---

Hamin and Amelia stared at the door in front of them.

It was a nice door, to be honest.

“Why are you putting us in just one room again?” Hamin asked slowly.

Of course, nobody seemed to care. Poor door.

Starlight chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck with a foreleg. “Well, a lot of the rooms aren’t exactly...ready, so you two will have to share a room while we clean out another for one of you to use.”

"Okay," Amelia murmured, her arms crossed as she stared at the door. "Only one question from me. Where are the bathrooms?"

Spike was next to speak up. “There are four up on this floor.” He pointed down the right side of the hall, then to the left side with another claw. “Two down either hall. There’s a bunch more on each floor, for a total of at least twenty.”

"That's a relief," the Navi sighed, relaxing a little before looking at Hamin. "No offense, but sharing a bathroom is not something I look forward to ever doing again."

Hamin shrugged. “None taken.” He looked to the door again. “Let’s just start getting settled in.” Pushing it open revealed a fairly well-decorated room.

A closet lay on the far right end of the room, a window to the left of it with a small collection of potted plants on it’s sill. A vanity lay to the right of the closet, but aside from that, the room was mostly barren.

What drew the two’s attention immediately, however, was the singular bed in the room. Not even a double bed, or anything larger. Just a single bed.

Hamin turned glacially to Starlight and Spike.

Amelia only stared at the bed a moment. "...You guys have a spare bed somewhere else," she began before looking back at them. "Right?"

Spike and Starlight exchanged nervous glances, then looked back to the two. “‘F-Fraid not,” Starlight answered.

"Uh-huh," the woman grunted, turning back to the room and pursing her lips. "...What about extra pillows and blankets?"

Hamin simply sighed and walked in. “You can sleep on the bed, actually.” At Spike and Starlight’s incredulous looks, he answered, “Believe it or not, I actually like sleeping on floors.” He patted his cloak. “This is really all I’ll need to stay warm anyways.”

"And I'm saying neither of us has to take the floor if they have pillows and blankets," Amelia replied hot-headedly.

Hamin rolled his eyes. “It’s fine, Amelia. I don’t mind.”

“We-” Spike tried to say, but the NetNavi interrupted, too distracted by Hamin.

"Y'know," she began to counter, kicking a hip out to the side. "I never could understand why some people would rather be uncomfortable when the option to be comfortable is right in front of them."

Hamin raised a brow. “Because more comfortable for me would be solid ground instead of an overly soft bed.”

“Uh-” Starlight attempted to interject, however, once again, the woman beat her to the punch.

"Yeah, okay," the woman muttered, rolling her eyes. "Because it makes sooo much sense that the crystalline floor feels better than a mattress."

Hamin shrugged. “I’ve slept on concrete before. Not much different.”

"But the point is that you don't have to," the Navi urges. "We could both be snug as a bug and it'd require very little effort."

“Except we don’t know if they even have blankets or pillows,” Hamin countered, crossing his arms.

“WE DO!” Starlight and Spike finally shouted. Amelia looked at him and gestured to their hosts, an 'I told you so' look on her face.

Hamin sighed. “Fair enough.” He looked to Spike and Starlight. “Could we have a few?” Starlight summoned them above his head in response, where he caught them. “Thank you.”

“We’ll leave you two to it. Let us know if you need anything else,” Starlight told them, before trotting away, Spike following after her as the door closed behind them.

Amelia let out a little sigh, not an agitated one, simply enough to let the tension out of her shoulders. "Whelp," she said clapping her hands. "Do you still want the floor? I might be able to make a bed frame using one of my battlechips."

Hamin only nodded silently, going about setting up his temporary bed by spreading the pillows and sheets out.

Amelia watched him for a moment before she gave another sigh. "I'm sorry," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I shouldn't have kept pushing."

Hamin shrugged once again. “I’m not mad at you. I’ve been yelled at for far worse and far less. It’s normal to me.” He waved her off. “Don’t worry about me, alright? I’ll be fine.” He went back to his work, straightening the blankets multiple times, obviously trying to get it just right.

