Submission (#4978) Approved

Submitted

24 February 2023, 18:54:21 PST (1 year ago)

Processed

27 March 2023, 21:30:37 PDT (1 year ago) by AliLV

Comments

Alais has a bit of a sharp temper so came to Laurent to find a way to redirect such energies.

Word count: 1,195
Region: N/A
Elnin resonance is for: Alaistair
Other elnin: Laurent (mentioned)
Mini requirement: Stand-alone advancement act

Content

Alais stood in the middle of the room, staff in hand. Well, he envisioned it as a staff, when in actuality it was just a good sized walking stick he had brought with him for this express purpose. Recently he had been feeling more and more out of tune with his surroundings, feeling a frustration with where things were going in life. His twin sister had been injured and was currently being nursed back to health The fact that he wasn't there for her at the time made him feel powerless and out of place. He found himself hovering over her until she asked him, as gently as she could, to give her some space. He squashed down a stab of jealousy as his mind ran over the larger form of the wild elnin who was constantly by her side. It was an irrational thought, he knew, Malis was just there to treat Rynn and bring her back to good health, but he just couldn't help feeling like she would come in between them.

"She would definitely come in between us if you continue that line of thought you dummy." Alais growled to himself, "This is why you put yourself on this darn quest..." As if to emphasize his determination he swung the stick a few times and gave a low growl at the pots that were currently surrounding him. The deep red elnin had heard of a form of meditation through action and was willing to see if this would help him achieve some form of connection once again. Break the pots, then go on a journey of self discovery and when he returns to his sister side he would be better prepared to face the world once again.

With a swing he felt the shock of the impact reverberate through his arm but to his dismay the pot was still intact. A voice came to him, almost a whisper on his shoulder, as he remembered the host of this grand castle giving him the instructions for this unusual form of meditation. In his mind he reviewed the memory, a swirling dervish of darkness with glowing eyes looming over him...

"Plant your feet, feel the earth beneath the soles. Dig claws in if necessary to establish a hold. Feel the strength welling up from within, feel the emotions that you wish to revisit and expel. Remember, negative emotions are just as important as positive ones, they are here to let us know there is an imbalance. By listening to the root, you can prune the troubles, through action you can express the turbulence without being overwhelmed. Through measured destruction you can embrace the negative and turn it back into the positive role such emotions should be in a balanced soul."

Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, Alais adjusted the grip on his staff and then fixed his stance. He tapped the ground twice with the tip on the wooden branch before closing his eyes and feeling the ground with his paws. The crisp morning cold was a contrast to the warmer air that surrounded him but that was to be expected in this darkened environment without the sun to warm the flattened dirt floor. Focusing on that cold, Alais thought about the sharp feeling of pain, the stab of jealousy, when he brought up Malis into his mind. She was ok for an elnin on her own, it was just... they spent so much time together he felt left out. The close bond between twins felt strained and he had no one else to turn to so he had bottled it up. A solution which had worked until he snapped at Malis right in front of his sister, the vile words of discontent falling from his lips. Alais had regretted the outburst almost instantly but words spoken could not be taken back and from that point on Rynn had withdrawn from him.

The crimson kittom felt his body shaking as he revisited those memories, tainted with such intense emotions. He let it wash over him, growing within him until he felt as if he would burst once more. This time however, he focused the energies into the staff and swung, hand-over-hand at the large clay jar before him.

*smash!*

The clatter of clay fragments filled the air as a rush of elation and release flooded through him; the former from succeeding the break the pot, the second from expressing the emotions that had lurked in the depths of his mind. Alais felt a sudden jolt of trepidation as he opened his eyes to see the shattered shards before him before reminding himself that was the entire purpose of this room. The act of sweeping up the mess after, and setting up the new pots forr the next elnin who needed to release their own personal deamons, brought with it it's own catharsis of closure.

Squaring his hips and planting his feet once more, Alais raised up the staff as another memory came to mind. Letting it play through he felt the emotions well up once more and swung, mentally tossing the frustrations and anger into his staff as it moved through the air. Another shattered pot brought a small whoop of excitement as adrenaline accompanied the release of tensions and he used the momentum to swing around and thrust the butt of his staff into another, much smaller pot.

Soon he stood with heavy breaths, surrounded by dust, pottery shards, and the feeling of exhaustion. He felt drained of all emotions, the staff falling from his hand with a clatter onto the ground. Closing his eyes, Alais focused on his beating heart as its pace slowly went back down to normal. He experienced a stillness that spread through him, something he had not felt in a long while. Holding onto that moment, the crimson kittom took a few more deep breaths as he started slowly moving in a ritualistic motion, planting his feet once more and swinging an imaginary staff in slow motion before him. As he did so he felt the ebb and flow of the energies around him dance with a palpable swirl. This would be what he did to remind himself of this moment.

A few minutes later found him with a broom, sweeping the shards of the pottery and jars to a special area of the room, a place where he knew they would gather it up, crush it down to dust and mix it up to make new jars. Some would become useful in other areas, while others would come back here for the next elnin who wished to use this unique form of mana redirection. He worked methodically through the room, making sure he caught every last fragment so no unsuspecting soul would get hurt if they did not pay attention to where they put their feet. He would need to contact Laurent before he left to thank the castle's owner for the visit and pay his respects but for now he could think forward to where he planned on going next. For while this moment, this task was completed, his journey had only just begun.

Rewards

Reward	Amount

Characters

MYO-ELN519: 📚 Alaistair ✩

Reward	Amount

Add-Ons

These items have been removed from the submitter's inventory and will be refunded if the request is rejected or consumed if it is approved.

Item	Source	Notes	Quantity

Malis's Bank

Currency	Quantity