[PowerShot] Calista's Training
OOC: I can't help but notice my training thread had vanished - and can only conclude it did so because of the hacking awhile back. I only noticed now and that's probably why I haven't had it graded - it wasn't here to be graded at all. So here it is again...
IC:
It was a dark night; the moon a bare sliver in the clouded sky and torches lined the streets to give some form of light against the oppressing darkness. Taverns blazed like beacons, people swarming to and from them in the dark festival that only opens at night to those denizens wishing to while away their hard earned coin on a few drinks and a comely girl on his lap.
Brawls naturally broke out, with the onlookers cheering and the owner tallying what costs would need to be made to repair damage done and others still made bets on who would be the victor.
It was basically just a typical evening down in the seedier side of town; the only difference being that it had been a bleaker night than usual and people being superstitious had sought to drown their fears and worries more than usual. For Calista, as she was hurrying down the streets to the inn she was planning to room in, it was the worst night she could imagine.
Calista was used to darkness, it was the world she lived in being blind, but even then it was broken by the music she saw and tonight that music had a sharp edge that didn’t do anything to reassure her.
“Something has gotten into these people, I swear it!” she muttered to herself, her voice worried. A night like this was good for business as people were always willing to let someone play a tune for a meal but tonight was… dangerous. What should have been a night of mellow thoughts and a few flares of temper had turned sinister and menacing. There were sharp spikes in the music the people made, notes that created a discordant song that no longer reflected an environment that was safe for her to stay in.
Walking swiftly, Calista rounded a corner and nearly fell, her outflung arm catching her against a wall and she sighed in frustration. It was times like this that made her curse her blindness, but she merely closed her eyes and relaxed, focusing once more on those eddies of sound that drifted on the air towards her, mapping out the area.
So focused on trying to figure out where she was heading, she didn’t realise that a drunken duo had spotted her and were making their way to her in a predatory fashion, eyes gleaming at the pretty girl who appeared lost.
Calista felt a small smile bloom on her face when she finally had a clear map of the area she was in, her mind remembering the way sound had reverberated off objects to give her warning they were there. Too late she heard and saw the muddied music that was coming towards her and whirled around, her hand going to the whip at her side.
“Hey lil girl, ye lost?” One man called and Calista wrinkled her nose at the drunken slur that passed for language. Good grief, even his words come out muddy looking, she thought with contempt.
“Leave me alone, I have nothing to say to drunkards,” Calista stated coldly, using her magic to give her words a threat of death and misery.
As one, the men blanched and normally would have run away except that drink had clouded their minds enough to overcome the irrational fear the had blossomed at the blonde woman’s words.
“Now, no need ta be all uppity, missy. We was just lookin’ ta show ye a good time, if ye catch my meanin’,” the second man spoke up to break the awkward silence that had sprung from her words.
Calista rolled her eyes; the edgy music of the town was getting on her nerves and slowly warping the tune of her heart so she became angrier.
“Leave me be!” With those words she flicked her whip out, catching that split second snap and amplifying it so it resounded in her would be abductor’s ears, the cacophony making them lurch to their knees disoriented. At that point Calista ran, no longer bothering with heading for an inn but just anywhere that would take her from this town and its strange darkness.
~~~
The next day found her wandering through some woods, her eyes closed as she followed Nature’s song in guiding her without trouble. She had left the town far behind her, wanting nothing to do with the tainted music it harboured, instead seeking solace in nature and its own glorious song. So she renewed her spirit here, and it was then she heard a tantalising tune that changed like quicksilver before her eyes.
It was a song, and one sung by so many and for so long it bordered on something of an epic scale, and Calista could no more ignore it than stop breathing. She made her way through the trees; her head tilted to better hear the music that called to her and to catch whether or not someone approached until finally she came to a stop before a breathtaking visage.
What she could see of the vast building was crawling with music, steeped into the stones themselves and filtering away into the wood surrounding it. It was those tendrils that Calista had heard and followed, charmed by what could possibly make a song so complex.
One thing she could tell of the building was a huge dome like structure that rose high in the air, the music seeming to spiral up its length in a rainbow crescendo before falling back down to begin the climb once more. Watching it for what seemed like hours, Calista realised the music had different tones and feelings, some jagged with anger, other lost and seeking guidance. Others yet were thick, bright and glorious chords that spread throughout the complex, each with their own distinct feel that the young woman realised it wasn’t just the place that created the song but those who lived within it and those who had gone before.
Uncertain of her welcome but determined to see at least one maker of those masterful chords, Calista straightened her vest, shook out her blonde tresses and made her way determinedly towards the entrance which glowed and moved like a swirling vortex in her vision.