Clouds and Currents - VoK & HW 2021 Event Prompts
Author's Notes
Two decisions made, six symbols. Only the best things happen in threes-- or maybe there is a special rule about thirds. Whether you deem it to be a coincidence or a curse, the shadows present a third choice. With some finality to it, even. You cannot describe how you know what your options are, but they exist, held somewhere between your eyes and the back of your mind.
WISDOM | STRENGTH | CHARISMA
Is it supposed to be what you tend to lean on, or maybe an aspiration? Or maybe it is something else entirely... a pattern of sorts, that maybe you haven't determined yet.
The darkness vibrates and dances with some sort of energy. It isn't quite magical, if you are familiar with that sort of thing. Maybe the right for it is... anticipation...
Cycle 3 - Night Adventures
Another dream. It never ends. Even crying herself to sleep, it never ends.
Tamaya looked into the shadows again. What choices laid before her now? They no longer took a physical form, but somehow, they reached her regardless. Wisdom, strength, and charisma.
Realistically, in keeping with her past two choices, she should have selected wisdom without hesitation. A sharp mind... that was what she wanted, wasn't it? Some way to think her way out of this, find a way to make this work? To overcome her fears and play into her role fully?
But it was just the opposite, now. Those wishes hadn't been enough. She still didn't know what she was doing, still had no real way of fighting back, still no meaningful plan. Oh, she'd worked out ideas with her mentor and her friend, but what if they weren't enough? What if they didn't work? What then?
She wasn't a hero. She knew that from the start. She'd been saying it all along. She was going to fail, and she would let everyone down, and they would all die, just as she would.
And that terrified her. As it rightfully should. Even if death was an inevitability, it was only natural, even wise, to wish to avoid it, to fear it when it drew near. All the wisdom in the world couldn't change her terror, and all the charisma in the world couldn't let her talk her way out of her own end, and the ends of all those around her.
What choice did she have, any more? If she was going down, she wanted the stability of mind to do so with dignity. The power to stare death in the face and accept it, no matter how terrified she was.
She took a shaky breath. "Strength," she whispered. "Please, give me the strength to face this. Even if I'm going to die, and everyone else is going to die with me, please-" Tears welled up in her eyes. "-don't let me be a coward. Give me the strength to die as the hero they want me to be. If I can manage that... if that strength is enough for any of them to get away, or to fight back, to stop this, then... please. Please, give it to me. I know I'm not a hero. I never was. But don't let it all be for nothing."
Author's Notes
Wordcount: 399 (Out of 100, 200, or 300)
Reward: 3 Ancient Coins