Transitional Awareness

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:28 pm

Theresa was sitting on the edge of the cliff, twisting the persistent winter storm clouds into odds shapes and fits as she worked through some sort of mental exercise in flushing frustration.

by **Narrator** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:34 pm

The clouds seem to get twisted into thick, almost yellowish hues particularly easy today and soon the first lightning strikes flash inside them.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:36 pm

Theresa frowns at the yellowish color to the clouds and waves her hand in a dismissive gesture, trying to drag them back to something more normal.

by **Narrator** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:40 pm

For a moment it seem like they clear up a bit but then they roil themselves into big towers of sickly colors once more. A lightning strikes out and hits the open water.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:42 pm

Theresa's eyes flare slightly as she begins dismantling with extreme prejudice. "Something's not right here," she mumbles, trying to tear the clouds down to their most basic elements.

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:47 pm

That seems to do the trick. The clouds are ripped apart and soon spread out as a fine coat across the sky. A light fog sinks down from them here and there.

"Quite impressive, young lady." a strange, unpleasant voice comes from behind Theresa.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:53 pm

Theresa, a little on edge from the weird clouds, twists to look behind her. The glow in her eyes dies down some, but it's still licking around the edges of of her eyes.

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:01 pm

There's a tiny man standing there, maybe 4 feet tall. He's wearing an impeccable tuxedo and a bow-tie as well as a grin on his face that seems impossibly wide yet somehow still fits perfectly in his face. One of his hands is clutching a small cane with fingers that seem like the knotted branches of a dead tree.

"But could you put them back together if you wanted to?"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:04 pm

"In that configuration? Maybe," she said, turning to face the small man. "But the odd light show was a little new."

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:39 pm

"Not my fault, swear on my grave." he says with a snickering laugh. "Much as I loathe the sea, I like lightning even less, aye? What about you?"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:40 pm

"I'm a little fond of it," she admitted, before narrowing her eyes slightly. "I don't believe I got your name."

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:59 pm

"No, no you probably didn't, did you? You can call me Karl. Or Mister Hodd if it pleases you." he says with a little bow.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 2:00 pm

"Karl," she said, rolling the name around. "I don't think I've seen you around here before."

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:09 pm

"Oh I've here once or twice, but I'm easy to miss." the dwarf snickers to himself. "But enough of me. What's your name, Girl who's fond of the lightning?"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:56 pm

"Theresa," she said, a little guardedly.

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:10 pm

"Theresa the Weather-Witch. You seem less... zealous than your predecessor."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:19 pm

"I'm not quite up to Storm's legacy yet, but I'm working on it," she said, making an assumption on who he was referring to.

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:34 pm

"And quite a legacy to live up to. I'm sure that can be quite intimidating."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:39 pm

"I make it a point not to be intimidated by it," she said with a bit of false bravado.

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:32 pm

"Of course. And naturally that means that you don't need any help with controlling the clouds and the lightning."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:45 pm

"Are you offering to tutor me?" She stood, "Because no offense, you don't look like the weather manipulating kind."

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:00 pm

"Oh I have many talents, but no, a tutor I am not. But I know of many things that others find useful and I think if you wish to understand what's written in the cloud and whispered by the wind then I have just the thing."

The dwarf laughs his snickering laugh again as he reaches into his tuxedo and pulls out a slim, black envelope. "Just the thing indeed."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:04 pm

Theresa regarded him for a long time before finally saying, "While I may court demons in my virtual life and even occasionally feed trolls, black envelopes are never good business." She crossed her arms.

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:11 pm

"Au contraire! They are excellent business! A once in a lifetime opportunity!"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:48 pm

"I'll just have to live with disappointment," she says, "No matter how tempting you might make it."

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:53 pm

"Suit yourself." he says through gritted teeth, still grinning but there's an undercurrent of something darker that betrays his attempt at remaining polite. "It's your loss. But don't complain when you fall short of your goals."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:06 pm

"If I fall short of my goals, that just means I need to work that much harder," she said, eyeing him and preparing to gather her power in case this turned ugly... well uglier.

by **The Book of Sins** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:24 pm

"Not everyone is capable of achieving greatness." he says and tips the envelope to his head as a farewell gesture before walking past Theresa towards, and ultimately over, the cliffs.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:30 pm

"Yay. Weird shit," Theresa mumbles, sitting back down on the cliff to look at the storms again.

by **Narrator** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:37 pm

After a while the clouds seem to pull together into the kind of angry-hued storm clouds from before. But for some reason they don't seem quite as unnatural anymore. They're the same clouds, but something about that small man seems to have put things into perspective. Compared to him the brewing storm seems downright normal now.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:55 pm

She watches them for a long while, content to look at the patterns after that strange encounter.

by **Narrator** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:29 pm

After a while she gets the feeling that she did the right thing turning that dwarf down. It seems to be something coming from outside her own head, almost as if somebody was congratulating her on her choice, but it's not like there's an actual voice. It just feels like the very air around her and the clouds are nodding at her approvingly.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:09 pm

"Well, I'm glad Mother Nature appreciates my life choices... as weird as that is," she said with a shrug, letting a wind blow out towards the clouds.

by **Narrator** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:15 pm

There's a vague and very faint sound like the jingling of chimes that accompanies the wind blowing patterns into the clouds.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:48 pm

Theresa tilted her head, reaching out towards the clouds with her mind as much as with her hand.

by **Narrator** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 11:02 pm

The clouds swirl around her outstretched hand. And that'd probably be the point when Theresa might begin to suspect that she's dreaming. The clouds slowly twirl around her arm and without actually touching her slowly pull her up into the sky.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 11:12 pm

This is a really cool dream. And a dream would explain the dwarf. She said, for some reason not feeling like fighting the clouds this time.

by **Narrator** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 11:48 pm

The clouds jingle again, louder this time and it feels like there's somebody in the clouds with her. Or maybe it's the clouds themselves that seem to have some kind of presence themselves. They continue to stay just a tad apart from Theresa and where her fingers brush past them they almost seem to swirl into the shape of words before being whisked away again by the continuous movement of the wind.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:34 am

Theresa had actually tuned herself to the weather before, but had gotten lost in it at the time. I can't understand what you're trying to say. She thought, trying to attune herself more fully to the weather again.

by **Narrator** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:01 am

The clouds swirl and turn a stormy-yellow again, but Theresa would get the impression that it's not unnatural. Then suddenly the clouds seem to "tense" up and a lightning bolt strikes out at the ground far below. It's hard to tell from this distance but it almost seems like it struck right next to a small figure who is hurrying along on the ground.

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