Reaching the Mindset of a Hero (Rebecca Solo)

[Akirapryde]

Reaching the Mindset of a Hero
Rebecca’s After Action Review
Tuesday Morning

When the alarm went off, Rebecca had begun her morning like any other. Like always, she rolled out of bed and moved over to the side of her bed to offer her prayers up to the Lord. Rebecca needed a fresh start, a new perspective to look at things. Rebecca pulled her shirt and carefully folded the shirt placing it on her dresser. She then pulled down her skirt and again carefully folded it. She lied her neatly folded skirt atop of her shirt. She smiled as she noticed that both skirt and shirt fit one on top of another without any overlap. She walked over to the bath room and pulled a large towel from a hook. She wrapped the towel around her upper torso as she checked her hair in the mirror. She loved her new room.

The appearance of her room help create that new perspective that she had been missing for so long. Rebecca walked from her bathroom in to her bedroom. She carefully made her bed ensuring that each corner was tight. She pulled her bed sheet tightly and secured it with military style corners. She didn’t need to measure her angles as she knew already her corners were formed with sharp forty-five. She spent time to make sure that each corner was prefect. She had spent all her life perfecting order in her life. This was second nature to her. Lastly she secured her pillows under her comforters and pulled it tight. Like her bed sheet, she secured it with tight sharp corners. Once Rebecca was done, she pulled open her night stand and pulled out a quarter.

Holding the quarter in her hand she reflected on this little piece of metal. So many times it was the only thing that was between her and a lashing from her father’s belt. She stood up and held the quarter over the center of the bed. She looked at her tightly made bed as she stood there for a moment. She took in a deep breath as she let the quarter slip from her fingers. She watched it as it fell towards the bed. Her heart almost stop as it approached the bed. She held her breath just long enough for the Quarter to bounce back up. She took in a deep breath as she swept her hand across the bed and caught the quarter. “Perfection” she said softly as she looked at her bed. She reached over and returned the quarter back to its place on a neatly folded white cloth. She closed her nightstand and walked around her bed.

Rebecca walked in to the main living space of her room. She loved the new look of her room. From the new look on the walls to the floor, the added space. Everything about this new room was just like her. It was clean, orderly and most importantly it belonged to her. Walking around in her towel, she took an opportunity to just take in the new design of her room. She had fashioned her room after a resort room that she and Kira had stayed in on vacation in Daytona Beach, Florida. A place that they had loved as much as they had enjoyed the vacation. The place had a view to die for. While she couldn’t match the view, she could mirror the room.

As she walked around the main living space with hardly anything on, she loved the new found freedom her new room offered. She walked towards her new kitchen as she ran her hand over the marble countertop. Her new kitchen had white cabinets and a brownish, tan marble countertop. There was a space for a full size refrigerator, stove, and microwave. It had a pair of deep sinks and ample lighting for cooking. While there were no appliances yet, Rebecca already knew how she wanted to decorate the kitchen. While some smaller appliances would be easy to get in to the room, it was the larger ones that would serve to be an issue.

She already knew that she would get no help from the rest of the Cabal. But it didn’t really matter to her, this was her room. It wouldn’t matter how she got the larger items in to her room. Looking around the large open kitchen she smiled broadly. The light of the sun wasn’t even shining through the large doors. But Rebecca had no problem seeing as small lights under the cabinets allowed her to see just fine. This was going to be her place, her own place. A place where she could retreat from the day and just enjoy life. She walked from the large open kitchen back in to the main living space.

To ensure that the space fit her personal, she even created a place for a small double stack washer and dryer for doing her laundry. This little laundry room was located across from the kitchen and next to the door leading to the guest bathroom. This laundry room was hidden behind a secret sliding panel so that visitors won’t see such a personal area of her living space. Her bare felt the white marble flooring under her. Normally the marble flooring would be cold this early in the morning. However when Rebecca designed the room, she including in the plans an elaborate set of pipes that ran deep towards the lay line. Using the thermal energy of the earth, she is able to heat her water supply, her room and its flooring. Her method was pretty clever and she was proud of it.

Rebecca knew that around three miles the earth temperature was around seventy five degrees. She also knew that the temperatures increased by about fifteen degrees per mile below that. Armed with this knowledge, Rebecca was able to help the house to create a system of heating and cooling that would provide her room hot water and cold water as well as heating and cooling all without drawing on magic or other forms of unnatural energy. While there was magic used in its construction, she was able to remove magic from the system and it could sustain its self. Here she would be warm during the winters and cool during the summers. This brought a smile to her face as she stood in the center of her unfurnished room feeling as if she had done something worthwhile.

She stood in the main living area about where the dining room table would be set. To her left, and through an open door was her guest room. She could see it had plenty of space for a queen bed and some other furniture. There was even a guest bathroom which hosted a full bath and shower. This room was accessed by both the guest bedroom and the main living space. She wasn’t very sure how she was going to furnish the guest room just yet. She had several different ideas that she liked. But she just wasn’t sure which way she wanted to go with it. She knew that she wanted her room to be inviting and comforting to her guests as well as a place of relaxation for herself.

Shifting her eyes from the guest bathroom and the guest bedroom, Rebecca swept her eyes over her main living space. I was large and spacious. She had a fireplace along the wall that separated her bedroom from the main living space. Through the clean fire place, she could see her bed. This space was built with a relaxing theme in mind. She already knew of how she wanted her room to look. What kind of furniture she would buy and what she would hang on the walls. She even thought of adding a little running fountain to add to the smoothing effects of her room. Rebecca had paid close attention to every detail of the décor for her room. Nothing was left to chance of being out of place or out of harmony with the rest of the room.

Her attention to detail was like everything else she does, prefect. This led her eyes to her most favorite additions to her room. One of her favorite additions to the room was the porch which extended from the outer edge of the guest room across the main living space and ends at the outer edge of her own bedroom. While on the outside, it only appeared to be a normal wall with a plain window. Inside the room, this was a six foot wide porch with railing that over looked the forests around the Sanctum. The porch had a large sliding glass door for each bedroom. However in the main living space, there was the large French doors which were her favorite. She could throw open the doors and allow the sounds of nature flood in to her room. This was by far the single most important feature of her room. The ability to allow nature to venture in to her room. The smell of the area around them filled her lungs and lifted her spirits.

Due to the growing paranoia between them, she noticed that Richard and Simon were taking it all a bit too seriously. Coming from her, that almost sounded laughable. While she understood why they had to take the threats seriously, she had a big problem becoming hermits because of it. She just didn’t believe in fearing the unknown or for that matter, fearing the known. As she stood there in her room she recalled a verse she was taught about fear. Deuteronomy 31:6 ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD, your God, goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.’

Rebecca stood there looking out in to the forest as she recalled the passage. She also recalled the numerous warnings from Simon about the unknown and the known threats around them. He was too governed by his fears and therefore, not courageous. She couldn’t allow herself to become chased with fear. She couldn’t allow her enemies to change who she was, how she behaved and more importantly, how she lived her life. These French doors, were designed to allow her to have even in this place a degree of peace and comfort while still following the paranoia induced actions of Richard and Simon. It was her way of compromising with them regarding these fears. She smiled as she thought, ‘compromising’ it was strange but she didn’t mind.

She walked over to the French doors and pulled them open wide. She took in the fresh air of the morning with a deep inhale. The sounds of the wilderness filled her room and lifted her soul. “I am truly gifted in my life” she said loudly to the forest as she looked deep in to the dark forest before her. She added just as loud, “thank you for all that you have gifted in to my life.” Rebecca turned leaving the doors wide open as she walked through her own bedroom and paused as she looked around. She wanted to take in her new home for all it was.

