letting go and going down

the lullaby

Heavy like a landslide
That's the way my heart beats now

Years ago—though it felt like centuries thanks to the trauma he'd experienced in between and the subsequent loss of his memories—Remi had been here before. Or rather, somewhere like this before, though when he'd lived in the Grounds he was sure there hadn't been as many bridges as there were now. But then, there hadn't been as much water as there was now.

The Grounds hadn't been as affected as Torchline by the recent arrivals, but that didn't mean it wasn't touched by death the same as anywhere else. Having finished the task that had brought him here in the first place, the afternoon sun saw the Lullaby sitting on one of the bridges and tossing small pebbles into the waters below. Dressed simply in a faded chambray shirt—death, he thought, was met best when he didn't look the part—Remi let the last few pebbles fall from his fingertips as his head tilted backward. Closing his eyes, he let the red-orange light of the sun shift behind his eyelids while breathing deeply of the unfamiliar air.

Up until the last sunrise
I'll be reaching for you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

Unfamiliar air - and then the sudden scent of blood. Peace, quiet, the babble of water beneath the Bone Bridge - and a terrified squawking, and a panicked flap of wings. Should Remi open his eyes it will be to see a gore grow all but spear a sparrow out of the air, pinning it to the stone a few feet away and ruthlessly and methodically ripping it to pieces.

With a beak stained crimson and warm strips of flesh disappearing into its gullet, only once the crow is satisfied with its meal does it become a man again; Danta straightens up and licks the blood from his fingertips and wipes it from the corner of his mouth, before his eyes alight on the demigod.

"Fancy seeing you out here," he purrs to the other man, remembering tall, dark and brooding from Jack Tar Landing some seasons ago. "Here to dispatch more spiderwebs?"

Dantalion

the lullaby

Heavy like a landslide
That's the way my heart beats now

Given who and what he was there was little that could come rustling from the bushes that would raise the hairs on the back of Remi's neck, least of all a sparrow and whatever might be trying to make it a meal. Still, with one eye cracked open, it was only as the gore crow appeared and made a meal out of the smaller bird, that the Lullaby let go of whatever minute primal instincts the smell of fear and blood had roused.

That the bird became a man? Well. Perhaps he should have seen that coming.

Doing a doubletake, first at Danta, then at the blood he was licking from his fingers, Remi sat up in earnest and turned his chin over his shoulder to regard the Ancient properly. "Not spiderwebs, no." He replies with a slight shake of his head. "What about you? I cannot imagine a bird as small as that is filling." In fact he didn't have to imagine it, but knew from experience what little meat there was on the body of smaller birds.

Up until the last sunrise
I'll be reaching for you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

"Something else, then?" Danta asks with a fanged smile, ensuring his hands and mouth are clean before he comes to lean against the side of the bridge next to Remi, soaking in the heat of the day and letting warm fingers of light play across his face. "Mm, it isn't," he agrees of the bird, glancing back across the bridge at the smear of viscera left behind.

"Sometimes instinct won't be ignored, though." And given that all of Danta's shifts are on the smaller side, and that the crow had grown within him first, it's little surprise that hunting smaller birds is almost irresistibly fun at times. "There are deer out in the fields if you'd like to hunt one with me," he offers with a roll of his shoulders.

Dantalion

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

"Something else." Remi agrees succinctly in a way he hoped the Ancient wouldn't ask him to elaborate on. Yes, this was Danta's region to rule, but a demigod's divine duty rarely respected political borders and the Lullaby was loathe to have to spell out his reasons for being here, given their grim nature.

"Mmm, that I certainly do agree with." Chuckling under his breath, Remi glances up at the Ancient from his still-seated position and considers. With his work done he had nothing else to do really, and even murderous demigods got hungry. "Since you will not be able to hear me when we are shifted, I will let you take the lead." So saying, the Lullaby shuffles himself back a touch in order to shift. Rather than choosing a shape that would easily be able to fell a deer, it's in his oldest shift that he peers up at the gore crow.

As a hawk he was perfectly capable of taking down a deer though it took a good deal more strategy and effort than as something more obvious like a manticore.

Fanning his wings, the hawk clicks its beak together.

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

"It would be my pleasure." Danta offers a little half-bow to the demigod, donning raven black feathers mid-way through the gesture, until he stands on the side of the bridge gazing down at the hawk with an avian cock of his head. With a croak of leadership(???) and a waggle of tail feathers, Danta takes to the air on a flap of dark wings.

As a carrion bird, he's not nearly as sleek or powerful in the air as Remi, but he still possesses the keen sight needed to zero in on their prey. For a while the going is simple and easy, the Ancient enjoying the warmth of the air currents beneath his wings and the freedom that comes with the shift. But of course, soon enough, here comes dinner.

A small doe picks her way through one of the flooded fields, the going made tough by the aftermath of the meteor strike, and Danta circles her lazily, as if to ask Remi whether he approves.

Dantalion

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

Soaring higher than the crow if only because instincts, as the Ancient had pointed out, were hard to ignore, Remi's keen eyes darted back and forth over the ground below, picking out movement, identifying it, before moving on. Though the thermals felt warm and buoyant beneath his wings, Remi's mind was focused intently on the prey they sought, having little room for enjoyment of this shift just now.

