shylarah

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

The child bit her knuckles to keep from whimpering in fear. Everyone was struggling, and the slimes just kept coming. Nymira accounted for herself well, but the princess was tiring -- she managed a last fireball, and then she fell to her knees, too tired to fight any further. A choked sob escaped Amuné as Ethan went to cover the downed Dimuran. With him going into the thick of things, the girl fell back to the shelter the cart provided, slight though it was. Ethan sent a gale at the noxious creatures, and Cecil kept smashing through them but there were always more. An awful feeling settled in her stomach, but Amuné refused to believe they were doomed. Someone would think of something. Wouldn't they? She was too frightened to formulate a proper prayer, and the one she sent up to the Saints now was a wordless plea.

She watched Ethan grab a spike from the cart and fling it at the awful Varuna, but the waving vines batted it away, and now Ethan was out of the fight too. Their attacker summoned something new, a ball of toxic green, and Amuné knew to touch that would mean death. "Cecil!" she screamed, "do something! Don't let him use that!" But it was too late to stop it, and all the Machina could do was intercept the attack to protect Nymira.

The child watched in horror as her brave friend fell to pieces, and she felt her knees hit the ground hard as shock stole her feet from under her. A keening sound filled her ears, shrill and piercing. It took her a moment to realize she was the source, when she ran out of breath and it stopped in a strangled sob. She wanted to go to Cecil, to try to help him, but she couldn't move, and though she didn't want to believe it, Amuné knew it was too late. No one could survive that blast. He'd fallen apart, he had to be--

She was shaking, too shocked even to cry. No, no, this was just a bad dream, none of it was real. The Varuna was attacking again, going after Nymira, and Amuné wished she could fight. In that moment she would have destroyed the awful man without a second thought. Why? Why wouldn't he leave them alone? Why did he want them dead? Why was he such a bad person?

Staring blankly at the fight, it took several moments for the child to realize what she was seeing. By then the new woman was calling insults at the Varuna as she countered every one of his attacks. A second newcomer shot down from the sky with a wave of fire. Amuné didn't understand, was he flying? How? Where had they come from? And why hadn't they come in time to save Cecil?

The girl struggled to her feet, once the fighting was over. She'd used very little magic, and yet she felt heavy and sluggish, having to drag herself through thick mud. Her chest felt hollow, and it hurt. Now the tears came, as she made her way over to where her friend lay. "C-Cecil?" she whispered, the name barely audible. "Cecil, please...don't...." She couldn't finish the thought, and her fingers shook as she tried to gently straighten him out, as she'd seen her mommy do when someone died.

Fire and Ice: The Ghoul Wars

"A complicated person, then. ...As is everyone, I suppose." The way Tsitua described Ketsuoana, she thought perhaps he did not need to be a particular concern. Still, the final comment about him made her eyes narrow and her expression harden. She trusted very few people well enough that she would say something like that. Was this the depth of his trust, or merely a sign of someone who could afford to be generous with it?

The question was a surprise, and Amuné blinked, trying to come up with an answer. "He was the first of many, though only a few are worth recalling," the Seer replied. "In some ways, your lord reminds me of him. That same feeling of countless years, of witnessing the flow of ages firsthand. He wasn't disconnected, as Ketsuoana is, but he was always...blurred. I never saw him in any of my visions with a single exception, and I'm not even sure of that. He somehow never gave off any ripples. He was the one who taught me meditation. I remember that far more clearly. Always patient, even when I was terrified, when I couldn't stand being around anyone." She ran her fingers through the grass absently as she spoke. "I think it was because I'd already known him for a while by then, from times when I was too lost to have memory of it, but somehow he never bothered me as much as anyone else." A small smile played across her features. "For a while I thought he was as imagined as the rest, but though the hallucinations faded, he remained. He never told me much about himself -- he had a way of dodging questions, and answering without actually answering. Other times he would say a great deal with only a few words. I don't actually have a name for him, just a title: Keeper." The girl's expression turned solemn, and she lowered her head. "He saved me, Tsitua. Just how many times I couldn't say." Her right hand went to circle her left wrist in a subconscious gesture that inadvertently drew attention to the faint traces of old scars there. "Once from the Ring. And...I think it might have been him that finally helped me find reality again, afterwards. I don't know. I couldn't make out the face, and he has none of the power I felt then. Yet for some reason...I think the two are closely connected.

"He was kind. He never yelled at me, even when he was angry or disappointed. Only rarely raised his voice at all, though he could be forceful, if I simply wasn't listening. And always just a little sad. Like he was looking for something even though he knew he'd never find it. After I started learning from other people, he would turn up now and then. I still run into him, on occasion, usually at...at the Upstairs." Her expression flickered briefly, but she resolutely pushed through the stab of pain that had accompanied the thought of the restaurant. "He seems to know everyone. But I'm not sure how well any of us know him."

@TheMinorFall

Fire and Ice: The Ghoul Wars

@TheMinorFall Not quite sure if you misunderstood or not, so I'mma clarify even while we leave it (because Amune herself wasn't terribly clear). While she would indeed like peace, at least for her corner of the world, she said that armageddon starts with peace. So if there is full peace, that's the beginning of the end. Kinda cynical, actually. ^.^;;

Wayfarer

Tryilendarel Nerinya sat on a bench in the shade of a large tree on the university's grounds, his back against Mira's. She had finished her work for the day, and asked him for some music, and the elf was only too happy to oblige. He was a minstrel by trade and a wanderer by nature, never really content to stay in any place for too long. It was strange, he reflected for what must be the thousandth time over the past year or two, but with her around the call of the road faded. Worrying, even. Still, he didn't have to concern himself about the matter much longer. Mira and the others who were training for the harebrained save-the-world quest the Oracle wanted to send them on were nearly done -- and there was no way he'd be going with them.

A complicated run on his harp took all of his attention to execute, and by the time he finished the introspective mood had passed. He had his music, he had a gorgeous lover, and he had all the time in the world. Life was good. "You should sing one, Mira," he told her, sending a wide smile over his shoulder.

"Nooo, I'm not singing! We're in public!"

"But your voice is lovely! I don't understand why you won't give others the pleasure of listening~"

The young woman blushed, but was saved having to protest further when she spotted Esme coming across the yard. "Hey, where're you off to?" she called, sitting up. She knew the other potential chosen well enough; they weren't precisely close friends, but certainly beyond mere acquaintances. She enjoyed Esme's company, but almost anything would do to escape Trill's pleading that she sing. If she stayed, she would probably end up giving in. He was terribly persuasive.

The Rutherford Organization: A WW2-era Occult Investigations RP(NO LONGER ACCEPTING NEWCOMERS)

@SkullsandSlippers Oh dear, feel better soon. *makes you tea*

The Rutherford Organization: A WW2-era Occult Investigations RP(NO LONGER ACCEPTING NEWCOMERS)

@Avanhelsing Almost done with a post, just one last question here, I think. Would Jack be okay sparring with Alys on occasion? And would he do so sincerely, or would he take it easy on her until she told him off for it? This is boxing, possibly, or maybe blades. Maybe both. ^.^

The Rutherford Organization: A WW2-era Occult Investigations RP(NO LONGER ACCEPTING NEWCOMERS)

@Avanhelsing. Excellent!

@Tsar Gatto "Friendly as can be", eh? Yeah, Alys isn't going to like her much. Tamiko is it. Possibly even Miss Tamiko, just to add that extra degree of formality. Pretty sure I get what you mean about wanting to be liked for the wrong reasons. Tami admires Alys's independence. Unfortunately her manipulative nature means that she sees Alyssana as the useful resource the young lady might be, and not as a potential friend. It's funny, because original Alys would do precuisely the same. ^.^ There's probably a bit of tension, but it's coming gfrom Alys, it seems.

*grin* glad you like her. She's currently my favorite character base, and I think tyhis is gonna be great fun. <3

Fire and Ice: The Ghoul Wars

*snugs* i'm off to bed. See ya soon~

Fire and Ice: The Ghoul Wars

The girl was surprised by the room, but supposed it made sense to have on a spaceship. Plants made breathable air...or something like that. The sound of water running over rocks was soothing, and she sat in the grass, one hand testing the ground, trying to figure out if it was sod or something else. "It is nice. I didn't really expect something like this in space." Amuné turned her thoughts back to the matter of Ketsuoana, a matter she'd been diverted from by the sight of the greenery. "So that's where he came from. You said it's a hard question, but that's...really not what I was asking." She leaned back and shut her eyes, putting her hands on the ground behind her and tilting her face toward the false sun. "He's there. I can tell he's there, and he's influencing things. But nothing connects, not going forward, and not looking back. If he was among the causes of so great a war, then I would expect a whole knot of connections. And they're not there. Though I suppose he might just be too strong for me to sense them. They're lost in everything else. The Seer opened her eyes and looked at the man beside her. "Which makes it all the more unnerving, how he could appear and disappear." She shook her head with a sigh. "Millennia, huh? I think you mentioned the Great Conflict. But it's not over, not really. Just another link in an endless chain of them. There was something my very first tutor said once -- or I think he did. I can't -- the memories, they're...not very clear. I didn't have a solid grip on reality, back then." Her grey eyes clouded as she tried to bring the the blurred memory into better focus.

"He said...the idea of the end of existence being calamity was a possibility. Certainly such an event would result in a great deal of death. But his personal belief was that peace -- lasting peace, something he had never seen, and I get the impression he'd lived for a long time -- lasting peace, that was how the end of time would come." Amuné fixed her gaze on Tsitua again. "I think he might be right. At least, when I don't think I hallucinated the entire thing." Another sigh, and she turned her thoughts back to Ket. "What I wanted to know, aside from what the whole...separation and vanishing act means...What sort of a person is this lord of yours? What do you think of him? What's he hoping for?"

@TheMinorFall

Fire and Ice: The Ghoul Wars

"In part," she answered, a slight smile acknowledging that Tsitua was dead on about her unease. "I don't like places without a couple different ways out, and here...it's a giant tin can." The Seer's gaze drifted to the window again. "But it's also just.../empty/. There's you and your team, and Jareth...and then nothing. Threads lead to places and things as well as to people, but it is people that most often shape events, and the strands that connect them are generally the ones that pull the strongest. I've never been anywhere so...open. Quiet, I guess you could say." The fingers of one hand went to fuss with the hem of her shirt. "I suppose in a way it might be nice, not feeling that constant pressure. But I'm not used to it, and it's unnerving." Amuné shivered involuntarily. "I'm not sure I like it."

The mention of a room that felt more like the surface intrigued her, and she nodded her assent. "If it wouldn't be any trouble, that does sound interesting." She fell in beside Tsitua as he headed off down the hall. "Who was that?" the Seer asked abruptly. "Ketsu-something, Mae called him? And a lord? He came out of nowhere, and then he just /vanished/ -- who is he? /What/ is he? What does he want?"

@TheMinorFall