Clouds and Currents - VoK & HW 2021 Event Prompts

   "Any sign of her?" Nahia asked, rousing Tamaya from her nap.
   "Not yet," Tamaya replied, yawning. Those dreams were getting more and more frequent. "I asked around the sky city for clues and for anyone who could to lend a hand in the search. One of them said they saw what looked like runes to the east, but more than anything, they were focused on the titan." She twisted up her mouth. "It'll probably be here by noon tomorrow, given how close it is now."
   As if on cue, the earth shook again. Nahia winced until it died down once more. "Any luck on the fireworks?" she asked.
   Tamaya nodded, unfazed. "Atwater's been working on modifying some of the weaponry he uses to act as launchers for them. Help with the aim and containment and all. He's already got experience with explosives, just needs to put together a receptacle for these ones and pack em full of extra powder to make sure we get the most bang for our buck. Literally," she answered. "Should be ready by the morning, if not before."
   "Nice," Nahia said, grinning. "I'll have to see if I can save some of them for nightfall, really knock that thing's socks off."
   Tamaya chuckled. "Hopefully by then I'll have found and caught her," she said. Then she paused. "Osgood wants me to bring her to him when I do. And, I mean, fair enough, he's been on her trail longer than any of us. Honestly, though?" She growled softly. "I want to throw her to the titan. Let it have its way with her. After all she did to ruin my life, she's lucky I don't kill her myself. That thing crushing her into paste would be a faster and more merciful death than anything I'd do to her after all this."
   "Dark," Nahia commented, raising an eyebrow. "But I get that."
   The hero sighed and allowed the tension in her shoulders to escape. "Whatever I end up doing," she said, "that wand is getting snapped in half and burnt to ash. If that's what she's been using to siphon and channel the titan's magic all this time, it's being destroyed. I'm not letting it fall into someone else's hands. Nobody else is going to go through what I did."
   "That might be your best plan yet," her friend laughed. Then she paused, looking up at the twilit sky. "It's late. Bora should be here by now," she complained.
   Tamaya frowned. "You don't think he found her and tried to confront her himself, do you?"
   "Nah," she said. "Bora's weird. If your culture has a prophecy saying that someone chosen as a hero by these kingdoms is the one who has to put an end to it, he'll respect that. Probably too much. He could take her down himself if he wanted to, but he wouldn't."
   "Wish he would," Tamaya said. "If only to make it easier for me to make her suffer for what she did."
   "Vengeful, aren't we?" commented a voice from behind them. "I suppose you're the hero he mentioned, then?"
   Tamaya's hackles raised, and she was on her feet in an instant, ready to strike. If this was more of Lorena's stolen magic, then-
   "Ah, damn," Nahia said in a defeated tone. "Hey, Mintovo." She gave an awkward smile. "They, uh... They all know I'm here, don't they?"
   Tamaya turned to look at Nahia and relaxed just a bit with the familiar way she spoke to him. "You know each other?"
   "They do," he said to Nahia, "and we do," he said to Tamaya. "Bora stopped by earlier, asked me to lend a hand with this titan business. Said he needed to take care of business on some island somewhere. Since I taught him everything he knows-"
   "He's a real humblebrag," Nahia whispered.
   "-he decided I'd be of more use to you than he would."
   "Did he actually say you'd be better at this than him, or are you just spicing up your story as usual?" Nahia questioned.
   Mintovo sat up on his haunches and flared his wings dramatically, raising one paw to his forehead and the other to his chest. "Why, how hurtful, Nahia, suggesting I'm less capable than my own protege! Truly, if I'm such a poor fit for the job, perhaps I should just turn around and head back home!"
   Tamaya jumped up. "No, no, that's not the case at all, we're happy to have your help, Mintovo, sir!" she insisted.
   "Don't encourage him!" Nahia objected, rolling her eyes. She trotted up to his side and pushed the older god. She was lucky Bora had requested help from one of the few gods there who didn't seem to have a grudge against her for (from what she could tell) no real reason.
   "Oh! Woe is me! I've been attacked! Assaulted, even, by my own pupil's pupil! Such betrayal!" he cried, allowing himself to fall to his side as she shoved her. He laughed and stretched his wings as he rose again. "So, Nahia. You'll be joining me in this battle against the titan?" he asked.
   She nodded. "Tamaya's got Lorena handled," she said. "She takes her down, and we hold off the titan while she does."
   "And how do you plan to assist in that?" he questioned. "Have your powers awakened in the... What has it been, a week and a half since you snuck off?"
   She snorted. "Don't need em, not this time," she replied. "I've got bombs." She paused. "Well, I will by the time it gets here, anyway. Gonna launch em right at that rock freak's face!" Her face split into a devious smile.
   "They're just really souped-up fireworks," Tamaya interjected. "But we've got a plan for how to use them. Lorena's a magic user, so she's tough, especially since she's drawing her strength from the titan itself, but she's still a person. It won't be easy, but I should be able to take her down."
   Mintovo chuckled. "The way Bora spoke of the hero chosen as a cub, it sounded like he was worried about you," he said. "But it sounds like you're pretty confident in your abilities."
   Tamaya pouted for just a moment, but then nodded. "I can't do anything meaningful about stopping the titan," she said, "but Lorena is flesh and blood and bone and tissue like anyone else is. I'll gouge her eyes out if I have to. I can gouge her eyes out if I have to." She was tempted to actually follow through on that, honestly.
   "Gross," Nahia said.
   "Agreed."
   Tamaya laughed. "Point being," she continued, "I can actually strike her down. Even if I have to use my own claws and fangs to do it."
   Mintovo nodded. "I trust your judgement and your abilities, then," he said. "Keep that trust in them yourself." He looked to the darkening sky. "We should rest now. Tomorrow will be a big day. We'll need all our energy for this. And besides," he said, laying down and stretching his legs out, "traveling between the realms really takes it out of you. I could use a nap after that anyway."
   "No it doesn't, you're just lazy," Nahia said, laying down as well. "Bet you weren't even the one who made the portal here."
   "You have no faith in me."
   Nahia rolled over to look at Tamaya. "He definitely didn't make the portal."
   Tamaya laughed and joined them in their rest.

