Feyblue

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #FF741D ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #DFD989
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As her two unexpected companions had begun conversing amongst themselves, Asuka had obligingly remained silent. Having to be so passive all the time was, to be sure, mildly infuriating. She thrived on conversation, on being the center of everyone's attention and directing the flow of the talk how she wanted. And yet, time and time again, all she could do was stand around staring at her phone and pretending to be engrossed by nothing in particular, zoning out from conversations in which she was not welcome.

It was, of course, to be expected. After all, these kids were all heroes in training. It made sense that their concerns and interests - and thus, their topics of conversation - would be completely different from those in which she could readily participate. Still, hearing nothing but talk of training and martial arts couldn't but grate on her nerves after a while. It was just like listening to her own big sister and Harukaze. It was always the same stupid stuff, rehashed over and over again, how such and such hero was cool, or how they'd done such and such training in such and such way at such and such time. While she knew Kasuke wasn't as socially stunted as her sister, she wasn't so sure about the rest of the kids at this school. Couldn't they talk about normal stuff at all? Like what new TV show had just come out, or where they wanted to go shopping and what they wanted to buy, or what music they had been listening to, or the stupid thing their brother's friend's cousin had shown them, or... or something, anything - literally anything other than just fighting, nonstop, 24/7!

Thankfully, she was distracted from one frustration by another. Her sister walked into the room and, as expected, ignored her presence completely in order to strike up a conversation with her cute friend. Of course, the thing she immediately latched onto was his injuries, just as she had expected. With those unfair eyes of hers, of course that'd be the first thing she noticed. And, playing her part with gusto, of course she'd immediately act all worried over him, and then would probably pretend to be impressed when he passed off his injuries like they were nothing, and say something like "You're so cool!" in that dumb, airy way she always did. Her sister had become such a master of sliding her way into people's good opinions by feeding their egos that Asuka was almost inclined to be jealous. No, she would most certainly have been jealous, if the prideless, airheaded way in which she acted to do it wasn't so insulting to her. And of course, everyone just bent over backwards to accommodate her, giving her exactly the attention she wanted, the attention that she hadn't been able to get anywhere else.

...Her thoughts had just turned in a very unpleasant direction again. Asuka sighed. Staying to watch this would only make her question herself and her plans. When Kasuke declared her own intentions to leave, the green-eyed blonde was all too willing to join her.

"Hmm... I suppose I should go, too. I need to tell Harukaze, now that I've found my sister." She returned the rather pointed look Kasuke had sent her way, and gave a slight grin. "It should be alright. I don't think she'll be going anywhere for a while, so I can probably afford to leave these two alone." Giving a slight chuckle, she motioned her friend towards the door, but was unable to resist glancing back over her shoulder and giving one final parting remark.

"Do take care of my sister for me, Yoshida-san," She suggested, so innocently that she could only be teasing. "She can be a bit oblivious sometimes, so be sure she doesn't wander off with anyone else.~" She gave a slight giggle. "Before I come back, that is," She added, so naturally that of course, that was the only thing she could have been talking about.

She turned and headed out the door, holding it open for Kasuke to follow after her, all the while shooting her new friend - and, if her own efforts to depart quickly were any indicator, probable accomplice - another sly grin.

@Silver Carrot

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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Fumika's frown of worry softened slightly at his words, but never quite went away, even as he continued with his explanation. He couldn't tell her? Why? That didn't make sense. People only kept secrets when the truth would cause them difficulties. Then did that mean that if the story of how he'd been hurt got out, Yoshida would be in trouble? But why? It still didn't make sense. He was a nice person. He wouldn't do anything bad that would get him into a situation like that. There must have been some kind of mistake. But then why else wouldn't he tell her? Maybe because if she knew, it would put her in danger? That seemed more like him... so much more like him, in fact, that it seemed almost certain to be the case. But then in that case, didn't this all seem really dangerous? What kind of trouble had he gotten himself into? He'd been fighting someone... someone who even he couldn't beat. What was he trying to protect her from? Just like that, her worries only increased, but, as he'd already firmly stated that he couldn't tell her, she couldn't even find anything to say to give voice to them.

Even so, he seemed happy. But the longer he spoke, the more Fumika realized that his words were all wrong. What did he mean, saying that he wasn't great? This was the same Yoshida who had so eagerly encouraged her on the first day of classes, who had worked so hard to become a Hero, who was so much faster and stronger than her! Of course that wasn't true... But like always, he moved so fast. Before she could even say anything or try to encourage him, he had already moved to asking how she had been.

She opened her mouth to answer, but slowly came to the realization that there really wasn't much to say. She had kept training, had done her homework, and had done her best in the battle exercises for Hero class. She'd even managed to make some decent progress on her Quirk Applications report. But that wouldn't really matter to Yoshida, would it? In that case, herself... But what had she done aside from that? She'd spent some time with Haruka whenever she visited... and she'd been trying really hard to get along with her new roommate... But all of that wasn't really important either. After all, nobody ever really cared about what she did or thought. It wasn't at all interesting or special. Talking about herself would only bore him, so why had he asked? And yet, he had asked, which meant she'd have to answer.

"I've been fine," She responded curtly. She wasn't lying. Well, maybe... Technically speaking, she had gotten hurt a bit in the last exercise. But that was to be expected, and her wounds had all healed very quickly. So then why did she feel like she wasn't telling the truth? Why was it that her chest felt so tight? She had wanted to see him, but now that he was here, just talking was difficult. It didn't make any sense at all.

She wanted to say something, anything, so forced herself to continue a little further. She tried to think of it as talking to herself rather than to someone else, hoping it would help her focus and find the right words, but even then, she didn't really know what to say, and so jumped haphazardly from one thought to the next. "I worked hard in training, but I still lost. My teammates were very nice, though, and didn't get angry with me even when I slowed them down. Well, one of them wasn't actually nice. He was your replacement. He saved me from falling, but then he dropped me on the ground, and during the fight he apparently hurt a bunch of people. I haven't seen him since then, but I think I dislike him. He's very strong, but he's not nearly as cool as Yoshida. ...Oh. That is, he's not as cool as you are."

She trailed off completely, pursing her lips and exhaling quietly as her bangs, which had been curling rather wildly out to either side, let out a quiet crackle of static and slowly descended, like curtains being lowered ignominiously on a failed performance to cover the actors and conceal their shame from their silent audience. Her antenna flopped over completely, dangling across the bridge of her nose and twitching slightly with pent-up impotent frustration. Her expression didn't change, save for a slight frown as she reached up to adjust the glasses that her writhing hair had slightly displaced, but something in her eyes as they peeked between curtains of smooth, shiny hair seemed dark and gloomy by comparison.

"Sorry," Fumika said quietly at last, her voice slightly tense as she lowered her head ever-so-slightly in what might have been a bow. "I'm very bad at talking, so I'm probably being very boring." The silence that followed was practically tangible, and she couldn't help but shrink slightly. Whatever the right words might have been in this situation, even someone as dense as her couldn't help but feel that her own words must have been sorely lacking by comparison.

Yoshida must have been so disappointed. He had finally come back like he'd promised to, and she couldn't even hold a decent conversation. She fretted, fussed, twisted and tugged slightly at the ends of her braids, hoping the warmth of her own hair rubbing against her cheeks would give her whatever strength or assurance she needed to dispel such thoughts. To her consternation, however, the soft strands actually felt cold to the touch. No, that wasn't it, but rather, her face was already strangely warm...? Now that she noticed it, in fact, everything about the way she felt was strange. Fumika didn't feel well at all, all of a sudden. But why? Was this that strange kind of "wanting" she'd experienced before? But why would she be lonely? She didn't understand it one bit, and that frustrated her to no end.

She'd gotten what she wanted. He was right there, so why did she still feel lonely?

@Zeroth

星空 不朽 | Hoshizora Everlasting

Sloth and I didn't really particularly care to do a long drawn out dice battle, so we just did a short scripted thing instead. I think that's okay, since it's not like the outcome of this battle has any real effect on the plot beyond giving Zander a reason to bother Luka in the future? If not, we can always come up with stats for Sylas and do a full length battle. @Vertigo

星空 不朽 | Hoshizora Everlasting

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Toukotan Park, The Asterisk
Spring, SY 3233/UC 233/AY 117

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On an ordinary day, the park was quite a beautiful, peaceful place.

Indeed, Princess Lukarya Amarant, for all her dignity and pride, could easily afford to stoop to give such a simple place as this that much praise. Naturally, it paled in comparison to the size and awe-inspiring magnificence of the Golden Garden which sprawled across an entire deck of the Worldship Rysslind. A single one of the exotic specimens populating that glorious landscape was likely worth more than this entire plaza. In fact, even the small "green room" aboard her yacht was put together with a greater variety and a keener eye for art than this haphazard arrangement of a few trees, flowers, and shrubs.

Nevertheless, the simulated breeze was calming. The plaza wasn't frequently very busy, and as such, the air was very quiet and still, silent save for the rustling of the leaves in the trees. The grass was green and well-tended, and all in all, it was the perfect place to sit in quiet contemplation, and perhaps compose a few lines of a poem, or hum the tune of a beloved song. In short, it was the closest thing to a place of true culture and beauty the Princess could find on board the painfully artless and practical Asterisk station, and as such, she had begun to make a custom of frequenting the park whenever she had little else to do, as an aid both to her relaxation and to her art.

...Of course, all of this was only the case on a normal day, and today was anything but normal. With an obnoxiously loud yell of exertion that completely shattered her pleasant reverie, one airborne figure slammed headlong into another across the street. A torrent of fire was scattered by a spiral of invisible air, sending a double helix of sparks and ashes raining over the park, singeing the green boughs of the trees, tragically decimating the vibrant green grass, and, worst of all, getting soot in her meticulously styled hair.

"Just what do these barbarians think they're doing...?!" Princess Lukarya hissed, gawking at the spectacle with her eyes wide and her jaw slack. Her astonishment was only momentary, however, as her teeth very swiftly gritted themselves to stifle an unthinkably vulgar growl. Her outward show of disbelief was already well on its way to becoming a most un-ladylike rage before she even thought of composing herself - by which time, one of the two airborne figures had already been knocked straight out of the sky and crashed headlong into a nearby park bench, shattering it in a shower of split planks and splinters.

The raised heels of her boots clacked against the pavement as the red-eyed girl strode purposefully towards the fallen combatant, taking a deep breath and calming herself as best she could. Her hand twitched slightly, and the red ribbon wrapped around her left forearm flashed brightly as the winged black crest emblazoned upon it began to glow. Of course, if these imbeciles had any propriety whatsoever, they would surely know this emblem as the personal sigil of the Amarant family's youngest Princess, their fellow student and natural superior. Surely, they would recognize this obvious fact, and, if she simply exerted her authority, she could put an end to this nonsense. As a proper lady herself, she was the highest authority present on the scene. As such, it was her responsibility to correct her fellow students' misbehavior. After all, it was her duty as princess to protect and uplift the lower classes, was it not? This little farce had gone on for far too long as it was. It was a public safety hazard and a smear upon her own reputation as a student of the Asterisk!

But of course, she couldn't just throw herself into the middle of such an unseemly brawl. That would make her no better than an uncultured pig herself. No, she could afford to wait. After all, one combatant was already down, and would need time to rise again before the fight could continue. She could simply interpose herself and demand both parties to stand down before the battle could resume. She wouldn't even need to get her hands dirty. Yes, yes, this would do nicely! So reasoning, she strode forward, standing directly in front of the fallen boy who'd crashed into the bench, staring down at him with brilliant red eyes as her silver hair fluttered in the last echoes of the wind that had carried him hence. That would be sufficient for an entrance, and given his current position on the ground beneath her, the Princess could forgive the boy for not bowing of his own volition. Thus satisfied, she turned her attention to his airborne adversary, who, touching down a short distance away, began to approach slowly, hands still clenched into fists. It seemed now was her time to act, and thus, the princess spoke up.

"I demand that you cease this nonsense at-"

Princess Lukarya didn’t have the opportunity to finish her sentence before she was unceremoniously cut off by the very person she’d been trying to stop.

”Make way. This is between me and the delinquent.”

The Princess’ eyebrow twitched.

“...Do pardon me, I must have misheard you.” She gave a rather disturbingly forced laugh, staring him down with barely controlled outrage that only, after a few seconds of struggling to regain her composure, gave way to an absolutely unconvincing smile. “Surely you didn’t say what I think you just said. Just to be clear, you - some two-bit fighter who I have neither seen nor heard of before - did not just order me to ‘make way.’ That would be absurd!”

The boy in question couldn’t be bothered to muster much more than a disappointed frown, although he did have the dignity to halt his approach and place a now broken pair of glasses into one of the pockets of his uniform before addressing her again, with about as much disdain as one could possibly muster.

”I’ll have you know I’m Sylas Flaurience.”

He allowed his statement to linger in dead air for a few seconds for emphasis.

”Can’t say I’ve heard anything about some pretentious little girl getting in other people’s business.”

The “little girl” in question couldn’t help but find that her hands had, at some point, clenched themselves into fists. Her expression was frozen as it had been a moment before in that same painfully forced smile, as if her face was having trouble keeping up with the sheer incredulity and rage she now felt. What… What had he just called her? What had this complete imbecile hotshot with his unspeakable delusions of grandeur just had the sheer, inconceivable audacity to call her?!

“Well, well, fancy that!” Her voice practically oozed with false politeness as she all but spat her words through gritted teeth. “Now I know your name, and I still haven’t the slightest idea what makes you worth so much of my time as I deign to give to the gentleman who shines my boots! Are you unaware of who I am? Are you simply an idiot? Or perhaps, despite your earlier words to the contrary, you are attempting to pick a fight with me.” She gave another forced laugh, craning her head slightly and raising a hand to cover her mouth as she performed the most ear-piercingly shrill and scornfully derisive cackle she was capable of.

“Ohohohohoho~! I’m right, aren’t I? Very well, then - you leave me little choice. Consider this an honor! Since you so stubbornly refuse to respect your betters, I suppose it falls to me to educate you!” As she spoke, the ribbon around her upraised arm unfurled itself completely, stretching outward and draping itself over both of her shoulders, seeming to float there of its own accord like the raiment of an oriental goddess. By now, she had completely forgotten her original purpose. In its place, a smug sneer slowly crept across her face as, at last, her fury overturned all attempts at composure. The Princess spread her arms, the long strand of ribbon behind her slowly spiraling and wrapping around them as she entered a relaxed, open posture not unlike the stance of a dancer taking her opening bow. She raised her head, slowly bringing up her arms as the ribbons began to twist and spiral into the air.

“I, Third Princess Lukarya Ahn-Rysslind fon Zahria Amarant, will put an end to your impudence!” She declared, then brought down both arms violently downward. The ends of the ribbon cracked like a whip, descending violently from either side of Sylas with unexpected force and weight, more like the strikes of a flail than the lashings of a flimsy bit of cloth.

Sylas’ expression had, up until that moment, been one of smug assurance, and even, for a moment, mild amusement. He hadn’t bothered to move from his position even as his new opponent had begun deploying her M.A.I.D., eyeing her ribbons with scorn. As a general rule, M.A.I.D.s were in some sense a physical weapon, and how much damage could a bit of cloth possibly do? However, upon hearing her name, his expression had contorted slightly, eyes widening in momentary surprise for just a split second, realizing only too late that maybe - just maybe - he'd bitten off more than he could chew. In an instant, he released a blast of wind from his palms, launching upward into the air and slipping between the descending ribbons, flipping head over heels and bringing down a mighty cyclonic punch towards the girl, hoping he could knock her down and then quickly distance himself, disengage, and come up with some kind of plan before it was too late.

But the dancing Princess had never stopped moving, even as her attack missed. She spun, the ribbons retracting themselves in a red blur as she whirled about like a dervish, crossing her arms as the ends of both ribbons jumped up and wove themselves together into a cross-shaped barricade, then hardened, intercepting the incoming fist. A shockwave spread outward around the point of impact as dust and rubble shot into the air in all directions, but Lukarya merely grinned, standing secure at the eye of the storm as her coat flapped wildly behind her. She uncrossed her arms, the ribbons attached to each continuing to stretch and twist around her assailant’s outstretched arm. Lowering herself, she twisted the ribbon from both ends, and Sylas let out a cry as his body spun like a top before being rather indecorously slammed downward into the dirt. In that very instant, the Princess had already dismissed her M.A.I.D., the long red ribbon spiraling around her and shrinking back into her armband once again as she tossed her hair with a flippant air, and let out another long, mocking laugh. Sylas looked down and realized that he was kneeling, and his face flushed with anger and shame.

“So you can show respect, after all!” Princess Lukarya exclaimed through her now all-too-genuine laughter. “That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” As she spoke, she pivoted, arms spread wide in a theatrical pose as if inviting applause. When none was forthcoming from the hushed, confused crowd, she let out an irritated sigh and dropped her hands back to her sides. As her temper cooled, she began to wonder what exactly she had been doing, and realized that she had completely forgotten her original intention of breaking up the fight. Well… even so, the fight was technically over now, so she had succeeded, right? She decided not to think about the part where she had stooped to the same level as the “uncultured pigs” she had been trying to stop, and thus instead moved right onward to the more comfortable step of cementing her victory.

“Well, then!” She exclaimed all-too-cheerfully, clapping together her gloved hands as if dusting them off. “I do believe that concludes this little squabble, yes?” She gave a sly smirk to her defeated adversary, as if daring him to stand back up and try again, but then turned her attention to the dazed boy who was at last hauling himself out of the rubble. “Unless, of course, there are any other objections,” She added, rather pointedly patting her armband and staring him down.

But at that moment, she was slightly distracted, because she heard some rather loud sirens getting very close all of a sudden.

“...Eh?”

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #F50A83 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #0A8BF5
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The brisk footfalls of the tall blonde rang in her ears as she hastened down the hallway, flung open the door to the stairs, and then half-walked, half-tumbled down them, her slipping, slippered feet perpetually on the verge of sliding over the brink of each step as she hurtled towards the lobby as fast as she could reasonably go. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what had struck her so much. Yes, Haruka was going to be there, and yes, she didn't want to bother her sister any further by making her wait, but neither of those things fully explained the strange sort of frenzy that she now found herself in.

A friend of yours wants to talk.

A friend.

A cheerful face, smiling down reassuringly at her, had flashed before her mind in an instant. Her face felt warm, and her heart ached.

"Of course we're friends!"

...Why was it? She supposed that it was only natural that he'd be the first person she thought of when it came to her friends at Komei. After all, he had been the first. Even so, though, she couldn't help but fixate on the possibility that it was him, despite how unlikely that actually was. There wasn't any particular reason to suspect that Yoshida in particular was there, waiting for her. The last time they'd met, he'd said all sorts of strange things... Didn't he say that he didn't want her to follow him around, didn't want her to talk to him right away? It had already been a week since then, and she hadn't even seen him once. It was like he was trying to avoid her, just in case she approached him on sight like he had told her not to...

"I'll see you later, then!" He'd been smiling as he waved to her. Even when he said things that ended up hurting her, he didn't seem angry. That didn't make sense. It wasn't like the way Asuka had looked back then at all... She had been angry, but Yoshida was always smiling warmly.

He'd said that he would see her again. That they would talk again, later, when it was more convenient for him. Just like when he'd left her alone during lunch on the day they'd met... He had promised to come back. He had come back. She had waited for him, and he had come back to get her. So, then... Wouldn't he come back this time, too?

She rounded the corner and descended the final flight of stairs. Unable to wait, her eyes flashed red, an imperceptible pulse of unseen shards of herself scattering outward over the lobby, washing over and through three figures standing in a small cluster by the door, and one of which immediately drew her attention.

Her heart seemed to jump a little, and her breath stopped in her throat. She'd had no right, no reason to expect it, but...

It's really Yoshida. He came back. He really wants to see me.

And yet, the momentary feeling she couldn't identify was completely washed away in the next moment as she realized exactly how wrong things were. His body was wrapped in bandages in several places, and his posture was all wrong. Yoshida never carried himself with such a hunched-over stance. Beneath the surface, his muscles were still straining to repair themselves, and bones once-fractured or dislocated seemed to have only freshly been set back into place. He seemed anemic and weak. Who or what had done this to him...?!

Her eyes faded back to blue and the mark in her hair disappeared. She realized she'd been standing frozen one step away from the bottom of the stairs for a few moments now, simply staring at Kenichi. Her eyes re-focused, meeting his gaze as she slowly, hesitantly approached.

"Yoshida...?" She asked, her quiet, worried voice cutting through the silent air between them. "Why... Why are you hurt? What happened to you?"

@Zeroth

Let me draw u like one of them french girls

@Feyblue Yes! Hello! Are you still up for this? I apologize I took so long in replying, I've only noticed your reply now lol. Anyway, I think I can scrounge er up quickly. Expect it tonight or tomorrow though, after I get back from work.

@Congee

Sweet! Thanks a bunch. :D Looking forward to it!

♦ A New Era ♦ - A My Hero Academia RP

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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #c9c916 ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || #3F9CB1
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Haruka didn't respond to Jett's words aloud, but she raised her head, and it was enough. Her amber eyes were wide as she stared at him, and found him smiling - yes, smiling, despite everything, despite all she'd done and all that had been said, and every single mistake she had made.

And then, in another second, there was a sudden flurry of motion. She was falling, too confused to process what had happened until he was already holding her, his murmured apology ringing in her ear.

