(Training) Beautiful Darkness

[Jackson LaCroix]

First of Summer of 510 A.V.

Along a great rock chasm deep within the earth climbed a figure. He was a tanned human who's unkept hair, and muted clothing were difficult to see in the expanse of jagged darkness. He climbed smoothly up between two opposing cliff faces, placing fingers locked in holds that supported his entire weight. Glancing upward there was only the black taste of concealment. It was dusty and mired in his own sweat, but the man reached for fresh foot holds, straining his muscles in tandem. The rock was torn like the binding of a book, but surprisingly he scaled regions that held little scarification.

Breathing deep, the silhouette channeled his energy into the sustainment of spider-like appendages that coated each five digits on both hands and toes. These held special pads that had a bristle-like quality that could maximize their surface area. Each bristle was coated with a natural gift that would bond with any substrates they might encounter. The force of these bonds over the vast surface area created by the bristles overcame the downward force of gravity, allowing the climber to adhere to even a ceiling if talented enough.

Not only did this sharp outline need to focus on the balance of weight and skill of a spelunker, but on the flow of his inner power to maintain focus on the altercation of a normal anatomical structure. In the same even breathe, such a transformation aided his tireless ascension and allowed a further ease of travel combined with a lack of resistance that enhanced his momentum.

Reaching a difficult outcropping, the shadow extended his body and grabbed it's edge. Precarious fingers strained under the full weight of his body but continued to support a dangerous intention. Lifting his limbs with a tension that prevented the elbows from locking the figure pressed into the stone like a coiled spring. Lifting off from the surface into free fall, he enjoying every sense that tingled at the freedom and self preservative fear. Hitting the mirrored rock opposite the silhouette then felt oxygen leave his lungs but worked both legs to support the jump with prepared suspension. The strain of the fall released an ounce of his concentration, unwinding one finger back into it's natural form causing him to utter a low growl.

[Jackson LaCroix]

Looking closely through the darkness the form of the shadow was revealed to be human. A male by all accounts, sporting blond untamed hair with a fiery presence. He wore a sleeveless undershirt, a resilient belt and fitting pants laid over cloth wrappings that covered both ankles and ended in subtle leather boots. Several pouches hung from his waist as a rope was coiled over the chest if such a climb required it. Jackson LaCroix had several options. He had chosen to begin with the ears of a creature that could hear very well in the absence of light and lived right above.

Hearing the scream of bats was a unique commotion, yet their call echoed around these tunnels like birds in a forest. Near the entrance to the cave the man had pulled one of these animals from the wall, studying the grooves of it's strange elongated ears with his touch and the vibration of the animal's rebounding voice. Slowly Jax began to reform his own ear drums like clay under the sculptor's touch. Much more mailable then marble to a chisel, internally the burn of djed fused and fluttered alive with the mind's conscious control. Ideally the process was not simply to mimic the form of the morphing surface but to understand the inner beating of the bat, it's essence. He made fresh ears, seeking to alter the quality of his own hearing, but the result was fuzzy and crackled without clarity so he tried again. Reforming the cartilage, Jackson opened his mouth allowing the cusp of his vocal cords to spill over and hit against the wall.

Starting with the pitch of hollow wind against the stone rising like the constriction of a throat his own voice lit up the resistant shape and bounced back, spraying through his mind equating distance, form and size. It was a new and slightly exhilarating way of thinking, to process sound somewhat accurately down to the crevices in the stalagmite before him, or the ruffles of wrists against clothes, and the touch of his skin bumps against stone. Not exactly sight, but truer in depth perception the man emptied his lungs to hear how deeply the ricochet of audio would respond. It was overwhelming as the blend of djed and compression freed through the expansion of his body. Reapplying the template of the bat's ear, even without the call his hearing was formidable and the darkness now held fewer secrets because there was no proper place to hide. Perception was at some points a subtle and incredible thing when shifted, opening avenues or paths of thinking that approached problems completely differently even from the beginning.

[Jackson LaCroix]

Climbing again Jackson's spider fingers eloped up the wall, gripping the cracks with tension lining through his new knuckles. Old beams hugged the crevice like toothpicks lodged in a mouth. Chains and rotten buckets used for carrying ore swung quietly beside him hung by ancient pillars high above. Pivoting off the hard line of stone, Jax tested the hanging chain link and began to pull himself upward with the pursuit of the top. Why didn't he transform his entire body into that of an insect's exoskeleton and crawl up, or a winged beast and fly.. besides the fact that the process took a great deal of energy, it was the incorporation of the skill of morphing into the real functions of his body that was the basis for this current study. When testing needed strengths of individual abilities together, LaCroix sought to combine their attributes with less strain on the whole. Besides that, keeping the foundation strong, his natural physique served as a starting point to balance every augmentation, preventing him from becoming lost within the multiplication of identities and shapes. It was a way to remember his limits when he broke them all through prepared force.

There were times and places when he did reshape his entire body into that of a spider or winged hawk.. learning the patience of spinning webs and facets of flight but tonight was an endurance run. The habits and instincts of each creature slowly permeated his own beliefs and mannerisms, for learning to morph was not simply the ability to become something but to find yourself or keep yourself beneath the layers of such new experience. Many took the path of complete immersion, but Jackson chose his moments. There was a time and place for abandon, revelry and another for complete composure. All extremes taught balance.. if one didn't fall into them completely.

Remembering the experience of winding an unlucky bounty hunter in a web then saving and feasting on it's body with pincers, Cross's face warped slightly into the multiple black orbs of a giant spider then back to his chiseled human poise. All it took was an undisciplined, emotionally ridden thought to break the concentration of his humanity. Vigilance was paramount as was breathe. Understanding the rhythms of his own body was of equal importance to comprehending the pursuits of his own mind. They had to become a singular thing, in task and action.. becoming the moment without distinction, as the wielder was the weapon.

[Jackson LaCroix]

The chain held his weight as the tense upper body of LaCroix pulled ever upward, seeking to use echolocation to verify the shortening distance to the top of the cliffside. This was an excellent workout for both arms and now legs as well. Hearing the pillar that supported the ballast of his weight began to creak loudly, the man prepared to leap out into pitch darkness. He swung wide, jumping a second before the object above his frame contorted and snapped, hitting and clinging to the wall like a spider as the wooden support tumbled down into the breach.

Vaulting upward, Jackson reached the top of the crevice and pulled himself over it's cusp, rising from his knees to standing quietly while brushing both hands together. The noises held their silence, but Jackson could nearly perceive their solitary slumber. It was quiet.. far too quiet. Here he flexed another one of his options as the insect he chose to mimic had a unique hold over the five senses. The man's ability to change his body to match new forms was efficient, yet altering himself to take on the talents of that transformation took considerable effort.

The eyes of a wolf spider or others could see at night, but that required very low light, here there was none. Many relied on touch, vibration and taste stimuli to navigate and find their prey which Jackson had used in combination with the resourceful hearing of a bat. Utilizing the organs within his morphed fingers, this particular insect's awareness responded to changes in both temperature and humidity. It was adept at tasting pheromones, particularly that of female spiders but the human sought to adapt it's usage to a more universal system though that did help him avoid the occasional web. He tasted only the residue of treasure hunters, bandits and obsessed miners but the trails were muted and gone. If there was someone here like his trained sixth sense had taught him, they were adept at controlling not only their bodily functions, but scent and emotions as well. The cord of imminent danger began to pull wildly along his nervous system, reformulating his preparation for an attack against his body.

[Jackson LaCroix]

Closing both eyes, he flooded the space between them and the nose with a half-pint of energy pulled from the well of inner devotion. The djed still beat like a heart as it cascaded and reformed his internal facial structure. The constant use of energy began to take it's toll, yet Jax knew this was only the very beginning of the depths he would need to delve if his premonitions were right. Pushing all his focus into both sinuses there was one more creature he would attempt to become. Heat-sensitive pits budded behind the skin, opening to detect thermal energy. Spending time with pit vipers had surprisingly paid off despite their original intention but it was far too difficult to maintain all these senses and individual morphs at one time so Jackson let the energy release and cool from his fingertips, morphing them back to their original shape. The essence of the rattlesnake fought against the sonar of a bat yet he tried to bring each element under control individually and with some sense of harmony. Seeing and hearing together efficiently was a labor, but one Jackson endeavored to overcome. The cold blooded snake's ability to perceive the infrared signature of all heat sources around it heightened the watching human's power while draining him within. He had no doubts that his level of sight was less then half of an actual rattler or that his power over the dominion of sound was not as aware as a bat but regardless the experience was empowering and shocking in it's reveal.

Live bodies clung to the stone above him, littered between fangs of stone. They were humanoid with piercing purple eyes, red heated skin and cooling blue robes. Their faces were covered and their weapons were of the nature Jackson was trained to understand, martial in function. The glimmer of palm heat residue spun around a throwing star flung in his direction. A whistling cut of air placed the projectile's speed and falling trajectory over his left shoulder. Ducking his body the blond human began to follow his oldest morph model. Sharp bone pierced like a savage point out from the middle knuckle of his left hand. It was hard, smooth and slightly curved up to it's gory end. As two more throwing stars fell from the stalactites above his left arm grew a shield like exoskeleton in the shape of an aerodynamic double edged sword. He swung back with the left arm and pulled the compounded material of his right inward to protect the chest. As both moving feet exchanged position so did the unlocking direction of the arms unwound and rebounding to drive the spike through the undeflected chest of a would be assassin. The momentum of the warrior's drive poured through his opponent's body, lifting the corpse off the ground and charging forward with it against a pair of fiends who drew steel swords. Instead of releasing the makeshift shield Jax extended the right bone spike into a lithe guttural harpoon that carried the flailing ragdoll through the aggression of it's live companions. Attached to his arm by a cord of spiked sinew, the whip like hook was pulled right, embedding it's self into the neck of the vanguard of these attackers. Using the heaving bone sword lodged over his right arm, Jax leaped to close the gap with a forward strike that would sever the head cleanly utilizing the sharp pinnacle of the grown weapon.

Retracting the harpoon into his left arm, three more attackers closed from multiple directions.

[Jackson LaCroix]

Djed ate at his veins like poison but still LaCroix fed the blood lust, creating an elongated bone sickle sprung outward from the left arm and crushed horizontally through the forearm of the assassin to his side. Retracting the weapon, he reformed the knuckle spike and drove it straight into the forehead of the shrouded figure. Without a sword, the silent last attacker behind kicked out his right leg and prepared a throat strike against Jackson as he fell onto his back. During the onslaught of the attack, the green eyed warrior pushed off with any remaining sure footing, driving both claw and spike through the ribs of the robed assassin, embedding his bone swords to the hilt of their reach before a blow could traumatically reach him.

Breathing in silence there was nothing. No more swiftness, no more swords, no more assault. The stillness oozed red hot as his infrared picked up every spray of blood still leaking warm from the victims even as their colors cooled. Standing, his body was a wreck, ripped raw with the expenditure of powerful djed. Moving slowly towards the noise of a heart beat that called like a torn drum, Jackson elongated one last spike. The shaky red and blue colors below taunted him, twisting as to escape fate.

"The sacred scrolls. Where are they?"

He drove the bone weapon through the question and out the back of the assassin's head.

"I don't have them."

Retracting his blades beneath the skin, Jackson rolled the bodies down over the edge of the cliffside, taking only a single katana and a hand full of throwing stars. Leaving the mines beneath Sunberth from that point proved simple.

[Tabarnac]

XP Award! Jackson XP Award: Climbing +3; Morphing +3; Acrobatics +2; Martial Arts +2; Interrogation +1 Model: Bat Ears - Echolocation; Pit Organs (imperfect); Scopulae (imperfect) Additional Note Okay, this was a very entertaining read. I’m giving you echolocation because you did write a bit of him learning to do it as well as use it, though at his level of expertise he really shouldn’t be able to do it that fast. It should take days or weeks. I’m giving you a start on pit organs and scopulae, but you should do another thread to really perfect those models. Again, he doesn’t have the expertise to come up with these things on the fly and a mention of having studied them before doesn’t quite do it for a model. Also, the morphing around the thrust of a sword is not within your skill level. Please edit that out before claiming your XP award. Remember, your character is a competent morpher and martial artist. Competent, not expert or master. Your ideas are great, but you’re running way ahead of yourself, so please re-read the rules on these skills you’re using before you write him as more skilled than his character sheet will support. And please do not add the katana and shuriken to your equipment. Assume they were lost getting out of there. Giving yourself equipment skirts dangerously close to god-modding. You need a storyteller modding your threads to earn things like that. Please see this as a challenge to your creativity and not to your vision. I can see Jackson becoming a one man army, but until your sheet can back up his actions, you just have to show us the process of getting from competent to master. There should be mistakes and setbacks, and often those are the most entertaining parts! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Keep writing!