An Elysian Tail

[mithrarin]

WHO: Dust. And you?
WHAT: Various tales of a Sen-Mithrarin.
WHERE: The Red Spring and environs
WHEN: Shortly after arrival o'clock!
WARNINGS: /shrug?



1. Hit It With a Sword

After a satisfying spar, Dust not only felt invigorated, but eager; his style needed to advance and improve, far past the swordsmanship he'd turned on General Gaius at the end of his last journey. Without the Dust Storm, he needed to master magic... apparently... and somehow meld it with his bladework to become effective once again.

So there was Dust, in the training guards, slashing huge arcs through the air at speed with his fluid, almost dancelike style, as he made small adjustments to his motions each time in anticipation of a foe both better-armed and more skilled than even the most ferocious monsters he'd faced on Falana. Tireless and fervent, he paused only when someone else came nearby, and that out of courtesy in case they wanted to get past or start their own practice without getting accidentally lopped in half. He did take up an awful lot of space in his training.


2. This IS No Place Like Home

Off the training field... Dust was far less at ease. Red Spring was a place for people who, well, weren't like him -- and though thus far humans had proven decent and pleasant overall, the subconscious differences still gnawed at him. No fur, weirdly-placed ears, no tails or scales... honestly, he was really glad their body language and expressions seemed very similar to ones he knew, or else he'd feel completely alien here.

That's why he kept an eye out for people who had that different look about them. Different style, different attitude, one of the little critters hanging out around them, and especially people he'd seen back on the beach. Fellow strangers in a strange land, like him.

"Do you have any idea," he said, without preamble, "if they're doing something like a feast again?"

3. Inn Schminn

Night found a small fire crackling beneath a lone tree, and in its light the Sen-Mithrarin propped up with his hands folded on his chest. The inn just wasn't comfortable -- sleeping in a bed, under a roof, wasn't something he did, and though he might need to learn at some point, that wouldn't be tonight.

To all appearances he was asleep, but it was light at best; approach and he'd sit up slightly, curious but not unwelcoming.

Comments

[mithrarin]

I don't doubt there's plenty of things we can do. But as for particular skills...

[He twitches his wrist slightly, just enough to call attention to the Blade of Ahrah he holds.]

I haven't seen anything yet that lines up with what I can do.

[divinereaper]

[ Naoto's eyes are drawn to the sword for a moment. He hoped that wasn't going to be aimed at him any time soon. ]

Maybe we just need to wait it out. From what it looks like, there should be some jobs posted up soon enough.

[mithrarin]

[No worries. Dust is a righteous avenger sort, not a bully sort.]

Hopefully sooner rather than later, then. [He can skip meals, but... he sure doesn't want to.]

[divinereaper]

Yeah, I definitely feel that. [ If he doesn't go mad because of starvation it was bound to be something else. ]

Anyways, I'm Naoto. And you? [ Wasn't the best introduction, but he's trying. ]

[mithrarin]

[There were one or two hungry moments in Falana, but not more, and not long. Dust would prefer to keep that trend going, if possible.]

[A brief moment passes before Dust realizes that Fidget is not there to answer the question, and he flinches slightly.] I'm Dust.

[divinereaper]

[ He lets out a short laugh as Dust takes a bit of time to answer the question. ]

I take it you're not used to interactions much?

[mithrarin]

I'm used to someone much more talkative floating just over my shoulder. [He tries to make light of it, but mostly fails; he misses Fidget terribly, more than words can easily say.]

[divinereaper]

Ah, so you're the silent type. [ He nods, understanding. ]

... Do you miss that talkative person?

[mithrarin]

Well, she was there for literally all my life. [He can at least weakly joke about that, since he's using 'literally' quite correctly in this case.]

[divinereaper]

Really now... Then you two must be close. I hope you find her again.

[ He's reminded of Raquel when he says that, sighing lightly as he does. His next words come out as a mumble. ]

I really got to start looking for her...

[mithrarin]

Given the circumstances... [He won't. He's sure of it, uncomfortably sure. Fidget is on Falana; Falana doesn't exist any more.]

[divinereaper]

[ He kicks himself as he remembers why they were all here. How could he forget? ]

Ah... sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound insensitive.

[mithrarin]

It's all right. We're all adjusting. [Even if his own circumstances are a little bit extra-special.] And that's the sort of thing we're supposed to fix, right?

[divinereaper]

Fair enough. I mean, this place did give us magic in order to fix said problem. [ At that, he sighs. ]

I was never any good with magic. It's gonna be hard.

[mithrarin]

I'm just supposed to fight with a sword, and now I can't even really do that right. [Not entirely a correct assertion -- Dust hasn't lost any skill or strength, but his inability to perform the Dust Storm feels like one heck of a loss.] Magic is just... strange.

[divinereaper]

You're telling me. I should've lost my arm when getting here, and yet here it is.

[ He lifts up his right arm for emphasis. It felt lighter, but it also didn't feel right at the same time. ]

But if you're worried about your sword skills, maybe all you need is practice. Maybe the magic can be an asset rather than a detriment?

[ He's trying. ]

[mithrarin]

Lost your arm getting here?

[Back up a moment. That comment is way more worthy of attention than his slightly-limited abilities.]

[divinereaper]

[ Naoto blinks. He didn't expect Dust to pick up on that. ]

... Yeah. My arm was linked to my powers back home. Now, I don't know how it's here.

[ He stares at his right arm. ] At this point, I'm unsure I want to know why it's here.

[mithrarin]

If it's your arm, it's also... linked to you, right? Maybe just being your arm was a stronger pull than the other powers it had.

[He's guessing, but at least it makes sense to him.]

[divinereaper]

It's possible? I'm not exactly sure on the finer details of it, considering my world is.... complicated.

[ Everything was complicated, Naoto was sure of that. ]

[mithrarin]

Your whole world?

[No offense, but it sounds more like the ARM is complicated.]

[divinereaper]

[ YOU ARE IN FOR A STORY, DUST.... ]

Hm.... how can I put this... [ He's really deep in thought for this. ] The best way I can put this is "what if someone decided to blow up everything up and have the rest of us live in the mess". Because that's what it was.

[mithrarin]

If they blew up everything, how was anything left?

[The premise itself doesn't give him pause. After all, they're here, right? Aren't they here because someone blew up almost everything? But the ramifications make his brain hurt.]

[divinereaper]

From what I managed to figure out... [ in other words, whatever he managed to beat out of someone. ]

They used a mix of science and magic and that's how they managed to live. Downsides of that, though, was that everything was on mountains, from housing to government.

[mithrarin]

[Dust tries to picture this.]

[What he comes up with is something entirely literal -- buildings perched all along a mountain range. Why does he feel like that isn't accurate?]

A mix of science and magic to survive an exploded world... that sounds a lot like here, doesn't it?

[divinereaper]

It kinda does, yeah... A lot less... um. How do I describe it... less mountain-y?

[ Which was true. There was a lot less to climb and a lot more walking involved. ]

Aside from that, not too much difference. I like it here a lot more. Less fighting involved.

[mithrarin]

[He likes it here because there's less fighting? Hm.]

[Less fighting is good. Less fighting makes for less suffering, for happier people, for less chance of pain and death. All of those are objectively good, and Dust is glad for that.]

[But a weapon doesn't have a lot of use off the battlefield.]

There's still some. Though if you didn't want to, you could probably sit it out...

[divinereaper]

Oh, I know. But that... that kinda just doesn't sit right with me, you know.

[ He chuckles a little. ]

I hate fighting, but I hate watching others suffer more. So I gotta suck it up in order to move on, yknow?

[mithrarin]

[Dust understands. Even before he'd understood what drove him, he'd known that he had to help out people.]

[But then again, he was made that way.]

It might be better to hate fighting than to enjoy it. Not much of a conflict, there.

[divinereaper]

Yeah, I mean, if anything, it gets me out of trouble than gets me in it.

[ It still didn't save him from becoming a three time amputee, though. ]

If anything, Avalon is just another place to help, so I won't be too bored here!

[mithrarin]

You think? So far it seems really tame. [For a person used to monsters everywhere and constant fighting, in any case.]

[divinereaper]

Yeah, it does, but that doesn't mean it won't get any worse. If there's anything I've learned from dimension hopping, it's expect the unexpected.

[ He knows that too well-- the world he was in before this had everyone gunning to kill him! For what reason, he'll never know. ]

[mithrarin]

Dimension hopping...? [The words don't quite make sense to him, being used in a manner well outside of any context he's ever known.]

[divinereaper]

Yeah, dimension hopping. It's like travelling, but more in the sense that you're going to a new world than you were in before.

[ That's the best he could put it. ]

[mithrarin]

So you've done this before? You're used to it. [Meaning, of course, getting hauled to another world like they all had been.]

[divinereaper]

Yeah, I am. Except this time I didn’t expect my home world to be frozen in time. Then again, I don’t think anyone did.

[ At least that alone makes Naoto relieved that nothing bad will happen to those he cares about while he’s here. ]

[mithrarin]

All that work I did to help out... [Dust clenches his free hand into a fist at the reminder of his home -- former home's current state. Though he'd never expected to see it again, what about the people left behind? Had he fought for them, and died for them, for nothing?] We have to fix this.

[divinereaper]

Yeah. Thinking about home right now makes me worry a lot more than I should.

[ He sighs before asking something that seems to be out of left field. ]

What's your home like?

[mithrarin]

Falana was... a place hurt by war more than anything. Most of the people I knew were all tucked away in one town, that had been slowly losing the fight against the monsters outside. Mudpot underground was safer, but suffering from losing its water for quite a while. The land was beautiful where it wasn't hurt, but then you came on a ruined village or a broken, haunted mansion...

[But it could heal now, right? Now that everything had been put right. If he never saw it, well, that isn't really important, is it?]

[divinereaper]

Sounds like a rough place to be...

[ Naoto wondered if that was why Dust was so desperate to get back home, If he had a place like that to protect, then no wonder he was worried about it.

Then again, he doesn't like to assume. ]

[mithrarin]

It should be getting better now. General Gaius is dead, and his army broken.

[He accomplished that much, at least.]

[divinereaper]

Still, what much is getting done, with our homes frozen in time and all that?

[ For him it guaranteed the world not imploding. For Dust, he isn't sure. ]