Water Weaver [mission/ closed]

A large grin appeared on his face upon seeing the woman head towards him, he practically jumped up on the spot with delight upon seeing her and threw his hands up in the air. "Yay! You're here!" He giggled in a child-like manner, definitely not exactly 'guild master' material. But looks can be deceiving, Kiyomi should know that.

"I'm so glad you made it! It's awfully cold up here, I know it can be a pain to reach this village." He began, the fluffy hood flopping over his head, "Oh dear."

Sovereign grabbed it and pulled it up a little, now starting to realise that his clothes were a little too big for him. But that was fine, in fact, he liked it that way. "Ummmm..." The guild master pondered for a moment, tapping his chin and looking around the village, "Ah, right! Let's find that woman."

With a big step forwards, he'd begin a forward march through the snow, his shoes crunching it under his weight.

Kiyomi Tenma

"Well that's great news! I'm glad you're okay." Sovereign nodded, his feet feeling heavier as he trudged onward. So far, he had sort of gathered that Kiyomi seemed to be very serious and wanted to focus on getting the job done. It was quite refreshing interacting with someone like this and for them to remain their normal selves. Sometimes Sovereign would notice people behave differently around him, especially when he behaved like an idiot. But not Kiyomi, in fact, her attitude was slightly similar to Salvatore's.

"Uhhh, no I don't know where to look first." He shrugged again, his layers of thick clothes shifting with him, "I tend to just keep looking until I find them, I dunno."

In reality, Sovereign could have scanned this entire village in just a few seconds, with eyes and ears in every corner and looking out from every rooftop, locating his target would have been easy. But when on a mission with someone new, he wanted to see what they'd do. "Got any ideas yourself?"

Kiyomi Tenma

Sovereign was practically skipping now, overly happy for whatever reason that not even he was sure of. The flames danced around him, warming up his bones and letting him relax a little. "Oh this is so fun, you seem to know what you're doing!" He cheered her on, squeezing through the doors behind her and shutting it closed. "Ah, much cosier in here."

Sovereign wasn't really paying much attention to Kiyomi at the start, he quickly wondered off like a distracted child and started looking at all the trophies of severed monster heads scattered around the tavern. Wyverns, Yetis, Trolls were just a few of the beasts, the rest were just large bones belonging to creatures he didn't know about. 

While he was staring intently into the hollow sockets of monster skulls, Kiyomi was already starting to set fire to some poor man's clothes. The smell caught Sovereign's attention, and right after she mentioned his sanity, he'd giggle and jump up in the air. "Oh wow, Kiyomi! You're so good at this!"

Sovereign clapped a little, his grin growing larger as a few of the people inside looked at him with confusion and worry, not the slightest bit intimidated by the child. 

"Jeez, girl!" The guy in the woman's clutches said, "No need to get so fiery. Was only messing with you!"

With gritted teeth, he'd try to squirm away, but the grip was too tight and he barely moved. Glancing at the others in the tavern, he exchanged nervous looks when the topic of the woman was mentioned. "If you're talking about Chiyako, she's already left..."

Everyone quickly agreed with him, nodding their heads and looking at one another nervously. Sovereign tilted his head, watching how quick everyone was to respond to him. But how could she have left already? And where would she have gone?

'creak'

'creak'

There were footsteps on the floor above, Sovereign looked up quickly but everyone else seemed to ignore it, almost pretending like there was nothing there...

Kiyomi Tenma

Eventually calming down and being a little more quiet, Sovereign started playing around with the mugs on a table, stacking them on top of one another as the creaking footsteps above continued. It might have just been a poor soul minding their own business, but judging from the loud crunch of snow as they jumped from the top floor and landed on the ground, he assumed that was their target.

"Um..." He looked around to see if others had noticed, slowly lifting a finger to the woman who was now running away.

Thankfully, it seemed Kiyomi was more on the ball than he was, and had already burst out the tavern and was in hot pursuit of this water mage. "C- Careful, she's known for a being a tough cookie!" He chimed, worried that Kiyomi might get herself in a situation that she couldn't get out of.

Sovereign would then sit down at a table, next to a much older and muscular man and then take his drink. With a quick smile, he started drinking it and then sighed, all this time the man didn't say a word to the strange boy. "Lovely." He finished, wiping his mouth with his sleeve before his bod began to slowly evaporate into black ethernano, until there was no trace of him at all.

All this time, he had just been a clone.

~

Some ways down the edge of the village, in the direction that Kiyomi and Chiyako were headed, a few other Sovereigns had gathered and were playing patty cake together. "Oh, they're almost here." One said, to which the other giggled and nodded in response.

"Oop! There they are!" They all shouted in unison, smiling as they came into view. "Stop please." he said with sweet innocence in his voice, and suddenly, a whole row of Sovereign's clones flashed into existence, blocking the path completely.

Kiyomi Tenma

Sovereign watched in silence as the woman started going on about a certain person, but didn't really elaborate on the matter at all. Instead, she decided to just defend herself once more with waves of deadly water, which appeared to be more aimed at Kiyomi since she was the one in hot pursuit.

At closer inspection, he noticed the woman was probably much older than him, she had white hair and a slightly youthful appearance, but that just meant she looked younger than she really was. Chiyako wore no warm clothing, just a thin garb with draped fabric coming from her arms, and long ribbons in her hair. There was no hesitation in her attacks, meaning that whatever her main goal was, she really didn't want anyone getting in the way.

"Those people you have injured and killed, was that part of your goal? Or did they just get caught in the crossfire?" The three Sovereign's called out to her, their voices louder than normal. Despite being in the middle of a fight, they all seemed quite relaxed with their hands placed behind their backs and posture still upright and calm. "It doesn't make sense Chiyako, you're a famous mage who's only helped society rebuild. What happened?"

"It's none of your bloody business, children." She spat, gritting her teeth and assuming a combative stance. Her knees bent and her palms faced out either side of her, with a quick kick of her legs and rotation of her hips, the very snow on the ground around them would be manipulated to her will. It melted down into water, hardened spikes of liquid would rise up in waves, erupting out the ground like an explosion to impale everything in the area.

Kiyomi Tenma

Chiyako retaliated quickly, the spikes she sent outwards erupting from the ground as high as Sovereign himself. He took a sidestep, then jumped, only for something to flicker into existence and launch him high up into the air like a slingshot. Spinning round, the fabrics that adorned him would spin as well, making him look like a pile of laundry caught in the wind than an actual person.

The spikes sank back to the ground, and so did Sovereign shortly after they dissipated. As he did so, a ball of lightning was launched from Kiyomi from behind one of the dumpsters. As it neared the older woman, a torrent of water shot up from the ground, slicing the attack in half, though not entirely blocking it. Sparks flew as it crackled and popped through the snow, spreading through her body as she winced from the attack.

"Business or not, there's a bounty on you now. You're too far gone, let us help." Sovereign lied, smiling at Chiyako who had a face calm and stern, yet eyes raging like thunder.

Not replying, she merely stomped her foot on the ground and caused her entire body to be encapsulated by rapidly moving water. After a brief delay, the entire ground began to shake as she summoned forth a giant serpent made of icy-cold liquid. It towered above everyone, writhing in the air before slamming its tail round. It would level small huts, crush containers and cause serious damage if it made contact.

Kiyomi Tenma