♜ Homebound ♜ [Rhace]

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

It was honestly as mesmerising to watch Dagda glow brightly and reverse the transformation as it was to see him go into rocky form in the first place; the fact that someone could do that at will was a total mess in Rhace's head. This was not what he signed up for, at all. Well, okay, it was sort of what he signed up for. He didn't expect a stone giant to be that giant. Well, then again, how big did he expect a stone giant to get in the first place? Rhace didn't know any stone giants up until this point, so well, he had no point of comparison. But that was way bigger than he expected.

Eventually, Dagda returned with an air of nonchalance, re-attaching his metallic arm (now that seemed way more normal), and Rhace was absolutely lost in terms of response. He couldn't quite put into words what he was feeling, and it showed.

"I- you-"

The Elumish swordsman was stuck on a few different words, none of which were suited for polite company; this was in fact one of the most mindblowingly insane things that he had ever bore witness to and he lived his life on a freaking mechanical space whale covered in trees. And, yes, that is precisely how the Endeavor is painted, for that is entirely how it appears to the casual observer. Rhace would never in any way hide his opinion on that, but that was neither here nor there when there was in fact a gigantic talking rock in front of his face. At the end of it all, Rhace was just a man who could swing a piece of metal around really well, and that was a walking and talking gargantuan stone person. Magic was an absolute trip, and this was no exception to that.

"Show my ass," he grumbled, and was at least genial to the idea of moving on.

Handing over the rucksack as he was wordlessly instructed, the swordsman decided that moving on was the exact best thing. He was going to need a minute.

Poor boy. You've seen nothing yet.


As the pod sped through the air - which was designed to do one thing and one thing alone, to cross the world at incredibly high speed, which thanks to the aerial technology that had come from another world it could do rather well - it managed to carry them to the potential site of the portal without any issue. This was one of his favourite ways to travel, considering it could get him to anywhere in the world at insane speeds. Rhace had used it more than once to get home to Ca-Elum, which was an absolute blessing of the goddess for him; it meant that he could take care of all of his business without issue.

Here, though, as the scenery began to change form between mountain and forest, his eyes were already sweeing the landscape - but Dagda's eyes picked up the beauteous golden glimmer before he could. Damn good eyes, or maybe magic sense, but Rhace was thoroughly impressed regardless. The blademaster couldn't help himself, but the fact that they had to land cliffside wasn't an issue. Rhace waited for the pod to touch down before he breathed out and allowed himself a moment to relax and think clearly about the way they could face this. After all, this was a man with technology in a world of people with overwhelming magic.

"You could probably just rock man your way down, but I have a solution," Rhace said rather nonchalantly, having finally come to terms with the transformation that was afoot. Instead, he opened one of the pouches of his utility belt, which produced a pair of grappling hooks - this would have the tensile strength, and theoretically infinite length, to carry them all the way down as they abseiled their way to the bottom of the canyon. How fortunate it was that guild technology could create for him replicative nanites that would let him create a device he needed at will - in comparison to the showy magic he'd encountered today, this seemed like absolutely nothing any more, which was kind of sad in its own way. Rhace handed a hook to Dagda; it'd unwind at length as they went down, which was fine.

Rhace stepped out of the pod and cast a glance down; the canyon stopped on a number of levels to flatten out, but the fact was that any one fall might be enough to kill them if they weren't careful. They'd be able to scale this with care, given the devices they had, but it also exposed them to the elements and whatever else was down there. After all, this glow was now underwater, and who knew what lay in wait for them?

"We get one shot at this, probably. Ready?"

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

Dagda went first, but the Elumish swordsman was only moments behind. The hooks of the grappling line were cast harshly against a wedge in a stone to give it an anchoring point, before he looped it around his waist to ensure he didn't just drop and dangle off the line. Being secure in these things was absolutely key to success. The line was given a ginger tug to test where the hook moved, which provided plenty of resistance such that Rhace was content with the placement of the line, before he took the first step down the canyon face. He hadn't done this in such a long time (thank you, adventure parent upbringing) that he was going to need to have to take his time and be very careful about how he performed. It was no good coming home with a concussion, or worse, a fractured skull. The girls would make it worse if he wasn't showing due diligence.

Over they went. One step, then two, the line unwinding as they descended, allowing the two men to approach their objective with care. Fighting nature, both the water below and gravity that threatened to make pancakes out of them with a wrong step, was only going to carry them so far. The wandering warrior knew full well that this was dangerous, but how dangerous was only about to rear its ugly head when he saw what the water was doing after Dagda drew his attention to it. What he saw below was mildly concerning, to say the last. Sure, the sound of rushing water was getting louder, but he hadn't expected it to pick up this much or this quickly. A frown crossed Rhace's lips as the magnitude of the situation really struck him. It wasn't looking great for the two of them, but some good problem-solving and ingenuity would hopefully get them through this. And, as always, Rhace had one simple comment.

"Alright, going on the record for this. Magical bullshit is exactly that. Bullshit."

Rhace's eyes cast over the increasing golden glow, where the water had been flowing almost peacefully through the carved terrain that it had etched over time when they had started; now, it was coming to such a tumultuous peak that Rhace was becoming hesitant as to how they handled this particular issue. The honest truth of this matter was that while Rhace was a good swimmer, he wasn't good enough to fight a hugely combative body of water that seemed to want to swallow them both whole. Especially when their goal was no longer in sight, and Rhace surmised that unless they were getting under the surface of the water safely somehow it was going to stay that way for quite a while. That glow was gone, and with no real way to track it, how were they going to achieve their objective?

Damn.

Rhace's feet were firmly planted against the canyon wall as his hands took hold of the cable, staring down at the water. With a slight tug of the line, he tested the hook above him for stability one more time, wanting to be absolutely confident in the line's ability to hold him before he even began pondering the problem that was in front of him. Or, in this case, the better term for it was below him. Breaking through the surface of the water meant either investing in another technological solution to the problem that meant that they could perhaps breathe, but not fight against the current that was rapidly surging up to meet them, which still left them in a particular pickle. There was only one other solution he could see, which as much as he didn't want to accept the fact that it was all he could see in this particular case, he was going to have to admit that he didn't have the resources to simply fix the problem out of hand with whatever the nanites in his belt could provide.

Deep breath out, Rhace. Swallow your pride and accept the fact that magic did in fact have its place here. "I could make us small breathing masks and we try and fight the current, but that's the best I've got. Unless you've got more rock magic hiding up your sleeve that you aren't telling me about, I've got nothing."

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound

"See, this is why magic is absolutely cheating. Don't need hard work when you can just reshape the entire world around you," Rhace commented dryly as he looked down to the utility belt cinched tightly around his waist. Sure, this was the closest thing he was going to get - the wonderful ability to efficiently conjure out anything he needed in terms of small devices rather resembled magic in its own sort of way, where technolgy so sufficiently advanced could resemble magic's ability to do just about anything - but he was rather content with the explanation that he could achieve any goal he so desired when he had access to such things. That said, there was no use complaining about Dagda's ability to use magic, but instead he needed to ensure that he could keep up with the stone titan and the implacable advance that he could make upon the world around him. After all, this was a two-person job, and it would actually take both of them working together to get to the goal they envisioned at the end of this golden light. Hopefully, it was the way home for the Captain that they sought and would bear witness to. Nothing else would be sufficient now.

So, while Dagda began to craft the stone beneath their feet to adjust to the water, Rhace was already reaching in to the utility belt to pull forth the devices he sought. While he didn't know exactly how this worked, he knew that it did, such that he could shape the devices in his hands and have them come out the way that he wanted. These particular little rebreathing masks, designed to fit around the curvature of the jaw, ended in bulbous protrusions that re-processed the oxygen content of water, with a small section to place into the mouth and actually breathe. While this would not solve the issue of being able to see underwater - that was, in fact, a particular challenge in and of itself - this would allow them to not die of oxygen deprivation, which was a rather crucial part of aquatic travel. The two devices which were created within the sixty second timeframe that Rhace expected for devices such as these, given that they probably existed in a database aboard the ship somewhere and this wasn't anything new to the nanomachines that powered the device he owned.

By then, Rhace could bear witness to the marvel Dagda had created. It was a rather beautiful stone basin, replete with running water around its edges to funnel the vast majority of the incoming tide. However, what was still there bespoke danger, for the aqua vortex beneath them was rather well prepared to take both of them into its not so loving embrace and likely whisk them away. To where, Rhace really didn't know.

Instead, he held out a rebreathing mask for the stone titan to take, and looked down. Perhaps he was a little hesitant to take this on directly.

"You think it just leads... somewhere below?" Rhace asked, pondering, only the tiniest hint of nerves in his voice. "I mean, where else is there for this light to go now, right? You've just changed the place it's sitting on and there's no sign of anything else. Surely it's... inside, I guess."

Rhace Tarrin

Homebound - The Epilogue

Please note: Current personal WC before this post is 10,302.

Time passed. A lot of time passed, and a lot of incredible undertakings along with it. Too much to speak to here, for the real fact of the matter was that Rhace was still incredulous beyond his wildest belief in what had happened, and needed some time to recover from it. In short? The water was followed to a satisfactory conclusion and the glowing light became a beacon. A beacon of light, of hope, of joy and sadness, where the truth of the entire situation was about to come to light. In short? It was the Captain’s way back home. A portal to the homeworld of the Marmor, where Dagda had found his way back home. Before the titan stepped through the shimmering portal, however, his instructions had been made clear: the time had come for the giant man to name his successor. That successor, for selflessly throwing himself into this dangerous mission and vowing to safeguard everything the guild stood for, was Rhace himself - it was not to be the two deputies, but him, as he would be the one to shoulder the burden of leadership no matter the fact that he felt outclassed and unsure of how to run a guild, particularly in a world of mages. However, Dagda had professed his confidence, and Rhace had willingly accepted the charge laid before him. The Elumish swordsman could not have refused such a powerful calling.

To that end, iLac messages had been sent, one last time, to indicate the passing of the torch, that the truth of the Endeavor and its myriad secrets could be discovered by the human warrior in his own time and his own way. In doing so, the leadership of the guild would be passed on to a worthy successor, or so it was told to him. Rhace had yet to believe that, for processing the fact that he was about to take on this gigantic, infinite challenge was going to be a massive paradigm shift for him. Truth told, it was going to be a difficult time, but even so he had every ounce of faith in Cassiti and Cordelia’s assistance, for he was already intimately familiar with their capabilities and the breadth of their knowledge. In short, he was now left in their capable hands.

Truth told, the shuttle ride back to the Endeavor was the longest, most silent trip he had ever experienced. He could not will himself to play music over the airship’s systems. He needed some time to think and process, for there was so much swimming through his mind as he tried to conceptualise his next steps. A number of iLac messages were piling up for him in the rather convenient group chat between himself and the two deputies of the guild - it was going off constantly, and both of the ladies were enquiring as to his current mental state. His arms were weary, almost unable to lift them simply to pick up his device and just respond to them to tell them that he was going to be okay. In his mind, he had to ask the question - was he going to be okay? This was all so much, so sudden. The mantle had been placed upon his shoulders so incredibly suddenly, that he was going to have to take his first step onto the sky-faring vessel as its master and commander without so much as a single trumpet of fanfare and walk immediately into his new role. After all, its original captain was now literally galaxies away. Hopefully, Rhace wished, Dagda could be reunited with his son and allowed to live out the rest of his days in peace as he so deserved. The man had given years of service to a world that was not his own, and in doing so was unashamedly worthy of the years of respite that the familiarity of returning home would bring him. Rhace only hoped that such comfort was what Dagda could find at home, surrounded by loved ones.

For the swordsman himself, he was now going to take his first step into a brand-new life. The shuttle touched down on the deck of the gigantic steel sky whale, where it nestled into the loving embrace of the docking station for its refueling cycle. Rhace stepped down the ramp of the shuttle, where his emerald eyes locked with the two women who were waiting for him to return home. It was enough to put a tired smile on the Elumish man’s face, knowing that at least this particular homecoming came with both joy and sadness intermingling perfectly in a wash of explosive emotion.

Whatever the future held, he had them at his side - and with both of them together, perhaps he could rise to the challenge that the first master of Meliora Vitae had given him. The second master would now have to carve his own path.