[se] Everything must have a beginning

They came upon an area where a boat might have come apart; there were many more boards and other pieces of debris lying in a more compact area than they'd previously seen. What had become of the boat's owner was unknown, but Tal hesitated only for a few moments before shrugging and stepping in to continue their clean-up. Boreal abandoned the sky to join the men on the ground, her pale scales gleaming brightly against the green grass as she trotted up to first Sunjata and then Tal with a board in her mouth, looking quite pleased with herself.

It would have been nice if Tal's feet could have avoided the damn wood that he almost fell over, but a surreptitious glance at Sunjata seemed to indicate that the Archon hadn't seen it, and the courier breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Right before he heard the question that got turned back on him.

He couldn't suppress the wince, though he tried to cover it up with a sickly grin in return. "Haha, yeah... well. 'S... complicated. He was kind've... my first real friend in a few years. An' then this girl came along an' I didn't much trust her. But she started hangin' around 'im a lot. An' he didn't take well t'me not likin' her." The courier scowled as he scooped up some lengths of wood that looked like they could be reused, glaring at them before shoving them into his Bag of Holding. "I was worried about 'im gettin' taken advantage of!" His pale eyes flashed up to meet Sunjata's briefly, wounded and still upset in spite of the years between then and now, though there was a tiredness to his hurt that spoke of scabbing and scarring around the hole that had been left. Just as quickly he looked away, shoulders hunching in an awkward shrug. "But I'm kind've shit with words, yeah? Put my whole damn foot in my mouth tryin' t'explain it t'him. Got so wound up worryin' about her I didn't get what he was sayin' about bein' sent t'the Draig. An' that was it." Persona non grata to the ruler of the land Tal had been born and raised in his entire life up until that point.

Though from the pain that still festered it was, perhaps, not entirely 'it.' But that had certainly been enough.

SUNJATA

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

His gaze scans the debris from the boat, spying the pieces of metal and the bent frames of wood in what looked to be condensed. Sunjata steps forward, reaching out to collect pieces of wood alongside Tal, pausing only to scratch Boreal’s scales when she trots up to him, flashing her a bright smile for the board that she then carries to the courier.

He continues to collect, handing off pieces of wood and collecting rusted metal in his large palms, glancing over at Tal curiously as the story unfolds. And really, all he can offer is a soft little hum, meeting Talyson’s wounded gaze, spying the upset within it, and offering a small understanding nod and a smile himself. “I have always been shit with words.” It was like his running theme – his words minced and twisted without his ability to untangle the knots before they tightened around his throat.

“Well, I’m not sure if it helps, but there’s a petty part of me in instances like that that are fine with letting the consequences happen.” He shrugs, stepping away a bit further to collect another piece of wood and a large metal binding. “At least at the end of the day it’s an I told you so..” Though, perhaps that reveals more to Tal about who Sunjata is than the rest of it.

And unfortunately, it’s a thread that Hotaru and he had tugged on numerous occasions. A swap from Tal worried and disliking Deimos being with Evie, to Deimos’ own hatred of him for what he’d done to Hotaru in the past.

Things that had taken Sunjata many years to work past and through, and only with Frey’s help. “At any rate, I’m glad you’re here.” He offers, flashing Tal a gentler smile, the genuine twists of it despite the lopsidedness from the scar.

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 grumbled happily at the attention she received from Sunjata, ensuring that she would continue to bring boards to him as well as to Tal. The courier always gave her chin a good scratch for every delivery as well, and sometimes snuck a little tidbit of reindeer jerky in trade to boot.

Not that the pale dragon was spoiled or anything.

Everyone else he'd told the tale to - and it hadn't been many - had offered their own judgments and admonitions on his behavior, and he'd been braced for more of the same from Sunjata. The Archon's quiet understanding took the bristle from Tal's shoulders and the wind from his sails before he quite knew what he would have done if things had gone the way he'd expected, and the courier's mouth opened and then snapped shut without a sound escaping as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

"Yeah, well... I'm not not petty, prob'ly." The courier's admission was a little sheepish and a little belligerent, mumbled half under his breath as he cleared his throat, still trying to get his verbal feet under him as he ambled around the field, picking up the bits of broken ship small enough to stuff in his Bag. The current situation was probably too good to last, but... hail. For the moment, with all the rest of the world going to the void, he'd enjoy what he could while he had it.

And Sunjata's smile and gratitude sent a flush of embarrassed pleasure to the courier's ears and the back of his neck, which turned pink behind his dark, tousled hair. He ducked his head and rubbed at his nose, glad of the distraction that Boreal provided as she sauntered over with a length of rope trailing behind her like a giant snake. He knelt down to take it from her and give her cheeks a good fussing as she leaned happily into the attention with a sulfurous huff. "Yeah, well... 's not a bad place t'be," he mumbled. "But we need a proper skyport here, y'know? T'really get trade up an' runnin'. Got any plans for when t'start buildin' one?"

SUNJATA

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

Sunjata continues his collection of debris from the boat while pausing to give attention to Boreal each time she approaches with another piece left behind. He can’t help but to snort lightly at the comment, the sheepish tone that portrays the idea that Tal may or may not be petty. “I’m quite petty.” Sunjata shrugs casually. He’s also stubborn – immensely so. But those are topics for later, now that the surface has been brushed.

He hums his appreciation for the courier being here and is content in the silence he harbors after it, listening to what opinions the messenger has in regards to the new and fresh land Sunjata is starting to bring out of the wilds. A low hum slips from his throat in consideration, arm full of large metal pieces that won’t fit within the confines of Tal’s bag of holding, but he does approach with another piece of wood that will. “I want to get a quest for protection first, before the skyport.” He offers with a soft considering gleam to his gaze. “Skyships can land here, even if it isn’t entirely optimal. Given the state of things, protection first, then trade, I think is the better option.”

Especially given that Remi has tasked him with seeing if the refuge worked on Dahlia – the only source of protection they had right now, provided that her abilities would weaken as well. And if they didn’t, well, it would be nothing more than a sitting duck. Unless he could figure out a way he and Frey might be able to deaden her powers.

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 look Tal gave Sunjata might have been almost admiring and a little jealous for the Flood's forthright willingness to own up to his less savory personality traits. Then again, the Archon had lived through a lot more tragedy and drama than the courier had, with the subsequent lessons, growth, and self-awareness that hopefully came with them.

The meadow was starting to look a lot better thanks to their efforts. The flowers weren't fighting for space amidst chunks of wood and rope and metal anymore, and with Sunjata's arms getting full Tal opened his bag for one last piece of smaller debris from the Flood and another from Boreal before he tightened the draw on it and started heading for the docks to drop off the rough materials to those who could recycle them into some new floating shop.

"Oh. Huh. I mean, yeah, o'course protection first," he admitted grudgingly, nose wrinkling at the thought of putting the skyport off another season or two, even if it made the most sense. "But d'we even need t'get a god involved t'build a skyport? I mean, in Halo we had to 'cause o' th'cold an'stuff, but did th'skyport in th'Grounds need a prayin' kinda quest t'get it up an' runnin'?" He hadn't been involved in that one, and didn't know the details of it as intimately as Snowcloak's port.

SUNJATA

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

The more time spent together and Tal would certainly start to realize that Sunjata often admits his faults aloud – the more that people knew why and how he was the way that he was, the less it was likely to come and bite him in the ass. Besides, it did no use to hide it away, not when there was the chance of getting a molecule of understanding for his approach to things. Either that, or people would just assume he was going insane… Which, given the amount of times he’s nearly died, his mind has given him a run for his money.

Either way, they start to head back, Sunjata’s arms full of twisting metal braces for a ships hull – the weight feeling like next to nothing for him much to his quiet surprise. Maybe it would be useful to have this much metal in the rebuilding?

Tal pulls him from his thoughts, though, spiralling it into the future of King’s End. He doesn’t look at Tal to notice the nose wrinkle, too focused on the call of the sea in the distance, sparkling under the partially cloudy sun. “I don’t know the details for the Grounds. I was only a part of the skyport in Torchline and even then it was for the build, nothing leading up to it.” He shrugs – not having any ideas as to whether gods might be necessary for creating such a thing, he just doesn’t view it at utmost priority.

“I think it’s important to focus on protection and adding more houses here so that those that can come have options aside from staying out in the wilds or the refuge.” He admits, finally glancing over at Tal with a small apologetic smile. “We don’t have anything to trade yet either aside from favors.” Which is what he’s been doing. Trading help for potential future help. “We are still extremely new and need to focus on survival basics first.” A brief pause before he starts to list out the thoughts running through his head. “Houses and buildings, a militia, figuring out what we have to trade, focus on our safety, et cetera.”

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 wasn't as upfront with his failings, but people could usually figure them out pretty quickly.

Stubbornness, for example, wasn't something Sunjata had a monopoly on.

"Mmm... yeah, the militia's pretty important," he agreed, this time with much less reluctance. He nodded firmly. "Dunno how much help I can be there, but I'll do what I can t'get 'em get set up." Building a training field or a barracks or whatever else the Archon needed help with in that regard.

But for the houses... Tal shrugged as they reached the place where materials were being deposited for use by whoever grabbed them first. He reached into his Bag and began the process of unloading it, nose wrinkling in thought. "Dunno about th'Refuge m'self, but if it'll protect folks from th' void critters, people'll be comin' just for safety. Havin' a way for as many as possible t'get someplace they won't get bit or whatever seems more important right now than buildin' some random houses. I mean, I'll help folks build when they move here, sure. That's just neighborly. But I'm not gonna waste time buildin' an empty house no one might ever move into. That's puttin' th'sled before th'dogs, isn't it?"

SUNJATA

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

“Probably a training ground to start, and while that’s being made we can focus on getting volunteers perhaps.” There weren’t too many people that lived here at the moment, but those that did he thinks there might be a few of them that would take advantage of the idea of it. But he draws silent, wandering back toward the space where Tal starts to unload his bag and Sunjata sets out the pieces of metal he’d collected, creating a pile that was available for the taking.

The mention of the refuge protecting people from the void creatures, well, that’s the crux of the issue isn’t it? Stubbornness can go both ways, and when Tal comments about building empty houses that people might not move into, well, that’s not entirely true in the Flood’s opinion. Houses were houses, and they were spaces that people like those in the market place here could have taken over when they’d been displaced, instead of the House of Midnight and surrounding areas. At least until this was cleaned up and brought back up to speed.

But first thing’s first. “The refuge doesn’t block out the void creatures. And I’ve been tasked to see if it’ll block the powers of the woman Remi encountered. If it doesn’t, then that’ll be the protection priority.” Ensuring that somehow it could work to deaden those abilities too – but for the moment, the refuge made everyone sitting ducks, unable to use their magic and shifts and abilities within its confines. “As for houses, it’s hard for some people to move to a place where there isn’t access to much. Having an option of houses and making a little town that’s got spaces for people to start work would be more enticing for people to visit and stay rather than inviting them to come to a mostly barren place where your only options are a refuge that might work against the threat, a brothel, and here, the exchange.” Casting his steel gaze over toward Tal, he shrugs a broad tattooed shoulder.

His decision is made, whether Tal approves of it or not.

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

"Wait... whaddya mean th'Refuge doesn't keep th'Void critters out?" Tal stopped what he was doing and turned to face the Flood, pale eyes widening with alarm at this most unwelcome news. "But th'gods... I thought... y'mean it isn't safe?" And the same thoughts that Sunjata had wrestled with occurred to the courier as he realized that Abandoned and Attuned - and supposedly Mer and Ancients - wouldn't be able to use their abilities to protect themselves.

And maybe not Accepted, either, and all his handy magic items.

He didn't quite sit down, but he swayed a little and Boreal padded over to lean against him, offering him her broad shoulders to rest his hand on as his gaze went a little glassy. "Well... fuck. I was countin' on it bein'..." Impregnable? More than a single-use, single-War fortification? He trailed off uncertainly, not wanting to criticize the gods when one of their demigods was present but fuck did that change things.

"I... uh. Huh." He shook his head and slowly went back to emptying the Bag. They'd stuffed a lot in there and he was going to be at it for a little while. Some of Sunjata's other words began to slowly percolate through his shock and he glanced back over again, brows pulling together in a confused frown. "Remi encountered a... woman? I thought he was married t'Ronin?"

SUNJATA

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

He means exactly that. “It doesn’t keep regular animals out, so it’s not really a surprise.” Sunjata admits with a quiet and heavy sigh, as Tal continues on and all Sunjata can think about is inviting Dahlia into it, putting himself directly in harms way if it didn’t work on her, and what kind of maneuvers he’d have to take in order to get out. Something tells him that if his magic doesn’t work, neither would his newfound immortality, and with it a sinking sensation in his gut.

“It still does exactly what it was intended to do, but, I’m hazarding a guess that whatever’s infecting the creatures doesn’t play by Caido’s rules.” So it’d be more of a threat than anything else, if Dahlia could use her magic, leaving them to be sitting ducks and adjustments made hastily to try and prevent it. “I can’t talk to Frey to try and adjust it until I know for sure whether it works against everything facing us or not.” He casts a glance over to see the wind out of Tal’s sails, listening as he starts to respond to the rest of it.

Confusion flares for a moment, a scarred brow rising as he tries to figure out where the communication fell through on Remi’s encounter, before he clears his throat and explains it again. “Remi went to the meteor that’s in Torchline and was attacked by a woman that was stronger than he is.” And if Remi couldn’t fight and win, Sunjata knew they were already fucked. Regardless of his internal feelings over the Lullaby, Sunjata wasn't stupid. Remi was strong, and if he didn't stand a chance? Nobody would.

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

"...Oh." When Sunjata put it like that, it made perfect sense that the void creatures could get in as easily as a villi or a blink hare. The courier felt the back of his neck reddening as the extent of his blind faith sunk in, twisting uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach as one of the core assumptions about his new home was shaken to the bone. As the Flood continued, the twisting in his stomach only intensified. Sure, there'd been the LongNight meteorites, but they hadn't found any problems at the site.

Except the Void shit had started appearing right after. And all those seasons ago Safrin had gone to face a threat that wasn't even on their world, and...

"Wait, so you gotta test it on... yourself, somehow?" Something in his Archon's voice dragged Tal's attention back enough to focus on the words that boded really, really poorly if they meant what Tal thought they might mean. "But... th'Refuge blocks your powers, too, doesn't it?" He was pretty sure that had been the whole point of a place where both Ascended and non-Ascended were supposed to play nicely together. Dark brows remained drawn together, furrowed deeply as his scowl took on a cast of concern.

The revelation that followed did nothing to reassure him. Not privy to the letters that had flown between leaders, and not having spent much time around the notice boards in other lands of late, he'd missed the updates. He was learning them now, however, and his brown skin blanched at the news. 'Wh...but... So was th'woman, like... bit by a Void critter an' corrupted?" But who on Caido could be stronger than the Lullaby, even with a Void-juice boost?

SUNJATA

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

Without already knowing what kind of other worldly, not expected threat as Safrin had said, there was no way or reason to believe the refuge would keep them out. The abilities on the other hand, was something still awaiting the test, one that Sunjata isn’t entirely sure how it’ll go, but he thinks he’s charming enough to wiggle his way through it without being phased.

Of course, only time would tell. “It does, yeah.” It blocks everyone’s powers. An attempt to keep an even playing field in the safety of a space that had been tucked away and hidden during the past war. Now, it’s not hidden, but still a space where people could come together as their base forms, especially if there was the potential for fighting to break out.

The answer as to how he’ll test it is still coming, though, as the gears spin through Tal’s head. “I’m not sure what she is. I met her, though, so when Remi sent the sketch of her I recognized her. Nothing seemed off about her when I spoke with her.” Nothing but how interested in whiskey and food she was, but Sunjata couldn’t glean much off of that. “So I intend on inviting her to the Refuge and see if it deadens her abilities too.” Because he’s the only one that could get away with it, knowing yet pretending to not know, just what exactly he was facing.

Still, the thought makes his stomach swirl in discomfort.

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

Having his assumption confirmed - that Sunjata also wouldn't have access to his powers - didn't comfort the courier one bit. His scowl deepened as he shoved a board into the pile with unnecessary force--

And then had to scramble to keep the pile's other elements from tilting over in a messy cascade.

As he managed to get it under control he shot the Flood a look of wounded worry and something more complicated. "That sounds kinda risky. Hail, it sounds really risky," he admitted, voice gruff. He straightened up and rubbed the back of his neck, nose wrinkling in a thoughtful scowl. "I know I'm prob'ly not much use compared to a demigod... but maybe I can... I dunno. Grab you an' run away real fast if shit goes sideways an' y'get hurt?" He rubbed harder at his skin, scowl deepening. "Not sayin' I'll be there with you. I know I'd prob'ly fuck it up. 'm shit at poker." As anyone who'd been around him for more than five minutes could probably tell. "But I could be nearby, at least? Close enough t'hear if you yell?" Another moment of hesitation and then he extended his other hand with an awkward one-armed shrug. A ring glinted on his finger, silver with the golden imprint of lips upon the metal. "Long as I c'n get y'out o' th'Refuge, I can slap some healin' on you with this ring, at least."

SUNJATA

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

Gaze flickering to see the wobbling tower of picked up elements, Sunjata’s distracted after with a board that floats toward the water’s edge – reaching out with his magic to scoop it up and bring it to him, he adds it to a smaller pile beside Talyson’s own large stack. “That’s to assume if anything does happen and you get there that she doesn’t just turn her attention on you.” Sunjata counters, letting his gaze flicker back over toward the younger man, freckles framing his face accentuated deeply by the exposure of the sun.

“I’m just going to play my cards right, pretend as though I don’t know who she is other than someone I met that liked whiskey, invite her in to taste a new batch I have for the House of Midnight, and then… part ways. Hopefully.” His nose wrinkles with the thought, but there’s a soft little sigh that accompanies it that imagines it probably wouldn’t be that easy. Things often weren’t for him.

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