A Chilly Reprieve

by **Keene Ward** on January 23rd, 2015, 9:21 am

The fiftieth day of winter, 514 AV

Keene woke to the strange sensation of a chill on his face. His eyes groggily opened to the startling image of swirling mist, and as he jerked up into a seated position, the chill passed through the entirety of his body. Willhemina scooted back off of the bed, floating in the middle of the room as the flickering candlelight danced behind her. Blinking himself more awake, Keene stared at the child for a few ticks with a sleep softened expectation, waiting for her to explain herself. She gave him a worried frown. "People are here."

Rubbing his eyes, Keene shook his head, his voice parched from the night's sleep. After exchanging names, he and the ghost had spent most of the rest of the day in silence. She had asked him the occasional question, but she had yet to reveal any useful or even remotely relevant information regarding what it was she needed help with. As Keene had no idea how he planned to act against the wizard that had been dabbling in what he could only imagine had been the art of reimancy paired with something else - glyphing, perhaps? -, Keene was hardly impatient. Her presence was still something he was getting used to, but he had hoped she would have respected his personal space as a place that was solely his own. He was sorely mistaken. "What do you mean?" His mind was still in the process of catching up to his now relatively mobile body as he pushed himself from the bed to pad across the floor to gather his clothes. He paused a moment as he stared at the candle.

"I mean there's people." Her voice had a fair amount of indignation as he set her little hands on her hips. The icy shards that had protruded from her the day before had disappeared to be replaced by the frilly collar and bodice of the dress.

Keene nodded, distracted by the light. "I see." He knelt to gather his boots before standing up to pluck the candle from its place and head out into the main cavern.

"Why aren't you getting dressed?" Wilhemina drifted behind him, her curiosity overpowering her disdain at what she believed to have been Keene's condescension.

"Oh." Keene turned then, heading back into his room to set the candle on one of the stone outcroppings and proceeded to cloth himself. He was still catching up. As he pulled on his pants, he heard voices drifting in from the main cavern, though they were distant enough it was possible it came from outside of the small network of tunnels. He blinked. Wilhemina had been right about the visitors. As he finished tying his boots and buckling his belt, he slipped on a shirt and a tunic to double layer against the considerable drop in temperatures. Taking the candle in hand once more, he nodded to Wilhemina before he stared out once again down the darkened tunnel.

"Why are there people here?" Wilhemina darted ahead of him, taking the lead and floating backwards in front of him.

"I don't know."

She crossed her arms and let out a small huff. "You never do."

Keene let out a low hum of agreement as they broke out into the main cavern, the only source of light the candle in his hand. The voices, however had grown much louder, and they were clear enough he could understand. The first voice was familiar enough, Keene had little issue placing it. The low, heady roll of Kinapak's disdain carried through the obsidian halls with little effort. "That's absurd, his is bigger."

A feminine, music-like reply danced its way to Keene's ears, a small peal of laughter prefacing the reply. "A lady doesn't tell." There was a general collection of laughter and chuckles, suggesting that there were at least two others aside from Kinapak and the unknown woman. Keene raised a brow, and Wilhemina retreated back into the shadows.

Advancing without his ghostly companion, Keene's boots clicked against the smooth surface, sending the sound of his approach far out ahead of him. It was then Atziri spoke, her smile evident even before he stepped out into the light. "Finally joining us, Keene?" He was met with a collection of faces both familiar and foreign. Gathered around the mouth of the cave from the left to the right stood a woman he remembered to be one of the Bloodhills initiates, two young men who looked incredibly similar, and Kinapak. He found it a bit of a surprise that Daren wasn't there and slightly disappointed. Though, he supposed he had no idea what was even happening, so he looked to Atziri who stood directly to the right of him, her arms crossed and teeth peeking out from behind the curl of her lips. "Glad you're dressed this morning."

The girl raised a brow, a little smirk playing about her lips, and Kinapak rolled his eyes. "I don't see what that has to do with anything." He seemed particularly agitated, though Keene supposed it was possible that it was just the man's natural default.

