2018.10.18: Unexpected Challenge for Adren
| Unexpected Challenge for Adren | |
|---|---|
| A normal day becomes a lesson, a challenge, and enlightenment | |
| IC Date | Thursday, October 18th, 2018 |
| Players | Johanna, [Skully |
| Location | Johanna's Home and the Umbra |
| Spheres | Garou Gaian |
Just another day in paradise! Johanna tries to take some time every day to go outside at home and enjoy the beauty outside. Her favorite spot has been under a tree with a view of the pool. She lays out a blanket and assumes the position! Seriously, she just sits down, crosses her legs, and closes her eyes as she breathes in and out, finding her center and meditating.
The meditation is calming, clarifying; for a brief moment, one inhalation of breath, it is centering in a surprisingly complete, profound way. It is not unlike the feeling of gaining one's balance instead of falling, or finding a note while singing that previously eluded you. The feeling is reassuring in soothing way.
Once it passes, however, you feel a strange desire to stand, to stretch, to /run/. You let it pass, knowing it for a sign of restlessness that sometimes comes during meditation, but then you hear -- but do not feel -- yourself say, "Khol, honey! I'm going for a run!", with his answering acknowledgement in return.
Johanna is still there. But she opens her eyes then, losing that moment, and blinks and looks around. What just happened? Are her hears playing tricks on her? Is someone nearby mimicking her voice? What is going on? She now needs to figure this out and does stand up and begin to look around.
You sit, and you are there, and you move to stand. You are also standing, stretching, and then leaping into lupus and running away. You are also standing, stretching, and admiring the day. You are also still sitting with your eyes closed. You are all of these things.
"It is a strange thing, is it not, to watch a moment divide?" comes an unfamiliar voice from nearby. About ten feet away stands a man, no taller than five-two, with darkly-browned skin and kind features wrinkled at eyes and mouth, slender but hale and some nebulous age between sixty and ninety. Bald under a flat cap, wearing high-waisted slacks and a simple short-sleeved white button-up shirt, he carries an umbrella, which he leans on slightly, watching. "It will continue to split, you know. You will stand and stand and stand. You will run to the woods, walk home, climb a tree, do a push-up, lay down and sleep. And in one instance you will sit forever, and you will never stand. Fascinating, isn't it?"
Johanna is not sure what to say of it all at first, but this man here. She begins to wonder if she is dreaming - up in bed still and having this all take place in her vivid dreams she has. "Infinite possibilities, so many choices that can be made, and the continuous splitting. It is fascinating and yet overwhelming if you think on it too closely." She steps toward him just a step and asks, "And you are? I'm Johanna and this is my home."
"I know, and I know," the man says cheerfully, bowing his head, "and I ask your forgiveness for coming here without warning, but I dreamt of you last night and your name was on my lips when I woke, and I did not know why. So I came." He shrugs, flipping his umbrella up over his shoulder, and the images cease; it is simply this version of /now/.
"My name is Suriya Walks-All-Roads. I am an Elder Philodox of the Stargazers, born on four legs, and I am a long time as anruth. The walking of roads does not give one time to stay put. And I have come to see you today."
Johanna straightens up and bows her head with respect. "It is a honor to meet you Walks-All-Roads'rhya. I would imagine yes that the walking of roads would tend toward that. You had a dream of me? I'm surprised, but intrigued that the spirits brought me to you. How can I assist you?" She forgoes her introduction like she normally would give since it seems her already knows all about her.
"I am not surprised; that is the way of it, between Chimera and me. I sleep, and Chimera speaks, and I wake and I remember where to start, but not where the road ends. Each day is a lesson and a task, but each is a mystery. That is Chimera's way. But it is not you who will assist me today." Suriya shakes his head, stepping forward and circling her, looking her up and down. "I woke with your name on my lips, but I would hear it from you, Stargazer. How do you say who you are?"
