sigelphoenix

Here's my first attempt at getting back into that writing thing. I said I would write scenes, so here are some scenes - be warned that the result isn't particularly cohesive.

Title: Conversations
Characters: Drannor, Nexus
Word Count: ~1000
Summary: Some of the first few interactions between Nexus, the newly intiated Eternal Blade, and its Blade Guide, Drannor.
Notes: ratzeo supplied Drannor's dialogue and responses.

Learning how to interact with Drannor is a process for Nexus. Not only is Drannor the afterlife existence a centuries-old elf, Nexus is also the only one who can see him as himself, because everyone else sees a feature-less ball of light. And what Nexus sees is a miniature, one-foot-tall image of the elf floating in the air.

In the middle of one of their first conversations, Nexus says, "Excuse me," and pokes one finger at Drannor. The adamantine finger touches the spot where the blade guide's small form floats in the air, but Nexus feels nothing.

"Excuse me again," it says, and pushes forward. Its finger goes through Drannor. The elf's body doesn't distort or fade; Nexus' finger simply disappears where Drannor is located. It cranes its neck forward, and sees that the point of its finger reappears on the other side of Drannor. "Hm. Neat."

The elf looks down, watching its charge's finger point through his chest. "Nexus, would you like to practice fighting incorporeal creatures?"

Nexus returns its gaze to Drannor's face. "We can do that?"

*

Nexus tells Drannor as much as it can about the modifications that Vilda has made to her body based on what they know - that she has been turning herself more and more into a construct. "She started out as a regular human, but she's becoming a construct like me - they call us the 'nexi.' The other ones we know so far are Graven and Nainar. You saw them before; they went with the others, who took Vilda to Thut. Graven is the big metal one made out of iron golem parts, and Nainar is all bronzewood. Vilda is becoming a construct like me, both wood and metal." It paused. "I'm glad about that. If she wanted to change her body, I'm happy that she chose to make it like mine.

"Did you ever want to change your body, since you had it for so long?" Nexus asks the question of the elf because it wonders how a person who has spent centuries in the same form would feel. At its young age, Nexus has felt curiosity about what it would be like to have a different body, but never the need to make permanent changes on the scale Vilda has. But it wonders if time might change that, if a person could just get tired of their body. "Elves have the same body for a very long time."

But Drannor doesn't really talk about himself. "How much do you know about druids and wizards, Nexus?" he asks instead, and launches into a brief historical account of elven spellcasters, and elvenkind's tradition of shape-shifting magic users. "So there have always been some elves who actually are able to change their own bodies at will."

Of himself, Drannor shrugs and says that he never really thought about it when he was physically alive. It's a curious contrast for Nexus, that the elf could speak at length about his race's history as a response to the question, while he didn't have much to say about his own opinion. For Nexus, whose race is so young that they don't have much of a history to draw from, there isn't such an option - Nexus can only answer questions with its own opinions, and can't speak about the collective opinions or experiences of its race.

That's one of the differences between a new being like Nexus, and the virtually ageless elves - one of the things that Nexus lacks in comparison to other Eternal Blades. The construct takes note of the information as one of its early lessons from its Blade Guide.

*

Nexus talks to Drannor all the time, as much as he cares to listen. It tells him about important things, like who the other members of the Adamant Company are, and what the Company knows about the turmoil in Faerun, but also about mundane things, like setting up camp: "I don't use a tent, but the others do. Are these like the tents you used to use? Some people share, like Luth and Jhaer - when she's with us - because of good pre-battle strategy. Luth shares with Sid, too, because they're good friends. He also sets up Anora's tent, because she can't do it herself. I don't think they teach princesses very well about tents, which is silly." And having meals: "The others like to eat, but I've never understood it. Luth and Buran don't always eat, because they have magic rings so they just eat for fun. That's nice because sometimes we can talk while the others have food. And if you don't have to eat either, you and I can talk too." And setting the watch: "I'm the only one who doesn't sleep, so I always watch. I guess that'll have to change if we're going to train. Luth and Buran only sleep a couple of hours a night, so they stay up, too, when Luth isn't preparing for battle."

"'Pre-battle strategy'?" Drannor asks, raising an inquiring eyebrow.

"Sexual intercourse," Nexus clarifies, explaining that, "Luth didn't seem to like it when I called it that in front of everyone. I asked him if I could call it preparing for battle, because that's what they were doing the first time I saw them, and he said okay."

*

After they hear the Council of Six's proclamation concerning the nexi, Nexus takes a moment from its own rage to turn to the constant presence at its side. It is adjusting to the fact that Drannor is always there, seeing and hearing the same things as Nexus and the others; except only Nexus can see how Drannor reacts.

"This is deplorable! I only wish I could say that I was more surprised. We should be on the move soon, Nexus. We have a great deal of work to do."

Nexus nods to its guide, even though it is the only one who heard what he said. It seems like they'll get along just fine.