Context: Sometime after in the stone circle. Jake's training is still not going well and he is getting increasingly frustrated. After one such session, Jake has stormed off to find somewhere quiet to clear his head.
I eventually found myself at the Temple's central garden. It was a very presentable area, cultivated with the express purpose of showing rare and beautiful flowers to passing dignitaries. A variety of flowers and shrubs were set in uniform patterns alongside deliberately placed footpaths and culminating at a large tree and benched area at the back wall.
I lazily dragged my sword by my side as I made way past the manicured hedges, pulling off leaves and scattering them behind me. There were plants here from all corners of Occultia, some from places I was sure to visit one day as a passing dignitary myself. I wondered if I should take the time to memorise each one. That way I would have at least one thing to talk about anywhere I went.
"Oh, so you're the mayor of Archknowswhere, I here the Whatsthis Pansy blooms beautiful here." I began dramatically whispering to myself as I pulled apart a delicate yellow flower. I drop myself down on a stone bench and sigh heavily into the evening sky.
"You're going to scare away the butterflies if you keep acting like that." A rather disgruntled yet hushed voice grumbled from the next bench down.
I glanced down to see Raville sat there, watching some butterflies flittering other a specific patch of red-orange flowers. They had a sketch pad pressed against their knee as they slowly drew out the scene. It was strange to see them in such a tranquil setting, considering our previous encounters.
"What are doing-" I began but Raville shushed me with a raised hand.
They waved a pencil. "The butterflies." My sword slid and dropped to the floor with a clatter, scaring said butterflies away. Raville let out a long beleaguered sigh. They rolled their eyes pointedly towards me and placed their sketching materials firmly by their side. "They were a pretty rare sight this far north, who knows when I'll get the chance to draw them again. Speaking of rarities," They stood and came slowly towards me. "That flower you turned to confetti was one of fifty left in Occultia, well fourty-nine now." Raville patted my shoulder in false congratulations.
I slid further down the bench, ending in a slump by my sword. "Sorry. For like, all that." I gestured with vague sympathy.
"What are you doing here anyway, other than ruining my quiet evening?" Raville huffed but helped me to my feet, pulling me little too roughly.
"I came here to think, I guess. I should probably ask you the same thing. Last I knew you were banned from the city."
Raville raised a incredulous eyebrow. "You need your sword to think?" They said, swiping it up from by my feet and tapping me under my chin with the tip. "And being banned is only a problem if they know I'm here."
"I was just coming from my training with Forrine. It… uh… went as well as it usually does." I flopped back down onto a bench, Raville sitting upright beside me.
"So they have Forrine teaching you. Makes sense that you'd be struggling under him. I assume they couldn't find someone with actual talent."
Raville inspects my sword with an eye that's all too familiar with them. They ran their battle-worn hands down the blade, tracing the engravings - an old elven saying to bring victory. "This isn't your - well, Dracarnius' - sword."
"Apparently Dracarnius' sword was never recovered after the last battle he died in." I shrugged. "The council allowed me to have this one."
Raville narrowed their gaze, suppressing a chuckle. "Now that doesn't sound right."
"What do you mean?"
"You're telling me that an indestructible sword, a weapon of the gods, just is nowhere to be found? After over 100 years, not a single sign or trace? That just doesn't sound right." Their gaze searched mine for a response. I shrugged, not really being able to offer one.
"It's just what I've been told, not even Celestia has said anything to suggest otherwise."
Raville looked over me scrupulously. "Hmm… is that right?" They leaned back and sighed deeply towards the darkening sky. "If you ask me, I think that's part of you problem."
"Well I didn't ask-" Raville interrupted me with a finger smushing into my cheek.
"Maybe you should ask. You need to think more too. Seems to me since you got to the city you haven't had an original thought for yourself. Now don't scowl - you're far to pleased to go along with what ever anyone tells you - how to act, who to be. Have you even taken a moment to think about your own wants and feelings?" Raville looked back over to me, not like the hardened soldier I knew them to be but as someone who was all too familiar with kind of burden I found myself with.
