[o] [SE] didn't see it there before

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

Dusk settled slowly over Halo, pale sunlight draining from the snow until the world became a quiet wash of blue and silver. The sky hung clear and brittle overhead, the kind that promised a harder freeze once the sun vanished completely, and the cold would have teeth that night, Noah could tell. A pile of dead brush waited a short distance from the lodge. A huge pile of branches he had spent the afternoon hauling away from the treeline and the path leading back toward the Citadel. Storms had a way of snapping limbs and leaving tangles everywhere, and if he didn’t clear it now, it would only become worse when the deep snows came.

Noah rolled his shoulders once, loosening the lingering ache from the work, and stepped closer to the pile. A breath later his form shifted, feathers rippling outward in a flash of pale silver and white and dark iron as the griffin took his place. The cold barely touched him like this. He lowered his head, opened his maw, and exhaled. Flame spilled forward in a brief, controlled rush. It caught quickly on the driest twigs, orange light blooming against the snow before climbing into the thicker branches beneath. The heat that followed, was welcome, pushing back the bitter air as sparks lifted and twisted upward into the darkening sky.

Noah shifted back, boots crunching in the frost as he stepped toward the growing fire. He folded his arms loosely across his chest, watching the flames take hold, listening to the quiet crack and snap of burning wood. The firelight flickered against the lodge behind him and painted the snow in warm gold, a small defiance against the endless cold of Halo’s night.

then I'm willing to
wait for it

Boots crunched in the ice and snow, the sound carrying over the tundra as Sohalia approached the lodge where Noah lived. It hadn't taken much to figure out where to fine the demigod-turned-Attuned; he was an important figure in Halo. What had taken some effort had been getting here, finding her way across the tundra to arrive at his doorstep. She'd made most of the trek via the air as a snowy owl, touching down to shift only once the glow of the bonfire outside the lodge was clearly visible. There would be no use in visiting if the end result was for her to get lost, especially with night falling.

So she approached, Anani curled around her shoulders, lifting a hand to wave in the direction of the fire. When she was in range, she called out a vocal greeting as well, a smile on her face as she said, "Hey, Noah!" It had been some time since she'd seen her friend, and the last time, she'd been... well, it had been in less than ideal circumstances. Now, though, she was happier, and she was glad to be able to deliver good news. Reaching the fire, she pulled her hands from her pockets to warm them by the flames. "Mind if I join you?"

When memories fade we've got each other
When time and confusion collide

Sohalia

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

Noah didn’t turn at the first sound of boots on snow. He pinpointed where the sound was coming from, attuned instincts immediately moving to partially shift the senses that mattered. Her scent reached him from the shift in the damp air, and by the time Sohalia’s voice reached him, he was already glancing over his shoulder, the firelight catching along the edge of his jaw as he smiled towards her. Some of the tension he carried eased, not gone, but quieter.

He mirrored her wave and shifted his weight, turning more fully toward her as she approached the fire, his gaze flicking briefly to the creature curled around her shoulders before returning to her face. It had been a while, but not long enough that the memory of their last meeting didn't ist heavy in the back of his mind at seeing her.

"No, of course." Noah stepped aside slightly, giving her space closer to the heat without making a show of it, his arms unfolding before settling again at his sides. "I was just trying to do some clean up before Deepfrost comes." He added, gesturing towards the now cleared area around the fire before returning his attention to her. The Sentinel cleared his throat slightly. “Not the easiest trek this time of day.” The attuned mused, studying her a moment longer. “You look… better.” Than last time. Than when he had burned her.

then I'm willing to
wait for it

Kind as ever, Noah stepped aside slightly to give Soh better access to the fire. "Thank you," she said as she reached her hands towards the flames. The heat kissed her skin, quickly warming her against the Halovian chill. She'd always liked a good bonfire. There was something pleasant about the smoky scent, the flickering firelight, the rolling warmth that contrasted so beautifully with the colder night air. Soh settled into it with a soft sigh of relief.

