[Open] Alteration

(Not long after the events seen here.)

I've found myself a nice enough looking spot in the woods next to Yamaku to sit down and try something I've been thinking of for a while now. I want to use references because drawing is still kind of hard otherwise, now as much due to a lack of recent experience as struggles with using my left hand, but I still feel like copying something down isn't all that much fun. So, I planned to add some more fantastical elements to the picture once the basic shapes are down. Maybe I'd give one side a pretty, overgrown look, and the other a sort of dark and twisted one. That could be interesting. But then what happens in the middle? My initial thought was just that there's not much there as the light and dark elements cancel each-other out, but I feel like the center of an image is naturally its focus, and a lack of anything interesting would be unappealing...

I take the notebook in my hand near my mouth so I can remove the pencil with it, then set the notebook down, open to a blank page, on my lap before returning the pencil to a hand in which it could be properly used.

With not much going on and it being a nice day, Kiyonori had decided to go for a walk in the nearby woods. He pulled out an old day pack of his and tossed a few things in, such as a little bit of food, and a couple of bottles of water, a small first aid kit, and a small sketch book he liked to take with him on walks. After leaving a short note for his wife in the event she returned from work early, he slipped on his cross trainers and was on his way.
As Kiyonori left his house and walked down the street some 5 or 6 blocks he eventually came to the two simple wooden posts painted in red, standing no taller than the average persons waist, that marked the trail head. He entered the woods and started along the path. As he walked he enjoyed the scenery, the green foliage, the sound of birds and insects. All of this combined caused his mind to wander into thoughts, and before he knew it he realized that he'd walked quite a bit further than he'd originally anticipated. He realized this when he found another person in the woods. Judging by the clothes he wore the he was most likely from Yamaku Academy, also looked like he was in the process of trying to sketch something.This meant that he'd definitely gone a bit further than he'd meant to.
Kiyonori approached and said,
"Hello there, I don't mean to surprise you or anything. Mind if we share this spot? I've been walking for a while and I'd like to do a few sketches of the woods."

I look up at the person that's just arrived.

Do I want someone else here while I try this? Well, actually, I don't see how it would be a problem.

"That's fine." I respond, and return my gaze to the more open area in reality that will be the center of things in my drawing. Maybe I could put a sapling in the middle of the picture, with fantasy-magic-stuff on one side of it and corruption-evil-taint-stuff on the other?
Could be interesting; I'll come back to the center of the image after I draw a few of the trees around it.

I begin making light, repetitive strokes of the left outline of one of the right-most (from my perspective) trees.

"Thanks. I've walked quite a way and could use a rest." he said as he took a seat on a nearby large rock with a somewhat flat top. After taking a drink from one of the bottles of water he'd brought with him he pulled out the small sketch book and started to draw, but something just didn't feel right. The mechanical movements of his right hand, while the non-organic feel was very subtle, they just didn't feel right. As a result he did as he often did when he would draw and reached up under his right sleeve and removed his cybernetic arm. Setting the arm across his legs, he took a small covering from his bag and slipped it over one end of the arm to keep the connections from getting dirty. He then proceeded to begin drawing with just his left hand.
"That feels a lot better." he said to no one in general.
After a few moments he decided to take a chance and break the silence
"So, are you from the Academy?"

I watch the process, in part because he is now within the scene I want to draw and thus a bit in the way.
I respond to his question with a simple "Yes." shortly before saying "You are missing an arm and are drawing with your left hand, which I don't think you would do if you weren't missing your other arm." without immediately elaborating on my reasoning for making such a statement.

"Yeah,that's right. After I lost my real one drawing never quite felt right with the cybernetic one, a little too stiff and mechanical for that. I feel that drawing needs to be more fluid and natural, I couldn't rely on the cybernetic one for that no matter how advanced they may be. I had already learned to write left handed so drawing wan't too far off. Just took a little practice and dedication." he replied while still working on his sketch.
"You're also missing an arm and are drawing with your left hand. Guess we have something in common."

"That's why I thought it was interesting." I explain. We're also both drawing the same portion of the forest. At least, I assume he is drawing this portion of the forest.
After the simpler curves of the tree's trunk are done, I try making the roots that hold it in place, and fine that the more frequent and complex curves are trickier to execute. I can tell that I've gotten better simply by all the experience and practice I've had with using my left hand since I came to Yamaku, primarily in the form of writing.
Seeing progress is nice.

