RP:We Will Not Fail
Stone Bridge
Svilfon has been almost unbelievably busy of late; arranging and attending meetings throughout Hollow with the various rulers of each kingdom. It was tiring business, so today he decided he would return to his frozen home and rest. After stowing away his book within his room in the Mage's Tower, the wizard enacts his teleportation... He wasn't really concentrating on where exactly he wanted to go; just to Frostmaw. Yet he is not surprised when he steps out onto this bridge. He was fond of the ancient structure; it was here he fought Buster while preparing to face the lichdrow. So with a smile the wizard wanders over to the bridge's edge and sits down, letting his feet casually drape over the large drop. He feels contentment for the first time in days as he sits here, watching tendrils of whispy clouds dance amongst the peaks which make up this mountain range. He was, after too long, once again home...
Satoshi, as has been her wont these past months, is in the ruins of Frostmaw when she feels it. A shudder so faint it could be blamed on the wind, originating in the pointed tip of her hat and rippling down to the brim and thus drawing her out of her reveries. Blinking, Satoshi instinctively looks eastward with her head cocked to one side. She'd know that feeling anywhere, that tracery of crimson flames that dances just on the edge of consciousness, alongside the golden melodies of Kirien and the amber sparks of Kasyr. Svilfon. Coterie. The magus is on her feet without delay, while her sudden standing startles the kit's companion from its nap. Snow flies in every direction as Trebel rolls and flails in an attempt to right himself, oversized paws uncoordinated as he still struggles to adapt to his rapidly growing body. Patiently Satoshi awaits the angha's recovery before moving on with him in tow... and promptly losing him, when she explains where they're going. In moments, Svilfon will likely hear coming toward him on the wind a ringing, "Wiiiiiiiiizaaaaaaaaaaaard~!!" And not soon afterwards Trebel will be visible bounding toward him, fully intending upon tackling the wizard despite having grown to nearly the size of a draft horse.
Svilfon had closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the feeling of cool winds blowing across his face. But oh!- do those eyes open fast when he hears that cry. In a moment he is on his feet and in tones that easily breach the wind the wizard replies, "Treeeeeebel!" A bright grin forms first, though it slowly begins to fade as the angha continues to run at him... faster and faster... he was not stopping. The wizard manages a, "Ahhhh!" Before he is crushed entirely by Trebel. The two roll about in a rather undignified fashion across the bridge, until it ends up with the angha on top and Svilfon fending off his affections while also managing to lift his hand high enough to rub Trebel's head, where, when he was young, he used to so enjoy it. "What the hell has lady icicle been feeding you?" The wizard grins, before he throws the last of his dignity over the bridge and just envelops Trebel in the biggest hug possible when a draft-horse sized angha is sitting upon you.
Satoshi is a fair degree more stately in her means of arrival, although she can't quite keep the lopsided grin off her face at the sight. Trebel has been effectively reduced to a purring, ringing puddle of fur and feathers, his broad snout nudging eagerly at Svilfon while he turns his antlered head back and forth to get the most out of that petting. "I've been feeding him anything I can get in his jaws, desperately trying to keep up with the demands. His appetite is insatiable." The aforementioned angha merely rumbles happily in response, not taking offense at the remark. He continues to harass Svilfon until Satoshi reaches his side and she gives a gentle touch upon his shoulder, a wordless signal that Trebel understands and responds to immediately by backing off the wizard. Plopping down on the bridge beside Svilfon and Satoshi, the angha glances with an eager gaze between the spellcasters, as if waiting for a treat, or more hugs, or a game perhaps--making it terribly obvious his mind isn't maturing as swiftly as his body. The magus appeases her charge with a pat upon the head while she looks toward her covenmate, brow arched. "I got your letter. Did you even have to ask if I'd help~?"
