Tranquil Lodgings

Up here in Silver Mountain is where Doobie lives with his mate Xochiquetzal and three children Oobie, Smoke and Wah. He chose to live here because it felt special to him, and there are nice places to meditate.

Recently an avalanche took out part of his house away along with his youngest son Wah Doobie , oddly, the avalanche seemed to only effect the part of the house beneath where Wah was and didn't damage anything else in the area...


(Menacing Rumble)

Oobie stands at the balcony looking out over the land that was the Land-Tillers' State. His brother Wah had been gone for two weeks now, part of him missed his numb-skull little brother, but it was also quiet without him. Enough for Oobie to contemplate to himself without being interrupted. He dips the metal claw around his index finger into the cup of water he had with him and watched the water begin to boil away. This was his special power that he was learning to harness, from his father he had inherited aptitude and magical potential, and he was the child of Doobie with the most drive. He made much more effort than his siblings into studies and was already practiced enough with his Stand to keep it around all day, a Stand so strong that it was a physical object visible by anyone. It wasn't much right now, but Oobie knew that if he practiced with it and studied it could grow and develop into something else.

His father was out for the day, trying to find help to find Wah, leaving him at home with his Mother and Sister. He removed his finger from the cup that was now empty, all the water inside had evaporated. 5 seconds to evaporate a cup of water, he'd improved.

"This is the power my father calls Stand, though my power is quite different from his, I believe mine has greater potential. My power over heat, what shall you be called? Hmm, perhaps since Father's is called Starman, I could do something similar, North Star? Black Star? No, that's too edgy."

The Kobold child stares at the Stand he wore on his finger, inspected it. Out of nowhere a name came to him, like it was whispered to him. "Abney Park. That's your name. Yes, I think that will do."

When she received the letter, her immediate reaction was a grin. You too huh?

Slowly, Jun was learning to get out of the house more. The accident had left her a little embarrassed to be seen by the public. And she had convinced herself she needed to return to full strength before engaging in any fresh heroics. 

But this, this she could handle.

***

Her gambeson was more for protection from the cold than anything. She walked briskly towards the Doobie household. She was excited. What had he learned after all this time? What could she share of herself? She struggled to remember the things Doobie had seen of her and things he hadn't. Her powers had changed a bit. She hoped Doobie would like the new her. She was concerned; hopefully she hadn't lost too much of her coolness factor.

But that was for Doobie to decide.

The mountain air felt good in her lungs. She really ought to come here more often.

"You're... Doobie's daughter." She said, more to herself than to the kobold.

Shit I've forgotten how to talk to people, let alone kids... let alone kobold kids. Think Jun, think.

"Not selling, buying. I'm here to buy some caramel cicadas. You got a few?"

She started rummaging through some hidden pockets on her gambeson. Apparently she was quite serious.

A crow flew down from the sky and landed a few meters in front of the child. It turned its head and stared at her with a single black eye.

"Silver moons, silver moons." She handed her what she thought was the correct coin (and was a little disappointed fewer people were using the semi-precious stones as currency) and grabbed a fistful of cicadas. "Thank you kindly, madam." During the minute wait she popped a few in her mouth. She also tossed one to the crow, but he seemed uninterested.

"Right, I forgot you swore off sugar."

She wanted to ask the child about the book, but she decided to wait a bit as the little kobold didn't really want to be disturbed. Also she was waiting in anticipation.

And then, "Doobie!" She carefully bent down to give him a big hug. "You look marvelous! Truly you have become a mighty mage!" She suddenly remembered that Doobie was protected by a powerful guardian spirit. "How is your stand doing?" She wondered if druidic magic would allow her to sense its presence.

Jun lowered her head in a bow to Wah Doobie. "It's an honor. I'm Jun, Jun of the Celadine clan. That's, that's how last names work in my tribe. It's not a great system." She said this while gesticulating a bit because she noticed that the child was known was Wah Doobie and not Wah Du Shoobie. It seemed everyone had their own way of doing names.

"When I left my tribe my father went through the same thing you guys are going through. I'm sorry. But if he's anything like you or I I'm sure Oobie will come back a great warrior."

She smiled at the personality differences between Wah and Smoke. Maybe Smoke had some adventurer in her as well, but she had the sense to pour it into reading instead of slaying ogres.

