α ѕɴow ѕтorм вυrɴιɴɢ (snowqueenish) wrote in valloic, @ 2022-02-13 17:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: elsa, ₴ inactive: geralt |
The Nokk was as violent as it was beautiful and stunning; at one point, it had dragged Elsa beneath the water and tried to drown her, lungs twin balls of burning, viewing her as a threat to the sanctity of the forests secrets which it fiercely guarded using the vast power of the sea - but she’d tamed it. She tamed the Nokk, earned its trust as she did with the other elemental spirits because they were creatures of instinct and required patience and consideration - not to mention the Nokk’s anger at humanity, at what Elsa’s grandfather had done to the Northuldra people, was entirely justified. But now the Nokk was here - she’d discovered him gliding over the sea on the coast of New Asgard; he glided smoothly like crystal and parts of him were mist, pale smoke over the riding tides - truly a beautiful sight, and she’d nearly burst into tears when she laid eyes upon him. It didn’t take her long to coax him closer, mounting the elemental steed. His bridle glowed brightly, matching the luminescence of the ocean’s darker skies, and she planned to keep riding until she could no longer. It helped to have a riding companion. “Thank you for coming out with me,” Elsa smiled, cheeks flushed because of her excitement - certainly not due to any lingering cold, where winter remained. “I was just so happy to have someone from home, I wanted to introduce him.” Sitting upon Roach, Geralt cut a more imposing but somehow less impressive figure than Elsa on her water demon horse. It would take a sorceress to summon one and control it, but he wondered if she'd always have that level of control or if it was something he would have to be on the watch for. Still, she seemed happy and he was willing to let it go for the moment. After all, he tried to limit the number of times he pissed off sorceresses. "Still can't believe you're riding a kelpie," he answered, eyes focused forward. He'd offered to saddle something for her if she wanted to go riding - then this. It sounded like her home was possibly less dangerous than his. Or perhaps more fantastical. Or a mixture of both. He looked like someone who lived in a grim world, almost as if he walked out of the dirt and darkness, which was quite the opposite of her appearance. Elsa thought Geralt looked quite impressive - rugged but fierce and his eye color was something she hadn’t noticed before but now that they were in person together, it was striking. Shimmering in the spaces between certain shades, reminding her of gold dust. “What’s a kelpie again, where you come from?” she asked eagerly, as Nokk chuffed through his nostrils; his mane shimmered like hand-blown glass, and you wouldn’t think that his hooves would make a clip-clop sound on the ground when he trotted but they did - he was just as solid as he wanted to be, a unique sort of creature. Much like Elsa herself, she supposed. “He’s one of others - there’s a fire spirit too, a wind spirit, and spirits of the earth. Giants, really, but who knows if they’ll make an appearance here. They look like mountains when they’re sleeping.” But since Nokk had shown up, maybe there was hope - maybe she’d even see Ahtohallan again someday too, even if the idea of the river of ice existing simultaneously here and at home was difficult to wrap her head around. "Aquatic monster," answered Geralt, before correcting himself in light of current company. "Creature. Takes the shape of a horse and attempts to drown its victims." He felt that adequately summed up a kelpie without getting to deep into the lore. Also, this adult version of Ciri apparently even named her horse after them. "Not so much about elemental spirts or monsters where I'm from. Suppose you could sort them by related abilities if need." He figured that's something Vesemir would probably enjoy doing, if given the opportunity. "It pays to know which monsters can breathe fire or freeze you in your tracks. That kind of thing." “That sounds like what Nokk does too so I guess that does make him a kelpie - I managed to survive the drowning attempt though, and we became friends,” Elsa chuckled lightly, patting the water horse on that glorious, rippling mane. She seemed to fit with him well now, at least, and hoped she looked like she did - her outfit wasn’t the same adventuring ensemble from home, but rather a new pair of leggings (she did love leggings, as she discovered) and a proper riding coat, in a pale blue shade that matched the sky when it was completely bled of color. Pants were definitely her favorite, however. Or being at home without pants - both were equally nice, as much as she enjoyed a lovely dress or skirt. The riding trail was beautiful, with lovely scenery - being so close to nature, close enough to smell it, and riding through open woods with towering trees, up hillsides, and culminating on the windswept beach was a good way to spend an afternoon. “How did you get into monster hunting anyway?” she asked, curious about her riding companion. Geralt glanced sideways at his riding companion for a moment before moving his eyes back to watching the path ahead for potential threats or hazards. It wasn't the most glamorous of stories, his background. "Long story. But I was raised from a boy to do it. A lot of blood, work, and learning. And once you start, you have no other options ahead of you." He didn't want to really get into the Witcher mutations or how they got you shunned or hated by the very people you were trying to protect from the things trying to kill (and/or eat) them. Unless you were standing between them and those things - then they loved you, at least until you were gone. "How did you become an ice sorceress?" Elsa’s brow furrowed and she squeezed her calves a little, telling Nokk to pick up the pace a bit. They were connected thanks to magic, thanks to Elsa previously earning the horse’s trust - but Nokk had just arrived and a lot of it was all about re-learning that code of communication; usually her legs rested loosely, a way to balance the rider, and while it was true the muscles were worked a lot during riding you didn’t have to constantly clench them around the horse. There were tips and tricks she knew from her horseback riding lessons as a young girl - something ‘queenly,’ taught as part of her royal repertoire. Both her and Anna knew how to ride a horse - or sometimes a reindeer, given where they were from (but that was mostly Kristoff). The ‘no other options’ part of how someone from Geralt’s world became a Witcher sounded bleak - it also inspired more questions, but she would try not to get ahead of herself. “Is that what you wanted?” she asked, then sat up a bit straighter on the back of the water spirit horse. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be nosy - um, well, let’s see.” How did she become an ice sorceress? “I was born with my magic,” Elsa explained. “For awhile I was told to hide it, that it was something to be ashamed of. It wasn’t until recently that I began to embrace what I had - and learned where it all came from. My mother and father died before they could give me any answers.” Not that they had really tried either, but that was just an aside. "Common sorceress tale," answered Geralt. That seemed to always be the case - be born with a gift, be told to hide it from either shame or to protect them, and then coming into their power. His tone of voice didn't make it sound dismissive, but more of a nodding appraisal. He almost asked where she'd been trained, but then remembered they were from different places so it would be a pointless question. One that Jaskier would probably still want to know. "But yes. Or so I thought. Had nothing else, being a Witcher sounded exciting. Didn't know what all it takes from you at the time." By now, Elsa knew that her mother and father had ventured toward Ahtohallan in search of answers regarding her powers - they had died in a shipwreck, caught up in a powerful storm while attempting to cross the Dark Sea to get to that river of ice, leaving Elsa and Anna behind. Alone to grieve, and for Elsa to be thrust into the role of Queen before she was even ready or even sure she wanted it at all - she hadn’t, not really, but had known it was her duty. That it was what she was supposed to do, and so she did - even if she hadn’t fit into the role at all. It felt like a tornado had come through, leaving everything out of place, and she hadn’t been certain how to put it all back together again. Maybe she still wasn’t but she’d been on the right path toward doing so - Vallo put a crick in it, yet she could find her own way here too. She appeared to be on a decent start. “You seem to know a lot about sorceresses,” Elsa teased, guiding Nokk a little bit closer to Roach so they could clip-clop together. They drew nearer to sand dunes, containing sediments washed down by creeks, deposited by the currents of the sea and shaped by ocean winds - it was beautiful, and she might let Nokk run along the water too. “They say hindsight creates foresight - do you think now that you’re here, you’d want to do something else besides what a Witcher is destined for?” When Nokk got closer, Roach instinctively started away from the not-really-a-horse, but Geralt patted her mane and quickly used the Axii sign to calm her nerves. "Easy, girl. It's all right." Sighing, he nodded and turned to face Elsa again. "Witchers, sorcerers, sorceresses. We all seem to end up in the same places. I've been around long enough to have run into a few. Have had to fight a few." It was left unsaid that he's had to fight them and he's the one still standing, but it was probably easily inferred. "Don't know anything else, though. I'm good at it, makes good money. You want to do something other than be a sorceress?" Elsa definitely wouldn’t want to fight Geralt - she didn’t like fighting anyone, and though she was chock full to the brim with magic she was still attempting to gain some sort of understanding of, she wasn’t particularly trained with physical combat. Plus if a Witcher’s purpose was to kill monsters, well - that tapped deep into her own fears and insecurities about what she truly was. What she was capable of. A dark path for another time, perhaps - for now she stuck with this one, salt from the sea beginning to tickle her nose. It was pleasant, and as much as she used to fear the ocean’s own power she had a healthy respect for it now. “I think I would like to be something other than a sorceress, yes,” she laughed a little. “It’s funny - no one really filed me under ‘sorceress’ for a really long time. They didn’t know, or like I said, told me to hide it - it just was never my defining trait. But I suppose that’s what I am.” The Fifth Spirit, meant to bridge the gap between humanity and the magic of nature - she had accepted that. “I got a job at Cerberus Books though? I...make milkshakes and work with books. Plus I have to dress up as a horror movie character. So that’s about as different from being a sorceress as you can get.” Especially because prior to that, she wasn’t familiar with horror movies at all. Geralt wasn't familiar with movies, but he did understand horror and characters. So that got a rare smile from him. "Books, elaborate drinks, and dressing fearsome. Might not be as far off as you think." But he nodded and continued. "Been a Witcher for about a hundred years, I don't know anything else." He certainly wasn't ready to retire and train others in the things he knew. Guiding Ciri in bettering her footwork and sword skills was an exception, of course. He certainly didn't want to be responsible for students. Which left pretty much nothing. He wasn't interested in signing up for those Defense teams because it seemed they prefered things organized and coordinated with a command chain. He could do the same thing without all of the overhead and just patrol every day, helping farmers and ranchers as needed or doing his own thing. And he certainly knew he'd be absolute shit at serving milkshakes. “It seems like your skills will come in handy here, with farmers especially who seem to always take a hit when there are monsters in the forest - and if there’s anything else you decide you want to try later, I’m sure there will be ample opportunity. Some people have been here for years,” Elsa said, which was downright amazing to her. She couldn’t imagine settling in for that long but she also supposed stranger things had happened. Pounding of the surf, pounding of the heart - it was also a fun different perspective, seeing the way the sea looked from the back of a horse. Nokk was eager to run, and Elsa slowed him a little, pearls of her spine straightening. “Does Roach like the water?” she wanted to know. “I’m going to let Nokk go for a spin out there, since we’re so close to the sea. It’s beautiful.” She was quite sure that horses had a natural instinct that let them swim once they hit deeper water - they did a bit of a paddle - but not all of them liked it. However, some did. "She'll wade through it if she has to but that's it," answered Geralt, eyeing the surface of the water. She'd seen enough death and monsters crawling out of the depths at this point that she'd rightfully be skittish around something she can't see. "But go ahead. We'll follow along the shore and meet you further down." Besides, seeing a kelpie in action that wasn't trying to murder someone seemed like a rare opportunity and something he could add to his wide knowledge of creatures. "Just be careful out there. Not everything may be as gentle as Nokk." Nokk was already excited about being one with the ocean - for so long, he’d guarded the forest and the sea was where he resided, attempting to drown those who crossed his path. While Elsa planned to let him roam, to weave among the tides and the waves of New Asgard coastal sea, she also knew he didn’t have to necessarily guard the place like he did the Enchanted Forest - it would be a change for him as well, so any chance she had to bring a little piece of him to him in the form of the power of the sea, all the better. “I’d like that,” she replied with an excited little grin. “If you followed and met us, I mean. Maybe we can even find a coffee spot after this. I’m still attempting to try all the different kinds. And I’ll be careful, I promise.” It was sweet of him to look out for her. Then she was off, picking up even more speed with a clench of muscle - Nokk took the hint, and soon he was flying. Gliding, feather-smooth and silky - it was just as exhilarating for Elsa. But as promised, she was alert and careful - The undead were, unfortunately, going to be the least of her worries in a place like Vallo. |