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Post by Ziya on Jan 4, 2019 17:58:12 GMT -5
Lucia emerged from the Corridor of Darkness with a slightly concerned look on her face. She hadn't ever seen anyone react the way Éirín had to the portal, though admittedly she hadn't traveled through them with too many people either. Sill, she wondered if the glimpse her deck had given her was somehow related to it.
All of that was put aside as she looked across the broken plains studded by massive crystals and breathed in the slight chill of the air. Somehow the formations kept this place cooler than the rest of the world no matter the season, and she relished the sensation.
A smirk came to her as she spied a group of Heartless in the distance, mostly fodder such as Soldiers and Armored Knights. There was no shortage of them in this place, something she often wondered about yet somewhat enjoyed at the same time. "So, are you ready for some fun, Éirín?"
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Post by Conrí on Jan 4, 2019 18:24:36 GMT -5
Éirín floated in the darkness. It wasn’t like the darkness of the Heartless or of her darker visions. Instead, this void had more of a cold warmth and swimming feeling to it. Stars, or, what she thought were stars, floated to her. She had learned that stars were normally representations of worlds, but, she also knew this couldn’t be. Why? The wolf girl tried to think back, and then, realised with some chagrin that it had happened again. She managed to push too hard, and, instead of ending up in the spirit realm or in the trance she desired, she had, instead, likely fallen asleep while sitting in the lotus position. No, wait, that’s right, she had just stepped through a Corridor with Lucia from Avalon to…wherever they were heading.
She tsked her tongue as she studied the stars. The priestess tried to not to think too hard about her memories, as that seemed to bring a shimmering light around her, and, she did not feel like getting trapped in the kind of dream that made her relive her memories again. There was a star, but it flickered in and out of existence. Her chest felt tight for a moment. Maybe she was wrong, and, these really were worlds. Unthinking, she blurred herself into that blinking star. Dizziness gripped her as everything materialised, but, what she saw as she floated there horrified her.
So many Heartless. Another tongue tsk. They had found the Keyhole, it seemed, and, this place was dying. By Éiriú, someone really needs to…do something. Looking around, Éirín spotted a single person with fiery red hair walking through the Shadows and other Heartless. She breathed in and bit her lip. She floated down to him, smacking some of the Heartless out of her way, but, realised she couldn’t physically touch the ground. A dream, then, after all. A long sigh escaped her, and, she tried hiding her face when the man turned to look at her. The wolf girl momentarily lost herself in the blue-grey that clearly knew she was there. The priestess felt like squirming out from under that gaze and then running away. Jumping somewhere else. Anywhere else.
“Light, how did you get here?”
Éirín smirked. Not necessarily her wisest course of action. “Know your place, son of light.” At least she had the voice of a goddess down in her dreaming state.
An equal smirk met her gaze. “And, I would think you should know your place, Dreamer.”
By Lugus’s beard…how in blazes does he know I’m— The wolf girl shook herself and focused. “That.” She said, seemingly unconcerned by what he had replied with, “stop it. Unless you want to fall into a darkness worse than the void I was just in.”
Too late. The explosion knocked her back into her own body, and Éirín became conscious with a gasp, barely catching herself as she fell back from her feet. Was that…a dream? Or, was it… “Tch,” the sound escaped her unwilled as she touched her forehead delicately. Flashes of cards rolled past her mind’s eye. The Sun behind the King of Swords. Lovers. His eyes. At that, Éirín groaned and rubbed her arms. The air of the new world seemed cold, but her face felt hot. The cards didn’t lie, though.
She answered Lucia's question about fun, but, in truth, she had barely heard it, “Yeah…” Éirín blinked, wondering if that was going to happen every time she walked through a Corridor, and was more than a little hopeful that whoever he was wouldn’t be showing up anytime soon. The wolf girl shook her head and readied her staff with a tight smile on her face.
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Post by aurablade97 on Jan 4, 2019 19:42:26 GMT -5
A whistle pierced through the sky, as a figure was falling at an accelerated rate into the ravine. As the figure descended, it was obvious that it was Sky, as she attempted to catch herself with the power of wind, to no avail. She crash landed, smack-dab into a group of Heartless. The fall took the wind out of her, as she was unable to quickly recover. Surrounding her were Armored Knights, Shadows and Soldiers. She, momentarily, was incapacitated, as the Heartless started to attack her. She didn’t even have her weapon on her, as it must have fell somewhere else in the maw. All she could actually do was smack at the Shadows scratching at her. ”Ahhh!! Shoo!! Get off me!” Sky just flailed and flailed, as she realized that she was currently stuck. The dark creatures we dog piled atop of her. ”Help! Somebody, help” She knew that she was grasping at straws, seeing that the Great Maw is a good bit away from civilization. All she wanted to do was to hunt for Gummi blocks. She loved to be in the air, and unfortunately, her Gummi ship, Little Sky was scattered into pieces all over Traverse Town, and she was only in this world because her girlfriend brought her to Radiant Garden through a dark portal. She used her wind magic to get up on the trails to find pieces. She found a few, but she got ambushed by a few Nobodies, a Berserker slapped her from the back and knocked her clean into the giant pit, separating her from her unreadied weapon. Welp, I guess this is how it ends. I’m about to die for 3 Gummi Blocks, and lose to base Heartless, because I can’t physically get up and my weapon is no where near me. Where is my shuriken?
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Post by Ziya on Jan 4, 2019 20:16:07 GMT -5
Just as Lucia let the Corridor close behind her companion she heard a cry that brought her attention back to the Heartless with a snap of her head. Quickly she noted the pile of the creatures, as well as what appeared to be a familiar aura beneath them.
Swearing, she summoned Requiem's Resolve. "Someone's in trouble. Elemental Blade: Light!" One Flash Step later she was beside the pile and channeling Light into her blade, the crystal glowing brilliantly before She slashed around the person within the pile four times with Elemental Sickle. Four sickles of Light lashed out from the path of her blade, instantly destroying the Shadows and Soldiers while pushing the few Armored Soldiers away, barely alive.
Once the darkness cleared Lucia's violet eyes quickly looked over the person, seeing that they were moderately injured but not too seriously. Holding out her metal left arm she channeled Healing magic into a Curaga before offering it to help them up. "Skyler? It's been a while! I wonder if you recognize me."
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Post by Conrí on Jan 5, 2019 10:58:00 GMT -5
Éirín sighed and promptly reprimanded herself, though, it seemed like it was too little too late, because, by the time she had followed Lucia into the fray, it seemed like the problem was resolved. The Death card flashed in her mind when she looked at the other woman who had been in danger. Not funny, deck. Rather on the nose, wouldn't you say? The wolf girl swatted a few of the Heartless teeming around her away with little effort. It wasn't enough to kill them, but, it was enough for them to get the point and stay away after one or two smacks. Remembering her manners, Éirín reached her hand out to the woman who had somehow survived the crash, trying to hide her astonishment that she and Lucia apparently knew each other and that she had survived what she had.
"Sky, was it? Éirín Niall." The priestess tried to keep the years of speaking regally out of her voice, but, she wondered if it actually worked or just made her come across as stilted. In truth, the wolf girl had wanted to add in her titles, but, she refrained from doing so, if just barely. She even managed to incline her head to Sky, if extremely slightly.
A few Shadows went flying away from her as she kept her gaze on Lucia and Sky. "We came out here to have some fun," A small smirk barely parted her lips, "Want to join in, or, do you two just need a moment?" Éirín could see their auras clearly, and, it definitely felt like there was a lot to unpack there for both of them. The wolf girl contented herself with absentmindedly swatting back the enemies that got close, a cheeky look starting to solidify in her features as she did so. Try harder, nuisances. The priestess really wouldn't mind whether they just jumped into the fray with her or if they decided to go off on their own.
"Either one you two choose, I am fine with. Besides," Éirín licked her lips hesitantly, the feeling of another flash was coming to her, "I'm certain there's something here for just me to do, anyway." The wolf girl knew that sounded cryptic, but, she decided to not expound on it. Sure enough, the Tower seemed to spring forth in her mind again, and another chill went down her spine. Whatever seemed to be here would surely be noticed and not missed, which was a notion that put the would be goddess on edge. The notion of a change happening that fast to her mixed with what she could feel from the environment in which she found herself, and resulted in her feeling light headed for a moment or two.
Éirín shook off the feeling by going through a couple of simple meditation techniques, and thought she smelled smoke from a cooking fire of all things. This caused her to carefully survey her surroundings, but, she only saw Heartless and crystals and grey. Maybe this was a bad idea, considering she was supposed to be letting loose instead of tightening her nerves.
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Post by aurablade97 on Jan 6, 2019 19:48:13 GMT -5
Just as Skyler was about to lie there and accept the fact that the Heartless were going to devour her, beams of light appeared and shone clean through some of the Soldiers and Shadows. Within seconds, the Heartless disappeared and a tall woman stood in front of her. She knew her name, but Skyler was pretty sure they hadn’t met. However, she took her hand anyway, ”Thank you for saving me, I really appreciate it.” She brushed the dirt out of her white hair, and took a better look at the woman. After a few puzzled looks and eye squints, she couldn’t figure it out at all. ”That’s my name, but I cannot remember you for the life of me, I’m sorry. I feel bad that you saved my life, and I don’t even remember you.” Then, Sky turned towards another lady who was with the taller woman. She had introduced herself as Éirín Niall. Skyler extended her hand toward her, “Yep, that’s what they call me and nice to meet you, Éirín. There’s no need for you to walk away, I’m the one who intruded here.” She turned back to woman who had saved her, ”Where should I know you from?”
