Baby Boats (Solo)

[Cara]

Autumn 5, 512 AV Cara stood along the rocky shoreline, her boiled leather soles causing the rubble to churn beneath her step as they scratched along the surface. Her eyes, currently a deep violent flecked with the water's reflection- a sea foam green coupled with an intense sapphire blue- danced over the wave's crests. Watching them rock into shore from afar, as the folds of her long lavender colored dress fluttered in the wind. Whipping about her form as fervently as the dark strands of hair it caressed and carried. She listened to its roaring laughter, its strange whispers, alongside the crashing of the waves. The call of the occasional sea bird, whose white feathers sizzled beneath the sun's heat. Cascading down the water's surface to the woman's feet, where it licked her skin hungrily before frolicking away, seeking to illuminate the darkened stone crevices she stood upon, while still, managing to leave some small portions cast in shadow. An inky obscurity which lent small comfort to the Icemaiden as she tread along. Rascal and Iaera both nipping at her heels. After several more chimes spent traveling alongside the meandering coast, Cara paused and looked out to sea. Her feet brushing both stone and sun-kissed sand at this point. White fur tickling her heels as the folds flapped. The Vantha smiled as she peered down at her arctic fox, her second companion. "Yes, we can eat soon dear," she whispered, thinking that the poor creature had likely grown hungry again. She wasn't as bad as Rascal was in that regard, but she was always growing famished, nonetheless. Like a petching goat with their bottomless stomachs. Cara sighed as her eyes trailed away, following the water's darkened silhouette, that which outlined celestial beam. For a time they watched, and perhaps searched for something to press against the underbelly. But there was nothing to be sought, nothing to be truly found for quite some time. Leaving both of her companions to huddle even closer for warmth and comfort as she stood silent vigil. The wind trickling through her hair as she blinked evenly, finding soon enough, that there was something sailing across the surface. Causing a rippling effect which stirred the tides, interrupting the water's peace. The tranquility brought by its surroundings as a whole. A small boat, its hull a supple oak wood of no more than two feet in length, curved softly towards the bow. It glided across the surface as silently as ghosts over their graves. The light wood glistening in sun's heat, transparent beads of moisture simply adding to the effect. Its mast stood no more than a foot high, and from where she stood, it could scarcely be seen, seeing as it was such a thin part of the boat. To which was attached what appeared to be a strip of yellowing parchment. Its edges curling in the sea breeze. It helped to propel the craft along marginally; although, it eased its course through the undulations of the sea. Cara watched its movement for a time, thinking it strange that a sailor would let a model go adrift, or perhaps even, a young lad. It did after all, seem the size and shape of a toy. The thought brought a soft smile to the Vantha's features. She wondered if she could bring the craft to shore. Or perhaps, crashing into it. As the wind tousled her hair, she took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. It was time to call her magic to do her bidding.

[Cara]

The Vantha closed her eyes and took another deep breath as the first wave of sensation hit her. In the bowels of her stomach rested the heart of her magic; its life blood, her djed. It was as though it were contained in black kettle. A pool of sparkling liquid waiting to be burned off. She could picture it churning, as though someone were stirring the mixture as heat was added to the cauldron's underbelly. She could smell the smoke cast by the orange and red flames. The tiny tendrils which swirled through the air and licked the side of the pot as they climbed. As the coals beneath churned, adding to the fiery intensity cast by the element as it continued to rise. Roaring and crackling against metallic sheen as the pot's innards began to boil. She could just make out the sound of them bursting as they rose a few centimeters before exploding in a moment of sheer ecstasy. Tiny beads of transparent moisture falling to the surface, forming tiny ripples which crawled across its length before sloshing against black encasement. Vaporous grey danced alongside as her djed was encased by the heat. As liquid turned to gas, which trickled up the length of her stomach. Filling her lungs as though it were a fresh breath of air; although, far more intoxicating in that it lent a powerful feeling of strength. Of becoming something more, something almost, unstoppable. Cara could feel it trickling through the pink organs, and then overcoming. Climbing even higher, into her heart's chamber, where it filled her to the brim with a sense of both might, and twisted intoxication, before it trailed towards her neck. Splitting at the seams as though it were a poorly threaded fiber. Half diving down the length of her right arm, the other, into the left. Where it coursed through her veins and arteries. Neon blue and green rivers which pulsed just beneath the surface of her skin, until they reached the end. Well groomed nail beds, beneath which a darkened crust of dirt hung from her work in the stables. There the magic circled lazily, causing her limbs to tingle as she forced herself to breath. To try and still the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the incessant drumming of her heart against ivory colored bone. The first signs of minor overgiving taking hold as her djed rippled against her skin, before she expunged it. Sending a light blue mist, akin to gaseous ice in color into the autumnal air. She could sense her res and the air alike encasing one another as they spiraled outwards. Upwards, but a few inches from her outstretched palms. She could picture her res rotating. Gathering slowly into a slightly more tangible shape. A sphere above each hand, no more than three inches high, and another wide. A ball waiting to be assigned its chaotic intent. An orb seeking its make, and the heart of its power. A shard of ice. Remnants of a woman's heart.

[Cara]

As she continued to breath, Cara laced each of the res orbs with her intent. With their power, by igniting the outer surface. The flames crackled to life, giving off a warm golden-orange glow. If she looked, she could just make out narrow wisps of smoke trickling away and into the cool air as she studied her mark. Her eyes dancing over it hungrily as she felt the first recession of fur, as each of her companions began to back away. Wise enough to be frightened by the fire, as most animals were. "Do not fear you two," she whispered into the wind, "this will all be over soon," as she felt her res sizzling within the chambers of her heart. She smiled wickedly then, as she pulled her right hand back, and then hurled it out to sea, guiding its passage marginally with subtle flicks of her wrist. Her connection to the res which rested in its core. Swiftly it hurled down the side of the peak, and towards the water, where it seemed to glide over the surface towards the boat for no more than two chimes. As it neared, she ignited its core as well, and allowed gravity to run the rest of its course. Trusting in her eyes and her aim not to fail her. But they did fail her. The fireball sank towards the water's surface a little too soon, and was swallowed by the depths. She could see it sputtering out, a thin pillar of smoke rising from where it had once stood. Petch, you're out of practice, her mind chided as she grit her teeth in frustration as tiny sparks rose from the bereft fingers. Gaseous res filtering through and into the air in misshapen pools. Her temples trembled as light prodding pains took over. Easing the force of her next attack. The backward motion of her left arm, and then the fling. In which she cast the second fireball towards the miniature boat. She watched it cut through the air, sending grey in its wake. It seemed to sore in a downwards arc towards her mark for fewer chimes than the first. Allowing her to fill the middle towards the end of its flight with relative ease, before it too sank into the depths. Farther back than the initial, in the distance where the sun kissed the surface all the more. Where she could truly see it rippling. Too out of practice... The Vantha's teeth seemed to grind as res spilled from each of her hands. This time, gathering towards their center in a larger orb, than in two smaller over each appendage. She watched the transparent, light blue gas gather. The tendrils rotating and dancing with one another until they had created an orb of about six inches in height, and another six and a half wide. When it had reached this point, Cara felt it finished, and was more than satisfied, for somewhere within her heart of hearts she knew it would be enough to complete the task at hand. For a moment then, as her temples pained, she closed her eyes and took a deep steadying breath before opening them to the world once more. Allowing herself to truly see her target. After she had taken in another deep breath, she lit the outside of the latest orb. It roared to life instantly, the fire giving off a far rosier glow than before. She could sense her animals recoiling at the sight, Iaera yipping unhappily as she flicked her hands forward, casting the fiery orb with it. She watched it floating forward slowly for a few moments, before it started to dip in its flight. Cascading towards the surface of the water several feet before she urged it to stop with a lifting of her hands, and then a forward push. Sending it further across its length before she filled its core like she had done the others. The Vantha thought she could see the flames licking both the water's surface lazily, and the furled edges of parchment. But she was wrong, she had moved too soon. Thus, expelling another portion of herself needlessly, for she had once again, missed her mark. Her hands balled into fists as she watched her fireball sizzling against the sea. The sailboat gliding across the surface, unscathed. Oh come on Cara, your old hag of a mother could have hit that. With blood boiling, her eyes shifted. The violet being overcome by red, and flecks of orange. The wind whistled through her hair, get it, get it, get it. Make it burn. Make it pay... It let the raven colored strands down. The violet ones, just as her hands unclenched themselves, and began to spill more of her gaseous djed. Forming res. She was going to listen. She was going to do it. She was going to send the boat to the bottom if it was the last thing she accomplished that day. With shallow breath she allowed her res to pool once more. In a misshapen shape which rested between her hands. Now held before her, palms outstretched. "It will go as the animals embrace," Cara whispered, as she decided to try a new tactic, considering how the original hadn't worked out so well for her in the end.

