New Legacies

[CYDA LUVA83]

"You made them?" Lydia repeated softly in disbelief. "You're an amazing artist." She said, walking over to Treya. The dragoness extended a feathered wing over the hatchling's back to try and comfort her. "Your garden is beautiful, Treya. If your mother saw it now," she leaned down so she could look the child in the eyes, "She would be so proud of you. I know she would, for certain. All of what you've created. It's gorgeous, and a lovely testament to her."

[greatguy]

Silently, Yüna scooted–for there was no other way to describewhat he was doing–along the treebranch. The Pygmy was heading away, and despite the voice in Yüna's head telling him that was a good thing, he began to throw acorns at the small draconian. However, the wind carried the acorns further than he anticipated, and it didn't seem as if that Nilia Pygmy noticed.

 

Yüna heard a flapping of wings. A thud sounded above his head. Looking up, he saw a green face staring down at him–one of the bizzarely colored Pygmies that had a penchant for destroying Yüna's waterfall.

 

"Do you mind?" Yüna whispered. I'm trying to capture something!

 

Apparently the Pygmy understood too well. It flew down to the Nilia Pygmy below, and began chattering noisily, and noddedin Yüna's direction.

 

Yüna gulped.

[Ryujin13]

Treya nodded and tried to give a smile. "I had a long time to practice." She managed, before finally falling apart and burying her head into Lydia's wing. "I m-miss her!" She wailed, her little form shuddering as she cried. "I w-waited like she said, and she's still g-gone! W-what happened to her? Where did she go?" Treya continued to cry into Lydia's wing, trying to bring comfort where there wasn't any to be found. She had been left alone for over two and a half years, faithfully waiting for her mother to return, and now she found that her mother was dead, and she had waited for nothing.

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia was caught off guard by the sudden crying, and tried to remedy it as best she could by putting her other wing around the hatchling. "I wish I could say something that would make you feel better." The dragoness said quietly, a few tears of her own threatening to spill over her eyes. She remained silent, simply to let Treya cry. Her eyes looked up from the child to wander around the surroundings, still in awe of the carvings and flowers. She wondered how Treya could put this talent to use later in life. This cave here would certainly provide some mystery for humans in many years.

 

((How did her mother die? *curious*))

[Ryujin13]

(She was basically hired by some humans to help them visit their loved ones in another plane of existence, but they betrayed her because they believed that she was an abomination against their religion. So they killed her and left her bones near their temple as a warning, as well as a reminder. So that's what happened, and yes they knew she was a shadow walker, their religion actively hunts shadow walkers.)

 

Treya cried for a good while before finally seeming to dry up. She had no more tears left, and now she just sat there hiccuping and miserable. "L-Lydia?" She asked quietly. "What am I going to do now? I knew what to do before. Just stay by the cave. B-but now, now I don't know what I'm supposed to do." She touched the pendant, seeking comfort from it before looking down at it. "Maybe I can find out what this means?" She asked, looking at Lydia. "Maybe you can help? Mommy said it was important, maybe I'm supposed to do something with it?"

[CYDA LUVA83]

((Holy... whoah...))

 

Her expression was downcast as her gaze shifted from the pendant to Treya. She thought for a few moments, trying to come up with something to for her. "Well..." The dragoness started to say, tilting her head a bit. "Tomorrow, if it's not busy in the glade, I'll take you flying. We'll cover a good-size area and if we don't see anything interesting in the air, we can go on foot. It'll be a nice day of relaxing and fun. How does that sound?"

[Ryujin13]

Treya nodded numbly at the suggestion. "That sounds nice, but I don't know what I'm looking for." She said, touching the pendant gently with her paw. It seemed to calm her slightly, and she looked up at Lydia again, wiping her eyes. "Mommy used to take me flying sometimes. I liked it, it made me feel big." She said, still touching the pendant. "What do we do till tomorrow though?"

