Enter the Dragon
Chapter 14: Vessel adventures turned Vessel training…
Lily wandered along the halls of the Palace at night, joined by Violet and Angel, just exploring the empty halls. Their new home was much, much nicer than the abyss they had been born in, and even nicer than the musty, dusty halls of Hornet's home. The only thing Lily would have liked better about living in the White Palace, would be if it were much darker, as the near perpetual glowing light during daytime could be almost blinding at times.
Hornet and Helia's interest in their sibling was quite funny, especially seeing the differences between how the two of them flirted with their sibling. While Helia's was obvious and in Ray's face, much to his embarrassment, but Hornet wasn't nearly as subtle as she believed she was. Ray's thoughts on the matter were, confusing, but they figured that was something they'd learn to understand in time. Factual knowledge absorbed from Ray's mind only explained so much.
Lily eventually wandered into the training yard, Violet and Angel trailing behind them, their curiosity peaked by the sounds of nail strikes sounding off into the air. Standing in the center of the yard, with a training dummy setup, was Ghost. Ghost was swinging a nail at the dummy, going through vertical and horizontal strikes in quick succession.
"Ghost, what are you doing?" Lily asks, walking up to them as Ghost goes through another succession of blows, pausing after a few minutes to turn to them, responding "I'm training my nail skills. I've seen, images of myself using nail like a master in Ray's memories, and I want to match what I saw. So I'm here." with an impression of desperation.
Lily giggles, while Angel steps forward, and says "Ghost, you don't need to match what his memories of old show. He loves you regardless, as he loves us all." while impressing the feeling of love that Ray exuded through the void connection at all times. Ghost just shakes their head, chirping in distress as they respond "I know that. But I need to get better, to be able to defend them when the time comes. Something within me, tells me that Ray is in terrible danger. And I want to be prepared to deal with it when that danger appears." and goes back to attacking the dummy.
Lily chitters in agreement, pulling out another dummy on the other side of the arena while saying "Ah, so you're not the only one. I've felt much the same way, although without any memories of my past self to compare to. I think its actually a good idea to get the rest of our siblings trained as well, both for the safety and security of our most beloved sibling, but also the safety of ourselves. Ray won't always be around to protect us, our time with the nosk is proof enough of that." and takes a fighting stance, before lashing out with an arm, extending it out into a sharp void whip, a loud crack resounding from the dummy as the tendril leaves a line in its front.
Violet steps up next to Lily, raising up a hand, and focuses. After a moment, a dagger made of void is conjured, hovering in place until launching into the dummy, piercing through it with ease, before fading away after a moment, leaving a dark mark in the dummy from the void. Lily turned, giving Violet a look of sudden understanding, saying "That's amazing Violet. How many can you create at a time?"
Violet blushes a bit and mumbles out "Only one at a time for now, but I've been trying to work on summoning more…", turning to stare at the ground in embarrassment. Ghost has come over, holding a pair of practice nails, holding one out for Angel and Violet. Violet takes theirs, but Angel hesitates, saying "I, don't really like violence, but to protect Ray better in the future…" and finally takes the nail.
Ghost takes a stance, saying "Alright, now repeat after me." and begins slowly swinging their nail, watching as Angel and Violet repeat, speeding up as they get the motions down. Lily smiles internally at the scene, and goes to Ghost's former target dummy, and begins practicing their void whips some more, trying to go faster and faster with each attack, while Ghost leads Angel and Violet in learning the art of the nail.
Tiara, Helm and Aurora were all sitting in a circle, in the garden section of the Whit Palace, playing with a plot of dirt, childishly enjoying themselves. They found the dirt fun to work with, forming structures and images within the dirt, visible beneath the pale light their masks created even at night.
It was while doing so that Tiara sat up, focusing upon their connection to the void, listening to Ghost and the others as they begin training themselves, and decided that would be a good idea to do so as well.
