Sionnach (closed)

[KieranSoares]

Qira's rounded ears tilted back. He wasn't terribly expressive in any circumstance, but it was clear to the couple that knew him best, that Kate had just cut deeper than any knife.

"I see..." Qira murmured, averting his gaze and standing again to retreat to his room in silence.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Maybe he'll bloody listen now," Kate said with a shake of her head as Qira retreated into his rooms. "He hasn't listened to anyone else."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You know we're hypocrites, right?" Kell murmured. "We're no better. Everyone in this bloody family is like that." He let an arm settled around Kate's shoulders. "I'll give you one guess as to who he was running around with. She always talks him into secret night missions."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Doesn't matter if we're hypocrites or not. I'm not going to watch him kill himself." Kate said as Kell's arm settled tightly around her shoulders. "The same for you and Rissa. The same for Bo and Shani. And Fiona is not our problem to deal with. Knowing Sam, he's probably tearing his hair out over her right now."

 

[KieranSoares]

"She'll sweet talk him out of it like always," Kell murmured, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "Are you ready to go home and be back at that old life again?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"I think I am. I'm old, Kell. I don't know how much more adventure and stress I can take. At least in Edinburgh, we had a routine." She said softly. "And I made a promise to Gale. I have too much honor to break a promise to a dead man."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I think I agree... At least the stresses could be managed into a schedule. But I wonder how Bo will handle it. He seems to have come into his own as an agent... but I wonder if he'll turn rebellious and stir-crazy again when things become predictable. Shani too, even if she's better about it."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Brogan is a young man who has never had the chance to explore the world around him. I think we're partially to blame for that. You wanted to protect him from those that might kill him. I wanted to protect him because he's my only child." Kate let out a sigh as she thought about all of the times that they had tried and been disappointed when she failed to get pregnant. "Maybe it would have been different if we had a larger family. I don't think I would blame him in the least if he told us that this life wasn't for him."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I wouldn't either. But then that would bring on the issue of finding an heir. Thankfully we wouldn't be pressed for time like Gale was in his final days, assuming all goes fairly well. But it's going to be a long while before we retire properly. Brogan has time still to explore, for fun or diplomacy."

Kell glanced over at Kate then. "I notice he and Shani seem to be acting a little different around each other lately... any idea what that's about?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"They've realized that they love each other more than what they originally thought." Kate said softly. "Shani told Rissa about it. They frighten me together, but it's their life to live and figure out."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Hm..." Kell smiled to himself. "They terrify me too. But I also trust Shani to look after him while she gets into trouble with him, at least. Though it's difficult to think of them as anything other than little bumbling cubs."

 

[heartofcourage]

"We're old, Kell." Kate said as she gave him a look and a small smile. "You know, I wish I had been able to give you a whole house full of cubs. Maybe we wouldn't be so worried about our one if that had happened. You're a good father."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't know if I'm a good father, but I'm at least capable of keeping him alive for the most part." Kell leaned over to kiss her. "I wish we'd been able to have more... but I appreciate the chance we did have. Bo's a good boy."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate gave him a grin as he leaned over and kissed her, her hands moving into his slightly grey fur to pull him back in for another kiss. Even after so many years together and all the turmoil that they had been through, she loved him like no one else in the world. He had pulled her through hell and uncertainty and kept her safe the entire way.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell naturally leaned into her without too much coaxing, nuzzling against her as their lips parted, and pulling her into his lap. "I love you," he murmured, golden eyes half-closed as he let himself relax under her care. "Stubborn Panthers and wars be damned."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Stubborn Lord Protectors and stubborn sister-in-laws as well." Kate said with a grin as he pulled her into his lap. "You do too much for the sake of keeping me calm and sane. I don't know how you manage."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Being tired is worth it for keeping people happy." Kell laid his head against her shoulder, content to simply hold her a while. "And even if Qira's an idiot, he and Rissa help a lot."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate chuckled and rested her head against his, letting him hold her to his heart's content. It was rare to have moments like this together and she took advantage of each and every one.

The next morning, it was still raining, but much less than the downpour that had been happening the day before. Riley emerged from the tent earlier than normal, but unable to sleep in. Andre was still sound asleep beside their fire. Stretching out, she paused when she saw Schaller sitting calmly in the rain, a familiar cloaked figure seated on his folded arms.

"Ma?" Riley asked, hurrying over towards her. "Ma, you shouldn't be out here."

"I'm fine." Fiona said, opening the eyes that had been closed as she worked with Schaller in the mental ways that a caller would.

"Da is going to explode if he knows you're here." Riley said, looking up at Schaller to talk some sense into her.

"He knows I'm here. He's off with Invah. I haven't worked with my dragon in far too long." Fiona said simply, turning her head to look at her daughter from beneath her cloak hood. "You both worry far too much."

