Embers in the sand [EVENT]

Akemi wasn't bothered by extreme temperatures, but that didn't mean she didn't find some temperatures more pleasant than others. For instance, the pleasant, constant temperature of the library was a lot more to her tastes than waves of warmth that were washing over the land outside. Because books and scrolls didn't react well to a constantly changing atmosphere the library had some enchantments laid upon it that would ensure that the temperatures and air humidity stayed roughly the same regardless of what happened to the weather. For Akemi this also meant that she could continue her research as usual even as other people were forced to take drastic measures to avoid overheating.

However, that changed quickly as she noticed an increase in the temperature around her. She frowned, briefly glancing up from the book she was reading. Had something messed up the enchantments? No, those were still functioning. In which case... the enchantments regulated the atmosphere to prevent outside forces messing things up, but if someone who produced a lot of heat entered the library... Akemi's eyes went back to her book as she memorized which page she was on. She doubted she'd get back to reading any time soon.

Her suspicions were confirmed as Nymara came into sight. The black-haired assassin didn't immediately look away from her book, making sure she'd remember where she was even the next day before her golden eyes sought out her apprentice. "That is the purpose of a library. To collect knowledge in the form of books and scrolls." She inspected Nymara's outfit, raising an eyebrow as her eyes went up and down the redhead's body. The beach attire was unusual, but it didn't take long before Nymara explained what her purpose here was. "You want to go to the beach?" Akemi sounded... a tad surprised by the invitation.

She remained silent for a while after, listening to Nymara's excuse for why it would be a good idea to go. Eventually she closed her book. "If you want to tell a lie, you need to make it more convincing." She sighed and put the book away. "That said, I might as well take a break." Motioning for Nymara to follow she stepped into a nearby shadow, which turned darker until Akemi's form disappeared. Should the fire slayer follow she'd find herself standing in front of Akemi's room, with the assassin already opening the door. "Give me a moment to change and we can go."

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A short change and trip to Hargeon later, and the two of them were stepping onto the beach of Hargeon. It was already quite busy, with many people having gathered to enjoy the many festivities set up either by the town or by independent entrepreneurs. If possible the weather had become even more sunny than before, although that might also be Nymara's presence driving up the heat even further. In fact, it was enough that even if people didn't know exactly where it was coming from they were subconsciously keeping some distance from the fire slayer.

"More than your water resilience you should practice keeping your magic from leaking out." Akemi had put on an outfit which was, all things considered, remarkably similar to Nymara's: the main difference was that she had a jacket instead of Nymara's long white coat, a slightly different design to her bikini, and an overall darker colour scheme which contrasted with the assassin's pale skin. With the two of them dressed in a manner so alike it would probably look like they'd coordinated on purpose, even though Akemi was pretty sure she'd bought her own swimsuit before she'd even met Nymara. Regardless, it wasn't entirely false that the two of them had come here together, so it wasn't anything more than a funny coincidence.

"That said, what did you have in mind when you were talking about fun? I can see quite a few events set up, but fun doesn't say a lot which one you were thinking of." Akemi shielded her eyes with one hand against the radiant sun as she scouted the beach with her eyes. There was beach volleyball, surfing contests, an eating competition... It looked like Hargeon was pulling all the stops to ensure that any residents and tourists would enjoy themselves today.

Current Appearance:

WC: 712
PWC: 712
TWC: 1,380/4,000

@Nymara

Rolling for surf contest!

The member 'Nymara' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Advance roll.

The member 'Akeya' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

"I'd certainly hope so." Akemi commented when Nymara acknowledged the point that maybe she should put some more effort into containing her temperature. However, before that line of conversation had any opportunity to develop further Nymara had seen something that interested her: the large waves forming off of the coast, with quite a lot of people trying to ride them and quite a lot of them failing as well. Akemi watched the surfers go at it before the redhead unexpectedly grabbed her hand. The assassin blinked before she was pulled along, for a moment considering halting Nymara before sighing and letting herself get guided by her more enthusiastic apprentice. [color=#850505]"Sure, sure, just calm down a little."[/post] Nymara's heat would only increase if she got too excited, after all.

