AW Samhain, Somewhere

[StrangeSpeeder]

Meave sighed, as she stood in line, among a weary crowd of grey cloaked figures. The line moved, nearly in unison, she herself jolted as another bumped into her from behind, grumbling as she stepped forward into place. Then, she glared behind her, only to frown as it wasn't a face she saw. Wrapped in the strange, grey cloak, where a face might have otherwise have rested, was a theater mask. One that sported an exaggerated frown.

"W-what?" She stumbled backwards- into another member of the line. Meave watched the two- bewildered and nervous. But neither seemed to react, not to her sudden 'absence' nor her jostling of the other. She glanced back and forth along the entire line- each figure equidistant from another, no distinguishing features. Beyond their masks, which were all slightly different, in spite of typically sporting a... less than enthused expression.

It was only then, that she stood up, she dimly recalled the events preceding this, even in only the vaugest of reccolections. That she had expressed concern over Tatt's confusion of the fireflie's existance, shortly after deer girl had volunteered to be first. That Tatts, and a few others, had joined in shortly after. She didn't quite recall the act of actually imbibing the blood of the witch.

"Ahh.. haha, right, this is all just... Right, not real." She took a breath, and brought her hand up to her chin as she looked around, curious as to what this was all supposed to mean... only to feel something cold and hard where her face ought to have been. Perhaps, later, she would regret her impulse to lower her hand and ignore it, to never check what her own mask was. But she really didn't feel she was prepared for that sort of introspection at the moment, rather than the more immediate issue of reaffirming her purpose, and lighting her fire.

She took stock of the surrounding environment- the line she was in seemed to be for a building that, its output line of people carried out of some sort of bundles... rations, maybe? Maybe it didn't matter. It wasn't the only one, either. A street, stretching into a thick fog in both directions. The fog gave her something of an ominious feeling. The only sources of light, were lanterns, rather haphazardly distributed throughout the area, in opposition to the very samey looking buildings and figures.

She watched further, curious, as she stalked what space there was available, observing as the figured... people? Went about their business, with grim expressions all. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know where I'd, light a fire would you?" She stopped infront of one- only for it to bowl her over, in seemingly complete ignorance of her existance, as it quickly stormed off to another workshop of some sort.

"Right then. Thought not." She complained from her position on the ground, in the middle of the street. She was forced to get back up in short order, as others strode on heedless of her presence. With a frown, she followed them, and looked on the town a bit closer as she did so. All concrete grey, glass, and metal- there wouldn't be any wood to burn here. And although the people annoyed her with how they ignored her so thoroughly- she surely wouldn't be burning them, either.

Each building seemed alarmingly similar- brutal functionality in every one. Which was what caused a mild suprise and alarm as she slammed into the back of the bundle carrying figure she had been following as they abruptly turned and entered a building on the left. In her efforts to follow however, out of nowhere a stern, larger figure with an angry mask appeared and barred her way. As she leaned from side to side- yes, its gaze was most certainly on her. It was only when she took a step back did it too, return to ignoring her- but it did not leave its post in guarding the door.

With a bitter frown, a complaint came to her lips unprompted "Right, only pay attention to me when i'm doing something wrong." She blinked, and shook her head after the fact, although the intrusive thought remained. As a distraction, she watched the unmarked building with the guard for some time longer- the bundle carrying figures entering, but none left. Rather frustrated, she turned about just intime to see the fog encroaching on the street from a dark alley- and subsume an unfortunate pedestrian on its way to her.

It happened in moments- a terrified backpedeling, right into the arms of another figure, a bright light casting a shadow of herself into the fog- which stopped like it hit a wall. She gulped, and looked up to see a wide brim hat, and another stern, yet sad theater mask. Around her waist- one of the hands around her protectively carried a lantern- much brighter, fresher than the rest on the streets.

It was only moments later it, like everyone else, went back to ignoring her after it repositioned to be between the fog and herself. She glanced around- to see similar scenes elsewhere. And occasionally, flickering, discarded lanterns that were only barely holding it back elsewhere, with no one watching over them. It was... functioning, whatever it was. It kept the fog back... but it was depressing, ugly, and no one enjoyed this.

It was a distressingly familiar scene, overall, as difficult as it was for her to put it into coherent thoughts. But, with the neurons making a distant connection, why not follow through, on those vague feelings, and repeat history as it were?

"Excuse me, sir or madam- would you like to pick a card?" She stopped a slightly less busy figure, a grin under her mask. Who said the fire had to be literal? It was something of a blur, after that, but as she continued, she slowly gathered a crowd- not a large one, but an interested one, no longer sporting the overly sad theater masks- instead, alternatively focused, intrigued, or a few even happy ones.

But she was careful to not stop too many- they had jobs to do, and she couldn't bring everyone's spirits up at once- nor did she want attention so badly as to compromise an entire society for the sake of such a selfish desire- but feeling good from lifting some spirits, displaying her skills, and receiving temporary undivided attention from a small crowd? With each, she felt a warmth grow in her chest. Although some would leave to continue their duties- their masks didn't change, most sporting a smile... and the warm- bordering on hot feeling in her chest did not abate.

Perhaps, it was just her imagination as she bowed out, but those she had touched with her performance, seemed to move just a bit faster than their counterparts. As the world faded around her, she reveled in the feeling of... warmth in her chest- which made it all the most startling as the cold struck her like an angry matron.

~ ~ ~​

Like a startled, wet cat she clawed and hopped her way out of the pond as soon as she could.

"Oh- by the wyrd- that's cold... at least we finally got something like a bath- ahem." She glanced over at Tatts, who apparently had felt similarly... and looked the part of a wet cat as well, for that matter.

"Heh- ah- well! I suppose, given that we're going to be working together for the rest of our lives I expect, those of us that have passed this and those to come... We may as well share our names, rather than fear to get attached to those liable to disappear as soon as we look away... I'm Meave. A pleasure!" Her confident smirk was somewhat undercut by her wobbly knees as she shivered against the cold water soaked deep into her clothes.

"... that was why we never shared any of our names with eachother and just called eachother nicknames or 'hey you' right?"

 

[Whisper]

An orphaned girl, standing barefoot on the street in ragged clothes. She begged for food each day, for herself and others like her, and passersby were kind enough to offer something if they had it. War orphans, each and every one. The Wyr's great enemy claimed lives anywhere they could take them and the lost weren't always witches.

Just usually.

She and the others, three girls and two boys in total, ate the scraps they were given.

The Wyrwycky had schools for children such as they, with nice rooms and the like, but they didn't feel right to these children. The people there were too kind, the accommodations too nice, for children who felt grief so deeply at the loss of their family. Some of them had run away, others had never made it, but in each other they found kindred spirits and so the streets were where they lived.

"Angh- " said one of the others. She looked to him, taking in his dirty face, his sunken cheeks. She didn't know it, but he wouldn't survive the night. He wasn't the first one they'd lost, and wouldn't be the last, but there was something in his kind eyes and gentle smile when he said "Thanks" as he took the bread she offered him that let her know he wasn't okay.

She could do nothing else for him.

Her world became a flat black screen. White text in old pixelated font read

"World 1-2"

When she was the last child in her group and she had nothing left, she made it to one of the orphanages. She'd lost too much to really feel the care and compassion of the staff, even if they did their best. She spent her days leaning against a wall and doing her best to avoid everyone else, before she lost them, too.

"World 1-3"

One of the staff was doing something on their phones. They were so engrossed in it that they didn't notice when the girl stood to watch.

"It's a game," he said, "you fight against the Droma - not for real, of course - and try to beat all the levels."

She watched with interest for a while. The flashing lights and colors, the intense moments, all of them drawing her in.

And then he died. In the game, that is.

She winced and drew back.

"Don't worry," he said with a smile, "you get to try again."

"Try.. again?" she said, mutely.

He nodded, surprised and pleased to hear her talk. "That's right. If you die too many times you have to start over, but the goal is really to get the highest score. I've beaten the game a few times already, so now I'm just trying to get a higher spot on the ladder. It's fun."

"World 1-4"

Lights flickered in front of her face. The words "HIGH SCORE" were cast on every surface in the room, a surreal pantomime of the game she had spent so much time with. Her name - ANGHARAD - sat at the top of the list. She'd never bothered with a pseudonym. Every name below the one at the top was hers, as well, until the names trailed off the screen.

"World 1-5"

She was older now, had found new games to play, new ways to remove herself from the painful reality she lived in and into a world where she was in control. Before her stood a girl she could barely remember, standing in ragged clothes, her feet bare on the concrete.

"You get to try again," said the girl in a voice far weaker than she ever remembered. Not so different from the boy who had died.

Angharad's face was partially obscured by the black hood of her jacket, but the slowly widening manic grin on her face stood out clearly.

"I get to try again," she agreed.

The young girl erupted in fire, disintegrated, and turned into a large golden coin.

Angharad grabbed it.

---

She wandered the halls of her family's castle for what seemed like days.

There was no one here. There never was. Except for the times that her father showed up to remind her of her glorious destiny. The Blanchfields produced some of the finest witches the Wyr had ever seen, he would tell her. It is our glory and purpose to protect our world. How lucky you are to have been born a girl! he would say.

Go and die for me. The words he never spoke, but it was what the forceful pride he pushed on her meant.

Be the perfect noble girl for me. The message in every lesson.

Her mother had died when she was but a child. Rather than grieve, her family had celebrated. When her aunt and her cousins died, they, too, were celebrated.

Such a lovely party, they would say. She was so gallant, they would say.

Emeria had struggled to keep her body language under control the first few times, but you get better at things with practice.

"I can't wait to do my part," she would say. Because that's what they all wanted.

For her to die.

For them.

For their pride.

"Presenting Miss Emeria Blanchfield!" declared a voice within a grand hall. She had been five, then eight, then twelve, then sixteen, and now she was eighteen. It was her turn to go and be a witch. Her turn to be what everyone expected her to be. Her turn to go out and represent the Blanchfield name.

As she descended the stairs, she smiled at her friends. Or at least, they thought they were friends. They wanted her to live up to her legacy. They were so proud of her. She gave them a polite little wave.

Visions of everything that had come before and everything that had come after flashed before her eyes. A dozen of her stood in a circle around her, white porcelain statues, the images of her as the perfect girl, the perfect witch, the perfect everything overlaid on each of them like an augmented reality show. What she was supposed to be, imprinted on who she really was.

All she had to do was accept them and she would be done here. On to the next task for the perfect Miss Emeria Blanchfield. Off to die for her family's legacy.

She took the step and fell through the world, free falling downwards amongst shattered panes of glass that played the events of her life over and over.

Emeria looked down, wondering when it would ever end. Her family had all wielded fire, so whatever it was she was supposed to light should show up soon enough.

But deep down, she didn't want this. None of it. She wanted to be -

What did she want to be?

She tasted blood on her lips, in her mouth. Not mine, she thought.

"If you don't want to be what they want," said a voice, booming yet soft. The accent was - well, she couldn't place it. "Then be what you want to be."

What she wanted to be? She didn't even know. A life time spent building up an image of herself that others would accept. That wouldn't let anyone down. The noble Miss Emeria Blanchfield.

The world shattered again, adding more glass to what was already falling. More mirrors, showing what she had been and what she could be, if only she did what everyone wanted.

No.

The world shattered once more, more and more glass, more and more mirrors, cutting her, making her bleed. The taste in her mouth still wasn't her blood, but whose-

No!

She yelled it aloud. Willed something different.

Her hand went out and the mirrors reacted, obeying her desire. The shards twisted and moved, the light from their images bouncing and swelling and growing and blazing until-

---

Angharad and Emeria burst from the water at the same time, gasping as the others had before them. They collected themselves, stumbling in the water that had been so deep and was now barely knee high. It took them time to regain their bearings.

Mairead watched them rise, then turned her eyes to the water. She frowned knowingly and averted her eyes.

Caelfind and she had sat in the cave for what had to be hours. The white witch had played music all the while, mostly sad songs.

"That will be all of you, then," she said as Angharad and Emeria made it to the shore. A dozen witches had made it this far.

Five came out of the water.

There was nothing left of the others in the water. They may as well have never existed.

Mairead put away her violin and its bow, then lead the others out of the cave. Once again, she talked as she walked.

"You are all witches now. Congratulations," she said, her voice proud and sorrowful. "You are not yet War Witches, but you will be. There will be other trials to come, but none quite so.. winnowing as these."

She turned to look at them all when they stood outside, back in the full light of the day.

The sun's light was warm.

"The weeks to come will teach you to harness some of the basic powers common to all witches. One of our journeyman crafters will forge your first Cauldron. And we will learn more about what makes you unique.

To you new witches, your first lesson is simple: Accept that you are no longer the weak, powerless creatures you once were. Even without the powers you're all excited for, we Witches are superior. Follow me."

And with that, she jumped off the cliff. Emeria ran up to the edge and watched Mairead plummet some hundreds of feet down towards the forest below. Angharad walked up, looked at Emeria, and shrugged.

"Come on, Background Character A," she said in her usual dour voice, "it's time for us to earn our prestige classes."

With that, she hopped off the cliff. Emeria looked to the others, still shaken by the experience in the cave.

 

[P0rcelain]

Perhaps, it was just her imagination as she bowed out, but those she had touched with her performance, seemed to move just a bit faster than their counterparts. As the world faded around her, she reveled in the feeling of... warmth in her chest- which made it all the most startling as the cold struck her like an angry matron.

Lilwen stared at Maeve for a moment, shivering. Suddenly, it did not seem like this was the first group of people to call her ‘Tatts’ arbitrarily. Her face was confused in a condescending way, as if to say ‘What? No, people just call me Tatts.’ Perhaps revealing something insidious and psychopathic about Maeve’s tactic of not remembering anyone’s names, as though they were cattle.

Nonetheless, after an awkward silence between the two, Tatts replied: “Lilwen.”

It seemed that either the implication of Maeve’s words was lost to her, or she simply did not care.

"Come on, Background Character A," she said in her usual dour voice, "it's time for us to earn our prestige classes."

With that, she hopped off the cliff. Emeria looked to the others, still shaken by the experience in the cave.

With each witch that did not come out of the water, Lilwen’s face was becoming increasingly grave. It was a stark contrast to what she must had experienced in her inner-space. As Mairead lead the new witches out of the cave, Lilwen was visibly processing what she just saw. It was clear that this would traumatise her forever, but how or why would be lost on her. It is possible she did not know she was experiencing trauma at all. As Mairead said those last words before descending, Lilwen snapped out of her stupor. ‘We Witches are superior.’

Alarm flashed across her body, and she said something as though she were thinking it as she was saying it, but plenty audible for anyone who had not yet left to hear.

“It tried to kill me.” Lilwen loudly muttered, “…The wyrd tried to kill me. The ‘self reflection’ bullshit was’ll optional, ay? The wyrd tried to kill me n’ I brute forced my way out.”

 

[Over Yandere]

Caelfind moved to sit with Mairead as Tatts and then Maeve entered the water. As she waited and listened to the music tears uncontrollably started to fall from her eyes even as her breath remained steady and a smile adorned her face. Her attention wasn't on the remaining hopefuls at the moment but upon the memories that were collecting within her mind. Years of untutored physical training, listening to stories, the concepts given to her by the cranky retired witch. All the stigmatization, the teasing, the unkind words, and rude faces. It all culminated in getting to see her mom, to meet her, and in addition to finally achieve what had been a five years long goal. Between the music, the emotion, and the release? Well it suddenly hit her like a truck the moment she got to relax.

By the time Tatts emerged from the water and came to Caelfind's side, she was greeted by a soft smile and a clear eyed face. During whatever trials or things the other young woman had encountered, Caelfind had refocused and set her eyes on the next goal. Not a moment later Maeve had emerged from the water and joined them. Her comments while blunt and somewhat true were met with a "Huh? I only used nicknames for those who never gave their name ta me or others around me. Ronan left with tha other men.. Emeria's in tha water now, Aisling is too ah think. Just cause someone didn't 'ave tha drive ta make it here doesn't mean they weren't worth rememberin... ah suppose at least."

A quick moment of thought, followed by. "Name's Caelfind by tha way. Caelfind of Brynkeith."

By the time two more emerged from the water hours had passed. Emeria came out along with the girl who stuck to herself and played games all the time. When Mairead spoke Caelfind moved to express confusion, to say 'shouldn't we wait for the others?' She stopped herself though as the realization landed that most of them either weren't lucky, had messed up in this final stage, or couldn't find their way. The brightness that surrounded her demeanor and outlook seemed to dim.

She remained silent as Mairead spoke, watched as she jumped from the cliff with nary a thought. Soon followed by the gamer girl. Which left Emeria standing there at the edge looking at the three of them that lagged behind. Caelfind was about to walk up when Lilwen suddenly spoke. "Ah can't speak ta what ya saw, ah can say ma mum guided me within mine but ah just wish ah had been given more time with her. Not ta say I don't expect there was danger... just it was peaceful there."

With that she stepped forward, put a hand on Emeria's shoulder and trusted in their teacher. Calefind jumped from the cliff.

 

[StrangeSpeeder]

"Ah? Its not like I didn't think they were... I mean, I was never great with names but no one offered them to me anyhow and..." She trailed off, before looking around, then back towards the water. With a concerned frown as she waited for the rest."I mean, we've got time to exchange contact information I'm sure- or ask for a list of participants now that we're Witches..."And stare into the water she did, for several more moments, counting the seconds. Well past where one might have held their breath past- but still, she held onto the thought that they would come out. Despite the danger- as far as she knew no one had actually died during the week- although some were injured enough they couldn't keep going. But here, at the more critical moment, over three times their number didn't make it out, all in one go.

Her mouth clicked shut, and went dry. Suddenly, the water didn't seem so pretty anymore.

And she was still covered in it.

She stiffly followed along, as the group left the cave, and overlooked the cliff. "... Yeah, I, it probably did." Because it sure killed everyone else.

She took a look off the cliff herself, and followed after Caelfind with a sigh- and then a shriek as the rushing wind made the frigid waters clinging to her all the worse- even as she aimed for a particularly thick looking bush to aid in breaking her fall.

But, as she fell, much like how she would occasionally think when it came to fun routes to run across rooftops, railings, and other rather unsafe terrain, she saw a particularly interesting 'route' to take, and the intrusive thoughts most definitely won. She splayed her hands and legs out- and like a skydiver, leaned to shift her path just enough to catch a branch with one hand as she was falling down.

She nearly completed half a spin before it snapped under the forces exerted, launching her to another, much thicker curved branch that she skidded along at high speeds, before kicking off back towards the group with a flourish, hopping off another tree as it drew too close with a flip- and nearly flopped into the bush she had originally sighted, back first, with a somewhat undignified end to her shenanigans the moment she was out of sight of the rest of the group.

"... Huh." For a moment, as she lay there somewhat in a daze on the surprisingly accommodating bush, she looked her hands over with a bit of confusion, even as her heart beat with adrenaline pumping enthusiasm at the stunt she pulled. Although the shiver she had after she finally sat still for a moment- the water clinging to her, put something of a damper on that as she somewhat unsteadily rolled out of the shrubbery onto her feet.

 

[Whisper]

Emeria stood next to Lilwen for a while, watching the others fall. There was no screaming, no wet thud as they struck the ground. A few booms, perhaps, depending on how hard everyone had landed, but that was the worst of it. Birds and other local wildlife did not appreciate the sudden intrusion and scattered noisily, yelling their disapproval.

The drill-haired girl began to reach a hand towards Lilwen, to offer her some kind of comfort, but stopped halfway. She let it fall, feeling helpless. The moment stretched on, the silence unbroken only by the odd howl of the wind as it passed the cave.

"I was always told the Wyrd was this wonderful thing, that the ... price we pay is worth it, for what it lets us do in exchange," she said at last. Emeria paused, searching for the right words. "I.. I think that's easy to say, for the people who aren't paying, but.."

She gathered herself together. Comforting others wasn't something she had much practice with.

"- I don't think that what I saw in there was the Wyrd trying to kill me. Not yet, anyways. It was just.. it was the me I needed to see, right now. I think?"

Emeria bit at her lip, looking back over the cliff face. The pool had given her a lot to think about. Too much to figure out for now. Mairead teacher hadn't steered her wrong yet, so it was probably safe, but then those other girls...

"You're not supposed to be up here," said a voice behind them. "Is Mairead already letting discipline slide? Tch."

The voice came from a domineering woman, taller than Mairead and dressed in all black. Tall leather boots, a cut-off top, and a witch's hat covered her tanned skin and blonde hair. For all that Mairead was reserved, graceful, and sorrowful, she seemed the opposite.

She also wasn't the patient sort.

"Well, jump already," she said, annoyed. "I have students to collect." With that, she began to head into the cave's depths, muttering.

Emeria started to say something - to ask something - but the black witch was gone into the shadows before she figured out what she had meant to ask.

At a loss, all the noble girl could do was give in and take the leap. "Don't worry, let a Blanchfield show you how it's done," she said as she took the leap, as much to psyche herself up as to reassure the other girl.

---

Mairead descended gracefully, a leaf on gentle winds. She touched one branch, then another, with gentle steps until she alighted on the ground.

Angharad was much less graceful, hitting a handful of tree limbs on the way down and landing on her back. A few of the branches that hadn't survived her descent landed nearby a moment later.

"No fall damage," she said as she stared at the sky through the hole she'd made. Her voice was mostly monotone, but had a hint of joy and surprise. "Nice."

As Caelfind plummeted through the sky one might have thought mistakes were made. She seemed to accelerate in her descent beyond what would be feasible based on the laws of gravity. Then, shattered branches and massive impact into the dirt... or wait? The world seemed to distort for a second in a localized field. Caelfind was falling again, but this time she was only feet above the ground. The fragments of branches whirling into the dirt like shrapnel indicated that she had slammed into them at high speed... yet, with an impossible slowness Caelfind softly touched the ground. The young witch looked around with confusion at first, then a happy grin.

Maeve would make their way down, their powers protecting them in whatever way most made sense. (OOC: if you want to give me an idea of how your powers might work, I can do this part for you! Or you can send a clip over and I'll put it in. Up to you~)

Emeria, too, hit a number of things on the way down, but these looked to be thick shards of mirror that had been conjured out of nowhere. They certainly slowed her fall, and she was mostly unharmed when she arrived at the ground, but graceful it wasn't. It took her a bit to collect herself. She joined Angharad in staring up at the sky, looking for the odd things she'd collided with and finding nothing.

When they'd all gotten themselves together, Mairead looked around the group.

"Now that you've gotten a picture of your changes, do you have any questions?"

 

[P0rcelain]

Emeria stood next to Lilwen for a while, watching the others fall. There was no screaming, no wet thud as they struck the ground. A few booms, perhaps, depending on how hard everyone had landed, but that was the worst of it. Birds and other local wildlife did not appreciate the sudden intrusion and scattered noisily, yelling their disapproval.

The drill-haired girl began to reach a hand towards Lilwen, to offer her some kind of comfort, but stopped halfway. She let it fall, feeling helpless. The moment stretched on, the silence unbroken only by the odd howl of the wind as it passed the cave.

"I was always told the Wyrd was this wonderful thing, that the ... price we pay is worth it, for what it lets us do in exchange," she said at last. Emeria paused, searching for the right words. "I.. I think that's easy to say, for the people who aren't paying, but.."

She gathered herself together. Comforting others wasn't something she had much practice with.

"- I don't think that what I saw in there was the Wyrd trying to kill me. Not yet, anyways. It was just.. it was the me I needed to see, right now. I think?"

Lilwen, head bowed, nonchalantly kicked a rock off the cliff. It was not a mighty kick, like she might usually give. It was only a gentle, modest nudge. The rock tumbled down, smashing against other stones and earth on its way, dust flying up in sputters of violence before it eventually reached the bottom. It was now a small dot. The inertia of falling could not resist the inertia of the land itself.

She raised her head and looked at the horizon. Her thinking face was on again, before she responded, "...Ay. 'Coulda been what it showed us all. Dunno what the fuck that says 'bout me, ay?-"

Emeria bit at her lip, looking back over the cliff face. The pool had given her a lot to think about. Too much to figure out for now. Mairead teacher hadn't steered her wrong yet, so it was probably safe, but then those other girls...

"You're not supposed to be up here," said a voice behind them. "Is Mairead already letting discipline slide? Tch."

The voice came from a domineering woman, taller than Mairead and dressed in all black. Tall leather boots, a cut-off top, and a witch's hat covered her tanned skin and blonde hair. For all that Mairead was reserved, graceful, and sorrowful, she seemed the opposite.

She also wasn't the patient sort.

"Well, jump already," she said, annoyed. "I have students to collect." With that, she began to head into the cave's depths, muttering.

Emeria started to say something - to ask something - but the black witch was gone into the shadows before she figured out what she had meant to ask.

At a loss, all the noble girl could do was give in and take the leap. "Don't worry, let a Blanchfield show you how it's done," she said as she took the leap, as much to psyche herself up as to reassure the other girl.

Interrupted, Tatts swiveled around and took a lazy look at the new witch. Black boots, black clothes, leather, "dont give a fuck" attitude... With each observation she appeared to be making, Tatts gave a small nod of approval. Putting her cold introspection aside, she smiled when the stranger disappeared.

"...Aw fuck, now ye got me inna better mood." She muttered to herself.

Then, Lilwen took several paces backwards, sprinted towards the edge, and jumped.

-

Wind lashed and whipped past Lilwen Dee-Ellis' clothes and skin. Tiny specks of dirt blasted into her at ludicrous speed; pelting her skin. They tickled her where they should had been making her bleed. Her hairs were raised; adrenaline was pumping through her veins. Flashes of green, brown and blue smeared around her. She was an incomprehensible blur, yet to her, it was all decipherable. She could see it all.

0.09 seconds, passed a tree branch.

0.11 seconds, passed a second one.

0.16 seconds, she thinks she might have overshot. Maybe just a little.

0.19 seconds, she sees a tree, maybe she can kick off of it towards the ground for a graceful landing?

0.21 seconds, an enormous explosion rings throughout the air as she collides with the tree, shearing it in twain. Oops.

0.33 seconds, she tries again on another tree. It snaps in half like a toothpick. At least she's going slower now.

0.42 seconds, she seems to have decided that this is fun, and a somewhat effective way to move slower.

0.56 seconds, 3rd explosion.

0.59 seconds, 4th explosion.

0.61 seconds, 5th explosion.

0.77 seconds, she is now 100 meters from where she intended to land.

This continued for precisely 1.42 seconds. All the while, Lilwen found it exhilarating that she had any amount of control over this. It was obvious that her mother had in some way trained her for this. She had a sort of reactive intuition that it would be difficult to explain otherwise. Even so, to anyone except Tatts, it was painful to watch. It was like watching a young bird fly for the first time. If that bird weighed roughly 70 kg and could move a quarter of the speed of a bullet. Perhaps impressive, if not clumsy; dopey; and evident it is the first time they have ever done this. She smashed into the ground hundreds of meters behind Mairead in an incredible boom of earth. You would think that it would take some time before the other students would see her again, but apparently that had qualified as a graceful enough landing that she was visibly already on her feet and running towards the group - At a non-super-human pace.

 

[StrangeSpeeder]

Meave winced and ducked to the side as a particularly large clod of dirt threatened to collide with her face. Oh, maybe it wouldn't hurt now but she'd really prefer not to test it, nor did she appreciate the idea of the probably wet, bug infested ground sticking to her clothes- hence why she didn't simply interpose her cloak between her and it either. Lilwen's display was... definitely eye catching.

Well, it was her own fault she rounded the tree to join the group as a falling star landed close enough to be considered a hazard. She took a few moments to finish brushing herself off before speaking up. "Ah... we all seem to have pretty different abilities, how would we train those using another's guidance?"

Perhaps, she may have also asked for a shower and a change of clothes, had the previous events not been so fresh on her mind. Instead she merely picked at her clothes as they clung to her uncomfortably.

 

[P0rcelain]

Lilwen was still running towards the group while questions were getting asked and answered. Her body language was exaggeratedly exasperated and desperate; it was clear even from a long distance that she cared that she was missing out on 'class time' despite what one might assume of her from previous experiences.

By the time she finally reached the group, she was huffing and exhausted. She clumsily slowed to a jog, then a swift pace, then hunched over in place beside Mairead.

"M-ma'am. Miss-" She hacked for a moment, "-I-I need to talk to ye about- My inner whatever-" Lilwen gasped some more, "-I don' think it'was normal, Miss."

 

[Over Yandere]

Despite the plethora of debris surrounding her landing spot, Caelfind simply walked after Mairead and eventually caught up. Despite her exhaustion there was a slight bounce to the young woman's step and a soft smile on her face. Looking at her, one might forget the hardships of the past week were it not for her dirty clothes that even the waters of the cave had failed to fully wash clean. When the others caught up their questions were certainly good ones. Caelfind was herself confused as to how she'd learn to control whatever was going on with her from another. Especially given what her mother had told her about it. Still she waited for the patiently for the questions of the others to be answered. In all likelihood her own questions would be answered in due time.

 

[Whisper]

"Ah... we all seem to have pretty different abilities, how would we train those using another's guidance?"

"Fair question, Maeve. If I were giving points, that would be worth one."

She produced a violin bow from nowhere, then made a swift cutting motion towards a distant tree. It whistled as it made its arc. A moment later, the tree fell over, cleanly cut in half. Or at least it began to fall - it would take a minute or so for it to make its ponderous journey to the ground, hitting one branch after another. There was an odd, rhythmic staccato to its descent.

"I can, and will, teach you how to draw upon your powers. You are correct that the specific forms your abilities take are different, but you will all need to find ways to attack and defend. You'll spend the rest of your lives honing and improving your skills, so what we start with may not be what you use forever. There's nothing wrong with that."

"M-ma'am. Miss-" She hacked for a moment, "-I-I need to talk to ye about- My inner whatever-" Lilwen gasped some more, "-I don' think it'was normal, Miss."

Mairead frowned as she listened to this next question. She knew the girl was going through a lot and had been leaving her to flounder intentionally. She needed to know that Tatts - Lilwen - had the resolve to make it this far, impressive bloodline or not.

"What you experienced there may not be what you see every time. Your inner worlds are a reflection of yourselves - sometimes what you need, sometimes who you are, sometimes who you are destined to become, sometimes what you need to overcome. Think of it like a dream - some are good, some are bad, some are hardly worth remembering."

"We can talk of the specifics once we're back at campus," she said, in a quiet, reassuring voice, meant mostly for Lilwen's ears.

Angharad, the quiet gamer girl, held a hand up. Mairead gave her the go-ahead.

"I.. see things now? Like - a lot of things. I'm pretty sure I have a health bar, but it looks kinda fuzzy," she said, a hint of excitement breaking through her standard deadpan delivery.

Their teacher was contemplative for a moment. "Perceptive abilities are somewhat rare, usually hinting at a broader theme in your power set. One of my old teammates had the ability to 'tag' enemies for her powers to affect. Others do the same through intuition only. I suspect they will become more clear as you get a better handle on how to use the wyrd."

Questions answered, she surveyed the group and, for the first time in a while, seemed pleased with what she saw.

"One important note - you are far more resilient now, but it means little in the face of the things you will fight. Don't assume you're invincible," she said before pausing mid thought as she got lost in a memory. "The attacks of other Witches, the Droma, and the Spirits of the forest can still harm you just fine, even if hitting the occasional tree or wall will feel mild in comparison."

The white witch considered them all for a bit, then added something else she felt relevant.

"Your enhanced strength, agility, and so on will require active thought and concentration at first. This is good, because otherwise you'd be doing serious harm to yourself already."

Mairead tapped the bow against an open hand, like a teacher with a rod. "We'll start with strength. I'd like all of you to bring that tree to me, please. Try to think of the fire you lit when you lift - once you have a good mental image of it, you should find the task easy enough with all of you working together."

The resident ojou-sama had been quietly considering everything that was said, holding her arms around herself as though she were cold. She hadn't spoken up, though she had perked up during the answer to Lilwen's question. As she walked off towards the tree, Mairead watched her with a small frown.