#cyclone is neat for WInd

[skyward-floored]

Hi!

Perhaps Cyclone could fit Wind since those are in the game? Or Zephos or Cyclos? (frog wind deities)

And maybe Blue Knightshade or just Knightshade for Wild (from Blue Nightshade, which increases stealth/quietness like the Silent Princess)?

And, of course, don't feel like you have to use these; I just like coming up with ideas!

Ooooh hm, those are pretty nice! I especially like the nightshade one, I love how it's got that botw tie-in. I'll add them to my (admittedly short) list of options :)

[lunar-wandering]

yknow i don't think any media ever is going to top the fucking EXPERIENCE i went through watching the Boboiboy movie at age 14(??) and seeing Thorn and Solar appear for the first time out of NOWHERE during the final battle.

i need you to imagine this with me. there's a kid with elemental powers. he can split into multiple versions of himself each with a specific personality and element. for a while it was just Earth, Wind, and Lighting, who upgraded to Quake, Cyclone, and Thunderstorm.

then in s3 we got Fire and Water. okay. cool. neat. they're here in the movie too.

oh hey!!! now Fire and Water have upgraded to Blaze and Ice!!! awesome, this is such a cool final battl-

WHO THE FUCK IS THAT.

WHO THE FUCK IS THAT????

THAT DUDE JUST ONE SHOTTED THE BIG BAD.

like i'm telling y'all- it was a fuckign EXPERIENCE and they were only on screen for like 2 minutes max. i didn't even find out their personalities until Galaxy came out- and in Galaxy, Thorn was reset to Leaf and Solar was reset to Light (albeit he went from Light to Solar within like one episode but WHATEVER it was fuckign WILD)

[hollowsart]

The Cryptid Crawler Issue #???: Ride The Cyclone

Andrée Fresson: Cylcone Lore

Warning for the topic of hurricanes!

==[this is very lengthy, oops]==

Andrée Fresson is a weather woman from France who was always working to develop and show off her fun little devices that added a neat little display of a miniature version of the weather she would forecast, becoming a nation-wide sensation for those displays. She would also wear unique outfits as well for special forecasts. Her forecasts were classified as edutainment, but she was a big hit with

One day when a huge hurricane was predicted to hit in the next couple of days, Andrée had prepared herself a brand new costume for the occasion of her announcement of the hurricane's arrival. It was specially developed to allow her to enter the wind machine. Dragging out a newly programmed and upgraded wind machine in question to give a demonstration of a hurricane to help people to prepare and understand the weather better, as always. Just as her broadcast was going well, the hurricane had come early.. and right toward the weather station Andrée worked.

Everyone at first had simply assumed it was a scattered storm in preparation to the hurricane on its way. However, they were quickly proven wrong. Andrée was getting ready to step inside the machine for a first ever demonstration of it when the hurricane struck. With the door open at the time of impact the machine rocked and fell, trapping Andrée inside. the machine was too big and heavy for anyone to move it on their own. The cameras were still rolling as things unfolded before finally giving out as the hurricane tore through the set, the last thing the viewers would see is from the studio was at least 5 workers trying to help rescue Andrée.

The wind machine malfunctioned and exploded around Andrée as the hurricane did away with her coworkers and the building around them all. The electricity and specialized circuitry that made it up had a strange reaction to the lightning of the hurricane and the molecules of Andrée's wind suit.. as well as the molecules of her own body. Altering her entirely from a molecular level.

As the storm finally passed and faded away, there were search and rescue efforts to clean up the mess and look for any survivors in the destruction left behind. Eventually Andrée's unconscious and badly damaged, yet still very much alive body had been recovered from the debris. It was nothing less than a miracle that she had somehow survived such an event, especially from the hurricane hitting it dead on. In fact, Andrée was the only survivor from the studio.

Her miraculous survival quickly hit the airways as she was safely brought in to recover at a nearby hospital. Her changes weren't immediate, taking a couple months since the hurricane incident before the changes to her body were finally shown. Having been discharged and told to seek some therapy after such a traumatic event, she instead sought out her old job again. It was the one thing she enjoyed in life more than anything.. but she was met with rejection from the studios. Being told her specific broadcasting show had to be cancelled and they didn't want to risk her possible further trauma having to report on the weather.

This news caused a sudden gust of air to blow through the building as Andrée started to get a little stressed. She stormed out of the building, not even registering the odd wind that left the building along with her. She rushed her way down to the main studio where her prior manager resided to ask some questions and request her show to resume. She was getting furious, though, as they proceeded to deny her request and pleading, panic and anger rising in the room.. just like the odd wind that picked up.

Andrée still hadn't noticed as she was spiraling with emotions.

(this is unfinished, sorry "orz)

[confusedfoam]

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, which rotates once approximately every six days, is an anti-cyclonic storm 22° south of the planet’s equator.

:3

!!! Neat!!! I had to look up what anti-cyclonic meant: so for those who don't know it's a storm system that is surrounding a high atmospheric pressure system, as opposed to a regular cyclone which goes around low pressure. This also makes the winds circulate in the opposite direction!!

I also learned, as a by product, that cyclones go in the same direction all the time, but that the direction is dependent on hemisphere?! goodbye backwards Australian toilets and hello backwards Australian cyclones!

thank you anon for the fun fact and for the learning journey!!!

[sunrisetoday2024]

I was at Wujal working in the cafe when Cyclone Jasper came. Wujal Wujal was right in the eye of the cyclone. There was a lot of rain but not much wind. On the 12th December, I had to go home, pack up everything that was outside....all the outdoor furniture had to be moved inside ready for the Cyclone which was to be category 4 at the time.

It was my first cyclone and I was very frightened as I was alone here.

These photos are of the location before it was flooded out completely. The cyclone had come the night before bringing a lot of heavy rain. It actually rained for 6 days before the ultimate flood...

There are lots of trees around and a nice herb garden and a neat clean property with views over the road.

[everrainrp]

Out of curiosity, since I’ve had a few name ideas that I’ve been wanting to use for warriors ocs- but I’m not 100% sure clan I want to join first when the roleplay starts… Do any of these fit particular clans better? :D

Galewhistle (mmm descriptive /silly), Forelornluck (gotta love sadly named kits 😔), Aspensong (they’re so pretty sounding in the wind <3), Gannetswoop (northern gannets are my favourite bird- and I love watching them dive a little ways off when chilling on the fishing boat), Cyclonichaze (genuinely wish this suffix was used in the series tbh), and Mistwatcher (I used to think mist was fun to look at as a kid for some reason lmao)

(Strangely enough more names come to me than character ideas 😅- also my apologies, I’m half asleep so my grammar is almost certainly non existent pfft)

Ooo this is a fun question!

Galewhistle I can definitively say would be a perfect name for a Skyreach cat or Shoreshimmer cat! Both Clans experience heavy winds and storms that would prompt heavy usage of the Gale- prefix, and particular flora that might whistle in the winds, like reeds or meadow grasses!

Forelornluck is very interesting and unique, I don't believe I've ever seen Forelorn- used! This one is a bit tougher as I imagine it would fit in anywhere, but Mistshroud might be a good fit! They're a very introspective and intuitive Clan, and Forelorn- and - luck both are descriptors of ones personality and overall persona!

Aspensong is so pretty, I wish we had aspens where I am! I had no idea that they have a particularly pretty sound in the wind! Torrentfall and Thornrush both come to mind for this one as both Clans have patches of deciduous forest in their territories, and patches of aspen and birch growths!

I just looked up Northern Gannets, they're very beautiful birds! Any diving bird is so spectacular and interesting to watch! - Swoop as a prefix is so fitting and really good for Gannet- omg. Definitely might lean more towards Shoreshimmer, with them residing on the coast and having the most potential exposure to Gannets as a whole!

Cyclonichaze is very neat, I don't believe I've ever seen Cyclonic- used either! And I definitely agree, - haze is a really fun suffix that is under used. My first kneejerk thought was Shoreshimmer, but I could see it being a good name for a Thornrush cat as well!

Mistwatcher is very fun, and definitely one I would place in Mistshroud or Thornrush, with both having heavy fog and mists that settle in their territories!

That all being said, any name could be for anywhere if you want it to be! Those are just personally where I'd place each given their prefix/suffix combination!

Warrior Cats is the one place where I'd say coming up with the name first is the easy part, making the character after the fact is the hard part! And no need to apologize, thank you for this question, it let me pick my brain a bit and got me motivated to power through some stuff!

