brave_kreyu | OOM: All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness? -Part Two

Kreyu intended to dance in the sky with Skellig the very next day, but events have conspired to prevent that from occurring. A raid on the village by former soldiers meant many wounded to heal and much damage to fix. Akatan's sister, Neferet, has a definite crush, an infatuation, with Skellig. She hasn't done anything but look and exchange some friendly words, but it still makes her brother FURIOUS.

For all that Euripedes was from a different time and place, a line he had Medea speak in the play of the same name still rings true: "I would rather stand three times in the line of battle than once bear a child." Even with Kreyu's magic, with Taweret's skill, childbirth is incredibly dangerous. There are reasons why Taweret's goddess image of She Who Is Great has elements of the hippo, the lion, and the crocodile, a fearsome appearance to drive off the many threats facing a woman giving birth. The second birth in a week began this morning and was still going on when the sun began to set. Not a good sign.

Skellig, trying to burn off nervous energy while Kreyu was working, happened across a few of the village men drinking. They said things about Kreyu they should not have said. That he was FEEDING on Kreyu, drinking her blood. There...may have been a fight. At least they don't think he's a demon anymore, you can't give a demon a black eye in a brawl with your fists!

It is truly night now, and Skellig can hear Kreyu's tired footsteps on the road...

(OOC: Warning for explicit adult content starting around tag 194.)

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From:

brave_kreyu

Kreyu rumbles in agreement. She'll leave the whale meat near wherever he builds the fire.

She pads over to the freshwater pool, mutters more syllables. "Water that touches the pool or passes through the pool safe now for three days."

She drinks downstream from the pool, not wanting to contaminate HIS drinking water with what she has been eating. Once she's sated her thirst, she trundles back to the ocean to wash the blood off. She dives into the water, scales not troubled by the salt. She, she might be rolling around on the rocks to get some of it off, like a horse or a dog trying to rub on the ground to reach an itchy spot. It probably looks ridiculous.

From:

27_53

The driftwood is deposited near the pool - close enough to the sheltered overhang that it will add heat if needed, but far enough away that if she chooses to remain in this shape of her soul, she would not crush it - and Skellig works to build a pit in the sand, and it is when he glances up to find where she has put the meat that he notices her rolling on the rocks.

He stifles a laugh, and works to build the wood into a shape for an efficient fire. There is a knife in this bag, somewhere, but for now he simply uses a talon to slice the meat into chunks, in preparation for spearing it onto a stick for roasting.

And then she huffs and squirms with greater 'effort', and now he cannot help but allow his laughter to escape, the sound carrying easily even over the roar of the ocean beyond the shoreline.

From:

brave_kreyu

Kreyu pauses in her rolling at the sound of his laughter, upside down, wings askew, perched at a frankly ridiculous angle. She makes an inquiring noise. What IS Skellig laughing at? She's glad to hear it though, glad to hear the Light in the emotion.

Getting herself upright again takes a bit of flailing. She shakes, like a dog, shedding most of the water back into the ocean. Now drier and relatively clean, she pads up toward Skellig. She can't get RIGHT next to him, not in this shape, but she can be in his general area.

She traces a glowing arc in the air, mutters something sharp. "To keep biting things away," she murmurs. She yawns hugely, her mouth holding enough teeth to make a shark envious. Her stomach is so full that her belly is a bit distended, and now that she has eaten she's so very sleepy....

From:

27_53

Skellig quickly snaps his fingers together and coaxes a bit of flame to his fingertips - this is a skill that he can only sometimes manage, one that brings back an echo (of orange and black stripes, fur?) to his mind that he is unsure of the origin, but soon enough the driftwood is burning, and his 'dinner' is cooking.

"You should rest."

At her glance, he rolls his eyes slightly.

"I will sleep once I have eaten."

From:

brave_kreyu

"Good," she rumbles. "You should rest too, been through so much, you must be tired."

Violet eyes blink slowly, then stay closed as she drifts into slumber. At least this shape doesn't snore, a small mercy.

From:

27_53

Skellig watches her drift off into sleep and shortly thereafter finishes his 'dinner', the whale tenderloin is a new experience for him, but not unpleasant - especially after topping it with some crumbled dried kelp for an added hint of salt. He drinks from the pool where it is safe for him to do so, and eventually finds himself perched on a rock near the shoreline, preening his wings.

(There is salt on his feathers and occasionally he catches a bit of spray when a particularly fierce wave rolls in and crashes below him, but he is not bothered by it - it is just another way to remind himself that he is here, wherever this is, with her. Though with each passing sunrise and sunset, here is becoming more of where he is comfortable, and echoes of other places, other times, other worlds are becoming harder and harder to hear.)

When he reaches the damaged spot where he tore feathers free, he pauses. The image of her bleeding out flashes back into the front part of his mind, causing his heartbeat to race briefly as anxiety and panic threaten his senses.

"No," he mutters firmly. "She is not hurt, she is safe, you will protect her."

But she was hurt because of you. Akatan wanted to make you suffer so he hurt her and it is your fault she nearly died.

"It is not--"

Yes it is, you know it to be true and you do not deserve such mercy from a dragon.

"I do not need her mercy." He grumbles at the ocean, fingers working to shove his feathers back into place. "I have done no wrong to her."

But wrong was done to her because you are here if you were not here she would not have ever gotten into this mess in the first place.

"She loves me." His words are faint, nearly swallowed up by the salt and roar of the waves beyond the rocks. But they are firm. Defiant. "I do not know why she has chosen me as her mate, but she has and she loves me, and I love her. She is my dragon. And I am her owl."

You are just a beast. A mongrel.

"Even so." He huffs, irritated at the voice (where is it even coming from?) shrugging as he finishes his efforts at preening. "I am better as a mongrel than most can hope to be as men."

From:

brave_kreyu

His fears, his inner critic given voice, perhaps?

He is right though, he IS better than most can hope to be as men. Kreyu would tell him that if she was awake right now.

There is no light pollution here, in this new world. The stars are vast, numerous and bright to his eyes when dark comes at last. Her heart beats, slow and steady as a drum.

From:

27_53

Eventually he resettles off of 'his' perch upon the rock, and finds a spot in the sand to sprawl out, his back resting against a fallen log where he can allow his wings to drape behind him comfortably.

He cannot ever recall seeing this many stars.

Keeping himself grounded here to this place, he digs his hands into the sand and stares at the sky. There are sometimes no words to describe what one is seeing, and this is one of these moments. He simple allows the light to filter through his eyes and into his soul, as he Listens.

Her heart. His heart.
Her lungs. His lungs.
The waves. The stars.

It is not until the first hints of the upcoming dawn begin to blot the faintest of the stars from the sky that he moves back to the space beside the fire where he had left their bag. Within it is a pair of woven blankets, thick enough to ward off any chill, and he silently creates a 'nest' for himself, curling up atop one while another is draped over himself.

While watching her sleep, he drifts off himself as the sun threatens the horizon.

From:

brave_kreyu

Kreyu tries to be quiet, when she wakes. But there's only so quiet one can be when one is tearing apart a whale carcass for breakfast. At least he has cooked tenderloin left over from last night.

THIS time, at least, she gets less messy. Doesn't need to roll on the rocks quite as much.

She sleeps again, wakes near nightfall to devour the last of the whale, crack the bones to get at the marrow, even EATS the bones themselves, as this form can digest them.

She's less tired now than she has been, will only be dozing lightly when night comes.

From:

27_53

He has rested for the majority of the day, only occasionally waking when absolutely necessary. Eat, hydrate, sleep. Ensure Kreyu is still breathing. He can see less and less of the whale carcass each time he does, so he knows she is eating.

More kelp has been gathered, and he has worked on eating that too, with his leftover tenderloin. (She left him plenty.)

As the sun sets, he finds himself awake again, and decides to go for a walk as the stars once again begin to make their appearances. There is enough daylight however, that he has gathered a handful of interesting shells during his traverse of the beach - some worn, some still shiny (he checks to make sure nobody is living in the 'fresh' ones before he collects them) as well as some interesting smaller rocks.

He sets them in a pile upon a flat stone near the fire, which he works to feed and build upon his return, before he starts to cook his last piece of tenderloin, this piece sliced thinner than the ones before it. It will not take as long, before it is ready to eat.

Meanwhile, he is trying to stack stones to balance atop each other, and at some point his 'tower' falls and clatters.

From:

brave_kreyu

Kreyu wakes at the clattering, tail twitching. "Ah, you are awake, love." She is pleased to see him.

"And you have found some treasures."

From:

27_53

His brief feeling of frustration - he had gotten up to nine rocks, and was so close to ten - is washed away when she wakes and speaks to him. He smiles brightly, teeth flashing in the firelight.

"I have."

Then he sniffs the air, realizes his tenderloin is threatening to get slightly crisped on one edge, and hurriedly moves to pull it back from the fire. It has to cool a moment (but he'll still try to eat it while it's just a touch too hot) before he works on polishing it off.

"I brought the shells for you," he adds. "There is one that is near the color of your eyes."

Violet.

From:

brave_kreyu

Kreyu is clearly VERY pleased that he has found shells, sought them out for HER. When humans want things, feel intensely about objects, some of that karma clings to them. Karma that dragons crave.

"That's very sweet of you, Skellig," she rumbles. "I would be afraid to touch them, like this, but I would like to see them."

From:

27_53

"I will show them to you," he says to her, finishing off his meal and tossing the 'skewer' stick into the flame, as he has done with all the rest. Standing from the blanket (his kilt has been folded neatly and used as a pillow since the first night when he decided to preen along the shoreline - he sees no point in wearing it in this place) he gathers up the shells and walks towards her head.

"This one is the one," he holds it up to her. "That reminds me of your eyes." It is a violet colored shell, perhaps of a snail or other creature. He selects a larger piece, smooth and flat. "This one is grey, but it is smooth, like your scales...this one..." he holds up another. "...it is heart shaped."

That should be self-explanatory.

Another. "This one is more ridged, but it is brown and white, like my wings are."

From:

brave_kreyu

"They are lovely, Skellig." She admires each shell in turn, listening intently to what he says about it, just as if it were the finest art there ever was.

"I know I have not been the best company, of late. This shape's needs are easing, finally. By morning, I should be able to take the shape you know best again. Should be able to touch you without harming you."

And it surprises her just how MUCH she wants to be able to do that, to touch him.

From:

27_53

With the shells safely in one hand, he extends his other to touch her on the side of her 'cheek' beneath her eye - technically, he's only able to really reach her lower jaw, but it is the best he can do.

The scales are smooth, hard. And although they would look 'cold', they are warm beneath his touch as he strokes gently.

"You have been fine company. I would not ask more of you than your soul requires." He sighs, then leans in and presses his face against her scales, his cheek resting against hers. She is massive compared to him, and he is so very close to her mouth, which is filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. And yet, he is not afraid. "I will be glad to have you in my arms again, whenever that may happen."

From:

brave_kreyu

She takes comfort in his touch, his warmth. "Not as glad as I will be to be in your arms," she tells him, soft. It's not a CONTEST of course, merely a feeling.

"Would you like me to tell you of the stars?" she asks. "Useful things or fanciful, I have both."

From:

27_53

"I would like that," he says. "Last night I was up the entire night, until near dawn. I have never seen so many stars in all my life."

A thought strikes him.

"If it...if it would not bother you, I could sit upon your shoulder, where I was earlier while we were flying?" He offers. "I would move before we slept, to ensure my safety. But for now, if it is not...offensive to you?"

From:

brave_kreyu

"No, not at all!" Kreyu replies. "I would be glad to have you there."

Her body is warm under him, her scales smooth. Her heart under him, so very close. It's not her human shape, but it's intimacy of a kind.

A small spark of light flies up into the air from one of her talons. "You see that grouping of stars there? Well there's a story about why they are arranged that way." Heroes and monsters shaped into stars by the gods, that when this group of stars is on the horizon the time of the mother river's flooding draws near, that that star portends love when it crosses that group of stars over THERE.

If he wants to listen, Kreyu could talk all night.

From:

27_53

Listening is one of the things that he is best at. Observing, watching, learning. He gladly soaks up her words, grateful to hear her tell tales and truths about the stars. He asks questions about others, tells stories of his own for ones that he may not see in this sky but he figures must be out there somewhere.

(And if they are not? Then these will be his new normal.)

It is near-dawn again by the time he yawns, eyes growing heavy. He is so very comfortable here, lounging atop her body. But he knows that he cannot sleep here, and it is with great reluctance that he moves back to where it is safe for him beside the fire.

He is certain to leave enough room for her to curl up with him (the blanket is easily large enough for two to lay atop, as well as the one that covers him) in case she finds that she is able to shift back to her more 'familiar' form once the sun breaks the horizon.

With his chin resting on his folded arms, he looks over at her. (The firelight causes the violet in her eyes to flicker as she holds his gaze.) "You are a fantastic storyteller." The images she has painted across his mind with her words will ease his dreams, keep any Darkness far at bay. There is so little of it left in him now, that his discomfort has greatly eased. He yawns again, then snuggles deeper into the blanket, his body curling in on itself as he loses his battle to stay awake until the sunrise.

(He would much rather have her in his arms, but he knows that some things cannot be rushed.)

From:

brave_kreyu

She soaks in his stories, his presence.

"Thank you, love," she tells him, before he falls asleep. For everything.

She feels the change with the dawn, takes the shape he knows so well, wings and all. The sea salt all over her from her baths did not bother her scales, but DOES trouble her skin in this shape. She pads quietly to the spring, washes the salt from her skin, dries off by the fire.

She curls up with him in their nest, wraps her body around him. Warm, Safe, things are right with the world again as she lets herself drift off to sleep.

From:

27_53

It is past midday before he wakes again, sunlight streaming through the trees near the edge of the beach to cast pockets of light on the place where he chose for their 'nest'. He is only partially awake, then startles because he cannot hear her heartbeat, the deep slow sound of the dragon gone from his ears - where is she - and he is already moving to rouse himself, needing to go find her.

Then his brain registers that she is wrapped around him and stirring (since he has woken her) and the relief that hits him is like whiplash.

"There you are," he whispers, voice a little shaky (thanks to the adrenaline rush). And he means it in so many ways.

From:

brave_kreyu

"Sorry to startle you, love," she says, soft. She doesn't know WHY the adrenaline hit him, that he feared she was gone.

"I did not wish to wake you, when I came to bed."

From:

27_53

"It was not...I did not hear your heart at first."

Skellig shifts his body to better allow for her to sprawl atop him, like he knows she likes to do. He also might be wanting to cling a little closer to her. He doubts she will mind.

"It is much different, the rhythm, when you are dragon-shaped," he explains. "My ears had not yet adjusted, when I woke...I thought you were...gone."

She could simply have gone flying, or been out hunting another meal, or scouting the island in greater detail. But then, he figures he still would have heard her.

"But you are not," he adds, voice steadying.

From:

brave_kreyu

"Oh, I did not even think about such a thing." She flushes. "I am so sorry, Skellig."

She leans in to kiss him, soft. He can cling as much as he wants.