Sherlock Holmes he/him Posted September 16, 2018 Posted September 16, 2018 Quote And now for another episode of Terror going off his rocker! Terror calmed himself down very slowly. He stood up, shook on his feet for a moment. He closed his eyes to try to block out the corpses, remembered and real. He opened his eyes and slapped a hand over his nose and mouth immediately when he saw the bodies again. It wasn’t like he wasn’t perfectly used to seeing blood and gore and death or anything (quite the opposite, actually), but the sight still made his stomach do flips and his heart start pounding. He knew what that was called, clinically. It’s called… Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD. But how can you not get stress after seeing everybody… He shuddered. And saw some of those Invested people burying the bodies. Really saw them, this time. He wondered with disgust and horror how anybody could so nonchalantly rip the armor off of corpses and dispose the bodies as though gore and memories didn’t bother them at all. But, didn’t they remember- no, they were not from his home. They probably thought of war without firsthand awful experience, the dirty, stinking trenches that you could get stuck in for weeks, gaining no ground at all. He noticed a dog carefully walking to him. A real dog, a real wolf! His face must have betrayed his joy, for the animal sped up and nuzzled his arm playfully while Terror scratched between the glorious canine’s ears. “My, you are such a nice human!” the dog said suddenly. It took a lot to surprise to Terror at this point, but a talking dog still could, apparently. He stared at it. “Some humans, you know, they ramble on and on about dumb things, but you just get down to the point, which is, obviously, petting me,” the dog continued. “That, or it’s confusion, judging by your expression.” Terror nodded, his initial shock overwhelmed by weariness. He looked back at the ‘cleaning crew’ and clenched his teeth. None of them had probably even seen a machine gun fired in their entire lives, never seen- Blood was everywhere as the soldiers nearest Charles were shot down by mounted machine guns on the top of tanks. Crouching in a trench, Charles saw the cloud of mustard gas explode before the saw the writhing people engulfed in it, a mother desperately clutching her baby close to her as she struggled to crawl out of the cloud. Charles crouched down to fire a massive, unwieldy machine gun at a squad of approaching soldiers. He saw their eyes, and those eyes spoke of fear and death. War. And death. And suffering. And madness. He fell to his knees and pounded the ground with his fist, completely forgetting that he needed to cover his nose to keep from smelling the blood.
Cyanic he/him Posted September 16, 2018 Posted September 16, 2018 (edited) Deras buried some of the last bodies in the ground, shoveling the dirt back on them until they were covered. They finished actually relatively early. If Deras really thought about it, this was all very grim, but that was alright. His cloak and body in general was dirtied by the blood and dirt of the grounds, he'll need to find somewhere to wash himself. He noticed that he didn't really get filthy naturally, only in situations like this. He found a spring and rinsed himself off. He'll wash more thoroughly later. Finding new clothes as Araha suggested would be a good idea too, but he'll first have to find who owned the place itself. He saw a man on the ground, seemingly distressed about something, he wanted to help people, and helping people didn't just mean protecting them from threats. He approached the man, and made himself as small as possible by crouching and staying a good few meters away so as not to accidentally frighten him. "You're unwell?" He asked. @AxeliustheGreat Edited September 16, 2018 by Cyanic
+Sorana she/her Posted September 16, 2018 Posted September 16, 2018 4 hours ago, Grey Knight said: Quote Ahh, Thanks;) And there I thought we're only famous for our beer and being overly punctual 1
Sherlock Holmes he/him Posted September 16, 2018 Posted September 16, 2018 (edited) Terror looked up at the Lifeless man who had spoken to him. Lifeless still kind of bothered him; it was disturbing that anyone with Breath and money could re-animate a corpse. A corpse that could well have been the body of one of his friends... but no, no one would want to spend Breath on a corpse that was- Mutilated. He shook off that memory and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that that would block out the flashes better. However, that only made them worse, more vivid, more hard to ignore.... Terror whimpered and pushed himself to his feet, looking down at the Lifeless with as much emotionlessness as he could muster. It was then that he realized that the Lifeless looked like one of those Returned from Nalthis, maybe the Lifeless was one. "Yes," Terror said, unused to hearing his own voice. It was deep and powerful, and, of course, had a strong New York accent. "Life is never pleasant when you've lived through a war." He stopped at that, a scent creeping into his nostrils... Blood. He covered his face with one hand and tried to fight down it, and just barely managed to. He fell to his knees again. I hate having to control that, he thought angrily, but then he became calm again. Or at least, not angry. "You were a Returned, yes?" he asked the Lifeless, looking at the bodies again on accident. He watched the mass grave being dug after a shoot-out had killed more than a hundred of his fellow soldiers. Guns fired around him as German tanks advanced across the battleground, not even bothered by the American soldiers' best attempts to defeat them. The stinking, dirty trench around him was all that could protect him from the barrage of bullets above. Death, but if only it could be his own. @Cyanic Edited September 16, 2018 by AxeliustheGreat
Cyanic he/him Posted September 16, 2018 Posted September 16, 2018 The man seemed to be more in control than earlier, though he still seemed distressed, so Deras also stood up, the Lifeless was almost a head taller than the other man, but it wasn't obvious since he was still standing a ways away. The man fell to his knees again, then rose up again, he might need a healer. He also noticed the dog from earlier, the one that tore the armor off the enemy, he wasn't a regular dog, that's for sure. "Unsure. Am Lifeless supposedly." He said, he wasn't sure what a Returned was, yet another question he'd have to ask Araha. He looked around for the other person who was nearby and helped dispose of the corpses an middle-aged looking woman (Tena), he wasn't sure, but he remembered seeing her heal wounds before. "Will get healer." Deras told the other man. He approached the woman, still staying a few feet away. "Might need healer, man is unwell. Can heal?" He asked her, gesturing toward her. @AxeliustheGreat
Sherlock Holmes he/him Posted September 16, 2018 Posted September 16, 2018 "He does look like it," Tena said to Deras. "And I'm an Edgedancer, darlin'." She strode to the shaking dude, and pressed her hand against his arm, trying to heal him, but apparently he wasn't hurt.
+Ark1002 Posted September 17, 2018 Posted September 17, 2018 (edited) Atticus, totally recovered, started to put together the machine he had been working on. It was made to destroy Chaos Marines specifically, and it was made from an Epic. It was secret, something no one knew about. He had nearly lost his life trying to get it. The power of Deathpoint. And he had it in a gun. This would be hidden. He set up a statue in front, made of Titanium, with a layer of Enforcers Glass, and then Aluminum on top. He had got the Aluminum from the Craftsmen. It had a secret. The turret was hidden in the chest, made of Titanium and Enforcers glass as well. The moment the sensors detected a Chaos Marine, the device would engage. They would die. He didn't have it for spikes, because some were innocents. He had helped one, and earlier one had been shot at. He didn't want to hurt innocents now that the Long War was over. Too many had been hurt in the Seven Day War and the Long War. He left in the dark, the night masking that he had ever been there. Edited September 17, 2018 by Ark1002 Wanted to move my character to another thread 1
Cyanic he/him Posted September 17, 2018 Posted September 17, 2018 The man must have been hurt in other ways. "Understood." Deras nodded at the woman, she called herself an Edgedancer. He was quickly gaining a list of questions to ask Araha later on. Right now though, he didn't know if he could help this man. He went to him again, "apologies. Unable help," he said.
Gancho Libre he/him Posted September 17, 2018 Posted September 17, 2018 Ioc frowned. It had asked the sorcerer a question, but he hadn't responded. That was kinda freaky. Ioc was getting a little nervous... @Grey Knight
Grey Knight Posted September 17, 2018 Posted September 17, 2018 The sorcerer considered the proposition. He weighed it out, looked at both sides. He sifted through what little evidence he had about the Cosmere, and compared it to the stories of Terra. Then he tossed all that to the side, because storm it, it was Earth. The place didn't even exist in this abominable universe! "I shall join you in your quest, o' mighty one," he said. "We shall journey to Holy Terra, rescue the volleyball, and kick the Corpse Emperor off his Golden Throne! It shall be a glorious- OH FRAAAAAAaaaaakkkkkk..." The voice of the sorcerer faded away as a blue-skinned claw tore through reality and grabbed him, yanking him into a swirling maelstrom of unholy energy. @Gancho Libre
Gancho Libre he/him Posted September 17, 2018 Posted September 17, 2018 Ioc froze as something yanked the sorcerer away. Then, it sighed. "Why does that always happen?" it asked. "Oh, well, I'll have to find the volleyball myself,"
Silva Posted September 18, 2018 Posted September 18, 2018 Pry had gone inside to change. Now back outdoors, she glanced around for anything interesting going on. There was only the normal. So, like normal, she sat down on a rock.
