[Training] [SE] [Training] Feeling Crabby

"Don't patronize me," Lisbeth rasped, still struggling to draw breath. She tried to push herself to her feet, refusing to show weakness in front of him. She pressed her hands against the sand, but her arms shook and she wasn't able to rise up.

She clenched her fists in the sand, shaking. She watched her tears drip down onto the sand.

She let out an unholy scream, pushing to her feet, carrying up two fistfuls of sand and throwing them in Sah's face. She hoped at least to catch him off guard before he could deflect the sand with his telekinesis.

She tried to run across the sand back to her bow, but she slipped and stumbled, catching herself on her hands again before pushing back to her feet. Once she had her bow in hand, she drew an arrow, trying to whirl around and aim a shot right at Sah's head. She didn't care that she stood no chance of hitting, that he could likely kill her with a flick of his finger. His kind deserved punishment, and she wanted to be the one to dish it out.

She slipped in the sand as she whirled about, and the arrow she fired flew wide, piercing the feathers of an unfortunate seagull that was flying past. She collapsed to her knees again, taking deep, struggling, wheezing breaths as she tried to pull another arrow from her quiver.

She collapsed facedown in the sand, breathing in a few grains of sand before coughing it back up. She pushed herself up weakly, her face covered in tear-streaked sand. Unable to continue, she forced herself to slow her breathing. It was a big a struggle as it had been in a long time. She cursed her weak lungs and her frail, fragile body. She trained and she trained, but she never got stronger.

When she finally had her breathing controlled enough to at least be able to stand up again, Lisbeth pushed herself to her feet. She was covered in sweat, tears, and sand. Her body was shaking. Her breath was raspy and weak.

Despite all that, she held her chin high, looking at Sah with a quivering lip.

"I don't need your pity," she said, spitting the sand out of her mouth and onto the ground. She held a single arrow in her fist, pointing it towards Sah, her bow still dangling at her side. "When the war starts, I'm going to kill as many Ascended as I can. And if any of your kind are fighting alongside them?" A smirk touched her lips, a wild look in her eyes. "I will kill every last one of them. But that's not all..."

She spat again, then rubbed her mouth off on her sleeve. She could barely speak with how out of breath she was, so she stepped closer, so that Sah could hear her hoarse whisper. "It's not just about the war." Her voice was barely audible over the sound of the waves. "I'm fighting for the future. To protect those who are not yet born. And that means stopping the dangerous, unpredictable magic before it spreads out of control. So if you," she tapped the arrow against his chest, "or any of your kind, tries to use their magic to create something unnatural, or to rise against the gods, I'll kill you all."

She spat again, this time right against his armor.

She was shaking. Her lips trembled. Her breath rasped and wheezed. Sah could no doubt have knocked her down with a gentle shove. But still, she stood as tall as her meager body would let her, looking him dead in the eye.

"I will not allow another one like the Voice to rise again. Not while there is a single breath left in my body."

Sah

"I'm not patronizing you." Sah stated simply though he doubted she'd believe him. In fact, he was damn worried. Both for her health and the fact that if she spoke to the wrong Abandoned like this, they'd kill her. And at her current level of strength, they'd do so easily.  Given how often he trained, the Abandoned was able to react quickly enough to deflect the sand.

He watched grimly as the arrow flew far past him and Lisbeth succumbed to her health once more. Sah listened silently as she continued to rant, shaking his head when she was done. "Still not pitying you. But you need to stop this. Talking about starting another war over a single individual's actions? Fucking hell, Lisbeth."

Sah's eyes narrowed as he easily used a combination of his water magic and telekinesis to flick the spit away before it could reach him. "You're going to get yourself killed." He spoke firmly, stating a fact. "If you continue to question and disrespect the Old Gods like you have in doubting their judgment. Or if the wrong Abandoned hears you go off with your racism. They'll fucking kill you."

Sah growled, "And to put it bluntly? It'd be easy. You can't even run away." Lisbeth was honestly scaring him. Though it was fear for her and not of her. She was so young. He guessed in her early to mid-teens. But she really was going to die before reaching adulthood if she didn't stop this madness.

Shaking his head, Sah called on his magic. The sky above them darkened as the wind picked up. "Since you still seem incapable of processing any of that, let me show you what a pissed of Abandoned is capable of. Though relax, I have no intention of letting this hit you. It's just a demonstration. Training, if you will." He wasn't attacking her, had no plans of it.  

