The Want of Need

A child of two vastly different nations, Sky Hart was supposed to lead a simple life of following in her father’s footsteps….but alas, things are never that straightforward, are they?

Daughter to a renowned forgemaster, Yoshiro, and his wife, Celene, the intention was for Sky to be taken under his wing as an apprentice smith, and eventually inherit the family’s work.  Unlike the majority of her countrymen, Sky held no affinity to the world around her; unable to use its magicks.  This strange, inexplicable impairment concerned her inexperienced parents, prompting Yoshiro into action.

It isn’t precisely known how the man acquired the material, but after several weeks, the smith had forged an answer to the family’s conundrum: A crystalline blade (1), one that would act as a conduit in place of the girl’s missing natural ability. Of course, the child was too young to wield such a thing, so it was secreted away; hidden until she came of age.

As the years passed, Sky would accompany her family on various trips to the local towns and villages, watching her father sell his creations for reasonable coin. These outings sparked a desire to know the world beyond her reach, prompting Sky to oft inquire about life outside of the region.  Her mother offered limited insight to parts of the ‘outside’ world (2), hoping to satiate her ravenous curiosity, but she only inflamed the child’s wish to experience it herself.  

This quickly led to an irresistible wanderlust, wherein Sky would venture far off the well-tread roads in search of the unseen. She had come to favor a meadow just before the treeline deepened to forest; where the canopy was open to the clouds above and along the breeze drifted the sound of cicadas and birdsong . The constant beratement of good samaritans escorting their hapless daughter home cost her parents much of their patience, to which Sky was blissfully unaware. Each return promised a free ration of bread for their lengthy voyage, leading her to getting ‘lost’ quite frequently.

Some time after her 8th Name Day, Sky had once again come to the meadow, her chosen sanctuary. This day, however, the lush green grass she was so familiar with had browned, the flowers had shrivelled, and branches of trees creaked bare against a hot, dry summer wind. A foul black mist crept through the treeline, tainting everything it touched. The girl was quick to evade the corruption, though its presence oppressed her thoughts with a thick, palpable dread. 

Obscured behind the bleak haze, aside a once-proud beech tree- now withered and mottled- stood a tall shadowy figure, dressed in tattered black robes (3).  A  fleeting moment after Sky had seen it and before she could muster words for the shade, it wordlessly turned… 

Toward the village.

Then…

Smoke. Assailing every sense, the haze had quickly become a dreadful smog, accompanied by the distant, aggressive crackling of hungering flame. As adrenaline returned her senses to her, Sky instinctively shot herself in the direction of the forge, fueled by a fear never felt in her few years- for the safety of her family.

Minutes of tireless running felt like pained hours, a terrible pit in her stomach growing and gnawing at her thoughts until her home became visible on the horizon- embroiled in a chaotic, unrepentant blaze. In that instant, the pit swallowed her whole- and with it, all sense of reason or restraint.

She had to help.

Without thinking, the girl had tried to enter the smithy, hoping to reach her home as quickly as possible- a costly error.  As she opened the door, a rush of fresh air flooded within the building, swelling the flames uncontrollably and triggering a devastating explosion. Sky was blasted outward alongside heavy, fractured stone and molten shrapnel. Debris showered the immediate area, with one smoldering chunk of structural steel slamming upon the girl where she had collapsed. Her last moments were spent screaming in agony before her body succumbed to the pain and fell unconscious.

-

She awoke a few days later, severely burned and heavily bandaged in the village temple, Koshona.  The townspeople were unaware of the flame that had claimed the Hart household until a deafening explosion erupted from its direction. Those that rushed to help had found the girl beneath the rubble surrounding what was once their forge.  With such severe injuries demanding the highest care, and with no family left to accept the burden, the head priest of Koshona agreed to take responsibility for the girl’s treatment and recovery.  

Monks tended to an unmoving and bedridden Sky for weeks until she was in a state to leave her chambers. Thanks to their diligent care, the majority of the injuries had healed, save for a deep burn on her abdomen where the steel had scorched her flesh. That scar would remain tender and vulnerable, needing to be bound at all times and medicated regularly.

Once she had regained autonomy, the monks could focus on completing her upbringing, educating the girl in their ways. They taught basic reading, writing and arithmetic; as well as recanting the area’s history and the Temple’s relationship with the gods. Though she interpreted the teachings well enough, her want for knowledge had left her.

As she got older, she was introduced to Kendo by an ex-mercenary turned monk, Master Eiji. As well as instructing her in swordplay, Eiji would regale the girl of his life’s many adventures, introducing her to the whole of the world’s foreign perspectives and countless wonders. These stories rekindled her childhood wanderlust, piercing through the hopelessness that had become her reality.  Though loosely warned against doing so by Eiji, Sky had decided to become what he once was-  a traveling mercenary; free to follow their own path.

Over the course of several years, Sky’s talent with the blade blossomed.  While unfamiliar with the variable techniques introduced by magic- such as the fires Eiji controlled- she had become a skilled swordsman in her own right. In light of this development, the head priest deemed the time was right to reveal a secret long kept from Sky: After her home had been reduced to ash, a crystal blade of peerless make was found to have survived the flames; the last remaining treasure her father had left to give. Fate had guided Yoshiro’s greatest wish for his daughter into her hands.

At first, Sky struggled to comprehend the blade’s purpose. It was clear that this was her father’s handiwork, but the balance was unlike anything she had used before. She found it housed a smaller blade in the hilt, but she’d felt there was still something missing. 

Master Eiji, an adept of magic himself, felt a dormant power within the blade, though found himself unable to wake it. Sky, however, was unable to feel anything coming from the crystalline weapon. This summoned within her a deep, pained frustration; rising to a bitter anger. She hadn’t been able to sense a damned flicker of magic, even after all these years… to not be able to connect to the one family heirloom she had left tore at her.

Without a word, Sky took off, returning to the one place that she could just… be.  The meadow.

Countless questions plagued the girl as she tried to understand what her father could have been thinking, what she had been failing to see. The betrayed frustration and mounting grief would overwhelm her, letting tears flow freely down across her cheek, falling to her knees. Feeling betrayed by the world, she clutched the blade firmly between her hands, taking the moment to remember her parents’ words. Their kindnesses. Their hopes…

Tears flecked down upon the weapon.

A moment later… a spark.

Flickers of light began to emit from the blade, causing Sky to refocus. Running her hand ran over the crystal, she felt it thrum to life… moments later, the light swept through her hands and coursed through the girl’s body. Unknown sensation pulsed, startling her to motion. For the first time, she was feeling magic. Vibrant. Alive.

The air grew heavy around her as energy crackled in shining white flashes. The rising power was becoming too much for Sky to withstand, becoming wary of the power she felt slip out of her hands.  Behind the sparks, she’d failed to hear the cracking coming from the pommel until it was too late- a surge of electricity ran through her, then burst forth from the blade. From its tip, a bolt of lightning shattered the air before her, splitting the long-dead beech through.

She collapsed to the ground, clearly spent from what had transpired.  After a few minutes, as she recovered, Sky noticed the pommel had been damaged, a crystalline shard lying several feet from her.  As soon as she was able to stand, Sky retrieved the fragment, then hastily returned to the temple to explain what had happened.

To say that Master Eiji was impressed that she was able to utilise and break the damned thing would be a drastic understatement. In her wily, excited, shaken attempt to retell the event, Sky childishly emulates the noises she heard.

“ZIP?! ZRRR- SENNNNNNN- KO!”

The two burst out in laughter from the depiction of the ordeal, and uncertainty melted away in the comforting warmth of relief and grace. The moment played over between them, chuckling between different pronunciations of Sen-ko.

Sen-ko. A sound of promise. The anthem of hope’s return. A name to remember.

As the months went on, Sky honed her ability to wield and channel through the blade, discovering new abilities with each passing day. While it didn’t offer the connection to the world Yoshiro had intended, it allowed her to expend her own energies- to manifest her own will into the crystal, allowing her command of both the air around her and lightning within.

As they grew to understand both the sword’s capabilities and Sky’s potential, Master Eiji made a suggestion that the smith never intended: the swordsman commissioned the broken fragment to be made into a pendant, one that was given to her on her next name day. The intent was twofold: to serve as both a memento of her triumph, and to allow her access to the blade’s power in a pinch.

Several years later, Sky had proved herself a worthy swordsman. As she came of age, she was deemed ready to leave the safety of Koshona and explore the world that she had so desperately wanted to know. With a new set of armor and a fresh haircut, Sky bid the village she knew farewell.  

Now living the way of the wanderer, Sky leads her life on the open road, making her living from work as simple as running errands to slaying wild beasts that threaten towns and cities. Though not especially profitable, she maintains a discount when performing tasks for those in need. All she really asks is a place to sleep, a warm meal, and…

A loaf of bread for the road.

———————-

League-verse tweaks

The blade is made of vastayan crystal, gifted in friendship to Yoshiro for protecting a travelling vastayan from wolves. Sky has no way of knowing any of this as he never told her.

Celene would be Demacian