• Closed • Trial by Waterfall

[Tio Silver]

Scaltoth Jungle
66th Vhalar, 717

"And you’re sure this is safe?"

For the first time since he’d met Ozbourne, Tio wondered if asking the crazy old man to teach him how to control the elements had been a bad idea. Joining this secret society he was part of, The Seekers, sounded like it could be fun, but in truth Tio had forgotten just how scary the initiation ritual for gaining a spark of magic could be. All the time spent using his thrall Risas for menial tasks had caused him to forget the fear he’d once felt towards it during his necromancy initiation almost an arc ago. But now, standing besides the top of a waterfall on the edge of Scaltoth Jungle and looking down at the enormous drop and raging rapids below, Tio could clearly remembered the feeling of being way in over his head before a power he didn’t fully understand.

It hadn’t been so long ago that Tio had fallen down a waterfall like this one with his friend Pash whilst chasing after the fountain of youth, however that one looked like a fountain compared to the monster he currently stood at the top of. The drop itself would take him an entire break at least to fall down, and the weight of the water crashing down into the shallow lake at the bottom of the drop would be enough to crush his bones to powder for certain. Every instinct the Yludih had screamed at him to get a far away as possible from the edge, and yet Ozbourne assured him that the only way he’d be able to become a defier was if he put his life completely as the mercy of the elements by jumping straight off of it!

"Don't get me wrong, I have complete faith in your abilities as a teacher." He said to his new master hesitantly, unable to tear his eyes away from the sheer drop below him. "It's just that this seems a little... absolutely terrifying. Couldn't I jump of a house into a nice soft bale of hay or something?"

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[Pegasus]

"No," he replied when Tio asked if it was safe.

"It is not, nor should it be, safe. Have I taught you nothing?" Ozbourne was clear, looking at Tio with a very determined, clear and intense when he stared, wide eyed at Tio. "You have to understand what you are doing here. There are two options for you; initiation or death and either is a success." It seemed that Ozbourne was quite clear about this one. He gestured to the waterfall. "You might well die. But that is fine - in that moment, and only in that moment before death, you reach out with the spark I will gift you, and the elements judge you worthy, or not."

It was vital that Tio understood that and so the strange man who had taken him under his wing spoke, gesturing a little wildly as he did. "To become a Defier is to begin to understand the nature of the world." He pointed around as he said it, "Earth, air, fire and water combine in all things, but also in all people. You are seeking the magic of existence. Do not underestimate what it will do to you, how likely it is that you will die."

That was important, Ozbourne knew. If Tio went into this with anything but the utter acceptance that he could die and yet still wanting it and knowing, without doubt, that it was worth it, then die he would. So Ozbourne had to be clear with him, had to make sure that he understood. "If you do not accept and embrace death as worth it, then you will certainly meet with it as a fate and Vri will take you to where you are destined to go. So no," he said, his gaze locking with Tio's and not wavering. "There will be no jumping to a hay bale. Do you want this or not?"

[Tio Silver]

"I was afraid you'd say that." Tio replied with a grimace as Ozbourne finished his speech. As speeches went it was a good one, very inspiring even, but it didn't make Tio any less nervous about the jump he was supposed to make. Perhaps that was the point? Oz had said that he needed to accept and embrace death as something worth risking for the Defiance spark. But did that mean he was supposed to ignore the possibility of death and focus entirely on the elements during his fall, or that he was supposed to be absolutely terrified as he fell and beg the elements to save his sorry ass? It was still a little hard to wrap his head around the idea of being 'judged worthy' by something that he hadn't realized was even alive until a couple of days ago.

Of course the real question, which Tio had to admit to himself he was reluctant to address, was if he really was willing to risk certain death to become a defier? A year ago Tio would have firmly declared that no, nothing was worth risking his precious life over, but these days he wasn't so sure. The things he could do with necromancy were truly astounding, godlike even! And the realisation that he was still only skimming the tip of the iceberg of the potential power he could master left him feeling... hungry. He wanted to be more than an average mortal, more than just another faceless Yludih hiding among a crowd of unremarkable people. He'd once thought that money was the strongest power on Idalos, but what if he'd been wrong all these years? If he followed the path of wealth it could lead him to the heights of mortal power, make him as a king! But if he followed the path of magic could he surpass the heights of mortal power? Become like the Immortals? If so wasn't it worth risking his mortal life for the opportunity to walk down that path? After all what was a king compared to a god?

As that thought crossed his mind Tio realised that he had his answer. He wanted-... no, needed more out of life. And there was only one way to get it. With uncharacteristic seriousness he turned his gaze away from the drop in front of him and returned Ozbourne's stare. "Yes, I want this. I'll make the jump." He extended a hand towards Oz "Please, give me the spark."

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[Pegasus]

Ozbourne looked at him, the wind howling around them both and, as he looked at TIo it seemed like the wind itself howled in protest. Tio was having a clear thought process, but there in the face of the elements themselves, he was being battered. Oz looked at Tio and said nothing for a long moment, his head tilted to the side as he listened, apparently, to what the wind was saying. He smiled then and looked at Tio without any fear.

He put his hand on Tio's shoulder and led him to the edge, the very edge. "I'm going to ask you one more time," he spoke softly and yet, over the screaming of the wind, Tio heard him. It was like the wind carried his words to Tio's ears. Maybe it did. Tio might also note that, whilst he was being buffeted around and had to struggle to keep balanced, Oz did not seem to be suffering any ill effects at all. The sound of the wind was immense, but the water positively roared. Like an enraged creature about to kill in fury.

When they were standing on the edge, Ozbourne continued to speak in his strange, quiet voice which was carried over the screeching wind.

"Ah yes. That's what happens now. I give you a piece of my spark. When I do that, we are connected you and I. One last time, are you sure?"

Assuming that Tio said yes, Ozbourne smiled at him and nodded his head. Then, he took Tio by both shoulders and turned him so that he was facing out. "No," he whispered and pushed.

And Tio fell.

[Tio Silver]

Standing there with the roar of the raging waterfall and the howl of the wind in his ears, Tio had something of an epiphany. Or at least half of one. He hadn't paid much attention to the elements before, never watched the way the waves rolled around at the shore of the beach, or the way that the flames on the campfires spun and twirled on a windy night. His attention had always been on other things; gold, games, half-brained ideas, and perhaps that was why he never really considered how out of touch people were with the elements. Yet standing next to Oz it was impossible not to notice how differently the word around them seemed to conflict with the two of them. The winds buffeted him without a care and stole his words away as soon as he said them, yet for Ozbourne the wind seemed to pull its punches, rolling smoothly over him like a cooling breeze, and let his soft-spoken voice ring out for all to hear. It was almost like the elements... respected him?

Ozbourne said that the elements would judge if he was worthy of their attention or not, but what quality were they looking for exactly to make that judgement? He'd assumed it had meant they would look for valor, ambition, humility or some personality trait along those lines, but now that he thought about it would that sort of thing really matter so much to the elements? What did the ocean care if you could bravely face down an army when the concept of war didn't concern it? What did fire care if you sought to rule a kingdom when cities and building were just another source of food for it to consume? There was no reason why the elements would share in the same earthly concerns as humans when they operated on a completely different level of existence. So what then would the elements find praiseworthy in a person?

He didn't know.

Despite his thoughts, the desire for power still burned brightly within him, and Tio nodded again and answered "I'm sure" when Oz asked him one last time if he was ready. He let himself be turned around, and tried to ignore the lurch in his stomach at the sight of the drop in front of him. Remembering the cold burning sensation that'd passed over him when Zavious had transferred the spark of necromancy into him he steeled himself, tensing up so that he wouldn't loose his balance and slip of the edge if the defiance spark felt the same way, and waited for the transfer to begin.

"No."

The next thing he knew gravity was taking hold of him, and Tio let out a cry of fear as he began to plummet down the waterfall! Ozbourne had pushed him off the edge without giving him the spark! He'd betrayed him! Without the spark it wasn't possible for him to connect to the elements even if they would have judged him worthy! He was going to die!

Had his mind not been consumed by blind panic, Tio would have shouted every last expletive under the sun at the rapidly shrinking figure of Ozbourne! Better yet he would have thrown his cutlass at him in a last ditch effort to avenge himself by taking the treacherous old bastard with him! Sadly he lacked the presence of mind to do much else but scream as down and down he went, picking up speed so fast that the drops of water being blown around in the fall hit him like a swarm of angry wasps. He was vaguely aware of how clear his reflection looked in the stream of falling water next to him now that he was travelling at roughly the same speed as it, but all he could focus on was the look of absolute terror plastered on his reflection's face.

