Altered Tundra

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

273

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

274

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Savayna would ignore Grant for a moment, scoffing under her breath as she was letting him think she simply didn’t hear him. She did, but she was choosing not to respond right away. Instead, she looked ahead. The temple of Omisace was still as large as it had ever been. It’s a sight to behold, that was for damn sure.

As she looked at Grant, she sighed, and said, “And this is why we’re going through the air with Mateus and Zeromus.” She looked at him still, this time her eyes searching for something in his own. “Is your objections because of my injuries or is it that you don’t want to avenge your woman?” Savayna pointed to her shoulder, “they hurt your woman - your love. Do you not wish to seek out vengence? Or the big talker who got me to come doesn’t want to go through with his rhetoric?” Savayna smiled slyly, a snicker hardly contained behind it.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

“So, if we go the same way we went before, it would be a repeat of our previously failed efforts,” Savayna mused aloud, then looked to Grant. “Then perhaps we don’t go the way we came. Maybe instead of going from the ground, we,” Savayna let the thought trail into silence, her herself thinking about her next words carefully - thinking about their next actions carefully.

Without uttering a single word, Savayna stood up. Despite the pain she felt in her arm, there was no time to rest. Sure she could do that, but the more time she spent resting up, the more time the both of them wasted by doing nothing - time that could be better spent scouting other areas of the Rift to get into Omisace.

“Come Grant!” Savayna, tumbling forward once, finding herself using Grant as a tool to get her balance back, “the skies await us,” Savayna said.

Her arm was out, Mateus’ Glyph appearing before her. When she took a step, Mateus came through it, and Savayna climbed on him. Though he grunted, he wouldn’t say anything. Instead, he waited for her to get situated on his back. She found a spot close to this shoulders.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Get that Esper of yours out!” Savayna demanded with authority,

---

As Wesley and Nadeline were both healed, Wesley could not bring himself to smile,not with the bodies that lay scattered about. Some were gone from this world, back to their creators. But others were still alive. Some still had a chance. This was a chance that Wesley would not and could not ignore.

“I refuse to leave them here: the ones lost, the ones fighting for their lives,” Wesley took to his feet, eyes sorrowfully looking at those that coughed crimson blood. “We have to save them.” Wesley said, “and the ones who have lost their lives - they will need proper burials.”

In a matter of moments, something changed in Wesley. He went from feeling satisfied with knowing that Nadeline was alive to having a sense of responsibility for those who have lost their lives or still clung to them with their few remaining breaths. “My sister can wait, I’m sure.” Wesley said, stepping forward, hands glowing ethereal white and orange. Curaga was flowing from each finger tip. “I vow to each and everyone of you,” Wesley would say to those who could hear him, “I will save you all — we will save you all.”

And then Wesley went to work. Hopefully with Nadeline’s enhanced powers, they might have a chance of saving the less-than-twenty people who had severe to critical injuries.

Music Appreciation Thread

@Buddha
Korean rap, right? Sounds good. Not something I would usually go for, but that's why I love this thread: you find stuff you wouldn't usually listen to. 7/10

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

She set down the arrowhead beside her, taking in a moderate breath in and out. Though the thought of the arrow was on her mind, she wouldn’t spend much longer thinking about it. There were more important things to focus on. For one, who had attacked her? And the more important question was why did they attack her? To her knowledge, Savayna and Grant had arrived unnoticed, not counting the showy display she gave everyone when she attacked those at the main gate. Speaking of which..

After moments of silence, Savayna spoke. “Something I found odd, Grant. I wasn’t stealthy at all with those floating machines, so why didn’t we meet resistance? Or rather,” she quipped, “why didn’t I meet resistance?” Savayna asked Grant, looking at him thoughtfully. “And another thing. Why didn’t they persue us? I don’t remember much, but I heard Zeromus release a battle cry when I would come in and out of consciousness. This just doesn’t add up.” Savayna was struggling with the fact that she could remember Zeromus but not why the arrowhead beside her seemed so Occuria-damn familiar.

---

When it had happened, Wesley had little time. Save the innocents. Save Nadeline. Save yourself. Ensure everyone went unharmed. Ensure that no man, woman, or child was left behind. That’s what Wesley had promised himself in that small window of time before he and Nadeline had summoned their Espers.

Or so they tried. Wesley wouldn’t get that chance nor Nadeline, because in the moment that followed, something completely unknown to them [at the time] had passed through them. It was a cloud of black smoke that reeked of putrid flesh. Such a foul stench that Wesley never got the chance to summon Hashmaal, nor did Nadeline get that chance to summon Ultima.

But there was still a chance. There was no chance for the innocents. As much as it weighed on his soul, as much as it made him want to give up, Wesley couldn’t. Not when Nadeline could still be saved. Selflessly, Wesley, as he and Nadeline descended, cast a spell unlike ever before. Completely out of his wheelhouse, WEsley raised his hand up, a series of dozen of glyphs trailing along his arm, surrounding his body. And then his body itself became a glyph - a seal, if you will - and cast Nadeline away from him. This seal surrounded her in a brilliant orange and white light. As Nadeline would find herself several paces away from the ship, Wesley would look on as she would land ten paces tot he left of where the airship was poised to land.

I am sorry, father. I will not be able to lead our country after all.

I’m afraid you’re wrong, Wesley heard a voice say. It wasn’t Hashmaal. It was..

“Father?!”

you did a selfless thing for that girl, Wesley. You really did use that one spell that I told you never to use, huh?

“It was my only choice.”

I recognize this to be a fact. And you were in the right to use it, for without it, she would have died from the impact.

“Guess both of us are fools for love."

Jonathan laughed. Wesley, it seems you are ready.

“Ready for what?”

The Order Seal.

“What is that?”

I’ve not the time to explain, but just let me show you instead.

As Wesley would look down confused, he saw something. For a moment, a large glyph appeared before him. Acting faster than Wesley’s eyes or mind could, the glyph passed through him. At first, he felt pain unlike any other pain he had ever felt. It was like someone was skinning him alive. But then it shifted. The glyph, or seal molded inside of him, and that’s where he understood. A wave of knowledge, of power, of balance merged with his soul. Outwardly, Wesley would appear to have a strong, magickal aura, mist twisting and contorting the air around him.

And as Wesley was mere yards from the ground, he would prepare for impact.

CRASH!

He made impact,landing on top of the airship. He would connect with it. Hard. He felt bones snap, joints breaking, muscles tearing, and blood coming from all limbs. He was flung several paces deep into the crater that was twice as high, thrice as deep. He lay beside bodies piled high - bodies of Bangaa males, of Viera, of Moogle, of Seeq - all bloodied. Some had decapitated heads, some had blood still warm, and some were - some were still alive. By the gods..

They’re still alive!

Wesley tried to move, but he didn’t budge. Everything hurt. Head to toe, everything hurt. Surges of sharp agony was the least of his worries. Wesley was bleeding out. And just as Nadeline was under the impression he was fine. She saw him, but had she not realized he was severely hurt.

“Nadeline…” Wesley managed to say something finally. His voice, while weak, had volume. It would no doubt reach her.

The Mundane [Small-Town Superheroes]

Jackson’s Outfit
LOCATION — Main Street
INTERACTIONS — Aaliya (_@Aewin)

Since the day that he had that weird experience, Jackson Drake hadn’t experienced it again. Weird that he didn’t, but maybe it was like a lightswitch: one moment it’s on, then the next it’s off. Since it was currently off, a thought passed through Jackson’s always-empty mind about when it would turn on again. It could be in the next minute, the next hour, or he might not even have another experience for another day or week. It’s really all up in the air at this point, and Jackson wasn’t going to focus on it.

And that’s why instead of worrying about the ‘what might happen’, Jackson chose to focus on the here and now, and what’s happening is that he’s hungry as a mother fucker. He needs nourishment. Good thing he’s going through Main Street and has a pocket full of loose change.

Sounds of rolling skateboard wheels on concrete sidewalk ceased as he felt something crunch. Glass was all over the sidewalk. Son of a bitch, I just cleaned the wheels too. Jackson wasn’t liking the start of the day that much.

He held his board in his hand, knowing that riding it meant certain death for his wheels dexterity. Instead, he simply would stroll around Main Street. Maybe there would be something for him to do. Sure he could contribute to cleaning up, but if he was going to do that, the preference would was to do it in the company of someone he didn’t particularly hate. Based on who he saw around, there were a few he didn’t like, a few that he was neutral to, and no one that he —

Oh wait, there is someone I like.

Of course there was. Jackson saw her right in front of him. Skin like caramel, eyes like chocolate, and hair he could get lost in. She was just as much his crush as she was his friend. Her parents befriended his parents. As a result, Jackson had befriended her at a young age. Maybe that’s why she didn’t mind him. There were few people who didn’t like Jackson, but she was one of them that never judged him. If anything, she encouraged him to embrace his uniqueness.

Approaching her, Jackson said, “Princess Aali, fabulous is sheeee~” Jackson’s voice carried into a sing-along tune, quoting the famous Alladan ‘Prince Ali’ song. Jackson, in the matter of gapping a pace and a half, wrapped his lean arm around Aali’s neck and shoulder, bringing their heads close to a warm half-embrace, a wide, cheek-to-cheek grin on his face.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Holding the arrowhead in her hand, Savayna examined it the best that she could. It was smooth to the touch, yet it was jagged at the same time. The surface and back was what felt smooth, but the edges were like jagged rock. The top was sharper than any steel sword that Savayna had encountered. There was a faint magickal presence that she couldn’t place, yet felt eerie familiar.

Savayna kept it in her hands, but looked to Grant. She wasn’t sure what she was going to tell him. It was mostly a blur. She recalled telling him something, but anything after that was clouded. “I’ve seen this arrow before.” She said. “I can’t remember where, but I know I’ve seen it,” Savayna said. Something in her told her that she knew exactly what it was and where she had seen it, but something blocked her memory.

---

When Jaakuna got to his room, Iris had already prepared his communication systems. Monitors appeared before him. They were managing all sorts of situations, most of them were graphs monitoring the activity throughout Ivalice.

Taking a seat, Jaakuna was at the monitor that was mostly for communicating. As he would set up a call to Roman, Jaakuna would wait. It rang for a few moments until there was an answer. To his surprise, instead of Roman appearing on the screen, Jaakuna was met by his grandfather, Hamut. “Oh, grandfather, hello.”

“Jackson. It’s been a while.”

Jaakuna tried not to cringe when he heard his Archadian name being spoken. “That it has.” Jaakuna said. “Is Roman — I mean Emperor Roman — around?” Jaakuna asked Hamut.

Hamut was silent for a moment, then said, “he’s in a meeting right now. What’s this about?”

“I would prefer not tos ay over this line. Just know that it’s revolutionary. I think mother would have been proud of me.”

Hamut smiled an uncharacteristic smile, “I’m sure, wherever she is, she’s proud of you,” Hamut said.

“In any case, please tell Roman to contact me as soon as he can.” Jaakuna said. Before signing off, Hamut gestured him for a moment. “Yes?”

“Before you go, I need to ask you a question.” Jaakuna simply looked at Hamut. “How do you get the Espers to cease their constant ramblings?”

Jaakuna blankly looked at him for a moment, then laughed. “Having trouble with Exodus are you?”

“No,it's not The Judge-Sal. Like me, he also has been finding these ramblings trite; it's the others.”

“Such as?”

“Mateus, Addrammlech mainly. They won’t stop coming to me.”

“Well, considering the fact that Savayna has barely bonded with her own and Isaiah is probably too proud to submit to Addra, they need to find entertainment elsewhere.” Jaakuna laughed again, “if you want my advice, just let them do it to you until they get annoyed that you’re ignoring them.” When he said that, Jaakuna heard Belias scoff towards him. He snickered.

“What?”

“Nothing, just got a reminder why I’m an expert in Esperology.” Jaakuna said. Belias scoffed once more.

Hamut shrugged, and clicked off, the sight of his one-eyed grandfather disappearing into white noise.

Jaakuna sighed. He wasn’t too sure why Roman hadn’t been at his desk. He didn’t have a good feeling about this, not one bit. Roman didn’t answer; their grandfather did, however. And that’s what was really bothering him. It wasn’t that Roman didn’t answer, but that Hamut had answered instead of his brother. The more Jaakuna thought on it, the more it made him consider way more than he needed to. What did need to do was just rest up. Even if Roman had no idea they were coming, the Ifrit would arrive in Archadia in a few hours. Jaakuna needed the rest for the long couple of days ahead.

---

Hours ago, airships went down all around Ivalice. There was no warning. No alert that signalled technical difficulties. No flash of horror before they went down. It was if it happened in the blink of an eye. The ships were flying normally as they always would have in the past, and then boom! Engine burst aflame, and almost every airship flying over the Mosphoran Highwaste went down.

And one of those was the airship that Wesley and Nadeine, and over two dozen other innocent civilians were aboard.

The engine had exploded and descending from a third of a league in the air, the commercial airship that was flying perfectly before was going down. Panic ensued among the entire ship. Some screamed that they were going to die, some screamed that the monsters below would kill them, and some were screaming that they hadn’t gotten laid yet and they didn’t want to die before they lost their virginity. It was chaotic to say the least. The ship was going down and no one had any faintest idea if they were going to make it.

But for Wesley, he was keeping a relatively cool head. He glanced at Nadeline, and she also was in that same neighborhood, if not just slightly more on alert. It wasn’t surprising considering the fact that the both of them had fallen asleep in front of the window. The last thing that Wesley remembered was her in his arms and he in hers, watching the rare sight of unpolluted mist passing by them in colors that were all over the spectrum, but all seemed to be viridescent in the center.

And then, as the ship rocked, that woke the both of them, rocking them in opposite directions. Whatever had been the cause, Wesley knew he couldn’t waste any time wondering about it. Several people, whether they knew it or not, were depending on his focused mind.

One more glance at Nadeline, Wesley would simply nod. It was a universal nod that would tell Nadeline to summon Ultima, because Wesley would do the same with Hashmaal. On the moment she would, Hashmaal would come forth through a glyph. With their combined power, the ship — and the innocents abroad it — may be saved yet.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

It was ten years ago. So long ago that I didn’t think I would remember, but I remember it all like a vivid dream. It was just hours before I was set to marry Vincent Darcone. He was the younger brother of Jackson, someone who I had admired for years. I thought Jackson was going to be my husband as our families were close, but apparently there was a different plan. My father had made a deal with Emperor Simon Darcone. In exchange for amnesty for Glacier Village, my father agreed to sell me off to the Darcone family. I was barely a teen, but he sold me off like some slave. His own daughter had been sold off.

I thought it was going to be okay. I knew it would because I had my guardian angel. Well, okay not exactly my guardian angel. He was more like an uncle to me. He was my father’s old war buddy. Both of them had served in a hunter’s guild back in the day. His name was Glacier Frost. He was now a rising general for the Archadian Army. He was poised to be Simon’s top general, surpassing the current general, Suijin Glacie, Savayna’s older brother. He was a man that she looked up to.

Somewhere down the line, maybe a couple more years, Suijin succumbed to a mysterious assassination. He was poisoned by an arrow. I remember it well. He was a great warrior and had the respect of many. I looked up to him for most of my life. He was seven years older than I was. When he died, my Uncle Glacier, or rather General Frost now, took his slot. I was proud for him, of course. How could I not be? He had earned it. SEveral years under service, and he finally became the General he had vied for since he enlisted after his hunter days. It was a glorious day, even Leviathan was happy for him. She was just one year older than I was, but already she had made Captain, and was well on her way to becoming the fifth judge, replacing Vincent because Vincent himself was going to take a place by his father’s side as his top advisor. To gain experience for the day he would take his father’s place as Emperor since Jackson was too busy with Operation Ifrit, a secret, classified project commissioned by a secret, third-party organization with interests in warships.

It was all perfect. And yet, I remember it being nothing but a facade. It was..

“IT’S A TRAP! FATHER NOOO!” Savayna shouted, her voice like screeching nails on a rusty chalkboard. She looked around, seeing that she was inside a tent, a fire lit aflame nearby. She winced as she felt a surge of pain go through her shoulders. She saw Grant near her, looking at her with those eyes of his. “Where am I? Last I remember..”

Savayna recalled. Was that a dream? No, I most certainly was telling him about someone, but who?

---

Amid the tour and the moment that he and Lorenzo were having, the thought of Archadia had completely slipped Jaakuna’s mind. It had to have been a couple of hours at the very least. Surely word would have gotten to Roman by now. Even if he was busy with the responsibilities of being Emperor of Archadia, he should have heard back from him by now. It was extremely diserning.

Jaakuna mulled on that thought, appearing broody, which would have been obvious. He then looked to Lorenzo, and said, “Should still be a couple of more hours, but let me check with Iris.” Jaakuna looked up, “Iris, has Roman got back to you yet?”

Silence for a moment, then Iris said, “According to my logs, he hasn’t responded yet. Shall I sent another message?” She asked.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll call him myself from my personal quarters,” Jaakuna said, concerned.

As he would ponder once more, Jaakuna felt something deep in his gut that felt familar. Every time something bad happened, it’s like he had a premonition of sorts. Or like a consistent gut feeling that told him only bad things awaited him on his journey. It happened when he fought Aloa and Vlyn in Bhujerba. It also happened last night on the beach with Lola. So it definitely wasn’t a good sign.

“Lorenzo, I’m sorry, but I need tend to some things. Iris will show you to the barracks. Maybe go check on REia. She did seem to be tired, so I’m sure some company could help.” Jaakuna was lying obviously, but he wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to be interrupted.

Time Stops For Fire(Altered Tundra and Hero)

Hearing the life story about how Lorenzo and Karolina met, about how they fell in love, about how they lost their first child and broke up because of it, and how they got back together and had Nadeline, did a lot for Jaakuna. First off, it was incredible to hear such an imperfect perfect relationship. Of course every marriage, as Lorenzo said, goes through their ups and downs.

So that’s the moral of the story, huh? I need to get my head out of my ass, and stop trying to protect Emiri from every little thing.

Jaakuna couldn’t help but let out a laugh. It was more of a laugh at himself than it was at what Lorenzo had just said. To think that someone else other than Jaakuna had those feelings of self-doubt and fear. What was Jaakuna thinking? Of course there were more people. Everyone goes through those moments of dread and fear and just about everything related to it.

How I was a fool.

“Lorenzo, thank you,” Jaakuna said, cocking his head to the side ever so slightly, giving Lorenzo a grin. He held out his hand, and said, “You’re a good man, Lorenzo Jeremiah Roselia. I am honored to call you a friend.”