FuriTheFurious

A Man of Flames, A Bard Prince, and a whole Flock of Dragons be here

[furibotgd]

(Trying to keep track of all my dragons: the post

lets see

With indigo we’ve got

Tael, Storm, Nimbus, Zipshot, Scarface, Bolt, Sneak, Creep, and others yet to be named.

On haligan now, ive got

Furi, Scoot, Bouncy, Song, Sharp, Scoot and Bouncy’s mom, a female missing a wing with hatchlings, and about a dozen others.

Whew gotta keep this together)

[furibotgd]

Updating:

Only storm is with Furi, Tael, and the others, and not with Scarface’s gang of dragons now

[furibotgd]

Nimbus dead now ._.

Scarface, Creep, Sneak, Bolt, Zipshot and others are Now MAD at Indigo

Furi, Tael, Scoot, Bouncy, Song (whom is mom to Scoot and Bouncy, error fixed) Storm, Sharp, unnamed female missing wing and her babies, among others, are on Haligan and most are okay with Indigo rn, (minus Furi she doesn’t like him)

And yeah Nimbus, Storm’s brother, is dead.

[furibotgd]

heres them faces

[furibotgd]

Aight updated again:

Scarface: dead, Creep: missing, Sneak: missing, Bolt: missing, Zipshot: dead, Nimbus: dead

Furi: alive, Tael: alive, Scoot: alive, Bouncy: alive but permanently grounded, Song: alive, Sharp: badly injured as of Tunnel Hunt, Storm: Alive

About a dozen furies both hostile and friendly died in the Tunnel Hunt battle, Several furies have vanished since then, Bouncy was injured by Scarface, and Tael and Song are mates

and thats the current status of the dragons

[furibotgd]

Fighting against Central: Furi, Tael, Song (Scoot and Bouncy's adopted mom), Storm, Sharp, Starlight (Missing leg), Scoot (Kari's dragon, missing eye), a handful of others. Creep, Sneak, and Bolt rejoined the Haligan flock after asking forgiveness and are helping in the fight. Previously with Scarface but escaped Dixie

Stayed at Haligan for various reasons: River (One winged with hatchlings), Bouncy (Grounded), unnamed others and other hatchlings

Dead still: Nimbus, Scarface, Zipshot, Boulder (Whispering death), many other Furies that died on both sides of the Tunnel Hunt

Other: Some Changewings (Missing), A Skrill, and a Deathsong (All formerly with Scarface, abandoned when he died)

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Being a dirty murder scoundrel." Jugen confessed, one closed hand pressed into a palm. "As for the look...my own greed trapped me someone far from any coin, or even shelter. It ended up being for the better though..."

He studied him, and then lowered his eyes. "You look different too...your eyes...your posture. I reckone both of us are different now."

[furibotgd]

Indigo looked... only half unsurprised about that confession. He barely reacted to it beyond a brow raise. "...mmm. So you've killed, too." He murmured. "Well. It wouldn't have been for my former flockmates, they sealed their own fates with a lack of compassion or remorse or self reflection. I still hate they were desecrated... but that isn't a current concern." His head tilted a little, looking Jugen up and down. "So you've not only been convicted for murder, and given up the fancy robes and face paint... you seem different indeed. Your mind is... not the same as before."

Indigo was silent for a short while, and then shook his head. "Incredible understatement, I've lost so much of the horror I used to be. You could almost say I'm a good person, given I threw myself into battle against Central and its horrors for my new allies. That.... thing... could've caused a lot more trouble than I ever could have..." He referred to Kezia, in her horrific monstrosity of a form. "....maybe it's a little self centred of me, but I'm proud of myself and how far I've come." He caught himself. "But I don't know that you'd care about that."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I can see your mind isn't the same either. I've come to understand better the metamorphous you experienced under the Warden." Jugen acknowledged. "Your crimes may have been more horrific, but at least you could plead insanity. I have no such recourse with that I've done...I fear I judged a great deal with no sense of unease for my own actions."

He smoothed a hand over his head. "I wish I could regret what I did to your kin..."

[furibotgd]

"I'm grateful that the Warden and her companion were able to eat away the insane, fractured half of my mind and give me some peace, even with a little of myself gone. It's much quieter..."

He sighed softly, leaning back in his chair, and watching Jugen carefully.

"Well, we can't all have remorse for the remains of living sentient creatures, can we." He murmured, a bit of spite in his words. "Scarface certainly didn't, though..."

He shook his head, tapping a finger on the desk.

"So... you've done things nearly as bad as me, huh, Dixie. Interesting. I won't sk what murdering specifically, but being you're a business man... I have guesses."

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen nodded. "Yes...it was all bussiness. I thought by not crossing certain lines, or having a philanthropic flare on the other side of myself, I would somehow balance the scales...I was wrong."

He leaned back to press his head against the stone, as a twist of fear turned in his heart. "I don't fear for those I know I've killed half as much as for those I'm not sure about...Every person I directly killed were either thrives, rats, or worse. But...well...I may not have used fire...but I've destroyed villages all the same. I displaced so many, I now live horrified at the thought that many could have, or may have, died because of my lies and meddling..."

[furibotgd]

Indigo gazed at him a long time, then sighed softly.

"So, what's your plan for life now? Pay your time and then start anew? Were you arrested or did you turn yourself in?"

He stared with mild interest.

"If Grey could have mercy for me, I don't doubt there's some for her ally."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I'm here of my own accord...and now the very mercy I once scorned, I now seek. At least...to some degree. We are not the same. But it's not as black and white as I once thought it to be..."

"It's not worth much. But I am sorry. I had no grounds to judge you." He closed his eyes. "Do you still hate me?"

[furibotgd]

Indigo seemed quite startled at his question, pupils thinning for just a moment.

His head sloooowly tilted to one side in thought, a dragonish grunt coming from him.

"Ah, well, it's always been more complex than hate... I never really liked you at all, and though working with you to stop my flock was for the better, I hated how you treated the bodies of those I once called family, broken as their souls became... which was always my biggest grievance. I doubt I'll ever truly be alright with that."

He sighed. "Me and the others would have still given them proper funerals given the chance..."

He trailed off a little, then snapped back to the present with a head shake.

"R-right, sorry, I'm barely answering the question. I suppose I don't hate you. I don't see us ever getting along and seeing eye to eye. But perhaps someday, a mutual, distant respect."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Good..." Jugen sighed, his expression a mixture of discomfort and pain behind his closed eyes. "Good...I'm glad you dislike me. I'm glad there's something you'll never get over..." he swallowed once, the motion tight. "Because I don't want to hate you...but I do. For my whole life I thought my love was for money and power. But now I know there's no difference between that and hatred. And I'm tired. Realizing I just cant purge the hate from my soul the way your insanity was purged from your mind makes me feel like dying in my sleep."

Jugen took a moment to press his hands to his face and run them down the length of it. "You introduced me to heartbreak, Indigo...for once...something more than money mattered. Something awful happened that I couldn't buy into going away. I still can't sleep sometimes because of you and what I saw that day...and then I learn your actions really, truly, weren't your own the way I once believed them to be. And I hated you for that too, but only because I hated myself more...now there's the same tragedy...and hardly anyone left to blame."

[furibotgd]

"Grew a little conscious because of me, that's interesting... well, Sharp once told me it's impossible to truly see the full effect of every action you take, no matter how small. How one rock fallen in a lake may someday change the flow of a river... he's a very wise beast."

He sighed. "It was the dragons I've loved and fought for that turned me for the better. The realization that my madness, my rage, was hurting the family I'd promised to protect. Night Furies are my family, all of them. I'm one of them, they're me, how could I have ever hurt them... Bouncy is flightless because of me, for one... and so many who shared my hatred and anger and didn't let go... I feel responsible for their actions and deaths as well, regardless if I was no longer in charge."

He sighed, hand on his head, the strange purple flames at an absolute minimum. He grievedly murmured names of his many friends, lost or hurt, drifted slightly from the conversation, somewhat lost in pain.

"Oh that I'd done more to stop it... Scarface, why did you not let go..."

He trailed off again, realizing he'd drifted aimlessly once again. A very slight smile. "Sorry, my mind tends to wander some, given a demon ate some of it. Erm... where did I drift off... You were talking about... heartbreak."

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen sighed again, but it wasn't dismissive. The sound was more one of relaxed acceptance, if not a touch of lingering envy. "Enjoy the mind that wanders to friends and family you spent a lifetime cherishing... It's a blessing. You've earned it."

He looked down at the papers in his hands, and then out of his barred, grounded dungeon window. A terrible terror sat patiently there for him, and with a final nervous swallow, Jugen passed it the rolled papers in his hand, and watched as it took to the sky.

[furibotgd]

Indigo's eyes caught the terror and curiosity crossed his face. He watched the other man for a short while, pondering, probably thinking over his words.

"...What is the little friend delivering for you?" He asked, genuine and curious. "Little creature was quite excited to get the item, he seems to love his job. Charming little beasts, those ones. Rambunctious... and yes, I'm aware of their use as carriers of letters. I'm just curious what you sent off."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Just...some bussiness." Jugen answered.

[furibotgd]

Indigo blinked, shrugged, and turned back to his desk to write as he had been doing.

"Well, none of mine then, Dixie." He murmured. "I'll leave you to the quiet, if I'm bothering you."

He didn't seem upset about not getting an answer, just decided maybe the man didn't have any interest in more conversation, and would be quiet.

"....mmm, I could go for a roast salmon..." He murmured to himself, scratching lightly at his chin, a thought occurring to him.

It was then he peered out the window and his face lit up. "Ah, its my daily time with my beloved family. Perhaps we will talk again some time." He waved a guard down, who escorted him out with not much worry, and Indigo looked so excited to spend the afternoon with the dragons.

He disappeared out the door.

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Being a dirty murder scoundrel." Jugen confessed, one closed hand pressed into a palm. "As for the look...my own greed trapped me someone far from any coin, or even shelter. It ended up being for the better though..."

He studied him, and then lowered his eyes. "You look different too...your eyes...your posture. I reckone both of us are different now."

[furibotgd]

Indigo looked... only half unsurprised about that confession. He barely reacted to it beyond a brow raise. "...mmm. So you've killed, too." He murmured. "Well. It wouldn't have been for my former flockmates, they sealed their own fates with a lack of compassion or remorse or self reflection. I still hate they were desecrated... but that isn't a current concern." His head tilted a little, looking Jugen up and down. "So you've not only been convicted for murder, and given up the fancy robes and face paint... you seem different indeed. Your mind is... not the same as before."

Indigo was silent for a short while, and then shook his head. "Incredible understatement, I've lost so much of the horror I used to be. You could almost say I'm a good person, given I threw myself into battle against Central and its horrors for my new allies. That.... thing... could've caused a lot more trouble than I ever could have..." He referred to Kezia, in her horrific monstrosity of a form. "....maybe it's a little self centred of me, but I'm proud of myself and how far I've come." He caught himself. "But I don't know that you'd care about that."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I can see your mind isn't the same either. I've come to understand better the metamorphous you experienced under the Warden." Jugen acknowledged. "Your crimes may have been more horrific, but at least you could plead insanity. I have no such recourse with that I've done...I fear I judged a great deal with no sense of unease for my own actions."

He smoothed a hand over his head. "I wish I could regret what I did to your kin..."

