RP:Instincts Speak of Storms Brewing
Part of the The Ice Plague Cometh Arc
Winter Berry Garden
Beneath the branches of the Winter Willow, the magus sits, a low work table set up across her knees. Atop it rests an open tome, a quill and small pile of papers, three vials with contents of various colors and consistencies, a hand-sized cube of ice, and a smattering of mage tools. Satoshi seems preoccupied as she glances from the book to the cube, muttering to herself while a clawed finger absently taps out a tune on the tabletop. Magecraft is, after all, not just about slinging spells, there's long spans of time spent buried in books, hashing out recipes, and struggling against frustrating puzzles. This is one such moment for Satoshi as she gives the cube a withering look. It doesn't respond, only continuing to sit there, unmelting, and keeping the tiny black fang at its center from being freed.
Ezekiel :: It was times like these he considered himself lucky. Lucky he was mortal and nothing more. It was bad enough the human couldn't sleep on a regular basis, often times using copious amounts of alcohol or the aid of sheer exhaustion to put both mind and body to rest. If given the choice, he'd be locked up in his little lean to shanty, reading and working for all of eternity. Thankfully the needs of a human body kept him from that: substance, rest, hygiene.. even the bits of social interaction that he subconsciously sought. He'd been on his way to the inn when he caught a familiar signature. A trace of magic, leading like a Chinese dragon manned by dozens of people at a parade. So easily distracted, the mage followed that instead of the rumble in his stomach. It wasn't long before he found himself pushing through the wall of foliage, stepping into the unfrozen garden. "Satoshi?" He had a knack for bumping into here at random lately.
Satoshi doesn't look up from the page she's scribbling furiously upon, the nib of the quill making a musical scritch-scratch noise. On and on she writes, lost in the intensity of her focus. A flicker of movement comes from around the magus' shoulder, a patch of white fur separating itself from the trim of her coat to reveal the form of an ermine coiled against Satoshi's neck. The white stoat blinks from Ezekiel to Satoshi, seeming to wonder when she plans on replying...but clearly Satoshi did not hear the other mage, a fact that causes the ermine to sigh as if exasperated. In a flash, the animal moves, Satoshi yelps, and her quill is dropped to slap a hand to the side of her neck. "Aeron! Why would you bite m-- Oh," Satoshi blinks, noticing Ezekiel. "Hullo, Rabbit. How long've you been standing there?" Aeron settles closer, looking smug.
Ezekiel felt his cheeks flush a bit when he tried to explain. He started first by pointing over his shoulder with his thumb, turning half ways to face the entrance before looking back. "No, I just found- not long, I mean. I-" stumbling over his words didn't help. "I just got here." He paused for the longest time while his shoulders dropped. With a plain tone he adds, "If I had whiskers.. they'd be stiff as needles." He says this with the best damn poker face available. "Ever see the lights in the sky at night?" He of course was referring to the Aurora borealis effect Frostmaw had. He was rambling now, "The way you feel magic.. I see it. Similar.. to. Yeah. Hi." He stood there like a weirdo. "Should.. I leave?"
Ezekiel adds something about following that trace to her in the garden. Yeah.
Satoshi merely sits there and stares at Ezekiel. Not in the way she usually does with that intent stare a cat gives a mouse, but rather just simple interest. When the rambling feels like it's reached the end, Satoshi's hand closes her book with a heavy thud so that fingers can be laced atop it. It's then that Ezekiel is given a smile. "No need to leave. And I know of the Aurora and its song, yes. I've woven a thing or too from its colorful threads. So... you see magic in a similar fashion? Is that what drew you here?" Involuntarily, Satoshi glances to the cube of ice sitting near her folded hands, as if she wants to ask, 'Did you sense me or this?'
Ezekiel nodded and shrugged at the same time, never once moving from his position. Even though she said he didn't need to leave, he'd still stand there. He was helpless. "I sometimes confuse it for vast amounts of magical energy in the air. It could be.. I don't know." Ezekiel paused for a moment and reached for a pocket watch. He shifted his glance back and forth between the time it had, and the kit under the willow. It was promptly tucked away and his overall body language seemed to relax. "Given how many times I've followed that familiar trace and found you at the end.. just call it a hunch?" He offered a quirky smile.
Satoshi spreads her hands in a, 'what can I say?' gesture. "You don't have to stand in the doorway either, Rabbit. I'm not going to bite. At least not tonight. I must put the lesson on hold for the time being." The magus sighs then, slumps back against the trunk of the Willow, and massages at her temples with icy fingertips. Stress has traced thin lines around Satoshi's eyes and downturned mouth, the usual light in her gaze muted, and tail gone lax. A weight is clearly on the foxkin's shoulders, which might explain why she's holed up in the garden now, attempting to find a moment's escape. When she looks up at Ezekiel again, she offers the ghost of a smile. "I feel a storm is brewing on Frostmaw's horizon, and it will not be one easily weathered. I may not be a seer, able to look into the future, but I know to trust my instincts, and they're screaming at me that something is amiss. You haven't happened upon anything unusual in the area, have you?" In truth, what hints Satoshi has come across are small and would be inconsequential, were she not prone to moments of paranoia. The Time Lord's mind games long instilled that anxiety in the magus.
Ezekiel took a few awkward steps in, glanced once to the entrance, then finally committed in closing the distance between the two. Even still, he kept far too much room in between both mage and apprentice, it was habit. To her question he lifted his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it. "I get far less sleep around here.." That was mostly due to the growing paranoia that he might be attacked any day, any hour, or any seconds. Hell, her dismissing their lessons could have been a trap to get his guard down, either way he still believed her words. Gullible, this one. He took to sitting on both knees, the torn and tattered tail of his coat brushed against the ground. "I live of instinct. It's kept me alive for so long.. it's a surprise Frostmaw hasn't eaten me alive, or even Cenril. Always good to trust your instinct."
Satoshi nods, whether in approval or agreement is hard to tell. Likely both. Idly, she reaches forward to give the frozen cube a nudge. As expected, it still does not respond. Who was this Rheece person who had sent this to her, in hopes she could solve the puzzle he couldn't? It is not ice as she's ever sensed before. But it is a blessed distraction from nagging worries that would otherwise devour the magus. A distraction, in the same way Ezekiel is. Satoshi needs puzzles to solve, and she has two of them sitting in front of her. A sigh escapes her and she straightens up a little. "Instinct has never failed me. I trust it beyond anything in all the realms. Which is why I am heeding it now, when there is little evidence to base it upon. Be wary, Rabbit, and tell me if you see anything amiss in Frostmaw. I don't know what's coming, but if someone or something went to the effort to steal the remains of a powerful Wraith, it cannot be a good thing that's on the horizon. This is not the act of an idle sorceror or aspiring necromancer." Another sigh, and Satoshi closes her eyes in vain attempt to banish dark thoughts by cutting off her sight.
Ezekiel cupped both hands and laid them across his lap. He'd keep eyes and ears open, for sure, but truth of something that big unsettling the magus, unsettled him. Who was he in the face of danger? A man that ran very well? If something truly was amiss, what good would he be? This bothered him, but he held what little composure he had. "I'll look around. If there's anything else I could.." He finished with a shrug. Honestly, the ferret in his coat was more a threat than he. "Has.. anyone else said anything?" He found his sights wandering and soon locking onto the cube she'd been fiddling with before he happened into the scene.
Satoshi said, "Non, nothing out of the usual. The exiles have been a bit more uppity of late, although that's to be expected after Hildegarde beheaded their so-called Jarl. I don't think they have the means to be the thieves, however. They're simply a nuisance beneath the main problem. I've a hunter and Hildegarde investigating the theft. We have to find the culprits before they do whatever it is they plan. There will undoubtedly be death otherwise, for that is all a wraith's essence is capable of inflicting. If you see or sense anything, Rabbit, anything at all that seems... off, tell me."
Ezekiel pushed to his feet and stood up straight. His body popped and cracked way more than it should have, poor guy. He was about to speak up when a yawn interrupted, followed by the audible growl of his stomach. His cheeks were red when he replied, "I can do that. What.. I mean, how could I find or relay the message the fastest way possible?" As it stood, he didn't have a custom clockwork hummingbird, so his original intent for sending messages on the fly.. badump-tsh.. were useless. He could have attempted to use the runes in his gloves, but Frostmaw was large, too large.
Satoshi is about to shoo Ezekiel off to sleep or food or whatever it is the living do when in a state like his. Instead, she's halted by his question. The magus blinks. That's right, controlled spells are still a concept that eludes Ezekiel. She's grown so used to being able to trade messages with Svilfon instantaneously, she often forgets other mages might not have the same spells. A finger is held up to stall further rambling as Satoshi scoops up a handful of snow and bends over it. Arcane words woven into a lyrical string come from the magus, followed by an exhale of breath before she sits up and holds out her hands. Within her glowing palms rests a bundle of fur the color of ice. It gives a twitch and straightens into the form of a tiny Fire Fox. That is, if red pandas naturally had feathery wings sprouting from their backs. "Take this. It will know how to find me. I should have given you something of the sort already, so that you could contact me at any time." The smallish panda creature blinks up at Ezekiel with the eyes the same blue as Satoshi's. A squeak escapes from its jaws as it flutters its wings experimentally, rising to hover above the magus' hands.
Ezekiel was finished. As if he hadn't been up long enough without sleep already, seeing the tiny creature in her hands gave fuel to the constantly ticking gears in his head. He wanted to make one of those. He -needed- to make one of those. Whirling at full speed, his mind was a blurred hum of unorganized thoughts and elaborate designs. He'd be found a few days from now, passed out in the snow.. again, because he pushed himself too far. Confused, he put his right hand out, not sure if he was suppose to take it or if it was suppose to take to him. A bit of him was jealous, but he'd never admit it. He wanted so badly to recreate the magic they did. "Th- Thank you. Is.. it's alive?"
Satoshi drops her hands, letting the icy creature settle into Ezekiel's palm, where it makes itself comfortable and begins grooming its fur. "Ice is already alive, even if its voice can't be heard by most. I merely asked it to take a different form than usual while offering a spark of my own mana to do so. It won't need food or drink, if that's what you mean. It is a construct, not much different from a golem, save that this little one is far more easily destroyed whereas golems can rebuild themselves." Satoshi gives Ezekiel a pointed look then, trying to figure out if he intends to dismantle the panda or not. She'll have to trust that he doesn't, or she'll have to think of an appropriate revenge. "Either or, it is made of ice and thus is a part of me. It can find me whenever you require."
Ezekiel continued to blink at the creature sitting in his palm, not quite sure if it he was suppose to put it away, or leave it be. For now.. he'd just leave it be. He had no intentions of taking this one apart, only because it was of Satoshi's creation. Instinct again told him that dismantling anything of hers wouldn't bode well. Didn't mean he couldn't try and make one of his own. Again he shuffles awkwardly towards the entrance, his palm still held out flat in front of him. "Thank you again.. I'll let you- eh.. this, someone? Know if I see anything."
Satoshi sits back against the Willow once more, but not before she lifts a hand to salute the clockwork mage. "Do try and get some rest, Rabbit. You look like a hungry vampire~."
Ezekiel chuckles on his way out. "If I could, I would.."