troubles yet to come

if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

i know you wanna go to heaven

She uses all of her weight to bring him down, and between the dragon and the wound to his neck and the blood that drips from it, he crashes down with her. But it doesn’t end there, she surges back and he finds himself on his back — a flashback, a memory of a place far away with bruised and bloody knuckles, and a gunshot wound of sorts — before he’s looking up at her as she pins him to the floor by his shoulders. He swallows hard, panting through clenched teeth when she begins to speak again.

She asks him of gods and whether he follows them anyway, and a dark brow raises in the defiance to that question. “Who said anything about these gods?” He snaps back at her, bite coating his accented words. But it fades when she speaks of futures and he grits his teeth against the implications, arms moving to tear her own away from his shoulders. “I told you before, she is the only one I ever saw a future with.” He hisses back at her, growling against the way his throat moves when he talks, how it irritates and hurts the wound there.

“Stop talking about her like you know her. Stop talking about me, like you fucking know me too.” He growls, eyes shooting daggers as he glares up at her and the dark black tar taking over. “I cared about you, but I couldn’t ever tell you I loved you. What does that say to you Phoebe? We had been together long enough for me to, and yet I didn’t.”

but you're human tonight

SUNJATA

PHOEBE

Phoebe laughed in his face again, a sign that by now he might recognize indicated she had some upperhand he hadn’t considered. Torturing him was so easy with her memories. How the mighty do fall. ”You didn’t need to say it. I know you loved me because your mother would have loved me, and that would’ve been enough for you to fall head over heels. Isn’t that right?” she hissed at him, still laughing at his miscalculation.

”And Lusea? Ha! You’ve told me enough to understand her. Is she really what your mother would have wanted for you Jata? Is this narrow future you see for yourself really what she would have supported for you? You, throwing your future away on a woman who can’t help you grow to be a greater man than your father ever was? Or would she really have wanted you to become just like him?” she said with a sneer, her nails digging painfully into his shoulders. ”Or are you so scared of failing her that you would rather just pretend it doesn’t bother you as much as it does? That you would rather run away than face potentially failing the one thing your mother worked hard to help you achieve – a better, different future out from under your father’s thumb?”

Phoebe leaned forward, her lips close to his ear as she finally paused. ”Worse yet, you know every second you spend with Lusea, you live obscured in his shadow, but with me, you were as free as your mother only dared dream you would be. Admit it.”

When dark creeps in and eats the light

Bury your fears on sorry night

For in the winter's darkest hours

Comes the feasting of the Vours

No one can see it, the life they stole

Your body's here but not your soul

Table Code by Sky!

if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

i know you wanna go to heaven

She has the audacity to laugh in his face, and yet he does nothing of it. Instead, he can feel his heartbeat thundering in his throat, searching and seeking the wounds she’s given him. He swallows hard again when she begins to speak, a maniacal laugh, speaking of his mother in ways he hadn’t planned when he’d managed to explain enough of his history. To make the mistakes of telling her what had mattered to him. His mother. His sister. Lusea. Nothing else mattered, nothing else was worth all the pain of those three.

He clenches his teeth, eyes shuddering beneath the implications. “Don’t talk about my mother.” He grits out, but she doesn’t stop. No, she continues and his head swims with pain and anger, frustration, memories, the last time he’d ever seen his mother, when she’d ushered him to continue his work – to continue for a better life without the iron fist of his father’s rule. But Phoebe was wrong. So very wrong, and he fights to find the words to tell her without it being misconstrued yet again.

But he had failed his mother, more than once. And he had pretended it didn’t matter, even when he knew it did. “Lusea was my key to breaking what my father did, if anything Lusea was the reason.” He growls as she leans in, lips nearing his ear while his heartbeat continues to thunder and the blood from the wound continues to seep into furs and leather. He leans his head up toward her, muscles feathering in his jaw. “No.” There’s a finality in his voice that he hopes she stops, despite the pressure of her fingernails digging into his shoulders.

“I have done everything to not be the man he was. If you truly know so much, then tell me if I am the same as the stories I’ve told you.” He growls back at her, teeth clacking together with the sharpness of his words. “I was made for the shadows, Phoebe. You know this. You always have known this. I was not meant for the light.”

but you're human tonight

SUNJATA

PHOEBE

She laughed again, cruelly, at his pitiful attempts to make her stop. ”I will stop reminding you of your mother’s wishes when you stop lying to yourself.” she hissed between her teeth. A cruel grin curved her lips as she looked at him from the side, her laugh turning to a low chuckle. ”You are exactly like your father. It is your way, your reality, or nothing at all. Anything that contradicts it you try to snuff out, including me.” she said, a growl escaping her lips before once again biting down on his flesh, this time near his jaw. She ripped her head to the side, tugging viciously against him as her mouth once more filled with the coppery liquid.

And then, in an instant, she was off of him. She used the pain of the bite as a distraction, darting for the door and out towards the flower, running as fast as she could to reach it, fighting against the ice and snow in hopes of destroying the abomination before Jata caught her again.

When dark creeps in and eats the light

Bury your fears on sorry night

For in the winter's darkest hours

Comes the feasting of the Vours

No one can see it, the life they stole

Your body's here but not your soul

Table Code by Sky!

if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

i know you wanna go to heaven

First off, what the fuck.

Second, what the fuck.

His mind swims with what she tells him, knowing it to not be true deep down, but the insecurities writhe to the surface as she hisses at him. “I’m not lying to myself. I am what I am.” He growls back. She continues to speak, and he finds his head shaking left to right with the accusation. He’s nothing like this father, never would be. He’d kill himself before that. So he looks to her, biding a small amount of time before his arms reach up to grab onto her and push her away, over, something other than this, when she bites him again.

What the fuck.

He grits his teeth against the tearing she does, wondering when she ended up being so obsessed with that. But the pressure on his shoulders leave, as she’s up in an instant, and he remembers the rose. ’God’s fucking damnit.’ He thinks to himself, shoving himself up off the floor and following with large steps to cover the distance between him and her. She’s so close to the flower, but he catches her just in time to grab onto her arm and try to toss her back into the snow. One hand reaches for his jaw and his neck, coming away in crimson blood as his shuddered gaze slides back to her.

“Back off.” He tells her, reaching down to grab the rose and the shovel – prepared for yet another fight, while his body stings and his heartbeat races. “Look at yourself, all of this over a fucking rose. Get a grip.” He barks, eyes sharp on her.

but you're human tonight

SUNJATA

PHOEBE

Phoebe snarled and screamed as she was grabbed and flung into a snow bank. Sheer will alone had her pulling herself out of it, wet to the bone, limbs trembling from the cold that was setting in. But still she stood, glaring at him, blood and blight dripping from her chin. She panted for air, puffs of smoke escaping her lips. Even as he told her to back off though, she charged again intent on destroying what he wished to plant.

”It must die!!” she shrieked at him, words barely intelligible, more banshee than human now it seemed. The wit she had been using before had given way once again to her feral instincts, clawing, biting, scrambling for the little piece of flora that managed to bloom in the Deepfrost snows.

When dark creeps in and eats the light

Bury your fears on sorry night

For in the winter's darkest hours

Comes the feasting of the Vours

No one can see it, the life they stole

Your body's here but not your soul

Table Code by Sky!

if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

i know you wanna go to heaven

Ah, there she goes again. He really doesn’t want to do this, but he finds he has no choice. He reverts, growing harder and stronger, despite the blood and the exhaustion, despite the frustration and confusion in his mind that threatens to suffocate him. He pushes through it, militaristic, a soldier for his father, an apprehender. And when she charges at him again, he doesn’t give her a chance to react, tossing the rose once more behind him as he reaches up for the fabric of his shirt beneath the furs, and tears a thin strip off.

He spins her, grabbing for her wrists again and pulling them behind her and together. Using the strip of fabric (now dyed crimson from his blood), he ties it around her wrists tightly – sure that she can’t get it off . “No.” He tells her with demand, a finality to his words. He’s not going to let her, and she needs to realize that fact. For added measure, he pushes her back down into the snow, reaching for another piece to tie around her ankles, sure to keep his head away from her.


But he can’t just leave her like that in the snow, and so he then takes one of the furs he’s wearing off and wraps it around her to try and keep her warm, hoping she doesn't get any frostbite from this entire ordeal. Steel eyes hardened as he looks to her own blackened ones. “Calm. Down.”

but you're human tonight

SUNJATA

PHOEBE

Again her attack fails and she is grabbed and spun, her hands suddenly bound together. She is tossed back in the snow, her shout muffled by the snow suddenly around her face. She thrashed and struggled, feet pushing her to slide forward, but she was snatched up again, this time her ankles bound together and a fur tossed over her back. Phoebe panted and shivered, lips pulled back in a snarl, nose wrinkled with her anger as she glared at the powdery white stuff beneath her. The damned flower would be planted, polluting the whole area.

When he told her to calm down she merely snarled at him, shaking with cold and exhaustion. Pim watched from a distance, approaching slowly. He sniffed at Phoebe, then looked up at Jata with an expectant growl.

When dark creeps in and eats the light

Bury your fears on sorry night

For in the winter's darkest hours

Comes the feasting of the Vours

No one can see it, the life they stole

Your body's here but not your soul

Table Code by Sky!

if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

i know you wanna go to heaven

Finally, she’s not able to continue to claw his face off. He hisses under his breath as he assesses the damage, grabbing a handful of the snow and pressing it to his neck to cool the throbbing wound while he picks the rose and shovel up again. His thoughts are still muddled, feeling like he’s thinking through mud at all the words she has spat at him. And he tries to take little of it to heart, glancing up to her as he kneels in the snow again and makes quick work of digging a hole for the rose.

He eyes Pim briefly, reaching into that pocket again and pulling out another piece of jerky, tossing it to the dragon, while he finishes planting the rose and she shrieks. Yet, he remains there for a brief moment, looking back up to her and feeling the snow and blood mix with the shirt underneath the fur he had given her. He’s certain he looks gruesome, covered in red and black, and he doesn’t know what to do with her. He can’t just leave her here, but he also doesn’t trust her.

A small idea begins to form in the back of his mind, and he stands to approach her again. “Are you done yet?” There’s a small amount of exhaustion and defeat in his voice at the question, tilting his head as he stands outside of her body’s reach.

but you're human tonight

SUNJATA

PHOEBE

Pim snapped up the jerky again, laying down next to Phoebe to munch on his treat. He snapped off a small piece and layed it near her face. She sniffed and managed to inch herself over, biting it up out of the snow, chewing on it with absolutely zero manners. If the behavior hadn't confirmed the blight had taken full control of her, certainly the sudden lack of table manners did.

But when he approached again she snarled and growled, like a cornered, rabid animal. With her feet and hands tied, her teeth were really the only thing he needed to look out for. Though whether she was done or not? She likely would put up a fight until she was too exhausted to move.

When dark creeps in and eats the light

Bury your fears on sorry night

For in the winter's darkest hours

Comes the feasting of the Vours

No one can see it, the life they stole

Your body's here but not your soul

Table Code by Sky!

if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

i know you wanna go to heaven

He can’t help but to notice the near animalistic reaction Phoebe gives when Pim breaks off a small part of the treat for her. But he doesn’t pause until the rose is planted, cursing through his memories and his loose tongue for the wound that Phoebe had given him physically and mentally. He steps near her once again and she snarls and growls, and his head tilts at her with a huff of a sigh. “Guess not.” He answers, wiping the dirt from his hands onto his pants before he runs them through his hair.

Placing his hands on his hips, next, he glares down at her, the wounds beginning to finally clot, but the blood still remained – it was everywhere, melded with the black that was slipping from her. He looked as though he was in a warzone, and he felt like it too. “Pim, we’re going to take her to Remi.” He tells the dragon, not caring that he might not understand, but thankful deep down that the dragon hadn’t electrocuted him.

Then, he reaches down to grab her and lift her to her feet, grabbing the furs and placing them around her body with a hardened look to his steel gaze, hands around her shoulders now but not within distance of her face, no matter how she moves. “Where does he live?”

but you're human tonight

SUNJATA

PHOEBE

Pim looked at Jata, making a low chuffing noise at him before roaring loudly as he rose. He wanted more jerky! He didn't really care where they went so long as he kept dishing out the good stuff! The pink deagon sniffed towarss the jerky pouch, growling at it.

Phoebe though was striggling to balance with her legs tied together, and she looked no better than him. Blood and blight dripped down her chin, soaking into her dress front, her hair was streaked with it as well. But where he looked more like he had been through a warzone, she looked like a feral woman, raised by beasts in some wood. She snarled and snapped at him though. Clearly he wasn't going to get directions from her.

When dark creeps in and eats the light

Bury your fears on sorry night

For in the winter's darkest hours

Comes the feasting of the Vours

No one can see it, the life they stole

Your body's here but not your soul

Table Code by Sky!

if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes

i know you wanna go to heaven

Pim begins to growl at him, and Jata finds the exhaustion settling into his bones at the sound, reaching in and grabbing another piece to give to him while he focuses on Phoebe. He watches while he puts the furs around her shoulders, watches while she struggles to stand, and sighs to himself. “Fine.” He hisses, letting her go to step behind her and grab onto her arms, reaching down to untie her legs so she can walk.

He stands again, pushing her forward with both experience and practice, willing to drag her down the road to Remi’s if he has to. But before they get too far, he’s pausing. “We are going to find him, and he is going to help us.” He tells her, though it’s mostly to himself. He doesn’t know if the Alchemist even can, but he hopes deep down there might be something. Better restraints? Better anything? To keep the beast contained.

So much for good first impressions, huh?

but you're human tonight

SUNJATA

PHOEBE

Pim munched his jerky happily, pleased once again. But as soon as Jata released her feet, hell broke loose again. Phoebe tried to dart forward towards the flower, but his hold on her arms stopped her. She jerked, her feet continuing forward as the rest of her fell back, leaving her flat on her bottom, arms raised where he held her. She snarled and shouted at him incoherently, writhing and scrambling for purchase, trying to get away to destroy the flower.

Remi's name didn't even seem to register with her. Her mind so gone into the depths of instinct she was all but feral, focused only on destroying the evil red bloom. She only paused briefly when Pim offered her another piece of jerky, which she took from his jaws, chewing on as she growled at Jata.

When dark creeps in and eats the light

Bury your fears on sorry night

For in the winter's darkest hours

Comes the feasting of the Vours

No one can see it, the life they stole

Your body's here but not your soul

Table Code by Sky!