Sabertooth In - Attaining Closure!

Closure- Something that Selah believed was a fundamental right to every living thing. To be left without it created an empty void that something was meant to fill, an emotional vacuum that would take up the beings very will to go on. Without closure, things were always different. They were dull, and gray. Without closure, someone may completely change. For Selah, Closure was the most important thing in the world. Everything ran on it, ran on the feeling of knowing that she knew what happened, that she felt like what had happened was all that would happen. Closure kept the world turning, because without it- everything would just stop one day.

---

Sunlight beamed in through the window of Selah's room of the Sabertooth guild hall, particles of dust glimmering faintly in the morning rays. It was the start of a new fall day, the trees had begun to turn color- the brilliant, verdant green of summer shifting to the wonderful auburns, oaken reds, and vibrant yellows of the harvest season. The air had begun to cool, and the days slowed down as the year gradually began to end. Birds chirped outside, their melodic songs carried by the wind as they flew past the guild hall on their way south in search of warmer, more habital climate. It was Selah's favorite time of year, the time for festivals, song, dance, and best of all- Pumpkin Flavored Brandy. Oh Selah just adored the stuff, but they didn't sell it any other time of the year. And so, with spirits high Selah awoke early with a smile on her face, her grin stretching ear to ear as she moved from her bed to the window and peered out to the vast city and mountains below. Wind picked up and carried the scent of candied apples from the stalls below.

With a quick shower and stretch, Selah donned her cloak and headed out into the guild hall, seeing it quite sparsely occupied- only a few mages who had just gotten back from jobs, along with the even fewer early risers sitting about and communing in the grand hall. That's what happens when you wake up at the crack of dawn, you get nice quiet time. But Selah had one thing on her mind, and that was getting herself some Brandy to kick off the day. She made her way over to the bar, hopping over the counter and starting to peruse the shelves of alchohol, failing to find any brandy at all. It was all just wines and booze, nothing even close to what Selah wanted. With a groan, Selah turned to lean on the counter, spotting a note with her name on it.


    Sorry Selah, we won't be getting any new shipments of Brandy for week,
   everyone got to it before you! Don't worry, next time ill be sure to save you a bottle of
   your favorite! -Casey


It had been left by one of her guildmates, a 26 year old woman who regularly worked the bar at night, or whenever Selah wasn't around to do it herself. Casey was nice, and often did save a bottle or too for Selah despite the fact that it was against the rules, so Selah was always greatful for her whenever she came through. With a content sigh, Selah folded the note and placed it in her pocket. Might aswell check the job board then, see if there was anything that needed to be done while she waited for the shipment to come in. Hunting, finding lost items, escorting, just the usual jobs you would find. She would have to choose one of them if she didn't find anything interesting. Lucky for her however, tucked in the very bottom corner of the job board was a paper, starting to brown from age, with an acceptance awaiting stamp on it. Selah picked it up, reading the faded words on the page carefully. It went into very brief detail about strange events going on in the phoenix mountains; missing persons, dead creatures, plants starting to rot for no reason. Just general spookiness that intrigued Selah, prompting her to press her thumb against the approval awaiting stamp on the corner. The intricate details of the stamp glowed blew, before a small lacrima appeared before Selah, hovering in the air for a moment, radiating a blue glow before dropping into her hands.

Without warning, Selah's vision and mind went blank. No thoughts at all, nothing. Images began to flash, first of a deer- its skin a sickly green, fur falling off and exposed meet and bone in areas that its flesh had been torn by lord knows what. Selah felt sick and empty looking at this image. Next came the same deer, now looking at Selah, with flies crowding it. The third image flashed, once more of the desecrated deer, now attacking Selah with rage in its eyes. Selah felt violent, disturbed, and ready to pass out. Next, an image depicting a flock of birds, each lacking varying amounts of feathers and flesh, all staring at Selah with cold, lifeless, and cruel eyes. Another image quickly flashed, now of the birds swooping down and attacking Selah, they grotesque bodies mangled and destroyed by something unknown. The final image was a bear seen from afar, not in quite the same state as the previous animals, but still afflicted by something. Selah regained her consciousness, finding that the job request now had a few more words written on it- Dispose of the undead creatures and find the cause, 500,000 jewel reward. The reward nearly made Selah's eyes pop out of her head, 500,000 jewel?! No, she couldn't take it. Those animals were in pain, she couldn't take money just for helping them come to peace.

She wasn't going to do this alone however- The startup mage found herself in the guild housing once more, leaving a note on Mash's door made of hardened neon (An element all the great alchemist's knew how to use well) that was sure to grab his attention. It simply stated that she had headed to the phoenix mountains, and to meet her there for a job with a great reward. And with that, Selah set off for the Phoenix Mountains, knowing just what to do.

Total Counter:

Selah was admiring the proud look of the phoenix mountains when Mashyuu and Hoseki arrived, quickly noticing the dragon that Mashyuu had arrived with. She walked up and smiled at Mash, before looking over to Hoseki. "Does he only speak english if hes been growing up with you then?" Selah asked, genuinely curious if Hoseki even knew that there was a dragon language. It was a fascinating thing, the newborn dragon that stood at Mashyuus side, and Selah wanted to learn everything she could about it. "Anyway, the job is to clear out some undead creatures in the mountains and find out whats causing death itself to turn backward. Im not sure how many there are out there, but it shouldn't be hard to take them out. They should be given rest anyways, their not meant for this world now anyway." Selah said, looking out to the mountainous forest before her. She could feel the presence of the undead in there, having experience dealing with them before. Though something was different about this, something more... painful.

After a short conversation, the trio set off into the mountains. Light filtered in through the trees above, giving the whole forest a pleasant orange glow. Shadows cast themselves onto the ground and leaves crunched underfoot as they explored the mountains. When there was once the pleasant chatter of birds and the occasional sighting of a deer, there was now dying trees and dull silence. The sky had turned gray with an oncoming thunder storm, and the trees began to gain a faded bark as they got deeper into the mountains. Something was not right here. They had been walking for about and hour when Selah's ears picked up on something moving in the bushes, then the deep hushed growl of bear. But something was different, it sounded hoarse and pained. Regardless, Selah placed her finger on her temple and her body locked up. Soon after a tremendous roar was heard as a bear lept towards the trio, before quickly getting swung away by Selah's spectral hand. She dropped the spell and summoned her moonlight great sword, bracing herself for the fight to come.

Selah watched the bear with trained eyes, both hands gripping the hilt of her sword as she waited for the slightest move. The two of them were locked in each others path, the first one to move would be vulnerable to attack. "Mash, im gonna start getting ready to roar. When I give you the signal get me in the air what ever way you see fit." Selah said, not taking her eyes off the bear. With a deep, steady breath, Selah concentrated her magic into the center of her body and letting it build up in a ball of primal fury. And with that, she shifted her weight onto her back leg, the bear before her launching itself forward. Selah took her sword and thrust it forward, striking the bear in the chest and piercing the skin enough to hold the bear on. With that, Selah threw the bear to the side with a heavy grunt before charging at it, sword held up and ready to strike.

Total Counter:

Selah braced herself as she was flung into the air by Hoseki, the force of the throw almost catching her off guard. Selah aimed carefully, waiting for just the right moment where nothing was in between her and the bear. No branches, no leaves, no trees. Time seemed to slow for Selah as she focused her shot, a new feeling of power rushing through her body. A power that other mages felt from now and then, but one that Selah had yet to experience. One that would let you push beyond the boundaries of your body, and force a spell to last longer then it was meant to. A power called Limit Transcendence. Selah's hair bristled with life, flowing with sheer force and anger as she opened her mouth to speak, the roar of an ancient dragon sounding off in the distance.

Selah's whole body was warped in a ball of light that exploded outwards with enough forced to throw the bear below her back, and push anything else in it's path out of the way. Before anyone had time to react, a beam of golden energy tore through the air with extreme speed, and collided with the undead bear full force. "Dovah Lu: Zolkot Rein!"

As the light faded, Selah was revealed on the ground in a hunched over pose, her stance almost minimalistic. Golden markings that almost resembled scales covered her lower arms and the sides of her face, and a bright yellow aura in the shaped of a dragon surrounded her. A large grin covered her face as her body straightened out. "Ooooh boy, this new." She breathed out, just loud enough to be heard. Selah could still feel the energy of her spell coursing through her body, which by now would have usually faded away. She took this opportunity to channel it once more, opening her mouth to unleash another blast of energy. Limit Transcendence had allowed her to repeatedly use Grand Roar like a volley, but not without consequences. Right now Selah's body was being sapped of mana at a rapid pace.

Selah braced herself as she saw the bear get up and begin to charge, leaping up into the air and over the bear before could reach her. Once more, Selah let loose another volley of pure draconic power, pushing her back slightly as she did. She couldn't sense the bears aura, or Hoseki' and Mashyuu's anymore. Right now all she could feel was the power rushing through her body and pushing her to keep going. Selah looked over to Mash and gave him a nod to fight if he wanted to, because right now there was no switching to other spells.

Word Counter:

Selah watched as Mashyuu unleashed a hurricane of attacks, including one that she had never seen him use before. When did he learn to use Iron Dragon Slayer magic? Regardless, when Mashyuu came over Selah nodded at him. "Believe it or not, I've barely used any magic at all! I'm ready to go whenever you are!" She said with a thumbs up, hearing the bear crash into the stone wall that Mash had raised. Selah knew that the bear would't be much of a problem much longer, it was nearly beaten. She breathed in and vaulted onto the top of the earthen wall. "Thanks by the way. For the applause I mean." With that, Selah pushed herself off the wall, landing behind the bear and out of Mashyuu's view. She let loose one volley of energy after another at the bear, the force of them pinning the bear up against the wall with ease. Eventually though, Selah stopped. The aura around her faded, and the energy coursing through her left. But that didn't mean she was out for the count, far from it infact. Selah raised her hand up to her head, a grin on her face as she faced the bear. A large crystal sword formed in her hand, and she quickly brought it crashing down on the bear. One hit, two hits, three, four. One after another Selah swung and slammed the bear into the wall with each slash of the sword, cutting into it like it was puddy.

After one more, final strike, the bear finally stopped moving. No twitch, no breath, nothing. It was dead for good, and Selah knew it. Selah made her way back over the wall of earth that Mashyuu had created to protect them and smiled. "There we go, that bear won't be bothering us anymore." Selah said carefully. There was still something else out there. "Let's get moving, we still need to clear out the woods and find out what's causing this. I have a hunch, but I'm not sure." Selah listened closely. It was faint, but it was there. The growling of a pack of wolves in the distance. She could guess at their size, they were big, much bigger than ordinary wolves. Selah didn't trust the uneasy feeling, but they did need to get a move on before they got caught by surprise, which wouldn't do any good for the pair of mages.

Total Counter: