[sub][i]CyKhollab production presents:[/i][/sub][centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/89rDazC.png[/img]
[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1006944408438059143/1007740282005102662/CHUD.png[/img]
[h3]Pester a Metal Hunk and Call it Wisdom[/h3][/centre]
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Onward, ever onward, marched justice’s godly incarnation. Having fully crossed the great mountain range after his brief return to the desert and encounter with the spirits of Conquest and Wonder (though he still thought the latter to be more emblematic of some queer breed of madness), the spirit now followed the rising sun. His going was quick and his path and pace both devoid of any deviation. He kept vigil for signs of other spirits that he might arrest them in their goings long enough to hear their commandments, but in those early days the world was in disorder and the other spirits were scattered all about such that he chanced upon none. Indeed, though life had begun to flourish and spread, even it seemed somewhat sparse.

At one point the metalclad giant’s going was disrupted by the sight of a bird sitting upon a tree’s branch. This, the spirit suspected, was a great crime against nature and an affront to whatever spirit had conjured the creature into existence. Its place was clearly in the sky, with those wings, so why did it rebel against its lot and dwell in a tree among squirrels? Justice was a complex matter at times – what was one to do in the face of these crimes? First the spirit considered smiting the bird, but he looked about and perceived a thousand similar villains in the vicinity. Then he contemplated enchanting that tree with the desire to execute any such bird that would trespass upon it, or to curse all fowl to wither and die were they to desert their posts in the stratospheric plane.

It was the Wonder spirit, who (for some reason unbeknownst certainly to the Divine Enforcer and most probably even himself) had been clinging onto Justice’s massive helmet and riding along all this time, that persuaded Justice otherwise and spared all the world’s avian creatures from being condemned to fly forevermore.

“Wherefore smite them, noble justice, when they so prettily prance about the treeline, vibrating so artfully and singing so soulfully?” Wonder asked, now sitting and now standing on the metal god’s helm, bleeding elf yet in his mouth and splashing blood prodigiously on his chest and on the armoured god beneath him. “And behold, did not conquest herself, imperious and of haughty eye, winged as she was still descend down to the lowly earth and set her feet firmly on sand? Were it justice to smite her? Were it justice to declare: [i]thou who art granted wings, oh ingrate! What hath brought you to earth! Such crimes are paid for in death![/i] Had it been justice to strike her then and end her? Nay, I think not! Aye, they are winged these avians of the trees, but behold they have feet also! Wherefore have they legs and feet and talons if ‘twere not their lot to descend to earth? Hold thine fist, noble justice! These are not yet the critters for your smiting! Set your unseen eyes on the horizon: beyond that line may we behold the beings made for divine chastening and just destruction!”


Wonder argued well and with reasoning that seemed soundly enough, so the other spirit had merely given an affirming nod in response, so slight that it seemed as if his helmet had just tilted like a branch in the breeze. But of course, Justice was no tree, and no wind could ever faze his dauntless posture.

Without much further in the way of incidents worth recounting, the unlikely duo went ever further east until at last they came upon that place where the ground’s gradual downward slope finally terminated in a dreary shore: the end of the world, or so the justice-spirit might have thought. Yet already seaweed had grown and died and been washed ashore, and in the distance, he could faintly perceive a dark gray haze. Finally, the god stopped his tireless march to stand still and briefly reflect upon these sights.

Some other spirit had clearly left its touch here, and something was out there. With determination, he set out to discover the spirit that inevitably waited yonder! As he waded straight into the water, the tall metallic giant found himself in water so deep that it came to his breastplate. A particularly large wave rolled forward, but the top of its surf only threw its froth upon his greaves; the god’s armor had warped and groaned in protest, but ultimately stretched to accommodate his unyielding will. Metal did not float, after all, so he would never be swimming. The thought of trudging along on the dark bottom of the sea similarly seemed foolish if he could just splash through.

