[se] Everything must have a beginning

"..." Tal blinked at Sunjata and then cleared his throat, trying to look like he'd definitely thought that far ahead when he'd made the offer. "Well... y'know... if she has t'split her attention between two of us, maybe we can both get out? Better'n if she's focused on just one?" he suggested weakly.

He finally went back to their task, finishing emptying his Bag of useful chunks of wood and metal into the second pile Sunjata had started, nose wrinkling as he listened to the plan. "I mean... yeah, that shouldn't be too bad," he said slowly, this time thinking things through a little before he spoke. "Um. But what if she doesn't try t'use any fancy abilities just drinkin' whiskey? How'll we know if the Refuge works on her or not?" Dusting his hands off he stepped a little ways back from the piles, scowling at them in deep thought. He reached up to rub his hand through his hair, pushing the sweat back out of his eyes as he tried to find answers in the whorls and knots of the salvaged wood. "Did she use any th'last time y'met her?"

SUNJATA

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

While the thought itself is noble, Sunjata shakes his head to the offer as well. “I imagine that would go very poorly for the both of us.” One thing Sunjata had learned in his past was to never underestimate your enemies. It was the same thing he’d done with his father – knowing that physically and mentally, Shaju would have him beat. He had to improvise, fight cheap, break some rules, in order to win. And with Dahlia? They don’t even know what she can do, but all he knows is that if Remi struggled and failed to hurt her, two powerless people wouldn’t stand a chance.

He steps back and rubs at his shoulder, though, feeling the relief of the sun hiding away by a rogue cloud against his sun tanned and now thankfully dry skin as he explains his plan, watching as Tal steps away from the piles and scowls at them. “I’m just going to have to assume. I’ll bring her in from the entrance and see if she reacts when we step through. Everyone else I’ve been with has had a reaction stepping over the threshold.” And if she doesn’t, well, while it isn’t a for sure answer it’s something for the interim.

As for using her magic when they’d first met, he shakes his head. “No. She seemed completely normal.” Aside from being enamored with the offerings of food and drink the House of Midnight had to offer, which again wasn’t strange enough for him to assume she meant bad news.

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

Well, at least he'd tried. The courier reached out to rub Boreal's horns as she shoved her broad head under his hand, rumbling quietly as he human looked unhappily at their stack of debris. People were already starting to come over to investigate and sort through it for useful pieces, and Tal stepped back to keep out of the way, and keep his conversation with Sunjata private.

"Um. Even Accepted?" He'd never actually been inside the Refuge himself, but since all of his magic was outside of himself - contained in his items - he wondered if he'd feel anything at all. Maybe he wouldn't be able to channel? But he could only seem to manage that once or twice a season anyways. Would he even notice of he wasn't trying to use the ability?

He chewed his lip fiercely, barely noticing when the sun went behind a cloud and gave everyone a brief respite from the Longheat afternoon. When Sunjata called the strange lady 'normal' Tal had no reason to doubt him. It just made things even creepier when he thought about it. "So... she looks just like a regular human..." he said slowly, brow furrowing once more in deep and unpleasant thought. "...What if she's not th'only one?" The question wasn't exactly rhetorical. Tal looked to his Archon with fresh worry in his eyes, hoping the demigod would have an answer to allay the curl of fear in the courier's belly.

SUNJATA

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

Sunjata too, steps out of the way as people approach to collect the useful bits and bobs of the stack they’d created. A few he even offers a smile to, a genuine and charming one at odds with the conversation that their having – only serving to give the people some amount of relief over the scrunch of Tal’s face, before the Flood’s attention returns to the Accepted. “Depends on if they have magical items on them that affect them. It’s kind of an all encompassing feeling, but, I’d heard some of the Accepted had felt different.” Like they were muted, almost.

But there’s a lot of what ifs, and if she didn’t react at all Sunjata would decide it’s better to err on the side of caution, even as Tal’s question grows more curious in the fact that she might not be the only one – something Sunjata has zero thoughts on. “We have no way in knowing right now if that’s true or not.” He admits, flashing Tal a small smile to try and alleviate some of the worry flanking his gaze. “It’s easier to accomplish goals based off of the facts rather than the what ifs.” They could prepare for a multitude of people just like Dahlia, but they had no way in knowing where to start. If anything it would be spinning around in circles trying to get one thing done. So starting with her is the safest bet, in his mind. “So right now we should focus on ensuring we can be safe from her specifically, and if more come up we’ll deal with them as we get to them.”

