Void Emissary

IC: Irna | Metru-Koro Outskirts "I don't speak that tongue," Irna said, nodding over to Ostrox. "And I suspect he will continue speaking in it for as long as he can. To spite us." OOC: @Tarn @Toru Nui @Keeper of Kraata @TL01 NUVA @The UltimoScorp IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "Where have you been living since your home landed on ours?" Parnassus asked, stepping up side-by-side with Barius. "Surely you can't have been staying in that giant head. I can't imagine that it's very hospitable nowadays, considering...." OOC: @Burnmad @Sparticus147 @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Irna | Desert Irna turned her head, breathing a sigh of relief as Skorm seemed to appear out of thin air -- and might as well have, for all that she understood of his abilities -- as she continued to slump against Keitara. "Well," Irna said, managing a tired smile. "Let's not do that again for a while." OOC: @Keeper of Kraata @TL01 NUVA @The UltimoScorp @Tarn @Toru Nui -Void

IC: Irna | Open Air Thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and Irna fell from the sky. She tumbled, end over end, the icy wind whipping at her body, until she could scarcely tell what was up and what was down, what was sky and what was ground. All she could glimpse was the way that the night sky seemed to bleed light, flashes and flames and lanterns on falling airships. She thought she saw Kei fall past her, but couldn't be sure. She couldn't even be sure if Keitara and Skorm had made it to the ground -- yet. It was hard enough to tell if she, herself, would make it to land in one piece. She was moving too fast, too wildly. She tried to remember something, something that might help-- "Do you see that, Irna?" her mother said, pointing up to the sky. It was another hunting trip -- just the two of them, mother and daughter. Food was growing scarce the further their village had been pushed into the mountains, leaving their people no alternative but to climb to the dark summits and clifftops to hunt the Infernavika and Mahi that made their homes there. But it was a perilous path to trek, and their hunting parties had needed to shrink to navigate the steep crevasses and the winding valleys. Sometimes, Perror of the Northern Continent travelled alone. But not this time. "Do you see how the 'vika glides through the air, Irna?" her mother said, kneeling down in the sand, her fingers notching an arrow without even looking down. "Its wings are so vast that it doesn't even need to flap them sometimes. They are so large and so flat that the wind pushes against the wings and keeps the bird aloft, so that the bird does not need to work as hard." Her mother drew back the bowstring, but she didn't fire. She waited, and waited, and waited. Then, the bird raised its wings and flapped, going up, when-- The arrow flew true. The bird fell from the sky. "The bird doesn't need to work so hard," Perror of the Northern Continent said, "it is more perceptive, then. Wait until it begins flapping, and its attention is elsewhere, Irna. Now, go fetch it for me." Her mother was probably dead by now, killed along with Mata-Nui. But Irna still remembered what she had taught her all those years ago, and so she flung out her arms and legs. It was terrifying, like letting herself go in the middle of the ocean -- but she felt herself slow. She felt the world no longer spin around her wildly, and begin to steady into a long horizon, a sky full of lightning and cannon fire. And a desert that was getting closer, and closer, and closer. Irna reached for the cord on her lev-chute. She didn't know, for sure, if this would work, if this what this device was designed to do. But it was too late to second-guess now. And besides, she needed to do something before she hit the dirt, or she was shot down by one of those ships. Like an arrow piercing a bird. She pulled the cord. *** It took more walking than she had expected, but Irna finally managed to find Keitara and the others gathering in the darkened desert. She raised a weary, shaking hand -- she had been shaking ever since she had landed with little more than a few scrapes and bruises -- and slowly made her way over to them. She laid her hand on Kei's shoulder, and surprised herself by leaning on the maskbearer, the exhaustion in her bones only now revealing itself. "Did everyone make it?" she asked, looking around. "Where's Skorm?" OOC: @TL01 NUVA @Tarn @Toru Nui @The UltimoScorp -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits It all happened faster than Parnassus could process -- as though, in one moment, Boss and Barius had simply vanished into the ashy smoke of the pit itself. Corrivalis was already drawing his weapon, ready to fight the interlopers. But Parnassus simply shrugged past him, the shadows around them twisting and writhing, the Aspect's hold over them slack and unfocused as they hurried to the lip of the smoking hole in the ground. They would have felt it if Barius had fallen, after all, they were certain of it -- but they were also a young Aspect, and their knowledge of the world was more horizon than anything else, to their great chagrin. They knelt by the pit, peering out over the edge." And there, that massive S.O.B. of a warskak hung, clinging to a heavy chain bolted to the smooth wall of the hole. Bloody. Battered. But breathing, if barely. Despite themself, Parnassus grinned. "Well, let's not hang around, then," they said, and shadows coiled down from the Aspect's hand, wrapping around Barius' waist. Parnassus stood up and stepped back, the tendrils of darkness hoisting the warskak up and out of the pit. OOC: @Burnmad @Nato the Traveler @Sparticus147 -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "Do you know how many reckonings this one's had today?" Parnassus snarled, gesturing with their chin towards Barius. The Aspect tried to hide the quiver in their throat, the waver in their hand -- these two interlopers were a fine distraction for Miserix, and enough of a distraction to keep Parnassus from a blinding terror that seemed posed to swallow them. The Aspect allowed shadows to wriggle up from the ground and the corners of the cavern and flock around their legs, like stray cats mewling for food. "And you think, what?" Parnassus continued. "That the two of you are going to be the final blow?" OOC: @Nato the Traveler @Burnmad @Sparticus147 @Unreliable Narrator @Keeper of Kraata IC: Irna | The Tranquility Bridge Irna watched Kei and Kat leap from the falling ship and realized that she neither fully understood how these lev-chutes worked, nor had time to figure it out. There was a cord on one side that, when she gently tugged on it, seemed be taut -- it reminded her of the hunting blinds her family used to use, tightly coiled bundles of canvas that, when you pulled on the rope coil-- She didn't have time to think about it. She just jumped. -Void

IC: Irna | The Tranquility Bridge "Go on ahead of me," Irna said to Nale. "I'm not leaving without Keitara." OOC: @Keeper of Kraata @Toru Nui @Tarn @TL01 NUVA -Void

IC: Irna | The Tranquility As the airship pitched, Irna felt herself falling. But she had lived in the mountains of the Northern Continent for most of her life, hunting Infernavika amongst the cliffs and crevices of that place. She had found herself falling before -- and those times, she hadn't been falling towards-- "Ostrox!" she shouted, letting herself slide across the smooth incline of the bridge's floor, relaxing herself so that when she slammed into the ship's control panel -- perhaps a foot away from the Leaguer -- her muscles screamed a little quieter than they might have. "You're outnumbered, Ostrox," she said. "This isn't a fight you can win." OOC: @Keeper of Kraata @TL01 NUVA @Toru Nui @Tarn -Void

IC: Irna | Atop the Tranquility Irna reached out and gave Kei's upper arm a squeeze, perhaps for the last time, before turning to join Skorm. "Once more unto the breach, then," she said. "Let's get inside." OOC: @TL01 NUVA @Keeper of Kraata -Void

IC: Irna | Metru-Koro Airspace Irna didn't have time to be afraid, only to step forward and drop into the open air. Once she was in mid-air -- she had plenty of time to panic then. OOC: @Keeper of Kraata @Tarn -Void

IC: Irna | The Taku Cargo Bay Irna looked over at this Nale woman that Knichou was referring to -- a mask-bearer with the look of some of the Leaguers that she had once run with, but with the eyes of ... something else. Something that the Zyglak couldn't quite place, but which chilled her, regardless. "Looks like I'm in your hands," she said to Nale, trying out a smile to break the tension. But, with the hand that wasn't holding her spear, she gripped Skorm's forearm. The two of them had gotten out of worse situations than this, right? Right? OOC: @Tarn @Keeper of Kraata -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "She is the Matron," Parnassus said -- although perhaps it would be better to say that they intoned it. Was there a quaver to their voice that Corrivalis could detect? Was there a glazing in their deep-socketed eyes, a rolling of their head back like a figure losing consciousness? "Our Lady of Pain. The Dame of Judgement. The Shadow Across the Sun. Good God, Corrivalis, good God! Miserix has come for us. Miserix has...." Parnassus stumbled, toppling down to one knee. They hadn't meant to -- or maybe they had? It was impossible to tell. OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "That is good to he--" Parnassus stopped. What they felt, the presence, it was impossible, she was gone, she was vanished, she was-- "Corrivalis," the Aspect said, as softly as they could. "You may want to get ready to run." OOC: @Unreliable Narrator @Nato the Traveler @Burnmad -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "Assistance," Parnassus said, lowering their voice. "If we're to ... ascend, to put it crudely, there are several steps that must be taken. Some of which are rather ... private." The Aspect let their head tilt to one side, in the direction of where the two would-be warlords still duked it out. OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "You think it's so easy?" Parnassus said. They looked over at Corrivalis with a sneer. "You think I could just snap my fingers and become engraved in legend? I can do many things, warskak, but even I have to exercise patience on occasion." The Aspect turned their gaze back to the fight at hand. "My chosen," they said, "may eventually become a great emperor. If he so chooses, and if he follows my guidance. And through him, I will ascend even higher. I may be loathe to admit it, but no one is an island. And no one being can succeed without the aid of another, and another, and another. That is true of warskaks and of Aspects, as well." It was then that their sneer changed, melting into a thin line across their face. "And so I give you this offer, as well, Corrivalis." OOC: @Nato the Traveler IC: Irna | Taku Bridge "By Karzanhi...." Irna was in awe -- she had never seen anything like this before, not even whenever a Turaga had come to her village on the Northern Continent, or during her tenure with the League. It was impossible to be more than a little impressed. But she also couldn't forget the swamp, and Keitara curling into seemingly nothing in the back of a cargo hauler. "Is this safe?" she asked Skorm. "Will Keitara be...." OOC: @Keeper of Kraata @TL01 NUVA -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "Who says I won't?" Parnassus said. "Who says that only one of us can ascend at a time?" OOC: @Nato the Traveler IC: Irna | Taku Bridge There was something very beautiful about Keitara just then. There was something very frightening about Keitara, as well. "Skorm," Irna whispered. "What's happening?" OOC: @Keeper of Kraata @TL01 NUVA -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "You're comparing petty warlords to demigods, Corrivalis," Parnassus said. "Because someone who knows how -- they will never be scoured from memory." OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "Not for power's sake," Parnassus said. "For legacy. To be remembered." OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "Knowledge of how to bend the storms to your will," Parnassus said. "Knowledge of how to bend the fundamental elements of this world to your whim. I could teach you about the gears that turn beneath the skin of the universe, and how to turn them to your tune." The Aspect smiled, and it was a smile on a face not built for it. OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Irna | Taku Bridge "I'll ... I'll go with you, Skorm," Irna said. "Two of us there couldn't hurt." OOC: @Keeper of Kraata IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "I mean," Parnassus said, watching as Barius stumbled across the blood-slicked floor of the cavern, "that it is not always a question of skill or talent or power. That is so often what people believe the Aspects provide. And, of course, we do. But we can also offer knowledge. Knowledge beyond whatever you mimic." OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Irna | The Taku It took Irna a while to find her way inside the airship -- it wasn't as though she had exactly been at home on the Ripple, and this airship was of a different design than that one had been, anyway. But she eventually made it to the cockpit, where Kei and Skorm seemed to be meeting with the man Knichou and a variety of other warriors, most of them preoccupied with what was beyond the main window, an image of-- Who's fighting the League fleet? "Skorm," she said quietly, placing a hand on the ex-Leaguer's shoulder. "What's going on?" OOC: @Keeper of Kraata IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "Perspective," Parnassus said, winking. "Ability isn't everything, you know. Not even for someone like you. What you can know about the world, how you approach it. There's power in that which you can't see." OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Irna | Metru-Koro "It means that we've run out of time," Irna said, closing her eyes. She had prayed that her old comrades wouldn't have come, had just been bluffing -- but, of course, that was a pipe dream. "The League is coming. And, Ulkarr, if you want to escape before they arrive, I won't judge you. But if you want to join in this fight, then follow me." With that, Irna turned and ran up into the airship. OOC: @Toru Nui -Void

IC: Irna | Metru-Koro "You're from the Islets?" Irna said. She couldn't help but feel a little frustrated -- to have nearly died trying to get to the islets earlier today, only for two of their inhabitants to simply stroll over to Metru-Koro by evening. "You're certain that we wouldn't be able to find some way to negotiate with your people for refuge there?" OOC: @Toru Nui IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "Shame," Parnassus said, glancing over at Corrivalis. "You'll never know what you missed." OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits Parnassus watched Boss and Barius duke it out in the remnants of that poor old blind Skakdi. Quite a bit of machismo on display. "Are you interested in changing yours?" OOC: @Nato the Traveler IC: Irna | Metru-Koro "Hm," Irna said. She supposed that it would be good to rest before the coming battle, but she couldn't help the nagging feeling at the back of her mind that said there was no time for such things. But it would be good to get to this Knichou's ship to make preparations. But still.... "All right," she said. "Ulkarr, if we can walk and talk; besides the recent developments, do you know of any place that the refugees here could retreat to?" OOC: @Toru Nui -Void

IC: Irna | Metru-Koro Irna flashed a hand of greeting towards Skorm before turning her attention back to this figure, this Ulkarr. "You're from this land?" she said, furrowing her brow. "How familiar are you with the terrain?" OOC: @Keeper of Kraata @Toru Nui IC: Parnassus | Nightmare Pits "The power to be insufferable," Parnassus told the warskak-who-wasn't-a-warskak, always keeping one eye on the battle between the two potential leaders of Fort Nektann. The Aspect knew of this Corrivalis' species, had seen enough of them dissected on the slab to understand how their bodies were put together. Although, they did, perhaps, understand less of the nature of their minds. "Why do you ask?" OOC: @Nato the Traveler -Void

IC: Irna | Metru-Koro Irna smiled back. She was just getting ready to turn when-- "I ... yes, that's our plan," she said to the newcomer. "You are...?" OOC: @TL01 NUVA @Toru Nui -Void