Post by Kin on Jun 6, 2008 10:14:13 GMT -5
In a small room of the arena, a room made specifically for understanding ones own powers, Kin sat alone on a small rug, his legs crossed before him, his hands resting on his knees; he was meditating, looking inward, attempting to understand the oddities he’d been able to perform over the last few months. He didn’t understand exactly how it was he did what he had done, knowing only that he had been in sour moods at the time, and after gripping whatever had been in his hands tight for a few seconds, said items had then exploded like firecrackers against the ground after he had dropped them. He had effectively ruined ten decks of cards by obliterating one card from each deck, making his tricks cheaper in his own mind then what anybody else would think of them as. However, he saw a positive in the odd ability he had displayed; if he could control it, then certainly it would add flair never before seen in a magic trick!
With a gentle sigh, Kin opened his eyes and stood, staring blankly down at the items he had set on a small table for himself; an entire deck of cards, a fistful of coins, some play, some not, his cane, and about five pebbles. He decided he would start with the pebbles, as they had no actual value to him; they were just some particularly smooth rocks he had encountered on the way over. Picking one up, he stared at it blankly as it rested in his hand; what should he do next? With a shrug, he simply closed his eyes and focused on the rock, focusing, focusing, visualizing the rock, feeling the rock, understanding it… if this were a movie, he would probably be told to ‘be’ the rock, and that was where he was trying to put his mind. He gave the rock a good, hard squeeze, and then dropped it, knowing something, anything would happen.
Instead, the rock hit the floor and hopped a few inches away, nothing out of the ordinary what so ever. Frowning, Kin bent down and retrieved his rock, closing his fist around it again, concentrating, visualizing, expecting. He tried to put in his mind nothing but the rock, and then began telling himself what would happen. The rock would hit the ground, and explode. That was what he wanted. He had made it happen before, he would make it happen again! He held the rock longer this time, visualizing first the rock, and then the rock exploding. With a sigh, he let go of the rock… and again, it only hit the ground and rolled. He repeated his attempts over twenty times on that same pebble, and after half an hour, was feeling very, very upset.
“Darn you, work! Explode! Do SOMETHING!” Now extremely fed up, he clenched the stupid rock with both hands, actually growling as he angrily pictured the stinking rock hitting the ground and leaving a crater the size of a meteor strike. He hoped the rock went straight to hell! With an angry cry, he brought his fist up and slammed it straight downward, throwing the rock as hard as he could into the ground.
With the retort almost like a gunshot, the rock fired right back up off the ground and blasted into him, square in the forehead, taking his feet out from under him and putting him on the ground, dizzy. He blinked his eyes open and groaned, feeling a small bit of blood trickling from his forehead; standing up slowly, he gently wiped the small dab away, and with the blood, pulled the tiny pebble fragment out of his forehead. Oh, he’d done it all right… but that wasn’t exactly the end result he’d wanted. Looking at the floor, he saw the small scorch mark where the rock had exploded, and then saw small pebble shards lying all over the ground.
“Note to self… straight down is bad.” He grumbled weakly, rubbing the back of his head; that had hurt. Deciding that maybe rocks, and definitely money, were not good ideas anymore, Kin simply picked up the first card in the pile; one of the jokers, straight from a brand new deck. Holding the card between thumb and forefinger, Kin gently flipped the card back and forth; they were special novelty cards he’d picked up ages ago, and had started collecting not too long ago. They were the best for throwing tricks, at the cost of being harder to shuffle in the traditional manner, but that was fine; he had decks for shuffling, too. As he stared at the little clown face on the card, he thought about what he’d done differently the last time with the pebble, rather than the first many.
“Well, I was pretty upset… maybe that’s the key?” He muttered lightly to himself, rubbing his fingers over the smooth card face, musing lightly. With a shrug, he looked the clown dead in the eyes and began to glare, scowling as he recalled how angry he’d been with the pebble; it wasn’t hard, in his mind, to transition from the pebble to the card, and in seconds, he was ready to claim that card had killed his family. With an angry fling, he sent the card careening across the room, where it smacked into the far wall and exploded in a shower of embers, not making more then a ‘thud’ when it hit. Kin blinked at the second small scorch mark on the wall, and then looked down at the little card-embers all over the concrete floor. So that was it… anger. Or maybe not even that. Absently picking up the next card, the second joker, Kin closed his eyes and began to focus. He began to recall how sad he’d felt not so long ago, when he’d had all the money he’d made over a week stolen from him by a guy with a knife; he only held the card for a second before flinging it across the room this time, feeling wholly upset with the world at large.
