August regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, the clarity of hindsight making him realise just how much of a set-up he’d just given her. Haiko hadn’t stopped her approach at being discovered, already at the bench and leaning far down with interest to study the mess of carefully shaped—and in one case rune-carved—objects lying across its surface—he watched as one of her hands came up to brush some loose hair back over her ear.
“You must have changed your mind a great deal if you now intend on keeping such a close eye on me,” Haiko said, tilting her head just enough to glance up at him. “I’m flattered, truly—if a little shocked.”
August shifted, taking a kind of almost-step backwards in an effort to maintain some kind of space between them—and then aborting the motion because that might have been what she was trying to cause. The urge to do something to make himself look both busy and unaffected surged up, so he reached out, moving the tool even further away from the edge in what was perhaps the most pathetic nervous response August had ever had—he gave up on trying to save face entirely, recognising a lost battle.
“Haiko, did you come over here just to mess with me?” August said, clearing his throat in an attempt to settle himself. “Because, unfortunately, it’s working.”
“Perfect—now, while that may, in fact, be my most fundamental of goals, there are some others to consider,” Haiko said, clapping her top pair of hands together in visible pleasure. “As the widely coveted and impressively self-designated reporter of our current construction progress—I’ve come to tell you that both the ceiling and the wall tasks have been completed.”
Haiko rose back up to her standing position and returned to towering over him—something he’d hoped he’d become a bit more immune to. August took the opportunity to turn, in service of taking in the progress she’d spoken of—and sure enough, the lake and sky were both completely hidden from view, closed off by the last tall and inwardly-facing bamboo wall, and the overhanging, palm-leaf covered ceiling frames. All of the Voithos were also missing from the area, out of sight from his current position, which must have placed them on the other side of the wall or in the direction of the huts, which was blocked just how close Haiko was still standing.
“When we were first talking about what this might look like, with the materials we have and the terrible tools, I didn’t think it would turn out even a fraction as nice as this,” August said, feeling genuinely impressed at just how nice it all looked. “It looks really, really, good—you guys are kind of amazing.”
Haiko leaned towards him ever so slightly at the words, and then a smile took over her face—the nature of it worlds apart from the carefully crafted and too-potent things she so casually deployed during most of their exchanges.
“That’s very kind of you to say—and I’m certain the others will find it quite endearing,” Haiko said before sending another glance down at the artifact. “You seem to have been hard at work as well, I see.”
August picked it up off the bench and then swiped his thumb across the [Activation] rune. It lit up at once, and Haiko turned more fully to study it, clear interest on her face. He held it out for her to take, half expecting her to refuse to take it, but she didn’t even hesitate.
“Melon showed me how to make it; all I did was carve them and turn it on,” August said before reaching up to tap the amulet around his neck. “Same with this one—it’s a [Mana Storage System].”
“You possess the quality needed to activate such a thing,” Haiko said, glancing over at him for just a moment. “That’s certainly an interesting discovery, although not entirely unexpected, given everything else you’ve shown yourself capable of so far.”
“I didn’t really do anything to earn it, but at this point, I’m willing to take any advantage we can get,” August said, “Haiko—I have a question that’s unrelated to that stuff, but it might seem a bit odd.”
“Oh?” Haiko said before tilting her head in consideration. “Did Melon say something that piqued your interest?”
Not exactly a difficult guess, considering he’d spent much of the morning with her, but it was a little bit off-centre.
“It’s more like the way she was acting piqued my interest in all of you,” August said a bit carefully. “I’d kind of made the assumption, somewhere along the line, that Rittan was the embodiment of what might be called a typical Voithos.”
“Not Kalter?” Haiko said, with some amusment. “You don’t believe she’s typical?”
“Considering she attempted to fight the Gaians, then no, I’d say she was about as far from typical as you could get,” August said, “After spending a bit of time with Melon, it’s become pretty clear that she is far more concerned with the rules of Gaian society than any of you seem to be.”
