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 Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 3:59 pm
Veryan had attempted to take shelter from the icy winds at his bonded's neck, beneath her hair. Vanya was fairing only slightly better with her fine fur; a traveling cloak would have been a welcome gift from the spirits about now. She could only assume the Flutter Queen was managing about as well. The picture she painted of the situation created a clear image in the Seer's mind, though she was unclear on just how she was supposed to help with such a predicament. The tree encapsulated in ice? For once, she would have welcomed fiery results from unleashing the chaos she kept within, but the risk was too great. With no way to control it even if the spirits did grant her wish, Vanya had to dismiss the passing idea as foolish.
Instead, she neared the fallen Queen slowly and carefully, her staff feeling out the ground before her while she took small steps with care not to slip on any icy patches. If she'd had any doubts about the Queen's story before, they were dispelled by the despair and desperation she heard in her vocal pleas. She beseeched the trees for help, for information, for knowledge of those within...
Vanya paused, gnawing at her bottom lip in thought before making a decision. She wasn't sure what to do about the ice, but she could try to help in this way. Kneeling beside the Queen, Vanya took a deep breath before placing her right hand on Belwen's shoulder. Then she placed the left against the ice that Belwen had been previously pounding with her fists ineffectually. She closed her eyes in concentration, but also to protect them from freezing in the chilling winds. Focus, Vanya. She concentrated on the Queen's aura, the strange yet familiar feel of it, then reached out to find any similar to it. The Tree before them contained its own powerful aura, dampened by the ice. It was not full strength, Vanya could sense that much. Though the ice concealed it, it did little to weaken Vanya's Sight. She needed to reach within the Tree's glow, seek out any signs of life within...
The Flutter aura was still new and strange to her, but Vanya had only the Queen's to use as an example. Even so, it was difficult to sort out any similar sorts of auras within the Tree's. However, something had drawn her attention upwards. Like light in darkness, auras drew the Seer's attention in the haze of the realm she viewed. Reaching within the Tree was proving challenging, but something up in the branches drew her attention upward. The individual auras weren't strong, not yet, but it was enough for her to pick out several high overhead. Weak auras...in the branches? If she hadn't known better, she would have come to the conclusion that these were acorns, if they were back in Laisidhiel.
Could it be though? In this cold?
Her voice was flat, her energy focused on trying to seek out more information. "Life...up above, in the branches. Four, five...maybe a half dozen? Pale though, dim, like young ones...or acorns," she admitted, though it had been only a guess. Wait...though they seemed connected to these Trees, according to the Queen, did Flutters also come from acorns? Though she had no confirmation yet, Vanya's earlier suspicions were growing ever stronger that the Faun of Laisidhiel had much in common with these Flutters of Forn and Harn Sheedhiel.
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Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2017 3:51 pm
The Flutter Queen cried in pain. Her tears turning to tiny little ice crystals falling to the frozen base of Harn Sheedhiel. Her head hung low, energy nearly sapped and emotionally spent. She failed this colony. Her frail body grew stiff from the frigid temperatures and her wings simply stopped fluttering, hanging like sheets of ice from her back.
"Help me," she whimpered, to the tree, to Vanya, to the air.
Belwen startled at Vanya's hand on her shoulder. Did the Seer trust her now? Could Belwen trust the stranger from outside the clearing? She had to, she surmized. She prayed to the trees that Vanya could be there for them. The visions she received when Vanya touched the tree were overwhelming. The jolt shook her because she could not only see beyond the ice, but she could feel Harn. It was scared and felt alone. It didn't know what was happening. From the center of the floor, where Harn's heart-tree* usually grows small in a tiny pool of life-giving dew, stood a tree, tall, covered in frost, but healthy - full of life. The sight brought relief in the darkness of despair, but it still didn't reveal why this was happening. Why Harn was in such turmoil.
The size of Harn's heart-tree was larger than normal. It was in full bloom. The thought slipped away as she heard Vanya's voice, soft and muffled through the blowing snow. WHAT? Life in the branches? Was Vanya right? Seeds didn't grow in the winter, it couldn't be flutter seeds or flutterpillars. Then what was it?
