Estylwen

Elementals: Void Assault

"Shall we wait for Beau and Phillip?"

Cora continued her slow pace, pulling the diagonal zipper of her sweater to chest height to block the chill of night winds. The smell of air was fresh, but only if her head tilted away from the grungy trash littering the dry soil. "I'd rather they catch up later, I'm afraid I'll rip someone's head off if I talk to anyone else."  

"But I had a question for you, Aerilyn. And I need you to be honest, since I need to know your strengths for this fight. You were once a bodyguard, so I'm curious as to what combat skills you know. And how's your handle on your element? Can you control gale storms yet?" Cora asked, half expecting there to be no issues. Aerilyn was a confident, authoritative girl who was proficient at everything she did, from what Cora assumed. 

Her eyes lit up with curiosity when Shida walked past. Something smells delicious. I mean, fucking sexy. Is that a-- HOLY SHIT, CIGAR.

Her jaw almost fell off her face from how much it gaped open. A hand wiped the drool off her mouth, eyes totally fixated on that cigar. In the universe of Cora it was only her and that rolled tobacco. Her and her negative feelings, her stress, her need to beat someone with a chair -- repeatedly. And the cigar, smooth, rare, an instant fix. 

The ice girl's obvious goo-goo eyes stayed oblivious to everything but that cigar until Aerilyn gusted it from Shida's grip. His irritation was tangible enough that he stormed away. Leaping (literally) at the opportunity, a fish made of ice snapped up the tossed cigar before it hit the ground, swimming haphazardly through the air to Cora's open palms. It seemed to puff up at the chest before vomiting its prize in its puppet master's hands, disintegrating into snowflakes moments after. 

She cackled mockingly, looking devilishly at the barely used cigar in her hands. She knocked a few loose pieces of tobacco from it, examining the outer shell for any other imperfections. It was almost loving how she handled it delicately, putting the lightest amount of pressure on the object.

She could feel Aerilyn's eyes drilling holes in her brain. Nothing overly obvious, of course, but Cora was aware of her evident dislike of cigars. She decided to sound slightly responsible. "Typically I never smoke these. But nowadays it's hard to get any type of a fix, even legally. Would you excuse me a moment?"

Trailing Shida, Cora found herself back near the entrance of the cave. It was in unobstructed sight, at least. Her eyes hovered on the two boys having their 'bro moment', hungrily appraising Shida. There was only one reason she'd ever pull a desperado like this: Shida -- who still made her uncomfortable -- was her only source of flame at the moment. And a certain cigar begged her to be smoked.

Wait... He wouldn't let me have this. I stole it. Cora facepalmed, completely forgetting the most fundamental rules in civil society. It had been such a long time since her actions actually meant anything outside the walls of her Atlantian home. Whatever. He did ditch the thing. I'll play it cool.

She approached the two, a sly grin on her face that didn't seem to reach her eyes. "I just happened to stumble on a real beauty down the road, can't believe someone just left 'er in the bushes. But I don't have a light. Could you do me the honors, fiery one?"

The sheer amount of style points Wolgran earned from how he evicted the rest of the Hygrons was so great, Cora's enthusiasm got the best of her. She didn't speak, but her singular applaud echoed off the mountains in quick staccato. The moans of waterlogged Hygrons joined in shortly after.

Wolgran truly showed his resolve after he cleared a small part of the sky. "You MUST stop this. You MUST succeed. I decided, If ever you will need me, just call me with your powers and I will come flying."

Cora's gray eyes took in the sky, not remembering if she'd ever seen stars before. The little section clear of the polluting clouds seemed so pristine, so tranquil. Pure, glittering fat stars winked down at her, and she cursed her ignorance. The stars were eternal, having been twinkling away this entire time.

If anything, we'll steal the Vygorn's ship. If we can't save Kyra, there is hope in the stars. Cora pondered, her gaze fixed to the heavens until the clouds blotted out what lay beyond. 

Tales of Eyreseum - The False King

More than one look in my direction, lovely. Evelyn thought irritably, keeping the majority of her reaction hidden behind a nonchalant attitude. Kester's wild head sweeps of confusion drew many curious looks, and the shock behind his stare when their eyes met had her begging to facepalm. Subtlety clearly was not his strong suit. But the moment after Evelyn considered her little 'help' may have backfired, Kester shot her a look of sincere gratitude. 

This could prove advantageous yet. I wonder... Evelyn snickered, entertaining the scheming ideas half-baked in her head. 

Although she failed to notice Mirabelle's keen observation of Kester's situation, Evelyn saw red flags in her head when the courtier stood and took her leave.

Evelyn slipped into thought, working the gears of her mind. Mirabelle, the noble I have yet to research, shame on me. But from what I can tell... She's new to the court, so she doesn't have many friends among these people. Her performance was amiable, they'll remember her a short time for it. But to solidify those memories she needs to acquaint herself with as many nobles as she can, tonight. That's how networking works, and it's a necessity here. Politics are just getting dirtier, they'll step on each other to dip a thumb in a pie. If she's leaving now, her goals here are obviously not to make friends, or even get close to the King (though that remains to be seen.) Her face is too perfect, she gives absolutely nothing away. It takes constant effort to be a closed book.

However, she may just be retiring to her room to put away the lute. She may be back later to mingle, and I may be reading into this too much. But if my suspicion is true, there's no time like the present.

Evelyn would scour the kingdom's archives later, but first she turned to the King's right hand. However, his timing couldn't have been more ill, begging pardon of the King before leaving the hall. She met his eyes, easily deducing what he was up to. Which was perfect; he was in the midst of answering her would-be question. 

"We'll discuss further later, Garthois." She said as he took his leave, feeling a devilish smile curl her lips.

That left herself and the court to entertain the King. Her eyes politely graced over his kingly features: the crown, the fine attire, the rings. All of that was show, of course. A King was not his jewels. But DuRant was no ordinary King, or at least his ascension was by no ordinary means. Rather than by the divination of God, DuRant was chosen by man. One man. Himself. And like a composer conducting his most revered work, His Majesty orchestrated the kingdom so not even she was the wiser. 

Her curiosity still remained unsatisfied. "Your Majesty, I pray I'm not too bold when I say your kingdom flourishes; the people love their King. The Guild operates in the shadows, money abounds, and the nobles freely indulge in their ignorance. I find it hard to blame luck for all this good fortune. What, I wonder, is the great King DuRant's secret?"

Tales of Eyreseum - The False King

Sorry, I was away for the weekend. Post will be up later this morning~!

Elementals: Void Assault

Mad Scarlet said
Aerilyn: The Last Troll.

Ahahah, that was awesome to read. Cora's gonna have something humorous to add later. I'm kinda waiting for Synchronize before I post again, though. XD

Xzayler said
I don't understand really though, you guys haven't really set off yet right? I mean, some of you are still in the cave.

You can always puppet people out so you can post, Great GM. ;3

Elementals: Void Assault

Just posted~ :)

Elementals: Void Assault

"As far as luring out the Vygrons goes, Cora, I'll take you up on that offer, as much as we appreciate your dedication, I think a large pillar of fire should do the trick."

"Beau would be welcome company, I agree." Cora nodded to Shida, feeling a slight dismissal colour her words. "Not that I'm sure why you think they need two hints of Elementals on site, but we'll need everyone for this first act. That way if anything goes amiss we have numbers with us."

Cora didn't recall someone interacting with Thema since entering the cave, so her momentary speech (the lack thereof) was intriguing. Cora assumed it was from being away from friendly people. But she confirmed her name, and told her the power Cora almost envied her for. That was, she felt, their greatest connection: Nature. Cora revered it, Thema embodied it.

Cora followed Thema's gaze to the emeralds and yellows that coloured the cave, listening. “This place, it’s very special to me. Back in Atlanta, I’m lucky if I see a weed sprout between the cracks of the pavement floor. But here, I look around and there’s life in every crevice. It can be a bit… overwhelming."

"You and I are more alike than you know. I lived in Atlanta too, actually broke into a greenery one night, took as much as I could. The look of surprise on my boyfriend's face back home was priceless." Cora chuckled, eyes oddly dim and withdrawn.

"Someone's coming." Irys bounced up from Cora's frosted palms, twirling around her head. Her crystalline appendages pulsated with light, casting pale shadows on the back wall.

Cora's gray eyes widened, glancing at Thema. "Irys says someone's intruding. But I don't know... how."

"It's Irys's sixth sense, to know and feel those close. This one, however, does not seem threatening. Just cautious."

Could have told me that waaay sooner, Irys. Cora thought back, annoyance flickering in her face. No danger, plus that may be the tactical edge we'll need.

He entered the cave, young and wide-eyed. His hair was a curious shade of white and his hand held a most intriguing dagger; it hummed with light. Cora knew what he was just from a glance. The fates that be are a darkly humorous one to send a Lux so soon.

There was a tense commotion when the Lux Hygron entered stage right. But quickly enough the other elementals also saw the lack of a threat, and the weapons and harsh words were sheathed.

Shida took charge in telling the new guy what's what. "I'm with Beau, and new guy.. I'm putting you on the team with Aerilyn, Cora, and Beau."

