it sticks with me

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

The desert had always held some strange encompassing portion to the Honeybee – but likely from nostalgia, rather than the wondrous ramparts fixed across the dusty, sandy horizon. But it was Deepfrost, so the heat wasn’t as bad as it could be, there was a Ludo shrine, and she had shit to do.

Dropping off another parcel of taffy and a miniature dice game for her favorite herald, the smuggler put her hand over her eyes, searching the outline across the wake for a distinct plant. Easy, really, when they were much the only things out there – besides the landsharks and who knew what else.

“Let’s head that way,” she ushered towards her companions, and Fangorn grumbled from her shoulder, while Sila soared above, already screeching out foretold signs of the plant they were searching for.

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

i know i should trust my gut
'cause i know that there's something up

She’s never been to the desert. Nor has she ever been to a place so… strangely macabre. It’s like life has been seeped out of the sunsoaked bones laying about, half sticking up out of the sand. It’s an uncomfortable sensation Caly finds herself in, and as Safrin’s daughter, it sparked a whole other series of distaste. Busy searching for any signs of life amongst the desert sands, the young woman ignores the scorpions that skitter across the sand only to find a spark of red that has her gaze immediately flitting toward the source.

She finds a young woman, as it turns out. A real sign of life. And like a moth to the flame that Melita was, the young attuned immediately rushes over with a wave. “Hey!” She chimes, catching sight of a dragon and a vampire gourd among the mix, before she nearly trips over a plant sticking out of the ground over one particularly steep hill of sand she’s attempting to slip over.

Calypso

i just hate the place that that path would lead me down

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Melita still couldn’t fathom why there was more than just…well, her in the desert, but the moment she heard another’s voice pierce over the surroundings, she turned her head briskly. She nearly shouted back, but then figured any more loud noises would encourage landsharks nearby to keep roaming towards them, and she really didn’t have the time to be bothering with massive predators.

And then the stranger tripped. “Gods,” the Honeybee grumbled under her breath, shaking her head. “Do you need something?” she asked once the stranger had regained their footing, but otherwise kept roaming towards where Sila hovered, flying over the cactus.

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

i know i should trust my gut
'cause i know that there's something up

Dusting off the sand from her clothes, Caly exhales a quiet sigh to try and even her emotions out lest she start freaking out at the multitude of miniscule fragments of sand when the stranger’s voice reaches her. She hovers by the plant that had nearly caused her to fall, noticing it was a cactus of some kind that she didn’t particularly want to see what effects it had should she have actually fallen into it.

“Hi, yeah, uh. Managed to lose the skyship I was on and I’m tryin’ to get back to Torchline.” A slanted smile is offered Melita’s way as the woman continues her approach, her smile wrinkling the star tattooed under her eye that matched someone Melita knew perhaps too well. “I don’t suppose you’ve got room on yours? I just need to get back to some kind of civilization.” From this vantage point she can see the ship that Melita likely had come from, and without anyone else around she has to assume it’s the fiery haired woman’s. She doesn't even care if Melita is going to Torchline, so long as she went somewhere Caly could catch a ship back.

Calypso

i just hate the place that that path would lead me down

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Melita had already started walking away once the stranger answered – apparently needing a ride. An annoyed and irritated huff settled into her chest, because she gave the terrifying travels to friends, not whoever this chick was.

Though – she’d probably be absolutely horrified and never want one again…

Shrugging again, because she didn’t care if the girl ended up falling out on the way back home, she took out her staff, sizing up the cactus and weighing out her odds of beating the shit out of it in one volley. “Yeah, sure. I just have to get this first.” Going into a normal battle-hardy and ready stance, she tempered her strength, and swung the armament much like a bat; watching as it punctured into the side of the cactus, making a good-sized dent and causing it to veer sideways. Eh, all right, maybe two swings. Gearing back up, she glanced at the girl briefly. "Who're you?"

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

i know i should trust my gut
'cause i know that there's something up

Stepping over the sandy dunes, the young attuned makes her way through the warm sands toward the cactus that Melita is thoroughly thwacking at, the main piece to the smaller one she’d almost ran into. Assuming it could be a material of sorts the fiery woman needed, Caly doesn’t question it. She’s still learning, after all. “Yeah, ‘course. No problem.” She hums, dusting more sand off of her clothes as she stays well out of the way of the staff as it comes down, denting and bending the cactus.

As for who she is, she catches the glance and flashes a small playful smile her way. “Name’s Calypso. Most people call me Caly, though.” And because she was being polite and this stranger was unknown to her, she extends the offer back. “Who’re you?”

Calypso

i just hate the place that that path would lead me down

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Given strange quests and necessities for said sojourns, it was probably a good thing the stranger didn’t ask. Most had learned not to bother. So she wound up again, putting all her strength into the swing, and gave it a good strike, watching as the cactus teetered further, but hadn’t fallen yet. What the fuck. Only inwardly growling at the strength of the stupid plant, she wrinkled her nose at it, before listening to the unfamiliar youth.

For once, being out of the loop of Jack’s latest dramatics meant she didn’t have a clue as to Calypso, her brethren, or their own bouts of chaos, leaving her to simply place the name in her memory. “Melita,” she corresponded – also alluding to nothing in her own repertoire of antics and bedlam. Tilting her head, she glanced back at the soon to be decimated cactus. “You can help if you want. Just don’t touch it.” Or she could – but she was far more likely to leave Calypso behind if she was hallucinating. Nobody had time for that.

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

i know i should trust my gut
'cause i know that there's something up

At least, for Melita’s pride, there’s no judgement from Calypso on the cactus’ resilience. If anything, she glares at it in turn too, until the fiery haired woman’s name is offered. “Nice to meet ya.” She hums with a bright smile, one sunny and vibrant as she steps toward the cactus in question. She doesn’t have much of anything herself to work with that she wouldn’t have to touch the cactus with her bare hands (or paws), but she does find a sunbleached stick poking out of the sand.

Stepping over to pull it from the sand, it takes at least three tugs before it’s free and she can focus on the cactus, ensuring that her own swing doesn’t interfere with Melita’s own. “Don’t touch it, got it!” She winds herself up, waiting until Melita’s beginning to withdraw from the cactus to hoist the stick and aim to thwack it into the dented side to help get it knocked down for the demigod.

Calypso

i just hate the place that that path would lead me down

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

At least this girl listened, which was different from many she’d met recently. They could take turns alternating between stick and staff, until the cactus had simply been beaten and broken away from its main source. “Huh,” she offered, standing proudly with her hands on her hips, clearly expecting more from the experience. Then shrugging away, she grabbed a bag and some gloves. “There. Can put it in and off we go.”

It took some deliberate and resourceful handling to get the damned thing in without touching it herself, but finagling it between sand, satchels, and everything else had secured it. “Thanks for the help,” she added, tossing the plant into the Firecracker, and beginning to load the rest of her wares, including her companions. “Hop in.” And then Calypso could likely have a new experience in terror, once they were off.

[FIN]

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