After Nymara got the two of them signed up the disguised dragoness snapped her fingers, her jacket being consumed by her own shadow as she had no need of it during the contest. Walking over towards where the organizers had set out a line of surfboards for those who didn't bring one with them she grabbed one of a dark blue colour with a red stripe running diagonally across it. Attaching the cord to her ankle she quickly followed Nymara into the water, making her way towards where the waves should be forming in but a minute.

Standing on top of her surfboard Akemi looked around with folded arms. Some of the other people out here looked like they knew what they were doing, but others were just as new to this as she herself was. The only reason she was standing on the plank as if it was natural was because she had plenty of training and skill in keeping her balance in precarious circumstances, so even if the surfboard specifically was foreign to her she knew how to not fall off. All in all, while she might not win against the professionals at least she should perform adequately.

As for Nymara... well, from what Akemi could see the fiery redhead also was taking rather naturally to the sport. Granted, it was somewhat unfair to compare either of them to the average person, given that their nature as users of dragon magic granted them supernatural physical ability.

The first wave came for the fire dragon slayer, with Akemi watching how her apprentice fared. Feeling the water move beneath her she prepared for her own wave, sliding her feet over the plank into a better position to remain balanced, only to blink as she foresaw something rather... annoying.

Instead of the relatively big but manageable wave that Nymara got, Akemi and several of the surfers in her vicinity were suddenly hit with a surge of water which shot upwards as if it was trying to pierce the heavens. While Akemi didn't immediately lose her balance her ability to remain upright was rendered moot when the wave actually threw her and her surfboard into the air. Down below the wave was breaking apart, but Akemi doubted she'd be able to get back into the competition even if she managed to nail her landing.

Not feeling like wasting her time she just let herself fall back into the water, although she did change her fall into a dive, her shadow latching onto the surfboard leashed to her ankle so it would smoothly enter the water with her. Once underwater Akemi remained submerged for a good couple of seconds, arms folded and one eyebrow twitching. Before that wave had risen up she'd felt someone channel their magic into the water. She was pretty sure that messing with other competitors was against the rules, and even if it wasn't she'd actually been trying to enjoy the opportunity so she didn't appreciate the interruption. Given that she had no prior experience with surfing it was unlikely that she was the primary target: after all, she was bringing her observable aura down to something similar to Nymara's level, an adequate magic user but not someone to be particularly frightened of. Most likely she'd been close to a known expert surfer.

Tracing the magic back to the caster she reached out with one hand. The shadows cast by the sunlight refracting on the surface of the water condensed into a claw, which grabbed the caster's surfboard and pulled it under. With that over and done with Akemi swum back to the coast, creating some more underwater shadow claws to pull along anyone who'd received a nasty fall from the enchanted water surge. Once on the coast she planted her surfboard back and checked whether all the other victims had safely returned to dry land before folding her arms and watching Nymara finish the competition, her expression decidedly annoyed.

Current Appearance:

WC: 789
PWC: 1,501
TWC: 2,644/4,000

@Nymara

The member 'Nymara' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Volleyball Performance Roll.

The member 'Akeya' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Unlike Akemi herself, Nymara seemed to encounter no troubles during the competition. In fact, she went so far as to make it look easy, even using her fire magic to boost her performance and earn the awe and attention of all the spectators. The fact that her fire caused some of the other surfers to also be knocked out as they tried to avoid being hit by the steam formed of the interplay of fire and water seemed to largely be forgotten in the face of the redhead's display. And fair was fair, it was quite the sight: if Akemi wasn't busy being annoyed at the water mage who had disrupted her own attempts at being part of the competition she might also have voiced her approval when Nymara returned to the shore and was declared the winner. Instead she just sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yes, it seems like one of the surfers close to me is well known, and another participant decided to use magic to ensure he'd be knocked out of the running. Me and several others got caught up in it." She glanced over towards where the cheater in question arrived at the beach, as soaked as Akemi was and then some. "At least I managed to make sure he didn't get anything out of it, but it still meant I got little out of this competition." Even if she was mostly here because Nymara had asked her to come along she still didn't appreciate being sabotaged like that.

