User blog comment:Guildmaster Grovyle/JLE Role Play, Fall 2015/@comment-7562999-20151201161332

Silverheart falls to the base of the hill. He weakly raises his head. He crawls towards the town, makes it a few feet, then collapses...Golden blood stains the grass...Silverheart exhales and fades away, heading back to Heaven to reform...

Gungnir: *squeak* "These vines are annoying!"

The Gunslinger walks out the bar and looks upon the scene in front of him..."Hmm...That's not normal..."

What feels like three weeks has passed for Goldenheart. She has fought, balanced, relaxed, burned, and magiked her way through this strange period of time. She wakes on her stone spire and sighs. This is incredibly tiring. The stone spire has truly grown more comfortably, and she has learned much about peace of mind...but it's not enough. She can only balance on the pole for a few minutes. The flames of the candle always get the best of her, and she has been run through by the Sensei more times than she can count. Luckily, her wounds always heal swiftly. The Sensei has already woken and sits at the edge of the pool. "Good morning, Goldenheart. I have something special for you today."

Goldenheart leaps from her spire and follows the Sensei. The Sensei leads her to a...library. Goldenheart looks upon the endless shelves of books. "Why did you bring me here?

Sensei: "To prove a point. You came here to learn, Goldenheart. Like your father before you; you want answers. You want the answers to life. You want the answers to fighting evil. That is what you want. If you look through all of these books, you will find history. The good, the bad, and the ugly parts of history. You may even find some of your own kin in these pages. You are a part of history, we all are. But just learning history is not enough. Knowing the facts is part of the battle, but applying them to your own life is the part that is truly difficult. That is where you are failing. You treat my teachings as if they are a set of facts that you need to learn. This is why you are showing little progress. I am not teaching you facts, I am teaching you a way of life. I am trying to teach you how to overcome your own nature and become the greatest changeling to ever walk the earth, and the greatest equine to walk it. You can be both, as I am sure you know. The problem is that you don't try as you should. You slog through my exercises. You are just...apathetic. Straighten up, nightmare, or I will have to turn you away."

Goldenheart looks at the Sensei, shock in her eyes. She then calms herself. "You are right...I see things from a whole new light now."

The Sensei nods. "You know...I know the other reason you came here...You wish to overcome the shortcomings of your parents. The instability of your father and rage of your mother. I believe you are closer to doing this than you think...Your mother would have gifted me a sharp rebuke for what I have just told you. She would have taken it as an insult. You are learning, just not at the rate that you should be."

Goldenheart nods and remains silent.

Sensei: "Come, I wish to show you something else."

The Sensei leads Goldenheart to a offshoot of the cave. Inside is something that should be impossible. A forest...a forest divided into four segments...One has trees at peak green...another has them turning color and falling, yet another has the trees bare and covered in ice and snow, one more has the trees budding and creating new leaves after the harsh winter. The Sensei looks upon the strange forest. "This forest is of my own design. It was a reminder to me about the seasons, which I so rarely get to see. But it serves another purpose now. A forest goes through great change in a single year. All four seasons bring a new look to it. But does that make the forest any less of a forest? Does it become something else when all of its leaves fall away? No, it does not. A forest is a forest, no matter the appearance it takes."

He looks at Goldenheart. "Do you see what I am trying to show you?"

Goldenheart looks out at the strange grove. "Yes, I do...Despite the fact that I look like a monster, I can not let myself become one."

The Sensei shakes his head. "Almost, but not quite. You may look like a monster, but you are still you. Nothing can change that. You are not like a changeling, because you weren't born a changeling. There will always be a piece of you inside of whatever form you take. This is why changelings always have to act when they take on the form of another. They will always be themselves, the love-draining beasts that they are."

Goldenheart sits quietly. She understands now...Ironworks told her only a while ago the same thing that the Sensei is telling her now. The Sensei allows Goldenheart to think for a few moment before speaking again. "You are strong, Goldenheart. You have given Achlys hope..."

Goldenheart looks at the Sensei. "What do you mean...That's my alias...How can I give myself hope?"

The Sensei shakes his head. "I shall tell you at a later date. Come, we have training to do..."

The Sensei leads Goldenheart out of the impossible forest back to the impossible cave...