[CYDA LUVA83]

"Well, anything you want really. If any dragons come by, I'll need to take care of them, but you're free to wander around the glade. I don't talk much, I'm afraid, but if you're ever bored just tell me and I'll try and find something for us to do." She said, opening up her wings a little. "There's a small stream in the glade you get drink from, and fish inside if you're hungry. Mopey, my snake, sometimes likes to rest under the many large stones that patients sleep on. He's fun to play with, harmless." Lydia turned toward the direction they came from, her eyes tracing all the carvings and the flowers once again. "Perhaps, if there's time, we could go to a dragon-friendly town and ask about the pendant."

[Ryujin13]

Treya nodded and stood. "Alright, lets go back there then." She said quietly, still obviously upset. She began to walk back the way they had come, her tail dragging on the ground. When they reached the circle, Treya stopped and looked at the stone that she had placed there. It was one of the larger ones, and had taken her a long time to carve until she liked it. Now it was just a tribute to her mother, and a symbol of Treya's innocence, now lost. "It took me over a day to get this here." She said quietly. "It was so big and I had to roll if the whole way. Now I guess I did it for nothing. I made something for mommy that she'll never see."

She frowned and pushed the rock with her shoulder, tipping it onto its side before turning and walking slowly off towards the glade.

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia remained silent as she watched Treya tip the stone over. She wanted so badly to tell her that her art wasn't for nothing, but continued on. As the white dragoness left the circle, she watched the shadow walker for a few moments. After making sure the hatchling wasn't looking, she looked back and picked up the toppled stone with her tail, setting it upright again before catching up with Treya.

The walk back to the glade was unbearably silent, and Lydia was glad when they got back. The dragoness stretched her wings before tucking them back to her sides. She tried to make eye contact with Ekaira, to at least tell her that everything was alright for now.

[Ryujin13]

Treya walked over to a sunny patch and flopped onto the ground, and looked around. She picked up at stone from nearby, a river rock, work smooth over time, and began to scratch it with one claw. She wasn't sure what to do with her life, save that she wanted to find out what the pendant meant. If that meant searching for a long time, then so be it.

[Mathcat]

Ekaira was ready to leave long before Lydia and the hatchling got back. It was hard to relax when she was waiting for the rattlesnake to take exception to her presence. Telling herself that the only reason she was leaving was so that she could make it back home before it got dark, Ekaira got to her feet.

 

"And where do you think you're going?" asked Inzara from her perch on Ekaira's back. "You can't possibly be thinking of leaving before Lydia's had a look at you."

 

Ekaira nodded. "She has other things on her mind right now, what with the hatchling, and it's not like it's anything serious. If we leave now, I should be able to make it home before dark, even with how slowly I'll have to fly."

 

"Oh, no, I'm not letting you run away from this. You'll need to make amends with the poor hatchling at some point, and that might as well be today. I know I can't stop you from flying away, but I can refuse to go with you. Besides, if you don't let Lydia treat you, then you're stuck with Kioren."

 

Ekaira sighed, knowing Inzara was right on both counts, and sat back down to wait. It wasn't that long before Lydia and the hatchling returned. Ekaira couldn't quite figure out the look Lydia was giving her - whether the healer was trying to warn her to keep quiet, or what - and decided it was best to say as little as possible. "You found what you were looking for, then?"

[Ryujin13]

Treya nodded to the black dragon that sounded like mommy and lifted the pendant for her to see. "Mommy left it when she went away. She said it was important, but I don't know why. Do you know what it is or what it does?" She asked, looking up at the black. "See its got a two headed eagle, who has two crowns, and a spear and a sword. Have you ever seen something like that?"

[Mathcat]

Ekaira eyed the pendant, glad that Treya seemed to have forgiven her. "Huh. I really have no idea, not that that's saying much. I can't remember what I had for breakfast by the time lunch rolls around most days." Except she had seen something like it once - she was sure of it. "That size, that level of detail - could be human-made, especially with those particular symbols on it. Possibly from some kingdom or other, or some noble family with their own crest."

 

She shrugged. "Maybe one of your ancestors guarded a human family. It can't be that uncommon - my mother did, after all. Not the sort of life I'd recommend these days, though." With anyone else, Ekaira would have come right out and said that her mother had been killed while protecting her humans, but Ekaira had enough tact not to upset Treya twice in one afternoon. "In any case, it's a pretty little thing to start your hoard with."

[Ryujin13]

Treya looked down at it in wonder before letting it fall against her chest. "I don't know anything about my ancestors." She said. "Mommy said I'd learn about them later. She said it was a special day to learn about them. She also said this was special, and I needed to keep it safe while she was gone. I guess I'll keep doing that until I find what it's for."

[Lato_Dato]

Lirm looked over to the Misfit, surprise on his face. Well, that was sure a surprise! He hadn't expected to find one of those little fellas in his wild goose chase! The misfit glanced backwards, approaching Lirm. "Hey, that's the human you were chasing, isn't it?" It literally squealed, glancing back over it's shoulder to look and point at Yuma.

Lirm grinned an evil grin. "Why yes, that is the human I was chasing!" He said with malice. And then an idea struck him. A terrible, evil idea. "How about we show him personally not to trap Pygmies?! It'll be for his own good, after all..." Growled the vengeful Nilia. "Naw, but I'd be glad to watch you teaching him that lesson!" She laughed, taking off quickly to land back in the trees. Lirm rolled his eyes. Mistfits.

"I'll be cheering!" The mischievous pygmy called, waving from her branch. With a cocksure grin, Lirm unfurled his wings, leaping up into the trees, approaching Yuna all the while. Time to get some payback, Nilia style!

 

((insert slash/bite/hack sequence here!))

[Mathcat]

Ekaira smiled. "And if nothing else, it's a nice little keepsake. I wish I could have taken something small away from home with me when I left, but there wasn't - time." She'd been about to say that there hadn't really been anything left, which would have been exactly the wrong thing to say to an already-traumatized hatchling. "Everyone seems to be gathering in Nova Scotia, so maybe you'll find some relatives one of these years."

 

She shifted position and winced. "And much as I'm enjoying talking to you, this was never really meant to be a social call." Inzara, recognizing her cue, flew down to keep Treya company, while Ekaira looked over at Lydia. "It's nothing serious, really, but flying back is going to be excruciating if you don't take a look at me."

[CYDA LUVA83]

Lydia nodded to Ekaira, walking over to her so she could take a look at her wings. The bases near her shoulders were swollen from overexertion. It looked like Ekaira had simply overdone it in the air one day. Still, however, the dragoness checked them for broken bones. You never really knew just looking at it unless the bones were sticking out, and luckily none were. After being satisfied that Ekaira just had strained muscles, Lydia said what she would do to help ease the pain. "I'll apply a salve to your muscles that will alternate between warm and hot for a little bit before finally feeling cold. That should loosen up the strain considerably." The white dragoness said while walking over to the rock that covered her potion stash. Mopey hissed at her when his resting spot was disturbed and slithered off the rock, soon finding another perch on a low hanging branch of a tree. Lydia reached into the hiding spot and pulled out a paw-sized tin. It didn't look like much, but hey, it's what's on the inside that counts, right? Ah... bad joke.

"You can have this container. It has more salve in it if you're unable to fly at all one day." Lydia said after massaging the ointment into Ekaira's wing muscles.

[Mathcat]

Ekaira smiled in relief as some of the pain eased. "Thanks, it's helping already. Part of it's overdoing it the past couple of days, and part of it's the same old trouble. It turns out it's really not the best idea to teach yourself shapeshifting," she said wryly, "especially when you're using trickery to give yourself some approximation of human form. It's hard to get every last muscle back exactly the way it was and, well, it all adds up over the years."

[greatguy]

Nonononononononono. This would not do.

 

Yelling obscenities at the Misfit, Yüna dropped out of the tree and tore across the forest. He would occasionally glance back to see if the Pygmy was still chasing him, and found, much to his disappointment, that it was still there. Fortunately, it wasn't flying–tree branches and limbs would obstruct its flight–but it could run as fast as Yüna.

 

Yüna shot a glance back again at the Pygmy, and saw something very disturbing–it looked happy.

 

Not happy in the general sense of the term; it wasn't a happiness that came from being satisfied. No, it was far worse. It looked as if it were gleefully anticipating how best to disember its quarry.

 

While Yüna was contemplating this matter, he neglected to alter his trajectory to avoid the rather large tree he was rapidly approaching. Consequently, the next few seconds he experienced before blacking out were very, very painful.

 

 

((Hope you don't mind me saying that Lirm wasn't flying; I can't envision any way he could fly through the forest at a speed faster than an ant's. And feel free to do whatever you want to Yüna, short of killing him or causing permanent mental damage. I don't have any plans for him at all ))

[Ryujin13]

Treya looked at Inzara, then down at the rock she was carving. A picture was already taking form in the faint lines, this one of an owl. Leaves and vines swirled around it, and the owl perched atop one of these vines. "Hi Inzara." Treya said quietly, scratching another faint line onto the rock with her claw. "You don't happen to know about this do you?" She asked, gesturing to the pendant. She seriously doubted the other female knew, but it was worth asking.

[Mathcat]

Inzara glanced at the pendant. "It's probably human-made, but that's all I can say. I'd go with Ekaira on this one, as she's seen more of the type of people who would have something like this made. It is a lovely memento, though."

 

Frankly, Inzara was more interested in the rock Treya was carving. "That's a beautiful owl. Do you do a lot of carving?"

Edited April 13, 2013 by Mathcat

[Ryujin13]

Treya shook her head at the mention of Ekaira. "She didn't know either. Mommy said it was important though, so I guess I'll keep trying to find out what it is." She said, scratching a leaf onto the rock. When asked about her carving, she shrugged a little but didn't meet the other dragons eye. "Yeah, I guess I do." She said quietly. "I did it a lot at the cave. I made it pretty for when mommy came back. I guess she won't see it though. It took me a long time to be able to make the carvings look like the things I saw. This is an owl that lived in a tree nearby. He was there all year, even when the other birds weren't. I used to climb up next to him and talk to him. He didn't talk back of course, but it helped me from getting too lonely. I named him Ben, and sometimes I'd share food with him. It took a long time to get him to trust me, but eventually he didn't mind me. When there wasn't much to eat during the winter, he'd bring me food and share it too." She shrugged and made a deep scratch, finishing one of the vines before going to work on the next.

[Mathcat]

Inzara smiled at Treya. "Yes, it's too bad that your mother won't get to see what you've made, but you should definitely keep up with your art, especially since you're already so good at it. I'm sure lots of dragons would love to have a carving like that one to decorate their cave. You should keep that one, though, as a memory of your owl friend."

[Lato_Dato]

Lirm skidded to a halt, staring at the downed human in dumbfounded shock. He hadn't actually expected to catch the blighter, but now he was lying there in a heaped, easy to assault pile, exacting his revenge upon Yuna's unconscious form seemed cheap and hollow. He stood there for a moment, eyes narrowed, before sighing, clasping a paw over his maw. True, he didn't want to abuse the poor human, but if he just left now, the entire point of the chase had been for nothing! His eyes roamed around the clearing. Surely there must be something...

The small dragon's eyes halted upon a large growth of weeds. He recognized them as those horrible, stinging weeds. His eyes went back to Yuna, then back to the plants, a small smile suddenly stretching across his muzzle. Yes. This would be appropriate enough. He scampered over to the weeds, and with care, tore off a small branch. With an evil grin on his face, he went back to Yuna, and put his plan into action.

 

Which was, to be precise, shoving stinging nettles into the poor human's pants. With a mad laugh, Lirm turned, scampering from the clearing as fast as his paws could carry him.