(SE) the past keeps hauntin' the future i imagine

SUNJATA

the flood

but am i too late? or hearts to your spades,
if i don't suit you? then what do you want from me?

Her gaze, the way she grows still – too still in some aspects – don’t draw a wariness from Sunjata, too used to Nate pulling the same – the intensity to his gaze, the way he could simply watch without breathing, without moving, that he finally realizes the familiarity he and Haai had upon her approach. So he abandons the rest, nodding to those that remained to clean up, as he goes to stand alongside the beach with her, wiping dirty hands on his pants before reaching to stretch his arm out a bit. It’d be sore tomorrow, but that’s a later Sunjata problem.

For now, however, he focuses on her question. “A ways, yeah.” He offers with an amused smirk. “I have a whale shift. It’s good to go swimming in now and again.” He inclines his head toward her as he recalls what she’s told him. “It’s a bit wilder out there than in the Oasis, though.” A forewarning perhaps should she wish to give it a go.

so we're not written in the stars,
but i'm okay with that. i'm okay with anything

MABEL

Whale shifts, a world for swimming, but not too far, wilder, untamed, a bit savager than the onslaught of the Oasis. Mabel managed to curl the slightest of smirks along her lips at that notion – for the Oasis had never been humbling, not like she imagined the sea was. The little glade was a wonderful place for the young and inexperienced – but here, here was the potential for true danger, in the power and undulation of the tide, currents. It made it all the more tempting and daunting at the same time.

She stepped forward, foot sinking into the sand, suddenly daring to move into its wake. But the timing wasn’t right, the sun too high in the sky, and she wondered how she’d protect herself, when her hood was gone, and the solar rays punctured over her skin, flesh, and bones. Mabel advanced no further then, permitted questions to slide along teeth and tongue, before her jaw clenched down once more. “What else is in the sea?”

I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out

SUNJATA

the flood

but am i too late? or hearts to your spades,
if i don't suit you? then what do you want from me?

He glances over toward her, noticing the way she shoots back into the shade away from the sun – and that’s even more confirmation. A click of his tongue sends Haai scrambling through the Port toward the Slagveld in Haulani, aiming to retrieve something while Sunjata focuses on her question – pausing in his step to head down the beach to turn back toward her as her question is aired. “A variety of creatures, whales, sharks, crabs, birds sometimes. Merfolk live there too.” He offers a bit unhelpfully, a small shrug granted.

He doesn’t know what she knows, if she hadn’t known what a lighthouse was, he doesn’t know if she’ll know what creatures and races he speaks of. He imagines she’s the sort to tell him, however, and passes it off for now.

It doesn’t take long for Haai to return, a large dark navy blue parasol in her maw that she hands to Sunjata as she glides toward the sands. A scratch is given between her ears, before he’s picking it up and opening it – hoping it casts enough shade for her. “Ascended, right? This might help.” He offers, holding it out for her to either take of walk beside him.

so we're not written in the stars,
but i'm okay with that. i'm okay with anything

MABEL

She scarcely noticed the companion’s glide off into the ether, her eyes on the horizon, on the flowing swells of tides and currents, listening to things that lived within those waves, a life outside the Hollowed Grounds, where everything felt like a wreckage, ruin, and rubble. Whales, sharks, crabs, birds – merfolk. Her mind conjured an image that felt foolish, but she didn’t really know how else to conceive it, immersed in things that were meant to be in stories, all come to life before her eyes. “Merfolk,” she mumbled, somewhat under her breath, quiet and contemplative. “Have you met any?”