Not wanting to spook the doe with a cry, the hawk instead places himself against the sun that he might disappear in the brightness of it should anyone try and look too hard for him. It was as much of an indication that he was ready to strike as anything else he could offer.

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

Danta has hunted with others before, but this is admittedly his first time doing so with a fellow winged creature, and he feels a small pang of jealousy for the way Remi is so effortlessly able to disappear behind the sun. Still, each to their own strengths, and as he realises that the hawk means to ambush whenever ready, Danta makes his move.

Not as adept at dive-bombing a deer from a great height, he nonetheless is able to swoop down and hassle the doe, cawing and flapping towards her head and eyes. With sharp crow feet outstretched, snagging fur wherever they can, it isn't long before the animal is turning left and right in a panic, wanting to run but not knowing which direction to go.

Dantalion

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

On near-silent wings, Remi drops like a stone hurled directly from the sun. Streaking downward with his wings pinned to his body and his eyes fixed on the doe's movements, it's only at the last moment that his wings shoot from his body to alter his descent as his talons reach out for the creature's neck. Once, so very long ago now, he'd attempted something similar to a much different end. That afternoon had seen him shivering and nearly dead, allowed to live only by a fated run-in with Vai.

Now, his talons guided by experience and predatory insight, the hawk's weapons slice cleanly through the doe's neck, bathing both birds in a warm spray of blood. It inspires thoughts of carnality and lust in the mind of the avian, and however unsure he is of Danta on the whole, in the split seconds post-kill, he'd happily have twined himself around the other man's bones and whispered murderous melodies over his skin.

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

Tragically oblivious to the other man's thoughts (Danta would have relished the thought of Remi stretched over him, both men soaked in warm blood), the crow merely croaks a quick sound of approval as his hunting partner does what he does best. The doe thrashes and bucks, just for a moment or two, and tries to run, only for blood loss to have her staggering to the grass only a second later.

Waiting for the twitching creature's movements to still completely, it's with an ominous cry of, "Meat!" that Danta lands upon the carcass. With sharp beak and clawed feet, he focuses on the long strips of flesh he can pull from the deer's already tattered throat, falling quiet to enjoy the offered meal.

Dantalion

we are like birds of a feather, we are two hearts thrown together

As the doe lost her life and Remi lost enough of his own blood lust to focus, he released her throat as she took her final staggering steps. With his wings vaguely outspread he waited to see where she might fall, before trilling a triumphant cry to the sky.

Normally not one to share a meal, the man within the hawk was able to shift his thoughts enough not to target the Gore Crow as its next victim. With a low chirp and an awkward hop that rendered even the most graceful avians to looking like awkward fools, Remi began to tear into the doe's hindquarter before carving open her belly with a foot.

Intestines and blood spilled out in a crimson wave. Snapping at the liver, the hawk folded his wings defensively around his prize as he shredded it into little pieces with his beak.

THE ALCHEMIST

we will be forever as one, my brother under the sun

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

Croaking approval to see Remi slice open the doe's belly so easily, neither man nor crow want anything to do with stealing from the hawk as he mantles around his price. Instead, Danta hops over to snag some intestines and other offal, thoroughly enjoying and gorging himself on their prize given how meagre the sparrow seems in comparison.

It's a long few moments before, size being what it is, there's little more the avian can feast upon without exploding. And so Danta shifts back, hands and mouth still coated with blood, to sit in the grass with the sun beaming down upon his shoulders, as content as any other predator might be after a hunt. "This isn't your first time doing that, is it?" He smirks.

Dantalion

the lullaby

Heavy like a landslide
That's the way my heart beats now

Having eaten much more slowly despite his size, it's with a lazy flap of his wings that the hawk hopped a step back so that when he shifted, it wasn't into the carcass. Pressing his lips together if only to gauge by the stickiness just how much blood was on his face, Remi whipped his chin against his shoulder.

"It is not." He confirmed with a crooked smile, also leaning back on his hands to enjoy the sunlight. "I have had that shift since I was a boy." Back when he was just a lowly shapechanger in a world he could hardly remember. "I will say that I have gotten better over the years." Grinning, Remi rubs at one shoulder before rising and stretching his arms over his head.

"Is there still a tavern in town?" Knowing Danta he was sure that there was.

Up until the last sunrise
I'll be reaching for you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

"Oh, lucky you," Danta croons, doing little to wipe away the blood and figuring he'll find a stream or two on the way back to the Hollowed Grounds - or he won't, and it won't matter either away. "Don't ruin the illusion, now. Having only seen you in action this once, I'm inclined to believe you were always so skilled." Rolling the cuffs of his shirt so they are as clean as possible, Danta looks like a very violent gentleman indeed as he straightens up.

"Tavern? Oh, several. There's the Vlamvloed, but I own a brothel with a bar, so I suppose that counts as well. Either way, you'll need to go down into the Last Whisper to find them. If you don't know the way, you're welcome to tail me." On the wing, of course - Danta isn't walking home if he doesn't have to.

Dantalion