[se] top of the world

Technically this isn't actually their first time at the Cordillera's summit, but Ronin has carefully extracted as many of those memories from his mind as he can in the seasons after. Still, as they arrive on wings near frozen from the frigid temperatures, it's only the fact that they're in broad daylight (and it's a clear, sunny day) that gives him the stomach for it at all. "I saw them disappear after you pulled the Core out," Ronin is saying of Caido as he lands, folding his wings tightly around himself to ward off the chill. "I don't know where they went. But I always wondered if they were still up here..." Doing what, he doesn't know. Waiting? Watching over the regions? Taking a two century long nap? Huffing out a breath that fogs the air, he peers out across the mountain range. "At least the view is good." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

In a pair of matching sweaters knit from alpina wool, the demigods land near the place where the fate of all of Caido had been more or less decided without even a bit of pomp or circumstance. Looking like overly strong tourists as they look out over the mountain range, there are no dragons to challenge their arrival. Whether they're dead or simply wary from last time is anyone's guess. And as for Caido?

"We should have started a rumour that Caido disappeared into me when I touched the Core." Remi says slyly as he stands behind the Nova and reaches his arms around his husband's waist. Chin on his shoulder, the Lullaby also huffs out a white breath before pressing his cold nose against Ronin's cheek. "Mmm, the view is good." He agrees, though of course, it's the fey-blue of his husband's eyes that he's looking at instead of the mountain range.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

"Are you sure that would have been wise?" Ronin asks with a crooked smile over his shoulder. His wings melt away as soon as Remi's arms come to replace them, the Supernova leaning gently into his husband's embrace. "It would have encouraged a lot of people to come up here and speak to Caido-you. Some might have even made it to the houseboat." Squinting one eye as if that might somehow protect against the cold-nose-assault against his cheek, Ronin's smile softens and he turns his head to sneak a kiss along Remi's hairline. "We could have lived up here," he remarks, "if we really never wanted to be bothered again." For now though, there's the view, and there are lanterns. Ronin whistles his nimbus closer, the cloud holding the lanterns that make it to every Festival of Lights they've attended, though there are materials for new ones as well, should the Lullaby wish it. "Shall we?" RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

"I never said it would be wise." Remi replies smugly before the boyish twist to his lips suddenly reverse direction and slides into a frown. "Oh. See, I had in mind that they would have avoided me, or at the very least that I could have given them strange and unhelpful answers to their questions." It's what he assumed Caido would have done had they the opportunity to actually speak to the god. "If they made it to the houseboat there would absolutely be at least two dragons waiting to meet them." Remi says with a chuckle, imagining Ronin and Sugar standing guard, before immediately hating the idea altogether.

'Mmmmmmmmmmm.' Remi hums, tugging Ronin all the closer and shrugging. 'We really have not been bothered at all." By dragons and such yes, but that was the charm of living where they did. "Also, it just a good deal more nipply up here." He notes, before reluctantly letting Ronin go in lieu of lantern-making.

Of course they each had one for Aoife, and there were those for Vanya, an old one of Isla's, and Rexanna nestled on the nimbus. "I think I will make a new one for Enzo this year." The Lullaby says softly. Because of the time skip his grief, the one he'd made for his son the year past had been hastily made, and certainly Enzo deserved more than a lantern cobbled together in sadness.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Ah, you thought this was going to be a dragon encounter, didn’t you? As luck would have it, this animal is of the much more friendly variety: an alpina!

Nestled amidst the snow, one can only admire the beautiful gleam of their fur. Especially as it approaches you, head down and horns at the ready.

Maybe we lied about the friendliness. Best find an alternate route!

---

You’ve encountered an Alpina. This counts as a common 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.

Alpinas (common) - Alpine sheep that have magical fur. It never gets dirty and always keeps the wearer the perfect temperature. Though these creatures are not very smart, their curling horns and headbutt-first think-later attitude has knocked many and adventurer off a mountain.

