Crouching Tiger, Hidden Gardener (private w/ Vlithra Qing Long)

[Forrest Waldstein]

It was worse than he thought, Vlithra could barely walk without experiencing excruciating pain. Forrest winced a bit when he saw how Vlithra was in pain, he couldn't help but feel bad for her. He would have offered to carry Vlithra, but he hesitated, sensing that she might be trying to... save face? Why?...

No wonder why Vlithra is so strong, her Semblance must take a heavy toll on her muscles... Forrest mused, wishing he had the 'luxury' of Sylvan Anthem stretching his muscular system to its limits. After all, he didn't exactly grow up in the best environment for muscular hypertrophy, especially with the lack of protein in his former diet back home. Though he lacked strength, his training did prioritize stamina and endurance, and that reflected in Forrest's 'war of attrition' approach.

"Do you always push yourself like this when you train?" Forrest inquired, trying to make some conversation as he sat down facing Vlithra.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

“Not everytime,...“ she answered while shaking her head lightly. “...but once a week at least. It helps my body and aura adapt to the strain I‘m putting on them when I use my semblance like this.“ she continued, looking a Forrest. As soon as she was sitting, she immediately felt relief with her legs no longer needing to bear the burden that was her body.

“Doing this… my Aura is not only used to fuel my semblance, but also used to hold my body together so I don‘t tear myself apart.“ she paused for a moment, letting out a deep breath that could have been indistiguishable from a sigh as she directed her gaze to the side, not wanting to come off as weird by staring at the guy the entire time. “That‘s how powerful my semblance can be. It‘s a double edged sword like this.“ she finished as she leaned back and put her hands to the ground behind her to stabilize herself.

[Forrest Waldstein]

"I see, no wonder why you were able to wipe the floor with me in the Tournament." Forrest replied, nodding as Vlithra explained herself. He wondered if his own training would eventually pay off like that. It was clear that Vlithra was very serious about her training, and that Forrest needed to train more intensely.

Vlithra is really strong, I wish I was even remotely close to how powerful she is... Forrest mused. As Forrest was listening to Vlithra, he couldn't help but break eye contact before Vlithra had. The eye contact had gotten a little intense for his liking, but nonetheless was still listening with equal effectiveness.

"I don't exactly have the same physical intensity to my own training, but it's just as much of a mental exercise as it is a physical one. In combat, I have to make quick judgements on the fly regarding what type of plant to use, where to position it, and where my target is going to be once it manifests. Training like this is the closest thing I can get to the real deal, so I appreciate your help with that." Forrest explained.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

“Heh. Good, then this bout has served it‘s intended purpose.“ Vlithra smiled at Forrest, though still looking around. She was happy to know that this little excercise had assisted them both in their development, but let the silence simmer afterwards for a moment.

“You know, this reminds me of something my mom once told me.“ She mentioned as she reminisced for a moment, thinking back to her teenage years.
She sat in the garden of her family‘s mansion. An unusually beautiful spring had set in as the lone cherry tree shed it‘s blossoms.
A wooden tablet was placed in front of her with a chess board on top of it. The game had just started. To her left sat her private school teacher, an intelligent man that had educated her for a long time, he with a full set of pieces.
To her right sat her mother, who played with quite the handicap. She only had half the special pieces one would usually have.
She made the first move just as an aura copy of hers started dueling one of her guards at the other end of the garden. Vlithra had been instructed to not take her eyes off the chessboard and watch carefully, even if the duel seemed more enticing. The young tigress knew better than to disobey her strict mother, so she watched on.
The moves they made seemed nonsensical at first, as Vlithra didn‘t like playing chess but was at least familiar with the rules and what each piece did. But nearing the end she noticed, whenever her mother would take a piece from the teacher, she heard the distinct noise blades clashing. And at the end of the game, a picture did seem to form in her head as it became clear that the matriarch had put her opponent into an inescapable situation. And just as she did the winning move on the chessboard, her copy brought the guard to fall.

“Every battle, no matter the circumstance, starts and ends in the mind. Honing it will see you triumph even against unfavorable odds.“ Vlithra found herself repeating the same words, her mother had uttered back then, to Forrest.

“Therein lies your strength… and that‘s why I belive your victory over Al wasn‘t just some fluke. The fact that you were able to catch me is evident of that.“ she said as her gaze fell back onto Forrest, this time showing that soft smile of hers.

[Forrest Waldstein]

That smile, that damn smile. It was enough to make color rush to his cheeks and make him look away briefly. Forrest still listened to Vlithra though, and agreed with the wisdom she relayed to him.

"That sounds like something my great-grandfather would say. A lot of people made the mistake of labeling him an intellectually inept person, but he's actually a brilliant strategist." Forrest replied, reestablishing eye contact.

"But yeah, I guess there's some truth in how I managed to beat Al and also catch you." he concurred, resisting the urge to play devil's advocate. In his mind, all Al had to do was blitz him and not let up, but instead she ended up making the crucial mistake of taking it slow, thus playing into Forrest's strengths. Also, perhaps his training did end up paying off, which may have allowed Forrest to end up catching Vlithra. It seemed as though he wasn't giving himself the credit he deserved, something he didn't realize until now...

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Well, a great-grandpa of similar strategic mind? What a coincidence. Is what Vlithra initially though, until she did a double take in her mind. Her eyes narowed for a moment as she realized that Forrest said great-grandfather. She was caught off guard by the statement for a moment, simply because she didn‘t even knew what that was like… how could she? The oldest people in her family she knew of was her mother‘s parents, and they were dead long before Vlithra had even been born.

“Hm.“ Vlithras head tilted as she looked at Forrest, curiosity in her eyes. “Are your elders not respected where you come from? Sorry for such a trivial question, it‘s just that I can‘t imagine that many people thinking an old man intellectually inept.“ she inquired. A question purely spurned by curiosity… mainly because back home respect for the elderly was a strict rule.

In the meantime, her legs were resting well. It was very much relieving that they got to rest like this.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest's eyes seemed to light up subtly yet noticeably when Vlithra asked her question. He enjoyed hearing people's curiosities and questions about anything relating to Oakhearth and its culture.

"No you're good, it's not a trivial question. Oakhearth has a very self-sufficient culture and an independent streak. Even though it's tradition to revere the elderly in Oakhearth, some people claim that they aren't doing anything worthwhile to warrant that respect. It doesn't help that my great grandfather is..." Forrest said, stopping to think for a brief second.

"...About a foot taller than me, heavily scarred, and still quite muscled for his age. As a result, some people mislabel him as a brute. He's probably around 120 years old by now, it's hard to tell since there's no official record of his birth. The point being, he looks old now." he added.

"I mean, he fought in the Great War. He won battle after battle, earning himself plenty of promotions along the way and a great reputation to boot. So I guess that's a roundabout way of saying not to judge a book by it's cover." Forrest concluded.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra listened intently as Forrest explained, propping her arm onto one of her legs to rest her chin on her hand. The majority of the ache having faded, leaving but a stinging feeling in her legs.
The tigress furrows her eyebrow at Forrest as he talked of his great-grandfather. Suffice to say, she was astonished. Her thoughts were beffudled by Forrest‘s tale of his ancestor.
If what he said about this man was true, which she had no reason not to belive him for the moment, the guy must be very much fabled at that point.
She herself didn‘t have anything of that sort though, the thought of which made Vlithra avert her gaze to the side, a frown forming for but a moment as she pondered.

“Didn‘t know I could be jealous over something like this.“ she simply muttered as she let out a small giggle. “Kinda makes me want to meet him.“ she concluded with her curiosity peeked.
She could only imagine what sort of stories such a man had to tell of the old times, things you couldn‘t just learn from history books.

[Forrest Waldstein]

"He's a bit ornery at times, but I think he'll like you. He's the type to value strength above all." Forrest replied, thinking back to his intense training under Silvanus. Given he was a veteran of the Great War, he had knowledge of exercises and drills that really pushed one's body to its absolute limits. Forrest can definitely attest to that, as his body felt sore more often than not.

"Anyway, are your legs feeling better by now? We could get out of here, since we're no longer using any of the equipment or training." asked Forrest.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

“Yeah. My legs are somewhat rested now. Still ache a bit, but it should be fine...“ Vlithra answered as she slowly but surely got up to stand. Despite a bit of pain she could stand, and knowing that she could seemed to cheer her up. After all, the last time she needed such a time out was when she overdid it at Bartok‘s Beach Party at the beginning of the year. It really put it into perspective how much she had grown already, as back then she only did a spectacular jump into the ocean waters that left her this exhausted. Major progress from back then.

“Ah right, my coat... I almost forgot.“ the tigress looked around eventually spotting it around where she left it prior the last excercise. With that she slowly started walking over to pick it up.

[Forrest Waldstein]

"That's good." Forrest replied as he also stood up with Vlithra. He felt only a little bit of strain compared to Vlithra. Forrest wasn't exactly built for explosive movements like Vlithra, but rather for endurance and a high level of stamina helped him last long in a combat situation. Noticing Vlithra make her way towards her coat, albeit a bit slowly. Figuring this would be a good opportunity to earn some brownie points, Forrest made his way to Vlithra's coat with greater speed.

"Here, I got your coat for you." Forrest said, holding the coat out for Vlithra.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Upon seeing Forrest dart past her to pick up the coat instead she seemed to want to object for a moment, but hesitated to say something. So instead she just let bring it, taking it when offered.

“Thanks.“ she exclaimed as she tries to hide her reddened cheek, turning away and pulling her coat over her shoulders. She then fiddled with the chain to reattach it again.
“I should head to my room. Gonna need the rest.“ she said as she resigned herself to walking to her Dorm Room alone at frst.

However Forrest decided to accompany her until then, despite her reassurance that "she'll be fine". Yet when he still walked alongside her, she didn't seem to complain. They chat a bit more on the way and eventually say their farewells as they part ways when Vlithra got to the door of her room. Once inside, Vlithra locked her door and face planted into bed her mind occupied by todays training, namely the incident with her choking. Maybe she did have some trauma to go trough...