Talks before a battle

TW: Discussions of SA, mentions of suicidal tendencies

"Please tell me you're not going into battle like that!" Nodin exclaimed, horror riding the eldest features as he took in​​ Dashing's appearance.

The Acliptic stood tall with her ax strapped to her back, her typical hot pink dress with sleeves off the cuff for a change. A romantic V-line with short black boots, her dress was standard, even coming all the way down to her thighs, with black hair falling around her shoulders. Menacing blue horns and blue wings pointed outwards - as if to make her taller than life.

Tayen stared, mouth slightly open, as Lance raised an eyebrow. The three Dorians said nothing as the crown above her head glowed a bit brighter blue.

"What about it?" She asked, looking unamused as she took in her outfit. "Looks fine to me."

"You're gonna die," Tayen said at the same time Lance added, "All the guys are going to try and touch you."

"That's the point, isn't it?" Asha asked. The crown between them did not even create an invisible wall. 

Nodin looked disgusted, the boy's feathers all ruffled up. "You want them to touch you?" he asked, horror in his purple eyes.

Orange, unamused eyes stared back at him. " Of course not, and they won't. They'll die before getting the chance," she grinned. Sharp Acliptic teeth protruded out, and smaller versions of the horns were on her head. 

"You little Slick!" Lance laughed. The strawberry blonde-haired boy looked amused. "You're going to get them all hot and ruffled only to strike them down." He finished, nodding approvingly.

Asha frowned, "Why would they be hot and ruffled? If anything, I'm just burning their horns a bit." At three confused looks, she explained, "Killing their pride." A small 'oh' rang through the three. Although the looks didn't change, despite Lance and Asha being two halflings, there was this burning sensation in the words—a confusion that wasn't able to be touched.

As if sensing the discomfort, the crowns above Lance and Asha's heads had dulled back down to static white, leaving the four alone. The attachments ran all around, though; those never left. The control never ceased.

"You know," Nodin said awkwardly, "Your..lady bits." he finished, getting smacked by a blushing-faced Tayen, the two siblings decked out in full armor looking aghast at the conversation that was taking place, even Lance having gone a little green.

"Don't call them that!" she whined, "that's gross!"

"What part is my 'lady bits'?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and getting a laugh from Lance.

"You're a smart girl, Dashing. You know this," he hummed with a smirk.

Slit eyes met doe ones, "I don't know what you are referring to, Doree."

"I am a halfling!" Lance sneered, slamming his hands down on the rickety table as he bared his own sharp teeth—the crown glowing against Asha's in full force. 

"Then act like one," Asha laughed, leaning over at the other, "All covered up like you're scared of something while I still don't see the problem!"

"The problem is you're being an atalt" Nodin said, turning the girl's laugh into a sneer on him. "Oh, it's fine for you to call people doree's but not for us to call you an atalt?" he asked.

"It's because you are weak, you needed my help, and the Acliptics have destroyed this entire nation; the only way you survived is because you can fly away - but you always need to land someday." 

"And yet you're fighting with us," Lance smirked, narrowing in on her like she was his prey. "What does that say about you oh so great, Acliptic? Fighting with the enemy."

"I fight for my mother's crown."

"And I fight for my fathers," Lance said without missing a beat. The two royal halflings staring at each other was the closest thing they could get to understanding. 

"And you will be queen of the Dorians when this is all over? Accept the 'Dorees' you so hate?" Nodin pressed onwards, Asha narrowing her eyes.

"I fight for her crown; I never said I intended to keep it, let that be somebody else's problem. Her life was about as useful as a doree on a stick."

At the final addition, Nodin flinched backward; eyes widened as Lance's darkened.

"Look, all we ask is that you dress modestly and with protection; what is so hard to understand about that?" He questioned an angry undertone in his voice that let the room's buildup grow, changing with every second into something darker.

"What does 'modestly' mean?" She questioned, with a genuinely confused look on the girl's face, "Besides, as said previously, I wish to die - if I am killed on the battlefield, it'll be a prideful death. Subjecting me to hiding is cruel in it of itself."

"We are not getting anywhere with this!" Nodin groaned, running a hand along his face, "It's like trying to push a canyon with a tree!"

"What if your breast falls out of the dress while fighting?" Tayen finally spoke up, glancing at all the older people around her - angry and vicious compared to the softer nature of the girl wielding the knife.

"If my breast falls out?" Asha repeated, looking mystified. "I push it back in. Tayen, my outfit won't be the thing that stops someone from killing me."

"No, we got that," Nodin interrupted. "But you go around wanting to die with a glowing lava torch that says 'come at me' will get you noticed on a battlefield, leading more people to attempt to kill you. Plus, nobody on that battlefield needs to see your private areas!"

Asha sighed, checking outside. "I don't know what you mean by that," she stated in a frustrated tone. "We all have breasts, see?" she asked. Pulling her dress's neckline down to reveal her breast as all three turned away, shielding their eyes. "No wonder the Dorians are so easily defeated if they react like this to a breast," Asha mused, laughing - tension snapping to a close in one fell swoop.

"Not funny, Asha," Nodin grumbled, his hands covering his eyes. "Are all of you Acliptics like this?"

"Like what?" There was a pause. You three are the only ones I've known to get so worked up over body parts. Now come on, I crave blood."