456: Ready, Aim, Fire

by Vol Tryst and Zanh Liis
80805.12
A little while after Time and Space

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-=The Tryst Residence, Betazed=-



Today Zanh Liis had Miss Arie in her care, and had so far fared better than she had anticipated.

*I mean, I've been watching the kid for almost an hour now and she still has all her limbs attached, that has to count for something right?* Liis thought.

Although, as the duo walked briskly to the front door of the Tryst residence, in which a promised Betazoid duel was to soon take place, Zanh honestly didn't know if even she would be in one piece by the end of the match.

Adjusting the small bag slung across her shoulder, which held a change of clothes for both her and her teammate, Zanh rang the doorbell.

Arie looked up at her excitedly, barely able to contain her amazement that not only was she spending the day alone with the Captain of the ship but that she was going to get to be part of a duel.

The lady of the house was there to greet them a short moment later.

"Ah! Captain, and Mademoiselle Arie, so good to see you again. Come in."

"Likewise Valerie." Zanh smiled, practicing carefully the same smile she planned to have plastered on for tomorrow's wedding ceremony.

The two entered, and Zanh almost didn't recognize the interior of the house anymore. Servants, the Mazen children, and Vol's father were all about putting up decorations and doing anything they could think of the prep for the wedding ceremony. Of course this was not altogether voluntary, as Zanh and Arie soon observed.

"No dear Dana, that's much too high. How can decorations be marveled at if they are too high to see?"

Dana smiled weakly, as she descended one of the ladder rungs on which she was trying to keep stable.

"I hope you're not going to bake those now, Mr. Noon. They should be started tomorrow morning, so that they'll be fresh for the guests."

The servant nodded obediently, as he set down the tray of what looked like miniature fruit cakes back where they came from on the kitchen counter.

"Oh no Orynn. That table is not the one I meant." Valerie spoke motherly to Orynn as he emerged from around the corner lifting a rectangular sized table. "I meant the other pale one, the round table."

"Of course, I'm sorry, I'll go fetch that one right away." Orynn sighed. He looked to the Captain and Arie, nodding a greeting. As the man turned to go back the way he came, Zanh could've sworn she heard Dana stifling a giggle.

"The boys have already begun a game downstairs in the holosuite, Captain." Valerie turned her attention back to her guests. "Before you join them, perhaps you'd like to help..."

*Run!* Zanh heard what sounded like five different voices all shouting the same thing in her mind. It was so unexpected that she couldn't help the change of expression on her face. Valerie didn't seem to notice though.

"...us up here for a little while?"

"We'd be---" The rest of Arie's sentence was muffled by the swift placement of Zanh's hand.

"I've already stood the Counselor up for a number of appointments, being late for a friendly game may label me terminally unforgiven. Apologies Valerie, everything looks great though. Keep up the good work everyone."

'Everyone' in question gave Zanh subtle sarcastic glances that clearly said 'yeah right.' Which Zanh took as the best of cues to bolt downstairs with Arie in tow to find her Counselor and get to the de-stressing sport she had been hoping for.

"Mother warned me if there are pointy objects involved in this duel, that I am not to participate," Arie warned dutifully, hoping that this would not be the case and she would get to play too.

"Hopefully nothing pointier than your father's ears," Zanh blurted without remembering who she was speaking to.

Arie giggled, and then raised an eyebrow and in a completely monotone voice, she imitated her father's speech pattern.

"It is impolite to refer to the shape of anyone's ears in polite conversation, Zanh Liis, whether pointed or otherwise." As soon as she had spoken the words she worried that the Captain might be offended. "I'm sorry, Sir, I meant no,"

Zanh Liis' laughter told her that she had nothing to fear. She patted Arie on the head. "Got your mother's sense of humor, that's for sure. Or have you been spending too much time with Dabin Reece?"

"One could never spend too much time with Dabin Reece." Arie concluded affectionately. "Look, there's Vol! Good morning, Counselor! Good morning!"

Arie ran excitedly across the room toward the door to the holosuite, in which Vol was now casually leaning and watching the two with amusement. Such brightly engaging minds, so diverse, were quite something for an empath to observe.

"Good morning to you, Lair Arie. Thank you for joining us today." Vol instinctively bent his knees to address Arie at her own height.

"I warn you Vol, we've both had our fortified wheat cereal for breakfast this morning," Zanh set the bag down outside the doorway and moved into it behind Arie. "You're in for more than you bargained for with us two."

"Spoken like a true Betazoid woman." Vol's brother, Siter, emerged from the holosuite doors. Smiling with an eerie resemblance to that of his younger sibling's.

"I beg your pardon?" Zanh perked an eyebrow, not that she was insulted, just that... well... she didn't know how to respond really. Vol rolled his eyes at his brother and tried to rectify his previous comment.

"My brother means to say that you have a fiery spirit, which will serve you well for this duel. He misplaced your display of confidence as being because you are two females facing against two males, which here on Betazed, is an unfair fight." Vol turned to his brother. "But he forgets the world differs beyond his own atmosphere."

"Ow!" Siter chuckled, receiving another telepathic elbow jab. "Ok, I'm sorry, I forgot."

Zanh nodded in order to say that she harbored no ill feelings because of what Siter had said before. It was true that women were generally thought of as superior to men in this culture, she hadn't really seen any reminders of that until now. She made a note to ask Vol later, if she should be aware of any thing she should do differently at the ceremony tomorrow.

Little Arie decided it was time to speak up,

"Begging your pardon Counselor, but I'm prohibited by parental guidance to proceed with today's duel if there are any pointy objects involved. Are there any?"

"No, as I'm sure you're glad to know." Vol answered, and indeed Arie wore a grin on her face.

