Hey Lyn, do the other guardsmen still have their oath tattoos or have they been removed?
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"Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think Jeran has his hands full babysitting recently." Ardiente puts in, trying to stick to protocol as much as possible during the tour. However he may have changed since leaving the sun, the military training seems to stick out in this situation.
On a side note before I post with Ardiente. Is Jiminy getting any alerts about Avalon's airspace? ;P
::Speak of the efreeti and they shall appear.:: comes Ardiente's psychic voice from a fair ways away. He can been seen swooping into the hangar at speed before moving to land next to Mithos, taking human shape as he does. "Sorry Boss, busy schedule to keep up with." he says sincerely, not quite managing to supress the smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. he shouts across the hangar to his former guardsmates.
"I don't have any particular plans, no. It's kind of hard to think with the inhibitor on honestly. So if you have something you want us to do, then that's great. Really I just want to spend some time together. At the risk of sounding disgustingly sappy, being with you makes me happy," she said, blushing and looking away. Ardiente grins, already at maximum blush. "Yeah I think I can hear somebody wretching at all the sappiness. Sucks to be them, cause being with you makes me happy too." "Okay I should go. he bends down and kisses her rosy cheek once more before transforming into his bird form and taking to the sky with a burst of fire for extra speed. Raelle (accidently?) catches a little of the splash as Ardiente wings quickly towards Kuros.
"Definitely. If for no other reason than Jiminy has me coming out to the factory for a while for an 'orientation' for my new work study class that technically starts on Monday. But I'm hoping that we can spend some time together outside of training too. It is a weekend after all. I'd like to spend some of it with my boyfriend," she said with a shy smile, still getting used to using that title for Ardiente. "That sounds nice. Anything in particular in mind, or should I come up with something?" he asks, and despite his apparent need to be going, he isn't really hurrying off quite yet.
Ardiente returns the kiss with a chaste one of his own, smiling but still blushing furiously. "Okay I should get going. Mithos already has a big headstart on me with this stuff and it wouldn't do to let him show me up, right?" "See you tomorrow?" he asks, jumping up to his feet with an easy motion.
"I wish I could stick to help but cousin wants us to be ready as soon as possible if--" And then what Raelle said actually registers and his face goes as crimson as his plumage. "Ahh, uhh, you too. Er!" Ardiente stumbles through his words for a second or two more before gaining some measure of composure. "Um, we can just forget about that"
"Hey," she said, brightening up. "I didn't expect to see you this afternoon. Not complaining," she added with a big smile. "I know you've been busy training. And it's probably just as well," she said, taking his hand and leaning her head against his shoulder. "I haven't been very good company this week. But I've missed you anyways." "Yeah I've still got alot to learn so I won't be around much tonight I want to check-in. How are you holding up?" Ardiente tries to suavely slide his hand onto hers but ends up being a bit awkward about it as he misses slightly.
Seen approaching at a brisk trot across the green is the sculpted form of Ardiente wearing his flight suit, obviously going to be headed to Jimmy's factory for training soon. He's wearing an easy-going smile. "Hey you." he says as he easily folds into a sitting position next to Raelle. He kisses her cheek lightly.
After being fully examined by the infirmary and given a clean bill of health and free of magical influences, Ardiente makes his way out of the infirmary, his stomach still churning at little at the memory of the filth that he had reached through to pull the hangar open. He shivers slightly, the cold of the surface seeming to chill a little more than usual. The infirmary hadn't found anything though, so he had written it off simply as nerves. He makes his way to class, leaving the bustle of the nurses behind him.
Ardiente waves off David's offer of help in favour of panting hard and closing his eyes, and doing the same again when questioned by both Kevin and Jeran upon their arrivals. His gut was still twisting and turning on itself and he couldn't shake the feeling of being dirty, like that inky filth he had reached into to open the wall had stuck to him. "I'll... be fine." he manages shakily between breaths.
