Fantasy Skyheart (1 slot open)

[SilverFlight]

Kari couldn't keep a broad grin off her face.
"Now this is a family." She said before going to greet the members and introduce herself. Being inside such an extravagant house made her feel humble, even with the beautiful new clothes, so she kept mostly out of the center, watching the flock converge on Katja.
As Zeke moved past her she elbowed him in a friendly manner. "When are we gonna see your family huh?"

Kari was less than impressed with Matthias' abrupt question. "You have about as much verbal tact as a drowning buffalo..." She mumbled to him quietly.

Kari continued smiling as she looked on, only pausing when she caught sight of Gerel and his furrowed brow. She closed the distance between them and clapped him on the shoulder.
"We'll get back home, don't worry."
SleepyCreamy YumenoTsukishiro Elenion Aura

Lioness075 AncientBird kase9187 Naberius Elenion Aura Saturn_moon explosiveKitten

 

[explosiveKitten]

The young man that Matthias stopped turned and blinked at Matthias, his expression a little surprised, but before he could answer, the sound of someone knocking on the wooden bannister caught everyone’s attention.

“Young man, I would appreciate if you did not bring up such matters with my great-grandchildren, thank you very much!”

At the top of the stairs, dressed in pristine white linens and lapis-lazuli and gold jewelry, stood a very short woman. Standing at about 4”9, an old woman, with leathery brown skin that sagged with age. In her hand was a thick walking cane, and walking down the bannister beside her was a hairless cat with crumpled ears that looked like it had just eaten a lemon.

The various people greeted the old woman in varying levels of respect- Some calling her “Dalila” some calling her “Didi” and some calling her simply “Grandma”.
As the old woman descended the stairs, another woman- Someone who looks to be close to Shadya’s age- approached Dalila and attempted to help her down the stairs, but was only smacked away with the walking cane.

“Hush, Hathor! I’m 109 years old, not an invalid!”
“Grandma Didi, you really should be resting-“
“When there are things to be done, how can one just sit in bed?”
“Grandma-“

“Did I hear that Katja was here?” Dalila said, swinging her head around as Katja slowly walked over to the old woman.
“So, you’re... My great-grandmother? The one on the elder council.”
“Why yeeeess, child! You call me Grandma Didi, no need to be formal! Give your grandma a hug!” The old woman reached up and tugged Katja down to her level for a big hug.
“W-Well, I- alright, Grandma, I’ve heard so much about you from my father. He always speaks so fondly of you.”
“Does he now?” The old woman chided, raising an eyebrow at her suspiciously, before bursting into laughter so loud that it scared the hairless cat on the bannister.

“EHEEHEHEHEHEH! I’m not surprised! We spent a lot of time together when he was a little boy, especially after his father disappeared..”
“Wait, my grandfather-?”
The old woman hobbled away before Katja could continue her question, and she slowly waddled over to the group and looked up at them.
“Now, I sense a little tension over here. I also sense you have questions... You all should stay for lunch! It’s being worked on right now as we speak! I will answer your burning questions. So come! The Ahkamet home is open to you! Any friend of my great-granddaughter is a friend of my family!“

SilverFlight Lioness075 SleepyCreamy YumenoTsukishiro Elenion Aura Naberius AncientBird Saturn_moon kase9187

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf bowed respectfully to the great grandmother, as she was obviously the one in charge of the small country living in the mansion.

"Thank you, Madam Ahkamet. It's an honor to meet you, and you are too kind." His voice wasn't his normal cheeriness nor his uncharacteristic gloominess he'd displayed when they'd first arrived. It felt... polished. As if he was starting to try and figure out how he could approach this family, especially considering the difference between his lifestyle and the Ahkamets'.

SilverFlight explosiveKitten Elenion Aura SleepyCreamy Naberius AncientBird YumenoTsukishiro Lioness075 Saturn_moon

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra LaFrae	Nicknames: Lea, Firefly
Clan: Sudenta	Clan Job: Huntress
Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Bow, Quiver (0/10), Twin Daggers

Spoiler: Momo's Appearance

Spoiler: Falarion's Appearance

Falarion actually has brightly colored wings that have a rainbow hue in bright lighting. In darker settings, they can seem muted into a dark grey or even black color. He also does not have the golden tattoos spanning his body or the necklace around his neck.

Spoiler: Leandra's Westeros Outfit

She's wearing the first, green one.

Leandra scowled when Aldalf mentioned Ezekiel being hurt. She could not help herself. After all, nobody was looking to hurt anyone in this group and Leandra had barely even interacted with Ezekiel to begin with. Who exactly was going to hurt him?
She felt frustrated with how cryptic Aldalf's words were and was thinking of how to respond when Ezekiel spoke up.
Listening to him, Leandra held her tongue and her expression relaxed, as he seemed to agree with her.
Her lemur companion purred in her ear and rubbed his head against her cheek, prompting a smile, as she scratched one of his floppy ears. Leandra definitely felt more at ease with the lemur around and just wished she could remember his name. It was tempting to make up a new one for him, but she had a feeling that once her memories returned, so too would his name.

Ezekiel's response prompted a grin from Leandra, who also understood feeling independent enough to handle herself and then feeling frustrated when someone tried to coddle her. It had been difficult for her and Caliban to overcome their fierce independent personalities to finally be willing to help one another or even accept help from another person.

When Ezekiel thanked her, Leandra grinned again and nodded in response. She had noticed his hesitation upon noticing her lemur and Leandra said, "You can pet him if you like, Ezekiel. He loves being petted by anyone, trust me."

Noticing Aldalf acting weird, Leandra watched him speak to something out of sight. Based on the location of the mystery object and the fact that she still had her own amulet on, Leandra could only assume he had Spica inside of his amulet. She had never tried to speak to Falarion when he was inside the amulet before, but she knew when she would summon him into a battle that he always seemed ready to fight, as if he could sense what was happening outside the amulet.

Before she could say anything to him about it, an elderly woman began walking down the stairs and she seemed to command attention by her mere presence alone.
Leandra had no idea what to say to her and so she quietly hung back while a few of the group greeted her.
Watching Aldalf bow to the woman, Leandra felt uncomfortable, as she had no idea if she should bow as well. Growing up in her village back home, Leandra had never learned how she should act around a councilperson. Instead, she awkwardly stood where she was, continuing to grip her left wrist where her leather glove ended and some of her bandaging beneath was now peeking out with her exposed arm. She was beginning to regret her choice of attire.

SilverFlight Naberius kase9187 SleepyCreamy explosiveKitten Elenion Aura YumenoTsukishiro AncientBird

 

[AncientBird]

Gradma Didi, an old lady who claimed to be Katja's great grandmother arrived with a loud speech and cheerful attitude. Serik was surprised when he heard her age. Back home, Serik rarely heard of any elders exceeding 100 years old, as well as any person living long enough to be a great grandparents. Serik never met his, hearing from his grandma, her parents passed away before she could even get married, taken by sickness just as any people living in the wilderness with little knowledge and access to medical care were supposed to face. It must be the fact the Ahkamets is a wealthy family that live in one of the biggest, most advance city in the world that made this old lady living for so long.

Serik stood in the back of the group, listened as Grandma Didi invited them to stay for lunch and some conversation. Serik already had his meal, but it would be rude to refuse such a generosity, he could also use some other snacks as well, even though his pack of hazelnut was still hanging around his waist.

As some of his friends were speaking with Grandma Didi, Serik noticed Leandra standing uncomfortably by the back of the group. She seemed unsure of what to do in the situation. Her flying lemur was clinging on her shoulder as usual.

Walking toward her, Serik stopped right beside the Sudentarian girl. "Hey, you seem unsure of something. Is everything alright?" Serik asked Leandra... "Was it the crowd?" he added.

Featuring: explosiveKitten Lioness075

 

[YumenoTsukishiro]

Amazing how it only took a clap on the shoulder and a few reassuring words to make Gerel feel that everything was going to be alright. They would learn and train at the Academy, deal with the deathborn, and fly back home to their families with hard-won stories and proud grins. To Kari, such a gesture might only be simple friendliness. To Gerel, it was the rope that always pulled him out of the muck of his own negativity.

“Thank you. For a lot of things,” Gerel said to Kari. The melancholy wasn’t completely gone, but he still smiled.

It was then that he heard the knocking from somewhere up. He looked and saw a wizened woman walking down the stairs. People called her “Dalila” or “Grandma”, and combined with the other titles he heard it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this woman was the matriarch of the Ahkamet family. She held herself with such strength, grace and dignity that despite her frail form Gerel would instantly follow any command from Grandma Dalila.

She reminded him of the Stone Shaper who came to their home in Estendor to check up on his mother’s progress in the art. Even with all the lines and wrinkles and leathery skin, she was hard as rock, unmovable as the mountains, and still like the earth. There was always a rule whenever she was around: if she says you aren’t eating enough, never argue, for you cannot win against a boulder.

Formalities took over, and Gerel stepped forward and bowed before the Ahkamet matriarch. “It is an honor to be here, Madam Ahkamet. Thank you for your hospitality.”

He glanced over at Katja, the owl-faced girl who helped them out of a lot of sticky situations. In this first meeting with a family she never knew, impressions lasted, so Gerel tried to repay Katja the only way he knew how. “We owe a lot to your great-granddaughter. Because of her skill in healing, we were able to overcome great odds against us. I personally wouldn’t have survived one such encounter had she not stepped in and took care of my wounds.”

Featuring: SilverFlight explosiveKitten

 

[Saturn_moon]

The elderly woman that appeared at the top of the stairs was tiny even by Marylka's standards. Despite this, she commanded a presence that Marylka never could and the moment she spoke, the room fell silent. It was obvious that she was the matriarch of this family from the way people greeted her, in varying levels of formality but all with respect, as she passed them and made her way over to Katja.

She introduced herself as Grandma Didi before pulling Katja down, with what looked like surprising strength, for a hug. Marylka smiled at the sight, thinking of her own grandfather. "Must be nice." She muttered softly to no one in particular. "Family ties can survive even the longest of distances I suppose." As she said this, there was just the slightest hint of melancholy in her voice.

When Grandma Didi approached them, Marylka instinctively straightened her posture and clasped her hands in front her. She watched as Aldaf and Gerel went up and formally greeted Grandma Didi with a bow. Still feeling very much out of place amongst the grandeur of her surroundings and the sheer number of people, Marylka simply observed and followed. It was Katja's moment and she was happy to go along with whatever the girl decided to do.

explosiveKitten SilverFlight Elenion Aura Naberius SleepyCreamy Lioness075 YumenoTsukishiro AncientBird kase9187

 

[SleepyCreamy]

"When are we gonna see your family huh?" Kari gave him a friendly nudge as they enter the house. The question made Zeke's lips turn up a bit. Who knew she of all people would care. Zeke didn't give her a full smile, but instead, he returned the friendly nudge back. Stitt was pleased by this and nuzzled her head on the side of his neck.
"Well. For starters, my family's not as big as this. So I guess you can't expect a huge welcome party like this one." He said jokingly as he gestured to the Ahkmets. "It's just my mother. And besides, I plan on seeing her in private, if you don't mind. You can meet her afterward, but I'd appreciate it if I have some moment of peace with her first."
SilverFlight

Just a few minutes of entering the house, after Leandra engaged a conversation with him and Aldaf, Leandra said something that Zeke did not expect. "You can pet him if you like, Ezekiel. He loves being petted by anyone, trust me." He must've been obliviously staring at her lemur to get the hint. She was sharp and Zeke took note of that.
"Oh!" Well, this is unexpected. He thought. "I guess I owe you another 'thanks'." Zeke nodded his head to Leandra as an act of gratitude. Zeke took a step forward to pet the absolutely adorable creature that was idly on Leandra's shoulder. When Zeke moved his arm towards the creature, he gave it a moment to sniff his hands first before continuing with the important task at hand, which was petting the undeniably handsome creature. The Lemur got too curious and decided to climb Zeke's arms and was now perching on his biceps. Zeke kept his arm stable, trying to make the creature comfortable. Stitt however, eyed the lemur that Zeke's been fawning over. Momo eyed the pocket gryphon back with his huge emerald eyes. Zeke was aware of Stitt's resentment towards the creature and continued to pet the lemur, Momo clearly enjoying himself as he nuzzled his cute nose on Zeke's hands.
"Isn't he adorable Stitt?" He teased his companion with a smirk. As Zeke stood near Leandra, petting her lovable pet, he caught Serik engaging a conversation with the blue-eyed female. Zeke could only assume that it was about their earlier interaction with Aldaf, but Zeke kept his mouth shut as he wishes to not be involved with Leandra's own thoughts, so instead, he observes the lemur's attributes. Zeke hasn't seen a creature like this one and it urged him to sketch it for the sake of knowledge.
Lioness075

Naberius Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 Elenion Aura AncientBird

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra LaFrae	Nicknames: Lea, Firefly
Clan: Sudenta	Clan Job: Huntress
Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Bow, Quiver (0/10), Twin Daggers

Spoiler: Momo's Appearance

Spoiler: Falarion's Appearance

Falarion actually has brightly colored wings that have a rainbow hue in bright lighting. In darker settings, they can seem muted into a dark grey or even black color. He also does not have the golden tattoos spanning his body or the necklace around his neck.

Spoiler: Leandra's Westeros Outfit

She's wearing the first, green one.

Leandra was still wondering what to do while everyone greeted Katja's grandmother when Serik walked up to her. She was surprised at first by the sudden appearance and even more so when Serik noted her discomfort. She had not expected Serik to approach her like this.
Hesitantly, Leandra responded, "Ah, yeah...a little. It's just overwhelming to see such a big family all at once like this. I just have my parents, little brother, and then Caliban for my family. And we lived in a cozy cabin, not something as big or grand as this place."
Leandra kept her right hand around her left wrist, as she felt an urge to itch her left hand. She had to resist, else she would have to explain herself and show the horrific scarring to the group. She did not mind Caliban knowing about it now, but she definitely did not feel comfortable sharing it with everyone else.

As Ezekiel began to approach her flying lemur, Leandra had to stifle a laugh at how Ezekiel handled her pet. He was thoroughly pleased with getting to pet her lemur and Leandra watched as his own little pet eyeballed her lemur. She grinned as she watched Ezekiel practically fall head over heels for her lemur.
Unable to help herself, Leandra laughed softly and then said, "Careful, Ezekiel, Stitt might become jealous if you don't give him some pets as well."

AncientBird SleepyCreamy

 

[AncientBird]

Listened to Leandra's word, Serik chuckled and looked back at the Ahkamets. "Yes, I can totally say that family reunion can be a bit overwhelming sometimes... I live in an extended family... One not even as big as a quarter of this, and it's already pretty chaotic everyday." Serik then paused for a bit. "But at least, when you see everyone talking, laughing and being excited to join together like this... It warms your hearth, you know you are home where you are always be welcomed." Said Serik. His mind began to shift back to his family in Estendor. Homesickness started to creep into the young man's head again... Would this decision still worth everything he had to leave behind? He could have been in Katja's place, surrounded by his beloved ones... He wouldn't need to be worried, wouldn't need to question himself every time something remind him of them...

However, before sadness clung on to his feeling, Serik brushed it aside and looked back at Leandra, just to see Ezekiel playing with Leandra's pet lemur Momo. Serik's eyebrow raised a bit at the sight. He had seen Ezekiel interacted like this with his pygmy gryphon numerous times, but never to someone else's pet. Ezekiel used to act isolated and antagonistic to other teammates and still did, like how he got into argument with Marylka a while back... Still, Serik believed that he never did every of those action intentionally, or at least not to his own pleasure... No, not someone who stood his ground for a couple of helpless, injured men against a terrifying deathborn even if he had plenty opportunity to flee... Seeing Ezekiel trying to bond with Leandra through her pet like this was a good sight.

Serik softly smiled at the adorable sight. "Well well well, I guess cuteness does consume every hearts it can get a hold on, no matter what..." He said.

Featuring: Lioness075 SleepyCreamy

 

[SilverFlight]

Kari smiled as Gerel's words, then shrugged and punched his shoulder lightly before moving to follow the family matriarch.

Kari liked Grandma Didi instantly. She was straight forward and no-nonsense. She also had an air about her suggesting that she knew a lot. A lot about the city, a lot about its people, and a lot about recent events.
"Actually ma'am, my friend there had the right idea, we need to know more about the attacks happening on the city...and if you can, we should probably know about a man called Deralis. I know he and the headmaster of the academy don't necessarily see eye to eye, but how do people feel about him?"

YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten
Elenion Aura (mentioned)

 

[Naberius]

Cal was instantly entranced by the entire situation. Katja's family was massive and varied, and there were smiles all around. Even Mushu found himself entertaining the kids, flying from one to the other, basking in the attention of everyone he could. He laughed, it was a nice reunion. It was when her Grandmother made an entrance that he looked rather...perplexed. She was certainly an interesting person, but he didn't really know what to make of her. HE knew she was an important figure in local politics and structure, but beyond that, if he hadn't been told, he would have just assumed she was an eccentric elderly woman with an equally eccentric look. But she was friendly enough, and welcome Katja with a warm hug, putting an even bigger smile on his face. When she walked over and others began making their introductions, he really didn't know what to do. He had never really been taught how to approach or speak to someone of great importance, it hadn't really come up before. So, following instinct, he simply gave her a warm smile, a polite wave and introduced himself the old fashioned way.

"Hello, ma'am, I'm Caliban, but everyone calls me Cal. Pleasure to meet you."

explosiveKitten SilverFlight Elenion Aura Saturn_moon SleepyCreamy Lioness075 YumenoTsukishiro AncientBird kase9187

 

[Elenion Aura]

Matthias​

Matthias stood cross-armed and listened, shooting a sidelong glance at Kari for her buffalo comment. He'd remember that one. Truth be told, all of this jovialty would've made Matthias more than a little uneasy even under normal circumstances. But now, with the Deathborn threat looming on the horizon, he was hard-pressed to justify this little detour... Not to mention, Matthias couldn't help but feel like Katja's Northarian half wasn't being given its fair shake. All this opulence... If that was what she was after, maybe she should've chosen Westeros at the Proving after all.

Tags: Lioness075 SleepyCreamy AncientBird kase9187 Saturn_moon Naberius YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten SilverFlight
​

 

[explosiveKitten]

“Aahhhh, yes... Deralis... Young fool.”

Grandma Didi mumbled, smacking her lips and scratching her chin as she thought, before she wheeled around and just started talking. Seems she just expected everyone to naturally follow her. That was probably what she was used to.

“He is a young, accomplished Councilman, surely.” Didi said, waving her unoccupied hand around in wild gestures, “He’s done many great things for Westeros, that I cannot deny. But always ambitious! Too much, I’d say. The recent surge of Deathborn into the city limits has given him a springboard into the spotlight! He grabs at as much attention as he can get, in hope she that it will get him what he wants.”

Grandma Didi passed through a doorway to the right of everyone, into a rather large sitting area full of chairs, couches and tables. Shadya can be seen sitting on the couch with the woman named Hathor and another woman, dressed like a warrior

“From what I’ve heard, the Deathborn have only appeared in small groups, on an infrequent basis. And though the groups are small in size, they attack populated areas, like the markets, common areas, the likes.”

“I can understand his concern for the public wellbeing- Some people are too scared to leave their houses these days- But running around!” Dalila three her hands up in exasperation, “Riling up folks to the point where they are terrified as they are. He’s gathering supporters, he seems bent on taking some of the students from the mages academy- Mere children- to send them to the front lines. That kind of reckless endangerment of our children will get them all killed! Someone in his position should realize that scaring the living daylights outta people will do nothing but cause mass hysteria!”

Grandma Didi seemed to be genuinely upset by the whole situation, but smiled anyway at the group and waved a hand dismissively. “Ahh, but that’s none of your concern, children. I can answer all your questions over lunch. You’re lucky- Azra was behind the making of lunch today. If it was Bastet- Hoo! You’d wish your tongue fell off!”

“GRANDMA!” The warrior woman sitting on the couch shrieked.
“EEHEEEHEHEHEHEEHEH! now come along! Katja, this was always your father’s favorite dish!”
“R-Really?”

With that, Dalila led the group into the rather large dining area and lunch was finally had.

SilverFlight Lioness075 SleepyCreamy @YumenoTsukishiro Elenion Aura Naberius @AncientBird Saturn_moon kase9187

 

[SleepyCreamy]

Spoiler: The Marcellius' House Entrance

*note: This illustration is not mine, (I didn't commission or request this either, I'm just gonna use it as reference) the credit goes to the artist, Nastasia Khomyakova from ArtStation

Leandra's remark made Zeke drop his hand that was petting Momo only to reach over to Stitt, who puffed her chest fur out which was a simple act of slight annoyance. Zeke gave Stitt a teasing poke on her cheek and Stitt replied with a playful peck. He heard Serik's remark and Zeke made a 'Tsk' sound. "I just find animals easier to understand than humans, that's all." As he said that, he approached Leandra with the intention of giving Momo back. With one last pet, Momo smoothly glided over to Leandra's shoulder and Zeke noticed Stitt's ruffled chest fur to be smoothing down. He gave Stitt another pet and she accepted it while happily chirping.

Even with Stitt right beside him, Zeke couldn't help but still feel empty. His hands sweat in anticipation knowing that his mother is only a few distances away from him. So, he did the only logical thing for him to do. He has been holding himself back from seeing his own mother just to be the group's navigator. Now that he thinks it is the right time to leave them be, he finally decided it is time to reunite with his mother. He then turned towards Serik and Leandra. "I'm gonna have to go on ahead and just meet up with my mother." He looked back at the group, slightly hesitating. Then, he had an idea. "If anyone wishes to follow me, tell them to head further down the street and they'll see an entrance with some stone pillars and a lily pond in the middle of it. That's where the entrance of my home is. Can I trust the two of you to handle this request of mine?" Zeke was unsure at first whether they would accept his request, but that feeling soon died down when he was so sure that they'd decline his request. After all, he was the guy who was driven by spite and despair. But after Zeke's previous mistakes, he thought he should at least tell the two where he was going... it would be inconsiderate of him not to.

AncientBird Lioness075

 

[AncientBird]

Hearing Ezekiel wanting to leave to see his mother, Serik replied. “You are leaving already? But the Ahkamets just invited us for a lunch. At least stay for a while... I am sure everyone in our band would love to visit your family as well. We all could go together.” Said the young man.

Serik knew how Ezekiel was restless to finally meet his mother again. However, he felt that a guest leaving someone’s house just a few moment after being invited in would be rather rude to the host. Ezekiel, being like he always be, probably wouldn’t think too much about this manner or mean to upset anyone. Still, Serik wouldn’t want him to make any more bad impression on this family and probably to other teammates too.

Featuring: SleepyCreamy Naberius kase9187 Lioness075

 

[SilverFlight]

After a long day of exploring the sun finally began to dip below the buildings, their silhouettes cast in the bruised pastels and vibrant golds of twilight. They had talked at length with Didi and the rest of Katja's family, Kari storing every bit of useful information away for later use. Now they made their way slowly back to the academy.
"I don't get why someone would want to use the deathborn to gain support...it just seems like playing with the lives of innocent people, disrespecting the memory of the ones that died..." Kari had not often had to think about things like this. Her family lived out on the plains, far away from the reaches of their clan's politics. She didn't know politicians, but if Deralis was a textbook case, she was sure she didn't like them.
"But at the same time, he's been pretty effective at mobilizing the guard when an attack does happen."
Footsteps pounded down the sandy street, several people were running like their lives depended on it, and behind them, sounded a chorus of screams.
"The deathborn! The deathborn are in the market square!"
Kari looked at the others, her expression determined. "Come on guys! We can help!"

The shadows stretched like blue arms over the streets, shielding the occupants from the brilliance of the setting sun. More people raced past them as they made their way to the square. When they arrived, several of the carts had been overturned, cloth ripped, dates and nuts littering the stones. There were five deathborn, the size of skybeasts, but something was different about them. The place where their crystals were kept was sealed with hard bone. They would have more to go through to get at them.
The creatures were situated around the fountain, clawing as the stone, trying to get at a young boy hidden in the small cavity in its center.
"Let's surround them! Cut them off from chasing people! Koray!"
Zepher burst forth with a snarl. He had sensed the urgency in Kari, and came from his gem ready to fight.

Heavier footsteps told them the guard had arrived. They carried long pikes and thick armour. Deralis was at their head, his own armour and a thick pike in his hand. At least he didn't lead from the rear.
He spread his men out to cover the escape of the remaining people.
"Ha! I knew we would meet again soon!" He barked, smiling. "Let's show these demons what we've got!"
It was hard not to like him at that moment, Kari realized, and she unfurled her whip.

She and Zepher went after the first, a dragon deathborn. Kari cracked the whip and the sound of it echoed about the square. The foot of the beast snapped, bone fragments flying. Zepher lunged and managed to fasten his beak around the creature's bony neck, twisting and pinning it to the ground, leaving the creature wide open to an attack from one of the others.

SleepyCreamy YumenoTsukishiro Elenion Aura Lioness075 AncientBird kase9187 Naberius Elenion Aura Saturn_moon explosiveKitten

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf rushed out behind Kari, pulling his amulet from underneath his shirt.

"SPICA! KORAY!"

Spica burst forward, immediately tackling a gryphon deathborn.

Aldaf dashed forward, moving quickly due to his magic. Sand kicked up behind him and followed his path straight for the deathborn. He pulled out his dagger, slid underneath and cut through the orb inside, causing the creature to dissapate.

Spica twirled around and threw her quills at the deathborn Zephyr pinned, Aldaf guiding her aim. The quills thudded into the beast, a couple hitting the orb. It cracked but didn't break.

Aldaf heard Deralis call out, agreeing with his sentiment about driving the Deathborn away. At the very least, Deralis was fighting and not hiding behind the people he wanted to fight.

Suddenly he felt Spica's surprise and pain. The gryphon wasn't dead yet, even with what he'd done, and it was biting at Spica's neck!

"SPICA!" Aldaf screamed, lunging at the beast and digging his daggers into the Deathborn's spine to distract it. The gryphon thrashed and threw Aldaf about, but he dug his daggers in more to hold on.

Spica managed to work her way free of the gryphon Deathborn's talons, her neck bleeding from several places. She couldn't attack the gryphon while Aldaf hung on, though, so she kept her distance and waited.

SilverFlight SleepyCreamy AncientBird YumenoTsukishiro Elenion Aura Naberius
explosiveKitten Lioness075 Saturn_moon

 

[AncientBird]

Following the band, Serik yawned and stretched as they all were about to head back to the academy. It was indeed a long day and Serik was cherished by all the food and friendship the Ahkamets provided, as well as some more information on the deathborns and the situation they were facing.

Evening was about to kick in and the sky turned beautifully orange. People were starting to settle down at their home after a long day working. It was a peaceful sight to see until scream of fear could be heard.

And before Serik could question about the matter, the band came face to face with 5 deathborns that were just recently descended from the sky and started attacking the citizens.

Deralis and the guards arrived just in time the deathborns turned at the band. The captain of the guard rallied his troops to attack and rescued the citizens, just like any competent would and he seemed to be really good at it too. Kari and Aldaf too, sprang to action and summoned their skybeasts to fight a couple of deathborns.

Serik stood there on the spot... Not because of fear or anything but the fact that he didn’t expect such attack right in the middle of the city, he had left Valkyrie, the only weapon currently reliable enough to fight deathborns back at the academy’s stable... All he had was a single dagger he just purchased which were probably sturdy enough to crack the deathborns’ orb... Which this time, also protected by bony plate as if they had adapted after realizing their own weakness.

Suddenly, Serik had to duck as a huge bony tail filled with sharp spike was whipped toward him. He rolled and stood up just to face against what seemed to be a feathered serpent deathborn, with its six bony wings and long sabre-like fangs.

“Alas!” Serik exclaimed as he dodged another tail swing and rolled into a food stall near by. With his palm glowed, false serik in his Estendor attire emerged in front of him. Serik ran out from the back of the stall as the deathborn charged, bit down on the illusion and got nothing but air. The monster was still rather foolish and kept attacking false Serik just like its brethen before. Serik looked around for something to fight back, he spotted a bunch of thick rope near by. Tying the rope into lasso, Serik stood and faced the deathborn who was still occupied with his double. He threw the lasso on one of its wing and pulled, snapped the loop tightly.

The deathborns screeched and struggled to get free as Serik tried to pull it down... However, he was just one man, one little man... The deathborn pulled him with it and with a quick u-turn, it threw Serik against a wall.

The young man was stunned and as he tried to got up on his shaking legs, his adversary was right in front of him. Serik looked up in terror as the monster was about to strike him down...

Suddenly, a screech could be heard and something redish brown dropped on the deathborn’s face. Serik was confused, but when he got a good glimpse of what happened, he saw something rather unexpected.

It was a bird of prey, a quite large one although much smaller than Talon, Gerel’s eagle yet still bigger than any kind of hawk or buzzard he had seen. Its talons grasped around the jaws under the eye socket of the deathborn’s snake-liked skull, while it wings beat rapidly.

The bird’s attempt didn’t do much but it at least pulled the deathborn’s attention from Serik. The young man slipped away and grabbed the lasso again, trying to pull the monster down. A couple of guards arrived with their own lasso. “Please help me pull this one down!” Serik called as he was about to be dragged off again. With the help from the guards and the bird, they all pulled the deathborn to a stop and began to try tugging it down to be dispatched.

Suddenly, the deathborn shook the bird off its head and threw the critter away. The bird screeched in pain as it was sent right into a stall. The monster then turned toward Serik and the guards, trying to overpower them in a tug of war fight while also whipping its spiky tail. One swing hit an unfortunate guard and sent him flying. The force pulling the monster was reduced and Serik and the other guard were loosing their own grip.

“Somebody help us!” Serik called out.

Featuring:
SilverFlight SleepyCreamy kase9187 YumenoTsukishiro Elenion Aura Naberius explosiveKitten Lioness075 Saturn_moon

 

[Saturn_moon]

Day turned to dusk and the scorching afternoon heat dissipated, giving way to a gentle evening breeze. People ambled down the street at now slackened paces while merchants hurriedly packed up their wares, eager to return home to their families and evening meal.

"I don't get why someone would want to use the deathborn to gain support...it just seems like playing with the lives of innocent people, disrespecting the memory of the ones that died..." Kari said as the group slowly made their way through the winding streets of To’bai, now cast in the golden hues of the setting sun, back to the academy.

“I can’t say for sure but perhaps Deralis truly believes he’s doing the people a service… My father says that fear can make even the best of people do stupid things.”

Suddenly, sounds of people running and frightened screams erupted from the market square behind them. There was apparently no such thing as a quiet day for this group. Immediately, they were on the move, running against the crowd, much to the confusion of several civilians, towards the source of the commotion. They turned the corner to find five deathborns viciously clawing at the central fountain where a young boy had unfortunately gotten himself trapped during his attempt to escape.

Kari and Aldaf summoned their skybeasts and Marylka instinctively reached for her own amulet only to remember that she’d left Archie, who had been well worn out from their travels, to rest in the stables. It seemed like she was going to have to do this without any aerial advantage. At that moment, the city guards, armed with long pikes, made their appearance and started to aid the remaining people with their escape. With a huge smile on his face, Deralis looked almost excited to see the group present.

Seeing three of the deathborn now engaged, Marylka dashed into the fray, zigzagging through the chaos, and headed for the centre of the square. Grasping onto as much water from the fountain as she could with her magic, she threw up a wave that knocked the two remaining deathborns, still clawing at the stone, on to their backs. Before they had time to recover, she slipped past them and jumped into the water, quickly wading towards the cavity where the boy was hiding and extended a hand towards him.

Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw both of the deathborns get back on their feet and with a horrifying snarl, they leapt into the air and made a rapid beeline towards them. “Go, go, go!” She shouted, pushing the boy out of the way just as the jaws of the undead wolf snapped at the spot where their heads once were.

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[YumenoTsukishiro]

Lunch at the Ahkamets was a warm affair, if a little overwhelming. The food Gerel already had at the Academy and the tea place earlier were some of the best he ever ate. Everything laid out before him exceeded all of that, and then some. Gleaming platters of roasted meat, bowls full of aromatic soups, and other dishes he couldn’t quite name. He enjoyed taking bites out of everything he could reach, relishing in the strange yet delicious tastes. Out of it all, the part he liked best came after the dessert was served. Yes, sweet things did taste better with the bitterness of coffee.

“I can’t say for sure but perhaps Deralis truly believes he’s doing the people a service… My father says that fear can make even the best of people do stupid things,” Marylka said when Kari brought up Deralis once more.

“If Deralis truly is looking to use the threat of deathborn as a tool to raise his station at the expense of people’s… children’s lives,” Gerel said, growing angrier with each word, “then he’s no better than the very monsters we fight.”

Screams pierced the twilight as the street burst into chaos. People were running, shouting, pushing against each other. One of them knocked over an auburn-haired lady with a basket, causing the cabbages inside it to scatter. Before more people trampled her, Gerel quickly pulled her up and brought her quickly to the side.

“T-Thank you,” the lady said, still shaken by the unfolding events.

“As long as you’re alright. We’ll take it from here,” Gerel said, turning to where his companions had already run off. But he felt a hand grabbing at his wrist and he looked back at the lady.

“Shouldn’t you be running, too? There’s no way you can fight the deathborn like that,” she said. Her hand was trembling, yet her face held a certain determination Gerel could respect. She wasn't wrong, either; the only weapon he had was his buckler. The rest was left back at the dorms, and Jeff was left at the stables since he didn't like being stuck inside the pendant for too long. Even so, Gerel had his pride. He wasn't about to let that stop him from fighting alongside his companions. With a smile he gently pulled himself away from the lady’s grip.

“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself. I’ve been through worse.”

As if on cue, Talon flew in overhead with a loud screech, heading towards the center of the chaos. “Go. Get somewhere safe, and make sure not to trip again.”

“O-Okay.”

------

To his credit, Deralis moved and acted according to his title. The Guardsmen attacked in sync, following his every order. He himself fought against the five deathborn with great vigor for a man his age. The rest of his companions were already tangled with the deathborn, with the fifth one trying to circle around through an alleyway but ended up getting knocked over by Marylka’s wave. This fight was disadvantageous for them from the start, especially since the deathborn seemed to have evolved a protective shell around their weakest point-- the purple orb.

Well, he still had his magic, even if so far every time he used it he wound up fainting where he stood. Controlling it was as easy as telling the storm to stop, but he had to try.

“Time to get a little creative. Talon!”

The priority was to disable the deathborn that could fly. With the dragon pinned by Zephy and Kari, it was a prime target to take down. Whistling sharply, Gerel called Talon to strike the dragon’s right wing joint, while Gerel rushed in and raised his buckler at the left wing joint.

A spark of inspiration hit him as they both moved. Struggling to control the flow, he willed the winds to gather around Talon’s beak and the edge of his buckler. At the moment of impact, the wind sharpened to a point, piercing through bone and shattering it into pieces. Both wings fell off the dragon, effectively grounding it.

“Thanks be to the deities, I’m finally getting a hang of this,” Gerel said. A shout from Serik drew his attention to the winged serpent which was thrashing against the ropes binding it.

“O Ventra, guide my hand as I call upon your winds,” Gerel prayed, then followed it with another sharp whistle. Talon wasted no time diving for the serpent, cloaked with winds that sped her flight and turned her beak into a lance. With a shriek, she pierced through the serpent’s head, taking out half of the skull. At best it would only disorient the deathborn. Somebody else had to help finish the job.

In that moment, the dragon deathborn retaliated with a sweep of its tail. Gerel was barely able to raise his buckler before the strike came and shoved him back. His arm numbed with pain, but he bore it with a grin. "It'll take more than that to defeat us, you sad sack of bones!"

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[Elenion Aura]

Matthias​

With a few guards losing their grip on the line, the Deathborn must've sensed the tension in its bond begin weaken. It began to flap its wings and rise, creating gusts of violent wind that rattled the carts and whipped up sand and assorted produce. The creature turned its attentions back on its kin, eyes blazing with malice. It would lend them a hand, alas it had none. Perhaps it would lend them a wing? It had plenty to spare. Then, with only the whistling of the wind to serve as a warning, the top half of the serpentine Dearborn’s head shattered. Talon swooped by as the now half-headless Deathborn chittered its jaws with confused fury, thrashing blindly through the air.

All at once, the line of AncientBird makeshift lasso sudddenly went slack in the young man's hands... As Matthias took up fistfuls of the rope and pulled. Matthias yanked once, and the creature rocked back and forth, drawn off balance by this new contender. Matthias pulled again, violently wrenching the rope with all his might. With a cry, the creature came hurtling down to earth again, its entangled wing nearly torn clean off. It landed in the sand with a dull thud.

Matthias let go of the rope and took off in a dead sprint. Before it could right itself, Matthias pounced on the creature, wrestling against its writhing, serpentine form. With neither sword nor spear at his disposal - or Volos, for that matter; Matthias imagined the bear was sleeping peacefully in the the Westerosi stables - Matthias has little recourse but to grapple the Deathborn with his bare hands.

The creature reared its head, jaws snapping open and closed. Matthias pulled back and clenched his fist, punching the creature in its maw. It recoiled with a warbling cry, a lattice-work of cracks blossoming along its snout. Matthias bit back the pain arcing up his arm and readied another blow.

Tags: Lioness075 SleepyCreamy AncientBird kase9187 Saturn_moon Naberius YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten SilverFlight
​

 

[Naberius]

Caliban Lupei

Cal rather enjoyed the relaxing evening they had. They really deserved the break from all the fighting. The shopping, the tea, the relaxed chats, and lunch with Katja's family, it was shaping up to be a pretty fantastic day, all in all. He also really liked the new outfit he had, even if a good part of that reasoning was because Katja liked the color... Though he still didn't really know particularly why he enjoyed that she liked it other than the opinions of his friends mattered to him, but that didn't really seem entirely correct either. Whatever it was, it would have to wait, as fate had once again decided that they had other things to attend to before they could relax any further.

He heard the screams before he heard anything else. Then, the shouting about the deathborn. He tensed up, scowling. It wasn't an expression that he was used to wearing, but it was there all the same. They more or less all decided at about the same time to do the same thing, and turned to run towards the danger, as was their usual choice in such things. Caliban was on the heels of his friends, and when they arrived he suddenly realized that he had forgotten his spear in the dorm. He hadn't wanted to carry it around seeing as how today was just supposed to be a relaxing day in the city, enjoying themselves for once. The others had already begun engaging the enemy, and without a weapon he was basically useless in the current fight, so he did what ever he could do to make himself useful. He started ushering people to safety, and making sure they got away. There were a few close calls with some of the beasts, but they seemed to otherwise distracted for the most part, some of them near death and barely hanging on to their twisted existence.


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[SleepyCreamy]

Wonderful hues of orange and purple were painted across the skies as Zeke followed the rest of the group back to the academy. Zeke was rather in a happy mood after he got to finally see his mother alive and well. Afternoons are Zeke’s favourite time of the day as he felt the cool breeze dance around him. Now that he was sure that his mother was well and healthy, the task of regaining his lost memories soon became his utmost priority. Zeke was trailing behind the group, acting as if he were a mere shadow. Today was just one day and he already created a mix of some happy and bad memories. He didn’t expect himself to make Marylka angry and he mostly didn’t expect himself to buy an expensive bow for one of his… new colleagues. Zeke wasn’t used to having this many people in his life. He preferred his silent and lonely life before he met these nine people. Before he woke up in that tent and certainly before his memories of the previous year were wiped clean.

But Zeke learned at a young age that there was no use in sulking once your fate is sealed. He has always been the one to believe in the gods’ guidance and he will continue to do so until his very last breath.

As screams rang behind him, the hairs on his neck started to rise and he looked above the beautifully painted sky, it was as if he was searching for the gods themselves. He hoped to end this day in a relaxing reading session alone in his library. Oh, Gods above, when can we truly take a break? He wondered to himself, even though it may sound like he was asking the gods above.

The moment he heard the people utter the cursed word, deathborns, Zeke instinctively reached inside his bag to search for something he could fight with, then he felt the cold metal touch his fingertips, the ball, and chain sickle. He simply wasn’t planning on having his insides be meddled with by these creatures anytime soon. Zeke noted that he has to craft a brand new belt to properly store his weapons. Zeke followed Kari and the rest as they made their way towards the market square. As he ran past the fleeing Westerosians, he consciously took hold of his pendant, as if connecting with Azurine. He saw his parents do this countless times with their own Skybeasts, he could only hope that Azurine managed to get his message.

In the Academy’s stables, there lies an aggravated Manticore, scratching the wooden door blocking his path. He could feel his rider’s anxiety and as it grew, so did the Manticore’s temper. And next thing you know, Azurine used his powerful claws to dig a space under the wooden door. His sharp, badger-like claws made it easier for him to achieve the task in hand. Azurine quickly zipped past the corridor and once he was out, he spread his wings out and in just one or two wingbeats, he was off towards his anxious rider.

Back to Zeke, Kari and Aldaf were quick to spring into action as they had already pulled their Skybeasts out. Zeke was about to take a step forward if it weren’t for the booming voice of Deralis. The man’s tone simply annoyed Zeke, he felt like the man was someone not to be trusted. Zeke knows very little about the man, but what he does know is that if a grown man asks for little children to fight for his fights, then that man is not deserving of Zeke’s trust or respect. Zeke thinks that children of youth are supposed to be nurtured and loved, something he didn’t receive when he was young. They were supposed to enjoy their youth before they’d get thrown into the aspect of adulthood. He felt his grip on his weapon tightening the more he thought about it.

Soon, he composed himself and assessed the situation in front of him. Marylka’s heroic acts didn’t go unnoticed by Zeke and because of that, he made up his mind to help the raven-haired female. Okay, Zeke, don’t mess this up. He thought to himself as he ran straight towards the wolf, it’s cold, dead eyes quickly took notice of Zeke and Zeke stared at it back with the same ferocity. Zeke swung his chains to build up momentum and as he neared the wolf, the deathborn started charging straight for him and he waited for the right time to swing. Once the wolf was only a metre or so away from him, he then swung his chains around the beast’s snout, snapping it shut. Once he was sure the beast’s snout was safely close, his next obstacle was now the beast’s lethal claws, to which Zeke dodged by sliding his whole body underneath to the beast’s underbelly. He used that as an opportunity to use his sharp sickle to slice the beast’s hardened chest and stomach, as he continued to slide under the large beast. Zeke quickly stood up once he passed the wolf’s hind legs and gave his chains a harsh tug, which brought the beast tumbling down. Once it was down, Zeke hurriedly tied it’s four long legs using his chains.

He took that time to observe the beast’s hardened core and it made him think about the possible cause for such quick evolution. Zeke was so enraptured by his own thoughts that he hasn’t noticed one of the wolf’s released paws, coming in fast on Zeke’s face. Once Zeke finally took notice, he could only close his eyes and wait for his new scar… However, Zeke felt no impact and only heard a familiar growl. Azurine finally came to his rescue. Once Zeke opened his eyes, Azurine’s jaws were trapped on the wolf’s slim neck, while the paw that was about to land on Zeke had been cut clean. Zeke assumed Azurine used his claws since it was hovering above the wolf’s dismembered paw.

“You always come in clutch, don’t you, boy.” As he said that, Zeke continued to pry open the hardened armour that was protecting the deathborn’s mysterious orb. All Zeke could think about during that very moment was…
How could they have gotten such an idea?
I thought these were just mindless creatures.
Are these perhaps a new breed of deathborns? Or can deathborns also use evolutions?
Could there be something, or perhaps somebody implanting such ideas to these monster’s heads? If so, how do they do it?
So many questions lingered in Zeke’s mind, but he must stay focused in destroying the orb while Azurine holds the wolf off. If he could remember clearly, there were five deathborns in total, one’s the wolf, second’s the dragon (which were being taken care of by Gerel and Kari), the third’s the griffin (which were being taken care of by Aldaf), fourth’s the six-winged snake (which were being taken care of by Matthias and Serik), which made Zeke wondered for the whereabouts of the fifth one. Little did he know, it was just preparing to pounce on him.

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[kase9187]

Aldaf was stabbing at the Griffin with ferocious bloodlust, managing to crawl his way inside the damn thing and start breaking things from inside.

"SPICA! HELP THE OTHERS!"

Spica, conflicted with leaving her rider, bashed the wings off the Griffin with her tail before bolting off to help the others. She noticed that most everyone was dealing effectively... except for the one deathborn aiming at Zeke and Azurine. With a charge, she managed to nick the Deathborn mid-air, causing it to miss its target.

Aldaf barely fit in the ribcage of the beast, but that was nothing a good few bashes with a solid object wouldn't fix. The plates, however, were making it hard for him to break the ribs for more room. He had to focus on the orb.

The orb was sparsely protected with plates, which he took his daggers to in an effort to pry them off. He could hear bones breaking behind the plate, but it barely gave any leeway.

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