Redtail Rise all my dreams were buried away

no worries if you can't, but i should be around to spree until 1030P CST.  written loosely to this

she left early.

redtail rise was not easy to get to.  on either side was terrain treacherous enough that it required care to traverse.  she chose to approach from the northeast, cutting through the tangle.

once the rise came into view, she took her time in observation.  it was small compared to some of the peaks that the wilds could boast, though its charred face was still endearing to her in some way.

as she found herself approaching the border she recognized a restless anxiety tighten within her stomach.  she took a breath to engage her diaphragm and release the tension, then tossed her head back and called for @Prophet.

swoons over sufjan stevens

Marina.

Lately she crowded his mind and he could not pinpoint why, so it felt like a blessing that she finally escaped from it, arriving on the borders of the rise instead. Relief snuck into tense shoulders, features falling into something more friendly than he had worn the last few days.

Marina!

He called out warmly, closing in on where she stood patiently.

wow you're fast!! 

ahhh yeahhh i love that album

he called to her with the name she had chosen for herself.  her identity felt more tied to marina than cerulean these days.  she entertained the thought for a moment before he came too close for her to think about it any longer.

prophet!  he seemed to warm in her presence, and she matched his energy, calling back to him with the same inflection.  so this is redtail rise, she follows, gesturing broadly at the surrounding stone slopes.

i am very skippable. she just snoopin

a call for Prophet. a woman's call for Prophet.

Avicus follows at a distance, lingering in the shadows of a cluster of trees on the high ground. she watches as he greets her with enthusiasm, and

something blooms within her.

envy? outrage?

it burns in her belly and she hates it. she feels him on top of her again and the weight of it crushes her, and the way he's looking at this woman makes her want to snap his neck—

but she watches. just watches.

for now

He watched as she gestured around at the Rise. A bloom of pride fills his chest.

This is it, He hummed in response. I told you there was more than the tangle.

A presence simmers and sears the back of his head. What should he expect upon the rise, though? Everyone is attentive, privacy is hardly a thing here. It does not matter who it was that watched, he did not worry about anything in these moments.

This was Marina, not a threat, not a man here to whisk Avicus away.

How are things back home?

He remembered.

for now, she misses the watchful eye that surveys them from above.  she is too swept up by the landscape, in companionship, in her momentary freedom. 

i have not traveled much on this side of the mountains, she admits as her gaze slides past him for a beat to look once more upon the rise, but i do not doubt you must be right.  you will have to show me, she says, before swiftly adding, if that is amenable.

the inquiry on her sister's condition might have given her pause only days before, but a sliver of @Viridian's spirit seemed to have returned.  my sister is stable, she offers with a smile.  she cannot do much right now, but i think she will be okay.  aside from that, there isn't a lot to say.  i might start traveling again soon, to meet with the packs that the druids are aligned with.  she wondered if redtail rise could become one of those, but did not move to ask.  she was not here on business.

from what you told me, i assume that everything here is much the same?

It is, He assured her thoughtfully. Where to show her? There was the grotto, the glacier, plenty further northeast too. He wondered what she would like best, where she would enjoy seeing the most.

Thankfully, there was good news off of her tongue. Her sister seemed to see some sort of recovery, well, as much recovery as could be asked for. Stable. Enough so that Marina seemed keen to think of traveling further once more.

I am glad to hear that, Honest, softer this time. He could not imagine the heartache of watching a sibling slowly suffer and have to mend through it.

It has been. We've seen some new faces, some small things here and there... The smell of @Avicus and her spring perfume lingered in his nostrils, it hung over the lands always now it seemed. It stirred him in that certain way. I'm glad you're here. You've added something...new to my sameness.

sorry for the wait on thissun.  heading to break, be back in ~30, maybe a lil sooner

his words placate her with ease.  she is eager to move past the subject of home, and focuses instead on what he has to say. 

she does not expect it to strike her the way it does.  an addition? she was so grateful to receive that she was blinded to what she had to offer in turn.  she acknowledges it with a nervous smile, bashfully looking at the ground before she speaks again.

well, i should be able to come out more often.  that would do well for the both of them, she thought.  there were adventures to be had now that she was not caged by fret and worry.  you are welcome to visit me, as well, though there is less out there than there is here.  if he wasn't much of a swimmer, they could always scout inland, or across the coast. 


she offers another sweeping glance to the rise, this time catching sight of their audience of one.  being observed causes her to shudder, though for the time being she chooses not to acknowledge it — the wolves that made their home here were just to guard it.

I should visit you next, He decided, but still left some room for her to disagree. I have not been on an island before, it would be a new experience for me.

Softly he'd gesture with his head for her to follow him, sticking to the borders but content to take her on a stroll. Perhaps they would find their way to the grotto. Away from prying eyes, he thinks. But that's such a presumptuous thought.

the woman's bright gaze finally catches sight of her. she doesn't flinch; she lets her indigo eyes burn into the other's skull, her face devoid of emotion.

Prophet herds her away and Avicus snorts, turning away to lope back up the Rise.

she will find other company in his stead.

exeunt

it was not the eyes that bothered her, per se, until they bore into her with reserved intensity.  marina did not falter beneath this withering stare, though she couldn't help but feel relieved when they turned to move.

though they're small, the islands are full of splendor.  already she began to plan ahead, thinking of what to show him.  there was a limit to what she could divulge — parts of the islands were restricted to visitors — but even with this restriction she had a wealth to choose from.

can you swim?  she asked while trailing him closely; she had encountered wolves that could not.

Had he known more, had he known better, perhaps he would have left to find Avicus and soothe her wounds. Instead he only knows that now they are moving alone. Now eyes did not feel so hot and heavy upon him.

He finds comfort in the seclusion with Marina, peace from the spring at last.

I can, He had done so before, not as a leisure activity be he imagined he could do so again given the task to. Do you plan to take me swimming on the islands, Marina? Humor in his deep voice.

there is no other way, she informs him. they are islands, after all.  there is something reminiscent of playful in the way she glances towards him as she says it. 

but they were here, now, so she wondered aloud, what would you have us do now?  perhaps the rise was like blackwater, and he could only take her so far.

Have you seen the earth try to reclaim ash?

He asked, coolly, a light look in his eyes. He would not take her terribly deep into the territory, but there would be chances to see the forest try to reclaim the charred woods that stayed rooted.

It may not sound like much, but I promise it is worth seeing.

i will be here until 0200 CST today, no pressure but [thumbs up emoji] if you wanna spree

i have not. the thought intrigued her. she knew so little about fire to begin with, other than that it was bright and hot and destroyed everything in its path.  she had never seen it herself.  she wondered how long ago it was that the embers had ransacked this place, and figured she would find out.

do you know much about plants? another thing she didn't know much about.  or, maybe, is there something aside from your craft that you're interested in?  she had few hobbies of her own, but wanted to consider what others found valuable so that she might hopefully take interest to one.

He would veer their course that way, finding himself...whole. Content. At peace with being a tour guide for a moment instead of a warrior.

I... He trailed off. Suddenly, bashful? Have found those of the arts interesting. Songs, stories. It was what value he had found in their Hǣlend.

I am not an artist myself, though. Swift correction, lest he paint the wrong picture of himself.

she hums, tilting her head slightly at his comment.  all it takes to be an artist is to remember their stories, she delivers softly, do you have any to tell?  perhaps it would fill the time it took for him to lead her where they were going.

That depends on the kind of story you want to hear, Marina.

His red gaze fixed upon her briefly before it turned back to their direction. The charred side of the rise would come into view soon enough.

Do you want tales of war? Perhaps the mysterious stories of spiritualism?

are stories of war pleasant to you? she didn't know. he was a soldier. she did not want to touch on a pain point, so she follows quickly with, i've never understood spiritualism.  what is the most compelling story you have? the one that means the most to you?

Pleasant is not the word I would use, He told her softly. They are important to remember. Especially in my position.

How could he do his best if he did not remember all that came before him?

My mother was spiritual. Or rather, she claimed to have visions in her sleep. Of course the one that sticks with me the most is the one she told me about that involves...me. He laughed, dry more than humored.

She said she saw me atop a mountain, a flock of birds, a ravaging storm. I...don't know what it all means. I doubt I ever will.