[SE] flying black star

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

The Stormbreak mention seemed to be enough for her to sink her teeth into without the reel of irritation pervading the loam, and as much as he enjoyed teasing and taunting, he wouldn’t go so far as to dredge up horrendous memories for the sake of it. Instead, they could gossip and ponder about the state of affairs amidst the floating city, for which both had been previously banned -  Kiada, in her Ascended state, wouldn’t have been permitted, nor he, with the magic and Abandoned blood coursing through his veins.

Neither of them were probably ashamed of it though – he certainly wasn’t. “Young leadership seemed to take it on,” aided and guided by advisors, one would hope, though he was constantly learning that there was much to develop in the ways of politics from some of them. “Not that I am aware of. Much of those who would have complained are no longer there.” The war had ripped them apart too, in the days preceding and thereafter. “There is probably some residual racism tucked away.” He shrugged his shoulders, because their contempt and abhorrence wouldn’t change his state of mind or being. “Have you ever gone?” As an Ancient, she’d been free to roam – but whether she had or not in all the aftermath was probably not a given.

DEIMOS

KIADA

As far as Kiada was concerned, it was Stormbreak’s loss to go so long without allowing certain groups of people to explore the floating city. And she’d done her best to steer clear of it, even while her fellow Ascended took the fight straight there. She’d remained in the comfort of safety, of not bringing on more drama than it was worth, likely too pessimistic to think that any of it would help – when it, honestly, hadn’t in the long run anyway.

So she ponders the thought of young leadership and their expansions, of those that had been against the Ascended and Abandoned now mostly being gone. “Never been.” She confirms with a thoughtful gleam in her gaze. “Maybe I’ll see if Fox wants to take a trip.” A thought that might make for a cute date, should the rumors of Stormbreak’s markets and city plaza be believed. Regardless, she turns her attention back to the Sword, a dark brow rising. “Have you gone?”

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Stormbreak certainly had its hundreds and hordes of years to regret and rue; there would’ve been multitudes of missed opportunities in their hatred for one being. And while he could understand the underlying abhorrence, his pettiness and contempt hadn’t pinpointed on an entire race of people for presuming they’d be much the same. Individuals were strictly that – and maybe, after some time, the floating isle would come to realize it.

Nor he could blame Kiada for steering clear of it, given how much history, actions, and hellfire had taken place. The Ascended hadn’t done themselves any favors, and even as an Ancient, the age-old inclination to avoid must’ve been great.

But he recognized the gleam, the wheels turning in her mind. Snorting, amused, he watched a few more rain droplets cast in their wake before hastening them away. “Only recently – they held a gathering for Abandoned and the like.” That it had been riddled with tension had certainly been partially in his own figure and entity; mostly due to the inanity of one single Dragoon. “I have not seen much of it though.”

DEIMOS

KIADA

She already harbors enough worry about how her choices and changes might have an effect on her acceptance, something that she doesn’t exactly want to have to deal with time and time again in a land that was known for such grievances. But if he’s visited it and had nothing terrible to say about it, she certainly couldn’t completely write it off the list of places to visit and see.

Besides, it might be fun to surprise them when she rolls up with her horns and tail on display.

Either way, she nods her understanding, shaking out her umbrella again before she tilts her head back up toward him. “Was it nice, the parts that you saw?” Was it perfect and beautiful and everything because they were so selective in who came in? Or was it simply just… The same, no reason for them to have been so against the ideas and help of others.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

The Sword was prone to places of cold and endlessness, boundaries of isolation, tucked away from the crowd while they built and defended and secured. Stormbreak hadn’t necessarily been those things, but it was clear how much they’d valued their history, legacies, and ability to once stand proudly above the rest. As if there’d been an arrogance and conceit to the stone legions and towers, but not amidst the people. Perhaps that too had drifted off when they were attacked, fell apart, and lost things too, like the rest of the world. "Nice" was a relative term. “I saw the Plaza, which I think you would enjoy.” Color amidst the grey, bustling with activity. “Plenty of shops, inns, and cafes.” It might’ve been more tolerable in his own mind had he not been bombarded instantly by political notions, but they could always return another time.

Pausing, his eyes roamed back to hers, watching her from the corner of his gaze. “And their training grounds too,” as expected, given who he was. “The Dragon’s Nest,” which, yes, sounded all the more pretentious the more he thought about it. But Deimos would admit to a strong amount of bias on that account. “I like our barracks much better.”

DEIMOS

KIADA

A contemplative hum leaves her as she tries to imagine the Plaza based off of the description Deimos offers alongside the rumors she’s heard of them herself. It creates a unique picture for her that she’s sure doesn’t live up to what it actually is – but if given the time and resources, a large part of Kiada loves shopping if ever given the chance to. Something she also inherited, likely from her mother.

“I haven’t gone shopping in a long time.” She muses, meeting his gaze and huffing a laugh as he mentions the Dragon’s Nest, her shoulders shrugging as she shakes some of the rain out of the umbrella. “People tend to have preference over that which they created themselves.” It’s a playful chide, though she’s much the same. Anything she’d had a hand in making was leagues better than whatever everyone else had to offer.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

“Supposedly there is a library as well,” rumored to be plentiful and grand enough to attract his attention – sometimes suiting his scholarly mind. He was a creature of information and cunning, as well as action and vehemence, and the more he could snag of the former, the more he could commit to the latter. “Gardens with a zoo…massive temples…,” rattling off what he’d been told or seen in the distance; yet to experience any of them.

Though he rolled his eyes at her tone, boyishly mocking and twisting his mouth around to pretend to be her for an instant. Regardless, he shrugged his shoulders, a juvenile wrinkle to his nose appearing again. “It was probably very impressive before the war.” Imposing, grand, and overbearing – a call to ostentatious and extravagant might. Nowadays though, everyone had their hand in something contorted and created for the cause.

DEIMOS

KIADA

As he explains further it captures more of her attention, thoughts spiraling in her mind that have her trying to decide what suited her best. Likely the shopping and the zoo – not much one for dealing with the temples or plain garden walks. But as she thinks on it further, her nose wrinkles slightly and she huffs a soft laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to a zoo.” She pauses, about to make a joke that only one other person here in Caido would get. “Unless my half siblings count?” The gaggle of multiple children her mother had birthed might be close enough to a zoo that she understood the idea.

As for the Stormbreak barracks versus the Halo barracks, Kiada hums a soft laugh in the face of his childish wrinkling of his nose, her smile fading slightly as she nods. “I think a lot of things were probably more impressive before the war.” A quiet admission that has her shrugging her shoulders slightly, shaking out the umbrella again to rid it of the pooling rain, expecting Deimos to push it away from them as he had done the few times before.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Spiraling a few raindrops away again, and contorting them so they arranged into some cheeky little design, his head tilted back towards her, the snicker rampant at the mention of zoos and siblings. “I have not either,” unless they were discussing a collection and assortment of bizarre people – and given her response, perhaps they had in some ways. “They should,” and he shook his head, recalling moments where Rexanna had gone to the Edge for Tembovu, striving to varnish away those long-lasting primordial hurts. And while it shouldn’t matter in the long run, not after every other mended wound, her mother would always be a regret in the back of his mind.

But he let it disperse, angle off like the showers, forlorn and fickle remnants cascading. “I like to think we have made Halo more impressive,” and he winked, striving to snag the good humor back.

DEIMOS

KIADA

A hum of a laugh leaves her, lightened by the thought rather than soured by it as Deimos might be. It was a stupid and silly thought, one that she bobs her head in agreement and flashes him an easier smile, thinking little about her mother these days and having long since thought of her father. The only one of her true family that remains that she thinks of often is Kianzo, though those thoughts she imagines occur often for those that have lost their twin.

It fades, all amusement and zoo-like conversations in favor for pre-war notions, and Kiada bobs her head in yet another agreement, a snort slipping from her. “Oh, certainly.” She agrees, flashing him an easier smile, recalling all the work that had gone into it – even before they’d decided to move there. Recalling the time she’d gone with some of the Grounders for LongNight, hoping for a relaxed end of the year only to have it be ruined by cultists.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

The Sword thought often of his family; perhaps, in some part, because he knew how easily lost they all were. Lifetimes before, he would never have believed in second or third chances, in being capable of holding onto those people – which perhaps made him all the more protective or overbearing. But gods, some days he tried to see past the potential of ruin and merely along the intervals and layers of what they had now – which was why he didn’t bring up Ru’s imminent departure.

But it wasn’t his to tell, and so he shrouded and tied away and locked down everything else to savor these instances, even in the pouring rain.

His gaze meandered upwards, towards the cloudy and indignant sky, with a softer sigh in his chest and a bolstered snort for her response. “Perhaps the Grounds will be better too,” not that it would’ve been difficult, considering the wake of ruins they’d been placed within. And he hoped she’d be able to find a place for herself here, or wherever she deigned to traverse, root, and grow.

DEIMOS

KIADA

For all the things the Grounds held in her memories, the need to strive for making new ones to replace the bad is a lot of the reason the Harpy stayed put. After all, with Fox here and the comfort and security of a place to live and a new life to grow, she’s surprisingly at peace with it all. So much so that she has begun to debate how else she could help from here, a thought that Deimos succinctly puts.

“Dantalion is a bit much, but, his heart’s in the right place. He cares about the place here and has been striving to try and better it.” She admits, having seen it first hand. “Part of me wants to see if he needs help with anything, just to give myself something to do.” A council position, perhaps, or simply something that he can direct her into that would help the Grounds as well, give her another space to put roots down.

am i more than you bargained for yet?

I carried my own ashes to the mountains

Deimos couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his chest at the first statement – for which he thoroughly agreed. Danta was a lot, in an overt sense he couldn’t quite put his finger on – perhaps merely an extroverted state of being – but maybe that helped the Hollowed Grounds’ cause. Someone should’ve championed for it, and perhaps many of them would’ve been capable, had it not been for the significant amount of trauma, memories, and bedlam that seemed to rise and fall with the wake of this world. Noah had been forced, but Danta had made it his own choice, and didn’t have the horrific melancholy or ghosts coinciding. “Good,” he nodded, but then his brow arched at her other insinuation.

Striving not to smirk or smile and failing to do so, a muffled sort of snicker came over his mouth once again. “Like what?”

DEIMOS

KIADA

His laughter is as much of an agreement as it would be if he used his words, a snort leaving her in response to the unsaid. And given that their thoughts are coinciding, the fact that Danta had chosen to do it spoke volumes, though partially (and she guesses as much) it’s due to the fact that he’d been hidden away in the Climb for most of the trauma enduring years of the Grounds for the rest of them. But if he helps to remove that attachment? Well, she wants to be a part of it and make those new memories.

She rolls her eyes playfully toward him as he snickers and laughs at her suggestion, her shoulder rolling in a small shrug. “Maybe council related or just finding something to sink my teeth into here with less power.” Contrary to her youth, Kiada now cared little for ruling and holding power. At this point, she wanted comfort, and so far she’s gotten close with her new life in the Grounds.

am i more than you bargained for yet?