Oops

[thecanopycrew]

It's still early in the morning as the increasing winds roar outside the little fairy homes, rustling the small balconies and gusting slightly through the crack in the fourth floor wall. It's nothing but a bit of bad weather, something the week has been full of.

...that is, until a deafening crack is heard outside the tree, only to thunder into the tree itself with such force that it shakes the whole trunk.

The air is quickly filled with ash and soot, blackening everything outside.

Comments

Action!

[hairsay]

When the winds had begun picking up this week, Jolene had admitted that it might be time to turn in. She'd even gone so far as to try to hang around the interior hotsprings, albeit in her usual clothing, to see what the fuss was about. So far, public bathing seemed like a nuisance that she didn't see the appeal of, though the option to scrub at her stained clothing was appreciated...

But then the trunk shook with a thunderous crack and water spilled up and over the sides of the rock piles and Jo leapt to her feet, various prudish thoughts completely forgotten. She had been soaked by the splash and now she stumbled out into the open through a harried flutter of lanky limbs, soot clinging to every part of her as she came out on a limb that was occluded by the ominous weight of the fallen tree.

The air smelled foul and the wind howled and Jo, mind flashing back to the life she'd been dragged from, froze up in a panic that locked down all limbs and all thought. To anyone else who was nearby, it would be clear that the wind wasn't responsible for that level of yowling; it was the soot-soaked adventurer jarred out of sorts. Her hairsays were quick to leap on her panic: she saw in the fire-struck tree the towering monoliths of her city transformed into half-living monstrosities, and the hairsays, too stupid to distinguish between reality and a memory, were trying to communicate with it.

...She might need a shake or a punch in the shoulder or perhaps to be dragged back inside.

Re: Action!

[celena]

Celena had been soaking her kitten-weak body in the water nearby when the tree had struck. She staggered over to Jo a minute after the tree struck, her blouse and leggings clinging to her wet skin, dragging her sword behind her.

"Jolene! Jolene?! Jolene, move! We have to escape!" But Jo was lost to her panic. Celena swapped her sword to her left hand, twisted, and slapped the other woman across her face, hoping to knock her out of her daze. Had she been at her full strength the blow would have been enough to knock Jo off of her feet, but in Celena's current state it was only enough to rock the other woman.

open;

[2wei]

[ Already in her transformed state, Illya could easily hear the sound of the tree that had been set on fire a while back. This wasn't good for them in the slightest, considering that it was a tree that was larger than life. Even though the weather's bad, it won't stop Illya from making absolutely certain that people were safe.

Which is why she's going to check things out, having already decisively thought that it would be too dangerous to fly. The tree may be large, but she needs to make sure that it doesn't end up crashing into anybody. ]

Ruby! Put everything into physical strength. We're going to need it to push the tree away. [ And Ruby seems to comply easily. Alright, let's do this. ]

open;

[kingpika]

Onee-san, you might be strong, but you're not that strong.

[ Gil's showed up, and is just... flitting around, watching, waiting, trying to figure out what exactly they're supposed to do about this dang thing lying against their tree.

Probably nothing, the home tree was perfectly sturdy. ]

[knight_king]

[ She had been looking for Shirou without yielding results. Since Rin and Archer left, Saber became more withdraw in her quest to search for them. Although Illyasviel assured her she returned home when she briefly left, she cannot be sure and now Shirou… had been a lower hit than losing them. When the wind began to howl so strongly, she had not been close to her Master, she had been exploring the upper levels of the tree, until the barrier that kept her from reaching the next floor.

She could not sense another Servant, then it means Archer was really--

Even in her distraction, her Instinct had warned her of the peril and managed to be ready when the lighting struck. Her first thought has been her new Master. Smelling the smoke, she flew back to track her by their connection. She found her when she had already transformed and, to her great relief, she looked safe. ]

Illyasviel!

(amber)

[donotmail]

The face in the amber is that of a cat who's not been having a great time of things lately. Arj has already been shaken up by the bad raspberries in storage, and the weather is bad enough for him to retreat under the fur blankets in his bed. That's where he is now, his image darkened, but his eyes wide.

"Er... did anyone else feel that?"

Not that he's going to go and look. The sensible thing to do is hide, and he's doing a good job of it so far.

(amber)

[celena]

Celena had been in the baths when the tree had struck and now she's covered in soot stuck to the wet of her skin. She's panicking.

"Something struck the tree! I don't know if it's an attack or an accident!"

amber;

[2wei]

One of the other trees is going to collapse. Don't worry, though, I'm going to deal with it.

[ And possibly some others if she can grab it. ]

[blood_and_thunder]

(Amber)

Eek! W-what was that?!

[A bit of fumbling, as she grabs her talisman...]

WHO DARES ATTACK OUR SACRED FOREST? SHOW YOURSELVES AND SUFFER UNDER THE WRATH OF MY VENGEANCE!

(Action)

Noire has flown off to investigate what's going on, but that's not entirely the best option. Smoke catches her, and she hits the ground, though thankfully she wasn't too high up to begin with. She coughs hard, struggling to clear her throat.

action

[kingpika]

Gil's flown over to Noire, a paper fan in his hand and is just sort of... gently fanning the smoke away. It's not nearly enough to clear the ash, but at least it should keep more from getting to Noire.

He doesn't seem too concerned with this whole affair. In fact, he's pretty entertained.

action;

[2wei]

[ Now here's a face she hasn't seen in quite some time. She's using her hand so she wouldn't breath it in while occasionally firing some some sword like beams to get the smoke out out of the air. ]

Hello..! Is anybody else here?!

(Action)

[knight_king]

Smoke does not affect Servants in the same manner it does to people, partly because they are Spirits in flesh. Saber saw her fall due to the smoke, but she was too far away to be caught, even if she sped up her wings. The strong wind makes it trouble to navigate. She lands as fast as she can when she does find her, crouching beside Noire to give her a helping hand.

"Can you breathe?" she asks, reaching out to pull her up and to help her to move somewhere away from the ash and smoke range.

Amber

[monster_san]

[When the tree falls, Fuu is glad that she had decided to get up early and avoid picking things in the heat, but horrified for her friends still in the tree. When she hears the yelling from her amber slice, then, it's a relief.]

Noire! [TOO URGENT FOR COURTESIES] Are you okay?!

Action

[celena]

[Celena's no longer suffering from food poisoning, but the bout has left her weak as a kitten. She's sitting in the hot springs, recovering, when the burning tree falls and hits their own.

The bang sounds like a floating fortress crashing to the ground. The smoke stinks like a burning battlefield. She screams as she leaps out of the water and struggles into her clothing]

Who's attacking?!

[She grabs her sword, her arm shaking with the effort to lift it]

[monster_san]

[Fuu entered the tree mainly because she found a way despite all the soot, which was remarkable enough that she seized the opportunity. At least it's a little easier to see in here than outside.

She hears the slosh and the yell and hurries towards it, hand raised in case she needs to cast a healing spell.]

Lady Celena! Are you okay?!

[finallyfallen]

[This isn't what he was expecting for the day. Not at all.

It's the smell that hits him first, and it's one he's not likely ever going to forget.

When the area fills with ash and soot it's a lot harder not to see smoke. So instead of investigating the tree, he's going to get to where the air is clearer....

Normally this doesn't bother him a ton(outwardly). He has dealt with fire since...]

[2wei]

Hey, are you alright?

[ Illya herself is covering her mouth with one arm to not get the ash and soot in her mouth, the other hand is holding onto Ruby. She's trying to make sure that everybody is safe and away from harm first and foremost. ]

[knight_king]

[A silver gauntleted hand seizes him from behind his shoulder, it does not seem to wish to stop him, rather, with a superhuman strength appears to be helping him to push onward where he could breathe.]

Do not turn around. [Saber says unflinchingly.] You will breathe in soot and ash if you do.

[This would be easier if she just carried him, but Ren has a sense of pride and dignity she doesn't wish to harm.]

Action

[evantuality]

((This is mostly to document what Evan gets up to with the charred tree, hence being a bit of an essay! If anyone wants to respond, though, feel free!))

After a day of helping out a sick friend, Evan had retired late, and therefore it was the the resounding crack of the mighty collision that roused him.

He scrambled out of bed and launched to standing in a heartbeat. But there was no follow-up crash and Evan had no idea what the first had been, so the young man struggled and mostly succeeded at calming himself. When he went to the balcony to get a look outside, however, the swirling ash began to invade the moment he opened the door: coughing and feeling an excited kind of panic rise, he slammed it shut again.

Had something caught fire?! He couldn't feel it, but then, if his meagre fire senses had been nerfed along with his ability to light up, that didn't tell him much. Of course, it could spell doom for the tree that housed them if somehow, something had gotten through its anti-fire protections, but...

...but the young elemental missed his element.

Evan rallied quickly. He dressed, got his pack, wetted down the front of his shirt so it could be pulled up as a filter, bundled up in his little-used canvas jacket, and in very little time had left the home tree to investigate.

The wind cut clear through his clothes with chill and plastered him with ash in moments, but where the finicky young man might otherwise have complained, he was instead stunned by the sight of a huge, blackened trunk leaning precariously, reaching up into the ash-clouded sky. He stood for a moment and marveled: the lightning-struck tree outside the barrier? It had been a couple of weeks, hadn't it? That was too long for embers to survive... wasn't it?

Still, with an ember of excitement hot in his own chest, he put his head down and struck out for the base of the fallen behemoth.

At normal scale, climbing a ragged landscape of charred wood would have been a slick, treacherous feat and a half. Even at a few inches tall it wasn't easy, but Evan could wedge his fingers in cracks between segments of charcoal, could jam his feet into crumbling pockets of carbonized wood. He wasn't sure why he had the urge to climb, except that he wanted to get further up where the char was worst.

The welcome heat seeped into his hands as he climbed, growing till he felt the familiar clamour of instinct that told him it'd've been too hot for human hands. He had to pause and check himself then, but no: the skin of his palms was warm and pink and tingling, but no blisters, no angry red burn welts. It was a relief that he still had that, at least.

Finally, where the angle of the tree took a shift for the steeper, he had to stop. Here, it was a ruined mess of former wood where a branch met the main trunk.

He began to feel against the trunk, seeking out where the heat was greatest. Finding a wide patch of blistering heat, he started pulling away great hunks of charcoal and shoving them aside where they tinkled to the ground. A determined kind of hope drove him, and he didn't notice as soot and charcoal dust were coating him head to foot. It was getting hotter as he went, and when Evan spotted the first little shimmer of orange light he sucked in an excited breath.

Clearing the space, he revealed small patch of embers. Grinning broadly, he leaned over them, pressing his hands towards that familiar warmth... and then turned, rooting around his pack.

He'd gathered a small nest of fresh leaf fragments for exactly this purpose, and laid them out carefully on the trunk, but when he went to reach in and very carefully put his hands around the first of the available embers with intention to lift it from its mooring, it immediately blinked out into ash. The hope he'd been feeling clenched up in his chest.

His second, third and fourth tries yielded little more than additional messy patches of ash, until Evan was sitting back and cursing, staring at the much-diminished patch of embers, now slowly shimmering lower. He rubbed his face with his filthy hands and groaned, self-doubt and anxiety gnawing at his bones.

Was he somehow cursed the same way the tree was, now? Was he going to be stuck like this? In a very specific and visceral kind of misery, the young man slumped back against the birch's charred branch, took his lighter out of his pocket to fiddle with, and tried to think his way around the problem.

Action

[isolophobia]

[ With all the surprise, the confusion, and downright panic surrounding something as simple as a bit of inclement weather, Pitch was bound to take notice. But instead of being his is as grey and mostly paranoid as Evan. And since fear never announces itself, only steals in on quiet cat's paws, it's just as quiet about being across the failed ember from Evan. ]

I don't think you can think your way out of this one.

Action

[monster_san]

Fuu instinctively shouted when the stricken tree crashed down and regretted it at once when her mouth filled with ash. She quickly clamped her hand over her nose and mouth as it pattered against her glasses, which at least kept some of it out of her eyes.

This was what she got for cabin fever! She felt around for the trunk and jerked her hand back as she felt the shudder, her instincts screaming earthquake on top of this disaster. She couldn't see a thing... raising her hand, she sputtered "Binding Wind!" through the soot. It would not actually do much to bind particulate matter, but she just wanted the breezes to clear enough of a circle around her to see where she was going. She had been lucky, but others might not be so. Pulling her collar up over her face, she hurried into the soot to look for them.

action;

[2wei]

Being unable to use wind magic herself was troublesome, but Illya herself had decisively come up with a countermeasure to break wind regardless by using a thin, and fast beam that worked to disperse the air, even as she covered her mouth up with her arm.

"Hey!" the smaller girl waved with enthusiasm, but with a serious inclination to her voice.

[isolophobia]

[ He had taken to coming out at night. It had always been his time, but now it was different. People could see him when, for once, he didn't want to be seen. He'd expected to be chased out from the little dark cubby by some well-meant demand or another, but none came.

At night, whenever the Life Stream glowed with the darker lights of blue and purple, he came out. Sometimes he visited other floors. Before he had ridden shadows, inspected dreams, and been found under all sorts of beds. Now he seemed different. More paranoid as he paced around and around the Life Stream, wings beating fitfully.

So when that deafening crack came, Pitch was so deep in thought that he fell face-first into the floor. With a blink he got to hands and knees. Something...something had happened to cause so much fear that it was swiftly tipping into mass hysteria.

Dissipating into darkness. Then a shadow near the Life Stream then nothing, Pitch was pulled there by the scent of panic almost against his will. But those threads of fear also feel so good to pull on. So it's no surprise to see a man all in black, with grey skin moving in the charred ruin. It was no small wonder that the tree didn't like fire if this was the result, but Pitch still fanned the flames of fear wherever he could, and each time felt stronger.

Whatever Kozmots stood for-no. Can't think about that, it's too hard. This is what he is, after all; The Boogeyman. ]

[Action/Amber]

[circleprodigy]

[As someone always struggling to be well-rested, Ivaera is sleeping uncharacteristically soundly when disaster strikes. The wind causes her to stir not at all, but the deafening crack? That unholy noises causes her to cry out, tumbling out of bed as Garahel instantly gets to his feet. As she manages to do the same, the shaking of the trunk prompts her to steady herself against the wall, fumbling for her amber as the mabari barks loudly in the background. It's next to her staff, which she also grabs promptly.]

Please respond! What just happened? Is anyone injured? We can find you momentarily!

[Hopefully after a moment to don her armor, which contrary to any rumor she does not actually sleep in.]

Action!

[alley_kit]

Kit slept fitfully, as she usually did on stormy nights. They reminded her too much of what had happened to her papa. Though she was tucked safe in bed inside, outside the winds howled just like they had that fateful day when everything in her life- her whole family's lives- had been changed forever by a cruel twist of fate.

It was getting near time to wake up, but sleep was reluctant to let her go, holding her in a shadowy dreams that were more sad than frightening. Until, that is, a deafening crack of... thunder?... shook the tree to it roots, shocking Kit awake abruptly.

"Papa!", she tried to call out before recalling where and when she was, only to cough on the smoke and soot in the air.

Fumbling, she scrambled out of bed and reached underneath it for one of her feathers. She might need it to help clear the air. "Orcelito?!", she calls as she scrambles out into the house proper. "Riona?!"

[princeandscholar]

What a night to leave the windows open…

It had made sense, really. Riona didn’t like the heat of summer, and Orcelito wasn’t much fond of it either. So some of the crystal and amber panes had been propped open to take advantage of the cool night air. Having lived his entire life on a mountain, the prince wasn’t in the least disturbed by the howling wind and driving rain. He was curled up in bed, in that pleasant space between waking and still asleep.

Then there came a crack that was not thunder.

The sound is unfamiliar to him at first. He raises his head, blinking off sleep and pushing back the silk sheets. What was that? And he could’ve sworn he heard Kit’s voice for a moment…

The following tremor has him wide awake and sliding out of bed as a cloud of ash rises. He staggers, confused and frightened by the change in atmosphere. He needs to look outside! He darts out into the hall and pauses to get his bearings. He’s squinting in the darkness, but at least he’s wearing white and stands out. Movement in the direction of Kit’s bedroom and her voice draws his attention instantly. “Kit!” He steps forward, his voice dropping from alarm to shaky reassurance. “I’m right here. What happened?”