I return to make a new, Waves-style intro!
(considering Waves is my current hyperfixation and i'm definitely going to be posting things about it, i figure i should make it where my page automatically leads to for now haha)
(for more details about me, check out my first intro)
ABOUT ME:
š Barlowe (she/her)
š In my early 20s
š A writer of 11 years
š working on novels for 7 of 11!
š Less dedicated toābut still interested in!ādrawing, animation, photography, and cinematography
š currently a digital arts major in college
š AuDHD and a grey lesbian (aka I'm leaning asexual)
š (my writing may or may not be a special interest)
WAVES OF MISFORTUNE
š my main, current wip ā¤ļø
š accessible:
š here (color-coded outline)
š (will eventually expand; hmu if you want to see that)
š story introduction
š navigation (pending)
It was just a normal day for the crew of the merchant's ship The Siren's Call. They made a stop at Vemor to load and unload cargo, give the sailors a break from the sea, and swiftly depart to the next destination.
As they always did.
And, right as they left, a series of explosions ignited the city all at once.
A stowaway, Flavie, is discovered on the ship. She clearly has a connection to the disasterāand the trail of similar cases leading up to Vemorābut a truth-compulsion spell confirms she's an amnesiac who knows nothing about the matter. Either she's innocent, or she's the only person alive who's found a way to lie through the spell...
Now The Siren's Call sails with a walking mystery amongst them, a burning city behind them, and secrets of their own suddenly under fire. Can they uncover the truth behind Vemor's burning before they're discovered? To the world, they look like accomplices. But to Flavie they seem like captorsāor maybe even her last hope.
Because the return of her memories might doom them all.
On the other hand, it could be their salvation.
Who's to tell?
NAVIGATION:
WIPS:
š Waves of Misfortune
š Rising From The Ashes
ā¦ Sun and Shadow
ā§ The Arcane Rifts
ā [Order's Chosen]
š¹ Sub Rosa
āØ What Lies Beneath
ā¦ Modern Existence
ā Faerie's Dawn
[] surrounds unofficial titles & coloration
GENERAL:
š how do you do gradients?
š #the faechild original
š #the faechild writes
š also @the-faechild-writes
š #the faechild prose
š #the faechild speaks
š #about the faechild
š #behind the scenes
š #the faechild shitpost
ABOUT MY WRITING:
My Writing:
š main genres:
š fantasy
š high
š action
š urban/rustic (depending on story)
š mystery
š political intrigue
š horror
alright alright so, since i just made a post about it, i figure i should explain some of the absurd humor of waves of misfortune.
for context, the story mostly follows the crew of a ship called the siren's call and a mysterious amnesiac who stows away onto the ship.
anywayāthe call literally has three rival ships that appear to torment them throughout the story. one, the tide-breaker vi, is made of a rag-tag group of randos obsessed with the call, who constantly wreck their ship in pursuit of it and somehow keep procuring more.
the second is a bit more serious but let's move past that one lol
the third is a pirate ship called the silent choir, who literally named themselves to be the polar opposite of the siren's call. its captain, ravion, has been chasing the call for years, trying to be the first pirate to successfully raid the ship.
he has tried and failed six times.
the first three led to his arrest.
each time he has escaped from prison, just to hop back onto the hunt with a renewed vigor and ever-growing hatred for zarina and the call.
his quartermaster has a similar story.
they will not stop.
everyone agrees theyāre incredible pirates and could rule the sea if only they stopped hunting the siren's call.
Name: Sammy Bardales
Magic: Life Generalist; Healing Expert & Flora Expert
MGL Alignment: Life
Essence Colour: Deep Leaf Green
Tier: C-2 [CAUTION]
Social Standing: Once-Homeless Lotus Recruit
Age: 15
Appearance:
Nationality: Cirranian
Height: 4ā8 (142cm)
Stature: Thin, Malnourished
Skin Tone: Tan; Freckled
Hair: Short, Curly Brown
Eyes: Right Pale Blue, Left Dark Brown
Identifiable Features: constantly grows
plants around him
Addendum:
{scribbled in pen: according to Lotus rumors, has been homeless, on the run, throughout Aurevia for the past several years. Reason is unknown.}
rising from the ashes
story intro
navigation (pending)
table of contents (pending)
mild context:
Stella and Mistral are both faeries with a connection to the Existential of Magic. At Mistral's request, Magic arranged a meeting between him and Stella...
