logs | {suddenly, you lose your way and lose the thread.

Entry tags:

{suddenly, you lose your way and lose the thread.

WHO: Aspen, various
WHERE: Shadowlands, Stygia, and more
WHEN: December
WHAT: Catch-all log (event + general)
WARNINGS: Refer to Aspen's blanket warnings to be safe. Includes nonsexual descriptions of nudity (nude model thread.)

→ harbor

( in this white-out winter, a slender figure steps through the snow with dogged determination. aspen acts like the wind doesn't really bother him, and in a sense, it doesn't - these winters are not unlike the ones he's witnessed in petir. he's missed them - in a sense that he hasn't seen snow for almost two years. he's been so used to rains that he almost forgot that most places got snow instead of flooding. while most seem to be bundled up and bustling, aspen enjoys the snowflakes dancing in the air and some that stick to his cheeks and lashes. that, however, doesn't mean he doesn't take notice when some people are freezing their tails off.

as he unlocks the side entrance to his still-remodeling shop, he calls - )

If you're cold, you can come in here for a reprieve.

( aspen's expression isn't as cheery as it usually is - even as he rustles and flaps his wings to knock the frost off of his feathers, there's something heavy hanging in the air about him. he pushes his braid out of his coat so it falls over his shoulder like usual, setting down the coat that he'd kept over his clothes. he's traded in pastels for darker blues and blacks, and he heads to the stone counter - opening the side gate so he stands behind the counter and starts taking care of the plants and walls of powders, tonics, and salves he has stashed away. )

What are you doing out here, if I may ask? You're not going to cross the sea, are you? If you get knocked off the ship, who knows if you'll freeze or not at this point - ghk...

( he covers his mouth as he coughs up a few flower petals, his sigh melding with an exhausted wheeze. he shakes his head with disappointment. )

Apologies.

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Now that's interesting. I didn't know we had something as strange as poison immunity in common.

( aspen notes this away for later use as he wipes down the light specks of dust on the counter. he starts setting up some glass dishes, as well as unwrapping bits of cheesecloth to reveal dried herbs. with careful precision, he snips some of them into small bits and begins to add them to a dish. the mortar and pestle is within reach - that, he uses for a red-looking herb, and when he starts to grind it up, it turns into a bright red powder. he speaks as he works, moving with practiced grace and knowledge. clearly, he has no qualms about carrying on his work with someone watching. )

If there's a medicine with an adverse effect, I'll be certain to make sure you're taken care of. Everyone's body works a little differently, after all.

( into the mortar goes a vial of cloudy liquid, and aspen works on making a paste. )

That's a complicated question. I was born with the affinity for green magic, but until I was... mmm... ( he pauses to think, counting on his fingers. ) Nineteen? Seven years ago. Then, that is when I was trained, and could actually use it.

[Eventually, as if forced to move past the mountain of his own reluctance, he lifts the glass and drinks it. The serum is almost tasteless to him, easy to consume. Its effects are not immediate — but when they come, he can feel the warmth blooming within himself, thawing out the misery of the weather from the last several hours of traveling outside.]

I see. [He still has shared nothing of his own abilities with anyone in this place, and intends to hold that silence. But it reminds him of chakra. Someone could have an affinity for certain natures and not receive training.] Are there other types of magic?

[One black eye and one purple eye follow Aspen's busy movements through the shop. The Rinnegan is always active, and this is why he picks up on something strange on the area of Aspen's back... a hue, or aura, burning hot.]

You don't like fire.

( he watches sasuke cautiously, gaze going from his face to his body, but he smiles a few moments after. good, no ill effects. ever since augustine had an issue, he's been worried. )

Well, there's the primary and secondary schools of magic. Fire, water, earth, wind - those are the primary schools, and what most people are born with an affinity for. Storm, stone, and green magic are the three secondary schools. It's very rare to find a mage with an affinity for those, but it does happen. Those two schools make up the birth magics - the magics one can be born with an affinity for. There's countless types of other magic, but they are learned disciplines. My birth magic was green, thus I am registered as a green mage, but I learned healing and soul magic as well.

( while he speaks, he sets the paste and herbs to boil - not with fire warming the water, either. it's a spell, a bright glowing orb that radiates heat, that stands in for the fire he needs.

when sasuke correctly comes to his conclusion, he flinches just slightly before forcing himself to calm. )

... well, of course. Fire burns plants, after all. Stone mages tend to hate me, you know? Because plants worm their way through stones and break them, crack them. It's not so strange.

[There's a lot of complexity to the technical abilities of other worlds, but this doesn't surprise Sasuke. He imagines it would be the same to someone trying to understand chakra. By Aspen's description, his own skills of nature transformation might belong to the primary school of magic, but he is less sure of lightning. And there is no easily comparing his kekkei genkai. Perhaps he shouldn't try to draw lines of comparison.]

I know of a similar relationship between nature types, although the separation of green and stone would be closer to earth and wood. Wood has a similar strength over earth.

[It's more complicated than that, but at least it helps him understand Aspen's explanation.]

I've never heard of a specific affinity for plants. [He is imagining how it might be useful in battle, automatically. But:] I'll refrain from using fire in your presence in the future.

I'm not -

( aspen comes in hot, like he's going to bite sasuke's head off, but he reins himself back in as he hunches his back. after a moment or two, he speaks with more clarity and purpose, waiting for the water to boil and slowly peculate. )

You don't need to do that. I stood side by side in a war with plenty of battlemages that used fire magic. I'm just...

( ...

he pinches the bridge of his nose, fighting the terror in his body for a good moment before meeting sasuke's gaze with determination. )

Fire is necessary to green magic. It is nature kept in check. Even I know that. If a controlled bushfire doesn't burn away the dead undergrowth one year, the entire forest will go up in flames the next year. Your grace is appreciated, but it would be better for you to do the opposite. I need to get used to all sorts of fighting again in this godless place.

[A brow lifts, but he says nothing in argument. A part of him is impressed at the resilience and insistence not to avoid what may be considered weakness. It's something he can respect, because he would do the same.]

All right. [He's leaning on the counter now, chin propped in hand, eyes lidded with sudden drowsiness as the serum sets into his body, warming cold limbs. He's tired. He doesn't know how long he has been wandering, looking for Naruto. Yet before thoughts can stray in that obsessive direction, Sasuke forces himself to focus back on Aspen.] My clan has an affinity for fire, so I grew up surrounded by it. But I also have control over lightning.

[The paranoid, guarded voice in his mind is quieter, muted by a defeated sense that it doesn't even matter if he does share these things now. He likely won't live much longer in this world.]

Your skill is more useful in everyday life. Fire is destructive where your green magic can create food and medicine. It would have been highly valued in my village.

( aspen watches sasuke, analytical mind taking in his posture. he hasn't ever seen sasuke like this - warm and slightly drowsy. the serum isn't meant to put anyone to sleep, but perhaps he's just that exhausted. he'll make a note of that. he knows he stashed some furs and linens somewhere just in case he needed a plan B on where to sleep. he lets himself smile despite himself after a moment. )

Green magic is all that, but I think you sell yourself short when it comes to fire. Fire isn't all destructive. It's keeping us warm now, isn't it? It makes some food edible, since some plants are completely poisonous until cooked. Gods know who figured that out. Fire can purify water, too, with some finesse.

( he has a feeling sasuke probably knows all of these things. but like his own magic, it's good to have a reminder. )

The king I served was much the same. His family had fire magic in its veins - he was set to inherit power in its purest form. Yet, he didn't. He had no magical ability at all, in fact, it hurt him. Instead, he's one of the finest sword hands in all of Estelya, I'd have to wager.

( he meets sasuke's eye, curious. ) Does that happen in your village, too? Are people born without an affinity, like some of the people here who have no magic?

[Frowning at the counter, Sasuke can find no true argument to those words, despite his own instinct. He has only ever wielded fire as a weapon against his opponents. It was what he was taught; every tool at his disposal something to be refined and made better.]

... The king you served. Then your world has royalty as well. [Aspen would be the second that he's met, alongside Laurent. He is still learning the intricacies of royalty, but unfortunately Laurent is not the best teacher on the subject.] What you describe isn't unsurprising, even if the workings of magic are different. An affinity doesn't promise skill. It must be trained.

[Aspen's question ventures into reluctant territory. He's told no one of chakra so far.]

It's not possible to be born without that 'magic'. But the affinity for certain skills, yes. Those individuals would go on to live ordinary lives as civilians. It must not be the same for you if your king couldn't use his magic.

( aspen briefly imagines a ninja-king. he wonders what that might be like. )

Yes. Royalty is common in my world, as there are many countries. Some are maintained by other sorts of leaders, of course, but lineage tends to denote who leads in Estelya. ( a quick clarification - ) Estelya is the many-nations alliance. The king I served acted as the Peacekeeper, doing exactly what it sounds - keeping the peace between all the nations in the alliance.