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 might not have been scowling at anyone as he thought, but it was certainly true that his dark expression was off-putting to several of those who would have been hesitant to approach without Sunjata's reassuring smile to mitigate it. The courier was oblivious to the effect he was having on the residents of the Exchange, though his frown did lighten when he noticed that people were already making use of their scavenged materials.

He nodded slowly as the Flood explained the Refuge's effects and Boreal planted herself beside him, sitting on the soft grass and leaning heavily into his hip, forcing the courier to shift his balance to support her weight even as he took strength from it.

He really didn't like the thought of a bunch of people able to beat up Remi wandering around, blending in with everyone else. But at the moment there was neither defense from this Dahlia and any others like her, nor any way to recognize them while traveling around Caido. A shiver ran all the way from Tal's tailbone to the tips of his hair and he rubbed at his arms nervously. If anything happened to Sunjata, Ru would be heartbroken, and the courier couldn't bear to see her in that state again. "What's Ru said about th'plan?" If anyone could talk the Flood into not doing something so dangerous on his own, it was the Valkyrie!

SUNJATA

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

It isn’t a thing Sunjata likes either, but as far as he’s concerned, he’s the only one that can get away with running those tests – having already made an acquaintance out of the woman in question before knowing what she was capable of. A fact that he, and likely so many others, were in the line of fire without even knowing it. Like walking into a lion’s den.

Distracted by offering gentle smiles to the people that come to collect the scrap and offering little nods of hello’s, Sunjata’s attention flickers back to Talyson as the question airs. “She’s worried, of course, but she trusts me to do the best that I can.” A small shrug offered. “And while I’m not as strong as Remi is, I’m on par with him these days. It’s better that it’s me figuring it out than anyone else.” He’s a demigod, after all. Chosen.

If anyone understood the importance of letting those most capable deal with affairs at the same level, well, it was Hotaru.

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

He was still figuring out if he trusted Sunjata, and how far. One thing that was certain, though, was his trust in Hotaru. And if she believed in the Flood, well, Tal would follow her lead in this. So the courier gave a slow, reluctant nod, heaving a sigh of resignation even as he steeled himself to accept the inevitable this time. "Yeah... well. Just try not t'die an' stuff," he mumbled, as awkward at trying to offer moral support as he was at so many other emotional displays. Though rough his words were sincere, even though his gaze only flickered briefly up to Sunjata's face before returning to his own feet.

That was when the Archon's words sank in and Tal blinked, looking up sharply in surprise as Boreal chortled at his sudden realization. "Wait, wait, wait... you're on par with Remi? Wh... when did that happen?? An' how??" Scuttlebutt from certain Halovian sources had generally painted Sunjata as a... well, as no Lullaby or Supernova, that was for sure! Sure, Tal had seen how strong the man was during the house building, but Remi was in a whole 'nother league! ... wasn't he?

SUNJATA

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

Tal’s mumble is met with a low, accented rumble of a chuckle, amusement flaring in his gaze. “Yeah, well, that’s the goal.” Despite how many times Sunjata faced situations like these, very rarely did he do it with the intention of not coming back from it. His death wishes are particular and few and far between.

Hearing Boreal’s surprise along with Tal’s own, Sunjata’s scarred brow rises as he tilts his head slightly – forgetting that it wasn’t exactly common knowledge these days. “A few months ago I think?” He glances over Tal’s shoulder in the distance as if mentally counting it out. “I went to Frey to finish a quest and apparently in the time that I worked on King’s End to get it like this and keep my nose down, I’d been successful in healing myself too.” His gaze flickers back toward Tal with a shrug. “Frey said I had surpassed Remi and Ronin, though not in strength, in other means. So, immortality, a myriad of new magics, and a new shift are at my disposal.” It had been quite a lot at first but he’s still working on figuring out how to utilize them the best.

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 Archon's chuckle and the humor that Tal caught in his eyes during his brief glance brought a little reflexive prickle to the courier's hackles, but even he could feel that it was more from habit than any real sense of offense. He was pretty sure - more or less - that Sunjata wasn't making fun of him. There were times that the demigod seemed almost as awkward as he was, and it was hard not to feel a little relief that he wasn't the only one.

But then the Flood went and dropped bombshells like that and Tal's internal struggle was suddenly washed away by surprise and avid curiosity. He eyed the other man surreptitiously, as if trying to see any physical changes that would put the Archon on par with the Lullaby as Sunjata answered his question. "...Huh. Immortality is good, prob'ly," he agreed slowly. A flash of envy might have crossed the courier's face at the mention of new magics, but he firmly tried to shove it away, focusing on something a little less painful instead. "What kinda shift is it? Is it bigger'n your dragon?" he asked eagerly.

SUNJATA

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

It certainly wasn’t directed at Tal, but a mutual hint of amusement of hearing it so bluntly put. It alleviates the internal worries he has for the moment, pushing them away from the forefront of his mind to explain the reason why he’s on par with the Lullaby, and in turn, a truly large player in the game even if he still struggled to wrap his mind around it.

Immortality was good, but it was also terrifying and the one piece of magic he didn’t want when he’d agreed to become a demigod. Yet here he is, nodding his agreement and listening to the question of the shift, ignoring the flash of envy that sparks. “It’s not bigger than the dragon, no, but it’s about the same size. It’s a hydra.” He didn’t harbor a shift that had the leviathan size that Remi and Ronin did, but he instead held one that allowed for regeneration – that if the heads were cut off of that shift, more would grow in its place.

“Do you want to see it?” He asks, rolling his shoulders slightly as if stretching out in case Tal did want to see it.

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

At the first words of Sunjata's explanaion Tal's expression started to fall towards disappointment. He'd clearly been hoping for something big and spectacular, but hope blossomed anew at hearing that it was the same size. And then the revelation of the hydra dropped and the courier's pale eyes grew wide as saucers. "No way," he breathed, clearly impressed as Boreal tilted her head up at her human, amused at his reaction. A smoky burp emerged from the companion and, seeing that his earlier temper had subsided, she stood up and shook herself, moving away to snuffle hopefully at a small hole in the turf that was just about big enough for a small rodent to call home.

"Yeah! I mean... if it won't scare anyone off," he amended sheepishly, shuffling a little further away from the pile of reclaimed materials. "I thought hydras were just in storybooks an' stuff!" Not like dragons or gryphons, which were real enough to touch. Or kill you, if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"How many heads d'you have?"

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

Sunjata snorts, a crooked smile blooming on his face as he shrugs his tattooed shoulders again. “I have a couple shifts that I haven’t seen on Caido yet.” The Hydra, obviously, but the Pegasus as well. Unicorns were in abundance, especially here in King’s End, but the winged variants? He’s yet to see them.

Stepping away from the pile now, glancing toward those collecting to ensure they see that it’s him going to that particular spot off in the distance, Sunjata calls back to Tal. “Three, but if you cut one off two more grow back.” Settling into the space, Sunjata flashes Tal a wolfish grin, all teeth and sharpness before giving into the new shift.

He shifts into a form not unlike his dragon shift, scaled and sharp edged, sharp claws curling into the ground. But instead of large inky wings, there are suddenly six eyes on the courier, each head swiveling slightly to focus on the messenger with eyes slit and the same steel as his own, set among each head with dark scales and sharp teeth.

SUNJATA

"Huh. Well... I guess that makes sense," Tal said slowly, working through the whys and hows of Outlander shifts. Their souls - or something like them - weren't from Caido, so if some of their shifts were alien to the world, too, that more or less tracked.

But there was an undercurrent of excitement as Sunjata stepped away, finding a clear space with plenty of room to shift, and Tal started to grin back at the Archon, eager to see the legendary creature come to life. Only, there was a pretty big difference between seeing a monster in a storybook and seeing it up close and personal, blinking down at him from high above.

And realizing that he'd make about two bites from one of those heads.

Tal tilted his head back to look up... and up... and up at the looming Hydra, finally leaning back so far that he fell onto his ass on the soft meadow, eyes round as saucers. "Hooooly shit! D'you breathe fire or acid or somethin', too?"

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

As soon as Tal takes in the full view of the hydra, one of his heads focuses on the courier while the others lift to scan the people collecting the scrap. As he leans back and falls, Sunjata’s mostly focused on those that have stopped in awe to see the hydra and the new shift that’s been revealed. Something that doesn’t last too long as all of his attention returns to Tal.

All three heads shake in a no fashion, before he shifts back into himself,  stretching out his arms lightly. “No, but if you cut off one of the heads, two more take its place.” Which feels like a long way to say if someone wanted to fuck around and find out, well, they’d find out in duplicates.

SUNJATA