The Path of Fate - 0.7

The Path of Fate - 0.7

The elf rode the Yamaha Growler on in solemn silence for a time.  Allowing the cool air to help him shake the memories from his dreams last night.  The last dream made no sense to him and yet, it was the most disturbing of the three.  Other than his mandatory term of service with the SDF (1) he had never been much further than the old missionary.  The mountain of steel, and glass… made no sense to him.  It didn’t look like any city he had ever seen… not even Seattle.

When he finally arrived, he knocked gently.  Mother answered the door, and bowed very slightly to acknowledge her guest, and then motioned for him to enter, but never said a word.  She quietly led him to his old room, where he found Grandfather and the mystery man from the highway.  With her obligation complete, she turned and left the room.  Rain sighed as he watched her leave.  He knew why she was angry though, and turned back to enter the room.

“Erurainon, this(2)” Grandfather said as he lifted his arm to his guest, “is Mr. Johnson.  It would seem,” he continued as he stood up to leave, “you two have much to discuss.”  And with that, the old man left the room, and shut the door behind him without saying another word.

“Erurainon?” The man inquired.

“Do not use that name.  It is not for you to speak.”  Rain replied, struggling to find the right words in English.

“Ah, ok.  Well, what should I call you then?”

“My name is Magazu Waki ya. (3)”

“Oh-kay,” the man replied hesitantly.  “Well, Magahzue as you…”

“Magazu Waki ya” Rain interrupted.

“Um, right… well, Mah-gah-zoo,” the man tried again.  “I was on a very important business trip that got… interrupted.  Your father…”

“Lala,” Rain interrupted again.  “…Grandfather” he said, struggling to find the correct English word again.

“Ok, Grandfather, told me that I have you to thank for saving my life last night.”

Rain stood impassively for a moment, “I was only using the gifts that… um… the Great Spirit, gave me.” He said dismissively.  There was something about this man that he did not like.

“Well… thank you.” The man said.  “I will not be able to complete my work,” indicating the porta-doc wrapped around his upper thigh where, Rain knew, he was missing most of the muscle and a large chunk of bone.  “I would like to offer you a job.”

Rain’s first instinct was to decline it flat, but there was an itch in his mind to hear the man out.

“I need to retrieve something… well, someone, who stole something, from my company.”  The man paused to gauge Rain’s reaction.  “I know where she is,” he said pulling out a tracker, with a small monitor screen at the top.  “She’s in New York.”

The image of the mountain made of steel, glass and light, leapt into Rain’s mind, causing him a moment of disorientation.

“I just need you to get her, and deliver her to the local Lone Star offices there.  They will do the rest.” The man finished and offered Rain the tracker.

Without fully knowing why, Rain accepted the proffered device.

“I can pay you twenty five thousand Nuyen.”

That got Rain’s attention.  Unless one worked for one of the corporations in the Sioux Nation, that kind of money was very rare.  He absentmindedly, not fully knowing why nodded his acceptance.

“That’s great,” the man said extending his arm to shake hands with Rain.  Rain looked down at the extended hand, and years of history class rushed through his brain.

“Ah, yea… sorry wasicu (4),” Rain replied.  “Your hand shake does not mean much to me, but… I will do this because Atkuku ki Wakan Tanka (5) is compelling me to.  Just give me your SIN information… and I will contact you when I am finished… then, we will see about that handshake.”

Once the man gave him the information, Rain turned to leave.

“Thank you Mayguzee”, the man called after him.  Rain ignored the mangling of the pronunciation of his name... again.

Grandfather met him in the center room.  “You have long worked to avoid your destiny Erurainon… but, it seems to have come to you.”

Rain was not sure what to say, but he acknowledged his elder’s words with a respectful nod of his head.

“Mother had these made for you… before… well, you know.” The old man said handing Rain a pair of samurai companion swords.  “She had told me that you had earned them when she had them made, but her pride is too strong to give them to you herself.”  Rain was speechless as he accepted the honored gift.  He was still staring at them, when the venerable elder held up a hand, and let drop a medallion, suspended by a sturdy chain.

“I always knew you would return one day… although… I had hoped it would have been sooner… and for a longer stay.”  The old man paused, deep in personal thought, “I had this crafted for you… it is of good quality… but, it has not been… well, never mind that,” he said as he leaned forward to loop the chain around Rain’s neck.

As his elder took a moment to move Rain’s ponytail out of the way so that he could secure the clasp, Rain held up the 75mm diameter pendant.  It was made of two different metals.  One was highly  polished platinum, the other a cobalt blue alloy.  The two were formed into a perfect yin-yang symbol.  Within the platinum circle of the blue tear drop, the cobalt blue alloy formed the Japanese kanji for 'samurai' (侍).  Within the cobalt blue circle of the platinum tear drop, platinum the Japanese kanji for 'doctor' (or, medicine) (医).  The craftsmanship was exquisite.

Rain was rendered speechless with the presentation of such honored gifts.  He respectfully remained with his head bowed to his elder, in grateful thanks.  The old man reached forward and held his arm lightly, and then turned him to the door. As he walked Rain to the exit he said, “Wakan Tanka has put within you the spirit of the yin yang… think on this as He leads you along your new path.”

Rain nodded his acknowledgement of Grandfather’s words.  He moved to leave, but then hesitated and turned, “please tell ‘mother’ that I am sorry… and that I am grateful for the gift.”  Without any further words, he turned to his motorcycle, and left.

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(1)    The Sioux Defense Force 

(2)  Speaking in English

(3)    (ma-gh-ah-zue) (wah-kee yahn)  - Lakota /// Thundering Rain

(4)    (wah-shee-chue) white person (aka Anglo in ‘modern’ form of Shadowrun)

(5)    (ah-dkue-kue kee)(wah-kahn dahn-kah) // Father God

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No Rest for the Weary - 0.6

No rest for the weary – 0.6

Sleep did not come easily for Rain the rest of the night.  It started with the recurring thought that he had missed something.  Something back at the accident, something about the car… something about the driver… his mind could not lock on whatever it was.  He replayed the entire encounter over and over in his mind. Then, when sleep finally did over take him, his dreams kept him from getting any real rest.

The first dream was of a luminescent bear.  It sat on its haunches as it overlooked the wreck site he had been at earlier.  Only now, the full moon shone brightly down on the scene.  Off to the east in the distance, was a pair of tail lights of an unidentified car.  To the south, a trail of a whirling dust cloud connecting to the tail light of a motor cycle.  The bear glanced between the two vehicles, and then let out a low growling roar.  Its howl shook the heavens.  After the third outcry, a wispy, white shape began to form in the sky above, and slowly descend to the bear.  When it finished taking shape, it was that of a tall muscular man, a face like a lightning bolt, fierce flaming eyes, arms and legs that gleamed like polished chrome, and a voice like that of thunder.   When the two beings began to speak to one another, Rain felt it reverberate throughout his entire being, but could not understand what they were discussing.  It was so vivid, that when he jolted awake, he looked around, fully expecting the creatures to be standing over his bed.  His heart pounded in his chest, and echoed in his ears, but he felt drained and weak.  After a few minutes, he was able to coax himself back to sleep.

