Posts by Shininglight

The guests started pouring in, and naturally the first of them approached Shining as he waited by the entrance. "Ah, thank you!" He responded, smiling at her praise. "Oh, absolutely not. I had help from my fellow clanmates- it'd take me until next year to do it all myself." Heh, a New Years joke, albeit early.

He heard his name being called, and thus Shining turned to face the female coyote that was approaching. "It's the least I could do. I wanted to help however I could, and I'm sure my clanmates will say the same," Shine answered. The other Thunderlanders were sure to appreciate it. And as for the getting lucky... "I'm afraid not." He knew where the secretive mistletoe plants were hanging (in the Great Hall, at least), and he had no intention of standing under them.

He turned to Jasper- one of Riverside's newer members. "Thank you! I'm hoping that you'll have a good time." At that moment, his adoptive son had decided to press against the feline. Shine glanced down at the child. "You okay, Bell?" he asked, a hint of concern after noticing the way he bit his lip. Bell didn't look too thrilled to be here... Social anxiety, perhaps?

Shine smiled after Maeve agreed to stay- at least for a little while. Although he himself was a bit curious about the reasoning behind her wings being bounded by ancient magic. And whatever other stories she had of the divine. Unfortunately, his experience with supernatural beings were usually unpleasant... But maybe she'd be different. Acted nice enough so far.

"Ah, excellent. Well, if you have any questions, you can ask around for either me, or-" He flicked his tail towards the towering dragon. - "Luciferus here. Or, any other clanmate really."

Hard to say what went through Shining's mind as he laid there, unconscious. Or dead, for what all signs pointed to. A feeling of... nothingness. Was that even a feeling at all? To be void of everything, for a few moments in time. To experience a lack of all things in life- pleasure, discomfort, joy, sorrow. Was the void, the Abyss, better than living on earth? He wouldn't have to worry about anything. Wouldn't even have to exist. Let his story end, close the book. Thing would go on without him. Time would continue passing for everyone else. Would anything really change? Did he have any purpose, any reason for existing?

The answer was coming to him. He could feel it- a pull, a cry, a voice. A force that urged him- demanded him to return. To stay. And how he could ignore it? Too strong to fight off. His soul was returning, connecting back to the mind it belonged to. But the soul also attached to something else- another soul, in fact. The one that had ordered his return. The one that cared so much about him.

The one that loved him.

Shininglight awoke with a sudden start. His body jolted, as if by electric shock. His eyes opened- then closed again. Blinking a couple of times, trying to get rid of the blurriness that veiled his vision. The feline's lungs took a sharp, rapid inhale of air, exhaling at the same rate. This repeated a few times, with a fit of coughing mixed in.

He was alive, at least.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shine could see a figure slowly making their way towards him. Naturally, he turned his head to see who. Immediately he recognized them as Maeve- the self-proclaimed angel that had come upon Riverside's border not too long ago. Or, fallen angel. How many angels had he seen, with stories all the same: Fallen from heaven? Was that the only way they could come to earth? Could they not visit? A bit difficult to find the answers to these questions, as Shine couldn't just fly up to heaven and ask.

At first glance, it appeared that Maeve had come over to say something. But as the moment of silence grew longer and longer, with the look of confusion becoming more obvious and apparent, Shining finally spoke up. "Is something wrong, Maeve?" he asked. The tom didn't sound weirded out... Just a bit confused. At that point, she had decided to say something. "Ah... I see." Did all immortals use telepathy? Possibly not. Just because one was immortal did not mean they were all powerful. True held the same for the flip-side of things- mortals could hold power, although at a smaller scale.

"I can see why. Telepathy is much faster than regular speech." How many thoughts could be communicated in a single second? A lot, probably. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much of a shock for Maeve to discover that Shine held this power. "I don't use it much myself, except in extreme circumstances. Most people... don't really like hearing a voice in their head." It wasn't the norm in this world.

Seems like the year wasn't finished with its unpleasant surprises.

Shine had been away on some political business- something he didn't really enjoy, most of the time. And when he had returned to Riverside, the news had been brought to him: Anakin was dead. The specific details of it all were still hazy- no one seemed able to talk. At least, those that were close to the lion. Sekai, Valemon, Padme, Lessa... Luciferus might be able to tell him. But for now, Shine would focus on the funeral.

