Eiji Hino

--IC: Bacchus: The Arena-- "Kaenis!" Bacchus said excitedly as his companion revealed herself. "There you are! The dais is doing something funky with the lights on it, and I want you to help me figure something out about it!" He seemed momentarily oblivious to the fact that she was very visibly ashamed... but he was not. His expression changed from one of happiness to one of confusion and concern; his eyes switched from her, to the pillar, to the small fleet of ships they had rode in on, and to her again. Something resembling realization dawned on him. "Were you... trying to leave?" he asked. "Why?" - - - --IC: Hestala: The Skies, somewhere between Cliffside and Tesara-- "Oh, I'm not bad," said Hestala, stretching sensually. "I'm just built that way. "The arrangement is simple- you, Mister Big Strong Man, follow me around and keep me safe from any beasties or bugs that might want to hurt me... or you... or steal my stuff. In exchange, you'll get room and board- provided you pay to help me fix it, I'm not going to let you forget about that- and let's say... 30% of all profits." And in her head, she thought, And I'll get a big strong man to keep me safe... keep me company. Thieving's a lonely business.

--IC: Hestala: The Skies, somewhere between Cliffside and Tesara-- At last, they were safe. Hestala watched as best she could as the Vorox slunk away, taking the giant cannon with them. Where had they gotten it, she wondered? Now that it wasn't firing at her, what she could see of it looked like a fine piece of technology, perhaps worth investing in legally if she got the chance. If she had had that kind of firepower in her earlier dogfight with her rival, the outcome would have been vastly different. Her rival gave her a message of thanks... one that was sorely misplaced. "Don't thank me," she said. "You're in even bigger trouble now. You've got no ship, you still owe me a boat of widgets for what you did to my Vista Baby, and now I've just saved your life; in most cultures, that'd be reason to swear an oath to serve. Face it: you're stuck with me, dahling." She paused for dramatic effect. "... However, I can make our... entanglement a more beneficial experience for the both of us. "How would you like to be my bodyguard, dahling?" - - - --IC: Bacchus: The Arena-- The Rock Agori's eyebrows shot up into his helmet at the giant woman's claim. "More carvings? Can you read them?" Stepping off of the dais, he shoved his notebook and pen at her. "On second thought, why don't you write them down in here for me? It'll save us both some time, and we can knock heads together and figure out what they could mean. I'll be right back." Bacchus shuffled his way back across the Arena, leaving Juno, Drukann, and the giant woman behind. "Kaenis!" he shouted in the direction of where they had parked. "Kaenis, where'd you go? Come on, we can't solve this without you!" And in his head, he added, Teaming up with you was the only reason I even came to try the Arena's mystery.

is that new rpg any good?

when dad finally comes home with that milk after fifteen years

coulda been starscream.

guts...?

terrorsaurs are not actually dinosaurs, jim.

still purple

--IC: Hestala: The Skies, somewhere between Cliffside and Tesara-- "Yeouch!" The undignified syllable tore itself from Hestala's mouth as she struggled to dodge the Vista Baby out of the way of the plasma shot, only just barely managing to do so. It grazed the protosteel of the airship, singeing the damaged portions of the hull and burning away to ash what parts of her rival's Rockoh still dangled from it. The inside of the airship grew hotter as well; even in her sparse clothes, the Vortixx woman felt the compunction to take some off to counter this new heat. Numerous warning sirens bleated from the control panel, indicating that some portions of the internals had begun to severely overheat. Not much that the Vista Baby couldn't function without, but all still worth looking into once they got to safety. With a final mighty volley of skyblaster bursts at the Vorox, Hestala slammed the control yoke forward, causing the Vista Baby's four extra boosters to spring to life. She and her rival sped away, but an easy breath could not be taken until they were out of sight of the cannon.

giving me kitana flashbacks

--IC: Hestala: The Skies, somewhere between Cliffside and Tesara-- "You think I can't see that?" Hestala cried. But though she complained, she took heed of the dangerous aura that the cannon was now emanating. Waggling the control yoke, she raised the Vista Baby to an altitude one level above the cannon and turned it in the direction of her original destination: Tesara. Even as she maneuvered the airship and pushed it forward, she adjusted her skyblasters' aim to remain on the Vorox, and fired off several more volleys of solid light rounds. "Keep going with that ammo!" - - - --IC: Bacchus: The Arena-- As Bacchus peered over the stone dais, scratching at his beard, he saw the second circle cease its red glow; looking up, he deduced that it could be attributed to the retreat of the giant woman. This served to further his theory that these lights had something to do with three people being present. But what were they missing? he still wondered. The little Agori began to pace across the dais, over the symbol of the Three Virtues. He got down on his hands and knees, feeling the strange shapes of the letters around the edge and trying to discern a pattern in them. They spelled words, he knew that much; perhaps by analyzing the frequency of certain symbols, he could puzzle out the words. But his eyes and hands kept returning to the Three Virtues symbol, glowing tantalizingly before him. Three Virtues... three people... What were the Three Virtues again? Unity, Duty, Destiny? Perhaps it wasn't just the symbols that were represented by three people, but also the Three Virtues themselves. Perhaps only a group that stood together under the Three Virtues could hope to activate something fully. All five of them had the Duty of solving this mystery... and it was the Destiny of all of them to attain whatever it was that lay beyond this dais... but they all did not stand in Unity. He and his posse had clashed with Drukann and the giant woman, and they had not accepted fully working together. Perhaps Unity was not being represented? It was possibly a flawed idea, but it was one worth trying out. "You two!" he shouted at Drukann and the giant woman. "Shoo! Stand away, stand away! I want to try something out. Juno! Kaenis! Come here and stand the dais with me!" He called out loudly for his partners, especially loudly in the case of Kaenis. In his musings, he had lost sight of her.

busy brainstorming something new for bacchus to do. i'll try to have a post up for him and hestala tomorrow.

one dead, one barely alive, and one well into its adolescence.

a link to much better art than mine, right under art that is also much better than mine

a... fan?

despair was involved, but it didn't come from those who beheld his works...

oz, the not so great.

i clicked, and was not transported to a room/building full of books. 2/10

--IC: Hestala: The Skies, somewhere between Cliffside and Tesara-- As her rival stuffed ammunition into the open hatch, the weapon systems of the Vista Baby let out a soft whir and a satisfying thunk as the internal mechanics shunted the heavy light-and-steel spheres into place in their clips. Those spheres were subsequently rapidly emptied from their clips as Hestala waggled her aiming yoke so that the skyblasters were pointed at the oncoming convoy of Vorox and fired. The small fry around them could wait. That cannon didn't look good at all. "Keep going, dahling!" she called back to her rival. A steady stream of ammo would help them out immensely, and she had plenty of it.

catina still exists, guys. just thought i'd let you know.

figured i'd do one of these and actually contribute something slightly meaningful to this site. here's a kiina i recently did, which is actually a redraw of a kiina design i sketched several years ago, just in my current art style. the first in a series of bionicle waifus i'm gifting to my mates soon.

how long is too long?