Unrefined

The sunset sky was something of a sight over the city of Ba Sing Se, in the Earth Kingdom. The display of color in the sky as the sun began it's descent to signal the rise of the moon, it cast the dancing shadows of the busy people against the grounds and walls of the buildings within the capital of the Earth Kingdom. Tai was one such shadow, though alone with Rui his shadow seemed to drag on forever. He walked throughout the streets of the bustling city, moving against the sea of people, whose current constantly tried to send the young water tribesman amiss.

Tai seemed to have none of that. He drew on his own experience to navigate as his thoughts dwelled on his own skills. He skillfully maneuvered past each person, every group he came across. Even though I know Chi Blocking, its not enough. I need to find someone or someway to improve my skills as a warrior. Ba Sing Se is large, but I have found no such person yet, he thought as he found himself outside of the massive walls of Ba Sing Se.

He kicked a rock away, cursing something under his breath. "Chi Blocking isn't enough. Sure I can temporarily remove their ability to bend, but other than that I'm nothing against a bender. I can't be useless against them all my life, I need some more skills against them.", he said, pulling out his bladed boomerang and throwing it. He looked up to the full moon, remembering that a waterbender's power was at it's strongest at this moment. He raised his hand to catch the boomerang and returned it to it's proper rest place in it's holster on his back.

He slumped up against a tree. Staring up at the sky, he wondered just what could give him the edge he needed to compete with benders. "Perhaps more weapons would be in order!", he said, pulling his legs closer in and wrapping his arms around them.

As if on cue, what at first glance appeared to be a walking arms store appeared, barely squeezing through the exit of a nearby shop. Needless to say, Ambrosia had been shopping. Not intentionally of course, she had actually come to Ba Sing Se in order to search for ores, but she could never resist a deal. Glancing at the sky, she dabbed her brow with her coat, before letting out a slight wheeze and pushing on. As one would expect, the young lady wasn't exactly having an easy time heaving around a large bag of 'loot' along with her usual attire. Thankfully enough, the crowd was being merciful and tended to go around her, which probably had something to do with the twin cutlasses strapped to her belt, and the giant bladed staff on her back.

She took a moment to reflect on her journey back. Dammit Amb, you've got to stop buying swords, you'll only throw them to the side anyway. She took a few more steps, throwing the bag over her back and gritting her teeth. If there was one thing Amber was, it was stubborn. However, she was more than one thing, and the other things just happened to be lazy and tired, so she decided to find a tavern or some such thing. For a moment she searched, before glancing at a young lad looking a little deflated. She suspected someone equally as fatigued as her might be a little sympathetic to her cause, and thus approached the tree, breathing in a rather exaggerated manner all the way.

It took her about a minute to reach it, but when she did the poor girl basically collapsed, her bag acting as a not-so-comfortable pillow. An odd few seconds passed where she stared at him, catching her breath. "Know anywhere to sleep around here?"

He could hear her approaching him. He noticed her too, wondering why anyone would burden themselves with that many weapons at once. What is she, a walking arms dealer that came to sell her mechandise in Ba Sing Se, he asked himself, wondering why she would even be out here. But it became apparent she was approaching him directly with no intent to leave him to wallow in whatever Water Tribesmen wallowed in. Probably self-pity. Lots of self-pity. He sighed as he heard her collaspe near him, noticing that she was using a bag that wouldn't exactly be comfortable as a pillow.

He looked at her. Only did he feel her gaze on him after a few remotely unwanted seconds passed by. An owl could be heard off in the distance, and the sound of people finally gone. All Tai could make out was the muffled sounds of nocturnal animals becoming active, and the cries of the owl. That was, until the mysterious, well-armed woman spoke up and asked Tai a question. He laughed a bit. "Truth? No, I really don't. I'm not from the Earth Kingdom. In fact, this is the first time I've left the Southern Water Tribe's lands. I'm Tai Lin, just a lost traveler admiring another culture.", he said to the woman, introducing himself and covering the fact he knew nothing of Ba Sing Se.

He examined her baggage much closer. He couldn't think of her as a normal person, possible a weaponsmith of some sort. Maybe a collector. He gave a quizzical look as he began to speak again. "I couldn't help but notice the bag. You collect weapons or make them?", he asked her, rather interested in the possibility that she was able to forge weapons. Possibly even use them. Maybe even teach him new skills like using a sword. After all, Tai had also noticed the two cutlasses she had. He felt rather outdone by her, as all he had was two bone weapons that were great for hunting.

Ambrosia let out a bit of a chuckle, as much as she could handle. "Well it looks like we're both lost then. I'm Ambrosia, I come from the Fire Nation, don't worry i'm not going to burn you. As for the culture part, I can't say I share your interests. It's all the same, just brown and green, followed by some more brown and green. Maybe they'll put in some yellow if they feel adventurous." Amb spat out. She sat up slightly, propping herself up with her sack, cracking her back with a comfortable sigh and continuing. "But every so often you'll find some good weapons, and they also have the largest amount of land, which means more ore will be coming in, particularly rare ore."

She paused, listening to his question and smiling slightly. "I'm a bit of both, I make them, and i'm damn good at it. But at the same time if I spot something appealing I have to get it." She gestured at her cutlasses, unsheathing one halfway, revealing the glistening steel. "For instance, I made these myself. Used 'em a little too, actually." She grinned, quickly sheathing it again, her smile remaining.

Ambrosia took a moment to inspect her fellow tourist, noting that he wasn't lying about being from the Water Tribes. She wasn't exactly interested in his attire, but her eyes were drawn to his boomerang, to which she raised a curious eyebrow. "Is that a boomerang on your back? I've never seen one before, do you know what it's made of?" As usual, she was getting a little overexcited.

Tai was somewhat surprised that she was from the Fire Nation. He did harbour some disdain for them, but nothing overly serious. He flashed a rather genuine smile, though the dim lighting from the moon would make some things difficult to see. "Heh, don't worry about it. They're culture is quite, brown and green, and I have seen the adventous few who use the yellow, but it seems to be pretty rare.", he said, humoring her. He agreed with her, he would rather be emerged in his own culture, but he toleranted the Earth Kingdom and it's culture for the time being.

"So you make weapons and collect them? That's amazing. I've never really met anyone outside of my tribe, we have few materials down there. Most of our weapons are bone, but serve their purpose.", he said in response to her talk of how she did a bit of both. He seemed attentive to her halfway unsheathed cutlass, seeing the glint of moonlight off of the blade. He thought it was simply magnificent for a blade. He wished he could perform such a feat with his own skills, looking down at his hands.

He could eventually feel her looking him over. It didn't feel like long, mostly that she focused on his bladed boomerang. He got somewhat defensive of it, before pulling it out and holding it where she could see it clearly as she asked about it. "It's a bladed boomerang, made from bone. I can't let you touch it, though.", he said, seemingly a bit depressed when talking about the weapon itself and not why he has such a weapon to begin with.

Amb grinned, perhaps a little too widely as she inspected the boomerang. She reflected on the genius of the idea, as she herself never would have thought of something like that. Granted, it would be difficult to aim, but Ambrosia saw no problem with that. So do they use it for distraction, or for attacking? Then again I guess it's bladed so it could be used for both. She decided to relay this question to someone with a little more knowledge than her, first deciding to note her annoyance at her inability to touch the weapon. "Well, that's dumb. No offense, but that looks like a fine weapon, and there's no point in keeping it hidden. As an expert, let me say that people like me design these things for two purposes: to defeat enemies with and to show off. " She sighed slightly, conceding defeat and realizing she may have hurt his feelings a little. "I'm sorry, if it holds some significance then I won't touch it."

Pouting slightly, she decided to ask him what she'd temporarily been dwelling on. "Well, if I can't touch it, at least answer this: what do you use it for? Do you just use it on it's own? That's stupid, then you're leaving yourself open when you use it. I don't see anything else on you. You're under armed." Once again she realized she was being critical, but she really couldn't help it. In fact, it was too easy. Soon enough, she realized a flaw in her analysis. "Of course, I forgot. You have waterbending too. It's 'cause I'm thinking from a non-bending standpoint here."

Tai felt a little bad about not letting her get a feel for the weapon. He would've let her, but something he cherished, is something he wasn't about to let someone else touch. It just wasn't something he could trust someone else to hold, no matter who they were. He caught her apolodgy about it holding some signifigance to him. "Thank you for understanding. It belonged to my mother, I never actually got to meet her.", he said, figuring he owed her the reason why she couldn't touch it at any rate.

"Well, growing up in the Southern Water Tribe, I was a hunter. I really just made traps and tracked down our prey when we went out. Even if I did resort to using this weapon, I had others with me to watch my back. But I've always felt like I needed something more. I mean, Chi Blocking is a great method of self-defense I had no choice in learning, but I need something else.", he told her, longing for something other than what he already knew.

Ambrosia shrugged, awkwardly putting distance between her and the weapon. "Well, 'kay then. I can't see where you're coming from, I knew both of my parents, but I think I understand." She lied. "Anyway, my dad gave me something too, he was a blacksmith. So we have that in common." Ambrosia didn't really know how to handle sad people, but she gave it her best shot.

She was however, glad he changed the subject. Oddly enough she seemed a little more sympathetic towards him when he mentioned non-bending than the absence of his mother. Perhaps because she knew how he felt about needing more to defend herself. She shuffled awkwardly for a moment, glancing to her cutlasses. I know the feeling. If you'd like I could, uh, teach you some stuff. I have a lot of swords here after all. So i'm pretty sure I could lay down the basics of it all. She glanced around the area. Night had come, and it seemed that even the guards of the walled city had retreated to their homes. No one seemed to be around, aside from a few small fires on top of the wall, the moonlight was the only light available, spread across the vast desert. "Looks like we have enough space, after all"

"Thank you for understanding my reasons for why I don't like just handing it out.", he said to her as he stood up, bowing to her. He had respect for this woman, a tremendous amount. He hadn't really wanted to talk to anyone, even if they were from the Southern Water Tribe, about the weapon. He caught that she tried to make him feel better. He gave a smile to her as he stood normally after the bow.

"You would do that for me? A complete stranger you don't even know?", he asked her, in a bit of shock from her kindness. "Oh, thank you. Thank you. I swear I'll do my best."[/color], he told her, clearly excited for this. "Oh, and if you have a jian, I seen a few of those swords in Ba Sing Se, and I'd love to use one. The double-edged blade, lightweight, and flexible sword interests me."

Ambrosia didn't exactly know how to react to a bow, so she decided to completely ignore it, like a sane person. She guessed that it meant respect, which did please her slightly. She wasn't exactly sure why he had it, but didn't concern herself with it.

At his next reaction, though, she couldn't help but hide a laugh. "It's no problem, that's what being an expert is for, right?" At his next request, she thought for a moment. "Yeah, I might have picked one up whilst shoppi-I mean collecting." She stood up, flexed and turned around to open her sack. She did so, peered at it for a moment then began rustling around, hoping she wouldn't hurt herself. Eventually, she grasped a handle that, despite it's newness, was already familiar. Slowly enough, she pulled out a jian. She observed it for a moment, noting that it's sheath had engravings of a single warrior, fighting off a firebreathing monster. Ambrosia laughed "It looks like it's built for you, after all firebreathing monsters are your natural enemies." she joked.

From there, she unsheathed the sword, which caught the moonlight immediately. "Well, judging from the weight..." she gave a test swing, changing to another hand and spinning. "It's metal is something special." She paused, smiling. "We may have a metal-bender's worst nightmare here. Other than that it's light, noble, treat it with respect and it'll do the same to you." She sheathed it again, and offered it to him. "Just don't go wild because it's so versatile, remain in control."

With that, she rooted around in her bag, pulling out a katana. She took a few steps away from him, breaching into the desert. "This is a katana. You're probably going to run into this the most, so we're going to start with it. These weapons are designed to slash, and be quick. Though they require two hands, whereas yours can accommodate either one or two, try and use this to your advantage." She gripped the Katana, preparing herself. "Now, take your first swing."

Tai listened intently to her. As she pulled out the jian, he marveled at it, sheathed. He had his eyes glued to it, as she talked about the design. He took notice to it, the single warrior, who seemed to be fighting off some sort of monster that had the power to breath fire. He found it to be somewhat fitting, probably dating back to the 100-year war. Tai didn't say anything about it, instead opting to stay silent.

When she unsheathed the sword, he could hear the blade slide out and catch the moonlight almost instantly. He found the blade's design to be similiar to the other jians he had seen. He was amazed that she could tell it wasn't a normal metal, at that something a metal-bender would probably have trouble bending. "Of course I will treat it with respect, the blade is an extention of my body.", he said to her, in response to her statement about respect and remaining in control.

He accepted the sword and smiled, grasping the sheath with his left hand, and holding it's hilt in his right hand. He seemed to enjoy holding it, pulling it out slightly before she explained the katana, and showed him one. He figured she would be using a katana, as he could see her tighten her grip on it and prepare herself. Tai finally removed the jian from it's hilt and set the sheath down.

He held the sword in his right hand and took a very calm position, holding one hand out. His left leg was stretched, with his right leg slightly bent. He knew little about properly wielding a jian, but assumed it would take control and the ability to remain calm. He took a deep breath, and put on a serious, determined face as he thrusted the blade forward slightly, before adding in a swinging motion. The thrust had been aimed low, around the knees and too far off to be a stabbing motion, which was why he swung to the left, to apply pressure in the form of an offensive strike with the blade.

On instinct, Ambrosia changed the grip on her katana. Her left hand, which was at the bottom remained in the same position, whereas her right, which was previously under the blade (IE it was in between the sword and the ground) quickly switched to being on top of it. She shifted her legs, spreading her legs which would hopefully make her more stable. As she did so, she turned the blade in a clockwise motion, putting some thrust into it, moving her legs accordingly, there was enough to bat away the sword for a few moments. Soon, it met his with a resounding clash, protecting her knees. She had met the other sword with the flat of her blade, as to do less damage to the blade itself.

Ambrosia nodded. "Not bad, I take it you know the basics already then? That will help, as it'll mean my job is just to run through how to fight other weapon users. You didn't do badly with that, but..." She chuckled, and turned the katana to the right, placing her right hand on the underside once again. She could have done it faster, but did it at a regular pace in order that Tai could see what was going on. Soon after. she imitated a slow slashing motion, stopping when the blade was near Tai's shoulder.

"I had enough force to bat away your sword for a few seconds, now that's all it takes for an experienced swordsman like me to do what I just did, but much, much faster. I'm not saying you did badly, but you need to think about what happens after the attack, it's more important. In any fight, particularly a duel, thinking ahead is crucial, otherwise your opponent will play you into a trap, and boom, there go your legs." She took the katana away, stepped backwards and got into the same stance again. "With that in mind, try again."

Tai was amazed. Stunned by her motion, and quick thinking. He was clearly outmatched in the aspect of fighting against her, and was rather scared. Even the hunters of the Southern Water Tribe hadn't reacted with such speed, nor could the animals they hunt. Truely, the art of the sword was difficult to master at most. He could feel his heart beat, it wasn't slow. His breathing was rapid and extremely short, after all he had entered into something of a panic.

"I can't say I know too much.", he said in reply to her. He chuckled slightly as she explained what her motion would've allowed her to do. "You're explaination is noted, but allow me to talk. I went for a thrust that was well beyond what would've hit you, to turn it into a swing against your legs. If this had been a true fight, my hands also become a weapon. While you were busy dealing with my sword's carefully thought-out strike, I would've been free to move forward with the blade and block your chi with my free hand.", he said to her, expalaining the motive behind his attack pattern.

"I gave you knowledge of my own skill, which would've played into mind in a battle. Even in a practice like this, giving it everything you can is important. With a flexible sword like the jian, combined with the movements I learned while being trained to use chi blocking, even a strike that turns against me, could very well turn into an advantage for me. The blade is an extention of myself, right?", he stated, before taking up another stance.

This time, Tai plunged the sword towards the ground near her feet. Using his momentum, he began a jumping motion which would place him over her as he let go of the jian, and pulled out his boomerang. He used the jian to gain the advantage, though the sand wasn't the easiest thing to make this jump happen. The terrian, at best, was something he was completley unfamiliar with, but needed to work with to get better. With the boomerang in hand, Tai began his descent onto the sand behind her, and took up a motion in which he pretended to throw the boomerang.

Ambrosia listened to his explanation intently enough, nodding every so often. She admitted he could have attacked her with his chi blocking, but decided to point something else out. "Well yes, you would. But I was under the impression this was a sword fight. You should note that type of thing tends to be frowned upon. That would be fine in an average brawl, but is not the type of thing to do in a duel, understand?" She shrugged. "But I must congratulate you on using chi blocking, inventive indeed."

She took up her sword again, bouncing back once he thrust his into the ground. She smirked slightly once she saw what he was doing, a good plan, certainly, but there was an unfortunate flaw. Instead of stopping moving backwards, she carried on, taking several leaps backwards until she was behind Tai. "Nice plan, but too risky. Make sure that you have something to fall back on. Also, air maneuvers are almost always a bad idea. The ground is much safer, because when you're in the air you're essentially helpless. Especially for people like us."

Tai seemed to almost laugh. "I'd be better off in the air. Though sand and snow aren't too different, I'm entirely out of my element here. Even though I can adapt, there's no possible way my footwork could match what I'm thinking to do here. Not yet anyway.", he said, putting the boomerang away and pulling the sword out of the sand.

He took up another stance. This time, Tai moved forward, and with each step his sword dove into the sand, and rose back up. Tai was using the sword to dig up sand, launching it at Ambrosia each time it came back up. He was trying to use the terrain to his advantage, however sloppy the strategy might have been.

Ambrosia shrugged. "Yeah, the terrain is different. But trust me, there's gonna be a day when that doesn't matter. But you might want to consider getting better footwear, those fluffy things are great an' all, really, but you want something you can get some grip with." She pointed to her boots, smiling. "I live in the Northern Air temples, so I know where you're coming from when you say snow, but believe me, you'll be fine."

Ambrosia wasn't exactly sure how to react when Tai started to do what appeared to be an odd dance of sorts. Obviously, she clocked on to his strategy when the sand hit her eyes, but decided not to do anything. Really, she just stood there, wondering when exactly he was planning on stopping. It appeared to her that he had perhaps forgotten the point of the exercise. She set her sword down, placed her hands upon her hips and coughed, taking on a much more serious tone. "That isn't going to get you anywhere. I'm here to teach you swordfighting, and throwing sand isn't gonna help. Stop, get into a real position and try again."

Ambrosia sighed, bent down, picked up the sword and readied herself."This time, no tricks. If you have to resort to them, then you're going to end up leaning on them and we won't get anywhere. Plan your moves, anticipate my reactions. Let's take it from the top."

Tai wasn't discouraged. He was testing himself in using his terrain to his advantage, even if he wasn't really fond or familiar with it. He stopped when she asked, and took up a position. He didn't move into an attack, in fact he did quite the opposite. He adopted a defensive stand, but he gave himself enough mobility to switch into an offensive stance if need be. He was anticipating what she would do if he gave her the strike instead of him going on the offensive this time. No, he knew he would need to go on the offensive if they would get anywhere.

He moved his sword, enough to catch the reflection of the moonlight. It wasn't on purpose, but the slowly drawn movement had brought the moonlight against the blade, and reflected it at Ambrosia's face. Tai had no idea that this had happened, and moved ahead with his swift movement towards her. He dug his left foot under the sand, causing it to appear as if he was tripping on his own footwork. In reality, he wanted to go with a low, sweeping strike and move it into a thrust. As he slide to his knees, his sword swung with the motion of his arms, towards Ambrosia's legs. However, as it closed in, Tai anticipated that she would simply block like before, and brought it back, sliding the handle into his left hand and moving the blade up to her neck.

For a moment, Ambrosia was blinded by the moonlight, she squinted for a second, and before she had realized what was happening it appeared she was being attacked. She didn't have much time to think ahead, and was only able to react against the swing to her legs, which she duly attempted to block in the same manner as earlier, spinning her sword clockwise and adjusting her grip accordingly. However, it appeared that this was a distraction, in a moment she witnessed Tai switch from one hand to another, and change directions almost completely. Given the fact the katana required two hands, and that she wasn't allowed any other weapons, there wasn't much she could do.

Aside from, that is, duck. In a second, she moved into a squatting position, barely avoiding the blade. She was sure he would have stopped it had it had she not been able to move, though. She stabbed her katana into the sand, smiling. "Well done, you've taken my advice. I'd spar with the katana a little more, but we don't have forever. I'm going to teach you how to deal with something else now, something a little more difficult." Whilst still squatting, she took off her staff and coat, revealing a somewhat muscular, plain body with weapons all over. With that she stood, took a step back, and reached for her cutlasses, drawing them both at once. "Cutlass wielders have tendencies towards being aggressive, they're almost as fast as a katana user, but less guarded." As if to demonstrate this, she lunged for him, taking a large swing with her left cutlass, which would most likely cut Tai's chest if he didn't do something about it.

