songerein | JUNE CATCH-ALL

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Edited 2023-06-07 03:55 (UTC)

[The dream doesn't seem unpleasant at first. It's almost relaxing. A river near the village, a calm sunset. Little activity. In fact, you only see two people.

The first is Azula, currently performing what seems to be some sort of martial arts drills by the river. The other may be recognizable to a few residents of Reverein- "Nanashi Noriyuki," the deaf and amnesiac zombie who left the village last month. He seems to be contentedly seated in the grass and watching her.

As you approach, however, the tone in the air suddenly changes. The zombie boy stops and sniffs the air, looking around for the new scent, and Azula freezes. After a moment, she starts moving again... and a massive burst of blue flame spews from her hand, setting fire to some of the trees around her.

As she stares at her hand in confusion, 'Nanashi' suddenly lets out a wordless cry of terror, scrambling away into the trees and vanishing. She turns around to try to find him, and instead her eyes meet your character. After a moment, she gives a huff of frustration and runs past you.

Unlike him, she doesn't disappear.]

[he knows that guy. he hadn't really even seen him around in a hot minute, so when he sees him, he jumps. but then he recognizes Azula too -- as the girl at the fountain that one day that was really twitchy.

whose dream is he in?

but then he notices that Unnamed vanishes, and Azula doesn't. when she runs past him, he goes after her.]

Hey, wait!!

[and he's going to follow her, even if he's not sure what's going on.]

[She only makes it a few yards into the undergrowth, turning wildly as she tries in vain to find some trace of Nanashi. She finds nothing. When she hears the other voice, she wheels on him, bristling.

Wait. She knows him. She- the creature. It had attacked her. Made her... regress. Shealtiel had to kill it. And before he had, she'd run into him.

That week or two was kind of a blur. It takes her a moment to put it together. Once she does, though, she rolls her eyes.]

I seem to recall that you're fireproof, you've got nothing to worry about.

[She's only guessing at why he's bothering her, and she's not terribly interested in the lecture.]

[why does everyone roll their eyes at him constantly... he doesn't do anything wrong!!

maybe.]

Well yeah, but you're still chasing after... a ghost or something? Of that guy who used to be here.

[fuck if he remembered his name right now.]

I'm not-

[...yeah, that was gonna work, she definitely wasn't chasing the guy she'd literally chased right past him. She grits her teeth and huffs dismissively.]

It's a dream, don't read too much into it.

[She stalks past him toward the fire she accidentally started, scowling in irritation. Sloppy. She hasn't been sloppy like that with her firebending since she was a child.]

[he doesn't like to read tyvm--]

Yeah well, where I come from dreams involves all kinds of opening your eyes and foretelling stuff.

[he shrugs, though.]

I kinda miss that guy, though. Did he go home?

[That provokes a twist of... something. Something unpleasant.]

I suppose he must have.

[He had. She knew he had. She'd looked.

Even as she contemplates it, the woods in the dream seem to grow a shade darker, more shadowy. She ignores it, swiping her hand to try and smother the flames.

It doesn't work. They flicker blue for a moment, but continue burning. She frowns and tries again. Nothing. Her eyes narrow.]

I dunno whether I should say he's lucky or not.

[he'd been so absorbed in talking about the boy that he didn't notice the flames. he glances over at them for a moment, then waves a hand of his own.

at least he's getting better at dreamotion in actual dreams, because the water does come to his call to make an attempt to douse the flames.]

[... and just like that, he's overpowered her in her own dream. She can't control her firebending, and his dreamotion works perfectly. There's a stab of frustration, not really aimed at him.

And something about what he says...]

Probably. It hardly matters. It's done, isn't it?

[She knew the answer, and it wasn't probably. She remembers the dreamscape of his home- Surrounded by his kind, but all mindless, unable and unwilling to communicate, not even noticing his existence. He wasn't food, so to them, he was just part of the scenery. She remembers his desperation to have people around him, to have people to talk to and spend time with. She remembers how lonely he had been. why was the thought bothering her so much? She had no reason to even care.

A faint smoldering vapor of heat begins to rise from her fingertips, and she clenches her fist to hide it, ignoring the stinging pain in her palm.]

[the way she snaps made him pause and raise his eyebrow. he rubs his shoulder with the opposite hand as he considers.]

Guess so. But if you're dreaming about him... do you miss him?

[just asking.]

Oh, please.

[Even as she reflexively sneers at the idea, something in her stomach churns. The air in the dream feels hotter and heavier, and suddenly she hisses in pain, her hand opening as a handful of blue sparks suddenly falls from the palm.

What- No. No. Ignore it. Calming breaths. Keep control. Keep control.]

He simply had the advantage of not talking, which by default made him the least-annoying person in the village.

[She tries to keep the retort calm and even, but between the pain in her palm, the frustration and alarm at losing control of her firebending, and the wrenching bitterness evoked- inexplicably- by the subject matter, it's impossible even for her.]

[Percy feels the air heat, and quickly feels sweat bead on the corners of his temples. he jumps when she hisses, and he makes as if to touch her in concern.]

Hey, are you okay?

[but then he mentions the rest... and there's a little upturn of his lips in a smirk as he realizes what it could be.

he's been around a lot of girls that act grumpy but like people, after all.]

So... he was a friend. Got it. Sorry that he's gone, then.

[She gives him a flat glare at that comment.]

I'm fine. And I don't do friends.

[Allies, she does. Underlings, she does. Friends-

"Nothing for me," she signs insistently. Without missing a beat, he signs back 'You have me,' staring at her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world-

The unbidden memory is accompanied by an uncontrolled burst of blue flame from her fingertips, and she lets out a snarl of frustration and clasps her fist closed, as if to physically stop the fire with her own hand. Her teeth clench in pain.]

It's just a stupid nightmare.

You seem... a little conflicted.

[Percy might be dumb as shit when it comes to other people, but even he can tell this much.]

Maybe try not being like that.

[#deep thoughts with Percy Jackson]

[She narrows her eyes at him again.]

The only thing I'm conflicted about is whether or not to hunt you down and do something violent to you when we wake-

[Each time the frustration slips into her voice, the muffled flame from her hands flares up again. Finally, she interrupts herself mid-threat with a cry of pain, finally allowing her hands to fall open as more fire pours from them.]

[he yawns at the threat.]

Eh, you're not so sc--woah!!

[he staggers back as her hands erupt in flame, and his knee-jerk reaction is to... use his ability to splash more water on her.

oops.]

[The sudden swell of frustration and anger are rather abruptly cut off by... water. Not focused, directed water, like a traditional waterbending attack. Just. A splash of water.

Not only does it douse the flames she was producing, but it also seems to completely stop her meltdown. She blinks in indignant surprise at him, the spiking rage and frustration giving way to a much milder annoyance at being soaked. The atmosphere of the dream itself even seems to ease up, as if the sudden shock of the water cleared her mind.]

... Really?

[She mops the wet hair out of her face and flicks water from her hands, ignoring the lingering pain from the burns. It's just a dream anyway, right?]

[huh. Percy looks around as he notices the atmosphere ease up, and then looks back over at Azula.

he grins.]

That's how you put out fire. It worked, see?

Yes, very clever.

[... She didn't expect it to work like that- water could quench firebending, but it didn't disable it. But somehow, the entire dream had changed. She could feel it. The air was less heavy, the sky was better lit, the fires she'd accidentally started already began to sputter and burn out from the moisture in the plants themselves.

She stared down at her own hands, and even the burns were gone.]

It's a wonder you don't hire yourself out.

[... She wasn't sure why the petty surprised indignation had utterly derailed the nightmare, but it was undeniably effective.]

[he shrugs. at least everything's seeming to cool off (haha) now, and he looks around at his surroundings.]

I probably should. I could be the best firefighter ever.

[stop...]

Anyway, how're you? You were pretty heated for a minute there.

[more puns...]

I've been humiliated, lost control, and I have a witty fool stomping around in my dreams prying into my affairs.

[She glares at him, still a little too shaken from before to quite master the controlled sneer she usually uses.]

I'm just wonderful. Obviously.

I mean, I just kinda appeared here. Not like I meant to or anything.

[he's just saying. and being called foolish is absolutely nothing new, so it doesn't even look like it bothers him.]

But hey, you're pissed at me instead of whatever you were pissed about earlier. At least there's that?

[Azula isn't exactly one for public appearances at the best of times, and since the battle against the Story Eater she's been particularly ~~surly and antisocial~~ reclusive.

However, she has opted to show her face in public for one reason in particular: She's replaced her regular morning exercises with semi-regular trips to the wildlands to help ~~therapeutically murder~~ contain the naga-envenomed animals before they become a threat.

She might save your character, she's ~~looking for the excuse~~ feeling pretty charitable. Or she might even need to be saved herself- she's ~~a mess~~ uncharacteristically distracted by her aggression right now, and it's making her ~~sloppy~~ reckless. Have fun with that.]

Najaran.... had gotten lost. Badly lost. But she heard the sound of fighting and was able to follow that, rushing towards the sound to see who needed help.

And in hope they had food.

Azula had considered a few potential threats in the jungles- the Nagas themselves, or larger predators, perhaps even herbivores driven mad by the venom.

She hadn't even considered that a threat might be so small. Fortunately, small and fast as the enraged pocket raptors are, Azula is faster. Unfortunately, she loses count. One down in a strike of a flame dagger. A second with a fire kick. A third and a fourth with two darts of flame as they round on her. A fifth, she snatches out of the air in mid-leap. A sixth-

She whirls and draws the flame dagger again, the last raptor still wriggling in her grasp as she clutches it, and finds herself face to face with... Najaran.

"Oh, it's you.

She sighs and lowers the flame blade. The raptor continues to struggle ineffectually in her other hand, but she ignores it.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard someone fighting and came to see if they needed help." Goligan wasn't here to call her out, after all. And it was partially true anyway.

"But you're really good with spells! I guess you don't need help after all!" she said, smiling proudly, happy for her friend.

"It's not magic, it's-"

...yeah, she suspects that distinction is going to be utterly lost on Najaran. She turns her gaze to the little enraged dinosaur, still struggling in the clutches of her other hand.

"These creatures have become aggressive and feral due to a magical venom, which makes them a threat. I'm here to eliminate that threat."

With a quick, decisive strike, she finishes off the creature with her fire dagger, then drops the body and dismisses the firebending.

"You shouldn't be here unprepared."

"So... we should find whatever is infecting them with venom and stop that?" she asked, looking around. "What do you mean unprepared?"

"The initial population of nagas have already been exterminated, as I understand it, but the damage they inflicted was extensive. Animals afflicted with the venom are more aggressive and more dangerous. Any trip to the wildlands could bring you into contact with them."

She gives a dismissive gesture.

"I'm just dealing with the afflicted population. It seems that if left unchecked, the envenomed can turn into nagas themselves."

"Oh..." she considered that, looked at one of the corpses. "Think they're safe to eat?"

Was... was this ridiculous woman ever not hungry?

"I don't think you have the complexion for scales."

With a smirk, she adds-

"Probably still better than turning into a plant, though."

She grinned at Azula's reference to her past adventures, then caught on and blinked. "Wait, we'd turn into one of these things if we ate it?"

"It's possible."

Admittedly, she's not clear on the specifics. She didn't really fight the Nagas herself, much less make a study of them.

"As far as I know, any exposure to the venom risks transformation, including eating animals corrupted by it."

She made a face at that thought. Then she studied the body, a atypical thoughtful expression on her face as she considered something.

Azula eyes Najaran. On the one hand, she's at least pretty sure she won't try to eat the things after that warning. On the other, that suggests something else must be occupying her mind.

"Having a thought?"

She suspects she may regret asking.

Najaran nodded. "You're clearly okay touching it still, I am wondering if there is a way to use it in a trap or something against bad guys."

Well.

That's... a surprisingly pragmatic approach from her. She's almost impressed.

"It may be possible, but it'd be risky. The threat of creating more Nagas would outweigh the benefit."

She nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Or someone would forget and start nibbling on it."

She gives Najaran a look when she says that.

"... I suppose that's also a risk."

Someone, presumably, meaning Najaran.

Hey, Goligan would have called her out directly.

She nodded. "Okay so how do we make this safe so no one else gets hurt?"

"For the moment, the best solution I've found is incineration."

She's assuming that'd work anyway.

"If we reduce the contaminated animals to ash, there's no more risk of spread."

She nodded. "Want me to get Thunderbeak to help?"

"That won't be necessary."

With a flourish, she slowly materializes an object in her hands- an oversized spear, clearly sized for somebody a foot taller than her. As soon as it appears, she begins skewering the little lizards on the end, one after the other, in a grotesque collection.

To which she then applies a steady spray of blue flame.

"Whoa!" Najaran said, impressed. She even applauded.

JUNE CATCH-ALL

CLOSED PROMPTS

[Interactive Nightmare] I, who look upon you without fear

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[Action] Teeth and ambitions

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cw: She's gonna kill the little rabid dinosaur.

Re: cw: She's gonna kill the little rabid dinosaur.

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CW: She's being efficient about this and it's gross

Re: CW: She's being efficient about this and it's gross