(RQ turn in) this solemn day

i closed my eyes and saw my father's sins, they covered me like a second skin
i peeled them off, and sure i bled a bit, but now i'm free to sink my own damn ship

It’s been a long time coming and it is late, considering that monsoons had just finished. But at the very least, turning it in now means that next year will be better. It has to be.

Sunjata picks just after the sunset, where the brilliant Longheat sun disappears over the horizon and the stars begin to pepper their way through the sky. He doesn’t come bringing a gift, this time, because his arms are a bit too full with Kamaria, walking toward the shrine beside Nate, flashing his husband a small smile as they near the lighthouse, dampening down on his frustration of recent events. His gaze flickers back to Kamaria, though, flashing a brighter smile, one absent of all the anger that brims under his skin. “Are you ready to see your mother?” He asks her, gently, through a voice that's still slightly hoarse but getting better, before they’re upon the shrine.

He’d let Torchline know that the turn in would be this evening and he waits for those to show that will, before he’s climbing up the stairs of the lighthouse, setting Kamaria down, before he lingers a short distance away. “Go on, go and say hello, I'm sure she can't wait to see how you've grown.” He whispers to her, because whispering feels slightly easier, before he straightens up to regard the shrine and the stars he can see through the window beyond. “Safrin, I apologize for how late this is… But hopefully we haven’t lost our chance for next year and the years after.” He takes a slow inhale, swallowing against the burn, casting a glance back toward Nate for support, the only kind he thinks he has before Safrin shows, before his gaze falls on the shrine once more. “We’ve finished the quest for the monsoon protection.”

---

TORCHLINE RQ TURN IN SORRY ITS LATE HNGGG

Feel free to have heard from Sunjata that the turn in was today if you want your characters to come be a part of it!! You’ve got 48 hours to get in before it moves on! <3

We need 10 unique characters (SC's don't count toward unique characters but can participate)
Vervain, Nate, Zephyr must participate in at least 1 thread
Sunjata must participate in at least 2

PQ of 6 Torchers trying to predict what impact lack of winds will have on the natural erosion process of the beaches, and then come up with and implement a plan for how best to deal with its impact. (at least 4 rounds)
- Characters Participating: Sunjata, Delta, Ray, Saiden, Jack, Melita
-- {PQ} (RQ) off the coast (Sunjata and Co. made groyne’s!)

A thread of 3 torchers doing what they can to assist with natural wind-based pollination and seed-dispersal efforts (given that the monsoon winds normally do this). (at least 4 posts each)
- Characters Participating: Sunjata, Nate, Theo
-- (RQ) a favor house atlantic (Made windmills to help blow pollen in from the jungle to the rest of TL)

A thread gathering rocks collected from Apopo or the Rainbow Road at midnight beneath the stars (3 posts per member)
- Characters Participating: Zephyr, Vervain
-- (RQ) rock it, roll it
A thread of making star-shaped anchors (3 posts per member)
- Characters Participating: Nate, Aurelia
-- {RQ} we all burn to the ground
A thread placing these items at the bottom of the ocean (3 posts per member)
- Characters Participating: Nerissa, Raza
-- {RQ} deep dive for peace of mind

i cut my branch down from my family tree to start a fire in the living room

SUNJATA

I know what it takes to move on; I know how it feels to lie
All I wanna do is trade this life for something new

If he doesn’t think about it too much, this really isn’t too different from any other time. Simmering rage sits just below the surface of his skin, a tight uncomfortable feeling that he’s beginning to remember better and better the longer it sticks around. Nate hates it.

But he’s here, walking along beside his husband as if this is all fine, a smile plastered to his face for Kamaria. It’s not like he doesn’t deserve to be here, he’d helped with the quests laid out, done more than his fair share, if he was being honest. There’s no need for the flutter in his guys, no reason for his fingers to be tightening and releasing in Sunjata’s shirt.

