[SE] don't know if I like that

JACK

"What the fuck...?"

It isn't the norm, per say, for Jack to sound confused or outraged while the Ark is sailing peacefully through the night skies, but whatever shitfuckery is going on at Melita's Spire has managed it. Standing at the helm, the captain has - despite the Honeybee attempting to start a fight and steal shoes at a festival - deemed Mel's behaviour as good enough to shoot cannons at the black obelisk on their way out of the Grounds.

Only it's not just the Spire to contend with, he notes as it comes into view. All around - some are even landing on the Ark's main mast - spiders literally float through the air, the sheen of their webs starting to catch on the ship's sails, much to Jack's annoyance. "You didn't say there'd be bugs out here."

romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic
and recommended

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

“Man, I’m so sick of this shit,” came along from her moody, capricious, mercurial standpoint by the cannons. She hadn’t been able to steal any shoes or beat Talyson up at the latest opportunity, and now…

Now there were fucking spiders in the air.

“Yeah well, I’ve never seen these before either.” Gesturing towards the floating arachnids, maybe suggesting it was Jack’s fault, she simply rolled her eyes. Fangorn had already taken to eating some that had landed on the deck, snagging at them with his vines and gobbling them whole with great relish. Sila side-eyed them, before batting at a few with her claws. “I can set them on fire,” Melita readily volunteered, already beginning to draw her bow.

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JACK

"An' you think that I have?" Gesturing right back at the spiders gathering on the Ark as if to suggest that this is, in fact, Melita's fault, Jack grumbles a curse under his breath. In the meantime, whilst Fangorn and Sila do their part, Seven has also prowled out to partake in the arachnid massacre. Cats eating spiders has always seemed simultaneously fitting and repulsive to the captain, so he leaves her to it and turns his attention to the present fire hazard that is Melita.

"Not on the ship you can't," he says curtly, nodding out towards the Spire and the spiders visible in the air between it and the Ark. "Might manage to hit a few of 'em while you aim at that thing, though." For his part, Jack is using his air magic to whisk the spiders off the mast and into the waiting claws and jaws of their companions. Teamwork and all that.

romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic
and recommended

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

Maybe, she thought mulishly to herself, picturing Jack amidst all kinds of other adventures in the clouds – adding the image of gigantic spiderwebs hitting his face. With this obnoxious thought, she settled for putting her bow away, and angling back towards the cannons. “Don’t mind if I do,” she hummed, as if she’d been looking for a myriad of excuses to shoot at that damned obelisk, and now she had enough.

Sila and Fangorn managed quite well, and the gourd seemed to encourage Seven as well with his waving vines, grabbing at a few more and stuffing them briskly into his eerie, grinning mouth.

Meanwhile, the Honeybee readied one of her favorite weapons (a difficult thing, really, when she had so many), loading the metal and patting the armament faithfully. “Get ready,” she announced to anyone in the vicinity (as a warning).

And then there was the telltale boom as it fired and launched.

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JACK

Most of Melita's thoughts about him are obnoxious, in fairness, and so Jack busies himself lighting a cigarette while she loads the cannon, continuing to surreptitiously fling spiders at the gourd and the feline on the deck behind him. Seven is having a whale of a time, at least, though as the Honeybee calls out, she wisely darts into a large loop of rope, as if to hide from the sound of cannon fire.

Jack, on the other hand, merely raises his hand to cover his ears, and as the muffled boom echoes through the air and the Ark shudders beneath his feet, he can't help but smile. They might be Mel's cannons but this was still his ship, and they can both agree (he imagines) that she's a good one.

The cannon ball does a marvellous job of taking out a bunch of cloud spiders and their webs, but alas, it falls a little short of the Spire. Tsking under his breath, the captain signals for the ship to swing closer. Because suddenly now he wants to see this happen too. "Again," he tells Melita.

romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic
and recommended

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

Both Sila and Fangorn were completely unbothered by the sound and boom of the cannon, as they lived with the Honeybee and likely experienced all wake of explosions, fire, and ridiculous antics throughout each day. While they tended to the spiders remaining on deck, Melita watched as the cannon went sailing…sailing…

And fucking missed the Spire.

She should’ve been able to predict it, to be fair, but at least it had taken out some arachnids before falling to the earth. Staring and sneering at the giant obelisk, and everything it had represented over the years, she began reloading the weapon, for once adhering to Jack’s orders with little argument. “I’ll get you this time,” she whispered like a vicious promise, waiting until the ship had swung closer.

And then she released the weapon, and fired once more.

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JACK

Only marginally aware of Seven prowling back out from the rope loop to return to the spider-hunt, Jack flicks the ash from his cigarette and draws up beside Melita to watch as she reloads the cannon with an expertise that he can't help but find impressive. How many years has she been on the Ark now, he wonders? Long enough to become part of the furniture (and indispensable, but he doesn't like to think about that).

Full believing the vicious whisper she delivers to the Spire, Jack's eyes are pinned on the black tower as Mel fires for a second time. She obliterates at least three large cloud spiders en route, and although it slows the progress of the cannon somewhat, this time, success. A distant sound like a thunderclap signals the hit, and chunks of obsidian can be seen tumbling from the side of the Spire. "More like it," Jack says by way of congratulations, even as the crew adjust to take them out of the Grounds now.

"Reckon you've got one more shot, if you want."

romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic
and recommended

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

She watched with the same predacious intent one might find in an Attuned, long since adapted to emboldened, audacious modes of survival and destruction. Get things before they could get you. Her eyes were pinned to the spiders, obliterated as the cannon blasted through, and then, to the vicious boom as it hit the Spire.

A wild semblance came over her – a loud whoop of glee, a semblance of pride, because gods hadn’t she hated that stupid, fucking thing and all it represented, and wouldn’t it be glorious if it would just topple over into the dirt – only to be followed by that same Cheshire grin. “Fuck yeah, you piece of shit,” she uttered to the obsidian wake still managing to stand.

At the offer of another hit, she nodded enthusiastically, racing back over to the cannon and loading it once more. Her fingers might have trembled out of sheer excitement, but she didn’t give a care, and remained efficient in her muscle memory. “Come on then,” was another whisper, and a steady pat was given to the beast as she released it once more.

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JACK

Wincing away from the firework of celebration that is Melita on the heels of a success, Jack waits for her to calm down enough to go and reload the cannon before he allows himself his own small smile. There's always something satisfying about hitting something with a cannon, and given that they're taking out cloud spiders and some massive obsidian dick-in-the-sky, all the more so.

The captain watches with a calculating eye as the Honeybee takes her shot, leaning against the rail of the ship and perhaps even privately hoping to see another chunk of the Spire fall. And luckily for the both of them, Mel's aim strikes true, and amid another shower of spider legs (gross) a distant boom precedes a scattering of black rock.

"I think we've found a new practice target for you," he drawls, his crooked smile almost proud. "That's enough, though. We gotta get these bugs off the sails."

romancing yourself is possible, narcissistic
and recommended

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

Others would find her rampant need for destruction a little alarming; but gods, it felt good to watch chunks of that obsidian bastard fall to the ground. Audible booms and strikes echoed across the land, and the Honeybee was damned to be smug for at least a week. A representation of all their struggles with that particular building, of the Voice and her power, might, and control – the only thing that could’ve been better was if it had fallen. Maybe the Grounds could keep at it, use the parts for something other than an ostentatious dick-in-the-sky.

Patting the cannon again, a sigh of satisfaction ran through her, a wave of utter, feral delight. “Yes please,” she echoed again, the Cheshire grin still in place as she turned to Jack. Not even bothered by the notion of having to clean bugs off sails, the moment would continue to revolve around her mind – and the need for more.

{FIN}

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life