Back to Basics

"Back to Basics" is a BOTGD 2 Act 1 thread written on June 21, 2019.
==Summary==
Dario gets Akkey's help with his magic as he practices on Haligan.
==Full Text==
Dario Hjort: The deer collapsed again; the intensity he was going for with this spell was overwhelming him, and he knew it. There wouldn’t be enough time for him to master anything at this point, but he had to get his bearings back when it came to utilizing magick in a combat scenario.
It’s the element. Fire is hard. I need to do something else.
He shifted his focus once he returned himself to his feet. It was simple – land literally a single hit on the makeshift target he fashioned a few yards ahead of him. He felt so vulnerable showcasing his lack of abilities in the open, but at least if anyone were to see him from the dungeon group, they would know exactly what he was able to offer them.
Nothing. I’ve got nothing.
Dario needed to hone in on something more familiar. His father had shown him a variety of skills when he was a child, but trying to remember anything before his demise at the hands of High Central was a daunting task. It felt like a lifetime for a deer that was supposed to be pushing fifty years old, and yet, still resembled a young stag in every regard. He needed to use this to his advantage. Even if he considered it a curse for as long as he could remember since his reanimation, the deer was slowly coming to terms with his discovery of his own fountain of youth.
…water. I remember this one.
Allowing his hands to meet, he concentrated every possible thought on the incantation his father taught him when he was in his early teens. It was an older form of magick that his people passed down over the years during years of drought, but being able to speak while he performed this skill made the result less cumbersome on his body. It was worth a shot. He could hear his father’s voice in his head as he spoke…
“Af þessu, verndari okkar … við biðjum um velmegun.”
What began as a small mist began to develop into a heavily concentrated stream jetting out from his palms. The force launched him back violently, returning him to the ground once more. It was a very similar scene to when he was in his youth. While not inherently damaging, this was useful for a variety of reasons. He’d managed to get somewhere, and it was good enough for him.
Damn. Thanks, dad.
Akkey Black: Akkey swung her legs from where she perched on a tree branch, watching Dario fall time and time again, but still get up. She appreciated his hard work and tenacity.
When he attempted the crude water spell, however, she sat up in attention. Interesting. She hopped down lightly to the ground and trotted up to the deer. “Hey!”
Dario: The presence of another was entirely unexpected; he could feel his face heat up with embarrassment. That was most definitely the least graceful he’d been in a long time, and of course somebody was watching… and it was the woman, from before. The one who helped him and Milae get here.
“Oh, hello there… Akkey, right? I’m so sorry you had to see that. I’m… slightly out of practice, as if it wasn’t obvious enough.”
Akkey: “There’s no need to apologize.” she grinned up at him, “And you’re… Dario, right? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before, other than with Milae the other day.”
She eyed the ground where it was wet, before glancing back up at the deer, “What exactly are you trying to do, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Dario: Trying not to be useless.
“I’m, uh, doing some… or trying rather, to do some old magick I used to know when I was younger.”
He felt odd talking about this with anyone else. He wasn’t even sure if he’d broached the topic of what he knew with Milae yet.
“That last one was something my dad taught me when I was a kid. I’m sure I didn’t say the incantation exactly right, and I’m not really at full function after… some things that have gone on lately. Trying to build my strength back up, in addition to getting any progress made on being of use to anybody.”
Akkey: Akkey peered up at him. He towered over her with his antlers, but still seemed small. She recognized this feeling anywhere. Seeking a sense of worth and improving ones’ skills, trying not to hold anyone back.
“Mmm, I wouldn’t be too hard on myself, if I were you. Milae seemed incredibly happy and thankful to you back at the hatchery.” her hand moved to unclasp the pouch on her hip, pulling a tendril out and letting it snake around her wrist. She held it up to show Dario, “But I digress. I could help you a little, if you’d like.”
Dario: His reaction to the sporadic unveiling of a tendril was a mixture of uneasiness and curiosity. Dario had seen what Akkey was capable of performing in terms of her own abilities, and it couldn’t hurt to have a mentor at a time like this. He had nearly shaken the red out of his face until she mentioned Milae; he knew that the goat was his biggest champion. It warmed him a bit.
“I suppose it can’t hurt… I mean, you really don’t have to. If you have other things you need to do, I don’t want to keep you.”
Akkey:“You aren’t. I came here because you could help me as well. I was curious about the spell you just used.” She let the tendril fall and it stretched into a portal, “Do you mind?”
Dario: The uneasiness was slowly overtaking his curiosity, but there wasn’t anything to lose here. He felt he could trust her to lead him in the right direction… not that he had much of a choice otherwise.
“Let’s do it.”
Akkey:Akkey took a step and sank through the ground, letting Dario make a choice to follow her or bail. They both came up at the top of a waterfall, overlooking the main village; Dario could clearly see that they were still on Haligan.
She looked towards him, “That water spell. Can you tell me more about it?”
Dario: “That last one? It was… something my father taught me when I was young. He told me that those before us used it in times of severe drought to get by, but I figured I could use it for other purposes.”
He shifted his hands into the positioning he’d used before, hoping to get it closer this time. He could see his father’s hands in his own, and it nearly broke his concentration.
“I- uh, there’s more to it than that. It’s more of an archaic spell, so it requires an incantation with it… Af þessu, verndari okkar … við biðjum um velmegun… I don’t remember exactly what it means. Something like ‘Of this, our protector… give us prosperity’ or something like that. Essentially, asking for the blessing of water through drought from those that give us what we have in our lives.”
He still felt so strange discussing this at all.
“I know it sounds strange. I don’t hear many other magick users using incantations for anything nowadays, but that’s how I learned a lot of what I can do now. My dad made sure that I picked up as much as I could of what he knew before… well, before things kind of stalled out for me.”
Akkey: “That’s incredible!” Akkey studied the way he held his hands out, the way words rolled off his tongue for the incantation. Her eyes glinted in excitement, “I saw you shoot that stream of water out of nowhere!”
She flicked a wrist and a bubble came from the river behind her, “People think nixes are powerful creatures, but we’re also limited to where there is a water source. I’ve had to get creative over the years,” she gave wry laugh, “But you just made water! Just like that!”
Akkey grinned up at him, “If I teach you how to manipulate water, can you teach me that spell?”
Dario: He hadn’t expected this from Akkey; a woman who could bring portals seemingly out of nowhere, with many grand abilities that he could only wish to possess… and she wanted to learn from him?
“I… yes, I would love to, Akkey. It’s pretty straightforward – you just…” He repeated the hand motions once more, slowed down so she could take in each slight adjustment. He swelled with pride in his craft for the first time in many, many years. “Just add the incantation… Af þessu… sorry, I know I’m probably butchering this… verndari okkar… við biðjum um velmegun. It’s essentially just that.”
He repeated the entirety of the process once more, this time prepared for what was to come. The stream pushed him back, but he was able to firmly plant himself into the ground underneath him. The strain on his wrists didn’t allow him to keep the spell going for more than a few seconds, but he had done it. It was an accomplishment in his eyes.
Akkey: She frowned in concentration, repeating his process, “verndari okkar...” she mumbled to herself. Not a drop appeared from her palms.
Akkey scrunched her nose and watched him manage to activate it for the second time that day. She saw the force that almost blew him back again, the strain and the intensity that he tried to apply. She cocked her head, “Dario. What is water to you?”
Dario: “I guess… water, at least for my family and I, was survival. It was everything. Where we grew up, there should have been enough for everyone… but not for those who were cast into the shadows of Hig-”
He stopped himself. He didn’t want to talk about that.
“It was our life or death. We didn’t have a choice on whether we wanted to know how to do this kind of thing… it was a necessity. I think that’s why I’ve been able to do it today. I can’t be… useless, when we go to the dungeon. I can’t be the reason somebody dies. I don’t have the skill to do anything more than this right now, and I have to do this as well as I can. It’s all I’ve got, Akkey.”
Akkey: “That’s it.” she poked him on the arm, “You’ve connected too much negative with it. And it’s causing you to stiffen and block your energy.”
She abandoned her own project of creating water for the moment, and stood. She lifted her arms and pulled tendrils out of the river in smooth, dancelike movements, “Water needs to be flexible. It needs to change. It needs to move. You can’t strain or force it to do your bidding. You need to go with its flow, feel the directions it naturally takes, and use it to your advantage.”
“Right now, water is something you feel like you need to have control over, because you didn’t have that in your past. That’s why it comes out in that powerful burst, then dies out immediately. You’re too rigid with it. You have to let that go.”
Dario: Dario watched her seemingly effortless approach to manipulating the tendrils, and watched her movements with great detail.
“I… I think I understand. Let me try that again.”
He didn’t brace this time. He ensured that his movements in his hands weren’t so rigid; so calculated. He had been overthinking each element of what it was to perform this spell, instead of allowing it to take it’s course. The deer cleared his head of everything he’d known prior. It had to be worth a shot.
“Af þessu, verndari okkar … við biðjum um velmegun.”
He was almost caught off guard by what was not a powerful, direct stream, but a forceful flow that wasn’t fighting him anymore… or rather, that he was no longer fighting against. He wasn’t able to change direction as drastically as Akkey could with her tendrils, but it was progress nonetheless. Once he’d made a few different motions, he allowed the spell to subside after some time, looking to the woman with a huge smile.
“I… can’t believe it. Akkey, that felt… so much different.” He was nearly tripping over every other word with excitement. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Akkey: Akkey laughed out loud, “You did that yourself. I just gave you some tips.”
She tried the creation spell again, “Af þessu, verndari okkar … við biðjum um velmegun.” It felt like there was a sputter between her palms, then nothing. “Hmm, that one’s not working too well for me. I’ll have to figure it out a little more.”
She glanced back at him, “Any more spells you want to give a whirl?”
Dario: Dario thought hard about different things he’d done in the past… healing was easy for him, for the most part. He just needed to get himself back into practice for that. Fire, however… he didn’t want to try that again quite yet. He had never used a fire spell in a situation where he was not seriously injured or killed, and he wasn’t ready for it. He needed to take things slow.
“I mean, I managed to almost heal myself… before you came to that hatchery. I’d done the same healing spell I’ve known since I was a boy, and I’m sure with a little more trial and error, it’ll be useful to the Rebellion.”
Akkey: “Healing, eh?” she pulled at her braid thoughtfully, “Can’t help you there myself, but I know one who might, if you’d like.” Provided he’s awake.
Dario: “I’ll never turn down an opportunity to learn. I’ve been doing the same healing spell for as long as I can remember, and I’m sure someone’s done a better job at it.”
He had almost slipped and mentioned reanimation. Vox could be the only one to know about that… and eventually Milae, with time. He had to have complete trust in someone before he would confide the *one* piece of magick he knew he was good at.
Akkey: “Hunter can teach you a bunch. He likes to get fancy with his words!” she laughed distractedly, attempting his water spell again. She failed, “Damn. That one’s tricky.”
Dario: The deer found himself chuckling at the struggle-filled attempts before him – even if it had been many decades since he himself had used this specific incantation, he at least had practice as a child.
“You’re getting there!” He pondered her offer; if there was something the upcoming dungeon team couldn’t use enough of, it would be healers… and good ones, at that. They were going into this not knowing the condition of whoever may still be trapped. “If Hunter would be interested in helping me, I most definitely would not turn down a chance like that. I suppose he is a master of his craft if you’re suggesting him?”
Akkey: Akkey frowned at herself, “The nix powers kind of came by accident, so I’m not really sure how to process this.” She stretched, “Ah, well. I got time to figure it out.”
“Hah! Master of Dweebs, maybe.” she laughed, “Still, he’s pretty good. He’s the only healer I know who got Haddock to sit for a magical healing session, back at the bunker.” A quick but present shadow passed over her eyes as she recalled the fallen King.
Dario: He couldn’t understand the grief the Rebellion shared over their King, but he sympathized with them. It seemed as though he was a great leader.
“Well, if that’s the case, count me in for it.”
He could see the sun moving further across the sky; he knew Milae would be back at some point, if not already. He needed to figure out the logistics of what was to come.
“If you don’t mind, I need to get back soon. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this, Akkey. It was certainly unexpected, but I think I might actually be able to assist with a little more purpose now.” He gave her a smile, grateful for the opportunity to learn with such a talented being. “I’m sure… if things go well, in the dungeon, we will get the chance to do this again.”
Akkey: She shook it off quickly. “Absolutely! Glad I was able to help,” she grinned back. A portal zipped open on the river’s surface, and she motioned towards it, “After you!”
Dario: Dario would never get used to portal travel.
He stepped into the portal that seemed to exist so effortlessly on the top of the river. He was thankful for the time he got to spend with Akkey; he felt better about his ability to aid the rest of the team when it came time to enter the dungeon.
Next he knew, they were back to where he had been training just moments earlier.
Akkey: Akkey snapped the portal closed, then pointed towards the target he was practicing on a while ago, “Want to give it a try?”
Dario: “Couldn’t hurt to give it a shot, right?”
He took a deep breath. The newly founded self-worth gave him the sense to focus this skill. Smoothy channeling the incantation through the motions of his hands, Dario felt much less pressure as the water exited his palms with more grace and control than ever before. The target was engulfed in the waves, tossing it many yards to the side of him and Akkey.
“Damn, how did I get by without you before?” Dario could feel the pride displayed on his face, and he didn’t mind. It was needed right now.
Akkey: Her laugh rang clear, “You give me too much credit. I just nudged you a little.” She reached up to pat him on the shoulder encouragingly, “A little more practice and you’ll be able to do a lot of fancy things with that. You should show Milae.”
Dario: The mere mention of his name was enough to make the deer blush.
“Oh, you best believe I will. Gotta keep up with him somehow!” He approached the woman, giving her a gentle grip on the arm. “Really, thank you, Akkey. You don’t know what this means to me. I hope to see you again soon… and if Hunter doesn’t mind a student, I’m still interested. You take care of yourself.”
He gave her one last smile before working his way back to his temporary residence. He hoped nothing more than for Milae to be home.
Category:Events
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Dario Hjort
Category:Akkey Black
Category:Act I