Everything I Must Protect (Solo)

[Leila]

Timestamp: Spring 90, 513 AV It had been three days since Leila saw Ricky upon his return, and she was still fairly upset. She found herself wandering down toward the docks, holding her arms against her chest. There was so much to think about, and yet she was tired of thinking about it all. Ricky was her first kiss, her first real date, her first crush. Then he'd disappeared on her, and returned as an impending father. She knew she could still trust him to protect her, as that was his duty, but she didn't know if she could trust him with the feelings she still felt for him. And she hated herself for still having them, for he was now claimed by another in the most permanent of ways, and she didn't want to destroy that. She needed to protect her feelings from him, and herself from her feelings, but it was just so hard. She wandered through the docks, smiling when several shipwrights and sailor greeted her by name. She even waved a little at them, but her heart wasn't really in it. She continued down past the docks, and made her way along the beach. Her feet slowly sank in the sand, as she meandered away from the hustle and bustle, looking for a quiet place to sit and think. She continued onward, until she spotted a smooth rock in the distance, and made her way toward it. She sat down lightly on it, smoothing out her dress, pulling her knees into her chest, as she watched the tide ebb in and out. Being near the docks reminded Leila of the day where her and Ricky met that intimidating woman and man at the docks. Leila had heard the woman mention her desire to kill a man, and in her panic, Leila had sought out Ricky's help, to protect someone she didn't know, to protect Zeltiva. Now she wondered why. Why should she protect someone she doesn't know? Why should she hold herself responsible for protecting everyone she could? Then she remembered in that same moment, when she stood between Ricky and the two intimidating people, to protect him from harm. But not just him, but them as well. She hoped to ensure that no one got hurt. Where did she get this system of entitlement? This need to protect everyone she met? It wasn't from her mother, maybe a little from her father, but not nearly as strong. As she sat there on her rock, she saw a little hermit crab scuttling across the sand. It was about the size of her hand, shell and all. Then the tide started toward it, and Leila was worried the little crab would get swept away. But right before the water reached it, it disappeared inside of its shell, and the water passed harmlessly around it. Leila put her feet on the sand, and felt the water swirl up and over her feet, reached her ankles, then ebbed back out. When the water disappeared, the crab came back out, and kept on scuttling. And that is when Leila realized the answer to all her questions. Every single person she helped protect, made up her "shell". If she protected them, they were less likely to harm her, would protect her. So by protecting others, she truly was protecting herself. At first she thought it was selfish of her to do that, that all of what she did was to protect herself. But it wasn’t, it wasn’t selfish for the crab to use the shell, it was… symbiotic. If everyone protected everyone, then no one would ever get hurt. The question is, could she protect others, as well as they’d protected her? How could she better protect them? She could help patch them up if they were injured, but aside from that, she couldn’t do much. She couldn’t even fight, couldn’t intimidate, how could she help protect, truly protect? She sat there, thinking on it, her arms getting a little chilly from the breeze off the water. How did Ricky protect his citizens? He carried weapons that he knew how to use, he went to places where people might need more protecting, he investigated everything suspicious. He got in the way of harm and the intended victim. He was a shield, to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves from harm. But he was strong, able, a proper shield. Leila wasn’t sure how she could be a protector like, all she had was the desire to protect those who would protect her. She rubbed her arms, trying to fight the chill, when it felt like her hands were leaking. She looked down, and saw a transparent, lavender shimmer where her hands had rubbed. Her eyes grew wide, and she was afraid. What was this? What was happening to her? She looked at her hands, and saw the lavender sheen flowing out like water, though it appeared to be stopping. Her first thought was to run, to go find someone to tell her what this was, and to save her from it. But there was this nagging feeling in the back of her mind, telling her that this was a part of her, that it was natural, that this was safe. She looked down at her arms, noticing a really thin layer of this… lavender material, she wasn’t even sure what to call it. How did she make it? What did it do? How could she get it to come back? What had she been doing to make it happen? She’d been rubbing her arms, so she tried that again, but nothing happened. She remembered thinking about how to protect others, how she could do it, in a manner different than Ricky. Protecting others, protecting herself, nothing had been in her mind except for the thought of protecting. And there it was. Her hands began leaking that purple sheen again. She brought her hands closer to her face, trying to see what exactly was happening. Nothing looked different, except that the substance appeared to come straight through the skin. No holes opened up, no wounds formed, it just passed right through. She tried rubbing her arms again, and once more it added the sheen to her arms. The substance appeared thicker, and more purple on the areas she had previously applied it to. She still didn’t know exactly what this substance did, but it appeared to be able to be applied to her skin, and would get thicker the more she applied. She needed to know more. She continued to rub it all up and down her arms, applying it like when the water had crawled over her feet earlier. She ebbed it up her arm, and waned it back down. She could tell it was anything but evenly applied, splotchy, thicker and thinner all in one. But it had certainly piqued her curiosity, much like when she’d first learned herbalism with her papa. She wondered if it could be put on other stuff. She got off of her rock, and knelt before it, noticing it had stopped flowing from her hands. Clearly she needed to really focus on the thought of protection to get it to work. She started at the base of the rock, nearest the tide. And like the tide, she moved her hands toward the rock, focusing on the desire to protect, as she flowed the purple up the rock a hand’s height, then back down. She did this again, increasing the height, the thickness increasing at the base of the rock. Back and forth, she ebbed and flowed, the actual tide tickling at her toes now. She eventually got the entire rock covered, but she was exhausted by the end of it, a full bell having past just working on the rock. But she gazed at it, noting the purple sheen covering it all, beads of sweat dotting her brow. She poked at the rock with a finger, and it passed right through the substance and touched rock. She stood up, as the tide continued to come in, and it splashed up the rock, unimpeded by the substance, nor washing it away. Leila didn’t know what exactly it was protecting the rock from, but it felt as if it were indeed protecting it. And then all at once, the substance, all of it, disappeared from existence. Leila could no longer see it, it was not there. Maybe it could only last for so long? Leila knew magic existed, ever since she’d met Erekez. He told her how he’d been gifted by the gods, and that magic was real, but he never told her any specifics about magic. Was that what this was? Would others know what this was? Was there someone she could ask for help from? She figured she could find someone at the University that could help, even if she didn’t care much for that institution. But if they could help her with… whatever this was, she could use them. But for now, she needed to get home and rest, and eat something. Whatever it was she’d done, it took a good bit of energy out of her. She started back up the beach, a slight more confidence in her step, for she felt that if she could learn what this was, and get good at it, she could protect all of those who would protect her. She could be their shell. And she’d never been so happy with herself before, as the tide continued to come in, teasing her feet, a whistle on her voice. Maybe everything wouldn’t be so bad, with Ricky, with life, with everything.

[Paragon]

Leila

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Philosophy	1
Shielding	2

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	A Desire to Protect
•	Symbiosis of Protection
•	Discovering Shielding
•	Spreading Shielding

Other: Mild headaches for a few hours.


Legend Becomes Reality

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