Between an Avalanche and Hard Place

Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:24 pm

龍 74th of Frost, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Himself| Thoughts: The hell?!| Mood: ???

龍 The day was already off to a good start, at least by Hyoga's standards, as he was enjoying the Frost air with training. He was hard at work with his mastering his technique and skill with his pact weapons. Given everything that has happened to him, he found himself oddly smiling at the prospect of getting married. He never would think himself worthy of being married, and let alone to a princess no less.

He was mid-thought when the explosion came, and the resulting destruction that came after. He watched in horror as the avalanche came and collided with the valley floor, crushing whatever lay beneath and the tidal wave that rippled out. No doubt something of that much force and momentum took out anything in its way. Without wasting a breath he took to the air heading toward the scene.

Whatever it was had reverberated throughout the entirety of the city, the docks of Kalzasi taking the brunt of it. Something was off, and the kathar could feel it in the air. To add to his ominous suspicions, he remembered there was talk of someone important to the city going missing, along with an airship. It appeared whoever this important figure seemed to be was also a dragon rider, which caused Hyo's curiosity to stir even more.

The explosion came from somewhere within the Astralar Mountains, and Hyoga began to pour over the possible situations that could be happening. Maybe it was an invasion from Zaichaer given the tension between the two city-states. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility for this to be the beginning of a long awaited confrontation with the anti-magic city-state. It also occurred to him that it could have been a battle between mages that got out of control. As his mind raced on the prospects he could see the cloud of destruction trailing toward the port of the city in the distance.

Whatever happened was of great magnitude as that cloud of dust was large and moving rapidly into the city. Hyoga was not the only one concerned, as many other able body citizen were making their way to the scene as well. The Skyguard was also prevalent in the air as Availae and Icewing riders were flying over the port as rescue efforts were underway. The scene below him was enough to get his blood simmering. If this was indeed a preemptive strike on Zaichaer's behalf, Hyo wouldn't hesitate to unleash all his fury upon them.

But for now, he would stow his anger and help in the relief efforts. Descending onto the pier he could see the tidal wave and all its destruction headed towards the Kalzasi main port. He knew it would be a foolish endeavor but he would do what he could to minimize the damage. Flying out to meet the incoming destruction Hyo flew from the one end of the port to the other, and on his second lap around, began to channel as much of his aether as he could muster.

Once he had gathered his aether, he hovered over the waters and plunged his hands into it. Immediately the waters began to freeze over, forming a thick layer of ice. Channeling aether into his ring was helping spread the ice further and wider away from him. With a thrust he sent a wave of ice forward, at least 150 feet in front of him. With an expanding gesture, he began to spread the ice out across to try and cover enough of the port behind him. He knew as a lone mage he couldn't only do so much but he would give his all regardless.

Once it was wide enough he gestured upward, a thick wall of ice rising from the water. Ascending into the air, he raised the wall as high as he could before reaching its limit, a learning experience for him as he was unaware of it in the beginning. Soaring back to dry land he collapsed onto the pier of the port the skyguard was helping those in the area evacuate. 龍

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:58 pm

A massive wall of ice was erected from Lake Udori's surface, thicker and stronger than the thinner, looser ice around the bay. It was raised by Hyoga, draining him of all the aether within him. It towered higher than the oncoming surge, sheets of rushing water pouring down its sides, racing back to the lake they belonged to. But the wall was not stable, not anchored to anything, and was not structurally sound at all. And once Hyo severed his connection with it, it began to teeter and wobble.

And when the surge struck, it knocked the wall over with ease. And as the ice struck the lake's surface, it shattered, and the chunks of ice joined the surge that was racing toward Kalzasi's harbor. And as it came closer, Hyogo would feel something familiar within him, yet new. Something was calling to him, to his aether. An offer was being given to the man. Break through the limit, surpass one's mortal form, and that which was calling to him would help.

From Hyoga's vantage point, he had precious seconds before the surge, carrying his icy chunks, would smash into the Kalzasi harbor, devastating the navy, the fishing ships, and the people were not gifted with Avialae wings and not quick enough to find the high ground.

All around the harbor, other Kalzasi mages were trying similar efforts, and finding similar results. They were not prepared for this. After all, why would they be? Never in the history of Kalzasi had anything of the sort ever occurred. Some of the Avialae were swooping in to pick up those they could, carrying them to safety. The air was filled with screams as people were running and flying away.

And that which called to Hyoga urged him to open himself up, to his magic, to the deeper well of aether, and to it.

