#zuhuraha

[satellitewar-archived]

from @zuhuraha: and here we are again. for the fourth time. / talos

at this point, it's actually comical how often they end up in the very same place, in front of the very same tree with the knot on its side, expecting a totally different outcome and getting the same exact results. sure, the wise seer fareeda ahmed and her current companion, hjalti early-beard (actually talos the god, although that truth has yet to be shared with fareeda) should quite easily navigate their way through the swamps with no problems... but perhaps there's magic in the air that prevents that. perhaps seer fareeda, her almond eyes squinting through the fog, can discern the truth of their turnaround situation. four times, they've wandered through the swampy muck on their way to solid ground, and four times, they've ended up back here again. something is wrong... and it's amusing.

"a cruel joke." also squinting, hjalti scrunches their nose a bit and reaches to touch the knotted tree. a firm pat to its side assures him it's no illusion — they are going in circles at this point. "do you have any ideas to get us out of here that don't involve crawling around through the mud? my boots are..." hjalti winces, hoisting a thick leather boot from the water and noting its soppy appearance, "... probably ruined. if this is magic's doing, the witch in question owes me a new pair." as if the god themselves can't just repair them himself — he's keeping up appearances for fareeda's sake. just a traveler. just hjalti. not talos. "what do you think is going on, seer?"

[fuebruja]

“   the   catch   is ,   do   it   before   i   change   my   mind  .   take   some  .   ” from fareeda actually

noemi didn't need to be told twice. her hand reached out to snatch the dates from fareeda's palm, exceptionally careful to not scrape her nails against the girl's flesh least she lose her fingers for it. her teeth sunk into the sticky fruit between her grasp and she loudly groaned in delight. " a trail of bread crumbs wouldn't get me, but this ? game over. hansel and gretel need to up their standards. " with the pits clutched tightly in her hand she fell back onto her chair and rocked on its hind legs. she peeled each date apart as she studied fareeda, still not convinced that there wasn't a catch to the timely treats. " alright, spit it out. what freaky vision are you here to tell me about now ? " it would be a blatant lie to say that fareeda didn't unnerve the venkari. she came like a ghost, sent a chill down her spine, and then disappeared for months. and just when she was convinced she had gotten her off her tail, she would return to haunt her every waking hour. noemi needed to hire an exorcist.

" wait pause — " the chair slammed forward as noemi shot an accusatory pointer finger at the girl. " rules are: if any of your shit is about me dying or losing a limb i don't want to know. spare me the gory details. " she fixed her with a stern stare to emphasize how serious she was about her statement. one too many times had she been told omens that kept her up for days. she couldn't afford losing sleep now. " everything else is fair game, so hit me with your worst akinator. "

[palespawn-s]

❛ i wanted to have a look at the moon. it's nearly full. do you know what that means? ❜

“  if this is the part where you explode into a great, hairy, creature of the night, i'd really rather you didn't. it's been a terribly long day, ” he was in no state to fight, if that's where this was going. he had yet to wash the day off of him, in every sense of the word.

fareeda had been as cryptic as they come from day dot. at first, astarion had surmised it to be a terrible first impression, as if he and the warlock had gotten off on the wrong foot. but, as it turns out: she's just weird. perhaps even more so than the rest of their merry little band of odds & oddities. he's intent on returning to his book, however, a minute ticks by and she hasn't departed; still looking skyward, staring up at the bright, waxing gibbous with a look nigh indecipherable. astarion's eyes narrow as he watches her, unsure if he should be curious or cautious. his tongue clicks against the roof of his mouth and, with a sigh, he indulges her.

“  oh, go on, then. enlighten me. but if this is another attempt at predicting how i'm going to die or other such nonsense, i'm going to have to politely ask you to cease and desist. ”

[osaumu]

dazai had entertained himself on the walk over, feeding atsushi lie after lie about fareeda and her ability, the kind of person she was, what she might do to him if he put a foot out of line. he was practically hanging onto dazai's coattails by the time they reached the door. the pay - off was too great, because as they stood in her apartment his apprentice's gaze never once lifted from the floor, until dazai whisked himself away to a bookshelf and started moving around the ornaments in full view, and atsushi's eyes followed him with a wide stare. he explained their newest case for fareeda's benefit, and to see if he couldn't persuade her to lend a hand. “ for old times' sake, hmm? i told young atsushi here all about our crusades together, he'll want you to fill in any of the blanks! ”

@zuhuraha : he’s kind of a piece of shit .

of course, that was the only piece of those puzzles she deemed fit to draw back together, it came as no surprise that she could see right through his antics. atsushi's expression stuck to one of passive agreement, while dazai turned to both of them, his own features twisted into something horribly hurt. “ ehhhh ?! fareeda, is that any way to talk about an old friend?! ” his eye twitched, on the thought that this made the third time that day someone had taken his good, honest name and thrown it in the dirt, only to trample on it for good measure. he pocketed one of her ornaments, before sauntering back to his protégé with a deflated look. “ and there i was, singing your praises on the way over here! right, atsushi? ” ah, the fatal flaw in his mischief, atsushi's honesty. “ actually, you said that sh— ” atsushi couldn't get another word out that wouldn't be muffled by the hand dazai had slapped over his mouth, as he passed a look to fareeda, sickly sweet smile making an appearance. better to get back to the point. “ ahdadada. never mind what i said. you in, or out? ”

[chuyua]

hey chuuya can you hold still for a second there's this funny vision i'd like to send you

he's backing up with his arms outstretched to keep a distance from her, finger pointing at her face in a persistent no gesture. “ absolutely fuckin' not, ya heathen. i will not be holding still so you can do your freaky nightmare - ish bull on me. ” he nearly trips over his own feet walking backwards. “ fool me once, fool me twice. blah blah. ” nose wrinkles, glare burning at her.

[philomelia]

“    most people tend to think my mom’s a hack.   i prefer the term...    gifted in the theatrics.   not everything has to be real to be true.    ”       @zuhuraha​

[orihong]

⁽ ⁰⁰³ ⁾         “  his arabic is atrocious.  ”         —         @zuhuraha​

“  THIS SURPRISES YOU ?     OR JUST AN ASTUTE OBSERVATION ?  ”         NOSE WRINKLES AS HIS OWN WRETCHED MIND REPLAYS THE ABHORRENT ATTEMPT,   it should have been a crime in itself.     being a spy only meant orion needed to play nice and network,   ultimately finding difficulty in who he could trust enough not to find himself dead in a ditch or staring down the barrel of a gun.     ANYONE COULD BE A TRAITOR FOR THE RIGHT PRICE,   and integrity seemed to become increasingly scarce.    perhaps it was simply the result of a brewing war,   of the tides changing and the imperialists raiding every town until it was only dust.     ivories gnaw on the inside of his mouth to prevent a smile from gracing his lips,   a stifled laugh dying in his throat as he makes eye contact with fareeda         —         he’s quick to shake his head with subtlety,   a warning.         “  the bloke is only digging his own grave,   if we intervene or act out of place,   we’ll be sniped on the spot.  ”         THE ASSUMPTION IS ONLY THAT,   AN ASSUMPTION,   BUT ONE COULD NEVER BE TOO CAREFUL WHEN VENTURING INTO SPACES HEAVILY OCCUPIED BY THE ENTITLED AND THE ELITE.         “  shame that you’re not here to write about him,   we’ve gathered enough intel to put him out of business.  ” 

[arch-dieangelo]

STARTER  CALL.          @zuhuraha​​​​​​​​​​​          (     fareeda     )  

          nico  exhales  ,  fatigue  seeping  into  his  bones.     “     i  know  you  might  be  right.     ”     might  ,  because  he  refuses  to  be  completely   wrong  about  anything.  still  ,  he  concedes.  he’s  learned  enough  to  know  that  there’s  little  room  for  mistakes  in  these  instances.  no  matter  how  torturous  it  is  ,  sometimes  he  needs  to  ask  other  people  for  help.     “     fine.  let’s  do  it  your  way.     ”