Clouds and Currents - VoK & HW 2021 Event Prompts

   Nahia sighed and plopped down next to her. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Yeah, I get that."
   "...You mean about the whole disciple of the gods thing. And having no powers and all?"
   "Mhm," she mumbled. "I mean. I guess I have powers, sort of. But they're not my powers, that's just... how the realm of the gods works. Ooh, I can shift the landscape to fit my needs! Big whoop. The other gods and apprentices can do that, too. Hell, it changes on its own sometimes. Not like it's anything special." She huffed. "Don't know why they even keep me around. No powers, not a god, barely any training, most of the actual gods seem to either not give a damn about me or outright want nothing to do with me..."
   "...I'm sorry," Tamaya said. What else could she say?
   "I just don't get it," Nahia grumbled, digging with lazy frustration at the ground. "I've lived there all my life. You'd think that'd mean I was a god, right? Or born to one? So you'd think I'd have powers, or some sort of special strength, or something! Or at least that the real gods wouldn't act like I was just a stupid pain to have around." She sighed. "And they don't let me leave, like, you know I snuck out to get here. I don't even want to be a god, you know? Seems like a massive chore. I just want to hang out, have fun, live my life? But no, can't let Nahia do that, that would be nice! So they keep me there, and you'd think, 'Hey, if Nahia is staying and supposedly training under the gods, then she's gotta have powers, right? She's gotta have something to make them decide she's worth keeping around, they gotta have given her something useful!' But no. I'm just stuck there, wasting my days away doing nothing of value while the people around me decide I'm not worth their time, but I'm not worth any real freedom, anyway." She flicked a pebble - Unenchanted, unmoving, luckily - off into the distance. "And, like. It wouldn't be bad if I had any actual friends, you know? The realm is cool, it's like clay. You can basically sculpt it into whatever you want it to be, as long as it's not fighting your will or whatever. You wanna make a waterfall to dive from? Bam, there's a waterfall! A big, sandy beach! Kaboom, a beach with the finest sand and the warmest water you've ever felt! But, like... it's boring. You can make the place what you want, sure, but eventually you just stop really caring about the stuff it gives you, right? Like, sure, it's cool, but you're experiencing it all alone, and you were the one who came up with it, so who even cares? What's the point?"
   "Yeah..." Tamaya said. "No friends... so you're the only disciple there? Or..."
   "No," she mumbled. "There's others there. Always been others. But they actually got powers. This little guy with crazy radiation magic, a silver cat girl with light magic and a freaking wyvern? Like, are you kidding me, that's a whole ass dragon, and she can basically control it with her mind? How sick is that?!" Her shoulders drooped. "But, I mean. They actually had powers, and training. They were busy with that, why would they spend their time with some nobody like me? And even if they weren't eventually, the disciples either become gods, who in turn want nothing to do with me for whatever reason, leave to continue their training somewhere else, or they just quit the whole deal and run off."
   Tamaya was silent. So this was the reality behind the facade she sensed before.
   "And you know what? I could probably deal with all of that, if not for the fact that the gods, while seemingly hating my guts, still expect me to become one of them someday! 'Oh, your powers will awaken one of these days, so you better keep up your training,' and other crap like that, while I have no powers and nothing to train with or for!" She cursed loudly, and Tamaya winced. "It's just so stupid! I don't get it." She flopped down next to her friend. The first genuine friend she had, apparently. "I just don't get it."