"Let us begin explaining how it is all played, shall we?" Vol proposed, and he and his brother outlined the rules of the duel to the off-worlders.

===The Holosuite===


Liis accepted a pair of safety goggles from Siter, and watched as Vol helped Arie tighten the strap on hers to hold them securely in place. As soon as Vol let go, Arie turned her head from side to side, taking in the room through the view of them.

"Mother will be pleased that protective gear is offered and worn in this sport." She concluded. "She told me that with some crazy things people do, you could lose an eyeball." The child breathed the last word in amazement, as if the idea was somehow horrifying and exciting at the same time. Zanh Liis rolled her eyes as she secured her own eye wear.

"No one will lose any eyeballs today." She next took a vest from Siter, and put it on to protect her chest. From what, she wasn't entirely sure. "There aren't any projectiles that could injure involved in this are there? I mean, I do have the XO's kid here," she glanced at Vol.

"Oh no, Captain, I assure you. Merely brightly colored gel packs that burst upon impact." he promised. "Each team has its own color. Our team's gel packs are blue, yours are purple." the Counselor further explained. "First team to score three hits on each member of the opposing team wins."

"Seems straightforward enough but hey," Liis objected, "Don't you two have kind of an unfair advantage, with the telepathy and all..." She didn't really care if she won or lost today, she was here for the company and the experience. But she had a feeling that her feisty, pint-sized teammate felt differently as she watched the girl spin from side to side, pretending to take aim at imagined targets with her gel pack launcher.

*That child holds a firearm with disturbing confidence.* Siter though to Vol.

*This is a child like none you've ever met before.* Vol warned.

"We'll give you a look at the playing field..." Vol offered in response to Zanh's comment that they had an unfair advantage.

Somehow, Liis felt no better when she saw it.

The maze was entirely made up of mirrors.

"Ooooooo," Arie exclaimed, for once sounding every bit the eight and a half year old girl. "Coooooooool."

"Now you sound like you've been spending too much time with February Grace." Zanh said to Arie, reaching out to muss the girls bangs.

"One can never spend too much time with," Arie began to protest.

"I know. I know." Zanh laughed. "Okay. So, anything else we need to know about this before we just dive in and start shooting each other?"

"There are lighting effects used to enhance the experience and confuse your opponents..." Vol explained. "Observe."

He tapped a small switch on his vest, located about where one would wear a combadge on their uniform, and suddenly, a burst of colored strobe lighting erupted, bouncing light from seemingly all directions off of the mirrors.

Zanh groaned. "Ugh. I should have had another cup of coffee before attempting this."

"Come onnnnn," Arie begged, unable to stand the anticipation a moment longer. "Let's plaaaaay!"

"Indeed," Zanh said, checking to be sure her rifle was loaded and ready to go. "Let's play, Vol."

"One more thing," Vol began. "The gel packs I mentioned are of a specially designed for this duel. If they come into contact with your body or your protective gear, they will explode leaving behind a nice colorful mark. If, however, they hit a mirror, they will bounce of as if they were light itself. This adds a twist to things. Granted, you want to make sure your firing at your opponent and not their reflection, but if you are clever and quick enough, it's possible to reflect your projectile off a number of mirrors to score a point anyway."

"That's why it's a challenge for Betazoids." Siter picked up where Vol left off. "It trains us to sort out the images we see, and only fire when our empathic sense matches what we see around us."

"So yes," Vol put on his best poker face. "My brother and I may have an advantage over you. If you'd like us to switch partners, or surrender altogether, we would be completely understanding." Vol smiled teasingly.

Zanh's eyes narrowed, though she accepted the cocky remark with a coy smile of her own. "Oh, now you've done it Mister. You'll be the one who needs Counseling after this is through."

Without further ado, the two teams went into their designated corners. The holosuite was roughly half the size of a 21st Century American football field. When all parties were ready, Vol asked to computer to activate the mirrors and maze, and up they went. The game was on.

Roughly 45 minutes later...

[Point awarded to purple team. Congratulations, Purple team wins. Duel concluded.]

The mirrors vanished and Vol could already sense the glee coming from the young mind behind him. Vol twisted his body to look down at his left ankle, he stared at the purple glob of paint that had been the winning point.

"Remind me to keep you in mind whenever I'm challenged to a duel!" Zanh had gotten on one knee to offer an open palm to Arie. She slapped it to celebrate their victory, careful not to touch the dripping blue paint that Zanh had taken to her left shoulder. Another blue mark was visible in the crook of her back, but those were the only two hits she had taken. Better yet, she was successful in her revenge against Siter, who looked like he had tried to dye his hair himself with all the purple that now leaked from his head.

Zanh would likely never admit it, but she had thoroughly enjoyed this. It wasn't fencing, but she'd welcome a rematch if it were scheduled. She had forgotten her inner demons for a short while, and the smile she was currently wearing was genuine. She stood up to face her adversaries.

Vol looked like he had gotten his mind off of whatever had been bothering him, as he took his goggles off. Zanh noticed that he too was leaking purple paint from the left side of his head, which, without the goggles left a 'paint-line.' Siter jogged up, and looked amused but disappointed.

"I'm guessing you need practice." Zanh teased.

*No kidding.* Siter thought to his brother, giggling in his way. Vol seemed unbothered.

"You're very good," Vol looked down to Arie. "Both of you." He smiled to his Captain.

"This duel was very pleasant, a rematch perhaps?" Arie proposed. Siter chuckled aloud and patted his brother's back.

"Not before my younger brother gets in some practice. He'll get a lot in since he'll be remaining here with his wife now."


Vol Tryst
Ship's Counselor
USS Serendipity/Alchemy

and

-=/\=-Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012