The artifact sitting in her palm found itself being idly prodded and tugged at with at least four different hands—visually, it was a bit of a confusing mess of fingers, but [Predator] told him that she was running her fingers along the inside of the runes, tracing them.
“It’s not just that either, but more like, socially, she seems far more—influenced by what she’s experienced,” August said, after a moment in which he attempted to find a word that wasn’t something as insensitive as indoctrinated. “Rittan always seems to be more comfortable with everything that’s going on—socially adaptable might be a good term.”
“Those are observations I most certainly agree with,” Haiko said, tilting her head. “But I’m afraid I’m not quite sure what you are asking of me—I could take a guess if you’d like, or perhaps you can refine it?”
August closed his eyes for a moment and then did his best to figure it out.
“You all lived in the same society, with the same overbearing rules and restrictions, so I guess it kind of stands out to me that the difference in your response to the influence they have over each of you is so varied,” August said, “The question I’m trying to get to, I think, is to figure out which of you are the edge cases in terms of being resistant to Gaian control, and what I should be expecting as the normative influence.”
“You are trying to determine whether Voithos with a high degree of spirit and fortitude like Rittan, Boko, and Kalter are more common than those with a servile disposition that is more closely aligned with Melon,” Haiko said, searching his face for something. “It occurs to me now that there is a heavy selection bias at work, in that we have been choosing those who tend to fit into the first category.”
August felt more than a bit uncomfortable in hearing it phrased so explicitly, but that was, in essence, what he’d been trying to put into words.
Seeking Direction: Revised Edition is now live; It's a revised RWBY fanfiction following an OC with Direction Manipulation as his Semblance.
If you like my writing and want to see more of it, you can find links to my original books on Elbowsnapper.com
If you want to show some support, get early access, or see my first drafts, go check out my Patreon
Love you guys, keep on keeping on!
Recent Releases:
Ameliorate: Intersect
Reroll: Falling & Shatter
Systematic Soul Sorting: Book 1 & Audiobook. Book 2(First Draft)
Seeker's Precept: The Dragon's Marble
August regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, the clarity of hindsight making him realise just how much of a set-up he’d just given her. Haiko hadn’t stopped her approach at being discovered, already at the bench and leaning far down with interest to study the mess of carefully shaped—and in one case rune-carved—objects lying across its surface—he watched as one of her hands came up to brush some loose hair back over her ear.
“You must have changed your mind a great deal if you now intend on keeping such a close eye on me,” Haiko said, tilting her head just enough to glance up at him. “I’m flattered, truly—if a little shocked.”
August shifted, taking a kind of almost-step backwards in an effort to maintain some kind of space between them—and then aborting the motion because that might have been what she was trying to cause. The urge to do something to make himself look both busy and unaffected surged up, so he reached out, moving the tool even further away from the edge in what was perhaps the most pathetic nervous response August had ever had—he gave up on trying to save face entirely, recognising a lost battle.
“Haiko, did you come over here just to mess with me?” August said, clearing his throat in an attempt to settle himself. “Because, unfortunately, it’s working.”
“Perfect—now, while that may, in fact, be my most fundamental of goals, there are some others to consider,” Haiko said, clapping her top pair of hands together in visible pleasure. “As the widely coveted and impressively self-designated reporter of our current construction progress—I’ve come to tell you that both the ceiling and the wall tasks have been completed.”
Haiko rose back up to her standing position and returned to towering over him—something he’d hoped he’d become a bit more immune to. August took the opportunity to turn, in service of taking in the progress she’d spoken of—and sure enough, the lake and sky were both completely hidden from view, closed off by the last tall and inwardly-facing bamboo wall, and the overhanging, palm-leaf covered ceiling frames. All of the Voithos were also missing from the area, out of sight from his current position, which must have placed them on the other side of the wall or in the direction of the huts, which was blocked just how close Haiko was still standing.
“When we were first talking about what this might look like, with the materials we have and the terrible tools, I didn’t think it would turn out even a fraction as nice as this,” August said, feeling genuinely impressed at just how nice it all looked. “It looks really, really, good—you guys are kind of amazing.”
Haiko leaned towards him ever so slightly at the words, and then a smile took over her face—the nature of it worlds apart from the carefully crafted and too-potent things she so casually deployed during most of their exchanges.
“That’s very kind of you to say—and I’m certain the others will find it quite endearing,” Haiko said before sending another glance down at the artifact. “You seem to have been hard at work as well, I see.”
August picked it up off the bench and then swiped his thumb across the [Activation] rune. It lit up at once, and Haiko turned more fully to study it, clear interest on her face. He held it out for her to take, half expecting her to refuse to take it, but she didn’t even hesitate.
“Melon showed me how to make it; all I did was carve them and turn it on,” August said before reaching up to tap the amulet around his neck. “Same with this one—it’s a [Mana Storage System].”
“You possess the quality needed to activate such a thing,” Haiko said, glancing over at him for just a moment. “That’s certainly an interesting discovery, although not entirely unexpected, given everything else you’ve shown yourself capable of so far.”
“I didn’t really do anything to earn it, but at this point, I’m willing to take any advantage we can get,” August said, “Haiko—I have a question that’s unrelated to that stuff, but it might seem a bit odd.”
“Oh?” Haiko said before tilting her head in consideration. “Did Melon say something that piqued your interest?”
Not exactly a difficult guess, considering he’d spent much of the morning with her, but it was a little bit off-centre.
“It’s more like the way she was acting piqued my interest in all of you,” August said a bit carefully. “I’d kind of made the assumption, somewhere along the line, that Rittan was the embodiment of what might be called a typical Voithos.”
“Not Kalter?” Haiko said, with some amusment. “You don’t believe she’s typical?”
“Considering she attempted to fight the Gaians, then no, I’d say she was about as far from typical as you could get,” August said, “After spending a bit of time with Melon, it’s become pretty clear that she is far more concerned with the rules of Gaian society than any of you seem to be.”
The artifact sitting in her palm found itself being idly prodded and tugged at with at least four different hands—visually, it was a bit of a confusing mess of fingers, but [Predator] told him that she was running her fingers along the inside of the runes, tracing them.
“It’s not just that either, but more like, socially, she seems far more—influenced by what she’s experienced,” August said, after a moment in which he attempted to find a word that wasn’t something as insensitive as indoctrinated. “Rittan always seems to be more comfortable with everything that’s going on—socially adaptable might be a good term.”
“Those are observations I most certainly agree with,” Haiko said, tilting her head. “But I’m afraid I’m not quite sure what you are asking of me—I could take a guess if you’d like, or perhaps you can refine it?”
August closed his eyes for a moment and then did his best to figure it out.
“You all lived in the same society, with the same overbearing rules and restrictions, so I guess it kind of stands out to me that the difference in your response to the influence they have over each of you is so varied,” August said, “The question I’m trying to get to, I think, is to figure out which of you are the edge cases in terms of being resistant to Gaian control, and what I should be expecting as the normative influence.”
“You are trying to determine whether Voithos with a high degree of spirit and fortitude like Rittan, Boko, and Kalter are more common than those with a servile disposition that is more closely aligned with Melon,” Haiko said, searching his face for something. “It occurs to me now that there is a heavy selection bias at work, in that we have been choosing those who tend to fit into the first category.”
August felt more than a bit uncomfortable in hearing it phrased so explicitly, but that was, in essence, what he’d been trying to put into words.
Seeking Direction: Revised Edition is now live; It's a revised RWBY fanfiction following an OC with Direction Manipulation as his Semblance.
If you like my writing and want to see more of it, you can find links to my original books on Elbowsnapper.com
If you want to show some support, get early access, or see my first drafts, go check out my Patreon
Love you guys, keep on keeping on!
Recent Releases:
Ameliorate: Intersect
Reroll: Falling & Shatter
Systematic Soul Sorting: Book 1 & Audiobook. Book 2(First Draft)
Seeker's Precept: The Dragon's Marble
