[wedne] for the 12th
pfff original fiction what the hell
To be one of the Odd is to be blessed and cursed at the same time. On one hand, the Odd have strange powers, great powers that lift them above the level of the others in the Underways. Power never comes without sacrifice, though.
Many of the Odd can't remember the first time their powers acted -- they just grow up with them always in place. This isn't the case for Lasher of the Legions of the Northwest.
Lasher is the best of the warriors of the Legion, for one reason: his blood burns through whatever living thing it touches. He coats his weapons in it and slashes his forearms in battle to smear the eyes of his enemies, laughing loud and strong. Whatever its uses, though, his gift is more of a curse than a blessing, for although it keeps him alive, it also keeps him from happiness.
Without blood to offer, Lasher can never join himself to a new family. Without blood to offer, Lasher can never bind himself to his brothers. Without blood to offer, Lasher is forever outcast, no matter his power or his strength.
Perhaps that, more than anything else, is the reason for Lasher's furious attacking style. Many men of the Legion are brave, after all, but only a very small number are outright suicidal.
==
The first time Aryn used her powers, she didn't stop crying for two days. No one really knows why her Oddity works the way it does, but it catches her between a rock and a hard place. She hates using it.
If she only had to deal the way the bodies twitch after she shocks them with lethal voltage, the way the scent of charred fat and skin sticks to her hair even after she washes, then maybe she wouldn't have minded so much. What she despises about using her powers, though, is that whenever she uses them, she's useless after.
Her brain's gotten used to the constant shocks, but only a little. She drinks twice as much water as anyone else, because every time there's a skirmish, she's likely to weep about every trivial thing that passes her way. Using her power makes her miserable... but what other choice does she have? The border skirmishes never end and her people need her. So, all she can do is curl up in her bunk at night and weep until her eyes swell and curse the powers that made her Odd as she is.
==
Vela knows everyone's secrets. That happens when your Oddity lets you read people's thoughts. Unfortunately, thought reading isn't very useful in skirmishes, not when there's a haze of people screaming things into your mind all the time and no way to filter out the useful information. Even though her powers are strong, Vela isn't very highly ranked at all among her people in the Southeast.
That's why she's so good at keeping secrets now. After all, Kail couldn't have her spilling his secrets to anyone, not if they might challenge his power as the leader.
It's hard, learning to eat without a tongue, but all the people of the Underways are strong and sturdy. If they weren't, they wouldn't survive either the land or each other.
To be one of the Odd is to be blessed and cursed at the same time. On one hand, the Odd have strange powers, great powers that lift them above the level of the others in the Underways. Power never comes without sacrifice, though.
Many of the Odd can't remember the first time their powers acted -- they just grow up with them always in place. This isn't the case for Lasher of the Legions of the Northwest.
Lasher is the best of the warriors of the Legion, for one reason: his blood burns through whatever living thing it touches. He coats his weapons in it and slashes his forearms in battle to smear the eyes of his enemies, laughing loud and strong. Whatever its uses, though, his gift is more of a curse than a blessing, for although it keeps him alive, it also keeps him from happiness.
Without blood to offer, Lasher can never join himself to a new family. Without blood to offer, Lasher can never bind himself to his brothers. Without blood to offer, Lasher is forever outcast, no matter his power or his strength.
Perhaps that, more than anything else, is the reason for Lasher's furious attacking style. Many men of the Legion are brave, after all, but only a very small number are outright suicidal.
==
The first time Aryn used her powers, she didn't stop crying for two days. No one really knows why her Oddity works the way it does, but it catches her between a rock and a hard place. She hates using it.
If she only had to deal the way the bodies twitch after she shocks them with lethal voltage, the way the scent of charred fat and skin sticks to her hair even after she washes, then maybe she wouldn't have minded so much. What she despises about using her powers, though, is that whenever she uses them, she's useless after.
Her brain's gotten used to the constant shocks, but only a little. She drinks twice as much water as anyone else, because every time there's a skirmish, she's likely to weep about every trivial thing that passes her way. Using her power makes her miserable... but what other choice does she have? The border skirmishes never end and her people need her. So, all she can do is curl up in her bunk at night and weep until her eyes swell and curse the powers that made her Odd as she is.
==
Vela knows everyone's secrets. That happens when your Oddity lets you read people's thoughts. Unfortunately, thought reading isn't very useful in skirmishes, not when there's a haze of people screaming things into your mind all the time and no way to filter out the useful information. Even though her powers are strong, Vela isn't very highly ranked at all among her people in the Southeast.
That's why she's so good at keeping secrets now. After all, Kail couldn't have her spilling his secrets to anyone, not if they might challenge his power as the leader.
It's hard, learning to eat without a tongue, but all the people of the Underways are strong and sturdy. If they weren't, they wouldn't survive either the land or each other.