Winter Theme
Continued from here
Kisaik marched along, wrapped in his cavani cloak to ward off much of the cold, while the spirit of Luck and Storms accompanied him through his cloak. He glanced askance at the dreadful spirits that lingered just on the periphery. However, he was not one to be denied. He knew if the spirit he was looking for was anywhere, it'd be in the midst of misery and doom and gloom. Hope sprung up where it was needed, and didn't abide in the lightest hours, where cheer was abundant. It was a dirty, messy thing that clung and scrabbled for every inch of existence it could hold onto.
That gave him an idea, and it told him just where to go.
He knew then, it'd be the barren tree where in the world above the birds nested and roosted, their vanity and greed a bane to spirits of light and cheerfulness. He went, and by luck he saw that a cavern had opened up near the roots of the other side of the tree. Really it was more of a burrow, but it was deep enough for Kisaik to begin to ride on into. So he did that, and as he went, his eyes searched the darkness, until he was overcome by a blanket of nothing.
Yet he didn't give up, but kept on keeping on, using
Vindecaldra's Candle
he lit the way, all while bolstering themselves with a strong feeling of courage from his Orange Fairy Knight Ring. Yet the spirits of gloom overwhelmed, cajoling, trying to convince him to take them onto his cloak, in order that he'd bring them into Idalos proper. If only he would do that, they would show him the way.But he ignored their cajoling, calling upon the power of Dark Bark to bolster his discipline, and thus he lit the way with Vindecaldra's Flame, and eventually found a small mote of light. At first that was all it appeared to be. But with the radiating ephemera from Kisaik, brimming with courage and hope and steadfast determination, it grew stronger still. The little light of hope in the end of the burrow began to blossom, into a bright flower-like apparition.
Kisaik reached out to touch it, and it reacted with a sudden nimbus of light brimming from its center. "Will you come with me? I can bring you someplace where you can grow unhindered by gloom."
The spirit seemed to hesitate. It couldn't properly speak, but Kisaik seemed to take the meaning of its reluctance. It was needed here of all places.
"I can show you one who has lost all hope, who has been bitten down and struck by so much strife and grief. You might be able to help. But there's no guarantee."
The feeling he got from the flower, was that Hope was never a guarantee. And so it inched toward him, and with a sudden sensation of acceptance, he felt it enter his spirit cloak, along with the Spirit of luck and storms that he'd acquired.
"Now, we must away." Kisaik told his companions, as well as Slate, who he spurred upwards out of the burrow. "There is someone in dire need of hope, several someones, and luck. And I fear the storm may be the only way to translate the message I have to bear."
This said, the tunawa mortalborn began riding out of the burrow, and as he did so he meditated, and tried to open a vergeance out of the depths of the earth in the Beneath.
Once there, he stepped through the vergeance, and into Idalos proper.
He was back in Sweetsong, on the outskirts. There he sought out Aquarius, to take a ride back to Scalvoristown, and find the Tea Party that Winston was having. He would not let his friend enter the dangerous midst of Chrien without his aid, such as it was worth.
He climbed atop Aquarius, along with Slate, who settled in on his sleeve-like bed in the saddlebags. Once secure, Kisaik commanded Aquarius to bring them to the site of the party, or where he presumed Winston would be, to facilitate the Tea party.
He rode Aquarius through the cold skies, past the snowy clouds that chilled to the bone. The Cavani cloak did its job of deflecting much of the chill, while the jets of Aquarius kept his temperature regulated on the wing. The jets burned brightly as they flew through the night, toward that distant shore on the other side of the island. Kisaik had to nod off a few times, but was well secured in his saddle.
The jets must've attracted quite unwanted attention. A high pitched SCREEEEE pierced the air. So high it barely registered to the Tunawa's brain. But he just about could identify their origin. A swarm of bats was descending upon Aquarius and he. The first instinct was to unhitch his
wand
from his belt with his left hand. He took aim, and mind he was mainly hoping for a warning shot. As he took aim on the largest of the bats to close in, he channeled the ether through the wand to release one of its payloads.The glass-marble he'd loaded into it shot off with a resounding boom, with the loud noise due to the rupturing magic imbued into the wand. The sound was enough to disrupt the bats' sense of equilibrium. So he fired another shot, this time correcting his aim iso that he'd actually hit something. As luck had it, he clipped the wings of one of the larger bats, shattering the marble ono impact and causing it to lodge its sharp shards of crystalline shrapnel imbedded in the flesh there.
Kisaik had no worry for the creature he was attacking, as Emperor Bats were known to have good healing factor. But the second boom not only disrupted their equilibrium on the air, but also threw off their sense of direction and general sense of hearing, which they found their way by.
Thus he went the rest of the way, trying to thwart the bat's tracking of them by using a consistent boom, and reloading glass marbles as he went. Two shots every few bits were enough to keep them off their trail, until they lost them entirely.
However, as he flew through the air, he felt deep unease, in the spirits he'd coopted into his cloak, and also the chaotic corruption that had taken root, deep within his bark. He felt it coming over him... and he would have to release it!
Actions and Abilities used
+1 Fairy Knight Ring: Of Orange Stone and Metal, can be used once a season to bring about a strong sense of hope and courage to yourself.
Dark-Bark: Kisaik delved into the portal and he saw the swirling chaos within. The portal turned parts of his skin / bark so it looks like he's rotting. Over the course of the next few days, he'll find that this fades but - once a season he can perform a feat of heroism in which he fundamentally increases his skill level by 2. This may be that he increases an existing skill by 2 levels, or 2 skills by 1 level each. The skill(s) are his choice and this works only for the single action needed. However, once he has done this, within 5 trials his skin again turns black and he needs to "release" a ball of chaos (The Chaos Sphere: Releasing them will create the kind of effect that you have seen here, with magic going awry, random effects etc.). If he does not release this, it will release randomly. The release of this must be played out if the ability is used. Once released, his bark turns back to normal again after a few trials.
Dark-Bark: Kisaik delved into the portal and he saw the swirling chaos within. The portal turned parts of his skin / bark so it looks like he's rotting. Over the course of the next few days, he'll find that this fades but - once a season he can perform a feat of heroism in which he fundamentally increases his skill level by 2. This may be that he increases an existing skill by 2 levels, or 2 skills by 1 level each. The skill(s) are his choice and this works only for the single action needed. However, once he has done this, within 5 trials his skin again turns black and he needs to "release" a ball of chaos (The Chaos Sphere: Releasing them will create the kind of effect that you have seen here, with magic going awry, random effects etc.). If he does not release this, it will release randomly. The release of this must be played out if the ability is used. Once released, his bark turns back to normal again after a few trials.
