abraxaslogs | open; when the others blocked your light

When the call goes out for people (specifically Summoned) to help curb the effect of the moth hares on the city, Diana doesn't hesitate to step up and help out. While the creatures are undoubtedly adorable, she can see how they might easily become a nuisance if allowed to make their migration right through the middle of such a busy city. And the little devices the scientists in Cadens have come up with to deter the furry little beasts from certain areas seem harmless enough. Well, the high-pitched noise they make is incredibly annoying, but that's clearly the point.

She'd been assigned a partner, and had smiled widely at the young woman upon their meeting, introducing herself as "Diana of Themyscira," feeling a little more comfortable with that name than Diana Prince. They've been assigned an area right outside one of the labs, and Diana turns the small metal gadget over in her hands, brows drawn together as she frowns.

"This one doesn't seem to be working."

Cassandra hadn’t quite LEAPT at the chance to help, but it was a near thing. It’s nice to keep busy. Particularly after everything that had happened. With the memory sharing. She still feels… a great deal of complicated feelings about all of that. Still feels a little raw. Exposed. But it’s good to keep busy. Keep herself out of her own head.

Or try to.

She’d answered her partner’s wide smile with a bright one of her own, introducing herself as simply Cassandra. Brow furrowed, she looks at the gadget in Diana’s hands curiously. “May I?” she asks, hoping to get a closer look at it. Get her hands on it. She’s not sure if she’ll be able to figure anything out about the device, but perhaps.

Diana has no problem handing it over, placing it delicately in Cassandra's palm without touching her (she, too, is still trying to recover from recent events). There aren't any devices even close to this on Themyscira, and she doesn't recall seeing anything similar in London, either. To be fair, she hadn't had much time to look around the city, but she still feels confident that this kind of technology hadn't existed there.

She continues looking at the little metal creature even as her companion does, the corners of her lips turned down. "It isn't making the same sound as the others," she explains. It's the only reason she had noticed that something might be wrong with it.

Cassandra breathes a little easier as how carefully Diana places it in her hand, as she'd done something similar on her end, holding her hand just so in order to try and avoid accidentally touching her partner. She turns the mechanical insect over in her hand, studying it thoughtfully. She's not familiar with its construction, but she's familiar with the more mechanical in nature so she hopes that it will help at least a little.

Wait. She looks up, curious. "You can hear the sounds they make?" She's fairly keen of hearing, but purely within human standards. No magic or anything of that sort to aid her, nothing in her nature. So she is terribly curious.

While the Amazons as a people have achieved some marvels of innovation and technology, they are still limited to the resources they have on the island. Diana can only imagine what sorts of things their scholars and artisans would come up with if they had access to everything here in Cadens. Diana never took much of an interest in the sciences during her education, and sometimes regrets it, now that she's here. But all she can do is wander around the labs and visit the museums, trying to learn as much as she can now.

Diana looks up as well, brows raised. "You cannot?" She's also curious. All she's heard since these little things were dispersed around the city is their high-pitched screeching. "It's incredibly annoying. Very high-pitched." Matter-of-fact, but without malice. She understands their purpose well enough, even if they are irritating to her.

Cassandra huffs a soft amused laugh. "I cannot, I'm afraid. I'm fairly keen of hearing... and I hear nothing." But, this gives them an advantage, working with this little contraption. At the very least, Diana will know when, or if, they manage to figure out what's wrong.

Later, Diana will stew on that; she learns something new about mortals every day. For now, she cocks her head to one side, listening to the pitch of the working machines and comparing it to this one. "It is too low," she offers. "Perhaps something in it needs to be tightened?" Isn't that how you tune an instrument? She isn't really sure; she's always liked listening to music, but creating it was never her focus.

Cassandra watches her curiously as Diana listens to something she cannot hear. That is a very good suggestion. "Oh, that could very well be it," she murmurs thoughtfully, turning the machine over in her hand, with nimble, gentle fingers. "Like the volume's turned down. If that's the cause... it's simply a matter of figuring out how to retune it."

She doesn't yet move to make adjustments. She doesn't know the intricacies just yet and she doesn't want it to blow up in their faces.

She's relieved that her explanation makes sense. While Cassandra continues examining the machine, Diana plucks another one from their allotment and presses the button that activates it. After hardly a moment, she says: "This one sounds right." She holds it out in her palm. "Perhaps you can compare them?"

Cassandra very carefully plucks the working device from Diana's palm, and begins carefully studying it, turning it over in her hand. Comparing it to the other. Looking for something different. It takes her a moment, but she finds it. "Oh," she murmurs softly. "Maybe that's it." She returns to the quiet one, turning it over until she finds what she's looking for. Then she carefully, with nimble, graceful fingers, fiddles with it for a moment.

She looks up at Diana. "How does it sound now?"

Diana doesn't mean to stare, but the work is so delicate and Cassandra does it so well that she can't help herself. There are some on Themyscira who delight in making small creations, for practical or whimsical purposes, and she wonders if Cassandra would like to meet them some day.

But before she can ask, the device starts to make a high-pitched sound, almost exactly the same as the functioning one. A smile breaks over her face, and she nods. "That's it! That's the right sound. It's perfectly annoying."

Oh, Cassandra would LOVE meet them someday, were Diana to ever mention it to her. It would be wonderful to meet other inventors, other tinkerers. (Besides her brother.)

She grins, a little proud that she'd managed to figure out the unfamiliar device. Without it blowing up in her face. "Perfect!" She sets the now-functioning insect and its friend back with the rest of their allotment. "Let's get them in place, shall we?"

She's just glad they were able to figure out how to fix it; she would have hated to take it back to the scientists at the university, broken. Diana picks up their little basket of devices, and points towards a little courtyard between two of the lab buildings. "I saw some of the moth-hares gathering there yesterday evening. That seems like a good spot."

Cassandra's gaze follows where Diana points, and when she sees that it's the courtyard, she nods. "I agree. Let's start there and we can work out where to go next after. One place at a time." She looks down at the basket. "I think we have more than enough devices."

That sort of attitude reminds Diana of home, and her smile warms. Almost any task is better when it's done with another person, and while this may not be the most exciting project, that doesn't mean it has to be tiresome. As she moves towards the courtyard, grateful for the shade offered by the few trees there, she looks down into the basket. "Do you think we will even be able to place all of these?" They hadn't been assigned a terribly large area to cover, and there are a lot of little machines.

Cassandra looks down at their basket, and can't help but laugh. "That I'm not sure about. We do have an awful lot of them. But I suppose it's better to have our little corner very well covered than to end up with some little portion of it uncovered and moth hares able to run amuck in it. Possibly spreading to another less-protected area."

Well, when she puts it that way, how can Diana argue? With a little laugh of her own, she sets the basket down and scoops up a handful of the devices, careful not to crush their delicate wiring. "Then I guess we'd best get started, so we aren't here all night."

Cassandra grins. "Probably a good idea." She scoops up a handful of her own, carefully, gently. It wouldn't do to break one of them and have to figure out how to fix something more complicated than their volume. (Not that she doesn't want to pick one apart and figure out exactly how they work but it'd probably be bad form to break one just for that.)

Diana has never considered herself to be magically-inclined. Very few Amazons possessed a talent for magic in the first place, so it was never a core part of her education or training. She knows some basics, of course, but it was really only something one heard about in the old stories. Magic was a gift of the gods, and with the gods dead, there was little room for magic in everyday life on Themyscira.

Not so, in this world.

Everywhere she goes, Diana sees magic. Perhaps not as classically-defined as she might have once thought it, but magic all the same. And after visiting the Horizon, she sees it in herself, too. Feels it. It could be because she is the child of a god, or because she was Summoned here. Whatever the reason, the spark is now there, and after a little bit of work, she figures out how to grasp it.

She rents out one of the smaller training yards in Cadens. It costs her a pretty penny, but the odd jobs and escort duties she's taken on have begun to pay off. She wants privacy in case--well, in case something goes wrong. Magic isn't easy to control, she assumes, and she doesn't want anyone to get caught in the crossfire if something unexpected happens.

Diana has gathered a few of the wooden training weapons and laid them out in front of her. She closes her eyes, concentrating. And--there! The magic is there, right in the same place it was the first time she returned from the Horizon: frigid cold; blazing fire; cracking thunder; steady earth; and radiant light. She feels them all circling, flowing within her, and thinks she knows how to grasp them. Curious passersby may see her conducting a small ritual over some of the weapons: offering a prayer in a foreign tongue, pouring wine over the weapons and into the earth. Some of the weapons change, bearing an elemental mark or perhaps a strange shot of color through the wood.

She picks up a sword, testing its heft and balance. Nothing seems to have changed about the weight, but she can definitely feel something new about it. She turns to one of the dummies and takes a swing; a small bolt of lightning shoots up the practice blade, sizzling some of the loose threads on the linen covering the standee's hay insides. Diana gives a loud whoop of joy at her success, and rushes to choose another weapon, another element, with a wide grin.

These days, now that Goro has become a man of means and influence within the Free Cities, he too finds a private training yard to be useful. But the crackle of electricity and the loud whoop of excitement from over the wall that separates his yard from another is impossible to miss, and curious enough to warrant his attention.

Reaching up, Goro simply grabs the top of the wall and hauls himself up, just in time to see Diana racing for another weapon. Ah, yes...he knows this one. He's seen her before, at the Cadens base. Newer. Stronger than she looks. Possibly more than human?

"What brings such excitement on the training field today?" He wonders aloud, pulling himself into a crouching position stop the wall, using his lower arms to hold on and steady.

In her excitement, she's caught unawares by the sudden intrusion into her yard. She's already got a spear in her hands, but stops the instinct to cock her arm back and hurl it on instinct. She isn't being attacked, just interrupted--

--by a very large man with four arms. Yes, she's seen him in the city and the training grounds, but they haven't formally met. Well, no time like the present. He stays on top of the wall, but she doesn't seem disturbed by the way she has to tilt her head just so to look at him. She rests the butt of the spear on the ground, and smiles.

"A new way of fighting." She isn't being deliberately vague; this new power has just opened up countless new options for her in battle. She presumes, anyway. She hasn't done much experimenting yet, though she already has many ideas. "I did not mean to disturb your own training."

A new way of fighting? That catches Goro's attention. "It is not an issue." He replies, jumping down into Diana's yard with a loud thud. He has his own weapons, the four gauntlets armed with retractable blades. With Maxwell and Hector both gone now, Jayce has taken on the responsibility of helping maintain them; the mechanisms are too small and intricate for Goro. He's just been testing them after their first tune-up from Jayce, and he will have to give the man his regards. The blades are as good as when they were first forged.

"I am Goro." He acknowledges Diana with a nod, folding his upper arms over his chest. "Would you be willing to demonstrate this new method of kombat?"

Diana considers, briefly, asking him to leave her yard; she had reserved it, after all, and had not invited him. But though it's a little rude, she's excited enough about her magical discovery to let it go. She's actually been dying to tell some of her new friends about this, but what's the harm in starting here?

"I am Diana of Themyscira." It's a name that seems more appropriate for this place, for some reason. People here are very concerned with what faction they are associated with, which makes her feel as if she needs to clearly state where her loyalties lie. Themyscira may not even exist in this world, but that doesn't make her love it less.

Nodding, Diana gestures for him to come over to her assortment of weapons; there are swords, spears, shields, even a bow and arrow, all made of wood, as all the practice weapons are here. A little disappointing at first, but that suits her purposes just fine today. "Choose a weapon," she instructs. It doesn't matter which one; she'd spent the morning imbuing them all, testing the limits of the magic. "You will see something a little off about it, maybe a mark on the hilt or a sheen on the blade. They are imbued with magic." She sounds extremely proud of herself.

The fact that Goro may be intruding or that his presence would be unwelcome literally never even enters the Shokan's head. Something interesting is happening with combat applications. Who wouldn't be intrigued by that?

When Diana nods and gestures towards the weapons, Goro walks over and takes a spear in one of his upper arms. It looks comically undersized in his massive fist, but he leans in, examining the spear more closely. "Yes. I see a mark." It's not far down from the speartip.

Magically-imbued weapons, hm? Turning, Goro flips the spear around in his hand to a throwing position, then aims it at one of the dummies. With a flick of his elbow, he hurls it, driving the spear into the dummy's midsection, curious to see what Diana's magic has done to it.

Diana has spent a few days watching the behavior of the moth hares, and has come to the conclusion that they hold similarities to both of their namesake creatures, but one of them is particularly fascinating to her. She waits until the sun sets, and gathers up a little bundle of vegetables and the lantern she'd acquired especially for this purpose.

In one of the quiet parks, she lights the lantern, lays out her little bundle of food, and waits. Soon enough, a small flock of the moth hares, perhaps half a dozen of them, start flitting around the little pool of light cast by her lantern. She watches them, entranced, and picks up a head of lettuce, holding it out in front of her. One of the hares flutters right up to it, and starts nibbling; she uses her free hand to gently nudge one that has landed near the lantern away from potential harm.

Maybe she hears a twig snap nearby, or perhaps there's another light source; either way, Diana will turn towards the disturbance, holding a finger to her lips. "Shhh," she says, keeping her tone low and even. "I don't want to frighten them away."

It is late, and Alucard knows he should have stopped his work two hours ago. It is dark, and the path back to where he keeps his home is long. Night crowds have descended and he is still not in the mood to be in large swaths of humanity. All of those feelings exclude the moth hares themselves, which are little more than just a little flourish to his crowd problems at the moment. If only all crowds were so fluffy.

Still, there are shortcuts back to the graveyard, and through one of the parks happens to be one of them. He moves quietly, eyes searching for any onlookers. To use dhampiric speed to get home feels a little silly at the moment, but he's out in the open. In theory, he could turn into bats and complete the journey via air, barring more moth hares.

But the light ahead has already attracted a small gathering of them. The sigh he lets out must be louder than he expected, because from in that same area, there's a human voice.

In lieu of making noise, Alucard keeps his distance and tilts his head. The the heck is going on here? gesture is universal, after all.

Her eyes are as sharp as her ears, and though he doesn't move directly into the light, Diana spies form of a pale man without much trouble. If her night vision wasn't nearly ruined by the little flame in front of her, she might even have been able to clearly make out the features of his face. But as things are, she's aware of his presence and he is of hers, which is enough.

The cant of his head makes a smile curve her lips, and she uses her free hand to gesture first to the moth hares before her, then to the little bundle of vegetables on the grass by her side. Her voice keeps that same quiet, composed timbre; the winged hares are too distracted by both the light and food to be bothered by much of anything, though. "I wanted to see them up close." The only time she's been able to get close to the creatures is while chasing them away from the museums and laboratories in the heart of the city, and that isn't exactly conducive to admiring them.

She motions for him to come closer, if he'd like. She wouldn't mind the company, and as long as they're quiet, she doesn't think the little beasts will, either.

It is a blessing of Alucard's own hearing that Diana's words are as clear as day to him. His head tilts back to a normal position to show that yes, she's been heard. The why anyone might wish to see them up close is apparent, as they are indeed cute creatures when they are not causing total havoc in their swarms throughout the city.

He has no particular endearment to the creatures either way himself. They simply are. The changes in migration patterns though? That is much more interesting, although that's more of a conversation to have with Viktor or Geralt than a total stranger.

Alucard does come closer after a few moments of pondering. Admiring nature is not the worst way to spend time he supposes, and if nothing else, he is good at moving without a sound. Giving the hares a wide berth, Alucard eventually comes to stand to Diana's immediate left.

"The light approach is clever."

She sees his hesitation, but doesn't wonder at it for too long. In the time she's spent among men, she's learned that they have a lot of peculiar customs when it comes to social situations, especially concerning women. So she waits patiently, content to continue feeding the moth hares until he makes a decision. One of them wanders a little too close to the lantern again, and she gently guides it in another direction.

He eventually joins her, and she smiles to herself. Diana likes being around people, thrives in social situations, even small ones like this. Moving slowly, she uses her free hand to grab a carrot from her small pack, and offers it to him. If he doesn't take it, she doesn't seem upset, instead setting it on the ground for the creatures to nibble at.

"I've been watching them," she explains. "They share some traits with rabbits, so I thought they would with the other half of their namesake, too." This had just been an experiment, really, a way to pass an evening and satisfy her curiosity. She's pleased it worked out. "Though they do seem to like the light a little too much," she admits, gently brushing another moth hare away from the lantern.

"A logical conclusion," he agrees upon hearing the explanation of the light. But that conclusion should have foreseen the little things drawing just a bit too close. As one hare is happy to demonstrate, but even then, the whole thing comes off as adorable. "Perhaps a little bit of wire around the light to make a buffer is in order, if you intend to do this tomorrow."

There were lanterns out there that already had such a thing. Alucard had seen them in shops before, even though he's never had the need to purchase one. He's not trying to lure hares and his night vision has always been exceptional.

"I admit, feeding them feels like inviting them to stay rather than hoping that they'll quickly pass through and stop trying to ravage the food supplies."

She lets out a little, appreciative sound at the suggestion, and nods. "I will keep that in mind if I do." This would definitely be more enjoyable if she didn't have to keep nudging the little beasts away from the lantern. And she's fairly certain she can find wire and create a little cage around the flame on her own.

Diana finally sets the lettuce she's been holding on the ground, leaning back on her palms, content to watch the moth hares. She frowns for a moment at his concern, but her expression smooths after a moment. "I don't think so. They really don't like the sound those little devices make." She reaches up to rub at one ear, remembering how annoying that high-pitched frequency is. "And I imagine if they spend too much time in one place, that will be the next area those devices go." Besides, their instincts seem strong; she doesn't think one night of free veggies will be enough to turn them from their path.

Alucard nods, leaving the suggestion where it stands. Wire is abundant in this city, along with just about every other type of metal that you can manipulate. It is the beauty of industry, having supplies like that so readily available, and one of the strangest parts of it all. In Alucard's own time and place, all of it was rare work requiring specialists. Now, there's streets of merchants.

The hares are having a terribly fine feast tonight. They're not swarming the lettuce, but that seems to be because they know they have options for tonight's dinner.

"I don't appreciate the noise those metal things make either. They make moving about the city difficult." It is as close to an empathetic wince as the dhampir is inclined to offer. Moreover, there's a little bit of relief in knowing that it isn't only his overpowered hearing causing infrequent headaches over the past several days. "Perhaps the real cause for concern is if the pattern repeats itself next year."

Diana has become a little fascinated with the way Cadens operates; it reminds her of London, with its dedication to technology and advancement. But she'd be lying to say it wasn't a bit overwhelming sometimes. There seems to be a machine or device to do just about anything that needs doing. Most of the time, she's just happier to complete a task with her own two hands.