[disclaimer: there may be one or more lies or misleading truths within the given 'context']
Magic: [after a moment, swells subtly, snapping to attention from their name being spoken]
Stella: [smiling weakly, her eyebrows furrowed, finishes painfully) "I'm ready to speak with your friend."
Magic:
Magic: [fades slightly]
Stella: [swallows, taking another shuddering deep breath as she looks away and stares out into the horizon. Face slowly empties again, going stony]
Sun: [setting!]
Magic: [shudders, then swells, andā]
Stella:
Stella: [tenses, breath catching in her throat and her eyes going wide as she quickly turns to faceā]
Magic: [spits out a singular faerie]
Mistral: [a tall, dark, and angular faerie. Has short, messy black hair, two dark antennae emerging from the top of his forehead, pale near-white skin, six eyes (with large, orange irises that mostly hid the black sclera), and large birdlike wings tucked in behind his back]
Wings: [were feathered; started black toward the top and turned into vivid blues and pale purples as they neared the tips]
Mistral: [held himself elegantly, shoulders squared back professionally and his hands clasped together in front of him. Fae-ears both angled backwards, visibly awkward]
Mistral: [gives a deep bow, folding one hand over his torso and holding the other far outward]
Mistral: (respectfully) "Stella. It's nice to meet you {in person}."
Stella: [oops, eyes watery againā]
Mistral: [didn't really have much in common visually to {Redacted}ā¦ all he really had was the paleness and messy, dark hair. Mistral was clearly a faerie, while {Redacted} had always been human]
Mistral: [but his voiceā¦ even if it, itself was different, he spoke the same way. The same somewhat distant, always-careful, always-thoughtful way, where he clearly considered his words and then still spoke clumsily]
Stella: (voice breathless) "who are you?"
Mistral: [stiffens, butā¦ hesitantly looks up at her]
Mistral: [has a weak, awkward smile on his lipsā¦ and his ears folded back in anticipation]
Mistral: (cautiously) "ā¦ I'm {Magic's} friend from {redacted x2}. You may call me {Mistral}."
Stella:
Stella: [heart and face twists, butā]
Stella: [takes a slow, deep breath. Squeezing her eyes shut, folds her hands together and places them in front of her noseā¦. and then lets out a slow, heavy sigh]
Sigh: [except, comes out mixed with a weak, incredulous chuckle]
Stella:
Stella: [struggling for words, but processing a lot]
Stella: '{Mistral}'ā¦ he literally just {redacted x3} his name. And nobody else has noticed? He's been here for centuries???
Mistral: [slowly, stiffly straightens from his bow, re-clasping his hands in front of him]
Mistral: (voice thick, hesitantly) "ā¦ are you okay, {Stella}?"
Stella: [sucks in a sharp breath, snapping her eyes open and pulling her head from her hands to look up at him]
Mistral: [fae-ears and wings twitch subtly, but otherwise makes no other movementā]
Mistral: [orā¦ not physically. His essence tensed around him for a momentā¦ but just a moment]
Stella: [eyes subtly narrowed on him, suspiciously) "{Mistral}. Where did you get your name?"
Mistral:
Mistral: [lips, ears, and wings all twitch awkwardly as he looks awayā]
Mistral: [but takes a quick, deep breath as he returns his eyes to hers, forces a weak smile, and starts forward]
Mistral: [summoning a bushel of {flowers}, generously) "after a flower."
Stella: [isn't sure if she's glaring or crying as she stares down at him suspiciouslyā]
Mistral: [gracefully stops in front of her, elegantly tipping the flowers in her direction as he finishes gently) "I heard, in a bygone culture, they represented 'remembrance'. Like, 'I will remember you'."
Mistral: [glances away, taking a subtle breath]
Mistral: [looking back at her, smiles weakly before he hesitantly adds) "or, I like to think: 'I will be remembered'."
Stella: [just looked between him and the {flowers} as he spokeā]
Stella: [face twisting subtly, hesitantly takes the flowers and twists them between her fingers for a moment]
Stella: [just breathingā] :'D
Stella: [finally, snaps her eyes up to his]
Stella: (a bit too sharply) "'remembered' in what way. 'At any cost?'"
Mistral: [easing the pain, instead offers a weak smile]
Mistral: (imploringly) "no. Like I will be remembered for who I am, and what I do for the people in my life. Not for my mistakes."
Stella: [face crumples as tears fall from her eyes and a weak laugh escapes her]
Stella: [at the same time, drops the hand holding the {flowers} to the side, raises the other to place her fingertips over her brow, and stares at the ceiling of the gazebo incredulously]
Ailwyn: [in the middle of a conversation sighs heavily as she leans against her knees, watching Luz play in the distance]
Ailwyn: (tiredly) "just call me Ailwyn, Darilek."
Darilek: [freezes, tensing, before hesitantly looking to them]
Darilek: (awkwardly, shock clear in his voice) "Yourāerā¦ what?"
Ailwyn: [pauses herself to turn to him and flash him a sharp-toothed, attempted-reassuring smile]
Ailwyn: [ā¦ but quickly returns their eyes to Luz]
Ailwyn: (seemingly absentmindedly) "ā¦ you can call me 'Ailwyn'. Don't worry about theā¦ 'Your Eminence' thing."
Ailwyn: [half sighs and half scoffs, dismissively waving a hand outward as they roll their eyes]
Ailwyn: (annoyedly) "{God} knows I hear enough of it."
Ailwyn:
Ailwyn: [cringes]
Ailwyn: [has to struggle not to use terms they hear everyone else use that refer to themā¦ and yet had allowed themself to relax. Always makes that mistake when they do] š
Darilek: [smirks slightly behind their back, eyeing the mane of hair blocking their ears from his sight and half suspecting that aspect of their 'design' had been intentional]
Darilek: [but corrals his expression and turns back to face Luz with a sigh, awkwardly cupping his coffee]
Darilek: (tiredly, a hint of insecurity leaking into his voice) "ā¦ but you'reāyou're our god, Your EmināAilwyn."
Ailwyn: [eyeing him behind her through her aura]
Darilek: [grips his cup tighter, watching his fingers turn ashen]
Darilek: (awkwardly tries to finish) "āand I'm justā¦ your guarā"
Ailwyn: (tonelessly) "Darilek."
Darilek: [freezes, ears drooping and eyes going wide as he looks up at him]
Ailwyn: [has his head tilted to the side and ears lowered in focus, but flashes an attempted-reassuring smile for a moment. It quickly disappears for a fully-focused expression]
Ailwyn: (seriously) "do you think I tell everybody to just call me by my name?"
Darilek:
Darilek: [ears drooping even further, hesitantly looks away]
Darilek: (awkwardly) "ā¦ of course not, Yourā"
Darilek: [and it's his turn to cringe!]
Ailwyn: [head still tilted to the side as they eye him]
Ailwyn: [after a moment of his silence, matter-of-factly) "then you know you're not 'just' my guard, Darilek. You're not just a Sentinel."
Darilek:
Darilek: [heart fluttering and cheeks flushing, hesitantly looks at themā] š
Ailwyn: [flashes him another smile!ā¦ and this time it stays, albeit as a small one]
Ailwyn: [lifting his eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his voice) "whatever you may do with it, it means I trust you."
Darilek: !?!?!? š š„¹š
Ailwyn: [gives a dismissive, almost annoyed-sounding sigh as he turns away and flutters his hand to the side again]
Ailwyn: (tries to sound dismissive, but the awkwardness shines through) "andā¦ consider you my friend, or whatever."
Darilek: [stares at Ailwyn's maneāonce again blocking his face and ears from Darilek's sightāas he struggles to find words] :'D
Darilek: [starts with an awkward laugh, but tone quickly turns insecure again as he looks down at his coffee) "ā¦ with your guard? I justā"
Ailwyn: (voice a bit harder this time) "Darilek."
Darilek: [tenses and clenches his jaw, anxiously looking up at themā]
Ailwyn: [brow furrowed and face twisted in frustration]
Ailwyn: (voice slightly hard) "'status' doesn't matter to me. There is a reason I have built a society that anyone, anywhere, can grow into anything. Fall into anything. Your status is little more than the role you currently play. That is all."
Darilek:
Darilek: ā¦ š š
Darilek: [after a moment of Ailwyn's silence, awkwardly looks away to try to thinkā] š š
Ailwyn: [finally, sighs and turns away himself. Looks down at Luz, and then up at the sky]
Ailwyn: (tiredly) "and, besidesā¦ I'm sure I don't have to say, ahā¦ there's not many I do consider 'friends'."
Darilek:
Darilek: [ears low, awkwardly leans his elbows into his knees as he silently looks up at them]
Ailwyn: [still staring at the sky; tiredly) "ā¦ hard to find people I trust enough to."
Darilek: :'D
Darilek: (awkwardly, uncertainty and hesitance clear in his voice) "ā¦ can't you justā¦ make them tell you how trustworthy they are?"
Ailwyn:
Ailwyn: [tensesā]
Darilek: I fucked up, but how!?!? :'DDDD
Ailwyn: [slowly looks back at him, face subtly twisted and ears lowā¦ but overall hard to read exactly what they feel]
Ailwyn: (voice subtly uneven) "Darilek. Tell me: do you think it is ethical to brainwash your friends?"
Darilek:
Darilek: [eyes flying wide, quickly raises his hands in surrenderā]
Ailwyn: [magically catches his coffee cup in the air, keeping it from falling on him]
Darilek: (voice subtly high) "no! No, that's not what Iā"
Ailwyn: [the corner of their lip quirks, then grows into a wide, sad lopsided smile]
Ailwyn: (voice sounding hollow, interrupts) "so you must think I find it ethical, then."
Darilek: āāā š
Ailwyn: [sighs heavily, their ears drooping, and finally turns away to stand]
Ailwyn: (voice empty) "no. I do not. That's why I can't make friends outside of who I already have. Because I will not give anybody else the chance to betray me. Forgive me for assuming you'd understand."
Darilek:
Ailwyn: [and starts offā]
Darilek: [wants to stop them, to say anything to try to reassure them, butā¦ doesn't know whatā] šš
Ailwyn: [after a moment, distorts and disappears, instead reforming downhill with Luz and Ruvaenā]
Darilek: š¤¦šæāāļøš
Darilek: [lets out a heavy, frustrated sigh, squeezing his hands into fists over his knees and looking down at them]
Coffee: [still hovering in the air in front of himā]
Darilek:
Darilek: š š
Darilek: [awkwardly takes it from the air, then whispers, voice thick and uneven) "thank you."
Magic: [dissolves from where it'd held up the cup. Doesn't offer any response]
Sorry about disappearing, but I've had a lot going on, desperately needed to catch up with college schoolwork, and have needed a bit of a mental health break myself. So here's something to tide you guys over! Darilek utterly failing at social interactions, as always. š
Which! He's a faerie of the dark and night! He's got a bit of a spider-y appearance, haha.
And, ah... Darilek actually appears later in Faerie's Dawn, btw! Although, he starts on the opposite side of Nova and friends...
Following the Shattering of Reality, the world was plunged into what came to be known as the Faewildes: an ever-changing world suffused with magic and danger.
Humanity crumbled under the weight of the new reality while faeāand the archfae above themāemerged to rule over the new world. Humans couldn't compete against the fae's sheer magical prowess, and soon built strongholds in territories with weak magical presence to stand against them.
Now, so many generations later, humanity has finally learned of faekind's weakness: metal, which weakens fae and blocks their magic.
A war is breaking out between humanity and fae, with gods each picking sides in the conflict. Between faeries Nova, Cloud, and Sky, and the human settlement Eve and Asa protect... who will win?
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION
MASTERPOST
#FAERIE'S DAWN
THE FAERIES:
CHAPTER 1:
āA NORMAL FAERIEā
part 1 / part 2
nova, cloud, sky
CHAPTER 2:
KILREY
part 1 / part 2
nova, cloud, sky
CHAPTER 3:
āNATURALā OBSTACLES
part 1 / part 2
cloud & sky
CHAPTER 4:
ON WHAT GROUNDS?
part 1 / part 2
cloud & sky
CHAPTER 5:
CALM AFTER THE STORM
part 1 / part 2
cloud & sky
CHAPTER 6:
RUMINATION
whole chapter
sky
CHAPTER 7:
NICE TO MEET "YOU"
part 1 / part 2
nova, cloud, sky
THE HUMANS:
CHAPTER 1:
THE TWINS
part 1 / part 2
asa & eve
CHAPTER 2:
HUMAN SOCIETY
part 1 / part 2
eve, aurik, garin, aster, holst, timo
CHAPTER 3:
FAEWILDE DEPTHS
part 1 / part 2
eve, aurik, garin, aster, holst, timo
CHAPTER 4:
SURPRISE ENCOUNTER
part 1 / part 2
eve, aurik, garin, ralf, stranger
(will expand with every update)
interact with this post to be added to the faerie's dawn taglist!
Magic: [before any of them can react, warps to place themself between the source of Order's voice and the sentinels... with their fae-ears shrunken into human form and mask affixed to their face]
Order: [suddenly concentrates where she'd spoken from, forming a portal that the woman herself steps through with a smirk]
Magic: [snarls, but has to struggle to breathe evenly as they focus on their sentinels]
Tarian and Gwydion: [quickly move to step forward, butā]
Magic: [freezes them in place behind him]
Sentinels:
Order: [at the same time, barely sparing a glance over Magic's shoulder, closes the distance between herself and Magicā]
Magic: [before she can speak, voice hard) "I thought you weren't 'supposed' to appear in front of others. Isn't that part of the new 'rules' you all love so much?"
Order: [stopped in front of Magic, smirking to herself, and finally goes to place her hand on his shoulderā]
Order: (at the same time, voice sickly sweet) "didn't youā"
Magic: [warps a whole new arm over the same shoulder to grab her wrist, gripping it tightly and keeping her from touching him]
Order: [face twitches, twisting for a moment before quickly turning empty]
Order: [but yanks her wrist from his grip]
Magic: [lets her; at the same time, his voice low and cold) "I didn't give you 'permission' to touch me, {Order}. Mind your manners."
Order: [slowly quirks her eyebrow in a 'really, now?', glancing past his shoulder at his sentinelsā]
Magic: [eyes widen and breath catches, but quickly steps between her and their friends again]
Order: [lip twitches in the faintest of smirks as her eyes return to their mask... at the exact place theirs are]
Magic: (voice low, but can't keep it from wavering) "this is between you and me. What do you want, Order?"
Order: [smirking all the more, crosses her arms as she meets their eyes through their mask... even as Magic moves where they are]
Order: (slyly) "what did you ask me again? 'Why am I here when I'm not supposed to interact with people outside of regions I control'?"
Magic: [hesitates, realizing that was a trick question and that she was going somewhere with that, but... doesn't know how else to respond]
Magic: (voice tragically uneven) "something like that."
Order: [still smirking, leans forward slightly... though the effect is lessened by how Magic has three whole feet over her]
Order: (pointedly) "well, that's simple."
Order: [delicately quirks an eyebrow, her smirk turning into a sly smile as she finishes with a sickly-sweet voice) "it's because faeries aren't 'people'."
Magic: [after a good bit of taunting and Order leaves, warps everyone safely into the depths of the Faewildesā]
Faewildes: [vibrating, violently storming all over from Magic's furyā]
Magic: [slams their fist into a tree with a shriek, struggling to control themself or... prevent their magic from going absolutely haywire. Manages to keep a majority of the flood concentrated around their body, in an aura of lightning, fire, and gales of wind]
Magic: [as they punched the tree; at the top of their lungs, their words echoing throughout the Faewildes) "I'M GOING TO KILL HER! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL THAT BITCH!"
Saoirse and Tarian: [quickly step forwardāglancing at the otherāand each use their magics to protect themselves from Magic's aura as they set hands on their shoulders]
Magic: [tensesāheart skipping a beat and their breath catching in their throatāas she struggles to quell her storm and hesitantly looks back at the two]
Saoirse: [offers a weak smile, though her ears are low and her anxiety is plain across her face]
Saoirse: (voice somewhat gentle, though the effect is lessened by the fact that she has to raise it to speak over Magic's storm) "listen, {Magic}āit's okay. She was bluffing. Trying to get into your head, to mess with you. Don't let her, okay?"
Magic: [grateful for her mask and human ears as she hesitantly looks at Tarian with wide eyesā] :'D
Tarian: (voice even, but deadly serious) "yeah. There's no other reason she would've approached us. Not if they're anything like you've told us. She acted no different from an archfaerieāwe mean nothing to her."
Magic: [her storm falling apart around her and voice breaking) "but don't you see!? That's exactly why she'dā"
Tarian: [releases Magic's shoulder to step away, letting Gwydion take his place]
Gwydion: [does so, though he leaves his arms crossed as he eyes Magic's mask]
Gwydion: [voice even and words careful] "to her, we're little different from your avatars. She wouldn't dareābecause you could raise issues with the other Existentials, and cause problems for her avatars. And fae like her? All that matters is what effects them. She wouldn't do anything that puts her toys in jeopardy."
Magic:
Magic: [slowly lets his face crumpleā]
Magic: [and lets his mask disappear as he turns to quickly hug Saoirse, burying his face in her shoulder]
Saoirse: [hugs him tight in return, speaking softly) "it's okay. We aren't leaving you any time soon."
Tarian: [smirking slightly to himself; pipes up, voice lightly joking) "we'd be some pretty shitty sentinels if we did, ey?"
Magic:
Magic: [bursts out sob-laughing, just clinging to Saoirse even more tightly]
This whole thing started as a shitpost where Tarian told Magic "down, girl", but quickly turned into a canon scene... š š
Abdiel: "oh, yeah. My son? Is autistic weird as fuck."
Abdiel: "not that I don't love him or anything, I would sell my soul for his happiness. I've literally fought senselessly against my greatest fears for him, and I would fight God all over again if it meant he had just a little bit more joy in his life." :>
Abdiel: "but, anyway, I'm not weird, lol"
Abdiel: "I'm completely, perfectly normal." ;D
Abdiel: [meanwhile, vibrating in poorly-contained autism "weirdness", unable to have ordinary interactions because he has no understanding of other people without literally magically being in their heads]
Abdiel: "ain't that right, Vic?" ;D
Victor, his brother who knows him better than anyone:
(due to the Faewildes' space-time distortions, timelines across countries are neither linear nor consistent)
Sammy: [suddenly has plants reacting to his emotions; they blossom when he's happy, cling to people he doesn't want to leave, and spike up when he gets scared or angry]
Sammy: [meets Victor, the relative his magic is fromā]
Sammy: [throws his hands up in anger; the plants growing on and all around him spike and jut outward]
Sammy: (irritably) "PEOPLE KNOW WHEN I'M ANGRY NOW BECAUSE OF YOU!" DDDDD:<
Victor: [gives a pitying grin]
Victor: (voice awkward, yet amused) "oh, you didn't have that problem before?"
Sammy: [huffs, crossing his arms and looking away]
Sammy: (annoyedly) "I don't know; my magic was too weak or something? And Caron said I was 'too depressed' or some shit."
Victor:
Victor: [goes quiet, a subtle tension twisting his face and eyes turning sad. At the same time, the very world around them seems to lose a bit of life]
Victor: [brow furrowed in concern, gently) "... did plants die around you when you weren't growing them?"
Sammy: ...
Sammy: <.<
Victor: [brb, going to try to kill a goddess for a second time... after he'd long-since accepted the first as the greatest mistake of his life]
š Hugo āCricketā Tinoco (pov)
š Benji Aikawa
š Zhihao (the Familiar)
TIMELINES:
approx. 809 AA
(global timeline)
word count: 1.5k
part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4
Benji: [steps forward to awkwardly-yet-gently place his hand on Cricket's shoulder]
Cricket: [tenses, butā]
Benji: (voice surprisingly gentle) "listen. If you really don't have any ulterior motives, you have nothing to worry about. You did good today. And she might not have told Manar, so."
Cricket:
Cricket: [uncertain and still feeling ill, but hesitantly opened his eyes and drew his forehead from his staff to dizzily look at Benji]
Benji: [offers a clearly-forced, awkward smile]
Benji: (awkwardness leaking into his voice, though he keeps it gentle) "come back up with me. Zarina's got something for you."
Cricket: (dizzily) how would heā[and remembers his telepathic connection with Zhihao]āoh. Right. š š
Cricket: [gives an awkward, clumsy nod and takes a deep breath, trying to recollect himself]
Cricket: okayā¦ I can give myself a break. This is an okay time to take some essenceā¦
Cricket: [closes his eyes and gently sets his head against the topāthe partially-encased conduitāof his staff. As he lets out his breath in an equally-slow sigh, draws back a bit of the essence he'd stored within the conduit]
Wizards: [would often store extra essence within conduitsāor, essence banksāwhenever they weren't otherwise going to use magic. Then, they'd be able to save that magic energy in order to cast more, far greater spells another day]
Wizards: [due to the fact that basically all of them kept conduits on themselves 24/7 through their wands and staves, were able to build up massive wells of essence after months to years of storing their energy within it]
Essence: [exceptā¦ despite being 'energy', it was only magic energy. It wasn't convertible into physical energy, which allowed an individual to exist and act as a physical entity. It only helped them effect and alter the world around them through means outside of their physical forms]
Conduits: [as they contained the essence of individuals, though, it had the same traitsāand inclinations toward certain types of magicsāas whoever it came from]
Cricket: [personally, was best with earth, nature, protective, and corrective magic. And so, anyone who tried using his conduit to cast magic would have the same strengths in those concepts, and weaknesses in the opposites]
Cricket: [every night, would shove as much essence as feasible into his conduit for later use, then let his essence pool regenerate overnight as he slept. Then, refused to touch the essence within his conduit except for absolute emergencies or combat, where the threat of overextension was much too dangerous to use his natural pool]
Cricket: [except, now he's drained, rattled, and nauseous enough from his accidental overextension to allow himself to borrow a bit from his conduitā¦]
Cricket: [just in case]
Cricket: [the pain in his chest, weight on his shoulders dragging him down, and nausea slowly fade as he taps into his conduit]
Cricket: (tiredly, to himself) okayā¦ that's enough.
Cricket: [and, finally, cancels the magic. Breathing more easily, hesitantly opens his eyes and lifts his head from his staff to look up at Benji]
Benji: [face mostly unreadable as he eyes Cricket, but has an eyebrow and corner of his lip quirked slightly. Thoughtfully or critically?]
Benji: (dryly) "you need help heading up?"
Cricket:
Cricket: [cheeks flushing, takes another deep breath as he looks away awkwardly]
Cricket: (voice awkward and tired) "ā¦ no. I'm fine."
Cricket: what's with this sudden change? How does heā?
Benji: [gives a slight hum, then turns and waves Cricket along]
Benji: (a faint bit of amusement in his voice) "alright, then. Come on. You're not supposed to be down here."
Cricket:
Cricket: š
Cricket: [āand lets out his deep breath in a heavy sigh, nodding and turning to follow Benji's directions]
Cricket: [and leaning against his staff as a sort of walking stick to help him stay steady] :'D
Benji: [as he leads Cricket, absentmindedly and dismissively) "of course, it's fine since Zhihao and I lead you down here, but you know. For future reference, it's off-limits down here. Important cargo stuff and all."
Cricket: [only half listening to him; busy rememberingā]
Benji: (voice harsh) "Zarina may like you, but Zhihao and I are keeping an eye on you. If you slip up at all, we will report it to the Captain."
Benji: [gives a dark smile that quickly grows into another smirk; voice amused and ominous) "and, after today, I'm sure you knowā¦ you do not want to cross our Captain." >;'D
Zarina: [had fought absolutely brutally against the pirates, proving and showcasing just why she managed to graduate from Lotus Academy of Knightage and Magic]
Benji: (strictly and authoritatively) "here at sea, we follow a strict line of authority. You do not question those above you, and can consider this to be somewhat similar to a military environment. Especially with matters relating to pirates. Understood?"
Cricket: I don't know if I actually want to work hereā¦ :'DDD
Cricket: Manarā¦ you said this place was chillā¦ just loading and unloading cargo, and dealing with the occasional pirate raidā¦ you never said anything about thisā¦
Manar: [wellā¦ had mentioned that it could be stricter at times and to always listen to orders, butā¦]
Cricket: [had forgotten about it because the environment was genuinely chill 99% of the time. So chill that he was almost uncomfortable with the 'unprofessionalism']
Benji: (voice curious, but a slight edge to it) "Cricket?"
Cricket: [tenses, immediately glancing up at him]
Benji: [has an eyebrow quirked again, but this time there's no smirk to accompany it. Eyeing Cricket analytically as he watches him over his shoulder]
Benji: (with the same tone) "you sure you okay?"
Cricket:
Cricket: how does this man go from threatening me to faking being concerned about me? :'DDDD
Cricket: [lets out a slow, strangled sigh as he awkwardly looks away and raises his free hand to rub at the back of his neck]
Cricket: (voice uneven) "ā¦ yeah. Sorry. Did you say something?"
Benji: [hums slightly, then faces forward again and says tonelessly) "yeah. It was pretty much the same question. I noticed you haven't really drawn from that thing before."
Cricket: [looks up at Benji in surprise, caught off-guard. Had no idea Benji was capable of noticing anything like that]
Cricket: [ā¦ or, really, how Benji had. Even Cricket struggled to notice stuff like that, and he had a particularly strong arcane eye]
Benji: [doesn't glance back at Cricket as the man looks up at him, though Cricket gets the sense he's keenly aware of his every movement]
Cricket: [hesitates, then swallows and awkwardly looks away as they continue to head through halls and up ladders]
Cricket: (awkwardness leaking into his voice) "ā¦ I try not to. Save it for when I really need it, you know?ā¦ but, y'know, overextension hits hard."
Benji: [lets out a slow, heavy sigh mixed with a dark chuckle]
Benji: (voice darkly amused) "oh, do I."
Cricket: [hesitates, eyebrows furrowing as he looks up at Benji in surprise]
Cricket: [before he can think better of it, awkwardly) "I thought you couldn't use magic?"
Benji: [feet stall under him, falling still]
Cricket: [swallows, heart fluttering as he comes to a stop behind Benjiā]
Benji: [flips on his heel to meet Cricket's eyes with an unreadable look]
Benji: (voice only subtly tense) "I can. I just have a tiny pool. 'Used to be bigger, butā¦ the curse keeps it from regenerating past a certain point. So I can only use conduits for stuff. Pretty limiting."
Cricket: (awkwardly) "ah." š
Cricket: [bites his tongue against the so, how'd you get that curse, anyway?]
Cricket: [chuckles awkwardly, quickly looking away again to rub at the back of his neck again]
Benji: [sighs heavily, flipping on his heel and waving Cricket forward]
Cricket: [hesitantly looks back at the sound of movement just in time to catch Benji's wave]
Cricket: [slowly easing again, quickly paces forward to catch up with himā¦ though it doesn't take long considering their height and stride difference]
Cricket: [and looks at the wall as he listens toā]
Benji: (all the while, dismissively) "but, yeah, I used to be pretty good at magic. Still have the skills, but trying anything almost always knocks AhāZhihao and I out. So I don't bother. We fare well enough without it, anyway."
Cricket: [looks back to Benji again, swallowing nervously]
Cricket: [notices they're almost to the deck, butā]
Cricket: (hesitantly) "ā¦ so were you in a military or something?"
Benji:
Zhihao: (telepathically) I meanā¦ you have to admit it's obvious you have at least some experience like that.
Benji: [flexes his jaw, heart fluttering as he lets out a slow, heavy sigh]
Benji: (painfully) ā¦ I justā¦ wish it took longer for people to notice. I hate that. I just want to get away from themā¦
Zhihao: (gently) I knowā¦
Benji: [let out a slow, heavy sigh, head tilting slightly to the side in what Cricket perceives as irritationā]
Cricket: [putting up his hands in surrender though he doesn't release his staff, quickly) "I'm sorā"
Benji: [at the same time, tiredly) "let's just head up. We're almost there."
Men: [fall silent as Benji leads Cricket the rest of the way up to the deck. Once they've come abovedeck, the sunlight washing over them and blinding Cricket, Benji points him toward the Captain's quarters and gestures for him to move along]
