It was now that Carja realized that she couldn't create a child out of nowhere and not give them a friend. Such a thing would be cruel! To grow up with a buddy, like she had with her dear sister Lass, was the best thing that had ever happened.

Oh how she missed them. She missed them enough to cry, to wake up late at night in tears, roaring up into the sky with grief. Her family having deserted Monoceros, and she herself having failed Svartis and Bone by letting them go into Ursa.

She sat in front of her nest, a tarp made of deer pelts sheltering it from the elements. Oh how she wished she could share it with someone. And as the rain poured down, so did her tears.

”Sorry,” she mumbled, to no one, curling up in her nest, her eyes sad.

@Talys

Talys was leaning on his staff and contemplating the rain. It rained in Leo, certainly, but not like this -- this rain was almost angry, and slightly acidic on his tongue. The soil was not rich and dark with life like some of it was in Pegasus; it was tan and pale and desperate, with moisture seeping through it almost immediately and into the lush jungle of plantlife all around him. It was beautiful, in a way -- even if it was a little bit concerning in others.

He began to shuffle along again when he noticed a deerskin tarp, and meandered over to investigate. Surely someone who could make tanned hides was someone worth talking to -- he needed something like that soon enough. All of his attempts at preserving animal skins had gone poorly, to say the least. Then he realized he was staring at... "Uh, Carly, was it?" he asked, somewhat unsure as he propped himself up against a nearby tree. "Or, uhm -- no, wait. Carla? Sorry," he added sheepishly, before noticing that she looked upset. "Is everything alright?"


@carja

Carja's head raised and she peered at Talys, eyes widening, ”Oh! Talys! It's Carja- you're going to get sick if you stay in the cold too long.”

She beckoned him forward and make room for him to sit under the tarp, curling up with her tail against the lip of the nest, ”I'm okay. Mostly. Just reminiscing.”

Carja sighed and looked down, tucking her paws under herself and loafing like a cat.

”I just miss my family,” she mumbled, ”They've all gone and left. My grandma, grandpa, dad, sister, aunt... they're all gone and I'm just... lonely, I suppose. I want another dragon to be able to talk to and snuggle up with again.”

She flopped her head down and snorted, smoke rising from her nostrils. She couldn't truly breathe fire, not without magic, which was a bit disappointing.

”I want to make a child,” she said, ”But I want them to have a sibling, like I did. Someone to rely on and to curl up with on cold nights. I already have a plan for one, I just... I need a stone or someone's magic or something.”

@Talys

He moved over to settle down beside her, folding his legs and setting his staff beside him. He was soaking wet, really, and he stretched a little. "Don't worry about it," Talys said lightly. "I'll probably head down to lower Leo when I make my way back over there, it'll dry me out. I do pretty well with heat," he grinned. He listened to her for a while, letting his eyes close as he mulled over her story.

"I know how that feels," he said finally. "I have a brother, too. But I haven't seen him in a long time. It feels lonely." He hummed lightly, toying internally with the idea of offering himself up to her. Talys didn't have any real objections to it internally -- it didn't strike him as strange or unusual. He wasn't very paternal, either, and he considered for a moment what he'd do if a child wanted him to be part of their life.

"I could help," he said finally, giving a shrug. "I wouldn't be a dad or anything, 'cause I'd suck at that, but I could help out here and there. Like a brother," he decided, glancing over at Carja. "As long as you don't mind, that is. We don't exactly know each other very well, and I don't know if that's a consideration or not for this." He wouldn't think so, but everyone had different opinions about this sort of thing.


@carja

”I do have Attikias,” she gushed, ”He's great, you know. He made me a saddle so that we can fly together- you rode in it, actually! He was at the feast in the palace cave. He made me this tarp and he's super talented with furs and other things.”

Carja put her head on her hand and sighed, bottom lip jutting out. She turned back to Talys, eyes widening, her neck jutting up.

”Really? Oh my gosh!”, she exclaimed, her tail starting to wag, ”You'd do that?”

She nodded and sat up, leaning on her haunches and rubbing her hands together, ”That's absolutely fine, you don't even need to be in their lives at all. But I'm sure Attikias wouldn't mind another pair of hands around here, and he's always open to welcoming strangers too. But we're not that strange, we know each other's names, right?”

Carja offered a smile and her nose to pet or hug, seeing as she was more than ten times the size of Talys and would crush him if she tried to embrace him.

