[FlashBack] Moving Mountains. Or Marbles. (Solo)

[Auldwin]

OOCJust a solo thread of Auldwin working on a few of his Ghostly abilities. 13th of Spring, 508 AV It was Spring, though Auldwin couldn't well enough tell. The children moved out from the street, hurrying into the School House at the northeast end of the island. Auldwin learned that was a good way to tell what time of the day it was. School ran from the morning into the afternoon and was rather diligent about it's consistency. It seemed like a fine school, most likely giving the youngsters a better education than Auldwin had in his own childhood. The school was small, but the amount of knowledge within its walls was a match for any the Ghost had ever seen. There was something to be said about a school inhabited by Ghosts from different time periods, as well as the texts put together with such a strong historical accuracy. As the last child made their way through the doors of the facility, Auldwin brought his vision downward to the ground where a group of children had been last. There sat a circle drawn in the dirt. Rocks and debris had been painstakingly removed, and all that was left was a swarm of smooth circular spheres. "Marbles?" he remarked to himself, thinking about the games he used to play when he was a child. The game of marbles was a favorite among his friends and he in their youth, but was at the same time surprisingly difficult. The idea was simple enough, use your shooter to knock other marbles outside of the ring, and keep your shooter inside of the ring. The one who knocked out the most marbles won. It was so reminiscent that he wished he could play the game once again. Perhaps he could? Floating down to the ground level, Auldwin found a good marble to use as the shooter. Looking down at his fingers he moved them up toward the marble concentrating on what that orb felt like in life. The smooth, cool texture against his skin. He could do it, he could pick it up, if he tried. Slowly his spectral fingers moved around the marble, closing on either side until finally, he had it. Lifting it to the outer edge of the sphere he lined it up with a shot, another marble previously struck by the last participant most likely. That would be the easiest one to attempt. Moving the ball close to the ground he knuckled down and prepared his Soulmist to push the marble outward with as much force as he could muster. Luckily the light weight of the marble allowed him to gather a good momentum as, with a flick of his thumb, the little circular child's toy went rolling across the circle before missing its target and coming to a stop approximately one foot outside of the drawn circle. "Hmph. Not as easy as I remember it." he grumbled softly to himself, floating back over toward his shooter.

[Auldwin]

Or was it? Auldwin had recently unlocked new potential in his own self within the realm of Soulmist Projection. That manipulation of Soulmist came to him much easier than Materialization, as abnormal as such a notion was among Ghosts. It appeared Auldwin could theorize about the textures and physics of objects that he might interact with in a way most superior compared to concentrating on only himself. A particular ability he had learned was firing a great burst of Soulmist in one direction, all at once. It had the tendency to lessen his accuracy, but at the benefit of greatly enhancing the strength of his momentary output. Looking to put both pieces of that puzzle together, he brought his marble up using the idea of push. Push was complex in it's own right, you had to have just enough push in every direction to keep an object level and steady. To the users benefit, it didn't take much Soulmist at all to keep an object that way, or move it at a steady pace. Now hurl on the other hand, that was a different story. Bringing forth all of those bottled up feelings, Auldwin let them flow through his Soulmist. He channeled the very idea of his own material meddling, and the appropriate force he should have given his time upon the world as one of the dead. His eyes focused carefully at his target marble, and without additional hesitation a slender line of his Soulmist fired forth and struck the marble as it was held steady by his push. The marble skipped past it's target, tumbling across the dirt and far from the boundaries of the circle. Reduced the accuracy? It certainly did. What a disastrous play that was, his former ten year old self would have had a fit. He couldn't help but be surprised at the focused force he could put behind a light object though. It was easily more than twice what he had ever been able to muster before, although if he could have put it into comprehensible living terms, it was like striking a kick ball made of led with your most devastating kick. The very connection reverberated up his Soulmist, and brought forth a wave of lethargy there after. He considered for a moment the whip of Soulmist that he created when using hurl. So, he was no longer constrained by the boundaries of a typical Human form. Did that mean he was evolving into a more potent Ghost, or simply drifting further from Humanity?

