doom days

you were forged in fire // and you rose from the ashes

murder and mercy rolled into one

Remi ’s shop nears, and Sunjata can almost taste the reprieve on his tongue. Phoebe and his fight had gone on for quite some time, and he bristles against the sun as it peaks down, warming the snow beneath his feet, melting a small amount of the snow on the rooftops only to refreeze. Much of his clothes are discarded, a torn shirt and a fur remaining, a wound to his jaw and neck, blood mixed with black from her as he leads her through the Settlement, being sure people keep a wide berth of her.

When he reaches the door to the Alchemist’s shop, he removes a hand from her knowing there will be some form of protest, before he raises an exhausted hand to the door and knocks. Gods, does he hope the man is here, and has some ideas. He’s out of them, and he doesn’t want her to harm more than she already has. He half contemplates tossing her back in the snow again, but with her feet unbound she could run at any moment. “Please, please be here.” He rumbles to himself, grip tight on Phoebe’s arm as he also contemplates bashing his head into the door frame.

which way is up?

SUNJATA

& then there is me

Remi was working on notes. To write them made his heart ache and his hands shake, but still he did. He wrote and documented and recalled every detail he could about the attack. About what had happened. About what Ronin was now.

Only the knocking at his door drew the alchemist's stare away from his work, and rather than looking pleasantly surprised at the interruption as he was wont to do, instead he frowned. Putting down his stub of charcoal hard enough to cause small portions to break off, Remi grumbled something under his breath as he made his way through cluttered shelves and towards the door.

"It is unlocke—" He started to say pulling it open, only to find a man he didn't recognize holding a woman that he certainly did. "Phoebe? What?" Stepping back to let the man inside and gesturing wildly for him to do so, Remi poked his head out of the door. "ISLA." He called loudly, sending the pulse through their mental bond as well. What the healer could do for the blighted he didn't know, but the man didn't look much better. Little did the alchemist know that he was blighted as well.

always waiting for you

Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Phoebe had snarled and hissed the whole way to Remi's shop. She tugged at the hand holding her to no avail, desperate to get away. But soon enough they were in front of the door of the shop, and the woman Remi would see looked far from the prim little midwife he knew. Her hair was dirty, streaked with red and black, blood and blight dripping down her chin and cheeks, soaking the front of her dress. The whites of her eyes were blackened as well, almost blending in with her dark irises.

At the call for Isla though, she shrieked, tugging at Jata's hands with all the strength she had left. Somewhere in her mind she knew Isla could heal and that was the last thing she wanted. In her effort she slipped on the floor, falling forward and nearly slamming her face against it as she continued to try to scramble away from the door and further into the shop.

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!

you were forged in fire // and you rose from the ashes

murder and mercy rolled into one

Another accented voice springs from behind the door, and his head lifts right when relief floods through him, however upon the door open, Remi would likely find the scene gruesome, a snarling Phoebe bound and at the Alchemists request, pulled into the shop. The man speaks, and Phoebe begins to tug, but he manages to plant his feet, desperately liking toward the Alchemist with almost experienced steel eyes to handling this. After all, he has been all morning.

He lets her slide to the floor, keeping a hand on her arms to keep her from running. “She needs to be restrained.” Sunjata’s own accented voice comes through the air. “Do not get close to her mouth.” Perhaps there’s a bit of a bite to his own words with it, but he shakes his head after. His free hand coming to rub at his temple, before he spots a chair of sorts, pulling her over to it and tearing off another piece of the fabric from his torn shirt as he sets her into it, tying it around her midsection to the chair.

When he thinks she’s restrained enough, he glances back to Remi with an exhausted defeated look, not sure where to go from here. Not sure who Isla is. Not sure of anything anymore. So instead, he slides his torn shirt off, using it to wipe away the black on his cheek and neck, left over blood that hadn’t quite dried yet. He turns his back to the Alchemist for a brief moment, winged tattoos sliding up his shoulders to meet a compass that in this moment points to Phoebe. “I’m Sunjata. I was planting a rose at her clinic when she attacked me.” He pauses before he turns back to the Alchemist, worry and frustration and exhaustion conveyed.

which way is up?

SUNJATA

& then there is me

The alchemist drew in a breath at the sight of Phoebe. Not because of the blight necessarily, but because of how fast it had overtaken her. "Mmmm." Remi hummed, unsure whether or not Sunjata's suggestion was really warranted, at least until Phoebe started spitting and flailing around. "Oh, I can—" He started to say before the strange man carrying his friend began tearing strips of his clothing away. Startled into action by one of Phoebe's snarls, the alchemist moved to assist, creating vines that wrapped more neatly than torn rags around the midwife, affixing her to the chair. Indeed, rock began to creep up from the ground to ensure that despite her thrashing, Phoebe wouldn't be able to tip herself over and further add to her injuries.

Standing back, the alchemist eyed the man, now shirtless and gingerly wiping away blighted blood from Phoebe.

I'm Sunjata. Ah. That made more sense, then. "Remi." The alchemist offered back with a nod, though the man likely knew that given he'd brought Phoebe here. "They do not like the roses." He agreed in a low voice, thinking of what Ronin had told him of it.

The door was suddenly nudged open by a unicorn painted in midnight tones. Staring at the scene with pebble-blue eyes, Isla merely pressed her way inside and watched. Sensing her as much as hearing her, Remi glanced over his shoulder before turning his gaze to Sunjata. "Isla can heal your wounds." He said, nodding towards the medic-turned-unicorn.

Kneeling in front of Phoebe, Remi sighed sadly, placing his hands on her knees. "Phoebe. Can you hear me?"

always waiting for you

Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Phoebe struggled the whole way, fighting back against Sunjata, fighting back against the bonds around her waist. Even as vines wrapped around her she thrashed and growled and struggled. The stone on the chair legs was clearly needed as she shoved her feet against the floor in hopes of making some sort of movement away, but to no avail. After a few moments she went limp, panting from exhaustion. Pim scuttled across the floor, curling up near the feet of the chair, watching the two men.

The appearance of the unicorn made Phoebe stiffen, a low growl escaping her lips. Pim eyed the unicorn as well, giving Uni-Isla a much more noticeable growl of warning as he was much more concerned with the non-human creatures. Phoebe was so focused on the unicorn she hardly noticed Remi’s approach, startling when his hands touched her knees. She gazed back at him, narrowing her eyes. The name made her pause, recognition there if just barely. But she growled at him instead, irritated and hungry and cold and uncomfortable in her wet clothes.

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!

you were forged in fire // and you rose from the ashes

murder and mercy rolled into one

There’s a small amount of amazement he has when Remi begins to use magic, creating a trap of vines while he helps to restrain Phoebe. And he wonders for a moment what things might have been like had magic existed in Korofi. The thought drifts from his mind soon after, as the rock begins to lift and hold, Phoebe’s shrieks like some kind of banshee. Still, he inclines his head, wiping the blood off his face and neck the best he could – huffing a sound of deep laughter at the comment the Alchemist gives.

“Found that out the hard way.” He admits, turning to face Remi more fully, looking to the Unicorn with a small amount of additional surprise. But he obliges, sitting in a chair beside Phoebe as he nods to the unicorn and watches with a shadowed steel gaze as Remi speaks to Phoebe. There is a moment of hesitation with her, before she continues on her exhausted warpath. He rubs at his temples with his forefingers, looking to Remi with a small sad smile. “She’s in there somewhere, but we were fighting for a time before I brought her here. She’s… Exhausted I bet.” He offers unhelpfully.

“I haven’t been with her the last few weeks, I haven’t seen how far it’s progressed.” He offers a bit sadly before he shakes his head. “I just wanted to help her.” His voice is a bit quieter here, his accent pulling through thicker as he leans back with a sigh, looking between unicorn and alchemist to see what Remi might think to do. “Is there anything we can do?”

which way is up?

SUNJATA

& then there is me

"Hey." Remi all but growled, snapping his fingers to get Pim's attention and giving the dragonling a pointed look. "Leave her. She will help." He added in a low voice, watching as Isla moved towards Sunjata. Lowering a horn seemingly made of black glass towards his sternum, a bright light poured forth. It could not heal what was already darkening and broiling inside of the man, but certainly it could take care of the wounds that Phoebe's struggles had inflicted upon him.

Gently squeezing Phoebe's legs with his fingertips as if a soft touch might be more damning to the creature within than any sort of violence, he glanced over at Sunjata with a thoughtful hum of acknowledgement. "The...further they progress, the...less they are around." He explained through a throat suddenly quite thick. "And yes. Ronin does not sleep or eat. When he does manage to come through it...he can barely manage." The alchemist added wearily, turning back to study the lines of darkness spiderwebbed across the midwife's face.

Frowning but trying not to look too surprised (it wasn't the time nor the place for a conversation about Sunjata and Phoebe's (non)relationship after all), Remi merely bit his lip and nodded. "Nothing, really." He replied dismally. "If you have one of the roses it can...bring them out of it for a time. Other than that.." Another thick swallow. "..We have not found anything yet." He said in all but a whisper, softly searching the lines of Phoebe's face.

always waiting for you

Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Pim recoiled from Remi’s snapping fingers, hissing at him angrily. But Pim didn’t move from Phoebe’s side to go after the unicorn, just watched her warily. Phoebe didn’t like her for some reason so therefore he didn’t either. Phoebe meanwhile stiffened under Remi’s touch on her legs, grumbling unhappily as she looked between him, Jata, and Isla. She was wary and on edge, a captured animal staring up at her captors. As Remi stared at her, she stared back, eyes hard and narrowed, lacking the warmth that was typical of the midwife.

Wherever she was, it wasn’t near the surface. Not at the moment anyways.

But she was hungry. That feeling was more powerful than any exhaustion. Once more she fought against her bonds, struggling to get free. There was an animal person standing right in front of her that would make quite the meal if she could just get free. ”Hungryyyyyyy…” she half grumbled, half whined, trying to get free. The rose was far away. The unicorn was ignoring her. She just wanted to go find food now. She looked up at Remi again, frowning at him pitifully. ”Please?”