When sleep finally did return, his second dream began.  This time, he was standing within his foster parent’s center room.  It was vaguely familiar.  ‘Grandfather’ was kneeling, seated back on his own heels, among a circle of a dozen other tribal elders.  He could hear that they were talking, but again, not what they were saying.  He watched respectfully as they conducted their business, when it was interrupted with the unannounced arrival of… himself!  When he went to move, Rain realized that he was not shackled, but nor could he move a muscle.  He watched himself disappear into the bathroom, and close the door behind him.  The older men continued to converse, when one caught the attention of all the others, and performed a ritual which Rain had not seen before.  When he was done, the form of a man stood in midair, in the middle of the group.  None of the shamans seemed alarmed in the least.  It was when Rain saw himself reemerge from the bathroom that the scene ‘clicked’, but he was helpless to alter the outcome.  He watched himself become consumed with fear and aggression and launch himself at the floating image.  Forty years later, and it still made him wince when the thing landed a solid backhanded slap to the young man, sending him skidding across the floor.  He slid to a stop at the feet of ‘mother’s’ shrine for her ancestors.  A suit of ancient samurai armor, perfectly preserved, and mounted in a kneeling position, to the immediate left of the statue were her ancestral swords.  Rain wanted to scream caution to his younger self, but nothing came from his vocal cords.  He was powerless to stop the image of his former self, now totally consumed with rage for the ethereal guest.  Without a thought, Rain saw the lad grab the long sword from its resting place, but he never had the chance to draw it.  “Mother’ was at his side with blinding speed, and without any outward effort, she grabbed his free wrist with one hand, and her family’s heirloom with the other.  She shifted her feet ever so slightly, perfectly using the out of control man’s aggression, to launch him against the adjacent wall.  It was only by the slimmest of margins that the man was able to get himself to take the landing across both shoulder blades, and thus avoiding serious injury.  Still, when he flight was concluded, he was upside down, with his waist and legs extending comically up the wall.  Rain’s disenchanted form glanced to ‘mother’.  Her, he heard perfectly.  She slowly stood upright and said, “Your time with us has come to an end Erurainon.”  The disembodied form looked to Grandfather who only nodded his acknowledgement.  This time, Rain awoke with a deep sense of regret, and pain.

His final vision for the night had him riding the ‘Growler’ on an unfamiliar highway.  He was following closely behind a fierce storm, not unlike the one he had enjoyed earlier.  It was then he realized that the boke was accelerating uncontrollably.  The landscape became a blur as he raced headlong towards the storm.  Just as he was sure that he was going to crash, he instinctively recoiled, throwing his hands and arms in front of his face, and he clenched his eyes shut… but then nothing.  When he reopened his eyes he was completely disoriented.  Nothing seemed familiar.  Before him lay a large mountain range, but something was very wrong about it.  As he concentrated, abrupt angles, ridges, and peaks, made of metal and glass came into focus.  It made him uncomfortable to contemplate such a thing.  His eyes wandered over the mountain range.  It went on for several kilometers in both directions.  As he tried to makes sense of it all, swarms of… of… something like fireflies began to flutter in and around the monstrosity.  Just a few, here and there, but the numbers kept growing at an exponential rate until they engulfed the entire mountain, but they didn’t stop.  Finally, the swarm exploded like a shockwave, and overtook him before he could consider a reaction.  This time he awoke, drenched in sweat.

Rain got on his knees and repeated, “Atkuku ki Wakan Tanka, canl waste yuha onsi la akaya misnala (1)” until his breathing and heart rate returned to a normal range.

Still shaking slightly, his Commlink chimed.  Pulling it from his pack, it showed an incoming call from his foster parents.

“Hau?” Rain answered.

“Your patient is asking for you Erurainon.”  The man’s voice on the other end said matter-of-factly.

“I… I’ll… I’ll be right there”, was all he could manage to stammer.

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Part - 7

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(1)    (ah-dkue-kue kee)(wah-kahn dahn-kah)(chanl wah-shday)(yue-hah)(ohn-shee lah)(ah-kahn-yahn)(mee-shnah-lah)    // Father God, please have mercy upon me.

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Family Reunion - 0.5

Family Reunion – 0.5

The connection toned three times before someone answered.  “Hau (1)” a sleepy female voice answered on the other end without video.

“Haha kon'nichiwa, watashi wa anata to sofu no tasuke o hitsuyō to shite imasu (2,3)”, Rain replied as politely as possible.

“Erurainon?!? (4)”, the woman replied in a surprised voice on the other end.

“Yes, i am sorry to wake you. (5)”, he replied respectfully once again.

“You have a lot of nerve calling here! (5)”

“Yes ma’am (5)” he replied.

“If it were not for my husband, we would not still be having this conversation. (5)”

“I understand mother.  Is he there? Grandfather? May I speak to him? (5)”

“He is an old man now.  You always were insolent Erurainon.” The woman replied.  “Why should I bother him at this hour? (5)”

His former foster mother’s words stung deep, but he knew them to be true.  The last time he was in their home, it did not end well.

“I’m sorry mother.  There is a man badly injured up here on I-90.  I’ve done everything I can, but he is going to need grandfather’s skill to survive. (5) “

The woman sighed heavily, but she didn’t say anything more to him.  Rain could hear indistinct talking over the line, but couldn’t make anything out.  A moment later a man’s voice came across the line.

“Erurainon?!?” he said.  “It’s good to hear your voice again. (6)”

Rain’s heart sank some more.  He foster father had always been so polite… even when he was chastising him for failing at some task, or when Rain had disappointed him… again.

“Thank you grandfather (7).  I happened to come upon a man being attacked up here on the highway.”

“Erurainon, you know how I feel about happenstance. (6)”

“Yes sir. Um… well, I have done what you taught me, but… he is still in really bad shape… and… well, I just don’t have the ability to care for him like you do. (6)”

It was the man’s turn to sigh this time.  The line remained quiet, but Rain did not want to interrupt his elder.  Finally there was some discussion on the other end, and then the man spoke up again.

“We’re coming.  Keep him safe until we can get there (6)”, and then the connection dropped.

Rain sighed, dried the Commlink, and returned it to its proper place within his pack.  Next, he double checked on his patient.  He was stable.  He did a double tap of his finger against the finger-tip clamp attached to the man’s left pointer finger, and then to the side of his thin line goggles. The display moved to an augmented readout within his field of view.  Lastly, he laid the man out on the wet ground.  He used an arm rest that had broken free as a make shift pillow, his backpack as an interim foot rest, and then removed his long coat to cover him up.  “It would not be good for shock to finish what the helicopter had started, while waiting for the ambulance”, he thought to himself.

For the next hour, Rain paced between pieces of wreckage, keeping an eye out for the helicopter that had attacked the man, and the bear that the wounded man had told him about.  He searched for tracks of the beast, but, this was a skill that he had never really studied.  He laughed at himself in a self-defacing way.   All his life he would begin something, but then his mind would wander, and he would never take the time to truly master it. 

By the time his foster, ahem, former foster parents, arrived, the storm had moved on to the east.  The lightning display was still impressive, even at this distance.  The old pickup truck was immaculate.  Rain shook his head.  Nothing changes with them.  He walked up to the passenger side to greet ‘Grandfather’, but the old man that stepped out from the truck caught him off guard… and the look on his face reflected his reaction (8).

The old man chuckled.  “You apparently keep track of time as well as you study Erurainon” he said.  “You on the other hand… time seems to have avoided you all together (6).”

Rain stammered, “I’m sorry…  (6)”

“For what”, the old man interrupted.  “Being born an elf?” he said almost cackling.  “You could no more choose what race you were born as, than you could have asked to born a woman!”  The old man had to pause and catch his breath.  (6)

Rain remained respectively quiet.

“Let’s see how you’ve done with your patient.” (6)

The pair walked over to where Rain had made the mystery driver as comfortable as possible.  The older man checked over the younger’s work, and nodded.  “Why didn’t you take him into town yourself Erurainon?”

The young elf motioned to his Yamaha Growler Scout.  “I can’t hold him upright, and drive”, he said slightly ashamed.

“Do you know that those in town refer to you as the ‘old religious nut’ that lives in the old abandoned missionary?  No one wants to come near the place.”  The old man looked at his former charge, and just shook his head.  “Prolonged youth… and what have you done with it?”

Rain continued to remain quite.

“Come on, I need your help to get him up in the bed of the truck.  Not as young as I used to be.”

Rain solemnly helped the old man.  “It had only been… wait…” he thought to himself, “wow… it had been forty years…”  He hung his head in shame, as he followed the man back to the cab of the truck.

“You did good Erurainon” the old man said, patting his arm.  “We’ll see him through.”

Rain nodded, and verbalized his thanks.  He glanced hopefully across to woman who had once taught him the ways of her family from back in Japan.  She never took her eyes off of the road in front of the truck.  Once the door was shut, the truck headed back the way it had come.

He watched it disappear over a slight hill, and then gathered up the rest of his belongings to head home.

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Part 6

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            (1)     (hah-ue) // hello – in Lakota

(2)     Japanese Language test [Intuition (4) + English (1) = DP 5] – [5,3,4,1,5 – 2 hits]

(3)     母こんにちは、私はあなたと祖父の助けを必要としています。// Hello mother, I need yours, and grandfather's help. – in Japanese

(4)     (Air-oo-rye-nonn) –  God is gracious – ‘Elvish’ word, based on the works of Tolkien, who it turns out, did not ‘invent’ the Elvish language, but actually discovered it… leading up to the events re: the awakening – (note: an ‘in-game’ interpretation, NOT the truth, obviously)

(5)     The characters are speaking in Japanese

(6)     The characters are speaking in Lakota

(7)     A term of respect for a tribal elder, or another man, older than the speaker.

(8)     Composure test (Cha (3)+Will (5) = 8 DP) – (2,1,2,4,4,1,1,4 = 0 hits)

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The Path Avoided – 0.4

The path avoided – 0.4

After watching the small helicopter fly away west through the storm, the man rode his motorcycle slowly up the slight embankment to the highway.  The figure that had crawled out from the wreckage was leaning up against what was left of the car. 

“Definitely not from around here” he thought to himself as he saw the man’s business suit, now soaked with rain and blood.  The blood was coming from a pretty good head wound, as well as deep cuts in his face and arms.  That’s when the rider saw the shredded pants leg and the mangled flesh underneath. 

He put down the stand for his bike, but left the engine running, and slowly approached the injured man.

As soon as the rider stepped in the direction of the wounded man, he began screaming in a panic, desperately trying to scoot away on his three good limbs.  The rider raised both his arms, trying to calm the panicked man.  It wasn’t working, and he was now causing fresh wounds to his hands as he scraped along the shattered glass and splintered metal in a desperate attempt to escape.

The rider finally reached up, and pulled down the deep cowl of his long coat, to reveal his face.  Raising his hands back up, he said, “Inila, niye toka sni iyecetu (1)”

Another round of distant lightning illuminated the rider’s face enough for the driver to see that he was a man, an elf, and wasn’t trying to harm him he said, “Wh…who…. Whe… where did the bear go?!? (2)”

The rider drew a heavy caliber pistol from its holster on his thigh, and ducked behind the car.  “A bear?  Where?”

The driver looked very confused, “I… it was right there!” he said pointing back in the direction the rider had just come from.

The rider looks down at the driver.  His pupils were fully dilated, his skin pale and waxy.  “He’s in shock” he said to himself re-holstering his pistol.  The rider dropped his backpack on the ground, “Caje taku nitawa… cate sice (3)… uh, sorry… What is your name?”

“Wa… wha… what?”

“Your name, what is it?  I am known as magazu (4)… Rain, my friends call me Rain.”  He said as he unpacked the Medkit.  Once it was powered up, he waited for it to synchronize with the weak Matrix signals out here in the Badlands.  When the read outs began to scroll, Rain splayed the fingers of his right hand rapidly, which triggered three augmented reality screens to pop up into the elf’s view.

The driver looked up at his rescuer and started laughing.  “Rain… hahaha, because it’s raining… hahaha.”

Rain looked up at the sky to fight the rising ire within him.  Feeling the large cold drops fall on his face, he refocused his mind. 

“Um… right,” he said with a sigh, looking back down to his patient.  The leg was spurting blood.  The Medkit confirmed his suspicions that wound needed to take priority.  He started to tell the man what he was getting ready to do, but the driver’s head had sagged to his right.  “Unconscious… at least he’s not feeling the pain right now” Rain thought to himself.

Rain set his left hand on the man’s forehead, and raised his right to the heavens, “Atkuku ki Wakan Tanka, awayaye leciya le wicasa. (5,6,7)” He felt the familiar sensation of mana collecting, and flowing through him, and into the man.  When the sensation eased, he re-examined the man’s leg.  The blood had ceased gushing from the severed artery, but just to make sure, he took off the man’s belt, and fashioned a tourniquet just above the shredded flesh.

Now that he had more time, he dressed the rest of the man’s wounds (8).  When he could, he would sit up higher to try and see if the helicopter was going to return, or if anyone else might be driving along the isolated highway.  Once he had dressed the wounds he could see, he sat back on his heels and raised his face and hands to the sky, and began to pray, “Atkuku ki Wakan Tanka, canl waste kage le wicasa zaniya”. (9)(10)(11)

Once he finished his prayer, he remained with his face to the sky so that he could enjoy the sensation of the thunder storm on his face for a while longer.  After several moments he lowered his arms, “Pilamayaye Atkuku ki Wakan Tanka”. (12)

After he finished putting all of the loose kit away, he returned the medkit to his backpack.  Reaching under his long coat, he withdrew a thirty by twenty centimeter tablet.  With practiced ease, he taped the sequence in.

“It’s been a while… I hope they will take my call” he said to himself.

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Part - 5

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(1)     (ee-nee-lah), (nee-yea) (toh-kahn shnee) ee-yea-chay-due) (ee-yea-chay-due) // Quiet, you are going to be alright. – in the Lakota language

(2)     English Language test [Intuition (4) + English (1) = DP 5] – [6,6,3,3,5 – 3 hits]

(3)     (chah-zjay)(dah-kue)(nee-dah-wah)… (chahn-day shee-chay) // What is your name?  Sorry…

(4)     (ma-gh-as-zue)

(5)     Casting Stabilize Spell, level 4 – [Spell Casting 4 + Magic 2 = 6 DP] – [4,5,6,2,2,5 – 3 hits]

(6)     Resist Drain, Shaman – [Cha 3 + Will 5 = 8 DP [2]] – [4,6,5,3,2,1,6,2  = 3 hits, no drain (note: drain would have been physical, because the number of hits, exceeded his magic ability)

(7)     (ah-dkue-kue kee) (wah-kahn dahn-kah) (ah-wahn-yahn-yea) (lay-chee-yah) (lay) (wee-chah-shah)  // Father (his/her)  God watch over this man

(8)     First Aid check [Skill Level (1) + Logic (5) + PQ, Quick Healer (2) = 8 DP] – (6,3,1,4,2,6,2,3 = 3 hits)

(9)     Casting Heal Spell, level 4 – [Spell Casting 4 + Magic 2 + PQ, Quick Healer (2) = 8 DP] – [5,4,6,1,2,4,4,1 – 2 hits]

(10) Resist Drain, Shaman – [Cha 3 + Will 5 = 8 DP [2]] – [1,2,6,6,1,5,1,6  = 4 hits, no drain

(11) (ah-dkue-kue kee) (wah-kahn dahn-kah) (chanl wah-shday) (kah-ghay) (lay) (wee-chah-shah) (zah-nee-yah) // Father God, please make this man well (in health)

(12) (pee-lah-mah-yah-yea) (ah-dkue-kue kee) (wah-kahn dahn-kah) // Thank You father God.

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