She leans back on her palms again, tilting her head to one side as she considers, then nods. "I heard they usually breed around the Singularity." The word is still strange in her mouth, but she continues. "Something drove them away from it." The arrival of the Summoned, she assumes. She still hasn't visited the Singularity, but it's on her list once she's able to afford provisions and equipment for the trip. "It makes me wonder what else might be driven away from it and towards the cities." The monsters out in the desert aren't new, but that doesn't mean something new won't pop up.

"Perhaps it made some kind of a reverberation noise and the soundwaves sent them running," Alucard offers, tapping against his own ear to indicate why that's the first thing that would come to mind. A rabbit's ears would not take kindly to something like that, and if these things have spread out in all directions, then a movement from such a central point would be a logical step.

The question of what else does give Alucard pause. It is a good point, one he had not given consideration to. May has been a strange month to navigate, caught up in emotions and using work to channel them all into a constructive force.

"If that proves true, the trade caravans will probably be the first to spot something. I can't say anything has struck me as unusual when out in the desert."

But being in the desert is another way to channel poor impulses for the dhampir. A wolf caught in the throws of excess anger is not going to be paying the most attention.

She hums low in her throat as she considers, and decides that's as good an explanation as any. Diana is no scientist; she had studied such disciplines some as a child, but was always far more interested in tactics and warfare, much to her mother's disappointment.

Yes, the caravans. Diana has been considering what to do with herself since arriving in Cadens; she can train at the barracks and help people around the city, but that only helps her learn so much about this world. The caravans seem to be the answer to several of her questions. "I hear they are always looking for help on their expeditions." She isn't exactly talking to herself, but it might seem as if she is. "I think I will have to start going with them." Small steps, cautious ones. That isn't usually how she'd approach getting answers, but this place is even more unknown to her than the world of men--her world of men, anyway. A little caution might be a good idea for once.

She turns to look at him, her keen eyes able to pick up more details about him now that he's moved closer. She's curious, and her tone tells as much. "The people say the desert is dangerous. Why do you go?"

"My understanding is that it is easy work."

Alucard had never dabbled in it. It would be a job requiring no special effort from him, as he is skilled enough at fending off monsters from every angle, but it was not an idea that appealed to him. Traveling with people means interacting with them for an extended amount of time, and he is very much a creature of privacy and mistrust. Better to put different skillsets to work. "It'd allow you to get a lay of the land as well."

Which is the actual advantage, before going further into the sands. Knowing the outposts, where to get water, the rare oasis in the landscape and how to find one's way when the sandstorms creep in. Alucard pauses, just long enough to tuck a stray strand of hair back into place.

"I grew up outside of cities and large crowds. I find this place unnerving, after a time."

It is an honest answer without providing much context. True enough, Alucard grew up in isolated spaces. The whys don't matter, although the light from the lantern does shed a few clues. He's far too pale for a human, and gold is absolutely not a normal eye color. "Plenty of sand to explore as well."

She hadn't even considered if the work would be difficult or not; but her bar for "difficult" is probably much different than most people's. "I'll look into it." It shouldn't be too hard to find a caravan to take her; there always seems to be some coming and going, many of them to Aquila, which is a place she wants to visit anyway. She tucks the decision into the back of her mind to act upon in the morning. There's no use in putting it off.

Sympathy crosses her face, and she takes another look at him, noting such features that she hadn't seen before he entered the lamplight. But she doesn't seem bothered by them, perhaps just curious; Diana knows there is a lot about the world--her own and this one--she still doesn't know. She's tried to reserve judgement about everyone she's met so far, and he's no different.

A little smile flits over her lips. "I can only imagine what secrets such a desert holds." She's read stories, old ones, about secret caves and sand-buried temples. She wonders if there's anything like that here.

"What is your home like?" It's a question she's asked many times since being summoned here, and doesn't think she'll ever stop asking. Amazons are meant to foster connection and understanding among men, and she can't very well do that if she's doesn't try to learn more about them.

"Mostly, the desert holds a lot of sand and some caves."

Alucard's tone is as dry as desert air, aware that it is a terrible joke and that he probably should try and save himself at least a little from that totally ridiculous and disappointing response. So he does, the follow up a little softer and a little more sincere. "You'll be awake at dusk and dawn. That is when it is most alive - bats flying out of their caves for the night, desert rabbits going about their business, and even larger monsters getting into their hunts. And of course they bed with sunrise, and you can see all manner of life skittering back for rest. Nothing like sun up and sun down in the confines of this place."

He's fond of it all, at least. Alucard's found the wildlife here wholly different from Wallachia, and no less wonderful and fascinating for it. The boldness has not extended to trying to take flight with some of the bats (being a whole series of bats is difficult), but the temptation is there. Just as the temptation to approach some of the desert coyotes has existed.

Home though. That's a sobering question. Alucard's privacy is something he guards and does so fiercely, letting precious few details about his personal life out. Here, in Cadens, he is defined by work. For restoring a graveyard, for working on a historic building. It is the only reputation he has, and it was alarmingly easy to shrug all thoughts of home off. He doesn't like to think of the castle and the Hold, potentially unguarded and pillaged. Of the charred remains of his mother's clinic, burnt over two years ago now by greedy and stupid men.

"Mountainous," is the word he settles on. "Easy to lose oneself in a remote corner of, even if there were cities and villages and farmlands." It is a wholly unsatisfying answer. "Your own?"

Her disappointment is staved off by the mention of caves; there can be a lot of interesting things in caves, especially if they go deep enough into the earth. She isn't going to be dissuaded just because most deserts are full of nothing but sand and small reptiles. She believes she'll find something interesting if she looks hard enough. Belatedly, she also realizes that he's joking, and gives a quick, quiet laugh, still conscious of the moth-hares they're trying not to scare away.

But then he starts to paint a picture for her, and she can see the tiny creatures, resilient in their environment, skating across the sand and flitting through the dry air. The sun sinking below the tawny horizon, the desert coming alive as the heat dissipates. It brings her joy just to imagine, and she knows it will be even more wonderous in person. "It will be beautiful." There's conviction in her voice, even if she hasn't seen any of it yet. She trusts his description, and her imagination. She has no reason not to.

Diana tilts her head, considering his words. It isn't much, compared to his description of the desert here, but perhaps he does not love it as she loves her own home. She's met more than one person here who feels that way. It's hard for her to understand, but she can't judge him for it.

As soon as he reciprocates the question, a smile takes her face, and her voice gains a wistful tone. "We have mountains on Themyscira as well. Perhaps not the tallest, but good for climbing and watching the sun rise." She doesn't mind sharing the name of her beloved island; it comforts her to know that it is out there somewhere, waiting for her return. She hopes so, anyway. "And beaches with white sand, where the water is always warm. The city is old, built of stone to weather the ages. But it is an island, only so big, and there are a limited number of places to get lost in." Gossip traveled fast on the island, much to the chagrin of its leaders. Privacy could be difficult to come by, especially when every eye sought you out.

"You'll find something that will hold your attention, I'm sure."

The wilderness will always have something to offer for those willing to look. Alucard's learned it through his own exploration, and has absolutely come to appreciate the stark beauty of the landscape. When there's seemingly nothing, every detail becomes important.

The name of Diana's home is completely unknown. It sounds Greek, or at least Greek adjacent, but the dhampir doesn't dare to presume. Plenty of places out there might have their version of the language, after all. "So a pearl in the middle of an ocean."

It is more observation, but Alucard knows he's probably right in the assessment. "And the opposite of this place, in terms of people living so closely."

He isn't wrong, though Diana wouldn't have considered it such before leaving. To her, it was simply home; there were places outside the island, but it had never really occurred to her that they would be much different from her own home. She knows now how naïve she had been to think so. But the Amazons' contact with the outside world over the millennia was limited, to say the least. Most of their more "modern" knowledge was courtesy of wreckage washing up on their shores. There wasn't much to use to base a belief on how the rest of the world had evolved while they were still seemingly stuck in time.

