Prompt: Discombobulated

After all that had happened, from Scarlet's attack to the floating fountains of magic floss, Mazu was more inclined to believe unusual rumors.

Thus, she found herself following a profitable lead to the last place she expected to go, the Heart of Maguuma Jungle. As they arrived in Bloodstone Fen, Mazu felt a knot in her stomach upon finally observing the alien landscape. Normally, she thrived on the thrill of a breakneck adventure. Now, she wondered if she was about to jump without a parachute.

The discombobulation needed to stop. She was here. Time to make the most of it.

Prompt: Little Brother

The lists aren't as long as they used to be. Now that Mordremoth is dead, they've identified most all the fallen now.

I don't even know what name to look for. But I can't help checking all the same. As if, by Owl's wisdom, I might know my brother's name on sight.

I heard what happened to the armada when the weed folks started turning. It makes me glad their kind are rare around here.

For all I know, one of them killed my brother.

I pray to Owl, he isn't on the list.

Maybe it's better not to know.

Prompt: Desire

All my life, I lived alone, sheltered in my home from the world. But, then, she came. She set me free from the chains I had built. She opened the world to me. How could I not fall in love with her?

She saw me when no one else did. The first person to make me laugh. To make me feel alive.

I'll spend my time on Tyria, until Grenth claims me, trying to win her hand.

“My love, marry me?”

“Frank, you know the vows are death 'til us part?”

“Well-”

“You're already dead, Frank.”

“A minor detail.”

Prompt: Cotton Candy

She pulled off her glove and ran a hand through it. Finally seeing it in person, she was still not sure what to make of the moving, dancing stream of energy. No, she corrected herself, not simply energy. Stream of magic.

But, if there was something to be said for the Consortium, it was that they knew how to turn a profit. So if they thought this ley coalescence was worth investing in, then it was worth selling.

Problem was, Mazu realized, she wasn't quite sure how to go about storing this magical cotton candy fluff.

Prompt: Looking Up

((Continuation after Prompt: Privacy))

Sadness.
So overwhelming that it was like trying to swim in quicksand.
After a while, it faded.
And then there was anger.

Not that the sadness or pain was gone. It stung repeatedly with each distrusting look cast her way when they saw her face.
A sylvari face.

She didn't really have a plan.
Fight Mordremoth.
Avoid anyone who could get hurt if the nasty dragon pulled her strings once more.
As long as she pushed forward, avoided the camps, stayed in the trees as much as she could.
As long as no one looked up...

But someone did.

“Zaree?”

Prompt: Shall We Dance?

Teekla went over her notes one final time before pocketing her reading glasses and handing off her holographic tablet to Dory. On schedule, the door to the meeting room opened and she walked in at the same time that her scholarly rival entered from the door to the opposite hall.

The long-eared, would-be theorist smirked at Teekla. “Prepared to promenade the pertinent possible promises of your prospective proposal?”

“Definitively.”

“I will polish the pediment with you.”

Teekla managed to refrain from rolling her eyes. The Synergetics College would only fund one more project . It was going to be hers.

Prompt: Privacy

((Continuing from Prompt: Weightless))

Callista kept her rifle at the ready. It was not safe to wander from camp, but she needed a break from their Exalted guest before she developed a migraine.

She breathed in deeply, glad for normal smells, though the Mordrem infested jungle was hardly familiar enough to truly be normal. She was surprised, then, when a scent on the breeze caught her recognition. Her eyes, sharp in the low light, caught sight of the figure next. The clothes and gauntlets were as much a give away as her scent, even though her head was uncharacteristically hooded in a shawl.

“Zaree?”

Prompt: Idle

((Continuing some days after Prompt: Tease))

She knew her leg needed time, but only three days in and she felt like punching something.

Caedyn hated being on the sidelines of a battle and it was worse knowing she was miles from the Hunt of a dragon. She did have some connections, some leverage, if only she could prove well enough to move with a cane instead of crutches. But that nosy medic... always hovering. She would never master what she was not allowed to practice.

With nothing better to do, she sent a bird to the Keep. She needed something to make the infernal waiting bearable.

Prompt: Weightless

((Continuing some days after Prompt: Tease))

There had been reports, which Callista would have thought mere rumors had they not come from other agents. Whispers, as a rule, did not believe stories.

Callista had never had the innate talent for magic or spells that many did, but she did have a natural sense to detect nearby magic. To her, each branch of magic had its own scent, so long as the spell or magical creation was strong enough.

The priory reports alluded to floating gold figures, but they left out just how strongly the creatures radiated with magic. She knew when they were around. They stank.