[SE] Ignore all the burdens that you keep

// won't you breathe with me? //

The season had changed. Somewhere else it would be noticeable, but the Climb was forever sweltering. The only difference was a refreshing breeze that occasionally parted curtains of volcanic haze to reveal a harsh landscape, rugged and majestic. Always changing, ever shifting, it made sense for this to be the Ruby Goddess' favored domain. 

The skyship they had arrived on was still shrinking into the horizon when Maea turned to her companion with a lopsided smile. "That's that... which way do we go? You choose this time." It was the least she could do after dragging him all the way out here. Wanting to stay in the Climb for a while yet not wishing to be alone meant compromising - she just hoped Liam wasn't forcing himself to be here. That would defeat the whole point of 'getting away from everything and just be', as she'd been whining about.

Maea

// won't you take me to your heart? //

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

The Climb was, as always, suffocatingly hot, though Liam was starting to get used to the heat. He'd been here so often now with Maea that it was almost comforting, and as they stepped off the skyship, he reached up to tie his hair back from his face and off his neck. Despite his short-sleeved attire, he knew he would probably be sweating shortly, and he would be more comfortable if hair wasn't sticking to his skin.

With the departure of the Family, Liam once more found himself in limbo. He'd spent so long in the Greatwood, rudderless and alone, and now he felt similarly unmoored. Where he found solace, though, was in Maea's presence - which, for all they had disagreed about the Family, had remained steadfast. 

Their skyship was still shrinking in the sky when the Ancient's smile made Liam's heart do a funny little flip, and he returned it without a second thought. "Hmm," he said thoughtfully, looking around. "Is there anything exciting that way?" The soldier pointed away from the Burrows and out along the surface. "We usually go towards Frey's Breath. I don't know that I've spent much time on the Crust before."

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

// won't you breathe with me? //

The way his shoulders shifted under the fabric of his shirt drew her gaze away from the skyship. Amethyst eyes lingered on the column of his neck as the mane of golden curls was pulled away. She caught herself contemplating what it might feel like to run her own fingers through them - and flushed as Liam's smile seemed to catch her staring.

"Auhm, well... it's mostly lava pools," she admitted, recalling what she'd seen during earlier explorations. "There's lava plains, some sparse vegetation... ah, but I know a place by the coast that's quite spectacular. Like a lava waterfall right into the ocean!" It should be reachable, especially since she was there and could test the path without getting hurt. The robe of deep crimson she had draped over the usual black dress would even keep her clothes from getting ruined; all in all, she had no complaints. "Let's go! Ah, I meant to ask - how's your quest for Frey coming along?"

Maea

// won't you take me to your heart? //

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

If Liam caught her staring, he said nothing about it. It wasn't like he hadn't done the same to Maea, every now and then - and she most often caught him before he'd even realized he was doing it. They still hadn't really spoken about what had changed between them, if anything at all - and Liam was starting to wonder if maybe it was all in his head. Perhaps his feelings were one-sided. But then she'd flush under his gaze, or smile a certain way, and he'd be sure that there was something there - something that he hadn't dared yet to name.

Half-listening as he watched her, Liam realized that she'd suggested a destination and nodded dumbly. "Perfect. That sounds incredible." A lava waterfall sounded perhaps a bit intimidating, if he was being honest, but it would be amazing to look at. He could only imagine the sight of the molten rock cascading into the sea.

As for his quest, Liam grinned. "I've finished it, actually. The only thing left is to seek Frey out and let them know." With everything going on recently, he hadn't yet found a moment to do so, but he intended to go to a shrine soon. "What about your quest for Dygra?"