As Sunjata steps forward, Nate lets his hand linger on the attuned’s shoulder, though he doesn’t move with him. Doesn’t move his gaze from SunjatA’s back at all. Nate would like to think nothing would happen here, but if he believed everything he’d thought he’d have been dead a long time ago.

holding on to what I haven’t got

NATE

Kamaria

I would rather stay here
Where the moon, it glows

Sunjata may not be bringing a gift, but Kamaria's hands are anything but empty. Within her meager grasp, an abalone shell. This one, she decided, is special. The mother-of-pearl within it is shaped like a crescent moon, something that had ultimately reminded her of her mother. Within the shell are colorful stones, picked up in her venture with Sunjata to the Rainbow Road. They're all shades of blue, red, and purple. Mixed in with that are pieces of sea glass collected from the Hale Ka'aila, ones with more transparent colors. It's a way to show her mother all the places she's been thus far, to share a part of her journey. So she holds onto it all very tightly.

At the prospect of seeing her mother, she only feels a pure kind of joy that is unimpacted by the weight of the world around her. As they walk up the stairs, she sneaks gleeful peeks over her dad's shoulder at Nate - and anyone else that might be following them.

She nears the shrine when she's granted permission, looking up at the candles as they burn endlessly. Her voice is a whisper, so as not to disrupt Sunjata's, but a smile lights up her face. "Hi, mom! I brought this for you," she sets the shell upon the shrine, the objects within clinking together. "Daddy and Nate have been taking real good care of me," she adds softly, resting her lips against her hands as she holds onto the edge of the shrine. She wants to say more yet she remains quiet and hopeful.

---

Kamaria is here! She brought a lil gift for her mom <3

Soaring doves and falling crows
Laughter is the only sound here

sweet dreams till sunbeams find you, sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

When the goddess first appears, her focus is entirely on Kamaria. 'My darling!' She coos warmly, tugging the small girl toward her and wrapping her up in a tight hug. He is not welcome here. Safrin's voice in Sunjata's mind is shockingly cold and deadly in comparison with the motherly love that she pours on her child. "How beautiful these are! Wherever did you find them?" Reaching for the shell with one hand while the other remains snugly around Kamaria, the goddess peers within to spy the sea glass.

Have him leave. Now.

Seating herself on the steps of her shrine, Safrin rests her daughter in her lap along with the shell that she might hear Kamaria tell her all about it.

but in your dreams whatever they be, dream a little dream of me

i closed my eyes and saw my father's sins, they covered me like a second skin
i peeled them off, and sure i bled a bit, but now i'm free to sink my own damn ship

The warmth of Safrin’s arrival is something that doesn’t surprise him, not as she wraps her arms around their daughter in a greeting that Sunjata watches, idly lingering back within Nate’s space. He feels the hand on his shoulder, then the sudden deadly cold voice that chills him to the bone. It stills him, the Attuned watching his goddess in a hint of confusion. He helped with the quest, Safrin. As far as he’s concerned, Nate has every right to be there.

Aside from the whole helping with the quest thing, too, he is his husband.

But maybe it’s because he’s tired of everything going south, but there’s an almost slight bitterness that blooms in his gut as he turns to Nate with a sigh, reaching for his husband, his steel gaze scanning Nate’s face. She… Wants you to leave, Nate. I’m sorry. He works his jaw, breathing in a slow long breath, and pulls him in for a tight hug. You can wait for us outside if you want?

i cut my branch down from my family tree to start a fire in the living room

SUNJATA

I know what it takes to move on; I know how it feels to lie
All I wanna do is trade this life for something new

Nate feels the shift the moment it happens, though he doesn’t understand it. All he knows is the warm core of his husband freezes, his confusion and upset reflected in the ascended. Shifting closer, Nate tries to offer what comfort he can, swiping a hand across his shoulders, the gesture stuttering to a stop when Sunjata turns to him.

Oh, does she? There is something weakly combative on the surface of the words, backed up by a furrowed brow and clenched fists. In the bond though, there’s confusion, resentment, fear, and at his very core, a distant smugness. It’s not you sonskyn. I’ll go. Nate’s going to soak up the hug first, going to follow it up with a gentle kiss pressed to Sunjata’s lips. And only when he’s satisfied does he turn, stepping towards the door.

Like a bad omen, Nate lingers at the doorway, turning to look over his shoulder at Kamaria. There’s a warm, wide smile on his face, Nate very carefully not letting his gaze lift to Safrin, if only because he’s sure he won’t be able to control his expression. “I’ll see you in a bit, Sundrop. Have a good visit with your mother, alright?” Blowing a kiss in her direction as well, Nate finally leaves, waiting just outside the lighthouse with a smoke, as if the old habit could help bleed away his newest twist of anger.

holding on to what I haven’t got

NATE

Kamaria

I would rather stay here
Where the moon, it glows

She gasps with delight when her mother manifests before her, going to her with her arms spread. Unable to sense the icy chill that's projected onto Sunjata, Kamaria settles in with her mother. Her father and Nate don't really talk yet, which at first she decides means nothing. Her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink at the way Safrin appraises the stones and seaglass. "I'm so glad you like them!"

"These are from the Rainbow Road," she says of the stones, in all their colorful glory, "Daddy took me there, and we made the color purple. Did you know? That's gonna be our family color! I wish you could've been there with us..."

As for the seaglass, Kamaria's about to explain their origins when Nate suddenly pipes up to tell her something that sounds like a goodbye. Her smile fades and her gaze shifts, troubled, confused by it.

"Wait..." but he's already left, and she glances between her parents for the answers, "Why is Nate leaving?"

Soaring doves and falling crows
Laughter is the only sound here

sweet dreams till sunbeams find you, sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

Do not let your relationship with him blind you to the realty of the situation. Safrin replies coldly. As she draws Kamaria near, her eyes fix on Nate. If this show of affection is meant to rouse her anger, it is indeed working. Lucky for him he doesn't argue or linger; it might have been the last thing he'd done, if he had.

"I wish that too my love. Perhaps another time? There are waterfalls of stars in the sky I could show you." She croons sweetly.

As for why Nate has to leave? That's simple. "Because he has done a very, very bad thing. Do you know who the Voice is my love? What she has done?" Smoothing down her daughter's hair, Safrin holds her close.

He cannot remain as Governor. Safrin says silently to the Flood, even as her fingers softly stroke Kamaria's hair. You asked that you never be set against him, and I agreed. But what you have done is unacceptable. The Voice controls the minds of all the ascended. At any time she might take his over. I will not let such a reckless force rule lands that you have pledged stand in my name.

but in your dreams whatever they be, dream a little dream of me

i closed my eyes and saw my father's sins, they covered me like a second skin
i peeled them off, and sure i bled a bit, but now i'm free to sink my own damn ship

There is a deep part of him that wishes to argue back, that wishes to try so desperately hard to get Safrin to not see his husband as the enemy she calls him to be. But he doesn’t, he can’t, because there’s fear in the deeper recesses of him, exhaustion too heavily worn on his soul from all the bullshit recently that he almost shuts it off instead.

What’s more bullshit among the rest when you’re looking at an overwhelming pile in the first place? Negligible.

So he leans into the departure of his husband, to the kiss that’s shared and lets it warm him before the creeping cold settles in again, hands shoved in his pockets when he turns back to Safrin — avoiding her gaze to let a somber look watch their daughter. Safrin’s explanation so far of Nate, however, ruffles feathers and he finds himself looking away from the two of them. “She’s too young to hear the story, Safrin.” His voice is hoarse, an almost air of pleading with it not to tell her.

His own experiences in growing up with all the difficulties and stories have him wanting to protect Kamaria from the truth of it all for as long as he can. He doesn’t want Safrin to poison their daughter’s mind when she’s so impressionable. The thought of it terrifies him.

But she goes on, silent, cold, deadly — Sunjata’s head turning back as he works his jaw, gaze finding the shrine (anywhere but Safrin, truthfully) because he feels himself fracturing further with it. His father’s voice creeping into his mind, reminding him how he’s never changed, still too soft, still too stupid to ever rule anything with success. Why should he ever be surprised when things he cared for were taken from him?