Jun jokingly hung her head in shame at the word trouble. "Buddy, you have no idea. After the Wyld nearly destroyed the Expanse, I kinda slipped back into my old habit of training incessantly. Vaelar almost broke up with me... almost." She rolled her eyes. "I also had a little accident so I can't use all the same spells I used to. I've been trying to return to my former strength. I don't think I'll ever fight quite the same way again, but I've learned to work around it... kinda like my grandma actually."

She paused. She hadn't really thought of the comparison before.

"And now I can do other things too." She winked.

Jun supposed the relationship between kobold parents was a little more combative than with humans. Then again humans didn't always have the best parents either.

"Well, 6 is a multiple of 18. 6, 12, 18."

Was Doobie really that old by Kobold standards? That thought made Jun sad. She wondered if this was how elves felt when they watched humans grow old.

After Wah recounted his tale, Jun replied, "Oh, that must have been terrifying! Your stand must be very strong though, for you to cause an avalanche at such a young age."

She turned to Doobie. "I never learned to manifest a stand. My grandparents' spirits have moved on from this realm, so they couldn't bond with me to create one. Oh, buuuut-"

Jun started rummaging through a hidden pocket in her gambeson. She pulled out a small scroll with a golden wax seal. "While I was mastering my new fighting style, I created a bunch of new spells. I made this one based off of Starman." The scroll had the phrase "Doobie du Shoobie Special" written in ornate, cursive black ink. "I... kinda wanna test it against the real Starman." She grinned sheepishly.

Jun followed Doobie into the arena. She walked slowly, wanting to show respect for the battleground, waiting for her combat senses to return to her. She almost had to remind herself that this was just a test. She was nervous. What if the new spell was weak? What if Doobie thought she was a failure? What if she had failed to return to full strength? What if she would never be the same Jun that had once been celebrated as a hero?

Then she saw Starman. She could feel its immense power. Doobie really had gotten stronger...

It had been far too long... since she had felt this way. Her heart beat faster. Her palms sweat. The energy surged around her body. The invisible but omnipresent power of the elements filled the arena and pushed defiantly against Starman's pressure.

Oh... fuck yes.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held the scroll forward. She let it go, and it sat there in the air.

Should I do it?

It started to pulse, an emerald heart beat refracting off the battlefield's many mirrors, splashing geometric shards of light all over the arena floor, cutting into the water ponds.

I should do it. Oh it sounds so stupid when I do it though. No self respecting mage does it anymore.

The scroll whirled with a harsh shriek of wind, like it was ready to burst.

To hell with it. For old time's sake. I'll do the thing.

It was totally unnecessary, but she clapped her hands together and bellowed: "DRUIDIC ART: DOOBIE DU SHOOBIE SPECIAL!"

Gnarled vines and branches tore the thin scroll apart from the inside. They exploded outward like streaking lightning against the dark sky. They writhed and twisted violently and slammed and contorted into each other, filling the air with cacophonous creaking, thumping, and thrashing against the arena floor. When sufficient volume had been reached, the branches and vines rapidly intertwined into four limbs, a bulging torso, and a grarled, eyeless head with slicked back leaves for hair. 

"OKO OKO!"

Yah, it even had a catchphrase. 

The golem slammed its massive burls for firsts into the ground, raised its towering form into the air, flexed its fibrous muscles, and even had the audacity to toss in a dab before taking a boxer's stance against Starman.

Jun smirked devilishly. She hoped Doobie would be proud, or at the very least, not be too insulted.

Jun feels the injection of power from the star gauntlets as a radial pulse onto the battlefield. The sensation was like being around an old friend, a very angry shiny old friend who punches a lot.

「 OKO OKO!」 The golem hopped up and down with floor-shuddering anticipation, only regaining composure right as Doobie's guardian spirit made its opening move. Jun's eye instinctively flicked not to Starman's punching fist, but to the retracted one. A left jab could easily be a faint into an uppercut or right cross (Thank you Vaelar!). Her own shoulder muscles twitched out of instinct, but of course it was the golem fighting, not her.

「 O...!」

The golem raised its right forearm up, its whole body contorting, its knees twisting, its torso tightening. While this gesture could block Starman's left jab, it was really meant to switch into a straight punch towards Starman's jaw.  

「 KOOO!」

Jun doubted from the beginning that her druidic copy would actually be able to defeat the real Starman, but a 700 lb mass of wood and earth heading toward's one's face at 40 miles per hour was no laughing matter.