not everything is a poem

The Honeybee

I believe in holding grudges
I'll heal in hell

One might’ve though Melita was doing some self-reflection, after all the latest trials and tribulations. Maea dying at the drop, and her part in it.

Alas, they would be mistaken.

Showcasing her incredible talent for not giving many fucks until they really pissed her off, the demigod and her entourage of Firecracker and companions jetted over the Hollowed Grounds instead, landing on one of the many isles that never existed before the war. “We can search for shit here,” she shrugged, disembarking from the skyship and hauling Fangorn out, watching as he bounded for the bone bridges.

There used to be just the one, ages ago, when there’d been so many other singular things. “Whatever,” she uttered on nostalgia, letting it pass through her, and instead, opting to peer into the water for anything worthwhile to shoot.

Pay a little more attention to the healing power
of incandescent rage

Melita

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

No longer harboring a companion to announce her presence, the Harpy’s arrival is on quiet feet, and honestly unaware of what it happening just beyond one of the bone bridges. She’d been out by Jack Tar Landing, making sure something was correctly being delivered (she just works here, she doesn’t know) when she’d hopped off the cart she’d taken for a ride here to walk a bit and stretch her legs.

Spotting movement and a flurry of companions, it’s the red fiery hair that sparks recognition first. Kiada’s horned head tilts slightly, watching her for a moment before sighing and chastising herself for wanting to reach out — but here she is. “What’re you looking for?” She calls out curiously in greeting — because it certainly looked like the two companions and Melita were embarking on a search. Maybe she could help. Maybe Melita would tell her to go fuck off. The latter seems far more likely.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

The Honeybee

I believe in holding grudges
I'll heal in hell

She’d already snagged at her bow and arrow when another approached – and to say Melita was surprised was an understatement. Kiada hadn’t been a face she’d seen in years, and with all the hard-edged animosity, spite, and rage from lifetimes before embedded into her bones at the sight of her, for the moment, she didn’t know what to do. She’d somehow managed to survive again (surprise surprise – and with a gesture towards the horns, the demigod realized it had been one more alteration at the behest of a deity). Her eyes widened, speculative, watching and waiting not unlike a predator to see what might occur next; before opting to spread all the flare of her inherent hatred into her fingertips.

Grabbing at her quiver, notching at her arrow. It might’ve looked like a threat and the Honeybee didn’t really care. “Hunting whatever pops up,” she delivered in response, curt and blunt and still the truth. Sila landed on the railing nearby, cooing at something in the water, and her attention went towards the rush of movement and motion below.

She eventually turned the weapon away from Kiada though, pointing it towards the splashing, relinquishing an echo of the Ancient’s question. “You?”

Pay a little more attention to the healing power
of incandescent rage

Melita

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

It likely is aimed to be menacing and a threat, but Kiada – far past the years since their last encounter and the apologies that had been on her tongue, ignored by the Honeybee for the horrible things she had done in their previous world, well… It doesn’t phase her. In fact, she stands there, tail waving low above the ground, body angled directly toward the demigod while the arrow is pointed right at her.

Her gaze flits to the dragon that lands on the railing before looking back toward Melita when she turns away and speaks. “Heading back from making a delivery in Jack Tar.” She offers a touch softly, approaching and frankly not thinking much of whether or not the Honeybee would simply turn and aim the arrow at her again. “I heard you became a demigod for Ludo. Congrats.” She offers softly, keeping her distance as she reaches the rail to peer down to the movement that Melita aims at, a small ghost of a smile gracing her face at the mention of the deity.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

The Honeybee

I believe in holding grudges
I'll heal in hell

Ignoring mostly everything Kiada said in exchange for focusing on the water and the sudden appearance of fins, the congratulations simmered into her ear. She turned briefly away from the multiple outlines to stare at the Ancient, uncertain what to make of the whole thing. “Thanks,” she offered instead in the confusion. “Weren’t you a follower of Ludo for a while?” She couldn’t quite recall – not when spite had ran so inherently within her veins at a single glance – and finding herself miring away at it now.

But then there were the shrieking outcry of screams far below, and realizing what they’d encountered, she snorted, exchanging the elemental arrow for a plainer one. More than once they sounded like unwinding sibilances and haunting requiems from another time and another place; before she took aim and shot at a snout daring to surface.

Pay a little more attention to the healing power
of incandescent rage

Melita

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

Kiada’s far past caring about the tension that had bloomed between them years prior. She’s spent time trying to apologize for the things that she’d done, only to come up with nothing but animosity. So now, rather than trying to atone, she simply is, and Melita’s confusion is almost palpable as the harpy leans against the bone bridge to peer out into the water at the target.

Nodding with a faint ghost of a smile on her lips, Kiada glances back toward the red headed woman. “I was before I died.” Before she’d come back as an Ascended and gotten a chance to redo that mistake by becoming Ancient. “I had a quest from them and never went back to see it when I failed.” Her nose wrinkles and she shakes her horned head, tail sweeping low.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

The Honeybee

I believe in holding grudges
I'll heal in hell

The arrow flew through to its target, but without the elemental portions, didn’t have as big of an impact as she might’ve liked. Huffing a sigh, she watched as the fin continued to glide underwater, though clearly agitated, as more unearthly screams shattered through the air. Some were distinct in a please, no! or outcries gods; her jaw clenched and she grabbed another armament from her quiver without so much as a second thought.

Notching it along her bow and taking in a breath, she listened, narrowing her eyes at her maneuvering and bristling target, as the Ancient spoke. “Oh,” she murmured, uncertain what to do with that information. Twice now she’d run into individuals who simply avoided her favored deity – Maea, and now Kiada – but it didn’t leave her to wonder what she’d do under the circumstances. “Would you ever go back then?” Perhaps, in such an amount of time and change occurring, she already knew the answer. But it wasn’t her job to convince the rest of the world to go sauntering forth towards the masked herald – and if they balked, so be it.

Pay a little more attention to the healing power
of incandescent rage

Melita

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

As the screams spread in the air between Melita’s targets and the conversations the two women have, Kiada’s nose wrinkles a little as she tries to blot it out – watching and wishing that Mel’s arrows would strike true and knowing without a doubt that it would the next time. Would she ever go back then? No, probably not. “I don’t think so.” She admits, propping her head up on her hand as she glances between Melita and the creature in the water.

“I can’t complete my quest anymore, so, seems a little bit pointless?” She doesn’t know if it is or isn’t – or what an Ancient might get out of visiting her old herald anyway. So for the moment, she’s trying to keep what happened before her death precisely where it was. There wasn’t any use dwelling on it now, was there?

It’s not like anything could change.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

The Honeybee

I believe in holding grudges
I'll heal in hell

Her next arrow silenced the bounty of screams. Segmenting directly into the echo shark, it ceased entirely, before buoying and bubbling up to the surface. She took her time though, glancing over at Kiada again, as if silently analyzing something, before shrugging her shoulders. “Fair enough.”

Then she parsed her way off the bridge and down towards the embankment, light movements assuring she’d be out along the water – the delicate lacings of her anklet ensuring she’d float along the surface with little issue – as she went to snag her newfound carcass and prize. Glancing upwards at the Ancient, she arched her brow. “You want any of these?” Most of the echoing creatures congregating nearby now were puzzled, perplexed, and quiet, which would make for a great opportunity to snag another.

Pay a little more attention to the healing power
of incandescent rage

Melita

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

Nodding in agreement as Melita says fair enough, the Harpy is content to watch the Honeybee go and collect her conquest of the echo sharks, when she notices the fins of more of them lingering in the water nearby, squeaking their confusion in mixtures of hmms? and childlike laughter.

But her gaze lingers on the fiery haired woman as she walks along the surface, bewildered for a moment before realizing it must be magical, before she nods and flashes a fanged smile toward her. “Sure.” It’s been a little while since she’d indulged in her bloodlust anyway, and with a perfect opportunity here, why not?