If there are any other character related questions, I am always open to talk about them, whether you guys just want to share ideas or ask about names! Seeing what people are coming up with is very fun!

[the-orange-siren]

"Cyclones aren't uncommon here, so wind is mostly off the list. Flooding also isn't uncommon, so also mostly off the list. Our best bet is likely going to be solar considering that there is almost always sun and you can get sunburnt even if it's cloudy, and the light from the moon is just the sun but with extra steps. It would be easiest to repair if a catastrophic event were to occur. And if most of the energy goes to the heater, we can also try to make a sort of uh- battery if you will. Then if something were to happen, then there would still be stored energy, like an animal and fat reserves in the winter" he mumbled to himself, scribbkibg down things in his oddly neat writing.

"other kingdoms have other ideal sources of power so make sure that anything can be latched onto the battery." Kell said.

[waterfireflyer2]

I just love how the animators drew wind in this show! It looks SO awesome!

I mean to visibly see it like this:

to not seeing the wind specifically but it still making their hair flutter in the breeze:

And the episodes where the Condor is trapped in a cyclone or a really bad storm? They’re so neat!

Watching the skimmers fly through the air and clouds is awesome too!

I know it might be weird but every time I see wind on here, I’m in awe!

[littleeyesofpallas]

Dwelling on Yoruichi and Shunkou, there's the neat pairing of the thunder god Raijin, and his companion creature the Raijuu as a theme in her techniques. But also very famously Raijin and Fuujin, the god of wind and storms, are a nigh inseparable pair. And Sui-Feng very notably has a unique whirling cyclone style shunkou, different from Yoruichi's explicit lighting themed one.

And although there isn't really a fire god directly related to any of those other 3 mythical figures, Yuushirou had his briefly glimpsed, but conspicuously fire type shunkou that could potentially lend itself to pulling from any number of fire gods:

Kojin has a little more of that monstrous aesthetic that Raijin and Fuujin do, plus it mirrors the "-jin" etymology in the names, and his depiction with a kind of burning wheel also matches the halo-like silhouette motif in art opposite Raijin's ring of drums, and Fuujin's bag of wind.

But better known would be the primodrial fire god of the shinto pantheon would be Kagutsuchi, who is also a child of Izanami.

or potentially other fire gods borrowed from Chinese, Buddhist, or even Hindu mythos

Not that either of those character have references in the manga, just that they're well positioned for the comparison and also it's kind of weird that there's this elemental variance to shunkou that never seems to be directly acknowledged for some reason? Like, the "same" technique can either manifest in swirling winds or lightning bolts and no one questions why those are so dramatically different?

Anyway the leftover Shunkou stuff I was picking through recently...

Mukyuu Shunkou[無窮瞬閧]: "Infinite Flash War-cry" and [無窮] just means any number of synonymous terms depending on the context; "Eternal," "endless/unending", "everlasting," "perpetual," etc... Interestingly it does not share the same etymology as any of its English translations, despite being a seemingly straight forward concept. [無] is a broadly applicable negative indicator, generally affixed to other words to describe a lack thereof, but [窮] means something like "distress." So rather than saying it's something that just "does not end" it refers to something that "has no complications (in continuing)"

Bakuen Musou[爆炎無双]: "Explosion Flame Unmatched"

[爆] can also just mean "explosion" or "bomb" but it can also refer to "burst" both literally and idiomatically as in "a burst (of laughter)." "Explosion Flame" seems redundant, although the technique is literally that, but it can also read like "Bursting Flames" describing the Flames' action, rather than Flmaes (of an) Explosion, which feels again a little obvious. Then again, Kubo pulled the whole thing out and then brushed it off all in just one chapter, so maybe redundant because he didn't really put much thought into it.

[m58]

poetry by Lauren Terry

PUNCH POCKET

diaphanous apparition of value copy paper

you will not do for reproducing

glossolalia

flaccid and translucent thing of non-appearance

you do asphyxiation

because the text is not for arbitration

grasp absence in polypropylene

INDESRUCTIBLE OBJECT after Man Ray

Snagged on the silver hook of a pendulum, the iris lolls and beats.

You imagine it omniscient, wind the bony cup with a key –

when it won’t bat cilia for looking square, crack the pupil with a mallet.

You imagine it blind, ticking in abstract caliginosity.  

CUBIST PAINTING OF A SELFIE STICK

Semblance of a carbon whip antenna, prosthetic arm, or telescopic soup ladle –

multi-axis, omni-directional, compact trekking pole

salutes the firmament,

but dare not point to something more than itself.  

BLOOD ORANGE

The copses swell with sacs of dimpled flesh, like cellulite –

hunching over mongrel fruit which gorged itself on our water.

You must palm the swelling – roll your wrist to sever cord.

Dig a nail into the bastard crease, and its meat will be lung-shaped;

split the pustules with your bite – let bitter plasma drain

into the red, wet hole of your throat.  

THE AUTOMATIC CAR WASH AS A CUBIST PAINTING

spit a whip antenna from a hole and flatten glass to body wake and whir and whoosh the apparatus into neutral a wan blue whining where bristles whip and whistle automation for the tunnel is a cyclone it circulates spittle in pulling wheels and pounding doors in neat analogous whips it wants for nothing in propelling bodies through a hole and in the semblance of whooshing or wailing or whirring android splutters blue and swallows bodies spinning wants and nothing wants in cycles where beads where beads fly off at obscene angles wailing when the body goes beyond automaton and whirs and waits to veer beyond the track to spit a whip antenna from its hole and the tunnel is no more a cyclone in the absence of another body’s neutral apparatus to whine and whip and whistle and wheel and whoosh and wail and want

Lauren Terry is a poet and associate lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. Lauren’s critical-creative research explores the synaptic connections between (neuro)psychoanalysis, modernist poetic language, and material objects. Her poems have appeared in various anthologies and online journals, including Molly Bloom, Litter and Anthropocene. Lauren’s debut pamphlet, Museum of Lost and Broken Things, is published with Leafe Press.  

[gumnut-logic]

Take a Minute

This is another case of me just indulging myself. It took longer than expected and ended up at around 2400 words, none of which really go anywhere.

Many thanks to @i-am-chidorixblossom​ for the read through and cheering.

I hope you enjoy it.

-o-o-o-

The hatch creaked as the hydraulics let it down to the dry hard packed dirt. A small puff of dust billowed up around the hot cahelium and it caught in his nose, tickling in the heat.

The horizon was flat and the earth iron red as it disappeared into the ominous grey of the cloud blocking the sky.

Virgil’s boots made their own puffs of dust as he stepped off the hatch and emerged from under the shadow of Two. The puffs followed him as he walked the length of his ‘bird. The dirt gritted under his specialised soles as he avoided the heat of her cooling VTOL and the scorch of her now quiet thrusters.

His landing was precautionary. A warning light had come on during the flight home and dumping himself in the middle of the Outback for a mechanical check was preferable to taking a swan dive in the middle of the Tasman.

Outside appearances gave no clue to the issue and unfortunately, he would have to wait for her engines to cool off before attempting to access the thruster that was the problem.

A sigh and he turned back to look at the horizon.

He truly was in the middle of nowhere.

“Thunderbird Two, status report.”

Typical Scott. His brother was hip deep in a rescue on the other side of the planet, but his brother radar still managed the range.

“Status a-okay, Thunderbird One. Just taking a moment to gaze at the scenery.”

“John says you have a mechanical fault.”

“Quite possibly. Fine for the moment. Just need a little cooling time. I’ll keep you updated.”

“FAB, Thunderbird Two.”

And then it was back to the silence.

True silence.

There was no wind.

No water.

No birds.

Just the heat of a dying day leaching out of the sand, the creak of his cooling ‘bird, and the potential energy in the air.

It was going to rain.

The Kansas farm boy could tell that much. Even in another country and an entirely different environment, he could feel it.

He didn’t need fancy instrumentation to predict that.

The impending storm raised the hair on his arms under his uniform. It itched at his skin and spoke of change.

Ants crawled across his boots, winged queens and drones launching to join a cloud of them off to his right.

It was eerie.

He shifted where he stood, unsure of what to do next. He wasn’t one for killing time. Time was a valuable thing and needed to be used to its upmost. But this stop was unplanned and there was little he could do while waiting.

Sure, there were tasks. There were always tasks, nitty gritty maintenance jobs. He was never short of work.

But the air was still. The sense of building atmospheric release buzzed across his senses.

It was tantalising.

He shivered.

There were still a couple of hours before sunset, but the air was dark due to the heavy cloudbank looming over the landscape.

A thought.

A flash of guilt followed by stubborn determination.

He turned and climbed back on to the hatch and retracted it, only to lower it again a few moments later with a folded chair and a box in his hands.

He parked it in the sand.

The silence was a physical presence.

He opened the box to reveal a portable watercolour kit – a neat palette of half pans, a fine brush and a small block of high-quality paper.

It was an indulgence he kept aboard his ‘bird. One he had yet to use, so this was definitely an opportune moment. A tiny amount of time to throw down some colour and capture this red-on-blue-grey intensity.

It didn’t take him long to realise he had forgotten a couple of things. A muttering step back into his ‘bird and he returned with a small table and a cup full of water.

He finally managed to settle himself. Painting while wearing his uniform wasn’t the most comfortable. It was bulky and in the way. He did shed his gloves, which meant he had to take off his wrist controller. Scott would frown enough to dent his nose, but he couldn’t paint with his gloves on.

There was heavy lifting, but there was also sensitive and tactile manipulation. He liked to think he was capable of both.

A dip of his brush into clear water, a dab of cadmium red, and colour spilled onto the paper.

Payne’s grey filled the sky in soft billows with just a hint of ultramarine. He tried to keep his touch gentle. Watercolour was so unforgiving. Fast and delicate, the colours could easily be overdone and unlike acrylic or oils, could not be undone satisfactorily.

It took all his concentration to sketch out the worn landscape.

The parched air dried the colours quickly and it wasn’t long before he was flicking strands of yellow ochre spinifex in the foreground, the little painting almost done.

In the distance, the clouds rumbled warning.

He dabbed in a second layer to bring up the contrast, the greys echoing the thunder on the horizon. Just a touch of green brought out the red of the iron in the sand.

“I really don’t know how you do that.”

Virgil nearly fell out of his chair.

“Scott!” His heart thudded in his ears and he clutched the drying painting in his hands as it tried to slip from his fingers. “What the hell?! How did you…?” He shot to his feet and turned to find his brother standing behind him. Beyond, at a respectable distance, sat Thunderbird One.

Scott held up both hands, taking a step back. “Hey, I saw you were painting, so I parked back a ways. Figured you wouldn’t want VTOL messing with your paints.” But then his brother was smothering a grin. “You were kinda zoned out there, Virg.”

“You were in Prague! How did you get here so fast?” It was a stupid question. He was Scott Tracy. Fast was part of his genome.

But his brother frowned. “It’s been over an hour since I last contacted you. The situation is resolved. I was on my way back and thought I’d check in. John said he hadn’t had an update.”

Virgil stared at his brother. An hour? He brought his wrist up to check the time, but his controller was on the little table beside his chair with his discarded gloves.

Oh.

Scott arched an eyebrow at him.

Virgil grunted before putting the painting down carefully and retrieving his equipment. A moment later, his gloves were on and his wrist controller back in place.

It was indeed over an hour later.

Thunderbird Two would have cooled down enough forty-odd minutes ago.

“You were lost in your painting, weren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. His brother sighed, walked over to the table and picked up the piece of art. Blue eyes scrutinised it. “Nope. I don’t have a clue how you do that. It’s great, Virg.” He handed it over and somewhat numbly, Virgil took it.

He stared at the strokes in which he had been so absorbed earlier. The landscape stretched into the paper, reds bouncing off blues, the stillness captured in pigments.

Okay, so he had to admit, it was working quite well. He had muddied the colour a little in one corner and there was a patch where he’d left more white paper than was probably necessary because he was too worried about over doing the paint, but overall it mostly did what he wanted it to do. Oh, his wash hadn’t quite worked in that bit. Damn.

But…

He could get away with it.

“Earth to Virgil? You okay in there?”

Scott was smirking.

Virgil glared at him before cradling the watercolour block in one hand, picking up the palette with the other and packing it away. He stomped his way back to his ‘bird.

He ignored the laugh behind him.

He was stashing the paints in their locker when Scott joined him in Two, both the table and chair folded up in his hands. “Where do you stash these?”

Virgil gestured in the direction of the utility store and his brother put the equipment away.

Back in the cockpit, Virgil pulled up the suspect control and found the red light still glaring accusingly as Scott entered behind him.

“Give me ten. I need to inspect her starboard thruster.” He grabbed a safety line and threw back the overhead hatch. The gloomy atmosphere crept into the cockpit, but he ignored it and elevated the himself up so he could climb onto the top of his ‘bird.

“Virgil, you do know there is a storm coming in. You’re standing on the highest point for miles.”

“I’ll only be a minute.” Keep your pants on.

But his brother was right. His dawdling with his paints had cost him time and the weather was moving in.

He hurried across the back of his Thunderbird sliding carefully onto her starboard intake, and making his way down to the access hatch. He hooked in his safety line, prodded his controller to release the security, and hauled the hatch open.

Five minutes later, with several profane words that had Scott even more concerned, he yanked an obstruction out of her secondary intake valve.

It was a bright yellow, now somewhat grimy, Thunderbird Four.

No more than four inches long.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Virg? What? Who?”

“Gordon.” He didn’t elaborate. The sky was well and truly rumbling now and he needed to get inside.

Tightening the valve, he gave it a good once over to check for damage. Another poke at his controller and the dash confirmed the issue resolved.

Access secured, he unhooked his line and made a run for the main hatch just as the landscape lit up white with lightning.

He leapt into his ‘bird as if he had that lightning on his tail.

His boots hit deck plates. Virgil reached up and threw the hatch closed and sealed away the angry sky.

Scott was staring at him.

Virgil met that gaze before walking past his brother towards his pilot seat. He casually chucked the little Thunderbird Four to his brother like the grenade it was.

Scott caught it. “What the hell?”

Gordon was dead twice over and he didn’t even know it.

“You better get back to your ‘bird. The sky’s going to open up any minute and we should probably be above it rather than below it.” Virgil poked at the weather read out. It was only a weather front, nothing compared to the cyclone forces the Thunderbirds were capable of tackling. “You might get wet.”

Scott was still glaring at the model in his hand. A distracted grunt.

Gordon was definitely dead.

Possibly more than twice.

“Okay, less imaginary brother murders and more getting back to your ‘bird.”

“Huh?”

Yeah, so now who was zoning out?

Virgil nudged his brother onto the hatch platform and stepped on himself, lowering it onto the red dust again.

He stepped off the deck plates just as the first fat rain drops started to hit the dust.

Damn. “Too late.” And as if he had given the sky permission, it really opened up.

Water hit dry earth in big splats, puffs of red rose only to be taken down by more rain. The stipple of water fast became patches and then the land deepened in colour. The bright iron red darkened almost to a burgundy. The spinifex he had so finely painted not half an hour earlier, shifted from a yellow ochre to a gold that almost glowed in the remnant light.

As Scott stepped up beside him, secure under the protection of Two’s nose, the landscape bleached suddenly and the sky grumbled and cracked. The air smelt of ozone and the sharp evaporation of precipitation in the heat. But there was more water than the air or the earth could take and it puddled in the indents between the rocks.

Some kind of thorny lizard darted out from a tuft of spinifex and hurried under the shelter of Two beside the brothers. At the lack of the rain on its back, it looked up as if surprised. Two reptilian eyes stared at them before darting back out into the rain.

Scott took another step forward and Virgil put a hand on his arm.

“You’re not going to try to run through that.”

“I’ve got to get back to One.”

“Why?”

“Because…” His brother trailed off.

Virgil squeezed his arm gently. “Take a minute. This is a desert storm. It will be short lived. We can wait.”

Blue eyes stared at him.

Okay, so waiting wasn’t part of Scott Tracy’s genome.

“Take a minute. Watch.” Virgil turned back to the storm and revelled in the release of the tension that had been building for the last couple of hours. He watched the rain hit the earth, the patterns, the dance of spinifex leaves. He listened to the roar, the wet splat against cahelium, the sigh as the water disappeared into the grass and the grumbles in the clouds.

Scott eventually turned to look and, for a short while there, they were just a couple of brothers staring out at the storm.

The fact they were sheltering underneath one of the most advanced technological creations on the planet was unimportant.

