[SE] you want life to lead you to believe in something

// sun comin' up on a dream come around //

"I just don't get it," Danta is saying as they trek across the Outer Brambles, the Maverick furrowing his brow as he glances over his shoulder towards Kiada. A fine drizzle has been falling for a long while now, the sort that soaks through clothes to the skin within moments, and Danta's collar is turned up against the rain despite his hair already being drenched. "Why drop a body on the Dusklight doorstep? A void creature isn't capable of that, surely?"

Meaning, of course, that it would have had to be a Family member, right?

Falling to a halt at last among the thickets of trees that have only just started to sprout their new leaves, Danta swipes a hand across his face. "I just wanted to see how bad things really are out here," he says in a quieter voice. "...And if I should start thinking of doing something about it." He glances towards the harpy. "You and your beau still live beyond the Inner Quarter, right?" On some farm, he thinks.

Dantalion

// one hundred years from the empire now //

KIADA

The trek is a familiar one, one that Kiada takes regularly. Shifting slightly to adjust the jacket that bolsters her warmth and blessedly keeps the rain from soaking to her bones, she spins the umbrella between them to try and get as much rain from hitting Danta and herself as possible. “Reminds me of the old LongNights…” She admits with a frown and a heavy sigh. “Only there were monsters outside we knew about.. maybe the void learned we’d gotten comfortable.” Sighing lightly, she glances over to the Theocrat. “And.. we know that the family can get in.. so… either those that are the family or infected by them would have to do it, yeah?” She suggests, recalling the Midwinter Ball.

As for seeing how bad it was out here, she nods as they take their break and she snags the canteen of water to sip from before handing it to him. “We do, yeah. Fox has been busy with a few creatures that have gotten close around here.” She nods her head toward the east, deeper into the Brambles. “But it’ll be hard to protect against them now that they know.. Halo’s healing springs were destroyed and they also had a citizen attacked by Dahlia.” She murmurs, recalling the letter that came from Deimos just after LongNight.

i was young and stupid then, always playing for the win
don't know where we got this bad, i just wish i had you back

// sun comin' up on a dream come around //

Scrunching his nose - he hasn't ever given much credence to the Longnight monsters of old, but perhaps it's about time that Danta did a little research into it. "Or maybe they're learning what made people scared before," he mutters, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He hates it mostly because it's the sort of predatory thing he would do, and would find impressive had it not resulted in the death of a fellow Ancient.

Accepting the canteen as he continues to listen to Kiada, Danta takes a sip of water before raising a brow and nodding through the trees at something shadowy and writhing - a void tangleweed, it looks like, tumbling its way through the brambles. "Things like that?" he wonders, of the sort of creatures Fox has been busy with.

And it just gets better from there, the Maverick handing the canteen back and letting out a long sigh as he takes in the news. "Might be time we start reaching out to other regions to work together, if everyone is being targeted," he admits.

Dantalion

// one hundred years from the empire now //

KIADA

“Maybe.” Kiada mutters, her annoyance flaring before she rolls her eyes. “I hate that they’re so knowledgeable.” She huffs her annoyance, nose wrinkling slightly as she offers out the canteen and tilts her head to where Danta’s looking.

Looking a touch too fiery and feral as she sneers at the tangleweed in the distance, she groans. “Ugh, yeah.” Tearing her gaze away from the tangle weed to look back at her Theocrat, the harpy settles slightly. “I think that’s a good idea. I can send a letter to King’s End and Halo if you want to reach out to Torchline?” He dealt with Torchline the most, after all.

As for the void tangleweed, she lets her iceberg gaze flit back to it, her annoyance still evident. “You wanna help me do something about that?” Jutting her chin toward the tangleweed, she glances back toward Danta to see his thoughts.

i was young and stupid then, always playing for the win
don't know where we got this bad, i just wish i had you back

Light shifts strangely, casting fleeting shadows across the barren landscape. It’s as if something stands just out of sight, letting you catch only a ghost of its outline. The silence grows thick, smothering. You sense a prying gaze, waiting for you to falter.

---

This does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention.

// sun comin' up on a dream come around //

"Mm, so do I," Danta mutters with a scrunch of his nose. "Perhaps one of us leader types ought to get something that will let us see what they are up to, if the gods would be able to make it. A spyglass or a crystal ball or a magic mirror or whatnot." He scoffs, hunkering a little further under Kiada's umbrella as the rain grows a touch more insistent for a minute or so.

"I can do that," he says of Torchline; he's already in correspondence with the region's queen, in truth, though he supposes he ought to address anything official towards them both. As for the tangleweed, Danta's lips part to say it would be his pleasure to do something about it, but at that moment he gets the worst feeling of being watched, and he's very much unused to being treated like prey.

Clearing his throat and shaking his head, he keeps his gaze pinned on what, of course, appears to be nothing but an innocuous patch of woodland now, before grumbling and turning away. "Leave it," he mutters. "I feel like going after it might be more trouble than it's worth these days. Might want to tell your beau the same."

Dantalion

// one hundred years from the empire now //

KIADA

“Ooo, that would be handy.” Kia muses as she thinks over it – recalling something similar in the wind about a Knowtbook. Unsure what happened with that particular item, she imagines there’s nothing stopping someone from asking for something like it. So for now, all she can do is mull over the thoughts while they delegate reaching out to the varying leaders to get something started.

Ah, but then there’s the sensation of being watched and the lines in Kiada’s face deepen enough for her to scowl at the tangleweed in the distance, glaring hard enough that if looks could kill it would be on fire suffering a horrible death. But for now, she tries to soften and look back at Danta as her nose remains slightly wrinkled. “Alright.” She sighs, brushing a few stray hairs away from where the wind had blown it into her face before her fingers tap on the curve of her horns with a small snort. “He’s gonna get bored if we try to take his job away, you know.” She teases lightly, trying to return to a playful warmth that doesn't reflect much in her face.

i was young and stupid then, always playing for the win
don't know where we got this bad, i just wish i had you back

// sun comin' up on a dream come around //

"Mm, wouldn't it just?" Danta drawls; having not been around for the Knowtbook and its uses, he brings up and drops his own suggestions seemingly without consideration, and already he's more interested (understandably so) in the something that he's certain is watching them. Not that it makes any further movements, and after a few weighty seconds whereby he watches the woodlands and the departing tangleweed with equal suspicion, he sighs heavily and turns to keep walking.

"I'm not trying to take his job away," he says with a smirk. "Just... perhaps it's better for him not to antagonise any of the void creatures or the Family who introduced them?" Raising his eyebrows, hopefully Kiada understands all that he isn't saying, namely: I don't want to scrape Fox's body off the doorstep of the Dusklight.

Dantalion

// one hundred years from the empire now //

KIADA

Definitely something to consider, of course. But as she continues to glare daggers at the tangleweed and looks back toward Danta to offer her quiet and amused answer, it’s his implication that truly takes all the wind out of the sails of her frustration.

“Yeah, I get it.” Frowning slightly, she rubs at her face before shrugging a shoulder. “It’d be a crimp in my wedding plans.” She admits, trying for a joke that falls flat, especially with the follow up. “And I’d really like to not have to deal with that a second time.” She doesn’t look at Danta anymore, instead, she peers through the empty space of the trees and a clearing up ahead where the ferns have started to stretch their fanned edges over, unbothered by wildlife tracks.

i was young and stupid then, always playing for the win
don't know where we got this bad, i just wish i had you back

// sun comin' up on a dream come around //

"I agree. Bit difficult for you to have a wedding without a groom, no?" Danta says softly, giving her a gentle nudge as if to try and prevent her mind from going too deeply into the darkness of past grief, though already Kiada seems distant. Clearing his throat and stretching an arm around her shoulders to tuck her against his side - and thus ensure he's covered by the umbrella as they keep walking - he nods towards the little patchwork of houses in the distance.

"C'mon," he suggests. "Just this once, I'll walk you home. Can't have a wedding without a bride either, and I don't fancy being the monster that your beau hunts down if I don't get you back safe. Especially after whatever happened back there." Tangleweeds touched by the void are one thing without the feeling of being constantly watched.

Dantalion

// one hundred years from the empire now //

KIADA

It would be difficult, and while she thinks about the previous LongNight that had stolen away Ru’in, with the letter left asking her to marry him. It takes the wind of fire out of her sails, leaving behind an almost deflated harpy despite her attempts to not give into the feelings. Jostled out of it by the arm that slips around her shoulders, she tucks into his side with ease, the parasol shifting easily to cover the both of them and prevent them from getting too wet.

Tilting her horned head up to look at him, it’s with amusement that she listens to the explanation of why he wants to be a gentleman, and who is she to deny him the opportunity? “Yeah, alright. I’ll let you this one time.” She teases, reverting back to her old self despite the comfort of warmth from his arm and the way they do their best to prevent the rain from soaking them to the bone.

Even by the time they reach the farm, the rain hasn’t let up and despite the attempts to keep them as dry as possible, it falls short by the time they reach the door. So, rather than let Danta go out completely soaked, she does invite him in to warm up and dry off a little – only, she doesn’t quite realize the storm will only get worse by the time he leaves.

But hey, at least she’s already dry and feeling a touch better about everything as she waits to explain to Fox the plan, bidding Danta a goodbye and a promise to see him soon.

- FIN

i was young and stupid then, always playing for the win
don't know where we got this bad, i just wish i had you back