In Murky Waters. [Variastrasza]

[Deleted]

"When I just now tried.. feeding the growth of the plants, they merely buckled down in suffering.." Terin noted with a disheartening tone, as she looked to the flowers that through Ron's touch now stretched themselves towards the sky once more. A feat that had before been so simple now seemed more or less impossible. Variastrasza had seemed to understand this point far better than Ron did, and.. for some reason Terin could relate a thousand times better to the aged Emberwyrm who also had her place stolen away from her.

Terin was shaking, letting her slim elven hands run down her own cheeks, quickly scooping up any tears that may have gone astray. The youngling was listening, she really was, yet what Ron was saying made absolutely no sense to her what so ever. "So you're saying there's layers that the elder dragons find unimportant, that I could rest within? Terin seemed to be somewhat torn between laughter, anger and suffering, as she merely shook her head in disbelief at Ron.
"What I need, brother, is not a place to rest. I need purpose, something to do with my life.. If I cannot assist my own flight, what am I truely worth to anyone?.. What is it exactly you expect me to do?!" Terin snarled at Ron, gritting her teeth in what almost became a low growl.

[Nonfictionless]

He knew the youngling was mad and might never get her place back in their flight as she wished but he knew the only way to save her would be convince her to find another path. "Youngling....there is more than one way to assist your flight, and more things to do then serve Ysera. You may not want to hear that but trust me you would not have have come into this world without a place. I know you will find it." Unsure of how to proceed Ronacus thought for a moment. It seems that she didn't even finish her training. He gingerly laid his hand on her shoulder. Everything about her showed her lack of sleep and exhaustion. "Right now resting is exactly what you should do. If you wish to find your place again you can not do it in this state youngling." Ronacus looked calmly into her eyes, with a look of a brother trying to save a sister.

[Synaxis]

Varia felt that this was a good time to intervene. Rising from where she had knelt with the flower she had inadvertently killed simply by touching it, she walked over to the pair of emerald dragons - flower still in hand - looking borderline morose. Resting one hand gently on Terin's shoulder, she again radiated that same soul-warming magic, perhaps in a silent bid to soothe the young one a bit. "It is a matter of finding your new talents.. Your new skills, so to speak," she said softly, looking directly at Terin. She had yet to find a reason to address Ronacus. "The answers will not all come at once, and you will not find them so long as you struggle to accept who you have become. A wound.. cannot be healed until the trauma causing it has ended. So long as your mind remains clouded and fogged with doubts and fears, you will be unable to find the clarity needed to see beyond the surface and find the answers you are looking for. In time, young dreamer, in time - trust me, I know. I have been there."

The emberwyrm fixed Terin with an immensely understanding look, and then she turned to Ronacus for the first time. Her brilliant amber eyes met his without a moment's hesitation: she did not see him as a threat, as he had not reacted to her as being one, though she suspected he knew what she was. "Excuse me," she said softly to Terin, dropping her hand and approaching Ronacus. She gently touched his arm and motioned for him to follow her, and the gaze she used with him was far less gentle than the one she had used with Terin, though still not unfriendly. If Ron would consent to follow her, Varia would wander some ways away again, to another small flower growing in the cracks of the otherwise rocky pass. This one, too, she would pick - and rather than flourishing in her palm as it should have done (as the red dragonflight's specialty is life in all forms) it instead began to wither and dry up, curling into a shriveled black mess. Dropping the flower to the ground but not taking her eyes off it, she spoke softly to Ronacus.

"She is.. very hurt right now," she murmured. "She is lost in a world of pain and injustice. I do not know exactly what has happened to her.. Nor do I wish to hear the details from a mouth other than hers'. What I can tell you is that making promises to her at this point may not be the wisest choice. She is fragile, inside.. I fear that any small wrong that happens to her now would set her back irreparably. She needs time now, time for the wounds inside her to heal. I do not know you, dreamer. I do not know your nature, nor how your flight interacts with one another, but she must not feel pressured to be in the company of her own if she does not feel comfortable with them right now."

She fixed her gaze on him then, and it was once more the look of deep, ancient understanding. "I will keep her safe for the time being, dreamer, let her stay with me until she is ready to seek her fate elsewhere. I trust you have figured this already, but I am no ordinary red. I lost my life just a few short years ago just after the start of the Nexus War; as you can see, I am still here thanks to the clever use of magic.. And while our situations may not be precisely the same, I feel our similarities may benefit the youngling.. particularly in such a state of self-doubt. Consider it."

With a lingering look, she turned from him and approached Terin again, wordlessly standing nearby almost as if some grim bodyguard of sorts, looking moderately concerned.

