(SE) raised on little light

// corn liquor tastes sweeter in this town
could it be it's the same as the last? //

He’d heard of a marketplace, born on the water and wreckage off of the Boondock’s shores. So it draws his attention, the Flood – with the accompaniment of Petronella – arriving on the outskirts to watch it from afar before they head out to check out the shops. He’s off the shore, letting the sea panther cub play in the water on the shore when he spots something in the corner of his eye shoot up about thirty feet in the air.

It grips his attention sharply, given the fact he still doesn’t know anything about what made the craters not far from here. But upon inspection he realizes it’s a river star, a poor bird trapped within its embrace. The avian is already gone, a small mercy, given the strangeness of what the river star looks like. It’s no longer bright, and the markers on the sandy, rocky earth around them prove to him that it hadn’t been lying in wait for the bird to land but appears to have hunted the poor thing.

He grimaces, mentally telling Petronella to remain by the shore and away from the creature while he inspects the black surface with purple hues, making a mental note to tell Deimos of this in the letter he’d sent.

Well, at least the weather here hasn’t changed.

the flood

// i swear i've seen your face elsewhere before
just as familiar as a bottle and a glass //

sah After visiting with Cordelia, Sah detoured into King's End on the way home. He'd already been to the crash site but after hearing about weird fauna and flora popping up, the Wild Thunder figured it was in his best interest to investigate further. Walking along the Boondocks he spots a familiar figure. It's been seasons since he's last seen the Flood but he recalls that the man had recently become the leader of the region. "Sunjata. Long time no see...what is that?" Sah pauses as he walks up to the man and sees the river star. Its purple color is reminiscent of what Noah had told him about.  Pad's hackles raise beside him, and Lilly takes a step back, dragging her hotheaded brother a foot back a well by the scruff.

Not all that is fractured is broken

// corn liquor tastes sweeter in this town
could it be it's the same as the last? //

Distracted as he is by the menacing shape of the river star devouring its meal, Sunjata can’t help the curl of his lip when his name is called by a voice he hasn’t heard from in quite some time. It doesn’t stop the curl from remaining on his face, nothing against Sah, but simply the strangeness of this beast in terms of its colors and mannerisms. “A river star.” He answers, accented voice reaching the abandoned as Sunjata steps back beside the Halovian.

Petronella remains in the edges of the water, far enough away to let her gilded gaze focus on the wolves, offering a little squeaky growl of greeting as she splashes in the water and sinks down like her full grown counterparts might. “It’s wrong, though. They don’t usually actively hunt and aren’t usually this color.” His nose wrinkles, attention flickering back to the river star as he reaches up to run a hand through his hair. “What brings you all the way down from your snowy abode?” He asks casually, turning himself so that he can focus on Sah as well as keep the creature in view.

the flood

// i swear i've seen your face elsewhere before
just as familiar as a bottle and a glass //

sah Sah keeps one eye on the river star as he speaks, "I'd heard that there were odd versions of animals and plants being spotted, ones that were abnormally purple and aggressive but..." He grimaces, "It's certainly worse in person." Meanwhile, Lilly nudges Pad's attention towards Petronella as she gives a small yip of greeting. Tail wagging, she steps on Pad's foot until he also rumbles his own hello to the panther. "I was visiting family in the Grounds." Sah's lips twitch, "But I certainly miss the snow." There's an audible crack of bone from the bird in the star's grasp, "Damn. Have you seen any other creatures like that? The one that I was told about was a tangleweed." Were these corrupted creatures only occurring in the regions adjacent to the impact? Or were they popping up everywhere?

Not all that is fractured is broken

// corn liquor tastes sweeter in this town
could it be it's the same as the last? //

“Oh, it is.” Sunjata’s nose wrinkles again, exhaling a soft sigh. He doesn’t know if it would be worth it to kill the thing, uncertain if he should even get close to it – memories of the Blight coming to the forefront of his mind, where he’d bled black blood and started to fracture worse and worse as the days went on.

The thought vanishes almost as quickly as it’s come as he focuses on Sah, gaze drifting toward Petronella who still seems to play in the water even despite the greeting to the other companions. “I have heard the Grounds are quite dreary right now.” Not unlike where he was from – just another reason to avoid it these days. The tangleweed, however, sparks his attention and his head tilts as he regards the Halovian again. “There was a flower in Hak Etme that was like it. A real awful looking thing compared to the pale sands. I didn’t get close enough to figure out what it did, though.” At this a soft snort leaves him, broad shoulders shrugging lightly.

the flood

// i swear i've seen your face elsewhere before
just as familiar as a bottle and a glass //

sah The Blight was before Sah's time in Caido but he knows enough from his hunts to avoid touching anything too brightly colored. Especially something that wasn't normally so. Though for a fraction of a second, he considers poking the creature with a stick. If he were in different company, he might just have. The Wild Thunder lets out a bark of laughter, "It truly is miserable. Nonstop, torrential rain. And it doesn't even have the decency to be accompanied by a storm." If there was lightning or at least thunder, it'd be more tolerable. Sheets upon sheets of water were just a nuisance. His annoyance is short-lived as Sunjata describes the plant he encountered. Humming in thought, Sah's brow furrows. "Flora and fauna across Caido. Wonderful." If he recalls, Sunjata was a Demi-god. Frey's Demi-god. "Has Frey said anything?" With nature being so deeply affected by whatever was happening in Caido, Sah hoped at least Frey and Rae had some answers. If he could, he'd ask Safrin and the thought makes her absence ache all the more.

Not all that is fractured is broken

// corn liquor tastes sweeter in this town
could it be it's the same as the last? //

The bark of laughter sparks an amused smile on Sunjata’s face despite the river star’s sudden monstrous gorging on the poor bird it had hunted, and seeing as it’s occupied fully now, he turns slightly more toward the Halovian. “A shame, honestly.” He agrees – despite how quickly storms have been ruined for him in his days here in Caido. Oftentimes finding it hard to sleep through the night when the thunder rolled through the Barrow’s valleys.

But the subject shifts easily and he shakes his head at the question – having realized he didn’t even ask when he’d gone to see them, far too overwhelmed with everything Frey had shown and given him. Perhaps when he knows more he might reach out again. “I haven’t asked them yet. I wanted to get more information on what was going on.” He’d always found it was easier to talk to his deities (conditioned from Safrin, truthfully) when he had all the information to offer when questioning. It left out little room for him to have not done his research if he could answer it himself.

the flood

// i swear i've seen your face elsewhere before
just as familiar as a bottle and a glass //

sah Had it been presumptuous to assume that the Demi-god was in regular contact with his deity? Or that Frey would simply reach out to the Flood if he needed to know something? Perhaps, but with how little Sah knows of Sunjata's history, the thought to ask never crossed his mind. The Wild Thunder nods, relaxing into a small grin, "That's good. As an Abandoned, I've only met Frey briefly. But I'd like to imagine that if things were horrendously dire, any deity would simply summon their Demi-god to bring them up to speed." If the nature god hasn't done so, then Sah will take that as a sign that there's still time to prepare. He'll also be silently taking it as a sign that Safrin is doing well enough that the alarm hasn't been sounded. With every wild change to Caido this season, he's been getting restless for news.

Not all that is fractured is broken

// corn liquor tastes sweeter in this town
could it be it's the same as the last? //

Sunjata’s been burned far too often by the gods to seek them out regularly, even being a demigod. Conditioned by Safrin in ways that keep him from seeking out the one deity that had become his savior, even. So it’s with that, that Sunjata offers Sah a small apologetic smile. “Safrin had no problem dragging me out of bed for varying reasons.” And Frey had called to him once, after he’d avoided them for so long after the war for more… Personal reasons.

“But I imagine the same, too.” He admits with a soft hum, shrugging a shoulder lightly. “In the meantime, I’m just collecting what I can and trying to determine the cause of the meteors that crashed here during LongNight.” Which he’s sure Sah’s heard about, if he weren’t here to inspect them himself, that is.

the flood

// i swear i've seen your face elsewhere before
just as familiar as a bottle and a glass //

sah Sah returns Sunjata's smile with a reassuring one, "Yes, I've experienced that myself once as well. I'm sure she has her reasons." The Demi-god has nothing to apologize for. The Abandoned isn't privy to what happens or what is expected between Caido's gods and their Demi-gods. He has no basis to judge action or lack thereof, and thus he refrains. The dig at Safrin however makes him internally flinch, a part of him wanting to rush further to his sworn goddess' defense. Yet, the Wild Thunder is wise enough to hold his tongue at the moment. "Indeed. I investigated the site not long ago as I'm sure you've done as well." Sah's brow furrows, "The lack of well...anything was concerning. Either the meteor's remains were already collected by others, or something else happened." Paired with the corrupted creatures, the picture painted was disturbing to say the least.

Not all that is fractured is broken

// corn liquor tastes sweeter in this town
could it be it's the same as the last? //

Reasons Sunjata can’t begin to list out – some better than others, but one that burns in the back of his mind that had resulted in a child with the starry goddess – one that currently lived amongst the stars (so he hopes, anyway). “Sometimes.” It’s the most polite of an answer he can offer the Wild Thunder, and with it, he shifts the conversation with ease toward the crash site of the meteors, his steel gaze drifting out over the water’s edge and to his companion that still seems to enjoy splashing in the water.

“I think whatever it was that crashed left right after, but I can’t seem to figure out what it is.” He offers the information somewhat easily, steel gaze slipping back toward the Halovian. “I investigated when they crashed in LongNight. As far as I know, I was the first person there and there was exactly what you’ve found when I got there.” Nose wrinkling, Sunjata exhales a soft sigh and glances back toward the gorging river star.

the flood

// i swear i've seen your face elsewhere before
just as familiar as a bottle and a glass //

sah Amber meets steel as Sah's eyes narrow in thought, "You think what crashed might be a living creature? If it was as you suspect, that certainly explains the state of the crash site." There was very little that could explain the emptiness and lack of debris otherwise. Yet, an unknown being crashing into Caido just as Safrin had left to stop something that was coming, was concerning. The Wild Thunder's eyes drift over to the river star, "I've been suspecting that the corrupted creatures and weather might be the influence of whatever crashed. Or at least, connected." He sighs heavily, "If the thing is sentient, it might even be doing so intentionally." There are certainly pros and cons to such a thing. A responsible party could be stopped but could do more damage and react tactically. A mere rock causing influence might be harder to cleanse Caido of but wouldn't be able to strategize against their efforts. Unless it was being controlled by a force outside of Caido. Ah, this might be the start of quite a mess.

Not all that is fractured is broken

// corn liquor tastes sweeter in this town
could it be it's the same as the last? //

“Nothing else makes sense. If it wasn’t, there’d be something left behind.” He admits to Sah with a shrug of his broad shoulders, drawing up to his full height with a small sigh. It does explain the crash site, though, especially considering he is nearly positive that he was the first one there. And having not seen anything, not even debris of any kind, certainly pushed it toward what Sunjata figured to be something having left before he even got there.

Regardless, he hums a low tone of agreement, glancing back to the river star himself as he shakes his head. “It’s hard to say, but it is suspicious it began after that.” And if the creatures had started to turn and morph and evolve because of it, well, it might be more ingrained into their ecosystem than they had originally thought. Something that leaves Sunjata feeling awkward, memories of the blight coming to his mind.

the flood

// i swear i've seen your face elsewhere before
just as familiar as a bottle and a glass //

sah Sah grimaces, Indeed." The series of events are nearly damning. If it all turns out to be a coincidence, he'll be shocked. If the worst happens and war shadows the land again, this time it might be all of Caido against an outside threat. And wasn't that a harrowing thought? A howl pierces the air and Sah chuckles as he glances in the direction of the sound, "That would be for me." Flashing Sunjata a smile he adds, "Thank you for taking the time to discuss all of this with me. It's greatly appreciated." Turning to head towards his companions the Wild Thunder glances over his shoulder with a wave, "I'll see you around. Be careful. Things will undoubtedly get worse before they get better." If the corruption begins to spread further or Gods forbid to people, the damage will be catastrophic. With that happy thought, Sah went to rejoin his wolves at their campsite. -{FIN}

Not all that is fractured is broken