[drabble] Cohesion
Challenge Name and Number: #066, Rebellion
Drabble Title: Cohesion
Word Count: 592
Warnings (if applicable): none
Pairings (if applicable): Mischiefshipping (Mana x TKB)
Summary: “Just imagine what else you could make, if your thoughts were clear?”
Author's Note: AE. I hope you enjoy!
Cohesion
Mana stared at her hands, determined to make them cast the spell properly this time. She could manipulate the sand cupped in her palms into various shapes, streaming it through the air to hover, motionless, but anything more advanced seemed beyond her reach.
Her instructor wasn't helping matters, try as he might. For their lessons, Mahaado often stood behind her, enveloping her in the long reach of his shadow, and offered a stringent assessment of her technique and progress as she worked at their lessons.
Mahaado had told her, “You must learn so that one day you may defend the Pharaoh and his Kingdom as I do.”
The sand wavered limply in the air before dropping back to slip between the cracks of her fingers. The pressure was getting to her, none of it was helping her learn any faster. As long as she practiced her magic in the rooms or courtyards of the palace, the reality of it was too hard to grasp.
So, one day, she decided to do something about it, slipping outside to the city beyond, alone, dressed in plain clothes in varied shades of brown to blend in. Sand was ubiquitous in Egypt, after all, and as long as she had access to it she could practice anywhere.
Mana eventually settled beside a building, out of the way of most who traveled the busier streets but still close enough that she could hear their voices, let the chatter wash over her and calm her in the way that strict commands and expectant silence could not. She gathered a handful of sand and began to work with it, shaping it and trying to solidify it. Mahaado had done it for her, once, creating a lump of clear glass without imperfections.
A voice, deep enough to be undeniably male, broke her reverie. “What’cha doing?”
Mana looked up to see him standing there; he looked to be about as old as Mahaado, but the speaker was rougher-looking in all ways, from his ragged clothes to the dirt smudged over his nose and cheeks, seeming to highlight the prominent scar crossing one. He dropped down beside her without invitation, leaning against the wall at their backs and propping one arm up on a knee.
“That’s magic, isn’t it?” he continued to ask. “You’re a magician. Like the ones that work for the Pharaoh?”
She knew it wouldn’t be smart to tell him that she was one of them, but confirmed his first question. “Magic, yes. I’m working with sand.”
“Good choice of weapon.”
“Weapon? No, I’m only to learn defensive magic,” she said. “And what do you know of magic, anyway?”
“I know enough to know why it’s not working for you.” His smug grin grew wider as she gaped at him, disbelieving. “You’re trying to solidify it, aren’t you? But it’ll never work unless you have a clear image in mind. What would you like to make? Here…” And he grabbed her hands, settling them over the ground to shape the sand there. “You see the shape? Can you transform it?”
She nodded, and in a puff of smoke, a thick blade of glass appeared before her, its edge ugly and jagged.
“Congratulations, magician,” he said to her, closing her fingers around the top. “Just imagine what else you could make, if your thoughts were clear?”
She did not want the knife. “You keep it,” she told him, drawing her hands away and moving to her feet, stumbling away to the sound of the man’s laughter ringing in her ears.
Drabble Title: Cohesion
Word Count: 592
Warnings (if applicable): none
Pairings (if applicable): Mischiefshipping (Mana x TKB)
Summary: “Just imagine what else you could make, if your thoughts were clear?”
Author's Note: AE. I hope you enjoy!
Cohesion
Mana stared at her hands, determined to make them cast the spell properly this time. She could manipulate the sand cupped in her palms into various shapes, streaming it through the air to hover, motionless, but anything more advanced seemed beyond her reach.
Her instructor wasn't helping matters, try as he might. For their lessons, Mahaado often stood behind her, enveloping her in the long reach of his shadow, and offered a stringent assessment of her technique and progress as she worked at their lessons.
Mahaado had told her, “You must learn so that one day you may defend the Pharaoh and his Kingdom as I do.”
The sand wavered limply in the air before dropping back to slip between the cracks of her fingers. The pressure was getting to her, none of it was helping her learn any faster. As long as she practiced her magic in the rooms or courtyards of the palace, the reality of it was too hard to grasp.
So, one day, she decided to do something about it, slipping outside to the city beyond, alone, dressed in plain clothes in varied shades of brown to blend in. Sand was ubiquitous in Egypt, after all, and as long as she had access to it she could practice anywhere.
Mana eventually settled beside a building, out of the way of most who traveled the busier streets but still close enough that she could hear their voices, let the chatter wash over her and calm her in the way that strict commands and expectant silence could not. She gathered a handful of sand and began to work with it, shaping it and trying to solidify it. Mahaado had done it for her, once, creating a lump of clear glass without imperfections.
A voice, deep enough to be undeniably male, broke her reverie. “What’cha doing?”
Mana looked up to see him standing there; he looked to be about as old as Mahaado, but the speaker was rougher-looking in all ways, from his ragged clothes to the dirt smudged over his nose and cheeks, seeming to highlight the prominent scar crossing one. He dropped down beside her without invitation, leaning against the wall at their backs and propping one arm up on a knee.
“That’s magic, isn’t it?” he continued to ask. “You’re a magician. Like the ones that work for the Pharaoh?”
She knew it wouldn’t be smart to tell him that she was one of them, but confirmed his first question. “Magic, yes. I’m working with sand.”
“Good choice of weapon.”
“Weapon? No, I’m only to learn defensive magic,” she said. “And what do you know of magic, anyway?”
“I know enough to know why it’s not working for you.” His smug grin grew wider as she gaped at him, disbelieving. “You’re trying to solidify it, aren’t you? But it’ll never work unless you have a clear image in mind. What would you like to make? Here…” And he grabbed her hands, settling them over the ground to shape the sand there. “You see the shape? Can you transform it?”
She nodded, and in a puff of smoke, a thick blade of glass appeared before her, its edge ugly and jagged.
“Congratulations, magician,” he said to her, closing her fingers around the top. “Just imagine what else you could make, if your thoughts were clear?”
She did not want the knife. “You keep it,” she told him, drawing her hands away and moving to her feet, stumbling away to the sound of the man’s laughter ringing in her ears.