He went further out, stepping off a great ledge into waters that were suddenly much deeper – but now the sea merely came up to the tassets of his plated armor. He’d made himself so colossal that he was like a gigantic, walking gray tower. He could see burning islands way out there, on the horizon. Still, the water grew ever deeper, and he was nowhere even near the islands. It looked like he’d have to go underwater, so with a sigh, he just kept marching onward until the waves passed even above the crown of his helmet. Deep waters, indeed! Wonder would have to learn to swim or grow used to breathing water if he intended to make it to the fires on the other side, but Justice still was not especially concerned with Wonder, even if he now thought the being was at least passable as a proper spirit, if not entirely worthy of his station and the sacred charge vested unto him.

“You’re getting me all wet! What’s the point of you if I get wet!” Wonder cried out in protest as his feet descended beneath the waves. “I’ll show you something wondrous! Behold!” and so saying, he raised the Son-o’-Falyn in one hand and the Sword of Wonder in the other so that the waters caved in before them and a wave rose to their left and another to their right and the seafloor manifested before them. “Am I not the wonder of the world? Am I not the very splitter of the seas? He has beheld, he has conquered, and now he has sundered and cloven! Do you behold me, noble justice? Ah, but how stupid that I ask - you are yet blind!”

And though Wonder’s words were truer than he ever could know, even the blind spirit of justice could sense some things. [color=SlateGray]“I do sense the water yielding to your whim and parting for our passage,”[/color] the statue rumbled, ever serious, [color=SlateGray]“but is water meant to do that? Have you the authority to incite it into such an odd state?”[/color]

Wonder scoffed. “Have I the [i]authority[/i]? Brother justice, I am the wonder of the world! I have every authority to cause the wondrous, the marvelous, the improbable and implausible, the very impossible, to occur! All the dreams and imaginings, all the impossible hopes and nightmares that flit across the minds and souls of creation: I am that! Look on this sea: it daily dreams to kiss the sky, it wonders and beholds, it sighs and cries and flings itself thus. I have caused its wondering dreams to erupt before us. I have every authority; I am the self-creator of my authority. How so, you ask? Hah! By so doing, noble justice, that’s how!” 

Justice still couldn’t understand Wonder and suspected it to be a most useless aspect. Well, at least in this moment it was proving to be of some marginal benefit. If Wonder was not some state of madness, perhaps it was a means of travel? One day, he would understand, the spirit promised to himself. [color=SlateGray]“The Steward did say that the other spirits could make up these laws, so I suppose that I need not punish you if you make your deeds legal as you do them.”[/color]

Wonder raised an eyebrow, pursed his lips, then smiled. “Well, of course everything I do is legal. You should’ve known that! Do I strike you as some lowly criminal?” He looked down at the colossal metal god and the blood of the elf splashed down like a waterfall on him. “I think not!”

In what seemed like a very short walk, the titanic armored spirit and his passenger neared the first of many volcanic islands. All around were little mortals that had come to behold the wonder and madness and terror of a sea that parted to permit the passage of a strange gray giant and a funny little creature atop his head, though the spirit’s helmeted head was not the head to be concerned with here -- it was the [i]mortals[/i] and [i]their[/i] heads, for they all seemed to have somehow managed to set themselves ablaze. As the bizarre duo neared, however, the skies above darkened and the waves began to hail down upon the islands as they had never before hailed. Crying out in fear and panic, the fire-headed creatures scattered for shelter and were nowhere to be seen when at last justice and wonder arrived.