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Terin's breathing had turned into spikes, her tiny body starting to shake. It was too much for the youngling to process at once, too much that was starting to bottle up again, pushing her back towards where it had all started. Trying to swallow some spit, trying to breathe, trying to speak, it all quickly became a mess of trying to do too many things at once, without having control of --- Terin snapped out of it immediately to look at whoever had touched her, clearly having first been afraid, yet quickly left to relief. Terin didn't quite hear what was said, the tension in her body was at insurmountable levels. Not listening meant not thinking about it. Not thinking about it meant peace. Peace meant relaxation. The thing Terin chose to focus upon was being warmed, was feeling safe. Two feelings she barely had been able to afford the past long time. Terin merely nodded at Varia, as the emberwyrm let the youngling go. Without much second thought, Terin just threw a look in the other dragons' direction, before she laid herself back, resting on the rocky ground. Such a pleasent feeling, but she couldn't allow herself to sleep..

Terin's eyelids felt heavy, and she was blinking a couple of times in a vague attempt at keeping them open. Terin's breathing was calming down rapidly, her entire body numb from the former tension. Even if she had wanted to move, she still couldn't. Terin couldn't allow herself to sleep though, not while... Blinking again, the exhaustion shortly after overpowered the youngling, forcing her head to tilt slightly to the side as she was tossed into a dreamless sleep. A heavy sleep, that she likely wouldn't be easy to wake from..

[Nonfictionless]

This ember dragon....so easy it comes to her to calm this youngling....of my own flight.... He felt the death in her touch, it was hard not too, the plants weren't just something to watch over to him but were him. Even though he silently revolted at her very presence he couldn't help but envy her. "I have been removed from the world since I was born and even from the surface of the Dream, and it has been so long I can't even help one of my own." He looked deep into the Ember's eyes. "I.... it's not the same in this world. I opened to the Dream again a short while ago and I felt her. I could do nothing and I felt her die... A youngling and I just let it happen. And again I am useless to ease her suffering..." More tears started to stream down his face as he felt as if he could do nothing but for the plants. "Please keep her safe." He watched as she succumbed to her exhaustion and fell asleep. Ronacus bent and picked up his staff pulling off a small blue seed from a nook in the top. He pushed it into the ground and poured his energy into it. It sprang forth at a fast pace, forming the base that looked like a mushroom only several feet in the air then we it stopped the bulb on top fell over itself into velvety leaves of deep purple and blue with rich red veins running through them. It cast a shadow over the young dreamer and warmed the air. Even with the presence of both the ember and the nightmare seed inside the youngling, it wavered only slightly but held strong. "It's my own," he explained to the Ember dragon. "I made it to help repair the damaged parts of the dream. It will die soon but I hope it stays long enough for her to see that they weren't just promises made by a foolish Dreamer. I am Ronacus. Please seek me if she ever wants what I can give her."

He turned, flowing into his true form, and sank into the shadows the mountain cast and landed near the large river banks. He laid in his true form, for right now he didn't care. All he wanted to do was wait and nothing more.

[Synaxis]

Variastrasza absorbed every word said to her but did not reply. Everything about her being suggested that she heard and understood every word Ronacus said to her, perhaps more deeply than most would, but she elected not to comment: she could not, of course, sympathize with him when his troubles - if you could call them that - were entirely caused by his devotion to his kin. It was admirable, but nothing comparable to what she and Terin faced as fates. She could understand Ronacus' guilt though, and it was the guilt that made her reach out and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. That feeling of death would never completely leave, but for the most part would be replaced by a comforting warmth. "If you could do nothing to save her, you did not let it happen," she said consolingly, offering Ronacus just a grimace in the place of a smile. "These things happen at times.. There is no use to linger on it for too long. What is done is done."

And then she turned away in earnest, returning to where Terin had fallen asleep. Varia did not dare nudge her or speak to her for fear of waking her; she needed the sleep, the emberwyrm could tell she'd gone without for far too long. All she could do was stand guard and then watch when Ronacus planted the seed that bloomed into what became a sort of living canopy for Terin. Varia took several steps back, knowing her being too close would likely do nothing to prolong the mushroom's life. "She is safe with me, Ronacus," she assured the emerald dragon, offering him a slight smile. "That is a promise. My name is Variastrasza. We will likely meet again at some point in the future."

Within a moment, she had assumed her own true form and had carefully climbed up onto the top of the pass, hanging over Terin protectively as she could not comfortably fit within the confines of the canyon, what with her age. Lying herself down comfortably with her front feet and head hanging over the edge, she watched the green dragon go. A soft snort escaped her, with a plume of thick smoke rising from her fleshy nostrils into the dry air.