[furibotgd]

"I'm grateful that the Warden and her companion were able to eat away the insane, fractured half of my mind and give me some peace, even with a little of myself gone. It's much quieter..."

He sighed softly, leaning back in his chair, and watching Jugen carefully.

"Well, we can't all have remorse for the remains of living sentient creatures, can we." He murmured, a bit of spite in his words. "Scarface certainly didn't, though..."

He shook his head, tapping a finger on the desk.

"So... you've done things nearly as bad as me, huh, Dixie. Interesting. I won't sk what murdering specifically, but being you're a business man... I have guesses."

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen nodded. "Yes...it was all bussiness. I thought by not crossing certain lines, or having a philanthropic flare on the other side of myself, I would somehow balance the scales...I was wrong."

He leaned back to press his head against the stone, as a twist of fear turned in his heart. "I don't fear for those I know I've killed half as much as for those I'm not sure about...Every person I directly killed were either thrives, rats, or worse. But...well...I may not have used fire...but I've destroyed villages all the same. I displaced so many, I now live horrified at the thought that many could have, or may have, died because of my lies and meddling..."

[furibotgd]

Indigo gazed at him a long time, then sighed softly.

"So, what's your plan for life now? Pay your time and then start anew? Were you arrested or did you turn yourself in?"

He stared with mild interest.

"If Grey could have mercy for me, I don't doubt there's some for her ally."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I'm here of my own accord...and now the very mercy I once scorned, I now seek. At least...to some degree. We are not the same. But it's not as black and white as I once thought it to be..."

"It's not worth much. But I am sorry. I had no grounds to judge you." He closed his eyes. "Do you still hate me?"

[furibotgd]

Indigo seemed quite startled at his question, pupils thinning for just a moment.

His head sloooowly tilted to one side in thought, a dragonish grunt coming from him.

"Ah, well, it's always been more complex than hate... I never really liked you at all, and though working with you to stop my flock was for the better, I hated how you treated the bodies of those I once called family, broken as their souls became... which was always my biggest grievance. I doubt I'll ever truly be alright with that."

He sighed. "Me and the others would have still given them proper funerals given the chance..."

He trailed off a little, then snapped back to the present with a head shake.

"R-right, sorry, I'm barely answering the question. I suppose I don't hate you. I don't see us ever getting along and seeing eye to eye. But perhaps someday, a mutual, distant respect."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Good..." Jugen sighed, his expression a mixture of discomfort and pain behind his closed eyes. "Good...I'm glad you dislike me. I'm glad there's something you'll never get over..." he swallowed once, the motion tight. "Because I don't want to hate you...but I do. For my whole life I thought my love was for money and power. But now I know there's no difference between that and hatred. And I'm tired. Realizing I just cant purge the hate from my soul the way your insanity was purged from your mind makes me feel like dying in my sleep."

Jugen took a moment to press his hands to his face and run them down the length of it. "You introduced me to heartbreak, Indigo...for once...something more than money mattered. Something awful happened that I couldn't buy into going away. I still can't sleep sometimes because of you and what I saw that day...and then I learn your actions really, truly, weren't your own the way I once believed them to be. And I hated you for that too, but only because I hated myself more...now there's the same tragedy...and hardly anyone left to blame."

[furibotgd]

"Grew a little conscious because of me, that's interesting... well, Sharp once told me it's impossible to truly see the full effect of every action you take, no matter how small. How one rock fallen in a lake may someday change the flow of a river... he's a very wise beast."

He sighed. "It was the dragons I've loved and fought for that turned me for the better. The realization that my madness, my rage, was hurting the family I'd promised to protect. Night Furies are my family, all of them. I'm one of them, they're me, how could I have ever hurt them... Bouncy is flightless because of me, for one... and so many who shared my hatred and anger and didn't let go... I feel responsible for their actions and deaths as well, regardless if I was no longer in charge."

He sighed, hand on his head, the strange purple flames at an absolute minimum. He grievedly murmured names of his many friends, lost or hurt, drifted slightly from the conversation, somewhat lost in pain.

"Oh that I'd done more to stop it... Scarface, why did you not let go..."

He trailed off again, realizing he'd drifted aimlessly once again. A very slight smile. "Sorry, my mind tends to wander some, given a demon ate some of it. Erm... where did I drift off... You were talking about... heartbreak."

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen sighed again, but it wasn't dismissive. The sound was more one of relaxed acceptance, if not a touch of lingering envy. "Enjoy the mind that wanders to friends and family you spent a lifetime cherishing... It's a blessing. You've earned it."

He looked down at the papers in his hands, and then out of his barred, grounded dungeon window. A terrible terror sat patiently there for him, and with a final nervous swallow, Jugen passed it the rolled papers in his hand, and watched as it took to the sky.

[furibotgd]

Indigo's eyes caught the terror and curiosity crossed his face. He watched the other man for a short while, pondering, probably thinking over his words.

"...What is the little friend delivering for you?" He asked, genuine and curious. "Little creature was quite excited to get the item, he seems to love his job. Charming little beasts, those ones. Rambunctious... and yes, I'm aware of their use as carriers of letters. I'm just curious what you sent off."

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Being a dirty murder scoundrel." Jugen confessed, one closed hand pressed into a palm. "As for the look...my own greed trapped me someone far from any coin, or even shelter. It ended up being for the better though..."

He studied him, and then lowered his eyes. "You look different too...your eyes...your posture. I reckone both of us are different now."

[furibotgd]

Indigo looked... only half unsurprised about that confession. He barely reacted to it beyond a brow raise. "...mmm. So you've killed, too." He murmured. "Well. It wouldn't have been for my former flockmates, they sealed their own fates with a lack of compassion or remorse or self reflection. I still hate they were desecrated... but that isn't a current concern." His head tilted a little, looking Jugen up and down. "So you've not only been convicted for murder, and given up the fancy robes and face paint... you seem different indeed. Your mind is... not the same as before."

Indigo was silent for a short while, and then shook his head. "Incredible understatement, I've lost so much of the horror I used to be. You could almost say I'm a good person, given I threw myself into battle against Central and its horrors for my new allies. That.... thing... could've caused a lot more trouble than I ever could have..." He referred to Kezia, in her horrific monstrosity of a form. "....maybe it's a little self centred of me, but I'm proud of myself and how far I've come." He caught himself. "But I don't know that you'd care about that."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I can see your mind isn't the same either. I've come to understand better the metamorphous you experienced under the Warden." Jugen acknowledged. "Your crimes may have been more horrific, but at least you could plead insanity. I have no such recourse with that I've done...I fear I judged a great deal with no sense of unease for my own actions."

He smoothed a hand over his head. "I wish I could regret what I did to your kin..."

[furibotgd]

"I'm grateful that the Warden and her companion were able to eat away the insane, fractured half of my mind and give me some peace, even with a little of myself gone. It's much quieter..."

He sighed softly, leaning back in his chair, and watching Jugen carefully.

"Well, we can't all have remorse for the remains of living sentient creatures, can we." He murmured, a bit of spite in his words. "Scarface certainly didn't, though..."

He shook his head, tapping a finger on the desk.

"So... you've done things nearly as bad as me, huh, Dixie. Interesting. I won't sk what murdering specifically, but being you're a business man... I have guesses."

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen nodded. "Yes...it was all bussiness. I thought by not crossing certain lines, or having a philanthropic flare on the other side of myself, I would somehow balance the scales...I was wrong."

He leaned back to press his head against the stone, as a twist of fear turned in his heart. "I don't fear for those I know I've killed half as much as for those I'm not sure about...Every person I directly killed were either thrives, rats, or worse. But...well...I may not have used fire...but I've destroyed villages all the same. I displaced so many, I now live horrified at the thought that many could have, or may have, died because of my lies and meddling..."

[furibotgd]

Indigo gazed at him a long time, then sighed softly.

"So, what's your plan for life now? Pay your time and then start anew? Were you arrested or did you turn yourself in?"

He stared with mild interest.

"If Grey could have mercy for me, I don't doubt there's some for her ally."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I'm here of my own accord...and now the very mercy I once scorned, I now seek. At least...to some degree. We are not the same. But it's not as black and white as I once thought it to be..."

"It's not worth much. But I am sorry. I had no grounds to judge you." He closed his eyes. "Do you still hate me?"

[furibotgd]

Indigo seemed quite startled at his question, pupils thinning for just a moment.

His head sloooowly tilted to one side in thought, a dragonish grunt coming from him.

"Ah, well, it's always been more complex than hate... I never really liked you at all, and though working with you to stop my flock was for the better, I hated how you treated the bodies of those I once called family, broken as their souls became... which was always my biggest grievance. I doubt I'll ever truly be alright with that."

He sighed. "Me and the others would have still given them proper funerals given the chance..."

He trailed off a little, then snapped back to the present with a head shake.

"R-right, sorry, I'm barely answering the question. I suppose I don't hate you. I don't see us ever getting along and seeing eye to eye. But perhaps someday, a mutual, distant respect."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Good..." Jugen sighed, his expression a mixture of discomfort and pain behind his closed eyes. "Good...I'm glad you dislike me. I'm glad there's something you'll never get over..." he swallowed once, the motion tight. "Because I don't want to hate you...but I do. For my whole life I thought my love was for money and power. But now I know there's no difference between that and hatred. And I'm tired. Realizing I just cant purge the hate from my soul the way your insanity was purged from your mind makes me feel like dying in my sleep."

Jugen took a moment to press his hands to his face and run them down the length of it. "You introduced me to heartbreak, Indigo...for once...something more than money mattered. Something awful happened that I couldn't buy into going away. I still can't sleep sometimes because of you and what I saw that day...and then I learn your actions really, truly, weren't your own the way I once believed them to be. And I hated you for that too, but only because I hated myself more...now there's the same tragedy...and hardly anyone left to blame."

[furibotgd]

"Grew a little conscious because of me, that's interesting... well, Sharp once told me it's impossible to truly see the full effect of every action you take, no matter how small. How one rock fallen in a lake may someday change the flow of a river... he's a very wise beast."

He sighed. "It was the dragons I've loved and fought for that turned me for the better. The realization that my madness, my rage, was hurting the family I'd promised to protect. Night Furies are my family, all of them. I'm one of them, they're me, how could I have ever hurt them... Bouncy is flightless because of me, for one... and so many who shared my hatred and anger and didn't let go... I feel responsible for their actions and deaths as well, regardless if I was no longer in charge."

He sighed, hand on his head, the strange purple flames at an absolute minimum. He grievedly murmured names of his many friends, lost or hurt, drifted slightly from the conversation, somewhat lost in pain.

"Oh that I'd done more to stop it... Scarface, why did you not let go..."

He trailed off again, realizing he'd drifted aimlessly once again. A very slight smile. "Sorry, my mind tends to wander some, given a demon ate some of it. Erm... where did I drift off... You were talking about... heartbreak."

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Being a dirty murder scoundrel." Jugen confessed, one closed hand pressed into a palm. "As for the look...my own greed trapped me someone far from any coin, or even shelter. It ended up being for the better though..."

He studied him, and then lowered his eyes. "You look different too...your eyes...your posture. I reckone both of us are different now."

[furibotgd]

Indigo looked... only half unsurprised about that confession. He barely reacted to it beyond a brow raise. "...mmm. So you've killed, too." He murmured. "Well. It wouldn't have been for my former flockmates, they sealed their own fates with a lack of compassion or remorse or self reflection. I still hate they were desecrated... but that isn't a current concern." His head tilted a little, looking Jugen up and down. "So you've not only been convicted for murder, and given up the fancy robes and face paint... you seem different indeed. Your mind is... not the same as before."

Indigo was silent for a short while, and then shook his head. "Incredible understatement, I've lost so much of the horror I used to be. You could almost say I'm a good person, given I threw myself into battle against Central and its horrors for my new allies. That.... thing... could've caused a lot more trouble than I ever could have..." He referred to Kezia, in her horrific monstrosity of a form. "....maybe it's a little self centred of me, but I'm proud of myself and how far I've come." He caught himself. "But I don't know that you'd care about that."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I can see your mind isn't the same either. I've come to understand better the metamorphous you experienced under the Warden." Jugen acknowledged. "Your crimes may have been more horrific, but at least you could plead insanity. I have no such recourse with that I've done...I fear I judged a great deal with no sense of unease for my own actions."

He smoothed a hand over his head. "I wish I could regret what I did to your kin..."

[furibotgd]

"I'm grateful that the Warden and her companion were able to eat away the insane, fractured half of my mind and give me some peace, even with a little of myself gone. It's much quieter..."

He sighed softly, leaning back in his chair, and watching Jugen carefully.

"Well, we can't all have remorse for the remains of living sentient creatures, can we." He murmured, a bit of spite in his words. "Scarface certainly didn't, though..."

He shook his head, tapping a finger on the desk.

"So... you've done things nearly as bad as me, huh, Dixie. Interesting. I won't sk what murdering specifically, but being you're a business man... I have guesses."

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen nodded. "Yes...it was all bussiness. I thought by not crossing certain lines, or having a philanthropic flare on the other side of myself, I would somehow balance the scales...I was wrong."

He leaned back to press his head against the stone, as a twist of fear turned in his heart. "I don't fear for those I know I've killed half as much as for those I'm not sure about...Every person I directly killed were either thrives, rats, or worse. But...well...I may not have used fire...but I've destroyed villages all the same. I displaced so many, I now live horrified at the thought that many could have, or may have, died because of my lies and meddling..."

[furibotgd]

Indigo gazed at him a long time, then sighed softly.

"So, what's your plan for life now? Pay your time and then start anew? Were you arrested or did you turn yourself in?"

He stared with mild interest.

"If Grey could have mercy for me, I don't doubt there's some for her ally."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I'm here of my own accord...and now the very mercy I once scorned, I now seek. At least...to some degree. We are not the same. But it's not as black and white as I once thought it to be..."

"It's not worth much. But I am sorry. I had no grounds to judge you." He closed his eyes. "Do you still hate me?"

[furibotgd]

Indigo seemed quite startled at his question, pupils thinning for just a moment.

His head sloooowly tilted to one side in thought, a dragonish grunt coming from him.

"Ah, well, it's always been more complex than hate... I never really liked you at all, and though working with you to stop my flock was for the better, I hated how you treated the bodies of those I once called family, broken as their souls became... which was always my biggest grievance. I doubt I'll ever truly be alright with that."

He sighed. "Me and the others would have still given them proper funerals given the chance..."

He trailed off a little, then snapped back to the present with a head shake.

"R-right, sorry, I'm barely answering the question. I suppose I don't hate you. I don't see us ever getting along and seeing eye to eye. But perhaps someday, a mutual, distant respect."

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Being a dirty murder scoundrel." Jugen confessed, one closed hand pressed into a palm. "As for the look...my own greed trapped me someone far from any coin, or even shelter. It ended up being for the better though..."

He studied him, and then lowered his eyes. "You look different too...your eyes...your posture. I reckone both of us are different now."

[furibotgd]

Indigo looked... only half unsurprised about that confession. He barely reacted to it beyond a brow raise. "...mmm. So you've killed, too." He murmured. "Well. It wouldn't have been for my former flockmates, they sealed their own fates with a lack of compassion or remorse or self reflection. I still hate they were desecrated... but that isn't a current concern." His head tilted a little, looking Jugen up and down. "So you've not only been convicted for murder, and given up the fancy robes and face paint... you seem different indeed. Your mind is... not the same as before."

Indigo was silent for a short while, and then shook his head. "Incredible understatement, I've lost so much of the horror I used to be. You could almost say I'm a good person, given I threw myself into battle against Central and its horrors for my new allies. That.... thing... could've caused a lot more trouble than I ever could have..." He referred to Kezia, in her horrific monstrosity of a form. "....maybe it's a little self centred of me, but I'm proud of myself and how far I've come." He caught himself. "But I don't know that you'd care about that."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I can see your mind isn't the same either. I've come to understand better the metamorphous you experienced under the Warden." Jugen acknowledged. "Your crimes may have been more horrific, but at least you could plead insanity. I have no such recourse with that I've done...I fear I judged a great deal with no sense of unease for my own actions."

He smoothed a hand over his head. "I wish I could regret what I did to your kin..."

[furibotgd]

"I'm grateful that the Warden and her companion were able to eat away the insane, fractured half of my mind and give me some peace, even with a little of myself gone. It's much quieter..."

He sighed softly, leaning back in his chair, and watching Jugen carefully.

"Well, we can't all have remorse for the remains of living sentient creatures, can we." He murmured, a bit of spite in his words. "Scarface certainly didn't, though..."

He shook his head, tapping a finger on the desk.

"So... you've done things nearly as bad as me, huh, Dixie. Interesting. I won't sk what murdering specifically, but being you're a business man... I have guesses."

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen nodded. "Yes...it was all bussiness. I thought by not crossing certain lines, or having a philanthropic flare on the other side of myself, I would somehow balance the scales...I was wrong."

He leaned back to press his head against the stone, as a twist of fear turned in his heart. "I don't fear for those I know I've killed half as much as for those I'm not sure about...Every person I directly killed were either thrives, rats, or worse. But...well...I may not have used fire...but I've destroyed villages all the same. I displaced so many, I now live horrified at the thought that many could have, or may have, died because of my lies and meddling..."

[furibotgd]

Indigo gazed at him a long time, then sighed softly.

"So, what's your plan for life now? Pay your time and then start anew? Were you arrested or did you turn yourself in?"

He stared with mild interest.

"If Grey could have mercy for me, I don't doubt there's some for her ally."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I'm here of my own accord...and now the very mercy I once scorned, I now seek. At least...to some degree. We are not the same. But it's not as black and white as I once thought it to be..."

"It's not worth much. But I am sorry. I had no grounds to judge you." He closed his eyes. "Do you still hate me?"

[furibotgd]

Indigo seemed startled by his question, pupils thinning slightly.

"Huh."

His head tilted sloooowly to one side in thought, a dragonish grunt coming from him.

"...well, it was always more complex than just hate. But I certainly have never liked you very much. Especially after how you treated the bodies of those I once called family, however broken their souls became. That was always my biggest issue with you."

He sighed softly. "The others and I would have given them a proper funeral, given the chance..."

He trailed off, then shook his head, realizing he'd not even answered the question, really.

"Sorry, what I mean is... I don't like you and probably never truly will, but perhaps someday, a distant and mutual respect, at least. I don't hate you, at least not nearly as much as beings I've hated before."

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Being a dirty murder scoundrel." Jugen confessed, one closed hand pressed into a palm. "As for the look...my own greed trapped me someone far from any coin, or even shelter. It ended up being for the better though..."

He studied him, and then lowered his eyes. "You look different too...your eyes...your posture. I reckone both of us are different now."

[furibotgd]

Indigo looked... only half unsurprised about that confession. He barely reacted to it beyond a brow raise. "...mmm. So you've killed, too." He murmured. "Well. It wouldn't have been for my former flockmates, they sealed their own fates with a lack of compassion or remorse or self reflection. I still hate they were desecrated... but that isn't a current concern." His head tilted a little, looking Jugen up and down. "So you've not only been convicted for murder, and given up the fancy robes and face paint... you seem different indeed. Your mind is... not the same as before."

Indigo was silent for a short while, and then shook his head. "Incredible understatement, I've lost so much of the horror I used to be. You could almost say I'm a good person, given I threw myself into battle against Central and its horrors for my new allies. That.... thing... could've caused a lot more trouble than I ever could have..." He referred to Kezia, in her horrific monstrosity of a form. "....maybe it's a little self centred of me, but I'm proud of myself and how far I've come." He caught himself. "But I don't know that you'd care about that."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I can see your mind isn't the same either. I've come to understand better the metamorphous you experienced under the Warden." Jugen acknowledged. "Your crimes may have been more horrific, but at least you could plead insanity. I have no such recourse with that I've done...I fear I judged a great deal with no sense of unease for my own actions."

He smoothed a hand over his head. "I wish I could regret what I did to your kin..."

[furibotgd]

"I'm grateful that the Warden and her companion were able to eat away the insane, fractured half of my mind and give me some peace, even with a little of myself gone. It's much quieter..."

He sighed softly, leaning back in his chair, and watching Jugen carefully.

"Well, we can't all have remorse for the remains of living sentient creatures, can we." He murmured, a bit of spite in his words. "Scarface certainly didn't, though..."

He shook his head, tapping a finger on the desk.

"So... you've done things nearly as bad as me, huh, Dixie. Interesting. I won't sk what murdering specifically, but being you're a business man... I have guesses."

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen nodded. "Yes...it was all bussiness. I thought by not crossing certain lines, or having a philanthropic flare on the other side of myself, I would somehow balance the scales...I was wrong."

He leaned back to press his head against the stone, as a twist of fear turned in his heart. "I don't fear for those I know I've killed half as much as for those I'm not sure about...Every person I directly killed were either thrives, rats, or worse. But...well...I may not have used fire...but I've destroyed villages all the same. I displaced so many, I now live horrified at the thought that many could have, or may have, died because of my lies and meddling..."

[furibotgd]

Indigo gazed at him a long time, then sighed softly.

"So, what's your plan for life now? Pay your time and then start anew? Were you arrested or did you turn yourself in?"

He stared with mild interest.

"If Grey could have mercy for me, I don't doubt there's some for her ally."

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Being a dirty murder scoundrel." Jugen confessed, one closed hand pressed into a palm. "As for the look...my own greed trapped me someone far from any coin, or even shelter. It ended up being for the better though..."

He studied him, and then lowered his eyes. "You look different too...your eyes...your posture. I reckone both of us are different now."

[furibotgd]

Indigo looked... only half unsurprised about that confession. He barely reacted to it beyond a brow raise. "...mmm. So you've killed, too." He murmured. "Well. It wouldn't have been for my former flockmates, they sealed their own fates with a lack of compassion or remorse or self reflection. I still hate they were desecrated... but that isn't a current concern." His head tilted a little, looking Jugen up and down. "So you've not only been convicted for murder, and given up the fancy robes and face paint... you seem different indeed. Your mind is... not the same as before."

Indigo was silent for a short while, and then shook his head. "Incredible understatement, I've lost so much of the horror I used to be. You could almost say I'm a good person, given I threw myself into battle against Central and its horrors for my new allies. That.... thing... could've caused a lot more trouble than I ever could have..." He referred to Kezia, in her horrific monstrosity of a form. "....maybe it's a little self centred of me, but I'm proud of myself and how far I've come." He caught himself. "But I don't know that you'd care about that."

[moe-lazyeye]

"I can see your mind isn't the same either. I've come to understand better the metamorphous you experienced under the Warden." Jugen acknowledged. "Your crimes may have been more horrific, but at least you could plead insanity. I have no such recourse with that I've done...I fear I judged a great deal with no sense of unease for my own actions."

He smoothed a hand over his head. "I wish I could regret what I did to your kin..."

[furibotgd]

"I'm grateful that the Warden and her companion were able to eat away the insane, fractured half of my mind and give me some peace, even with a little of myself gone. It's much quieter..."

He sighed softly, leaning back in his chair, and watching Jugen carefully.

"Well, we can't all have remorse for the remains of living sentient creatures, can we." He murmured, a bit of spite in his words. "Scarface certainly didn't, though..."

He shook his head, tapping a finger on the desk.

"So... you've done things nearly as bad as me, huh, Dixie. Interesting. I won't sk what murdering specifically, but being you're a business man... I have guesses."

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

"Being a dirty murder scoundrel." Jugen confessed, one closed hand pressed into a palm. "As for the look...my own greed trapped me someone far from any coin, or even shelter. It ended up being for the better though..."

He studied him, and then lowered his eyes. "You look different too...your eyes...your posture. I reckone both of us are different now."

[furibotgd]

Indigo looked... only half unsurprised about that confession. He barely reacted to it beyond a brow raise. "...mmm. So you've killed, too." He murmured. "Well. It wouldn't have been for my former flockmates, they sealed their own fates with a lack of compassion or remorse or self reflection. I still hate they were desecrated... but that isn't a current concern." His head tilted a little, looking Jugen up and down. "So you've not only been convicted for murder, and given up the fancy robes and face paint... you seem different indeed. Your mind is... not the same as before."

Indigo was silent for a short while, and then shook his head. "Incredible understatement, I've lost so much of the horror I used to be. You could almost say I'm a good person, given I threw myself into battle against Central and its horrors for my new allies. That.... thing... could've caused a lot more trouble than I ever could have..." He referred to Kezia, in her horrific monstrosity of a form. "....maybe it's a little self centred of me, but I'm proud of myself and how far I've come." He caught himself. "But I don't know that you'd care about that."

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[moe-lazyeye]

Jugen gave a slow inhale as he set aside his papers and shifted into a fully seated position.

"Indigo..." he sighed in greeting.

There was no sense in denying the inevitable. He may as well face this head on.

[furibotgd]

Indigo finally moved, shifting slightly in his chair. He certainly didn't recognize the way the other man looked, and his mind was somewhat different. But he could just tell.

"It's been a while, Dixie Donz. Last time we spoke was what, mmm. Months, maybe a year ago? My memory blurs a little..."

He seemed somewhat calm, but he definitely still did not like the former businessman. He had not forgotten what had happened before.

"What got you thrown in prison with a dirty murder scoundrel like myself, mm? And such a drastic change in look. I'm intrigued."

[moe-lazyeye]

Closure that No One Asked for or Wanted, but Perhaps Needed (Botgd Legacy)

Previous: Boots on the Ground 1

Jugen sat up in his bed, papers clasped to his chest, and a sense of new found peace washing over him. It would come here and there. Doubtless at some point near the evening, when hope felt lost all over again, he was sure he'd feel less enlightened. But for now, his mind was taking the words of his friend Fiendal to heart. He accepted the value of himself as just a man. Accepted his value as someone seeking to do what was good in the here and now, unfettered from the past.

He turned to gaze across the hallway, and caught sight of the cell across from him...

...

The good feeling was gone.

There was just one problem with making sure Jugen's arrest wasn't announced to official records yet. And that was he was marked as a generic 'low flight risk' detainee. Which meant that another generically marked 'low flight risk' detainee would be posted in the neighboring cell by the guards who didn't know the wiser.

The Indigo Phantom was a mere handful of meters away, and the sight hit Jugen with sour memories and present feelings like an ice wave.

He was sure his short, but growing hair, extra facial scruff, rawhide clothes, and tanned, wilderness worn, skin would only conceal his identity for a precious few moments before he was recognized. And Jugen had to admit...he was not ready for it.

@furibotgd

[furibotgd]

Indigo had been writing some things at the small desk in the corner of his cell, quite calm, and more focused on his own things than anything around him. He'd barely noticed Jugen, formerly a man he'd known as Dixie, mere moments away, and hummed weird quiet little noises to himself, pencil scratching. But mid word, he stopped, freezing, seeming to catch a familiar mind in a moment of lapsed concentration. And suddenly his focus on writing was lost, and a pair of slitted dragon-green eyes turned to look right at Jugen, expression more than a little unreadable. A looooooong pause. And then, an almost amused dragon noise. He didn't otherwise react, just... staring.

[hubwalker1]

Rumble Down Under [pt 10]

[X]

The first thought Lila had, was that she was alive. It surprised her, even having such a thought. She was almost positive that was the end for her. Yet as she sat up and looked around, she was certain that she still drew breath on Aidorin's soil. She was surprised that she seemed to come out of everything without a scratch. Maybe a bit of soreness, but no real pain.

Looking around she saw that she was completely alone. She was near the edge of what was once High Central's north-western bridge and she could see shapes moving across the way, soldiers moving and dragons flying above, but for once in a long time, she turned her eyes to the left, to the rising sun.

It felt like years since she just sat down, and she had the best seat in the house. Besides, she trusted Grey could lead in her absence for a few minutes. As she sat in this field of lavender, she watched as a pair of loons landed in the water and she felt at peace, for the first time in a long, long time.

[lbigreyhound13]

Brandt looked over as he and Tornpike flew over the crater on a dragon with other dragon riders in tow. The city was completely gone...almost as if it was never there to begin with, and there was no sign of Shadow, Grey, or Lila. He prayed to any god who was still out there that they were all still alive.

"Grey! Lila!" Brandt called out at the top of his lungs. "Shadow! Where are you?!"

"Grey...please...answer me..." he said through the network. "Please..."

--------

Shadow slowly opened her eyes as her ear flaps twitched listening for anything to indicate that she was still in danger. When she heard silence...with the exception of the birds singing, she slowly lifted up her head. She had a few cuts and scrapes from the explosion, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed.

The Night Fury crooned as she looked around trying to figure out where they were. She paused when she remembered...they...Grey! Shadow looked to see that Grey was not on her saddle...She looked around only to stop when she heard a groaning from beside her, so she looked down realizing that there was something...or someone in her arms. She slowly opened her legs...and sure enough...there was Grey.

Shadow remembered. As soon as she, Grey, and Lila detonated the core...they made an attempt to escape. Shadow flew with all her might as Grey urged her to go faster, and there was a loud boom behind them. The explosion sent Grey flying from her saddle, and Shadow wasted no time in flying after her. She managed to grab onto Grey shielding her as much as she could before they met the hard ground below.

The Night Fury crooned when she saw Grey slowly opening her eyes. She could smell blood on her sister as she gently nudged her cheek and blowing on her dust-filled brown hair. She could see that her left arm was bent at an odd angle and that Grey was full of cuts and dust.

"Mmm..." Grey groaned again.

Shadow crooned staring at the Chief urging for her to wake up.

"Sh-Shadow...?" Grey said groggily.

The Night Fury warbled nuzzling her cheek.

Grey chuckled. "Good...girl..." she said. She moved to sit up but quickly fell back wincing in pain.

[furibotgd]

"Aha!" Indi's voice came clearly through the beacons, still connected to his system. "I seem to have found a sign of life!"

He landed next to Grey and Shadow, looking down at them both with a thoughtful hum. "Ah, you're both alive, that's great. Just hold there, I'll get someone at your location. I still have to find the other lady, but for now,"

He shot back up, waved at the dragons who'd sent him to look for the missing rebels, and then soon brought a trio of them down to Grey and Shadow. The three dragons immediately began trying to help get the chief and her friend to safety.

Indi went back to scanning and finally spotted Lila, moving over to land beside her. "Found you! Alright! I'll wave someone over here for you if you need help at all, ma'am."

[hubwalker1]

Lila sighed as she stood up and brushed herself off as she saw Indi approaching. It seemed her brief respite was over. "I'm fine." She says as she jumped off the edge and began to fly back towards the rebels.

[lbigreyhound13]

Pain racked through the Chief's body as a few of Indigo's Night Furies helped her and Shadow to stand up. It was not easy with her left arm being in so much pain, and she was unsteady when she finally stood on her feet holding her left arm in place. She looked and smiled when she saw that Shadow was assisted to stand up as well, and then out of the corner of her eye, she saw it.

When she got a good look, she gasped. The city of High Central was gone...all the buildings...Darien's tower...there was no sign of it. All that was left was a hole. It was all gone. They really did it. After all these years...High Central was reduced to nothing but dust. She couldn't help but smile feeling a weight being lifted off her shoulders.

"We did it, Sir..." she whispered under her breath. "Gods...I...I wish you were here to see it." She was jolted out of her thoughts when Shadow nudged her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at her beloved Night Fury smiling.

Shadow nuzzled her cheek as Grey leaned into her touch. "We really did it, girl," she said.

"GREY!! GREY!!" a voice...a very familiar voice shouted jolting both Grey and Shadow out of their moment.

Grey turned to look and smiled when she saw her husband and Tornpike landing a dragon not too far from where they stood. "BRANDT!!" she shouted as she ran over to him with Shadow in tow.

"GREY!!" Brandt shouted as he ran over to her. He made a mental note of the fact that she was holding her left arm, so he gently gripped her shoulders before hugging her closely with tears streaming down his face. "You're alive... My love...you're alive. "

"I told you I would come back to you..." Grey said burying her face into his shoulder with her tears streaming down her face. She sniffled. "We did it...Brandt, we did it."

"We did it," Brandt repeated. He pulled away slightly to look her in the eye, and then he kissed her on the lips. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too...so...so much," Grey whispered against his lips. This man had been with her through thick and thin for so many years, especially for the past few years. She wanted to never be separated from him or their children ever again...for any reason.

"We should get back," Brandt said leaning his forehead against hers as his eyes darted to her arm and scanned her body.

Grey nodded.

Without a second thought, Brandt directed Indigo's Night Furies to help Shadow back to the rebels knowing that neither of them should be trying to fly while he picked up his wife bridal style and carried her back to Tornpike's dragon.

Grey leaned her head against his chest...taking in his warmth and his heartbeat as they took off.

[hubwalker1]

As Lila flew over, what was essentially a sinkhole now, she couldn't help but think of her plans that had to be sacrificed to secure their victory. But... Maybe not all was lost. Something to ponder later. For now, she drew close to the rebels on the other side. Or rather, the rebels and High Central soldiers. That would need to be dealt with swiftly. She reconnected to the mental network and started directing her soldiers to capture the stragglers before things got out of hand so they could finally put an end to this.

[lbigreyhound13]

Grey occasionally looked over at Shadow as the other Furies carried her alongside her and Brandt on Tornpike’s dragon. She closed her eyes feeling Brandt’s warmth from his arms around her and heartbeat, and despite the pain in her arm, she wanted nothing more than to just stay there. Her husband had been amazing these past few months…He had always been amazing, but recently, he knew how important this was to her and supported her.

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

“What was that for?” Brandt asked raising an eyebrow.

“Just…I love you so much…” she said with a smile. “You’re just…amazing, and I wanted to make sure you knew that.”

Brandt leaned down and kissed her on the lips. “Not as amazing as you,” he said. “You destroyed High Central.” His smile widened. “I told you…you had a place in this Rebellion…and you’re always going to be needed.”

Grey couldn’t help but realize that Brandt was right. She and Lila brought down High Central together. “I just wish Haddock was here to see all of it,” she said.

“I have no doubt he can,” Brandt said with a smile.

Grey nodded. “I dreamt I saw Lief and my dad,” she said, “after the explosion. They told me that I did it, and Lief even thanked me.”

Brandt nodded and kissed her on the forehead again. “You did it,” he repeated.

“We all did it,” Grey said.

—————-

It wasn’t long before the dragons landed near the medic tents. Grey was able to see that the rebels were detaining the remaining High Central soldiers. That would be easy to deal with. She was just thankful that it was finally over.

“MOM! DAD!” three voices shouted.

Grey looked up as Brandt helped her down and the other Furies helped Shadow to stand, and she smiled when she saw their three children running toward them. She mentally cursed her broken arm, but she leaned in as her family gathered her into a group hug. The Chief closed her eyes as Shadow nuzzled up against their embrace. There was going to be some work to do later, but for now, she was going to enjoy this moment of peace and victory.

[hubwalker1]

Lila landed and began barking orders, both verbally and mentally, using the network to take a headcount and begin any rescues that were needed, getting Jari and the other engineers and nixes to work on that. At some point during the hustle and bustle of making sure everyone was safe, she realized something very important. They were no longer a rebellion. With High Central's destruction and the death and capture of all remaining High Central leaders, it was all over.

[furibotgd]

Indi had finished looking for anyone else left and was glad he'd found Lila, even if the short interaction had been confusing.

He was watching the groups of people in the tents help each other, a little jealous inside. Back in space, he didn't have anyone looking out for him like this. He would stay forever if it meant he could get more friends. As it was, he watched Lila bark orders and have their enemies taken care of, he watched Indigo's dragons volunteer help whenever they could, as tired as they were, everyone helping one another.

He sighed softly inside his helmet, patting the owl sitting next to him. "They sure got it good here, huh."

Indigo was waking up at last, shaking off the nasty bonk to the head as it healed slowly. "Whew. I'm. I'm up here and not down there." He muttered, standing up and taking off more of his armor. With it set aside, he moved to start healing people as best he could, ready enough to help his allies once again. He got worried warbles and snorts from the dragons, but assured them he was fine. He got right to healing wounds and bones, gentle as could be with the wounded.

[lbigreyhound13]

“Maybe I should see if I can—“ Grey tried to say as she stood up.

Brandt however stopped her when he gently placed his hands on her shoulders trying to avoid jostling her injured arm. “You don’t need to do anything but rest,” he said gently pushing her back so that she would lay down on the cot. “If Lila needs anything, she will come get you.”

Grey sighed as she complied and laid back down on the pillow underneath her. Her arm was in a sling. “You’re right,” the Chief said. “You know, I just broke my arm, right?”

“We need a healer to make sure nothing else is injured,” Brandt said raising an eyebrow at his wife. “You would be doing the same for me.”

Grey smiled. “You’re right,” she said. “You know you’ve been amazing these past few months, right? I mean…you’ve always been amazing, but you know…”

Brandt widened his smile and placed a kiss on Grey’s lips. “Hey, I would do anything for you,” he said.

Grey smiled. “Same here,” she said. She then sighed remembering Kezia’s taunts again. “What…what do you think will happen now? I mean…now that everything is over?”

Brandt sighed sadly as he ran a hand through Grey’s hair. He could tell that Kezia’s words…still haunted her, and given everything that had happened, he couldn’t blame her for being unsettled by it. “I wouldn’t necessarily think that everything is over, Grey,” he said. “I mean…yeah, High Central is pretty much gone now, but…it’s a new chapter for Aidorin...a new beginning that you get to be a part of.”

“I hope so,” she whispered.

[furibotgd]

Indigo approached Grey and Brandt, noting the woman's broken arm, and paused only a moment before kneeling next to her. "you don't mind if I... you know. fix it. I've been doing a lot of fixing today." He gave her a small smile. He took her arm very carefully and ran magic through it, getting the bones back together and sealing the nasty break up as gently as he could, though it did still hurt. "Least I can do." Indi was hovering nearby, watching, and holding his helmet under one arm while he fidgeted a little. "I can't heal or I'd be helping more. But hey, at least I snapped those owls back over to our side! You couldn't have done that without yours truly, eh?" He gave Grey a single finger gun. Indi was too busy being focused to respond, just grunting softly. "And I mean, who else has energy laser swords anyway. Clearly I was a great addition to the team. But I guess.... mostly everything is wrapped up, huh." Indi continued. "Man, what a battle."

[lbigreyhound13]

Grey hissed in pain as the bones in her arm snapped back into place thanks to Indigo's magic, and she wasted no time in grabbing onto Brandt's hand squeezing it as tightly as she could without breaking it.

Brandt smiled gratefully at Indigo as he healed his wife while holding her hand and running his free hand through Grey's hair to soothe her. Thankfully, the process was over quickly, and Grey's arm was restored to normal.

"It was definitely one that will be remembered for a lifetime," Brandt said to Indi.

Grey breathed a sigh of relief as she moved her arm and wiggled her fingers. Her arm was completely restored...it was almost as if it was never broken at all. She then looked to Indigo with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Indigo," she said. "Do you mind checking on my kids? I think they still need some healing as well." The Chief sat up despite the soreness in her body from the fall and looked at Sven, Dagny, and Kari as they sat with their dragons in the corner of the medic tent.

[furibotgd]

Indigo nodded, giving Grey's arm an awkward but gentle little pat, and then walked over to the kids, already looking them over for injuries. "Hey there, small ones. Here, let me see how you're doing." He gave Scoot such a gentle touch when he reached her, smiling at the dragon. She warbled up at him, more glued to Kari than ever.

Indigo then looked between the three kids, a bit worried for them. "Okay, who has injuries. And who's getting healed first. I can treat a lot of things, so don't worry."

He nodded to the nadder and nightmare as well. "I can also heal Pyro and Skysinger if they're hurt. Scoot too, of course."

Indi just kept shadowing his friend around, meeting more people and being a part of things.

[hubwalker1]

Rumble Down Under [pt 10]

[X]

The first thought Lila had, was that she was alive. It surprised her, even having such a thought. She was almost positive that was the end for her. Yet as she sat up and looked around, she was certain that she still drew breath on Aidorin's soil. She was surprised that she seemed to come out of everything without a scratch. Maybe a bit of soreness, but no real pain.

Looking around she saw that she was completely alone. She was near the edge of what was once High Central's north-western bridge and she could see shapes moving across the way, soldiers moving and dragons flying above, but for once in a long time, she turned her eyes to the left, to the rising sun.

It felt like years since she just sat down, and she had the best seat in the house. Besides, she trusted Grey could lead in her absence for a few minutes. As she sat in this field of lavender, she watched as a pair of loons landed in the water and she felt at peace, for the first time in a long, long time.

[lbigreyhound13]

Brandt looked over as he and Tornpike flew over the crater on a dragon with other dragon riders in tow. The city was completely gone...almost as if it was never there to begin with, and there was no sign of Shadow, Grey, or Lila. He prayed to any god who was still out there that they were all still alive.

"Grey! Lila!" Brandt called out at the top of his lungs. "Shadow! Where are you?!"

"Grey...please...answer me..." he said through the network. "Please..."

--------

Shadow slowly opened her eyes as her ear flaps twitched listening for anything to indicate that she was still in danger. When she heard silence...with the exception of the birds singing, she slowly lifted up her head. She had a few cuts and scrapes from the explosion, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed.

The Night Fury crooned as she looked around trying to figure out where they were. She paused when she remembered...they...Grey! Shadow looked to see that Grey was not on her saddle...She looked around only to stop when she heard a groaning from beside her, so she looked down realizing that there was something...or someone in her arms. She slowly opened her legs...and sure enough...there was Grey.

Shadow remembered. As soon as she, Grey, and Lila detonated the core...they made an attempt to escape. Shadow flew with all her might as Grey urged her to go faster, and there was a loud boom behind them. The explosion sent Grey flying from her saddle, and Shadow wasted no time in flying after her. She managed to grab onto Grey shielding her as much as she could before they met the hard ground below.

The Night Fury crooned when she saw Grey slowly opening her eyes. She could smell blood on her sister as she gently nudged her cheek and blowing on her dust-filled brown hair. She could see that her left arm was bent at an odd angle and that Grey was full of cuts and dust.

"Mmm..." Grey groaned again.

Shadow crooned staring at the Chief urging for her to wake up.

"Sh-Shadow...?" Grey said groggily.

The Night Fury warbled nuzzling her cheek.

Grey chuckled. "Good...girl..." she said. She moved to sit up but quickly fell back wincing in pain.

[furibotgd]

"Aha!" Indi's voice came clearly through the beacons, still connected to his system. "I seem to have found a sign of life!"

He landed next to Grey and Shadow, looking down at them both with a thoughtful hum. "Ah, you're both alive, that's great. Just hold there, I'll get someone at your location. I still have to find the other lady, but for now,"

He shot back up, waved at the dragons who'd sent him to look for the missing rebels, and then soon brought a trio of them down to Grey and Shadow. The three dragons immediately began trying to help get the chief and her friend to safety.

Indi went back to scanning and finally spotted Lila, moving over to land beside her. "Found you! Alright! I'll wave someone over here for you if you need help at all, ma'am."

[hubwalker1]

Lila sighed as she stood up and brushed herself off as she saw Indi approaching. It seemed her brief respite was over. "I'm fine." She says as she jumped off the edge and began to fly back towards the rebels.

[lbigreyhound13]

Pain racked through the Chief's body as a few of Indigo's Night Furies helped her and Shadow to stand up. It was not easy with her left arm being in so much pain, and she was unsteady when she finally stood on her feet holding her left arm in place. She looked and smiled when she saw that Shadow was assisted to stand up as well, and then out of the corner of her eye, she saw it.

When she got a good look, she gasped. The city of High Central was gone...all the buildings...Darien's tower...there was no sign of it. All that was left was a hole. It was all gone. They really did it. After all these years...High Central was reduced to nothing but dust. She couldn't help but smile feeling a weight being lifted off her shoulders.

"We did it, Sir..." she whispered under her breath. "Gods...I...I wish you were here to see it." She was jolted out of her thoughts when Shadow nudged her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at her beloved Night Fury smiling.

Shadow nuzzled her cheek as Grey leaned into her touch. "We really did it, girl," she said.

"GREY!! GREY!!" a voice...a very familiar voice shouted jolting both Grey and Shadow out of their moment.

Grey turned to look and smiled when she saw her husband and Tornpike landing a dragon not too far from where they stood. "BRANDT!!" she shouted as she ran over to him with Shadow in tow.

"GREY!!" Brandt shouted as he ran over to her. He made a mental note of the fact that she was holding her left arm, so he gently gripped her shoulders before hugging her closely with tears streaming down his face. "You're alive... My love...you're alive. "

"I told you I would come back to you..." Grey said burying her face into his shoulder with her tears streaming down her face. She sniffled. "We did it...Brandt, we did it."

"We did it," Brandt repeated. He pulled away slightly to look her in the eye, and then he kissed her on the lips. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too...so...so much," Grey whispered against his lips. This man had been with her through thick and thin for so many years, especially for the past few years. She wanted to never be separated from him or their children ever again...for any reason.

"We should get back," Brandt said leaning his forehead against hers as his eyes darted to her arm and scanned her body.

Grey nodded.

Without a second thought, Brandt directed Indigo's Night Furies to help Shadow back to the rebels knowing that neither of them should be trying to fly while he picked up his wife bridal style and carried her back to Tornpike's dragon.

Grey leaned her head against his chest...taking in his warmth and his heartbeat as they took off.

[hubwalker1]

As Lila flew over, what was essentially a sinkhole now, she couldn't help but think of her plans that had to be sacrificed to secure their victory. But... Maybe not all was lost. Something to ponder later. For now, she drew close to the rebels on the other side. Or rather, the rebels and High Central soldiers. That would need to be dealt with swiftly. She reconnected to the mental network and started directing her soldiers to capture the stragglers before things got out of hand so they could finally put an end to this.

[lbigreyhound13]

Grey occasionally looked over at Shadow as the other Furies carried her alongside her and Brandt on Tornpike’s dragon. She closed her eyes feeling Brandt’s warmth from his arms around her and heartbeat, and despite the pain in her arm, she wanted nothing more than to just stay there. Her husband had been amazing these past few months…He had always been amazing, but recently, he knew how important this was to her and supported her.

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

“What was that for?” Brandt asked raising an eyebrow.

“Just…I love you so much…” she said with a smile. “You’re just…amazing, and I wanted to make sure you knew that.”

Brandt leaned down and kissed her on the lips. “Not as amazing as you,” he said. “You destroyed High Central.” His smile widened. “I told you…you had a place in this Rebellion…and you’re always going to be needed.”

Grey couldn’t help but realize that Brandt was right. She and Lila brought down High Central together. “I just wish Haddock was here to see all of it,” she said.

“I have no doubt he can,” Brandt said with a smile.

Grey nodded. “I dreamt I saw Lief and my dad,” she said, “after the explosion. They told me that I did it, and Lief even thanked me.”

Brandt nodded and kissed her on the forehead again. “You did it,” he repeated.

“We all did it,” Grey said.

—————-

It wasn’t long before the dragons landed near the medic tents. Grey was able to see that the rebels were detaining the remaining High Central soldiers. That would be easy to deal with. She was just thankful that it was finally over.

“MOM! DAD!” three voices shouted.

Grey looked up as Brandt helped her down and the other Furies helped Shadow to stand, and she smiled when she saw their three children running toward them. She mentally cursed her broken arm, but she leaned in as her family gathered her into a group hug. The Chief closed her eyes as Shadow nuzzled up against their embrace. There was going to be some work to do later, but for now, she was going to enjoy this moment of peace and victory.

[hubwalker1]

Lila landed and began barking orders, both verbally and mentally, using the network to take a headcount and begin any rescues that were needed, getting Jari and the other engineers and nixes to work on that. At some point during the hustle and bustle of making sure everyone was safe, she realized something very important. They were no longer a rebellion. With High Central's destruction and the death and capture of all remaining High Central leaders, it was all over.

[furibotgd]

Indi had finished looking for anyone else left and was glad he'd found Lila, even if the short interaction had been confusing.

He was watching the groups of people in the tents help each other, a little jealous inside. Back in space, he didn't have anyone looking out for him like this. He would stay forever if it meant he could get more friends. As it was, he watched Lila bark orders and have their enemies taken care of, he watched Indigo's dragons volunteer help whenever they could, as tired as they were, everyone helping one another.

He sighed softly inside his helmet, patting the owl sitting next to him. "They sure got it good here, huh."

Indigo was waking up at last, shaking off the nasty bonk to the head as it healed slowly. "Whew. I'm. I'm up here and not down there." He muttered, standing up and taking off more of his armor. With it set aside, he moved to start healing people as best he could, ready enough to help his allies once again. He got worried warbles and snorts from the dragons, but assured them he was fine. He got right to healing wounds and bones, gentle as could be with the wounded.

[lbigreyhound13]

“Maybe I should see if I can—“ Grey tried to say as she stood up.

Brandt however stopped her when he gently placed his hands on her shoulders trying to avoid jostling her injured arm. “You don’t need to do anything but rest,” he said gently pushing her back so that she would lay down on the cot. “If Lila needs anything, she will come get you.”

Grey sighed as she complied and laid back down on the pillow underneath her. Her arm was in a sling. “You’re right,” the Chief said. “You know, I just broke my arm, right?”

“We need a healer to make sure nothing else is injured,” Brandt said raising an eyebrow at his wife. “You would be doing the same for me.”

Grey smiled. “You’re right,” she said. “You know you’ve been amazing these past few months, right? I mean…you’ve always been amazing, but you know…”

Brandt widened his smile and placed a kiss on Grey’s lips. “Hey, I would do anything for you,” he said.

Grey smiled. “Same here,” she said. She then sighed remembering Kezia’s taunts again. “What…what do you think will happen now? I mean…now that everything is over?”

Brandt sighed sadly as he ran a hand through Grey’s hair. He could tell that Kezia’s words…still haunted her, and given everything that had happened, he couldn’t blame her for being unsettled by it. “I wouldn’t necessarily think that everything is over, Grey,” he said. “I mean…yeah, High Central is pretty much gone now, but…it’s a new chapter for Aidorin...a new beginning that you get to be a part of.”

“I hope so,” she whispered.

[furibotgd]

Indigo approached Grey and Brandt, noting the woman's broken arm, and paused only a moment before kneeling next to her. "you don't mind if I... you know. fix it. I've been doing a lot of fixing today." He gave her a small smile. He took her arm very carefully and ran magic through it, getting the bones back together and sealing the nasty break up as gently as he could, though it did still hurt. "Least I can do." Indi was hovering nearby, watching, and holding his helmet under one arm while he fidgeted a little. "I can't heal or I'd be helping more. But hey, at least I snapped those owls back over to our side! You couldn't have done that without yours truly, eh?" He gave Grey a single finger gun. Indi was too busy being focused to respond, just grunting softly. "And I mean, who else has energy laser swords anyway. Clearly I was a great addition to the team. But I guess.... mostly everything is wrapped up, huh." Indi continued. "Man, what a battle."

[foresight-botgd]

Blackout

The crater that was High Central seemed to shrink and fall away into mist as Daybreak frantically climbed to the sky, scattering shrouds of cloud, and her riders felt freezing cold to their west and searing warmth on their sunlit east. Milae focused on breathing, shutting his eyes as the dawn and its blue sky nearly blinded him. He pushed the top of his head into Vox's back, shaking hooves clutching the man's sides. He tried not to think about the dire situation they had left behind, but he thought he might suffocate if he at least did not tug on Vox's arm and rasp out an apology. So he did just that.

"I'm so sorry. For everything."

[scoutvox]

Vox couldn't keep his hood secured on his head, and his one hand was currently gripping for dear life. He heard Milae's words, but took a few additional seconds to truly internalize them.

A fair distance from the chasm was forest; not entirely dissimilar to the ones the scout and goat had been in decades prior to this moment. Vox knew he was somewhere out there - decayed in the earth long ago, and yet, very much still here and breathing in the brisk morning air. It turned his stomach over.

"If I know you how I think I know you, you've already given that apology to me in this life. I'm sure he was glad to hear it."

[foresight-botgd]

Milae took a steadying breath; the answer was comforting. "Also, before we go through--what happened down there? I could barely follow along after everything started flooding. I had to leave the scene to rescue the Bookkeeper and the Warden." He craned his neck to look back at the fallen city again. "I assume Kezia did not succeed in her ritual."

[scoutvox]

Milae felt the man chuckle in his grip; Vox sighed, letting his head dip in reflection.

"No, she certainly didn't, and much to do with your help." The scout adjusted his weight to better shift with the slight rolls of Daybreak. "Liam and I met Verðandi, in the tomb. I'm still not convinced that everything that happened there was real, but if Liam is still in the state he was when we left it, I think you're in for quite a shock."

[foresight-botgd]

"...I beg your pardon?"

[scoutvox]

"I mean, I can't say for sure what happened in there. From what I could understand, Liam had a decent chunk of Nala as a part of him... and then, Verðandi and him just... I don't know how to describe it, really."

He ran the scene back in his mind; the blood of his son, painted out in runes the scout could never hope to understand. The feeling of hopeful helplessness that captured his heart as he watched from a distance. The lack of control he had over his own blood, who became a man in his own right, despite how scared he must have been in those heavy moments.

"It was a ritual, to bind them. As far as I could tell, they became one. That is what brought down Kezia."

[foresight-botgd]

They were finally level with the bottom-most edge of the hole in the sky, and it loomed before them, the size of a lake, a rippling golden web of energy completely obscuring what may lie beyond. As Vox urged Daybreak forward, Milae was shocked into utter silence over Vox's shoulder. Vox had essentially just told him that Milae's lost deity had been rediscovered, spoken to, and then immediately sacrificed in the span of a few hours. He was one of the few people who could fully comprehend the explanation, and he was still completely stunned.

"You--I--is--is Liam--is--"

Milae gripped the man's shoulder. "Vox, what the Hel are we going to find in there?"

[scoutvox]

His gaze didn't break from the gold expanse in front of him as it continued to flood his vision, growing vast in it's size. The panic in his own gut mirrored the frantic voice of the goat behind him, but he couldn't show it.

"I don't know. Liam, if we're lucky."

Vox hadn't considered the state that his son could be in - whether he was wholly himself, or still bound to Norn. Beyond that, there was the mental and emotional component to wrestle with; far too many variables for the scout to feel as if either himself or Milae could have even a remote grasp on the situation.

"If he is here, we should still proceed with caution. We may believe Kezia to be defeated, but I've learned that she doesn't stay down for long if any of her managed to survive."

[foresight-botgd]

Milae said nothing in response, only nodding without Vox seeing him do so. Ice crystals had began to crust across the folds of their clothes, hair and fur, and on the tips of Daybreak's scales, forming something akin to glittering armor across all three of them. The Stormcutter was apprehensive as they drew closer and closer, but her mounted riders managed to coax her onward, getting within a dozen yards of the airborne anomaly. The surface of the portal was slightly concave, twisting like a whirlpool inwards towards its center, and Vox and Milae began to feel a slight suction, nothing uncontrollable, but a testament to the gravity before them nonetheless.

Pulling some rope from the saddlebags, Milae secured first Vox, then himself to the saddle, ready for anything on the other side. Vox's comment about Kezia had him on edge, and he knew that even though this would be the next offshoot over, things could still be wildly different. They began to hear the resonant hum of the passage before them, shivering in their lungs and sinuses, dancing across their extremities. Milae's ears were buzzing, and he pressed even closer to the scout in front of him, using his body as a buffer against the biting wind.

Daybreak's wings flared in front of the portal, and each of her wings beat once in succession. Then she dived forwards, and everything went dark.

Both half-breed and human's stomachs immediately flipped, and it felt as if they were falling for several seconds. The air snapped around them as Daybreak began pounding her wings once more, and the heavy dragon pulled forward into sound and sensation. The wind was howling even harder, dust and ash whipped across their faces, and in many chaotic directions, and the severe smell of burning tar, vegetation, wood, and meat was choking. For several minutes, it still seemed that they had gone blind from the travel.

A brief glimpse of tarnished red, very similar to the blood moon they had just fought under. Then another. But something was off--as they squinted into the light, they realized that the scarlet circle was not the moon--it was the rising sun, shadowed nearly into red oblivion by the haze around them. The more their vision adjusted to the dark, they beheld the silhouettes of what appeared to be miles and miles of rubble from destroyed buildings, jagged spires and peaks mimicking a ghastly imitation of High Central's grand structures. Columns and columns of thick black, gray and white smoke spilled into the air, adding to the unnatural dark fog whipping through the air. The edges of the moat came into focus, and it became clear that the city had been struck with a detonation that threw its contents far past the moat and far into the fields around them. The destruction abruptly dropped off into a black void, smaller than the sinkhole they had left behind in their own timeline, but still clearly in the center of the city, a point of construction that seemed to have similarly failed and caved inwards to the depths below. Though they recognized the sun, the entire scene was as dark as midnight, with the barest trace of rust-colored daylight managing to break through the obfuscation.

Milae covered his snout with his cloak and narrowed his eyes into the blinding smoke, unsure of where to begin. He was used to seeing gruesome alternate realities, but he knew the sights would definitely be hard on Vox. "Let's speak into the network," he near-shouted into the wind, "if it still exists! See if Liam is nearby!"

[scoutvox]

Milae's words were merely echos in Vox's head - there isn't anything the goat could have said to prepare him for what he was seeing. The level of desolation, even when compared to where they had just arrived from, caused his heart to sink. Despite its more recent connotations to him, this was still his first home - the last place he could remember seeing his parents. The atmosphere was bleak and dark; impossibly so. Vox followed Milae's lead, protecting his airway by means of tying his own cloak to obscure his mouth.

"Yeah, good idea." The scout's voice was hushed with no chance of the goat hearing it, as if he were afraid of being heard by anyone else who may be lingering. In all of the scenery to take in around him, he took an extra moment before sending out a message.

Liam, are you here? Can you hear us?

[foresight-botgd]

The words crackled and echoed oddly, the signal broken but still traveling outwards. They caught only various snatches in return, nothing coherent, but clearly panicked and despaired in tone. Milae swung his head right to left, trying to pick up on something, anything. Daybreak dipped lower in an attempt to fly below the haze, leaving behind the soft glow of the portal. A half-shattered tower emerged from the darkness and the dragon barrel-rolled to avoid it, second set of wings clamping over Vox and Milae to keep them from falling. Her lungs were heavy with breath but she continued to forge onward.

Milae's ears suddenly shot up, and he grabbed Vox's arm as he shouted mentally into the void. Liam!! Is that you!?

Who the fuck--Milae!? It was broken, it was ragged and shaky, it was so hard to hear, but Vox couldn't mistake it--that was his son. I heard--is that my dad!? The burning desperation, disbelief and raw hope in his words was chilling to hear.

[demon-in-the-dungeon]

Theos Sotiras [pt 6]

[previous]

Nala and Juro skidded across the ground and crashed into the base of the watchtower, which billowed with dust and wobbled dangerously. She shoved himself upright, drawing on Juro's healing abilities to shimmer across his torso. In either hand, he wielded two blazing, slightly-curved swords, one short, one long, and he crossed them viciously to throw wide showers of sparks at his feet, catching the grass ablaze. "Your age shows only in how your skills have decayed," she snarled, Juro's right eye strobing between sky and fire. With each flash of color, she threw long javelins of her essence through Kalmah's dregs, trying to draw out identity, memory, personality, anything she could get her claws on. "Who sent you on a lowly errand boy's mission to Midgard, only to see you fail at my hands?"

[dario-the-deer]

Patches of blood and ichor stained in streaks across Dario's face; his pilot shooting a malicious grin at Juro as they kept their distance. Their hands were visibly burned, but continued to glow a bright spectrum of reds and golds. Kalmah was using a substantial amount of magick to keep the demon at bay, both physically and mentally - Nala refused to yield, but neither would they.

"A bold choice of words from the glorified house-pet of the Rebellion, hm?" Dario's form stepped forward, hooves heavy against the earth below. "A demon of your stature, reduced to little more than a tired commodity of the weak mortals you claim to protect."

The stag launched forward with almost impossible speed, shouting an incantation that bathed his arms in gold as he caught them against the blades raised by Juro in self defense. The surrounding flames licked at both adversaries, but neither seemed particularly alarmed. Dario attempted to sweep Juro's right leg, but Nala was too quick - her weight shifted, causing Kalmah to stumble into a roll before quickly returning to their feet.

"I exist in this plane to accomplish matters that do not pertain to you. I would advise you not meddle where you aren't welcome, and will not repeat myself a second time."

[demon-in-the-dungeon]

"You may have to. Unfortunately for you, I am famously hard of hearing."

Nala rushed in, and instead of going to pierce with blades, she crossed them behind Dario's knee and hiked them up towards her, flipping him to the ground. She stepped on his throat to follow through with the slam and gathered her entire mind in a blinding spotlight, trying to shine through to Dario and see if he still resided in his own body.

"I will not allow either of us to leave this place until you concede your mission," she growled. "Rest assured I have the means to do so. Will you fight here until they both starve?"

[dario-the-deer]

Kalmah was not well versed in combat against demons; their time as a Lesser God was spent as a pacifist in service to the divine above them. Despite this, they could sense the intrusion of Nala into the psyche in which they inhabited, straining to push her away.

"Be it the boy or the stag - my objective is accomplished once last blood is drawn from either."

Dario's hands gripped tightly at the limb suppressing his airway; lifting enough to pull air into their lungs, Kalmah choked out an incantation, emitting a strong blast from their core and knocking back Juro. In the concentration required for this magick, Kalmah's mental leash on Dario wained, allowing a single message to relay into Nala's consciousness.

Kill me. Kill us both, please. Tell Milae I'm-

The silence was abrupt; a low hum was concurrent to the sound of rumbling laughter in Juro's head.

"Dramatic. At least give this vessel of yours a chance to shine, hmm, Hjort?"

Another incantation quickly followed, unleashing a torrent of water from Dario's palms. The surrounding grass was extinguished and thoroughly soaked, preventing surrounding flame from further hindering either of the combatants. Assuming a protective stance, Kalmah wiped away a fresh trail of ichor from beneath their nose; the pull of magick from their host was beginning to show wear.

"I am no stranger to a war of attrition. I would sooner let the stag rot before I kneel."

[demon-in-the-dungeon]

It was like another bond snapped, another chain loosed. Juro stumbled to his feet, blood from an already-healing cut lip running down his throat. A sensation like hands missing each other by only a finger's brush, projected as far into Dario's subconscious as Nala could manage. A jolt of fury, indignation, heartbreak, desperation, all at hearing Dario's grim plea.

"We have won," the Warden seethed through the steam, blades shaking with adrenaline. "And you hate that. The gods themselves turned their backs on you. You have dragged everyone around you into a spiral of spite, a sunk cost you will never be able to afford. And you will not bring us any further down with you. I am through with you. I have WON, you envious, cheating, blasphemous bitch. You will LET ME WIN!!!"

The sound of two marble walls crashing together drowned out the sounds of alarm from the Rebellion, along with a groan of wordless, ancient language. Kalmah went to take another step and realized that white stone was emanating from beneath Juro's boots, flooding across the grass and petrifying Dario's hooves to the ground, climbing rapidly up his legs. Juro had a hand outstretched, fingers hooked, and clouds of sunlit, sandy dust were falling from his palm and scattering on the breeze. His eyes were fixed in an intense glare. The same power from before was grinding through the air, solidifying the blades of grass, the loose bricks of the watchtower, localized to the hill and focused on the fight.

[dario-the-deer]

Their next move had to be calculated and careful; any perceived weakness would open Kalmah up to an onslaught they weren't convinced they could take. Even with the magick this half-breed was capable of harnessing, a single misstep would be grave. The only move that could guarantee any forward progress was a hostage situation - not ideal, but other options were far and few between with time to decide growing short. Feeling the mobility in their legs lessen by the second, Dario's eyes shut tightly.

Buy us time.

--

Light flooded in from every direction. He'd been suspended in something, he couldn't possibly know what; it was different than before. His consciousness wasn't, but was. It was in a space beyond, but still present. Eternity and immediacy affected the massive, impossibly small point of energy that could barely be considered a living entity, but he was there, and then he wasn't. Within a fraction of a moment, he was overwhelmingly, painfully present in his own body.

Dario couldn't move his legs.

The stag frantically spun his head around, desperate to make contact with Milae, but could see none other than Juro before him. His mouth stung with the mixture of the known and unknown, and he could do little but scream with his voice as clear as shattered glass.

"Don't let them back in, please!" The washed stone progressed further, encroaching quickly up Dario's hips and beginning to overtake his torso. "Kill me, entomb me, do what you have to!"

[demon-in-the-dungeon]

His voice echoed across the stone hill, in sharp contrast to the calm breeze and the birdsong of a new day. Juro's face twisted with sadness, and he carefully stepped forward, continuing to channel Neual's power while reaching out with another hand and cupping his face. The change in Nala's aura was shocking compared to her outburst. She was so relieved that Kalmah had released their grip, but it wasn't fair to leave Dario in their place to suffer their punishment. And yet, she had little choice. It won't be long, young one. I'm so sorry. She kissed his forehead and suffused it with a wave of reassurance and comfort, trying to make it last through whatever headspace he would be in when the stone sealed him in. He could sense how exhausted she was, and how iron-wrought her will continued to be despite everything the Rebellion had just been through. We will fix this, I swear it.

[dario-the-deer]

"And if you can't..."

The stag closed his mouth, clenched jaw wavering slightly as a single set of tears fell from his eyes. There was no need to speak the rest of the thought aloud; Nala knew.

For a second time, Dario Hjort's form was encased in stone as he watched his vision turn black - and much like before, he began to count.

One... two... three...

[hubwalker1]

Rumble Down Under [pt 10]

[X]

The first thought Lila had, was that she was alive. It surprised her, even having such a thought. She was almost positive that was the end for her. Yet as she sat up and looked around, she was certain that she still drew breath on Aidorin's soil. She was surprised that she seemed to come out of everything without a scratch. Maybe a bit of soreness, but no real pain.

Looking around she saw that she was completely alone. She was near the edge of what was once High Central's north-western bridge and she could see shapes moving across the way, soldiers moving and dragons flying above, but for once in a long time, she turned her eyes to the left, to the rising sun.

It felt like years since she just sat down, and she had the best seat in the house. Besides, she trusted Grey could lead in her absence for a few minutes. As she sat in this field of lavender, she watched as a pair of loons landed in the water and she felt at peace, for the first time in a long, long time.

[lbigreyhound13]

Brandt looked over as he and Tornpike flew over the crater on a dragon with other dragon riders in tow. The city was completely gone...almost as if it was never there to begin with, and there was no sign of Shadow, Grey, or Lila. He prayed to any god who was still out there that they were all still alive.

"Grey! Lila!" Brandt called out at the top of his lungs. "Shadow! Where are you?!"

