so stay with me, love

// now knowing how to think, i scream aloud, begin to sink
my legs and arms are broken down with envy for the solid ground //

The Labyrinth had always been a daunting place for Sunjata before he had all of his shifts. Turned around and lost upon multiple occasions at least now with the winged parts of his soul he’s able to depart this jungle of a maze without continuing to get deeper and deeper in the nightmare. He isn’t sure how they’ve gotten this deep yet either, passing a seemingly dead end with what appears to be a shrine – a space the Flood has never seen before, didn’t know existed.

They’d turned around to leave it, though, understandably, Sunjata’s steel gaze peeled for a spot he can snip a bit of the hedges for his safe haven, as well as trying to find a long lost sword, only to stumble across the shrine again. And so they’ve turned around again, Sunjata’s shoulder bumping into his husband’s as he focuses on the next new path they take, also searching for any glint of metal that might have been absorbed by the moving hedges.

“Flametongue was always better suited to you, I think.” He mumbles, huffing a soft laugh through the snow, his breath clouding in front of his face. “Don’t get me wrong, I like spice, but… The longer I held it the more it started to feel like I was trying to swallow lava.”

// i'm reaching for the life within me, how can one man stop his ending?
i thought of just your face, relaxed, and floated into space //

SUNJATA

// i don't wanna break but I did today
guess i only have myself to blame //

The Labyrinth shrine isn’t one that Nate tended to frequent for one very simple fact: it was a pain in the ass to get to. And yet somehow, he and Sunjata manage to stumble across it early in the day, almost before they’ve started going in circles. The Line Ranger ignores it and steps away against as quickly as possible,

“You're decent with spice.” Nate corrects with an entirely over the top arrogance, shaking his head a little. He turns them down a path that isn’t already crisscrossed with their footprints in the snow, not sure if they’re moving deeper into the labyrinth or not. “But I’m not sure you’re really a sword guy anyway.” Not that he himself was really, but a blade made more sense in his hands than in the once attuneds.

A fang worries at Nate’s lip, nearly piercing it as he thinks, a seriously inflection in his voice now. “Do you think we might find some of that herb?” He wonders, making another mostly fresh looking turn. “I dunno if it would grow, but if it does it might be worth having some.”

NATE

// now knowing how to think, i scream aloud, begin to sink
my legs and arms are broken down with envy for the solid ground //

“Decent?” Sunjata scoffs, a protest welling in his chest that he’s just about to let the flood gates open with when his husband continues and guides them further into the labyrinth. His lips part only to let his jaw snap shut as a laugh finds its way out of him. “Maybe not. I think I prefer a bow because it’s the closest thing we have to a gun here.” The latter half is said with an almost bitter taste – missing the little pistol he often carried back in Korofi. But it’s been a long time since then, a long while since he’d used a bow, too, so reliant upon his shifts for everything.

He steps a little closer to Nate, long legs picking up a bit of speed as he reaches out to intertwine his hand with his husband’s – as if to keep himself from getting lost among the snow (it would be hard to lose him, given his height and everything anyway, but truthfully he just craves the closeness after being “apart” for so long. “Maybe. I brought a couple jars with me. We could try?” He hums, letting his freehand dive into the leather bag hanging across his chest to produce three glass jars, all empty, and a pair of shears for cutting a bit of the maze. Why he's brought extra jars? In case they find anything else of interest besides the trim.

“Do you think the labyrinth is going to be upset I’m taking some of it?” Theoretically of course.

// i'm reaching for the life within me, how can one man stop his ending?
i thought of just your face, relaxed, and floated into space //

SUNJATA

// i don't wanna break but I did today
guess i only have myself to blame //

“Decent.” Nate repeats in as flat and dry a tone as he can manage. A smile pushes at the corners of his lips, trying to break pst the stubborn prison of his teeth to shine, but he holds it back for the moment. “And when we get home I’ll prove it.” Already he’s planning a meal to make Sunjata cry, though he remembers halfway through he doesn’t actually know what they have readily available in the VlamVloed.

The subject shifts before he can work himself up about it though, bows and guns framed by a thoughtful hum leaving the ascendeds throat. “Maybe a crossbow?” He suggests absently, squeezing Sunjata’s hand and stepping out in front of him so they can be face to face, Nate walking backwards. “Or a slingshot.” This suggestion is more of a tease, a smile breaking through the icy facade on Nate’s face and bringing with it a bloom of warmth. Nothing matters, nothing at all, so long as he can be here with his sunshine.

