chasing twisters in the canyon

Perseus played by thesentientburger

So.   

Percy still wasn't back in Namarast.  

Instead he was here in the middle of asscrack nowhere staring at a sandy delta that had once been quite a nice place to stop when traveling through the Whispering Sea. And now the little creek was full of sand and the thick, coarse grasses that had lined it were broken and trampled. He couldn't help but frown, the Book already out and floating before him. He was supposed to be a librarian Fate be damned, not some monster hunter always on the run.   

Percy took a deep breath and let it out slow. At least the trail was easy to follow. And judging by the sand cloud on the horizon, he was close enough to catch up to it soon. His attention shifted to Laeth, the golden bird alighting on his shoulder. "Did you see any water?" She shook her head and Percy scowled. Of course. The sand from the beast had to have clogged some of the few well known water sources. No matter, he had enough to last.   

Taking a step he started forwards again. Might as well keep moving. 

Nigel played by tiyre

He'd never really had someone willing to teach him how to use his magic. Not that he'd really asked, but.... he hadn't even known he had any until he'd made it into the inhabited places of Ivras, until his parent vanished and he was alone. 

He hadn't known to ask the only person he'd known. 

He could remember the time before, when his thoughts were solely his own, when he could feel more than the dread that he would be asked to cause someone's death. Feed us, feed us, we will last eternal. And then, at one of the last hunts, he'd found the buzzing entirely silenced. 

Maybe he could overcome this. Maybe he just needed to be stronger, even if he had to teach himself.

Nigel had learned from that monster, had practiced until he felt himself able, more and more, to push the voices down and start to direct them with a question. 

And he learned he didn't know how to train, except in the violence of a fight. He wasn't particularly good at fighting, but.... it was what worked for him. He'd heard there was another monster, this time among the sands. He could deal with sand. He had lived among the sand for many and more of a time. 

He saw someone else walking, and his steps slowed, fear bright on his face. He had been training, he could do it, he needn't hear the barrage of voices cracking at him. He quivered, paused, and shook himself - he could do this. "Hello!" he called after the other man, hurrying to catch up. 

Percy

Percy turned, his attention perked at the sound of someone calling out. Laeth took to the heavens once more knowing it was her duty to keep searching. Meanwhile, Percy raised a hand in greeting, a smile curling across his features. "Hullo!" The Book's pages flipped ominously and Percy quickly dismissed it entirely. "It is always good to see anothere wanderer, unless you're after the same sand storm I'm hunting." His words waned light hearted, but there was a weight about them that somehow showed the strange being with the book was more serious than he first seemed.  

Nigel

Nigel's face broke into a grin with a barely-remembered reflex, dropping almost as suddenly as it came as he warily eyed the other man's book. Perhaps this was a mistake. He was unused to talking to strangers, though everyone here was strange and stranger still, but he had not grown up in a community where you learned how to tell the difference between one who meant you well and one who meant you ill. "Allo," he responded, self conscious. "I... I am not much use with hunting, but I am trying to better myself and find that being near the monsters helps me train." He ducked his head, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "I want the world to be safe for people," he murmured, voice low enough that the older man might have difficulty catching it. He didn't add safe from me. not out loud, at least.

Percy

Percy's parental instinct flared up with those few words. "Training near a monster helps?" He shook his head. "I don't mean to dole out unsolicited advice, but Imiuat say there's probably a much better way to do that then to purposefully put yourself in harms way." The concern that laced his voice was unmistakable. "May I instead offer, to perhaps help you find out why it's easier for you to train near a monster so you perhaps can recreate it without the aspect of peril?"   

He'd nearly missed the last bit, but was too swept up in his sudden bought of parental concern to pay it any mind. "Ahhhh, you'll have to pardon my intrusion. I don't mean to barge in without introducing myself like that. My name is Perseus, or a Percy if you'd like."

Nigel

He backed up a few steps, looking at the ground, fully ashamed of himself. "I don't know how to train if it's not near a monster. Or, well... it's only worked once, but that means it could work again? Right? When I, uh... when I tried to do it by myself, I ended up.... feeling bad." A single piece of corruption, winding through his bones. He didn't know if it would end up doing anything, but he felt as though it was slowly consuming him. "If I can train, maybe I don't have to feel bad anymore." Again, spoken as though he wasn't sure if it were better to lie or be brutally honest. 

He started when the other man gave his name, as though it was the next logical thing to do. "Oh! You didn't barge at all. It seems like I was the one interrupting you! My name is Nigel." That much, at least, he could say without fear of repercussion. Probably.

Percy

"You found something that works. It's only natural for you to try and pursue it again." Percy paused. "However. If you're worried about… further bad feelings then you may want to seek other ways to train that doesn't include being so near to those wrought by corruption." He offered. The mage went quiet again, his expression softening. "Sometimes, training helps. Other times, it doesn't stop corruption." He said faintly, his eyes brimming with a look of warm sorrow.   

He gently waved a hand. "It's no interruption. I promise. I just had my familiar looking for fresh water. The watering holes I am used… well many of them have been choked out by the sand. But it's no matter. 

Nigel

This was getting very personal. No one wanted to know much about him, nothing more than pleasantries and names. He was slowly starting a honey farm in the sands near Mead, where people might come and sit for company and conversation, but... who, he hadn't has the energy to finish it. Yet. Someday, maybe.  

