What Is and What Isn't [Edalene, Closed]

[Matasol]

15th of Winter 510AV Matasol was sitting on a barrel in the middle of Endrykas. He had been watching people meander throughout the city and had been very interested in the different people he had seen. He wasn't used to seeing this many people, living on the outskirts like he did. It was now close to midday and there were few people around, so Matasol decided to work on his reimancy technique. It had been a few days since he had done anything and he didn't want to get rusty. So he began to form res in a thick gas. When he had formed enough he switched it into the element of water leaving the center still in the form of res so that he could mantain control of the ball. He took it and felt the surface with his hands, and tossed it up catching it as it fell. Then suddenly a voice startled him and he dropped the ball soaking his legs in the process.

[Edalene]

Eda was on her way back from the War Pavillion, after having spent a couple of hours training up her sword technique. Her body couldn't quite decide if it wanted to be hot or cold-- hot from the physical strain of training, cold from the icy frost of Winter. She wiped her sweat from her brow as walked among the pavillions of Endrykas, towards her own. For a rest. A rest would be lovely.

As she walked, she noticed the back of a black skinned man, thick set and heavily built, sitting on a barrel alone. Being as unfocused as she was, her attention was drawn to this loner. She squinted at this man, trying to figure out exactly what it was he was doing. She couldn't quite see what he was doing with his hands. Her natural curiosity won, and she stepped closer to see what he was doing. She approached him from behind, looking over his shoulder.

She almost dropped what she was holding in shock, but she didn't, as she wasn't holding anything. But if she had been, she would have. The man in question was literally holding a ball of water. HOLDING WATER. That was not even possible. The ball was smoothed into a perfect sphere, and he was holding it. For not the first time in her life, Eda wondered if she'd gone mad. A quick pinch on her arm proved that this was entirely real. The man startled her out of her shocked trance when he began to throw the ball of water -- BALL OF WATER! -- up and down in the hair. It was the last straw for Eda.

"What the PETCH are you doing?!" She watched with a certain disbelief as the man jumped, and lost control of the ball, dropping it in a rather unfortunate area. She took a few steps back, hand on sword hilt, wary of this strange man.

[Matasol]

For a few seconds Matasol just stood there looking at his lower legs and wondering why someone would come up to him, and shout behind him while he was using magic. Then he slowly tunned to see this person. She was young, from her looks she hadn't even passed her teen years. She was tall and very slender, she had a red-blonde hair, and freckles dotted her face. Her lips were currently turned down at the corners in a mix between mistrust and anger, or at least that's what it looked like to Matasol. "What are you talking about silly girl! It should be perfectly obvious what I have done, the true question is why couldn't you wait to yell your question until I had set the water down?" With this Matasol sat down on a barrel and let his calves dangle off in an attempt for them to dry. However with the current weather that would pose quite a problem...

[Edalene]

She cringed as the man turned around slowly, already glaring at her, before he’d even taken ‎her in. She blushed a little as he obviously, and disdainfully looked her up and down. He ‎looked back up at her, evidently angry, and she flinched. Looking down, she got ready for ‎another telling off. But as this unknown man began to yell at her, being condescending and ‎rather rude, she got back her confidence and stood her ground again. ‎

‎“Little girl? I am not little! And excuse me for yelling, I had a very good reason to yell! What ‎sort of a freak forms water into a ball and tosses it around as if it were a simple game? In ‎case you had not noticed, water usually stays on the ground, in the form of rivers, lakes or ‎the sea, or even in a drinking flask! Why on earth would you break the natural order and ‎physicality of this element? Who do you think you are, one of the Gods, who can do ‎whatever they want?”‎

As the man turned around, letting his calves dry off, she laughed. “You see? Any sort of ‎magic comes with consequences. Yours just happens to be the uncomfortability of being wet ‎in the middle of winter.” There was no denying Eda was certainly feeling extremely smug ‎right now. It was clear that Eda was in the right and this strange man was in the wrong – ‎messing with nature like that. Or, at least, it was clear to Eda. Maybe not to the arrogant ‎man in front of her.‎

[Matasol]

Matasol laughed when the girl exploded on him. "Well aren't the feistiest one in the bunch. I can see that you were frightened but you had no need to distrupt me from my work" He took on a reasonable tone towards the end. Matasol wasn't one who enjoyed conflict, so he quickly tried to smooth over her anger. "And as to your complaints. The gods gave us this land to care for, to take from, and to work with. They gave us the power to understand, and to manipulate it. How can using this power be taking from them. I use only the abilities inherent is my body and mind. I cannot create more ability from nothing." Matasol watched in amusement as the lady's face took on an appearance of smugness. She was certain she had just proved him to be in the wrong, but she was not yet through. She continued speaking and this time she used this incident as an example. "Aye, magic can come with consequence. But so can the art of the sword, or even a weaver may cut her finger every so often. Without risk there is no gain. Surely you understand that. Also in this particular case I did not create the risk, you took care of that quite nicely milady." When he finished he gave her a smile. Hoping that they could move on to more civil speech.

[Edalene]

Eda crossed her arms, pouting a little at the strange, magic loving, evidently not quite right ‎in the head, man. His words were logical enough, that much was true. Eda was not quite so ‎irrational, young and immature that she did not recognise it when she saw it. It’s just that, ‎sometimes, she chose to ignore it. Now was one of these times. The tone of the man before ‎her was so patronizing, so condescending that it just irritated her further.‎

‎“Yes, feisty. I am indeed feisty. Especially when people are doing strange, unnatural magic ‎stuff!”‎

‎She stomped her food and turned away, refusing to look at the calming face of the dark ‎skinned man, refusing to see reason – if she did, she’d feel guilty and give in. She couldn’t ‎do that, not yet, not while she was still so angry!‎

‎“I can hardly imagine the Gods GIVING you this gift. Why on Earth would they give away ‎something that makes them so powerful, and us the mortals? Tell me that. It is clear that ‎this magic, or cheap tricks, depending on your point of view, is not a gift from the Gods – ‎it’s a mistake in your own body’s make up.”‎

She refused to look at the amused look on the man’s face. Why, he was so condescending! ‎Just because she was younger … and not the best at swordwork … and didn’t have a Strider ‎‎… and hadn’t achieved anything in life … Okay, perhaps he did have reason to be ‎condescending, but he needn’t be so obvious about it!‎

She did indeed understand the concept he spoke of. As a swordsperson, she lived that out ‎every day – or, she would, once she did something with her life. But the concept was an ‎intricate part of her learning growing up. The concept was not even specific to those with ‎weapons – it was a fact of Drykas life. She reluctantly admitted to herself that perhaps he ‎was right when it came to this. It did not make the magic any less wrong, but it did make ‎sense in a tangled, convuluted way. ‎

She nodded once, stiffly, at the man’s joke, refusing to find it amusing. He was obviously ‎trying to be more civil – she supposed she should make an effort. She decided to introduce ‎herself. “Edalene. Diamond Clan.” She would not say good to meet you, for the encounter ‎was still too strange and fraught with the abnormal to be considered in alignment with the ‎normal definition of ‘good’. Nor would she extend her hand, for a handshake. There was no ‎telling what he might to do her flesh in such an opportunity.‎

Magic, after all, was not to be trusted.‎

[Matasol]

When the girl crossed her arms it was almost too much for Matasol. He sat there lips quivering, trying not to burst out laughing. This girl was obviously disturbed by him and he figured that laughing wouldn't help the situation. Matasol began to speak, using a calm and reasonable tone. "It's hardly unnatural, merely an extension of the life that the god's gave us. I draw forth my djed, my life force if you will and create an element with it." She was starting to work herself in a frenzy, and she was starting to break through his calm. Up until now she had been insulting him, now she dared to question the judgement of the gods. "It is not for you to imagine what the gods have done. Merely to accept it and to move on in that acceptance. Your people survive by my kind. We provide water for the thirsty and protection for the weak. How do you who have passed judgement without knowledge condescend upon the gods?" Matasol ended with a tone that seemed to take on a gentle rebuke. "I am pleased to meet you Edalene of the Diamond Clan. I am Matasol, I hail from the Sunkiss pavilion of the Sapphire clan."

[Edalene]

She blushed as he rebuked everything she had been saying up until this point. How did he keep himself so calm, so collected, so ... logical? It was unfair, that he should be so composed while she got angry and stomped her foot a lot. She wished she had this stranger's type of debating skill, a skill which left you questioning your own position on the matter, as she did now.

Not that she would ever admit it, of course. But he did make a good point, and to be fair, she did not know much about the topic. She felt foolish to give in now, however, now that she had made such a strong and angry case. He was winning the argument though. That much was obvious to any passing wanderer. Perhaps it would be best to calm herself down, to try and think logically. If she lost the debate, then so be it. At least she was learning something, right? Still, the irritation twinged inside her. Why could she NEVER conduct things calmly?

Thinking carefully of how to extract herself from the losing argument, though without actually looking as if she were, she began speaking, calculatedly.

"Perhaps the Gods did give you such a life force, a djed as you call it, but I myself have never seen or heard of such a centre inside a person. I am sorry if it looked as if I were questioning the will of the Gods, I would never do such a thing. Your presence and activities merely frightened and disturbed me. And it is good to meet you too, Matasol."

She flushed with pleasure, glad of her elegant retreat. Though, Matasol as he called himself was probably wondering what happened to the irrational teenager he was arguing with. She had to admit, she was somewhat interested in the concept now that she had gotten over the sudden fear of the unnatural - after all, how was she SUPPOSED to react to a floating ball of water?

[Matasol]

Matasol looked on in mild amusement as the young girl blushed. She was quite obviously loosing the argument (if you could call it an argument), and she seemed as if she was beginning to realize this herself. You could almost see the change in her demeanor. She was visibly calming herself down, her words grew calm, and her face gained a level of serenity that was previously absent. Granted the change was sudden and not subtle in the least. She was obviously covering her losses. "The gods most certainly did, nothing we have is ours to claim, but a gift from those who reign in the heavens. Let me give you an example to still your disbelief. Can you see the air you breath? No it is invisible and without form unless willed differently by the gods. This is similar to our life energy, it is fluid and is in everything. It surrounds us and is within us, it permeates every corner of the world much like the air we breath." He stopped speaking to make sure that she was following. "Where there is no harm done, there is no anger to be held. I do not hold words spoken in anger against you. Be at peace." He said this with a bright smile and continued speaking. "If you wish it, I can explain to you how I manipulate this life force. It may ease your fears."

[Edalene]

Edalene flushed as he began speaking in a gentle voice to her, obviously rebuking her disbelief - his voice instilled with much amusement. At least someone was getting amusement out of this. The older man before her made her feel very much the immature sixteen year old she was. She wished that she had some maturity, but no, evidently there was not a single drop of rationality in her body. A debilitating ailment.

The air example was a good one, Eda admitted. Though the air was invisible and one went through life never physically encountering its presence, it was nonetheless there, for how else did one breathe and go through life? Perhaps it was the same with this 'djed'. Though this Matasol was certainly a good arguer, and had much knowledge, Edalene was still doubtful. She was a firm believer in that which you could see and prove was there, not this faith in something which may or may not exist.

Edalene smiled back hesitantly at his bright grin, unwilling to admit she was eager to hear more. "Yes, if you would like, I suppose you could inform me of this djed. How did you know it was there? And do tell me how you use it. I am eager to learn of that which I do not know."

Though magic and trickery made Edalene uneasy, she would never turn away the opportunity to fill her mind with anything that explained more of this fantastical and unpredictable world around her - a world which she was determined to see.

"And sir? Thank you for forgiving me. I sincerely apologise for any rudeness on my behalf."