[Auldwin]

No, not further from humanity, he couldn't be. He was here in Black Rock, playing marbles. The lines between the children's game and a test for his supernatural abilities blurred. Was he having fun? The fun was contained within the memories of a slowly fading past. The more time went by the more it all seemed so fuzzy. Now a days those kinds of emotions seemed quite hard to come by. They didn't come naturally like they used to. The feeling of refreshment when the salty sea sprayed upward never came when he sat so closed to it's pounding waves. He wasn't even scared anymore. Before, those few years ago the water seemed so intimidating. Now it just seemed like amorphous land of a different color. Clack came the sound of the marble, the shooter in particular, striking another marble. It was a direct hit, part skill and part beginners luck. The smitten orb rolled and rolled until it was out of the circle, while it's assailant rested calmly near it's original place of rest. A proper hit, one that would have made his child-hood self proud. Soulmist Projection could be reigned in, it wasn't as chaotic as he originally thought. The pressure of movement, the difficulty in causing even the smallest change in the material environment was still monumental, but now it was happening faster, and with greater force. Repeatedly Auldwin shot at those marbles, knocking them one after another out of the circle. It made him feel cocky, like he was regaining some lost edge. Perhaps this was the way he was always meant to exist, in this pitiful Ghost form? Just that one thought made his triumph so quickly turn to anger. When anger took over the marble flew twice as far with half the accuracy. It sped off into the distance, bouncing along the uneven parts of the dirt. So much for his shooter. "Sorry kid." he sighed to himself, thinking about the previous marble owner that was probably studying hard in class. Another child, another potential Ghost perhaps, one day. Death was a strange thing. Auldwin had been dead for what felt like an eternity, yet it was just a sliver compared to the time he had spent alive. Even as it was, he felt like he was beginning to understand what it was to be dead more than he ever could...about what it was to be alive.

[Auldwin]

Floating over to each marble Auldwin gathered them carefully, dragging each one back to its starting position in the circle. To play marbles you had to make an 'X' with your pieces, and so he did. He found it easier to push such small bits of material matter across the ground these days, it was almost like his Soulmist was improving. Like working a muscle and having it get stronger. What a joke. Muscles? He had no such thing anymore, now it was just his consciousness and this Soulmist. It was the only thing left of him, his body gone and forgotten, used as food by some stupid creatures roaming the Sea of Grass. Petching Glassbeaks. Auldwin had to put them into the category of things he disliked, which seemed to be growing recently. Right up there with Zeal, that useless Spiritist, some job he had done at helping Auldwin while he still breathed. Once his skill at utilizing his Soulmist had progressed enough, a little meeting with Zeal would be in order. He'd show that boy the error of his ways, and the helplessness of dealing with a Ghost out for your blood. Slinging out a tendril of his Soulmist, Auldwin had it touch down with the ground and press into the resistance that was the dirt. From there he dragged it slowly, following the outline of the previous circle. The line deepened and was thus, reinforced after it had faded somewhat from Auldwin's recent game. The sound of dirt moving with nothing truly coming into contact with it, so this was what it sounded like. If Auldwin's state was natural, than was this a natural disaster? In the distance he saw that lone shooter he had fired sometime ago, lost and now subsequently found. With but a thought he Blinked over toward it, latching it up with his Soulmist and launching it up into the air before catching it in his spectral hand, managing to Materialize it momentarily. It wasn't the same as it was in real life, rolling the marble about in the only part of his body which had some solidity at this time, his hand. Finished he walked back over toward the circle and bent down, leaving the marble near the edge of the circle. "There. Now it was like I was never here. Like I was never here..." he repeated the last bit to himself, his form flickered strongly into view as he materialized it completely and walked away from the circle. The kids deserved that circle. They should use it, while they have the chance.

[Growl]

Appreciation Time! Name: Auldwin Experience: +3 Soulmist Projection Lore: A Game of Marbles, Going Back to a Childlike State Additional Notes: An interesting thread! Great work! PM with questions or concerns.