The ocean carried him to Novus, and he is ready for it to carry him away. Jude wonders why he even bothers with lingering when it has become so apparent how meaningless he is. Obsession pulled him here and it is apparent this has been a fool’s errand. Sorrow is souring into simmering rage, his heartache is hardening into something far hotter. Jax had treated him as an accessory, an item to be toyed with and discarded when his use had run dry. His teeth grind together as he stares out at the ocean and listens to the lull of the tide.
I was driven by infatuation and look at where it’s gotten me, he says to his feline who is swatting idly at a crab that has it’s pinchers raised. He kicks up a damp wave of sand before he traipses along the shore and stares out at the roaring waters. Those merchants are long gone by now, he’ll have to find other ways home even if it means more traveling on his own. It is not his first quest and he imagines if he can survive it once a second surely could be doable.
”I’m done shedding tears for people that won’t weep for me,” he whispers to himself, ”I’ve wasted far too much emotion on men that can’t reciprocate.. I’m not going to be second best anymore.” He can hear the pitter patter of paws as Mittens trots up next to him, tail twitching. For once he holds his head high and doesn’t bow to the nagging sorrow and fear that tries to yank him downwards. This life is his own and it’s time he seeks something of his own.
The sparrow girl moves forward gracefully, humming to herself softly as she feels the hard ground and dried grasses of the endless fields give way to the softer sand of the ocean’s shore. Despite how she is still new here, how she has yet to find her place in this great dance, she has still managed to find belonging. She had adapted to her abrupt arrival here with grace, she had found her mama, and with that she has found a certain comfort that only comes with home.
Home.
So with that security blanket pulled tight around her shoulders, she finds herself wandering, exploring the farthest reaches of Novus she can get herself to. Today it was the rolling sea that called to her. Full of violence and passion, churning wildly and without cause, the ocean had always been something that intrigued the young wildflower. She has always wondered what rested beyond it, what people had claimed the land that began at the opposite shore, what untamed wilds and developed nations rested there, and with that, she often contemplated whether or not there was someone such as herself that stood at the banks of the waning and waxing tide with the same wondrous notions of the world that she held.
She moves right into the bubbling tide as it pulls sand and small shells back to the sea, watching the way the debris skitter about within the shallow sheath of water. She cuts her path to follow the shoreline, honey eyes cast over the dark sea, and then forward. There, far off, stands a beautiful creature. A smile pulls at her lips when she sees the stranger, coated in beautiful scales and decorated with flowers. She wonders if the sea called to him, too, wondered if he found solace in the rhythmic crashing of waves and the eerie cry of gulls.
“Hello,” she says as she gets within earshot. Her eyes drop to the creature that follows diligently beside the boy, and those golden pools grow warmer. “And to you, too!” She says to the cat, enamored with the small crown of blossoms that sits neatly upon her skull. Eyes up towards the boy, then cast back out to the sea, she sighs softly. “Beautiful, isn’t it? I’ve always wondered what rests on the other side.”
There are many things he cannot expect to happen during his travels and this is perhaps one of them. From the waters appears another individual who calls out a greeting to him. Jude pauses his pep talk and then looks out into the ocean to take in the stranger. She was unsurprisingly taller than him it seemed, but it is something he’s all too accustom to at this point.. Not that being small ever particularly bothered him. He can sense the hesitance from Mittens even when the stranger greets the cat, not something others often do but it cant help but tickle Jude in just the right place.
“H-he-hello,” Jude responds, managing to raise his voice enough to be heard. “Um.. She says hi to.” He murmurs. Don’t speak for me Mittens huffs through their bond but he decides against adding that to the conversation at hand. He gently flicks the cat with the tip of his thickly plumed tail before turning his eyes back to the stranger.
His eyes drift out towards the ocean. Jude can remember the gentle rocking of the tide as it carried him far from Vectaeryn, chasing a daydream and obsession. Funny how fruitless the adventure turned out to be. He listens to the gentle caress of the waves against the sand and he cannot help but let loose a long sigh. Part of him wishes for the ocean to carry him home again, to return to his family and his home. He misses it and he’d risk his venture five times over just to see the face of his family again.. But here he is, hundreds of miles from home standing on the shoreline with nothing but wistful thoughts.
“There are endless things off the horizon,” Jude says with a soft voice, “the ocean can carry you to an endless list of possibilities.” He then looks towards the filly and hesitates for a moment before speaking again. “My name is Jude.. That’s Mittens.” He glances at the cat who has found a log to sit upon daintily.
The rhythmic rolling of the waves calms her, and the bubbling foam kisses her hooves. She smiles as the salt-saturated breeze plays with her mane, and she can understand completely why many come to the shore to cast away their doubts. An ear twists to capture the words of the Kirin boy, and though the ambient sounds of the seat threaten to drown his voice, she is interested enough to hear his soft tones easily.
’She says hi, too.’ So the cat is a companion. The dappled girl thinks of Eytan briefly, the bonded companion of her mother, who didn’t make it through the portal they had tumbled through upon entering Novus. She wonders if he is still out there somewhere, if he wonders where Ktulu was, if he misses them like they miss him… Her smile is now somber, though the shift between emotions is hardly noticeable. She looks back to him, her honey gaze warm.
What other places could rest beyond the horizon? Certainly not Helovia- that world had been destroyed. Or had it? Perhaps the darkness and death had stopped with Kaos and his portal. Maybe that place had found a way to rebirth itself, and now rests untouched and unclaimed as it had eons ago? Or maybe she can find the place where everyone else had been delivered to. Maybe there is a world that had taken most of the refugees? And beyond that, what people live out there, what glorious places exist? She thinks of exquisite cultures, delicious foods, beautiful cities. How easy would it be to board a ship and just move on and explore the world? “Perhaps I’ll have to see for myself someday,” she says, shrugging her too-many wings casually.
She dips her head in formal greeting. “My name is Akeli. It’s nice to meet you, Jude.” She falls silent, letting the soft background noises wash over them, and then decides to continue. “Have you ever been on the opposite shore?” Though the question may be a little intrusive, she has to know if what exists out there would be worth the trip.
