{SE} until you're in my arms again

Cordelia

let us go
where the wild things grows

Cordelia slips through the people, a basket of supplies in the crook of her arm, boots crunching through the snow as she presses forward. The wind bites at her skin, lessened by the buildings, but cutting none the less. She tugs her hood up a bit more around her face, blinking through the bit of snow that falls and clings to her lashes. Finally she reaches the building she's looking for, pulling open the door and quickly darting inside, knowing better than to let the warmth inside out.

She finds an empty table to work out, setting her basket down and carefully laying out the supplies she brought with her for her lantern. Not paying much mind to those around her as she sets to work.

let us go
where time runs slow

code by sky

It was that time of year again.

Tal scowled as he made his way through the streets, shouldering his small pack self-consciously against the lightness of it. The supplies didn't weigh much at all, but it was the weight of what was missing that made his steps slow.

He paused outside a familiar door, glancing up at the weather-faded sign, and more by impulse than design he followed another person in, shutting the door firmly behind them. Snow stamped from his boots and hood thrown back he looked around for an empty table, but the man ahead of him took the last one. Pale eyes lit on a recently-met head nearby, however, and he shuffled awkwardly over to where Cordelia sat.

"Hey, uh... can I sit here, too?" He started to reach up to rub the back of his neck awkwardly and then winced as snow from his mitten slid down his back instead.

Cordelia

let us go
where the wild things grows

Lifting her eyes as Talyson approach, Cordelia nodded easily, a small smile curling at her lips before she focused back on her supplies. "Of course." The Attuned murmured, picking up one of the pressed flowers she'd brought back with her from King's End, delicately holding it between her fingers, drawing in a breath. "It seems like this Deepfrost will be rough." She said quietly, voice barely audible over the quiet din of the tavern.

The hunter wasn't the best at small talk, but if there was something that the people of Halo could always talk about, it was the weather. Did you see how much snow we got? Way more than this time last year. Game is going to be thinning out soon. Weather, snow, hunting, ice... Around and around they went.

let us go
where time runs slow

code by sky

"Thanks." Mumbled gratitude and an awkward smile, before Tal took off the heaviest outer layer to hang on his chair. Mittens came off next; he was going to need his fingers for the project ahead. He started started unpacking his own supplies, laying out slats of light, pale wood and sheets of waxed paper with exacting neatness according to size.

"Always is," he agreed laconically to her comment on the weather while he organized his side of the table. "The dome should help, though." Thank Frey for that much. He slid his eyes across the table to see what she was working on and frowned, chewing his lip fiercely in thought. "You're... a hunter, right? Your whole family does?" He could have sworn he'd heard that at some point, though he was terrible with names.

Like a self-contained blizzard, a white dragon snarls overhead with an ursur clutched between its claws. Flying towards the high cliffs that no doubt are its home, it’s probably a good thing that it already has its dinner for the evening, lest you have become its meal.

---

You’ve encountered a White Dragon. This counts as a rare creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements. You may not kill your rare creature without admin permission.

White Dragons (Rare/mythical): Living in underground tunnels that are warded with ice and snow, white dragons hoard treasure and anything they deem beautiful. Often this means that one might find gold, gems, and frozen humans stored in their caves. They can speak the basic common tongue and can communicate telepathically with the attuned, though they are secretive, vain, and usually aloof and unhelpful.

Cordelia

let us go
where the wild things grows

Cordelia watched quietly as he took off his heaviest layer, lips twitching into a slightly smile, pausing in her own work to pick up the hot mug of cider. She sipped slowly, fingers thawing against the heated ceramic, "Of course... There's extra cider." Her head tipped towards the jug and extra mug for him to help himself as he spread out his supplies. Ah, he was making a lantern too, it seemed.

Before she had a chance to answer, Cordelia felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, making her freeze. Eyes darting around for the source of her sudden unease, the wind picks up outside and there is the unmistakable roar of a dragon outside of the window, soaring overhead and towards the mountains. "What the..." She trailed off, disbelief clear in her voice, wondering why it had dared to come so close.

let us go
where time runs slow

code by sky

"Thanks! That'll hit the spot." Tal bobbed his head in awkward gratitude as he reached for the jug--

The roar sent an atavistic shiver down his spine, but it didn't stop him from turning to look out the window, watching the dragon fly towards the heights with its hapless prey. "Oh, fuck," he breathed. He didn't return to his seat until the beast was long gone, and not making some surprise attack on the Citadel.

He'd heard about what happened in Stormbreak, after all.

"Well that's a great fuckin' sign," he grumbled, settling slowly back into his chair and pouring a mug of cider with shaking hands. "What are the chances?"

Cordelia

let us go
where the wild things grows

She winces, clutching the mug to her chest, holding her breath as she kept her eyes locked on the dragon. Much like he did, her eyes didn't leave it until it was long gone. Dragons were always a risk, but the thought of dealing with one of them on top of everything else was too much for the hunter. "Like I said... Bad winter ahead." Cordelia mutters, taking a sip of her cider in an attempt to soothe her nerves. It doesn't help all that much. It's something, though.

Cordelia sighs, setting her cup down and returning her attention to the lantern before her, starting to piece it together, "To answer your question... I am a hunter. Corelia Limore. I don't think I properly introduced myself." Her father was well known, after trading in town and organizing hunting parties. Parties that she was typically a part of.

let us go
where time runs slow

code by sky

All he could do was nod grimly and sip at his own cider, waiting for the shaking to subside.

A conversation was a good distraction, even if he was usually terrible at them. He tried, though, nodding in recognition of her name. "Ooooh. Got it." Tal knew of the Limores, of course. Seawright's Sundries had traded often enough with the her father over the years for pelts and other things. And speaking of which... "Uh. Talyson Seawright," he offered back a few seconds later than was entirely smooth. "But just Tal is fine. My sisters run the store now, not me."

He looked down at his supplies and took a deep breath, beginning to slide the wooden slats into the grooves cut for the purpose.

Cordelia

let us go
where the wild things grows

That name was familiar too. She knew the Seawrites since she was a little girl, recalling going to the shop with her father multiple times, helping to carry their goods inside and the supplies they got in turn out. A small smile curls on her lips. ”I remember you. You used play behind the counter when we came into the shop.” Cordelia was a bit older than him, but only by a few years and she’s surprised that the memory stuck, but it did.

Her eyes dip down to the lantern he’s working on as she begins to glue the dried flowers to her own waxed paper. ”Who are you making your lantern for?” She asks softly, nodding her head towards the wooden slats in his hands.

let us go
where time runs slow

code by sky

Tal blinked and then scowled down at his supplies in embarrassment at being remembered from his childhood. A betraying flush crept up his neck and ears and he cleared his throat instead of responding properly.

The question, when it came, was an almost welcome distraction from the distant past. The more recent past was more painful, but less personally awkward, at least. Tal began working on the second side of his lantern with deft fingers clearly used to working with wood and delicate assemblies. "My parents," he said simply. "It's been a couple years, now. Three, for dad. Two for mom." He finally looked up, nodding at Delia's own handiwork. "What about you?"

Cordelia

let us go
where the wild things grows

She knows that if he’s said something about her own childhood she’d likely have reacted the same way. Delia was a fairly shy girl by nature, often keeping to herself and feeling incredibly awkward with her distinct lack of “girliness”, especially growing up. Her smile is soft and she doesn’t push when he doesn’t acknowledge the memory.

A soft sight instead pushes past her lips, ”My cousin Aino. She’s been missing for some time and well…” Typically when someone disappears in Halo, they don’t come back. It was just the way of things. ”It’s been about a year.” Her voice is quiet, barely audible over the din. It’s the first time she’s really said it out loud. It always makes it more real when that happens.

let us go
where time runs slow

code by sky

Tal strained his ears to hear, but the story wasn't unfamiliar, at least in its broad strokes. People went missing for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes they were found again - rarely alive - but most of the time the mystery remained to haunt those left behind. "Sorry," he said, gruffly sympathetic. "Were you close?" Cousins, aunts, uncles... extended families could be close as siblings or feuding worse than sworn enemies.

Though Tal winced when he thought about why anyone would bother making a lantern for someone they weren't close to. "Uh... sorry. Dumb question," he mumbled, fingers stuttering a little as he added another side to the lantern's skeleton and began to fit the final one together. "Do you want to, um, talk about her?" An offer made more from guilt at his verbal stumble than any more altruistic reason, but sincere enough in spite of that.

Cordelia

let us go
where the wild things grows

Cordelia was quiet for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as she takes a breath, ”We were close. She was like my sister.” More than a cousin. She was family and family was everything, but it went beyond just marriage or blood. Cordelia shakes her head, pressing another flower into place, eyes downcast as he offers her a chance to speak. ”I left Halo for a time and I- I can’t help thinking if I was here she wouldn’t have gone off.” To do gods knows what. Cordelia honestly couldn’t say. Her shoulders lift again, shrugging as words fail her again and she’s left to simply press another flower into place.

”What about your parents? Was it natural or..?” It was sometimes rude to ask, but in Halo it was so fucking common it just kind of came with the territory.

let us go
where time runs slow

code by sky