First Word :: Day 114

[wayofvoice]

Who: Paarthurnax OR Aoi, and you!
Status: Open
When: Day 114, towards the 'evening'
Where: The Bastion
What: Two new arrivals make their way in. One of them is a cute teenage girl. The other is a giant dragon.

[Sometime towards the end of Day 114, a few people watching the Skyway might notice something very big making its way towards the Bastion. Big and airborne, for that matter. It's upon the Bastion in very little time, an enormous wyvern if you want to be technical and simply dragon if you don't. When it lands at the entrance to the Bastion, the earth shakes a bit and it lowers its head...]

[Huh, that sure is a cute teenage girl seated on its neck.]

[Anyone particularly close might be able to hear a brief exchange between the two of them.]

Now we part ways. They would react better to you, I believe. Zu'u fen pek het. I will wait here.

Guess so, huh... Okay! We'll meet up later, then!

[With that, the girl sets off to investigate while the dragon waits near the Skyway as he observes from a distance.]

[Who do you approach?]

Comments

[hellpyre]

[Basically.]

Pretty much.

[Rin smiled a little at that, trying to remain hopeful.]

I think we'll get through it alright.

[wayofvoice]

I would believe such a statement. [His warm breath goes gently over the back of Rin's head.] Mortal races are often determined. I have seen them survive catastrophes before. It is admirable.

[hellpyre]

Mn...

[There was a lot of truth in that. Rin herself had seen a lot of determination to survive in people. The incident in Kyoto was the strongest case of that, with odds stacked against them so high any wrong step from anyone could have resulted in the death hundreds. Yet they kept fighting until they won against the Impure King.

Yet morale in the Bastion had been low for weeks, and the recent Core retrieval only lowered it further. It made Rin wonder how long they could keep pushing forward before they all gave up.]

Yeah...

[wayofvoice]

[It doesn't take a thousand year old dragon to be able to see that things are not doing well in Bastion, or at least not with this girl in particular.]

Much seems to be weighing itself down on you, goraan gein. Would you care to speak of it after your task?

[hellpyre]

[Rin's shoulders slump a bit, and it's not from the weight of the jars in her arms.]

That obvious, huh?

[wayofvoice]

There is no shame in it. As they say, orin strunmah vis kos worn tum- even mountains can be worn down. Sometimes an exchange of words can help ease such burden.

[hellpyre]

I suppose it couldn't hurt...

[She gives a nod, motioning to the open kitchen back door.]

I'll be back in a minute then.

[wayofvoice]

I will wait here.

[It's not like he can go in, after all. It's nice to just look around the Bastion from his position, anyway.]

[hellpyre]

[Nodding, Rin slipped inside, putting the jars away properly before coming back out. She had to get the rest, of course, but it could wait.]

[wayofvoice]

[When he hears her come out, Paarthurnax lowers himself a bit. He had raised himself up a little to get a better view of the Bastion, but now he brings himself down.]

There is a river we could speak by, if that would be quiet enough a place for you.

[hellpyre]

Sure.

[It was a good spot. She liked to spend time in the Onsen more, but being near water in general as fairly calming.

Nodding again, she moved along towards the river quietly, hands behind her back as she walked.]

[wayofvoice]

[With a bit of effort, Paarthurnax keeps with her slower pace. The sound of a running river is something he had missed in his returns to the Throat of the World, and he settles simply enough when they reach their destination.]

Now then, tinvaak wah zey do hin arokon. Speak to me of your troubles.

[hellpyre]

[Rin found a grassy spot to nestle in to crossing her legs under herself and tucking loose strands of black behind a pointed ear.]

It's not just one thing... it's been tough ever since we got here. And last time we went to look for a Core I just... lost control. My friends got hurt because of me.

[wayofvoice]

Ah, control... That I can understand very well. What occurred?

[It's fairly obvious thanks to the tail that Rin isn't human, after all. Loss of control could mean a lot of things.]

[hellpyre]

[Half, but the point remains.]

One of the Cores got eaten by one'a the creatures out there. I snapped and attacked it without my friends. By the time they caught up with me I was this close [she held up her fingers, about an inch apart] to not bein' able to tell between them and the enemy.

Bon had to grab me... it distracted everyone else and Sonic wound up with a broken leg. We almost lost the Core, too. If we'd lost the Core we wouldn't have the hospital...

[wayofvoice]

[He listens patiently, and thinks on how similar it is to other stories he has heard throughout his long life. The young are not strangers to such trials, but he has heard adults fall into similar mistakes.]

So you recognize that going on your own was foolish?

[hellpyre]

[She nods, fingers curling in to her ankles.]

I know I can be better than that! I just... I was so tired of losing people. Of losing friends.

[wayofvoice]

[He blows out a large gust of air from his nostrils at her.]

Do not think of that. You have recognized your mistake. Thus, you have solved the first half of your situation. No life was yet lost, so do not focus on such a thing.

Now we must focus on the second half- your control.

[hellpyre]

[Another nod, and she lifted her hands to rub at her face. There were no tears, but she found herself doing it anyway.]

I ain't totally without control. I've been workin' on it for months...

[wayofvoice]

Pruzah. Initiative is always a good trait to have. How have you been working on it?

[hellpyre]

A little under a year. I didn't even find out what I was until last spring. ... well. Spring in Japan.

[wayofvoice]

Then you have still longer to practice. A year is not very long at all. [Says the immortal dragon.]

Yet I meant in what manner have you been practicing to control yourself?

[hellpyre]

No... I know that.

[She can be dim, but even she knows... most of her limits.]

Back home, it was sword trainin' and doin' things to improve my aim and control with my flames. Here... not much. Bon tries to get me to meditate with him but I ain't very good at it.

[wayofvoice]

[Awwww yes, meditation, that is his specialty]

How does he meditate?

[hellpyre]

Well he's Buddhist...

[Rin is a dragon really going to know what that is?]

So he usually just sits there and chants. I like... I like listenin' to him? It's calming... I just can't ever get my mind in it.