Atziri ignored him, continuing with her greeting as it turned into an explanation. "These are the other initiates of the Testing Grounds." She gestured towards them, and their responses varied. The twins both nodded, though one grinned wider than the other. Kinapak made no gesture at all. The Bloodhill initiate didn't seem entirely impressed, though the woman did venture a tilt of her head in his direction. "And today, you're all taking a hike up to the snow." Atziri presented it in such a way that Keene was uncertain whether it was to be a punishment or a present, though Kinapak seemed to lean more towards the prior with another roll of his eyes. Clapping her hands together, she gave them a curt nod. "You're all here, so head out." With that, she pulled Keene forward by the wrist and disappeared back into the tunnel.

Keene blinked for a few moments before he realized he was left alone with the collection of other mages with a directive to spend the better portion of the day with them. He glanced back towards where the sound of Atziri's retreating steps came from, but he found no help there. Turning back to face the rest of the initiates, his brain had yet to fully begin the functions required for true comprehension. "I'm Keene Ward." The statement fell incredibly flat as the others regarded him, but the twins seemed to take mercy first.

The one on the left, the slightly skinnier, more reserved looking individual, spoke first, his voice deep and smooth. "I'm Cowen. He's Cowan. We're the Tamas Twins." He spoke of their names not as if he were introducing himself and his brother, but as if he were reminding them all. Cowan nodded, a large grin on his face. Cowen finished, inclinging his head once more. "Pleasure to meet you, Ward."

Kinapak spoke next, though it was really more of a sharp sigh. "Yes yes, we all know who you are, Cowen." The other young man raised a brow at the Prairie initiate but didn't say anything more.

"And I," The woman spoke then, stepping forward to offer a shallow curtsy and sly grin. "Am Lorelei Fairbairn, Keene Ward." She gave him a small wink before she stepped back.

"I see." Much more in control of his faculties, Keene continued, "And why are you all here?" He found the question to be valid. Atziri had told all of them they were to climb the mountain to reach snow, but he had been given zero preface as to why that might be. If he was going to be spending the day with the other initates, he wanted to at least know the reason behind it, even if it were something as simple as, "Because."

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by **Keene Ward** on March 9th, 2015, 12:31 am

Kinapak moved to say something, but Lorelei was faster. "Our masters thought we could use the time to relax a little. Blow of some steam." At the word steam, a playful spark danced in her eyes. It made Keene uncomfortable.

Cowen added to her statement, "Warden Atziri said you would lead us up to the snow." Keene blinked. He'd never been anywhere higher than the plateau, but he supposed the mountain was supposedly his domain more so than any of theirs. With a nod, he started towards the route he always took, the other initiates falling into line behind him: Lorelei on his left, Kinapak on his right, and the twins behind. As he started to scale the rocky face to get to the ledge above, several things happened over the course of a few ticks. Somewhere along the line, Cowan had scooped up Lorelei who happily exclaimed as they sailed up and over followed shortly after by Cowen. However Kinapak had managed it, but the time Keene pulled himself up and over the edge, they all were staring down at him, most of them - save Kinapak - worse a variant of a bemused smile on their lips.

"So, not a morpher or a fluxist, Keene Ward?" The musical lilt of Lorelei's question seemed to elicit an annoyed huff from Kinapak.

"He's a reimancer." The other three nodded, an understanding that Keene found slightly disconcerting.

"Fluxist?" Keene's question was asked as he attempted to take the lead once more, starting up the incline towards the distance sheen of white above them.

Cowen took the question as Cowan set Lorelei down, the four initiates following behind Keene. "Practitioners of the Flux, a physical magic." Cowan stepped up to walk beside Keene, drawing the young man's attention sheerly by his presence. "It allows us to maximize our body's potential by redistributing the flow of our own djed." Cowan had a pebbled in hand that he flicked with a motion of his fingers that seemed impossibly fast. The rock shot out of his hands and out into the distance faster than an arrow from a bow. Keene's brows lifted with an impressed surprise, to which Cowan responded with a grin. "It comes in handy out in the mudpools." Keene nodded to the more verbal of the twins, and Cowen seemed happy enough for the gesture.

"The Flux" was an interesting concept, as basely as it was explained to him by one of the Tamas twins, but Keene didn't find it nearly as alluring as Kinapak's morphing or Derain's voiding. Both seemed to be more practical uses for one's djed, and if the Flux were to maximize the body'd potential, Keene was fully aware that his body would never be able to take the magic to its full extent. He didn't ask any more questions about it, instead he continued on while Lorelei and Cowen struck up a conversation about Cowan's training.

The group's dynamic was oddly polarized: Kinapak as distant from Lorelei while simultaneously as close to Cowan as he could be, Lorelei and Cowen speaking easily enough in tones often used between friends, and the ever silent though always smiling Cowan plodding along beside Keene with all the obliviousness of a melon. It wasn't a bad thing, merely a strange collection of strange people headed towards an unknown destination that the others seemed to assume was known to their unknowing leader. Out of all them, Keene supposed he preferred Cowan the most. The man was quiet and a sturdy presence who-

Keene immediately flinched away, tripping over a rock to stumble a few paces before righting himself. Cowan had wrapped his arm around Keene's shoulders with a wide, friendly grin, a gesture that had sent immediate shivers down Keene's spine and forced the reflex of retreat. The party stopped, all eyes on Keene. Kinapak wore an amused sneer, juxtaposed with the surprised, slightly ajar mouth of the apologetic aggressor. Both Lorelei and Cowen had fallen quiet, and there was a strange, biting hardness to the way the spokesman of the brothers regarding the mountain initate. "I don't think he likes being touched, Cowan." The words were harmless enough, but there was a sort of acidity to them suggested it was best to offer the other twin an apology of some sort.

Having no reason not to oblige the unspoken request, Keene nodded, addressing Cowan with his steady stare. "It makes me uncomfortable. I apologize for speaking of it sooner." There was little way for anyone to know his preferences without him stating them before hand, and now that it was in the open, Keene sincerely hoped it would stay any further advances. Both of the twins nodded, Cowan's smile dissolving Cowen's growing frown and the group continued on happily enough, though not before Kinapak let out a small sigh of disappointment.

The lack of a path was far more manageable than it had been when he'd first started making his daily climbs to the plateau. Moving at a steady pace, they passed by the point that Keene was familiar with at slightly longer than a bell, after which they continued, Keene keeping to areas that were packed down more than some of the more muddy areas where the snow had fallen as rain. All the while, Lorelei spoke with Cowen with the occasional comment thrown in by Kinapak. The camaraderie, however, did little to assist in keeping his mind from the events just two days prior. It was a reflection of how he'd been with Boswell, perhaps not in the perfect sense of a true mirror, but there none the less. And while Noven had left some time ago, the twisting knot in his stomach compounded with the despair in his chest made anything beyond numbly forging his way up towards whatever snow they could find too difficult to entertain.

When they began to see snow, Lorelei shared a particularly lengthy explanation of the first time she'd experienced the deceptively fluffy white substance. Somewhere along the line Cowen suggested they continue higher up where the snow the thicker. Finally, conveniently near the end of Lorelei's laughter filled recount, they arrived at another sort of plateau-like area. Snow covered the ground, enough for it to cover the tops of Keene's boots. The others, even Kinapak, seemed happy to stop, content with the snowy clearing they'd found.

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by **Keene Ward** on March 9th, 2015, 1:15 am

"Cowan, dear." Lorelei gave the man a bat of her eyes. "Would help me in building a snow man?" The twins seemed to grin in unison, both slipping on gloves that they pulled from their packs. The blonde turned to give Keene a playful grin. "You too, if you're willing, Keene Ward."

The manner in which she spoke his name made him almost as uncomfortable as if she were touching him. The subtle breezes gently pressed against his cloak, but for the moment he ignored him. "A snow man? Are we... animating this?" He gestured to the expanse of white, garnering three very surprised looking reactions. "...No?"

Cowan was the first to laugh, quickly followed by the other two. Kinapak rolled his eyes, not deigning to condescend to such levels that were so clearly beneath him. "No no," Cowen's deep voice carried in a pitying smile, something that Keene wasn't able to pick up on as he stared blankly at what he found to be their unprecedented mirth. "It's like..." Cowan had already stooped into the snow, gathering up and packing together two balls of snow and putting them on top of each other to show to Keene as Cowen continued. "Like that. A little man made out of snow. Nothing magical about it." The twins nodded, their point made.

Lorelei then turned to Kinapak, her melodic tone drifting over the young man in a soft and sweet tone. "Are you going to join us, Kinapak?" The prairie intiate's frown clearly stated he was going to remain where he was. "Well, all right." There was a small hush of sadness in her voice, though her eyes glinted with a hint of mischief. "Shall we begin?" She turned back to face the others, ending with Keene, who nodded mutely. "Lovely!"

The three men set about collecting snow while Lorelei seemed to stand and watch them, a strange look of concentration on her face. Keene was tasked with the "head", according to Cowen the smallest of the balls of the snow to be placed on top. From the example he'd been shown, Keene didn't really understand why the thing was called a snow man when it really just looked more like stacked rocks made of snow, but he didn't question it. Instead, he watched the other two, copying their packing of the snow before rolling it around in the thin mountain air to gather more and more mass. Keene did the same, finding the chill a bit less bearable than he'd thought at first. Though his cloak kept him warm enough, his bare skin against steadily growing icy sphere was a bit much. As if reading his mind - which was something Keene wouldn't have put past any of the wardens or their initiates - Lorelei offered him her own gloves with a smile.

Taking them with a nod of thanks, Keene slipped them over his shivering fingers, the warmth wrapping around his digits as the gloves slipped into place. Keene returned to gathering up a ball of snow for the head after glancing at the twins who had amassed a surprisingly massive mound of snow for the bottom part of their creation. Cowan had already started on the middle piece while Cowen had just disappeared towards the way they'd come. While he'd been responsible for getting all of the initiates to the snow, Keene had no reason to watch after them if they wished to leave. Busying himself with the task of increasing the mass of the head, Keene took several more chimes before it was adequate enough: a lumpy mess of snow vaguely in the shape of a ball. The twins had made it look much easier than it was.

Kinapak sauntered over to inspect Keene's work with a raise of his brow. "You're terrible at this."

Keene frowned down at the fruit of his labor. "So it would seem." As the two stood side by side silently appraising Keene's lack of symmetry in rolling, Cowen returned with a mess of sticks and rocks supported in a bundle in his hands. Lorelei stood in front of the middle of the snowman, eyes steady as the ball lifted itself up off the ground and floated over to the base where it carefully set itself down. At the display of what Keene imagined to be some sort of personal magic with Lorelei at its source, Kinapak rolled his eyes. Addressing Kinapak once more as Keene watched the lumpy head rise up into the air to drift over to the now sizable creature that was their snowman, Keene's words moved a bit slower. In spite of himself, his curiosity was something that demanded to be sated. "What magic is that?"

"Projection." Kinapak shrugged at Keene's raised brow. "I couldn't tell you how it worked even if I wanted to. And the only thing she'll tell you is 'a true wizard never reveals her secrets' or some such rubbish." From his tone, it was clear the initiate didn't think highly of the young woman who was now sorting through the various sticks Cowen had brought back with him. Still, he imagined Kinapak's rhetorical situation he presented wasn't far off. Lorelei made Keene uncomfortable in the way she handled herself, all smiles and fluttering lashes. Cowen was better, though the manner in which he seemed to protect his brother struck Keene as odd. Cowan, then, even with his inclination towards unprecedented touch seemed the most agreeable. Kinapak certainly wasn't.

With a small shout, Lorelei got his attention once more, "Which of these do you think work best for the arms?"

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by **Keene Ward** on March 9th, 2015, 5:20 am

Within another bell or so, they had created several different snowmen. Using their various magics (mostly Keene and his reimancy), they had a collection of what was described as the typical snowman, a snowman made of snow-squares, something that looked like a mix between a warped abomination and a woman (Keene's failed attempt at sculpting), and a handful of knee-high creations. The snow was adorned with various things: rocks, twigs, branches, dirt. By the time they had finished, all of them had fought back the cold with their combined efforts. Cowan stood behind Cowen, his arms wrapped around him and head on his brother's shoulder. Keene had given his cloak to Lorelei, who stood wrapped up in the folds of the fabric with an appraising smile as she surveyed their work, calmly sipping from a flask of water they had been passing around. Kinapak's skin had been swapped for a fluffy white coat of fur, giving him a deceptive, muscular appearance. In line with the snowmen, Keene stared back at them.

"Yep. He definitely looks like he's with his people now." Kinapak's voice carried amusement, something that had taken most of the morning to draw fourth from him.

Cowan chuckled as Cowen shook his head, a smile on his lips. "You can rejoin us if you would like, Keene. I think Kinapak has made his point clear enough." Lorelei moved a hand to hide her own mirth as Keene returned, wholly unaware of their little joke.

"So Keene," The conversational tones belying her intent, "Where are you from?"

He blinked, the interest of the other initiates, Kinapak aside, focused on him. "Zeltiva."

For the first time since they'd met, Cowan spoke up, his voice a bit higher and breathy than he'd thought it might be. "The place with all the ships, then?" Keene nodded. The port city was known for its naval power and position as a capital of trade, not that that had been much of his experience when he'd lived there.

"A Zeltivan, hm?" Lorelei frowned, though the expression did little to darken in the curiosity in her eyes. "You don't... Sound like a Zeltivan."

Keene nodded, "Mella was from Syliras. I suppose my accent comes from her." The others nodded, finding the suggestion reasonable enough.

"Mella?" Cowen offered his question with a raised brow.

"My-" Keene paused. He supposed Mella was no longer his master. Death had claimed her, as it had Boswell and Wilhelmina after her. The investigation into his personal life quickly became more undesirable, but Keene supposed he was the new face in the congregation. From what he could tell, the others knew each other well enough. It was proper to share with them what he could manage. "My late master."

At that, Cowen gave Keene a solemn nod. "My condolences. Loss is a difficult thing; I apologize for not using more tact in my questioning." The group remained quiet for a time, all their eyes belying that they were no strangers to death and the acts associated with it.

"So..." Lorelei tried again, her voice quiet but not quite finished with her line of inquiry. "Were you the one who punched Telemeran?" Cowan snickered, and both Kinapak and Cowen let their eyes fall to the ground as they smiled in their respective manners.

Shaking his head, Keene steadily replied. "No. That was-" Noven. Whether they intended it or not, they were making things more and more difficult for him by the tick. "A visitor I was in charge of." He'd hardly had any say over what Noven did or didn't do. The rhythm of his heart increased some, but he ignored him, choosing instead to focus on the disappointed gazes shared by Cowan and Lorelei.

"But that self-righteous lout did take a fist to the face, right?" Kinapak's investment in Telemeran's assault was only slightly concerning. Keene nodded, eliciting a collective sigh of appreciation from his audience. It seemed that the general opinion of the Overseer was about matched to his personal feelings of the wizard. "Good."

Cowen voiced another question, this time avoiding the touchy subjects. "If you're from Zeltiva, how is it you've never built snowman before? From what I've heard, the winters there are quite harsh." Cowan nodded, echoing his brother's interest.

"I didn't spend much time outside."

"That's a surprise." Kinapak's sarcasm was heavy as he rolled his eyes to which Cowan gave him a wide, amused grin.

"Come to think of it, where did you say you were from again, Kinapak?" Cowen's tone was reserved, a quick switch from his warmth from before, giving Keene the impression that sincerity, perhaps, wasn't the more eloquent twin's forte. Kinapak responded by scowling, turning his face out towards the distant valley below them and choosing silence rather than to answer the loaded question. Cowen nodded, the movement rocking Cowan's body back and fourth as he adjusted his head to set on Cowen's other shoulder. "We appreciate you sharing with us. New faces among the Wardens are more common than most of us would prefer, but it is always good to meet comrades willing to share their pasts with us." Lorelei and Cowan nodded their agreement. "Cowan and I hail from Ravok. Our father was..."

Cowan frowned. "Killed."

"And we fled here." Cowen's frown echoed his brother's. "Mysterious, maybe. But our lives are here now. We are the initiates of the mudpools under Warden Gresshal. If you would like to know anything about either of us, I will answer you as best I can."

Lorelei chimed in, a small smile about her lips. "And I as well."

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by **Keene Ward** on March 9th, 2015, 6:23 am

Having been given a bit more of their own information in return, Keene found the exchange to be satisfactory enough. He shook his head at the offer for further questions. While he found the other initiates interesting enough, his mind was too tired from recent events. The only thing he wanted at the moment was for the conversation to end. With the heaviness of his own thoughts, Keene let his silence settle until Lorelei suggested they play a game - a snow ball fight as it were. After the rules were explained to him, Lorelei and he set about creating their "base", tearing down the snowmen and reconfiguring them into barriers while the twins did the same. Kinapak was designated judge, though how exactly he was supposed to preside over groups of two chucking show at each other, Keene wasn't sure.

He and Lorelai set about molding snowballs, or more accurately, Keene did so while she watched the brothers, speaking low and quiet. "It doesn't matter what we do, the twins always cheat." He wasn't sure if she were talking to herself or if his participation in the would be dialogue was expected. "So, I suggest getting out of the way and keeping some res out just in case."

Keene blinked, pausing in his creation of their stockpile of ammunition. "We agreed not to use magic."

Lorelai gave him a soft trill of laughter, looking back at him with a grin. "Don't always take things at face value, Keene Ward. You'll find Sahova is rarely as it seems, and we're no different." He nodded, finding the advice already supported by his own experiences. So, as he worked, Keene prepped himself for a true battle. From the way Lorelei seemed to approach it, Keene imagined that it wasn't quite the friendly fight he'd been led to believe it to be. After a short while, snowballs began to make themselves, the work of Lorelei's projection he assumed. It made the pile grow much quicker, and by the time both teams were prepared, the light had settled into its afternoon pallor.

Kinapak seemed to take his role rather seriously as he signaled they begin. What happened was a bit of a blur, but within the first three ticks, Keene was sailing through the air, then sensation of being hit with something moving at a very high speed only catching up to his brain once he'd hit the ground. There was a muffled, "Sorry!" from Cowan before Lorelei's face appeared in his vision, her smile and eyes fill with a subtle mirth. "Still want to play fair, Keene Ward?"

Flexing his fingers, Keene pushed himself to his feet, pale blue res drifting from his fingertips. He'd never been in a magical spar before. Fighting without the intent to kill was something he supposed would serve him well in the future sould there ever been a need to capture rather than simply destroy. Both he and Lorelei returned to the field, nodding to Kinapak that they were good to start the next round. The twins both wore mischievous grins, and once Kinapak signaled they could begin again, snow filled the air with a deceptively calm whistle.

The twins - specifically Cowan - threw the snowballs at a rate that would have been impossible for anyone without the magical augmentation of the flux. With a combination of Keene's elemental attraction to deflect the rocketing projectiles and Lorelei throwing from a myriad of angles, they were able to win the next round. As time passed, things became much more exciting. Keene rocked back and fourth with the motion of his res, pulling the snow out and around him to return it back at the force it had been thrown. By that point, Lorelei was fully focused on keeping the snowballs from hitting them as both of the twins launched the weapon of choice relentlessly. Every time one of the twins threw a snowball, Keene's res rushed to meet it, pulling it off course and sling-shotting it back where it came from. His body remained mostly stationary, as the vast majority of his mental faculties were devoted to the redirection of the ice. It was far more difficult than he theorized when he and Lorelei had come up with the tactic. The balls moved at such a rate that Keene had to address them immediately. Those that he was unable to affect were handled by his teammate, who knocked them aside with her strange, telekinetic magic.

When the final snowball knocked the wind out of Keene, sending him crashing into Lorelei who had been standing behind him, Kinapak gave a sharp whistle to signify the fight was over. They had spend the better part of the day in pseudo-battle, and as Keene rolled off of Lorelei, gasping for air, he found the exercise had done him good. Nothing gets your mind off of stuff like a good sweat and exercise. He panted up into the grey sky, a small breeze curiously testing his breath as it passed over. Lorelei's laughter mixed in with the twins' as Kinapak declared the boys as the winners, while Keene let the air return to him before sitting up.

"Impressive. You kept up against the both of us." Cowen stood over him, surprise in his eyes, though there was also a hint of respect. "That is... Uncommon. You're quite the reimancer."

Keene rose, pushing himself to his feet to regard the taller man with a small frown. "The Flux is quite a magic." The speed at which both of the twins had moved had been incredible. It wasn't surprising, only quite different to see in practice than in theory.

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by **Keene Ward** on March 9th, 2015, 7:17 am

They had returned to the cavern shortly after the fight, all four of them needing to return to the citadel before the next day. Keene saw them off from the mouth of the cavern, grey-green eyes watching after the retreating backs and nodding to Cowan's parting wave. Atziri joined him, her presence a sturdy reminder that the day had been only a small break from the duties he was bound to. "So, what do you think, initiate?"

