Nymphlopedia

Entry 89: Quick Nymphs

Okay the grass went up to the Trio's waists, the wind blew pretty strong, and all three of them were concentrating hard with their hands together.

"Isn't it kind of ironic that in order to get the most out of the tools of the 'Fast Nymphs,' we have to stand still and focus for a long time?" Asked Sonata. She was also the only one of the Trio that did not have that teal grass wrapped around her lower legs, but instead she had the Star Wrath embedded in the ground, somehow using it to take energy from around her and in to her hands.

"This is true of all Nymph Variants," Tania answered, "especially if you're not using their tools so much as trying to directly connect to their biome."

Surprisingly, Vince was the first to get it right. A quick flash came from his hands, almost making him move them from their 'holding orb' position in shock, definitely causing all four parties in the area to flinch. Then another flash happened. And another. And a spark. More sparks...

Vince found himself with the might of ball lightning in his hands.

"OOHHHHHH MY GOD I FINALLY GOT IT!" he said, running in place. "I HAVE IT! I have channeled in the power of raw speed itself and made BALL LIGHTNING!"

"Neat." Said Sonata.

He turned to the gang's trainer, a teal Nymph with... hair that almost looked stylized to a lightning bolt. Several clustered together. She was cautiously holding her hand up.

"Okay..." she said. "Be careful with that. Did you drink a Rubberskin Potion?"

"NO! SHIT!" That really got Vince to panic. "OH GOD WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?!"

"Then-then definitely be careful with it!" The Quick Nymph, who also had those grass weavings as Vince and Tania, said. "Let me..."

She disappeared in a blur, and the orb of cackling lightning was gone. Instead once the Quick Nymph made herself visible again by appearing at the top of a hill, she was holding the orb above her hands.

Then she headbutted it, turning it to a burst of beautiful teal flames that harmlessly died off, all without even singing a single blade of grass.

The Quick Nymph ran back to the Trio.

"Okay. That was great practice! So, same time here tomorrow?"

"I will be there." Tania replied.

"Sure!" Said Vince.

Sonata would have added something on to that, but she made ball lightning generate in her hands too.

"AH!" She shouted. "AH- ah- ah- wh- can you help me too I can't- I don't- what do I do?!"

Quick Nymphs.

Beating you. Escaping from an unpleasant meeting. Scoring a win protecting themselves. These Nymphs can do this all in a swift, fancy flash.

Preferred Environment: Quick Fields.

Environment Threat Level: Peaceful. (Not counting the higher-than-normal, but still rare, chances of ball lightning forming.)

Environment Stats: Moist. Cool. Fantastic. Rare. Fields of very tall, teal grass. Known for having a high number of fireflies, similar beings, and with frequent flash-related phenomina. Also has plenty of speedy but harmless critters.

Other Names: Ball Lightning Nymphs, Flash Nymphs, Fast Nymphs, Speed Nymphs.

Affinity: Fire.

Color: Dull Teal.

Traditional Costume Weapon: Thin grass from their biome weaved around their upper legs, almost at their hips. Helps make their flashes brighter, and gives them limited control over lightning, in particular ball lightning.

Vince's Comment: Another Nymph best fought without even looking, or with a LOT of light protection. They can blind you REALLY easily. I mean, wow. They shoot flashes at you, like flashing lights. Seizure warning and whatnot. Also, it's not like sight would be that bit of an advantage anyway, they have this super speed and will make themselves almost invisible by... yeah going too fast to see.

Sonata's Comment: What the fuck is ball lightning, anyway?! You'd think that nature beings would be able to answer that question, especially nature beings that are, like, in charge of that stuff. But no, they don't know.

Tania's Comment: Flash Nymphs.
Nymphae Velox.
The average fastest of the Nymph Variants... that we have... looked at, per say. No, contrary to popular belief, their speeds cannot exceed that of light. Also contrary to popular belief, this is possible without teleportation, but it requires magic as to overcome... I don't really understand the laws of physics. Once "nature" reaches the subatomic level, it leaves my domain. I'm the same way with space. I'm more of a geologist and phytobiologist than an astophysist or quantum physist.
(Note from Sonata: You're not a fucking scientist. I'm sorry I have to be blunt, but just because you're taking the "Comments" section the most seriously of us, doesn't make you a proper scientist. You don't have a PHD.)
Maybe I should get one.
(Note from Sonata: Actually I really like the idea of calling you "Doctor.")

Closing AN:

Rather appropriately for the name, I think this was one of the fastest short stories I got through since a while.

Coming up next is another vanilla biome. The second-to-last of them, in fact. Oh and I've switched a little, rather than spending the night after I'm done with publishing the four chapters trying to write the short stories of the ones immediately after, I'm going to work on the final four entries before the Dryad Entry, so that for the last big day I don't have to spend as much time on the smaller stories in addition to the (hopefully) huge Dryad Entry and the last finishing touches of Romancing the Last Dryad. Speaking of RTLD, I can proudly say that the first chapter of that is finished... but holy shit it was definitely a product of an earlier idea I had for the Zenith Nymph series and it fucking shows.

Also name change: Flash to Quick Nymphs. Might change it to "speed," I'm not sure. But I didn't like "Flash" because it sounded like it clung hard on being a reference to the DC character (the reference was completely accidental), and it sounds light-themed, which I'm saving for the "special" twenty-fifth entries.