Oct 17, 2022 13:50:10 GMT -5
Post by Hail on Oct 17, 2022 13:50:10 GMT -5
Thump.
Hail dropped the last pile of the various items, tools and materials that Roshi had decided he should gather at this place, which appeared to be just a random valley out on Papaya Island. What a curious name that was - he’d done enough research to know that papayas were a fruit on this world, and he hadn’t seen more on this island than usual yet. Actually, it wasn’t much of an island at all, either. This landmass was far too big to count as anything other than a continent, albeit a relatively small one. Earthlings had such unusual habits when it came to naming things. Why name a continent an island, and pick a name for that ‘island’ after a fruit that didn’t seem very prominent on it? There had to be some kind of cultural reason, he thought. He started mulling it over as he was interrupted.
”Hey, quit your daydreamin’. You got work to do, remember?” He blinked a couple of times, pulled out of his thoughts as he turned to look at Roshi again, bringing his hand down from his face. ”Oh, right, yes. Let me go over it again. You had me bring these materials here so that I could build a house of them for one of the men in the nearby town. He lost his home in a…tidal wave, I think you said. Well, while I’m always happy to help, do my civic duty and all that, I fail to see how exactly this helps my training. Of course, if it’s just asking me to give some help, that isn’t a problem, this should only take-”
Roshi loudly cleared his throat, interrupting Hail’s speech as he realised what had happened. Just to make sure he didn’t, the old hermit spelled it out. ”You’re talking a lot again. Now, listen. You’re gonna build this house, but not just that. You told me this form you’re in suppresses your power, eh? So you know how to do that properly?” Hail raised one side of his brow at Roshi’s question, but standing there in his first suppressive form, he couldn’t exactly deny it. He’d explained himself after coming to see him the second time and beginning the training proper; if he was going to do this, and it did mean some real progress for him, he wanted to ensure the training he got would actually mean something for his physiology. The hermit hadn’t seemed put off by it, so he assumed there was a way he knew.
Eventually, he gave a single nod. Ki suppression was not that difficult of a technique, at least, not for him. He was sure more naturally powerful changelings would find it far more difficult. ”Alrighty. I want you to suppress your power as much as you can. Go on, now.” Hail turned his gaze forward, focusing as he tried to pull his energy within himself. It was sort of like taking a piece of paper, and then scrunching it up into a ball, but then having to make that ball smaller and smaller, finding the different angles on your new uneven sphere where you could push it inward without it immediately springing back. Eventually, he squeezed it all so tightly that he didn’t feel like he could anymore. He must have been at around 200 on a scouter. An incredibly low power; thankfully, he had some practice with this, so he could go as low as that. He stood proud, letting out a deep breath once the effort was done as he maintained that level. ”Finished.”
There was a long pause as Hail felt very self-satisfied with the result, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes remained closed, and at first he just assumed that Roshi was trying to assess where his power had gone, or was impressed that he was able to get it that low. At least, he assumed that was the case, until he heard the master’s croaky voice speak up again. ”Yeah, that’s alright. You’re gonna need it to be about half that.” Hail’s eyes shot open as he turned towards the hermit, a look of shock on his face. He had to be joking, right? Behind those shades had to be mirthful eyes, a face ready to burst into laughter at any moment. There was just no way he’d said that with a hint of meaning behind it. ”You must be joking. That’s impossible! My power wasn’t even that low at birth, how could I possibly-” Before he could begin ranting, Roshi cut him off, speaking in that same croaky tone, the sun glinting off of his shades. ”You wanna learn? You gotta do it.”
He stared incredulously towards the old man. Hail glanced down at his own body, as though he would find answers there. How did he possibly get it down to a reading of 100? He’d pushed his ki low before, and had an assistant do the readouts; he had never gotten lower than this. Now he was expected to half it again? Yet, the way the hermit stared at him, expectantly, mocking him with that dull look on his face - it was a challenge, and Hail couldn’t accept the idea of backing down from it. Once again, he turned away, facing in the direction of the materials as he took a stance one usually would for powering up, closing his eyes as he began to focus. His power was like a small orb at this point, incredibly concentrated within his centre, stiff and resolute. He focused. Harder and harder he focused, putting all of his mental effort towards shrinking this ball. Then, progress. It shrank a bit, but not enough. It must have read around 180 by now, he was sure of it. He was a fifth of the way there. He could do it.
