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Fluffesu rolled 6 100-sided dice:
80, 73, 97, 10, 84, 55
Total: 399 (6-600)
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 Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 5:26 pm
 Character: Roseryn
Stage: Apprentice
Level: 1
Luck: 1
Creature: x6 Vinara: Level 15, LUK ≥ 1
Success Rate: Vinara: 91-100
Win x 1: 15
Loss x 5: 7.5 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 7.5
Total: 53 EXP ((0/1 --> 8/10)), levels to 10 (+9 levels), +27 stat points to distribute, +1 LUK ((LUK: 1 --> 2)), +5 LUK EXP ((LUK: 2 --> 3; LUK EXP: 2/3))
Word Count Required: 1800+
Final Word Count: 1830
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:40 pm
"Iris." The hiss came softly through the darkness, slipping through still air like a snake through grass. But the girl didn't stir, tucked away safely and warmly as she was, bundled under many blankets to protect the sickly child from night air. Roseryn's lavender gaze flicked warily about, as if the unlikely event that someone else heard the whisper had come to pass. When the house remained silent, he swallowed and tried again, perching precariously at the edge of his sibling's bed as he quietly tried to rouse her. "Iris." The more incessant hiss was accented by a light shake of her shoulder, fearful that anything too jarring would cause her to wake with a shriek.
But the girl only groaned softly, flicking her fingers dismissively at the touch and rolling away from Rose with a quiet huff.
Despite his trepidation at the situation, a tiny smile emerged across the Dovaa boy's lips. Brushing stray curls from his face, Rose leaned over her, peering down at his sister's face even as her expression scrunched at the intrusion. "Don't you want to play in the snow?" He asked softly.
Iris cracked open an eye, blearily scrutinizing him and then slowly taking in the rest of her surroundings. "Time izzit?" She demanded groggily, reaching up to rub sleep from her eye with a balled fist.
"Early," Rose replied with a wavering smile. "Very early."
Iris sat up, glaring past him and over to her window, where she could see absolutely no trace of sunrise. Her expression puckered. "It's too dark. Too cold," she complained. "Can't we go later? When the sun is out? It'll be brighter and warmer, too..." Even as she spoke, Iris collected an armload of blankets and dragged them up to cover herself. Purple eyes flicked back to her brother. "Why are you awake, anyway?"
Rose groaned, turning to flop back against Iris' bed, across her outstretched legs, covered by several thick quilts. "I won't be able to go when the sun is up," he argued, trying his best to sound reasonable. "I'll be lucky if I'm allowed off the grounds between studying and practice and-" His nose scrunched and his lips puckered, "-tutoring." Iris giggled softly at his disdain. He rolled to face her, perching on his elbows. "So I don't have time to sleep. There's still so much to do. If you want to go, we have to go now."
Fingers plucked at the blankets, hesitantly drawing at stray threads. Iris bit her lip. "You don't think Father would like it if we left, huh?"
"That's only if he found out. And then proceeded to care for any other reason than-" Roseryn's face shifted, eyes going wide and lips tugging down into a gaping frown as his brow's pinched together. "-'How dare we have the gall to think for ourselves. This is not how perfect puppets behave!'" More giggling from Iris, enough that she raised a hand to cover her mouth and hide her enthusiasm. After giving her a moment to settle, Rose turned his smile back to her. "So, do you want to?"
The rest of their indoor activities were carried out in silence. Iris scooted from beneath her blankets and tip-toed across the hardwood floor to her closet. She bundled herself in long-sleeve shirts, overcoat, cowl, and hood before struggling to pull fur-lined boots over her feet. The overabundance of clothing did little to aid her endeavors, but with only a little push of assistance from her brother (and maybe a little help tying the laces), the two Dovaa children were sliding out Iris' window, down to the flat, untouched snow below with a crunch.
"We really couldn't use the door?" Iris grumbled as Rose shut the window behind them.
"We'd have had to walk past everyone's bedrooms," the older boy explained. "Besides, then there would be a trail leading straight from the front door. That's pretty incriminating."
"But there's a trail here too..." She retorted as her brother collected her hand in his and started off.
Roseryn scoffed. "No one will look in back."
Iris rolled her eyes, squeezing Rose's hand and using him as a balance as she took wide, leaping steps to match his pace. The crisp snow crunched under her boots, and every step either of them took left a jarring indent in the endless white expanse, only marred by the occasional leafless tree or scraggly bush. "Does it make you sad?" Iris asked as she hoped forward, eagerly following her brother's guidance.
"Hm? Does what?" Rose asked as he led them past the large, thick stone wall that marked the Vayne family property.