Her heart sank. "What am I going to do?" Pleading with Vanya, she took her hands from the tree. Belwen had to save the seeds. They couldn't survive this ice, but Vanya said she saw life. How did she see life, and how did she know? "We need to get those seeds before they die. They can't survive."
"How do you harvest yours?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:30 pm
Lisian sighed at its words. There was so much hate behind them, so much built up emotion. He wondered how it managed such a great performance. Had it come here ready to battle with words? There wasn’t anyone needing it that was for sure, but at the same time something nibbled at the back of his mind. Why would it show up now? Now of any time? It didn’t feel right.
There was no reason within it, meaning there was no reasoning with it. He heard what it had to say, but didn’t hesitate to cast the words aside. It was just focused on itself and its needs. It was quick to tell him about them, but it didn’t sound like it even took a moment to consider the words exchanged. If it hadn’t taken Xiu in the first place then it wouldn’t have had caused her additional pain. He’d seen it on Xiu, he wouldn’t deny that, but it all could have been avoided at the very beginning, as far as he was concerned. What was it that it so desperately needed from the seed it had stolen? He wouldn’t even bother with wondering why it had done it. That’s how thieves got into your head, and he wasn’t about to let that happen.
With a flick of his wrist the storm drew away from its body, but Lisian continued to leave the storm up to make a great barrier between them and to hide his identity. He was done with words. It was getting them no where and with his Queen and home in distress it was more important that he finish this up quickly than to continue to exchange words with her. He’d give the thief a chance to leave, but he wasn’t concerned about hurting it if it came to that. He hoped he wouldn’t need to, he needed to save himself for whatever they’d need to help their home.
“This is getting us no where so you've been released. You cannot convince me and you wont listen to reason. This conversation will just continue on with nothing gained. Leave the clearing and search for the one in aid outside of it- there is no one within it that needs your help. The longer you keep this up the more endanger whoever it is that called you becomes. You can’t abandon them, can you?”
'If it was even a true statement.’ he thought. 'May have been a ploy to scope the area out. Can’t be sure with this type.’
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Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:18 pm
Seeds. That was close enough for Vanya to confirm her suspicions. So, she could treat these seeds like acorns then. But if that was so...the Queen's words were highly concerning. In this cold, could the seeds survive? It didn't sound like it, and yet...
Vanya frowned, focusing her Sight on the pale glowing auras above. Though faint, the auras remained steady, despite the cold and the wind. It was strange, but reassuring at least. Drawing her focus back to the entity beside her, Vanya muttered, "I can't explain it, but the seeds seem...stable for now, at least. I sense no distress. In my home, the caretakers monitor the acorns in the branches. At the first signs of developing color of the life within, they're harvested and brought into the tree for safe-keeping until they are ready to hatch. It has not always been so, but as of late, we have had brethren with wings to harvest the acorns and it has made the process much easier. Before, with others like myself, as you see, we had to risk the climb out onto the branches without such aid."
She could understand the Queen's urgency in getting to the seeds above, but at least the steady auras had been reassuring. That being said, with this wind and ice, how could they get to them? Vanya couldn't fly, and the Queen didn't seem to be fairing well in the cold. The ice would be a hazard to either of them with their hooves. "Is there some other way to get inside?" she asked, reaching out with her Sight at the same time. The tree was giving off a steady bright glow, but she reached within trying to find anything more. She hadn't been focusing on the Queen directly, instead on the tree, so she hadn't realized the Queen had received her own vision from within Harn. Vanya kept searching, reaching deeper until she found a brilliant, pulsing light. An aura all its own, she couldn't help but think that she'd seen something similar before, but...
Like an aura, she could see dual layers to the light. The dark, deep green that matched the Queen's aura was there, but the other tone...was rapidly changing, sometimes faster than she could track or name the colors. Red, yellow, blue, red, blue, the colors flickered across her mind and even at this distance, she could feel a phantom sensation of the turmoil within. Such auras were difficult to describe precisely due to the fluctuation, however, it tended to imply that an individual was under stress, confused, with emotions flaring wildly.
"What...is that? the Seer caught herself asking aloud. Not that she expected the Queen to be able to answer her. "There's...something happening inside. A brilliant force, but...in turmoil. Fear, anger, pain...too much, too much..." Vanya pulled back as the force began drawing her into its swirling chaos. "It seemed almost like...no, not the tree's heart...but very close to it. I've only seen such a thing from one under great distress...and never to such a degree."
