(o) colorful shadows

Torchline's beauty is unmistakable, and the more she explores it the more she can see the appeal of living out her days beneath the sun. Though her blood runs colder, more inclined to ice and towering mountains than temperate waters and white sand, it has its own draw that she can't fully avoid. It seems as of late that she splits her time more evenly between Halo and Torchline than the Grounds where she technically lives. More of a wandering nomad these days, a ghost chasing some sort of home that she's unsure she'll ever find.

She is particularly morose today, though nobody passing by would ever know with how serene she keeps her expression. Wearing little more than an airy summer dress and a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun from her sensitive eyes. The long fabric is tugged about into a playful dance in her wake as the wind rushes against her bare legs. The sand bar is quite a sight, with bleached sand that stretches out for what seems like miles as the tides recede.

Hotaru walks the line between sand and sea, the damp sand forming to her slight weight as the water cools her ankles intermittently. It is a beautiful day for a walk, but an even better one for exploration, and she is drawn by the siren song of music as the wind rushes through a colorful structure before her. Intrigued she moves closer, admiring the crisp lines and beautiful architecture that gleams beneath the autumn sun.

Hotaru

Of all the places he had found in his wanderings around Torchline since his arrival the small sea-temple had become Kellan’s favorite. There was a sense of peace about it that he craved in this uncertain new world, and the music it made reminded him of home with a sweetly painful longing for something the Fae woman had told him he would never know again. In the aftermath of the volcano’s rage and the ash that had carpeted the region, it had also been one of the first places to be washed clean by the wind and waves, providing a sanctuary from the eerie grey blanket that had fallen over the jungle and beaches.

That same ashfall had made his previous practice of sleeping in a lean-to in the jungle no longer tenable, and he’d been forced to take refuge in the city amongst people who had neither patience nor kindness for a stranger in a strange land. He was tired of the closeness of all that humanity packed in together, and he took every excuse he could to be elsewhere, whether walking the beach or hunting the transformed landscape for wild pigs and rhampires.

Messy black hair that fell to his shoulders was ruffled by the sea breeze today as he headed towards the cathedral after a day without luck in his hunting. Brown skin had darkened in the Torchline sun, even as amber eyes picked up golden highlights from its rays. His feet were bare, boots slung over his shoulder beside his unstrung bow as he padded towards the familiar structure, but he paused at the edge of the beach at seeing the striking woman who was there before him. She looked almost ethereal in her light dress, her stunning beauty catching him off guard so that he paused, clearing his throat as he reached up to run his fingers self-consciously through his hair and uncertain whether or not he should approach this vision.

"Hello?" he called out at last, though quietly enough that she could chose to ignore him if she wished.

Whatever this structure is, it is certainly not crafted by idle or untrained hands. Every line and curve is impeccably measured, with a level of perfection attained that she can scarcely imagine outfitting herself. It is beautiful to gaze upon even with the discordant, distracting rush of sound in her ears much louder when this close to it. Just as she reaches a hand to try and discern what the structure is composed of, a voice calls out, just enough to startle her and have her retracting her hand. Turning so that her hat does not obscure the newcomer anymore, having allowed him to unintentionally sneak up on her, she blinks against the dappling blindness of the sun until he comes into view.

He is a handsome man, much taller than her (though that truly isn't very hard) and with long, inky black hair that blows slightly in the wind that races playfully over the exposed sand out here. Her two differently colored irises fall to his shoulders, a quirk of a smile coming to her mouth at the boots slung there as easily as the bow is. Turning away from her investigation, dress catching and tickling against her bare legs, she crosses the sand to meet him. "Hello. Am I keeping you from visiting?" Perhaps he's the creator? Or maybe it has some sort of significance that she's unaware of, a reason to visit it aside from her own simple curiosity.

Hotaru

The face matched the body in every way that mattered, and Kel found himself momentarily breathless as Hotaru turned to face him. Full lips, flashing eyes, a pert nose, all wrapped up in that petite, perfectly proportioned frame. Her smile had him swallowing, wanting to reach for a stick of charcoal and the paper he hoarded so jealously for when the muse struck.

Paper that was far away, worlds away, along with his home and family. The reminder brought a hint of sadness to his shy smile as the gorgeous woman approached, and he gave a small shake of his head, tongue-tied in spite of himself. "N-no, not at all." It was a clumsy assurance and he cleared his throat, conscious of his height in a way he so rarely was. "I only found it a few weeks ago. But its... it reminds me of my home. The music it makes does, at least. When I've had a tough day I like to come here and listen to it." He looked around for a moment, as if seeking a seat to offer the lady, but it was only ocean and sand stretching out around them, as it had been a minute ago, and he nodded a little awkwardly towards the cathedral for lack of anyplace else to go. "I'm Kellan. Kel, really. I'm sorry for interrupting you."

The light that strikes behind him illuminates the sunkissed tone settling in his skin, the shards of amber in his irises as they stare upon her with a shock that makes her flush a little pink beneath the shadow of her hat. It seems presumptuous to assume it's because of her, so taken aback to see such a reaction when she is not actively putting on a role or facade to enchant and entice. At times she still feels like the awkward, ugly twin that she'd been at birth, always hiding in Raeden's shadow.

"I'm Hotaru," she says softly, with a hint of lilting laughter to the words as she uses them to settle his small bout of babble. Turning she gestures him alongside as she returns to examining the open space of the cathedral, happy to include him in this moment. By what he'd said, they've both had hard days. "You're not interrupting me at all, I've only just found it." At last her hand alights upon the smooth texture, the wonder showing plainly on her face as she wonders if perhaps her glass could make something so magnificent. She'd certainly need a much larger forge.

She turns to look over her shoulder at him, suddenly curious. "I'd never known instruments before I came here. Is that what kind of music you had in your home? Or, have, I shouldn't assume." Her own sheepish look graces her this time, not wanting to insult him if he's a Natural.

Hotaru

He wasn't sure if she was a real woman or the ideal of one for a moment, her voice soft and musical with gentle laughter as she looked at him with knowing eyes that caught his shy awkwardness and seemed to forgive him for it. Kel nodded quiet gratitude for the gift of her name, and bit his tongue to still the babbling he usually held reserved for his cousins among the Green.

He relaxed a little more at hearing that she was almost as new to the structure as he was, some of the wariness he'd learned at the hands of the Kaiholo residents easing at finding her to be less local than even his own recently-arrived self. Her open wonder at the beauty of the structure brought a smile to his own lips in understanding as he stayed silent to give her a chance to appreciate the cathedral's grace a little longer, but at her questions he found himself ducking his head again, remembering Jiao's warning about Outlanders being disliked, and Nate's cruelty that had borne it out.

"I'm... not from... around here," he admitted hesitantly, and only because she didn't seem to be either. "It's like the music my mother used to make. Wind music. Wild music. Not with instruments." But something in her words caught his attention and the look in his eyes was a mix of hope and uncertainty. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but... are you an Outlander?" 'Too' seemed to hang in the air after he'd spoken, for all he tried to hide it. Many things, was Kel, but deceptive did not seem to be one of them.

Whatever anxiety or shyness he seems to feel evaporates like water beneath the sun's rays, and with it gone he seems all the more put-together and handsome for it. Though curious as to its cause, she holds her tongue lest she seem too pushy and nosy so early on in their first meeting. She is pushy and nosy, but he doesn't need to know that yet. A bit of tact should be exercised, what little Hotaru has of it.

His hesitation redirects her attention away from the smooth walls of the cathedral entirely, turning to face him properly instead of inquiring over her shoulder. Though his question is just as puzzling as the rest of him as he references a spirit of music that she can't quite envision. "Like magic, then?" And, wondering if he may be unaware of the Abandoned with her suspicions already rising as to his status in Caido, she lets lightning crackle around her hand and then immediately jumps with a laugh of surprise when the sound carries on the wind back through the cathedral in a new symphony of music. "Ah, sorry." She quickly stops the flow of her magic, wiggling her fingers cheekily as if to excuse their behavior.

His question, similarly hesitantly spoken and with a guileless expression that is both endearing and charming, brings a light of full understanding to her eyes. "It's not rude at all. Yes, I am. My home realm was destroyed, and after a few portal incidents I seem to have landed here permanently." She has not personally had any trouble from the Naturals as to her status, but Hotaru is admittedly not one to stop and care about what others may or may not think of her. If it is not spoken aloud to her face, she doesn't care about criticism behind her back. "There's quite a lot of us, it's alright." Perhaps her reassurance will go some way towards settling his anxiety surrounding the subject.

Hotaru

A little kindness went a long way to soothing a wild animal, and Kel was closer to that than usual these days with his loneliness and the isolation he had sought out while he tried to get his mental feet under him. He still had a ways to go, but Hotaru's smile and the grace with which she held herself and spoke to him soothed some of the need for social contact that he had been holding himself back from for too long.

Besides, she was beautiful enough that he thought he might not mind being tricked by her, as long as she continued to smile at him as she did it.

Her question brought a flash of pleased surprise to his expression as he started to nod, glad that she understood so swiftly, but the crackle of electricity around her fingers had him hopping back with wide eyes, new caution in his stance that faded only a little at her laugh. Beautiful and dangerous, he made a mental note, his attention drawn reluctantly from her face to her wiggling fingers as she apologized and he smiled tentatively back. "Like magic," he agreed. "At least, that's what humans would probably call it." It was still strange to think that there were no Hidden here, unless the merfolk the Torchliners spoke of were real. Though the only merfolk he had any personal experience with were the rusalka of the Forest, and they were generally unfriendly to those of the male persuasion, regardless of lineage.

Kel listened with surprise and sudden sympathy to Hotaru's tale, reaching up impulsively to brush his necklace at hearing of a home destroyed. Her comfort for him after all she had been through touched the young hunter and he smiled shyly at the kindness. "Most of those I've met seem to be locals," he admitted. "And I was warned that Outlanders were... often unwelcome." He stepped back a little sheepishly to where he had been before her electricity had startled him into retreat, reaching out to touch the glass of the cathedral as well with a fondness for the structure that had brought him such bittersweet solace in recent weeks. "Have... have you been here long?"

He is like a shifting canvas, wearing his heart and emotions so boldly upon his sleeve. It is both admirable and enviable, and inspires all the more the unusual kindness that she proffers. There is no joy in tricking or teasing a man such as him. Perhaps in the past, when she was young and vicious, brittle and untempered. Now, she leaves such things for meaningful quarry instead of any that dance across her path. She has learned there is weight and reward to forging bonds, even though she is a hesitant learner.

It seems he has already misstepped regardless as he backs away, wary edges carved into the marble of his figure. "Are you not human?" Curiosity the only inflection in her tone, devoid of suspicion or accusation. This world is so rich and abundant with life, new discoveries around every corner. He has already proven himself compassionate, what else matters?

Kellan's smile encourages her own, happy to allow him this bit of peace. "As unwelcome as tourists perhaps. There are more of us every day, and they are merely wary of change." Gesturing him closer as his hands touch the cathedral, she removes her hat and sits gracefully in the small area made for it. No room for more than two, so it is good luck that their numbers go no higher. A small hand pats the space beside her, inviting him near if he is so inclined. "I've been here a year now. Yourself?"

Hotaru

He quickly realized that the lovely woman - the lovely Hotaru - had meant only to demonstrate, not to threaten or intimidate him. Kel's wariness faded again, though her question caused a moment's hesitation. It had been easy revealing what he was to Jiao, who was very much what he thought of as a fellow Hidden. Hotaru looked human enough to give him pause, but her easy use of magic and gentle smile charmed him into being less reticent than he would have been with another. Besides, he had known Sidhe ladies who could barely compare, and if not for the roundness of her ears he might have thought her one of them, a Fair One beneath the hills.

"Half," he admitted, though this time the hesitance was for his own heritage and the uncertainty as to how strangers would react to it. "On my father's side. My mother is anemoi. A spirit of the wind," he added, remembering how Jiao hadn't recognized the word. Shyly he raised his hand, calling the small breeze that was all he was able to summon these days to swirl through his hair despite the stillness in the cathedral's shadow.

Hotaru was gentler than Jiao had been, a kindness that Kel responded to with open gratitude as she softened the Fae's words into something easier to understand. "Change is scary sometimes," he agreed, more emphatically than he would have before being dropped in a strange world beside an ocean he had only ever imagined from tales. "I don't blame them for that." Her invitation was accepted with a flash of a smile and an awkward dip of his head as he slipped his bow off his shoulder and ducked inside the structure to settle gingerly beside her, careful not to sit on her lovely dress. It was better made than his own clothes, or any others he'd seen since arriving, and he thought wistfully for a moment of his cousin who had enjoyed stitching such fine garments for the matriarchs of the Grove.

"A year..." A frame of time hard to imagine being gone from his home for, though according to those he'd spoken to it was only the beginning. "Ah, I've been here... a... month?" A frown creased his lips, silently accounting for the days. "Maybe closer to two by now... I've been mostly just trying to get by on my own. But the volcano kind of threw everything off, and the seasons here aren't really what I'm used to." Understatement, but how precisely did one describe a volcano? "Do you live in Haulani?" His voice held a note of hesitance, unsure of how far was curiosity and how far was prying. He was unskilled at speaking to beautiful women he wasn't related to, more used to the cheerful disrespect of his cousins or the rough manners of the merchants and travelers he guided, once upon a time in a far away land.

And Hotaru was easily the most beautiful human woman he had ever met.

His answer is somewhat expected considering his prior comment, and her pale brows rise in abject curiosity. It is sated within a short time, and though the term itself is unfamiliar to her the magic that playfully dances the breeze through his hair is like a familiar friend. His control and comfort with his own magic is admirable, which makes it all the easier to appreciate the ease that loosens his shoulders and dark brow. "Your world is so different than mine was," she notes wistfully, almost wishing she could have seen his. "Were half-humans common, then? Or are you the product of a romantic connection like those in storybooks?" There's a glitter to her gaze, teasing and curious alike. Perhaps even something longing in her tone. She is admittedly a romantic in her heart of hearts, though she guards it more fiercely than any wolfmother. At least she can rejoice in the successful tales of others.

"It is, but to judge all Outlanders instead of evaluating each person for their soul..." she trails off with a slight shrug of her shoulders, still elegantly poised despite what could be considered the awkward ending of her sentence. Hotaru is certainly not capable of commanding them to give the Outlanders a chance, but she can think it privately. As she does with the consideration of his own garments, noting how he glances down at her dress - whether it's appreciation or merely avoiding sitting on it, she isn't sure. But she's not one to pass up a chance to offer her services. "Are these your hunting leathers? I own a seamstress shop in the Hollowed Grounds, would you be interested in letting me try out some winter garments on you?" A bold question considering some people are quite body-shy, and she doesn't even know if he lives in Torchline or is merely visiting as she is, but her fingers already flex in anticipation of a needle between them.

He is far newer to this land than she is, and a surprised noise hums in her throat without her permission. "It's quite an adjustment, and you were certainly thrown in at the most turbulent of times." Empathizing with the struggle he must have felt, she slowly spins the brim of her hat between her fingers, recalling her own entry to this world. Her constant lingering fear that another portal might tear her away at any given moment, unable to say her goodbyes or return to the small bit of family she has found here. Kellan's boldness does not even come close to bothering her, so used to Deimos' blunt nature. Tucking her hair behind her ear she reclines slightly into the shade the cathedral offers, crossing her ankles in the sand. "Oh, no. I'm not quite sure what place I call home these days...I have my shop in the Grounds, a Guild I belong to here in Haulani, and Halo is so similar to the kingdom I ruled..." Wistfulness pulls at her vocals, gaze distant and conflicted. She still has no idea where she belongs, or if she ever can again. Not after witnessing the destruction of her kingdom, her people, her entire world. And she is constantly being pulled so many ways - to Halo's snowy reaches, a mimicry of the only home she has ever know. To the Hollowed Grounds, where Deimos, Kiada, and Rexanna reside. To Torchline, where Sunjata and the Advocates lie. Shaking her head to disperse those questions, she looks up from lowered lashes to give an apologetic glance at the man beside her, the heat of his skin radiating against her own. "Sorry, that was rather maudlin of me, no need to burden you with such things. What about you? Do you call Haulani home?" Or, like her, is it merely a place to live?

Hotaru

The wind was friend and family to him, but the power with which he had once called it to dance with him was barely a trickle of what he'd once known. He had grown (reluctantly) more used to it the longer he spent here, but it still ached in his chest to realize how brief his command of it was. At least Hotaru was kind enough to ask after him, the first to have done so, and the amber eyes he turned on her were bright with gratitude. "Fairly uncommon, but... we did happen." It was a hesitant admission, the honesty about his life feeling strange but also a relief after so many weeks of near-silence. "Most humans didn't know about the Hidden, and most Hidden... well, wouldn't um. Lie with a human for any reason." He tried to be delicate with the topic, unsure of what would offend the siren of the sand. "But one did catch my mother's eye. I wish... I could say it was a fairy tale love. She did love him, for a season, but she... the anemoi can't stay in one place for long," he tried to explain, struggling to find the right words. "Being trapped in one place it... it saps them of something. She'd known it wouldn't last, I think. She said he never knew what she was, just that one day she was gone... and a few months later she realized that he'd left her with something... unexpected." A child, one she hadn't wanted, one his father never knew existed, but Kel didn't seem saddened by the tale. He told it with the simple straightforwardness of one for who it was simple truth, and the calm confidence of one who had grown up loved, even if it hadn't been in the traditional way.

His smile turned wistful at Hotaru's kindness, the justice and fair play she displayed further proof that her beauty was more than skin deep. Her attention to his clothing had him ducking his head in embarrassment again and he nodded shyly, his smile warming at her offer. "I'm... not sure. I'd like that, yes, but..." He shrugged, glancing away, ashamed of his fear. "I'm not ready, yet. To go through another portal after... the last one." The one that took him from his home, his family, and all he knew.

He could only nod in agreement to the turbulence he'd experienced since arriving. A sideways glance caught the way the light reflecting through the cathedral glass caught highlights in her blond hair and flawless skin, her empathy as well as her casual grace bringing that flicker of warmth back to his eyes and the softness to his smile. "A guild?" he asked, uncertain if it meant the same as it had on his world. "And... Halo? But if you ruled a kingdom does that mean... you're a - you were a - queen?" A breathless question, a sudden tension in his frame; not of fear but of anxiety that he hadn't shown proper respect, even for a queen-in-exile. Even so her wistfulness tugged at his heart and he wished he knew the words to comfort her. All he could do was shake his head and send dark tresses momentarily flying at her apology, meeting her eyes with an earnest expression. "N-no, it's alright. I guess Haulani is my home for now... at least, I don't have anywhere else to live. I've been staying in a room above a bar but... maybe I should find someplace to call my own while I'm here. But, if you don't mind... What was it like? Being Queen, I mean?" Like something out of a fairy tale, for a young man who had been friends with faeries but never met human royalty before.

The story he weaves is sadder than she'd anticipated, though she quirks an amused look at him at his hesitation around the notion of sex. Nevertheless, she lets him guide how far he's willing to speak on such private and carnal matters. Hanging on every word of the sad, fleeting romance. It tugs painfully at her heart, and it echoes in her guileless eyes, only capable of controlling her features and not the expressiveness of her gaze. "Did she raise you, or did you return to your father?" Hotaru knows she's far too invested, heart aching at even the vaguest insinuation that a mother could leave her child to another, or that she would love her progeny any less for the way it was conceived. But at least she can immerse herself in his tale, learn more of his world and what he has been through. Suffered through, as many of them unfortunately have.

It's this suffering, and her own empathy to it, that causes her to smile indulgently his way. Unoffended by his denial. "If it would make you more comfortable, I could bring my work to you. The offer stands, if you'd ever like to claim it." Whether that's now or a season from now. "Consider it a welcoming gift, from one Outlander to another." Displaced and unsure of the world they have been tossed into. He is far too kind, too pure, to deserve that fate. Hotaru will ease the burden as much as she possibly can.

"An association of sorts, with a common goal or trade in mind. There are a few throughout the lands here, if you ever wanted to join one." Assuming his interest goes beyond mere curiosity and clarification. Though it seems she missteps immediately once more, and she despairs internally over how difficult it is for once to encourage someone to be at ease with her. His dark hair seems to absorb the shifting colors that the sunlight casts from the cathedral walls, but they highlight against his widened eyes, his earnest expression crafted into the cradle of a handsome face. "Yes, I was. For many years." Hotaru is disinclined to lie to him, though it may have the effect of settling his nerves. His rambling answer is sweet, endearing, and it brings a smile to her face that she tries to conceal lest he thinks she's laughing at him. Instead, she turns away to gaze out across the ocean, coming slowly closer to where their feet touch the sand.

"It was...everything." Her voice is wistful and yet so full of pride and love that it threatens to overflow from her lips to join the vastness of the ocean before them. "There was never a day that I didn't wake up honored to lead my people. To keep them safe, to learn the names of every new member. Though I may not have been as close to some as others, they were family. I would have fought and died for them at any moment." And often she had, though in all her years of reign her challenges against her rule, her individual actions, Hotaru had never been unseated. "We went side-by-side into the fray of battle. Though we were many, there was a harmony to our kingdom that others never seemed to achieve." The Aurora clan had never dealt with the woes of the constant cycling of rulers, of internal disputes and civil wars. Perhaps it was the icy reaches of the land itself tempering them into stoic, grumbling creatures, but Hotaru had taken pride in that fact regardless of the reasoning. She misses them all, but it is an old ache now. A constant one, inscribed upon the insides of her ribs, but at least it no longer pierces through in search of her heart. "Sorry, that was rather fancifully said. There were politics, meetings, and debates as any kingdom has. It was not all glory, there were quite a few boring moments. But I miss my home, and my people, more than I can say." Finally she turns her gaze to him, the hurt of longing and loss apparent, her wistful smile pasted overtop it. "Did you not have Queens, where you came from?" What had so sparked his interest? What could have caused such a fervent, curious reaction?

Hotaru

The attention of such a beautiful being was more flattering than Kel was used to, and under her gentle questions his confidence began to slowly blossom. His smile came more easily though he shook his head in negation. ”Neither,” he admitted, but without regret. ”She was far away from his land by the time I was born. But… being half-human I couldn’t travel with her on the wind. She wanted to raise me, and she does love me…” A stumble in his words, not for the past but for the present and the loss of a woman who had done her best for them both. ”But staying to raise a halfbreed who couldn’t ride the wind would have… it would have killed her.” An admission darkened by the pain of losing her now, even if it wasn’t to death. He looked down and drew a breath to steady himself, then met Hotaru’s emerald eyes again with a reassuring if wan smile.

There was a flash of wariness at Hotaru’s generosity, something fresh and bruised in his eyes after the cons he’d fallen for in Kaiholo in his first few visits there, but for her willingness to listen to him he was willing to take a chance and he nodded a slow, wistful acceptance of the offer. ”I… would,” he admitted. ”I should… probably start finding more ways to fit in here. And your dress is beautiful,” the praise shy but sincere as the smile returned. ”Anything you wanted to make for me… I’d really appreciate it. Thank you, Hotaru.”

Her explanation of the guild had him nodding in relief that it was the same organizations he was familiar with. Her revelation of royalty caught him by surprise however, and he was torn between worry and fascination. The smile that curved plush lips eased much of the anxiety, but the wistfulness of her expression caught at his heart as her regal profile looked out over the waves. The strength she had displayed with her magic earlier surfaced once more, subtle and refined as she spoke of her former life and the reflections of light from the water danced across her face, giving her even more of an ethereal quality. Her story was one of war and glory, shining towers and distant battles, and the way she tempered it with reality only made the banners snap more proudly in his mind’s eye. It was an incredible life, but the longing for it in her eyes when she turned to look at him caught his heart.

Greatly daring, not wanting to overstep, he reached out his hand to touch a fold of her dress beside him, offering his small comfort to such a great lady. ”There were but… none that I ever saw,” he admitted. ”Kings and Queens were all far away. Might as well have been human fairy tales. The Grove was ruled by the matriarchs, and the human towns at the edges of the Forest didn’t have more than mayors or governors. I hunted and work – worked,” he corrected himself, a brief stumble, ”as a guide, leading merchants and travelers through the Aurangwy Forest. Human enough to blend in with them, but Hidden enough to keep them out of trouble with the Forest’s other inhabitants,” he added with a flicker of pride. ”Sometimes Hidden nobility came to the Grove, but being a halfbreed it was… usually better if I stayed out of their sight.” A wistful admission, but it was clear that human nobility were more fascinating to him than Sidhe.