Rolling Thunder; Flowing Tides [ Social | Private ]

Tsunamis must have gripped the coast with a fervency of either fear or anger. The Kami of Kina always protected their people, but that did not mean their power was unavoidable. The rain came down upon the land, pouring in a summer prayer. It was not kind unless one could shelter and Tobinaga had left hers long ago. She had only just arrived near, with the season change the time for her to train at her summer manor had come. Fate seemed to have other things in mind, she was sure to see that.

Looking for a retreat, a moment of haven in the monsoon she kept to the ground rushing if only she could fly. The risk was high, but all reason would surely leave her mind as floating upon the drops danced a black bird. Not one of nature's flock, it was that of cursed fate. The last she had seen of such dangers was in a storm of snakes in the Kina palace on a long passed dark day.

Soon a fear, one a danger more threatening, more personal than nature would fill her heart. That fear was coal that stoked forth her movement as passion burned. Worry raced, dripping down her sides it was not the rain but sweat. The mud chased behind, trying to hold down her ill-fitted boots but that did not stop Naga. That panic pushed more fuel into her heart's inferno, disaster had touched Kina's people as commonly as a mother's kiss. It drove the fledgling mage in pursuit of the great dark flock and there she would only find one thing.

Tobinaga would find her heart stop as true beauty graced her. In a moment, forever seemed to exist as she looked upon a woman with hair long and wavy like the islands seaweed but black with a seen of fine silk. Her porcelain color only seemed to radiate, more brilliant than the lightning which carried its' light. A power so quick, so fierce she could not grasp what she had seen as heaven's hammer came down.

That brief time, those seconds she would hold in her heart had passed. Now it was time for action, she wasn't the best doctor, but she knew lightning, more importantly, she knew what it could do. As if the lightning had struck her too she moved, rushing to the Magi's side. She didn't understand the power of what she saw, or who she saw, Naga didn't have time to. Compressions would come quickly, as she would scream "GODS DAMMNIT, WHO IN HEAVEN DID YOU PISS OFF!!?"

At the crack of heavens drum as a great tear light up the sky she would see eyes of a goddess. The gaze of the graceful maiden stunned her for a second, even as her quiet words nested in her eyes. Infatuation seemed to cloud the rampant storm's song. It wasn't until another bolt of lighting skipped across the shore that Naga snapped back.

"I was trying to get home for the summer, it seems like I chose a bad time to return." Naga belted her lungs too weak to howl over the winds.

Tobinaga would continue to speak. "I should be asking you the same question, with rukh like that you're like a walking lightnkng rod. I'm not surprised if someonejealous tried tk smite you."

The rain already blew away her cap, the young mage's oil slick tendrils of hair pulled down her heads. Still, her eyes pierced as stars fixated as she couldn't hide her interest. Even with a face sind beaten rosy cheeks still peeked through. Maybe it was the perfect time to come home she thought.

"We need to get to cover, even if you sruvived that I don't think I could. Do you think you can walk?" Tobinaga poked meekly, offering her hand to Ren. She was unaware of what was actually before her, she didn't even notice she forgot to wear her gloves.

Going underground wasn't the first place of comfort for the young mage. Her parents had been killed in a collapse afterall. Still the cave charmed her, the dank musk that permeated the soil. History seemed to emanate from the place, the main birth of this thought was from the dangling figure.

It's silhouette seemed well rooted in the structure but the emaciated figure soon came well into site. It's interweaving nature of flesh and flora was as grotesque as it was interesting. The madness this day brought was almost intoxicating. How was Naga supposed to process all of this. The flustered excitement she felt could only hold back the panic for so long, still it was better than dying.

With a deep breath she steady herself enough to properly respond "I'm sure with my rukhs affinity to lightning I was next to be strucky so I thank you for allowing me time to rest here. I can see this place must hold a lot of memory and emotion. I don't wish to intrude but I do find it interesting. "

She wasn't sure if those words were of any sort of comfort. Even if she was invited Tobi felt like an intruder. The dead were often nice, but they demanded respect. There was a certain code of conduct. How could one so foreign know of what resided in these walls  If she lived long enough she'd be mummified so she had a certain closeness with death but often she never saw the peaceful side. She often saw the violent, the tragic. It clung, so desperately to Tobi, she wished to feel as if she kind could find comfort around it. Creeping, grasping was the feeling thsy something vengeful would come for her

Trying once more to shake her nerves she'd try to talk. Her friend Casrare had been gone from Kina for sometime since he visited so she was lonely. It didn't help her eldest brother was now helping lead a nation . "There's alot of places id say are ancient on this island. Im from the Toh clan, theyve really only spread out since the wars but we've had a home here for generations. Theres a shrine underneath the manor that holds the bodies of all family members that lived past 80. Thehve been mummified in prayer like the ancient monks. Most of the fsmily I've seen die, or that have died around me though never live that long. There they rest, ashes in urns lining the paths for those who lived long lifes free of pain. That along eith the dwayh of my parents has really pushed me. I dont wanna see rsndom csuse, accident or murder ruin good lives. We csm only controm so much in the face of the spiritd but someones gotts help the suffering dont they? Shit in sorry for rambling."

She wasn't sure how to respond at first. The silence blanketed over them for a moment that was deafening. It was as if the storm itself gave breathe for a single second. Awkwardness would set in if she didn't think of something to say. She wasn't sure on the mutual relations of their clans in all honesty

"That's good to hear." Tobi would say with wandering eyes. "I know my family has always tried to be honorable in their relations. Even with our newer pension with war helping has always been our strong suit."

Naga wasn't sure how to approach the subject of the elephant in the room, or rather the corpse. There was some obvious history in the lamentations of Ren. How long had he been dead? What was their relationship? She wanted to asked these questions more than anything. Still she did not wish to intrude, to push anymore into her personal life. She already thought being here was a violation in its' own right. The sadness she radiated was seeping into Tobi as she porous when it came to receiving feelings.

Her eyes gained a glint of light, their sharp amber piercing through like lamps. She didn't even realize she moved closer to Ren, the air thick with tension and dew. "I think we can do our best, life in nature seems to make it unavoidablebut isnt that what makes us unique? I mean we can talk to the world in a unique way. Wouldnt it be better to provide a way for people to prosper? Maybe it's foolish in its' own right i just don't see the need into adding into that suffering."

Talking was always easier for her, words were the best way of expressing the world. Hoping to have an added kindness the young magician gave a small smile. Meager but warm that was how she looked, drenched and faded in ner all black attire. The only shine she offered was in that smile she offer and those big bright eyes.

“I’m not really sure honestly. I know of things I know every magician does and that is but a rare chance of a friend of mind. A good long time ago as you may have heard there was an attack during a summit of the head clans. That day I saw rush tinged darker than the sea’s depth. I did not understand much that day, I was so caught up I could only watch as I fought and prayed for my life.” Tobi would say with an sigh heavy enough to see.

The young Toh spoke in worry of offending Ren but she wasn’t a liar. Every breath she took was a fog of anxiety and awe of the situation she was in. Was it fear, or excitement that pressed her brow. “Recently, a good friend of mine named Casrare had written to me talking of his fall. He told me of how rejecting fate to break the given path was the only way to fix the world. He did no effort to convert me, I still don’t really understand but I have some vague grasp. I’ve never put much thought to fate. I believe in the cycle of rebirth, but is a flow but not a constant cycle of infinite change. Isn’t that what it means, to understand being one with our world. I’m sorry I’m not meaning to preach. Even if these things exist, as I see proof they exist it only reinforces my idea. If such a thing were meant it couldn’t continue forever could it? It would crash until something new, isn’t that the true nature of things?”

A torrent of words gushed from Naga as she touched her oily hair.  She stared at the at the man she did not know, embarrassment painted this porcelain mage. How to respond after all of that, she would meekly say ”Sorry for blabbering so much.”

”It does feel as if a myriad of things try to infect our free will, our choice. I know separation will is important but what life, what cycle is so simple to accept such a thing. It presents me with nothing but frustration, and intrigue as to why our world is this way. I never wished to be the best fighter, but I wish to have the path, the power to actively protect and sway things for the people. I do not know the ways to achieve these means besides working to create aid, relief for those in need while becoming strong enough to protect those assets.” Tobi had spoke as if the spirit of divine fire had entered her, as if the spark of heaven pushed her words.

The young magician dug her hand into her pocket while beginning to speak.”There are so many things that I feel try to control you, to sway your will, even the stars themselves fall from heaven to try and beckon you. It brings upon a fog to my thoughts.”

Finishing her short little rant she presented the item she drew from her pocket, a shard, a bright crystal to light the night further. The fire mirrored from its beauty, across the statues and bodies of the room. Before Ren she held it out, with a face that seemed storming with changing emotion she looked into the magi’s eyes.

“It carries with it such strong Rukh, I don’t trust it, not one bit, I do not know what to do with it though either, what if someone can cause pain with this?’

She could feel the venom that took form in the Magi's words. Power never came without a price, that was the way of the world she had witnessed. Her brother had risen high in standing, it only took a civil war and tons of lives. Even the good that came from the change, had wrought so much grief. If this gift could have such a say over life, she had no trust in her heart for it. Reluctantly, Tobinaga would place the shard back in the pocket of her clothing. Maybe it would be best to give it away, to offer it to the Kami.

"I feel as if I must keep this foreign gift to myself.... I could find a way to discard it. I worry it would cause misfortune to another if they were to find it. I will heed your words, I will be wary of asking for gifts or guidance from shining stones." Tobi spoke with short breaths. The storm screamed into the mouth of the cave, it seemed as if it would last long into the night.

Her meek hands rolled over one another, their porcelain grace turning ashen bone as cold began to set in. Even with what heat they had, the rukh seemed to sputter with reckless abandon as the light and dark birds seemed to be drowning with them. It brought so much awe upon the young lady, reverence and fear conflicted within, painting her face with a shifting brow and twiddling thumbs.

"I feel we may be here awhile, I appreciate your kindness for leading me to tread on such ground. The turbulence of the weather and fate both make me feel as if there is something I am to learn from the experience but I do not know what. Her words sputtered out. They were splashings of a rushing river of nervousness. She didn't know how to feel around the magi, how to respond, or process her situation. Even if calmness had taken root in the air, she was flustered by the presence and beauty of Ren. Even with her frustration and concern that cracked in her knuckles, danced in her near-scary tone was grace. It was a beauty that had captivated the young Toh who was far too embarrassed to admit the truth of her heart.