[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/xh8a8v7.png[/img] [i]Two weeks after Logos' blinding purge.[/i][/center] [hider=In which Muttonhawk wishes this character's story had more tonal consistency] Things are still pretty glum up in Conata and Sularn's home. Everyone's scared and/or hurt and/or has lost someone dear. Rovaick refugees are flocking in as word spread of Majus' protection. Conata is learning to fight under an instructor so she can learn to beat a realta and cope with the emotional stress she's been under. Her instructor is strict and picks up on her lack of focus. She has been finding it hard to focus because she has been ruminating on her nature and origin after Majus' previous info-bombs. After blowing up in front of her instructor, Conata is told she has to sort herself out. She can't sleep that night, bothered by how she's going to deal with the new information. Conata has the midnight brainwave of going to ask Majus for some more information. She doesn't even dress properly before going outside and climbing the mountain on top of which Majus is keeping watch. Majus and Conata have a back-and-forth. Majus' doofus nature is showcased. With some verbal judo, Conata fools Majus into 'proving' that she's a demigoddess. Again, Majus is a doofus. Majus does this by teaching her to fly in the same way that birds do. Conata thankfully remembers how to fly. She feels deja vu, but no massive memory triggers. Majus goes as Hagrid; "Shouldn't 'a done that." Upon being asked, Majus tells Conata that she can go to Lifprasil to learn more about herself because Majus doesn't want to piss off Toun or Teknall by giving away presumed secrets. Conata wakes up the next morning. Freaks out when she realises that it wasn't a dream. To be continued as other events pan on. [/hider] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvrI9Aw0J3k]Palpable fear gripped the population of Conata's home since the realta attack.[/url] The fat fingers of an unseen corpulent titan pressed on the backs of every single person until they shook and broke down in public with no immediate reason. No one judged those who wept, for they were never much further from weeping themselves. Everyone had lost someone dear. Everyone had been injured. All that most could do was rebuild what lives they had left. Those that had not developed a phobia for the outdoors were safe under the protection of Majus, at least. Conata was a lucky one. Only friends of hers had died. At least she had loved ones left, unlike the militia instructor she was drilling with. [color=Orange]"RRAH!"[/color] [i]Clack![/i] Conata's oversized wooden practice club clashed against the staff of the troll opposite her. She immediately wheeled around her iron-skinned arms, hefting the club as if it were hollow with her unnatural strength. [i]Wvvv![/i] [color=Orange]"HAH!"[/color] [i]Clack![/i] The second blow was checked just as easily. "Keep going. Use your knees to boost the swing, forgefingers." More shouts and splinters echoed across the slopes of their mountain home. Little green sprouts were already poking out of the blackened ground around them, but their footfalls crushed them back in. This militia troll was one of the few survivors of the initial attack amongst the clan's warriors. He was at the right time and in the right place to avoid immolation. His brothers were not. Conata bared her teeth and went in for one last overarm strike. [color=Orange]"GNAH!"[/color] This time, the troll instructor took the blow directly in the centre of his staff in front of himself. He even had to take a pace back against the blow. "Enough!" The troll bellowed. His tone calmed as he held his staff in one hand. "Let us move on to something else. Practice your technique in your own time. You are doing well, but you still have to set the memory in your head." [color=Orange]"Why do I have to train with wood anyway, Krex?"[/color] Conata said with annoyance, even if her iron complexion was turning to copper again. [color=Orange]"I can hit harder and truer with metal. I don't have to grip so hard with my hands if I can just control it. Can't I at least have a copper band or two on this thing?"[/color] Conata held forward her club as if it were defective. Krex turned on his heel to walk towards the straw scarecrows they used for target practice. "A few reasons, forgefingers," he said, beckoning Conata to follow. "With all the refugees streaming in for Majus' protection from the realta, we'll need more people who really know how to fight so they teach others. Every one of them is taking Sularn's oath, but we both know that alone cannot protect them." The next reason was given with more sincerity. "Secondly, you might kill me or someone nearby if you swing around metal in melee. I've seen what you can do, forgefingers, and take no offence when I say that I do not trust your restraint just yet." Krex stopped and turned around when they reached the targets. "Most importantly..." He pointed to Conata with a finger the width of her arm. "I've seen how you move when you control the metal. You control the big blows with your body movements. If you learn how to handle a wooden club with the best technique, your technique with metal will be more than just slogging around without defences. You will be a warrior, not a brawler. Understand?" Conata lowered her brow and sighed towards the targets. [color=Orange]"I understand."[/color] "You don't want to go back to cauterising wounds again, do you?" [color=Orange]"I understand!"[/color] Conata crossed her arms and went fully iron again. "See that you continue to." Krex scooped out a handful of bronze ingots from a nearby sack and held them out. They were each about the size of Conata's palm. "After all, you were the one who talked me into teaching you how to fight. If you want to beat one of those...realta things, do not treat this instruction like some distraction to take your mind off your friends." Conata pursed her lips and the air above her tied-back wire hair began to distort with heat. [color=Orange]"It's not just that,"[/color] she mumbled. She extended one hand and the bronze ingots floated towards her. Conata faced the targets and whirled her arm around her head, sending the ingots into a steady orbit around her. Stepping side-on to the targets, she extended her left arm, using two extended fingers to aim. Her right arm, still marked red with her Sularn's oath, was near her chest, her cupped palm facing her first straw victim. "You heard the news from the runner. Your azibo friends will be back once they have finished helping the hain village rebuild. Now is the time to focus." [color=Orange]"I am focussed,"[/color] Conata complained through her teeth. With a sudden movement, her upper body turned as her aiming hand pulled back and her cupped right hand jabbed forward. One of the ingots orbiting her body flew out in the shape of a sphere and struck one scarecrow directly in the chest, causing its limbs and head to fly forward in a reaction to its exploding straw innards. The scarecrow fell and thudded against the ground. "Are you?" Krex opened one hand out to his side and caught the ingot as it floated back into his hand. He did not even need to look, their routine was so set. "I can see the heat wave off your body, that means you are still angry. You cannot fight if you are angry." The comment made Conata's iron hair begin to glow a dull orange. [color=Orange]"I'm fine!"[/color] Her body turned again, but this time Conata extended one curled finger with her hand rather than a cupped palm. This time, the ingot pulled into the shape of a spike as it flew. The next scarecrow did not fall over. It simply shuddered and began shining daylight through a clean new hole through its neck. Krex curled his large fingers around the next ingot as it returned. "If something is on your mind, you had better sort it out as soon as you can. Do not let it stew." Conata took a deep breath to try and concentrate. The next attack was something she had been having trouble with. She turned her aiming fingers towards the next scarecrow and jabbed out a flat hand, palm turned up. The next ingot flattened into a sharp disc as it flew. [i]Ping![/i] The disc ricocheted off the side of the scarecrow and fluttered into a tumble behind it. "Misaligned your cut," Krex declared. Conata slumped her shoulders and arms with a frustrated groan. All the ingots still orbiting her thumped onto the dirt at her feet. "You need to better stabilise that blade, Conata." [color=Orange]"I know!"[/color] Conata stomped her foot and leant into her shout with more of her extremities glowing orange. [color=Orange]"You've told me before! You don't have to rub my face in it!"[/color] Krex was unflinching, but he could feel the heat now. After a pause sizing up Conata's iron anger, he frowned and spoke in less of a bark. "You are bothered more than usual today. You cannot improve while so distracted, so let's pack up." Krex placed the ingots he held back into the sack. "Conata, I suggest you try to get some help with what is on your mind." [hr] Conata laid awake that night, staring in copper at the stone ceiling with her red eyes. Martial instruction had been helping her to cope with all the horrible memories of the past couple of weeks, but it was something else that bothered her. Something she had been trying to put off. Damn that mean bastard Krex. There was nothing you could hide from him. He had a way of bringing Conata's worries to the forefront without even touching on them directly. Now it was stuck in her head. [color=Orange]"Demigoddess..."[/color] The word was so foreign her mouth. Conata had never thought of herself as anything but a misfit with some talent with metal. 'Demigoddess' seemed like blowing that way out of proportion. She turned onto her side and pulled up the woollen blanket to her shoulder. [color=Orange]"Nah, demigods are powerful. They don't just fling metal around,"[/color] she grumbled. It didn't help that Majus said that her [i]father[/i] had apparently driven off the realta as well. When she asked Choukkud out of vain interest, he provided very believable denial. Choukkud had not a single burn on him, not to mention that Conata had [i]heard[/i] and [i]smelled[/i] what happened to other tedar out there... She halted her trail of thought, but it was too late. Her heart was pounding. Her skin turned into pitted magnesium and she scrunched her eyes shut. She felt sick again. She breathed. Her heart wouldn't slow down. [color=Orange]"No."[/color] She was determined not to shudder and cry herself to sleep again tonight. Conata threw off her blanket and sat up over the side of her bed. She breathed in again through her nose and let an even breath out. She was looking down and saw her thick nightgown, but the woven pattern didn't solve her anxiety any more than the back of her eyelids did. She had to get her mind off of it. Majus' words kept on coming up instead. Conata pulled a mocking sturgeon face. [color=Orange]"Conata,"[/color] she said in an annoyed impression of Krex. [color=Orange]"I suggest you get some try to get some help with what's on your mind."[/color] She frowned and lifted her upper lip in disdain. She hissed out frustrated words in response. [color=Orange]"Where on Galbar am I meant to get that, huh? Sularn's too busy all the time and the only thing closest to a god around here is..."[/color] Her face relaxed and her skin turned to bronze. Conata tilted her head sideways and stared at the floor. She blinked and looked to the side. It was worth a shot. [hr] The number of times Conata did late night forging meant that her parents had given up trying to stop her sneaking out. Tonight was no exception, though her destination was somewhere with more altitude. Others would have been easily tired by climbing up the snowy mountain outside their home in nothing but a nightgown and a thick bronze belt. Conata was never much interested in mountain climbing compared to other things, perhaps because it seemed too easy for her. The cold was biting, but the biggest risk was slipping or getting buried in snow. That was what the belt was for. Conata could melt or drill through any amount of snow and make pitons for herself with a flick of her fingers. If an avalanche came down, well, she could use the metal to fling herself over it and out of the way. She had never tried before, but that didn't stop her little sojourn any more than the other hazards. The light of the brighter moons made the giant armoured figure with the pole hammer easy to see at the top of the mountain. Despite being surrounded by snow, Majus stood out like it was built to stand out. Conata's blue silhouette struggled up the final ledge until she was finally on the same plane as Majus. She might have struggled to breathe had she not been raised in the mountains. She looked around at what little area there was to share with the avatar and settled for the jutting rock next to where he stood. Clearing off the snow was easy with the belt. She took a seat on the dark rock after the metal wrapped around her again. Majus had not taken any notice of Conata. Conata looked up to it unsurely, holding both hands on her seat and waving her legs over the precipice. [color=Orange]"Um. Majus? Servant of Toun, correct?"[/color] Conata asked. [color=Orange]"Can you hear me?"[/color] The statuesque appearance of Majus ceased as its helmet bowed forward and turned to face Conata next to it. A drift of snow slid off the top and tumbled down the mountain slope below. There was a silence. Conata suspected that Majus was contemplating. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Demigoddess."[/color][/i][/b] Its deep, booming voice said it again. It didn't feel any less confusing for Conata. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I heard you when you began climbing up this mountain. I have been hearing you without interruption since then."[/color][/i][/b] Conata wasn't sure whether to feel guilty for annoying the avatar or just patronised. [color=Orange]"Okay. Good. That's good."[/color] She glanced down and back up to Majus again, remembering why she came in the first place. [color=Orange]"I was wondering about something. A few things, actually. What you said when we met the first time."[/color] Majus loomed without shifting a muscle. He waited. [color=Orange]"Uh, would you like to sit down?"[/color] Conata awkwardly extended a hand. [color=Orange]"My name's Conata."[/color] Majus slowly rotated its bowed head to look at the ledge it stood upon. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"What is the purpose of sitting down in this instance?"[/color][/i][/b] Conata wondered whether this was a good idea. [color=Orange]"Well, you don't have to. It just might be easier to talk to you."[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Are you having trouble hearing my voice?"[/color][/i][/b] [color=Orange]"No! No, you're loud enough. The whole clan can hear you, probably."[/color] Conata waved both hands down and shook her head. [color=Orange]"Don't worry about it."[/color] Majus' head turned to Conata's awkward head movement, angled up at him as it was. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"It is possible that you would be inflicted with a sore neck. I understand now."[/color][/i][/b] [color=Orange]"Er, no, it's...ugh."[/color] Majus had already knelt and repositioned itself into a similar seating position to Conata. Conata placed her forehead into her raised hand and closed her eyes until the giant was done with its awkward movements. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Is this satisfactory?"