Legend of Ransera

(Continued from here)
Evening had nearly rolled around when the storm clouds that lingered near the horizon had spread across the sky, though, the camaraderie shared between those at the bonfire had not been lost on Kayleigh. Truthfully, she had a mixture of feelings about this place already, and while she wondered about the possibility of ever returning; there was a sense of wanderlust in her that beckoned to be answered.

Thus, after she'd unearthed whatever she had sat on earlier from the sand, Kayleigh took her leave of the party if only to begin packing her things. In her heart, she knew her mind had been made up, and if she wanted to venture into the unknown, then perhaps venturing through that door was the best thing for her to do. While there weren't many left at the campsite anymore, the few that were still there were memorable people to be sure. A couple of them were nice enough to help take down her tent when she'd finished packing away all her other things.

This left Kayleigh standing on the beach near the pile of belongings she had stored away. Her leather rucksack nested atop the rolled-up tent and bedroll, alongside the chest from the Duck that had appeared here when she'd first arrived. Oh, the memories. There was a thrill to everyone's mixture of emotions back then, and how everyone handled their first steps on the sands of this beach quite differently. I haven't forgotten about the Duck either. She noted to herself as the bookworm finally started to pick up her things.

She took the bag onto one shoulder so that the strap rested over it, with the tent strapped over the top and the bedroll dangling from the bottom side. Kayleigh was honestly surprised the majority of everything fit together, given that the large trunk held the vast majority of her belongings. Still, everything she thought she'd needed was pooled together, and therefore, she looked to the closed door once more that had lingered near her spot. She began to wonder about Captain Kynne a little, as well as the rest of those that came and went to this place. Hopefully, she would find the means to return here herself someday, because while she wanted to spread her wings elsewhere, Kay also wanted to finish what she started here once she finally seemed ready.

Thus she approached the door, dragging her trunk across the sand as it left a trail from her path. With the eclipsed sun about ready to set, she knew the time left before the door remained would dwindle soon. Thankfully, she didn't need to be in such a hurry, since she was in arm's reach of opening the door to the otherside.

"Dialogue" Thought
"Common" "Kathalan"

The Door opened for Kayleigh, but it did not show anything more than darkness through its portal. After all, Kayleigh was stepping into the unknown, and she wouldn't be able to see where she was until it became known.

However, once she stepped through, the door would slam shut, a bit rudely, bumping her trunk forward into her. And, much like how everyone had arrived at the bay, having exited the friendly ship via the ship's extremely helpful transportation abilities, Kayleigh would find that she, and her trunk, were falling towards water once more.

As she fell, she might have a moment, maybe even two, to see the beautiful, white capped mountains in the distance, to see a colorful aurora in the sky. And if she were especially observant, she'd see that the water that the Duck liked to transport people over and into was not currently the wet kind, but rather the frozen kind, and a fall from this height would surely cause injury.

Thankfully for Kayleigh, there was a bit of tumbling where the Duck had sent the trunk into her, and the trunk smashed first into a thin patch of ice that had been opened up an hour or so before by an Udoria Narwhal. The force of the trunk carried it into the water, giving clearance for Kayleigh to splash into the extremely frigid waters of Lake Udori. Her trunk slipped up under the ice, lodged under the thicker ice around ten feet away from the hole that Kayleigh now found herself. It was a well sealed trunk, the air within keeping it floating against the ice, but it was hard to say how long it would stay that way, until it would begin taking on water and sink to the depths below.

Though, for one that was recently in a tropical locale, now splashing about in subzero water, the icy hole already starting to shrink as ice does what ice does in winter. Far, far off in the south of her location, the Jewel of the North glowed upon the mountains it sat upon. Kayleigh was now in Kalzasi, the city on the south side of the lake, and Kayleigh flailing about up on the north end.

!	Message from: Aegis
	I'm relocating this thread to the Kalzasi forum, and I'm opening it to other PCs. I will not continue moderating from this point onward, it is purely up to you to either solo it or finish it as a collaboration with other PCs.

The otherside of the threshold remained dark and mysterious for her, and while she hesitated, Kayleigh did not want to miss out on her chance to venture into the unknown. This was what she wanted after all. But when she finally crossed through that doorway and the portal took her beyond, she felt the entirety of her weight thrown off balance from behind her. As expected the magic of the door had relocated her someplace new entirely, but the moment she felt the rush of winter on her bare skin, the bookworm also soon felt the embrace of it once she proceeded to drop with a yelp.

Bloody magic.

If she had known how these doorways worked, which she would've started to guess by now, then the woman would realize they were a rather poor method of travel. Useful to be sure, but when one felt the bitter kiss of cold on her flesh, well, Kayleigh was immediately upset with the sudden gravity of her dilemma. Her trunk had fallen into the icy water before her, allowing her to plummet within unscathed thankfully, but now without over half her belongings... and with her caught in the icy hole itself.

So much for the unknown! If she didn't know any better, then she would've guessed the magic behind the door utterly lacking in etiquette. Regardless, the overwhelming change in scenery had to be processed at a later time, as right now, Kayleigh had to kick for dear life while the cold seeped into her muscle and bone. Gods this was already so bloody awful, and while she immediately started to panic, the woman knew she needed to try and climb out somehow. Only, the surface of the ice itself remained too slick and cold for her to handle, and where she failed to grip it with just her bare hands, the thought of using her dagger for help came to mind.

Only, the cold seemed to keep the blade from unsheathing out of the scabbard at her waist, leaving her in yet another bind as she struggled at the edge of the ice. Oh Gods help me! It might've been the first time she actually revered whatever higher powers existed out there, albeit, only because the sheer desperation of her situation had finally started to settle in. Kayleigh was freezing and quickly, and if she didn't get out of here soon, then she would likely die from drowning if not hypothermia itself. Thinking it might help just a little the bookworm slid the leather bag off her shoulder, if only to hoist it over the ice's edge and use that as a means of hoisting her over the surface.

Yet while the ice might've crunched from the pressure of her weight, Kay still urged herself to keep trying for a way out of this grim situation.

"Dialogue" Thought
"Common" "Kathalan"

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龍 Sitting along the frozen waters of Lake Udori, Hikami had been continuing his communion with the spirit. They spoke of that day, the day he was forever changed, how that no matter what the spirit was a part of him just as he was a part of it. He had been lost in the trance of meditation, so much so that he never noticed the event unfolding above him. His meditation had him wrapped up in communication between himself and the spirit of the lake, but soon the spirit seemed agitated. Something wasn't right.

He could see flashes of a large box hitting the water, then a woman flailing about. His eyes opening wide he looked around for the person, his ears zoning in on the sounds of splashing coming from behind him. He could see her and knew at these temperatures a normal person would freeze to death struggling to stay afloat in the water. He immediately moved into action, taking to the air to get a better view of where she was. He could see the hole in the ice and quickly dove down to the figure. Manipulating the cold waters he coaxed them to raise the woman up and out of the icy liquid.

He then dove into the hole she created, looking for the large object that fell with her. When he saw it, he grasped it with the water around it and pulled it back up to the surface, opening a hole in the ice where it was, and landing it safely on the ice. Emerging from the waters, he rejoined the woman, removing his shirt and wrapping her up in it. "Come we need to get you to the city and under some heat, lest you freeze to death out here." he urged, scooping the woman up in his left arm.

Walking over to where the trunk was he took hold of the trunk by one of its handles, and manifested his prismatic crystal wings. With a leap he was in the air with her and her luggage. He wanted to know who she was and how she ended up falling into the lake like she did, but he would wait till she was dry and warm before asking her questions. 龍

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While she did her best to at least kick and keep her legs from slowing to a halt, the feeling of pins and needles soon overcame the painful chill that seeped into her flesh. As Kayleigh pressed down with her arms to hoist her upper body though, the ice itself seemed to give way and chip off to return her back into the watery hole she'd fallen within. Not good. Not good at all. Someone please! She wanted to call out as the panic and desperation rooted deep inside her gut now. Whatever's out there please, help me out of this hopeless situation!! The bookworm was not ready to die, not when she had just crossed through into this area.

She had yet to get her bearings or even explore it, not that she would be thrilled about it now that she'd learned of the cold. But if Kay had time to guess then she would've deduced this being somewhere far, far north. A stark comparison to the southern air of the beach she had stayed on for the past couple of seasons. Someone please... Her breathing felt shallower now as she felt her body tire out now, her limbs barely able to support her as she almost looked to resign to her fate. That is until...

Water started to rise and well around her, lifting the woman's body up so that she might finally crawl out of her icy trap. Would it be enough though? She could only hope. That's all she could do right now, was hope that whatever mysterious power came to her aid would be enough. When she situated herself on the surface of the frozen lake, her ghostly features turned to observe the skies next. Something had flown down into the water, warranting a bit of an alarmed look in her exhausted eyes. She felt so cold now, almost numbingly so in fact, that she just wanted to drift into an uncomfortable sleep.

A splash burst out through the ice as her trunk had suddenly popped back onto the surface. The bookworm could've sworn that such force caused more cracks along the surface, and for a moment, she dreaded the possibility that she might fall under once more. Such misfortunate had yet to plague her it seems, even so, the mystical savior that had come to her rescue soon surfaced as well to attend to her a moment after. He was a rather big brutish looking individual, clearly one she would've mistook for a thug or bandit had he not saved her. For all Kayleigh knew this man could have been, after all, he did possess magic so unnatural the Reconcilatiors would shake in their boots if they saw.

"F-F-Fi..." Her voice betrayed her as her body convulsed with shivers, the broad hopeful that this man would at least have the capacity to create a warm fire for her to bask in. No such luck apparently, as he deemed to take off his wet shirt, and proceeded to coat her with it just before he reached to scoop her into his arm. The bookworm would've castigated him for such abrupt behavior, only, she was in far too dire of a condition to even worry about such preconceptions. She couldn't even barely manage a yelp as tremors wracked her entire body, the pins and needles still plaguing her legs and arms as she felt frost permeating her hair and skin.

There was something about this man though, as bestial as he came off as, that reminded Kayleigh of some of the protagonists she'd read about in her books. None of them were ever so bold as to dive into a frozen lake for someone of course, but, the mannerisms this individual possessed reminded her of such that she couldn't help but ponder the idea. Why is he so... What's the word...?! She felt the rush of wind beat into her as they took to the skies, and even through her shivering Kayleigh clenched every muscle of her weary body. She couldn't think of it but honestly, given the situation she was in, it was ironic she found even the slightest bit of humor out of it.

It's taking me a moment... All she could think about was the need for hot tea, a cozy fireplace, and thick wooly blankets to keep her warm while she read a comforting book. Oh, right... Edgy. The girl realized as she felt sleep begin to take her, her eyes lulling to a close as she really hoped for those wonderful commodities that crossed her mind before.

"Dialogue" Thought
"Common" "Kathalan"

---

龍 It didnt take too long for him to reach Kalzasi, the lights of the city-state illuminating his wings as he soared home. He knew the best place for her would be at his aunt's estate where she could be adequately taken care of. He didn't realize however that wrapping her up in his wet shirt only added to her freezing dilemma. He immediately coaxed the water from off of both her and his garment and asked the winds to be easy on the woman as he flew. There was only so much even a master in elementalism could do to minimize the chilling effect she was experiencing.

Once the Yoko Estate was in sight he let out a whistling call for those on guard duty to hear. It was one of many codes his aunt taught him, this one, in particular, signaling an emergency. When heard the estate lit up with movement and activity as Yumeko was called and came to greet her nephew and the strange woman. "Come take her inside." she instructed, leading the avialae to one of the rooms meant for emergency care. A warm bath was waiting on them when they entered the room, and Yumeko took the young woman from her nephew, shooing him away so that the ladies in waiting could ensure she didn't suffer from Hyperthermia.

After some time when the woman was bathed and dressed, and placed by a warm fireplace, Yumeko would call for him, and the two would wait for their guest to get comfortable. He leaned against the wall as his aunt sat in one of the chairs near where the woman was resting. Both warriors looked with curiosity. 龍

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