Ironsmith wrote: ↑Nov 21, 2022 8:13 pm
[Mountains]
"N-no... I'm not... it'd be you..." Eos stammers, continuing to back away from Naku.
Clearly, that is a full and complete explanation and it should all make sense to Naku now.
The youth stops when he hits the wall, a spiderweb of cracks already forming from the relatively light touch of his elbow awkwardly bumping into it,
"...I... I guess I'll have to show you." Eos says finally, holding up a hand defensively. "Just... please stay back, okay?"
After receiving confirmation that she will, in fact, stay back (assuming she gives it), Eos cups his hands together in front of his mouth and whispers something into them. Or at least, it sounds like he's trying to whisper. While his words are indistinct, the sound echoes all through the cavern around them, long after Eos has stopped talking. His efforts produce a tiny blue flame, no bigger than what Naku might find on the end of a ritual candle, floating just above the palm of his hand. It doesn't stay there for long; Eos guides it into the cracks he just made, watching the flame creep in and seemingly snuff itself out.
Just before the cavern wall bursts, leaving behind a little alcove with a statue in it, expertly carved into an unmistakable likeness of Naku herself. The statue has her arms out and open and a welcoming smile on her face; one might get the impression she's waiting for a hug.
"...My mum's a creator goddess." Eos begins to explain, brushing aside the debris with his feet. "And a goddess of chaos. Discovery. Exploration. A bunch of other things. My da... he's also a god. One of order, destruction, discipline, refinement. I... sort of inherited bits of both of them. If I try, and I mean
really try, I can create things the way they would. It's a delicate balance, but one I'm learning to maintain, thanks to da." Eos apprehensively approaches the statue, running his hands together nervously. "But... if I'm not careful, and again,
really careful, the chaos I inherited from mum and the destruction I inherited from da... they..."
Eos trails off and decides to simply show what he means. He reaches out and ever-so-gently brushes his hand against the statue's, before hastily stepping back.
crackle!
That little touch was apparently enough to send another spiderweb of cracks rolling over the statue's hand and arm, propagating at an alarming rate. Bits of stone fleck away from the damaged hand as it starts shaking violently, the expression on its face going from kind and loving to terrified as rifts form all over the body, and a haunting scream fills the air as whatever magic is at play here takes its toll. Until finally...
krackoom!
There's no more statue.
There's just a heavy cloud of dust and sand in the air, accompanied by a frightened-looking Eos staring up at Naku, quietly pleading for her to understand the danger.
"...If that had been
you... I'd be wearing you right now." He says finally, a bitterly sardonic edge in his voice.
[Mountains]
Naku of course gives her confirmation to stand back a bit. She crosses her arms across her chest, completely at ease, and making absolutely no sudden or scary movements. She watches, her tail idly swishing and swaying behind her, listening, and trying to learn, without too much comment. She observes as the statue goes up, and, though she doesn't outwardly
display this, she finds the way that he opted to make a statue of
her quite amusing.
Doubly so when he blows it up.
Though as the statue blows up, her arms almost . . . blur slightly. But in the blink of an eye, were crossed again. Like nothing happened. Could'a been anything.
"I see I see." She nods a few times, glancing at where the statue once was.
"Welllll. That is certainly a powerful gift you have. But I assure you; you are safe here. Please believe me, I do understand your demonstration. Fully and entirely." She lowers her arms, tossing a small pebble she had caught off to the side.
"But you are here. You are in my Lady's Realm. Where her power is at its strongest, and she is not confined to the traditional rules of reality." Naku, once again, slowly, offers a hand.
"I have dealt with danger most of my life. So I speak with assurance, this is a safe place. She will not permit violence against other sentient beings. It was a task to get her to allow it to occur to the rock just now, even." Naku smiles and shakes her head slightly.
"And I am her Champion. She is doubly protective of me.
I assure you. It is okay." Naku holds her hand out, even if just for the most briefest of brushes, if Eos wants to try. If not, she won't push it, and she'll lower her hand.
But they are in Civvy's realm. Civvy does not like violence, and has spent a
lot of her effectively limitless energies in helping keep things safe. It should be absolutely okay.
Also Naku herself radiates a good deal of . . . not anti-magic, but magic just kind of washes over and off of her like water off of a duck. It just doesn't 'stick'. It can't usually
find her to affect her.
Keeper wrote: ↑Nov 22, 2022 3:22 pm
Portal Another Time
Mist considers this, trotting over to Naku's seat and sit down in front of her.
"Well, if you wanted to learn to ride, I could probably help you learn better than an actual horse that can't talk to you. But aren't you Civvy's like...special champion person? I would have thought she'd have gotten you a sparkly mount for getting places fast."
This could be a grave matter. Mist may have to discuss with Civiron god-to-goddess as to the exceptional importance of Naku deserving a supremely huggable mount with sparkly wings.
Portal Another Time
Naku hops up off of her chair, and looks over at the sitting Mist.
"Are you . . . certain? I am not against it. But I am . . ." Naku you're a veteran of countless skirmishes. Why is having a willing, communicative, and helpful friend try to help you making you
anxious?
"In my Lady's defense. She has tried. But she tends to send me places where it is best I go alone." She shakes her head though, banishes her thoughts of being silly, and hops up. She is definitely and clearly
not good and will need a good deal of guidance on leg, arm, and hand placement, as well as posture.
Morty wrote: ↑Nov 23, 2022 7:25 pm
[The Swarm]
"She's really acting a lot like a dog. Or a cat," Brinika says, looking at the happy chaos of her cousins petting Sally.
"But you talk about her more like about a friend than a pet."
[The Swarm]
"Well, to be honest," Sally watches the excited Sally bouncing around, receiving headpats and basking in chaos. She giggles a bit, before continuing.
"You got it exactly. She is just as sentient and smart and communicative as you or I. She is a friend. She just . . . also enjoys being cute, and helping spread some joy to others as best she can.
I like her a lot." Civvy admits with a nod.
"She's a good bean, if I say so myself." Which, while a natural statement for Civvy, feels
quite weird to type about another of Mee's Own Characters.
Earl of Purple wrote: ↑Nov 24, 2022 6:26 pm
The Swarm
Not just cousins are patting Sally; Cheasadh can't wait any longer and is trying to get to the front where she can have a go at giving the little lizardy drake some much-needed fuss. Sally's a good girl and deserves all the headpats that Cheasadh can supply.
And goodness, as soon as Cheasadh joins in, Sally just starts purring up a storm. Far far far more like a cat than a dragon as she just
basks in the attention and adoration. Her tail swishes, her wings unfurl a bit to help her keep balance, her head bats up against patting palms, asking for more, and the purring from deep in her chest continues.
Morty wrote: ↑Nov 23, 2022 7:25 pm
[The Castle]
Alright,
now we're talking! This isn't where Iknika was expecting to put her training to use, but she can work with it. And this weapon? She's been focusing on one-handed ones, but this will do. She steps to the side, avoiding the smash, then swings the weapon at the monster's arms, aiming with the spiked end of the hammer.
[The Castle]
The hammer is, while perhaps a bit unlike what she's been training with
specifically, still perfectly sized for her, and weighted incredibly well to allow for hard strikes, without leaning into unwieldy territory.
As Iknika narrowly avoids the falling smash, her vision is obstructed slightly from a spray of pure, white, powdery snow, but the minor distraction does nothing to throw off her aim, as the gem and ice hammer strikes against the first arm, powers through it, and cracks into the second. A showering spray of shards of scintillating snow and ice burst into the air as the hammer effortlessly shatters through both of the construct's arms, severing its large fists from the rest of its arm. The snow surrounding the solid ice cores of the construct melts away on either side of the strike, as the golden rears back and roars in frustrations.
Moving shockingly quickly for a creature of its size, it slams its shortened arms back into the large piles of snow on either side of itself, and rips them back out, its arms fully reformed.
That move definitely bought her a bit of time, but it doesn't seem to have done much to actually
stop the construct.
And that's not to mention the bright blue light that's been starting to glow in its chest. Getting brighter and brighter. It's clearly building up to
something, but Iknika's shattering of its arms definitely bought her a few more seconds to act, as it finishes reforming its arms.