006 // QUISTIS [action, open]

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[It's a nice day outside-- and Quistis is a bit tired of being cooped up in her room all day, dealing with paperwork. She's also been holed up to avoid both Squall and Xu, but that's an entirely different matter.

So now, she's sitting outside in the Quad on a bench, in her hand a large stack of her precious Triple Triad cards. She's simply sifting through them, looking at all the cards she'd acquired from her many victorious tournaments and matches; she was the Master King, after all. And she fully intends to gain the title back, sooner or later.

Feel free to poke the ex-instructor; she doesn't bite!]

Comments

[dragon-savior.livejournal.com]

[Ryu felt like he had gotten a handle on most things living at Garden. However, there was still one beast left unconquered, and that was Triple Triad.]

What are those cards for?

[His usually polite routine was overtaken by his deep curiosity.]

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[She looks up at the boy the voice belongs to and gives him a small smile.]

These? They're called Triple Triad cards. It's one of the most popular past times in our world.

[It's easy to assume that the boy isn't a native; everyone knows about Triple Triad! That, and blue hair really isn't that common of a sight.]

[dragon-savior.livejournal.com]

[But at least he's easy to pick out in a crowd. Now you've got his full attention, Quistis.]

How do you play? Some of these look like the creatures I've been learning about.

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[His words cause her smile to widen.]

That's because they are those creatures. Many of the times when you battle an enemy, once they're defeated they leave a card behind. The rules are simple. Do you see these numbers? [She indicates the upper left corner of the card.]

The numbers indicate each side of your card. The objective of the game is to try and beat your opponent by matching a side of your card with your opponents, and to try and have the larger number adjacent to the number of their card. If your card has the higher number, then their card becomes your territory. Whoever dominates the majority of the cards on the playing board wins, and the victor gets to choose one of their opponent's cards to keep. Does that make sense?

[dragon-savior.livejournal.com]

[He nods. Now there was a certain eagerness to his gaze, he wanted to try this game out.]

Then I suppose I should get my sword and get to work.

[derped.livejournal.com]

[She's still his instructor. * A*

Rion will wander over - somehow in their many lessons, the idea of Triple Triad had never come up, and he wasn't particularly good at it anyway. But if it's alright with her he's just going to look at that stack and stare with that... same * A* expression. Miss Quistis (he's moved up from using her last name!) being good at Triple Triad?

He is unsurprised. Really, he kind of expected it.]

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[She looks up and catches Rion watching-- she hadn't been aware he was nearby. Seeing his slightly awed expression, Quistis holds up a card.]

Do you play?

[derped.livejournal.com]

[An unclear shrug, and then he begins writing to clarify (a Thing she's probably very used to at this point).]

I do, but I'm not very good. I went to the Card Club a few times, but...

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[Her hands begin to absentmindedly shuffle her deck.]

Plenty of practice will make you better. If you keep attending the Card Club meetings, or even just play against some people in your spare time, I'm sure you'll improve.

[fierybluebird]

My that's quite the collection.

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[She gives him a small smile.]

It's a hobby.

[fierybluebird]

It is. [Soft grin back.] Been at it long?

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

Oh, I picked it up when I first came to Garden. I play every now and then, whenever I had the time. Do you play?

[heartranked.livejournal.com]

[Quistis, you knew Xu was going to find you. Really, could you hide from her? So here she is, sneaking up behind you. She really should have gotten into espionage when she was a cadet.

She leans over Quistis' shoulder.]

So... what's up?

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[Hyne, Xu would manage to find her the day she finally steps out of her room. Quistis doesn't even bother to hide her exasperation as she lets out a loud sigh.]

Nothing, just looking through my cards.

[heartranked.livejournal.com]

[Xu rolled her eyes, moving around to sit on the bench next to her friend.]

Trying to build a new deck?

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[She gave a shrug.]

Not really-- just looking through my cards. It's been a while since I've played. [Since, you know, she doesn't remember Strip Triple Triad.]

[no-sausage-fest.livejournal.com]

[The weather is surprisingly nice--it's actually a bit jarring. It was November last Junpei checked, so the pleasantly warm September afternoon is welcome. Junpei's been checking out the grounds, and when he spots a pretty bespectacled blonde out in the quad, he decides that clearly it is the time to say hello. Old habits die hard.

Sidling toward her, he weighs the possibility of her speaking Japanese and decides that she really doesn't look the part at all, and so he pulls out his translator and clicks it on, then approaches the bench.]

Well hi there. [Big cheesy grin goes here.] Those are unusual looking cards--are they some sort of tarot?

[Ooh, maybe this would be a good line of conversation--if they talked about tarot he could ask her her sign. And that was always a good idea, right?]

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[Quistis looks up, slightly perplexed at the mention of 'tarot'-- her furrowed brow reflects her confusion, and she looks back down at her deck before looking back to the male.]

Tarot? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. These are Triple Triad cards, though.

[no-sausage-fest.livejournal.com]

Triple Triad? [He scratches his head, furrowing his brow.] Never heard'a that. Are they like trading cards? [Okay, he can still recover from this. And he can still ask what her sign is, because he can still EXPLAIN Tarot cards since she doesn't seem to know what they are.]

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[She hums thoughtfully.] You don't exactly trade with them, though I suppose you could if you want. It's a card game where you try and conquer as many of you opponents cards as you can. The victor receives a card of their choice from the loser.

What are Tarots?

[redcinemareel]

[A long red rope made of yarn lands with a soft thud by the blonde's feet before flying through the air to the other side. This action is repeated several more times.

Yep, Grell is practicing his whip swings with his makeshift yarn whip.]

Forward and back...forward and...back. [He aims for a spot in the grass, missing it by a few inches. SIGH] This isn't right at all. Where are those notes...

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[Well, that certainly gets her attention. At first, Quistis is confused-- why is someone throwing a ball of yarn? Did someone bring a cat into the school? Though her eyes finally follow the red string, until she spots a redhead throwing the ball of yarn around, muttering to herself.

It takes another moment for Quistis to realize that their actions look very familiar to that of her fighting technique.

Tucking the deck of cards into a pocket of her uniform jacket, Quistis stands up from the beach to walk over towards the redhead, eyes already scrutinizing her movement to assess what exactly they're doing wrong. It takes only a moment for her to pinpoint the problem.]

You're using too much of your arm-- there's a subtle flick of the wrist before the impact against the target, which will inflict additional damage.

[redcinemareel]

[Grell stills his yarn whip and looks to the new voice, then to his make-shift weapon, then back to her.]

Too much of my arm? [Places a hand on his hip, looking a bit perplexed, but curious.] It's either all of my arm, or none of it. You'll need to elaborate, honey, because the latter seems out of the question.

[whiplashings.livejournal.com]

[With a quick flick of her wrist, the whip at her belt is unhooked. Quistis takes several steps back before raising her arm overhead, swinging Save the Queen in a circular motion overhead to build momentum before snapping the bladed tip down against a patch of dirt.]

While movement of the shoulder is required to build up the proper momentum to deal a significant amount of damage, before the end hits the ground a movement of the wrist needs to be incorporated. Then, when you retrieve the whip, the elbow should be utilized to conserve energy for your next attack.