Baptized in bad times

COLT

Well life's got a lot of sticks and stones
And a blade that'll cut you to the bone
But if you're doing what you love and it kills you
Well, you can live with that all day long

The boat rocks harder than Colt likes. Honestly, Colt doesn’t like [i]any[/i[ boat rock, but this one lacks the steady, predictable sway of something that knows what it’s doing. It’s sharp, an uneven pitch that keeps threatening to throw her balance out from under her boots. The sea out here doesn’t feel like water so much as the backside of something alive and irritated, all churn and pull, like it hasn’t settled since Stormbreak came crashing down into it.

She braces a foot against the edge of the boat, both hands wrapped tight around the rope biting into her palms, jaw set as she leans her weight back. “Pull, Wyatt!” The line strains in answer, groaning as whatever they’ve hooked below drags stubbornly against them. For a moment, it feels like it might actually give. The water bulges, dark and shifting, and then a length of metal breaks the surface with a reluctant scrape.

Colt grits her teeth, digging deep to hoist it up. “Port side—no, the other damn port!” she snaps at him when he heaves the wrong way and the beam angles just right to catch a deep drag of a rogue wave. She’s not a sailor, never pretended to be, never wants to be, and it shows in the way she compensates too late, overcorrects, and fights the boat instead of moving with it. This is unfortunately the steed she’s stuck with until she can finish more work in Hak Etme, and she can’t do it fast enough and pull her sea legs off.

For now though, the rope jerks violently in her hands. The wave hits the side of the boat hard enough to rattle her teeth, a wall of water that crashes over the edge and soaks her through in an instant. The tension vanishes so fast it nearly sends her sprawling backward, boots slipping against the slick boards as she stumbles, catching herself on the railing with a sharp grunt. For a second, all she can do is stare at the empty water where the caught beam had been, chest rising and falling, breath rough.

“Frey’s sake,” she huffs, dragging a wet sleeve across her face, pushing soaked hair back out of her eyes. Salvaging parts of Stormbreak’s usable wreckage had seemed like a genius idea. Free materials, no hassling with traders in ports, the perfect solution to turning her nose up at Torchline’s bounty of supplies. The captain of this small ship they’ve chartered can’t keep back the laugh that fills the space behind them as Colt and Wyatt sag over the side and peer down at another failed retrieval. They’ve tugged up a few things, but this hardly seems worth it.

---

So, if you got a fire, don't lose it
If you got a do-or-die dream, do it
If you got somethin' to prove, go on and prove it
If it's in your blood, fallin' down ain't enough
Gettin' back up, that's the only backup plan you need

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Melita’s venture was nowhere near as defeating as Colt’s – gauging her Firecracker onward, a streak of vibrant movement and ivory sails across the sky. Sila came along her side, trilling happily in the efforts of freedom and liberation, the open tides of nothing but air and salt and surf below and around. Even Fangorn had taken his mantle of first mate handedly, wrapping his vines around the railing and turning his enigmatic features towards the horizon. The speed wasn’t quite breakneck, but the Honeybee was content; unfurling the sails a little more until her dragon alerted to another boat.

She could see people dangling, then being thrown back, enough to amuse and giggle behind her hand as they passed over. “You good?” she shouted down – before recognizing one of the figures upon said vessel, head tilting vaguely as if she’d just found a shiny rock and was pondering whether to leave it to the earth or pocket it. “Hey Colt! Heard you had a shit time!” which could pinpoint on any proportions, but she left that out in the open without the specifications.

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

COLT

Well life's got a lot of sticks and stones
And a blade that'll cut you to the bone
But if you're doing what you love and it kills you
Well, you can live with that all day long

More fed up than she is, Wyatt shoves off the rail, as dripping wet as her, and mutters something with disdain about ships before he's plodding below deck, clearly done. Colt grunts some echoing sentiment, and it seems they'd have to cut their losses and head back with what they have for now, the mission well and truly as complete as it could be between the two of them blind mice and drowned rats for this method. Maybe she should just hire salvagers, they'd do the sailing and the retrieving...for a pricier price than this. Right now though, it sure seemed worth it.

Contemplating telling their captain to turn the fuck around and sail on to Hak Etme, his smirk and their bargained time be damned, she instead finds her attention drawn towards the vessel coming upon them. Port side...she thinks. Although she's seen it a time or two, Colt could not pick out the Firecracker from another ship unless she could read the whole name—give her five chestnuts in a field though and she'd tell each one apart in a blink. "Yeah, just getting ready to leave!" Colt calls back up, hands cupping around her mouth to lend the words easier distance.

When she finishes, she raises one in a tentative wave, especially once she recognizes Mel. Comfortably from Torchline, part of the spa day, so clearly another Flora bestie. Figures fate would show her a middle finger as soon as it could. At the remark, Colt stiffens a bit, glancing down at her toes and back up, hands flanking down her sides with her head and flicking up too as if in obvious show that she didn't go swimming to get this wet. "Had and having!" she fires back, gaze narrowing slightly as she tries to gauge the angle here. Has Mel come just to harry her like some seabird, or is this just the idle curiosity of the sea and the world? "Gonna have to be more specific, too many to count lately!"

So, if you got a fire, don't lose it
If you got a do-or-die dream, do it
If you got somethin' to prove, go on and prove it
If it's in your blood, fallin' down ain't enough
Gettin' back up, that's the only backup plan you need

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

The Honeybee had heard of a few, but her specifics prevailed from the latest party. Hanging over the edge of the railing not unlike a cat, face bright and smug, her head tilted vaguely, watching the crew hasten back and forth, sputtering and grumbling before disappearing to their posts. She paused her own vessel, letting it hang and hover while Sila trilled down below to Colt and Fangorn dangled his vines in greeting, before they all retreated and it was simply the demigod pondering her capricious, mercurial wiles. From what she understood, some of Colt’s current predicaments were largely self-inflicted (and unfortunate circumstance when it came to Caido on even the best days). “Mmmm,” she hummed vaguely, before finally giving a solid response. “Flora and Enzo’s birthday bash. Sounded like you got kicked out or something.”

A surprise, given how they’d all had spa time together just recently. But then again, her uncle had been on the investigating end, and it sounded as though he and Colt had a tiff earlier too.

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

Low shapes scurry along the edges of the street, noses twitching as a pack of ROUS emerges from between buildings. They fan out quickly, sniffing the ground with focused determination.

Once a trail is found, their attention locks in, movements becoming coordinated and purposeful as they begin to follow.

They do not attack immediately, but their intent is clear — once they have your scent, they are not inclined to let it go.

---

ROUS Areas Found: Hollowed Grounds, Stormbreak — Uncommon These large rodents are entirely blind but have increased olfactory senses. They gnaw on the stone walls to sharpen and help trim their long teeth and eat mostly garbage. Humans are a delicacy that these creatures like to hunt in packs. Challenge Rating: Moderate HP: 694 | To Hit: +35 | Dmg: 23 Movement: Walk 30 ft.; Burrow 20 ft. (rubble and soft stone); Climb 20 ft. (rough walls) SPECIAL SKILLS Olfactory Tracking: locks onto human scent and follows it doggedly through twists and ruins; Gnaw-Through: can chew through wood, plaster, mortar, and softer stone to open paths or breach doors; Filthborne Resilience: exposure to refuse makes them stubborn against common toxins and sickness; Pack Coordination: yips and tail-drums keep the group synced, surrounding targets in tight corridors

TRAITS Blind Navigators: rely on powerful smell, whiskers, and ground vibrations to map their surroundings; Stone Gnawers: continually chew stone walls to sharpen and trim their long teeth, carving new cracks and holes; Refuse Feeders: thrive on garbage and carrion, unusually tolerant of rot and filth; Pack Hunters:coordinate in groups to harry, flank, and overwhelm larger prey; Warrenwise: know every culvert and crawlspace, vanishing into tunnels at the first sign of danger ACTIONS Bite: a brutal chomp with chisel-teeth meant to maul and latch; Swarm Harry: the pack rushes in waves, nipping and retreating to wear a target down; Drag Down: several ROUS pile on a human-sized foe to topple and pin them; Wall Scrabble: rapid clawing and gnawing to open a small breach or expand a crack for escape

COLT

Well life's got a lot of sticks and stones
And a blade that'll cut you to the bone
But if you're doing what you love and it kills you
Well, you can live with that all day long

Mel's companions seem honest enough in their salutations that Colt's prickling defenses flatten a touch. She'll always trust the animals more, their propensity for deceit not unheard of, but less rampant and misguided. Stepping back a stride or two as Mel nears, proximity forcing Colt's head back further to regard the fiery woman, Colt's features stiffen at mention of the party. "Yeah," Colt grunts, a scowl tossed sideways into the sea. "Got ambushed with accusations and things took a turn for the worst." She was asked to leave, but she'd already have been on her way out after that showing of teeth from someone she thought an ally. Even now, she's wary of where Mel stands amidst it all.

"Say, you got any towels onboard your ship? I'd love not to feel water rolling down my thighs while we talk about how shit things are going for me." She motions with a hand for a rope to climb aboard on. Her ship is rather lacking in basic amenities, towels included. Only meant for short ventures and hauling, it's not exactly a vision of comfort and class.

In the distance, a splash catches her eye and Colt glances over to see several ROUs leaping into the sea from a rough coastline of Stormbreak ruins. She frowns at the idiot creatures. They might be able to swim in calmer seas, but out here? A wave is sure to drown them soon. She looks away, squinting back up to Mel.

So, if you got a fire, don't lose it
If you got a do-or-die dream, do it
If you got somethin' to prove, go on and prove it
If it's in your blood, fallin' down ain't enough
Gettin' back up, that's the only backup plan you need

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Her eyes glanced at the movement from the nearby shore, and without missing a beat or taking a breath, fired off a shot of her own magical cannons to deploy at the beasts. Several went upwards in an array of confetti and devastation, before she cast her focus back upon Colt. While smug and feline-esque, the Honeybee certainly had no standing upon the situation as a whole; she wasn’t involved, just circling the drama as a shark might, either enticed to take a bite or merely maneuvering onward. She idled around it now, a cat batting at a new toy, ignorant of most of the forefront, but having seen enough of the aftermath. “Huh,” she shrugged, and had the Accepted not continued the conversation and inquiry, the demigod might have moved on – not granted enough of the levy to see if the dam would burst or not. “That tends to happen a lot around here.” The sharp ability for many predators to jump onto a portion of prey they deemed suitable; especially in a crowd. Painted into corners then shanked, stabbed, shivved for their good intentions.

Glancing downward at the soaked Colt, she huffed and rolled her eyes; not one to ever permit someone demanding to be let on her ship. She supposed it would look rather assholeish to leave her there if more of the ROUs survived and started swimming her way. With her luck lately, they’d probably pirate Colt’s ship too. Tossing the ladder down, she didn’t make it any easier for the woman, and merely waited until she climbed and clambered her way up, going through her things for said towels.

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

COLT

Well life's got a lot of sticks and stones
And a blade that'll cut you to the bone
But if you're doing what you love and it kills you
Well, you can live with that all day long

Her body neatly jolts in place as the cannon fires suddenly, eyes widening at the display. Water splashes up with an array of rodent body and paper sprinkles, and it's such an absurd vision that Colt's laugh loosens immediate and fierce. It steals her breath so entirely she has to grab onto the railing to steady herself, the sound of it seeming rather pent up based on the force of its release and the way it empties her in its wake. "Oh shiiiit, that was amazing!"

Unaware of the slight she'd made, Colt's pleased to grab hold of the ladder and haul her sopping body aboard, the process less graceful than her routine of clambering aboard every nature of beast, but she manages. Boots set down on the Firecracker and Colt takes a moment to lean over the side and smooth and wring out her wig hair. While Mel searches for a towel, Colt's properly hooked on the bait of the party's bastardization now. "I'll admit, birthday parties tend to get very dramatic in my experience." She'd seen the Marin one and all its chaos too, after all. "Guess I got too comfortable befriending a queen. She certainly knows how to bring out her rank when it suits her." Not just any queen either, but arguably the strongest one in Caido. Deimos could surely give her a run for her money, but Colt doesn't think he'd like to be considered a queen.

Tilting her ass into the railing and leaning back in a faint squat, Colt sighs with a frustration born at her own miscalculations and poorly delivered trust. "I suppose I should have thought better about the things I said to Sohalia, since they are so close." Colt had no disillusions about her relationship with Flora and Soh, she knew one spa day did not a fast friend make, she just thought perhaps a friendship had been established, but not enough of one to warrant a decent conversation, apparently.

So, if you got a fire, don't lose it
If you got a do-or-die dream, do it
If you got somethin' to prove, go on and prove it
If it's in your blood, fallin' down ain't enough
Gettin' back up, that's the only backup plan you need

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Unbothered by anyone’s surprise around her, the Honeybee rounded off another jettison of confetti and cannonfire upon any intrepid ROU remaining; watching as they either disintegrated, fled, or wholly disappeared. When Colt laughed, the demigod rounded her focus and gaze back upon the Accepted, granting a vicious little grin full of spite and violence; mischief unhinged. “Thank you. Been working on that.” It needed a touch more to be truly perfected, but that would come soon enough.

Having found a towel, this one dotted with tiny Ludos making a conga line, she handed it over as Colt made her ascent, though noticeably neither Fangorn nor Sila made room for the individual – quite content in their own places. Her brow arched at the confession – but then again, if she were to remark on a rebuttal, she’d have to note it’d been true in many iterations on Mel’s end too – she just hadn’t been the source of drama. A purveyor and observer, for sure. Humming a little under her breath, because this was something she could survey and prod and amuse herself with, she leaned against the railing again, curiosity a beacon in the way her gaze traveled along the horizon, before settling back upon Colt. “Oh? What’d you say?” Especially with notions of Sohalia…Flora would protect her best friend within a moment’s breath.

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

COLT

Well life's got a lot of sticks and stones
And a blade that'll cut you to the bone
But if you're doing what you love and it kills you
Well, you can live with that all day long

Taking the towel, a glance offered briefly to the amusing and whimsical pattern that is both somehow entirely suitable for Melita and bizarre for the fierce demigod to have, Colt gives it no other thought and begins to mop herself up. She does her best to wring out portions of her clothing, including squeezing each breast, water dribbling out like she's smuggling sponges inside her shirt, she uses the Ludo towel to wipe of her skin and then presses it between the cooling wet of her thighs. A sigh of relief and a more relaxed stance takes her, although the salt will still dry into her fabric and streak against her skin unless she showers in fresh water. That's the least of her worries for now, and a towel suits her just fine for the interim.

Having brooded over this for a night or two now, Colt sizes up Mel with another glance tossed up from beneath her lashes. Caution wars with the desire for validation, as if having another voice enter the ring where her own have been circling might finally end the issue once a for all and she can move on with her life properly. Straightening up a touch, shoulders squaring back, Colt picks her words carefully. "I offered her a position on my Hak Etme region council. I've begun work to tame that land into somewhere livable, and plan to build a town. I thought that Sohalia, like other Breakers, hadn't settled anywhere else entirely by choice but by necessity, and might be interested in a different option. Soh, in particular, had value as a cartographer and someone with leadership experience." Colt squints, still struggling to find the hole that she appears to have twisted her ankle in with all of this. It all sounds entirely reasonable to her.

"Soh told me she'd think about it, but came to offer assistance in the meantime. I expected it might require some thought, preferred it actually, it's a big change, and not entirely a desirable one all regions considered." She's reflected back to on when it might have been that Soh began lying to her. That first remark, a refusal buried in politeness that had gone over Colt's head? Guilt driving her to build the skyport, rather than a sense of purpose and ownership? With all her trust removed, looking back on all of it feels suspicious now. "Then she told Flora, evidently, that I was poaching her." That word still rankles Colt, something inherently foul to it, as if Colt were purposefully thieving and baiting people to abandon their good life and fall prey to her schemes.

So, if you got a fire, don't lose it
If you got a do-or-die dream, do it
If you got somethin' to prove, go on and prove it
If it's in your blood, fallin' down ain't enough
Gettin' back up, that's the only backup plan you need

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

While Colt took care of her soaked clothes, Melita sauntered back to her captain’s seat, springing back up and cooly drumming her fingers across the helm, listening with a tilt of her head and the indication for the Accepted to go along with the story. The resulting notions had her eyes widening briefly – of offered positions, of the desert being tamed (some information already yielded from Sunjata), and where the underlying coat of tension appeared to be. Flora would be protective of Sohalia, that much was a given, but the way things had altered and changed from something so simplistic to warranting a swift exit during a birthday party had her brows lifting. “All right, so that all makes sense,” at least to the demigod. Fangorn nodded his head too, in case a vampire gourd’s opinion mattered in the interim.

“But I don’t get how everything went from Sohalia considering, to you poaching.” Had there been other words in between, misconstrued and misleading? Fables constructed? Lies unfurled? Or something much simpler, rather than leaping and launching into the fray immediately, as well…many of them were prone to do, depending on the situation. The Luminary and Honeybee had many conversations – but not many of them ever adhered to rank and file jurisdictions. Mostly Melita fighting and Soh flailing. “So Flora was trying to defend her, I take it?”

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

COLT

Well life's got a lot of sticks and stones
And a blade that'll cut you to the bone
But if you're doing what you love and it kills you
Well, you can live with that all day long

Colt eases into a deeper line against the deck, her seat braced still on the rail, legs slanting out ahead of her. She crosses one over the other now, one toe wiggling skyward as she nods along to Mel's words. She's glad to hear the other woman agree to the sense in what she's said, grateful to have some outside perspective that aligns with her own. Admittedly, Colt has never much had to recruit people. She inherited plenty of the ranch hands on the ranch from her father. Those who left when a woman took over she had been glad to see go, and those there now either came on their own or had been offered the role by her wagonboss, Wyatt. She sticks to the rodeo posters and beside invitations, and even those have backfired plenty of times.

Colt's chin dips deeper in her chest as Mel's query echoes her own silent one she's retraced a time or two now. Her jaw works over itself, a lofty sigh all she can manage. "That's the million dollar question," she admits, leaning to the side a touch to fish out her pack of cigarettes. She withdraws the soaking wet pack with a grimace, pulling one out only to pack it back in and give up on the endeavor entirely. "Granted, I haven't heard Soh's side," Colt's frown deepens, normally the type to hear both sides out, but her anger had snapped back, bitter and absolute at such an ugly refusal. She forces her soggy pack back in her pocket, the wet denim less amenable to the return than the retrieval. "But," Colt extends, finally managing to stuff the poison back in and cross her arms. "Not sure who could've told Flora besides Soh. Or who could have riled her up so thoroughly besides," Colt sighs, tilting her head and squinting out from under her hat brim.

"Flora came up to keep me from "poaching" Mateo too, as I was talking to him at the time. Painted the picture I was trying to steal her best friend away, and that I was a fool for doing so. Told me Soh had no intention of coming, or at least that seems to be what Soh told Flora." A lot of hearing things from one woman's lips, admittedly, rather than hearing that woman say them herself. Too easy to twist things when they get passed down a few ears and mouths, in Colt's experience, but the protective show had been so deliberate it felt like a slap, and Colt reeled from the contact even still. Absently, one hand lifts to rub at her jaw. "Surprised me, how vhement Flora was about it all, and I can only assume Soh had unkind things to say and the pair aren't fit to part. I suppose I never should have offered anything to Soh. I didn't consider her ties beyond land."

So, if you got a fire, don't lose it
If you got a do-or-die dream, do it
If you got somethin' to prove, go on and prove it
If it's in your blood, fallin' down ain't enough
Gettin' back up, that's the only backup plan you need

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

The only recruiting Melita had ever done was to do dumb shit, and it was usually with like-minded people, who would’ve readily committed to said actions without much more of a spark from her. Charms were better led by vehemence in her experience. Drumming her fingers on her chair, her eyes narrowed, listening, contemplating, snorting when the cigarettes didn’t function at Colt’s behest. “Would she talk it out with you now?” After the blow-up? Melita would lean towards not, but maybe she didn’t know Sohalia well enough either. “And I guess…why the hostility? From Soh, anyway? If she’d been interested, and then suddenly not?” She’d already participated in helping the region, so it wasn’t as though she hadn’t been the least bit intrigued or interested.

And as much as Melita adored Flora, she knew the Queen could be amplified in no time – usually those circumstances were understandable. So something had drawn her ire, and the one in the middle happened to be the Luminary. Her nose wrinkled, trying to meander through the murk and mire of hearsay and lines drawn. It was hard to be the onlooker in this particular drama when there wasn’t quite enough information to go around. “I mean, if she was entertaining it though…that’s on her. I could see why you thought it’d be fine, given that she was already participating in shit.” She shrugged her shoulders, then frowned, wanting to understand the debauched ways they’d arrived at the current destination point. “What’d you say to Flora?”

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

COLT

Well life's got a lot of sticks and stones
And a blade that'll cut you to the bone
But if you're doing what you love and it kills you
Well, you can live with that all day long

Would she implies that Colt is any willing at all either, and to that it feels like a resounding no. Though, the realization that she has jumped the gun here and made a call while only getting half the picture does sit uneasy in her gut. Still, sense tells her that she can't trust a damn thing Soh has to say anyway, and she's near certain she knows exactly what apologies and explanations the Luminary would conjure up. So, Colt shrugs, the movement large with the exaggeration of her distasteful feelings towards the thought. "Doubt it. I sent her a letter telling her in no uncertain terms I don't tolerate two-faced liars." Which, is true. "Can't start off the council of a new region with someone I don't trust, or someone who invites problems into my lap. I have plenty of those with my own reach." Council members are supposed to make her life easier, or that had been her undertsanding.

Colt tilts her head the other way, wishing she had a more sure answer for the quandries Mel poses. The issue with turning her nose up on the opportunity to hear Soh out. "My guess is, she either didn't want to tell Flora the truth—that she's considering leavin', I'm guessin' 'cause Flora wouldn't take to it kindly—or she didn't want to tell me the truth, which is that she has no interest in the desert. Could be I took her by surprise and she felt it impolite to refuse right away, or mayhaps doing the but o' work she did with me really showed her how little she agrees with the desert. Even if so... I can't understand why she wouldn't just tell me that rather than sick Flora on me." Cowardice could be a reason why, but as Colt said, she just can't understand it.

Here Colt sighs aggressively, the force of breath a sharpness drawn on herself more than anyone else. One hand lifts to worry at the wighair, shaking it out from around her shoulder as her fingers wiggle through it. "Told her I can't really be poaching someone when I'm not offering them anything better than what they already got. She was annoyed I hadn't talked to her about it all, like it was underhanded or secret, but I told her Soh can make her own choices and if Flora's needing to give permission as to who can leave her side she'd find not everyone would remain there." Colt's lips tug down a bit, the echo of the sharp words repeating in her mind. She'd perhaps been too curt, all things considered, and should have heeded Mateo's warning better. By then her fuse had been lit. "Told her that Hotaru's been thinking of coming too, and I didn't offer her any rank. Just proof that people make up their own minds, and might be tempted to see what's rising up in the desert, whether she likes it or not."

So, if you got a fire, don't lose it
If you got a do-or-die dream, do it
If you got somethin' to prove, go on and prove it
If it's in your blood, fallin' down ain't enough
Gettin' back up, that's the only backup plan you need