Isn’t that how his story goes? Is it not how it would always go?

He sighs heavily, shoulders slumping, eyes trained on the floor — falling back into old habits. Okay. He works his jaw over and over and over again, wondering what he’d even tell his husband. A governorship here and gone in an instant and he feels absolutely horrible over it. And  so, purely for his own selfish curiosity, he asks, what would you have me do after demoting Nate?

i cut my branch down from my family tree to start a fire in the living room

SUNJATA

Kamaria

I would rather stay here
Where the moon, it glows

Her mother's promises of starry waterfalls sounds truly amazing and wondrous, but Kamaria is pulled back to the gravity of their surroundings as she watches Nate leave. He doesn't falter or return, and something feels off in the air. As she looks at her father, she can see the way he works his jaw, and her own suddenly sets too. Was something wrong? Why wasn't he saying anything?

That is, until her mother's voice breaches through and Kamaria's face turns to regard her mother. Her hair, which has fallen out of place, is smoothed over with a loving touch only a mother could give. But the subject matter is a suddenly stark contrast, and Kamaria gulps down her worry. "No... what did they do?" She murmurs in answer, gaze only wavering when Sunjata does finally speak.

Her head shakes almost immediately, brows pinching. Not again, she thinks. Too young for tattoos, too young to explore on her own. Too young, everyone says. But here is her mother, willing to overlook that to tell her something vital - something important about someone important. "No- no, I'm not. Tell me, please," she pleads, almost desperate for it, "I can hear the story."

Soaring doves and falling crows
Laughter is the only sound here

sweet dreams till sunbeams find you, sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

"Perhaps." Safrin agrees, looking up toward Sunjata even as she cuddles their daughter close. "And she might have had time to grow up before hearing it, if you did not share your bed with one of her demigods." So much that they might have protected the young girl from, if only Sunjata had not welcomed doom in her life.

'Well, once, long long ago, the Voice strayed away from everything good and right in the world. She believed herself to be more clever than Rae and thought she could make life on her own. Can you imagine what Vi must have thought? All the centuries that he has worked, to have a woman hardly more than a teenager, decide she knew better?" Tutting, the goddess shakes her head as she strokes Kamaria's hair. "She killed thousands in a war that happened a long, long time ago. She is a very bad person. And Nate?" With a weary sigh, Safrin frowns sadly. Even so, her eyes flick coldly to Sunjata. Because like or not, not a word she was about to say was untrue.

And he knew it.

"One day your daddy came to me and asked me to protect Nate. I said I would, that I would keep him safe. Only Nate did exactly what the Voice did long ago. He thought he knew better. So he gave himself over to the bad woman, and now? Now she can see through his eyes and hear through his ears. She can move his fingers if she wants to." Can kill a child while she sleeps in her bed. Safrin adds silently, for Sunjata's benefit. "So you see my love, when he is around, it is like the Voice is around." Tugging her closer, the goddess presses a gentle kiss to her forehead.

It might be worthwhile to lead with someone else. You have had so much to deal with, and things will only get worse the closer we are to war. I vowed to you that I would never set you against Nate and that is true. But as Governor, you have responsibilities to your people, and if we are to keep them safe, the lines between Torchline and the ascended cannot remain as blurry as you have allowed.

but in your dreams whatever they be, dream a little dream of me

i closed my eyes and saw my father's sins, they covered me like a second skin
i peeled them off, and sure i bled a bit, but now i'm free to sink my own damn ship

He remains still, eyes trained to the floor, working his jaw in silence as Safrin speaks, as Kamaria wishes to be told the story and Sunjata knows he’s absolutely incapable of preventing her from sharing it with their daughter. So all he can do is listen, staring at the floor, swallowing his frustrations and upset until he can feel a burn of acid in his throat, irritating the already inflamed edges.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have heard the Voice’s story, because it’s surprisingly relatable to Sunjata — having wanted to get out from under his father’s thumb, for thinking that he knew better and could make Korofi a better place. But he shuts down those thoughts as soon as they’re even combined in his mind.

