towerofanimus | Wave 1 (OPEN)

Characters: Tahno and anyone! (Open~)
Setting: Dormitory Hallway, Floor 10
Format: Prose to start, but I'll match you!
Summary: This stupid collar is really stressing poor Tahno out. Luckily, all of the bendable water in the aquarium is pretty relaxing.
Warnings: None to start, but he might be a bit of a jerk to you (or hit on you), depending on who you are and what you do. Possible swearing, too.

(Dorm Hallway)

This stupid collar on his neck was driving him crazy. He’d barely been awake for twenty minutes, and he already hated this place. What kind of place put collars on their residents? He had every intention of going to the bathroom to get a better look at it, but he only got halfway there before he felt the liquid flowing through the collar.

Well, he could walk all the way to the bathroom just to stare at it, or he could just stop here and bend the thing off.

At least, that was the plan. The liquid inside was bendable alright, but it didn’t help him. He’d spent the last few minutes trying to yank the liquid hard enough to burst through the collar, but it just wouldn’t.

Now, he was leaning back against the wall, both hands hovering inches in front of his neck as he tried desperately to damage the collar from within. His face was red, and his hands were practically white from the strain.

Man, he must’ve looked like an idiot to any passersby.

(Floor 10)

After all of that effort on a stupid collar got him absolutely nowhere, he was feeling a bit frustrated. Maybe even a bit inadequate, seeing as his bending couldn’t break such a simple little thing. He had set off exploring just to take his mind off it. He had taken the elevator down to the first floor, and then gone up. Most of the floors didn’t really appeal to him.

That was, until he found the tenth floor.

All that water was beautiful.

…The fish were nice too, but he really didn’t care about those.

It had only taken him ten seconds to discover that, despite being held in place by some weird mystical force, the water could still be bent. He’d just have to put it back in the weird no-glass tanks when he was done.

A few minutes later, and he was dancing with the water like he did at home. He could hear the roar of the crowd, feel the lights that covered the stadium, taste the enemy attacks flying by him, and oh it felt good.

The only problem was that he was showing a blatant disregard for the poor fish in the water. And maybe even himself, should anything dangerous find its way into his flying river or water balls.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What's with the interest? Don't have this where you're from?

No. In my world mages can learn to command the elements of ice, fire and lightning, but they cannot move water at their will.

Ice? Ice is just another form of water; why could you control that and not...?

[ Just to try and prove his point, he froze a thin spear of ice and commanded it to spear one of the nearby fish, killing it. ]

[He watches with interest.]

It is simply different.

[He holds up his hand and makes a ball of ice appear in it with magic.]

Huh.

[ He's just confused now. He's heard of Waterbenders that specialized in something. Healing, plant-bending, blood-bending or whatever else... but never someone who could only</> bend ice. The fire and lightning parts made enough sense, since there were firebenders who could also do lightning. ]

What happens if it melts?

I do not let it stay in my hand long enough for that to happen.

[He throws it at the wall, making a layer of frost on it.]

[ That was interesting. He is perfectly capable of throwing ice at the wall himself, but making it frost up like that would take a lot of skill. It seemed like it had been effortless, though... ]

But if it did, would you lose control of it?

[ He throws a ball of ice at the wall himself, but all it does is chip and fall to the ground rather pathetically. He is visibly bothered by this for some stupid reason. ]

Perhaps. But I have other powers to choose from.

[He makes a little jolt of lightning strike the ground, making a scorch mark.]

Oh.

[ His voice is deadpan. He had expected it to be like home. One element per person, unless you were the Avatar. The fact that this man could do both ice and lightning came as quite a shock. ]

Can you do fire too, then?

Of course.

[He makes a fireball appear in his hand for a few moments, then drops the spell. No need to risk setting the place on fire.]

And all that stuff's called 'magic' where you're from?

[ He shrugs to himself, thinking that it's maybe kind of interesting. ]

You guys have magic-fights or something at home?

Indeed it is.

[He calls up a weak light spell, for even further demonstration.]

Fights have been known to break out between mages, yes.

[ He's never seen a light spell before, or anything like it. The only thing that seemed remotely similar was Energy Bending, or maybe some stuff that the spirits do? Magic must really be something totally different than Bending. ]

Fights breaking out? Sounds like a lot more than just friendly competition, then.

[ To be honest, he finds that just a tad scary. ]

Friendly competition is a rare thing in my world. The closest thing is the the occasional friendly sparring match or training session.

"What's the fun in having powers like that if you're not gonna show them off?"

He doesn't even consider the possibility of deadly fights.

"Magic is a tool, nothing more."

Though like any tool, it can be used to kill, whether on purpose or accident.

A tool, hm? He supposed Waterbending was also a tool to some people. An art to others.

...Did nobody consider magic an art? He didn't bother asking, it sounded like a dumb question.

"A tool for fame?" he asked instead.

"Of course no," Vicente replied.

Magic could light fires, freeze food to preserve it, light caverns, heal the sick and wounded, and other such uses. Not fame.

"So, you spar with it, and... that's it? Sounds pretty dull."

Honestly, pro-bending wasn't much more than glorified sparring, but it sure felt like it was.

"Of course not. Magic may be used to light campfires, navigate in the dark, breathe underwater, weaken your opponents in real combat, turn invisible, and other such effects."

Even though he himself didn't care much for fire, being a vampire and all.

Tahno shrugged. All that stuff seemed pretty valid. A good use of power. Still, it seemed strange that nobody would make a competition out of it.

"So does everyone have this magic stuff where you're from?"

That would clear up a few things. Pro-bending was considered a sport, but there were a lot of non-benders who enjoyed it, too. That was part of the reason it was so popular.

"Most do," Vicente replied. "Some choose not to use it, others simply lack the talent. Usually those who wish to study magic join the Mages Guild or travel to Skyrim to learn at the College of Winterhold."

Well, that sounded pretty similar to home. Some people lacked the talent to bend, and those who could would sometimes seek out masters to train them. Not that there were many masters in Republic City, but still...

"Do a lot of the non-ben... Non-magic folk act like you're a piece of shit?"

He wondered if that was like that in other places. Jealousy did that to people. He couldn't blame them, of course. After all, he was pretty great.

Wave 1 (OPEN)

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