Journey of the Elementals RP (Pm if Interested, Started)

[NeoAC]

Raven leaned back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment as Seth finished what he was saying. Why did I have to breakdown at the meeting? Why.....why did I do that? Why couldn't I just keep that hidden like everything else? Maybe.....maybe I'm just running out of room.

"I..." she started. "I guess. I wasn't sure of myself at all after that meeting yesterday. You saw that. Everyone saw that. Everyone that bothered paying attention anyway. I mean when you are dedicated to a life of keeping everything hidden, inside and outside, and you go into a room with a complete stranger like that and he is just able to break through all those defences and pick me apart with such ease, it just...it just made me question myself and what I was really accomplishing at the academy, you know?"

Raven sat back up. The hood remained down, exposing the black hair and her light brown eyes to her guest. "I guess that's why I bothered coming along on this trip. If I wasn't going to be able to do what I tried to do at the academy, what harm was there in trying another place? Although whether or not it was the right decision, I guess that will remain to be seen. But for the first time in a long time, I'm not really sure of what I'm doing, or even if it is the right path, and if it turns out I was wrong, then that's ten solid years of my life I've kind of wasted. I don't know, there's...there's just been a lot of stuff going on in my head that I thought I had taken care of before I even got to the academy, but has come roaring back since those machine men came. It's...I don't know. It's been a bit hard to take I guess."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Seth nodded quietly as Raven spoke. She had listened to him, and taken what he had said to heart, so the least he could do was listen just as closely for all she had to say.

"I.....get the feeling that the complete stranger in this case is a very special someone. One of those people who you know you couldn't pin them down if you tried to." Seth started slowly. He realized he really knew nothing of the Prime Minister himself. And yet it didn't bother him that a stranger seemed to know probably much about him.

"And....you don't need to cover all that stuff up. I don't know where I am going either, and what I am even doing here, or what people should even know. So...what I'm getting at is if you need somebody to have your back, or you need anything at all...I'm around. This place is all kinds of crazy, and these machine men are all kinds of...different." Seth paused, not seeming to know quite what to say. He took a deep breath, and tried again.

"If things ever get to be too much for you to think about, and too much stuff is going through your head, I'm here. You just let me know, and I got your back. Even against those machine men."

 

[blaze96]

"The Academy is good, but it can only take you so far. Honestly I've learned more about being a lightdweller in my time back with my parents than I did in the Academy. Of course I learned a lot there, but working with the sick and injured in the city really teaches you a lot. Volunteers and safe environments only carry you so far, sooner or later you have to test your magic in the unstable world. I mean, how can we expect to really help anybody if all we ever do is theory and practice?" Alexander asked, he had always wanted to make his magic practical. That way, if he couldn't be a master, he could at least maybe head back home and help out where he lived.

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

Considering how useful she would be in combat was somewhat problematic for Nydia. She had trained extensively every morning for years now, but her live combat experience was minimal. And from the sounds of it, she would be expected to be firing into an area with both enemies and allies. She hadn't done like that before. She thought very carefully about since her answer seemed like it may be important. "I... Confess this will be my first battle. But I've been training for some time now. I believe that my accuracy will not be an issue." Nydia answered nervously, adjusting her glasses slightly.

Now's not the time to be questioning my abilities though... I promised to look after everyone. I MUST do this. Nydia took a deep breath before continuing, a much more confident tone in her voice this time. "Tell me what you need done. I will do everything in my power to make it so."

 

[NeoAC]

Raven appreciated the offer that Seth gave. She wasn't used to anyone having her back for anything. Not the kids back home. Not her fellow Nightshades. This was a first.

She looked at him and said, "Thanks." Not in her usual manner of speaking. The whisper, the harsh tones, they were gone for the moment. "I'll be sure to call you in if I need it. You just better be able to handle it without torching me."

