Reality hurts

[17:11] Rindou took some time for herself. It wasn't like she wanted to be all on her own, but she found it increasingly more difficult to speak to her friends and wondered if she even had those anymore.

Though that was a subject for another time, right now her focus was on something else entirely. Her eyes were stuck upon the waterfall before her, a soft breath escaping her lips as she moved to sit down on the wooden bridge, legs hanging over the water.

She drew in a deep one.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[17:17] Losing. Over and over and over. This was what she had done lately. Even when Caira had pushed for them both to grow together and forced some more might out of her, it didn't matter. It was a thing to lose to her rival at that time and place, but to do it again in the tournament? It wasn't even a fight - that had been a masacre with Rindou having no chance in hell to actually succeed.

It had lead her to the beach to meet with Lea and before she knew it she was fighting again. Testing herself and trying to best the one before her, to show that she was worth something. Ultimately she didn't accomplish that, at all. She fell before the Elisheva and was forced to accept she wasn't as good as she thought she was. That was a hell of its own.

Rindou huffed out a small breath, eyes wandering upon the crashing waters. Her heart was beating faster and faster as she more or less pumped herself to be more angry at the situation that had befelled her.

Wanting to do good she had followed Adrian in his wild chase for a weapon, then his wild chase to deliver a letter. Though the latter had ended horribly, too. Ashalle and Ahmir recognized her. They forced her to bow down. To kneel and apologize for defending Caira. Keitaro and Adrian both watched it happen and... said nothing. It was humaliating. Degrading. Horrible. The noblewoman had tried to let off some steam by beating Adrian, but ultimately? She was no match.

Again. Another person defeated her. Another person took her dancing and showed that she was nowhere near good enough to be the person she wanted to be. It tugged at her heart.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[17:23] The young woman finally felt... something burning deep within her. It had the same light as Caira's own hope-filled eyes normally had, it held the same fire she had when she fought. It wasn't something normal, either. It was the weight of all of her mistakes, of her defeats, of reality itself being faced crashing into her soul.

Life wasn't as easy as she thought.
She wasn't as strong as she thought.
She wasn't even as important as she thought.
She couldn't win, not like this, not without a change.

Rindou Sakamoto rose up from her seat, drawing her blade and a deep, deep breath. All of her pain, and thoughts, and desire to improve herself that made her the sorest loser in the world was pulled into her weapon, directed at its tip, and it, skywards.

A massive eruption of holy magic spouted out from her weapon, tearing the clouds themselves apart and reminding her the kind of might that she had held when she fought against Holz. The kind of emotion that had lead her to almost fight Ardith.

Confidence. Being sure she was right, that things belonged this way. Courage. That's what she lacked back then, that's why she hadn't been able to defeat Caira, too.
(Rindou Sakamoto)