TO: Aurora and Eternalis (HSEzarith@HrSharo.org )
FROM: Lyntael (
[ExceptionError:ValueCannotBeNull])
SUBJECT: Safe
As before, the email arrives as a single .id~2 file which open in the form of a video log. It shows Lyntael resting with her back to a wooden support beam at the edge of a small wooden deck, while behind her a doorway seems to lead back inside – it's an entryway that didn't exist in her home previously, along with the space the girl seems to be in now, though not much of it can be seen.
Lyntael herself is breathing hard, and takes a long drink from a smooth stone mug that she sets down on the railing nearby after draining it. Her skin is flushed and pink, and early morning sunlight reflects a light sheen of fresh perspiration coating much of her skin. It's more visible than usual, since Lyntael doesn't appear to be wearing her normal vest and skirt. Instead, a pale yellow towel is draped around her shoulders, the ends of it neatly covering her chest, and the camera's viewpoint is zoomed to cut off at about the girl's midriff. She lifts one side of it to wipe her forehead, seemingly without thought – though by some miraculous coincidence her arm takes over the job of obscuring and she manages the whole motion without ever exposing herself to the viewpoint. Once the towel is resettled, Lyntael grins at the camera and waves.
“Hahh... Hi guys! Good morning. Sorry I didn't write back immediately last night. I stayed out for a bit longer, but I got home safe and sound.” For a brief moment the girl frowns and her gaze casts downward, the sunny disposition faltering, but she shakes her head a moment later and shakes the drop in her mood off with it. “I wasn't in much mood to talk or write after that... I got into another fight with Rogan... but I'm okay. Hope you're all doing fine as well!” She pauses for a moment, closing her eyes and stretching her arms above her head, fingers laced, then arches her back and rolls her shoulders as the motion slides through her form. A bead of sweat makes its way from her neck, down the centre of her chest as she begins to slowly move through some warm down stretches.
“Mmnn... I, ah... I went after that creature we were chasing, after you guys had to go. He wasn't really that scary in the end, and I took care of it, so, maybe that old park will be a little safer now.” She pauses, turning her back to the camera to press both hands against the wooden railing and stretch her back out. Her head drops as she arches for a few seconds, then lifts as she inverts the stretch and throws her head back with a soft moan of effort, eyes closed. She straightens and shakes herself out a little then continues stretching down.
“I got pretty upset last night, but I'm feeling better this morning, I promise. Hahh... I wanted to show you guys around the new training area I made, but I thought I might give you both a little teaser like this for now, until you can actually visit again some time.” As she speaks, one of her eyelids flickers just slightly – maybe a wink, maybe not. Hard to be certain, though there is a playful grin at one corner of her lips. “Come on, let me show you everything!” She steps away from the the small wooden porch and out into a more open area, as the view point pans with her - Miraculously, her work-out towel had managed to obscure any slips throughout her warm down; it was displaying much the same valiant purpose that her modesty-coded skirt often did.
Lyntael walks into the space beyond and the view draws back slightly more, giving a better look at the area – it slides out far enough from the girl herself that it shows occasional glimpses of her bare waist and hips as she moves, though it avoids giving away any clear confirmation of her state of dress, or potentially undress, below the waist. Lyntael glances at the view point side-on and starts to gesture with a smile.
“I realised what I was missing. Somewhere to practice safely, in my own home, you know? So I made this training space!” As she walks slowly around the area, pointing things out, the view sweeps with her directions. The area looks like a moderately-sized garden space, formed of a flat shelf of rock and land, naturally worn out of what looks almost to be a mountainside. The view, all around, falls away into mountain slopes at the edge of the garden, looking out over a wild, natural space; mountainous, with green forests cladding the valleys below the rocky, misted peaks. To one side, the sound of the river that runs through Lyntael's garden can be heard, and indeed the river itself seems to feed into this second exterior in the form of a gravel-bottomed pool that then flows out further and away down the mountainside. The pool itself has a small section of wooden decking set around the near side but is otherwise natural and untouched.
There doesn't seem to be an actual access between this space and her main garden – rather it is more of a disconnected front garden - back garden situation, and the river emerges from higher up, making a scattering waterfall that sprays into the pool from the blue and grey stone which forms the inward side of the area. The wooden decking extends halfway beneath the waterfall, perfect for quick showers if one doesn't wish to dive in for a proper swim. The porch that Lyntael had been resting on initially, when the view sweeps back to look at it, shows it to be a fixture set into the mountainside itself, with the doorway leading into the stone, and dimly, towards some upward climbing stairs; presumably leading back into Lyntael's interior home.
The main area of the training space is occupied by a large, flat space covered in fine, smooth gravel and holds a variety of abstract targets and stands, seemingly intended for several different styles of martial training, though each seems to be reinforced with a metallic core and bears heavy-duty earths designed to disperse large amounts of electricity. At the outer edges, the gravel gives way to soft moss that continues to the edge of the garden before it falls away, seemingly ideal for relaxing and lying out on to rest.
As Lyntael points out the different features of the new space, the water ripples and the greenery ruffles in response to a cool wind curling through the garden as it winds around the mountain peak, and the girl pauses to look in the direction it blows, seemingly distracted for several long seconds before she recovers. She stretches again absently and grins towards the view point.
“I'm pretty happy with it, honestly. It should be a good place to practice with my charge some more, and, you know, build up my resistance a bit more, I guess.” She turns from the camera briefly, taking the towel off her shoulders and rubbing herself down a little more thoroughly with just her bare back presented to the view. “And, I suppose... a place to maybe blow off steam when I get mad at things...” She glances back over her shoulder, but it's clear she's looking towards the door that leads back into her home, rather than the camera itself. “Rogan thinks it's too dangerous for me to be slipping out like I do, disconnected. He doesn't want me going out like that any more, unless it's work that we're doing together, or if he's watching me and can pull me out if there's an emergency.”
With a small sigh, Lyntael throws the towel over onto the railing, past the camera's view, then makes small gesture with one hand; the view pans away just far enough to push her out of view, then there comes the sound of a small splash. The view refocuses as the girl surfaces in the pool and swims back to the wooden edge, crossing her arms on it and resting her head on them while the constantly flowing water obscures the rest of her form.
“I got... really angry about that. It didn't... doesn't really feel very fair, not after everything I've already been doing, and everything he's put me through already... but... I slept on it, and I tried to step back from it a bit, and... I'm going to do what he says, for now. He's still hurting, and I still don't know why everything I do or say to him just seems to bring that pain to the surface again, no matter what I try... but he needs me. More than ever now, I think, so, I'm going to try not to be mad at him.” After another moment of contemplation, her features soft and thoughtful, Lyntael brightens again and looks back towards the view point with a cheeky grin. She begins to stand up in the water, but turns away before anything overt gets revealed. Her hands rest on her hips, just out of the water and just shy of giving anything else away as she looks out, away from the camera and over the distant view beyond the garden.
“I guess that just means you'll have to come over here and visit me instead, right?” This time when she glances back over her shoulder, the eye flutter is more certainly a wink. She sinks back into the water and turns back properly.
“Seriously though, thank you both for hanging out with me yesterday, even if we got interrupted. I hope this finds you both happy and well, and that you got home safe and whatever power issues you've been having are sorted out. Let me know when you can... I'll be here, I guess. Love you both!” She presses fingertips on each hand to her lips and gestures towards the view before waving one more time as the video ends.
TimeBomb2HP: 100
