Anarion

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

There are a lot of snakes. Giri doesn't even have a good metaphor for a wave. She didn't visit the ocean much, it was far away from the mountains and dangerous, Dominion vessels and pirate vessels. Later she was just busy. Maybe this was an avalanche of snakes then. If it was an avalanche, you waited it out, found a safe place, let the dust settle, tried to move past it. You had to be careful, an avalanche might stop and leave everything still loose, more motion could set it off again, so it was better to find a way around it and past it.

The jungle's so hot, and sweat is beading on Giriel's forehead and around her arms. It's tense work catching the demon snakes. She could have made herself an island, but that wasn't good enough. No, it wasn't even just her and Uusha, there was a whole party, scattered now. And Han and the waitress, Piripiri was it, and that noblewoman? And that little priestess, where'd she get off to? A bead of sweat drips off Giriel's forehead and plops against a long frond of a fern as she steps forward, her vine lasso ready for the next snake. Everybody always wanted a witch's services. Knowing about things made you so valuable, you'd think they'd be more respectful.

Well, Uusha had been at least. She breathed, once twice and snared another snake. Had that been shame on the knight's face when she came back down? No way she was embarrassed at the thought of Giriel's touch, but maybe...she'd at least realized she overreacted. That was probably it. But still, but still, she was cute when she...when she glanced her eyes down like that, and her face forgot about its scowl. And those strong muscles.

It made Giri want to do something more. And she could. She could! She hadn't tested it yet but, she'd been thinking about how they'd gone through the hells and, well that wasn't the only way to travel, there was the astral and the elsewhere where the rakshasa came from as well. If she managed the trick right, she could move them through faster.

She just needed a minute here. She wanted to show Uusha and the others and getting Han to his little priestess sooner, that would be good too. Haven't you ever imagined that you'd see an avalanche and just be able to pop! right to the other side of it and look down from above it? Well, the snakes were coming from somewhere and that meant they were going the right way, so she just had to speed things up a little bit.

There was a flash in the dark, moonlight gleaming off knives. Both girls had come off Han's shoulders and, that was the waitress wasn't it? Explained a lot about how she'd gotten out of a demon castle in the first place. She didn't have Giri's training, but her store of magic was quite a bit stronger, moving like that. You could tell, she was someone who had reserves and a lot more even than she was letting on here. Well, that made for a couple of dragons in the group. All the better really. Maybe Han would like her.

Giri stepped around the snakes and she pulled her sword out and started dancing with it. She waved it in the air, undulating her hips, sweat trickling down her face now. Every few steps, she let the sword lower and drag a line along the ground. That was the key to making the travel quick, she thought. Carve out the route and make the motion first. She thought it should be a dance, it just felt right that it should be a dance and with magic that was half the game: symbolism and power. Lean into the motion, exert the effort, and cut the route through the earth and then she could move them somewhere else that would take it and speed them along. Uusha would probably think her a fool even if it worked though. Not like Peregrine with her mind going at warp speed just making things happen. No, Giri was the one who took her time. She'd never get Uusha that way though, not when the Dominion was here already, not when Uusha wanted her to commit to something Giri didn't believe. Not when she was already marked for Red Wolf for that matter. She didn't want to think too hard about that conflict at all. So she danced, her feet stepping carefully as her sword swung up and over her head and then down again to cut another line in the earth as snakes broke around her.

Just a little longer now.

[Giri is setting up for an astral dance. She is also smitten with Uusha, who gets a string on her. The what will Uusha dislike is in the body post.]

Sunshards

This little group had traveled together before, but when everybody is dating it's just different, you know? So many stories spend all their time just teasing and showing missed opportunities. Chen would know, she'd just watched a bunch of anime that hadn't been willing to show a full on kiss even though the characters were perfect for each other. But, there's something special about being together when everyone knows you're together.

It's the little things. It's the way that Hyra puts her hand possessively around Yue's waist when they're standing and looking over the hill they just hiked up in the late afternoon to look at the terraced lake. It's the way that Chen plays with one of Rose's curls that falls into her face as they stare at the sunset, absent-mindedly twirling it around her finger because it's there for her. It's the way that Rose holds out her arm and lets Chen snuggle into the space by her side and rest her head with the hair draping over that arm like it's the safest place in the world.

