enjoyed how close it got.

"Where out west? Near an ocean, I'm guessing?"

[Brianna Valdyr]

"Back at you, Leif." Away from the head of her family, representing them or the Academy, Brianna's formality was essentially zero.

"Yeah." Another small glance at Leif at the question. "Cabal and most of its protectorates, you know." She shrugged and looked back to the water. "I'm a bit north west, there." Meaning she was from Cabal the territory and also, as a qi user, from Cabal's academy/military base.

[Leif Adamson]

Leif tensed the moment Cabal was mentioned, her shoulders rising defensively. The Academy, the military. The memories were still fresh, despite the years that had passed. She took a deep breath. This stranger looked to be about her age... They could have known each other. Fought together. The thought crashed into her like a wave.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, trying to force herself to relax, she reminded herself that Cabal was gone now. She had no need to hide, despite the stigma that would follow her for the rest of her life. She swore to herself that she would be honest... and she wasn't about to start lying now.

"I'm... from Cabal, too..." she murmured, her voice cracking slightly. Clearing her throat, she spoke just a bit louder, with just a bit more confidence. "Born and raised. Attended the... Academy. And was assigned."

[Brianna Valdyr]

Brianna noticed the tension in the air, even though she missed Leif's body language. It was enough for her to focus on the other girl more fully, wondering if she wasn't perhaps someone without qi and wasn't trying to bring it up. Then again, it was the military, and that meant not everything was sunshine and rainbows.

"Really?" She grinned for a moment, the expression returning to a more neutral one as she let her excitement at meeting someone from home - not just her world, but home - settle down. "Well that's cool. I've met a few from the academy here, but I didn't start going there until recently. Didn't get a partner assigned to me until everything went down.

"My family trained me before that. You probably met one of my cousins or something, though." She looked back to the water, chin resting on her arms. If anyone was likely to survive...whatever happened there, she knew her family would be among them. They were Valdyrs, after all!

[Leif Adamson]

"I might have. I knew a lot of people during my time at the Academy."

Breathe, Leif. It was easier to think of that, of her days spent partying and enjoying herself, meeting everybody she could and dragging more than a few down the dark road with her. The days spent working her tail off, and the nights spent partying the stress away. The simpler times.

She forced her shoulders to relax another inch, before speaking again.

"How are you adjusting? This place is... different from Cabal."

[Brianna Valdyr]

The tension seemed to ease more when she talked about things other than the academy, so Brianna chose not to point it out.

"I'm doing okay, better than most I think. A lot of people just trying to get by." She shrugged, a brief gesture. "It's not a bad place, really. We're in a new world with new people, but they're not all that bad. Not that different, either. We're the oddballs here, just like back home. Only difference is that qi just doesn't exist here. This time, we're the first ones. No Dragons, Wolves, Crows, or any factions like that. No underground experiments.

"Besides, we're here until we find a way back, if there is one. I don't want to be stuck existing here where all I want is to relive a life I can't have." She stopped, realizing she'd been rambling, and snorted a laugh.

"Sorry, I ramble when I haven't had my morning coffee." She leaned back, hands resting in the sand as she looked at Leif.

"But how about you? How are you doing?" There was a more serious note to her tone with the question.

[Leif Adamson]

Leif chuckled and gave a shake of her head. "Don't apologize. It's nice to sit and listen." She glanced back to the waves, watching as they came rolling in over the sand. It was comfortable, relaxing, despite knowing that those waves were dangerous for her. Water and electricity didn't match up too well.

"I... don't honestly think I am adjusting, to be honest. I grew up around war. It became a part of me. And this..." She made a vague gesture towards the world around her. "I feel kind of lost, here, honestly."