[se] Everything must have a beginning

Unsurprisingly, in King's End the Castaway Exchange had suffered the most damage when the unforeseen tidal wave from Starfall had swept across Caido. The docks had been smashed to kindling and the half-sunken ships had been swamped and further damaged, with their wares and sometimes owners swept out to sea when the wave receded.  

With most of Caido's assistance going to Torchline and Halo there was still plenty of work to be done to fix up the Boondocks. Although the initial injuries had been treated and the list of dead and missing had been completed, the rebuilding was still underway and would be for awhile.

It felt weird to Tal to be here instead of Halo, helping out at the docks instead of in Snowcloak, but his sisters had assured him that efforts were well in hand there so the courier had come down to the Exchange to lend a hand of his own to his new home. Even though it was Longheat and the water wasn't that cold, he still kept away from the sea and focused his efforts instead on collecting wooden debris that had been washed inland and then left behind when the waters had receded.

Well, receded a little. The Boondocks were still pretty flooded, but the merchants of the Exchange seemed to be rallying and making new boats and rafts so the wood was in high demand, and it wasn't doing anyone any good just lying around where the high waves had left the bits and pieces of former ship-shops across the meadows of King's End.

"See anythin', girl?" the courier called up to his dragon, who flew low overhead to help point him in the direction of his next plank.

Sunjata

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

The market had been a work in progress, honestly, in between collecting the items for Frey’s shrine. It was either here or the House of Midnight, a space where he’d built temporary space in the back of it – even used his old rooms, to host some of the items that had been saved alongside the displaced people. And now, the Flood is back to the Castaway Exchange, diving beneath the surface to attempt to collect anything that may have survived that was personal.

But even Sunjata needs a break occasionally, slipping to the surface to dry off in the Longheat sun, taking a moment to organize a few things in his bag of holding when he notices the dragon companion hovering above a figure in the near distance, and Sunjata finds himself drifting closer until he’s within earshot of the other man. “Hey, Talyson!” He calls, offering a wave should the courier look over, offering a small smile as well. Shirtless as he is, the lightning scars that cover his right hand can be seen arcing over his shoulder and chest, inching toward his heart, alongside the flaming arrow tattoo over his pectoral and the NW scarred in above his hip. “Are you looking for something?” He asks, not quite realizing just yet that the former Halovian was collecting the wooden debris from the ships.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

The deep voice was pretty recognizable even before Tal looked over to see the Flood ambling over the flat meadow from the nearby sea. "Hey, Sunjata," he called back, a little surprised to see Hotaru's beau down here, and not wearing much above the waist. He shook his shaggy hair out of his eyes, blinking as he tried to reconcile what he was seeing. As the courier's eyes drifted down they widened, an explosive whistle escaping before his brain could apply any filters on the first thing that popped into his head.

"Frey's tits! What th'hail happened t'you?" Tal exclaimed, before remembering that he was talking to his new, uh... Archon? Which sounded like a fancier sort of king, maybe, and the courier's ears promptly turned pink as he reached up to rub fiercely at the back of his neck with one hand, flustered and suddenly finding reasons to look anywhere but at the other man. "I mean, uh... sorry. It's nice t'see... um. I'm lookin' for... y'know..." he gestured a little helplessly as Boreal swooped down to snag a board hidden in the grass and carried it over to the two men as she flew, as proud as could be. She dropped it close enough that it almost landed on the courier's foot, and Tal hopped aside just in time, glaring up at her as she soared away with a wicked chortle.

"Hey! Watch where you're droppin' those!"

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

He’s too used to people not commenting on the scars that litter his skin that Tal’s surprise has him confused for a fraction of a moment, looking down before the realization sank in that the two of them don’t really know one another aside from stories told by others. Whether or not how much of that included the marks made on his body (including the large sweeping striped scars of claws up his side courtesy of Deimos), he doesn’t know.

Sunjata huffs a laugh though, clearly not at all bothered by the outburst, following the gesture until the shadow of Boreal with the plank in her clutches arrives and nearly takes out the courier’s foot. “Hey Boreal!” He calls after the smaller dragon, before stepping forward to scoop up that specific plank to put it wherever Tal was intending to. “Don’t be sorry, I'm not used to people not already knowing where they’re from.” He says with a casual shrug of broad tattooed shoulders. “Which one in particular are you curious about?” Flashing Tal a cheeky and lopsided grin, the Flood hums a soft laugh.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Boreal caroled happily back at the dragon-man as she arced around, waggling her wings at him as she made a second pass before flapping to get more height and continue her search. Tal, meanwhile, took the offered plank with his head still ducked in embarrassment, stuffing the wood into his Bag of Holding with the rest for easier transport back to the building activities once they had a big enough haul.