"That you have to sneak out, in the dead of night, like a ninja, to spend time with me. I'm your sister. I should be able to have you whenever I want you. Besides," her voice turned low, barely making it up to Roseryn's ears. "It's not like Father will have to worry about my interference for long, anyway. I heard Embryl say I'll be lucky if-"
"Not that Embryl has any business talking about you, anyway."
"-I heard Embryl say," Iris continued persistently, "that I'll be lucky if I live long enough to choose my clan." Slowly, she drew to a halt, gaze dipping down and grip loosening on her brother's hand. "That's probably why Father doesn't want you spending time with me. I'm a waste of your time..."
Roseryn paused at her side. With a soft sigh, he turned to face her, and sank down into a crouch to be on eye-level with the small Dovaa girl. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," he whispered, reaching up to pet her cheek and catch her gaze. "You'll live a long and happy life, and you'll be able to do with it exactly whatever you please. And I will forever value your company and wisdom." As an afterthought, he added, "Father is a horrible person, anyway, and you shouldn't care about his desires one way or the other."
Somehow, hearing that made her feel better, although Rose was at a loss for precisely why she was pleased about being the daughter of an oppressive Dovaa man. He humored himself be imagining something he'd said was actually uplifting.
"Anyway, this is supposed to be a happy time. I didn't drag you out in the dark of night just to be sad. You can do that on your own time." Iris cast him a hopelessly bemused smile and rolled her eyes. "I thought I'd take you to see the vinara. They seem like the sort of cute, harmless thing you'd enjoy. During the day, you'd probably mistake them for snowflakes, but at night, their eyes glow."
Iris nudged her glasses farther up her nose. "Glow? What makes them do that? They have fire inside?"
"Doubt it," Rose scoffed. "They melt like snow, too."
He led them just a short distance off of the family property, a good ways away from any of the incoming roads and toward a small glade. The usually large, and bushy green trees had lost their foliage and offered little shade from the moonlight. While the ground was usually covered in a soft layer of grass and dotted with yellow flowers, now all that remained was an untouched blanket of snow.
And hovering just off the ground, tiny snow-dots. They came in little clusters and moved almost according to the way the wind blew them. They hummed around each other, hovering and creating soft tinkling sounds. And, as Rose had promised, the only thing that truly defined them from snow, was the warm glow from their golden eyes.
Iris turned to cast her gaze back to Roseryn. When he gave her an encouraging nod, she hummed softly and scuttled off through the snow, lifting her feet high as she approached one of the clusters. "Be careful," her brother warned. "They look like nothing, but their wings are sharp. I don't want you to get hurt."
She didn't pay him any mind, and instead raised her gloved hands to make a cup to coax one of the vinara into coming nearer to her. It flitted ever closer under her command, and Iris drew it toward her face for inspection. "So small and puffy," she mumbled as she looked it over. "It looks more fuzzy than snowy. With glass wings... Big eyes. And if they really melt when they die, they can't have any predators. Nothing would benefit from eating them. They must live carefree lives..." She sighed softly, extended her fingers, and blew out a puff of air to send the creature on its way.
She turned back to Rose only to see him spinning his rapier through the air, cutting dangerously close to a few tiny little bodies. "What are you doing?!" Iris demanded, taking long, quick strides to reach him.
"Don't you want to see one melt? They shouldn't really be made of ice, so they shouldn't actually melt, but they do. Or at least, the books say they do." His weapon stilled in his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, the blade arced up and sliced against one of the vinara's tiny bodies.
Iris' face contorted in horror, and before the tiny frozen droplets of the insect's body could even crash to the ground, she flung herself at Rose. "Why would you do that?!" She shrieked, raising tiny fists to batter his chest. "It did nothing to you! It can't do anything to you!"
Roseryn's eyes widened, and his arms snapped up to restrain her wrists. Not because he cared that she was hitting him, but because he needed her to stop this commotion at once. "Iris. Iris, stop!" He hissed pleadingly, holding her by the arms and willing her to stop her senseless shrieking. "We'll be caught if you- That's enough!" One of her arms jerked free of his grasp, and she knocked the side of his head with enough force to make him wince.
"You're right. You're right," he pleaded in a hushed tone as she continued to babble, 'How dare you? Why would you so thoughtlessly kill something so harmless? You don't deserve to carry a sword if you're only going to use it for evil.' "You're right," Rose repeated again, still hesitantly holding one of her arms while he smoothed the other over her shoulder.
When she quieted, she took a gulp of air, and stared down at the spot where the tiny melting body would've been. The other vinara had departed quickly and quietly and without notice, leaving Iris feeling a dreadful sense of empty at the loss. "You took it away from them forever," she whispered. "He could've been a friend. Family. And he's gone."
Rose swallowed down his comment about it just being a bug. How they'd all die, anyway as soon as the snow thawed. Instead, he hummed in a low drawl, "Iris, you're right. I won't do it again. Promise."
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