[Training] bitter and better

After rampaging along with Flora, Melita had flown the rest of the way on her little Firecracker, intending to have some measure of downtime and peace between the other tasks she had sorted out for herself. Even though she’d perished momentarily, the Honeybee still had a sudden multitude of tasks to be sorted, moreso than before, and she’d already started making a list while she sat along the Last Step.

Unbothered by its sudden drop, the demigod swung her legs back and forth into the light breeze, while consulting with Fangorn (who was dangling his vines over the edge too) and Sila (who had decided to soar underneath, back and forth, afraid one of the others would fall). Long scrawls curled across the paper, some with question marks (she still didn’t know who Hawthorn was) and pondering how far invisibility could get her. “Think I could get them all done in like…a couple of days,” she said off-handedly, waving the charcoal within the air as if it were simplistic and not requiring some thought and tactical work.

melita

then I became the fire

yet my blood renders me a King

Sah was feeling mildly better, at least for the moment. The guilt and grief rose and abated like the tide. It seemed like each conversation with a loved one helped, but once he was left to his own devices, the darker emotions all came rushing back. He was at least a far cry from the near panic attack he'd had at the Tournament.

At the present moment he found himself sitting at a campfire with his companions. They'd just completed a successful hunt and the wolves were chowing down on their share of the deer as Sah roasted his over an open flame. The Wild Thunder sighed as he eyed the sky above him, letting some of the tension bleed from his shoulders.

Sah

One couldn’t possibly say if Melita had recovered from her death experience, or simply been revitalized in new and brightening considerations. A darker plunge, a rally from renewal, and a scrape into every tempestuous edge lingering in her soul might’ve been a more accurate presumption.

So when she spotted Sah further afield, roasting on a damned campfire like nothing had happened, it reawakened multitudes.

It tasted like anger; this wave of blistering bombardments suddenly varnishing through her mouth. Koa’s story of potential mageglass. The way her chest was puckered and scarred; lightning struck and bolted. The moments where she could’ve sworn she saw or felt or heard her sister again, laughing in the breeze.

With nothing but impulsive and intrusive thoughts, she snagged at her bow, and the sparking quiver eternally resting on her back. Fuck logic, she figured. He could have a taste of his own medicine. Then she launched an arrow, clean and sharp and true, to split into the ground right beside him.

melita

then I became the fire

yet my blood renders me a King

Sah heard something whistle in the air before a familiar arrow struck the ground in front of him. Leaping to his feet, he eyed his surroundings, brow furrowing when he couldn't see the culprit. "Melita?"

The wolves were at attention with Lilly sniffing the air and Pad's hackles raising with a snarl. The Wild Thunder reached over and placed a hand on the dark wolf, urging him to calm down. Lilly's head snapped in the general direction of the woman's scent, and Sah's eyes followed.

The Abandoned was hesitant to activate his magic, so he simply readied it beneath his skin and stepped into a defensive stance. He didn't want to fight her if he could avoid it.

Sah

She furrowed her brows in return, when all he uttered was her name. She couldn’t give a fuck about the wolves or his defensive stature, remaining on the edge of the stone, eyes narrowed into vicious little pinpricks. She could vaguely remember some apologies after she’d been revived, but within all the confusion, turmoil, shock, and bewilderment, the Honeybee couldn’t be certain.

Besides, she was full of rage.

“Is that all you have to say?” was a snarl – she could hear Fangorn scurrying back down the rocky steps and Sila landing upon the precious edge with her; some amount of preparation from her companions while her heart fumed and her chest burned.

melita

then I became the fire

yet my blood renders me a King

Hearing her voice and her anger, Sah forced his muscles to relax. It truly was Meltia. "Not in the least." With a nod from the Abandoned, Lilly grabbed Pad by the scruff and all but dragged him to the edge of the small camp and forced him to sit beside her out of the way. This was something that their bonded needed to do alone.

Once his companions were dealt with Sah took a breath, shoving down his rising guilt enough to speak. It was kind of strange to be talking to open air, but he ignored it. "Words can't convey how sorry I am." The Abandoned chose his next words carefully, "Hotaru explained it to me afterward, but I'd had no idea at the time that new Demi-gods took a temporary hit to their vitality when they first changed."

The Wild Thunder ground his teeth and let out a small 'tsk,' "I get why that's not advertised, but I seriously wish that I'd known beforehand. I went into our fight with full force because I was under the impression that you were as you had always been, just with new abilities. I thought if I didn't give it my all, then I wouldn't stand a chance." His lips twitched slightly into a rueful smile, "I also thought that you'd be pissed if I held back on you just because you hadn't had much time to master your new powers."

