The Legend of Kyathro

Windancer · **Posted:** Sat Dec 24, 2011 10:31 pm

Kasha immediatly felt overwhelming concern for her friend. "Other than trying to hurt her physically, you've gone an done severe damage emotionally as well!" she growled, eyes blazing. "You may call us monsters, beasts, whatever. But if you think about it long enough, I think you'll see who the real monster is." Still keeping her staff pressed firmly against his throat, just enough to hold him in place without totally cutting off his air supply, she crouched down next to Lyllii, worry shining from her amber eyes.

She placed a gentle hand on her shaking shoulders. "Lyllii...you have to calm down. That's probably the last thing you feel like doing, but you have to. I-I understand how you feel," Kasha added, voice dropping down to a lower volume. "At first...I was haunted by what I did in battle. Images lingered in my mind, tormenting me, turning my life into a waking nightmare. It was so hard, but I had to defend myself. And that's just it. I realized I can feel bad for a little while, but if what I did was in self-defense or to protect someone else, my deeds are justified by protecting good people from harm."

The anthro's voice dropped further. "Did I feel guilty? Yes. I still do. I...I've done some things I'm not proud of, caught up in the heat of the moment. But I can't live with the guilt, and my actions were justified. So I shove it into the back of my mind, pushing it away constantly. I try not to kill...but sometimes things are necessary for others' survival and safety. Lylli...the fact that you didn't kill him, even in the heat of battle, even though you had perfect reasons to do so...that shows your incredible strength. The fact is, you didn't kill him. In fact, you didn't even really harm him, apart from the slight cold he might get from being wet. Don't feel guilty for something you almost did. You didn't do it, and that's what matters. Okay?"

Anaquine · **Posted:** Sun Dec 25, 2011 1:47 pm

Lyllii heaved a shaky sigh, forcing her emotions back down within her chest were they belonged. Now was not the time to examine them, so pressing forward was her only alternative. She groped for her staff, leaning against it wearily as she pulled herself to her feet. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

"Thanks, Kasha," she murmured in the anthro's ear. "Hearing it from you, it means a lot."

She then turned her attention to the wretch spralled across the ground. Digging her toe against the ground, Lyllii forced the vines to recede back into the earth, a mild look of strain on her otherwise expressionless face. She raised her staff until it was parallel with the ground, pointing it at the man. "Get out. Consider yourself lucky. If we meet again on a battlefield, I will not be so merciful," she said in a strange sense of calm that she subconsciously couldn't identify.

The man wasted no time. His bonds now released, he scrambled backwards on the flat of his hands and feet, away from Kasha's staff, before tripping in his haste as he fled.

Windancer · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:18 am

Kasha watched the man run, not bothering to sheathe her staff, holding it loosely in her hand instead. She glanced at her friend as the man's silhoutte disappeared, a mere smudge in the background now. Lylli appeared calm, devoid of emotion. But Kasha knew better - the skin around the nymph's eyes was slightly tensed, faint crinkles barely visible near the corner. The emotions weren't gone, merely buried underneath the surface.

Kasha doubted the emotion would fully disappear. It may, but...it was so hard to forget things like that. The anthro shivered as memories from that one awful battle threatened to flood her mind. Those few moments would haunt her until her dying day, perhaps into whatever lied beyond the grave as well. Shaking off the lingering, clinging past, she turned to face the future instead.

She gently placed a hand on Lylli's shoulder, trying to pull her out of her thoughts. The mind could be a scary place if left unwatched. "Come on, " she said softly. "Maiya's expecting to make soup, and we don't have any water anymore."

Anaquine · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:48 am

Lyllii jumped slightly, jostled slightly out of the nether world between thoughts and consciousness; the place she often visited when she spaced out or when left alone. "Hmm? Oh, the water, right; I had nearly forgotten. Thank you," she said, her voice that same soft tone as before.

She slowly bent over and retrieved the pot, grasping a handle loosely before dipping it back into the stream, filling it about half way again. Lyllii straightened, both hands clamped firmly around the handles, before leaning back slightly to relieve the stress from her back.

"Let's go back. And Kasha, um, can we just tell Maiya that I tripped or something? She's bound to have heard me scream, but...there's just a certain innocence about her I don't want to spoil, you know? And, I think you should know just what exactly I am; I'll tell you my story after the others have gone to sleep. Sespyn already knows it...or at least part of it; I left him to fill in certain places for himself. And Maiya and Aaron...well, I want to remain as just the stubborn and somewhat flighty girl to them...at least for now."

Windancer · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 9:20 pm

Kasha's eyes had a look in them that had never appeared before. A curious, light feeling flitted through her. She had been raised pretty much alone. She had never really trusted others, remaining in solitude rather than befriending or even really communicating with others. She hadn't been anti-social, merely...afraid, in a way. To be trusted by someone with what was obviously a big deal to Lyllii...it was a pivotal moment in the anthro's life.

Kasha nodded. "I won't tell. And Lyllii...I believe you asked me before to tell you a story...my story. You're one of the few people, maybe the only one, that I would trust with my life. If you trust me enough to tell me your story, then I'd be happy to share mine."

Anaquine · **Posted:** Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:05 pm

A huge grin spread across Lyllii's face, perhaps the first real smile she wore in seasons. To her surprise, she felt the skin around her cheeks crease; she never knew she had dimples! Lyllii quickly resisted the urge to touch them -she really didn't want to refill that pot for a third time! She bashfully lowered her head; to know that she held someone's trust was a feeling she was not used to -many wouldn't have stuck around her for this long. It meant -it had to mean!- that for perhaps the first time, she had forged a true friendship on her own. As much as comrads like Sespyn meant to her from her old life, many of them had simply taken pity on her or treated her like a child -someone to never be fully trusted... No. She couldn't go there -wouldn't! Not yet. Not until Kasha knew the full truth.

"Kasha, thank you," she replied once again. "But, I must be completely honest with you; me telling you this about myself is mostly for selfish reasons. This enemy we're facing -the one that destroyed that Water city, possessed Aaron, and conjured that spector out of sand in the cave- they're all from my past, or at least some of them are. They will leak information about my past, and I want you to hear it from me, and I want you to choose what you believe for yourself.

"I thought I could run from my past, start a new life, but it has always caught up with me in some way or another. So you see, perhaps the spector was right; I am coloring myself as a heroin. But, the other reason is, I simply cannot hold it in any longer! I..."

Lyllii suddenly shook her head. "No, we'd better head back. I'll tell you tonight, I promise, but if I keep rambling, neither you or Maiya will have water for supper, nor Aaron and perhaps Sespyn...if they ever return." With that, the wood nymph finally headed back up the shallow bank to where Maiya was waiting next to their camp fire.

Windancer · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2011 12:58 pm

Kasha couldn't help but think that no matter what Lyllii had done, what her past held, she would still remain the nymph's friend. Due to the anthro's own background, she held the belief that a person was defined by what they chose to do. If they had made mistakes in the past, but had realized their error and tried to repair it, well, why judge them for it? They walked towards Maiya, who glanced at them, a slight frown wrinkling her brow.
"I heard you scream...are you okay? What happened?" Maiya asked quickly, concern edging her voice.

Anaquine · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2011 1:27 pm

Lyllii quickly handed the pot to Maiya before responding. "Oh...that," she giggled embarrassedly, scratching at the nape of her neck."Well, you see, I got my foot caught pretty deep in a rabbit warren, and since I dropped my staff when I fell, I couldn't pull myself out...sorry about worrying you, eheheh," she lied. Despite herself, the lie slid easily enough off her tongue, but the feel of it still felt foreign, unnatural, wrong, and she immediatly hated herself for doing it, but she couldn't find an alternative. Even so, she found that she was looking to the side of Maiya's feet, and she was possitive her cheeks were burning; they sure felt hot from underneath!"

***
Sespyn nugged the dragon lightly with his knee. "Oi! You still here?"

MokiHunter · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:12 pm

OOC: So sorry I took an eternity to reply. I haven't gotten to reading the topic yet, and I had to read the last few pages to catch up to speed. I'll try and reply regularly now.

Aaron nodded, "Yeah, sorry. I kind of zoned out. The air is my kingdom, you know?" He paused for a moment, remembering what Sespyn had asked him a few moments ago. "Oh, yes. I see it. You're right, let's check there." He angled his body downwards, preparing for a direct descent. As his golden head bobbed to face the ground, his wings carried him there. A tremendous amount of wind began to embrace them, and the temperature was dropping steadily. A chilly air began to wrap around Aaron, who had only scales as a sort of protection. In this form, he was cold-blooded. There was no hair to keep him warm. A shiver spread across his body when he finally made it to the stream. The force of wind coming from his wings was shaking the grass around him, but as he slowed their rate, everything went sell.

He drank from the stream with pleasure, licking his lips and allowing Sespyn this time to jump off of him. In this form, as well, the water need not be filtered. It would not make him sick, because his stomach was as strong as steel. As long as water was taken in this form, it did not matter if it was contaminated. After an extremely long drink, Aaron figured that Sespyn was back on his feet. He did not feel the extra weight on his back anymore, either, so he quickly transformed back into his human body. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand once more before taking a real look around them. He didn't see the group, but he could tell they had been here. With a narrow gaze, he noticed that a vine was broken near where he was standing. He knelt down and took it in his hands, realizing that Lyllii must have conjured it up. He'd have to ask her about it later. He looked at Sespyn as he stood. "Perhaps they're somewhere nearby," he said, just as he saw the smoke of a fire being started. Well, maybe he smelled it. There didn't seem to be smoke yet. After all, Aaron had been around fire so much in his life, he'd have to have been beyond ignorant not to be able to recognize it.

Anaquine · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:32 pm

OOC: That's okay. Glad to have you back though!

Bic:
A jolt ran through Sespyn. "That's exactly how I feel about water!" he exclaimed, then chuckled at himself. Suddenly, he felt Aaron's dragon form lurch from underneath him as the dragon began his decent towards the ground below. For a terrifying moment, Sespyn felt his body lift away from Aaron's back, causing him to quickly wrap his arms around the dragon's neck. Gravity went back into effect with a sudden whoosh! Air screamed around his ears as the wind caused his long strands of dark hair to whip him in the face; the combination of both quickly caused the male nymph's eyes to smart painfully and lower his eyelids to slits. Rapidly, it seemed, the trees began to grow larger and their thick branches closer and leafier; several pieces of tree-debris quickly found themselves snagged and intangled into said mane -a cross between a snarl and a groan came from Sespyn; it was one thing for a girl to comb an admittedly rediculously long mane, but a guy? His manly pride would never let him live it down.

As it were, the nymph almost sighed with relief once the dragon touched down by the stream for a long drink; Sespyn quickly took advantage of that time to slide off Aaron's back, allow his legs to wake from their tingley jelly-like state, and transform part of his staff into a much needed comb. After hastily running the tool through his hair -and yanking out several strands with the twigs in the process- he quickly reformed the staff into its original state before standing next to Aaron, who by now had resumed his humanoid form. His gaze quickly traced the route of his companion's -vines, four seemingly broken vines, to be exact. The two didn't need to communicate with words to understand what the other was thinking at that moment; Lyllii had been there, and where Lyllii was, Maiya and Kasha were bound to be nearby. What Aaron didn't know -and Sespyn didn't see any need to inform him of quite yet- was that summoning those vines would have taken a good portion of energy, and Lyllii didn't use that particular power lightly. No, the only conclusion he could draw was that his comrade had faced -or was in- trouble. A concerned expression crossed Sespyn's face.

Before he could relay this theory to Aaron, the other boy quickly muttered something before setting off into the woods again by the bank. Mild relief quickly flooded him. "Yeah, you're probably right," he replied before following.

***
Snapping twigs and disturbed underbrush quickly met Lyllii's sensitive ears, jolting her immediately into a state of alert. Her staff quickly oozed and solidified into her hand from the coiled bangle around her arm and her grip around it tightened. Murmuring voices followed next. Soon, however, she quickly recognized them as both Sespyn and Aaron.

"You're back!" she cried in relief, a broad grin covering her face. "Maiya is making meat stew...I think it's some kind of beef or venison jerky, but don't hold me on that. Do you want any?"

OOC: Haha! Sespyn has "girly" hair! Anyone want to guess how long it is? xD

MokiHunter · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:15 am

When Aaron finally came to the source of the fiery smell, he smiled briefly as Lyllii greeted them. "I'd love some, thanks." Being half dragon, Aaron could have cared less if it was beef stew or dirt casserole. When you were part reptile, you tended not to care too much what you ate so long as you got something in your stomach worth filling. He took a quick look around via turn of the head and decided to settle down and sit beside Lyllii and Kasha. "Smells good. I can't wait to try it."

After a few awkward minutes of silence, Aaron put his hand behind his neck, as if scratching it in the way that says someone is uncomfortable and needs something to do so they feel less so. He stammered a bit, but finally ended up spitting it out. "I'm sorry about my behavior earlier. I was wrong." He looked up at Sespyn. "I was wrong to misjudge you," he said, then looked at the others as he finished, "and I was wrong to act like that." A frown creased his face as he thought deeply about his previous actions. Sure, Sespyn's appearance hadn't been pleasant at first, but he seemed like a cool enough guy. Or at least now, anyways. It seemed foolish of Aaron now that he looked back on it. How stupid he had been to get angry that quick...

"It seems all I've brought are problems. I'm sorry for that... for everything. I'll try to change that," he said finally, referring to his earlier possession. Of course, he couldn't have controlled the fact that he was being controlled, but in retrospect, he had been too weak to conquer whatever entity had tried to overtake him. Surely Lyllii or Kasha would not have had such a struggle, and to be honest, Aaron had never been the most stable company. He just hoped he could change that - and soon - so that he could show the others that he wasn't bad news after all. Although, they had stayed with him this long without shutting him out. That had to count for something, right?

Windancer · **Posted:** Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:06 pm

Maiya glared at Lyllii. "It's just beef jerky...and some dried pork. There isn't need to abuse the jerky!" She glanced at Aaron and Sespyn. "Nice to see you back," she said with a smile.

Kasha grinned at the "jerky abuse" comment. She glanced at Sespyn and Aaron, sharing her smile with them and giving a welcoming nod. "So, how long will it take for the soup to be ready?"

Maiya placed the meat and herbs in the pot, stirring carefully as she placed it over the fire. "Not to long. Ten minutes? Fifteen?"

Anaquine · **Posted:** Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:41 pm

Lyllii held up her arms in mock surrender playfully. "Err, sorry Maiya. Meat's meat to me; it looks like jerky and most make it from cows or deer. No offense intended."

Sespyn mearly shook his head at Lyllii's naivety, grinning slightly and offered a small wave in response to their welcome. "I'm sure it'll taste just fine either way," Sespyn ammended. "A warm meal would be much appreciated."

He then searched for a seat around the fire before finally settling down next to Maiya as she stirred the stew pot. Once seated, he instantly recognized the pot as his own; he immediately cast Lyllii a meaningful glare, which she simply shrugged off and smirked impishly. The rest of the conversation seemed to fly over his head in a meaningless buzz -he really could care less about the particulars of the food at that moment so long as he got to eat some of it!

That is, he was ignoring it until Aaron spoke up.

At Aaron's public apology, Sespyn had to check himself in time to keep from jolting upright in shock. Well sure, they both all but sorted out their differences with words on their way back to camp; surely Aaron had to know that! But a public apology to the entire group? Now that was something he never would have guessed. So in response to the part directed towards himself, Sespyn mellowly dipped his head in acceptance before responding.

"Hey, no worries. As I've said before, I'm not exactly a people person; arguably it could be said that I provoked you," he said, casting a meaningful glance at both Aaron and Kasha, and a sheepish one for Lyllii, "and I would like to apologise as well. I'll try harder in the future to be easier to get along with...that is, if I may join up with you guys," he concluded, awkwardly shrugging his shoulders.

Lyllii beamed a broad grin at both guys. "It seems like you two finally have an understanding. Oh, I'm so glad! And Aaron, no one blames you for what happened before...at least, not that I'm aware of," she replied, casting a quick glance in Kasha's direction to see if she agreed. "And as far as these so-called 'problems' you blame yourself for...Hey! We all have our own personal baggage -that's probably why we all banded together. Let's face it; we're all bound to be 'basket cases' in some form or another!"

Lyllii paused to take a breath before continuing. "And Sespyn, you should already know what I think." She then turned to face their companions. "Who's in favor of him joining us?"

Windancer · **Posted:** Sun Jan 01, 2012 11:21 pm

Kasha glanced at him, amber eyes studying the nymph. "Well, I suppose so," she said, a grudging note adding a subtle layer to her voice. "But I still expect that sparring session you mentioned earlier," she added with a small grin, fingering her sheathed staff in anticipation.

Maiya grinned, her elvish face lit up. Finally! This would definitely stop the arguing....for a while, at least. "I never had any problems with it from the start," she replied cheerfully, moving her hands as she talked. Unfortunately, one of those hands still held the spoon, which was covered in soup. Her hand jerking, she accidentally splattered Sespyn with the broth. "Oops!" she said, stifling a grin as she struggled to apologize through barely suppressed giggles.

Anaquine · **Posted:** Tue Jan 03, 2012 4:47 pm

"Of course," Sespyn replied to Kasha, dipping his head solemnly. "But it will have to wait until either after supper or the next morning; my energy reserves are low," he explained, chuckling with mild embarrassment.

At that moment, Maiya's grip around the ladle loosened slightly, causing steaming broth to be slung about, including all over the water nymph's left arm, cheek, and front of his tunic, causing to yelp in surprise and pain as the mild-burning sensation touched his skin. Water quickly collected around his good hand and drenched his entire left arm when he clutched it around his bicep. He quickly shook his arm dry -turning that side away from the fire to avoid soaking his comrades and causing further chaos- and had water collect into his other palm before swiping it over his burning cheek. With a sigh, he slowly glanced down at his tunic's front, noting the splattered fabric. "Well, I suppose I was meaning to wash this anyways."

With that, he got up, straightened, and strode over to where his pack had been tossed earlier, rummaging until he grasped the fabric of his spare -and identical- blue-grey tunic. He waited to strip off the soiled one until he was a fair distance away from the fire and had the privacy provided by the overhanging trees and twilight shadows.

***
As soon as he left the campfire, Lyllii immediately doubled over with peels of laughter at Sespyn's expense.

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The Legend of Kyathro