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[sub][h1][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/tWLOyH4.png[/img][/center][center][color=black][b]A K A I A[/b][/color][/center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5333243][center][color=bca346][b]A K A I A [/b][/color][/center][/url][/h1][/sub]

[center][sub]The Crow's Nest   ·   Early Morning
[@FunnyGuy] & [@Daxam][/sub]
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Change was a simple word with often devastating consequences. Five letters to herald a shift in the present and usher in a new future that no one was ready for. It was change that had destroyed the world, and in an odd twist, it was change that was the progenitor of the Sidhe; beings so strange and unknowable and wielders of a coveted power who wanted for a return to the days of old. Yet, despite the gifts they were given, they were unable to escape that which they wanted to prevent. Cursed to follow a law of survival where adaptation was the change that granted life and fighting against it meant that you were left behind. Whatever future you had was then after decided by those who wanted to live. This was only reinforced when Akaia was taught that change usually meant danger and so when faced with it, she reacted in ways unthinkable. It left her empty. Heavy.

The letter she'd found tucked into the diorama was this. Heavy again but impossibly so. Cerise was almost ten years of constant good. The only change she knew that had been for the better. Because of it, Akaia was no longer alone living in a vacuum she'd created. She had a family. Walls. Food. A purpose. She had the Commune and they had her. So when she found the letter and read it and understood the ask not to follow, she decided to ignore it. She did follow. She'd scrambled after the girl in the dark and the dirt and through trees and branches in pursuit of a ghost. Cerise had always been better at their 'game' than she was. It was a fact Akaia had come to accept. Their very first meeting was more or less a measure of their stealth and tracking expertise compared against the other and she'd lost. The only advantage Akaia had over Cerise was her ability to cover herself in pollen, but the amount of skill it took to turn a girl as bright as the sun into shadow and erase all trace was not something she had. There [i]had[/i] been a trail, but as if her pursuit was expected, the trail was broken early on in Akaia's search. From the start she knew it was futile too. It was impossible to keep track of an object that could clear distances in an instant without touching the ground. It was a lot of the reason why she lost to her years ago and why she knew she was only going to be met with more of the same.

Now, she was simply trying to cope, and helping someone else find what they had lost was her way of 'adapting'. She set to moving forward almost immediately. The letter was tucked into the box under her capsule next to the vestige. Her clothes were discarded for clean ones: Another pair of black cargo pants that tapered into her boots and a dark brown top with a fleece wrap that sat around her neck and hung over one shoulder. It was her temporary replacement for the cape she'd lost that still needed replacing. What she had on now was not similarly treated to work with her pollen. Her staff was also still missing including the blade that had been hidden inside it. Finding or making a new one would take time, time that she didn't currently have so as yet another temporary solution, Akaia decided to pay the armory a visit. She found for herself a dagger that was placed in a sling under her shoulder and one of the Commune's extra 9mms that was pushed into a holster on her thigh. Last thing she needed was Licorice, who had continued its pursuit of Cerise long after Akaia had decided to return.

He'd found his way home before Akaia had finished preparing and was at his usual perch when she returned to her room to replace her oxygen and pollen tanks. By now, the motions she'd forced herself into had done their job and Cerise's absence was a dull ache in her chest that she could partially ignore. A greeting cluck, however, pulled her out of her thoughts and immediately she was reminded of her last remaining thread of hope. Licorice had been the final attempt. A chance to find that which she didn't want or couldn't lose, and while she'd already been given to the throws of her depression, the full weight of Cerise's departure wasn't acknowledged until she knew for sure. It was why the earlier alarm and arrival disappointed her so much and why now, a light was once again burning in her eyes.

But Licorice's answer removed whatever hope she had left and forced her to face the reality of what she'd lost. Cerise was gone. She'd left, covered her tracks so she couldn't be followed, and was not coming back. And that was that.

A sadness overtook her, shaking her with a violence that she was not prepared for. She tried to steady herself with her arms across her chest and her back against the wall, but as her breathing became less even and slowly turned to gasps, she became dizzy and collapsed to the floor. There, with her knees up to her chest and head buried, she stopped trying to pretend to be okay and let herself feel whatever was she was supposed to. Everything welled up from her gut all at once and poured out of her eyes and stained her cheeks and for a while all she could do was sob. She didn't know why it happened or why it kept happening to her. All she knew was that once again, she'd lost someone she loved and in that moment, in her room, she was very much alone.

Sometime later, before departing for the road, the pot Akaia had been protecting all morning was placed carefully on the piano.
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The car ride over had begun without much fanfare. In fact, what had originally been a group of four ended up being just two and so the drive saw both Erik and Akaia in the front seat and on a trip that involved just the two of them. Although rare, it wasn't something that hadn't happened before and because it was Erik, Akaia was more than comfortable. Having already cried most of her frustration out before her departure, there wasn't much left to be said or done. She understood what had happened and had decided that if she needed it, and she knew she would, she could be in her feelings later when others weren't also in need of her.

Of course, as it usually was when out exploring in the ruins of the world, one wasn't allowed the luxury of time to dwell on thoughts of missing friends. Shortly after heading out, a series of explosions from the nearby city vibrated the air around them both. What caused alarm however, wasn't the explosions. There was a louder thud above them, like something heavy had landed on their van and suddenly, there outside the windshield and upside down was a Vincent. Erik's hard brake brought the vehicle to a violent stop which threw Akaia against the strap of her seatbelt and sent Licorice into the windshield. The bird left a small crack in the glass pane.

When Akaia had finally recovered and found her lungs, she glanced up at the Revenant through the hair that had fallen in front of her face, her pale eyes studying him in utter disbelief. [color=bca346]"What...?"[/color] She muttered. When he'd failed to turn up at the time of the Van's departure, it was assumed Vincent had been accosted to the medical bay to be chastised by Poppy. If there was one thing Akaia knew about her fellow Sidhe, it was that if you were in need of medical care, you were going to get it... or need more of it. If [i]'So Hot So Dumb'[/i] wasn't already in hot water with Poppy for breaking the window, leaving without her consent ensured that he sure as hell would be when they returned. Suddenly, Lysandra's description of the man was surprisingly apt, especially the second half. [color=bca346]"P-pah-pee?!"[/color]

Licorice had by now recovered himself and had immediately turned to face Erik. As if the drawing wasn't enough, now it was this.
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