Hail grit his teeth as his muscles tensed, veins becoming visible from the sheer effort of attempting to concentrate his energy even further down; the muscle beneath his bio-armour became more obvious as they quivered, like they were going to suddenly expand. It was the nature of his people’s struggle to control their energy. He’d seen changelings in their true form pushing themselves to their full, true power, to the point that their body’s muscles bulged out, taking on so much bulk that they looked ridiculous. If he could just reverse that process, push the flow of energy backwards…sweat began to drip down his forehead as he carried out what he was sure was the most difficult physical trial of his life, and he doubted another one of his people could pull off. His body continued to tense and ache. He could feel it condensing. 150. Halfway. His teeth grit harder, his eyes tightening as they stayed closed. There was a dull ache in his arms now, but he could feel it, he could. 120.
Then, it happened. His energy condensed down so much, in his mind’s eye it was like a collapsing star. He felt much the same, and after finally hitting 100, Hail suddenly fell onto his hands and knees, sweat dripping from him as he stared down towards the ground, breathing heavily. He felt so slow, so heavy. It was like having the gravity turned up to a thousand times, forcing him down. His body felt weak and frail like this. With great effort, he pushed himself up, shaking and stumbling as he finally reached his feet. He took a few moments to catch his breath before going through the effort to stand up straight, correcting his posture. This was difficult, more than anything he’d ever done, but he refused to slouch, hunched over like a defeated animal, all while the hermit gazed unflinchingly. When his voice came again, it felt like it was mocking, even though he knew it wasn’t true. This was what real effort felt like, he supposed. He’d never experienced this before. ”That’ll have to do! Alright, get to work. I’m gonna be readin’ over here.” With that, the hermit began walking away, and as Hail watched him, there was a moment of disbelief when he saw that the bloody deck chair was there again. Was it a different one? Did he move it here? It didn’t matter. What was he doing? He had something more important to focus on.
Hail began to march forward, his body still shaking as he felt that intense weight still bearing down on him. His body wasn’t used to this at all, feeling any pressure whatsoever from forces that would usually be so weak. At this rate, he was sure a particularly strong, buffeting wind would actually make him move somewhat. Earthling wind, moving him! It was a humiliating idea for a changeling, but he had been humiliated for his lack of power all of his life. He wasn’t going to allow something so minor as embarrassment stop him now. While he began, he felt his muscles tense and ache further. Even just moving things into place, such as lifting girders and putting them where they should be, was a monumental effort for each one. He found that he was sweating, needing a break after every couple of them, sometimes even just one. All the while, Roshi sat there, watching him suffer. There was a resentment in him for that, but a grudging respect also running through his mind. Hail felt what must have been close to the feeling of being an Earthling. To live like this your entire life..he couldn’t even imagine. How could one deal with it? They weren’t some natural born geniuses, like he’d been led to believe. They had to develop techniques and technology like this. How else could they survive?
The first few days were the most gruelling. Having to take so many breaks meant that he slowed down progress on building the house, on making real progress through his training. He pushed himself so as not to lose time, refusing to be defeated by an Earthling home. It wore him out, and he went to sleep in pain, woke up still in pain. Even so, Roshi didn’t have to instruct him. Once he had eaten, he went straight back to building. He kept up his suppression, the concentration of his energy. 100. A changeling, at a power level of 100. The very idea was a farce, but here he was, with a power level of 100, nails in his mouth as he pushed more into wood, sweat on his face as he moved cement around. Victory may have come late, but it was at its sweetest then. On the fourth day, with the sun setting, Hail finished putting the door on the property. He walked back to Roshi, his vision blurring a bit as he still tried to concentrate on the suppression. The old man was talking. What was it he was saying? ”Not bad! Next, we’re gonna-”
Thump.
The noise came again as Hail fell forward, his vision darkening while he lay face-first, flat on the ground. He couldn’t hold it anymore, suppressing his power as much as he had. Roshi’s gaze followed him as he slowly fell, the hermit letting out a little laugh in response to seeing the blue alien soundly sleeping on the soft grass. ”Eh, next we can take a break, I suppose.”
