[SE] fell from the pedestal right down the rabbit hole

Alys

Perhaps coming to the Frostfields in Deepfrost was inadvisable to some, but Alys and Ru had the protection of the Academy to ward off the deepest chill, and could dress in Halovian winter garments besides. Alys still favored the wardrobe that Ru had purchased for her all those moons ago, and today she'd dressed warmly in thick skirts and a jewel-colored cloak. She'd talked Ru into accompanying her to the Frostfields so that she could gather some inspiration for a new tarot deck she was in the middle of designing. The misty hoarfrost fields were perfect for her interpretation of Death: new beginnings, transformation, if only one could reach through the murky grey to find it.

Besides, it had been far too long since Alys had gotten any one-on-one time with her friend, and her cards had indicated some pretty big changes in Ru's life. Though she wasn't one to pressure anyone into divulging information they weren't ready to share, she hoped that they were close enough that Ru felt comfortable enough to confide in her.

"This should be good," she announced as they neared the outskirts of the Frostfields. "I just want to sketch out a general landscape, so we don't need to go too far in." Just in case, her bow was strung across her back and a quiver of arrows hung from her hip. She felt reasonably safe with Hotaru, but it was always best to be prepared.

funny how it all works out in the end
you dance with the devil and you lose your head

Hotaru

I know that I should have told you that I would die
Just to hold you

It has been far too long since she and Alys had a day alone together, and so when the seer had asked her to accompany her on a trip to the Frostfields, the Valkyrie had jumped at the chance. There is hardly any section of Halo she does not already know, but the Frostfields are almost unknowingly beautiful in winter.

Taking her guidance from Alys, knowing just how important gut feeling was to these things, Hotaru pauses the moment her friend stops in her tracks and turns back to join up with her. "Which card were you drawing again?" Beginning to set about making the area more comfortable, Hotaru melts the top layer of snow with her fire magic before utilizing her creation to set down a thick, waterproof blanket for Alys to sit on while she sketches.

Sitting as well, Hotaru pulls out her own journal - blue moleskin, bound and clearly well taken care of. She is making a list of things to prepare for LongNight, especially since she is planning to ask to spend it with Sunjata. Admittedly Hotaru doubts she has any reason to fear he will deny her, but it will be her first LongNight away from Halo in some years.

And if I just had my shit together I could be with you
But I'm too high on paranoia

Alys

Alys was so absorbed in surveying the landscape that she hardly noticed as Hotaru set about making their surroundings more comfortable. "Death," she murmured absently in response to her friend's question. "The card of transformation and change. Metamorphosis. Emerging from the void." She blinked as she came out of the almost trance-like state she'd been in as she looked out across the Frostfields, surprised by how cozy Ru had made things. "Oh," she said with a smile. "Thank you."

She joined Ru on the blanket, sitting cross-legged with her journal in her lap. "I was thinking that the Frostfields look like a blank slate, and that's kind of how I read Death," she mused as she pulled out some charcoal and began to sketch a few lines. "I'm going for a very nature-inspired deck. Lots of landscapes. Some animals." A lot of people used the butterfly for Death, but she wasn't a lot of people, and she wanted her cards to be unique to her interpretation. She glanced over at Ru, who had pulled out her own notebook. "What are you working on?" she asked, curious.

funny how it all works out in the end
you dance with the devil and you lose your head

Hotaru

I know that I should have told you that I would die
Just to hold you

Hotaru listens keenly, noting the far-away tone in Alys' voice and knowing she is somewhere Hotaru can't reach but equally unbothered by it. She accepts it easily as part of who Alys is, her sensitivity to nature and divination. When she returns to herself, Ru merely smiles at her from where she's already sitting on the blanket, eternally patient with those few who have earned her affection. "Of course. I expect we'll be here for a bit." No sense in standing about while drawing, or getting their clothes soaking wet.

Though she hasn't been asked her opinion, Ru hums contemplatively and shares it anyway. "When I died, or so I expect it was, it was quite reminiscent of this. A white, foglike void where time and space didn't have meaning - until the Voice pulled me through to Caido." She had never ended up on the other side of the portal with her family, as she had been told most had, so Hotaru had always assumed that was what had occurred.

Drawn back to her own notebook, she smiles sheepishly. "I'm considering what I want to prepare for LongNight. What I can't live without while it's safer to stay inside." Even without monsters roaming about, the absence of the sun could be disorienting, and Caido has no shortage of beasts and monsters. "I likely won't be spending it in Halo for the first time in years, so I want to be sure I have everything I need as well as what I want." For the two were, obviously, very different.

And if I just had my shit together I could be with you
But I'm too high on paranoia

You know how sometimes you step outside and the cold just catches your lungs? And you cough and gasp and desperately try to inhale more oxygen?

Congratulations! You probably just wandered into a breath snatch!

Yeah, that glittering cloud of glittering frost wasn’t friendly either. Who knew?

---

You’ve encountered a Breath Snatch. This counts as an uncommon 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 this creature without admin permission. )

Breath Snatch (uncommon) - A minor Halo nuisance, the Breath Snatch is a small elemental spirit that lingers in open areas on cold days. They're easiest to notice on bright days, a concentrated cloud of glittering frost lingering in the air, but if not noticed and walked into, the elemental will disperse in a puff of freezing air, often freezing the breath in the lungs of whomever was unlucky enough to come across it. It doesn't seem to possess enough sentience to be truly malevolent. Large groups of the spirits are rare, but potentially deadly if walked into unknowingly.

Alys

Alys listened to Ru's memories with a mixture of sympathy and interest. Of course, she couldn't possibly wish death on her dearest friend, but then, how many people had actually seen death and lived to tell about it? She wondered if Ru had been transformed by her experience, if physical death was anything like the metaphorical Death of the tarot, of letting go of the old to welcome in the new.

She listened, too, to the admission that Ru wouldn't be spending Longnight in Halo, and that news gave her pause enough that her hand stilled on her paper and she glanced over towards her friend, looking at her sidelong. Ru loved Halo, so what could it be that was pulling her away so often these days? Alys was about to ask when a sudden chill overcame her; when she sucked in a breath, she found herself without air, and she began to cough violently. Damned breath snatch. It wasn't her first such interaction, and she scowled as her eyes watered and her vision blurred.

When the moment had passed, she huffed irritably and returned her attention to her sketch. She had some lightly drawn lines delineating the major landmarks she could see - which, admittedly, were few through the fog. "I hope your Longnight will be peaceful," she said. "And that you will not be spending it alone." This last was said almost sternly, for Alys had long since advised Ru to open her heart and learn to let others in. If Ru was escaping to solitude, Alys was going to have some strong emotions to share with the Valkyrie.

funny how it all works out in the end
you dance with the devil and you lose your head

Hotaru

I know that I should have told you that I would die
Just to hold you

Alys is perhaps the first to not pry further, to question and needle, curious as all humans are. Though Hotaru would have been happy to entertain such questions from her friend as opposed to a stranger, she is nonetheless grateful, the seer's restraint only elevating her in Hotaru's esteem.

The breathsnatch is a familiar, painfully annoying sensation, and Hotaru's face contorts in an animalistic sneer as her magic reaches both inward to her own lungs and outward to Alys' to chase away the cold burn and warm them anew, keeping the effects to a few short moments instead of a prolonged ache.

Laughing softly at the blatant admonishment, Hotaru lifts the hand with the pencil in it in a playful peacekeeping gesture. "I promise I'm not." Realizing how much she has not shared with one of her dearest friends, Hotaru sighs softly. "I took your advice to heart. Went on a few dates with a wonderful man. But...I reconnected with my ex-lover at my daughter's opening night for her bar." Doodling loose spirals in the corner of her open page, Hotaru tries to fit all that Sunjata means - and has previously meant - to her in words that all seem to fall flat. "We both lost so much in the war, including our shared lover. But he was not nearly so healed as me. Not as lucky to be surrounded by support the way I was in Halo." Her regal voice goes soft in a way more fitting for a storyteller, but whether it's because of skill or emotion is unclear. "I was overcome with a need to be that person for him, because he has so few. Because he deserves to be happy." Even when she'd been at her lowest, had thought maybe she really did hate him, she'd only wanted the best for him. Some things simply never change. "And, selfishly, I knew I would take any time with him I could get - because I never moved on. In fact, until my dates with George, I never thought I would even try again." Something that had led to the bone-deep loneliness that Alys had so promptly read from her tarot that first day.