Getting up out of the dirt, Tiara says "Helm, Aurora, we should be training ourselves like what Ghost is doing." Helm simply cant's their head to the side in response, finishing up the dirt castle while Aurora says "But, the dirt is so fun to shape?" while sitting in the middle of a group of little hills of dirt, shaping another as they speak.
Tiara huffs, chirping in exasperation and responds "Yes, playing with the dirt is fun, but we can have fun later, when Ray is safe from the angry moth lady.", stepping over the little hills of dirt to pull Aurora to their feet, while chirping at Helm, who chirps back, standing up to follow along as they head towards the training yard, which quickly turns into a race to see who gets their first.
Breeze, Flash, Flutter and Spike were all racing along throughout the halls, playing a combination of tag and hide and seek, running at maximum speed as they did so, jumping to and fro along rafters as they went along. It was while doing this that Flash, having a significant lead in the race, ran head first into Tiara, a loud crack sounding throughout the hallway from the force of the impact, Lily letting out a low screech in surprise.
Once Flash was done shaking their head in pain, they let out a series of angry chirps, while speaking "Tiara, what are you doing getting in my way, you know it's hard for me to stop when I'm dashing."
Tiara shakes their head, and once they got their balance back, glared at Flash, responding "It's not my fault you weren't looking where you're going. Never mind that though, it's time to join Ghost in training. Think of it like a game, one where winning the grand prize is keeping out beloved Ray safe." and moves around Flash's group.
Breeze, Flutter and Spike, after a moment's hesitation, go to follow after Tiara, chirping at Flash to follow. Flash considers going on their own in spite, but concedes, following along behind them to the training area.
Silis and Thorn had finally figured out the lock on their father's workshop and were busy checking out the various contraptions throughout the room in detail, instead of simply watching their father work on them.
Silis's attention was focused on the multi geared device that their father had been working on previously, a snippet of information they gleamed from Ray's mind telling them it was supposed to be a clock.
Taking it apart and putting it back together again in different combinations, they were stopped when they got a pulse from Tiara through the void, asking them to join them in the training yard. Putting the clock back where he found it, Silis grabbed Thorn, who was trying and failing to take apart the empty carapace of a wingmold, and dragged them behind them, headed towards the training yard. Some practice in hand eye coordination was in order, especially for their extra pair of arms.
The Pure Vessel, who now simply went by Pure, was roused from their sleep by the echoing sounds of nail strikes and vessel chirps. Getting up, they collect their nail, and head towards the noise, following along behind it absentmindedly, their thoughts still muffled from sleep.
Stepping through the archway to the training yard, they blink their vision a couple of times while taking in the image before them. Arrayed around the training yard, were all their siblings currently residing in the palace, half of them training with nails, while the other half were channeling void into attacks again and again.
Looking from one side of the yard to the other, Pure decides to just go with it, and sends out a questioning chirp. All of the vessels halt in their movements, turning as one to stare at Pure, who asks "What, are you all doing at this time of night?"
Ghost jumps forward to stand in front of them, their had turned up to stare at them as they respond "We're training, so that we can help Ray in the future. Want to join us?" with a perfectly even tone, which was effectively the closest thing to a straight face a vessel could do. Staring down at Ghost, Pure considers things for a moment, and says "I suppose we could, but if you all are going to be training, it's best to do so with Father's supervision."
Ghost chirps in annoyance, saying "Father won't let us train yet, but I have a bad feeling about the upcoming meeting with the angry moth lady, and I want us to be ready to help out if things go wrong. So please, will you help us?" with a pleading tone. As the other vessels await Pure's decision, Pure thinks things through.
They themselves spent most of their time in the Palace being trained for their ultimate purpose, training night and day to perfect their body and soul to be the ultimate weapon and cage to contain the source of the infection. Unlike themselves, who trained because their father demanded it so, their siblings were training themselves to protect their sibling. It was, cute, for lack of a better word.
