OOM All Skate Skellig Dream Magic Weirdness -Part 12

[brave_kreyu]

They wind up staying two full cycles of the Moon with Tyr's tribe.

Time enough to learn the various dances, share recipes, race through the Teeth, make friends, share stories, BELONG.

It might even be enough time for Skellig to sort out how he feels about being among other people with wings!

Tyr clasps Skellig's forearm in farewell. "I would call you my brother, if you would permit it?" he says, voice soft.

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[27_53]

Skellig has sorted through a great deal of Thoughts and Feelings during their time spent with Tyr's tribe, and he knows that there are still more that he will have to sort through once they have made their journey back to the Lair and their village. But that will come in time, that is not now in this moment, as he clasps Tyr's forearm and bows his head ever so slightly.

(He is not worried about people seeing, here.)

"I would not only permit it, but I would be honored if you would do so, and ask the same of you." He says, voice equally as soft and with a faint, hopeful smile on his features.

[brave_kreyu]

Tyr's smile deepens, widens. "Gladly, Skellig. Always." There is the sound of gleeful shrieking nearby. It would appear Greta has leaped out into the air above her father this time instead of her uncle Tyr.

Tyr chuckles at the harmless chaos his niece is causing. "We will miss you, brother. But we wish you well, and you will always have a home here, both of you." Tyr is well aware that Kreyu and Skellig come as a pair, and he's fond of her too if not in quite the same way. "And I may even have learned to produce edible food by the next time you visit."

Kreyu chuckles. "It wasn't THAT bad, Tyr, really." Tyr attempted to cook something for them once during their stay. (The pot survived and nothing burned down, and those are the most important things, right?)

[27_53]

Not burning down the yurt is definitely something to be counted in the 'win' column!

"I have faith that your skillset will continue to climb further skyward, as will Greta's abilities in flight, by the time we return for our next visit." Because they WILL be coming back to visit - that is a certainty.

[brave_kreyu]

Tyr lets go of Skellig's arm, somewhat reluctantly. "We will both be glad to show off our skills when you come back," he replies. "Although I, at least, will refrain from ambushing you in the air."

Kreyu chuckles. "We will be back, although I can't say exactly when," she promises.

"We will be here, gods willing," he replies. "I should let you go, give you time to reach a good spot to camp for the night."

Goodbyes are something Tyr finds difficult!

[27_53]

Given how difficult their initial "hello" was so many moons ago, it is no surprise that this is a goodbye that is a struggle as well...Skellig shifts his pack upon his shoulders once his arm is free, clears his throat gently and focuses his attention skyward.

"Gods willing," he echoes with a quiet voice, but it is at least steady. (Even if his heart and mind are not, though that is an inward struggle that only Kreyu will likely sense as they take their leave and begin flight.)

He is uncertain if she wishes to shift to her dragon form for faster travel, or if they should continue simply winged, for now...

[brave_kreyu]

"Once we stretch our wings a bit, we ought to land and repack," she tells him, sensing his unsteadiness in heart and mind.

Once she is back in her dragon shape, she nudges him ever so gently with her head. "Would you share your heart and mind with me, my love? You seem...unsettled."

[27_53]

It is difficult for him to resist that nudge when she is in this shape, so he rests his body lightly against her snout, turning to face her a bit and trace patterns on her scales with a fingertip.

"I am unsettled," he agrees, after a moment of quiet contemplation. "But mostly as I...I do not recall of ever truly feeling such a connection with a people, where I was pained to say goodbye as I was today. I am not...I am not broken, and I know that sadness and longing is natural, but I just...was not expecting that."

[brave_kreyu]

She exhales as gently as she can, the closest to a kiss she can give in this shape.

"Partings are difficult things, and I fear there will be many more for us both."

She rumbles a little, an attempt to soothe. "In unknowing innocence, I meddled with the very nature of your being, made you immortal as I am."

Will he come to hate her for that, in the fullness of time?

[27_53]

Skellig tips his head slightly, glances up at her, a hint of confusion in his energy - but he is not confused by her words. It is confusion at why she thinks he may possibly come to hate her, for giving him immortality.

"I know there will be more," he says. "Many more, over a great deal of time. I know some will be more difficult than others...but alongside you, I would endure them without hesitation."

He flattens his palm against her scales - even stretched out, he cannot reach the edges of a single one with his fingertips wide as they can go.

"Or fear."

[brave_kreyu]

She is relieved at his words. (Loss can pile upon loss - a death by a thousand, thousand cuts.)

"I am glad to hear that," she tells him, her voice quiet as this shape can manage. "Is there anything I can do to help you with the loss, right now?"

Her eyes shift skyward. "Or shall we finish repacking and fly on?" She's worried about Ajax, HOPES Koschei was able to get to him and be the friend and protector Ajax needs!

[27_53]

"Simply being in your presence will aid me," he says. "The hurt will likely linger for some time yet, but it will heal, as most wounds do."

(There are some wounds that do not heal - this is not one of those.)

"I would finish repacking and then make our return."

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu rumbles in agreement. "I hope Ajax is well, and Koschei reached him," she says as they finish packing. "He is most in need of a friend, but I have a feeling he will need a protector as well." Call it a bad feeling.

"I thought we could check in, see how they are doing?" Her tone turns teasing. "See how many natural philosophers he's pestered about the gift you left him." That most mysterious feather...

[27_53]

"That would brighten my spirits," he agrees. "And I fear you may be right in regards to him needing not only a friend, but a protector as well."

Packing is aided by the fact that Skellig has gotten some time over the last few moons to practice some of the incantations that have aided in reducing the number of bags that they need to carry on their person, as well as the weight of the contents - but it is best for those who might view the bags to not focus too much on the loading and unloading of exactly what goes in and out of them - the logistics and physics might be just slightly bent towards the realm of 'impossible'.

He adjusts some of the strapping around Kreyu's neck, and situates the spot where he will rest on her back for their trip - after all, he'll want to be comfortable!

[brave_kreyu]

"Especially with that oldest brother of his," she grumbles. "I have no direct evidence, as such, but the way Ajax acted..." You don't arrange for advance warning of someone showing up, tell people you WANT to talk with that it's best that person doesn't see them, if the relationship is a GOOD one.

If the laws of physics were working as they 'should', Kreyu shouldn't even be able to EXIST on land, never mind fly. Clearly, the rules are getting bent quite a bit.

"Comfortable, love?" she asks after she casts the last spells to prepare for their flight.

[27_53]

"It will be interesting to see what has transpired in the time we have been gone," he admits. "I am both intrigued and somewhat concerned, based on the rumors that were being spread which you both discussed."

Snuggling up in his small 'nest' (which in reality is just a thick blanket that they've woven one of the straps through to help it stay in place) with his coat wrapped around his body, he settles in.

"Yes, as always," he confirms.

[brave_kreyu]

He knows how it feels when she leaps into the air. It might even feel FAMILIAR by now.

The trip is uneventful until they reach the edges of the territory of the kingdom in which Ajax dwells. There is what was a battlefield a few days ago below them as Kreyu swoops closer to the ground, worried and curious in equal measure.

There are what look like stone statues of men frozen in battle poses or fleeing in terror scattered about the field. Neither mourners or scavengers have dared to touch them.

(They were MEN once, before they met the terrible gaze of a dragon. Skellig may be able to discern that, even from the air.)

[27_53]

If birds had hackles to raise, Skellig's would be fully bristled and up, with a thick sense of foreboding and apprehension surrounding his energy as they glide down towards the battlefield.

It is quiet, even with the echoes (stone does not scream, not like other materials) that are filtering through the expanse.

"I don't like any of this," he says, matter-of-factly.

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu growls. "Nor do I." She lands, carefully, to take a closer look. "There are some creatures that can turn something the size of a human to stone, but most would have eaten the normal corpses or dragged off the petrified people."

"Looks like a battle between forces led by Ajax's older brothers, not sure which ones," she tells Skellig, eyeing pieces of banners left behind.

She sniffs the ground relatively close to some of the statues. "Oh, surely not," she says, half to herself. "They can't possibly have found something that would bring HIM here..."

[27_53]

She might be speaking to herself, but Skellig can sense from her tone that there is very little that could be considered good about any of this that stands before them.

He quickly expands his focus to a wider range around them - but his immediate attention remains closely on her, and on these statues of stone - some of the expressions that linger on the frozen faces are of true terror and fear, and to provoke such a reaction from not only these souls, but from Kreyu...

His mind is already shifting further into 'fight and protect' mode, even though he would be rather useless against such a force!

[brave_kreyu]

There's nothing in their immediate area or even farther away than that. If there are any locals left alive, they are well away from this place. Only a few scavenging creatures are revealed by his senses.

"Another dragon, I think," she says, lifting her head from the ground. "Gorgon, perhaps, although no mundane wealth would buy HIS abilities in battle like this." Her tail lashes in irritation and anxiety.

[27_53]

Skellig is calmed just slightly by the fact that he cannot sense anything other than the few scavengers - certainly nothing as large as a dragon, and if Kreyu cannot sense him either, Gorgon that is, then perhaps he is not near enough to be an immediate threat.

"Do you think he was fighting for one side over another, or did he simply try to take both parties out?"

He is finding it difficult to find a 'winner' here upon the battlefield, amid the chaos.

[brave_kreyu]

"Gorgon wouldn't bother to leave his lair without being promised payment, so I suspect one side is employing him. They must have something VERY heavy with karma and very secret. I can't imagine what..." she trails off.

"Gorgon WAS one of the three dragons involved in the battle where the Procession of the Heavens was last seen, all those years ago."

[27_53]

"Do you think that it has been located, and they are using it as payment? Would that even be...possible for someone that is not a dragon to find?"

Skellig shakes his head, approaches one of the 'statues' and brings his hand up to a mangled arm (or what remains of one) but does not touch it outright. There is just quiet, and he is still greatly unnerved.

"I do not know...I do not have a true comparison for what your kind considers to be wealth, I know I have seen the hoard that Heka had gathered, but I know that is just one instance, one portion...my mind cannot fully understand what would be enough to warrant...this."

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu shrugs. "Maybe, or something of equal potency."

She offers her head for holding, for the comfort of touch. "Items like your bracelet that are magnets for karma, those are the greatest treasures to a dragon. The very strongest of such items can be tapped once an hour without weakening, but they are INCREDIBLY rare. A wise dragon hides that they even possess such items, for many other dragons would find it worth the risk to try and steal such a thing."

"Supposedly, the Procession of the Heavens was that strong of a magnet, when three dragons were battling over possession of it.

[27_53]

He retreats a bit away from the statue and returns to her side, placing a hand on her scales - even as hard as they are, she is alive and that he can sense through the connection.

"From what you have spoken of it, the abilities it contained and just the construction itself...I am not surprised by that."

He let his vision wander back over the battlefield, then looks up at her.

"I feel as if we should find Ajax," he says softly. "I am...worried."