Shit. Hopefully he doesn't get in my way. Cora thought crossly, raising her hand in a half-wave when Shida mentioned her name to the newcomer.

While Will dabbled with the Lux Hygron's potential, the atmosphere of the cave was one of readiness. Cora, going through a final checklist in her head, filled her zipper pockets with wrapped cheese and bread. Out of the fallen seeds in the cave Cora picked a couple to tuck away in another pocket. She figured it was for good luck.

Cora picked her way back to Aerilyn, combing out the knots in her chocolate hair. She met eyes with the Air elemental, portraying a sense of coldness, irritation. All the bodies around them made her feel claustrophobic. Her best efforts to be chill only made her building temper harder to ignore. She just needed to be outside, the quiet would thaw the ice nipping at her head. In a breath, she stifled the rawness of her feelings and softened her gaze.

"Aerilyn, meet me outside. I'll be waiting down the road -- we could use a chat along the way."

She met the glances of others as she made her way out of the cave. The light of pastel-coloured gloworms led her to the barren surface world. Silence was in the night as she tilted her gaze up to the black, black sky.

She graced through the heaps of trash, slowing her pace for Aerilyn on the assumption she followed.

Souls of Atlas

I believe you guys are correct, Wrens may have confused Dlay's exotic soul for Xiga's dreadlocks, but it's nothing a 30 second edit cant fix. XD

Wrensthav: Oooh, excellent post! You really took lead at the end there, and your narrative was smooth. :3 Just edit what I mentioned above, and it'll be 100%.

@Andre, @Nytem: I'd love a post from you guys. :D I'll have a post from Xiga's perspective soon.

Dlay: I'll have a post for you too. ;3

Elementals: Void Assault

"We could definitely make powerful allies in this fight. I'm all in."

Cora nodded, feeling the slightest release of tension. Aerilyn was impossible to read, her and that flawless face. But, priding herself in the ability to fly blind, Cora offered a partnership. And she agreed.~ This might actually work.

Everyone looked a little concerned for their lives after the Luce incident, including Cora. She hadn't felt anything strange in particular about her own powers yet, nothing that would hint to rouge powers. But then she had to take into consideration that most her life the element within her slept. She had little practice, but Ice seemed to come to her naturally. What her limit was, she had no idea. 

Beau, visibly shaken but focused, continued when the dust settled. "I still think that a two, even three pronged approach is the way to go though, It better masks our starting point, it splits their forces and focus, and generally the smaller the group the easier it is to be stealthy, which makes our lives endlessly easier, so I guess the question is, whats your theory?"

"Glad you asked. Only the Vygorns know of humans with supernatural powers. I'm not sure what their protocol is, but if something say... A huge fire twister -- the mix of you, Aerilyn, and a fire element -- were to pop up in town, without any evidence of people actually making it, I believe the guards will be too occupied barricading off the place. The Vygorns, not wanting to take chances, will scour the barred off place themselves in search of us. 

"They'll want to hide the Elementals existence for as long as possible so the people don't build up hope, but there's more. They'll also want to see with their own eyes that the Elementals freely exist and are fighting back, yada yada ya... It'll likely only work once, they'll smarten up and use humans to catch us at the next encounter, keeping themselves behind the lines. 

"That is my theory for Riverdale, at least. I propose a team including myself, Aerilyn, and whoever else come to the site. We'll flush out the humans with a full-out blizzard (courtesy of Ice and Air), draw in the Vygorns, and take 'em out." Cora gave a cheesy smile and thumbs-up to Beau before rolling her eyes. 

The Flora elemental didn't look so good. Cora assumed she was still freaked out by the whole 'eating ability' everyone's element had. If Cora had more time to think, she would be right there with her, wondering how any of this could get more screwed. 

"Hey, you alright?" Cora tugged lightly on Thema's sleeve. "I think I heard your name was Thema, right? I just wanted to say thanks for earlier. You sure left an impression on Shida, one I'll never let that hothead live down."

Aerilyn mentioned a very good point. "The Vygorns are bound to have meetings. We'll just need a reason for them to meet up. One or two of us are going to have to be bait."

Irys settled in the palms of Cora's hands, chilling them. "What you're thinking isn't wise."

Cora bit her lip, hesitant. But she shook her head. "When the time comes, I volunteer myself as bait. Not that I can be in two places or anything, but I'd rather it'd be me than any of you."

A loose smile played on her lips. "Except Shida. He can be his own bait."

(High Casual) Incarceron: A Sci-Fi Intergalactic Imprisonment!

Oh delicious!~ :D
I'll start working on my CS, then.

Tales of Eyreseum - The False King

//fidget-fidget

Yep. o.o