"But he told me that he was refraining from a relationship with the only woman close with him because he could only envision loving someone he already had, after losing Nate." And maybe it didn't make sense to anyone else, but to Hotaru it had been entirely clear. He had changed with Nate's loss, and anyone who hadn't known him or Nate would simply never understand him enough to be close enough in his heart - or so he felt. "He didn't ask anything of me except a chance to rebuild bridges. And we have." Though color slowly suffuses her cheeks in a way abnormal to Hotaru, who is scarcely ever embarrassed or shy. "But...well...things have advanced past that in time." But she has dumped more than enough on Alys all at once, so it's here that Hotaru holds her tongue.

And if I just had my shit together I could be with you
But I'm too high on paranoia

Alys

Alys listened with all the quiet stoicism of a seer whose advise had been heeded - which is to say, with unbridled glee. Though she did not interrupt her friend, she looked up to smile at the admission that Ru would be spending Longnight with a lover - someone with whom she had once shared a bond, and with whom she had reopened her heart, despite the fear of abandonment and pain that was so deeply entrenched in the woman's psyche. Now it made sense, what the cards had been telling her: big changes had been happening in Ru's life, but it seemed that they had been for the better.

When Ru finished speaking Alys was quiet for a moment, mulling over the information shared and sketching a few short, wispy lines to capture the fog more appropriately. "I am proud of you for opening yourself up and taking this chance," she said after a moment, turning her brown eyes to Ru once more, warmth and affection clear in their depths. She wouldn't try to reason through any of Hotaru's love life; love so rarely followed logic that she knew better than to debate the benefits of some new lover over an old flame or vice versa.

"Is there anything I can do to help you prepare for your time away?" Alys asked, tilting her head to one side as she continued to sketch. Knowing Ru, there wouldn't be any physical needs - her friend was well prepared in terms of basic necessities. But perhaps there were other things that Alys could help with. Packing, or arranging travel, or even just checking Ru's mail while she was gone, that sort of thing.

funny how it all works out in the end
you dance with the devil and you lose your head

Hotaru

I know that I should have told you that I would die
Just to hold you

Hotaru positively blossoms beneath Alys' approval, and it's not until she feels herself doing it that she realizes she has so badly needed it after she and Deimos had come as close to fighting as they ever do over the news. Though Alys does not have access to the bond the way Ru does, she'll undoubtedly see it in Ru's face, unguarded as it is when only the seer is in her presence. "Thank you," she practically purrs. "I can't thank you enough for your reading having helped get me there. I didn't realize how hurt I was until the moment it began to ease." Because that's the best way Hotaru could define it - hurting. A wound, an ache. Nothing so simple on the surface as calling it loneliness. She had been bleeding out internally and hadn't even known it, attributing everything to Enzo's loss when the wounds had been much deeper, much older.

The offer has Hotaru touching their shoulders together companionably, careful not to nudge lest she ruin a pencil stroke as Alys draws. "If you could intercept any mail or visitors and direct them to King's End? I think I'll be going early and setting up for a week or two." Unaware that it would then be Alys to unwittingly send George to the House of Midnight, Ru begins to make her list in earnest. "As for supplies, I am trying to pack light while bringing the things that mean the most to me. I always have a hard time staying inside during LongNight." Her shifts always call out, urging her to find open sky and open fields, or the tangle of leafless branches. "For years, the item I could not live without was Sunjata's old shirt, even long after his scent faded. But now I have as many as I could want." Though she keeps that shirt even now, occasionally commanding Sunjata to wear it again before she leaves. It will still remain her favorite, but she only needs it when she's not at his side. "Now...now, I think it is Enzo's old stuffed animal," she confesses softly, the realization inspiring her to write it slowly in the journal. "And the invisibility ribbon Wessex gave me before she died." Whether Alys recognizes either of the names she has just shared will come to be known, but her friend is surely astute enough to hear the quiet love and grief in her voice, revealing exactly what Wessex had once meant to her.

And if I just had my shit together I could be with you
But I'm too high on paranoia

Alys

Alys smiled as she saw warmth bloom on Hotaru's face, pleased that her praise had been so well-received. So often, things are the other way around: Hotaru the teacher, Alys the student, ever seeking her mentor's approval. It was only in these quiet moments of friendship and solitude that their roles reversed, and despite the fact that Ru was older and wiser in many ways than Alys, the Seer felt that in some ways, she had her own insights to impart. This had been one of them, and her joy at having helped her friend to begin to heal was difficult to conceal.

"I'll be happy to," said Alys, her sketch beginning to come together now in earnest. As for items to bring, Alys could only listen in companionable silence. Enzo was a familiar name, at least, from brief mentions in past conversations, conversations in which Alys had never pressed Ru for more information. Wessex, however, was new, though Alys didn't need to hear more to know that this had been an important person in Ru's life. There was a quiet grief to the woman that made Alys's heart ache. How she wished she could help ease the burden of death that lingered over Hotaru, a type of death that was nothing like her cards. This was the Three of Swords: heartbreak, grief, suffering. And there was nothing that Alys could say or do to heal those wounds.

"At least you won't need to pack food or camping gear," Alys mused; if Ru would be inside, then such things would surely be available in King's End. "That will help you travel lighter. But comfort items are important, especially during the times of year that we find difficult. I'm always drawn more to my cards when I'm struggling." Although her own difficulties were nowhere near as deep as Hotaru's, Alys had days of sadness for the way she'd left her family behind, days where she wished that she wasn't quite so alone in the world. Sometimes, it felt as though her cards were her only friends, especially when Ru and Tal were so prone to traveling these days. It was easy to feel a little left behind.

funny how it all works out in the end
you dance with the devil and you lose your head

Hotaru

I know that I should have told you that I would die
Just to hold you

There is no need to conceal it, Hotaru is quite happy to see Alys so self-confident and pleased with herself. She entirely deserves it. Though Ru may be worldly and wise, the years of hurt and bad decisions easily blind her to the change she needs to enact upon herself. She would never disregard any advice Alys gave her, even if she ever chose not to take it.

"Exactly. I'll be at the House of Midnight - Sunjata's brothel. All necessities should be taken care of." Not that it would stop her from longing for the world beyond. Between her own power and Sunjata's perhaps she would not need to deny the call. Maybe they could even go flying? Hotaru notes it down on her paper, smiling slightly to herself. 'Freedom' may have most rolling their eyes when presented as something a person could not live without, but Hotaru has so often had hers stolen that she thinks it deserves to be written down.

Noting immediately the way Alys' mood dips, Ru frowns slightly and puts her pencil in the inner spine of her notebook, closing it and giving her friend her full attention. "Have you been feeling that way lately?" She doesn't want to assume, but her gut feeling is rarely wrong. Reading people had been a necessary skill for her as a thief and informant, now it merely helps her navigate moments like these. "I'm sorry I've been gone so much. Admittedly, I've felt...torn. It feels like I'm being pulled three ways." Her eyes leave Alys to look out over the vague foggy terrain before them. Perhaps it's unfair to make this about herself once again, but it's the best explanation she has. "My only surviving child is in Torchline, my lover is in King's End and forbidden from Halo, and my friends and Academy are here. My wings can't carry me fast enough to do right by everyone, much less myself." Because, for as intoxicating and all-consuming as Sunjata is, Hotaru does not magically stop missing her friends either just because he is back at her side. Turning back to Alys, she regards her seriously. "I'm sorry if my absence has caused any feelings like that."

And if I just had my shit together I could be with you
But I'm too high on paranoia

Alys

If the news that Hotaru would be staying at a brothel surprised Alys, she didn't show it; she may not have had much interest in sex herself, but she did not judge those who did. Besides, Ru had spoken of things with this Sunjata progressing; it stood to reason that they would have a physical relationship as well. "I hope you can find privacy in this brothel," she said, her tone perhaps a bit teasing, but genuine all the same. Sure, there would likely be private rooms, but Ru deserved to have time away from prying eyes - not just for her physical needs and desires, but for the emotional as well.

Hotaru noticed the moment her face fell slightly; though Alys was usually quite good at keeping her opinions to herself, it was easy to let her guard down around her dearest friend. "I suppose... perhaps a bit," she confessed. "But not the way you're thinking. I miss you desperately, of course, but I don't begrudge you your happiness. Besides, I could always travel as well, should I want to see you." Assuming she'd be welcome at this House of Midnight, even though she had no interest in partaking in its pleasures.

"It's important for you to follow your heart," she assured her friend. "I think you'll find the answer in time. Not everything has to be solved immediately, and it's okay to not know the answer right now." She paused, then added, "You could ask the gods for an item to teleport you from place to place, to cut down on travel time. It would make your life much easier." As much as she was loathe to admit it, the gods would be useful in situations like this.

Then she sighed softly, eyes gazing out over the tundra. Hotaru had been open and honest with her; surely her friend deserved the same courtesy. Besides, as she often told her clients, talking about things made them easier to bear. "I suppose I simply feel restless. You and Tal travel often, and Deimos stays busy, and Noah is gone for now. I just wish, sometimes, that I had more to occupy myself with."

funny how it all works out in the end
you dance with the devil and you lose your head

Hotaru

I know that I should have told you that I would die
Just to hold you

Ru grins shamelessly back at Alys' light teasing, always delighted when the seer pulls out the claws in any form of sass. "What's the fun of privacy in a brothel?" Readjusting her legs, Ru tempers her wicked grin into something genuine. "He has a private living area, never fear." One that smells more of them as a combined entity the more Hotaru visits, which makes it harder and harder to leave every time.

Her honesty is appreciated, even if it does make Ru ache a little to know she has been remiss in her duties as a friend, no matter how small. Admittedly the Valkyrie usually does not care if she hurts or dismisses people, but she also does not have a wide array of friends. It's a luxury she affords very few. "Of course you can come visit me, any time. There's a bar with food and drink, and the Refuge isn't far, with all sorts of shops and sights. Far more than just the brothel." They would easily find something to cater to Alys' comforts that way, though she would have the freedom of enjoying the House of Midnight without ever employing anyone's services.

"As far as I know, teleportation is a magic usually reserved for demigods, but perhaps a communication device." She would have to consider her options given her desires usually trended toward increasing the strength and efficacy of her items. "Are you in any guilds aside from the Academy? Or are there any places you've yet to see that you'd like to?" Like a dog with a bone, Ru focuses on dissecting the problem until she can see it inside-out, and only then will she be able to concoct reasonable fixes to what she now perceives as an emergent threat to her friend's happiness.

And if I just had my shit together I could be with you
But I'm too high on paranoia

Alys

Had Ru said something aloud about being remiss in her duties as a friend, Alys would have argued vehemently that she had done no such thing. The Valkyrie had a life outside of Alys, and that she seemed to be blossoming in a new flow of love and affection was welcome news indeed to the seer. After all, hadn't Alys advised her to open herself up to just that? "I'll come visit soon, then. Perhaps I will meet this beau of yours," she added, only half-teasing. She'd have to wrangle the man who had taken Hotaru from her into a tarot reading, if only to get to know him better. Ru deserved only the best, after all, and Alys was not above using the cards to determine if he was worthy.

Alys was unsurprised when Hotaru fixated on her problem, and she hid a smile behind the dark curls tumbling over her shoulder as she sketched. It was one of the things she admired about Ru: once she took hold of a problem, she held onto it like a dog with a bone, refusing to release it until she'd looked it over from every angle to find a solution. "No," she admitted, frowning down at an errant stroke on her paper. She carefully erased the line, then redrew it the way it was meant to be. Satisfied, she continued. "I came straight to Halo from the Hollowed Grounds and joined the Academy. Outside of that, I haven't really traveled much. I've been to King's End a couple of times, and it was nice, but otherwise..." She shrugged. "I suppose I wouldn't mind exploring a bit, though. Any suggestions?"

funny how it all works out in the end
you dance with the devil and you lose your head