dpscheck | shadowbringers

[ no new icons yet but shb compliant, i finished the msq so bring it on!! ]

(ooc: Should I? O.O )

[ HELLO, yes please!! go for it!! i would love a crystal boy ]

[Since the return of the night to Norvrandt, the Crystarium has been left in a mixture of shock and awe, all understandably so. Some celebrated until the sun tinted the skies purple and pink, others wept. Many raised their voices in the wonder of it all, some few were afraid. The people within the city hadn't seen as much excitement since the halt of the Flood.]

[The Exarch only knew of this from the stories he had heard of it all in the years after his arrival. He wasn't there to witness it, but those who were wove tales of fear, tales of horror... tales of blessed relief when the wall of Light suddenly seemed just to stop. Always, they mentioned the Warriors. Always with disgust. How could they who had once been the world's saviors then turn on it?]

[It hurt his heart to hear such things, both for the people and those they yet shunned. He hadn't known those Warriors, but in the end, from the words of the one he did know, they were not the damning souls the First had come to despise. They had done a terrible deed, all trying to save their own world, and it turned out to be the wrong one. He pitied them, felt for them. Had he himself not done something terrible to save a world? He wanted to go back to their resting place, he thought, while he was still on the First, and show his respects now that things were starting to calm down, and the Warrior from the source had been able to begin setting the record straight.]

[History remembered the Warrior of Light. His people loved him, needed him. Gods knew the man had given more than enough to deserve such a place among the stars, and so did the Warriors of Darkness from the First. Yes, he would have to speak with Moren on this matter, if the Warrior of Light had not already.]

[Caught in his musings, he nearly missed the familiar head of white hair standing not too far from where his roaming had taken him. Her twin was absent, though it didn't surprise the Exarch. It was rare enough to find one with the other, siblings though they were. One step shifted his direction and brought him closer.]

How fare you, Alisaie?

[ though alisaie had done her part to enjoy the festivities - despite her quite early collapse - she has never quite known what to do with herself at a party. still, the high spirits and celebratory air around the crystarium is not only gratifying, but also distracting, which for once, is a welcome thing.

the day is yet saved, and while alisaie is endlessly, wildly thankful for it, she does not quite know what she will do with herself, once the unwinding begins and daily life resumes as normal. she will travel first, yes, and say thank you to the hundreds of hands and faces and voices that helped this to become a reality, she will return to amh araeng to check on the afflicted, to see to halric's recovery, to help rebuild. but sooner or later she is going to need to come to terms with all the things she has been carrying, with the grief she has not allowed herself to feel, the sorrow and anger that she had held, boiling, beneath the surface. if it were up to her, she would ignore it indefinitely, but sooner or later..

the exarch's voice scatters her thoughts, and alisaie straightens from the banister she has been leaning over to enjoy the view of night over the sprawling trees of lakeland. for all their arguments (her arguments), it is nevertheless good to see him whole and hale, after all they stood to lose. ]

Exarch. [ she says, a hint of something like surprise in her voice. ] Well enough. Enjoying the sights, as it were. And you?

[He can hardly begrudge her for taking in the night sky while it's still here, at least until the turn of the sun again. Even as recently as she had arrived on the First compared to some of her companions, Alisaie still hasn't seen the stars in almost a full winter's passing. He does feel a little guilty for taking her eyes from it, but it was his hand that brought her here.]

[He knows even though the Scions have adjusted to their new lives, even though he did his best to offer them any support, anything at all that they needed in that unwanted transition, it wasn't easy. To be called away suddenly with no choice at all in the matter, to be left to make their way in a world not without its perils even now while back home, friends and family were at war. Though they hardly needed his help, to say he held himself responsible for all of them whether or not they would accept him went without saying. Fiercely independent as she was, Alisaie was no different.]

Good. I am glad to hear it. [He offers her a warm smile beneath the hood, though the cloth is no longer necessary with the proverbial coeurl out of the bag, and slows to a stop at the wooden railing overlooking the forest a modest distance away.] Finally at peace with the knowledge that this world is safe once more, and the Source along with it. The skies have never looked so beautiful.

[A pause.] May I join you?

[ a year might be a short time compared with how very long the first has been plagued by light, but nevertheless it is still a long enough time for her to have grown a real appreciation for the night sky. alisaie has always greatly enjoyed stargazing, and it is a pasttime that she has sorely missed.

but she can enjoy the sky and the exarch's company at the same time, naturally. ]

Of course.

[ there's plenty of room at the banister, but alisaie gestures vaguely to the space beside her nonetheless, her eyes on his profile, and soon enough she's leaning her weight onto the railing again. ]

I take it this view must be even more gratifying for you than most.

[It is an appreciation he shares, and he nods his head in thanks, stepping once to the side to put himself within amicable distance. Even from here, out over the valley, he can hear the wind in the trees and see the branches shift and sway, colors flickering with the movement between darker and lighter hues of their customary purples and pinks.]

[It reminds him of the sunrises and sunsets this world will again be able to enjoy, many of them for the first time, now that the Light has taken its leave forever.]

If it is, it is only because I was one of the rare few in this world who remembered what the night looks like, the blazing hues of the sunrise and sunset. But now no longer.

[Another breeze passes by, cool and refreshing in the absence of the sun, and he can't help himself. He lifts a hand to push the hood back and let it run over his hair and ears, eyes closed to let the sensations wrap him within them, robes swaying with the gentle currents.] Now, they know this majesty, and they will cherish it. In truth, I find that more gratifying than I do living the experience of it all again after so many long years without.

[ for all that it has been ravaged, there is no denying the beauty of the first - she saw it even then, in the beginning, when first she arrived and the sky still burned with boiling light. alisaie is no stranger to a broken world. for all that the source may be healthy in aether, it is a star that has been savaged, battered, rejoining after rejoining obliterating their history again and again, burying entire civilizations between earth and water and ice and fire. even bahamut's more recent violent release has left newer scars upon eorzea, and she has walked those ruins, delved deep into the coils, seen the selfsame lake spread out before them crystallized and ruined.

yet still there is beauty. there is beauty in the broken remains of the nymian city, the glowing crystals that float against the sky. there is beauty in silvertear lake, and the corpse of the great serpent coiled elegantly 'round the ship that ended him. there is beauty in the great corrupted crystal walls in thanalan's burning deserts. she sees that selfsame beauty reflected here in the silvery surface of the lake, the the violet trees that sway beneath the starlight. she saw beauty even in amh araeng's vast amber sands and broken ruins, in the despair baked into the land itself, but mostly in the people. tesleen lived at the ends of the earth, surrounded by death, and yet still she found reasons to smile. alisaie knows why he fought so hard for this world, and for the world he left behind where she no longer exists, where she fell with her brother, cold and dead. ]

Gods.. just to think it.

[ how must it have been, to never have seen the night sky? what a privileged life she has led, when something she had thought so simple, a necessity, had been denied to these people? there are those who lived their entire lives, who died beneath the scorched sky, never having known what it was like to look upon the stars.

alisaie casts her glance sidelong toward him. ]

What will you do now? Your grand plans did not extend this far.

So they did not. [There is a note of quiet acceptance in his tone and, somehow, relief. It wasn't what he labored to see happen, and their dear Warrior suffered with the Light for it all the more as a result. But in the end, it turned out to be the better outcome. The clash with the Ascian was always on the horizon, no matter if the Exarch did as he had intended. If he had taken the corrupted aether from their friend and thrown himself between worlds with it to die, would the battle with Emet-Selch have changed? If he had not been there to summon the heroes from other realms, would the scales have tilted?]

[It was astounding, what one bullet could change. One decision, one will. In a split second, time had been altered, a course in history moved with it, perhaps forever. Already he had seen it happen twice in his unnaturally long life in ways immeasurable, once in devastation and the other in gradual healing, and still three centuries was all but a drop in the ocean.]

[Having lived so long now, having had only a taste of what the Ascian knew, and a poor one at that, he thought he might pity the man. They would never have understood each other, their views and experience and goals being what they were, but he couldn't help but feel still that it was a loss. Another branch of time that would never happen. Be that as may, he would not go back looking for a way to alter the course. The gains far outweighed any potential benefit, and the Exarch would not entertain the idea. If his mind and heart had not already steered him just so, he needed only to see the twinkle of the stars above, to hear the laughter of his people and see the joy on their faces to know where he stood.]

There is still the matter of returning you and your fellow Scions back to the Source. Not an impossible task, yet one whose methods still elude me. To permit a body and soul to cross the rift is one thing and no small undertaking on its own, but a soul alone?... It is... complicated. But worry not. I do have thoughts on how to see this done. You will be returned home, I promise.

[Now that the Warrior had inadvertently proven one of his theories, he had confidence that it would work again. The trouble then: how to bring a body without a soul between worlds when it could not heed his call?]

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fearlessly - 2019-07-15 07:56 (UTC) - Expand

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rewritten_history - 2019-07-15 21:08 (UTC) - Expand

so sorry for the delay!! ... and then i posted too early

fearlessly - 2019-07-21 14:05 (UTC) - Expand

aaaa sorry for the delay here too!

rewritten_history - 2019-07-26 05:10 (UTC) - Expand

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fearlessly - 2019-07-30 13:17 (UTC) - Expand

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rewritten_history - 2019-07-31 15:49 (UTC) - Expand

Little fire sprite.

[Her hand settles lightly in Alisae's frosty hair, her long claws combing the grit and sand from the young lady's bangs. After Tesleen...well, to say she'd been worried had been putting it mildly. In all her summers she'd never seen anything like it, and after everything she'd seen so far, she supposed she'd been tempting fate when she'd thought little more could surprise her. Something always, inevitably did.

Much like Alisae, who she did not fuss over half so much as Alphinaud, whose face she'd scrubbed free of dirt but moments before. No, for Alisae she cocked her head, her gaze hooded as one hand falls to rest on the girl's shoulder.]

You did very well.

[Her accent is as thick as ever, but the words are warm with pride...and concern. Alisae has thrown herself at the sin eaters like a warrior half mad with grief at times, and she had a special brand of recklessness that was both admirable and enough to leave the viera awake at night with worry. With the sky of Ahm Araeng returned to a dark, glittering sea of stars, Mykha had to be certain Alisae was safe. For if anything ever happened to the girl or her brother, she would never forgive herself.]

[ to a point, alisaie has never put much stock in praise, for growing up, she had found little enough of it. she was always different, never quite fit with the stuffy pomp of sharlayan life, not like her parents did, not like her brother did, and more often than not she was chastised and lectured more than she was ever commended. with time, she had had to learn to build her confidence in other ways, ways that did not revolve around the approval of others.

however, if there is anyone whose approval could mean anything to her, it is mykha's. though their relationship goes far deeper now than plain and simple hero-worship, there is no denying that it fills her heart with a special kind of joy to receive such a compliment from someone she looks up to so fondly. ]

It was nothing.

[ alisaie might not have a head for diplomacy or strategy like her brother, but she is confident enough in her combat skills, at the very least, and while the lightwardens themselves are certainly no slouches, the monsters and sin eaters that dwelt in the well did not prove much of a challenge. however much though the praise might lift her, she is not entirely sure that she deserves it.

mostly, she is relieved. this vast and unforgiving desert is the harshest of norvrandt's remaining landscapes, both in climate and in purpose - it is the end of the world in near every capacity, the last haven for the dying, for those who yet live and cling to a time long past. it was not easy, living here. every day was painful, every step was a challenge, and yet she is more fond of and invested in amh araeng than any other place on the first. a bit of her heart and spirit are here in these weathered stones, in this light-blasted sand. to see it finally relieved of that wretched, oppressive veil of light.. it touches her soul in ways she has not the talent to put into words. tesleen is not far from her thoughts. she never is. but now..

she shakes her head, exhales softly. ]

How are you faring?

[Her words bring a soft smile to Mykha's face, and for a moment she almost touches foreheads with the young lady. How many times had she burned with the need to hold the others close as if afraid they would be snatched away? How many nights had been lost to dreams and terrors where that was exactly what happened?

Something stays her hand, as it always does, yet her dark palm presses to Alisae's cheek, thumb brushing a smear of soot just beneath the little fire sprite's eye. Her smile is subtle, but it shows most in her eyes and the tell-tale twitch of one of her long ears.]

"Nothing," she says. As if her blade did not reach half the sin-eaters faster than my chakram.

[Her hand falls, knuckles brushing affectionately along Alisae's jaw before she straightened. The past few days had been a blur, and she closed her eyes, uncertain how much Y'shtola had told the twins, if she'd gone into detail at all.

In err of protecting Alisae for the moment, she shrugged. a simple roll of the shoulders as she shook her head.]

Well as I can. It would take more than that to fell me by now, I wouldn't think. Yet it is you my thoughts go to. I know my limits, and I have need of rest.

[She sighs, the tip of her nose wriggling for a moment as she gazes over the red rock and the starry expanse above them. When she speaks once more, it is faint.]

I would visit Tesleen's resting place with you, if you would have me. I was not with your people long, and yet...

[Her mouth pinches, brows furrowing. A part of her still blames herself for what happened, and she had not known the people of the inn for a full bell before she'd grown fond. A failing that her sisters had chided her for long ago when she first found her gaze straying from the Wood's sacred boughs. A habit that had meant each loss stung deeply and only made her fight harder.

