Sky was determined. She'd trained for the last few moons with Opal, mastering dancing as an art of war. She'd hazard saying that she was a dancer now. and she was ready for their massive Roegadyn friend to stop treating her like a liability. Today was the day that she was going to SHOW him. She'd waited until he passed by on his way to his morning training. Today, Opal was out on a quick job and Phearless would be going through his routine alone. It was perfect.

The night-skinned miqo'te trailed him at a distance, waiting until he'd started lifting the massive weights that she could never even hope to budge. Luckily none of her new-found skills required that level of strength. Sky unsheathed the silver chakrams decorated with the night sky. They'd been a gift from her friends when she'd finally begun to show some proficiency with the fighting style as Opal's hand-me-downs were quality, but poorly balanced for the smaller woman. She checked herself, remembering Opal's frequent admonitions that she did NOT need to utilize a battle cry when attacking.

She struck quick as a viper, checking the blow so she smacked her friend with the blunted side of the weapon rather than slicing his skin. Phearless let out a huff, and Sky felt pleased as she realized she'd managed to catch him off guard. It was hard to do, the big man usually alert for the smallest sign of trouble.

"What do you think you're doing?" He said, voice gruff with the morning and with his surprise. His hand went for his axe even as he spoke, which was enough to send Sky bounding away to land crouched and readied for his attack. He observed her, and she felt a warm feeling as she realized he was smiling down at her form.

"I thought I would ask you to dance." Sky said, breathless as she stared into his golden eyes. His eyes narrowed in thought before a laugh broke free. Now that was a rarity. Phearless typically had a great, calm demeanor, but he had a tendency to keep his card close to his chest and anything more than a smile was difficult to drag from him.

"Then let's dance, Starshine." He waggled his eyebrows and made a face, moving forward and swinging his battle axe towards her. Sky giggled, nearly missing her opportunity to dodge the attack. She hadn't seen the Roegadyn act so carefree in the months she'd known him. Oh he was kind, and the three of them were thick as thieves, but he was typically stoic. She knew he was going easy on her, swinging slower than she knew he could, and turning his axe to the flat side further slowed the blow. Her distraction cost her precious seconds, and she felt the blade smack her tail. "Gotta be faster than that." He said, taunting.

"Don't you know what they say about being too quick? I did not realize it was a problem you had." She felt the words leave her mouth, and then felt her skin flushing as she surprised herself with the innuendo. She watched as the words sunk in for Phearless, and he seemed to almost trip in his apparent shock. She'd never made a single such joke, despite the two heathens she travelled with making them plenty. She'd been raised to be a lady, and vulgarities, even veiled ones, were beneath her. He looked her over, and laughed loud with a twinkle in his honey colored eyes.

"Maybe later I'll demonstrate for you my ability to take things slow." He drawled the words, punctuating them with another swing of his axe. She blushed harder, but darted in as he twisted and smacked his rear with one of her blades. She was so surprised that she forgot to move away, and she heard the thud before the feeling of his axe handle slamming into her ribs filtered through to her brain. She felt the breath forcefully leaving her lungs, and the sand of the arena scraping against her skin as she went rolling across the practice ring.

"Gah!" Was the only thing she could make herself say, and her lungs were resisting drawing more breath. She was pretty sure she was seeing stars, despite it clearly being morning time. As she rolled to a stop, she could hear sand shifting beneath heavy footsteps. A blur filled her vision, haloed with gold and with resplendent, tawny eyes.

"By the twelve! Sky, why didn't you move? That wasn't meant to be a blow. I was just turning back." He hovered over her, fingers prodding her skin. Her mouth gaped like a fish, desperately trying to get oxygen back into her system. Finally, after what felt like forever, her diaphragm unseized and she was able to draw breath. He seemed to sag in relief at the sound while his hands continued to roam her body with gentle fingers. They found her ribs, sending her hissing and writhing away from him. He flinched, worry strong in his gaze.

"Broken." She managed between clenched teeth, eyes watering as her movements sent fresh pangs of agony through her system. "Healer. Can't. Myself." She panted. Phear nodded, gathering her small body to his gently before racing out of the practice grounds. She heard him calling to someone they passed to pick up their abandoned gear, but it felt distant and she found herself pulled down into the darkness.

Sky's hand was warm. Well warmer than it ought to be. Distantly, she was aware of people talking lowly. She couldn't quite make out the words, but they sounded worried, anxiety raising the tones. She blinked, slowly coming back to and realizing she was laying in very familiar surroundings.

She'd not spent too much time in the healer's section of The Immortal Flames headquarters, but she'd definitely been here enough patching up Phearless and Opal. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been the one on the healer's bed though. She glanced to the side, realizing the warmth was from a large, tanned hand engulfing her own. Her eyes darted up, spotting the stormy gaze looking down at her with worry.

"Sky!" A pale, white-furred bundle leapt at her, arms wrapping around her neck as she sat up slowly. "By the Twelve, I was gone for ONE MORNING and you decide to see if you can take on the big guy? You broke ribs! He is NOT who I would have chosen for your first real match." Opal sighed, moving back to look at the Keeper.

"I'm sorry." His voice was rough, like he was holding back emotion. He was staring intently, eyes roaming over her and back to her face in quick rounds. Sky smiled up at him, which seemed to startle him and he glanced down at their hands as she squeezed his massive hand in her own.

"He just had to resort to a cheap shot because I was totally winning." Sky said, checking in with herself and feeling the slightest of pangs where she'd been healed. It wasn't a terrible job, whoever had done it. Her words startled both of her companions, and after a moment's pause Phearless let out loud laugh. The sound was enough to make Opal whip her head around to the Roegadyn, mouth wide in amazement.

"Ah yes. That is exactly what happened." He grinned down at the miqo'te, eyes bright and filled with a new warmth. She felt a similar feeling in her chest as she stared up at him, and poked her tongue out.

"Next time we dance, let's leave the weapons out of it."