forum unnamed fantasy (3/3) (closed)

Started January 21, 2023 by Deleted user

tune

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Fia read the letter again for the eleventh time that day. He counted.

 Fia Steele,

If this makes its way to you at all I'll be surprised. The officers just said to me something about it taking a week, at least. Their postal system is manual, not magic.

And what I mean by that is- though it is embarassing to admit- I've been arrested by Giunash forces as a magicuser. I was on my way to visit family as well as a job interview when I was approached as I left the train station, then I was cuffed. As you would assume of me, I argued, but was quickly sedated. I woke up thirty minutes ago.

I am only allowed one letter per twenty days, so please let this make its way to anyone who might need to know what happened. I trust that you will, Fia.

So far my sentence has yet to be declared, but I will not be able to leave any time soon. I am also running out of time. Do not bother trying to send me means of escape, which probably would not work but the guards look over each letter. They will look over this one. Don't let anyone else, either. I know you are stubborn, so you let them know, alright?

Sincerely,
Juno Enasae

He folded the now worn paper back up again. Fia was sitting on the rocks that overlooked the ocean, which was pale and reflecting the sky. In no way was he eager to share the news. Juno was someone he did not know well, but she was his "friend"; its not like she knew many people in Cerra at all. Fia figured he'd only show it out of obligation. He didn't want to remind himself.

Knees to his chest, Fia stared at the water with furrowed eyebrows as it drifted back and forth against sand. Anger burned in his mind, which didn't show externally in a very prominent way. 

Fia was tempted not to respond to the letter at all. He recieved it only yesterday. But was that what this somewhat "friend" of his deserved? No, it was not. He told himself he'd come up with something later that evening. He told himself he'd return to the stupid shop after his hour break, but he really wasn't inclined to. He was about to be fired, which was not much of his concern. Something that included metalworking sounded much more convenient.

This hour was drawing to a close and he still pondered whether or not he was going to return. He landed on no, just like the last two days. Sulking felt too good to leave.

Kavo was down on the beach, standing waist-deep in the water. He was allowing the smell of the ocean to allow him to recharge his batteries. He'd been working hard, acting as security for a visiting official over the last few days, and with the man gone, he finally had time to relax.
Ragacio Squath was not a magic user, but he was one of a few of the nobles who were pushing for equality across the country. The Crown was still often hostile to magic, and court cases that involved magic users were rarely fair. There was a reason Kavo only used his magic if he absolutely had to.
As the sun moved across the sky, the Karcaon shifted from just enjoying the feel of the water on his chitin, to going through his fighting forms, practicing kata and shadow boxing with his claws.
Fast, durable, and insanely strong, an adult male Karcaon fighting in his prime was a sight to see, and Kavo was no exception.

"Again."

Emaria panted for breath, doubled over, and shook her head. Godsdamn, she was so tired. Not from using her magic. No, that never drained her. She was a witch. Her magic was reliable, steady, and elemental. But exhaustion was beginning to sink in from the physicality of her training. Of course, her mentors had to be her parents. And both of them were loving, of course. She was their only daughter. However, they were both also unrelentingly firm.

"Emaria, again," her mother, Farah, commanded. She stood across the room from Emaria with her ashy-golden-blonde hair styled in a fierce yet beautiful updo. The young teenager had always wished her hair would turn out to be like her mother's when she got older. Her hair was currently blonder than her mother's, though. But it wasn't dark like her father's either. Emaria took after her mother much more with both her appearance and abilities.

Farah's brown eyes – another feature the two women shared – met Emaria's expectantly as she waited for her daughter to loosen another wave of magic. "Try to break through my mental defenses," she instructed, standing tall and steady.

Emaria closed her eyes before righting herself and accessing her magic. Instantly, she felt the strong barrier around her mother's mind. She narrowed her eyes in focus, trying to break through. Her breathing began heavily, but still, she tried to push past the invisible barrier to Farah's thoughts, emotions, and memories. But she was rewarded with no such luck.

Farah was very powerful, and she shut Emaria out yet again with a quiet sigh. It was barely audible, but Emaria heard it. The sound meant only one thing – she'd disappointed her mother yet again. "That's enough for today," Farah murmured, crossing the room and setting her hands gently on Emaria's shoulders. "You're getting better, darling. You really are."

Emaria frowned and shrugged off the embrace – if that's what you could even call it. She was tired of Farah's disappointment and pity. She wanted to be as powerful as her mother, not forever living in her shadow. "Yeah, okay… I'm going to go for a walk," she mumbled, brushing past Farah and heading for the door.

"How long will you be gone?" Farah asked after her.

"Dunno," Emaria replied, not looking back as she shut the door behind her. She made her way down the cliffside to the ocean. The scent and sight of the saltwater always managed to calm her. Emaria took a deep breath and put the training session in the back of her mind. She didn't need to worry about her mother right now. The only thing she wanted to be thinking about was the ocean and the sunlight that sparkled along the surface.

Fia looked out into the water. He spotted a someone, doing- …something. He could not tell from afar, but this person looked to be a Karcaon. Not wanting to be spotted or make eye contact, he shifted his gaze away. Giuna was visible from there, it was an island not far from Cerra. He could not help but feel hatred for the place.

Standing up and being sure not to slip- the rocks were often slick- Fia turned, one half of his body facing the sea and the other the pine trees. He heard footsteps, he thought. He never saw anyone in this area. It was tempting to try and hide, just out of avoidance, but if this person saw him he'd feel stupid. Gray eyes glanced over the area. Maybe it was just an animal, a rabbit or something. That would be preferable as opposed to another person. More than anything in that moment, Fia wanted solitude, more than usual. To be alone with his resentment and the water, trees and woods behind his back and the gray sky above, cold air swirling around.

It was rude, he knew, but he almost was annoyed with whoever was coming closer. He was oddly possessive over the places where he spent time alone.

Emaria scuffed her shoe against the ground as she walked. It was so difficult to love her mother sometimes. She did, through thick and thin, but there was no shortage of the "thick" moments. Farah had her way of pressing Emaria's buttons, and vice versa.

Suddenly, Emaria stopped and frowned. She'd felt something. Her empathetic abilities picked up a flicker of annoyance. Thinking her mother was following her, Emaria whirled around to tell her off, but much to her shock, there was no one there. So who was it?

Kavo was working through the various movements, trying to focus, but something flitted in the corner of his eye. He turned and looked, and picked up two figures on the cliffs overlooking the beach. He didn't immediately recognize them, and neither of them seemed threatening or like they were in trouble, so he went back to what he'd been doing.

Fia watched this someone come into view. Another Witch, as far as he could tell, just by sensing. He would have turned completely around but he didn't want to risk slipping if he did not have to. Instead he turned his head to the noise. A girl, strolling through just as he had. He sighed again and pocketed the paper, debating what he should say now that he was facing her. No matter what it'd sound too blunt, but that was never any of Fia's concern.

The witch started to turn completely, slowly, but slipped and almost lost his footing. Luckily he didn't fall, which would have been mortifying, and painful. He didn't know how deep it was around where he stood.

"Suppose I should leave?" He asked, voice just loud enough to be heard from his elevated stance on the rocks. "No one really comes here for fun." He glanced back out at the figure in the water, who he assumed to be a Karcaon, then looked back. At this point he thought he might feel better if he threw the awful letter into the ocean, but that was just immature. Instead he hoped the girl would say she was just coming through, since he wasn't necessarily excited to leave.

Emaria's entire body whipped back around at the voice behind her. That's not the direction she'd thought the person would be in. She would've sworn on her life that Farah had followed her, especially with the emotions she'd felt radiating from the male in front of her now. They were remarkably similar… remarkably similar.

She calmed herself with a breath and shook her head. "No, you don't have to," she replied easily. "You were here first anyway. I'm just on a walk."

For a moment, the Mind Witch followed his gaze across the water, and her eyes found the Karcaon too. But she quickly looked back at the man in front of her. "Uh… are you okay?" she asked shortly, studying him and the letter in his hand. Emaria didn't really know him, but annoyance and confusion rippled from him like the tides before them. And her better judgment wouldn't let her walk away from a person who was struggling. She wasn't heartless.

There was the sound of clattering rocks, and Kavo glanced up to see one of the people slip and nearly fall. The other figure whipped around, and the mood up on the cliff changed.
Two sets of eyes looked down at him, and he gave a slight wave, before deciding to head up there and make sure everything was ok.
He made his way up and around the back of the cliff, moving through the underbrush and into the tree cover easily.

Fia narrowed his eyes. Did he look that miserable? "I'm fine," he states curtly, trying to wipe expression from his face to prove this. He stared at the girl below him. What would prompt her to ask that-?

The figure in the distance waved and shifted the Witch's attention. They were coming toward him and this girl now. Were they a patrolman of sorts?

When the Karcaon emerged from the bushes, Fia made a mental note to stop going to the rocks. Might be more populated than he initially thought. The figure in the water was gone; he must have come from there. Why? While considering this, he didn't think to greet the stranger.

Emaria frowned. She might not be as powerful as her mother – yet! – but she was still well-trained. Definitely trained enough to get a feel of basic emotions and know when she was being lied to. Not many people had as strong mental defenses as Farah, so coming across someone like this boy was much easier to figure out than the enigma of a Mind Witch that was her mother.

But before she could say anything more to him, the Karcaon emerged from the bushes. Emaria quickly got a feel of his general emotions – concern and confusion – before she crossed her arms over her chest and let her gaze flicker between them.

"Hi," she greeted shortly, unsure of how else to address the intruder.

Kavo shuffled up to the two individuals, concern all over his face. "Everything ok up here? Sounded like someone was in trouble." He didn't want to be confrontational, but… well, the energy up here just now was weird. A little hostile.
He wasn't sure if he'd been the cause of that or not, but if he could fix it, he would.
"Any way I can help you two? Name's Kavo."

(Sorry it's short, and it's been a minute. Also I assume we wait till emily is back?)

(Sorry it's short, and it's been a minute.

You're all good :)

Also I assume we wait till emily is back?)

Yeah, I'll get something up in the meantime so we can continue when emily does

(haha, glad youre back! you make a great writer)

"Everything ok up here? Sounded like someone was in trouble." He must have seen me slip. Fia's face colored at this realization, so he turned it to look out at the ocean. He would have turned fully, but now that he was in the prescence of a Karcaon, he wasn't about to prove why he was there by slipping.
"Any way I can help you two? Name's Kavo."
"Everything is fine, just- actually, nothing. No one is in trouble," Fia said bitterly. "I almost lost my footing, is all. Nothing more."

(Heyyyy 😅 I definitely didn't forget about this 😳)

Emaria spared a quick smile at the Karcaon as he greeted them. She glanced at the other witch beside her and was about to speak when he answered the Karcaon – Kavo – rather rudely.

"Yeah, we're good, thanks," she added. "I, uh, I should get going though. Just escaping for a quick walk before my mother murders me when I get back. And I'm Emaria, by the way."

Kavo watched the two. Something was definitely up, but they didn't seem interested in help, or in telling him anything. Emaria at least smiled at him, so that meant he hadn't been the direct cause of any problems, but the other one had given a definitively more surly answer.
"You're sure everything is ok? Murdering moms and lost footing all at once seems like an awful lot of coincidence to me."

Emaria glanced down at her watch and knew she should be getting back. Her mother would be expecting her and likely bring up the start of another lesson. And that really wasn’t what Emaria needed right now.

“And you're trying to compare two completely different and unrelated events… why?” Emaria asked, arching an eyebrow. She could afford to be a bit late back,

Kavo chuckled and arched an eyebrow right back. "I'm not trying, I am comparing them. And why? Because It's my job, but also because I'm trying to help." He kept his voice good-natured and friendly, and followed up his statement with a shrug.
"But, if no one wants me to help up here, then I'll be on my way. Y'all be careful getting off the cliff." He gave a small wave in both their directions, and started to head off down the grassy incline.

(sorry for the wait 😭 burnout)

Fia stared back and forth throughout this interaction, between the strange girl and the stranger man. He (obliviously) felt a little offended by the assumption that he might need help. Because Fia didn't need help, and he did know how to get down from the rock. He'd done it before, and the only difference between this time and the last was the water.

"I'll leave you to this," Fia told Emaria. With that being said, he cautiously began making his way off the rock. On the first step, he tested how well he'd be able to keep his balance, slipping slightly. From there, he dragged his feet across, arms slightly outstretched to keep his balance. Fia had expected this to go a lot faster, and immediately felt the embarrassment creeping up his neck as he proceeded downward.