Gancho Libre he/him Posted September 19, 2018 Posted September 19, 2018 Ioc teleported back to the Waystop. "Hey, has anyone seen my giant ship?" It asked. "I could just teleport, but that isn't very fun, so I need the ship," 1
Life&Death Posted September 20, 2018 Posted September 20, 2018 Quote I will do my very best to post on this today. I’m so sorry for everyone waiting on me. 1
BitBitio he/him Posted September 20, 2018 Posted September 20, 2018 @Gancho Libre Quote I just slapped you
Gancho Libre he/him Posted September 21, 2018 Posted September 21, 2018 (edited) Quote Dear 17th Shard Community, Alright, I have a dilema. Some of you might have seen this already, but it’s time ot confirm it: I’ve got a problem. I invented an Alleyverse character who is extremely involed (I hope) in the happenings of this subforum. Ioc, very often, jumps around form place to place, interacting with different people, and is basically at the right place at the right time. However, I, Gancho Libre, am not. Because of reaons, I am only able to get on the amazing website and be awesome about once a day, five (very rarely six) days a week. For, at the very most, one hour. And, as it turns out, this hour happens to be a reletively slow hour (No offense to those of you who are on when I am, I’m just making a point. Compared to other parts of the day, it is pretty slow, unfortunately) And, as it turns out, I may have to change that hour to a different, potentially slower hour for reaosns (see above). Thus, I miss a lot. I realize what I’m describing isn’t as bad as some users’ situations, which may force them to become inactive for large amounts of time, and I apologize to those users and I hope their situations change and allow them to rejoin this amazing community. Regardless, I still have a dilema, reletively unrelevant as it may be. I feel as though all of the exciting things happen after i’ve already been on, which I suppose isn’t just me selfishly undermining what I do get to see as it unrolls, because, as I mentioned above, I’m only on for a slow hour a day. So, I’ve had an idea for a while now, and I think it’s time to implement it. Ioc is a very involved character, and I am not very involved. But, I think, there is someone on the site at most times during the 24 hour cycle we earthians call the ‘day’. Thus, I propose this bill, which I call the “Alleyverse Involvement Bill”. Essentially, (*deep breath*) it allows anyone who wants to to godmod my character. I feel as though an explanation is nessecary, although I already provided one (see above). For any of you who have questions (I imagine many of you do), allow me to explain some rules. I hope those will clarify my position. Rule 1: Keep in mind that nobody on this site has a plan for Ioc except myself, Gancho Libre. Thus, i ask that you not set up legthy subplots for ioc to participate in. If, during my hour of releif, I see Ioc in a position I don’t like, I’ll simply have it leave. Rule 1b: THE ABOVE RULE IS NOT MEANT TO DISCOURAGE YOU FORM CALLING UPON MY CHARACTER. If at any time you want Ioc around, I won’t stop you. I only ask you not involve it in other threads without my perrmission. Rule 1c: This is less of a rule, and more of a guideline. In the ‘Sixteen Year Peace’ thread, I posted about Ioc creating devices that allow any Alleyverse character to summon Ioc. All they have to do is rub the small black sphere. Also, if there is an important enough conflict, Ioc will show up anyway. Ioc has ways of knowing when something important may be happpening. This will include, say, a Chaos Marine invasion of, say, the Waystop. I dunno. I trust your judgement of when an event is important enough for Ioc to appear uninvited. Rule 2: THOU SHALT NOT KILL (Ioc or anyone important to Ioc’s story) Rule 3: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL (from Ioc’s vault in the Bank of Chrysts, even though it has a lot of moolah) Rule 4: I’d appreciate it (and I’m sure the admins will agree with me on this) if you wouldn’t summon Ioc for the sole purpose of adding another teammate to your side during any type of conflict. Keep in mind that Ioc be bonkers (and will be more bonkers later) and that if you summon it may not do as you please. Ioc likes to root for the underdog. I trust your judgment on this as well. If you think Ioc would support your side in a fight, go for it. Again, I’m not trying to discourage your use of it, I’m just making sure you’re not bringing it in just so you don’t lose. Rule 4b: When I typed that, I think I came off wrong. I meant to stress that the above rule only really counts concerning other Alleyverse Characters. But, say, you’re character is fighting an army of NPCs that isn’t really important to any user’s plans, and you think Ioc would support your character in that fight, feel free to call him in and watch the slaughter. I can have a huge scene of his killing thousands of NPCs ready in a couple minutes. Don’t be afraid of using Ioc, as long as it doesn’t put your character at a distinct advantage over another character. Rule 5: Know Ioc’s weakness. Basically, it’s only weakness is that the Alleyverse itself won’t let Ioc be to overpowered. Ioc has access to a lot of investitures (see the ‘Alleyverse Characters’ thread for details) but unless he’s fighting someone really powerful, Ioc cannot go all out. For those of you who read through the ‘Ioc vs Eubael’ thread, uh, don’t have Ioc do… that. Rule 5a: Again, those are rules concerning other users’ Alleyverse Characters. Totally different for NPCs. Rule 6: Write ‘im like you know ‘im. Basically, have Ioc do what you think he would do in that situation. You have plenty of leeway on this because he’s bonkers, but, for example, I wouldn’t have him helping at a hospital or getting a butterfly for a kid. No, Ioc doesn’t really care for human lives. This disregard is more obvious for NPCs (Ioc does care a little about Alleyverse Characters) but it is kinda cold hearted. Especially soon. Rule 6b: This isn’t a rule at all, but a kind of notice. If anyone wants in on Ioc’s plot, cuz it’ll be fun (but I’d plan a way out if I were you, just in case), feel free to tell me you want in, and I’ll see what I can do. The Most Important Rule of All: Have a spankin’ good time with this, folks! Now, if anyone had questions, feel free to ask me! I know this is a bit strange (I’m not sure anyone has done this before, because in different circumstances it’s kinda dumb), but keep in mind that I’m on only an hour a day, so I’d just do what you think I meant and I can correct you later if I thought it a bit differently. Alrighty, I think that’s it! Whew, that was a long post. And it wasn’t even contributing to the story. Oh well. So, anyway, just make sure that if you use Ioc, send me an @Gancho Libre so I know to respond to that. Thank you, everyone, for putting up with me. I know my posts can be annoying and, yes, counterproductive, but’s it’s been a blast for far. Yours, Gancho Libre 29 Ioc was slapped. "Ow!" it said. "You slapped me! That's not especially nice! I would appreciate it if you apologized!" Then Ioc disappeared again. (I suppose I better un this by @Archer .) Edited September 21, 2018 by Gancho Libre 4
Cyanic he/him Posted September 21, 2018 Posted September 21, 2018 Just now, Gancho Libre said: Then Ioc disappeared again. Quote
Sherlock Holmes he/him Posted September 21, 2018 Posted September 21, 2018 (edited) Quote I ain’t being subject to your whims, Gancho! Tena rolled her eyes at Ioc and teleported back to her house with a Tia card. Edited September 21, 2018 by AxeliustheGreat
Cyanic he/him Posted September 21, 2018 Posted September 21, 2018 I just read the Ioc calling rules. I think I might do something like that too with my own characters in the future just with different clauses
Archer he/him Posted September 21, 2018 Posted September 21, 2018 Quote 2 hours ago, Gancho Libre said: I suppose I better run this by @Archer . Well, that was unexpected. I'm okay with it, but I'd like you to stick a link to that post in your sig so people can find/reference it easily. You've covered all the bases that could case trouble. If people abuse this, we can do a polite intervention. In practice, this could be really useful. One can write lengthy dialogues with an important character without having to split it into multiple posts. It's an intriguing prospect. I look forward to seeing how it plays out. 2
+Sorana she/her Posted September 22, 2018 Posted September 22, 2018 Quote Can we interact with Pry again? @Silva
Cyanic he/him Posted September 22, 2018 Posted September 22, 2018 (edited) Just now, Sorana said: Can we interact with Pry again? Quote TRIPLE FRIENDS! XDD Edited September 22, 2018 by Cyanic
+Sorana she/her Posted September 22, 2018 Posted September 22, 2018 Quote This is the whole conversation between Araha and Damaya. Spoilered for length. (No joke here ) Out formating was destroyed due to copiing, so the ooc comments aren't in italics anymore. But they are few and usually they are moved in (and honestly I don't think anybody will really read through all of that). The words Sorana/Cyanic used to be bolded. Here's the link to the google doc, if you prefer to read it there (intact formating). https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JR4bwxxU07hb1ARwBAEyR2VTXbsXKhYmn7pFGm6LtgY/edit?usp=drivesdk Spoiler Sorana "I just want to get it right." Damaya replied. "I don't want to embarress myself, or show him something I don't want him to see." Cyanic "Yeah that makes sense," Araha said with a small pat on Damaya's shoulder before she retracted her hand, "maybe you can just try to start small? Concentrate on making something small out of light? Then again, I'm not really a Lightweaver either, so I don't know if it's actually easier to do if you go small." She chuckled, putting a hand on the back of her neck. "I do think that surges have common rules. Like with Gravitation, and Adhesion, they're easier to do on things that are smaller," Sorana "That's a good idea. I never thought about it that way. But I think you're right, it's a lot easier to make a shirt than a dress." She sat down on a piece of gras next to the training ground. "You know, I've always wondered how life as a non-sentinent spren would be. Like those windspren flying and dancing above. Not to care about anything, just to be free and go where the wind blows you." Cyanic Araha sat beside her. "Yeah, probably be really simple, just go where there's wind, and have a good time," she shrugged, smiling, "it seems pretty fun and straightforward, but me, personally, I don't think I'd wanna give up being able to think just for a life of plain fun. Feels like it'd get boring, y'know," "Then again, they might not even have the capacity to be bored, so I dunno what I'm saying," she chuckled. Sorana Damaya laughed. "Maybe it would get boring. Yeah, I'm sure it would." She leaned back and let the sun shine on her face. "Thank you for covering for me yesterday. I mean, we just met and yet I am so happy to see you, to hear your voice. Just sitting here and talking feels good. So thanks. For all of that and for keeping up with me and my problems." She grabbed Araha's hand. "We don't really know each other. What do you think of asking each other questions? Or I could simply tell you about me. Whatever you prefer." Cyanic Araha blushed at the sincere compliments, and smiled a warm smile. "Of course! I feel the same way actually, you're probably my first real friend, and I'm glad we got to meet." She said as Damaya held her hand. "I'm alright with either, but let's ask each other more questions, so you also get to know more about me!" Araha folded shifted positions so that she was sitting cross-legged. "I'll ask first, hmm..." she said as she put her free hand on her chin, it was surprisingly hard to think of good questions, Araha liked this kind of light-hearted talking, and she didn't want to ruin the mood by asking a personal question. "Got it! Have you ever been attracted to anyone before?" Araha asked, looking at Damaya, her smile turned into a mischievous smirk. Sorana amaya blushed and then shook her head. "I fear that sounds lame, but I haven't. Not in this huge butterflies in the stomach sense. I spent my last years mostly indoors, especially after he moved in. He was afraid that I left, I think." After a short break: " There was one guard, who was really nice, though. I liked to spend time with him. He was the one who first introduced me to my staff. If that counts, my answer is yes." Grinning she thought of a question herself. "Why do you keep Ran around as a hair pin so often?" Cyanic "Oooooooh..." Araha cooed at Damaya's mention of a possible crush, but she'll have to get back to that topic later on. Araha touched the hair-clip Ran on her head, "oh, it's supposed to be for discretion, this way we can keep each other close, but the people who can see spren, don't know Ran is one. Now though, I just think it looks cute on me, so I have Ran keep this form," She laughed, "she says it doesn't really feel much different from her regular, woman form." she shrugged, "but, it does looks cute, right?" she asked with a smile. Sorana "Absolutey!" Damaya laughed. "If you want to, I could make you a nice dress. Something to wear when you want to impress someone. Ran would add the final touch to it. What is your favourite colour?" Cyanic "Thank you," Araha said with a smile, "and ooh, that'd be neat, I've never worn a dress before actually, mostly just this," she gestured to herself, wearing a tunic with white accents, and her pants, "I'm so used to trousers now, that I might have a hard time with a skirt, but I'd still wanna try it sometimes. My favourite color is the lighter shade of green, kinda like Ran's color, green with a faint hint of blue," Araha shifted her seating position, "speaking of impressing someone, can we talk about the guard you mentioned earlier?" her smirk returned, though not as much as earlier since she was still cautious with this line of questioning to avoid accidentally ruining the mood by making her friend remember bad events. Here's a safe question! Araha thought to herself "was he attractive?" Araha probably missed these kinds of light-hearted conversations between friends back when she'd been 15 or 16, as while she had friends and acquaintances, she couldn't really hold long, fun conversations with them Sorana Damaya laughed and waved Araha's cautioness away. "I think so. He was taller than I am, trained a lot and had short dark brown hair. He started to train with me, to put some other thoughts in my head." She fell silent for a moment, contemplating. "I don't think he was ever interested in me. And it's not like something happened. Anyway he left for a safer household a few years ago, and I don't know what happened afterwards." "You're turn to talk about attractive men. There has to something worth telling?" Grinning she looked at Araha expectantly. Cyanic Araha's smirk turned into an intrigued grinned as Damaya told her all this sweet, sweet gossip. "I see, I see..." she said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder, "well, you'll find someone in the future," she said, "if you want to that is!" She added. "As for me," she put her hand back on her lap, "I've flirted with a few young men before, and some women too actually," she chuckled, "but none of it was serious, nothing happened really, just playful flirting, because lemme let you in on a little secret: I may like flirting because I find people's reactions really funny most times, but when it comes to anything serious, I blush like a ruby broam." She laughed, "This is a fun topic, so related to this, I have a juicy question," she smirked again, "is there anyone in the Waystop that you find attractive?" Then Araha realized something: "Wait, this question may not be that juicy because there's not really much men here, huh?" She laughed, "oops!" Or at least, not much men that they could probably find attractive. Sorana Damaya laughed whole heartily. "Well we have Mr Amber..." She stopped talking because she had to laugh so much. Then she lowered her voice. "He's a bit too old. Pallas is too young. Dayne is not my type and not interessted." She counted her fingers. "Oh Klasten. He was funny. But who knows, maybe someone else will come along." Damaya turned earnest. "Would you mind talking about your parents? Otherwise, tell me your favourite food." Cyanic Araha was agreeing with most of what Damaya said, then she got to the question about parents. "My... parents," Araha muttered, images of red started filling her mind, but she found her center and drove the memories back into the depths. For now, at least. "I'm..." Araha sighed as she realized her breathing was quicker, "I'm not comfortable talking about that yet," but she needed to at least clear something up. "They're..." she breathed again, "not here anymore," she folded her legs and put her arms around them, resting her head on her knees. She will have to face the memories later, if she wanted to stand a chance against the enemies they'd likely meet. She did want to talk about Master Soren though, "Master Soren took me in when I was brought to the village where he lived. Before me, the townspeople used to know him as the well-learned guy who knew a lot of things, well-liked, but wasn't special besides that," she smiled, the near-panic a moment ago being replaced by better memories. "He taught me everything I know, well most things. He taught me how to fight, and some Alleyverse basics, like the various Investitures," she shifted her position, going back to a more relaxed pose and crossing her legs, "but he also taught me by example. He helped people out in any way he could, he gave people advice, and he listened, even to that one really annoying man that kept complaining about different things, he was patient. They weren't literally lessons that he taught me, but I still learned from him." She said with a smile, gazing into the distance. "He told me he wasn't really a 'Master' of any kind, it's just me that considers him one." She looked back at Damaya. "Oh and," she said as her index finger popped up. "I don't have a favourite food, really. I love all food. Equally." She laughed, "what about you, Damaya, you have a favourite food?" Sorana "I'm sorry." Damaya answered quietly. That question had been thumb. Especially coming from her. "As long as there's enough food around I'm fine. I don't really care what it is, as long as I'm not hungry." Searching for another question she looked up into the sky and had an idea. "If you could become an animal - which would it be?" Cyanic "It's alright, you didn't know." Araha smiled sincerely, "Yeah, food is good," she trailed off, "hmm... now that I think about it, I think my current favourite might be those chocolates from earlier, those are great." At Damaya's question, she thought for a while, "hmmmm, there are plenty of cool animals... axehounds look really badass, though I've never seen one in real life, anything that can fly is also a good choice with how free they are, ooh, I think I'd wanna be a ryshadium horse, they're really resilient and strong, and they look great too. You?" "Oh and, what kind of hobbies do you have? You mentioned making me a dress earlier, you know how to sew?" She asked, interest evident in her eyes. Sorana "I'd be a white tailed Eagle, soaring the sky. They lived close to my hometown." She stopped and then smiled, grieve vivid in her eyes. Home. "Ever since the woman took me in, I was raised to be an educated daughter of a better-situated merchant's - household. So yes, I can sew and I can make embroidery. And a lot of other things a future good housewife should know. Not every usefull, when I think of it. At least not in a battle." She eyed Araha's cloths, tried to determine the pattern used. "I enjoyed reading a lot and I love to sew or stich a pattern on a sleeve. So I think that counts as hobby. When you sew there are two important things." She held up one finger, exitment made her sit up straight. Despite her words, she loved sewing almost as much as reading. "First the cloth you use. It determines what you can make. You can't make a flowing dress out of a thick and tight woven cloth." Adding a second finger she added: "The pattern. The best cloth is useless without a good and fitting pattern. The pattern has to fit both you, and the cloth, so usually you have to make adjustments. If you're interested I could show you how a basic pattern looks like. Or answer a few more questions." She shook her head disbelievingly. "I never expected to get caught in an actual battle. I always thought, that I know a lot, but it all seems nearly pointless, when I think of this sorccerer." Sorana Damaya looked up and realized, that she had forgotten to ask something. "Can you imagine to settle down one day?" Sry for that... Cyanic Araha smiled at Damaya's enthusiasm. "Sure! Maybe after training, you can show me." Araha agreed with Damaya's sentiment. "Don't beat yourself up too much over that," she paused, "I think even if I was ready for him, I don't think I could've beat him either." She shuddered at the thought, "but sparks if I wouldn't have tried to anyway." "Settling down huh?" Araha thought that over, "I'm honestly not sure, I don't think I could settle down by myself even with Ran by my side, and I don't even have anyone in mind to settle down with, so right now, I don't think so." Her thoughts went back to the events of yesterday. "It was a good thing that Deras was there yesterday..." she trailed off, looking at the Waystop, where