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dualumina · 4 months ago

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A Quick Full Guide for getting Gold in

Lowland Shore: Harvest Shore Salmon Run!

~~~

Update! So it's been brought to our attention that the race event, has a significantly longer timer to achieve gold than the adventure does, assuming you show up right before the race starts.

It's possible this is a bug, so it might be patched out in the coming future. It's also possible that Anet will change the gold requirements to be less strict (we've never heard of this happening before, but who knows.)

Either way, at the time of editing this (September 7th 2024) the below guide still applies for the adventure!

Further update: The latest GW2 update actually added extra time to qualify for Gold, so you may not need all the expensive gear to achieve it. If you're still struggling, pre-booning will still offer a decent headstart, even if some class traits might not work in fish form.

Best of luck out there, fellow salmon! 🐟

Before even starting the race, you'll need the right stuff to have a chance of succeeding.

Equipment:

Get at least 1 or 2 of Bowl of Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew

Equip 6 Superior Runes of Speed

Equip a Relic of Speed

Build:

There are several things you'll want on your build to make your life as painless as possible.

Adrenaline Regeneration

Vigor Source

Movement Speed Increase

Pre-Race Boons

The main boons you want to give yourself are Swiftness, Vigor, Quickness/Alacrity, and Superspeed. Other boons may or may not be necessary depending on your class.

As you may have noticed, this is all stuff available on an Engineer (Mechanist with Tools and Alchemy trait lines). Because that's the class we decided to first try this race on.

Thankfully we're feeling generous, so here are the best builds for all other 8 classes. Usually there's only a few critical things you need in each case, so if something isn't specified, just pick whatever.

Mesmer:

Dueling > Mental Gymnastics Chronomancer > Time Marches On Signet of Inspiration, Well of Action, Time Warp Focus (Temporal Curtain)

Elementalist:

Water > Soothing Disruption Air > Zephyr's Speed > One With Air Weaver > Woven Stride Ether Renewal, Unravel (Water), Cleansing Fire, Signet of Air Staff (Air > Windborne Speed)

Necromancer:

Blood Magic > Banshee's Wail Soul Reaping > Speed of Shadows > Eternal Life Harbinger > Twisted Medicine > Deathly Haste Spectral Recall, Signet of the Locust, Elixir of Anguish Warhorn (Locust Swarm)

Revenant:

Retribution > Enduring Recovery > Unwavering Avoidance Invocation > Rapid Flow Herald > Core Value > Draconic Echo Legendary Dragon Stance (activate and consume all skills, starting with Facet of Chaos)

Guardian:

Honor > Vigorous Precision > Purity of Body Virtues > Absolute Resolve > Power of the Virtuous Firebrand > Archivist of Whispers > Swift Scholar > Stalwart Speed > Loremaster Mantra of Potence, Advance!, Signet of Mercy, Feel My Wrath! Tome of Resolve (Chapter 3)

Warrior:

Defence > Last Stand Discipline > Warrior's Sprint > Doubled Standards Bladesworn > Swift As the Wind Combat Stimulant, Signet of Stamina, Banner of Tactics, Frenzy, Signet of Rage Warhorn

Ranger:

Wilderness Survival > Natural Vigor Skirmishing > Tail Wind > Primal Reflexes Soulbeast > Live Fast > Essence of Speed > Leader of the Pack Water Spirit, Signet of the Hunt, Quickening Zephyr, Griffon Stance, Strength of the Pact! Warhorn (Call of the Wild)

Thief:

Acrobatics > Expeditious Dodger > Feline Grace Daredevil > Physical Supremacy > Unhindered Combatant Haste, Signet of Shadows

(Thief is weirdly low on options it seems)

Okay and of course Engineer was already covered earlier

Race:

So you've got your gear, your build, and now onto the race itself. First off, here's what you need to know about your skills that aren't obvious at a glance.

Dash!

This skill works noticeably differently depending on where you're located. When you're in deep water, the skill works just fine. On land, it's similar enough to not worth mentioning. But if you're on the water's surface, to the point that your skills aren't listed, for the love of every god don't use the dash! You will get no benefit except wasting your stamina.

If you don't see your skills just don't press 'em!

Flop!

Flop is the most versatile skill at your disposal, and has drastically different effects for different situations. If you're in deep water, then using flop will yeet you to the water's surface. This can be handy for needing to get up to checkpoints in shallower water quickly. If you're already at the water's surface, then you'll go straight up... usually. This race is a bit finicky at times. If you're on flat land, you'll also go straight up. Thankfully it's pretty consistent. However if you're on an upwards slope, or close enough to one, then you will go up it at record speed.

A prime flop location

Glub

Glub :3

Now go out there and get glubbin'!

#gw2 #gw2 jw #gw2 janthir wilds #janthir wilds #gw2 salmon run #shoutout to GuildJen for the equipment tips btw

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storyofmychoices · 5 months ago

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Detention VII.V: A Brush of Magic

[Beckett Harrington x Emma Carlyle Masterlist]

Pairing: Beckett Harrington x Emma Carlyle (F!MC) Book: The Elementalists (early in book one) Word Count: ~ 700 Rating/Warnings: general, no warnings (grumpy/sunshine) A/N: This is part of my Detention series at the beginning of TE1 and my Stolen Moments: brushing hair back series.

Synopsis: Emma tracks down a particularly mischievous book, while Beckett gets caught in their path.

Emma's brow knitted together in determination, her gaze narrowing on a particular mischievous edition of The Enchanted Pixie Scrolls. She tiptoed through the stacks, trying to hide in the shadows. No matter how quiet or how stealthy she was, the book swooped and twirled in the air, taunting her at every turn. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought there were actual pixies inside, laughing at her dismay. The thought lingered a moment as she considered it...it couldn't be, could it?

She shook her head, turning her attention back to her quest. It didn't really matter. The end result was the same; she needed to reshelve that book before she could leave detention for the day. Her gaze swept over the space. "Now, where did you go?"

Airy giggles floated behind her, the corner of the hard cover poking her in the back. She spun quickly, lunging toward the book. Her fingers brushed against the book's cool leather spine, but it fluttered away. "Get back here!"

She dodged left and right, avoiding other books and students, tracking the elusive book through the library. A playful smirk pulled at her lips. She shouldn't. It probably wouldn't even work... but what if it did?

Too late to turn back now.

With careful consideration, she leaped forward, a quick spell slipping from her lips as the floating books in the aisle came together, creating something resembling floating stairs. She tried not to waste time thinking about Beckett's horror if he saw her stepping on books. He was already wound so tight it might push him too far.

Each book shifted under her weight, her stride wobling under the uneven stairs; however, she was too far committed to give up now.

She lept up one more level, then jumped forward, extending her arm just as the book attempted to flit away again. "Oh, no, you don't!" This time her efforts were rewarded, and her hand clasped around the hard front cover of the book. Emma's added weight caused the book to drop...fast. Emma struggled to hold onto the book as it fought to be free. She quickly mumbled a spell, the air swirling around them, slowing but not stopping their descent.

"Watch it!" Beckett growled, trying to step to the side, but it was too late.

Emma and the book landed with a thud right on top of one Becket Harrington, his now trademark grumpy scowl growing.

"I got the book!" Emma declared proudly, lying across his ches. Her bright eyes filled with her accomplihsment as her gaze met his, not noticing how close they were.

"Good for you."

"Oh, don't pretend you're not at least a little bit impressed."

"You seem to be congratulating yourself sufficiently already."

Emma rolled her eyes as she eased herself off of him. "You don't need to say it. Your cute flushing freckled cheeks tell me all I need to know."

Despite his protest, the color only grew deeper at her words.

Emma ran her hand over his broad shoulders and chest, smoothing his blazer as he stood beside her. "There, all better. Not a hair out of—" Her words paused as she noticed a stray strand of his brown hair hanging over his forehead. Her fingers gathered the offending lock, brushing it back over his head. His hair was softer than she expected. Her fingers lingered, raking gingerly through his silky hair.

His eyes closed as he leaned into her touch. The frown on his face softened, giving way to something she might even consider a smile. The pair drifted closer, their faces only a breath away.

"Emma," her name slipped from his lips as his eyes met hers. He leaned forward, closing the gap until something smacked against their chests.

The book, still clutched in Emma's free hand, flapped between them, breaking the moment.

Beckett cleared his throat. "We should get that back where it belongs before—"

Emma cut him off before he could continue his thought. "—before you break your no-kissing rule and have to admit you like me." Her brow rose playfully.

She expected him to protest, his ears reddening, betraying his words, but he didn't. He paused before her. His cool grey eyes filled with rare openness. With careful precision, his long fingers gathered a loose curl of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. "Just returning the favor."

