To Chase a Shooting Star [Closed: Claria, Lucius, Collin]

[LuckyBlackCat]

A streak of glimmering gold shot through the night sky. Aglow with promise, a magnificent trail stretching out behind it, the symbol of opportunity grew ever brighter, outshining the constellations it left behind as it descended towards the black silhouettes of the Lanayru mountains.

In the training quarters of Zora's Domain, Claria stilled mid sword jab, her gaze shifting upwards. Her eyes widened. She let out a soft, awestruck gasp. Fixated, she approached one of the silver-ridged arches that made up the walls, watching the celestial body plummet and vanish behind the crystalline cliffs to the south. Distant, yet maybe - just maybe - close enough to reach.

A challenge. A chance.

There was no time to waste. Sheathing her sword, Claria turned her back on the battered training dummy and strode out of the hall. The moon was already well into its course above the kingdom. She'd only have a few short hours to do this before the treasure winked out in the first light of dawn like a rousing sleeper's dream... or, of course, before someone else claimed it as their own.

To most, the fabled star fragments were merely rare, pretty trinkets. To a Zora of the deep, however, they represented much more than that. One who guides must seek, the saying went. And what better way for a star of the sea, as the luminous Zora were known, to prove their mettle than by retrieving a star of the sky - a test from the Goddess herself, as per the legend passed down through bloodlines over thousands of years. Why else did the gem shards only retain their substance past sunrise once plucked from their impact site, if not as a reward for and a testament to one's dedication?

If she were to successfully bring back such a significant trophy... Dare she believe she may finally regain the respect of her family and her people? The distance that had grown between her and her cousins, as well as other researchers she'd once accompanied and guided, could mend once they returned from their latest oceanic expedition. Her mother may even cease to fret over her supposed fragility. The thought of others treating her as they had before was a ray of hope, much like the beacon she sought in the darkness.

Her steps hastened across the city's central platform. Once she'd let Dunma and Rivan know where she'd be heading, she continued along the chiselled stretch of the great bridge, past crags that lined the grass and dirt path, along the moonlit river that boosted her swimming speed with its current, onto the rocky shore of Tabahl Woods and its shadowed canopy, in the direction of Lanayru Heights. Just as moths fluttered towards the glow she emitted, she drew steadily closer to the divine trial's goal.

[El]

Dawn was bleeding through the veil,
Not as one, but as many,
Pinpick punctures, spray of glitter,
Illuminated, set to hail-

...Lyrical to the point of obscurity: the imagery between lines lacks unity. Redo.

Dawn was bleeding through the veil,
Not as fire, not as frost, not with heat(?)
But as light formed from the ultimate cost, aglitter with frost,
          ...sprayed across...?
But as light aglitter with frost, sprayed across-...

...Hmn. Perhaps 'dawn' is not the right metaphor to use here: it's taking too long to explain my own interpretation. I could, perchance, save it for a passing mention in a later line, though I question if my attachment to this sentiment is simply impractical and unnecessary. Nonetheless, an impactful first-line alternative is still required...

The sky glittered
    Too predictable
The veil hung heavy with its crown of stars
    Good start, but 'crown' doesn't feel suitable. Wrong shape.
Hung heavy with hope, the night's mantle shimmered
    Too long-winded

Whispering a sigh, Lucius swallowed down the bitter taste of - momentary - defeat. Grip loosened his quill rested, one last errant mark of nonsense punctuating the poetic struggles scrawled across the parchment settled upon his lap.

Inspiration was a dastardly fiend, was it not? There was so much he wanted to say about his thoughts regarding the stars, and yet the effort it took to capture those emotions - to formulate them into something tangible that could be effectively communicated - was, tonight, incredibly taxing. Thank goodness he didn't share the same circuitry as those sky-dwelling robots: he dreaded to think the efforts it'd take to rescue fried hardware. 

...Perhaps that was actually the issue here. Was he running low on charge?

But, well, it was worth it regardless - this poetry practice. As any worthwhile endeavour was, the graft of its process was as important as the result itself, struggle as he may and in truth often did. Art enriched the soul, you see, both in its construction and while too in the midst of its appreciation. A laughable prospect perhaps, for a construct. After all, many would argue that Lucius possessed no such thing as a soul, HA! And yet... was that sufficient enough an excuse to neglect its potential nourishment? He disagreed.

Once upon a time, in an age long past, one of the knight's creators - and mentors - had been firm in the belief that even an empty iron shell could house a soul, grow one, as long as it was fed on the proper diet routinely and with apt care. Poetry had been a part of that curriculum. And so Lucius had upheld the practice ever since, with faithful discipline. As he should. As he was told to. As he always had and shall.

At least once a week he would ensure to carve out time in his schedule dedicated solely to wordsmithery. So here he now was, perched atop a westerly peak of Zobodon highlands, his rear roosted upon a large plateau of a slab formed of that peculiar skyborn material. The stars felt especially radiant tonight. Yes, felt. Logically such a sentiment was laughable - irrational. But there had been a faint quiver in his core ever since dusk had settled in. The faintest tickle of an itch which had consistently pulled his gaze upwards until it had demanded the entirety of his attentions. 

As if awaiting, anticipating-...

...

Lucius grinned.

That.

With a loud, excited THWAPP the knight slapped shut his notebook and swiftly tucked both it and his writing utensils securely away. Time was not to be wasted! Urgency was a priority! Nimble and without pause Lucius pounced right off the top of his starlit summit in a swirl of royal blues and luminous blonde and BLAZED downwards, slicing asunder the vast expanse of crisp night air in his path.

The streaking meteor landed with a crash, a sizzling crack and a flare of golden light scorching the grass-laden earth below foot. The knight grimaced at that, quietly apologetic for his excitement getting the better of him only to pause at something altogether very different.

Ah. Someone else had been heading this way too. A figure tall and gleaming with an armour of their own. Their silhouette sharpened with clarity as the light of Lucius's aura faded almost entirely.

[AmJanky]

Recovering from the long trek up Zora's River, he found himself sleeplessly staring at the night sky. Short on money, but long on time, he had initially come there for a delivery of Bright Eyed Crab. An easy enough job - or so he had thought before realizing that it had to be a foot-journey.

Zora's Domain wasn't one of Collin's usual haunts, mostly because he had to leave Fox in the care of a stable. He didn't exactly like leaving Fox at a stable; not for the sake of the horse, but for the sake of the stable. But even a good rider had to admit to that trek being too much for a horse and he prided himself on being more than just a good rider. So, by foot he went.

It also may or may not have been the enablement of an addiction, by the way the Zora shop-keep gobbled and scarfed the crabs down without batting so much as an eyelid... That was if Zora's anatomy would even name it eyelids, if not, then yeah... Without so much as batting his in-built swimgoggles and without any shame or remorse all the same.
All Collin knew was that Hylians sure as hell couldn't see as much as Zora under the surface of the water, let alone keep their eyes open at all. And that he had never seen a Hylian's teeth crack down to eat a crab shell and all.
Just because a Zora could, didn't necessarily mean they should, though. Collin was pretty sure that must've hurt. It looked like it hurt.


A streak of light then sparkled through the blue light and dampness of the Domain, cleaving the stuck mental image of pointed teeth bearing down on hard crab shell. Several stories he'd lived and heard during his lifespan coming to mind.

On the rare occasion the telltale streak of light showed up, they'd wish.

Plenty of kids he'd grown up with did it, they wished upon that star.
Because wishes were all they had, wishes were all that kept them going. A wish for better, a wish for brighter, a wish for something real. Most of them wished for a family to take them out of that orphanage. Not all of them had their wishes granted, sometimes you just turned eighteen and were deemed too grown up to stay.
He smiled with a grateful little chuckle, sometimes it just took a whole lot more growing up to have that wish granted anyway. Just in not as convenient a way as getting adopted by a rich family, that was reserved for a very lucky very few.

The more likely way most of those kids got themselves into some sort of assembled - or if you will 'chosen' - family was to be picked up by a band of monster hunters. If you could fight you could stay.
He there had to unlearn the wishing upon stars, for they believed to point at one was very bad luck. They had no such interest to find the glowing showy bits of star that came falling from the sky, no matter the price. The thing would light up their camp and reveal their location to whatever monster they were trying to eradicate.

Then one day he learned what they were; a burning bit of space-rock. A lot less sentimental, straight-up factual. Just as the elder Sheikah teaching him that fact had been: Practical, factual, but very amiable nonetheless.


No longer held down by the stubborn safety rules of the hunters, nor having very much left to so truly deeply wish for... But, well, you know, if he could acquire said bit of space-rock, that'd be rad.
He was driven by pure curiosity and the desire to cleanse his pallet further of the mental image of a live crab getting chewed on by rather sharp pointy teeth.

He got up and followed the light, unbeknownst to him following two others.

[LuckyBlackCat]

Another luminous bolt flashed through the darkness. A sparking one.

Claria recoiled, her heart pounding a frantic staccato. Quickly, she composed herself, at least on the surface. Straightening her posture, steadying her breathing, she peered through the silhouettes of the trees.

Rule one of traversing the wilderness: Don't appear weak.

That had been no ordinary lightning strike - where the blast had scorched the ground in the distance, a figure now stood, the remnant of a glow fading around them. Did this person also seek the star fragment? If so, were they the unscrupulous kind of treasure hunter, the kind willing to cut down anyone who stood between them and what they wanted - with electrical powers at their disposal, no less?

Claria clenched her teeth. Silly, cowardly thoughts. There was no telling when such an opportunity would arise again, and she wasn't about to back away from it so easily. Step by tentative step, she advanced, only for her motions to slow and still. Her luminosity dulled. For all she knew, the armoured Hylian ahead of her could be friendly... but then again, he could also very well not be. And should the latter be the case, what chance did a Zora have against a lightning mage?

Whether or not retreating would have been the best course of action, it was too late now. The mage looked her way. Avoiding notice, especially in the dark, had never been her strong point. On reflex, she reached for the hilt of her sword, ready to defend herself should he go on the offensive, but her hand settled back by her side as she thought better of the gesture - if his intentions were indeed benign, she'd give the wrong impression.

So focused was she on the stranger that she almost failed to notice the rush of swooping wings. She whirled around, raising a fist, sniping a Keese out of the air with a laser just in time. The rest of the flock screeched as they descended in a mass of blazing red eyes, leathery wings and wicked fangs, blotting out the starlight. Claria drew her sword in a wide arc, holding her left arm in front of her, the glow of the fin protruding from it brightening and forming a sturdy shield.

Rule two of traversing the wilderness: Remain vigilant for all threats. Emphasis on all.

[El]

So THAT was the truth of it? Ha! Lucius's raised alarm had been naught but the prelude screech of an altogether different threat - not one of land or sea, but air! The moonlight flickered. Blotted. The cool quiet of the night fizzled, shattering into an increasing bluster of pounding wings. The sword for which a stranger's scaled palm had reached was not - in fact - intended for himself, but for a swarm of leathered rats! And rightly so!

The Zora warrior acted with admirable post-haste, promptly inspiring Lucius to follow suit. At first he could not comprehend why she'd opted instead to use a simple fist, but no sooner had such doubts clouded his judgement did an arc of brilliant light strike right through them. Remarkable! Was this an innate ability or a trained magic?

But tomarhto-tomaytoe, that mattered not.

As the woman unsheathed her sword and shield(?) the Knight was already at her back, a flash of speed with glittering mane and streaking cape landing him neatly in her blindspot: and yet also she in his. Lucius paid her no mind. Instead he raised a hand of his own, a screech of tensed leather and a snarl of his lips announcing loud and clear with a roar of authority:

"BEGONE, FIENDS!!!"

-And so the fireworks erupted.

In one fell swoop a glove backhanded not just one, nor two, nor even three, yet FOUR keese in a singular wide strike. They were not permitted a fall for they exploded right there and then, bursting in pressurised explosions of redhot electric and dark-magenta viscera. And as the rest of the mob attempted to flee?! Hah! Permission revoked. Snapped right out of the air by its screeching throat, Lucius seized one of the flock and set his eyes alight with power. A BOOM of thunder and lightning shook the earth. Nearby wildlife scattered. The sky illuminated in a flash of blinding light. An explosion - abrupt but just as fleeting - blossomed upward and outward: an electrified dome which had initially shielded both he and the Zora for that split-second of a blink, promptly expanding to set alight and decimate the leftover rats in its path. No sooner had it shattered did the blinding light then disappear, fizzling into naught but figments of the night.

Goop pitter-pattered upon the charred greenery at their feet. A stench of burnt skin and seared meat hung thick in the sizzling air. The swirling fog that so often marked the victorious demise of a monster was still fading as Lucius turned back to the stranger behind him.

"My deepest apologies," He promptly bowed, swooping back and away to give her ample personal space. One arm crossed over the insignia at his chest, a humbled frown marred his lowered brow. "-For any concern I may have elicited, yet even more so if I have intruded upon your duties."

...Or... perhaps identifying her as a soldier of the Zora's Domain had been too presumptuous?

Through golden-jade eyelashes Lucius observed her once more - properly this time. He was careful not to allow his gaze to linger, noting only what was needed and quickly. No. She was indeed armoured. Her gait too betrayed a past strife with rigorous training. Yet this was not the standard Zora attire he was accustomed to. Hrmn. A special rank then? Or perhaps simply a freelance warrior.

Lucius pursed his lips. That was none of his concern. Such personal information was irrelevant to the matter at hand.

"Are you unharmed?" The knight instead inquired.

[AmJanky]

It started with a thwap, maybe a squelch, perhaps even a squidge, or a squash.
No, what it really started with was a zap, it then transitioned into the thwap, squidge and squash. The zap combined with a lightshow, not too far away from where he was.

Then something bounced off his head, with a bonus squelch.

"Eye." Was all that he could utter, sounding more like an exclamation of general annoyance than the actual word, his nose scrunching as he saw what bounced and rolled away.
It wasn't that his stomach reeled at the sight of guts - it had at some point, one hardens pretty quickly at such things when it's an almost daily occurrence to be assaulted with, though - but after having to try really hard to ignore bits of crab flying everywhere, one is a little less assured of the sturdiness of one's stomach.

Even so none of that put him above picking up the keese eyeball and putting it into the bag that was flung around his shoulder. The price for them had completely bombed in the last few years, it wasn't worth keeping it to sell, wasn't it that he knew just who would like a thing like that. They'd like the wings too, but sadly - as Collin ventured a look along the Keese corpses - most of them had squelched out of existence.

What else he found amidst the crud of what proved to be a battle were two figures. Neither of them gave the impression that they were in any kind of way friendly at the moment - sword drawn and battle-ready.

One of them for as far as Collin could tell a Hylian. Hot, but extremely unbothered. Long blond locks flowing heroically in the last of his dissipating magic, before he stepped back and took a bow, showing the first sign of peaceful intent.
The Zora - in stark contrast - not exactly looking her hottest, her body-language only slightly betraying that she wasn't as proud and strong as she wanted to be. Not all that odd, firing off such zaps in close proximity to a water-dweller wasn't a really knightly thing to do.

But perhaps he read that wrong seeing as the both of them looked as knights of different disciplines and they were on some sort of joint training. Collin wouldn't even pretend to know the ways of knights, the closest he ever got to armor was when he landed a bucket on a bokoblin's head.

And there he was wondering if he would intrude or not, when he stepped into a particularly loud bit of leftover Keese. He hummed, "Well, that was unfortunate..." Sighing and apologetically waving a hand, "Please. Carry on, I was only following the shooting star. Wouldn't dare intrude"

[LuckyBlackCat]

No sooner had Claria struck down two more Keese with a swing of her sword, the stranger was at her side in a burst of glimmering gold - strangely akin to the trail of the shooting star.

She didn't have time to brace herself for the display. At the lightning blast he sent arcing through the sky, she recoiled, her legs seeming to move of their own accord. The electrical flash, however, was nothing compared to the sizzling dome that exploded outwards around her and the mage with an earth-rumbling thunderclap. The yelp she tried to hold back came out as a low, strangled whimper. A frenzy of sparks danced in every direction, none of which touched her, but the sensation of static froze her in place. With them came that cacophony of crackling, that awful mix of smells - scorched grass, charged air, burning flesh...

And just like that, the dome dispersed, plunging the scene back into relative darkness. Claria blinked, her nictitating membranes drawing back, and willed her locked muscles to move. The fin extension faded as she lowered her arm and sheathed her sword, her limbs shaking just as much as the breath she let out. Now that the quiet had settled back over the scene, she could hear her pulse thudding in her earholes.

He'd assisted her. Not that she'd needed protecting, but... He'd thrown himself into the fray, without hesitation. A ruthless treasure hunter would have taken advantage of her distraction to pursue the star. He posed no threat - not a deliberate one, anyway.

And here she was, acting like a frightened little minnow in front of not just him, but a new arrival. Someone hit with the, uh, aftermath of the battle, his nose wrinkled at the Keese eye that had bounced off of his head with a squishing noise. As his attention turned their way, and the lightning wielder bowed while offering his apology - was her distress that obvious? - Claria squared her shoulders, lips tightening against the ghost pains that prickled across her neck and chest.

"I'm quite alright, thank you." For all the assertion that she forced into her tone, the words held a faint tremor at the edges. "If you could be careful letting loose those thunderbolts every which way in proximity to others, though, that would be highly appreciated. And rest assured that those creatures are nothing I can't handle. I've dealt with plenty of them before."

A squelching crunch of flesh and bone crushed underfoot announced the other Hylian's approach, mild distaste crossing his features as if this wasn't the first time he'd witnessed such a gruesome scenario.

"Please. Carry on, I was only following the shooting star. Wouldn't dare intrude."

Claria's heart sank, that hope she'd dared build up starting to slip away like water over a ledge, just as everything seemed to sooner or later. Even though this newcomer showed no sign of hostile intentions as she scrutinised his stance, it was all too possible that he sought the star as fervently as she did. Was he in need of the money from the sale of such a rare gem? Was he an alchemist or artificer who required it for his crafting? Or did star fragments have cultural significance to him, as it did to her?

The latter appeared to be the case for the lightning mage. Her gaze flicked back to him. The falling star tattoo on his forehead, visible in the soft green glow she cast over his form, left no doubt in her mind that he pursued the same goal. She bit back a sigh - she should have known she'd run into rivals. Seemingly benign ones, at least, but even so... If all three of them equally desired the celestial treasure, how would they settle the matter in a way that was fair for everyone?

She glanced from one to the other. "So it seems we're on the same path. For what purpose do you follow it?"

[El]

Her voice was shaking.

Lucius denied himself the indulgence of curiosity. He kept his head bowed low, his averted gaze polite in its quiet deference. Pride was a common companion amongst the ranks of those he had often associated with, and he felt it now prickle, nettling against his eardrums as her sharp tongue whipped from barbed gratitude to insults, sarcasm and then at last bravado. No. She wasn't injured. She was-... insulted.

An unfortunate error on his part. His immediate leap into action may have dealt with the threat swiftly but he had trampled upon the warrior's pride in the process. Should he have enlisted less power? Should he have left gaps in his offence? Should he have merely brawled with the winged fiends despite the mastery over his own abilities? ...But that would've been inefficient. Wrong. Doing nothing at all would've been an even greater transgression against his programming. Besides, surely she was not susceptible to electricity as much of her kin was, given her blatant skill in wielding it? ...Unless the element of that laser had a different composition.

Troubling.

Lucius was still processing how to deliver his logic without inciting further hostility when another new face entered the fray. Odd. Peace may have begun to settle into the vast land of Hyrule, but it was still unusual to happen across so many strangers at once, in the wilderness, in the dead of night. Even if they were nearby, paths rarely crossed without conscious intent.

"Please. Carry on, I was only following the shooting star. Wouldn't dare intrude."

Confusion cleared. They were on his path. And given his defeated demeanour he had not desired a meeting at all.

"So it seems we're on the same path." The Zora stated herself, voice firm with caution. Despite her soured mood, Lucius smiled slightly as he straightened upright, fond of the strength with which she swiftly took control over the situation. She was still visibly shaken, but that did not deter her from her purpose. He approved of that. "For what purpose do you follow it?"

Momentarily the Knight's gaze flicked towards the Hylian, but it would be discourteous to listen to answers without first offering his own in exchange. "The simple answer-" His attention returned to the Zora soldier, voice and expression warm but respectful, "Would be to 'recharge'. Star Fragments are very effective at restoring my power and expediting repairs."

The Knight paused then, giving his company the chance to process that information before continuing with a wider smile of assurance, "However - as you may well have ascertained yourself, Ma'am - that is not currently a necessary undertaking. I was simply seizing the opportunity while it was present."

Of course the celestial objects held more than just simple, practical value to Lucius, but he deemed emotional sentiments irrelevant to his case. As much as he'd enjoy performing a soliloquy on the subject of the stars, to expound upon all aspects of their power and symbolism, history and beauty, he had quickly come to the conclusion that this Zora would have little patience for it. Not in this moment, at the very least. He would prefer not to aggravate her further.

"Perhaps, instead, I may assist your endeavours?" The knight's vibrant, draconic eyes flashed between both new faces. "Unless of course you would prefer your own company instead."

There was a risk of a fight breaking out.

While Lucius himself had zero intentions of feuding over the fallen treasure, he lacked enough information on the newest individual to accurately ascertain whether he would resort to more violent - or underhanded - means, should the other warrior prove stubborn in her goal. Yet this Zora was a proud sort. (As they often were, in truth.) She would likely wish to resolve the conflict herself. The best course of chivalry was therefore? To offer aid, not force it. Not unless absolutely necessary.

"I am also amenable to acting as an impartial judge, should you both wish to duel over the rights of claiming the star fragment." As was the gentleman's way. It would be far more honourable to air out any disagreements immediately, and in a civil manner.