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

[knight_king]

I will look into it. Fire, ash and smoke do not affect me.

[As if its obvious for the lack of reaction she has from it.]

Can you continue to walk on your own?

[finallyfallen]

Yes. I wasn't expecting that to happen.

[And sudden smoke everywhere brought unfortunate memories to mind.]

[isolophobia]

[ This time, when Pitch looked up at Evan, the glint of golden eyes made him seem anything but normal. Especially paired with that unsettling smirk. ]

Finally figured out what I am then.

[ The latter still disappeared fairly quickly, since Pitch is more fear than frenzy anyway. The surrounding atmosphere of hysteria made him feel a little lightheaded, almost giddy in a way. But as good as the sudden influx of fear felt, Pitch cold only close his eyes and take a slow, deep breath - soot and all - to enjoy it. ]

It does take a bit more than lightening hitting a tree to bother me.

[celena]

[Celena clings to Fuu for support and she looks about wildly]

What was it? What do you think this could be?

[She wipes her face with her hand and stares down at the black on her palm]

This... [She sniffs her palm deeply] It's wood smoke.

(Action)

[blood_and_thunder]

Noire is quiet for a moment, and then a disbelieving laugh escapes her. "Just weather... that's right! Sometimes, it's really just the weather... I'd nearly forgotten..."

Amber

[blood_and_thunder]

Yes. All in all... I'm rather glad.

[alley_kit]

The hug is both reassuring and grounding, settling Kit firmly back into reality and shaking off the last of the night's disturbing dreams. Knowing that there is a plan of some sort and that there is something she can do is also helpful.

"Right," she says. "I'll get the door and start on the windows, OK?"

[dragonblood]

The too-warm temperatures make the rain and dark skies that much more inviting for Riona, more than they normally are. But there's always something about this forest that just has to go wrong at the worst of times, and tonight is evidently going to be one those nights.

The tell-tale sounds of a storm are like a lullaby, but it's a foul scent that wakes her. Then, somewhere in the midst of the thunder and rain, she hears voices and she's upright in half a second. Kit, Orcelito! She exits her room in time to see her two roommates bustling about, trying to settle the house down. The sight of them is reassuring only for a moment until her brain registers just what exactly the smell is. Panic doesn't take long to rise within her, as well as old, terrible memories she's been trying to forget. This can't be happening, fire isn't supposed to be possible in this place! But what could this be if not the scent of smoke?

She coughs when the smoke reaches her, forcing her to jog forward.

"Kit! Orce—" Another cough, and her body shudders. The fire isn't even visible yet and it's already taking its toll on her incompatible body. She leans a hand against a wall to support herself before trying to yell again. She wants to help too, but doesn't know how.

"Where is it?! Where's the fire?"

If those two are handling with closing doors and windows, then she will take care of whatever is causing this mess. Or certainly try her very best.

[princeandscholar]

With all the proficiency of someone trained to handle crisis, Orcelito hastens to help to clear the house. When Kit opens the front door, he’s relieved to taste clean air and see the Life Stream shining golden. He leaves Kit to finish the windows so he can check outside.

He’s halfway to the balcony door when he hears a fragment of his name followed by a cough. “Riona!” He hurries to her, and once close enough he realizes just how much danger they may be in. Assuming she’s suffering from smoke inhalation, he speaks urgently. “Please go inside the Tree! The air is clear there.”

A terrible crack sounds from outside, like wood splintering in a fireplace. Orcelito looks sharply at the door to the balcony. “The fire must be outside.”

[monster_san]

An earthquake, possibly--[Fuu considers drawing her sword to brace herself on it, but that would 1. probably alarm Celena and 2. do absolutely no good if either of them fell, so she'll imitate the strong kendo stances she remembers Hikaru fighting with.] I think it might be from that tree? I didn't see or feel any fire, and that's the only source of ash and soot nearby... unless someone conjured a cloud of it, but I don't think so.

Amber

[monster_san]

Indeed, I'd much rather not be under attack... but I'm still going to look around to make sure that nobody was in the way when it struck.

[kingpika]

"If it makes you feel better, you can imagine it's a storm whipped up by some vile mage!" Gil nods, most decidedly not helping at all. He's a fan of adventures, so he wouldn't mind monsters showing up at all.

[blood_and_thunder]

She gives him a slow glance. "That's... not what I meant. I just mean... I've forgotten not every aspect of my life is hardened by monsters and bad people. The world moves on, no matter what wars rage."

[alley_kit]

The plan is opening the front door and closing the windows, and Kit is already nearly done with that. "Riona!", Kit says. At first relieved to see her other housemate is OK, but then notices the fact that she doesn't look well.

She flinches at the loud crack from outside. "Orcelito's right," she says. "The noise and the smoke are coming from outside."

The last window closed so no more smoke can get in that way, she goes over and tugs lightly on Riona's arm indicating that Riona should follow her out into the tree proper. "C'mon," she says. "We should get out there where the air is clear. Can't do anything if we can't breathe."

[kingpika]

"Don't worry about any monsters or bad people, I'm here to help!" Gil pats his chest. He can be petty and selfish at the best of times, but when push comes to shove he is still a hero and a king, and he'll defend his subjects.

Everyone in this tree is his subject. They just don't know it yet.

[blood_and_thunder]

Noire was tempted to say she could fight too, but he clearly meant well, so she let it slide. Instead, she gave a quaint little nod. "... Thank you."

[dragonblood]

Unlike Kit, she doesn't flinch from the thunder crack, but the smoke is doing more than enough damage. It's frustrating and frightening all at once, but with the three of them there, she feels they can find a way through this. So she listens to them as best she can while covering her mouth, then glancing down at Kit when she tugs at her free arm. She looks to Orcelito briefly, wondering if he's going to come with them.

"... All right," she says from underneath her hand before following the younger girl. "But what's going on?! I heard the storm, but that can't be cause of the smoke. I can—if it's a small fire, I think I can put it out! Are you sure it's outside? The house isn't in danger?"

[knight_king]

It took me for surprise as well.

[Does this mean they can now use fire? She glances at him, he seems unwounded, however.]

You look pale. Do not worry, Ren, I would not let this harm you or anyone else in this Tree.

[finallyfallen]

It surprised me, I though fire was beyond us.

[It had reminded him of things.]

I...

[Hmm what to say here.]

I am not afraid of fire.

[evantuality]

[It was less Pitch's inhumanity than the expression that had crossed his face that unnerved Evan. There were things he was missing here, and if he hadn't been in the midst of his own problem he might have been able to piece them together.

As it was, when something had Evan's back up, sarcasm was a familiar and easy defense.]

And here I thought you looked exceptionally perturbed.

[Pitch was unnerving him badly, but Evan did not himself want to appear suspicious. That in mind, keeping one eye on Pitch, he hunkered back down towards the pit of ash and charcoal he'd been excavating.

Now, though, instead of going for the embers he began to pull chunks of charcoal out of their moorings, put them in the leaf bundle he'd brought along originally for the embers.]

So are you up here to help me gather some new writing materials? [He said, dryly as he could.]

(Action)

[knight_king]

"It is unfortunate, but weather becomes more dangerous when we are of this size," she reminds her. It could be a small storm but each water drop could still drown them.

(Action)

[blood_and_thunder]

"Even so..." She looks at Saber, with a weird little smile on her face. "But after all the enemies and monsters I've had to fight... I'd forgotten nature still moves on, with or without war."

[princeandscholar]

“I’ll find out.” Is his brief reply. He waits just long enough see Kit and Riona make it to the door before he turns to deal with the situation outside.

He can’t see out the windows… but it could still be night. Nor can he hear thunder or rain – only the wind. Cautiously, he cracks open the door to the balcony, bringing his arm up as a shield between himself and the warm air blowing in. It’s so dark outside he can’t even see the railing on the balcony. But there are glints of red light riding on the wind – not fireflies, but embers.

He shuts the door. On his way out, he grabs a petal on a table by feel more than sight and scrubs his face. He hasn’t been this sooty since he climbed the castle fireplaces as a child.

“It's too dark to see what's happening outside.” He falters in a cough. His eyes still sting. He presses the petal to his face again, muffling his voice. “There wasn’t enough light for a large fire… but I don’t think it’s a small one either.” He lowers his hands, mild confusion flickering over his face as he thinks about his words. It’s a fire that’s putting out smoke but not light? There was the lightning fire that happened on their sports day... “It could be related to the tree that caught fire a few weeks ago.”

[kingpika]

"You're welcome!" Gil's sure Noire can take care of herself, but he's also fairly sure he can take care of her better. It's the arrogance of a king, after all.

[isolophobia]

[ Pitch caught the sarcasm thanks very much, but he responded with a bitter nostalgic edge of someone who' been there and seen it. ]

Ah, if only you were a writer.

[ Pitch just crumbles a cool edge of charcoal as he speaks. ]

Spirits and magical beings swarmed around these 'humans', intoxicated by their imaginations. So many Spirits desired to get closer to these fascinating creatures that they started taking on their shape. You might be surprised how many less-than-mundanes there are walking about.

[ A jaded smirk gets turned pointedly on Evan. ]

Then again, maybe you wouldn't be surprised at all.

[ Of course he could come right out and say I know what you are. But what would be the fun (or fear) in that? ]