Post by Ranth on Jun 16, 2018 9:35:27 GMT -5
Ranth did his best to put on a brave front in the face of Rin's lighthearted teasing. Although she meant well, it was a bitter reminder of the weakness that his first teacher, Senshi, had pointed out to him. Back then, he'd barely mastered even something as simple as the Byakurai and even then, describing his grasp on the technique as such was a stretch. Despite being among the simplest, most staple Kido techniques, Ranth had been nearly exhausted by a single use.
Whilst nobody could deny that he'd improved out of site since then, it was also obvious to anyone who knew anything about Kido that Ranth tired far too easily from relatively mid tier techniques. He'd done his best to research and refine his approach to casting Kido, but he'd been unable to find any flaws in his execution. That allowed him to determine that he wasn't making some fundamental error that was causing his techniques to operate inefficiently, but it also suggested that the problem lay within Ranth himself and that was a much harder problem to diagnose- much less fix.
But Rin couldn't have known any of that, nor did Ranth feel that he could allow her to see the inner turmoil that her scrutiny had stirred as he ducked his head to acknowledge her wise advice. Indeed, it wouldn't do to show weakness to an enemy, but in that moment Ranth wanted even more not to show weakness to Rin. Not because she was an enemy by any stretch of the imagination, but because for some reason he wanted to impress her. In part, it was because Artorius had publicly put his faith in his abilities, but there was more to it and Ranth couldn't find the words to describe the frustration he felt when he failed to exceed Rin's expectations. Probably because she was an empress.
Although he wanted nothing more than to sit down and gasp for breath, Ranth did an admirable job of straightening his back and forcing himself to breathe deeply and evenly as Rin led the way deeper into the ruined city. He would have thanked her for her advice, but he dared not speak lest his breathlessness give him away. Thankfully, Rin didn't seem to notice- or care about- the slip and together they moved on, with Ranth always just a few steps behind.
If either Rin or Ranth were expecting to encounter any more foes, they would be disappointed as they entered the glowing building that towered high above the rest of the city. It alone seemed to have managed to avoid crumbling like all the buildings below it and Ranth could only assume that this was because of the black obsidian like material that it was made from. 'Obsidian-like', simply because although it shared the colour of its namesake, Ranth brushed his hand against the inner frame of the main entrance and found that the material was coarse to the touch, whereas obsidian possessed a glassy smoothness to it.
A shudder ran through Ranth as they entered the building. The temperature seemed to drop significantly as the building itself seemed to exude an icy chill that banished warmth. In fact, as they began to ascend the stairs, Ranth occasionally noticed that his breath sent faint puffs of condensation into the air. Ranth nodded with fervent agreement when Rin expressed her disdain for the place, only realising several seconds later that Rin didn't have eyes in the back of her head and winced inwardly at his foolishness.
Before he could correct his mistake by agreeing verbally, they reached the top of the stairs and observed the source of the light which had been visible from outside the building. The tower culminated in a short corridor, the end of which contained a single door. Beyond this door was a small, but well lit room. It alone, unlike anything else they'd seen since arriving in this underground ruiend city, was completely devoid of spider webs. The cause for this, as well as the source of the light that had drawn them here, could clearly be seen in the form of the floor to ceiling portal that awaited them in this final room.
If it were up to Ranth, he'd have spent the better part of an hour studying the strange portal and the room that housed it. He'd conduct various experiments by bringing webbing in from the outside to see how it interacted with the light from the portal for one thing. He'd also have tried throwing things into the portal to see what would happen and then, pending the results, find something he could push through the portal and then pull back- like a plank of wood for instance- to see if any damage had been done to it.
That was what he would have done, so nothing could have prepared him for what Rin did as she simply walked into the portal with little more than a wave of her hand and a vague command for him to follow her. Before he could protest, she was gone- swallowed by the light entirely. Feeling panic rise up in his chest, Ranth dashed forwards, only to come to a halt right before the portals surface. He couldn't see through it, nor could he hear anything from the other side. The portal gave off neither heat nor cold and other than the light seemed to have no impact on the world around it.
Feeling helplessly frustrated, all Ranth could do was consign himself to the same fate as Rin and stepped into the light with supreme reluctance... only to emerge moments later into a pristine field of emerald grass, cerulean skies and the cutest, fluffiest, most adorable looking sheep that he'd ever laid eyes upon- which, granted, he'd only ever done so in books. He found Rin immediately, only a dozen paces ahead of him and appearing to be gazing about in fascination.
Glancing over his shoulder, the portal they'd entered through was still there. Or rather, an identical looking portal to the one they'd just walked through stood alone in the field as a permanent conduit between the top of that tower and... wherever this was. "Do you have any idea where we are?", Ranth asked softly as his eyes roamed around the field in search of answers but finding nothing but beauty.