Her trek might not have been easy, but she shrugged. "I just wanted to fly for a while," she explained. "Thought I'd take the chance to see if you were home." And it had worked out well for her, for here they were.

At Noah's observation, Soh smiled. "I feel better," she admitted. Better than the last time they'd met, when he'd burned her and she'd lost more than just a little skin, when everything had felt so hard, and she'd felt so ruined and broken. "A lot has changed since I saw you last." Anani chimed softly, her golden eyes trained curiously on Noah. "This is Anani, by the way. She says hello."

When memories fade we've got each other
When time and confusion collide

Sohalia

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

Noah shifted his stance slightly, boots grinding into the ground as the fire settled into a steady burn before them. For a moment he just watched her, weighing something unspoken, carrying that same careful restraint he wore like a second skin beneath his warm smile. “Have you found your footing yet?” he asked. His gaze flicked briefly toward the north, toward where Stormbreak no longer stood as it had. “After everything with Stormbreak, I mean.” He didn’t dress it up more than that. He didn’t need to.

His smile dipped a fraction before easing into a rested, neutral expression, and then his attention shifted to the presence curled at her shoulders. The bond slipped open, deliberate but controlled, his mental voice steady and grounded. Hello, Anani. Noah exhaled wordlessly, a plume of white drifting between them before the fire swallowed it. His eyes returned fully to Sohalia, smile brightening his features again.

---

Can speak to rare creatures/companions/regular animals

then I'm willing to
wait for it

Finding her footing had been no easy task when her world was built on constantly shifting sands. Even her time in Torchline hadn't solidified her plans; she still felt a little restless, like there was more she ought to be doing in the world than lounging poolside at Flora's mansion. Still, she was far more settled than she had any right to be after Stormbreak's fall. "I'm finding it, I think," she said. "It was hard, losing Stormbreak. But I guess I've decided to look at the silver lining. Now I have the option to choose a new path. People don't always get that chance."

Anani chimed again as Noah's attention turned to her, her quiet, calm notes growing more excited when the Attuned opened the bond to speak with her directly. Standing suddenly, she balanced on Soh's shoulders, climbing halfway atop the Luminary's head as she chattered and trilled at Noah. "Woah!" said Soh, laughing as she reached up to peel her companion from her hair. "She's never acted like that before!"

When memories fade we've got each other
When time and confusion collide

Sohalia

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

Noah listened, his gaze steady on Sohalia as she spoke. Something thoughtful settled behind his eyes. There was a quiet respect in it -- recognition of the way she chose to frame it. She was right, not everyone got to choose a new path through the destruction left behind them. Noah's smile almost returned, his eyes softening as he nodded.

“That’s one way to survive it.” he said, voice weighted in a way to not dismiss what she had said. If anything, there was a note of approval tucked beneath it. “Most people just stay stuck in what was. In what they were.” His eyes flicked again, briefly, toward the dark horizon before returning to her. “Choosing something new takes more spine than people give it credit for.” And here he was, still forging his own new path back as an attuned and retired from demigodhood.

Noah’s brow lifted slightly as Anani climbed her way into Sohalia’s hair, the shift in her demeanor immediate and unmistakable. Amusement kept his expression soft, and his smile did return. "That part of the attuned bond just opened up to me. A buddy was here on his way home to the Citadel a few days ago and I heard his companion call out to me before he did." A quiet huff of a laugh left his lips. The bond brushed open again, lighter this time. Easy, he murmured, the thought edged with dry humor. Didn’t mean to rile you up.

then I'm willing to
wait for it

Noah's quiet respect warmed her even as she shifted under the weight of it, unsure that she was deserving of such a thing from someone like him. He'd been a demigod, and was now a powerful Attuned, capable of so much more than she could even dream of for herself. She was just... her. Just doing the best she could with the hand she'd been dealt, just like she'd always done. "It's hard," she admitted. "But I think it's worth it." Trying, striving, pressing on to find something new and wonderful: that was all Soh wanted from her life now, and if she found a greater meaning in the search? All the better.

With Anani climbing into her hair, Soh yelped at the tiny claws that gouged her scalp. "Anani!" she exclaimed. "Gods above, what -" Finally managing to dislodge the little cloud wyrm, she cradled her companion in her arms as the creature continued to chatter away at Noah, seemingly explaining that she was sorry to have caused such a fuss. "Wait, so, you understand her?" Curious, Soh peered at Noah as though she might see the change in the bond on him. "Like... in words? Not like the usual companion bond?"

When memories fade we've got each other
When time and confusion collide

Sohalia

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

Noah watched Anani a moment longer, the faintest shake of his head following her energy. “I’m still figuring it out." he admitted honestly. "The bond, I mean. With companions."

He shifted his weight, one hand lifting briefly as if to gesture before dropping again. "I use words because it’s familiar. Easier to aim a thought that way. But they don’t really send words back." His gaze flicked to Anani again, both thoughtful and amused before he looked to Sohalia, then to the fire, as if he needed the steadiness of the flames to focus. "Most of the time it’s closer to what we can feel as Attuned." Noah watched the fire curl and shift. "Emotions, instincts, intent." He paused slightly, as if sorting through it even now. "Not just what they’re thinking, but what they mean by it. Direction without language."

His mouth tipped faintly at one corner. "Sometimes it’s clearer than words. If I were in a shift, I might more easily communicate that way as well."

then I'm willing to
wait for it

Soh listened, her silver eyes shifting to look into the fire as she took in this new information. She hadn't realized that this was an ability that Attuned possessed. Would she, too, be able to talk to companions one day? What a blessing that would be! "That's incredible," she said. "What we're able to do as Attuned... it's really special, you know?" Not that there was anything wrong with the Accepted ability to channel, or the Abandoned ability to use magic - but this closeness with animals was something that Soh wouldn't trade for the world.

It did make her curious, though; for all that Noah was her friend, she knew very little about him outside of the usual rumors that followed demigods around Caido. "May I ask who attuned you?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. He'd been Vi's demigod - so was it that deity that had done it? Or perhaps his herald, Safrin?

When memories fade we've got each other
When time and confusion collide

Sohalia

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

Noah’s gaze lingered on the fire as Sohalia spoke, the steady crackle filling the space between her words. The fire shifted, a log collapsing inward with a soft burst of sparks. "It is." he agreed, "What we can do, all the facets we can connect," His eyes lifted briefly to her, a faint softness there, before drifting back to the flames, "it changes how I see things. The world doesn’t feel as separated."

Her next question held him a moment longer. Noah exhaled slowly, the breath visible as it curled and vanished into the cold. "Vi did," he said plainly. There was no pride in it, no hesitation either. Just truth, steady and unembellished. "At the time there weren’t many options." His jaw shifted faintly as he considered how much to say, how much mattered. "The heralds were still trapped behind the barrier in the Hollowed Grounds. Safrin included."

He took in another breath, then turned to start to gather more brush for the fire. There had always been a quiet thread between him and Vi, whether he had understood it or not. Vi had been the one to attune him as a child -- long before titles like Sentinel or demigod had ever touched his life. Before he had known what it meant. Maybe that was why. Maybe it had never been coincidence at all, but a path set beneath his feet from the very beginning, one he had simply continued walking.

"But the big three are quiet." He said as he hauled a large limb still fullo f branches, even though it was long dead from having fallen under the weight of ice. "I didn't follow any gods for a long time. Not until the barrier fell, and outlanders and Grounders were able to come to Halo, and Halovians elsewhere." He grunted as he tossed it onto the pyre, the flames catching it easily and brightening the clearing again. "It was other people's faith that brought my way back to the gods." But it had been Frey, until Vi anointed him.

then I'm willing to
wait for it

A log in the fire fell, sparking and crackling and drawing Soh's eye. It was warm and pleasant by the fire, its heat a stark juxtaposition to the chilled air at her back. "Me too," she said softly. "Everything's connected, but I don't know that I'd appreciate that as much if I weren't Attuned." If she wasn't able to connect with all manner of species and creatures.

To hear that Vi had attuned Noah didn't surprise her, but the way he said it did. It was so matter-of-fact, so plain, with no pride or hesitation to embellish the story. She could understand that, though; her own run-in with Vi wasn't something that brought her any amount of excess ego. She was grateful, of course, and awed, but it was just something that had happened to her through luck and happenstance. She hadn't done anything to be worthy of the visit or the subsequent quest, at least not in her mind.

"I didn't know much about the gods until I started traveling Caido," she admitted. "Sometimes it still feels like I'm catching up. Everyone around me seems to love Safrin, though." She traced a line in the snow with the toe of her boot. "I haven't really interacted with any of the gods enough to have chosen one to align myself with, though. How did it happen for you?"

When memories fade we've got each other
When time and confusion collide

Sohalia

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

Noah settled back into place near the fire after tossing the branch onto the pyre, the flames climbing eagerly over the dry wood. At Sohalia’s question, he went still for a moment, thoughtful, like he was choosing where to begin rather than what to say.

"It didn’t start with Vi even though he attuned me as a child." he admitted, glancing briefly at her before looking back into the fire. "Not really." He shifted his weight, folding his arms loosely against the cold. "A friend of mine—Phoebe—she followed Frey. Talked about them like they were something worth knowing." He couldn't help the fond smile that touched his lips at the mention of Phoebe, the midwife turned madame turned demigod. He missed her. "So I did," he continued, "I started to pay attention. Learn. Try to understand what it meant to follow a god instead of just living around them."

The fire cracked sharply, and he nudged a shifting branch deeper into the flames with the toe of his boot. "Frey was the first one I reached for," he said. "But that changed."

Noah lifted his gaze again, steadier now. "When Vi chose me—when he made me his demigod—there wasn’t really room for anything else after that." His jaw set with a certainty that did not hold any tension. Not anymore. "It wasn't just faith at that point. It was responsibility. Connection." He exhaled, breath curling into the night. "My loyalty shifted with it completely."

The attuned nodded, mostly to himself, as he continued. "I didn’t lose what I learned from Frey." he added. "But Vi is something else entirely. Safrin, too." His glacier eyes turned from the fire back to the Luminary. "Safrin and I share an understanding that, I dare say, no other living being feels." To have looked at the eyes of Vi, downcast with disappointment to their failures. "She has been a rock for me. A refuge. Her strength and grace and care, it's..." he trailed off, trying to pick the right words, "...it's healed parts of me." It wasn't that the herald did not have her own expectations, because she did. Noah knew she could be fickle, and was led by her own desires, all from the words of Deimos and Ronin. But Noah trusted her, and felt that she cared about him, deeply.

then I'm willing to
wait for it

Soh listened, gaze flicking periodically to Noah as though to assure him that she was still listening, even as her eyes remained primarily fixed on the flames. As he spoke, Soh considered how his story paralleled hers - attuned by a god she didn't necessarily follow now, interactions with other gods... only she hadn't decided who to align herself with yet, without having been blessed with the same fervent loyalty that Noah seemed to possess.

"I was attuned by Mort," she said quietly. "After my parents died. But I haven't interacted with him since." Maybe that was bad, wrong somehow, not to have tried to do more to thank the god of death. But from everything she knew about the deity, she didn't think he'd mind. "I've quested for nature Frey, and now I have a quest from Safrin."

She drummed her fingers lightly against her leg, thinking. "I think I judged Safrin too harshly," she admitted shyly. "I heard some things about her that made me nervous about seeking her out, so I didn't. But... I don't know. Now I regret letting that stop me from making my own decision about her."

When memories fade we've got each other
When time and confusion collide

Sohalia