|
Kyran only opened one eye when he felt her touch the side of his head. He smiled softly and then shut his eye again. "It's my job to talk as much as I do; It just kind of stuck with me. Besides, I meet such nice ladies when I talk this much." He smirked slightly. He had made himself rather comfortable on the grass and would no doubt fall asleep once the other two left. He'd had such a tiring day, so the peace and quiet would surely make it difficult to stay awake.
Aamori nodded and took the herbs; Looking at them a bit more closely, intrigued by the white flowers. "I take it, these aren't going to taste good are they?" She questioned as she moved over to where the food was and knelt down picking up a few things; Not sure what to give to Celestine. She grabbed a couple pieces of the regular bread, a croissant and a couple of the cream-puff things. She'd liked the puffs a lot, maybe he would too. She then took a moment to steal one of the white cloth's that the food had been wrapped in and tied the cloth into a small bag for the stuff she'd picked up. It would make it easier to carry that way. She smiled softly and stood back up holding the makeshift folded bag. "Well..." She paused and looked around not quite sure where to begin. "I will return here when I'm done." She then stepped away from Hikari and Kyran and started to walk off into the forest to look for Celestine. She wandered around for awhile, just about to give up looking for him until she spotted something white out of the corner of her eye. "Hmmm..." She quietly stepped through the brush and made her way over to the tree, knowing she'd found him as soon as she saw his weapon resting against the trunk of the tree. She stopped under the tree and looked up, seeing him resting. Perhaps asleep by the looks of it. She sighed softly and passed her bag off to her tail, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Celestine, you awake?" She asked staring up at him waiting for a response. Nero had not moved from where he'd sat down earlier in the day. He was a little farther out from the lake then the others. He'd been resting his back against the base of a tree trunk with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs stretched out in front of him, and his tail lay limply across his lap. His head was tilted down towards his chest and his black hair fell covering his face. It was pretty clear that he had not moved since he sat down because the grass under him had flattened out. He'd been asleep off and on since he sat down, though since he never opened his eyes it'd be hard to tell when he was actually sleeping and when he was awake. LaRae had continued walking, but stopped for a moment when she felt a slight burning sensation on her back. She pressed her hand against a tree and hissed softly; Knowing all too well what the burning was from. She knew that her back was probably glowing slightly; Her mark more then likely lit up like a flame. She sighed when the sensation subsided and she lifted her head looking around momentarily. Not seeing anything she changed her direction slightly and headed for the edge of the forest. "...Of course... At a time like this..." She muttered under her breath, picking up her pace a bit. She quickly found an exit to the forest, but stopped a few feet from the rocky barren ground. She didn't want to step out there, in the open; Not yet anyway. The mark on her back began to lite up, then burn again; Causing her to brace herself against another tree. Moments later someone dropped down quietly from the sky above, rather gracefully. The dragon was from her clan, a higher up to boot. He extended his clawed hand and motioned with his finger for her to step out from the safey of the forest. She of course was reluctant to approach him; But she knew if she didn't he'd just keep using his 'special' magic to make her back burn. He was clearly one of the Elders special assistants sent to deliver messages to the marked, and keep tabs on them. Though the male looked like any other earth clan dragon, there was nothing special about him. His looks weren't even that great, but his magical capabilities were unheard of; Which is why people like him were chosen for this job. They could activate the special marks to make them show where the marked where, which made finding them simple not to mention caused pain to the one they were looking for. Also made it nearly impossible to escape. She sighed softly, wrapping her arms around herself and quietly stepped out of the forest approaching the man with a downward gaze. She stopped about three feet away from him, still not looking up. "...What do you need of me this time, Renzo?" |
Hikari smiled and looked back to Aamori again, "No a bit." She said in answer to her question. She nodded to her once she started away and then decided that she had a good idea in wrapping the bread in one of the cloths. She snagged one and placed the bread that she had in the center before tying it up and standing again. "I'll be back in a bit, Kyran." she said lightly as she started off.
She had to wander around for a while with little idea at all where she was going. Finally, when she was starting to think that she was completely lost and going in circles, she spotted a dark silhouette under a tree. She sighed in relief and started toward it, realizing soon enough that it was who she was looking for. She tiled her head slightly and stepped forward quietly, kneeling down beside him. "Nero? I...brought you something to eat." she said softly. Celestine was somewhere on the verge of waking up on his own when Aamori spoke to him. "Mmm-hmm..." he muttered as he turned his head again. His grip on the pipe loosened a little more and it slipped from his fingers, falling to the ground below him. His ear twitched slightly, but other than that, he didn't seem too awake at the moment. |
Kyran merely nodded softly when she said she'd be back. He opened his mouth once before she left. "Don't go getting lost now." It wasn't hard to get lost in this forest, but thankfully it wasn't too large that you couldn't find you're way out or to the center with ease. He stretched on the ground, listening to a few different bones pop before resting his hands back under his head and relaxing a bit. He'd probably be asleep by the time anyone found their way back to him.
Aamori had tried to grab the pipe before it hit the ground, but failed and nearly fell on her own face. She sighed softly regaining her balance and knelt down picking up the pipe. She merely looked at the pipe for a moment before shifting her glance back up to Celestine who was now obviously asleep. Seeing as talking to him didn't appear to be waking him she used her free hand to unlatch the harness on her staff. It fell into her hand and she held it up slightly, she gently pressed her finger to one of the gems and it caused the staff to extend. She sighed, and moved the staff to gently poke him in the arm. "Hey, Celestine..." Nero's ears twitched slightly at the sound of Hikari's voice. He didn't bother moving any more then his ears and sat quietly for a few minutes before opening his mouth. "...Okay..." He muttered simply as he started to lift his head up, his eyes still shut as he set his head back against the tree and sighed softly. "Is that all? Or do you expect to sit here with me too?" Renzo was a bit taller then LaRae, standing approximately six foot four. He had the same skin tone as LaRae, but with a couple shades lighter hair color. His hair was rather long for a male, falling just at the ends of his shoulder blades. He was quite masculine looking, considering the muscular body he had. At first glance you'd think he was just some common man, with a pleasant smile. You wouldn't suspect him of being cold hearted, unfortunately he was to an extent. He wore rather plain looking clothes at the moment, a pair of dark jeans with a brown belt and a black button up shirt left open from the third button to his neck. His wings were on the large side and a much darker brown then LaRae's but other then that they looked pretty much the same. His tail also matched his wings, with dark brown scales. Renzo glared at LaRae when she finally stepped out from the tree line and belted her across the face with the back of his hand. Causing her to fall to ground. "You know better then to talk to me like that LaRae." He muttered harshly. His tail moved over to her and he picked her up by the arm with it and brought her back to her feet. He just stared at her waiting for her to say something back to him. LaRae stumbled to her feet once he used his tail to pick her up. Her hand quickly rose to her face to press against the mark that was now forming on her cheek. She still didn't raise her eyes to meet his, and her tone went low. "I'm sorry Master Renzo. It was wrong of me to address you so formally." She sighed softly and continued to stare down at his feet. She referred to him as 'Master' merely as a required title for those of her clan who were the Elders assistants. Just as she would refer to her Elder as 'Elder so-and-so'. Half of the time those who received the title 'Master' let it go to their heads and Renzo was no exception. Renzo stepped closer to her and removed her hand from the side of her face and forced it back down to her side. Then moved his hand, placing it under her chin and bringing her face up so he could look at it. "Apology accepted." He smiled slightly and leaned down kissing her cheek where he'd smacked her. "You know, it's a shame you can't control your own magic." He said after pulling his face away from her's and letting go of her chin. "You would have made a wonderful mate." He said smirking lightly. "But that's alright, I don't mind waiting to see how you turn out. After all, you've still got some time until you're a lost cause." He stepped back from her momentairily and reached into his pocket pulling out a small piece of paper neatly folded and adorned with a stamp of her Branch of the Clan. "You're Father requested that I deliver this to you on behalf of the Elder himself." He extended his arm to hand the paper to her. LaRae instantly went to raise her hand to Renzo when he kissed her cheek but stopped knowing she couldn't hit him. He had too much control over her, and she didn't need to be in more pain then she already was. She lowered her eyes back to the ground as soon as he started talking again. She growled slightly under her breath listening to his comments on her being his mate; She'd known him for what seemed like a million life times but she'd never felt anything for him. In fact her and Renzo had grown up friends with one another, but had been separated when he came into his magical powers and she became a marked. He succeeded in life, where as she had fallen to the bottom. She knew he had always had a crush on her, but thought nothing more on the subject. She started to lift her eyes when he spoke of a letter from her Father's Elder; Her Great Grand Father in other words. She reluctantly took the letter and placed it into her back pocket. "Is this all, Master Renzo?" |
The instant that the staff touched his arm Celestine's eyes snapped open and he gaped, jerking away. The motion nearly caused him to tumble off of the limb and slam into the ground, but luckily he had the presence of mind to snatch another branch that was within arm's reach to catch himself. He cringed once he was no longer in danger of falling and turned his eyes over to Aamori slowly. "...Wh--ahh..." he grimaced again, trying to straighten up, "...What do you want?" he asked quietly. He slowly slipped his legs to one side of the limb and then held onto it as he lowered himself to the ground slowly. It was normally an easy jump to the ground, but he didn't want to jar his side. Even after he was handing from his arms and only had to fall one foot to the ground he crumpled to one knee upon contact. His hair fell around him like a curtain as he gritted his teeth and waited a moment for the pain to subside before he slowly raised his head and started to rise to his feet again.
Hikari smiled weakly as she sat the little bundle of goodies in his lap. "...Well if you would not mind the company...it isn't too fun wandering around in the dark by myself..." she shook her head slowly and started to stand up again, apparently knowing it was a wasted effort. She paused and looked at his arm for a minute then back to his face. "...How is your arm feeling now?" she asked softly. Even after the way he'd treated her once they'd gotten out of the cave, she still thought she'd at least try to get along well with the guy. Surely to goodness there had to be at least one decent person among the black dragons, though she wasn't entirely positive Nero would be the one to be called Decent. He was nice enough when no one was looking at least. |
Aamori lowered her staff and pressed the gem covered button once more, the staff retracted to it's original size. "Are you alright Celestine?" She asked concerned since she'd apparently startled him. "I was just trying to wake you up..." She said quietly. She then moved her tail back around to her front and held it, offering the bag hanging from it. "Hikari asked me to bring you this." She paused and shifted her glance to the bag hanging from her tail. "There are some herbs inside that you're supposed to eat and then some breads too." She stated waiting for him to take the bag. She then started to place her staff back into the holster on the side of her leg. She remembered she still had his pipe too, and looked it over once more. Thinking to herself 'At least I've got something to bribe him with...'
Nero cracked an eye open and looked at her thinking to himself 'That wasn't an offer...' He then shifted slightly and looked down at his arm. He had nearly forgotten about it, considering he had not really moved it he wasn't exactly sure if it still hurt. He doubted it did, and wouldn't begin to tell her even if it did. "...It's fine..." He said simply, now both of his eyes open. He unfolded his arms and went to untie the bag in his lap; Seeing it filled with food he smiled faintly and looked up at Hikari. She went out of her way to bring him something to eat, even though their Clans were practically at each other's throats all the time. He exhaled his breath slowly. "...Thank you..." Almost as soon as the words fell from his lips he regretted saying them. He wasn't supposed to respectful or nice, anything of the sort to any of these other dragons and here he was saying thank you. He sighed softly and picked up a piece of the bread and took a bite out of it. Renzo cocked a brow noticing her place the letter into her pocket without even looking at it once. "What you're not going to open it?" He asked curious to know himself what the letter said. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed softly. "I suppose it is none of my business, after all." He turned his head to the side taking his eyes off of her. "I guess I should also return home, or maybe I'll just keep an eye on you while I'm out here." He smirked finally looking back to her again. LaRae patted her back pocket softly, making sure the letter was in there safely. She looked up at Renzo and shook her head. "No, I'm going to look at it later... If at all." She mumbled quickly dropping her eyes back to the ground when he started to turn his head to look at her again. "...You don't need to keep an eye on me." She paused giving a small sigh. "...I'm perfectly fine as you can see..." She added trying to reassure him that she didn't need him watching over her. "Just return home Renzo" Renzo glared at her again, wanting to smack her once more. "I have a title you know, You'd do well to remember that!" He growled in a huff and crossed his arms over his chest. "And you don't look fine to me, what the hell happened to your wings? Can you even fly with them?" He spat staring at her bound up wings. He waited a moment before dropping his arms back to his side and walking over to her. He paced around her for a few minutes before stopping behind her, reaching his hand out and grabbing hold of her wings tightly. He started to lift them up and move them around, even though they were bound to her back. Doing so caused the bandages to loosen considerably. "They appear to be broken in a few places..." LaRae just stood still as he started throwing questions at her about her wings. She sighed and never once lifted her eyes while he walked around her. Once he stopped behind her she lifted her head, her eyes widened as soon as he took hold of her wings. Her eyes watered from the pain of him just holding them so tightly. She cried out in agony when he proceeded to move her wings around. Her legs started to shake slightly and she wanted to drop to the ground but couldn't because he had not let go of her yet. She swallowed hard and stopped crying long enough to get something out of her mouth. "P-please let g-go... M-master Renzo... Y-you're hurting me..." Renzo still wore a smirk and shook his head softly when she cried out from the pain. "Apparently I am right, they are broken..." He paused hearing her ask for him to let go. "Since you asked so nicely..." He then let go of her wings, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her drop to the ground. He then walked back around in front of her and knelt down taking her chin in his hand again; holding her head up. "Seeing as you're injured, I'll be keeping a close eye on you." He stated just before leaning in and kissing her forehead. He released her chin and stood back up staring down at her. "It's rather pathetic that you've let your wings become broken... I'd have thought you of all people would know how to take better care of yourself." He added. Like she really needed the insult to go along with the injury. He crossed his arms again in front of his chest. "You'd better get back into the forest; You know that's much better for you considering the injury you have." |
Celestine nodded slightly when she asked if he was alright. "...Yeah...I'm fine." he said quietly as he leaned against the trunk of the tree. He closed his eyes for a moment until he heard her mention bringing him something. He opened his eyes to find the bag hanging in front of his face and then sighed softly. "...Thank you..." he muttered as he reached up to take the bag. He gave her a look when she mentioned herbs and then shook his head. Well they were already there, he may as well try them. He slowly lowered himself to the ground again and untied the bag. He picked the herbs up first at looked at them for a moment. "...I'm...just supposed to eat them?" He stared at them for another unsure moment before slowly bringing the stem to his mouth and biting off a piece. he chewed twice before the bitter taste mad him gag and he dropped the herb back on top of the bread, covering his mouth with his fist as he coughed. "F-forget it" he coughed as he tried to swallow the remaining pieces that were stuck in his mouth. Rude as he was, he still didn't want to spit in front of a girl.
Hikari smiled when Nero thanked her and nodded to him. "You're welcome." she said softly, "...I'm glad your arm is better." She glanced around for a moment and then sighed quietly. "Well...I suppose I'd better start retracing my steps. Good night, Nero...I'll see you tomorrow." she said, offering him a slight bow rather than the usual hug or pat on the head that she'd normally give someone. She highly doubted that he'd appreciate that very much. Finally, she turned around and started to move back the way she'd come. |
Aamori shook her head at his reaction to the herbs. She figured they wouldn't taste very pleasant, anything that was good for you didn't usually taste wonderful. "Just because it tastes bad doesn't mean you can stop eating them, ya' know." She paused looking down at him. "Hikari said they would help you, so you need to eat them; All of them preferably." She hated to have use anything against him to get him to do what she wanted, but she didn't see him eating the herbs any other way. She sighed softly holding the pipe tightly in her right hand. She held it out slightly, though close enough to her body that she could move it should he try to take it from her. "Let me put it this way... You can have your pipe back once you've eaten all those herbs and the bread"
Nero had continued to eat the food that was brought to him, while Hikari spoke some. When she turned to start her trek back he looked over at her, half debating with himself on the spot as to opening his mouth or not. "...Are you going to be alright by yourself?" He paused for a moment and then added more. "...I only ask because you said it wasn't any fun wondering around in the dark by yourself..." He added that last part almost defensively as if he needed a reason to ask her if she'd be alright. He shifted his eyes back down to the now empty cloth sitting in his lap; Thinking to himself that he must have been hungrier then he thought considering how fast he ate everything. He lifted the cloth from his lap and shook it off to the side forcing the crumbs away before folding it up neatly and stuffing it into his pocket. Never know when you might need something like that; Specially since they'd all come unprepared for this trip. LaRae sat on her knees hunched over on the ground wishing that she could reach her wings just to hold them; They were so sore from how Renzo had manhandled them. She rocked back and forth slightly until the pain finally subsided. She lifted her arm to her face to wipe away her embarrassing tears. Just as she started to drop her arm back down to her side she started growling softly at the remark about how pathetic she was. Without even thinking about it she'd let her temper get the best of her and she glared up at him. "You don't even know the circumstances that lead to my wings being this way! So how dare you call me pathetic!" She spat angrily. She continued on with her thoughtless actions and had quickly thrust her fingers into the ground as they shone by far the bright-est green she'd ever managed. Renzo was at a loss of words seeing her react the way she had, not to mention in such a disrespectful manor. He took a step back seeing her ready an attack so suddenly. Unfortunately for her, he knew what was coming and beat her to the punch. His abilities out shone hers completely and he didn't even have to touch the ground like she did. Within seconds of her hand glowing he'd already had thick tree roots sprout forth from the ground and engulf her body. He'd forced her hand from the ground, dispelling her magic and making it safe for him to now approach her. He stepped closer to the tree-root-shell he'd created around her and placed his hand gently on the exterior. As soon as he did so the shell itself sunk back into the ground but she was still bound by the other roots making it impossible for her to move, let alone use any of her magic. He glared up at her with a smug look on his face. "You really can be dangerous when you loose your temper completely. I doubt you even realise the magically power you possessed for even a second." He laughed slightly. "If you could ever learn to control that, you'd rival me in magical capabilities... But since you can't you have to restrained." His tone went serious for moment. "You do realize you could have leveled this whole area just now? And you wouldn't have even known what happened until you woke up later..." He paused. "You marked are truly dangerous... Which is why you're exterminated if you don't learn to control your own power. But you knew that already didn't you?" He sighed softly shaking his head a bit. "I'm going to leave you here to cool off for awhile, don't need you going around destroying things... or people while you're still mad." He then stretched out his wings behind him and flapped them once to get his feet off the ground a little then leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead again. "If anything, you're cuter when pissed off..." He smirked and then took off into the dark sky above, vanishing in no time at all. LaRae's eyes went wide when she suddenly felt herself lifted up off the ground and then shrouded in darkness. Before she had realized what happened Renzo had already lowered the shell around her body. She glared at him and tried to pull herself free from the roots he'd bound her with. Suddenly she knew what she'd done to that one Dark Clan Dragon. She'd never before now experienced what this was like, how useless you felt. Regardless she continued to struggle trying to free herself. At first she didn't want to believe what Renzo was saying about how she got when she lost her temper completely, but she remembered several times in the past when she'd woken up in an area that had been destroyed, and wondered what happened. Did she really have that type of power dormant in her? She shook the thought from her mind just in time to see him lean in to kiss her forehead again. She growled under her breath and tried to pull her hands free, at least to smack him; But she couldn't move at all and he was already out of sight. She stared up at the sky and cursed him. "You could've let me down from here Renzo!" She yelled out hoping he'd have heard her. She sighed again, waiting minutes to see if the roots would drop her and nothing happened. She lowered her head and stared down at the ground that was at least three feet farther away then normal. "...damn it..." She muttered finally letting her body go limp; The roots had started to leave burn marks around her wrists and legs from struggling to get free. She sighed softly and shut her eyes. "...Guess I just wait it out... they'll go back into the ground eventually on their own..." |
Celestine groaned, "Does Hikari know everything?" he muttered as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "All this is doing is making me want to gag." When she decided to dangle the pipe in front of him he growled. "Give that back!" he snapped at her, only growling more lowly when she gave him that little condition. His emerald eyes narrowed at her as his golden slit pupils contracted a bit more, "...You are really starting to agitate me! What does it matter to you whether or not I eat this garbage!?" The wind in the area picked up suddenly and almost seemed to be swirling slightly around that area, and it was freezing cold, just like the look he was giving Aamori. After a few moments he closed his eyes and the wind died away as he relaxed. He was not in the mood or condition to wrestle her for the pipe, or he probably would have. He looked down at the herb and picked it up again, staring at it with a completely disgusted expression before wadding it into a ball in his hands before shoving it all into his mouth at once. He chewed reluctantly, holding his hand firmly over his own mouth so that he couldn't spit the raunchy stuff back out. His ears laid back slightly and he shuddered after a the foul taste washed over his tongue again and lingered there for as long as it took him to chew. Finally he swallowed and then coughed as bits that hadn't been ground up enough scratched at his throat. For a second it seemed he very well may be sick. He closed his eyes again and laid his head back, folding the cloth over the bread and setting it aside. "...I just lost what little appetite I had..." That had looked like a whole lot of bread to him anyway...that was almost as much as he usually ate spread throughout an entire day, let alone in one sitting.
Hikari paused and looked back to Nero again, tilting her head slightly as he explained himself. She just smiled and laughed softly. "Well, it may be fun for you. For me, I like to be able to see my surroundings before I get to them and trip over them." she said lightly. "...and I am just not fond of being by myself." she added simply. She closed her eyes for a moment and held up her hand as he bright blue flame appeared in her palm, though it was fairly small and only lit about a five foot radius. She made a face when she opened her eyes and saw how small the light was. "Oh brother..." she muttered to herself. Well...at least I can see. "...I think I will be alright... thank you for asking, Nero." she said as she cast him a smile. Her pupils seemed to glow in the reflecting light from the flame in her hand. Nanashi had been on the verge of sleep for a little while now. That was quickly taken care of when a nearly familiar rumbling startled him back into awareness. He felt a very slight tremor run under his body and sat up quickly, looking around. "...What the?..." he muttered, shaking his head as he climbed to his feet again. He stood for a moment debating on whether he should move toward or away from that sound but the more he thought, the more it sounded like LaRae was using her magic again. He sighed and started toward the edge of the forest which...wasn't all that far from his current location. He wasn't in a hurry until he got to the edge of the forest and saw the clump of roots in the moonlight and what looked like someone hanging from them. "LaRae?!" he called as he jogged up to the roots and looked up, circling around so that he was in front of her. He tilted his head, that worried expression back on his face again. "LaRae, are you...what happened?" He asked as he looked her over, "How in the world did you manage this?" |
Aamori brought her hand with the pipe down to her side, a little surprised at his reaction. Though she can't say she blamed him, should someone give her an option while something she loved was at stake she probably would have been just as upset. She had a shiver run up and down her spine when the wind picked up; The cold in the air starting to finally get to her. She sighed softly when the wind stopped, she was oddly reminded of the little outburst she had earlier in the day where she'd done nearly the same thing. Become extremely upset, flaunted her power and then let it subside thinking it a lost cause. She stood quietly waiting for him to finish the herbs that she had given him. She forced a weak smile once he downed them, then shook her head hearing he'd lost his appetite. She shrugged slightly. "Next time I'll just not care about you're welling being, and I won't bother asking anyone to get something for your pain." She paused, her tone clearly showing how fed up she was with his attitude about everything. "I'll just stop caring, and let you suffer by yourself because apparently that's what you want." She growled softly clenching the pipe in her fist tightly for a moment before tossing it at him. "Here's your damn pipe." She muttered turning on her heel and taking a few steps back the way she had come. "I suppose I'll just leave you here to be by yourself... I doubt you'll need anything but the rest of us, should you decide to care are in the center near the lake..." She added lastly. Despite how he angered her she couldn't be completely heartless and just stomp off without letting him know where the rest of them were.
Nero leaned his head back against the tree trunk and started to relax again. "...I guess I'll come find you all in the morning then..." He stated as he slowly started to get comfortable once again. He had a hunch that she may have wanted him to go with her, at least to help guide if anything else. Rather then put himself out like that and appear nice, he went back to resting against the tree. He wouldn't bother getting up, or offering to help. She'd have to come straight out and ask for him to help before he'd give any assistance. LaRae had just started to relax wrapped up in the tree roots. Considering she couldn't get herself down from them, resting was the best that she could do while she waited for the magic to fade away. Since Renzo's magic was considerably stronger then hers, she was unable to force the roots back into the ground. If she could, she would have by now. Her ears twitched a few times when she heard her name. She slowly opened her eyes just in time to rest them on Nanashi. She smiled faintly, slightly embarrassed at her current situation. She was surprised that he even found her. Though given the yelling, crying and loud noises she was also surprised that no one had come here sooner. She sighed softly shifting her glance off to the side so that she wasn't looking at him; His expression on made her feel worse for being this way. She hesitated saying anything to him, but couldn't stand the idea of being blamed for this when she didn't do it. "...I didn't manage it..." She paused. "Master Renzo, a dragon from my Clan did this..." She mumbled as her ears lowered. "...and I can't get down..." |
Celestine raised his hand quickly to catch the pipe when it came sailing at him. He looked at it for a moment before laying it in his lap and then looked back to Aamori blankly for a moment before glancing away while she ranted at him. He sighed softly and then shook his head. "Well what do you want me to say? ...I never asked any of you to care for me..." he muttered, "...I don't like owing people favors." He turned his eyes back to her, though they were no longer narrowed. He looked almost sorry for upsetting her, but he saw no point in apologizing...he knew he would only do it again he next time that she got on his nerves. Finally he sighed and lowered his head slightly. "...Thank you...for...trying..." he muttered, "...it's...more than I'm used to..." he tried to explain. It was a pretty pathetic explanation but the best that he could come up with.
Hikari sighed softly and nodded with another smile. "Alright." she said softly. "We're by the lake in the center of the forest...hopefully." she said with a soft laugh. She looked back down the way that she'd come again and then back to Nero once more. "Good night, Nero...pleasant dreams." she said sweetly before starting back the way she'd come. At least now she could see a little bit better since she had the presence of mind to give herself a light. Hopefully it wouldn't take her too much longer to get back to the lake. She was starting to get sleepy, anyway. Nanashi blinked and stared at her for a moment longer before quickly looking around the area. He swallowed hard and then looked to her again before looking up at the root again. He walked up to it and placed his hands on it before latching on with his claws and climbing up to meet her. He looked at her and tilted his head slightly as he eyed her cheek and raised one hand to touch it lightly, "Did he hit you?" he asked quietly, his ears laying back a little. He had thought that he'd heard something before the rumbling, but he hadn't been sure and just passed it off as his mind making up voices or something, since he hadn't been able to understand a word. "...Are you alright?... Do your wings hurt like that?" |
Aamori still stood with her back to him for a few moments longer; She sighed when she heard his poor excuse for an explanation. "I was trying to be nice to you, to get you to feel a little more comfortable around at least one of us. Clearly you'll be stuck with us for a while, a decent five months at least." She paused, starting to glance over her shoulder at him. "Whether you like to know it or not, every last one of us is going to care for you. Well, except Nero... He doesn't appear to like anyone." She sighed again lightly and turned her head back to the ground in front of her. "We're all stuck together, like it or not. So you should try to accept it and the fact that myself, and the others are going to look out for your well being as well as the well being of everyone in this mix-matched group and without asking for favors in return. Some of us aren't that selfish. Once this job is done, then you can go back to disliking everyone, even me; You'll never have to put up with me again..." She mumbled slightly saying the last part. She took another step, getting ready to leave for good this time. "I hope the herb dulls the pain for you... and good night." She exhaled slowly and then started to head back towards the lake. It was already time to head to bed; She was tired and rather cold.
Nero took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. Then crossed his arms and hugged them close to his chest just before shutting his eyes. Now that it was quiet once again, he'd probably fall asleep in no time at all that is if his mind would let him. He couldn't help but find himself wondering why that girl would even bother to be nice to him. It was unexpected considering everything between their two Clans. He sighed softly thinking perhaps her pleasantries were because he helped her when they were underground. At least that made the most sense to him. He shook the thought from his mind and tilted his head down towards his chest and tried to go back to sleep now. LaRae was surprised to see that Nanashi had bothered to climb up to her level, let alone had the presence of mind to look around before doing so. "...Don't worry, Mast--" She cut herself off shaking her head slightly. Why was she still calling him that. He wasn't even around. "..Renzo isn't here anymore. He needs to check in with the Elders." She paused. "He has to do that in person, so he won't be back for a little while..." She flinched terribly when she caught his hand moving towards her face, and then touching it lightly. She was still slightly shaken up, so she half expected to be smacked again when a hand came too close to her face. Her ears lowered. "...Y-yes... b-but I'll be fine..." She'd nearly forgotten about being hit across the face, but only because the pain she felt when Renzo touched her wings was greater then that of what she felt in her face. She still avoided making eye contact with him, for now anyway. "My wings are more sore now... but don't worry about it." She sighed heavily trying to shift a little, having trouble doing so; The roots were still too tight. As soon as Renzo got far enough away the roots would eventually loosen and let her go; At least that is how her magic worked, she hoped Renzo's did too. She couldn't help but remember Renzo calling her pathetic; She was starting to believe it. It'd only been three days, going on four into this trip and look at all the trouble she'd gotten into. On the first day, she had darts impaled into her back and lost consciousness from blood loss. The second day, she'd fallen through that damn crack in the ground and managed to break her wings and get her leg cut up pretty badly. And now, the third day she'd had a run in with Renzo which left her where she was now. She sighed heavily closing her eyes softly. "I think I have worse luck then you, Nanashi..." |
Celestine looked after her for a moment and then sighed, shaking his head. It was going to take him a lot more than a few days to get used to the idea of people caring for him again. He sighed and closed his eyes, only opening them again when she said that he could go back to disliking all of them. That was stupid...why bother liking them at all if he was just going to never see them again and think nothing of them when this trip was over? Five months was nothing, why waste that much energy just to forget about them all later? He shook his head and looked up to her again when she said that she hoped the herb dulled the pain. "...Good night..." he said quietly, he looked away again and sighed, "..And thank you..." he wasn't even sure that she could hear that last part, but he didn't care if she did either way.
Hikari fumbled around for a while in the woods, getting turned around more than once. At one point she felt something scurry over her boot and nearly screamed. Finally, she found the lake again after a good twenty minutes of wandering around. She was on the other side from where Kyran was laying. With a sigh she started around the edge of the lake and went to sit near Kyran. Nanashi looked at LaRae silently for a few moments and then leaned in closer to her. Even in the moonlight he could see that she'd been crying. He leaned his forehead against hers again and gently stroked her cheek with his fingers. "...Maybe..." he said softly, "...Or maybe you just got mine with yours." He actually hadn't had too much of a problem with this trip so far, which was...very surprising to him. He stared into her golden eyes for a moment before leaning back and looking at the roots. He doubted that he could do anything to them by he latched onto the top one with both hands anyway and braced his feet against another, pulling back with all of his strength as he tried to break her loose. His grip gave before the root did and he toppled backwards off of the mass of wood, landing on his shoulder blades before flipping over backwards to land on his stomach. He groaned as he sat up, dusting himself off a bit. OW! |
Aamori didn't both sticking around long enough to hear him say thank you. She'd already had enough of his depressing attitude, she felt like it was starting to rub off on her and she didn't like that too much. She sighed heavily finally looking up to see where she was going, having walked for a few minutes and realized rather quickly that everything looked the same and she had no idea where she was going; Not to mention the darkness made it even more difficult to see anything that might lead her back to the lake. She stopped, slouching a bit and cursed under her breath. She slowly lifted her gaze up towards the tree branches; It was even difficult to see where the sky breached the trees. She sighed again and then sat down where she was; Hoping if she stayed quiet enough she'd be able to pick up the sounds of the water at the lake. That is if she had not gone and gotten herself so lost that she wasn't anywhere near the lake.
Kyran had already fallen asleep by the time Hikari returned. He was asleep laying in the exact same position as he was when she'd left before; Which might lead someone to believe he was just laying with his eyes shut. Especially because he wasn't making any noise either, though he had a steady rise and fall to his chest. LaRae shifted her eyes after finally having to look at him; She wished she could have wiped her face dry before he showed up. She knew he'd seen the dried tears that ran down her face, she could feel them; Just barely. Not to mention her eyes were burning slightly from the cool air hitting them now. She looked up again when he started to move, seeing him trying to pull on the roots. "Nanashi don't--" She stopped as soon as she saw him fall backwards off the roots. She struggled again trying to pull herself free from the bundle of wood; Ignoring the burning sensation she felt trying to get free. "Are you okay?!" She forced herself through the sadness and embarrassment she was feeling, instantly concerned about him. She balled up her fist and tried to pull her hand free, only getting a little leeway with the roots. She could feel them loosening, very slowly. "You don't need to get hurt because of me..." She paused. "...Don't try to get me down..." |
Celestine sat there for a few moments, noticing the almost numb feeling that was setting in on him. He guessed that was what the herb was supposed to do. He shifted positions and barely felt the twinge of pain in his side. The taste in his mouth was still sickening but at least he wasn't still hurting on top of it. He glanced over at the bread and picked up one of the little puffs, popping it into his mouth. It didn't taste that great with the left over taste of the herbs in his mouth, but it got a lot of that out at least. He ate one more, trying to get the rest of the taste from his mouth. Finally, he reached over to the cloth and tied it back to hold the rest of the bread before tucking it into his bag. He looked off in the direction hat Aamori had walked off in for a moment and then stood, snagging his swallow as he started to walk in that direction. He looked around, trying to find his way to the lake, partially so he could see if the water looked drinkable. Unfortunately, he didn't fare too much better at finding the lake in the dark. He stumbled upon Aamori again before he found water, though he didn't really even see her sitting there. "Hmm..." he sighed and shook his head, "I think I was better off where I was..." he muttered under his breath as he started to walk again, still pressing forward. If he didn't find the center where the lake was then he was bound to come out of the woods somewhere at least.