Anakin's body... had disappeared. Leaving behind only his suit of armor. The armor had been laid out on a neatly stacked pile of wood- a pyre, set out just inside the mountainous area of Riverside's territory. A safe place to light a fire. They had found Anakin's will, and in it a request for the armor to be burned on a fire. Also, something told Shine that Anakin wouldn't have settled with being buried in a hole. The two weren't all that close, but they had shared their moments of good and bad over the past few months. But others would definitely have fonder, stronger memories to remember- perhaps share.

It was time to pay respects. Some clanmates had already gathered, looking over the laid-out armor.

The last he had heard of The District was the Member Swap event they had set-up. It had gone slightly better than previous attempts with other groups. Still didn't seem like they'd ever truly be memorable events. He listened as Tanaquil introduced herself, and explained why she had come. New leader? Changed focuses? Shine needed to know a bit more before he made any sort of decision. "What do you mean by "changed focuses?" the winged feline asked, tilting his head slightly to one side. "A shift in political alignment? I'd like to know before I agree to anything."

His attention from his adoptive child was temporarily disrupted when he heard a very familiar voice speak up. Shine turned his head, spotting Lessa making her way towards the group. "Prospective interests will have to go through me." Well now... The tom let out a small chuckle, but was ultimately unsure how to feel after that statement. Embarrassed? No, it'd take more than that. Flattered? Not exactly... Lessa seemed awfully defensive of him. Though in a good way? Or maybe a bit too much?

Whatever the case, he opted not to respond to the initial comment. Shine did meet Lessa's gaze for the follow-up praise on the ball's decor. "Thanks, Les," Or, rather, the intention behind her eyes. It was met with his own message: I didn't, I swear. Even though his posture and other body language said otherwise.

Shine listened quietly to the Blizzardclanner. Octavian, the new ambassador. "Ah, gotcha. My name's Shininglight, the Delta here, as well as ambassador to Blizzardclan. So you can expect to bump into me from time to time." He didn't visit Blizzardclan as often as he would like. Unfortunately, leader duties kept him quite occupied, and thus he could only venture there sparingly. "We're doing alright here. Peaceful and quiet, as I prefer." Hopefully it could stay that way. "Also, we decided to join in on the popular name-changing trend that some other groups have done. We're now known as Riverside."

Shine had learned his lesson, which was to not make himself a target in a free-for-all snowball fight. Because everyone would turn heads for the chance to pelt him in the face. So this time, he'd try to be less obvious about it. The feline pretended to stand on the sidelines, 'watching' as Sekai and Jasper started a 1v1. In the meantime, his paws idly worked through the snow, forming a ball that he quickly aimed to throw at anyone that happened to stand nearby. Hopefully they'd be focus on the others, and not notice where it came from.

Shining had keen senses. Magnified ever since he was a child. It had helped to deal with his blindness... And now, it helped to detect mistletoe.

The devilish plant was everywhere, it seemed. The tom could smell it, see it, in every major building within Riverside. Like it had spread throughout the camp. But like all things, the mistletoe had to have an origin, a starting point. For a while, Shine could only guess. But as he stumbled upon someone making flower crowns out of the cursed plant, he began to put the puzzle pieces together. "Ah... So you're the one putting mistletoe everywhere..." the feline stated, a bit of a joking smile on his jaw. Of course it'd be Lessa to do such a thing.

Shine would have to resume his caretaker duties. Anakin was gone now, leaving behind two of his children in Riverside. He was somewhat confident that Sekai, the older sibling, would be able to handle herself. But Valemon? It was noticeable that the male lion acted slower than normal, not quite having a solid grasp on life. Val needed more time to learn. He was afraid to see how the young Skywalker would react to his father's death...

The Delta had been looking all over, trying to find the kid. Could have been anywhere in the entire territory, or outside it... Had he run off? Shine was beginning to think so, when he spotted Sekai nuzzling against a... black cape. Anakin's cape. He quickly made his way over, ears picking up the sound of Valemon's crying. "Val..." Shine said gently, like Sekai.

"Indeed we will," Shine spoke up, coming beside Luciferus. He'd mention it at some point in the upcoming meeting. Hadn't the Thunderlands hosted a meet & greet a few months ago? The tom's memory pointed to yes. Oh well, a new one was probably needed.

Shine was quite comfortable chatting with strangers and new faces- a fan of it, actually. Because there was the possibility of making a new friend, after all. That's what meet & greets were for. The Riverside Delta padded into the cave, noting the decor and the sizable group inside. He'd have to pass on the refreshments in the corner, however. The feline spotted Lessa and Bell talking with some others- normally Shine would have gone over to join in, but this even was supposed to be about meeting others. Besides, if Les needed to say anything to him... She could do so telepathically now. Long story.

Instead, the tom decided to converse with a rather important figure in the room. "Nice to see you again, Deutsch ," Shining greeted, padding up to the German shepherd and waving his tail in greeting. "Things going alright here?"

The news that Deutschland had told him had not been good to hear.

Shininglight came upon The Rift's border, looking over what part of the territory he could see. He could smell the salt of the nearby ocean, and could spot the lighthouse in the distance. The territory kind of reminded him of Hawkclan's old home- the one he had been born in. Only, they had lived in a castle. But he wasn't here to relive old memories. Shine needed to confirm what the Thunderlands leader had spoken about Archi and her deal with one of their allies. If it was true...

He listened quietly as Bell explained further, but only felt more confused. The memories the child recalled were less than pleasant. And, unfortunately, they didn't do much to cause any sort of immediate revelation in the tom. But rather, he grew concerned over the dark aura that he could sense coming from Bell. "Hey, Bell, relax..." Shining encouraged, aiming to run a paw gently a few times over the child's back. "I understand you're frustrated about wanting to know your past life... There are others just like you experiencing the same thing. But devoting your time trying to recover old memories isn't healthy. You have to focus on the life you're living now as well. Sometimes, your memories will just come back with time and patience."

Shine looked over Bell's form... A second time. A third. Something about the kitsune-feline hybrid was starting to nag at the back of his mind... Bell had shown up in Riverside territory- appeared, in fact. No recollection of having been anywhere else in the past few days. What had happened before then, within the group? One thing immediately came to mind, and the dots all started connecting at once. A quiet realization sparked in Shine's eyes.

Ah jeez.

”We’ve changed the rank names up slightly,” Shining continued. “Captain to Delta; First Mate to Alluvial; Second Mates to Advisors; Doctor and Nurses have been combined into one position, Doctors. Lifeguard and Riverguard remain the same. And Minnow to Rainmaker.” Of course, all these changes were visible in the guide.

“Demotions: I’m not sure where Elizabeth has gone, so she is demoted to a regular member. Whiterose has not been active enough to keep her Doctor position. A warning to Optimus; you’ve gotten back into the swing of things recently, but just make sure to keep a steady level of activity here on out. I have a small shoutout to Destrian and Ghostcountry: keep up the good work. No promotions, unfortunately. However, I am considering having a HP Tryout here in the near future, to hopefully allow our numbers to grow and fill in some positions. So keep an eye open for that.

“Some more news before we dismiss. The Thunderlands has invited us to a meet & greet, so head over to that if you’d like to make some friends. And lastly, we’ll be doing a bit of spelunking here soon. There’s appears to be a cave within the mountainous portion of territory, and I’m curious to see where it leads. Unless Luciferus has anything to add, this meeting is dismissed.”

// Recap 2/2 (mobile while posting, sorry for lack of formatting / if i missed something!)

• Rank name changes
• Elizabeth and Whiterose demoted
• Warning to Optimus
• Shoutout to Destrian and Ghostcountry
• HP tryouts in near future
• Meet & greet w/ thunderlands (link up soon in Event Hub)
• Spleunking coming soon...

What a way to spend the Christmas holiday: stuck in the Hospital.

Shining still felt dizzy. One moment he had been sitting in front of the fireplace. The next, he had awoken on the floor, coughing up blood and gasping for air, his whole body in pain. It had taken him a while for his mind to clear up and remember what exactly had happened. His bond with Littlestar had shattered. And the effort from trying to keep it together had almost killed him. Almost.

Or, maybe he did die. Just for a moment.

There had been a stretch of time where Shine could feel nothing. See nothing, hear nothing- nothing but the void. And he had wanted to stay, for there was comfort in the lack of feeling. But something had gently- no, firmly pulled his soul back to his body. Back to the physical world. A voice, one that he knew well.

The tom’s muscles ached as he stretched his limbs. Shine was laying in one of the Hospital beds, too exhausted, too much in pain to move much. But he needed to get up. He was the leader, after all. Nothing was going to get done if he didnt work. Unfortunately, one thing was standing in his way. The one person that possessed an almost literal metal grip over Shine, keeping him here. Someone more stubborn than Ichigo.

Lessa.

lessa s. | this is where it becomes official wink wonk