@Talys

Talys's eyebrows shot up, clearly impressed. "Woah, really? He did all that? That's... awesome." He flexed his fingers. "... Maybe I should see about learning some stuff from him." He startled a little when Carja moved so suddenly, flinching just slightly -- a reasonable reaction, honestly, considering how huge she was -- but he settled quickly. He'd been startled, but he wasn't actually afraid of her.

He shrugged, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I mean, I wouldn't mind being involved, I'm just... you know. Better at being a brother than a dad, I think. I'd... definitely be willing to hang out and see what Attikias is doing, though," he admitted. The allure of leatherworking was a great one, and he was lured by the very human desire to learn from an elder. Not that Attikias was visibly any older than him, but the difference in experience spoke for itself. He agreed with her sentiment about not being strangers, though. Talys nodded. "I mean, definitely -- I know you're cool, so who cares?"

He patted her nose, not sure if she'd be entirely open to having her face hugged, and made a vague gesture. "I, uh, am not entirely sure what to do, though. You'd have to tell me. Or maybe it'll just sort of happen on instinct," he offered. Honestly, he wasn't sure.


@carja

Carja cooed, ”I'm glad. I'd love it if whoever we make has a nice family to grow up with. These caves are messed up enough, so maybe they can be a kid for a while before it has to catch up with them.”

She nuzzled into the hands, relaxing a bit, her eyes closing.

”I think- don't quote me- but when Attikias was doing it, one side took a piece of their stone and the other put magic into it, and then it made a new stone and a chrysalis around it,” she said, and tapped her chin where her labradorite sat, ”So... I can break off a bit of my stone, and you can put your magic into it.”

She inhaled and breathed out, making a space in her nest for the chrysalis to form, leaving enough room for another, should she find another donor.

”Okay... ready,” she said.

With one swift motion, a chunk of stone was cleaved off, falling into the gap. Carja breathed out and pointed at it, ”Okay, I think now you cast your magic.”

@Talys

"Fair warning," Talys said, rubbing his hands together to create a small amount of friction as he watched a piece of labradorite hit the ground, "my magic tends to burn me. Don't freak out if I start smoking." He looked down at the piece of Carja's stone. In and of itself, it held only half a piece of the puzzle -- it was something just shy of living.

And now he was trying to push fire into it, but not the hot, searing flame that burned callouses into his hands and made animals go limp beneath his touch. The warm, hopeful fire of new life, of a child, of brothers sitting on the beach passing stones between them. He breathed out and reached forward to touch the piece of labradorite, his hands warm. After another heartbeat, he felt cold inside -- like some amount of his fire had been taken from him, even if just for a moment. He breathed out a shaking breath and leaned back, closing his eyes against the nausea.

"Caves," he croaked. "That didn't feel nice." But when he opened his eyes again, the stone had already begun to grow.


@carja

Carja winced and moved forward, placing a hand on Talys's back, ”Sorry.”

A chrysalis started to form, and Carja's eyes widened in awe. It worked!! There was a baby in there- or there was going to be! How amazing!

”Oh I can't wait to meet them,” she cooed, already utterly in love, ”Hm, I don't know if I want to be a 'mom' but... I'll certainly be there for them. Maybe I'll be a sister too.”

She nosed the chrysalis gently and sat down, curling up around it, ”Thank you, Talys. You can stay here until the rain stops.”

She smiled gently and nudged Talys, her tail wagging, ”I hope everyone will love them.”

@Talys

He laughed lightly. "If there's anything I can teach them that Attikias doesn't know already, I'll see what I can do. I've been thinking about getting into metal -- there's this guy who lives in Leo, he's called the Blacksmith? I've seen glimpses of him a couple times, and I know he works with metal. I've been planning on asking him to teach me. There's lots of scraps of it in one of the tunnels, things you could fish out and melt down if you weren't afraid of getting rust on your fingers."

"That's a kind offer," he continued, settling down. He normally would have refused it, but he wasn't exactly sure if he could walk all the way back to Leo right now. He sighed and started to squeeze his hair out, on the verge of setting his hands on fire to dry it out faster. Damn it for holding so much water! It wasn't usually a problem because again, lower Leo, but it did mean that he'd have to deal with it being damp until he got back. Oh well.

He leaned on Carja, not really meaning to and mostly just tired. "I'm sure they will," he said gently. "Everyone's been so kind to me. Even if they didn't have to be."


@carja