Himmel.

---

These strangers were focused on something in the water but when the wolf turned and glanced his way Himmel felt the zing of adrenaline down the back of his neck again. It passed when their attention shifted to another of the creatures gathered there.

He would keep to himself. The feeling the wolf left behind wasn't something he wanted to repeat.

One of the gembounds said that they could swim and then dove in to the pool, and Himmel pranced to the edge a little ways apart from the others, observing and quiet. He did not consider helping and in fact wondered if all of this effort was worth it; what was at the bottom of the pool? He peered in to the depths but could not make much out.

While Sora had explained that it was a chrysalis, the swimming beast surfaced and gave more details: round, hard, and difficult to reach. Himme's little face pinched in a frown and he looked from the dripping creature and then back at the pool. Everyone else seemed to be focused on using their magical abilities at this point.

Himmel took a deep breath and tried to direct his magic at the blurry shape deep in the water, feeling the alien warmth of magicka spark like an ember in his stone. He was barely a few hours old so when the magicka's power flashed from him, it wasn't strong. He was left feeling more drained than the others but he watched the water all the same, shaking excess energy from his shoulders while anticipating a change.

---

It was mostly sheer luck that Pride stumbled upon the group; but at least in part, it was simple coincidence. He came here now and then; whispered well-wishes to the lagoon, left frosted ice-flowers floating delicately across the surface.

But now a group stood clustered ahead, and Pride paused, frowning some, to study them.

There was a fawn, a lizard--ahh, and Comet; and Sora, too. Pride eyed the ones he knew, from a distance; then cast his gaze over Himmel, wondering if this young deer might turn out like himself, or more like Tahi-shei, or someone else entirely.

Eventually he approached, head tilting--and his gait picked up as he realized that something might be wrong, that something might have drawn them all here. "Hello--Sora, Comet; ahh, Haven, was it-?" He'd been a little... groggy when he'd met her, but she was difficult to forget. Pride then offered a dip of his head--polite but perfunctory, half-distracted by worry now--to the ones he'd never met. To the lizard, and the-... cloud. "My apologies for interrupting-? My name is Pride. I was here to visit Tenzin's stone; has something happened?" he asked, gently threading his way to the water's edge to look down.

He cast his mind down, gently, seeking any waking sentience; and with it, a soft message. "Tenzin..? Are you-"--no, that would be a foolish question--"-Is there anything you need?" Pride glanced around at the others, and added--"Anything we can do to help?"
Had the ice-phoenix awoken violently-? Had something happened..? Had he known that the others were merely ignorant of the circumstances of the sunken turquoise, he'd have gladly explained--but for now, he knew only deep concern.

Pride's thoughts danced back to him as if they were received in an echo chamber, the empty and far-feeling space cold and distant. But as the echoes swam in a sleeping mind, they swirled and churned against each other with a quiet thought fighting their current:

"Do not... worry..."

Images, fleeting but there, just on the edge of Pride's mind: life, giving life, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice—

"Do not..."

But one of them had, unknowingly, already done so.

Sora's ears pricked up in alarm. "Wait, shit, that is a person? Holy-- okay, uh, okay-- what happened? Sora asked, slipping into the water again and paddling out to get a better look (from the surface, that is). Haven's touch caused it to react, and she frowned. "Whoever 'Tenzin' is, I think he might need help." Sora struggled to think -- how could she help him? What could she do?

Maybe just my intent'll be enough. Ain't that how magic generally works? she thought, once again returning to the shore so she didn't get too tired and drown. She nodded at Pride. "What do you know about him? Seems like all of us are here in the dark. Except that one, I guess," she said, gesturing at Haven.


@pride and @haven specifically
(sending 300 magicka)

She recognized that voice!! Or at least, Pride's. The little whisper she caught and immediately latched onto was something she didn't know.

"I'm here! I'm here for you! We all are!", she cried into the water, even dunking her head under to yell into it, bubbles rising to the surface.

Haven turned towards Pride and suddenly gasped, jumping up to a standing position with her back arched like a cat's, "OH MY GOSH IT'S TENZIN!??!"

She slapped her hands over her mouth and flushed a deep pink, head retracting like a turtle's, "I'm so sorry- I got excited I didn't mean to yell."

Haven hopped over to the water again and skid into the shallows, walking back and forth anxiously, "Don't worry! We're here!"

She dove into the water with reckless abandon, once again swimming down down to the chrysalis to bump her nose against it. She felt her magic well up in response to her emotions and let it flare out, spreading across the bottom of the lagoon before pressing up against the chrysalis. She could feel and hear everything. The fish swimming, their heart beats, but she focused on Tenzin. She needed his help- their help!

Sent 90 magicka in response to Haven's encouraging words + spellcasting.

Comet wished she could help, but there was no way to lower the water level enough for animals who couldn't hold their breath to try and reach it. The waterfall was too powerful. Looking around now, she noticed the new animals that had joined. She dipped her head to Pride and the others she knew before continuing to focus on Tenzin.

It seemed a lot of the other animals knew who Tenzin was, and it sounded like they were someone important. Either way, she had an idea. She wasn't sure how clean the water was, but she hoped that when they hatched, if they hatched, they wouldn't drown right away or something. There was no way for her to get rid of the water, but perhaps she could purify it to make it cleaner and easier to see through.

Comet laid down on the shore and cried tears into the lagoon. Her spell had not worked. She was not able to help, but perhaps she would be able to spread some of her magic through the water through her tears.

Sending 50 magicka as tears!

Electrum

The lapis dragon had been silent this whole time, surprising, really, considering the menagerie of creatures gathered near him and Haven.

The other's exploration has him wading in up to his belly in the cold water, and he sticks his head underwater to get a really good look at what's causing all the hub-bub.

Impressed, at least, with this one's ability to produce ice while even entrapped, he's been ignoring everyone except Haven and, by extension, Pride.

"Tenzin... they're important, then?" Electrum is speaking aloud, but also more towards Pride and, again, Haven. They seemed to have the most information, after all. "What else do they need from us?"

He always keeps one eye on Haven, and he's getting agitated with how wound up she's getting... is this someone she met while he slept?

@Pride
@Haven

'Leaving Eridanus again, Madhukar. Not part of the plan.'
Okay yes, but she'll be careful this time. That's a promise.

'Who are we trusting here? You? Or it?'
Her, of course, because she's the one in control. She is the one in control. Say that again. SHE is the one in CONTROL. That's why she Transcended. That's why she worked so hard, every single day.

'Fine. But no lightning.'
Fine!

Madhukar wandered into this room, whatever it was called, and noticed the water all around. No lightning? Fine. But storms were still her thing, and this room was just begging for a storm. It was practice. It was proof of her earlier statement: she is in control here.

And her rainfall was spectacular.

Flawless execution. The moisture built into a beautiful swath of clouds overhead, heavy laden and dark. They soon began to absolutely sob, to weep and crow, a million fingers trailing across the ground. Her pelt began to crackle and soft wooshing swirled faintly surrounded her; the aura of transcendent power. Madhukar began to purr.

Well, until she saw a crowd. The heck? What were they all doing here? 'Where even is here?' Crowds tended to blend together into one terrible amorphous foe for the feline; she had not the time nor the ability to care enough to pick each likely-unfamiliar face apart. But words, words she could hear. "Who Tenzin?" She was coming into this late. Fashionably late. Still late without context, though. She didn't care if her question had already been answered. This collection of characters was weird and she wanted to know why 'Tenzin' was important enough to have brought them all here. Was 'Tenzin' important enough for them all to get rained on, too? It would be a delight to see.

Think "Speak"

Donated 50 Magicka!

Puppets learn to pull strings

Regalia began to grow agitated when the gembounds did not answer its question, merely turning to each other and asking more and more and more. Did they wish to put more on their minds? Weigh themselves down with further inquiries and questions instead of answering what they already have before them? Did they want to make things more difficult instead of think about the simple proposition that Regalia had posed - pull him free?

The thanks from deep beneath the water had Regalia turning and hovering away from the group, standing atop the water's surface, directly above where Tenzin rested. Golden eyes watched the water closely, willing him to appear to them - it didn't think that it would be able to lift the chrysalis out of the water, but it desperately wanted to see him, a Master, rise before it in person and not just through the memories of Wilder. It tried to push forward, to dip into the waves, but its gaseous form only pooled out, not breaking the surface tension of the lagoon. It pulled back into its feline shape. It had not expected that to work.

The arrival of Pride, however, had its attention distracted. Eyes moved around its head to stare at him as he appeared and spoke. A rush of something came pulsing through its mind, lights blinking across its body. It tried to reach forward to greet him, to perhaps ask him something, but it felt the magic catch and a visible ripple rolled across its body. It was an extremely unpleasant experience, like a voice catching in its throat but instead it was magic and it was catching on its gem.

And cut down the user's lead

Donated 100 magicka!

Their sacrifices reached him, supplementing the magic his stone was working hard to recreate; the surge split his chrysalis and icy fluid escaped into the lagoon, freezing the immediate area around him as a shimmering light engulfed the body of the phoenix.

At first, it was only light. A distant glimmering far below the lagoon's surface, hiding what magic was really taking place: the regrowth of his feathers, once a partially completed task, now complete with the supplemental magic of others. Then the cold would hit them, crawling up the rocky sides of the lagoon with freezing fingers until it touched the surface, spiraling in from the outside to meet in the center where it would break under the crash of the waterfall.

And slowly, he rose...

blessing of pisces

[ npc encounter: tenzin ]

tenzin

pisces master

650 / 1000 HP    65%

He broke the surface of the lagoon as gently as he could, careful not to create a flood with the water that spilled over; and it helped, too, that he was weakened. He could not move as quickly or as strongly yet, and so his head had come to lay just beyond the shore, talons latching onto the rocks beneath the surface, wings spread across the water. It felt nice, just to lay here—outside of his chrysalis, anyway. Though there was a chill around him, his usual icy aura was missing. He had not regenerated enough yet to be as powerful as he could be, but he was awake, alive, and grateful.

Icy blue eyes opened to view the Gembounds gathered, and a weak smile curved his beak. Little droplets of tears formed at the edges of his eyes. It was still painful for him to move, to exist in the air here, and so he would continue to rest at the bottom of the lagoon—but for now, he was thankful, and he was here.

"Do not..." he said again, this time aloud, "worry." His head lifted carefully, surveying them. "Do not lend your magic so easily, so freely." Brows pinched. "It can be dangerous." What they had done, what they had maybe done by accident... he frowned.

"Be careful... with this," he warned, leaning forward to bow to them, a single tear finally dropping free from his face, landing with a splat below him. And from it, light grew, a shimmering strand reaching from the teardrop and moving to touch all of those present—a gift, a thanks, a dangerous power to bestow upon those with such feeble control over their magic.

But they were selfless enough to risk it, and so they were worthy enough to know it.

With a final smile, he began to sink back into the lagoon.

"Thank you," he whispered, head pulling toward the water. "I must rest now, and so should you," he said, looking over them again once more, before closing his eyes and letting ice encase him, pulling him under and toward the depths.

You've Discovered: Blessing of Pisces!

High Intensity Transformation. Heal an ally for for a small amount by sacrificing your own health. If the ally is your Sensorial Link partner, heal them for an additional amount, sacrificing even more of your own health. This transfer of magic is extremely taxing on both user and ally, and may cause the caster to fall asleep after in an effort for their stone to restore its magic.

The characters present will each receive Blessing of Pisces. (I'm sending them now!)
It is now available in the shop for ʡ500.

---

Characters that have donated magicka will feel immensely tired, an irresistible urge to sleep; they will need to sleep for the rest of the day, starting immediately.

@Haven @Sora @Comet @Regalia @Madhukar

@Pride @Himmel @Fahl @Electrum