I gazed into my empty hands. They were right. Since Celestia had brought me here, every had formed their own expectations of me - some good, many bad or rather, fearful. I'd gotten so focused on not being like the old Dracarnius that I'd started to lose any sense of myself. "I just… I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I have this power, this responsibility, this grand role to play. But I'm just me. Two months ago I was just some guy living on a farm and now I'm meant to be this God? And everyone is so scared of me that I don't think anyone realises how terrified I am." I pull the glove off my charred arm, showing the jagged remains underneath. I rub the rough edges slowly. "It still hurts…" I whisper to myself.
Raville grabs my wrist, startling me out of my self-pity. "Trust me, I know how that feels more than you'd think." They pull me clumsily up to my feet and takes several paces away. They whisper something into their cupped hands and release a shower of glowing orbs, lighting up the dimming evening. "Now take me through the first five stances Forrine drilled with you."
I looked at Raville quizzically, whip-lashing from the sudden shift in tone. They were once again stood with the severity of a trained soldier. Raville urged me with a wave of their hand. I picked up the sword by the bench and paced my way through the standard stances Forrine had been beleaguered to teach me.
Raville's expression remained unchanging as they stepped towards me and nudged my unpractised limbs slightly before taking their place again a few paces away. Again, they waved and I went through the stances once more. I heard an audible tut and Raville approached again, being firmer this time as they moved my arms into position. They stayed within reach this time as I redid my stances, correcting each one as I went. This went on until the skies were dark and littered with stars. Eventually I went through a cycle of stances without the firm adjustments from Raville. And then ten times without a mistake.
"Okay." They finally said. "I'll teach you."
I was going to argue with them for a moment but realised that besides Celestia, Raville was the best teacher I would ever get. There was just one problem - their banishment from the city. If they were to get caught it would be trouble for us both.
As if hearing my worries, Raville waved nonchalantly. "Don't worry about the logistics, I'll figure something out. I'll send word when I'm free for your next lesson. Now it's probably best we both skedaddle before the night patrol makes their first rounds."
Before I could respond, Raville clicked their fingers, dismissing the glowing orbs and disappeared along with their light.
Some context: This is a few weeks after Celestia has taken Jake under her wing and after she has begun trying to teach him the basics of magic. Word of Celestia having a new protege has spread around now, reaching the ears of people that are better off not knowing. The magic lessons had been going slowly so Jake has snuck out of the city to practice.
It was as early in the morning as I could muster the energy for. The sky was pale and cold, my breath blowing icily out of me. I hadn't appreciated how cold the being out on the Plains this time would be and was not dressed accordingly.
I took myself out to the nearest Stone Circle, far enough from the city to avoid catching the attention of any passerby's but close enough that any fires I might accidentally cause definitely would.
The bright morning sun started to peek between the mountains on the horizon. I counted the paces across the circle. There should be enough room. With my back pressed against one of the giant stone slabs, I focused between the stones directly across from me. I felt the granite sure and sturdy beneath my fingertips as I took long, measured breaths. I felt ground under my feet and the pressure of my feet on the ground. I felt the way my body connected to the world, and the world -through my body- to me.
Some time passed in this almost static state of focus. The sun slowly climbed up the sky dragging the morning along with it. It was a moment before I realized I had stopped breathing properly and began coughing and spluttering. I steadied myself before kicking the ground in frustration.
I'd followed all of Celestia's instructions in meditation and yet I couldn't catch a glimmer of the threads in the morning light. I thought back to our sessions and the gentle voice Celestia had used to guide me through the meditations.
—
"You need to feel the way the world flows around you, find the threads and follow them." She had said, guiding me round the room by my wrists, almost in a dance. "With enough practice, you might see the threads that weave this world together and then…" We twirled around in a slow and practiced way. Celestia suddenly reached out and plucked something invisible behind my head.All at once, the room shimmered with a thousand criss-crossing threads of light. "Then you can simply do anything." She held me tight and firm with one sure arm and tugged quickly with the other. The world flashed around us, seemed to stretch and disappear, then snap back into place. Just like that we had gone from being inside the Temple to stood on top of the city walls.
—
I centered myself again, palms flat against the stone. This time I tried to feel more than its cold, hard surface, to feel the energy that pulsed through the stone and the ground and the air around me. I measured my breathing once more, tracing the flow of energy into my lungs and through my body in my mind. I closed my eyes and imagined the flow between myself and the rock behind me. I felt the connections between myself and the stone and the ground and further, going all the way back to the city and to the mountains beyond.
I opened my eyes. The air shimmered, ever so slightly. The flow of energy I imagined flashing in front of me. I reached out tentatively, stroking the threads between my fingers. They were faint but they were there. I snapped my fingers shut around one of the threads but it faded away in my grip.
I planted my feet and reestablished my connections. The threads flash a bit brighter this time. I reached out and pulled, sending a small glimmer of light a small ways in front of me. I tried again. Feet sturdy on the ground. I pulled harder. The thread lit up, the light traveling down past the border of the stone circle. Again. The thread became solid in my hand. Again. I could weave the thread between my fingers. Again.
I suddenly found myself stood two-feet from the stone. The world began to spin around me and my body crumpled to the floor. A wave of intense nausea came over me as I stared up at the swirling sky. I rolled around pathetically for a moment, my own senses assaulting me. The sky too bright, the birdsong too loud, the ground too, well groundy. I crawled over to the stone to steady myself back to my feet.
There was someone across the circle, leaning on the stone directly across from mine. My gaze met theirs, even at this distance, and seeing me acknowledge them, the stranger slowly moved towards me. They carried a large cleaver-like sword that looked far too heavy for anyone to handle with as much confidence as they did. I squinted as their features came into view. There was a vague sense of recognition that crept up in the far reaches of my mind. I remembered their face like one I would remember on a wanted poster or a history book, but I couldn't recall where. If I did ever know this person, it was not in this lifetime.
The stranger edged closer. I could see the smirk on their face, the sinister flash in their green eyes, the confidence in each stride. By the time they were within a few steps reach, the stranger completely over shadowed me. They had such a magnetism that I couldn't help but stare up at them as they regarded me.
"So," They spoke so low I had to force myself to hear them. They lifted their sword up with an impossible ease and pinned me to the rock with it tip. "You're Celestia's new protege, then?" They almost forgot to hide the ridicule in their voice. "You know you really shouldn't be all the way out here by yourself. There's all kinds of dangerous people lurking about these days."
"Who are-" With a violent thrust, the stranger threw me up and over their head using the end of their sword.
"Who am I?" They laughed, each word dripping with contempt. Even if I hadn't a clue who they were, they certainly had something against me. "Who are you?"
With a rush, they charged at me. I scrambled across the ground, only barely rolling out of the way of their lunging attack. I tried to stammer out a response but any words or sense were lost to me. I acted on instinct and fear as this stranger kept swinging his sword at me. Every time I managed to find my feet, they cruelly sent me flying again. Then it dawned on me - if they had wanted to cut me open with that massive cleaver-sword, they very well would have. They were missing expertly accurately on purpose. This was a game.
I waited until they were over me again and kicked hard into their stomach with both feet. My surprise rebuttal knocked them far enough back that I was able to gain enough distance between us to at least catch my breath. I turned round to see them hunched over, glaring at me through their fallen silver fringe. Before I could blink, the assault began again - quicker and more furious. This time, the stranger wasn't being as careful in missing me with their sword. More than once the dark steel grazed my skin, cut away wisps of hair. The fear swelled in my chest. If this carried on, I would end up on the ground permanently.
Without thinking, I reached out and pulled. When I opened my eyes, I found myself on the other side of the stranger who turned to look at me with rage, and a hint of something else. Curiosity, maybe.
"So she really has been teaching you. Okay," They stood up fully, tossing their sword down. "This might actually be interesting."They launched at me with a newfound speed now they were unencumbered by the giant sword.
I instinctively pulled on the threads again. And again, and again. I dodged their attacks, teleporting to different spots just few feet apart all across the Stone Circle. With each tug of the threads, I found it harder and harder to keep myself conscious. By the fifth or sixth time, I could barely stand. I'd managed to get myself close enough to one of the stones to prop myself up on. The stranger, however, showed no signs of tiring. I reached out feebly to try and tug a thread again. I got hold and pulled hard. I was snapped out of teleportation and sent careening to the ground before I reached my destination.
I saw the stranger wrapping the same thread I used round their hand, using it to pull me close to him. "That's a neat little trick." They pulled me across the ground, taunting me. "Now, let me show you some of mine." The stranger took a number of threads in between their fingers in the same way I'd seen Celestia manipulate them. They used the threads deftly, whipped the round to tie round my wrists and treat me like a wooden puppet. Any attempt I made to pull the threads was to my detriment as I was thrown about.
They pulled me in and out of the threads paths, using teleportation to hit my fast and hard. They took us high in the air and slammed me down into the ground with a force that made the dirt crack underneath me. They reached out and as if beckoned, the heavy cleaver-sword flew into their hand. They held it high above their head, its wide blade blocking out the sun. They swung.
I blocked the strike with my charred arm. Around us, reality seemed to shatter. Shards of the world around us shimmered in disjointed pieces, leaving us stagnant in this spot.
The stranger stared at me, confused as to why I was unharmed. They dropped the sword and reached other to pull the glove that covered the charred, scarred mess of my lower left arm, the skin harder than carbon after the incident. They looked me in the eyes for the first time. "So you really are him…" For a moment, they faltered, for just a second they were unsure.
Suddenly we were pulled back into reality in the center of the Stone Circle. Celestia loomed over us, her stern expression noticeable even in shadow. There had been very few time I'd seen her this clearly angry.
"Raville." She said, sending shivers through me. "What on Orkos do you think you're doing!?"
Raville is one of the greatest warriors in Occultia's history and at one point Celestia's personal guard and closest friend.
Appearance:
Raville is a 6'3'' elf with tanned skin and is very toned in build. Ze has a lot of scars over zirs body from a life as a warrior and zirs own recklessness. Ze has floppy silver hair that almost appears greenish in some lights that ze wears tied back in a loose ponytail. Raville is rarely seen with a full shirt on, prefering to wear loose robes that are only sometimes tied.
Background:
Born as a 'child of prophecy' or 'chosen one', Raville has lived every moment of zirs life in defience of the idea that fate is definite. However, ze was never less than a progedy in all ze did. Profient in bothe magic and swordsmanship from a very young age, Raville was the youngest to ever graduate from the University at 14, became a Temple guard at 20, Golden Guard at 24 and also the youngest appointed Elder on the council in zir 30s. All of this went a very long way to prove the prophecy ze was born into. To try and defy this, Raville went to extreme lenghts to prove zirself master of zir own destiny.
Personality:
Raville is a very much disciplined and dependable individual. Zir skill not only comes from the boon of being a 'chosen one' but from zirs own dedication to perfecting whatever ze sets zirs mind on. On the flip side, when Raville is not on duty, ze is very laid back and a real people person. Ze can get along with anyone ze comes across and is incredibly charismatic. Zirs own percieved strenght, a 'plot armour' also comes with a downside of zir being reckless and getting into situations ze shouldn't, leading to Celestia often bailing zir out.
Likes:
Beyond zirs life and duties as a soldier and council Elder, Raville has a deep connection and appeciation for nature. Ze has a collection and knowledge of rocks and plants and keeps a beautiful private greenhouse on the Temple grounds. Raville also has a keen interest in insects and loves any opportunity to show off some of zirs pets, as well as zirs endangered moth breeding hobby.
Dislikes:
Raville feels perpetually trapped in the prophecy thats been laid out about zirs life. Despite zirs best attempts, as well as zirs worst, Raville always seems to steer towards the path that's been set. Raville also as a deep seeded dislike towards those that are needlessy cruel to insects and wouldn't think twice about treating them the same as they treat bugs. Ze also has a surprising fear of lightning. This somewhat complicates zirs relationship/interactions with Jake.
I tried genderbending some of my sims, and the couple Claude & Zayra Rovin turned out so well I had to complete them. The result? The lovely Raville couple, Claudia & Zayron.
