Cyanic

Araha awoke with a start, one of those falling feelings. "Did I fall asleep?" She asked, Ran sitting by her side, human size. "Seemed so." "How long?" "Just a few minutes, fifteen if I were to estimate." Ran shrugged. "Alright good, day's still early. I wanna explore the place." Araha said as she got up. Ran nodded and shrunk once again into the now-familiar hair clip. "Is that inconvenient for you? You don't have to be a clip all the time." "I'm alright. Changing forms doesn't require much and being this small feels no different from being your size." Ran's voice came from the hair clip. "Oh ok, tha's good." - Araha wandered the halls, she remembered that the owner of the place said there was a library somewhere, she hadn't read a lot of books in the past. She looked around, seeing some doors but wasn't sure exactly where the library was. She guessed and entered a random door. It was the kitchen Well, definitely not the library. She thought. She saw two other people inside preparing some food, another woman who seemed only a few years older than her and a boy who was definitely younger than she was. They noticed her. "Ah, sorry sorry, wrong room!" She said, closing the door.

Deras saw the throw, and tried to dodge, but was still hit with a few of them. He felt the dull knives impact his body, they would have hurt if he could feel pain. Deras thought about what he wanted to do. He wasn't bored anymore, but as for the fight, did he want to win? He did. He put the staff onto the floor and let it roll away, if he really wanted to win, he might be better off using something he was more familiar with: his bare hands. He charged forward, faster than last time, strong legs boosting him to almost super-human speeds. With his arms out, he intended to grapple his opponent, possibly throw him. It wouldn't kill him even if it was successful.

Deras nodded and jogged forward, his wooden staff reared back and his strike very obviously telegraphed. He intended to hit the man, but hold back some since he didn't want to injure the man too much given his strength.

Even watching the fights around him, he was getting bored again. He wanted to see what he'd learned and he wanted to try fighting as well. Deras might have gotten just what he wanted when a cloaked man landed on the grounds, which slightly surprised him. He was threatening, but apparently he wasn't hostile if he was just looking for a fight. Still with his wooden staff, Deras approached the cloaked man and begun speaking. "Fight?" He gestured toward himself and the newcomer, in hindsight the word 'spar' might've been a better idea. @Spacefaring Ferring

"Oh alright, sorry, sorry!" Araha mumbled as she stepped backward and went back to her room. As soon as she arrived, Ran turned back into her humanoid form. "That went badly." Araha said. "What? No, she was merely busy, that's all." Ran replied "Yeah, okay, but let's just wait for her here." Araha said as she sat on the bed and bounced for a bit, before lying down.

While Araha was tired, the prospect of meeting new people put her on edge... good edge. Excitement. That was the word. She sat up. "I'm thinking about talking with the lady." "The one that owns the Waystop?" Ran asked. "Yeah, her. She said our lessons were free if we helped around, I wonder what she meant by that?" "I don't think I've ever heard of anyone taking their clients into their employ for an incentive. It's a good tactic." Ran commented and looked the room over, it was fairly clean and well maintained. "The room is clean so it's likely not housekeeping that she needs help with." In the corner of her eye, Araha saw movement on the wall. She jumped and fell into stance. Only to realize it was a spider. She did remember a sign outside that said they must not be afraid of spiders if they wanted to enter. She relaxed. "You're awfully jumpy today?" Ran said. "Is it the new people? It's likely the new people. Excitement?" "Yeah, probably. What about you, aren't you excited? This is our first adventure outside Master's watch!" Araha replied. "I am, I suppose. I'm just better at containing it than sooome people. I am an honorspren after all. I should be dignified." Ran tilted her head up in mock-haught. Araha replied by blowing a raspberry. "Case in point." Ran smirked. Araha sneered at her. She was usually the one to have the last laugh when it came to their wordplay and cleverness contests. She sighed and got up. "Anyway, I'm gonna talk with the lady, you coming?" "Of course." Ran smiled this time, more genuine, less smug. She shrunk and became the shape of a hairclip again. - Araha made her way back to the lobby where the people were, and she saw the owner who was talking with another of the guests. When she finished talking with them, Araha walked up to her. "Um, excuse me, you said I could help around, what should I help with?" She asked before quickly adding: "U-uh, I'm sorry if this is a bad time. I can, I can go back to my room if that's better?"

There were two fights, or spars, as it were, happening in front of Deras. He wasn't sure which battle to pay attention to, but decided to watch the mech and the grounds master's battle since they seemed to be closer to his physical strength, and because he assumed the grounds master would be the most martially skilled out of them all. His wooden staff rested on his shoulder. Besides that, he saw two other people come onto the field. One the man who greeted him and the other newcomer who was also in battle currently, and a woman who had a small resemblance to the first man, likely siblings. He stuck his free hand out, open as a greeting, like a wave (but without moving the hand side-to-side), before putting it down and resuming his observation of the battle.