Fortunately, Nymara already had an idea of what they could do next. Something for Akemi to focus on instead of continuing to be annoyed at the surfing competition. "Volleyball?" Beach volleyball, to be exact. A perfect opportunity for people to show off their sun-tanned bodies while trying to get a ball over a net repeatedly. The assassin tilted her head, then shrugged. "Sure, why not." At least if anybody tried to ruin the game with magic this time she'd have the chance to disrupt the attempt before it actually ruined the game.

Shuffling into the court once the previous team had left Akemi beckoned for Nymara to come in as well, squaring off against another team of two. The opposition was a man and a woman, both looking like they'd been on the beach all day already. They also looked pretty fit and confident, so Akemi wondered if they were experienced players or just lived an active life in general.

Once the match started it soon became apparent that regardless of where they got their confidence from, it was warranted. Akemi might have high physical prowess, but the opposing team was no slouch either and apparently had quite a bit more experience playing volleyball. With two dragon slayers on their side Akemi and Nymara weren't going to lose easily, but they'd have to put their back into this if they wanted to ensure their victory. "This is more about skill than speed. Don't get careless!" The raven-haired woman said to her red-haired companion during a brief break.

Still, Akemi wasn't planning on losing. Even if the other team had more experience, her speed meant that she could always be there to block the ball. The bigger problem was scoring a point themselves, as the other team had a solid defence as well. "Heads up!" Bouncing the ball towards Nymara Akemi hoped that her apprentice would be able to score a point with it. They didn't have a lot of time left, and so far it looked like they were heading for a draw.

Current Appearance:

WC: 599
PWC: 2,100
TWC: 3,844/4,000

@Nymara

The member 'Nymara' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Fishing Roll.

The member 'Akeya' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

For Akemi speed wasn't an issue, but the opposition kept catching balls she figured would have passed their defences and then launched attacks which were trickier than they appeared. It was a good example of the virtues of skill and experience, even if neither she nor Nymara was giving any ground just yet. On the plus side, this was also a good workout in its own way, and she imagined that for onlookers it was quite an exciting match. Not only were the two teams evenly matched, but all participants were quite good-looking as well. Akemi and Nymara went without saying, a passionate redhead and her cool raven-haired partner, but their adversaries consisted of a toned male and female human, each with a nice tan and healthy figures.

After all, part of going to the beach was to show off your own body and admire the figures of others.

The assassin frowned as she felt the air quickly heat up. Nymara was getting so into the match that she was forgetting to regulate her magic. Akemi would have said something, but before she could the fire slayer had already launched the ball with such force that it made a crater when it slammed into the ground on the other side of the net, a geyser of sand thrown up. Akemi formed her own shadow into a shield, not wanting to end up with a mouth full of sand. Once everything had settled her shadow returned back to where it belonged, and Akemi turned towards Nymara with folded arms.

"...It's not explicitly against the rules, but I did tell you to try and keep your magic under control." She rolled her eyes. "Regardless, I guess that brought an end to the match. Let's leave so they can repair the field and let others play." She began to walk towards the water, only to be halted by Nymara talking to her about fishing up sea monsters.

"If there were actual sea monsters they wouldn't allow so many civilians at the beach." Her golden eyes followed Nymara's words towards where people appeared to be busy fishing. A rather strange activity for a beach party: such a magnitude of people playing in the water would surely scare away all but the most fearless of fish. "But there's no harm in trying. Just try not to evaporate the ocean."

Reaching the edge of the water she looked back towards Nymara. "If we want to catch the big ones we'll have to move further away from the crowd, and further onto the water. I want you to stay close to me." With that she walked onto the water, apparently ignoring the fact that she shouldn't be able to stand on top of it. Just underneath the surface Akemi was collecting the shadows caused by the sunlight refracting on the waves and forming them into a plateau that she and Nymara could stand on.

Walking all the way out until they were a fair distance removed from everybody else Akemi concentrated. "I'll look forward to seeing what you can fish up." With that she reached out with one hand. By using her enhanced senses she could get a good idea of where the fish were, and she was locating the biggest one. Once she was certain that she'd located the biggest one in their vicinity she clenched her fist and made a sharp, upwards movement. From the water arose a black claw, a large striped bass held in its talons. Pulling the claw in Akemi held the striped bass up, watching it struggle in futility. "Any luck on your end so far?"

Current Appearance:

WC: 605
PWC: 2,705
TWC: 5,068/4,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

The member 'Nymara' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

For a moment Akemi thought that her apprentice would stay on the platform with her and fish from there. Even if they were out on the water without distractions the fire slayer would still be able to use her skills to fish without having to enter the ocean. If necessary the raven-haired assassin could even go and retrieve a rod for her companion. It certainly would be interesting to see how the fiery redhead would handle an activity which required patiently waiting for a fish to bite.

Instead Nymara almost immediately jumped into the water once it was her turn to try and catch something. Akemi opened her mouth to comment, but before she could get anything out the other woman was already submerged. At least it looked like she knew how to swim and dive, Akemi sitting down on the platform with her own catch flopping about in the air, held in place by her shadow claw. She wondered how long it would take Nymara to catch a big fish if she was going all out with her magic usage.

She could feel the water quickly heating up underneath her long before the geyser erupted, the dark claw user watching with a somewhat blank expression as the sea first boiled, then exploded with an accompaniment of Nymara's voice. A particularly large fish, equal to Akemi's own catch, landed on the shadow plateau which she had constructed. Unlike her own catch, which was alive if, in dire straits, this one was completely and undoubtedly dead. In fact, Akemi was pretty sure the best word to describe it would be 'cooked'. Which was impressive, given that Nymara had achieved this within relatively little time.

"...I think we'll have to check whether this competition is catch and release only." She commented a bit dryly as Nymara seemed to be expecting some sort of praise. After all, if the fish were meant to be returned to the water after being caught the fire user's approach had made that rather difficult. "But you did catch a big one, so good job on that." She gave a little smirk as she said that before standing up. "Let's return to the beach and see what the judges have to say."

"Hmmm... Well, I've been going along with your ideas from the start, so we might as well participate in the limbo competition as well." Akemi shrugged. "That said, if I see you using magic of any sort while going under that bar we're immediately returning to the guild for another lesson in controlling your magic." Looking at Nymara she frowned. "Using dragon magic means that it's a part of you, more so than most other types of magic used by humans, but you're just letting it flare up at every opportunity. If you can pass the limbo contest without using magic we can stay a bit longer to enjoy the weather." She imagined that Nymara would want to stick around until the evening, since the weather was really nice.

Reaching the coast luckily it turned out that killing the fish didn't disqualify them, so once again they managed to get away with it. Which meant that Nymara was now three for three on winning every competition she'd been part of. If she kept going like that other people on the beach might not want to participate in any further events.

"Since you have to finish that fish I'll go first." Akemi had thrown her own fish back into the ocean, but Nymara would have to eat what she'd grilled. Waiting for her turn to come around Akemi stretched a little bit, looking decidedly unbothered by the challenge ahead. If there was anything which should come easily to her, it should be flexibility and balance. Which was the core of limbo, so she highly doubted anyone could beat her if they weren't using magic to float above the ground or something.

Once it was her turn Akemi stepped forward, placing the bar as low as the setup would allow. Since this was an official event they had two poles to rest the bar on. With onlookers clapping and egging her on, some of them expecting her to fail and others wanting to watch her succeed, Akemi took a breath before dropping herself so low that if she went any lower her head would be brushing against the sand. The posture might be a bit obscene, and more than one onlooker seemed to suddenly have different priorities, but the raven-haired woman didn't care as she skillfully made her way underneath the bar.

There was a moment of uncertainty as she realized that the bar was so low that her breasts might actually get in the way. Adjusting her balance and curving her back allowed her to just pass it, her hair dragging along the ground behind her. Only when she'd no longer have to worry about her hair touching the bar or something did she straighten up, hand going through her hair to make sure no sand was caught in it as she ignored the cheers and walked back towards her apprentice. "Your turn. I'll be watching you closely, so don't mess up."

Current Appearance:

WC: 865
PWC: 3,570
TWC: 6,545/4,000 (Completed)

@Nymara

Akemi didn't have much doubt that Nymara would be able to clear this challenge even without magic: even if the fire slayer was more firepower-oriented than the assassin she was still a physical powerhouse, which included the agility, dexterity, and endurance needed to win at a simple game such as limbo. Giving a simple nod in answer to Nymara's confidence she folded her arms as she watched the redhead get ready for her turn.

There were a couple of whistles when Nymara dropped her coat and shook her hair loose, but most people were simply cheering her on and clapping their hands. After Akemi had cleared the lowest bar they were curious how this beauty would fare, especially because she seemed to have some connection to the raven-haired one. As they cheered her on they saw her pass the lowest bar much the same way that Akemi had, right up until the last part where her necklace tripped her up.

Akemi had been watching with interest, paying attention to the way Nymara moved when speed wasn't a high priority, when the necklace got caught on the bar and her apprentice ended up flat on her back. The dark claw mage blinked, somewhat surprised that the necklace managed to get hooked in such a manner that it could actually drag the bar down with it before slipping loose. Nymara, for her part, didn't appear to have been seriously injured, although Akemi could imagine that she wasn't happy with this outcome.

Sure enough, even as Akemi walked forward she saw Nymara try to rip off her necklace in frustration. The more curious part was that the cord apparently was resistant enough to not snap despite the redhead clearly putting quite some force behind her tugging. "Given what happened at the surfing competition I don't think we had a perfect record anyway." Akemi calmly commented as Nymara seemed rather downfallen at the idea of their winning streak having come to an end.

"More importantly, you didn't use your magic even when you got angry. The element of fire has a strong association with heightened emotions, especially anger and frustration, so that's a good sign. And it also means I don't have to carry out my threat." She gave Nymara a light smile as she motioned for the fire slayer to follow her while she walked away from the limbo competition. "It seems we've already taken part in most of the activities set up by the officials, but if there's anything else you want to do while we're here you've won yourself the time for it."

"Before that, though, I do have a question. Hold still." Motioning for Nymara to stand in place Akemi turned around and leaned closer. Carefully taking hold of the necklace that had just now interfered with Nymara's attempt at the limbo competition she studied it carefully, in particular the cord which managed to resist Nymara's strength. "You seemed to be pulling pretty hard at this just now, but it didn't break. Did Vulcanis give it to you?"

Current Appearance:

@Nymara

Akemi frowned as she studied the amulet further while Nymara explained the origins. If she'd already had it before Vulcanis found her, and there was an enchantment to prevent it being taken off... That was rather suspicious. The design in itself wasn't very remarkable, other than that the metal which held the gem in place had been shaped into teeth. But that on its own was not enough for the assassin to figure out its origins: teeth and fangs played a prominent role in many cultures, and were often used for decorations when someone wished to evoke a wilder or more natural aesthetic.

As for the magic that made it impossible to take it off... Akemi could tell that there was magic in the amulet, but it was so weak that it was difficult to determine its exact nature. The dark claw mage might be good at detecting and analyzing magic, but even someone with good eyes might have difficulty making out details if the image is too faint or too small. Given the mysterious origins of this amulet Akemi wondered if the one who enchanted the amulet had made it so obscure on purpose...

After several seconds Akemi would shrug and let go of the amulet. She wasn't going to figure out its mysteries just standing there glaring at it. Furthermore, since she didn't know its true nature she wanted to be cautious with it. The magic inside was too weak for it to be a bomb or anything, and it didn't seem to be influencing Nymara either. By all accounts it should be safe to let it be, and postpone further study until they were back at the guild and didn't have more pressing matters to deal with. Especially since, if Nymara had it since she was found by her foster parent, it was unlikely that it would suddenly awaken and do horrible things within the next couple of days.

"An unusual thing, then. Well, anyway, if you know of a good noodle place you'll have to lead the way." She glanced towards the city. "It's been a while since I last came here, and they've been busy building and expanding since then." It wasn't like the attack on Hargeon was the last time she'd been here, but ever since then the city had been rebuilding rather ferociously, in some ways becoming even bigger than before the assault.

"Of course, since you are the one who dragged me here, custom would demand that you pay for the meal." The assassin fell silent for several seconds before continuing. "However, given that you're the apprentice I'll take care of the bill. Just don't abuse the opportunity and go overboard."

Current Appearance:

@Nymara