[For Sam] Healer & Dragon

[carrythetorch]

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.

Comments

[barenakedspirit]

Galo nods, “I will! For now, rest a few more minutes then you can ask me all the questions you want. In prep for tomorrow.”

He reasons it should be a solid trip. On his own he would have already been traveling down to gather what he needs. But he has Lio to consider and the long term preparation of leaving his domain for a while.

Necessary as it is - the trees rustle their agreement - he wants to do what he can for the forest before he goes. He has medicine to prepare and plants to stock up on. Galo glances towards the window. It’s noon.

“Inside or outside?” He asks, as he climbs to his feet. He wants to feel the world around them and the sun.

[carrythetorch]

"Is that a promise?" All the questions he wants? He has so many, Galo. What a dangerous offer to make. So Lio will behave and stay right where he is, resting. See? He is a good patient who is not biting the hand that feeds him. Or heals him.

His attention is caught by the rustling of leaves, and he turns towards the trees. It's still remarkable, that nature loves this idiot as much as it does, but that's not something that can be faked.

But oh! Lio is on his feet quickly -- a little too quickly, and he winces, but he's steady at least. "Outside. Definitely outside." He wants to see the sky. He's a dragon. He's always more comfortable under the open sky.

[barenakedspirit]

Galo takes a step towards Lio when he winces and relaxes. Lio has been responsible. He doesn’t need to hover even if the day before Lio has hovered between life and death.

He nods, then he walks towards the door his staff simply back in his hand. In his domain simple things like this are possible. Once he leaves it he will be more limited. Capable of some things but greatly cut off from his power.

But what is necessary is necessary and he was trained to operate without it. The door opens and the sunlight spills in. Wind tugs at him, and he briefly feels Aina’s scouts brushing the boundary of his domain. Nothing dangerous found.

Good. He walks into the grass beyond the flat stones at his door way. On the outside, his house looks like it is a mound of dirt and stone partly covered in trees and plants. At a glance people would dismiss it. He turns to Lio as he says, “yeah, it’s a promise. I don’t know how long this journey to the dragons will be. You need to know all you can! If it’s something healer specific and I can’t answer because pact laws and all. I’ll tell you.”

[carrythetorch]

Lio steps outside and exhales a soft sound of relief. It feels good to be under the sky again. He couldn't take wing if his life depended on it at the moment, but still, he's a creature of the open sky. He tilts his chin up just a bit to bask in the light. It's warm.

He wants to go curl up and sun himself on a rock. Probably not the sort of thing that would seem like normal human company behavior, so instead, he turns to face Galo and follow along into the grass. That'll do for sunning too. He'll resist rolling in it.

"They're closer than you expect," he deadpans in response. "But I'm trying to figure you out. How am I supposed to explain you to the dragons?" How is he supposed to explain Galo in his own mind is the real question. "I thought the old ways were mostly lost."

[barenakedspirit]

Galo sits down on a flat rock and lays his staff across his lap. The time for answers has come and he knows it might not be pleasant. “My parents were fire mages that followed the old ways. They were wiped out by a dragon when I was five.”

He looks away, his expression pained. “I don’t know why. I was saved by Kray Foresight and resolves to save lives too ever since. I turned away from my studies as a fire mage and walked open arms into the healers. But I wanted to follow my roots. Traditional is what we were. What I knew.”

He gestures to the forest behind him that rustles in agreement. “I could hear fire when I was with mom. I remember that pretty clearly. Sang to me. I asked and dug and looked. I felt a pull and I wasn’t going to let it go. I was needed.”

Then he found it in the circle. “...I found Burning Circle. We all obey the old ways. Captain taught me how to ‘talk’ to the world around me. I was...ten? Something like that. So I talked. They need saving as much as people do. Just talk slower.”

He holds up a hand as he adds, “I am not gonna ask the dragons why my parents were taken out. It’s done. Nothing will bring them back.” But why does he keep dreaming of it since he decided this path?

What are the elements trying to tell him? “All that can be done is to stop the loss of life and tipping balance now.”

[carrythetorch]

Rocks. Even better. Lio finds himself one to sit on, the dark surface warmed by the sun. And despite his best intentions of acting like the human being he's currently shaped like, instinct is far too strong and he lies back, stretching himself (gingerly given his wounds) more like a cat than anything else.

Warm. Warm is basically bliss.

But he focuses as Galo speaks, frowning at that information. His family was killed by dragons? And he's still willing to offer help?

It's the name that Galo says next that changes everything though. Lio jolts upright, unable to hold back to small pained sound. He shouldn't move like that yet. Kray Foresight. The entire reason his people are hunted and murdered like beasts -- and worse, captured and taken somewhere he doesn't know, never to be seen again. That monster. Galo knows him, was saved by him.

He wants to run, but he forces himself to breathe and to listen. This man was a fire mage, is a fire mage, healer or not. Another deep breath to steady himself. "Dragons... are like humans. They're people. Some are good. Most are good. But some do terrible things. I'm sorry about your family."

[barenakedspirit]

He surges off the rock when Lio jerks up, “Hey, relax!” He subsides when Lio doesn’t do anything else, settling back on the rock. He grips his staff a little tighter.

What has set Lio off? But it seems to be clear once Lio speaks. “Good to know.” He says. Dragons are like people. Something about that makes the trees whisper. He doesn’t hear what they’re saying. Not yet. “Came out of nowhere according to accounts. Was the only survivor.”

He doesn’t like talking about this. “That’s why it surprised me when you said some fire mages remember and pass on the old ways. I remember they abandoned them after that. Good to know some didn’t and understood what you’re telling me.”

He nods once, “I believe you. Gives me more to think about on what exactly is going on.” More whispering but he can’t tell what it is. It sounds like a warning. “...I hear you but I don’t understand.” The trees surge towards them, the whispering so loud that even Lio will be able to hear it.

‘Beware...your savior...lies...betrayal...’ Galo’s face goes white. He opens his mouth to refute it and shuts it, hand over his face.

“...So, Lio.” His voice is quiet. Careful. “How is Kray involved in this. The trees are warning about it.” He sounds tired and angry for the first time. “If it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have listened.”

But the elements never lie. Never would lie.

[carrythetorch]

Lio looks a little too much like a cornered wild thing for a moment, but he's calming down, reminding himself that wherever Kray Foresight is, he's not here, and that's enough. If he needs to, he can get away, regroup. He still looks defensive, every wall that had started to come down from being around the healer -- who is remarkably disarming -- back up in full force.

"There aren't many," he concedes. Humans who understand what dragons are, fire mages who know that their very beings should be linked together, they're nearly gone now.

He looks up startled at the sounds the trees are making. He doesn't understand it, but he can recognize the forest speaking, and clearly Galo can understand what they're saying. Lio draws his knees to his chest, arms around them, watching the healer. He is in no way prepared for that question. His heart stops in his chest. The forest knows.

Lio sits up straighter. "Kray Foresight is the reason for it! He's spent years feeding rumors about dragons attacking, stoking fear and distrust, organizing hunts and sending his men out to hunt down and drive innocent dragons from their homes."

As he speaks, an edge creeps into his voice. Lio has made it a rule that the dragons who follow him do not kill unless they have no other choice. Lio will make an exception for Kray Foresight. The anger at everything Kray has done is rising in him, where his voice and his form are shaking with it.

"His forces have killed so many of my people." He's too furious to keep up deceptions at this point in time. "Our elders. Our children. Gone. And worse, worse is what happens to the ones he takes. Most we never see again. The few who have escaped... they didn't last long, but they told us. They told us about the experiments. The torture. And I don't know why. I can't figure out what he wants."

Lio's eyes have gone serpentine, slit pupils in the midst of irises that burn the impossibly bright magenta of dragonfire. Though they haven't taken full shape yet, the shadows of wings arch behind him.

[barenakedspirit]

Lio’s changing shape is a shock but that isn’t as bad as what he says. Kray. Kray who saves him and made the village he lives near.

Who did so much is a liar. The forest hisses with anger too, now free to say all it has tried to tell him. To warn him of for years.

‘Liar. Betrayer...murderer...’

He stares down at the grass. Unable to do more than feel hurt and sorrow. The rage of the forest around him, from the shifting roots to the cries of the animals within it. To the wind and water answering that fury with their own.

It makes him ache. Why? Why would Kray do this? He has to know. He has to confront him and no longer can he treat it as a simple visit. He will come before him as a healer. A servant of the balance.

The forest quiets and rustles as it catches on to the grief opening wide like a chasm within him. Branches curl over his shoulders and the grass grows a little taller but he only raises his head to look again at the rage in Lio’s eyes. “Lio, calm down or you’ll get caught by Vulcan and his ice mages. There’s only so much of this fire I can claim as mine.”

He says and scrubs his face. “They can’t come for you without a fight but, let’s not give them that excuse.” Galo drops his eyes to the grass again. He wants to sit and do nothing. But he has things to do.

[carrythetorch]

He can feel that anger echoing around him, and it threatens to feed the inferno already building in him. But Galo's voice, the tone of it, the way the healer has gone so quiet, it's enough that he falls silent and stops. The building of his magic begins to fade, and the shadowy hint of wings dissipates, his eyes returning to normal.

Did he hear that right? Is he reading into it? "You'd fight for me?"

How does that even make sense? Galo knows what he is know, knows he's a dragon and he's not turning him away. Ah.

This idiot.

He shifts closer then, settling on his knees beside Galo, looking at him. "Are you all right?" This hit the healer hard, didn't it? He doesn't know the extent of the connection between Galo and Kray Foresight, but the healer did mention that Kray had saved his life. And Lio does know Kray has the other humans fooled into believing dragons are a vicious and bloodthirsty enemy.

[barenakedspirit]

Kray had been his hero. But the forest is still whispering, telling him the truth in a softer, sadder tone. It feels his pain and he meets Lio's eyes as he says. "I told you. When you accepted staying here and letting me treat you, I will fight for you. No matter who is coming for you."

There's pain in his eyes. Alright? No. He isn't. His world is being collapsed but there's only forward. Always, only forward. "...and I will be. When all this is over." He looks away at the forest. He had been blind, hadn't he? He could get angry. But that won't help the forest, balance, or Lio.

Even if he's entirely justified in that anger. Galo scrubs at his face one more time and breathes in. "So, we have extra reasons I'll do the talking tomorrow." He pauses adding, "Getting angry like that, didn't open some of your wounds did it?"

[carrythetorch]

Lio is not... touchy. He's not open or affectionate. He keeps himself tightly in control because he know what can happen when he loses it. His anger had very nearly cracked that control, and now while those cracks are still closing, he's watching this human who looks so sad, in so much pain.

Who is still saying he'll fight for him. Even knowing what he is, Galo is keeping to his word.

His shoulders slump and he breathes out a humorless laugh. "Yeah, probably. But I'm fine." A little more bleeding won't kill him. What might kill him is that he wants to comfort this human. He doesn't like being the reason for Galo's pain. For all that he puts himself forth as the cold leader of the dragons, he cares. About his people. About the ones who rely on him. And somehow, he's starting to care about this healer who has shown so much kindness without expecting anything in return.

"You're an idiot," Lio informs him, holding out a hand towards Galo. Handshakes. That's human, isn't it? "I'm very glad I met you, Galo Thymos."

[barenakedspirit]

He takes Lio's hand, giving him that hand shake he wants. "Glad I met you too. Thanks for opening my eyes. I'll fix things." There's just a half smile on his face but it's something. Then it falls into something more serious as he says, "Now, let me see. Got to check you over again and fix the damage."

A little more bleeding won't kill Lio but he doesn't like healing to come undone. He could fuss at him for getting angry but he couldn't blame him. In the reverse he'd have been angry too. "You're lucky I'm all charged up from my nap."

[carrythetorch]

A nod. He's starting to believe Galo when eh says that. "You won't have to do it alone." Lio will help. More than that, Lio will defend this good-hearted idiot. There aren't enough in the world who would show this much kindness to a stranger, who would change their minds so wholly simply because a dragon and the woods presented a new and ugly truth.

He deflates though, frowning. Really! He's fine! He just got a little over excited and strained. But, he sits back on his heels looking at Galo expectantly. "I'm lucky. So let's get it over with so I can go back to sunning on my rock. Now that you know what I am, I'm not going to pretend that's not what I'm doing."

They have a lot of work to do, Lio knows that. But he has to regain enough strength to travel with Galo. And to stand up to Kray Foresight.

[barenakedspirit]

"Like a cat." He says as he slips off his rock and kneels down before Lio. He reaches out to press a hand to his chest and breathes in deep. The forest's anger surges up from the grass and through the branches curling around his arms. It offers it to him freely to burn off by turning it into something positive.

Silently he thanks the forest as he pours that power into Lio. He can feel the tears like holes in fabric. He seals them one by one. Good enough. Galo lifts his hand and says, "You gonna roll in the grass too?" Teasing means they're friends now, right?

[carrythetorch]

"Like a dragon," he corrects him with a wrinkle of his nose. "But yes." Like a cat. It's going to be wonderful. The sun is warm, and he may be made of fire at his core, but that doesn't mean he won't take warmth from whatever external source he can get it from too. He takes a breath and tries to hold still as Galo pours more of his magic into him.

He can feel his body knitting back together. Ah. That's better. Better than he'd been even before his anger got the better of him.

Blinking at the comment he sniffs, looking to the side. "Of course I am. And now you should know that if you keep being an idiot, I'll bite you. That's just my nature." It's an empty threat, which is clear by the smirk that's trying to curl over his lips.

[barenakedspirit]

"That's not as much of a threat as you think it is." Galo says, grinning back at him. Yes, things suck right now but they'll get better. At least dragons turned out to be alright.

Galo leans back against his warm rock and shuts his eyes for a moment. "So, now I know what you are. What do you need on a day to day basis as you're recovering. If you got species specific needs, we need to meet them."

Even if it's turning the patient bed into some kind of nest or so.

[carrythetorch]

"It will be when you see my real teeth," Lio answers as he moves to stretch out on the rock on his back. And since he's not pretending, nothing is stopping him from really stretching (mindful not to strain his wounds, but they feel so much better after this last bit of healing), sighing his relief as the sun falls over him.

He cracks one eye open to peek at Galo. "I'm not strong enough to take my other forms yet. So I can't disrupt your house too much. But no. I'm used to getting by. ...I do like meat though."

Feed him more meat, Galo. He is a carnivore.

[barenakedspirit]

“So you’re a carnivore. Got it.” Galo says as he throws his arms over the top of his warm flat rock. Lio looks so ridiculous and comfortable stretched out on the other rock. There has to be an appeal to sunning like that.

He climbs back onto the rock and lays on his back, stretching out against the warm stone. The sun and the warmth feel good. It calls to the fire of his soul.

Galo rests his head against his locked together hands and it tightens the muscles in his chest, his hard biceps flexing. He sighs in pleasure. “Okay, sunning like this? This is good.”

[carrythetorch]

"More or less," Lio agrees. A carnivore by nature. But he doesn't dislike other food. Rice is tasty. Some fruits are wonderful. His people have been scraping by with whatever they can manage to get -- from raids and hunting and scavenging.

Galo moves and Lio watches, watches the healer go and mimic him with sunning himself. Well. WELL. Good. It's a great way to enjoy the sun and the warmth. And uh...

This human is far too attractive. His gaze is caught by the flex of his biceps, that perfectly sculpted chest. That's ah... distracting. Is what that is. Lio realizes he's staring, especially after hearing that little sigh leave Galo's lips, and snaps his eyes shut. ...no good the image is still there. He swallows. "It is, right? Heat above and heat below. I like being warm." He's miserable when he's cold, Galo. So there's another species thing.

[barenakedspirit]

Galo cracks open one eye and grins at him. "Good to know! I was gonna ask you how warm you want me to keep things at night." Warm it is. He tends to prefer it to be warmer than most people would like. He reaches back and grabs the bottom of the rock and stretches his body.

The pull is damn nice coupled with the heat. "And good to know you won't mind the bath either." He rolls onto his stomach and lounges like a large predatory cat. But a seriousness steals over him as he says, "In light of what you are the forest will not let people in tonight. My clearing won't be able to be found by anyone we don't want to find it."

[carrythetorch]

Lio smiles, not even realize that he's doing it. Something about that grin on Galo's face is infectious. But ah, good. Look at that. Fire mages are the best sort of company, really. The promise of a warm night works for Lio.

So does the view as Galo goes and stretches. Is it wrong of him to enjoy the view? Probably. But here he is anyway.

Lio perks up. "Bath?" Opposite of minding a bath, Galo. Total opposite of minding.

The dragon looks serious in the next moment as well. He frowns. "Safe for a night then. That's more than I've been able to say in a long time."

[barenakedspirit]

Sympathy comes and goes across Galo's face. He rolls back onto his back and hits his fist against his chest. "Yeah, no one will come for you tonight. Not if old Galo has anything to say about it."

But it leaves more they need to talk about. "I'm going after Kray when you're better. I can't leave him be with what I know." No. He can't leave that alone at all. Kray saved him but his crimes must be answered for.

He tips his head back and closes his eyes. It's going to suck. "He can't refuse an audience." Not with how he'll come to him. Kray will know that. "A traditional healer visit isn't a thing you ignore. You can't come in with me. But you can hang out around if...it maybe goes south."

He's optimistic that Kray will come quietly. The forest rustles and reaches towards Lio. It wants him to go with Galo, their stupid. Stupid healer.

[carrythetorch]

That's all he wants for his people, that feeling of safety at the end of the day. He's trying not to get his hopes up that there might be some actual hope for things changing. But Galo's determination is as infectious as the grins on his face.

Lio is quiet for a long moment. "There aren't many humans who are willing to fight this battle for us."

That's just the truth. The fact that Galo is willing to still help him at all, knowing what he is, is amazing. The fact that Galo is willing to take the matter to Kray Foresight directly, despite his history with the man is also amazing. Lio doesn't know what to make of it.

But he knows he will stand behind this man as much as Galo has done for him. Even before the encouragement of the forest. He nods, setting his hand on the stone, a brief flicker of his fire. Don't worry. This idiot healer is now under his protection. Anyone who thinks they can harm Galo Thymos will have to make it through Lio's claws and teeth.

"I will. I'll be there if anything goes wrong." And it will. Kray won't just surrender because of an appeal to his better angels.

[barenakedspirit]

If a forest could sigh with relief it seems to do just that. The branches rattle as grass and flowers settle. Leaves fall and Galo nods. “Glad to have you.”

After a moment he mulls over a further response and says, “Kray is good at selling his opinions and view point of dragons. But that isn’t all of it. There are laws that punish people for sheltering dragons. Or even aiding them in any way. He’s cut both ways.”

He makes a chopping motion with his hand and puts his hands behind his head. “It’s terrible. But he can’t punish a Healer for doing their job. He can try, sure. But, I hope he doesn’t.”