it's too much [open!]

It had been a tumultuous year or so – barreling through world after world, losing a bit and piece of herself in every single place. She thought she was losing her mind. Slip, slip, slip. One after another, again and again, frustration sparking from within her – the darkness burning deeper and deeper until it finally took hold of her heart in its fist. It gripped tighter and tighter still until her vision was blinded, red by the varying lights, by the world that she had lost her belongings – that beautiful necklace of her brother’s companion with her mother’s and father’s; her winged armor, the one that pierced her skin whenever she used it. Her back was littered with the remnants of the scars, pale pricks along her shoulders remained as well – even if the other half of her soul hadn’t. She had lost him somewhere, between the Rift and the many worlds she traveled. She had landed in one, briefly, enough to realize that Khairi wasn’t anywhere she could find. Her heart broke, she screamed at the skies, tear stains seemed permanent upon her cheeks. She had searched and searched, failing in her attempts to do so, until she fell through that world too. Perhaps she had left him here – perhaps she’d never see him again. The thought was enough to make her sick, gladly choosing death over losing another thing held so dear to her. It started with Ru’in. Then Kianzo. Her father, her siblings, Rixen. Finally Khairi. She had nothing more to give except her own life, and at this point she wasn’t even certain she should keep that for all her shortcomings. Her hands clenched tightly, face set in a frown as her icy gaze scanned the temple she had somehow stumbled into – shifting from her bronze hues and fire into this strange kind of creature. It was an easy shift, one that melded surprisingly well for her, and she soon found that she didn’t hate hands. They were useful, in fact, easy to hold a blade – to make and create. But it was the absence of her fire that had her grimacing. She had reached for it, throwing herself at that well of magic she had carried since she was born. Over and over again until finally, something happened. Though it wasn’t the something she expected. She had expected flame to ball in her fists, to burn this new strange place to the ground – yet when the harpy opened her eyes she noticed she was quite a bit shorter. She pulled her hands in front of her face, tilting her head to get a better look when she noticed they were wings, and sickeningly familiar ones at that. “Is this some kind of SICK joke?” She attempted to scream at the inner walls of the temple, but instead with the clack of her sharp beak, a guttural howl erupted in the halls. KiadA you think i'll be the dark sky so you can be the star? i'll swallow you whole.

coding

CASSIUS Strong Hands, Strong Mind, Strong Heart Crunch of an apple echoed through the temple as Cassius strolled through. Life had been semi in order lately. Slowly but surely he was beginning to establish some sense of order. He had managed to form a rag tag bunch of Marshalls to flush out chaos wherever it popped up. The inmates were no longer going to run the asylum, that was the first and only message he wanted to enforce. Despite his duties of authority, Cassius was actually a gentle touch beneath the iron forged build he carried with him. Wearing a grey sweater that seemed content hugging firmly against his body, dark pants and shoes...he carried himself with a casual ease. Seizing the moment of that illusive silence to rest. Another healthy bite was given into his apple when he saw something rather peculiar...a bird that appeared agitated. He glanced around at first to see if anyone had noticed before crouching down at a safe enough distance as not to alarm the creature. Head tilted aside as he observed the feathered creature with a slow forming smile just as an idea came to him. "Hey." He called out softly and snapped the apple in half, holding out a piece for the bird to nibble on if it desired. "Not much but, maybe it'll male you feel better. What do you think?" He called to the creature, unaware that it was a lot more than it appeared to be.

She was anger, she was ferocity, she was going to make this world pay. Yet the harpy wasn’t yet aware of her surroundings, and how there was a man munching on an apple that had appeared in the temple as well. Still, the girl vibrated with a fiery anger, brought on by the joke of this world and all the passing worlds had taken from her. Initially, she needed to learn what this place was called and how to leave, but it had vanished from her mind with the results of the past few minutes as she stared at the man eating the apple, her scarlet gaze glued to him and her pale feathers lifting up. He approached closer still, thinking her just a normal bird of sorts – what kind of birds did this place have to where she looked normal in comparison? She had rarely seen others like Khairi in all the worlds she’d been in. Her eyes narrowed on the man as he spoke, a simple and gentle “hey” as he extended half the apple. She would have grimaced if she could, but a thought formed and she tilted her head at the apple – reaching out with her dark bearded beak to grasp it gently in her beak. The man continued to speak, and Kiada didn’t try and bite into the apple. Instead, she turned her head back. To him, it might look as though she were getting a better look at him, but she knew better. Her head swiveled back in a fast motion and she let go of the apple, aiming the flying fruit at his extended hand. In the next moment, when she was satisfied at her throwing abilities, she shifted back into herself. She was adorned with leathers and furs, and her pale icy gaze pinned the man down as a frown found her face. “Tuta wewe na nchi hii.” She said with her second tongue, an insult though it likely would sound like much. Everything in that language was gravely and weird, but it was close to her heart and she used it in times where she wanted to yell at someone without antagonizing them. That had always been her strength. Her icy eyes narrowed on him as she pulled her dark hair from her face. “An apple?” She chided at first, with her accented voice. “Do you even know what kind of things those birds eat?” She scoffed. “An apple.” She huffed, glaring at him. Tuta wewe na nchi hii – fuck you and this place KiadA you think i'll be the dark sky so you can be the star? i'll swallow you whole.

coding

CASSIUS Strong Hands, Strong Mind, Strong Heart At first Cassius smirked as the bird took the apple. He was content in doing a small gesture and was prepared to leave when he noticed the creature looking him over. Little did he know the very half of the apple he offered was about to be chucked back at him. She may have aimed for the hand but there was a satisfying plop against his forehead as he closed his eyes. Allowing the fruit to slide down his face. One moment he wiped his face, the next he was being spoken to in a tongue foreign to him...but by the body language it was easy to assume the intent of the words. Slowly he stood his full height which was about a foot over Kiada and took another bite of his apple. He allowed the young woman to vent and chewed quietly as she did so. His brows lifting as if asking her if she were done before he took another bite. Blue eyes bounced between his half of the apple, to the young woman, and back to the apple. "It's a very good apple." He reasoned, finishing his treat and discarding it and the half she had wasted. Arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against a nearby wall, looking over the young woman. "So...what kind of things do those birds eat?" He asked between breaths, leaning the side of his head against the nearby wall. "Where are you from...clearly not a local." He reasoned by her unique attire, foreign tongue, and expected knowledge of breeds not seen here, as far as he was concerned.

The amount of joy she got from watching the slice of apple slide down his face was placed away in her mind to enjoy at a later date. For now, it was a lecture. She didn’t care that he was taller than she, that he stood there and ate the apple aimlessly while she ranted. At his first set of words, her bright icy eyes rolled and she huffed a she discarded the apple and leaned against a wall. When he questioned what they did eat, she found her eyes pinning on him again. “Bones.” Her accented voice cut through the quiet of the temple in her lecture. Then he leaned the side of his head against the wall and asked where she was from and that she wasn’t from here. Of course she wasn’t from here, it had to have been obvious, right? She crossed her arms along her chest and kept her eyes on him, like a predator versus prey. “I’m from many worlds, mtu asiyejua. I have fallen through world after world after world to end up here at the end of it.” She said, biting her tongue to refrain from adding how much she’d lost in every transfer. After a moment, she lifted her hand to rub against the X scar on the side of her neck before looking over the temple and through the stained-glass windows to the sky beyond. “Hopefully it’s the last.” She hissed, her eyes returning to him. Kiada wasn’t much one for introductions, but she was one for attaining information and offering little, vague responses in return. KiadA you think i'll be the dark sky so you can be the star? i'll swallow you whole.

coding