BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

The dog finally stopped barking and growling, probably confused that he wasn't attacking them. He commanded that he should back away more and so the dragon did. The loud pawsteps of Baratheon could be heard as he crunched plant and rock alike beneath his massive paws. He made more distance, hopefully enough to ease the black dog's mind at least a little. The next words that came cut through him like a knife. Why did he allow himself to live?

His mind went back to his time in captivity, when he lay in Monoceros contemplating if he really were a true dragon. It hurt to be reminded of that time but the words themselves... Held sincerity and truth. It probably would have been better if he'd just killed himself then and there. To have just let himself drift off into the light and never return to the pain of the waking world where he caused nothing but pain. Or... Almost nothing but pain. He had Booker. Booker was the only reason he wanted to live sometimes. Booker and the sick sense of self-preservation that now pervaded him because of his freedom. Take that freedom away or even take Booker away and perhaps he would kill himself but for now he had hope to not hurt others.

It was a few moments before the dragon answered, in that moment anything could have flashed in his mind for all the fisher and dog knew but if one paid attention to his eyes they would see nothing but calmness and thoughtfulness... perhaps even a sliver of sadness. "In the recent weeks, I have thought about killing myself. To just lie down, not eat and just drift off into the light... But I cannot. I don't know if you understand but now after all of this has happened..." He pointed with his nose horn to Fallah's chrysalis. "I became Bonded with another. I am his guardian, I am his Dragon and I cannot simply die because I leave him vulnerable." As angry as he was at Booker he would not abandon him. He needed time to himself to cool off but that was only temporary and if the numbat needed him he would feel it immediately in the link and he'd go running. "I don't expect you to understand what a Bond is but know that the one I guard is able to keep me from attacking the innocent so this won't happen again." That was actually just a theory developed from his story but he believed it true. "So, no. I do not lie. Perhaps it would have been better to have killed myself back then but I was young and self-preservation is high on a young dragon's list... Until he becomes Bonded then his partner's life is first." He hoped they would understand, hoped they would believe him.

Distantly he noted the feel of his fur tingling around where the fisher was sitting on him. Was a spell being prepared? Were they intent on trying to kill him? They could try but he would not fall to them. He still had things to take care of and a numbat to protect. Even though he hurt them in the past and felt guilt over it he wouldn't let that stop him from doing his duty.

552
@Black @Fisher
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7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Black listened quietly, pondering the dragon's words and watching him intently as he spoke. He was tensed in case of attack, but his mind weighed each sentence. Young? It hadn't been that long ago. Two weeks, if that? ...A cycle? He wasn't sure, but the excuse "I was young" was poor, at best.

"You may leave your protected one to be protected by another. I would guard him, in your stead. But if you are sure that it cannot happen again, while the other lives, then you ought to be with him, and never let him fall to harm. Never leave his side. Or you fail."

Black's tone had been mild before; now it drew down into a slight growl, a warning, if not a threat. If the dragon's control was bound on another, then surely he ought to never leave his side? Cold logic, once more.

The dog slowly backed up, now, with nothing more left to say, and crouched over Fallah's cloud-streaked sky of a chrysalis, silently waiting. It was up to Fisher to converse with the dragon, now, to say what he wished to say; the Dog gauged that there was currently little threat, or rather little chance of the threat of Baratheon blossoming into true danger at the current moment, and so he pulled back and fell quiet. His interest in the goings-on was over, and had he been alone, he would have wandered off. As it was, he had a cocoon to protect--and Fisher to look after, but he had no more reason to speak.

________________

@Fisher

it's empty in the valley of your heart

Fisher listened to the pair, his heart beating hard in his chest, as he struggled to focus his magic, to keep Baratheon away from Fallah and Black, just in case it was a trap. It seemed like the dragon was truly sorry, or a good bluff. It was hard to tell, and frankly the whole thing unsettled him. He just wanted the dragon away, far far away.