She continued to watch him for a moment before going towards the bed in the room. She smoothed the blankets with one hand before sitting down on the edge. A second later and she laid back, trying to get her head as comfortable as her fins would allow.

Hamin, having set up his temporary bed finally, sat cross legged on it and finally started to take inventory of everything he had on him. First was, of course, the giant, ornately sheathed blade on his back, under the cloak. He grunted, the weapon falling solidly to the ground as he held it wrong.

“Alright, that’s one thing I’ll need to get used to,” he muttered, before pulling the sheath off. As he did, his eyes widened at the lustrous, almost alien, neon blue crystal that made up the blade. “Well...damn.”

"Hm?" The woman hummed, tilting her head back. "Holy sh-" she rolled over to get a better look. "Is that… no, not diamond." Her eyes flashed a moment or two. "...Blue Moonlight Crystal…?"

Hamin chuckled. “All I know is that this is my favorite weapon from the Dark Souls series,” he ran a hand across the flat of the blade. “The Blue Moon Greatsword.” His smile turned melancholy. “...A companion in battle and journey if there ever was one.”

"Huh," the woman breathed, her eyes still scanning the blade a moment. "Sounds like the right kind of weapon for a warri- dormant?"

Hamin turned his head to her, an odd twinkle to his eyes. “It’s dormant? Is that what your scanners say?”

"Yeah," the navi replied, crawling over the bed. "Any idea what that means?"

Hamin’s smile grew. “I might.” He looked to the blade. “In the game this weapon came from, it didn’t have any special abilities. It’s description even called it a lifeless weapon, and implied it was an imitation of another weapon.” Hamin’s smile turned obviously eager. “But something tells me whoever sent me here knew me well.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Either way, it probably means I need to meet some sort of requirements to unlock its special ability or abilities.”

"Maybe… this is the original…." Amelia stopped, her green eyes ceasing to flash as she gave a slightly sheepish look. "Sorry, I'm naturally curious. I guess that I'm an info scavenger now doesn't help."

Hamin chuckled. “It’s actually great that you are. I love having intellectual conversations. Got fuck all for them back home.” He patted the blade. “But no. The original blade was The Moonlight Greatsword, a weapon that appeared in nearly every FromSoftware game save one or two. That one was supposedly made from pure moonlight, which is different from magic, somehow.”

"You're talking a solid light blade?" Amelia questioned, crossing her legs as she sat up on the bed. "Like condensed and hardened light particles?"

Hamin shrugged. “Not sure, but I’m willing to bet so. However, if that were the case, it would glow more. In the games, the original Moonlight Greatsword looked, for all intents and purposes, like metal. Albeit dark cyan metal, but still.” He smirked. “And it was all set in a post-apocalyptic medieval fantasy series.”

The woman hummed with interest, nodding her head to each side. "Sounds like a game I probably would have enjoyed playing," she murmured, looking towards the sheets with a melancholy smile. "Once upon a time, anyway."

Hamin hummed. “If you like deep and dark atmospheric games, sure.” He looked to her. “But what do you mean by, ‘once upon a time’?”

"Well, I mean, look at where we are," the woman replied, kicking one leg over the side. "I don't know about here, but my old world didn't have video games or a way back home."

Hamin winced. “Yeeeeah, that’s something I’m going to have to get used to myself.” He looked to the Bluemoon Greatsword, then sheathed it. “But considering what we’ve seen, I can confidently say there’s a chance that there’s video games in this Equestria.” He frowned. “Then again, I’d honestly rather read books or practice with these weapons before I think about sinking another portion of my life into video games.” He pulled up his tunic enough to expose his stomach, peering down at it in curiosity. “...And I seem to have somehow gotten a six pack, despite knowing for a fact I didn’t have one before. Oddly not sure how to feel about that.”

"Like the luckiest person in the world," she laughed quietly, glancing at him. "Getting abs like that without the brutal exercise? Sir, that is a blessing."