----- Tears pricked the corners of the angel's eyes as she continued pushing forward through the swirling winds. She had no thought other than escaping the trap to confront this invisible foe beyond. She had no combat training nor knowledge. What it was she thought to do once she got there, she had no idea. She wasn't thinking that far ahead.
When the winds abruptly vanished and the force she'd been fighting along with them, Takeko lurched forward, nearly colliding with the ground if she'd hadn't dug her hands into the earth to brace herself. Free...she was free! The voice soon followed in confirmation, but what he said only further incited the angel's anger. He...he sought to dismiss her like a misbehaving child? After what she'd just learned? The cold arrogance she felt was chilling; no true caring creature could be so heartless as this monster that seemed set on driving her away.
Like the sun breaking through an overcast sky, the truth of it all hit Takeko in an instant. He was trying to drive her from the clearing. That had been his intent all along. Everything he'd said or done had been to that end. She had no proof that anything he said was true, but if anything about Xiulan had been true, then not only was this the one responsible for taking her, but clearly he was cold and unfeeling; a true monster.
What if this was the problem she'd been called here to solve?
What if this monster was the reason she was here?
With a strength and determination she'd not been aware she'd possessed before this day, Takeko climbed to her feet and stood tall. Well, as tall as the small, motherly angel could stand. She flared her wings, shaking them to clear any signs of dust or magic mist from her feathers as she fixed her stare on the lingering wall nearby. There were a few common descriptions that came to mind when those who knew her were asked to describe Takeko: soft-spoken, easy to laugh, caring, generous, devoted, and a baker with a sweet tooth.
Aggressive wasn't one of those. However, another word was and many Pae'il knew the village matriarch by that title long before any other.
Mother.
And whether what this stranger said about Xiulan was truth or lies, it had stirred something within the quiet angel that had never been seen before...because no one had ever dared suggest threatening one of her babies before. It seemed that within the docile lamb lay a raging mama bear.
"You're right; there is no reason here clearly," she shot back coldly, reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes and clear her vision. "I was told to come here, to this very rock, in order to protect others from some danger here. Some threat that only I could handle. I didn't know what that was, but I'm starting to see it now. I will NOT be shooed away like an errant child! Especially not by some cold, heartless monster!" Her vision locked on the hazy figure beyond the wall and she could see nothing else. Logic, reason, fear, all pushed away. This was the target that had caused her and her family so much pain. It was right here. This was the evil force that had to be set right. She just needed to get through--
No, she didn't.
Crouching with wings flared, she shot back one final response to the stranger. "You're not the first corrupt threat I've had to remove from this clearing." Perhaps Kane had been too much of an influence lately, but the angel dismissed that worry for now and leapt upwards. Her wings beat with slow, but powerful strokes, fighting and climbing her way up into the sky. She checked her altitude compared to the wall of swirling mist and kept climbing. He couldn't possibly maintain that forever. And even if he could, she'd been pushing through it before; it wasn't solid. With enough speed, even if he could maintain it to this altitude and prevent her from going over, she'd just go through it.
When she felt she'd reached a suitable height, Takeko turned her gaze below, fixed on the dark figure beyond the wall, tucked her wings...and dove.
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Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 4:48 pm
The Flutter Queen's cries and pleas for help echo in the Fae Clearing.
When the feeling hits Lisian, he hears a small ringing sound from deep within himself. Not the normal call the queen uses for help. He has a choice. Stay and uphold the Queen's orders, or follow the feeling that merely seems like an intuition.
-----------------------
A strong wind sweeps up from the south, to carry the chill further north. The North Wind pulls and tugs on the icy influence that is stuck to a tree in the Fae Clearing.
Snow blows up with the wind, swirling around in the breeze and for only a moment, a figure stands watching Takeko. She disappears in the snow and wind. Blink and she's gone.
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:50 pm
Her words fell on deaf ears. Lisian had already checked out of whatever lies she wanted to spew and instead, took up a stance ready to defend himself if she so choose to ignore his generosity. He had a bad feeling she wouldn't, but action was better than letting her continue her abusive words. She had some guts coming to such a sacred place and demeaning it. It was making him sick.
