Zavien
Safrin's appearance is always a welcome sight, but Zavien's desperation gives her arrival a heavier weight. Fear, hope, and anticipation send his heart racing as he looks upon her, a plea evident in his eyes. He doesn't shy from her touch, barely thinking beyond the city and its people - his people - that are in danger. Instead, he meets her gaze - and nearly falls apart.
There's a deep sorrow there, a truth that she reveals before putting it to words. It takes every bit of faith and determination to focus on what she says, to not shut down in that moment. Because he knows that people will have questions for him, questions he can only answer if he listens and understands the reality Safrin lays out before him.
He can't appreciate the power she displays or the gentle nature with which she shares the world-shattering news. No matter how kind or sensitive her approach, the reality of Stormbreak's future pressing against his head with too much force to bear, a single word breaking through when she finishes.
"Shit."
The uncharacteristic curse falls from his lips, panic and devastation gripping his chest with such force that his shoulders threaten to collapse in. He braces his hands on his knees, heaving a breath that rattles his body, thoughts passing in such a blur of white nothingness that it has no coherent thoughts or structure beyond overwhelming catastrophe.
Remembering that he's still in the presence of a goddess, he raises a distracted hand of apology. "Sorry. I just - " The hand falls limp against his leg, heavy with the weight of a single questio:. "How do I tell them?" His head shakes, not expecting her to give him an answer, knowing full well that it's his responsibility. But the questions stands. How is he supposed to break the news to them? That the city they love is literally falling apart? That the home he'd promised to restore might have been too broken to save? That he'd failed them?
He's seen the fear, seen the doubt, the urge to run. Already, fewer people had come back after the Void - after Dahlia. It'd taken everything just to convince them to return and rebuild, to trust that it could be what it once was. If Zavien could give everything he has and is to save the city, he would do it in a heartbeat, ripping the beating muscle from his chest with his bare hands and putting it on a silver platter for the gods. But that wouldn't be enough. And now... How is he supposed to ask the citizens to risk their lives for a chance at saving something that's not even whole? A home that they've already abandoned once before?
Lowering his head, Zavien wrestles with the choice, fighting with what he wishes could be and what's best for the people who have put their trust in him. He takes a deep breath, eyes closing like it might hide the truth of the decision he faces, the one he's already made in his fracturing heart.
"How long do we have?"
There's a deep sorrow there, a truth that she reveals before putting it to words. It takes every bit of faith and determination to focus on what she says, to not shut down in that moment. Because he knows that people will have questions for him, questions he can only answer if he listens and understands the reality Safrin lays out before him.
He can't appreciate the power she displays or the gentle nature with which she shares the world-shattering news. No matter how kind or sensitive her approach, the reality of Stormbreak's future pressing against his head with too much force to bear, a single word breaking through when she finishes.
"Shit."
The uncharacteristic curse falls from his lips, panic and devastation gripping his chest with such force that his shoulders threaten to collapse in. He braces his hands on his knees, heaving a breath that rattles his body, thoughts passing in such a blur of white nothingness that it has no coherent thoughts or structure beyond overwhelming catastrophe.
Remembering that he's still in the presence of a goddess, he raises a distracted hand of apology. "Sorry. I just - " The hand falls limp against his leg, heavy with the weight of a single questio:. "How do I tell them?" His head shakes, not expecting her to give him an answer, knowing full well that it's his responsibility. But the questions stands. How is he supposed to break the news to them? That the city they love is literally falling apart? That the home he'd promised to restore might have been too broken to save? That he'd failed them?
He's seen the fear, seen the doubt, the urge to run. Already, fewer people had come back after the Void - after Dahlia. It'd taken everything just to convince them to return and rebuild, to trust that it could be what it once was. If Zavien could give everything he has and is to save the city, he would do it in a heartbeat, ripping the beating muscle from his chest with his bare hands and putting it on a silver platter for the gods. But that wouldn't be enough. And now... How is he supposed to ask the citizens to risk their lives for a chance at saving something that's not even whole? A home that they've already abandoned once before?
Lowering his head, Zavien wrestles with the choice, fighting with what he wishes could be and what's best for the people who have put their trust in him. He takes a deep breath, eyes closing like it might hide the truth of the decision he faces, the one he's already made in his fracturing heart.
"How long do we have?"
There's some good in this world,
and it's worth fighting for.
