View User's Journal

Guardian and other characters

NAME: Ronan Shea
GENDER: Male
AGE: 37
OCCUPATION: Worker at the Gambino Aquarium
RACE: Selkie
LIKES: Being near the ocean, going to the beach, swimming, reading, seafood, high quality hair care products, the feeling of sand between his toes
DISLIKES: Being stranded, one night stands, dealing with Maili's brat moments, soccer (playing it), orcas and sharks, chlorine pools

LOOKS: Ronan has medium length tawny brown hair, hazel eyes, and is 5'11". A network of scars, lean muscles, chest hair, and tanned skin are a testament to his time in the navy, along with a small goatee. Though male selkies are known for their beauty, for Ronan this has mainly just translated into him looking younger than his actual age. He’s still considered attractive, just not drop dead gorgeous. Most of his clothes are nice but practical, including a long pea coat for colder weather. Casual wear is often jeans with simple shirts, or shirtless if possible.

PERSONALITY: Ronan is a fairly grounded individual, though he has had to work to get there over the years. As a result, he tends to have a faraway look to his eyes, even when paying attention. His view on the world is be positive but work hard, which has helped him take care of a teenager and child despite their opposing natures. Ronan does not view work as all bad; he mainly sees it as a way to clear his head and finds it legitimately enjoyable at times.
While Ronan is not a pacifist, he prefers to avoid conflict and hates sadists. Cruelty makes him truly angry and if he sees it happening he will actively work to stop it, even if means him getting a bloody nose. He isn’t overly concerned with looks but one aspect where Ronan allows himself to indulge his vanity is his hair - the more gloss and softness, the better. Sometimes he flirts for fun but asking to sleep with him will result in a cold shoulder. To him it should never be taken lightly and Ronan has sworn off that kind of relationship unless he does find “that special someone.” For now he sticks with friends and they are always of great value to him.

HISTORY: Ronan enjoyed a simple and happy life as a seal, but it came to a halt when a trip ashore to “woo the ladies” resulted in the loss of his sealskin. To cope he joined the Gaian navy at 18, a place that would keep him close to the sea. Over time he came to appreciate his human life and even became close friends with his cabin mate.
At the age of twenty-six, Ronan discovered that his sister had been the victim of a kidnapping. She escaped, but left behind a newborn daughter. Ronan took in the girl, naming her Maili. Five years of care while still in the navy and things not working, he decided to retire. As a parting gift his friend gave him something found years before - Ronan’s sealskin. The selkie kept the skin for a day, almost going back to sea, but instead he returned it to his cabin mate and explained the situation to the shocked man. While he would always love the sea, he had grown to care for life on land and wanted to be there for his friends and niece.
The pair settled into their new life on Gambino, Ronan soon picking up a job at the local aquarium. His knowledge as a selkie proved invaluable and it wasn’t long before he became a top employee. For a couple years Ronan also watched over a teenage selkie named Kris who now visits from college during breaks.

***

Experience

Rp threads of my own:
The Land of Kaledir (My very first Rp, posted to show amount of growth >__>; )

Lab Roleplays:
PRP The Sun Shines Brightest on the Wilted Flowers (Note: done with a past character.)
ORP Tis The Season! (characters different from current forms)
ORP Under the Sun - Summer Beach Party 2010

Journals:
Lantern at The Plague Doctor

Entries:

Lab flatsale entry for Independant Bioluminescence

Username: Arana_Kamina
Guardian: Chris
Raevan: Selkie+independent bioluminescence=Ciel
Word set: one

Some would say that it was a sensory overload. Others said that the noise and din was like the ocean it was so close to. What was it? The Isle de Gambino marketplace. Walking along, Chris grinned as she watched Ciel look around, her green eyes wide and natural red hair being tossed this way and that, trying to drink in all the sights and sounds, her own bioluminescence a pale shimmer in the noon day sun. At the current moment, Chris was holding a take out box and a pair of chopsticks, the foresaid instrument being used every now and again to pop a seafood dumpling into her mouth, when it wasn’t stolen by Ciel (who rather enjoyed them, which made sense with her selkie soul). About to eat another dumpling, it was once again snatched by Ciel, who began to munch on it happily. Chris gave her a playful scowl. “Would you quit doing that?”

