Laguna Training

Minerva's feet hung from the crudely unnatural cliff. The great constructs of the ancient wars had piled the wreckage high enough for her to climb and watch the rising sun. Perhaps it was dangerous, and stupid, but with impending Kou siege on the capitol, she felt the strange need to pull herself from the confines of the walls and greet the day as she had so many times before, and yet like she had seen it for what it was.

She wasn't the same girl that was struggling to construct a simple lighting bolt from her own rukh, nor was she the same girl that viewed the rukh as a tool and nothing more. it was an extension of herself and a link to everything with spirit, living or passed. Each action she took a communication and agreement, not an order, and she found herself feeling more and more driven each day. Her gaze drifted towards the horizon, the soft, amber glow of the rising sun painting it's tinge across the deep blanket of the night sky. The constellations evaporated as the light of the morning slowly engulfed the sky around her, the gentle change in hue sweeping across the heavens.

She followed the cascade of colors across the expanse, her eyes drifting back to the city she called home, starting with the wealth-ridden "palaces" of those that governed the populace. Her eyes narrowed, the amethyst irises partially veiled behind her lids, her lips distorting into a sneer. She knew a few people in positions of wealth that didn't disgust her, but the majority of them were elitist hoarders in her eyes. Her thoughts drifted to her parents, and the life they had wanted for her. She gathered up the phlegm within her throat in the most unseemly manner she could muster before spitting the coagulated projectile as far in the direction of her previous abode as she could.

The idea disgusted her. Everything about the idea of a life spent for one's self disgusted Minerva to no end, and nothing about what they had tried to force her into was what she longed to be. She'd left for a reason, after all, and it certainly wasn't because life in the outskirts was easier. Her hands tightened around the staff as the anger and resentment began to seethe within her, her knuckles going white for nearly a minute before she unclenched her fists, the restored blood flow to her hands causing a soreness in her joints. She growled, the fluttering rukh around her was stained blacker with each passing second.

She exhaled, the calming breaths bringing her back to her serene state. Her hand held itself to the cool metal of the shrapnel pile she had perched on, her legs swinging over the edge as she pushed herself upright, dropping down onto the ledge beneath her. Her gaze trained itself back onto the city as the wind picked up, the breeze rushing through her hair casting the prismatic highlights in fluctuating patterns.

I know who I chose to be. Her mind was calm, and utterly immovable. Her cloak whipped around her as the gust picked up, each second passing leading to an even clearer determination of where she would stand when the events were over. She wanted no part of the safety her parents would force her into. She had a gift, and she would be damned if anyone would keep her from giving it to the most worthy cause she could think of.

WC: 584/1000

The sun stood high above the contorted stone and metal ruins strewn across the plains of the Western Front. To an outsider the Wreckage was nothing but a mere dump for things beyond their years and old stone ruins, but to those who knew the Wreckage held information far beyond it's years, and even a secret to be stumbled upon. The young sorceress was no longer concerned with what truths the scattered shrapnel and dilapidated structures offered. What she wanted wasn't something that could simply be accrued through a sudden epiphany. She wanted to better herself, and she wanted to prove that she wasn't the little girl that needed to hide behind others anymore.

She raised her staff, pulling the rukh around her into a singing fury as the current of her arcane inclination began to flow. The lighting began to condense, sparks around the head of the staff pulling closer and closer, the cacophonous symphony of the electrically charged rukh swelling with each passing second. The black and white swarm of the magical birds seemed to paint the notes of a grand symphony across the spell that the young sorceress had been constructing.

This is my composition. My symphony. Her lips break into a smile, the channel suddenly expanding as her sonata reached it's zenith. She knew somehow that the black that had begun to file into her rukh wasn't filled with the hatred and malicious intent that the texts had claimed. Where the development had sprung from, she was unsure, but she embraced the change, and let loose the arcane creation that she had constructed.

The bolt was a pale, ghostly, ethereal blue that chirped with the crackle of thunder as it arced toward the makeshift target she had constructed with rubble and debris. The bolt struck with a sundering force, tearing pieces of earth from the hastily created facsimile of a solider and scarring the metal rubble she had used for armor. The force wasn't enough, not even close to being enough. She'd never make it beyond where she was now if this was all she could muster. She grit her teeth, the arcanist buckling down as she pushed even more of her energy into the spell. A second bolt of the energy sprung from the staff, covering the mannequin in a sudden burst of blue. Minerva lowered her staff, observing the result.

The "armor" she had placed upon the collection of stones was eaten raw in most places, and completely non existent in others. Minerva smiled, flicking the metal over with her foot. This was definitely a spell she could rely on in a worst case scenario. As her eyes drifted down to the damage, she noticed a faint inscription remaining on the insides of the metal.

Perhaps it was legitimately armor... She stoops down, careful not to burn herself trying to read the faded text. "Laguna..." She ponders. "Certainly an odd name..." The wind pulls her cloak as she rises to her feet, her staff crackling gently. "Regardless, thank you, whoever you were, for the target. These spells would have had a rougher time without you." She chuckles. "I'll call them Laguna Blades."

---

It was dark as the young woman made her way back through the city gates, her recent acquaintance with the guard saving her passage before they were sealed for the night. The time she had left to prepare had lessened considerably, but at least she had a last resort by her side now.

Time is of the essence. The fight is soon, and I'm not sure if I can win in my current condition. She steeled her self, pushing the consideration of failure from her head. No, I will win. Of that there is no question. She turned, embracing the gentle presence of sleep.

WC: 1000+/1000