Fires of spring

[Goku]

Ashan 60, 722

Well, Goku had always thought that this day would come. The day that he would learn Defiance. He had spent arcs under Roshi’s tutelage and while he had spent a significant amount of time getting the old man to teach him Hone he had been reluctant to learn Defiance. Goku knew that his first initiation risked death but he had never truly known what it was like to be close to death before. Now that he’d experienced it he was so fearful of submitting his body to yet another initiation. His fear had also kept him from becoming a soldier or a mercenary which had been his childhood dream. He looked at his life with pity since all he seemed to do was manual labor which he considered the lowest of professions. Perhaps that was why he did it, because he didn’t think very highly of himself.

Mental blocks aside, Goku had changed a lot in the past arc in physical terms. Goku had become stronger and much more durable over the past arc. He felt as if his body was hitting a plateau when it came to becoming stronger. It was a very rare thing for him to witness anyone stronger than himself and while he knew stronger people must exist he did not think any non magical human or avriel could match him in raw strength if he used strength runes. He was confident in his abilities on a physical level which was more or less what he needed in order to convince himself that he was ready to take on another discipline of magic.

It was afternoon a couple hours away from the entrance to Scalvoris Town and Goku held a handful of twigs and logs between his arms. He walked right beside Roshi who took wood from his student’s arms and placed them on the ground as they walked in circles. Goku wanted to ask questions but Roshi had very explicitly told him to “Shut up” since he “needed to concentrate.” Oh, and he’d said to “watch closely so you can do the same to your students in the future.” Goku couldn’t help but feel like he was missing a lot of details but from what he noticed so far it was clear that Roshi was making the preparations for a fire. They spent about a break gathering and placing all the wood and even after all the wood had been placed Roshi sent Goku out to get even more wood. In truth Roshi didn’t need any more wood but he did want some alone time so he could focus on the task at hand. This would perhaps be his last chance to initiate anyone for the rest of his life. Perhaps this would be the last day of his life.

Goku returned and left again for more wood when Roshi failed to acknowledge his presence. Several trips went by before Roshi finally told Goku to take a seat next to him. The old man straightened his back and then leaned forwards against his walking stick for support. “This is how it goes. The defier will draw their spark into their kin element, that’s what we call the element we are closest with. Then the student must be immersed in the element. In this case you will be immersed in fire. Once I get the fire going and put a piece of my spark in the flames I will push you to the center where you will stay. Needless to say if this fails you’re dead meat. The only way you survive is if you ask the fire for help and it agrees to help you.”

Goku shuddered. “I really have to stay in the flames don’t I… Won’t my instincts kick in and force me to jump out of the fire? I should be restrained… shouldn’t I?”

Roshi shrugged. “My teacher immersed me in water and I can’t say I ever thought of trying to escape. The magic fusing with my soul was enough to keep me frozen in place. Remember what I said: you must ask the fire for help. It is the only thing that can save you, ironically. I don’t care how tough you are, you’re basically dead if the flames don’t help you. If you somehow did survive I’d likely put you out of your misery since you’d be little more than a charred corpse.”

That didn’t sit well with Goku since having a strengthened body was his basis for being able to survive. He only hoped that his hard work would end up helping, even if Roshi said that it wouldn’t. He mulled the thought over for a good bit or so and then told Roshi, “I am ready.”

“Great. Now sit there, and wait for my signal.” Roshi said. He pointed outstretched palms at the center of the pile of wood and within moments there was a small fire going. The defier turned his palms upwards as if he was wafting the heat upwards. In concert with his motions the fire steadily turned into a pyre.

The whole process was fascinating to Goku who looked in awe. He had never seen his mentor do anything complicated like this before. He had witnessed his teacher encourage a dying fire to come back to life, generate a light breeze in the summer months, and to move water to help with simple cooking. It had never looked all that impressive though Roshi had always claimed Defiance had been a lot more useful than Hone during his military service.

Goku impatiently waited for Roshi to give the signal to jump into the fire. The student couldn’t help but want to get this over with because the suspense was killing him. There was no telling how much progress Roshi had made since he was just sitting there by the fire, and the fire didn’t look all too different either.

Suddenly Roshi lurched forwards and his walking stick dug deep into the ground. “Let’s do this” he shouted and Goku took one last look at the beautiful night sky before leaping right to Roshi’s side. Goku thought that Roshi would just push him into the flames but no, Roshi took Goku’s hand and quickly pulled him to the center of the fire and left Goku there. Goku immediately felt the searing heat and realized that he really was going to be no match for the flames on his own.

“Help!” he shouted, both out loud and in his mind.

“Don’t fight the heat, embrace it. Your tough body is nothing compared to the might of the elements. Accept that the fire must save you!” Roshi shouted but Goku was already way ahead of him. He was already pleading with every fibre of his being for the fire to save him from the immense heat and however much damage his body was taking from being in the middle of a massive fire. The fire swirled around his body as if sizing him up before the defiance spark started to meld with Goku’s body.

Goku couldn’t really say whether this was worse than his Hone initiation or not. The body could only comprehend so much pain so he guessed it didn’t matter if one was technically worse than the other. All he knew in the moment was that his mind was blank. The hone spark in his body did not want to share its host with another spark so there was a mental struggle of sorts that Goku had no part in. All he could do was feel that there was a lot of conflict inside of him but that slowly subsided. The heat never died down. Throughout the whole initiation Goku felt as if his skin was literally being cooked, not that he dared to open his eyes for fear of having his eyeballs scorched.

“Are you going to stay in there all night?” Roshi asked from outside the flames.

“Is it over?” Goku dared to ask. The heat still hurt but it wasn’t like he was in that much pain anymore.

“If you can even ask that question it’s over,” Roshi said with a relieved sigh.

Goku walked blindly until he felt the heat of the flames then he wearily opened his eyes. He immediately looked down and saw that his body wasn’t burned. His clothes were toast but otherwise he’d somehow survived unscathed, on his skin at least. He guessed that the fire had really come to his rescue. He felt very tired mentally and he could tell that it would take a long time to recover his strength to do any meaningful work. Goku felt the desire to learn more about his newfound spark but there was nothing else he could do. He dropped to his knees and nearly passed out on the spot.

Roshi motioned for Goku to lie on the floor while he got to work unrolling some bedding so they could sleep there for the night. It wasn’t like either of them were in any shape to walk back to the city anyways.

[Pig Boy]

Player Name: Goku

Points awarded: 10 xp
Magic xp: half of these points may be used for defiance.

Knowledge:

Defiance x3
Endurance x3

Renown: 0
Loot: n/a
Injuries/Overstepping: Some minor burns, maybe use some aloe to treat that. Also too exhausted to do any physical exertion for 14 trials
Wealth Points: n/a
Consequences: Goku's screams for help, not far beyond the aerial patrols out of Scalvoristown, do not fall on deaf ears. He is overheard by Element patrols. Even if he weren't, the smoke rising from the pyre on which he was initiated sent out a smoke signal about a dozen miles wide that were easily noticed by the authorities. The Elements swoop down, and arrest Roshi for reckless use of magic and attempted murder.

Goku is too tired to fight them or argue at the moment, and even if he would he'd suffer a worse fate perhaps. He is helpless to stop them as they drag Roshi away.

However, the Elements who intervene on his behalf offer medical care to him, offering to treat his burn wounds and escort him to the nearest Order of the Adunih outpost.

Days after he is escorted back home to Scalvoristown, a summons arrives for Goku, offering that he can testify as a witness to Roshi's 'attempted murder and nonconsensual magic use' trial. Whether he decides to offer testimony on the old man's behalf, or to condemn him and evade any responsibility for these events is up to Goku.

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriately to PC's level

Notes: Why is nearly every Defiance initiation by fire? I guess it's the flashiness and coolness factor. Plus you can't deny the drama of tossing a prospective defiance mage into a pile of burning kindling! At any rate, this initiation was well done and did not disappoint.

I hope Goku is prepared for a new existence, having two sparks and one of them a Defiance spark. I wonder what he'll do about his old mentor, though. Will he answer the summons to court? Will be interesting to see where he goes from here.

Sorry for the lateness of my review.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this review, feel free to PM. Enjoy your rewards!