go with the flow

The roar and rush of water echoing over the chambers had been something promised seasons ago – remembering Koa’s journal entries, Safrin’s descriptions – but he still bore the hellhound form as the cavern widened, until his paws met the edge of a rocky surface.

And down below, the geyser, the swirl of water, all the smells combining into alarming and potent. He pinned his ears back by instinct alone, trying to drown out the cacophony of noise, stifling a breath in gratitude that they hadn’t had to prolong their agonies here, in the midst of battle. There was no doubt in his mind, beyond the scope of tales, that something would have lurched and leapt out of that damned pool below. Do we want to fly down instead? The potential of the water being a damaging experience wasn’t lost on him – not when the void and the Family had been involved.

Deimos

I will either find a way, or make one

canine stock | background stock

fire in the ground between my teeth, we're dancing on the poison in their graves
at the end of the night, we'd all seen better days

This is the level he’d been dreading. The one that had sparked the multitudes of thoughts that had gone into the result of the Family finally leaving Caido’s shores. Because he’d heard from the descriptions and journal entries that Deimos had shared that this was the one that could have the potential of killing him. And when Ronin had asked him to take up the spot that they were originally supposed to do, Sunjata hadn’t felt his hope break quite so much recently as it had that day.

But then they’d realized they could potentially snag Dahlia one on one, and none of them had gotten this far. Events had unfolded beforehand, and the Family was gone. Leaving them to explore it without all the danger, even if Sunjata still seemed a bit anxious. The roar of the water has his ears pinning back uncomfortably as the pegasus peers down over the edge. Yeah, probably should. Sighing a little mentally, his ti-toned wings flare before he shakes them out, preparing to take the leap.

i know you tried, i know you're cursed, i know your best was still your worst

SUNJATA

Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us Deimos had held dread for all of the aspects of Starfall, merely based on his experiences with Caido alone. But he also didn’t have the drawback of immortality clauses designated with water to worry about – so Sunjata’s trepidation was a well-placed accord. He watched the Pegasus make the leap, then altered his shift accordingly. He wouldn’t be launching from the cliff as hellhound bounties, but in thunderbird alterations – massive wings unfurling as he began to wind his way around ledges and precipices, gently and easily hovering in a circle, taking in all the aspects, eyes flickering downward to see if he could catch any portions of land below. This would not have been fun, he admitted solemnly, if only to break the morose mood. Supposedly some parts lead back to the sea if they dove down far enough - which would've been an exit strategy in the midst of battle, but not now. the Resurrected Sword No one can separate us For we are all that is left

fire in the ground between my teeth, we're dancing on the poison in their graves
at the end of the night, we'd all seen better days

The Pegasus takes the dive, the sound of his wings flapping to slow the momentum as he takes the dive. And shortly after, the addition of multiple other wings joins in of Deimos’ shift, the two of them descending into the watery pit together as Sunjata keeps his gaze scanned for anything that still could be a threat this far down. He’s hoping that whatever’s left behind isn’t terrible, that’s manageable for the two of them.

Deimos’ admission is one that sparks a heavy sigh from the Flood mentally, an agreement if there ever was one. I almost had to take Ronin and Remi’s place. He admits quietly, slowing his descent as he tries to get a read on the water and which way it’s flowing to have an idea which might come in from the ocean. Let’s see if we can figure out which one keeps going further, yeah? Because maybe with his affinity and control over water he’d be able to tell which wouldn’t lead them astray.

i know you tried, i know you're cursed, i know your best was still your worst

SUNJATA

Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us So I heard, he remarked, stifling down the frustrations that had run rampant in those prevailing days. It had been understandable, under those hordes of circumstances with Flora and the like, but didn’t make it any less irritating when they’d all been under multiple strains. I tried to prevent that, but- he gave a many-winged shrug, because in the end, it hadn’t mattered at all. The large bird nodded at the notion, as he also utilized control over the element. I have a bakunawa shift that can get through the water as well. They just needed to make sure they weren’t wasting their time, fording and forging their way through places that would potentially lead them to nowhere. Hovering again, but drifting lower and lower and still glancing downward, he kept his pace slow and steady, controlled and contorted. Do you notice anything? the Resurrected Sword No one can separate us For we are all that is left

fire in the ground between my teeth, we're dancing on the poison in their graves
at the end of the night, we'd all seen better days

There is a bit of surprise that leaves the Flood to hear that Deimos had tried to prevent it, even as the Flood mulls over it in the interim. His wings flap, trying to even out his descent to keep him hovering more than free falling. At least it didn’t come to that. Which was a relief in more ways than one for the both of them at the end of the day, wasn’t it?

Casting a pale glance over toward Deimos and his multi-winged shift, his ears perk forward. Yeah, if we don’t have any other option. I only have the orca that can go in the water. Which was something he didn’t really want to delve into, finding the shift less than his mythical shifts in terms of preparation. But as for the water, the Flood hovers above it, hooves driving little waves through it as he tries to use it to sense where the current is coming from and assuming that might be the space where it met the ocean.

I thiiiink it’s the left that goes to the ocean? His ears pin a little in his confusion, before he looks back to Deimos to see if he has anything to add.

i know you tried, i know you're cursed, i know your best was still your worst

SUNJATA

Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us He only nodded his assent at the last notions, still somewhat bothered by things he couldn’t quite place. Maybe he should’ve let all the frustrations dissipate anyway, for ruminating and musing on it scarcely mattered anymore; gone and done with the pricking of a rose directly upon Dahlia, rather than the hardships and troublesome routes they’d taken within the interim. His eyes narrowed at Sunjata’s other particulars, remembering the orca, and knowing that’d have some limitations as well. But by then he’d spotted semblances of where the current might’ve led into the rest of the brink, and Deimos lowered himself briefly to snag at a rock nearby, before tossing it into the left side. He watched as it sunk, then drifted, disappearing altogether beneath the surface, but had slanted outwards before its ultimate departure. All right he confirmed, and then his stare followed the line of bulging outcrops, silhouetted and illuminated by the violet light. We can try this way then? Figuring on opposing ends – as he rose, but still hovered, slowly, over to where there could’ve been land jutting outwards from the right. the Resurrected Sword No one can separate us For we are all that is left

fire in the ground between my teeth, we're dancing on the poison in their graves
at the end of the night, we'd all seen better days

He watches as the thunderbird drops lower, snagging a rock to test the theory that they’ve mulled over. And as he watches the rock sink into the left side of the cavern, they can spot it through the surface of the acrid water, the heat palpable from the geyser that seems to be the main factor for where exactly everything came and left from here. The rock vanishes, the confirmation made, and when the suggestion of the right side harboring the land they could use to drift further, Sunjata latches onto it nearly immediately.

Sounds good to me. Easy agreement has the Flood’s wings pulsing and pushing up, spreading some of the dark water in the process as he carries himself over toward the jut of earth. Landing on it with a click of his hooves, the Flood waits for Deimos to join him before they delve further in, down a deeper cavern toward something beneath this chamber.

- FIN

i know you tried, i know you're cursed, i know your best was still your worst

SUNJATA