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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ August Orsino on August 2, 2020 at 13:37

August woke up that morning with a slight headache like he had done for the past week, although he knew he had to get up out of bed and couldn't sleep in much on this Saturday, even if he had no work to do for his job, he couldn't afford to neglect the little training he was able to muster, considering his mix of out of control and diminishing abilities. Rubbing the sleep from his tired chocolate brown eyes, he flicked his hand and turned on the bedrooms lights, not so much that the beams would be harsh to his eyes but a calm warm tone which subtly lifted the darkness of his room.

The tall male sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, he thought about his wife and if she would be proud of him for continuing on with his life, despite her untimely absence. His heart still hadn't turned bitter after the long months of loneliness and abandonment and he hoped that maybe it was his positive outlook which kept his powers still strong enough to use. If annoyingly unreliable. "Practice makes perfect." He repeated over and over in his head while he showered and got dressed for the day in a set of comfortable bottoms that held a good amount of stretch, a grey t-shirt paired with black/white Nike trainers which pushed his already obscene height a couple of inches but that was just how the trainers were made. Out of curiosity before he left the room he tried to make the bed with the use of gravity, the element he was heading out to practice with, needless to say he was able to do so but not without effort. Was it only his fire element that was struggling? It was all confusing. A couple days previous he had been told about a young Initia who might be interested in helping him, and the meeting was set up even though the two involved had never met each other. Over the years August had mainly been on his own with training and keeping his ability up. He didn't find it difficult as he came from a strict military background, but he knew research via books and using trial and error methods would only get him so far. He needed to understand more about the type of supernatural he was and why his abilities were changing. Could stress and lack of sleep truly have such a detrimental effect? What would happen if he was only left with Electric? Would he be able to get the others back eventually? All these questions he had no answers to but he hoped that maybe she would. Unlike her he hadn't grown up in a Tribe. His discovery of himself was at times was a surprising and slow progression. His parents had left him behind and he had yet to affiliate himself with the others like him. 

Gus packed up a small backpack with some food and drink, a change of clothes and any climbing equipment he may need. It might have been a crazy idea but he had decided to hike his way up the mountain to Initia Territory. Luckily for him it was situated at the base of the mountain and not the top. When he got there, the male was a little out of breath and his medium black hair was tied back in a small bun. This was definitely the right place and he was precisely on time. Inhaling deeply August paced a few times outside the training grounds before he took his naturally lengthy strides forward. The place was empty all apart from what looked like a teenager but he quickly realised she was the one he would be training with. He looked down at her with a genuinely kind smile, she was bright faced with long brown hair and well presented, "Hola pequeña señorita. Yes I am August, but you can call me Gus if you want." he spoke with a deep caramel tone, "No need to thank me for grasping the opportunity Jasmine, let's get started shall we?" He continued setting his bag down he showed her which elements he had diverged into. Electric. His strongest. Fire. His most unstable. Earth. His most gradual. One by one until he came on his forth. Gravity. His weakest. "What do you think? I really am kinda clueless" he turned around raising his eyebrows, unsure of himself as he sat down so she wouldn't have to strain her neck up to meet gaze with him. 

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Jasmine Lennox on August 9, 2020 at 0:03

Anyone outside of the community might be surprised to see the older man coming in but, having been raised around Initia, Jasmine doesn’t seem surprised to see him at all. She’s just grateful she didn’t have to wait on him. Perhaps living with her brother has skewed her expectations some but hey, appreciate the small things, right? “Gus? Alright then. You can call me whatever, I know Jasmine can be a bit long sometimes.” Heck, her brother still calls her Jazzy which is something really only he can get away with because she does call him Elly.

To be so young she does seem to appreciate his get down to business manner of things, smiling and pushing her bag aside as he sets his own down. “Of course. I’d hardly call you clueless though…” It’s rare to see so many element marks on a single Initia, she’s actually a little surprised. Once again, he must be older than he appears, not that she expects much else by this point. “I’m a gravity master in training so I’m afraid I can’t help too much with your other elements but I can help a lot with the gravity one.” Since that’s what they’re there for after all. He’s of course welcome to pick her brain about any other questions he might have too.

“Everyone experiences things a little bit differently but the way my old master explained gravity to me is this. It’s manipulating the weight of things around you, making them lighter or heavier by changing the gravity field around them. You can even allow yourself to fly with it, which is pretty fun if I do say so myself.” As an example she focuses for a second, her eyes turning gold as her body begins to levitate off the floor. “Better than Houdini right?” Her eyes go back to their normal brown when her feet touch the floor again but the grin remains in place. “You can do a bunch of cool things with it though. Was there anything specific you wanted to try out or practice with?” Gravity is one of those elements that’s more suited for defense than offense, at least in her experience, so actually sparring with it will require actual physical sparring which she’s fairly certain he’d have the edge in. Perhaps he can help her with that side of things in return.

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ August Orsino on August 16, 2020 at 15:02

August half expected an older person to be training with him, but who was he to complain. Any help was great. When she commented about the marks on his skin he looked at them as he never thought about that before, "So many? How many can one Initia have?" he asked her curiously wondering if she knew the answer, for him . He assumed she had grown up in this territory but he may have been wrong, "So you were born in Evermore but you can only control gravity?" I haven't mastered any of mine, though I'm not sure I can." he said stating the obvious as he had just shown her what his skill set consisted of. Using a couple of his elements in one day usually drained him and he knew that today would be no different, but he came mentally and physically prepared for it. He could always crash later and recover.  He looked down and smiled at the young girl beside him, "I'm not as old as I look...or...I'm older than I look?" He tilted his head brushing back his medium length dark hair realising it was subjective after all, and he didn't know what she thought of him. 

Gus watched as she moved around him and stood a slight distance away on one of the many training mats that covered the floor, of course accidents were bound to happen so he wasn't surprised they were there. Supernatural or otherwise. He listened carefully but as she continued to explain how Gravity worked, he thought it best to take notes, so in line with that he turned around and reached into his backpack, his long fingers reaching around a small black notebook with a fine nibbed pen attached. When she started to hover above the floor, the male stared wide eyed..."Can I do that?" he asked curiously almost wanting to try it automatically even if he did make a fool of himself. Did his eyes change colour like hers? He hadn't actually taken the time to look and no one had ever told him.

With a long exhale he thought for a moment, his fingers squeezing the book standing up,"If you have any small objects about, I'd like to see how many things I can manipulate at one time, and also the different weights. I assume that the heavier or bigger an item is, the more energy it takes?" He spoke out in his deep toned voice, rather quickly but she didn't look confused so he continued. "I'd also like to know how I can get in touch with other Masters....do I need to? Is there anything you think I should know about Gravity?" August paused and apologised for all of his questions, but he knew that reading her body language, facial expressions, how she interacted with him and the information she had already provided would only get him so far. "Sorry...one more...Um...Is it common to use elements to fight with? I haven't used them for anything other than daily stuff...you know not on purpose to harm anyone, but I have used Electric to aid in my escape from a certain horrible situation." Gus raised his brown eyes to meet hers and smiled feeling a little awkward by how much he had talked. 

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Jasmine Lennox on August 22, 2020 at 14:30

Ahh, he must be new to a community of Initia. Understandable. She’s fortunately prepared to explain to the best of her ability, having been raised in one her entire life after all. “I suppose that, given enough time and a master, you could eventually diversify into all of them. It would take a lot of work though.” Mastery takes a long time too but nowhere near the amount of time it would take to diversify into so many elements. He must be far older than he appears. “I was born in New York actually. Just moved here a couple weeks ago, but I was raised in an Initia tribe. I control only gravity by choice, pretty much I decided to master my birth element instead of branching out into others. My whole family decided to go the mastery route. If you’ve diversified you can’t master the elements but you get more variety, think of it as a give and take.” She shrugs a little, taking a second to think if she’s missed anything on that. She does give a soft chuckle to his slight confusion for how she sees him. “Older than you look. It usually takes a while to learn a new element, about… 5 to 10 years I think? But you should ask Sofi, she’d know for sure.” It’s not something she has to worry about, being a master in training and all.

Gravity manipulation to facilitate flight isn’t exactly the normal version that most people think of. She does it by literally making herself immune to gravity. It’s a neat trick and allows for an interesting get away that most wouldn’t expect but it’s hardly a combat tactic. Then again she almost always uses her powers defensively. “You can with enough practice. It’s pretty fun. You just have to focus on letting yourself float up, no longer anchored to the ground.” There’s lots of other fun things gravity lets you do as well but that’s kind of what they’re here for. She’ll tell him about them. Or demonstrate them.

“You’d be right. You can do it to people too, but our abilities can be dangerous if they’re not practiced with regularly.” He doesn’t have to worry about her, she can cancel any of his effects toward her, at least dealing with gravity. That’s why people train together. She takes the time that he’s asking her questions to get some things set up around the room, making sure to close this particular section off in case things go flying… which they very well might. “I’m pretty new here myself. For the most part Sofi’s arranged it but I’m sure there’s a way to get hold of their numbers. Or you could just go around and ask. Most of us live here in the community. If you want to advance with your other elements you definitely need to train with a master though, they’ll help you improve faster and can even heal you if something happens.” She takes a minute to think about if there’s anything he should know before turning to look at him again. “Just remember that gravity is a force. It’s not like the other elements, with gravity you’re controlling something universal. It’s something most people won’t expect you to use.” In her experience no one really expects it. “We always train to use our abilities in an attack but it’s not common in practice. Gravity isn’t one that you’d use offensively most of the time anyway, in my experience it’s more defensive. Keeping people out, slowing people down, helping you escape, that sort of thing.” She doesn’t seem to mind how much he’s talked, it gives her a chance to refresh her own knowledge. But now that the questions seem out of the way she gestures to the items she’s set up, ranging from tiny and light to large and heavy.

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ August Orsino on September 1, 2020 at 13:58

August watched as the young girl walked around the room setting out objects for him to try and test his skills with, while his mind soaked in all the information she was providing by answering his questions. It was nice to focus on something else for a while. The distraction and adrenaline reminding him of being a teenager, when the officers of his home camp would pick at random two partners. Male or female. It didn't matter, and they would train on the sand, testing each others skills. The stark difference between that and what he was currently attempting, almost shocked his system. You could train without injury? Without fear? He shook his head and smiled, of course.

The major difference this time were that his targets as a teen were flesh and blood and often the training wouldn't stop until the other couldn't stand any longer. This in comparison seemed stark and he knew would most likely enjoy himself having inanimate objects to manipulate. Being violent was a massive aspect of Augusts personality but he didn't like to avail of it. Fighting in general switched his stable, rational mind, to something much different. Un-remorseful, bloodthirsty and distant. He hated it. Looking across at the friendly gravity trainer he was lucky enough to come upon, he couldn't help but smile because her own facial expression was contagious, "I'll try the little squares first to see if I can make them float. Usually I can do this at home without any problem, when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to get up." August laughed at his own honesty, but he was sure he wasn't the only person to do this. Turning his gaze to the smallest cubes, he would place his hand out slightly, bending his fingers as if he was actually grabbing the cube with them, despite being meters away. The physical action of using his powers helped him rather than just availing his mind, even though he could do that also. 

Augusts brown eyes began to turn a honey gold as he called upon the power of gravity flowing through his veins. He manipulated the field around the cubes raising them up into the air one by one as first, each of his fingers controlled one of the cubes because they were that small. It didn't seem too difficult but he knew this was only the start. With a couple of minutes of practice he was able to line them up in different shapes which just made him smirk more because it made him feel like a child playing without a care in the world, and that was very therapeutic to him, "You said you can block gravity, does that mean I can't use my power on you? Can you make me float or hold me up against a wall?" He asked her as he set the cubes down and sat again, looking towards her with a pensive expression. It was obvious Gus trusted Jasmine and would be fine if she wanted to try what he asked, but that would be her call because he understood Initia powers were not something to be reckless with. 

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Jasmine Lennox on September 26, 2020 at 14:19

It seems that Jasmine’s experiences in life are different from August’s. Everything about her seems like a normal teenager, albeit one with powers. Then again, things are rarely all they seem. Just looking at her no one would be able to tell that her parents are neglectful pieces of crap who put way too much on their children. No one would be able to tell that she’d been kidnapped and shot as a way to get money from her father. Or that she’s here under coercion alongside her brother.

Her smile remains on her face as she watches him start to practice with the cubes, joining his laugh with her own when he mentions using his powers when he’s being lazy. “I’ve done it too. Mostly with the remote. It’s fun to throw things at your brother when he’s on your nerves.” It’s hard to tell if she’s joking or not but considering she’s a little sister, she’s probably not. Her eyes remain on him as he manipulates the smaller ones but once she seems satisfied that he has it she sits down nearby, watching as he lines them up in different shapes.

“Right. So there are certain abilities that can only be accessed by going down the mastery route and immunity to gravity is one of those. I can choose to allow your powers to affect me but I can also choose not to. The other one with gravity is actually force fields, I’m still learning that one myself though.” She can create them but size and duration is something she’s improving on still. To demonstrate she holds her hand up toward August, her eyes turning gold as she floats him a couple feet up in the air before lightly placing him back on his feet. “I can get violent with it, throw people around, but I really don’t like to. I suppose it’s a good thing my element is gravity instead of something more aggressive huh?” Not that she hadn’t just demonstrated how gravity can be very dangerous but she really doesn’t seem the type to use it that way. “Was there something you wanted me to show you?”

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ August Orsino on October 26, 2020 at 13:39

August stood in front of the small lady paying attention while she spoke to him, he didn’t relate to her upbringing but he figured she was lucky in her own way to have one that seemed so much more normal than his. He was almost envious, “I would do that too if I had any siblings, but sadly I don’t” he shrugged content enough as he wouldn’t have wanted any of his family to go through the same thing he had. Maybe he had a brother or a sister he never knew existed. Gus made a mental note to look into that, but he highly suspected it wouldn’t lead to anything.

He watched Jasmines eyes glow like molten gold, gradually feeling his muscular body being lifted off the ground. It was a strange experience as their height difference and general build were polar opposites but she seemed to be moving him with minimal effort, and he couldn’t do anything about it, “That’s some skill you’ve got there, I wonder what the other Masters powers are.” He said casually as she lowered him back down to his feet and he felt the hard floor under the soles of his shoes.

“Yea it is good you don’t have something more violent, like fire or electric…” he spoke as he thought about the amount of times he nearly killed someone with his fire element. Luckily for him he had perfect control over Electric as it was his birth rite.

While she was talking Gus took the chance of her being distracted to see how quickly she would react, he knew she could protect herself easily but even so he didn’t go at her full blast or with his most powerful element. Electric. Instead he chose his newest one which he was currently in training for. Moving his fingers subtly, his eyes began to glow a dark shade of blue. The water in the bottle he had just opened began to flow to his command, and with one sharp shift of his hand he directed the small amount towards her, “Think quick.” He spoke with a playful grin watching to see if the water would soak her or not, “How about we have a small fight?” he suggested becoming more interested in her strength than his own training.

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InitiaPermalink Reply by ✓ Jasmine Lennox on November 16, 2020 at 1:27

She does know a little bit about other Initia’s mastery powers but it’s been a while since she’s been over them so what she rattles off is purely from memory. “I know fire can become immune to fire and absorb it, water can breathe underwater, and electric masters can actually generate their own electricity. There are others of course but… I don’t remember them right now. Mine are force fields and immunity to gravity changes.” Her effort in putting him back on his feet truly is minimal. She has actually thrown several grown men before, so just lifting one isn’t really a huge struggle for her despite how young she is. “My older brother is a fire master if that helps you out any? Though… he can be a bit much to train with. He’s a touch arrogant and he knows it so you can tell him I said that.”

The water coming at her stops before it ever reaches her and she stops talking to raise an eyebrow at him, the water floating inches from her before falling to the floor in a puddle. She’s about to ask what that was for before he answers it ahead of time and she chuckles a little, shaking her head at the slight excitement in his eyes. “Never fought another Initia before?” It’s certainly different, especially if one is going with pure powers and not any form of physical combat. “If you’re sure about this that’s fine… but the rules of a match like this tend to involve not actually hurting one another. The masters can heal, I cannot.” She chuckles before taking a step back, putting distance between them.

Sparring matches are things she’s used to and unfortunately for him she’s used to fighting her brothers - both prodigies with their elements and more than capable of kicking… just about anyone’s ass. To her credit she’s respectful and doesn’t open up with the best she can do, instead taking the rubber dodgeballs she’d laid out earlier and throwing them all at him at once to see how he’ll react to them. There’s only about 3 of them so they’re easily enough dodged but she doesn’t move at all to do it meaning he doesn’t know they’re coming until they’re flying at him.

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