It helps that the conversation shifts to Nate, it gives him something else to focus on, a protective urge to ignore what Safrin says is largely the root of the issue he finds, though, shifting uncomfortably on his feet, his shoulders taking on a rapidly changing mix of feathers and plated scales. Torn, that’s what he is.

His head lifts, still unable to look to his daughter and her mother, instead picking the window over the shoulders of them, wondering how quickly darkness would befall them all. But Safrin’s voice cuts in and Sunjata’s immediate response is to ask if Safrin can do the same to him with the mark on his rib, with the tattoo on his chest.

But that wouldn’t be seen as a bad thing in Kamaria’s eyes, to have Safrin’s influence wherever they went.

He’s bitter about all of it, truthfully, and he bites his tongue to the best of his ability. I don’t trust anyone else. He tells her openly, flatly, as if it matters at all because something tells him it doesn’t. You vowed you would never set me against him. Is this any different? Firmly rooting myself here and drifting further and further away from him? He winces at being unable to bite his tongue from that, only to sigh and drop his gaze to the floor. I am tired, Safrin. The last person I trusted betrayed me and harmed my governing because of it. I can’t let anyone else in. A spark of honesty, muddled against his outburst.

i cut my branch down from my family tree to start a fire in the living room

SUNJATA

Kamaria

I would rather stay here
Where the moon, it glows

Kamaria listens to her mother's words, hanging onto each and every one of them. Her fingers absent-mindedly fasten around the fabric of her dress, kneading and twisting it in a nervous tic as she listens. Only the idle stroking of her mother's hand is enough to keep her from getting truly upset, and she finds herself leaning into Safrin's shoulder.

She's disappointed. Life had seemed so hopeful and the world so big, so wide and open. Now, it's been corrupted by something dark and arcane. The world is still big, but the world she can roam has been narrowed substantially. Tears form in her eyes and she fights to hold them back, her lips quivering with the attempt as Safrin presses a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"But..." her eyes search her mother's face for another way, "Nate would never hurt me - or Daddy. He's a part of our family. Can't you protect us from the Voice?" She glances at Sunjata, too, and she's hoping one of her parents will say yes - so that they don't have to shut Nate out of their lives. Her heart wrenches just at the thought of that.

Soaring doves and falling crows
Laughter is the only sound here

sweet dreams till sunbeams find you, sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

Wallowing does not become you. Safrin thinks coldly. Nor does stupidity. She adds, even as she presses another kiss to Kamaria's head. I have not set you against anyone. You have a responsibility as Governor. If your relationship with Nate is in conflict with that, then step down. Her logic is cold and clear. You grew roots here, deep and true. Roots that Nate helped water and watch grow. It is not on me or you that he has traded a watering can for pruning shears. He chose to give himself fully to the Voice. Perhaps it is the colour of his thoughts, his loathing and his sympathy for the Voice that has made Safrin bristle so. Trust? I never said anything about trust. You continue to let your personal life mingle with your duties. With Nate, with Hotaru. Should the Flood continue to think with his heart and cock rather than his head, he would find himself in a world more hurt than he ever thought possible.

And to answer your question, no. I do not control you through the etchings on your skin. I do not listen in virtue of the gifts I have given. But perhaps you would like to see what it is life to live free of me altogether? Sunjata had been hers before he had been Nate's, and she, his. But if he was so keen to rebel and whine and blame, perhaps it was time for him to learn the truth of his situation.

"I tried, my sweetest star." Safrin whispers as her fingers hold Kamaria's tightly. "Nate might not, but Nate is no longer just Nate. He has given himself to the Voice, and that means she is always a part of him. Both your Daddy and I tried to protect you from the Voice, but Nate let her in. So long as he is around, he will too. " The words are said sadly as Safrin frowns down at her daughter. 'I wish he hadn't done what he did.' She adds with a sigh, pressing her cheek against the top of Kamaria's head and hugging her close.

but in your dreams whatever they be, dream a little dream of me