Legend of Ransera

Posted: **Sun May 24, 2020 6:43 pm**

20th of Glade, Year 120 of the Age of Steel

Even if Glade was widely regarded to be an auspicious season, Riven's new year was starting awfully. The pain had gone away, but staying at home alone had been hard for him. Taelian was gone, and he had no news. Talon was gone, and given how things had ended, he didn't expect to see his friend in a long time. And the more he stayed in the Novalys state, the worse he felt. He had ended up grabbing his bag and some food and flying off to the Wildking's Forge to the West. The Frost snows still lasted over the landscape, but he knew that the thick forest canopy would keep the ground rather clear. The cold wasn't an issue.

And there he was, walking around, notes in hand. The Forge was probably the largest forest in Ransera; Riven had seen it extend from the edges of Lorien and Daravin, and he knew it went all the way to the Ashen Wastes, where all life ended. In Kalzasi it made him feel at peace; life bloomed all over and resisted even the hardest blizzards, and if one paid attention, he could see all kinds of little and not so little creatures. Lizards, snakes, birds large and small, squirrels, tanukis... and Minova bats. He smiled; even the wild ones were curious enough to approach mortals. He searched in his bag and pulled out some blueberries. Pulling his hand out and raising it up in the air, he let a peach pink bat approach him cautiously and grab a few with its little claws, flying back to a tree to enjoy them. Another one showed up, and one after the other; they all approached him and grabbed as many berries as they could, then flew away. He kinda missed Trinket, Talon's bat.

He kept striding through the forest; as long as he didn't stumble across something too big and too fearsome, like a thunder tora, things would be alright. He ended up in a clearing, a rounded patch of snow-covered grass walled by one of the mountain cliffs. It was a good place to rest and draw a little bit, practice his recording skills. The air was fresh and the Glade breeze made the temperature way more pleasant, even if it still snowed from time to time, and so he melted a patch of ground with a small fireball and then pushed the water away with his magic. He sat there, pulling his notes out to record a bit of the same old thing; small fauna crawling through trees and cute fluffy bats.

Posted: **Sun Jul 05, 2020 6:00 pm**

Nyx lost a post here.

Posted: **Sun Jul 05, 2020 6:00 pm**

20th of Glade, Year 120 of the Age of Steel

The screech filled the small clearance Riven was sitting on. It was almost humanlike, but not human; it could have been mistaken as a very high-pitched howl as well. His eyes opened wide and his back tensed, his heart starting to race. He scrutinized his surroundings to check for the source, but the difference in brightness between the sunlit, snow-covered forest glade and the tangle the Forge was made it really difficult to tell apart what was going on. The Avialae dropped his notes in his bag, still under tension in case he needed to run. Nothing could have prepared him for what came after that though.

A small creature dashed out of the woods; its bronze hide gleamed under the sunlight as it kept dashing and bumped on Riven, not bigger than a cat. It barked as it bounced off and landed on Riven's lap, still agitated, revolving and trying to get off. It attempted to escape unsuccessfully several times; Riven couldn't even try to move. He just stayed there, paralyzed. The small creature fought it a bit more until it clumsily managed to escape, and by that time Riven had already noticed what kind of animal it was... and he couldn't believe it. He watched it run behind him, stopping under a small tree, trembling in fear.

It was a fox, rather clearly. But the small details... the slight coloration on paws and ears, the bronze hide... and the two tails. Two. Riven was flabbergasted; that was no common vulpine. That was a Kitsune pup, a legendary creature that purposefully remained unseen. Even among the inhabitants in Kalzasi it wasn't considered nothing other than an old hag fairytale. Scientific registries pointed otherwise, but Riven never thought he'd see a pup so closely. Its mother couldn't be too far... and that might not be good. The little kitsune was covered in mud and one of its legs seemed to be injured, drops of blood shining over the dirty fur. The poor kit seemed to be in trouble, exhausted and with not much of a will to fight anymore. The injury wasn't fatal in any way, though it had to be cleaned and bandaged. Riven shook off his awe and focused on the little suffering fella in front of him. He didn't know much about an invisible species, but they were renowned for eating rice among other things. Maybe some berries could do; common foxes also enjoyed them. He grabbed a fistful of blueberries from his backpack and gently tossed them at the fox' location. He carefully stood up not to startle him, but then he heard the hounds. And the arrow's whistling, going right over his ear.

He turned around; whoever was coming was intending to capture or even kill the pup, and he wasn't going to allow that. His eyes gleamed with a dangerous blue hue, and his fist ignited in a blue fireball. Whatever would happen, he would protect that little creature, or at least buy him time to flee. Its whimpering was heartbreaking.

"Go the way you came from and I won't hurt you" He shouted at the forest, the fire around his fist going up his elbow in a fiery pillar.

Posted: **Mon Jul 13, 2020 9:42 pm**

20th of Glade, Year 120 of the Age of Steel

Riven wasn't too surprised by the three men that emerged from the treeline. The first thing he did, albeit more costly, was raising an earth wall between the kitsune kit and the invaders; tall enough to block any arrow directed at the little creature, but not too big to cover him up; he knew the small fox was scared, and he wanted to make clear that he would protect him. Three men stood in front of him; before them, the large hound that he had heard barking. They were all armed, albeit poorly; the kind of weapons that lower class hunters could afford. The first one sported the longbow that had shot the arrow that had barely missed Riven; he wasn't bad, for sure. The second guy looked rugged, and sported a common axe, rather blunted; more of a forest tool than an actual hunting weapon. The third was a few years younger than Riven; just a kid. He didn't seem too dangerous; he carried nets, probably to set traps with or throw at living prey. They seemed to be a group of poachers, and by the looks in their face, they weren't happy to see Riven stand between them and the prize of their lives. Riven knew that the kit was priceless, the kind of gold that could lead dishonest men to murder a man if they had to. He'd have to be careful; even if he had magic on his side, they were three and a dog. He would have to divide them if he wanted to beat them all, or at least leave them incapable of fighting.

The one with the bow stared at Riven with an angry look, loading an arrow into his string and pulling it back. "Hey, bird boy. Move aside and we won't have to hurt you. We just want the pup. Your magic tricks don't impress me, so don't try anything weird." He seemed sure of himself, but he wasn't dumb; he was probably the leader of the group; the other two looked at him, as if waiting for commands. Riven missed his blades; he wished he would have taken them, but he'd manage without. He needed to act carefully; the pup wouldn't let him pick him up and fly, and if he made the wrong move he'd end up pierced by one of those arrows.

"I'm not going anywhere, man. But you're making a mistake; you should be impressed." His taunting answer gave Riven the split second of doubt he needed in the bowman; he shot a weak flare at the barking hound, scaring him; the dog whimpered and ran back into the woods, too scared by the sight of fire so close to him. It wasn't the animal's fault anyway, but the archer's response was delayed just enough for him to be able to defend himself from the incoming arrow; he shot a wind blast in the opposite direction, weakening the arrow right in its pathway and making it drop to the ground. He shot a large fire blast at the archer; he couldn't afford any of his attacks to land again- The small boy was visibly scared; it was probably the first time he saw a mage, and he wasn't really armed. He missed a few shots on purpose, hitting the ground; the snow around them melted, providing Riven with a reliable source of water that he didn't have to create.

The guy with the Axe charged; as focused as he was on the archer, two enemies were hard to manage, and he couldn't really move; not without abandoning the poor fox kit, who had crawled into his wall and was shaking in fear. He shot a wind blast to a side, to knock the man with the axe off his path and into the space between Riven and the archer; that way, he wouldn't have a clean shot. Riven didn't doubt he was the kind of guy that would shot his own companion, but he didn't care; he'd have plenty of time to counter-attack. He lifted the melted snow off the grass, collecting it into a large water ball; he shot a stream towards the axe man, knocking him to the ground and making him drop the axe; before he could grab it, he used the water tendril to lift it and grab it. He just burned the handle, rendering it useless; he threw the blunt blade far behind him. The man was desperate and attempted to fight bare-handed, but Riven profited his own height to kick the man's face and knock him to the ground again; just in time, as he had to evade another arrow coming for both of them. Cursing, the unarmed poacher retreated.

The guy with the bow still was the biggest issue. Riven grunted; he'd have to get serious. He blasted a huge torrent of flames at him, but he evaded them and shot again; another air blast blocked the arrow. The Avialae unleashed a fiery blade that traversed the whole clearing and made the three men kneel to avoid it; in that very moment, Riven shot his water whip again and took the bow off the man's hands, grabbing it and burning it as well. With a devilish smirk, he shot a single flaming shot at the boy's nets, setting them on fire; the other two men cursed him as they turned tail, and the kid sort of stood there, trembling. Riven stared at him for a little, the boy gulping and following the other two hunters. Riven burned the arrows the man had managed to shoot, as he didn't want them laying around.

He knelt and smiled at the small fox, still trembling behind the rock wall. "Hey, everything's over. I can help you now, buddy. If you'll let me, of course. Don't be scared, okay?" He said, kneeling. He recalled a handful of clean water around his palm using elementalism, and sat next to the little fox, petting him with his free hand. The small kit stayed still, curiously looking at him, and allowed Riven to softly hold his injured leg and clean it using the water in his hand, revoving around the wound to capture all the mud and the dried blood that he then discarded. Carefully, Riven ripped off one of his sleeves and cut it as well as he could with his bare hands, forming a small bandage that he put around the kit's leg and secured it with a knot. He grabbed a few more blueberries and offered them to the small puppy; he sniffed them cautiously, but he ended up devouring them and yapping with glee. He playfully bit one of Riven's fingers, pulling it; as Riven stood up and gathered his things, ready to pick the kitsune pup up, he jumped back and barked at him, refusing. Maybe it was best to leave him be; Kitsune weren't known to follow people around. However, as he wondered about what to do next, the small kit barked at him, walking with a slight limp towards the forest. Riven watched him go, but the kit stopped and barked again, coming back to bite the edge of his pants and pull in the direction he was headed.

"You... you want me to follow you? is that it?" He asked, perplexed. He didn't know why, but at least he'd be able to watch over the small puppy as his wound healed. The thought of his mother crossed Riven's head; he didn't know if being caught by an adult kitsune with her pup could be a good idea, but if that was going to happen, he had to risk it. He couldn't leave the little pup alone in the cold forest; those poachers wouldn't be the only ones interested. He followed the small kit into the woods; he had a hard time following it, as fast and elusive as he was, but the small fella yapped from time to make Riven find him. The forest got darker as they advanced, the treetops thickening into a dense tangle.

Legend of Ransera

Hidden in the leaf

Hidden in the leaf

Re: Hidden in the leaf

Re: Hidden in the leaf

Re: Hidden in the leaf