Tai felt as though he had accomplished something, though he maintained the low position despite having the time to get up and take a new position. He watched at she told him how aggresive someone who wielded a cutlass was. Two weapons, though I can switch hands, she'll have an advantage. I have to match her aggression, playing defense wouldn't be an option without a clever trick, and she'll likely expect that, he thought as he noticed her going for his chest,

Already on his knees, Tai had little choice but to go even lower, collasping back on his legs, bending his legs and going flat on his back. As her left cutlass missed him, he rised slightly, unbending his legs and giving his body enough momentum to jump away from her strikes. Though the sand had made it harder, Tai landed and changed hands, the jian once again nestled in the grip of his right hand. It's a choice, I know it now. Against an opponent like this, I have to tread carefully and expect her one strike to follow the other. Not a moment to rest, he thought, taking up a position.

Ambrosia began her next attack, reflecting on Tai's movements. He seems to know that blocking won't get him anywhere. Good. He's clearly aware of how duel wielding swords tend to work, so if I mix things up a little then it'll test him somewhat. Without waiting, she lunged again, swinging her right, intending to slash Tai's chest again. She expected Tai to block or dodge this, but nevertheless was ready for a counter attack. Shortly after the first swing, she went in for a stab with her left. However, despite the fact that she swung with her left after her right, they were both going to connect around the same time. The simple reason being that her left cutlass was ever so slightly smaller than her right. This meant it traveled faster, Tai would probably not notice this at first, but after enough sparring had been done he might pick up on it.

Ambrosia went on an offensive, and as Tai expected, went high with both cutlasses, one strike that would follow the other shortly after. He switched the jian to his left hand in response, and went down into a squating position. He raised the jian up, so that the cutlasses would each collide with edges of the blade. Reaching back with his free hand, he pulled out a machete made of sharpened whale bone. Tai didn't leave the jian up long afterwards, as once he had the machete, he pulled the jian away, and raised himself up.

He moved his hands and blades to meet the cutlasses head on with his own aggression, evevn though he expected that his strength was below hers. But all it could take was the smallest movement to turn the attack around. Tai was employing knowledge of waterbending, though he couldn't do that himself. It was the fact that waterbending was a defensive style opposite of firebending, and as such, his defense would become an attack.

Ambrosia noticed he was on the defensive, and was more than a little surprised when he pulled a machete out. After all the point of the exercise was to see how he fared against two blades with only one. However it seemed his competitive nature had gotten the better of him again. The girl inwardly sighed, at least he'd get some training in with duel wielding. Soon, he was on the offensive again, meeting his blades with her own.

Thankfully he seemed to have picked up on the 'best defense is a good offense' strategy that would be useful in these sorts of fights. She quickly decided that they couldn't exactly stay in that position forever, and so she suddenly stopped pushing against him, gliding to the right and around Tai in order that she might attack him from the back. Knowing that (due to the inevitable lunge forward) he may be a few seconds slower than him she thrust the blade in her right towards his back, with her left ready to intercept any attacks. Of course, if Tai were to do nothing then she would not stab him, merely stop before impact.

Tai knelt down. He knew he could not match her movements at this moment, putting the machete away. He placed his forhead against the hilt of the blade, breathing heavily. He knew she would stop, and he needed a break. "It's getting late, we should probably head back into town.", he said to her, rising up and sending the sword into it's sheath. "That, and I have to get back to my friend, neither of us are from the Earth Kingdom, so I've probably worried her for being out too late.", he said to her.

Tai looked up at the moon, breathing in the arid, yet cool desert air. "Thanks for the beginner's lesson. Maybe we'll meet again and I can show you how better I've gotten."

Ambrosia smiled, scratching her back. "Sounds good, you haven't done badly. You have the most important thing for a beginner: initiative. You're going to need it. I have a feeling you'll be alright though." She briefly considered taking the sword back, but decided against it. "Keep the sword, though. It suits you." Sheathing her own weapons, she headed back to her bag, hoisting it over her shoulders.

Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she smirked. On a limb, she decided to add."Say hi to Rui for me, by the way."

(Okay, wait now I'm not sure about something. I re looked through the rules and didn't find any clarification, but Ambrosia and Rui's topic didn't happen before this topic started. Isn't that a little strange that Ambrosia can mention a character she didn't meet before we started this topic?)