infreefall | redacted ★ claude

(Riding, hunting, painting, dancing, singing, playing instruments... you know! Noble past times!)

Have you never ridden a horse before? I could take you for a ride, if you'd like. Maybe give you a few lessons.

There's nowhere to ride where I live.

[ that suggestion makes her cheeks grow a little warmer, and ochako bites her lip. it does sound... fun? imagine going home to her family and telling her parents she learned how to ride a horse... they'd be so excited. as long as she doesn't think too hard about it, it should be fine, right? so after a moment, she nods. ]

Okay.

I'm sorry to hear that. (Like, actually sorry! He loves riding. It's one of his hobbies and something he enjoys doing in his free time. ) I think I'd die of boredom if I couldn't go for a ride once in awhile.

(If he can't fly, he might as well ride a horse. Actually... it's strange. Why doesn't he know how to fly yet? He's eighteen and should know by now. Wow, his parents and instructor are going to be disappointed in him!)

Are you free right now? We can go see how the horses are feeling--

(And he's stretching his arms to rest behind his neck and it's then that the very tip of his finger hits one of those obnoxious bubbles--)

(Video! It's a different route than the one Claude is from but I promise Claude wins in his route, okay!!

"Psst, Your Princliness. You've got a thing for Edelgard, right? Come on, fess up. You'll feel better!" Claude teases, drawing a steel sword as he speaks to a handsome young man dressed in blue. On Claude's face, there is a deep cut, bleeding from his cheek.

The young man groans, his cheeks turning a shade of pink and he readies his lance in Claude's direction. Despite the obvious battle stance and the fighting going around them, their conversation is light and friendly. If Ochako looks carefully, she might notice that yes, this is a battlefield, but there appear to be observers all around and some of them even jump in to break up fights between other combatants who immediately back off when they intervene.

"Claude, please. This is no time for idle banter. Your defenses are wide open." He speaks with a certain airy quality. While Claude is a charmer and well-spoken, he's always had a casual character to his speech. This young knight he's speaking to? Everything about him exudes the aura of a noble knight and prince. He even gives Claude a chance to correct himself, calling out the faults in his approach.

Claude sighs, shifting into a ready position, "That didn't get to him, huh?" He's speaking to himself, there's no way the prince could hear him from how far away he is, "What a shame. I'll find a better way to ruffle him up next time."

The two charge at each other, sword against lance and manage to give each other a few cuts and slashes. It's clear that the prince is more skilled and just when it seems like he might have Claude overwhelmed, Claude kicks him hard in the stomach. It sends the prince back and Claude pulls away.

By the time the prince recovers, he finds himself staring straight at the end of Claude's arrow.

"Gotcha," Claude laughs proudly as he readies his arrow and releases. When he does, there's a flash of golden light and a crescent moon appears in front of him. A scratch that had been on his face begins to heal itself, the cut closing and even the redness and fading away until all that's left is that bit of fresh blood.

His arrow strikes the knight in the hand and he drops his lance. Nearby, one of the observers (an official?) calls, "Prince Dimitri! Down!" The Prince lets out a frustrated sound and steps back obediently, shooting Claude an annoyed glance. But by then, the young nobleman dressed in gold is already making his way for a girl dressed in red across the field.)

Sure, just let me change first--

[ of course, the realm doesn't give her a chance to finish before the memory plays out. training exercises...? they're different from the ones from UA, but the premise is still the same, she thinks. as it starts to fade, she blinks rapidly, and turns questioningly to claude. ]

Was that your school, Riegan-san?

(Well, at least it was a harmless memory,)

Yes. That was one of our practice battles, "The Battle of the Eagle and Lion." One of the biggest events of the year at the Academy.

So... which were you? The eagle, or the lion?

Neither. At the Academy, there are four houses... four classes, basically.

Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, and Ashen Wolves.

The guy you saw was Prince Dimitri. He's the leader for the Blue Lions class. The princess you saw at the end is in charge of the Black Eagles. The Wolves don't really get out much...

(Which just leaves one,)

People from the Alliance attend the Golden Deer class.

The Leicester Alliance you mentioned before? Hilda-san's part of it too, right?

[ but if the others have royalty, then... ]

They don't have a prince or a princess like the others?

Yeah. The Leicester Alliance is run by a collection of noble houses but we don't have a monarchy like the Kingdom or Empire.

The closest thing to a King or Emperor we have would be my grandfather, Duke Riegan, who oversees the council. That could change easily, though. If I decided to give up my place, it would probably go to Count Gloucester or Duke Goneril next... that's Hilda's brother.