Deras seemed to be arranging piles of armor and disposing of corpses. He was a strange and interesting man, "what do you think of him? Der-- I mean, the Lifeless that helped us out yesterday?" She cut herself off as she realized that Damaya might not even know his name yet. no problem! Sorana Damaya shot a look over to the Lifeless. "You're interested in a Lifeless????" Cyanic At Damaya's question, Araha's face turned almost bright red. "What?! No! Nononono, that's not what I meant!" She laughed nervously, "No, I meant what do you think of him in general! Like trustworthyness and all that!" She laughed again. But wasn't she though? I mean... She thought, then shook her head. No, Araha! That's just one of those being attracted because you were rescued deals, it's nothing much. She thought to herself. Sorana "Oh - that." Damaya eyed her suspiciously, but let the topic slip aside. "I don't know him. So it's hard to really form an opinion. But I think he's scary to be honestly. I mean, technically he's dead." She plucked out a grashalm and looked thoughtfully at her feet. "Do you think I should change something? My hair colour, get a tatoo, I don't know." Cyanic "I see what you mean." Araha said, nodding and letting her face cool down, "but I've actually talked with him, and he seems to be able to think like a regular person. Though yeah, he is really intimidating." At Damaya's next line of questions, Araha responded: "Where'd this come from? Did you think of someone that you wanted to impress?" She teased, "ooh maybe you're the one interested in him, seeing as how you asked that after we just mentioned him?" She gestured over at the Lifeless before laughing hard. "I'm sorry, just joking," she said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder, "I think you look great as you are now! And besides, if you ever wanted a tattoo, you can ask Corundum to crawl up your arm." She chuckled Araha let a moment pass and it was her turn to lie on the grass, "how long are you planning to stay in the Waystop?" Sorana Damaya rolled her eyes. "I'm not interested in him. Definitly not. I'm not even sure if I want someone so close to me. I feel better when men keep their distance. It's stupid, but I always look for a raised fist." She sighed and then der to answer the next question: "I decided to leave them and yet - everything is the same. But I'm not sure if I want to stay the same. I want to be brave and strong. Just like you are. That's where it comes from. As for my stay here. I don't know yet. It's not like I can go somewhere else. I'll stay at least until the training is finished. And you?" Cyanic "I see, that's understandable." Araha nodded. Hopefully in time, they'd manage to work her out of that discomfort. Araha smiled that Damaya saw her as brave and strong. "Damaya, you can be brave and strong without changing what you look like, but I understand what you mean. Let's make a deal, later on, you dress me up in cute clothes, and I'll dress you up in badass ones!" She said still with a smile, "a little later in the day though, I've got a few plans around the Waystop this afternoon." "Well, like I said, you can come with me if you want to! After here, Master recommended I visit the Hall of Legends, learn something from the past heroes." Her smile slowly faded, "but..." she drew her lips into a line, "I don't think we can go wherever we want if there are people targeting you," She breathed deep, "I may just need to get to the bottom of this, and to do that, I'll need to go to the house you grew up at." She looked at her friend, "don't worry though, you don't have to come along for that," she said with a smile, "I just need to know where it is." Sorana "No." Damaya said quietly and the word hung there for a moment. "I won't let you go on your own. I'll come with you." "My parents were lowly nobles, living on the Shattered Plains. I was born there actually, since they couldn't afford to send my mother home and hire someone in her place. But a few years later we all moved to the coast, as my father was allowed to leave and look after his estate. It was small, but it was ours. I spent hours upon hours swimming in the sea, walking along the coast." She fell silent. "I heard of a city close to the sea. It is said to be very beautiful. Maybe we could go there sometime. I'd love to see an ocean again." Cyanic "I wasn't planning to go alone." Araha sighed, she probably couldn't convince Damaya to not come with her. "but yeah, alright, though we'll need to teach you how to get better at defending yourself if you're gonna be in harm's way." "After all this, yeah let's go visit the ocean. I've never been there myself, so it'd be a new experience." She said with a small smile. Araha laid back onto the soft grass, just appreciating the breeze and relaxing, and because she was out of questions to ask. Sorana Damaya laid down next to her, smiling and doing nothing. It really was a beautiful day. Cyanic After a while of lying down, Araha thought of something. "Hey, can I call you by a nickname?" She asked, still lying down, "You can call me Ara if you'd like!" Sorana "Sure, Ara." She answered, trying out the nickname. It felt different, personal and good, really good. "Although I never had one, so you have to make one up." Grinning she turned her head and looked at Araha expectantly. Please not Maya. That one's reserved for Adolin's sword. I only realized after naming Damaya how close her name is, although I did take it from a book. Cyanic XD alright, that was actually exactly what I was going to go for, Araha smiled when Damaya called her by the nickname. "Hmm..." she mulled over a good nickname for her friend. "Dam...? No, that's weird. Maya? No, some voice in the back of my mind's telling me that's not it either..." "Oooooh, what about 'D'? Simple, kinda cool, what do you think?" Sorana Maya is predestinated. That's why I mentioned it. But I don't want my character be named after two different characters, one a dead spren. But I have no real idea what would be good either. "I'm not sure..." Damaya answered a bit reluctantly. Using only her first letter? That reminded her of a certain organisation with an Agent 007. "Danny is to far away?" She asked and her a short impression of her narrator sitting cluelessly on a brach. "Maybe May? With an "a" like in apothecary?" That's really nothing I thought about. You got me there… Cyanic "Yeah," Araha thought about it, "yeah! That works actually, that's one of the names that passed through my head," She smiled, "May. Maybe spelling it with an 'i' too, like 'Mai'? I dunno," Sorana "Then Mai." She grinned. "Mai." She tried it out again. It sounded strange and it would take some time to get used to it. But it was hers. "That's cool." Coru buzzed next to her and shaped himself into a whirl of lines, hovering in front of them. "I like it." He announced and one of his lines tapped Araha's hand, with a slight spark jumping over at the touch. Nothing painful, just a little tickle. Cyanic "Heh, that tickles," Araha chuckled, retracting her hand. Come to think of it: "Ran, you've been mostly quiet. Are you alright?" Ran turned into a woman, but a small one, floating above Araha so she could see her face. "Yes, I'm alright," she had a sincere smile. Araha chuckled, "then what's with your smile?" "I'm just happy, that's all." Ran said, glancing at both Araha and Damaya, then wordlessly turned back into a hair clip, floating onto Araha's hair. Sorana Damaya smiled at Ran, but pointedly ignored Coru. Her spren sighed after a while and turned back into bis usual letters. He then disappeared out of her sight. Damaya relaxed gradually. His mass of lines were unsettling at least, almost terrifying. Depending on how good she felt. Thankfully, she felt really good right now. "What does it feel like to fly?" She asked quietly, although something intense resonated in her words. She had dreamed of flying for such a long time, the birds, the sky, her daydreams offering an escape. Especially when she was unable to read. Cyanic "Oh, are you asking me?" Ran asked in hair clip form, but turned into a small woman, "I don't know really, it doesn't feel much different since this is what I'm always used to. It's natural to me, maybe like walking if I were human." Ran said, floating over to Damaya so she could make eye contact with her. Sorana Damaya nodded thoughtfully. "I always imagined that it's beautiful. Exhilarating. But I guess it's true. When you do it regularly, it's nothing special anymore. And I'm not even sure if the same rules apply to you, than to us." Hesitating she added: "How is it for you to bond a human? What does it mean?" Cyanic "Well," Ran drifted upward, still small, "objectively, it means us spren gain sapience and the person we bond to gains the ability to use the surges, and a little something... more once both our bond with the human grows and when they're ready..." "Oh stop being coy, Ran. I know you guys turn into shardblades!" Araha commented as an aside. "Whaaaaaaat? Noooooo, we don't do that!" Ran said as she subtly drifted away from Araha with a smile, and turned back toward Damaya, "but anyway, a bond is much more than just that. I think it's most about trust, from both of you. The spren trusts the human not to break their oaths —in my case at least— and the human trusts the spren to give them abilities when they need it." Araha stayed quiet. She knew what Ran meant by trusting the human, it's not as bad now as when they Radiants started to return, but a spren was still risking a kind of death whenever they bonded with a human. Some shardblades were just dead spren. That may have been why Ran disliked Deras. Sorana Damaya fell silent, and pushed herself up, until she was sitting. Trust. The bond was about trust. "So Coru trusted me, when he accepted that oath?" She asked no one in particular, maybe even herself. He trusted her. She looked over at Araha and Ran and suddenly felt alone, lost. He trusted her. But she had done nothing to earn that trust, to be worthy of it. "Yes." A voice whispered behind her. "I trust you. You will find a way." Life before Death. Strengh before Weakness. Journey before Destination. She had spoken the words and she had meant them at that time. But still, had she really followed through? The answer was obvious and painful. Damaya looked at Araha, and the woman Stil smiled. She looked at the smiling Ran and at Coru, who covered behind her back. A journey. Maybe taking a first step would be easier than she thought. "So without a bond you're not sentinent? How do you decide who to bond?" That just turned to serious character development. I tried to keep it low and will write a CDS for her. Cyanic Araha had noticed before that Damaya didn't seem to really like Corundum at least not as much as Araha liked Ran. She sat up beside her friend, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah. You'll get there, Mai. Small steps." Araha said quietly and smiled at her, "we believe in you," she said. Ran continued floating by. "Yes, without a bond we go stupid, at least for honorspren, I'm unsure for other types. As for who we choose, it's mostly just a feeling. At least, that's how I chose Ara. I felt that she was the right person to choose. It's the similarity in perspectives, I think," Ran drifted closer to Damaya's ear and spoke quietly, almost a whisper, cautious of accidentally bringing up Araha's past. "She was always one to want to help pretty much anything that needed help, I was around since before we bonded, I was still dumb back then, but I can still remember it." She looked over at Araha. "Even before she was taken in by Master Soren, even before... her parents, you know... she showed promise and I bonded with her as a child. We practically grew up together." Ran smiled, remembering good memories. "Hey, what're y'whispering about over there?" Araha called from where she sat. "Just things." Ran replied. Araha pouted, "Alright." ooh, I'm actually looking forward to reading that CDS :oo Sorana Damaya nodded slightly to show that she had heard, but didn't offer any reply. "I bonded Coru when I was seven." She told them. "But I don't think I really understand what I did, what the words meant. Or maybe I did but lost that insight somehow." Smiling she leaned. "When I see the both of you together, that's like a completely different thing. You seem to fit so well, it's great. Like a friendship but much deeper. And well, maybe I'll reach that point, too." "You said you wanted to do something this afternoon. What is it? She then inquiered after a short break. Don't know when I'll write that CDS though. I need a lot of time for anything longer on mobile. Cyanic ah ok, that's alright Araha nodded with a smile at her statement, then at Damaya's question, she perked up. Mostly only due to the context of a topic from earlier in their conversation. "I uhh... I'm gonna talk to the Lifeless man more, I'm just curious about how he works and I just have an idea for him. Yeah. One of my own hobbies is studying and talking about Investiture, so how he works really interests me." she said as casually as she could since Damaya probably suspected that Araha had a crush on the man. And I don't! Araha yelled in her mind, her face felt warm, hopefully she wasn't blushing. She also wanted to change the subject herself, but she really couldn't think of other questions. Sorana "I see..." Damaya answered and then let the topic slide aside. Araha wasn't comfortable with it, that she could see. "Would you rather visit a star or the sun?" We'll stay in the same place for two nights from Monday on, before we Start travelling again. So if my husband sleeps in, that would be perfect for the CDS. I'll tell you when it's done. Cyanic "Master Soren told me that the sun and stars are the same thing, the stars are just farther away, I dunno much about astronomy," she chuckled at her next thought, "and apparently that they're all balls of fire or something like that. I'd probably prefer to not visit any of them," she chuckled again. She turned to Damaya, "also, I'm sorry for making you ask all the questions yourself, I can't think of any anymore," she chuckled, "I guess I'm bad at extended conversations." ah alright, nice nice Sorana Damaya laughed. "It's fine. I'm nearly out of questions myself. Do you know if that bond can be broken, though?" Cyanic "Yes." Ran said, her voice slightly sad, drifting backward and toward Araha. "It's okay, Ran," Araha called out, "I can explain it to her, y'might wanna head somewhere though if you're not comfortable with it. You too, Corundum." "It's alright. I'll stay." Ran replied. Araha nodded then looked at Damaya, "they don't like to talk about it, but yes, a bond can be broken," Araha paused, looking at Ran who nodded at her. Araha explained how some non-surgebinder shardblades were spren that have died because their Knight's Radiant broke their oaths. Sorana Damaya felt sick listening to Araha explaination. Killing Coru. That wasn't an option. Despite everything he still was a lifeline she clung to. So the Blades everybody fought over were dead spren. She fell silent, contemplating what Araha had told her. Cyanic Araha could imagine what Damaya probably felt when she was told that information. The first time she heard that she was horrified. Corpses being as sought after as scarce resources, it wasn't as bad anymore at least, back when surgebinding started re-emerging on Roshar, Ran had told her that spren weren't even allowed to come to the physical realm barring a few exceptions. "Don't worry too much about it, Mai," Araha said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder then retracting, "we'll be special since we'd have shardblades that actually wanna be shardblades," Araha made a joke, trying to defuse the slight tension. Sorana "They want to?" Damaya replied, thinking about the words. "So they will become thinking, sentinent swords?" Sry for the tons of questions. Damaya simply has no clue (also due to her own doing) Cyanic it's okay, don't be sorry for RPing! c: "I'm not actually too sure yet," Araha said as she looked at Ran, "they have like an agreement of some kind that they don't talk about this stuff until the human their bonded to is ready. Most of the things I know about these is through books, even Master Soren's knowledge of this was limited," she shrugged, "I do know that shardblade isn't that accurate of a term when referring to living spren since they can take pretty much any shape they want. I think the better term for it is 'shardform,' which sounds badass." Ran nodded and frowned in agreement, the term was indeed badass. Sorana Damaya grinned at this display of a shared opinion. She would see what happened, if she ever reached that point herself. Carefully she extended a hand towards Coru and silently asked him to come over. That was the second time in two days. But still, when she saw Ran and Araha they showed her another way, another possibility. Coru flowed over and looked at her hand, staying out of reach. "I still believe in her, I have to. I bonded her. If I stop to believe in her, who will do it?" He asked Ran, so quietly, that the humans couldn't hear it. His voice sounded hurt, disheartened. "You saw her face during these last minutes. Do you think she understood it? About the oaths and what they mean?" Cyanic Ran shrank even smaller so she could speak with Corundum properly. "There's a reason you chose her, like there's a reason I chose Araha. Even if we don't know that reason, and maybe we won't ever know that reason, it's still there." The honorspren and Cryptics used to have some sort of rivalry back then, she never really took part in that, and now that everything was more loose, they didn't have any reason to have feuds anymore. "She will, she probably already does, I don't know much about Damaya, but she seems a good person, just marred by a terrible past. Believe in her just a while longer, humans are surprising, and she may end up surprising you," she reached out to pat Corundum on the shoulder, only to realize he had none of those, so she awkwardly retracted her hand. Oh dear, she was adopting some of Araha's behaviour. "Anyway," she looked up at Damaya, "your Radiant is calling you," she said to Corundum, smiling. Sorana Coru imitated a nod. "You are strong, faithful. Thank you for answering her questions." He observed and then he followed his humans command. While he wraped himself around her arm, from her shoulder down to her hand he buzzed slightly to let her know where he was. He kept one tendril outside if her sleeve, to observe what was going on. His human pretended, that nothing had changed and so he settled down. Thinking. Was this a step in the right direction, or was she moving backwards? Only time could show. Oblivious to her spren's worries Damaya laid her arm down on her knees. She would try to keep Coru close, her to know him. Maybe that would help with the rest. "We are all expected to fight, sometime." She stated quietly. "That seems unreal." She then fell silent, out of questions herself. Cyanic "Yeah," Araha said, "but I don't think having a spren has anything to do with that. If I didn't have Ran around, I probably would still try to help people out as much as I can. I dunno, maybe no one really expects us to fight, the spren just bonded to those that would have fought regardless, y'know?" Araha, laid back down, contemplating her own words, they both seemed to be out of questions, so she just let the breeze relax her. Sorana Damaya thought about the words. They felt right. Would she have woken up one das and decided to leave without Araha? Would she still be sane without Coru? It's was fuitile thinking, but the idea, that she would have fought despite everything felt great. Really great. It made her feel stronger somehow. "Maybe." She replied and then sat up. "Could I braid your hair? Only a part on the side?" Cyanic Araha sat up as well, "Sure! I've never had my hair braided, but I think I'd look pretty with a braid. I can't return the favor though, I don't know how to braid," Araha said, putting a hand on the back of her neck. Sorana "I could show you." Damaya offered and started to braid Araha's hair. It really looked good on her. "Could you attach yourself there, Ran?" She asked the spren. "That would add a nice, final touch." Cyanic "Yeah sure, that way I can return the favor," Araha said. Ran smiled and nodded. Darting around then shifting into her hair clip form, attaching herself on Araha's hair. Araha also smiled, feeling at the braid. She turned to Damaya, "does it look good?" she asked. Sorana "It looks really good. I wish we had a mirror here for you to look into." She paused, looking for a description. "Your eyes come out more and it looks really cute. And you don't have to worry about your hair when fighting." Cyanic "Thank you," Araha blushed slightly then chuckled, "let's be glad we don't have a mirror, I might fall in love with myself." She joked. She was going to keep the braid until at least before she slept, hopefully if they went to the bathhouse the braid wouldn't get loose. "I don't worry about my hair when fighting really," she said, "I actually used to have longer hair, I put it into a tail when practicing, when Ran and I began our journey, I cut my hair. Kinda symbolic and all that stuff," she chuckled, "but also pretty practical." Sorana "You absolutely would." Damaya grinned and then opened her bag. She had some threads in there, as she had made a habit of taking her current embroidery project with her. Choosing three different colours, all somewhere around Araha's favourite she cut three threads off ane held them up. "For braiding you start with three strands or threads." She knotted the strands thogether. Keeping the know she held it out to Araha. "You put one trand over the other und then repeat in the other side." She explained how to braid, showed it and coached Araha to do it by herself. Cyanic Araha eventually got the hang of it, her face focused. "I think I got it," she turned to Damaya, "lemme return the favor now!" She shifted her seating so that she was in a good and comfortable position to start braiding her friend's hair this time. Sorana Damaya nodded and quickly brushed her hair before turning around. "Here you are." "I can't imagine to cut my hair. I love the way it falls down, the feel of it in my arms and my back. Without it, I don't know. That wouldn't be me anymore." Cyanic Araha laughed, as she begun to braid. "I don't think a haircut would change your whole identity!" She said with a smile, "but I understand what you mean. It felt strange when I first cut it, but I got used to it eventually," for her first try at braiding, she was doing a decent job, she finished after a while, not as quickly as Damaya did though, "there we go!" Araha called out, signalling that she finished. Sorana Damaya wrapped a piece of sat in around the lower end and secured it with a knot. Feeling along the braid she nodded. "Feels good. Regular." She crossed her legs and fetched her embroidery project. It kept her hands occupied while they talked. "Maybe it doesn't change your identity, but it is definitly something I define myself with. A Damaya with short hair wouldn't be me. But they are really impractical and take much time to care for." Cyanic "Ah I see, self identity." Araha said with a nod, "yeah, shorter hair is much easier to maintain, less surface to wash and brush." Araha herself didn't bother much with self identity, she knew who she was, she liked helping people even though deep down she was wounded and afraid. Her strength and bravery, as Damaya had called it, wasn't a facade, it was real and it helped her push through the fear. She needed for her desire to help to be stronger than her specific fear. Maybe she could tell Damaya about it? She'd already told Araha much about herself, and she trusted Damaya, almost as much as Master Soren and Ran. No, she didn't want to dive deep into her depths, and dig the buried and drowned memories out. Not yet. But she wanted to open up to her friend, just a little bit, she chose her words carefully so as not to revive the drowned memories. "Mai," she begun, curling her legs up and hugging them near her, "I have... memories of my parents..." It was hard, but she fought down the images back into the depths. Just the context, just the superficial things, no images nor sounds. "I keep the memories drowned under miles upon miles of depths," the metaphor was something she'd never really thought of using, it just occurred to her one day, "but sometimes," she breathed deep, "sometimes something reminds me of those memories... and they... swim back up," her breathing started to quicken, but she centered herself for now, keeping those breaths under control. "I think I should have dealt with them earlier. Ever since, they're just down there, festering," she stared straight, "I was afraid of facing them, but now I'm afraid of what might happen if I let them swim back to the surface." She curled up tighter, Araha almost didn't notice Ran assuming a woman form and sitting beside her, putting a hand on her back. "I'm... I'm sorry for dumping all this onto you, you don't need more stress!" Araha smiled, she tried to make the smile sincere, but it just came out half-hearted. surprise character development! I didn't plan this, but it felt right. Araha is definitely gonna have to face her repressed memories eventually, and explain exactly what happened. Not yet though! Sorana Character development is great. Damaya set her work aside and gently closed her hands around Araha's, kneeling down in front of her. "Memories are powerfull." She started, choosing her words carefully. She wanted her friend to feel better, not worse. "If you feel like their festering, then you have to face them. Or at least a part of them. Not now, but whenever you are ready." Araha was breathing deeply, just like she herself did. Damaya cursed inwardly, she felt like she wasn't doing a good job here. "I have a lot of memories, I push away, I try to bury. But in the end, the only way to get them to go away is to face them and to accept them." Taking a breath she continued: "Ara, if you want to talk to someone, I'm here. Your own personal expert on how-to-not-face-your-issues. Whenever you're ready, I'll be listening." That sounded better. Out of words she simply hugged Araha, pulled her close. Cyanic Always! Araha hugged back, tightly. Tears began to form and she let them stream, though she didn't sob. Having friends felt great. "Th-thank you." She said, chuckling a bit amid the stuttering and the tears. Ran stood to the side, smiling, and begun shrinking again. She was right. They both had demons they needed to face, when the time came, hopefully, they'll face it together. "Thanks." Araha repeated again, she used one of her hands to wipe some tears and sniffed. She let the hug dwell for a moment, before pulling back. "Thanks." She repeated yet again, "Eheh, that's the third time I've said that," she wiped her face of tears both from the eyes and those that made it to her nose, "ugh, gross." She commented with a sniff then laughed. Sorana Damaya laughed and handed Araha a handkerchief. "You can say that as often as you want to." She said quietly and laid a hand on Araha's shoulder, imitating the gesture her friend used so often. "I mean it, when I say that I'll be here. If I can ever help you with anything, just ask and I will do anything I can do to support you." Her voice was earnest, sounded almost solemn, but her eyes were warm, showing nothing but an honest affection. Cyanic Araha received the cloth and wiped her eyes on it there wasn't much tears anymore anyway, so the handkerchief ended up fairly dry. "Th-" Araha hesitated realizing that this would be the fourth time she'd said it, but that was alright. "Thanks," Araha smiled her usual genuine smile now, "And that goes both ways!" she said, handing the cloth back, "we're friends, and friends help each other out," she grinned at Damaya. Sorana Damaya carefully pocketed the handkerchief and returned Araha's smile. Friends. She had read about friendship, but this was something else entirely. ===== Coru headed over to Araha and whispered in her ear. In contrast to Araha his human seldom paid much attention to his movements. "Would you mind if I borrowed Ran for a moment?" Cyanic "I uhh... sure," Araha said, then corrected herself, "I mean go ahead," she didn't know why he asked, but her confusion turned into a mischievous grin as Ran in her smaller form flew down and near Corundum. "Yes?" The honorspren asked the Cryptic. "You two lovebirds have fun." Araha said with a laugh. "Ara. Ara, no." Ran said, but at seeing Araha's smirk remain, she sighed and went with Corundum. Sorana Damaya watched them leave and had to laugh. "Lovebirds." She set back on her feet. "Their children would definitly look funny." Still laughing she hugged Araha again. ========== Coru put some distance between them and their silly humans. Not that it was bad to hear her laughing, but that idea was unimaginable. He would never, ever, not with an Honourspren - with no spren. "What do you so when your," He corrected himself "When Araha gets like this? How do you her her mit, her her to keep going?" He asked. "I tried so much, but still she hates me. I am not sure If I so it right. You seem to achieve better results. Is there a certain technique you use?" I figured spren can get sad, too. If that's too human in your opinion I can edit. I was a bit unsure about the whole part. But I felt like Syl and Pattern were pretty human, too. At least in OB. Cyanic It makes sense that they'd have these kinda emotions since they're pretty much thoughtform or like cognitive reflections of the inhabitants of Roshar, and most sapient races on Roshar, (not just the human ones, even non-humans, like Parshendi and the Aimians) have similar emotions to each other, so their cognitive reflections would also probably have these emotions, so it's alright Araha was surprised by the sudden hug, "whoa, hey," she laughed, returning the hug. Damaya was usually a sad person, so seeing her like this was nice. "Yeah, if spren can have kids they'd look really interesting," she replied to the joke. *** "I just stay around," Ran replied, "put a hand on her shoulder, sometimes even hug her. Though, I don't seem to need to do that now," she smiled as she looked back to where Damaya and Araha were, "sometimes Araha would ask me something and I answer her," she paused, thinking. "It must be hard though, honorspren are very similar to humans, so I had an easier time when I bonded with Araha," she paused again, "regardless, I've heard of Cryptics having a good relationship with their Radiant, so it may be difficult, but not impossible," she said, trying to reassure Corundum, "humans are different, what might work for Araha might be different for Damaya. I don't know much about your human, though from what I observed, when she's like that, you may just need to comfort her by being around without being intrusive." "I'm sorry, I don't have have all the answers." She concluded. Sorana Frustrated Coru whirled on the ground, then stood still. "Thank you." He started his reply, to make clear, that he was glad for Ran's answer and time. "Hugging seems to work." He observed and nodded more to himself. "I'll try that the next time." Quieter he added: "I want her to become better. But I am unsure if what I am doing is right. It is hard for me to understand her moods. There is no pattern, no logic behind it. Sometimes it changes in the blink of an eye." Cyanic "From what Master Soren taught us, humans do have patterns and logic, just extremely complex and unpredictable ones. Perhaps hugging might not be the best course of action yet," Ran voiced her concern, "maybe creating a mutual, comforting action that only you two share would work? That way, you have a pattern you can follow when Damaya needs it, and she wouldn't feel any negative feelings over this action since it's unique." "As for what the action would be though, I don't know. That's something you need to find out yourself." Sorana "A pattern..." Coru replied intrigued. A pattern was something familiar, something he could work with. Work out a pattern and follow it, when she was unwell. That was great, perfect. No guessing her emotions, no trying to understand what she needed. She could simply tell him when and how. And in the best case, she did it, before she had fallen down and called his full name. "That will work." He decided enthutiastically. "Thank you, Ran. Let's go back? Or do you have any questions?" Cyanic "No questions." Ran nodded. "Let's head back, though if you need advice again, don't hesitate to ask me, or even Araha if you can," she concluded then flitted back to where Araha and Damaya were, who seemed to be having fun. It made her happy to see her 'sister' like this. *** Araha noticed Ran come back. "So how'd it go?" Araha asked, mischievous smirk returning, before adding in a loud whisper, "did you do the nasty?" Araha couldn't stop herself and she laughed. Ran bumped into Araha's cheek with force enough to be felt, "Ow," Araha said still laughing, "yeah, I probably deserve that," she said, putting a finger on Ran's small cheek. Sorana Laughing Damaya extended a hand towards Coru. "What did you talk about?" She asked, her curiousity winning over her reluctance. When Coru didn't reply and simply wraped himself around her arm, she grabbed at hin with a finger. "Coru? Since when are you keeping secrets from me?" Still no reply, only a slight buzz. "That's a joke?" She could have sworn he laughed at her and he still kept quiet. She was about to snap at him, when she heard bis laughing voice. "You don't have to be jealous. You'll always be my human." That shut her up for up. Jealous?? Although she could have sworn, that Coru showed Ran his spren-aquivalent of a thumbs-up. Cyanic Ran nodded at him wordlessly, which Araha noticed. "Sparks. You guys did do the 'nasty'!" Araha said with feigned shock, "I didn't know you were so promiscuous, Ran!" She laughed. Araha didn't know if spren used certain acts for pleasure like humans do, or even that spren reproduced like humans, but logic and possibility were thrown out the window in favor of good jokes and teasing. "We did," Ran began, a smirk crept onto her face, "and it was fantastic." Hopefully Corundum was alright with the her lying at his expense, it was for the sake of jokes! She'll apologize later, "at the least I'm honest with my feelings," Ran continued, "unlike some people, specifically those whose names start with 'A'," Araha had a look of pondering, suspicious of where this was going, but still curious. They've bantered like this in the past, Ran always winning out in these exchanges when she wanted to, but now would be different, Araha would win this time. "What do you mean...?" Araha said, still suspicious, and trying to think of good comebacks. "Well," Ran was confident in herself, "I'm saying you should be honest with your feelings for a certain someone too." She concluded, it was a gamble, she wasn't really sure if Araha had a definite crush on anyone currently, but if she did, that would deal the final blow. Araha gradually, but quickly turned red. "I-I said I don't have a crush on him!" She blurted out. Checkmate. Ran turned back into her woman form, making herself as solid as she could and gave Araha a hug while chuckling. "I'm just joking with you, Ara!" Araha covered her red face with her hands, "I'm sorry," Ran said as she laughed, though they were going to discuss who this 'him' was later on. "Ran, how could you?" Araha said, a smile creeping onto her lips. She'd lost again, utterly so. "Well, you dealt the first blow, so I had to retaliate." Ran said with a chuckle, even with all that joking, she'd never lost her air of maturity, "and besides, I couldn't help myself. It's just adorable seeing my little 'sister' like this." She tightened her hug, her semi-tangible cheek pressing against Araha's own. Araha couldn't help but chuckle, then looked at Damaya, "Mai, help me out here," she said with mock-pleading. Sorana "Help you out?" Damaya grinned. "It's more like we need to have an honest and open conversation. So who is this guy?" She asked, hoping that Araha wouldn't angry at her for asking. Cyanic "Noooo!" Araha's face turned red again, "You misunderstand, I don't have a crush on him!" Ran let go of Araha, "Ara, Damaya didn't mention anything about you having a crush." "She... didn't?" Araha turned to Ran who was smiling, but not in a mischievous way this time, more in a 'what am I going to do with you' way. Araha turned back to Damaya, face still red, "Let's be clear that I don't have a crush on this guy, it's just that Ran caught me off guard, okay?" She sighed, she wasn't even that sure about that statement. "Even so, I'm just reluctant to talk about this because it's weird, I'm weird. You'll just think I'm weird for this!" And she did not want that, she liked being friends with Damaya. She wasn't even sure why she was so flustered with this topic, she chalked it up to Deras' actions and being saved by him, but it was Dayne that saved her physically and directly, not Deras. Though if he wasn't there, who knows how that situation would've ended? she tried to justify to herself. Why would she even consider any sort of feeling other than fear for an actual reanimated corpse? Well his spikes aren't even that obvious, and he's really well muscled... and he isn't bad looking... she thought. Dayne was alright looking too, but she didn't feel anything strong for him. Maybe she was just a deviant that was attracted to strange things? Maybe it was because he was the first person of the opposite sex that wasn't a father-figure that she really conversed with? But then, that didn't make sense, since from her experience, she also liked some women, and she didn't have this kind of feelings toward Damaya, even though she was also attractive. She was getting frustrated with herself. Araha, are you seriously having an existential crisis over this? She thought to herself. The answer was yes. Yes she was. Sorana "Ara? I don't care if you're weird. I am weird myself?" Damaya asked quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to distress you. You can have feelings for whoever you want and it's totally your thing." She pulled back a bit. "Look I never had a friend before and I thought it was okay to say that, but it wasn't and I'm really sorry for that." Looking down she added: "I'll pretend I never heard anything about that." Without meeting Araha's eyes she picked up her embroidery and continued to add another stitch. Inwardly she congratulated herself for puttig off her one and only friend. Cyanic "It's alright," Araha breathed in, "it's not your fault, really," it was this strange situation's fault. If it was anyone else, she'd be happy —though embarrassed and shy— to talk about it. She wasn't even sure about her own feelings yet, so she'll have to pay extra attention to them when she goes to talk with him in the afternoon, or else it was just going to slow her down. She'd had crushes before, and those didn't slow her down, but this feeling was much different from anything she felt when she was back in the village, and her confusion and frustration with that confusion was liable to make her overthink this. She sighed, and put an arm around Damaya to comfort both of them. Sorana Damaya leaned against Araha and closed her eyes, content and happy that Araha wasn't angry with her. She felt safe and that was so sacre, that she tried to memorize everything about the situation, every single detail. A good memory for her collection. Cyanic aww, they're already starting to make new, better memories that Araha said they would c:> Araha also leaned in, her confusion and frustration evaporating. It felt nice to be hug someone that was fully corporeal. And while she was content to just stay like that for a while, she thought of topics to continue the conversation. "So, Mai, we talked about Investiture before," Araha began, "you still remember that? Do you wanna know more about the different Investitures? I'm not a scholar, like I said, but I'll do my best." She concluded as she pulled back, but had her arm still around her friend. Sorana "Storing" that memory was vital "Gladly." Damaya shuffeled a bit around, until she could see Araha's face better. She was carefull to keep the arm around herself. This was nothing she would give up so soon, not when Araha was willing to keep the contact. She savoured every second of it, probably more than Araha expected. Comforting personal contact had been so rare in her life, that it was something she really treasured. "These Aons. What do you know about them?" Cyanic Araha shifted her seating so that she was physically comfortable even with her arm around Damaya. A spark in her eyes lit up as her interest in Investitures came again. "I'm not as well verses with those as I am with surges and like allomancy, but I do know some things." She started explaining that Aons are only one of the many Investitures from Sel and that Sel Investiture apparently comes from energy called Dor. And that they were mostly image-based. She spoke with intrigue and some awe when talking about the amazing reality changing aspects of Dor-based Investiture, even being able to change something's past. She also referenced ChayShan her own fighting style, but told Damaya that Araha couldn't use the ChayShan Investiture since she wasn't fron Sel. "And Aons themselves have a lot of different shapes and forms based on different commands, but sparks do I not remember most of them," she chuckled, "I should really get my own notes since I like studying and talking about Investiture so much." "Anything else you wanna know about Aons or other Investitures? I apparently love these topics and can probably talk about them nonstop for a full day," she joked, then chuckled. Sorana Damaya smiled at Araha's obvious excitment and interest. These Aons, they sounded fascination. Completely different from the whole stormlight part, she was able to use. To draw a sign and it did had an effect, that sounded safe. Predictable. "Of course. Go on. You already mentioned Allomancy earlier. Is there anything you want to add?" Cyanic "Oh there are lots of things I wanna add," she laughed, "Allomancy is more straightforward, and less versatile than surges, but still cool!" "Allomancers are kinda like us surgebinders in that they're limited to their specific metal," she paused, "unless they're mistborn, but I'll talk about that later," she added." "There are about a dozen metals with different effects, I'd know them if I see them, but I can't remember all the metals off the top of my head. So I'll definitely need notes." She said, making note about visiting the 'Stop's library and noting down some materials about these once she gets her own notepad. She mentioned that allomancers who can only control one metal are called mistings and the ones she remembered, steel, iron, tin, copper, pewter, bronze, brass, also citing Dayne as an example of a steel allomancer. She also mentioned that she'd forgotten the other metals associated with other effects, but did mention what effects they were such as rioting. "Oh, there's also Atium, which apparently lets the allomancer see into another person's future which is really useful for fighting since it produces shadows of what the opponent is about to do, making it easy to predict. I dunno what that's like though since I'm not an allomancer." "Each of these mistings have names, like steel being 'coinshot' since they can just actually use coins as weapons, but I don't remember all of them" Araha laughed. "Oh I almost forgot," Araha added, "mistborn. I mentioned them earlier. They're allomancers who can burn any of the metals that I've said before, not being limited to only one. So they're really powerful. I wonder if there's a surgebinder equivalent to that," she pondered, "it would be weird though since they probably have to bond ten different spren, or at least five of them." She laughed. "Yup," she nodded to herself, "that's about the extent of my knowledge. You got questions?" She asked Damaya. Sorana And I need to write down what Damaya knows about which investiture "They really need to swallow metal?" Damaya asked and made a grimace. "I bet metal tastes terrible." She thought about Allomancy for a while, but her thoughts returned to Araha's last comment. "Can you even bond more than one spren?" Cyanic "I'm... not even sure," Araha chuckled, "Ran?" Ran flitted over, small again. "I do not know as well," she turned to Araha, "and it's not a matter of being coy either," she said with a smile. "Well, in any case, that'd be fun if you could, not just for the surgebinding but there'd be a party of spren wherever y'go." Araha laughed, "wait," she realized as her laughs subsided, "that also means the person has the potential to have like five to ten shardblades! and they'd be bound by so much oaths that I don't think they can properly use their abilities!" She laughed again, she wasn't that sure what the other oaths were, but she suspected that there might be some that contradicted, though she could be wrong. Sorana "And you'd have all these spren to keep happy." Damaya shook her head. "One is absolutey enough." She smiled at Ran and then touched her own arm lightly, acknowledging Coru. Without being able to pin point the exact moment, she had decided, that she wanted their relationship to get better. Araha's and Ran's easy banter left her longig for a Coru she trusted, she could talk to easily without getting sucked in by darkness first. And even she knew that the first step in that direction was to stop ignoring him all the time. "Did you travel far to get here?" Cyanic "Relatively yeah," Araha replied, "The village was farther to this perpendicularity than the Alleycity, so it took about a few days of walking to get here, it was fun though and I actually managed to help someone out!" She said as she remembered that particular story, "you wanna hear about that story? Be warned though, it's probably not the epic story you're already imagining," she said with a laugh. Sorana "Of course!" Damaya looked at her expectantly. Cyanic "So I was near the perpendicularity to here, like a day away. I saw a cottage by a nearby forest and thought to ask if they had extra supplies I could earn by helping around. Good to be prepared, y'know?" Araha shifted positions again, finding another comfortable spot. "Though, I wasn't gonna be annoying if they didn't want me there," she laughed, "to my surprise, there were already some people outside, a man and a woman, I assumed they were married. And they were... or umm, are." "They were looking for something so I thought to ask them if they needed help, I didn't really ask for supplies at that time, and I'm glad I didn't. They told me they were looking for their kid, they were concerned, but they told me not to worry about it since he sometimes came home later. I still told them that I'd go look for the kid, just in case and call him back home. They said yes and I set off into the forest which was the logical place where the kid would be. Ran helped look too, but I saw the kid first, he was stuck on a tree. At first I thought he couldn't climb down, which would've been difficult since I myself didn't know how to climb, I thought about going back to the parents and telling them about the situation, but I tried something before I did. I'd already known I was a surgebinder and the specific surges that I had the potential to do. I also knew the First Ideal, so I spoke them: Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination," She said with a smile, "then," she paused, "nothing happened," she chuckled, "I didn't really mean it or completely understand their meanings like I did when I threw that bomb far away. So that might be why, but anyway, I resolved to go back to the parents, but then I heard a sort of growl noise from around, I looked for it, and found a boar just prowling around the tree. I looked at the kid again, and he seemed to be scared of the boar, so I scared it away. Once the place was clear I looked up at the kid and he was already descending the tree. Turns out he did know how to climb, he was just scared of the boar. We both went back to the cottage, and the parents were relieved. They invited me to dinner, and I gladly accepted. I didn't get more supplies, but that was alright, that stew was fantastic. And yeah, they thanked me, and I thanked them for the meal. That's it, I was on my way after that." She looked at Damaya "I warned you it wouldn't be as epic as you imagine," she laughed. Sorana Impressed Damaya looked at her. "You scared away a boar? On your own? That is fantastic! They are huge and scary and if they feel threatened, then they can get really nasty." Think for a while she proposed: "If you want to, I could tell you about this time in the market. Or wasn't big like a boar but I think I did something good there. " Cyanic Araha laughed, "oh it wasn't anything special, I just jumped out of the brush and I was lucky enough to startle it to make it flee instead of making it charge at me, I dunno how much my combat training would work on something that's not human," she concluded with a chuckle. "Ooh, of course, I'd love to hear about that!" Araha replied. Sorana "It was winter, and it was a hard one. A few houses were are built up and we lived close to a destroyed section of the Alleycity's wall." Damaya stopped herself: "That was before I bonded Coru. I lived on the street back then. We were about seven orphan's at that time. It changed often, some left, some found a family, some died." Her eyes looked somewhere far away. "Foor was rare and the winter had been long. We had scavenged what we could from the abandoned houses, but with the continuing reconstruction it became harder and harder to find something to eat. A boy had brought his little brother along, but the little one in bad shape. We were all hungry, but we feared he might die. So I went to the market, begged for food. What I got wasn't even enough for me. And then there was this woman. She looked rich, had a huge purse hungig at her side. To cut it short, I stole that money. She could afford it, and we really had a problem." Looking down she avoided Araha's glance. "Ever since I made sure to loose a few spheres, or something to eat, whenever I was able to visit the market. Those that survived the war like I did, we are all grown up. But still, there are homeless children. And it was my private revenge for what happened at the house I lived. They have enough money. And it wasn't like it mattered, why the were angry with me." Still looking down she added: "So no bright tale on my part. Sorry, I don't have a lot of them lying around." She tried to joke while she waited for Araha's judgement. Cyanic Araha smiled at her friend when she saw that she might need it. "Hey, it's alright. Stealing isn't good, but so is leaving a kid starve to death," she patted her friend's back, "You made as good a choice as anyone could have in that situation." Sorana "Thank you." Damaya replied and smiled at Araha. "These years on the street are still there. When I enter a room, I check for escapes and I always have some food on me. I never thought that something would have such an huge impact, but it's really deeply ingrained in my bones." Cyanic Araha nodded. "That's not necessarily a bad thing, being more alert and cautious as long as it's not actively making you paranoid, in my opinion," she said. "I have my own habits too, whenever I'm startled, I assume a combat stance instead of just covering my face with my arms. It hasn't come in handy yet, but I think it will if ever it happens!" Sorana "Thank you." Damaya replied quietly. "Your habbit sounds really useful. It will definitly come in handy sometime." She closed her eyes and felt the sun on her face. It was quiet, but below the quiet there was something else. Something darker,something terrible. It turned and turned, endless screams, souls ripped apart. It was close. Snapping her eyes open she jumped up and looked around. Nothing. It was quiet. The sun was warm and comforting, the birds still singing. But somehow the sunlight felt differently from before, almost hollow. Damaya looked around again, rubbed her eyes. Cyanic Araha was about to join Damaya in relaxing but then noticed Damaya suddenly flinch, then look around. "Are you alright?" She asked her friend, curious, with a bit of concern. Sorana "I think so." Damaya replied slowly. Nothing, nithing see. Just this feeling, that something was wrong. It had to be her imagination. Probably just anxiety because of the upcoming training. Cyanic Since it wasn't a concrete 'yes,' Araha's curiosity and concern grew. "What happened? Y'got startled?" She asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. oh man, hinting at what the sorcerer meant by 'dooming this world'? :OO (don't answer, I'm speculating but I don't wanna be spoilered XD) Sorana "Yes. I don't know. Something just feels off. I can't really explain it." She laughed, although it felt and sounded strained. "My imagination running wild. There is nothing here." Maybe xD Cyanic "Well," she kept her hand on Damaya's shoulder, "if you feel anything like that again, you can tell me," she said with a smile, then retracted her hand. "In any case," she glanced to the honorspren who was drifting about idly, "Ran?" With one glance Ran nodded. "I'll scout around, just call me if you need me here. I will hear it." "Got it!" Araha replied with a smile and a thumbs up. With that, the spren flew off, scouting around the Waystop and the peaks in general, looking for anything out of place. Sorana Damaya nodded uncertain. "I will." She promised and hoped, that it wouldn't be neccessary. 2
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