All thoughts halted and his ears perked, but it wasn't a sound like could be heard on the air. With trained efficiency from his daily meditation, he cleared his mind and focused on his inner soul. What was this ringing? Its 'sound' wasn't one he'd trained to 'hear' when his Queen or the other's were in trouble. Who's was it? It was both familiar and foreign to him.
“Thanks to you holding me up, someone else is in trouble.” He gritted his teeth. He'd been right. He had been spending way too much time dealing with the thief. What if there was something wrong with his Queen and she couldn't summon him like she normally would? Or it had to do with the tree's distress? His eyes caught movement as the thief shot up into the air. There was not a moment to mull it over. His Queen's safety was more important than her own command to him.
“I'm finished with this. I have other matters to attend to-someone else who needs my help.” He dismissed the storm with a quick slash of his arm before diving to the side as she dove down to him. He rolled out of her way, bouncing back up onto his feet before squatting low and pushing himself into the air. He spread his thin wings, using his momentum to glide quickly away from her and hopefully out of sight. Even if not, his mind was on his next issue.
What was happening? Who was summoning him?
It didn't take long for him to get into ear shot of his Queen's cries. He beat his wings, pushing him as fast as he could go. Two figures came into view, his Queen's figure obviously distraught and another... Who was this? He instantly went on the defensive, but as he neared it didn't look as though it was harming the Queen. Instead, they were staring up into the branches together? Wait, the tree was encased in ice! Something was definitely wrong.
He flared his wings to slow himself, landing at a run coming up to the pair, "My Queen. I felt a summoning call, though an unusual one. What's going on? What can I do?"
He slowed to a stop, placing himself between the pair and looking at the other before giving his Queen a questioning look. Can we trust this one? Did they hurt you?
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:54 pm
Wind whistling past her ears, Takeko couldn't hear a word from her target below. With all of her attention on her dive, she likely would have dismissed him even if she could have heard him anyway. What was her plan exactly? It wasn't much of one. She was just so furious, so outraged, she wasn't thinking clearly. With no other weapon than herself, the only course of action that had occurred to her was to fly over the wall and dive at him. Because, she certainly looked like someone who could tackle a foe out of the air, right?
The dark figure became clear as the winds and mist were suddenly cast aside. She had only a brief moment to catch sight of him before he evaded her. No! The ground was coming up fast...too fast. The angel's wings flared to serve as air brakes, slowing her, but not enough if she kept heading towards the ground. Shoulder and back muscles straining, Takeko shifted her momentum to pull out of the dive and swoop forward, shooting out and across the clearing. Close. A little too close. And she'd be feeling that soreness tomorrow. That's what she got for trying to pull such crazy acrobatic stunts when she normally did little with her wings other than carry herself to and from a few select locations. This wasn't exactly such calm and leisurely flying.
Inertia carried her halfway across the clearing as she brought herself around again. Angels may be decent fliers, but they relied on forward movement to keep aloft. Her enemy...had those been...butterfly wings? Larger than a true butterfly, of course, but the shape and the way he'd moved so quickly to dodge her and get aloft...
A flash out of the corner of her eye ripped Takeko from her thoughts. What was...? Nothing. There was nothing there. What had she gotten herself into? She was out here, trying to attack strangers and now her mind was playing tricks on her. It wouldn't be the first time she'd seen things that weren't there in the clearing. No, get ahold of yourself, Takeko! she reprimanded herself, turning focus back to the task at hand. You're here to stop something dangerous. A kidnapper is certainly something dangerous. You've got to do something before he hurts another family like he has yours! Bracing herself against the chill on the wind, Takeko wheeled around and flapped, regaining some lost speed from the turn to follow the dark stranger.
The air was getting colder now, she could feel a certain stiffness in her wings and the frost and snow in the air collected in her feathers. It was getting too dangerous to fly, at least for someone with as little experience as she clearly had. Getting as close as possible before landing, Takeko was relieved to note that at least the dark stranger had stopped too.
But, now he wasn't alone.