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!

you were forged in fire // and you rose from the ashes

murder and mercy rolled into one

He listens to the explanation while Phoebe calms down, listening as Remi speaks to Pim and the dragon settles. But as the unicorn approaches and the white light hits him, it only seems to work halfway – something within him writhing with it to the point he grits his teeth and nearly misses the comment that Remi gives him. Most of the bruising is gone, but the wounds have only half healed before he shakes his head to the unicorn, telling her to stop in a quiet plea. Steel eyes drift back toward Remi as his lips form a small fine line. “I haven’t been around her, I should specify.” He mentions.

He knows Phoebe has told the alchemist that he was with her, but had she a chance to tell him that Jata wasn’t?

He doesn’t know, so he bites down on the inside of his cheek, looking over to Phoebe as she mentions she’s hungry. He reaches up to run a hand through his hair before he sighs. “I think I should have been there.” Was it regret? Or something else? Thoughts drift toward Lusea before he shakes his head once more, hearing there was no cure and sighing internally to himself. He leans forward, ignoring Phoebe for the time being to try and capture Remi’s attention.

“We aren’t... together anymore. I don’t know if that’s made it worse for her or not.” He admits, a seriousness to his gaze as he looks upon the Alchemist. His words aren’t clear in terms of how it’s progressed, or how far gone she’s become. But the words are out there, and he can’t take them back.

which way is up?

SUNJATA

& then there is me

It's in him as well..faintly, but it's there Isla silently thinks to Remi. She nods with vaguely intelligent understanding at Jata's pain, leaving the rest of his wounds to fester and silently hiss at the parasite now writhing within.

Raising a brow at the man, wondering how his clarification was meant to be taken. "No." Remi said softly, shaking his head at the blighted midwife and frowning. "Not unless you will drink soup, which I am fairly certain you will not." Lowering his eyes he can only shrug at Sunjata. "You could not have stopped it either way." He says, not letting the maybe-boyfriend of Phoebe off the hook, but not latching it into him either. "My husband is blighted and I have been there the whole time. There is nothing to prevent it. Nothing that makes it easier."

A clarification that he does understand simply makes the alchemist pause, closing his eyes as he pulls his hands back from Phoebe's legs. "Ah." He mumbles with a sigh, pushing himself into a standing position and giving Pim a pointed look. "You might have come to find me before it got this bad." He said, though there was no real emotion in the scold. The alchemist was far too tired for that.

"You can leave her here with me, if you like." Remi suggests wearily. He doesn't know the reason for the 'break-up' if indeed the pair were enough together to call it that..

always waiting for you

Coding base by Sky!

PHOEBE

Phoebe snarled when Remi told her no, glaring at him. She thrashed more, her head shaking side to side, but only briefly before she fell limp again, looking up at the ceiling, gasping for air. ”I want to gooooooo. Hungryyyyy.” she whined fully now, tears of frustration welling in her eyes. Her mind was pulling Remi from her memories. A sweet man, tears might work. It was worth a try anyway. Phoebe righted herself in her chair, looking at Remi with wide, blackened eyes, as inky tears rolled down her cheeks. ”Please? Please?”

Pim grumbled at Remi, but of course he couldn’t explain himself to the man. ”Pim was protecting me.”Phoebe mumbled, picking up on the impulse cues from him, though as of late their connection hadn’t been the best.

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!

you were forged in fire // and you rose from the ashes

murder and mercy rolled into one

He supposes that Remi is right, in that there was little he could have done. But it still weighs on him, frustrated and far more confused than he had anticipated. Still, his head tilts away from Phoebe as she whines, claims that Pim was protecting her, and he gnaws at his lower lip. “I’m sorry.” He tells Remi, of Ronin, partially in exhaustion and the idea of having to deal with this twice.

But as Remi stands and scolds the dragon, Sunjata stands too — grasping the wadded shirt and the fur he had worn before he turns back to Remi as he offers to leave her with him. There’s a small sad smile that crosses his face, but he nods all the same. Drifting over toward Phoebe with a sigh, he placed a hand gently on her arm, shadowed eyes lingering on the black tears before he withdraws, turning his gaze back to the Alchemist. “Thank you.” He says softly, an accented rumble, before he makes his way out.

which way is up?

SUNJATA

& then there is me

"No." The alchemist replied in a voice far more stern than Phoebe had likely ever heard. He had had more than enough of the blight, more than enough of what it was doing to those he loved and cared for. The monster could whine for food all it wanted.

Shrugging at the apology—words from a man he didn't know about a situation he had no control over hardly helped—the alchemist watched Jata's brief display of affection (or guilt?) with Phoebe before leaving. With a sigh the alchemist watched the door close, using his magic to lock it before turning his attention back to the blighted woman before him. Pulling up a chair to sit in front of her, Remi sucked on his lower lip for a moment as he regarded her.

"So that is mr. mouth--to-mouth, huh."

always waiting for you

Coding base by Sky!