Out of Character:
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Bunnies between Gesse and I are approved. See our OOC thread for other notes.
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The Journal of Jacob Rivers – Entry Two
For the first time in years, I felt real pride. I don’t mean that sort of deluded swaggering arrogance typically used to cover up our personal insecurities, nor am I referring to that little pleased-with-yourself feeling you get from doing a good job. I’m talking real, honest pride that comes only from true accomplishments and victories. Victory and accomplishment had been very scarce over the last few years; I had almost forgotten the feeling, but I’ve definitely earned the reminder.
Twice now since traveling to the Garden of Secrets, Master Silas and I have faced off against some of the mightiest warriors in existence, and both times I walked away in victory, having proven my mettle in these trials. These were not small feats, and were worthy of no less than true pride. For the first time since I got sick, I fell that I’m finally coming out on top, actually winning.
This is how I want to spend what little life I have left: fighting to my last breath to achieve something great, not sitting quietly and waiting to die.
* * * * *
For a second time, Jacob and his sensei passed from one smoldering wasteland to another, different yet equally unforgiving. Where the first had been a hellish steppe of ash and bone and the second a sprawling industrial jungle filled with machinery and molten metal, his third battlefield was an infinite sea of scalding sand and sun-baked rocks stretching into the horizon. Harsh gusts of wind kicked up periodically, lashing against the young psion, scouring his skin with torrents of searing sand while the sun bathed the landscape with its merciless glare.
Jacob faltered. They had only been walking for a short while, but he felt as though he’d been running for hours. After a few short minutes he was already sweating profusely from pores that he hadn’t before been aware of. His eyes burned almost as much as his lungs. Meanwhile, Silas walked along no worse for wear.
“How much further are we supposed to walk?” Jacob panted, ashamed at the weakness in his voice.
“I do not claim to know the aims and devices of this tournament’s proprietors,” Silas replied, slowing his pace for a moment. “But were I to venture a guess, I would say that we must be close.”
“I hope so, or else there won’t be much of a fight,” the student grumbled as he caught up to his teacher. His tan overcoat felt immeasurably heavy on his shoulders, as though the light and heat from the sun pressed down with actual weight. “It’s so damn hot in this coat. I might as well just take it off.” He started to slide one arm out.
“Leave it on,” Silas instructed curtly. “More layers are good in this case, I don’t need your flesh scalded and ground down to bone by the sun and sand.”
“It can’t be that much worse than having this big coat on.”
“Just take my word for it, Jacob,” said shirtless Sensei, for the first time showing subtle signs of discomfort. It hadn’t even occurred to Jacob before. How was Silas able to withstand the harshness of their battlefield so easily? Hi awe and respect at his master’s resilience grew yet again.
Unfortunately, Jacob was not his master by any stretch of the imagination. Why he did possess formidably destructive telekinetic powers, his physical prowess had never been in the same league Silas’s fortress of a body, even before his illness. As much as it might hurt his pride, Jacob had learned to be honest with himself about his limitations. He knew that walking much longer would leave him gravely weakened before the fight even started. He wiped the sweat from his eyes and searched for any sign of their opponents.
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