Stepping down to meet Melita by the edge of the water beneath the bone bridge, Kiada shifts into her lial shift – the long fiery crocodile-like creature glancing with blue eyes over at Melita before she slips into the water. Dropping beneath the surface, the Harpy aims for a medium sized echo shark, utilizing her shifts quick speed to slam into the side of it once she’s found her target.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

The Honeybee

I believe in holding grudges
I'll heal in hell

Not used to a subdued and matured Kiada, especially when Melita’s own level-headedness was bleak and impractical in the best of times, she wasn’t quite sure what to do. Her brows arched at the agreement, watching as Kiada disappeared from the bridge for a moment, and the demigod shrugged, tugging and pulling her newest kill along the surface –

And then the Ancient was one of those massive-ass crocodiles from the Climb, and the Honeybee stilled. Mainly to watch, honestly, because she’d seen multitudes of Attuned in their various states and shifts, but this one was different and formidable (sure, she didn’t outdo Remi’s, but it didn’t make it any less cool).

She could hear the slam beneath the veneer, the quick snaps and movements below rippling over the water, and maneuvered faster now of her own accord – mostly to get out of the way. The other echo sharks seemed quite intent on doing the same, and there was a sudden dispersal of fins and motions.

Pay a little more attention to the healing power
of incandescent rage

Melita

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

The lial has chosen her target, and with it the super speed her shift provides – allowing her to slam into the echo shark with too sharp teeth (and too many of them, frankly), uncaring whether or not Melita remained to watch. It wasn’t showing off, it was simply survival, and for it the Harpy immediately starts to feel better the second the scent of blood hits the water. It sparks a frenzy, alongside the one already created by the other echo sharks departing, and Kiada tears into the one she’d targeted until she was satisfied.

Withdrawing from it with a last little bit of meat before it sinks to floor of the river, Kiada makes her way back to the river’s edge, shifting back into herself – now soaked, but feeling all that much better for it. Fire sparks in her hands from a waterproof matchbook, focusing on trying to keep her warm and hopefully dry her faster as her iceberg gaze seeks out the fiery woman. “Thanks. Are you using yours for anything? Or did you just feel like hunting?” The small talk feels like the least she can do for the fact that they were actually somewhat getting along right this second, and she waits for the answer as she dries her hair and face with the fire she’s created.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat

The Honeybee

I believe in holding grudges
I'll heal in hell

Kiada’s methods, while differing in ways, had the same result – swift death. She watched for a few more moments before eventually getting the smaller echo shark to shore, and snagging at her hunting knives to start the necessary process. All the other seemed to have scattered under the laden bounty of two of their own suddenly gone and vanquished, picked apart and no better for it.

Only when her inquiry drifted over the shoreline did Melita raise her head again, fire sparking upon an Ancient’s hands causing her eyes to narrow, but then nothing more, head tilting in regards. “I’ll probably use ‘em for a bunch of things.” Food, tools, bones. “Then barter the rest.” Not let anything to to waste – though it seemed Kiada ddin’t need to worry about that. Eyes widening, it didn’t really dawn on her until there was simply blood left in the water. “Did you eat that whole fuckin’ thing?”

Pay a little more attention to the healing power
of incandescent rage

Melita

shed every skin that doesn't fit
even if they call you cold-blooded

In a way, Kiada had been under the impression that she might have been out here hunting echo sharks for something for Ludo – hence the question – but the answer is one that makes her feel as if she’d made too far of an assumption. Luckily, the fire in her hands does well to distract her as she works to try and dry off, thankful for the water beneath the bone bridge to have washed away the blood.

“If you’re going toward the Inner Quarter, there’s a merchant in a red stall that likes to make echo shark fin soup.” She offers helpfully – hoping that it might keep this bridge of comfortability open – so long as talk of their previous worlds doesn’t get brought up. As for the rest of the question, she flashes Melita a gentle fanged smile as she shrugs a shoulder. “I ate… Most of it. Left the tail fins and the majority of the bones for the bottom feeders.” She’d probably devoured about eighty percent of it, thanks to her bloodlust spurring her on.

KIADA

and when they try to stop your growth?
unhinge your jaw and go for the throat