#nasuca of the wind

[ash-the-mushroom-mage]

It was super fun!

Share your own comicon overview if you want!

[wild-pineapple-butt]

@magicofocs​ continued from here 

“Yeah of course it is.” Nasuca let out a soft giggle as she held out the scarf for him. “I know it’s early but it is starting to get cold so I though you could use it early.” Winter was well underway and the air was getting colder and certainly the dragonslayer didn’t want him getting too cold. Looking to him she shook her head with a smile. “Nah that’s alright, just knowing that I have my friends around and can make them happy is all I need.”

“Thank you!” Renji happily accepts the scarf, winding it around his own neck. Instantly he felt warmer, the thick knit protecting his exposed skin from the harsh winds. Perhaps it was time to stop tying up all of his hair, and start leaving some down to protect his neck.

“And what would ya like fer Christmas Nasuca-san?” Renji asks curiously. Celebrating Christmas was a novelty for him; it wasn’t something that had been celebrate much in the Seireitei, and so he’d learned many of its traditions once he got to Magnolia. 

[teaandcrowns]

storm

zutara month 2018 - day three

these will all be put up on my ao3 (AtomicPen) for ease of finding all of them

It was two more nights before he managed to slip out again, mask over his face. Zuko knew he was too distracted by this town, but he couldn’t seem to walk away just yet. He should be out trying to track the Avatar, trying to come up with a good enough reason to convince the kid he’d hunted for a good half of the year that Zuko should be his firebending teacher. Except, he wasn’t exactly sure where the Avatar and his friends had gone; their trail stopped cold a few miles out from this town. He thought it was his best chance to find them here, but so far he hadn’t had any luck locating them.

He crouched at the end of a deep roof eve, looking down over the street. It was searching for the Avatar that had caught him up in the things going on in this town—the sudden wave of sickness and the blackmailing of important families, namely. Despite knowing he needed to search for the Avatar’s trail again, he just couldn’t make himself leave the town. There were good people here who were being taken advantage of by the corrupt official in charge, and that rankled him. Anyone who could have done something about getting the mayor of the town out of his seat was now victim to illness, blackmail, or both. It was all just too coincidental, and there had to be a way to stop it. He just wasn’t sure how yet.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t alone in his efforts. The woman in the hat was a new development, but she’d helped the little Siagyo girl, and even threatened him if he’d intended harm toward them. There was something about her that he still couldn’t shake, and it wasn’t the mysterious way she’d healed the child’s cough—though, he did wonder about that, too. Did she know about the other people who were sick in the town? He imagined she had to. Would he get lucky enough to run into her again if he slipped into another household with an ill child?

A puff of breath escaped him, warm against the wooden inside of his mask. What would he even do if he ran into her again? Apologize for holding a blade to her throat? He should be looking for the Avatar again, not some mysterious woman.

Still, he was curious.

He moved along the rooftops quickly and quietly, heading toward a building on the northern side of town. Another prominent family lived there, the Nasucas, though they were not quite as wealthy as the Siagyos. There were more sick family members there, he knew—but, more importantly, he suspected there was something there that implicated the mayor. There’d been enough attempted break-ins that the family had hired personal guards to try and protect them.

A flash of sudden light illuminated the sky and the entire town, nearly blinding him, and a deep crash of thunder followed almost immediately after. Zuko halted where he was on the middle of a rooftop and blinked away the spots in his eyes. There’d been no indication earlier that evening that a thunderstorm was rolling in, but now the wind was picking up significantly. Lightning flashed again, bright and searing, with thunder chasing at its heels.

Being on a rooftop was suddenly incredibly dangerous, and he needed to get off of it immediately. He’d redirected his father’s lightning, but Zuko now knew why his uncle had given him so many warnings about it; it was a force entirely all its own, and it could easily hurt an unwary bender trying to handle it. Besides, he wasn’t entirely certain if firebender lightning was the same as storm lightning, but now that he’d experienced one, he wasn’t entirely certain he was ready for the other. At least, not in a disguise on the top of a roof in the middle of the night in a town with a corrupt mayor he was trying to figure out how to oust for the good of the people.