After a moments more consideration, Pure chirps in confirmation and says "Alright, I'll help in training you. We will begin the basics first, so that I know what you need improvements on. Nail users first." with a glint in their eyes. Their siblings chirp in response, forming a line as Pure begins "The first thing to using a nail, is understanding that to get the most of a nail, is to have it be an extension of your body, not nearly a tool." while extending their nail, showcasing while repeating the training they had with both Dryya and Ze'mer, both masters of the nail arts.
Taking their preferred stance, the blade of their nail facing backwards, Pure continued "The second most important thing to the nail arts, is to have a stance that is provides both balance and power. Each of you will fight differently, and as such, I'll need you all to pick a particular nail, and figure out a stance to go with it. Once you have the stances down and the basics of wielding your nail, then we can move onto using real nails, but for now, training nails it is."
Pure then went through a series of stances they used with their great nail, before going at ease, saying "Now, once you're chosen your preferred nail, we'll begin on stances and the basics of the nail. Follow me.", moving towards the armory of the training yard, followed behind by their siblings. Pure felt, joy, at the thought of teaching, passing on their knowledge of the art of the nail to their siblings. Thinking on it, having their father teach them the knowledge of the soul and spells, would allow them all to be as capable as they were. Briefly thinking of Ray and what they knew of him, should probably also bring Ray into the training. The hopes of Hallownest rested on Ray's shoulders now, and he'd need all the help he could get.
Ray awoke slowly, the feeling of multiple voices running around in his had drowning out his initial morning thoughts, until he is suddenly pounced on by a bright red shape, being pulled up to his feet by what could only be Hornet, her words fuzzy in his ears as she drags him through the halls, the now bright lights of the morning lights blinding his eyes temporarily.
After a few moments of walking, he suddenly finds himself being dragged into the training yard, and as his vision clears, he sees the Pure Vessel standing at attention, and all of the other vessels are standing at attention, various types of nails in their hands, all looking guilty as charged as Hornet jumps into my vision, shouting "Did you put them up to this? The clanging has been going on for hours now."
Blinking my eyes in confusion, I mumble out "What are you talking about…" before yawning, letting out a long-drawn-out morning yawn. Once done, and having stretched my jaws into place, Hornet says "They've been training with Pure all night. I don't know how you weren't woken up by it, and I don't care, if they're going to be trained by Pure, then so will you." with a hiss at the end, her fangs poking out beneath her mask.
Extremely confused, I merely respond "Sure, whatever. Can I have breakfast first?" followed by another yawn, then my stomach making itself known with a loud grumble. Hornet deflates a bit and grumbles a bit before swiftly turning to the assembled vessels, shouting "You all, baths first, then breakfast. Understood?"
The vessels all shake their heads in unison, moving to put away the training nails while Pure just stands there, seemingly please with themselves. I give them a look, tentatively reaching out through the void to ask "What on earth were you all doing last night?" Pure stares for a moment, and responds "Siblings wanted to train, and I obliged. Speaking of training, I agree with Hornet, in that you should be trained to the same level as me."
I groan, already dreading the bruises I was going to gain from this, and say "Fine, whatever, it's not like Dryya's training isn't hell on earth as it is. But first, breakfast. Then training." with a note of finality, turning around and leaving the training yard behind me, leading Hornet along by the hand, followed along by Pure leading the vessels behind us.
When I realize I was holding Hornet's hand, I swiftly released it, pretending it did not happen, and focus my mind on the apparent hell I was about to be thrown into.
AN: Alright, another sort of filler chapter done. I wanted to do a chapter focusing all on the vessels, and I hope I did a good job with them. At this point in time, their vocabulary has been greatly increased, mostly speaking normally now, with even Pure following along with the vessels in learning from Ray's mind.
Next chapter will be on other characters outside the palace, and then we'll finally get to the meeting of the ages. I hope you all have enjoyed it so far, and peace out.