Rather then combust, as the other card had, this one simply left a bit of a burn against the wall, and the top of the card had a miniature flame brewing over it. So, the amount of time he held the card determined how much damage it took… interesting. Tapping his cheek, he looked down at the coins he had set out. Maybe they were worth an experiment after all. Reaching down, Kin lifted the first coin up and began to remember, this time thinking back to only the day before. He’d had another successful birthday party routine done, and the children were practically begging for ‘just one more’ trick; he had been so happy, and he could feel that happiness coming back to him. Before he could hold the coin for too long, however, he simply dropped it, letting it fall facedown onto the table. With a sharp retort, the coin left a small bit of ash on the table as it flew back into the air, flipping several times before landing again, the mildly burnt side showing. Grinning, Kin gently rubbed the coin’s face, glad to see it not permanently marred as most of the soot came right off. Rubbing his chin, Kin looked thoughtfully down at his cane; he could think of only one last trick.
He picked the ace of spades off of the deck of cards and, carefully, set it standing with two of the other pebbles on either side of it, squeezing it tightly into place. Kin then picked up his cane and pressed the small button that would slip through the hole on the outer layer of the cane and allow the entire bottom section to slide down and out, doubling the staff’s height; he loved the cane, and would have to be careful not to ruin it. Once again, Kin recalled the birthday party he had attended only the other day, using it as a source for his odd little power, this time feeling… something leaving him and entering the cane in his right hand. As he opened his eyes, still focusing on the happy memory, Kin broke out in a wide grin, letting the cane take on a bit more of a charge before suddenly jabbing it right at the spade in the center of the ace card. As soon as the cane struck the card, the rock in the front went flying, hitting painlessly right into Kin’s large shirt; he had felt a small recoil from the hit, but because of the card’s low density, there had been no explosion. Seeing a small plume of smoke, however, Kin quickly grabbed the card by the bottom left corner and lifted it up.
Dead center of the card, with smoldering edges, was a perfect circle exactly the size of Kin’s cane tip; he grinned wide as he saw the hole, tiny little embers fading into oblivion at its edges, and could only imagine how incredibly happy the children would be. The very thought got him excited to show the ability off, and without thinking, Kin tapped the bottom of his cane against the floor; this time, there was a small retort as the cane jumped in Kin’s hand, making him start. He laughed at himself, using his shoe to rub the burnt circle out of existence; he would have to be careful, now that he knew what he was doing, or else he was liable to do something dangerous… like put a hole in his own foot!
With a gentle sigh, Kin opened his eyes and stood, staring blankly down at the items he had set on a small table for himself; an entire deck of cards, a fistful of coins, some play, some not, his cane, and about five pebbles. He decided he would start with the pebbles, as they had no actual value to him; they were just some particularly smooth rocks he had encountered on the way over. Picking one up, he stared at it blankly as it rested in his hand; what should he do next? With a shrug, he simply closed his eyes and focused on the rock, focusing, focusing, visualizing the rock, feeling the rock, understanding it… if this were a movie, he would probably be told to ‘be’ the rock, and that was where he was trying to put his mind. He gave the rock a good, hard squeeze, and then dropped it, knowing something, anything would happen.
Instead, the rock hit the floor and hopped a few inches away, nothing out of the ordinary what so ever. Frowning, Kin bent down and retrieved his rock, closing his fist around it again, concentrating, visualizing, expecting. He tried to put in his mind nothing but the rock, and then began telling himself what would happen. The rock would hit the ground, and explode. That was what he wanted. He had made it happen before, he would make it happen again! He held the rock longer this time, visualizing first the rock, and then the rock exploding. With a sigh, he let go of the rock… and again, it only hit the ground and rolled. He repeated his attempts over twenty times on that same pebble, and after half an hour, was feeling very, very upset.
“Darn you, work! Explode! Do SOMETHING!” Now extremely fed up, he clenched the stupid rock with both hands, actually growling as he angrily pictured the stinking rock hitting the ground and leaving a crater the size of a meteor strike. He hoped the rock went straight to hell! With an angry cry, he brought his fist up and slammed it straight downward, throwing the rock as hard as he could into the ground.
