[SE] closer to the stage

SUNJATA

look who's digging their own grave
this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death

The work never ends, now that he’s finally not in the clutches of the Family. So as he leaves Torchline, it’s with a visit to his niece to see if she might accompany him there. With a yes and a bit to pack up, they land in the Greatwood amongst the Firecracker, right into the green lush forests of the Greatwood.

Already Sunjata is a bit on edge, as if waiting for something of the void to jump out at him, but he seems to carry it well. “So we need flowers, obviously, but I swear I haven’t heard of a single person finding one since everyone fuckin’ started to look for them.” He grates out, sighing, casting a glance toward his niece to avoid the underbrush briefly before they start their search.

look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it
and what will you have left?

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Given how the Ark would be venturing to the Greatwood, Melita’s round of hide and seek antics, and the whole flower en masse going on, it didn’t take much of a pull to get the Honeybee off and running. Even if she didn’t terrify him with her flying, there were still hundreds more things to do – and though Ludo had never charged her with trying to assist in all these endeavors, spite had always been one of her favorite motivators.

“I think the last time I ever saw one was during one of those plagues,” she hand-waved at this, as if the rampant diseases of the past were simply a normal occurrence. “Gods. Can you imagine if we’d need like..ten again?” Hadn’t that been the magic number with Tanau? She maneuvered her staff and pushed a semblance of thorns away from her, in the midst of rolling her eyes. Fangorn seemed to be searching on his own, along the undergrowth, while Sila soared above, taking the opportunity to stare across horizons and treelines.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

SUNJATA

look who's digging their own grave
this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death

There’s a lot of things that scared the Flood these days. Melita’s flying? Wasn’t one of them. Probably because he knew it wouldn’t kill him, or maybe because he knew that if it went too haywire he could just fly himself and save himself the trouble. Or maybe, it’s because the creatures that lurked somewhere in the underbrush around here would strike fear in him far more than anything else.

At any rate, they all have their eyes peeled. “When we had to plant them all?” He’d thought about that not too long ago, actually, and he shrivels a little bit internally to realize that they likely wouldn’t be that lucky again. “Ten would be nice to have. Not for like… An amount we need, though. Every other time it’s been easier.” He laments, drifting further, looking down the pathway again to see something rumbling through. Not a rose, unfortunately, but a void river star that has him stilling as his heart jumps into his chest and his scars flare with lightning cracks of light.

He knows what a normal river star looks like, and this one harbors too many sharp edges of points for teeth, tentacles otherwise hidden that float in the air behind it as it seems to ignore their very presence and Sunjata simply watches it trundle past.

look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it
and what will you have left?

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

“Nah, I was thinking of the Tanau time. Didn’t we have to put them by the falls?” Maybe it was ridiculous that this had happened multiple times – but Caido appeared to attract and entice not only diseases, but parasitical asshats. Tapping on her chin, she thought some more, but then let the inquiries go. “Yeah, I guess. Just like – one would be real fuckin’ great. Do you think you’re gonna be going again?” She didn’t need to indicate where – the notions would remain the same as last time.

Her eyes then followed what he seemed to spot, though she brazenly rolled her gaze. “Oh what the fuck.” She could feel Sila bristle nearby, and Fangorn still by her feet. “Want me to shoot it?”

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

Orbs of light beckon and call from the darkened angles and shadows of trees. Were those whispers of your friends? Family? Fallen allies?

Was that a scream? Could they be in trouble?

Is it all in your head? Just your imagination?

Or something else altogether – because what if it’s true?

---

You’ve encountered a Will-O-Wisp. This counts as a common creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements.

Will-O-Wisps (common): Glowing orbs of light that dance and weave between the branches, despite their usefulness, these creatures are not to be trusted. Mischievous and loyal to no one, they will lead travellers astray at a moment's notice.

SUNJATA

look who's digging their own grave
this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death

Thinking back to that time, he hardly remembers what was required of them. What he does remember causes his eyes to roll out of annoyance. “I only remember begging Loren to give us a piece to heal everyone and he was shitty about it.” But between the numerous close calls and brinks of deaths the Flood has harbored, it’s no wonder his memory is spotty these days on the details.

But they spot the river star about that time, and as his jaw works as he watches it trundle through the woods, he shakes his head as the distressing voices of the will o wisp paints the air, dancing between the branches between them and the river star. “Nah, don’t worry about it. Let’s just keep going.” He recalls that time Maea had a will o wisp companion, how it had tried to guide him off a cliff.

Tearing his gaze away, the Flood continues to plot the path through the woods, away from the void river star and the will o wisp.

look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it
and what will you have left?

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

“Sounds about right. Loren really was a useless fucker.” She offered freely, given how they’d gone for ‘training’ and he’d intentionally broken her leg. Fuck that guy, wherever the hell he was now.

And then the god damned will-o-wisps along with the void river star – had she been alone, any hackles would’ve been raised, and something likely set on fire. Striving to ignore the sudden, echoing onslaught of her mother and sister screaming through her ears and mind, she took another deep inhale, fingers wrapped around her staff, just in case. Avoidance wasn’t her usual method, mode, or means, but her uncle seemed to be in a certain temperament and mood, so she followed along.

Growth, see?

She opted to distract instead. “Soooo, if we don’t find anything, what’s our alternative?”

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

SUNJATA

look who's digging their own grave
this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death

“Huge pain in the ass.” Sunjata laments with an air of frustration, glad to have not heard of him in recent years. Maybe he squirreled himself away during the war and no one could find him again. That would make it better for the rest of them.

But then there’s the will o wisp and the void river star and absolutely nothing around here that even resembled one of vi’s roses, so he plots the path elsewhere with Melita on his heels, sighing a little to hear her question. “We’re still kinda working that out.” He admits with a wrinkling of his nose. “Some want to try and meet with them again to see what they want. I’m wondering whether or not we should try to get all the gods together to talk about it.” Those are the two options so far, if they don’t find anything, and he glances sidelong at his niece as the words leave his lips, trying to seek out her opinion whichever way.

look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it
and what will you have left?

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

It felt odd not to be fucking destroying either will-o-wisp or river star, but she listened just the same, giving one last glance back towards the creatures left unbothered. Her head whipped back at his statement, brows furrowing. “Meet with them? Like…what the fuck else could they possibly want?” The Family seemed like a self-explanatory parasitic type. Take over. Snag every morsel. Leave. Rinse and repeat. But Caido simply fought back – Melita couldn’t imagine them doing anything otherwise.

Kicking at a stray stick in her path, she tilted her head, pondering over the circumstances. “I mean – we can just quest for flowers, right?” It was just the difficulty to talking to a Big God. “And…how would we get them all together? Don’t Ludo and Safrin hate each other?” And all the other nuances and specifics.

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

SUNJATA

look who's digging their own grave
this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death

“I dunno.” Sunjata says with a huff of his own frustration – something that hasn’t alleviated in the days since he’d been to Torchline, and one that doesn’t seem to get better with the uncertainty of it while talking with Melita. He can understand her own annoyance at the idea, evident in how she kicks at the stray stick in her path and he watches it launch into the underbrush before he lifts a hand to thread through his hair, his broad shoulders slumping slightly.

Nodding to the mention of questing for flowers, Sunjata chews at the inside of his cheek. “We can, but we gotta be lucky in getting the big gods. And yeah, they do, but I like to think that whatever eons old arguments they had could be put aside for a pretty dire threat.” Especially if Safrin was as keen on her current followers as she had been with him. Wouldn’t she want to keep them around?

look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it
and what will you have left?

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Melita huffed again – not putting anything past Safrin, especially with her uncle, and her own allegiance to Ludo. “Yeah, we’ll see.” If there was a dramatic eye roll in there lodged for effect, then so be it.

And while the flower hunting was definitely an annoying part, at least it left those like her with something to do – other than twiddling her thumbs and thinking of ways to go blow up an entire island again (not to worry – not once had those considerations gone to the wayside). But rather than grumbling any further, only her nose wrinkled and that same old sort of mulish gaze set over here. “All right, do we want to go look elsewhere?” Not that everywhere hadn’t been combed over half a dozen times by everyone else, but still, it was worth a shot. Maybe some petals had been overlooked.

[FIN]

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun