[Flashback] Metamorphoses [Hadrian]

[Azilis Theroulde]

22 Summer, 507 A. V. Kicking her legs idly beneath her as she fidgeted on an uncomfortable wooden seat, Azilis closed her eyes beneath the warm benevolence of the summer sun that streamed in through the classroom window and waited for Hadrian to arrive. She let the heat spreading over her skin radiate through her body, using it as a type of meditation to calm her body in preparation for the exercise they were about to attempt. The base ferality of morphing appealed to her on an animalistic level, and she wanted her mind to be free of distraction; she had a feeling that for this discipline of magic, it would be easier to simply do. From the scant texts of her father's that mentioned morphing, she had gathered that this was not a type of magic that required complicated calculations, or mathematical precision. Intuition was the key here. Her father's book, which lay splayed open on the table in front of her, suggested it would first be easier to imitate familiar human features. Its creamy vellum pages displayed diagrams and unsettling illustrations of human faces shifting and stretching as their forms changed. Azilis had planned to start first with that, and if that was a success, to move past it into some of the more complicated exercises in the beginner's section. Beside her, in a small cage, a tiny snake lay in a coil around itself, flicking its tongue out lethargically. Bands of copper and black scales undulated as the creature moved, catching the light. It was a harmless garter snake, one that her brother had found sunning itself on a rock outside their house. Sensing opportunity, Azilis had enticed it into the cage her father kept lying around if he needed to house certain specimens for his academical needs. She planned to release it as soon as they were done with it, but figured that in the meantime the metallic pattern of its scales would make an excellent morphing model to try to change the texture of their skin, if Hadrian so chose. She opened her eyes and glanced at the snake, sticking her tongue out playfully to mirror its actions. Standing, she stretched her arms over her head, regulating her breathing as she often did when she was trying to center her mind in preparation for magic. A clatter of footsteps sounded outside the door. Hadrian, perhaps?

[Hadrian]

Hadrian, indeed. The erstwhile young enchanter in training thought he was on time, but sometimes the time slipped away from him. If only Tanroa were more likely to work with busy wizards, he might remember to eat and sleep in between everything else he was doing. Perhaps the way he ran himself ragged without much thought given to his body's needs was part of why he didn't do so well with the personal disciplines of magic, finding his talents more suited for the strict mental spheres of world magics. But he and Azilis had found a magical partner in each other, a boundless curiosity shared. He would never turn down an opportunity to learn, even if it wasn't something he would focus on, a skill he would endeavor to hone to the same level with which he was beginning to lay enchantments under Stonemiller's watchful eye. Knocking and entering as he was bidden, he smiled crookedly hello. Already his chlorine blue eyes had a flicker of self-deprecation in them, even though he knew that going in expecting not to succeed was a stumbling block in the way of success. "Hullo, Azilis," he said, tossing her an apple. He had brought snacks. There was nothing left of his except a stem, which he had dropped on the street, and some seeds that he had thrown over a wall into someone's garden. Waste not, want not. His quick eye caught the details, and his gaze focused on the snake. "You don't expect to turn Dhani after one attempt at Morphing, do you?" he teased. They were both terrible overachievers.

[Azilis Theroulde]

Azilis' eyes lit up. “Hadrian!” She put a hand up to catch the apple thrown at her just in time, fumbling it slightly. She was not known for her impressive athletic abilities. “You're late,” she said, tsking in mock disapproval. Not that she actually cared. Her timekeeping skills were probably worse than Hadrian's. She watched his eyes alight on the book and then the caged snake as he surveyed the room. “The sky's the limit, isn't it, considering the success of our previous ventures,” she told him, grinning. “Why not expect that we can turn ourselves into Dhani?” She was only half-joking. Her ambitions were wild and untamed, and she would be glad of any piece of knowledge she could get her hands on – no matter how unlikely it seemed that she could reach it. “Anyway.” Azilis took a bite of the apple, savoring the tart juice. A bit of it ran down her chin and she swiped carelessly at it with one hand. “I figured we could start with these exercises -” she indicated the one delineated on the left page of the text “- because they say that for beginning morphers, it's easiest to begin imitating human features.” She shrugged. “Makes sense, doesn't it? It's simpler to do what you know. The snake's for later, if we get past that. And only as a skin texture model. “So what I figured, since there's two of us, is that we could try imitating each other's features. A hand, or the cast of the skin, or the face. That is, if you don't mind imitating my face.” She grinned.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian himself hardly had an athletic bone in his body, so his throw was far from awe-inspiring. He was glad she caught it. Beaning a girl in the face was not the best thing a young, awkward wizard-in-training should do if he wanted to be popular with the opposite sex. "Sorry if I am," he said, not entirely sure he was late though it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. "Well, anyway, when you get permanently trapped in some semi-reptilian form, don't come crying to me about how we've always been so successful. We're bound to fail eventually, though I intend to get right back up again." He grinned. Of course, he wanted to master every discipline on a certain level, but when every teacher advised caution, Hadrian thought caution might actually be the better part of valor. "You see, I always thought faces should be difficult. They're so subtle and... I don't know. But yes, I'm ready. As ready as I'll ever be." His grin continued, the excitement still there since their first meeting.

[Azilis Theroulde]

Azilis rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks, Hadrian. Your concern for my welfare is touching.” She took another bite of the apple. “I mean, it's not that I expect to be wildly successful in every discipline. But there's no harm in trying, right?” A pause as she reconsidered. “Well, actually, stop me if I get it into my head to imitate the whole snake or something. My father would be rather confused if I came running home to him all scaly with a forked tongue and asked him to fix it.” “Let's take it slow, then, and go a feature at a time. We could start with, say...our eyes?” They were similarly colored; both of them had eyes in shades of blue, although hers were lighter, tempered with gray like a sky threatening to cloud over, whereas his seemed to be a more pure variant on the shade. Not similar enough that a difference in color and shape wouldn't be noticeable, but small enough to start off pratice in a discipline in which neither of them had much experience. “Then we can add in other details as we go. The eyelashes, the eybrows, et cetera. And if that's a success...well then.” She smiled. “What do you think?”

[Hadrian]

"Hey, you're in charge of this experiment," he said, holding up his hand. "I'm just planning to do what I'm told and learn from your bottomless well of experience." Though Hadrian was smiling wryly, sometimes his humor failed with audiences outside the confines of his skull. "Direct me," he said, looking for a comfortable place to sit.

[Oracle]

Name: Hadrian

XP Award:

None

Lore:

• Always the Overachiever

Name: Azilis

XP Award:

None

Lore:

None

Notes: Thread had great potential but sadly was cut short. I didn't see any XP I could award but if you notice any please don't hesitate to PM me and let me know.


If you have any concerns with this please PM me and let me know.

A.S. Oracle