The Bird Soars

[Blackbird]

Tonight was the night.

A great deal of study had gone into the trial ahead, alongside brief instruction and a trial which exposed the nature of the Beast and the fortitude of weathered Humanity. Tonight would be the culimination of those efforts, as well as the implementation of will and physical endurance.

The best outcome: Succeeding in attaining her first Chrysalis and emerging from it with a greater understanding of the Soul. Moreso, it would mean the hope she had placed in her covenant was not placed in vain. It meant discarding the ignorance of the Slave and attaining a new place as a Supplicant.

The Worst: The Beast could overwhelm her, damaging mind, spirit, and body irrevocably. The corruption could be so complete that saving her could be impossible. She could be tossed into the throes of Wassail with her only salvation being the complete destruction that only Final Death can provide. No pressure.

However, even along the second path, none could say that Blackbird hadn't tried. If she was destroyed by her fellow Dragons, they could still say with confidence that, although the neonate failed to Change, she had confronted the Beast with the attempt to loosen its grip. And that is something that few Kindred even tried to attempt.

Tonight, within her den of opulence, Blackbird sat bare. Her face was fresh, absent of makeup. Her hair cascaded down in its natural locks. No jewelry nor other accessories decorated her form. Even her scent was natural, for Blackbird had abstained from oils and perfumed soaps as she had bathed in preparation for the night ahead.

Simple purity, bereft of distraction. It would be the best way to approach what lay ahead, or so the Daeva believed.

Blackbird had rested in her suite, letting the water dry on her skin and within her hair without interference. It had taken time, but to her it was a crucial step in the understanding of trials and coils. When a trial begins, other pursuits and concerns are secondary. When she was fully dry, the neonate slipped on a simple, linen dress, She had ordered it a woman who operated out of her home a few states away with exacting specification to ensure the material was 100% linen and worked by hands.

Then it was time to seek Lina Moretti to inform her that she was ready.

[Blackbird]

Blackbird came upon Lina and took some comfort that her preparations were indeed acceptable. For a moment, the neonate's eyes rested on the stake slowly turning in her mentor's hand, but when the Grand Wyrm began to speak, the pale eyes of the Succubus moved to Lina's face. It was clear Moretti had the Daeva's full attention.

"To prepare my body, I have served the Domain, offering my flesh to the tribulations one must face as a defender," Blackbird offers, "I took the lessons of Supplicant Nap with me, so that I may learn to understand the worth in my pain. In so doing, I have prepared it for the wrath of the Beast, for its rage is eternal."

"To prepare my mind, I have meditated in darkness," Blackbird says, keeping with her cadence as she relayed her efforts, "In so doing, I have learned the face of the Beast and the power that Will possesses to bar its assault on the Soul. This Triumvirate is locked in a struggle, but Will must remain absolute if we are to endure. To Change."

"To prepare my Soul, I have wept for the Dead," the neonate says, referencing her early tribulations, "I have reached for Humanity and found overdue satisfaction. I have lain with kine and fostered infant relationships. And I have found it nourishing. To weather the Beast, the needs of the Soul cannot be denied."

A hint of a smile danced on Blackbird's lips as she remembered the past. The trials of the Soul called for communication with the kine and the exploration of emotion. Blackbird had long denied both and it was perhaps this lesson that she sorely needed the most. She was grateful the Ordo Dracul had made her see the value of mortals in the retention of the Soul. Surely she would have fallen without it.

[Blackbird]

Blackbird followed willingly. If her heart still beat, it is likely it would be pumping vigorously in anticipation for the trial ahead, but it sat silent and dead. They found themselves before the sensory deprivation yet again. The very womb of understanding that Blackbird had used to see to the Beast fully for the first time. It was the very receptacle where Blackbird came to understand her goals were possible.

She'd offer her attention to the Grand Wyrm, listening as Lina spoke of the trial ahead. Even now, Blackbird felt the Beast twist, writhing in some unspoken discomfort. The Beast was not a thing of words. It could not speak, but Blackbird knew well what its reactions meant.

It knows. For a moment, there was fear. Then surprise as the Grand Wyrm reached out to touch her. Finally, there was comfort. It was as difficult for Lina as well, this much was certain. Blackbird's victory would solidify Moretti's place as a mentor to her fellow Dragons. The neonate's fall could also affect the Grand Wyrm, warranting whispers questioning her abilities. Perhaps, it would even afford suspicion to the covenant as a whole. And that was not something Blackbird was willing to allow.

Remembering back to the fateful night Lina had recruited her to the ranks of the Dragon, Blackbird reminded herself of the solemn promise she had afforded herself.

No more running.

For a moment, Blackbird closed her eyes. She breathed in deeply, centering herself as she wrestled within her mind to clear away her doubt. The air itself was uneccessary of course, but the action was needed.

After many long moments in silence, Blackbird's eyes finally opened. Within danced glints of quiet pride and determination. Her goal was not to fail, but if she did, there was a comfort in her Soul that she would not fall to the Beast easily. The struggle would be titanic if Blackbird would have any say in it.

"I understand, Grand Wyrm," she offers quietly, "I've come too far to turn from my path, I am determined to walk along its weathered stones. Let the Beast stalk, it will not find me easy prey. I will resist the comforts of its prison or fall. I know that should I face Final Death, I will not go willingly. The Beast won't allow it, but know that I have no regrets."

She let the statement hang in the air. Then, her hands rose from her sides, as if presenting herself.

"I am ready."

[Blackbird]

Blackbird entered the cool waters of the chamber upon the Grand Wyrm's instruction,laying within it and floating as she filled her long-dead lungs with needless air to attain the appropriate buoyancy.


For a moment, doubt entered the neonate's mind about the trial ahead, but she pushed it down and closed her eyes to take in the silence around her form. She'd focus initially on the subtle ripples permeating from her form due to her slight movements as her body gradually settled into its position on the water's surface. In time, her senses dulled as she was lulled into a trance.


Then, at this moment of balance, Blackbird felt it.


The Grand Wyrm pushed the stake in quickly and efficiently, its length just long enough to graze the neonate's heart flesh as the Beast was jolted to action. Within it's cage, the thing yowled and railed against its lock. Blackbird pushed her will to confront the Beast and then... nothing.


It was silent.


In her reverie, Blackbird fell to dreaming and found herself in a frozen forest. Snowflakes held fast in the air as if defying the annals of time, imprisoning the moment. Within this, lay a clearing, not wholly unlike the one she had experienced in her dream-state during her first. Within sat a crooked, felled log. Upon which sat a figure not unlike Blackbird herself, save the wildness of its visage. In her heart, Blackbird knew she was aware of this figure, but in the fog of the dream she could not place it. As she neared, the wild woman rose from its perch and approached, its gait steady, but cautious.


A pang of fear arose in the neonate at first until the figure had closed the distance. Within it's gaze, Blackbird experienced a strange comfort and reached out, as if by instinct, caressing the silent figure's cheek. The woman responded in kind, holding it only for a moment before pulling the neonate into an embrace. It felt as if it were a long-awaited reunion between old friends. Perhaps even the resounding love of a lost sister.


A sense of belonging overcame Blackbird and she wept, even as the wild woman crooned softly. She did not speak, instead humming pleasant tones and walking Blackbird to the fire and covering her with a large wool blanket. There, the wild woman cradled Blackbird as time began to proceed at a slow turn to the woodland. Snowflakes began to fall and the frozen flames of the fire began to dance languidly as the sound of the crackling logs filled the air.


In the distance, Blackbird saw that dawn was approaching, as color began to spread from the horizon. Yet again a curious fear filled Blackbird's senses, but, as the wild woman kissed her neck, it was forgotten. Soon, the rays of the morning sun began to peak. And so, awash in the golden rays, Blackbird was pulled to slumber and time began to proceed in earnest.


Victory alighted the eyes of the wild woman as she rose. Her prison was breaking and, as she left the clearing, she offered only a parting glance to her slumbering warden. The will of Blackbird lay forgotten and the Soul of Annora remained unprotected. The Beast had won having learned its own lessons in Blackbird's enlightenment. It knew well enough now that a forceful assault would do no good against the neonate, as this is what Blackbird had come to expect and guard against. No. The Beast had had to use a new skill. Guile.


And with it, the Beast ensured the pitiful weathered soul of the girl from San Jose would no longer interfere.


So it was that, when Blackbird opened her eyes, it was the Beast that looked out unto the world. Crawling from the chamber in feral, nigh-unnatural fashion, the Beast that was once Blackbird regarded the form of her mentor with wild eyes and a wide, predatory grin.


One thing was for certain. Blackbird was gone.


And the Beast affirmed that truth with a deep growl, gnashing its teeth in defiance to the greater Beast within Lina's form. Lesser it may have been, but the Beast that was once Blackbird had attained freedom, unlike the leashed, cowed Beast before her. The Beast of the Grand Wyrm was a coward, a weak servant bound by the pitiful chains of her will. To the once-Blackbird it was an abomination, worthy only of destruction.


Form twitching in anticipation for the kill, the draugr before Lina could no longer hold back impulse and, with a feral cry, charged.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-02-24 13:38:15		Blackbird rolls 1 die for initiative		5

With Bonus, BB's Initiative is 10

[Blackbird]

The draugr screeched in pain as the knife slashed deep into its flesh, spraying precious Vitae at the assault.

The Beast had to end this. Soon!

And Lina would pay for the Vitae it had lost. She would pay in blood and with her very soul.

The draugr charged, aiming to grapple the knife fighter to end her advantage and draw it closer to her throat...

  1 success

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2019-02-24 14:02:09		Blackbird rolls 4 to Grapple! (Brawl+Str-1Untrained) (10 Again, WillPower)		8, 7, 4, 1		1 success