RP:A Little Spiritual Guidance
Part of the Chasing Lightning Arc
Cerulean Flowers
Satoshi sits crosslegged amongs the flowers, her coat pooled around her to bare her damaged right shoulder, where ice blossoms from the old wound to the tempo of the kit's murmured tune. With each note, the crsytalline element spreads downward in a slow and steady reconstruction of a glacial arm, the magus piecing together the lost limb once again--a tedious task only done so that she can maintain her obsession with being 'perfect'. How long the foxkin's been at this is a mystery, but her project is nearing its completion, as the delicate outline of fingers are woven from the translucent material, sprouting needly claws and solidifying with each passing second. As if listening to the glacial melody, the mist and flowers ripple, swirl, and sway about the area, occasionally masking Satoshi from view with ethereal curtains of fog.
Lita was tired from a few long nights in the library. There were so many books. Too many to be sorted through and she'd almost gotten nowhere. What little she'd found was probably nothing. She would have liked to curl up for a few hours after sunrise and maybe get a little sleep. But Satoshi had offered her meeting with someone who may know more about the little trinket she hoped to find. How could she pass up such a thing? So she cleaned herself up as best she could. She'd never get used to all the damn snow, though. She was trying not to be grumpy about it as she came upon the woman- Well, how could she put it? She didn't know so much about magics, tended to steer away from the messier bits of the craft. Except for the tarot cards she read and the few spells she'd learned in her time with the gypsies long ago. But even then, it was more a belief in a spirit realm than anything of colossal magic. She'd certainly never seen anyone create a limb for themselves. She was all at one entranced and repulsed by that act, so she averted her eyes and cleared her throat by way of announcing her presence. "Sorry if I've interrupted, Satoshi... you said you knew someone that may help in my search..."
Satoshi 's ears twist forward at the sound Lita makes, but she remains otherwise as is until the conjuration is finished. No effort is made to rush to spell, but once it is complete and her lost arm has been reformed from pristine ice, the kit is quick about hiding it within the sleeve of her coat, where its shape fills out the cloth to make Satoshi appear whole again. Climbing to her feet and dusting herself off, the magus nods in greeting to the woman. "Hullo again, Lady Ace~. If you'll follow me, we can talk to them right now." She sidesteps to indicate the cavern tunnel behind her before she begins ambling down the path herself. With each step further into the caverns, the temperature becomes noticably warmer, melting away the usual bite of Frostmaw's climate and providing a comfortably warm atmosphere--at least, if you're not naturally cold-skinned like Satoshi. "Have you had any luck asofar in your hunt?"
Lita curiosity always did get the better of her. In another circumstance, she may have asked about the frozen arm Satoshi had just created herself. She may have asked how Satoshi had lost the original arm, or whether she had had one at all to begin with. Perhaps the fox was simply making up for what nature had forgotten. Lita nodded to Satoshi, almost mangled a slightly nervous smile and headed farther into the caverns. As they went, the air grew warmer. Lita was thankful for it but also confounded. How a place could be so comfortable when surrounded on the outside by so much snow was beyond her. She snapped the buttons of her coat and slid it off her shoulders, folded it in half and slung it over her arm. Much better. "I've been reading about the northern battles. I feel like I've only skimmed the surface of what there is to know about Frostmaw. It's not a city I've done much work in. But I've been trying to learn the reasons behind what seems to have been a slaughter." She paused a moment, a brief and silly thought. Did Satoshi's frozen limb melt in the warmer climates? If it did, the woman seemed unphased by the climate changes. "They might have nothing at all to do with the legends. But they also might. It's like finding a needle in a haystack."
Scent of Night Blossoms
Satoshi 's familiarity with the place is obvious as she navigates the path without looking, having turned her head so that she can gaze at Lita. While the woman removes her coat against the slight warmth, the kit makes no such move, her own temperature kept at an unnaturally low degree and maintained by her innate cryomancy. Deserts are one of the few places where she has to devote attention to monitoring her body temperature. In this place, as much home as heart, no such effort is needed, nor is the slightest discomfort felt. Lita's words draw a soft laugh from Satoshi, coupled with a sympathetic grimace. "Believe moi, I know how difficult digging up Frostmaw's history can be. Frost Giants aren't well known for keeping written records, they're almost exclusively verbal storytellers. ...and we all know how much a story is twisted to favor the winners, with each retelling. It is no easy task finding the facts among the myths, although I've had a bit of help that others lacked..." A nod is directed toward the looming tunnel end ahead, barely visible beyond the drooping limbs of the cave-garden's Winter Willow. "I don't know if the battle that created those ruins has to do with your quest, but I've recently learned part of its story. It was a relative mystery before then, and is still a tad shrouded. Either or, it'd seem that place was once a fortress city of humans, and a northern type of elf also lived around it. There was... a falling out, between them, and between them and the Frost Giants. The remnants of each side blames the others for what happened, but the city was still leveled and has been since. As for your needle... I don't know if my source can find it for you, but it might know whether or not the needle actually exists in the first place~." Maybe. Satoshi's not the gambling type, but if she was, she likely wouldn't be putting money on this peculiar card of hers.
Lita felt her head spin at the thoughts of Elves and Frost Giants. She'd had little contact with the former and cared rather little for the latter. She nodded in agreement with Satoshi's assessments though. So much was lost in the portrayal of stories through generations. Luckily, Lita was sometimes rather good at making those odd connections. It was a thought that perched a little smile on her lips as she followed the foxkin. She was suddenly wary of just how far they'd gone and she glanced over her shoulder, but there was only a sheen of darkness winking back at her. She was slightly excited by this trick Satoshi seemed to hold up her sleeve, and more than honored that such a thing would be shared with her. "It is much appreciated, Satoshi. I could not thank you enough for your help."
Faux Twilight Cavern
Satoshi reaches the end of the tunnel and pauses just long enough for Lita to catch up before she presses on. Once through the entrance, the kit promptly steps aside with a sweeping bow that takes in the enormous cavern they've entered. While natural light only filters in through the oculus in the rooftop, it is magnified tenfold by the countless shards of fluorite embedded in the cave walls, creating a pleasantly dazzling starlight display of rainbow colors that dance across the underground lake's still waters and black sand shores. Yet it isn't the cavern itself that Satoshi's made a dramatic gesture toward. No, rather, the kit's sweep of the arm is meant for the sphere of bright blue flame hovering at eye level before them. The fires pulse with a ghostly light before expanding suddenly, stretching, writhing, and reshaping themselves into a large fox-like creature of glistening white fur. The same azure flames it spawned from now wreathe a thickly furred neck, encase daintily paws, and tip its nine dancing tails, as well as flickering in the depths of narrow, slit-like eyes that are turned upon Lita. The strange vulpine--easily the size of a horse--dips its slender muzzle to the woman seconds after manifesting before her. ::The pleasure is all mine, my lady, if I can be of any service.:: Seemingly generating from the surrounding air and simultaneously at the back of the mind, the voice is devoid of gender and emotion, as crisp, clear, and all-enveloping as a Winter breeze.
Lita was at first overwhelmed by the cavern. It was a beautiful thing, she couldn't deny it. The walls shone with the brilliance of stars, trapped in what seemed to be a night's sky. It would have been a surreal thing if she hadn't been distracted by the blue flames. She tilted her head slightly at the site. Fire was not supposed to be that color. She paused at the entrance to the cavern as she watched those flames writhe and dance, moving to some music only they could hear, before they would reshape themselves, in much the same manner Lita had witnessed Satoshi doing with the ice of her arm. More magics, then. She kept her feet planted as she watched, scarcely able to breathe and definitely without words at the wonder of it all. Color danced across the cavern walls and the gems, or 'stars', caught and refracted the light of the changing fire, a blue fox standing sudden and proud before them. It was easily the size of the mare she kept stabled in Rynvale but Lita doubted she could ride the creation- whatever it was. Only when the fox dipped its head towards her did her feet remember how they were supposed to move and Lita side-stepped towards Satoshi, never turning her back to the creature. Dark eyes flickered towards the entrance of the cavern where they'd come in from, perhaps searching for a moment for that voice that had just filled her mind. She glanced back to the fox-thing and managed a little curtsy for the being, still mostly confused of its existence. "It is greatly appreciated."
Satoshi , although she'll never admit it out loud, is endlessly amused by Lita's reaction. Being a lover of theatrics and their effects on people, she can't help but approve of the vulpine being's method of introduction. as the ethereal creature swivels its head to follow Lita's sidestep, the magus pipes up in singsong tones, "Lady Ace, meet my most accurate source of Frostmaw history~. I'd offer you a name in return, but it lacks one. Instead, I'll let it do the rest of its introduction." Without missing a beat, the flaming entity picks up where Satoshi left off. ::I am the guardian spirit of this cavern, I have overseen its safekeeping since I was tasked with it by the first Snow Maiden, before the city that would become Frostmaw was a blizzard-locked tribe of Frost Giants. And I have continued to protect it through the years until it was rediscovered by our present Lady of the Frost.:: Satoshi leans sideways to whisper to Lita then, although her lowered voice is feigned, as she knows full well the fox will hear her anyway, "Which is to say, it has been around a long time, but it has been bound to this cave all the while, so its knowledge of Frostmaw's history is limited to-" ::To the impressions, sensations, and feelings its people have emanated throughout that time,:: the spirit interrupts, before Satoshi can playfully bad mouth its reputation further, ::I might not be a perfect witness, however I have followed the emotions of this land's progress closely. What is it you wish to know, my lady?::
Lita wasn't sure if she should laugh at the entire display before her or run screaming from the cavern and forget the whole adventure. She was quiet as the Guardian told its tale and quiet still at Satoshi's little musings. The idea that the fox-thing had been around for such a long time gave her a twinge of hope. For perhaps it would know something of what she was seeking, after all. But as the Guardian continued, Lita's smile faded. Trapped in this cavern for such a long time? The ideal struck her with a sudden coldness of sorrow and loneliness. How awful that must be. To witness the world pass by with nothing but a mere glimpse of the world outside such a prison? She glanced upwards, towards the hole in the cavern's ceiling. It didn't seem like such an impressive way to live ones existence, however long that life may be. Lita drew a deep breath and returned her attentions to the fox-thing. "I am searching for an amulet, or medallion of some kind. I believe it was created by Xalious and Selene, gifted to a knighted champion called Sirhana, and then hidden long, long ago somewhere in the mountains of Frostmaw. I'm not sure exactly what it looks like." But she supposed knowing what it looks like wouldn't be much of a help to the guardian. Likewise thoug, she didn't know much of any kind of feeling or emotion it may have evoked in the champion so long ago. "It's said to have calmed Sirhana's spirits, to have sent her quietly into the afterlife." She folded her arms across her chest and fiddled with the necklace she wore. And absent minded thing of habit. "I'm afraid I haven't been able to learn much more about it."
Satoshi and guardian are silent, one awaiting an answer, the other mulling over Lita's words. When the spirit does eventually speak, its words are slow, chosen with care and given even as thoughts continue to flow, ::Many things of great age and power lie forgotten, dormant... sealed, in some cases, abandoned by the present world. As I am sure Satoshi can tell you, such things mentioned in books and legends often carry a grain of truth, and so this necklace you seek is likely to exist. Or existed once. Whether it still functions as intended, or has met corruption with time, or has been destroyed, I cannot say in the immediate. However, I have sensed few items that elicit a calm mind upon its wearer. Were we anywhere but the land of War, I would not hazard such a guess, but here, where most wish for enchantments that enhance one's battle focus, blood lust, and physical might, an item that soothes and eases is uncommon. It sticks out in one's mind. I have likely felt its presence. Do you have an item of Selene's, by chance?:: Like a bloodhound that requires a scrap of its quarry to track, the fox needs a remnant of the item's creators if it has any hope of sifting through the countless flickers of emotion that have, and continue, to brush its consciousness. A part of Xalious is already present, the staff drawn from the Mage Tree and gifted to Satoshi by the Guild, but neither kit nor fox has anything relating to Selene.
Lita hung on every word. It might exist- or still exist! That was something, at least. She was trying not to get too excited over such a slim prospect. But at the request for an item of Selene's, Lita glanced to Satoshi. She doubted the woman would own such a thing but the only thing Lita owned that had been gifted by the goddess had been sent to her by a strange man and according to the wishes of her late son. She was reluctant to give it up. She bit at her lower lip and unclasped the necklack she wore. Beside the black feather pendant (which held a variation protectant charm keeping her safe from illusionistic magics), there hung a silver ring, etched with a delicately woven design. She drew the ring from its chain and handed it over to Satoshi. The loss of handing it over settled heavy in her gut and she swallowed past it. "That's all I have. I hope it is enough." She reclasped the necklace around her neck and pursed her lips. "I don't have anything of the god Xalious, though."
Satoshi accepts the ring with a twitch of her whiskers, some instinctive part of her sensing the woman's tension and unease, although obviously she can't place why. Instead, she closes her eyes a moment and concentrates, willing the Xalious staff into existence to stand of its own accord before her. The item is a slender piece of polished wood, and would be flawlessly smooth were it not covered in arcane runes that pulse with a faint azure light. Over the wood is a casing of solid ice, so pure that it is as clear as glass, although it is far from delicate as it crowns the staff with a pair of outstretched, crystalline wings. Nestled between the wings is a shard of white fluorite, upon which Satoshi places Lita's ring before taking a step back and nodding to the spirit. Immediately the creature shifts forward, paws hardly touching the ground, and stretches its muzzle toward the gem and ring. Jaws part to reveal unnaturally blue-white gums and a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, and a plume of mist is expelled in a breath. The fog billows forward to enshroud the two objects, swirling and dancing of their own accord and flickering through myriad colors. All the while, the guardian creature remains unmoving, slitted eyes closed and flaming fur quelled to mere embers in concentration. ::I can sense it. Or at least something that carries the traces of Xalious and Selene both. It exists still. I know not what condition it is in, however.:: Slowly, the fox reopens its eyes to fix them upon Lita, searching her own. ::Will you permit me a moment into your mind? I can plant the seed of what I sense within you. While it may not lead you directly to what you seek, you will perhaps at least sense its presence, and perhaps use that to locate it in time.:: Satoshi is silent, content to listen. She's familiar with this brand of tracery magic, although she can only perform it herself through various forms of ice. In essence, it functions like a game of Hotter-Colder, with the carrier always aware of an item's signature aura, and vaguely able to follow those sensations to the general vicnity of the item. With any luck, Lita will be able to get an idea of where the necklace sleeps.
Lita flickered her gaze over the staff that suddenly appeared. Maybe she'd never get used to all this magic stuff. Maybe if she had started out small, instead of jumping right in with the mythical blue flame fox-thing Guardian, then she'd feel a little less like she was losing her mind. She almost reached out to take the ring back. Did she need to find the necklace so badly? Yes~ Even so, her thoughts were thwarted as the Guardian breathed over the objects. Those teeth alone were enough to keep her still. She watched the spirit creture intently, hoping, always hoping. And when it came to voice an answer, she found she had no voice to offer up, so she only nodded faintly, a smile light on her lips. She might be able to find it. No, she would find it. She wasn't so keen on that thing putting magic in her brain. She'd done just find without it so far. But she would take all the help she could get. And she would find it.
Satoshi continues to simply observe. Watching and listening, she's found, are two highly valuable means of gathering information, especially about a person you aren't overly familiar with. Small gestures, quick looks, faint tensions, all are present for the kit to capture, providing a bit of color to better paint her mental image of Lita. If she had to take a guess, this was one who wasn't comfortable around magic. Satoshi has encountered enough beings that Lita to recognize the signs. Still, Lita didn't turn tail and bolt when the cavern's spirit revealed itself, and that says something about her determination. As does the agreement at the fox's question. At the nod, the spirit reaches forward to press its snout lightly to Lita's forehead. It'd be no worse than the touch of a snowflake, chill but soft and fleeting, before the fox withdraws. It's then that Satoshi retrieves the ring and offers it back to Lita, quietly saying, "Tracery magic is not certain, but it is also harmless. You should feel no more than a faint tug, not unlike you'd feel if a loved one were away and you wished to go after them. It may be stronger the nearer you get. And your ring will likely help, tied to you and Selene that it es." Nodding at this, the guardian adds, ::Items we carry close acquire pieces of our essence and become stronger for it. As such, they can be drawn to one another much like lodestones.::
Oh, Lita didn't mind small magics. Kirien used to make her flowers from the gems he collected in the mines and she'd been healed by the missed Keturah a few times in the past. There was a bard in Rynvale who used to sing songs in the Barrel and enchant the flames to make them dance around the room without burning a thing. These small things she didn't mind so much. They were even found to be interesting at times, when she bothered to learn of their origins. But having no ineptness for the magical crafts herself, her interest in them usually waned as her curiosity fled to the next new and interesting thing it found. She could handle Satoshi's arm-crafting magics well enough. But the blue flaming fox-horse-guardian-spirit was just... well, big. And it talked to her. In her head. Which was a little invasive. The Guardian dipped its head and drew nearer and she reminded herself to be still, to breathe evenly. Dark eyes fluttered closed as the cool touch was felt on her skin. The Guardian retreated as quickly as it'd come and she lifted a hand to touch her forehead. She could feel that little tug, as faint as it was. Part of her wanted to turn tail and run towards it. But she knew better than that. There was no telling where it would be hiding. She blinked up at the Guardian and then to Satoshi as the ring was handed back to her. There was a sudden relief that washed through her as she closed her fingers around the ring against the palm of her hand. "I can't thank you enough. For everything you've done. There must be some way... Some way that I can repay you both."
Satoshi collects her staff if only so she can lean upon it in a far too casual stance, all the while giving Lita a vulpine grin. "There isn't anything to repay, Lady Ace. Your search is woven into Frostmaw's history, it is our duty to unravel it, so we're happy to assist you." The fox nods in agreement and takes a step back, already beginning to retreat back into the wisp of flame it had been earlier. ::The simple pleasure of meeting a new face is payment enough for myself.:: With that, the creature dissolves into little more than a blue mote of light drifting in the cavern's faint breeze. A brief, faint flash follows and then it's floating off, to be carried elsewhere within its eternal territory. Satoshi watches the being depart, shaking her head. "Although guardian spirits exist to watch over specific places and things, and it loves the reason for its existence, it can't help getting a little bored when it went so long without contact with others, y'know?" Usually, the spirit only has Satoshi and the rest of the Coterie as company, and while that group of vampires is entertainment aplenty, a new face is a treasure to the entity that has it eager to aid wherever it can. Fresh memories for an ancient mind are precious things that it will cherish for years to come, no doubt.
Lita made careful work of slipping the ring back to its rightful place on her necklace. She felt more at ease with it there again. "Lita." She said, absently. "I don't go by Ace so much anymore." Most days, the moniker only proved a reminder of the people who had left. She watched the Guardian revert back into the flame form it had taken when they had first entered the cavern. "I've never met one before." A spirit, a guardian, or anything of the like. She wasn't sure if the undead counted. They were mostly just... creepy. "I think I would get bored too if this place was my prison. Not that it isn't beautiful." Not that she'd meant to be offensive with the terminology. "I don't know if I'll be around so long. I'm not much for so much snow." She offered Satoshi a cheshire grin and tilted her head towards the entrance to the cavern. Only once she'd started up, with Satoshi following, would she glance over her shoulder to ask, "Can I ask what happened to your arm?" Seems her curiosity had gotten to her after all.
Satoshi follows after Lita with a laugh. "I'd go insane if I were stuck in one place too, myself. I'm a wanderer by nature. But it exists for that reason, so I suppose that suits it just fine." The question that follows catches the kit slightly off guard, her usual casual amble faltering a step before she rights herself. Another laugh follows, this one a tone more brittle and forced than the last. "Never try to catch an explosive dagger with your shoulder. Still..." Satoshi's expression darkens, smile turning into fanged smirk, angles of her face becoming more pronounced as hints of the predatory vampire she truly is rises to the surface. A flicker of amber blazes in normally azure eyes, possibly the result of light glinting off those metallic flecks, or possibly something a degree more feral creeping into view. Whichever it is, the words that follow are in a voice that's an unsettling mixture of wicked glee and frigid forwardness, "I think she learned a better lesson than myself. Frozen hearts are a lethal affliction."
Lita nodded sagely at the foxkin's words. She'd have to agree with the not catching explosives bit. But then, liking her life as she did- being alive, that is to say- is something she rather enjoys. It is for that matter that she can usually talk her way out of nasty situations. Or barter for her safety, if need be. She's skilled enough at close combat but when you spend all of your time dealing with magic-users and vampires, you learn how to work around them rather than against them. She wasn't so naive to miss the fact that her question had caught the woman off guard a bit. So maybe Satoshi was used to people being polite and not asking such outright straight forward questions. Well, Lita knew when to be polite. But her curiosity often made her brash. She didn't need- or very much want- to know who the 'she' was that Satoshi spoke of. But it appeared she'd met a worse fate than the loss of an arm, so Lita could imagine. She grinned. "For the record, so our hearts set ablaze." Perhaps there was a bit of tease in her voice, over the affection Satoshi and Kasyr often showed one another. She gave Satoshi a playful wink as they made their way back into the world again. How lovely it was to remember what open air tasted like.
Satoshi 's feral expression softens into that of the amiable kit as swiftly as it had stolen upon her. And just in time to return Lita's wink, fangs flashed in a grin that's more playful than fierce. Outside the cavern, she pauses to take a deep breath. For while she's a vampire and thus not required to breathe, old habits die hard, and there are few things in the world Satoshi loves more than the scent and taste of northern air--especially when there's a hint of storm present, a metallic tension that reminds her of her husband's own aura. "A storm is brewing. It seems I'll be spending my night chasing lightning," the cryomancer observes with a smirk. Nodding, she turns to Lita and throws her a salute. "I hope you find what you seek, Lady Ace." Unfortunately, the nickname is wedged in Satoshi's mind, and it'll take a monumental force to remove it now. "Until then~?"
Lita smiled at the nickname. She'd never mind being called it. She glanced to the sky as Satoshi mentioned the storm coming. She might hole up in the library until it passed. But there was still that faint nagging feeling in her. Like she'd forgotten something and needed to remember what it was, or that she'd lost something. She tried to remind herself that it was just the locator magics in her working. She nodded to the foxkin and gave her a little bow. "Thank you again, Satoshi." She managed a smile and headed back off towards the library where she'd come.