Jump to content

Aberrant: In the Beginning - Joe Smith


Stargaizer

Recommended Posts

In Joe's eyes the torch flame seemed to grow with each repetition of the motions, as he carried himself step by step closer to it. By the time he was finishing, the torch filled his field of vision, and details of it sprang out into his perception. The fibers of wood first blackening, then glowing and being carried up and away. The rich, slightly acrid smell of it. The quiet popping of pockets of water trapped in the wood exploding to steam. The hiss of boiling sap. The flickering yellow-orange light that was the fire, and the fire was the light.

And he felt that light in himself, a strong and steady power that for a moment he touched and thrust forth.

The torch exploded. The fire burned white and consumed the remaining wood as fast as a match might burn. Joe could feel the sudden wash of heat from it, feel his eyebrows shriveling slightly, his eyes watering as they dried. But there was no pain. Just an overwhelming feeling of release, like the first glass of water he'd had after a long run.

Then he realized he'd heard something else too. A stifled yelp in a female voice. Turning around, Joe saw his sensei standing nearby...possibly too close to the torch as it dwindled now to a dessicated, blackened hunk of charcoal. She was holding her right wrist in her left hand, and staring at her palm with an expression that mingled joy and loss, both in overwhelming quantities. Like someone staring at a photograph of a long lost lover.

A single tear slid down Farhenheit's face and dripped off her jawline as she looked longingly at the place she'd burned her hand as she reached for the flame that Joe had summoned.

Then she looked up, and her eyes met Joe's...and hardened.

"Good," she said gruffly.

"Again!"

(OOC - Feel free to narrate any further fire training you feel like, or indicate when you're ready to move on in the narrative. :))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow... I did that?... And they said all the elements... I'm... I'm... Whoa, whoa, slow down there boy. You made a torch belch, you're not a god. You haven't even mastered this element, and still have no idea how to work with the others. Besides, our goal is to stop this future from coming into being, not become the sociopath that creates it. Training, control, remember everything you've been taught...

The harsh 'again' brought Joe out of his revelry and re-focused his thoughts.

He reset himself, took his stance, and this time, as he preformed his katas, tried to work on controlling the exact amount that he strengthened the flame.

"Again!"

Joe reset himself again and tried to do even better.

"Again!"

Each time he tried, he was getting a little better. It was like training for his first belt examination all over again.

"Again!"

"Again!"

"Again!!"

**************

Sascha trained Joe to the brink of exhaustion, and then pushed him further. By the end of the day, not only had he learned to control the exact amount that he enhanced or suppressed the flame, but he actually learned to mold the fire away from the torch; supplying it's energy needs from himself instead of from combustion.

Over the next few days, his training got even more intense. He learned more about enhancing, suppressing and molding. He learned control. But, most significantly, he learned to create it himself. That was probably his and his sensei's proudest moment (even if she only barely showed it). However, as great an achievement as that was, that was only the beginning of his training...

Click to reveal.. (OOC)
I'm ready to move on. After the initial training session, I would be fine with glossing over the rest of it, similar to what I did here.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joe wasn't sure how long he'd been down there. Days were just conveniences...ways to break up the hours into digestible chunks. He'd been training his ability to manipulate earth and stone...always tricky, since there weren't any experts of that sort down here. Sascha did what she could, but it was clear she really only -truly- understood fire. It made the training slow and awkward at times...and potentially even dangerous, given that everything around him was stone. The threat of bringing the roof down seemed unsettlingly possible at times.

So he took it slow.

On this day though, whatever day it was, he had a surprise visit from none other than 'Slider' herself. She was bringing along another man, one Joe'd never seen before.

"Afternoon, Joe," Jennifer said happily. "This is Gwyn Jones. He's from your time too."

(OOC - The adventures of Joe Smith will continue in a new thread!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...