Keene turned his frown towards her, still slightly shivering from they snow filled day. "About what?"

Atziri continued to stare after the mages, eyes thoughtful. "About them. What do you think about them?" Her voice was a bit more subdued, sad almost.

Blinking, Keene let his eyes slide back to the distinct blonde of the back of Lorelei's shrinking figure. "They seem talented and..." He paused, thinking. "Dangerous." He hadn't quite been able to place it until Atziri had asked him about it. There was power in each of those the two of them watched leave the mountain, power enough to survive against the odds of the island. That power was as easily gained as his own, and all of the initiates had had things Keene new to be as dark as his own tucked and woven into their pasts. They were, like everything else on the island, far more than they appeared.

His master nodded, "I agree." She continued to stare out into the gathering darkness, eyes bright and defiant against the encroaching night. "Trust them with your life, Keene, but keep your soul to itself." The advice was cryptic, but Keene nodded regardless. Whether he understood or not, the other initiates seemed capable enough to be relied upon. They were allies in their endeavors after all, though allies still carried with it the connotation that betrayal was a possibility. If anything, he trusted Cowan without much question. The others were more questionable, but he owed Daren the equivalence of his life, and he found the man as reliable as they came. "I'll go get dinner, you head on in and warm up." She raised a brow, her customary disposition washing away some of her stern contemplation. "You don't have enough fat on you to keep the chill out."

Nodding, Keene headed into the cavern, running his hand along the wall to guide him into the glowing heat of the fire. Removing his cloak and setting it neatly over the back of one of the chairs closer to the flames, Keene pulled another over to the pit, settling into it to dry both his skin and his clothes as per command. The room grew a little colder, though not enough for him to take much notice in his shivering state, as Wilhelmina drifted up through the floor, eyes curiously fixed on him. "Where've you been?"

Point upwards, Keene replied with a soft, "Higher up on the mountain."

The child squatted down onto the floor, her feet hovering just above it as she looked up at him with wide eyes. "Why?"

Keene's brows knit. Lorelei had said it was to "blow off steam", but he wondered if it had been more of a test to see if he was a worthy addition to the Wardens. He supposed the egocentrism of the thought was a bit much, so instead he replied, staring into the fire as the heat soothed its way into his bones. "To relax."

Wilhelmina gave him a skeptical pout. "You don't look relaxed. You look tired."

Nodding, Keene regarded the child with a blank face. "It wasn't very relaxing, no." While perhaps not the retreat it had been presented as, the trip had done him good. Nothing changed the fact that he needed to get stronger, to become more than he was. Nothing changed Boswell's death, nor did it bring any closure. Still, he had worked himself hard, his body and his djed within his body were both well worn, ready for the night that had set over the mountain. As he and Wilhelmina watched the flames in comfortable silence, Keene let his tired mind rest, content to stare into the wavering dance of reds and oranges. He felt more like an initiate of the wardens than he had since he'd started in just a single day. It was strange how effective time spent with peers seemed to be on one's sense of belonging.

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by **Orin Fenix** on May 8th, 2015, 11:20 pm

Grades are Served

Keene Ward

Skill	XP
Spiritism	2
Socialization	4
Observation	4
Interrogation	3
Land Navigation	3
Leadership	1
Tactics	1
Reimancy	1
Planning	1
Intelligence	1
Endurance	1

Lores

Wilhelmina: Why is She Here?
Atziri: Mount Merlus' Warden and My Master
Cowen Tamas: Talkative and Insincere Twin Initiate
Silent and Physically Affectionate Twin Initiate
Lorelai Fairbairn: Uncomfortably Flirtatious Initiate
Lorelai Faribairn: Projectionist
Flux: Physical Magic That Redistributes Djed in the Body
Kinapak: Arrogant Morpher
Sometimes People Do Non-Magical Things for No Reason
Projection: Lets People Move Things With Their Mind
The Twin Initiates are from Ravok
No Honor Among Wizards
Reimancy: Redirecting Snowballs
Flux: Maybe Not So Useless
Sahova: Be Careful With Your Trust

Extras :

Don't forget to edit or delete your grade request in the grade request thread.

If you have any questions or concerns about your grade please feel free to send me a message.

Solo A Chilly Reprieve