Legend of Ransera

Sunlight fluttered in through the shop window as the soft shifting and shuffling of papers and cotton rustling filled the room. It was eerily quiet for such a day. By then they should have had countless customers, but it seemed luck was on Fawn’s side. The eventless morning had left her with enough of her own thoughts to sort through easily.

Magic. It was today.

When the girl first came to Kalzasi she thought she’d have found a teacher, learned elementalism, and been performing on the streets and in grand theatres by now. But the city had proved to be dangerous and greedy. It had stolen from her a spark in the form of a disgusting man and left her with a hesitation to her stride. It left her fearful of looming shadows and constantly on edge.

Between the sparring matches with Naila and her close friendships, though, she could feel herself finding the spark she used to have. It was no longer the same bright golden, sunlike spark, but instead a fiery, determined ember that refused to dim again.

She wouldn’t let it. No man again, no being would take that from her. And Rickter was helping.

Fawn’s cheeks flushed as she pulled the brown satchel over her shoulder and began heading out in the warm Glade noon in a white sundress and riding boots. She no longer feared stairs. Or strangers. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t wary. More vigilant now, she was keenly aware of those around her. As she slipped through the city she didn’t wear her normal grin but her shoulders were back and her head was high and proud.

The copper headed girl passed by the ice cream stand and a flush rose to her cheeks as she recalled the memories of that day. Of her date with Mino.

Ah.. it wasn’t a date. Not in name, but to her it had felt like one. After all they’d held hands, shared ice cream, and.. A smile pulled at the corner of her lips. If he were here she might have shaken it away, but he wasn’t, and instead held the smile with confidence as she let her stride quicken.

After a comfortably long walk to the grand staircase and a less than enjoyable walk upwards, she finally got to the desired set of doors. Perhaps for others the guards may have requested her name and status, but she was known now. Her time in their care as well as her known appointment with Rickter meant she was greeted with a smile and a respectful bow which she returned in kind.

“Miss Brisbane, this way.” The guard said, leading Fawn through the gates and through a long hallway. It was somehow brighter than before. The daylight poured in and set everything ablaze in a gorgeous speckling of reflected colors and metallics like a palace of gemstones and mirrors. It was pure joy, pure royalty, pure elegance all in one place and yet how had she not seen it before?

The girl felt strange. The last time she was in these halls… she’d been different. Quiet. It hadn't seemed so bright before, but perhaps it was because the world in her eyes back then had been darkened and fearful. But that was then, and she was a new person now. She'd come out of the tunnel of despair and built a new strength with Naila. She'd learned to trust herself. And that was something to be proud of.

Not sooner after her musings, they rounded a corner where the guard stopped by a door and smiled, gesturing forward. “The courtyard, you’ll find Rickter just ahead.”

Fawn nodded, smiling as she stepped into the sunlit courtyard and looked around for the man who’d saved her life.

If there was anything Rickter had learn to take into account over the season, it's that just the simple act of meditating really did provide some small clarity. From the way the air always filled his lungs when he breathed in slow and deeply, to the very feeling of grass beneath his palms when his fingers gently raked through their blades. Negation magic was simply far more easier to manage with a clear head, and with his thoughts spent on simple observations like textures and smells, Rickter found himself better able to focus on the real task that he needed to perform at large. Thus he sat at the base of his favorite tree within the gardens, Telion already back to her favorite routine with the flowers found throughout the courtyard they were within.

"Feel ready to start again?" The bard inquired curiously as she drew closer to him from the side, the wolf's eyes slowly opened to see her looming over him, with strands of her blonde hair dangled above his face. The wolf couldn't help but chuckle then as he lifted his hands, a soft nod given to Telion as she giggled briefly from his response. When she'd taken to sit on her knees next to him Telion then straightened out her hair, having all of it tucked behind her shoulders while Rickter brought his hands close together. Two fingers, the index and middle, from both hands were extended out together as he rested one pair over the other in a crossed manner. Together they formed an 'x' of a sort but that was just the beginning of it, for the gesture had been something he'd had to practice for off and on just to get right. Yet the product it could produce when he did focus was something worth the refinement, for it would be the first of several possible polygon-shaped shields he'd come to use in the future.

As he shifted his fingers he made them slide over one another, from knuckle to fingertip as they continued to overlap one another, and swapped positions as the left and the right would switch with one another consistently. Telion watched as aether began to glow from his fingers then, the weave of the construct beginning to form in Rickter's mind as he started to generate an anchor. Fascination filled icy blue eyes as Rickter continued with the weaving of the construct, his thoughts on not just the aether he channeled but the form it took, as he imagined forming a link with each stroke of his fingers over the next. Like a chain. A continuous chain that he kept adding to with each delicate move, as he understood the importance of time when it came to each individual piece. A chain was strong after all, capable of holding things together or even keeping them contained, but one weak link is all it took for that chain to break.

And Rickter was too far a perfectionist to overlook that sort of detail, so the meticulous time he put into the weave felt necessary to the cause. Before too long he finished enough of them, and the aether that resonated from his fingers faded away once he stopped channeling. "Is it ready?" The bard inquired with a raise of her eyebrows, the wolf looked to her with a thoughtful gaze before he nodded once more. A short chuckle came from her lips as she shifted to scoot closer to him, her interest clearly piqued as she nodded toward his hands next. "Well, go on! Show me!"

"Alright!" Rickter chuckled softly at her enthusiasm, his left hand brought up to reveal the anchor which he'd forged the polygon within. At last, he'd be able to see the fruit of his labor, after having spent days trying to grasp the concept of the construct. The anchor's shape looked different compared to the usual spherical shaped ones he generated, as it had taken a more elliptic shape this time around, with the aether tendrils seen spiraling within it before he closed his hand around the construct. Rickter closed his other hand and brought the two together with knuckles aligned, a deep breathe taken as he focused on releasing the aether within the anchor. With one short tug of his hands from one another, a brief aurora flashed within the space between his hands, as the aether weaved out to form a chain at least eight inches long between his hands.

As he'd hoped each link in the construct was solid and they all almost nearly matched one another, which told him that the intervals between his strokes were still too brief, and needed just a bit more time to focus. But... He had done it. His first successful polygon. Telion rose on her knees to applaud his handiwork, before she looked over to notice the approach of someone special. Someone rather dear to her after the ordeals she'd been through, and certainly someone that she and Rickter both were happy to see upon arrival. "Fawn!" And just like that the construct diminished from between his balled hands, Rickter having released his anchor already to use his hands for support. While he took a moment to get onto his feet Telion was already there, eager to walk up and greet the ginger with a warm and welcoming hug when she drew close. "It's so good to see you!"

"Been waiting for you to come by for a visit." The black wolf weighed in as his greeting, as he was next to approach Fawn and offer her a generously warm hug.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

Truthfully, the walk up to the courtyard had been focused on more than just the architecture. Her head had been filled with thoughts of Rickter. After all she hadn’t seen him for many weeks, and prior to saving her their last interaction had been quite intimate. Would he still think the same of her? Would he think less?

But the second she saw him in the courtyard, practicing his magic with focused eyes, it all faded away behind relief and joy. Almost as if she’d forgotten what he looked like, Fawn smiled lightly and leaned up against one of the pillars to watch his display. She wanted to sear this memory in her mind forever, the simplicity of it, the wonder of it- the wonder of him.

Far too quickly it was over and Telion rose to greet her, pulling Fawn’s smile wider as she welcomed the hug eagerly.

“You too!” She chimed, then pulling back to glance at Rickter. Her cheeks were flush, lightly so and taking on the color of a new sunset in Searing. Leaning forward, she fell into his embrace and sighed contently.

She’d missed him. Horribly so, and though her heart had pained at his absence in the strangest, oldest of ways in the past few weeks standing in his arms now was as if no time at all had passed.

When she pulled back, Fawn tucked a strand of copper behind a pinkened ear.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.” The girl said, grinning sheepishly and boldly looking over Rickter’s features. His eyes held more resolve somehow. Something new, glimmering behind their depths that kept his back straighter and shoulders back. It was such a drastic change to his first appearance, and one she was glad to see in him. In her eyes he was a perfect fit the position he now held.

“What were you practicing? It was wonderful to watch- whatever bit of it I was able to.”

The moment Telion greeted Fawn with an eager hug, Rickter couldn't help but genuinely smile before it was his turn to step up and do the same. Fawn was always a delightful, energetic person that the pair had always welcomed, and it was easy for the bard to see that the wolf had some small attachment to her; after what happened during the season of Frost. The fact that Rickter did form such an attachment proved many things of course, of himself and of Fawn and her character, thus the bard was happy to see the both of them interacting once Rickter released the ginger from his snug embrace.

"It's no worry at all, we've both been busy throughout the Glade." He remarked as he recalled seeing Fawn at least only a couple instances, but not really long enough to interact with her at those times. Particularly during the Cotillion but that was another story, one he hadn't forgotten since Fawn was the one responsible for helping him learn how to dance. Hannah even seemed enlightened to see Fawn, having remembered how helpful she was in teaching Rickter that day. "Hm?" Rickter grunted curiously as though he'd almost forgotten about what Fawn inquired of, til he remembered that he was indeed practicing his shieldcrafting just before she'd arrived. "Oh, that."

