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+---- Thread: [Training] Heartbreak survivors (/showthread.php?tid=11723)
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Heartbreak survivors - Hadama - 07-15-2025
Five floating rings bobbed in the water, their wood dyed in bright colors so that the waves could only temporarily hide them. The afternoon sunlight was warm on the beach, the temperature comfortable and the humidity as low as it ever truly got in Torchline on the early Leafchange day. Hadama stood in his traditionally shirtless glory upon the shore, the Arclight lapping at his ankles, using his height to look out over the sea at the targets anchored out at ten foot intervals from thirty to seventy feet.
Emerald eyes narrowed slightly as he focused, drawing on his connection to the moon to summon his Gravity Spikes above the targets. The water splashed up in satisfying geysers as each spike landed in the center of its target: one, two, three, four...
But the fifth target remained out of range, and no fifth spike appeared to strike it. Hadama let out a breath slowly and then drew it in again, gathering himself anew as he reached for his power once more. Practice and training - and Safrin's blessing - was the only way he would improve, and he was not inclined to take up laziness just because the Family had left Caido.
Sohalia
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Sohalia - 07-15-2025
Sohalia found herself in Torchline for a few days in order to gather her belongings and get them shipped back home. Things were finally stable enough in Stormbreak that she could return to her region, begin making preparations and plans - but that was hard when all of her clothes and supplies and everything else was here. She'd spent the past few days packing, and had some time to kill between when the boxes departed the apartment she'd been leasing and when her skyship was scheduled to leave, so she meandered her way down to the beach, planning to take it in one last time.
She was surprised, perhaps, to find a familiar face on the shore, water lapping at his ankles - though she shouldn't have been. If anything, it was astounding that they hadn't run into each other before now, aside from the odd event here or there. Still, she hesitated to approach. In the past, she wouldn't have thought twice, and maybe she was imagining things, but there had seemed to be a certain... tension in the air the last time she'd seen Hadama. But if she wanted to know for sure, she would need to go talk to him. So, despite her preference to avoid conflict, she made her way over, watching the gravity spikes fall into the targets as she went.
[say]"Hadama,"[/say] she said as she grew close enough, brushing an errant lock of hair out of her eyes. [say]"Hey. Thank you, for taking in the Breakers and helping with cleansing Stormbreak and everything."[/say]
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Hadama - 07-16-2025
He finished his round of aiming at the targets before he turned to face Sohalia. His expression held its usual stoic serenity as he considered her appearance and her words slowly before inclining his head in acceptance of her gratitude. But when he raised his eyes again it was with a more somber weight in his gaze. "I am sorry we could not kill the dragon before it took Tarak." And there was compassion in the quiet rumble of his voice.
He breathed deeply of the salt-laden air then, looking back out over the sea and the distant horizon. Clouds rose like mountains in the distance, white but towering in the sky as they faded up and up into the sunlight. The sea was calm, the waves gentle today. There was peace in the world once more - give or take some remaining pockets of corruption here and there. And the destruction in Stormbreak awaiting those who would return to their former home...
"Will you take up your crown once more?" he asked quietly without looking back.
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Sohalia - 07-17-2025
Hadama's quiet acceptance of her gratitude was expected; she hadn't thought he'd make a big deal of it, really, though she would have to think of a way to thank him properly. Maybe once she was back in Stormbreak permanently, if she was able to retake her place as Heart...
But then Hadama's expression shifted, and Soh felt the familiar lump rise in her throat as she fought to control the emotions that Tarak's name still elicited. It took her a moment to master them, but when she did, she inclined her head in thanks. [say]"I am, too,"[/say] she said. [say]"But it's no one's fault but my own. I should have known better than to bring him with me."[/say]
There was a moment of silence between them as they gazed out at the distant horizon. Soh watched the clouds rise in the distance, breathing the salt air and thinking that even though she was glad to be going home, she would miss this all the same.
Hadama's question, when it came, had her glancing over at his stoic face. [say]"I'd like to,"[/say] she said. [say]"If the people will have me."[/say] After all, she'd failed them once before. Who was to say they wouldn't prefer someone else to lead?
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Hadama - 07-20-2025
He listened to the former Heart as she took responsibility for her companion’s loss and Hadama tilted his head subtly in acknowledgment of her words, though he remained silent. He could offer no comfort to dull the pain of such a grief, and he would not speak empty platitudes. Whatever else lay between them she deserved better than that from him.
