carrythetorch: (21 - mDiZzfb)
Lio Fotia ([personal profile] carrythetorch) wrote in [community profile] formmusebox2020-04-28 08:40 pm

[For Sam] Healer & Dragon



It had all gone wrong this time. In retrospect, Lio thinks maybe he'd been going too hard. He was on the brink of exhaustion, and his latest raid on livestock had been met with more resistance than it should have, almost as if someone had known he was coming.

He'd gotten away, thankfully, but not before he'd taken a number of blows -- arrows shot from crossbows with enough power that they'd pierced even through his scales. He'd ripped them out in flight and set the better part of a fallow field on fire before he'd flapped high enough to disappear into the cloud cover. That had been what saved him. It wasn't long before he couldn't keep himself aloft any longer, too much pain, too much blood lost.

Even maintaining his full draconic form is too much, and as he plunges to the Earth and tries to slow his descent with his wings, he fizzles back into his human shape, a lithe, slender man. His clothes are dark enough that the blood soaking them isn't obvious from a distance. He lands in a crumpled pile not far from a road through the woods, just off the trail in the underbrush. And that's the last thing he knows.

...

When he opens his eyes next, he's warmer than he expects to be. There's soft blankets beneath him and over him. He can smell something clean and earthy, herbal maybe, and light spills in setting the whole room in a comforting brightness and-- wait. He's in a room. The last thing he remembers is falling, and, oh.

He sits up all at once, hissing at the way his body protests the movement. Where is he? Has he been captured? Except no, if he'd been captured he'd be bound. Or dead. Maybe staked through to the ground. Not wrapped in soft blankets and tended to. "Where am I?" He asks the question mostly to himself as he blinks against his bleary vision willing it to clear, willing his eyes to focus.

barenakedspirit: (pic#13844412)

[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-07-31 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Morning comes soon enough, the light filtering through branches draped over the entrance to the cave. A deep rumbling sound rolls through the air and something scratches on stone. The sound turns out to be Galo.

He is very large and wrapped around the eggs and Lio himself. The sunlight shines on his sunset colored scales. The tip of his tail is over Lio like a blanket. A plume of pale smoke rises from his nostrils as he opens his eyes and peers down at Lio. He smiles and dips his head, brushing the edge of it against him.

“Morning.” He pauses and raises his head. The branches at the entrance whisper about a pair of dragons circling the forest. He nods. “There’s a pair of dragons circling the forest. Should I let them in?”
barenakedspirit: (pic#13844371)

[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-03 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Galo hums as he slides away from the eggs. They settle in the depression made for them and tree roots rise up to cradle them. His form ripples then he is fully human again, patterns of his scales running down his back and the edge of his shoulders like a new winding tattoo.

At first nothing happens then the area before the entrance darkens and a large black dragon edged in a dark pink lands before the gap. His wide wings spread out as he shouts, “Lord!” Right before he sees what is behind them.

His eyes go wide and his jaw drops. Galo grins a little. “Forest bids you welcome. Come in so your pal can come in too.” The dragon slowly ambles in as his form shrinks and he becomes a tall man with flame red hair. His eyes haven’t left the eggs. “How?”
barenakedspirit: (pic#13835918)

[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-05 01:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Galo crosses his arms over his chest. “A Judgement happened.” He says and Gueira stares at him. He keeps going. “Lio landed in these woods a week ago. He was hurt pretty bad and the Earth called me to him. In the time since I learned the truth about dragons plight.”

He taps the dragon of flame’s tattoo on his chest. Like the whorls of wind and curves of water it is clearly- Gueira looks at Lio. “A pact?”

He doesn’t know what to say. He feels like words aren’t enough for the magnitude of what that means. A healer paid the due respect to dragons they should have. “...that doesn’t explain...” he stares at the eggs in wonder again. Eggs. Precious future dragons right here.

He swallows and Galo says softly, “The Judgment was on Kray. Turns out he was a dragon. Older than all of you and determined to open a way to some new place he could be a god.” He snarls and smoke rises from the edges of his mouth. He takes a breath in an attempt to tame it.

His fury is still there burning inside him. Kray has murdered so many to achieve his goals. He still hasn’t dealt with the fact Kray killed his parents for not following along with him.
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[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-09 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Galo hits his fist against his open palm with a spark of fire in his eyes. "Kray is human now. He can't hurt any of you. I won't let him." Gueira raises an eyebrow. He didn't miss the fond expression on Lio's face. But the spark in Galo's eyes and the smoke before...that's personal. "Without Kray being a threat...we can find a home again."

One that they don't have to leave. All of the tension drains out of him and he leans against Meis. "We don't have to hide anymore." He breathes and Galo nods. "A lot of people saw the Judgment. They know what dragons really are and I'll keep spreading the word." Without a word, he lays his own hand over Lio's.

Gueira doesn't put together the fact that the eggs are Lio's just yet. But he will.
barenakedspirit: (pic#13835915)

[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-09 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Gueira catches the shock on Galo's face before he hides it and smiles, it's warm and a little shy. "Yeah, I'm one of you. By choice. I got a lot of work as a healer to do to fix what Kray put wrong. But you can count on me!" He puffs up with pride and an eagerness Gueira hasn't seen in a dragon in a long time.