Ciel blinked at her innocently. “What? They taste so good!”

“Yeah? If so, don’t you think I might like to eat some of them too?” Chris replied ruefully, giving Ciel a small shove.

Ciel only grinned as the shove caused her to float a bit over to the side, before coming back to steal one more dumpling then letting off.

They continued their walk through the marketplace, different vendors advertising their goods:

“Freeeesh vegetables! Get yer vegetables!”

“Come look at this gorgeous jewelry, the perfect present for your special someone!”

“Book sale! Get it here! Romance, mystery, fantasy, epics, get what ever suits your fancy!”

The Gambino marketplace had almost anything one would want—that is, if they were willing to pay the price. Sometimes Chris wanted to strangle the people who invented these crazy prices, but she would fork her money over anyway, knowing she would be hard pressed to find the stuff sold in the marketplace anywhere else. Getting her wallet out to check how much money she had left, she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and spun around, brought face to face a with fat old man, a lopsided grin plastered across his ugly face. “Would you be so kind as to give me that?” he said to her in a drunken slur, as a putrid wave smelling of beer and sweat washed over Chris, causing her to gag. Eyes wide with fear, Chris tried to shout for help—but her voice had died in her throat. She tried to run away—but her feet were rooted to the spot. Her head spun as the reality of the situation sunk in. I could die....

When Ciel had first met Chris, Chris had still been injured from an incident a few days before. Whether it was seeing her that way, or possible resonance from her past life, the young Raevan had vowed to herself to protect Chris. There had been many times in the past where she had gone to “save” Chris when it wasn’t needed, but this time there was no doubt. She wasn’t going to let anyone hurt Chris.

Without warning, Ciel barreled into the man, causing him to careen backwards as he gave a foul curse. Hastily wriggling out of the man’s grasp, Chris saw Ciel’s bioluminescence begin to etch out eerie patterns on her skin as she sucked in nearby light, the area dimming, and she closed her eyes tight as blinding light pulsed through the square a moment later, others there crying out in surprise and pain. Chris didn’t wait any longer—she ran. Towing Ciel—who was ash pale from producing that much light—by the hand, she vaulted over a stall as the owner squawked in protest, the foresaid owner quickly having to move out of the way a moment later as the bellowing drunk smashed through his stall.

Chris didn’t dare slow down as she ran in the corridor between the two buildings, her breath already burning in her throat, fear and adrenalin probably being the only things that kept her going. Not too far behind her she could hear the thud-thud-thud of the drunk’s feet, which absolutely terrified her, but pretty soon she noticed another sound nearby....

Clang! Clang! Clang!

She wasn’t able to think about the other sound for long though—the passage had come to a dead end, the door on the building to Chris’s right firmly closed. The clanging was very loud, but the first sound almost seemed louder.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

He was only ten feet away now, his eyes bloodshot and teeth bared. “I’m gonna get you for that you little b****!” He half slurred, half snarled as he advanced, Chris and Ciel backing up against the wall as far as they could.

Suddenly, the door to the right opened, all three heads whipping around to see who was there. Chris’s eyes widened.

Framed in the doorway was a gigantic blacksmith, the muscles in his arms bulging as he held a massive hammer in his right hand as if it was a child’s plaything. He looked at the three of them, raising an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?” he asked, his deep voice rumbling in his chest.

Howling in rage, the drunk charged at the blacksmith. Standing there calmly, the blacksmith waited until the last second, then quick as a flash the hammer came up, connecting squarely with the drunk’s head. Swaying for a few moments, his eyes rolled up and he collapsed to the ground.

The blacksmith looked back at the two girls, apparently unfazed by Ciel’s lack of legs. “You can go now,” he told them, “I’ll deal with the rest of this stuff later.”

Giving a jerky nod as the tears leaked down her face, Chris and Ciel ran off towards home.

When they finally arrived home, for the longest time they just sat and held each other in their arms, so thankful that they were safe, and infinitely glad that they had each other.

