SUNJATA
the flood
It’s still a dream – the fall feels slow, but the panic is rushed and hurried, a pounding thundering sensation as Sunjata falls from the bridge. His father doesn’t even stay to look – turning just as a guard catches his attention – the cry, a distraction but before Sunjata can see anything else the water crushes in on him.
It’s cold. It’s so very cold.
He doesn’t have time to get his lungs full of air before he’s plunged below, the force of the water hitting his back, the flood water that flips him over and over, all have taken it from him. And then, then when he can finally get his bearings, he’s sinking. He’s never swam before. His father had assumed he might just drown during this test, had hoped for it even, that the training hadn’t been worth the time.
Sunjata’s chest begins to ache, a gnawing feeling as he tries to gasp for breath and gets a mouthful of water while he scrambles to the surface, trying desperately to get air into his lungs. He emerges for a moment, a sputtering cough leaving him with enough time to look around and see two of the five boys haven’t surfaced either. He knows they never will.
The boy begins to try to swim, arms flailing in an attempt to keep him upright, above the water – but the debris comes barreling down the riverbed. It takes him under again and Sunjata fights against it, tossing and turning in the waves to try and free himself of the debris. His head appears briefly, a mop of dark hair, his leg clamped between a log and a rock, and he doesn’t follow the way the river pulls the rest of them down the curves.
Up above, some of the parents have already left – unable to see that their children won’t resurface. Sunjata’s parents, however, drift down toward the bank, his father pacing the edge of the river with his arms behind his back, scanning and watching and waiting. And his mother? She tries her best to not show an ounce of sorrow for what’s occurring, but her hands, tucked into jet black furs, begin to shake. The guards alongside Ronin simply snort at the Star, slipping past him to follow the Senzaoks along the riverbed, one standing there beside Sunjata’s mother with a gun prepped to raise toward where Sunjata’s stuck in the water.
It’s cold. It’s so very cold.
He doesn’t have time to get his lungs full of air before he’s plunged below, the force of the water hitting his back, the flood water that flips him over and over, all have taken it from him. And then, then when he can finally get his bearings, he’s sinking. He’s never swam before. His father had assumed he might just drown during this test, had hoped for it even, that the training hadn’t been worth the time.
Sunjata’s chest begins to ache, a gnawing feeling as he tries to gasp for breath and gets a mouthful of water while he scrambles to the surface, trying desperately to get air into his lungs. He emerges for a moment, a sputtering cough leaving him with enough time to look around and see two of the five boys haven’t surfaced either. He knows they never will.
The boy begins to try to swim, arms flailing in an attempt to keep him upright, above the water – but the debris comes barreling down the riverbed. It takes him under again and Sunjata fights against it, tossing and turning in the waves to try and free himself of the debris. His head appears briefly, a mop of dark hair, his leg clamped between a log and a rock, and he doesn’t follow the way the river pulls the rest of them down the curves.
Up above, some of the parents have already left – unable to see that their children won’t resurface. Sunjata’s parents, however, drift down toward the bank, his father pacing the edge of the river with his arms behind his back, scanning and watching and waiting. And his mother? She tries her best to not show an ounce of sorrow for what’s occurring, but her hands, tucked into jet black furs, begin to shake. The guards alongside Ronin simply snort at the Star, slipping past him to follow the Senzaoks along the riverbed, one standing there beside Sunjata’s mother with a gun prepped to raise toward where Sunjata’s stuck in the water.
i said i saw you in the water
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
