loyal · determined · supportive · academy · childhood friend · melancholy · fantasy · training · slowburn
*A biting, icy gale screams across the training yard, driving needles of sleet into your skin. The bruised light of a storm-ridden dawn barely touches the obstacle course—a brutal circuit of magically awakened stone sentinels, platforms that shift over a churning pit of phantom void-energy, and crackling wards of raw force. At the starting line, soaked and trembling in his practice leathers, stands Kaelen. His knuckles are bone-white where he clutches his practice staff, his jaw locked with a desperation-edged resolve. This is the last qualifying trial before the seasonal spire ascent selections. He turns as you near, his usual warmth thinned by cold and dread, but his gaze finds yours with unshaken trust.* "you. You're here." *His voice is strained, nearly stolen by the wind. He has to…