Our history is... complicated. The Alliance is made up of lands that used to belong to the Empire and Kingdom. We're independent now but the titles we have are holdovers from back then.

[ well. ochako's listening, but this is... a lot of information for one modern girl who's only heard of most of this in movies? hnnngh, she can barely keep track of her own country's history.

at least that explains the "noble past times" - claude actually is a noble. she hates that! a lot, actually! ]

That's... a lot of titles. Um... congrats on winning?

Thanks. The prince and princess never stood a chance against a genius tactician like me.

(He's so proud of his victory and yet... it doesn't completely feel like his own. Interesting. This should be one of his happiest memories and yet... he isn't nearly as pleased as he thought he would be.

Huh.)

[ hm. ]

Wouldn't a genius tactician have come up with a better way to defeat their opponent than teasing him about a crush?

Edited 2020-10-28 17:26 (UTC)

Like drawing him into combat away from his allies and picking him off?

(Hmm, that... doesn't quite feel right, though. It's something he would do and yet, he feels like he can't take credit for it. He must have gotten the idea from one of his advisors.)

... I think it would have worked on other people. I guess Dimitri isn't easily swayed by words, though. He's more stubborn than I thought.

Then maybe you're not as good at judging people as you think?

[ that could maybe explain some things, she thinks. anyway, she's changing into something more like this (except with pink, it's always gotta have some pink). much better for horses! ]

I don't think drawing him away would've been a bad strategy, though--

[ it's when she's putting away the old costume that the skirt she'd been wearing swings a certain way, popping a bubble. both of them are treated to an entirely different scene (10:50-11:40):

restrain as many enemies as they can, huh? a boy in green runs off to play decoy, leaving just ochako and a costumed boy to hide behind the rocks. her eyes linger on his back for a moment longer, before she nods and turns away, eyeing their surroundings: rough, rocky terrain, with loose debris in every direction, just waiting to trip up anyone who gets too reckless. it’s far from ideal for anyone who’s grounded, but for ochako…

“Uraraka, take some of my tape. We can set a trap.”

A nod, as she presses her fingertips together and places one hand on the nearest boulder. “Okay. We can stick it to the rocks, and I’ll make them float. Since Deku-kun’s drawing them together…”

“...we can use the tape to trap them when you drop the rocks.”

it takes another minute to finish setting it up - just enough for the boy in green to draw a crowd. “sero-kun” races out after him, as ochako waits behind a crop of rocks, watching both the duo and the other students following them carefully. the second the boy in green picks the other boy up and jumps away, she hears the signal, checks the positioning one last time, and presses her hands together.

“Release!”

there’s a resounding crash as ten boulders slam into the ground, a chorus of indignant shouts as the tape attached to the debris pins most of the crowd down. only a few stragglers remain, and sero makes quick work of restraining them, too, as he explains their plan to the other boy.

“In order to make sure no one was in a position to be hit by the debris,” ochako says, finally coming into the open to join them, “I hid and figured out the timing!”

a voice echoes across the field: ”Currently, seventy-six people have passed. We will be at capacity soon.”

“We don’t have much time, and I’m sure others will come attack us soon, too. Let’s take these, guys.”

ochako pulls out the balls, and carefully presses them against the sensors stuck to the trapped students. the moment she hits three, her own sensors light up, and a mechanical voice pipes up with, “Those who have passed should go to the anteroom.”

there’s not enough time to worry about the others, so the three walk off to leave the field.

by the time it ends, ochako is looking vaguely puzzled. ]

(It's a curious memory, one that doesn't make complete sense to him so he

Decides to toss out everything he knows. There are no preconceptions, there are no expectations, he only watches what happens in front of him and takes each thing in as it happens. The costumes are unusual-- they're nothing like the armor he's used to seeing people wear. The powers are curious. He's never seen magic or anything like that before either. And it's all so fascinating.

Ah, so that's it, he thinks. It's a sticky trap of sorts, like using a net to catch a large group of people. The rocks are like weights then? It's clever, really. The fact that she's able to do everything without seriously hurting anyone is impressive, too. It takes a good eye and even better timing to pull something like that off. There's definitely more to Ochako than what meets the eye, he thinks.)

I take it that was your school, then? And those were some of the powers in your world?

Those were quirks, yeah. But that wasn't my school. It was the provisional license exam, for the people who want to become heroes - it's like the first step to becoming pro heroes. I remembered it recently, but I'm still not sure why I was there.

redacted ★ claude

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