"I mean... I heard some rumors 'bout you helpin' out th'Ascended durin' th'War," he admitted, clearing his throat awkwardly. "An' that y'used t'be Mayor or somethin' o' Torchline. But I didn't really pay much attention t'politics an' all that 'til Morgen died." He gave a little shrug, not quite an apology but not far from it as he started to amble along beside the unfairly tall giant of an archon. He glanced over just in time to catch the cheeky grin, and a snorting laugh was surprised from the courier as he ducked his head again.

But this time a little grin had appeared, quite without him realizing it.

"Uhh... I mean, all of 'em, I guess? But th'lightnin' one looks pretty serious. How'd y'not lose your arm to it?"

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

A bright smile is shot over to Boreal as she waggles her wings at him before his attention is returned to Tal, handing him over the piece of wood, content to stretch his legs from the span of time he’d spent in the water. “I did, yeah.” He offers, biting his tongue from saying that someone had to and that someone was me. Nevertheless, he nods at the second note made. “Governor. Took it over after Remi. Installed some monsoon blockers to keep Haulani safe from them.” He wonders if they even remain in the face of Torchline’s devastation.

Regardless, bigger and brighter? topics are at hand as they walk side by side and Sunjata snorts his own response to the one that leaves Talyson. “Carefully.” He jests, looking back over at the other man as they continue down their little aimless path (until a board appears, that is). “A sea panther arrived on the shores of Torchline and I was one of the ones to help take it down. Deimos was there, actually.” Knowing that Tal was from Halo made it easier to relay who exactly was there – a commonality.

“Anyway, I was attuned at the time so I called some encantados to the shore and had them draw up a storm. Deimos and I had a plan of launching a lightning rod at the sea panther and I would call down the storm at the same time.” He winces slightly, inhaling sharply for added dramatic flair, a whistle through his teeth as he looks ahead again. “He must have misheard me, because he handed it back to me and I was so distracted compelling these creatures that I grabbed it and struck myself.” He holds out his right hand for Tal to see just how the blast seems to go to his hand, before arcing up. “I think I had an actual heart attack? I’m not sure. I was blasted back and too out of it to notice much more than the fact I made glass. But, one of the other guys there brought me to Vervain and she healed me up.” He rumbles, head cocking as he thinks on it. “She healed me up quite a few times, actually. She found me washed up on the shore and healed this too.” His hand lifts to gesture to his cheek with another casual shrug. "My father gave me that one."

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Tal hadn't been too fond of the Voice after she'd taken in Neron, and then he'd been pretty pissed at the Ascended in general after the whole Stormbreak attack, but the War was a year and more in the past now and it was easier to let old grudges go when you were on the winning side. He just wrinkled his nose at Sunjata's answer and made sure not to pry further since he was making a determined effort to start fresh with the Flood - and not pick another fight with a regional leader that Hotaru was fond of.

And speak of the devil, but the Warden's name came up a few moments later and Tal's bushy brows rose in surprise. He had to bite his tongue against the question he was dying to ask, wanting to hear the current story even more, and as they walked along, cleaning up debris for recycling, he got all the juicy details.

"Uh... I dunno how t'break this t'you... but it might not have been a hearin' issue," Tal said slowly as the tale wound to an end that hatched even more questions. "He, uh... doesn't seem t'like you very much. Lotta th'trainin' dummies in Snowcloak's Barracks've got your face on 'em. Or, uh... well. Close enough to it." Tal had been a little surprised to see that Sunjata did not, in fact, have sharp teeth, and that his nose was actually a fairly normal size. "It's none o'my business, but... what happened t'make him hate you so much?" The look he slanted over at the demigod was a complicated one, filled with a strange mix of wistfulness, wounded pride, and camaraderie before settling into wary curiosity.

Not that he'd forgotten the comment about Sunjata's father. But he figured he should stick to one complicated question at a time.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

There is a huff of a laugh that leaves him as Tal speaks – as if the idea of Deimos disliking him was anything new, or anything that he didn’t already know for how many years now? “I think genuinely at that time it was. But, this was done on purpose before then.” Shifting to turn so he walks backwards beside Tal, he lifts up his lightning scarred arm to reveal the swaths of swiping claw scars on his side, courtesy of the Warden himself.

The targets looking like him though are far more amusing than they otherwise should be, and he spins around back to walking forward with a small amused smile on his face. “Interesting.” And it was interesting. Hilarious, actually.

As for the reasons why, well, Sunjata pauses to collect a small piece of debris, handing it to Tal as he mulls over where to start. “Well, I think it first started when Hotaru and I were close, after I’d broken up with Phoebe. But I got really sick and Phoebe and I had… our problems at the time, and were both incredibly stubborn. Next thing I knew, we both wouldn’t back down and we got married. I asked Deimos to make the ring, which he thought was for Hotaru, when it… Wasn’t.” His nose wrinkles and he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “And then just.. everything else that I did to Hotaru after that.” Though, for all his faults, Hotaru and he had both hurt each other – memories of her burning down his guildhall, sparking a fire in the middle of Haulani.

He shrugs a broad shoulder and looks back to Tal with a slight wince. “He banned me from Halo, which is why I never got to visit Hotaru there.” He’d never wanted to take her from her home, even if he wasn’t meant for the cold. But, here they were. “So, that’s that, basically.”

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Another low whistle slipped out as Tal eyed the claw scars with wide eyes, and he almost tripped over a board. He bent hurriedly to scoop it up and jam it into the Bag before clearing his throat, pretending that he'd meant to do that. "Huh. I gotta set like that, too. Just, not from him. From a normal ursur," he admitted, rubbing at his nose nonchalantly as he tried to fit in with the cool kid.

He hadn't been certain how Sunjata would take the news about the training dummies, but he relaxed a little when it went over okay. At least the Flood didn't look particularly upset about it, and Tal accepted the piece of wood with a quiet sigh of relief. "Yeah, well, hopefully my face doesn't start showin' up on 'em now, too. He's kind o' a terrible artist." And it was the courier's turn to flash a brief, wry grin over at his Archon.

Brief, because the question he wanted to ask was complicated and probably rude, but he asked it anyways and to his surprise he actually got an answer. "Huh..." It was a lot to take in, and the courier's brow furrowed more and more deeply as Sunjata explained the complicated history that stretched back years and years, even before the War. He knew the names and the people attached to them, but he hadn't known them back then and he'd rarely thought about Ru's past prior to their meeting. He certainly had never considered Sunjata's or Phoebe's pasts, and finding how intertwined they all were was...

A little overwhelming for a guy who'd spent a chunk of his adult life on the Tundra with mostly his sled dogs for company.

He drew in a big breath to say something - anything? - and then let it all out in a big sigh, shaking his head. "Yeah, no. That all sounds... really complicated. Ru told me about the Safrin stuff, an' your daughter..." He trailed off with an uncomfortable shrug. "But yeah, I guess I can see why he's still mad." Though he looked glum as he admitted it.

He kicked a board and sent it tumbling ahead of them, where Boreal dropped out of the sky to pounce on it, flattening it back into the grass. "So, uh... I guess you an' your pa didn't get along too well, either?"

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

“It’s a pretty shitty spot to get hit, isn’t it?” He rumbles, flashing Talyson a companionable smile – especially as talk shifts to training dummies and faces lingering amidst them. It’s not a fact that bothers him any, truthfully, he’d always been a target to someone or other. He’d always wrought it upon himself, so how could he complain when it came to light?

As for Tal, though, and the terrible artist comment, it brights a brief huff of a laugh from his throat, a deep rumble. “So long as he’s a terrible artist, you have plausible deniability.” He winks. Tal doesn’t have to accept that it’s him anyway, if Deimos were to go so far as that, but something tells him that the courier beside him probably hadn’t done all the personal things Sunjata had done that effected Deimos year after year.

Not that the Sword would ever know how much he’s strived to change, how much better of a person he’s gotten over the years. Not that he cares in particular whether or not Deimos did know, either.

He wanders and picks up more boards and debris where he can see it, letting the information of how everyone was so intertwined back then when the only place to wander had been the Grounds and the Greatwood, settle so it would be easier for the courier to pick it apart. And when Talyson speaks, a low hum slips from Sunjata’s throat of acknowledgement, an arm lifting to rub at the back of his neck as he exhales a slightly awkward sigh. “Wasn’t my finest moment.” Is all he has to say about it – still learning to not give into his impulsivity and fears, one step at a time.

His pa, however, was a subject that brings a solemn nod from the Flood. “Not for lack of trying on my part. I was trained as a soldier from a young age, but according to him I had too much emotion to do the job right.” He pauses, thinking back on it. “A lot happened between him and I back home and I had thought that I was free of him when I landed here. But no, he arrived.” A small sneer blooms on his face at the memory, draconic wings unfurling from his back, as the one closest to Talyson comes into view with a pale scar through it, like the wing had been broken and punctured the skin, magically reset so he could fly. “I thought his appearances were just me losing my mind. Until he broke my wing and kidnapped Nate. And I refused to let Hotaru help me with any of it for fear he’d snatch her too, specifically because he did kill my girlfriend back in Korofi.” The wings tuck in tight and he glances over at Talyson with a small shrug, offering another little pitfall he’d had with the Valkyrie.

"I can admit that I'm working on not letting my fears guide my impulsive actions these days."

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

"The worst," Tal agreed with a groan of memory. In spite of the heat he was still fairly well covered in a shirt with sleeves that reached to his elbows and an oddly dapper vest of flexible stone, so his own scars remained discreetly covered, but the reminder of painful weeks spent with healing ribs and stitches that threatened to pop every time he sneezed sent a shiver down his spine that he hurriedly pushed away.

He was far less sanguine than Sunjata was about becoming the butt of the training grounds, but he had a lot more to lose. A number of the soldiers who trained there were his father's brothers-in-arms and friends of the family, and the courier was glum at the thought of his face adorning their targets. Still, he managed an attempt at a fleeting grin at the Flood's reassurance and wink, taking a little solace in not feeling so alone in the Resurrected Sword's disregard anymore.

It was weird to hear how someone had pissed Deimos off worse than he had, and the courier had a whole passle of complex feelings he didn't know how to sort through, so he focused on cleaning up the meadow alongside the Archon until the subject could shift to something that was a little less fresh - at least for the courier. Hearing that Sunjata's dad had ended up on Caido, too, had him opening his mouth and then closing it again, a perplexed look on his face as he paused with a board halfway into his Bag when the wing unfurled. "What. The. Hail??" The board came back out as Tal waved it around to punctuate his words. "That is really fucked up?! Is he still around??" The courier twitched his head to the side, looking around as if expecting Sunjata Sr. to pop out at any moment. Complete with pointy teeth and a hooked nose, wielding a bloody dagger.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

Scars were something to be worn with pride in Korofi. Something that was far more acceptable than the dreadful tattoos that spanned the Flood’s body. So despite the offers to get rid of the scars, Sunjata had kept all but one. They were his stories, his triumphs, his survival story. Even if some of those stories were ones he’d rather forget. A tactile reminder of who he’s become, a reminder of how far he’s come.

A reassuring smile is immediately flashed to Talyson as he pauses abruptly, the Flood’s wings tucking in with a slight shift, even as his gaze drifts toward Boreal with the display of his own draconic flare. “No.” He assures, reaching up to rub at the side of his neck, over yet another scar his father had given him, but one that he feels like might just be a bit too much information for the younger man. “Against Hotaru’s wishes, I challenged my father to a Trial. A trial is… Basically a tradition from Korofi. A kind of… Battle royale when you’re seventeen to prove you’re the strongest and can take over the throne, basically. Last man standing, et cetera. I should note my father was the one on the throne, when I was seventeen. So... Anyway, lots of weight, lots of training.” His nose wrinkles a little bit the side of his mouth with the scar slides up in a little smile. “I had to take him by surprise, so when he had captured the view of the crowd and was crowing about how much better he was and how much of a disappointment—” here his eyes roll with an air of exhaustion, “—I had always been, he stuck the knife in my mouth and I launched us off the cliff, expecting to untangle myself and fly back up to the top.”

Only… That isn’t what happened. The knife had sliced through in full view of everyone, including Hotaru, right before he'd gone over the edge with his father. “The scar’s so fucked up because I washed up on the beach a few days later and it had no healing until it had already tried to partially heal.” Why it swirls and is so jagged in parts.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Boreal had been spiraling overhead, keeping an eye out for more boards lying in wait in the grass that could be hunted down by an enterprising dragon. When she caught sight of Sunjata's wings out the pale dragon gave a rumble of approval at her new friend, earning an exasperated but fond look from her human. It was brief, mostly because he was too busy being horrified at what Sunjata Sr. had gotten up to during his brief stay on Caido.

And being very glad that the creep wasn't around to cause any more bloody problems for anyone ever again!

Tal slowly put the board into his Bag, distracted by the description of Trials. His scowl was joined by a shudder at the description of the knife and the desperate ploy to take the horrible man down - literally. All the way to the bottom of a cliff.

"Wait, so was your wing already fucked up by then?" he asked, attention rapt in spite of himself. So wrapped up in the tale was he that he almost landed on his nose when he tripped over another length of wood. He managed to catch his balance, swearing under his breath as he bent to pick the offending beam up and jam it into his Bag with ill-concealed annoyance as the back of his neck burned red at his clumsiness.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

The wings don’t disappear as they continue to collect pieces of wood and debris from the flooding, Sunjata’s deep rumble of a voice carrying easily across the distance when they part further than previously as Sunjata collects another piece of wood. “It had healed by then. Enough for flight, but yeah… It happened before then.” He huffs, recalling how his father had been on such a high horse to believe that Sunjata attuning to gods for shifts were a sign of weakness – needing something else under his skin besides himself to be worthy.

Thoughts that burn away as he tucks them back into hiding, glancing over at Tal as he trips over another piece of wood. He returns, handing Tal another piece of wood. He scans him to make sure he’s okay, though, given the flush at the back of the other man’s neck Sunjata decides it best to not mention it aloud that he’d seen it. “So what about you? What’d you do to get the ire of the sword?” He flashes him a playful half smile.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count