"Right.. Yeah" he seems to have to take some significant effort to tear his gaze away from the injured girl "right, they're in the mech hanger, I'll take you to them" he says briskly walking in the direction of the trapped student and teacher
Ardiente follows David at a fair clip, not really speaking other than to encourage Dave to hurry and assurances that he will be able to keep up at any speed that would be safe in these hallways. Within a respectable amount of time, the pair are standing in front of where the hangar door used to be. Even here the stone looks... off. Distorted and twisted. What should be cleanly cut stone blocks seemed to have bled into each other in strange patterns. Ardiente's face is likewise twisted into a grimace as he reaches out to touch the stone. "It..." Ardiente begins, trembling slightly. "It feels wrong. Foul." He wasn't gonna tell David that he already felt sick, and he hadn't even started bending the stone yet. Too much stubborn pride. "Okay here we go." Ardiente drops into a bending form, slamming the ground with a foot while simultaneously striking at the twisted stone with an open palm. To the firebird, it feels like he is trying to bending stone covered in a layer of inky filth. While the wall opens sharply, leaving a small passageway into the hangar, Ardiente doubles over, falling to his knees. He vomits unceremoniously, spewing a steaming and stinking mixture of burnt lunch and strange digestive enzymes onto the stone. David can hear him panting for air punctuated by the occasional groan, but at least the way into the Mech bay is open.
"I'm Dave, and... I'm not going to touch her..." It only takes Ardiente a moment to snap out of his funk when David teleports into the room, and was about to place himself directly between David and Raelle when the Professor calmly cut David off. Which is when Ardiente noticed the crestfallen look on his former rival's face. "It's okay, David, I'll come." Ardiente says to the David quietly, then with a look to Tamina. "I don't think I need to ask, but look after her for me, will you? I have to go help, if I can."
"I think it's probably safe to assume the answer to that question is yes," Tamina said, taking pity on an obviously panicked Ardiente. "Yes!" Ardiente answers just a little too loudly for the indoor setting. "Sorry, yes. It's one of her specialties. I think. I'm not really sure how it works."
"I'm not exactly sure. She was working with something complicated and this happened. The symbol on her neck is glowing red, which doesn't seem very good to me. I told you everything I could figure out from a quick assessment. Ardiente might be able to tell you more if he can calm down a bit, but he's understandably worried right now." Ardiente does indeed seem to be quite distressed, though he lays Raelle down on the bed as instructed with the utmost care and attention. "She was working on... some kind of... I think they called it a rift. She went there with magical protection to analyze it and came back like this." Ardiente said, never having felt more stupid in his life before. If only he'd understood better...
"They're a race of.....hang on a sec....." she gets up and walks to the door of the waiting room. "Ardiente? What happened?" Ardiente looks somewhat stricken as he spins in place to see Tamina. There's a bit of rose about his cheeks, but he's not even panting from his run. His face softens ever so slightly when he sees who's speaking. "I don't know what's wrong with her! She might just have overused her energy but she was working with some crazy rift thingy so who knows what that could've done to her!" He's clearly at somewhat of a loss, worry painted across his face and likely his training the only thing enabling him to keep it together.
There is a definite bump on her head, and a little bit of blood trickling down her forehead to match the blood trickling from her nose. The symbol on her neck is still glowing red. It might occur to Ardiente that this looks a lot like damage taken from overchanneling. Which still doesn't account for why she fainted, but then there's no accounting for the effects that staring into a rift in the universe might have. Ardiente tries to force himself not to blush as he conjures forth a blast of flame to engulf the pair, washing away Raelle's physical injury. The burst of flame is gone as quickly as it arrived. A slightly-blushing Ardiente stands, holding Raelle in his arms, and immediately turns for the door. "I'm taking her to the infirmary!" he cries back, though he's already mostly gone, taken off at a dead run, his already considerable speed boosted by his bending abilities.
Ardiente had been keeping his distance up until now (against all his instincts), not wanting to disrupt the delicate procedure. When Raelle begins to collapse though, all restraint is forgotten and he leaps into action.
Even with the stone floor twisting to launch Ardiente forward at terrific speed, he doesn't quite make in time and Raelle crumples to the floor unceremoniously. There's a cursing under Ardiente's breath ("Hells freeze my feathers!") as he lands next to the unconscious form. Delicately, he cradles her, quickly checking to make sure she hadn't hit her head on the hard stone floor.
Ardiente was trading glances between Raelle and the food carts when Repp suddenly vanishes from the lab. While this isn't an out-of-place occurance at Avalon, it does momentarily startle Ardiente, and he half-drops into a defensive earthbending form before realizing there's no threat. "Huh, that was a bit rude." he says offhandedly, straightening out. Status quo ante, as the young firebird stands abashed, a bit awkward at his overreaction.
Ardiente follows Tamrin's thought and glances at Raelle and she goes to work with fierce confidence. There may as well be stars in his eyes as he watches her work, and the conversation laspses for a good fifteen seconds before the young firebird replies. "Yeah... she's really something isn't she?"
Ardiente feels a fierce flash of pride at Raelle's reaction, at her own determination to help. The feeling is jarred shortly as Raelle dragged him the first step or two towards the lab. Once inside the lab, Ardiente looks utterly lost, having been left standing next to Tamrin as Raelle goes to work. The young firebird glances over at Aananda, working studiously away at her station, and back to Tamrin. "So... uh... uncle? Is feeling left out normal?" he asks quietly.
Flames above, how can she make me smile even at a time like this? Ardiente thinks as a grin momentarily forces it's way onto his tense face. He lets her lead him onward towards the lab, but stops them short just before the enter. The corridor they're in now is empty, so it's as private as anywhere, Ardiente figures. "Raelle..." he turns to face her again, looking into her eyes. He wasn't going to skirt around this any longer. "Vai... somebody killed Vai. Apparently she's already agreed to come back, but there's.. uh... complications with whatever is happening to end the universe."
She took his hands in hers to keep them from fidgeting. "Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me," she said softly, trying to make eye contact. "We can handle it together. I seem to recall we make a pretty good team," she added with just a hint of a smile. Ardiente allows the eye contact when she takes his hands. There's a ghost of a smile to match Raelle's at her team comment, Ardiente's heart fluttering slightly despite the tight grip of the mood on said heart. "It's... well. There's some sort of... problem, that Aunt Aananda and Arthur and Melody are working... apparently the universe is going to end if they can't fix it. I kinda thought they were playing a prank at first." "They're... building something to try to fix it, and I thought... well, you are really good at building things, maybe you could help." Ardiente takes a deep breath and looks away for a moment, still ashen-faced. "There's more too, but we should probably go to the lab."
"Hey, what's wrong? Are you sick?" she asks, concerned. Ardiente looks increasingly worried, and a little guilty as Raelle approaches, fiddling with his hands nervously and not making eye contact - in general acting entirely un-Ardiente. "Uh... hey. No, not sick, not really." Ardiente says evasively, trying to sort out in his mind how he's going to simultaneous break to Raelle that her sister is dead, and that the lab needs her help or the universe might end. It's all just a little surreal for Ardiente, and he's obviously having trouble coping with it.
Ironically enough, during this discussion of arrows, Raelle spots a rather somber look Ardiente making his way towards her, following the arrows. He looks pale, as if he was ill.
"Enough, all three of you!" she snapped. "Melody, focus on your work. Ardiente, if she can help then bring Raelle here. Or don't. But stop distracting Melody and Arthur. If it helps give you any perspective on the situation, Vai's spirit has already agreed to return, but we can't bring her back until this breach is sealed because her counterpart's presence in this universe is part of what destabilized it in the first place. It's the same reason why Ephebe can't get within a several mile radius of the breach at present either. Now please, we all need to focus on what we're doing so that we can get the equipment built, preferably such that Melody actually survives the implementation." Ardiente paled somewhat, his response to Arthur dying on his lips as Aunt Aananda cuts straight into the heart of the matter. He gives Melody a wan smile for at least trying to be kind. "Alright, I'll bring her." Ardiente says back, in what barely amounts to a whisper. He didn't fully understand what was going on, but his job had never been to figure out complicated things. He turns swiftly and steps out of the lab, conjuring the arrows to bring him to Raelle. Solemnity keeps his feet on the ground as he walks towards the lunchroom, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to break the news of another death to Raelle... even only a temporary one.
Ardiente follows Aananda's gaze as it trails over to the sheet with the unfamiliar elf standing next to it. The sheet was covering a body. He feels ice in his stomach - twisting and burning and freezing his insides - as he instantly makes the connection. Ardiente blinks at the rapidfire exchange between Melody and Arthur, looking back and forth between the pair before shaking his head. He waves off Arthur's apology, and says quietly. "I... I don't think we should bring Raelle here." There's a pointed glance at the covered body. Raelle had already lost too many people. He couldn't add her sister to that burden.
"Then there's not a lot you can do outside of the occasional fetch and carry as we try to get this built and work the bugs out at the same time. If you know anyone who's good at that stuff and can help Arthur over there check calculations so Melody can focus on what she's gonna have to do, then that would be great," she said in that same distracted businesslike tone as she looked over the part she had pulled out of the tank, frowned, and put it back in, fingers flying across the keys as she programmed in the necessary adjustments. Ardiente's grin slowly fades away as nobody in the room seems to be smiling, and there's a fervent pace to what they're doing. He couldn't sense any deception in the room. Either they were really good actors or... "Wait... you weren't joking?" he asks, sounding somewhat dumbfounded. Clearly, Ardiente hasn't been a part of the Sunwake family long enough. He wracks his brain, trying to think of anyone he had met that might have the skills requested. For a moment he just stands there awkwardly, before at least trying to give a suggestion. "Maybe Raelle can do something to help? Or Vai? They're pretty good at this stuff, right?"
"I don't have a lot of time to explain. There's a rift in space-time between this universe and another one and we have to close it or it's going to rip both universes apart. How good is your grasp of theoretical physics and mathemagics?" Ardiente blinks and looks around, wondering if his Aunt is playing some sort of practical joke on him. Pretty elaborate if it is. Some sort of hazing for the new family member? He decides to play along for now. Trying to hide his grin, he shrugs and says. "Well, I know of them, since you just mentioned them." he offers, failing to hide his sly grin, which is probably lucky since Aananda seems to focusing on something else.
"Even if it's an emergency, what I'm working on right now takes precedence. If you need help, you'll have to find someone else," Aananda's voice came through the speaker on the door panel. She sounded stressed and distracted. "Auntie it's me, Ardiente. I came to offer whatever help I could." he says somewhat impatiently.
Ardiente reads the sign and looks around somewhat confused. Well, if he can help with the emergency then he should offer his assistance. Ardiente turns on his heel and makes for Professor Sunwake's private lab, drawing his hand across the wall to conjure forth the arrows to ensure he was heading in the right direction. With a leap and a flash of fire, Ardiente is in his bird form, taking wing to make it there more quickly through the bustling halls. When he arrives, he reverts to his humanoid form and taps on the door.
Ardiente had hurried out from the Evocation classroom, brimming with both nerves and happiness. He practically skips through the halls heading towards the lunchtime session with Professor Aananda, Fei, and Vai. He probably didn't need the secretive training anymore since his Earthbending was somewhat well known now but he was still looking forward to seeing them.
Well she sure gave eager permission last ni--- DEAR FLAMES DON'T SAY THAT OUT LOUD! Ardiente looks extremely conflicted for just a second then nods. "Yes, sir." he says seriously. "I can't protect her from everything anyway." Ardiente says without quite realizing what he was saying. He blushes and awkwardly tries to correct himself. "Er.. not that she needs protecting. If anything I'm the one who..." He trails off again, looking to the side. He straightens and stands respectfully before saying: "I'm gonna stop digging myself a hole and just go. Thank you, sir."