There was complete silence. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her up, and this time, she didn't try at all to get away. Haruka couldn't have brought herself to move or say anything, no matter how hard she might have tried, because those words were still ringing in her mind. His answer... it was more than she could ever hoped to hear - more than she had ever deserved. And yet... it was exactly what she had most desperately wanted.

The image of her aunt and uncle rose in her mind, unbidden. How tall they had looked, standing there over her bedside. Her aunt was rubbing her eyes, while her uncle seemed so grave he could hardly speak. How many times had they apologized, wished they could have done something? How many times had they congratulated her? How little had it meant to her as she sat there, the beeping of the EKG ringing in her ears as she felt the numbness where once there had been such strength, and realized at last the enormity of all she had lost? She had felt so small, and all their words had only made her more painfully aware of that fact.

"I'm so sorry..."

Stop saying that. Don't pity me.

"You were so brave..."

Stop it. Please, stop looking at me like that...!

That dark shape in the corner, lurking always on the edge of her vision. Those innocent blue eyes staring at her with such disbelief and confusion, as if the entire world they knew had fallen apart right in front of them. Almost no words had been spoken between them. What could they have to say? Haruka couldn't lead her anymore, and as for that girl... That girl should have just realized that she had never needed her help. And yet, when she did speak...

"Haruka...? If... If you can't become a Hero, then I'll become one for you."

No.

"That's just how I am. I see things that I admire, and I counterfeit them."

That's not... this isn't how...

"So please smile, Haruka... Even just a little bit would be fine."

How can I smile when you look at me like that?!

"I'll use my power to copy your strength, and grant that wish of yours."

This isn't what I wished for at all. Why can't you see that?! Why can't anyone...?!

But they couldn't see. They were all blind to what she wanted, to what she felt. She had never wanted to be pitied, to be coddled, to be a burden to everyone. Even if it hurt, that didn't matter. What she had really wanted... the words she had really needed to hear were...!

"It’s unfortunate that you lost your leg. But this isn’t the end of your story Haruka, you can still can do good. When you get used to it, I know you’re going to turn this around into a positive. I don’t know how, that’s for you to figure out. But I want you to know that no matter what, I’m going to be there and support you in whatever you decide to do. Alright?"

Her whole body trembled, and the walls she'd built failed her at last. She realized that she was crying, but suddenly, that didn't seem to matter anymore. The words she'd wanted to say were all jumbled up inside her, and before she could make sense of what they were, they were already spilling out.

"You... You know, when my aunt and uncle came to take me out of the hospital, they put me in a wheelchair. They wouldn't even... No, I couldn't even push myself forward." The words were coming out between sobs, but once she'd begun to speak, she couldn't possibly have stopped, no matter how much she faltered. "I was so weak I couldn't even move on my own. It made me want to throw up. I hated it... I hated it so much...!" She found herself clinging to him, no matter how pitiful a spectacle it might have been. Because she knew... she knew that he understood. He alone truly understood her, and that was why he had to know. I know it's selfish, but... but... even if I failed, I wanted them to let me try to walk again...!"

She took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. "If you.... if you had treated me like that, I don't know what I would have done... When you saw me, I was so scared... I didn't want you to see how weak I was." Slowly, she raised her head, staring up at him with reddened eyes, blushing cheeks... and the most hopeful smile she'd worn since the last time he'd seen her face, standing across from him on the station platform and making that old promise.

"Why? Why is it you always know exactly what to say? How can I forgive myself for being angry at you when you're so nice to me, you idiot?"

There was only one more thing to say.

"This is why..."

But at last she hesitated. Her voice trailed off into silence, and she slowly, bashfully lowered her head and stepped away from him. If she said something like that to him when she was like this... No, there was no way that Jett Haven, the one who had always been so kind to her, could possibly say anything other than what she wanted to hear. He would feel he had no choice in the matter. That kind of answer... that wasn't what she wanted. And for that reason... this was one thing she couldn't say. Not yet. Not until she had proven that he was right about her, that she really could make something of herself yet. And then, when that time came...

Haruka took a deep breath. Her mind was at ease. She wasn't afraid of speaking to him, afraid of what he would think or what he would say. How could she be? For all her fears and misgivings, he was still the same Jett... the same Jett Haven she had fallen in love with back then. Now was no time to cry. Her eyes were dry, her resolve steeled, and her mind made up. Once more, she met his gaze with a smile, and something of the old Hazukaze Haruka was there again, standing before him.

"...I'm sorry to be so selfish. But there's something I need to tell you before I go home again. Once I'm ready... Will you listen to what I have to say?"

@Aerandir

Make a wish, corrupt a wish.

Granted, but a British man launches you into space via a volcano, and, unable to die or return to Earth, you eventually stop thinking.

I wish I was more decisive.

星空 不朽 | Hoshizora Everlasting

Princess Lukarya Amarant (Warning for Mobile Users: Lots of Pictures)

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{"You seriously believe that you stand a chance against me, don't you? A~hahahahahaha~! ...How cute."}
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Primary Hexcode || #B70000 ||| Secondary Hexcode || #554F9D
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{Fairy Dance || Hayashi Yūki}
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{"Really, I'm not that hard to please. I only require- Hey, are you listening?! How dare you ignore me, you rude-!"}
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{"Come now, entertain me! Show me what you're capable of!"}
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_Background
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Princess Lukarya was born the youngest and thus perhaps most cherished daughter of His Highness the Imperial Monarch Caius Anh-Sahaak fon Euna Amarant I. The Monarch, a former warlord who had established a powerful protectorate over the entire Amarant Cluster in the Neutral Rim, is regarded by his subjects as something of a "hero king," in no small part due to the frequent festivals, banquets, and other such entertainments he hosted at his own personal expense. Nevertheless, the Amarant Cluster was governed by a strict caste system, with cases of extreme merit - usually in either combat or magical engineering - or very rare, fortunate marriages being the only way to achieve upward mobility.

As such, Lukarya had little experience with common people, largely living an isolated life with the children of knights and nobles in her father's palace-worldship, the Rysslind, in orbit over the moon of his empire's capital world, and only being sent abroad to study at respectable private academies for the children of the foremost social elites in the Solaris Accord. However, as she also displayed a remarkable proficiency for magic, she, unlike her two elder sisters - both of whom were married off to other Neutral nobles from nearby territories to secure alliances - was ultimately selected to go to the Asterisk to learn more of the arts of magic and combat, and to serve as the representative of the Amarant Cluster in disputes with other powers. With this responsibility heavy upon her shoulders, she set forth from the lap of luxury, determined to make her father proud...

_Statistics
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_M.A.I.D.
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Princess Lukarya's weapon of choice is the uncharacteristically unassuming armband she wears as part of her uniform. Known as the Crimson Cloth Mk. II, it is a more compact version of a common magical tool among martial artists. Its elemental affinity is Earth, and it dedicates its entire power to processing three magic formulas.

The first is Self-Replication, allowing the fabric of the ribbon to absorb magical energy from the user in order to increase its length. This also allows it to repair itself from damage, provided that Lukarya still has magical energy to replace the damaged cloth, in addition to granting it the capacity to extend and contract at will. Through judicious use of this power, she's capable of controlling the motions of the cloth to some extent by "growing" it in a specific direction to wrap around a target. Between this and her own natural dexterity, her manner of fighting resembles nothing so much as the elaborate and fanciful ribbon dances upon which she bases most of her movement, giving her an air of almost ritualistic grace and poise even in the midst of combat.

The second formula is Reinforcement, serving simply to increase the durability of the ribbon based on the magical power she's pumping through it. At its highest level, she can temporarily grant her ribbon the durability of a particularly thick steel cable while still retaining its flexibility, making it highly resistant to cutting, and incredibly efficient at absorbing blunt force due to its shock resistance.

The final formula is unique to the Crimson Cloth, and was designed specifically by Amaranti engineers to synergize with the Princess' own magical talents. It is an archaic spell that focuses on the amplification or reduction of gravitational fields. In practice, it allows Lukarya to freely alter the weight of objects in contact with the ribbon, making them almost impossibly heavy, or tremendously light. This power has a variety of uses, but as Lukarya isn't a terribly creative sort, she usually just tries to wrap the ribbon around her enemies to weigh them down and render them immobile, or to simply throw large objects at targets, reducing their weight before amplifying it right before they make contact. She can, however, wrap the ribbon around her own body as armor, or use it as a makeshift lasso to swing herself around, among a few other things. More techniques may come with time as she adapts further to the art of combat against skilled opponents.

_{Miscellaneous}
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Although she's skilled at manipulating her M.A.I.D. from a great deal of training and practice, she lacks real combat experience. As such, she's not good at thinking tactically in a fight, and generally tries to win through brute force rather than strategy. Furthermore, due to her genteel upbringing, she lacks a tolerance for pain, and thus might not be able to endure as many hits as a more rough-and-tumble fighter. Similarly, although she's very good at various artistic pursuits and more social skills, she's terrible at math, has an abysmal grasp of history, only the bare minimum of knowledge of fundamental magic theories, and essentially no comprehension of scientific studies. Furthermore, she also isn't exactly familiar with how common people live their lives, and thus routinely blunders in the kinds of assumptions she makes about social conventions at a level lower than what she's used to.

Her voice is naturally very smooth and even, but also rather high-pitched. Her singing range is in the soprano, and, while not a maestro by any means, is nevertheless quite pleasing to hear whether she's speaking or singing.

Aside from her first and last name, the title "Ahn-Rysslind" is similar in usage to the German "von," roughly meaning that she is "Lukarya of Rysslind," signifying her place of birth and family heritage. "fon Zahria," in turn, is non-gendered, but similar to the Welsh "ap" for males or "ferch" for females, meaning roughly "child of Zahria," and designates her family heritage on her mother's side.

She has two elder sisters and an elder brother. Both sisters, however, married off to members of the nobility when Lukarya herself was fairly young, and, perhaps due to her father's favoritism, were oftentimes rather harsh towards her. Consequently, they were never particularly close. Her brother, however, is to some extent her personal idol, and despite only being able to meet infrequently, she respects him highly.

Princess Lukarya, while she does have a dorm room on the Asterisk itself, also sometimes secludes herself on board her yacht, the Ryssilya, docked with the station.

More TBA as I iron out backstories with other PCs.

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{"I'll show the world what I can do, and make papa proud of me! Nothing's going to stand in my way!"}
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What Are You Listening To?

Let me draw u like one of them french girls

Ooh! I'd love to jump on board with this with a quick and hopefully simple request. There's a character of mine in a fantasy setting with a touch of steampunk who I'd love to have a base design for, since I don't really have any sketches or concept art of her or anything yet. If it catches your fancy, I'd be super grateful if you'd draw her!

Freesia

For a quick description, here's why I said it would be easy. She doesn't actually show any physical features, since due to a particular curse, she perpetually covers her body and hides her face from view with a hood and a mask. On the other hand, though, she's not really trying to stand out if at all possible, so I'd rather not just go with what I like to call the "Nazgul approach" where she's just an amorphous, vaguely human-shaped cloak wandering around being sp00ky. Besides, she lives on the fringes of society and kind of has to make due with what she can scrounge up, so her outfit should probably be a bit more cobbled together from, say, a tunic, maybe some bandages, what's left of an old mantle draped over one shoulder with the frayed hood pulled up as far as it will go, gloves and boots to hide her extremities, a tattered scarf around her neck pulled up over the bottom half of her face, etc. Basically, I'm not too picky on specifics for this part, just give the outfit some character. :P I'm assuming it'll be black and white like the sample pictures, so color isn't that big a deal, but for reference if it helps you visualize it at all, it's probably mostly earthy colors like black, brown, or grey.

As for relative proportions and body language, she's pretty short, and likely to look even smaller due to hunching slightly or having her head generally turned downward or what have you. If you can make her seem slightly timid or anxious just by the way she's posing, good on you, but again, this is mostly just to help envision it.

For the mask, not something overly fancy or ostentatious, but probably just something made of simple, smooth wood, with maybe a few markings or runes or magic charms or what have you etched or scratched into it. No details like a face or mouth or anything, just a hole for her eyes (which are light blue, incidentally, in case that helps any). The mask might be cracked or chipped or broken in places, but the rest of her face is probably overshadowed by her hood anyway so you can't see it clearly, wrapped in bandages/bandanas/it's odd how similar those two words are isn't it?, or something like that. At most, maybe a bit of messy, short hair (She has light brown hair) might be hanging down, but that's about it.

The only accessories she might have would probably be solely practical ones, like maybe a satchel for carrying stuff or a belt with some pouches. The only other real details I'd be a stickler for that I can think of is that there are two flowers adorning her outfit. One is in her hair sticking out of a small hole in the right side of her hood, and the other is over the center of her chest at the base of her neck, woven through another small hole, maybe with some bandage wrappings underneath concealing her body.

Thank you!