Hamin shrugged. “I guess so.” He shook his head. “Anyway, sorry about my little gaff. I have a tendency to do that a lot.” He gestured to her. “Why don’t you spill your beans? Heavens know I did already back at the hospital, and I’m still not sure all the stress is out.”

"Well, you already know my name and what I am now," she began, waving a hand through the air. "Asides from that, not much to tell. I was a stunt pilot for the military and my plane went down while I was practicing maneuvers. When I woke up, I was in the far north and changed into what you see now."

Hamin whistled. “Damn. Almost like I’m a magnet for veterans.” He shook his head. “But as far as transformations go, at least you weren’t turned into an actual monster. Like, say, a Bloathead. Or a Giant Toad. Or...whatever, ya know?” He gestured to her body. “I mean, at least you still look good.”

She huffed and gave a smirk, crossing her other leg over her outstretched one, leaning back on her hands and arching her back to show off her… assets. "And I still rock a tight one piece," she purred, looking at him from the side.

Hamin laughed, slapping his knee. “I damn well bet!” She held the pose a moment longer before she burst into laughter as well. Hamin let his laughter die to chuckles, before shaking his head with mirth. “Honestly though, you must’ve had to beat guys off with sticks back home.”

"How do you think I got this?" She replied, bringing a finger up to point at the scar over her left eye that went as far as to show up on the helmet over said eye.

Hamin winced. “Oof.” He rubbed his chin. “Reminds me of the one I got on my chin here. Split it right open.” He raised his head so she could see the erratic growths of beard around a very roughly crescent shaped scar. It almost looked like someone took a small pointed hammer to his chin and cut it afterward.

"Yikes," Amelia winced as she saw it. "What happened?"

Hamin shrugged, smiling. “Slipped and fell on concrete. Back of my parents house was concrete for a while, and there were a few chips in the concrete. I happened to hit my chin on one such chip.”

"Talk about bad luck," she muttered, wincing again at the thought. "Though, it could always be worse, I guess."

Hamin nodded. “Oh yeah.” Hamin and Amelia sat in silence for a moment after that, before he decided to continue with his inventory check. “Hmm, you wanna see if you can make heads or tails of my new katana?” He asked, pulling out a blade of what seemed to be bone, and somehow, as if it was smelted into it, traces of glowing blue metal. The blade end was sharpened bone, whilst the middle was an icy blue metal.

The hilt was decorated lavishly. A very unique skull made up the guard, it’s jaw wide open. The oddest part, however, was that the skull almost reminded Amelia of a strange fortune cookie, but with more teeth than even a shark. The pommel was oddly simple, made of what seemed to be enchanted ice, if how it wasn’t melting was any indication. The handle was lavish in comparison, seeming to be made of golden vines.

She nodded an affirmative before her eyes began to shine. She frowned after a few seconds only to wince as a red line slashed through her eyes. "Ow!"

Hamin dropped the blade, walking over to her hurriedly. “Are you okay?” He asked, frowning as he looked her over.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "Just… it bugged my vision for a second and had one hell of a message…."

Hamin blinked. “What do you mean?”

"It said…" she started to answer, still frowning. "'Avert thine eyes elsewhere.'"

Hamin slowly turned to the lavish katana. “...I think that might make me the wielder of two possibly sentient weapons now.”

"Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you," the NetNavi noted, blinking her eyes before finally looking up clearly.

“I’ll say,” Hamin agreed, sitting down next to her. “I only really know how to use a katana, and even then I’m not the greatest. I’m good, I guess, but still.” He gestured to the greatsword. “But that? I have zero idea on how to wield that thing effectively. I’d be better with a bow than a greatsword, and I haven’t used a bow since I was 16.”

She looked up at him with some surprise. "Huh," she muttered before she shrugged and gave a little smirk. "Well, if you want a more hardy training partner, you can always ask me." A light glinted in her eye. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

Hamin looked to her, then gained a smirk of his own. “Hell fucking yes. I have not had a good sparring partner for ages!”

Her smirk grew to a full on grin. "I could use a better fight than any golem could give me," she answered, energy returning to her demeanor.

Hamin gave a nervous smile at that, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ehhh, not sure I’d qualify as a ‘good’ fight, but I’ll try.” His smile was just as eager, however, despite the nervousness. “At the very least it should be a fun learning experience.”

The woman’s grin grew slightly mischievous at that. “This is going to be,” she paused as she planted her hands between her legs. She pulled her legs back until she was in a handstand before launching herself across the room, landing nimbly at the door, flashing a cheshire grin. “So much fun.”

Hamin chuckled nervously. ‘I get the feeling I’m in for a beating…’

---

“So, uh…” Hamin looked across the grassy hill to Amelia. “Are we using weapons, or should we start with the basics? ‘Cause I only know a little bit. Most everything else is ingenuity...”

“Let’s skip on weapons for now,” the Navi suggested, starting to stretch. “Armaments are an extension of our bodies. If we can’t make your body a weapon, you won’t be able to handle one properly.” She stopped and threw a little smirk his way. “But, luckily, the basics and ingenuity are what fighting’s all about.”

Hamin sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good.” He clenched a fist a few times. “Last match I recall ended with my brother trying to teach me to get used to my weapon vibrating in my hand by having me punch solid earth.” He chuckled. “Thought I would get an infection.” He shook his head, lowering his hand and placing his weapons to the side before starting to do some of his own stretches. “But hopefully I’m more used to it by now.”

“Yikes, I’d hope so,” Amelia grimaced before she ended her stretches. She stopped, planting her feet next to each other and straightening as much as she could, putting her hands together at her waist. She breathed in, bringing her hands up her body, then out, pushing her hands down. She repeated this for about thirty seconds before opening her eyes, her green eyes hard as steel.

“You want some pointers as we fight or after?” She asked, stepping into a fighting stance.

Hamin slowly got into his own stance, and it was...very, unique. His stance was stereotypical, but not in the martial arts kind. Nay, he looked like he was about ready to draw his katana from its sheath, despite said katana and sheath being to the side. Yet, his right fist seemed to be taking the place of the blade and sheath, as well. “During, if you don’t mind,” he answered, features similarly hardening.

“Let’s get started, then,” she answered before rushing forward, head ducked and fists raised as her feet never strayed from the path set by her shoulders.

Despite his reaction being slightly slow, Hamin still stepped to the side in a crescent motion, kneed her in the gut, then grabbed one of her fists and made to toss her to the side. Air rushed from her as she relaxed her back and tightened her abs, her body wrapping around his knee as he grabbed her hand.

He cursed as she did this, nearly losing balance but reacting all the same with an uppercut to her jaw with his free hand. Her loose arm came up, the back of her hand diverting his fist as she planted her feet, one directly behind his legs, parallel to his center. Her free hand shot out, grabbing his collar and pushing him back, her leg acting as a trip.

Naturally, he fell right on his ass with a grunt. She took her hand from his collar and grabbed onto his hand that still gripped hers. She rolled over his body, pulling his arm straight over her body, wrapping her legs around his shoulder. Once on her back, she arched her back, hips pushing his shoulder away from her as her hands pulled his arm towards her.

Hamin sighed as she did this, struggling for only a moment before letting out a final curse, “Damn.” He chuckled, glancing her way. “Well, figures I’d be down after only one shot.” He tried to meet her eyes, but couldn’t, as her hips and...more, were in the way. “Also, lovely as the view is here, I doubt you really wanna give me said view this early.” He grinned. “We only just met, after all.”

“Watch the comments,” she replied jokingly, craning her neck to look at him. “I’m in a great position to pull your shoulder out of it's socket or kick you in the jaw.” She relaxed her back and released her grip with her hands and legs, rolling backward and onto her feet. “Here,” she held her hand out to him.

Hamin grunted, taking her hand and letting her pull him up. “Sorry, bad way to make conversation I guess.” After she pulled him up, he put his hands on his hips. “So, teach, what did I fuck up on? Aside from my comment, that is.”