"Grey...please...answer me..." he said through the network. "Please..."

--------

Shadow slowly opened her eyes as her ear flaps twitched listening for anything to indicate that she was still in danger. When she heard silence...with the exception of the birds singing, she slowly lifted up her head. She had a few cuts and scrapes from the explosion, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed.

The Night Fury crooned as she looked around trying to figure out where they were. She paused when she remembered...they...Grey! Shadow looked to see that Grey was not on her saddle...She looked around only to stop when she heard a groaning from beside her, so she looked down realizing that there was something...or someone in her arms. She slowly opened her legs...and sure enough...there was Grey.

Shadow remembered. As soon as she, Grey, and Lila detonated the core...they made an attempt to escape. Shadow flew with all her might as Grey urged her to go faster, and there was a loud boom behind them. The explosion sent Grey flying from her saddle, and Shadow wasted no time in flying after her. She managed to grab onto Grey shielding her as much as she could before they met the hard ground below.

The Night Fury crooned when she saw Grey slowly opening her eyes. She could smell blood on her sister as she gently nudged her cheek and blowing on her dust-filled brown hair. She could see that her left arm was bent at an odd angle and that Grey was full of cuts and dust.

"Mmm..." Grey groaned again.

Shadow crooned staring at the Chief urging for her to wake up.

"Sh-Shadow...?" Grey said groggily.

The Night Fury warbled nuzzling her cheek.

Grey chuckled. "Good...girl..." she said. She moved to sit up but quickly fell back wincing in pain.

[furibotgd]

"Aha!" Indi's voice came clearly through the beacons, still connected to his system. "I seem to have found a sign of life!"

He landed next to Grey and Shadow, looking down at them both with a thoughtful hum. "Ah, you're both alive, that's great. Just hold there, I'll get someone at your location. I still have to find the other lady, but for now,"

He shot back up, waved at the dragons who'd sent him to look for the missing rebels, and then soon brought a trio of them down to Grey and Shadow. The three dragons immediately began trying to help get the chief and her friend to safety.

Indi went back to scanning and finally spotted Lila, moving over to land beside her. "Found you! Alright! I'll wave someone over here for you if you need help at all, ma'am."

[hubwalker1]

Lila sighed as she stood up and brushed herself off as she saw Indi approaching. It seemed her brief respite was over. "I'm fine." She says as she jumped off the edge and began to fly back towards the rebels.

[lbigreyhound13]

Pain racked through the Chief's body as a few of Indigo's Night Furies helped her and Shadow to stand up. It was not easy with her left arm being in so much pain, and she was unsteady when she finally stood on her feet holding her left arm in place. She looked and smiled when she saw that Shadow was assisted to stand up as well, and then out of the corner of her eye, she saw it.

When she got a good look, she gasped. The city of High Central was gone...all the buildings...Darien's tower...there was no sign of it. All that was left was a hole. It was all gone. They really did it. After all these years...High Central was reduced to nothing but dust. She couldn't help but smile feeling a weight being lifted off her shoulders.

"We did it, Sir..." she whispered under her breath. "Gods...I...I wish you were here to see it." She was jolted out of her thoughts when Shadow nudged her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at her beloved Night Fury smiling.

Shadow nuzzled her cheek as Grey leaned into her touch. "We really did it, girl," she said.

"GREY!! GREY!!" a voice...a very familiar voice shouted jolting both Grey and Shadow out of their moment.

Grey turned to look and smiled when she saw her husband and Tornpike landing a dragon not too far from where they stood. "BRANDT!!" she shouted as she ran over to him with Shadow in tow.

"GREY!!" Brandt shouted as he ran over to her. He made a mental note of the fact that she was holding her left arm, so he gently gripped her shoulders before hugging her closely with tears streaming down his face. "You're alive... My love...you're alive. "

"I told you I would come back to you..." Grey said burying her face into his shoulder with her tears streaming down her face. She sniffled. "We did it...Brandt, we did it."

"We did it," Brandt repeated. He pulled away slightly to look her in the eye, and then he kissed her on the lips. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too...so...so much," Grey whispered against his lips. This man had been with her through thick and thin for so many years, especially for the past few years. She wanted to never be separated from him or their children ever again...for any reason.

"We should get back," Brandt said leaning his forehead against hers as his eyes darted to her arm and scanned her body.

Grey nodded.

Without a second thought, Brandt directed Indigo's Night Furies to help Shadow back to the rebels knowing that neither of them should be trying to fly while he picked up his wife bridal style and carried her back to Tornpike's dragon.

Grey leaned her head against his chest...taking in his warmth and his heartbeat as they took off.

[hubwalker1]

As Lila flew over, what was essentially a sinkhole now, she couldn't help but think of her plans that had to be sacrificed to secure their victory. But... Maybe not all was lost. Something to ponder later. For now, she drew close to the rebels on the other side. Or rather, the rebels and High Central soldiers. That would need to be dealt with swiftly. She reconnected to the mental network and started directing her soldiers to capture the stragglers before things got out of hand so they could finally put an end to this.

[lbigreyhound13]

Grey occasionally looked over at Shadow as the other Furies carried her alongside her and Brandt on Tornpike’s dragon. She closed her eyes feeling Brandt’s warmth from his arms around her and heartbeat, and despite the pain in her arm, she wanted nothing more than to just stay there. Her husband had been amazing these past few months…He had always been amazing, but recently, he knew how important this was to her and supported her.

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

“What was that for?” Brandt asked raising an eyebrow.

“Just…I love you so much…” she said with a smile. “You’re just…amazing, and I wanted to make sure you knew that.”

Brandt leaned down and kissed her on the lips. “Not as amazing as you,” he said. “You destroyed High Central.” His smile widened. “I told you…you had a place in this Rebellion…and you’re always going to be needed.”

Grey couldn’t help but realize that Brandt was right. She and Lila brought down High Central together. “I just wish Haddock was here to see all of it,” she said.

“I have no doubt he can,” Brandt said with a smile.

Grey nodded. “I dreamt I saw Lief and my dad,” she said, “after the explosion. They told me that I did it, and Lief even thanked me.”

Brandt nodded and kissed her on the forehead again. “You did it,” he repeated.

“We all did it,” Grey said.

—————-

It wasn’t long before the dragons landed near the medic tents. Grey was able to see that the rebels were detaining the remaining High Central soldiers. That would be easy to deal with. She was just thankful that it was finally over.

“MOM! DAD!” three voices shouted.

Grey looked up as Brandt helped her down and the other Furies helped Shadow to stand, and she smiled when she saw their three children running toward them. She mentally cursed her broken arm, but she leaned in as her family gathered her into a group hug. The Chief closed her eyes as Shadow nuzzled up against their embrace. There was going to be some work to do later, but for now, she was going to enjoy this moment of peace and victory.

[hubwalker1]

Lila landed and began barking orders, both verbally and mentally, using the network to take a headcount and begin any rescues that were needed, getting Jari and the other engineers and nixes to work on that. At some point during the hustle and bustle of making sure everyone was safe, she realized something very important. They were no longer a rebellion. With High Central's destruction and the death and capture of all remaining High Central leaders, it was all over.

[furibotgd]

Indi had finished looking for anyone else left and was glad he'd found Lila, even if the short interaction had been confusing.

He was watching the groups of people in the tents help each other, a little jealous inside. Back in space, he didn't have anyone looking out for him like this. He would stay forever if it meant he could get more friends. As it was, he watched Lila bark orders and have their enemies taken care of, he watched Indigo's dragons volunteer help whenever they could, as tired as they were, everyone helping one another.

He sighed softly inside his helmet, patting the owl sitting next to him. "They sure got it good here, huh."

Indigo was waking up at last, shaking off the nasty bonk to the head as it healed slowly. "Whew. I'm. I'm up here and not down there." He muttered, standing up and taking off more of his armor. With it set aside, he moved to start healing people as best he could, ready enough to help his allies once again. He got worried warbles and snorts from the dragons, but assured them he was fine. He got right to healing wounds and bones, gentle as could be with the wounded.

[hubwalker1]

Rumble Down Under [pt 10]

[X]

The first thought Lila had, was that she was alive. It surprised her, even having such a thought. She was almost positive that was the end for her. Yet as she sat up and looked around, she was certain that she still drew breath on Aidorin's soil. She was surprised that she seemed to come out of everything without a scratch. Maybe a bit of soreness, but no real pain.

Looking around she saw that she was completely alone. She was near the edge of what was once High Central's north-western bridge and she could see shapes moving across the way, soldiers moving and dragons flying above, but for once in a long time, she turned her eyes to the left, to the rising sun.

It felt like years since she just sat down, and she had the best seat in the house. Besides, she trusted Grey could lead in her absence for a few minutes. As she sat in this field of lavender, she watched as a pair of loons landed in the water and she felt at peace, for the first time in a long, long time.

[lbigreyhound13]

Brandt looked over as he and Tornpike flew over the crater on a dragon with other dragon riders in tow. The city was completely gone...almost as if it was never there to begin with, and there was no sign of Shadow, Grey, or Lila. He prayed to any god who was still out there that they were all still alive.

"Grey! Lila!" Brandt called out at the top of his lungs. "Shadow! Where are you?!"

"Grey...please...answer me..." he said through the network. "Please..."

--------

Shadow slowly opened her eyes as her ear flaps twitched listening for anything to indicate that she was still in danger. When she heard silence...with the exception of the birds singing, she slowly lifted up her head. She had a few cuts and scrapes from the explosion, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed.

The Night Fury crooned as she looked around trying to figure out where they were. She paused when she remembered...they...Grey! Shadow looked to see that Grey was not on her saddle...She looked around only to stop when she heard a groaning from beside her, so she looked down realizing that there was something...or someone in her arms. She slowly opened her legs...and sure enough...there was Grey.

Shadow remembered. As soon as she, Grey, and Lila detonated the core...they made an attempt to escape. Shadow flew with all her might as Grey urged her to go faster, and there was a loud boom behind them. The explosion sent Grey flying from her saddle, and Shadow wasted no time in flying after her. She managed to grab onto Grey shielding her as much as she could before they met the hard ground below.

The Night Fury crooned when she saw Grey slowly opening her eyes. She could smell blood on her sister as she gently nudged her cheek and blowing on her dust-filled brown hair. She could see that her left arm was bent at an odd angle and that Grey was full of cuts and dust.

"Mmm..." Grey groaned again.

Shadow crooned staring at the Chief urging for her to wake up.

"Sh-Shadow...?" Grey said groggily.

The Night Fury warbled nuzzling her cheek.

Grey chuckled. "Good...girl..." she said. She moved to sit up but quickly fell back wincing in pain.

[furibotgd]

"Aha!" Indi's voice came clearly through the beacons, still connected to his system. "I seem to have found a sign of life!"

He landed next to Grey and Shadow, looking down at them both with a thoughtful hum. "Ah, you're both alive, that's great. Just hold there, I'll get someone at your location. I still have to find the other lady, but for now,"

He shot back up, waved at the dragons who'd sent him to look for the missing rebels, and then soon brought a trio of them down to Grey and Shadow. The three dragons immediately began trying to help get the chief and her friend to safety.

Indi went back to scanning and finally spotted Lila, moving over to land beside her. "Found you! Alright! I'll wave someone over here for you if you need help at all, ma'am."