Altered Tundra

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

258

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

“But you shouldn’t have felt like you had take a shortcut for your recovery. You shouldn’t have felt like you needed to accept her help just to see me smile again. I shouldn’t have trusted any word she said. I knew that something was going to happen. In the back of my mind, I knew that Leviathan was going to do something.” Jaakuna said, despite what Emiri claimed, he was the one to blame. Wait, no. He wasn’t the sole person to blame here. Leviathan was to blame. She did this to Emiri. She was the one that nearly cost Wesley his love. She was the one that nearly caused Grant to lose a niece. Lorenzo and Karolina a daughter. Reia a niece. Leviathan was the one to blame for nearly putting the guild on Emiri for killing her best friend.

While Emiri explained to Jaakuna about what she felt about her mother’s death, Jaakuna realized that it wasn’t the aspect of Zodiark talking. It was Emiri herself. It was the Emiri that Jaakuna loved—that everyone loved. It was the Emiri that felt pain for her mother’s death and pain for nearly killing Nadeline. It was the pain of feeling relieved for her mother’s death. Pain of feeling ashamed for feeling that way about Justine’s death. “You’re not a monster - well, no more than I am or Wesley or Nadeline or anyone else for that matter,” Jaakuna was trying to plead to Emiri. “We all have something or someone that gets under our skin so much that it brings out the worst in us. For you, it was your mother and how horribly she treated you. So, you’re right to feel a bit of relief for her death, but don’t think for one minute that it makes you a monster,” JAakuna said, looking at Emiri, his hand holding hers up. “If you want to name a monster, look no further than that sneaky wench, Levi. She is the one who put something inside you that fed off of your grief and brought the worst possible side of you out with no control of what you said. If you want to blame anyone for what transpired today, blame Levi. She did this - not you.”

---

“Zodiark?” Savayna echoed Grant, her ears not wanting to believe what he said. “You’re telling me that Zodiark did this to her?” Savayna truly was speechless - well, not entirely speechless, but enough to be in disbelief.

“When you think about it, the presence of Zodiark in Emiri makes sense. He started by posing as Jaakuna’s father, and then even wormed his way into Jaakuna’s body. So, in a way, it seems fitting that he would go for Emiri next.” Wesley said, sounding more clearheaded now, “I do believe Shion was the one that said that killing The Scion of time, who we know is Emiri thanks to her power, was a way to at least partially halt Ivalice’s end. Or at least, that’s what the Blue Rose suspected. Perhaps—and this is just a shot in the dark—Zodiark suspects the same thing. It could be that the Keeper of Precepts suspects Emiri is the key to both Ivalice’s salvation and destruction.” he said. Truth be told, Wesely wasn’t sure if his theory was spot on or if he was just speaking hogwash.

“That’s a stretch,” Savayna said, but she had to admit that there was some truth to it.

As Nadeline would state that she was tired, Wesley felt that was the perfect opportunity for everyone to get some shut-eye as well. “Yes, I, too, believe I will rest as well. Today’s events have proven exhausting.”

“That’s the understatement of the century, but yeah, I need some fucking sleep,” Savayna yawned. She looked to Grant, approaching him, “mind showing me to my room?” she asked him, giving him a rather odd, but possibly effective, look.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As Jaakuna took a seat next to Emiri’s bedside, giving Vlyn a nod as he would walk, leaving Jaakuna and Emiri. She would speak, and Jaakuna would lean over. “Please, save your strength.” Jaakuna had his hand on her arm, looking down at it, tears seemingly falling. “It’s my fault you’re in this position again. I was so goddamn selfish again. I should have never let her..” And Jaakuna stopped himself, realizing that he couldn’t even bring himself to say it. “I shouldn’t have let Levi do that to you. It’s because of her that you’re in this situation. And it’s my fault for letting her do this to you.” Jaakuna said, not wanting to look at Emiri. He didn’t feel deserving of her wonderful face.

---

The feeling of her warmth, the touch of her skin against his, it was more heavenly than the sight of a Holaga spell, or seeing actual angels descend from the skies above. Having her arms wrapped around his sent such a joyous feeling of delight through his body. There was nothing quite like having her in his arms, even considering how he nearly lost her a second time in one day. When she spoke to him, Wesley shook his head, bringing it out from her shoulder, and looking at Nadeline’s beautiful eyes—her beautiful blue eyes—and saw the apolgetic gleam in those two sapphire orbs. He saw that she truly regretted for, as she put it, being too hasty. Had he missed that somehow? Wesley was so caught up in losing her and hugging her as if he didn’t want to let her go that it escaped him that his own worries would be the cause of that look in her eyes.

“You don’t need to apologize to me.” Wesley said, heeding the words exchanged from Aloa and Grant, “as Aloa said, the cause of this was Emiri’s own feelings of refusal to believe that Lady Justine had past. Though,” Wesley said, his body turned to face Aloa, Grant, and Savayna, “I admit that I am confused on some bits. It is true that Emiri was grieving for her mother’s death, but why would she act violently towards Nadeline?” Wesley seemed to be asking himself rather than the group.

“That’s a good question,” Savayna said, her eyes looking to Grant, “you came in with Jaakuna.” Savayna said, “did blondie tell you anything? He’s been with her the entire time, so surely something happened, right?” Savayna asked Grant.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Jaakuna wasn’t sure what Grant was thinking. Oh what the hell was he thinking? Of course he knew what Grant was thinking. He was livid with Jaakuna. He probably thought the blonde was selfish. He probably thought Jaakuna was to blame entirely for how Emiri has been acting. He probably thought Jaakuna was foolish to even think that he could trust Levi. Jaakuna knew he was way in the wrong, but as he told Grant, at the time, it didn’t seem like as bad as it turned out to be.

“I think first we shoul--” As Jaakuna was about to say something, he saw a bunch of the castle staff running off down the hallway. Jaakuna didn’t know, but he heard something about a fight with the princess and Lady Emiri. Jaakuna rose instantly. “Grant, we need to go! NOW!” JAakuna said, not thinking, he grabbed Grant’s arm, tugging him to follow. The Rozarrian had no choice. Jaakuna’s strength and adrenaline had Grant by the arm, and they were following the masses.

---

In the throne room, in front of Justine’s lifeless body, in front of many spectators watching in disbelief, in front of their friends, Emiri and Nadeline exchanged blows. It started just as a verbal fight. If only it had stopped there. If only it didn’t escalate further, but neither Savayna nor Wesley could have comprehended how it would have ended up. Emiri punching and kneeing Nadeline and the latter doing the same. Back and forth they went and back and forth came their offense and defense. Where would it end?

Wesley and Savayna, though try as they might, their efforts to restrain Emiri were in vain. She -or whatever was causing her to act this way - was proving to be too strong for even their combined efforts. Emiri went straight at Nadeline, dagger in hand, and it poised to apparently kill Nadeline. Wesley watched in horror. His weak body, not yet healed from the battle with Ultima didn’t move fast enough to step in front. Savayna couldn’t either. Both cursed aloud as they would watch in horror as Emiri’s dagger would approach Nadeline’s open throat.

And as that moment seemed to last forever, familiar white fuzz and familiar silver hair brought hope to both of them. “Oh that’s a relief.” Wesley felt like his entire world was saved in that one instant. He quickly wiped away the tears that had come when his mind feared the worst in that one instant.

“Holy shit, that was a close one." Savayna wiped her forehead.

The arrival of Aloa truly was a literal life-saver. It and the spell that she cast, making Emiri go into an unconscious state, truly did save Nadeline’s life.

Wesley slowly walked over to Nadeline, even though they were talking and seemed to finish as Aloa would order Vlyn to take Emiri to a room so she could rest, Wesley didn’t even pay any mind to them. He had one thing in mind, and as it would be seen by everyone, he took Nadeline in his arms in a tight embrace, his face buried into her shoulder, seemingly crying if only slightly. “I thought I was going to lose you again.” he whispered to her.

Savayna was a bit surprised - and jealous. She wished Grant would hug her like that. Realizing what she was thinking, she shook her head, and that’s when she saw Jaakuna and Grant standing in the entrance. “Oh hey, Jaaku-na..” her voice suddenly went low when she saw the look on Jaakuna’s face. Eyes widened, mouth down as low and wide as it could go, and seemingly tears down his face. Had he been watching the entire time? And if he had been, was grant too. Savayna wasn’t sure, but she would see Jaakuna look at Vlyn as the Viera would go pass him, carrying Emiri in his arms. Jaakuna didn’t’ say anything, but he followed Vlyn, giving Grant a pat on the shoulder, whispering something into his ear. Savayna raised an eyebrow, and would see Grant approach them.

“Heads up lovers and Bunny, Grant coming at 9’oclock.”

Dance With The Angels - A GFX Shop by Altered Tundra

Type of Request: Looking for a set
Stock: i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upl..
Size: For avi, I want a 200x200 image. For the sig, max height of 200-210, and width 390-450(if it'll look too stretched out, then just as wide as can you get it without impacting image quality).
Avatar: Yeah I want an avatar. I want the avatar to be of Ciri(the woman facing outwards in the picture). Just the upper body and head is fine.
Text: "Know when a legend becomes a prophesy? When it gains believers." on the signature. None on the avatar.
Other: Make whatever enhancements you feel necessary(dark and gloomy is what I'm going for). I'm gonna be using this set for a good while.

I hope a 1440p image will do the job.

@Aragorn

I hope you don't mind that I did 150x200 instead. the 200x200 one wasn't working out for me. :/ If you still want it, I can do it. :)

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Next in line:
@HaleyTheRandom
@SgtEasy
@Inuyasha

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

As Jaakuna had prepared for some kind a reaction, yelling, punching, yelling and punching, he just looked at Grant. That was the least that Jaakuna could do given what he just told him. As he did look at Grant, he saw the mixture of shock and anger in his eyes, in his facial expression, and his hands. He expected Grant to just wail on him, but what he did wasn’t something that Jaakuna expected nor did he deserve. Grant simply grabbed Jaakuna’s jacket, raising the blonde up from his seat.

Listening to Grant, Jaakuna heard the anger in his voice. “Don’t you think I know that now? I know she’s a vile woman. I know that, but you don’t even understand ANY of it!” Jaakuna’s voice spiked, a sharpness in it giving a sense of desperateness. He swatted Grant’s hand away from his jacket. “I know trusting Levi was probably the last thing I should have done, but until you see the one person that means more than to you than your own life in such a helpless state, you don’t get to judge me for a decision that I made,” Jaakuna said, looking at Grant into his eyes, that sense of urgency still in his voice. “She was suffering. True, she was making certain progress with that wraith, I could tell that Emiri wasn’t going to get better any time soon.” Jaakuna sat back down. “If you think for one second I was totally for it, then think again. Emiri was the one who wanted to do it. Did I try to stop her? Hell yeah, but she wanted to do it, so I went along.” Jaakuna said, slamming his balled hands onto the table, the glass and utensils vibrating. “If I had known..”

Truly, if Jaakuna had known that she was lacing her memory healing magic with something related to or of similar make to Zodiark’s power, then he wouldn’t have trusted her skeptical word. If Jaakuna had known that Leviathan would have made Emiri worse yet, then he wouldn’t have let her do anything.

And as Jaakuna was continuing hating himself for what he did, Grant would speak about Zodiark and what he suspected as well. Not only that, but Grant pressed on Emiri’s psyche and what Zodiark could possibly be doing to it. “I just don’t know. It might be him or this might be a side-effect of Chaos’ meddling. All I know is that the bastard himself whispered to me that I knew what was going on with her, and I’m still refusing to believe it…” Truly, Jaakuna didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to believe that, if Zodiark was in there, manipulating Emiri, that it was his fault. He was the one who allowed Levi to do it, and he was the one who allowed her to sneak …something into Emiri that may or may not be Zodiark.

---

After Nadeline’s reveal that what Savayna suspected was true about Empress Reia was meeting with the Rozarrian council about possible war, that made Wesley bite his thumb. He only did that when something truly troubled him. He knew what he had to do. After Nadeline said that Rozarria might look for war, there was no telling if they might look to Dalmasca for that. If so, then Wesley would need to make haste back to Rabanastre. He would have to inform his father’s widow and sister, Cassandra. He would have tell them of what happened.

“I pray to the gods that the Rozarrian council holds back the desire for war. With Zodiark undoubtedly entering the final stages of his plans, war is not the answer. Ivalice will need to stand together if we are going to defeat him.” Wesley said, still biting his thumb.

“Okay, Nadeline, if you say so.” Savayna wanted to say something, but she held her tongue. Not her country. Not her concern. “So, how long until your auntie--” Just when she was about to finish, Savayna caught a glimpse of Emiri. “Oh, Emiri, you look as worse as ever.” She said. Wesley lightly hit her shoulder. She looked at him, and he gestured his head to Emiri. She looked worse than what Savayna joked about. It was serious.

As Emiri and Nadeline went back and forth, it was becoming plainly obvious that something was really wrong with Emiri. Wesley spotted it when they were in the guest room. Savayna caught onto it when Wesley unverbally pointed it out to her. It was much more than just her grieving for her parents. It was much more than a sadness for her mother’s death, or her father’s critical condition. Emiri seemed like she was severely ill, or maybe something more was at play.

And then when Emiri said that her mother could stay dead, both Savayna and Wesley both widened their eyes. “Emiri, perhaps you should go lay down..” Wesley offered to her.

Meanwhile, Savayna looked at Nadeline, seeing the anger about to burst. “Nadeline, I know what you’re thinking about doing, and in other circumstances, I would say go for it, but remember where you are. I highly doubt it’s the place for that.” Savayna said, hoping her words would get through to Nadeline. However, knowing how thickheaded and stubborn that Nadeline could get, especially when angered, Savayna knew it wouldn’t work. She looked at Wesley sighing. Wesley blinked, and would simply watch as things were about to get worse before they got better.

CLOSED.

@Dirty Pretty Lies
Daaaamn, that sounds like a good time indeed. :O

If I Woke Up Beside of You ~Game~

"Are you Edward Cullen? You glow like Edward Cullen."

RPG What Did you Last Eat?

Fruit Loops Cereal

CLOSED.

@Aewin@Dirty Pretty Lies@SgtEasy

What the fuck did I miss? O.o