A/N: "Gonna fly~ High~ Spread your wings and reach into the sky!" Pegasus talk 101, Hinoka/Lathna.
Guest (Ch.15, 6/30/20 4:40 AM EST): Is that so? Huh, well I can assure you that Lilith won't be pulling any of those kinds of feats.
*smirks* I suppose the Rainbow Sage's role is pretty close to what he does in canon… maybe. Probably not. … I'm afraid his details are going to need to remain in the Confidential folder.
Ah yes, I can recall something of the sort about that…
That may be true, but she won't have any presence in my Fates fics.
Consort: This has went beyond normal Support… this has become a… Support with Plot! *dun dun dun*
Indeed, while this Astral Realm itself is maintained by Lilith's mother… her mother isn't supplying the magic to 'customize' the 'My Castle'. If Lilith wants to summon (and maintain) a… lake of fish, she's on her own. Keep in mind, this isn't just spending Dragon Vein points and leaving it at that, Lilith needs to continuously re-fueling those spots. The reason her mineral vein went bare is because she was maintaining her own home, food, and water supply, a mineral vein didn't have the same priority for her.
Ah yes, the Silent Dragon. That is a wonderful question, why would Anankos solely focus on Yasei? It sounds like he almost ignored Lilith completely, despite her being the superior of the two. There must be something in those 'Human' genes that sets Yasei apart.
And so it is: While the trauma and stress of the initial transformation has affected Yasei's memory now, it wasn't the reason she always had memory problems, and it seems… finally being able to meet her Father, even in a dream, has removed that limitation.
Antex: Mhm, there must be quite the number of issues, if we're starting the 'C' support with problems. Here's to them getting over any and all issues and being the closest half-sisters possible!
Hinoka stretches out and then blinks her eyes… the First Contact battle had ended, and the reason the Nohrians fled was due to a certain strange Sky Knight pouncing off of her mount and tackling Princess Camilla off of hers… before jumping off of Lady Camilla and landing back on her own mount. This Sky Knight is also one of those fox people… Kutines?
Regardless, Hinoka chose to approach her after her little sister and this strange girl that the Sky Knight came with, left through some sort of portal and… ugh. Corrin will have some explaining to do when she returns!
The Kutine Sky Knight's ears twitches as Hinoka approaches, and she turns to wave, "Good battle… are you alright? Lady Camilla didn't injure you, did she?"
Truthfully? Yes, axes are, by design, better than naginatas, but… Hinoka is no slouch, she's trained with her weapon enough to know flaws it holds. "Nah, not really." Firechaser snorts, the Kutine's Pegasus neighs. Hold on… blue feathers? Hinoka is well aware that colored feathers, fur, or scales on mounts are typically reserved for Royals and their Retainers, as the colors show in the most refined of breeds, the best of the best, picked exclusively for the best of the best. "That girl, the one my sister knows… are you her retainer?"
"Hm? Oh!" She tilts her head, and then lets out a soft laugh, "No, I'm not. Jiyū happened to be injured, and I found her outside of my birth-hamlet…" She pets the snout of Jiyū… the blue-striped feather Pegasus that happened to be near her hamlet.
No, Hinoka is not convinced, and unlike some of her other family members… Hinoka also lacks the tact of when to be subtle with questions. "Pegasi and riders have a bond deeper than any other, even Wyverns and their riders. If you found… Jiyū injured, it probably means she lost her rider. When a Pegasus loses their rider, or vice versa, the other rarely ever rides again. I'm told it's worse than heartbreak." Hinoka frowns.
The Kutine innocently remains unbothered, "I can understand the hesitancy on how I found her, but I assure you it's the truth."
Hinoka crosses her arms, "And you also happened to come out to be an expert Sky Knight?" Along with a raised eyebrow.
She smiles, "I tend to lean towards my Kitsune form…" Ah, that's right. Kitsune, not Kutine. "Kitsunes are naturally great at taking larger falls, so I use that as a means to… well, you saw how I dealt with Lady Camilla. So… I'm not your typical Sky Knight… my Naginata skills could use work." She looks the other over, "In fact, you could probably knock me flat on my back if we used only Naginatas."
