ORIGIN - A Difficult Dilemma

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Comet walked back to their home in Orion with her ears folded back and her tail drooped. Disappointing James hurt her more than anything, and the light necklace suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Once they arrived at the house, she stayed standing, tense, by the side of the chrysalis.

The necklace had caused clouds to form over the house, but due to the slightly less than average humidity of the place, it only caused a light shower to form over the house.

@James

James walked past Comet and turned away, jaw clenched and head low.

"... Comet," he said softly, turning his head to the side to see her, "Baby..."

He pivoted to face her, trying to speak past the frog in his throat, "This has to stop, Comet. I-I can't have you come home bloody again. I-I-"

He snapped his mouth shut and let his mane fall in front of his face, "... I-I never wanted to restrict you. I wanted you to have your freedom but you just... you come home bruised and hurt a-and instead of a mace you trade it for a necklace that could cause a hurricane if it really wanted. Every time you go through that door and I'm not there to make sure you're okay, I'm... I'm so scared that one of these days, you won't come home."

James was barely holding back tears, his eyes watering as he looked up, "This has to stop, Comet. Please."

He sniffled and tried to not cry, to stay strong and stoic, but tears started to roll down his cheeks and his nose, dripping onto the floor like the rain outside.

"I-I don't want you to make a mistake that will c-cost you more than just some scrapes and scratches," he said, lip wobbling, "Please, baby."

He was too emotional to even think of sticking to his plan of making Comet stay put and stay with him and her sibling. Maybe, just maybe, they would be enough to make her stay, but he knew his daughter. He knew that her heart was meant to wander.

@Comet

Comet's eyes followed James as he walked past her, catching every small motion of his body. She had never seen him like this before, with his head low and jaw clenched. His usually steady voice broke several times, and it was hard to look at him. She bowed her head, looking at her paws.

Flinching at his words, she almost didn't want to hear them anymore, but it was the truth. James was only telling her what she had been too ignorant to see, or perhaps-- didn't want to see. But hadn't she traded the mace for something else at his wishes? It seemed that she was always giving up one thing for another, but no matter how many times she did that, she would always end up with something worse.

"Won't come home." That line hit her harder than the others. Comet had been hiding from him how many times she had nearly died or chrysalised, to lessen his worries about her going. Only now had she realized how selfish she had been, going out and causing him so much worry.

His tears dripped onto the floor, but she dismissed it as just the rain, even though the house had never leaked before. James doesn't cry, for her to try and comprehend the fact that he was would be too much for her to handle at the moment.

Her scars stung, but Comet forced herself to look James in the eye. What was he asking her to do exactly? Stop... getting hurt. Stop leaving. Stop exploring. She blinked, and the tears started to fill her eyes. What he was asking of her was something that she couldn't do. It simply couldn't be done. Shame ran through her pelt. Watching him be in pain like this and begging for her to stop was something that was so out of character for the strong horse that she really wanted to promise him that she would. But she couldn't.

It was embedded in her very nature, to stop was torture. Wasn't it the same for James? Wasn't this the reason that he had left Aristotle? They both lived a life made for adventure, the excitement of discovering new places, the adrenaline pumping through your veins, the thrill of the chase. Or was it just Comet?

"I-- I can't." she mustered out her answer. Two simple words to his many sentences. But they were just as hard to say. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks, she had disappointed him, and that hurt her more than anything she had ever felt before. Comet curled up into a ball on the ground, unable to stand looking at James any longer.

@James

James sniffled and fell forward, wings wrapping around Comet and holding her close, "... Okay."

"... I just want you to... to try to stop being reckless," he said softly, "Going off with friends to play in the ocean and try to catch a fish is one thing, but actively going after a Redfang just to say you did it is another. Do you get what I mean?"

He wiped his eyes and sniffled, "Running through a field chasing a lesser or running through trees leaping obstacles is fine. Jumping off a cliff into fluffy snow? Less... fine, but acceptable. Test the snow first, maybe? But... but fighting monsters bigger than you isn't brave, Comet. You are brave, and I know you are, helping your friends and helping people. Just leaping into a fight for no reason isn't brave. It's stupid. And that's what I'm scared of."

James wiped her eyes and held her face with the joints of his wings, "Look at me. You're so brave, you always have been. With that golem? When you tried to help? That... may have been a bit of both, but... I can't fault you for wanting to help. But stick to that, okay? Helping. Not rushing into danger for an adrenaline rush, there are other ways to fulfill that need."

"And Comet...", he said, his voice barely a whisper, "I need you to promise me something."

He touched the feather on her ear, baubled to glow.

"Promise that... promise that you'll stay safe," he said softly, "If not for me, then for your sibling."

"I love you."

@Comet

Comet allowed herself to be pulled into his wings. There were a few beats of silence, then "Okay.". She felt another wave of shame wash over her, why was she being forgiven so easily? She had done so many bad things! But she knew why. James was a great father, a better one than she would ever deserve.

Nodding as he talked to her, helping her, she kept the words in her mind. It was time that she stopped being so reckless, and actually thinking before doing for once. A brush of feathers wiped away her tears, and she looked straight into James's eyes. Oh, they held so much love and affection, Comet wished that she could show him how much she loved him too. It was unfortunate that she wasn't the best at expressing herself through words, she could only hope that it could be seen through her actions.

His voice quieted, and her single ear pointed forward to hear. "Yes?" she whispered back. Comet was ready to promise almost anything. Anything for James. The feather on her ear, just like Aristotle's, baubled with James's magic, and glowed the color of her eyes. It represented this family, but not her sibling who was going to be hatching soon, who was just as important as them all. This was for all of them. "I promise renny." Comet buried her head into his chest, "I love you too."

Everything was going to be better now, she told herself. Hopefully.

@James

James felt successful. Like a grandma at communion successfully teaching her stupid conservative family that being gay didn't friggin' matter. An odd metaphor, but at the moment, he definitely felt as old as a grandma.

He gently herded Comet to his nest and lay down, tugging her forward so that he could begin his nightly routine of grooming her from head to toe, despite not being a dog and not naturally being much of a grooming animal. He more so preened than anything, but he tried.

"Thank you," he mumbled, pressing his head to her's, "My darling princess... I can't wait to see who you'll become... but I also can't help but pray you'll stay my brave little girl forever. My dragon in wolf's clothing."

James snuggled her into his soft feathers, puffing them up nice and big so she could snuggle into them for warmth. The perks of being part bird.

"So...", he said softly, "What have you been doing before we left for the Collector? Have you charmed any more dragons into loving you?"

@Comet

Comet followed James and laid down in the nest. Tucking in her paws and tail, she let out a content growl. Although horse's tongues weren't exactly made for grooming fur like that, it was the fact that the horse was doing something that he didn't normally do. No horses did that actually, but James was willing to groom her fur even though it was against what his nature. Either way, she highly enjoyed his grooming, her growls rising and falling with each stroke.

"I always will! ...And you will stay my bestest renny forever too?" asked Comet, the sudden fear coming over her that he may leave. Just like Aristotle. She snuggled deeper into his soft feathers, unable to imagine him without them.

Thinking back, Comet remembered her meeting with Twisted. "Oh yeah! I met Twisted! Did you know she was the cat that beat up Madhukar? She told me! And then, and then..." the pup contemplated if she should tell James about this part. "But Twisted told me she didn't like my bubbles or my magic. And she tried to bite me, so I tried doing the Shield of the Seven spell like you showed me. But it backfired, and I did a backflip!" this was the exciting part, "I spun twenty times in the air! I counted! Then I... fell on the ground and got knocked out for a while." she scrunched her nose.

@James

James tucked her in closer and nuzzled her head, "Always, princess. Always."

He giggled at her gentle grumbles, his tongue sticking out as he stopped to listen to her story, before continuing after a few moments.

He stopped mid-lick, however, ears flying up in alarm, "Oh caves Comet-"

His first thought, of course, was, How in the world did you count?

And the second one was, Ew, Madhukar.

"Firstly, how in the world did you flip 20 whole times, and secondly, why would you try to fight the person who beat up Madhukar, who beat up you? Wouldn't that mean that they're even more powerful than her?", he said, exasperated, "... How did you managed to even count how many time you flipped?"

He mock screamed, wings flaring up halfway, "AaaaaAH!! ONE!! AaaaAAAH!! TWO!!"

James shook his head and laughed, licking at her fur some more, "Ridiculous."

@Comet

James's reassurances calmed her, they could be together forever.

Comet had expected him to act like this, but at least he didn't faint. "Well actually, I just made some bubbles but Twisted attacked me first. And also, they were saying things about hurting people so... yeah." She thought back to how the standards of the Seven were that you needed to help others. Well, here she was helping others by showing a bad cat that she didn't rule over everything.

But now, there was the question of how she even managed to count how many back flips she did. Comet laughed at James's show of how she counted it. "Something like that! Let me give a demonstration." She reluctantly wiggled out of his warmth, and stood at the center of the house. Comet laid on her back, and curled into a ball. Summoning all the energy she could, she pushed a spray of water out of her mouth, which propelled her across the room. "AH-- ONE-- AH-- TWO-- AHHHHHHHH--" she was cut off when she hit the wall of the house, and the building shook from the impact. She stumbled back onto her feet, and shook her head. "Whoa, I'm so dizzy." Teetering over to the horse, she fell next to him.

Recollecting her thoughts, Comet felt that something was different. The necklace had fallen off! It's glistening blue surface lay on the ground, and she felt no urge to put it back on. "I don't think I'll be needing this." she walked over, and dug a small hole and dropped in the necklace. James was right, it was too powerful. Burying it back up again, she returned to the horse. "There, right where it belongs."

@James

"... Wow," he said, giggling at her display, "I'm honestly impressed! Not at the part about Twisted... though now I understand it was self-defense. I'm just glad she didn't hit you when you were down."

He watched her bury the necklace, eyeing it as she walked back over and snuggled under his wing.

"... Keep it safe,", he said, "As awful as it is, such a thing is immensely powerful and can't fall into the wrong hands."

James tucked her in close and held her tight, "Who knows? Maybe some day a storm may just be in order."

He set his head on her body and sighed, yawning gently before shuffling his wings a bit, pulling up blankets and furs to make a nest around them.

@Comet

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