   At some point during the night, Tamaya stirred just enough to watch something be delivered. When dawn came, her suspicions were confirmed - The fireworks and the apparatus to launch them had been completed. Nahia was, unsurprisingly, ecstatic.
   "I'm gonna blow that titan to hell!" she declared with a grin.
   "Please don't kill it," Tamaya said, giving an awkward smile in return. "It's a victim in this as much as anyone else."
   "A victim taking its revenge on unrelated parties," Mintovo pointed out.
   "Distantly related," the hero corrected. "It's more collateral damage than anything, anyway."
   "If that's the way you see it, fair enough." He shrugged. "Is that the way you see it when it comes to you and the ones who made you a hero, too?"
   Tamaya was quiet. "...I'm gonna have some words for them," she said at last, "but I'm not gonna kill em or anything."
   "So you are gonna kill Lorena, though!" Nahia chimed in. "That's so valid, she deserves it."
   "Hey, I never said that!" She did want to, though. A quick and painless one from the titan, or being torn apart by her own claws... But then again, maybe it was better to let her magic fade and force her to wither away, after the who knows how many years she'd spent using the titan's life to extend her own. A good, long death which she would have to suffer through with full awareness. She shook the thoughts from her head. Whatever happened, it didn't matter for the moment. She was apprehending her, that was all. Her ultimate fate, they could decide after that bit was taken care of. "Anyway, you should head off to intercept its approach. It'll take time to get this stuff over there, and you'll wanna have some extra time before you get desperate with the strategy. Give yourself the time to get used to the machine's aiming. I'm going back on the hunt."
   "Right," Nahia agreed. She bonked her head against Tamaya's shoulder. "Stay safe," she said. "I'll see you with Lorena when you catch her."
   Tamaya nodded. "I'll see you then."
   And so they went their separate ways, at least for now. With Mintovo's help, Nahia set to transporting the machine and its ammo to their ambush point, and Tamaya left in search of her own fateful encounter.

   The ground shook with each of the titan's massive steps. It was making it hard to aim, almost. But Nahia was persistent. She adjusted her positioning and struck the piece of flint with her steel gauntlets again, the spark lighting the firework's fuse and sending it flying, just as the last few had. And this time, it hit its mark, exploding as it made contact with the titan's head. It stumbled a bit, footing falling from the shore to the waves. Not much, but it was a start.
   She took aim and fired again. Another direct hit - She was getting the hang of this, it seemed. Still disoriented from the first blow, the stone entity stumbled further into the sea, roaring in outrage at this attack. It wasn't enough to do any serious damage, but it was enough to drive it off course.
   Just as planned.
   As it stood again, it was hit by a third rocket, and then a fourth, and another after that, again and again until it was no longer simply wading in the shallow surf, but a bit above ankle-deep (well, what would have been ankle-deep if it had ankles) in the water. She would have to drive it further in still if she wanted to hamper its movement further, but that was enough for Mintovo's side of the plan to begin.
   From the floe he had formed at a safe distance out, he roared and charged, ice spreading from his paws to let him leap across the ocean unhindered. He approached the titan and stopped, focusing his energy just as Bora had when he'd first found Nahia and Tamaya here - But this time, the water didn't merely cool. It froze. It wasn't an especially thick layer of ice, but it crept up the titan's legs, enough to slow its advance just a bit. Nahia could continue to drive it deeper from here using that much less of her ammo - Forced to break the ice to move, it was slower, and unbalanced from the movement of the waves and currents. More time to aim, more accurate hits.
   So that was just what she did, Mintovo retreating just in time to avoid the waves the titan's steps created as it stumbled further from the coast. And then again, less last-second this time. And then again after that. They were getting into a good rhythm, now. There was more water, deeper now, and creeping further up its legs from the splashing - More for him to work with, more for him to freeze.
   And with the deeper water came the second part of their plan. Nahia ceased her firing, for the moment at least, and both the citizens of the sea kingdom and the creatures from its surrounding trenches (or at least the ones that could be communicated and reasoned with), swarmed the water around the titan, while those of the sky kingdom with the wings to carry them dropped from their perches in the sky or on the chain to soar the air, diving and ascending like flies or mosquitoes around the monster. Agile in their natural territories, they would be the perfect distraction, the key piece to complement the god and disciple's assault.
   Together, even if they couldn't scratch the titan's surface, they could keep it busy. With any luck, busy long enough for Tamaya to track down the source of all this strife.
   It was up to her now.