Her smile turns a little wry, and she tilts her head back to look up at the stars. "Yes, I suppose so." But every Amazon knew every other Amazon, their likes and dislikes, their favorite haunts. It was difficult to keep much of anything a secret. "Still, I miss it. There is no other place on Earth like it." If she could, she would return today; but there doesn't seem to be a way to do that yet, so she has accepted her lot as it is.

"I don't imagine there is."

An island is always unto itself. Perfectly isolated even if there are neighbors, local culture left to flourish in ways that simply cannot happen in other places. Growing up, the castle was a little like an island, although without a truly unique ecosystem. (Save the bats.) It moved from place to place, always away from humanity, for security's sake.

The night grows short. Alucard clears his throat, as there's no true polite out at the moment. He has to invent one. Hands slip into pockets, eyes move beyond the hares, pointed in the direction of the graveyard.

"I do need to get going though, as enjoyable as this has been. I shall leave you to your associates here, assuming you still have more food to provide them."

The moth-hares still nibble happily at the offerings she'd brought, more or less oblivious to their surroundings. She risks petting one munching on an apple, and is pleased when it doesn't skitter away. The closest thing she had to a pet as a child was her horse, so this is sort of fulfilling a childhood fantasy.

She looks up at him, tracks the direction of his point and takes note of what lies that way. Her brows raise slightly, but she doesn't comment, instead turning her gaze back to him and smiling. "I'm glad we met." The sentiment is genuine, said so casually that there's no mistaking its sincerity. Belatedly, she offers: "My name is Diana. I'll look for you in town."

"Alucard. Enjoy your evening's adventure."

It isn't unpolite, but Alucard is a little more to the point than intended. The work of the day has been long and intense, even for him and his stamina, and the welcome arms of sleep call. Never mind the particulars anyway. Few things are better than being not human shaped and sleeping in a small, cozy space in his opinion.

The Horizon, she'd quickly realized, is a strange place where she can feel both at home and completely detached from everything around her. It is, perhaps, because while she is able to make a small facsimile of her beloved island, it is a hollow creation without her fellow Amazons to make it come alive. Still, the stone-and-marble architecture, the mountainous scrub, and the beautiful carved statues of the gods do make her homesick heart ache a little less.

When she feels this way, there is only one thing she knows how to do to help herself forget: she must train. Antiope would advise her so, and she will not let her late mentor down. And here, in the Horizon, it is easy to come up with ways to work herself to exhaustion so she can no longer feel the emptiness of this shadow Themyscira.

She is dressed for the course, takes her starting position. There is no space for the miles of swimming and horse-trails like home, but the pillars and hoops are easy enough to recreate. The course stands ready, and she forces herself to let her mind go blank of everything but the beat of her heart and the sound of her own breathing. There are no roaring crowds, not even a replica of the amphitheater around her, but she can still feel them in her soul, her sisters' eyes on her.

She runs, leaps, grabs on to one of the ropes and begins to climb, using only the strength of her arms. It should be easy, but here in the Horizon, she can do anything she wants--make anything as easy or as difficult as she wants, and so she pushes herself, imagines what it felt like when she was a child and had not yet come into her power. Imagines her body is as strong as any other Amazon's, and hopes that her resolve will be, too. She makes it to the top, breathing hard, and slips through the first barrier, then bounds from one pillar to the next--and is smacked by the weighted log blocking her path. She falls fifty feet down into the water below, drags herself out, sand sticking to her soaked sandals--and begins again.

Edited 2022-05-13 01:41 (UTC)

open; when the others blocked your light

closed to cass; cadens; questing

Let me know if this works?

it's perfect!

Re: it's perfect!

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open; cadens; imbued weapons training

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open; cadens; moth hare moonlight

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open; horizon; obstacle course