The Apprentice

[furo]

As it was accustomed yearly, the Lightning Kingdom ruler had traveled to the Molokai orphanage, located in the quiescent town of Taivas, near the southern end of the kingdom. In the Molokai orphanages resided the children whose parents had died as casualties during the Molokai Battle I in 3394 and Molokai Battle II in 3407, and Kaminari Raiden would visit them once a year without fail. This was due to her being a Molokai orphan herself – she’d lost her father, and the predecessor of the throne, in the second battle, when she was nineteen years of age, forcing her to unlawfully take rule of the kingdom, as it was stated in the testament he had written before going to war.


Rumor had spread like wildfire across the southern region of the kingdom that the ruler herself visited humble and unassuming Taivas, and ever since, Kaminari had decided to choose haphazard dates to travel, in order to remain undisturbed.


The tepid fog that climbed out of the waterways at the bottom of the chasms and teemed in the air was healthy for Kaminari’s lungs, who usually roamed around among the walls of the castle and modern edification of the capital city. It was like a gift to only hear the soft steady sound of water cascading down from the great heights of the valley.

A couple of hours before dusk, as Kaminari and her two escorts exited the orphanage building and headed towards the carriage, she could detect the lightest of noises, camouflaged by descent of currents in the waterfalls – a crackling snarl. It was very faint, stealthy.


She identified it. It was coming. A Quoloth attack; they hadn’t occurred in Taivas in decades. The ruler knew she was too far to react when it would jolt from its shelter in the cave concealed beyond the waterfalls, and she did not manipulate the proper element to fend it off. Quoloths were Earth creatures, and it was not her strong suit.

 

[That Lass Over There]

The young male, a young monk in training, tended to a child that had scraped her knee while playing with the other children. As he made the final wrap on the bandage he held out a hand to the girl, lifting her up as he gave the words: "May this world bear shelter for you," before waving goodbye and heading over to the next child who needed medical attention. These days people worried about infections and illnesses, and as the only person there with formal medical training the white-haired monk had been called to tend to the children that had been injured that day. He smiled and listened attentively to each child as they spoke to him of their world, a marvelous thing where every day presents a new adventure.


As he patted the last child on the head, giving them the oddly worded blessing, he picked up his quarter staff and walked out of the orphanage, collecting a few coppers on his way out with a small smile of gratitude. As he left he passed by a woman and her two escorts the children had spoken of, nodding towards them in respect before heading off towards the road. As he hummed a tune while passing the stables and onto the road beyond, his sharpened senses caught a hold of a growl and the rustling of leaves. As he turned around he made sure to get a bucket of water on each end of his staff, preparing to face the threat as circular force took over and prevented the water from spilling.


His eyes widened slightly as he looked upon the creature walking stealthily out of a cave towards the woman and her escorts, and without conscious thought he ran to step between the two parties. He ignored the familiar power surge he felt behind him as he moved to gain an opening to intercept the beast from the three figures and the town behind them.


(I apologize for how late this is, but I do hope it lived up to your expectations.)

 

[furo]

Kaminari remained alert to the approaching crackle. She could not let the townsfolk become aware of the danger, otherwise they would panic and the lizard-like beast would be startled by the hustle and turn even more hostile.


“Sir Lagomar, give me trees, around that bridge; hide that waterfall from the town,” The ruler ordered one of her companions, and he followed without question. The escort soldier was to obey, even being unaware of the hazard. The Nature-manipulating soldier brought up two large trees around the outset of the bridge crossing beside the waterfall with ease, sinking its roots onto the wood underneath the bridge. The visibility of the cascade from the town was partially blocked; Kaminari trusted that there weren’t any occasional onlookers. She hadn’t caught many villagers in sight.


“Is something the matter, your majesty?” The second escort enquired cautiously, noticing the discomfort in the ruler’s scowl. Kaminari did not reply, but kept her eyes towards the white frothiness of the cascading water. The two escorts were most altered when her majesty began drawing away, stealthily approaching the twin trees obstructing the bridge, signaling the soldiers to stay in place.


Soon enough, Kaminari was standing right in front of the two trees, taking a deep but silent inhale. It had luckily yet not pounced, remaining in the stealth, right behind the pair of man-made growths. She didn’t particularly fear being harmed, but rather fretted for the safety of the townsfolk, especially the children sheltered in the orphanage, being so dangerously close to the potential altercation.


The growling escalated in decibels. She wouldn’t have expected the motive.


The ruler was most shocked when she leaned in to peer through the thin slit between the two thick barks, finding a lean ivory figure to partially block her sight from the targeted beast. The Quoloth’s ferocious growling was now steered towards the young man who stood in its way.


She, determined to intervene, swiftly used electrical drives to climb up the tree trunks and through the branches speedily and land as soundlessly as possible upon the wooden surface of the bridge. The ruler now faced the young lad’s back and his alabaster array of hair. She only glanced at the two guiltless buckets of water he balanced on each edge of a thin staff.


Kaminari acknowledged Quoloths were one of the few living organisms in Middaneard that could only be overthrown with its own element. She was, however, a woman of righteous heart, and hoped to restrict herself to solely fend off the creature, rather than to cause its unfortunate demise.


For once in a great while, the ruler took fright.


“Begone, young one!” She ordered, preparing her stance; she knew every being involved in the altercation had to proceed with caution.