With the retort almost like a gunshot, the rock fired right back up off the ground and blasted into him, square in the forehead, taking his feet out from under him and putting him on the ground, dizzy. He blinked his eyes open and groaned, feeling a small bit of blood trickling from his forehead; standing up slowly, he gently wiped the small dab away, and with the blood, pulled the tiny pebble fragment out of his forehead. Oh, he’d done it all right… but that wasn’t exactly the end result he’d wanted. Looking at the floor, he saw the small scorch mark where the rock had exploded, and then saw small pebble shards lying all over the ground.
“Note to self… straight down is bad.” He grumbled weakly, rubbing the back of his head; that had hurt. Deciding that maybe rocks, and definitely money, were not good ideas anymore, Kin simply picked up the first card in the pile; one of the jokers, straight from a brand new deck. Holding the card between thumb and forefinger, Kin gently flipped the card back and forth; they were special novelty cards he’d picked up ages ago, and had started collecting not too long ago. They were the best for throwing tricks, at the cost of being harder to shuffle in the traditional manner, but that was fine; he had decks for shuffling, too. As he stared at the little clown face on the card, he thought about what he’d done differently the last time with the pebble, rather than the first many.
“Well, I was pretty upset… maybe that’s the key?” He muttered lightly to himself, rubbing his fingers over the smooth card face, musing lightly. With a shrug, he looked the clown dead in the eyes and began to glare, scowling as he recalled how angry he’d been with the pebble; it wasn’t hard, in his mind, to transition from the pebble to the card, and in seconds, he was ready to claim that card had killed his family. With an angry fling, he sent the card careening across the room, where it smacked into the far wall and exploded in a shower of embers, not making more then a ‘thud’ when it hit. Kin blinked at the second small scorch mark on the wall, and then looked down at the little card-embers all over the concrete floor. So that was it… anger. Or maybe not even that. Absently picking up the next card, the second joker, Kin closed his eyes and began to focus. He began to recall how sad he’d felt not so long ago, when he’d had all the money he’d made over a week stolen from him by a guy with a knife; he only held the card for a second before flinging it across the room this time, feeling wholly upset with the world at large.
Rather then combust, as the other card had, this one simply left a bit of a burn against the wall, and the top of the card had a miniature flame brewing over it. So, the amount of time he held the card determined how much damage it took… interesting. Tapping his cheek, he looked down at the coins he had set out. Maybe they were worth an experiment after all. Reaching down, Kin lifted the first coin up and began to remember, this time thinking back to only the day before. He’d had another successful birthday party routine done, and the children were practically begging for ‘just one more’ trick; he had been so happy, and he could feel that happiness coming back to him. Before he could hold the coin for too long, however, he simply dropped it, letting it fall facedown onto the table. With a sharp retort, the coin left a small bit of ash on the table as it flew back into the air, flipping several times before landing again, the mildly burnt side showing. Grinning, Kin gently rubbed the coin’s face, glad to see it not permanently marred as most of the soot came right off. Rubbing his chin, Kin looked thoughtfully down at his cane; he could think of only one last trick.
He picked the ace of spades off of the deck of cards and, carefully, set it standing with two of the other pebbles on either side of it, squeezing it tightly into place. Kin then picked up his cane and pressed the small button that would slip through the hole on the outer layer of the cane and allow the entire bottom section to slide down and out, doubling the staff’s height; he loved the cane, and would have to be careful not to ruin it. Once again, Kin recalled the birthday party he had attended only the other day, using it as a source for his odd little power, this time feeling… something leaving him and entering the cane in his right hand. As he opened his eyes, still focusing on the happy memory, Kin broke out in a wide grin, letting the cane take on a bit more of a charge before suddenly jabbing it right at the spade in the center of the ace card. As soon as the cane struck the card, the rock in the front went flying, hitting painlessly right into Kin’s large shirt; he had felt a small recoil from the hit, but because of the card’s low density, there had been no explosion. Seeing a small plume of smoke, however, Kin quickly grabbed the card by the bottom left corner and lifted it up.
Dead center of the card, with smoldering edges, was a perfect circle exactly the size of Kin’s cane tip; he grinned wide as he saw the hole, tiny little embers fading into oblivion at its edges, and could only imagine how incredibly happy the children would be. The very thought got him excited to show the ability off, and without thinking, Kin tapped the bottom of his cane against the floor; this time, there was a small retort as the cane jumped in Kin’s hand, making him start. He laughed at himself, using his shoe to rub the burnt circle out of existence; he would have to be careful, now that he knew what he was doing, or else he was liable to do something dangerous… like put a hole in his own foot!