He reached the edge of the roof just in time for the sky to open up and pour rain onto the earth. In a matter of seconds, he was nearly soaked through. Lightning flashed again, shining off the now-slick roof. Zuko’s foot slipped, and he nearly fell off the edge of the tsumakazari. As it was, he caught himself just in time. For a moment, he dangled there, heart pounding in his ears in an echo to the thunder that rattled his chest. Controlled as he could, he let himself drop to the ground.

He kept a hand instinctively holding the edge of his mask—the wind was so strong he feared it would tear the wood from his face. He had to get inside.

The door to the building he’d dropped from was locked, with no second story windows like the Siagyo’s house had that he could use to slip through to get inside. Instead, he jimmied the lock until it gave way, and he slipped into the dark building.

It was strangely quiet inside, with echoes of the storm all around. Fortunately, the Fire Nation was used to strong storms and typhoons, and as such, the windows were lashed tight enough that they didn’t rattle or let in more than just moisture and a bit of airflow. Zuko stood there for a moment, dripping quietly on the wooden floor and looking around to get his bearings. From the flashes of lightning outside, he was able to tell that he was in some kind of shop. That was luckier than a house, he figured, since it was much less likely someone was sleeping here.

The flashes helped illuminate the shop, if briefly, so Zuko decided to at least look around at anything interesting while he was waiting for the storm to pass. He wasn’t going to steal anything—those days were behind him. Besides, when he packed up to leave the capitol, he’d also brought along a pouch of money. Living in poverty was not something he particularly wanted to relive again if he could avoid it.

The shop itself seemed to contain wares that he immediately wrote off as highly unusual and something his uncle would probably love. Strange statues rose up out of the darkness: a monkey with wildly carved facial hair wearing a thick string of prayer beads, a four-limbed bear, a gnarled tree with a large hole on one side that he thought contained a face inside it. He didn’t linger at that one long enough to confirm, though.

A rack full of scrolls dominated one wall past the statues, and beyond that displays of armor and jewelry. Zuko had no idea who owned a shop full of such a mishmash of items, or what anyone would actually find here that was of use.

He paused by the scrolls, figuring that perhaps those at least might prove interesting in a slightly less bizarre way than the statues. As he reached for one, the hairs prickled on the back of his neck, and he was struck with the sense that he was not alone in here. Immediately, he spun, eyes searching the dark. Lightning flashed again and he caught the edge of a figure on the other side of the shop. Or maybe it was just another statue? The light faded too quickly to see if the silhouette moved at all. Zuko stood still as stone himself, wincing every time a soft drip of water hit the floor from his clothing.

Another bout of lightning flashed and the figure was no longer there.

Zuko’s nostrils flared a bit, and his pulse quickened. So there was someone else in there with him.

Slowly, he sank into a fighting stance, while simultaneously reaching behind to grasp the handle of his dao.

When lightning came again, however, he wasn’t prepared for what happened.

The figure moved quickly—he only had time to catch a brief glance from the side before fingers closed around the hand reaching for his dao and twisted his wrist. It wasn’t painful, but it was quick and precise and locked his joint against his back in a way that allowed the other complete control over him. If he were to struggle too much, only a bit of pressure was needed to threaten to break his wrist. Breaking his wrist was also easily done with a bit more force, and his assailant knew that, so he complied.

A stretch of silence ran between them, and Zuko risked turning his head just a bit to try and see who it was. All he saw was the edge of a dark robe. His breath caught. It was her again.

She seemed to come to the same realization as he did at about the same time, because the grip on his wrist tightened, then released.

“It’s you again,” she said, astonished.

He slowly straightened and turned to her, not saying anything.

“I—” she started, then dipped her head a little so the hat she wore covered the top half of her face. It was too dark without the lightning to see her properly, anyway. “Thank you, again. For helping me the other night.”

