Wyvern Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 The lights of the Cabaret Room dim as several people take their seats, turning away from the birthday banquet tables that have been set up in the corners of the room. Two large red curtains are drawn back to reveal an empty stage, and Wyvern promptly prances out wearing a ridiculous Almost Dragonic Brand Taxedo (hey, have to use all those discarded tax forms for something). Clearing his throat of a few ashes and causing the microphone to screech, the lizard waves a claw and hisses: "Greetingsss, one and all, and welcome to the '05 Mighty Pen Gyrfalcorama! We now interrupt your birthday feasts/poems at the banquet tables for a special presentation in swordplay, brought to you by Almost Dragonic Inc. in honour of Gyrfalcon's birthday... Take it away, guys." Wyvern hops off of the stage as Sexy the Elder Dwarf struts in stage right. The Dwarf wears pointy ears, a mini-katana held by a tiny scabbard, and a curious two-piece billboard sign of armor. The audience lets out a collective groan as they notice the phrase "Almost Dragonic Brand Overyear Delivery Services" written on the billboard. "Even a half-elven warrior like myself needs a bit of help every now and then." Sexy strikes a macho Gyrfalcon pose, causing the short ladies in the audience to swoon. "Which is why I turn to Almost Dragonic Brand Overyear Delivery Services when I want to order a useful weapon for battle. Now, if only those magical herbs that I ordered twelve years ago would arrive..." Sexy-Gyr turns as a roaring sound is heard from off-stage. "But hark!" He draws his small katana and points it. "My arch-nemesis arrives!" Silly the Elder Dwarf enters stage left, wearing a large dark monster costume. The word "FedEx-Ophek" is scrawled across his hide in white letters. "En guard!" Sexy-Gyr charges FedEx-Ophek and smacks him with his mini-katana, which promptly breaks due to it's Almost Dragonic fabrication. FedEx-Ophek pauses for a moment, then remembers his cue and drops dead. The curtains close, and Wyvern attempts to speak from the position that he landed in the orchestra pit. All that the audience hears is a tuba blurting. And now, back to the Celebrity Gyrfalcon Costume Contest... ;-) OOC: Happy Birthday, Gyrfalcon! *passes Greg a tall glass of Bruteweiser and winks* Also, a happy birthday to Solivagus... be sure to send him something via Almost Dragonic Brand Overyear Delivery Services. ;-)
Salinye Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 Salinye tiptoed toward the back of the ranger who was seated on a loveseat in the Cabaret room having just finished watching the elder dwarf’s presentation. Although she was using every bit of elven stealth she had (which was a lot) as she raised her hands about to reach around his face to cover his eyes his hands flew up next to his head and caught her wrists just behind him before they even entered his peripheral vision. “Guess who, Salinye?” He asked with a smirk that she couldn’t see, but knew would be present. “I never could sneak up on you. You always hear me.” “I didn’t hear you, it’s the lavender.” “I’m not wearing lavender.” “You don’t need to, it’s there all the same.” “Hmmm, I see. Are you going to let go of my wrists now?” Here he paused before answering and if she could see his face, she would know he was trying to come up with something mischievous to say. Instead of waiting for whatever plan Gyrfalcon’s mind was concocting; she leaned in and hugged him from behind and kissed him on the cheek. “Happy birthday, old man. What is this? Year 5002? 5006? I’ve lost count.” He laughed good-naturedly and released his grip on her arms. “Well, that makes two of us. Have a seat.” He shifted himself to the left to make room for her to sit next to him. Sitting down she pulled a card out and handed it to him. “I got you a card.” He took it from her, looked at the front and began laughing much harder than the dancing bugs on the front should have made him. He looked over at her and laughed again. Opening it he saw the inscription that he knew would be there. To Salinye, Love Celowyn. He put his arm around her and smiled. “It’s perfect, I should have known. But how did you get it out of my bureau?” She shrugged. “I told you that you’d eventually regret granting me access to your tower.” “Mmmm, I see.” “So, any birthday wishes?” She smiled knowing; he wasn’t one who was much for his own celebrations. “I don’t think so, what can I wish for when I have everything I want?” “Peace in your thoughts?” He scoffed at this suggestion. When you find someone who can grant that, Salinye, then I’ll gladly accept that gift.” “Speaking of gifts, I do have something for you, but it’s not finished.” She blushed slightly and hoped he wouldn’t notice the slight burn on her right hand. Over the last year she had delved quite heavily into enchantments, and occasionally one wouldn’t work out as expected the first time or twelve. “That’s alright, Salinye. I’m sure whatever it is, it will be wonderful.” She laughed and shifted forward about to rise. “We’ll see. However, I should probably get out of the way, I see a lot of people arriving who will want to speak with you.” He pulled back gently on her shoulder stopping her from standing. “Stay. Since when have you been afraid of a social?” He grinned. “Alright, I just didn’t want to get in the way. Just know, I might confiscate half your gifts.” He smiled at her knowingly. “First of all, you’re never in the way and secondly, if you didn’t take the gifts now, I’m sure I’d just find them disappearing one by one from my bureau anyway.” She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Don’t be silly. I’d never have the patience to take them one by one.” Before the banter could continue a red fir ball in the form of Daryl leapt onto her lap and licked her chin. “Hello Daryl. She scratched him behind the ears as he snuggled into her lap and she thought to herself that this year’s celebration would be much more mellow than last year’s sake bombs and of course that thought caused her to scan the room in search of Yui Chan. OOC: Happy Birthday, GyrE! I hope it’s wonderful ooc and mellower ic than the last!! Also, happy birthday Solivageous (I know, I just slaughtered the spelling of that!) Many happy thoughts wherever you are!
Mynx Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 *tacklehugs the birthday children* HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOTH OF YOU!
Quincunx Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 (edited) Tzimfemme popped the Lobotomy out of a mini-portal and grimaced as she took the weight of the hand-and-a-half version in only one hand, but gesticulated around the orchestra members with little loss of meaning. Pale-faced and cowering, they shrank away from her, but she herded them around the tuba from which Wyvern's tail and left wingtip protruded. The naked mage prodded a barrel-chested member into the tuba player's seat, tapped the mouthpiece of said instrument, and glowered. The tympanist shook his head. Tzimfemme prodded more forcefully, tapped twice, and doubled the glower. The tympanist sighed, laid aside his drumsticks, and blew into the tuba; Standard Forms G, 108, and Pi^2 shot into the air, and Tzimfemme ceased prodding while the tympanist made his escape. She thought for a bit, sizing up the remaining orchestra, then intimidated a reedy bassoon player onto the chair. He filled his lungs, exhaled into the tuba, and blasted out Wyvern (now missing the left sleeve of his Taxedo) with a B flat. The orchestra's heads moved in unison, following the almost parabola of Wyvern flying up, then down, smashing into two unsuspecting people. Tzimfemme chuckled, low in her throat, and advanced on the site. The orchestra scattered. "Well, well, well," she observed, after pushing Wyvern off of the heap and sorting out Mynx and Akallabeth from underneath. "Two people trying to leave the thread with only the minimum contribution. Pillars of the community! Eligible to participate in the Celebrity Gyrfalcon Costume Contest, at the least!" The naked mage clamped one hand on Mynx's right shoulder, the other on Akallabeth's left. "Don't wriggle," she added, and thought about Gyrfalcon's celebrity. The Cabaret Room slipped out from under the trio and a smoking ruin glided to a halt in its place. Tzimfemme toed a discarded cloak, then grasped it with her toes and flipped it to Mynx, explaining "Gaze of Eternity, outside the cathedral." Again the background floated away, to be replaced by the battered and blood-spotted deck of an ocean-going vessel. "Gaze of Eternity. . .the Leaping Lobster? Something ludicrous," she mused aloud, twining her foot around traveling gear and raising it up to Akallabeth, even as the ship sailed into nothingness and the Cabaret Room reassembled itself. "Go forth and contest!" announced Tzimfemme, propelling them towards the stage with two firm pushes before circling back and taking a seat near the door. She propped her feet up on the table, with a copy of aforementioned story in her hands, and started to read. "Fancy picking this up on one of the authors' birthdays," thought the naked mage. "Good day to remind myself of an author's worth." Edited June 22, 2005 by Quincunx
Peredhil Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 Elrohir comes in and stands, smiling, until the Half-Elf isn't too busy. Moving forward, he waits patiently in the line of congratulations until he faces the legendary Elder. "Hi, "he stammers, blushing. He always grew somewhat self-conscious around Gyrfalcon. When he finally grew up, he wanted to be like the Demi-god before him. "uh, happy birthday. Anyway, uh, here!" He hands Gyrfalcon an Almost-Dragonic Brand Katana Cleaning Kit and backs away, bumping accidently into whomever was behind him gracelessly. Blushing, he made it to the door. "Well, that went better than I'd hoped. "
Gryphon Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 Happy Birthday Gyr... Hope you had an awesome one.
