BillGarrett/HeavenlyGuardianDefense
Sitting in lotus, the swordsman Ryushi reflected on recent events. Sable, the Abyssal Exalted, had a powerful fighting technique. Even the man's lowly knives had nearly killed him when he engaged the mocking faux-Solar in an honor duel. More recently, the man had severely injured Shao when the Celestial Revelation took place. Essence had made the Abyssal powerful and impossibly fast. But Essence had made Ryushi fast as well - enough that one of the Dynasty's trained warriors couldn't begin to land a blow. There must be another technique, one that a Solar could master, that would stop Sable's attack and others like it.
Ryushi thought about this more. He knew what he had felt during the attack, and he knew what had happened. Sable had found the weak points in his defense and had bypassed them. Entropic Essence had flooded the Solar's parry and made it useless. Any counter technique, therefore, must have no weaknesses. It must be perfect - a flawless, impenetrable defense against all attack.
Ryushi resolved to find it.
On the first day, he went out into the desert. He learned from the sand, striking his hand into it, feeling how terrifically it would resist his knife-hand thrusts and yet how easily it flowed through his spread fingers. He learned from the rock, which taught him enduring solidity. The earth had strength that would resist any assault upon it. Wherever one struck, there would always be more waiting to resist the next blow.
On the second day, he studied the waters of the oases that dotted the desert. Plunging his hand into the water led to no resistance, and yet he was wholly unable to affect the cool waters. They simply flowed back into place when he withdrew, immune from all harm. From the pools and lakes he learned stillness, and how to welcome the power of an attack without reacting to it or weakening from it. The water taught him how to resist passively, to absorb and transform the Essence of anger.
On the third day, he meditated atop the high cliffs. The blazing desert heat scorched him, but he bore up, buoyed by the heat of his heart and the burning desire he felt to master his magic. And as twilight beckoned, he began a campfire, steeling his hand by sweeping it through the flames again and again. From fire he discovered that sword technique is more than mere talent or grace; the burning heart and living passion of the swordsman must stand behind any maneuver, no matter how perfectly executed.
On the fourth day, he left the highest cliffs behind and ran fleetingly across the desert. He moved with the breezes, changing direction as rapidly as the wind. As the eddies of air danced across the desert, they flowed past rocks, trees, hills - no obstacle could block them. From the winds he learned speed and grace, to bring his sword into position. But the wind also taught him to whip past weakness, and bypass the hindrances that Sable's magic laid in the path of his parry.
On the fifth day, he entered the forests and leaped among the trees, or lurked in the jungle. He watched the trees sway in the wind and branches wobble as birds alighted on them. Although the trees could be pulled up by the roots, even then they were sturdy and pliable. It would take a great wind to destroy one, much less the whole forest, and wherever a tree might fall, there were planted the seeds of a new one. The wood taught him to spread the seeds of his Essence everywhere, readying himself to defend at all points even if the attack should break through.
On the sixth day, he slept. And when night came, he awoke and studied the stars. In them were written the fates of mankind and all its works. In them were foretold the destiny of warriors. But with their divine heritage, Solars alter those destinies. From the stars he learned the prediction of attack, learned to understand the inevitability of the sword, starting from the moment hate ignites in the heart and ending the moment steel whistles through the air. He learned, too, that no attack was certain. However skilled the swordsman, however confident he is in his technique, the power of the Exalted could contest his fate.
On the seventh day, he slept. And when night came, he awoke and studied the moon. He meditated on it, remembering what he had learned of the Lunars and their shapeshifting ways. The moon's mystery revealed itself to him slowly, and he studied it to discover the ways it showed or hid its face. And at last, from the moon he learned mystery, how to cloak the power of his defense until the moment he needed it. None should know of its invincibility until they had tested it, and none should learn how to use their own Essence to break it.
And on the eighth day, he meditated under the sun. His patron god circled the world, watching all that transpired below. The sun had seen every fighting technique practiced by man, had seen every counter-move. The sun was unconquerable - one could not attack its light and snuff it out, but only hold one's hand before one's eyes and curse until it passed. The sun was giving - through its light and warmth, all life was possible. The sun was noble - it gave of itself willingly so that all mankind, good and evil alike, would not suffer. And from the sun he learned courage and bravery, and understood that he should use the technique he sought in the service of virtue. And in that moment he learned the technique.
Its name engraved itself upon his heart - Heavenly Guardian Defense - and truly the sun's power was his protector should he need to use it. Armed with this magic, Ryushi returned at last to his companions.
Comments
Pretty effing sweet. _Ikselam
Ditto! --BrilliantRain
My only complaint is that it's too generic; such a description could apply equally well to nearly any Solar Charm. Nothing really seems to distinguish the particular Charm he is learning. - Arafelis still thinks it's an excellently-written description of how a Solar might learn a Charm.
