More Than Skin Deep(Nihl)

[Anonymous]

Beneath the towering trees of the jungle, with the birds and the animals being entirely too loud and colorful that the red headed boy, slightly withered vines clinging to his hair and red robes, seemed almost muted and dull. He wasn't in good shape; old blood marred his robes and his breathing was shallow and wheezy. By the look on his face, he was in a great deal of pain, though none that even the most careful bare eye could see. If you could see his magic core, however, that was a different story.

Imagine, for a moment, a perfectly round rock about the size of a cantaloupe. This is what Teva's magical core usually looks like, except glowing. Now, imagine, that that rock is pelted erratically with acid. It was originally the size of a melon, roughly, but now, it is pitting and deformed, and about the size of a plum. A very irregularly shaped plum. Part of this is from magic depletion, but for the post part it's the back lash of loosing his forest.

Yes.

An entire forest.

On the other side of the world there is a country and in this country there had been a beautiful, thriving forest tending to by and in fact grown from seeds by the earth demon currently laying on the floor of the jungle. But that forest was now gone, had been burned to the ground and the magical backlash from loosing all of that life, all of that life that for three hundred years Teva had tended and cherished, had some how wound him up across the Earth and being slowly healed by the innate magic of the jungle.

[Anonymous]

Naruk found it ironic that civilization was far more savage then the jungles he traveled through. Here you knew the order of thing. Who were your friends, who were your enemies, and who could care less. On the other hand when it came to fellow sentient creatures they were just as likely to kill you as kiss you. Friends could easily be hiding a dagger and enemies may have your best interests at heart. Such thoughts were usually the only company Naruk had on his journeys. Most of his friends and allies had their own missions to complete or land to look over. Besides he would never ask them to for assistance. This was his mission, no one else's,  and there was no reason to get them caught up in his mission of repentance. Most of those who he had hurt were probably dead or had gone into hiding. People tend to do that after being hunted by a small army of mercenaries. If his former comrades and village could see him now they would never believe it. Naruk the Blood Letter, Naruk the Skull Reaver, now Naruk the Peacemaker. He couldn't help but smile to himself, tusks bending in a short grin, at the thought of how their faces would look with such knowledge.

He was so caught up in his own joke that Naruk almost stepped on the broken and bleeding body of a young boy. At least Naruk thought he was bleeding from the old stains on his robes. Carefully picking him up Nark knew he had to hurry before any wild animals caught the scent and came for them. He would need to find somewhere to set up camp and give him proper medical aid. He tried to keep his body as still as possible though walking through thick undergrowth and avoiding low hanging branches didn't make this task easy. Naruk began to believe that he should just find a soft spot somewhere and set up there but he knew the risks of such an idea. Just as he was going to give in to this plan a small clearing opened up. Large rocks kept the plants and bay and made a natural perimeter. Naruk placed the boy on the ground and began picking the plants out of his air and removing his blood stained robes. He could see no real injuries but sensed a great pain coming from within him. Naruk frowned and had a hunch that helping him was beyond his abilities and would require an outside source.

[Anonymous]

He had lain in the forest for three and a half hours before being found by the massive orc, but of this Teva was no aware. he had only woken enough not be aware of the state of his magic and he was panicking. He needed to smooth it out, he knew, or it would become malformed forever. He couldn't let that happen. It hurt too much for it to be like this, because when you consciously create so much life and then it is killed--it takes some of you with it. And Teva had created a lot of life. And Teva had lost all of it. And it hurt.

So frantically, Teva tried to smooth his core out so that it would heal correctly. Imagined it to be like clay, and her hands smooth like glass. But she couldn't do it and although it was less mountainous it wasn't perfect, not nearly, and it had to be. It had to, or he wouldn't be able to help people like he was supposed to.

With Teva's plants he could regrow limbs, restore brain cells, cure diseases. With his power and his hands he could fix a lot of things, but not this. He needed more power, to fill in the cracks and make it smooth. The forest? He had not ground. He would get sucked in. Teva was scared. He was nothing without his power, without his plants. Nothing else needed or depended on him. Only a few other beings liked him, and none as unconditionally as the plants he grew and nurtured. He needed help.

[Anonymous]

The sun over head began to reach its Zenith as Naruk laid the young boy in his sleeping roll. He had nowhere to rest now but it would be quite some time till nightfall so he had some time to find a cheap replacement. Just then he sensed a presence behind him and through instinct whirled around and drew his blade in one fluid motion. His blade was about to sweep through the strangers midsection when it stopped mid swing. "Who are you" he said in his calm yet coarse voice. The figure standing in front of him was not a creature he was familiar with. Her body seemed to be an extension of the jungle itself. Her body was made from wood and vines, her eyes were that of a predator but held a sort of peace that only a pacifist could hold. Naruk decided that this creature must be a spirit of some sort, probably the soul of this jungle. While he hoped this creature came In peace he did not return his weapon to its sheath, he was not that naïve. "I will repeat my question one last time. Who are you?" The figure merely kept its gaze on Naruk then slowly moved its eyes to the young boy currently under his care.

"I am the keeper of this place Negotiator. Yes I know who you are for I can listen to your heart just as well as you can listen to my voice. The boy needs help that you cannot provide orc, give him to me and follow if you wish. I can help him heal damage that is far beyond your ability or your understanding."As the creature stopped talking Naruk couldn't help but be impressed by her voice. It reminded him of the tropical birds that sung around them and he was actually disappointed when she stopped talking. The spirit of the jungle called two large apes to carry the boy on a makeshift gurney to her dwelling whatever it may be. Naruk kept his distance but followed, his instincts told him to trust her but he couldn't be sure if it was his mind talking or pheromones that he was sure she was capable of making just like a flower makes scents. If it broke out into a fight he knew that she would have the advantage but Naruk just had to make sure the boy stayed safe.

[Anonymous]

They paced through the forest for many long minutes, and it might have seemed to Naruk that they were going very fast, for the scenery sped by as if they were atop a speeding train(not that anyone there knew what a train was). Eventually, however, they can upon a great, vine wrapped tree, with cavernous roots. In one of the lower branches of the trees a leopard sat complacently, yawning a little, but when the apes set Teva beneath the tree, the leopard was suddenly alert, staring at Teva. It could sense the damage, too.

"His very magical center is damaged," the jungle spirit told Naruk, as she approached Teva, running a hand made from the petals of some weeping flower over his cheek, "Ripped apart by the cruelty of humans who don't understand the beauty of untamed wild. But I will not let him hurt, not this Earth-Child of another realm who does so much and asks for so little." Her voice was not now the chatter of tropical birds, but the thud of rain and the roaring of wind through the trees. Predator-eyes locked on the orc, and she held out her other hand, "Come, Negotiator, lend to this Earth-Child your strength and your sturdiness. He needs a ground."

Teva could not hear them, but she could feel the jungle spirit, feel her power and needed it, needed it and her connection to the earth, but needed the ground--needed Naruk, in this case.

[Anonymous]

OOC: Sorry this took so long. I got a case of writers block for some reason.

"A ground, what could that be?" Naruk wondered while listening to the spirit speak. Could she mean a ground like a base or perhaps a conduit? His questions would be answered soon enough as Naruk sat on the ground cross legged and mumbling a simple mantra. This would help him open up to the energy that flowed through every living thing. While not a user of magic Naruk, like all followers of Solador, had an understanding of the natural world that let them listen to the life that surrounded them. His voice slowly escalated with each new verse added to the end of the mantra. A bead of sweat slid down Naruks cheek as the chant reached its limit and his eyes opened glowing with the essence of life.

His hands reached out to the boy but were met with the spirits instead. Their eyes met for a moment and Naruk understood what was happening. Her body would be a conduit through which his strength would be carried. The drain was slight at first but it grew over time, causing his muscles to strain and his head to ache. Finally Naruk, instead of instinctively holding back like he had been doing, let his body go and the strain became a free flow of power. Naruk hoped that this odd young man appreciated what he was going through for him and at the same time wondered why he was going through this for a complete stranger in the first place.

[Anonymous]

((That's okay ^^ I took rather a long time with this, too >>;;; ))

There! A ground, a channel, a way to heal quickly--Teva seized the opportunity, grasping Naruk's power, his strength, and keeping a tight hold on it as he began to draw the energy he needed from the Earth, via the jungle spirit's connection to it. The spirit's connection was much better than Teva's and the healing was therefore quicker than it would have been. But as for what drawing energy from the Earth is like... It's somewhat like this:

Imagine that on an island far away there is a volcano. It is miles and miles deep into the Earth, but stand at the top you can clearly see the depth of it and the width, and the glowing, boiling lava that has not erupted in a very, very long time but is no less dangerous. Across the top of this volcano, there is a bridge that you must jump from in order to reach the lava and take a sample. Of course, one does not simply jump into a volcano unless they are feeling particularly stupid that day, and so you have a friend and a good, long length of rope with you.

You tie the rope around your wait and the rope to the bridge and your friend, who is quite strong and very reliable, take hold of the rope. You climb over the railing and perch at the edge and of course you still don't jump because the sudden tension could snap the rope, so slowly you begin to lower yourself into the volcano and your friend helps. You are very careful because if you are too eager you could fall into the volcano.

That is what taking energy from the earth is like. You dip your cup in and pray that your ground doesn't let you go, because if they do you will burn with an overload of energy. This requires trust: you have go to trust your ground. Your partner. If Teva had had a choice, he would not have trusted Naruk. Nothing personal, and in fact nothing in particular against orcs(maybe they were violent, brutish, so on, but Teva's race of earth demons, too, was known for such behavior). Teva simply did not like to trust people he didn't know with his life. He would have preferred Koa or Mitya to Naruk. However, they had already begun and if the earth force that Teva could sense(the jungle spirit) trusted Naruk, then Teva could, too. He would certainly die without Naruk so there was nothing to loose.

Minutes passed in silence. The animals were quiet, and the jungle spirit was still as if she had never moved before and never would, busy keeping the links that were needed humming and open and alive. After what seemed like hours, but by the sun's telling was no longer than half an hour, Teva slowly, slowly began to make his way back. The link to the Earth began to recede and Teva's core was whole and glowing. Soon the grounding link was broken, and Teva's eyes began to flutter open. The vines in his hair had perked back into life, brilliant and green as Teva's eyes. When he spoke, it was to Naruk, for the jungle spirit and her animals were gone.

"Thank you."