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Thread is set 2 days after this thread

You're here for a reason but you don't know why
3-1-3 OC

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Speech Emotional Actions Thoughts

It was two days? Since the spar with Ma, everything still ached despite going for a small soak in the stream that broke from the hot springs. His legs burned with each step now as his body uncoiled itself from the abusive spar. He had remembered seeing Ma take the golden girl away as well not long after him, and his chest burned with remorse, and so, he sought her out, but not before hunting down a pika and snatching it from its attempt to escape.

Slowly, when he caught wind of the golden girl's scent and could see her sun-like shades against the shores of the island, Khyan slowly walked up, his head dipping down as a twinge of soreness rippled up his spine and settled deep into his shoulders. Letting out a muffled bark so he wouldn't startle her, the dragon settled beside her but about two tail lengths away from her to not invade her space and carefully set the Pika down and nudged it towards her.

I hope you're not too sore after Ma's..spar?

Despite his siblings being..chaotic, Khyan lacked that need for bloodshed and the torturing of other animals; he simply existed and watched from his shadows and only went forwards when he was forced to or when Ma asked him to. He always listened to her, even when he really didn't want to.

Two days had done little to ease the aching in Idalie's muscles or the sting in her scruff, the burn of a wound not yet healed. Idalie knew very well what teeth felt like as they tore into flesh, but she was not well-versed on the uncomfortability of the healing process. It was itchy and stung and Idalie was strangely proud of it, but at the same time, she was still a young royal who had been cherished and pampered for most of her life.

She missed her parents so desperately, and so she walked back to the shoreline where she'd woken for the first time, hoping against hope that she'd encounter golden fur and kind eyes and a warm embrace waiting for her.

There was nothing of the sort. Only soft waves lapping against pale yellow sand and Idalie, sitting alone and watching over an empty ocean.

A bark caught her attention. An ear swiveled toward him and her head turned after, surprised but pleased to see who it was. Khyan was quieter than the other two pups, and Idalie couldn't help but be grateful for it now.

Offering him a smile, Idalie watched as he approached, gaze dropping to the pika and then back up to him. His eyes were pretty and purple, not mismatched, and the tones of his fur were warmer than Cairo and Sobek, but his appearance was no less interesting.

"I'm not," she said, letting her tail thump a few times on the sand behind her. "It wasn't so bad, really."

Her scruff burned and her joints ached, making a liar out of her. She hoped she'd gotten most of the blood from the back of her neck, but she could still feel the tug and pull of dried bits of it every time she moved. Idalie was sure it was a spiky mess, and she felt her face warm. Her mother would have scolded her for looking so unkempt.

"What about you?" she asked him, trying to tip her head to the side and only marginally succeeding, a tiny wince crossing her features. A flicker of concern, this empathy for others imbued into her from her father still lingering. "Were you hurt too badly?"

You're here for a reason but you don't know why
3-1-3 OC

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Speech Emotional Actions Thoughts

Khyan watched as her tail thumped against the sand, causing it to shift some, and he hummed softly, eyes flickering up to meet hers with a warm smile. Focus lingering on the blues of her eyes, her coat itself was unique to see; the entire volcano was mostly just black and white wolves, with himself adding some extra color to the mix. Slowly, Khyan let his gaze shift to the waters Idalie was looking out at and glanced towards the larger landmass.

When he looked back to answer her question, his eyes caught the wince, and his jaw tensed a bit. Had Ma really gone as aggressive on Idalie as she had on the three siblings? His nostrils flared, sniffing the air, eyes narrowing at the remnants of the copper smell of blood. Eyes trying to search where the wound might be, noticing the area of spiky fur and kept it in mind for now.

Sore..and probably bruised up a bit, but i'm okay..Thank you,

Khyan settled onto his stomach in the sand, despite knowing it'd cling to his thicker fur and be a pain to clean out.

Ma says it's...so we are strong, strong like her and Pa, but I don't like it, personally.

He was a lot nicer than the other kids, she thought. There was something very different about him - something like what she might've come across before, in her old kingdom. While Idalie didn't mind the harshness, really - she'd adapted quickly, - but it was nice to be looked at with softness once in a while, and especially when she felt so achy and... weird.

The whole thing had brought the memories of those last moments to the forefront, and Idalie felt entirely unmoored. She understood why Nephthys had done what she did, but the lingering effects of it could not be ignored, much as Idalie wished she could.

There was something relieving about not being alone in her suffering, though. A sympathetic wince crossed her face at his admittance and her ears swiveled to the sides.

"It'll probably feel better in a few days," she tried to reassure, offering another smile. Her brows knitted together for a moment before she glanced away, first to her paws, then to the ocean once more.

"It wasn't fun," the girl admitted, curling her tail around her paws. "But there are bad people out there, and I want to be able to protect myself, and to protect everyone else too." Maybe, if her parents had trained like this, they'd have survived. Idalie'd have survived.

Clearing her throat in an attempt to change the subject, she looked down at the pika again and then back up at Khyan. "Did you catch this yourself?"

You're here for a reason but you don't know why
3-1-3 OC

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Speech Emotional Actions Thoughts

Khyan lay silently in the sand watching her. His smile never left whilst he observed the way she sat and how she seemed to be thinking about something before it was replaced with the sympathetic wince and her ears swiveling. He wasn't sure what was going through her mind, but he didn't push and didn't dare ask questions about it either; he simply allowed himself to roll to his back and relax.

Hopefully, or Ma's getting an earful about it,

He let a soft laugh out, despite the ache in his shoulders, and quietly he stretched his paws to the sky before letting them relax once more, his purple gaze fixating on the clouds above, and stared silently. It hadn't been terribly cold, but it was definitely unnerving to live by a dormant volcano and have it be cold of all things.

Definetly not..but i know what you mean- I want to protect Cairo if I can...Sobek is, well, Sobek; he can defend himself.
He hummed shortly after the response and rolled to his paws, shaking the sand that he could out, and stretched forwards much like a feline before settling into a sit once more, always being the fidgety sibling, unable to hold still and yet remaining in one spot most of the time.

I did! I wasn't sure if you ate today- or recently, so I caught it in case you were hungry. It's not much... Most of the prey is hiding,

Another smile when he laughed, and Idalie's shoulders relaxed a bit more. Khyan seemed antsy, changing positions this way and that. She looked up at the sky to try and see what he was looking at, and then her gaze traveled down to his paws as he stretched them.

He was going to be covered in sand by the end of his wallowing, and Idalie didn't think they had attendants to help clean up. Hence the bits of dried blood remaining in her fur.

But the dragons didn't seem to mind the general dirtiness as much as the Crisafullis bemoaned the tarnishing of their perfect coats, so Idalie supposed it might not be a problem. Still, it would probably be uncomfortable to walk around with sand in your fur.

Her nose wrinkled a bit in confusion - it was hard to imagine either Cairo or Sobek would need protection, though Khyan seemed to agree with her about the latter. Still, she grinned, tail thumping once more on the sand. "You protect Cairo, I protect you, Sobek protects himself," she decided, proud of her choices. He moved again, still all restless energy, and Idalie watched with interest.

He did catch it, and Idalie perked up, impressed. "You will have to teach me sometime. I have no luck with catching things," she admitted, sheepish.

Her eyes were bright as she looked back up at him. "Want to share?" she asked, tone hopeful.

You're here for a reason but you don't know why
3-1-3 OC

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Speech Emotional Actions Thoughts

Khyan was mesmerized, to say the least. Her smile was warm and so different from the ones he saw from family; it was like a hug and just so warm. Slowly, Khyan started to relax; his constant movement settled into just soft shifting of his paws and small twitches of his ears or nose. Commonly he had to always stay in movement, or he risked a sibling chewing on him or getting trampled.

He saw the brief wrinkle of her nose, and his head tilted a bit, observing her expression closely before the grin settled and the thump of her tail on the sand dulled his worries.

Yeah!

He beamed with excitement, his own tail wagging against the sand, his purple eyes squinting from his bright smile that could stretch to his ears if he tried hard enough. When she spoke of him teaching her to hunt, he could feel his cheeks go warm. Him teaching her?

oh well- i'm..not thattt great, but I can definitely show you what I know!
He hummed softly, surprised she was impressed just by a little Pika. His cheeks went warmer, ears swiveling a bit when she asked to share! Her sharing with him, of all wolves. She was so sweet.

Yeah!

It was nice to see someone being so happy, she thought to herself. Almost infectious, in a way - her chest did a fun little fluttering thing and her own smile grew, pleased that she'd seemed to make him so happy.

"Better than me," she told him, settling on her belly in the sand with the pika between them. "I cannot catch things. Only a - ehm, come si chiama...? (er, what is it called...?) - a moose? A muse?" Her nose wrinkled again as she tried to come up with the right word for it. "Un topo. (A mouse) Small gray thing."

She took a bite of the pika and hummed with delight, tail thumping the ground happily. She had been very hungry, but she hadn't realized it til now.