For a period of time, the waters in Hargeon seemed strangely calm. There was not much word on any potential attacks from rogue pirates. As to why that was the case, Atani was not sure. Perhaps it was just that time of the year. It was indeed gearing up to be the elf's first summer in Hargeon. She did not know what that meant for merchant ships, pirate ships, or any sort of ship for that matter. She did not know what that meant for business. All she knew for sure was that people would be traversing predominantly by land or train to vacation in Hargeon. Astera, she wagered, would be a rather popular tourist attraction as well. The two towns were home to Fiore's most beautiful beaches, though as Zane put it, Hargeon's Azure Beach put Astera's to shame. So, it was most likely going to be the more popular of the two destinations. By that logic, merchant ships should be bringing their wares into Hargeon's ports, shouldn't they? Which made them prime targets for pirate ships lurking in the waters. But then again, the elf just had not seen many requests put up on the guild board for dealing with pirates.

There were small groups, she supposed. There were always small groups to deal with. But unfortunately, dealing with such small bands of pirates did not pay well. Besides, for a mage like Atani who was capable of dealing with the more dangerous variant of sea raiders, it would be unfair of her to take that easy work away from mages who were not yet of that caliber yet. And plus, it wasn't like she needed the money urgently. After all those attacks and rewards, the Wood Elf had managed to save up quite a bit of jewels that more than covered her rent for a while.

WC: 309/2500

So much, in fact, if she wanted to take a trip to, say... Bosco, it wouldn't be an issue. Atani shook her head as she thought about the problem with the Sachsenwald siblings. With the Boscosi king dead and with no line of direct succession, it left five siblings vying for power. Five siblings all with radically different views for how the country of Bosco should be run. How a family could result with so many differing opinions was beyond Atani, but she supposed it was still possible. Because it was. It was the reality of the situation. And although it didn't seem like a severe issue when the news first came out, the growing seriousness of it became more and more evident by the day. There was no sign of any sibling backing down these days. It took some time for the news to travel to Fiore, but more and more became revealed about each one's ideals. There was one sibling in particular who struck a chord with Atani, and that one was Brunhilde the Divine.

She made a mockery of that title. An Illuminian zealot who held prejudice against anyone who was not of the Illuminian religion. This included most Wood Elves. Like Atani, most of her kind worshiped the elven pantheon. Sayha was her goddess, probably the closest thing to Illumin that Brunhilde could understand. The pantheon was broken up into the Linea and the Vhaladar, the latter of which was taboo to worship. The Dark Elves, however, were an exception to that rule. They worshiped the dark Vhaladar gods and goddesses. If anyone was to find a shrine to such deities in Athalran, it would have been taken down immediately. But shrines and places of worship to the light Linea deities? Those were sacred beyond measure.

WC: 309+300=609/2500

And Brunhilde the 'Divine' didn't care. She would burn down any shrine or place of worship that was not dedicated to Illumin. Despite things being held sacred to other races, she just could not see how wrong it was to destroy that sanctity. It boiled Atani's blood to no end. Though she was not a believer of the Illumin religion, she wouldn't go around burning down churches in the name of her gods and goddesses. She wouldn't go on a religious crusade to force people to believe in the same things she did. It was inhumane, and ironically, the majority of those who participated in these crusades were more human than she was.

The crazy thing about it all was that people actually supported Brunhilde. Multiple people, in fact. Atani did not know much about the culture of Bosco-- she had not heard a lot about the country before now-- but that told her there was a large Illuminian following in the land. She would try not to let this news ruin her perception of the Illumin followers, but it was difficult for her to find good in anything that was coming of this. Perhaps things would be different if she traveled to Bosco and saw things for herself, but she heard no news of those belonging to the Illuminian religion doing anything about these horrible deeds. If Atani saw a fellow Wood Elf burning down a church that was not dedicated to the elven pantheon, she would put a stop to it... But that was of course assuming such a thing ever occurred. Wood Elves like her, they were not known for violence. They liked to live in harmony with nature and its surroundings. Burning down or destroying anything in the name of the Linea would go against everything she was raised under.

WC: 609+304=913/2500

Atani clenched her fist in anger just from the mere thought of it. And... Without even willing her magic to do so, vines started to slither their way out from her fist like aggravated snakes. The flash of green caught her eye and the elf gasped. She stood up from her seat at the table and brought her enclosed fist to her chest. She planted her free hand over it, as if she was protecting it from leaking any more mana, and watched as the vines withered away to nothingness. There was not so much as a leaf left. No evidence that it had ever been there to begin with.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Her mind couldn't have been playing tricks on her, could it? No, this was all too real. The girl slowly unraveled her and and looked at her palm. A growing sense of panic aroused in her chest. Last time this happened-- gaining access to a new element-- she had lost her use of the other. She looked at her other hand, the one that had not been used to accidentally cast a nature spell. Shakily, she attempted to do a very simple conjuration of water: a thin spiral of liquid around her hand. Much to her surprise, it came as naturally as it always did. Blue waters orbited around her hand just as normal. The girl looked to her other hand. She tried to do the same exact motion, but with a green vine. Once again, it came just as easily as it did with her waters.

"What the... Zimra, do you see this?" She turned to her pet lemur who was slumbering away. Atani looked to her clock mounted on the wall. It was getting late, but there was no way she could sleep now.

WC: 913+302=1215/2500

Not when she just rediscovered her ability to use her long lost nature magic. She looked at the slumbering winged lemur and gave him a half smile. As much as she loved spending her time with Zimra, she could not be with him for all hours of the day. If she just went out that night to practice her shooting and magic, she was sure he would be fine so long as she was back before the sun came up. She did not know the little one's sleeping habits (as she often fell asleep before her companion), but she did know that winged lemurs, as well as the ring-tailed lemur which it was related to, was diurnal as opposed to nocturnal. So, here was to hoping he was a heavy sleeper and that her leaving the apartment did not wake him.

Atani grabbed a light jacket and slung her Wood Elven bow across her back. Careful not to make much noise, the quiet elf crept out of her own home and shut the door. She locked it behind herself such that there was no way Zimra could escape and get lost in the vast streets of Hargeon. The windows were locked too. Although she didn't expect the tiny creature to be able to lift her windows even when they were unlocked, she wasn't going to take any chances.

The Wood Elf crept down the stairs-- she did not want to wake anyone in her apartment complex if they were sensitive to the creaking of the old steps-- and exited the building. She took one last look at her window from the outside. She did not see any flash of white fur breeze by. Hopefully, that meant Zimra was still fast asleep and the little creature would not be looking for her.

WC: 1215+301=1516/2500

Perfect. That meant she could spend her night without worrying about how her companion, who still displayed signs of separation anxiety, would be doing. She believed that if leaving the apartment did not wake the tired winged lemur, the only possible thing that could was her returning to her apartment. In that case, there was nothing for Zimra to miss out on.

Bow slung across her back and jacket along her arms to protect her from the chilled spring night air, Atani headed off in the direction of the woods. Along the way, she passed the town's request board. It was one she rarely paid attention to in favor of the sheets posted to her own guild's request board. No sense in taking work from other non-Blue Pegasus mages who were passing through Hargeon. But even so, she peered at it briefly. She arched a brow as she saw an unusually high sum of jewels as a reward for taking out yet another band of pirates. It was worth almost twice what she normally made taking out pirates. It was difficult to see the details in the dark, but the words 'Crossbones' were printed in large enough font. Perhaps that was something she'd take a look at the following day. With any luck, it would still be there in the morning.

So, not thinking much more of the request, she continued on her way towards the forest. As she drew closer to the outskirts of the town, she knew she was venturing into a more risky area of Hargeon where thievery was known to occur at night; however, the elf was not too worried about those sorts of things. She could handle herself. Still, she was on the lookout. With the right aim, anyone could take advantage of someone, even some of the most experienced mages.

WC: 1516+306=1822/2500

A movement in the shadows caught the Wood Elf's sharp eye. It could have been nothing, but she had a strange feeling about it. Sneaking around in the dead of night? At best, it was suspicious. At worst... Well, there was a reason light mages were able to find plenty of work in Fiore. Being one, of course, it was Atani's duty to make sure that its citizens were kept safe. That person moving in the shadows, she felt as if it was necessary to pursue him or her. Just to be safe.

Atani pursued the shadowy figure with her silent steps. Unless they possessed unusually keen hearing, which was atypical of the vast majority of people in Fiore, they likely wouldn't even be able to know she was in pursuit. If they heard her steps, there was no way to discern which direction they were coming from or how close she was to them. Even so, she kept her distance for a safety precaution, and saw them just in time to witness their figure disappear into an alleyway. She crept closer, making sure to keep her back against the brick wall.

"Were you followed?"

"No."

A smirk.

So there were two voices. This brought back an odd sense of déjà vu. She listened to the two people more. One sounded male, the other sounded female. They were discussing something about stolen goods. And then the mention of Crossbones. Atani felt her heart skip a beat. Were they... ?

"We need to get back to the ship."

Yes, they were. They were the members of whatever this 'Crossbones' gang was. The band of pirates that had an insanely high reward for capture placed above their heads. No wonder they were traveling around this late at night. They did not want to be stopped by any mage such as her.

WC: 1822+309=2131/2500

That plan would have worked, but unfortunately for them, a certain Wood Elf belonging to Blue Pegasus wanted to do some late night training to hone her skills. But of course, those plans were now ruined. Training in the forest would have to take some place some other day. In the meantime, she could at the very least obtain some practice in the field.

Before the two pirates could come out from the alley, Atani hid herself such that they would not be aware someone was following them. Once they did show themselves, she watched to see which direction they went. Once she was sure she was out of their sights, she safely came out of hiding and once more went in pursuit of the members of Crossbones. If that was even their name. She had only briefly looked at the request after all. Perhaps it would have been better if she read up on the group some more, but it was too late for that at this point. She was already on her way to their boat.

It did not take long for her and the pirates to reach the cove. All the while, she remained hidden. She made no indication that she was following the two, and the two made no indication that they knew they were being followed. So far, everything was going as planned.

Atani waited for the two to board the ship before slipping into the dark waters herself. The mage used her water spell to breathe beneath the ocean. Upon resurfacing, she found herself at the hull of the ship. A very familiar sight. The elf pulled herself up on board and locked her aim on one of the pirates who she scouted out in the alley. Without saying a word, she let the arrow fly. It pierced their leg, causing the pirate to crumple to the ground in pain. She shot another arrow at the other pirate, aiming for the arm this time since she saw a sword sheathed in the pirate's belt. The arrow hit its mark. She then thrust her hand into the sky, and a rain of pain came down upon the pirates below. They were... taken care of. Oh, almost. She sent another arrow flying in the direction of a pirate who looked like he had a little more fight left in him. He collapsed on the spot.

She felt a little bad taking this group by surprise. It was slightly unfair, but so was attacking merchants who in all likelihood didn't have great battle experience. So, she didn't feel too bad about it. With all that done, however, Atani took back the loot they stole and went to return it whilst alerting the authorities about this pesky group.

WC: 2131+460=2591/2500

Arrow Shot [A-Rank, B-Rank, C-Rank]
Thûl Cast
Ranya Cast