[Cara]

The woman held her hands over the water, as she allowed her res to coalesce. Tiny particles coming together to form an ice-tinted liquid which fell through her fingers. Trickling down onto the surface of the sea where it lingered a moment, lost without the reimancer's guidance. She could feel it pulsating against the waves as she wound her hands in circles. Guiding the res into a shape that matched- loose spirals- like curled hair coiling against the current. Another breath and she closed her eyes as she shoved her hands out. Flicking her fingers after her outstretched palms had stilled. Guiding the serpents closer and closer to their mark before opening her eyes and pausing for a time as she took another deep breath, in through her nose, and out through her mouth. Slowly, she poked holes in the seams. Slowly, she made her res membrane permeable. Willing it to attract, and then draw in the moisture that surrounded it. Gradually, she could sense the space where her res once stood filling, as she moved her hands around and around. Willing the fillings to spiral dangerously. For a time, nothing seemed to appear on the surface, but after a few chimes of intense concentration, Cara could tell that she had disturbed the waters. For several feet from where the boat sailed was a small maelstrom, a whirlpool which was slowly gathering strength as the Vantha urged its winding with flicks of her wrist, and continued to funnel more of the watery element into her res coils, until they were filled to the brim. She smiled wickedly as sweat poured down her brow and she grew certain that her creation had gathered as much strength as it would ever muster. With weakened control with the lack of her res present, Cara tried to push the whirlpool back with the guidance of her hands. But it scarcely seemed to budge. The woman bit her bottom lip as her brow furrowed and her eyes darkened to a shade that suggested the rising level of intensity. Her hands and her limbs shook as she stood, looking on. Watching as the boat continued to sail along for a time, until it caught itself in the outer current of her magical storm. Her smile widened as its body rocked from side to side. The parchment rattling angrily against the mast as the deep blue windings guided it farther and farther down. Into its heart, which rested closer to the bottom of the sea. You have it now, her mind whispered, as she watched the spray licking its deck. Threatening to topple it long before she had been satisfied with the spectacle. "Just a bit farther, and then for the grand finale," the Vantha whispered into the winds as she watched it go around and around and around. For another few ticks before she clapped her hands together, leading the waves in a final crash which brought them together, and swept the boat down. Even from afar, she could just make out the sound of the wave's roar, and the splintering of wood as it was tossed this way and that. She could just make out the sight of its mast floating along the rise made by the collision, and then the quiet after the storm. The parchment, now sodden lay for a moment upon the surface, until it too, was swallowed with the rest. "A shame its captain couldn't go down with it," Cara said with a smirk as her body slackened, and she inched a few steps back. Iaera's fur caressing her sweat lined skin as she eased herself onto her knees, allowing herself momentary rest before they all continued. A hand to each of her companion's head. Soft, loving pats, and nothing more. She was far too cold for that.

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Cara XP Award: +4 Mediataion +5 Reimancy +2 Animal Husbandry Lore: The lone toy boat Woman with the heart of ice Creative visualizations to summon and control magic Your old hag of a mother could have hit that Old woman, new tricks Whirlpool fun! A shame its captain couldn't go down with it! Notes: Beautiful descriptions and show of effort! Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM