revivalproject | Warm Me Up in a Nova's Glow

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Warm Me Up in a Nova's Glow

WHO: Lord Felwinter and you
WHERE: Beach, outskirts of Temba
WHAT: A Warlock tests his abilities
WHEN: Early January
WARNINGS: Blocks of text
NOTES: Will match pose format

Deep footprints through the snow lead out here to the beach, gray skies above promising a fresh snowfall before long. Here the snow thins out along the blue-violet sands, the clear water from the ocean lapping up and keeping winter from laying full claim to its shoreline.

Felwinter stands like a dark pillar out on the sand, at the gradiated line where white fades into purple, brisk winds sending his greatcoat flapping about him. His Ghost hovers nearby, her eye turned towards the warlord even as his helmeted visage looks out at the sea. After some time, he finally nods, turning his back to the open ocean, sand and snow swirling with a sharp crunch at his feet. Felspring tips slightly in the air, a nod back before she drifts some distance to give him room, watching as violet light builds around his hands as he curls them into fists.

Grasping the Light always feels like reaching for a slippery thread, its end fluttering tantalizingly just past your fingertips. Taking hold of it takes effort, and the effort to hang onto it makes it that much more exhausting. But the Void is there, and Felwinter gathers it, casts it out towards the sand just a ways further down the shore. It erupts in a flash, licks of void swirling outwards from it and stirring the sand about before it fades. He considers the output, monitors himself as he begins focusing anew.

It's already taking longer than it should to gather enough energy, but he continues to hold onto it, a flickering light like negated flame glowing around him. He leaps high into the air as it pools into his hand, and for a moment he hovers there, drawing his hand back before he casts it out, a massive sphere of ominous violet-black energy. It curves slightly as it's lobbed out further down the beach and the shallows where the waves break onto the sands, emitting a brilliant light before it sends a spray of water and sand, exploding outwards with rampant flares of voidlight. As it fades, smaller spheres bloom forth from its place, pulsing heliotrope that explode similarly albeit only echoes of the first large expulsion. It leaves pockmarks along the disturbed shore, water quickly rushing up with the next waves to fill them as though in haste to cover up its marred face, even as the following waves wash up remains of fish and half disintegrated green shells of lobsters.

The warlord drops down from the air heavier than he means to, boots sinking and sliding under him until he crashes onto his knees. Felspring flits back over to his side, shell twitching in her concern.

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Shiro walked along the beach. He had been thinking a lot about things lately so he had wanted to walk somewhere there weren't quite so many people. The beach had seemed to be a good option in his opinion. It was a bit cold and the weather wasn't so great.

Not that it bothered him though.

And surprise surprise, he was treated to the sight of someone trying out some sort of powers at the beach as well. He stood back so that he would not be in their way, admiring it all from a distance.

As he finished up, he couldn't help but think that it was both an effective and a strange way to fish (even though he knew that wasn't the intention).

But as he saw the warlord drop down back to the sand rather hard before falling to his knees, he jogged over to him.

"Hey, you alright?"

Both Felwinter and the starlike drone turned at the sound of the man's approach, the former tensing as he braced a hand against the sand, which didn't particularly offer much support. The question wicked away a little of the tension from him, his helmeted head offering a hesitant but curt nod. His Ghost sighed.

"He pushed too much," she explained, her shell expanding slightly almost like a shrug.

Shiro certainly had no ill-intentions, but he wouldn't fault him for being wary of a random person running over, especially after something like that. Neither of them knew each other so it would make
sense to him to not immediately trust him.

But at least he didn't seem quite so wary when he reached him - having been too far away previously to notice any other signs of it.

"I see. It was quite impressive... whatever it was." He offered Felwinter a hand up. "Need any help?"

The faceless visor regarded the offered hand, seeming to seriously debate whether or not to accept before he ponderously raises one of his own to take it. It would take another moment before the warlord attempted to actually rise, still uncertain of his footing, all the more so in the sand. "...thank you," he murmured, his voice bearing a familiar buzz to it, electronic but tired.

"...Nova Bomb. It is not at full power, but it was all I was able to muster." Admitting it aloud was even more upsetting. He thought that he might get better in time, like the way organics worked out their muscles to build up strength.

Shiro didn't move even though he hesitated, not taking away the offer of assistance just because it wasn't accepted immediately. Once he took his hand, he held it firmly, waiting for Felwinter to get his footing in the sand before helping him up. "No problem."

"Never heard of that before. It was still impressive though not at full power. Perhaps with time, you'll get it back."

And he'd let go of Felwinter's hand once he was on his feet since he seemed to be more stable now, but he figured he'd stay around a bit longer to make sure he was able to get back to where he was staying.

"I'm Shiro."

"Perhaps." There was always going to be a strain, but he supposed that it was surprising at all that he could still retain something of the Light's power. He looked at his hands once he was steady enough to stand on his own, though not without a slight sway.

"...thank you, Shiro," he said with a nod to the man then. "I am Felwinter. This is Felspring," he indicated his Ghost with a slight turn of his head.

Seeing him sway slightly, Shiro put out a hand as though he were going to try and catch him if he suddenly went down. At least it was just a sway, but couldn't be too careful after all.

"No problem. Nice to meet you both." He nodded his head in greeting at Felspring as well. "How far is where you are staying? I'll walk with you."

His shoulder felt as bony as it might have looked, and as cold as the snow that lay scattered about the sand. Felwinter tensed under that hand, but he kept on his feet, nodding a silent thanks. There was only a little hesitation before he responded to the question then.

"Within the town center," he said. It was a fair walk even without feeling drained, but he was silently grateful for the offer of accompaniment, even if it was difficult for him not to be cautious. "You need not accompany us that far. Just within the city grounds will suffice."

He could tell how bony that shoulder felt but cold was not something so easily told with the hand that he had used, oddly only wearing one glove even in the cold. He waited until he was sure Felwinter was not going to fall over again to move his hand back.

"Alright. I'll walk with you at least that far."

He'll see how he is doing after that, but let's start with that.

"Have you been here long?" Small talk to help keep him focused on something while walking, maybe help it not to seem so far.

That sounded fair enough. Felwinter nodded, starting out unsteadily, realizing then that the ground wouldn't be much better even once they reached the city, what with all the snow. He pressed ahead, feeling like his feet were made of lead, each step sinking. In hindsight perhaps the beach wasn't the best place to practice after all.

"Some months now," he replied. He did tend to keep to himself, although he wasn't against speaking over the network. "Not long enough to see a winter before this one. Yourself?"

Shiro walked patiently beside him, matching Felwinter’s pace to make sure he didn’t get ahead of him and if something happened, he’d be able to catch him. He was less encumbered by the sand, but it was still not his usual pace either, which was likely helping him go slower.

"Hmm... I suppose it has been a year now," Shiro said after a long thought. Boy that was depressing. "I guess I didn't realize it had been so long."

"It seems easy to lose track of the time," the warlord noted. The days here could very well blur into one when nothing was happening, and he supposed that for humans of the non-Risen variety, the perspective could be quite different when it came down to days and weeks, months and years.

"It is difficult to process when one is made aware of such things. Progress here has been slow." Just like reaching the forest's edge from the beach. At least they'd crossed over from the sand to the more snow-covered expanse, not that it made much difference beneath their feet.

At least sand was less potentially slippery than snow, but since it didn't seem like there was much ice. That was fine. It was just like a continuation of the sand really.

He nodded. "It has. I'm sure progress would go faster if we had tech that would be able to accommodate or equipment move things around better. But since it always seems like it is the same thing every day, it's very hard to remember what day is what."

At the very least, the snowy ground thinned out along the forest path back to the city. Felwinter stumbled along the uneven ground, his hand sinking into the snow up to his forearm when he moved to try catching himself.

"More adequate technology always seems to be where things hinge," he murmured thoughtfully. His Ghost fluttered her shell at that, flitting over closer from where she had been drifting just a ways behind. "If we were able to get more resources that would be an improvement," she sighed. "They won't even let us fly off world for that."

When he stumbled, Shiro immediately moved to help him. He wasn't going to let him get hurt or have trouble getting back to town obviously. He offered Felwinter his arm to get him back to being more stable.

He nodded. "Yeah, it's kind of a no win situation," he remarked. "You can't do what you need to do efficiently without the correct technology, but you also aren't allowed to go get it."

Felwinter nodded, taking a moment before he heaved himself back onto his feet with Shiro's aid. At this rate getting back up to the upper floor of the security tower was not going to be possible, between his exhaustion and the broken elevator.

"But doing nothing is not an option," he concluded. "We must do the best we can until opportunity presents itself."

Shiro would certainly help if he wanted to give it try. Or he'd help with finding a place to say for a night so that he could recover his strength without worrying about trying to climb anything. Of course, he would have to know where Felwinter was staying after all. Otherwise, he couldn't assist.

"No, doing nothing is not something we can do. We have to keep pressing ahead. Eventually something will come to us."

It was a bridge to be crossed when they came to it. They still had a ways to go and Felwinter wasn't going to worry that far ahead. At least that was a matter that had simple options to consider.

"...I only hope it is not like what plagued us some months ago. I do not like the thought that we are being toyed with on occasion," he murmured.

It was. No point in stressing about it at the moment when they weren't even back to the edge of town yet. They still had to get there before deciding how well he was going to do going up stairs.

Shiro nodded. "I am not pleased with these things that keep happening. If this is the one where everyone was trapped where they happened to be, a lot of people outside of town were very worried for their friends stuck inside."

"Those trapped outside were fortunate," Felwinter said. "But there would have been nothing to do for the worry as there was every right to be so. This whole place was changed, as were those within the city at the time."

They hadn't lost anyone to those horrors, but it was a mild relief compared to not knowing what intent there lay beyond what had happened. "Were you in Sh'Ka then?"

"Yeah, I was in Sh'ka. I happened to left earlier, before whatever happened. So I was stuck outside. Granted, everyone from my world happened to be there in Sh'ka. But one of my friends here, everyone he knew was still here so he kept coming to check the train every day. Multiple times a day I think."

He thought about it for a moment. "Guess I'm glad I wasn't here then."

The warlord gave a solemn nod. "Having more present would not have made a difference, save that it would have presented us with more targets to make of ourselves." Even his usual tone managed to hold an extra touch of bitterness to make it apparent.

"So in the end, better for those who were not here to be saved the experience." They made it to the wooded path, the ground firmer beneath their feet and the snow coating it thinner for the overhanging trees.

He nodded his head as well. He'd kind of heard about it, but it still seemed rather vague. He didn't blame it for being rather vague. He - of all people - could understand not wanting to give a lot of information about something that was painful.

"Yeah, I agree. I don't know that I need much more of that in my life."

As they made it to the wooden path, he glanced down slightly at the change of the ground before looking straight ahead again. Just making sure he and also Felwinter weren't going to slip.

It was not only for the fact that he'd rather spare Shiro the information of such a terrible time, he was also unsure as to how exactly to even explain what had happened. An incomprehensible fear, and the need to inflict the same upon others... Felwinter only wished that it had ended once the whole thing had passed, and had thought others would feel the same in not wanting to speak of it. But he was wrong, and things learned about him during such a state were unfairly revealed without any real reason. That so many sounded more in his defense than interest of Kaz's intent only put Felwinter slightly at ease.

His steps felt a little surer, mostly because the ground wasn't shifting beneath them. They could make better progress down this path at least.

"We were warned of storms. I have not yet experienced one, but whatever it was that happened then, I do not think it was one of them."

He wouldn't press on it, knowing that it would be hard to explain as well. Something else that he could understand. While he might be able to tell people what happened during his time with the Galra, the question was whether he wanted to try and tell someone about and remember all of it.

"You know. I was told about them as well and I haven't experienced one either. Some other strange stuff has happened, but not that. The glitter falling from the sky was an interesting one."

"Glitter from the sky?" Now that sounded strange, however perhaps mild by way of the possible occurrences here. "Perhaps we should be fortunate not to have dealt with any of the storms yet, given what's been said of them." But then not knowing how they came to be or when did make it difficult to figure out how to deal with them as they were expected to.

"Yeah, it was weird. A lot of us with metal components or armor were complaining about the issue that so much it was causing. They also gave us random presents to go with it so that was nice..." He nodded. "Yeah, I'm not really looking forward to the storm. It sounds like they are pretty bad."

That sounded unpleasant, and with that further detail, Felwinter could easily see how it would cause such aggravation. "I suppose I should be thankful to have avoided that particular occurrence, then," he noted.

Eventually the way brightened a little as the trees thinned out towards the city's edge. The warlord's steps were a little surer, or at least he wasn't as hunched over, though he still trudged along. "...to the town square," he finally said. He would settle for resting at the diner until he felt up to going up to the security tower.

It had been. Shiro had spent quite a lot of time trying to get all of the glitter out of the joints in his arm. Thankfully that seemed to be long over, finding random bits of glitter. He still worried though that maybe someday he'd find more. So far so good though.

"Yeah, I wouldn't wish the glitter part on others."

Ah yes, good. They had made it back to town. It was much better that they were here rather than in the middle of the wilderness. At least if he needed help here, Felwinter could get it that much faster.

"Sounds good." And he'd keep walking with him.

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Warm Me Up in a Nova's Glow

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