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Post by Ziya on Jan 7, 2019 10:53:27 GMT -5
Just a month ago Lucia would have happily teased her old acquaintance until she realized who she was, but quite a bit had changed in that time. Briefly she thought back to their meeting in Traverse Town four years ago, before giving her a soft smile and answering her. "I'm not surprised. You were actually one of the last people to see me before I realized who I truly was. My name's Lucia Talec, but my Title," she summoned her armor minus the helmet, "is, and always will be, Mizan, Celderatian Bearer of Duality and Wielder of Twilight. By the way, what happened after Siris and I fell through that Corridor on the Alyson?"
Rand al'Thor, former Dragon Reborn and savior of his world, was growing tired of these creatures called Heartless. Two weeks previous he had found himself in this strange land, somehow returned to his original body, though thankfully without the twin wounds in his side, and he still had yet to uncover exactly what they were. All he knew, he mused as he sat by the fire, is that they seemed to have destroyed his entire planet when they reached what was left of the Bore.
A bluebill's trilling sounded nearby, drawing him out of his thoughts with a curse as he rose and drew his blade. Already he was eyeing the ground for the small pools of Darkness that signified the most common of the creatures, though a change it seemed to be a few of the larger varieties. Seizing Saidin, he deftly wove a Blossom of Fire in the midst of the group, the high pitched whistling drawing them in before the trigger weave activated the pillar and incinerated the armored foes.
Sighing, he sheathed his blade once more, only to pause as his now enhanced hearing picked up voices nearby. One of them seemed quite familiar, and with a small gesture he dispelled the Hardened Air and Mirror of Mists masking his camp.
The site was clearly set for a single person's long term use, consisting solely of a single canvas tent, a covered pile of supplies, and a fire ringed in stone. He had chosen the location purely based on its relative height, preventing any accidental washouts, and so he quickly closed the distance to the source of his curiosity.
Two gentle hills later he found the group, consisting of three women who clearly knew how to handle themselves. He spared only a glance at the armored one with brilliantly colored hair and the other whom she was helping up however, choosing instead to direct his attention to the one a short distance away wielding a staff.
"Well met, Dreamer. Decided to meet me in person instead of a dreamshard?"
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Post by Conrí on Jan 7, 2019 14:31:32 GMT -5
Éirín listened to Sky for a second and nodded warmly, at least, as warmly as she could manage. Rather than answer, she jerked her head to the direction from which she swore she smelled the smoke. And blinked. Where she had seen no camp before, she saw one now. "How in the hell did that happen?" she muttered under her breath. She smiled a bit and then spoke louder. "Since you two do seem to have a lot to talk about, I'm going to go check out that spot over there." The priestess pointed toward the now visible camp, which, to her eyes looked to be suitable for one person.
Éirín tried not to growl as a dull ache started to center around her forehead. She was wondering what was up with this world and her mystic abilities, or, well, her deck talking to her. The King of Swords, but swirling with weird rainbow colors. Her heart started to race ever so slightly, because she had never seen colors with the card before. She forced her breath to slow and felt her heartbeat slow. The wolf girl turned and took all of two steps forward toward the camp, mindlessly smacking a few Heartless out of her way, and then jumped back slightly, readying her staff, because there was a man in front of her. Her back snapped straight when she noticed his eyes, and she nearly dropped her staff when he addressed her. No, please, no...don't do it, deck. Please. It's not like the deck listened to her, though, because soon enough, she saw the Tower, Lovers, and Sun all spinning around the strange man and her.
The priestess wasn't sure if she blushed, because her face felt hot one instant and then ice cold the next. Suddenly, a flash of anger passed through her. Her staff moved in a blur without her entirely meaning it to at the legs of red-haired man she'd seen in whatever that thing had been when she passed through the portal. Éirín, for whatever reason, couldn't stand the tone he'd used to address her. It reminded her too much of her brother, Conrí. Dreamer? Dreamshard? So, that actually happened? The wolf girl instinctively advanced half a step and slammed her staff down to where the man's head would be, if she successfully knocked him down.
"Name's not Dreamer, madra caorach." Éirín knew she blushed, but, she made sure her eyes were steely and cold. He'snot my damned brother. Get a grip. "My name, fool, is Éirín Niall Matron Emissary of Avalon, Heiress Apparent to the throne of Tir Tairngire. In your case, go ahead and add 'pissed off goddess in training' to that damn list." A fierce wolfish growl erupted from her throat.
You know what happened the last time you tried to literally fight fate, and, he doesn't look so bad, so, what's wrong with it if the cards are right? Éirín almost laughed at her thought as to "if" the cards were right. One of them had already come true already, or, at least, true enough. A man randomly showing up in the middle of an endless battlefield and addressing her from something they both remembered was definitely like a sudden change to her plans.
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Post by aurablade97 on Jan 7, 2019 16:23:19 GMT -5
Alyson. Siris. Mizan.... It finally clicked, Skyler had a wave of sudden realization, ”David?!” She quickly hugs Lucia. After a few seconds, she realized that she was hugging someone she had admired a while back. She quickly backed away and blushed, ”Sorry, I get excited sometimes.” She listened to her old friend ask her about the whereabouts of the Alyson. That prompted Skyler to hang her head in shame. ”Umm.. About that..” A lump formed within her throat as she was about to confess her mistake. ”I.. was about to follow you guys through the portal, but I realized that I had an opportunity to find my brother... so, I took the ship.” She felt her heart dropping, knowing the her friend may not like her after betraying her trust. ”Then, I got my ship raided by a taller woman dressed in black with a white umbrella for a weapon, she locked me in the brig. She said her name was Katherine and she was finding an old friend who betrayed her. Said she wanted revenge. She was a very poor Gummi Ship driver, and she crashed into every asteroid and ship you could imagine. I finally convinced her to let me out of the brig before she killed us both. Then, we worked together very well making it out of the asteroids. She then took me out through a dark portal. Which, by the way, are terrifying. Then, she left me marooned back in Traverse Town. A few weeks later, she came back with the ship, and her driving skills had not improved at all. She crashed in the Third District, and the Alyson was beyond repair. She said she came back to help me find my brother, which was sweet even though she messed up, royally. Somehow, after of hanging around together a while, we opened up a Gummi shop, trying to work on Gummi Ships and using the older parts to make one of our own. So, we would help both of our goals. Then, one day, I started to grow fond of her. She wasn’t the stone-hearted person I thought she was.” Skyler showed Lucia her hand which had a small, emerald ring that matched her eyes. ”But about the ship, I’m incredibly sorry. I should’ve never done that to you or Siris. I hope you can forgive me” Skyler then thought, ”What happened to Siris?” Then, Skyler looked over and saw a figure approaching and Éirín didn’t seem to like him. ”Who is that?”
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Post by Ziya on Jan 7, 2019 18:27:16 GMT -5
Lucia hugged her friend back after dismissing her armor again, smirking at the blush on her face as she realized what she was doing. Her face grew a touch more somber as she explained the fate of the original Alyson, though she quickly shook her head and put her right hand on Skyler's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time the ship's been damaged beyond repair, and in fact it's in a similar state right now. All that happens is it ends up dumping the contents of my room in the hangar and backing up Aura to the computer there as well. This'll be the third time I've rebuilt her, in fact."
A much more excited smile appeared when Lucia saw the ring, which to her eyes was accompanied by a red cord stretching into the distance. "Congratulations! I uh..." She blushed a little as she paused, "actually got married about a month ago." She raised her left hand to show the ring fused with the third finger of the once prosthetic, only to blush even more as she realized that it was glaringly obvious that it was mechanical. "Yeah, a lot has changed..."
Her expression changed once again as Sky asked about Siris and the newcomer, becoming thoughtful. "The last time I saw Siris was three and a half years ago. We both joined the Knights of Heart and he was getting stronger, but I couldn't take the dysphoria anymore and resigned to study magic in the hopes of fixing myself. Obviously, it worked." She adopted her classic pose, hips tilted slightly with one hand on them, before continuing. "As for him, I-" She stopped before she could say she had no idea, as her companion's aura gave her a very good idea. "I think he's her crush, actually."
Rand's heightened senses not only caught the movement of the girl's staff, but caught it in enough time to block it easily with a Shield of Air on both strikes. His grin only grew as she named herself, clearly intending the titles to impress him. "And mine is neither madra caolrach nor fool, Éirín Niall. I am Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, Car'a'carn of the Aiel, Coramoor of the Atha'an Miere, The Promised One, King of Illian, First of the Asha'man, Last of the proper Aes Sedai, Lord of the Morning, Prince of the Dawn, Champion of the Light, and Shadowkiller."
He recited the list by rote, having heard it often enough from pompous heralds. Accompanying it was a deep bow that was clearly at least part mocking, though the majority intent was respect. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, at the very least." He readied a few weaves of Hardened Air, just in case she decided to attempt to use her staff again. If she did, then it would be taken from her.
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Post by Conrí on Jan 7, 2019 19:16:50 GMT -5
Éirín chose to listen away from most of Lucia's talk with Sky. She didn't want to eavesdrop or appear rude, after all. She growled a little louder when her staff just seemed to smack off of nothing. She pointed at the red-haired man and said extremely clearly to Lucia, forgetting for a moment about her ability with auras, even though the wolf girl had them herself. "He's not my damned crush!" Heat rose through her entire body, and she realised she was blushing again. "I don't even know him...he just...we...uh...the portal...and then..." The world felt like it was spinning. Some goddess you're being today, Éirín. You're not bloody Conrí, so, stop acting like him, okay? Again, her deck taunted her with the Lovers card right in front of her.
Rand al'Thor. I have eleven titles after my name. Oooh, I'm so bleeding special. A dark smirk spread across her lips, and, her eyes lit up with a haughty kind of mischief that she hadn't felt in ages. Not since when...no. With a sigh, she lowered herself into a crouch. There are plenty of bleedin' Heartless here, but, no, ya go for the one person who actually seems to be connected to you straight away...jus' like mo dheatháir. Since the staff wasn't very effective, she decided to give something else a try. She blinked, and was in her High Priestess Command Style. The deck that had been taunting her actually floated its cards around her bo staff. She could almost feel the chill coming off of them, and, she embraced her Oracle Sight and studied the strange, if arrogant man in front of her.
The wolf girl matched his bow, including the slight teasing. "Really, farm boy, though your titles are earned, the pleasure is mine." She wondered just how much her dig at his past, or at least what she could see was his past from the smoky image of a farmhouse floating above his head, would do. It also seemed that a weird energy was surrounding him, and actually coursing through him, from how brilliantly his red-orange aura shone. She waved her hand and surrounded Rand with four lightning infused water mines. She stuck her bo staff to the ground and used it to pole vault over him, casting Ice Torment at him, but only three icicles, careful to not over-aim and accidently hit Lucia. Once she landed, she readied herself with Chi Sharpening and jumped with her legs out and aimed at Rand's torso. The only thing she had to do was get him to move just half a step back...
As long as she broke that weird energy from around him, he might actually learn a lesson. She prepared, no matter what she hit, to flip backwards and land on the other side of her minefield. "Does this count as 'fun', Lucia?" A coy smile touched her lips. "There are thousands of enemies here, which I was planning to decimate, but, I suppose they can wait. Or, they could become part of the fun. But, I s'pose that would be a spoiler, Your Highness." Éirín had said that with enough fire and venom in her voice she was surprised she didn't spit.
The farmhouse had finally shifted to something she thought she could use effectively enough, but, she decided that Rand at least deserved a chance to try and impress her back. Her stance loosened for half a second when she realised that their auric lines were indeed connected, and, this time, the smoky image of the Lovers floated above his head, but, she knew that he wasn't. At least, not yet. The priestess found herself sticking her tongue out at the spiteful thought she just had.
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Post by aurablade97 on Jan 7, 2019 20:07:49 GMT -5
”Well, it definitely sounds like a crush,” Skyler whispered to Lucia. ”Congrats on your marriage, Lucia, I also think you seem more at peace now, as well, now that you got to transform. We haven’t set a date, quite yet. Skyler smiled at her friend. She observed the interaction between Éirín and Rand al-Thor, noticed the way they were trying to impress one another and the way Éirín attacked him. She was definitely confused. She furrowed her brow and cocked her head. ”Do you think we should jump in and help?” asked Skyler to Lucia, who seemed to be interested in the transaction, as well.
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Post by Ziya on Jan 8, 2019 2:25:03 GMT -5
An embarrassed grin appeared on Lucia's face at Sky's congratulations and comment. "Well... quite a bit's happened even since that, actually." She tapped her left arm twice, the metal giving off a subtle bell note both times. "The 'at peace' part didn't happen until we had killed a god bent on destroying the universe and I found out that I'm gonna be a mom..." She trailed off, remembering the dates etched into her mind. She knew that the main sign telling her when to rest would be her powers waning, but she was fairly certain she had at least two weeks still.
At her friend's next question she pulled herself back to reality with another grin. "Nah, they'll be fine. We'll just let Éirín and Rand-" Her eyes widened as she realized just exactly who was standing within sight of her. "Wait, Rand al'Thor? The Rand al'Thor? Oh, I'm gonna have some explaining to do if he learns about Mink..." Yet again she trailed off for a moment before realizing she hadn't actually finished her answer. "Sorry. Anyhow, that's typical for her family. Her brother, my Apprentice, acts the same way sometimes."
Rand watched all of Éirín's tricks with interest, noting the absence of any tingle as she summoned elements and yet not being able to see any weaves either. "I suppose it is true then; the Source functions differently on other worlds."
With a small sigh he triggered all four mines with Hardened Air, allowing them to detonate harmlessly before he darted to his right and drew his blade in Unfolding the Fan, a graceful arc that took less than a blink. Falling into The Leaf Floating on the Breeze, he used his horizontal blade to deflect the one icicle that would still strike him with The Branch in the Storm.
He couldn't help but smirk as she charged next, and The Stone Falls from the Mountain allowed him to step toward her diagonally before twisting to strike her back with the back of his sword. Pressing the attack he continued pivoting on his right foot and his blade rose with The Tower of Morning quickly followed by The Wood Grouse Dances, making sure to avoid the use of his blade's edge during the combination of feints' short slashes, and parries.
His tone was light and conversational as he shifted yet again into The Red Hawk Takes a Dove as his opponent named him farm boy, aiming to wear her arms down with multiple strikes, though his honest surprise and respect carried through it as well. "I see I misjudged you, Éirín. I apologize, you are a much better fighter than I realized, and I should not have mocked you. You seem to possess a similar ability to my wife Min as well, something I should like to talk about once we finish this spar."
