[SE] flying black star

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Rain was a necessary element, and usually a given within the current season, but the amount was impressive, nonetheless. His gaze swept over the mass of water occasionally rising along the isle wakes, as they stood beneath the vestiges of trees. His own incantations had ensured created umbrellas and the twist and turn of droplets around them, cascading in different fixtures, sporadically given over to his restless nature, drifting about in appealing shapes before gliding away.

Tilting his head towards Kiada, content to be in her presence regardless of the weather, he remarked as the damp chill persisted, brow arching at the strange severity of it all. “I do not recall having anything like this before,” not when they were all clustered together, beneath and beyond barriers. There had been other issues, that was certain, but naught threatening torrential downpours and flooding. It seemed far more appropriate to somewhere like Torchline. Leaving that notion to any explanations the Ancient might have, he considered more portions besides the environment. “How are you?”

DEIMOS

KIADA

Thankful for the crafted umbrellas, Kiada is practically glued to hers to keep the rain from continuing to soak her to her bone. “Me neither. Parts of it are flooding and I’m not sure if it’s due to the amount of rain or because of the changes after the war. I’m leaning toward the amount of rain, though.” She sighs, brushing away the hair that’s still damp to keep it from clinging to her face.

She looks over at Deimos with a soft smile though, content to be at his side again. “I’m really good.” She informs him, linking her arm with his as they walk, keeping the rain out from their little grouping. “I moved in with Fox. He had a spare room and with Deepfrost as snowy as it was and as unprepared as I was, it worked out.” She murmurs softly, a hint tenderly.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Whisking away another thunderous torrent away from their umbrellas and natural cover, his eyes narrowed, speculations taking hold. While his stare resonated upon the water in the distance, knowing the risk of flooding could hold potential damage for the land they stood amidst now, something about the statement bothered him. “Halo has had some melting,” wondering if the two were related – or if it was just a seasonal conjecture. “I do not like it,” with a subversive wrinkle to his nose, a light snicker curling in the corner of his mouth. “Do you need any help with it?” Figuring perhaps with sandbags or funneling, but given how multitudes were already rapidly inclining, they might run out of places to put it.

That she was doing well mattered more to him though, and the smirk became a true grin, though not without the substantial rise in his brows at her announcement. Whether the timing was fast and rapid, impulsive and emboldened, wasn’t for him to say – though it wouldn’t surprise him either way, given who Kiada was. “I see,” he uttered at first, testing the waters on how far he could push some teasing or taunting. “And he is treating you well?” The Harpy wouldn’t tolerate anything less, but it was always good to know where things stood – need for destruction pending.

DEIMOS

KIADA

Her head immediately turns toward him with the mention of Halo being warm, concern flaring in the bright blue of her gaze. “How weird.” She mulls over her thoughts briefly, before she shakes her head and exhales a soft sigh. “Hopefully it’s just a temporary thing.” For the both of them – the warmth of Halo and the torrential downpour of the Grounds. As for help? She shakes her head, unsure where to even start if the whole region was trying to flood. “Fox and I have already built channels around the farmhouse to keep it safe.” Preparedness, a quiet little safety net she hadn’t realized she needed until it were here.

But she can’t miss the grin that spreads across his face and she can see through what he wants to say, so she elbows him easily and playfully – causing no harm but pure amusement. “He is. Though, when I told him who you were to me, it could have given him a heart attack.” She murmurs with a soft laugh. “I think he thought he needed to ask you before courting me.” A fact that was amusing in and of itself to her. She could make her own decisions, but she was never shy about her support system should anything (or anyone) turn on her.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Despite the inclusion of family within these fleeting moments, the trepidation still loomed, lodged between his spinal cord and ribcage. “Strange, and hopefully,” though Deimos never put much on hope. Actions and calculations were more of his schemes, and he narrowed his eyes again to study the rising water lingering further out. “I wonder if any other lands have been experiencing similar things.” Perhaps something else to send out over parchment and paper. “We also had some peculiar plants,” and he glanced back her way to see if that triggered anything.

Nodding at the notions of the farmhouse already sufficiently dealt with, for however long this was doomed to last, he chose to segment the machinations in the back of his mind, for the time being, as she elbowed him. The twitch of his brow soon followed, along with a barely muffled laugh, suddenly very content and smug about being feared. He’d been much the same way in Helovia, with proven intimidation statures and tactics; he half-wondered if any of it still remained in him from time to time in Caido. “Our family is not very traditional,” by way of another laugh; considering how many weren’t linked by blood, but by bonds forged years and worlds before. “Nor does anyone need my permission for a choice you can make on your own.” Eyes glinting back towards her, his nose wrinkled boyishly. “But if it helps, his fright amuses me.”

