Noah
if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died
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.
"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
wait for it
