[Heart Game - Ed, Maya, Roxy]

[carptricks]

[It's dark. You're trying to move forward, but it feels like your limbs are weighed down by chains and shackles. Still, you push. You push and you pull and those chains are pulled taut and strained until suddenly--]

[Something snaps]

[You tumble forward, wind blowing past your face, until you lose awareness of anything around you. . .]

((another run ran concurrent to this one here))

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[fuhrinkaed]

[OWFUCK.]

[That was my gut.]

[Reflexively channeling lightning through the blade to arc at whoever the hell is holding it.]

[soulping]

[The blade slices through your gut, which sends a white-hot streak of pain throughout your entire body. Blood already begins to stain the front of your clothing, and with that, comes a feeling]

[Why bother. . . why even try, when it always ends like this, when it ends in pain and suffering, why fight when you can't win. . .?]

[The smoke clears, and you see it's the mysterious figure that's wielding the weapon. It seems to have settled on Nyssa's form for now-- she holds the cutlass extended in front of her elegantly, though her body is fuzzy and glitches around her shoulders every so often]

[The lightning crackles, and Nyssa withdraws the blade before the attack can be channeled through the sword and into the owner. It does, however, arc through the sky and strike one of the ropes tethered to the Tiaboat, snapping it in half]

[With that, comes a new feeling]

[No-- don't give up yet!]

[fuhrinkaed]

So it's Nyssa today, then?

...Normal attacks don't work if it's you. [He puts a hand on his wound, grinning with a grim determination.] But you forgot one thing...

Never. Ever. [The water between the two boats fires up in a rhythmic wave, freezing into a blade as it goes up to sever the ties between boats.]

Fight a water mage on the ocean with his pet dragon right there. Gyarados! DRAGON RAGE! [HAND POINTING OUT AT THE OTHER BOAT.]

[soulping]

[The Nyssa figure laughs, shrill and unpleasant, like nails screeching down a chalk board. She leaps off of the Tiaboat and back onto the black one just as your water blade slices through the last two ropes anchoring her ship to yours. As the ropes snap in two, more determined feelings course through you]

[That's right! You've got this! You're not doing it by yourself!]

[Don't ever stop fighting!]

[Splashy Jr erupts from the water with a mighty roar and sends a powerful, flaming stream of PURE DRAGON RAGE at the black boat. It. . . does not destroy the boat at all, unfortunately. But it does push it away, out into the ocean, where it fades from view]

[. . . only a soft giggling in your ears remains. I'll be back. . .~]

[fuhrinkaed]

[And he'll reply to it with a arm pump and a wink.]

And when you come back, maybe we'll get along. But, if you still want to make things hard I'll kick your butt again! A hundred times, if I have to!

[soulping]

[The adrenaline of victory courses through you! You sure showed that ship, huh?]

[. . .]

[ah, but now you're bleeding all over the deck. . . there's a sizable pool of blood forming underneath your feet]

[fuhrinkaed]

[...oh. Right.]

[Let's. Tie the cloak around his gut to stem the flow of that. I love this stupid cloak, it's the best.]

[soulping]

[The cloak staves off the flow of blood. . . for now. You do feel a bit lightheaded, though. How much blood loss can you take?]

[At any rate, it seems the ship is finally approaching land. From the distance, you can see an island blanketed in white]

[fuhrinkaed]

[Mundane: Endurance is a skill he got back, so. 'A lot.']

[But first, let's use some cleaning magic to tidy up this blood on the deck. It wouldn't do to leave behind any bad feelings about that.]

[soulping]

[Then for now, you are good]

[The blood comes up easily as you clean up, too. And eventually, you feel the hull of the Tiaboat bump up against the island shore]

[fuhrinkaed]

[Well then.]

[I guess we're going on shore.]

Thanks for the save, Splashy Jr. You're the best.

[soulping]

[Splashy Jr flicks a few droplets of water at him in acknowledgement as he steps out onto the island]