(SE) all that and more

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

It’s a beautiful day out, one that Sunjata literally can’t find any complaint about. The sun that shines down isn’t incredibly hot, but still bright enough to warm the grasses and dunes around him. There’s a soft enough breeze that kept from being too cold but enough to keep from getting too hot, too. And he sits there, underneath the shadow of Safrin’s lighthouse in his dragon form, Haai settled at his side snoring in the sun with wings splayed in what Sunjata can only assume is an uncomfortable form.

But he sits there, with a few items, a few of the lanterns he’s made years past. One for Peter, one for Maea, one for Lusea. And this year? Despite all the other losses he’s had? He picks to make one for Adam. So he’s scrapped together a bit of leather, a bit of metal, something almost similar to the burnished hue of Lusea’s lantern, some glimmering pearls that held a certain softness like Peter had, and with it… Well, he can be found hunched over, forming the little makeshift frame for the lantern with the bits of metal he’s scrapped together, a dragon attempting to make a lantern that likely won’t turn out too well because of it. But he thinks Adam might appreciate the charm.

---

Set before Amalia’s departure ;D

SUNJATA

Amalia

the shield of safrin

some birds sing when the sun shines bright

She is fresh from the Climb and feeling well, stronger and safer than she has in months. Cured, truly cured, a miraculous thing- and despite her difficult encounter with Deimos, the fight in the cavern,  the awkward talk with Loren, Amalia feels good.

So it is with some unusual amount of amusement that she spots the massive creature she's heard through the grapevine to be Sunjata, sitting atop the bluffs the Shield (for now) calls home. He's hard to miss, massive beast that he is, and the Aumakua isn't large. Amalia has stepped out into the bright light of day with lantern materials in hand, the seasonal task a familiar one, and almost a balm to her grief.

She considers walking another way and ultimately decides against, shrugging her shoulders and squaring her jaw. Their last encounter had been... civil, and she is trying to smooth her abrasive edges, to let go of her judgments and wrath. Besides, it isn't every day that one gets to watch a massive dragon construct a delicate lamp. Settling into the grass near the Flood, Amalia raises an eyebrow in silent question before extracting her own frame: copper wire, soon to be wrapped in crimson silk, the colors of a Harpy with a heart of fire.

our praise is not for them,
but the ones who sing in the dead of night

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

He doesn’t expect company, steel gaze flitting over the person on the edge of the horizon before ignoring it completely, unsure how he’d even communicate in this form and yet unwilling to change. And so he focuses on the task at hand again, clawed hands poking and prodding at a frame of a lantern, bending metal here and there to get it to fit the way he envisions.

But the figure comes closer, peering up to find that it’s Amalia, and he half expects to receive a berating for something. It doesn’t come and she instead plops down nearby him in the grass still in the shade of the looming lighthouse, causing his gaze to lift back up to her with a hint of surprise pulsating along the attuned bond.

He’s far past old grudges now, life having moved on, and it was her willingness to come and sit beside him in the first place. So he pulses a bit of a warm greeting to her as he pokes at the frame a bit more. Hey Amalia. He rumbles, before leaning over to peer at her lantern, trying to see whom it’s for. I have some extra stuff I brought if you need anything. An olive branch given, some attempt at a semblance of normalcy between the two of them.

SUNJATA

Amalia

the shield of safrin

some birds sing when the sun shines bright

They seem to fall into quiet familiarity with a startling ease, bygones drifting in the background but better left untouched. For once Amalia does not want to question Sunjata, to blame or needle; it seems unnecessary, and the harsh pain of her encounter with Deimos still stings like a burn upon her heart. "Hi," she replies softly with a crooked smile, leaving it there and returning to the task at hand(s).

The suggestion of the massive dragon to provide bonus material has Amalia laughing despite herself, a low, bemused chuckle curling out of her lungs. "Are you making a lantern appropriate for your size?" the Shield wonders, arching a brow and looking over at his work. Her gaze continues over the dragon, brazenly curious as she cranes her neck to get more of a view. "This is new. What, uh... what's it like? Being a dragon?"

our praise is not for them,
but the ones who sing in the dead of night

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

Typically, anything that brought laughter to Amalia, Sunjata would likely take as a slight – but this is something he doesn’t – not as his steel gaze slits over toward the Shield, a pulse of amusement flickering through the bond toward her instead. Maybe. It’s a draconic wink shot her way as he settles in, fiddling with the lantern a bit more.

It is new. It’s… Different. Feels more powerful. He rumbles to her, lifting his head and letting the electricity fill through his throat, crackling along his maw with a flit of lightning, simply to show off, before he lets it disappear again. Feels a bit like a slap in the face that it has lightning, given the obvious. He hums, pulling his gaze away from the Shield to focus back on the lantern and the little metal pieces he’s aiming to affix to the side of it.

How have you been? He asks as he lowers his large head toward the lantern to inspect it closer.

SUNJATA

Amalia

the shield of safrin

some birds sing when the sun shines bright

She remembers it well: finding the qilin lurking within her, stronger and larger and more than anything else she had ever been. Amalia nods in understanding at Sunjata's explanation, scoffing a muted laugh when he mentions the lightning connotations. "I heard about that. Deimos told me. Before-"

Well.

Breaking off abruptly the girl stares down at her lantern with a fixed, focused gaze, suddenly very interested in making the copper wiring take the shape she wants. Unsuccessfully, as it turns out, because her hands are trembling and her jaw is set and she's being tossed around by her tumultuous thoughts. How has she been?

"I left Deimos." The words leave her before she has a chance to think them over, and in the wake of them Amalia closes her eyes. She hadn't meant to talk to Sunjata, of all people, about this, and yet there's something in telling your mistakes someone who doesn't much like you - or at least, doesn't care. It's freeing, almost, because she expects him to be either indifferent or to blame her, both of which would be welcome. "Right after Kiada - his adopted daughter - died under my watch, and you guys fought the sea panther, so really at the cruelest possible time. Then everyone got sick... my brother became a murderer... my only friends left... and I'm supposed to be some sort of demigod, but all I do is mess up and hurt people. So yeah, I'm doing great."

A mirthless laugh leaves her, angry and bitter as waves of self-loathing wash through the Attuned bond like the tides of the sea. He was right, she was wrong, and she hopes he's happy.

One of them ought to be.

"How 'bout you?"

our praise is not for them,
but the ones who sing in the dead of night

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

Wasn’t my finest moment. He half mutters, though it would be clear in Amalia’s mind as it gets sent down the bond. But he cuts himself off from saying anything further, from ruining this tentative peace they’d come to, his maw clenching shut as she tells him that she left Deimos. And he pulls his gaze from the lantern to peer at her with slit steel of understanding, if nothing else. I heard. He murmurs, though he doesn’t offer an apology. The last thing he wanted when he and Phoebe had split were apologies from anyone else.

But as Amalia continues, there’s none of those thoughts crossing the bond toward her. There’s no accusations. If anything… Understanding continues to linger there, because Sunjata knows that above all else he always chose what was best for him. How could he fault Amalia for doing the same? He can’t. And it’s not like he’s friends with Deimos nor her, simply just… An observer whose paths crossed in many ways but never quite straightened out. And while he might have slung insults at her once upon a time, Sunjata’s too tired to continue this pointless battle with the Shield of Safrin.

Still, he tries to shy away from her self-loathing, knowing full well how much those same sensations dwell within him. And he picks up the lantern again to affix some of the metal to it, before peering over the top of it toward the Shield. You had to do what you had to do. He murmurs softly through the bond, his accent thicker here. Can’t keep sacrificing yourself for others. You’ll have nothing left. It was a lesson that was hard for him to learn, but he was making an attempt.

As for how he was doing? Well. Mm, well, Nate and I got married, just got back from a honeymoon trip to the Grounds. I intend on seeing Safrin soon about protecting Torchline for the monsoons… Other than that? It’s been quiet and rather dull since Ronin and Remi left. He murmurs, a playful nudge given Amalia’s direction – sure the Shield might agree.

SUNJATA

Amalia

the shield of safrin

some birds sing when the sun shines bright

There are no platitudes, nor is there wrath. They don't know each other well enough for the former, and perhaps too well for the latter. "I didn't have enough for him," the Shield agrees simply, weariness weighing down her dark voice. She looks at the hand that still bears a wedding ring, frowning and pulling the band from her finger with a heavy sigh. "He needed more, and I already belonged to someone else."

But Amalia cannot quite bring herself to discard that last bond that ties them to one another. It slips into her pocket instead, even as the lines of her tattoo shimmer over her back.

At least Sunjata seems to be doing well. She continues building her lantern as he describes the last few days (weeks? Months? Time became a difficult thing to track, given their illness), a bittersweet smile betraying the mild envy she feels at his prosperity, his love. "It's been lonely," the Shield agrees, thinking of the eerily silent house that waits for her to return. "I hope they're enjoying themselves. They deserved a break."

Setting down the mostly-finished lantern, Amalia glances up at Sunjata, a thought causing her to worry her lip. "You know... I actually have a favor to ask you. Not, not for me, exactly," the girl is quick to clarify, raising up a hand. "But Frey asked me to imbue a unicorn horn with lightning, and given your new abilities..."

our praise is not for them,
but the ones who sing in the dead of night

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

Sometimes you didn’t have enough. Sometimes you weren’t what the other person thought you were. Sunjata’s gotten both ends of that stick – not being what Phoebe had imagined, not fitting into the mold she had tried to push him into. Sometimes he wasn’t enough, or was too much, but Amalia would find that he holds no judgement, a nod of an armored head surrounded in a crown of dark horns tipped in gold that looks back at the Shield.

That was where they differed. Amalia was Vi’s. And Sunjata? Sunjata was Nate’s, now, but also his own. It was a lesson he was still learning, but at the end of the day he always tried to put himself above everything else. Selfish, as he’d once been told, one of the things he doesn’t openly admit aloud to those that don’t know him. And perhaps it was selfish to place it all on Nate as well. But he was, and he does, Nate being the one person that Sunjata would always choose above everything else.

I hope so too. They’ve been through more than enough. He agrees easily – favoring both Remi and Ronin very highly in his life and only wishing the best for them. But he adds the wiring to the lantern, before starting to stick the panes into it, peering over it at Amalia when she speaks next. If he had an eyebrow to raise, he would have, but instead he lets that slit steel gaze steady on her face. Do you have a horn with you? He asks, head tilting as he considers it.

There’s literally nothing for him to lose, though, and so he picks up the lantern and sets it to the side, lowering himself so he’s on all fours, lower and closer to Amalia now as his tail curls around him and his wings tuck in tight. I haven’t actually used it fully yet. We can give it a shot. The feeling of a roguish smirk is given toward Amalia with it, an amused tilt of his head.

SUNJATA

Amalia

the shield of safrin

some birds sing when the sun shines bright

With the weightier topics left behind, Amalia feels lighter, easier, her breath moving smoothly as though her lungs are no longer compressed within her chest. She nods her agreement with his sentiment about Remi and Ronin, and then the subject shifts to more immediate things, to lightning and unicorn horns. "It's inside," she answers, tilting her head back towards the house. "I can grab it."

That Sunjata hasn't properly attempted his new abilities is some surprise. Tilting her face up (and up) towards the dragon, Amalia cocks a brow. "Really? You haven't experimented?" she asks, remembering how it felt to find her own gifted shift. "Maybe you ought to, um, try first. See if you can control it. Here, I'll-"

Cutting off, Amalia rises abruptly to her feet, gathering up her lantern supplies and making a quick retreat. She stops when she's about twenty feet from the dragon's head, which feels safe. "Okay!" the girl calls to Sunjata. "Let's see what you got!"

our praise is not for them,
but the ones who sing in the dead of night

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

Alright. He rumbles to her in terms of her grabbing the horn – seeing as she doesn’t have it on her. But then Amalia’s confusion is met with a bit of trepidation from the dragon while he shifts the lantern away from him so he can place all fours onto the ground and tuck his wings in tight. I have a bit of a hard time with lightning. His wide shoulders shrug, as if it were an explanation in and of itself, but the thought of it all does have Sunjata cringing internally.

The crack and the snap of the lightning strike? Memories of getting flung across the sand, his heartbeat irregular and his body burning. He clamps his maw shut tight as those memories surface and he shoves it off to the side and Amalia’s moving back, rising abruptly and moving away from him. He curls his tail around his body, lifts his head up a bit, steel eyes narrowing on her momentarily as she goes and stops.

He absolutely isn’t going to aim at her, though, so he tilts his head toward the sky, listening for any birds that might be nearby and hoping they’re far from them. Lightning crackles in blue sparks around his maw, a low rumbling in his throat, and then he lets it go, with a loud crack and a boom – lightning striking out toward the open sky in an electric blue zip that spiderwebs out.

Fuck. He says over the bond, squinting lightly as the light fades, head shaking as the crackling remnants flicker around sharp teeth.

SUNJATA

Amalia

the shield of safrin

some birds sing when the sun shines bright

The dragon raises his head to the skies, and Amalia has a moment to send out a mental message to any birds to clear the airspace before a bolt of glue electricity erupts from his throat, branching like a wicked tree into the bright clouds. It fills the air around them, causing her hair to stand on end, bright and brilliant and terrifying and beautiful.

It's... a lot.

It takes a moment for her vision to return, spots of light still filling it as the girl blinks and rubs her eyes. "Wow," Amalia breathes into the oppressive silence that fills the air, now that the crack of thunder has faded somewhat from her ears. "That was.... wow." There's no other words for the stunning experience, and for another moment the Shield stands as the ringing clears from her ears. "I, uh- let me get the horn. And maybe- maybe try to go a little smaller, this time?"

She retreats to the house, returning quickly, the horn clutched in her hand. Gingerly Amalia sets it down on the ground before Sunjata, not quite sure how best to situate this makeshift lighting rod. Then again the girl steps back, putting space between the Flood and herself- y'know. Just in case.

our praise is not for them,
but the ones who sing in the dead of night

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

Electricity crackles around him, around his lips as his head lowers, as he mentally both tries to shy away and overcome the sound of the strike. It influences memories, ones he tries to keep from Amalia, of being thrown across the sand, of a thundering heartbeat that doesn’t quite beat just right. But he manages, taking a deep breath, quelling some of the electricity, agreeing with Amalia’s wow’s, unable to find any other words to describe the sensation.

So he waits, settled, lightning still crackling around his maw until she returns, trying to feel for the lightning within him and how he might control it more, to lessen the power of it. I can try. He tells her, tail flicking and swaying over the ground until she’s placed the horn, the makeshift rod, Sunjata waiting until she’s out of the way.

And he knows he’s done smaller electrical zips, so he approaches the unicorn horn, tampering down on the lightning crackle within him, swallowing it until his throat lights up blue again and a much smaller crackle of lightning is aimed at the horn. Just one strike, landing at the tip, traveling down. He withdraws after, steel gaze flickering to the Shield. Is that enough?

SUNJATA

Amalia

the archangel

some birds sing when the sun shines bright

The second time around is less alarming, to be sure, though the electricity that crackles through his lips still sends a reciprocal shiver down Amalia's spine. The horn glitters with remnants of blue light; Amalia waits a moment for it to fade, awed and a little afraid, before drawing close enough to take it gingerly in her hands. Power seems to thrum from within it, and Amalia runs a finger down the length of the bone, feeling her hair rise in response. "It's perfect," she breathes, glancing up to Sunjata. "Thank you."

Gathering up her lantern materials and the unicorn horn, Amalia begins to make her way towards the empty house before pausing, glancing back. "I... I was going to make some food, if you wanted to join," the girl offers hesitantly, an olive branch of sorts. It isn't friendship, but it's a step down from the animosity they've historically shared. "Up to you. Either way, though... thanks, Jata."

And with that she ducks into the doorway, not sure if she's hopeful that he'll follow or not.

{fin <3}

our praise is not for them,
but the ones who sing in the dead of night