#febday32022

Seeing Pyraelia shine wasn’t something that ever got old. It had been a while since she’d had an event to dress up for, Fiorenze knew, and Vixannya’s gallery opening — one that happened to coincide with her little sister’s birthday — seemed a good opportunity. Pyraelia loved art and, personal proclivities aside, didn’t seem to mind paintings of nude figures. Hedonismia seemed more her style than the last one had been.

It was nice to watch her dance with Aerden around the Opulence ballroom’s floor, his deep red suit jacket complimented the soft pink of her dress in a charmingly unplanned way. Every now and again the light would catch the gems in the bracelet he’d gifted her as they whirled around and she couldn’t help but smile a little as her eyes followed them both, proud. Fiorenze wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to keep her composure and glow like that under the same circumstances.

He’d brought another woman as his date, after all.

Arandori, specifically.

She hadn’t been able to keep herself from throwing the other woman a few sharp looks, even though Pyraelia had been clear she wasn’t to meddle in any of it. It was hard not to. In all their years growing up together her little sister hadn’t ever really wanted anyone, and wasn’t it her duty as the eldest to make sure she prospered? She certainly thought so, but Pyra, as always, had a mind of her own.

Fiorenze’s mood certainly hadn’t been helped by the shadow that had loomed over the event for a week or so, and while the night was meant to be a celebration, the bitterness of it had settled in. Vixannya had invited the Red Moon to host at the infamous after party, and with that kind of money on the line Fio knew Xylaes wouldn’t be able to turn down the offer. She could’ve hired him out for equal to what he’d be paid, but that felt dirty in its own way. Whether or not Ms. Ana’diel knew it, it was a slight that Fiorenze was going to remember for a long time.

The decent enough compromise that she and Xylaes had settled on after a tense enough conversation had kept him on her arm through the gallery opening at least — something she had enjoyed immensely — with the promise of a later getaway for just the two of them in the days following the whole thing.

But, in the moment, it still stung much more than she had anticipated.

It was an odd experience, she mused, to be jealous of someone who was so clearly not, but Pyraelia had always been the best of them all — and at the very least, one of them had a wonderful time.

(Set back on Feb 14 for Vixannya’s art gallery opening: Hedonismia)

Day 3: Shine/Shadow

@daily-writing-challenge

The pond was a place of comfort and relaxation for most. Who was Wivien to disagree with it? Soothing sounds of the wildlife swimming and continuing their own existence in peace. The sun receding below the horizon at just the right time and casting itself onto the surface of the water with a golden shade of light. A cascade of colors bleeding into one another in the skies brought more of that...serene and safe feeling. One that she is not too used to.

Her back lays against the cool stone with her face towards the heavens. Her long legs were only partly in the water and caused a faint hiss as it rushed over her feet in heat. Just enough to quell the insatiable urge to place herself into the pond. She already is more exposed than she normally feels comfortable with; just below her elbows down had her arms exposed to the air, following alongside being her legs from the knee down. And the most important one of all for her: her mask hanged loosely around her scared neck.

Now she never was considered one to be a shadow in the dark that can just meld right back into the black void. Being an eyesore from the constant fel floating up and out of her face, or the claws that she would have to retract most of the time. Especially with her horns poking out of her skull. One could notice her from quite the distance and in her mind it did not bother her one bit. Not the staring, hushed whispers, or the glares from others of what she was once considered being a part of. None of it mattered.

Yet...as she laid on the smooth boulder with about a fourth or more of her skin showing....a deep need to push herself up and reequip her armor and glaives was bubbling from the bottom of her stomach. In such a position most would not consider being out of ordinary felt alien and nerve-wracking to her mind. Showing her expressions and emotions she keeps locked behind walls so freely. Laughing, showing distaste, smiling and crying without the need to hide. Willing to be judged for who she is, not what she is. It was...

Horrifying yet...it was the beginning of a new start to her life.

A small head comes over and blocks her view of the sky that had long turned dark by now. She knew who it was the minute they started heading closer. Always being able to tell who was where and who they are if she had knowledge of their soul in the past. Silver hair and a short braid hangs down around a soft and freckled face with eyes the shade of ice staring at her. One thing always stood out with this being.

Her smile. It shined like the sun that had just fully set not too long ago. Yet with her, it felt like it never settled. Always there and vibrant. Blinding even to an almost uncontainable amount. But comforting and friendly.

"Wivie~! Are ya gonna sit out here all night? It's getting cold! I brought some extra tea from Osh and Alkie!" The gnome tilted her head as Wivien did so often to express confusion or question. "Wanna come and see what I've been working on?"

She took her time to sit up and keep her focus on Lillemane with a small but genuine smile of her own. "Of course I would. Let me just.." Her mind went back to wanting to cover up. To hide. To conform back to her normal. Instead of listening to the constant words, her hands grabbed her armor and glaives with the plan to just hold them before turning and looking at Lil. "Ready to go when you are. Tea sounds wonderful right now."

The gnomes hands came together for her to clap them quickly in succession till turning around and beginning the trek to the Inn she had been staying at. "Awesome! I knew ya'd like some tea! It's really good this time too! I mean-it is every time but ya understand what I mean. It's just REALLY good this time. It's chai!...."

Warnings: none/ maybe light stalker vibes?

Summary: Attzi gets a package (and I make canon something that keeps happening to her repeatedly in-game.)

@daily-writing-challenge

---

Attzi was on Ripple, her favorite water bug in the whole wide world, running through Silvermoon and trying to find a mailbox. She was pretty sure a city this big and open shouldn’t be this hard to navigate, but finding where the gates were in the walls after having been here three times in ten years was proving difficult. Ripple’s feet clicked along the stones, and she kept an eye peeled for her goal, though she was becoming increasingly convinced that she’d be better off just delivering the letter personally.

She turned a corner, and a large building came into sight. Oh good, it was a bank, which meant there’d be mail. All she needed to do was find it….

“Excuse me,” asked a very tall, red-headed Blood Elf, who had one arm casually draped across a–

“Mailbox!” she yelled, pulling Ripple to a halt.

“...Excuse me?” the Blood Elf asked, in a very different tone this time.

Attzi hopped down from Ripple and started walking for the box. “Sorry. You’re kinda blockin’ what I’m after.” She pointed at the mailbox.

The Blood Elf pondered this for a moment, and then recovered, smiling brightly and shifting slightly to one side. “Well, I’m not one to often lose to a mailbox, but if it got you to stop, I have no complaints, miss…?”

“Attzi,” she said absently, closing the distance between them before stretching up and dropping her letter through the slot of the mailbox.

He said something indistinct. Crap. He was standing on her deaf side. She cocked her head, but only caught the last bit: “--ovely to meet you.”

“Yeah, likewise!” She tilted her head up, trying to remember if she had ever seen this guy before. “Sorry, uh, didja need somethin’?”

His bright grin showed again. “Well, yes, now that you mention it. I’m a tailor, and I was wondering if you might allow me to make you something as practice? I don’t typically work with the smaller races, you see….” He trailed off, green eyes clearly watching her for a reaction.

“Oh man, you’d need to measure me an’ stuff, right? I don’t got that kinda time today.” Attzi took a step back towards Ripple.

Those green eyes were clearly taking her measure. “Pity. Are you quite sure I can’t convince you otherwise? I have cloth that would suit your coloration quite well. It doesn’t sell as well here, as you might imagine.”

“Eh, you know how it is with Goblins an’ business, yeah?” She hopped back onto her bug friend and offered a bright smile, because after years of having manners for work, old habits were hard to quit.

…Was he pouting? She brought a hand to her mouth and coughed to stifle a giggle. “Whew. Ah. Was nice meetin’ ya all the same. May another short woman come through Silvermoon soon, buddy.”

Attzi rode off at that, but she could still feel him watching her until she managed to find the next gate and get closer to the woods outside Silvermoon.

She didn’t take the time to pause and write down the encounter, however, so by the next morning, she’d forgotten all about it. It happened. How could she tell whether or not every tiny encounter she had would be important later?

****

Attzi woke with a groan, from a nightmare of something large and green and dripping acid. She’d had just enough time to register the smell of chemical burning before jolting upright in her bed and looking around.

“...What the–?” She reached for her glasses and her notebook, which were neatly stacked atop one another on the table beside the bed, and let her notes fill her in on the bits her brain had sent to the Void. Solving the mystery of the day before was the typical start to her mornings these days.

As her eyes flicked back and forth across the page, she sighed and shook her head. What a fuckin’ embarassing initiation into the fighting side of the Frostbite Contingent. If they didn’t think she was deadweight after that, it’d be a miracle. So’s there’d need to be some damage control there.

“I need a lotta coffee,” she muttered, swinging off the side of her bed and kicking into her slippers, before grabbing her comfiest robe from where she’d left it on the floor the night before.

While the coffee brewed, she checked her mailbox, and was surprised to discover a sizeable wrapped parcel, sent from Silvermoon. She brought it into the kitchen and made her breakfast before giving in to curiosity and opening it.

Pulling back the parcel paper revealed some black and red cloth, as well as a small card. She picked that up first and read it over as she sipped her coffee.

Attzi, I do so hope I got your sizes right. If not, you may find me at my shop in Silvermoon for a complementary fitting. I also accept compliments and accolades for a job well done, of course.

Respectfully,

D

She stared at the note in confusion for a moment, and then set it aside. “What in the–?”

Attzi pulled out the first article of clothing, which turned out to be a stocking. “...Well, D definitely don’t stand for ‘Dave’, here,” she muttered, setting it aside and digging into the rest of the package. It contained another stocking, a set of strappy underwear, and a bit of cloth that could, potentially, be called a ‘top’.

She had a sip of coffee and moved for her notebook, flipping through the last five pages before giving up with a sigh. No clues or warnings about this had been written down.

…But at the same time, free clothes! She scooped them up and headed to her bedroom to try them on, because that’s where her biggest mirror was. On the one hand, it was a little scary that a blank spot in her memory knew her measurements, but on the other… Hey, they were kinda pretty, in a gaudy way. Not something she’d wear outside of Winter’s Veil, though. The red clashed real bad with her skin and hair. Attzi struck a few poses, laughing despite herself, before peeling off her new clothes and opening her closet to put them away.

The fabric that came to light as the door came open shimmered and shone in the light, largely in colors of teal and golden thread. She ran a thumb along the hanging shirts and dresses, remembering that all of them had been gifts, but not necessarily remembering who had given them to her. Attzi hadn’t had to buy any of her own clothes since she started doing trade deals for the Steamwheedle Cartel. Over the past few years, her wardrobe had become what other people sent her, and honestly, it was pretty convenient.

Usually, though, she knew who was sending her stuff. She settled her newest additions down into various drawers, close to the bottom because the colors really didn’t match her skin. There was a place for all things, sure, even the stuff that clashed. And whoever sent it had clearly tried, so who was she to turn up her nose?

Attzi shut the drawer, closed up her closet, and then returned to looking at the card that had come with the clothes, trying very hard to spark a memory.

Nothing came. The only thing in her memories were her coworkers, and a great creature that had melted everything that it touched. Anything else in her head that could help her had been melted away, as though the one memory she’d kept from last night had done the same damage in her mind as it had threatened to in real life.

[ I want to apologize, I may be a bit slow on this DWC due to having been diagnosed with Pneumonia, but I'm going to do my best to keep up with it despite it. ]

Day 3 - Shine/Shadow - DWC

How in the hell did this happen?!

Megahes hid amongst the crowd, watching out of concern and worry, just like all those around him, but for a very different reason. Before the crowd was a group of security forces and investigators trying to keep the crowd back from trampling a scene of the disaster that had killed numerous individuals, body count still being pulled in, and harmed several others. Questions were already forming between the people in the crowd, conjecture and rumor about what they saw or heard. Half of it, quite reasonable considering the scene itself. The ground incinerated and burnt in a ten yard blast that ran outwards from the center. There was no crater present, this wasn’t from an explosive device or bomb, definitely not. No, this was magical in nature and for the largest part it left the landscape intact. What it made though, was what was worrisome. The scene looked as if it was frozen in time. Tendrils clambering out of the soil to grab hold of objects and people alike. Some of them caught in the act of crushing barrels, wrapping around beams and crates. Others were far worse. Caught in the act of ripping people in half, gore frozen in mid-spray like a terribly timed photo. Some people were crushed, others sent running for cover in an effort to survive. Megahes doubted they even knew what happened to them next. All of it looked as if it were sculpted straight out of the Light Shards of a Naaru. Only, instead of jagged curves and points as was their usual construction, these were smooth as glass, but still bright yellow and the shine they composed was that of a peaceful mindset… it was a shame the peace was encompassing such a horrific nature. The people, it didn’t matter their size or the gear it looked like they wore. They too were frozen and enveloped in the same golden Naaru like crystal as were their innards, those who had the unfortunate end where the freezing scene didn’t happen fast enough. Didn’t I tell you we were bound together? Megahes’ lips pull up in a snarl as he turns from the scene, mumbling under his breath as he intended on putting some distance between him and this place before he was pointed out. “Get out of my head you crazed fuck.” Oh come now. Is that any way to talk to the very God who is helping you get in touch with the real you? One would think you’d appreciate the destruction I just helped you create. That is what you do for a living anyways, isn’t it?

Mega hammered on his temple with the palm of his hand, trying to beat the voice out of his head.

He knew what happened. Saw it happen, he was there. He was the cause of it. He’d been walking down the street getting ready to go to meet some individuals to acquire some standard materials, leathers and the like. Only, he’d never made it. Out of nowhere he felt a surge of energy break free from the deepest recesses of his body and before he knew what was happening. He was being elevated via tendrilled strands to stand above all others as different shadow manifestations became real. Thick tendrils ripped through the people and various objects surrounding him. He had no more control over this as he did over the day turning to night. Only, that wasn’t entirely true. He’d cry out, the voice he heard terrifying in the sense that it wasn’t his. His fear may have been what helped him grab hold of the powers he’d been taught by his Paladin cohort and the priests who aided him. He didn’t need to reach far or deep, he knew these powers and he’d tap into the latent energies of the Lightforged shards that decorated his body. He scrambled to unlock their power, far more than he’d let anyone see him use to this point. A corona of Light exploded out from him, incinerating everything around him, scorching earth and shadow alike, encapsulating innocent people and deadly tendril alike. Nothing was spared as it identified everything around the source as a potential contaminant or vessel for contamination. Nothing was spared… Which brought on the question. “How did I not get seen and how did I get out?” Did you honestly think I’d let such an interesting toy such as yourself get taken from me yet?

Mere hours after returning from the Shadowlands, Valanthriell was already preparing for a social event. Ryland had invited her weeks ago and the fear that she would not return in time was high but as she slipped into her slinky black dress, rigged to become something scandalous later, the mood of the evening began to rise.

The theme alone had Valanthriell's interest and the promise of an unforgettable night was something she could not resist. Arriving to the glitz and glam of the Hedonismia art show, the night already proved to be just the distraction her busy mind needed.

Spending her time at the event catching up with friends, drinking, and buying some art for her soon-to-be home, although she was still a bit distracted by the shadows that haunted her, the information she had gained.

February Writing Challenge 2022 Day 3 - Shine / Shadow

The alleyway outside the unnamed scholar’s hideaway was blocked, thanks to Jaskian’s magic, with walls of ice. The only way out was through, now, and Luminash had little intention of letting the Cartel Xy hit squad out in one piece. They were caught in a trap of their own making.

The moment the ice wall had come up, crackling from the cobblestone pavement and creeping up the walls of the alley, Luminash had picked off two of the would-be assassins, their forms crumpled against the walls in heaps, shattered by the sheer force of warped space bearing down on them. Those who remained warily kept their distance, hands wrapped firmly around their weapons, blades of flickering crimson light.

I can only keep this wall up for so long. Ask what you want to ask, Jaskian thought, but quickly.

The sun was minutes away from rising, leaving a dim blue hue on the surrounding sands as the camp packed up and prepared to set out for the last leg of their journey to base camp and a few days delving into her curiosity.

"So early and it's already sweltering." Jacob complained, agreeing to go on this adventure just to be sure his friend was safe, even though this expedition already had several hired hands for help and protection.

"Maybe wearing your full armor in the desert was poor planning?" Sariah teased, dressed in breathable linen, she could not imagine how uncomfortable he would be in plate. "Maybe the caravan's quartermaster has some leather or thick cloth to ease your suffering?" Although she spoke it like advice, the tonality and body language directed at the quartermaster was a pouty flirt, asking for a huge favor.

A brief moment of silence passed as the Dwarf crossed his arms and fought against her charms, failing miserably. "Ahhh! Fine! I've got ya covered." His gruff voice responded with a shout and a chuckle as he went to work gathering the items for Jacob.

"Thank you, Grizzly!" Sariah cooed, sending a beautiful smile in his direction.

"Anythin' for you Lass!! 'Mere Lad, get changed quick, we're heading out soon."

After a few minutes, the first horn sounded, signaling for everyone to get ready to set out, excitement began to grow for what lay ahead. Two horns blasts sounded and the convoy set off, the rising sun shining behind their backs as they start their journey through the ancient cities and shifting sands.