Thu Dec 02, 2021 2:43 pm

龍 74th of Frost, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: Himself| Thoughts: The hell?!| Mood: ???

龍 His fist hit the stone pavement of the port pier as he watched his efforts wasted, only adding to the mounting devastation heading their way. It would be just his luck that this would happen. As exhausted as he was he had to do something, he couldn't let these people die, too much was at stake for him. That's when he felt it, the whisper in his head as if something was tugging on his soul.

It was wanting him to open himself, to allow whatever or whoever in. At this point, he would take all the help he could get. Standing he stood with his right hand extended forward, reaching out to what was calling out to him. It was calling him to dig deeper, to dig into aether untapped. Calling out to the water he sent forth a wave of his own, one that would stave off some destruction but not all of it.

"Whoever or whatever you are, if you mean to help me stop this destruction, then by all means I am yours to command. I offer myself as a conduit if it will turn this tide of destruction away!" he pleaded, allowing whatever was calling to him access to himself and his power. He was hoping it would be enough to quell the incoming surge of devastation.

If not, he could at least die knowing he did his best, even for a city that didn't like him. Part of him felt this was the right atonement for his father's sins. If that is what the god of fate had in store for him, then so be it. He almost wished he was a dragon at this point, as a dragon could surely impede the tidal surge. 龍

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

Thu Dec 02, 2021 3:19 pm

Hyoga reached deeper within to find deeper wells of Aether, offered himself up as a conduit, and summoned a small wave to try and combat the much larger tidal surge. Hyoga would find an ocean of aether as he broke that barrier, tapping into unlimited potential. But as Hyoga pulled at it, his body would begin to burn. Not the type of burning that one might experience with fire. This was something deeper, more corrosive. He would feel every molecule in his body igniting with magic.

That which called out to him seized the control that was given to it, and utilized Hyoga's as the conduit he chose to become. Hyoga's body dissolved into water and was summoned forth into the wave he'd conjured. Once inside his created wave, he'd feel that being that called to him, surrounding him, filling him. Being one with him. Lake Udori had called him, asked him to do the impossible, to surpass his limits, to ignore the costs of self.

And Hyoga had answered.

Hyoga's wave grew quickly but was still far smaller than the approaching surge. Udori reached deep through Hyoga, ripping more and more aether through his body, burning it more and more to empower the wave. It grew and grew.

The wave and the surge collided, and Hyoga would feel every bit of the collision, for he was, in that moment, the wave he'd conjured. Hitting a wall whilst running, or the ground after falling out of the air was nothing at the level of force found in this collision. It wasn't simply bone shattering, that's where it started. Hyoga's wave was overpowered, and the surge continued forward.

However, Hyoga's efforts did not amount to nothing. The point in the surge where the wave struck the surge, the surge was split in two, with Hyoga absorbing much of the force. The two resulting surges continued onward, devastating much the harbor in Kalzasi. However, the split meant that six ships, two warships, two hospital ships, and two large fishing vessels were spared. And the crowds of people attempting to flee from those ships and docks in the small stretch were spared a cold, crushing death.

But while Hyoga had saved those six ships, those six docks, and those couple hundred of people, he'd find himself tumbling through the water. The wave was gone and the connection with Udori was severed, the open well of aether was shut tight, and Hyoga's body was still lit up with magically induced pain. And he was sinking in the dark depths of the lake, the calm waters behind the surge that passed already beginning to freeze over.

He hadn't the time nor the awareness to see what his efforts amounted to as he began to drift deeper into the darkness.

Hyoga would wake some unknown amount of time later. The first thing he'd see was being surrounded by his brethren, Avialae doctors and elementalist mages that he would recognize and remember. They were all panic stricken, their faces strained, tired. He could feel the soothing touches of the mages against him, but the voices were garbled, jumbled, not making sense.

Sovel was the one in charge of those in the room with Hyoga. He was one of the most renown doctors and elementalists in all of Kalzasi, and his face was that of worry. Hyoga might not be able to fully understand the words said, but they were spoken nonetheless.

"I've never seen overstepping of this nature before... I don't know how long we can maintain this. It's been two days. We've spent so much already. If he can't hold himself together soon, we may have to let him go."

The mages and doctors were standing around a barrel of magically enhanced glass, filled with water and a very vague shadow of a shape. The water and the shadow were Hyoga, in his entirety. His body as he once knew it was gone, and he was this strange shape, he was the water. And now that he was conscious again, he'd find his mind and body desiring to be back together and in sync once more. For right now, the Elementalists were holding every single one of his watery molecules together to try and keep from losing him, but the cost was high. Energy was being spent in heavy amounts in a time when Kalzasi was still in crisis. But the orders had been given. Save Hyoga.

But could Hyoga save himself?

Sat Dec 04, 2021 1:45 pm

龍 74th of Frost, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: A bunch of muffled voices| Thoughts: I wont loose myself| Mood: Scared, Determined

龍 For what felt like forever, Hyoga drifted between the moment he let himself be open to whatever was calling to him, to how he was now. One moment he was one with the lake, the next nothing. In his waking consciousness he could hear the muffled words of those around him, make out silhouettes of their bodies, but everything to him looked and sounded as if he was being held underwater. And then it hit him like the surge he was trying to protect those innocent people from.

Those around would notice the cylinder of water beginning to slosh around as Hyoga began to realize his current state of being. "Why cant I move!? What's going on!?" he panicked, but no matter how much he struggled he couldn't move, he could only see water-covered imagery. As he struggled that when things started to come back to him, the events before everything had gone dark.

He remembered the well of aether that surged through his body, at first being an invigorating feeling, but soon becoming something nightmarish. It was as if his whole body was being ripped apart from the inside, and it seemed to be that was the case. He could feel himself fading as if he had taken his last breath. It was the first time in a very long time he was filled with fear. He found himself sinking, his consciousness losing the battle to live.

At that moment his life began flashing before him. He relieved everyone moment, every battle, every joyous occasion, and every painful memory. He began to see the faces of those he had met, individuals who had impacted his life in some way. His aunt was the first to flash by him, her warm and pleasant smile. She was the only living family he had and she meant quite a lot to him, she was like a second mother now.

Then came Talon, someone he respected and looked up to a great deal. He was an exemplary Avialae both as a person and a warrior. He was someone he found himself having feelings for even if the prince himself was unaware of the Kathar's true feelings, and someone he wanted to protect at all costs. Then there Rickter and Finn. Each one of them imparting something in him, Rickter showing him who he was during their sparring match and Finn teaching him how to draw out intimacy with another person.

The last two figures to appear were his parents. "Mom......Dad......I don't wanna die, not yet!" he pleaded in his consciousness. A smile crept onto his father's face as he looked to Hyo's mother and then back to him. "Then find your strength and live." he spoke, and then the two figures began to fade away.

"I will! I will live, there's too much I must accomplish before dying. I refuse to die like this." he resolved, focusing on himself. As he knew it not he was bodiless, which meant that this was a result of the overload of aether he had funneling through his body. He needed to pull himself together.....literally. He began to concentrate, to focus on his body and making it so.

He kept hearing his father's parting words of encouragement echo in his consciousness, reminding him of the unwavering strength his father displayed. He admired his father greatly and was always striving for his approval and to live up to his standards. To those in the room, they would see the effort, slowly but surely the figure in the water was starting to become more clear. Hyoga was focused entirely on becoming solid again, to live on and carry the mantle of strength his father left behind.

He didnt realize however the influence of seeing his father in that dire moment would have on the form that was becoming more clear in the water the harder he concentrated. 龍

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

Thu Dec 16, 2021 1:37 am

As the water began to slosh, panic began to show in the faces of the Elementalists funneling their Aether to hold him together. They pumped up their efforts, but one passed out, and the others were straining as well, and fading fast. Sovel himself turned, and began giving what Aether he had left, having just finished a shift holding Hyoga together. He growled at the others, "We... can't... stop. The replacements won't be here for an hour!"

The Aether they pumped into the barrel holding Hyoga would be a warming, comforting feel to him, but he would be able to feel it as yet another of the mages passed out from the strain. Then another failed, his nose breaking with a sickening crack, as he fell face first against the floor. It was just Sovel trying to hold Hyoga together. The other healers in the room rushed to aid the fainted mages, but Sovel's focus was perfect and unwavering. And a smile began to cross his face, as Hyoga began to form a shape.

A strained whisper left his lips, "Watch... This is a miracle."

The healers looked up, and they saw the water beginning to form the shape of an Avialae. As it did, Sovel could feel that his aether was not needed. He tapered it off slowly, judging by feel, as Hyoga began to create his form, to hold himself together. As Hyoga's magical form grew in shape, the room began to grow colder, the breaths of those beginning to form clouds. The temperature continued to drop as Hyoga pulled together a visage of himself.

His form was losing its watery and icy shape and qualities. It was becoming colored, solidifying, gaining definition. Sovel smiled as he released his magic entirely, as Hyoga was now expending his own aether to maintain the form he kept in his mind. How he thought he looked, mental image surpassing the physical, creating a new form entirely. A new Hyoga, in his beautiful entirety, stood there now, naked and recovered, as the entire room looked on at him.

Sovel stepped up toward Hyoga, "Welcome back, Master Hyoga. Whatever it is you're doing, keep doing it, for it is working. Calm and focus are your allies, just as we in this room are your allies." Sovel was fascinated, there was so much that wasn't understood about what happened here. But he was more elated than anything. Hyoga had been saved. "If you're able to do so without much effort, can you tell me what you remember? Do not strain yourself too much, we don't fully understand what is happening with you, so we must be careful."

Mon Dec 20, 2021 6:59 am

龍 74th of Frost, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: A bunch of unknown people| Thoughts: Im whole again| Mood: Releived

龍 The muffled voices began to become clear, the sights unobscured by water as he focused on his form. When his sight and hearing finally came to be normal once more he was met with eyes that were filled with surprise and shock. He didn't know why they were looking at him like they were, but he knew it could only be from what just happened. A man informed him that calm and focus was his ally, as well as those within the room with him, causing the Kathar to scoff.

"That's easier said than done my friend." he said with a hint of frustration in his tone. Closing his eyes he tried to remain calm and focus on maintaining his form. He didn't even realize it wasn't the same as it was before the incident, but he couldn't worry about that now, he had to focus on keeping himself together. The man who was still on his feet asked him what he remembered, receiving another scoff from Hyoga.

To say the least, the Kathar was becoming easily annoyed by the inquiry as he opened his eyes and cut them at the man. Closing them just as fast he began to recount the events leading up to now. "I remember erecting a barrier to try and stave off the tidal surge, but it only seemed to make matters worse. Next thing I knew I felt something calling to me. I never saw it or heard it, but I felt it, I felt the need that it wanted me to let it in. Next thing I know my body is overwhelmed with a surge of aether."

He was explaining and began to lose his focus his arm becoming water with icy scales on the forearms. Taking a moment he regain his focus, his arm returning to normal as he continued. "After I let whatever called to me in, I was one with the lake, I feel like I became part of the lake, and......and...my body felt as if my body was being torn asunder by the aether flowing through me." looking to the man speaking to him his eyes were filled with a hopeful look. "Please tell me this all wasn't for nothing, Is the harbor safe?"

His focus was still on maintaining himself, but he wanted to know whether or not if his efforts were all in vain or not. 龍

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:47 pm

Sovel was used to the frustrations and annoyances of the Kalzasi elite, he dealt with them almost exclusively, and he paid it no heed. He could see that Hyoga's duty was first and foremost still on his mind. Sovel stepped closer to Hyoga, "Your efforts were not in vain. You saved hundreds of lives, and a large section of the docks, including two of our hospital ships which have been vital in the last few days in the recovery efforts. But the surge was far too large for anyone of us to stop. The deaths are in the thousands, all around the Lake." Sovel stepped closer again, a small comforting look of solace upon his face, "You gave everything you had to try and stop it, and there are many grateful families alive and intact because of it. Find comfort in that."

Sovel hadn't ignored what Hyoga had said about the power asking him to open up.

"Rescue and recovery efforts are still underway, but we are here to focus on you, master Hyoga. It appears that you've reached beyond your bounds of magic, extending them. But in doing so, your body has undergone a dramatic change that appears to be permanent. This Quirk of yours is significant and its the first of its kind I've ever seen. I apologize for the frustration a lot of this has caused, but I worry that if you lose focus you'll fall apart into nothing. This is all incredibly new territory."

Sovel then looked around the room, seeing the mages that had fainted were being awakened and stirring, and he barked out orders, "Get them checked out and in recovery, and clear the room." The healers looked confused for a moment, but Sovel gave a firm glare and they all cleared out. The healer turned back to Hyoga, waiting until privacy was found. "It's been difficult to piece together the events, but from a variety of witnesses it seems that after you stopped the section of water, you fell into the lake and we feared you lost to the depths as the water was quickly freezing back over."

A dark look crossed Sovel's face, "However, there were a couple of reports of a dragon's head, formed entirely of ice, raising out of the water and depositing you into a lifeboat, where your form fell apart into the water we found you. If it hadn't been for those witnesses, we may not have found you at all. But there are no records of any such dragon of that size or appearance in these parts, not currently or throughout history." There was surprise and confusion in his voice.

Continuing, "You mentioned something calling to you? To let it in? One with the lake... That's... I'm not sure what to make of that information. Do you have any idea what or who could've called to you? Have you any idea about these reports of an ice dragon?" There was no hint of accusation in his voice, but there was certainly a need for answers, a desperation.

But another voice would be heard in Hyoga's mind, soft, gentle, feminine, "You do not need to answer to him, Hyoga Iceborn. If you wish to find answers, you simply need to look inward. If you wish to find someone who knows what you're going through, fly south through the storm. Come look for me and I will find you."

Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:20 am

龍 74th of Frost, Year 121, A.o.S 龍
Company: A bunch of unknown people| Thoughts: Im whole again| Mood: Releived

龍 A breath of relief escaped his lips as the doctor explained, the kathar glad that it wasn't all a wasted effort at least. The water running down his face began to subside as more of his focus allowed his body to solidify himself even more, though he would find the strain was increasing the more he focused on it. If what the doctor was saying was true, he would have to build up his mental focus if he was to maintain himself.

It was somewhat disheartening to hear the medical expert say that whatever that had happened to him was unfamiliar territory to him. He was somewhat curious about how a quirk could result in such circumstances occurring, but then again if you were to open yourself to an unknown force the odds are the same thing would happen to you too.

His eyes widened hearing witness accounts of how he was saved. To say it astonished him would have been an understatement. He never saw this dragon, then again he's never seen a dragon before in his life so he wouldn't know one even if he had seen it. The more he thought on it, the more it began to dawn on him that perhaps whatever called out to him, that is what they saw, but then that would beg the question if what was calling for his help was the spirit of a dragon itself.

He listened further to the man ask his question, Hyoga shaking his head as the other voice from the lake filled his mind. His eyes cut down to the left as if the source of that voice was standing there. "I'm not so lucky or privileged enough to have met one that fits that description, unfortunately. I'm just as in the dark as you are doc." he explained, scratching his hair as he continued to look in the other direction.

"I would rather you speak plainly, I don't think I can take any riddles right now." he thought, hoping whatever or whoever that voice belonged to could hear him. He didn't have the mental strength for some unknown force to be cryptic in what it wanted from him. "I don't think I can keep this up doc, I don't have the reserve of aether to sustain myself like this. Is there anything I can use to help supplement that until I can build my focus and aether reserve?" 龍

"Common Speech"
"Synskrit Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:21 pm

The worried look on the doctor's face never left, even as the feminine voice within Hyoga's mind was chuckling. "Forgive me, when one must live in the shadows for as long as I have, you forget the loveliness of one so straight forward." There were feelings of relief and appreciation being exuded into Hyoga's mind, a transfer from whoever was speaking to him.

The doctor took up the moment, however. "Well, I have a theory, that might work, based on what I've seen of your... condition, thus far. Excuse me for one moment." The doctor sauntered over to the door, opened it and stepped outside, closing the door behind me.

The voice within spoke once more, "Are you familiar with the prison known as Lover's Pit? A common tale among the youth of our kind. Find your way there and I will find you. And then we can get you strong enough that no doctor would dare call your gift a condition."

The doctor returned, holding an ornate necklace with a deep blue gemstone within it, "This is the Heart of J'mora, an ancient relic from days past. It's a grand Frostrylyth set in the metal there. I believe if you focus on this gemstone, and draw from its power, it will help bolster your energies and keep your form from waivering." He stepped forward, offering the amulet to Hyoga, "The smallest of thanks Kalzasi can offer for what you did."

However, within Hyoga's mind, the voice bristled with righteous fury and outrage. "YOU ARE NOT SOME CRIPPLE NEEDING CRUTCHES, HYOGA ICEBORN!" There was a radiating indignation coming through, "They know not what you are. If you are not careful, they will seek to use you, control you, and if they cannot, destroy or lock you away. Like they have done with so many others..."

An image so vivid flashed between this bond shared. The skies were storming, fully of raging clouds and lightning, and the sky was torn asunder, a rip between worlds and realities. And on the other side of this tear, scores of Avialae, but not those that Hyoga knew, no. These were the women, those who were lost so many years ago. But in an instant, the image was gone.

"Spread your wings, Iceborn, and let us find one another. Break the shackles they call accolades and gifts, and I will show you that you're already more than they could ever comprehend."