“Why would it mind?” Falling back into step beside his husband, Nate reaches his free hand out to drag his fingertips along the leafless branches of the hedge, rustling them as they pass. “It’s what everything wants, right? To live beyond itself. Spread out.” He snaps a dead twig off and focuses back on Sunjata, poking him in the cheek with it. “Don’t worry about it, Sonskyn.”

NATE

// now knowing how to think, i scream aloud, begin to sink
my legs and arms are broken down with envy for the solid ground //

“Oh you’ll prove it will you?” His voice dips into a playful suggestive purr, a crooked smirk crossing over toward the Ascended as they continue to dive deeper into the snow covered maze. But it falters ever so slightly with the idea of a crossbow, something that ironically hadn’t crossed his mind, but a thought that would suit him quite well the more he thinks about it.

A slingshot though? There’s a moment where Sunjata quite visibly rolls his eyes, bumping his shoulder into his husband’s and huffs a heavy sigh that’s warm enough it clouds his face. “No slingshot.” He says with an air of humor, refraining from letting the amusement slip from his lips as he focuses on every other weapon that was better than a slingshot.

Why would it mind, though? A number of reasons. All reasons that start to disappear as Nate lists out exactly what the labyrinth likely wanted (along with everything, apparently). “I suppose so.” He mutters before his face pinches, nose scrunching with the stick prodding his cheek. "Hey, rude." A huff of amusement leaves him as his hand rises to bat at Nate’s hand to try and knock loose the stick before he rounds into Nate’s space and blocks him from stepping further, crouching a moment later to start to sift through the middle of one of the hedges for a piece of it he can cut that hasn’t fully hibernated in winter. “It’s fuckin’ cold.” He whines from halfway into the hedge, reaching for the shears he’s brought with to cut the cutting with.

// i'm reaching for the life within me, how can one man stop his ending?
i thought of just your face, relaxed, and floated into space //

SUNJATA

// i don't wanna break but I did today
guess i only have myself to blame //

Through some obscene force of will, Nate manages to keep his face almost blank, apart from a light, distant curiosity. “No, huh? He asks, knowing his voice is too light and phong to be anything other than some kind of set up. “You don’t think you have what it takes to be a neighbourhood menace?” It’s here that Nate breaks, a loud laugh showing his shoulders.

“What’s rude?” Nate asks, wide eyed and innocent as he draws the twig out of knocking reach once, then growing cocky and coming in to poke Sunjata’s cheek again. He’s not so lucky the second time, the twig a casulty that’s forgotten all too soon. It’s hard to n be distracted by his husband stepping right out into his path, after all.

It’s not like Nate can be blamed though. Who could resist the allure of Sunjata’s ass after all? “I’ve got you, dikbek.” He teases, big hands wrapping around the Floods hips and squeezing, holding him still while Nate grinds them together with a breathless laugh.

NATE

// now knowing how to think, i scream aloud, begin to sink
my legs and arms are broken down with envy for the solid ground //

“I don’t have to think. I know I don’t.” He replies with another hum of a laugh, one that fades into a playful banter as he swats at his husband’s hand, trying to knock the stick away. He half debates responding to the question but decides against it as he steps into his husband’s space, effectively cutting him off as he finds a spot to reach in and cut a few pieces of the hedge.

What he doesn’t expect, though, is when wide hands wrap around his hips, an actual bark of a laugh leaving him that startles the speaking squirrels. “Do you?” The squirrel’s chittering continues as Sunjata tries to ignore the grind of his husband’s hips, snipping off a few of the pieces of the labyrinth before he uses all the strength he has within him, aiming to shove all his weight into Nate to knock him down.

// i'm reaching for the life within me, how can one man stop his ending?
i thought of just your face, relaxed, and floated into space //

SUNJATA

You hear a scream that seems to stop time and drain the colour out of the world. In the distance you see what appears to be a woman in a wedding dress, but of course…you know that’s not what it is. Lifting her head the banshee seems to lock her eyes on you and unless you back away now, she is likely to pursue you until she is able to choke the life from your body.

---

You’ve encountered a Banshee. 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.

Banshees (rare/mythical): They take the form of a skeletal lady wrapped in rags. Some wander the woodlands, singing a haunting melody. Others sit near streams and weep. Either way, disturbing these creatures will cause them to become very aggressive. They can pursue their prey seemingly without need for rest, and will strangle all those that they catch.

