Ankyra Sound we'll live inside the dreams we left behind

The call rose and he couldn't stop himself — he ran, working his way effortlessly to the edge of the territory but stopping, barely, almost as if by accident, along the dark fringe of the pine forest. His heart thundered in his chest and he knew he wasn't thinking clearly about this, that he needed to process this and not run from it, but — no time, only panic.

Panic and the sweet scent of @Yami; although his fixation with her had begun to wane in the past few days, her scent was like a cool sea breeze against the burning of his emotion. He sought her out in haste, and when he came across her he veered directly in to her path, more or less bludgeoning her with his words: Yami! I've been looking for you -- he lied, Do you want to run away with me? His face lit up with a strained smile and his entire focus was on her; simple, uncomplicated, passive Yami. So utterly free of drama and responsibility — Please, Yami. I can't stand it here with -- you know, all the ups-and-downs — and I know you've been struggling. We could go on an epic adventure together! Just me'n'you.

God, he wished she'd say yes. He wished he could cut out this monstrous feeling of self-doubt and terror that was steadily engulfing him with anxiety; he couldn't stay here, he couldn't be a father to those kids — they didn't want him —  he fixed his best blue-steel look upon the girl and with all the charm he could muster he proclaimed to her: You're the most beautiful thing in the world to me and we're wasting our time on this stupid beach.

Firefly was not the only one to move in the opposite direction when the call sounded. Yami too was repeled by the news, though for very different reasons than the object of her emphatuation. She knew by now what the call meant. It meant those bitches had spawned his offspring, and at that very moment, Firefly was likely welcoming them into the world like one big, happy, new age family.

It was sickening.

So, she turned away from the beach and headed out. She'd taken a trip away from the territory before and no one had seemed to mind. No reason for them to mind now, or to even notice. They'd probably all be fawning over the newborns and doting on the new mothers. As though reproducing somehow made you special. Her own mother did it all the time - what the fuck made Rosalyn so freakin' special? Nothing. That's the fuck what.

Things didn't quite go to plan, though. She heard her name shouted and froze. She knew the voice. It simultaneously thrilled and shocked her - neither of which were emotions Yami wanted Firefly to be aware of. She took a moment to fix a calm, bored expression upon her face when she turned around to face him. It held up for only three seconds before he dropped the bomb.

Run away with him.

Was he serious?

Yami listened meekly to him as he gave his reasons. It was everything she felt too. Rusalka was a freakin' train wreck. She had known it the first week she'd spent amongst their ranks. She'd never known how they stayed afloat for as long as they had, but she had never truly been invested in the place, so she'd managed to just sit back and watch. It wasn't until all the leadership changes that she'd begun to consider leaving, and then Firefly and...

It was everything she'd wanted to hear. It didn't make any sense, him suddenly wanting to bail on everything he'd made it clear with his actions mattered to him. But... "I am?"

He needed to get as far from the beach as possible before anyone took notice of the absent father; just thinking of himself in that role overwhelmed him with terror - and what does a person do when they are overwhelmed? Run for the hills, obviously. Seek distraction. Avoid the shouldering of responsibility for as long as possible.

The girl was his way to do all of those things. She was detached from all the chaos of Rusalka; she was the calm center of the storm which had swept across the beach front. I am? She questioned - and he smiled, pushing through all the emotions that currently worked their way through his system in order to lay on the charm, Yes Yami. Please, come away with me. We can go anywhere - do anything, he was pleading with her, but even as Firefly spoke he was moving, hoping she would follow him away.

This was crazy. It was madness. Firefly even looked a little mad as he reassured her that he did in fact think she was beautiful (because that's her only takeaway from all of this, so far). In spite of her wild fluttering of her heart as the older man confessed this to her, she was hesitant to follow. Probably because of the crazy vibe she was getting from him--a vibe that turned out, in the end, to not be strong enough to break the magnetic pull she felt towards him as he began to walk away.

Yami glanced over her shoulder as she began to follow, as though worried that they were going to get caught and dragged back to the grotto. Which was ridiculous because one, they wouldn't, and two, everyone was likely distracted by Rosalyn's new brats. That thought was enough to steele her resolve as she turned back to look at Firefly, picking up her pace to come alongside of him.

"Anywhere, huh?" she asked, feeling excitement begin to tingle in her toes and flood through her veins. Yami smiled, "Like where?" Her mind began to swim with thoughts of romantic destinations. Stargazing in wide open fields, lounging on sandy beaches, cuddling up close to each other on mountaintops to watch sunrises and sunsets. All that foolish girly shit she'd always dreamed of. And in every scenario, Tru showed up to see how she'd moved on and see how it was his turn to be humiliated.

Yeah, all that foolish girly shit.

She was willing, which emboldened the man and made his grin feel more genuine. At least he still had simple, calm, no fuss Yami on his side.

He didn't know what to say though, striding hastily along as the forest began to slip away from their shared surroundings. Finally he stopped and looked one last time over his shoulder at the descending ridge leading to the beach, and focused his full attention on Yami who stood just off from his glance.

Anywhere, everywhere, as long as I'm with you. And then he turned to the path leading west and took off at a run.

Simple, calm, no fuss Yami. Yep. That sounds about right.

Wherever they were headed, it sure was in a hurry. Yami didn't mind the pace the way she ought to have. She was excited now and all too eager to get this adventure started. She'd felt so trapped and so suffocated in Rusalka, but now she was free. She had the whole world before her, and a tough, dangerous man at her side. This was going to be amazing. It was going to be everything she'd ever wanted.

Whatever... that actually was.

She stopped when he did, peering curiously at him as he looked back. For a long, terrible moment, she thought he was changing his mind. He did have a lot on the Coast to change his mind about. He had friends, he had kids, he had... Oh! He was turning around again. We're good.

Her heart fluttered as she nodded and followed where he would lead her.