and that made all the difference

Melita

yes, yes, I am wild
I am the wind that makes breathing hard

The ribbons of purple faded, until everything simply felt cold, still, and stark. No longer needing to be invisible, she simply stood, out there amidst the winter trappings, in nothing more than rage, regret, and that ambitious plunge that came from a pyrrhic victory. She’d been in those monoliths before, towering high on aspirations and audacity, scaling the walls of pride, until reality hit, cruel and vicious. They’d won, but at a cost.

She hadn’t been able to save the ones before, and she didn’t have the ability now. But she wasn’t going to leave him out here, alone in the snow, frozen over until someone stumbled across him when there was a slight thaw. Shoving her weapons away, she walked around the massive corpse of the yeti, kicking it for good measure and wondering if the Halovians would like to see it burnt, before getting to Zavien.

Blood everywhere, stained across the snow. She’d yelled and screamed and he’d gone in anyway. “I’m so sorry,” she offered in a low whisper, heaving a very long and slow breath. It billowed outwards and then disappeared. “But I’ll take you home.” And probably Sascha too, though she didn’t know the bear or its owner very well. For what it was worth – she figured the Dragoons would like to give Zavien a proper burial. Honor him for his sacrifice.

So her fingers grasped around his form, and she began to slide him across the ice.

I am the ocean and the battered shore
I will be the passion of thunder, a howl of fury

don't you know i'm no good for you?

It’s a full beeline straight to Halo, pushing aside his fear of what he might find, what the infection might mean for the bulk of the Tundra as a whole. It means little as the cold breath catches in his reptilian throat to know Melita is amongst them. So he pushes on, wings carrying him as quickly as he can.

So much so that he spots them amongst the pale snow, the infection no longer seen, but the corpse of the yeti being the dead ringer for what he sees. In all of its too many eyes, too many teeth, bundles of tentacles glory, the Flood imagines he’s reached the right place.

The sound of the dragon’s swooping wings precedes him. But it’s not a white dragon found amongst the pale skies, but a familiarly scarred black one, landing close enough to Melita to shift back and dart across the snow to meet her in the middle, casting one glance to the body of Zavien before he looks to her and checks her over, reaching out to grip her shoulders, his expression as manic as it is concerned. “Heuningby, are you okay?” He asks, his accent thickly coating his words.

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA

Melita

yes, yes, I am wild
I am the wind that makes breathing hard

The cry of the dragon was enough to have her squinting into the horizon – figuring that would just be right as rain – to have endured all of this and then found by a god damned ivory motherfucker. But instead, she recognized the distinction of her uncle against the Tundra lines, and her eyes narrowed in confusion. How on earth was he here? How did he know?

Before she could get much further with either Zavien, Sascha, or herself, the Flood was there – and she could feel herself shaking, even in the midst of so many layers. “I’m okay,” she nodded, swallowing down everything else. “It never touched me.” Because she’d had the power to blend into nothing and well –

“He isn’t though,” she mentioned off-handedly, the shock and rage and bitterness all beginning to twist together into something resembling audacity melded into fear and regret. “How - how did you know I was here?" Followed quickly by another short breath, masking everything. "Can you help me take them back?”

I am the ocean and the battered shore
I will be the passion of thunder, a howl of fury

don't you know i'm no good for you?

“Good.” Sunjata releases the breath clutched in its chest, the cloud masking his face momentarily before he releases his niece. “I heard.. I was with Remi.” He explains, shoving aside any further explanation because they can talk about it later.

Later when he doesn’t feel like a father biting back reprimands on the tip of his tongue. “No need. gode wat 'n gemors..” He hisses, immediately moving to Zavien’s side, dropping to his knees and feeling the bite of the cold through his pants that had been very much Torchline weather and not Halo. Shuffling through his pockets, Sunjata’s jaw works as he swallows down the residual panic and pulls out a coveted feather. One he’d had for years, one with his immortality he didn’t really need that much longer, did he? With Hotaru and Mel well on their way for their own, he could do something good with it.

Like this. With a man he didn’t know all that well, but had been helpful in so many ways from what he’d heard through the grapevine. “I’ve never used this before.” He admits to Melita, looking up at her before he works his jaw and focuses back on Zavien.

Placing the dragoon in a way to flatten him against the cold, snowy earth, the Flood places the feather against the man’s chest, hoping it does something.

---

Sunjata uses his revivify feather to revive Zavien!

gode wat 'n gemors — gods what a mess

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA

A sudden snap echoes across the frosty expanse—like ice cracking under heavy weight. Your pulse spikes as you glimpse a figure crouched low in the snow, its face stretched in a grin far too wide. Then, a swirl of white blinds you. When your vision clears, the figure—and any trace of footprints—are gone.

---

This does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention.

Melita

yes, yes, I am wild
I am the wind that makes breathing hard

Somewhere in the midst of her addled brain she registered with Remi by way of explanation – perhaps Mort’s demigod had heard of Zavien’s death through his means and measures. She could hear his hiss though, and didn’t bother billowing in it – if he wanted to lecture, she wasn’t certain how much would even enter her mind right now.

Her brows furrowed as he took out a feather – not realizing he’d ever had it, or what it did. “What-,” was all she managed to spout, before witnessing him place it upon Zavien’s very cold, very still, very dead chest. “What is that?” The light works of the feather, she meant, or perhaps, the blinding white snow and the odd footprints she thought she’d seen – glimmers of confusion, maybe, in the midst of so much happening.

I am the ocean and the battered shore
I will be the passion of thunder, a howl of fury

Zavien

Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times

He didn't think death was supposed to hurt like this.

As he'd given into the throws of death, he'd felt peace and acceptance as the world seemed to fade to nothing. Did he have regrets? Perhaps. He would have liked to smile more. To kiss Lena more. To do more. Yet he'd come to terms with his own life. It'd been happy and full of love, full of people. And when the time came, he'd done what he could to help the others. Maybe Remi had found a way to send reinforcements to finish the yeti. But even if he hadn't, Zavien had come to accept that he'd done all he could. He'd lived with integrity and honor, fighting for those who couldn't protect themselves. 

A thud sounded in his head, rattling the thoughts of peace to ones of pain. 

He wondered if maybe the gods had disagreed with his self-assessment. Had they decided he deserved to suffer even in the afterlife? Should he have provided more offerings or saved more people? Did Safrin hate him for wasting her vital assistance?

Thud. 

It felt like a stab to the heart, yet when he reached for his chest, he felt nothing. That made sense, souls didn't have hearts. The logical side of him seemed to understand, but Zavien couldn't grasp why everything hurt. 

Thud. 

It came faster. 

Thud. 

The restarting of a dead heart trying to beat. 

Thud. Thud.

Like the quickening of a drum that slowly brought him back with every beat. It pulsed in his brain, until it built to a crescendo, slamming him down into his broken body with the gentleness of an asteroid hitting an ant into oblivion. At first, just the pounding of his heartbeat filled his ears, consuming every ounce of his existence. Then, like he'd been held underwater for too long, his lungs expanded to their limit, sucking in a desperate gasp of air. Each clawed breath of valuable oxygen slowly brought him back deeper into himself. 

Zavien could feel the pain, but he couldn't tell if it was a memory or his reality. Was he destined to relive his death for eternity? A groan left his still-bloody lips, weak and full of the fear that had finally caught him. He refused to open his eyes, scared of what he might find. A yeti's arm reaching for him. His innards strewn in the snow. Anything he thought of was worse than the last. Meanwhile, each sense seemed to awaken. His ears caught voices. His mouth tasted the coppery residue of blood. His nerves ached with pain. And the subtle scent of lavender reached him through it all, easing him into a fitful sleep.

don't you know i'm no good for you?

“A revivify feather. I’ve been holding onto it in case anything happened to you or Ru. But you had Ronin last time to save you.” He explains as he watches Zavien’s face for anything of note, to see if it’s worked. The feather seems warm, before it seems to sink into the dragoon’s chest and vanish, and shortly after there’s the sharp inhale of breath that signals that it has. “Fuck. Okay. I’ll carry him.” He’d use his healing here if he didn’t think Zavien would freeze to death with it freezing against his skin, so he’s cautious as he slips his arms up and under the dragoon, effortlessly lifting him to cradle him in against his chest.

“We’ll go to the Citadel. You’ve got the firecracker nearby, yeah?” He asks, immediately finding his niece before he continues. “I’ll load him in and fly there with you.” As a dragon, so as to make the firecracker’s weight easier to manage to fly there.

And with that, the headache building in the back of his head begins anew.

- FIN

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA