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.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

brave_kreyu

"No," she agrees. "I have no need to search, for I have my heart's desire. And I am sure you will be a very effective deterrent of unwanted attention, should I require such."

"You have risked so much for me, in so short a time," she says, voice soft. She kisses him, gentle.

From:

27_53

"It has been...a large amount, in short time...yes," he admits. "But Kreyu, I...I know my memory is fogged and it has always been that way, but there has never been another like you who has taken such care with my heart."

He returns the kiss, equally gentle.

"I cannot even find a hint of a love like yours, no matter how deep I search within my soul. And I know if there was one, I would be able to find it. You...you are special to me. You accept me for what I am, even if...even I do not fully know what I am."

A man, an angel, a beast, an owl. Something like that.

"But I know who I am. I am Skellig. And I am yours."

From:

brave_kreyu

Kreyu isn't sure how old Skellig is, but even if he ages as quickly as a human....

"I should not have been the first to take such care with your heart. There ought to have been MANY," she tells him, voice slightly sorrowful.

She laughs softly. "A young, foolish, dragon uncomfortable with the worship her brothers take as their due has no business laying claim to such a treasure." She caresses his face softly. Her smile turns wry. "But I would keep you, covetous creature that I am."

From:

27_53

"You may think yourself young and foolish..." Skellig tips his face into the touch of her hand, relishing in the contact. "And maybe, you are in some ways correct. But you have a good heart, Kreyu. And a good soul. Kind, and full of Light."

His voice is soft, earnest.

"It is one I am happy to be kept by." And then he laughs, a slight glint in his expression. "One I am proud to be coveted by."

From:

brave_kreyu

Her heart, her soul, is full of joy at his words. "You say the sweetest things, Skellig."

Another soft kiss, and her eyes are growing heavy. He's so warm, feels so good curled up like this. Her blinks will get longer and longer until she dozes off for a nap.

From:

27_53

It is not long after she dozes off that he joins her in a nap, comfortably intertwining her body with his.

After a few hours, he wakes before she does, and carefully untangles himself from her limbs - she protests a bit, but doesn't wake fully. He moves silently in the early afternoon sun, scratching an arrow into the sand near the blanket - pointing towards the direction of the beach.

And then he goes for a 'swim' - though for him it is more wading in the sheltered area of the cove, keeping his wings out of the water as much as possible - washing the sweat and sex off of his skin, the sand out of his hair.

After finishing, he walks back up the beach, returning to their blanket, still dripping wet from his skin and hair - his tan is improving, he thinks to himself, with each day spent in the desert sun...

From:

brave_kreyu

Kreyu wakes up while he is returning to their blanket. She looks at him like he is quite the loveliest person she's ever seen.

"I am thinking very wicked things, when I look at you," she tells him. She stretches, limbs and wings both. "Dreadfully wicked."

From:

27_53

He might be puffing his chest up a little, cocking his head to the side just so, to allow better angulation of his jaw in the dappled sunlight...

"Is that so?" He asks, all innocence in his voice.

Skellig looks himself over, up and down, then looks back at her, before shaking off his wings behind him - careful not to get her (really, their blankets) wet with any droplets.

"Perhaps while we are foraging, you can tell me of them."

From:

brave_kreyu

"Perhaps," she allows. "Or I might let them sit and simmer for a while, for later."

"The island's quite rocky, difficult to traverse, but we both have wings." She grins. "Looks like a fair stretch of woods right up at the top of this cliff. Could be all kinds of tasty things in there."

She leaps skyward for a few hard wing beats, then alights at the top of the cliff.

There are wild greens growing at the edge of the trees that she makes a pleased sound upon finding. There are even flowers in sunset colors blooming at the edges of the forest.

Kreyu inspects the greens carefully, looking for choice specimens to show Skellig.

From:

27_53

Skellig is following along carefully as she inspects things and paying close attention to what she's looking at - after all, he does want to learn what they can eat safely, and what to avoid - but he makes note of the flowers, his heartbeat briefly quickening at the idea that pops into his mind of gathering some for her.

(That is what men do for their lovers, he thinks? It is at least what birds do, to decorate their nests...)

But he will get those perhaps on their way back, when she is not looking...

"I know the kelp from the sea is edible," he offers, as he observes her making selections. "But as far as these plants...I have no idea."

From:

brave_kreyu

She smiles at him, oblivious to his potential plans re flowers.

"This one here is a wild spinach," she explains. She plucks a leaf, tears it in half, and offers one half to Skellig. "And this one here, I do not know what it is called, but it has a sharper, stronger taste." That one is also offered as a sample.

A mushroom pokes up from the ground near a tree. "That mushroom there, that one is deadly. You don't even want to touch it, if you can help it."

From:

27_53

Skellig takes the offered samples and chews them - they taste like 'green' to him, so his opinion as far as if they are 'good' or not is limited, but at the very least he knows they are edible.

And he eyes the mushroom, nodding.

"I will avoid those."

He squints slightly, as if something is triggered in his mind, a memory.

"Do...some of them...cause you to see the unseen, if you drink them in a tea?"

From:

brave_kreyu

"There are some that are said to open the mind to seeing the spirit world, to unseen things. Others say they just cause the mind to play tricks, perceive illusions. I don't know if either is true, or both."

"Given my power, seeing something that isn't there could be quiet hazardous to whatever is around me."

She frowns as they comb through the forest for mushrooms. "Technically, one CAN eat those, but they taste dreadful. If we were starving, perhaps."

"Ah, a bit of luck!" she says later. There are blackberries still on the vines, hidden among the thorns. She covers her arms in scales to protect them while she digs in for the treats. Once she's retrieved the little jewels, she presses one to his lips, still warm from the sun.

From:

27_53

"Avoid most all of the mushrooms...got it."

That is simple enough.

As he watches her shift her arms to become covered in scales, he nods, impressed. "That's quite a useful trick." He would have just fought his way through the thorns, and ended up bleeding with much fewer berries than she manages to collect.

The blackberry is perfectly ripe, and he makes a little sound of pleasure after she feeds it to him.

"Now those...those are very good."

From:

brave_kreyu

She preens a little at his praise. "It is something I am very good at doing and that most dragons can't do readily. I could take almost any human or animal shape I pleased, if I wanted to expend the energy to do so."

And the sound of pleasure he makes shouldn't make heat coil in her gut, but it does. She may be planning on feeding him MOST of the berries.

"I think we've found most of what there is in this section at least. "Might be more to find along the shore."

She heads back the way they came, which would give him the opportunity to grab some flowers.

From:

27_53

Skellig trails along a few steps behind her, allowing her to 'scout' the way - and then once they near the edge of the forest, he quickly selects several of the brightest blossoms, collecting the stems in hand - along with another interestingly colored stone along the cliff's edge.

He might use a bit of cheating to hide her attentions from the flowers, stashing them near their 'camp' before they head to walk along the shoreline where it is easy enough to do so.

Another piece of sun-dried kelp sits upon a stone, fresh baked in the sun - he cracks a piece of it into 'bite sized' bits with his hand, and offers a chunk to her.

"It is salty, from the sea," he cautions. "But has good flavor. It pairs well with the meat you left from the whale. I have also cooked it before, in soup." (Another memory, filtering through the hazy clouds that cover his mind.)

From:

brave_kreyu

She takes a bite of it, intrigued. "It's good," she says after she's finished chewing. "Maybe we should take some with us, when we go back. We can try to make a soup with it at home."

Not 'her' home, just 'home'. Because it's their home now, in her mind.

From:

27_53

"I will be sure to gather enough to do so, before we return. It is best collected fresh and hung to dry, but on these rocks, it is clean enough."

Her wording is not lost to him, and he smiles broadly.

Home.

There are tidepools nearby, and while Skellig is not a huge fan of seafood, perhaps there is something that might work for her. However, his distraction is quickly caught by a glistening shell at the water's edge, and he hurries over to get it.

From:

brave_kreyu

Kreyu's gaze is caught by his sudden hurry, and she follows quickly. It doesn't seem a 'trouble' kind of hurry, but she's curious.

From:

27_53

Skellig has to fight an incoming wave that threatens to steal his 'prize', but with a victorious shout he grabs for - and emerges with - with a shimmering greenish-blue abalone shell, outer coating worn down by the waves to expose the colors underneath, hints of purple and pink also visible.

"Now this --" he turns and looks at her, and presents it to her proudly. "Is what I was looking for earlier."

From:

brave_kreyu

"Oh, it's lovely! Thank you."

She takes it very carefully, then stands slightly on tiptoe to kiss him.

From:

27_53

The kiss is a welcome 'reward' for the gift, though truly none is needed to be given. But he returns it, happily.

"What else do you think we could find along the shoreline," he asks, once they break and resume walking. "That could be of use?"

From:

brave_kreyu

"I don't think the tide's in the right position for us to find many shellfish."

The sun is getting lower in the sky. "We might want to head back with what we have and start working on dinner."

Kreyu is already idly turning over meal prep in her mind, washing the produce they've gathered, cooking methods.

From:

27_53

"I am not fond of shellfish," he admits. "But it would not bother me if you ate them."

Walking back towards their 'camp', he stops to gather more driftwood along the way when he finds particularly good pieces that are dry and will burn well. There is also a feather, from a random shorebird, which he tucks behind one of his ears to keep it safe as they walk.

And a few more shells.

"What would you have me do?" He asks, as they return - acting nonchalant and innocent about the flowers which he has gathered, and are laid upon the flat rock he had been using as a 'table' for himself. She will notice them.

From:

brave_kreyu

"Anything you think would help. The fire will probably need fuel, things will need to be washed, meat cooked."

She notices the flowers. "I, were those there before?"