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Post by tuxedoclank on Jan 28, 2009 16:48:06 GMT -5
The sound of the waves crashed through the fog on the dreary abandoned shipyard. The place could have been a minefield for all the tourists it attracted. The fog was very low and it was almost impossible to see anything more then an arms length away. An old fashioned cobble stone path wound around the city. A broken down tavern was dripping with the water from the recent downpour at the side of the cobble stone road. There was a small droplet of water sliding down a smashed window. The front door was hanging droopily on a single hinge.
Through the mist a shadowy figure strode. It was impossible to see where he was going but the sounds of the waves were guiding him. He stopped at the tavern noticing a long beam of wood jutting out from the building diagonally to about head height. If he hadn't stopped, the bar would have knocked him over. The man ducked under the beam and continued walking.
Suddenly the cobbled path gave way to a long gangway of wood. The jetty was just wide enough for three people to walk along side by side, but only just. There was nothing tied to the jetty, which meant the man was early. Matt stopped at the edge and sat cross-legged on the soaking wood. He had his eyes closed and was silent waiting. He heard the drip of the droplet of water that had now reached the windowsill and fallen onto the floor.
Matt was meditating on his journey. It had been uneventful. He had travelled for three days to get here and had shunned civilisation on the way. He lived off the land and any animals he could charm into becoming his meal. He was in a way, an animal, a hunter, but yet he was still human. It must be the way he worked. He had sometimes turned into a raven or something similar to avoid people.
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Feb 2, 2009 20:44:07 GMT -5
(Sorry for the delay. ^^' We're pretty short on people right now. I promise it won't happen again, though.)
The sound of his walking was lost among the waves and soft gray sand, but a man was approaching. His tunic was long and the long, soft gray of cotton, with boots and leggings of worn brown leather. The hood of the tunic was down, probably because the man did not seem to need it. His hair, long, black, and slightly tangled by the shipyard's wind, reached far past his shoulders and was only slightly shorter in the front, covering most of his face. It would be nearly impossible to see through that, and very impractical otherwise. He did not seem to notice, but that could be because his eyes were closed.
With a stick in hand, just a narrow piece of driftwood, he scouted the way in front of him, touching upon the rickety posts from the boardwalk now and then. When he was about five feet away from Matt, the man finally stopped. He was slim and tall and a bit wet from the spray, but his face was calm.
"Are you my student?" the man asked in a curiously unemotional voice.
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Post by tuxedoclank on Feb 3, 2009 12:13:22 GMT -5
(No problem, I got loads of stuff to keep me busy.)
Matt's eye opened suddenly and in a second he was standing. He had heard someone on the planks. He wore his green cloak that covered his arms and head but his chest was bare, which might have been something bad in this weather. Matt however never really felt the weather anymore. He turned to see a slightly darker patch in the fog. Then a voice sounded out of the fog from the darker patch. Matt walked forward until he was close enough to see the figure of a man.
"It is your call, I don't know much about this." Matt replied in the same curiously unemotional voice. He waited for the man to make another move, determined only to respond as was his style. He noticed the stick in the man's hand and wondered if he was blind.
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Feb 3, 2009 19:22:50 GMT -5
(It's always good to have a life. XD Very healthy.)
"You sound like him," the man confirmed thoughtfully. The world was white to him, a place as featureless as if it had been wrapped in wool. He could feel the sunlight on him, but it had never been processed through his eyes; the world was an odd relation of other senses, ones humans more often than not ignored to bask in the luxury of sight. Despite all the romanticism involved in blindness, there were some serious downsides that most stories tended to gloss over.
He tended to fall on his face a lot. Twenty-one times, actually, on the way up here, and he had only walked half the way. "Welcome to Twilight Moon Academy, Matthew Roberts. I am your Master Teacher, and my name is Sotren. You may ask any question that comes to you. I was always told that teaching was half asking and half telling, and I believe it. I have one question for you now: This school may ask a lot of you, so are you ready to prove yourself?"
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Post by tuxedoclank on Feb 4, 2009 12:54:30 GMT -5
Yes, Matt concluded, the man was blind. This man was definitely not to be underestimated despite the inability to see. It was a curious concept that many children imagined at one point in their life by just closing their eyes. For this person it was different, when they opened their eyes vision wouldn't return. Matt's' childhood curiosity returned. What sense would be the most dominant, and how would the rest develop to deal with the problem? These things spent a few seconds churning around his mind before he registered that his companion had introduced himself.
"Well, it is nice to meet you Sotren. It is not within my power to know whether I am prepared enough, I will attempt as much as I can though," Matt said with honesty. "Now it is my turn, for I wish us to take turns in question asking, If you would go against it as you naturally know a lot about me you may. How do you cope with your blindness?"
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Feb 4, 2009 13:33:32 GMT -5
"Cope?" he asked, a small smile coming to his face. "It is a disability, that is true, but I do not feel disabled. I have never been able to see, so I don't know the difference. It takes me a long time to know a place that you could realize with a glance, and I do not know when things are changed until I feel them. In battle I am more likely to die, especially if the enemy is silent or the battlefield is loud. I may be able to hear their footsteps, but by the time their weapons whistle it is often too late.
"In times of illusion, however, I am not fooled by disguises, and my world is as rich as anyone else's," he finished simply. turning his ear toward the sound of the turgid water. "They disoriented me before dropping me here. Your task is to find the school, if you want to attend it. I don't know a lot about you, though. For example, I would like to know why you came here."
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Post by tuxedoclank on Feb 4, 2009 14:29:53 GMT -5
"Sorry for the ignorance, I am like a child, I have only ever imagined what it is like to be blind." Matt said. He thought hard about what his master had said, wondering if the character was only messing about his senses only being slightly better than the average human's. Then he heard the waves slowing for a reason unknown.
"I am not entirely sure about why I came here, all I know is that I wanted to be part of this school despite not even knowing it existed. I just felt a need to travel here as though I was being drawn by a hook." Matt explained, although he hadn't known the answer until asked. "I believe it is my turn. Would it be correct to assume we will board a boat from this dock or not?"
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Feb 4, 2009 16:26:11 GMT -5
"You are not like a child, who would not apologize. I am equally ignorant of seeing, so let me extend my regret as well if I have not answered your question fully."
Sotren paused then, considering his student's question. "There is no correct way, only possibilities. If you were to board a boat from this dock, it would be commanded by a demon, something damned or dead. It would be a dangerous way, but not impossible. You say the school called you? Hm, what powers do you possess?"
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Post by tuxedoclank on Feb 8, 2009 5:19:11 GMT -5
(Thank you for being so relaxed)
Matt stood still. It felt odd to be told that he was not something he knew he was even slightly. He wished to know the answers as to how to get to the school. If only the old man knew, but it seemed he didn't.
Matt smiled, slightly surprised that the question had not come up earlier, he knew that it would come up. "Well, I am not fully sure how it works, but I seem to be able to shape shift. I can turn into any animal I have seen." Matt started. "I can only change when I am not fully human, when I am connected to a strong emotion or I am feeling distant to people."
Matt smirked slightly. This man was curious, he seemed to know very little about what was going on at the moment despite being a master. "I wish to ask you the same question, my friend." Matt said calmly waiting for something to make itself apparent as to where he should go.
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Post by Ladd Russo of the Russo Family on Feb 9, 2009 20:45:48 GMT -5
(This one is a little long. XD eheheheh.)
The blind man inclined his head. It was not an unusual power, but he had an unusually wide potential for variety. To be able to become a creature by only seeing it was almost unheard. There were blocks, however. By only being able to transform by the strength of his emotions, or lack, he could be vulnerable. There was also something of a berserker risk in that: If he could not control his temper, would he become dangerous to companions as well?
Sotren did not consider it at the moment since the young man seemed to be mature. "My power is not easily defined. The present and future are sometimes made known to me," he replied somewhat distantly, "but that is not something I can control. I have some small skill in healing, and I can feel if someone is lying. Most relevant to you is my ability to bring out the powers of others."
The teacher stopped talking and became still. There was something dark on the air, a rush of wind that seemed stale and hot. Though Sotren could not see it, a wave swept the water, freezing it as though the surface had become solid, but it was more than that. It seemed like time itself had stopped. Flecks of spray glistened in the air motionless, and gray dune grass became immobile even while the sickly breeze still gusted.
A person grew closer, his gait a mixture of lazed staggering and a merry skip, leaving sunken footprints in the semi-solid water. Two dark braids swung with his movements, and icy blue eyes peered out at them from a messy abundance of bangs. His clothes were as loose and manic as his tight smile.
"I heard someone mention damned, and I was aching for company. His teeth, it could be seen, were slightly pointed, and his chest trembled with suppressed laughter. "Are you here for a test, new student? I hope you fail..... for those who flail......I get to nail...... to yonder sail.....~" He chuckled cynically, cocking his head to a tattered boat.
"He is not under your authority, Kilk," Sotren said, his tone not really changing from usual, but his stance had changed to something more defensive.
"I bet I could push him more!" Off a cliff, the grinning man's eyes seemed to say. "A pleasure to meet you. Anything I can do...? Please, don't be afraid to impose. You have no idea how boring a ship can be," Now more serious, there still seemed to be instability bubbling beneath his words.
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Post by tuxedoclank on Feb 14, 2009 12:59:26 GMT -5
(Again I have been really busy, I have a piece of coursework for next week. Thankfully I have started my half term holiday. I will edit this into a reply ASAP.
I know what it's like to get bogged down. Unfortunately, I'll be gone for forty days starting next Wednesday, so you might have another teacher take over. It's a religious thing, Lent, otherwise I'd be here for you. I just wanted to let you know; schoolwork definitely comes first.)
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