"Which ones? Some have more than others, but most fruit are an amalgam. No way are you going to manage to pull out any particular metal," answered Clever, scratching the side of her chest. "Only an alchemist could do something like that with any sense of practicality."
The mechanic climbed up the side of one of her golems, this time not getting pinned by the hands. A single glowing eye turned toward her on the golem, and she gripped the control rune.
"Where are you from? I've never met anyone who hadn't come from or at least heard of the Floating Hills, or Navipolis."
Bjorn cawed a warning of some kind in Willow's ear, but of what, it would be hard to discern. The odenkine's language was still a mystery.
[The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
“Aaaah, boo. I’d been hoping that it was a single metal to a berry. Ya know, pop an ironberry. That kind of thing,” Willow lamented as she leaned at an exaggerated angle, pivoting at the fist she’d planted against her hip. Still, even if she was unable to eat the berries without getting sick she figured there’d be at least a couple alchemists she could approach; not counting Mister Caxton, because she figured he’d turn her away out of hand if she approached him asking for help experimenting on fruit. She froze and held her gaze towards the ground when Clever followed up with another question.
“Oh, uh, where I’m from? Can’t tell by looking? I’m from, uh,” the Brit hammered against the part of her memory that housed geography. Wait, why was she doing that when she could just say her hometown, it was going to still be a lie when she tried to make it seem local.
“Visakhapatnam. It’s far off… that’a way.”
Too late. Willow’s face was utterly blank. In part to not give any tell. In part because she was scolding herself for being a terrible rogue. No sooner had she said the name of a random city in India than Bjorn cawed his warning. She wasn’t certain exactly what had been said, but it had sounded important.
“Oh thank god,” Willow muttered as she dropped her relaxed pose in favor of an alert stance, flaring Bronze to discern what might be the matter.
“Oh, uh, where I’m from? Can’t tell by looking? I’m from, uh,” the Brit hammered against the part of her memory that housed geography. Wait, why was she doing that when she could just say her hometown, it was going to still be a lie when she tried to make it seem local.
“Visakhapatnam. It’s far off… that’a way.”
Too late. Willow’s face was utterly blank. In part to not give any tell. In part because she was scolding herself for being a terrible rogue. No sooner had she said the name of a random city in India than Bjorn cawed his warning. She wasn’t certain exactly what had been said, but it had sounded important.
“Oh thank god,” Willow muttered as she dropped her relaxed pose in favor of an alert stance, flaring Bronze to discern what might be the matter.
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
"Visakhapatnam? Sorry, that doesn–..."
An ear piercing screech sundered the rolling peace of the waves on the shore. Clever turned, from the shoulder of the golem she was on, and looked up. She made a flourish of all four hands, and a defensive barrier rose as a comet of shadows sank from the skies and collided into her. Clever went tumbling off the golem's shoulder, and fell into the sand.
The shadowy figure narrowly dodged the swing hand of a golem protecting its master. Clever turned over in the sand, one of her porcelain arms cracked and limp.
"Willow! Look out!"
It leapt at the Allomancer, and she could see the hate in its eyes, over a maw of dark teeth. Emaciated arms, like dead tree limbs, reached out to her.
"It's a wraith of Vengeance!"
An ear piercing screech sundered the rolling peace of the waves on the shore. Clever turned, from the shoulder of the golem she was on, and looked up. She made a flourish of all four hands, and a defensive barrier rose as a comet of shadows sank from the skies and collided into her. Clever went tumbling off the golem's shoulder, and fell into the sand.
The shadowy figure narrowly dodged the swing hand of a golem protecting its master. Clever turned over in the sand, one of her porcelain arms cracked and limp.
"Willow! Look out!"
It leapt at the Allomancer, and she could see the hate in its eyes, over a maw of dark teeth. Emaciated arms, like dead tree limbs, reached out to her.
"It's a wraith of Vengeance!"
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
If it wasn’t for the spike of adrenaline that shot through her, Willow probably would have continued gawking at this new foe while thinking “Oh damn, that sounds super rad.” Instead, Pewter flared instinctively as the visuals associated with this wraith brought back some of the nightmares she’d had about the hag she’d fought with for Drysi in that one brain swamp. Rule one, Dad always said, if someone is trying to grab you don’t let them. Her Steel burn rose as she found a spot low down on one of the golems, and with Pewter she wound up a kick and let loose. There were still a few lengths between her and the wraith when her kick swung, but the goal wasn’t to make contact; at least not with her foot.
“Kicky Shoe!” Willow belted as the loose oversized boot slid off of her Pewter charged kick. She might not be able to perform a Hadoken, but boy howdy could she kick her shoes at people. Rental boot now soaring, Willow focused on the metal point she’d found and pushed. A similar maneuver to the one she’d used to dodge the golem, but with the difference being the angle. Instead of rolling into a tumble Willow hopped backwards on a push enhanced arc to try and get a bit more distance. Hand digging in her coin pouch the Brit withdrew a dozen or so coins. Once she landed on her still booted foot, chucked the coins with a Pewter enhanced throw, and then pushed on the cluster of coins with flared Steel.
Unsure of what exactly a Wraith of Vengeance could do, Willow opted for a hard hitting opener that still kept her out of arm's reach. Another unsurety, what was something with Vengeance in its name doing here?
“Kicky Shoe!” Willow belted as the loose oversized boot slid off of her Pewter charged kick. She might not be able to perform a Hadoken, but boy howdy could she kick her shoes at people. Rental boot now soaring, Willow focused on the metal point she’d found and pushed. A similar maneuver to the one she’d used to dodge the golem, but with the difference being the angle. Instead of rolling into a tumble Willow hopped backwards on a push enhanced arc to try and get a bit more distance. Hand digging in her coin pouch the Brit withdrew a dozen or so coins. Once she landed on her still booted foot, chucked the coins with a Pewter enhanced throw, and then pushed on the cluster of coins with flared Steel.
Unsure of what exactly a Wraith of Vengeance could do, Willow opted for a hard hitting opener that still kept her out of arm's reach. Another unsurety, what was something with Vengeance in its name doing here?
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
The heel of the boot struck the wraith in the jaw, and the creature reeled from the sudden strike, screeching. With not much room to react, the coin shotgun blast ribboned shadowy splinters from the wraith's core, dripping sap-like blood, and throwing the menace from its tendriled, rooty legs. It turned head over heels, but recovered quickly, narrowly avoiding another strike from the golems.
"No! Not now!" Clever yelped as the golem nearest to her scooped her broken form up into a protective cradle. "Stop! Willow!"
Without the control rune in Clever's control, the golems began to back away from the wraith, without regard to her orders. The one protecting Clever fled, while the other reversed away defensively, leaving Willow to fight the wraith herself.
With the agility of a rabid animal, the wraith clawed back up through the sand. It sprinted on all fours, its body warping into the shape of a wretched, wooden doe, before diving on Willow again in a humanoid form.
This time, its hand clamped down on her bootless ankle and a vision assaulted her mind while it drug her down to the sand. She saw the Menagerie embroiled in a battle with what looked like two, undead women. One of them was implanted in an icy glacier.
"No! Not now!" Clever yelped as the golem nearest to her scooped her broken form up into a protective cradle. "Stop! Willow!"
Without the control rune in Clever's control, the golems began to back away from the wraith, without regard to her orders. The one protecting Clever fled, while the other reversed away defensively, leaving Willow to fight the wraith herself.
With the agility of a rabid animal, the wraith clawed back up through the sand. It sprinted on all fours, its body warping into the shape of a wretched, wooden doe, before diving on Willow again in a humanoid form.
This time, its hand clamped down on her bootless ankle and a vision assaulted her mind while it drug her down to the sand. She saw the Menagerie embroiled in a battle with what looked like two, undead women. One of them was implanted in an icy glacier.
And then, Willow was back to her unfortunate reality, Bjorn furiously clawing at the wraith with his talons to try and help."To die in this place as your friends did..." [The glacier woman] began to weep, striking the ground in as well a swing as her melded form could allow, surges of freezing ice dancing over the ground towards [Mr. Flynn] and [Ms. Laoise]. With another swing, lines of lightning cut down into the surges, electrifying them. "... terrible... a terrible price to pay... for your sins..."
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
Willow grinned a manic smile. Visions were always weird she’d found, and getting grabbed by dead things was becoming an unfortunate trend; but amid all of that she felt an odd sense of confirmed purpose. This random smegging wraith had grabbed her and she’d seen Mister Flynn doing battle against a truly frightening foe. By comparison, this wraith was deeply disturbing at best. Sure Mister Flynn was almost twice her age, and she herself had only been practicing for a few months. All the same Willow felt like she was walking in the footsteps of a giant, and that just made her want to increase her stride. Hell, she didn’t even need to worry about a sort of hostage in this undead fight; even though that also meant Drysi wouldn’t have her back on this one.
Stomping her still booted foot down onto the wraith, Willow’s smarter half knew she still needed to try and play smart rather than going ham like she had back in the Hag Fight, and that meant separating herself. Could she try and dogpile the wretch like it had refused to give her its lunch money? Yeah. Could it lock her down in another vision and kill either her or Bjorn?... Maybe? Either way, less than stellar things happened when it had grabbed her, so Steel bombardment sounded good. Kicking until she was free, she bellowed for Bjorn to fall back as she tossed out a number of coins and shot into the air on a flared Steel push. For good measure, she also flared Brass and Soothed rage in the wraith. Zero clue if it’d work against a being focused purely on vengeance, but hey it couldn’t hurt. Bringing up her burn on Iron, she pulled against the retreating golem to move herself into a wide arc as she readied more coins. This wraith had come from the skies, and there was zero reason to believe it wouldn’t pursue her; and should it try to go after Clever again, then she’d be in a good position to strike from above.
Stomping her still booted foot down onto the wraith, Willow’s smarter half knew she still needed to try and play smart rather than going ham like she had back in the Hag Fight, and that meant separating herself. Could she try and dogpile the wretch like it had refused to give her its lunch money? Yeah. Could it lock her down in another vision and kill either her or Bjorn?... Maybe? Either way, less than stellar things happened when it had grabbed her, so Steel bombardment sounded good. Kicking until she was free, she bellowed for Bjorn to fall back as she tossed out a number of coins and shot into the air on a flared Steel push. For good measure, she also flared Brass and Soothed rage in the wraith. Zero clue if it’d work against a being focused purely on vengeance, but hey it couldn’t hurt. Bringing up her burn on Iron, she pulled against the retreating golem to move herself into a wide arc as she readied more coins. This wraith had come from the skies, and there was zero reason to believe it wouldn’t pursue her; and should it try to go after Clever again, then she’d be in a good position to strike from above.
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
Willow's boot cracked against the cheek of the Wraith and Bjorn did as he was instructed, flapping his wings furiously to reverse course. The wraith whipped its hand out to one of the odinkine's wings, and crushed it. Bjorn fell to the ground, tumbling into the sand, right as Willow began her ascent. Her judgment had been right, as the monstrosity recovered, it took the form of some type of bird and took to the air after her. The golem was too far to pull for any meaningful distance.
But the moment Willow began burning Brass, the wraith faltered. The screaming and sniveling subsided and it spiraled into the ground, crash landing just as Bjorn did. The longer Willow suppressed the creature's negative emotions, the smaller it became, the less it existed.
"Sorrow!" screeched the wraith, the screaming it had made before was now quelled to speech, "Weak! Cowardly! You will share your grave with Doubt! My blood will be your coffin! I will not waste away until you know my suffering!"
By now, the creature was half the size it was.
But the moment Willow began burning Brass, the wraith faltered. The screaming and sniveling subsided and it spiraled into the ground, crash landing just as Bjorn did. The longer Willow suppressed the creature's negative emotions, the smaller it became, the less it existed.
"Sorrow!" screeched the wraith, the screaming it had made before was now quelled to speech, "Weak! Cowardly! You will share your grave with Doubt! My blood will be your coffin! I will not waste away until you know my suffering!"
By now, the creature was half the size it was.
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
Gritting her teeth as she waited for what felt like forever for gravity to do its job, Willow found a downside to her powers. If there was no metal heavier than she was then she couldn’t force a change in her direction, and right now she would love nothing more than to Iron pull herself right down on top of the crumbling wraith. Damn thing had injured Bjorn. Why did these monsters insist on attacking folk that weren't her? She could take a hit. She could handle pain. What she hated was feeling responsible for others being in pain. Jot that one down as another lesson she needed for improving her fighting. Regardless, Willow recognized the clear reaction to Brass, and thus kept the flared burn roaring. She could go for a bit of vengeance herself right about now.
When her arc descended, Willow let gravity take her, and slowed her fall enough near the end to let Pewter safely land her in the sand. With an intense gait Willow strode across the distance between her and the wraith, her eyes burning. She had looked forward to this? Mere moments ago she felt elated at a chance to throw hands, but then this wraith had to ruin the mood. Or rather Willow needed to grow up and give combat the respect it required. These weren’t schoolyard brawls. She wasn’t beating up kids. The prize wasn’t a can of pop.
With a flick of her wrist, Willow spun the broken oar on her palm; flipping it from a club to a stake. Bringing Zinc up to a flare alongside Bronze, Willow rioted Despair and Regret in the wraith. It didn’t seem to need the help, but she wanted this creature to feel as awful as it could. Then with a flare of Pewter and clenched teeth, Willow stabbed the shattered oar down into the wraith.
When her arc descended, Willow let gravity take her, and slowed her fall enough near the end to let Pewter safely land her in the sand. With an intense gait Willow strode across the distance between her and the wraith, her eyes burning. She had looked forward to this? Mere moments ago she felt elated at a chance to throw hands, but then this wraith had to ruin the mood. Or rather Willow needed to grow up and give combat the respect it required. These weren’t schoolyard brawls. She wasn’t beating up kids. The prize wasn’t a can of pop.
With a flick of her wrist, Willow spun the broken oar on her palm; flipping it from a club to a stake. Bringing Zinc up to a flare alongside Bronze, Willow rioted Despair and Regret in the wraith. It didn’t seem to need the help, but she wanted this creature to feel as awful as it could. Then with a flare of Pewter and clenched teeth, Willow stabbed the shattered oar down into the wraith.
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
Sand and grit sprayed in waves as the wraith writhed under Willow's relentless assault. Its arms shivered and spasmed, cracking like the limbs of a tree facing too much pressure. With zinc, it grew, with brass, it shrank, and with both, it caused the creature's malleable form to lose any distinction. Clawing at its face, it screamed.
"Vengeance!"
It was a woman's voice.
"I am Vengeance!"
Again, it turned and jerked back and forth before Willow drove the stake through its chest. It looked into Willow's eyes and her thoughts were assaulted with a swift flash.
A dark wood surrounded a single, gnarled tree. Left alone, the twisted, arboreal monument was a surreal centerpiece to this otherwise healthy forest. Someone lay at the base of the tree, but a pair of eyes opened in the boughs, and they looked at Willow with a sense of intimacy to her mind few others had.
The Allomancer found herself diving into those eyes, showing her portents of what could be a satisfying, hateful future.
Her hands were beating bloody the hag that had hurt Drysi.
Those same hands were wrapped around the throat of the man that had assailed them afterwards.
She saw metal ripping through cultists and the madman that had sullied their vacation.
It all ended with the eyes looking upon her with satisfaction, she was in the forest again. Finally, she returned to the beach.
The waves filled her ears and the lingering sun bore heavy on her back. Her fist was wrapped tightly around the stake, and she found it buried deep within the chest of a spriggan. It was some dark mockery of the green children she had come to know. Like the form it had before, it twittered and writhed, but the Allomancer could see a brief moment of lucidity. The little rooty hands of the spriggan held the stake, and then sighed a rattling sense of relief, of a curse lifted. It laid its head gently on the sand, closing its eyes to rest, as its body deteriorated and dispersed on the shifting wind into ash.
Nearby, Bjorn groaned as he tried to prop himself up. His wounded wing hung weakly as the other tried to balance. While he seemed to whimper with every hop, his face was stoney and grim.
"Vengeance!"
It was a woman's voice.
"I am Vengeance!"
Again, it turned and jerked back and forth before Willow drove the stake through its chest. It looked into Willow's eyes and her thoughts were assaulted with a swift flash.
A dark wood surrounded a single, gnarled tree. Left alone, the twisted, arboreal monument was a surreal centerpiece to this otherwise healthy forest. Someone lay at the base of the tree, but a pair of eyes opened in the boughs, and they looked at Willow with a sense of intimacy to her mind few others had.
The Allomancer found herself diving into those eyes, showing her portents of what could be a satisfying, hateful future.
Her hands were beating bloody the hag that had hurt Drysi.
Those same hands were wrapped around the throat of the man that had assailed them afterwards.
She saw metal ripping through cultists and the madman that had sullied their vacation.
It all ended with the eyes looking upon her with satisfaction, she was in the forest again. Finally, she returned to the beach.
The waves filled her ears and the lingering sun bore heavy on her back. Her fist was wrapped tightly around the stake, and she found it buried deep within the chest of a spriggan. It was some dark mockery of the green children she had come to know. Like the form it had before, it twittered and writhed, but the Allomancer could see a brief moment of lucidity. The little rooty hands of the spriggan held the stake, and then sighed a rattling sense of relief, of a curse lifted. It laid its head gently on the sand, closing its eyes to rest, as its body deteriorated and dispersed on the shifting wind into ash.
Nearby, Bjorn groaned as he tried to prop himself up. His wounded wing hung weakly as the other tried to balance. While he seemed to whimper with every hop, his face was stoney and grim.
Re: [The Dorms] A Perilous Acquaintance
Visions were weird. Unlike what Gold had shown her, these visions didn’t leave her feeling depressed or ashamed. This particular set of visions felt good; very good. They showed her as strong. Powerful. Able to protect her friends from harm by beating… destroying… those who would deserved it. Then it ended. She was back in whatever realm it was that she had wandered into, and she was kneeling over a dying spriggan; it was her doing.
Spriggans were the reason Willow was here. They had possibly kidnapped Manon. But… did… did this spriggan deserve this? If she had tried harder, could she have helped this spriggan? She should try and Sooth it, to make its passing easier, to.. it was gone…
With numb fingers Willow let go of the oar as the spriggan turned to ash. Those visions weren’t good. This was Star Wars Empire Strike Back; Willow was Luke Skywalker; and those visions were the ones given on Dagobah showing what would happen if Luke fought Darth Vader using his anger and… the Dark Side.
Shifting her attention over to Bjorn, Willow began to administer some first aide. She wasn’t practiced at it, but she had been around her share of splints. Dropping the burn on all of her metals, Willow let the cool air envelop her. She’d been using too much Pewter, and even on it’s lowest passive burn to keep warm it’d probably only last a couple hours; in a fight, she’d be lucky to have a few minutes, and if she flared it she doubted she’d get even twenty seconds. She’d go as long long as she could without it. After all, she was Griffin Fairburn’s daughter. If her dad were here he’d be chipper, eager to press on, and doing it without an ounce of magic.
Spriggans were the reason Willow was here. They had possibly kidnapped Manon. But… did… did this spriggan deserve this? If she had tried harder, could she have helped this spriggan? She should try and Sooth it, to make its passing easier, to.. it was gone…
With numb fingers Willow let go of the oar as the spriggan turned to ash. Those visions weren’t good. This was Star Wars Empire Strike Back; Willow was Luke Skywalker; and those visions were the ones given on Dagobah showing what would happen if Luke fought Darth Vader using his anger and… the Dark Side.
Shifting her attention over to Bjorn, Willow began to administer some first aide. She wasn’t practiced at it, but she had been around her share of splints. Dropping the burn on all of her metals, Willow let the cool air envelop her. She’d been using too much Pewter, and even on it’s lowest passive burn to keep warm it’d probably only last a couple hours; in a fight, she’d be lucky to have a few minutes, and if she flared it she doubted she’d get even twenty seconds. She’d go as long long as she could without it. After all, she was Griffin Fairburn’s daughter. If her dad were here he’d be chipper, eager to press on, and doing it without an ounce of magic.