Anarion

Return to Thellamie

Mmm sparkle tea! And it tasted faintly of ginger. Yuki wondered if it was actually ginger or something that tasted like ginger. Nobody ever thought to ask about that sort of thing. You didn't see the Narnia kids looking at the wardrobe and going "well it's great in there, but we better check if they have ginger before we really commit to years in the place."

She looked up at Aadya. "Does Thellamie have ginger?" she asked, stirring her tea. "It's what this tea tastes like, besides the sparkle. But maybe you have a different name for it? Well, you can tell me after I answer, just curious." She stirs the tea with her little spoon, flicks her ears.

"Well, you know I threw in with Suli and her team. I mean, that's tons of fun, but I also think she'd do the best job of everybody I've seen so far, y'know? Like, Oles...ya isn't bad but she's a step removed from Juni and seems like she doesn't always think stuff through herself, which I think would be a problem for a queen of light. Suli can get distracted on little things, but she always remembers the big picture when it counts, so she's honestly the best I've seen for the job so far."

Another sip of tea, the last bite of toast, a chance for Aadya to tell her what Thellamie calls ginger. Maybe it's ginger? It would be a really interesting linguistic thing either way.

"But that's not what you asked, right? Not who I'm backing, but who I think Hazel is going to pick. And...honestly Aadi, I think the answer is nobody. At least...not right now and not for a while? Hazel's like...he's not ready to commit to anybody, I think. I mean, we're all still young back on Earth, so it's not like he needs to be in a rush or anything. But he's...like, he hasn't even started trying I don't think? I told other folks that as long as I've known him he's never had a girlfriend or a boyfriend or anyone special like that. That makes this all really hard for him. Like...ugh, I dunno if you know what I mean either? Like...I think he likes Thellamie and he seemed really happy at the cafe in Vespergift when I met him, maybe even likes being teased from that outfit he was wearing~" She chuckles and you can hear the tilda in how she said it.

But she keeps going..."but that's like, it's...it's him working a job with rules he can imagine in his head and...and boundaries he doesn't have to worry about crossing. That makes it different. This contest, I don't think he's ready for it because if HE picks someone, he's gonna hurt all the other someones. And not just cuz there's only one queen of light, but like...Aadi, he hasn't realized that the more contests he holds, the more he's going to get to know all these girls and the more they're going to get to know him. And that means that if he picks one that he really likes, that he really feels like has tamed him, he's going to hurt the hearts of every single other candidate."

She pauses, breathes, sips her tea again, holding Aadya's gaze. "I just don't think Hazel is up for that. He's going to end up unable to decide and pick nobody. That's my money bet."

Return to Thellamie

Yuki pours a few drops of hot sauce onto her eggs. Not too much, but she likes the tang of it. Then a couple extra drops on top of that because she's not going to be getting the salt and pepper shakers from Aadya so she has to compensate for the lack of salt with a little extra. She nods at her food, maybe also at Aadya, it's ambiguous. Then takes a bite, savors, swallows. Adds a bite of bacon to it as well. Mmmm, that's good, but for all that Thellamie offers, she's had better hot sauce at the little Thai place three blocks from her parents' house. It may be a hole in the wall, but it had really good hot sauce and curry.

"Mmmm" Yuki says, chewing on her egg. She swallows, dabs her face. "I don't know how much you can really trust here, Aady. I mean, did anyone you talked to even give you their real name? Like, okay consider. Let's say that the person you met yourself is Eclair, or at least that's what she said her name was so we'll use that. Well that's your firsthand account. But you didn't see the whole two places at once thing, you just heard that account from someone else. So you didn't see what the second Eclair looked like. So...like...maybe they were just two different people who both claimed they were Eclair? And one of them was telling the truth and one of them was lying. And then the question would be why they'd lie. Like, I mean the one who attacked Civelia might have lied because who wants to attack a freaking goddess and then give their real name, right? Like if you were gonna take a shot at a goddess and you thought you might miss, maybe you'd lie about your name so that everybody chases the wrong person. Or at least so they don't know who to chase. The one you met...well I dunno why she'd lie. Maybe since she said she was doing an investigation, she'd lie because she didn't want people to know she was doing an investigation? So she'd give a fake name instead to throw you off maybe?"

Yuki cuts herself a piece of toast, lots of butter and strawberry jam. This was better. She didn't have fresh bread very often, if ever back on earth. Mostly she just bought sliced bread at the market, or she didn't really think any restaurants near her were also baking bread. And the closest bakery to her family was over a mile away so they didn't go there very often. But this was definitely fresh-baked and just-toasted. Mmm, it smelled so good and it was so soft when she bit into it. The feeling of the strawberry and butter just melts in her mouth.

"I mean, like, no matter how you cut it, of the two people in Crevas, at least one of them knew the other one, right? Like, there's literally no way that they'd give a fake name that just so happened to match the other one out of pure coincidence. So I think that the best plan is to just find Eclair, like the real one, and ask her who the other person was that might have been using her name."

Return to Thellamie

The brush of Hazel's hand felt like velvet on her skin. Cold tingles buzzed on her palm, out to her fingertips, and then they warmed. And warmed. The warmth spreading up her arms and through her shoulders and into her chest, her lungs, her heart. It felt like she'd been holding her breath all along until just now. It felt like she had been looking at the world in black and white until suddenly someone turned the lights on and she got to see real colors for the first time.

Yuki does nothing but breathe. All the anger that had been burning in her heart dissolves away in the spreading starlight, nothing but a distant memory faded to dust. What was a star dragon or a deceptive plant girl, or any of the challenges and annoyances from aches and pains and bruises in the face of pure starlight?

She should be joyous! She hadn't felt like this since she'd left Thellamie.

She saw herself as she had been: young but already as tall as she was going to get, far too thin and gangly for a frame that was tall for a middle schooler but short for an adult and without any of the muscles she would build into it. She saw those thin arms as they pulled her sword triumphantly, freed from her chains by a foxgirl double betrayal. She saw them as she pressed down, ears alert, tail offering balance and stabbed Azaza with her sacred blade. She felt all the starlight within her crow in triumph and rush to seal Azaza within the mirrors. A star's power within a star. Fantastical celebrations and then a departure in fading golden light. She had been so happy, so relieved, so overwhelmed that she hadn't started crying until the third day home.

She sat alone that night and looked at the night sky through her room's window where Orion's belt was shining brightly. She saw those three little stars twinkle, but she couldn't feel them or hear them and she just felt cold. She cried, too afraid to message anyone about it, and put her head on her pillow until she fell asleep, tears still on her cheeks.

She awoke from the dream to a sudden wide pressure on her chest. Tears sparkled on her eyelashes. The same tears that had flowed back then, and that had flowed again when Hazel touched her with starlight. Not hers. Never again.

She doesn't look at Aadya, doesn't show her those tears. "yes Pasenne, it's fine!" She yawns and she makes a great motion of wiping her face with her sleeve, brushing the sleep and the tears out of her eyes, checking her tablet next to her while pretending that the woman on top of her does not exist. This was going to be a tease, but her eyes widen when she reads the tablet.

>[.snowkitten]
>@eclairespoirviolet
>sounds great, I'll look for you at the ball, if not earlier while I help with an investigation

Then, and only then does she actually look at Aadya. "You made it Aady! A jog sounds great, let's go. Tell me all about Eclair!"

She smiles, all sunshine and morning energy. She liked racing Aadya and it was a wonderful chance to make up for not getting to spend any time with her in Crevas. She believed Eclair, so she just needed to figure out where all this confusion was coming from. And Eclair said that Aadya had an alibi for her, so this would be a great start!

Return to Thellamie

Yuki sighs. Then sighs again. Then paces in a circle around the gathered hunters who are all sorted out on solid ground at the base of Vespergift facing the now empty courtyard full of rubble. Then she sighs again for good measure.

"Oh my god you have got to be kidding me?! Do you people not do magical item attunement or something? Why did the handmade golem charge such a huge loan if anybody could mess with the thing once Hazel touched it?!"

She stares at Suli, at Oley and Juni. "Okay...first thing. Juni, you will also swear that you're going to help Olesnya to the best of your ability. I know you're like oathbound to work for her anyway, but I want you to swear it to me that you're going to help get Hazel to the ball, in one piece, and more or less untormented. I mean, I'm not asking the impossible here, a little torment isn't the end of the world." She says it with resignation, but she finally has a grin that's just for Juni on that one. Blink and you missed it. Oh and she's given up on dropping the nya in Oley's name, hopefully everyone thinks it's cute.

"And both of you..." she stares at Oley, then back to Suli, then Oley again with a glance to Juni for good measure. "...both of you please, by all you hold sacred, stop asking me to switch off between you, for god sake. As far as I can tell here, one of the two of you is by far the best choice for winning this contest. Better than crazy evil tree girl by a lot. A LOT. And I don't even know who else got marked, but I'm sure there are a ton, probably some of them foxgirls who are going to eat up that million mark loan for breakfast. So, truce. Big truce, we are team Crevas plus Khanate Truce, okay? Plus Aadya whenever she digs herself out of the pile of rubble that fell on her, but I'll yell at her later if she's a problem."

Yuki glares again, every which way. "We're family, we're going to win this thing, and then we can sort out the whole last woman standing part of it if that's even how this ritual actually works. If you want Yuki's help, that's the deal. Got it?"

She puffs out her chest, wincing through all the bruises, and her Kel armor, unharmed despite all her battering, gleams in the evening sun.

Return to Thellamie

What is even left of the Chrysanthemum and its surrounding cafes? What had once been a beautiful teahouse was smashed, gutted, and then the rubble cleaned into a beautiful order for repairs. The building full of spas and rooms has already been ripped open and its tree bared to the sky. And now, the winding stairs that had gone above the cafe, that had kept this combat for Hazel above the crowds below before they fled, it too is smashed.

Suli falls, Juniper falls, even the plant woman and the strange trader who had made her offer to Hazel, who streaks towards her. And Yuki falls too, but she falls with an amused grin covering her face. Because Hazel was falling towards his savior. Destined one, of course. And because the plant woman fell like rotted wood and that was funny. Lips curl into a smile revealing sharp teeth.

There's a fun fact about cats, which is that long falls are safer for them than short falls. They react to speeding up, but once they stop accelerating, they can relax, spread out, and cats can actually slow themselves to the point that the fall isn't going to seriously injure them. This is, apparently, also applicable to at least some Kel and Avels. Yuki's tail snaps out straight, and she rotates herself and slows, grabbing Juniper, who had been running right next to her as they fall towards the lower levels of Vespergift. As they pass below the line of destruction and come up next to stone buildings, her armor rustles as she kicks and twists to keep Juni with her while propelling the both of them over to Sulochana. She catches Suli's arms, lets the panicked reaction of coils wrapping around her leg happen, while her other arm yanks on Juni hard, pulling her fur jacket open and further slowing them like a parachute. Juni's modesty would have to deal with it.

Even that's not really enough to slow them all, and so, pulling Suli into a hug while she holds onto Juni with her other hand, she summons her heartaxe and buries it as far as she can into the stone building, further slowing their fall.

It's not a graceful landing as they come to rest at the bottom level of Vespergift, having finally run out of space to fall. They're still going fast enough to topple into a heap of coils, coat, and loose clothing. But it's enough that they can all get up, with no more injury than a bunch of groans, rubbing sore thighs, and untangling themselves with no more than the necessary amount of blushing and erroneous hands pushing on the wrong spot (Juni may have more than the necessary amount).

There is, though, one more thing on Yuki's mind as she finally has a moment to collect herself, before she takes stock of everything with Suli and Juni. She pulls out her tablet and takes advantage of this break in the chaos.

>[.snowkitten]
>@eclairespoirviolet, I've seen you twice now, in Crevas and Vespergift. You looked super cool. Thanks for saving us. Again. *waves*
>I tried to say hi both times, but you were really busy and stuff happened, so...um...hi.
>Um...I think everyone got confused in Crevas cuz I saw you ahead of where I was, and I ran off as soon as the fighting started, but then they put up all these wanted posters for you attacking the ceremony. But...you can't have been near the exit and also attacked the goddess at the same time. I didn't see you anywhere near the ceremony and I had a really good seat with Princess Sulochana.
>Also, um, you're really good at sword stuff and I'm trying to figure out how to split my heartblade up into smaller weapons, like um, I saw the Khatum pull a dagger out of a heartbow, and I think you kinda did that too. Could you teach me how to split my axe into, like, a throwing axe and a staff, or maybe a shortspear and a handaxe or something?
>Like, whenever you're free, no rush
>Also, tea's on me whenever we can actually hang out together. I figure that might not be for a while cuz of all the stuff that happened.
>Hope you're okay. *Kitten curling over a ball of yarn in the shape of a heart*

Return to Thellamie

Yuki Edogawa is a knight. She was a knight before she knew that she was a knight. She was a knight when she was summoned to Thellamie the first time because Thellamie needed a fearless young warrior aglow with hope and sincerity to blind the mirrors of Azaza. She was a knight even before that, when she ran up to a bully in second grade who had taken her friend's pork dumpling and pushed him into the mud even though he was twice her size and dragged her down too and she'd been sent home from school and then had a bruise on her face for a week and her mom yelled at her for fighting.

When she stumbles, she shouts "Hazel!" and she shouts "someone help Hazel!" and she points and she pushes herself up to keep moving as fast as she can. She's not going to get there no matter how frantically she runs, not ahead of the dragon, not even with Olesnya helping. But she's not going to stop either. Not until she collapses from exhaustion and her lungs force her to catch her breath.

No, all the strength that's in her body, kitty tail and all is so that she can try to rescue a damsel in distress (Hazel counts as a damsel). And if they're kidnapped by a dragon, she'll rescue them from the dragon if that's what they need. Or maybe the dragon is cool and is actually a much better result than the tall tree girl and...whatever the point is she'll figure it out and do the rescuing that's needed!

Or...maybe no rescuing is needed at all. Maybe there's a strange girl dressed like she's selling something illegal but like it's not drugs because that coat and those pockets are way too thick for drugs. Who's holding the most absurd sign ever and despite not looking anything like a fox is clearly setting Hazel up for the biggest fox heist of his life only that's infinitely better than everything else happening right now.

Even so, she keeps running to be there and do whatever she can.

Return to Thellamie

"...and my axe!" flashed through Yuki's mind. The classic scene from Fellowship, that was how she imagined the ideals of the Civil Church. At least, how she wanted them, how she thought about order and cooperation. Different people all uniting to accomplish something that seemed impossible. The smallest person making a difference that nobody expected. Accomplishing together something that even the greatest and wisest could not see how to do, beyond all expectation, beyond all hope. [Yuki removes Hopeless and offers a string to the Civil Church to pull her along this vision if they so wish.]

In her arms is Juniper. Thick and warm and flowing with light and absolutely wonderful in every way. Yuki squeezed tight in that hug, and she wanted to just bury herself in her taller friend and close her eyes and everything would be perfect forever. That's what she wanted, and she indulged it for just a moment, with a biiiig final squeeze. But a knight's duty is never done, and on top of that, they were in the middle of a city-wide evacuation happening below and around them, while they stood in the heart of the fighting. Fighting over Hazel. An evacuation over Hazel.

God this was all over Hazel. Did that mean? "Juni! Juni! We need to get to Hazel and get that plant woman away from him! Anybody else is fine. Like, temporary alliance! Uh, double trucies! Like, we just need to get her away from him in a way that she's sure she can't get and I'm almost sure she'll call off the attack. Come on, come on!"

Yuki is almost pulling Juniper along in the hopes that she, of all people, can manage to get all the kids of the Khatum to stop fighting each other and Suli long enough to get the dragon attacks to stop!

Return to Thellamie

Yuki laughs as she falls. Why shouldn't she laugh? Maybe every Kel knight does learn the titles and ranks of the Khanate, but she certainly doesn't know them. But princess little sister here calling herself the most important person present, when there's not one but two dragons, another princess, whatever Cousin It was on about, nearly the entire entourage of the Hero of Ages, a maid knight who was styling on the entire lot of them, AND Hazel the star chosen was...well it was pretty funny.

And that's what made her charming. All these absurd people, Yuki fighting an impossible dragon that she had no way of ever beating, the whole place getting blown open and plants vs. zombies teaming up to be plant zombies and this girl had Yuki going over backwards and laughing herself silly in the process. It was cute and it made her want to know more. Olesnya (she had given up on the name) had been so serious. But her little sister was cute and funny and full of joy. It reminded her of Suli when she was younger, before everything made her forehead crease with worry about land crises and living conditions. [The Khanum gets a string]

Yuki lets out a grunt as she lands at the base of the stairs. Her chain shirt blunts the impact a bit, sending it spreading across her back and shoulders instead of entirely in any one spot, but it still knocks the wind out of her. She stays down for a few seconds until she can breathe again, silent giggles still rippling through her body all the way up to her ears and out to her tail. Presently, she rolls her shoulders, stretches, and groans as she pulls herself back up.

She probably could have done without getting tossed down a flight of stairs, but in a funny way, it was bringing her back to loving Thellamie. In the real world, falling down some stairs could have killed her! Like, probably not actually killed her, but people break their necks falling down stairs, or they break fingers, or an elbow or something. But here, she was armored, she was agile, and while she'd probably have a big bruise down her back by tomorrow, she got to get up and start running back up those stairs to go help Suli and Hazel as best she could.

Though as she looked up, hell yes, Suli! Hell yes! Look at her spear that tall flower girl. You go girl!

Return to Thellamie

Yuki breathes. In, count to four. Hold, count to four, exhale, count to five. Even in battle, if the exhale is longer than the inhale, it stills your heart. In the press of rage, fear, and moment to moment reaction, she'd fallen back on her muscles. On years of training and practice, and a little bit of mental preparation and fantasy, and then a whole metric boatload of emotion driving her forward against every part of her body screaming in fear. But she breathes, and her tail balances her, and her ears twitch as her eyes flick about while she calms her beating heart.

Now that the dragon was gone, and she'd had a chance to dig herself out, she could look at what was going on around her. She probably should have been freaking out now, too. Like, vast dragons were doing battle in the air right out of a Godzilla film, the beautiful spa she had been staying in had been blown wide open to the wind, and multiple fights had broken out in the area as a bunch of plant zombies flooded into the place. That was good cause for freakout. Only...the comedown from fighting what had turned out to be an honest to god evil star princess dragon really overtook the rest of that. And in the time that she'd had to work her way out of the wrecked cafe, she'd had time to breathe and gather herself again. She was filthy, covered with porcelain dust, bits of what must have been sticky sap from where she'd wounded the dragon (holy shit, she, Yuki Edogawa, had wounded a dragon, omg omg). But even for all that, and everything crashing around her, she was calm again, and she could take in the situation for a moment, even as the situation flew past her.

First thing. Holy shit, that's Eclair again! She'd come here from Crevas too! Yuki was so glad she was okay. Yuki was...holy shit she was using that big dude with the hammer as a mop with a siiiiick grind, and yes she can see that this is somehow cleaning up the cafe even as Yuki makes her exit from the space. She really, really wanted to say hi to Eclair this time, but she's been flung around so much already today and Eclair doesn't look like she needs any help, so that can wait. But holy moly, gotta get sword lessons, gotta get sword lessons, gotta get sword lessons aaaaah!

Second thing as she reluctantly turns away from that. Suli and Pasenne are okay, at least okay enough. Hazel is also okay, but the tall plant girl who was maybe speaking through the dragon (still tbd on the voiceover there) is right there trying to hypno-kiss him and that's a problem. As is the Serigalamu taking aim at both of them.

Okay, split second decision, the Serigalamu doesn't get to take the shot. It might take out tall plant girl, but they're too close and she's not letting Hazel get shot. Also, like, Suli and Pasenne are recovering right there and she's counting on them to figure things out with Hazel, if she goes that way, she's just setting up the archer to get multiple shots. Further note to self, also gotta figure out this transforming heartblade thing, a throwing axe would be so good right now actually.

But no, no throwing axe for Yuki. "Hey new person!" she shouts as she tries to jump down to the Huntress. "What's you're deal?! Don't shoot my friends!" Sadly for Yuki, the only real way she's got to prevent that is throwing herself in the way with the jump.

[Rolling to figure out the huntress over crossed swords. 3+1+1=5. Question even on a miss: "who do you love?"]

Return to Thellamie

Yuki stands in the ruins of the cafe first floor. She’s more than a little stunned. What she saw behind those glasses. It had been like her light. She unsheathes her old sword for the first time since she had had them take it down from the ceiling of the great hall in Kel where they’d had it enshrined. They’d been so embarrassed when she came back that they’d let it rust. A monument of course, and it had been quite high up in a stone hall in the mountain, too hard for someone to get done regularly to polish, and besides it was the chosen one’s sword, it wasn’t supposed to rust! But they hadn’t looked closely at it either.

It’s still just a sword. She’s oiled and polished it now, no more brown spots. But just a sword. No glow. No strength or courage filling her heart and making her believe she could accomplish anything. Her time is past. But even so, behind those glasses, that had been just like her light. Only…only it was sick. How could that be? Did stars get sick? Was the star itself sickness? Could there be a starlight of sickness? Or was it that the monster, the…the dragon was sick and did something to the starlight in her?

She brushes a hand along the sword. It wasn’t sharp. She hadn’t sharpened it because she didn’t plan to fight with it. Because…because she thought that everyone in Thellamie fought with heartblades and because it seemed wrong to want to actually kill someone. She was fighting in a fantasy world where you didn’t do that. But were star-chosen dragons bound to the same rules? It didn’t seem like it. Thought she still believed in knights, right? At the beginning, she had knights. Did that make her a queen or a princess then? Or at least a noble of some kind. You only had knights if you were high-ranking, right? And that meant she fit into…something. Some place, some castle or fiefdom or, well, something. Yuki didn’t know, but there had to be something.

But then, what did that other voice mean, about the wildwood? And did the dragon want that, or just the mushrooms and the nothing? She’d heard about this kind of, she vaguely recalled. That was part of Heron’s legend, right? A dark dragon who kept trying to return the world to nothing. Was this the same dragon? Or uh…well, she looked up at the dragons battling in the skies. Could they both be the same dragon somehow? Thellamie had a long history and Yuki knew there were many stars and many cities and peoples, but it still seemed kind of weird that there would be multiple dragons all longing for the nothingness of the void. Like, that was a role that usually had one being fill it in most stories since it was kind of the big boss role. Kind of?

But then, did the dragon want that? She wanted knights, right? She’d fought Yuki like she wanted Yuki to be her knight. That other voice had called Yuki a squire as an insult, maybe a fair one since Yuki had claimed no title for herself. But the dragon herself hadn’t, and the other voice had kind of…like…disagreed with the dragon. The why mattered to one of them. Ugh, was that other voice the tall woman who had gone after Suli and Hazel or like some voice of the star speaking through them both or something?

Yuki sighs, tries to brush and pick all the scattered shards of porcelain off herself and achingly gathers herself to exit the wrecked first floor of the cafe.

Pasenne

Yuki is a bit caught in her own head and she isn’t in the open air right now. But you are. You were the only member of the fellowship who wasn’t attacked, not really. You were kind of near that flower one, but you had a veil over your face that caught most of the pollen and you slithered to safety when she started to charm Sulochana. You were planning a heartblade ambush maybe? You’re not sure, everything was very confusing and you weren’t exactly sure what Sulochana was planning there either, so you were hoping to let the wait staff kind of sort things out first and then help your mistress once you understood what you were supposed to do. You may also have been hoping that any of the other fellowship members would come back and tell you what to do, but that hasn’t happened.

Only, well, mistress ran up the steps and now you’re in the crowd and somehow half of her coils are dangling through a window in space. And so it’s up to you to catch her! You heroically throw yourself from the crowd, despite this putting your nearly bare chest and stomach on full display, and gallantly catch your mistress with your own coils. You’re a hero!