( though that didn't mean wars didn't break out anyway, though. aspen hums as he replaces a stopper with a glass so the concentrated liquid can drip down and cool. )

King Amir is a special case. There's this... mmm... you're familiar with heirlooms, right? Precious things that are passed down between a family's generations. Well, that's the case with royal families as well, and Amir's family held an artifact called the Sastragara. It is a longsword that can transform into any weapon its bearer requires, and it is seen as the symbol of his nation's protector. The problem is that it houses powerful magic - magic he cannot use, and cannot wield without great pain to him. As king and leader of his nation, he must still be capable of protecting it even without such a powerful tool at his disposal. Normally not being born with magic is not a problem - the usual citizen could go about their lives most easily, but...

For someone who had so much expectation and was born into a legacy of magic, being born without magic... what would you think of someone who was meant to wield great power like you, but could not, yet still tried to keep up with you?

Would you pity them?

[What Aspen describes isn't unfamiliar to him. His own kind had tried it as well — under duress, perhaps — when the Allied Shinobi Forces was established.]

No.

[It reminds him of someone, against his will, and Sasuke holds a hand up to cough directly into the palm, smothering the sound. He wipes the yellow petals on his knee without looking at them.]

It depends on the situation and circumstances. Is there still a chance they can succeed at their goals? Will they hurt the people around them if they continue to try? If this king cannot adequately protect his nation as its leader without magic, then he should surrender his position to someone more capable. [Sasuke looks briefly thoughtful.] Otherwise, he should surround himself with those who do wield power. Trustworthy allies.

[Aspen won't know just how vastly changed an opinion that is for him to say now.]

( he finds a smile blossoming despite himself. he's always considered sasuke to be more terrifying and while he's not going to give up the idea that he's very scary, maybe he was a little rash in his assumption. )

Thankfully, Amir is completely able to protect his nation without magic and has done so. It's just the stigma people have, unfortunately. 'A leader should be like this', 'a leader should be like that', whilst not being in the seat of a leader themselves. He did exactly as you proposed. ( fondly, eyes lowered: ) I was proud to be one of his allies.

I don't know why you're so stoic. You have such interesting things to say.

[Sasuke's frown deepens, gaze turning away.]

I speak my mind, that's all. [Even when it may come across as rude and confrontational. Truthfully, he just doesn't enjoy most people's company, and it's easier to be withholding than falsely amiable. Safer, too.] Or when the topic is personally interesting to me. The philosophy of leadership doesn't seem to vary much across worlds.

This Amir chose you as an ally. Are you royalty as well?

Ah -

Well, to start, royalty doesn't seek other royalty for safety. Or... well, not at first. A king or prince, for example, would usually have his own guard - people whose task it is to keep him and his family safe. This tends to be a group of warriors. Sometimes there are ancillaries to the guard, such as a personal doctor or some advisors. While they still carry the same function - to keep them safe - they do no combat.

That was my position. I was his personal healer, and something of an advisor.

( like a lock clicking shut, aspen's demeanor almost perfectly shifts from casual to guarded. )

[It's an interesting contrast to the position of Kage, a leader levied up above everyone else for their individual strength regardless of bloodline or inheritance. He struggles to imagine someone in a position of leadership relying on other warriors for the matter of personal safety. Then again, even the Hokage had ANBU personnel on hand, however their power may have paled in comparison.

The description of advisor is more familiar, even if it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth for memory of the Konoha Council specifically.]

I see. You suit that position. [He notices the shift in demeanor, but says nothing to bring attention to it, reading instead a signal that it may be time he moved on.] ... Thank you for the serum. It helped. I need to return to my task before, so I'll leave you now.

Ah - I'm glad it helped...

( ... he does note sasuke's pale demeanor - was he this pale out in the forest too? - and his stance and can't help but frown.

but can he offer sasuke anything he'd prefer other than this task of his? aspen knows those who are goal-oriented are rarely taken off from their paths.

he'd know that best. instead - )

Take care. This frigid winter can creep up on you - I want to hear more about your home next time, so be careful out there!

[He glances at Aspen once more, saying nothing about the expressed desire — or that he doesn't expect to live long enough to fulfill it. But Aspen's generosity and kindness during the short visit earn a brief nod of his head.

Then he turns from the counter and heads for the door, back out into the blistering cold.]

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{suddenly, you lose your way and lose the thread.

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