[SE] Reverence in shadow

Pop!

The courier scruffy Dragoon appeared with a soft sound of displaced air in the middle of the Celestine outside of the Tower just as a gust of wind pulled a combination of green and purple leaves past in a crackle of dried foliage.

This was not what he'd been expecting, and hopefully he could be forgiven for having a not insignificant moment of panic as he scrambled to find something resembling cover. He got more than a few odd looks as he reeled down the street, only pausing once he'd put some distance between himself and the Tower to breathe and set his disguise aright. The rest of the trip to Celestine looked less like a drunk and derelict soldier and more like one suffering from some form of PTSD as he skulked and jumped at shadows before finally slipping into the dubious shelter of the magical gardens.

He pulled the scarf around his head down farther and looked around warily, definitely not at all suspicious-looking. There didn't seem to be anyone else around at the moment, at least not near the shrine, but high overhead a flock of ravens - or creatures that looked like them from a distance - perched in the Celestine's trees above. The rustle of wings and faint croaks mixed with the Leafchange winds rattling the branches of trees that were increasingly bare as the season shifted closer and closer to Deepfrost.

Tal was very glad of his Frostbite Cuff that kept the chill from his skin, though he had no magic to keep the chill from his heart as he gazed around the once-welcoming gardens with dismay evident on his smudged face.

"Noah?" he whispered, his voice shakier than he would have liked.

Noah was used to the travel, but his magic didn’t propel him exactly where he wanted to be as precisely as the compass. It still had some strengthening to do, he knew that. Thus, he had to bounce around a little bit. Thankful for the cover of night, Noah eventually made his way to the Celestine and its shrine.

As he walked the paved sections of pathway to the shrine, Noah let his eyes wander all around the Celestine. His stomach turned, seeing the familiar pulsing, violent purple hues strung along the creatures that were here. There were fewer and fewer unaffected animals as he walked deeper into the sanctuary, the even the foliage showed deadly plumage in the dark of the night.

”Im here.” Noah said, closing some distance between him and Talyson so that neither of the men had to raise their voice. Too used to seeing Boreal at the side of the courier, Noah had to remind himself that they left her to guard the sky boat.

the forsaken

Tal didn't yelp. Yelping wouldn't have been very brave or dignified and it definitely wasn't cool.

But the courier might have flinched and levitated a few inches off the ground as the low rumble of another voice cut through the twilit shadows of the Celestine. Using some magic known only to men who had started out as very scrawny, underweight boys he managed to turn his entire body one hundred and eighty degrees before coming down again on the balls of his feet facing the demigod.

"I thought this thing was s'posed t'bring me straight t'the Celestine," he whispered, pale eyes showing the fright and tension of his flight travel through the city, though it didn't stop him from shifting closer to Noah for safety in numbers. "It dropped me right outside th'Tower's door!" Where any passing Dahlia might have plucked him up and spirited him away, never to be seen again.

"I am sorry. I should have been more clear. I didn't mean to tease or scare." His face, even covered in the grime, showed the truth. Noah hadn't meant to cause any harm physically or mentally to Talyson, and he should have been more clear in the explanation. Noah had been using the compass for so long, and the Order had been gone for so long, that he forgot the item was even tied to them and its innate abilities were not well known.

Noah wanted to say that Talyson should be thankful that he didn't have any political knowledge or ties to be an immediate threat to the Family, nor fodder for more take overs, but decided to keep that inside. The courier, even disguised as a dragoon, probably wouldn't take that well.

Sighing, Noah lifted his eyes from his disguised friend and let his head swivel. "This place looks bad." He said, scowling. He stepped to the side of Tal and started walking again down the walkway, closer to the shrine.

the forsaken

"Yeah... well... I guess I survived," Tal admitted with a subsiding grumble. His prickly hackles, so quick to rise up and poke the people around him, were just as swiftly soothed by the sincere apology and the genuine contrition in his older friend's eyes. It was hard to stay mad in the face of it and he settled for jamming one hand into a pocket of his slightly oversized coat.

The other held his Dagger low and the ready.

He had to keep stealing glances over at the demigod, squinting to see the familiar lines of Noah's face beneath the smudges and grime that hid his features. He didn't dare look for long, however. The state of the gardens kept him on high alert as they edged closer to the shrine.

"If y'wanna go first, I'll keep watch," he promised, turning to guard the Forsaken's back as pale eyes darted between the birds overhead and every stray leaf that blew across the neatly-trimmed lawn around the shrine.

Noah nodded in agreement and closed the distance to the shrine. He lowered himself to his knees as he offered his prayer — an offering slipping from his pocket, to his hand, to the foot of the altar. The statue of Vi towered over him in this position, and Noah could feel the eyes of his deity on him. He left a small flint and steel, and prayed that Vi would protect Stormbreak in the face of this danger, in the shadow of the Reaper. When he finished, he stood and went back to where Tal was, indicating that they could switch and Noah would give the courier the same level of respect and protection.

As Tal went, Noah turned to look around the temple. Where there were once vines wrapping with beautiful, bold pink flowers there was now a dark vine with pulsing white flowers and sickeningly violent purple veins running through. The whole image twisted Noah’s stomach as his head swiveled and his eyes took in more and more void-touched corruption.

the forsaken

The courier's eyes kept lifting to the dark birds above, not trusting that they would remain there without causing problems, but aside from sleepy cackles and jostling for position amidst the flock the ominous avians seemed to ignore the men beneath them. At least they were willing to do so while Noah made his offering, and as soon as he returned the courier wasted no time in taking his place before the altar of the gods.

"So, I know things're lookin' kinda bleak," he murmured rifling through his Bag for the offerings he'd brought and kneeling to place them on the altar stone. "But I promise we haven't forgotten Stormbreak. An' we're still fightin' for th'rest o' Caido." He set his offerings out next to the flint and steel with careful hands: a small brass compass, a leather-bound journal with a freshly-sharpened pencil, and a flute carved from the leg bone of a deer. Bowing his head, he prayed for the safety of the people of Stormbreak and especially Sohalia.

But he could feel the subtle menace in the air, where once there had been tranquil welcome. He didn't linger over his prayers this time, instead pushing himself to his feet and moving to rejoin Noah with an uneasy look around. The Void Messengers overhead were beginning to rouse, harsh croaks and hisses rising from the branches above them as the birds began to take notice of the two below. A few greasy black feathers drifted down as several took flight and began to circle, voices crying out harshly across the Celestine. "D'y'think they're callin' for reinforcements?" the courier asked uneasily, his hand dipping to the Capital Compass in his pocket.

Noah’s eyes lifted, too. Not because he noticed that Tal was watching the birds during his shift, but because as they roused and started cackling and cawing, he felt heavy. Heavy with a sense of dread that tried to dig into his bones and hold tight against ligaments and sinew. A shiver, a chill, so unlike the cold he grew up with in Halo, ran down his spine as he made eye contact with one of the birds.

It shifted as Tal approached them. It lifted its wings and took flight, cawing all the while and even imitating some words it must have heard in the Celestine. Despite the dark of night, it still cast a shadow because of the moon’s presence, and as the wings passed over the forms of the men, Noah’s heart lurched. ”I’m not sure, but we probably shouldn’t stay to figure it out. We’ve got enough information, I think.” And then Noah swallowed down the anxiety — his mind whirring and pinpointing that, like other void creatures, it came from the bird — and started moving away from the temple.

the forsaken

Yeah, Tal really did not like those fucking bird... things. Whatever they were, they were dangerous in a group and he edged closer to Noah's side as the void-touched messenger's shadow fell over them and gripped his Dagger more tightly. He swallowed hard and nodded in agreement to the older man's much more polite yeah, we can get the fuck out of Dodge. Sticking around the Celestine - or Stormbreak in general - didn't seem too healthy right now.

Not, at least, for a pair of Old Gods followers who'd made a habit of stamping out voidy corruption when they ran across it in other regions.

"Agreed," Tal said firmly, without any hesitation or stumbling over his words. Dead heroes sounded good in songs and storybooks, but someone had to get the info back to the rest of the demigods and leaders and that meant discretion was the wiser part of valor at the moment. "Let's get movin'."

Besides, who knew what sort of trouble Boreal would get into if she was left unsupervised for too long? Tal, at least, wanted to get back to his skyboat and his companion while the getting was good!

~Fin~