Round Two entry for Zul meta contest

Chris gave a soft groan as she fumbled at the main door lock. It had been a long day taking care of a particularly sick patient at the aquarium, and since her father and Maili were gone for the weekend, it was up to her to get her exhausted body into house. Finally, the key clicked in the lock, and Chris stumbled through the threshold, closing the door behind her with a weak kick and flipping the light switch to illuminate her path. Except, the light didn’t turn on. Annoyance seeped through to her fatigue fogged mind, and she tried rather forcefully once more to turn on the light. Nothing. Chris was about to smash the thing to bits when she caught sight of the room, and realized that the lights were the least of her worries. It was absolutely wrecked. Wavering between pissed and shocked, her ADD mind whizzed at mile a minute with crackpot explanations, each more ridiculous than the last as they came in. But these speculations came to a screeching halt when she saw melting and frost on some of the damage, and they were replaced with one mind-consuming thought.
Where the hell is Zul?

***Earlier***

Zul was the type that wasn’t too fond of “stupid” rules, but there was one rule he obeyed to a fault, and that, was payback. If someone hits you, hit them back. Twice as hard.
Just a few moments ago, Zul had discovered that some of his things had been gnawed on by a rat, and he was determined to see that that rat didn’t live much longer. What Zul didn’t know, though, was that it wasn’t a rat. It might resemble a rat, but a more accurate description for it would be a Rodent of Unusual Size.... a rather nasty one that had decided that Zul was going to be its dinner tonight. An interesting situation, to say the least.
Later, Zul couldn’t remember who had struck first, but in a chance moment they had found themselves staring at each other from across the room. With a lunge, a curse, and a snarl they were literally at each other’s throats. Locked in a struggle as they crashed about the room and the air filled with the stench of burning fur, the R.O.U.S. quickly realized that it was fighting a loosing battle—time to make a hasty getaway. Whipping around, the R.O.U.S. bit Zul viciously on the finger, and he dropped the creature with a howl of agony.
“I’M GONNA GET YOU FOR THAT YOU LITTLE SH**!”
The R.O.U.S. bolted for an escape, but no matter where it turned, it was chased, blocked, and attacked by a murderous Zul. Wham! A table top was reduced to molten slag. Smash! A vase was transformed into an arc of frozen glittering fragments flying through the air. The carnage raged throughout the house. Narrowing avoiding an attack that nuked a houseplant, the R.O.U.S. finally scrambled out of the house through a recently melted window—and Zul was right behind him.

Noticing a familiar blue glow in the corner of her eye, Chris told herself to wait a little longer to chew Zul out—the room was war zone, but there was going to be plenty of time to leave him out to dry—all the time she wanted. Finally, the blue glow came to a stop, and Chris spun around to give a furious dressing down, but instead her eyes bulged at what Zul was holding, and she involuntarily choked out “What the hell is that?!”
Zul looked down at the dead R.O.U.S. he was holding by the tail. It looked rather hellish in the glow of his gauntlets.
“That? Oh, that’s just rat,” he said with a shrug, as his numerous cuts and bites slowly continued to ooze blood.
Chris just stared. Sure, it resembled a rat—if rats were the size of a small dog and had three inch long fangs. She also had a sneaking suspicion that if the eyes had been open, they would have been glowing red.
“So, why are you carrying that?” she asked wearily, her anger now rather deflated.
Zul shrugged once more. “It had damaged my stuff, and then it bit me, so I killed it,” he stated simply, as if it was a completely normal thing to say.
“Ah....” Chris said weakly, feeling slightly ill as she realized that thing had been living in her house.
I’m sure going to have an interesting story to tell Dad when he gets home.... she thought, surveying the room. Seeing the R.O.U.S., she added one last part to that thought. And I don’t I’ll be wanting to see any more rats for a very, very, long time....

Under The Mistletoe Entry

On her way to the lab, Ciel had absentmindedly grabbed a snack—a once hesitant couple was now kissing sweetly—but she continued on, blissfully ignorant of her handy work. She was too absorbed in the joys of the season—pointed ears perked up at every snippet of music, and her petite nose constantly sniffed after pleasant aromas, even if she couldn’t enjoy the food it came from yet. Soon enough though she came to the lab, and her eyes absolutely shined at all of the festivity. Going up to the entrance, she pushed the doors open, sighing in awe and contentment as she took in the scene before her. With a little twirl to the music, she began to float across the room when she heard Alex call out. A friend! Ciel’s course changed in an instant and soon she was embracing the Italian enthusiastically. Listening to what was said, the raevan replied excitedly.

