#99aika

@99aika

the world is new, and zachary’s been trying his very best to figure it out in the little time he’s already spent on its surface, but the truth is, there’s been nothing but desert sands so far. a very rare sight on his own planet, and none of the deserts were within their prefecture, so he’s never actually seen one with his own eyes. it took only a few hours to make him never want to see one again, though.

but he doesn’t have that much luck, because he knows from his studies that horizon is a wasteland planet, a dumping ground for the universe’s garbage, nothing much but rocks and desert sand covering the entire surface. and sure, he’s heard of the legends, of people living here and actually surviving, of cities and civilisations, but after a day and night in this wasteland, those start to seem more and more like just that; myths and legends.

he’s started on rations from the beginning, and it’s only years of discipline during his studies that enabled him to keep up the diet of too little food to properly satisfy his hunger, but he doesn’t want to risk running out before he figures out a way to get new food and - more importantly so - more drinkable water. the thing is, there’s been nothing but sand so far, and even though he’s headed towards some rock formations, he doesn’t know if it’ll be any different there than out in the desert.

but there is nothing other to do than try, so he walks and he walks and he walks. when eventually he trudges onto more solid underground, his feet almost cry out in relief and his legs temporarily tremble with exhaustion. but there is no stopping. stopping means losing precious time he could be headed into the direction of water with. or, his mind decides to tell him right that moment, away from water.

he doesn’t get the chance to think on that further, because all of a sudden something shifts in his peripheral view and as he turns his head towards it, a monstrosity comes into view. a sort of creature that he’s never seen before in his life, disgusting and threatening looking, and he’s not about to take a chance on whether or not they’re lethal.

cursed with an honesty spell : accepting

zachary’s eyebrows draw together automatically when the question is suddenly launched at him and he turns his gaze over towards the girl speaking. quite the sight she is, especially with the eyes that speak of blindness and a tilt of head that indicates the girl depends more on her hearing than on what little she can perhaps still make out. or maybe it’s all an elaborate ruse and she can actually see more than her looks would suggest. zachary has gotten used to all kinds of scams in this hellhole, so neither would surprise him anymore.

wanting to turn away again and simply walk off once more - because he has no business talking to a stranger he doesn’t even know - he is prevented from doing so by the same thing that has been bothering him all day; his mouth speaking without his mind agreeing to something as such.

“whatever has given you the impression that i’m not happy?” he retorts, and for once he finds himself actually having wanted to say what it is he ends up saying. the reality surprises him, but it’s an emotion that only tumbles around his inside, not outwardly visible nor audible at all. “perhaps you’re right and i wouldn’t call myself happy, per se, but neither would i call myself unhappy.”

a shrug, while he silently curses whatever evil is making him speak such outrageously personal truths out loud to people he has never met before. “but i am content and that is more than enough for me.” a pause, the hope that he’ll stop talking now, but a nagging certainty that there is more to be said. proven when indeed his mouth opens again.

“as for why i wouldn’t consider myself happy...” he pauses, actually thinks about it, actually forces himself to consider what has been buried under years of silence by now. “i just don’t think i am a person with such vibrant emotions anymore.” he stops talking then - finally - and finds himself looking down on the girl with a small smirk.

Send ‘’🍺‘’ + a question and my muse will answer it while they’re drunk – accepting

the question almost surprises him, the valkyrie being something he knows very little about, a topic he remains, admittedly, rather ignorant on. “honestly?” he hesitates a moment, eyebrows drawing together. “they scare me, i think. i don’t leave fyrestone and for good reason. yeah, the wildlife is a part of it, but the people aren’t any less daunting... i wouldn’t say they’re like... monsters or anything, ‘cause i don’t know, but i’ve heard stories a few times in the past. not sure what’s true, though.” he shrugs.

“i think a part of the reason them as, like, y’know, a subject makes me nervous is how they survive out there and that almost primal survival sort of deal. i could never do that, but maybe that’s more of a me thing than them, i can’t blame them for being capable. they seem really free, which i think is cool.” a piece of him knows the only reason it makes him uneasy is because he doesn’t understand it, doesn’t know why someone would want to live on that brink of life and death if they don’t have to. it was a personal thing, he supposed, his own priority of safety over untouched freedom; stability over excitement. maybe, he thought, he was just boring, a pale in comparison. he considered his work important, but he always held others’ regard over his own.

he was drunk, which of course didn’t help, but it brought him to the mindset, a question of if he were to put himself first, truly, would he be more prone to spontaneity? or drawn to that flavor of life? or is he just walking the line of contentedness, destined to be the hand that helps others live recklessly instead? he paused again, trying not to let it worry him too much despite his tendency to do just that.

“it’s just a different lifestyle, i guess.”

@99aika

It’s the familiar voice that makes him turn. Amir unconsciously smiles, already making his way towards the small crowd that’s gathering around the Valkyrie.

He couldn’t believe Aika was back in town and hadn’t told him. Quite some time has passed since him and the woman had last met up. They had been nothing but teenagers back then yet Aika already possessed a powerful voice that made heads turn. When he finally spots her black head, he can’t help but to reminisce back to when they had first met each other. It had been in a similar fashion, Aika gathering the attention to herself with tales of beyond in the most velvet voice he had ever heard. 

She had grown, as much was expected. Her features were more defined, her body carried muscle and her posture was more secure. The bob hair framed her beautiful complexion, even though her eyes remained unfocused as they had always been. Amir crosses his arms waiting for her to finish. He, himself had changed with time. He was far taller than her now, back then he reached but her shoulder. But that had been years ago. He was sure, he could carry out a proper fight with the Valkyre. He had been just a kid still growing into his potential but now, as the legendary fighter from the Underdome, he would show Aika that he was finally capable of protecting her. 

“Well i’ll be damned” He smirks, approaching the woman when the crowd began to disperse. 

It’d come at such a random point in time, the somewhat bold statement. Every few weeks Boone makes a trek back to the Valkyrie camp he’d lived at for several years, Yiska curled up on a rare patch of grass his big rounded ears swiveling toward the voice. Normally the merchant keeps to himself, especially here where he acts with a much higher level of reverence. The voice surprises him as he recognizes the owner of it instantly, how couldn’t he when she sings and chants with each ritual? A part of him feels it wrong to reply right away, gaze shifting to a spot behind her to avoid being rude.

After a few moments of thought his soft voice comes out in a near whisper, melodic with a hint of confusion. “This is true, and I thank you. Don’t mind me, just being a nomad.” It’s not simply due to her rank but also how he’d been accepted in when arriving as an orphan, a nobody with sand burns and a tiny puppy cradled in his arms. He speaks softly to most in the camp as in his eyes they were his saving grace, he would’ve died indeed. He doesn’t correct her over it being more than just her, he wouldn’t dare so instead he nods and smiles softly then returns to preparing the trinkets he’d collected this time to sell.