 

[Mr. Omega]

Drew had been listening. "So we might be running into trouble..." he said to himself. "Fei and I can use water and air. And when we work together, we can use lightning." He was hoping the other students wouldn't react to that. He was proud of the ability, but didn't want to be answering things like 'why didn't you tell us?' or 'really?' or stuff like that. He wanted to know what it was Aaron needed them for. "So what exactly is it we might be dealing with? Less friendly people with ships?" he joked.

 

[CounterAttack]

Gabriel thought over Alexander's point of view. It made sense: the older man was inclined to help the injured, and that only really came with practice and real-world experience. Gabriel didn't really see how his own magic, Hydromancy, could be as practical as the healing magic of Lightdwellers. A Hydromancer could only really do things like change the weather or clear up a flood: environmental problems rather than things that had a direct impact on people, such as injuries.

"Hmm. You may be right. But since our domains of magic are different, they have different applications, I figure," he answered, leaning up against the doorway as he did so. "Of course, since you do a fair bit of healing and suchlike, you kinda need to go out into the real world and practice in uncertain situations. Me... not so much. I feel that a controlled environment is better for training in my case."

 

[UnusualStranger]

Aaron shrugged as Nydia admitted that she had not been in a battle before, as he had expected as much. He was surprised to see not one, but two mages come on board with weapons. He imagined the Prime Minister knew something about this....or had the demon's luck in choosing people out. Regardless, this is the help they had.

"If your accuracy will not be an issue, then your light and whatever else you plan on using will be useful. Just make sure you don't hit any of the other airships, and you will be doing just fine." Aaron said to Nydia, only to hear something which actually perked his senses.

"Lightning, you say? As in....nevermind. That will be quite useful." Aaron said thoughtfully. "Now, we are going to be fighting flying creatures. Dragons, drakes, Gryphons, or whatever you want to call the flying bastards. I don't expect too many of them, but I do expect enough to cause problems, and if you mages can do something you are going to be doing it. And I don't plan on any other less friendly people nearby, but.....a nearby area is perfect for it, and I would rather not be caught unawares."

Well, that secret is running around now. Lets see and hope they don't start flipping out. Can't have them doing that, or I'd have to knock them out and toss them in their rooms.

[hr]

Seth nodded, understanding that this is probably quite awkward for Raven, as it probably was for himself in a few ways. Yet here he was, and he had promised his blade and skills, and he was not one to break a promise.

"I know how to do a lot more than start fires, Raven. I can promise you that. I didn't survive this long with just my flames." Seth said, nodding slightly as he did so.

"I just want to make sure you realize that the world outside of the Academy is kind of....tricky in a lot of newer ways. Not that I doubt your skills, of course. Just...wanna be sure about things, ya know? Hope I am making some sense."

 

[blaze96]

"One would think that, but I would say that every school of magic has a practical purpose in the world. The easiest for me is healing yes, but yours has uses in the world as well. Bringing rain to a village ravaged by drought so that crops flourish, filling a well that had gone dry and was vital to a community, diverting water to save a town or city, or simply saving people from thirst. Of course there is a place for study, but if magic doesn't help anyone then what is it worth?" Alexander replied. He honestly felt mages should do more good than most were on their island.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

Phebe reached her room and opened the door. She had memorized how to get back, so it took her less time than getting up on deck. She twisted her hair into a braid and made sure that it would stay that way, when she went back up into the wind. It would be hard to aim or even concentrate with too much of it loose.

She grabbed the bow from the bed, hung it over her shoulder and hurried back up to the deck, through hallways and staircases. Eventually she got there. More mages seemed to have arrived. She stopped in front of the man who had asked for her help, with fighting whatever.

"I think I'm ready then."

 

[NeoAC]

Raven rolled her eyes as Seth explained he had more than fire in his arsenal. Apparently Seth here doesn't pick up on metaphors too easily. Oh well.

"I think you are," she told him. "It's been so long since I've been outside the Academy, and even then, I didn't come from any place that had machines running around like this. This is all new to me."

 

[CounterAttack]

"Another fair point," Gabriel conceded. "But I do not yet possess, for example, the ability to start a rainfall in the middle of a drought. Hence why I keep going on about training. From the basics, I can learn to apply different spells to different situations. Use them as a foundation, if you will, for a greater effort that specifically applies to the task at hand, as opposed to something that is only designed for one purpose." Being able to diversify magic beyond the simple things learned in the Academy was something that Gabe wanted to be able to do in the future.

He took a quick look around the deck of the ship: the few other mages that were visible were hurrying around the place... Something might have come up. Looking back to Alexander again, he said, "Come on. We should probably see what's going on. There might be something up on deck that we can investigate." He began to head over to the staircase to the upper level, interested in seeing both the view from the sky and hearing about what was going on. Maybe the Prime Minister had called the mages together for something; that explained why people were hurrying about their cabins.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Aaron nodded as Phebe returned with her bow, and a soldier wandered forward and placed a quiver of arrows next to her. After doing that, the soldier rushed off. Aaron looked over the mages, and then noticed a few specifically missing.

"Any of you know where the rest of your compatriots are? I would like the help on the decks so I don't have you all setting fire or blasting something out of the ship." Aaron said, obviously his concern no longer being informing the mages, and more interested in having them all prepared.

"That, and I figure it to be a damn good history lesson for when we get to where the fight is likely going to be. You might as well see why a lot of northern cities hate mage guts."

[hr]

Seth shrugged, not totally oblivious to Raven rolling her eyes at him. For once. However, with the conversation no longer as serious as he thought it was, he noticed the amount of noise happening above them. More specifically all the sounds of running around.

"Well, I get the feeling that for all of us this is a new area. Just gotta take our steps properly, watch our backs, and maybe we will get one of these to take on home." Seth said with a grin, rising from where he had been offered a seat.

"So....join me heading up to the decks? The view is something to see."

Well....This went somewhat less expected than I thought it would. Should I offer my arm or something? I really need more experience with Nightshades to find out what is acceptable....

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

Phebe picked up the quiver. It had been months ago since she had last used her bow for anything else than target practice and even then she had only used it on some birds. She had used it a lot for hunting in her younger days though.

"No, I don't know anything about where the others are..."

She wasn't sure how many they were from the academy either. The only one she had talked to so far was Seth.

She started preparing herself for an attack and waited. It was all she could really do now.

 

[NeoAC]

Raven thought about the offer for a second, before nodding in acceptance. "Yes I suppose I should probably get one look at the world below before this trip ends."

She stood up and put her hood back over her head. Just because she was comfortable enough with Seth to have it down, didn't mean that others were afforded that right. Raven was at the door when she turned around. "Are you coming?"

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

Cale watched as the ground rushed beneath them. It was an incredible sight from what he could see and something that would occur only once in a lifetime. As happy as he was he noticed the absence of Nydia. After a quick pan over the other passengers he noticed Nydia next to Aaron. He had only been an acquainted to him when he walked around in the Academy. Him and his metal hand.

Wondering what the half-metal man was saying to Nydia he approached him.

"I need to thank you again for letting us on this airship again. I mean, I know that you had no power in deciding who and who wouldn't go but I appreciate your hospitality!" Cale said. "Oh I didn't mean like you have no power...er... yeah."

 

[CounterAttack]

Upon ascending the stairs to the open deck, Gabriel found a considerable number of mages had already gathered there. A couple of them seemed to be looking out at the skies, while two he didn't recognise were talking to that Aaron person... looking around, the young Hydromancer could tell that something was up. Were those weapons mounted on the rails at the sides of the airship?

People he didn't recognise were running back and forth, seemingly busy with their machinations. If they were preparing for something, what was it? Gabe didn't know. With that in mind, he elected to simply stand to one side and wait to be called on, either by one of the airship's crew or his fellow mages. Given the buzz of activity that was taking place, he was thankful that he had shed his robes before coming up to the upper deck.

Gabe waited and watched from a spot near the rails, not wishing to get in anyone's way.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Seth shook his head, not realizing he had been standing still and thinking for that long. Stepping forward with a small grin, Seth wasn't sure what exactly he was going to do, but he guessed he would just figure it out as he went, like he always did.

"Of course. Sorry, just got lost in thought there for a second." Seth apologized, stepping forward and opening the door, standing aside to let Raven go first. As they made their way up, Seth couldn't help but wonder about what had just happened. He wasn't sure what he was doing any more, but he felt like he was doing something right. Or at least close enough that he wasn't ruining Raven's day any more.

"Hopefully things are not half as crazy as we have heard with everyone running around." Seth said as Raven stepped through the door, and both made their way to the upper decks with the rest of the mages also getting to the open deck as well to see what was going on, or to simply explore.

[hr]

Out on the decks in the sky, the Prime Minister seemed to have shouted something to one of the crew. In response, the ship slowed, and the clouds that had been clouding the full view ahead of them seemed to dissipate. What was ahead made the entire crew seem to go silent, even the usual whirling of the propeller blades and hum of the engines all seemed to stop as the last of the clouds gave way to an unnatural sight.

Ahead of the airship was what only could be described as a giant storm of colors and elements. The clouds ahead shifted colors constantly, to all variety of colors. While the clouds were an interesting show in themselves, what came out of them was far more incredible. Stones sometimes fell from the clouds, or flaming boulders, or lasers of light, or creeping darkness, or ice shards. And it seemed to differ as the clouds were gazed upon from one distance to another. Flaming stones in one area, black ice next to it, fire falling from the sky, then lasers. It extended as far as the eyes could gaze.

The ship shifted, heading for one particular destination, which was an oddity among the odd storm. A single path that was not being affected by the odd storm. While it couldn't exactly be called clear with sometimes boulders or ice falling over the valley sides, it seemed at least relatively safer than attempting flight through the storms as they raged.

"And that is what makes people hate mages right there kids." Aaron said, seeming to break the silence.

"This is what we call Magick's End. Probably the most dangerous place in the world, and most hated monument of the wars of before. Most people don't want to even admit this exists, it being a blight on the planet itself. But it exists, and it is practically a spit in the face of humanity and mages alike. We are going to be travelling through Wind Canyon, the only apparent space between the storm which won't rip us to shreds. If ya look closely, some say you will see something, but I don't hold such reservations. And that, kids, is your history lesson. Take a close look, and enjoy what we all wrought before we almost killed everything."

 

[SkyeNeko]

"Look at the pretty colors!" Fei squealed in glee. She would have leaned over the side and touched the clouds if she could. She didn't understand why people wouldn't like this display. "Look Drew! Do you think we could do something like this at the Academy? I wonder how many mages it took!" Clearly impressed, she continued to make "ooh" and "ahh" sounds, trying to "feel" the ice with her magic. They felt just outside of her reach, and she couldn't get enough hold on one to bring it back to the ship. It wouldn't stop her from trying, and she had settled next to the rail.

 

[Fragrance of Mtn Dew]

Nydia was pleased to see Cale come over. If there was to be fighting, he would certainly be helpful even though she wasn't sure what he'd be able to do on this ship. "Ah, Cale! Lovely timing. He was just asking us all about our powers. It seems as though we may be called upon to defend this vessel." She told him in as pleasant a tone she could manage to hide the nervousness she was feeling.

Any further conversation was interrupted though, as Nydia's attention was called to Magicks End as Aaron had called it. At first glance, it did look quite lovely with it's array of colors constantly changing. But a closer glance told Nydia that that area was completely uninhabitable with the destructive powers of all the elements raging about within. "But... the Great War ended over 700 years ago? How could something of this magnitude still exist from back then?" Nydia asked, gasping in shock. The amount of magical power that would create something like this would have to be immense. But the power required to sustain it for so long was simply unimaginable. "And you had to travel through this to get to the Academy? That seems like quite the feat." Nydia was quite impressed with the technology Kerbones seemed to possess. The journey was much more hazardous and complex then she had first believed.