[Sartu Peak] The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time (Jiina)

[Tao]

7th Spring If there was one thing Tao had to choose to love over everything else in Lhavit, it was the stars. The mountains and the city were so close up to the sky, but maybe it was Zintila's influence that made them so blindingly bright. To be able to reach up and feel like his fingers were inches away from their heavenly glow was something that he never ceased to marvel at. He had wandered for hours on end during the milder days in winter, the biting cold and twisting pathways of the mountains and the city keeping him distracted and entertained. To work his way up to the highest peaks that he could manage without getting into trouble had become somewhat of a goal, if for nothing else so that he could lay on his back and just look up at the skies as they glowed, picking constellations from the pinpricks of light. The mountains had since begun to thaw with the coming of warmer weather, sweeping through the region as the Watchtowers flared a magnificent green. As if in hibernation for the icy days of winter, the city came alive, Surya Plaza packed with people celebrating the coming of warmer days. The Fleeting Comet had become busier, leaving him with little spare time. So when he had a precious scrap to cling to and nothing better to do, he liked to go to that place. It was not on the Zintia Peak, but instead the Sartu, a place that he had not really frequented before, well away from the temples that adourned it. A small clearing, hidden from sight behind a handful of eldery trees, with only a worn dirt path to prove that it existed. It was one of the closest places to the sky he had ever seen, and had an incredible view of Lhavit and the mountains arching around it. Tao had visited it a few times over the course of winter, and tonight he intended to visit again; it was his only day off that week, and while he wanted to study, he figured that he could at least do so while enjoying the sights. The sun was almost set, the last rays of red light fading from the corner of the sky as he approached, dressed simply and carrying his bag on one shoulder, book and papers wrapped safely inside. The walk was a bit longer than his usual wandering around the Plaza, and even if it was worth it, he was quite out of breath. It's just over there. He assured himself, moving through the thick nettled trees that shielded it from outside view, He didn't like those trees much; the pines scratched at his skin and clothing, leaving him looking like he had been mauled by a cat. A sigh of relief escaped him as he pushed forward through the last of them and into the little clearing. Then his eyes widened in surprise as he looked out to the city, only to have his view blocked by a person that he had never seen before.

[Jiina]

OOCUh, sorry it's long. I got carried away with Taeto... I seriously doubt any of my posts will ever be this long again. Jiina, as much as she hated to admit it, was an angry soul. Anger was never a good thing, Taeto said. Frustration, irritation, rage. None should be present in someone who needed logic and emotion to succeed in life. Someone like Jiina. No matter how she tried, no matter how hard she wanted to be rational, anger was always brewing under the surface. Anger at the Shinya, anger at Zintila, anger at her family - anger at herself. Her anger manifest itself in different ways. Most of the time, she could fuel her passionate rage into intelligence, use it to manipulate people. She was good at that. In a messed up way, she actually liked people, liked knowing about them, what made them tick. But not in a kindly way - she liked knowing about them so she could bring them down and make them hers. The anger that she had could be manipulative, and it usually was. Jiina was at her peak when she was angry. Jiina, however, was also at the lowest of lows when she was angry. She was proud and arrogant when she was in a rage, and if someone set her off enough, it could be dangerous. She lost control, spewed forth insults and demands for deference, believing that she was worth more than the average man. She was, though. She was a daughter of Taeto Xi, friend of Weisur. She deserved a great deal of respect. Her skills in combat, in the art of the flux, in her ability in acrobatics all were effective tools for when she was angry, and when she was in passionate anger, they lashed out. Jiina had an incident earlier that day with the wrong kind of anger, the debilitating kind. She had held a handstand for eight minutes today. Her best was twelve. Taeto, watching over her, had been counting the minutes, patrolling around her silently and coldly, never one to offer encouragement. She had been counting in her own head. The calming tick of numbers in her head focused her. Taeto wanted her to reach thirteen today. She had been focusing hard on the numbers... 483, 484, 485... the seconds ticked by in her head as Taeto paced his way around her. She could not help but focus her eyes on the shapely calves that he had, appreciating them. She forgot to count. She turned her head as he began to move behind her, keeping her eyes locked on him... and she tumbled to the ground with a thud and a cry. Sitting up, ruefully rubbing her sore shoulder where it had crashed into the ground, she was surprised to find her collar grabbed. She was dragged up with surprising strength, only to be drawn face to face with an extremely angry Taeto Xi. "Jiina Xi, pay attention, fool! How are you to get strong, to be worth something, if you do not improve yourself? You are worth nothing if you do not train properly!" She closed her eyes, shocked that he would be so angry. "Taeto--" She hurriedly started again, realising she had addressed him wrong. "Father, I apologise. I will improve, I want to be worth something." Taeto released her but was still angry. "You are not worth anything yet! What were you doing? What was such a distraction that you could not focus properly?" Jiina swallowed, avoiding his eye. She had not yet had the strength or the courage to tell Taeto of her attraction to him. "Nothing, Father." He glared at her, raising his hand, back of his palm directed towards her cheek. "Nothing is a poor excuse." With that, he backhanded her, hard. His knuckles made a deep impact on her cheek. He had strengthened the slap with flux. She ground her hands into fists, standing there with eyes smarting, controlling herself not to hit back. "I will excuse myself now, Father." She spat it out while already walking towards the door, not waiting for permission. Once out of the room, she had sprinted through the Tower, needing to get out, she had to get out. There was a spot a couple of minutes run from the Twilight Tower that she liked to go to. It's view was breathtaking, looking out over Lhavit in one direction, and if you spun the other way, it showed you mountains upon mountains in the Misty Peaks. This sort of view was what characterised Lhavit. She hated the oppression, she hated the society, but what she loved was the pure view. When she brought down Zintila, this view would be hers. She had never seen another soul in this spot - the walk was hard to get there - but she would make sure it was never tainted by the mindless Lhavitians who had no concept of the oppression they were under. She ran, and ran, and ran, never stopping, ever puffing her way up to her clearing. She ran through the tendrils of the plants, ran through everything. Tomorrow, she would have a black eye from where Taeto had hit her - she could feel it darkening already - as well as innumerable scratches. The scratches were worth it. A long sigh was released as she stepped out into her clearing. She smiled at the view, the fresh air invigorating her as she breathed hard and fast, as if she were greeting an old friend. She opened up pathways of djed in both her legs, allowing the pathways to pulse with life, invigorating and strengthening her limbs. The ache of the run oozed away.Life pounded through her, and it felt good. She stood, arms dangling loosely by her side and legs strong shoulder width apart. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air, standing facing out towards the drop over the city. She just wanted to get her anger back to its primed state, not the dangerous state that it was in now, before she went back to Taeto. It was important that she was impassioned before him. She had taken three and a half deep breaths when she heard a rustling and a sigh from behind her. Her eyes snapped open, and her entire body swung around on the ball of her right foot, left leg touching down on the ground when she had turned a half circle. If her glittering eyes could have shot ice, they would have. She was glaring hard, at a young awkward looking man who had appeared in HER clearing. This was no acceptable. He appeared not to have noticed her yet. She closed up the pathways in her legs, and marched over to the man. She shoved a finger in his face, as if she were about to poke his eye out. "Hey," she hissed. "What are you doing here? Run back home to mummy and daddy, this is my clearing."

[Tao]

The other person who had found their way to the clearing was a young woman, around his age, with short cropped hair and tanned Lhavitian skin. She stood close to the edge of the cliff face, but what she had been doing there he wasn't sure; she had seen him before he had seen her, and had already turned to size him up in return. It wasn't impossible for someone else to be in the clearing, he supposed. After all, there was a path beaten into the plantlife, signifying that someone other than himself had to make their way to the viewpoint. However, he hadn't been expecting it, and her presence startled him and threw off his sense of calm. She reacted before he did, crossing the clearing with swift, sharp steps, fury contorting her face into an angry snarl. Her eyes, narrowed and cold, locked with his, and the sheer hatred of what he could only presume was his presence made him take an involuntary step backwards, putting his back to the pine trees. Shoving a finger in his face, she all but spat out her words. Defensively, he threw his hands up, a universal gesture that he was unarmed and harmless. It was in Lhavitian, but he could barely understand her with how fast and clipped she said the words. His mind scrambled to catch up with what she was saying, hoping to diffuse the tension in the air before she got any angrier. What do my mother and father have to do with anything? He wondered, clearly having missed Jiina's actual words. Maybe it's a matter of rank... “...My Lhavitian is not good.” He began, speaking slowly to make sure that he was being as clear as possible. It was best to make his issues with the language clear, as it was usually understood that that also meant he had a lack of understanding of custom. “Is this private property? I was not aware. I apologise.” He would have turned and fled had he not had his back to the trees; there was no easy escape there, not with the girl so close to him. Her closeness showed that she appeared to be bruised, scratched, like someone had been hurting her. A frown furrowed his brow a little; it could also mean that she was a fighter. Biting the inside of his lip to keep the fear from showing on his face, he stood completely still (but for a slight tremble that he was not even aware of), waiting for the girl to respond to what he had said. He could only hope he hadn't made a grave mistake in freezing up.

[Jiina]

Jiina could not help but flinch when the boy threw his hands up in a feeble gesture of defense. The sudden movement, despite the boy's thin and somewhat weak frame, made her jump and focus entirely on the movement as a threat. His sudden movement of hands was far too similar to Taeto's when he struck her across the face. It was an automatic reaction for Jiina to quickly snap her face to the side, as if bracing herself for a slap that was to come. Looking up at the boy, she swallowed nervously, angrily, when she realised she had just displayed a weakness. The darkening skin around her eye was also an indication of the discipline Taeto gave her - discipline that looked like something the boy to exploit. Her own reaction was unacceptable. She glared further and harder at the boy, her smile vicious and dangerous, as if to make up for it. Her anger calmed as he spoke to her, slowly, hesitantly. It seemed the boy was scared of her. Good. People should be scared of her. So few people realised what she could do, what her capabilities were. This boy had the right amount of fear lacing his voice. She sighed as he admitted his ignorance. It was irritating that he could not speak Lhavitian properly. It meant he was an idiot. It seemed much of Lhavit was nowadays. She switched to Common, making an angry noise, like a growl. It was helpful she was quite proficient in it. Taeto had insisted. "It's not private property, foreigner," she spat out. She was irritated that he did not just simply understand that it was her spot. Why did people not know what she was entitled to? Why must everyone not know who she was, what she deserved? No one deferred to her. The foolish people. She was of the Twilight Family and she would free them from their oppression. And they did not give her any respect. "But it is my spot. This is my view, my Lhavit. Mine." She glared at him as he trembled before her, nervous. "Stop trembling, boy. You have a backbone, use it." She sighed, despairing of humanity for the moment. She was a dominant personality she knew, but why could she never find someone who would rage back at her in equal measure? Sometimes she just wanted to explode in rage at someone who would not wilt like a dying flower under wind. She had a feeling it wouldn't be him. "What is your name, boy?" She tapped her foot waiting impatiently for the answer. If he hesitated to give it... well, he would know who she was.

[Tao]

The woman flinched. It was the last thing that he had expected her to do. She seemed so capable, so fierce, and she flinched away from someone like him? Slowly, he lowered his hands back down, unsure of how she would react to any more sudden movements. The woman was angry; that much was painfully clear. There was rage built into every fibre of her being, from her stiff stance to the coldness in her eyes. It seemed so... forced, somehow; the emotions were genuine, but he could not believe that all of that anger and hate was directed at him. He was only the target for her wrath, having walked in at the worst possible time. By the gods, what did I do to deserve this? He wondered, despairing at his terrible luck. He had no idea what to do or say to stop her, and he was loath to turn his back on a person glaring at him like that. It was somewhat of a relief that she swapped to Common, albeit with a long and irritated sigh. At least now he could be mostly sure that what he said was definitely polite. He had a feeling that all it would take was one misplaced honoriffic to rile her up even further. Relief flooded through him as she told him that the clearing was not private property, which meant he wasn't going to get in trouble with the Twilight family, who he knew little about apart from that they were powerful. The girl just wanted to be alone. He stepped back another step, putting himself back to back with one of the trees, in an attempt to give her some space. Just stay calm. Don't upset her anymore.Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he consciously forced himself to calm down, straightening up and forcing his hands to still their shaking. “... My name is Tao. Tao Kuroya.” He replied, putting his hands down by his sides completely and bowing his head to her as both a greeting and a sign of respect. “I am sorry for intruding on you. I didn't think that anyone else would be here, and I enjoy the view.”

[Jiina]

She raised an eyebrow as he stepped back, bumping into a tree and staying pressed against it. It seemed he thought rubbing his back up against one of the many trees in this clearing was more preferable to being close to this harsh, angry woman. If she was as timid and frail as he, though, she supposed she would think the same. She watched with a certain admiration as he tried to calm his shaking body, squeezing his eyes shut to calm himself. The man did seem to have, for all his bumbling tendancies, a method of calming himself down. The Shinya, in all their pretension, called it 'meditation', as if it were so much more than the deep breathing and sitting still that it was. The boy before her knew how to calm himself, and she approved. A lot of her earlier anger had disappated. Anger at Taeto and anger at herself had jumped out of her mouth and into her body and overwhelmed the man before her. It was not his fault, she did not pretend to even think he deserved a raging Jiina in his face. But that was what he got, and now he would have to put up with it - not raging, not anymore, but one who was slowly returning to her cold, sarcastic self. She had already shown that she was not the nice little girl that sometimes she put on. It would be too difficult to adopt that persona realistically now. She smiled, standing up as tall as she could, when he bowed before her. She toyed with the idea of making him bow lower, with flux-strengthened arms, but he began to straighten up. "Kuroya? Not Lhavitian, I'm guessing, by the fact you can't speak our language." Her voice boomed, loud and imperious and she sniffed derisively at the man. "Might want to work on that. You sound like a fool at the moment." The man truly was not the smartest as evidenced by what he babbled on about. "Yes, boy. I know the view is spectacular. That is why I am here." Spinning on her heel, she walked back into the center of the clearing. It appeared she had given the boy, Tao, permission to stay, though she had not affirmed or denied anything. She glared at him impassively for a moment, then suddenly moved. If she was going to have to be outside of the Tower, she may as well work. She moved her left foot forward, and sprung forwards on it, flipping her hands over so that they hit the ground and her legs were in the air. She opened the pathways in her shoulders, elbows and flowing down to her wrists, strengthening them with flux to hold her in this position as long as she could. Handstand, go. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Counting she breathed deeply, Tao almost totally forgotten.

[Tao]

It seemed that he had done something right, whether it was the polite bow and second apology, or she was simply pleased that he was no longer quaking like a child before her. He wasn't sure, and that was a problem; if he didn't know what behaviour caused her to calm down, he couldn't continue to use it to his advantage in keeping her calm. One thing was certain, however; there was a smile on her lips as he raised his head from the bow. Despite that he was slightly taller than her, when she drew herself up she held a commanding presence, and seemed much larger than life. Her voice was strong and confident, and had lost the tinges of anger that had seemed to define her from the second she had turned around. Was it something he did that quelled her temper? “I am foreign. I grew up in Syliras.” He agreed, keeping his voice soft and neutral sounding in response; it gave her the sense of dominance he thought she desired, and that would only appease her further. “I am practising the language every day. I hope I didn't offend you with how I spoke.” Her eyes were locked on him, judging without any trace of emotion, like she expected him to crack under her very glance. And though the idea was very tempting, he knew that would only send her off in another rage, and that time she could very well strike out at him. So he stood as firm as he could, imagining for a moment that they were standing in a small restaurant in Syliras, and that there was nothing to be done but wait for her to decide how she would respond. If he had to grip the hem of his shirt tightly to keep himself steady, then so be it. It seemed that, for better or for worse, the woman lost interest in him, turning away and moving back into the centre of the clearing. Exhaling a breath he had be holding slowly, he let himself relax a tad. Had he passed her test, whatever it may be? It was hard to tell with someone so unpredictable, which meant that he wasn't quite out of the woods yet. However, she hadn't exactly told him to leave... and he did want to look out at the view, even for a brief moment before she barked at him to leave her be. Carefully stepping, he gave her a wide berth as he made his way to the cliff edge, setting his eyes on the mountains in the distance. “Beautiful.” He murmured to himself. That was the only word that ever came to mind when he saw Lhavit and the stars. Lhavit was but one star aglow against a sea of them scattered across the sky. Glancing back at the woman to make sure he wasn't bothering her again, he was surprised to see that she had flipped upside down. A question about what exactly she was doing sprung to his lips, then died just as fast as he realised that she probably didn't want to be disturbed. Best enjoy this while I can, then. I don't think it will be wise to return here. He thought, turning his eyes back to the stars, his eyes automatically flitting to patterns that made constellations, well remembered from the books he had read as a child. There had not been many days when he had seen the sky in all it's glory, and never so bright as they were in Lhavit. Of course, the western constellations are different to the eastern ones. He put a finger up to the sky, tracing out the images in his mind's eye. The boar always points to the north, here, for example. So many patterns.

[Jiina]

OOCSorry it took me so long... busy life atm! Her gaze turned scathing the minute he mentioned Syliras. It made sense that a foreigner would flee from one oppressor to another, not knowing what true freedom was. Jiina had heard much from Taeto of the Syliran Knights. She knew they too ran the city, and somehow they managed to keep control even without the divine authority someone like Zintila wielded. It made sense that Tao would think Lhavit was free compared to Syliras, but he would find out soon enough. It would hit him, one day ... and he would wonder why he ever came here. A slight smile quirked her lips up, upside down as she was in her held handstand, as she heard the deep breath released. So, she made him tense, on edge. It was amusing how many people were just so nervous around her. She was intense, that was true. She was direct and to the point. Sometimes even, as she had with Tao, she got angry at them. But she was not always trying to intimidate, she just was intimidating. What she really wanted was, when she was angry, for someone to stand up to her and be just as angry with her - something to bounce off. Unfortunately, she knew she wasn't going to get this from Tao Kuroya, nervous boy extraordinaire. She raised her eyebrows, though of course in her position, it looked like she was lowering them, when he muttered the word 'beautiful'. How disgustingly sentimental that the man had come to her clearing to look at Zintila's stars. The stars had always irritated Jiina. Perhaps it was just that they were Zintila's, but she had never understood people's fascination with those that were so far away and were completely untouchable. It was not like there was any chance that they would ever reach the stars... Zintila reserved that right for herself, like the selfish Goddess she was. Goddess, though, she would not be once Jiina was ready. He was irritating her, the way he looked upwards with wonder and traced his finger around, jaw dropped down at the sheer "beauty". There was nothing special about them... "They're just little sparkling dots in the sky," she barked out suddenly. "We're never going to touch them, to reach them." Bending her arms slightly, she pushed down on the ground and flung her legs backwards so that she was standing upright again. Stretching her arms, releasing the muscles that were tight with the strain of holding her up, she blew out air noisily between her lips. She was aware her face was bright red. "What's the fascination with them? They're inconsequential..." She shook her head, disdain evident on her features. "I will never understand this obsession with the stars." Stupid Zintila, she thought. She was proud to be sure, but not proud enough to risk saying something of that nature to a complete stranger.

