[Training] [SE] Hark how the bells

Noah's demigodly duties might soon take him elsewhere, and there was no guarantee that it would be someplace with so much convenient shoreline for them to meet. Considering the current troubles that had cropped up around Caido, Hadama had requested his friend to meet him somewhere where they could both work to strengthen themselves against the days ahead and whatever tribulations they might bring.

The Outer Islands provided ample coast to choose from, and Hadama arrived early enough to swim along some of it, emerald eyes searching the shore for signs of more of the strange flowers that had been found in Torchline and other places. He was relieved when none were obviously visible, at least from the water, and settled in to await Noah's arrival at the arranged-upon spot with his trident held loosely in his hand, half out of the water - though with the constant rain that wasn't saying much.Unperturbed by the weather he waited patiently for his friend and training partner to appear.

When Hadama sent word for him, Noah’s skin prickled with anticipation. He was glad to see the mer that had become his friend over these seasons, but equally as excited to see someone who followed Safrin faithfully. Noah had questions for the king, hoping he may have some knowledge of what was happening in the world with all of the affected flora and fauna. Perhaps even the weather.

When he found his friend with his trident ready, Noah took his own spear off of his back. “Hello, Hadama!” He called out, making sure the mer would recognize him from a distance given the fact that his hood covered most of his face from the rain. He didn’t hesitate to begin the true purpose of this meeting, even as he caught his friends attention, and striking towards the merking he sent an arc of fire towards him from his spear.

the forsaken

He would offer what help he could in way of knowledge or information, but first they had work to do. "Noah," Hadama called back, his low voice a quietly pleased greeting to the hooded shape that resolved from the rain into the shape of his friend. But time was of the essence, it would same, and Noah wasted no time.

It was just as well that the mermanta was familiar with Noah's efficiency in getting things done, for he was already tightening his grip on his trident and raising it to meet the challenge the demigod presented. He wasn't quite fast enough, however, and the fire sizzled through the rain and danced over brown skin, leaving a searing line of pain the smell of burning flesh in its wake.

Hadama's solemn face creased in a wince, the solid hit startling a hiss of pain from the usually stoic king, and he finished raising his own weapon, lashing out with the star-filled Arclight water generated by the trident and then using his water manipulation to send the burst flying farther than it would have been able to reach on its own.

Noah hadn’t expected his attack to hit the way it did. He expected Hadama to be ready for him, especially after he called out his greeting. His stoicism faltered for a moment as his eyes widened, watching fire arc over the merking’s skin. Noah breathed in his own hiss as Hadama emitted one of pain. Thankful that at the end of this, Noah could offer the healing the mer (and potentially himself) would need, he continued on.

Noah went to surge forward and send another arc of fire, but was blasted back by a starlit super soaker. He didn’t have much time to block with the speed and ferocity the attack was thrown with, and it sent him staggering back a few steps. In retaliation, Noah summoned his spirit stag from the side, and it charged out after Hadama with its massive head lowered, the rain sizzling as it evaporated immediately upon impact of its celestial frame.

the forsaken

It was certainly true that Noah's ability to share healing made him an ideal sparring partner. It allowed Hadama to take their training more seriously, working through pain and damage he might not have with someone else. It was much more akin to a true battle in that sense.

And though the other man was stronger than him, Hadama was aware that the current environment favored his water and storm magic over Noah's fire and light. It should have given him an edge, or at least enough of a boost to swim on equal terms with the demigod.

But the stag had been a challenge ever since their first meeting, and it continued to vex the mermanta now as it charged him. He swung around, attempting to catch the stag's antlers on his trident, but in the rain he misjudged the distance and the stag struck him squarely, drawing another grunt from the mermanta as he gained a sizeable bruise on his chest before he ducked beneath the water.

Not without calling a small, localized storm to gather above Noah's head as he did so, adding to the rain and sending down a fork of small but potent lightning to give the demigod a shock if it connected.

The stag connected with the coral-created trident, but not without dealing its own damage. Soundlessly it bellowed in victory before dissipating in the rain in a whisper of starkissed sunlight.

Above him Noah heard the rumble of thunder and his head shot up. With wide eyes, Noah pulled his magic. Basically pulsing from where he was to about fifteen feet to the left, Noah barely missed being totally struck by lightning. He sucked in a relieved breath as his eyes went back to the water. While Hadama was submerged he had very few options. From previous experience, he would not be entering the water shifted or unshifted, knowing the merking held a dangerous, many armed shift that could crush him.

Instead, he pulled an arm up, and another back, as if he were drawing a bow. Celestial light beamed as he summoned the godly weapon, and once he saw Hadama surface, he would fire two celestial arrows towards him.

the forsaken

It was hardly training if he stayed below the water the entire time, so Hadama rose again a few moments later. He had swum to the left of where he'd submerged, hoping to throw off the aim of Noah's retaliation, but risking the demigod moving as well while out of the mermanta's sight.

When he popped up out of the water it was to see that the Sentinel Forsaken had indeed moved - the same distance he had, and in the same direction. It would have been amusing if there hadn't been two arrows of light coming for him in that moment.

The Tidebreaker wasted no time in bobbing back into the water, feeling one of the arrows sizzle past a few strands of hair before he rose again immediately and returned the volley with slender javelins of ice, a pair that he launched toward Noah in frozen echo of the demigod's attack.

The arrows flew over Hadama and Noah hissed his disappointment. That was his only reaction, however, without moving. Suddenly the shards of ice were coming towards him and Noah couldn’t do anything else but use his arms to cover his face. He expected the ice to stab and cut and for all manner of wounds to appear before he would need to use his healing magic, but that didn’t happen. Momentarily the rain stopped and Noah heard the unmistakable and familiar sound of crunching and shattering ice.

Opening his eyes, Noah lowered his arms. All around him were the same shimmering, brilliant, glittering and flowing celestial energy waves that he gave off when he felt intense emotion. Rather than just emit from his body, however, it wrapped around him and protected him. It protected him from Hadama’s attack, and the rain from touching his body. A smile, bright and surprised, crossed over the Forsaken’s face and he pushed out a relieved breath that formatted more as a laugh, but as he looked to Hadama one thing would be clear: this was new.

the forsaken

Just as Hadama's control of the storm had been new, the shield of light that sprang into being around his friend was unexpected. And not just to the mermanta it would seem, judging from the surprise on Noah's face. Impressive in its ability to completely shatter the icy projectiles as they impacted it, it looked even more useful than the man's formidable coat.

"A new blessing?" he inquired, pleased to see the obvious mark of Vi's approval on the man who worked so hard to please his god. Knowing nothing of the life-god's previous disapproval of his demigod, Hadama was blissfully oblivious that anything other than devotion to duty had held the Sentinel in the Hollowed Grounds for so long already.

"Do you want to test its limits?" A courteous inquiry as the localized storm gathered anew above Noah's head, its restless energies swiftly coalescing towards the tipping point, though for the moment Hadama held them back by the barest thread.

The storm boiling over Noah's head was a tiny mirror of the storms that raged across the entire Hollowed Grounds, even with the lightning that threatened over him like it did in the Levinsward. As his eyes lifted to it his stomach churned. How much would this shield block? How long would it last? Noah, obviously, didn't know, but there was a trust he held with Hadama that the mer wouldn't kill him (because Noah, again, didn't know that he couldn't die this way), save for facing Vi's wrath.

So, he gave the king a tentative nod and kept the shield as best he could.

the forsaken

Hadama had great trust in Noah, and in his friend's Vi-given gifts. He had no illusions about the demigod's perfection, however. Nor did the uncertainty in the other man's nod go unnoticed. Hadama tilted his head to the side in thought for a moment and then focused his intent on the storm he had called. The clouds swirled, heavy and grey, before unleashing a volley of hail towards the man below them.

The storm was less a pin-point accurate weapon than it was a wide area effect, and plenty of the hail would fall around Noah rather than at or on him, but by that same token it would be difficult to dodge every golf ball-sized sphere of ice. Testing whether the shielding energies could deflect multiple smaller hits seemed as important - and much safer - than calling forth a barely-controlled lightning bolt at full power.

The mer let his magic down, and Noah’s heart surged. His shield dissolved in a blink of celestial light and left him defenseless. His arms covered his head and he pulled something else from within him. Thankful for the hail being only hail and not a stray bolt of lightning, Noah was able to dodge most of it without taking too much injury, credit to another magic. It didn’t have as much potency as it did before when he popped behind the merking, but it got him out of the hail.

”Apparently that needs strengthening!” Noah laughed as he reappeared, brushing off some of the hail that did fall on his coat. Thought it wasn’t much of a reprieve, given the storm that still raged around them.

the forsaken

The shield did, indeed, appear in need of some strengthening, and Hadama was very glad that he had chosen hail over lightning from his storm. As the surging energies dissolved and allowed the rain of ice through, the Tidebreaker called back his magic. It was harder to stop the little storm than it had been to start it; the weather of the Hollowed Grounds had made it deceptively easy to Call up, but the same conditions made it more difficult to dissipate, and as he turned his attention fully on that he didn't notice Noah teleporting until he heard his friend's voice.

"A future focus for training," he rumbled agreement, amused and relieved that they would have no more than some bruising to show for the day's work. Finally the hail began to slow and then stop as the clouds reluctantly faded to wisps and the mermanta turned his attention back to the demigod to examine the damage. "How are the Hollowed Grounds this season?" Under the care of Vi's protector they could only be good, he hoped, but word of the endless rain had reached him earlier in Flowerbirth, and it was concerning to see that it was still underway.

”The rain has proved troublesome. It’s really tough, actually. The flooding has been detrimental to a lot of roadways and some of the bone bridges have even been taken out.” Noah gestured vaguely around him, at all the rain that continued to fall as they spoke at the edge of the water. ”It’s so different from what they usually experience here.” He regarded, the they falling out of his mouth on pure habit. He was still a Halovian, after all, no matter where Vi put him.

”I’m going to call on Vi here soon, and thankfully he will have some answers as to what is happening in the world. How is Torchline?” Noah asked, crouching before the merking, despite the rain. He had grown used to it now.

the forsaken