d r a g o n h e a r t

"We need dreams to sustain us. What are yours?"

[dragonlordhaar]

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger ll Cherche & Haar

[dragonlordhaar]

Haar gave an as always unenthused glance around at all the wary people. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to already.

He followed Cherche, sitting down nearby, taking his bag off his shoulder “Bread will do. I still have some dried meat of my own. If you make the soup I’ll probably have a bowl with you and whoever else comes to eat it…Seem like a pretty strong bunch here. What do you all do exactly again?”

[motherofwyverns]

Cherche cut off a heel of bread and tossed it to Haar before starting a small cookfire; it took several tries before the kindling finally caught.

She mulled over the answer to his question as she began prepping the ingredients, wondering how much she could tell a stranger without their whole mission seeming completely fantastical.

"... We are attempting to halt the resurrection of the Fell Dragon Grima." A pause. "The Shepherds comprise of very different people from very different paths, but we all have a common goal, and that is peace."

[ahexofastrongmage]

Head in the Clouds ll Henry & Cherche

[ahexofastrongmage]

Henry was still clinging to Cherche after the fall, his arms shaking still as they stabilized.

"He..he….sorry. Wasn’t "hold on" and "descent" enough?..I promise."  He finally loosened his grip on Cherche’s waist, glancing down at Minerva then at the ground below 

[motherofwyverns]

At last Minerva touched down, folding her wings neatly so that her passengers could slide off. Cherche gave a little sigh as her feet landed on solid ground; she found herself oddly wistful for that weightless feeling Henry had given her for just a few minutes.

She gave him a sincere smile. "Thank you," Cherche said, cheeks aglow, "Today was..." She searched for the right word. "...magical."

[dragonlordhaar]

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger ll Cherche & Haar

[dragonlordhaar]

"It may be a challenge.." He looked around, unphased by the riders grand attempt at an introduction "Just like nearly every other war encampment..just smaller.." He looked over at Cherche with a shrug "Yeah. I could eat. What do you have." He gave a look back off to his dragon before moving closer to Cherche

[motherofwyverns]

"Oh, the usual cuisine for a party at war," Cherche said as she led Haar to the mess tent. Everyone they passed by gave the stranger wary looks but Cherche was unfazed.

"There's bread, fruit, vegetables, dried meat..." She looked down at the basket that she still held. "I was going to put these pine nuts in a soup. Would you like some?"

[ahexofastrongmage]

Head in the Clouds ll Henry & Cherche

[ahexofastrongmage]

"Right! Um…hang on!" He held on tightly to Cherche, muttering quietly. Unlike the nice easy gradual rise that the spell granted them to get up here, there was no way that Henry knew to do the same in removing the spell. As the spell was removed the trio plummeted back down through the clouds, entirely at the mercy of gravity and natural forces once again. Henry shouted, burying his head against Cherche’s back, entirely relying on the rider to take it from there.

[motherofwyverns]

Cherche let out a startled cry as suddenly weight returned to them and they shot right through the clouds, back towards the earth. Minerva roared and spiraled out of control for several seconds until Cherche yanked on the reins, giving a strained grunt.

Minerva's wings opened and instantly their fall stopped; one again they were lazily flying through the air.

Letting out a shaky breath, Cherche placed a hand on her chest in an attempt to calm her fluttering heart. "Please, Henry, promise me you will give warning next time..."

[motherofwyverns]

If You Want to Know Me, I'm a War || Gerome & Cherche

Cherche sat under a tree, passing a sewing needle back and forth through a piece of scrap cloth she had found. Minerva dozed, her scaled body curved around the tree; lazy coils of smoke rose from the wyvern's nostrils and her rider couldn't help but smile at the sight.

After securing the final stitches, Cherche looked down at her hands to see the finished product - a tiny little stuffed doll of black cloth, in the vague shape of a wyvern. It was crude if anything, but held some likeness to her dear Mineyvykins. 

Feeling a tug of maternal emotion in her chest, Cherche realized that she would have sewn such toys for her own child. And she did have a child - a brooding, masked wyvern rider who was in truth closer to a man than a boy. A child from another timeline, who thus far had proven to be battling his own demons and had no want for familial affection.

Cherche stared across camp at the training grounds, where she could see the aforementioned son sparring with some of the other split-timeline children. Even from a distance she had no trouble making out his tall form and red hair, accentuated by the sharp mask that covered a third of his face.

"...Gerome," Cherche said aloud, sighing just a little.

Though it would have been impossible for him to have heard her at this distance, Gerome happened to look up and they met eyes for a brief moment. Cherche dared to give a warm smile but turned back to her work, setting aside the doll she had made and moving on to the pile of clothes that needed mending.

[ahexofastrongmage]

Head in the Clouds ll Henry & Cherche

[ahexofastrongmage]

"Descent?.." The tone of his voice heavily suggested that the sorcerer didnt actually know how to get back down, but soon his smile was back on his.

"Well if you say so! Lets get down then!.." He skated back along the clouds, sitting on Minerva again waiting

[motherofwyverns]

Unaware of Henry's apprehensions, Cherche followed and got into place in Minerva's saddle. The wyverns attempted to gain control of herself again and beat her wings but remained very much in place, still floating.

"Well, take us back down! I'm eager to start dinner preparations."

[dragonlordhaar]

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger ll Cherche & Haar

[dragonlordhaar]

"No problem." He turned, giving his partner a nod to which the large dragon responded by laying down where it stood. He patted his snout before continuing toward camp

"I don’t know, maybe I am." He yawned, shrugging a little "I just say whats on my mind. But I am serious about the job offer. I mean if you two are apt enough fliers."

[motherofwyverns]

Cherche couldn't help but take the bait. "Is that a challenge? Minerva might be much smaller than your partner, but just calling us 'apt flyers' is quite the understatement."

They stopped in the center of the camp and Cherche stretched her arms out as though presenting their surroundings. "Well, welcome to the Shepherds, warriors of Ylisse and seekers of peace. Would you like anything to eat?"

[ahexofastrongmage]

Head in the Clouds ll Henry & Cherche

[ahexofastrongmage]

"Yeah, not much to eat really. Oh well you could eat clouds! Although I’m not sure how filling they are. I guess we could try to eat them though." He hummed a little, rubbing his head against Cherche’s head a little "If you got cold though I could give you my cape? Not sure how much it would help though~"

[motherofwyverns]

Unable to help herself, Cherche giggled. "My, you certainly are a gentleman." She gave a long sigh before lifting a hand to her head. "As beautiful as it is up here, I must say that I'm getting a tad lightheaded... Perhaps it's time we made our descent back to the earth."

Cherche smiled at Henry, hoping he knew how much this meant to her.

[dragonlordhaar]

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger ll Cherche & Haar

[dragonlordhaar]

Haar looked over, pausing before giving Cherche a small smile

"You’re a little cute for a delivery girl..but sure if you ever get tired of the war scene its a pretty nice way to make a living..If you’re ever looking to get out of this place, I could always use another hand back in Tellius"

[motherofwyverns]

Cherche fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Tell me, are you this forward with every woman you meet or am I an exception?"

As they neared the camp Cherche paused. "Ah, I'm going to ask that your partner stay here... A dragon casually walking through might cause a bit of damage. But Minervykins can keep him company!"

The wyvern blew out a puff of smoke and shook out her wings, eyeing the dragon with a touch of suspicion.

[dragonlordhaar]

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger ll Cherche & Haar

[dragonlordhaar]

"It’s fine.." he said with a yawn, not looking at her "You get tired of taking orders from people who don’t deserve to live, and only want to take orders from a man who didn’t deserve to die…" he shrugged "Plus its great money. I’m the only one with a dragon courier service, so its a great market since I can get things faster and farther than any hooved fleabag"

[motherofwyverns]

Cherche stared at the path in front of her, silent as Haar spoke. He sounded like he held a thousand stories in his heart, but it was certainly not the place or time to broach those subjects. She breathed a tiny sigh of relief when his words lightened again, and she smiled. 

"Well, it certainly seems like good business! Perhaps I should start a wyvern-mail service." Cherche laughed a little at the idea of going from a Wyvern Rider to a delivery girl.

[ahexofastrongmage]

Head in the Clouds ll Henry & Cherche

[ahexofastrongmage]

Henry paused and placed a hand on his cheek. He stayed that way a few moments before letting loose a sea of giggles, his cheeks red.

"Heehee well if you say so~ heeheehee"

He held Cherche’s hand a little tighter, looking around as he continued to giggle

[motherofwyverns]

Cherche gave a sigh of contentment, daring to take a few steps; she delighted in the buoyant feeling her body had. 

Minerva gave a loud cry, clearly still unsettled by the feeling of weightlessness. She gave a few flaps of her wings but remained fairly in place - Cherche laughed a little and gave the wyvern a placating stroke on the snout.

"Shh, there there, girl, you're fine."

Cherche felt Henry's grip on her hand tighten and she dared to lean her head against his shoulder. "I wish I could stay up here forever," she said quietly, "Though I suppose I would get hungry. And it's most likely cold up here at night."

[dragonlordhaar]

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger ll Cherche & Haar

[dragonlordhaar]

"Cherche and Minerva..alright." He yawned looking at his dragon before shrugging "That sounds just fine, if you will have me..Some time to get my bearings will be all I need…my delivery will be late but it does me no good running off when I don’t know where I’m going."

[motherofwyverns]

The somewhat odd group started making their way back to the Shepherds' camp, dragon and wyvern making a combined racket amongst the foliage.

