Words hung above but never would form
Like a cry at the final breath that is drawn
Like a cry at the final breath that is drawn
The Tournament had been riveting beyond even Koa's wildest dreams, but very little could top the flip-flop of collective panic as Melita the Honeybee appeared to die - only to pop up minutes later, like some kind of revenant daisy. Slack-jawed and transfixed, the young Dragoon could do nothing but watch as his heroes swarmed the arena, mounting rescues and rushing to aid. Mel had risen, and the fights had gone on, and the participants had done an incredibly job of demonstrating their collective worthiness to be considered demigod (or adjacent).
It left Koa feeling a little breathless, and a little bit bereft.
Maybe that's why he skipped the initial afterparty, choosing instead to set off down the beach on his own. Normally he would have basked in the revelry and reverence, in the living legends and beaming smiles. But in a post-Yeet world Koa finds it hard to be around that much strength, to be reminded of all he is not. It's a lot of Big Feelings he isn't ready to parse, and he thinks it best that he's alone until he can swallow them down. Because that's the answer, right? Suppress the trauma? Bury the fear?
Anyway.
Of course, the world has other plans. Because immediately after settling on his night of solitude does he spot Melita sitting on a nearby stone, her companions held close as they watch the sea. And though it seems rather apparent that she, too, has not come for company, it would be heckin' rude not to say hi now, right? With Pip at his heels Koa approaches the demigod, a hand raised in greeting as he calls out, "Hey, Miss Melita!"
And then, because he feels suddenly rather awkward and doesn't know what he is supposed to say to someone who died earlier, Koa adds a bright and boyish, "It's good to see you looking so alive."
It left Koa feeling a little breathless, and a little bit bereft.
Maybe that's why he skipped the initial afterparty, choosing instead to set off down the beach on his own. Normally he would have basked in the revelry and reverence, in the living legends and beaming smiles. But in a post-Yeet world Koa finds it hard to be around that much strength, to be reminded of all he is not. It's a lot of Big Feelings he isn't ready to parse, and he thinks it best that he's alone until he can swallow them down. Because that's the answer, right? Suppress the trauma? Bury the fear?
Anyway.
Of course, the world has other plans. Because immediately after settling on his night of solitude does he spot Melita sitting on a nearby stone, her companions held close as they watch the sea. And though it seems rather apparent that she, too, has not come for company, it would be heckin' rude not to say hi now, right? With Pip at his heels Koa approaches the demigod, a hand raised in greeting as he calls out, "Hey, Miss Melita!"
And then, because he feels suddenly rather awkward and doesn't know what he is supposed to say to someone who died earlier, Koa adds a bright and boyish, "It's good to see you looking so alive."
Koa Carpenter
Mama said, burn your biographies
Rewrite your history, light up your wildest dreams
Rewrite your history, light up your wildest dreams
