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 Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 5:33 pm
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 10:05 am
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 6:08 pm
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~ A new place with new people~
It was late at night when he awoke, the wind coming down from the mountains cool to his skin and he felt himself shiver. The shifter was still getting use to this cooler climate, and he found himself wrapping his arms around his body before he turned his head to look up at the night sky and at the full moon. A sigh escaping his lips as he wished on the brightest star in the night sky that he had been smart enough to bring warmer clothes.
Trying to ignore the cold which he found was hard to do, the bumps on his skin betraying just how chilled he was. Takoda found himself staring at it at the moon. It seemed larger when there weren't so many tree's blocking your view. Takoda felt his body grow calm, there was some comfort looking at the moon as it helped with his homesickness. The moon was the only thing that was consistent, well that and the sun and reminded him that he was still on the same world. Thinking of home only made him feel more lonely, he wondered if the nondwa was still hanging around, since he wasn't around to give it food he was positive the thing must of left by now. But that was something he shouldn't be worrying too much about. It was a rather large and pesky insect, even if he did save its life.
Thinking over the last couple of weeks of traveling he had met all sorts of people and come to many new lands. Tale had few tree's, most a grassy plains where the rains seem to strip away the days history in a large torrent, if only one in a very long while. Tale had the Leaf Tribe, a proud people who believe in the earth. There he had seen Jac being one of the rather large group, as well that scary girl Takoda had run into once before. Then there were the Alkidikes...well he still wasn't sure why they had come along for the journey, and he only recognized Maya from that tribe.
Even after they had all come together and discussed peace and staying out of each others hair things had remained uneasy amongst them all. Yet there had been no fighting at the most there was only glares tossed back and forth, and the traveling continued until then they had arrived in Sauti and discovered the mountain ranges of purple earth and stone, as well the Wind Tribe people.
Fair haired men and women with pink jewels adorning their bodies and striking blue eyes. From what he had learned about them they were nomads, which meant that they never stayed in one place for a long time. How strange and lucky that he got to meet two of them personally, since...they could of easily been somewhere else. Thinking on the two of the wind tribe members he had met his thoughts first turned to Ayo.
Ayo was...an interesting woman, her interest in him had thrown him off guard perhaps mostly due to the fact that most of the cultures stuck to their own kind...showing interest in the other races seemed to be almost an unwritten fo-paw. Of course he must of been reading into her actions too much, why would she been interested in someone like him? He was too timid to be of much use, and he had no romantic qualities about himself that he could find. No...he must of been mistaken. Ayo must just be a very curious girl is all and he had greatly enjoyed her company. He hoped to find her again and speak to her again. Once he spoke to the elders about why the worshiped the moon anyway. Their discussion about how the stones on their skins must have some sort of symbolism as well the surprise she had received learning that the alkidike women were born from trees had lead to some very interesting discussions.
Then his thoughts turned to Shukri, he was a very curious individual as well. It lead him to wonder if all the Wind tribe members were so curious. Granted they were....what did Shukri call themselves? Ah yes nomads. People who traveled due to a lack of resources. He had to wonder on this, for it meant that the wind tribe had no fixated placed of living, no true sense of 'home'. Though when he had brought it up to Shukri he didn't seem so perturbed at the idea of constantly moving. In fact the idea of staying in one place had seemed weird to him. Shukri had also questioned him about his self sacrificing ways, the way he always worried about other people, and Takoda had no answer for the wind tribe member. After all Takoda couldn't imagine himself not caring about others it almost seemed alien.
Everyone was different and Takoda was learning so much about all the tribes...well...except for the Alkidikes, they seemed like a very independent sort of women ones that didn't want to rely on anyone outside of the tribe. And though they were so distant he had met ...a couple of them. There was Maya that he had still yet to reconnect with, and then Phenyo. Phenyo although had started out rather scary turned out to be very pleasant. The shifter had enjoyed his time speaking with her and after their talk his perception of her race had shifted somewhat. Thinking them as flowers rather than bugs had really helped. Maybe from now on he would be able to have a normal conversation with one of the amazon like women.
Granted they were still rather daunting...being so tall probably didn't help things and their attitude was less than welcoming. All of it stemmed back because they believed that they protected the forest, he had to wonder how that belief started.
Lost in thought the shifter mulled on how each one of the tribes seemed to have a very specific view point, how each one of them had a very different opinion of their gods and the world itself. If one thought too long on it they could be overwhelmed by the arguments and very objective points of view. Every tribe felt that they were in the right, but every one of them had a niggling flaw in their history and legends that pointed out that it perhaps was not one hundred percent accurate.
Thinking of his own people Takoda felt homesick, he missed his little tree dwelling, the simple things he often took for granted but now thought of fondly and nostalgically. He even found himself missing the nondwa that had begun stalking him shortly before he left to go on this adventure. Takoda felt a bit guilty, realizing that perhaps the nondwa may of been alone, and wondering where he went. The shifter had never considered the giant moth to be a pet, but it had basically attached itself to him.
He also missed the resources, despite the large predators food was at least easy to find, in these new lands it was harder and harder to identify plants that were sage to ingest and they had relied on the dried fruits and meats they had brought along with them to make it through their travels. The farther they went the less useful he was feeling to the group. His healing was only useful if they got in a fight, and since everyone was tolerating each other he had no reason to use his magic. Not that Takoda wished for their to be battles or fights amongst the groups, no he would much rather feel useless than to have everyone risking their lives over something stupid or silly.
Blinking the moon had...moved from his line of sight, a sign that a passage of time had flown by despite him being deep in thought. Tilting his head he could see just how far it had moved, and he sighed rubbing his arms trying to warm himself up before he turned his head to look at the broad back that belonged to his friend Chalcedony. He had become a shield bearer, and the weapon/armor sat close by to him. His figure outlined by the dim light the coals of the fire offered Takoda resisted the urge to go and try and share his body heat with the other.
It would be best if he just tried to get some sleep. Perhaps in the morning something new would be going on and his home sickness could be forgotten for a bit longer. Takoda didn't think it would be possible, but he could always hope.
FIN ~ Word Count : 1507 |
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 6:09 pm
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 12:12 pm
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Reserved for solo: My magic...
The shifter was still in a daze, his mind and body numb with confusion over the last couple days of events. The battle in the mountain seemed like a surreal sort of dream, one that included everyone he knew and cared for, but no using the word dream was a cruel joke, nightmare would be more accurate to use for that particular situation.
Before his very eyes a fluid shape yes that creature which had exploded from the earth causing the cave floor to shake and make his whole body feel like it was some trivial bug, had changed his very outlook on himself and on his magic. The memory of it caused goosebumps to form though it could of been easily explained away by the dramatic change in climate and temperature. There were still days he felt that he had to gasp for breath the air feeling very thin in the mountains.
Exhaling the shifter looked to his hands, pausing a moment before he summoned a bit of earth from the ground below his feet. It came to him willingly, like it was eager to be separated from the cold hard packed ground. Defying gravity it floated between his fingers, before he then had it move around his fingers, shifting it, splitting it into small rounded balls and then one larger one. It was like watching a potter work with clay, though this was just regular dirt.
Before he gently placed it back into the place he had lifted if from, he noticed the blemish in the ground beneath him, and as if trying to erase the spot, he placed the mount of dirt back exactly where he had lifted it from. Feeling a little guilty (why even he wasn't sure), he tried to smooth the lump down with his foot, making only a bigger mess as he attempted it. A large sore from where he had pulled the clump of earth from.
Perturbed, although still unsure why, the shifter attempted to summon water, the second form of magic he had turned to. Takoda always found this element to be the easier one to summon and to mold, even if technically it seemed more complicated than moving the earth. The earth was plain and easy to see, water though had to appear out of the air. In the mountains the air was quite cool here so he was happy to find that summoning water flowed rather easily to his finger tips. And after the battle with the monster int he cave he was definitely happy to find his healing magic easier to use. Normally when he used it he found it harder back home, especially in the dry plains of Tale where the air held little moisture to begin with.
Thinking back on the battle many things had come to mind, many things in his memories bothered him. Particularly the fact he had never used his magic offensively before, and just..how he seemed to be doing a lot of damage to the creature than everyone else combined. That, had thrown him off the most. Takoda considered himself a timid and weak person, he hated fighting. The sheer idea of hurting someone, to raise a fist and strike seemed ludicrous coming from Takoda. Despite that it didn't sit right with him, he was in the mess of things, right up alongside everyone else wailing on the poor beast when it had surprised everyone emerging from the floor.
In the end the beast had died, but what had it done to deserve its death? Though guilt riddled him and it hadn't even been him who had dealt the finishing blow that Leaf tribe girl with the hammer had done that. Some part of him felt that it was his fault, after all he had helped contribute to its death. Quite a bit actually.
Takoda supposed he could validate his contribution due to the fact the creature had begun to attack his friends. And Takoda had only been trying to help protect his friends right? In the end, after it had died the group of them had discovered that the creature had killed two of the wind tribe boys, the ones they had been searching for in the first place. It had been a sad discovery, if they had to kill the creature they could of at least found the boys alive...but instead, everyone had to die instead.
The strange thing that Takoda had noticed was that the bodies were still intact, they hadn't been chewed on. At least there were no obvious signs of...them being snacked upon. So it wasn't as if the creature had killed them to eat them, so perhaps they had been wrong in killing it. Takoda admitted that he hadn't exactly gotten close enough to inspect the bodies. Though dead bodies didn't bother him, rotting bodies was quite a different story. It meant that there had been no mourning, no proper burial, that they had most likely starved to death or died of dehydration. A terribly slow death...that ate away at you...and that ..was possibly the saddest thing.
The more he thought on it the more pieces of the puzzle seemed to be missing. How did the kids get there? Did the monster just ...come in passing and had the bad luck of stumbling upon them? They had found that room full of ..treasure, gold and gems and the sort. Which had been a strange sight to his eyes, and though Takoda hadn't taken anything from the room, (a respect to whoever had left it there), he had noticed that not everyone had held the same morals and pilfered what they could. A sad sight to him though it also made him a tad angry.
Realizing that his mind had wandered off topic he shook his head, stretched and then instantly huddled back into a ball. This new place was terribly cold. There was snow, which was very very new to him, and it was a cold discovery especially when one was not wearing the right clothing for such an area, his group had retreated back into the cave they had escaped in to shelter themselves from the wind, and snow.
Having met the representative of the Ice tribe, a blue skinned woman with black hair and intense yellow eyes....those eye's were the kind you couldn't help but look away from. Takoda had found it interested that the Wind tribe leader had known the Ice tribe woman. Since they had come...a rather unrealistic way through the mountains he figured there there must be a more direct route through. A path...of perhaps a well worn trail that connected one place to another.
That was an interesting idea, for if the Ice and Wind tribe got along...didn't that mean that the Leaf, Shifters and Alkidike could get along as well? Though their own history was wrought in blood, wars and death, they were trying to change things weren't they? Tthat was the reason for them getting together right? For working towards a common goal.
Takoda watched as his breath fogged up before his face, a mere whim and that condensed into a globe of water, no bigger than a small stone, playing with it he found himself going back to the subject in hand. Literally.
The magic he wielded had the power to heal and to hurt. The shifter didn't like that his magic could hurt people, though he had a strong feeling that he would probably hold back his magic if he was fighting a humanoid opponent, but what would he do if he found himself in a situation where he HAD to defend himself? Or someone else? Takoda had never seen himself a someone who could protect others, or himself and to be presented with the idea that he could do something...could make a difference it...made him feel...strange.
Was he proud of what he was able to do? No. Proud wasn't the right term. to be honest he was more frightened than anything. What if...he couldn't control his magic? What if it got out of control? What if he killed someone by accident? The idea that he could possible kill someone by using his magic was a fearful thought, and it chilled his blood more than any cold wind was able to.
No. Takoda would make sure that it never happened. Even if he had to stop using his magic he would make sure that he didn't kill anyone. Feeling someone more at ease, he smiled slightly as he played with the ball of water in his hands. He could do very wonderful things with water, healing....healing without the aid of plants...gauze.....splints..it was...like every healer's dream. To knit bones back together, to stop the flow of blood almost instantly, to ease fever ...the things you could use his magic to help rather than hinder was....limitless.
Takoda had to admit that even if he was afraid of hurting someone with his magic, being able to heal ...was like easing a burden of his mind.
FIN ~ Word Count: 1563
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:45 pm
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:16 am
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:18 am
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