Johanna nods her head, "Of course. I am Johanna Cooper, rite named Starchaser, born on two legs beneath the Half Moon, Fostern of the Stargazers. Daughter of Seeks-the Stars, granddaughter of Calls-Down-The Stars-To-Judge, great granddaughter of Stardancer. Mated to Khol Cooper, kin of the Stargazers. Member of Aster Iustum, children of Peregrine." Her mind is already thinking back to what she knows of Chimera, and oh so fascinated by what is happening here.
Suriya nods quietly a few times, then frowns, shaking his head. "No. That is incorrect. That is not your name. I see now why I am here." He nods to himself, sighing softly, and smiles again, holding out a hand. "You will come with me, please. We will correct this."
Johanna tilts her head, not sure what he means, what she said wrong. She feels compelled though to go with him. She reaches out her hand to his, surprised she is so comfortable, but there is no choice here. "Alright. Where are we going?" She steps closer to him as she takes his hand with hers.
Once she takes his hand, the Gauntlet simply seems to make way for the old Stargazer, and they are in the Umbra without so much as a twitch of his cheek. Suriya flips his umbrella in his hand, holding it up hook-out, and says, "You will please remain holding my hand, Johanna Starchaser. There is no danger, you need not hold hard, but you will not let go, please. It would be inconvenient."
The wizened Philodox reaches the hook-end out, and it snags on something that looks the way an acorn smells, or perhaps the way a sleeping baby sounds, or the taste of an unfamiliar fruit that comes before the taste itself. With that, the pair are gently pulled around in a looping spiral, and it seems more that the umbral plain around them is turning, and not they themselves. "It is a short journey; it is always brief to get from now to next-now. Brief, but full of import. Heavy, I suppose. Choices always are. Even the simplest choice -- do I breathe deeper, or exhale? Do I look forward, or do I look upward? Or downward? Or do I close my eyes? -- each has a weight. Infinitesimal on their own, but we wear them forever." As he finishes his... explanation?... there is a curl in the air, like a blurring of heat, and they are standing in a circular room with a continuous mirror all around them, reflecting them standing together.
"It is an epiph," the old lupus states, letting go her hand and walking around the perimeter. "Do you know them? They are concepts, abstracts; the number six, the feeling of nostalgia, the idea of 'more'. This one is more complex; I call it Could. It works as well as any name; words are just a way to make familiar what is alien. Are you comfortable?"
Johanna follows his instructions, not letting go of his hand until he lets go upon their arrival where they were going. She takes a moment to figure out just what she is feeling, but finds herself saying, "Yes, but wondering how this all fits together." Turning around slowly now to see the mirror all around, "This is quite something here. You say you call it Could, so is this a way to see choices? What Could be if we say turn left instead of right?"
Even as she says 'yes', she hears herself say, "No," and "Not really," and "I suppose, but....". Suriya waves his hand and the chorus stops, shaking his head. "Ignore them; they are not you. They simply could have been." He continues his pacing, coming back to... is it where he started? It's impossible to tell. He sticks the point of his umbrella into the floor, and it stays put. "You have the right of it, Johanna Starchaser. This place illustrates choices. And it will do so as /I/ say now, thank you," he says aside to the place itself, looking mildly impatient.
"You will assume a ready stance, as to fight, please. We will not fight; it is a metaphor only. But a good one. I am told you are not unskilled. You will prepare then, please." And with that, he himself assumes a stance; a mantis pose, hands pointed forward, knees bent, looking as comfortable as if he's sitting on a soft chair.
Johanna puts her hands together at first, and then moves into a position where she is ready to fight. Her feet apart at shoulder width, dominate ahead of the other. She arm up a bit, hands out and ready, not quite flat, but not balled up either. She does not speak for the moment as this is a time to listen for now.
"You face an opponent of unfamiliar skill," Suriya says patiently, in the tones of a lifetime teacher, "but you know yourself and your capabilities. Within yourself, all is known; half of the world. Your opponent is the aggressor; he is instigating this action. His choices have brought this moment to you, and you must respond."
Slowly, as if with a beginner, Suriya's forward hand unfurls into an edged strike, stopping midway between formation and landing. "And you must decide now how you respond to his strike. And you will do so."
Johanna does not want to hurt this man, but knows she must not hold back when facing an Elder especially one asking her to do this. Moving with a swift movement, she takes her arm and moves it toward his that is stretching towards her, to block his movement. While she does this, her leg moves to sweep at his as she turns toward and into the block.
As the blow is blocked, Suriya smiles, and the sweep is executed perfectly; he simply raises his knee up like a crane, her counter passing below his foot, and snaps his foot forward in a front-kick. He stops -- impossibly -- midway to the blow, and says, "And so you defend, but you respond with an opposite strike. Your attack teaches you something; your opponent is prepared for this, and is capable of adapting. You have learned something, and now you must change your tactics, and absorb what you have learned, but you must do so quickly because he is not giving you time to ruminate. How do you respond, knowing you must? Knowing it must be /now/?"
Suriya makes a gesture, hard to follow but consisting of moving fingers and a flick of the wrist, and suddenly they are beside one another. Johanna and Suriya stand, facing one another, and to her right there they are, Suriya held in a bear hug by Johanna, but... an image, static. Paused.
"So she takes the momentum, allowing the kick in order to become the aggressor, to seize her moment and entangle him. I will show you where this goes."
The copy begins to move, showing the small Elder striking back with an elbow to her face, the pair falling to the ground with her gripping him tightly. His hand goes to her throat, and it stops again.
"So she has him pinned, but he has cut off her air. What should she do, I wonder? What is her strength, this woman who turned his action? When he struck against her, is this what she foresaw? Tell me, Johanna Starchaser."
Johanna looks to the image and listens. Her head does swirl with how things keep changing so knowing what is reality at any given moment is a crap shoot it seems. "She should let go in order hopefully for him to let go so she can breathe again. Without air, there is no strength. At least not for long." She looks to him again, beginning to question her own tactic.
The image of Johanna lets go, pushing away at the hand, but the copy of Suriya grabs her hair, wrenching her head back and rolling her over. She pushes up at him while he leans forward, attempting to press his forearm back to her throat but prevented by her arms.
"It is one outcome," the old lupus notes, nodding once. "They fight like this. It would end on the ground, most likely; neither would regain their feet while the other could fight. I do not declare a victor here; only that in Could, I can see Should fairly clearly, and there is little that separates them now. Would she kill him, you think? Incapacitate him? Fight him to a standstill, sue for peace?"
Johanna knows herself and replies, "I can see fighting to a standstill, possibly sue for peace. She has no judgment against him, so there is no reason to go for the kill or incapacitation at this time. There is not fairness or justice in that. This was...or is a lesson, not a punishment for either."
"Just so," Suriya agrees, and the two are standing again, facing one another at ready. But now there are two Suriyas -- the original, and one in red, and Red strikes while White circles, only for a moment. "And now she is outnumbered. It is the same fight, doubled; the same decisions will not help her. How can she respond?"
Johanna looks between them fast, taking a stance again. "I would call upon my pack mate to come assist. But I'm not sure where he is right now. Outnumbered, I would still do what I could, but this is not a choice I would make in haste to face two of your knowledge and power alone."
"What is a call that goes unheard?" Suriya asks, circling her ready even as Red continues his strike, requiring a response. "It is a light going out in an empty room. It is the song in the head of a sleeper. It is the taste of an apple uneaten. You cannot have what you /cannot/ have, Johanna Starchaser. So you must adapt. How?"
Johanna moves to block Red, his strikes meeting with her arms or whatever he strikes with against her. She keeps her cool, as she replies to Suriya. "I cannot have Starlight Eyes, I see that. He has chosen another path and left me here. So I need to adapt and find others. And I have. Well, they found me. Weathers-the-Storm and Lights-the-Darkness. We are going to pack soon. But that does not help me here against you and.." she pushes against Red to give more space and hopefully take him off balance a second. "..Red here."
"That is not the right question," Suriya replies, shaking his head and not attacking. "It is not a matter of how it helps this person who is fighting. It is a matter of how it helps Johanna Starchaser. That is not this person; her name is wrong. She is the sum of choices she made before other choices appeared. She is the Fostern who fights two alone because she waited. She was loyal and faithful; these are good virtues. Strong virtues. But they do not help her. So she adapts."
Suriya circles back before her and extends his arm, upon which alights a peregrine falcon, eyes looking at Johanna intently. "She must change her name, Peregrine," he states to the bird, bowing his head. "So she will, because she adapts. Tell Peregrine your name, Johanna Starchaser."
Johanna looks at Peregrine, feeling that pull. Her loyalty has been strong to Peregrine, but things need to change. "I am Johanna Cooper, rite named Starchaser, born on two legs beneath the Half Moon, Fostern of the Stargazers. Daughter of Seeks-the Stars, granddaughter of Calls-Down-The Stars-To-Judge, great granddaughter of Stardancer. Mated to Khol Cooper, kin of the Stargazers. Member of Kandula's Hope, soon to be patrons of Mammoth." She bows her head to the falcon, still with must respect to the spirit.
Suriya shakes his head again, holding Peregrine aloft, and sighs. "No. It is still not right." He reaches his free hand forward, touching Johanna gently on the forehead. "Johanna Starchaser the Fostern was patient, loyal, and waited for things to happen that never came. You have learned otherwise, Johanna Starchaser. You have learned of Could; you have seen where choices go. And you have acted; you have taken initiative, turned the attack, and admitted when the way things are is not suitable to continue. That is not Johanna Starchaser the Fostern. You must try again."
Johanna's eyes widen as she realizes. Things are changing, and not just what she was thinking. She tries again, "I am Johanna Cooper, rite named Starchaser, born on two legs beneath the Half Moon, Adren of the Stargazers. Daughter of Seeks-the Stars, granddaughter of Calls-Down-The Stars-To-Judge, great granddaughter of Stardancer. Mated to Khol Cooper, kin of the Stargazers. Member of Kandula's Hope, soon to be patrons of Mammoth." A very oh so slight smile forming on her lips.
Suriya bows his head, smiling slightly, and says, "And so you are. That is the name I spoke when I woke this morning. Do you hear, Peregrine? She knows now. It is the road she has chosen." Peregrine ducks its head, spreading its wings, and flies away; no words, no further gestures. The way things are is the way things are.
"Now, Johanna Starchaser, you will take my hand again, please. This will take even less time than before; we do not require Could any longer. We know who we are."
Johanna takes his hand now, and replies, resolved, and maybe, just maybe a few millimeters taller now. "Yes, we do. We finally do." She watched the falcon fly off, and with it went that sense of weight.. being actually held back by her loyalty and patience.
Once she takes his hand, they are back in her yard, standing just as they were, and the Elder Stargazer lets her hand fall, bowing deeply. "And that is what Chimera wanted you to know today. I see now why the road brought me to you, and you see, as well. We wear our choices, Johanna Starchaser, but not all burdens follow us forever. Be light of spirit. New roads lie ahead."
Johanna bows deeply to the Elder Philodox, treating him with the respect she gives her mentor as well. "I look forward to these new roads. Thank you for coming and lifting my spirit, and showing me I can take this new path. It was just the kick I needed, truly." She closes her eyes and whispers, "Thank you Chimera." Opening her eyes she says, "Will I ever see you again? Can I call upon you for advise in the future?"
Suriya shrugs noncommittally, propping his umbrella against his shoulder. "If that is what Chimera wants. I walk all roads, Johanna Starchaser; some do lead back here. If there is a thing which requires doing by me, I will be there to do it. If it requires you, you will be there, as well. And if you call, it may be that I hear you. That is all the assurance I can give; my task is not one that deals in assurances, but rather in possibilities. But I will say this; a time will come when two is three and now is tomorrow's tomorrow, and I would see it, perhaps. I believe Chimera will allow for such. Until that time, Johanna Starchaser." He bows again, smiling broadly, and makes leave to go.