Svilfon grins brightly at both the Lady Frostmaw and at Trebel. For just a moment does the weight of his world drop from the wizard's slender shoulders. Svil gets himself up off the ground before dusting off loose snow from his fur-lined robes. "If he ever gets as big as Emiur, I think that's the day I'll move." The wizard flashes another grin, before truly taking in Satoshi. Though the perceptive wizard can sense a change within her, he is not entirely sure of its source. Yet she feels... different. So with an arched brow and a crooked grin he can't help but say, "Lady icicle... or should it perhaps be lady glacier now? You seem... well." Absently the wizard reaches into his robes and pulls forth a boar's leg. It is partially frozen, and from where exactly it came from isn't clear, but with a small effort the wizard heats it up enough to be edible before offering it to Trebel. When done, the vampire takes a step towards Satoshi, before tipping his hat. It was an effort not to step forward and place his hand upon her shoulder, yet instead he looks her up and down before nodding ever-so-slightly. "Shouldn't your question be, lady icicle, how terrible a thing must I want if I have to actually ask?" Another crooked grin follows in those words' wake before he speaks again. "I cannot explain how good it is to see you again, lady Frostmaw." The wizard is quick to add after flashing a wink at the snow queen, "And of course you, Trebel! You most of all."
Satoshi isn't sure Trebel even hears Svilfon over the sound of him sloppily crunching the legbone, but so long as the angha is distracted she can have a proper conversation. "Well? I suppose." She pauses, gaze growing distant. Satoshi remains this way a long moment, the only sound being Trebel's eating. When she does finally speak, her voice is low and meant only for the wizard's ears, "To be honest, I'm not sure if I am or not. I've... grown closer to my ice. I can do things with my magic I could not before, like a door has been opened. But... I feel I've grown distant with other things... Like Kasyr." The way Satoshi says this suggests she doesn't mean their relationship, exactly. But something else. Something she's at a loss of words to explain. "I was able to sneak up on him, Svilfon!" As any of the Coterie should know, that's a near impossible feat, as the bonds between sire and fledgeling, coupled with Kasyr's empathy, mark them as eternal blips on his radar. Catching him unawares is unheard of. And it worries Satoshi more than the fact that she's not felt so much as a flicker of her once rampant bloodlust.
Svilfon spends just a moment longer looking at Trebel. He truly did love the angha, just as he loved Emiur, but as always his loyalties lay first and foremost with Satoshi - even above her many varied companions. As she grows silent, Svilfon waits patiently, and it isn't until she stops speaking that the smallest of frowns forms upon his well-worn face. "You... snuck up on Kasyr?" That's about as possible as giving Dami a bloody nose. Though what worries Svil more is the fact she used his name, and not simply the title of 'wizard'. "And you are... strong. I can feel it." Absently the wizard lifts his hand and forms upon his palm a small ball of fire. He lets it dance for just a moment, before he extends his hand as if he were going to drop the flame upon Satoshi's shoulder. But as his hand nears her the fire flickers once then dies. The limb is dropped again to his side, before Svilfon closes his eyes and draws in a deep breath through his nose. When again his eyes open, though he looks at Satoshi, it is clear the wizard is not exactly looking at her. After a long moment of this, Svilfon shakes his head a little, before smiling. "Your strength is greater than mine, queen of frost and snow. I do not know what has happened to you, Satoshi, but whatever it is... it is right."
Satoshi's own eyes close while the wizard is half-looking at her. His words wash over her, receiving a slight, but firm, nod. "I have been many things in my life, but aside from the day I met Kasyr, never have I felt closer to being -myself-. I am not complaining, I am just... adapting?" Adapting, as she's always been, mutable a creature as Satoshi is. "So!" And just like that the kit jumps subjects, tribute to the fact that not -everything- about her has changed. "What is this wicked scheme you're brewing, that you felt you had to -ask- me to help? I mean, what's the worst that could happen, right?" Trebel glances up briefly at this, as if sensing the dangers this simple phrase can bring, before he goes right back to gnawing cartiledge.
Svilfon nods his head to Satoshi. "That is how it is. You feel right." He nods once, before, as quickly as Satie does, the wizard shifts tact. "I wrote... a book." The word book is filled with as much ominous tones as possible. "I wanted your help to seal it. I had intended, as I did with Dami, to take the power from you. But now, I don't know!" The wizard flashes a bright smile, then, as if some great epiphany has befallen him. "But damnit, lady icicle! When has me not knowing ever stopped anything?" The wizard tips his hat to the queen of frost and snow. He is about to go on, before his gaze shifts to her arm - the glacial arm. Since he knew her the wizard was so used to seeing it as a dead limb of ice, aside from the time she healed him in Venturil. Yet now, finally, he can get what is due to him. So with a wizardly flourish and an elaborate bow the wizard pulls from the air a rose and offers it to the queen. It may seem a strange gesture, but when he first did that to her she said she'd applaud his wizardry if she could... well... damnit! Now she can!
Satoshi regards the rose silently before slowly, almost cautiously, she begins to applaud the conjuration trick. It's an odd noise, albeit musical as all things Satoshi should be, the rasp of satin serving as an undertone to the ring of soft flesh against smooth ice. The gesture carries on a few moments, as if Satoshi is trying to fit in as much deserved applause as she's not been able to give Svilfon since meeting him, but eventually the sound dies off and she reaches up with that once dead hand to accept the flower. Smiling, the magus tucks it into the hair beside her vulpine ear where it rests as a stark contrast to the sheets of white. "We'll still try, naturally. Obstacles have never stopped us before, after all~. But tell me, how did you manage to take Dami's power? Between your brains and my wits, we can come up with means of duplicating it so it works for us~."
Svilfon spends a long moment basking in the sweet applause denied to him over the last year by Satoshi's inability. But now she is whole again (and you thougth she was vain before?!), and that as much as his due fills the wizard with joy. As the rose is tucked behind her ear, Svil nods his head. "Suits you." Of course it did. With an almost unconscious tip of his hat, Svil carries on. "I... stole it. Within the bounds of your dojo, lady queen, I laid a trap for Dami. She.. he.. The terramancer never knew it was not real, and so the power he used to fight it was taken by a mixture of my magic and my book. The stones within the illusion moved, Frostmaw queen, yet never once was it caused by her terramancy." The wizard falls silent for a moment. He was not happy he got the power by decieving his Coterie mate, but it truly was the only way. "I had thought something similar may work for you... but now... I do not think there is now a spell strong enough in the world to trick your magic into seperating from its ice, if ever there was... I need it taken when doing what it is I require: I broke Dami, Satoshi, so my book can never be broken..." The wizard trails off, then... he is hopeful the snow queen can offer a fitting suggestion. Otherwise, Svil's going to have to wing it, and last times that happened Satoshi ended up with some whiskers and Svil ended up with his now eternally singed tail.
Satoshi doesn't immediately reply. Svilfon's explanation and problem both require a fair degree of mulling over, and the magus won't skirt this for the sake of quick answers. As eager as they both are to blindly jump into extreme dangers, they're both also infinitely patient when it comes to matters of thought. Even Trebel seems to sense there is an important matter at hand and chooses to remain silent, licking his paws and sabertooth jaws slowly clean of his meal. When Satoshi does finally speak, her words come slowly as the thoughts roll together, "I can't be certain but I think the Azure Flames can work. They are Ice. They are -me-. The only question is whether or not we can make them maintain themselves once separated from me. I haven't attempted that ever." And then, following right along with this remark, out of the blue and without missing a beat, "Wizard, can you dance?"
Satoshi's angha makes a very Scooby Doo-ish 'Huh?' sound here.
Svilfon nods his head slowly; they were both rather headstrong when diving blindly into battle, into training, into races and into experimenting with devilish spells. But this was not a matter for rushing. This was more than a matter between them as friends, of family, but truly of their shared love for their craft; their true understanding and infinte patience when it comes to dancing on the winds of the arcane. The wizard nods, "Your azure flames could well work, lady icicle. Though..." The wizard pauses for a moment, "Between you and I there has always been honesty. So as such I will be honest with you. This could destroy you, queen of snow. I do not wish to split your loyalties between myself and your duties here." The wizard absently waves his hand to the side, letting her knows by here he means Frostmaw. "But if you will help me, Satoshi queen, I will forever be thankful." Not that he wasn't already thankful for what she had done, but this was something else. "Think on it, as I will..." As she suddenly asks her question, the wizard doesn't respond with words. Instead he quickly steps forward and takes Satoshi in his grasp, before spinning her once in a tight circle, before dipping her down with all the flourish he can muster. "The question is, lady icicle, can you?"
Satoshi is caught off guard by the sudden approach, but she recovers quickly by reflex and the wizard will find in his hands someone that moves through the spin as lightly as snow and descends into the dip with fluid grace. Looking up then, she offers a vulpine grin. "Yes, I can. But~," the word is drawn out in sing-song tones, "my husband cannot. He needs lessons, and soon, if I hope to dance with him at the coming ball." Svilfon's ears are the first to hear about the kit's plans for a royal party in Frostmaw, mostly because she refuses to host it until Kasyr has learned to properly dance. Consider it selfish, but Satoshi wants a proper ballroom dance with her husband just once. That'll have to wait, although the magus does finally elaborate on how the subjects of dancing and magic-working are related here this evening. "I need time to sort out the Flames, to see if it can be done. Teach him, wizard, and I will do this for you. And I assure, I won't be destroyed in this." The smouldering amber in Satoshi's gaze speaks volumes more than her words can, daring hell to try and stop her, to try and hold her, when her land, people, and family have need of her. It can try, and it shall be frozen over for its troubles.
Svilfon flashes back at Satoshi a grin as crooked and jovial as her's is vulpine. He had not really expected anything different from the Frostmawian queen - he had fought before in her body, he understood her own grace as perhaps few others can; like a falling snowflake that so delicately dances amidst a violent storm... though, that is not to say that this lady of ice cannot also so quickly shift to become the source of the blizzard. But nevertheless, he is happy. Lifting her again, before taking half a step back, he cannot help but smile yet again - it had been so, so long since his mood was light; there are few in this world who amuse him as much as Satoshi does. "Ah, Satoshi queen, teach the Kensai to dance..." The wizard's face grows thoughtful for just a moment. "Now I am unsure whose task will be more dangerous." He winks before carrying on. "Which ball is coming, lady icicle?" The wizard likes the sound of that regardless. "You will have yourself a kensai graceful enough to dance on even the thinnest ice, Satoshi queen, I promise you." The man's words are spoken with a deep vehemence. It was not just his promise to her about Kasyr that causes this; it is their combined tasks. They would not fail. Svilfon has beaten off death more times than Frostmaw has survived snow storms... and as always Satoshi is the favourite partner to his crime. There was not a force strong enough to stop them, the wizard believes, even if it results in half the world turning to ash and the other half being frozen solid.
Satoshi, once righted, bows solemnly to the wizard--the gesture at odds with her delighted grin. "I will find a occasion that suits a celebration, then we'll have our ball. Until then... We will not fail." They're the same words she'd spoken in defiance to the winds the night Bozrah had fouled Frostmaw with his presence, and she speaks them now with just as much determination, for that is how she faces death at the wizard's side time and again. Trebel, unable to remain silent and proper any longer, eagerly pipes up in the brass tones of Cathedral bells, "Will not fail~! Will not fail~!"
Svilfon offers the snow queen a graceful bow in return. It is a rare gesture of respect from the wizard, a hat tip will usually do, and it is restricted only to those who have truly mastered their magical craft. When he is straight again, the wizard smiles. "We will not fail!" He tips his hat, before reaching out his hand and placing it quickly on Satoshi's shoulder, then the wizard turns from Satoshi and kneels down beside Trebel. Whether it is magic that stops Satoshi hearing the words, or simply the way of the winds, what is said between angha and wizard remains a mystery. And when done, and after a somewhat lengthy head rub, Svilfon smiles again at Satoshi. "I will remain about for a few days, lady icicle, before I must return to see those who rule this world. We will speak again." With another smile and a final head rub for Trebel, the wizard steps back from Satoshi and begins to enact his teleportation. "I will be at your library, Satoshi queen. Come see me when you are able..." With that said, the wizard vanishes from the bridge, back to his favourite place in all this world...
Satoshi salutes the empty air once Svilfon has gone, likely because he knows her well enough to assume the gesture is made, seen or not. Beside her, the angha rumbles is happiness at the whispered words and edges a bit closer to Satoshi, one forewing outstretched as if to shield her from Sven knows what.