RP:Kindred Spirts- In The Valley of Ice
In this newly discovered section of the Frostmaw mines, mist and fog forms as it is much warmer than the area around it. The environment in here could be compared to that of a sauna, as your skin begins to collect particles of water upon it from the dense humidity. Fauna grows wild here, though it is of a single variety: cerulean flowers with three petals each. It is a mystery as to how these flowers got here, or how they thrive in such harsh conditions. But, nonetheless, they are here, and they are flourishing in this outcropping from the mines.
- Kirien, Fox-like Elf, Rogue.
- Dune-Diving Wyvern named Nameless.
- Satoshi, Kit-vampire, Frost Singer.
- Northern Phrenic Ice Dragon named Sora.
Satoshi ambles out of the cavern exit while talking amiably with what most wouldn't consider a typical 'conversation partner'. The young dragon seems to be listening attentively all the same, however, unaware of any prejudice people may have toward saurians and their conversational skills. A musical chortle comes from the creature at a joking comment by Satoshi before the dragon gives a snort and shakes herself, shedding droplets of water from her glistening white and blue hide and throwing them in every direction. 'I didn't like baths before that. Baths with fishes are good baths!' Sora chirps with delight, earning a laugh and affectionate pat from Satoshi. "I didn't know fish lived in there until you ate them all~."
Kirien is here, though Nameless' far larger presence might be picked up on before the fox is spotted. Sand-coloured scales shimmer in the heat of this place, the wyvern having stretched himself out on a large, flat rock to bask in the humid warmth rising from the ground. Hailing from more arid regions himself, he's not entirely used to the biting chill of Frostmaw's air and is attempting to soothe his wing muscles; they've been overworked in the flight to this cavern, fighting the frost that had settled over them. Kirien himself can be found nearby the lazing wyvern, stood facing a wall with hand pressed against it, fingers splayed open, feeling. He's good at that. Coat and shirt have been discarded due to the heat, exposing a torso built with lean muscle and light, sweating skin. Nameless is more fond of the heat than Kirien is. A breath inwards and the Wraith pulls his arm back, the limb raising and bending at the elbow - a swift strike forward comes with the exhaling of air and Kirien's palm meets the rock sharply, a thunderous crack resounding about the room in response. "Tch," the fox mutters, exasperated. The rectangular indentation created only extends six inches or so as he's failed to push it any further just yet. Kirien is, apparently, displeased with this, though it's actually quite an achievement considering he could do little but turn rock to mud a few months ago. Belatedly, he'll take note of the voices echoing from behind him, and turn, and that sinister black-eyed gaze falls upon Satoshi and Sora. He blinks, ears pinning back some. Why's he so surprised? He should have expected he'd run into her again. "Satoshi." It's all he says, tone slightly bemused.
Satoshi draws up short at both the sight of a large wyvern dozing in the cavern and the loud crack of stone, her abrupt lack of forward motion only a brief thing before she's sent sprawling forward by Sora, the dragon unaware and unable to stop so suddenly. 'Oops. Sorry,' the saurian apologizes, offering a serpentine tail to help Satoshi back to her feet. The kit waves Sora off absently however as she scrambles to her feet, eyes locked on the unexpected visitor. "Bright Eyes. Or," the magus pauses, tipping her head to one side, only a thoughtful expression readable on her features, "Dark Eye now, is it?" The kit's not entirely certain what to make of Kirien's presence here, knowing he has numerous reasons to meet her as either friend or enemy. Sora, however, is oblivious to this and, jutting her head over Satoshi's shoulder, pipes in with a cheerful, 'Hullo!'
Kirien mimics the head tilt, blinking expectantly at Satoshi when she pauses and then assuming a slightly displeased countenance at her words. He pouts a little, folds arms across chest and taps at the ground with a booted foot. "'S that spirit's fault my eye ended up like this, you know that? I'm not sure what to think of it." And he isn't. Part of the fox finds the change rather interesting -- cool, even -- but the other half of him is less than fond of it - after all, it's difficult to disguise such a feature, making disguises almost utterly useless at the moment. He snorts, and is quiet for a short while, an absent nod of the head offered in Sora's direction at her greeting. Eventually he'll speak up, turning in the same moment to prod at a scar on his side; despite it having healed the mark is still clearly visible, being relatively new, and it's clear that the once-wound was quite deep. "Your husband did that. He's worse than you~."
Satoshi glances towards Sora briefly as the dragon shuffles around her and approaches Nameless with a peculiar waddling-trot, chirruping inquiringly. Shaking her head at the curious dragon, Satoshi looks back to Kirien and offers a half-smile. "Aha~. Yes, he's good at the skewering. And electrocuting. And bone-breaking. And... general pain-dealing." An expression of mixed emotions cross the minstrel's face as she speaks, flitting through admiration, annoyance, and even a flicker of apprehension, before finally settling on vaguely amused. "I'd heard you two crossed paths. We have an odd family initiation, I know~." Pretending to be interested in watching Sora sidle up to Nameless so that she can sniff at his damp scales, Satoshi murmurs to Kirien as if speaking absent thoughts, "What kind of trouble are you tracking today, Bright Eyes?" If the elf is anything like herself, Satoshi can safely assume he's not far from some form of trouble, but she's curious if he means to bring it to her, seek it with her, or something else entirely.
Kirien 's eye follows Sora's ambling movements across the humid cavern, and casts a short glance at Nameless. While the sand wyvern's eyes are closed he's sure he's awake and simply relaxing; it becomes clear that he is when his long tail swishes out, barely brushing the tops of cerulean flowers and then moving to nudge the hatchling in the side. An amber-flecked but predominantly green eye opens to focus on the chirping dragon, and she'll receive a low, rhythmic sound in response, which seems to emanate from Nameless' stomach more than his chest and which echoes about the cave. Kirien speaks over the slight noise, attentions returning to Satoshi. "He's a more violent brother than Nemi, is for sure. I can't quite work out what he is, either." Shrugging, the fox turns away, gaze then following the twist of his body and affixing back upon the wall once more - to be precise, he stares at the rectangular indentation made by his hand. "…I'm training. Figured working with harder rock -- it's frozen up here, an' all -- would be more rewarding than working with regular earth. Bigger challenge after all, isn't it? Even though it's warm in here, the warmth only extends so far into the stone…it's rock-hard through there." He motions to the indentation, eye narrowing some. "It's difficult, though. I'm still not that great, ugh. Even after training so much, I…" And he trails off, frowning and likely becoming lost in turbulent thoughts. He does seem a mite distracted.
Satoshi follows Kirien's gaze to the rock wall and quirks a brow, obviously impressed by the fist-shaped dent. "Training by punching rocks, hrm? Sounds more entertaining than what that old fox spirit does for -my- training." The kit-vampire heaves a frustrated, if slightly overdramatized, sigh as she lowers herself to the ground to sit. " 'Sit quiet. Breathe. Listen. Feel.' Nnngh. I know how to meditate! And despite all this time..." Another sigh and the frost singer flops onto her back, extending her good left hand upward in a futile attempt to touch the distant ceiling. "I'm still no closer to mastering the Azure Flames.... We're in the same kind of boat, Bright Eyes. 'cept yours is made of dirt, and mine's cold fire that won't listen to me." The dejected kit dutifully tunes out Sora during all this, leaving the dragon to squeaking in surprise and scrambling around to Nameless' other side, where--presumptively--his tail can't poke at her again.
Kirien rolls his eye and draws his arm back once again. He pauses only momentarily before snapping the limb forward, the movement a mimicry of a striking snake. Open palm slams against the same area of rock as before, the fox forcing the opening an inch wider on each side, and one deeper. "I'm sure if Tiph was still teaching me, I'd be getting told to meditate," he responds, turning away from the wall after eyeing his second attempt and falling to a crouch near Satoshi's seated position. He'll eventually join her properly on the ground, settled amongst flowers with his back against the cool rock; it's soothing on his skin in this heated environment. "I dunno, though - meditation is supposed to be a calming experience, and yet you just seem riled up over it all. Are you sure you're doing it right?" A somewhat wary glance is cast her way; he doesn't want skewered, doesn't intend to offend her. There's a bit of a change in his attitude, for the Wraith seems a little less rude than usual, a little more…as if he's actually trying to understand the feelings of others, and isn't simply forcing himself onto them. Perhaps he's learned something. Nameless, meanwhile, rolls over on the flat rock he's stretched out on, following Sora with one eye and then repeating the same sound as before; in a language they hopefully both understand, he's likely giving her a greeting. A further, softer, rumble leaves his chest. He's jealous of her ability to speak.
Satoshi gives Kirien a sidelong look while dropping her hand to rest across her stomach, the other arm lying limb and useless as ever at her side. "I know how to meditate. I've done it everyday for years. It keeps me bound to the Ice. But what that fox is asking me to do..." the kit hums out a thoughtful noise, the sound lost beneath the trilling rumble of Sora as she responds to Nameless in the wordless language of the saurians. "It's different. Deeper, I guess? I know what he wants me to do, but I meet a... -block-... every time I try." The kit's ears fold back as she speaks, her mind still mulling over the last disappointed lecture given to her by the spirit. "It's frustrating, when you know you have just one more obstacle between you and your goal, but you can't seem to get past it, huh?" Satoshi chuckles in dark amusement, unused to dwelling on events of the past, and especially on failures. Her fellow foxkin brings out a strange side of her, it would seem. It's easy to speak openly to a Kindred Spirit.
Kirien 's fingers find the chain about his neck, and eventually the engagement ring hanging from that. It's become a habit of his to fiddle with the mithril band whenever he's talking, or even when there's naught but silence and the only loud things are his thoughts. He sighs, somewhat heavily, but words are spoken with a certain lightness to them despite it all. "Sounds frustrating for sure. You can't ask him for advice on how to move past it? Maybe it requires a deeper form of concentration…or detachment." Amber eye stares down at the jewel imbedded in the ring, the brilliant stone the same colouration as the orb viewing it. Where could he be, and does he care? Kirien's not quite sure, on many topics. Riss has, surprisingly, been mostly out of the fox's mind for the past few weeks, as he's been sufficiently distracted with other things. "Terra." It's spoken in a murmur without him even realising it at first, though he most certainly catches on when the ground in front of him stirs, particles of earth swirling up from around nearby plants and forming a small, but completely solid, sphere. It lands in his palm when he extends a hand to catch it, and the Wraith stares at the creation for a moment or two. In the background, Nameless's tail drags across the cavern floor in an idle movement, and he answers Sora with another soft grumble. "…I guess you just have to stick at it. Stay there. Keep trying, keep being around. If you stop all your effort will go to waste, right?"
Satoshi watches the other foxkin a long moment, attempting to interpret his thoughts and keeping her own to herself, while wearing the closest thing to a concerned expression she can manage. "Dwelling on the past is a dangerous business, and the weakness of humans," the magus murmurs before turning her gaze skyward again, "but sometimes I wonder if that is a blessing too." She falls silent a long moment then, blinking as her words plant a seed of an idea in her mind. The past may be just what she needs to solve her problem... Sitting upright suddenly, the kit laughs aloud and grins at Kirien, the sound startling Sora from her conversation with Nameless so that she can stare at the foxes. "Your words... they apply to you as well. Funny thing, when your advice turns around and bites you on the nose, eh~?" Still grinning, she looks toward the pair of saurians. "Hey... Has your flying improved? We're due for a rematch."
Kirien 's expression remains relatively blank, though the occasional frown or brief -- so brief it may never have existed -- moment of sadness breaks through the mask. He catches one of these particular expressions in the reflection of his ring, and immediately looks up, distracting himself from either bad thoughts or the ring itself by laying his gaze upon Satoshi. "Emotions are a weakness but…Spirits, I don't know what to think of them any more. It's hard to classify what…what I feel, though figuring out what others feel is still not so bad. Generally." Her laugh has ears pinning back some and Nameless looking round, the wyvern's tail swishing about again as he rolls back over. Kirien simply eyes the other fox, quirks a brow at her in the same moment. The rock in his hand, he toys with, and glances at a couple of times, frowning curiously. "…Applying to me how? I'm doing better with my terramancy than you are with your Azure things. See, see. This?" He holds up the sphere of rock, standing in the process. "This~ is useful! Simple, and not too difficult for me to make. If I were to…" Trailing off, actions speak for words unspoken as the fox lifts the sphere - it floats just above his hand, suspended, before with a grin and a laugh he sends it hurtling into the indentation made earlier. There's a resounding crack and what seems to be an extremely rough impact, rock spraying from the hole and littering the ground around it. "…If I get imaginative I can do more, right? That little ball? Just punched a nice big hole in that stone for me." He'll bend down a bit to inspect the opening, though it's somewhat difficult to see how deep exactly the sphere managed to go; it's all right, however, because he can feel it. "…Oh, and, my flying's gotten a lot better," he adds almost absently, and Nameless nods in agreement. They've both improved.
Satoshi whistles sharply, impressed by the little display of terramancy. "Not bad. And that's just the thing with elemental magic. Imagination. -Any- mage can make the earth rumble, or fire bloom, following their precious little spellbooks. But only the mancers can make a boulder think or a volcano obey~." Chuckling, the magus climbs to her feet, her working hand brushing at the stray dirt of the floor and Kirien's experiment. She regards the fox for a long moment then, seeming to debate on something before moving to join him in peering at the newly forged hole in the wall. While focusing on the little tunnel, the kit gently adds, "I didn't mean applying just to your training, y'know... Keep trying. Keep being around. Don't waste all your efforts by quitting, hm?" Satoshi straightens abruptly, any sign of her somber mood wiped away and replaced by an impish grin. "I think I need to pay some old friends a visit. Sora, care for a fly~?" The dragon chirps excitedly in response, using Nameless' form of speech. Nodding, Satoshi glances at Kirien as her grin widens, "What about you, Bright Eyes? Ever met Ice Elementals before?"
Kirien can't help but blink at Satoshi's words, repeating a couple of them to himself for a moment or two. Would it be possible to make a boulder think? To breathe life into an otherwise inanimate object? It's an exciting thought to be honest, and one that prompts a grin to curl the corners of the fox's mouth. "Hm, I guess so. The spell book I got gives me the basics - then I just have to apply a bit of imagination~? I like the sound of it, really." Pulling back away from the wall, he's moving in the direction of his bag and deposited coat and jacket when her other comment catches him, and limbs freeze. That's…not a topic he really wants to discuss - at least, if it's the one he thinks she's hinting at. "I try not to think of that," he murmurs while reaching for his shirt, and tugging it on over his head. "With him? It's…difficult. He abused my trust, totally desecrated it, so…I don't know. Besides, I have other problems as well as that." And then, in a somewhat amusing display, Kirien's cheeks turn a deep pink and his ears flatten out in embarrassment. "But again I don't actually know, because it just confuses me. I…I think I might have a crush on someone? This is coming from the guy who thought he was in love with his own brother at one point, though. It's hard to distinguish between familial and…other love." A shake of the head follows and he effectively drops the topic entirely as lithe fingers work to button his jacket up. "Ice Elementals?" he repeats after a moment, with a bit of a blink. "I don't think I've met any, no… We're…not going to see some, are we?" Nameless seems more disgruntled about this idea than anyone else, to be honest.
Satoshi adopts the sort of smile a simpleminded fool wears when someone is talking about a subject they don't understand. Except, when Satoshi's wearing such an expression it's more often translated as, "I'll pretend not to know what you mean, so that you can move on to brighter subjects~." For a selfish creature, the kit-vampire can be remarkably considerate--although there's a selfish motivation behind it nonetheless, as she simply cannot abide by dark subjects for long. So, with ease Satoshi moves on to the next topic, nodding and grinning. "We are, whether you choose to join us or not~. I've got a feeling they can answer some questions for me, questions I need answered if I'm ever to move forward." Sora trots over to Satoshi as she speaks, dipping down to allow the minstrel to clamber up while still talking, "And I'm not the sort to enjoy staying put. I -need- to move forward to live."
Kirien is quietly thankful to Satoshi for letting the subject drop without trouble, offering her a bit of a smile even as he begins fidgeting with his engagement ring again. It feels far less constrictive now it's not about his finger, enough so that he's happy enough to wear it, but…there are memories with that ring that are occasionally recalled, and mulled over, and over-analysed. Had he done something wrong, something to prompt him into leaving? As many times as he's revisited those memories, Kirien hasn't been able to find one scrap of evidence to suggest such. "…Nameless?" he asks the wyvern then, turning toward him; Nameless simply levels a disapproving stare on the fox for a moment, before he dips his head to nudge him in the shoulder, and then nods. "I guess we'll come with you then. It's not fun to stay put, though - you might get lost." And that likely makes little sense, but the topic of 'being lost' has a deeper meaning than it should to Kirien, thanks to an interesting sparrow. "Though I don't know the way to them. I'm assuming you do."
Satoshi nods absently in response, eyes distant in concentration as she settles upon Sora with casual ease. "I always know where they are," the magus murmurs almost to herself, her attention turned inward as she seeks that frozen fire of her being, the essence of Ice that ties her to the elementals that gifted her with it years ago. A knee nudges into Sora's side then, signaling the dragon forward and toward the exit of the cave. Without a backwards glance to see if the rogue follows or not, Satoshi gives the ice dragon the cue to take flight, and with practiced ease Sora does as requested, lifting her bulk skyward with powerful sweeps of her outstretched wings. Once airborne, the dragon circles above the cave twice, getting her bearings and seemingly waiting to see if Nameless is coming too, before turning north.
Kirien slips up onto Nameless' back and gets himself comfortable, crouched as always with fingers wrapped about the handle bars of the saddle. "Better not be too far away or we'll freeze before we get there, I'm sure," he can't help but mutter as the wyvern stretches large wings out, shaking water drops off of them. Leaping into the air, he'll circle in the same way Sora does for a moment or two before gliding after the pair, heavy wing beats powering the dragon forward, whilst Kirien reaches to tug his aviator visor down. Absently, he pokes one of the bags strapped to Nameless' side, attempting to figure out whether or not an extra coat has been packed into it; judging by its bulk, he's sure there's a certain trench coat in there somewhere, which could prove useful if they're travelling for long. The fox, like Nameless, isn't all that great with cold either, his own jacket being too thin to provide much protection against the freezing temperatures. Christian's coat serves its purpose and is often dragged along on trips to Frostmaw, just in case.
Satoshi leans forward to whisper into Sora's ear, getting a nod from the dragon to confirm she's heard. Moments later, a tentative mental prodding will be sent Kirien's way, the phrenic dragon hoping to gain permission to speak to the fox through the only means possible while traveling through the howling winds above Frostmaw. 'She says it isn't too far, but it isn't easy either. We have to go through a mountain pass first. Keep an eye out when we do. The winds get worse and the clouds are lower. Flocks of wyverns hide in them sometimes. If you fly in my wake, she says she can ward off most of the cold from you two.' With Sora's message delivered--hopefully--the dragon refocuses in flying, wings powering her head-on into the buffeting, snow-laden winds that pour off the Xalious Range. Sora's made for this type of cold-weather flying and handles it fairly well, save for the occasional dips or plunges as she distractedly glances back to check on their companions.