DEIMOS

KIADA

“It might be worth sending a letter to Torchline and Stormbreak to see what’s happening?” She suggests, head tilting as she follows his gaze out to the rising water, watching it lap at the edges of grass and rockery that Kiada’s sure hasn’t seen anything like it since it was built. But her attention drifts back over to Deimos at the mention of peculiar plants and her brows pinch. “I haven’t seen any here so far.” But she also hasn’t been looking.

Oh she remembers what he was like in Helovia. She remembers just how bewildered he was when she’d forced her way into his life and been a pain in his ass ever since. So she hums a chimed laugh beside him, nodding her agreement with his sentiments before she sighs and shakes her head. “I thought you would enjoy hearing that.” She adds with a playfully annoyed sigh before her eyes land back on him and she clutches the umbrella a bit tighter. “He’s very sweet. He wanted to try and clean up after LongNight before I woke up to surprise me with it so I wouldn’t have to get muddy.” She hums a soft laugh. “Of course I ruined that plan and helped him anyway, but, the idea was sweet.” She trails off, staring back out toward the rising water.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

The suggestion coursed along the same lines he’d been contemplating, and with a heavy sigh that simply disappeared into the midst of the downpour, he nodded. “Hopefully it does not inspire another meeting,” he gave with a great grimace and curl of his nose, as if the very thought of congregating in large quantities again gave him indigestion. Or the great reluctance in having to deliver a message to Sunjata as well. “Perhaps it is nothing.” But that rarely happened in Caido. “We have some strange variants of frostblooms.” Their experiences with the blight, and the sickness thereafter, still lingered with him, as did so many other haunting filaments.

But to other effects, the Sword and the Reaper were one and the same – perhaps more so the former than the latter nowadays, until something pushed him into violence and vehemence. The primordial method of protection, defense, and safeguarding stuck into his bones and marrow so deeply it wouldn’t have mattered how much he shed away old titles or reincarnated – they existed together, congruent and parallel factions of a man driven to preserve. Still, the wry edge of his grin stayed at her laughter, a light snort to follow.

Regardless of Fox’s cordiality, the whole scenario made his brow arch once more. “He does know you are quite capable?” Not many things would’ve ever stopped the Harpy – certainly not mud.

DEIMOS

KIADA

Her nose wrinkles at the idea of another meeting amongst leaders and demigods – despite having not been a part of the first one. She can only imagine how much drama there had been underlying the common niceties they had, forced to speak to one another. But, it wasn’t her problem either way, she just simply has a fair amount of sympathy for Deimos having to endure such an event. “What makes them strange?” She asks, tilting her head toward him with a raised brow, shaking off some more rain from her umbrella to watch as he pushes it away with his magic.

As for her capabilities and Fox’s kindness, she chimes another brilliant laugh. “He does.” She assures him before her lips twitch in a playful grin. “And if he didn’t, he surely does now.” Because they had both been caked with mud by the end of it – and had she not been there, he might still be out there stuck in the mud trying to get out of the stickiness it harbors.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Political currents, along with underlying tensions, dramatics, and social misgivings made the sentiments even more irritating; but perhaps it wouldn’t come to that. If he were fortunate, the sharing of information could simply mold from letter to letter and person to person, rather than another massive congregation from season to season. Maybe the rest of Caido was lucky in that they didn’t have any strange alterations in weather, nor plants sprouting with an eerie, enigmatic quality, and only a few had been marked. Regardless, he would want the warnings out there – ways to preserve the world, even if it didn’t feel the same about them.

The inquiry caused an inward reflection, memories of he and Evie studying them along melting permafrost. “They glow, and have a frosty smell.” Which, ordinarily, might not cause any alarm or be unusual for Halo citizens – flora and fauna alike. “But they seem threatening, ominous almost. I am not sure how else to explain it.”

News and notice of Fox’s ability to recognize Kiada’s inherent, and overt, strength made him snort, but not wishing to know anymore, on account some matters could be left to themselves, he nodded. Instead, he altered the subject, while whipping the rain around in images around them, sometimes purposefully sending the droplets back up to the sky. “Evie and I have made some plans. Figured you would be able to handle the wedding within the greenhouse,” with a light smile, waiting for some measure of approval.

DEIMOS

KIADA

As Deimos explains the strange flora that Halo has, Kiada can’t help the way her nose wrinkles and her brow raises, head tilting up toward him curiously. “How weird.” She murmurs, wondering whether or not she’d figure out the same from the flora here, if any were amiss. Would it be simply just a bad feeling? It was hard to say and she had nothing to back it up with, other than the information she already knew over the things that dwelled here in the Grounds.

Either way, with the rain how it is, she likely isn’t going to be going and scouting out anything anytime soon – not unless it became an issue, she supposes, given Fox’s job duties. But either way, the conversation shifts toward the impending wedding and all thoughts of strange flora disappear in the face of the excitement over it being in the warmth of a greenhouse. “That sounds amazing to me.” She flashes him a bright smile, content with their choice of location.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

The Sword shrugged his shoulders, incapable of giving much else. It’d have to wait, to see if other lands faced the same situation, or none at all. Circumstances underlying within Safrin’s bracelet, change in weather patterns, and bizarre plant-life seemed all a little too foreboding – and what with the seemingly bizarre situation of illumination…led him to another notion. ”Did you see any lights during LongNight?”

Wedding plans were a far more joyous subject matter anyway – nodding at her acceptance of the location. “Good. We figured we would have a small ceremony and then a larger reception.” He shrugged his shoulders; she certainly wouldn’t have to stay for both. “Any food preferences?” By way of a joke; he half-figured she’d say something along raw meat to be appeasing.

DEIMOS

KIADA

There was little to dwell on it in the meantime – at least until Deimos mentions the lights during LongNight, something of which she shakes her head with and peers up at him from under the umbrella’s with a hint of concern reflected in her iceberg stare. “No, though I hadn’t really been looking for anything. Hard to not feel like you need to keep up old habits, especially being in the Grounds for it.” There’s a slight wince before she looks around, as if she might be able to see all the terrors that had happened in the years past.

She’d been blissfully unaware, nestled inside a locked up cottage, with a blazing fire and perfect company. She didn’t need anything to ruin that for her and given Fox’s nature of monster hunting, she’s almost glad that it hadn’t been too noticeable for her. “Where did they land?” She asks, unsure where the location had been, if it were to be common knowledge.

As for wedding plans, it’s a relieving subject and she softens at that, nodding in agreement. Of course she would stay for both – though a belated thought occurs to her over Fox and his ability (or if they’d even want him to attend alongside her) and how he could withstand the cold temperatures of Halo. It’s likely more problems than it’s worth to mention, so she focuses on the latter, pinning him with a look that seems to say really? despite hearing the jesting tone within it. “The rawer the better.” She says instead, already sure he’s on her same thought wave.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

He hadn’t seen them  – content and busy with Evie as they jotted down wedding plans, or he continued his persistent wake around Halo; traditional wakes never quite fading, no matter which region he lived within, nor how many years had passed since monsters patrolled. “I did not either – though I received messages with rumors about connections with the crash site in King’s End.” The beast shrugged his shoulders, having nothing else to grasp with such notions; the conditions would’ve been easier to correlate had there been anything within the holes. “I have already gone to look. There was not much.” Even after digging around amidst the loam and earth; naught to show for whatever had occurred.

Unaware of Kiada’s thoughts surrounding other invitations, and she’d likely know how private both Evergreen and Sword craved to be regardless, he managed another light smirk in her direction. Tilting his umbrella slightly so more rain pelted sideways, landing upon the ground with the rest of its brethren, his eyes flicked back to her pinned look. “I will make sure there is a separate entrée just for you,” with a wrinkled nose; half-inclined to stick his tongue out indignantly.

DEIMOS

KIADA

Her brows pinch curiously at the mention of King’s End, wondering how large the meteors had to have been in order to be seen from so many varying angles. It’s a question that sits on her tongue as he continues and she tries to imagine it – nothing much to report from it other than what she imagines to be a couple of big empty holes. “What was there?” She asks, tilting her gaze back up toward him and further away from that far away look – asking for details because he’d said there wasn’t much there and her curiosity over what was had known no bounds.

In terms of wedding plans, however, when it comes to her own meal she certainly knew he was joking when he asked her what she wanted. These days, she’s like an open book when it comes to food (though she supposes back when she was Ascended it was also the same, her tastebuds gone, her interest in food much the same). “As you should.” She teases him, not at all half inclined but fully inclined to childishly stick her tongue out at him as she shakes more rain off of her umbrella.

am i more than you bargained for yet?