The sea offered its own solace in the quiet rush of its waves upon the sand and the lonely cry of distant gulls. He allowed the silence between them to fill with the sounds of Torchline, a place where it was never truly still. Water and wind and fire and sand were in a constant state of shifting. Changing. Shaping each other in a slow and ancient pattern.
Nothing stayed the same for long in such a place. Not even Kings. Or perhaps especially not Kings. Or, for that matter, Hearts.
”Mmh. The crown sat heavily on your brow before,” he rumbled at last, turning his head to look upon the young woman near to his side. ”Are you strong enough now to keep it, even in the face of opposition?” In the face of another invasion, he did not say. Or some other new challenge that would undoubtedly arise in the future.
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Sohalia - 07-20-2025
Whether Hadama's question came from a place of curiosity or disdain for Soh's previous rule, the Luminary could not say. She'd never known him to be cruel, though, so she was inclined to believe it was the former. [say]"I'm not the same person I was before."[/say] In so many ways, not the least of which was her aptitude for leadership. [say]"If I'm not strong enough, then I don't deserve it."[/say] If she gained her crown again only to lose it once more, then that, surely, would mean that she simply wasn't what Stormbreak deserved. The city should have the best, and if she couldn't be that, then...
The waves crashed upon the shore. Soh looked up towards the sky, picturing Tarak soaring upon the ocean breeze. He'd always been happy here, and so had she, even if it hadn't been home. But things changed, and there was nothing that she could do to stop the ever-turning wheel of time. Whatever came, she would do her best to be prepared, and the only way to do that was to be better, stronger, more worthy of those she sought to protect.
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Hadama - 07-21-2025
He nodded again, slow and thoughtful as he considered Sohalia. The way she stood upon the sand, the direction of her gaze, the way in which she held herself, and the distance in her eyes in that moment. He allowed it to stretch, asking nothing nor offering while she walked the halls of memory. Only when she seemed to come back from wherever it was that she had gone did he turn to face her fully and step slowly back from the water until his bare feet stood upon the dry sand rather than the wet, out of reach of the tide.
"Then show me your strength," he said, his voice as calm and quiet as ever; his gaze as clear and steady. And your conviction." Even as he spoke he shifted into a defensive stance - not perhaps, entirely unfamiliar to the Heart. He had taken some of what he had learned about fighting on two legs from Koa, after all, and some from Zavien, among others she knew.
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Sohalia - 07-22-2025
Hadama withdrew from the water, and Sohalia watched as he left the reach of the tide. His challenge hung between them for a moment as he shifted into a defensive stance, and the Luminary blinked, a hint of surprise on her features.
But then, slowly, she moved to stand across from him, falling into her own fighting stance: balanced, steady, waiting. Feet shoulder width apart. Arms up to protect her face. It had been a while since she'd fought without a weapon, but if this was a test of her strength... well, surely if she gave it her all, she couldn't be found wanting. Could she?
Studying Hadama's stance, she searched for any weakness and found none. So be it. Hoping for the element of surprise, the Luminary lunged forward, aiming a quick, sharp jab towards the king's head.
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RE: Heartbreak survivors - Hadama - 07-26-2025
He watched as the Luminary took her own fighting stance, calm and focused as he studied her form. She was steady, balanced, ready. He met her eyes with the quiet serenity that he brought to most things in life, and when she moved--
He did not. He turned his head slightly to take the jab on his cheek rather than his nose, but he made no other move to dodge. His head barely rocked from the blow, and when he turned back to look at Sohalia there was a coolness in his eyes. "There is more than one kind of strength." His tone did not quite chide; he spoke the words as an observation only.
But his return blow was swift. A singular Gravity Spike at half its most basic level, the weight cut to be more of a jab of his own than a slam, lanced down between them. If Sohalia did not dodge quickly it might strike a glancing blow against the hand she had used to punch with.
1/4
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Sohalia - 07-27-2025
Sohalia's strike hit true, and she gasped as she made sharp contact with Hadama's cheek. [say]"Hadama!"[/say] she said, dismayed. [say]"Why didn't you -?"[/say] But then there was a shift, a return blow that Soh wasn't quite quick enough to dodge. She'd seen the Gravity Spikes in action before, but never aimed at her. It wasn't lost on the Luminary that the blow dealt to her hand was a fraction of what the king was capable of. Still, she yanked her hand away with a hiss as the spike struck a glancing blow, scoring a thin line of crimson across the back of her hand.
Shaking her hand, Soh reformed her fist and considered Hadama with a healthy respect. She wasn't entirely sure what he meant in saying there was more than one kind of strength, especially when he'd been the one to invite her to attack by shifting into a defensive stance. Once, she might have asked for clarification. But there was something in the coolness of his gaze that drove the Luminary to try again. This time, she twisted, striking out with a kick aimed towards Hadama's stomach.
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RE: Heartbreak survivors - Hadama - 08-06-2025
He did not apologize for his strike; she had accepted his challenge and there were bound to be injuries in such an undertaking. But neither did he attack her with intent to kill or maim. He focused his magic, his control, to keep it from wounding too deeply even as he noted her reliance on physical strikes.
The kick came in and again he barely shifted, sliding his stance a few inches to the side so that the blow was glancing rather than straight on, but still he took the impact with a soft exhalation before stepping back and calling down another Gravity Spike, this one lancing down towards her shin - enough to bruise deeply, but not to break bones.
"If the Family returns to reclaim Stormbreak, will you fight them with fists?" he asked at last, quiet and measured. "You have other strengths. Greater ones. Use them." For the Tidebreaker was not containing himself to merely physical attacks.
2/4
RE: Heartbreak survivors - Sohalia - 08-15-2025
Frustrated and unamused by this little impromptu spar, Soh frowned at Hadama as another Spike lanced down to bruise her shin. She took a step back, trying not to favor her injured leg. She was getting nowhere with this line of attack, and if Hadama was trying to teach her something, she wasn’t sure she was understanding the lesson. Perhaps this was merely a form of torture. Maybe he didn’t think she deserved to be Stormbreak’s ruler, and this was just his way of saying it - or not saying it, as it were.
I don’t know, she wanted to shout in response to his query. If the Family returned, she had no idea how to protect Stormbreak. She wasn’t strong. She wasn’t smart. She didn’t plot and plan and do. All she had was herself to offer, and she’d proven time and again that she wasn’t good enough.
Frustrated to the point of tears, the Luminary reached through the Attuned bond to find a flock of seagulls wheeling nearby. Using her abilities, she compelled them to swoop down towards the Tidebreaker, hoping that they would swarm his head and distract him long enough for his next blow to miss.
—-
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RE: Heartbreak survivors - Hadama - 08-17-2025
He could see the frustration in the set of her chin and the way her eyes were clouded as she looked at him in confusion. Whether that was good or bad, he gave no indication, as calm and stoic as ever as she pulled back, putting space between them while she regrouped. Perhaps he should not have given her the time to do so, but this was a spar, and the lessons would not be improved by simply overpowering her. So he paused as well, keeping his defensive posture as he waited to see what she would do next.
At first there was only stillness, but that was a fleeting state of affairs. The gulls moved on swift wings to begin diving and swirling around him, blocking his vision and creating a confusing whirl of wings and feathers. Hadama did not laugh - for one, the birds were far too vexing for humor, and for another his mood was still too solemn for such frivolity - but he was forced to duck and raise his hands to ward off the persistent flock.
Sohalia knew him well enough that she would be unlikely to be surprised by his next move. A more ruthless man might have aimed for the animals, but Hadama did not blame them for being compelled. As he attempted to dip and dodge away from battering wings and pecking beaks he still managed to call down a third Gravity Spike on where he thought Sohalia was standing. "Good, he called, the word somewhat muffled by his avian attackers. He did not wait for a response, however, moving towards the Luminary swiftly to see if the flock would cause his opponent similar confusion if he could bring them into range to envelope her as well.
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RE: Heartbreak survivors - Sohalia - 08-19-2025
The flock of gulls did exactly as requested - and it worked just as Soh had hoped that it would. There was a glint of satisfaction in her steely gaze as she watched the birds wheel around Hadama's head - not aiming to harm the man, but merely to distract. Unfortunately for Soh, she, too was distracted - not by the birds, but by her success - and Hadama's Gravity Spike came arcing down to score a line across her forearm before she could move out of the way.
Then the king was moving towards her, and Soh quickly banished the gulls lest she be wrapped up in their swirling vortex of chaos. But she didn't send them far, and as she moved to the side, hoping to avoid any incoming blows, she called the gulls back to try and land upon Hadama: one on his head, and one on each shoulder, screeching their calls all the while in an attempt to disorient her opponent.
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