Tad (tadrules) wrote in tiberiusswann, @ 2009-06-12 19:14:00 |
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Entry tags: | go'al'enu, tad |
Mon 11/19/07
Who: Go'al'enu and Tad
Where: classroom
When: Control: Earth Beginner time
What: teaching!
Today was the day. Tad grit his teeth and tried to stop his stomach from churning with willpower, although that did not help at all. He had dressed and eaten, spending the rest of the morning in his room as he gathered the courage to swallow his pride. Somehow he needed to face the man and ask for help without directly saying that he needed it. That in itself was going to be difficult considering the limitations of his vocabulary. He trudged to the classroom (its whereabouts discovered not too long ago), fifteen minutes late, as he didn't care about the time and stopped in front of the door. Now what? An inhaled breath helped a little, so he opened the door.
There the Giant Man stood, as tall and menacing as ever, with that fake kind expression on his face and Tad's resolve grew. He closed the door behind him loudly and leaned against the wall with his hands crossed over his chest. Nothing was said, but he just stood there and challenged Go'al'enu with a defiant look. Oh no, he did not want to go any farther into the classroom or have to sit down unless he felt it was necessary. Becoming stronger was important to him if he wanted to beat Dante and now he had to wait to see what Go'al'enu did. Would he do anything interesting? Tad's patience was delicate as if made out of glass and as soon as he found it to be boring, he'd leave.
____________
Go'al'enu had been wondering when the boy would be joining him in class. He knew it was inevitable, he was the only elemental earth teacher. The view that Tad would have gotten upon entering would be the class, all sitting on chairs that grew from the floor, in a circle around a large table that also grew up from the floor. In the center sat several different types of material, some quartz, a mound of clay, and an abundant amount of dirt, and all of the students had their own pile of dirt, which they were working on manipulating. Most could move the dirt, and some could even form simple objects, though it being the beginner class, none of them were creating sculptures or the like. And walking around, examining everyones work was Go'al'enu, in his natural clay form, which he chose for his beginner students. For his more advanced classes, he chose a more advanced form to hold.
When tad entered, late and loudly, Go'al'enu did not show any signs of anger. He simply shifted the seats (with the students upon them) so that room was made for one more, where he brought up a chair and moved some of the dirt from the center of the table into the spot he had created for Tad. He motioned for Tad to sit as he finished answering a question a teenage girl asked, before addressing them all. "Ah, class, it seems we have a new student. Please show him the same respect you show me. You all seem to be doing well with creating shapes, so you may either continue practice creating two dimensional shapes without using your hands, or if you feel so bold, you may attempt to create a three dimensional cube, though do not be frustrated if it does not come as easy. Remember, it took me three thousand years to learn the control I have. I will tend to our new scholar, if he would be so kind as to sit and join in the lesson."
Go'al'enu wanted to be accommodating, but he also knew he had to establish that he was the teacher. If the boy wished to be trouble, Go'al'enu had ways of dealing with him. He had an entire class full of students, after all, each just as eager to learn their talents. It would be unfair to them to let one student control everything.
---
Tad had to admit the tables and chairs from the floor was interesting in itself and wondered why they were bothering with any other materials than stone or brick, which was what people used to make houses. He glanced around at the other students who were pushing dirt around or amazingly, starting to clump it together. Wow, how were they able to do that? Also, how could the Giant Man turn himself into rock? That was highly unusual. Go'al'enu's gesture for him to sit and then his words about a new student raised the hairs on the back of Tad's neck in irritation. Part of him preferred to stand, just to show Go'al'enu, but he did want to learn how to be incredible. Making shapes out of dirt was not the right way in order to improve his fighting power. Improving slowly was not something he wanted to consider. Tad grit his teeth and headed over to the empty chair to sit on it and stare at the dirt in front of him.
A girl with brown curly hair who looked younger than him on his right pointed to the dirt and smiled. "You can make any shape! I like triangles and they're easy because they have three points." She concentrated on the dirt in front of her and it started to form a triangle ever so slowly on the table. Tad frowned, furrowed his brow, and was very tempted to leave this stupid exercise. Making triangles? What was this? He could do better than the weird girl, he was sure of it. Tad cupped the dirt on the table as it was the only way he knew how to change things and concentrated, willing the dirt to clump together to make a circle. Something went wrong in the process; the dirt flew to either side of him and a couple inches of the table burst into the air. The girl giggled at him and Tad saw red. "Don't laugh!" he said loudly and threw a handful of dirt in her face. She gasped and tried to get the dirt out of her eyes.
Learning with other students was a whole experience for him and right now he wasn't sure he liked it if that meant people could see what he did and laugh at him. He became even angrier at the girl and wanted to make the whole table explode at her, just to see how she liked it. She was annoying and he started to walk away from the table with tears pricking the back of his eyes. Usually when he hadn't been able to do something, Edward told him to continue because if he didn't, he casted tentacles to grip his legs and force him in place. The things he learned with Edward were stupid and meant for houses later or something like that - this was almost as pointless.
_____
Go'al'enu watched as Tad made his way over to the table and let a little bit of the tension he had hidden release. He had thought there might be more trouble getting the boy to sit down to learn, but he at least was interested enough to follow direction, which was good. Go'al'enu walked over to that side of the table to observe, keeping his eye on the other students, and complimenting them as he made his way towards the boy. Unfortunately, he made it to the other side right as the explosion, followed by Tad throwing dirt into the eyes of the girl beside him. The class grew hushed and abandoned their work to stare at what was going on. Go'al'enu had to work fast. He knew the boy did not appreciate being mocked, and being the center of attention was only going to make things worse.
"Back to work class, back to work" he said, as he bent over the girl who was beginning to cry, and drew the dirt out of her eyes gently, so as to prevent damaging them. He then stood up and walked over to Tad, no longer smiling, though trying to keep from being intimidating. "Young boy, why did you do that? That was a very mean thing to do to Lucille, who was even so nice as to try to be friends with you. Explain your actions." He folded his arms, and as always, felt bad having to be the disciplinarian, but knowing that something had to be done. He also turned to the girl and scolded her, though there was kindness in his words as well. "And Lucille, that was very rude, laughing at the boy on his first day of class when his powers leave his control. I seem to recall you causing a mess of things only last week, and you felt very bad about it. But I told you the same thing I will tell him" and he turned to face Tad again. "We are here to learn, and part of learning is failing. What is important is not that we are successful, what is important is that we pay attention to what went wrong and learn to correct it."
He let Tad reflect on that as he turned back to the table and gathered the materials that had been scattered by the explosion and mended the table where a chunk had been blown out. "There is a reason I have crafted everything we use in this classroom. Accidents will happen, but they can always be corrected. Now then, Tad, would you like to try again? I will make Lucille promise not to laugh at you anymore. In fact, I can promise you no one will laugh at you." With that he looked at the class who had of course been watching the whole exchange, but who all turned their heads down and pretended they had been working the whole time, which resulted in a student or two also casting dirt in various directions, which caused a whole new wave of giggling from them, but at each other.
---
The girl stopped sniffling as often when Go'al'enu removed the dirt and her eyes felt much better. Tad avoided meeting the man's eyes, but he kept his firm stance so he did not seem afraid - even if he was a little. Was that mean? He heard the name Lucille and his stomach churned; he was not able to live with himself if he hurt someone named Lucile. His Lucile was caring and gentle, but he did not know about this girl. Answering the man's question was not something he wanted to do, as guilty as he felt. He disliked feeling bad about something he had done and especially explaining himself when the reasons were not exactly clear to himself. First things first, he needed to clear the matter of his name. "I'm Tad," he retorted. Young boy - he did not like that title at all. "I am not weak!" He shot Lucille a look, softer than normal because of her own name. "She's ugly!" It might work for her like it had for Edward and sure enough, she frowned. He did not want to think about failing being a part of learning and his fists clenched once more. The man's words made him feel like he was stupid and irritated him more, because taking the time to learn what was wrong and correct it was pointless.
Even if that was the only way to do it. He wondered what now, if he should go back to the table and ignore the others as much as possible and do what the man said. Definitely not a possibility. Then again, he needed to beat Dante. Had to. Even if he had to be subjected to the stupidness of other people. Brow furrowed more, Tad watched as Go'al'enu repaired the table - he had to do things like that! Although everything in his mind told him not to do so, he found himself walking back to his chair and stared at the table. What frustrated him was he had been trying, but destruction came out instead of creation. He hated that he was so obidient because he was positive that Go'al'enu had a master plan for all the students that had yet to be discovered. Maybe.. in any case, Tad had to be wary around the man. Tad sat on his chair and continued to look at the dirt, cheeks hot with embarrassment, not doing anything for a while. What could he do? How he hated this feeling.
------
He knew that the boy would not like the words. Most people did not. He was not there to cater to what people wanted to hear however. "Well, Tad, however you may think she looks, in my classroom we only say kind things about each other. So if you wish to learn then you will abstain from insulting your fellow classmates. Understood?" He frowned and thought further on his complaint about not being weak. It seemed the boy had something to prove. "I do not believe I called you weak. In fact, I believe you are the only one who has done so in this classroom. That is another thing we do not fret about. What did I teach you all the first day of class?" Lifting their heads, the students all perked up and recited in unison "Strength is something only we can judge. If we believe we are strong, than we are strong and no one can tell us otherwise."
The smile Go'al'enu had previously worn returned and his brief moment of concern evaporated away. "Very good. So you see Tad, I think that you are very strong. You came into my class and did not hesitate to try something you had never done before. Perhaps you will permit me to help you? I am the teacher here, after all, though if you prefer to continue trying on your own, I certainly will not stop you." He did not wait for an answer, he went to help some of the other students who were struggling, giving the boy time to think on whether he would like help or not. He would have to ask, Go'al'enu made certain of that. But the boy was not so volatile that he could cause tremendous harm to anyone. And despite their altercation, the students were not ostracizing him. They had all had their own mishaps and could identify with that part at least. And who would not be embarrassed given the circumstances?
---
The Giant Man's rules finally showed themselves, or at least part of them. Did that mean he was supposed to be quiet and never speak? Edward didn't like insults either and was unable to answer any of Tad's questions about his ability, so he learned to stop asking him. Other topics like mathematics were almost a different story, although Edward made sure there were few opportunities for questions. Tad did not meet Go'al'enu's eyes still, not surprised that the man failed to understand it was the implications of him being weak that he meant. The students chanting the motto or whatever made him feel sick as it was as though they were all under mind control. Ugh. Despite this, he felt a little better hearing that only he determined how strong he was. That was true. Tad knew he was stronger than the rest of the students in one way or another.
He did not want to ask for help; the idea of it unnerved him. Tad stared at the dirt and the man walked off, so he listened to the girl on the other side of him to see if anything she was saying might help him with this. "I have to concentrate so hard," she said to her friend on her left. "I guess I'm not pushing hard enough." Pushing? Tad mused over that possibility and wondered how he could push together instead of break apart the dirt. Focusing on the task again, he placed his hands on either side of the pile of dirt and concentrated. Together, together, he told himself. His power caused a small hole in the table all of a sudden, but he saw a stream of dirt scatter to his left. He had done it! Not quite, but getting there. Tad tried again, but this time all he did was increase the depth of the hole in the table. A low growl escaped his throat as he made another attempt and more bits of the table flew to the floor. Not good! He needed to ask for the man's help after all, to his dismay. "Giant Man?" Tad called, looking for where he was.
-----
Yes they were rules, but ones Go'al'enu did not think were too harsh. In fact, he believed them to be appropriate for all people, and so he stuck by them. It was simply something his students had to deal with. He was not afraid at all to preach his own beliefs about morality to the class, for lack of a better place for them to hear it. That and he was simply a kind hearted person. Tad may have thought it was mind control the way that the students repeated his lessons, but he had not forced any of them to do anything. He had simply explained in detail how even he, who could move the earth itself it seemed, was very weak when it came to certain things. Always a balance, and so in the end, strength was simply something not concrete. And despite what Tad knew, Go'al'enu knew that the boy had about as much control as a child his age would. That is, he knew well how to destroy things, but that was not control at all. It was simply releasing the power. So when Tad finally asked him over, though not in the most polite of tones, he pretended that he was surprised and made his way over to help the boy.
Without missing a step he fixed the table back up, and stood over Tad, looking at his work. "Ah yes, I completely forgot to introduce myself, though I have been called a giant by many. In the future, I am Go'al'enu, though you may call me teacher, or professor if you prefer. Or you can stick with Giant Man, that is also allowable. Now what can I help you with?" He scooted the students down a little bit more so he would have room to sit, which elicited a giggle from many of them, though they continued working. As he pulled a chair for himself up, he pulled over a small pile of dirt for himself, which rested beside the small pile of dirt which he had regathered for Tad. "Now then, what difficulties are you having?"
---
He had no idea why anyone wanted to be controlled like that and who knew if his opinion might change over time. Right now he did not want to become one of those students who repeated everything the man said and promised himself that it would never happen. As he waited for Go'al'enu to walk over, Tad tried to calm his pounding heart and churning stomach. He felt bad for needing guidance and hoped this would be one of the few times he required it. Deep down, he knew it was neccessary to have some help for a completely new thing, but he did not have to like it.
When the man approached him, he became flustered and found it difficult to speak. What his name was hardly mattered because it was too long and Tad preferred something shorter, as it was easier to remember. How was he going to explain himself? It was beyond his vocabulary and capability. "I make things explode and not stick," he said quietly, embarrassed. Any minute now he'd receive yelling or something and he grit his teeth in anticipation. He had tried, that was for sure, and had always unleashed his power in violent bursts. It did not occur to him to do it any softer.
------
The boy was so flustered that Go'al'enu wanted nothing more than to give him a pat on the head and tell him it would all be all right. However, Go'al'enu knew this would be a very bad thing to do. The boy seemed to have a bit of a problem appearing weak, and the least thing the instructor would want to do was put the boy off any further. The fact that he had even asked for help was an improvement though, and gave Go'al'enu hope that he could get through to the young lad. At his simplistic explanation Go'al'enu nodded his head and thought for a second. He could have explained in detail what he thought was going one, but he decided instead to show the boy. So he leaned over the table and separated his pile of dirt into two equal parts, using his hands instead of his power. He did not want to put off the boy more.
"So you try to do this-" And with that Go'al'enu easily shaped the dirt into a square, "however, whenever you try, you do this?" With his second question, he blasted a hole into the table that shocked some of the students who were unused to their teacher doing anything destructive with his ability. Some of them might have even thought it was impossible for him to do so. As the table molded back together he brought the dirt back together into one pile again, and looked at Tad, giving him his full attention. "I will have to ask you questions and you will have to answer them in order for me to teach you, because I cannot read your mind and cannot control your actions, so I must ask you what you are doing in order to understand what is going on. I hope that is all right. Now tell me, what do you feel when you try to move the dirt?"
Go'al'enu already had his assumptions about what Tad felt when he tried to move the dirt, but he needed Tad to understand what was going on. After all, there was a reason that the first month of class his students had not done anything hands on, but instead had been taught how to begin to understand something that was a part of them, just the same as a hand or a foot.
---
Already asking for help was tough. Tad's cheeks burned with heat and he clenched his hands into fists. He just had to get this over with, before he was able to practice on his own and become stronger. As embarrassed as he was, he could live with it. Strong people did so all the time and he knew he was strong. Tad watched as the man shaped the dirt and proceeded to create a hole in the table. "Yes," he murmured. Then things became worse. He had to answer questions and it seemed like there was to be many of them! His fists tightened, but no one was laughing at him, so that helped cool his frustration.
His eyes flickered to Go'al'enu in reply, silent and reluctant agreement that he understood. Who knew what the man would do to him if he got something wrong, after all. Describing his feelings was a different story: there was happy and angry, and he was not sure about the inbetween. What did he feel when he tried to move the dirt? "I don't know!" Tad exclaimed instantly. Just saying that was not going to help him, so he paused and thought for a few seconds. "Angry." Frustration was what he meant yet he did not know the word. "It doesn't move when I say move." What was wrong with him? Everyone else in the class could do it and by that reason, he should be able to as well.
He dug his fingernails so deep into his palms he felt pain.
-----
Go'al'enu could see the frustration in the boy, and so his reply that he felt angry when he tried to move the dirt was not a surprise to him. "See, that was not so hard, was it? There is no right or wrong answer to what you feel, only what is. So now I understand a little better and can help you." His smile shined bright as he spoke, thinking about how best to explain things to Tad. Clearly the boy had strength, it was just a matter of harnessing it. "Now, why is it that the dirt might not move if you try to move it when you are angry? Let me ask you, if I was very angry and I demanded that you move, would you want to move easily, or would you try your hardest to stand in place and defy me? And if I keep yelling at you and then try to move you by force, you may move out of terror, but that will not be a very controlled move."
He extended his hand and placed it in the pile of dirt, scooping up a handful and lifting it to Tad's eye level. "You join us late, so you have not yet received the lesson on how to use your power to feel the earth around you, so you are having difficulties the other students do not. Greg, what do you feel when you try to move the dirt?" A boy from across the room, about 10, with sandy blond hair and freckles on his cheeks stood up, facing the both of them with a wide smile. "Umm...I feel two things. I feel the dirt, cause if I want the dirt to move, I should know what it's like. And...I feel happy, cause if I want the dirt to move, it's easier to move it when I'm happy then if I'm sad or..." he hesitated and did not say angry, instead sitting down blushing.
"Very good Greg" Go'al'enu said with a smile and then turned to Tad again. "You see, this dirt has an essence just the same as any plant or animal. It is aware of the world in its own way and it likes some things and does not like others. We are working with dirt now because dirt likes to move, it likes to be handled. It loves life and is proud to be able to move. So to move dirt how we want it to move, we need only ask it nicely and give it direction. That is the hard part, is giving direction without being cruel or harsh. So if I wish this dirt to form a sphere I just concentrate on the dirt, feel the dirt, understand it, and then I send out a request from my mind to it, and if I have learned enough about the dirt and formed my request clearly and pleasantly-" At this the dirt moved within Go'al'enu's hand and became a sphere, "the dirt does as I have asked."
He placed the sphere back on the table, where it crumbled back to a pile of dirt again. "It may seem silly, but that is how it is done. Please try reaching out and trying to talk to the dirt. You may be surprised what it can tell you."
---
Tad knew that he would stand in Go'al'enu's way and not move unless he threatened him, so yes, that was not a very controlled movement. He listened to the teacher speak and wondered if dirt really cared the way he treated it. He did nothing but blow up rocks, so maybe the rocks disliked him for it. What was he thinking? This was very stupid. The only thought keeping him from leaving was he needed to learn how to do this, so he might as well do it right now. His brow furrowed as he stared at the dirt in front of him, trying to feel the essence of it... if it really had any essence. Was it squishy?
First of all, he needed to be happy. He closed his eyes and concentrated on what made him happy. Hot chocolate with Lucile came to mind and a warm, content ball started to form in his stomach. Opening his eyes, he mentally reached for the dirt and passed the good feeling onto it. It moved a couple of centimeters when he nudged it! Trying to relax more, Tad continued to practice, concentrating harder than he ever had.