[Training] [SE] burns like a blue star

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Patrols had ventured along the Hollowed Forest for years now, including his own purposeful strides and wakes. Multitudes of massive spiders had kept hunters and trackers busy, and the void nonsense always left him with a sense of foreboding nuances. Ronin’s recent letter and the dream hadn’t helped either.

But he was eager to assist with anything Kiada needed, and so he turned towards her as they marched along the snow and eerie eaves, careful to pay attention to the way her form required fire and heat. While Belial soared ahead, traipsing below branches and purposefully hitting his spread wings on a few, and Zuriel alongside to oversee anything, his head tilted, his precise strides careful and content with the company. “What did you need in here?”

DEIMOS

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

With Deepfrost over with, now, it meant that she could at least venture out a bit further in Halo thanks to her coat as well as the heat that Deimos provides with the boon of fire – fire that the Harpy toys with, with her newfound magic, warping ribbons of it in little figure eights that keeps her gloved hands warm, eyes drifting between it and the snow that crunches at her feet and the forest around, searching for that strange tree she requires one more thing from.

“Bark from a blood birch tree.” She offers, flashing a fanged grin up at Deimos and a waggle of her fingers as the fire spouts into nothing for the moment, retreating back into Deimos’ flame of warmth. Eyes dancing across each and every tree, she finally finds one that seems like it might do the trick for them. “That looks promising.. Don't you think?” She murmurs to him, pointing at a white tree with somewhat translucent leaves, striped with silver and white. A wound in the tree has the briefest glimmer of crimson etched into its bark, and the Harpy immediately changes their trajectory toward it.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Flames of eternal lifelines, meshed and pressed and uplifting, were a different haze from years and eons before. Ordinarily they’d be an essence of destruction, one he often craved; but for her now, after sojourns and mercies, they existed as compasses and necessities. One he’d extend to her each and every moment she required it – for his power was enduring, especially for those he cherished the most.

Which led them to these pinnacles – though he studied the sway and arch of each lilted flame, an idea sparking well beyond incendiary efforts. Perhaps all in due course; listening as she described necessities for this portion of her quest. The Sword glanced towards said tree, with its silvern complexities and strange nuances, a minor, friendlier aspect to things found in the Greatwood. “Fine by me,” he hastened, watching as Belial purposefully flew into a segment of the same timber’s branches, calling out as though he’d been the one to see it first.

He could feel Zuriel’s eye roll without glancing her way, shaking his head instead as they marched towards the sanction. Eager to tease, irk, and irritate simply because it was better than any of the apprehension clinging to his ribcage, a remark lingered through inquiries. “Have you done any wedding planning?”

DEIMOS

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

Snorting as she hears Belial’s call through the branches of the tree, Kiada starts to carve the path through the snow with Deimos at her side. As she steps over, she reaches into her pocket to pull out a jar and a metal tap, purposefully collected for being able to get the bloody sap from this particular tree. As for whether she’s done any wedding planning, she flashes him a small smile and shakes her head, reaching up to place the tap into the tree with the butt end of her dagger, she holds the jar up (wondering subconsciously if his magic might lend to helping the tap speed up).

“No, not really. Fox’s been busy with hunting the void creatures outside of the Inner Quarter and I’ve been having to deal with all of Danta’s mail and everything else now that Maea’s not got a portion of it.” Perhaps it might be better to wait anyway, given that with each and every passing season, the void seemed to get worse and worse. “Soon, though. I've got an idea for colors for my dress at least.”

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Maybe he’s been far too used to Evie’s impulsive, and emboldened, wedding planning; where everything had been put to order and rights quickly and efficiently. Kiada and Fox seemed to be taking the time, which wasn’t a bad thing; he simply found it amusing. “That will put Ru at ease,” presuming she’d told the Valkyrie already. “Evie wanted to know if she could provide flowers.” If they were going that route…

Shrugging, he stood on watch with ample fire and diligence, gaze pinpointing on the tap and sap supposedly due to flow into the jar, and seeing nothing filter out. Laughing inwardly, his head tilted, snorting at the remark about Maea. “Probably still a blessing,” that such an idiot and fool was no longer in charge of anything resembling politics.

But rather than delve into those segments of irritation, or Belial’s deranged hooting and stomping from above, he relented the earthen wares within the tree itself; casting control along intangible fragments of magic. Eventually, the sap hastened, but still not at any great speed, taking its time before falling into her jar. His thoughts weren’t as slow as the liquid though, and the rumble hastened thereafter. “Have you heard the latest on Starfall?”

DEIMOS

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

“I’m hoping so.” Kiada says with a muffled laugh, even though she hasn’t managed to stumble across her aunt just yet. Another little cog in the machine of wedding planning. At least with the offer from Evie, Kiada perks up as she sets up the tap and looks over her shoulder at him with a fanged grin. “That would be amazing!” She chimes, already feeling the relief of that particular part in her shoulders.

Laughing again at the comment, she nods her head as she watches him utilize his magic to try and speed up the process. It does go faster, but she’s content to sit there with the jar held up for however long it takes to get the sap to fully draw into the jar she’s brought. “I haven’t heard much on that front.” But she also hasn’t seen Danta in a while aside from the occasional needing to inform him of what’s currently going on.

Tilting her head to him as the sap continues to flow, she blinks her iceberg gaze at him before raising a dark brow. “I have not. What’s going on?”

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

He had a feeling if he asked about preferences, types, and hues of flowers it’d be a similar answer of the unknown – so he left that for the Evergreen and Harpy to sort out later. It was enough to know Kiada was willing to let Evie conduct the growth and creation on that front.

Continuing to pull at the sap so it maintained a steady drip into the jar, his eyes went back to her, and a long, low sigh careened through his lungs, ending in a familiar warm puff of air. “Had a dream, and so did several others, about Starfall.” And ordinarily, it may not have been an issue; nightmares weren’t infrequent given the lives he’d led. “Seemed to be more Family members contained within crystals. Maybe incubating. And something large similar to Vi, Mort, and Rae. Just expanding.” Growing, enlarging, taking the time to potentially decimate them. Then there was Ronin’s recent letter to contend with – and even though he’d presumed it was coming, it still gnarled its way into his bones; the familiar ache and burden of dread.

DEIMOS

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

When it comes to flowers in general, the Harpy is not all that familiar with them. She knows the colors she likes, the styled arrangements, but aside from that? Zero idea. If you asked her to name her favorite flower, she’d come up with absolutely zilch except for the hue and shades of them. So perhaps it’s wise as she holds up the tap and turns her attention between filling the vial and Deimos when he speaks, brows pinching briefly as she cocks her head.

“That’s really shitty.” Kiada admits with a sigh, her freehand drawing some more flame up and around her hand to keep her extremities warmer. “Is something going to be done about it or was it like… a warning?” She asks, looking to the vial as it starts to top off. Once it’s done, she withdraws it and caps it, stuffing it back into a pocket before she removes the tap.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

It would’ve been far easier, and pleasant, to discuss flowers, but Deimos also didn’t have much of a notion of these things either. Any greenery had to have a purpose and use in his motivations and ambitions, so Evie would be the much more target audience for any conversation surrounding such details. Perhaps it didn’t matter either, as Kiada snagged enough, and he ceased the flow of the sap through the tree.

But he also didn’t want to leave Kiada, and any of her counterparts, in the dark. Uncertain if Ronin’s letter had reached out towards the Grounds (and based on her reaction, it hadn’t), his jaw clenched, eyes flickering across the horizon and tree line, as if looking for something else to yield. Instead, his fire around her grew brighter and warmer, as if that would ward off everything descending. “It may be wise to take it as both omen and warning.” He didn’t know how or why or whom had sent such a message through all of them – but it’d been enough to move and stir. “Ronin asked many of us to meet. It sounds as though we will be planning to go to Starfall.”

DEIMOS

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

“I’ll let Danta know.” Kiada says softly – just in case he hadn’t heard or didn’t know himself. She hadn’t seen any letters slip by her desk, though what happens to some of them when she’s not there is not her prerogative. Already she’s trying to mull over her thoughts of whether or not there were any other pieces of information she may have missed.

It all vanishes when he mentions yet another meeting between the strongest of all of them, disappearing like smoke in the wind when he says that they’ll be planning to go to Starfall. The flames around her brighten – of her on volition and not Deimos’ own carefully conjured magic – snapping her head toward him as her lips form a tight line and she adjusts her coat tighter now that the vial is safe. “Is that a good idea?” She asks, suddenly fiercely protective over the idea of Deimos getting hurt on that horrible island.

Because gods knew she didn’t want to have to try and navigate things without him. And suddenly, a yawning pit starts to form within her.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

He nodded at the future sharing of information with Danta, uncertain how much the man would care in the long or short run. “We did find out air and gravity magic were quite effective against the void. Ice and earth did nothing at all. Everything else seemed normal.” They’d at least had that advantageous notion at their disposal, despite how poorly that meeting had gone as well.

He watched her flames brighten too, as it certainly hadn’t been of his own volition – the flames of his accord wrapping and ensnaring, then still. The inquiry mentioned was one that had gone through his mind over and over, and he couldn’t help but snort and shake his head. “Probably not.” The Sword began walking, treading lines over the snow, restless with the question, and knowing he’d have to piece the same portions together for Evie as well. “I have begun to wonder if the dream was nothing more than a lure to get us there.” Bait – a snare wrapped around all their necks. “But we are likely running out of ideas and time.” Unless someone had a better one.

DEIMOS

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

Making mental notes for gravity and air magic being effective, Kiada hums a note of understanding even if her nose wrinkles slightly at the fact her own would do… well, nothing special. “How did you find that out?” She asks curiously, a hint on edge now thanks to the bomb dropped over him going to Starfall. Especially with the admission of it likely not being a good idea.

Her nose wrinkles, but the Harpy follows him through the snow, collecting wisps of fire to bloom as if they were a means to get out her anxieties. “I don’t like it.” She says unhelpfully, not having anything better to offer. So much so, that even as it falls from her lips and she disperses the fire, she rubs at her forehead as if a headache has just started to form. “Just, uh, promise me you’ll be okay. You’ve gotta be there for the wedding.” She tries to aim for a joke, but realizes it falls flat with the air that seems trapped in her lungs.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Walking further, tempted out of restlessness and the conversation, he tilted his head towards Kiada, letting those long sighs filtering through his lungs. “Seren had an orb from Safrin. It had something to do with the Family.” He shrugged, presuming the herald had gotten it somewhere in her journeys, trials, and tribulations. “We each attacked it with different elements.” Hence how they’d acquired the previous information.

Her statements caused him to still though, that same surge of apprehension curling and contorting through his clenched jaw. Beyond the matter of Halo, there was always his family to consider, and the possibilities of him being marred, mangled, or deceased hadn’t been neglected or ignored; not for his own safety and sanctity, but for everyone else that relied on him. He gave a very weak smile in return, because he knew it would be difficult to give such a promise, when they didn’t know what awaited them on the other side. “I will do my best,” he rumbled, because at least that much was true.

And desperate to alter and change the lines of the subject, they continued to saunter towards a clearing through the snow and pines. “Would you like to train?”

DEIMOS

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

“Weird, but okay.” Kiada says with a soft huff of air, brows still pinched together in her confusion as she follows along with him down toward the clearing. And all the while, thoughts keep milling about in her head, of all the possibilities of just how fucking awful all of this could be, when she notices his weak smile and not so steadfast promise. It deflates her sails, and Kiada’s shoulders hunch a little, tugging up the scarf around her mouth to hide the grimace that tries to form there.

The clearing comes into view and Kiada’s had a moment to think about what to say, glancing over at him with iceberg eyes somehow made brighter like glass with the light reflecting off of the snow and the flame. “You better.” She threatens, despite knowing it isn’t much of a threat at all. And at the offer of training, a stubborn streak of hers blooms, revealed only seconds before her voice follows suit, in how the flame in her possession grows a bit brighter. “It’s not like my fire will do much against them, but, yeah. Sure.” Another shortcoming she’s already rebelling against internally.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat