Username: Psixi
Name: Terranox; nicknamed Anox
Age : 272 Years Old
Personality: Anox is quiet and reflective. While once an aggressive and powerful fighter, he has kept most of his skills but has also lost his fire and stomach for fighting. It's said he remembers the war against the humans, and it's known that he is weary of fighting. Anox often ponders over the pointless war the sabers are engaged in. Anox is a somewhat pacifist; he will not fight unless it is to protect a younger creature. He will not even use battle skills to protect himself.
Seeking comfort, Anox retired to deeply forested areas long ago. He rarely ventures outside the trees; when surrounded by greenery, he feels at peace. He remains regarded by some of the younger sabers as a bit of an oddball, but they also admit his powerful aura. Anox does not seem old, weak and feeble; in fact, he seems to radiate power and safety. Anox is greatly wise and patient; a good teacher, he reserves a great fondness for younglings. Unbeknown to others, if confronted with a gryphon chick or youngster, Anox would treat it as well as he would treat a saber cub.
Anox is mostly weary; the reason he loves youngsters is because their youth and energy also re-energizes him; he feels happy with them.
Attacks:|Battle Strategy|When ever forced into battle, Anox brings the fight to sunlight at all costs. Sunlight gives him strength, and causes his plants to grow larger. This increases the chance that an enemy will miss, and that it's claws or fangs will shred greenery, not flesh. Having his plants torn will hurt him, but not as much as deep wounds will.
The sunlight also offers Anox a life preserver. If wounded so badly he is unable to move, the sunlight will allow him to recover.
|Weaknesses & Strengths|Anox has an advantage when fighting water and earth elementals; their attacks will only strengthen him, unless the attacker is extremely powerful. Or, if his allies are water/earth elementals, they can heal him by 'attacking' him.
On the other hand, he is at disadvantage when battling fire and darkness elementals. He is also weakened by air and poison elementals.
|Quatro Claw Attack|Anox summons vines from the earth to push him up, propelling him into the air. Coming down he does a front-flip, raking his enemy with all four sets of claws.
|Quick Bloom Thrust|[Used when he is Pinned]
If he is pinned to the ground by an enemy, Anox causes the plants on his hind legs to grow down his hind legs with great speed. He pushes up with his hind legs and the plants, pushing his enemy off.
|Vine Hold|Vines grow at lightning speed from his paws; he can use them to hold an enemy or pull himself somewhere.
|Upper Body Slamming Strike|Anox rears up on his hind legs. Growth encases his paws and fore-feet, which he then smashes down on his foe.
|Earth-Shaker|Anox slams both of his paws together into the ground, causing a tremor with a radius from anywhere to a few yards to half a mile.
Special Ability:|Harvest Moon|Anox can cause his mane to grow a single patch of any plant. The plant's properties, whether filling or healing, will be enhanced and stronger. If Anox is happy or determined when he uses his gift, the plants will be even stronger. The same for when he's feeling generous or fond of someone.
But that works both ways. If he's grief-stricken, given up or enraged, the plants will be weak and withered. If he's feeling extreme hatred, the plants he grows will even have opposite effects; for instance herbs will have harmful properties, and food-plants will even
drain energy. Shockingly, if he summons a poisonous plant, it's effects will be healing, not even more deadly.
Armor Type :[Materials]| Mostly oak wood, with emerald and pearl components. A few plant parts. Yet he does not wear all of it most of the time.
[Ref]|
Story/History:My mother was an earth elementalist, and her name was Kanja. I also had two brothers, twins in shape and form. Kanja named them Appiyo and Congo. I was born first, with Appiyo and then Congo following. I think Mother sensed that I would become an earth elemental, like her. Her gaze always seemed to hold extra warmth when she gazed at me; her touch extra gentle, her voice extra soft.
I think that my brothers were fine. They were always a bit smaller and leaner than me; I took after my mother, bulky yet stealthy. I also preferred to walk amidst the greenery near our den; Appiyo and Congo rathered playing inside. Yet for younger brothers they weren't bad; true, younger by a few seconds, but cubs in those days didn't bother about stuff like that. We amused ourselves with games and the out-doors.
One of my favorite games was Elk Hunt. We usually played with either 6 or nine cubs, since we needed many and we usually played games with the other litters in the neighbor hood. There were supposed to be twice as many sabers as there were elk. The sabers would than chase the elk. Who ever first caught an elk would then take that elk's place. I loved being an elk. By the time our markings were starting to show I was uncatchable. I wasn't very fast, but I could hide among the trees.
When our markings finally 'finished' setting in at 20 years old, we became rookies. Appiyo and Congo were both ice elementals; much to my mother's happiness, I was a earth elementist.
I trained with five other cubs. Three of them, a water elementalist named Quinxaguas, a electricty element called Xefulgur, and a (To me) snotty air saber whom his parents christianed Fixaer, were to in time become some of my best friends. There was another earth saber with whom I got along with marvelously, Wangu, and a fire saber, Kerubo.
Not long into my training, the saber family was murdered by humans. Everyone was enraged. My partners and I set to our training even more vigorously.
We followed the news of the slaughter closely. By the end of the first year, six eighths of the human population were dead. Only four sabers from our region had died. An old one, who was stabbed in the throat with a rusted knife by one of the humans. It grew infected and he died. Another saber was killed because the human whose arm he bit was a scientist, who injected a poison into the saber's neck. The third was killed by three cornered humans, one of which who died getting close enough to stab the saber between the eyes. The last had died from an acid.
I think it was near the end of the second year of the slaughter when the last remainder of the humans went into hiding. From then on, it was harder to go on killing them, because they had to be tracked down. But once roused sabers will not rest until they reach their goal. We would not stop until the humans were dead.
A think about a year and half was when the first gryphon attack happened. It was at first ignored; the first major strike happened half a year later. A small troop of sabers lost half their numbers to a surprise attack. We suddenly had a new enemy, and the slaughter turned into a war.
Our teacher made me, Xefulgur, Fixaer, and Quinxaquas warriors three years early. Xefulgur was the one who convinced our teacher to also promote Quinxaquas; he insisted that the water saber was strong, only afraid to show it. He even trained with him. Both me and Fixaer helped; it was then that I first began feeling some sort of grudging respect for the air saber.
Along with us, five other sabers were advanced early. I was surprised that there was one of each element among us. Even now I refuse to believe that a coincidence. I believe it was fate.
Apart from us, there was a darkness saber, Shantene Brae, and a psychic saber, Umbrana. They had been in a group. There was also an ice saber, Angelus, a fire saber, Irignis, and a poison saber, Utoxicon, the three of which had also trained together.
We began fighting together. We quickly all grew fond of each other. I grew to appreciate Fixaer's dry humor, Xefulgur's encouragement, Quinxaquas's festiveness, Shantene Brae's justice, Umbrana's quiet dignity, Angelus's optimism, Irignis's open-handedness, and Utoxicon's fierceness. Xefulgur had among us the gentle air of an elder brother; meanwhile we all looked at Utoxicon as sort of a little brother, with his surprising childishness behind his hot-headed complaining. Shantene Brae was something of a father figure, demanding good and hard work.
We went out to fight as the Widow's Nine. We all had a strange aptitude for fighting. The gryphon war had been raging for a bitter two decades already when we entered the field.
At the beginning of the war, a few humans fought among the gryphons. I did tear human flesh, and rip out gryphon throats.
I was at the Battle of No Bridges, the Battle of Twinford, Highhill Battle, and Triad Moon Siege, to name a few, but I was not at all the battles, nor even all the important battles. They were so many that to see them all one must have had twenty-score lives, with each of three hundred years.
But I will hurry along my tale.
After almost a century of war, the humans were gone. Dead, all. Or at least, all of the females and most of the males, just as fatal. That was the master-plan. We were to focus on killing every female of the human race, if we were not able to kill all of them, man and woman. It was a victory, yet not an ending, for the gryphons continued the fight.
Many said that to the gryphons, being a gryphon means to have to war. But I think that many of the sabers wanted to fight also. Some were drunk on blood and glory; others wanted to avenge the ones they lost.
I kept fighting also, along with my friends. Yet disaster struck; and Xefulgur died.