[/color][/i][/b] Conata shifted her hand over to look at Majus with one eye. It was so tall that she still had to look up, but its head wasn't [i]as[/i] high now. [color=Orange]"It'll do."[/color] Now that the first pointless debacle had been sorted, Conata moved her palm across to the side of her neck and formulated her questions properly. [color=Orange]"Majus, what makes you think I'm a demigoddess?"[/color] Majus kept its featureless face in Conata's direction. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You have divine power in you. It is obvious to any who can see it."[/color][/i][/b] [color=Orange]"What do you mean? I don't have any divine power."[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You are incorrect. Metal obeys your whims. Ascending to this ledge has left you with enough energy to perform the same act ten times over. No mortal holds such power innately."[/color][/i][/b] Conata looked ahead. There were many powerful people in the clan. She had thought that she might have been talented or something, but nothing on the level of gods. Perhaps she was the level of gods and this was as high as it went. She didn't feel like she could create worlds, though. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You have more questions. Speak."[/color][/i][/b] [color=Orange]"Hm?"[/color] Conata looked to Majus with surprise. The next question had only just come up in her mind. [color=Orange]"Um...if I have divine power, then how do I...you know, do godly things?"[/color] Majus looked on silently. His voice came through after much contemplation. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"It may be dangerous to do so here. You are inexperienced."[/color][/i][/b] Conata exhaled through narrow lips with frustration and leant forward with her cheeks on her hands. [color=Orange]"Can you at least tell me who my parents are?"[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Your guardians are male and female tedars. Their given names I overheard to be Wutni and-"[/color][/i][/b] [color=Orange]"Not those, you idiot!"[/color] Conata shot wide eyes at Majus. She thought he was acting real thick for a servant of the gods. [color=Orange]"My godparents...my parents who are gods. If I'm meant to be a demigoddess like you say, that means my parents are gods, right?"[/color] More contemplation passed. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"If you do not know, there is a reason. I cannot tell you, for endangering that reason."[/color][/i][/b] Conata took up the challenge. She leant towards Majus and prodded his porcelain arm with a finger. [color=Orange]"But you told me he was driving off the realta, didn't you? It wasn't Chokkoud, I know that, so that means you gave me a hint. That runs against what you claim wouldn't it? Endangering the reason, as you say?"[/color] Majus looked ahead with his bowed helmet. It went back to Conata after a second. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I cannot tell you the identity of your-"[/color][/i][/b] [color=Orange]"Aw! Come on!"[/color] Conata threw up a hand and kicked forward, leaning back onto one hand. Another possible thought came to mind and this time she beat Majus to asking. [color=Orange]"Is it Toun?"[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"No."[/color][/i][/b] [color=Orange]"Is it...the life deer? The one the hain talk about sometimes?"[/color] Majus caught on. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I cannot tell you anything further."[/color][/i][/b] Conata turned to shining iron, bowed her head, and held it up again. [color=Orange]"Can you even prove that I am a goddess?"[/color] She counted off her fingers in front of Majus. [color=Orange]"You cannot tell me who my parents are, you cannot tell me how to use my godly powers. I bet you are making it up to trick me!"[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You are incorrect."[/color][/i][/b] [color=Orange]"Am I? Or are you trying to be wily? You've got something dastardly planned! You want me to do something stupid, like try to fly or something."[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You are incorrect."[/color][/i][/b] Conata turned her head slightly and held her arm verticle with a finger extended towards Majus. [color=Orange]"Well if I am a demigoddess, wouldn't you get in trouble if I do something stupid because you mislead me? You seemed pretty concerned when you found me and you obviously don't want to anger my parents with that 'reason' you mentioned."[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You are correct."[/color][/i][/b] Conata stood up with a grin and put her fists on her hips. Now she was getting somewhere. She leant forward slightly to get to Majus' seated eye level. [color=Orange]"Then you had better make sure I don't do anything stupid. You had better prove that I am a demigoddess and teach me how to use my power so I don't do anything stupid, right?"[/color] Nothing on Majus' face hinted at anger, confusion, or anything that would have explained its next actions. First, its hand twitched to life. With a precise, gliding movement, Majus' arm extended and its fingers wrapped around Conata's waist. Conata's grin disappeared. [color=Orange]"What do you think you're doing?"[/color] Majus stood up to its feet, lifting Conata with it. Conata's feet dangled and kicked helplessly as she tried to pry Majus' porcelain grip off her. She looked up to Majus and began to pit with magnesium. Majus lifted Conata up to its eye level. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You are correct."[/color][/i][/b] As if being pressed by the same fat fingers of the corpulent titan of fear, but from below, Majus and Conata launched up into the sky. Conata screamed out in fright, her nightgown fraying at the speed of the air roaring past them. Majus' featureless face did not break eye contact as they ascended. She screamed on but they continued upwards. It didn't seem real. They slowed to a stop at twice the height of the mountain to the sea. Conata couldn't feel the pull of the ground below but she could see further than she had ever before. Or had she? It seemed oddly familiar. Between her panic and the deja vu, she hardly noticed Majus' hand opening. It was the wind roaring the other way that made her start screaming again. She tumbled back down to Galbar at terminal velocity. Nothing was firm around her except the belief that she had made a poor choice of goading the servant of a god. How had Majus even flown like that? It didn't fly to get here. Conata had not seen it fly. It just had this energy around it. Conata could feel it before. It was just like a memory in the back of her head. She was sure she could do that as well. If only she could just... Conata stopped screaming and tumbling. She slowly turned in place to face the approaching ground head first and took on a wide-eyed determination. She willed herself to turn her fall horizontal. Her body carefully levelled and she shot along at the same speed. She was flying! She kept turning upwards. The magnesium was replaced with bright polished bronze and screams of crazed laughter. She was flying! It was easy! It was exhilarating, freezing, and oddly familiar at the same time. If she had all night, she might have flown around the entire world. However, she did not want to get lost. She opted to try and find Majus again. Conata eventually found the peak of Majus' vigil and saw the porcelain warrior standing just as it was before. That was when she noticed an important detail. She didn't know how to stop. She gasped and threw her arms over her face right before colliding with Majus. Majus turned its head to Conata in an instant and the whole world spun and wrenched around. Conata was still. She lowered her arms and carefully opened her eyes to find herself face-to-face with an upside-down Majus. The giant was holding her by the feet in front of itself. Her bronze belt was the only thing keeping her tattered nightgown from falling over her face. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Alas, my actions may bring retribution after all. I defer any further education on godly powers to other entities. It shall be up to you to fulfil part of your oath and improve what you have learned so far."[/color][/i][/b] Conata was out of breath. [color=Orange]"Wow...I...that was godly, wasn't it?"[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You are correct."[/color][/i][/b] Conata flinched. Thankfully, Majus had no further lessons. She spoke between breaths again. [color=Orange]"Um...where could I find these...um...'other entities'? Maybe they might know who my parents are?"[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"In the land of Alefpria is an emperor named Lifprasil. He is a demigod, the same as you. He is unlikely to lead you astray if he is willing to tell you."[/color][/i][/b] Another demigod! Conata would have been more excited had she still not been calming herself from flying. [color=Orange]"Alefpria. Lifprasil. Weird names. Got it."[/color] Conata flashed a wide grin. [color=Orange]"Thanks, Majus! Can I fly some more, or are you going to hold me upside-down until I get dizzy?"[/color] [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"It is time you returned to your bed, Conata."[/color][/i][/b] A very different and unfamiliar energy surged from Majus. It spread straight to Conata's eyes and she had trouble keeping them open. The upside-down world went black. [hr] "Conata! It's time for breakfast! Don't sleep in or you will miss out again." Wutni's voice made Conata shift on her bedding. She felt cold without her blanket on. She reached for it. Why was it all the way over there? [color=Orange]"Wait,"[/color] Conata whispered. Her eyes shot open. She looked down at her tattered and filthy nightgown. That's when she noticed the white scrapes across the floor of her bedroom. Everything from the night before came flooding back. Lifprasil, where had she heard that before? Should she go? She held a hand to her head, it was so overwhelming. "Conata!" Her head shot to the entrance. [color=Orange]"Coming mother!"[/color] Conata's immediate thoughts went to how she would explain her nightgown. She decided to try and find a place to bury it later. Then she could find where she fit. Where she came from. How to beat the realta. Who her parents were. Everything. What's an emperor?