Touching grass

So it was kind of unsettling to realize that it had already been almost a full turn of the seasons since those weird lights in the sky had come crashing down during Deepfrost last year and the void variants had started cropping up around Caido. Tal and Sah had left Halo in the first days of Flowerbirth to come investigate the place the meteors had crashed down, back before the courier had moved to King's End with Alys, but he hadn't been back since aside from sailing over it from above as he criss-crossed King's End on his deliveries.

Well, he was back now.

The Peregrine floated a dozen feet up nearby, her ground anchor firmly set in the dry earth and her ladder down and waiting for his return. A strong Leafchange breeze - brisk and cold, with the promise of snow within a week or two - chased grey clouds across the sky, but chilly sunshine flashed down at regular enough intervals to keep the day from being dreary. Some residents of King's End (or even of other regions) might recognize the burly dragon from her pale glacial scales as she circled overhead, even at a distance from the meteor scar.

As for Tal, he knelt beside the scar in the landscape that was still visible from above but was increasingly hard to see from the ground. Grasses were regrowing from the outside edges inwards, and he was relieved to see that they were fairly normal, without any obvious Void-taint that he could sense. In another year or two there'd be hardly anything left at all aside from an irregular dip in the landscape to show where the meteors had fallen...

And this new chapter in Caido's story had begun.

Open!

"If I could fly I would never come back", you said

Boreal was not the only winged creature to sail the skies, not could she lay claim to being the only white one. The brisk wind offered an excellent opportunity to learn the intricacies of flight, and Maea was not one to balk before a challenge.

It appeared that her albinism carried over to her shifts. While most Gore Crows were ominously black and menacing looking, her blue eyes were starkly contrasted against feathers as pale as her hair. She was still big though, and her talons were sharp, and with her wings spread wide into the wind she was lifted high into the stormy skies, only to dive downward in a sweeping arch.

It was glorious, and such a thrill, to watch the landscape shrink beneath her. To beat her wings until the chest muscles burned from unaccustomed strain and feel the wind lift her up, up, up, awarded her a sense of tremenduous freedom - so sweet it could easily bring her to tears. It was all she had ever longed for, a promise finally fulfilled after years of despair - like she finally had caught a glimpse of who she was truly meant to be.

The only downside was that it was cold in the sky. While she would like nothing better than to play chase with the dragon and the clouds and never come back down, eventually she had to circle down to the ground. Sweeping into a clumsy landing next to Tal, she rubbed her arms to get some feeling back into limbs dangerously close to petrification.

"Is it just me or is it getting r-really cold?" she chattered, teeth clattering. "What are y-you looking for?" Gods, but she wanted a fire right now. And mulled wine. And fresh pastries straight from the oven.

Maea

Boreal was a very smart companion especially where food was involved, but she had an issue with Gore Crows that stemmed from one of Tal's misadventures in the Climb back before the War. Having never seen Maea's shifts before, the dragon was far more inclined to breathe fire first and ask questions later about why this one was white when one of the vicious birds appeared in her airspace. It was only when Maea landed and turned back into a familiar friend-shape that the dragon veered off in surprise, grumbling her bewilderment as she stroked heavy wings back into the sky to watch from a safe distance.

The fracas had drawn Tal's attention upwards, though he remained kneeling. One hand rested on the hilt of his Dagger, a scowl on his face as he prepared for a battle that--

Was actually a total misunderstanding. The big sigh of relief that he heaved was almost comedic as he relaxed and lifted the little charm he'd been pressing into the scarred earth back into his hand before he stood up to greet his friend. "Uh... might just be y--oh! Guess it probably is," he admitted sheepishly, flicking a glance down at his Frostbite Cuff that protected him from most uncomfortable temperatures around Caido. "Hey, Maea. Good t'see you. I'm workin' on a quest for Safrin right now," he explained, offering the little star charm for her to see. "What about you? Got a new shift?"

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

Waving an apology to Boreal - being hit by the fire would have been a blessing in disguise, honestly - she offered a sharp toothed grin at Tal, rather enjoying being able to surprise him. Perhaps she should make her new shift a public announcement.. this was the second time someone had jumped out of their skin upon seeing her. That was two for two, which wasn't too shabby for someone who'd never been able to scare anyone.

"Good to see you too, Tal. What kind of quest?" Pinching the bangle between her fingers, she turned the star charm over and studied it curiously. Maea had opinions about Safrin, but she respected her friend's choices and kept her thoughts to herself.

Puffing up in a rather birdlike manner indeed as he brought up her new guise, she beamed proudly and nodded eagerly. "Yeah! I had this really vivid dream one night, that I was flying. When I woke up, I thought I was going mad because my room was huge and my mouth was gone and I was almost crushed by my own blankets. It took me half the morning just to figure out how to shift back." Despite the distress it had caused her, she couldn't help but laugh at the whole ordeal now. "I love it, honestly. Always wanted to fly, and now I can... It still hasn't sunk in properly."

If it was still a dream, she hoped she'd never wake up. It was just that good of a thing to happen - and out of the blue, no less.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

He took the charm back when Maea was done examining it, attaching it to a little silver chain that he looped a couple of times around his wrist to keep it secure. "I'm workin' on a way t'see Void stuff," he confided in her, tapping the Goggles that rested atop his head at the moment. "Your experiment got me thinkin' 'bout that Dahlia woman we were warned about, an' how she didn't look any different, right? So I asked Safrin t'give me a way t'see things that've been infected, even if they're not obvious." It was weird that all the plants and animals took on dark or purple hues, but the person who the Big Boys had run into on the fallen moon-island-thing didn't like purple at all.

He grinned a little as she puffed up, proud as a little bantam, to relate her tale of dreams and magic. The recounting of waking up as a confused bird drew a snicker from him as he pictured it: the white gore crow flapping and flopping around in a tangle of sheets. But as funny as it was, she looked genuinely happy about it and he rubbed the back of his neck as his grin softened. "Aw, hail Maea... that's awesome. I'm really happy for you. 'Specially if it means you'll be takin' up less space on th'Peregrine!" He slipped into teasing as an instinctive defense against getting too feelsy and awkward!

"So what brings y'all th'way out t'King's End? Y'didn't go over th'Greatwood did you?" he asked, a flicker of concern in his eyes at the thought of her having to land in the void-infested forest to rest between days of traveling.

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

Thoroughly impressed and unabashed in showing in, Maea raised her brows with a quiet whistle. "Clever! Truly, that could become really useful. Just be careful, if you wind up seeing something that looks like trouble. I know you're strong, but these people are on a whole other level." Turning her gaze to the Peregine, she wondered to herself whether the ship would be fast enough to carry her friend away from any trouble he found himself in. He would undoubtedly make a good scout, but she got a hollow feeling in her gut when thinking about the danger such a role would put him in. "Personally I wouldn't mind having something to block out that voice that keeps talking to us," she grumbled, falling back on irritation to hide her concerns.

It was short lived, though; her mood lately had been fickle and mercurial, but at least for today it was more bright than bleak. The teasing earned Tal a lovely display of her tongue as she poked it at him. Shrugging, she wrapped her arms around herself; the coat she wore was still black as coal but looked tailored and crisp, and the fabric had a weight to it that spoke of quality and a certain Halovian flair that the messenger might find familiar. The skirt was new too; not the armored dress he had helped her quest for, but a simple and sturdy woolen garment that nevertheless made her look unusually well put together.

"No, I'm not that crazy," she chuckled. "I'm just dragging my feet on my way home from Torchline. Was hoping I might bump into someone I know who comes here sometime... Instead I found you. So that's almost right."

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Tal grinned, and it was his turn for his chest to puff out under Maea's compliments. "Nah, I'm not that strong," he assured her confidently. "Th'main reason I want it is so that I know when t'run th'fuck away!" Never shy about retreating from a fight he couldn't win, the courier was far more concerned with keeping his skin intact while the demigods slugged it out!

He followed her gaze to the Peregrine, but her next words brought the wrinkle back to his nose and his grin faded. "Yeah, no kiddin'," he grumbled. "That creepy fuckin' voice! Safrin didn't seem t'think they were dangerous, though... well, not yet." Yet was such a terrifying implication, though, wasn't it? If messages could be implanted in their most private thoughts, what else might be done to them?

Maea's joy in her new shift and the friendly teasing that followed was a welcome way to cleanse them of the corruption of their thoughts, and Tal threw himself into it willingly. "Hey! Y'mean y'weren't comin' t'see me?" He gave her his fiercest mock-scowl (which was more of a twitchy pout as he fought the grin that kept trying to return) and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away with a little huff. It lasted about five seconds before he peeked back at her. "So who is it?"

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

The way she wrinkled her nose said more than enough about her thoughts on it, dangerous or not. It sounded far too much like the ominous words about the Voice back in the day, and they had turned out to carry quite a lot of weight.

Clearing her throat - and her mind, because who wanted to keep hashing over the unsolvable problem on a day like this? - Maea's gaze roved high and low to avoid meeting Tal's. She wasn't exactly blushing, but her cheeks looked a bit more pink than what the wind and the bite of cold could account for. "I mean, I am glad to see you," she tried, waving off his teasing with her mouth twitching to hold back a smile. "Uh, it's... Harper Quinn. Do you know him?"

It felt strange to take his name into her mouth like this. Always their encounters had been private affairs, solitary conversations between half-strangers and almost-friends that leapfrogged the boundaries between what was personal and what was downright intimate. Yet she was proud to call Harper a friend, and she peered curiously at Talyson, intrigued by the prospect of sharing a connection though a common acquaintance.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Ooooh? Tal abandoned even the pretense of a scowl as the grin won out and he moved away from the meteor scar before plopping down on the grass. "Harper? Yeah, I've met 'im before." His nose wrinkled in a complicated dance of amusement and exasperation. "He showed up in Halo in Deepfrost one year. I found 'im out on th'Sea o'Glass, paintin' a picture! In Deepfrost!" He waved his hands over his head to try and encompass the outright foolishness of the man.  

"But, y'know... he was pretty nice so... I guess it's okay," he finished, subsiding into a rueful grumble that had significantly more bark than bite to it. "Been meanin' t'look 'im up again one o'these days, but y'know how things've been..." He shrugged, gesturing vaguely at the meteor scar and everything that had presumably come from it. Looking back to the Ambassador, his grin returned. "So how d'you know Mister Harper Quinn?"

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

Ah, see, she hadn't been blushing before. But the oohing and aaahing of the courier, not to mention his knowing smirk definitely drew some extra color to her face. Maea supposed she was glad he knew who she was talking about, at least. She had to smile at the mental image of Harper trying to paint in a snowstorm - it definitely felt like something he would do.

"He is nice," she agreed, doing her best to keep a straight face even under Tal's gleeful scrutiny. "We've known each other for years, really. You know how it is - you meet, talk and then a year passes before paths cross again." Rubbing the back of her neck, half thoughtful and half sheepish, she shrugged lightly. "We're just... friends. He's had it rough lately... so I wanted to check in. See how he's doing."

Just floating around King's End wasn't the most efficient way of getting in contact, she knew that. But her attempts to write a letter had failed; there was too much to say, and not enough words in her vocabulary to get it right. Especially after last time.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

Oblivious to many things Tal might have been, but when Maea blushed it was unmistakable enough that even the courier could read between the lines. Gleeful was the correct term for his grin as he scooted closer, and if he'd had a tail it would have been wagging. "Mmhmmmm," he agreed to the rhetorical 'knowing how it was.' "So, what you're sayin' is... you wanna spend more time with 'im? Do some catchin' up? Maybe get t'know--hey, waitaminnet!" As delightful as it was to be on the other side of teasing someone about their totally-not-love-life for a change, the meaning of her implications did finally sink in through his stubborn skull.

"Y'mean Harper's here? In King's End? ...Well, hail. How long's that been goin' on?" He looked utterly stumped and maybe just a little flabbergasted at the revelation. "I thought he lived in Torchline?" ...Which, really, should tell Maea all she needed to know about how out of touch Tal had been with the Steadfast.

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

Maea did have a tail and it was trying very hard to tie itself into a knot. She hadn't known it could bend quite the way it was, and found it equally awkward and kind of unsettling, the way it sometimes moved not entirely of her own volition.

"Well - I mean, just - " she sputtered, trying to get a word in before Tal painted up a picture that veered too wildly from the already confusing situation - only to jump a little when he did a double take.

And suddenly Maea found herself in that delicate place where you had to balance facts against confidences, and figure out what was too personal to share. She didn't usually gossip. Preferred to drink her tea, not spill it, and would never even dream of breaking the trust of someone she cared for. But... well. Harper leaving Torchline... could hardly be considered news, at this point. To most who knew him, at least.

"I... yeah. He left. Apparently he has been bouncing between here and the Grounds for quite a while. Trying to... I don't know. Change, maybe." She didn't say that he had been looking for that change at the bottom of every bottle and tankard he could find. Nor did she mention that his visits had been more to the House of Midnight than King's Edge in particular. That was definitely not something she was going to tell anyone, not even a friend; but the soft concern tugging at the corners of her mouth spoke volumes of how well it was going.

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay

It was so rare to be on this side of the equation that Tal had wanted to enjoy it to its fullest - which probably would have resulted in pushing Maea too far, if he hadn't stopped himself by accident. The moment of playfulness faded into something a little more serious at first, and then, unexpectedly a lot more serious as the ambassador spilled just a few delicate drops of tea for the courier to try and read auguries in.

"...Oh. I mean, I'd heard about him becomin' King an' then... not bein' it anymore," the Messenger admitted slowly. "But I hadn't realized he'd left. Huh." He settled back on his hands, chewing at his lip in thought as he looked up to the cloud-chased sky above. "Anyone out on th'Sea in Deepfrost without protection's gotta be a little daft, sure, but other'n that he didn't seem like... like he had much in need o'changin'," he mused, comparing the older man to himself and not finding Harper being the one lacking.

He slid another glance at Maea and his words no longer held their teasing lilt. "So... are y'helpin' him t'change? Or is it more like... are y'wantin' t'be his anchor?"

Maea

And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain

Hunching down next to Talyson, she pulled her skirts closer around the legs and rested her chin on a knee, staring thoughtfully at the crater without really seeing it. "It's a bit of both, I think? I think he's fine the way he is, but it's not like I don't understand being fed up with yourself. I'm doing the same thing. It's just..."

Searching for the words, she tilted her head aside and looked at her friend. "If you've been hurt enough times, eventually you start to think it's your fault, whether it is or not. And I don't know how to heal that kind of hurt. Or how to help someone else, even if I really want to." Heaving a wistful sigh, Maea rocked gently back and forth. "I'm a bit scared of making things worse."

Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay