[For Sam] Healer & Dragon
Apr. 28th, 2020 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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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.
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Date: 2020-05-21 03:02 am (UTC)He can't help an amused snort at the question. "If it's something like jewelry, my magic can handle accommodating my other form with it. Clothes... those aren't so easily shifted." So yeah, clothed guy, naked dragon.
Actually being outfitted and treated like the elemental spirit his people are meant to be. It makes something in him twist with an almost painful hope. "Magenta, for the sea glass. The color of dragonfire. And blue, like your eyes. Let's make it clear I stand for both of us working together."
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Date: 2020-05-21 06:58 pm (UTC)He doesn't care for shirts as it is why would he bother learning how to make his own? He knows the shape he wants for the center pieces of each piece. Proper impact must be made. It will be the first time a dragon has been treated as they are.
An elemental.
"I'll make sure it's more than clear we're a pair." He gives a thumbs up with a grin spreading across his face. "We can do this, Lio. As partners we'll put it all right."
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Date: 2020-05-22 03:20 am (UTC)Whatever it was that brought him from death's doorstep to Galo's attention has to have been some sort of fate, some working of nature that realized how badly broken the balance is. They can fix this. They can help his people.
That grin on Galo's face is infectious and Lio smiles. "We can do this," he echoes, almost in disbelief at the way it rings to true. Partners. He reaches out a hand towards Galo, a closed fist.
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Date: 2020-05-22 09:46 pm (UTC)His grin turns sly as he says, “You can roll in the tall grass. It’s pretty soft. I nap there sometimes.” One day he will pay for teasing Lio this much. He slips off his rock and stretches, bending down to touch his toes.
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Date: 2020-05-23 12:52 am (UTC)But dissing the grass rolling. Really. "And I will. Definitely going to." He sniffs, looking off, but there's the threat of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, a certain sign of his actual mood, of how touched he feels right now, how hopeful for the first time in as long as he can remember.
Galo moving draws his attention back, and Lio does a terrible job disguising the fact that he's watching very closely as the other man stretches, a little too interested in the stretch of hard muscle. The shirtless life choice works for this man.
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Date: 2020-05-23 01:23 am (UTC)Lio is watching him like he's seen predators watch a fascinating snack. Odd but he figures it has to do adjusting to being able to just be. "We'll follow the river and cross it before the west part of the forest. Come on."
He turns and walks into the forest, the branches and grass curling around him. He belongs to the woods and the woods will do the same for him. The word partner means a lot to the wild. Lio in a way, has gained a home in his pledges made today.
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Date: 2020-05-23 02:24 am (UTC)He falls into step behind Galo. He doesn't miss the way the forest reacts to Galo -- and to him, after what's come out. And he understands. Silently he promises it; he'll look out for this pure-hearted idiot. The world is a better place with this human in it, so he'll do what he can to make sure he stays in it.
"How long have you been living out here?"
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Date: 2020-05-23 04:43 pm (UTC)Galo tosses his head back and laughs, it’s light. “I camped on the edge and waited for it to tell me when it was okay to come in. At rations for three days and only tended to what was in reach of me. It opened for me at dawn of day four. Led me to the heart of the wood and gave me my staff. I took my oaths in that grove.”
The captain had inked him there with the rest of the circle standing witness. “Never worn a shirt unless I had to since. Shouldn’t! We are only supposed to wear robes when we come to judge. We don’t cover these.” He taps his chest with a closed fist and pauses to listen.
“This way.” He says and directs the to the edge of a river that flows almost hidden between the trees crowding its banks. “I should tell you how the judging process goes. Kind of something you should know before we even get ready for it.”
In his memory there hasn’t been a healer judging someone in hundreds of years. It’s of the old world and most people don’t bend the laws so badly a healer has to come visit retribution. He will permanently stain Kray’s reputation just from visiting his door ready to judge.
But the crimes are real and he will do what must be done.
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Date: 2020-05-25 02:15 am (UTC)He nods lightly, commenting as casually as possible. "Yes well, better not to hide beautiful things." Does he mean the tattoos or Galo's chest? Yes.
Still following, he's noting the way the forest reacts to Galo still. It's fascinating how completely he seems to belong here, like he's been grown from the soil like any other tree or plant. "Tell me. I do need to know."
What they're doing could change everything, or it could all go up in flames.
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Date: 2020-05-25 02:59 pm (UTC)Galo walks up to the tree closer to the edge of the river and lays his hand against it. With a creak the old willow lifts itself up and shuffles slightly to the left. He smiles for it and pats the trunk. “Thank you, promise I’ll come by and ask you to move back when we’re done.”
He steps into the water of the river as he says, “So, judgments work in that we wear neutral colors when we come to visit the accused. It’s representation in two ways. We are the voice but we have a more nuanced view than the world does. If we view judgment can be carried out another way we can do that instead.”
It’s written on his face this judgment will go one way. His eyes are hard and his jaw is set, as he stares straight ahead. He fords the river as fish move out of his way as if he were just another plant or fish in the water. “We leave our staff behind in our domain. For the judgment the earth gives you a staff once you hear the accused’s plead. If you deem judgment the old way is to be carried out, you’re unchained.”
He makes it to the far side and turns to face him. “Healers use the elements of their soul as a canvas to wield the rest. That’s why I always use water, earth, and wind. We’ll see if I’m unchained to use water or so. Or if the world will demand I use fire. It’s all in what staff it gives me.”
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Date: 2020-05-26 01:09 am (UTC)He's quiet then. These woods are not his home, but there's something peaceful and welcoming about them, a promise of safety that he has so very rarely known in his life. He's quiet still as Galo begins speaking of judgments. There's only one way that judgment can be carried out. He knows that. He knows Galo knows too.
There's a moment of hesitation before he follows him into the river, splashing along after him, shivering. "Cold." He pronounces, but it's a brief complaint.
Lio hesitates before finally speaking up. "It'll be fire." There's no way it won't be, not with what Kray has done to his people, to dragons who belong to the fire and are its manifestation in this world.
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Date: 2020-05-26 05:45 am (UTC)He gestures for Lio to keep walking as he exits the river onto a small grassy knoll. He pauses, then nods. "We're almost there. Anyway, that's what happens. Supposedly it's special for a healer who works with an elemental. I don't know. No one has seen that happen in longer than there's been a judgment."
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Date: 2020-05-27 01:37 am (UTC)"I'm a dragon, but I'm not any older than you are. Some of us are ancient, but that's rarer too these days." A lingering shadow of sorrow darkens his expression at that. So many of their old and wise are gone. So many of their children are orphans. He shuts his eyes. "I took my throne based on strength, not age."
Had he mentioned that he was the dragon lord? Maybe not, but it's fine. Galo may as well know all of who he is and what is behind him, what is at stake.
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Date: 2020-05-27 04:56 pm (UTC)He shakes his head then straightens up and coughs. “We can work on the plants that need checked on in a second. You’re The lord of fire that means this partnership needs properly witnessed instead of verbal.” He gestures and the sigils on his staff ignite into the colors of the sunset. He turns and strides down the new pathway without a backward glance but he calls out,
“Never thought I’d get another pact tattoo but, life is full of surprises. Come on!” The trees all gently press at Lio’s back like a bunch of elders helpfully guiding a younger member of their ranks. Go on.
Follow the pretty man down the path.
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Date: 2020-05-28 02:15 am (UTC)Lio looks somewhere between confused and surprised, head canting at a curious angle. "Properly witnessed? By the forest?" By the elements themselves? He tries to think back on what he's heard of the times before, when dragons and humans coexisted, when dragons and healers and mages would stand together like the two sides of the same whole that they should be. He vaguely remembers...
"...tattoo?" He feels that pressure at his back, looks back at the branches of the trees and takes the hint. "You need to be marked for this?" Marked by him? He wonders at himself at the way something in his chest flips pleasantly. But he continues on following Galo down the newly revealed path.
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Date: 2020-05-28 07:02 pm (UTC)He gestures to the forest. "I can't just go 'I'm working with Fire's Voice', I have to show proper respect. I should have thought of it." He'd been busy being hurt and betrayed. He'll do better. Galo shakes his head. "We really are young guys." He mutters as green motes of light dance in the air and the plants and roots around them glow as they draw nearer to the heart of the wood.
"I dunno how this goes. I think you just follow your instincts. Place it where anyone looking can see it. Maybe you can ask the other elements or fire itself." Galo pauses at the end of the path. Ahead of them the air is filled with green motes of light dancing with gold and blue. A vast grove stretches out ahead of them. Thick green grass lines juts up between the roots of trees so old they seem timeless. The tree roots are banded with lines of green light. As they watch more motes are exhaled and inhaled by the trees. The river they'd been following flows in a curving path around the grove and ends in the heart in a pool of clear blue water surrounding a wide flat stone.
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Date: 2020-05-29 03:13 am (UTC)There's a moment that he can't help but look touched by it, the fact that Galo is acknowledging what he is. He shakes his head. "I should have mentioned it. I'd been hiding everything at first, and I didn't think about it mattering." He looks up now. "We are young. But we're strong enough to do this."
Instincts though, his eyes track the dancing lights in the air the glow that emanates from the life of the forest itself. It's otherworldly and beautiful.
He steps up closer to Galo now, nodding. He stops in front of him, lifting a hand, fingertips brushing along his skin at his chest before his palm sets flat to his left pectoral. He knows where the mark will go, can start to see the beginnings of it in his mind. But first he looks up to meet Galo's eyes with his own. "You're okay with it? With bearing the mark of a dragon? My mark?" These tattoos are indelible, after all.
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Date: 2020-05-29 05:33 pm (UTC)Lio's hand on his skin is warm and he can feel the faint shape of the flames, hear them like he used to before he shut his ears to it. Grief and trauma, he knows that but he can't help the way dips his head to acknowledge them and Lio. "Course I'm okay with it. We serve the same thing and...you've been trying to help me even though you could have just let me burn."
The forest whispers around them as he says, "I'm Galo Thymos of Burning Circle, caretaker of this forest!" His voice rings out loud and clear. "Bound to wind, water, and earth. I thought my burning soul was enough to serve as the harmony with the other three. But," His eyes fix on Lio's. Lio knows his story. Lio has suffered too. "I'm done holding that wound open. It needs to close. In the earth, in me. I'll heal myself to heal the world we're all part of," He lifts his left hand and flames burst to life in his palm.
"You okay with take this ember of my life into your fire? Carrying it with you long past the time I pass from this earth?"
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Date: 2020-05-30 02:13 am (UTC)More than that though, working with Galo feels right, the same sort of completeness and ah. yes. this. when two jigsaw pieces snap together and reveal the greater picture. "Galo..."
And then the healer keeps speaking and Lio can't hide the entirety of an almost exasperated smile. All that pomp and circumstance. But no, Galo is right. And Lio won't let it go unanswered. "I'm Lio Fotia, Dragon Lord, ruler and protector of my people. I am living flame, a vessel of the primal fire that will one day welcome me back to its endless inferno."
He reaches the hand not settled against Galo's chest to wrap around Galo's hand where the flame has appeared. "I'm honored to. Our fire will burn together until I return to ashes."
And with that, the flame flares in their joined hands and another glow of fire begins under the hand still pressed to Galo's chest. It spreads along Galo's skin, spiraling out in the shape of flames that twine their way through the other symbols on Galo's skin, like the fire is taking the place that had been held for it by its fellow elements, waiting all this time. When Lio lifts his hand, beneath it is the shape of a dragon, the source of the flame.
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Date: 2020-05-30 02:51 am (UTC)When he glances down at his chest his tattoos feel complete. Lio's hand lifts from his skin and he misses the warmth of it. "The pact is made." He breathes out, as sparks of red light join the blue, gold, and green already in the air. Red flowers bloom among the grass like embers of a fire spreading out in all directions.
The temperature in the grove increases and he can feel fire running under the earth. Galo blinks then blushes and says in a whispery fast tone. "That was the first fire I've lit in years!"
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Date: 2020-05-30 03:24 am (UTC)It's beautiful.
So is the little flame in his hands. He cradles it gently. "It's a good fire," Lio pronounces and then, in a confused voice, "It's cute."
Should fire be cute? Anyway, it is, and he looks at Galo who is blushing and speaking that way. You okay there, human friend?"
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Date: 2020-05-30 04:16 am (UTC)Better than it should be. He crosses his arms over his chest and says in his normal tone, "And why would I ever go back. Pacts are important! Made it knowing what was gonna happen."
Yes, he had. "...why you confused anyway? That's part of my soul you're holding there! It's an amazing little flame!" Cute? How. "...and how are flames cute." What the fuck, Lio. His own expression shifts to confusion.
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Date: 2020-05-30 06:22 am (UTC)"I'm glad you remember." Fire is power and life and danger and death. Warmth and light.
Lio is still holding the flame in his hands. A part of Galo's soul, one that he will keep safe and sound within his own fire.
"It is an amazing little flame," he agrees before adding. "Not all flames are cute. Yours is cute. It's warm and bright. The kind of flame that could guide someone to safety." But he can't even picture it actually burning someone.
Still holding it gently, he brings the flame close, closer still to his chest where it flares brighter once before it flickers, sinking into his chest, still glowing even as it does and for a long moment after before the light dims away.
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Date: 2020-05-30 02:56 pm (UTC)He glances down at Lio’s hand on his chest tracing over the dragon. It tingles a little. “I wanted a flame that would give you some strength when you needed it. Since we’re partners now.”
They’re bound together. He and the lord of dragons. “You good to go?” He doesn’t want to examine it but he really doesn’t want Lio to stop touching him.
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Date: 2020-05-31 12:41 am (UTC)Galo may not be able to feel it anymore, but Lio is very aware of Galo's flame burning away within his own. It's warm in a different way, and for the first time in his life, he thinks, he doesn't feel quite so alone.
"Yeah. I'm good." He answers, trying to shake off the impulse to do something absolutely absurd like hug the healer.
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