tragic, isn't it? ; power discovery

sickness.

that was her only issue in this moment. she was so tired of being sick. she was so tired of being cooped up. the flu was her enemy. she hated the flue and all it forced upon her tiny body. she wanted it to be over with and she didn't care how anymore. she was always alone unless byriath or plexus was free. which, with their life and position, they never were. she just felt miserable. so, she did what any kid would do that had a fainting spell.

she got an escort.

the npc that was to watch her was more than happy to walk her to the river for water. so, they were doing that. she was much better now a days. no cough or chills. no headache. yet, that fever was still under her skin. nothing anyone tried seemed to shake it. she was always so hot. so very hot.

today was different.

she had no idea her life was going to be turned upside down. that nothing would ever be the same for her. after all, she had never experienced such things. so, as she moved along the river shore to find a safe place to drink, she thought all was well. until she felt it and heard the npc screaming her name.

talons.

a hawk held her in its grasp and she screamed. fear making her thrash until she slammed her eyes shut. only, she felt the air whipping her fur and felt the grip let go. her eyes opened to see herself falling into the river. fire surrounding her and the hawk. it was dead, cooked alive from the flames. she was safe, until she looked down.

falling.

she was a falling into the river and she couldn't swim. so, she did what any child would do. she screamed. she screamed and closed her eyes as the water drew closer. then..

splash.

she went into the river and instinctively thrashed. paws flailing as she tried to keep her head above the waters. the npc running along the shore trying to scream for help. her guard couldn't swim either? what luck she had.

actions | speech | thoughts | powers | attacking

// in her serval body

Ninazu had been enjoying a meditation when the screaming child broke her serenity. The calm river’s surface erupted into splashing as Zuriela thrashed for air. Even the water lapping Ninazu’s paws at the riverbank rippled with the fox’s struggle to live.

The bioluminescent serval stood up. But one eyelid twitched. She was much better at taking lives than saving them, and it almost irritated her that she wasn’t called upon to use her powers as she wanted. Yet, what was she supposed to do? Allow a child to drown because she stubbornly refused to do anything that wasn’t violence? That was worse than the Pittians she loathed.

Jumping into the water, the leggy feline swam diagonally with the river’s current to the flailing child. The chill seeped into her short fur and four ears. This body wasn’t made for the cold and the wet. As much as she could force herself to adapt from the jungle to the boreal forests, she knew she couldn’t willpower her way to swimming with the child back to shore.

So she did the next best thing. Like always, she would use her magic to compensate for her body’s weakness.

Ninazu attempted to grab the scruff of Zuriela’s neck to keep her stable. Then, she used her earth elemental power to raise the ground beneath her. First she felt the mud against her paws. Then it lifted her above the surface of the river, a momentary hill to rest on.

Ninazu didn’t know how to get the child off the temporary sanctuary back onto dry land, but hopefully someone else would show up. Then she could swim back without having to chance both of their lives to her lacking swimming skills.

it was the sudden feeling of teeth in her scruff. she went limp in response until ground rose under her tiny paws. when she was above the water she coughed and shivered a bit. her eyes closed as she took a moment to thank whatever was out there watching out for her by sending ninazu.

thank you.. she choked out as she tried to stand on shaking legs. eyes looking to the distant, to her anyways, shore. ears folding backwards as she tried to think about how to get to said shore. she was not a swimmer, as others could tell for sure by now.

i.. i'm sorry.. she offered as she looked to the npc that had been watching her on the shore across from them. ears perking as she took a seat. how did you learn to swim like that..? she asked after a moment. her eys turning to look up at the older being.

actions | speech | thoughts | powers | attacking

After Zuri found her own footing on the makeshift island, Ninazu shook out her wet fur. She tried not to grimace in obvious disdain—she hated feeling waterlogged—but her expression nonetheless soured. Hmm, she didn’t have a ready form to shapeshift into to fly Zuri and herself back to shore, but if nobody came along to assist, she trusted in her powers to get them back.

“Hm?” Ninazu blinked. She’d been lost in her thoughts on figuring out a winged body when Zuri’d complimented her.

“I didn’t swim particularly well. I can’t swim while carrying you, so I made the island instead.” She squinted as she looked back at shore; she didn’t particularly want to shapeshift into a winged body considering she’d died in a winged serval body. Leaping from four to six limbs hurt her brain. But she would rather lie than admit this truth.

“But you’re not in a rush to get back, right? I need to rest a bit before shapeshifting into a flying body to get back. Someone might come along to help before then.”