"WIND! HELP ME! HELP!" He yelled as loudly as his lungs could manage, blindly latching onto the idea that the elements were supposed to have saved him from his death had he possessed the spark and the worth to use it. It was futile, he knew that, but with no alternatives the only thing he could do was blindly cling to a hope, impossible as it might be, that someone would save him! "PLEASE!"

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[Pegasus]

He fell, and the three trill it took him to die were the longest of his life. He saw his own terror filled face reflected in the water as he fell and there was no doubt at all that he was going to die. The water splashed him, the air whipped around him and the force that the physicists knew as gravity pulled him inexorably to his death.

And then, he called out to the air.

In desperation, he called. In panic and despair and with the certainty that he was going to die, he called to the elements themselves to save him and that, if this were a story of success and joy, would be a perfect place for them to take hold of him, gently cradling him and lowering him to the ground. It would be ideal, for there Ozbourne would meet him, pleased that his student had done what he wanted him to do.

Except, this wasn't one of those kinds of stories.

He called out to the air and he continued to fall. No gentle hand, no supporting breeze, just the rapidly approaching ground.

And then, Tio Silver met that ground and he shattered into a thousand pieces as his light went out and he died.

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At least, that was how it felt. He didn't know how long it was that he had been unconscious, but he opened his eyes and Ozbourne was there. Tio was soaking wet, having been pulled out of the water by his teacher and he was shivering with cold and shock. But he was alive.

"Well done," Ozbourne said. Tio might notice that he wasn't cradling him or anything. In fact, he wasn't really within arms reach. "You passed." Tio could feel it, the spark within him. The connection between the two of them was evident, also. He could feel it. There were not bruises on him, yet his whole body ached and Ozbourne waited to see what he said, how he reacted before suggesting that maybe, they should practice.

[Tio Silver]

With a start Tio sat up, coughing and spluttering as he tried to empty his lungs of the water that'd filled them. At first his mind was consumed by nothing but the thought of getting his ability to breathe back, but as time passed and the greedy gulps of air he sucked in restored strength to his body again the shock and alarm that'd overcome his mind began to fade, allowing him to start thinking clearly again.

He'd died! Or at least he'd thought he had. He'd fallen down the waterfall, screaming prayers at the top of his lungs for something, anything, to save him. But nothing had come, and with an impact equivalent to getting run over by a chariot he'd smacked down into the surface of the pool below. The blow had knocked the wind out of him and given him a concussion so bad he'd been unable to do anything but watch numbly as his body was dragged down to the bottom of the lake, the darkness surrounding his vision growing to encompass everything as unconsciousness overtook him. Yet in that very last second before eternal sleep overcame him he felt a gentle flickering in his chest, like the flame of a tiny candle sparking to life, and the last thing he could remember was the water currents changing direction ever so slightly to push him towards the edge of the lake.

And now that he thought about it, Tio realized that he could vaguely recall having dreamed about something while he was unconscious. It had been a large cocoon, built from an endless pile of bones and leaking a terrible black miasma. He'd seen that same cocoon once before, in the vision he'd seen that day Zavious had transferred the spark of necromancy into him, but this time the angle he'd been viewing it from had been closer, as if he'd walked nearer towards it. Inside the cocoon he could make out the silhouette of a man, floating peacefully in the middle and clutching a glowing white light closely to his chest.

A voice speaking nearby alerted him to the fact that he was not alone, and gingerly Tio looked up from where he was sprawled out on the ground to see Ozbourne standing nearby. Having quite literally just crawled back from death's doorstep Tio was understandably a bit shell-shocked, and for a few second just lay there dumbly as his mind tried to catch up on what was going on. Little by little the memories of what had occurred just a short while ago came back to him.

"You pushed me off a waterfall." He whispered gently, not seeming to understand what he was saying either. Slowly though his expression morphed into one of rage, and the look in his eyes grew harder and hateful as a few specks of amber light danced in the blue of his eyes. "You pushed me off a waterfall!" He said again far more firmly. "Why?! You could have told me that you'd given me the spark! Could have let me make the jump for myself! Why did you do that?!"

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[Pegasus]

"Yes, I did." Ozbourne said and looked at Tio with what might seem to be a rather unapologetic look in his eyes. Mostly, because it was. Tio repeated what he said, again, and Ozbourne nodded. Yes, he confirmed he had indeed, pushed Tio over a waterfall. Tio was soaking wet, consciousness was returning to him but slowly and he was in physical shock as well as having just experienced an intense initiation. It was all a lot to take in and there was the undoubted, now that he thought about it, change which had come over him.

Meanwhile, Ozbourne listened to the rest of Tio's questions and he sat down opposite the Yludih. "Think about it, Tio. Think about what you had to believe in order to make it work, in order for it to be true." He didn't give him the answers, that wasn't something that he was going to do. Tio needed to think about it.

"Consider how you felt. Think back, reflect on it. Really."

Ozbourne looked at him and he gave a slight smile.He was quite confident that Tio was bright enough to work it out. Or, he thought, he'd be dead. So, he gestured to where he had dragged Tio from the water and he asked him, very calmly and quietly.

"So tell me. Why did I push you, letting you believe I hadn't done what I needed to?"

Then he sat, quietly awaiting the answer.

[Tio Silver]

In a way it would have made Tio feel better if Ozbourne had snapped back at him, or had shown any signs of getting worked up at all really. Yet he didn't, he just sat there looking calm and perhaps a little bit smug, and because of that it left Tio felt like he was being unreasonable somehow. He was justified to be angry right? He'd just been pushed off a waterfall damn it! How much more justified could you get?

Yet he had to admit, albeit grudgingly, that the old man's method had worked. Even as he lay there utterly exhausted Tio could feel the flickering of this new spark within him. When he focused his attention on it, Tio found that he could in fact not just hear the voice of the wind, as Oz had seemed able to do, but those of the other elements as well! If opened his mind to them he could hear them all; the steadfast, gritty hum of the earth, the trickling songs of the water, and even the mad cackling of the fire just waiting to spring to life. They were curious as to who this new person they could communicate with was, and understandably a little wary, yet they all seemed excited to get to meet the person their friend Ozbourne had introduced to them. How was he supposed to stay mad in the face of such an amazing thing?

And so when Oz asked him to reflect on why his deception had been necessary, Tio let a long breath out through his nose to calm himself and turned his thoughts to the task. Why had it been necessary exactly? What difference had being unprepared for the jump made for him? The first answer that sprung to his mind was expectations: had he jumped of his own accord knowing he had the spark in him Tio would have expected the elements to save him somehow, yet since he'd fallen thinking he didn't have the spark then he'd honestly been expecting die. Was the difference something in his attitude then? Thinking back on the half-epiphany he'd had earlier, an answer came to his mind.

"Respect. You made me think I was certainly going to die so that I'd show the elements the proper amount of respect." He eventually answered. "The idea of the elements having their own thoughts and feelings was pretty new to me, so if I'd done the jump normally expecting them to catch me I wouldn't have shown them the proper amount of respect one should when asking someone for help. But thinking that I was going to die humbled me, and so when I begged them to save me just now I did it with the right attitude." He looked up at Ozbourne. "That's the secret of defiance isn't it? You're not commanding the elements to help you, or forcing them to move to your will. You're asking them nicely and treating them like a friend, with respect. You can't try and set yourseld above the elements, you need to be their equal."

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[Pegasus]

Ozbourne sat and listened, watching Tio's face and attending to his words. His expression was clear, he was pleased with the answer. "True. Good points, in their own way. You are at the beginning of your relationship with the elements, and you must understand that individually, as you." He gestured around to the area where they were, "like any relationship, it is unique to those in it." Which was certainly true, as he saw it. But fundamentally, yes, he agreed. Tio did not command the elements now, to think that he did would be foolish in the extreme, or so Ozbourne believed.

"Also, you needed to believe that you were alone. That no help was coming." That was certainly true and, as Ozbourne was quick to point out, "There is no feeling of isolation like the feeling of being betrayed. That dealt with that and so it was just you and the elements." There was always the possibility, after all, that Tio would have called on the elements and they would not have answered and then, simply put, he would have died. But for that call to be heard and answered, it had to come from his very soul and so, that had been what Ozbourne had done. Ironically, by making him believe that Oz had betrayed him, he had been trying to make sure that Tio had the best chance of surviving.

Life, after all, was a strange thing.

"Also, you and I now, we share a connection. It is...." Ozbourne paused and then considered his word carefully. "Unique. Unique between an initiated and their mentor and unique to you and I." It had taken a lot for Ozbourne to give over a piece of his spark like that. It was an act of trust and not something he could un-do now. Nor would he, but that was not the point.

"So, do you have any questions?"

Off Topic

And we're done! Please make sure to describe / include your mutation and do a wrap up post, and I'll review! Hope the thread was ok - pm me if there's any questions!