Her voice wavered a little bit, almost imperceptibly. Zuko only caught it because he was listening intently, trying to place her. He definitely knew her from somewhere. No Fire Nation noble he’d encountered in his life would do what she was doing, though. All the people in the Earth Kingdom he’d ever met wouldn’t be here, either. Where did he know her from? He narrowed his eyes through the slits in the mask, hoping for another flash of lightning so he could see her better.

When he didn’t answer, she lifted her head to look at him. For whatever reason, the universe actually listened to him and granted another zigzag of lightning across the sky outside, lighting up the inside of the shop they were in. She was shorter than him, and wore dark robes in such a fashion that left her shoulders bare. There looked to be the remnants of paint on the skin bared there, but she must have been caught in the storm as well, as most of the color had washed out. The wide brimmed sugegasa she wore had a translucent veil hanging from it, obscuring a clear look at her face even in the light. He saw whorls of red on dark skin, and a face surrounded by long dark hair, but that was it.

She seemed to know he was trying to look at her face clearly, because she tilted her head away, covering it up with the sugegasa again.

“You don’t have to say anything,” she said quietly. “I don’t have to know who you are. But… you helped me before. Maybe you could help me again.”

That, Zuko wasn’t expecting. Had she followed him here? Is that why she was caught in the rain but still was in the same building as him?

He reached out one hand, palm up, motioning for her to continue.

She lifted her head a little—not enough to show her face so fully again—and took his invitation to go on.

“A lot of people are sick here,” she said, and he clung to every word to try and place her voice. “It’s… unlike any illness I’ve seen before. I don’t know what’s causing it, but it needs to be stopped.”

Here, she hesitated, and Zuko watched her worry her bottom lip before lifting her head enough to look him in the eye again. This time, when the lightning flashed, Zuko saw the blue in her eyes.

“Are you willing to help me?”

He just stared at her for a moment, heart in his throat and thankful for the thunder outside that drowned out the way it thundered in his chest. Was his luck truly this good suddenly? Zuko reached out his hand again, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to form words even if he could think of what to say.

This time, the waterbending master he’d fought back in the North Pole and shared grief with in the catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se took his hand, the confirmation of partnership, and smiled at him. If he could help her save the people in this town from a strange illness, maybe she’d accept his willingness to want to help save the world.

Maybe he really did have a chance to teach the Avatar firebending.

@thirtydaysofzutara

[magicofocs]

Looking around as the wind blew Nasuca stopped several feet further in when something caught her nose. But it wasn’t just the scent that left her quiet and staring off into the distance. Being one of plant based magic Nasuca seemed connected with the plant life.

As the Wolf slammed into the tree Nasuca looked like she had felt it too. Cringing a moment when she had placed her hand on a tree nearest to her. Glancing back to her cat she motioned towards where the scent lead. “Come on, this way! I want to take care of this as soon as possible.” Taking off Nyx frowned before going after the mage.

Moving as quickly as she could Nasuca soon came to a skidding halt making sure not to take herself out on a tree as well. Peeking around the tree shed stopped by Nasuca blinked seeing someone curled up in a ball. “H…hello?”

magicofocs​:

Secrets of the forest

@cirquedenightmares

cirquedeyokai‌:

@flowerdragonslayer liked X for Anubis!

He had been wandering for some time. It happened when he couldn’t rest, the night he went ‘feral’ always haunting him. He had killed so many people, became chaotic because of one group of humans who had dared-he let out a howl, a soulful scream. Taking the form of sacred animal, the god ran through the forest.

He needed relief, he didn’t want to think that he had been evil. Most of all, he didn’t want to hear the voice that spoke of how ashamed his sister would be if she ever learned the truth. Or worse…afraid of him.

Nasuca had heard the rumors of a mysterious animal prowling the forest, most too afraid to enter. Even mages we’re becoming nervous of the stories. But not the flow dragon slayer. “Bring it on… that thing will be no match for a dragon slayer.” She said looking at the row of trees that made up the outer edges of the forest. Nyx looked up at her, the cat frowned some. “You should be worried, that thing could attack you too.” Nasuca looked to the cat and shook her head. “If I were afraid of every little thing that crossed my path I’d never get stronger.”

A loud unearthly howl filled the forest when the god came to the edge of a cliff. This was helping, but it wasn’t enough. He could still see the look of sheer terror and fear of the souls who tormented him in his nightmares. “You are evil, Inapu…Just like your father! Admit it! You’re just like him, ready to kill any or everyone who dares to look at your precious Moon!” Shaking his head and howling again, he jumped and landed in the trees before he started to run again. No, I’m not evil! I just wanted to punish Ptolemy for what he did to her! Amu didn’t deserve- “Neither did those souls…face it Inapu, you are just like your father. You don’t care who you hurt so long your Little Moon remains happy and pure~”

Nyx crossed her arms and huffed though she knew that Nasuca had a point. If she never came across anything stronger than her and defeated it she’d never get stronger. But upon entering the forest Nyx climbed up atop Nasuca’s head as her ears twitched some with the sounds that now surrounded them.

Nasuca too paused when the sound of unnatural howling filled the air around them. “There’s something here. But I’m not sure it’s actually evil like the people claimed.” Nasuca said as she looked around, The forest was dark sure but the two could still see well enough. A dragon slayer’s eyes were far better than any other mage’s.

He kept running, just trying to escape the voices of those who always saw him as evil. Anubis hadn’t noticed the branches that were broken or tearing at his fur. All he wanted was an escape from the nightmare. He had acted in his grief, angry that his sister had been harmed and disrespected in such a way-another howl came before he slammed into a tree.

Ow…He whimpered before shifting back to his humanoid form. There under the tree he had slammed into, he curled and held himself before he broke down. His black hair fell to shield his eyes as he spoke in his native tongue, begging for the voices to stop. “I’m sorry! I’m not evil, I just wanted to protect Amu!” He shouted. “I just wanted to avenge my baby sister…”

[moonxsuncelestials]

magicofocs​:

He kept running, just trying to escape the voices of those who always saw him as evil. Anubis hadn’t noticed the branches that were broken or tearing at his fur. All he wanted was an escape from the nightmare. He had acted in his grief, angry that his sister had been harmed and disrespected in such a way-another howl came before he slammed into a tree.

Ow…He whimpered before shifting back to his humanoid form. There under the tree he had slammed into, he curled and held himself before he broke down. His black hair fell to shield his eyes as he spoke in his native tongue, begging for the voices to stop. “I’m sorry! I’m not evil, I just wanted to protect Amu!” He shouted. “I just wanted to avenge my baby sister…”

Looking around as the wind blew Nasuca stopped several feet further in when something caught her nose. But it wasn’t just the scent that left her quiet and staring off into the distance. Being one of plant based magic Nasuca seemed connected with the plant life.

As the Wolf slammed into the tree Nasuca looked like she had felt it too. Cringing a moment when she had placed her hand on a tree nearest to her. Glancing back to her cat she motioned towards where the scent lead. “Come on, this way! I want to take care of this as soon as possible.” Taking off Nyx frowned before going after the mage.

Moving as quickly as she could Nasuca soon came to a skidding halt making sure not to take herself out on a tree as well. Peeking around the tree shed stopped by Nasuca blinked seeing someone curled up in a ball. “H…hello?”

Her voice startled him, causing the man to jump only to whimper. His head was pounding, his muscles ached from the running and the branches that had hit him. 

When he looked up, black hair parted to reveal golden hues. He was shivering, naked actually outside of a few gold armbands on his triceps and blackened claws that went him to his elbow before fading as if naturally into the milky pale skin tone. He had scars all over his back, some tattoos of a canine of sorts and symbols-nothing that identified what guild he might have come from though.

The way the man moved spoke of someone who was afraid, nervous. He was extremely shy as he stammered out a, “H-H-H-Hi.” His voice soft, gentle, if not pained and thick with emotion.