-
Going forward, links to content from Twitter (now X) will no longer be embedded. Pre-existing links should not be affected.
Xin Wu, yet another Cultivation Quest
- Thread starter KittyEmpress
- Start date
The First Visitation - Timeskip Decision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Nakullian Year 6230, Ascending Moon, cont.
Who to tell: 1d17 11 - Uncle Aan
You consider telling your Mama, she's the first person to come to see you every day, and the experience would be most fresh with her. But you think about all the pain that happened last time you tried to take the ring, and you don't want to make her relive that. You don't consider Papa at all. He's great and all, but.... well, Uncle Aan seems smarter. And so you finally decide on talking to your Uncle Aan, when you see him. Luckily for you, the dream found you on the night before your third birthday, and you were certain he would be visiting you soon. So you lie awake in your bed, across the room from your parents. You desperately hold onto the memories of your dream, replaying them in your head as you refuse to go to sleep.
You start to sing a little song, trying to put the details of your dreams into words in one. Your mama often told you the easiest way to remember things was by singing them, and you were really good at singing (for your age, at least). So you utilize her advice and sing the details to yourself. You end up losing some, over the course of your time alone. But by the time everyone has woken up, you have your little song well and memorized.
You're still humming as you're pulled out of your crib by your mama, whos eyes are delighted, "Woke up with a tune in your head, my little star?" Kisses come, and then breakfast. You do not talk to your parents about your dream, but you keep humming it throughout. Your mother must be concerned with how oddly quiet you are, because after breakfast she asks you, "Are you feeling alright, darling? Did you have bad dreams?" You almost tell her about your dreams at that. But you decided!
You shake your head, "I otay!" You're about to continue with a question of when your Uncle will arrive, when a knock at the door follows by a turning of the handle.
"I've come for the birthday girl!" Your uncle laughs in the way he only laughs while not teaching you. Those moments where he's Uncle Aan, and not High Priest Aan. He scoops you up off the floor you were sat on, and holds you up over his head, "You're getting too big! Soon you shall be as big as you father, I'm certain. And then your mother! But perhaps not I!" He laughs uproariously.
"Uncu! Uncu!" Your head was spinning a little, but you hum your little song as you try to get his attention, "Quesion! Quesion!" You take on the expression of an adept student trying to study, not a birthday girl enjoying her uncle.
And he matches it, an eyebrow going high as he instantly shifts back to teacher mode, and sets you down on the floor, kneeling down far to look at you on your level, "If I know the answer, I shall provide." He still has a hint of mirth to his eyes, despite the more reserved tone.
You look at your parents, and then at him, and say, "Quesion for you, Uncu." You make that very explicit, and your parents look shocked as you ask them to leave you alone. On your birthday!
But your dad soon enough has an arm wrapped around your mom, "Oh dear, already keeping secrets from us. She must get that from you dear." He has already started pulling her along. Your uncle and him share a glance for a second, and a nod, but you miss it.
As soon as you are alone, you start to tell him about your most recent dream. You tell him about seeing the ring in many peoples hands, and what it was doing. You tell him about it talking to you. You tell him about how you've been having these dreams for years. He listens with rapt attention. A few times you have to repeat your little song out loud, to remember something. Every detail you add makes his bushy grey eyebrow raise further.
When you finally stop he is muttering to himself, "Compatibility with soul... no, that wouldn't... the distance... dreams without... hmm." He normally answers your questions instantly, so you're confused when he doesn't know exactly what is going on. "You needn't worry about your parents, though I understand the confusion. This... is likely... hm. Give me a second, Little Isha." He moves out of his kneeling position, his body popping in multiple places as he does.
You are left alone in the room, on your birthday. You can't help but wonder if you're in trouble. If you made a mistake.
But all three of the adults walk back in soon enough, talking to each other, "What do you mean dreaming of-" "I mean that she seems to be meeting the Signet." "But she's not eve-" "Yes, I know." They talk to each other instead of you, but then your dad wraps you in a hug.
"You're very strong for living with these dreams. You haven't done anything wrong. I promise." Did you look scared? You must have looked scared, because he is being very warm and comforting, instead of his usual happy self. "These are..." He pauses, but continues after a moment's hesitation, "Perfectly normal. Sort of." He moves his hand to his blade, and touches the hilt with his hand, breaking the hug, "I sometimes dream of the Lightning Severing Blade as well. All Guardians do, at least sometimes. It is how we hear the voice of our Armament, and learn from them."
Your mom is playing with the Signet, and you can't help but glance at that as he talks about hearing the voice of an Armament. When she sees your gaze, she nods a small nod, "I've dreamed of the jungle before too, though...." Another trail off, from your usually so good at explaining herself mother.
Your Uncle is the one who picks it up, "Dreaming of an Armament is only supposed to happen for its Guardian. Even prospective Guardians training with an Armament tend to only get them after months of wielding them. Long ago it was more common to hear the voice of an Armament - some could even hear them in the waking world, it was how our ancestors found Nakul's Armaments in our time of need." You're barely understanding half of what is being said. But no one is mad. They seem confused, and maybe a little worried, but none of them are mad at you. Your lack of understanding must show on your face, but he eventually kneels down and gets on your level, his voice soft, "This is something rare. And we're going to start training you. Normally I'd say something like this is worth removing a Guardian from duty. But your Mother is needed. So you will only train for a month out of the year. During that month, you will stay with me, just in case. Is that okay?"
You look between your parents and your uncle, and you don't really feel like you have a choice. You nod your head.
---------------------
Nakullian Year 6230, Apex Sun
Apex Sun, when Nakul's light is at its strongest, banishing all but the weakest Farbeasts to their underground homes. This is when your parents pack you up, and help you move into your uncle's room. It is lined with bookshelf after bookshelf, each one filled with knowledge. You can't help but be nervous as you hold onto your soft stuffed animal, shaped like a particularly benign farbeast, with only one small fang in its mouth. Your uncle is in his high priest voice, "Hansa, I trust you have broken the connection as requested?" He regards your mother first.
And she holds out a blackened leather bag, towards him, "I removed it before sleeping the night before last, and placed it within the sequestering storage, as you instructed. I can no longer feel the Signet's presence in my Spirit Pathways."
He takes the black bag, and holds it with a serious look in his eyes, "Good. The People have been told that their only healer will be out of commission for the month. We shall hope none of them accidentally become too injured in that time. You may go." Your mother leans down to give you a final hug and kiss, before leaving.
Your uncle reaches into the black bag, and pulls out the Signet of Nakul's Blessed Life. "Your hand, Little Isha." You gulp, and offer your right hand to him. As he puts the ring around one of your tiny baby fingers, it shrinks to fit, just tight enough that it wouldn't fall off accidentally, but loose enough to be removed when you try it. "Over the next day, the Signet should build a connection through your Spirit Pathways. I will be here with you throughout that, in case something goes wrong." He motions you over to a small corner with a you-sized table, "Until then, you study."
---------------
And study you do, you study the history of the Signet, its recorded wielders, the traits associated with them, everything Aan knows about it. He fills the entire day with talking about it, and so you are not surprised when you fall asleep and dream of it. But this time, the ring is worn by a woman who looks like your mother - only with green skin and piercing blue eyes, "Another mortal." Her voice reminds you of the voice in your dreams, but clearer, as if she had once been speaking from far away, and now she was right next to you, "Surprisingly good wavelength, however... hm. Ah, I recognize you. Yes, the young one my last wielder had. I remember her healing you." The entity laughs, it is a beautiful but terrifying sound, and you're soon surrounded by an image of your mother, very pregnant, the ring on her hand glowing strongly as she sobs alone in a dark room, "Could my restoring your heartbeat have... no, too many children have been saved like that, who did not have this promise... hmm." You are being ignored, and you're unable to speak. It's like you're just allowed to watch this beautiful green-and-blue being figure you out. "Socially compatible, saved by my grace, with just the right soul at birth? Coincidences? Or fate?"
Finally she looms over you and says, "You are an interesting one. Is your mother dead? Have you been sacrificed in her stead, to use my power?" You start to think of the answers, but instead of your voice coming out, your memories fill the room, just as you had watched your mother before. The entity watches the goings on, laughing briefly when you almost killed your mother, before pointing a finger, the room around you turning to the forest you dreamed of before, "Interesting. One month. Not nearly enough time. You should kill your mother and steal me away. Wait, no. That would get you executed, if I remember your people's laws correctly. Don't do that. A month shall have to do, for now. Perhaps when you are stronger." You are horrified by what was just suggested to you, but it doesn't even seem to notice.
She pokes at your arm in your dream, and then pinches your baby-fat having cheek, and shakes her head. "Young, flabby, and shamefully weak. You would burn yourself out with a single iota of my power. You're perfect. None of my siblings could help you at this stage. I alone can turn you into the perfect vessel for my power. Aren't I the greatest? You needn't answer. I already know your response." She touches your forehead, and you start to burn, from where her finger touches to the tips of your fingers and the bottom of your toes. "Tell your mentor you spoke to me. You are to work your body until exhaustion each day for this month. At night, I shall rebuild you to be stronger. And then you will repeat. If you do not follow my instructions, I will rebuild you without your aid. This will be incredibly painful for you, as I break you down in order to make my repairs. You will wish you were dead. Now go, awaken, for the the daylight hours have arrived."
------------------
You get no choice in the matter as you are shunted out of your dreams and start awake in your bed. Your Uncle has both his hands on you, and you belatedly hear him calling your name, "Isha! Isha! Isha! Can you hear me!?" Your eyes start to clear up as you take in around you, and you notice that you have clawed at your own arms in your sleep. Blood runs from them. It takes some time for your uncle to clean you up, but as he does you tell him about your dream. Except for the part about killing your mother. When you start to talk about that, a pain shoots up your arm from the now very mini blessed armament.
"Incredibly detailed first visit... to have had it on the first night as well..." He rubs at his beard, "Heartbeats... I remember your mother taking a week during her pregnancy... could she have..." He seems to be taking in this information without any trouble, despite your obvious issues relaying the more complicated information. "Congratulations, Isha. You're unofficially a Guardian now. Once you receive your first visitation, you progress from candidate onwards. Unfortunately for you, you cannot be officially added to the records until you are the sole wielder of a Blessed Armament." He pets your head tenderly, "I would offer you a reward, but the instructions of Nakul's Blessed Stewards must always be followed, for without their grace our people would die. We will begin."
--------------------
For the remainder of the month, your schooling continues - but with a twist, as you work your body throughout, your Uncle forcing you to exercise as you study, only offering platitudes of Nakul being wise, of his Stewards knowing best, of how much you will gain. In these exhausting lessons, you learn of the Blessed Stewards, the intelligences within the Blessed Armaments, whom rarely contact those who use the armaments. You are confused by that point. Your uncle notes that he speaks with his Plates of Meditative Silence once a week. This is considered extremely often, and he notes that his bond with his armament transcends soul and body, by nature of his life literally existing in the Plates hands. You, meanwhile, see the Signet every night.
Your first few nights are horribly painful, as she judges your exhaustion as not thorough enough but proceeds with her rebuilding anyways. All three nights you thrash like a wild woman, your uncle having to hold you down to keep you from clawing your own skin off as you sleep, unable to wake you. You want to give up. He does not let you. On your fifth night, she judges it as passible. It still burns as she destroys just as much as she builds, but not as bad as before. You still want to give up. She does not let you. By the fifteen night you have perfected a routine to exhaust yourself, though your uncle insists on adding more each day to ensure it still works. These nights you have the opposite of pain, as your painful aching body is healed to better than new.
By the end of the month, you are happy to take off the Signet, and place it into the sequestering bag to break its connection to your soul. But it still visits you that night, to tell you that you better keep working hard for the next year, until it sees you again.
---------------------
Nakullian Year 6230, Descending Sun
You never thought you'd miss your family as much as you did. You had spent an entire month hidden away from everyone you knew and love, with only your Uncle and the Steward of the Signet to keep you company. When you reach your family's arms, you are sobbing. You tell them all of what you went through, before your mother receives the Signet back. The both of them look horrified as you detail the early nights.
"She can't go back." Your mother declares, as she looks at the bag she knows contains the Signet. "She cannot." She says it very firmly.
"Aan, I thought of you as my brother how could you watch that?" Your father is angry. Your mother is scared, but your father is angry. His hand is on his blade.
Your uncle does not seem afraid, "I have acted as I must. Isha was given instructions by a Steward, and as High Priest, I must aid any Guardian - or other compatible person - in fulfilling their Steward's request. Just as I have aided you in following the Lightning Severing Blade's orders, and every other Guardian in following their own orders." He is speaking in his High Priest voice, and it makes even your father falter. "Your daughter has learned what is required of her, and is not likely to suffer again as she has."
Your father's hand is off his blade, but they are both balled into fists, "Don't you dare try to force her into this training. The least you can do is wait for her to be of typical training age! I'll make certain she is prepared by then."
Your mother looks horrified that your father would let you be taken ever, even if it wasn't now. "Isha doesn't need to become a Guardian at all!" She holds you close to her, protectively, as if the two men were going to steal you away.
The High Priest opens his mouth, and exudes confidence as he says, "A Guardian is in charge of their own fate. Aside from betrayal of our people, they may make their own decisions on how to proceed. Even a child against their parent." He silences your parents as your mouth opens, and asks you, "So what is your choice, Guardian Isha. Shall you work hard to become the greatest Guardian you can, knowing there is pain and suffering ahead? Will you seek to become a hero, regardless of personal cost, when our people need them most? Or shall you remain a child for now, to enjoy your days as others fight, and stru-?"
His question is interrupted by a fist flying at his face and sending him skidding along the floor of the room you call your home, until he hit the wall. You look to see your father, who had been behind you, had somehow moved in an instant to being where your Uncle was. Your father is screaming, but his voice isn't coming out, "Allow your daughter to answer, Jai, and I will ignore this crime." Your uncle says it with a low threat to his voice. You don't like watching your family fight.
[ ] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet.
[ ] B. I'll follow my Father, and train with him until I'm older and stronger.
[ ] C. I'll listen to my mother and just give up on being a Guardian.
----------------
Whoops, I guess I lied about large timeskip. Once I got the winner of the vote, I realized this would be a better way to present this, and give a choice to the readers in the process. C is not an option because... well, it would mean the end of the story if you gave up!
Who to tell: 1d17 11 - Uncle Aan
You consider telling your Mama, she's the first person to come to see you every day, and the experience would be most fresh with her. But you think about all the pain that happened last time you tried to take the ring, and you don't want to make her relive that. You don't consider Papa at all. He's great and all, but.... well, Uncle Aan seems smarter. And so you finally decide on talking to your Uncle Aan, when you see him. Luckily for you, the dream found you on the night before your third birthday, and you were certain he would be visiting you soon. So you lie awake in your bed, across the room from your parents. You desperately hold onto the memories of your dream, replaying them in your head as you refuse to go to sleep.
You start to sing a little song, trying to put the details of your dreams into words in one. Your mama often told you the easiest way to remember things was by singing them, and you were really good at singing (for your age, at least). So you utilize her advice and sing the details to yourself. You end up losing some, over the course of your time alone. But by the time everyone has woken up, you have your little song well and memorized.
You're still humming as you're pulled out of your crib by your mama, whos eyes are delighted, "Woke up with a tune in your head, my little star?" Kisses come, and then breakfast. You do not talk to your parents about your dream, but you keep humming it throughout. Your mother must be concerned with how oddly quiet you are, because after breakfast she asks you, "Are you feeling alright, darling? Did you have bad dreams?" You almost tell her about your dreams at that. But you decided!
You shake your head, "I otay!" You're about to continue with a question of when your Uncle will arrive, when a knock at the door follows by a turning of the handle.
"I've come for the birthday girl!" Your uncle laughs in the way he only laughs while not teaching you. Those moments where he's Uncle Aan, and not High Priest Aan. He scoops you up off the floor you were sat on, and holds you up over his head, "You're getting too big! Soon you shall be as big as you father, I'm certain. And then your mother! But perhaps not I!" He laughs uproariously.
"Uncu! Uncu!" Your head was spinning a little, but you hum your little song as you try to get his attention, "Quesion! Quesion!" You take on the expression of an adept student trying to study, not a birthday girl enjoying her uncle.
And he matches it, an eyebrow going high as he instantly shifts back to teacher mode, and sets you down on the floor, kneeling down far to look at you on your level, "If I know the answer, I shall provide." He still has a hint of mirth to his eyes, despite the more reserved tone.
You look at your parents, and then at him, and say, "Quesion for you, Uncu." You make that very explicit, and your parents look shocked as you ask them to leave you alone. On your birthday!
But your dad soon enough has an arm wrapped around your mom, "Oh dear, already keeping secrets from us. She must get that from you dear." He has already started pulling her along. Your uncle and him share a glance for a second, and a nod, but you miss it.
As soon as you are alone, you start to tell him about your most recent dream. You tell him about seeing the ring in many peoples hands, and what it was doing. You tell him about it talking to you. You tell him about how you've been having these dreams for years. He listens with rapt attention. A few times you have to repeat your little song out loud, to remember something. Every detail you add makes his bushy grey eyebrow raise further.
When you finally stop he is muttering to himself, "Compatibility with soul... no, that wouldn't... the distance... dreams without... hmm." He normally answers your questions instantly, so you're confused when he doesn't know exactly what is going on. "You needn't worry about your parents, though I understand the confusion. This... is likely... hm. Give me a second, Little Isha." He moves out of his kneeling position, his body popping in multiple places as he does.
You are left alone in the room, on your birthday. You can't help but wonder if you're in trouble. If you made a mistake.
But all three of the adults walk back in soon enough, talking to each other, "What do you mean dreaming of-" "I mean that she seems to be meeting the Signet." "But she's not eve-" "Yes, I know." They talk to each other instead of you, but then your dad wraps you in a hug.
"You're very strong for living with these dreams. You haven't done anything wrong. I promise." Did you look scared? You must have looked scared, because he is being very warm and comforting, instead of his usual happy self. "These are..." He pauses, but continues after a moment's hesitation, "Perfectly normal. Sort of." He moves his hand to his blade, and touches the hilt with his hand, breaking the hug, "I sometimes dream of the Lightning Severing Blade as well. All Guardians do, at least sometimes. It is how we hear the voice of our Armament, and learn from them."
Your mom is playing with the Signet, and you can't help but glance at that as he talks about hearing the voice of an Armament. When she sees your gaze, she nods a small nod, "I've dreamed of the jungle before too, though...." Another trail off, from your usually so good at explaining herself mother.
Your Uncle is the one who picks it up, "Dreaming of an Armament is only supposed to happen for its Guardian. Even prospective Guardians training with an Armament tend to only get them after months of wielding them. Long ago it was more common to hear the voice of an Armament - some could even hear them in the waking world, it was how our ancestors found Nakul's Armaments in our time of need." You're barely understanding half of what is being said. But no one is mad. They seem confused, and maybe a little worried, but none of them are mad at you. Your lack of understanding must show on your face, but he eventually kneels down and gets on your level, his voice soft, "This is something rare. And we're going to start training you. Normally I'd say something like this is worth removing a Guardian from duty. But your Mother is needed. So you will only train for a month out of the year. During that month, you will stay with me, just in case. Is that okay?"
You look between your parents and your uncle, and you don't really feel like you have a choice. You nod your head.
---------------------
Nakullian Year 6230, Apex Sun
Apex Sun, when Nakul's light is at its strongest, banishing all but the weakest Farbeasts to their underground homes. This is when your parents pack you up, and help you move into your uncle's room. It is lined with bookshelf after bookshelf, each one filled with knowledge. You can't help but be nervous as you hold onto your soft stuffed animal, shaped like a particularly benign farbeast, with only one small fang in its mouth. Your uncle is in his high priest voice, "Hansa, I trust you have broken the connection as requested?" He regards your mother first.
And she holds out a blackened leather bag, towards him, "I removed it before sleeping the night before last, and placed it within the sequestering storage, as you instructed. I can no longer feel the Signet's presence in my Spirit Pathways."
He takes the black bag, and holds it with a serious look in his eyes, "Good. The People have been told that their only healer will be out of commission for the month. We shall hope none of them accidentally become too injured in that time. You may go." Your mother leans down to give you a final hug and kiss, before leaving.
Your uncle reaches into the black bag, and pulls out the Signet of Nakul's Blessed Life. "Your hand, Little Isha." You gulp, and offer your right hand to him. As he puts the ring around one of your tiny baby fingers, it shrinks to fit, just tight enough that it wouldn't fall off accidentally, but loose enough to be removed when you try it. "Over the next day, the Signet should build a connection through your Spirit Pathways. I will be here with you throughout that, in case something goes wrong." He motions you over to a small corner with a you-sized table, "Until then, you study."
---------------
And study you do, you study the history of the Signet, its recorded wielders, the traits associated with them, everything Aan knows about it. He fills the entire day with talking about it, and so you are not surprised when you fall asleep and dream of it. But this time, the ring is worn by a woman who looks like your mother - only with green skin and piercing blue eyes, "Another mortal." Her voice reminds you of the voice in your dreams, but clearer, as if she had once been speaking from far away, and now she was right next to you, "Surprisingly good wavelength, however... hm. Ah, I recognize you. Yes, the young one my last wielder had. I remember her healing you." The entity laughs, it is a beautiful but terrifying sound, and you're soon surrounded by an image of your mother, very pregnant, the ring on her hand glowing strongly as she sobs alone in a dark room, "Could my restoring your heartbeat have... no, too many children have been saved like that, who did not have this promise... hmm." You are being ignored, and you're unable to speak. It's like you're just allowed to watch this beautiful green-and-blue being figure you out. "Socially compatible, saved by my grace, with just the right soul at birth? Coincidences? Or fate?"
Finally she looms over you and says, "You are an interesting one. Is your mother dead? Have you been sacrificed in her stead, to use my power?" You start to think of the answers, but instead of your voice coming out, your memories fill the room, just as you had watched your mother before. The entity watches the goings on, laughing briefly when you almost killed your mother, before pointing a finger, the room around you turning to the forest you dreamed of before, "Interesting. One month. Not nearly enough time. You should kill your mother and steal me away. Wait, no. That would get you executed, if I remember your people's laws correctly. Don't do that. A month shall have to do, for now. Perhaps when you are stronger." You are horrified by what was just suggested to you, but it doesn't even seem to notice.
She pokes at your arm in your dream, and then pinches your baby-fat having cheek, and shakes her head. "Young, flabby, and shamefully weak. You would burn yourself out with a single iota of my power. You're perfect. None of my siblings could help you at this stage. I alone can turn you into the perfect vessel for my power. Aren't I the greatest? You needn't answer. I already know your response." She touches your forehead, and you start to burn, from where her finger touches to the tips of your fingers and the bottom of your toes. "Tell your mentor you spoke to me. You are to work your body until exhaustion each day for this month. At night, I shall rebuild you to be stronger. And then you will repeat. If you do not follow my instructions, I will rebuild you without your aid. This will be incredibly painful for you, as I break you down in order to make my repairs. You will wish you were dead. Now go, awaken, for the the daylight hours have arrived."
------------------
You get no choice in the matter as you are shunted out of your dreams and start awake in your bed. Your Uncle has both his hands on you, and you belatedly hear him calling your name, "Isha! Isha! Isha! Can you hear me!?" Your eyes start to clear up as you take in around you, and you notice that you have clawed at your own arms in your sleep. Blood runs from them. It takes some time for your uncle to clean you up, but as he does you tell him about your dream. Except for the part about killing your mother. When you start to talk about that, a pain shoots up your arm from the now very mini blessed armament.
"Incredibly detailed first visit... to have had it on the first night as well..." He rubs at his beard, "Heartbeats... I remember your mother taking a week during her pregnancy... could she have..." He seems to be taking in this information without any trouble, despite your obvious issues relaying the more complicated information. "Congratulations, Isha. You're unofficially a Guardian now. Once you receive your first visitation, you progress from candidate onwards. Unfortunately for you, you cannot be officially added to the records until you are the sole wielder of a Blessed Armament." He pets your head tenderly, "I would offer you a reward, but the instructions of Nakul's Blessed Stewards must always be followed, for without their grace our people would die. We will begin."
--------------------
For the remainder of the month, your schooling continues - but with a twist, as you work your body throughout, your Uncle forcing you to exercise as you study, only offering platitudes of Nakul being wise, of his Stewards knowing best, of how much you will gain. In these exhausting lessons, you learn of the Blessed Stewards, the intelligences within the Blessed Armaments, whom rarely contact those who use the armaments. You are confused by that point. Your uncle notes that he speaks with his Plates of Meditative Silence once a week. This is considered extremely often, and he notes that his bond with his armament transcends soul and body, by nature of his life literally existing in the Plates hands. You, meanwhile, see the Signet every night.
Your first few nights are horribly painful, as she judges your exhaustion as not thorough enough but proceeds with her rebuilding anyways. All three nights you thrash like a wild woman, your uncle having to hold you down to keep you from clawing your own skin off as you sleep, unable to wake you. You want to give up. He does not let you. On your fifth night, she judges it as passible. It still burns as she destroys just as much as she builds, but not as bad as before. You still want to give up. She does not let you. By the fifteen night you have perfected a routine to exhaust yourself, though your uncle insists on adding more each day to ensure it still works. These nights you have the opposite of pain, as your painful aching body is healed to better than new.
By the end of the month, you are happy to take off the Signet, and place it into the sequestering bag to break its connection to your soul. But it still visits you that night, to tell you that you better keep working hard for the next year, until it sees you again.
---------------------
Nakullian Year 6230, Descending Sun
You never thought you'd miss your family as much as you did. You had spent an entire month hidden away from everyone you knew and love, with only your Uncle and the Steward of the Signet to keep you company. When you reach your family's arms, you are sobbing. You tell them all of what you went through, before your mother receives the Signet back. The both of them look horrified as you detail the early nights.
"She can't go back." Your mother declares, as she looks at the bag she knows contains the Signet. "She cannot." She says it very firmly.
"Aan, I thought of you as my brother how could you watch that?" Your father is angry. Your mother is scared, but your father is angry. His hand is on his blade.
Your uncle does not seem afraid, "I have acted as I must. Isha was given instructions by a Steward, and as High Priest, I must aid any Guardian - or other compatible person - in fulfilling their Steward's request. Just as I have aided you in following the Lightning Severing Blade's orders, and every other Guardian in following their own orders." He is speaking in his High Priest voice, and it makes even your father falter. "Your daughter has learned what is required of her, and is not likely to suffer again as she has."
Your father's hand is off his blade, but they are both balled into fists, "Don't you dare try to force her into this training. The least you can do is wait for her to be of typical training age! I'll make certain she is prepared by then."
Your mother looks horrified that your father would let you be taken ever, even if it wasn't now. "Isha doesn't need to become a Guardian at all!" She holds you close to her, protectively, as if the two men were going to steal you away.
The High Priest opens his mouth, and exudes confidence as he says, "A Guardian is in charge of their own fate. Aside from betrayal of our people, they may make their own decisions on how to proceed. Even a child against their parent." He silences your parents as your mouth opens, and asks you, "So what is your choice, Guardian Isha. Shall you work hard to become the greatest Guardian you can, knowing there is pain and suffering ahead? Will you seek to become a hero, regardless of personal cost, when our people need them most? Or shall you remain a child for now, to enjoy your days as others fight, and stru-?"
His question is interrupted by a fist flying at his face and sending him skidding along the floor of the room you call your home, until he hit the wall. You look to see your father, who had been behind you, had somehow moved in an instant to being where your Uncle was. Your father is screaming, but his voice isn't coming out, "Allow your daughter to answer, Jai, and I will ignore this crime." Your uncle says it with a low threat to his voice. You don't like watching your family fight.
[ ] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet.
[ ] B. I'll follow my Father, and train with him until I'm older and stronger.
----------------
Whoops, I guess I lied about large timeskip. Once I got the winner of the vote, I realized this would be a better way to present this, and give a choice to the readers in the process. C is not an option because... well, it would mean the end of the story if you gave up!
[X] B. I'll follow my Father, and train with him until I'm older and stronger.
[x] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet.
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet.
[X] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet.
- Location
- In the closest Zoo
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
The steward sounds veeery sketchy......... Very....... A bit too much sketchy...
The trainning remembers a manga about an isekai where the guy has healing magic. Nice thing, his punches healed people but they felt pain, and he could destroy his body in physical trainning thanks to the heal. I guess Isha can do the former too later, and she needs to do the later anyway to not go insane in pain
[X] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet
Lets do a legend being a ripped toddler.
The trainning remembers a manga about an isekai where the guy has healing magic. Nice thing, his punches healed people but they felt pain, and he could destroy his body in physical trainning thanks to the heal. I guess Isha can do the former too later, and she needs to do the later anyway to not go insane in pain
[X] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet
Lets do a legend being a ripped toddler.
Jack-o'-Lantern
Local Shitposter
- Location
- Hell
[X] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet.
I don't think the entity in the ring would be happy if we go with father lol.
I don't think the entity in the ring would be happy if we go with father lol.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
What? No way. Clearly on the up and up. Obviously has all your best intentions in mind. Definitely did not suggest you murder your mother for power.
- Location
- A beautiful new land, at once alien and familiar.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
- Pronouns
- She/Her
That's something you'd have to decide for yourself. You have had a bit of the ring and its powers shown on screen. But your mother at least only ever has used it to heal, and she does not seem to show any other talent with it.
- Location
- scrabbling
The ring can break things down as easily as it builds them. A signet dream showed it enhancing a punch and withering at a touch, as well as restoring a lost limb. It's not pigeonholing into a healer at all. Especially given the physical temperament I imagine Isha's going to punch holes through Farbeasts as much as she heals.
- Location
- a place
Back when our mother was teaching us about it's history, it was referred to as half of the most important Blessed Armarnents in the world because Nakul used it to make the world liveable, so I imagine it might be able to just heal or destroy, but even create life Ex Nihilo.
Their's probably a lot to the ring that we have no idea about ability wise yet.
[X] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet
As much as I love our characters dad, I'm more interested in seeing more Signet training and what this answer means for iIha's character.
Also got to say, the world building in this is incredible well detailed even with the parts of the world we didn't choose, which I hope we get to see more of one day despite being in this hidden overworld.
The writing itself is also super top notch and I like how the voting system has ended up working.
Their's probably a lot to the ring that we have no idea about ability wise yet.
[X] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet
As much as I love our characters dad, I'm more interested in seeing more Signet training and what this answer means for iIha's character.
Also got to say, the world building in this is incredible well detailed even with the parts of the world we didn't choose, which I hope we get to see more of one day despite being in this hidden overworld.
The writing itself is also super top notch and I like how the voting system has ended up working.
Last edited:
WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
[X] A. I'll join Uncle Aan, and train for the Signet
- Pronouns
- She/Her
For sure. You are their darling angel, their sweet and lovable child, who is friendly and kind and clever. They never want to hear about you being hurt. This is despite them both (especially your father) fighting to the death to defend your people regularly.
Anyways, vote is closed, I'm starting to write the update now!
Years 3-10 (Timeskip Update)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Timeskip Decision: 1d28 19 - A wins, barely, with 19 of 28 votes.
Nakullian Year 6230, Descending Sun
It takes longer for you to answer than any of the parties want you to do. You're a little overwhelmed here, but it ends up being you looking at your father that makes your decision for you. He has had scars as long as you could remember, but it's gotten worse over the last few years. His exposed arms are covered in them, his face and neck look like he's taken dozens of near fatal wounds. You've seen your mother heal enough people to know the seriousness of those. She often spoke of his injuries with you in ear shot, and her wishes to be able to heal them more fully.
"I wanna be a hero." Your little voice breaks through the enforced silence of the room, as everyone looks at you. The High Priest soon has a large smile on his face. Your parents look devastated. You're not sure if you've made the right choice.
But your Uncle speaks clearly, "I shall create a routine for her to follow, to prepare her until next year. We cannot survive without Hansa's blessings, but we can hopefully have Little Isha up to the Signet's Steward's standards. I expect it to be followed." The enforced silence of the room disappears as he turns and steps out.
Your parents keep trying to convince you to change your mind, but you do not.
------------
Timeskip Year 1
Your regimen is intense. You spend four days a week working your body to the utter limits that it has, put through training that makes you struggle to walk - you often need to be carried home by either your father or Uncle, depending on who is training you. On days where your Father is available, he pushes you through endless laps to build your endurance, you both running through the golden palace halls and the inner Garden, for hours. You only are allowed to pause when you physically cannot keep going without resting. Your uncle somehow always knows when your Father is taking it easy on you. Meanwhile, days when your Father is busy, your uncle puts you through a strict strength training regimen, that leaves the rest of your body sore, as your Uncle tells you to memorize stories of the past whilst you work. As part of the training, you have been given an increased portion of meat, that your Uncle insists will help you grow stronger faster - gone are most of the rice and other 'unnecessary fillers' as he called them. This, unfortunately, includes most flavor.
On the remaining three days a week, you accompany your Mother. Gone are the days of entertaining guests though, she speaks to you of how to identify wounds, she talks to you about different severities to different places, she explains the weakness of the human body to you. When there's no one to tend to, or time left over, she heals the aches and pains of your body, but it never is as complete as when the Signet had done so. You do not get time to socialize anymore, and your Uncle's schedule provides no time for you to play with Jute. Or anyone. Even if you had a day, you were exhausted.
The week to week scheduling does change, as things always do - more than once your Father is too injured to train with you, and you are forced to run through the halls on your own, trying to keep yourself motivated. Whenever you falter, you try to think of keeping him from getting hurt. You still never train as hard without his presence. Sometimes your Mother is needed outside of the Embrace, because of an emergency, and you are not allowed to follow her. On those days your Uncle fills your head with the past glories of Nakul and his Armaments, but more specifically with heroes of the past generations, who defied the odds and norms even for Guardians.
Even when all three adults in your life are busy, you find yourself forced to work. You do not get to enjoy the life of a child. It is miserable, and hollow. You are given as much love as your parents can muster, but you still hurt all the time. You use these few days alone to cry through your feelings. It doesn't really help, but at least it doesn't worry your parents like when you cry with them.
---------------
Nakullian Year 6231, Apex Sun
You make it through eleven months of that routine, and on the first night of the Apex Sun you are not allowed to even sleep, by your Uncle. He keeps you awake until you once more receive the Signet from within the Sequestering Bag, your Mother's connection with it now broken. Only then are you allowed to sleep, under your Uncle's supervision once more.
Your eyes open to a bright white space, and the same mom-but-green is in it with you as last year. It charges you from very far away, but the second you blink in surprise it is already holding you in its arms, "A year has passed already! And you yet live. Good, not worthy of reward, but good. And you managed to keep working hard it seems! Not as hard as I would have liked, but you mortals are notoriously squishy. If only you..." She pauses for a second, wincing in a show of pain, "Well, nevermind it. We make do with what we have, and you still have done more than I expected. Hmm. Let me see... let me see... I can see a few improvements I can make, at your current stage... how about fortif-... no, no... too weak for that. Or maybe...? Hmm. Unnecessary at current stage either way... Could make your bloo- no, no... hrm. So bothersome.." As she speaks, she replays your memories of the past year at what seems - to you - to be at super sped up blurs. You can't even make out details.
"It's so difficult to make a decision, most of my wielders come to me with their canvas already painted upon. I suppose I could work to make you need less rest... really, you are the laziest being I have ever met. Who sleeps for nine whole hours of the day? That is a third of the time you could be working. Of course, your body is too weak to allow me to rebuild you while you're awake, so this would be a waste of my time with you... Still, your time being as limited as it is..." You don't know how, but somehow you seem to have annoyed the Steward of the Signet. "How long do you have until you'll be put into battle? I would hope at least two or three years... your Channels are... well, I would surely overwhelm them in your waking state."
You try to open your mouth, but instead a memory of your Uncle talking to you begins to play, "It's forbidden to learn the arts of violence until your tenth year. This is mostly to prevent squabbles between those too young to understand the issue. Even for you that rule shall not be bent. This is when true training is meant to begin, and until then we shall simply build a foundation for you, that will hopefully allow you " His voice is just how you remembered it. Or rather, it was more clear than you remembered it. You certainly remembered the conversation, but not word for word.
"You can learn to fight at ten... and you're what, eight? Then we- wait, four? Ah well, I suppose if I have waited this long for such a promising vessel, I should look positively at the chance to prepare you. If it gets too boring I'll simply return to my rest." You do not get invited to be part of this conversation, the entity makes its own decisions, and you soon feel yourself twisting, a painful sensation in your head. "Work yourself until you cannot go on anymore, every day. You can only sleep if you pass out from exhaustion."
----------
Day by day you work yourself harder and harder. You only sleep when you have literally no ability to move on, and even your Uncle cannot wake you. But then you awake the next day fully energized with all of the pain gone. The changes are clearly not quick enough for the Signet. By the end of the month, you are still sleeping five hours a night, to wake up restful. She seems incredibly displeased with this result, blaming you for not working hard enough in preparing your vessel for her power.
Meanwhile, your Uncle is amazed by the quickness of the physical changes. You are now awake four hours a night without your Uncle's presence, and you spend it working hard even without it. He often praises your compatibility, and notes that there are many emergencies that take place even outside of the time you would normally be awake. You do have vague memories of your Father not being in bed when you woke up, when he surely was there when you fell asleep.
Your physical training still continues unabated by the changes to your body's need for rest, in fact there were just more hours in the day for you to work at it. This wasn't much of a gain, in your opinion. You found exercising fun... until it got to the point where your legs were collapsing under you, and your chest felt like it might explode from your body with how hot your lungs were. This is how it always got.
-----------------
Timeskip Years 2-6
The following years were much the same for you - as you grew larger, your body grew stronger, faster than any of your peers. For eleven months out of the year you study and work your body as hard as you can, to create a canvas for the Steward to paint upon. Day in and day out you run, or lift, or run and lift, or you are tasked to navigate from one end of Nakul's Embrace to the other, without touching the floor, forcing you to work your mind and body to its limits as you climb around and utilize the environment to its limit. Your father explains that knowing how to adapt to any environment is key to fighting, and once you get used to a single route, you soon find large swathes of furniture you had used moved, making you adapt. By the end of your fourth year of training, your Father begins moving them on the fly, as you make your way on the route, his speed still too much for you to even track with your eyes.
You rarely see your old friend Jute in these days, and when you do she always seems scared of you. You look at yourself in the mirror after scaring the older girl off one day, and you see a cold glare staring back at you. Gone is the huggy, ever smiling girl of the past, you have gained more than physical strength and motor skills in your time of training - you have also gained an intimidating presence. You force a smile into the mirror, and it just doesn't feel natural anymore. Your head is filled with the terrors of battle and death, with the tales of heroic last stands saving many, with the weight of the society on you. You have taken much upon your shoulders, and been taught of your burden in depth by your Uncle. But you weren't taught how to be happy about it.
These burdens got worse over the years. More and more injuries amounted, as the threat of the Farbeasts seemed to grow worse every year. Where before it felt as if a single Guardian lost their capability or life per year, an already horrifying rate for what it meant, now it felt as if it doubled or tripled over these years. The greatest loss occurring when you were eight years old, going into your ninth new year celebration - Eshana Charr, mother of Darpan and famed 'Greatest Guardian' had her leg removed at the hip, during the Apex Void. She would have died were it not for your Father's speed carrying her away. She was the only loss that year, but the tone of the celebration was more subdued than any other year.
Your Father once told you that the average length of service as a Guardian was fifteen years, before something happened. Eshana had survived for forty six years in active duty. She alone had brought up the statistic by multiple years, by existing. You were becoming all too aware that your Father was next, he was now the 'strongest', but you felt no pride in knowing that was so. It meant that he had less time for you, and that he would be the first to fight against any raids, at the head of any hunting parties. The knowledge that your Father may not make it home ate away at you, and pushed you to work harder every day.
Your training had advanced greatly, however. By the end of year three with the Signet, you were only sleeping once per week, and only for a few hours at that. This was, apparently, the best she could manage with a mortal body, and from there on she chose to make a variety of changes to your system. One year she focused on your physical endurance, and you soon found it trivial to sprint at your top speed for two hours, before stopping to catch your breath. Then, after you spent a portion of a year suffering from a disease outbreak within the Embrace that your mother could not fully cure, she finally spent a year teaching you how to utilize her Healing power, though she noted that you were still far inferior to your mother by month's end.
The next she focused on the strength of your muscles, and you found yourself nearly doubling in strength over the course of a month - and you were already quite strong your age, easily as strong as kids three or four years older - now nearly as strong as most teenagers, despite being eight at the time. It was this year that she declared you able to withstand 'an iota' of her power during the waking day, and you felt your muscles burn and shift and rebuild with every movement of your workout. Despite this, she refused to teach you to heal, noting that your time together was too short, and she preferred to ensure you lived long enough to inherit her fully. She then focused on your senses, and you found yourself able to see details further than ever before. Each and every change to your physical body made you Better, but also different. These changes persisted even when you released her back into your Mother's care.
Each time she improved you, she noted that these improvements could go further, but that your natural talents had yet to be manifested. She wanted to enhance each aspect of you at least a little, to ensure that she could perfect your use as a vessel, by finding what aspect you were best suited for. You wondered what she meant by that, but she refused to answer. In your last year with her, as she changed your senses and improved your awareness, she seemed almost giddy with excitement over your approaching tenth birthday. "Yes! Finally, we will be ready to kill things. Oh, I have made you into such a good canvas. I am certain you will astound each and every one of them. Have you thought about it? Shall you crush your enemies with your fists? Or perhaps a sword to sever their heads from their necks? A spear is never a bad choice, and you have the reaction speed to make use of it, but perhaps a mace would be more your style - your strength could crush guards, and bones. Oh, so many choices! Oh no, don't ask me which I'd like! I like all of them. Though I suppose if you want to know which I'm best at.... well, I am worn upon the finger. Ohoho." She leaves you with that as your last meeting with her, before you return the ring to your mother in Nakulian Year 6236.
---------------------
Nakulian Year 6237, Ascending Moon
It's your birthday. You chose to sleep the night before your birthday, so that you were energized for what was to come. Gone were the celebrations of your birth, and the joyous occassions. Your Father and Mother joined you as you walked through the halls early in the morning, to the Training Grounds, where you had often gone to watch your Father spar. You were ten years old now, and it was finally time for you to learn to fight. You were strong, you knew that much, you could grip into the walls of gold now, with your bare hands. But your Uncle and Father were strict on refusing to let you learn to fight - they allowed you to learn things related to fighting, but no combat tactics or even how to throw a punch.
"It's not uncommon for a Guardian to wield a regular weapon. Not all Armaments are weapons, there are many others -such as rings, as you know." Your uncle is waiting for you, and he starts to explain as you walk in. There are weapons lining the walls. "For those chosen by an Armament that does not take the form of a weapon, our smiths create them weaponry able to withstand the Farbeast's blows, at least for a time. These are the same weapons the Warriors wield, when following our Guardians into battle. And today, Isha the Little-No-More, you shall choose your weapon. Our Lord Nakul collected weapons from all over the world before he ascended, and we have remembered them to this day."
You look around and you see weapons of types you've never imagined before, let alone seen in use. There are all variety of ones you have seen too - swords with singular edges, with two edges, with curved blades, with straight blades, with pointed tips for thrusting... you are a little overwhelmed by it. Your father suggests, "Why not a sword like my Lightning Severing Blade? I could teach you to use it properly." His sword possessed only a single thinner blade - a kerela, according to your uncle.
Your mother, meanwhile, points you towards a corner with the less up close weaponry - bows, axes balanced for throwing, large wooden boomerangs, needles the length of your forearm. "A healer shouldn't rush into the thick of battle, you'd be safer keeping a distance, so you could keep track of the whole battlefield, and note injuries as they come in." For the first time ever, you see your mother's own weapon, as she reaches into her large sleeve, and pulls out a small case, which she opens to reveal five steel chakram, "I would be happy to show you the basics of a throwing weapon, though I never was much of a fighter."
Your Uncle is the last to suggest something, and much to both parents dismay his suggestion is, "Why not nothing?" His eyebrows raise a little as he asks that question, "Your connection to the Signet has given you great strength, you could learn to use it with your bare hands, if you'd like."
"Aan!" Your dad is isn't angry angry, but he doesn't seem to like that suggestion, "She should at least keep them at blade length. Rushing into hand to hand with a Farbeast is... you know what touching them does to a person."
"Incredibly dangerous, yes. We would have to be sure to keep her well armored. Gloves can be prepared, to ward off their touch." Your Uncle shrugs it off.
The decision is on you. All three of your authority figures have made their suggestions. But there were plenty more weapons that were not suggested by them. You look around the room and choose to work with...
[ ] A. A kerala, like papa. (Single edged curved sword)
[ ] B. A two bladed one-handed sword.
[ ] C. A two handed sword.
[ ] D. A large warhammer.
[ ] E. A sturdy staff.
[ ] F. A flexible sectioned staff.
[ ] G. A razor-edged whip.
[ ] H. A pair of katars (punch daggers).
[ ] I. A pair of regular daggers.
[ ] J. A crushing mace.
[ ] K. Chakrams, like mama.
[ ] L. Boomerangs.
[ ] M. Throwing axes.
[ ] N. A large bow and arrows.
[ ] O. Huge needles.
[ ] P. Gloves to support my martial arts.
[ ] Q. A trident (trishula).
[ ] R. A pata (sword-gauntlet)
[ ] S. A spear.
[ ] T. A chopping polearm.
[ ] U. Write in.
----------
Character sheet has been updated and can be viewed now.
Nakullian Year 6230, Descending Sun
It takes longer for you to answer than any of the parties want you to do. You're a little overwhelmed here, but it ends up being you looking at your father that makes your decision for you. He has had scars as long as you could remember, but it's gotten worse over the last few years. His exposed arms are covered in them, his face and neck look like he's taken dozens of near fatal wounds. You've seen your mother heal enough people to know the seriousness of those. She often spoke of his injuries with you in ear shot, and her wishes to be able to heal them more fully.
"I wanna be a hero." Your little voice breaks through the enforced silence of the room, as everyone looks at you. The High Priest soon has a large smile on his face. Your parents look devastated. You're not sure if you've made the right choice.
But your Uncle speaks clearly, "I shall create a routine for her to follow, to prepare her until next year. We cannot survive without Hansa's blessings, but we can hopefully have Little Isha up to the Signet's Steward's standards. I expect it to be followed." The enforced silence of the room disappears as he turns and steps out.
Your parents keep trying to convince you to change your mind, but you do not.
------------
Timeskip Year 1
Your regimen is intense. You spend four days a week working your body to the utter limits that it has, put through training that makes you struggle to walk - you often need to be carried home by either your father or Uncle, depending on who is training you. On days where your Father is available, he pushes you through endless laps to build your endurance, you both running through the golden palace halls and the inner Garden, for hours. You only are allowed to pause when you physically cannot keep going without resting. Your uncle somehow always knows when your Father is taking it easy on you. Meanwhile, days when your Father is busy, your uncle puts you through a strict strength training regimen, that leaves the rest of your body sore, as your Uncle tells you to memorize stories of the past whilst you work. As part of the training, you have been given an increased portion of meat, that your Uncle insists will help you grow stronger faster - gone are most of the rice and other 'unnecessary fillers' as he called them. This, unfortunately, includes most flavor.
On the remaining three days a week, you accompany your Mother. Gone are the days of entertaining guests though, she speaks to you of how to identify wounds, she talks to you about different severities to different places, she explains the weakness of the human body to you. When there's no one to tend to, or time left over, she heals the aches and pains of your body, but it never is as complete as when the Signet had done so. You do not get time to socialize anymore, and your Uncle's schedule provides no time for you to play with Jute. Or anyone. Even if you had a day, you were exhausted.
The week to week scheduling does change, as things always do - more than once your Father is too injured to train with you, and you are forced to run through the halls on your own, trying to keep yourself motivated. Whenever you falter, you try to think of keeping him from getting hurt. You still never train as hard without his presence. Sometimes your Mother is needed outside of the Embrace, because of an emergency, and you are not allowed to follow her. On those days your Uncle fills your head with the past glories of Nakul and his Armaments, but more specifically with heroes of the past generations, who defied the odds and norms even for Guardians.
Even when all three adults in your life are busy, you find yourself forced to work. You do not get to enjoy the life of a child. It is miserable, and hollow. You are given as much love as your parents can muster, but you still hurt all the time. You use these few days alone to cry through your feelings. It doesn't really help, but at least it doesn't worry your parents like when you cry with them.
---------------
Nakullian Year 6231, Apex Sun
You make it through eleven months of that routine, and on the first night of the Apex Sun you are not allowed to even sleep, by your Uncle. He keeps you awake until you once more receive the Signet from within the Sequestering Bag, your Mother's connection with it now broken. Only then are you allowed to sleep, under your Uncle's supervision once more.
Your eyes open to a bright white space, and the same mom-but-green is in it with you as last year. It charges you from very far away, but the second you blink in surprise it is already holding you in its arms, "A year has passed already! And you yet live. Good, not worthy of reward, but good. And you managed to keep working hard it seems! Not as hard as I would have liked, but you mortals are notoriously squishy. If only you..." She pauses for a second, wincing in a show of pain, "Well, nevermind it. We make do with what we have, and you still have done more than I expected. Hmm. Let me see... let me see... I can see a few improvements I can make, at your current stage... how about fortif-... no, no... too weak for that. Or maybe...? Hmm. Unnecessary at current stage either way... Could make your bloo- no, no... hrm. So bothersome.." As she speaks, she replays your memories of the past year at what seems - to you - to be at super sped up blurs. You can't even make out details.
"It's so difficult to make a decision, most of my wielders come to me with their canvas already painted upon. I suppose I could work to make you need less rest... really, you are the laziest being I have ever met. Who sleeps for nine whole hours of the day? That is a third of the time you could be working. Of course, your body is too weak to allow me to rebuild you while you're awake, so this would be a waste of my time with you... Still, your time being as limited as it is..." You don't know how, but somehow you seem to have annoyed the Steward of the Signet. "How long do you have until you'll be put into battle? I would hope at least two or three years... your Channels are... well, I would surely overwhelm them in your waking state."
You try to open your mouth, but instead a memory of your Uncle talking to you begins to play, "It's forbidden to learn the arts of violence until your tenth year. This is mostly to prevent squabbles between those too young to understand the issue. Even for you that rule shall not be bent. This is when true training is meant to begin, and until then we shall simply build a foundation for you, that will hopefully allow you " His voice is just how you remembered it. Or rather, it was more clear than you remembered it. You certainly remembered the conversation, but not word for word.
"You can learn to fight at ten... and you're what, eight? Then we- wait, four? Ah well, I suppose if I have waited this long for such a promising vessel, I should look positively at the chance to prepare you. If it gets too boring I'll simply return to my rest." You do not get invited to be part of this conversation, the entity makes its own decisions, and you soon feel yourself twisting, a painful sensation in your head. "Work yourself until you cannot go on anymore, every day. You can only sleep if you pass out from exhaustion."
----------
Day by day you work yourself harder and harder. You only sleep when you have literally no ability to move on, and even your Uncle cannot wake you. But then you awake the next day fully energized with all of the pain gone. The changes are clearly not quick enough for the Signet. By the end of the month, you are still sleeping five hours a night, to wake up restful. She seems incredibly displeased with this result, blaming you for not working hard enough in preparing your vessel for her power.
Meanwhile, your Uncle is amazed by the quickness of the physical changes. You are now awake four hours a night without your Uncle's presence, and you spend it working hard even without it. He often praises your compatibility, and notes that there are many emergencies that take place even outside of the time you would normally be awake. You do have vague memories of your Father not being in bed when you woke up, when he surely was there when you fell asleep.
Your physical training still continues unabated by the changes to your body's need for rest, in fact there were just more hours in the day for you to work at it. This wasn't much of a gain, in your opinion. You found exercising fun... until it got to the point where your legs were collapsing under you, and your chest felt like it might explode from your body with how hot your lungs were. This is how it always got.
-----------------
Timeskip Years 2-6
The following years were much the same for you - as you grew larger, your body grew stronger, faster than any of your peers. For eleven months out of the year you study and work your body as hard as you can, to create a canvas for the Steward to paint upon. Day in and day out you run, or lift, or run and lift, or you are tasked to navigate from one end of Nakul's Embrace to the other, without touching the floor, forcing you to work your mind and body to its limits as you climb around and utilize the environment to its limit. Your father explains that knowing how to adapt to any environment is key to fighting, and once you get used to a single route, you soon find large swathes of furniture you had used moved, making you adapt. By the end of your fourth year of training, your Father begins moving them on the fly, as you make your way on the route, his speed still too much for you to even track with your eyes.
You rarely see your old friend Jute in these days, and when you do she always seems scared of you. You look at yourself in the mirror after scaring the older girl off one day, and you see a cold glare staring back at you. Gone is the huggy, ever smiling girl of the past, you have gained more than physical strength and motor skills in your time of training - you have also gained an intimidating presence. You force a smile into the mirror, and it just doesn't feel natural anymore. Your head is filled with the terrors of battle and death, with the tales of heroic last stands saving many, with the weight of the society on you. You have taken much upon your shoulders, and been taught of your burden in depth by your Uncle. But you weren't taught how to be happy about it.
These burdens got worse over the years. More and more injuries amounted, as the threat of the Farbeasts seemed to grow worse every year. Where before it felt as if a single Guardian lost their capability or life per year, an already horrifying rate for what it meant, now it felt as if it doubled or tripled over these years. The greatest loss occurring when you were eight years old, going into your ninth new year celebration - Eshana Charr, mother of Darpan and famed 'Greatest Guardian' had her leg removed at the hip, during the Apex Void. She would have died were it not for your Father's speed carrying her away. She was the only loss that year, but the tone of the celebration was more subdued than any other year.
Your Father once told you that the average length of service as a Guardian was fifteen years, before something happened. Eshana had survived for forty six years in active duty. She alone had brought up the statistic by multiple years, by existing. You were becoming all too aware that your Father was next, he was now the 'strongest', but you felt no pride in knowing that was so. It meant that he had less time for you, and that he would be the first to fight against any raids, at the head of any hunting parties. The knowledge that your Father may not make it home ate away at you, and pushed you to work harder every day.
Your training had advanced greatly, however. By the end of year three with the Signet, you were only sleeping once per week, and only for a few hours at that. This was, apparently, the best she could manage with a mortal body, and from there on she chose to make a variety of changes to your system. One year she focused on your physical endurance, and you soon found it trivial to sprint at your top speed for two hours, before stopping to catch your breath. Then, after you spent a portion of a year suffering from a disease outbreak within the Embrace that your mother could not fully cure, she finally spent a year teaching you how to utilize her Healing power, though she noted that you were still far inferior to your mother by month's end.
The next she focused on the strength of your muscles, and you found yourself nearly doubling in strength over the course of a month - and you were already quite strong your age, easily as strong as kids three or four years older - now nearly as strong as most teenagers, despite being eight at the time. It was this year that she declared you able to withstand 'an iota' of her power during the waking day, and you felt your muscles burn and shift and rebuild with every movement of your workout. Despite this, she refused to teach you to heal, noting that your time together was too short, and she preferred to ensure you lived long enough to inherit her fully. She then focused on your senses, and you found yourself able to see details further than ever before. Each and every change to your physical body made you Better, but also different. These changes persisted even when you released her back into your Mother's care.
Each time she improved you, she noted that these improvements could go further, but that your natural talents had yet to be manifested. She wanted to enhance each aspect of you at least a little, to ensure that she could perfect your use as a vessel, by finding what aspect you were best suited for. You wondered what she meant by that, but she refused to answer. In your last year with her, as she changed your senses and improved your awareness, she seemed almost giddy with excitement over your approaching tenth birthday. "Yes! Finally, we will be ready to kill things. Oh, I have made you into such a good canvas. I am certain you will astound each and every one of them. Have you thought about it? Shall you crush your enemies with your fists? Or perhaps a sword to sever their heads from their necks? A spear is never a bad choice, and you have the reaction speed to make use of it, but perhaps a mace would be more your style - your strength could crush guards, and bones. Oh, so many choices! Oh no, don't ask me which I'd like! I like all of them. Though I suppose if you want to know which I'm best at.... well, I am worn upon the finger. Ohoho." She leaves you with that as your last meeting with her, before you return the ring to your mother in Nakulian Year 6236.
---------------------
Nakulian Year 6237, Ascending Moon
It's your birthday. You chose to sleep the night before your birthday, so that you were energized for what was to come. Gone were the celebrations of your birth, and the joyous occassions. Your Father and Mother joined you as you walked through the halls early in the morning, to the Training Grounds, where you had often gone to watch your Father spar. You were ten years old now, and it was finally time for you to learn to fight. You were strong, you knew that much, you could grip into the walls of gold now, with your bare hands. But your Uncle and Father were strict on refusing to let you learn to fight - they allowed you to learn things related to fighting, but no combat tactics or even how to throw a punch.
"It's not uncommon for a Guardian to wield a regular weapon. Not all Armaments are weapons, there are many others -such as rings, as you know." Your uncle is waiting for you, and he starts to explain as you walk in. There are weapons lining the walls. "For those chosen by an Armament that does not take the form of a weapon, our smiths create them weaponry able to withstand the Farbeast's blows, at least for a time. These are the same weapons the Warriors wield, when following our Guardians into battle. And today, Isha the Little-No-More, you shall choose your weapon. Our Lord Nakul collected weapons from all over the world before he ascended, and we have remembered them to this day."
You look around and you see weapons of types you've never imagined before, let alone seen in use. There are all variety of ones you have seen too - swords with singular edges, with two edges, with curved blades, with straight blades, with pointed tips for thrusting... you are a little overwhelmed by it. Your father suggests, "Why not a sword like my Lightning Severing Blade? I could teach you to use it properly." His sword possessed only a single thinner blade - a kerela, according to your uncle.
Your mother, meanwhile, points you towards a corner with the less up close weaponry - bows, axes balanced for throwing, large wooden boomerangs, needles the length of your forearm. "A healer shouldn't rush into the thick of battle, you'd be safer keeping a distance, so you could keep track of the whole battlefield, and note injuries as they come in." For the first time ever, you see your mother's own weapon, as she reaches into her large sleeve, and pulls out a small case, which she opens to reveal five steel chakram, "I would be happy to show you the basics of a throwing weapon, though I never was much of a fighter."
Your Uncle is the last to suggest something, and much to both parents dismay his suggestion is, "Why not nothing?" His eyebrows raise a little as he asks that question, "Your connection to the Signet has given you great strength, you could learn to use it with your bare hands, if you'd like."
"Aan!" Your dad is isn't angry angry, but he doesn't seem to like that suggestion, "She should at least keep them at blade length. Rushing into hand to hand with a Farbeast is... you know what touching them does to a person."
"Incredibly dangerous, yes. We would have to be sure to keep her well armored. Gloves can be prepared, to ward off their touch." Your Uncle shrugs it off.
The decision is on you. All three of your authority figures have made their suggestions. But there were plenty more weapons that were not suggested by them. You look around the room and choose to work with...
[ ] A. A kerala, like papa. (Single edged curved sword)
[ ] B. A two bladed one-handed sword.
[ ] C. A two handed sword.
[ ] D. A large warhammer.
[ ] E. A sturdy staff.
[ ] F. A flexible sectioned staff.
[ ] G. A razor-edged whip.
[ ] H. A pair of katars (punch daggers).
[ ] I. A pair of regular daggers.
[ ] J. A crushing mace.
[ ] K. Chakrams, like mama.
[ ] L. Boomerangs.
[ ] M. Throwing axes.
[ ] N. A large bow and arrows.
[ ] O. Huge needles.
[ ] P. Gloves to support my martial arts.
[ ] Q. A trident (trishula).
[ ] R. A pata (sword-gauntlet)
[ ] S. A spear.
[ ] T. A chopping polearm.
[ ] U. Write in.
----------
Character sheet has been updated and can be viewed now.
Last edited:
[X] K. Chakrams, like mama.