Araha smiled and took the keys to her room. "Thank you!" After a bit of wandering, she found her room. The place wasn't large, but she wasn't particularly good with directions, though not so much so that she'd get lost in a city. Well, not all the time that is. As she entered her room, she took off her leather boots and butt-cape, putting the cape on a rack and the boots by them. She sat on the bed, taking off her socks and lying down. Ran turned into her familiar humanoid shape, as large as Araha and sat on the air by the bed, cross legged. "So, why'd y'nudge me?" Araha asked, beginning to close her eyes on the bed, the journey here was long and she was apparently exhausted. "You should read papers that you put your name on, no matter how innocuous they initially seem." Ran said, a bit of a scolding tone, but it wasn't obvious. "ugh, but it's boriiiing..." "Ara, that was just a list of other people who've also signed in." The spren replied, a sigh in her voice. "Yeah, exactly! I don't need to read that, s'not like it's a contract to sell my body or anything." Araha trailed off and her eyes shot open. "I-it's not, is it?" This time Ran audibly sighed, "no, fortunately for you, I read what was on the form and it was just names." "Phew, well, I mean, if I got you, why'd I need to read any papers at all?" Araha chuckled which just won her another sigh and a facepalm from Ran. "Bottom line is that you have to be more responsible, you have to stop depending on me too much." "Yeah. Okay. Understandable." Araha replied she did understand Ran's point. After a short pause, she began conversation again, "so what'd you think of the lady? The one that runs the place?" Ran nodded, putting her hand on her chin. "Yes, she's likely the proprietor of the place. She seems kind and trustworthy, if a bit stressed." "Yeah, there were a lot of people. Did you catch a good look at any of them? Any of them stand out to you? Seem suspicious?" Ran laughed quietly. "The better question would be who didn't seem suspicious." At that, Araha returned the laugh and nodded. She did like training and all, but she loved the times when she could talk to Ran and have some quiet fun.

The serpent wrapped itself onto the Sentry's arm and begun constricting it. The aluminum plating was denting under stress, but his real body underneath, made of stone, held fast. Hundreds of thousands of tiny augmenter fabrials much stronger than those of the old Grandbows kept it from being damaged. The automaton braced its other arm on the serpent and pulled it free of the ocean, throwing it toward the land. If it didn't release, it would be slammed tail-first right into the ground and trees, likely being impaled by some of the pines. If it did release, the throw would be forceful enough that the beast would be flung straight into the nearby mountains. Either way, it seemed that the Sentry had an advantage.

"Realmatic-shift activity, sir, and it's a big one!" The woman monitoring one of the surveillance stations shouted out. Her immediate superior was in the room, so s could be heard directly. "Specks! Yelena, give me eyes on the threat." "Got it." Another woman stood up from her station and inhaled a large amount of stormlight. She began bending the light, beckoning the image from outside the city: A large grassy expanse, verdant trees, high mountain ranges, and the sea... with a gigantic serpent creature charging straight toward Wall Hold. "Specks." The officer swore and slammed an alarm button down. Alarms blared throughout Brightwall Headquarters, hundreds of personnel darting about, preparing Plan B protocols, readying evacuation procedures, and of course, calling Simon, the Awakener that first created the Sentry and knew its commands. - Simon rode in on a grav-ship, which easily cleared Wall Hold's tall buildings and far distances. They arrived near the sleeping giant, and Simon touched it. Wake. He commanded in his mind, and with a brief glow, the Silver Sentry was awake. It looked around, its immense body moving forward and shaking off decades worth of dust and refuse. It saw exactly what it was meant to fight: A colossal serpent gunning straight toward him and the city. It tilted its head and accepted the challenge, running straight toward the Serpent. It wasn't quick, but its large strides could cover several meters worth of land, It reared a fist back for a punch. It's gravitation fabrials kept it from collapsing, but they did not make it any less heavy. The purpose of charging the beast was two-fold: get it away from the city and hit it with a punch equal to several kilotons of force.

"Probably a good idea." She shrugged. Master Soren gave her some amount of chrysts before sending her off in case she needed them. They should be enough for a room. She signed the paper without even reading everything on it, and she felt a small buzz of force on her temple, likely caused by Ran 'nudging' her. It wasn't painful but it got her attention, they'll probably talk about it later. "So how much for the room?" She asked then gave herself a small mental slap for signing even before she knew the cost of a room.

Deras watched with interest as combat seemed to be beginning. The master of the training grounds begun slightly glowing. Deras hadn't seen much of how other people fought, so this would be both a learning experience and a compelling one

"Yeah, sure, of course." Araha nodded at the woman who she assumed was either the owner of the Waystop, or an employee. "We--" she cut herself off. "uhhh, I'm here to learn more about a certain Investiture. Where can I, um, sign in?" she asked miming a gesture of writing

Araha walked up the path to the Waystop. Ran, in the form of a clip on her hair, there were some people who could see Ran, and though she wasn't really the type to be discreet, she liked the idea of not showing people what sorts of advantage she had. If one looked closely though, they would see that the clip wasn't actually attached to her hair. And besides, the hair clip looked cute on her, no matter how brightly green it was. "Ran, I think y'can come down now, master's said we can trust the lady that runs the 'Stop." Araha told Ran, her voice light and with a very slight lilt. "Understandable, she'd probably see me eventually, either way." Ran replied, in comparison, her voice was calmer, more mature. Araha always saw Ran as something of an older sister. The honorspren landed beside Araha as she continued walking and grew to her size, a few fingers taller. As Araha arrived and opened the door, she saw that the place already had a small amount of people. She froze, and so did Ran. The spren recovered first and quickly turned back into a hair clip, attaching onto Araha's bangs before she could even realize. The girl turned and didn't see Ran, slight panic hit her before she saw a small, luminescent clip on her hair and she quickly sighed in relief. She entered the building, and said "G'evening," to no one in particular.

Deras stopped practicing for a while, slowly getting the hang of the basic kata, and looked at a certain newcomer, a large metallic box that had small legs and large arms, a mech, it seemed. He knew what a mech was, but didn't know how he knew. At first it put him on edge, but it seemed that the training grounds' master was speaking with this mech. He stared at it, curious.

The shape might make it look pretty cool (though maybe structurally unstable) like those cities from the Reckonerverse

A city formed into an Aon sounds awesome actually, like AonTia to let it move about