Sweetcherrie Posted June 22, 2005 Report Posted June 22, 2005 (edited) OOC: Written by Venefyxatu and Sweetcherrie, Always great to write together with you Vene “Venefixmetoo, Venefixmetoo!! I have made a drawing for Gryfelcon, and erm...I want to bring it to life and you're a mage and you should be able to do this, and I really want the warriors to become real…you see they are shooting bombs at the castle and I thought that maybe Gryfelcon would like that as well!!” Sweet slid inside, and came to a halt in front of the necromancer. She looked at him with her shining eyes filled with confidence and expectation, and held up her drawing so he could see. Venefyxatu smiled a little at the girls enthusiasm and looked at the drawing. It was pretty good, and he could quite make out what she meant. "Yes, I think I can do something about that. Let's go to the Cabaret Room already, I'll make them get off the paper there. It'll look great on the stage, don't you think?" “Oooh, that’s such a great idea,” the girl almost huggled the mage of his feet, and skipped ahead, assuming that he would follow. Once inside the Cabaret Room her eyes looked for Gyrfalcon, and when she had found him she stormed off. With an enormous speed she threw herself at him, almost knocking him of his feet as well, “Happy Birthday Gryfelcon, I made a drawing see?” for a moment she held it up, but than changed her mind, “Maybe you shouldn’t look yet, Venefixmetoo is helping to make it into an extraspecial drawing.” She snatched the drawing away again, and ran back to the necromancer who had only just arrived. Venefyxatu moved over to Gyrfalcon, who had, except for Sweet, a few moments of relative peace, and congratulated the Elder with his birthday. Then he grinned slightly and followed her up to the stage where she was bouncing around excitedly around Mynx and Akallabeth. "Sweet, do you want to help a little? After all, it's your drawing ..." “You are a big kittycat, I’ve never seen such a big kittycat before…can you do magic? Do you sleep in a little ball? Do you lick yourself like little kitties do?” Sweet curiously looked at Mynx from all sides, and asked a thousand questions, but never gave her time to reply. When she heard Venefyxatu speak, she deserted her quest for answers and hopped over to him, “What do I’m supposed to do?” "Well, could you hold up your drawing so I can see it, and hold it really still so I can concentrate on it?" When Sweet nodded excitedly, the necromancer added, "And of course you'll have to close your eyes and concentrate really hard on what you want to happen as well. That'll make it easier for me." Closing his own eyes, Venefyxatu leaned on his staff as he pictured the drawing in his mind. He then allowed Sweet's thoughts to mix with his, and started changing reality around him just enough to impose his will on it. The "hmmmmmm" sounds Sweet were making quickly faded to the background of his mind, and something started shimmering on the stage. Hands growing white from the force with which he was clutching to his staff, he kept concentrating, the image of two warriors becoming more and more real, until they were real. Opening his eyes again, he lightly touched Sweet's shoulder to indicate that she could look. She opened her eyes and looked at the warriors with awe. They were dragging a very realistic looking canon between them, and were currently setting it up at the stage. “Wow,” A sigh escaped the little girl’s lips and the sight mesmerized her. The warriors started loading a cannonball in the cannon, and filled it with gunpowder. One of them stepped over to Akallabeth with a sort of torch and asked for a light. Akallabeth stuttered a bit but lit the torch. The warrior moved over to the cannon and lit the fuse; immediately it started spattering sparks. Sweet had inched closer to get a better look, and was now standing straight next to the cannon, “So erm…does the thingy now come out of here?” She bent over and looked straight in the barrel of the gun. Thinking that this might not have been a very good idea, Venefyxatu quietly started muttering again. Suddenly Sweet started floating upwards, and her initial shriek of surprise and terror quickly turned to delight. “You'll have a much better view from up there," the necromancer's soft voice sounded. When the cannon fired, there were lucky and unlucky people in the Cabaret room. Gyrfalcon was among the lucky ones, maybe because it was his birthday. Akallabeth, Mynx, Venefyxatu and Sweet were among the unlucky ones. The warriors were ... remarkably absent afterwards. The cannon didn't just fire, in fact, it didn't fire at all since the cannonball never left it. A slight error in the drawing caused the thing to explode instead, making a big hole in the stage and covering the three Pennites on the stage with soot. With a loud scream Sweet stopped floating, and dived headfirst into the almost dragon. The stamp slipped out of her pocket, and a shiny inked ACCEPTED was now written on Wyvern’s forehead. The girl quickly slid the stamp back, and wormed loose. She glanced around and was disappointed to see that of the warriors and the cannon itself, no trace had remained..... OOC: Happy Birthday from Venefyxatu and Sweetcherrie Edited June 23, 2005 by Sweetcherrie
Lady Celes Crusader Posted June 23, 2005 Report Posted June 23, 2005 Belated Happy Birthday for all! :woot:
epinephrine Posted June 23, 2005 Report Posted June 23, 2005 Yea birhtdays! Happy birthday to you both. epinephrine
Gyrfalcon Posted June 24, 2005 Report Posted June 24, 2005 Gyrfalcon couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, wincing to himself a bit as he watched the antics of the Pen Dwarves on the stage. It seemed that once again, Almost-Draconic quality had lived up to its... well... standards, low as they were. Shaking his head, he laughed softly as FedEx-ophek fell over. Taking a deep breath, he frowned as a faint hint of lavender tickled his nose, then swiftly reached up and gently caught a pair of slim wrists. “Guess who, Salinye?” he asked with a broad grin. “I never could sneak up on you. You always hear me.” Salinye said, and he could imagine the hint of a pout at having her surprise spoiled. He made a note to let her sneak up on him next time if he caught her – it wasn’t good to always spoil her fun, enjoyable as it sometimes was... “I didn’t hear you, it’s the lavender.” he replied, still grinning. “I’m not wearing lavender.” she objected. “You don’t need to; it’s there all the same.” He replied. “Hmmm, I see. Are you going to let go of my wrists now?” She asked, tugging at his gentle grip. Gyrfalcon paused, trying to think of a suitably witty reply when she leaned over and wrapped her arms around his chest in a hug, kissing him on the cheek. “Happy birthday, old man. What is this? Year 5002? 5006? I’ve lost count.” Gyrfalcon laughed as he let go of her wrists. “Well, that makes two of us. Have a seat.” he said, shifting over to make room for her as she gracefully sat down next to him. “I got you a card.” she said with elaborate understatement. Already suspecting, he took the card from her and looked at the front, beginning to laugh even before he opened the inside to read the inscription “To Salinye, Love Celowyn”, the gift a running joke between them. He put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed gently. “It’s perfect, I should have known. But how did you get it out of my bureau?” She shrugged. “I told you that you’d eventually regret granting me access to your tower.” “Mmmm, I see.” He said, grinning faintly. “So, any birthday wishes?” She smiled knowing; he wasn’t one who was much for his own celebrations. “I don’t think so, what can I wish for when I have everything I want?” he replied with a shrug. “Peace in your thoughts?” He scoffed at this suggestion. “When you find someone who can grant that, Salinye, then I’ll gladly accept that gift.” he said with a faint smile. “Speaking of gifts, I do have something for you, but it’s not finished.” She blushed slightly and hoped he wouldn’t notice the slight burn on her right hand. Over the last year she had delved quite heavily into enchantments, and occasionally one wouldn’t work out as expected the first time or twelve. “That’s alright, Salinye. I’m sure whatever it is, it will be wonderful.” he said, wondering where that burn had come from, but trusting her to be able to take care of herself... and trusting in Peredhil to be able to care for her if something blew up in a more spectacular fashion. She laughed and shifted forward about to rise. “We’ll see. However, I should probably get out of the way, I see a lot of people arriving who will want to speak with you.” He pulled back gently on her shoulder stopping her from standing. “Stay. Since when have you been afraid of a social?” He grinned. “Alright, I just didn’t want to get in the way. Just know, I might confiscate half your gifts.” He smiled at her knowingly. “First of all, you’re never in the way and secondly, if you didn’t take the gifts now, I’m sure I’d just find them disappearing one by one from my bureau anyway.” She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Don’t be silly. I’d never have the patience to take them one by one.” Before the banter could continue a red furball in the form of Daryl leapt onto her lap and licked her chin. “Hello Daryl.” Salinye said with an amused giggle. She scratched him behind the ears as he snuggled