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+---- Thread: inroads and in vines (/showthread.php?tid=9924)
inroads and in vines - Koa - 08-14-2024
[say]"So as far as we know none of these flowers have actually been found,"[/say] Koa's confirming as he leads the way down towards the Grotto, feet confident on the well-trod, cliffside path. [say]"Guess it's time to visit the hot springs again."[/say] It's the discussion of lilies and clearing the blight that inspired him to choose this as their next destination, as well as a desire to show off a piece of his home that is less deeply mired in history and control.
He ducks beneath a low-hanging vine, pausing before the overgrowth that marks the Grotto proper. From beyond the edge of the floating city, a cool, clean breeze buffets Koa's hair, leaving his cheeks a little pink. Beyond them the dark vines weave and tangle, dark and wild and full of secrets. Koa peers into them thoughtfully, before turning back to the Sword.
[say]"This is the Grotto. We used to make forts inside when we were kids, though these days it's used more for smuggling."[/say] Koa shakes his head reproachfully, clearly not pleased by this turn of events. [say]"One of the projects I'd like to organize for this year is to try and clean it out. It would be super helpful to have someone with Earth magic along..."[/say] he adds pointedly, a hopeful lilt to his sunny voice.
RE: inroads and in vines - Deimos - 08-14-2024
Stormbreak’s constant altering features, at least in the way of so many other worlds he’d known, gave him adequate pause. While he was used to the undulations of the wintry landscape of home, or the constant canopies of the Greatwoods, or even the shifting isles of Torchline, this realm seemed to hold unexpected manifestations streamlined together. He wouldn’t have bet on the underside of the floating land, which was perhaps his first mistake – given how it had been torn from the ground – nor the twists and turns of the subject matter.
While Erebos napped from the confines of the sling on his chest, the Sword inspected and studied, sharp eyes taking in modicums of a sovereignty meant to be hidden and utilized for deceit. [say]“Correct,”[/say] he started after Koa’s assertion. [say]“Apparently Hadama has a staff,”[/say] that once belonged to Ray, but the Sword wasn’t certain if the Dragoon would recognize the name, [say]“that contains one.”[/say] Whether it’d already been pried from the instrument was another thing altogether. Shifting his child slightly and slowly, he proceeded onward, following details and breezes.
And the insinuation of his own incantations. Raising a brow, he snorted. [say]“I can assist if I am available.”[/say] Some attempt at a boundary came along the rumble – because gods knew he had enough on his plate and shouldn’t have been making additional promises with Starfall looming, and hordes of other necessities.
RE: inroads and in vines - Koa - 08-19-2024
[say]"Well that's a good start,"[/say] Koa says about the staff. [say]"Will it have to be... like, removed? Or does the staff itself work?"[/say] It feels, to him, that a flower is a flower, but who knows that intricacies and particularities will be required when combatting their foes.
It's a tentative agreement of assistance, but certainly better than none at all. Koa's attempt to smother his grin is only partially successful, the boyish enthusiasm at being able to work alongside one of his heroes impossible to properly quench. [say]"That would be amazing! Or anyone else you can recommend - I'm sure you're quite busy,"[/say] he adds, not wanting to overstep.
Wind whistles through the air around them, causing the vines to creak and groan. It's an ominous sound, one that sends shivers running up and down the Dragoon's spine and arms: foreboding and dark. A shadow passes over Koa's face as he stares into that darkness, chewing his lip. [say]"I've actually been talking to Safrin. About becoming stronger."[/say] To fight the Void, isn't said - not here, where even the wind might be a spy. [say]"She has been generous enough to grant me her favor, but I thought... well, maybe you would have advice on how best to keep it?"[/say]
RE: inroads and in vines - Deimos - 08-19-2024
[say]“Probably removed from the herald who granted it.”[/say] That would make the most sense to the Sword anyway, shrugging his shoulders, uncertain of the time extended, granted, or necessary, and having no intention of asking Hadama. Not after so many other choices.
His eyes went towards the Grotto, watching, listening, as vines maneuvered under the pressure of the wind. Given Deimos’ predilection towards roaming about the wake of foreboding surfaces, it didn’t snag at his senses; instead, he seemed settled within the chaotic balances, as if all too familiar with the sensation of impending bedlam. A long breath unfurled out of him, and merely because he could, the intangible threads of his Earth incantations snagged at an encroaching portion of branches and eaves, moving them aside so he could walk forward a few steps.
He didn’t miss the Dragoon’s enthusiasm though, and he watched him from the corner of his gaze, before flicking the stare back upon a few birds in the distance. [say]“Sah also has Earth magic.”[/say] He wasn’t going to volunteer Evie – for multitudes of reasons.
The shift of the topic gave him pause though, and he furrowed his brow, looking directly at the younger man with the vaguest tilt of his head; indicating he was listening while his mind already spun in machinations and semblances. While Deimos was upstanding, stalwart, and loyal to Safrin, he also knew he tread a very thin and narrow line when it came to the goddess, and others didn’t, hadn’t, and it was easy to trip, falter, and stumble under her prowess. [say]“It depends on what you promised her.”[/say] The Sword had only given her his allegiance and devotion – not his love, not his body – and while he wasn’t going to pry into what Koa had pledged, he had a vague inkling.
RE: inroads and in vines - Koa - 08-20-2024
Koa's expression does something funny then, the desire to maintain professional neutrality blistering against the inexorable dislike of a man he only knows as that dude who accidentally murdered my friend. [Say]"Sah's another option,"[/say] he agrees, noncommittal, facial muscles tense despite upraised brows.
Better to talk about Safrin, then. Much safer than the Sword's subject who Koa would very much like to punch in the face. Deimos gives little away, letting the young Dragoon spin his tale first. [Say]"I promised to love her,"[/say] he admits with a crooked smile, a dreamy expression alighting on his face. [Say]"That's all she asked for. Hardly a burden, given she's a goddess - and a beautiful, powerful one at that!"[/say]
A child of Stormbreak through and through, being asked by a goddess to give one's love is as easy a quest to fulfill as ever there could be. Koa is too indoctrinated, too naive, too stubbornly proud to realize the tightrope onto which he's stepped.
RE: inroads and in vines - Deimos - 08-20-2024
Ignorant of the warring emotions etching their way through the Dragoon, his gaze could only drift back and forth between the swaying vines, cawing birds, and Koa himself; maintaining his own neutral disposition as the words were summoned. He hid his own grimace – an inward thing that would’ve gone with a shake of his head or the betraying glimpse of a wince. If a long sigh struck a chord within his lungs, he didn’t grant it any special bombardment, mind striving how to best answer the inquiry and statement without all the baggage behind it.
The Sword had grown up with vengeful deities - or the ones that remained non-existent; stone monuments and testaments to a world broadened with decimation and demolition. Had never given himself over to them. Had never bowed his head to their prowess. It had only been in Caido where he'd assimilated at all.
Perhaps Koa had never heard of Sunjata’s, or even Ronin’s, plight amidst the herald, when granting and giving something so potent and powerful as their love. Deimos had always considered it a very weighty thing; whole and encompassing, and it was why he’d never permitted it to be extended with chains. Why he’d never become a demigod. Why he’d walked those lines and proven himself in different demeanors and statures. But not everyone could, would, or should have done so in the same regard, and as he surveyed and listened to the Stormbreaker, he started with the most simplistic portions he could muster. [say]“Do you understand what that could encompass?”[/say]
RE: inroads and in vines - Koa - 08-23-2024
Oh, Koa does know about Ronin and Sunjata. Or rather, he knows that Ronin was granted great power by Safrin, enough to become the Dragoon's personal hero. And that Sunjata was punished terribly- but like, also, maybe deserved it? Jury's still out, but after their last talk re: Void, Koa's a little sus.
What he knows for sure is that speaking with Safrin filled him with a sense of purpose, of potential, of power and strength that the young man has strived for all his life. How could he do anything except love her, when offered all that? [say]"I... know she asks a lot of her followers. And can be... punitive, when they disappoint."[/say] Not something Koa intends to do, his overconfident youth has declared.
Shoulders rolling in a shrug, he looks back to the Sword. [say]"Don't you love her?"[/say] Surely he must, and in a smarter, better balanced way than Sunjata or Ronin ever had.
RE: inroads and in vines - Deimos - 08-23-2024
With Erebos strapped to his chest, slumbering away, Deimos could still release a very potent sigh, staring back at Koa. Perhaps he needed to be point blank and blunt, far more than he had been with Hadama – because at least the demigod could read between the lines, and still chose his current path. [say]“Would you be willing to have a child with her?”[/say] The Dragoon seemed young and impressionable. He probably had multitudes of relationships one way or another. While some might have been fine with such an arrangement with the herald, others, much like himself, had thresholds and boundaries. [say]“Because sometimes those are the stakes.”[/say] For Ronin, for Sunjata, with all the perils and pitfalls that came thereafter. [say]“And yes, she does have high standards,”[/say] to which he could at least release a slight smile.
The inquiry volleyed back to him made him remember and recall all those years ago – the recitation of his choice to not become a demi, to be one of hers in devotion only, to prosper all that strength into allegiance and fealty and nothing more. No chains. No shackles. No tethers. [say]“I did not promise her my love. I gave her my loyalty.”[/say] And maybe the Stormbeaker wouldn’t understand that either – but control over his entire being, his life, was far more important to the Sword than any promise of power. Besides, he’d always had his own potency. There had been no need to pay a higher price.
RE: inroads and in vines - Koa - 09-03-2024
Womp, there it is. Confidences collapses as the blood drains from Koa's face, leaving his bronze skin dull and ashy as he stares, aghast, at the Sword. [say]"What? No!"[/say] A child? With Safrin? With him? For a moment Koa can only stare, bug-eyed and gobsmacked at this new line of thoughts. [say]"I mean-- It's not that I don't want kids, but---"[/say] His eyes dart from the top of Erebos' sleeping head back up to the stoic Sword, Koa trying to swallow his panic down. [say]"Not now. And I... I want a family. She wouldn't actually want to have a kid with me, right?"[/say] She hadn't with Hadama, as far as he's aware.
Koa rubs his temples, still reeling. It had always been his greatest aspiration to be someone heroic and strong; as far as he'd been taught, the best way to do that was through favor from the gods. Now he regards Deimos with a new respect - thoughtful, poised, strongest in Caido, wielder of magic and magical shifts, and somehow not beholden to a god. [say]"Erebos is lucky,"[/say] Koa murmurs, a subdued half-smile on his lips. [say]"I wish I could talk to my dad about stuff like this."[/say]
RE: inroads and in vines - Deimos - 09-03-2024
Ah, that had done it. The Sword watched the color drain from the Dragoon’s face with barely disguised amusement. Not offended by the entire notion, after all, it had taken him a firm and committed relationship to even begin discussing children, he tilted his head, waiting for the panic to settle. [say]“I will not speak for her, but it has already happened before with Ronin and Sunjata.”[/say] He shrugged his shoulders in a ‘why not’ disposition; he didn’t understand the fathoms and notions behind Safrin’s motivations – but he could hazard a few predictions. [say]“I warned Hadama as well.”[/say] Koa could take that information anyway he’d liked.
The quiet murmur gave him pause though – brows furrowing slightly. Deimos could understand those aspects; he’d lost his father young as well, and utilized it almost primarily for a rapacious approach to vengeance and vehemence, while ignoring every other emotion entangled with it. [say]“That is kind of you,”[/say] towards the infant being fortunate; the Warden hoped he could be regarded as a decent parent – [say]“But I suppose you need to figure out how you want to tread with her.”[/say]
RE: inroads and in vines - Koa - 09-05-2024
Oh, Koa's dad isn't dead. He's just never really understood his son on any fundamental level, and their already strained relationship had no chance of recovering as both men failed to deal with Mahina's death in any sort of healthy way. It's a whole thing. It's fine.
[say]"Yeah, well, I mean it."[/say] Suddenly bashful, Koa shrugs, his fists shoving into his pockets. [say]"And... I hope you know I'm sorry. About the way I came across, when we first met. I was a cocky idiot."[/say] He chuckles wryly, shaking his head at his own nonsense. [say]"But I really would like to learn from you. On how to be a fighter, yeah, but also a leader. Especially now, it feels like..."[/say] Like his world is more precarious than ever, like his home is slipping out from his hands, like the Dragoons of his youth are a distant memory with the potential to become something very dark indeed.
Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Koa clears his throat. [say]"Anyway. I know I've taken a lot of your time. Can I get you guys dinner to make up for it? Or point you towards where you're heading next?"[/say]
RE: inroads and in vines - Deimos - 09-06-2024
Deimos watched as Koa altered his mannerisms; not expecting the apology or bashfulness. [say]“Yes, you were,”[/say] in full agreement of past behaviors – the Sword still had no intentions of permitting a foreign army to ever touch Halo’s terrain – but apparently the Dragoon had recognized some portions of necessary alterations. [say]“I hope you can understand why I responded the way I did.” [/say]
The statement thereafter gave him pause, head tilting as he absorbed the information – brows only furrowing slightly as a long breath unfolded and Erebos still didn’t stir. [say]“Is that what you are aiming for?”[/say] Perhaps not something to voice out loud amidst the chatter of Stormbreak – unless he meant it in different facets, like his sovereignty over the Dragoons. [say]“If you are willing to come to Halo sometime, we can discuss it there.”[/say] Safer; without too many prying ears.
Gazing at the alignment of the sun, he shrugged his shoulders. [say]“Do you have a good place for takeout?”[/say] That way he could snag some for Evie too, and then make their way home.
RE: inroads and in vines - Koa - 09-09-2024
[say]"Yeah. I can."[/say] Having now lived through the experience of an invading force overcoming his homeland while promising collaboration and positive change, yeah, Koa has a bit more prospective on how his actions came across. Which isn't to say he won't put his foot in his mouth again, but at least he'll think it through next time. Maybe. Hopefully.
Time will say.
Is leadership - real leadership - Koa's current goal? It isn't something he's said aloud, but... [say]"Yeah. I mean... yes."[/say] It feels like admitting to a secret he's kept even from himself, a hundred half-formed thoughts and ideas crystalizing suddenly into one clear goal. Straightening his spine, he nods at Deimos, a stubborn set to his clenching jaw. [say]"I'll take you up on that offer,"[/say] Koa promises, unwilling to say more here, so close to potentially prying ears.
Then they turn to food, and takeout, and Koa offers a number of selections as they climb back into town. He'll guide Deimos toward the food of his choice and then send him and Erebos on their way, hands empty but brain full of cascading, swirling thoughts.
[fin]