Eretria • Rover (eretriatherover) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-12-13 10:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !completed gdoc, ~2017 december, ~25 points, ~~allanon (doesntdotricks), ~~eretria (eretriatherover) |
Who: Ere & Allanon
When: Last week, before the Fight
Where: Deep in the forest
Why: Training produces unexpected results
Rating: Low/None?
Status: Completed G-Doc
Eretria was arriving earlier for their workouts. The learning was addictive, the hard work made her body sing and her blood soar. Today she'd brought her phone and set it on a rock, then turned on her music player. She didn't like much of this new (old) technology but she did like the music. Tonight saw her dancing along to Fiona Apple criminal letting the music guide her, moving easily not fighting herself or the ground. He would even catch her singing. She wasn't going to be singing hymns anytime soon, but she could carry a tune. *** Approaching, Allanon slowed, and then grinned as he heard her music. Slowing, going quiet, he let the music flow over him, a kind of music he had never heard, never felt before. And yet… As he approached, he shed his robes, leaving a shirt and small pants. And his steps toward her were rhythmic, almost a dance, but as he danced, the Earth answered, an energy building as he called to it through the most ancient way. Allanon moved toward Eretria, fire in his eyes, the Earthpower flowing through him from toes to head, and one hand snapped out to her as he reached her, for her own, a demand, a call, a summoning as the Earth itself urged her to answer. *** Eretria had been so lost in everything she hadn't heard him coming. She's only recently discovered music and it was becoming something of a hobby to listen to while working out at home. She reacted before she even thought about it, even as the music shifted to another song, still a club style song, she felt the power reaching, it caught her off guard even as her fingers reached to his. Answering before her brain processed it all. She even felt her own connection flare for a moment, her eyes widening in surprise. *** His hands found hers, and drew her into a dance that was primal, powerful, and somehow instinctive, eyes on hers, unable to resist the power of Earth within him, and the music that called him to move and to rejoice. There was a fierce smile on his face as he moved with her, the Earthpower flowing, swimming under and around them, and making the ground around them shift slightly. At the edge of the clearing, stones rose, filled with ancient rock, each positioned just so, and the clearing slowly became almost a temple, almost a beacon. And to Allanon, it was like coming home. *** She couldn't tear her eyes away if she wanted to. She could really feel the Earth, feel the power around them and it was a feeling she couldn't explain. Eretria gave in to it, let him pull her into the dance, one she didn't know the steps to but one that she fell into without that knowledge. Her skin felt electric, like every nerve was in high alert. Her grip on his hand was tight like she was clinging to him so she didn't get lost in it all. She didn't want it to end but when it did she hit the ground, hands splayed feeling the lingering licks of power. Eyes wide, forgetting how to to speak for a minute. *** Allanon staggered back, and also ended up on the ground, grinning, and sitting, shedding his boots and socks as he did so, then letting his feet rest against the ground, a wild joy in his heart and eyes. “That…” It took him longer to speak again. “That was good music.’ Inadequate, but accurate. *** Eretria was having trouble pulling her hands off the ground, not wanting to lose that feeling just yet. Even as she lifted her head to look at him. “What?” She blinked then shook her head. “What the hell just happened?” She breathed out as she gave in and flopped onto her back, putting more bare skin in contact with the ground, savoring the feeling. *** “We touched the Earthpower in its most primal form. Somehow, we did something like a Deep Calling, which is one of the most powerful and ancient of spells, but because of the music and how it happened, we did not have to pay the cost.” He grinned at her, feeling loopy and warm. Shifting to sit up, he shifted a touch closer to her and touched her arm, just a companionable thing, for a moment, then he sat back again. His smile was a little smug. “The Earth likes your taste in music, Eretria.” *** “Oh.” was all she could manage for a moment as she mulled that over. “Okay wait, explain that because despite the oh, I have no idea what that actually is and means and all that.” she waved a hand at him and laughed. “So walk me through that one cause, no cost is cool and all but, what the hell?” She didn’t hide the smile at the touch. “Oh, well, that’s good to know. I kind of like my taste in music too. This place … it’s got interesting music. Like i heard in that utopia, without the crazy.” she laughed softly as she ran her hand over the ground then looked over at him, rolling to sit up instead of laying prone. *** “Right.” He chuckled. “Make yourself comfortable.” he thought of how to explain it clearest. This was to the meat of Druids and she needed to understand it. “Due to how the druids were formed, how they first learned magic, the strongest of our ties is to Earthpower, the health and strength of the planet itself. Any planet, or any version, apparently, even not our home one. That power is ours to call on. Strength, long life, healing, the druid’s sleep, toughness, and some base magics come to our call with little effort, once we are attuned to it. Normally, this takes years to do. “ He gestured around them. “What you started, and we finished together, is to tap the primal Earthpower and use it to create a kind of hub, a place where it will well up more powerfully to the surface of the world and is more easy to tap into.” he held up a hand to her. “And must be protected, because it is also easier to corrupt this close to the surface. “ He smiled. “I’ve never heard of music like this, but it helped us synchronize with the Earth itself and we basically performed a ritual calling the Earth and the Earth responded.” *** Eretria almost wished she had a notebook. She needed to be taking notes on all this. Though she was good at memorizing things, anyway, so it didn’t matter as she leaned forward to listen, soaking it up. She chewed on her lip as she looked around for a moment then looked back at him, sharply. “Wait, hold up, what do you mean I started?” she just stared at him like he had three heads for a moment. She got the rest of it - more or less anyway. She kind of got the idea that Earth was the cornerstone of everything for him and, well, eventually her. That made sense. She could understand that. “I actually helped with something this…” she gestured around her with a look of holy shit “amazing, for lack of a better word. I really don’t have a word for this. Or what I felt or am still feeling or anything.” she drummed her nails over the ground. “Roundabout way of saying the Earth kind of likes me and my musical tastes overall? I’m going to go out on a limb and guess it just doesn’t respond like this if it’s not really feeling it.” she was still kind of dumbstruck, to be honest. *** “When you used the music… you are already learning, slowly, to feel Earth, and when you used this music, and danced, and let yourself attune to it, you also attuned, unknowingly, to the Earthpower. You started a ritual.” He chuckled and shook his head. “It seems I must step up the knowledge portion of your training faster than I anticipated. I did not realize such a thing was possible. There was no such music in our world, that I had heard.” And even if there was, it would have required a half-begun training druid to call it. Oops. “We did it together, with the Earth. The dance and letting ourselves fill with the feel of it. That is Earth power, that is the strongest of magics.” He held out his hand and his staff leaped into it. “When you can and do form one of these, you will feel it always, and, with a cost, be able to pull that full power to you. But… it may be that the music will help it ease for you and let you pay less of a cost.” He chuckled at her words and nodded. “Yes, what you said. A druid, and music that is primal, and the right mood and magic? Yes, it liked you and the music.” *** “There needs to be more hours in a day.” she muttered after a moment, then shook her head clear. “Okay so unknowingly I started something. That could have backfired awfully, couldn’t it? I mean, I got lucky, though we really don’t get how I actually managed it in the first place. I can just barely feel Earth, like I’m aware of it and am getting a sense of things but I’ve literally taken my first steps. I shouldn’t have been able to…” “Uh, well, there kind of is. You know that crazy human settlement in the middle of troll territory? That had music that was… similar? I don’t really know, it is kind of fuzzy honestly. But there was music. And it felt like this did.” she ran a hand through her hair, got her fingers stuck in her braid and untangled her nail from the string. “I’m not going to lie, it felt amazing. I swear I still feel tingles under my skin.” she shook her head again and just smiled. “We’ll have to explore that more, then, because if it helps mitigate the costs, then we should know.” she said honestly. “Not that I’m not willing to bear the costs of such things, I wouldn’t have agreed to training if I wasn’t. Nothing’s free.” *** Allanon laughed. “Always. Always I wish that. Since i was a child.” he snerked. “And always, the worlds disappoint me. I fear if it ever made more, I would be quite startled.” He nodded, chuckling still. He viewed her, thinking, appreciating her spirit and her inquisitive way. And the way it was coupled with beauty and toughness that went far deeper than bone. “I will have to do more teaching of Earth to you, now. Sometimes, our plans are sent awry. It simply means that we are still alive.” He chuckled. “I will teach you to feel it more and recognize it. How to call it and how to let yourself ignore it a little, so you can do other things.” He nodded. He leaned forward, listening and sighed. “I’ll need to check that out, when I return. If even one child is born there with the right talents and they sprout at the wrong time... “ He shook his head, his expression bleak for a moment, then he smiled, if faintly. “Always new tasks, and never an end to the old ones.” It was a mantra, and had the sound of one the way he said it with familiarity. “I trust you, Eretria. I know you can and will take the cost. And there is no shame in using a tool to help mitigate that cost.” he grinned at her. “We definitely should explore and learn as we can, and see what we can do about making out control of it, in it, more refined.” Then he smirked at her. “That would be rather magnificent for certain things.” *** “Fair enough, I suppose.” she stated after a few moments of thought. She figured out of everything going on, adding more time would be just weird. No thanks, she’d keep the hours she already had. Putting more in would probably actually make her wish she was dead. Mostly? Anyway. “Well, I rarely follow plans any way.” she laughed softly as she shrugged at him. “I feel like you of all people should know that. I tend to follow my own path, and figure out how to make it all work from there.” she shrugged a bit more as she leaned on her hands. “So if this is a surprise to anyone, please check your head.” “Oh, I am pretty sure they aren’t around much longer if at all. We sort of threw their peace treaty with the trolls into chaos. Cephalo died giving us a chance to get away, and I’m pretty sure the trolls kind of rampaged through Utopia. I doubt there’s anything left.” she was actually a little sad thinking about that. She hated the man, he had treated her like property and the abuse had been in the name of training but at the end? He’d given his life for hers and said she was the best thing he’d ever done. She didn’t know how to reconcile the two images in her head. Her lips quirked downwards. Then she looked up rubbing her face with her hand. It took a minute for her brain to reconnect then there was the old Eretria back in force, the one who took everything that could be turned into an innuendo and turned it into one. “Oh, I think I can imagine a few things it’d be good for.” her lips turned upwards even as it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Damn memories. *** Allanon watched her, a lopsided smile partially on his face. Her focus and her drive was only growing. He could not have asked for a better student, not for what a druid had to be. Allanon laughed, then shrugged. "And part of my task is to help you integrate that with a better tactical and knowledgeable understanding of the worlds, and of what you may face. So that you make your choices as knowingly as possible." He arched an eyebrow. "Still. I will need to check that. Let behind, it is a time bomb." Not to mention graverobbers could spread it to other places. That was the last thing, he, or his heirs, would need. he could see her sorrow, and he nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm sure you could. You might even teach me something. Maybe." A lesson I would look forward to learning, maybe." *** She nodded at him. “Thank you. I look forward to learning to adapt better. It is an honor to hone whatever skills you give me.” She was genuine as she looked over at him. “Fair point. I don't think they were up to much good. They dealt with elf hunters, and sacrificed people for their peace. It was an amazing place but… I don't think much as good there.” Her lips twitched. “Oh I don't know what I could teach you old man.” She grinned a bit wickedly. *** “And an honor for me, and fun, to teach you.” Allanon nodded. Oh they had so much more to cover, years of stuff, but he honestly felt like he could do this forever. Maybe. Now he had an inkling what Bremen had felt like so many centuries ago. Of course, he had been a boy, not a girl, so that was different. But still. Allanon’s face went flat at the word of Elf Hunters. “Between elf hunters and the ani-non elf groups, a non-magical war may be brewing for the Four Lands as well.” he sighed, then pushed it aside. “This, today, that was good.” Her words made him smirk, then chuckle. “I imagine you could teach me a lot. I know a great deal, but there is much even I have not done yet.” He had now had but three lovers in all his life. And with two of them, he had slept but once, and the other but trice. *** Probably. Though Ere did get into enough trouble that you could treat her like a male child. She was just as reckless and wild. A little crazy, and a whole lot of spirit. Cephalo hadn't broken her. “I wouldn't be surprised. It's only gotten worse. Even I can see that. They all made my life harder.” She said lazily, she didn't have the same concerns for life, not yet, not there. She'd saved the world but she was still locked into her old ways. War made that rough. Eretria’s eyes glinted with a dark little piece of mischief. She took so much from that statement and tried very hard not to laugh. She'd outnumbered him by plenty. They'd call her things here, but she wasn't phased. Eretria had used sex for her own gains, and for her own pleasure. It wasn't such a taboo topic for her. *** Allanon smirked as she made that smile, and he settled back. “Would you care to get some dinner? I think we have trained enough, and need a break, before we train again later.” He smirked wider. “I have some magic to teach you, and some new moves to try on.” He rose, and extended a hand to her. *** She was going to.say no then her stomach growled as if to say uh yes, you're starving now. So she took his hand and got to her feet. “Yeah dinner sounds good actually.” Because any expenditure of energy meant the need to refuel. “Sounds good to me. Eat train, its a good idea.” *** |