“This is all your fault, you know.” Scott’s voice was soft.

A grunt. “I think Gordon’s is the more likely culprit.”

“If you hadn’t stopped to paint, we’d be home by now.”

Virgil didn’t answer immediately. He took a breath. “But then we would have missed this.”

At that moment the sun finally hit the horizon and slipped through a gap in the clouds to light up the wet landscape in gold. Rain still fell, but it was as if it was liquid sunlight failing from the sky. Water glistened on everything and the clouds lit up from underneath.

Thunder rumbled in clouds turning pink in the east.

“Yeah, we would.” But the acknowledgement was distracted as Scott stared at the spectacle.

Perhaps they had something for which to thank Gordon. It was a moment that they would never have experienced if Virgil hadn’t had to stop.

He breathed in the freshened air and let it out with a relaxing sigh.

No.

Gordon was still dead.

-o-o-o-

FIN.

[toemuncher666]

Sanguine (Akuma Kan):

Personality - He’s extremely shy and timid yet heroic at heart. He finds it hard to talk to people and be the center of attention but if the situation calls for it…he’ll attempt to save people no matter what.

Looks - He shares his father’s height so he’s naturally tall. He also shares his father’s hair and muscular build but he is much slimmer than his father and doesn’t quite have his father’s bulk.

Quirk - Bloodletting

Properties - The quirk allows Akuma to manipulate his own blood. The blood can shoot from his skin like a bullet and can even explode when shot with enough velocity. He can also create blood tendrils that act like tentacles and can be used to fight but also rescue people. His blood allows for a quick healing cycle since it has to rip through his skin. His blood can also harden to create powerful shields and body armor. He can also create clones through his blood…and can travel via liquefying into blood and sprouting up where he intends.

Drawbacks - Too much exertion of blood means his body isn’t getting enough circulation…so he can easily succumb to limbs falling asleep, massive migraines, queasiness, potential black outs, and blood rushes temporarily giving him vision impairment…and blood cannot be withdrawn from his body for over 10 minutes without risking cardiac arrest. His quirk also requires for a lot of liquid ingestion to regenerate lost blood.

Venus: (Sakura Nishiya):

Personality - Sakura is incredibly sweet often to her own detriment. She often puts other people’s feelings before hers, forgetting about her own problems. Sakura is also scarily intelligent when it comes to strategy in fighting.

Looks - Sakura boasts long green hair with flower growths seemingly sprouting from her scalp. She’s also pretty tall and has a muscular build.

Quirk - Mother Nature

Properties - Mother Nature allows for Sakura to manipulate plants. She can cause the plants to grow to extreme sizes and bend to her will. Her quirk allows for her to forcefully evolve the plants allowing for them to release pheromones or grow tangible vines for her to control

Drawbacks - Her quirk is only powerful during the day while the plants get sunlight…at night, her powers are severely limited beyond being able to just move the plants. Her quirk also requires her to stay hydrated…because the quality of the plants is directly tied to her health. The quirk also only works within viable soil that can properly host a plant.

Hex: (Uno Tatsuma):

Personality - Uno is very boisterous and confident in his abilities to the point where he can become pretty cocky and lose sight of his goal. Despite his cockiness, he is a good person and is very loving towards his friends and family.

Looks - Uno is considered very handsome and boasts deep purple hair and doughy purple eyes. He’s considerably tall and muscular and has sharp features.

Quirk - Bad Luck

Properties - Bad Luck allows for Uno to create black energy orbs from his hand. These orbs can be shot out and cause a variety of effects. The orbs are slightly explosive when they make physical impact with something…but that’s not the star of the show with this quirk. The main feature of this quirk is that on impact, it can cause a foe to suffer serious bad luck. When the orbs hit…they can cause a foe to trip and fall, suffer rapid onset narcolepsy, set off a chain of events that somehow leads an anvil falling on the foes’ head etc. etc.

Drawbacks - The level of bad luck isn’t consistent and is sometimes unreliable so it requires multiple orbs to be thrown…but the orbs directly rely on UNO’s molecular makeup of his hands. So when orbs are thrown in excess…they begin to make his hands and arms very brittle

Skinwalker (Amaya Gima):

Personality - Amaya is very gentle and kind. She often puts on the front of someone who doesn’t care…but once you get to know her, she’s truly a sweet person.

Looks - Amaya has long black hair. She’s average height and has pretty dark brown eyes.

Quirk - Beast Body

Properties - This quirk allows Amaya to change the anatomy of her physical body. All she has to do is think of an animal…and her body begins to shift into the creature.

Drawbacks - The quirk hurts every time Amaya performs it. The quirk also takes awhile for her to shift to an animal and shift back.

Psi (Kaneki Usagiyama):

Personality - Kaneki is incredibly reserved and cold. He doesn’t talk very much but when he does…it’s often demeaning. Kaneki views himself as more important than his peers…he’s also very intelligent and skilled in battle.

Looks - Kaneki sports dark blue hair. He’s average height but with a fit build. His eyes are also blue but when using his quirk…his hair and eyes begin to glow neon pink.

Quirk - Psychokinesis

Properties - Psychokinesis allows Kaneki to extort his brain beyond its limits…allowing him to use a strong form of telekinesis that can crush anything in its path. Psychokinesis allows telepathy as well. But one of the biggest boasts for this powerful skill…is that it can create deadly psionic blasts that can disintegrate anything they touch.

Drawbacks - when Psychokinesis is exerted for long periods of time…it starts to over exert his brain and cause massive headaches that severely slow down his abilities

Wormhole (Aimi Fujioka):

Personality - Aimi is incredibly shy, often resulting in her being unable to talk to anyone but her close friends. Despite her shyness…she is incredibly determined…and nothing will get in the way of her becoming a pro hero.

Looks - Aimi has short pink hair. She is also considerably short and has big doughy pink eyes.

Quirk - Teleportation

Properties - When Aimi envisions a specific place and touches her fingers together…she can cause a dimensional rip that she can teleport through. When the rip is paired with another rip…she can simply walk through it like an open door…but when the rip is alone, it sucks things in like a black hole.

Drawbacks - The quirk cannot work if Aimi hasn’t seen the area she wants the rip to appear. The rip can also only stay open for a maximum of 10 seconds.

Vortex (Arakan Ahane):

Personality - Arakan is incredibly nice but very ditzy and naive. Arakan has no problem complimenting people but often finds himself forgetting everything…sometimes even forgetting how to spell his own name.

Looks - Arakan has fluffy green hair and big green eyes. He’s pretty fit and has an average height.

Quirk - Time Jump

Properties - Time Jump allows Arakan to jump a few seconds into the future. When Arakan snaps his fingers…his quirk shoots him through a few seconds in his future. This allows Arakan to be very agile, dodging attacks and “jumping” well into high places most people wouldn’t be able to reach. When Arakan first jumps and right after, it causes electricity to shoot through the air…so getting close to him before a jump could result in a small electrical shock.

Drawbacks - The quirk has a 5 second cool down and when not aimed precisely…Arakan could end up getting stuck in walls or floors leaving him open to attack.

Aquarias (Chinami Aikawa):

Personality - Chinami is incredibly intelligent and nice. She often scores 100% on all of her written tests and you can leave it to her to develop a battle plan. However, due to her parents’ strictness on grades…it left Chinami very uncertain and personally insecure with her own skills.

Looks - Chinami has very long pale blue hair. She also has a slim fit figure with an above average height.

Quirk - Flood

Properties - Flood allows Chinami to telekinetically control any surrounding moisture or liquid. This can allow Chinami to cause giant destructive tsunamis or her favorite move from a cartoon she watches…giant water hands to crush her opponents and water wings to fly. Chinami’s ability also allows for more subtle moves…such as creating bubbles.

Drawbacks - Chinami’s quirk solely relies on the accessibility of nearby liquids or the amount of moisture in the air…without a good amount of either, her quirk is rendered semi-useless.

Whirlwind (Daichi Bushida):

Personality - Daichi is incredibly cocky often to his own detriment. He lacks the ability to recognize his own weaknesses and is often regarded as kind of an asshole. But his lack of outward recognition of his weaknesses often results in him pushing himself past his limits to prove his worth.

Looks - Daichi sports groomed black hair. He has sharp dark eyes and is quite tall and muscular.

Quirk - Cyclone

Properties - Cyclone allows Daichi to create whirlwinds from his hands. These whirlwinds can be anywhere from small controlled gusts that he can shoot at you…all the way to a giant tornado capable of mass destruction.

Drawbacks - too much wind power from his quirk takes a toll on his hand…he often ends up spraining his hand from the sheer wind power he can create.

Atomic (Hoshi Bushida):

Personality - Hoshi is similar to her brother in that she’s competitive and pushes herself past her limits. But unlike her brother, she knows her flaws and she has a strong sense of humility. This allows her to be emotionally mature unlike her brother…and it keeps her down to earth and quite intelligent.

Looks - Hoshi has long black hair often seen tied in a ponytail. She’s viewed as being incredibly pretty and she’s tall with a fit build.

Quirk - Disassemble

Properties - When Hoshi touches something…she can disassemble it on an atomic level…even living things. This allows Hoshi to completely remove an entire wall…or if need be…an entire foe.

Drawbacks - the disassembled object or person will reassemble unharmed anywhere between 10-20 minutes later and the quirk also requires her to touch the object to disassemble it.

Puppet Master (Joben Takao):

Personality - Joben is incredibly self-centered to where he might actually literally be in love with himself. Joben is also a strict neat freak.

Looks - Joben is considered incredibly handsome and he has crimson red hair with sharp facial features. He’s considerably tall and muscular.

Quirk - Possessor

Properties - Possessor allows Joben to temporarily possess someone’s body after he’s touched or been touched by someone. While possessing someone, he can use their quirks and has complete control over their body

Drawbacks - the possession only lasts a maximum of 5 minutes. The quirk also leave’s Joben’s real body out of commission and open for attacks

Static Shock (Kana Ryujin):

Personality - Kana is a total bimbo who completely forgets everything. Despite her absent mindedness…she’s very kind and outgoing.

Looks - Kana is pretty short with long pink hair tied in a ponytail. She has round dark eyes full of spirit and vigor.

Quirk - Lightning Rod

Properties - Lightning Rod allows Kana to shoot high voltage electricity out of her arms. Her quirk allows her to either shoot little shocks or full on thunder storms out of her arms.

Drawbacks - Kana’s not safe from the electricity itself…every time she activates her quirk, she shocks herself too.

Lion (Kazuhiko Yamaguchi):

Personality - Kazuhiko is incredibly intelligent and reserved. He often finds himself acing his tests…and he loves to fulfill his duty of class President.

Looks - Kazuhiko is incredibly tall and muscular. He blonde slicked back hair and glasses. Kazuhiko is well groomed and handsome and he also has a lion’s tail

Quirk - Cat Man

Properties - Kazuhiko can use the energy from food…to gain extreme muscle mass, grow claws, gain night vision, have enhanced senses, enhanced agility, and a mighty roar

Drawbacks - the quirk only lasts for as long as there’s food in his stomach…but the quirk absorbs the energy from the food…allowing for his powers to only be useful for mere moments. The enhanced senses can also be negated with bright lights in his eyes, foul smells, and extremely loud noises.

Octo (Kichi Calamari):

Personality - Kichi is awkward, adorable, and incredibly shy. Despite her shyness, she’s also scarily intelligent.

Looks - Kichi has a mutant type quirk. She has long orange-ish red-ish hair. She’s pretty short and has beady eyes.

Quirk - Octopus

Properties - Octopus is a mutant type quirk…meaning it’s always on her. Her quirk means she has eight slimy tentacles attached to her back, each with a hooked suction cup. Her quirk also explains why she’s incredibly intelligent. She can also secrete a slippery mucus from her skin. Her quirk also allows her to shoot ink from her mouth to blind foes.

Drawbacks - like an octopus…she needs to constantly stay hydrated…less she face drying out

Tremor (Kitaro Ryujin):

Personality - Kitaro is just like his sister in that he has no idea what’s going on ever…but he’s happy doing it.

Looks - Kitaro is described as being pretty handsome with an average height, muscular build, and spiky brown hair.

Quirk - Bulldoze

Properties - When Kitaro touches the ground…he can cause an immense seismic wave that causes a massive earthquake

Drawbacks - The quirk only works on solid ground…so sand, air, and water are unaffected by his quirk…grass also reduces the strength of the earthquake

Magnet (Leiko Fukumoto):

Personality - Leiko is pretty arrogant, but her arrogance is backed up with her high intelligence and great combat skills. Despite her arrogance, she’s pretty funny and somewhat laid back

Looks - She boasts long beautiful silver hair. She’s also pretty tall and muscular with solid steel colored eyes.

Quirk - Magnetic Pull

Properties - Her quirk allows her to telekinetically control metals. Her powers can let her lift semi trucks and even most buildings and launch them at you. She’s also known to quickly make protective shields out of surrounding metals.

Drawbacks - the strength of her magnetic pull solely revolves around the amount of iron in her body…when she has an iron deficiency…her quirk is rendered useless.

Forgemaster (Osamu Saito):

Personality - Osamu has a very protective and commanding personality. He often finds himself taking charge and protecting those he cares for. He also idolizes his pro hero cousin Momo Yaoyorozu and wishes to be just like her.

Looks - Osamu boasts light purple hair and soft facial features. He’s of an average height…but considerably fit.

Quirk - Weapon Hands

Properties - Osamu can turn his hand into any weapon as long as he knows exactly what the weapon is made of. His range can be from an entire cannon…to a simple knife.

Drawbacks - He must know the exact materials of the weapon…and the quirk draws upon energy from his body…so too much shifting to different weapons easily wears him out

Dopplëganger (Shina Saito):

Personality - Shina is incredibly nice and funny…but deep down, she’s insecure. She feels that she won’t live up to her cousin or her brother and she suffers from a severe identity crisis cause she feels she can’t even live up to herself.

Looks - Shina is viewed as being really pretty with long black hair. She’s kinda short and has a slim body type.

Quirk - Cloner

Properties - when she touches someone she can turn herself into them for around 6.5 minutes. Her quirk allows her to use their quirk as well.

Drawbacks - she’s only limited to 6.5 minutes per person and only one person at a time

Anti-Matter (Taishiro Tachi):

Personality - Taishiro is extremely confident but never arrogant. He’s also incredibly nice and out spoken about his ambitions and ideas

Looks - Taishiro is average height with a slim build. He has light blue hair and purple eyes filled with determination

Quirk - Light Constructs

Properties - his quirk allows him to create quite literally anything out of light…from a protective shield all the way to a functioning tank

Drawbacks - he must know exactly how his creation works or it’ll turn out faulty…his quirk also requires light so it cannot work in the dark

Gamma Ray (Yasuko Sugimoto):

Personality - she acts kinda like a big sister…she’s there for everyone when they need a shoulder to cry on. This comes from her feeling like other people’s problems are her fault…so she tries to fix them.

Looks - Yasuko has blonde hair in a side ponytail. She’s pretty tall and slim and has soft facial features.

Quirk - Gamma

Properties - when Yasuko claps her hands together…a giant destructive laser shoots from them with incredible force

Drawbacks - the laser is so bright it can temporarily blind her

[tsarisfanfiction]

Nothing VI

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Angst Characters: Grandma Tracy, Virgil Tracy, John Tracy, Alan Tracy, Scott Tracy, Gordon Tracy, EOS

Part 6 of my entry for @gumnut-logic‘s SensorySunday: See challenge. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

My character list just keeps getting longer... that was not the intention, whoops.  Now, what is this “fix it” thing people keep talking about?

She should be used to it by now, lifeless bodies laying limp before her, but how could one ever get used to seeing their grandsons unconscious in a hospital bed, surrounded by machinery that beeped as if to say he’s not dead yet?

John was pale, more so than normal, and Sally could tell that he hadn’t stopped shaking since he’d tumbled out of a battered Thunderbird Three with a broken leg and two broken brothers.  She didn’t know the calculations behind his journey, but she’d seen the winds pick up and hurl the rocket off course for a heart-stopping moment.  Thunderbird Three’s beautiful red paint was almost entirely gone on one side, the corresponding engine and grappling arm also warped almost beyond recognition.  Chunks of masonry littered the bottom of her silo where the round house had lost its battle against the Thunderbird thrown at it.

In this weather, the round house and its contents would be ruined.  John should never have tried to get home in a cyclone – even Scott and Alan, even Jeff, would have looked at the conditions and decreed it suicide to try. But she still had five living, breathing, grandsons, and Sally didn’t need numbers and calculations to know that if John had waited until it was safe, that number would have been down by one.

Scott was on a ventilator, no longer the blue John had reported but still too pale.  They’d refused to take any chances with him, hooking him up to everything at their disposal for use on hypoxic patients, but it was a cold, hard fact that none of them knew how long he’d stopped breathing for. If it wasn’t for the damage to his helmet, he would have had oxygen to spare by the time John reached him, but he hadn’t and now her eldest grandson was limp and pale to match the pillow beneath his head.

She clung tightly to faith and hope, and the belief that Lucille wouldn’t take her eldest son from them like this.  She clung to Scott’s resilience, and the love for his family that wouldn’t let him leave them.  She clung to her trembling second grandson, who had fought the world to get his brothers home safe but would never forget the horror of bringing his big brother back from the dead.

But John wasn’t always looking at Scott.  Not now. He had been, all too aware which of the unconscious brothers he was more likely to lose and entrusting his beloved youngest to his daughter of numbers and coding, but now that Scott was in more capable hands – still, steady hands because no matter what was going on in his head and heart, Virgil would never let himself treat anyone with uncertain hands – his attention had turned to the other bed.

Compared to Scott, Alan looked almost healthy.  Oxygen was being fed to him unobtrusively through a nasal cannula, just to be safe, and the field bandaging for the gash on his forehead had been replaced with neat butterfly sutures, but his skin was barely paler than usual and the medical scan assured them that his brain had suffered no damage from the blow it had taken.

While John watched from a distance, accepting a grandmother’s embrace but nothing else – and Sally was acutely aware that normally he only suffered a supporting arm from his older brother – Gordon touched.

He’d been in the hangars when the news had reached him, tinkering with Thunderbird Four and suspiciously wet when he’d sprinted to Thunderbird Three after her rough landing. Now, he was perched on a chair by Alan’s bed, clutching the hand of his only younger brother and talking to him quietly.  Sally didn’t do him the discourtesy of eavesdropping, but it was impossible not to hear his excitement when Alan responded.

She hadn’t heard the words, but she didn’t need to as John slipped out from her grip to go to his youngest brother’s side on crutches.  He hadn’t stopped shaking, but Sally thought that maybe it had lessened a little with the proof that at least one of his brothers would be okay.

Both boys reached out to stop Alan attempting to sit up, his blue eyes blinking blearily, and then again to stop him dislodging the cannula.  Sally trusted them to keep him under control and looked back at Virgil, who had turned away from Scott to see what the commotion was about.  Her middle grandson looked tired, but there was a smile on his lips as he realised Alan was awake.

“Go on,” she told him, making light shooing motions.  He looked back at Scott, torn between his duty to both his brothers, and she chivvied him again.  “I might be retired, but I can keep an eye on my grandson for a few minutes.”  She wanted to see Alan, and be sure that he was really okay, but since the loss of their father, it was his brothers Alan always looked for first, not his grandmother.  Sally could wait a few more minutes to give him a hug, and maybe some cookies.

Virgil held her gaze – he’d always been the best at reading her – for several long minutes before adjusting Scott’s covers and standing up.

“Let me know if anything happens,” he pleaded, and she agreed despite the fact that Virgil was only moving his attention one bed over and would still have one ear and eye on his older brother.  Still, he hesitated, and she put a hand on his arm lightly in silent support.

He swallowed, and turned away.

“Hey Alan,” she heard him say as she claimed the now vacant seat and rested an old, wrinkled hand that trembled despite the fact that she wasn’t that old yet lightly on her eldest grandson’s hand.  Behind her, her four conscious grandsons were talking, explaining everything that had happened to each other and putting together the bigger picture as the elder ones reassured themselves that their youngest brother – the baby of the family, although that was a designation never uttered out loud any more, not in this situation – was safe and well.

“And how about you?” she breathed, kept under her breath so as not to catch the attention of the other four.  Her other hand reached out and brushed Scott’s hair gently.  The few greys he’d acquired stood out starkly against the dark brown, but still blended in too well with his skin for her liking.  “When are you going to open those blue eyes of yours, Scotty?”

Part 7

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Dragon Hunt

As he returned to the main ballroom, Evelyn was missing. His eyes scanned the room for her a while when the phone in his pocket began to ring. He picked it up and saw a message from Norma that startled him.

Dragon. Invasion.

“What?”

“The campus is entering lockdown. There are intruders.” She said in his ears.

Everyone’s phones were ringing with the same message. He turned and looked outside. All the darkened buildings and all the lights on the street were lit to full brightness.

Suddenly, everyone started running around in a panic. Sergey’s heart began to race as he looked for Evelyn and could not find her.

Caesar tried to speak to him but he roughly pushed him away and dashed into the crowd, following them outside.

A dark armed vehicle was waiting. The door in the side slid open and the students rushed to grab black metal automatic weapons.

EVA was shouting in his ear. “As a freshman, you are ordered to the dormitory!”

He tore the earbuds in his ears out and left them on the sidewalk. 

Those devil bastards from Herzog had found him.

Fury and rage as hot as the sun burned inside him. He ran under the lights, eyes and ears alert to any sound or movement. As he approached what appeared to be a church, the doors swung open. He halted, ducking behind a large tree as students started to pour out of the church, heavily armed and looking around, they all hurried away, leaving the door ajar. 

What had made them run?

Suspicious, Sergey dashed inside. Whatever it was they feared, he did not fear it.

The inside of the church was not well lit. Despite all the lights being on, the large space had many dark corners. Perfect for him to hide in. He tucked himself behind a pillar to watch and see what it was that was that had spooked them. 

The sound of footsteps echoed through the space in a slow leisurely rhythm. They stopped in the middle of the aisle. 

Sergey stepped out from behind the pillar and the two faced one another. Sergey realized that in this suit, he might have been mistaken for a parishioner.

He was facing someone in a black combat uniform reminiscent of the gunmen from 20 years ago.

“You’ve come here to die, Herzog scum.” He snarled at him.

In the distance, the rattle of gunshots sent the blood rushing through his veins. The thought of Evelyn meeting the same fate as Katarina galled him.

“Is it true you’re descendant of the White King?” A soft voice asked him in pitch perfect Russian.

He was facing a woman? For someone as tall as him, short stature was not indicative of gender. Now that he looked he could see her slight curves.  “It is true!”

“What is your Soul Skill?”

“I have no idea. But I don’t need a Soul Skill to break you in half.” He cracked his knuckles.

“Don’t you want to see it?” She asked.

Sergey paused. 

“You’re not curious? They’ve lifted the restriction on Soul Skills. You can use it.”

“I might destroy you.” He said, “EVA says the White King is the Strongest. Zihang says, it’s more violent than the Dark King.”

“Yes. But all the other students left. It’s just us.”

This woman was not like the cold brutes at Black Swan Bay who came in shooting at unarmed youngsters. She was half his size but wanted to face him with the power of a dragon.

“How does one use it?” He asked.

“Just focus on the word in your mind. The rest will come naturally now that the restriction is gone.”

“As you wish.”

Sergey closed his eyes and thought back to the vision of the white beast tied to the pillar, the fire descending from the sky.

The rest of the vision took him over, the twisting snakes gathered in his mind and the dull pressure and ache filled his head. As soon as the word formed in his thoughts, the singing vomited out of his mouth. The words of this song he knew since birth. He didn’t have to think about them.

He lifted his head, his hair tossing about his face like the mane of a wild stallion. The shockwave radiated out from him like a silent bomb. the woman ducked, shielding her head with her arms as the pews shattered into splinters and the stained windows disintegrated into fine shards. They floated in the air as though suspended in liquid for a moment and time seemed to slow down.

A secondary wave blasted the shards into a whirlwind with Sergey at the center, pelting his opponent with debris.

It was a glorious release, like waking up and stretching his arms up to a bright and warm morning sun after a long refreshing sleep. The rage and anger he’d been harboring for so long had found its true outlet.

Staring at his opponent, he was surprised that she was still standing. Her clothes weren’t even shredded. “Was this your plan to come here and see my circus trick?”

His voice sounded unnatural in his own ears. Now the paneling of the church walls began peeling off as the field of the cyclone grew wider to allow his opponent to stand in the eye of the storm.

“This is not my plan no. I was planning to fight the other students. But they were ordered away when you came in.” She answered.

He tilted his head in confusion. “You are not from Herzog.”

“No. But I’m afraid we might meet again someday. My job here is done.”