The original queen size bed stood out from the overall design that she had created. It was something that did bother her, but in time that too would conform to her décor. As she scanned her room, she saw her bed to the right of her and the large sliding glass door beyond her bed. She starred at it for a moment as she thought of changing the door to a set of French Doors. Like most of her living space, it lacked many furnishings. Again, an issue that she would have to change. Along the left wall was the fireplace and the main living space beyond that. Behind her was the entry way in to her large walk-in bathroom that featured a full size walk in shower, a separate space for a toilet, sink and a full walk in closet.

But it was the large full scale Jacuzzi tub that was her home within a home. Just above the tub was a large window that allowed her to see the fireplace and her bedroom while soaking. Thanks to the hot water from the earth fall below, she was able to take steaming hot baths each morning after working out. She turned on the hot water as she started to get ready for a long hot bath. Then suddenly she turned off the water, “oh no you don’t” she scolded herself. “Rebecca! You have to earn that” she said with a smile. She reached down and let out the hot water. The Jacuzzi tub was meant to be a reward for her. She couldn’t help but smile about the tub. It was not a mechanical at all. She used her method of heating and valves to heat water and create pressure within the water. She ran her hands over the brass levers which controlled the different valves.

She turned as she walked over to the shower and turned it on. Rebecca pulled off her towel and hung it up with the greatest of ease. Each towel was hung up in such a way that each end was even and straight. She opened up her shower door and slipped in to the steaming shower. Her mind continued to think about her new living space. While she was fearless, she wasn’t stupid. She and Kira had worked closely with the house and the Guardian to ensure that this living space would become a safe room during an emergency. In activating it, the room would become sealed from the rest of the house and the outside. She wanted powerful runes built in to the walls that sealed the room against even the most powerful magic and normal attacks.

If need be, the Cabal could wait out an attack in here. More so, she also took a suggestion from Simon by creating the ‘Doorway’. In the back of her closet was a secret door concealed behind her clothes. The Doorway was designed to act as a means to get anywhere within the Sanctum or somewhere within the forest beyond. A simple dial on the side of the Doorway activated it. This was designed to be used during emergencies and could allow the Cabal to escape the Sanctum or to move freely from her room to any other place within the Sanctum. All she needed to do during an emergency was to open the secret paneling and activate the Doorway. She would turn the dial and the Doorway would come to life and open a passageway to where she wanted to go. To ensure that the Doorway is not used by anyone else, on the covering paneling is the same kind of anti-magic runes that kept the magic sucking creature at bay within its prison. This ensured that the Doorway wouldn’t be used unless Rebecca wanted to use it.

None of this would have been possible if it had not been for Kira’s help. It was thanks to Kira and her ability speak with the house and the guardian of the Sanctum that allowed them to create this living space. Again, taking a suggestion from Simon, Kira and Rebecca were able to create two small items that allowed them to speak to and understand the spirits. Rebecca used a pair of Bluetooths to create the two little items. It was designed to be a test to see if they could do it.

Rebecca and Kira had spent part of Sunday creating the two items just for this task. The Bluetooths were used to work with the two powerful spirits in creating this living space. Satisfied with the results, Rebecca was pleased with her living space. All that was missing from her room was a permanent set of spells that allowed anyone to speak with spirits while within her room. Something that she would take care of at a later date.

Rebecca took her shower and got ready for her morning workout routine. After her shower, Rebecca dressed in her normal workout clothing. She walked over to her kitchen counter and picked up her new backpack. It was filled with new climbing gear that she had bought to continue her conditioning and training. Rebecca wanted to make sure that she continued to push herself and focus on building up her body. She closed the French doors and secured her living space before she left her room. With her new backpack slung over her back, she headed out. As normally she greeted Simon as he was just getting up. As she had before, she paused at the lake and offered her blessing and tribute to the mighty water spirit of the lake.

Once her meditation by the lake side was concluded and her sights were fully up, she made her way in to the wilderness along her jogging trail. She headed along her normal jogging trail that she and Richard used. She then turned deeper in to the forest and down the backside of the mountain. Once more she crossed the river and found her cliff before her. She paused to reflect on her life and her reason in being out here. There was just so much to go on in her mind. There were so many different angles of what was going on. Rebecca took this valuable moment to calm her mind as she went through her T'ai Chi Ch'uan. This gave her mind the chance to focus on only what she needed to consider. First there was the Bone Tower that Kira had mentioned.

This was by far one of the most terrifying thing for Rebecca as its close connection with Death and to her. Even before Rebecca was told, she knew that this tower was linked to death. Beyond that, she was told that this Bone Tower reached outward from its dark places and across the world to all human graves. It was if this tower was connected to all human beings across the ages. The tower goes beyond that, it reaches beyond the grave to all mages whom walk the world. While Kira wasn’t sure if the tower reached those mages who were dead, it was clear that this tower had a connection with those mages walking the world today. It was suspected by what Kira said that the Tower ruled in the realm that Rebecca was more coming to understand as the Abyss.

This made sense to Rebecca, seeing how the tower was connected to the ten Arcanas. It was if the Abyss had created as an abyssal watch tower to track mages. This would support Rebecca’s thinking that the Abyss is as much intelligent as it is random. Maybe some kind of ruling intelligence that has not yet been discovered. No what Rebecca didn’t know was if this tower had anything to do with what was going on right now. Or if this was only linked to Rebecca. If it was only linked to her, than this could prove to only be a distraction for the Cabal. As her mind calms, Rebecca slowly dropped to her knees before the cliff. Her mind cleared of all the distractions around her. Her ears focused on each and every sound of the forest. Her heart beat pulsated in her body as her breathing slowed and her body relaxed.

She tried to center her mind and her body as she focused on meditating. (Meditation Dice Pool: Composure + Wits, One Success) It wasn’t that she didn’t want to reach that state of meditation, but it was just so hard for her to silence the fears of her mind. As much as she wanted to be at still something kept her mind in a state of chaos. Kira’s words had stung deeply. There were those out there that feared for Kira’s safety. Not from just any threat, but from Rebecca. As much as Rebecca tried to push these thoughts out of her mind, she simply couldn’t. How could anyone suspect that Rebecca could ever hurt Kira? Rebecca couldn’t ever hurt her or let Kira be hurt. Kira was the one person that Rebecca could count on no matter what. She was the only family here that Rebecca could count on.

But in that, Rebecca knew that she had done just that during the battle with the impostor. Rebecca had allowed her magic to get away from her and it hurt Kira. Then there was the sniper when Rebecca wasn’t able to protect Kira. Maybe that old lady was right, maybe Rebecca was a threat to Kira. ‘No’ Rebecca thought with determination. ‘I won’t allow this’ she added to her own thoughts. Rebecca slowly stood up as she said, “How can I meditate when I am so out of balance.” Rebecca took her backpack off and opened it up. She pulled out her climbing gear and laid it out. It was all new and some were still in the packaging. She looked up at the cliff as she laid out her plan.

She carefully opened up her new gear and placed all her trash in the bag that she had brought with her. She wanted to make sure that she would keep the place, her place, clean. She had wanted to bring these supplies, not to help her overcome the cliff, but to make sure that she didn’t get hurt in climbing it. She ran to the back side of the mountain and started to climb the easier side. She found a large tree and tied a line around the tree. She hooked a ring around it and ran a second rope through the first one. She made sure to protect the tree and the rope from each other with a thick pad. She tossed her line over the cliff and got set up for her accent.

Rebecca ran down the backside and found her rope waiting for her. She pulled on her harness and changed her boots to a pair climbing shoes. She picked up a helmet and secured it to her head. She turned to the cliff and smiled, “Oh don’t worry. I have no illusions that you won’t be able to throw me off. I just don’t want to be hurt when you do so.” She grabbed her chalk bag and filled it with chalk. She secured it to her harness. Rebecca walked over to the rope that she had ran up to the top of the cliff. She pulled the rope and secured one end to another large tree using a second pad to protect both. She then secured the other end to her harness. She set the rope up to act as a life line should she fall. “Once more, here we are Cliff. Once more I will climb you and you will try to throw me off.” Rebecca started to climb the cliff face once more.