into her lap, looking around the room distractedly. Smiling his appreciation, Gyrfalcon thanked Mynx and Akallabeth for their well wishes before they wandered off, talking quietly together, completely oblivious to what would come next. Gyrfalcon winced at the off-key blats from the tuba in the orchestra section, then chuckled knowingly and gently directed Salinye’s attention to the spectacle of Wyvern flying through the air out of the Tuba, landing on poor Mynx and Akallabeth. Salinye’s laughter joined his, musically weaving through his lower-pitched chuckle. The half-elf blinked curiously as Tzimfemme, wielding a strange device, advanced on the heaped trio, pulling Wyvern off the other two and then grabbing their shoulders. The trio blinked out of sight. “I wonder what’s going on?” Gyrfalcon mused. “Hm?” Salinye said, having scanned the hall one last time and relaxed for the moment with no Yui-chan or water balloons in sight. “Oh, Tzimfemme grabbed Mynx and Akallabeth and just disappeared.” Gyrfalcon said. Salinye’s slim hand rose and pointed at the stage. “Ah, there they are!” she said, and then giggled as a bewildered looking pair dressed up like Gyrfalcon appeared on the stage. Gyrfalcon chuckled as well at the unlikely pair of look-alikes, one an anthropomorphic tiger, and the other simply looking uncomfortable in the trappings of a ranger. Salinye gently touched his elbow to direct his attention to the half-elf shifting from one foot to the other in front of Gyrfalcon – Elrohir, Gyrfalcon’s favorite of Peredhil’s sons. “Hi!” Elrohir stammered, blushing as he quickly handed Gyrfalcon a gift-wrapped present. “Uh, happy birthday. Anyway, uh, here!"” Gyrfalcon chuckled as he stripped the wrapping paper away to reveal... an Almost-Dragonic ™ Brand Cleaning Kit. “Thank you, Elrohir.” he said gravely as he set the kit aside for later experimentation to see what it could be used for, since it was almost guaranteed to melt even as magical a katana as Redemptio. A series of well-wishers followed, and Salinye enjoyed teasing Gyrfalcon about the entire population of the Pen turning out to wish him well, enjoying the fact she managed to evoke a blush in her favorite half-elven ranger. A hurtling streak nearly took the loveseat over as Sweet hugged Gyrfalcon, waving a picture blurringly in front of his face as she announced the picture she had drawn for him. Gyrfalcon watched as Sweetcherrie and Venefyxatu ascended to the stage beside the duo already standing there, laughing softly at Sweet’s many questions for Mynx before Venefyxatu called the girl over. Gyrfalcon’s laughter ceased as the drawing became real, a cannon pointed in his direction, with a pair of warriors loading and priming it. Swallowing slowly, Gyr positioned himself discreetly to launch himself Salinye’s way should the cannon go off. Sweet was staring down the barrel of the cannon as it was lit until Venefyxatu whisked her upward with his magic, and Gyrfalcon threw himself at Salinye as the wick burned down into the barrel, driving the pair of them clear of the loveseat and the danger. The resulting explosion shook the Cabaret Room and covered the three still on the stage in soot, Sweet plunging into the expanding cloud of dust and soot to land somewhere on Wyvern, from the groan. As the ringing in their ears subsided, Gyrfalcon looked around cautiously, but there was no sign of the cannon or the warriors remaining. Beneath him, Salinye opened one eye, then the other, shaking her head slightly at the ringing in her ears. Then her eyes narrowed. “Why ranger! I never knew you felt that way about me!” she said jokingly. Daryl wiggled free from between them and turned around with a wide foxy grin. “Well, since you already have her trapped, why don’t you just kiss her now?” he commented in Fox, which both of them understood perfectly. With flaming faces, one and a half elves and half a human scrambled upright and dusted themselves off. Coughing to cover the flaming redness in his face, Gyrfalcon approached the stage. “That... was an excellent picture, Sweet. Thank you.” he said weakly, nodding to Venefyxatu. “Excellent work translating it to reality, Venefyxatu... truly.” he said. Venefyxatu coughed, slightly embarrassed at the results. “Thank you, Elder.” he said, bowing slightly. Gyrfalcon walked back to the loveseat, shaking his head to try to rid his ears of the ringing... and because he had just seen endless potential for trouble without Wyvern involved in any way... OOC: Thank you one and all for your well wishes! My birthday was very nice and peaceful, for which I was grateful. *grins* I would have responded earlier, but my provider decided to not be able to access the Pen yesterday night.
