rockabye

flora

The Sugar Tide rocked gently, a lullaby in motion as the sea cradled her in the gold-glazed hush of late afternoon. Far enough from the docks to drown out the city’s chaos but close enough to see Torchline’s shoreline smudged in the distance, the skyship bobbed in private peace. Her stained-glass sails were half-furled, glittering lazily with sun-splintered colour, casting fractured rainbows across the polished deck.

Flora reclined on a pillowed bench, a tray of drinks sweating beside her—fruit-heavy cocktails adorned with mint and sugared rims—and a platter of sweet-salty snacks laid out between her and Sohalia. She wore a bikini the colour of tropical orchids, curls twisted into a lazy knot atop her head, her skin gleaming from saltwater and sun. A large sunhat lay discarded near her ankles, and Spice was draped bonelessly across the edge of the table, lazily flicking her tail toward the occasional help.

"Okay," Flora said, propping her chin on her hand and tipping her glass toward Sohalia with an easy grin. "You know how you said you shift into a snowy owl? That totally counts for flying expertise, so congratulations—you’ve been drafted into helping me not screw up my quest."

She took a sip, then pointed a chip in Soh’s direction like a makeshift wand. "Twenty questions about flying, and then we can turn on some music and let the current take us wherever it wants, deal?"

We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

The Sugar Tide was a beautiful little boat - not, perhaps, Sohalia's first choice of a place to live, but it certainly suited Flora well for her time away from Haulani. The Luminary sat near Flora in a one-piece swimsuit that covered the worst of her scars, sipping on a fruity cocktail and snacking on the various bits and bobs that Flora had kindly prepared for them. Tarak lay nearby, sunning himself on the deck, and the overall vibe was one of peace and tranquility.

"You don't have to bribe me," Soh pointed out lazily, leaning back and throwing her arms over her head as she adjusted her position. She turned her face towards her best friend, grinning. It was nice to be out here like this, with all their cares and troubles and drama left on the shore. "But music and drifting sounds lovely, so we'll call it a deal. What kinds of questions do you have?"

Sohalia

flora

"Okay but I love bribing you," Flora grinned, popping a slice of candied pineapple into her mouth and pointing the rest of the piece toward Sohalia as if to underline her point. "Besides, you make this face—" she scrunched her nose and widened her eyes in an uncanny imitation of Soh mid-flattered protest, "—and it’s cute and rewarding. So. Let me spoil you."

Settling more comfortably against the cushions, she angled her glass lazily in Soh's direction. "Alright, flying question number one." She lifted her brows, all mock-seriousness now. "How do warm thermals and updrafts off the sea actually work? I’ve hit a few, and all they’ve done is yeet me sideways into the air like a badly thrown kite. But you—" she gestured broadly toward Sohalia, "—somehow use them. To glide. Like it’s elegant and natural and not a near-death experience. So how do you do it?"

She paused, then added with a playful little smirk, "And how do you not scream when the ground suddenly vanishes beneath you? Asking for a very brave, very cool friend who is definitely not me."

We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Soh nabbed a piece of strawberry, trying (and failing) not to make the very face that Flora had demonstrated. She stuck her tongue out at Flora before popping the fruit into her mouth. Still, she had no further protest, and instead turned her attention to flying.

"Okay, so the trick with thermals is that you have to be moving forward, but you don't have to power straight through one. Birds use thermals for lift by staying inside the updraft - you ever see birds just circling up in the air? Eventually, the thermals lift you high enough that the warmer air cools to the temperature of the air around it, and then you can soar from there to the next thermal, but when you do that, you lose a little altitude, because you're not riding the warmer air anymore. Don't fight the dive, and you should be okay. Watch the birds - they'll show you where the next updraft is, and you can kind of hop from thermal to thermal to keep your forward momentum going."

Pausing to take a drink, Soh considered the next question and grinned. "That is admittedly easier when you can shift into something that can fly to save yourself if you fall," she said. But then, she'd never really been afraid of falling - she'd been Attuned for so long, and her first shift had been a bird, that to be scared had never really occurred to her. "But I'd say practice? Preferably over land where you can rise slowly at first to get used to it."

Sohalia

Come play!

In the wind you hear voices. It sounds like children playing some kind of game with laughter and mischief. Then one screams. There’s a call for ‘Mom!’ ‘Papa!’ and other adults as the laughter stops. Glancing towards the direction of the commotion, you’ll see fins cutting the water. A pack of echo sharks lurks, ready to leap up and grab any who fall for their trap.

---

You’ve encountered a pack of echo sharks. This counts as a common creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements.

Echo Shark (common) - A dwarf species of shark known for hunting in packs, the Echo Shark can live in both freshwater and saltwater. They are able to mimic any sound they’ve heard and band together to increase their range of vocals. The sharks use the words and sounds they’ve learned to lure unsuspecting prey into the water, where the sharks will then leap up and drag them into the waves.

flora

Flora narrows her eyes as the eerie laughter drifts in on the breeze, the sound twisting into something far too close to real for her liking. Her gaze flicks toward the water just in time to catch the ominous shimmer of fins slicing through the surface, the childish voices echoing across the waves. "Oh my gods," she mutters, reaching for the nearest slice of fruit—some soggy bit of melon—and lobbing it toward the fins with impressive aim. "Shut up, you haunted little losers. We're having a lesson."

Turning back to Sohalia with a dramatic sigh, she fans herself with one hand. 'Ugh, I hate those things." Her tone is light, but there’s tension humming beneath it. Flora might have faced worse than echo sharks lately, but voices calling out for help could under her skin.

"Anyway," she says more brightly, forcibly shaking it off. "That actually makes sense. I don’t know why I thought flying was just… flap and pray." She tilts her head, then adds, "Still, watching birds for the updrafts? I can do that. That’s smart. You're smart."

She flashes Soh a grin, the easy kind, her mood already lifting as she reaches for another piece of pineapple. "Okay next question: does weather change stuff much? I mean, obviously flying through a thunderstorm would, but like..cold days versus hot days?"

We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Soh shivered as the eerie voices of the echo sharks bounded across the waves. Her last encounter with them had been enough for quite some time, thank you very much, and her metaphorical hackles rose as they circled the little ship. Flora broke the tension by throwing some bit of fruit at them, startling a laugh from Soh, and they descended upon it with gusto before realizing that it was not, in fact, something for them to eat. It didn't take long for them to move on, leaving the two women to shake off the creepy voices calling for help and continue on with their lesson.

"I mean, sometimes it still feels like 'flap and pray,'" Soh admitted with a laugh. "I think it's easier with a shift - so much of the owl's instincts sort of... carry over to me. It's different learning how to pilot something inanimate, I'd imagine. But, yeah, take advantage of the world around you as much as you can!"

She snagged a grape as she considered Flora's next question. "Mm, actually, some of the strongest thermals are on cold days," she said thoughtfully. "I think it's because thermals aren't hot air so much as they're warmer than other air. So you're going to find them no matter the weather or climate, for the most part. Also, for the record, I do not recommend flying through a thunderstorm, or a blizzard, or any other severe forms of weather."

Sohalia

flora

Flora nods thoughtfully, chewing on a sliver of mango as she considers Sohalia’s answer. She hadn't really thought about the whole instinctual element before—probably because she didn’t have a shift to lean on—just a magical boat and a little too much reckless determination. "I guess that makes sense," she muses. "You’re working with instincts that are already built for it. I’m basically throwing myself into the air with vibes and prayers."

Picking at another piece of pineapple, she props her elbow on the edge of the table and gestures lazily with her fruit. "Okay but—when you’re flying, how much harder is it when you’re dealing with wind or thermals versus just flapping along?" she asks. "Like, if the air’s still, do you have to work way harder to stay up? And if there’s a breeze, is it better or just annoying?"

She frowns a little, her gaze drifting out toward the open water. "When I’m sailing, I rely totally on the wind. Like, no wind? No movement. But I haven’t had to think about wind versus no wind when I’m flying before." She lifts a brow toward Sohalia, curiosity sharpening the edges of her voice. "So what happens if you hit, like, a dead patch in the air?"

We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Sohalia reached her hands above her head, stretching luxuriously in the sun - not unlike her tide jaguar shift - before reaching for her drink and taking a sip. It really was a beautiful day, and so pleasant to just be helping Flora with her quest rather than partaking in the drama that seemed to follow the pair of them around these days. "Thermals make it way easier," she said. "You don't have to work nearly as hard to stay airborne. Like - okay, so with birds, it's a matter of how much energy you're expending to stay afloat, right? So anything that can help you use less energy - so you can save that energy for hunting or what have you - is good. Thermals are great for that. Makes it almost effortless."

Then she paused, shifting a little to get more comfortable. "A breeze can help or hinder. If you're going with the wind, it can help you go faster on less energy. But if you're going against the wind? Then it's a struggle. I imagine it's the same kind of thing as when you're sailing - going into the wind has to be impossible, right?" She looked at Flora curiously. Soh was not a sailor, and therefore was simply guessing. It just seemed reasonable that a sailboat could only go with the wind, but she'd been wrong before.

As for a dead patch... "Dead patches just mean you have to work to keep going - flapping your wings, as a bird. I'm not sure how it works for an inanimate object."

Sohalia

flora

Flora lets out a little hmmph of agreement, nodding as she polishes off the mango with a flick of her fingers. "Yeah, going into the wind sucks," she confirms, licking a bit of juice from her thumb before continuing. "You can angle your sails and kind of tack back and forth—like zigzag your way forward—but it’s way slower. It’s more work, more strategy, and honestly just more annoying." Her eyes narrow, nose scrunching in distaste. "Jack has air magic and...until I tried sailing by myself, I don't think I ever realized how fucking useful that is."

She shifts, folding one leg over the other and sighing into the sun-drenched peace of their little corner. Spice is curled nearby, lazily exhaling the occasional cool breeze like a glorified fan. "I guess flying’s not all that different then. I just hadn’t thought about how much the air itself matters, y’know?" She squints up at the sky, watching a hel wheel through a warm updraft. "I thought once you were up, you just...stayed up."

Glancing back at Soh, she tips her head curiously. How long can you stay up for? Like, on a super average day?"

We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Sailing into the wind certainly sounded like as much of a pain as flying into the wind, and Soh hummed her agreement as she picked out a strawberry to take a bite of. She did her best not to freeze when Jack’s name came up - Flora was playing it cool, so she would, too - and turned her attention to her drink, which was getting a bit low in the glass. ”I wonder if you could quest for, like… magic that would let you sail any which way regardless of the wind?” she mused. But magic was not her strong suit, and she was more than happy to let smarter people than her figure out what that might look like (looking at you, Flora).

Soh followed Flora’s gaze to watch a hel wheeling overhead and grinned. ”Yeah, it’s hard to really wrap your head around until it actually matters, y’know?” she agreed. ”I mean, animals are built for it, so they make it look easy, and skyships are magic, so gods only know how they work, but it sure doesn’t seem hard just watching them, right?” She laughed a little, leaning to reach for a pitcher of lemonade to top off her glass.

As she settled back, she pursed her lips. ”Honestly? I’m not totally sure. I tend to fly short distances, personally, but I know snowy owls in the wild can go a few hundred miles in a day, under the right conditions. I’ve never tried that - no reason to migrate, or hunt for my meals, which is why a wild snowy owl would stay up that long. I’d say, on average? Maybe a couple hours at a time, but I think it probably varies by bird - or skyboat.”

Sohalia

flora

"Probably," Flora agrees, tapping her glass thoughtfully against her knee. "But before I start questing for enchanted rigging or whatever else, I’m getting some kind of cannon on the Sugar Tide. Or a horn. Or literally anything to stop Jack from dive-bombing me with the Ark like I’m a fucking buoy he can just sail through." She flashes Sohalia a dry, crooked grin, but the sparkle in her eyes says she’s only mostly kidding.

Still, she listens as Soh explains the reality of long-distance flight, brows lifting at the mention of a few hundred miles. "Damn," she whistles low. "Guess I’ve got a ways to go." She doesn’t sound disheartened, though—if anything, she seems energized by the idea of figuring it out on her own. Her gaze drifts back up toward the sky, thoughtful.

But then her eyes flick to Soh again and a sly grin blooms across her face. "Guess I’ll have to learn a lot more by doing," she says, setting her glass aside with a lazy stretch. "But for now, I’m thinking we put all that strategy talk on hold and focus on something way more important." She flops back on the blanket beside Sohalia, one arm flung wide and her curls spilling like honey across the fabric.

"Operation: Tanning," she announces. "Priority level: critical. You're still waaaaaaaay too pale for how long you've lived here."

~FIN

We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!