Syl the Protector

[Delightful]

This is only sort of Sanderson fan fiction but I used Syl so it's going here.

I basically went with the idea of Syl protecting Kal in the highstorm, and ran with it to Syl protecting people from their inner demons.

And here's when I post something super personal and hope I'm not making a mistake with it all. Gotta be vulnerable sometimes :l

@Pinnacle-Ferring I mentioned a draft one of this to you a while ago and you wanted to see it.

 

 

She closed her eyes,took a deep breath, and allowed her mind to relax.
It did so slowly, in jumps and starts, like it couldn’t quite believe work time was over and it was allowed to take a break.
Of course, she wasn’t really taking a break, just -
Shhh. Quiet. Relax.
She breathed out slowly, then inhaled again, feeling her diaphragm move up and down, focusing on the exhale.
A few more knots in her brain dissolved, loosening her neck and down to her shoulders as well. 
More air drawn in, then pushed slowly out.

She started to imagine her demons. They were always there, just waiting in the shadows, prodding at thoughts and twisting them as they came forward. This time, she allowed them to come. They rushed in, dark shapes pulsating fear, tripping over each other in their eagerness, climbing, expanding into a large mess of awful. Her breath hitched, and she forced it out slowly. Inhale. Exhale. Tension spread up her neck, knotted in her stomach, claimed her shoulders. Her pulse quickened.
“I can do this,” she whispered, “I can!”
One more breath, and then she summoned her logic angel. The woman appeared in her mind, shining bright blue and white, the colours shifting and coalescing. Syl took in her surroundings, trembled, then straightened her back.She would not allow the demons to intimidate her. Her tactics were infallible: divide and conquer.
“You! Demon! Come forward!”
Just as satisfied alone as in a crowd, the thing rushed forward, claws scraping the ground shoulders massive and hulking.
“You’re worthless” the thing hissed. “And stupid and incapable. No one will ever like you. You can’t look after yourself.”
“False!” Syl cried. A curly judge’s wig of the same blue and white appeared atop her long flowing hair. A stack of ledgers appeared at her side, and she began looking through them.
“Worthlesssss” it hissed again, and her flipping became more frantic. 
“Here! I did the groceries yesterday!”
“Doessssn’t counnnt” 
The pile of darkness waiting behind seem to snap it’s teeth and growl in anticipation of blood.
“Of course it counts!” Her pulse was high, the tension tight in her shoulders. She could not show fear. “It required planning my meals for the week, compiling a list, leaving the house, selecting cheap and correct groceries, interacting with the man behind the counter who did not indicate that we were worthless, and carrying everything home. That is perfectly capable adulting.”
The thing growled, but seemed to shrink a little. “In addition,” Syl said, raising a finger imperiously, “We then went on to cook dinner and had an entire conversation with the roommate. This all shows extreme capability.” She emphasised the last words a little desperately, but the demon didn’t seem to notice. It shrunk in it’s place as Syl concluded “Your claim is therefore false! I am far from useless! I can interact with people! Your claim is dismissed!”
It cowered, then slipped into the far shadows, seeming to lose solidity as it did so.
She could barely take a breath before the next creature sallied forward, a well dressed young man in a perfectly tailored suit, beard neatly trimmed and a piercing blue gaze framed by designer spectacles that screamed intelligence. 
“You,” said the man, running his fingers across his jawline, “ are woefully inadequate. Look at you! Nervous, clingy, shaking. Can’t even talk to anyone without trembling.”
Syl shrank under his gaze. How was he so confident? 
“Your clinginess just drives people further away from you, but it doesn’t matter because if you left them alone they wouldn’t come to you anyway. Who wants to spend time with a nervous wreck? Not me!”
He laughed derisively.
“I spoke to my roommate earlier! We had an entire conversation!”
“Her? She only puts up with you because this apartment was cheap to rent and she can’t afford anywhere else.”
“She made me a birthday cake!”
“She did, didn’t she? How quaint.” The man laughed again, and straightened his suit jacket. “Like I said, just a show.”
He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for a reply.
Sweat trickled down her neck. Deep breath in. Exhale slowly. Inhale calm, push out the negativity. It worked a little. She took another few breaths, checked her ledger, and smiled with relief.
“I would like to call forward a memory witness.”
The bespectacled man smirked. 
A hologram appeared next to the judge’s stand, the girl from the library. Judy. She stood just outside the red-brick building, backpack slung over one shoulder. “You’ll come with us to the game next week?” she asked. You had mumbled a non-committal reply. 
“I would love to see you there. I’ll even pick you up if you want, sometimes a bunch of us go together. You could get dibs on the music.” Judy smiled warmly, making sure to meet your eyes. “No pressure. Let me know.” She smiled again, then walked to the corner before pulling out her phone and calling someone. You were fairly certain she’d moved off the give you personal space. The hologram thudded as your heartbeat had. 
“Clearly,” Syl said. “I was nervous and trembling and Judy spoke to me anyway. She didn’t seem in the least put off by my nervousness. In fact, I might actually go with her to the game. She was downright friendly.”
The man laughed again, but the sting was gone. He turned and walked away silently, as if not dignifying his defeat with a response, or even acknowledgment. Syl watched him with narrowed eyes. He would be back, and he was a dangerous one. She made a note to bookmark positive interactions with people to use against him in the future. He was biding his time and planning, and she would need all the evidence she could get when he staged his next big attack. 
Deep breaths. The slow rush of air back and forth, into the lungs and the bloodstream and back out in the steady rhythm of a heartbeat. 
The cloud of demons was much smaller, most of the black fog and radiating fear was gone with the temporary defeat of the two biggest fears. They glanced at each other sideways, weighing heavily on the delicate floor of the mind and yet daring each other to move forward. Syl was on a roll and they were unlikely to win if they faced her directly today. It would be safer to just hang around and create an ambiance rather than go for the throat.
One brave more monster stepped forward.
It was smaller than the others but somehow more solid, a four legged creature with slick matted fur and brutal tusks. “Weak,” it growled, it’s voice like a foghorn. “Weak mind. Can’t defeat us. Not ever.”
Syl cocked her head, then twirled her long hair around a finger, ever so slightly upsetting the curled wig that perched on top.
“You,” she said, “obviously did not just see my stunning victory over those two monsters. After all, I am intelligent and eloquent and clearly quite strong. But since logic seems beyond you, I suggest trial by combat.”
The creature snorted, pawed the ground, and broke into a dead sprint. A glistening blade appeared in Syl’s hand made of the same blue-white mist as she was. She leapt into the air, the wig and courtroom disappearing as she landed, skidding, on a sand floor. Gladiator sandals wrapped up her calves and her dress shortened to mid-thigh, hair pulled back in a braid. The creature grunted again, turned around and barreled towards her. Teeth clenched, Syl ran straight at it,  dodging to the side at the last moment and scoring a strike down it’s side. It squealed and turned surprisingly quickly, its tusk digging into her leg before she could react. Her struck leg buckled, but she pushed hard on her other leg and hopped out of the way. Blood spilled onto the sand.
“Weak!”
“I am intelligent and eloquent and I will destroy you!” Syl screamed, turning into a pile of leaves with sharpened edges, flying straight at the creature. It squealed, then she reformed and stabbed her sword straight into it. It shattered into mist, only a few wisps escaping to the darkness. It would be a while before it reformed. She hoped. While smaller today, the fear that her own mind couldn’t handle it’s own demons was sometimes overwhelming and undermining entirely. 
Dripping with sweat, breathing hard and covered in glory, Syl raised her sword into the air. It glowed brightly, not just light but warmth and safety and a release of built up tension. The smaller remaining demons scuttled back to their hiding places as light washed over them and threatened to burn them away with it’s comfort.
The girl sighed, wriggling  her shoulders and stretching her neck, then focused on her breaths as her diaphragm moved slowly in rhythm with her pumping blood and solid heartbeat.
For now, she was safe from the demons. Syl would stand guard with her golden sword during the night. It was time to sleep.    

Edited August 26, 2016 by Delightful

[The Honor Spren]

I am The Honor Spren, and I approve this message.

[Delightful]

Just now, The Honor Spren said:

I am The Honor Spren, and I approve this message.

Nice

 

[Silverblade5]

I liked it. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

That was fantastic. 

[Sunbird]

I thought it was excellent, Delightful. I liked seeing the "brain weasels" as tangible enemies that could be defeated with cleverness and discipline.