well, it's a lonely road that you have chosen

[priorcommitment]

Ishiah appreciated the balmy weather that was the norm on Tabula Rasa. The days were sunny and warm, but hardly blisteringly so, thanks to the shores which comprised so much of the island's land mass, graced by steady winds and cycling air. Nights served as a nice reprieve from any glaring sun, light still teasing on the horizon and painting the sky in hues of blue and purple, fireflies mimicking the stars as they hovered about in the air. Although Ishiah knew that his primary objective was far from enjoying himself that night, he couldn't help but feel the tension leave his shoulder as he made his way on over to the Halloween party, intending to act as an unofficial chaperone for the night's activities.

But if the island often graced its inhabitants with ideal temperatures and climes, it still kept people on edge with its occasional and always unpredictable whims. That evening, the Compound was surrounded by a strange fog, lingering like smoke with occasional furls twisting in the air. Brow furrowing, Ishiah looked around for any possible source or cause of the damp air, running his hand through the nearest cloud, but could find nothing of special note.

So he stepped inside, and found himself burning under the sun in a flash of white feathers, barred with gold.

Comments

[radicalize]

For a long few moments, Lucy simply stayed as she was, leaning against him and relishing what comfort it could provide. In the months since they'd met, Ishiah had become something like family to her, making this gesture now not entirely unexpected, but no less appreciated for that fact. This wasn't real, and it probably wasn't the worst thing to happen to her, but it still really fucking hurt, and she wouldn't have wanted to face it on her own. The mere idea of having no one was too frightening.

Finally, though, unsure how long had passed, every moment feeling like an eternity, she drew in a few deep, shaky breaths, her chest rising with every inhale, and nodded once. She wasn't ready, but it was close enough. "Okay," she said weakly, her voice not much more than an exhale. She had managed, at least, to keep from crying outright, though it took more work than she cared to admit to. "Okay. I just... A minute with my brother, and then we can try to get out of here." It didn't matter that it wasn't really him, that, at his word, he hadn't been killed in the war, that even if it had been him, there was no life left in him now. She couldn't just walk away from him, never had been able to.

[priorcommitment]

Even if Ishiah felt some amount of doubt over what good spending time with her brother's lifeless body could do for Lucy, he valued choice. That she was able to look at him with relative calm in her eyes and make the conscious decision to stay by her brother's body right then was enough for Ishiah to stand and wait some distance away. Close enough that the slightest disturbance would have called him back in a second, but that she had the time to speak her words without the peri overhearing.

And in that time, he looked back out over the familiar deserts, felt his breath grow shallow as he closed his eyes. The sun was still searing into his skin, and his throat longed for even the slightest trace of water. But throughout the nightmare as it played out, there was one thing Ishiah could center on as something almost positive. He stretched his wings out again, stretching them, fanning them, that important part of himself returned for a brief while.

"Whenever you are ready," he said to Lucy.