whatever lies beyond this morning

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

Flight does not come naturally to her, but open skies and a determination that burns like coals in her throat, scorching every breath, is enough to transcend novice capabilities. She flies till the morning has come, Halo far behind her.

Hotaru knows she could stop, bed down, try to sleep - all in the hopes that her last words to Remi had made it through to him. But she can’t even fathom sleeping now. Not when she doesn’t know what became of Noah and Deimos, or the citizens huddled in the barracks. Had they heard their warnings through the Attuned link? Was the dragon still destroying what it could of Halo? Had blood touched those snowy corridors because she had fled?

The winds that had tossed her against the mountains however couldn’t care less about the plans and emotions that fight for space in her mind. There is only the burden of injury and pregnancy. As such by time the sun is high and scorching, Hotaru is too exhausted to continue much of anything. Even her thoughts seem weighted.

The golden hawk lands in the sand, wings scattering granules haphazardly as she impacts roughly upon it, talons scratching scars. Then in a moment she is a woman again, to deter any predators with her larger form. Each breath heaves with exertion, skin already damp with sweat. Her body aches, bloodied feathers becoming lacerated skin. Her belly twinges, and one hand clutches at it, the grit of sand digging into her palm not dissuading her from feeling for the movement inside. The following exhale shakes pathetically.

There is little shelter, but what she’d found from overhead is enough shade to get her into the realm of sleep. Pulled under by blackness that resolves into the sands of Torchline once more. The same place she’d last seen. Hotaru runs, barefoot and weightless in this dream, and though she is uninjured here there is a wildness to her face that speaks of urgency as she crosses the threshold. “Remi?” She goes to him, and with a thought the landscape changes to as close a replica her sharp mind can manage, frozen in time. Sunjata - or who she thought it was - in dragon form, Morgan and Nate astride. The toppling tower. “They brought a fucking dragon to Halo in the night. Noah thought Neron was there as well, but I didn’t see anyone else - but an Ascended can take Attuned forms through the bite, so this may have been exactly what we feared. Morgan preached neutrality as she arrived, but she just took Halo with Ascended force.” Nostrils flaring with controlled rage, the Valkyrie’s cheek feathers with the clench of her teeth. This is information Remi needs to know both as a leader of the Greatwood and as Ludo’s demigod. “I don’t know what became of Noah or Deimos but I made it as far as Hak Etme.” A land whose name she’d learned from Wessex, and though the woman’s presence there is something she is unaware of, the memory still twinges painfully. Below her feet the snow bleeds into sand.

“We told the people to flee to the Greatwood if they could.” If they wanted. The whole thing is a mess, but she is too practical to focus on herself first - news of the invasion and the pending influx of displaced souls in the Greatwood came first. She may not be Warden already, but it wouldn’t stop her from protecting what she considers hers. There will be time to tell him of her injuries, of the cramping. But getting the word out is most important.

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

They'd been together until they hadn't; parted with words that left him feeling cold and on edge for the rest of the day: something's wrong. With the baby? With Hotaru? With Halo? Until the Valkyrie fell asleep again, he had no way of knowing.

In and out of consciousness all day that he might be available the second Hotaru fell asleep, Remi appears instantly before her as she calls out to him. That she is here at all, that the dreamworld is coherent and not muddled was a good sign. From having been in Finn's dreams on more than one occasion, Remi was familiar enough with the signs of trauma and drugs to assume neither were at play here. Not in large amounts, anyway. Stretching out his hands for her to draw her close, the Lullaby turns as sea and sand melt away to darkness and lightning. "Is that...?" He asks of the dragon, having seen Sunjata in shift before, before she explains that it might not necessarily have been.

Pressing his palms to her cheeks both to calm the tension there as much as to capture her gaze, he means to ask her where she is. Noah and Deimos are not his problem, nor are Morgan and Halo. "Okay." He whispers. "That is not far." Not that it matters. "I can come to you now. Were you followed? Is there anything you need?" Though Remi's voice is calm enough, there are dull vibrations in the sand and snow that speak of his thundering pulse. Panic now won't do either of them any good, but still confusion and an always-close fury colours the sea and sky.

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

His hands, more solid than anything they can create here, at warm and strong beneath her own as they reach to pull her in. It is an anchor that holds her to the earth, even as it shifts and changes from wooden boards to snow to sand. Is this habit, now? Will he always be there when times seem most tumultuous for her? Selfishly, Hotaru hopes so, if only because his mere presence seems to slow the adrenaline in her veins.

“I don’t know whether to hope it is him, or it isn’t.” Grim and pale, her lips thin. One is obviously a better answer for all of Halo and Caido, but the other would hurt in a far more personal way. His hands leave hers for a moment and she is bereft, lost in a sea blanketed by dark skies that steal all sense of direction. Until they return, cupping her face, and the blackness is broken by the green of his eyes. Her hands shake, golden lashes blinking a little too fast, too frequently, but hiding her overwhelm would mean looking away from Remi’s eyes, and that’s a sacrifice she isn’t willing to make.

With the rest of the world drowned out as he holds her, it’s easier to let her mind narrow in kind. The words, from there, seem to be pulled from her like string wrapped around his finger. “I wasn’t followed. But the wind at the base of the mountains was too rough for me to fly, so I’m a little injured.” A wry grin distracts from the wetness of her eyes. “Told you I needed lessons.” Breath trembles as it enters her lungs, ashamed of her emotions, even heightened as they are by her pregnancy. “If the cramps are contractions…they might come early. I’m scared.” A tear slips stubbornly past her lashes, collecting in the small space where Remi’s skin presses against her cheek. What if she failed after all, like the spirit said she would? What if she lost this last precious chance?

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

"You will be alright." The alchemist whispers fiercly. Such was the brutal drive of one such as Remi, powerful and immortal. Whether or not he was ignorant of the fact that while he might be able to bully the world into leaving him alone that the same could not be said for those unfortunately caught in his orbit, if he was simply too stubborn to see it, was entirely up for debate.

That she wasn't followed, that she had the sense of mind to make a joke very nearly has Remi relaxing. That is until she mentions the cramps. Cramps which might in fact be contractions. Somewhere in the glacial blur that suggests a horizon line, an icy thunder begins to roll and dissolve the world.

"Wh—" Biting back on stupid questions that neither of them have time for, Remi stiffens with determination and feral grit. "Okay. Okay." Are the reassuring words for him, or for her?

"I can take you right to Vai." He offers. Ronin could heal, but would he? Just now, with the state of everyone such as it was, Remi didn't want to put his husband in a position where he was forced to say yes or no.

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

Tense shoulders buckle beneath the ironclad surety of his words. She shouldn't believe in it - not because she believes Remi could not bend as much of the world to his will to ensure it, but because historically Hotaru has never felt she could trust in such vows. But she does. She trusts him, so deeply it scares the shit out of her on any other day. Right now, she clings to the roil of thunder in the distance, the strength that lies just out of reach in his gentle hold on her face.

Hotaru knows her words are jumping, explanations disjointed and half-spoken, but he follows along as if reading written word. And just like that the problem has been taken from her hands. Another tear crests her cheek, and she wonders if his magic works here in this dream world. If he can feel the relief, the gratitude, even the disbelief that he simply exists the way he does; loyal, helpful.

"We've got this, yeah?" Her grin is a little shaken, but it's clear even this can't bend the iron frame she's built upon. Ru's hands come to cover his own. "A little early but that's okay." Taking a page out of his book, unclear who the phrase is meant to comfort. Handing him the reins, and letting go control for now. That strength will be needed later, she's sure of it.

but baby i've been here before; i've seen this room and i've walked this floor

"We do." Is it a lie? Wishful thinking? Optimism? Naivety? Remi doesn't know, nor does he care. There are lives at risk just now: Hotaru's, and two others that fit snugly together inside of her belly.

"I'll go and let Vai know that we are coming this time, but I will not be gone long. When you awake, you will be back in her bed, in the Greatwood." Though Hotaru has said she wasn't followed and that she was safe, though Remi said he wouldn't be long, still there is one more quick precaution he might take.

Pressing his lips to her forehead and giving her a reassuring squeeze, the alchemist blows away the storm clouds that snarl on the horizon that Hotaru might enjoy a peaceful dream while she waits. In the world of the living, Remi appears next to her body and shifts. A thick circle of manticore urine should provide enough of a deterrent for anything that tries to come near to the sleeping woman.

~FIN