Melita had always been so powerful and ahead of him. The Wild Thunder had fully expected their fight to be a true challenge where victory would need to be hard fought for. Sah bowed his head, "I'm so sorry, and I know that nothing I say or do will make it right. But if there's anything that I can do to at least lessen the pain of what I put you through, just give the word."

Sah

Melita preferred fire with fire, vitriol with vitriol; an easy kindling, a manageable stoking of flames until she could be the one erupting and building over any other toppling inferno. But Sah deferred and apologized so quickly that she was forced to remain quiet and steadfast, rather than beginning the summoning of her storms.

Because from any other point of view, it’d be understandable. She was strong. She was enduring. She knew that. And Sah had known it too. But the combined forces of turned demigods and mageglass persistence had been enough to wipe her out completely. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t make a big fucking announcement,” she started to snarl in return; eyes narrowing to slits. She also couldn’t be the first demigod the fool had come across; there must’ve been some experience in how that worked embedded in his brain. “I’m pissed, regardless,” she mentioned off-handedly, arms crossing over her chest. “But don’t you ever dare assume my emotions or thoughts again.” It’d certainly made an ass out of him. And her a corpse, for moments and instances.

And she’d be ahead of him once more, all in due time.

His gesture made her stand upright, along the stony steps, and then announce the breadth of the challenge that had been rattling around her brain. “Good. We’ll fight again then. No mageglass.” If he couldn’t do it without some amplified measures, then that said more about him than her.

Not giving a fuck if he accepted or not, she immediately went invisible from atop the monolith, then began to tiptoe down the steps.

melita

then I became the fire

yet my blood renders me a King

Melita wasn't the first Demi-god he had met by far, but Sah had never actually sat down and discussed what becoming a Demi-god entailed.  At least, not until post-Tournament with Hotaru. He opened his mouth to apologize again before simply nodding sharply. it was clear that words weren't going to be enough.

One word then caught Sah completely off guard. His brains scrambled and he only managed to right it enough to ask part of a question, "...mageglass?" How did Melita know? Yes, he'd used it, but not obviously. It was a pendant under his neckline that only warmed against his skin when active. And only Deimos and Cordelia even knew that he had it. At least they were on the same page. Sah had no intention of ever using his mageglass outside of real combat ever again.

But, was Melita assuming that the added strength from their last encounter had no other possible explanation besides mageglass? When they'd last sparred, Sah had had only had two or three of his current magics. In any other circumstances, the Wild Thunder would have been genuinely offended at the idea that he wouldn't have improved over such a long stretch of time. He'd grown exponentially in the versatility of his magic and its strength. 

Melita then almost completely vanished and there was no time for further questions or deliberations. The only giveaway was the hardly audible sound of her footsteps. Even that had to be strained to be heard. Focusing, Sah flicked his wrist and let a wave of telekinesis surge toward what he believed to be Melita's general direction.  He'd found with Hadama that telekinesis was more gentle.

~
Sah uses mastered telekinesis to try and shove Melita backward.

Sah

His ignorance wasn’t really her problem, and that this point, she couldn’t give a single fuck about his feelings on the whole matter. He hadn’t been the one that died. She almost uttered yeah, mageglass back in return, but didn’t bother either. It’d been a theory from Koa, and a warning nonetheless.

She could feel the powers intermingling over grass and stone, and sneered in his direction. He wouldn’t be able to see it, but that was another matter of indifference. Rocks flickered around, but she remained unmoved. Eyes narrowed, she debated on a number of things to utilize: it was always tempting to draw her bow and arrows, or her staff, but then again…so was the wild magic.

And maybe he wouldn’t see it coming.

Except the chaotic balances shifted, and she promptly fell asleep on the stones – unseen in her invisibility range, but gods did Fangorn shake his head in dismay nearby.

melita

then I became the fire

yet my blood renders me a King

There was silence, and Sah glanced around warily. Spotting Fangorn he was unable to decipher the companion's expression. For half a beat, he panicked, wondering if he'd somehow killed her again. But the gourd was unharmed and relatively calm. Sah truly had no idea what was happening now.

Baffled and sure that he looked rather foolish. the Wild Thunder called forth his air magic. He didn't know if Melita was invisible due to magic or an item, but he wasn't sure what else to do. Using the wind, he created a moderate breeze that ran over the area where he believed the Honeybee to be. The air was strong enough to destabilize someone but likely not enough to knock them over. Hopefully it would remove whatever item (if any) was keeping Melita invisible. If it wasn't an item, maybe she'd move and Sah would have a better handle on her position.

~
Sah uses air magic to run a moderate breeze over the area to try to determine where Melita is.

Sah