Fable - Ask Reconnection and Retreat

[Stella]

"I would not be the first Guardian of Wisdom to visit," she replied as she took up her tea and sipped thoughtfully, "but I would be remiss not to experience the temple on my own terms."

Her mind did not drift to the loss of friends or any sort of grief, but to the curiosities of the unknown. This would give her something new to meditate on with the Wisdom stone, next.

"And how did a young Monk of Death come to be chosen for the Light, I wonder..." her brows arched in intrigue over her cup, inviting the boy to speak his tale.

Hruugen

 

[Hruugen]

The question stumped him.
Not because he did not know the facts, he was there and could recall it well. It was more that Hruugen's understanding of why the Light Stone chose him was still unclear.

"For a while I had been having dreams, about Valenntenia. In my dreams I walked the streets looking for something but I didn't know what it was. After consulting with Master Dumah I decided to seek out Valenntenia and found that my dreams were impossibly accurate so I followed the path my dreams showed me. It led me to The Tower and the Somners. Apparently they had been waiting for me."

It felt unfinished, his telling so he recalled his conversation with Solomon.
"As a Monk I have lived a sequestered life. Leaving the 36th Temple rarely and really only engaging with the outside during their moments of grief. It was typically my position to provide comfort to the bereft. The old needed little but children, they are often the farthest from natural death and as such, the least informed of it. I would tell them stories and sing and play and dance and whatever else was required."
He smiled at his own musings.
"There is this idea that Death is solely an unhappy experience and while it does bring sadness. I find that there is a lot of joy to be had in the final ceremonies. People tell stories and jokes, they remember the love of a person and what they have brought to the life of others. Sometimes there is even a, clarity that ones passing may bring. Rippling out into the world like a stone cast on water. Oh, here I am getting poetic again."

Hruugen fussed a bit over his sleeves, keeping them taught and smooth as he could then settled into not moving again.
"Solomon said that my light had not diminished despite the nature of my work but I don't see it as anything special. There are surely many who shine far brighter than I do."

Stella

 

[Ayden]

"V. Don't let training to be a guardian take away your sense of f-," his smirk only widened as the water around him surged and went over his head. The air guardian rarely took life seriously. Perhaps it was a side-effect of his bones slowly becoming more and more light like the air itself.

Or the sense of weightlessness he always felt and the amount of time he spent in the air.

Or maybe it was always a form of Ayden's personality.

Regardless, as he was submerged, with his clothes and hair wildly floating around him in the pool, he managed to kick himself so he was floating upside down. Freckled-nose scrunched at the water guardian. Then his pale cheeks puffed out like a creature of the water as his lips puckered into a fish shape.

Any panic or discomfort from potentially drowning clearly far from his mind if ever there at all.

And to her credit, he could breath underwater.

An air bubble half the size of his head formed around his lips as he spoke a word in it, then sent it floating through the deep toward Vaima Laure. When it popped harmlessly near her, she would hear his voice call out as clear as if he was speaking above the water.

"Marco!"

 

[Kaira Yehven]

"Ingrid!" Kaira had just finished up seeing Mordred and Lyta, making her way back to the main area that the Guardians were relaxing in.

"Good to see you. You're looking a lot better these days." A genuine compliment. The Guardian of Faith offered the Guardian of Disease the basket of apples she had, having climbed the apple tree when she was speaking to Mordred and made sure not to drop any atop his head. "Would you like one?" She smiled.

Ingrid Bohnes

 

[Ingrid Bohnes]

Ingrid felt the warm air brush her ever so gently, and she gave Ayden a quiet smile. He had always treated her with kindness, and that was something she would always hold close to her heart. Even though her stone was driving her away from others, it was still nice to know that there were those that did not forget her. Vaima and Ayden were getting things a bit too wet with their games, so Ingrid started on her quiet exit. She had no desire to be splashed.

As if on cue, Kaira appeared as if summoned. She seemed to always find where she needed to be. Ingrid was not one to lean on faith, but there was a certain calmness the other girl exuded. It took her a moment to respond, slowly blinking away her surprise. She mustered all the goodwill she sorely lacked in these days and smiled at the Faith Guardian. "Thank you, Kaira, it's been a process, but I'm learning my stone more and more on how to control it." A lie, but it didn't matter.

Her eyes wandered to the basket as the fruit was offered, the bright reds and yellows were almost a warning the Disease Guardian. Still, she fought back her repulsion and offered a return smile. "Sure, I'll take one. Thank you." She studied the girl, for a moment, as if in calculation. "This retreat was a good idea; I think it was needed by some."

Kaira Yehven

 

[Kaira Yehven]

Her Stone lost it's warmth as Ingrid spoke, but Kaira was unsure what that meant. A message from the Ancients, no doubt, but they oft spoke in ways that she could not understand or comprehend. She could find somewhere quiet and pray to the Ancients to decipher their message, but alas, Kaira had planned and organised this retreat and meant to disconnect from her Stone for the duration.

That meant no convening with the Ancients.

A smile brightened her face as Ingrid took an apple, and Kaira beamed hearing the feedback about the retreat.

"Oh! Good, good! I am glad that you came also, Ingrid!"

 

[Vaima Laure]

"V. Don't let training to be a guardian take away your sense of f-," his smirk only widened as the water around him surged and went over his head. The air guardian rarely took life seriously. Perhaps it was a side-effect of his bones slowly becoming more and more light like the air itself.

Or the sense of weightlessness he always felt and the amount of time he spent in the air.

Or maybe it was always a form of Ayden's personality.

Regardless, as he was submerged, with his clothes and hair wildly floating around him in the pool, he managed to kick himself so he was floating upside down. Freckled-nose scrunched at the water guardian. Then his pale cheeks puffed out like a creature of the water as his lips puckered into a fish shape.

Any panic or discomfort from potentially drowning clearly far from his mind if ever there at all.

And to her credit, he could breath underwater.

An air bubble half the size of his head formed around his lips as he spoke a word in it, then sent it floating through the deep toward Vaima Laure. When it popped harmlessly near her, she would hear his voice call out as clear as if he was speaking above the water.

"Marco!"

Marco? Vaima didn't know a Marco, did she? Hopefully it wasn't one of the Guardians' names. She didn't know them very well, but surely her knowledge wasn't that lacking.

Vaima squinted briefly in confusion, then glanced behind her to make sure there wasn't a Marco floating out of sight. She immediately felt silly. The chances of someone managing to sneak into the pool without her noticing were vanishingly small.

Praying that the water distorted her face enough to hide her embarrassment from Ayden, she continued to rack her brain. The name felt so familiar. Marco, Marco, Marco...

Oh. That Marco. She smiled slightly, then rocketed away out of the Air Guardian's vision. Swimming would've been slow, so she did her own version of flying, just with a water current instead of an air one. After landing at the opposite end of the pool, her voice then rang out as clear as Ayden's.

"Polo!"

She hadn't played a game like this since... well, it'd been a long time.

Ayden