With that final warning, a barrage of lightning strikes struck the area around them. After a few moments they stopped but surrounding the two, was a nearly perfect circle of singed and blackened earth. Afterwards Sah raised a brow at Lisbeth, "Do you get it yet? If not, at least fucking wait till you're strong enough to hold your own before you go out starting another war."

I think there for I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Lisbeth squealed at the sudden onslaught of lightning. She stumbled once more, falling on her ass, but only for a moment before she forced herself back up.

She looked down at the blackened sand. The sight made her heart race. Deep down, she knew Sah was right. She was no match for him, or those like him.

In a weakened voice, she said, "You just keep proving my point. 'If the wrong Abandoned hears me, they'll kill me?' And you wonder why I see you all as the monsters you are." She brushed some of the sand off of her, though it didn't make much difference.

"Anyone as powerful as what you're demonstrating is too strong to be allowed to run loose. That power was meant only for the gods. You talk about how strong you are like it should be a reason to respect you..." She shook her head. "If you had any respect for your own power, you wouldn't throw it about so casually to try to scare me."

She wouldn't admit out loud just how terrified she was.

"Think about what you just did. What if I drew my sword and started waving it around your head, just to try to scare you? Irresponsible, don't you think?" She decided to pretend like she hadn't literally just tried to shoot him. "Bring down your fancy lightning, just to prove a point. Just to prove how strong you are. Just to prove how Abandoned are better than a lowly soldier like me. You're so full of pride in yourself that you can't see how terrible you are."

She gestured in the direction of Torchline. "How about we go into the city, and you start throwing lightning around? See how many people you can scare. Tell the children there how no one can run fast enough to get away from your power. How easy it would be to kill them." She arched an eyebrow, looking up at him. "But you act like I'm the one wrong here. That I shouldn't see someone as a threat when they can so casually throw around such dangerous power. Someone who wields his power not in defense of his family, like you claimed, but just to make yourself look so big and strong and powerful."

She waved a hand across the air in a swift motion. "How long before that smug pride of yours makes you threaten someone other than me? Before you decide that you're so strong that you don't need to listen to your leaders, or to the gods? Don't act like you're too good or pure or humble to do so. Your actions have already betrayed you. If you really had control over your pride, you wouldn't have bothered with that little demonstration there. If you didn't think the Abandoned were so high and mighty, you wouldn't be so confident that your brethren could kill someone just for being disrespectful to them. You are blind to it. And that blindness will be your downfall."

She tucked her arrow back into the quiver. She knew he could kill her if he chose. There was nothing she could do to stop that. But she wouldn't let that force her to stand down.

Sah

Sah blinked before facepalming in exasperation. "Oh my fucking Gods. How do you keep missing the point?" At this point he was starting to worry if Lisbeth had hit her head on one of her numerous falls. "I'd never do those things. I'd never attack a city or harm children. Not that you'd believe me."

Sah shook his head, "I wasn't trying to intimidate you or make you respect me. You've made it clear that that's not happening. I'm trying to get you to be self-aware. You're a fucking kid. And believe it or not, I don't like watching children die. So yes, hate me. Misinterpret my intentions and words. I don't care. But please for the love of the Gods, listen to me just this once."

The Abandoned sighed heavily, "And it's not just Abandoned. You hate them so I brought them up as an example. But if you talked shit about Attuned to one with a dragon shift, they might kill you too. I wasn't saying that Abandoned are 'oh so dangerous and powerful' , no. Anyone can be if you don't think before you speak."

Sah shook his head, "Now. Clearly, we're arguing in circles and not getting anywhere. So, feel free to give one last good rant about how an entire race is inherently evil, even though many of them are about to risk life and limb to stop the Voice. But I'm fucking leaving after."

I think there for I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Lisbeth threw her head back and laughed. "You weren't trying to intimidate me? Do you hear yourself? A moment ago, you were yelling at me about how I'm going to get myself killed, then you decided to show me that power, but sure, you weren't trying to be scary at all. You're delusional."

"And I never said you were all evil," she added. "No, what I said is you're dangerous. It's not about whether you think you'd kill a child. It's about how willy nilly you are throwing your power about, flexing your magical muscles just to show off and not showing any respect for the power that you didn't earn and don't deserve. You know how an Attuned gets their powers, right? They have to earn them. They have to petition the Old Gods, prove themselves worthy. But you? You just happened on these powers by chance of birth. You didn't do anything to earn them, you didn't need to prove yourself worthy of them, you just have them. And the way you wield them so recklessly shows that you're dangerous."

She started stalking off, pulling out her bow and arrows again. She had a lot of pent up frustration now, and she needed something to take it all out on so she wouldn't end up trying to shoot Sah again.

She started taking aim at the crabs again, forcing herself to focus carefully on her aim. It helped start to calm her racing heart. Her breathing started to slow. She carefully raised an arrow, took aim, and released it with the smoothness of letting out a breath.

With her back to Sah, she said, "I wasn't born with the ability to wield a bow." She took aim at another crab, her hands no longer shaking, and sunk an arrow right into its shell. "I had to work for it, train hard, prove that I was capable. Do you train with your magic? Sure." She fired off another shot, then drew another arrow and nocked it to the bow. "But you didn't earn it."

She held the arrow drawn, the bow rigid and tense. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "You said anyone can be dangerous, right? I could be dangerous. I could lose it and start killing people in town." She turned back and fired off another arrow at the fleeing crabs. "But if a normal person does that, they can be stopped. The city guard, or any brave citizen with a blade, could stop a crazed attacker before things got too out of hand. And an Attuned? Certainly, they can be dangerous. But not only do they have to earn their powers, but most of them are no more dangerous than the animals they turn into."

She drew another arrow, still with her back to him. She tapped the arrow against her leg. "How is an Attuned any more dangerous than a lion that gets loose in the city? They still fall to arrows and blades. An Attuned can't block a flying arrow in midair, then throw it back at you. An Attuned can strike you with fang or claw, while you throw around lightning like it's nothing. Sure, there are those rare Attuned that can turn into something mightier, but I believe that the gods would not grant that level of power to someone hastily. They would make the Attuned prove themselves worthy of that gift."

She turned back towards him one final time. "You act like I'm not listening, but I hear your every word. You, on the other hand, need to look more closely at yourself. Who am I hurting, with my supposedly immature words. Myself?" She shrugged. "If I anger someone so much by speaking the truth that they would kill me, then so be it. But instead of telling me 'Don't speak such things lest an angry Abandoned kill you,' maybe you should be asking yourself why an abandoned should deserve such power that they could kill me so easily? If someone comes at me with bow or blade, I can defend myself." She held up her arrow, studying the tip. "Maybe not as well now as I will be able to when I'm more experienced, but that's why I train."

She looked at him again. "A normal person, with dedication and training, can grow strong enough to defend themselves from the dangers of the world. From brigands and thieves, from blades and beasts. A skilled man or woman can shoot down a lion with a bow, whether it is a natural beast or an Attuned."

She pointed the arrow at him. "But you? No arrow could fell you, no blade come near you, without you pushing it away with the wind and then striking someone down with a blast of lightning. No man or woman can train themselves to stop a bolt of lightning. It's a force of nature. Something meant to be feared and avoided, not wielded, especially not by someone who is using it just to prove a point."

"You're a hypocrite," she said. "Look at yourself in the mirror. See how your rage at me led you to throw around such reckless magic. Ask yourself, what would happen if one of your kind acted such a way inside the city? Could they be stopped? Could the city guard protect the citizens from fire and lightning? No. And you're blind to that."

"I don't think your race is evil. But you? You're dangerous. Anyone who would call lightning so casually is dangerous. Someone responsible, someone worthy of that power, would only use it in defense, of themselves or of those they care about. You throw it around like it's nothing, just to demonstrate your power. And if you can't see that..." She sighed, shaking her head. "Well, you just prove to me how dangerous and volatile you are. No one should have such unearned, uncontrolled power. No one but the gods."

She turned and walked away, heading across the sand to collect her spent arrows. She wiped the sand and crab guts off each, then gathered up the crabs. It wouldn't do to let them go to waste, and they would make a fine dinner.

Sah

Sah threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Fucking hell. Using my magic casually to prove a point doesn't make me dangerous. I have control over it, same as a soldier has control over their sword." Magic was a tool. One that was a part of him that he'd had since birth, yes. But that was it, a part of him.

He tsked, "And before you go on calling me a hypocrite, you're far more dangerous than me. Me casually using my magic is nothing compared to you casually mentioning starting a war. Sorry for trying to give you life-saving advice. Good luck, soldier. I do genuinely hope you survive the coming days."

With one last shake of the head, Sah turned and started to leave. But he paused and glanced over his shoulder with somber eyes, "I doubt your father would want you to throw your life away like this." With that final verbal push, Sah left.

-{FIN}

I think there for I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?