Then he pauses and looks to Lio. "Ah, like Lio said. Those eggs were made by the Earth mixing my new fire and Lio's together." Gueira chokes on air. "That means-!"

Galo nods again and a different sort of pride enters his eyes. It's fierce and protective, the shadow of the dragon he is within his eyes. "Yeah. They're our hatchlings. Anyone tries to hurt these eggs has to get through us," The branches at the edge of the cave rustle and shift, whispering and hissing. "And the Forest. It likes being the place for new life and the new place for dragons to train as healers if they want to." He hadn't mentioned that to Lio but it makes sense and he doubts he'll say no.

They need more than just him.
barenakedspirit: (pic#13868528)

[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-13 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Galo raises an eyebrow. “We don’t mind a ton of dragons. It would balance out the water energies here so the flooding doesn’t have to be pushed back daily.”

He squeezes Lio’s hand but doesn’t add what he wants to. Not yet. They have guests and private matters are private. Gueira notices the subtle air between his Firelord and this healer Galo. It’s hard to see but both seem to be leaning into each other as if they need the other.

Something happened. Something other than a judgment and eggs. He puffs up too, “yeah! We’ll be back where we belong and rebalancing the world!” He is a smart enough second to look to Meis and say, “we should go spread the word. Everyone needs to know what’s changed.” And of the new dragons that need defending.

Galo nods, “Forest will let you back in if you ask. Anyone that needs healing it will direct directly to me. Lio and I can get anyone back on their claws!”
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[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-16 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Guiera nods and motions for Meis to follow him out. His form flows from man to dragon. He spreads his wings and launches himself into the sky.

Once both Gueira and Meis are gone, Galo relaxes a bit. Lio’s hand is warm and he resists the urge to thread their fingers together. He isn’t ready to deal with that. They have so much to do first. “Guess we can expect some company. I got to do more reshaping to really make it comfortable for the eggs. Leaving them out in the open like this is temporary. I need to get the bedroom shaped big enough for us and them.”

He adds a little shyly, “If you...want to share the bedroom. I can make separate adjoining rooms if that’s easier.”
barenakedspirit: (pic#13844371)

[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-18 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, family stays together." Galo says, his voice low. He gently takes Lio's hand in his and tugs on him, heading towards the bedroom that Lio didn't get to see before.

"I like sharing with you. Feels right. Why do you think I crashed in the main room while you were recovering?" The bedroom is a lot of woven mats and blankets, with the heat of the hot springs running under the stone. A thick mat of dry grasses and feathers serves as his bed. Galo studies it for a moment and nods to himself.

"Okay, first thing's first. Bed preferences? Other than it being warm. Got that covered."
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[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-18 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
He studies the room again then lets go of Lio to kneel down and press his hands to the ground. He focuses on his connection to earth and the forest, reaching through it. The cave slowly expands, creating a bowl shape at the center, the blankets and mats falling into it.

It's just deep enough to provide a bit of a buffer while allowing them to be slightly separated from the rest of the room. A chamber opens up in the wall, the forest dropping thick grass and branches in it from above. Feathers and soft shed fur line the nest woven by Healer and his forest.

He breathes in and the wind carries the eggs one by one, gently slipping them into the new nest. When the last egg is safely settled Galo leans into Lio with a soft huff. "Man, I'm still a bit tired. Not used to how my magic works now. It's so..."

He gestures with his hand. "Stronger. Like..." He searches for the words and rests his chin on Lio's shoulder, his arms going around him automatically. "I dunno the comparison feels like I'm an ocean now when before I was just a lantern flame asking for help from everything else."
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[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-21 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
Without thinking about it, Galo rubs his cheek against Lio’s then turns his head to see what he did. He blinks and extends his hand out. His own flames weave around the eggs and braid itself around Lio’s fire.

His hand falls back to his side as he presses most of his weight into Lio. “Kinda want to go to bed now or at least nap a bit. You seem a little tired too.”
Edited 2020-08-21 07:42 (UTC)
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[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-23 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
Galo follows him down into the gently sloping bowl that is their nest. He shivers faintly as his bare feet make contact with the soft blankets and furs. He settles at the center and urges Lio to come down with him. Sleep is tugging at him.

"Yeah, let's. Yeah." There's so much he wants to say. It's visible on his face as he slowly lays back. "...glad you're staying and okay with all of this. I dunno how I'd have handled it without you."
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[personal profile] barenakedspirit 2020-08-23 08:10 am (UTC)(link)
He grabs Lio’s reaching hand and draws it to the pact tattoo on his chest. “Being bound together is one thing. You could have chosen not to share a bed but you did.” Lio is sharing his bed and he can’t imagine it any other way. He covers the hand on his pact tattoos with both of his.

“I like you here like this. Feel balanced when you’re in reach. It’s...” He visibly searches for the words, pressing his lips together and brow furrowed. He says slowly, choosing his words instead of his usual charging forward. “Even if we didn’t have the eggs, I’d have wanted to be like this with you.”

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