Without another word, he turned. "This way," he directed, leading them to where the book belonged.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little bit of silliness! 💖

#beckett harrington #beckett harrington x mc #the elementalists #te beckett #beckett x mc #fan fiction #beckett x emma #emma carlyle #lovealexhunt #august2024 #choices #playchoices #choices game #beckemma #stolen moments #stolen moments drabble #stolen moments: brushing hair back

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the-desert-beast · 7 months ago

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The Black Wolf Brewery

"Within Lion's Arch you'll find many kinds of criminal. Some, are sly, inconspicuous. Others, are brazen and brutish."

"Some, you'll never even know were there, right in front of you."

"Of these sorts of 'hidden in plain sight criminals' you'll find out dear friends, the blackwolf brewery. A simple brewery, that has been closed and shut up for years. Or so the newest owner would have us all think. Their name is unknown to nearly all but myself. Esyld runs quite the little business out of that musty old shack she calls a 'brewery.' I've never been allowed inside. I've never been allowed near her 'family' either, but people talk if you have the mind to listen. Kirari never shuts up when she wanders the streets at night. My theory is that, for one reason or another, I am immune to that little memory wipe charm that hangs from her ear. Whenever I ask other people about her passing by just the night before, they look at me like they've never even seen a woman before. They can recall everything from the night before, except Kirari's presence. Her brother Yuuji isn't always subtle either. He's quite awkward at the shops, quite blunt some days. I can barely read the Miyake siblings. Although, Yuuji seems to have a soft spot for one of the shopkeepers he visits every other morning. A young man. I've pestered the boy about Yuuji's presence but he too, never can recall the Miyake's face. I noticed just yesterday his new earring. Curious. Are they onto me? Or is it a precaution?"

"If Esyld has caught on that I've been watching them all, she'd rend me to pieces. Best to keep it subtle in the coming weeks. That revenant was always too clever for the rest of them. Lucky little me, that I'm never considered a threat. Too pretty or frail I suppose. Esyld of all people would know a pretty face hides a thousand lies."

"Arlais is the most difficult to trail, I can never tell when those, 'ghosts' or whatever they are of her's have spotted me or not. Rangers. She never leaves the brewery either, she's always within line of sight of that place. Dedicated, I'll give her that. Gods that woman has legs- I wish she were as short as I am, maybe then I could keep up without risking her pets spotting me so easily. "

"Last of all, there's Iniss. They barely ever leave the underground. Eachtime I've spotted them leaving it's always late at night when I'm trailing one of the other nightowls."

"All of this information is useless unless someone has a death-wish! The entire company keeps their deals and smuggling perfectly underwraps, I've never even seen one holding a package for nightmare's sake! Iniss nearly caught me the other night as well, now I have to think of a way to cover my tracks."

The journal entry ends there, the pages stained with blood. No skilled informant would ever allow a mole to squeak, or be so blind. Kirari hums to herself on her way back to the brewery, Esyld should be pleased.

aka, I wanted to talk about my EU alt OCs crew, and this is the braincell that struck me. so we got Esyld, (she/it/any), revenant, kingpin. sylvari, ex-nightmare court. butch pansexual. ⬆ these two are siblings ⬇ Iniss, (they/them), masculine honorifics; mister, king, brother, boyfriend, etc. Thief, weapons collector & smuggler. sylvari, ex-nightmare court. gay. (wriothesley from genshin impact inspired.) Miyake Kirari, she/her, mesmer, informant. allegedly human. (Secretly a mists demon Kitsune) (yae miko from genshin impact inspired.) sexuality; wouldnt you like to know weather boy Miyake Yuuji, he/any, elementalist, manager of sales & inquirys. (kamisato ayato from genshin impact inspired.) queer. Arlais, she/any, debt collector, ranger. human, canthan descent. (ningguang from genshin impact inspired.) lesbian.

The blackwolf brewery; an old brewery thats been abandoned for years. esyld bought it after rising through underground ranks and raising enough money to have her own crew.

#ocs: blackwolf crew #ocposting #gw2 ocs #gw2 #myocs

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lightning-and-dragons · 6 months ago

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Strength and Survival Chapter 7

Previous Chapter (Chapter 6)//Next Chapter (Chapter 8)

Read on Tumblr below! Rated Teen and Up!

Lloyd thought that things couldn’t get any worse. With the visions plaguing his days and nights, the Blood Moon coming, and now Arin being demoted to First Fang, how could anything else go so badly? He hated the defeated look on Arin’s face when he was demoted, he hated the exhaustion that clung to his being with every second of every day, he hated how he was expected to have all the answers when he didn’t have them. Things couldn’t get worse.

He wondered if Sensei Wu would be proud of him for staying strong despite it all. He wondered how long he could keep it up.

But things did get worse. And Lloyd knew that he couldn’t keep up for much longer.

There was a noise across the training yard, one that sounded like a scattering of rocks. He hoped that it was just an animal, or just the natural shifting of the earth, but his heart raced, telling him otherwise.

“Hello? Is someone there?”

He pulled his sword out from his sheath, the metallic ringing echoing through the silence.

Then there was more noise, branches breaking and dirt scattering, the telltale signs of someone running.

So Lloyd ran after it.

It could’ve just been an animal, but it could’ve been something else. It could’ve been an intruder, someone here to hurt them, someone from the Administration, or even working with Ras. What if it was Ras?

Lloyd’s heart pounded in his chest at the thought. No. He wasn’t going there. Ras wouldn’t dare come here, not when these two Dragon Masters knew the Rising Dragon Technique. It was probably something else.

Hopefully.

Without a second thought, Lloyd got to his feet, holding his sword tightly in his hands, and ran after whatever it was.

It didn’t take him long to run up the slight slope, watching as a figure clad in black and dark blue ran ahead of him, pushing itself through the dark greenery of the forest around him.

“Hey! Stop!” Lloyd called, but the person only ran faster, and Lloyd knew without a doubt that this person was faster than him. A lot faster than him. Not as fast as the Master of Speed, but fast enough that it was inhuman. Was it a sign of an elemental power perhaps?

The only other elementalist with accelerated speed was Jay, and Jay wasn’t here.

Lloyd forced himself to not think about his missing friend. He couldn’t get distracted. Not now.

Branches hit his face as he passed, but he didn’t slow down, eager to catch whoever this person was and find out exactly who they were. Why were they spying on him? On them? What did they want?

Lloyd knew that he couldn’t catch up on his feet. With a jump, Lloyd grabbed onto a branch above him and began jumping from tree to tree, catching up slowly but surely. His muscles ached as he jumped and grabbed branches for support, sweat coating his face, but he didn’t slow down. He couldn’t.

He was covering more ground, off the ground. The person below him seemed to trip on piles of rocks and bushes, constantly looking up at Lloyd above him, their eyes and mouth covered by a black hood and bandana. Lloyd could now see that they held a kusarigama, one of the hardest weapons to master, and he knew that this person was a skilled warrior.

But Lloyd knew himself. He knew his element. He could beat whoever this was. Easily.

Finally, Lloyd was ahead of him, and with a graceful drop he landed right in the person’s path, causing them to stutter to a stop, holding out their weapon defensively.

The two of them stopped in a small clearing, the sun high above them, but Lloyd didn’t let himself focus on it for very long. His chest heaved as he took a good look at his enemy, and he held out his own sword in front of him. His blond hair stuck to his forehead, but he couldn’t afford to brush it away, or lose focus.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Lloyd demanded, and the person in front of him didn’t move, their limbs stiff.

Lloyd took a moment to study his opponent. They looked like a man, with a thinner figure, yet muscled. He was tall, and held himself with confidence, the confidence of someone who had fought many battles. He had light skin, his eyes, nose, and mouth completely covered in a black cloth, hiding his identity, but Lloyd could see some faint freckles scattered across the skin he could see.

“Stay back.” The man said, his voice low, but Lloyd could hear the fakeness in his tone. He was pretending to have a lower voice than he did. Why? How old was this guy?

Nonetheless, Lloyd wasn’t letting his guard down.

“No. Who are you?” He demanded, and the man stiffened.

“I’m…I’m a student of Rontu’s. I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“But you were spying on us? Why? Why hasn’t Rontu told you about us?”

“It’s…it’s hard to explain.”

Hard to explain?

Lloyd wanted to think that he was a patient person. He has dealt with his crazy, evil father, lived with so many others who could be unbearable at times, and now trained two kids who couldn’t be more troublesome. He remained calm throughout all of it, not losing his cool, and never getting too angry. But, now, when the world was about to end and it felt like it was all on his shoulders, he had reached his limit.

This man had just told him that things were hard to explain, thus not explaining it. Lloyd wouldn’t take that. He was tired of not knowing. He needed answers, now. His patience had worn off.

“That’s not enough! You’re going to tell me right now, or else I’ll take you to Rontu and Egalt and see if you’re telling the truth!”

“Okay, okay!” The man lowered his weapon slightly, but didn’t let his guard down. “I’ve been hiding in the caves. Rontu didn’t want me to meet you, but I heard that Egalt got hurt. I just wanted to make sure that he was alright.” His voice was still deep, but it wavered uncertainley, as if he was afraid. Lloyd wasn’t proud of that, making this person afraid, but he needed to know that this man wasn’t a danger to him or his family.

“Why would Rontu train you?”

“I’m an elemental master. She knew that I had no one else to train me, so she’s been teaching me how to use my powers.”

An elemental master? One who might be able to help them stop Ras? Why would Rontu keep him hidden? They could use all the help that they could get. Didn’t she know that?

“Which element?” Lloyd demanded, and that question caused the man to pause. “I know many elemental masters, and trust me, you’re not one of them. If you’re lying, I’ll know. Answer the question wisely.”

The man still didn’t respond, but he lowered his weapon completely. “Um…”

“Little one! Where are you?” Rontu’s voice interrupted him, echoing above them, frantic, and without warning she landed in front of the man in black, her teeth bared and her body poised to attack. Yet, her wide eyes filled with recognition when she saw Lloyd, and she immediately relaxed.

“Lloyd. I’m glad it was you. I feared the worst.”

He didn’t want to waste a second. He wanted answers. “Who is this, Rontu? Why would you hide him from us?”

“Little one.”

With those words spoken, the man came forward, hiding under Rontu’s shadow.

“What were you thinking?” Rontu asked, turning to the man, and he glanced at Lloyd before turning back to her.

“I tried to leave, but I made some noise. He heard.”

Rontu chuckled. “Of course he did, he’s a trained ninja. This is Lloyd, the Green Ninja. Lloyd, this is my student.”

“Student? Why didn’t you tell us?” Lloyd asked, and the man tensed.

“He’s been attacked and hunted by others, others who have tried to capture him. We have been keeping him hidden from strangers. By the time we determined that you and the other ninja were people we could trust, our focus had diverted.”

Lloyd sighed, trusting her and knowing exactly what she was referring to. “With the Blood Moon coming, you thought that introducing him wasn’t important, right?”

“Indeed. Things of this nature became less important than your training.”

“What blood moon?” The man asked, his voice becoming a bit higher pitched, to the point it was almost familiar, but Lloyd dismissed it. “What’s going on?”

“The world is ending, little one.” Rontu said, her tail flicking nervously. “I didn’t want to tell you. Lloyd and his friends are going to save us, but if they didn’t, I wanted you to have as much peace as you could. I didn’t want you to worry.”

“I could’ve helped. I can help.” The man said, sounding determined. Lloyd found himself agreeing with him. He didn’t trust this student, but in order to defeat Ras, maybe his help was necessary.

“He’s right, Rontu. We need all the help we can get. If he’s an elemental master, we could use him. From the way he’s holding that weapon, he’s good at hand to hand combat, too.” A bit of hope sparked in Lloyd’s chest, knowing that they might have a chance, another pair of hands to help them save the Merged Realm. Turning to the man, he sheathed his sword. “Do you know Spinjitzu? Rising Dragon Technique?”

The man shook his head. “I…I don’t.”

“He’s not ready to fight the villains you must face, Lloyd.” Rontu replied sternly. “He must remain behind.”

“But一”

“His element is powerful, admittedly one of the most powerful of them all. He needs complete focus, or else he could hurt everyone, including his allies. He is not ready. Perhaps, if Ras and his Wolf Warriors fail, then he can join you in future battles.”

Lloyd hated to admit that she was right. He didn’t know this man’s element, but he knew how dangerous elements can be without the control that trained elementalists have.

In that moment he remembered Jay again. Jay was, is, one of the most powerful, yet most controlled, of his friends. If someone only looked at Jay’s frantic anxiety, his constant talking in battle, his fear so clearly displayed, one would think that he had no control. That his focus was gone, replaced only with concern that bled off of him. But Lloyd knew better. All of the Ninja knew better.

Jay was able to control the lightning as if it was his own arm, an extension of himself, powerful yet tamed under his watchful eye. No matter how scared Jay got, his lightning never wavered. If it did, they would all no doubt be dead. He knew control. He knew how to be focused.

He remembered how Jay had taught him to control his own lightning powers, way back when Lloyd was a child. How patient he was, how he never stopped encouraging him.

Lloyd missed Jay. Perhaps, after all of this was over, when the Merged Realms were at peace, they would find him. But they couldn’t afford to look now.

But knowing Jay meant that Lloyd understood how important control was. Someone with a powerful element needed to have focus, nor else they would hurt others more than they would help.

“I understand.” Lloyd said, giving the man a nod. “I hope that one day we’ll fight beside each other as allies.”

“I hope so, too.” The man replied, and he quickly hopped onto Rontu’s back, resting his hand on Rontu’s neck.

“Lloyd, we must keep training you to learn the Rising Dragon Technique.” Rontu said. “Egalt has resumed his training. And my student will return to the caves. The only thing I ask is that you do not mention this to your friends until after the battle, the last thing they need right now is another thing to worry about.”

“I agree. I’ll keep it a secret.” He could imagine the chaos that would come from this knowledge, and the confusion. He wondered what Nya would think, or Kai. Would they welcome the newcomer, or would they be doubtful of how trustworthy he could be? Even Lloyd himself didn’t trust the man completely. And how would the kids react? Would they be scared, or curious?

There were too many things at stake to risk being distracted. Lloyd would keep it a secret. He had to.

With a few beats of her wings, Rontu rose into the sky, flying away quickly, likely to return the man back to the caves. Lloyd watched her as she left, something close to worry churning in his gut. Would that man ever reach his full potential? Ever learn to focus his element? Would Lloyd ever get to learn his name?

None of that would matter if Ras won. Lloyd knew that. So, he would train, and learn the Rising Dragon Technique. Somehow, it felt more important now than ever.

-----------------------------------------------------

Jay didn’t want to say that he was embarrassed, but he was. One of the visitors caught him. If it weren’t for Rontu, he didn’t know what would’ve happened. Would he have had to admit that he had the elemental power of lightning? That the Administration wanted to use him to power their weapons, risking the visitor wanting the same thing? Would he have had to fight Lloyd?

The guy seemed nice, even familiar in a way that Jay didn’t understand. When he had first seen the man, standing in front of him with his sword drawn, Jay’s first thought was of lightbulbs.

Out of all of his possible memories, that one was the most strange. But at the moment it didn’t matter. Even now, it didn’t.

Jay wanted to think that he could beat Lloyd in battle, but something told him that he couldn’t. Lloyd seemed like a seasoned fighter, one who had fought in every battle imaginable. Jay hadn’t. He may have before the Merge, but those memories were gone. He couldn’t face anyone like Lloyd, at least not yet.

Maybe with time he could.

But he didn’t have time.

In mere days, the world could end. Everything could end.

Jay would lose the only chance he had at a new life. At remembering any life at all.

His chest felt empty at the thought, as if there was nothing left to think about, to feel.

He didn’t have any memories of his past life. He didn’t know exactly who he was now. He didn’t know what he could do, not fully. He might never grow older to learn that. And now that was being ripped away from him. His past was gone, his present was vanishing, and his future was changing to never exist.

He hoped more than anything else in the world that Lloyd could save them. That he had his team could stop Ras, stop the Wolf Warriors, and save them all.

Rontu had explained everything to him, and Jay wished, no, hoped, that he could help them. But he wasn’t ready yet, was he?

He found himself sitting by the leaf wall again, back in the cave, his weapon resting at his side.

The sun was lowering in the sky, and he could feel his eyes slip closed, despite the knowledge that the world was ending. Whether it was because of what he recently learned, the excitement from the day, knowing that he was useless to do anything more, the heavy acceptance of what was coming, or the worries from two lives bleeding into one, Jay didn’t know, but he couldn’t fight the exhaustion that clung to him, despite how hard he tried.

He dreamt of nothing.

But when he awoke, it was jarring, as if lightning had struck him from the sky above. He gasped, his eyes widening.

The first things he noticed was that the sky was red, and the world was silent.

Not a voice could be heard. Not even a sound.

Jay hated silence. And he knew what it meant now. What the red sky meant.

He didn’t waste a second running outside, his kusarigama tightly held in his hands. He bolted for the training grounds, wind whipping through his hair, panic racing through his heart. His chest was tight, suffocating him, stealing the strength that he fought so hard for, pushing his body into survival mode, trying to make it to the next breath.

What was happening? Where were Rontu and Egalt? Were they okay? Was the world ending?

He hated that he fell asleep. He could’ve been training! He could’ve stopped this, right? He had to have been able to!

Deep down, he knew that he couldn’t have. But that knowledge did nothing to stop the fear.

He made it to the main training grounds, where the lower rock ground was connected to a higher ground by a stone staircase.

He saw the stone statues before he realized what they were.

“Rontu? Egalt?” His voice was strained, breathless, weak. He reached the bottom of the graystatues, looking up at the grand figures made of stone.

It didn’t feel real. It didn’t feel real at all.

The red moon, the blood moon, lit up the darkness, highlighting the details of the statues in startling horror. Each of the statues looked exactly like the Dragon Masters, like his family. Their eyes looked the same, Rontu’s kind, Egalt’s wise, but they were lifeless.

They couldn’t be stone. This had to be a joke, right? This was one of Rontu’s tricks, one to keep Jay laughing. This was a test from Egalt, seeing if he would let his guard down when things seemed safe.

He let out a strained laugh. “Egalt, come on, I know this isn’t real.”

There was no response. Nothing.

The only noise Jay could hear was a ringing in his ears, growing louder and louder with every second, his limbs freezing in place, paralyzing him.

It was them. Rontu and Egalt were turned to stone.

How? Why would this happen? Who could…

No. This couldn’t be happening.

“Rontu, wake up!” Jay screamed, desperation in his tone, and he touched the stone with the palm of his hand, right on Rontu’s shoulder, waiting for a response, a bit of movement, anything. Their eyes stayed still. Their wings didn’t move. Their hearts didn’t beat.

No movement came.

Nothing.

“Rontu! This isn’t funny! Wake up! Wake up!”

His weapon clattered to the ground, and his body followed moments later, his knees collapsing from under him.

Tears burned in his eyes, and Jay tried to hold back the sobs that shook his chest.

“Wake up! Wake up! Come on! Wake up!

He couldn’t be alone. Not again. He couldn’t lose his family. Not again.

Not again. Not again.

Please not again.

“Wake up…please…” his voice broke, and the little composure he held fractured. His eyes closed. Hot tears finally fell down his cheeks, sobs seizing his body, shaking him down to his core. His hair fell limply onto his forehead, quaking with every sob, and he cried.

He cried for the confusion that didn’t leave him. He cried for the fear that he couldn’t shake. He cried knowing that maybe he could've helped them. He cried for the ones he had lost.

The world might be ending soon, but as far as Jay was concerned, his world had already ended. Rontu and Egalt were gone. And Jay was alone again.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, wailing. Time had no meaning anymore. Nothing did.

Rontu and Egalt had saved him when he couldn’t save himself. They didn’t deserve this. They deserved to be happy.

Behind him, a sharp noise cut through his despair, familiar, and terrifying. Jay opened his eyes weakly, feeling a stirring in his chest, a building of worry that he couldn’t shake.

That was the sound of a portal opening. An Administration portal opening.

Wasn’t losing Rontu and Egalt enough? Now he had to deal with this?

He struggled to take a deep breath, holding it in his weak lungs before letting it out slowly. With a shaky hand, he lifted his hood over his head, his bandana over his nose. He could hear the whirr of the mechs behind him, coming closer, and the sound of agents headed his way.

A million questions filled his mind, numbed by grief and sorrow, like how they got here, what they were here for, but none of it mattered. Not really. Not anymore.

He grabbed his weapon, gripping the handle harshly, and rose to his feet.

“Drop your weapon! According to rule 23AGZ5, we will remove you if you stand in our way!” One of the agents said, but Jay ignored him. Raising his head, he let the lightning under his skin thrum with the beat of his heart, the electricity in the sky listening to his call.

Everything became numb then, only one thought crossing his mind as he turned towards the agents, armed with his kusarigama and the lightning he could call his.

Survive. Survive. Survive.

Previous Chapter (chapter 6)// Next Chapter (Chapter 8)

#ninjago #lego ninjago #jay walker #ninjago jay #ninjago dragons rising #dragons rising #dragons rising season 2 #ninjago fanfiction #lloyd ninjago #lloyd garmadon #ninjago lloyd #ninjago rontu #rontu #ninjago egalt #egalt

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i-mybrunettelady · 10 months ago

Text

scenes of an arson site

Summary: Pact airships go down, taken by Mordremoth's vines. Elandrin is on one of them. Content warnings: mentions of violence and all around bad times. Spoilers: HoT

It starts with a headache.

Then there’s screaming. Thorns, so much fucking screaming.

And then the airships go down.

It takes him a minute to realize he’s conscious again. His eyes refuse to see clearly, so he closes them. He’s not in this primordial darkness anymore - there’s light, so much light around him, flashes of color, sounds he can’t parse out. His mind feels heavy.

A thud of footsteps. A person comes close. “Is he awake?” He can’t say who asks the question. It’s all a jumbled mess.

“Looks like it. He isn’t still anymore.”

“Maybe he lost his marbles, like the rest of them.”

“Spirits, no! Shut it! Arcanist Elandrin, are you with us? Can you hear me?”

Elandrin.. Elandrin.. That’s a cool name. He opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. He squints at the all-consuming daylight and mouths the name again. Elandrin.. Elandrin..

Something in his mind tugs as realization sharply comes. Elandrin screams as he’s suddenly thrown back into his body that lays in his own sap, his ribs burn, and the tug holds for a bit until there’s a hand on his forehead and he slumps down again, panting like a sylvan hound.

“Told you he’s with us,” a norn woman voices. Elandrin looks at her. She has blood on her face. “Here, drink some water.” She makes a face. “Plants need water, don’t they?”

He swallows the cold liquid greedily and loudly. A bird screams above him. It smells like ash, blood, fire, and cooked meat. His hands scramble to get a hold of the flask as he downs the rest of it.

“What the fuck happened?” he croaks and frowns at how wretched his voice sounds. He’s covered in a blanket; he feels the remaining pieces of his torn homegrown clothes tickle his bare bark. He assumes the blanket is more for modesty than for warmth. Have these people never seen a dick before? He dares not laugh at their moral constraints, if only because he knows it’ll sound like he’s choking.

“Oh! You’re awake!” a human woman in Vigil gear turns with a disapproving face. “Are you one of them?”

“One of who, for fuck’s sake?”

“You planty fuckers all went insane on that ship and almost killed us all!” the human all but yells and Elandrin snickers.

“I am not fucking insane, you dimwit. I have no idea what’s going on, but I do know that my ribs hurt and that I need a mender.” He looks around and sees he’s the only sylvari in the camp. Aside from the yelling bitch, there’s a norn woman who gave him the flask, a bald asura with yellow eyes, and another norn, who’s cradling a broken arm.

“Go find one yourself, you wretched Mordrem,” she adds and Elandrin sits up harshly, only to bend forward as the sharp pain pierces his ribs. His mind aches with a new weight he knows hasn’t been there before. Part of him wants to be afraid, but he’s too offended to care about it.

Him, a Mordrem? Him, a sylvari, a Dreamer, secondborn of the Pale Tree, to serve Mordremoth of all things?! Him, an ugly monster?

“Juliana, stop,” the norn woman says wearily and extends her hands to help him lay down. He shakes his head and groans his way onto the ground. “He isn’t a Mordrem. He’s one of us. If he was, he would’ve killed us right away.” She laughs nervously. “Wouldn’t be an issue for an elementalist of his caliber.”

“What’s your name?” Elandrin asks the norn woman.

“Skadi. Skadi Runarskin.”

“Mm, and which order?”

“Priory, Arcanist. I.. I attended your classes on fire elemental magic techniques before the airships sailed.” He looks at her, and her big, wide eyes and the dark circles under them. Brown hair sticks to her forehead. Her face is utterly unmemorable.

“And where are the airships now?”

Skadi waves her hands. “Gone,” she says with a gravel in her voice. “Vines came from the sky and dragged us down. Sylvari on board, they.. They started screaming and attacking people. I don’t remember much.”

Neither does he. All he remembers is the falling and the screaming. “Huh,” he says. “Unless Juliana shuts her mouth up like a good little girl, I will start attacking too.”

Juliana growls. “If I ever see a sign, I’m killing you.”

“Just try.”

Oh, but his body’s tired. He lies back, feels his ribs throb, and blinks at the sun.

I can make it stop hurting.

The fact the voice isn’t his own should scare him. But he’s too tired to be scared. The tug lessens and he falls into a temporary, dreamless sleep.

III

The man with the broken hand is the first to go. His death was quick, or so Elandrin saw. They’d attracted a Mordrem ambush; thankfully, there were so few of them, now ashes on the sparkly, green grass, but they got the guy well before they could become so. All it took was one swing and he was gone.

He had no chances anyways.

They’re making a burial for him. Elandrin never really understood burials, the same way he doesn’t understand namedays or marriage. Or surnames. He chooses to sit while they recite some meaningless words for his soul, Skadi, Juliana and the asura, and watch. The dead norn’s gear is so ill-fitted that Elandrin can only steal the shirt that reaches his knees, but it’s solid gear. As solid as gear comes when you’re lost in the jungle, anyways.

“Raven guide your spirit, my friend,” Skadi whispers. Elandrin wonders why she’s sad. She hardly knew him. And even if she did, he’s a casualty of war. Grief has no place here. He thinks of Trahearne, and swallows a lump in his throat.

Where is his friend, anyway?

“They will find us here,” he says. Juliana looks at him. She looks like she wants to throw her helmet at him.

“This was our second ambush in a week,” she snaps. “You’re attracting them. You’re sending out pheromones, or whatever the fuck you plants have. They’re sensing you like a fucking dog.”

“Sylvari don’t have pheromones, not like you people do,” he replies and presses his hand on the ground to get up. His ribs haven’t stopped hurting, but he’ll be damned if he lets them see that. “Maybe they’re hunting you.”

I can make it stop hurting. Come to me.

The voice has been a constant, too. It came after the tug; he feels like it eats parts of his mind in morsels, like pieces of Elandrin-shaped fruit, a darkness he can’t shake off, no matter how hard he tries. It sends terror down his spine at night, when his glow is the only thing keeping him away from the darkness around him. It makes him curl in on himself, in spite of the pain, and breathe in the grass and the leaves and the blood to keep him from giving into it.

The voice promises freedom from that, too. But it doesn’t feel like his own, so he doesn’t trust it. He doesn’t trust Juliana, or Skadi, or the little armored rat. He doesn’t trust anything but the pain in his ribs, the pressure in his gut, the ache in his body, and what remains of his mind.

Get away from me, he says to the voice.

Then it roars and he has to bite down his hand to stop from screaming.

Mine, mine, mine, it roars, and he cries into the grass and the leaves and the grave of a dead norn.

“Go fuck yourself,” Juliana says.

I can kill her for you, if you’d let me.

Skadi cries later. Elandrin watches the light catch on her tears and feels the urge to lick them off her face. Does her blood taste sweet? His tastes like honey; his is a desert. Norn blood probably tastes like licking metal.

Be mine, Elandrin, and you won’t have to cry anymore. The world will be yours to burn.

He resists, and cries anyway.

The asura disappears next. Dead, alive, Elandrin doesn’t know; the fucking jungle wants to kill them, and they’re running for their lives, and his concentration is shamefully weak as is, so he’s too focused on the magical warmth on his fingertips to notice where small things are. It’s like a bug. He never bothered to learn their name either - asura names make him snarl as he’s saying them.

They’re irrelevant, just as the leaves he’s crunching beneath his feet are irrelevant. It’s getting harder to tell the difference anyways.

“We should go back for them,” Skadi says. Her voice sounds distorted, high, and her words are hard to make out. He’s squinting, trying to catch the features of her face. It reminds him of a tree - brown on brown on brown, like a sylvari he once knew. “They could need our help!”

“It’s no use,” Elandrin says. His voice sounds off to his own ears; he blinks himself awake from a stupor. Skadi’s face is long and scarred, she has overgrown eyebrows and dark circles around her bloodshot eyes. “The jungle has them already.”

“How do you know it, Arcanist?” Skadi cries, hitting her fist on the ground. “Eissa’s research isn’t yet finished! They studied dwarven magic. They had siblings back in Rata Sum. How are we supposed to go back to them and tell them Eissa is dead?”

Eissa can be reunited with their siblings when all is returned to me.

Elandrin digs his fingers in his ribs. The bark is dark, sensitive to touch and he growls - in pain, at the voice, he doesn’t know.

Go fuck yourself, I’m not becoming one of yours. He vaguely recalls that sylvari can become Mordrem. His chest tightens and he looks up at the sky, the clouds, the all powerful sun, and the endless expanse of tall trees and breathes.

He almost fits there. Those leaves up above look better than his foliage does now, decaying, half pulled out, struggling to glow the way it did. He wants to be a tree, he wants to not think, he wants to have beautiful leaves again. He catches sight of one half singed leaf and breathes out.

He wants to have beautiful leaves again.

“The same way we were supposed to go back to our siblings in the Grove and tell them our bodies are now their live experiment,” he says darkly. “They have to pay for that.”

Skadi swallows. Juliana sighs and pulls out a gun.

“I should shoot you,” she says. “You’re destroying yourself. You’re obviously deranged. Soon enough, you’ll be one of the Mordrem.”

Elandrin snarls. “Just try it.”

The asura can pay. Juliana can pay. Let me in, and they can all pay.

Elandrin gasps. Night spreads around them, big and tight and oppressive. His head feels like it’s about to burst. His mind feels like a half-eaten apple that’s home to a couple of worms. He bites his hand and cries when the pressure tightens and holds, and between the two sensations, he falls back into the refreshing pool of darkness beneath.

When he mercifully wakes up, he runs.

The jungle burns around him. The jungle burns, and his eyes prickle, and his skin feels like it’s on fire. He doesn’t know where he is, or what he’s doing; he watches the miserable, half-dead leaves on his head dangle before his eyes.

The struggle and the pain can stop, little one. All you have to do is let me in.

He roars and digs his nails into the ground. They break and he digs even harder, yells until his throat hurts, hurls sounds in the air as the dead remains of his enemies burn around him in a half-circle. Mordremoth screams, but Elandrin screams harder.

He’ll scream himself to death if he has to.

The ground shakes as someone approaches. Fire doesn’t seem to hurt them. There’s a hand on his face, and claws that don’t tear, and Elandrin stops screaming. His throat burns as he cries, and writhes in the corner, in the ashes of those that wanted to kill him, and he smells sap around him and is just aware enough to know it’s his own.

“Master has been looking for you,” the person says. “You’re still struggling.” They sound gentle and Elandrin sobs harder with as much breath as he has left.

“Please,” he rasps out. It all hurts. His head, his mind, his body, it’s all one big point of pain.

The person kneels down. Elandrin looks at them. Hands hold their face, and they’re big. It’s blurry, but it’s as if the fingers part and reveal the soft browns of what’s a sylvari eye.

“It can stop, the pain,” the person says softly. “Just let go.” And then, in a voice he thought long gone, “I hate seeing you in pain even now, El.”

He doesn’t know what it is. One last punch comes from deep within, from the memories he tries so hard to bury down, hazy in the smoke. He grasps it and holds onto it. The figure then leans in, licks his tears with his forked tongue, and presses his petal-soft lips to Elandrin’s forehead.

“Adryn,” Elandrin croaks. His whole body shakes. He loved Adryn, once. He loved their nights together. He loved the way Adryn laughed. He loved holding Adryn’s hand and making him fire constellations. He loved the way Adryn’s bark felt against his own, naked, his lips on Elandrin’s face, and the way he held him close, and he can almost hear himself laugh again the same way he did then. The sound comes distorted, off, and he can hear his own angry words and the tremble in Adryn’s voice.

He loved Adryn, once. But as he loves all things, himself included, that too ended up in flames.

“All you have to do is let go,” Adryn says.

Elandrin stares at the night sky, caught between death and life. The fire can’t catch him, but he hopes it will.

With one last push, he wishes the jungle would burn down with him.

“Arcanist Elandrin! We found him!”

“Is he dead?”

“Don’t think so! Come on, I need a hand over here! Hurry up! Do we have menders on the squad? I repeat, do we have menders on the squad?”

There are voices. Steps. Rustle of leaves. Pants of worry, and hurt. Metal against metal. Clinking of armor.

“Elandrin, are you with me?”

He struggles to locate the voice. His eyes might as well be sealed shut.

“I’m here. For fuck’s sake. Just listen to my voice, okay? I know you’re with us. Just listen to my voice, yeah. Good. Like that. I’m here. We have menders on the squad. We’ll get you up in no time. It’s just some healing magic. Feels a little invasive. Not much I can do about it. I’m sure you people have a better word for it.” There’s a hand on his face. He sighs as it guides him. The pain subsides. “Elandrin? Yeah, knew you were with us. Dwayna have fucking mercy on you. Who fucked you up like that?”

His eyes open slowly. There are claws on his face, but the face that greets him isn’t monstrous, nor the eye familiar. The face is pale, human, with bright, purple eyes.

“It’s me, Alysannyra. I know I’m not your favorite person, but who fucking cares right now. I’m healing you until the menders come. You’re not dying on me - you hear me? You’re not dying on the Pact. You’ll want to singe my eyebrows off later, but I’m not letting you die, you hear me?”

Alysannyra..?

“You’re coming to. Great. Glad to see you’re as destructive when you’re unconscious as you are when you’re awake. All this ash is very becoming of you.”

He raises a hand. It shakes but he holds it up. Alysannyra.. He can’t recall a single good thing about her, but right now, her body feels soft and safe. He touches her nose and his hand drops down again.

“Not a mordrem,” he says weakly, when someone else kneels down beside them.

“Good to hear. Thought I’d have to put you down if you suddenly go all monstrous on us.”

He shakes his head.

He made it. He’s alive. He could cry, if his body willed it.

Not a mordrem, he thinks to himself one last time before darkness takes him again.

But this time, the hands he falls into are safe.

#gw2 #inspo birb has come to town #elandrin aien #vague alysannyra #gw2 writing #gw2 fic #guild wars 2 #gw2 hot #heart of thorns #gw2 sylvari #gw2 mordrem #IT'S OUT IT'S OUTTT

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neverloseguy · 10 months ago

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Okay hear me out:

What if Emilie has more rats, and they all end up representing Guild Wars 2's professions?

Star is the Guardian Rat that can teleport and blinds foes with a spark of light.

Striker is the Revenant/Water and Air Elementalist Rat that not only is capable of teleporting, but can also spray mists and zoom around.

Spinach is the Ranger Rat that can summons small vines to immobilize foes.

Shade is the Thief/Necro Rat that can shadowstep and goes invisible...maybe casting fear onto foes as well, as well as raising minions of its own.

Sonic is the Engineer Rat that can make some kind of small contraptions with its tiny grabby hands.

Sienna is the Fire Elementalist Rat that can sneeze fireballs.

Sand is the Earth Elementalist Rat that can do spinny-thingy and create a mini sandstorm.

Serene is the Mesmer Rat that can summon a clone of itself as a decoy.

And of course...

Stout is the Warrior Rat who is the biggest and meanest of them all.

At this rate, I think she's going to make herself some kind of Rat Sanctuary where they can all be happy, and by that I mean chew things and pee everywhere.

-----

07/08/2024

Emilie was given a new rat, described as a "living gummy rat" made from the same stuff found in a gummy worm. She names it "Slinky" and it is wiggly.

31/10/2024

Emilie was given ANOTHER gummy rat! She names it "Sticky", and it will now serve as a cage mate to Slinky so that the latter doesn't feel as alienated anymore.

#gw2 #gw2 oc #guild wars 2 #emilie silverlake #pet rats #gw2 headcanons

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mizukagami-takamagahara · 1 year ago

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youtube

[Prototype Profile] Kokonoe

“Adept at crafting components, traps, and high-tech weaponry including rockets and lasers. She is proficient at weaving an escape-proof net of destruction on the battlefield that deals devastating damage.”

Time to take a look at what Kokonoe will be capable of in Entropy Effect! As with Hibiki, I'm not very familiar with playing as or against Kokonoe, so if any of you play her I would love to hear your thoughts on what we see in this video!

It's been a few days since my last Entropy Effect post, so we've gotten a lot more information about the game. I haven't decided how much of the game I'll cover, so I'm not sure what to share here... if you have any opinions on that, please do share with me!

Now, onto her gameplay.

The first thing I noticed was that her attacks look very elemental- though this may just be in my head. The first moves they show us in this video include this watergun-looking weapon that sort of reminds me of the freeze ray in her Armament No. 3 "Absolute Zero v.4.32" (236C.)

We also see her wielding fire, more generally through the explosions caused by her rockets, but also as a part of her Armament No. 9 "Aerial Powerdrive: Solid Wheel v3.37" (236B) which has been brought over for her Entropy Effect kit!

I guess Kokonoe's always been a bit of a subtle elementalist fighter, I just never realized it! I always associated her with her rockets and gravitons pretty exclusively. It's a cool thing to notice as a small connection between her and all the elemental magic Nine uses. I like it.

Speaking of returning moves, we also see her Armament No.5 "Banishing Rays v3.10" (22A/B) being used during her more advanced combos.

Each character showcased in these promotional videos so far has had a unique character skill shown off as well. At first glance, Kokonoe's seems to be her Exceed Accel, Armament No.11 "Full Metal Heavy Weapon v2.05."

However, the animation only includes the "rocket launcher strapped to her back" half of the attack, and it's aerial version only recreates the rockets, without the launcher.

The name of this ability in Entropy Effect is Armament No.11.1 v2.19 "Furious Decimator Avalanche." I really like this! It shows an attention to detail from the EE team that I appreciate; sampling the BB Armament No.11 move for part of the attack, creating a whole ability/skill inspired by it, and naming it as if its another iteration of the weapon that Kokonoe's testing/experimenting with.

We're definitely 3/3 with wins for the dev team on remixes of character's movesets with these skills, in my opinion. I'm looking forward to see what else they come up with.

#kokonoe mercury #blazblue #blazblue entropy effect #bbcf #gameplay #bb official #bb meta #ao no imakagami #doing these has actually been really fun for me I'm learning so much about the character's movesets #I'm more of a lore nerd than a fighting game player so there's so much I didn't know

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korgbelmont · 2 years ago

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Male OC (Riley Keegan) x Shreya Mistry

Part 1

Riley Keegan is a Water Attuned who attends Penderghast and has often kept out of the way. But a new class project will mean he has to work with someone he was not expecting...

Written in the present tense

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1171

Notes: I don’t own these characters, they are the property of Pixelberry Studios.

Fire & Water created on cooltext.com

In this, The Elementalists MC (Sam) is with Aster

Being woken by his Arylu, Tyrian jumping up on the bed, Riley opens his eyes to look across at the clock. And much to his annoyance, it's time to get up.

Riley - Right.

He rolls onto his back and swings his legs to the side to force himself to sit up. Hearing rain pouring down outside, Riley gets up and heads for a shower. After, he uses a drying spell before getting into some clothes and whistles for Tyrian before heading off for class.

Arriving at the first class of his day, as usual, he takes a seat somewhere out of sight as other students arrive. After a few moments, Professor Harrington stands, signalling that she is ready to begin. Riley opens up his notebook with a pen ready.

Katrina - Good morning, everyone. I wanted to focus today on finding ways to use the element that would is the opposite of yours. So for example, a Water Att using fire magic, and vice versa.

The lesson passes as Professor Harrington explains the methods of getting around the opposite and Riley notes it all down. But with 30 minutes still to go, Professor Harrington brings everything to a wrap, which confuses Riley.

Katrina - Now, whilst these are all good methods. The most reliable is to have someone with you, which is why I am assigning you all a paired project. But rather than you picking your partner, we'll draw names. So I want you all to write your names and place them into the hat which has your Attunement on it.

One student raises their hand.

Katrina - Yes, Sam?

Despite not being the most sociable, even Riley knew the name Sam. Sam Russell, and their sibling, Atlas Ernhardt, children of a Source.

Sam - What about Atlas and I?

Katrina - Well, given your unique situation, I'll have you two pair off.

Atlas - Great. More time having to put up with you.

Everyone writes their names down and places them in their respective hats before taking their seats once more.

Katrina - Okay, when I call out your name, I want you to stand, and then once I call out the partner name, they will stand so you know who you're working with by face. So let's start with the Fire hat.

She takes a piece of paper and unfolds it.

Katrina - Shreya Mistry.

Riley looks over as a young woman stands.

Katrina - And you'll be working with...

She takes a piece of paper from the water hat and opens it up.

Katrina - Riley Keegan.

Not registering his own name at first, Riley soon shoots to his feet.

Katrina - Perfect.

The two lock eyes and Riley gives her a wave with a light smile. Once all the names are picked and paired, everyone begins shuffling seats and Riley takes a seat next to Shreya.

Shreya - Welcome.

Riley - Hi.

The two shake hands.

Riley - I'm Riley.

Shreya - I know.

Riley - Right! Yeah. Sorry. Being dumb then.

He notices her smiling at his blunder.

Riley - I think I'm just gonna shut up now.

Katrina - Now that you're all paired up, I want you all to spend the week working on a project that will play to your individual strengths combined with your partners.

Back at her dorm room, Shreya and Riley map over what they could potentially present as their project by combining the strengths of a Fire Att and with the strengths of a Water Att.

Shreya - Wait, I think I have it!

Riley - What you got?

Shreya - Well it does depend. How are you with using water to make snow?

Riley - I'm okay with it.

Shreya - Then we will have something quite impressive to show.

Riley - What're you thinking?

Shreya - You use your Water Magick to build an igloo and I can use my Fire Magick to provide warmth, the compressed snow will keep all that heat insulated.

Riley - Guess I should get to work on my igloo building, then. I've made snow before before, but nothing on that scale.

He gets up on his feet, taking a deep breath. He looks to Shreya with a soft smile.

Riley - You wanna come with? Hang out at the lake for a bit?

Looking at the time on the clock, Shreya shakes her head.

Shreya - Leave it until the morning, we've been at this practically all day.

Riley - Fair enough. Hadn't actually realised the time.

Shreya - I'll meet you at breakfast.

Riley - Okay.

Riley takes his leave with a smile on his face as he returns to his dorm room.

That night, Tyrian sleeps at the foot of the bed while Riley stares up at the ceiling, thinking about the day and how he can use his magick to create an igloo for his and Shreya's project. Not feeling tired, he gets out of bed and changes before heading out.

At the lake, he calls some water to his hand and forms it into a ball before using some Air Magick to cool it and turn it into a snowball, however it isn't the right kind of snow and he begins to compress it as an igloo would be made from compressed snow.

Riley - It's a good first step.

Placing the ball on the floor, Riley continues working through the night to make objects from compressed snow, getting bigger and bigger each time.

The next morning, via a quick shower and a change of clothes, Riley arrives at Shreya's dorm room, feeling more assured about it all after working into the early hours of the morning. But when he arrives, it's not Shreya he finds, but instead finds Sam and a girl he has seen around.

Sam - Oh, hi! Riley, right?

Riley - That's me. And you're Sam. And you're...

Aster - Aster D'Yew.

Riley extends a hand out to her and she covers it with both of hers.

Riley - Nice to meet you, Aster.

Aster - You too!

The door opens and Shreya steps out in a swimsuit, smiling at the sight of Riley.

Shreya - Good morning.

RIley - You look amazing...

Shreya - Not exactly difficult for me.

Riley smiles as she walks over to him, but stops and notices the bags under his eyes.

Shreya - How much sleep did you get?

Riley - I... didn't. I was working. Trying to get an idea of how to make compressed snow for our project.

Shreya - Are you sure you're gonna be okay?

Riley - I had a drink before coming here, and the shower helped.

Shreya - If you're sure.

Riley nods.

Shreya - Okay, but I will see to it that we keep you awake. And that includes dinner after.

Riley - Dinner?!

Shreya - You're stuck with me today.

She smiles as she heads for the door, turning back to look at Riley.

Shreya - Coming?

#playchoices #the elementalists #shreya mistry #shreya x oc #korgfics

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eternalalchemagical · 1 year ago

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Chapter 2: Oculus

When Theiya opened her eyes again, a sea of faces crowded her vision: an incomprehensible blur of commotion as hands reached across each other, voices cutting through the haze of her confusion, and the unmistakable thrum of magic pulsing in the center of her chest. She tried to raise her arms, but failed, the effort turning her stomach.

“Stop,” she mumbled weakly.

“She’s awake!” one of the troupe cried, and the uproar intensified, that painful thrum in her chest escalating. Her head lolled as she blinked against the confusion, trying to regain her faculties, and slowly realized that she was being pinned down.

“Let go of me.”

The faces continued to swim in and out of her vision: Charr, Humans, Sylvari, all scrambling over each other, grappling against her as she tried to sit up.

“I SAID LET GO OF ME!” The force of her voice shocked her, and many who had moments before hovered inches away recoiled in fear. She jerked her wrists free from the last, stubborn few who remained and frantically searched the room for a familiar face.

“Who are you? Where is Elena?” she roared, close to tears.

“I’m here,” a small voice choked. The quiet, anxious sound cut through the pain and confusion; shame and fear bloomed in her chest in their place.

“I’m sorry, I’m—I don’t understand what’s happening—" Theiya’s voice broke as tears prickled in her eyes, and she folded in on herself, cowering.

“She’s stable now- everyone, take your leave, please. Give her space. She’s frightened. I’ll call if aid is needed.”

“You can’t be serious, she almost—”

“Enough!” the elementalist snapped. “Your superior gave a direct order. Return to your duties.”

Theiya heard the uncertain shuffle of boots as the group filed out of the room until finally, the heavy door swung shut behind them with a loud thump. She wished at that moment that she might fold far enough into herself to evaporate, and disappear into her bedclothes.

After a few moments, Elena moved stiffly across the room and lowered herself cautiously onto the edge of the bed. She sat there for a while, unmoving, as Theiya tried to make sense of what had happened, her eyes welling with tears. She could sense the others standing just outside the door, waiting.

“You never told me your name.”

The elementalist’s gentle voice coaxed Theiya to raise her head.

“It’s Theiya,” she managed eventually, unable to meet the Human’s eyes.

“Theiya,” she repeated, in that gentle, musing way. “Do you have a family? Someone wondering where you are?”

Theiya exhaled shakily, unsure of how to respond.

“My mother, Astra. A small group of Kodan far to the east of here. But they won’t wonder after me. It’s not our way.”

“They…won’t want to know you’re safe?”

“Am I?” Theiya scoffed. When she finally turned to meet Elena’s eyes, her gaze remained soft. Sympathetic.

“I want to help you Theiya- we want to help you. But we also need your help to understand what happened.”

“Can’t you ask someone else?” She snapped. “There is obviously…something wrong with me.”

The beat of silence that followed fell across Theiya like a lash.

“There isn’t anyone else to ask,” Elena replied quietly, turning away and folding her hands in her lap. “No one else survived the blast.”

“I—all those people…?” Theiya trailed off, wracking her brain for details. She was afraid to think back, afraid to summon that horrific pain again, the light splintering her thoughts into nothingness.

“Yes.” Elena’s voice was quiet, but tight. “You were blown far enough away from the initial blast when it happened, the second didn’t quite reach you. That’s the only reason I was able to pull you to safety.”

“You-?”

“Mhm,” she smiled feebly, her eyes misty when she finally turned back to face Theiya in earnest. “I was on my way to Lion’s Arch to liaise with the other Orders about some…sensitive new developments. I had planned to rest at the Ossencrest briefly to resupply before making the rest of the trek south. I saw your caravan on the road. When the first shockwave happened, I was only a few hundred feet behind you.”

“I think I remember…being dragged. That was you?”

“I’m stronger than I look,” she retorted defiantly, a playful smirk flashing across her face. “Besides,” she shrugged, “you were hurt. I had to do something.”

Slowly, Theiya glanced down: thick, white bandages covered the right side of her neck and the expanse of her ribcage, a series of strange blue sigils embroidered over the center of her chest. How hadn’t she noticed them before?

“I don’t remember what happened,” Theiya conceded somberly. “All I remember is a jolt of lightning. Blindness. And then…waking up here.”

“More details will come to you with time. You need to rest and regain your strength. I am sorry today was so difficult, I shouldn’t have pressed you. I admit, I can be a bit brazen at times.”

Theiya opened her mouth to protest, but Elena continued.

“Would you be willing to let me sit with you for a while? We don’t have to speak; I only want to make sure you’re safe and that you have help available in the event of another…episode." Theiya searched the elementalist's face for a moment before she answered.

“I am sorry to make you responsible for all of this…unpleasantness. Truly I am. I don’t know what happened, what’s going on in my head—"

Elena reached to lay a hand gently on Theiya’s own, squeezing lightly. “There will be time for all of that when you’re feeling better.”

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The next few days passed in a blur of fever. Elena visited Theiya’s bedside frequently, bringing trays with warm, hearty soups and bitter tinctures that helped keep the migraines at bay. Nervous healers would stop by in the evenings to change the thick bandages and offer medicine that made her feel warm and sleepy. She found in Elena an effortless companion, conversation and silence passing easily between them in turn.

Theiya learned a lot about Elena in those few short days: she told stories about her family, her childhood in Divinity’s Reach, her younger sister Quinn, and how she came to be in the Priory. She talked about the perilous work she had done in Southsun Cove as a novice, regaling Theiya with stories of hunting Karka to keep their nests from spreading to mainland Tyria. Theiya was stunned into silence often, gazing fondly at the young noble despite herself as she laughed and talked, or closing her eyes to imagine the scenery. Elena’s descriptions were so vivid, Theiya almost felt she had been there herself, fighting alongside the fiery elementalist and splashing through the narrow spring channels to avoid geysers of steam erupting from the scorched ground.

When it came Theiya’s turn to speak, though, she found she had nothing much of herself to share.

“My mother Astra left our family’s lodge in Hoelbrak before I was born. She never truly explained the reason, only that something had happened to our people after Jormag devoured Owl, and she couldn’t be a part of it any longer. She lived as a nomad for a while, until stumbling upon a Kodan settlement far in the north of the Drifts. The Kodan living there had lost their offspring in the journey south fleeing Jormag’s corruption, their kin swallowed by the waves or corrupted by Jormag’s whispers. They took pity on Astra and welcomed her into their fold, helping to raise me under the way of Koda. I learned to meditate, to fight, to understand the balance of all things. Astra refused to visit her own family in Hoelbrak, but the bear Havroun, Grechen, made the trek twice a season.”

Theiya had often wondered why the dutiful Havroun never stayed longer than a day or two after such a long journey. She knew her mother’s love for Gretchen was fiercer than a friend, more loyal than spiritual duty. She caught them several times, embracing in a way that lovers might before Grechen departed, but never dared bring it up. She had no reason to. She had never known her father, and her mother was often cold and indifferent. But the Kodan of Lost Child’s Sorrow raised her as their own, so she was never truly alone. Though the Kodan often spoke in cryptic vagaries, they had mostly found peace. Lost Child’s Sorrow had no voice, no claw, but the will of Koda somehow lingered in the bitter, grieving hearts of those that had chosen exile from their kin in the wake of their loss. Perhaps Astra could not overcome her grief for her people in much the same way, refusing to take another mate or bear more children after leaving her home.

“That must have been difficult,” Elena said softly, looking up from the dusty tome and rolls of parchment spread in her lap.

“It was all I’d ever known,” Theiya shrugged, “no different than being the eldest heir to a noble human lineage I imagine.” Elena let out a sharp, bitter laugh.

“That life was never for me. All the pomp and pageantry, endless hours of boredom, forced to parade around in itchy dresses and flatter old, slippery aristocrats? I joined the Priory to see the world, to learn of things beyond Kryta’s borders.”

“I’m glad of it,” Theiya replied softly, suddenly embarrassed. Elena smiled, brushing a stray strand of blonde hair from her face. She closed the heavy tome in her lap and gathered up the loose parchment into a neat pile, setting them gingerly on the table behind her, before standing to brush the dust from her clothes.

“Would you like to walk with me? You must be sore from laying on that lumpy old mattress for so long.” Theiya cocked an eyebrow, turning as if to inspect the bedding.

“Yes, it must be the mattress that’s done it,” she replied playfully, “these stitches and bandages are merely a lucky coincidence.” Elena laughed, the sound bright and sweet. When Theiya turned back smirking, the breath nearly went out of her in surprise. She hadn’t really taken the time to look at the young noble before, too preoccupied with her own pain and confusion, but Elena was undeniably beautiful.

She stood in the middle of the small room, mid-day sunlight streaming around her in a golden pool from the small window above, diffusing a halo of flaxen light over the loose strands of her short blonde hair. A delicate silver pendant hung at the hollow of her throat, catching the sun as it dangled from a simple indigo ribbon. Her robes were finely tailored, but well-worn. A thin leather half-vest with an intricate, geometric pattern was cinched around her pale lilac tunic, the sleeves of which fell loosely around her wrists. An elaborately woven belt sat at her hips, hung with small bandoliers and colourful cloth pouches, and a pair of cream linen trousers peaked from the topline of tall, leather boots that reached almost to her knee.

Theiya felt her face flush, suddenly aware she had been staring, and averted her gaze. Elena stood patiently by the bedside, waiting for a response. Unable to muster words through the sting of embarrassment, Theiya braced herself and grunted with the effort of hoisting her weight from the bed. Her limbs felt weak and unsteady, straining to extend to her full height, the stitches in her chest pulling painfully under their bandages.

Elena stepped forward, offering a hand as if to steady her, but Theiya hesitated.

“Take it as slowly as you need,” the elementalist’s quiet voice assured, “there isn’t any rush.”

Theiya felt a lash of anger crack across her spine at the indignity, but she bit back the harsh words she might have said. It wasn’t Elena’s fault she had been lain so low, after all. Theiya took a few deep breaths and finally pushed off the bedpost, wobbling for a moment as her body made sense of her surroundings. Elena smiled warmly, and the sharpness of her anger blunted and then melted away. This young human hadn’t any need to be so kind, so gentle. Yet there she was, patient and assuring.

“There now, you’ve got your feet under you. Shall I show you the grounds?” Theiya shifted her weight uncomfortably but nodded after a moment.

“Perhaps I should take a moment to freshen up? I am not certain these blood-stained bedclothes are exactly appropriate for a tour.”

“Oh, of course! There are clean robes in the closet by the corner, and the water in the basin brought up with your midday meal should still be warm. I shall give you some privacy, but I’ll be just outside if you need assistance.” Elena turned on her heel and strode quickly away, stepping into the stone hallway beyond and swinging the heavy wooden door shut behind her.

Theiya stood in the center of the room awkwardly for a few moments, before slowly limping across to the armoire and reaching to open the small cabinet door. She pulled a pair of plain brown trousers and a matching linen tunic from within that looked as if they might fit, then gingerly began to step out of her bedclothes. As she bent to fold the soiled garments, she noticed there was a small, dusty mirror hanging beside the armoire in a slight alcove. Realizing she hadn’t looked at herself since the accident, she hesitantly stepped toward it.

Tawny eyes peered back at her from beneath heavy, swollen lids. Even then, her face looked much thinner than she remembered, and deep purple bruises bloomed across the normally russet skin of her face and neck. Ink-dark hair that once hung down the length of her back in a thick, neat plait was now so short she could barely tuck it behind her ear, and strands stuck out wildly from all sides, singed and jagged. She stared in stunned silence, tilting her head carefully to follow the mottle of dried blood and bruises to the lip of the heavy layers of bandages enclosing her ribcage. The urge to rip them off and examine the wound beneath nearly overwhelmed her and a shaking hand hovered over the center of her chest as she stared at the faint blue runes embroidered across the cotton. After careful examination, she realized they must form some kind of intricate magical ward; against something seemingly not even these highly trained Priory scholars fully understood. With much-concerted effort, Theiya lowered her hand and finally turned away from her reflection to finish dressing before shouldering open the gnarled wooden door to join the elementalist waiting beyond.

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #corvi's characters #arcanist elena #theiya runespur #ngl i am probably not gunna post this in order so I can skip to the spicy stuff sooner

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chrisbannor · 6 months ago

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Elements of Change

Chapter Forty: Promises

Author: Chris Bannor

“I can never make up for the deaths I caused, but I will never follow your orders again.”

“Not even with your bonded’s head on the line?”

The air in the hallway shimmered with the amount of magic that filled the space. The men and women behind the Imperator were putting on a show, and Ezo might be worried if it weren’t for Kammon at his side.

Ezo had seen Kammon’s indifference. He’d seen him in the harsh reality of battle. He had never seen the pure, icy anger that seeped from him now. Ember shrieked on his shoulder, and Ezo had to check his impulse to cover his ears at the sound of it echoing in the hallways.

“Watch what you say, Zera,” Kammon said softly. “If you think what I did on the battlefield is anything compared to what I would do to protect him-”

“Are we back to threats again, Kammon?”

“I warned you before. Now I’ll make a promise. Let us go, and we’ll forget this ever happened. Try to hurt Ezo though, and I’ll bring the whole damn building down around your head.”

“Kammon, listen to yourself,” one of the War-Sworn stepped forward, and there was a familiarity to the way he looked at Kammon. “You’re going to tear down the University?” he asked. “You used to believe that the greater good was more important than one man’s wishes. We took our oaths and followed orders because no man should hold this kind of power alone.”

It took a second, but Ezo recognized the voice from earlier. He was the one that wanted nothing to do with Kammon’s forced servitude.

“Andres, the words of a schoolboy have no place here,” Kammon corrected. “We followed orders of men puffed up on the power we handed to them. What gave them the right to tell us to kill where they wanted? Who gave them the right to decide life and death from the safety of these halls?”

“You aren’t the man I served with. He understood.”

“The man you served with committed atrocities,” Kammon spat back at him.

“Understand our position, Kammon. Elementalists serve the people, and we direct it as best we can to ensure the country is well protected. If we can’t control where your power is directed, who will?”

“I’m not a child who needs you to lead me by the hand. I know damn well enough who needs help and who doesn’t.”

“If we can’t control where you use your power, Kammon, there is only one other option.”

“What is that?”

“If we can’t control you, then we need to make sure no one does. If you won’t return to service, we will be forced to keep you here until you do.”

“You mean to keep me in captivity?” Kammon asked, ridicule ripe in his voice.

“Yes, we will.”

“Try it.” The words spilled from Ezo’s lips before he realized he was speaking. Ember took off from his shoulder and disappeared, but he knew she was waiting for the right time and place to reappear.

The War-Sworn and elementalists with the Imperator had already pulled what magic they could to them, and this time Ezo did the same. Power rippled out around them, and he felt Kammon’s hand settle lightly against the nape of his neck.

They didn’t need physical touch to join their magic any longer, but that moment grounded him.

He felt something building behind them, but he didn’t bother looking back at the vortex thrown at them. It dissipated before it could reach them, a small motion of Kammon’s hand to show he’d done the deed himself.

A pipe burst from the wall before them, water spilling into the hall, and as it spread onto the floor someone stirred air into it, creating a maelstrom.

“We didn’t want this, Kammon,” Zera said.

“Neither did we,” Kammon answered.

Ezo smiled, though, as he took the water from their grasp and redirected it. “I don’t know, Kammon,” he said. “I’m kinda looking forward to it now.”

Author's Note: And we're back to the issue of whether Kammon or Ezo cause more trouble :P Though I honestly think that no matter what happens next, the Imperator had it coming! She threatened Ezo, and now Kammon? What do you think?

#elements of change #mm fantasy #chris bannor #lgbt fiction #lgbt fantasy

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