 

[KieranSoares]

Schaller's great green eyes opened as Riley approached, listening as the young Fox worried over her mother. "I will not let let exert herself too much, little kit," Schaller promised. "Even those recovering need something to do."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Come and sit beside me and keep me company if you wish." Fiona said as she offered a seat next to her on Schaller's arm. "It's important work to stay connected to your dragon in a healthy way, especially if you're a caller. That way they can tell when something is wrong in the heat of battle."

Riley looked from her mother and then to Schaller, taking the seat that was offered. "I'm sure you haven't done much of that lately."

"We haven't done much of it in years, honestly." Fiona said, looking up at her dragon. "But it's a good way of getting back into the swing of things. He's not too much of a grump when we work like this."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Your mother is always too busy making sure other pairs are looked after and looking after each other properly," Schaller said with a nod. "So while our connection is strong, it has gone untended for some time, unfortunately. As an elder dragon, I can hold stronger to that connection for longer than others... but being completely separated from your mother for weeks now, save seeing one another through a window and rare passing conversations... it has worn on both of us." He lightly touched his nose to Fiona's forehead at that. He was such a titanic creature, but capable of extremely delicate acts. "I hope you will know the depth of such a relationship with Marth in time. You two are already close, I doubt it will be difficult for that connection to grow deeper just with time."

With Riley's empathic abilities, it was easy to feel the absolute love and trust radiating between the pair. As Schaller often said, Fiona was one of the great loves of his life, such that there was no title for it. Most willing Rider and dragon partnerships were similar to that of siblings and the dearest of best friends. They fought, ate, slept, and traveled together, and would gladly die for one another. Fiona and Schaller were no different, but the connection was on a mental level that non-Callers would never know. They could practically think together, and knew one another's worries and fears and triumphs inside and out from their time spent doing just that.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona smiled the most serene smile as Schaller pressed his nose against her forehead. "He wishes that he weren't so big just to be able to get closer to me these past few weeks."

Riley watched as her mother pressed her hands to Schaller's nose and she felt an immense warmth pass between the both of them. He adored her mother and the feeling was mutual. Even if they had started as enemies, that was a long time ago.

 

[KieranSoares]

Schaller had his own little rare smile, but as one great green eye opened again to see Riley watching so curiously, he turned and did the the same to her, touching her forehead with his great maw. A somewhat familiar feeling passed between them. It vaguely reminded her of when she connected with Andre, but it felt entirely different with Schaller's energy. The gesture was one of trust and love, but it also gave Riley a little window into Schaller's mind. He let her see his memories of building his relationship with Fiona both in war and peace, his reunion with her after he and Invah had gone missing in the evacuation of Scotland. Schaller even showed the first moment he'd met Riley, a tiny bundled infant in her parents' arms outside the yellow house in Trondheim. Her father's hair had been much shorter then, and Fiona had been thin, not as filled out and healthy as she became later.

The delivery of memories was slow and careful, not an overwhelming, headache-inducing rush that sometimes happened when Callers tapped into a dragon's mind. One of Schaller's natural abilities as an Elder Dragon was not empathic intuition like Reven. Even Fiona had not known what his ability was for years, until she'd begun connecting with him mentally like this. Schaller had a crystal-clear memory, and could share his memories with perfect detail. And if someone else shared theirs, he could hold onto it and share it with others. Riley saw the proof of that when he showed her memories not from his perspective, but Fiona's. He even had foggy memories of the same scenes from Sam, able to reach out even to non-Callers if the trust was there.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley saw everything from the point of view of the elder dragon, her eyes closing as he showed her everything. She saw the first time he had ever seen her mother, the anger that he felt when he realized that Rikke had been stolen, the injuries that had permanently crippled Gaiann, and everything in between. There was intense curiosity when he had first met Riley and pride that Fiona had achieved the dream of becoming a mother. It had been the same when Soma was introduced hours after he'd been born and Tati the moment that she had become part of the family. Her mother had worked so hard to make sure that Schaller was included in all parts of their family life.

 

[KieranSoares]

When Schaller drew back, the slow tide of memories faded. "You see why your mother and I are so close, little kit. We have shared every trouble, every victory, and every worry for twenty years. Even when I was still vicious and untrusting, she cared for me and shared her worries and hopes. She was the first person I told my true name to in centuries. To this day, I am still finding more and more courage to tell her of my past. This is what dragons and their dearest friends shared back before there were distinct Callers and Arbiters. Back when we looked after settlements and people loved instead of feared us, and took care of us in turn. Our connection is how it should be- a dragon and his partner, looking after their combined family and people together and sharing their burdens."

Schaller almost never waxed poetic or spoke so reverently of anything. He was usually gruff and pessimistic. But it seemed he did hold sentiment for ancient traditions that once brought his kind and Fiona's people together so trustingly and peacefully. It was perhaps what he most believed in: loyalty and found family.