Perhaps it was why she had found herself so fond of Alisae. Far more quick to say her mind, it was true, but she reminded Mykha of herself.]

[ affection is not something that she is well accustomed to either, however natural it might feel to her. alisaie has ever been the physical sort, far more comfortable expressing herself with her body than with her words, but she had spent so many years closing herself off from everyone around her that she tends to second guess every touch, to think twice before reaching for another.

mykha's touch is by no means unwelcome, it never is, but that does not keep alisaie from flushing warm, her cheeks bright, the tips of her ears a telling pink. her gaze drops pointedly away.

but alisaie cannot focus on her own embarrassment long, not when the desert sky is at last black above them, certainly not when mykha mentions tesleen. ]

I would like that.

[ she says, quietly, her voice tightening in the way it always does when speaking about tesleen; the memory is still so fresh, so raw, and alisaie has hardly given herself the time to mourn properly. she cannot. not now. not yet. she cannot risk breaking down, falling apart, like all the rest she must push forward until it is done, she must use her heartache and grief to propel herself forward and keep her motivation strong and sharp. she fights for tesleen, now, and for halric, for every last meal she delivered, for every afflicted still clinging to some semblance of themselves. amh araeng may now be freed of the tyrannical light, but there is still work to be done.

but for now.. for now, visiting tesleen with mykha seems a natural conclusion. it seems right. ]

Then I will see if we might find some blossoms to leave for her, mayhaps.

[It seems so small a gift in passing, yet a gift for those lost to help them find their way. To reassure them they were still tied to those they left behind and were not forgotten. In a desert the tradition seems ill-suited, her ears shifting with her thoughts as she mulls it over.

The churn of Alisae's aether is all too familiar as well. It had been years, but the wounds were still fresh compared to the passing of seasons she'd lived through. Watching companions die, wishing she'd been faster, clinging to them with a quiet desperation and feeling helpless. The need to hold tight to it and use it to sharpen blades and make the fire burn brighter when she cast it at foes was understandable.

Later they could mourn. Once the night was fully restored, then they could grieve. Until the battle was won the merciless press of duty was ever present.

Tearing her gaze from the sky, she bowed her head to glance back to her little fire sprite, for once reigning in the urge to tease over the faint flush of her skin.]

Would she like such a gift?

[ for all the work mykha does, still she finds time for the little things, to honor the memory of people like tesleen, faces that history will forget, with time. alisaie knows full well that the world is full of unsung heroes who are, in their ways, just as important as the warrior of light, people like tesleen and the other carers, who sacrificed their own lives and time to care for the dead and dying. people like that are incredible, special, but history does not often remember them. ]

Aye, I think she would.

[ she says, at last lifting her eyes to mykha's face again, a warm if weary smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. ]

She enjoyed flowers, though they were hardly easy to come by in a place like this.

Mmm, mayhaps I will ask Feo Ul if they might find some blooms that we could leave for her. I should think that if we cannot find any here, those might do just as well.

[After all, Tesleen seemed the sort that would have loved the blossoms of Il Mheg, as well as the vibrant blue blossoms of Rak'tika. She was certain if she went to Fanow and asked, the chieftaness would grant her this small boon.]

I hope the night sky has brought hope to the other patients of the Inn, at the least. Would that I could do more for them.

[For all the fighting, she felt as if it was never enough. She was no healer, her curative magicks a poor match for that of Alphinaud's and Urianger's, and bathed in filth and blood she always felt a bitter sort of helplessness at the sight of those she always arrived too late for. What good was it if she could not spare them?

Logic told her this thought was the path to madness and despair. Yet her heart ached no matter what. A part of her chided herself, a voice that sounded much like her sisters back in her old home, chiding her for being too reckless in her youth. For thinking with her heart and not her head. One cannot be everywhere, and must accept that which can be done.

No matter how bitter the medicine is to swallow.]

You have done more than enough.

[ alisaie would like to wonder why it is that mykha feels the need to do more than she already does, she's the godsdamned warrior of light, after all, but truth be told.. she does not need to ask that question, for its answer is reflected in alisaie herself. she may not be as strong as mykha, as capable, but she shares that selfsame conviction, that need to do more, and more, and more, to work her fingers to their bones and even then it still would not feel like enough. alisaie's year in amh araeng has been long, exhausting, some days blending into one another in a blur, and yet even now with the light torn from the sky, it does not feel like enough.

there are those still in need. those still in pain, in mourning. alisaie must grow stronger still, and faster, and smarter. she was not fast enough to save tesleen. she could not help emery, or ga bu, or her grandfather. she could not help the hundreds of people who came to the inn for their final meals, and never rose again. she is not fast enough to save anyone. it eats away at her insides, the goalposts are ever moving further and further forward, out of reach. she knows why mykha wants to do more, because alisaie is the same way. worse, perhaps, for her blatant and painfully apparent insecurities.

alisaie's eyes lift to the velvety sky again. ]

With the aether in Amh Araeng returning to normal, the afflicted at the Inn should, with hope, begin to show signs of recovery. This is the miracle that they have hoped for.

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heart_of_the_wood - 2019-07-13 14:39 (UTC) - Expand

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fearlessly - 2019-07-15 06:45 (UTC) - Expand

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heart_of_the_wood - 2019-07-15 07:28 (UTC) - Expand

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fearlessly - 2019-07-15 09:30 (UTC) - Expand

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heart_of_the_wood - 2019-07-15 09:42 (UTC) - Expand

sorry for the delay my lovely!!

fearlessly - 2019-07-21 10:49 (UTC) - Expand

is okay, bb!! I am now All Caught Up on MSQ ahhhhhh

heart_of_the_wood - 2019-07-21 14:40 (UTC) - Expand

YOU ARE, at last!!!

fearlessly - 2019-07-25 13:09 (UTC) - Expand

/throws flower confettis!!!!

heart_of_the_wood - 2019-07-25 15:19 (UTC) - Expand

[I admit to not having the seeds of many ideas but a deep desire to have these two talk. You game?]

[ i'm so sorry for the delay, but YES, i would love this!! tough ladies must stick together.. ]

[do you have a favorite portion of the shadowbringers story you’d like to explore? i’ll gladly write a starter for your preference]

[ not particularly, no! we could do something post msq? ]

[Alisaie may not realize it outright, but she has made quite the name for herself out in Amh Araeng. Reports that come back to the Crystarium from the desert often include her name and a sense of awe, as she dispenses lingering sin eaters and too-bold hunting beasts with the same...flair. As the one most often reading those reports, Lyna has developed a wider respect for this elven friend of the Exarch - and what she had was considerable already. It's not every day you treat with the heroes of two worlds.

Or it wasn't. Until now.

It's a surprise to see the young woman browsing the market stalls beneath their crystal roof. Lyna considers not approaching.

Yet there has been something in Alisaie's bearing, since Holminster Switch. Something Lyna knows well. Perhaps no one else in this world ever will. They should be so lucky. It draws the guard-captain to come up to stand at her side; if and when Alisaie turns, she'll get a respectful salute.]

I hope it isn't trouble in the desert bringing you here.

[ alisaie will be the first to admit that, now that the greatest danger has passed, now that the night is restored and the ascian destroyed, dispersed, she has..

.. no real idea what to do with herself.

she has a vague plan, yes. amh araeng will have need of more hands. even though the afflicted will surely now begin to recover, and no more will arrive, she nevertheless feels a responsibility toward them, to halric, to the legacy left by tesleen, and it is all she an do to see to their recovery. besides, even without the sin eaters to contend with, amh araeng is a harsh and unforgiving land - no one will turn away a guard for hire in a land crawling with slavering beasts ready to attack the nearest passersby. it is a harsh land, an ugly, unfriendly place, and yet.. it is where her heart lingers.

but she will need supplies, and a few extra goods - celebratory sweets, mayhaps, and wine - to gift the people of the inn. ]

Oh, Captain -

[ alisaie does not hide the surprise in her voice when she turns - but soon enough she smiles, and offers a stiff salute in return. she may have only been a soldier of the crystarium for a day, but nevertheless, she is loyal. ]

'Tis good to see you.

[While she did not expect to be saluted in return, the gesture is stiff but respectable. Lyna nods, standing at rest and letting her eyes wander the market smartly a moment or two.]

Likewise. My lord's friends have been infrequent visitors of late.

[She may not say so outright as many do, but she likes these warriors of darkness. Respects them, above all, but also she fought beside them more than enough to seek them out willingly. To hold them in the same regard she does the rest of the Guard, if not higher still.]

All is well in Amh Araeng, then?

alisaie leveilleur / ota

..... poke

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new journal, same person!!

8DD

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same person new journal!!

O yaaaaaaaassss

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let's see what we can do here; post-shb spoilers

looks great!!

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