by Aleera » Wed Jan 31, 2024 6:08 pm
Her ears were ringing, head spinning, precluding a proper sense of up and down. Confusion reigned until she recovered her bearings. She shifted, palms pressing flat to the ground, helping provide stability. Her feet slipped and slid in the slushy mess caused first by a trample of people and second by the earthen burst, but she got to her feet at last. The man, yes, she thought she’d seen a man, thought for a moment he was channeling. In retrospect that must have been her own fearful thoughts bubbling up. A man who could channel would not willingly come to the White Tower and then actually -channel-. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, she’d heard of Dougan doing exactly that. Maybe a man who was too far gone might. Her lips turned downward in a frown as she shook everything off and took assessment of the area.
And tore the world asunder.
Rubble and wreckage were strewn everywhere. The street was torn apart, multiple buildings were severely damaged. She could see over a dozen people all injured to varying extents. Some were getting to their feet, some could only crawl, and some were not moving at all. She made her way through some debris. Among those not moving was a boy; no, that was not fair, he was a young man. There was blood running down the side of his face. She found herself kneeling by his side, although she didn’t remember the actual act of kneeling. She was still dazed, probably concussed. She swallowed heavily, centered herself and pushed through as she allowed a calm to fall over her. She set a hand gently on his shoulder and squeezed as she spoke to him, tone level and reassuring, “Are you awake? Can you speak?”
He jerked at her touch, eyes opening and blinking. That was a good sign.
She opened herself and embraced the Source, feeling the warmth of the One Power flow through and fill her. “I’m an Accepted, I can heal you. Will you allow it?” she asked.
His dark eyes widened at that and he began to push himself away, body shuffling through the muddy slush. His effort was weak, but it was a discernible choice. “Get away from me, don’t touch me,” the words bubbled out from his mouth. There was more he wished to say, but there was some measured fear mixed in with his fervor. He kept those additional thoughts to himself.
Her brow furrowed, she hadn’t expected that. Her expression shifted to concern as she watched the injured man crawl away from her. She let go of his shoulder and didn’t try to stop him. “Get help,” she implored him, before looking elsewhere.
She heard the cracking sound, not of thunder, but of stone. A burst of air flowed out from her as some damaged stone fell from above towards a nearby elderly woman lying battered near to a shop front. The stone was forcefully thrust aside. She followed through, quickly making her way through the street and dropping again to her knees. “Ma’am,” she prompted gently. After a moment’s hesitation she also reached out her hand, placing it on the woman’s own upper arm before prompting again, “Ma’am, can you hear me?”
She didn’t hear the follow up crack from above as more stone broke loose and tumbled, but she did hear the harsh clang of stone on metal from directly above her head. She looked up into the face of one of the warders’ students. She didn’t know his name, but she had seen him in the yard before. His eyes were bright and his jaw was rimmed by a well-trimmed beard. She’d never thought terribly much about it before, about men generally, but perhaps Elmitsu was on to something about a bearded man. Just as quickly, she thrust that thought aside. She was no school girl and now was not the time for whatever the blood and ashes that nonsense was. She smiled her gratitude to the young man and breathed out, “Thank you,” and then, “Can you help me get her away from the building?”
The two of them gently dragged her away. He didn’t really need her assistance, but was gracious enough to allow it nonetheless. More safely now, away from any buildings, Aleera gently prodded the woman, who stirred and then acquiesced to some healing. She rose up and helped the elderly woman also get to her feet. She then turned, wanting to again thank the young man, but he was already gone.
The ground shook then, violently. Someone, somewhere, was channeling and causing an earthquake. Her hands went out and away from her sides as she struggled to maintain her balance. More rubble fell from all around. She cried out, urging everyone who could to move away from the buildings. When the earth took a pause from its violence, she spoke more forcefully, directing a few able sets of hands to help drag those less able, or unable, to move away from the buildings and began to triage as best she could under less than ideal circumstances. Again, the earth shook and groaned with violent temper.
Light protect us all.
All around her, she saw destruction; of people, of property, and of spirit. In this moment she felt an understanding of the mission of the Grays. Intellectually she had understood the mission before and even expressed it, but she felt it now as she looked about. There would be no winner today, no victor. There would be only loss. Profound loss. This is what they tried to prevent every day.
Her ears were ringing, head spinning, precluding a proper sense of up and down. Confusion reigned until she recovered her bearings. She shifted, palms pressing flat to the ground, helping provide stability. Her feet slipped and slid in the slushy mess caused first by a trample of people and second by the earthen burst, but she got to her feet at last. The man, yes, she thought she’d seen a man, thought for a moment he was channeling. In retrospect that must have been her own fearful thoughts bubbling up. A man who could channel would not willingly come to the White Tower and then actually -channel-. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, she’d heard of Dougan doing exactly that. Maybe a man who was too far gone might. Her lips turned downward in a frown as she shook everything off and took assessment of the area.
[i]And tore the world asunder.[/i]
Rubble and wreckage were strewn everywhere. The street was torn apart, multiple buildings were severely damaged. She could see over a dozen people all injured to varying extents. Some were getting to their feet, some could only crawl, and some were not moving at all. She made her way through some debris. Among those not moving was a boy; no, that was not fair, he was a young man. There was blood running down the side of his face. She found herself kneeling by his side, although she didn’t remember the actual act of kneeling. She was still dazed, probably concussed. She swallowed heavily, centered herself and pushed through as she allowed a calm to fall over her. She set a hand gently on his shoulder and squeezed as she spoke to him, tone level and reassuring, “Are you awake? Can you speak?”
He jerked at her touch, eyes opening and blinking. That was a good sign.
She opened herself and embraced the Source, feeling the warmth of the One Power flow through and fill her. “I’m an Accepted, I can heal you. Will you allow it?” she asked.
His dark eyes widened at that and he began to push himself away, body shuffling through the muddy slush. His effort was weak, but it was a discernible choice. “Get away from me, don’t touch me,” the words bubbled out from his mouth. There was more he wished to say, but there was some measured fear mixed in with his fervor. He kept those additional thoughts to himself.
Her brow furrowed, she hadn’t expected that. Her expression shifted to concern as she watched the injured man crawl away from her. She let go of his shoulder and didn’t try to stop him. “Get help,” she implored him, before looking elsewhere.
She heard the cracking sound, not of thunder, but of stone. A burst of air flowed out from her as some damaged stone fell from above towards a nearby elderly woman lying battered near to a shop front. The stone was forcefully thrust aside. She followed through, quickly making her way through the street and dropping again to her knees. “Ma’am,” she prompted gently. After a moment’s hesitation she also reached out her hand, placing it on the woman’s own upper arm before prompting again, “Ma’am, can you hear me?”
She didn’t hear the follow up crack from above as more stone broke loose and tumbled, but she did hear the harsh clang of stone on metal from directly above her head. She looked up into the face of one of the warders’ students. She didn’t know his name, but she had seen him in the yard before. His eyes were bright and his jaw was rimmed by a well-trimmed beard. She’d never thought terribly much about it before, about men generally, but perhaps Elmitsu was on to something about a bearded man. Just as quickly, she thrust that thought aside. She was no school girl and now was not the time for whatever the blood and ashes that nonsense was. She smiled her gratitude to the young man and breathed out, “Thank you,” and then, “Can you help me get her away from the building?”
The two of them gently dragged her away. He didn’t really need her assistance, but was gracious enough to allow it nonetheless. More safely now, away from any buildings, Aleera gently prodded the woman, who stirred and then acquiesced to some healing. She rose up and helped the elderly woman also get to her feet. She then turned, wanting to again thank the young man, but he was already gone.
The ground shook then, violently. Someone, somewhere, was channeling and causing an earthquake. Her hands went out and away from her sides as she struggled to maintain her balance. More rubble fell from all around. She cried out, urging everyone who could to move away from the buildings. When the earth took a pause from its violence, she spoke more forcefully, directing a few able sets of hands to help drag those less able, or unable, to move away from the buildings and began to triage as best she could under less than ideal circumstances. Again, the earth shook and groaned with violent temper.
Light protect us all.
All around her, she saw destruction; of people, of property, and of spirit. In this moment she [i]felt[/i] an understanding of the mission of the Grays. Intellectually she had understood the mission before and even expressed it, but she [i]felt[/i] it now as she looked about. There would be no winner today, no victor. There would be only loss. Profound loss. This is what they tried to prevent every day.