[o] Amidst Steam

Noah

Losing track of time, the other side of midnight
Don't know how it hit us so hard

Having teleported most of the way, Noah stepped lightly along the winding path that led to Frey’s Breath. The air was heavy, carrying the scent of fire and damp earth both, invigorating him with every breath. Here there was no sun, but Frey's Breath did not need it. The lava and magma and fire fueled the warmth of the place and kept the hotspring waters unpredictable.

Steam rose from the crystal-clear waters, dancing in the like ethereal spirits. Noah approached the waters, but did not ready himself to step into them. He could see others gathered, laughter and camaraderie filling the air, but he kept his eyes moving along the shores of the rocky pools for one thing: a lily.

He knew the rare blooms that thrived in the hotspring's embrace, yet there had been no luck in gaining them by natural occurrence. He couldn't let that dissuade him for being a part of the search, however. Noah knelt near the water’s edge, peering through the mist, scanning the surface for the delicate flowers.

Something 'bout the way you're pausing all the chaos

gently she leads you out into the darkness //

It was practically a hop skip and a jump for the Harpy – the portal between the Grounds and here made it such an easy trek that she nearly cant wait for Deepfrost to approach again, if only so there was some reprieve when it became far too frigid again. Either way, despite the fact that Kiada hadn’t been successful the last time she’d been in Frey’s Breath (with Fox, nonetheless), she figures she might as well give it another try.

And so, here she is, dressed in warm fleece leggings in stark black, a cream patterned sweater that hugs her curves well enough to not hang on her like a shapeless bag, hair swept up and out of her face, only revealing the curve of her dark horns with veins of ruby throughout.

She does much of the same as the last time she was here, looking around for any specs of white that distract her – only to find a too familiar person at the edge, kneeling. “Don’t know if anyone’s been successful yet.” Kiada calls out toward Noah, ignoring any other sounds from those enjoying the springs. She keeps her distance, at least, having not forgotten the tension between them from before the war.

KIADA

\\ and makes you drink rain

totally sniped from odd ilu

Noah

Losing track of time, the other side of midnight
Don't know how it hit us so hard

Having not seen the harpy since he lived in the Hollowed Grounds and together they worked to prepare against the floods of those seasons, Noah let his eyes move over to to take in anything new. No new scars, or anything drastic that he could notice, formed. His eyes rested on her horns for a moment before coming back down to her eyes, a small side-smile a greeting that he meant to show as peaceful.

”No one that I have heard of,” Noah said with a shake of his head, face showing the disappointment in that statement, ”but I’m hoping maybe I’d have more luck.” He said, trying to keep the tension lower than low between them, given their history. Years and years had done by, but the two of them had never talked about what had all gone on while mixed into the messy tangles of the war.

Adjusting his kneel so he was crouching on his heels, he then looked back to the water and trailed out along the edges of the pool. He tried to keep his eyes keen through the mist, looking for any flash of white or gold. ”Have you been up here often?” He asked.

Something 'bout the way you're pausing all the chaos

gently she leads you out into the darkness //

She had kept her distance then, too, having been so far focused on the allogator and turning the Grounds into a place that she might once again call home that she hadn’t dwelled too much on the fact that Noah had been there as well. Either way, the tension begins to tick away from her shoulders as she regards his peaceful smile as just that – drifting a little bit closer, tail waving easily behind her as the Harpy approaches. “Maybe we both will.” She suggests, because it isn’t as if she’s intending on leaving right now anyway, not when there was a space with little to no competition – where the two of them, regardless of who found the lily, would likely be giving it to the same person.

She comes up onto his other side as he remains crouched, stepping past him a little down the way to his left, scouting for any of those lilies in question when Noah’s voice pulls her from her thoughts and she grows quieter with it, thoughtful. “I come and go occasionally. It’s supposed to be like a second home to the Ancients… But.” Here she tilts her head toward him and flashes him a fanged smile, equally as peaceful as his had been earlier. “It’s bittersweet. I died here, if you remember.” She doesn’t know if he does or doesn’t, but it doesn’t matter to her one way or another. “So, I figure what better way to try and get more used to it than to visit now and then for a good reason?” Like finding a lily to help prevent the spread of the Family.

KIADA

\\ and makes you drink rain

totally sniped from odd ilu

Noah

Losing track of time, the other side of midnight
Don't know how it hit us so hard

Noah nodded in acknowledgement. He had never died before, but he could imagine that going back to a place where you felt the most hurt in your life was not enjoyable — the closest he had was that he had not gone back to the Draig since the war, and it wasn’t because of the dragons. He still couldn’t understand how Remi and Ronin had lived there for a time afterwards. Even though they stood as victors in the war, the experience of it was still traumatic and Noah had no desire to seek it out again.

But here they were, probably on the heels of an even greater conflict than before.

He hoped it would not last another several hundred years, given that he now could potentially see that as a lifetime.

”Who would have thought that searching for a little flower could be so hard.” He said, trying to bring a lightness to his tone intended to wash away the darkness of his own reflections. He offered her a half-smirk even, as he moved across slick boulders to move his search to a different side of the pool. He used all of the balance and dexterity he had, but sometimes none of that was enough, and with the wrong placement his foot suddenly slipped out from under him and he went crashing towards the water. He was not able to catch himself, and wasn’t dressed to stay wet or even enjoy the springs. ”ah, shit.” He murmured. ”Good luck, Kiada.” He said before giving her a nod and then teleporting from the springs.

FIN

Something 'bout the way you're pausing all the chaos