WC: 1,894
Hail dropped the last pile of the various items, tools and materials that Roshi had decided he should gather at this place, which appeared to be just a random valley out on Papaya Island. What a curious name that was - he’d done enough research to know that papayas were a fruit on this world, and he hadn’t seen more on this island than usual yet. Actually, it wasn’t much of an island at all, either. This landmass was far too big to count as anything other than a continent, albeit a relatively small one. Earthlings had such unusual habits when it came to naming things. Why name a continent an island, and pick a name for that ‘island’ after a fruit that didn’t seem very prominent on it? There had to be some kind of cultural reason, he thought. He started mulling it over as he was interrupted.
”Hey, quit your daydreamin’. You got work to do, remember?” He blinked a couple of times, pulled out of his thoughts as he turned to look at Roshi again, bringing his hand down from his face. ”Oh, right, yes. Let me go over it again. You had me bring these materials here so that I could build a house of them for one of the men in the nearby town. He lost his home in a…tidal wave, I think you said. Well, while I’m always happy to help, do my civic duty and all that, I fail to see how exactly this helps my training. Of course, if it’s just asking me to give some help, that isn’t a problem, this should only take-”
Roshi loudly cleared his throat, interrupting Hail’s speech as he realised what had happened. Just to make sure he didn’t, the old hermit spelled it out. ”You’re talking a lot again. Now, listen. You’re gonna build this house, but not just that. You told me this form you’re in suppresses your power, eh? So you know how to do that properly?” Hail raised one side of his brow at Roshi’s question, but standing there in his first suppressive form, he couldn’t exactly deny it. He’d explained himself after coming to see him the second time and beginning the training proper; if he was going to do this, and it did mean some real progress for him, he wanted to ensure the training he got would actually mean something for his physiology. The hermit hadn’t seemed put off by it, so he assumed there was a way he knew.
Eventually, he gave a single nod. Ki suppression was not that difficult of a technique, at least, not for him. He was sure more naturally powerful changelings would find it far more difficult. ”Alrighty. I want you to suppress your power as much as you can. Go on, now.” Hail turned his gaze forward, focusing as he tried to pull his energy within himself. It was sort of like taking a piece of paper, and then scrunching it up into a ball, but then having to make that ball smaller and smaller, finding the different angles on your new uneven sphere where you could push it inward without it immediately springing back. Eventually, he squeezed it all so tightly that he didn’t feel like he could anymore. He must have been at around 200 on a scouter. An incredibly low power; thankfully, he had some practice with this, so he could go as low as that. He stood proud, letting out a deep breath once the effort was done as he maintained that level. ”Finished.”
There was a long pause as Hail felt very self-satisfied with the result, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes remained closed, and at first he just assumed that Roshi was trying to assess where his power had gone, or was impressed that he was able to get it that low. At least, he assumed that was the case, until he heard the master’s croaky voice speak up again. ”Yeah, that’s alright. You’re gonna need it to be about half that.” Hail’s eyes shot open as he turned towards the hermit, a look of shock on his face. He had to be joking, right? Behind those shades had to be mirthful eyes, a face ready to burst into laughter at any moment. There was just no way he’d said that with a hint of meaning behind it. ”You must be joking. That’s impossible! My power wasn’t even that low at birth, how could I possibly-” Before he could begin ranting, Roshi cut him off, speaking in that same croaky tone, the sun glinting off of his shades. ”You wanna learn? You gotta do it.”
He stared incredulously towards the old man. Hail glanced down at his own body, as though he would find answers there. How did he possibly get it down to a reading of 100? He’d pushed his ki low before, and had an assistant do the readouts; he had never gotten lower than this. Now he was expected to half it again? Yet, the way the hermit stared at him, expectantly, mocking him with that dull look on his face - it was a challenge, and Hail couldn’t accept the idea of backing down from it. Once again, he turned away, facing in the direction of the materials as he took a stance one usually would for powering up, closing his eyes as he began to focus. His power was like a small orb at this point, incredibly concentrated within his centre, stiff and resolute. He focused. Harder and harder he focused, putting all of his mental effort towards shrinking this ball. Then, progress. It shrank a bit, but not enough. It must have read around 180 by now, he was sure of it. He was a fifth of the way there. He could do it.