Kirien , being almost entirely unfamiliar with telepathic messages, manages to catch only half of the words spoken in his mind - he'll give a bit of a nod and a wave all the same to silently state that the warning mostly made it through though. Sweeping out of the humid caverns he hears Nameless emit a growl upon being blasted in the face by frozen air, wind screaming about them and drowning out almost all other noise. Christian's coat is in his bag for exactly this reason; he can already feel his jacket becoming stiff with ice. Hunkering down close to the wyvern's back, the fox allows his ride to do most of the work, heavy wing beats carrying the dragon along in Sora's wake; flying close behind her, he finds the ordeal somewhat easier due to the slipstream effect, and attempts to remain close by at all times. Whenever she dips down he'll follow, a slight tuck of the wings allowing the wyvern to drop after her. Despite the bitter cold, despite the howling winds and snowstorm, Nameless isn't doing all that badly, considering his homeland is a wasteland quite the opposite to this one.
Satoshi finally comes back to full focus, now that she's managed to set Sora in the right direction and she no longer needs to hold onto the bounds of Ice. Unlike the wyvern and fox behind them, these two are relishing in the frigid climate, neither showing the slightest signs of being bothered by the chill. In fact, Satoshi purposely sits straighter on Sora's back so that she can catch more of the frozen wind. The kit begins to whistle then, purely with delight at first until tendrils of arcana begin to weave into the sound. Both magic and noise are swept away from her by the wind instantly, but that's her intention, for as the inaudible whistle reaches Kirien and Nameless, it begins to wrap around them like ethereal ribbons, intending to enshroud them in an invisible barrier meant to absorb the worst of the chill and ice, although it does nothing to stop the wind itself. The protective ward comes mere moments before a sheer mountain face lunges out of the clouds ahead, causing Sora to veer sharply to the left and drop swiftly to dart into the narrow pass that cuts through the peak.
Kirien 's ears, sensitive as they are, perk up slightly upon catching a whisper on the wind; a song that dies almost instantly but he's sure it's there all the same, filling the air about him. If he listens hard enough he's sure to catch something, the fox thinks to himself, ears now fully erect and turning occasionally to pick up even the smallest scrap of a melody. It's belatedly that he realises the biting effects of the wind have lessened some, and that there's a sneeze filling his nose - a telltale sign that magic is at work. He sneezes, reaching up to drag his respiratory mask over the lower half of his face, and it's halfway through this movement that the cliff face looms out of the nothingness directly in front of them. Nameless tucks wings in and twists his body swiftly to follow Sora downwards and to the left, while Kirien holds on one-handed until he's gotten his mask in place. Dropping through the clouds, both wyvern and rider will swerve past Sora on their way down, seemingly spiralling out of control until Nameless manages to right himself and unfurls both wings again, catching an updraft which carries him back toward foxkin and ice dragon.
Satoshi slips on her goggles and hunkers down on Sora as the dragon dives into the pass, for not even the cryomancer is immune the gusts tearing through the canyon with icy claws. Sora half tucks in her wings, dropping lower in hopes of evading the worst of the wind while still trying to push forward with struggling strokes. Even the saurian's legs pump as if trying to run on the air, webbed talons spread wide to create enough resistance to aid in her surging onward. With Sora focused on simply trying to move, Satoshi's the one left to watching their surroundings, ears straining to catch any noise above the roar of the wind. But even ears as keen as the kit's are not enough to catch the low chorus of chirps and clicks coming from the cliff face above where a small flock of wyvern lurk upon ledges, reptilian eyes watching the pair of saurians struggling through the storm while myriad claws flex excitedly upon stone, waiting for the moment to strike.
Kirien 's entire world consists currently of the scales on Nameless' neck, and the wind screeching all around them. Even with his eye closed all the fox can feel is the air currents warping around his body, conspiring to push both himself and his ride out of the sky. It tears across the surrounding rocks and the ground far below and he's effectively blind - a sensation the fox is most definitely not fond of. In this shifting, screaming world, he can barely hear or see, white masking vision and only the occasional glimpse of Satoshi and Sora caught amidst the blur of the storm. Nameless' senses are more sensitive than Kirien's, however, most especially his sense of smell; Sora's scent has been locked onto and it's the only real way he's able to follow her at the moment. But there was a warning of wyverns earlier and Kirien's working to search for them - he'd rather not be attacked in such an environment, when it's a struggle to even push forward, let alone fight back. Heavy breaths become softer and more controlled, the fox pressed close to Nameless' back as he calms himself, concentrates…and feels. Through the wind, through the chill, he fights to focus on anything out of the ordinary, anything that might suggest the presence of nearby predators. There's nothing at first, but once he's managed to ignore the sound of the wind things become a bit easier. And then-- tapping, from somewhere above, claws upon stone; a sound that echoes differently against his body than the wind does. It could be anything but he's not chancing it - a lark will sing at the first sign of danger, and that's exactly what he does. It's an exotic call that Nameless reacts to immediately, flipping upside-down and diving toward Sora. They'll soar extremely close by at breakneck speed, buffeted by the storm in a way that makes the movement appear accidental, as if the wyvern can't control himself. But when he's close enough to meet Satoshi's gaze Kirien will try to call to her, to warn her; and just in case she misses the message he'll thinking, hoping that with enough force of will he'll manage to transport the words to her mind; "Above us! Maybe."
Satoshi spends a moment wondering if she's been hit on the head by a wind-hurled rock, as the image before her eyes seems far too surreal. It takes a few blinks and a shake of her head to assure her that Kirien is indeed flying at her... upside-down. Is that boy part bat too? The kit can't help the thought even as she perks up, straining to hear the words the rogue is calling, for they obviously must be dire if he's pulling a stunt like that in the middle of a storm. "Above us" is caught, although whether it is sound or thought that Satoshi receives is a mystery, something that can wait for later. "Sora!" The call is hardly out of the kit's mouth before Sora is mimicking Nameless, flipping onto her back as jaws snap open. With a roar to rival the winds the dragon unleashes a burst of glacial energy aimed toward the mountain wall above and twists right side up once more even as the sound of shattering stone and ice reaches their ears. Screeches, shrill in their anger and pain, follow the noise as the avalanche builds, confirming Kirien's guess of prowling wyverns above--wyverns now trying to disentangle themselves from crumbling perches to give chase. Satoshi presses herself lower along Sora's neck as the dragon races to come up just below Nameless, the saurian calling out in a whistling shriek to the desert wyvern in what is assumptively dragon for, 'Use your tail! Hit the wall!' Without another sound, the little dragon peels off, jetting for the opposite wall of the canyon and drawing even with it as both she and the mage begin pelting the fissured rocks with bursts of ice. The two seem to think the best way to stop the wyverns is to bring the whole mountain side down on their scaly heads.
Kirien and Nameless spiral out of the way of Sora's icy breath, the tip of the wyvern's tail barely escaping the blast of frigid energy sent toward the rock face. Wings snap open and suddenly they're soaring up and back, allowing the strong winds to push them behind the ice dragon once more. The sound of rock shattering from somewhere close above hits Kirien like a mallet, white-tipped, frost-covered ears pinning back in response to the ear-splitting noise. Wyverns above clamour noisily amidst the storm to free themselves but their shrieks are all but drowned out by the call Sora sends Nameless' way while diving off toward the other side of the pass. "Nameless!" screams Kirien as one of his Frostmaw kin drops from above, having managed to free itself from the rock face. Sora's instructions are going to have to wait as Nameless currently has to fight off an attacking dragon; with a deafening roar of challenge the wyvern's flipping round again, wings flaring to slow his fall as Kirien is spun away from the beast and kept out of its grasp. There is no way Nameless is about to allow an ice wyvern to defeat him, apparently. Spiked tail and obsidian claws flash through ice and snow as the other comes within close range, practically landing atop Nameless and engaging in vicious battle with him, while Kirien fights to just hold on. Luckily a burst of ice fired by Satoshi catches the attacker on one wing and it emits a pained screech - another follows as Nameless' jaws clamp about its slender neck. A growl and a hiss and the sand wyvern pulls back, dropping the now weakly-flailing creature and allowing it to fall to its death. Scarlet droplets bleed from its throat wound, mingling with white snow and coating sharp teeth as Nameless uprights himself and, with a beat of powerful wings, speeds upwards, following the rigid lines of the cliff face. Past still-struggling ice wyverns they fly until abruptly Nameless is spinning again, twisting away from the rock as his tail slams against the weak stone - and with a roar and a rumble the mountainside is crumbling, boulders falling toward the trapped beasts below. Nameless, meanwhile, makes it safely away, managing to avoid being crushed by frozen rock, and finds Sora once again. A bit of a huff escapes him; the wyvern's chest is bleeding some, injuries likely received in the short-lived battle with the other dragon.
Satoshi and Sora's assault on the mountainside comes to an abrupt halt once Nameless and Kirien rejoin them, certain the damage they've all dealt is enough to halt their attackers. Kit and dragon alike hazard a glance back then at the damage they've all caused, and twin pairs of ice-blue eyes widen at the sight rushing to meet them. "Hellfire..." A veritable wall of shattered earth and cracked ice--with a smattering of broken wyvern corpses--is thundering through the canyon toward them, its roar drowning out the sounds of the stormy winds, the landslide building in speed and force with each passing second. It'd seem their initial wyvern-deterring rockslide has evolved into a full scale avalanche, and here the foxes are with weary saurians fighting a gale as their only means of escape. "Up, up, up!" Satoshi yells to Sora, uncertain if the dragon can even hear her over the cacophony of nature's force bearing down on them. But Sora heeds the words, even if she hasn't heard them. With an almost audible snap the dragon's wings unfurl and cup forward like twin sails, the wind immediately catching them and violently ripping her upward, straight into the stormclouds. The dragon's gone from sight instantly and utterly blind in the misty environment, but at least she's over the descending avalanche. Not that the wild air currents are any better as they toss the little dragon and her rider about with as much as ease a toy boat on the high seas.
Kirien feels it in the air; a tremendous rumbling which shakes the very mountains around them and has the fox's breath shuttering in response. He's not used to dealing with avalanches, will likely see them as some form of challenge in the near future {perhaps}, but right now? Right now, instincts tell him to get himself and Nameless the hell out of nature's way. Satoshi's yell of, "Up!" is accompanied by a shrill, melodious shriek from Kirien and Nameless reacts immediately, a sweep of enormous, powerful wings sending both wyvern and rider rocketing upward after their icy companions. Vision becomes exceedingly useless the higher they rise, storming clouds and raging winds buffeting the pair about; more than once they glide frighteningly close by Sora and Satoshi, the occasional cry of 'sorry!' falling from Kirien's lips at the accidental brush of wing tips, or when tails tangle together. Nameless, apparently displeased with how the adventure has been so far, lets loose another of those deafening roars of his, before a gentle smack to the neck has him calming down - though Kirien almost loses his grip on the wyvern's saddle in doing so. "Do you still know where we're going?!" he yells to Satoshi, hoping words will reach her over the growing storm. If they weren't currently in the midst of a cloud and fighting to hold on even more than usual, he'd have had Christian's coat on already. It's damn cold up here.
Satoshi hears Kirien's words. Or feels them. She's not entirely sure which is which with the current state of things, especially when phrenic dragons and kindred spirits are tossed into the mix. Either or, the kit nods in response and gestures earnestly in a direction just ahead and below them, the sole spot where the storm doesn't seem to touch, clouds still and calm unlike their turbulent brethren. What may cause many to balk, however, is the section directly -surrounding- the calm clearing, a band of violent tempests that make the present winds seem like spring breezes by comparison. They'll have to fly through the raging ring to reach their destination. Sora trusts the frost singer's directions, however, and adjusts her flight accordingly--at least, the best she can, when her wing muscles are being pushed to their limit just to keep her upright. "Just a little farther," Satoshi murmurs as she leans forward to stroke the side of Sora's neck in encouragement. The saurian pushes on, youthful eagerness overriding her physical discomfort as she enters the maelstrom. Instantly the dragon is sent tumbling end over end, wings forced at unnatural angles by gusts striking from every direction as all her limbs flail in a vain attempt to find some purchase. Satoshi hangs on for dear life, urging the small dragon onward with words and will until finally, battered and breathless, they're just over the area Satoshi pointed out. With an unseen signal from the kit-vampire, Sora folds in her trembling wings tight against her body and drops like a stone, body twisting in dizzying rotations a moment before her snout finally points straight down, the speed of her plummet increasing with the improved aerodynamics. In seconds, kit and dragon disappear once more, falling beneath the cloud cover.
Kirien can't help but seem relieved at the sight of a calm airspace and the hope that the journey is ending, or at least becoming less of a struggle. A bright smile lights up fine, yet tired features, though it all but vanishes at the realisation that an even more wretched band of cloud and fierce gales must be fought through to reach the tranquil beyond. "You're kiddin' me!" he shouts to Satoshi, though it's likely she won't catch his words because at that moment, the foxkin is winging her way forward into the hurricane. With a curse and a tightening of grip of saddle, Kirien directs Nameless further upward, higher and higher into the roiling mass of cloud around them. After another hundred feet or so they level out and it's then that the fox angles Nameless downward; the sand wyvern bellows out a second ear-splitting roar as he dives straight into the tempest, building up enough momentum in the fall to make it part-way through the vicious winds before being knocked entirely off-course. The world spins and twists around Kirien and he's not exactly sure of what's up and what's down, and Nameless appears just as confused. With wings pulled in tight against sandy body and only unfurling to drive the wyvern's large body forward -- hopefully forward, at least -- the two battle the storm which tears at them, gales raging and almost, almost pulling Kirien right off his ride's back. Moving at such fast speeds, ducking and rolling and trying to make sense of their current position, it actually takes the two a moment to realise they've made it through the storm and into the undisturbed area of white cloud - a stark contrast to the winds surrounding it, for sure. When they do notice the lack of wind buffeting them, Kirien finds the top of his head brushing cloud tops, ears lost in the fluffy substance; Nameless rights them both with a growl and tucks his wings in once more, falling into the calm cloud after Sora and Satoshi. What lies below this blanket of white, Kirien wonders to himself as they descend.
Satoshi keeps her attention turned to the clouds above, waiting for Nameless to burst through before she gives Sora the signal. With a roar the dragon throws her wings wide, the descent dramatically slowed with the pair of 'parachutes' until she tips them and the rest of her body forward, entering into a gentle, spiraling glide. What waits below the drifting dragon is a small valley rimmed by gracefully bowed willows and rigid pillars of blue polished stone, all but the rocks stark white beneath a blanket of glistening snow, and all this surrounded by sheer cliffs and the howling winds of a storm strangely held at bay. The valley gives off the air of being some sort of safe haven, the Eye of the Storm even. Within the ring of trees and pillars move strange, hulking shapes, hard to discern against the snowy ground at first as they seem to have skin that's both white and translucent. Satoshi guides Sora in to land at the center of the valley before she dismounts and is immediately surrounded by the ghostly shapes as they begin emitting a chorus of sounds, peculiar noises of nature woven into a musical arrangement. The kit pays them no mind however, head tipped up to watch Nameless' landing. "You survived their test, Bright Eyes~."
Kirien and Nameless descend from above in a manner akin to a falling star, thin trails of white cloud billowing and swirling in their wake until, abruptly, huge wings unfurl once again to slow the fall toward the strange land occupying the storm's Eye. A wide amber eye takes in the new terra with childish intrigue and a hint of awe, the fox peering around his wyvern's neck to observe the area in its entirety. Satoshi is spotted not long before the shifting figures between the trees, but as the other foxkin appears undisturbed by the presence of the odd beings Kirien urges Nameless on. A suspicious gaze travels between the nearest ghosts at all times, however. Landing in a small whirlwind of fresh snow nearby to where Sora hit the ground, Nameless immediately turns on the closest shape to him, a growl in warning rumbling in its direction while Kirien slips from the sand wyvern's back; pale, shaky hands trail along his ride's neck and up to his large head, and the fox takes hold of Nameless by the sides of his jaws and presses close to him. It's as close to a huge as the two can really get but Nameless doesn't seem to mind, breathing jets of hot air into the Wraith's somewhat frigid jacket and emitting a soft, thrumming purr. Kirien grins, nuzzles him between the twin horns atop his head, and then moves quickly for his bag, slightly trembling footsteps pausing only when he glances over at Satoshi. "Never again, please," he says, though with a bit of a grin. A question is added quickly thereafter; "What are they?" as he rifles through his travel bag and struggles to drag the large, fur-lined trench coat from its depths. A couple of mangos deposit themselves in the snow at his feet, having been either on top of or in the pockets of the coat.
Satoshi offers Sora a caress along her forehead when the dragon peers over her shoulder to sniff at the nearest of the shapes. "They're Elementals," the magus explains, to both dragon and fox, "Ice Elementals. My teachers." Satoshi steps away from Sora then, moving toward Kirien while immediately being encircled by the entities clamoring excitedly in their odd voices. For the most part, the elementals appear the same, all bearing a base that resembles the bulky torso of an orc that tapers off at the waist until their 'legs' are no more than faint blue wisps. But that's as far as similarities go for these beings, for their skin appears to be made completely of ice, and ice being the chaotic element that it is, freezes in a variety of patterns and shapes. Some of the elementals look like muscular hedgehogs with the number of icy spikes covering them, while others are as smooth and white as a newly formed snowball, others as thin and fragile seeming as the crystals that form on chilled glass. One in particular stands out from the rest, a towering being with broad shoulders of ice that have formed to appear almost like spiked pauldrons, just as its head resembles something of a horned helm, giving the elemental the appearance of a powerful knight in armor. This 'knightly' elemental drifts alongside Satoshi as she reaches Kirien, bowing to the fox and gesturing toward her companion. "This is my family. They taught me all I know of the Ice." Turning to the elemental, Satoshi trills out a wordless song and steps aside so that the creature can nod to Kirien in greeting, rumbling a tune that sounds like shattering ice. "They welcome you too, Bright Eyes. They just speak different than us~."
Kirien , while tugging Christian's heavy coat -- gods that's warm -- about his shoulders, takes a longer look at the beings surrounding himself and his companions. He'll scrutinise each in turn, eyeing the details in their similarities and differences and locking each scrap of information away, though it's likely he'll never need any of it again. Old habits die hard. Curiosity getting the better of him, the fox almost reaches to touch one of the icy figures, but its frigid aura puts him off before his fingers get within six inches of its surface. He withdraws, checking for frostbite. "Ah…odd family, no? No offence. You don't exactly look much like 'em, either," he says, adopting a tentative tone, while offering a nod to the elementals nearest his position. A hand rests upon Nameless' neck to calm the wyvern, as he still doesn't appear entirely comfortable around the ethereal creatures and growls at a couple of them, wings rising in a display of challenge. The knightly elemental comes under Kirien's scrutiny for the longest time before its nod is returned, if somewhat belatedly. "A bit different. Do they understand me? If so then…hi." He's not exactly sure of what else to say, and simply stares dumbly at Satoshi as if hoping she'll give pointers on how to deal with the situation at hand.
Satoshi can't help but laugh at the fox's reactions and scrutinies. "Not family by blood. I don't have such a thing, technically. Rather, they're family in the sense that our souls all the sing the same song. Something you said made me think, and I needed to speak to them so that I could sort it out. Hopefully." Nodding, Satoshi looks up toward the Knight and speaks to it in a series of sharp, quick whistles. With a rumble like a distant avalanche, the elemental nods and moves off, Satoshi following close behind with her only pausing to look back at Kirien. "I'll be just a moment. Play nice~." With that, the kit and elemental head to the edge of the valley and fall into an inaudible conversation, leaving the rogue with the rest of the entities, whom seem to pay the rest of the visitors minimal interest. Save for a particularly small one that shuffles up to the fox, circling around him in a curious fashion while its featureless head is upturned to assumptively peer at the stranger. All the while, the little elemental bobs excitedly and hums in a voice like snow crackling beneath heavy feet, as if amused by something its just learned and isn't quite willing to share just yet.
Kirien opens his mouth to utter something but assumedly decides against it, for no words come out and after a pause, he merely dips his head in an understanding nod. That's something he's familiar with, at least; no blood relative of the rogue's remains and yet he has a family, if a bit of a dysfunctional one. The odd language of the elemental's has him curious and he'll attempt to mimic the sounds Satoshi makes once she's out of earshot, having given only a stare and a grin in response to her comment. It takes him a couple of moments to pick up on the small elemental's presence, but when he does he blinks down at it; Nameless growls, gets shoved away when he tries to bite the fragile figure, and huffily makes his way toward Sora. He stays within tail-reach of Kirien, however, seemingly unwilling to leave his immediate area in this foreign and most strange of lands. "Hm…what?" Kirien asks the icy creature, turning to follow it with his eye as it circles. His tail occasionally brushes against it. Eventually he kneels down so as to be on the same level as the elemental's assumed 'face', resists the urge to poke it, and emits a soft, exotic whistle. How would it react? He tries again, a tuneful, melodious song filling the chilly air; larks, after all, are rather talented singers.
Satoshi remains deep in conversation, unaware of the going-ons between Kirien and the little elemental, although Sora watches with obvious interest as the icy being emits a high-pitched keen in response to the whistle. Eagerly it begins flitting around Kirien all the faster, glacial limbs waving in the air much like a child wanting badly to tell an adult something while being far too excited to spit the words out. Within the elemental where a heart beats in other creatures, a bright blue flame is visible, that dances and flickers the more worked up the elemental gets, much like a true heart. Without warning the small being stops in front of the rogue, spins in place twice, whistles sharply, and jets off toward the trees, passing Satoshi as she returns. "What... did you say to it?" the magus asks, blinking in surprise at the elemental as it disappears behind a willow.
Satoshi looks troubled, but she's not saying whether it's from her conversation or the strange elemental.
Kirien 's ears are not exactly fond of the sound the little ice-being makes, and pin back in response to its sharp keening an attempt to lessen the pain to heightened senses. Kirien himself can only blink at it as it begins to, essentially, flail around, limbs flying everywhere. "O-Oi, are you all right?" A worried glance around follows the anxious question, the fox unsure of whether he's hurt {or offended} the elemental or not. If he's done either, will the large beings attack? No, no, he can't worry about that right now - first things first he wants to make sure the smaller elemental is okay. Hands protected by the thick sleeves of both his own coat and Christian's reach to take hold of the creature but it slips easily from his grasp, sapphire heart all a-beating as it rushes away into the surrounding trees and promptly vanishes from sight. Satoshi is regarded with a long, and almost guilty stare when the fox straightens. He reaches to scratch absently at his neck, ears flattening out in a display of humility. "…Dunno? I whistled. Maybe it liked the song I sang." His answer isn't exactly helpful.
Satoshi looks in the direction the little elemental raced off to before shrugging and looking back at Kirien. "Oh well. It didn't seem -upset-, at least. The little ones get kind of... excitable. They don't settle down for a few millenia. You ready to go? I think I've gotten the information I need." Moving toward Sora, Satoshi's stopped by a clawed, icy hand on her shoulder, and turns to face the Knight as the elemental hums and holds out a lop-sided sphere of dark blue ice. "What is it? Looks like an egg," the kit murmurs, carefully picking the item up and weighing it in her good hand while listening to an explanation from the entity. Despite the Knight's words, Satoshi doesn't look any less confused afterwards and merely stares down at the egg-like object as if it were a puzzle box before giving Kirien a flat look. "Great. More cryptic riddles. They love them so. But I guess this is supposed to get us safely back. Shall we?" Sora shuffles up alongside the minstrel at her words, ready to depart despite the short rest.
Kirien 's mouth drops open. "M-Millennia? How…old are this lot?" he asks in a slightly hushed tone of voice, gesturing to the larger elementals nearby and around them. Gaze follows hand movements and he observes a couple of the translucent figures for a moment, pondering to himself; that one looks older than that one over there, but by how many thousands of years exactly? If only he could ask. The magus' added question prompts the fox's head to snap back round to her, and after a short pause he'll nod. "I think so. It's cold." No move for Nameless is made, for the sand wyvern is already at his side once more, large head resting atop the rogue's shoulder. He pats him, absent-mindedly, while attentions shift to the new puzzle; an egg-shaped item, crafted entirely of ice and a deep blue in colouration. He actually takes a moment to admire the vibrant hue before glancing between Sora, the Knight, and Satoshi, with a blank expression in response to the Knight's stare. "Uh…I guess so? It doesn't look like dinner to me."
Satoshi nods briskly to the elementals before hopping onto Sora's back and settling in, tucking the egg-ish 'key' in the crook of her arm. As Sora stretches her wings, the kit calls down to the Elder of the elementals, "I'll find the Fire, just you watch~." The Knight simply nods in response before drifting backwards, out of the way of the two saurians preparing to take off. The other elementals follow suit and for a brief moment there is a clear space around the visitors before the ring is broken, first by a frantic squeak of cracking ice, and second by the small form of Kirien's strange observer as it dashes toward the rogue with an arm waving. Again like a child, the elemental reaches up to tug at Kirien's clothing as its second hand stretches out with fist closed tight around a dark object. Satoshi watches quietly at first, only speaking once the little creature makes a prompting whistle. "It wants to give you something. It says it belongs to the others that... smell like you?" the magus pauses and tips her head to one side, uncertain if she's understood correctly. After a moment of studiously listening to the rushed babble of the small being, Satoshi finally grins in understanding. "Ah~. It says you smell like the elementals of Earth. I think it's picking up on your terramancy. It wants you to have something of theirs. They made it, I guess, and it thinks you should have it since it's your element." The elemental nods earnestly at Satoshi's explanation and offers the held item to Kirien. As soon as the fox's palm is offered, the glacial creature will deposit in it a tiny, round bell. At first glance, the bell seems wholly unremarkable, almost undesirable for what seems like rust covering it. Closer inspection will reveal the object isn't crafted from metal at all, but rather entirely of hardened red clay, the substance surprisingly durable and polished to a fine shine. A shake of the bell will reveal its peculiar voice, a hollow rumble far too soft to qualify as the metallic 'jingle' of most bells, and oddly similar to the sound of stones rolling against one another.
Kirien also directs a nod to the elementals, and is halfway up onto Nameless' back when that icy squeak catches attentions, and the rogue's head turns in search of the source. When found, a light smile breaks out over fine features and he pauses in his movements, slipping back into the fresh snow to kneel down closer to the ground. "What is it? Something that smells like me?" There's a blink toward Satoshi as she translates the tangled mesh of melodious sounds, her not entirely sure tone of voice taken note of; the fox waits patiently until she works out what exactly the little elemental means, and when she does, he grins. "Really? There are Earth elementals as well? That…is so awesome." Stretching one hand out he gladly receives the bell from the curious being, turning it over a couple of times - ears twitch at the familiar sound emitted, the song of the earth felt by the fox through his entire being. It's a reassuring sort of song in a place so entirely dominated by ice, and with a smile he'll lift the bell and press it to his chest, before tucking it safely into the breast pocket of his jacket. "Thank you! Spirits, I think I like this one," he laughs, hand shifting to trace the outline of the ice elemental's head in what would be a pat, if he were actually touching it. Fingers then stray toward another pocket in the fox's coat - a small pebble is withdrawn, entirely white in colour but clearly made of stone. Kirien offers it to the elemental in return for the gift, though as he holds the stone flat on his palm it begins to change shape; spiralling upward from the centre of the flat, smooth surface, a spindly, elegant flower grows, created out of the very stone it appears to sprout from. A product of Kirien's terramancy training, the rock flower assumes the shape of a rose, pure white in colouration. He waits, wondering if the little creature will accept the present, as simple as it is in comparison to the one he received.
Satoshi can't quite resist the urge to laugh when the young elemental bursts into song and begins dancing in circles before Kirien. "I think it likes your gift~," the kit pipes in with a trilling giggle, shifting upon Sora so that she can get a better view of the scene. The icy creature dances about a moment longer before finally coming to a halt--although still visibly quivering with delight--and delicately plucking the stone flower from Kirien. It glances from the flower to the fox and back again, nods, and abruptly scurries off. Only once it's reached the other elemental does it stop, turning back to whistle to Kirien in the same lark-song the rogue had sang to it earlier. "That's our cue, Bright Eyes," Satoshi notes and gives Sora a light nudge. With a sweep of her wings the dragon lifts off, hovering a moment and kicking up snow in all directions so that Satoshi can salute the Knightly elemental. "Next time I come back, I'll have the Flames with me~!" Her good-bye out of the way, Satoshi guides Sora skyward and toward the waiting storm, the egg in her grasp glowing brighter the nearer they get to the fierce clouds until an aura of azure light encircles both saurians to shield them from the elements on their way home.
Kirien 's laughter mixes in with Satoshi's; an honest, light-hearted sound that has Nameless attempting to grin as best he can. It's not often he hears such a sound but the wyvern knows it's a good sign. When the stone has been taken by the elemental and it's safely out of harm's way, dancing all the while, the rogue will hop up onto his ride and settle in crouched position. Fingers grip handle bars tightly and the feel of the bell close to his chest draws another grin from him, and the lark sings a short, tuneful song in response to the mimicry of his earlier melody from the young ice elemental. "Right, let's go!" he calls with a laugh still in his voice, the shout followed by a sharp cry that prompts Nameless into action; unlike Sora he does not hang around for his ride to offer last words, a single leap sending the sand wyvern hurtling skywards. Enormous wings unfurl and he spirals toward the low cloud cover, circling above until his companions, and their glimmering, egg-like protection, catch up to them. "I freakin' love your glowing eggs," Kirien adds to Satoshi as the beginnings of a buffeting wind are quashed by the azure shield which envelopes them all. At least with this interesting artefact, the journey home should not prove too much trouble - though he's sure to run into some sooner or later. Trouble, as always, follows in his footsteps like a tumultuous shadow, whether he wants it to or not. Some days, Kirien finds that he doesn't mind.
The Unheard Conversation
"I'm lost. I know I hold the Azure Flame, but it won't heed my call."
"It does heed your call. It has since the day you left."
"What? How? I've only just had it awoken..."
"What the Spirit did was merely stoke the flames, coax the embers to begin flickering. You've drawn on those embers before when you've given the spark of life to snow, but now that the flames are ready to rise properly, you seem to avoid it."
"Avoid it?! I've done everything I've been told to try and -take hold if it-!"
"No, you have not. You fear it. The Flames are your very essence, but you fear to reach fully into them. To face what and who you are. The Spirit can instruct you until the end of days, but until you're willing to face yourself, the Flames will not burn as they are meant to."
"...this sounds like a shoddy inspirational story. 'Look inside yourself to find your true strength, yadda yadda'. Really? I just want the Flames to obey me already!"
"You will not obey yourself until you understand yourself! You know nothing of what you are, after all this time. You're forgetting our teachings, in favor of the manipulative ways of the Mages. Our power is ourselves, as your power is yourself. The Azure Flames are you. Your Order, your Chaos. You're not far from finally obtaining that Balance we sought, that the Three Dragons directed you toward. Just steps away, but they aren't easy steps for one such as you."
"...what steps are they, then?"
"You're an entity of Balance now, you should know all things have a duality. With Order and Chaos, you are Balance. With Life and Death, you are Undead. Your Ice lacks its Fire, however, because that Fire has left you. You cannot have the Azure Flames without Ice -and- Fire."
"The Azure Flames are gone?!"
"No. What's gone is the Fire you may have tamed, had you not learned from us. It resided in you, just as the Ice did, but somehow... you've lost it. A part of what you were is missing. Without it, you cannot bring the Azure Flames to their full potential."
"I don-... Wait, no. You mean... -her-! That doppleganger. She had a face like mine, but... she smelled of ashes, smoke, and... that ship. The ship stole the Fire!"
"Find that one, and you'll have your Balance."
"I... I will. Thank you. We should be heading back now."
"Take this with you. It will allow you to pass the Ward Storms without trouble."
"What is it? It looks like an egg."
"It is a numerous things. Today it is a Key for safe passage. Tomorrow, I do not know. That is up to you. Teach it the songs of Snow and Ice, see what it may learn."