These things are the magic of being in love, the magic of happily ever after even if it's not actually ever after yet. And it's an infectious kind of magic. See how Chen and Rose grin when they catch Yue and Hyra sneaking a kiss? It's like being in on the joke. Look at the way Hyra and Yue's eyes sparkle and their cheeks rise in laughter when Rose sweeps Chen off her feet entirely and puts her on her shoulder to get a better view of the sunset and then insists on keeping her on the shoulder all the way back down the hill.

When they get down and go for dinner at the only little inn at the nearby town, they smile and lean in close to each other. They get to enjoy a gentle fire and the manic contrast of the inn's small radio, playing some old world CDs with high energy girl group music that doesn't seem appropriate for a relaxing dinner after a hike. But it also must be the only songs the place has or that can be found for miles and so they have a special quaintness to them. They get to try each other's food and share a special custard that's the innkeeper's custom recipe that she won't give out no matter how much Chen begs to be able to take it back to the kitchens of Ys.

For a little while on a date like this, everybody gets to be free. To be more themselves than maybe they've ever had the chance to be, and to not have to worry about what anyone else thinks at all. It's even all the sweeter for knowing that there's more to do after it as they hold the whole of the world at bay to make time for each other.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Today had been a day for gargantuan demon generals. Raising and calming the dead. Summoning deities and reading tea leaves and so much more. Ranked among all that, demon snakes were maybe an annoyance. Regular snakes were a source of excellent potion ingredients. Did you know that snake venom is a necessary ingredient to produce snake anti-venom, and that it also forms the basis for several different kinds of witch potions and two types of divinations (one in which you take the snake venom and describe your hallucinations, one in which you give the snake venom to a goat ad then make predictions based on its path of movement)?

Oh, you weren't interested in Giri's encyclopedic knowledge of snakes? It seemed like Uusha wasn't either. That had hurt. It was understandable, she really didn't know what she was thinking trying to reach out to Uusha like that, the woman was hellbent (poor choice of words) on her mission, ready to fight a forever war against the Dominion, and had such a haunted look in her eyes. Giri had just wanted to, to reach her somehow. But instead she'd startled like a wild deer and leapt away before actually leaping away.

A vine looped into a lasso by Giri's hand lifted one of the demonic snakes from its throng, its loop tightening around the snake's throat and cutting off its hissing. Snakes around it suddenly found themselves without their marching orders and, facing many large beasts, stopped and hissed or slunk away. Giri held the demonic thing, her mind still elsewhere, thinking of Uusha and her touch. Her hand had been soft. Oddly so, she had expected all calluses, but there had been the slightest give of her skin at Giri's touch, soft and supple.

Begone the witch voiced in the language of the gods, and struck the demonic snake against a tree, which could not burn with demon's fire. When its head bashed the wood, it vanished in a puff of smoke and the vine noose was empty. Giri pulled it to herself, loosened it, and stepped towards the next demonic snake.

This she could handle, and she wanted to hold Uusha's hand again. She wanted to reach her and find some other way to keep the Flower Kingdom's free. Free to hold hands, to drink tea, and practice magic, and sit in the rain and breath in that fresh scent. Not to disrespect their ancestors and burn it to the ground just to make sure nobody else could have it. Giriel sighed and scattered the next group of snakes, making her way towards scattering the whole of the wave slowly but surely.

[Giriel is scattering the snakes by banishing the demon snakes. She rolled to defy disaster with metaphysical knowledge. She was willing to sacrifice Uusha, who could fend for herself, but she has rolled double 6s for a total of 14.]

Sunshards

Oh Rose. Are you still afraid you'll hurt your little Chen? She loves you, and she wants you, and do you know for all her maid dresses and her frilly skirts and how much she loves it when you pick her up and ride her on your shoulder, she loves this part too. It might even become her favorite part.

Her hand presses down on your chest, firm and hard, the pressure pushing your chest up and in. Doesn't that feel so good and make you just want to moan with pleasure? But she won't let you because her other hand is up and over your chin and your mouth, pressing it closed. You know that maybe, if you tried your absolute hardest, you could resist her, but you can't, can you? You can't bring yourself to move at all because this is what you want from your princess, this is everything you want from your princess.

"Yes, and yes" she says, and her smile and her happy blushing cheeks are still there, but the turn of her lips and the gleam of her eyes is feral now. She hasn't had the chance to tell you all her fantasies about getting a sunshard and being a snow leopard herself and giving everyone in her domain some of the powers to transform their bodies that you Rose from the River inspired. But she doesn't need to either because you can hear that purr in her voice.

"I know I'm dangerous, and I know you're that easily beguiled." And here she steals another kiss, still pressing on your breasts and your cheeks as she does it. A deep kiss pressing your lips in and making your mouth feel so thick and full, and then as she pulls away she adds a peck on the nose. "And you're already mine. My girlfriend. And my handmaid, we did such a good job in the sky castle, it's already decided. hee~" and she laughs because it's cute that you thought it wasn't. (And because, you know, she's never going to be as harsh as Keron and isn't going to try. She wants you to see she's enjoying herself, that she's having fun at your expense and for you to want to be a good girl for her because you just can't bear to bring a frown and a pout to those smiling lips, can you?)

"Besides, you forgot" she says, pressing even harder, adding a bit of magical touch to pin you down much harder than that little body of hers could manage on its own. "I promised to pay you back for my introduction to Keron's service. And I'm sorry to say that's going to take days to do properly my little rosepetal." And then she giggles again because she's found a good nickname for you and she couldn't get through that delivery with a straight face. But she's still pressing down on you so hard and she's holding your face and...and now she's asking if you agree to all this and her hand on your chin is making you nod ever so slowly. She's given you all the time in the world to shake your head, but you didn't, did you, and you're too silly to nod it yourself when your whole body wants to melt and have her work her hands over you. And when she's done, she starts doing that, still firmly perched atop you, touching you everywhere, gentle hands rubbing your shoulders and your arms along the outside and then the inside, and then along your sides and over your belly and down the thighs.

As she's working on you, she leans down and whispers sweetly. "I think we're going to have to punish you for being so forgetful, aren't we? So you'll remember next time. We'll just get rid of some of those silly duties of yours so you don't have to worry about them." Then she raises her voice "Cyanis, crawl over here, would you? You did such a good job helping Hyra, rosepetal has decided to let you go with a warning this time! She just told me! Isn't that great?" Then she leans back into her petal with her whisper, "now show me what a good girl you are and let Cyanis out of her net without moving out from under me." Chen's looking at you with the biggest smile and she's still massaging along your legs and up your back now. You're not going to let her down, right petal?

[Entice: 6+4+2=12. So many strings~]

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

There is a smile on Giriel's lips and then a laugh deep in her belly. Yes, there was something to these people. Han boasting and picking up pretty girls, like it was just so much showing off. Giriel chortles. "If you get them all the way to the castle, we can add your little priestess to the top of the stack and then you can really show off!" she shouts.

Yes, this is good, the sort of laughter that cuts through tension and lets everyone ignore their paranoia on dark roads and deep jungles. This is good because it means that she can look around without setting the others on edge. She smiles a deeper smile when she sees Uusha doing the same thing, her own small chuckles hiding the way she carefully looks around.

There is something Fae in Giriel then. Perhaps the stress of the day, the myriad of troubles finally reaching the point where she forgets herself. She steps up to Uusha quietly and puts a hand on hers. She meant to say something reassuring, to offer a squeeze, but Uusha is not prepared for this, perhaps not prepared for it from anyone and her reaction to Giriel's touch is harsh, isn't it?

[Roll to entice Uusha: 1+3+2=6]

Sunshards

Helping Yue and Hyra land safely and seeing how much they were focused on each other made Chen's own heart flutter. They were each other's whole world for a little while and that was something special. And that gave her time to turn away from them and let them have their moment in the duck pond while she turns to Rose.

And then there are kisses, Rose from the River! Chen's breathless and excited, her cheeks flushed red from the cold and the wind as she comes and throws herself upon you, raining kisses first on your cheek, and then along your ear (so flowery!) and down your neck before she works her way back up and around to firmly press those lips to yours. In fact, she might bowl you over entirely when she presses herself up and into you and takes a nibble of your lower lip while she's there.

When the two finally part, still breathless in a new way, Chen's concern is evident on her face. Yes, even though she saw you step as though the air was as firm as a mountain, still she's got a cross little look on her face. "Why'd you wait until the last second, huh?" she asks you, Rose. You can see on her face that even though she'd made a tactical move in the air, even though she'd entirely correctly left you to her own devices, she'd actually been worried. What if she had been wrong? What if you'd been distracted or weakened or Cyanis had done something unexpected in the fall and she'd been wrong? So she's hiding it with an in your face accusation. But considering the height difference, doesn't she look like a petulant little toddler that you just want to snap up for hugs and tickles, hm? And doesn't it make you blush, too, knowing that someone cared for you, that your little girlfriend was really honestly worried and wanted to protect you as though you were still a dainty handmaiden who might trip all over herself?

Indeed, Chen is so up in Rose's face that the suddenness of it bowls her onto her back and results in a "don't try and dodge the question!" as Chen comes toppling down on top of her, Cyanis entirely forgotten (and surely too busy trying to wriggle her way out of her new net and scoop up the rain of gold coins all at the same time). And it would all be too much if Chen didn't start laughing upon finding herself directly on top of her girlfriend and coyly bringing her face right up to Rose's face with a smile that requires almost crossing your eyes to look at her in focus. "I'm waiting, are you going to explain yourself?" she says, only just sticking her tongue out at her girlfriend.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Before Uusha Enters

It's funny how an age difference can change over time. When you're six and a baby's just born, the gap is so vast it's impossible to bridge. You can do a little to take care of them, but your thoughts and your life are into exploration and adventure, perhaps into learning your first real skills and you're not near old enough to get your mind around what a baby must actually be feeling.

When you're twelve and you're babysitting a six year old, their wishes and their dreams seem so simple. They can be rough and tumble and you're busy wondering about whether the Miller's girl who's almost fifteen was flirting with you or not and afraid that if you follow up on it she'll laugh at you because she's so cool and mature and she's taller and bustier than you because you haven't quite sprouted yet.

When you're eighteen and they're twelve, they're still a kid and you're not, but at least you can start to share things, you can both talk to each other and you're at different points on the journey but it's the same journey and you might start to understand each other a little bit.

And when you're twenty four and they're eighteen, well there's a gap but it's not so far of a gap at all. It's someone else who's strong and skilled and you can see the routes that you've taken and the routes that they're taking and how they've already passed you in some big important things all at once.

So...you probably don't understand all of that Han, but you might understand that Giriel's hug suddenly gets a little tighter. That when you turn and glance up at her face there's a little bit of eye watering that might just be confusing, and a smile that's definitely pride even though it can't possibly be pride because you have absolutely no reference point for what a proud smile looks like directed at you.

But then she says "you got strong, Han" and she's still smiling. She lets you out of the hug to wipe the tear from her eye, and takes a sip of her own tea and she's smiling.

And in her heart, Giri is wondering why she felt so angry just because her plans didn't work out. When here's little Han having her girlfriend stolen right out from under her and ready and raring to go. Giri's almost ashamed she was that petty. This storm was a lucky thing, really, and so was meeting her old friends.

[Comfort and support: 5+5+2=12. If Han opens up to Giri, they both get to select an option. Giri will write off Angry.]

***

After Uusha enters

Giri finishes her tea and puts the cup down gently. There's a little tension in her stance, but not so much. "I'm sorry" she says to Uusha and she means it sincerely. That spirit had caused a lot of trouble and Giriel fully acknowledges that Peregrine is a better witch than she and absurdly better when it comes to Uusha's goals. "I found quite a lot. Ven kidnapped a priestess who's at least part goddess. We're going to help my friend here gesture to Han get her back safely. And the waitress over there" Giri points to where Piripiri is sitting "overheard our conversation and apparently escaped from Kingeater Castle if you want to interview her about the defenses and all that. Also the whole tournament thing was hijacked by a Rakshasa who could be literally anyone including you, but I did stop it."

She delivers all that in a straightforward tone, then stops and refills her tea from the pot, taking another sip of the steaming cup. She's almost getting good at this. Apparently being a witch today means that everybody wants information from you. And more than just asking about how best to treat Daffodil's ailing cow. Giri's almost getting good at the delivery at this point.

Sunshards

Here's a fun fact about freefall that you might learn if you fly a lot. That feeling of falling that's so scary, that's from changing speeds. Once you hit a point where you're falling as fast as you can, it doesn't really feel like you're falling anymore. When you're wearing a floofy cherry blossom skirt, it only takes about five seconds to reach that point, and then you're just...there. All those muscles relax and your heart stops getting a constant flood of adrenaline (the relaxation response is why cats have a reputation for landing on their feet: they have a good instinct to spread out in a fall and land more safely).

For Chen, it's a moment to just take in everything. To bask in the glow of Yue and Hyra's joy, to lean on Rose's oh so strong arm and feel the pure presence of her girlfriend and have it be the only thing in the whole world she can touch, that's really special. To grin at Cyanis' fluffy tails going swish swish swish amid all the gold and gems, and to lift her head and look back up and wonder which sparkles are loose coins and which one might just be Jessic sparkling through the hole all the way up there.

Chen hoped she'd get to spend time with them again. The sky castle had really been something special. She'd learned all about anime! She'd won a super cool sword duel! She'd made new friends and she felt like she'd found something about herself that she could hold onto. Even when they got back down to the ground and she had to deal with Yin, Qiu, and her Moms. Even then, she had new dreams and wishes and nobody could take those away.

Speaking of getting back down there, how were they all planning the landing? Chen looked down to see the ground starting to have features to it. Streams and rivers, the great lake, roofs of little villages bits of farmland and forest all spread out down there on top of the ruins of the burrows, the occasional distant metal tower or odd ruined building dotting the landscape too with their unusually straight and square shapes. She actually expected that Rose could either stop herself or take the impact with no harm done.

Chen began moving herself with her sword, humming a song from the beginning of one of Jessic's anime games (which they really hadn't had proper time for) where a strange young princess with a ruby necklace in her throat sprouted angel's wings. Later she and her friends seem to be on an epic journey, and there's a cute scene where she leans into her swordsman friend in a town amid the snow and they hold each other close, but Chen doesn't have too much time to reminisce.

She moves herself down and just below Yue and Hyra, giving them a smile and a passing wave if they're not too busy at the moment. And then she starts dancing.

Well, properly, what she's doing is a more complex version of the flight spell Yue had been learning, but with a bit of her own special flare. The story went that the princess who had discovered the sunshard in Sourcefall had originally been scared, but the north wind had called out to her and they had danced over the ice and snow and that's how she had first attuned to her shard. On top of that, Chen had spent her youth in Ys, where Ysel was never afraid to cut loose and where the hot desert sands and cold nights called for dances with flowing, twirling silks and gleaming gems set amid naked chests and bellies.

So Chen, now, is doing what might be a Ysing desert wind dance with her sword, leading with her hips into a step and twirl that sends her cherry blossom skirts twirling amid the breeze and then trailing her chest and lowering her head after. She looks for all the world like a fluttering cherry blossom caught in a breeze dancing up and down, each petal rolling up and down in turn.

And around her, there's more than a breeze! The air swirls and the gems and coins all about them are caught up in a sparkling upwards waterfall, streaming around the lovers. The air slows their fall, gently at first, and then with greater strength as the ground comes closer and closer. Chen angles the air a little so that they don't fall right into a village and break things, instead bringing them to a field full of sheeps milling about.

And so they come to rest, not speeding but gently floating on a swirling blanket of wind. It slows them enough that by the time they reach the field they're going at about the speed of a light jog and can come to rest atop the nearest fluffy coat.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"Melody of Silver Bells" the way Giri says it, it sounds melodious, doesn't it? Like she's chanting. She's looking down with some pride at her little Han. She's not fool enough to say something like you must really like her or she means a lot to you, doesn't she but she's thinking it and it makes her happy. Happy to see the children she remembers minding up in the mountains caring about someone, and maybe even something a little more than that.

Instead she says "you do, Han. And you won't be alone." Her arm around your shoulders is thick and strong, but also soft, gentle, a source of comfort. "Yes, that was great information, Han, more than enough for a perfect divination! Look here, see these leaves, they formed into the shape of the tower and then crumbled into a waving banner, and with them the red dahlia and the snapdragon. A truly lovely blend of tea for its clear signs and its taste both."

There's still that note of concern in her voice, but this is her element and you can feel Giri's own comfort in her specialty, in being good at something that will help. That's a really nice thing, isn't it, to be able to help with something and do it well. "What it means is that Ven has your little priestess, perhaps up in that tower of hers. And she's at the center of many things. There is a...demon, a general of armies that will want her, this Melody of Silver Bells. She's ah...

Giri stops. Han had called her a priestess several times now, did she know that Melody was most likely the daughter of a god? Would that change things? She ought to tell Han at least. "ah...she's perhaps more important than you realize. I think, I can't tell exactly from the divination but she may be the daughter of a god or goddess, something beyond your typical priestess. Perhaps that's why she's so much less terrible than her compatriots." Giri smiles and her hands are firm and reassuring. Be calm, take this in, there will be time to think it through she says without speaking the words.

"It may reassure you that from the signs, this Ven who took her is torn herself. I don't think she wants to give Melody to the demons, but she does want her for something, perhaps leverage over whatever god she's related to? It won't end well though, the servants of hell will try to betray one another and however it turns out this little priestess will be stuck in the middle. Now..." her hand is just a little more firm for a moment because she knows, Han, that you're about to jump up and try to rush off. "...let's take this carefully. We're all going to help. Whatever demons are wanting, we don't want them getting their hands on it, doubly so if it's a shy little lady. So, let's get our things together and find the other knights, we've got three here, miracle of miracles. And that waitress, wherever she got off to, there's more happening there for a certainty. And then we'll all go together and we'll get her out of Ven's clutches and any demons who have a mind to get in your way, eh Han?"

Sunshards

At first, Chen is caught up in the joy of the dance, and the urgency of the moment. She has Keron on the ropes, and her opponent tosses aside her Naginata and flees as Chen takes flight for an advance. But before she can end the fight completely, she realizes that Rose is being forced back by the sheer shock of a dragon wielding a naginata in her tail, and that in turn leads to Chen being thrown back with a wing buffet. And for an instant, Chen is about to zip back in again quick as lightning and rejoin with Rose as she gathers herself so that they can do a proper 2v2 fight to decide the ultimate winner (never mind that more guards were streaming into the room, that was a future Chen problem).

But then, then there are explosions and Hyra making her grand re-entrance and it turns out that Jessic's sunshard is a tiger's eye and it's really huge and beautiful. And and and wow. Hyra is standing on top of it with Yue amid all this treasure and then boom, they're freefalling and the world is rolling over itself like it's trying to get into a circus act.

For a moment, Chen simply lets it take her and relaxes. Falling is freedom, it's escape, and it's an opportunity to let forces that are very much bigger than a little princess like her hold her close all wrapped up in their metaphorical arms.

But only for a moment because there's a lot happening, and a skilled princess has people she needs to look out for ahead of hitting the ground. So Chen opens her eyes and looks around her. The first thing she sees is Rose, and instinctually she flips onto her sword and rushes towards her, but quickly realizes that Rose is quick-stepping from gem to coin like it's nothing and she has nothing to worry about. Chen smiles with a blush of pride at how cool her girlfriend is!

Next, she notices a little bundle of brown and fluff and little white mittens in amid a pile of gold coins and that one actually requires a rush. It's okay Kat, she's got you, she's aaah, no chormps, no chormps! shhh shhhh it's okay no panicking, your second best buddy in the whole world Chen has got you, there there. And she pets Kat with one hand while holding her all bundled up with the other close to her chest so that Kat is shielded from the wind.

Finally, that gives her a moment to actually look around and see...oh. Oh! Oh!!! Yue and Hyra, both girls, no flufferdoodles to be found and they're sharing a kiss that makes Chen blush. The kind of kiss that's like, like the whole world disappears and your heart's flying all by itself and you can see how the two of them are completely absorbed in each other and that kiss and how special it is. That's so special that the fall wouldn't dare interrupt until they're done.

Chen finds herself drifting over to Rose and takes her arm, resting her small head on her girlfriend's strong bicep. It's at once comical as they balance atop flying sword and myriad coins, and yet beautiful as they both look at the pure joy their friends are feeling and let it wash over them. The wind is too loud for words, so Chen just leans her head onto Rose's strong arm (still being sure that her own arm is keeping Kat nice and safe) and with the quickest little flash of mischievous eyes, she gives Rose her own little kiss on that strong strong arm, just above the elbow, and a little nibble too. There'll be more later, it promises. They'll get around to landing eventually, but there's no rush after all.