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Post by Conrí on Jan 8, 2019 14:37:32 GMT -5
Éirín shot a glare in Sky's direction. "I don't care what it sounds like." She was even more frustrated and somewhat stunned that her mines exploded without touching him. She cocked her head at him and muttered, "What are you even talking about?" The wolf girl sighed and then stayed light on her feet, barely dodging his clearly practiced forms. It was nearly like they were dancing. A jump back to avoid a stab here, and a step to the side to avoid a slash. "I am NOT like that sheep dog!" Somehow she had managed to bellow while jumping out of reach of Rand's blade, which she noticed he was purposefully keeping the edge out of the combat.
Just as the priestess was about to inform Rand that she wasn't made from porcelain or some cailín beag lagintinneach, he spoke. Her right eyebrow raised slightly, and her smirk became slightly wolfish. Images of three women popped up above his head in the same gauzy smoke. Right when he said 'wife', her staff slipped, and she barely caught his last sword strike. Éirín cursed slightly when she had to take half a step back.
"Wives, you mean," the priestess said without trying to hide her grimace or her blush. Not like he'll take me, anyway, likely. By Éiriú, three! Then again...if I am... Upside down Queen of Cups flashed in her mind's eye, and her blush deepened considerably. She shook her head with resolve. The wolf girl lowered her staff for a second before spotting a Fire Bandit. "There is more than one way to go about this." Éirín jumped away and pole vaulted on to the back of the large Heartless and the wolf barely managed to cause the large Heartless enough irritation from her icy cards that he smacked his stomach. After that, the priestess hardly managed to guide the Fire Bandit toward Rand before she was forced to let go. She nimbly landed in a roll, wondering how the swordsman would react to that. She placed a line of water mines behind Rand, just in case the Heartless decided to keep going onward past Rand to Lucia. Éirín figured that the Keyblade Master could handle herself, but, she wouldn't allow this skirmish to interfere with Lucia and Sky's catching up, if she could help it.
In addition to that, the wolf girl ran behind the Heartless and jumped up and to the left, striking at Rand's right ribs. An image of wounds that were there flashed above her head. She wondered if that was why he decided to be annoyingly shielded, but also wondered how mad he might get if her strike actually landed. Her body fluidly slid down when she landed and she seemed to slip under her staff and spun around into a kneeling position and also jabbed her free elbow to just under where her staff should have landed. Chi sharpening was active, and she hoped that it might break her opponent's annoying dome.
Éirín was outmatched, and she knew that, but, she also decided she wasn't done with her fun yet. "Tell me, Rand, Dragon Reborn, or whatever silly title you prefer," Éirín's voice got cold, low, and dark. One more flash had given her more than enough information to go down this path. "Do you really view me as a fighter. A threat? Is that why you don't want to strike at me with your blade like a man and why you hide behind a stupid dome of what seems to be air as hard as stone? Or," She drew in a breath and a dangerous light shone in her eyes as she coolly rose to her feet as if everything else this far had been inconsequential, "are you that afraid that you'll have to add to the list of your dead women again if you actually got serious?"
Éirín breathed out and calmly slipped into a stance that was so practiced that it was almost second nature. You definitely struck into a hornet's nest there. Now, let's see if he actually lashes like you expect.
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Post by aurablade97 on Jan 8, 2019 20:09:14 GMT -5
”Wow! I’m so stupid for not noticing the arm! What happened to it?” asked Skyler is a very delayed manner. She isn’t quite one to pay attention to everything. Once she noticed, she was concerned. She also just noticed the slight belly, ”Pregnant?? Congratulations!” Skyler cried. Then, another thought hit her like a ton of bricks, ”Wait! Should you be fighting like this while carrying?” Then, Éirín responded to her comment, ”Whoa! How in the hell did she hear that?” asked a puzzled Skylar. As she was talking, she noticed her shuriken in the distance. ”Oh!! There’s my weapon” Sky abruptly ran towards it. She had a very short attention span, so easily distracted. She never meant anything by just randomly wandering off mid-conversation. Once, she began to approach it, a few Heartless materialized in front of it blocking Sky from her weapon. She, unfortunately, didn’t have the ability to call her weapon like most people do. As, she backed away, she bumped into a few more Soldiers and Armored Knights. She was flanked, ”Uhhhh..”
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Post by Ziya on Jan 8, 2019 21:41:58 GMT -5
If this were an anime, Lucia would have sweatdropped as Skyler bounced from one topic to another, then promptly got distracted by her weapon. She actually did facepalm when she was promptly surrounded by Heartless again. Summoning Requiem's Resolve again with an amused sigh, Lucia created ten shards of crystal before her, all glowing brilliantly before she sent them flying at the dark creatures with a cry. "Crystal Rain: Mode Light!"
Each crystal slammed into the head of a Heartless and detonated, creating ten small explosions of Light that took out those behind Sky. Lucia then used Flash Step to get in front of her, folding her mechanical hand back to expose the cannon withing her arm and fire a concentrated blast of Twilight at the foes between them and the weapon.
As the smoke cleared and she unfolded her hand again Lucia did her best to answer her friend's questions with a chuckle. "One, my brother-in-law got possessed and cut it off, so I made a new one. Two, thank you, and I can fight without risk until my powers start to fade in about two weeks." She was about to stop when something near Skyler's weapon caught her eye. "Three, is that your book with an aura?"
Rand’s grin slid as Éirín revealed yet more about his past, reminding him of the likely fate of everyone he knew and loved. Another title drifted to the forefront of his thoughts as Cutting the Wind allowed him to dodge the Heartless and thrust into its unprotected side to weaken it before the creature ran headlong into the mines, decimating what vitality it had left.
Again the girl came after him, this time aiming for wounds that were no longer there, though a flash of irritation caused Rand’s counter of Lightning Strikes the Oak to be only half effective as he failed to notice her intention to roll under her staff, forcing him to block her enhanced elbow with Willow Embracing the Breeze to gain some distance again.
Then she mentioned his former list, and his rage boiled over. The very air around him seemed to darken as his eyes flashed, as if reality itself was bending to his mood. His voice was cold and quiet, bare steel without anything to cover it.
”Visions of my life or not, there’s a limit to what I will tolerate. I’ve treated you with respect, but if you wish to see my full might then so be it.” Drawing deeper of Saidin, he wove Earth and Fire into Riven Earth beneath her, the longer dimension being to her left and right as the ground trembled and exploded upward in a five foot by ten foot area.
At the same instant he split his flows and wove Fire, Air, and Water into a cloud above and slightly behind the first weave that lashed out with lightning over a thirty foot area, and pure Air into three ten foot tall and half again as wide tornadoes just before the explosion that raced toward Éirín.
A moment later he wove Earth and Fire yet again into Arrows of Fire, the ten thread-like filaments lashing out at the girl before boring into the ground behind, melting and vaporizing anything in their path. ”I need no blade to deal with you, and if you are done being a Light-blinded fool I suggest not trying this bloody idea again. If you’ve survived this, at least.”
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Post by Conrí on Jan 8, 2019 22:34:24 GMT -5
Éirín released her Priestess style and slipped into her Magician Style. She visibly winced when Rand seemed to just radiate power and rage. Instantly, she knew she screwed up, but, it was too late--her provocation got her exactly what she asked for. To the extent that her presence in the Spirit realm seemed to be trying to pull her physical body there to protect her, but, she ended up needing to use Dark Protect to keep herself from dying. Still, in this form, she managed to be able to actually think and use her magic with less inhibition. She laid down as many Ice mines in front of her as she could and then used Ice Torment on the mines to activate them.
An ice wall shot up in front of her. The wolf girl then started to get back, but, the arrows still managed to get her arms and legs. Nothing serious, but, enough to teach her a lesson. She looked at the red-haired hellion in front of her and just dropped to her knees. Her words had cut him far worse than any sword could, and his words managed to put her in her place. The pretending was gone. She rocked back and forth a little. "I'm sorry, Rand." The priestess licked her lips. Part of her still wanted to be fighting, but, she pushed against it. She felt tears on her cheeks again. "Please, let it stop. I went too far. Way too far. I don't mind the sparring, but, please, by the light of Lugus, please make all of this craziness stop, King of Swords."
Éirín sighed. So much for keeping her other ability in. "I will explain, if you let me live. Be warned, though, if you decided to let me die, I won't hesitate to use my last resort to try to save myself...but, I really don't want to do that, because it would mean taking control over you, my Sun." The priestess felt her cheeks heat, and moved to cover them up, but, then she managed to look into Rand's eyes and shook with fear. "I deserve the storm in those eyes right now, but, what I wouldn't give for it to blow over." She forced herself to stand and face him, but she put her staff behind her back and raised her hands up slightly. "This is as close as I get to bowing, Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, Car'a'carn of the Aiel, Coramoor of the Atha'an Miere, The Promised One, King of Illian, First of the Asha'man, Last of the proper Aes Sedai, Lord of the Morning, Prince of the Dawn, Champion of the Light, and Shadowkiller." She bit her lip, and actually felt her hands trembling as she fumbled over some of his titles slowly.
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Post by aurablade97 on Jan 8, 2019 23:10:38 GMT -5
Skyler felt like such an idiot! She had went and gotten herself trapped again and Lucia, once again had to save her. Twice within five minutes, a great way to impress her former crush. ”Thank you so much for saving me. I swear I don’t mean to be a damsel in distress” Skyler quickly grabbed her shuriken, Ventispinner. ”Next time, I’ll be ready”
Then, Lucia pointed out a glowing book. ”Nope, it’s not mine,” Skyler picked it up, and the book was grey and leathery. It had the words Inverted Realities: Don’t Get It Twisted. Skyler’s curiosity got the better of her, ”I’m going to have to take a look” She opened the book, and started looking at the first page, and it freaked her out, because the first page was a picture of herself reading the very book she read. ”Okay... wow, that’s not freaky at all”, Then, she saw the next page which contain an illustration of she and Lucia being sucked into the book with a pink vortex. ”Now, that’s ridiculous, you can’t actually go into boo-“ The very pink vortex she was reading about emerged from the leathered book and started to pull her inwards. She completely disappeared in the book before she could even say “help.”
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Post by Ziya on Jan 9, 2019 1:13:12 GMT -5
Lucia was immediately wary of the book, being well versed in the Hundred Acre Wood from her time here on Radiant Garden. Unfortunately, before she could warn Skyler she had already opened the thing, and their fates were sealed. Stabbing her keyblade into the ground gave her just enough time to shout at Éirín and Rand before she too was sucked in. "Hey! Don't let anything happen to this book or we'll die!"
Full of rage and pain, Rand took one look at Éirín standing before him, tears on her face and fear in her eyes, and realized what he had just done. Instantly the dark aura faded, and he nearly fell to his knees in shock as his weaves unraveled. "I... no Éirín, I'm just as sorry. I didn't even realize I was capable of that level of fury any more, nor do I ever want to fall back to that again."
Abruptly he realized that she was still hurt, and another face appeared for just a moment, short brown hair ending just before a bruised neck, though the expression was the same. In an instant he was by her, looking over the wounds before deftly weaving all five Powers together to heal what he had caused. The instant the wounds finished he released Saidin.
Rand attempted to explain, to give at least some reason as to why he had done that. "I truly am sorry. I can't feel them anymore, and I know what that means. I've been here long enough to know what the Heartless do. My world, and with it my wives, my children, everything I fought to save is gone. I won, but still lost it all." Tears of his own fell as his knees gave out, hitting the blue-gray soil with a dull thud as he wept for the first time since he arrived.
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Post by Conrí on Jan 9, 2019 9:37:32 GMT -5
Éirín heard what was said about the book, but was slightly more concerned with her own skin. That was until she realised she got her wish, and Rand not only stopped his onslaught, he apologised for it. She flinched from fighting back the urge to run to him when he nearly fell to his knees. She had reached out to him without thinking about it and quickly wiped her tears away with the hand that had been outstretched. The wolf girl was in too much shock to really speak. So, she just stared at him, until she realised what she was doing and averted her eyes. Surely, her cheeks had colored, if only slightly.
The burning in her arms and legs reminded her that she had been hurt, which brought her back to the situation at hand. The book! She just managed to summon Malestrom over the book, figuring the book was better a little wet than taken by the Heartless. It was the best she could do, since running was out of the question in her current state. She managed to jump slightly and stare in amazement when the red-haired man was right next to her in an instant. The priestess trembled when he reached out to her, but, she didn't dare back away. She maintained calm breathing when he looked her over. Éirín knew Rand was only checking her wounds, but, his presence this close was actually somewhat calming. She found herself studying him almost more intently than he was looking over her wounds. "They're just scratches. I can--" A sharp gasp escaped her, and she suddenly felt ice cold. Her body felt oddly drained, but, her wounds were gone.
Still, the priestess found herself lost in his blue-grey eyes, causing the memories of that incident in the portal to finally solidify. If she needed any more proof, Rand suddenly started to explain what had happened that caused her comments to push him just that far. A knot tied in her stomach, and she stared at her feet, clasping her hands in front of her. Another chill slid down the wolf girl's back as she saw the tears. Right as he started to fall, Éirín found herself lowering to his level. Her gaze refused to shift from his eyes. With a shaking hand, the priestess tried to wipe away the tears from his cheeks. "You have no right to apologise to me." Realising her words were fairly blunt, she bit her lip and unconsciously ran her other hand through her hair. "What I meant...is..." Her tongue seemed to stick thick in her mouth and her throat had dried out. She swallowed and nearly coughed, which sent her forward, and she found her two extremely shaky arms around his shoulders.
As soon as she felt her grip on Rand tighten, Éirín moved her arms back to their sides, though she felt a slight twinge of regret when she did. "Your wives have much too strong of hearts to actually be dead." She felt her breath start to become uneven. "My own world was plunged into the same darkness, which is why I tried to stop whatever was going on...there. In any case, they aren't dead, and, your world can likely wake again, so, it's not lost." The wolf girl groaned and touched her forehead, wincing. King of Swords, with a Sun that seemed to shine brilliantly on her. Lovers. The deck seemed even more certain now.
As much as the priestess didn't mind being this close to Rand, she remembered the book again. "We really do need to get to that book. The storm won't hold off everything, and, Conrí, madra caorach that he is, will still kill his sister with so many quips if I actually managed to kill his Master." She silently added telling the farm boy about Keyblades to her list of things to explain to him.
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