"Hmm?" Sorchan looked up from updating his lesson plans. "Yes, of course. What's on your mind?" he asked, setting aside the grade book and sitting on the edge of his desk. Ardiente fiddles with his hands still clasped behind his back, looking a little uncomfortable. He glances around to ensure the classroom is empty before speaking. "Erm... sir." he begins somewhat formally, the nervous tone creeping into his voice. "I..." another pause, then the nervous firebird blurts: "I wanted to formally request permission to court your daughter."
Ardiente acknowledges Lucas' telepathic communication and gives Elektra a nervous grin, overhearing her as the group heads out. "Erm... Professor, can I talk to you?" Ardiente asks, feeling a rush of nerves. Despite that, he's standing prim and proper with his hands clasped behind his back.
Ardiente focuses, readying himself...
Ardiente chooses to just lay there for a moment, stunned by the sonic blast. He was pretty sure that Sorchan pulled his punches just there or he'd have a few broken bones from that. He just felt rattled. He could feel the reverberations from the blast in the stone under his body, attuned to it as he was. After a few seconds, he pushed the air out of his lungs in a huff and drew fresh breath, then kipped back up to his feet in one swift motion. ::I think I need to learn more about magic in that case. That's one field where I am very lacking. I couldn't tell those sonic attacks from fire.:: He smirked. ::Which was probably your intention, if I had to guess?::
Ardiente's mind raced as he considered Sorchan's words, already dipping into a firebending form as his instincts took over. Simpler technique? Which simpler te... oh!! One of the simplest techniques a Firebender has... dousing fire! Ardiente moves sinuously into another form and attempts to exert his control over Sorchan's magical fire, to force it to simple douse itself before it exploded.
"Impressive, but how long can you keep that up? Be careful not to overextend yourself in battle," he cautioned, moving into a defensive stance. "Not to mention disrupting your classmates," he added dryly. "Right, cause there's not going to be distractions in a real situation." Ardiente quipped back, grinning as he slipped into a stance. He understood the mild rebuke Sorchan had given him, but he just couldn't help himself. He had to show off a bit. He had to impress Sorchan after all. "I'm not gonna hold back though! I always have to push myself to be better, especially when training!"
I feel like I missed an opportunity where Team HotGuys is concerned.
"Remember, the point of the exercise is to counterattack with the same element, effectively canceling out the attacking spell," Sorchan said, and shot a simple scorching ray at him, the multiple beams all targeting Ardiente. Ardiente grinned, wanting to show off a bit. Whether it was for his guardsman friends or born of a desire to impress Sorchan in his role as Raelle's father... the reasons didn't matter. Maybe it was just his usual flamboyant personality finally finding an outlet after the emotional rollercoaster of the past week. Or maybe it was just that he had always prided himself on pushing as hard as he could. Either way, he stood stock still, focusing and breathing out flame, which shaped itself into barriers to block the incoming beams. He was controlling the flame just by managing his ki flow! As the blasts connected, they flashed brilliantly, exploding in a wide array of stunning and rich colours. :
Knowledge (Bending) DC 25: Based on what you've seen of Ardiente's bending abilities, what he just attempted was extremely risky/reckless. If he hadn't been as focused, the overbending could have seriously hurt him.
Okay that meant that NOW it was his turn to defend. Ardiente shores up his stances, trying to clear his mind of all else. He was trained for this, he could do it. He could even use his earthbending if he needed to.
"You're the one who is supposed to attack for this part of the exercise," Sorchan said dryly. He was a it surprised. Ardiente had never struck him as the type of person who had trouble with being the center of attention. "Er... right." He replied, blushing a little at his blunder (more because he had to impress Sorchan than the eyes of his classmates). He took a deep breath and began to weave energy for an attack. Oh hey Raelle. I blasted your dad with fire today. his brain conjured for him. Oh flames that would be an awkward conversation. He had to do something else. Luckily, he did have something else. He just had to focus.
Too distracted is he to focus properly, Ardiente instead draws on his own Ki reserves to complete the action, his arms whirling around in the proper Form, and then with the crack of thunder, lightning streaks out of his extended finger to strike at Sorchan.
"Yes, sir!" Ardiente snapped professionally, old habits coming to the fore - especially around his fellow ex-guardsmen. "Erm, I mean, Professor." he adds at as a few snickers can be heard from the class. Ardiente moved quickly to the front of the class, opposite Sorchan and stopped. As he fell into a defensive stance, a sudden memory intruded into his brain. "So please understand that my desire to crush every boy who looks at my daughter that way isn't necessarily directed at you personally." Sorchan had said to Ardiente, the night before Ardiente had taken his fate into his own hands and flown to the Sun. The night when David's charm over Raelle had been broken. Ardiente paled, wondering if Sorchan had already found out about him and Raelle. He finished taking his stance, readying himself to counter Sorchan's attack. "I'm ready, Professor." he says, doing everything he can to keep the nervousness from his voice.
Lucas turns to his new.... Friends? Whatever. "So I suppose we should pair up?"
Ardiente had blushed when Sorchan had bustled into the room, his mind suddenly filled with images of Raelle and his planned discussion with Sorchan. Just because it was the honourable thing to do didn't mean it wasn't going to be awkward. And then... pairing up. Hm. Well, he could always take one for the team. "You guys go ahead. I'm sure I can find someone else." Ardiente said, making a vague motion to include his three friends and Lucas. Brooking no arguement, Ardiente immediately turned to the rest of the class searching for someone to pair up with... Naturally though, the entire class was an odd number, which likely meant that someone was going to end up as Sorchan's 'demonstration partner'.
"Don't even remind me Elektra." Ardiente said, shaking his head as if they would help keep her horrible songs from getting stuck in his head. "It hurts more that they're horrible songs." Ardiente says melodramatically, grasping as his heart.
Ardiente just snorts at Lucas' rather self-centered statement. It was understandable of course, and Raelle would probably be angry with him for making such a promise so soon after his last brush with death. Not everything always works out. thought Ardiente grimly. If it always worked out, his parents would be alive. Morrivan's cousin would still be alive. Just because things didn't always work out didn't means that good things didn't happen either though. Raelle, for one. These three escaping for another. Fieri's children. There was plenty to celebrate. Something Elektra said suddenly punctured the veil around Ardiente's thoughts, taking him aback slightly. "Wait, seriously Elektra? They're writing songs about... that?" his feelings were mixed about that. It hadn't been glorious. Innocent firebirds had died because of his actions... and it was being glorified? "And hey! My ass isn't sorry! I have it on good authority that it's a very nice one." he adds, still trying to keep the mood light despite the emotional roller coaster his thoughts were taking.
Ardiente frowned, suddenly somber as Alev displayed his tattoo. He felt distinctly conscious of the fact that his own oath tattoo had vanished only when he had been killed. He nods to Lucas, not wishing to exclude him from the conversation. See, Ardiente knew full well that an attempt at removal of the tattoos could easily trigger the effects of breaking the oaths. The effects were... unpleasant, and could even result in death. He knew that the three of them would know that too. He nodded again, more decisively this time and looking at the three standing before him. "If they come for you before those are safely removed, I swear that I will do anything in my power to protect you guys, or rescue you should it come to that. Even if it costs me my life, that's one oath I will gladly take." he says soberly, holding a hand up as he swears. Ardiente always one for the melodramatic, after all.
"Yup." Ardiente replies with a glance towards Lucas. "They never did like to play fair."
"Sorry, but I'm pretty sure you guys get it." Ardiente says, still on his back. His neck wasn't being stood on anymore though, so he could try something different this time. Again he pounds his fist on the ground, but this time it's the stone under himself that pushes up, sending Ardiente airborne enough to get his feet under him. "I missed you guys. How did you get here? I can't imaging the Master is terribly pleased with you" he says with a smile, now that he's back on even ground.
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