Hikari smiled slightly as she looked down at Kyran and finally stretched out beside him, closing her eyes as she used her arms for a hear cushion. Maybe if she laid on them she wouldn't wake up latched onto Kyran for dear life again. She yawned and snuggled her head into her arms, closing her eyes. It wasn't long before she was asleep as well. Nanashi looked up to her again, shaking off the fall as he got to his feet again and climbed back up the root. He sighed quietly and rested his chin on the one that he'd been pulling on before, looking up at her with his ears laid back slightly. "...Well...you can't stay like this..." he said quietly. He raised his head and looked down clawing at the things for a moment before closing his eyes. He wished he could do what Nero did and just melt the stupid things. "...I'm sorry..." he said quietly. |
Aamori had sat with her knee's bent and pressed closely to her body, her arms wrapped around the front of her legs against her shin's. For now, sitting this way was doing some good to keep the chill from getting to her too badly. Since her body was usually cold as it was, the fact that it was chilly out tonight didn't help and neither did Celestine's little out burst. She shivered slightly lifting her head from her knee's and looking around a little. Her ears twitched a few times, she hadn't picked up the sound she was hoping for but rather someone walking. Then she picked up on a distinct voice, she could just barely hear it but she recognised it right away. She looked over in the direction she heard the voice and simply replied. "Then maybe you shouldn't have left..." She shrugged and turned her head back, resting it on her knees. She's get up sooner or later and continue looking for her way back to the lake, for now she'd stay seated.
LaRae relaxed slightly when she saw him get up off the ground and then climb back up. Since he hadn't answered her on whether or not he was alright, seeing him where he was made her assume he was fine. She tilted her head back and shut her eyes softly. "You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything..." She said quietly. She cracked open her eyes and stared at the sky for a moment before she felt the roots loosen a little more. She brought her head back down from the sky so she could look at him. "I recommend getting down from here Nanashi..." She mumbled quietly knowing that Renzo must have been getting pretty far from them now; It wouldn't be too much longer before the roots would shoot back into the ground and the last thing she wanted was him falling down again. |
Celestine paused when he heard Aamori's voice and looked back again. He had to look for a moment beside he actually spotted her on the ground. "Probably." he agreed. He sighed and tilted his head slightly as he turned to go closer to her. "I thought you were going back to the lake...what are you doing out here still?" He knelt down in front of her, laying his swallow on the ground beside him. "Don't tell me you're lost." He said with a soft sigh. "I was hoping at least someone knew where they were going."
Nanashi looked at LaRae for a moment and sighed softly, feeling the roots shift a bit. He looked at the root for a moment and then slowly started to climb down. He didn't want to jump off of it an down onto the rocks in his bare feet; he's pounded those enough on the jog over here. He stepped back away from the roots slowly, putting a foot or so of distance between himself and the root. "...Are they going to let you down?" He asked as he looked up to her hopefully. |
Aamori lifted her eyes to look at him when he knelt down in front of her. She then lifted her head up, turning it to the side nearly ashamed to admit that she was lost. "It isn't exactly easy to find your way around in a dark forest. You're the second example of that fact, because you're lost too aren't you?" She brought her eyes back over to him briefly. "...How's the pain?"
LaRae watched him climb down, and sighed softly as she let her body go limp again. Stressing and trying to get free was taking a toll on her and she'd become quite tired. She looked down at him and nodded slightly. The roots would eventually give out and sink back into the ground; But they wouldn't kind in how they let go of the person [or thing] they were holding onto. Her ears perked up a little when she felt the roots move a bit more then before. Then suddenly, without any notice the thick roots immediately shot back down into the ground nearly as fast as they'd come up. Every last root was gone within mere seconds, leaving LaRae with nothing holding her up in the air anymore. Ordinarily she involentarily would've used her wings to keep herself from plummiting towards the ground, but that was practically impossible with bound wings. Her face went into shock as soon as the roots let go of her and she realized she couldn't help but fall to the ground. |
Celestine eyed Aamori for a moment and then nodded. "I was lost the minute that we left the festival grounds. I have just been fallowing you all." he said simply. He shook his head slightly when she asked how the pain was. "...It's bearable... I can hardly feel anything." He said softly. "...I feel...kind of numb." He sighed and sat down in the grass, curling his tail around his legs. "...Are you cold?" he asked simply, judging by the way that she was sitting. It was a little chilly out here though it didn't really bother him. Between his three layers of clothing and his hair he had enough on to keep him a bit warmer. He sighed softly and tilted his head slightly as he waited for her to answer.
Nanashi stood there, looking up at her. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw the roots loosen and moved a little closer. He startled slightly when the things suddenly shot back into the ground, leaving LaRae hanging in mid air. He quickly dashed forward, throwing his arms out to catch her. He nearly crumpled when the extra weight drove the rocks into his feet but he only winced and staggered back a little. "Whoa... Are you alright?" he asked as he looked at her. He wasn't sure catching her like that was too comfortable on her wings, but it was probably better than slamming into the rocky ground. He smiled weakly as he sat her back on her feet, though he still kept his arms around her. |
Aamori smiled very faintly hearing how his pain was. "...Well, that's better I suppose." She said quietly. When he asked if she was cold, she shivered slightly now that her attention was back on the fact she was. "Just a little.." She mumbled turning her head to the side, then shutting her eyes. Her wings stretched out quickly from her back making a loud snapping noise, just before the slender blue hooks at the top of her wings hooked together. They then lowered, wrapping around her gently. Looking at them after they settled you wouldn't think they were wings; They looked more like a cloak then anything else. Mostly because of the way they draped over her body like cloth. She turned her head back to look at him, hiding her face slightly behind the hooks of her wings. "...I'll be fine now..." She added shutting her eyes again.
LaRae shut her eyes tightly when she started to fall, bracing herself for impact with the rocky ground. It took her a moment or two to figure out that she had not hit the ground; She slowly opened her eyes when she heard Nanashi speak. Despite the pain she felt in her wings from the fall she managed to gain a pink tint to her face seeing that he'd caught her. "...Y-yeah... I'm alright" She paused shifting her golden eyes away from him. "...Thank you... for catching me." She quickly took to her feet once he set her down. Her wings dropped slightly when she stood up straight; Due to the loosened bandages, courtesy of Renzo. She shut her eyes tightly and winced from a quick wave of pain. Once it subsided she opened her eyes again focusing on Nanashi for a moment before leaning in and resting her head against him. |
Celestine nodded slightly, watching her cover herself with her wings. "Good." he said simply. He sighed and folded his arms over his drawn up knees before resting his head down on them. He looked off through the forest for a moment and then glanced back to Aamori. "...I assume you've already been to the lake... is the water clean enough to drink?" he asked simply. He was still in the mood for something to drink. "I need to wash that stuff down with something." He raised his head again and then back to her.
Nanashi smiled slightly to her. "You're welcome..." he said softly, though he looked a bit concerned when she winced. "...Your bandages are loose..." he said softly. When she leaned against him he blinked in surprise and then slowly wrapped his arms around her a bit more tightly. "...We need to fix those so you wont hurt so badly.... Or...well I guess one of the girls needs to fix them..." He doubted she wanted him messing with it since they'd left to put them on in the first place. He stroked her hair gently down the center of her back between her wings. "...Are you sure you're alright?" he asked again quietly. |
Aamori cracked her eyes open again when he started asking about the water in the lake. She lifted her head slightly so she could see him better over top the hooks of her wings. "It's clean water, I doubt you'd want to drink it though." She paused. "It's been swam in already..." She gently released her right hand from in front of her legs and slid it down to the holster on her thigh removing the snap-buckle that held her staff. She then took her staff and lifted her wing softly while extending her arm to hand him her weapon. "You open the end of it by pressing the gem on the one end. Make sure the gem is pointed up or else you'll get wet." She paused. "There's fresh water in a small shaft inside; for emergencies. So help yourself." She smiled faintly. Her staff had been specially crafted for battle situations, should a water dragon be in battle outside of their natural element instead of having to conjure the water themselves out of thin air; Special weapons were made that held some water for emergency situations. The water was always fresh, and taken from fountains within their territory.
LaRae nuzzled against him for a brief moment before lifting her head. "I'm okay, just a little worn out." She stated quietly. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at her wings; As best she could. The bandages were rather loose and he was right they did need to be fixed. She sighed softly turning her head back to face him. "...I don't feel like walking all that far in search of Hikari or Aamori, so if you don't mind..." She paused shifting her glance downwards. "Could you fix them for me?" |
Celestine blinked when she offered him the staff and stared at it for a moment. He looked back to her for a moment and then back to her as she explained about the gem. "O...oh..." he said quietly. He looked at the gem for a moment and then pressed it, making sure to hold it up. Once it was open he sighed softly and held it up, pouring the water into his mouth from just a tiny ways above his lips. He was relieved when he felt the water run over his tongue. He paused for a moment, swishing it around a bit before swallowing and then took another couple of sis before tilting it back down again. "...Thank you." he said softly, looking down at the staff. "Erm...how do I close this?" he closed the opening and then passed it off to Aamori again. He was still thirsty, but since it was for emergencies, he didn't want to drink too much of it.
Nanashi nodded, "Yes, of course." he said gently, lowering his arms to take her hand. "...Would you like to go back to the forest or should I do it here?" he asked softly. "...Wherever you would be more comfortable." he said with a weak smile. |
Aamori reached her hand out to take back her staff, immediately returning it to her holster for safe keeping. "You're welcome." She said quietly as she returned her hand to the way it was before she'd moved. She then lowered her head back down behind her hooks. "...You could have had more if you wanted it. I can always refill it in a town." She moved her tail, which was laying on the ground behind her; It slipped under her wing and wrapped itself around her waist before going limp again. "...So why'd you leave where you were?" She questioned. She was starting to get a bit warmer now, she wished she'd thought to cloak her wings before now. She might have saved herself from the chill hours ago.
LaRae held onto his hand when he took hers, smiling faintly. "Umm.. We should probably go back into the forest. I'd rather be able to relax after they've been fixed, I don't think the rocky ground is going to all too comfortable comparatively speaking." She paused glancing down at her hand in his, noticing a discoloration to her wrist poking our from the edge of the black cuff she wore. It took her a moment to realize that it was a burn from the friction of rubbing against the tree roots. She took her free hand and adjusted the cuff slightly so it was less noticeable. She sighed softly thinking to herself that she had enough marks on her body to remember her clan; Like she really needed burns now too. Well in any case, they didn't hurt much at all; They merely itched like hell. |
Celestine nodded slightly, "Yes...well just in case you need it. I don't believe I am going to dehydrate." He ruffled his feathers slightly and sighed, looking back to her again when she asked why he left the area. "...Because I was thirsty." He said as if it should have been obvious. "And...I had a feeling that was what you were gunning for..." He said simply, glancing away again. "I don't know..."
Nanashi nodded and turned to start back toward the forest when she told him that she wanted to relax. He looked down when she adjusted her cuff and sighed softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Once they were back inside the woods he started back toward the place where he'd taken her earlier in the day. He knelt down and gently pulled her down beside him. "Alright...umm..." he shifted around until he was behind her and looked at her back, "Can I...move your shirt, please? It's in the way a little." he told her. |
Aamori rolled her eyes slightly. "You know I don't always have to be around water. It's not like I'll die without it." She paused. "It's just nice to be around it sometimes. It reminds me of home... And you never know, I could've been headed somewhere else." Of course she wasn't, she was heading for the water; But why make everything easy and tell him he was right.
LaRae was a bit surprised at how well he could maneuver through the forest back to a place they'd been before, and in the dark no less. She probably wouldn't have recognized the place except she was pretty good at remembering forests and plants; Not to mention she could see the root-knife she'd created sticking up out of the ground. It probably would've disappeared had she moved far enough away from it; Much like the roots that had previously bound her vanished when Renzo got far enough away. She sighed softly when she touched the grass after being pulled down to the ground. This was definitely nicer then being hung up in the air. She sat on her knees, looking back over her shoulder at Nanashi for a brief moment before quickly returning her gaze to the grass under her. "...Of course." She said quietly as she lifted her hand up to gather her hair and pull it around in front of her. She leaned forward, hunching over slightly. |
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