caughtinanetwork | Second Flame

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Second Flame | Video

[Rin has been in Vatheon all of a week. His first day he got in to a fight with Masaru and was chastised by Zelda for nearly brawling near the coral, but since then it's been quiet for him.

And he's already bored.

He's staring at the SFC, chin in his hand, tapping fingers on the table off screen. Eventually he lets out a sigh and straightens, running hands through his hair with an additional huff.]

So. I can't train here, not like I can back home since Shura is gone again. And I'm pretty sure I can't go to school here either.

[Oh please let that be true. Please please please.]

So... what the hell else is there to do? Like... can I get a job even though I don't need money?

[he slumps back in his chair, hanging over the back rest with his arms down at his sides and his head tilted back. He spins around in it so he's facing the SFC again, though now looking at it upside down.]

Just... gimmie somethin' to do! Please! I'm gonna go insane if I take one more pointless walk to the plaza again...

[Help a demon out, Vatheon.

Or torment him.

There's that option, too.]

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[Since he seems to be mentally present, her reaction is undisguised interest. Zelda does love new things, and this is certainly new. What was he, exactly? Would he be offended if she asked or tried to sense him out with magic? She just watches visually instead, keeping quiet. She doesn't seem afraid.]

[Well... she's not freaked out at least.]

So uh... any suggestions... ? Last thing I was workin' on was... lighting candles.

[Oh Shura, why was your training so lame.]

I'm not familiar with how your power works, but... try writing letters on the ground and holding them there. That would require a great deal of control, would it not?

[Zelda: princess, mother to everything, and... demon trainer?]

Writing letters? Like... with the flames?

[I'll take "things Zelda was never expecting to ever do" for 500, Alex.

Also Rin's confused. What.]

Yes, like this.

[She holds a hand out and writes her own name in the air with light, maintaining control of her magic to keep the shape and size of the letters precise. Zelda holds the display in the air for him to look at.]

Oh.

[He tilts his head to the side, sounding out the name quietly.]

Zeruda...

Okay...

[He looks down and smooths out some of the dirt with his shoe, crouching down to etch his name in katakana on the ground with a finger, trailing blue fire with it as he goes. Once he's done he sits back, sword across his knees, and focuses on it like he did with the candles, trying to hold it in place.]

Good. Now that you have the hang of that form, try to heat it intensely enough to melt the sand beneath it - see if you can create glass in that shape.

[If he can't, then at least they're surrounded by water!]

[Glass? Ohh, this should be interesting. This might actually be hard than the stupid candle training.

He tries to focus on it, but it after a few seconds of it just kind of sputtering and occasionally rising and lowering, his irritation gets the better of him and he tries to just flash-burn in it to submission.

It... doesn't work very well. Instead he gets a huge flare up right in his face, sending him sprawling backwards with a scream and a flail.]

[Having magic that runs partially on emotions herself, Zelda knows the look of an emotional flareup. Her tone is chiding, but not unkind.]

You mustn't allow yourself to become frustrated if you don't get results. An out of control flame will only burn down everything, after all. You must focus and lay out the path for it calmly lest you destroy that you seek to protect as well.

[Every word that had just come from her mouth was once from Impa's. Oh, Impa...]

Auuugh...

[Rin sits back up, rubbing at his eyes. He's not harmed at all, but that doesn't stop the fact that he was momentarily blinded by his own flames by being so close.]

I was focusing!

[Oh Zelda, do you know what you've gotten yourself in to?]

For a few seconds, perhaps. Then there was a surge of power.

[Enjoying being around someone who can read the flow of mana, Rin? It's especially easy to read while he's sitting smack dab in the middle of her barrier!]

Eh--! ... Ehh...

[He almost argues. Almost. But he shuts himself up pretty quickly, shoulders sagging and tail drooping low. Even his ears get in on it, going down a little.

Right. Try, try again. That's what Shura always made him do. He brushes the burned dirt away and starts over, staring at the flames intently.]

[Though she isn't sure if it will help him or not, Zelda takes out her harp and begins to play a song quietly. It isn't quite the Bolero of Fire, and it isn't quite the Nocture of Shadow either - it's something inbetween, like she perceives Rin's flames of darkness to be. There's magic behind the song, it's possible that it will help.]

[Rin looks up at the music, blinking at Zelda a few times before he realizes what she's trying to do. He takes a breath and re-focuses on the flames. He can do this. He's done it before with the candles. Even if it was just once, just in time to save his friends, he still did it and that has to count for something.]

[There's no commentary from the princess, only the quiet strains of her music. If he really starts to focus, it's likely that he won't even notice her playing. It's meant to help him concentrate, not to be a performance.]

[It's working. At least he seems to think it is, because eventually he does manage to tune it out to little more than background noise. He keeps his attention on the flames, surprisingly still for some one who's usually pretty fidgety.

Eventually he starts pulling in and letting out slow, even breaths, and with those breaths he can feel the heat of the flames rising in kind.]

[Flames and darkness couldn't be any further from Zelda's element, but that doesn't stop her from being able to play the appropriate song. She continues quietly without a word, though she watches intently when it looks like he's getting the hang of it.]

[Well, she gets points for being willing to try even with that in mind.

And it seems to be exactly what he needs. One more breath out and there's a very small burst of power with the flames flaring up, much more controlled than last time.]

[Slowly, ever so slowly, she winds down her song, allowing him to finish the process on his own. He's already gotten to this point, he should be fine now.]

[It's amazing he's had the patience to get this far, and he's trying reaaaally hard to not choke at the last second.

He forces out a little more power, taking it slow to keep it from overloaded again.]

[At this point, Zelda is doing nothing more than maintaining the barrier and hoping that he can manage that last bit. The ground at is feet is already white-hot, just a few moments more...]

[One of his hands twitches, curling in to a fist. Damn it... he knows he has it, but he's also that close to losing it at the same time.]

Nn...

[He knows if he keeps trying it's just going to backlash on him again, but he's too stubborn to quit while he's ahead.]

[It doesn't look like he's doing so well... Learning to dissipate the power is important, too. She lifts her harp again, speaking clearly.]

Part of learning control is learning how to allow the power you've gathered to dissipate harmlessly. Let it go slowly. The residual heat from what you have done already may have been enough to create glass.

[At that, she begins to play the same song she was playing before, but this time - it's backwards, a gentle unwinding of the same concept.]

O-okay...

[He's built up a lot of power doing just that, and he knows he could just... grab his sword and seal it all back away. But... Zelda's right. He can't just go the rest of his life relying on only his sword for control.

More breaths, slow, even, trying to bring the power back down bit by bit.]

[Remaining calm regardless of the situation is something Zelda is quite good at, and the strumming on her harp doesn't falter for as long as he requires it. It's difficult to say why she's so invested in his wellbeing, they hardly know each other, but perhaps... it's because he reminds her of Shizuo just a little, of her very first friend.]

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