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(SE) bury me face down - Sunjata - 09-13-2020
First things first. He doesn’t remember how he got here. He remembers Haai being there at some point before she’d left. But other than that? The trek past his jail house into the rocky warmth of Apopo is something forgotten completely. As is his shirt. He’s lucky to be wearing shorts, sure he would have forgotten those too if it weren’t for a nagging thought in his mind to remember it.
And his body, feverish and red with the sunburn, is also ravaged a fair amount. Bite marks line his spine that look like shark teeth, he doesn’t know how he got them. There’s the healing claw marks along the top of his stomach, he also doesn’t know how he got those. And there’s the definite still healing marks of an Ascended’s bite that almost looked to be torn away from it. A bite that had led to him passing out and not remembering it other than Nate’s frantic response when he’d come to.
For now, though, he wanders — unsure what he’s looking for or whether he finds it, sun beating down hard overhead. But it’s fine, he’s safe, the water is far from him here.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Vervain - 09-13-2020
[say]”Sunny, stop![/say] Vai sounds out of breath, and it’s for good reason. She’s all but run across the beach and up towards the Apopo, drawn by a very concerned Haai after already searching for the Arbiter for near half a day. How long he’s been missing prior to that is anyone’s guess, but finally she spies him on rocks and ash, looking a very sorry state indeed.
Not bothering to waste her breath calling again, the witch puts all of her efforts into clambering up towards Sunjata. When she finally reaches him, she wastes little time in reaching out to catch his wrist, just in case he tries to run off. [say]”You are so far from home,”[/say] she pants. [say]”What are you doing out here?”[/say]
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Sunjata - 09-13-2020
He hears a voice, but it mixes and melds with the rest of them — sure that he can hear Lusea in his mind telling him to continue forward, that his flame might be within the volcano, that perhaps Delphia had lied when she said she’d died by a frost giant. Perhaps she was here all along, a cave of lava fit for any fiery queen. But then there’s a hand on his wrist, Sunjata flinching away, exhausted steel eyes snapping to Vervain’s face with the edge of a fanged sneer crossing it.
At least until her face registers and he pauses, faltering in his step and swaying, sneer replaced by a frown as the question hits. He looks around, unsure and uncertain, before his gaze lands back on her. “[say]I don’t remember how I got here.[/say]” He rumbles, a quiet admission, turning his head back up the climb of the volcano. “[say]I can hear her up here. I thought maybe she was waiting for me and I could take her home.[/say]” Wherever home was, he doesn’t remember.
Haai blocks the path forward, wings flared and a bit of a snarl on her maw.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Vervain - 09-13-2020
She keeps hold of his wrist, even if the fangs and the sneer are worrying, her other hand coming up placatingly. [say]”What is the last thing you remember?”[/say] she asks slowly, capitalising on the moment of quiet madness, opposed to the running off and doing terrifying things kind. Slowly she steps up beside him, looking over him and letting out a slow sigh. [say]”Look at yourself, Sunny.”[/say] Between the bites, the claw marks and the sunburn, she barely knows where to start.
[say]”Will you come back to town with me? We can go and find whoever you were looking for later - I’ll come with you myself if it means that much to you. But we have to get you back home, you’re not well.”[/say] And that was saying something. How and when he’d managed to slip out of the house was worrying enough - not a mistake she would be making again.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Sunjata - 09-13-2020
What’s the last thing he remembers? “[say]The lighthouse. Then… The jail. Then here.[/say]” Bits and pieces of a fragmented memory trying to become something more and failing. He looks down when she comments on his appearance, his hand not latched into hers running over the scabs of claw marks along his stomach, as if they aren’t real. It flares worry within him when he realizes they remain. “[say]I don’t know what happened.[/say]” His brows furrow — remembering that he’d had some memory issues after the lightning strike, but now he was losing time.
Her question has horns spiraling along his head again, feathers curling around his shoulders and filling in his tattoos — the prey animals within him sneaking out at the thought. “[say]What if she dies in there? What if not going right now means I’ve killed her again?[/say]” He asks, worry evident as his feet plant themselves in the rocky outcrop of the side of the volcano.
“[say]Safrin told me I’m sick, too.[/say]” He half mumbles, hand abandoning his stomach to reach for running through sweat slick curls. “[say]You shouldn‘t be here. Not when the lightning comes back.[/say]” And it would, it would come for him again, even if there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Vervain - 09-13-2020
Vai listens very carefully, trying to piece together his memories with the places he’s been spotted. At least she has found him - and she’ll cook a whole steak just for Haai as a thank-you for that much. [say]”Hey, okay...”[/say] Giving his hand a gentle squeeze, she tries carefully to turn him away from the climb up to the top of the volcano, even if his feet are planted firmly in the ground. [say]”Safrin told you that you were sick,”[/say] she repeats. [say]”She wouldn’t lie, would she? What if whoever you think is up there is part of your illness?”[/say]
Logic first, and if that fails then Vai will have to get tricky about it. [say]”Neither of us should be here, Sunny. Let’s both go - people are worried about you. I’m one of them.”[/say] Sighing and wiping the sweat from her own brow, she steps up beside him and reaches out to lay a hand on his feathered shoulder. [say]”Please. If you’re sick, like Safrin says, then you need to get well before anything else.”[/say]
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Sunjata - 09-13-2020
She tries to turn him and he becomes more like a boulder, unwilling to move. “[say]She might have.[/say]” He concedes with a further frown. “[say]She didn’t tell Ronin about Seren.[/say]” What was she holding back from him? Had she lied? But a memory returns of his encounter with Safrin that has him reacting like a wounded animal when Vai’s hand touches a feathered shoulder — skin shifting to scales and the fangs returning, horns remaining.
He pulls his arm away from her, a few steps swaying back as he tries to catch his balance again, eyes narrowed and his heartbeat thundering in his chest. “[say]She told me to move up the wedding. Just in case.[/say]” It’s a hissed out whine of a sound, a low growl humming in his throat, fingers shifting toward claws as he tries to ensure she doesn’t cage him.
“[say]No, it’s better this way. They don’t have to see.[/say]” He looks back up the mountain briefly, swaying again before Haai’s slamming into his side, knocking him to his knees in the rocky dirt.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Vervain - 09-13-2020
She’s losing him, and in that moment Vai just wants to reach out and shake him, to remind him who he is and where they are and why he shouldn’t be standing in the baking fucking sunshine. He pulls away and luckily she doesn't have to do any of that - Haai beats her to it, and she could kiss the griffin for a second.
Sinking to her knees opposite him, she seeks out Sunjata’s eyes, not trusting him right now not to bite the shit out of her if she tries to bridge the gap again. [say]”Maybe,”[/say] she agrees, chewing the inside of her lip. [say]”Sunjata, Safrin might lie - but I’ve never lied to you, have I? Can you tell me who you think is up there, at least? Why is this so important?”[say]
She could have told him that he was sick even before all of this, but at least a goddess has got there first. That might hold some sway over his fevered mind.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Sunjata - 09-13-2020
There is a snarl at the griffin before Haai’s wings are flaring again, smoke puffing from her lips as if she would cage him in flame if given the chance. His claws dig into the dirt, frustration evident from the growl in his throat as his narrowed steel slips from griffin to witch. “[say]Luci is up there. I can hear her.[/say]” He manages, shaking his head with an unamused laugh. “[say]It’s always easy to start lying.[/say]” His jaw clamps shut at the end, fangs clacking together with an audible click.
“[say]And if I go home now, Vai, I’ll waste away into nothing. Nate doesn’t need that.[/say]” He stares directly at her face, wondering if his point is getting across, scales glimmering in the sunlight as his horned head tilts. “[say]You could fix it though. That bow and arrow of yours. Just like old times, right?[/say]” It’s a serious question, punctuated in the frantic wilds of his eyes.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Vervain - 09-14-2020
Vai can only watch him sadly, her hands in her lap as she kneels across from him, watches him flit through his madness like it’s something tangible, something he can grab and tear to bits. [say]”Luci has never been to Torchline,”[/say] she tries, rubbing at her forehead. [say]”And you’re right, it is easy. But I wouldn’t lie to you. And if you stay here, you’ll waste away to nothing even faster. And Nate will be left alone.”[/say]
She raises a brow as his fevered gaze meets her own, the witch understanding his request but not wanting to. [say]”My bow and arrows are at home,”[/say] she points out instead. [say]”So if you want me to fix you, you’ll have to come with me anyway. Preferably in a smaller form than you’re in right now.”[/say]
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Sunjata - 09-14-2020
“[say]She went to Halo before anyone else did. How do I know she isn’t here too?[/say]” He asks, still kneeling in the ground, the rocks digging into his knees while Haai keeps him there via threat of flame. But then the comment of Nate being left alone, a sudden shift in his demeanor. A sudden realization that Nate would be left alone regardless because he’d Ascended, and with it… Well, a conversation they hadn’t had yet.
So he shuts down, meeting her gaze with a hardened one of his own, sweat slipping from his temple and dropping to the ground beneath him. “[say]Okay.[/say]” He agrees, voice flat, pushing Haai away so he can stand though his gaze remains mostly on the earth beneath his feet. The prey animals within him flare out now, with horns and feathers ruffling in the wind, claws retracting to calloused hands. But he doesn’t reach for her, no, instead he can feel Haai’s wet nose on his ankle guiding him forward, down the mountain. “[say]Then what?[/say]” He asks, after they get home, after he’s trapped back in a home that lingers with shadows and monsters alike.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Vervain - 09-14-2020
He gets on his feet, and Vai shoots a thoroughly grateful smile to Haai for all of her hard work, following after Sunjata down the mountain and wincing at the sight of his reddened shoulders and back. [say]”If she was here, she would have found you before you found her,”[/say] she says, knowing from what he’s said that his old love is a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully that’s enough to put the train of thought to bed, at least for now.
[say]”Then? Well, then we need to cool you down. Maybe ice cream,”[/say] she considers, mostly to herself. [say]”And we need to do something about that sunburn. When we get down to the town, we’ll stick to the shade, okay?”[/say] Carefully keeping talk about the bow and arrows out of it, maybe she can fix him without killing him by request.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Sunjata - 09-14-2020
He doesn’t know if that’s true, but he does manage to make his way down the side of Apopo with Haai on his heels much like a dejected dog. His head is heavy, limbs suddenly sore from the trek he’s taken without fully realizing it. He concedes to Vai, quietly, a nod of agreement before he’s swallowing and glancing over toward her feet while they reach the end of the line of Apopo, where the street meets sore feet in boots he doesn’t remember slipping on.
“[say]The warmth is nice, though.[/say]” It’s a weak protest, his gaze lifting up to scan the sky and squint against the light. “[say]It’s comfortable. I don’t want to be cold. Or is that… Is that part of the sickness too?[/say]” He frowns, unsure what’s right and wrong nowadays, how concerned he is. What if she’s right and he’s hallucinating Luci? What if she’s right and he’s sick and a danger to others not knowing what was going on? He chews anxiously on the inside of his cheek.
RE: (SE) bury me face down - Vervain - 09-14-2020
[say]”It is nice,”[/say] Vai agrees. [say]”I don’t want you to be cold. I just want to cool you down for a little while, until you feel better.”[/say] She sighs, stepping onto the street and carefully guiding him along with her, leaning down to pet Haai before encouraging them both into the shade of the buildings that they pass. The sudden spark of lucidity is almost enough to bring tears to her eyes, the witch smiling day across to Sunjata.
[say]”It’s part of it,”[/say] she explains slowly. [say]”Seeing and hearing things that aren’t there, the fever, wanting to be close to the warmth...”[/say] Shrugging, she leads them back on the long trek up to the Aumakua. [say]”...And wandering off,”[/say] she adds, giving him a small grin.