[Training] wrapped in piano strings

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

The Greatwood has been a place Sunjata had never quite gone to visit. Despite the childish hope that perhaps he could have escaped the city and lived in a cabin in the woods, away from his father and his duties and everything else. But, it was nothing more than a dream to get away from the trauma of his youth, and now faced with the actual internals of the Greatwood rather than the outskirts of it as he’s done previously… Well, perhaps that dream hasn’t completely left him.

“You know… When the woods aren’t turning you around, it’s actually quite beautiful.” He rumbles over toward Phoebe, flashing her an easy smile – having never thought that the two of them would get here of all places. Cordial. Friendly. Working together. But it’s a balm that races against his inner wounds, soothing the jagged sharpness with each clean breath of air the Greatwood provides.

It’s winter and cold, and under the blue sweater he wears he’s dressed for the second they start training and the inevitability that he’ll get too warm. “Do you remember when you showed me what a snowman was?” A softer question – a memory of a different version of them, one without as many scars (internally or externally).

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

PHOEBE

Phoebe found living in the Greatwood tranquil and soothing. Nature made up everything and the hustle and bustle of the larger cities didn't pervade the Village. But it wasn't nearly so remote as where Jata lived, so perhaps he found the woods to be a bit busier than she did. "I've found since becoming the Gaurdian that the woods don't do that to me anymore." she remarked, hands clasped behind her back.

She had traded in her usual dresses for a tunic and leggings, boots crunching the snow beneath them as they walked. The Nightingale's head tilted up at him as he spoke again, brows briefly furrowing in confusion. "I think I just told you about them. We never made any." she said, a hint of teasing in her voice. "We could now though, and use them as practice dummies?" she offered.

Honeybee, your soul is golden

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

“A perk, I suppose.” He offers with a soft smile, finding their way to the clearing where he starts to stretch out, getting used to the crunch of the snow under his boots. But as they find the place to start the training and Sunjata takes in the tranquility of it, she corrects him in that they hadn’t actually made any snowmen. His head tilts toward her as he tries to remember, finding so much of his mind jumbled over the years. “Oh,” a brief pause as a warm chuckle slips from his throat. “I think all the times I almost died probably didn’t do my memory any favors.”

It’s said with a slight wince that deepens the wrinkles in his face, humming a sound of agreement shortly after as he moves to start collecting snow. “Sounds like a plan to me.” He works on using his knowledge of snow now to figure out how it works, getting enough packed together to roll it into a ball big enough to be the base before he starts on the next to be the chest.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?