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

// won't you breathe with me? //

Picking out a path that would take them towards the coast, Maea set a comfortable pace and fell in beside Liam so that they could talk as they walked. The heat in the air and the lack of immediate concerns allowed her to remain relaxed, as close to happy as was possible when void elements still lingered to be wary of.
"That's great! Same for me, actually - I'll pop by the shrine at some point while we're here and turn mine in as well. Perhaps I'll even try to ask for another quest. What do you think is best, to finish my armor or continue with this skill I'm learning now?" Thinking of the sword he was asking for drew a grin to her face, the kind of eager and slightly dangerous expression that came about whenever they sparred. She couldn't wait to see what it would be like to face him now - especially given the changes the void had wrought in him. "I've been meaning to ask... you said you wanted a dragon, right? How come you've never asked the gods for one?"

As they left the relatively flat area where the skyships usually let off passengers, the landscape changed in the direction of the coast. Tall mountains lined the border of the island, sharp as teeth and black against the ashy clouds. While the lava rock was solid enough to walk on, it took some care to avoid tearing up their boots on sharp edges or twisting an ankle on stones that rolled away when stepped on. Keeping an eye on the horizon, after a while Maea became aware of silhouettes moving in the distance. Poking Liam's arm to get his attention, she pointed to a set of rolling hills up ahead. "Do you see anything over there? I thought I saw movement..."

Maea

// won't you take me to your heart? //

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

Liam, too, was eager to finish his quest - and to look forward to the future, where he might request upgrades to his sword or perhaps a set of armor for protection. "That's great," he echoed, smiling at Maea proudly. As for what she should do next, he paused, his gaze roving across the landscape. "I'm not sure. It's a challenge, isn't it? Deciding what to focus on next? On the one hand, they say that offense is the best defense, but on the other - you won't get very far without good armor." He shrugged, as though to indicate that this was only his opinion, and that she should do as she liked regardless.

Thoughts of a dragon made him blink with surprise. "Honestly, for a long time I wasn't sure I deserved one," he said. "And then I sort of lost the drive to do much of anything after leaving Stormbreak." And now that he was doing things again, he still wasn't quite sure that he was deserving. He wasn't a dragoon anymore, and he wasn't sure that he was still the same person who'd wanted a dragon all those years ago. "Now... I don't know. Maybe I'll ask, sometime. But then it's a question of whether to ask for a dragon, or for armor, or for weaponry - which takes priority?"

The landscape changed slowly as they moved out of the flat area where skyships let off passengers. Liam kept an eye on the uneven terrain, unwilling to trip and make a fool of himself in front of Maea. After a time, he felt Maea poke his arm and looked up to find that something was moving on the horizon. "There's definitely something moving," he said, shifting uneasily. "Do you want to investigate, or avoid it?"

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

// won't you breathe with me? //

His opinion was welcome and held more than a little weight in her mind, as evidenced by how quickly she settled on a decision. "Armor it is," she concluded cheerfully, daring a few excited skips over the uneven ground before settling for a more moderate pace. The sidelong glance she gave him as Liam spoke of feeling undeserving was warm with understanding; reaching out, she nudged her hand against his - for support, and comfort, and the simple pleasure of connecting. "I see. What do you think would make you deserving of one?" In her own eyes she could think of no one more worthy - but if he had areas where he wished to improve, then she'd be there to help however she could. "I suppose it depends on what you want to do, going forward. Whether you feel more in need of physical support, or mental... whatever keeps you alive and moving forward would be the right choice."

Cut off by the appearance of the figures moving in the distance, Maea squinted at the hills and tried to get a sense of direction. "Depends... is it coming towards us?" If those moving silhouettes weree nothing but pyrinas grazing on the sparse vegetation she'd leave them alone. But if it turned out to be something else... She'd prefer to avoid becoming dinner for a molten tiger or some pack of fyrhunds.

Maea

// won't you take me to your heart? //

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

Maea's unwavering support was a welcome constant in Liam's life, one that, these days, he wasn't certain he wanted to live without. Her question made him pause, though, because it was harder to voice the things he didn't like about himself, the things that he felt made him undeserving. "When I was younger, I wasn't experienced enough," he said after a moment. "I hadn't seen combat, I wasn't a veteran dragoon, and so on - and it seemed like, I don't know - prerequisites, I suppose, at the time. Now I suppose I still feel like I'm not..." What was the word he was looking for? It went beyond just not being strong enough, but he wasn't quite sure what it was that made him hesitate. "I guess I just feel like I should have some sort of purpose. Like I should be contributing to the world, somehow. Otherwise, why would the gods see fit to grant me such a wish?"

It was a hole in his chest, these days. When he'd become a Friend of the Family, he'd found himself unmoored, unsure what to do or where to go, because he didn't know how he - small, insignificant, weak - could be of use to the Family. And now that they were gone, he didn't quite know what to do with himself in a world where no one other than him seemed to miss them. Once upon a time, he and Maea had aspired to put the Greatwood back on the map, but now...

Now he wasn't sure what he wanted, or what she wanted, or how they might move forward with such a plan.

But his thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of something on the horizon, and he joined Maea in squinting towards the hills, his hand on the hilt of the sword strapped to his side. He might not have turned in his quest yet, but he was still formidable even with a basic sword. "Looks like it," he said after a moment, during which the forms seemed to be growing bigger.

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

// won't you breathe with me? //

They really were similar. She knew what he meant even without the explanation, painfully well. Had she not been searching for a purpose her whole life, to sate this need to be useful and find peace within a role that went beyond merely existing? That she had settled on a path for herself didn't mean the itch was gone - far from it. The more she read about herbs and medicine, the better she was understanding how little she knew and how far she had yet to go. The Family was gone but not because of anything she did, nor had she been of much help to those who fought on Starfall... and it left her with a restless itch to do something. Build something. Leave a tangible mark upon the world, so that when her time was up and luck ran out, she could point to it and say - "That. Though I'm not without regrets, I did that, and therefore I can be content."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked Liam, though her eyes were on the approaching silhouettes. "I'd happily help you figure something out, if you think it might help. Whatever you choose, I'll support you. Especially if you want to do something together like we talked about before..." 

Unfortunately, as they came closer, Maea could tell that the figures did not belong to pyrina. Ranging across the lava field with a predatory intent was a pack of fyrhunds, graceful as hunting wolves and twice as dangerous. "I'm counting five," she noted with a deepening scowl. "That's a lot – " Maybe too many for only two people to deal with. Especially when a noxious wave of unease came over her, revealing that at least one, if not all of them were Void touched. Damn.

Maea

// won't you take me to your heart? //

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

Perhaps Liam would have spoken more on the subject - about how he was a soldier without a cause, about how he wasn't sure where to even begin - but then their conversation was rather rudely interrupted by the shadows along the hill. As they grew closer, it became clear that it was a pack of fyrhund - at least one of which appeared to be Void-touched. Liam glanced uneasily at Maea. He might be protected from the creatures, but she certainly wouldn't be.

And he wasn't about to watch her fall. Not if he could do something about it.

"We can talk more later," he said, unsheathing his sword and stretching out his neck, preparing for a fight. "They won't be expecting me to fight them. I can take at least one by surprise, but after that -" After that, it would be a fight from hell. And there was nothing to be done about it.

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

// won't you breathe with me? //

Taking her cue from Liam to become serious, Maea reached for her chakram. Without needing any prompting she slipped in behind him to watch his back, entrusting him with her safety without a moments hesitation. "Alright. I can weaken it - with a bit of luck there's only one void touched." Unlikely, given their aggression towards anything uninfected, but there was always a chance.

Glancing around Liam's back to catch a glimpse of the first hound to come within range, she brought the sharp edge of her weapon to her own arm, braced herself for the pain, and pressed it down. The familiar shock of agony laced through her mind and body, calling up dark power that lashed out at the beast. Shadows overtook the whites of her eyes as Bloodbane zapped the strength of the fyrhund - watching with grim satisfaction how it stumbled before trying to leap at her. It didn't seem to even consider Liam as a threat - a costly mistake, as it turned out.

---

Bloodbane (Ancient): Can injure themselves for mastered damage to weaken others at a 1.5x their mastered level with a range of 30ft.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered

Voidforged Fyrhunds (Uncommon): The once molten vitality of Fyrhunds is now tainted by the void, transforming them into Voidforged Fyrhunds. The black armor plating that once protected them takes on a shadowy, ethereal quality, and their eyes burn with an otherworldly flame. Instead of breathing traditional fire, they exhale void-touched flames that can consume not just physical matter but also the essence of magic itself. Their territorial nature becomes more pronounced, and they guard their nests with a malevolent intensity, threatening both the physical and magical balance of The Climb.

Maea

// won't you take me to your heart? //

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

With his sword in hand and Maea at his back, Liam focused his attention entirely on the pack of fyrhunds approaching. The first was definitely Void-touched, and while a part of Liam regretted having to cut it down, it wasn't a strong enough part to stop him. It was a shame, of course, but Maea's safety was his primary concern, and he wasn't about to let anything happen to her out of some sense of loyalty to people who had since disappeared from Caido.

Behind him, Maea moved, and then the lead fyrhund was stumbling, as though it had been suddenly weakened. Taking advantage of the fyrhund's lack of coordination, Liam swung his sword in a quick overhand arc, stepping into it to put some force behind it, in an effort to slice into the top of the fyrhund's neck. If he was lucky, maybe he could take the beast's head off, at least giving it a clean death before turning his attention to the next.

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

Maea

Waking from the dream
Witnessing the smoke that's rolling in

Down in a silver arc the sword fell, graceful despite its deadly intent. If it had been the Oakblade, god-touched and heavier than sin then Liam really might have succeeded in severing the fyrhunds head from its shoulders. But it was a very ordinary sword, and the rock-hide of the voidforged beast was tough, reducing the damage to a gash in the thick neck. Leaping aside with a pained yelp, a look of surprised betrayal quickly turned to menace as the fyrhund rounded on Liam and charged, angry now instead of merely hungry.

Maea wanted to keep helping him, but now the rest of the pack was catching up and between one moment and the next she had her hands full just with keeping them away. Barking, snarling bodies jumped for her legs only to dart away as she slashed her smoldering chakram at them; cursing herself for leaving the glaive behind, cursing the animals for their fireproof nature that forced her to choose between the double edged sword that was Bloodbane, and other, less used and ineffective abilities. There wasn't time to heal herself, and thus the countdown towards lethality had already begun.

The end is what you fear
The scent of embers lingers in the air

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

The sword came down, gashing into the fyrhund's neck with a clash of metal on stone. Liam cursed as the beast leaped aside with a pained yelp, suddenly angry with himself that he hadn't yet turned in his quest. If it had been his Oakblade making the blow, perhaps it would have been more successful. As it was, the angry fyrhund was now charging at him, bleeding sluggish magma from the cut in its neck, and that was only one of the five. The others, it seemed, were targeting Maea.

"Don't let them separate us!" Liam instructed, parrying a snarling lunge from the fyrhund that he'd wounded and trying to get closer to his partner. But there were so many of them, and only two of them, and even if he managed to get to Maea's side, what then? Armed with only a sword and his channeling, Liam opted to use the latter, calling upon any nearby spirit to help them. If the fyrhunds were slowed, or their number reduced, perhaps they would stand a fighting chance.

---

There are currently five Voidforged Fyrhunds attacking Maea and Liam. Liam is channeling to try to either a) slow down the fyrhunds or b) reduce their number.

Channeling (Accepted) : Allows an Accepted to channel a spirit during a time of crisis (1x a season). Can be combined with other accepted channeling to increase power.
Type: Light | Rank: Basic

Voidforged Fyrhunds (Uncommon): The once molten vitality of Fyrhunds is now tainted by the void, transforming them into Voidforged Fyrhunds. The black armor plating that once protected them takes on a shadowy, ethereal quality, and their eyes burn with an otherworldly flame. Instead of breathing traditional fire, they exhale void-touched flames that can consume not just physical matter but also the essence of magic itself. Their territorial nature becomes more pronounced, and they guard their nests with a malevolent intensity, threatening both the physical and magical balance of The Climb.

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam