don't try to follow me

i believe it was a sin to do you in the way i did you in, i couldn't stop it coming from afar
i lost the keys to the getaway car. and every now and then i'm in this place

The wave hits, and he goes under and under and he’s drowning again – salt water stinging against his wounds, burning and sharpening in pain that he chokes on the water that rushes down his throat. His mind isn’t following, and it’s a wonder that he doesn’t actually drown. But those shifts under his skin look out for him,  turning from bird to whale, the orca trying his best with his animalistic mind to get back to the shore. He blacks out at some point from blood loss, when the world grows dark, unsure of how long he’s been adrift in the ocean.

And he’s unconscious when he washes up with the tides in Rae’s Fingers. The tide recedes, and he’s lain prone in his human form along the rocky interior of the caves, a ruined face that would scar to hell, a torn shirt with wide puncture wounds to his side, and shallow breaths, a low heart beat, a wonder that he’d survived the torment of the waters below.

But that was what he was always good at.

Surviving.

it's hell living when i need your face. don't hide, don't hide, don't hide from me

SUNJATA

Vervain

Vai didn't make it to the Trial. Since the attack, whilst the external injuries had healed, the psychological ones stuck around, and even now she finds herself hesitating before leaving the house. At least that was the case until she heard about Sunjata. Until she heard about Shaju. Since then she's been trawling sea and shoreline, cave and pier for any sign for either of them. If she finds the former, relief, of course. And if she finds the latter? Well, she'll kill Shaju for the second time.

She's meandering the sands of Rae's Fingers while the tide is out when she spots him. Vai has to do a double take, and then another just to make sure, before hissing out a curse worthy of a sailor and vaulting over a few stones to race across wet sand to the bedraggled, half drowned form in the cave's rocky interior.

"Sunjata." The witch's voice is low. Holding the back of her hand near his lips to check he's breathing (and feeling very relieved that he is), she very carefully rolls him onto his good side, letting a trickle of healing magic pulse through him - enough to bring him around without startling him.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

i believe it was a sin to do you in the way i did you in, i couldn't stop it coming from afar
i lost the keys to the getaway car. and every now and then i'm in this place

His heart beat is slow, but it’s there – shallow breaths that Vai will feel along her hand. He’s limp and all body weight when she goes to turn him, to roll him onto the good side, the pulse of healing magic spreading through him, giving him a few moments of stronger breaths, of some quiet realization that he can’t move. He chokes on the water in his lungs at first, hunching over, coughing and throwing it up, trying to breathe.

But he’s alive, right? This wouldn’t be death – this horrible burning pain everywhere and the scarring to his face throbbing and bruised, ruined and split down the side. He manages to open an eye, slamming it shut as he coughs around more water trapped in his lungs, groaning against the pain it causes in his side, too, moving to curl up on himself. The eye opens again, squinting blearily at the blurred shape of someone,  though it’s hard to tell who.

He shuts his eyes again, trying to focus on his breathing and getting the water out of his lungs.

it's hell living when i need your face. don't hide, don't hide, don't hide from me

SUNJATA

Vervain

Swearing again under her breath, Vai shifts to her knees as well as the Flood starts to bring up most of Torchline out of his lungs. Sunjata curls in on himself and she has to fight to try and guide him into a more relaxed position again, one hand rubbing at his back and the other grasping his hand to squeeze it gently between her fingers. "Slow," she warns, her voice soft. "Go slow, in and out. I know it hurts."

And it's not really much of a surprise that her eyes are already stinging with tears; sorrow for the state of him (it's bad, worse than she could have expected), sorrow for the things that came before this, things that she's contributed to. "Gods, I'm so sorry, Jata," she whispers. More magic flows through him - it's a lot even for Vai's advanced skill, but it might be enough to at least numb the pain a bit, to start to close some of the wounds.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

i believe it was a sin to do you in the way i did you in, i couldn't stop it coming from afar
i lost the keys to the getaway car. and every now and then i'm in this place

It does hurt, everything, and until exhaustion pours through him again, he fights Vai’s attempts to make him more comfortable, he fights any and every attempt to open himself up again. It had been the only way, of course, the only way to try and take his father down. And he hopes he’s done it, hopes that the rocks in the sea had killed him. For now, though, Vai’s voice soothes him a fraction – the Flood hiccupping on the mess of his lungs and the blood that tears open through his mouth again.

More magic takes the edge off, makes it easier, starts to clot and stop the bleeding in his side and in his mouth, and he pants against the pain to all of it again. But at least he’s somewhat coherent, moving where Vai directs him to because he knows it’s her, now, and he manages to open his eyes and blink through the fog, the blankness of his mind. He doesn’t know how long it’s been, doesn’t know what happened to Nate after. “I…” He begins to say, clutching his jaw and giving up with the pain to his throat, his voice hoarse and deep.

it's hell living when i need your face. don't hide, don't hide, don't hide from me

SUNJATA

Vervain

Wincing to see him try to speak, Vai gives his hand a reassuring squeeze before her flingers slip away to carefully cup his jaw, wary of the deep cut that splits open his left cheek. "I'll focus my healing here, so you can talk," she explains gently. "You went over the cliff and into the sea, Sunny. It's been two days since then." She's wary of delivering too much information at once, falling silent to let that sink in while she works.

Healing magic injects itself into the ruined mess of his jaw, trying to knit together tissue and muscle, to fight off the infection already trying hard to take hold. "There's been no sign of that man," she says eventually, still working on it. "You did it. He's gone. You can rest now, Sunny."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

i believe it was a sin to do you in the way i did you in, i couldn't stop it coming from afar
i lost the keys to the getaway car. and every now and then i'm in this place

She squeezes his hand but it’s numb in comparison to the sharp shooting pain that slips through his jaw after he tries to speak. It pounds and throbs against his skull like an ice pick over and over and over again. The confirmation he gives is through a sharp breath of air from his nose, relaxing despite her hold on his jaw. He pants against it, feeling the magic work to fix his ruined skin, to dull the swelling, but it curls and turns in a warped scar anyway – likely from the last two days at sea, from shifting into his whale shift and going from there.

But he doesn’t know how bad it is, he can barely see straight right now – dehydrated and in pain and starving. She works her healing and he listens, his breath still panting at the idea of it being two days. And what had happened to Nate? What about the crowd that had formed? What about the rest of it all?

He doesn’t have it in him to ask, and so he simply blinks at her, letting it sit over him, letting the realization cross his mind before his brows twitch together and tears form in his eyes, a burning of a different sort while she still works at his jaw. The tears slip down his face, shuddering his breaths, working against the pain in his lungs that’s at least manageable now, but he tries to give her some sense of understanding, through the tears and quiet tremble of his body.

it's hell living when i need your face. don't hide, don't hide, don't hide from me

SUNJATA

Vervain

Vai pours her energy into healing that wound, into making it possible, at least, for Sunjata to speak and be capable of being heard, but as she moves her hand away and glances down, it's apparent that he's been able to listen and comprehend what she's said as well. "Hey..." She shifts to sit in the sand and on the stone now, heedless of the way the tide is starting to creep in and lick at them.

With a care that suggests she's dealing with something infinitely fragile (and she is), she carefully manoeuvres Sunjata to lay with his head in her lap. Anything to keep his face out of the water, to give her a better look at the cut through the blood and the mess of scarring. "C'mon, Sunny. I'm not that scary to look at, am I?" It's an awful joke, but one Vai feels she has to make.

Carefully reaching out to wipe away the tears from his cheeks, she huffs out a long sigh. "I have some water with me, but I don't want to choke you. Do you think we can sit you up a little?"

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

i believe it was a sin to do you in the way i did you in, i couldn't stop it coming from afar
i lost the keys to the getaway car. and every now and then i'm in this place

She speaks so softly, as if she’s trying to console a wounded animal. And honestly? She is. But Sunjata’s too broken right now to do much else other than follow her guidance, trusting her that it would be correct, even if the past between them had become somewhat rocky in regards to that. It matters now because she’s found him. It matters now, because she’s healing him enough that he can swallow against his pained, dry throat, attempting to stifle down the tears that stream down his face.

His head is in her lap and he finds himself staring out at that water – the space where so much had begun and so much had ended, before he blinks away the glimmer of tears before it has a chance to pool again, to look up at her when she wipes them away. “Yes.” It’s a weak, pitiful sound, hoarse and deep and like sandpaper.

He braces a shaking arm to sit up slowly, bruised in the shape of Shaju’s hand, huffing out a series of shuddering breaths when he does it, his free hand moving to his wounded side. He finally settles on resting on his elbow, finding it the easiest, to prop himself up slowly as to not tear anything more. His tongue pokes and prods at the knitted together scar in his mouth, while he finally rights himself up fully and hisses against the throbbing in his head. He sniffles down the tears, reaching up with a trembling hand to wipe them away. “Water. Please.” He manages, his hand dropping into his lap, looking back over to Vai.

it's hell living when i need your face. don't hide, don't hide, don't hide from me

SUNJATA

Vervain

Vai helps him to sit, providing guiding hands along his back and shoulders, keeping him balanced when he's finally upright. Only when she's sure he won't slump over does she move to take the canteen of fresh water from her belt, unscrewing it to offer it out to the Flood. "Not too much at once," she cautions. "You might want to rinse your mouth out first. I can heal but I can't clean up the blood." It's easier to stay clinical at first, and if Sunjata needs it then she'll be there, as well, to help tilt his head back, to guide the water to his lips.

"Gods, everyone thinks you are dead," she whispers - to look at him he does seem almost like a ghast or a ghoul dragged up from the deep. "They've been looking for you since it all happened." On the shoreline, on the cliffs, everywhere. "Sunny, I'm so sorry." Vai's repeating herself, but it's all there is to say. She's sorry for doubting him, sorry for his pain, sorry for everything.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

i believe it was a sin to do you in the way i did you in, i couldn't stop it coming from afar
i lost the keys to the getaway car. and every now and then i'm in this place

She helps him right himself, and he pants through the burning in his throat as he begins to settle just a bit, keeping himself from swaying, focusing on her words even as he clamps his eyes shut for a mere moment of reprieve. “Okay.” He manages, taking some of the water, swishing it through his mouth to clear up the blood, before spitting it out in the pool they sit beside. A shaking hand braces himself against the stone and with Vai’s help, he manages to stay even and upright, squinting through the haze and headache, he takes her help with drinking a small sip, hissing against the pain it causes.

“I tried… to get out. But the wind and my wing.” He manages, a bruised shoulder rising and falling in a half shrug, as much as he can manage. He thought he was going to die too when he’d been thrown under the waves, and yet? Here he is. Her apologies are something he doesn’t know how to respond to, letting it settle over him instead as he goes to take another attempt at a small sip and hisses against it when he swallows it down. “Is… Is Nate okay?” He asks suddenly, dark steel eyes ringed in red lifting to search Vai’s face.

it's hell living when i need your face. don't hide, don't hide, don't hide from me

SUNJATA

Vervain

"You lived, though. You made it out," Vai says, carefully rubbing a hand over his back and settling to sit beside him. When he finally seems to have gotten enough water, she lets her arm slip around him, offering warmth and stability even for just a few moments while he comes around enough to think about next steps. "Nate is taken care of. He's with Hotaru and Melita, I think," she assures him, offering a small smile.

"We need to clean you up before you even think about going to see them, though. They'll be worried enough without you turning up looking like the living dead." Putting the canteen away, Vai smiles again. "Don't worry, I won't keep you. I think a shower, some food and a change of clothes should be enough to make you look more like yourself, don't you think?"

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

i believe it was a sin to do you in the way i did you in, i couldn't stop it coming from afar
i lost the keys to the getaway car. and every now and then i'm in this place

He did make it out. He lived, by some miracle. And that nagging voice in the back of his mind tells him that it’s enough, that everything that had happened was worth it. But with how he feels right now he isn’t entirely sure about that. So he leans into Vai’s arm, into her embrace, resting his head on her shoulder, growing far less tense under the realization that Nate was okay.

He’d have a lot of making up to do, he thinks.

But the offer is something that Sunjata debates for a while, unsure of whether or not he wanted to prolong the meeting. But there’s another part of him that doesn’t want to scare them either, so he heaves a quiet sigh, still leaning against Vai. “Yes.” He finally decides, waiting a few more moments before he goes to rouse himself enough to try and stand. He manages it, just barely, swaying on his feet before he’s still, shoulders hunched and swallowing hard.

it's hell living when i need your face. don't hide, don't hide, don't hide from me

SUNJATA

Vervain

"I was hoping you'd say that," Vai murmurs, not bothering to hide her relief and leaning in to kiss Sunjata's damp hair. "We'll have you home properly before sundown, I promise. In clean clothes and on your own two feet." Of course, Sunjata has no intention of remaining seated any longer, the Flood rousing himself enough to stand - and Vai isn't far behind, covered now in blood and seawater and keeping close in case he should fall. #

Even when he manages to hold his own, she's quick to slide beneath his arm against his good side, offering a motherly smile and gentle pat as if to say they should get going. "I know a quiet route back to Zeph's," she says. "We shouldn't run into anyone there, alright?" Glancing around to check that nothing has been forgotten, she starts to walk. "You're safe now, Sunjata. You know that, right?"

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!