// i don't wanna break but I did today
guess i only have myself to blame //

“I guess that is more my look, huh? Died for it and all.” It is entirely too soon to be making jokes about his death, and entirely inappropriate to consider what had happened in Stormbreak ‘Neighbourhood Menacing’, but the amount of fucks Nate actually gave wouldn’t fill a fly’s condom.

Sunjata all but disappears into the bush and under Nate’s hands, the smirk more than audible in his long, slow drawl, and the long, slow push of hips. “Course I do. Can’t you feel me?” Nate’s hand has the unfortunate luck to make contact with his husbands asscheek in the same moment as a shriek shatters their relative peace.

Hands that had not been on Sunjata a breath earlier pull him bodily from the bush and behind Nate, the Lone Ranger squaring himself up just long enough for his husband to get to his feet. “Run?” He asks quietly over his shoulder, more than ready to stand his ground or book shit.

NATE

// now knowing how to think, i scream aloud, begin to sink
my legs and arms are broken down with envy for the solid ground //

He doesn’t know whether to laugh or not to the jest Nate makes and he’s lucky that his face is hidden from how far he’s got his head into the brush of the labyrinth. As for the next comment? Well, yes, he can feel him. And he certainly can’t keep the flush from his cheeks this time as he tries to shove back into Nate right at the time the scream hits him. Instead of panic, though, he does end up falling back onto his ass, shuffling to try and get his jar secured and to stand, huffing white clouds of breath in front of his face.

He stands with Nate’s help, twigs stuck in his hair and a leaf plastered to his cheek. He reaches for Nate’s hand, the Flood seeking the Lone Ranger’s touch in agreement of running. He doesn’t want to stay longer than necessary and he has the branches already. “Run.” Sunjata hums to Nate’s ear, giving his arm a tug before he starts bolting down the other path of the labyrinth trying to avoid the banshee at all cost.

// i'm reaching for the life within me, how can one man stop his ending?
i thought of just your face, relaxed, and floated into space //

SUNJATA

// i don't wanna break but I did today
guess i only have myself to blame //

"Running." Nate nods, and then with a laugh turns and drags Sunjata along the hedges, making a turn just as the banshee snarls behind them. A whoop leaves Nate, pressed out of his chest by excitement. It's met by another, quieter shriek from behind them, the sounds of pursuit growing quieter and quieter, though the Lone Ranger still turns them this way and that. He's not so much trying to get out as he is trying to get away, a focus so intense that when something in their latest path catches his foot, there is nothing Nate can do to stop himself from falling.

He could let go of Sunjata's hand to keep from tugging him down too, but where was the fun in that?

A grumble escapes Nate's lips as he pushes himself up, tugging Sunjata close to him to stem the tide of cold complaints he already knows are going to come. "You think we lost it?" He asks instead of anything else, leaning back to see what he's tripped over.

NATE

// now knowing how to think, i scream aloud, begin to sink
my legs and arms are broken down with envy for the solid ground //

He only manages to bolt so far, his husband’s strength tugging him along further, in ways that seem to be little to no sense to him. It’s not like it matters that much, there’s little fear for the Flood to be able to get out of the maze. But it’s still disorienting all the same.

At least the shriek of the banshee is further away now, little hopes of catching up to them at this point as far as he can tell. He lags behind Nate, laughing alongside his husband, unable to keep the Lone Ranger’s laughter from affecting him.

But then they trip and all he sees is Nate going down before he slips on the ice and follows suit, already preparing to fucking curse at the cold that bites into his exposed skin, peppering the less freckled face with more red. Nate’s damn right in tucking Sunjata in so that he doesn’t have a chance to complain, all attempts muffled in the little half growl half whine he buries into Nate’s chest before adjusting his attention.

“I think so.” He murmurs after a moment, attention drawn to the thing under the hedge that glints in contrast to the ice and snow. “Oh there’s the fucker!” He crows, half scrambling over Nate to reach in under the bush and pull out the spicy sword with a fair amount of triumph.

A bright cheery grin is shot at Nate, until the heat gets to him and he has to drop it onto the snow.

At least now they’ve gotten Flametongue back, and with the banshee far enough away they can continue on finding their way out of this mess until Sunjata stubbornly chooses to fly them out.

— FIN <3333

// i'm reaching for the life within me, how can one man stop his ending?
i thought of just your face, relaxed, and floated into space //

SUNJATA