A Reflection In The Water

This is a storyline that took place in the Platinum Instance during 2018 - ONGOING. Official title is "A Reflection in the Water".

A Reflection in the Water

10 Charlatos:

<2 weeks ago...

A soft gurgle bubbled up from the young man as he fought not to choke on his own blood when yet another blow landed on his dislocated jaw, flinging spittle and more than a few teeth from his swollen mouth. A single, darkened green eye gazed upon him with disdain as he tried to force his eyes open enough to convey his plea for mercy, his jaw no longer functioning well enough to speak. Not a flicker of change in her expression to indicate an acknowledgement of his predicament came from the fiery woman standing on the bank of the Charl's Quay.

How he wished he had not come across her path that day on the trail from Wehnimer's Landing. It seemed, however, this would be a short-lived day for him as he was fairly convinced this was to be his end at the hands of this angry red-head.
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Anger, dark and fiery hot, coursed through every fiber of her body as she felt his hands come around her neck. She had passed him on the trail to Wehnimer's Landing and thought nothing of it – had even waved at him. She preferred to walk the trail rather than use the portals - they made her queasy and she despised using the magical means Jaired often employed to "fog" them to far off locations. It was a nice day and she enjoyed the scenery. Walking this path was something she tried to do daily. The quiet and isolation from the world helped her improve focus.

Focus was something she fought hard for lately.

His cry of surprise was muffled quickly as Leiana grasped his forearm where it wrapped over the juncture of her shoulder and neck, his fingers digging into her windpipe so that she gasped for air momentarily. Giving a heave of effort, she lifted the offender over her shoulder and slammed him into the ground before her, planting the narrow tip of her boot heel on his own windpipe as she stood staring at him with an angry, glittering gaze. Quite before she realized it, her heel was digging fully into the soft hollow of his throat. He clawed desperately at her calf and managed to land a solid blow on the back of her knee with his own as it lifted in desperation.

Quite before she realized it, she had toppled next to him as her knee gave out. Her hand shot outward toward him to hover mere inches from his face, not touching him and yet her fingers clenched closed and he was without breath, choking and clawing at his throat while staring up at her in terror, uncomprehending of her power. And it felt good to her. So good that she was even smiling ever so slightly as she watched the skin turn blue and his eyes bulge when she twisted her wrist, increasing the magical grasp she had on his throat. For a moment, the urge inside her was free and unchecked - she was enjoying the feeling of being untethered from the rules.

And then she saw the same fear in his eyes as she had seen on others' faces - those of her friends and people she had known her whole life. People now unable to comprehend what was happening to her and distrustful of her.

Her hand dropped and her fingers relaxed, releasing him to gasp and choke, gagging and coughing up blood as he cowered next to her. Slowly she stood and reaching down, grasped him by the arm to drag him to his feet. A few quick movements and he was bound at the wrists, stumbling along in front of her as she encouraged him with brief pushes of her will behind him - hand extended as the air seemed to obey her commands, shoving him along as they made their way back toward Solhaven. She wasn't sure where that would take them until they ended up at Charl's Quay, standing on the beach as he sobbed for her to let him go. Offering all manner of gems, treasures, and loot in order to sway her from deciding his fate this day.

There rested the golden cage that she would place her new found toy within. It had once held a great man, one whom she felt was family - a man whom everything had been taken from, including his life. Today it would hold this deviant instead - be used for what cages truly were meant to do. And so in he went, the doors locked behind him as she shoved it into the water and watched it begin to sink. The water was just short of being enough to take away his life - for now. Soon the tide would come in and he would find no comfort from it, just as Izaar had found no comfort when his life had been taken at the snap of a hand around his throat. She'd found no comfort when everyone else moved on after his memory was gone from the Landing. This was a way to find comfort now.

As she bent to take the chain for the cage from the water's edge, she caught sight of her reflection on the surface. The sludge, that dirt that had covered everything when Izaar died was spreading. It was all over her now.

And she smiled.

---

14 Charlatos:

>1 week ago...

“Alright!” Jaired exclaimed as he stretched his arms high over his head, the bones of his spine giving off a satisfying crack as he leaned from side to side, “Time to see what you’ve learned!”

Leiana drew in a long breath as she began to focus on the very air around her, reveling in the growing sensation as it began to swirl and eddy at her feet. Dirt, grass, and stone began to tumble and fly in a spiraling motion as she settled her attention on Jaired. She was determined to get him this time.

He threw his hand towards her and let one of his daggers fly, the rapidly twirling edge glinting wildly in the light as it quickly closed in on her. His aim was center of mass and if she didn’t do something it wasn’t going to miss. Leiana swiped an arm in the air before her and willed a sudden gust to send the dagger off course. Instinctively she waved her other arm to push away the second dagger that followed directly behind the first. There was ALWAYS a second dagger.

Leiana responded with a sudden, tunneling gust of force towards Jaired as he began to sprint in a counter-clockwise, circling approach. She grit her teeth as she tried to pivot while simultaneously forcing the momentum of the gale at her control. Almost… almost…

Jaired seemingly disappeared into a plume of dust as he slid to the rocky ground with a wild sweeping motion of his legs. The tunnel of wind blew past him as Leiana tried to correct and force it back in the opposite direction, but it had a mind of its own and simply carried on until she released her grasp of it.

“You have to focus, Leiana,” Jaired droned as he rose back to his feet, batting at the spectral cloth of his longcoat to knock the debris from it, “Hit me where I’m going to be, not where I am. This mission we agreed to is a trap, remember. We won’t be able to trust our eyes.”

A snarl and a sudden volley of air was her response, forcing him to dodge to the side and dip low, extending his left leg so that he all but slid beneath the barrage of air she was sending at him.

“Who cares what the trap is?!” she snapped at him, moving quickly to the side and attempting to catch him on his way to a standing position with a clip to the back of his leg. She almost had him, her speed having increased quite a bit over the last few months of training. Yet he evaded her, his experience and uncanny ability to see her next move aggravating her further as she missed. Standing, he chuckled softly and stood there panting, eyeing her with that unnervingly calm blue gaze.

“Love…” he said sincerely, placing a hand on her shoulder with an arm that crossed between their bodies, “You have incredible power…”

But…

Leiana saw right through the gesture and reached up to grasp at his wrist, turning away upon her heel as her other palm came up to slam into the back of his elbow and send him lurching towards the ground. He rolled with it, tangling her ankle between his boots as they both fell into a tumble. They exchanged a rapid series of punches and blocks while transitioning from grapples and breaks as they wrestled for control.

Eventually she forced her palm into his abdomen and unleashed another tunneling gust of wind that sent him spiraling upward into the air and then summarily onto the ground a few feet away. She didn’t remember getting back to her feet, but she was already alive with static that rushed over her skin. Even some of the curls of her ponytail were pulling free and lifting into the air.

“Now now, Leiana…” Jaired cautioned as he shuffled backwards on the ground, “Think about this a moment…”

Leiana didn’t hear him as she wasn’t listening at the moment. A single of arc of lightning lurched downward in a blinding flash and an instant crack of deafening thunder. As the rain of debris and dust cleared, the only thing she saw where Jaired had been was a cinder filled, blackened crater. She’d finally gotten him. Finally!

She let out a loud cackle of victorious laughter, pointing at the crater and declaring, “Think about that!”

After a while her laughter began to catch a bit in her chest as she realized she was all alone. Wait. Did she really get him? Leiana began looking frantically every which way, all but calling out for him because there was still a small part of her that figured this was all one of his many ruses, even if that part of her was beginning to dwindle with each passing moment.

Fog began to slowly fill the area and she let out an exasperated breath that tossed at some of the curls pasted across her forehead. Yep. Time for teacher to show off and spout lame teacher stuff. She loathed this part, but, she knew he liked it. She’d play along for now.

“You still lack discipline,” he said from somewhere behind the veil of the fog. Leiana mouthed along with every word with a sarcastic tilt of her head at each syllable.

“And insight, master?” she jabbed while slowly turning about, her eyes darting to and fro in a predatory fashion.

“As long as you let your emotions control you,” he continued, his voice carrying from a different direction, “Others will always be able to.”

“Like who?” she questioned with a seething breath, her eyes shooting upwards suddenly at the rapidly descending silhouette of Jaired.

Without even thinking her hands clapped together around the edge of the greatsword Jaired was making a very convincing attempt at introducing to her face. Her feet dug into the earth as she absorbed the force of the attack into her entire body. Every fiber of every muscle shook as she fought against the downward force being pressed against her.

It wasn’t lost on her, either. Jaired never used a weapon such as this one but she knew someone that did. A smile started to curl at her lips as she felt the momentum of the battle shift in her favor. With a twist of her hands she snapped the blade from his hands and tossed it aside.

“Someone like you?” she questioned, no… she accused. Her eyes met his, searching, but all she saw was that perpetual calm.

“Yeah…” he admitted as he stepped back and all but disappeared into the fog.

Leiana seethed as she summoned a wild tempest to make short work of the fog, nearly grinding her teeth smooth as she turned about within the reckless onslaught of power. Slowly, though, she drew it closer to herself and began to compress it down and infuse it with each breath.

>Hit me where I’m going to be.

She reached back suddenly in a blind grasp, gathering the material of Jaired’s collar into her hands as she rapidly turned to face him with a forceful pull. Staring into his eyes she didn’t see what she expected. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t surprise. He looked… proud.

Then he tried to stab her with a knife.

Leiana turned and with every ounce of strength and rage she had, threw him over her shoulder like someone would a ball. He always did want to fly, and if she didn’t know better she would have sworn he was laughing.

No. She knew better. He was definitely laughing.

Jaired definitely landed badly, though, and as he hit the ground he fell into an uncontrolled and violent tumble. Anger turned into instant concern as Leiana clasped a hand over her mouth while uttering a few unspeakables before running after her husband.

“Jaired!” she yelled as she slid down to her knees to catch him into her arms.

“H… hey…” he uttered weakly as he gazed up at her.

“Oh baby… I’m, sorry, I got carried awa-

“Shh… it’s okay… listen…” he rasped, gesturing for her to get closer.

“Yes, what is it?” Leiana asked, leaning in and pressing her forehead against his.

“See you at the altar…”

Leiana’s heart stopped a beat as she looked him over, only catching the scale-covered coffer he was grasping upon his chest at the last moment. Their eyes met and in that instant the only thing she felt was affirmation of what she already knew.

Then Jaired opened the box.

This was love.

Credits

Leiana - GM Naionna