[ The roots dig in further as they try and almost wrench through Vander’s arm. There’s a desperation with how they move, much more like an animal clawing viciously in fear than the sort of lumbering, indifferent nature that the creature had been showing before. Another spike comes out from lower in its body, though it’s not as thick and reinforced as the one in his shoulder. It becomes apparent that it only has so much mass to work with as it forms these spikes, but as it cuts deep into one of Vander’s legs, it might not matter much.
It lets Vander come in close and throw a punch right at the skull, but where he had clipped into the side of the cavity enough to shatter some of the lesser crystals, punching so directly feels like a wall stops him just a few inches short of colliding with the center mass. There’s a shimmer of light against his fist, as if there were a perfectly clear window there that he had just missed. If either of them has the eye for it, they might recognize it as something magical in nature.
It cracks in three.
A set of memories blurs together, all happening at once. Childe’s, Vander’s, and someone named Manon. It’s a memory that’s familiar in every set, but every time you recall these memories, it comes with a sense of dread. You’re running as fast as your legs can carry you, because if you stop, something terrible will happen. Now, in the moment, you know you won’t die, but in the memory, the fear is there enough that your heart slams in your chest.
You’re a child, running from wolves that you can hear baying hungrily behind you.
You’re a young man, running to drag your people into cover from the Enforcers’ rifles, and you can hear the crack through the air as one bullet comes close enough to your head that you’ll look back later and know you were lucky.
You’re a man, running here in these woods of Alenroux because you’ve been released. You can’t remember clearly who did this to you, but it was certainly more than just Discord run amok. Your brain is on fire, and you can feel something growing inside you. The trees are a comfort, the trees are safe, and you’re not sure if it’s real or not when you look down and see a root twisting out of your skin, since you can’t feel your skin anymore. You look towards the setting sun as you simply head North, but you see a fuzzy figure of a person in the distance. And it’s like you explode towards them.
It shatters with an explosion of fire centered around Vander’s fist. Vander will take the brunt of it, but even Childe won’t be safe from the shrapnel as sharp pieces of the roots are blown off with the force as well. ]
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It lets Vander come in close and throw a punch right at the skull, but where he had clipped into the side of the cavity enough to shatter some of the lesser crystals, punching so directly feels like a wall stops him just a few inches short of colliding with the center mass. There’s a shimmer of light against his fist, as if there were a perfectly clear window there that he had just missed. If either of them has the eye for it, they might recognize it as something magical in nature.
It cracks in three.
A set of memories blurs together, all happening at once. Childe’s, Vander’s, and someone named Manon. It’s a memory that’s familiar in every set, but every time you recall these memories, it comes with a sense of dread. You’re running as fast as your legs can carry you, because if you stop, something terrible will happen. Now, in the moment, you know you won’t die, but in the memory, the fear is there enough that your heart slams in your chest.
You’re a child, running from wolves that you can hear baying hungrily behind you.
You’re a young man, running to drag your people into cover from the Enforcers’ rifles, and you can hear the crack through the air as one bullet comes close enough to your head that you’ll look back later and know you were lucky.
You’re a man, running here in these woods of Alenroux because you’ve been released. You can’t remember clearly who did this to you, but it was certainly more than just Discord run amok. Your brain is on fire, and you can feel something growing inside you. The trees are a comfort, the trees are safe, and you’re not sure if it’s real or not when you look down and see a root twisting out of your skin, since you can’t feel your skin anymore. You look towards the setting sun as you simply head North, but you see a fuzzy figure of a person in the distance. And it’s like you explode towards them.
It shatters with an explosion of fire centered around Vander’s fist. Vander will take the brunt of it, but even Childe won’t be safe from the shrapnel as sharp pieces of the roots are blown off with the force as well. ]