Wise or Whimsical? [Al'in, Violet]

Al’in watched her work, focusing her energy on this quaint little ball of reishi, and found himself soon looking at a mirror into his own childhood. The scene was familiar, a boy who struggled with all his might to conjure even the most minuscule amount of energy and even then battled to contain it within his tiny hands, his father shouting at him from that pedestal on high, and he looked to his left and right and saw his brothers standing beside him and felt only shame. But Al’in’s vibrant gaze did not betray those inner feelings quite so openly, they softened instead, as he drew close to Violet again and pondered.

“You have the material, so now it is simply a matter of construction. Trust in yourself, reach out and twist it into the weapon that you seek.”

Again there was a distinct lack in any respect for boundary from the man of the sands - not that she had offered any complaint before, as he wrapped around Violet and took her arms in his own. He could feel her energy easier this way, help her to shape it if she wavered, so it was only natural to him to act as he did. There was certainly no sense of doubt in his actions.

“A bow is often seen as the easiest tool to imagine. We can make it one limb at a time if we need to.” He went to guide her, positioning one arm to hold onto the centre of the ball whilst the other took hold of the edge and pulled away from it. It was a stretch, but if the ball seemed like it would break then Al’in would step in to hold it in place. “Do not rush yourself, I promise that the waves will wait for you, as I will.”

This closeness was new, but not unexpected. Al'in had a spontaneous quality about him, one that contrasted the rigidness that often kept Violet from feeling any semblance of freedom. The fear of shaming herself or her family left her mentally bound. His lack of respect for any boundaries left her stunned, frozen, and only moving to follow gestures he guided her to make… Her cheeks pinkened.

The orb of reishi fluctuated in size and shape from the moment he touched her. Realizing it, she took a deep breath and the orb reformed to its previous perfection. As he positioned her arms to try and form a bow, the image just wasn’t coming to mind. She couldn’t see herself using a bow and firing off arrowed of reishi like her father could. She wanted to be nothing like that man, so she fought his image.

“I’m trying…” she muttered, trying to pull at the reishi to form at least a pole. As it spread, she tried thinking of what she was really trying to make here. It wasn’t a bow or a sword. Neither of those felt right. A hammer? An axe? No, no. The orb began to fluctuate once more, but the harder Violet tried to think on what to make, the less stable it became. She closed her eyes. “Come on, think, think, think…”

Tsk. Tsk.

Al'in tutted as he felt her control waver, a soft little note delivered almost directly into her ear, and he was about to make further comment on her rigidity until she finally found her focus again. But he could feel her fighting both the ball and him as he guided her into the motions of forming a bow. There were her fears, worries, those he could help with guidance, but this felt different. It was like her motivation for fighting back was fueled by something deeper, more primal. It was a good spark, so perhaps it was better to light that fire and see how it burned.

"You are trying to hold yourself back, don't." His voice was still soft, reassuring mostly, but unable to avoid teasing Violet just a little. As the ball began to warp and stretch again, he pushed and pulled at it just a little. Not enough that he was making a shape of his own, but just enough to nearly hold it in place as she battled to concentrate on her ideal design. "Dig into that mental pit, find what you want to create and make it real with your hands. You can do this."

Violet’s skin tickled with each sound he made in her ear. Violet’s racing heart made it very difficult to focus on the task at hand, but she mustered up enough will to focus… and focus harder. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find that image she wanted and kept holding back. It was his words that called her out though, helped her realize exactly what she was doing. "Do I have to make a bow?" she asked. Something he said previously made her think she didn't have to; it was just the easier path, right? That did not mean it was her path.

...find what you want to create and make it real...

It wasn't perfect at all. It wasn't solid, but as Violet moved and extended the reishi she held onto, a long staff formed of pure reishi, bright purple and really only a silhouette of what it could become. Toward the top end, the reishi extended the opposite direction, spreading in one direction to create a curved flat blade, almost like a hook. It became clear what she was trying to make: a scythe.

Violet stood, firmly holding the scythe's handle. The reishi was still trying to form, but currently stabilized in this energy-based form. With a big smile, Violet looked over her shoulder at Al'in and held the scythe up in victory. "I-I know it isn't perfect, but it's a start? I mean... it's my first time ever getting this far, so... Is this okay?"

He didn’t need to answer her question, nor would he. That was for her to work out, and work it out she already had. Slowly but surely, he peeled back his control until it was almost entirely Violet in charge. He held on more out of curiosity at that point, to feel what she was making as she made it, and soon enough that scythe appeared before them. It was a shell of a true spirit weapon, he could tell that with but a single glance, but it shone with the spark of seized potential.

“Perfection can be many things, Violet. To perform a task flawlessly, to succeed against great adversity, to overcome one’s own misgivings.” Al’in’s head turned just a little, a single green eye flicking in her direction as he wore a smile that mirrored her own. “I’m honoured to have shared this first time with you, truly, but I do not think the water is satisfied yet.”

With a roguish wink, Al’in withdrew from her. His arms uncoupling from her own as he retreated a few paces. With one hand, in but a single flick of his wrist and a great deal of reishi absorption, a bow appeared. It was far from ordinary even for a spirit weapon, seemingly larger than Al’in’s whole body in length and made of whites and golds in what could only be called masterful craftsmanship. It was clearly his weapon, the pinnacle of his achievement manifested into one object, and then just as suddenly as it was made, it was gone. Energy scattered back to the sand and the sea in fine little luminescent petals.

“You have succeeding in putting one foot in front of the other, but I want to see you run. Show me your resolve again, but this time unaided.”

Comparison was often a source of motivation for some, but for Violet it was a spotlight on her lack of skill. Violet had hoped for some reassurance that this was a level of progress. She had enough failures under her belt that nothing ever felt like enough. His words came with hope, but his actions brought upon doubt. He stepped away and summoned his own spirit weapon. It was a beautiful bow of white and gold, a solid masterpiece of a weapon that Violet never hoped to near.

As she examined his, eyes wide in awe, her own snapped and cracked until it vanished in a small boom that lightly scorched her hands. She gasped and stumbled away from her broken weapon, looking at the burn marks on her palms with shame. A moment later, his own weapon was flawlessly released and gone. She had a hard time looking at him, so she turned away, looking out over the water.

“One foot in front of the other, huh?” Violet repeated in frustration, clenching her fists tight enough to shake. She recalled her father comparing her to a newborn, a baby barely learning to walk. Pathetic, weak… “It’s okay. One more step, right?” she said, her voice harder, tight, as if holding a flood of self-hatred from breaking through. She held her hands out in front of her and quickly remade the ball of reishi.

“If I do this, I can finally swim…” It was a small prize, just to be able to swim, but it was really all she had to look forward to. There wasn’t much else motivating her, was there? The purple ball began to spread and extend through both palms of her hands. She knew what she was making now. ’Just do it!’ she mentally screamed. She pulled and stretched the reishi and the pole formed. A lack of control or a break of concentration led Violet to almost dropping it. The pole suddenly shortened about a foot, but she stopped it before it could disappear and stretched it again.

Sweat dripping from her brow, Violet’s breathing became quicker, heavier. She sharpened her focus, keeping the image of her scythe in mind. Again, she felt her control waning, and in a moment of sheer will, and a touch of panic, Violet waved swung her hand outward toward the top of the scythe. The design wasn’t complex or even pretty, but the reishi solidified into a dark purple weapon with a long sharp blade. For the first time ever, Violet was finally able to make her weapon.

Stunned, she stood silent and stared at it just… trying to catch her breath…

Perhaps it was a little overzealous of him to demonstrate the rift between them, but it had never been Al'in's intention to shake her so. Of course, that was a potential outcome, but it was also intended to galvanise her. To teach her not to hold anything back and to make the most of her powers. He was not the taskmaster that both their fathers were, he would much rather teach with positive reinforcement. But teaching would not suppress his passion.

"One more step. Then again. And again. Until it becomes as second nature as walking!"

He reassured her and stood back, watching as she exerted herself entirely on this single task. It was a wonderful thing to watch, like a young bird taking flight for the first time, and it was not a swift process. There were mental barriers for her to overcome, physical ones too, but Al'in could feel her crying out not for help but out of exasperation as she pushed herself again to her threshold and then a step even further beyond. He cheered as that pole retook shape, this time a little less like the vestige of their first attempt, and waited with bated breath as she made to complete the weapon. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was a monumental step.

"Hah. Haha! Yes, see, you are dipping your toes in the water already. Again!"

It wasn't meant to sound like a command, and yet it carried like one. He wanted to see her do it again before he found himself satisfied.

Violet thought this second time was great! She wasn’t planning on doing it again, but Al’in wanted her to. She glanced to the water and lost concentration. The scythe broke in her hands, shattering into flakes of purple reishi. Okay, fine! A determined expression hardened her features as she held out the same orb of reishi, glowing purple once more. She followed her last steps, taking a deep breath, and extended the reishi into the same simple shape of a scythe. It was still no way near a masterpiece and not beautiful or cool, but it resembled Violet in her novice-ness.

A moment later, she let it break again, or did she un-summon it? She wasn’t sure, but it was intentional. She expected the command to do it a fourth time and so she did it without being told. And then she did it a fifth and a sixth… Out of breath, she fell to her knees in the sand, holding firmly to the simple purple, and solid, scythe that she fought to make. “Th-There… D-Do you think I can swim now?” Violet asked, looking At Al’in with sweat dripping down her face, leaning onto the pole.

Violet was quite right, had she not immediately done so again then Al'in would have asked it of her. Kept asking until she could stand no more. But he didn't need to. Instead, he stood there and watched with a keen eye. Only on that final summoning, where her legs began to waver, did he finally move in. She had set herself a goal and achieved it and more. An ignorant person might have assumed it was Al'in's teaching that had given her this breakthrough, that this was his victory as much as hers, but he knew that he had done nothing more than give her the slightest of nudges. A push from the ledge as she took this plunge into the depths and swam all by herself.

"Yes! The water is waiting for you, I can hear it singing your name as I should be doing."

Waiting only for a moment, he reached down and scooped Violet up in his arms. He could have simply pulled her to her feet and dragged her to the water, but that was not his way. He had worked her to the bone so now it was his time to repay that effort, carrying her in both arms across his chest and making no secret his intention to simply carry her into the ocean. Of course, if she wriggled away or complained in any manner then he would comply, but, to him, this was simply the natural continuation of his mannerisms from before and she had not displayed any particular aversion.

"Really?!" she asked excitedly.

Al’in’s yes brightened Violet’s tiredness for only one sweet moment. She looked out over the water with a gleaming smile, one that flipped to surprise when she was suddenly lifted from the sand. Not used to being picked up, she instinctively held onto Al’in, coiling her arms around his neck in hopes of not falling.

And it was in that brief second that a wave of exhaustion hit her. One, two, three blinks and Violet's head fell lightly onto his shoulder, her arms sliding limp down from his neck. Her breathing calmed and her eyes closed. Clearly asleep after working so hard, Violet was once again not going to be able to swim today...