Hail grit his teeth as his muscles tensed, veins becoming visible from the sheer effort of attempting to concentrate his energy even further down; the muscle beneath his bio-armour became more obvious as they quivered, like they were going to suddenly expand. It was the nature of his people’s struggle to control their energy. He’d seen changelings in their true form pushing themselves to their full, true power, to the point that their body’s muscles bulged out, taking on so much bulk that they looked ridiculous. If he could just reverse that process, push the flow of energy backwards…sweat began to drip down his forehead as he carried out what he was sure was the most difficult physical trial of his life, and he doubted another one of his people could pull off. His body continued to tense and ache. He could feel it condensing. 150. Halfway. His teeth grit harder, his eyes tightening as they stayed closed. There was a dull ache in his arms now, but he could feel it, he could. 120.
Then, it happened. His energy condensed down so much, in his mind’s eye it was like a collapsing star. He felt much the same, and after finally hitting 100, Hail suddenly fell onto his hands and knees, sweat dripping from him as he stared down towards the ground, breathing heavily. He felt so slow, so heavy. It was like having the gravity turned up to a thousand times, forcing him down. His body felt weak and frail like this. With great effort, he pushed himself up, shaking and stumbling as he finally reached his feet. He took a few moments to catch his breath before going through the effort to stand up straight, correcting his posture. This was difficult, more than anything he’d ever done, but he refused to slouch, hunched over like a defeated animal, all while the hermit gazed unflinchingly. When his voice came again, it felt like it was mocking, even though he knew it wasn’t true. This was what real effort felt like, he supposed. He’d never experienced this before. ”That’ll have to do! Alright, get to work. I’m gonna be readin’ over here.” With that, the hermit began walking away, and as Hail watched him, there was a moment of disbelief when he saw that the bloody deck chair was there again. Was it a different one? Did he move it here? It didn’t matter. What was he doing? He had something more important to focus on.
Hail began to march forward, his body still shaking as he felt that intense weight still bearing down on him. His body wasn’t used to this at all, feeling any pressure whatsoever from forces that would usually be so weak. At this rate, he was sure a particularly strong, buffeting wind would actually make him move somewhat. Earthling wind, moving him! It was a humiliating idea for a changeling, but he had been humiliated for his lack of power all of his life. He wasn’t going to allow something so minor as embarrassment stop him now. While he began, he felt his muscles tense and ache further. Even just moving things into place, such as lifting girders and putting them where they should be, was a monumental effort for each one. He found that he was sweating, needing a break after every couple of them, sometimes even just one. All the while, Roshi sat there, watching him suffer. There was a resentment in him for that, but a grudging respect also running through his mind. Hail felt what must have been close to the feeling of being an Earthling. To live like this your entire life..he couldn’t even imagine. How could one deal with it? They weren’t some natural born geniuses, like he’d been led to believe. They had to develop techniques and technology like this. How else could they survive?
The first few days were the most gruelling. Having to take so many breaks meant that he slowed down progress on building the house, on making real progress through his training. He pushed himself so as not to lose time, refusing to be defeated by an Earthling home. It wore him out, and he went to sleep in pain, woke up still in pain. Even so, Roshi didn’t have to instruct him. Once he had eaten, he went straight back to building. He kept up his suppression, the concentration of his energy. 100. A changeling, at a power level of 100. The very idea was a farce, but here he was, with a power level of 100, nails in his mouth as he pushed more into wood, sweat on his face as he moved cement around. Victory may have come late, but it was at its sweetest then. On the fourth day, with the sun setting, Hail finished putting the door on the property. He walked back to Roshi, his vision blurring a bit as he still tried to concentrate on the suppression. The old man was talking. What was it he was saying? ”Not bad! Next, we’re gonna-”
Thump.
The noise came again as Hail fell forward, his vision darkening while he lay face-first, flat on the ground. He couldn’t hold it anymore, suppressing his power as much as he had. Roshi’s gaze followed him as he slowly fell, the hermit letting out a little laugh in response to seeing the blue alien soundly sleeping on the soft grass. ”Eh, next we can take a break, I suppose.”
WC: 1,894
