Watercolor - Vrachos - Stone Bust

UNIVERSE SUMMARY - English: Elementals: Summary and Who's Who | Español: Elementales: Resumen de trama y personajes

Having lived for thousands on years, Vrachos has had a long time to make many, many enemies, and he has used that time well. The vines in this picture represent Quetzal, the nature Elemental, and the picture depicts the struggle between the two. The background behind this animosity is narrated in the following story.

Technical data for painting, character stats, and character links and thumbnails found after the story.


ESP: Historia disponible también en español aquí - Elementales: Atraco en el Bosque

/  ENG:

STORY TIME!

* Setting: A little over 1,000 years ago, in a tropical rainforest, when Quetzal was the equivalent of a 12 - 13-year-old boy. Characters: Ionos, the electricity Elemental, and Quetzal, his protegee and adopted son, and current nature Elemental. Sorry for lack of intro, ran out of time, and this was long enough anyway. *


Ionos suddenly tensed. He indicated for the boy to stay back, as he stood, his eyes searching the treetops for the source of the disturbance he had sensed. Quetzal tried to focus too, but couldn't see or hear anything amiss. The forest seemed quiet. Perhaps too quiet, now that he thought about it. No birds, no insects, not even the rustle of the wind on the leaves. He turned again toward Ionos, but his vision was suddenly obscured by a large, black creature pouncing over him.

In the blink of an eye, Ionos was knocked to the ground, the force of the hit sending him tumbling, but the creature - Quetzal could now see it was a panther - held on, growling and snapping at Ionos as the man tried to fend it off, even as blood was already oozing from a deep gash on his shoulder. The panther dove again at Ionos' neck, fangs bared, but Ionos, his hands around the creature's own neck, acted quickly and sent a surge of electricity against his attacker. That sent the panther falling back. It rolled onto its feet again and shook its head, dazed.

"What are you?" Ionos called at it, while slowly regaining his own footing, steadying himself against the trunk of a tree. "I felt your energy," he continued. "You're different, and the fact that you're still conscious after that bolt confirms you're no ordinary animal. I'll ask you one more time: What are you?"

The panther fixed its yellow eyes on the man, its gaze cold, calculating. In a movement so quick that made it clear that the electric surge to the neck he had just received had been little more than an inconvenience, it leapt up a tree, and, in a fluid motion, perched itself on a high branch, analyzing its prey and preparing its next move.

Quetzal, now shaken out of his initial shock, took advantage of the fact that the panther was now on his turf and, using his Elemental powers, sent a nearby vine flying to wrap around the creature's hind leg, followed by another vine close behind it, to wrap around its neck. The panther swiped at the first, ripping it with its claws, and disposed of the second just as quickly, before the vine had even reached him. The panther turned and regarded the boy with interest, and Quetzal thought that if it had possessed eyebrows, it would have raised them at him.

While it was distracted, Ionos sent a well-aimed thunderbolt at the branch that supported the creature, Quetzal snipping at the base to keep the resulting flame in check. Caught off-guard, the panther hit the ground and then rolled, shifting into the form of a man before stopping his motion in a crouch and rising to his feet.

The man was tall, with dark hair and a tattoo on his chest and torso resembling stylized claw marks. His appearance was fully human, except for slightly pointed ears and the telltale intelligent yellow eyes he had had in his feline form.

Ionos directed another electric charge at him, but the man raised his arm, palm outward, and a stone boulder shot upward from the ground before him, shielding him from the blow. No sooner had the bolt struck, than the rock sank back into the ground and the stranger fell again into a crouch, his right palm pressed against the ground.

A rumble echoed through the forest and the ground started shaking. The noise thundered and the vibrations increased to such magnitude that Ionos and Quetzal lost their footing and, before they could react, they were pelted with a wave of dust that temporarily blinded them. The whole place was shifting at once. The rumble became deafening and the earthquake that this man was generating was so strong that Ionos and Quetzal were unable to steady themselves. Quetzal tried shifting into his bird form, but the dust-storm continued raining down, keeping him unable to concentrate long enough to carry out the transformation. With an even louder roar, the ground beneath them split, forming a fissure and taking the two with them.

