For her the cool-tongued, her the tranquil-hearted,
Whom evermore I follow wistfully
Whom evermore I follow wistfully
His grief and the way he contends with it are not unfamiliar to her. Unfortunately, she has had to navigate a multitude of reactions since the Battle of Stormbreak. Furious parents accusing her of being the reason their children died in her command, endless silent weeping on street corners that no longer had any ends, stony shoulders and - sometimes the worst - a desire to share stories and heart-to-hearts. Silence and moving on are ironically the easiest for her to swallow.
She is launched from her introspection forcefully, every muscle tensing as Riya's spout of flames lights up the dark beneath the bones, nearly drowning out the sound of Koa's response. He backs away as well, which Anju does not disapprove of given her superior rank and experience. The cockatrice comes screeching out from the depths, and Anju jumps backward at the same time as she unsheathes her sword in a wide, double-handed swing to try and keep it at bay.
"Riya!" she shouts, and her sister lets a full-throated blast of fire escape this time right as Anju drops to her stomach in the sand to avoid the lick of its scorching heat. The cockatrice dies screeching, wings melting into itself and hitting the sand with a sick thump. Back on her knees quickly, Anju spears it with her sword just to ensure it is truly dead before using her implanted weapon to leverage herself back to her feet.
Turning over her shoulder to Koa, her dark brows furrow as she examines him, glad to see he is unharmed. "Perhaps we should be less particular about the bone we pick," she mutters, pressing her foot onto the cockatrice to pull her sword free with a grimace at the remnants that stick to the blade. She'll have to clean that. "If there's one there may be more of them."
She is launched from her introspection forcefully, every muscle tensing as Riya's spout of flames lights up the dark beneath the bones, nearly drowning out the sound of Koa's response. He backs away as well, which Anju does not disapprove of given her superior rank and experience. The cockatrice comes screeching out from the depths, and Anju jumps backward at the same time as she unsheathes her sword in a wide, double-handed swing to try and keep it at bay.
"Riya!" she shouts, and her sister lets a full-throated blast of fire escape this time right as Anju drops to her stomach in the sand to avoid the lick of its scorching heat. The cockatrice dies screeching, wings melting into itself and hitting the sand with a sick thump. Back on her knees quickly, Anju spears it with her sword just to ensure it is truly dead before using her implanted weapon to leverage herself back to her feet.
Turning over her shoulder to Koa, her dark brows furrow as she examines him, glad to see he is unharmed. "Perhaps we should be less particular about the bone we pick," she mutters, pressing her foot onto the cockatrice to pull her sword free with a grimace at the remnants that stick to the blade. She'll have to clean that. "If there's one there may be more of them."
through waters yet uncharted
ANJU