Yui-chan Posted June 24, 2005 Report Posted June 24, 2005 Late that night... The wards and guardians of a very personal space stood before her, crackling with energy and carefully bridled threat just as they were meant to. The former were the standard Pen-variety protection spells, woven in strands of silver-grey Peredhil and tinged with the earthy tones of Gyrfalcon, their lines as perfect and intricate as one would expect from a joint venture between the two powerful men. The latter were creatures that eluded her understanding, strange imp-spirits that danced just on the outside of vision and on the very edge of mage-vision, their forms so shifting and obscured that the only thing she knew for certain was what she could feel. Wildness. Freedom. Willing servitude. Balance. In short, Nature. She wondered idly whether Gyrfalcon knew about his god-gifted protectors... and she felt strangely certain that he did not. Yui crouched in her dark place-between-places and reached a hand out to close the distance to the wards, her motions slow and steady. Trained to recognize her, the spell was a simple matter to pass through, but her friend's more feral defenses were another matter entirely. Darkening threateningly, they skittered across the threads of the spell to place themselves like a writhing mud-puddle between her and her destination, as expected. 'Konbanwa, little spirits,' the Huntress whispered, her thoughts piercing the soundless air. 'Thank you for keeping my friend safe. Will you let me pass? I can prove to you that I'm worthy. Come. See for yourself.' Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax and open her mind and heart just as her fingers brushed the puddle of elementals. They swarmed her so suddenly that she had to grit her teeth against the shock of it, concentrating to avoid the instinctive urge to snap up the mental and emotional barriers she'd just lowered. Suffocating. Buried. Draped in too much weight for such ephemeral creatures. Yui staunchly ignored the sting of their tiny claws as they shuffled through her thoughts and feelings, reminding herself that Nature was not often a gentle force. Instead, she concentrated on her half-elven friend, summoning up the memories built from thousands of years of love and care. Adventures. Wars. Quiet conversations. Fascinating debates. Rousing victories. One-sided sparring matches. A flash-image of crossed swords was the trigger, and suddenly the young woman was yanked back into the memory that the Nature wards latched on to. "Do it." She heard herself whisper the words, once more drowning in the grief and desperation of that moment as if the many months since had never happened. "Quickly, Gyr, before it's too strong to resist." Those eyes of his held such fear, even as he leveled his sword at her heart. She could feel the war he waged againt himself just as poignantly as she could feel the war she waged against the Chaos twining itself through her will. Kill her and save millions across the multiverse. Let her live and doom himself and her both. It hurt, either way. "I- ... Yui, I-" "Please..." She couldn't say more than that, throwing all her concentration into ignoring the compulsion tickling in the back of her mind. He had to know it, too. The battle that raged inside must have shown in every tense line of her body. Either way, she was lost. Gyrfalcon must have realized the same thing, because the half-elf suddenly tightened his grip and threw himself forward, lunging with the speed and accuracy born from millenia of practice. The blade bit with frightening ease through cloth and flesh, its passage whisper-soft in contrast to her cry of pain, but even as it did, she knew they'd failed. Had he pierced her heart with Redemptio's perfect steel, it would have hurt far less than what she felt as that heart shattered, instead. The young woman watched him open his eyes, saw the moment he realized that his fate was now sealed. Her hand moved. Her arm raised. She wanted to touch him, but touching him was the absolutely last thing she wanted to do, the harm that she'd tried to die to prevent. The Chaos wanted to disturb the Order of his existence, and so did she. But she also didn't. Not that there was a choice. "Forgive me," she whispered, feeling the muscles in his shoulder tense beneath her palm, fighting the burn of Power that surged up from somewhere within and beyond her. He didn't have time to do more than stare at her with understanding eyes before that horrible Power unraveled him, throwing so much Chaos into his being that the tiniest particles of him flew apart in a billion different directions. Redemption crashed to the ground at Yui-chan's feet, its blade slick with her blood, and she followed it, feeling as wholly destroyed as Gyrfalcon. Pain woke her from the forced revery, but not just the pain that her guilt always pricked her with over that incident. 'Aaaaah!' The Nature ward's rage ripped at the scar on her shoulder with tiny claws and razor-sharp teeth, burrowing its way from front to back as if those ephemeral guardians were tracing the path the sword took. Slowly. Agonizingly. Struggling just to breathe through the torment, Yui fell, curling into an unhappy ball on the edge of the shadows. Still, she had the presence of mind to know the attack for what it was. The ward accepted her, but punished her nonetheless because that was what she felt, what she always did to herself. The Gyrfalcon she'd had to destroy in that parallel world may have forgiven her, the Gyrfalcon who slept peacefully in the tower on the other side of the wards may have forgiven her, but she still had not forgiven herself. She wondered, at times, if she ever could. After a few moments, her guilt was assuaged, and the cavorting mass of elemental spirits slipped away from her body to return to their home in the warding spell. Yui sat up gingerly, catching her breath as the pain slowly faded. She still had an important task to accomplish. This time, she stepped up to the dancing boundary of the Nature-blessed ward confidently, placing her hand flat against the threads. The guardians parted and the Pen-born portion of the weave recognized her, letting her slip through into the dark quarters on the other side of the shadows just as easily as normal. Within seconds, she had done what she came to do, and she left Gyrfalcon's room with a little grin on her lips. Behind her, a simple map drawn on rough parchment waited patiently on the Ranger's desk, weighed down by a small paper box and a note that read, "I'm sorry I didn't make it back for your birthday. Meet me here at dusk, please, and I'll make it up to you. ~Yui"
Gyrfalcon Posted June 28, 2005 Report Posted June 28, 2005 Gyrfalcon stirred uneasily, something twanging at his senses, even as he slept peacefully. Something that was not normally there... but then it disappeared just as swiftly, and the ranger settled back into a deeper sleep, not even stirring when Daryl trotted in and stepped on him a few times settling in at the foot of the bed with a wide yawn before blinking, his sensitive nose bringing him a faint whiff of perfume that he most associated with Yui-chan. Dragging himself out of the ball he had been curling into to, Daryl jumps down off the bed and trots around, sniffing here and there, looking in the most shadowed corners first. The werefox quickly found where the traces of Yui-chan’s scent were strongest and follow them to Gyrfalcon’s desk, and the note there. No matter how sensitive his sight was, he couldn’t read what was written, but he decided to make sure the half-elf checked there first thing in the morning... after all, if it was extremely important, Yui-chan would have shaken Gyr awake to tell him so... With a satisfied yawn, Daryl jumped up onto the bed once more and curled up, swiftly falling into satisfied sleep. The dawn’s rays splashed across the half-elf’s face, bringing him to groggy wakefulness. Yawning and pushing himself upright, Gyrfalcon stared in bemusement at the furry ball curled up next to his feet. “Daryl...” the half-elf said in resigned annoyance. “You take this fox thing entirely too far sometimes. I locked my door for a reason.” Daryl grinned and wagged his tail briefly before yapping and yipping in Fox. “Well yes, but you see, a real pet would beg and whine at the door until you woke up and opened it up to let the pet in... Me? I just shift, pick the lock, come inside, and shift back. Quick and simple.” Gyrfalcon sighed. “I’ll need to talk to Salinye and get some magical locks that don’t involve keys... so certain werefoxes will sleep in their own bed!” Daryl looked up at Gyr with big, luminious eyes. “Don’t you love me anymore?” he said in a saccharine voice, lower-lip trembling. “No.” Gyrfalcon said flatly, then sighed and reached out to ruffle Daryl’s ears. Daryl grinned and ducked his head out from under the half-elf’s hand. “By the way, I think there’s a note for you on your table.” he mentioned before jumping down and trotting to the door, deftly jumping up to pull the handle and letting his weight swing the door inward. With a flick of his bushy tail, he was out the door. “Thanks, Daryl.” Gyrfalcon called after the fox, curious as to how that note would come to be there. Getting up, he stretched briefly before walking over and reading the note that Yui-chan had left their last night. “Hm... I wonder what present that is.” Gyrfalcon said as he went to get dressed. “Hopefully, it doesn’t involve sake bombs... Once was enough.” shrugging on a light shirt, he eyed the map... the location was very close, a small clearing outside the Pen. He could easily travel there in two or three hours. Whistling to himself, Gyrfalcon went downstairs to find breakfast.
Recommended Posts