Sergey suddenly felt dizzy and tired. The blood rushed from his head and in so doing all the debris and wreckage he’d created came down with a tremendous crashing and clouds of dust.

He felt a sudden stomach ache and nausea and he doubled over, vomiting red onto the floor of the church. He wiped his face with his arm and it came back bright crimson.

Then he remembered the words he’d learned in class.

There were Soul Skills that could kill the user.

She’d tricked him and left.

He staggered over the debris in the ruined church and stared outside. The college was ablaze he leaned against the door frame, the memories of Black Swan Bay superimposed onto the scene before him. Was he cursed?

A shadow approached him and he stood up, glaring.

A man stood at the front of the door with his hands in his trouser pockets. He had neat white hair, a black suit, and a bright red rose in his pocket. Looking at the way he walked, he assumed his was a young man like him, but when he saw his face under the light, he was elderly, like a grandfather.

“There you are, Sergey!” He said cheerfully.

“Who are you,” he snarled, naturally distrustful of old men.

“Forgive me, my Russian is a little…” He shrugged giving up half way through the sentence. He held up an ID card to him. His name was Anjou and he was the principal of Cassell College.

He took him around the side of the ruined building where the iron fire escape led skyward to the attic. They climbed up the stairs and stood under a large clock and under the clock sat a man in a cowboy hat who smiled at him, sipping a beer.

“You were watching me!” He snarled in Russian.

The man chuckled, made a comment and raised his beer. “Hello, boy.”

Those were the only two words he understood.

The principal opened a large metal case and revealed a huge rifle. He handed it to him. He removed a glass tube from his pocket that was sealed with a cork and showed it to him. Inside was what looked like a blood-colored crystal.

The principal enunciated the words. “Sage Stone.”

He remembered hearing those words in Alchemy class. It was something capable of killing a dragon and was considered a fifth element along with Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth.

The Fifth Element, Spirit, could be wielded by those of the White King’s lineage.

“You understand. Good.” He moved to clasp his hand on Sergey’s shoulder but Sergey caught his hand and pushed it away.

Anjou did not take offense. Instead, he pointed. 

Sergey turned.  There was a strange figure standing on the top of the building. He was shining bright, like a torch, roaring like a lion. All the gunfire he was hearing was being directed at this creature.

“Dragon.” Said Anjou.

Sergey put two and two together. He wanted to hunt this beast. Like how Zihang was hunting Deadpool in Bolivia.

“Shoot him here.” Anjou pointed to the middle of his forehead. “When I give you the signal.”

“Okay.”

Anjou pulled a folding knife from the inner lining of his suit jacket. It looked antique with an elegant copper-inlaid wooden handle. The slightly curved blade had a twisted line pattern.

The principal began to chant, old sacred words that might have seemed unintelligible if they weren’t so familiar. If asked, he could probably recite them by heart.

He crouched like a cat and leaped into the air.

All sound ceased. All movement had slowed to a crawl. With the exception of Anjou and himself, all the world had paused in time. The principal moved faster than should have been possible, landing easily on the lawn of the church, speeding across the grass like a greyhound and climbing the fire escape of the other building towards the dragon on the roof.

“Sergey!”

His voice boomed across the gap. 

Sergey raised the rifle.

He was an accomplished hunter. It was one of his privileges. Hunting in the lifeless tundra was nothing like hunting the US with its overabundance of deer. He would travel days on the trail of an elk, crouch for hours as he waited for it to come close enough. After many days of grueling endurance, he only had one shot to decide whether or not the children would eat or go hungry.

He lifted the scope to his eyes and took aim.

This was the strangest quarry he’d ever hunted. A humanoid figure engulfed in flames, with two demon wings out from his back. He moved slowly, like a bit of seaweed under waves.

The Principal leaped forward and cut the devil in the forehead.

The center of the cut peeled back and a scarlet gold eye burst from the wound, looking about at the world.

Sergey was stunned a moment.

In the next moment, the dragon’s arms were severed.

Such a devastating injury would cause unnecessary suffering. His finger squeezed the trigger. He could see the bullet leave the muzzle and watched it travel with a bit of fascination. 

Time returned to normal. Hot blood burst out from the dragon’s third eye and the dragon screeched, covering his forehead with his wings. He took off from the rooftop and flew away from the buildings.

“Replace with live ammunition! Shoot it down!” The principal commanded.

They weren’t using live ammunition before? He lowered the gun. He then turned back to the man drinking the beer. He smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up.

What game were they playing with him? First, they bait him into using his Soul Skill. Next, they play with pop-guns while leading him to shoot the fatal shot?

Gunfire exploded below him. His heart sank in confusion, fear, and the traumatic recollection that sound evoked.

From the trees of the surrounding woodlands, something akin to a flaming bird rose into the night.  What was that? Another dragon?  The bird stopped, wings spread like a burning cross.

He huffed. Would Zihang believe it if he told him he killed a dragon on his second day?

[troyhkqn654]

5 Bad Habits That People In The Drapes Industry Need To Quit

Drapes are Disrupting The Business World

Table of ContentsAwnings Installation are Disrupting The Business Market19 things Awnings Installation are NotWhat to do about Spear Awnings in 2021

Aluminium awnings have actually long been popular in property applications throughout the world. They are available in many colors and are normally painted with a baked-on enamel paint. Roll Ups Curtains. Amongst the lots of advantages of these awnings are cooler temperatures inside the home, shade for your outdoor patio, extending the life of furniture and window treatments.

Some aluminum awnings are developed to be folded down and secured to safeguard windows in case of storms such as cyclones. Retractable awning in Maryland, U.S.A.. Retractable awnings are now ending up being preferred with homeowners in the United States. They have been popular in Europe for numerous years, due to higher energy expenses and absence of a/c.

Just Why are Entrance Canopies Changing The World?

Retractable awnings can include the following types: Retractable outdoor patio cover systems are the latest "entry" in to the retractable market - Retractable Awnings. Many of these systems are water-proof as compared to water-resistant (lateral arm awnings) and for that reason allow no water penetration through the fabric "roofing" section - Pergolas. These systems satisfy Beaufort scale wind loads up to Beaufort 10 (55 - 63 mph) depending on model and size.

This permits for an "outdoor room" that can be warmed in the winter and air conditioned in the summertime. https://aawningsnsigns.com Restaurant Awnings. These are a modern-day variation of the old storefront crank-up awnings of the last century. Concave Awnings. The 2, 3 or four stress arms (width reliant) and a leading tube are supported by a torsion bar.

k.a. square bar fits into wall or soffit or fascia or roofing installed brackets that spread the load to the wall or roof truss. The newer 'Full Cassette' design of folding arm awning eliminates the torsion bar and utilizes an aluminium extrusion that interlocks with brackets that in-turn spreads the cantilevered force imposed by the awning into the structure it is fitted to.

The motor is inside the roller tube that the material rolls around and therefore is not noticeable. Numerous motors now have a built-in receiver and are operated by remote control, smart device, tablet or home automation (Graphics for awnings). Lateral arm awnings are likewise understood as folding arm, deck or patio area awnings, as they can extend/ task as far as 16 feet (4.

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85 m) or more - therefore covering a big outside space (shade awnings). Generally a single folding arm awning can only cover 23 feet (7 (Restaurant Awnings). 01 m) in a single system due to problems transporting, keeping and powder coating extrusion higher than this size. Permit Services for Awnings. The most typical material option for folding arm awning is service colored acrylic fabric that comes in a range of styles, colours, patterns along with performance grades for water repellence and fire retardancy.

Frequently used to shade a window, with a roller tube at the top, spring-loaded side arms, and a motor, crank or tape-pull operator. commercial awnings. Awnings with sides are commonly referred to as standard style awnings as they have actually been utilized for several years going back to the early 19th century utilizing cotton canvas material - Spear Awnings.

Traditional style awnings are appropriate for historical buildings and are still popular today utilizing a more weather resistant fabric and a rope and sheave system for retracting the awnings. Awnings without sides do not supply as much sun defense as those with sides. Awnings without sides can be found in various styles.

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Spear Awnings are made without sides and are made with Wrought Iron Frames and they can be retracted with a rope and pulley system but are not readily available with motors. Awnings with sides provide the finest sun protection for east and west facing windows. North and South dealing with windows can be safeguarded from the sun with awnings without sides (Graphics for awnings).

A portable pop-up canopy or tent offers an economical momentary service to people who desire to take pleasure in shade. The portable styles offer flexibility to take the system to gatherings. Pergolas. The frame usually incorporates an accordion-style truss which folds compactly. Shade screens use acrylic canvas or a mesh fabric, which permits some view-through while blocking the sun's rays.

The material is gravity-fed, with a weighted bottom rail pulling the material down between guide rails or person wires. Outside shades are much more effective at blocking heat than interior tones, given that they block the heat prior to it enters the glass. This style of framed screen is normally done by professional installers, since of the specialized frames and tools needed.

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Solar shade screens can also be installed at the end of awnings to offer horizontal shade during morning or late afternoon sun positions. Retractable solar window awnings are made from material. They are resistant to hail and extreme winter weather. Numerous solar window awnings can be programmed to open and close immediately in reaction to the sun.

They can be demounted with some problem and are generally left in location year round. Retractable variations likewise exist, with higher cost but likewise greater utility, as they can be withdrawed to confess winter season sun if required. Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) is a trade company which consists of the awning trade, with a division called the Professional Awning Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

43 - Fixed Sun Screen 10 73 00 - Protective Covers (Generic) CSI MasterFormat 1995 Edition: 10530 - Protective Covers, Awnings & Canopies Alchin, Linda (2008 ). " Awning at the Colosseum". Roman Colosseum site (Drapes). Linda K. Alchin. Archived from the initial on 29 August 2011. Obtained 9 May 2012. " Industrial Fabrics Association International A non-profit trade association consisted of member business representing the worldwide specialized fabrics market".

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Somfy will assist you through each action of your project to offer you with the very best solutions, and ensure you maximum comfort! (window awnings).

There is not much better than hanging out outside with pals and household. An easy switch from inside to outside changes an already fun time into a memorable one. It adds a carefree element which increases the relaxation and enjoyable atmosphere even more. Spear Awnings. Nevertheless, Mother Nature might not always share your sense of fun and whimsy; she can be uncooperative sometimes and decide to moisten your barbecue or birthday party.

[razorblade180]

Frozen Blood: Clash

Adam:*Relentless sword swipes* What’s wrong!? I thought you were gonna knock me unconscious!!!!

Jacquelyn:*seamlessly dodging* Speak for your self. Your intentions were to kill me but you haven’t landed on hit. *catches a sword swing* I guess that what happens when you try fighting injured.

Adam*tsk* (She’s partially right. It doesn’t help I’m not used to running in the snow.) *pulls out gun*

Jacquelyn:Wow there! *jumps out of the range* I was looking for your side arm but I wasn’t expecting that. How does that even work?

Adam:See for yourself! *shoots sword*

*grabs the hilt of his sword and throws it back*

Adam:(That’s some reaction time she has there.)

Jacquelyn:*sigh* guess I should start getting serious. *pulls out a sword hilt with no blade*

Adam:*on gaurd* (there’s no sword attached. It’s just the handle? What could she possibly be-)

Jacquelyn:Are we gonna fight or are you gonna stand there and think all night? If so then I’ll come to you! * lunges at him about to swing*

Adam:If she thinks she can attack me without a weapon this she’s wr- huh

*aura flows from the hilt making a small dagger*

Adam:*blocks it* Well that’s a neat trick; having your aura form into the blade. *slashes downward*

Jacquelyn:*forms a short sword to block it* Oh you don’t know the half of it. Think your sword can keep up?

Adam:Ha, with ease...

[7 minutes into fighting]

Jacquelyn:My oh my *block* I can see why you were there leader of your group. *knife parry* you’re dangerous.

Adam:*sweating* I’ll admit I didn’t expect you to be so good at evading. *misses* in fact it’s really starting to piss me off! *thrusts blade straight forward*

Jacquelyn:*knocks it away* Sorry but you’re gonna have to try a bit harder than that. After all *dashes past him slashing his side* I finally got a clean hit in.

Adam:*drops to his knees* (What the hell just happened!? That’s her first real strike on me and yet it feels like she slashed right through my side like if my aura wasn’t there. My whole body has felt like it’s aching. Worst of all...

Jacquelyn:*standing fine* I knew I could get you on your knees eventually. You finally feeling winded?

Adam:(She looks like we haven’t been fighting at all. Not even a drop of sweat) *stands up glowing* (I’ll end this before it’s too late...)

Jacquelyn:I don’t think you should-

Adam:*sends a moonslice across the field but...*

*the attack fades away*

Adam:What *huff* is....*huff* going on?

Jacquelyn:Just like that *kicks him in the face* you’re all burnt out.

Adam:*knocked out*

Jacquelyn:Phew! Roughly ten minutes but not bad. *lifts him with a small cyclone* Should’ve listened to me earlier; now I have to carry you.

[Back at the Barn]

Adam:* waking up sore*

Jacquelyn:*making soup on the fire* Well looks who’s awake? For a moment I thought I went overboard with that kick. *hands him the soup*

Adam:*glare*......

Jacquelyn:*making her bowl* You can’t be mad that you lost can you? I told you before we started you had zero chance. I’d love to tell you why but first you gotta-*sees his bowl is empty*

Adam:Do you ever stop talking? Let me guess, I eat and comply then I get answers right?

Jacquelyn:*hands him another bowl* Well what do we have here? You get a bit of food and suddenly you’re not completely rude. I should’ve fed you earlier.

Adam:Just get on with it...

Jacquelyn:Fine, what do you think my semblance is?

Adam:*looks at hilt* You constructed a blade for your hilt. You make weapons?

Jacquelyn:That’s one part of it! I can basically make any simple weapons by channeling my aura through it. Swords, hammers, spears, daggers, ect. Things like guns though are way to intricate. I could make your sword probably but not the sheath; also the bigger the weapon means I use more aura.

Adam:(That’s why she made a knife) Your fighting style is horribly inefficient. Without your aura you can’t make a weapon.

Jacquelyn:Not only that, a copy of your sword would not beat the real deal. I could come close but at the end of the day a metal blade is sharper than a construct.

Adam:Then why don’t you just use a regular weapon?

Jacquelyn:Because my semblances is like you. If you stop and examine it you’ll find it’s more complex than you realize. Hold out your hand. *makes a dagger*

Adam:Why should I?

Jacquelyn:For the love of- just do it okay! Is that so hard!?

Adam:(Looks like her patience does have a limit) fine....*holds his hand out*

Jacquelyn:Good, now don’t get mad.

Adam:Wha- *cuts his palm* Agh! You little- *looks at his palm to see no cut* there’s no cut?

*aura blade with visible blood on it*

Jacquelyn:Nope! My blade cuts through aura and cuts straight through the skin. However, the wounds heal almost instantly almost like nothing happened. As you can probably feel though...

Adam:The pain from the cut is still here. As if I should be bleeding.

Jacquelyn:No matter the attack I can not just simply land a lethal blow. I’ve sliced a person’s throat before but all they got was the pain.

Adam:*looking at his hand* That alone still seems ineffective. Their aura would just dull the pain.

Jacquelyn:Normally I would agree, but you’d be surprised how many times just the pain from a would be fatal blow can cause a body to just collapse. I mean it tired you out.

Adam:You never actually landed a killing strike on me; just a few slashes anybody could live through. Now that I think about it, I landed hits on you with a real sword yet somehow you seemed fine. Even though your were constantly using your semblance.

Jacquelyn:*grinning* You know you’re pretty observant. I guess you have to be if you were a terrorist leader. *rest the blade on his hand* look at your hand.

*aura blade absorbing Adam’s aura*

Adam:Are you-

Jacquelyn:Stealing your aura? Yes I am. With every hit I land I take yours; even the times our swords clashed.I was taking it and adding it to my own to replenish it.

Adam:Between you stealing it, trying to hit you, and you hurting me...

Jacquelyn:*proudly* your body passed out from pain and exhaustion; while I felt like I just got out of bed. I went easy on you; I could’ve only made a blade when I needed it then make it vanish to preserve aura. (Not to mention use magic.)

Adam:(I never stood a chance against her.) Why are you telling me this.

Jacquelyn:So you think twice before trying to attack me. I doubt you’ll stop but I figured you should know what you’re up against. Breaking our deal won’t be easy.

Adam:(this girl....)

Jacquelyn:*stands up* It doesn’t matter how strong you are. *smirking* my semblance, soul eater will chew you up and spit you out!

Adam:(Is dangerous....)