"Rickter's been refining his shieldcrafting abilities." Telion explained with a knowing smile spared his way, the wolf's eyebrows raising momentarily before he looked down at her and Fawn, with a humble grin on his face once he did.

"Negation magic, the sort of stuff that you could use Fawn." He then remarked with consideration as his lips still remained tucked in a gentle grin. "Its the sort of magic you can use for a variety of reasons."

"It's main purpose is for protection really, but Rickter's learning how to utilize it in other ways." Telion added as Rickter nodded in agreement, his hands brought together with a close of his eyes as he focused. In front of Fawn he started to repeat the mantra in his mind, and within moments of his hands moving together, aether began to glow from them as it swirled around his fingers. Like before he had his index and middle finger from each hand straightened out, the others curled toward his palm as he slid one set over another and switched them around. As he repeated this the aether glowing from his hands began to knit and thread together, as streaks of the northern lights wove into a spiraling fabric with each paced stroke of a finger. He did this for about twenty five seconds, long enough to generate a simpler but delicate polygon resemblant to what he aimed to create.

Once his hands slowed to a stop his fingers were brought in to close with the rest of them, the balled hands pressed together as he briefly yanked them apart with focus in mind. From the curled pinky of his left toward the curled index of his right, an aetheric chain rattled as particles were shaken from the tug that strained it. "It's a process known as shieldcrafting. You'll start out with basic shapes at first, but the more you practice the more complex your constructs can get." He elaborated with a wholesome smile down to Fawn, allowing the girl to interact with and observe the chain within his grasp. This one, however, was much more stringy upon closer observation, likely due to the fact he put such little time into the aetheric weave of the construct. Not that it mattered necessarily, it was just for show and therefore lived up to its purpose.

"It's not a bad rune to have for your first," Hannah remarked as she came around to stand near Fawn from behind, "if that's what suits you of course." She expressed this as though it were a near whisper, perhaps more so a murmur, into Fawn's ear as she leaned over the shoulder of the ginger.

"Rickter and I think this would be the safer magic for you to begin with. What do you think?" Telion inquired with a curiously content smile on her face, the wolf himself looked down to Fawn with curiosity plain in his blue eyes also. He knew this day would come sooner or later, and while he opted that Negation would be the best for Fawn at the moment, he didn't want to discredit the other options that remained available to her either.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

Fawn's bright smile faded slightly as Rickter spoke. She could feel where it was headed- denial. First Talon had denied her item in certain ways, then Lyra, but now Rickter too. Her chest felt tight as she clenched her fist. Why was everyone so adamant about not letting her use real magic? But she watched him as he showed his talents. She had to admit, it was still impressive, even if it didn't excite her in the ways she wanted to be.

Fawn sighed, though. At the end of the day they did want her to be safe.
"I understand. I'll accept it." Even if she didn't want to. Even if she'd rather learn elementalism. Even if it meant waiting for what she truly wanted. Her lips curled into a thankful smile and she looked back into Rickter's eyes. In looking through him she felt his worry, his curiosity, his care. But more than that she felt some deeper pang in her heart. She was looking at someone she missed dearly, though they were right in front of her. Missing...

Fawn sighed with a soft laugh under her breath.

"But... I think I should visit my family. I've bee missing them. Before I get involved in all this magic I should go back home for the summer. It may be some time before I can see them again.." Fawn wasn't quite she why, be it premonition or simple homesickness, but a knot in her gut tightened at the thought.

The wolf's eyes were sincere when he spoke to the lass, but even in her warm smile there lingered a trace of defeat. It was only natural the girl had such an eager spirit for magic, and yet he knew, the small danger within that deeply rooted consideration. He did desire her to rise on her feet ever stronger, but before she could claim such personal power from herself, Rickter wanted to see for himself as to whether she was truly ready for it. Telion understood that more than anything, even so much as supported him in regard to that decision.

While he didn't seem to innately impress her with the art of shieldcrafting, the wolf noted the humble sigh she gave before accepting the choice before her. For a moment their eyes did linger as the woman stared into him, sparking a gentle narrow in his gaze as he thought to express consideration in time. Then it just so happened she expressed the desire to visit her family again, a notion which sparked curiosity in Rickter's eyes, as well as the other two ladies present with the company. "Seeing your family will certainly be nice, and the country air will clear your mind when you return to Kalzasi." Telion expressed heartily with a gentle smile toward Fawn, her arms brought out to wrap around the ginger's shoulders gently.

After the healer's embrace was released from Fawn, Rickter smiled down at the both of them, as Hannah began a slow strut to approach Fawn from behind. "When you've come back, we'll talk further on your first magic. You'll have it from me regardless," he assured her with a slight smile, "until then look after yourself out there. We'll be waiting for you here, when you return."

"And you better write!" Telion urged with a pointed finger toward Fawn, with a soft chuckle after the statement.

"Certainly, and before you go, there is one gift you should part with." The brunette rogue cooed with a curved grin shadowed down to the ginger. "A beautiful rose such as you should have thorns, just as any other, that's why I swiped this for you the other night." Hannah remarked as she reached at her back, tucking out a dagger from a pouch buckled at her waist. Rickter and Telion immediately recognized it, as Fawn would've undoubtedly, as the blade had been cleaned and polished to show the reflected gleam of light from the sun. Hannah held it by the crossguard, with the hilt pointed toward Fawn for the woman to take. "Practice with this when you can. You're a fighter that's light on your feet, so I know you will treat this like the weapon it is."

"And remember that weapon is a tool," Rickter added in with a careful gaze on Fawn, "it no longer has a master, so by right it's new master can be you." He imparted that wisdom to her expecting her to decide on what she wanted, knowing full well that she had suffered by the very edge of that weapon. No matter what Fawn chose he would understand, even if he silently yearned for her to take it and become ever stronger. He didn't like the idea of her practicing it alone, naturally, but what was he to do other than pray to Raxen she did it safely.

As they allowed her to make her decision, Rickter and Telion would huddle together, and if denied the blade would've returned into Hannah's pouch. The trio then proceeded to give her a warm send-off, by providing Fawn with a bit of a group hug before seeing her off.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

Pink lips smiled fondly back at Rickter. In some ways, he reminded her of her father. Caring, careful, but quiet. Perhaps that was why she thought to go see him, and thus when Telion spoke up the girl nodded in agreement.
”Aye, I ken it’ll do me some good.” She wrapped her arms around Telion and breathed in the comforting, warm scent that she exuded. After pulling away, she turned to Rickter.

”I look forward to it!” She beamed, nodding to Telion. ”Every week!”

Turning to Hannah who had nearly startled the girl, she tilted her head in curiosity with a slight flush upon her cheeks. ”Thorns?” She asked, watching carefully as Hannah pulled the dagger from behind then taking it in her hands. She studied it. At first not quite recognizing which blade it was. But Rickter’s comment brought her mind flashing back to Havershim. It was his- or, was. And now the pristine blade lay in her hands. Warm. As if welcoming a new master. Perhaps if she’d received it months ago she’d have denied it for it’s significance, for the memories. But instead Fawn’s head raised with pride to the three of her friends.

”I’ll wield it with you in mind..” She said, a serious pinch to her brow and a confident smile upon her lips. She vowed to herself then that she would learn how to use it properly. If not for her own defense, for others. But first, of course, came her own. And though the journey ahead to becoming strong was a long one she at least had three loving people to be there with her on her way.

Fawn tucked the blade away into her own satchel and relaxed herself into the group hug.

”I’ll be back halfway through Searing.” The girl pulled herself away, tucking a strand of firelike hair behind a pale ear. ”Get ready for your best student ever, Rickter!” She beamed at him, winking before leaning in and planting a soft kiss upon his lips. ”I promise.”

Rickter

Lores: (8 Eligible, 8 Requested)
Meditation: Observing Your Environment
Meditation: Gaining Mental Clarity With Your Thoughts
Meditation: Helps Focus With Your Magic
Negation: Shieldcrafting With Particular Gestures
Negation: Weaving A Chain Based Polygon
Negation: Intervals Require Patience As Well
Teaching: Demonstrating What Your Lesson Is
Teaching: Considering The Best Approach To Instruct An Individual

Loot: N/A
Injuries: N/A

Points: 8, 2 may be used for Negation (Negation [Journeyman])

Comments: Ever the extremely helpful gentleman. Looking forward to him stepping more into the role of teach and mentor.

---

Fawn

Lores: (8 Eligible, 7 Requested)

Negation:
The safest to learn
Shieldcrafting starts with simple shapes
Shields can be pretty
Watching from close by is safe
Patience is a Virtue

One-Handed: Blades
The Feel of a Dagger
A Weapon is a Tool


Loot: In conclusion of the previous thread here, Hannah has given the Lytirisyte Dagger (Average Quality) she'd pilfered to Fawn.
Injuries: N/A

Points: 8, none may be used for magic

Comments: Nice to see Fawn steeling herself and improving, growing both in these enstrengthening ways but also in her relationship and emotional range.