Hinoka… gives. She still doubts Lathna's explanations, but it's clear the Kitsune woman isn't going to delve more into Hinoka's curiosity. Firechaser snorts and then rears up at Jiyū, who backs off, flares her nostrils, then headbutts Firechaser. The two then proceed to begin circling each other. Now, while Firechaser stomps the ground, Jiyū has a sort of… float to her steps.
"That may be true, but the key between a Trainee and an Expert Sky Knight isn't the Rider, the Weapon, or the Pegasus… it's the unity formed between the three. The Rider relies on the Weapon to keep the Pegasus safe, the Rider relies on the Pegasus to keep the Rider safe, the Weapon relies on the Rider to strike true, the Weapon relies on the Pegasus to be within range, the Pegasus relies on the Rider to steer the Pegasus correctly, and the Pegasus relies on the Weapon to keep the Pegasus from being harmed." Hinoka speaks with the sort of wisdom that got her as far as she has now… "Reina taught me all that, she's the best of the Sky Knights, though she's the leader of the Kinshi Knights now… she actually sponsored me to lead the Sky Knights."
Lathna tilts her head, her ears swaying a bit, "Would you care to train me a bit?" She asks.
Hinoka shakes hers, "I can't… we're only staying out here long enough to recover our most weary of soldiers… then we need to move out. I'm heading South to try and talk to the Wind Tribe, Sakura will be heading to Fort Jinya, South-East of here, that's where the worst of our injured are going to. Ryoma is leading a detachment to the West, Takumi will accompany him for a few days, but then he'll break off to the South and head to Izumo. Now, when we join up again, I wouldn't mind testing out your skill." She smiles, "It was nice talking to you, Lathna."
"You as well, Princess Hinoka."
Firechaser huffs, stomps the ground, and lets out a powerful neigh at Jiyū… who looks decidedly unimpressed by his display. Jiyū raises her head up at him, and then trots over to Lathna, who pets her mane and… "Hold on, how did you manage to stay on Jiyū when you were in your Kitsune form?"
Lathna turns and smirk, "A custom saddle, see?" She points at the topside, where it is normally a smooth leather… but this one has a multitude of holes in it. "After I shift, I extend my claws and then they curve into those holes, which allows me to stay on even when Jiyū banks directly horizontally or even… upside-down. We can even perform a few tricks together, but none of them have any combat use." She pats Jiyū's head. "Well, I'll be here while I wait for Lilith to return… have a good day, Lady Hinoka!"
Hinoka looks over to Firechaser… Firechaser rolls his eyes at Hinoka, looks over to Jiyū, whips his tail a few times, then back to Hinoka. "She wasn't impressed by your stature, huh?" She asks, Firechaser bobs his head. "Jiyū is pretty unique… still though, blue stripes? Whaddya think?" Firechaser turns and looks at his stripes, and then nudges Hinoka's shoulder, before gazing at Lathna and Jiyū. "Really? But… what royal bloodline has blue stripes? Hoshido uses red, Nohr uses blue…" She hums to herself… then shakes her head. "Keep an eye on her, I can't quite trust her yet…" She pats Firechaser, "C'mon, let's get those tough feathers of yours a washdown, and then groom you up… you got to stay presentable to the others, right?" She smirks.
Firechaser headbutts her chest… lightly.
Lathna pats Jiyū's head, "You're not interested in that one, huh?" She smiles, and Jiyū nips at the very tip of her ear. "Eep!" She squeaks, and then mock-slaps Jiyū's head. "You know that hurts!" She frowns, Jiyū huffs. Lathna sighs, "Oh, you know I can't stay upset at you… c'mere." She stands on her tip-claws and hugs Jiyū's neck. "Come, I think we've spent enough time on the ground, don't you think?" Jiyū rears up… bringing Lathna up with her. "You know it!" When her Pegasus lands her front legs on the ground, Lathna lets go of her grip, and then jumps over Jiyū's head, does a flip, and lands on the saddle. "No force will keep us grounded! Up to the sky, Jiyū! Let's practice some maneuvers while we await Lilith!" Jiyū quickly takes off, and the two soon begin performing some of their non-combat tricks...
A/N: I was going to do Hinoka/Rinkah or stepping back into the past for Hinoka/Reina, but… I just couldn't gather the content. Oh well. I still enjoyed this, and I thought that, aside from retainers talking to retainers, that a Kitsune Sky Knight to a Human Sky Knight.