“Blink saw that I wished to head out, so he let me go early with the promise that I would stay safe. He should be coming in a little bit with some homemade cookies.” Hearing the mention of Zul, she looked over and regarded her fellow raevan, her eyes happy. “You look so wonderfully festive, Zul. A pleasure to see you too,” she said, giving a slight bob of her head in greeting. Her eyes took in all of the glittering finery on Zul, but her eyes were most drawn to the bell upon his neck.

“May I....?” she asked hesitantly, and when she was given a nod to the affirmative her fingers brushed against it lightly, a pleasant tinkling coming forth. Ciel’s lips parted slightly as she gave a soft imitation of the sound, her mouth continuing its movement until if formed a small smile.

“‘Some Christmas cheer for all to hear and brightly lift one’s spirits,’” she quipped to herself. “Something I have heard another say before, but.... it just fits so well with your wonderful bell,” she said sheepishly to Zul.

Giving one last nod and a short “A pleasure to meet you,” Ciel zoomed off to check out the rest of the decorations. For a good minute her head was craned upward as she gazed at the star studded black overhang, her hands tracing out self imagined constellations. Seeing the mistletoe draping the tinsel trail, she took part of one of the larger clumps, tucking the leaves into her hair. Next she noticed the glittering snowflakes above. Floating up as high as she could go, she batted one of the flakes, giggling at the loose glitter that floated down with her. And then—

There was the Christmas tree.

Giving a gasp of wonder, Ciel floated over reverently, circling the majestic tree in awe. This—this was absolutely glorious. There were presents beneath the tree, but that could wait. At this time the music changed over to “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and at that one moment—Ciel felt that nothing else could have been more perfect.

3rd Time's the Charm Round 2 Entry

Username: Jedi Knight Luka
Password: *********

Welcome to Live Journal!

May 21
Music
Somehow I ended up in the middle of a rave last night. Yes, I did just “end up” in one. There’s an abandoned warehouse that I sometimes investigate – it's a nice place to relax that has interesting things to find, also the sunlight through the windows looks cool – but it had been invaded – and I mean completely invaded. Nothing looked the same – there were streamers, an absolute hoard of people, and lights everywhere. Interesting, but waaaaay intimidating. The music, however, that was sub-lime~ coursing beat, frenetic notes, and a wall of sound that just demanded that you dance – and dance I did. I get exhausted just thinking about it! I still had a great time though, and I even got some compliments on my “creative” glowing arm warmers, horns, and wings (which was actually just me unconsciously getting into the spirit of things). Now that I think about it, I like most music at parties, but this was sooooo much better. Too bad I have no idea when the next rave will be. Oh well, I’ll just download some tunes to listen to until then.

Jun 13
Fear
I.... I really wish this had been a better day.... Everything started out alright, me just exploring around town to see what was going on, possibly find some new things, learn, explore, nothing particular in mind. Then, what I thought was my salvation (ha ha) from boredom appeared in the form of an abandoned cellar – it had once been a cave, something I had never really been able to check out before, so even more for me to see. Going inside it got dark almost immediately, but that wasn’t really a problem, I’m pretty much my own flash light and the dark doesn’t bother me overly much. Most of the stuff that had once been inside was gone, but there were still some shelves standing, even some jars with some stuff in them. One jar in particular looked rather macabre, shrouded in cobwebs and its innards blood red. I reached up, began to slide the jar towards me.... and then it happened. The shelf, a giant oaken shelf, collapsed – right on top of me. I couldn’t move, at all! But that wasn’t the worst of it. Things started to crawl on me. Oh god, get it off, just GET IT OFF! And I couldn’t do anything about it, only quiver and hope that they wouldn’t go in my nose, my mouth, my ears, my eyes.... AUGH! Luckily someone heard my screams and got me out of there.... Bad day, just a bad bad day....

Aug 9
Love
For the longest time I did not understand what the saying “walking on air” meant - after all, isn’t that what all raevans do automatically? Now though, I feel I do know what it means.
A couple weeks ago I was reading a book in the coffee shop, bangs tied behind my head, which I do whenever I need them out of the way. My reading was interrupted by someone saying that they liked my hair, and when I looked up it was a guy, a fellow raevan, a sigel in fact! I ended up blushing at the compliment – not that I usually blush at compliments or anything – and somehow we just started chatting. Life, family, hobbies, fairly trivial things, but during the whole course of the conversation I couldn’t help but feel that it was all so.... nice. Eventually he did have to say goodbye, a goodbye that ended up not lasting very long at all – I saw him again just the next day! Over the past few weeks we’ve seen each other more often, eventually coming to the point where we’ve started arranging times time to meet. I can’t get him out of my head, and frankly I don’t want to. He is amazing, pure and simple. Recently Ronan caught me while I was thinking about my sigel, and said I looked like a lovesick puppy (what ever that means) and needed to confess. And my guardian is right – the next time I meet him, I will tell him how I feel, just tell him straight and hope he feels the same way. I won’t be heart broken if he doesn’t feel the same (well.... maybe a little. Okay, a lot.) but I hope he does, so he can join me in walking on air.... ah, enough with the fancy talk, I just hope he will go out with me!

Heart's Whisper Round 2 and 3 Entry

NAME: Trianna
SOUL TYPE: Camellia sinensis, the Chinese tea plant. While there are many types of tea (black, green, white, oolong), almost all come from this single plant, from the leaves or buds. The different types arise through varying processing methods, done to achieve various levels oxidation. It is because of this last aspect that this soul could pair well with the essence – one so dependent on oxidation to get its variety, the other’s oddness coming from being completely devoid of oxidation.
POTENTIAL POWERS:
Power one: Silver harden (active): Hardening silver objects past their normal malleability. For example, she could harden a silver fork to the point of being able to block a knife.
Power two: Silver armor (SIGEL, active): Able to form a hard silver armor on the body for protection.
Power three: Soothing aroma/aura (passive): Tria is constantly surrounded by the strong scent of tea, and people in its presence will gradually have minor ills (such as a sore throat) and grumpiness soothed, as if they had just drank the perfect cup of tea for their problem.
FOOD SOURCE: Primary food source: Eating the tarnish/oxidation off of silver, restoring its shine. Artificially induced oxidation could be eaten, but it wouldn’t be as satisfying as natural oxidation.
Secondary food source: Eating the silver itself; probably won’t be used much as the first for the sake of Ronan’s pocketbook.
Emergency food source: Oxidation from other metals. Barely gives her any energy, but it could keep her from starving to death.
PERSONALITY: Tria has an amazing ability to not crack under pressure. Even on the battlefield or in an interrogation room, Tria could keep her head about her. She is still aware and could become unsettled, but she doesn't break because of it. However, this also means Tria is somewhat oblivious to her limits, often not realizing or wanting to admit she might need a break.
Outside of this hardness, her emotions have a good deal of variety, like tea itself: green tea, calm and mellow, doing her best to soothe others; white tea, subtle and quiet, perhaps reading a book; oolong tea, bright and curious, prying into every corner; and sometimes, black tea, heavy and broody, strong emotions running high. Under all of this also runs a slight harshness, like the bitterness in tea, with sharp sarcasm and biting back hands, though it is not always intentional – it’s quite possible for Tria to insult someone horrendously and not realize it, her simply speaking her mind.
The silver raevan also has a strong interest in art and culture, both old and new, even if she may not directly like all of it. Finally, Tria wants to help others, especially those she cares about, and she is willing to fight for them and what she believes in.

RELATIONSHIP W/ GUARDIAN: Ronan acts as a fatherly mediator between Tria and the others. Some way or another the raevan often ends up ruffling the feathers of her grumpy housemates, and it is usually Ronan that has to step in and set things right. While this occasionally annoys Tria as it can lead to punishment, she still respects and cares for Ronan, and even might be a little clingy at first, once learning to like him. Mostly Ronan is a father figure to her, someone to get advice from and a caring shoulder when she needs it.

Social Prompts
[.04] So there you are, floating harmlessly through the park, when you're suddenly accosted by a bunch of teenagers in the strangest outfits you've ever seen! They immediately start asking you questions -- like where you got the cloth for your blouse, where your legs are in the suspension -- and then you catch one word that you feel ought to make sense: they're asking who you're cosplaying! How do you handle the situation?

Trianna loved what she was seeing in the park today. Spring had come – the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and for once she was able to smell a natural scent besides that of tea or sea water, a very nice change of pace as far as she was concerned. At the moment, she was in the park with no particular destination in mind, instead just intent on enjoying the day as much as she could. A particularly bright flower caught her eye, and she bent down to take a deep breath, giving a sigh of contentment as the heady scent filled her. However, before she could straighten back up, she began to snatches of an animated conversation, one that seemed to be coming down the path.

“Holy crap that is an awesome cosplay! Who are you going as?”

Tria blinked in surprise, caught off guard by this direct address. Straightening up, she found herself facing a group of individuals that was as bright and varied as the flowers in the park. A girl with cat ears was looking at her with a hopeful expression – the raevan assumed she must have been the one to ask the question.

A boy with a blond wig and red coat spoke up next. “Who ever you’re going as, that’s a mighty fine costume, professional if I ever saw it,” he said, beaming as he clapped his white gloved hands together.

“I must say though, where are the legs? Even more impressive than the outfit in my book,” quipped a tall girl off to the side, twirling a paper umbrella and dressed in an elaborate geisha outfit – that is, if geishas wore their kimonos off the shoulders and showed that much cleavage.

An effeminate figure (Tria couldn’t tell the gender) in a suit of armor raised an eyebrow at these comments. “That’s what impresses you guys? Look at those tree branches on her back and head, and the jewelry on her outfit. Crazy detailed, and it even looks like real silver. A winner in my book.”

Tria’s head spun for a few moments as she tried to absorb all these comments, then finally it clicked. They were asking who she was dressed up as, and about her “cosplay.”

Wings twitching slightly as she thought (the cosplayers stared at this), she finally was brought back to an image from some movies, and her own imaginations from the books they had been based on.

“I’m not really dressed as any one in particular, but I guess what I’m closest to is an elf from The Lord of the Rings.”

With this the four in front of her gave mixed exclamations of “Aha!” “I thought that might be it,” “Now I see it,” “Ah, of course,” “Should have guessed that,” “I See the ears now,” and soon it devolved into another animated conversation among them. Tria couldn’t help but smile at their enthusiasm, and therefore did not mind when it took them a couple minutes to address her again. The next question from them was asked in a rather comical fashion, all four of them whispering in a huddle before straightening back up, the knight counting down from three, and then them asking in unison, “Who made it?” They broke into a fit of laughter the moment after they said it (a fit that Tria joined for a bit), the geisha having to give the cat girl and boy in the red coat a few slaps on the back before it ended.

It took a few moments for Tria to figure out how to answer, since there hadn’t really been any kind of tailor for her outfit, but eventually she managed to settle on answer that, if not totally accurate, was at least truthful.

“My ensemble was made by someone named Dr. Kyou. He lives here on the island, in a place called Lab 305.”

“Ooooooh!” the cat girl exclaimed suddenly, bouncing up and down. “I know who you’re talking about; he’s got horns and a devil tail! Now that you mention it, I’ve seen him with someone with a legless outfit like yours. That guy had really nice abs.....” Tria saw the girl’s expression become somewhat blanks as she visualized this hunk once again – the raevan wouldn’t have been surprised if a trail of drool had slipped out the corner of the girl’s mouth.

“Anyway,” the boy in the blond wig said, giving an elbow to the cat girl to stop her before she did start drooling, “thanks for info; we might have to stop in there, if he makes stuff as nice as your outfit.”

The geisha added on to what he was saying. “Unfortunately, we have to get going; otherwise we’ll end up missing a panel. It was great meeting you though, and I hope to see you later at the con!” she said, and then turned back onto the path, giving a jaunty wave as she sashayed back towards the con.

The knight inclined their head towards Tria, hand resting on the hilt of their sword. “I too hope to see you later at the convention. Fare ye well, noble elf.” Giving a salute, they trotted over to the geisha.

The cat girl’s farewell was somewhat simpler. “BYEEEEEEEE!” she exclaimed, before skipping in an over the top fashion to the two others, cat tail swaying in a dramatic arch.

The blond wigged boy was about to say something more, when the geisha called out, “Hurry up shorty!”

“I AM NOT SHORT!” he bellowed, and the others laughed as they ran away, the boy chasing them until they were out sight.

Tria gazed after them, a smile unable to leave her face. Sure, this was a gorgeous day.... but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to check out the convention later, especially if it had people like them. Catching a spectacular weeping willow out of the corner of her eye, Tria turned around and floated in its direction, thoroughly happy with the day.... and hoping Kyou wouldn’t mind any costume orders that might come his way.

Psyche Prompts
[.02] Your essence may be impervious to heat and cold but your tender soul is not so lucky. It's a cold, frigid winter's day, the ground blanketed in the softness of fresh-fallen-snow and the sky is a titanium grey that promises to keep the day chilly without the sun's rays to warm anyone brave enough to venture outside. How do you spend such a day?

She stared into the tree branches above her, hair fluttering in the wind and wings that imitated the branches above rustling in the breeze. The silver branches were perfectly fine with their exposure to the elements, but the rest of her was bundled up thoroughly, and a tiny amount of her fogged breath leaked out through her scarf. Only her eyes showed above this thick scarf, and except for blinking they were unwavering in their vigil of watching the tree.

Originally, she had been reading a book, curled up by the window, occasionally checking the winter scene out of the corner of her eye. Though the cold made her skin crack and body ache, she still watched out the window, waiting to see what the snowy season had to offer her.

Then she had seen it, as white as the snow it was running in, as if it had jumped straight from the pages of her book into the wilderness. She rose, riveted, watching. It darted here to there, snowdrift to snowdrift, one moment like a ghost and the next as real as could be. Finally, it shimmied up a tree trunk, and half way up it gazed back at her with pink eyes as its bushy tail swished, then climbed the rest of the way.

For a short while after it had gone Tria attempted to return to her book, but soon she put it down, too distracted by what she had seen. She went to the closet, bundling up as much as she could, determined not to cut short her vigil by becoming too cold, and grabbed a quick snack from a tarnished fork before floating out the door.

Now, she simply waited. Some might have called her foolish, to spend so much time out in the cold to see something that might not even be there, but curiosity had grabbed her, and she was willing to wait. It was not every day someone got to see something that could have come from a book, and Tria wanted to make the most of it.

On a cold winter’s day, with fresh snow on the ground and skies of gray, she would stay below this tree, waiting patiently, to catch one more glimpse of winter’s ghost.

Writing Samples:

Ronan

The Beginning

A full moon hung in the night sky, illuminating the waves crashing onto the beach. In the distance, a bustling port city could be seen, but on this beach there was a simple little village, dwelling for fishermen and their families. Most were sleeping, and yet at that moment a young man was walking down to the beach. The gait of this individual was slow and measured, his lithe muscled body flowing through each step on the sand. The feet were bare, as was every other inch of his body save for a scrap of cloth wrapped around his waist. Following the finely sculpted figure farther upward would eventually lead one to his face. Boyish features with a lazy smile, hazel eyes gazing dreamily out to sea, and tawny brown hair fluttering in the breeze -- features some would say could melt the heart of any woman. Which, was exactly what Ronan had done this very night. At sixteen, this had been his first experience of such, one that had been fascinating, and, he thought rather pleased, quite pleasant for him and a local village girl.

Eventually, the boy came to a group rocks just above the tide line. Gracefully leaping over one of the stones, he turned, already beginning to smile -- and stopped cold.

There, the duvet behind the rock, he knew that was where it should be -- and yet it wasn't. Gone. Everything else around the other rocks had been scoured and washed out to sea, but this rock he had chosen had remained out of the waves -- even the scraps of seaweed he had seen in the daylight still remained. His seal skin.... gone. Numbly, Ronan sank down onto his knees, wet sand scratching against his legs. Leaning forward, his hands ran across the sand and before long, almost mindlessly, he began to dig. Gradually his fingers scrabbled faster and faster, choked sobs escaping his lips, all the way up to the point where the clumps of sand being thrown aside where being stained by the blood of the fingers. And though it was sand that took the blood of his hands, sand that was being thrown aside with screams of grief, all he saw was ash. Ashes of the life that had just burned down around him.

***

Doodle Dump