She halted, hesitating as reason began to push its way back to the forefront of her mind. Yes, she was still filled with righteous fury at the stranger who had taken her precious baby...but what was her plan? She had no true fighting skill, and now, he wasn't alone. She was outnumbered, unarmed, and who knew what these strangers were capable of (aside from kidnapping, clearly). Takeko slowed, then halted, wrapping her arms around her against the cold. The wind whipped a few loose strands of hair this way and that in her face, but she simply stared at the gathered trio, mind racing to decide what to do.
----- Vanya had let her head fall into one hand while waiting on an answer from the Queen to what she'd said. It was Veryan, peeking out from his bonded's hair that spoke next, however. "Vanya. There's another one coming. Male," he said quietly, though not so quietly that the Queen couldn't have also heard. The Seer took a deep breath, but did not turn towards the new voice, only flicked an ear towards the source. Yes, another aura, dimmer than the Queen, but similar in color and 'feeling'. Another of these 'Flutters', it seemed. It was not the aura, but the tension in his voice that caused her to tense in turn. Calm, Vanya, it's just one more of them. Nothing to fear. Keep calm. If her conclusions were correct, she need not fear these 'strangers' as they may not remain strangers for long if they could just get past whatever trouble--
Veryan froze in panic, shortly before he felt his bonded do the same. Oh no...no...not one of them. He'd noted the golden glow of her halo as another stranger followed the male Flutter into the icy winds that surrounded them. Vanya had gone stiff, her heart seeming to skip a beat, then stop. The nearby golden glow of the fourth individual's aura struck fear and terror into her very core. Her breath was shallow and quick as a single thought filled her mind.
Blood Pae.
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Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:00 pm
"Is there some other way to get inside?"
While Belwen couldn't see the aura as Vanya did, she did feel the pulse of unknown energy. "In the roots! I feel it."
The security hatches! Maybe they could get in through those. She wasn’t as familiar with them on Harn as she was her own tree so she crossed her fingers and begged Forn to help lead them to a way in. But the biting cold wind sure made it hard to move.
Oh thank that beautiful life-giving tree for answering her prayers! The dark flutter savior of hers arrived at her side just in time. “We have to find the security hatches, we have to get inside!”
The queen trudged through the cold checking for holes near rocks and tree stumps. Even the marks on the ground that may indicate an entry were frozen over. She was feeling hopeless and then she saw it.
The winged-monster that followed a bit behind Lisian. She had followed him. Under normal circumstances, Belwen'd assume this sorcery was the fault of that wretch. It made perfect sense, too. This outsider suddenly showing up again, and a tree suffering for it, The perfect attack. But fortunately, Belwen couldn't entertain such thoughts. Lives were at stake and she knew it wasn't the outsider. The pain, fear and panic was coming from inside the tree, it was hurting. Forn please make sure those flutter souls are safe. “Please have mercy,” she pleaded with the unwelcome stranger. “We’re already suffering.”------- A surge of energy pulsed from a location underground, near the tree. Vanya would recognize the source as the distressed aura she previously witnessed.
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:31 am
For the first time since the encounter began, everything seemed to slow down and Takeko had plenty of time to take in the sight of the strange trio through the swirling winds and ice. Though more ornately dressed than any she had seen before, the dark-furred female she recognized as a Faun. But, the other two? They seemed...vaguely familiar, and yet also alien in comparison to the spotted faunness that knelt stiffly on the ice. They had...wings. Great butterfly wings, or something like...Fae perhaps? Could faun have wings?
Puzzled and wary by both the sight and their numbers, Takeko had stilled, but took a step forward with a frown. "Mercy? If anyone should be asking for mercy, it's--"
"Don't come any closer!"
Takeko froze mid-step, golden eyes drawn immediately to the hostile, eerie red glow that erupted from the dark faunness' outstretched palms. She'd spun so quickly, her braids still swung from the momentum. The angel slowly raised her open hands to show she meant no harm, moving back onto her other foot. Okay, perhaps she had been entertaining thoughts of harm earlier...but she had no quarrel that she knew of with the black-furred Faun. Was she associated with the kidnapper?
What...was going on here?
Perhaps some form of madness had seized the angel earlier, but now, faced with what seemed like a truly threatening gesture and unable to maintain that level of uncharacteristic anger for this long, Takeko was balking and taking stock of the situation.