Once the dust and debris had settled, Quetzal lifted himself up from between the fallen rocks and crawled to his mentor, whose legs were trapped under a large boulder. Quetzal pulled at it while Ionos pushed with one hand, the other arm hanging oddly at his side. Their assailant, transformed back into panther form, edged slowly toward the mouth of the breach and gazed down at them.

"Just... go! Save yourself!" Ionos panted as he looked up at the assassin stalking above them, ready to pounce.

Then many things happened very quickly. The panther leapt down, knocking Quetzal into one of the fallen rocks. Quetzal's vision blurred and went dark. The last thing he saw before slipping into unconsciousness was the feline bearing down on Ionos.


So many voices. They sounded like whispers. No. They were becoming louder. What were they saying? He couldn't make out their words. Someone was shaking him. Was someone calling him? Yes, that one voice was repeating his name. "Quetzal! Quetzal!" It sounded so faint. And he was being shaken. But where was he? How had he-

Reality hit him and at once he came to, gasping for air and sitting up suddenly, his fingers digging into the arms of the person leaning over him. She was a medic. He'd seen her before.

"Quetzal, are you OK?"

He shouldn't - no, mustn't - waste time with conversation and formalities. A panic seized him and he scrambled to his hands and knees, his eyes frantically searching around him until they found what they sought. He was again on flat ground, Ionos lying close by. Quetzal hurried to him, tripping over himself along the way.

The man was almost completely covered in blood, a deep claw gash across his chest, and his face was extremely pale. Three medics were working on him.

"Leave us," said Ionos, in a barely audible whisper, as he turned to the medics. It was telling that they did not object, and just somberly stood up and moved away instead. "Quetzal," he said, turning to his pupil, "listen to me. ... I ... I won't make it through this..."

Quetzal clung desperately to his mentor, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed and shook his head.

"No!" he screamed.

"Listen, boy; you must pay attention." With his good arm, he took Quetzal's hand into his own and placed it on his chest, over his heart. "You need to feel for my heartbeat." Quetzal continued shaking his head vehemently, tears blurring his vision. "Please," Ionos rasped. Even so little demanded more strength than he had left. "Please." His voice was barely audible. Quetzal closed his eyes, but even that didn't stop the tears. He held still and for an instant felt the heartbeat before it went quieter and the beats came spaced farther apart, before finally fading away. An orange light rose from Ionos' chest, traveling up Quetzal's arm and slowly enveloping him as the man sighed his last breath.

The light slowly fluttered down to the ground and dissipated. A strand of hair on Quetzal's head began turning yellow, and then orange.

The devastation he felt inside reflected raw on his face, Quetzal lifted his gaze and was met with the squadron of forest guardians that must have come to their aid while he was unconscious. They knelt before him, their weapons held close to their chests and their heads bowed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Quetzal's scream echoed through the forest.

==END CHAPTER==



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NOTES aka: IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING:
Only one creature can control one element at a time. The power is transferred at the moment of death of one Elemental. This makes some (eg: Vrachos) hunt Elementals to gain their power.
Vrachos' earth element makes him immune  to electric attacks.
He doesn't have speaking lines in this because taunting his enemy or announcing his intentions (even for the readers' sake ) is not his style, so he'd be really out of character if he explained what he was doing and why. He plots and likes to surprise his opponents. That, and Ionos' electric surge near the beginning probably did some temporary damage to his vocal chords. It wouldn't have been much, thanks to his immunity, but he still felt it.
At the end of this passage, Quetzal becomes the only creature known to control more than one element.


STATS
Name: Vrachos
Race: panther shifter
Skill: Elemental: Earth


TECH STUFF
Medium: watercolor + gold acrylic on watercolor paper



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Topic: Orig. Art: Elementals [link]
Medium: Watercolor [link]