“Your balance was off,” she answered almost immediately. “And you didn’t follow through on your throw. Instead, you just dragged me into a better position.” She pulled her arms to her hips and widened her stance until her feet were as wide apart as her shoulders. “When you step, you need to think in terms of an octagon, keeping your feet on two of the eight sides and your center, well, in the center.” She brought her hands up, stepping back with one foot and forward with the other, her forward foot at an angle to her rear foot. “You’ll never lose balance that way, or at least, it’ll be much harder to be taken off balance.”

Hamin rubbed his bearded chin. “Makes sense.” He looked down at his feet. “Funny thing is, when I was on Earth, I was actually lopsided, so I had to have a better balance than most.” He hummed. “After looking in the mirror earlier, I can say I’m not lopsided anymore, so my balance has taken a hit.” He chuckled. “Though my stance and footwork were the main problem, right?” He asked, looking to her.

“Mostly,” she answered with a slight nod before stepping out of her stance. “And be sure to follow through on any move you make. Hesitation will kill your balance, too.”

Hamin winced. “Yeeah, hesitation was always a big thing with me.” He shook his head. “Either way, duly noted.”

“Good,” she smiled, crossing her arms and cocking a hip slightly. “You want to go again or is your shoulder throbbing?”

Hamin rolled his shoulder a bit. “Nah, it’s fine.” He looked to her, eager grin back in full force. “Let’s go again.” Amelia leaped into the air, spinning as her heel shot out towards his head. Surprise fueled his reaction, grabbing her heel and with strength he did not realize he had, tossed her aside. Hamin blinked. “Well...da-”

The woman cut him off with a yell as she rolled and launched back at him, planting herself in front of him and feinting a punch towards his nose.

His reaction was to deflect the punch, then follow up with a boot to her gut. This led to a sharp hook meeting his abdomen, dangerously close to his liver.

He gasped in pain, stumbling back...only to grit his teeth and immediately perform a snap kick, almost as if he was planning it. The Navi tried to withdraw her arm quickly, her reaction only fast enough to turn the kick into a glancing blow to her side and arm. This was, however, where he furthered his brief advantage by hooking his foot around her arm and slamming himself and her to the earth. Amelia let out a huff of air as they landed, the woman sucking in for just a moment as she attempted to roll and slam her heel down on the man.

He, in turn, let go and rolled away himself, narrowly dodging the slamming of her heel as he sprung back to his feet. She pulled her leg back and pushed off the earth, ending up a few yards away from him in a fighting stance.

He grinned at her. “Looks like I managed to catch you off-guard,” he gloated.

She smiled in return, a small glint in her eye. “Won’t happen again,” she assured darkly.

Hamin chuckled. “Probably not, but, hey, we’ll see, won’t we?” He tensed after those words, as if readying to lunge.

The young woman lowered her stance slightly, grounding herself in preparation for his assault.

Instead, however, he ducked low, grabbed a handful of dirt, and tossed it at her face, all in one swift, fell swoop. The woman ducked down, the soil landing on and dirtying her helmet as she thrust her fingers into the ground.

“Let’s play dirty, then,” she growled, eyes flashing red momentarily as she ripped a chunk from the ground and threw it at him.

He rolled under it, coming out of the roll with an uppercut to her chin. However, as soon as he finished the roll, it was obvious he was disoriented from said maneuver. The Navi leaned out of the way of the punch, grabbing his wrist and shooting her knee towards his solar plexus.

He didn’t react in time, bowling over and clutching his stomach as he suddenly gasped for air. Amelia responded by jumping into the air with a snarl, bring her boot down to stomp on her opponent.

Again, he didn’t react, and took the blow full force, once more gasping for air, as well as gasping in pain. The woman dropped, straddling his chest as she started throwing punches.

Once more, he didn’t react, taking all of the blows. Fear was in his eyes as he gasped for air and from pain with each punch. Red glinted in the NetNavi’s eyes as she continued to rain down blows, each swing only barely losing momentum.

The fear in Hamin’s eyes reached a peak, and suddenly, they hardened in an instant, and three words boomed from his lips like the peal of thunder, instinct fueling his words as much as the flame inside him was. “Fus Ro Dah!” These words alone catapulted the NetNavi off of him and a good few dozen feet away.

Hamin panted as he tried to sit up, clutching his chest and wincing as he got his breath back before glaring at Amelia. “What...the...fuck?!” He demanded.

The woman grunted, pushing herself up on her arms. “I…” she murmured, eyes closed as she put her hand to her head. She grimaced before blinking several times. “I don’t know,” she replied, looking up at him with some form of remorse in her now pure green eyes. “Are you okay?”

Hamin scowled for a time, before taking several deep, shuddering and pained breaths. “No. No I am not. I just learned I can shout, which apparently comes with a sore throat, and I’m in a lot of pain.” He slowly got up, groaning as he did. However, he fell back down immediately, gasping in pain. “Fuck! Feels like something’s broken.” He sighed in aggravation, glaring at her from his position on the ground. “You mind helping me up, or are you gonna pummel me again?”

The woman practically jumped to her feet, rushing over to help him up. “I’m so sorry, Hamin,” she apologized. “I still don’t know what causes my rage out.”

Hamin grit his teeth from the pain as she helped him up. “I’d- Nngh! Suggest figuring that out before we spar again anytime soon,” he replied. A hand went to his chest, groaning again. “Fuck, yeah, that’s broken. Shit, this is not the kind of first I wanted to have.” He sighed.

Amelia grimaced again as he said this. “Let’s get you to the hospital,” she murmured, voice a bit on edge. She put his weight on her before starting back towards town.

Hamin and Amelia hobbled along in silence for a while, before he sighed. “Look, sorry I’m lashing out here, it’s just…” He grimaced as pain lanced through him. “...Nngh, was a little worried you were about to make me into red paste. Only people I know who flip sides like that have been on my hate list immediately.” He sighed again, looking to her. “Just...are you really sorry?”

She nodded her head, the expression in her eyes telling the truth. “You have every right to be upset,” she answered. “What I did was uncalled for and should never have happened. That’s one of the big points of martial arts, control. And I lost it.” She fell silent, eyes hardening at the horizon as her lips drew into a line.

Hamin studied her face, before sighing and following her gaze. “Fair enough. For now, it looks like we’ll have to spar after you figure out that control bit.” He hissed in pain as he stumbled over a rock. “Right now though, I’d really like to get myself into the doc’s.”

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, her lips turning down in a frown. After a moment, she stopped and started to shift him again. “Get on my back,” she ordered.

Hamin shot her a look. “Yeah, no. I’m not one for being treated like a kid.”

“I can get us to the hospital faster if you get on my back,” she explained with a roll of her eyes. “Plus, I can keep you from shifting as much to keep your breaks from getting any worse.”

Hamin frowned, opening his mouth to retort, before sighing and doing as she instructed, a light blush on his face. “I fucking hate this…”

“It’ll be over before you know,” the young woman assured, before a dark purple aura started to shimmer around the pair. It held tightly to the both of them, the pair rising into the air. “Hold on.” The warning barely left her lips before they rushed off, the Navi’s aura keeping him still as they flew.

“Jesus!” Hamin cursed, holding on tight so he wouldn’t fall off.

Amelia narrowed her eyes as they raced over Ponyville, the hospital coming into view a few moments later and not long after, they landed a few yards from the front entrance. “See?” She said, her aura cancelling out as their feet touched down. “What’d I say?”

Hamin grunted as he slowly got off of her. “Fair enough,” he said, hobbling into the hospital with her. After waving a doctor down, Hamin was taken into another room whilst Amelia was told to wait in the waiting room. The young woman found a seat in the farthest corner of the room, slightly shrinking back from the ponies around her.

She looked around sharply for several moments before giving a deep sigh. ‘Great first day in another new world…’ she thought to herself, leaning her head back.

Next Chapter: 5th Meditation (OLD) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 17 Minutes