Yet that tragedy was a salvation; suddenly I saw clearly. His death let me. I realized the endless cycle me and my race were trapped in. I tried to tell my friends, but they did not listen. Shantene Brae looked at me like a father looks down on a child which failed and disappointed him, while Irignis had no love left for me. I was dead to them, and I left, leaving Terranox bleeding in the dust along with Xefulgur.
I hid, suddenly tormented by the lives I took on my heedless course of destruction. I retreated to the deep woodlands were the light is green and the ground is moss. For what purpose, I do not know, but I wait. And I think. Sometimes creatures pass through my home. I greet them all like unexpected guests. I suppose I should leave, but I am old; my youth died. I cannot bare the idea of leaving this Land of Green.
Extra Facts:- His name comes from the Latin word 'terra', which means 'earth'.
- Terranox received the nickname 'Anox' only when he was much older. For his youth and young adulthood he was known as 'Terranox', jokingly called 'Typhonox'' and 'Tornadox' by friends.
- Appiyo received his name from the Kenyan name 'Apiyo' which means 'first of twins' and Congo received his name from the Kenyan name 'Adongo' which means 'second of twins'.
- Whenever Anox mentions the word 'Mother' he is speaking of 'Mother Nature'.
Some Facts on WAS:- There are five Earth element sabers in existence; three of which are male.
- The sabers are caught in a war with the gryphons.
- Sabers stand at an average 7 feet.
- Sabers eat mainly large game such as elk.
- Each saber has it's own armor.
Short Story; 'The Woods': Short Story; 'Widow's Nine':"Terranox!"
The loud cry burst through the air. The young brown saber, jumping at the voice, quickly grabbed the face of the gryphon he was fighting with and thrust his claws into the creature's throat. Throwing away the now-dead animal, he turned towards the voice.
The crier was a lean saber, with white and blue fur. He looked overwhelmed, trying to fight off three gryphons. He jumped at one, slashing it's chest then jumping back to take on a look of focus wile a wave of wind seemed to slam into the other two, but the wind seemed to barely affect them. Just at that moment, the first gryphon recovered and leaped at the blue saber, and the two fell to the ground, wrestling. The other gryphons, no longer deterred by the wind, raced toward the blue saber.
Terranox started a back-flip. The instant before his hind feet left the ground, vines shot from his front paws, flying through the air, rooting themselves in front of one of the gyphons. The ivy pulled Terranox, and he finished the flip, landing in front of the gryphon, twirling around to face the beast. He slashed out with his front feet, tearing a gash across the front of the gyphon's chest. The bird screeched and a column of water blasted Terranox in the face. The water didn't affect him; in fact, he simply stood still and opened his mouth as if to breath it in. That water that touched his fur was immediately absorbed. The gryphon squawked in confusion; in that instant, Terranox struck. Huge vines erupted from under the gryphon, lifting it up, twisting it around and slamming it into the ground. An audible and sickening crack was heard; the beast's neck now lay at an unnatural angle.
Sudden pain seared through the brown saber as talons opened an inch deep gash in his flank. Roaring, he turned, lifting his claws and slamming them on the second gryphon's shoulders, only to find himself deflected by metal. Another strike came that Terranox barely parried.
"Fixaer! Now!" He yowled. But nothing happened, and with a look of irritation, Terranox summoned plants under him, pushing him up and letting him jump over the gryphon and turn around. But when his gaze reached the blue saber, he looked exasperated.
"You GOTTA be kidding me!" he muttered, watching Fixaer try to wretch his claws out of the gryphon's head, and probably skull. Terranox quickly turned his attention back the his gryphon, and rolled under it while raking up with his claws, trying to hit flesh. No luck; one of his claws hit more armor while the other gave maybe a centimeter deep scratch. Terranox finished his roll, jumping up right in front of the gryphon again, ready to battle. But a another yowl tore through the air ("Ultimate Tornado Blast!") and Terranox nimbly stepped aside. A sudden, powerful blast of air crashed into the bewildered gryphon. It ripped off armor, feather, and-
Once again, Terranox felt his stomach upsetting. No matter how many times he observed Fixaer's special move, he couldn't stop the feeling of nausea. Even pieces of flesh were being torn from the poor creature's body. The air blast subsided and it started to let out a scream; quickly cut off when Terranox stabbed it's throat.
Panting, the two sabers paused for a moment. The smaller one looked up at Terranox.
"Well, not bad for a dirt-head." He stated, but it was hard to see f his tone was complimentary or joking. Probably both, decided Terranox. He fondly ruffled Fixaer's head-mane.
"I guess for an air-head it wasn't bad either." Terranox allowed, causing the air-elemental saber to aim a mocking strike at his head, which Terranox nimbly dodged. He grinned. "Ah, the breeze is getting a little cocky!"
Fixaer laughed. "Shut up, Typhonox." he told him fondly. Both of the sabers nodded at each other; then turned back to the battle, jokes done.
From a bystander's point of view, the spectat was slightly strange. There seemed to be several little knots of gryphons, fighting fiercely but seeming to give out regular screeches and cries for reasons unknown. The average bystander might have even wondered what the gryphons were fighting, and why did they seem so outmatched even if there were so many of them their enemies weren't even visible. This average bystander would have a ignorant idiot with a brain the size of a hummingbird. (Pardon my French.)
Because, that would mean the average bystander knew nothing of the Widow's Nine, which in turn would mean they had been living under a rock for the last few decades.
A sudden burst of red light shattered one of the groups of gryphons, revealing a strongly built gray and yellow saber. He turned his gaze to a gryphon, and the ground underneath it burst into flame. He lunged at another, clamping down on it's neck armor. Suddenly the saber's mouth burst into flame, melting the armor and killing the gryphon.
In another corner of the battle field, a musty gray saber with glowing violet markings stood silently, brow furrowed in focus. One of the gryphons around her seemed to have turned on his own, yet he squawked in alarm as his talons tore a gash in another gryphon. A third gryphon attacked the saber, but the first gryphon blocked the strike with his body, screeching the instant the third gryphon's claws, obviously loaded with electricity, touched his fur. He fell to the ground, dead, but now the third gryphon turned in the air and leaped at his own.
Fixaer pointed to the edge of the battlefield. A black saber with white markings stood over a unconscious one, flashing lightning and electricity at five different gryphons.
Roaring, Terranox jumped into the air. Vines flashed from is front paws, immediately pulling him to his destination. He slammed a gryphon to the ground, then reared up. The plants on his shoulders grew quickly down his front legs, encasing his paws, leaving only the talons clear. He smashed down on the gryphon, his enforced paws cracking through armor and bones.
To his left, Fixaer quickly dispatched a second gryphon, using the same blast of air that brought him there to propel him into the gryphon, which slamming into the ground. Fixaer slashed the gryphon's stomach, then used air once more to tear the scratch more, killing the gryphon. A third gryphon had fled, while the other two lay on the ground, electrocuted by the black saber.
"We're doing it now?" The black saber asked, ignoring the dead gryphons.
Fixaer grinned. "No time like the present."
"I think we should do it now, Xefulgur." Terranox added.
The saber made a grunt of consent.
"A one, a two . . . " Fixaer started.
"A one, two, three, four!" They said together. The instant 'four' left their muzzles, Terranox slammed his feet into the earth while Fixaer tipped his head back and roared. Xefulgur smashed his paws together.
About right then, it sucked being a gryphon. Simultaneously, a tremor ran through the earth while a force-wave rippled through the air;
two force-waves, one of air and the other of lightning. Sabers standing near were passed over unharmed, but gryphons were incinerated. The remainder that survived did the wise thing; they turned and fled.
"I was ABOUT to kill that one!" Whined a neon orange saber from across the field whose victim had just joined the great majority.
Fixaer and Terranox began to laugh. Xefulgur meanwhile looked over their allies. An expression of worry flashed onto his face.
"Angelus's not good." he warned, indicating a pure white saber who was being dragged over to them by the musty gray female.
Terranox nodded, walking over to the two. He grabbed Angelus and helped the saber drag him over.
"Thanks, Terranox." The female said quietly.
"Anytime, Umbrana." Terranox replied. Angelus just gave a panting gasp, trying to nod at Terranox. Umbrana put her paw on his shoulder.
"Don't exhaust yourself, Angelus." she warned.
By then the other sabers had joined them. The neon orange saber looked annoyed. The grey and yellow saber and a black and blue saber were talking with Xefulgur.
Terranox grinned at the orange saber. "C'mon Utoxicon; don't sulk."
The saber glared at him. "I had him
right there and OF COURSE you had to strike. It would've been a new record!"
Xefulgur looked up from his conversation. "Who will help me and Shantene Brae carry Quinxaguas and Angelus back to the base?"
"I'll go." Terranox said amiably. He gazed around what had moments before been a battlefield. A few cadavers lay bleeding on the ground. The dust and dirt was musty and matted with blood, soaking into the ground. The tiny clearing was encased by a thin line of trees; east of them, the tree line was thick, a part of a larger forest. The trees on the west were merely a thin layer, yet they served for dimming the sounds and smells of the rest of the battle. Out there, another legion of sabers and gryphons were still locked in heavy battle. But the enemy here had been vanquished to a whole; they were all dead or fled.
Which meant another job well done for the Widow's Nine. Terranox felt himself fill with pride.
Short Story; 'Grief, Open My Eyes':Xefulgur looked weak and limp in death.
The blood from his wound was slowly seeping into the undergrowth. The sickening, metallic smell of blood contaminated the air.
Shock and disbelief filled my mind as I stared at his corpse. The gryphon responsible looked so fragile and weak, blood-stained and cowering next to another gryphon's dead body - how could she have killed Xefulgur? Strong, silent, steady Xefulgur? Xefulgur, with lightning and electricity at the tips of his paws? I only lost an eye, but Xefulgur lost his life?
Unbidden, memories of my early training flooded my mind. Early training, with Fixaer, Xefulgur, and Quinxaguas. Quin had been feisty yet open, Xefulgur prompt and encouraging, and Fixaer had been mocking but dependable. And now Xefulgur, silent, caring, patient, undeterable, worrying and encouraging, was becoming a cold corpse. My heart throbbed.
Quinxaguas whimpered next to me. Fixaer looked shell-shocked, his eyes gleaming from unshed tears. Umbrana simply stood like a wall next to me. She seemed the most calm, collected, but when I looked at her, something about her eyes frightened me. They were so empty; void, like oblivion or a dark hole. Angelus, on her left, stood quietly next to her. His eyes were empty of recognition, I realized with shock. He was looking, but not seeing. He had to stay cool or he would shatter like ice. Later, he would let his grief consume him, when he deemed the time was right, but until then he would become distant and cold, in order not to feel the pain. I felt my heart throb again.
Unbidden tears began to sting my eyes. I could feel my plants wilt along with my heart. My limbs felt so weary, I wanted to collapse. I felt . . . I felt . . . for the first time in my life, I felt tired. And very, very old. Xefulgur . . . he was- he was my friend, my teacher. Why hadn't I been here earlier? Why hadn't I reacted faster? Why did he have to-
A roar shattered our grief. Irignis slammed his paws into the ground. His eyes were red pits of anger.
"A thousand curses on your pathetic excuse of a soul you filthy mutt!" He roared, charging at the young gryphon. She only stared at him in fear, her child's eyes open.
I jumped in front of him, and Irignis slammed into me so hard my bones rattled, but I braced myself, blocking him from the gryphon. He faltered, stumbling back, staring at me in surprise.
"No, Irignis." I said quietly, my chin touching my chest but my eyes looking up at him.
He stared at me in frank bewilderment, as if trying to understand the meaning in my words.
"Wha- do you want to- all of us do it - kill her together- or do you- but- I don't- I guess it's fine, but - I just-" He muttered in confusion, looking at me.
"I don't want her death. It's pointless. It's all pointless. All of this was a waste. Everything is a waste." I spoke barely above a whisper, but my voice resonated through the trees. Irignis stared at me in utter shock, as if I had begun to speak in another language.
Fixaer also looked at me like he never saw me before. For an instant that hurt. Hard.
"Terranox? Wha- Wha- But- What do you want-"
I took a deep breath. "Let it go. This is frivolous." Someone on my blind side let out a noise of choked outrage. "Let it go. It's smaller than a pebble on a river-side, and less important. It's all over- what do you think you will accomplish now? We had our chance and we failed. It's the past, and it doesn't matter anything at all anymore. It's smaller than you think; just let it go."
