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+---- Thread: [SE] embers away (/showthread.php?tid=12328)
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embers away - Deimos - 01-02-2026
News of wildfires was almost a deranged thought to occur near Halo; save for the forest portions, much of the region was a frozen plain with hardly any wood to quantify the image. Even without their winter regards for never scorching flames, the citizens were very careful with their embers. Fire represented life, but just as the Sword had wielded it in all manner of ways, it also lingered and sprung on death quickly.
So as they traversed across bays and ocean on the summons of several individuals sighting the same sort of issue, his eyes narrowed, following the lines of broken isles and fallen pieces. He hadn’t been to the Crag at all since both Flora and Eirachi had made it fall into the sea – only to glance from where it’d been ripped from the Fangs and ended there – with promises of mazes, labyrinths, puzzles, and mageglass; but not much else.
Letting his talons continue to hold the large bucket he’d brought, in case they’d be putting out a fire instead of setting one, another wound mode along the isle proved correct; there was smoke, billowing from one of the lower regions. [say]See there?[/say] his beak jutted out towards the line of plumes, indicating to Noah that something was amiss.
RE: embers away - Noah - 01-03-2026
The wind ripped at Noah’s feathers as he flew, the warmth of the air melting into even the dense mantle of his griffin form. [say]I see it,[/say] he answered through the bond, a low thrum of unease carried alongside his words. Smoke was wrong here. Wrong in a way that set his instincts bristling, hackles lifting along his spine as his keen eyes followed where Deimos indicated. A dark vein against the pale sky, curling up from stone that should have known only stone and salt.
It was interesting to him how seeing this smoke, this fire, could make him feel. When in Halo it meant life and sustaining, and he even now held the embers of massive plumes of fire within his chest. His wings adjusted automatically, angling them closer, drawing him into a tighter formation beside the Sword. Below them the broken isles looked like old wounds half-scabbed over, jagged and uneven. The smoke was thick enough to suggest more than a stray spark, more than a foolish traveler’s camp. It rose steadily, stubbornly, as if fed and tended.
RE: embers away - Deimos - 01-03-2026
Inspections and perusals could only last so long; sometimes fire was fire, and with the encroaching wake of wild flames elsewhere, perhaps they should’ve expected the broad scope to land elsewhere – even amidst the frozen isle. Caido had been immersed in far stranger occurrences than infernos; but Deimos knew how far such destruction could spread – given how often he’d wielded it himself. [say]I am going to try something[/say], he announced, because that was what the Sword did. Not an idle creature by any stretch of the imagination, loathing complacency, and figuring, even if they couldn’t put out the entire means, perhaps there’d be a solution amidst the briny sea. Certainly not from his abilities at the moment – for only lightning scorched through the thunderbird contortions; but things he’d brought with them, measured in potential.
Dipping low, with the bucket still grasped tightly in his talons, his broad form unfurled further, wings wide and outspread, as he skimmed over the surface. Listening, hoping to hear the current dip into the container, he then banked upward, intending to tip the contents over the rise of the plumes, smoke, and blaze below, waiting to hear the hiss and recoil of embers. [say]Any difference?[/say]
RE: embers away - Noah - 01-05-2026
Noah kept pace but did not follow the Sword’s dive, instead circling higher, widening his view as Deimos skimmed the sea. From above, the motion was clean and practiced, efficient and purposeful. Very Deimos.
Noah’s eyes never left the smoke.
He watched the arc of water spill downward, a glinting ribbon against the gray-white sky. It struck the heart of the plumes. There was a hiss, faint at his height, and the smoke stuttered, thinning for a moment as steam curled back on itself.
Then the plumes thickened again, stubborn as a living thing, crawling upward as if offended by the interruption. Smoke continued to billow, dark and steady, the glow beneath it unchanged. [say]Not much.[/say] Noah sent through the bond, edged with concern. His wings beat slower, heavier, holding him aloft as he studied the terrain again. [say]It reacted but only briefly. Fire’s still active down there.[/say]
He angled slightly, catching the wind so the smoke drifted across his vision from another direction. Below them, the isles remained jagged and scarred, smoke rising from their wounds as if the land itself were burning from within. Noah tightened his circle, watchful, every sense tuned. [say]We could try to help the waves with our wings.[/say] He suggested, wondering if between the two of them they had enough power to help the tide reach higher.
RE: embers away - Deimos - 01-06-2026
Before he could fly much further the response came in with the not much. Though he hadn’t expected it to be a massive breakthrough, it would’ve been somewhat heartening to know it’d made some sort of impact, and they had a way forward. Were his features currently capable, his nose would’ve been wrinkled, though not out of amusement but more so out of the brief glimmer of frustration. Flying back around, he could see where the brevity had been mostly insurmountable; little dents.
The suggestion wasn’t bad; though he wondered if they missed, and simply conducted multitudes of air, if the wakes of fire and flame would just spread. [say]What if you try that, while I keep working on pouring the water on? If that does nothing, I can always shift into something else.[/say] Maybe the larger expansions into the sea would be better equipped. More than just minor obliterations – and perhaps he could go swifter, streamline the motions in a more rapid pace, or even clip some of the waves with his wing on the way by. The calculations were rampant, and he breathed again, dipping through the air to repeat the previous preamble with more speed, snagging at water with the bucket and sweeping his wings upwards, hoping to catch some portions and extend it towards the inferno.
RE: embers away - Noah - 01-06-2026
[say]I'll be careful.[/say] He said as he dipped a wing and started his descent, knowing Deimos well enough to know how his mind would spiral with many different outcomes. Precision, here, mattered. He watched the Sword turn back toward the sea, refusing to let the problem sit unanswered. Then, ghe angled his body lower, wings spreading wider as he approached the smoke from the windward side. The heat reached him in pulses, an unnatural warmth licking against his feathers, stirring the embers that lived beneath his breastbone. He resisted the instinct to answer fire with fire, the griffin part of him bashing against the man.
Instead, he beat his wings hard and deliberately, powerful strokes meant to shove air downward and outward, driving the sea inland. The wind answered him, surging and curling, waves below responding in small but noticeable swells. Smoke shifted, dragged sideways, thinning in places only to thicken elsewhere. The flames guttered briefly, then crept outward along a new seam, searching for purchase like something alive and clever. Noah pulled up sharply, banking away before the heat could climb higher.
[say]It’s doing something,[/say] he sent, [say]But it’s not enough.[/say]
RE: embers away - Deimos - 01-07-2026
The not enough echo granted one other sigh, before he began to alter and change course. How many other times had he heard such nuances? Pinpointed either at himself or hordes of others, trying, attempting, bolstering, only to no avail? Except Deimos was a determined figure, and despite the bout of irritation, he clenched his jaw and moved onward – trying new tactics, new sieges, new abilities. Not sinking into failure or defeat, he flew down towards the sea, and shifted into the bakunawa form.
Far more massive than the thunderbird, he took up space in the sea as if it were nothing; at home amidst the swell of currents or the brimstone of smoke. [say]All right. Perhaps a bigger wave then.[/say] Amassing formidable strength behind the push and pull of his tail, he swung the limb along the tides, hurling a grandiose display of the briny liquid to hiss and plunge over the bounty of flames.
RE: embers away - Noah - 01-13-2026
Noah's eyes tracked the Sword as Deimos began to shift. Feathers bristled along his own spine at the sudden, fluid change. The sea responded immediately, waves rising in rhythm with Deimos’ immense body, each movement carrying weight that even Noah felt in the wind against his wings. Spray exploded outward in arcs, cascading toward the stubborn flames like a tidal hammer. Smoke billowed and recoiled, steam rising where water struck fire, the blaze hissing and shrinking under the assault.
Noah’s eyes widened at this response that could actually challenge the fire. He angled downward, dipping his wings into the updrafts Deimos’ motion created, pushing with precise strokes to drive more of the waves inland. The wind hummed through his feathers, carrying droplets toward the blaze. The smoke thinned noticeably in some areas, flames retreating from the edges, flickering like reluctant prey under pressure. [say]This seems to be working better![/say] Noah sent through the bond.
RE: embers away - Deimos - 01-14-2026
Finally, they seemed to be getting somewhere. Glancing from across the waves, his eyes narrowed, studying as the flames appeared to whimper, and Noah gave further confirmation. [say]All right. I will keep going.[/say] With a nod of his massive head, he returned to the sea, the roll of his frame going downwards, below, into the fathoms and depths.
On this interval, he opted to gain speed, twisting and turning to achieve better angles as he coiled and contorted, then sprung upwards, rising, rising, rising, then breaking over the surface. The wave from this movement was a tidal undulation – sweeping towards the fire, the crag itself, and the rocky surface with potent, laced power. Spray shot towards smoke and fumes, and then he intentionally crashed back down, creating a second burst of hasty currents towards the rush of infernos.
RE: embers away - Noah - 01-15-2026
Noah watched as Deimos vanished beneath the surface, then surged upward again in a coiling rush of scale and water. The resulting wave was immense, a wall that thundered toward the crag. From above, Noah could see the impact clearly. It worked. More than anything they had tried so far. He beat his wings harder, helping herd the surge inland, feeling the wind and moisture carry his effort forward. The flames hissed and smoke and steam together billoweed into the sky in veiling, massive curtains that even from this distance made the griffin's eyes narrow and blink at the sting.
He went on to find more flames. As he circled, keeping watch for where the blaze might creep next, his mind whirled. Halo’s cold was not kind to open flame. Especially here, over open water and broken rock, something had to be sustaining it. [say]Deimos,[/say] he sent through the bond, his tone thoughtful rather than urgent, [say]do you have any sense of why this is happening?[/say] His gaze followed the lines of smoke to their source, searching for patterns. [say]This is...nothing but rock and there is barely any moss or anyhting here, but still fire...[/say] His words and thoughts trailed off together as he circled the crag, looking for any more signs of flame among the billos of smoke.
He banked again, wings catching the damp air, eyes sharp.
RE: embers away - Deimos - 01-15-2026
He observed for a moment; his long neck permitting access to some of the views. Certainly not as high as the griffin, but enough to catch the billowing smoke and disturbed flames. Snorting, mostly to himself, he submerged again, the intentions clear as the rest of his body disappeared below the surface. When he carried out the next round, it was on an even swifter scale, striving to unravel each particle until the waves and currents reached the heightened situation, briskly dousing the inferno.
The question rang in the air. If his frame could’ve permitted it, there would’ve been a shrug to follow. [say]Rumors seem to be going around that Tanau was trying to make up for the muddy spring. Do you have a different theory?[/say] The former, of course, had been well overdone. As for the other notions, his eyes narrowed, preparing for the inevitable. [say]There should be some change by now, at least. [/say] Here, anyways, as he aimed to holster more of the sea into his precision.
RE: embers away - Noah - 01-21-2026
Noah kept to the higher currents as Deimos plunged and rose again, the Bakunawa’s speed sending another series of waves crashing against the crag. From above, he could see the effect more clearly now: where water struck in force, the fire retreated, breaking into smaller, less confident tongues, the smoke losing some of its dense cohesion as steam thickened in its place.
At the mention of Tanau, his brow would have furrowed if his griffin form allowed it. The name moved inside his head like an unsettled echo. A muddy spring, an overcorrection of seasons, a god nudging the world back into balance. It felt like Caido, surely, and he could accept warmth, rain, even strange weather patterns bleeding into Halo. But open flame, sustained on bare stone, clinging stubbornly in the face of the sea? That made his hackles raise.
In Caido, intent so often meant will, whether it be divine, monstrous, or mortal, it was usually deliberate all the same. Admittedly, though, Noah didn't know much about the longheat deity other than when he was awoken and discovered. Wiht that, the Sentinel had no other theories and sent such across the attuned bond.
Noah watched Deimos drive the sea forward again and felt a quiet, steady trust in the Sword’s persistence. Finally, the last licks of flames submitted to the warden's will. [say]It's out.[/say]
RE: embers away - Deimos - 01-21-2026
Deimos had met Tanau personally; brief the instance had been, down in the Climb caves and amidst the billowing forefront of the Ascended warframe. The seasonal god had struck him as the type of individual willing to try and correct any misgivings or wrongdoings; but, like with any of them, the potential to unfurl benefits might’ve been overdone. The Sword preferred fire – clung to its demonstrative power as most would seek like moths to its flame – but even still, he could understand when it did more than just cause a rebirth of growth and life. Destruction could be an imminent force – and the counter-corrections to follow an even stronger course and cause for concern.
When Noah didn’t offer alternatives though, he grew silent too, could’ve begrudged a shrug had bakunawa possessed any shoulders. Instead, he rallied around one last round of power, sending a mocking wave from his tail, so that it rushed and ran with the current, defying the inferno until it sizzled, fizzled, into nothing more than puffs of smoke. [say]That is a relief, at least. [/say]He paused, granted a slow exhale, before elongating his neck, gazing along the horizon and rock, crag, surfaces of snow and broken bits of earth. [say]I have seen some more wildfires in the Greatwood too. Not sure how far out things have started or spread.[/say]
RE: embers away - Noah - 01-26-2026
Noah watched the last of the smoke unravel and thin, the stubborn dark plumes finally giving way to pale steam and then to nothing at all. The sea reclaimed the crag in a steady, inevitable rhythm, waves licking at blackened stone as if erasing a wound.
His stomach twisted at the idea that the rest of Caido was dealing with these fires. Turning, Noah pushed his wings down once, twice, and his powerful form lifted away from the waves and more towards the sky. From his vantage, he scanned the horizon, eyes sharp despite the lingering sting of smoke. The world looked deceptively calm now—ice and ocean, distant landforms resting under a pale sky. It was too easy to imagine flames blooming elsewhere, unseen, unchecked, while they lingered here in the aftermath of a victory already won.
If fires were spreading, if Tanau’s influence or some other will was stirring them into being, then waiting in one place felt wrong. Deimos could not be everywhere at once, no matter how vast his forms or how relentless his resolve. If he found more smoke, more flame clawing where it did not belong, perhaps he could do something before it grew.
[say]That's not good. Perhaps I should take a different way home and we can divide our efforts.[/say] Through the bond, the intention formed with quiet certainty rather than urgency, a sentinel’s instinct, old and steady, rising to meet a world that never stopped giving them reasons to stay watchful.