He could tell that the young man before him wasn't much for conversation, and that was fine. To each his own as the saying goes. He continued his sketch to near completion, then he set aside the pencil, and took his thumb and began to slightly smudge some parts for added blending on the shading.
"I think that about does it, a rather nice portrait if I do say so my self." he said as he set the small sketch book down on his lap.
"How's yours coming along?" he asked before even thinking about it.

"Slowly." I respond.
I have the sketchy outlines of the real picture done, and managed to make a sapling in the middle that fits in fairly well. Repeated drawing, deciding that curve didn't turn out very well, and erasing, and trying again, has gotten me to this point, though whether or not it was at a decent pace is debatable.
"Have the real part of the picture all outlined and stuff; now I'm wondering what exactly to add to it..."

"Ah, Not just doing as nature sketch then. Adding some of your own personal flair to it? I feel that's the mark of a good artist. If you draw it exactly as it is, then why not take a picture? That's not to say you shouldn't draw it as it is, just draw it as you see it." he said as he put his own sketching materials aside,and removed his other arm from the bag and prepared to put back in it's place. To do this he needed to lift up the brown turtle neck he was wearing to ensure the sleeve was properly out of the way, lifting the shirt up revealed the massive scars that covered most of the right side of his body.

'Mark of a good artist'?
I keep thinking of this as just hobby. Unimportant, unnecessary, not a critical part of me. If that was accurate, though, I wouldn't keep coming back to it, would I? I also wouldn't have felt so pained about the loss of my drawing ability.
Or would I have? I think I was more frustrated with that I had unfairly lost anything, rather than what was lost.

Maybe I do this just to thwart fate, then.
I smile slightly at the thought.

I soon notice out of the top of my vision the scarring of the man that's joined me here.
"You're drawn with some extra strokes."
It seems my mind, and thus my speech, is still somewhere between drawing and what's before me.

As Kiyonori finishes reattaching his arm to the plate on his stump he hears the boy's comment.
He smiles, and thinks to himself I like that, I'll have to remember it.
"That's pretty good way of looking at it, I'll have to tell my wife that one. As for the "extra strokes" I was drawn with, I have an out of control truck to thank for those."

I watch the arm as it is re-attatched, not really bothering to hide my interest in the object, before hearing the man respond to my comment.

As for the "extra strokes" I was drawn with, I have an out-of-control truck to thank for those.

Mizo and I both have car accidents to blame for our disabilities, and now this man too.
"Vehicles seem to cause a lot of injuries..." I comment, unsure of whether it's to him or myself.

Pulling his shirt back down Kiyonori said
"Statistically speaking, yes I suppose they do. What makes you mention that? Unless..." he was pretty sure now why the boy had said that "...I think I understand, my apologies I didn't mean to pry."

There's something of a break in his speech that makes it hard to follow his thoughts, and I have to spend a few seconds actively doing so to figure out what he's talking about. I occurs to me he probably figured out that my comment resulted in part from my participation in an accident.
Is he prying? I suppose that depends on how much I care about talking about the incident.
How much do I care?
...
Somewhat, but not too much.

"I said that because me and a friend both got injured in car accidents. I lost an arm and he lost an eye."
...
"I just realized that I've told you this but not him."

"I see, Maybe it's just that you just now realized that you're comfortable enough with it to actually talk about it." He hypothesized
"Or it could be something different altogether."

I stop to think of why it could be myself.
"I think at the time I felt weird about it because it kept coming up in my head while I visited him at the hospital and I was thinking about myself when I was supposed to be worrying about him. Maybe I should tell him about it some time, now that selfish feelings like that probably aren't a problem."

"I don't think I'd call that selfish. It seems to me that you were more sympathizing with a friend who'd had a similar traumatic experience." He replied

I nod slightly, as his response makes a fair bit of sense. It's somewhat comforting, as well.
I might tell Mizo how I lost my arm, but honestly I'm not sure if he has much desire to know, so I'll probably just mention it when something like that comes up.
There's not much more to say on the matter, though, so I return focus to the drawing I've started. I still don't know exactly what I want to do. The good/evil theme is still in my head, but how do I represent the two ideas?
A bunch of odd, fleshy parasites growing over the trees would be fitting of a sort of evil-corruption-stuff theme. How would I represent the good side, though? Just, the opposite of the other side? That makes me think of a bunch of machinery in invasive locations in the forest, but that seems evil as well.
Actually, "an evil vs. evil theme would be interesting..." I voice quietly to myself.