It shouldn't be a surprise, but maybe that's on them. In the years since Dahlia took over Stormbreak they've all become complacent, too accustomed to this uneasy new normal, too comfortable to stay on guard or rock the boat. They'd allowed themselves to hold positions, to maintain a level of blissful ignorance and faith that the stronger, the braver, the heroes and demigods would sort it all out.
But the demigods and heroes never cared about Stormbreak, and now their home is lost to them.
The fear that's been lodged like shrapnel in Koa's gut twists at Kaisel's certainty, gratitude for his cousin's endless supply of optimism brushing hard enough against his dread to bring tears to his eyes. "Yeah," he agrees, gruff with emotions that he dares not allow to fully surface, that he must keep tucked away behind firm confidence for the sake of his own sanity as well as everyone else. "Yeah, we will." He even manages the ghost of a smile, the ash on his face creasing as his mouth shifts.
Then they're both shifting like a lenticular printing, new facets emerging as the need arises. Kai accepts his orders with a soldier's crisp obedience, only this time there's no undercurrent of resentment in the way he calls him 'sir'. It fills Koa with appreciation for his cousin, grown so newly into a man; a weight rolls visibly from his shoulders as he exhales, relieved to know that he has a second he can trust. Nodding sharply, Koa steps back, his eyes casting back over the crowd of refugee seekers who swarm the port. "Good. Send a runner if you need anything.
"And Kai?" He turns back to his cousin, affection and pride gleaming like sunlight in his copper eyes. "I'm really, really fucking glad you're here."
But the demigods and heroes never cared about Stormbreak, and now their home is lost to them.
The fear that's been lodged like shrapnel in Koa's gut twists at Kaisel's certainty, gratitude for his cousin's endless supply of optimism brushing hard enough against his dread to bring tears to his eyes. "Yeah," he agrees, gruff with emotions that he dares not allow to fully surface, that he must keep tucked away behind firm confidence for the sake of his own sanity as well as everyone else. "Yeah, we will." He even manages the ghost of a smile, the ash on his face creasing as his mouth shifts.
Then they're both shifting like a lenticular printing, new facets emerging as the need arises. Kai accepts his orders with a soldier's crisp obedience, only this time there's no undercurrent of resentment in the way he calls him 'sir'. It fills Koa with appreciation for his cousin, grown so newly into a man; a weight rolls visibly from his shoulders as he exhales, relieved to know that he has a second he can trust. Nodding sharply, Koa steps back, his eyes casting back over the crowd of refugee seekers who swarm the port. "Good. Send a runner if you need anything.
"And Kai?" He turns back to his cousin, affection and pride gleaming like sunlight in his copper eyes. "I'm really, really fucking glad you're here."
Koa
