where the shadow ends

temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill
my skin has lavender tones

“Yeah.” Sunjata says a little unhelpfully, his smile still just a soft one - optimistic because now he could bounce his ideas around her and without the fear that King’s End would be ripe for the taking by the Family should anything happen to him on Starfall. But he does also realize that Tal is infected and that’s another rose that would be needed and required to heal.

As for how it’s decided? “We’re… Collecting right now and allocating to the biggest threats. Starfall, then others.” A pause after the mention of the island, because of the very thing Alys had seen in her visions. The rumbling quiet that won’t stay quiet for long. If they can keep that at bay, there would be hope for them yet.

But its a sacrifice that he knows is difficult to swallow, so his tone is softer when he speaks next. “I know that we need to heal Tal. So if I’m able to find one that doesn’t have an immediate purpose, I’d be happy to help you heal him.” Because it wouldn’t be easy. Gods knew how he was when faced with the hot springs.

the flood

tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone
i can cover it up, i can cover it up

totally sniped from odd ilu

"I understand," Alys said softly, her brow still creased with worry. It wasn't that she was ungrateful or that she regretted her decision to aid Sunjata - quite the opposite, really. She was glad that he thought highly enough of her that she would be the one he sought out. It was just everything else that weighed on her. She'd never envied leadership their hard decisions. Now she supposed she was in the position that she would be contributing to those decisions. Only time would tell if she'd be any good at it.

Impulsively, Alys reached out to squeeze Sunjata's arm gratefully. "I appreciate you telling me this," she said. "I see what needs to be done. Tal... he would understand, I think." Hadn't it been just recently that they'd talked about joining the fight? She'd thought that she'd be the one standing back while he entered the battlefield, but... Shaking off the memories, Alys nodded towards the pen and paper. "Is there anything else I should know?"

ALYS GLASSE

temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill
my skin has lavender tones

There’s gratitude in the fact that Alys understands, but it’s only when she reaches out to squeeze his arm that he lets his steel gaze focus on her face - the gravity of it all weighing on him in ways he often was better at hiding. But it was a lot, and with the worry of the next portion lingering in the back of his mind, Sunjata nods, flashes her that same small smile, before puffing his cheeks out with a little sigh as he considers it.

“The next… level, I suppose, of gardening is the water level.” He announces slowly, because there weren’t many that knew the conditions of his immortality, but if she’s to be on his council and Hotaru trusted her, he’s certain he can trust her with this too. “And while that’s good for me,” because of all of his water magic, “It's my caveat.” He lets the gravity of it settle, that he can only die if he drowns. “I have means of coming back, but I figure you should probably know the conditions.” Just in case.

And then, for a second later, he snags the paper again as his thoughts come to the forefront of his mind. On the dry portion of paper, he scribes out with the pen. There’s an couple of items from the last war that I have, too. One is a relic, the other is the Knowtbook. Sliding the paper back toward her, waiting until she’s read it again, before he repeats the action of melting the words away with water.

the flood

tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone
i can cover it up, i can cover it up

totally sniped from odd ilu

Sunjata's emotions were similar to Alys's own, and she offered a small, sad smile as she thought of the difficult decisions they would have to make. That she would have to trade some part of her soul away as a result of choosing between her new role and her partner... what she would have to learn to live with weighed heavily on her mind.

But for now, there were plans to discuss, and Alys blinked at the gravity of what Sunjata was offering her. She wondered how many people knew this about the Archon - and if he should have perhaps written it, rather than speaking it aloud. If the Family knew how to take him out of the game... well, that always would have been tragic, but now it was personal. Alys wasn't sure she wanted responsibility for King's End to fall squarely on her shoulders. Not alone, anyway.

"You'll be careful?" she asked, worry coloring her dark eyes - worry for him, for Ru, for their region. It was... a lot, this knowledge, and she didn't envy him for having to go through this.

Then there were more words upon parchment, which she read with a furrowed brow. "I'm not sure I understand," she admitted. Taking the pen, she wrote out a question: I assume we don't want these items - whatever they are - in the Family's hands?

ALYS GLASSE

temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill
my skin has lavender tones

“Always.” Sunjata confirms, flashing her a smile that he hopes proves that he’s going to do his best not to succumb to it. And even if he did, he has the promise from Ronin to bring him back. He doesn’t want to have to rely on it, though. So he’ll do his best to be prepared, and with the relic in his pocket he’s confident that he’ll stand a better chance this time around.

But then, she doesn’t understand the writing, and as she scribes out the question, Sunjata’s smile slants a touch apologetically. “Yeah.” He confirms. They were vital information regarding how to better attack those within the Family, and he’d be damned if he let them get their hands on it.

So he takes the paper back, scribing out beneath her question. It tells the user things they otherwise wouldn’t know. Like knowing what kind of abilities the Family had that they would be going up against. And granted, while it wasn’t everything under their belts, he’s sure (the lack of abilities underneath some members of the Family), it was better than having nothing. "I can show you when our regional quest is finished."

the flood

tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone
i can cover it up, i can cover it up

totally sniped from odd ilu

Alys was both reassured and not - because despite her trust in Sunjata's abilities, this was the Family they were talking about, and her visions had only given them so much information to go off of. What their adversary was truly capable of was anyone's guess, and that lack of knowledge left them vulnerable every time they moved to fight back.

But this knowtbook was something that would seemingly help with that, and Alys's brows rose as she skimmed Sunjata's note, impressed. "I look forward to it," she said. "Speaking of - what do you need me to take care of for our regional quest? I can step into a bigger role, if there's anything in particular you want me to lead?"

ALYS GLASSE

temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill
my skin has lavender tones

Flashing an easier smile toward his new Seer, Sunjata nods in agreement to looking forward to it. But when it comes to the quest to prevent the Family from getting in, the Flood’s mind flits through the possibilities before landing on what was left. Which, admittedly, wasn’t much. And he was quietly grateful for that thought as it flits through him. “I think all that we have left to do is planting the flowers around the Barrows. Once I get the wagon from the Dragoons we can set that up. Do you want to lead it?” He asks curiously, head tilting slightly.

Then, as if remembering himself, his smile softens a touch. “Right now we have you, me, Colt, and Lena signed up for it.” So if she wanted to take the charge on that, Sunjata would be more than happy to hand the reins over. And maybe it would make it more comfortable for her to do so, knowing he’d be there to help back her up if needed.

the flood

tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone
i can cover it up, i can cover it up

totally sniped from odd ilu

Alys nodded readily enough at the question. "I can do that," she agreed with an easy smile. She'd never really considered herself much of a leader for situations like that, although now that she was the King's End Seer, she supposed she had just signed herself up for more of them. Drumming her fingers on the counter, she added, "We'll have to set aside a fair bit of time for it. There's a lot of ground to cover." And it would be different, planting the flowers - not at all like what Sunjata, Tal, and Alys had done recently using the Peregrine.

Thoughts of her partner sobered her quickly. Once they'd protected the Barrows, would Tal even be able to come home? Or would he be shut out, just like the rest of the Family? How long would it be before she saw him again? Her heart ached, but she shoved it aside. There was nothing she could do about that right now. What she could do was plan how to make things safe for him once he was cured.

Turning her attention back to Sunjata, Alys smiled again - and if it looked a little sad, a little tired, she hoped he'd forgive her for it. "Thank you," she said. "For trusting me with this."

ALYS GLASSE

temporary fleeting thrills, keep me bruised and make me ill
my skin has lavender tones

Pleased to let her lead it, Sunjata nods to the following answer – how much more time it would take before they had a chance to protect the Barrows from the Family. But, they could give it a similar attempt to when they’d done it with the Peregrine, only without the Messenger’s boat they’d likely be astride his back as a dragon, ensuring that they had equal amount of footing and space to sit and drop the flowers. “There is. But I can take us as a dragon if needed, or we spend a while walking through each night. Maybe Colt’ll let us borrow some horses if you want to be closer to the ground.” He muses thoughtfully, before shaking his head as he notes her sobering thoughts, the sadness that aches with the loss of Tal being around.

Something that he feels guilty about, though unable to do anything about it right now. So when she smiles again at him, a little sad and tired, he flashes her one back that’s understanding and gentle. “You’re welcome, Alys.” He says softly, quietly, gentle because he gets it. “Thank you for helping me with this.” He returns the answer softly, reaching out to squeeze her arm gently, a friendly notion to prove to her that she wasn’t alone with her feelings or thoughts, and together they’d figure out how to protect their people as well as make sure they got Talyson back to them.

the flood

tell me i'm a loaded gun, tie me up and come undone
i can cover it up, i can cover it up

totally sniped from odd ilu

Actually, they did have Tal's ship - he'd given Alys the Peregrine in the days before his infection, when they'd spoken at length about their efforts in the coming weeks. She could barely stand to fly it, these days; the deck felt lonely without its master, and she was terrified that she would do something to bring harm to the ship in Tal's absence. Aside from that, perhaps they could stay closer to the ground for this particular task. "Some wagons, perhaps, for the flowers," she mused aloud. "Perhaps I'll ask Colt."

The kind gesture from Sunjata brought a more genuine smile to Alys's face, and the seer settled quickly enough. They would find a way to do it all, to protect King's End, and Caido, and to save Tal. They had to.

Shaking off her blues, the seer gestured towards the casserole. "This is a lot for me to eat on my own," she said. "Would you care to stay for dinner?" Either way, Alys was feeling better, somehow, than she had in days. And with Sunjata to thank for that, a dinner was the least she could offer.

fin

ALYS GLASSE