action | open, choose your own adventure

[multiclasser]

a. the garden

Tamhas hates this place, if he's honest. He tries not to - making the best of bad situations and all that - but it feels wrong. The Dark Tower is so like Yggdrasil that sometimes, in the corner of his eye - because the Tower is always in the corner of your eye, he's found - he forgets it isn't the tree, thinks for a heartbeat that maybe he can find a way back. Not quite home, but the closest he has. But then he looks and it's a damn Tower, dark where the tree was all radiant, glorious light. And the fractured plate above is stifling. The sun, Tamhas' guiding beacon, feels so very far away even on bright days. A little like Svartalfheimr, but he supposes there is something to appreciate about this place in that.

It could be worse. It could be Svartalfheimr.

And it's not all bad, he supposes. The garden is nice, even if near all the plants are strange. He's always liked work like this, anyway. Steady, menial. It's comforting, soothing, quelling the itch in his hands. Sian would be delighted at all the strange new growing things to look at, even if there's wrongness here she'd hate, a thought which always makes him miss his sister keenly - Tamhas doesn't know a lot about all the various types there are here, and he's a farmer, not a herbalist, but it's enough. He tries to make it enough, anyway.

So, when he's not fighting monsters somewhere, he frequently comes here. Waters, plants, prunes, harvests - anything that's needing done, anything folk might need a hand with. And he takes solace in it, finds some measure of peace here, which is why he looks fleeting surprised when he almost walks into someone. He's usually more alert than that.

"Ah, sorry -" a fleeting smile, turning slightly wry as he inclines his head in greeting. "- you'd think a man would have learned to pay better attention by now, wouldn't you?" There's a cluster of blue banora white apples in his arms; after a moment, eyebrows raising, he holds one out in offering.

b. a street

A lot is strange and different and weird here, but some things are just as Tamhas remembers. Fighting is one of them. Most things here take to his sword as well as most things did back there, which Tamhas is remarkably grateful for. It's always good to do something. So, when he tumbles down from the plate to a street and finds he has company, he's not terribly perturbed.

He doesn't know what he's fighting. They're like the skeletal, feathered kin of Valravn, but different - of course they bloody are - but they come at him shrieking with claws like sickles and Tamhas responds in kind, falling easily into a dance he knows well. It's strange, fighting alone, not feeling the strength of his friends round about him, not having to dodge the spells Morven slings or consider tossing opponents back for Kenna or making openings for Halldis - but then Tamhas realises he's not fighting alone.

Friend or foe? He can't spare the time to figure that out, fending off blows and delivering his own as furiously as he is, but he resolves to hope for the former and deal with the latter after if necessary. He can't even tell if it's someone in the fight, or someone trying to escape it. Either way, he moves solidly between this new party and the creatures, light flashing along the length of his blade as he brings it down, cutting down one and scattering the rest, just for long enough that he can swiftly glance over at the new arrival. In battle, his face is stern, lips curled in a snarl, though that fades in a moment of genuine concern as speaks.

"You alright?"

And then he's turning back to face the next line of attacks, sweeping out in an arc with his sword to meet them.

c. the forest

Sometimes, it's easier to be a bear than a man. That's proven generally true in the woods around World's End. His senses are better for it, for a start, and the prevailing cold doesn't touch him, and there are things that would attack a man on sight that don't so much as look up at a passing bear.

(Sometimes, Tamhas attacks instead. Not today.)

And he's better at hunting as a bear than he is as a man, which he might consider a point of embarrassment, but he reasons that there are things he can do better than a bear. Hopefully. At the moment, he's up to the forelegs in river water, catching fish. But watchful eyes may notice that this bear, huge and golden furred, is perusing his catch with great, and perhaps unusual, scrutiny. Just as Tamhas is not a botanist, he's not a fishmonger, either, and the fish are as weird here as the plants, so every time he catches one it takes careful deliberation to decide if it's worth eating - or taking to someone who better enjoys and knows cooking - or if it might even be dangerous. So many things are dangerous, here.

The range he's caught today are definitely fish. He can tell that much, though there's one that's borderline, as far as he's concerned. Dubiously, he noses them further along the bank, and turns back to the water.

Comments

[fluctuationfeels]

With a faint smile of his own, Leo reaches out for a few more apples. He takes another one for himself and two more for Aydin to make it even. He then gives Tamhas an unguarded nod of thanks since the man has succeeded in lowering all of the boys walls, at least for now.

When he continues to speak, Leo listens intently, thinking over what he says. There is an unsettled feeling of jealousy running through him, but he tries to ignore it. Tamhas makes it seem so easy to admit his personal struggles. It's the same problem he has when talking to Seamus. How can these guys display weaknesses like that and still be so put together? He would feel so vulnerable if anyone knew what he wasn't good at.

But what Tamhas is saying is encouraging. Maybe there is even a suggestion there that he thinks Leo's idea could be a good one? That would be something.

"So... You think I should keep trying? With the list I mean?"

[multiclasser]

It's heartening to see Leo ease up, even a little. Although he can only speculate at why he's so guarded - and he tries not to speculate; it feels disrespectful when it's so unnecessary - he doesn't doubt that there are reasons. Once, that would have made him hesitant to even try, fearing he was impugning upon the other, but these days it's a little easier. He can do something, he hopes. Everyone needs somebody they can count on, even a little.

It's a start, anyway.

"I do. I think the more information we have to hand, the better. If I hear anything, I'll let you know - can't really help with the writing it down, or anything, but," smiling, he shrugs. "If I find a boat, I'll report back."

[fluctuationfeels]

Leo smiles a little more. Validation is so soothing and he's starting to really enjoy talking now that his nerves are easing.

"A boat, huh? Yeah, I considered that too. Was gonna try and build a raft or something, but I -" He stops mid sentence, realising something.

Can't really help with the writing it down

Huh. Does that mean Tamhas can't write? Or maybe there's an issue with his hands? Maybe some other reason entirely, but either way, Leo slows down both with curiosity and sympathy. If he can't write, Leo decides, he will 100% teach him.

"Um... Can I ask, why not with the writing? What's stopping you?"

[multiclasser]

Tamhas huffs softly, looking rather rueful. Not ashamed, or even terribly embarrassed, so much as wry. "I'm even less for written things than most of my folk are," he answers, shrugging again. "Not for lack of trying, mind, but... the more I try, the more the lines... all tangle together." He wiggles his fingers as though to illustrate this. "I can just about manage, but... never really have a need to. Leave it to those who like such things."

He looks out after that, over towards the Tower again. "I don't ken that I'd trust a raft on that sea. But admittedly, I'm not terribly familiar with being on the water, either."

[fluctuationfeels]

He's dyslexic. Leo is sure of it. The explanation fits. He's heard similar before, from Aydin and from her. Lines tangling together, words moving around all by themselves. Neither of them got any help with it back home, so Leo had to look it up and explain it to them. Before that, they had both thought they were just too stupid for learning.

"Me either," he says hastily, eager to return to Tamhas's admission and put Tower talk to the back burner for now. The excitement of being able to help someone makes his heart race. Maybe where Tamhas is from they don't know about learning difficulties either, and don't help with things that stop folks doing things like reading.

"Look, it's not your fault, the writing and reading stuff," he begins, "You could have dyslexia. It's pretty common, but if it got missed then it's possible some of the things that might have helped you out got missed too. It's not too late to learn if you're not through trying."