RE: QUIETUS [S!5] [Round 3: Deluge]
07-19-2017, 10:57 PM
Rain sung its old song on the rooftop. Old, old song. Ancient. Antediluvian. Antediluvian.
Amaranth stirred on pillows that piled across a comfortable room. Shaded oil-lamps guttered low. Drapes moved gently in the flow from a window. The air was soft humidity cut by rains.
I'm so tired. A horrible nightmare floated just on the edge of memory, out of focus in the blurry liminality of exhaustion and rest. The brocaded cushions glittered gently in the light from the oil-lamps. Amaranth closed her eyes.
The smell on her clothes... …
The smell on her clothes pulled her back awake.
She sat up. The spell was broken. She was Amaranth Benedicta, far away from home, plaything of a mad god, powerless in the face of destruction, under strange rains in a strange land.
Strange rains. But they felt so painfully familiar. She could lay back down...
Soft sounds of a city came in through the window. A sigh, behind her. Her heart hammered. They're here, they're here-
Robin was strewn across the pillows too. Amaranth felt deep comfort, almost reached out to touch her. She regarded Robin's sleeping face, calm and open in a way that it never quite was while awake.
Robin...those last few moments of fear and violence. The knowledge that they were all going to die there. And then Sonora, Anila, and the terrible relief that had flooded through her. Her heart had begged for Sonora to keep going, save her, even as she yelled for her to stop. Just as Chaete had saved her.
Anila had hung there for cold stretched-out seconds, and Amaranth had followed her gaze to Robin, and Robin...
Robin hadn't been afraid to save all of them.
It's okay. You can keep sleeping, and I'll make sure nothing happens. We can rest. When we wake up, we can...
Things will go better this time.
Robin shifted slightly. Her left hand flew up and began choking her neck.
Amaranth shouted, then grabbed her arm and pinned it to the ground.
“HHHWUHGAHh.”
The fingers twitched dementedly, clawing at her leg-armor for purchase.
“HWUHhhh. Hwooo. Hahh.” Robin caught her breath for a bit. “Not the best wake up I've ever experienced, but...well, I want to say 'but not the worst,' but no, pretty- pretty sure that one was the worst. Hhhhaaahh.”
They both sat there, breathing.
“Hhhokay. I think I- got it under control. Perils of the job. Everything that's happened—very nonstandard.” A weak smile traced her lips. She massaged her hand and gaze absentmindedly at the room. “Never had alien ghosts in any of the journals...”
The rain echoed off the roofs.
“I always liked the rain.”
“So do I.”
Robin, we could, we could—
We could just stay inside.
“Would you like some tea? There's a brazier and a kettle over there...”
“That'd be nice.”
Robin got up and walked over to the window.
“Looks...low-tech. That's some things off my mind. Less to go wrong...” She stared at her palm. “I need to get out there, but...”
She leaned on the sill.
“It's nice to feel a breeze again.”
Amaranth fed small, damp slivers of wood into the fire. It choked and popped.
“Robin..”
“Hm?”
“What you did back there, at the end...” Robin tensed, slightly. “...It was the right thing.”
“...Thanks.”
They were there, in the stranger's room, as the stranger's fire heated the stranger's kettle and the rain poured down over all of them.
Amaranth stirred on pillows that piled across a comfortable room. Shaded oil-lamps guttered low. Drapes moved gently in the flow from a window. The air was soft humidity cut by rains.
I'm so tired. A horrible nightmare floated just on the edge of memory, out of focus in the blurry liminality of exhaustion and rest. The brocaded cushions glittered gently in the light from the oil-lamps. Amaranth closed her eyes.
The smell on her clothes... …
The smell on her clothes pulled her back awake.
She sat up. The spell was broken. She was Amaranth Benedicta, far away from home, plaything of a mad god, powerless in the face of destruction, under strange rains in a strange land.
Strange rains. But they felt so painfully familiar. She could lay back down...
Soft sounds of a city came in through the window. A sigh, behind her. Her heart hammered. They're here, they're here-
Robin was strewn across the pillows too. Amaranth felt deep comfort, almost reached out to touch her. She regarded Robin's sleeping face, calm and open in a way that it never quite was while awake.
Robin...those last few moments of fear and violence. The knowledge that they were all going to die there. And then Sonora, Anila, and the terrible relief that had flooded through her. Her heart had begged for Sonora to keep going, save her, even as she yelled for her to stop. Just as Chaete had saved her.
Anila had hung there for cold stretched-out seconds, and Amaranth had followed her gaze to Robin, and Robin...
Robin hadn't been afraid to save all of them.
It's okay. You can keep sleeping, and I'll make sure nothing happens. We can rest. When we wake up, we can...
Things will go better this time.
Robin shifted slightly. Her left hand flew up and began choking her neck.
Amaranth shouted, then grabbed her arm and pinned it to the ground.
“HHHWUHGAHh.”
The fingers twitched dementedly, clawing at her leg-armor for purchase.
“HWUHhhh. Hwooo. Hahh.” Robin caught her breath for a bit. “Not the best wake up I've ever experienced, but...well, I want to say 'but not the worst,' but no, pretty- pretty sure that one was the worst. Hhhhaaahh.”
They both sat there, breathing.
“Hhhokay. I think I- got it under control. Perils of the job. Everything that's happened—very nonstandard.” A weak smile traced her lips. She massaged her hand and gaze absentmindedly at the room. “Never had alien ghosts in any of the journals...”
The rain echoed off the roofs.
“I always liked the rain.”
“So do I.”
Robin, we could, we could—
We could just stay inside.
“Would you like some tea? There's a brazier and a kettle over there...”
“That'd be nice.”
Robin got up and walked over to the window.
“Looks...low-tech. That's some things off my mind. Less to go wrong...” She stared at her palm. “I need to get out there, but...”
She leaned on the sill.
“It's nice to feel a breeze again.”
Amaranth fed small, damp slivers of wood into the fire. It choked and popped.
“Robin..”
“Hm?”
“What you did back there, at the end...” Robin tensed, slightly. “...It was the right thing.”
“...Thanks.”
They were there, in the stranger's room, as the stranger's fire heated the stranger's kettle and the rain poured down over all of them.