[o] [SE] come morning light

I've been searching through the highs and low
Tryna find out where all the lost souls go

Blessed with a new shift, Sohalia had chosen this particular morning for a swim.

Given that it was Leafchange, this was a questionable decision. Her initial entry into the water was chilly, though once she'd shifted into her StarKnight Swordfish form, she found that it was less noticeable. Still, when she emerged from the water on the island south of Apopo, she shivered at the way the breeze cut through her soaked clothing.

Tying her wet hair back from her face in a braid, Soh clambered onto the white sands and took in her surroundings with distaste. It might have been uniquely beautiful, what with the red flora and all, if not for the skeletons that made up the majority of the isle. The Luminary was really only here to map the area - otherwise, she would have stayed far, far away.

She pulled a journal from her bag as she settled on a clear patch of sand, surrounded by bones, and began to sketch what she could see from her current vantage point. It wasn't a particularly large island; if she worked hard, she could probably get a rough map completed by the end of the day.

That is, if she didn't freeze to death first. Why she hadn't just flown here as a snowy owl rather than playing with her new shift was beyond her.

Running wild, but I'm running free
Lots of ground to cover and places to see

Sohalia

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

Having been a pale shadow on The Ark's tail throughout her journey home, as the ship finally drifts towards Torchline's familiar shores, Ronin shifts from his full draconic form back down to something a little more human. His wings remain spread from his shoulders to catch the breeze, yes, and there are a few pearlescent scales flecking his cheeks and scattering beneath the collar of his shirt, but he's more himself than he has been for the past day or so.

Enough to be tired, feeling it right down to his bones, such that as he banks towards the main island, he feels it as one wing trembles and threatens to give out entirely. With a sigh, he drops towards the nearest bit of land - Metacarpal, it looks like - and despite the carnivorous nature of the island, it will have to do for at least a few minutes to let him get his breath back.

Landing in soft sands and scattering a few tiny bones with the way his wings flare and then fold back into his shoulders, the Knight ruffles a hand through his flight-mussed hair and sets out to find a good place to sit and rest. In the near distance he spots a figure sitting and writing but, not recognising her at first, he focuses more on not sitting on anything that might take a bite out of him.

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I've been searching through the highs and low
Tryna find out where all the lost souls go

Sohalia, ever the oblivious sort, didn't realize that someone had joined her on the island until she stood, dusting sand from her pants, and began to wander about for a new vantage point from which to map. When she first saw the figure in the distance, she hesitated, wondering if she should turn around and go the other way - or, better yet, flee the island altogether. She was warier of strangers than she ever had been before, and she wasn't keen to get into a situation she couldn't get out of, even with her myriad shifts to help her.

Concentrating briefly, the young woman shifted only her eyes, calling forth her snowy owl form. Silver irises turned gold and her eyesight strengthened considerably; once she set eyes on the distant figure again, she relaxed. Ronin wasn't someone she knew particularly well, but he was someone she trusted. And, as it turned out, he might be someone who could help her get out of the endless pit of despair she found herself in when she thought too hard about the state of the world these days.

So she gathered up her satchel and her journal, marking her place with a finger and picking her way across the bone-covered sands. When she was close enough, she made herself known with a cheery wave. "Hi, Ronin," she called. "I'm just mapping the area. D'you mind if I join you while I work on this section?"

Running wild, but I'm running free
Lots of ground to cover and places to see

Sohalia

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

Having selected a flat rock jutting out of the sands, away from any angry flora or sharp bits of bone, Ronin has just settled himself upon it when he spots movement out of the corner of his eye. Immediately tensing - Sohalia is not the only one very wary of strangers these days - his eyes soften back from serpentine slits as he realises who it is, and he forces out a breath that drags his shoulders down from his ears. "It's good to see you, Sohalia," he says softly, offering a tired smile and nodding at the space next to him.

"By all means - I was just taking a rest before heading home. It's a long flight down from the Greatwood." And back, and forth, and back again, he might have added, but opts not to. "How is the map going? I don't think I've visited this area too much. I try to stay away from it as a rule, if I'm honest." What with it actively trying to devour visitors and all.

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I've been searching through the highs and low
Tryna find out where all the lost souls go

Sohalia might have expected a less than warm welcome from someone she wasn't sure she could count as a friend. After all, she still blamed herself for the Family's takeover of Stormbreak, and Ronin had ties to the city. If she were him, she would have been disappointed to see it fall into the Family's hands. But Ronin simply smiled at her, looking perhaps a little tired but otherwise friendly, and nodded at the space next to him, where Soh settled with her belongings, flipping to the marked page in her journal and picking up where she'd left off.

She wasn't nosy enough to ask what he'd been doing in the Greatwood - it was none of her business, really - and so she concentrated conversation on her cartography. "Oh, it's fine. I've never been here before, but I'm trying to complete a set of maps of Torchline, so here I am. I probably won't come back," she agreed, offering a rueful smile. "It's a bit too... macabre for my liking."

She continued her mapmaking, adding a few sketches every now and then in the margins of an interesting plant or animal that caught her eye. It was one of the things that made her maps so popular - she tended to add in notes and sketches of what to expect in the area. At one point, she looked up to find a Vampire Gourd floating by, seemingly content to live and let live. "D'you think those are here year round, or are we just lucky?" she asked conversationally, gesturing to the creature. At least it didn't seem to be one of the possessed variety.

Running wild, but I'm running free
Lots of ground to cover and places to see

Sohalia

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

Peering over her shoulder at the map so far, Ronin tilts his head, visibly impressed. "Mm, you can say that again," he says of the island, a brief and crooked smile tugging at his lips. "That's quite a skill, you know. I remember when I was a soldier we'd rely heavily on the maps given to us. I never appreciated how much effort went into creating them." He's content to watch her work for as long as she'll allow him, falling into a comfortable silence that lets him catch his breath and quiet the screaming in his aching muscles.

The gourd, of course, swings his attention about immediately, and although he doesn't attack it - live and let live indeed - the pinpoints of radiant light that suddenly appear around him suggest that he'll be more than happy to lob a few firebolts its way if it does start trouble. (It does not, preferring to bumble further into the reaches of the island where things don't seem so suddenly tense). "I think we're just lucky, if you can call it that," Ronin scoffs, the lights winking back out. "They've been around every Leafchange since I can remember, but this is the first time I've seen them in Torchline."

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I've been searching through the highs and low
Tryna find out where all the lost souls go

As she sketched, Soh tilted her journal surreptitiously to make it easier for Ronin to observe. "Thank you," she said, beaming with pride. "I'm a cartographer by trade, though I haven't done it as much since..." She trailed off, her smile dimming. She'd all but given up her work when she'd become Stormbreak's Heart, and her months in isolation after her kidnapping had not offered her much opportunity to pick it back up again. It was only now, after recovering from her ordeal, that she'd thought to try and get back to her roots. "Well, it's been a long time, anyway."

The gourd wandered on its merry way - no doubt in response to the pinpoints of light that suddenly appeared around Ronin - and Soh quickly doodled it in the margin of her map, jotting down seasonal? beside the sketch. Then she went back to recording the lay of the land around them. "They do seem more prevalent this year," she agreed. "You don't suppose it's... Void related, do you?"

Running wild, but I'm running free
Lots of ground to cover and places to see

Sohalia

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

"However long it's been, it's not affected your talent at all," Ronin tells her easily, waiting until her pencil isn't touching the journal to give her a good-natured nudge with his arm. "I reckon you're one of the first people to try and properly map this particular place as well. There are a lot of people in Torchline who might thank you for that." The Knight hasn't really been beyond the beaches of the island himself - he doubts it gets any friendlier the further in you go - but if Soh wanted to try and map the whole place, he'd accompany her.

Without the vampire gourd, thankfully.

"I'd hope not," he says of the gourds and the void. "At least, I've not noticed flora and fauna popping up out of place. If anything, I'd expect them to be tainted by the void if it was anything to do with it." He scrunches his nose at the thought; honestly, he's had more than enough of the void lately as it is. The gourd, mildly ominous as it was, had been quite a pleasant break.

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I've been searching through the highs and low
Tryna find out where all the lost souls go

Sohalia warmed at the praise, her cheeks flushing faintly with pleasure as she continued her work. "I can see a lot from the air," she explained. "One of my shifts is a snowy owl, so sometimes it's helpful to get a bird's eye view. And sometimes Talyson Seawright helps me out with the Peregrine, so I can map from above without having to go from memory. I'll probably shift to get more of the interior of the island after I've gotten the edges." After all, she was no more interested in traveling further into the carnivorous brush than she thought any sane person would be.

Of the vampire gourd and the potential for it to be Void-touched, she hummed in agreement. Ronin was probably right; if the Void had something to do with their prevalence, surely there would be some sign. No, more likely than not, there was nothing sinister in their appearance and it was simply a strange year.

She worked in companionable silence for a few minutes, then glanced sideways at Ronin. If anyone could help her figure out what to do now that she was no longer Stormbreak's Heart... maybe it would be him. And he'd always been kind to her when they'd met. He probably gave good advice. "Hey... can I ask you a question?"

Running wild, but I'm running free
Lots of ground to cover and places to see

Sohalia

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

"Oh, that's smart," Ronin says with a quick smile and a nod, trying to remember if he'd known Sohalia had been an Attuned before now, but nonetheless tucking the information away afresh. "Well, if you see anything suspicious or interesting, let me know? Or let me buy one of your maps when you're finished," he says, leaning his elbows on his knees as he peers out, now, towards the clear Torchline waters and the houseboat he knows bobs along the shore somewhere.

Happy to sit in silence for as long as Soh wants to work - and for as long as he needs to gather the strength enough to commit to another flight - Ronin has been quietly daydreaming when her voice hits the air again, the Knight blinking across at her. "Hm? Sure you can, fire away," he invites, sitting himself up to briefly stretch before turning on the rock to face her a little more.

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I've been searching through the highs and low
Tryna find out where all the lost souls go

Sohalia smiled, continuing to map out the area. In her journal, shorelines took shape, areas of carnivorous flora were marked, and notes were made in the margins to add in once she made the official version of the map. "Of course," she said. "I'll let you know when it's complete. I used to have a shop in Stormbreak," she added, but again wilted slightly at the memory. She still wasn't sure she could ever get such simple days back again.

And so she comes to her question. Unsure where to begin, she took a breath. "I'm not sure if you know I was kidnapped by the Family. That's how they took over Stormbreak. Now that I'm free... I want to take it back. But I'm... not exactly strong enough to do, well, anything against them. But the thought of my region being in their hands... I have to do something." Huffing out a breath in frustration, she glanced at Ronin. "I'm just... what do you think I should do?"

Running wild, but I'm running free
Lots of ground to cover and places to see

Sohalia

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

Nodding readily, if not a little sadly to hear the used to caveat to her shop in Stormbreak, Ronin is nonetheless happy to content himself with thoughts of maps and the island before Sohalia breaks their silence once more. Inclining his head to say that yes, he'd been aware of her unfortunate abduction by The Family, he nibbles thoughtfully at the inside of his cheek and drops his gaze away towards the shore. "Stormbreak is about to become ground zero for quite a bit of action, I think," he murmurs.

"...When I lived in the Grounds and something similar happened - a leader we felt needed to be displaced - we all banded together as a region to organise a rebellion. I... well, suffice to say, I don't think you can do much for the place if you aren't in the thick of it." Smiling, because that's just a general bit of advice, it certainly doesn't say much for Stormbreak's unique circumstances, i.e. Dahlia.

"Given recent circumstances, I'll be heading up there soon. So there might be an opportunity for you to take advantage of Dahlia's absence, if things go to plan." Not that there's much of a plan just yet, but still. "Keep your ears open. I'll do my best to let you know when I've made my move."

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I've been searching through the highs and low
Tryna find out where all the lost souls go

Soh perked up, straightening as her hand paused on the page and her gaze flickered to Ronin. Her brows raised with something like surprise. Last she'd heard, even demigods had trouble facing down the Family directly, so the idea that there was about to be some sort of coup was not what she had expected to hear. If anything, she'd thought Ronin might advise her against her plans at best; and that he might laugh in her face, at worst.

She drummed the fingers of her free hand on her leg. "What can I do?" she asked, not even stopping to consider the consequences. "I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I could - I don't know. If Stormbreak is going to be in danger, I could help manage the innocents. Maybe warn them or try and keep them safe?" She wouldn't be much help in a fight, it was true, but there was the chance that Stormbreak citizens might trust her more than they trusted Dahlia. If she could convince them that there was danger coming... but doing so might alert the Family. So if she could get them to safety after whatever Ronin was planning...

Her mind whirred and spun, and she added, "I don't want to do anything to jeopardize your plans, of course, but there has to be some way I can help."

Running wild, but I'm running free
Lots of ground to cover and places to see

Sohalia

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

In Ronin's defence, nowhere in his planning has he considered that this would be a good idea, but when The Family had painted a target on Flora, they had all but signed themselves up for any and all trouble the Knight can fling in their direction, and woe betide the consequences. As for what Sohalia can do, he can only shrug his shoulders a little. "If you want to take Stormbreak back, then I would focus on doing just that," he says honestly. "Get your council in place, make your plans, and be ready to step in the second that there's a gap."

Nibbling at the inside of his cheek, he glances across to her and sighs. "That's if I'm able to even touch her," he says, not wanting her to go in with her eyes closed. "If you want something to do right now, though, I'd say you ought to focus on getting yourself home. Home to Stormbreak, I mean. Plotting maps of this island is all well and good, but the people you say you want to protect are up there. So you need to be up there."

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!