Beyond the immediate field in which they stood, a thick forest could be seen in the distance- surrounding the field on all sides- whilst even further beyond the treeline, vague mountain peaks could be also be seen, creating an enormous natural encirclement that would likely take weeks to travel from end to end even if one was able to ride on horseback. Whatever this place was, it didn't seem to be immediately threatening... but if they'd immediately been attacked by a dragon or something then that would have at least given the sense that they were on the right track.
"BaAaAaAaA!!", Ranth's train of thought was interrupted by a very loud and very alarming bleat from one of the sheep who, unbeknownst to Ranth, had daringly approached him before nudging his hand with its nose. Ranth could only stare stupidly at the sheep as it nudged him again, seeming to somehow convey a kind of impatient irritation with him until he instinctively moved his hand to tentatively pat its head. "Baaaa...". This time, the bleated conveyed an infinite sense of contentment and Ranth couldn't help but chuckle with delight as he became more confident in his petting.
Elsewhere, Rin would notice that every other in the sheep suddenly began to gravitate towards Ranth- some of them passing within inches of her, yet not a single one of them seemed to so much as acknowledge her existence as they clustered around Ranth, their bleating combining together to become one single rhythmic note that drowned out all other sounds with their demands for pats. Feeling overwhelmed but also somehow honored, Ranth did his best to pat each of the dozens of sheep that now encircled him.
From Rin's perspective, she would see Ranth in the center of a crush of almost two dozen sheep all pressing in on each other and... merging? it wouldn't be obvious at first and no matter how loudly she tried to shout, she'd find her voice drowned out by the sounds of the sheep, but after several seconds there were definitely fewer sheep then there had been at the start. Within a minute, Ranth too would notice as the last handful of sheep merged seamlessly together to become a middle aged woman garbed in white woolen robes.
Ranth didn't know what to say as the woman regarded him with a an expression that was seemed to straddle the line between familiarity and scrutiny. Without speaking, the woman turned, her heavily tattoo'd face impossible to read as she leaned on the staff she held to level her scrutiny at Rin. Finally, the woman broke the silence that had descended upon the clearing following her sudden and unexpected appearance. "You should not be here", she said flatly to Rin before turning back to Ranth. "You... I'm not sure about. Why have you come?"
This final question didn't seem to be directed towards either Rin or Ranth specifically. Whoever spoke first would
found their voice first would be the one to provide an answer. On Ranth's side, his mind was racing with countless questions. Who was this woman? Where had she come from? Where did the sheep go? Was she a threat? An enemy? An ally? Could she help them? Would she try to stop them if they were honest with her? He didn't have the faintest clue how to approach any of these questions, so he was infinitely grateful that someone with Rin's wisdom and experience was here to show him how it was done.
Whilst nobody could deny that he'd improved out of site since then, it was also obvious to anyone who knew anything about Kido that Ranth tired far too easily from relatively mid tier techniques. He'd done his best to research and refine his approach to casting Kido, but he'd been unable to find any flaws in his execution. That allowed him to determine that he wasn't making some fundamental error that was causing his techniques to operate inefficiently, but it also suggested that the problem lay within Ranth himself and that was a much harder problem to diagnose- much less fix.
But Rin couldn't have known any of that, nor did Ranth feel that he could allow her to see the inner turmoil that her scrutiny had stirred as he ducked his head to acknowledge her wise advice. Indeed, it wouldn't do to show weakness to an enemy, but in that moment Ranth wanted even more not to show weakness to Rin. Not because she was an enemy by any stretch of the imagination, but because for some reason he wanted to impress her. In part, it was because Artorius had publicly put his faith in his abilities, but there was more to it and Ranth couldn't find the words to describe the frustration he felt when he failed to exceed Rin's expectations. Probably because she was an empress.
Although he wanted nothing more than to sit down and gasp for breath, Ranth did an admirable job of straightening his back and forcing himself to breathe deeply and evenly as Rin led the way deeper into the ruined city. He would have thanked her for her advice, but he dared not speak lest his breathlessness give him away. Thankfully, Rin didn't seem to notice- or care about- the slip and together they moved on, with Ranth always just a few steps behind.
If either Rin or Ranth were expecting to encounter any more foes, they would be disappointed as they entered the glowing building that towered high above the rest of the city. It alone seemed to have managed to avoid crumbling like all the buildings below it and Ranth could only assume that this was because of the black obsidian like material that it was made from. 'Obsidian-like', simply because although it shared the colour of its namesake, Ranth brushed his hand against the inner frame of the main entrance and found that the material was coarse to the touch, whereas obsidian possessed a glassy smoothness to it.
A shudder ran through Ranth as they entered the building. The temperature seemed to drop significantly as the building itself seemed to exude an icy chill that banished warmth. In fact, as they began to ascend the stairs, Ranth occasionally noticed that his breath sent faint puffs of condensation into the air. Ranth nodded with fervent agreement when Rin expressed her disdain for the place, only realising several seconds later that Rin didn't have eyes in the back of her head and winced inwardly at his foolishness.
Before he could correct his mistake by agreeing verbally, they reached the top of the stairs and observed the source of the light which had been visible from outside the building. The tower culminated in a short corridor, the end of which contained a single door. Beyond this door was a small, but well lit room. It alone, unlike anything else they'd seen since arriving in this underground ruiend city, was completely devoid of spider webs. The cause for this, as well as the source of the light that had drawn them here, could clearly be seen in the form of the floor to ceiling portal that awaited them in this final room.
If it were up to Ranth, he'd have spent the better part of an hour studying the strange portal and the room that housed it. He'd conduct various experiments by bringing webbing in from the outside to see how it interacted with the light from the portal for one thing. He'd also have tried throwing things into the portal to see what would happen and then, pending the results, find something he could push through the portal and then pull back- like a plank of wood for instance- to see if any damage had been done to it.
That was what he would have done, so nothing could have prepared him for what Rin did as she simply walked into the portal with little more than a wave of her hand and a vague command for him to follow her. Before he could protest, she was gone- swallowed by the light entirely. Feeling panic rise up in his chest, Ranth dashed forwards, only to come to a halt right before the portals surface. He couldn't see through it, nor could he hear anything from the other side. The portal gave off neither heat nor cold and other than the light seemed to have no impact on the world around it.
Feeling helplessly frustrated, all Ranth could do was consign himself to the same fate as Rin and stepped into the light with supreme reluctance... only to emerge moments later into a pristine field of emerald grass, cerulean skies and the cutest, fluffiest, most adorable looking sheep that he'd ever laid eyes upon- which, granted, he'd only ever done so in books. He found Rin immediately, only a dozen paces ahead of him and appearing to be gazing about in fascination.
Glancing over his shoulder, the portal they'd entered through was still there. Or rather, an identical looking portal to the one they'd just walked through stood alone in the field as a permanent conduit between the top of that tower and... wherever this was. "Do you have any idea where we are?", Ranth asked softly as his eyes roamed around the field in search of answers but finding nothing but beauty.
Beyond the immediate field in which they stood, a thick forest could be seen in the distance- surrounding the field on all sides- whilst even further beyond the treeline, vague mountain peaks could be also be seen, creating an enormous natural encirclement that would likely take weeks to travel from end to end even if one was able to ride on horseback. Whatever this place was, it didn't seem to be immediately threatening... but if they'd immediately been attacked by a dragon or something then that would have at least given the sense that they were on the right track.
"BaAaAaAaA!!", Ranth's train of thought was interrupted by a very loud and very alarming bleat from one of the sheep who, unbeknownst to Ranth, had daringly approached him before nudging his hand with its nose. Ranth could only stare stupidly at the sheep as it nudged him again, seeming to somehow convey a kind of impatient irritation with him until he instinctively moved his hand to tentatively pat its head. "Baaaa...". This time, the bleated conveyed an infinite sense of contentment and Ranth couldn't help but chuckle with delight as he became more confident in his petting.
Elsewhere, Rin would notice that every other in the sheep suddenly began to gravitate towards Ranth- some of them passing within inches of her, yet not a single one of them seemed to so much as acknowledge her existence as they clustered around Ranth, their bleating combining together to become one single rhythmic note that drowned out all other sounds with their demands for pats. Feeling overwhelmed but also somehow honored, Ranth did his best to pat each of the dozens of sheep that now encircled him.
From Rin's perspective, she would see Ranth in the center of a crush of almost two dozen sheep all pressing in on each other and... merging? it wouldn't be obvious at first and no matter how loudly she tried to shout, she'd find her voice drowned out by the sounds of the sheep, but after several seconds there were definitely fewer sheep then there had been at the start. Within a minute, Ranth too would notice as the last handful of sheep merged seamlessly together to become a middle aged woman garbed in white woolen robes.
Ranth didn't know what to say as the woman regarded him with a an expression that was seemed to straddle the line between familiarity and scrutiny. Without speaking, the woman turned, her heavily tattoo'd face impossible to read as she leaned on the staff she held to level her scrutiny at Rin. Finally, the woman broke the silence that had descended upon the clearing following her sudden and unexpected appearance. "You should not be here", she said flatly to Rin before turning back to Ranth. "You... I'm not sure about. Why have you come?"
This final question didn't seem to be directed towards either Rin or Ranth specifically. Whoever spoke first would
found their voice first would be the one to provide an answer. On Ranth's side, his mind was racing with countless questions. Who was this woman? Where had she come from? Where did the sheep go? Was she a threat? An enemy? An ally? Could she help them? Would she try to stop them if they were honest with her? He didn't have the faintest clue how to approach any of these questions, so he was infinitely grateful that someone with Rin's wisdom and experience was here to show him how it was done.