Worse, he heard what Black was saying and it sincerely filled him to the brim with guilt. It was the foundation on their own relationship that Black was speaking about-- that was how Black probably felt about Black's own existence, if Fisher had to guess, and it made him a bit miserable. He couldn't quite place why it upset him, perhaps it was simply because he knew that he was so much more selfish than the mastiff deserved, and that if harm befell them, he feared his own cowardice. Sure, he put on a brave front, but deep down he knew he wasn't as strong as he acted.

"We don't need your apologies," Fisher spoke softly, dropping down off of the dragon, moving to put himself between Black and the beast. "Apologies don't change the past," he told the white creature, fur bristling-- with just that hint of sadness to his tone. The thought of a barkfriend, in danger, killed, by his own selfishness. "The only thing you can do to make up for your mistakes is make sure that you change who you are and become a better person. You should go back to your bonded and do as Black says-- protect him, and aim to never kill another creature again."

There was a solemn glaze to his fiery eyes, as he settled his rump down, and spoke simply, "cause when a gembound dies, King of Blood, they never come back. It is destruction." He didn't know this for sure, but he felt passionate enough about to make it sound convincing. Fallah wasn't dead-- his only saving grace. But he didn't know if or when she would come back. Deus, however, he had snuffed out forever. There was no chrysalis, no reformation. How many had Baratheon destroyed in his bloodlust...?

@Baratheon

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

He listened to the dog's words and yes... He was right, to an extent. He should be with Booker but he couldn't stand to, not now. If he hadn't been blessed with the gift of higher thought perhaps he would never have gotten angry at his Bonded's decision but as it was he couldn't bring himself to just lay about in Eridanus while half-face was there. "In a way, I have not left his side. I know what he does at all times, I know if he is in danger at all times. I can guard him even while I am away and he can help me even when I'm away. Our minds our linked." Which was true... though was he still being selfish by being parted? He shook the thought away. Not wanting to dwell on it.

He could hear the accusations and the tones in their voices. Didn't they get it? He didn't want to kill everything in sight! He didn't have not much a choice, or he hadn't had a choice then. He showed a few fangs at the dog's growl but that was all he did. He wouldn't let his temper get the better of him... That was probably what they were waiting for.

He watched the tiny brown thing as it climbed down and then stood between him and the canine. He snorted and released a plume of pink smoke from his nostrils. "You both talk as if everything is so simple... There are things that must be done first, amends that must be made. Blood that must be paid for..." He was thinking of Raheerah then. If he couldn't have half-face for what he'd done then he would find the other and take revenge out on him. "As I've said before if my Bonded is in danger I will know immediately and if I Bloodlust he will know immediately. I do not try to kill, it is just in my nature but if you don't want apologies then I won't give them anymore." He shook his head, feeling prickles in his fur that were slightly uncomfortable. The dragon backed up a few more steps then turned, as if he were ready to take his leave. Which in reality he was. He had apologized which was all he could do. In the future perhaps he could show that he didn't want to kill but for now they had nothing but his word to go on. "My very nature is destruction, little one, there are few ways to tame it. But we are trying."

386
@Black @Fisher
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7/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Black stood, glaring with head low and forelegs splayed, tensed, as he listened--and suddenly any fear he'd had slipped away in favor of something else. Something colder, something darker, something he'd never felt before: hatred.

His words came out in a low rumble, hoarse and throbbing with feeling.

"I do not wish your apologies. You may keep them, and leave. You do not mean them. They are worthless, you are selfish, and you will make excuses for your behavior and yet continue to live. You admit you are monster. Destruction. That you merely attempt to curb it. And yet the dead and the dying lay in your wake, and you remain alive. Selfish. You are no friend to me, and I do not wish your presence."

His words were clipped with clenched, bared fangs, and he could feel the cold rage fuel the darkness in his gemstone heart. Without intending it--yet embracing it, allowing it--he could feel the blackness cloak him like a shroud. He stood, and he glared, and he waited for the monster to leave.

________________

it's empty in the valley of your heart

Baratheon thought he knew, thought he understood-- thought he was smart enough, old enough, to know better. Fisher knew, from experience, that this wasn't how it worked. No, he would make mistake after mistake, crash and burn until he couldn't take anymore, and he would learn. This dragon was cocky and confident, so sure of himself-- so sure of his position and life. His apology seemed like something to do just to make himself feel better, and it hardly surprised Fisher that Black refused it as he had.

... Black also had some other words to say, however. They caught in his ears and he grew still, quiet, listening to his friend, taking those words to heart. He did just make excuses, didn't he? He only admitted his weaknesses to himself-- he didn't have the heart to share his deepest regrets with Black, continuing to live so selfishly under the hound's protection. He knew he didn't deserve it. He was trying, but so was Baratheon-- they were so alike that it hurt Fisher.

At least he was willing to try... And not... Fuck, he was just as bad as Black was pointing out. He knew he was, and yet he kept trying to distance himself from it, make excuses. He let out a snort and turned to his friend with the saddest of puppy eyes, slinking back to Fallah's gem, and decided it best not to say anything. Just try and hide it. They had protected the lynx's gem, that was all that mattered.

Black didn't have to know Fisher was a horrible, horrible gembound.

"Just go," he barked at Baratheon, bitterness in his tone. He knew, he knew, he knew. He hated himself. If only Fallah was back, if only they were a family-- he could put the whole past behind him. Just keep running away. Together. Safely racing into the distance, putting behind his childhood. That day couldn't come fast enough. He could bury it all, hide it away from everyone and everything.

@Baratheon

BARATHEON

"the world is mine for the taking"

The dragon clicked his fangs together in his mouth but he nodded his head. He was getting nowhere with this, nowhere except for anger and discontent. They wouldn't understand, perhaps it wasn't for them to understand. He hadn't meant to do what he'd done, hadn't been in control but they wouldn't know that. They'd just forever see him as a monster... Forever see him as what the thing inside wanted them to. There was nothing he could do otherwise... Nothing short of killing himself and that was out of the question. Unless Booker ordered him to die he would not. He would never die and leave Booker alone, not if he could help it.

With that he turned and walked away, no more words needed to be spoken. They'd both said their piece and now it was over.

don't care
@Black
-exit-
6/10

"Talking looks like this!"
Thinking looks like this...

Black just stood, lip curled in a snarl of enraged disgust, as the dragon turned and stalked off after Fisher barked at him.

Haughty.

Arrogant.

Foolish.

Selfish.

With a low growling rumble he turned to Fisher.

"I would move her if I could. Move her to someplace safe. But I cannot. I will watch. There will be no sleep for me tonight. He cares not for his crimes; perhaps if he held regret, there would be hope for him. But he holds no regret--only self-pity. Only selfishness. Arrogance. I will stand guard," he added, repeating it, turning and sitting to stare out into the mist after Baratheon.

Then, more quietly, he added, "I hope that he falls. I have never wished harm upon another. Fisher. It is an odd feeling... But I feel no remorse for it, and that is even stranger."

He glanced back at Fisher, pale blue eyes almost puzzled, barely visible in the darkness beneath the tree roots.

________________

@Fisher (sorry for the delay; never got the tag, probably b/c it was inside a table :| )

it's empty in the valley of your heart

The bitterness seemed to evaporate, like an ocean wave swept the grit of hateful, vengeful, rough sand from his thick fur, as soon as the white dragon turned to leave. His tail drooped, his eyes resting on the comforting sight of Fallah's shell.

Perhaps it was the crash after the adrenaline died in his veins, or perhaps it was the heavy weight of misery and guilt on his conscious. Whatever it was, the noodle slunk down, his brown form spreading around the width of the cold stone. Black's words run in the air, filling him with comfort he felt he didn't deserve... Not then, not in that moment. He cherished the company for all it was worth, anyway.

His scar was hurting. Perhaps he had pulled too hard on the muscle, dropping down on that dragon. He reached his head up enough to give the black dog a lick on his leg, before settling down. "I'm going to rest, Black," his voice came out as a whisper. "Wake me up when you get tired, okay? Don't push yourself." He sounded as though he was begging, desperate, but it was just the sorrow that tugged at him, pinning him down.

He'd worry about it later. He didn't want Black to see him so upset... So he'd just sleep it off, for now. He hoped his dear friend didn't mind too much.

@Black ; wanna wrap it up there?