Cherche glanced at Haar from the corner of her eye, trying to get a gauge of his character. Was he always so tired-looking? Or was that just a part of his personality?

"Forgive me for being forward, but... how does one go from being a Dragon Lord to a delivery man?"

[ahexofastrongmage]

Head in the Clouds ll Henry & Cherche

[ahexofastrongmage]

Henry laughed when Cherche clung to him.  He looked up at her as she looked around, holding her hand with both of his 

"So you like it?? You do right?"

[motherofwyverns]

"Like it? Oh, Henry, I love it." Here they were, floating above the clouds, seeing a view that very few had ever seen before. And he was asking if she liked it.

Steeling herself, Cherche pulled herself closer to Henry and without hesitating enough to change her mind, quickly kissed him on the cheek.

[dragonlordhaar]

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger ll Cherche & Haar

[dragonlordhaar]

Haar watched Cherche as she briefly explained where he was and giving a small bored shrug shook the rider’s hand “Haar. Former Dragon Lord I guess, full time delivery man..” He lightly bonked his fist down on the nose of his dragon “This is my partner.” He glanced at the dragon “Which thank you for getting us so lost we ended up in another world.”

His dragon glanced at him, shoving Haar a little with his head with a small huff. The shove pushed the dragon lord over a step and he stepped back leaning against his head again “Ylisse huh.  All the girls here as pretty as you are or did I just get the pleasure of my welcome wagon being the cutest sheep herder in the land.”

[motherofwyverns]

A bit taken aback by the sudden compliment, Cherche cleared her throat. Minerva, sensing her rider's discomfort, bumped her nose against Cherche's back and gave a low, comforting grumble.

"A-Ah, well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet you, Haar and... your partner. This is Minerva." The wyvern let another casual puff of smoke rise from her nostrils as though in greeting.

After a short pause, Cherche gathered up the basket of pine nuts she had been collecting. "Well, this has been a very nice conversation, but I must get back to camp. You... you are welcome to join me. We have food and lodging, and the woods are not the safest place to be these days."

Briefly she wondered what the Shepherds would think of her bringing a stranger back to camp - a stranger with a dragon, no less.

[ahexofastrongmage]

Head in the Clouds ll Henry & Cherche

[ahexofastrongmage]

Henry jumped a little, looking down at Cherche’s hand holding onto his. He smiled and held onto hers in return, staying in the moment for a few peaceful seconds. It sure was nice but there was a lot more excitement to be had “Here come on!” Still holding tightly onto Cherche’s hand he flung himself from the wyverns back, pulling the rider down along with him as they plummet- -floated up alongside Minerva.  Rather than falling to their death’s the pair simply continued up as well, the trio reaching and piercing the ceiling of white clouds, continuing up through the mass before finally stopping their ascent atop the first cloud.

The clouds of course were not solid and allowed no place to really stand, so rather they floated just above them, still suspended by Henry’s magic. Henry shook around a little, shaking the water droplets from their trip through the cloud off of him as he looked around at the vast white lumpy landscape of their destination.

[motherofwyverns]

When Henry pulled her from the saddle Cherche gave a startled cry, attaching herself to him by wrapping her arms around his torso and scrunching her eyes shut. But when she realized that they weren't plummeting towards imminent death and instead leisurely floating upwards, she dared open her eyes and loosen her half-hug half-chokehold on the mage. 

They rose through the clouds and Cherche couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl as she waved her hands through the misty material. She was childishly disappointed that they weren't as fluffy as they appeared, but as they came to rest above the clouds she gave a sigh of contentment. Henry, Minerva, and herself were the only living beings in sight amidst a gorgeous landscape of white; above them the bright blue sky looked simultaneously close and far away.

"Oh..." Cherche breathed, "It's so beautiful up here."

[dragonlordhaar]

You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger ll Cherche & Haar

[dragonlordhaar]

"Well. I’m from Begnion, but I’m living in Daein now. Talrega more specifically…Hm?..What do you mean..They’re pretty standard for Dracoknights….Lords in my case."

His dragon sighed out smoke to follow Minerva. The heavier mass of smoke swirled thick around everyone’s feet.

[motherofwyverns]

Cherche gave the man an odd look. "There's nowhere called Begnion in Ylisse..." And then something clicked. With so much crossover occurring between timelines, perhaps this stranger was...

Cherche cleared her throat, wondering how to phrase this. "You will most likely think me insane, but... I do not believe you are from this world. That is, this timeline at least." She paused. "Ah-- Where are my manners. My name is Cherche, Wyvern Rider for the Shepherds of Ylisse."

She stuck her hand out, and while her slight frame remained poised her cheeks tinged the slightest bit red.

[motherofwyverns]

Happy Valentines Day Babe