Calibrations Spill-Over Post

[thespaceopera]

[ Since Recaptcha is striking in the older posts, feel free to continue calibration-related threads here.

We suggest that you add a comment to your old thread with a link to your new one, and vice versa, so it's easy for your threading partners, and the AC mods, to switch between your original thread and its continuation. ]

→ Calibration post A-M
→ Calibration post N-Z

Comments

wanda

[arcanepower]

(previous thread)

I believe you.

[He's cuddling against her feet now. His small hands dig into his hair as the marching gets louder, and louder, so loud that it makes the entire place shake.]

My book is on the shelf but I can't reach it from here. It's the red one. Could... could you hand it to me?

[The book he's talking about is a red tome of some sort with pretty Thalassian words inscribed in gold on the front and side.]

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[She listens to the sound of the marching, growing more and more on guard. She's distracted by thoughts of how she might be able to get them both out of here, just in case, when Belthazar pulls her attention back.]

Hm? Oh, yes! Of course.

[She reaches up and grabs the red book that he indicated, sitting upon the shelf. She pulls it from the shelf and bends back down to hand it to him.]

[arcanepower]

[He smiles at her, a rare thing, and reaches out to take it. Wanda's surroundings are already melting away, a dream engulfed in light.

A small window is open to some courtyard where more people like Belthazar walk and talk and go about their day framed by golden leaves and arches. But inside is more important. Belth sits at a table, still tiny, with the same red book splayed open. There is a new girl who looks... unsettlingly like Wanda, though a few years younger. Her eyes are a beautiful glowing bright blue standing out against dark curly hair the same color as Belthazar's. She wears a white robe that has some kind of religious form to it.

The girl sets some food on the table within Belth's reach. Her voice is soft and pleasant; Wanda may be able to discern her as the singer of the lullaby.]

Your studies are important but you should always make sure to eat, little one.

[Belth quits the passage he's reading and makes a pouty face. Ah, yes, that's familiar. He puffs out his cheeks.] I'm not little!

[That inspires a warm laugh. The girl leans in and ruffles his hair.] While that may be true, you will always be my little brother. Even if you grow like the reeds.

Even if I'm taller than you?

Even if you were taller than all the trees in Quel'thalas. [Belth leans his head back and whines. The girl takes the chance to close his book and set it aside, then pushes the food toward him. Though Wanda can't interact with any of this, the memory is crystal clear, enough that she can smell the food with perfect accuracy.] You can't grow if you skip meals, Belthazar.

But Caspa, I'm really close to learning how to--

[The child falls silent as someone knocks loudly on the door. There are similar knocks down the way, and the people walking by have turned to running. A voice shouts beyond the door:]

Quel'thalas is under attack! Everyone who is able to fight, report to the gates! Together we will repel the invaders!

[Belth looks at Caspa, and she shares the same look.]

The boats are too far, sister. We'll never make it.

[Caspa's panic gives way to determination, firm and gentle and unyielding. She places a blanket around her little brother and gently leads him away from the table. Caspa continues guiding him toward the back of the room, where the entrance to the cellar sits. She opens the two small wooden doors and then crouches before her brother.]

Bel, I want you to promise me something.

A-anything, Caspa... but...

Promise me you won't come out until it's safe.

I promise. Aren't you going to come with me? It's dark and scary down there. It's where all of Father's old stuff is and it's dusty.

They need people to heal the fighters, don't they? Yes, they do. Trust the Farstriders. They've kept us safe before. Remember when the forests almost burned? We were safe, weren't we?

Yes... [Belth's ears flatten and he bows his head. Tears make their way down his cheeks. Caspa kisses him on the forehead.]

Everything will be fine. Be very quiet, like we are playing hide and seek.

[She gives him a little push and locks the cellar door, then moves furniture in front of it. With no one else to be brave in front of-- except the spying Wanda-- Caspa finally breaks down into tears. She can't be older than sixteen. Then again, she is an elf.

Caspa hurries out the door. The memory fades back into the same messy hallway Wanda was in before, but the boy is gone. There is, however, an open door nearby. It's hard to see what's beyond it, but it feels like Wanda might be able to find her way out of the calibration if she tries it.]

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Once the vision ends, Wanda first takes a moment to gather herself and make sense of the scene she just witnessed. Caspa... Belthasazar's sister... she had bore a striking resemblance to Wanda. But what struck her more was the act. The sibling sacrifice, telling Belthasazar to stay safe as she was going off to fight, and likely die. It seemed a story not wholly unique to Wanda, and growing ever more common among the fleet members she knows. Still, it didn't soften the emotional blow much at all.]

[When the moment passed, she looks over to the open doorway and proceeds through it.]