The spirit took a few giant steps towards the nearest of the hotheads, and in so doing he somehow seemed to compress himself down into a much more manageable size, just enough to stand above his companion, when before the palm trees had been like blades of grass by his boots. Of course, this abrupt shrinking had left Wonder in a precarious position up in the sky, and this time he was left to unceremoniously fall down rear-first onto the sand and surf. The wonder spirit looked quite silly and undignified down there with the crabs scurrying around his face, so naturally his fellow spirit advised him to cease. [color=SlateGray]“Get up from there.”[/color]

“Do not search for me where the crablings crawl -I am not there!” Wonder declared at once, manifesting in his glory by the metal god, “I did not fall.” He looked around as thunder cracked and rain pounded the isle. “Strange, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t raining like this before. What could have possibly caused it?” He turned full circle and looked at where the cloven sea had been left to fall all at once, water steaming and rising, crashing and churning, swift clouds forming and spitting their innards upon the earth, thundering and crackling with lightning even as they did. “Hmm,” wonder said gravely, “how terrible this weather is. To think the elements could be so fickle and utterly utterly unpredictable. And without any form of divine meddling too, none at all. Powerful indeed is Galbar, mighty is the earth, terrible the seas, majestic the clouds as they hurl their lightning bolts and thunder.” He turned, arms spread. “It is well that you should fear, flame-headed islanders! The world is flighty and cruel and will very suddenly - and without any form of divine intervention, mind you, none at all - hail down on you. Marvel in it then, wonder at it too, and truly fear it!”
All was quiet for a moment, save for the pounding of the rain and the occasional clap of a thundercrack. But then, the not-so-titanic-at-the-moment-titan suddenly declared, [color=SlateGray]“You lie, little wonder-spirit, but Justice can see through your deceit. [i]You[/i] caused this storm; it [i]was[/i] created by divine intervention. I would persecute and destroy you for this lie, if you were not a spirit. If the Steward had not given you the ability to proclaim whatever you like to be law. Hmph. She may have lacked foresight. How is Justice to hold any spirit accountable when they can brush aside Justice with mere words?”[/color] 

This was a very stark, startling, and troubling revelation. Wonder turned to him with an amicable smile, eyes innocent and wide. “Accountable? Accountable for what? I have done no wrong - if you call me a liar (and that is not true!) then even if I were, it is no crime. Everyone lies - even you have lied! You said, for instance, that you see me - that was a lie!” Justice butted in, [color=SlateGray]“No.”[/color]

“You said, for instance, that I was mad - that too a lie!” [color=SlateGray]“No.”[/color] “You said, for instance, that you would sever my head with my own sword -- “ [color=SlateGray]“I still may yet.”[/color] “--oh lies lies lies! Who will punish [i]you[/i]? Who will hold you accountable, hmm? Forget this whimsical accountability of yours and don’t think too much. You are not the arbiter of justice, only its enforcer after all.” The god’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “Is that not right, brother?” Thunder rumbled all about and in the darkness of the storm lightning flashed, illuminating the two statuesque gods. Justice gazed into the impish face of wonder, and wonder smiled warmly into the metallic helm.

[color=SlateGray]“I must think upon all of this without your maddening words to distract me. You must await my return here, in case I decide that indeed I must sever your head with your own sword.”[/color] And then the strange god was a towering titan once more, and with a few huge steps that practically shook the whole island, he climbed up to the volcano’s peak before shrinking again out of sight. Wonder was left alone to sigh in the rain, questioning how anything or anybody could be so obtuse and blind to wonder. A great flash of lightning illuminated the darkened island as it huddled beneath the stormclouds, and in that instant of clarity, the god looked out into the sea and beheld the waves dancing wildly to and fro. Chuckling, he found himself compelled to join them, for why shouldn’t the sea dance in a duet?

[list][*][hider=Summary]Chud and Wonder are walking. They get to the sea and Chud proceeds to walk into it. Even in his titantic form, he begins to sink after. Wonder, on his head, doesn't like getting wet. By coincidence, at that moment, as Wonder raises his hands, the sea splits before them. This, uh, was not achieved via divine power or means, it coincidentally occurred at that exact moment, as Wonderboi raised his arms and seemed to will it. It's, uh, [url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=99580&page=1]science[/url]. So anyhow, they cross the sea and then Chud and Wonderboi get into a little argument. Chud goes to meditate elsewhere and commands Wonderboi to stay put so he can come back and chop his head off later.[/hider][/list]