Zilo spent a few weeks not traveling across the lands on a dire mission and instead performing at the bar and doing minor side jobs along with May, Jin, or Sparky. Leo, Cruxis and Alaroc had yet to return from their quest to find the lost elf armada, and Zilo finally had the time to help Aria do some more intimate Bardic training.
Aria falls flat on her face as Zilo daintily dodges her and trips her. "Careful not to hurt that pretty face." Remarks the Bard with a grin as his student stands back up gripping her training short sword. Zilo flicks up his training sword as well as she goes in for a two handed overhead swing, Zilo lifts up his own blade at an angle as he slowly walks forward.
Aria's blade deflects off to the side off the angled block and Zilo gives her a fast hit on her butt as she tries to recover from her blunder. "You are thinking too much. Try to fight with your feelings you have about opponent over your form or your strength, but be careful that those feelings don't over take you."
"How the hell do you fight with feelings?" Says Aria, frustrated and confused. Zilo stops for a moment and points back to the bar from the spot in the plaza they are practicing in.
"What is the first thing Alaroc would order when he gets back to the bar?"
Aria tilts her head for a moment before saying, "Baiju, easy."
"How do you know?"
"Alaroc loves variety, and hates the taste of one kind of drink sticking to his tougne. So after a few weeks of nothing but grog, he'll want to get ride of the taste as fast as possible, even if that means taking the harshness of baiju."
"So you know because you know him?"
"I suppose so, but how does his drink taste matter?"
Zilo flicks his sword back toward her and says, "I have never seen Alaroc attack a target twice in the same way. Since if the first way didn't work, it shouldn't work the second time. That's the sort of man, and fighter he is."
Aria looks down to her blade and then back at Zilo. "Alright then 'master' let's go." She didn't get the feel for her master's lesson right away, but after a few more rounds of thinking it over, she got it.
Aria and Zilo square off slowly pacing around in their assumed arena of combat. Zilo moves in and prepares to make an attack on Aria, but the woman holds firm. Right before the bard lands a blow to her side, he stops. In the next instant he is struck by the woman and staggers backward holding his nose.
In a nasally voice, the bard says, "Nice hit, if I may ask, what's my deal?"
Aria smiles and puts up two fingers, "You are an adaptable guy, hence why I couldn't ever really break your defense, you just react to quick. The only chance I had was to counter rather than be countered. Second, you are too nice. I knew you'd never actually strike me hard, and when you didn't I had an opening."
Zilo stows away his sword and says, "I'm impressed, you get the idea, but it took you quite a while to do so, and many hits from me. In a real fight you gotta get your opponent's tells in real time, and that isn't easy to do off the bat."
The two dust off their lighter gear in preparation to return to the bar. As Zilo bends down to pick up his bag he feels a sharp pain from his rump and turns to see Aria holding her sword again and says, "Now we're even, my friend."
Zilo smiles and embraces Aria around the waist, saying, "I hit you way more than that, I don't think we are even quite yet."
Aria lightly blushes with hesitation and says, "Well... maybe I can pay you back, hm?"
Zilo smiles and... Is immediately snatched away by his collar from behind.
"ZILO THERE'S AN EMERGENCY!"
"I told you, May! It wasn't me who burned your new dress, it was Sparky!" The bard instinctively yelled. May takes a second before pointing him in the face and says, "First off, you let him in my room! Second this isn't about that. It's about this!" She shouts as she reached for and pulls down the top of her blouse.
Zilo immediately turns and shouts, "May, I'm flattered, but I'm with Aria now, and though we may have had a fantastic life together this is something you just need to accept and... OW!" reacts the bard as the woman belts him on the head.
"Not those you fool, this!" She says as she points to the mark on her chest that says 'loser'.
"I haven't been able to wear low cut clothes for weeks, and its all cause of that degenerate of a hobgoblin. We finally have a lead, his men we arrested just broke out of the castle dungeons."
Zilo thinks back and then recalls, "Oh yeah, that was when I destroyed the Zal family's house with a shout." Zilo turns back to Aria and then says,"That was also the day we met! Tell me, do couples celebrate first meeting in this plane?"
Aria grinds her teeth and says, "Believe it or not, I wouldn't want to remember that day." Zilo's face goes long and he responds, "Shame that. Either way, let's go tell Maldrek, He'd want to know."
The three walk back into the bar to see Maldrek watching the bar while Aria was training. May tells Maldrek about the news and he says, "I don't see the point in that May, we'd only be risking getting killed for pretty much nothing, best to just let bandits be bygones."
Zilo shrugs and says, "Welp, guess that's that."
"NO! Maldrek, we've agreed on a lot of things, but I want to take these guys down, their leader embarrassed us! This cannot stand!"
May turns and runs up the stairs. Aria leans over the bar and says, "You really rustled her rats."
"It's not a smart move, with the bandits back out they'll only have an escape bounty on them. If we wait for them to get back to business, then they'll get a bounty put on them, no doubt. By then the others will be back and it will be a much more easy fight."
Zilo crosses his arms and says, "I agree, but that doesn't mean I like it." Maldrek furrows his brows and responds, "You too? I thought you'd have my back, Zilo."
"It's cause of how you're doing this Maldrek." Says Aria, getting Maldrek's attention.
"Maldrek, as a boss, you are absolutely making the right call, it's why I stayed working with you. You are a smart man, but you are also a jerk."
Maldrek is taken a back by that comment. "A... jerk?"
"Yes, you don't always need to think like a devil, part of you is human. That wasn't your employee disobeying your orders, that was your friend looking for you to be by her side."
Aria runs up the stairs to make sure May is alright, leaving the fetchling and tiefling alone at the bar. Maldrek thinks over what Aria said and turns to Zilo, "Am I a jerk, Zilo?"
The bard goes silent... taking more than a few seconds to come up with the right words. Then as he turns and opens his mouth.
"Yuppers." Says Sparky from below the counter before Zilo can speak. Maldrek lays his head on the bar and Zilo begins to speak.
"But like not a jerk-jerk, just a jerk. Those are two whole different things buddy. What does a goblin and..." Zilo double checks the stairs, "bartender know, I mean sure she's self made, good at judging people, and rather smart herself, but what does that amount to?"
Maldrek pounds the table, and shouts, "MAY! Get your stuff! We've got some hobgoblins to hunt!" followed by the sound of preparation from above.
Zilo smiles as Maldrek stands straight then points to Sparky and Zilo as May, "You two as well, gonna need the whole team for this, Zilo, go find Jin."
"Gone Jin." remarks the goblin.
"What do you mean he's gone!"
"He say, he gone, be back later."
"Damnit, we need to move now if we want to pick up the trail!"
As the two women rush down the stairs Zilo assures, "Long as we have you, we got this buddy, We already took goons, we just need you for the wizard."
"Without Jin's eyes, it would take forever. I need him for the lay of the land, We've never had a job in that terrain around the city."
"I can help."
The four veteran adventurers all turn together to see Aria standing there with her arms crossed.
"I've live outside the city my whole life and Zilo thinks I finally can fight like a bard. Plus I want to take down the guys who tried to take apart my family"
The three turn at the bard and he responses uncomfortably, "um... well.... I guess technically... she did sorta beat me in a dual."
Maldrek shrugs and says, "Good enough for me, I'm gonna take a chance on you kid, you're off the bench." All but Zilo walk out to the cart as the bard continued out of earshot.
"After losing like a few hundred times, while I was using a sword I wasn't use to, and while I guess I went easy on her.... I'm sure she'll be fine." he finishes with a shrug.
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