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Post by Henley on Jan 1, 2022 20:56:27 GMT -8
It was beautiful, floating there in scarlet and blue and yellow as merfolk weaved through the greens and browns and reds of kelp and underwater plants. Henley focused through the influence of the Wyrd and on the voices, the patterns of lights and the mercreatures. He lazily whirled his tail beneath himself to maintain position under the sea and offered forth the token of friendship provided by Yuan.
"Your reef is beautiful and I rather like it. My name is Henley. It is a pleasure to meet you. It is true - there is a bit of business that I have come to conduct, if the owner of the item I seek is willing to speak on it. I am here to broker a fair trade for the piece of the glass Dancer, Mitchell Carr, that he left here during his flight from the Gentry. Would you be willing to introduce me?"
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Post by Gavin Graves on Jan 1, 2022 21:30:45 GMT -8
"Yeah, I didn't want you all to spin right now. I was asking for your assistance on a later spin if I called for it," he laughed with the rush of power he was feeling. It felt like he could change the world to his whims and it was begging for the instruction. "It's fine. It looks like we got the juice for the squeeze anyhow. We're ready."
"I'm just going to poke around a bit to see what's around and keep an eye out for approaching parties while you lot do the talking," his bestial form allowing for quick movement, they didn't think he would be far enough away that he couldn't respond quickly.
Patrolling up and down the shores he stopped at times to poke his toes into the sand to probe for something interesting or valuable that might have been buried in the sand, at other points to collect samples of odd findings & to make record of them, all the while keeping a weather eye out for any sign of approach.
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Post by Krakenbox on Jan 2, 2022 23:00:20 GMT -8
"That isn't your name," the mermaid above thrummed, "The one you go by isn't the same." The other laughed, bubbles flowing through gills as they gave each other a high five above and below. "You can stay a while," the one below offered, "The Lost ones never stray far from home, whether bound or running. We liked the last one!"The one above shook her head, "Not the Dancer. The other one, remember? The Dancer was mean and hollow—he even gave us his heart."The one below covered their mouth, "That one is very valuable. I'm not sure if you want to talk to the Trove Guardian about that one. We like you as you are!"-- Above the waterline, Mitchell seemed agitated in his alien stillness as sweat gleamed on the bright beach. He smiled mechanically at Gavin's innocuous comment, with an edge of sarcasm as if the Beast had somehow criticized him. "Well, I guess now I'm properly prepared ahead of time."Gavin's foot nudged to reveal petrified roots, which he thought might be a species of coral, but would likely need a scientific eye to confirm. There were animals in the tidepools, from mutated horseshoe crabs with nipping fungus for shells, to nearly invisible rockfish that needled into large, deadly sea urchin spikes upon approach; where the Autumn's tuned senses were the only warning provided. The crabs seemed to have a communication method or maybe even a hivemind, slowly crowding the Razorhand with rainbow oil-slick foam leaking from their jaws. They popped from sand, Hedgespinning their way to the surface with curiosity. They had enough sense to dance away from his claws, lifting their own up in a cautious display as they shimmied back to the ripe tide. The Beast cautiously tested the water of the falls with a stick, watching it morph into a wriggling wooden sea snake with extended contact.
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Hua Yuan
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Presence 2 - Nostalgic; SL 1 - Flawless
Posts: 304
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Post by Hua Yuan on Jan 2, 2022 23:40:11 GMT -8
Yuan recognized Mitch's tone. It was the same as that night, in the hotel room. He shook his head.
"Please, don't fight," he simple said, to neither one in particular. "We need to keep a cool head to get back. The last thing we want is the Hedge feeding off of whatever conflict we start." But Gavin was already gone, his curiosity taking him from tidepool to tidepool. The Playmate sighed, finding the silver lining in getting the two men separated. For the time being, there was nothing to do beside waiting for Nate to come out of the water. Instead, he turned his focus on Mitch.
"You sound on edge. Talk to me."
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Post by Mitchell Carr on Jan 3, 2022 0:15:57 GMT -8
Snap. Snap.
Mitch cleared his throat as he flowed through a pattern of neurological ticks.
"Sorry."
He might have been apologizing to Gavin or Yuan or both, still motionless except for the lapse of his human coping strategies. Another moment stretched as he seemed to unlock, loosening up just enough to return to the controlled and practiced gestures; as of the very air could burn or cut him without caution and measured discipline.
"I'm...very stressed," he chuckled quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. "I'll keep it together, it's fine. Without getting too into it, it's a lot of intrusive thoughts. I don't normally use Sword Contracts, or..." He opened his eyes, shrugging it off in a controlled shiver. "It's not so much a mood as a mode."
Between what the Fairest was saying and what Yuan was observing, Mitchell seemed to be heightened by moving through a traumatic event in order to process and pull key information for the team to work with. He was excited for the progress and worried about their safety, but the Hedge itself was responding; spinning him up with the amount of force that he was applying and storing. Violent thoughts appeared to be painting itself onto the landscape alongside the joy and concern.
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Post by Henley on Jan 3, 2022 15:45:33 GMT -8
Henley gave a playful smirk at the comment about his name, his gills flaring as he chuckled at the excitement of the merfolk with the high fives. "I might, we'll see," he replied to the idea of staying longer, not shutting them down immediately. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm just the messenger. The mean Dancer can't enjoy being underwater like I can, and it would be rude to Spin a bunch of air into your home, right?" He flashed a grin. "So what makes a heart of a bitter Dancer so valuable? I know what that's usually worth. Did he give it up for the other, or something?"
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Post by Krakenbox on Jan 3, 2022 16:05:20 GMT -8
One Hobgoblin focused on Henley's conversation while the other circled excitedly around him, narrowly missing hitting him with her tail in the spiral.
"It's a key," she explained, looking up. "The High Throne's heralds would want it back, or for themselves if they wanted their own voices back. The Glade was trapped in a storm, and we wanted to know why."
"How does a storm get lost in a storm?" the other laughed, teasing Henley's hair and spinning bubbles into pearls as something novel.
"They play a game sometimes, and Metatron's opponents would enjoy an edge."
"The other knew how to conduct the lightning," she explained. "He wrote a song of destruction. We sing it sometimes! He was nice, and a lot of fun. We should have kept him!"
The other nodded in regret, frowning as Henley was getting free pearls as her sister became distracted with dress-up.
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Post by Gavin Graves on Jan 3, 2022 16:18:12 GMT -8
Having poked about in his whimsical search for things of interest and coming up with a few things to note, he settled down into a perch where he could monitor the landscape. The ebbs and flows of crashing waves, the streams of colourful emotion laden whimsy swirling about the fantastical place loosed the Beast down thoughtful paths and wistful turns. Somehow the place resonated a calm within him and like a tuning fork, he was picking up the vibrations.
Entering a slow state of serenity, unusual to the flighty bird, Gavin remained meditating as long as the others were busy and not under threat. He tuned the time experienced by himself relative to others to maximize his enjoyment.
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Post by Henley on Jan 3, 2022 16:21:46 GMT -8
Henley glanced up, following the one mermaid's gaze as she explained the fact that Mitchell's heart had some value as a key -- a way to escape. A real weakness, something that was a vulnerability to the Glade. Which meant they needed something to trade in turn. He let out a little 'ah!' and smiled at the other one who was dressing him up in pearls. The fact that Carr's Keeper was engaged in some sort of game against another was of interest; whoever he had escaped with liked music and rode lightning. There were people who could do that, but he couldn't tell who. It was something to ask Mitch about.
"That's remarkable... so the owner would surely need something valuable in trade. Perhaps weaknesses of another Keeper would entice their interest...? What happened with the heartless Dancer and the singer of the storm? And what happens when you sing the song?"
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Post by Krakenbox on Jan 3, 2022 19:06:34 GMT -8
"Oh, probably!"
The mermaids exchanged sharp grins meant to tear into scales and crack shells.
"They came to the shoal and made a mess. One was playing, and the other wasn't, which made him mad. We asked for our compensation, and the Sovereign bullied the price. The other was very distraught, and they separated." The one who was decorating Henley plucked the necklace Yuan had spun in payment for the story, tying it around her wrist.
On the topic of the song, they looked to one another as one started a low, alien pitch that rumbled and crackled through the reef. A few other faces emerged, taking up the tune like a collective howl as the current shook and warped with discordant bass that flooded Henley's mind with static, charged nerves, rattling bones, and violent frustration.
--
Those on the shore heard a rumble sweep across the surface of the ocean, darkening the sky in sympathy as roiling clouds started to gather in audience.
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Post by Henley on Jan 3, 2022 19:57:01 GMT -8
Henley smiled right on back. It was a very sanitized version of the story, of that he was certain; that being said, he wasn't here to solve Mitch being an asshole when he was escaping the Hedge. He leaned his head forward to let the necklace slip off without difficult, now aware of the dynamic. Carr had come out with someone. The price was great.
The song shaking the current supercharged the Nymph's nerves and he grit his teeth beneath his lips against the bass. He tried to improvise and take up the song, but it became rapidly apparent that his vocal cords weren't going to repeat such a number on command. This was the sound of a force of nature, not meant for mortal ken. A better singer might have pulled it off, but not him.
"Wow..."
He grinned, looking up above at the surface of the water as the wonder filled his wanton soul. The excitement spread from him, infusing the water with the spirit of the story: wild excitement, a supercharged blast of joy and wonder that swept beneath the water in stunning golds and vibrant greens. He spread his arms wide as the emotions burst out from him, a broad grin on his face and primal wild in his eyes.
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Hua Yuan
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Presence 2 - Nostalgic; SL 1 - Flawless
Posts: 304
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Post by Hua Yuan on Jan 3, 2022 20:18:55 GMT -8
"I know. You're doing amazing. You just need to hold on a little longer and it'll be over. I'm sure Henley..." Yuan's words were cut short by the rumbling just as they were falling into a familiar pattern. Frowning, he searched the horizon for signs of trouble, looking for signs of either Gavin or Nate. "Looks like it will rain. Let's find some cover." Gesturing to Mitch, he moved under one of the frozen waves to prevent his clothes from being immediately drenched.
"Here, let me see how bad it is. Please." He reached out his hand, leaving it up to the Dancer to take it or not.
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Post by Krakenbox on Jan 4, 2022 23:58:38 GMT -8
As the Playmate's voice crooned, the Fairest's eye twitched, splitting to accommodate the scraping feathers as the blinking lid was forced back. He would never to explain why all he felt was angry in that second, shaking himself off as the thundering clouds cut Yuan off. A forgotten instinct scratched and sliced against the Gentry's servant trying to lull compliance, giving half-remembered context with the music of the elements. Mitch was a beat behind Yuan, not dodging the rain as the other did as he obsessively clocked the waves and for any sign that Henley wasn't getting torn apart by sirens; even if he would never know before his Oath told him as much. The drops strung along the cracked aura of the frenzied reality that the Hedge made solid, making Mitch look like he was moving through cobwebs or razorwire of starlight.
His good eye traced Yuan's offered hand while the burning wheel that spun behind the cracks squinted in Faerie suspicion. Human connection won out as he stepped to join the other Spring, grateful for the hand and probably squeezing harder than was appropriate for a Loophole requirement.
A symphonic roar swept the elements as unbridled emotion created cyclones out of time, moving too slow and too fast to drag the reef to peril, as the coral twisted around in new crackles of energy and emotion—crushing bones to turn the great wheel, carving doors to new destinies, screaming for the rain to answer in turn, and the blistering heat of relentless potential.
The sea folded into the sky, threading the storm and song above and below, across and around. Gavin's content humming took on an inhuman quality as it pitched with the drifting strings of the time-twisted waterspouts, painting the sky with the syphoned joy and light of languished souls drowning The-Primordial-Dark, eyes flicking open with the lightning strikes matching his heartbeat and sending the world into a strobe of flashing Chaos and the freedom of peril.
Fire and lightning rented the beach, creating a feedback as liquid power and distilled glamour from a thousand ideas riddled the air with fractal spectacle. The Oath with Henley swept in a bright arc as the Wyrd redirected the rebellious symphony from hitting friends and allies.
Spring was having Its fun.
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Hua Yuan
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Presence 2 - Nostalgic; SL 1 - Flawless
Posts: 304
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Post by Hua Yuan on Jan 5, 2022 1:14:18 GMT -8
They had barely had the time to find cover before the sky unleashed its pent up fury. The storm swept across the beach in waves, hitting Yuan as Bedlam followed close behind.
The rain found its way to the Beast, even cooped as he was with Mitch. It drenched the flask vest and his shirt, making fabric to cling to his skin. Still, he watched, transfixed, as the embodiment of nature’s freedom rolled in. It was-
"Beautiful." The towering clouds and the roaring winds make him feel insignificant. As torrents danced to their own strange, time-distorted rhythm, the Beast wondered if he would ever be free of the shackles Mitch had told him about. Expectations, he had called them; so much dead weight. The house cat wished to be a Storm, unbridled and unapologetic, powerful and unabashed. A tentative hand reached out beyond the relative safety of their cover, grasping for some truth hidden out there. He wondered how the rain would feel on his face.
"I don’t know what I was so scared of. It’s only water. So what if we get a little wet?"
Letting go of Mitch’s hand, Yuan took off his shoes and socks before walking out into the storm. His feet sank into the cold, wet sand, half spun by the Dancer’s will. He could barely hear his thoughts over the noise and the thunder, drowning out thoughts of inadequacy. Lightning flashed, ephemeral and glorious, while the Courser grinned his fanged smile.
"I’m alive!" he shouted into the emptiness, at Mitch. A statement of his resilience despite all odds. “I’M ALIVE!” In this instant, he felt as free as Spring.
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Post by Henley on Jan 5, 2022 17:34:41 GMT -8
The sea and sky were as one as the rain thundered down and raised the tide with stolen love and joy in a rage against the dying of the light represented by the kingdom above them. Henley, for his part, was overcome by the spectacle, laughing madly as sheets of it poured into the sea where he swam. They loved a song of destruction? They'd adore this.
The storm intensified as Henley leaned into the will to destroy and create, attacking the waterfall with Spring's flooding rampage. Sheets of water blasted through the sky, carrying bits of rainbow with it. The tide began to rise. The hole began to fill as raw joy and light mixed with more and more --
The Nymph crested the ocean, grinning and shouting to his friends before he descended beneath the waves again.
"Bathe in it! It's ours! We take from Them, and we give it back to you!"
Was this what Buck felt like? The glamour rained down upon it, and he called down into the water.
"Spring's blessings upon you! How do they feel? Do you want more?!"
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