Chapter Text
The view from atop the landship of the sun rising above the desolate horizon of the wastelands was always a sight to behold. The warm hues of the sun and brisk wind of the receding night bathed everything in a comfortable, amicable atmosphere for a couple of hours, which Saga enjoyed greatly during her morning exercises. And while not strictly private, it was still a view that she was able to keep to herself, with very few others as keen to get up so early as she was, and so she reveled in peace and quiet as she methodically stretched her limbs, assuming a meditating position after her routine was complete.
This was her daily life, and one that she was quite happy with. It was truly a pleasure to be able to carry on the habits she’d grown up with at the monastery, with an exciting change of scenery every so often. Her interactions with the others on the ship were plenty fulfilling as well, with nearly everyone acquainted with her by now. It wasn’t uncommon for her to go to the garden to meditate or simply enjoy the floral aroma or the company of the gardeners. She was also well known by Vulcan and Ceobe and the others who frequented the armory and training areas, given her constant maintenance on her naginata and her skills with it. In fact, the other Perro took quite a liking to her due to their shared interest in food, and they often ate together in the cafeteria after outings.
Saga took a deep breath, inhaling the distinctly stark smell of the desert, exhaling just as deeply as she let her body relax where she sat. She was content, not wanting for much of anything here at Rhodes, save for one thing… A bit of an odd desire, to be sure, but one that she often found herself wondering about fulfilling. She had only seen a couple of Dusk’s scrolls from her misadventures running into the painter, and surely, after this long at Rhodes Island, she ought to have completed some more impressive works. Works that Saga, so enthralled by the beauties she’d seen after leaving the monastery, couldn’t help but want to see. Even as she tried to clear her mind, she found herself being tugged out of her meditative state by that nagging desire. Why it had such a hold over her, now, of all times, was beyond her. But perhaps, she thought, she would approach one day and try to speak to Dusk, try to alleviate whatever it was gnawing at her mind, despite the shut-in’s inclination to avoid people at all costs. Perhaps…
“Hey, Saga.”
A voice rang out from behind her, grabbing the attention of her ears as she opened her eyes and turned to face her visitor, the clothes and hair unmistakable.
“Ah, Miss Lava! I pray thou art well?”
Lava shrugged, walking closer and absentmindedly tossing her dagger between her hands, taking a seat next to Saga and looking out over the horizon with her.
“I’m doing fine. Nian had me running crazy errands absurdly late a couple days ago, so now my sleep cycle is all messed up, and I’m out here ridiculously early now… Oh, sorry for interrupting your meditation, I can leave you alone if you want.”
“Pay it no mind, a visit from a dear friend does nothing to ruin my meditation, I assure thee! And Nian, hm? As it were, I feel I may have a favor I must ask of her, regarding seeing her sister… Is she occupied at the present time?”
“Hah, trying to visit the recluse? A bold idea, even from you, y’know. Gods can hold some grudges, she’s probably still gonna be bitter about everything, so I doubt that bringing Nian for help would yield any results.”
“Mm, a shame… Perhaps I shall go on my own, then?”
“I’unno, it’s worth a shot, if you’re really intent on it.” Lava shrugged, resting her head in her hands and sighing, viewing the sunset with much less admiration than Saga had been. “Maybe she’ll be nicer to you, who knows. Just bring a good excuse to be there, she won’t let you in her dorm otherwise.”
“Understood! Thank you kindly for the advice, Miss Lava!” Saga popped to her feet with an almost frightening speed, nearly knocking Lava on her back in surprise.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t mention it. And try to not get put in any paintings again in the process, it’s a pain trying to track down AWOLs. Off to your work, then?”
Saga nodded, bowing in typical formal fashion as she stepped away, then breaking into a run as she waved goodbye behind her. Lava seemed amused at her apparently limitless energy to be so cheery, sitting back down and watching the sun ride further in the sky as the landship crawled over the wastelands. From her own talks with Nian, she knew all too well how averse Dusk was to anyone nowadays, especially after the incident with Nothing and Kroos. Maybe, she thought, Dusk would be more receptive to Saga. And maybe, just maybe, Saga could somehow manage to warm up Dusk’s heart after so long of being a loner. Surely Nian would appreciate it, at least.
Lava leaned back, stretching her own legs as she reminisced about their first encounter with Dusk. She figured that, if nothing else, Dusk would at least respect Saga for the feat of waking up from within one of her paintings. Whether that would lead to admiration or disdain, though, was yet to be seen. If what Nian had shared about her younger sister was anything to go by, then…
“That girl needs a friend or two.”
Back inside, Saga was in the medical wing, chauffeuring boxes of materials and papers from room to room, occasionally sitting down to fill out some paperwork, powering through hefty clipboards worth of documents at blistering speeds. To the surprise of many Rhodes staff, Saga was actually quite the expert with clerical work, and didn’t seem to mind the menial tasks in the slightest. To her, it was just about as tedious as some of the work and rituals she had done at the monastery, so she could easily and happily do this sort of repetitive task. As an added bonus, it gave her time to think as she carried boxes back and forth across the various rooms of the wing, and today, plenty of time to figure out how she would convince Dusk to talk to her.
Lava’s advice left her wondering what exactly would get the painter to open up her door, thinking over their brief conversation when they first spoke. Perhaps she could coax a word or two out of her by asking about her paintings, as it was clearly a topic that she seemed more keen to talk about compared to others. The fact that she hadn’t seen even one of Dusk’s paintings since, however, left that plan dead in the water rather immediately. She furrowed her brow, very visibly in deep contemplation as she deposited a stack of papers onto a desk. She was so deep in thought, in fact, she neglected to realize that someone was sitting there as she did so.
“Saga? Are you alright?”
“Hah! Miss Silence! My apologies, I neglected to notice thy presence… And fret not, I am physically well, what tells thee otherwise?”
Silence took a sip of her coffee, chiding from behind her mug, “It’s not your physical health I’m worried about. You seem distracted, you have been all morning.” After blowing on it for a moment and taking another sip, the fog from its heat lingering momentarily on her glasses, she set it back down and leaned forward on her desk, turning to face Saga. Saga, in turn, took a seat at the desk and politely placed her hands in her lap, as she was accustomed to.
“Aha, perceptive as ever! In truth, I have been pondering over something since this morning, specifically how one might be able to talk with someone who has proven rather averse to conversation in the past… Rather, I need a ‘good excuse to be there,’ as a friend tells me.”
Silence couldn’t help but crack a smile as she leaned right back in her chair, already knowing the solution all too well.
“Bring them food, simple. You wouldn’t believe the wonders a piece of candy is capable of. In fact, here, Ifrit doesn’t like these, but they come in the packs that I order. Take a few of them, will you?”
She opened a drawer on her side of the desk, and after a small bit of rummaging around, procured a handful of faint green colored round candies, each one delicately wrapped in a thin paper. She set them on the desk, Saga eagerly plucking one up and looking it over before grabbing the lot of them in a single hand. Her mouth opened, ready to express her gratitude, but a single gesture from Silence gave her pause.
“Oh, and today’s a rather slow day. You’ve been helping here constantly, I’d say you’ve earned yourself some time to go take care of that, right? I understand the importance of things like this, so please, focus on that before dragging yourself through more paperwork in our little gray dungeon of an office.”
“If thou art sure, Miss Silence… Thank you kindly! I shall be sure to use this time to the fullest!”
Standing up with the candies in hand, she excused herself with a quick bow before hurrying out of the room. It was a short walk from the medical wing to the dormitories, and she had no shortage of time nor any need to rush, but Saga wasn’t one to let enthusiasm go to waste. Plenty of light spilled into the hallways along her way, reminding her of just how early it still was. She wasn’t sure if Dusk would be awake, but then again, she wasn’t sure if Dusk or the other siblings even slept in the first place.
Those were secondary worries, though, compared to the question of whether or not Dusk would so much as open her door. Standing in front of it, there was little else Saga could do but knock. Firmly rapping her knuckles against it three quick times, she stepped back to patiently await a response with her hands politely held behind her back, still clutching on to the candies from Silence.
“Who is it?”
A groggy, yet very much recognizable voice answered a fair bit quicker than expected, catching Saga off guard.
“Ahem, Saga here, hoping to speak with thee! I have come here with a gift!”
There were several moments of tense silence afterwards, only ended when the door finally swung open to allow Saga a look at the room, and at its rather disgruntled-looking inhabitant. She looked almost as if she had just been woken up, lingering lethargy visible in her eyes and her movements, her clothing haphazardly worn just for the sake of opening the door.
“Come in.”
Saga happily obliged, her ears perking straight up in excitement as she took her first step inside, slipping out of her sandals and leaving them just beside the door. As she cast her gaze around the room, she caught glimpses of more of Dusk’s paintings, each one brilliantly constructed, threatening to draw her in with the beautiful landscapes they depicted. Dusk tapped on her shoulder as she stepped behind her to shut the door, the sound of the latch recapturing Saga’s attention.
“Careful to not stare, Saga, unless you’d like a reminder of last time?”
“A-Ah, yes…”
Saga chuckled nervously, faintly blushing as she cast her gaze to some less dangerous parts of the room. The room was scarcely furnished, all things considered, a low desk on which to paint, a rather plain looking bed on which to sleep, and a small wooden table by the bed at which to eat. For Dusk, and frankly for Saga too, this didn’t leave too much to be desired, given their lifestyles, but for vastly different reasons.
After taking notice of the table, Saga deposited the candies she had taken onto it, Dusk raising her eyebrow at them before plucking one from the group, unwrapping it and peering closely at it. She seemed slightly disinterested in it, being candy, but as she noticed Saga’s face out of the corner of her eye, filled with hopeful excitement, she seemingly changed her mind and popped the candy into her mouth.
“Mm. Mint? Fine choice. So, what did you want to talk about?”
She discarded the wrapper back onto the table before seating herself on the bed, moving aside to leave room for Saga to sit as well. Once again, Saga eagerly accepted the invitation, grabbing a candy of her own, content with simply toying with the plastic wrapper in her hands.
“To be truthful, I may have already had my request accepted… I desired to see more of thy works, but hardly expected to see thy walls decorated so by them… ‘Tis truly wonderful to see them, still!”
“I’ve done more than just what’s on the walls, Saga. In fact, I can show you what I’m working on currently. You’ll probably be able to fully appreciate it, plus, you might have some actual thoughtful feedback… Actually, come with me.”
Dusk got right back up, walking over to her desk and unfurling one of the scrolls beside it, holding it up and seating herself at the desk. Saga quickly took her seat right behind her, the other scrolls and various painting implements on the floor leaving very little in the way of other places to sit. She gingerly placed a hand on Dusk’s shoulder as she peered over it, eager to see the painting the scroll contained, her ears raised and her eyes practically sparkling with awe as she took it in.
It was unfinished, that much was obvious from the surplus of negative space in the upper half of the image. The lower half depicted a vast, sprawling plain, stalks of long wild grass swaying gently in the wind, the rippling patterns so lifelike that Saga found it difficult to convince herself this wasn’t a photograph. Her head spun at the amount of time and precision just that grass alone would have taken, each individual blade of it seemingly perfectly constructed. The sole exceptions in the sea of greenery were a small blank space yet to be filled in, and a large deciduous tree placed nearby. Its trunk sprouted into sprawling limbs and innumerable leaves, painted all different shades of fiery gold, deep red, and everything in between. The leaves that the wind had stripped from it already swam through the empty air above the grass, trailing off into the horizon like glistening flecks of stardust.
“Magnificent, as expected! Hast thou decided a name for it?”
“I’d like to say I have, but every idea I’ve yet come up with falls short. ‘Autumn Winds Carry Gold Across the Horizon’ was perhaps the most fitting, yet unsatisfyingly verbose. Though I’m not opposed to suggestions from you, just as your head priest offered them.”
Saga pondered, her eyes taking in every bit of detail they could, yet lingering repeatedly on the blank spaces that seemingly haunted the canvas.
“I cannot rid myself of the question, and so I must ask. What, pray tell, is yet to be painted in that untouched spot? To know that may aid in deciding upon a fitting title…” Saga’s voice hung on that final word, sensing she ought to not be so direct about it to Dusk.
“…I have yet to decide. I first thought to have a scythe-wielding groundskeeper of sorts maintaining a patch of grass around some important object, but I would need a reference to illustrate such an act. Sadly, my sword isn’t a scythe, as you can guess, and I’ve never personally seen the act of scything well enough to paint it. And so, blank it stays, until I can find something better.”
“Hah, why not me?” Saga sprung up and practically leapt in front of Dusk, disregarding the somewhat annoyed scowl that grew on her face at such raucous behavior in front of her precious artwork. “‘Tis not something I have done terribly recently, but I am well acquainted with tending to the grounds of my temple! And surely, Miss Vulcan could procure a scythe of adequate design with little difficulty! I may very well be the model thou hast been waiting for!”
Dusk scoffed at the offer initially, but as she considered it further, her fingers idly rubbing at the edge of the scroll, she gradually softened her expression. It had been quite some time since she last had the chance to paint a live model, and if there were people at Rhodes Island able to hold a pose for extended periods of time, a monk used to meditation would certainly be among them. And above all else, Saga’s enthusiasm was simply too endearing for even Dusk to turn down.
“Alright, deal. Talk to Vulcan, come back later today, and I can do some practice. In exchange for your help, you can name the painting…” Dusk trailed off for a few moments, thinking it a bit cruel to not afford Saga a better repayment than that. “…And I can paint something at your request, afterwards. Does that sound fair?”
Saga immediately began beaming with joy, frantically nodding as her tail wagged behind her, stirring the scrolls behind her with the breeze she was making.
“Greater than fair, Master Dusk!! Assisting thee is an honor itself, but to call upon the skills endowed upon those incredible hands… I simply could not refuse such an offer!”
Dusk couldn’t help but blush at the flattery, her own tail winding around her leg in a rarely-seen showing of shyness. It didn’t last long, though, as she quickly rolled the scroll back up and stood from her seated position before gesturing towards the entry of her dorm.
“That settles that, then, you might want to hurry before she’s swarmed with requests from other operators to fix their equipment. Like I said, just come back in the evening, I’ll have food.” She took Saga’s hand as she spoke, leading her most of the way to the door, but stopping at her bedside. She plucked a candy from where they had been left on the table, gently depositing one into Saga’s hands. “And be sure to keep this, you never even ate the one you grabbed. These really are quite good, so I’ll keep the rest.”
Saga nodded, offering a sheepish grin at the realization she’d completely forgotten the candies that she herself had brought, slipping back into her sandals and giving a courteous bow before opening the door.
“Understood, I shall be off to speak with Miss Vulcan right away! I thank thee for thy time and the privilege to see thine art!”
“I appreciate your help too, Saga. And no need to be so formal, just ‘Dusk’ is fine. Just one small, small thing…” Dusk followed Saga as she exited, sticking her head out of the door to continue speaking to her. “My sleep schedule is a great deal different from yours, so I’d appreciate visits later in the day, from here on.”
“Ah, noted… Farewell, then!”
Saga laughed nervously, blushing as she bowed again before making her exit, the sight of her hurrying down the hall accompanied by the clack of her sandals against the metal floor of the landship. As Dusk saw the last of her tail disappear around a corner, she breathed a sigh of relief and shut her door, going back to her bed to lie down. She marveled at just how full of energy the Perro always seemed to be, glancing over to the pile of hard candies sitting beside her. She considered grabbing another, but decided against it, figuring that going back to sleep while eating one would be rather unwise.
Dusk had never been particularly fond of such loud people, but she knew Saga’s talkative and carefree exterior hid a much more thoughtful and wise person beneath, and that might make her an exception. But it had been far, far too long since such an exception had appeared in Dusk’s life, and she was hesitant to believe it so soon. She was even more hesitant to act on it. She cut that train of thought short, closing her eyes and dedicating her mind to more important things, the painting, its title, the numerous chores she was probably inadvertently neglecting in favor of sleeping in. And, of course, most importantly…
What on Terra was she going to feed this girl?