Still her eyes didn’t turn to his, mesmerized by the pattern work of the undulating flow; fists clenching into balled knots beneath the safety of her long sleeves. Only when the griffin returned, on shades of wings, did her notions conjure to the movement and not the sea, surprised to find shade in the form of a parasol. Her mouth rounded into a light gasp, surprise igniting on her features, before she rendered them back into some form of gratitude; a little smile curling on the edges of her lips. “Yes, sorry. Thank you.” First, a scratch was offered to Haai, and then she lifted the umbrella-like fixture above her, casting her frame into designated shade with a relieved sigh. “I’m Mabel.” But she didn’t ask his name, uncertain if he’d want to give it. She twirled the handle in her grasp, let it play along her fingers. “Have you lived here long?”

I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out

SUNJATA

the flood

but am i too late? or hearts to your spades,
if i don't suit you? then what do you want from me?

“I’ve met one.” He comments, thinking of Delta and how she’d asked him if he were Wessex – swimming up to his orca form as if she were expecting the Ascended to appear in his place, when in reality Wessex had taken that shift from him. It still amused him a fair deal, that out of all the shifts he has, she’d chosen that one. Though if he’s being honest, it is one of his favorites too.

But that’s neither here or there. “She seemed young.” He adds on as an explanation – not much else to add other than her question of the canals, and low and behold the canals had been carved into Haulani.

But she’s using the parasol now, able to stride along the beach, and Sunjata goes with as his gaze flickers to the ocean. “No need to be sorry.” He rumbles – and it’s true, he’s no reason for her to apologize for it, not with everything else that’s going on. “I’m Sunjata, and not too long, no. I moved here last… What, Longheat?” He offers with a small huff of a laugh.

so we're not written in the stars,
but i'm okay with that. i'm okay with anything

MABEL

Young Merfolk, likely dancing beneath the waves, home in some wondrous, fantastical city, or a ruined temple, a magical castle rising from sand and dunes below fathoms and depths. She could wonder for half a second more, a child again instead of a beast forced to watch her world decay, before summoning the Brightness to coil into her ichor – survivor, pulled from depths of festering voids. Beasts everywhere, no matter which element, which land, they immersed and clambered around. Maybe she and Evelyn could become those things too – feared, respected, revered, terrified by – wolves with their fangs, howling in the midst of night, in the cover of shadow. Eventually, perhaps.

She advanced along the beach, still twirling under the pinnacles of the outstretched parasol, carefully inching towards the dampened soil and silt, biting her lip in pondering if it was safe to remove shoes, to place bare feet into the effects. Mabel waited instead, listening to the stranger’s response, Sunjata, and committing it to memory with a subtle nod, while her otherworldly eyes still clung to the horizon. “Do you prefer it here?” An inquiry meant to instill fibers and mettle of curiosity; uncertain if she and her twin were meant to remain in the Hollowed Grounds sanction, or to traverse, to wander, until they found something else they truly adored.

I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out

SUNJATA

the flood

but am i too late? or hearts to your spades,
if i don't suit you? then what do you want from me?

She could go barefoot – she could also go barefoot perhaps when the sun’s set and the danger is far less high, while the tide ranges, and Sunjata wouldn’t judge her at all – recalling the moonlit swims Nate and he had taken time and time again. So he strolls easily beside her, keeping pace and pausing whenever she wants to or chooses to. Idly, he watches a few crabs slip along the sands, hiding under rocks or disappearing into the waves that creep up closer with every passing second.

“I do.” He says quietly, a shrug of his shoulders. “I’m an Outlander. This place is the closest to home I’ve found.” It certainly wasn’t the Grounds, and while Sunjata hadn’t seen or heard of the rest of Caido much like Mabel… Well, there was certainly something to be said about Torchline and its beauty.

But then a thought hits him, and his head tilts toward her. “There’s a shrine for the Voice here if you plan on staying for a while, so you don’t have to go to the Grounds.” He offers easily. “I’m not sure where it is exactly, but Nate –” Suddenly Sunjata wonders if she even knows who Nate is. “My fiancé knows where it is. Could show you if you plan on visiting for a while.” Nice save.

so we're not written in the stars,
but i'm okay with that. i'm okay with anything

MABEL

A moment of impulsivity came over her, as she crouched and dipped beneath the parasol to remove her shoes, eyeing a few crabs nearby warily, and then her socks, stuffing them within the boots. She breathed in quietly, habitual, because she no longer required the rash intake of air, and then daintily proceeded to walk along the sand – enjoying the sentiments of it sliding between her toes. No feeling was produced otherwise, but it could’ve been nice to dream for an instant or two – striding along as the dampened shores chased and grew further ahead. She grabbed hold of her shoes and placed them in her bag, walking alongside Sunjata while indicating naught else (hiding the delighted smile at the first touches of waves crept along to her flesh).

An Outlander: likely used to traversing, not being locked or quartered off for long. Mabel tried not to think of other things, worlds, places, and people she’d missed along the way, staying close and sheltered on the farm. There were some bitter edges to the ramifications, and no one else, save Evelyn, would know or understand them. “It’s nice,” was all she could surmise for the moment.

A shrine for the Voice, somewhere in the midst, piqued her interest, and finally her eyes slid away from the shoal and surface, back to him. “Oh.” Neither she nor her twin, as far as she knew, had been back to one of the shrines for a while – and the pull of hunger, cravings, would eventually be too much to bear. “That would be great. If you could show me.” Then she and Evelyn could go when it suited them – tied to naught at all for the moment. More inquiry slid by as she meandered and drifted, about this Nate character; but she hardly knew any of them at all – and to reveal that seemed foolish.

I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out

SUNJATA

the flood

but am i too late? or hearts to your spades,
if i don't suit you? then what do you want from me?

It is nice. That much he can agree with, pausing beside her as she takes her shoes off – making a mental note of where she’s placed her boots so they didn’t get stolen or lost. But then he’s letting her walk along the water – keeping an eye on the path of the sun overhead, habitual at this point with Nate even if his fiancé could handle it better than others. It still didn’t make him comfortable with the thought.

Still, he catches her eye as she turns her attention back toward him. “I’ll ask him where it is and get back to you.” He offers, flashing her a wide smile. “He’s Ascended too, helped build it for her.” And inadvertently, all of the Ascended that came to visit Torchline as well. But as an added thought, he focuses a bit further ahead along the pathway they take, a small huff of a laugh slipping from him. “But if you’re in a pinch, I’m sure there’s quite a few around here that would be clamoring under the idea of a bite.” Another snort leaves him – recalling how they’d had kept Nate going before the shrine had been built – namely for as little trips to the Grounds as possible.

so we're not written in the stars,
but i'm okay with that. i'm okay with anything

MABEL

The waves only heightened the state of ignorance – dropped into an open terrain full of nothing she’d ever experienced or understood. She didn’t know this Nate. She didn’t know many other fellow Ascended – save for the few at LongNight, her sister, or the Wraith. She didn’t know about monsoons and their potential for disaster. She didn’t know anything about the world except for the Hollowed Grounds – and perhaps it remained a poor example of what could, or couldn’t be, out in these reaches and fathoms.

Mabel couldn’t respond to the wide smiles, to the nature of complete comfort out here – longing for the wilderness she knew and understood, but comprehending she couldn’t stay there for eternity, locked away behind blades of grass and Spire shadows. To reach out, to stretch along voids and encompass everything there was to savor, offer, and relish –

His words conjured a nod, but then the other ones, about biting, made her stiffen, head turning directly to the sea again. Another notion and note of inexperience. She and Evelyn had merely gone to shrines, quenching their thirst – had yet to bare her fangs over anyone’s flesh. To snag at their skin, to take and take and take, powers, nourishment, and any other extreme embedded in there. “I haven’t bitten anyone yet.” Loosening a shrug, twisting and turning the parasol in her fingers, so it glided above her head; striving to enact confidence when the only emotion left in her soul was apprehension. “I’ll be fine.”

I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out

SUNJATA

the flood

but am i too late? or hearts to your spades,
if i don't suit you? then what do you want from me?

Oh, apparently, he seems to have hit a nerve with the comment on bites – half expecting her not to answer, he averts his gaze to the beach they’re walking along. Before long, however, she’s piping up and his attention flickers somewhere between her and the sands. The fact that she hasn’t bit anyone does surprise him, wondering how long she’s been Ascended for and if it would ever be something she considered. But no, he doesn’t know her well enough to ask the reasons why she might not indulge in such a way.

So he nods instead, focusing on the attempt at small talk, trying to let her lead wherever it is she wishes to go and not get in the way. He knows it’s her first trip outside of the Grounds – she’d told him as much. As for the rest of it, however, he spends a moment running his tongue along his teeth, gathering his thoughts before he inhales a bit sharply and glances over at her and decides to just go for it anyway. “How long have you been Ascended?” He hopes it’s casual enough, hoping ti doesn’t come off rude or intruding.

so we're not written in the stars,
but i'm okay with that. i'm okay with anything

MABEL

Consternation pervaded through her soul, and she walled, walled, walled away all the armaments and defenses, the discomfort and the disquiet. This subject matter would be best left to an older, wiser Ascended, instead of a complete stranger, and she found herself wholly uncomfortable with the topic. She twirled her parasol within her grasp again, losing herself in the small motions, or crouching momentarily to find and study some shell that had been spotted amongst the sand – snatching at its ivory sanction. One looked nearly like a fang itself, serrated at the tips, and she pulled it into her fingers, along her palm, studying, surveying, while Sunjata came up with something to say.

And while she’d hoped he wouldn’t have anything further to add, it was not to be the case. Her cold eyes drifted away from the shell and back to him for a moment, the subtle frown no longer so understated, muted, or faint. Then they were along the sea, and the shell in her pockets for safekeeping. Not long enough had an acerbic tinge to it, so she settled with “Since Deepfrost,” with another shrug, as if it meant nothing (when it was everything).

I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out

SUNJATA

the flood

but am i too late? or hearts to your spades,
if i don't suit you? then what do you want from me?

She finds a shell of sorts along the beach and sands, and Sunjata glances over at it, making note of the sharp edges of it before he asks his question. Perhaps it was a bit too personal, the way she keeps that frown on her face. But the ball was in her court, she didn’t have to answer if she didn’t want to — he’d think nothing of it. Aside from that, he keeps his gaze on the sands ahead until he can feel her eyes on him, as her voice colors the air once again.

His head tilts toward her again as he realizes just how freshly Ascended she was. He offers her a small nod, no apology for prying. “And how do you like it?” He’d considered it once before. Before he’d asked Safrin to attune and changed his life forever — though whether for the better or worse was still up for debate. He hopes the prior as he walks further along the sandy beach.

so we're not written in the stars,
but i'm okay with that. i'm okay with anything

MABEL

Good; nothing else came from the segment of inquiries around biting – when the timing was right, when the notion was strong, she’d be able to do more than just bare her fangs. For now, she was content in learning about her capabilities, of senses changed and rendered, of worlds far beyond her imagination, or the storybooks her mother had recited to them. Any residual pangs of her heart died as she continued wandering, leading along pebbled lines and more shells, starting to hone in a collection in her palm. Some were broken, some were serrated, some were simply a touch more colorful than the rest. Were her siblings still living, still breathing, she would’ve gathered a great, grand horde, treasure from her journeys away from home.

But that was gone.

His question made her pause momentarily, because she didn’t really expect it. Perhaps she should’ve, from this man engaged to another Ascended, but it was still strange and odd, when others viewed them as abominations. Her eyes flickered further up the beach, still cold and wily, an eerie, uncanny tint to them as she glanced back to Sunjata. “It’s more than I could have ever dreamed.” Because it meant survival and power; far more than the Old Gods and their ignorance.

I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out