[Tao]

OOCHey, no problem. He had nearly put the angry woman out of his mind when she suddenly spoke, startling him into turning back and looking at her again. She flipped herself standing upright once more, her face flushed and breathing noisy with exhaustion. Had she been anyone else, he would have been surprised at the show of acrobatics. For her, the action seemed innate. It appeared that while he had turned his back and ignored her, she had still been watching him. Her expression was scrunched with annoyance, and as he had thought, her words sharp, like she was barking an order. Something he had done had upset her again. Surreptitiously, he moved away from the edge of cliff. Something about the woman seemed strange. Perhaps strange was not the right word for it; she felt wrong. Her lack of control over her emotions, her anger, and now, admitting to disliking the very stars that under which Lhavit flourished in the first place... Everything about her went against the very nature of the city he was beginning to call home. “...That's not really true.” He replied, continuing to keep his voice even and expression as calm as possible; he didn't want to give her any reaction to use against him. “The stars are not only a source of light, but they're very useful in terms of navigation, if one knows what they're doing.” Furrowing his brow, he continued after a pause. “As for myself... well, everyone feels and acts differently. What may be important to you is not to me. The stars were a very large part of my childhood, in a way, so I have a personal attachment.” The disgust evident on her features was something that he knew he would never understand. There were many things about this woman that were foreign to him, like they were part of two different worlds, and the clearing happened to be the place where they happened to coincide. And the woman did not like his world at all. I think it might be time to leave. He thought. Politely, he bowed his head to her again, hoping that the respect would keep her from doing anything else unpredictable. It was simply a matter of finding the best way to excuse himself, now. “I... I'm sorry for disturbing you, ma'am.” Tao said, wishing that he had learned her name; it would be better than tacking on a 'ma'am'. “I don't think it would be in either of our interests to remain in company. We're... very different people, and I know that I am frustrating you.” And you confuse me. He added to himself. He did not move just yet; he wanted to wait until the woman dismissed him, giving her final control over the situation. With that, she would have back the power she seemed to crave, at least over her clearing.

[Jiina]

The fact that the young boy politely disagreed with her both gratified and irritated her. It was good that finally, he was giving his own opinions, giving her something to argue against. But also extremely irritating that he managed to keep his cool while doing so. An exasperated sigh escaped her lips. "And are you a navigator? Didn't think so," she snapped, waiting for an answer. She did not really know why she was so angry with the man. Usually she managed to keep her cool much better than she did. Jiina was an angry soul, that was true, but never really to this extent. Anger was not always a good thing, as she was finding out now. She could not help but scoff at the boy's justification. He felt an attachment to a bunch of dots in the sky. It seemed somewhat ridiculous to her, to get all sad and upset and rely on stars to cheer him up. "Stars are inanimate, right? Forming an emotional response to them is rather idiotic. They won't form any attachment back." Jiina's face was contorted by a frown, a scowl that revealed hatred for this boy - though she was not entirely sure why. Because he's nice, and well-mannered, and smart, and all too like your brother, whispered a voice in the back of her head. Jiina had known, subconciously, all along. It's why the initial outburst had not gotten any better. Tao was like her brother, and her brother was a symbol of everything she could have been and everything she had lost. She was roused from her thoughts by another sudden movement. She jumped again, but he was merely bowing. She smiled then, pleased he had learnt the lesson of respect. She did not, however, deem it appropriate to bow back. She was somewhat disappointed that he was leaving - he seemed like he would be a good source of frustration relief. He was a perfect representation of Lhavit and what it was to those who were its sheep. Then again, it was a relief. A small, very small, part of Jiina liked the boy. He was gentle, and kind, and cute. She almost did not want to see that innocence get smashed, and it was inevitable the longer he stayed with her. That was what happened around Jiina. "Go," she sighed, already turning around. Placing one foot infront of another, she again flipped into a handstand. She was already upside down a few seconds after she spoke. "Well, go!" Closing her eyes, she never saw him leave the clearing. She began to count again. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...