Aiming what she hoped was an intimidating glare at the Blood Pae, Vanya attempted to veil her barely concealed panic with fury. Even if there had been a shrill note within her tone of command. Don't let them see your fear. They feed on it. It gives them strength...power over you... Her hands were shaking as she only just managed to hold the seals in place and the chaos from streaming forth. There was no telling what it could do...don't let it go...the glow was usually enough of a threat to keep most at bay. Hopefully, they would mistake the shaking for being cold. Though, it was freezing out here, so that wasn't helping. Only exaggerating her trembling.
"Vanya...be strong, you've got this," Veryan whispered to her privately. "She's backing down. You're in control."
Vanya was only partly reassured by her Mellon's words, the panic still held. Fear was growing. But...she'd been making such progress. She'd had the panic attacks under control. She struggled to keep her breaths even, forcing herself to take deep breaths rather than shallow. Tightness gripped her chest, as if a great hand had control, closing, squeezing.
With sudden, startling clarity, she realized that this panic wasn't solely her own. Keeping one hand raised towards the Blood Pae, she lowered the other and pointed behind her and downward at the ground, back towards the frozen tree. In a quiet, strained voice, she spoke to the nearby flutters, "Queen Belwen. There. It's coming from there."
As the lady faun lowered one hand, Takeko took a risk in assuming some of the threat was withdrawn as well and lowered her own raised palms to wrap her hands around her arms again for warmth. Her wings followed, wrapping around her shoulders, though she noted snow and frost clinging to her feathers. Shivering, the angel reflected on the absurdity of the situation. She had no idea what she'd stumbled into. Though she'd learned devastating truths here today...she couldn't shake the feeling that none of that was the reason why she'd been asked to come here. And why were these individuals here as well? It was too much of a coincidence to have simply 'shown up' as it were. Why were they here?
A sudden chill forced her to address what should have been a more obvious question. What was with this strange weather? It had been chilly, yes, but this? The winds and snow seemed isolated to this location, the tree ahead...frozen.
"There has been too much suffering," Takeko said quietly, her words likely lost on the wind. Then, louder, but pointedly speaking to the two females and averting her eyes from the 'kidnapper' for now, "What's happened here? This feels...wrong. Not...not natural." Takeko narrowed her eyes against the constant winds, new suspicions creeping into her mind. This wasn't the first strange occurrence she'd witnessed in the Clearing regarding the local flora. Was...was this the real reason she was here? The first time, Mother had asked for her help in dealing with the mandrakes someone planted here; this time, Takeko arrived and one of the strange trees...apparently linked in some way to these odd winged faun-like creatures if her imagination wasn't running completely away from her...was completely frozen over. If the weather hadn't been so drastically different at such a short relative distance from the tree, she could have written the incident off as a late season freeze, but...
Out loud, the angel asked herself, "...is this it? Is this why she wanted my help?" But, what could she do about errant weather?
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Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 1:26 pm
Lisian nodded sharply at his Queen, tossing Vanya another glance. What was it with strangers appearing on this day? He decided not to bother with it now if his Queen had sought this one in a time of need. Though looking at her... What had found them? There were some similarities...
At the Queen's begging of mercy from the thief, Lisian grimaced. Suffering? She'd made it very apparent that she didn't care about their suffering. Instead she liked to remind him of it... He kept his face neutral, trusting his Queen to know what must be done in the situation. If she felt more talk would work with it, then he'd let her do the talking this time. He'd been summoned, he needed to focus on the new task given to him.
He was surprised by the newcomer beside them instead and her reaction to the thief. Ah, so she wasn't popular with just them. It seemed she had a reputation among a few. An enemy of your enemy was a friend, right? It felt like a burden being lifted from his shoulders. If he could at least trust one of them, and have those extra eyes on the thief... He shot the thief one more glance before turning back to the ice encrusted tree.
He flicked his wrist and a blast of wind pushed the snow out of the way where Vanya had pointed. He continued to walk the base of the tree, clearing snow in order to locate the root entrance. He didn't visit the tree through this way often since it was usually for emergencies... It should have one shouldn't it? But there were so many places with thick ice it could be under it and they wouldn't even know it.
Once he'd made his way around it he returned to his Queen's side and shook his head- nothing. “The ice is so thick in places we'd never be able to crack it, let alone know if its hiding the entrance.” He looked back at the spot and knelt before it. He grabbed a rock and worked the surface open in order to see if the ground here was solid with ice or not. When he managed to break through and dug out a hole he looked up at her, “It might even be easier to dig down than doing that.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 4:26 pm
Lisian has managed to chip away the ice under the spot Vanya identified as the source of intense panic and fear to reveal a portion of an exposed root. Belwen suspects that aura Vanya saw is the reason for the uncharacteristic weather surround Harn Sheedhiel. They need to remove the source of pain for the flutter tree in an attempt to stop this magic storm that has attached itself to the flutter's home.
The blade of the silver knife gifted to the teal angel from Kalandandra herself, grows warm in Takeko's satchel. The tiny abalone embellishments emit a faint glow, and the scene of lightning hitting a tree slowly changes to show a scene of snow surrounding the tree instead.
Vanya might be able to detect this small, familiar change of energy in the angel's satchel.
-------------
An ice covered seed wiggles in the frozen boughs, and comes loose from the branch. The wind knocked the seed from the normal fall, and it dropped in Takeko's arms.
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:28 pm
As Lisian worked the ground his wings began to flutter excitedly. Was- yes, yes it was a root! But at the same time his heart sunk, how would they figure out how to dig around all of these? There had to be another way- they certainly couldn't uproot them without hurting the tree and digging around them all could take ages. They'd freeze before then.
He looked up towards Belwen to express his thoughts when his ears perked. Had he seen movement in the tree tops? His body tensed as he saw something beginning to fall- a seed! His wings spread wide and he shot to his feet. He had to save it! There was no way it could handle a fall like that could it? He just had to be fast enough-
He darted away from Belwen and Vanya, keeping an eye on the seed that had caught a ride on the winds. He nearly collided with Takeko had he not been paying attention to where he was going at the same time. He slid to a halt, only taking a second to look between her and the seed before scooping it out of her hands as quickly as it had fallen into them. The only moment he gave her in the whole exchange was a single look that oozed suspicion. Sure, it wasn't like she'd summoned it to herself, but he wasn't going to give her a moment with it just in case she slithered back into the shadows. Without a word he returned to the side of his Queen, offering it to her safe keeping instead.
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 12:03 am
Frustration and confusion had caused the angel to become uncharacteristically antsy; she fidgeted from one foot to another restlessly. Or perhaps it was the cold. Takeko attempted to stifle the shivers by wrapping her wings tighter around herself. How were these strangers withstanding the cold? The longer she stood here, the sooner she felt she'd freeze solid. Of course, she was wary of moving and further provoking the faun woman on the ground, but if she didn't take some sort of movement, she might end up a decorative ice statue before long.
The dark winged one's sudden movement drew her attention as well. She'd been trying to ignore him to keep her own emotions under control, at least to hold off on trying to deal with that until whatever strange phenomenon they were now witnessing had passed. The swift movement, however, blew past any of her attempts at ignoring him and instead she followed his glance upward. She barely had time to react, eyes widening as she raised her arms to catch the icy seed. Takeko dropped halfway to her knees to cushion the seed's fall, but otherwise had to make no movement to catch it. The icy surface of the seed stung her bare arms, but she had only a moment take in the sight and sensation before the object was roughly wrested from her grasp. She looked up sharply in surprise, then indignation in reply to the dark male's suspicious glare. From his look, you'd think she'd flown up and taken the seed from the branches rather than simply catching it before it hit the ground. "You're welcome," she sent in the wake of his retreat with an irritated tone.
She brushed some of the frost crystals from her arms and attempted to warm herself once more. If her hands hadn't been so chilled, she may have not noticed the difference in tempurature, but she halted as one hand fell past her travel satchel and picked up a faint sense of warmth. Pausing, she moved her hand past the point, then back again to be sure; yes, something warm...in her travel bag? Curious, she lifted the flap of the satchel, thinking 'but that's where I keep...'
Her silver blade. She kept it in one of the outer pockets of the satchel, the blade sheathed in leather that Kane had made and fitted just for that purpose; not only to protect the integrity of the blade, but also protecting fingers and other materials from the blade during travel. The glow had faded from the handle, but the angel noticed the change immediately. She used the tool frequently and now noted that the lightning image had been replaced...by snow? 'Is this a sign? I'm supposed to do something here...but what?' She lifted the blade from her satchel, holding it flat and still sheathed in her open palm. She could still feel heat radiating from the blade within.Trying to keep track of so many signatures while being buffeted by the freezing winds was taxing on the Seer, but she was doing her best to keep aware of all factors around her, while also trying to reach deeper towards the source of the Tree's distress. Closer, but not too close; it was a careful balance. Sensing a spike in the male's emotional state, her own attention was diverted and for a moment her chest tightened in anxiety. There was no way she could have reacted in time, even if she could see...but it seemed the Spirits were watching over the falling seed, seeing it safely to the ground. She nearly dismissed the Blood Pae from her thoughts as the seed was brought closer, but then she turned her Sight back. Something had drawn her attention, like a singular light in the darkness. What was...?
"What is that you have?" she asked bluntly, raising her voice over the winds to the Blood Pae'il woman.Takeko had been solely focused on the blade for a few moments before realizing that the faun was speaking to her. She tensed at the realization, closing her hand around the sheathed blade. A warning had bubbled up from the past, the memory that she'd been warned not to show the blade off to others, that it was special...even if she didn't yet understand the extent of that. Warily, Takeko started to put the blade back out of sight into her satchel. Perhaps the faun believed she was trying to draw a weapon with the intent of harming them. The thought seemed ludicrous to Takeko, but still, perhaps plausible given the tension and uncertainty of the situation.
Much as she would rather have followed instructions properly and kept the blade hidden and to herself, Takeko debated how to answer. She was a terrible liar and she knew it. Well, she could tell the truth on what it was, but they didn't need any extra information. As she hadn't noticed the faun's lack of sight, she assumed that the action of pulling the blade from her bag had worried her. Of course...she'd reached into her bag for it immediately after the male had wrested that poor fallen seed from her hands. Of course it looked like she'd meant to do them harm! "It's nothing, just a small blade I use for harvesting herbs. Nothing more than a paring knife," she attempted to assure the tense faun woman, hoping she could gloss it over as nothing more than that. Perhaps she could manage a little fib to explain why she'd suddenly removed it from her bag. "No harm meant...the contents of my bag shifted. I just was checking that I hadn't lost it or any of my things in all the commotion."
She honestly had no idea herself what was going on. Why was the blade warm? Why had the handle's image changed? Takeko's eyes strayed towards where the male had been digging, focusing on the exposed root. Something was down there? That seemed to be what they were saying. How could something underground be the cause behind this strange weather though?
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 4:03 pm
Belwen's focus was on the hole in the ice Lisian chipped away. The exposed root, even though it was not a hatch or even a normal tunnel, gave hope. She reached into the hole and put a hand on the tree.
Her eyes grew large, and she inhaled sharply. A nearly frost burnt hand grabbed her chest, She felt like she was punched in the gut. "We have to get her out!!" she shouted.. Sky-blue eyes searched for the only other flutter witnessing this disaster. But he wasn't near her anymore.
The falling seed caught Belwen's attention. "Lisian!!" when a seed fell, that usually meant five more would follow as flutter seeds are harvested in groups of six. She was torn between saving the last know living seeds of Harn or saving the tree. The tree is life, and there will always be life as long as the tree lives. But the tree is suffering, and it's unknown if it will survive if they can't remove the source of all this pain. But the seeds are life as well. Possibly the last remnants of Harn.
Belwen couldn't let herself believe that. Harn would never parish, she's too strong and fighting so hard to survive the magic that is harming her. "Lisian, the other seeds!"
The kidnapper was still here. She seemed to remain calm among her enemies. Was she waiting to pounce when they were most vulnerable? Impossible because she could have moved against them at any time already. It was the glint off the small item in her hand that brought promise to the situation. Is that why she's here? Her heart prayed to Forn.
"Help us," The Flutter Queen asked of Takeko, desperate. She couldn't believe what she doing. But Forn was sure that was who Mother sent."We need to open the root."
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