"If you had really wanted to do something like that, I'd have made an elaborate suggestion box people could post their questions to. You could send out replies by raven." Or Sugar could take them. Either way, by the scrunch of Ronin's nose, he's equally as unimpressed by the idea now that they're saying it out loud, and much more inclined towards lantern making. "That sounds nice," he agrees with a soft smile, stepping back a few feet so they can find a place to make their lanterns out of the wind. "I'll touch up Aoife's, I think. It's been a while." The lantern is fashioned out of her old drawings, but that doesn't mean the frame couldn't use a fresh lick of paint and some extra structural protection. Of course, just as he's reaching for the lantern, here comes an Alpina, as if it's come to avenge its kindred that the Taliesins are currently wearing as sweaters. "You do not want to try that," Ronin warns the straight up Aries sheep as it plods closer and prepares to charge. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

"Sometimes I almost wonder if..." Pausing, Remi glances sidelong at Ronin with a curious expression. It's a mixture of anticipation and concern that has his eyebrows pressed inward and his lips pulled down slightly. "...putting up her lantern isn't a mistake." He knows it's a strange thing to say, and so with a small sigh the Lullaby continues with a gentle shake of his head. "I only mean that if Ludo chose her lantern...what would that be like, now? Would she be older? Would she just be a toddler?" Imagining all the sorts of ways she might be, the things she both would and wouldn't have seen - the fact that she hadn't been with Vanya as Safrin had promised - would it all come out?

Glancing at the alpina, wonderfully camouflaged and looking as though it would make an excellent pair of mittens and some long socks, Remi looks from Ronin back to the alpina again and gives his head a slight shake. "Ohho, I would listen to him if I were you." Repeating his husband's warning, the Lullaby can only grin. "Besides, if it helps, the fae I bought these sweaters from says they were ethically sourced, so.."

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

As expected, the alpina doesn't really give a damn about whether the wool the two demigods are wearing is ethically sourced. It does care about self-preservation, though (funny, that) and just as it's about to charge them, the sudden glow of luxere antlers catches its eye. In a game of headbutting, Ronin is quite certain he'll win, and in this season he's absolutely capable of yeeting an alpina off the Summit using nothing more than a partial shift. And so, very wisely - but with a bleat of outrage that Ronin swears sounds a bit like I'll be baaaaack - the sheep skedaddles back down some rocky outcrop and is gone. Still adorned with his crown of antlers, it takes Ronin a moment or two to come back to himself, brows furrowed and gaze unimpressed, but eventually Remi's comments make it through his thick skull. "Ah..." Sighing softly, he gazes down at the lantern in his hands, and the sorrow that suddenly clouds his expression makes him seem older and more tired. "I have to," he admits in a near whisper. "I wasn't there, the day she..." He shakes his head. "So I have to put this up every year. Even if I only see her again for a second..." Clearing his throat as if having just realised the grief he's about to tumble back into, Ronin gives Remi a gentle nudge. "If her lantern did get chosen, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to look." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

Despite the relatively weighty comments he'd been making, the Lullaby can't deny that thoughts of their departed children all but vanish in the wake of glowing antlers and a look of pure steel. It steals his breath, and were it not for the alpina's wise decision to back away, there was every likelihood that their lanterns would not have been finished anytime soon. Not if Ronin's blood had been roused any more than it already had, which would have necessarily done the same to the Lullaby.

Sighing out softly, the breath he'd been holding hitting the cold air in a hot and shaky stream, Remi swallows and ruffles a hand through his curls. Sobering instantly, the Lullaby stretches a hand around Ronin's hip to draw their bodies together. "That makes sense." Aoife's death day was one marked by blood and ice in the Lullaby's mind, and though Ronin was not not part of the memory, the pair certainly had markedly different recollections of those fateful hours. "I suppose if it ever did get chosen at least Flora and Mateo could see her too." Remi murmurs with a lopsided shrug; secretly the Lullaby wonders if Ludo intentionally pulled Aoife's lantern from the running, and if somehow Safrin pulled Vanya's. It was the only way to keep their secrets safe, after all.

Clearing his throat and inhaling deeply, Remi glances at the nimbus to see what supplies were on offer. 'Do you know where the festival is going to be held this year?'

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Melting without protest against the Lullaby, Ronin's arms fold around the other man (even if a little awkwardly, given that he's still holding the lantern) and he buries his nose against curls made cold by the high altitude. "Mm. I could never be so selfish as to keep her from her brothers and sisters," he agrees, giving Remi a gentle squeeze, equal parts gratitude and loss. Standing for a few moments more in the warmth of his husband's arms, the glow from his antlers casts them in a soft, warm light, and he almost imagines it's Longheat again. "I have no idea, honestly," he admits. "I don't even know where last year's was." They hadn't attended, so it hadn't registered as important to know the location. Releasing Remi at last and moving to sit down in the lee of one of the cliffs, the nimbus and its materials follow them over. "I heard Isla's lantern got chosen, though. She got to see Varus again." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

Brother and sister, Remi almost corrects, but doesn't. Some things didn't need to be said when they were so strongly felt, and so it was with a long sigh that Remi merely leans silently into the embrace.

"Mmmmmmm." Not wanting to be sucked back into the deep and painful months following the war, the Lullaby just bobs his head before following Ronin and sitting down at his husband's side. "Oh?" Brightening by degrees, not least at all because of Ronin's horns, Remi pushes his lips together in a small smile. "That is nice she got some closure. By the sounds of things though this last year and some has been anything but kind to her. She..." Glancing sidelong at the Nova, wondering how much to go into given what season it was, Remi continues on with an airy quality to his voice. "..caught feelings for Sunjata which he did not reciprocate, though I do not doubt it had something to do with Hotaru showing up at Flora's grand opening." It was pure speculation on his part of course, but given his current feelings for Isla as well as those he'd harboured for her in the past, he truly couldn't imagine anyone not falling in love with her, if given the chance.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

For his part, Ronin is certainly doing his best when it comes to the Remedy - not in small part because if it was any time but Leafchange, he'd be the opposite of bothered by it. Selecting a small pot of gold paint and a delicate brush, he sets about repainting the structural points of Aoife's lantern, hoping to make them sparkle anew. The work with his hands makes it easier still to listen to his husband, and he glances up at Remi as if to tell him not to stop on his account. "Oh shit, she did?" He winces. "I remember seeing them together at the Hanged Man. I wasn't really looking for Hotaru though, as you might imagine." The Valkyrie, on the other hand, will not be spared his feelings, which is exactly as hypocritical as it sounds. "It sounds as though your letter to yourself arrived exactly when it was needed most." Smiling, he does seem genuine, at least, as he gazes across at the Lullaby. "It's nice to see you leaving the mountain more." RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

Reaching for adornments which were both eye-catching and chic (not that Remi knew what chic was or looked like, but he was trying), the Lullaby meets Ronin's gaze, searches it for any indication that he ought to rein back this line of conversation, and nods. "Mhmm. At the time I absolutely thought that they were together." Just as Ronin hadn't been looking at Hotaru, neither had Remi wanted particularly to look at Sunjata or Isla, and yet it had seemed obvious enough that they were together.

Smiling a touch as he stole a bit of Ronin's gold paint to fleck starry-speckles on the deep sea-green of Enzo's lantern, the Lullaby hums a contented sound. "It did, and not just for my friendship with Isla. It was...shocking to say the least, to watch myself as I had been then, and then to see how much I changed." Rubbing at his cheek with one shoulder, Remi tilts his head to the side as his lips twitch slightly with all the things he'd said and done revealed to him through the serum.

"Nothing quite like seeing yourself grow into a grumpy asshole firsthand." He says with a chuckle before glancing at Ronin with a smirk.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

"You weren't the only one," Ronin says honestly; even if he hadn't particularly been looking for it either, he knows they aren't the only two in the Hanged Man to have assumed the same thing. "Granted, about halfway through the night I stopped looking or caring about other people." Who could possibly say why Remi? Surrendering the gold paint willingly, his tongue poking out in concentration as he tries to paint straight lines in an admittedly windy environment, Ronin nonetheless manages to rumble out a laugh in response to the other man's comments. "If anyone had a reason to grow into a grumpy asshole, it was you," he points out. "And for what it's worth, I always considered you a light in my life." He understands Remi's sentiment though, setting the lantern down to dry and smiling warmly to the Lullaby. "I think I'd like to take you on another date," he says suddenly. RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving