Essentia Animus

65-Team Balance

It was late afternoon by the time Riyxia finally returned to her home with the hunters. Just moments before her arrival, Sryine had just arrived too, so none of them had found any opportunity to discuss what each other had been doing.

"Finally, you two make it back here. That was downright cruel, you know. Both of you know this research and development thing way more than I do, yet both of you left all this for me to take care of." "Sorry, it was kinda unexpected, I just..." "Yes, I heard you went on a lunch date with Jwyexzn. Hopefully things went well for you in the city with your arm like that." Vwyx was being partly sarcastic with Sryine due to her mood. Vwyx fully expected a snide remark in return, some kind of turn around to her calling it a lunch date, but Sryine only blushed silently in response. "Wait, you went into the city, Sryine? I'm not sure..." "You... I have absolutely no idea where you went. I don't even think you're in any position to complain about what Sryine was doing when you didn't even leave word about what you would be doing. You're supposed to be in charge here, right? That means if someone needs you, they need to know where you are. Leaving no clues to what you're doing was actually irresponsible. If anything, the three of us are seriously in a tight spot, I've even heard you've talked about how serious things are with Ayzherie, so not letting any of us know was really inconsiderate." Riyxia suddenly went quiet too, uncertain of any decent reply for Vwyx. Vwyx wasn't even typically this expressive, but circumstances had increased tension for her. She picked up the second black crystal sitting beside the shield, again a totally random occurrence to spite her frustration as she rushed faster than she paid attention. She might have been lashing out at the others, but she was mostly upset at just herself and her inability to figure this out.

"Oh wow, that's very pure. Have you been working on instruments, or does that have to do with the whole star flight project?" "Neither, actually, though I guess this would be really good for either. I never actually thought about the value for the whole star flight thing, but bringing that up, I do recall that our biggest problem right now was in gift insufficiency. Hells, that just makes things worse..." "What's wrong?" Sryine pressed Vwyx for information as to the research involving the shield and its relation to crystals. Eqriuxzl was present to add additional details in the process, leaving Sryine and Riyxia aware how upset Vwyx would be at not knowing what material was involved in this key step. Riyxia considered the whole concept, fire having a reaction to something that caused a reaction. Every stone Vwyx tried failed, but stone as an element typically cared very little about elemental flame. Dark didn't like it, as flame was very supportive of light, but a flame without light was nothing for darkness. Sky was much like Light, the two could blend well enough, were practically friends, but being without form wouldn't allow it to leave a form. Ice and Water she had already gone over, both would fight to the end against flame. Wood.. actually hates fire about as much as fire hates water, for much of the same reasons.

Riyxia jumped at that realization, and motioned that she would be right back. She went looking for something appropriate, finding a table nearby. A table was typically wooden, though some were metallic or other stone element constructs. However, most tables were made from cheap wood, she had learned that from Vwyx. Something about being powdered wood melded with an aquatic sap and some other random stuff that gave it a balance and form with much less material. She remembered the table the shield had originally incinerated, leaving behind nothing but dust that quickly scattered in the wind, not even burning like firewood. Ah, but there was supposed to be firewood not far from the second bedroom she had occasionally slept in. She went into that room and found some pure chips of wood. Taking a handful of the pieces, she returned back to the others. Finding a spot suitable enough to call a firepit, she scattered the wooden shards around. It was time for another test. She took out the two vials again, dripping the regular blood on one of the pieces, staining it slightly but doing nothing more. The dead wood almost seemed to like the offering of moisture, being so dry at this point. She then tried the other vial, which sparked instantly on contact and singed the wood to a carbon black in a small area. That made sense too, that's what burned wood became. She picked up one of the other chips and brought it over to Vwyx, for another shield test. The two girls got to witness the entire process this time, and the engulfed wood instantly turned into a dense black shard, shining in what remained of the day's sun.