Long story short, Nigel had no friends and found friendly people confusing.  

"Being near the corrupted was the first time I had hope." His voice was choked, raw. The bliss of not having anything whispering to him that everything dies, why not die now? Of silence.  

He looked around. "I haven't spent much time in this salt marsh," he said slowly, thinking. "But I've spent my life in the sands. Perhaps I can help? I... might even be able to use my magic. Now. I haven't tried like this, though." 

Percy

The bookish mage couldn't help but stare at the poor soul standing a few feet off. Being so near to corruption had brought him hope? Percy's soul ached just a little as he took a half step towards the younger mage. "Was it that poor wretched swine?" He asked slowly. He blamed that horrible ravenous creature for what had become of his own magic. He felt his grip on magic shudder and the Book threatened to reappear. He looked thoughtful for a long minute. He took another step forwards, suddenly more worried about the man before him than the towering storm behind. It could wait.  

 "If I may be so bold. I have studied corruption and the effects of magic on mages for a fairly decent amount of time. If you are open to it, I may perhaps be able to offer some assistance." He paused glancing over his shoulder. It could wait a moment. Right here in front of him was someone on the long and drawn out path that magic had lain out. If Percy could offer even a moment of guidance then… then maybe he wouldn't have to hunt anymore of these poor magical fiends.  

 Percy's attention perked. "It isn't dire. My water supply can last another day or two if I am watchful. However any assistance or tips you can lend would be greatly appreciated." 

Nigel

He didn't hear any judgment, but he felt his own internal shame. To feel hope, peace, as another went through something truly awful... it wasn't good. It wasn't right, but, sometimes, sometimes, he was learning that he needed to be a little selfish.  

The other man stepped closer, and Nigel couldn't decipher the look on his face. Concern? Anger? Joy? He hadn't had the practice to know how to read people and understand their intentions, but he was, in theory, an optimist. Hopefully he didn't want to do anything bad to the much younger man. "I... I suppose I would be open. What harm could you do?" He laughed, extremely self-conscious. That was a stupid thing to say - people could hurt people! It happened all the time! Just, usually... it was his magic that hurt him. His magic, that he was finally almost able to control enough that he wasn't in constant psychic pain, was worse. 

He hesitated when Percy accepted his potential help. It wasn't that he didn't want to help the older man, but he really didn't know much about the salt marshes. He could try to direct the mutterings of the mushrooms, but he wasn't sure it would work or if he'd just be inviting them to mentally attack. "I can help," he responded, words slow and excessively careful, "but it would be better if it wasn't until things were more dire. Payment can be... painful."

Percy

What harm could he do? For a moment Percy’s mind flashed back to the moment the thief had stepped out onto the road. And then having to bury a body. He shook his head. ”None.” He replied simply, banishing the thought from his mind. As long as his magic was safely out of the way then all would be fine. ”Though if we’re headed for the monster then that may hurt the both of us.” He said with a hint of amusement flicking through his voice. The sour sort of amusement that rung with some truth.  

He frowned. ”Do you mean helping would harm you in some way? In that case, I’ll leave it up to Laeth to find water. We’ve done well enough thus far. And I wouldn’t want you to injure yourself to try and help.” He paused and shook his head, glancing over as a gust of wind fluttered over him. ”I’m mainly hoping I won’t need the water or to even be out here much longer. This place is… well it has its beauty but I far prefer the trees and green grasses away from here.”  

Percy frowned a bit towards the monster. ”From everything I’ve heard it may soon be winding down. The monster hunt that is. And that’s for the better I believe.” He glanced back over towards Nigel. Hopefully there wouldn’t be another monster hunt looming on the horizon, the younger man didn’t look all that corrupted but who could tell in this era. People were breaking constantly under the pressure of hard times.  He prayed a silent prayer to the gods that his children would be safe. 

Nigel

He was lucky that Percy didn't, at least, seem manipulative or evil or... but how could he tell? He had been never been taught to distrust, and simultaneously had never been taught to trust. He had only ever known his family, and then, after he left his family, he was suddenly given to know everyone. 

His powers wanted him to know everyone. 

Nigel rubbed his hair self consciously. It was true, the monster probably would injure them if they weren't careful, but he just wanted, he wanted... to grow stronger. And if that meant training with a monster so others weren't accidentally hurt, well then. There really was no better answer. 

He opened his mouth, story spilling out as though he was breaking the dam of self-induced isolation. "Not injured, no. But my magic... it does not care about me, nor those I am around. It is an insatiable monster in it's own right, whispering things I've never wanted to hear, but if I train near monsters, then it can't tell me to hurt anyone else. If there's no one around, I don't have to be responsible for watching out for them. I can just... be. Even if I do still get an awful headache when I use it." He looked down, sheepish. "I am getting stronger, though. Sometimes I can tell my magic what to do, rather than it only forcing it's will at me." It wasn't actually the magic itself that was bad. Honestly, the fungi themselves weren't even bad - they were just doing what they needed to survive.

The young man came out of his thoughts as he realized Percy was still talking. "I don't know about these wastes, but... I'm from a land of sand, and my magic is less active the less life there is. So here, honestly, is not my worst place."