(O) Ghost Shark

The bard simply shrugged and acquiesced to his patient's preference to have only the most recent injury Healed. There might be situations where he would force Healing on someone, but this certainly wasn't one of them, with Sunjata's life not in immediate danger. After fixing the injured tail he simply sent a pulse of cautious acknowledgement of the other man's gratitude through the bond before shifting back and appreciating how much easier it was to hold the jewel in his larger shark's mouth.

Ah. Unfortunate, he managed courteously, unsure of what to think of the juxtaposition of Sunjata being wounded while helping someone else, when he had just received similar treatment for harassing an innocent shark. An... interesting proposition, he continued cautiously. He knew the Guild that Sunjata ran, after all, and putting one criminal in charge of others certainly seemed like a recipe for disaster. How does it feel? To go from revolutionary to the one holding the reins of power? And how much of his father's son was he, now that he had a taste of that power?

The question earned the equivalent of a shrug through the bond as Jigano continued a leisurely swim downwards, probing into the depths for the first time as his vision adjusted to the fading light conditions and silver fish flashed away from the two predators. There's not been many problems in the Grounds, thankfully. Perhaps many of our desperate thieves and bandits came here, where pickings were better and more worth the risk? But I've taken advantage of the quiet to prepare for LongNight as best we can. Moss and Perches, candles and books... fish from the ocean and ramphire meat from the hills here, to augment stringy pork and mutton and venison, he added with a touch of his old wryness. What preparations do Torchliners make for a week of no light, but also no monsters?

promise me you won't die

having never skinny-dipped

It’s almost a loaded question, knowing what Jigano knew of his history. But he’s silent for what feels like an eternity, when in reality he’s just trying to figure out where to even start. Remi made me Torchline’s Arbiter. He explains at first, because it’s far easier that way to start. But it also bears the implications of his history, of a title he was born and raised to do. So my job here is to prevent theft and assault. Far less involved than what Korofi had me do. A quick explanation, at the very least.

And he follows Jigano as the bard explains how prep is going in the Grounds, a quiet nod of his large head given as he keeps the wide berth between them. Apparently they just get really drunk, party the whole week. He rumbles with a feeling akin to a shrug, before he mentally sighs. I don’t really trust it. I’ll be reinforcing the house for Nate, Melita and I and collecting things to do that week. We’ve got food to last throughout, at least. Then a small wry thought crosses him. I’ve got a book collection growing, but I’ll always take suggestions if you’ve got any. The request is truthful, but he can’t help the slight amusement to his tone as it’s sent over.

in the moonlight

SuNJATA

From what Jigano had heard, Sunjata had vied for the position of leader first, and only become Arbiter when his bid for power had failed. But the bard was hardly one to throw stones in that particular glass house, so he merely hummed a noncommittal assent through the bond. Not disbelieving what Sunjata claimed... but not sure that was all there was to it, either. Not with the Guild he ran, or at least so the bard assumed from the old information he had, long out of date.

Here's hoping they can hold to such pursuits, he rumbled, envious, perhaps, that they had such freedom from cares and woes while Grounders died. But glad, too, that Torchline would provide such a haven for those refugees coming here. He was glad that Melita would be staying somewhere safe, at least, though the other name... Nate? Which one? Or is he a Torchliner? He had known two Nates within the Grounds - or at least, known of one, and met the other but briefly. Sam's boyfriend, and a Healer who had once come to Vervain's roundtable. Perhaps it was simply a common name, though.

The request as he swam deeper, seeking to see what lay beneath this great, dark, gaping maw in the ocean, brought a suspicious bristle to a body that had no hackles. Maea's death had created a rift between them, one of his own making, and he was proud and vain enough that he was reluctant to let that pain go. But... what would Maea have wanted? His anger, old and softened about the edges as it had become, was nothing of what she would have asked of him.

I suppose that depends on what you like to read, he thought with an internal sigh, probing at the jewel in his mouth with a restless tongue. What are your usual preferences? Genres you like and don't like? Not the conversation he was expecting to have after nearly being eaten by a whale-killer, but it was a start.

promise me you won't die

having never skinny-dipped

We’ll see. Sunjata agrees somewhat wryly, before he’s slipping through the water a bit more, stretching out the tail that had only moments ago been throbbing with pain, now nearly as good as it was before – still speckled with the shark bites from when he’d saved Maea. But his attention is brought back on the shark when the question hits and Sunjata’s realized he’s mentioned names, internally chastising himself for it, wondering how to explain who Nate was that wouldn’t draw up those previous arguments they’d had up by the lighthouse. He’s not a Torchliner. Sunjata begins, a deep accented rumble sent toward the bard. He’s from the Grounds, an Outlander. The Ascended doctor. He offers, internally wincing as he awaits some form of judgement from it.

But he exhales his tension anyway, questioning the idea of books, and Sunjata takes a moment to think on it. Mm, well. Back in Korofi I was a fan of more fantasy related things. But seeing as this place is basically exactly that, I’ve leaned a bit more toward nonfiction. He hums through the bond, dipping a bit lower than the shark now as he goes to inspect a few of the fish that have appeared down below – their shapes darting out of his way.

in the moonlight

SuNJATA

Jigano's first trip below the waves was turning out to be quite the education. His eyes saw little as the light grew attenuated from above and the depths loomed darker and blacker below; a few fish darted nearby, but the Maw was deep and full of mystery, and away from the sides of the great hole there was less life evident to his sight. His other senses, thought... his newer ones danced along his skin, bringing information on movement and bioelectric fields, warning him of fish he hadn't seen, just beyond the range of his vision, that might be predator or prey. It was almost overwhelming, even as he explored into the depths, untroubled by the need to surface for air.

He listened to Sunjata, but he was distracted by his body's signals and the strangeness of this new shift. The description of just who was living with he and Melita now cemented a name, and a face he had seen in the Atheneum. Although, during the volcano hadn't there been...? Sam's ex? he confirmed cautiously, remembering the bookmaker's hurt and ire at how Nate had cheated on him so soon after promising loyalty. Wait... then... were you the one he cheated on Sam with? A cautious question rather than an accusatory one - yet. Much time had passed between then and now, and he had no idea what Nate had done or where he'd been in the meantime.

But word of Phoebe's assault on the VlamVloed had been going around at the same time that Sam was weeping over Nate's infidelity. He hadn't put two and two together at the time, concerned with other things, but now...

He continued his slow descent, watching the orca ahead of him as he played with the jewel in his mouth and accustomed himself to swimming at different speeds and turning through the water, sleek and efficient. There are journals in the Atheneum, some left from Outlanders, that make for interesting reads. Nate recently sorted some of the more legible ones out for our LongNight preparations. He might remember a few titles that you could borrow come spring, the bard answered cautiously.

promise me you won't die

having never skinny-dipped

Sam’s ex? He heard Jigano utter through the bond as Sunjata keeps swimming and diving a bit deeper. He waits though, sure that the dawning realization might hit the bard. It’s a bit old news now, but yeah. He offers back down the bond, a feeling of almost nonchalance accompanying it. I’m surprised you just now realized that. Sam knew pretty early on when he came to the VlamVloed. He pauses with a quiet sigh, shown in the way his body twists as he descends into the depths and feels the warmth of the maw beneath him.

We’re on good terms if it helps. We help each other out where we can. It’s the easiest way to say that Sam has helped him expand the boxing ring and Sunjata’s offered stance of protection for him and the Grounders when they arrive for LongNight. But that falls aside as he draws silent to listen to Jigano as he mentions what exactly Nate had done in the Atheneum that day. Ah so that’s where he’d run off to. Instead of helping him pack up more shit from the Advocates.

Regardless, it amuses him a small amount anyway. I’ll take a look next time I’m there.

in the moonlight

SuNJATA

Old news indeed, and perhaps for the best, for the ire Jigano had felt when Sam had come to him after the initial breakup had been given time to fade. He didn't want to think about what it meant, that Sunjata had cheated on his wife (however fucked up that entire situation had been from start to finish) with Nate, and that they lived together now, following Maea's death...

But the world moved on. Even when they wished it would pause, sometimes, grant a few more days, minutes, seconds.

I didn't really meet Nate until recently. Still never properly introduced, the shark admitted, again with that mental sigh that gills couldn't replicate. I'd only heard about his... antics... from Sam. And the topic of Nate hadn't arisen since that explosion of anger and sordid tale of betrayal from the bookmaker that hadn't painted his ex in a particularly good light at the time.

Even so, Sunjata's claim earned a flicker of mistrust as the thresher swam a little faster, heading deeper as he considered the fish nearby, but held back from hunting by the jewel tucked safely in his mouth. You said that about Amalia, when last we talked, he reminded the Devil's Advocate with an icy glare from a silvery eye. Not quite the truth, as it turned out. Unless your definition of 'good terms' is simply 'not trying to kill you on sight.' Given how Sunjata seemed to piss people off, it wasn't impossible.

Jigano knew he was hardly universally beloved himself, but at least he didn't lie about the bridges he'd broken when it was so easy to prove the lie.

promise me you won't die

having never skinny-dipped

Likewise, Sunjata didn’t know much about Samuel aside from what he’d heard and what Nate had told him. He’d met the bookmaker a couple of times but that was basically it in the end – never truly long conversations until after the bar had been destroyed, put back together, and Sam had come in looking for a drink and someone to spend the night with. So all he can really offer to Jigano in response is the feeling of a nod or a shrug, some sort of admission that he’s heard the bard but doesn’t have anything else to add.

Not yet, until of course, Jigano mentions Amalia, and honestly he’s quite surprised. Deimos was a different story, but as far as Sunjata was aware the last time him and Amalia had talked they were on good terms. If it’d changed, he was unaware. Last time I talked to her we were on good terms. He rumbles a small amount, a puff of air equivalent of a sigh bubbling up from his body. But I haven’t seen nor talked to her since… What, Longheat? If her opinion had changed in that time, he had no control. It wasn’t as if he’d gone out of his way to speak to her or seek her out.

in the moonlight

SuNJATA

Down and down the shark spiraled on his slow path, as the light faded to a lingering brightness above and the darkness swallowed them further. A descent into the mouth of an ocean volcano, Apopo's elder brother from what Jigano had seen from above, and wondered in morbid fascination just how deep its gullet ran.

And how deep he could swim, for that matter, in this strange new form.

Sunjata might not have been the company he would have chosen for this venture, but since he was the company that was there the bard accepted the unlikelihood of their encounter and didn't fight it.

Didn't mean he was happy about it, either, but he was weary of running. Ah. Yes, that might explain it, he rumbled, considering all that had come and gone since then. Maea had been a part of Amalia's life, too, even if their relationship was a complicated one. Sam was her brother, as it turned out, and Nate had cheated on him with Sunjata or so Sam had told the tale and then apparently run back to the Guildmaster's arms before Maea's spirit had made the journey to Mort's Halls. Sunjata seemed to find himself at the center of a constant vortex of bad decisions, any one of which could be forgiven... but taken as a whole it became far harder to swallow.

How is Remi doing? A question deliberately designed to pull his thoughts away from the dark tumble that mirrored his physical descent. Does he like being Governor? Questions perhaps better aimed at the man himself, but Jigano rarely saw him, and had no desire to force his company on the troubled younger man.

promise me you won't die

having never skinny-dipped

It might explain it indeed. Though, if he’s being honest, he doesn’t know the particulars of what had changed. But the arbiter realizes soon after that it doesn’t matter too much, not when he rarely even has to see the Shield. Not when he’s perfectly content in his home and his life by the ocean, the position he has here, the new branch. Likewise, she’s likely happy that he’s stuck himself over here and not meddling in the middle of her own dealings.

It is what it is.

So he dives a small amount deeper as the conversation shifts toward Remi and he’s not entirely sure when the last time Jigano and the Alchemist have spoken. He seems to be doing well. He offers at first, quietly and contemplatively. He realizes he can’t quite stick his fingers in everything, so he’s expanded the government a small amount more to help. But I haven’t seen him much as of late. There’s a feeling akin to a shrug given to the shark as he wiggles himself a bit higher in the depths, feeling the waters grow relatively warm and uncomfortable for his skin. I see Ronin relatively regularly all things considered. A quiet murmur offered at the end.

in the moonlight

SuNJATA

The warmth felt good against his thick skin, his movements becoming a little quicker, even as a soft warning began to flicker in the back of his mind where his new instincts sat. He was glad to hear that Remi was doing well, was learning to delegate, but it was a little worrying that he hadn't been around as much. The last Governor had grown distant from his people and when trouble had come knocking in the form of an erupting volcano, he had fallen without fanfare or - as far as Jigano knew - any attempts by others to save him. He didn't want such a fate for the alchemist, even if Remi was no longer the gentle optimist he had first met two years before.

I've seen Ronin more often, too, the bard revealed, a neutral confidence shared easily enough. He seems... calmer now, at least. Compared to when he'd been bringing down the Temple around their ears, which was an admittedly low bar. What is the government like so far? I haven't heard much about it on the streets. Not that he necessarily would; a government that was doing its job was rarely talked about compared to the alternative. Is it like Rex's? How was it set up, in short.

promise me you won't die

having never skinny-dipped

When the warmth of the water begins to grow too much, he adjusts his fins and slips through the water easily to rise away into the cooler waves. Last I heard, Safrin and he had come to some sort of agreement. Of course, that was before the man had made up with their shared goddess. A sort of… Warning, given to Sunjata after he had offered everything he was to the herald of Vi, something he silently continues to question.

But that’s another story.

He uses the question of the government to distract him from that whole ordeal, and he spins a small amount in the water to ward off a few small silver fish as he focuses back on the shark. Smaller than the Grounds. Not as specific, I guess. At least from Sunjata’s understanding. Remi’s the Governor, I’m the Arbiter. We’ve got a Liaison, a Preceptor, and most recently a Director of Social Affairs. He’s pleased with the results of that at the very least. Remi and Ronin a part of the government, and now Nate was too. It felt comfortable, right.

in the moonlight

SuNJATA

More than an agreement, from what I've heard about his... second daughter, the bard thought cautiously, worried for his friend so caught in the goddess's capricious clutches. Though it sounds like 'agreement' isn't the right word for that. Unsettling, to say the least, in so many ways. He'd always attributed those sorts of tricks to Frey, but perhaps he'd given the nature god short shrift.

Or Safrin too much credit.

He went deeper than the orca, but there was a limit even for him, and he was not foolish or arrogant enough to continue on alone. Not with the rumors of what filled these particular depths, at least. He began the lazy spiral up again, still studying the shadowed waters with fascination as he felt the bioelectric tickle of nearby fish he couldn't quite see. A Liaison? Is that like our Outlander and Natural Advisors, or something different? And what does a 'Director of Social Affairs' do? he asked, curiosity getting the better of his wariness.

promise me you won't die

having never skinny-dipped

It was an agreement that came after Seren. He offers with a feeling akin to a shrug. Sunjata knew exactly what warnings were given. What he needed to look out for. Though it didn’t prevent a quiet shiver from racing down the whale’s spine. I haven’t seen her recently either. He hadn’t dared venture to see Safrin, not until his quest is complete. He’d stopped near the lighthouse to pray quite frequently, but never stepped in to spot the shrine and formally do it.

Still, he slips up toward the surface specifically to get another deep breath when Jigano’s question reaches him. Yeah, it’s similar to that. He figures that’s the easiest way to explain it – even he isn’t entirely sure what differentiates it from anything else. The Director of Social Affairs looks at what Torchline is missing and works to fill in those gaps. Works closely with me, as well. It’s a sort of connection in a sense – if someone is stealing, it’s my job to prevent it. It’s the Director’s job to figure out why they were stealing. If they needed food or clothes, then we can help fix whatever’s missing to prevent the crime in the first place. He hopes that’s a better explanation – hopes that Nate would approve of the description of his job title as well. The orca turns a bit in the water after grabbing a deep lungful, peering down into the waves below to the shark.

in the moonlight

SuNJATA