Anger filled his face again. "Are you- are you talking about- about- do you dare- Xelfulgur!?"
When I replied, my voice was raw with pain. "The dead won't rise again. Nothing will bring him back to life. He's only dust now; his spirit has fled. His life was a waste; this battle was a waste, this of this was all a terrible, terrible waste." The instant I spoke the words, I realized they were true. His life- all of our lives- were a waste. A huge, utter waste; amounting to nothing. I felt grief wretch my heart. I couldn't decide what hurt more - that truth, or looks of betrayal and disbelief on Quinaguas's and Fixaer's faces.
I continued. "We fight these battles to avenge those of us who died. We remember our cousins twice removed, our friends' great aunts, our acquaintances' fathers. We fight for them, yelling 'We shall avenge you!'. We kill their killers and their killer's kin and friends. The friends of those we slew next gather and screech 'They have killed our close ones!' and they charge, to attack us, avenge their dead and kill now our kin and friends, and so the cycle of blood and madness continues. Cubs and chicks are born and warned 'They have slain your beloved; you must never forgive them, and you must avenge your dead.'. Cubs and chicks heed those words, and when their dawn breaks, they in turn charge yelling 'Vengeance and justice now arrives!'. All for naught, and their lives in turn are wasted on war. It's a mad and crazy cycle, and it must stopped. We must quench the fountain of vengeance, because it's waters are tainted with madness. Only the waters of forgiveness run true." My voice trailed off, and I looked once more to my friends.
Shantene Brae spoke first. "Your words are true. But what of Xefulgur? Our friend, who met untimely death? He was our kin; we have the right to avenge him, for his death was needless."
"Needless?
Your right? That is my love who lies dead." The voice shocked us all, and we turned to stare at the young gryphon. For the first time I had a good look at her. She was scrawny and thin, with ragged fur and haunted eyes. Her silver fur shone metallically; what was left of it and what was not matted with blood and dirt and dust, that is. "I avenged Hshrajjiir with the blood of his killer. I took the life of the one who took the life of one whom I loved. Which is more than you barbarians do. That saber killed him for no more reason than the fact that he stood in his line of sight."
Oh Mother save us . . . I thought with dread. The turns of fate . . . Why, Xefulgur, why. Why did you have to strike
him?
"So now we will avenge
our friend." growled Irignis. "The war must end."
"So let it go, Irignis!" For that instant, my temper flared. "THIS is what is born of our foolishness! Our witless destruction! We started this to erase the humans! The vile blight on our Mother's life-force! But we're still fighting long after they are dead, fighting against an army for no other reason than the fact that we can't make ourselves stop! We have to start HERE. Here, with this death and Xefulgur's death, to stop even more deaths. The evil souls of the humans are still here, among us, telling us to fight and maim and kill and destroy, watching us slowly destroy ourselves! Can't you feel them?"
I continued. "They are our enemies, and we curse them to our marrow. We curse them and their ways, for making this war and mess. They are the still cause of our pain and grief, they have been gone for so long yet they still cause us so much harm. I say, let us curse- but not take out our anger on those who are not them. Their shades still goad us, scar us, but only because we let them. We
have to break free."
Shantene Brae and Irignis stared at me with cold eyes. Not only them. I felt other angry glares on me as well, but I, I, Mother save me, I was too scared to see who it could be. Shantene stepped forward.
"The wretched little beggar you have made this speech for will live. Your words may all be true, but you are only lies. She will live for the friendship we once had. But three shall die today; Xefulgur has taken Typhonox with him also. I have lost two brothers- leave me to my grief."
Grief crashed down on me. It's tendrils snaked down, it's weight pressed down on my back. Aged centuries, I faced him. "I fear I must grieve for Terranox too. Memories of him will always haunt my mind." My voice cracked. I hung my head. "They will always sing praises of the Widow's Nine. Good bye; I do not know what I will do when our paths next cross."
"Let us pray they never will."
Art of him:
(Open Image to see the full thing)
no one understands what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is. Unless you have it yourself.
