counterattack | A LAWFUL WASTELAND

[ it's December 8. Law turns 18 today. at this point, he's been living in Copalli for over a year. during the final relic fiasco, he achieved trance within about five seconds (because it's basically overlimit) and faced Tiamat in her castle because he had a score to settle with dragons (dragons, wyverns, same shit) and had enough taking shit from these mother fucking guardians in this mother fucking jungle. it was epic.

anyway, it's a few months later and Law lives in Tikal again, down at the bottom of the crater. they've built bridges and pulleys aboveground, as well as created a system to keep the crater from filling with water when it rains. although most of his farm was lost during Tikal's fall, he's rebuilt it bigger and better than ever and repopulated it with even more chickens, hogs, cows and even a few semi-domesticated mist monsters. there's also proper crops, probably due in part to at least one friend or another planting on the huge expanse of land he's set up there. he also rebuilt the inn that collapsed on top of him back then, and this time it's actually finished. he got a local business manager to help run the place and they export animal products and crops all over Copalli. the inn is booming. it's great.

all is well.

except now it's his birthday and Law is just trying to go about his business like he doesn't know that, strapping on his fancy wolf gauntlets and shouldering a big pack of supplies to go make some delivery trips to the other cities. nothin' to see here, not ya lil dude all growed up, a solid 5'9" (and a half) with some cool tribal tats done over his wyvern scars and something of a more mature countenance, buuuuuttt still the dweebo dorkus doofus meathead he's always been.

ANYWAY, THIS IS #LATERGRAM INCENSEDVERSE. medallion him, meet him at any of the cities, fight monsters together on the road, pretend there was a party planned that he's trying to sneak out of showing up to, WHATEVER WORKS. ]

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From:

messenger

[ no doubt cas pushed himself too hard when everything was popping off with tiamat, transformed again, and blew his powers out for a while. in the aftermath, he and dean returned to tikal and, after he recovered, went full tilt helping the reconstruction effort. for that reason, he and law haven't spoken much, but he did help the boy punch a giant god-wolf to death (by stabbing it a lot to distract it) which means when he hears from someone or other that it's his birthday, he figures he should... say something? do something?

so he contacts law out of nowhere when he definitely isn't busy with anything more important /s. his voice, over the medallion, sounds almost accusatory. ]

Is it your birthday?

From:

rinwell

[ Why is he so much TALLER NOW

If he hadn’t shot up like a weed in the last few months, filling out that extra height with extra muscle, and all those fancy tattoos offsetting old scars left by certain past battles, Rinwell probably wouldn’t care. But she is still short, barely growing half a foot taller in the Copalli-based interim, so there’s definitely reason in her mind to huff and puff.

(It’s fine. She’s fifteen. Plenty of time to have her own spurt later so she’s not 5’3” forever. It’s fine.)

Right now though, she’s perched on a railing outside the Eagle messenger post; travel pack at her feet, Hootle on her shoulder, and attention partially on the road out of town and partially on the Phoenix crystal resting on her palm. Fire magic may still not be her forte, but the power in the crystal had healed what could not be seen and helped unleash her astral artes once more - and helped those who’d fallen around her during the final attacks, getting them all back on their feet. Back into the fight. She hasn’t called on it again since, but carries it with her just in case. Things were Better(tm) but that didn’t guarantee anything when on the road.

There’s a faint hoo in her ear, which brings Rinwell’s attention back to the present. And she lifts a hand to wave at Law, getting his attention before hopping off her seat. ]

All set?

[ For this absolutely ordinary, no planned surprises at all Nope none what so ever Ordinary Routine Trip between cities. Yup. ]

From:

indeferent

_{[ truthfully Gladio hadn't expected to find Law until later so when he catches a glimpse of him in the streets of Coba just as he's leaving the vicinity of Ye Olde Faithful Statue, he's almost thrown off guard. keyword being almost. once the recognition sinks in, he adjusts the bag he'd retrieved and goes into Stealth Mode which... given the sheer size of the Shield it's a little scary. it's easy enough to navigate his way through the crowds that come and go (even easier when most of them give him space) without giving himself away, and once he's close enough to Law...

he swings his arm out and catches the younger man in a loose headlock, yanking him close against his side and assaulting his scalp with his knuckles. just because he's not on Eos anymore and technically a quarter (half?) behemoth doesn't mean he can't continue being the Annoying Older Brother figure, right? ]}

There you are, runt!

From:

sincleavers

[It's amazing, the things that can change within the span of a year. Alphen doesn't have to look far beyond his own appearance to see the effect of the time he's spent in Copalli. He's perhaps a bit taller (just enough to barely, barely outmeasure Law. Not that it's a contest. Or anything.), ruddier; his hair has grown a bit, though admittedly, he keeps it tied back most of the time. The most prominent changes, though, are ones brought on by the incense: fissure-like cracks that run the length of his arms, down his back, streaking across his torso like the stripes of a tiger. They don't burn to the touch, but they look like tracks of lava...and it took some time, but he finally stopped hiding them.

He, too, has been busy: rebuilding his home and Tikal, taking on more responsibility within the Jaguars... Not so busy that he's neglected the date, though. Whatever plans they have as a group later, he's got his own during the day. That doesn't stop him from pausing outside of the Jaguar lodge for a moment, though, remembering his first moments here in this strange world.

One year. It's a little hard to take in.

He knocks on the doorframe of Law's house when he arrives, if for no other reason than to announce his presence.]

Law? You here? I brought some lunch.

From:

indeferent

_{[ He'd found them weeks ago in the wilds not far from Coatepec. Or more accurately the behemoth found them. While Gladio has significantly more control over that particular side of him since the whole relic thing it wasn't quite enough for him to be at peace with it. Fear and doubt beget death alone, that's what Gilgamesh had told him after their bout in the real Tempering Grounds. Fear and doubt regarding that beast would only put the people he loved most at risk, so in the tried-and-true Amicitia fashion he'd decided to handle it himself namely by, well. Going out into the wilds where the incense was thickest and letting it do its thing. There haven't been any other notable changes yet, but he'd cross those bridges when he came to them. For now what he needed was to find true control. A way to get a better handle on an already temperamental animal combined with his own temperamental attitude and harness the strength it possesses.

To say it's a struggle would be putting it lightly. Something had caught the attention of the beast but rather than fight instinct, Gladio chose to follow it. That something had turned out to be a particular scent that he was growing more and more familiar with since December only it wasn't right. It was faint, and covered up by a heavy layer decay. The trail brought him to the large, still-rotting carcass of what had to have been a drake or wyvern; the jaws had been snapped open by something big and its belly had been savaged open while it had been alive. Further up the tree where its corpse lie crumped was a detached forewing, and all around it the ground had sizeable divots that made the behemoth's paws feel small despite being bigger. As disgusted as he had been Gladio is really just thankful that the beast had simply sniffed and pawed at the remains rather than actually eating them like he'd thought, and the instant it had uncovered an object he hadn't seen since the accident it had all clicked in his head.

Gladio wrenched "control" away from the beast, grabbed the item between his teeth, and ran. He ran, waited for the changes to revert in the relative safety of Coatepec's lodge, and ran again to Tikal.

That had been weeks ago. Now he was in Tikal again, sequestered in a corner of the blacksmith's shop and bouncing his leg while he fiddled with the corners of his journal. Was he afraid? Gods, no. No, it was just... Gladio makes an odd noise in the back of his throat, hunches over the counter, and throws open the pages to start scrawling. It's not the same flowing script that usually makes up his handwriting but hey, it's still pretty damn fancy. ]}

Law
you around tikal right now?

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