moral of the story is, i will gut you if i need to
i will carve my way out
She rises from a dream with Remi, and finds only chaos on her doorstep. Deimos' call shakes her into motion, and Hotaru - heavily pregnant, and thus quite slow - rushes from her bed as quickly as she can. Gathering her armor and items by her bedside before slipping out the door, breath held close in her chest as her eyes search upward. The night is dark, but a hawk's eyes are sharp and clear, and lend themselves to her when called upon. Morgan is familiar enough to spot, as is the male rider, but the dragon itself is far too familiar.
Her heart sinks.
Jata...? It telegraphs unintentionally across the Attuned bond, and only a moment later she shuts it down, praying they cannot feel the tidal wave of emotion that sucks her under at the revelation. It doesn't make any sense. Why now? Why this? Torchline's rulers are absent - is this personal, then? And if so, why? Sunjata's devotion to Safrin should have seen to their commands aligning, not whatever this is. Perhaps someone drank from him then? Hotaru latches to the idea with both hands. She has no right to feel betrayed, to hope that it's not true, not after all she has done. Even so, she does. She'll never stop caring, it is the downfall of her nature.
Because where Sunjata goes, Nate follows. Is this the answer to her letter, then? To the baring of her heart and soul? She had written it so many times over her fingers had cramped and cried in protest. Where had she gone wrong?
It is a heartbreak you cannot afford to dwell on now, the Valkyrie inside her dictates. Hotaru's shoulders straighten.
Noah and Korbin draw her attention with their exit well before their minds touch hers, and Hotaru turns to hurry to them, heart leaping in her chest as she crosses to them. She reaches for Noah - for his hand, as she had in the moments before they'd entered Morgan's chambers, and again when they had stood before the people of Halo. Invasion, she forces at large, spanning between them and to Deimos if he is close enough. The bond opens wide, letting them feel the steel that resides in her soul so that they may take heart from it if they can.
This is not her first invasion, and even disadvantaged as she is - as all of Halo is, defenseless and slumbering - there is a certainty to her heart that is borne of experience. Clinging tight to Noah's hand, to keep him held tight at her side, she looks up into his eyes, which even in darkness cannot be swallowed. Hotaru knows what she will find there - the desire to fight and defend until breath ceases to come and hearts refuse to beat - and she cannot let it happen. Though her mind opens to Korbin where he stands shifted, her eyes never waver from the Sentinel's.
We cannot fight. Noah, please. There are too few of us - you know this. Not against a dragon. Weaver's death alone should stand in his memory as warning. Broadening her bond to all three, Hotaru makes her stand. The citizens must be evacuated, but they're here for us. So long as we remain, our people are at risk by association. And so we must go. It goes unspoken, but not unheard, and she knows it.
Loathe as she is to let them have it, at least the citizens will be safe - and had Hotaru not warned them of this inevitability? It is bitterly hilarious to her that Morgan has chosen this cowardly path - at least Ru and Noah had promised her safety, had approached her during the day and been frank with their demands and celestial orders. It had been as respectful as they could make it. Hotaru almost wishes she'd killed the Glacier instead now.
But she cannot force Noah to leave. Instead she pulls on her own Attunement, taking wing as a pale hawk to fly to the top of the building, where she changes back. As far as she knows, only Sunjata could hear her if she reached for him, but she isn't sure it actually is him. Instead she cups her hands around her mouth, shouting to the sky.
"We surrender! Don't harm the people, let them evacuate!"
Then feathers find her once more, and Hotaru wings away to check on the citizens, wherever Deimos (and Sah, as she will find) has escorted them. And then onward over the mountains, to safety. There will be time for emotion later, but for now, there is only the Valkyrie where Hotaru once stood. She will live to see another day, to bear her children, to plan her revenge and the protection of any left behind. And those who follow, should they choose.
- - -
Hotaru exits the building, talks to Noah and Korbin, and then changes into her hawk form to declare her surrender before leaving (towards the citizens/Sah thread, then out of Halo)
Her heart sinks.
Jata...? It telegraphs unintentionally across the Attuned bond, and only a moment later she shuts it down, praying they cannot feel the tidal wave of emotion that sucks her under at the revelation. It doesn't make any sense. Why now? Why this? Torchline's rulers are absent - is this personal, then? And if so, why? Sunjata's devotion to Safrin should have seen to their commands aligning, not whatever this is. Perhaps someone drank from him then? Hotaru latches to the idea with both hands. She has no right to feel betrayed, to hope that it's not true, not after all she has done. Even so, she does. She'll never stop caring, it is the downfall of her nature.
Because where Sunjata goes, Nate follows. Is this the answer to her letter, then? To the baring of her heart and soul? She had written it so many times over her fingers had cramped and cried in protest. Where had she gone wrong?
It is a heartbreak you cannot afford to dwell on now, the Valkyrie inside her dictates. Hotaru's shoulders straighten.
Noah and Korbin draw her attention with their exit well before their minds touch hers, and Hotaru turns to hurry to them, heart leaping in her chest as she crosses to them. She reaches for Noah - for his hand, as she had in the moments before they'd entered Morgan's chambers, and again when they had stood before the people of Halo. Invasion, she forces at large, spanning between them and to Deimos if he is close enough. The bond opens wide, letting them feel the steel that resides in her soul so that they may take heart from it if they can.
This is not her first invasion, and even disadvantaged as she is - as all of Halo is, defenseless and slumbering - there is a certainty to her heart that is borne of experience. Clinging tight to Noah's hand, to keep him held tight at her side, she looks up into his eyes, which even in darkness cannot be swallowed. Hotaru knows what she will find there - the desire to fight and defend until breath ceases to come and hearts refuse to beat - and she cannot let it happen. Though her mind opens to Korbin where he stands shifted, her eyes never waver from the Sentinel's.
We cannot fight. Noah, please. There are too few of us - you know this. Not against a dragon. Weaver's death alone should stand in his memory as warning. Broadening her bond to all three, Hotaru makes her stand. The citizens must be evacuated, but they're here for us. So long as we remain, our people are at risk by association. And so we must go. It goes unspoken, but not unheard, and she knows it.
Loathe as she is to let them have it, at least the citizens will be safe - and had Hotaru not warned them of this inevitability? It is bitterly hilarious to her that Morgan has chosen this cowardly path - at least Ru and Noah had promised her safety, had approached her during the day and been frank with their demands and celestial orders. It had been as respectful as they could make it. Hotaru almost wishes she'd killed the Glacier instead now.
But she cannot force Noah to leave. Instead she pulls on her own Attunement, taking wing as a pale hawk to fly to the top of the building, where she changes back. As far as she knows, only Sunjata could hear her if she reached for him, but she isn't sure it actually is him. Instead she cups her hands around her mouth, shouting to the sky.
"We surrender! Don't harm the people, let them evacuate!"
Then feathers find her once more, and Hotaru wings away to check on the citizens, wherever Deimos (and Sah, as she will find) has escorted them. And then onward over the mountains, to safety. There will be time for emotion later, but for now, there is only the Valkyrie where Hotaru once stood. She will live to see another day, to bear her children, to plan her revenge and the protection of any left behind. And those who follow, should they choose.
- - -
Hotaru exits the building, talks to Noah and Korbin, and then changes into her hawk form to declare her surrender before leaving (towards the citizens/Sah thread, then out of Halo)
with only my teeth
HOTARU
