Aurelia

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'I know I saw them.'

Alisha and Daigon had come to turn in for the night, and Daigon had brought up the day's hunt for insects. The conversation had somehow steered from food to flowers.

'Orange flowers? Out here?' Daigon questioned. 'Sure the heat's not getting to your head, Ali?'

Alisha sighed, and pulled out a small orange petal and put it down in front of him. His eyes widened a bit, an evident show of surprise. 'Who's hallucinating now?' she challenged with a smirk.

Daigon leant down to it. 'Yknow, I might've seen a flower like this before.' He thought out loud. He brought his head away from the petal. 'Tigerlily, I'm pretty sure. Maybe they grow out here. I wouldn't know much about that.' He shrugged, brushing the petal away and laying his head down. 'Let's just get some rest.'

Alisha had no chance to reply before he was asleep. She sighed and lay down next to him. As she was closing her eyes to sleep, she heard something outside. She jolted up, staring out the cave. She took a second to glace to Daigon's sleeping figure in the dark of the cave, before steeling herself to venture out.

'H-Hello?' her weak voice asked into the night as she crept out to check the small area around the cave. She knew she should'nt be out here without Daigon. Yet she felt compelled to let him sleep. He had done plenty for her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something familiar. 'That flower...' She flew over to it, picking it up. 'He said it was a Tigerlily... Do they grow out here?'

'If they do, I've not seen one yet.'

The voice behind her made her freeze up.

'Sorry, m'dear, did I startle you?'

'Please don't hurt me don't hurt me...' Alisha couldn't stop herself from fearfully begging for her life.

'Hurt you? Dear, I would hardly wish pain on another dragon, but never on a Fae like you.'

Alisha was on the verge of tears, slowly turning around. The dragon was far larger then her, and poor Alisha was terrified.

'Oh, one of my flowers. May I have that, dear?' Alisha wasted no time handing it over. 'Thank you very much. I shall take my leave, but should we meet agian, I hope to have something for you. I'm ever so sorry for startling you.' The dragon gave a friendly smile and turned to leave. They took a few steps before turning back. 'Oh, but-' Alisha had gone. The dragon simply continued on her way.

The Following Morning...

'So you want me to stay close to you for all today?' Daigon asked. Alisha nodded vigorously. 'Okay, what's wrong?'

'I-I know you said don't go out without you, b-but...I heard something and investigated. There was a big dragon, but she didn't hurt me and I'm-I'm just scared.' Alisha replied making a partial effort to hide in Daigon's fur.

He sighed. 'Alright, alright.' He went outside the cave with Alisha timid on his back.

'Excuse me, sir.' A voice from the side grabbed his attention.

'Who the hell are you?' Daigon's reply only enticed a small smile from the Skydancer he saw.

'My name is Aurelia. I had lost some flowers last night, and a Fae was around here. She helped me, but I wished to give her an apology for frightening her. You wouldn't happen to know where she went, would you?' Aurelia replied. Somehow, she seemed too nice to be good.

'What's this apology? Bite 'em in half? Claw scars across the face?' Daigon bit back.

Aurelia brought out a small book and lay it on the ground. 'Actually, much the opposite. Being alone, I hoped she could make use of some medical knowledge to take care of herself.'

Daigon's eyes fixed on the book. 'Medical...?' His eyes drifted up to the Skydancer's smile. 'Alisha. She's fine.'

'Alisha?'

Alisha flew up ontop of Daigon's head. 'Um...hi, miss Aurelia...'

'Oh, you don't live alone? Even so, I hope you make use of it. I assume you wouldn't appreciate me staying here for too long, sir, so I'll be on my-'

'Our Clan.' Alisha interrupted. She had flown down to the book and picked it up. Daigon stared at her.

'I said she was fine, not a friend.' he snapped.

'But Daigon, we can't be a Clan with just the two of us, can we?' Alisha complained. 'Besdies, I'm sure Aurelia can do her part.'

Daigon glanced from Alisha up to Aurelia. '...Fine. If she can, she can stay. For now.'

'Well, I have been wandering since I left my last Clan... If you would have me. Diagon, Alisha, I would love to help you.' Aurelia bowed her head to the two of them.

Diagon nodded. 'You can start by making your own place to sleep. Our cave is too small for you, Skydancer.' He sighed. 'If you need me to do that for you, I will.'

'Thank you for the offer Diagon. I'm sure your help is appreciated.' Aurelia replied.

'Whatever.'

Alisha smiled. She felt proud of herself for confronting danger, strange as it was for her. Still, she felt like she brought Aurelia back here. But now, she needed to rest. She had enough excitement for now.
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'My dear, you do take this role seriously, don't you?'

Rubi had visited Aurelia on her self-assigned patrol around the area.

'Of course. I owe the clan my life. I'm going to use my life to defend all of you.' Rubi replied, sitting down next to Aurelia. 'Daigon says I should relax around that Cullen, but I don't agree. Have you seen him doing anything suspicious of late?'

Aurelia shook her head. 'Rubi, Daigon is right. Cullen is his friend. And you need to loosen up a bit.'

'I am not letting my guard down.' Rubi shot back.

'Now now, that's not what I said. By all means, be alert to danger, but know how to tell when danger is not present. That is a cruical skill for any guard.' Aurelia's calm response had an effect on Rubi, all their spite for Cullen dissolving.

'How would I do?' She responded, turning to look into Aurelia's eyes.

'It's not simple, but I'm sure you'll get used to it in time. For now, just know that Cullen is perfectly harmless.' Aurelia gave her honest thoughts to Rubi, who took a moment to think.

'I don't like how he's trying to get close to Daigon.'

Aurelia chuckled. 'Dear, you should know something. I overheard Cullen talking to Alisha the other day.'

'Yes?'

'They were talking about the past. Cullen used to live with Daigon and Alisha. What matters is they were discussing Cullen's old boyfriend.' Aurelia smiled broadly.

Rubi's expression didn't change. 'And?'

'I have an inkling Cullen is getting close to Daigon because he has a crush on him. But don't tell anyone I said that.'

'Absurd. Daigon would not allow himself to be loved by that Skydancer.'

'You don't know them, Rubi. All I ask is don't intervene in their relationship. Please.'

Rubi took a moment to sigh and bow their head. 'As you wish, mistress.'

'And may I reccomend you take a break from patrolling? Trust me, it's not good to do it all night and day. Rest with me a moment.' Rubi was about to retort, but the kind smile Aurelia wore made them give up trying to go against her, and they came to sit next to her.

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Aurelia applied the finishing touches on the treasury and stepped back to admire her work. It had taken a considerable amount of time, but now it was done; sturdy, secure, lightly decorated, yet small. Cullen noticed it first, jumping at the chance to see how things were.

'So, you build.' he said plainly as he arrived next to her. Aurelia gave a slight gasp of surprise but soon chuckled slightly.

'Yes, dear. Somebody has to, and being the most experienced here with Clans, I knew what I was doing.' Aurelia replied.

Cullen took particular note of a pair of branches resting at the side of the storage. 'Hey, Gladeboughs? Where'd ya get these?'

'Oh yes, I took the liberty of purchasing those from a merchant. Aren't they pretty when in flower like that?' She replied with a smile.

'Yeah. You really have an eye for flowers, huh Aur?' Cullen replied with a chuckle. 'Good memories of these... Y'know, I first- Well, you wouldn't care much, would you?' He hesitated to tell Aurelia anything of his past.

Aurelia instantly took note. 'I would care, Cullen. I for one find you fun to interact with. Please, do tell.' She gave him a warm smile, the same smile that won over Rubi.

Cullen sighed. '...Alright. Damn your inviting smile, Aurelia. All my secrets spill out now.' he joked to her, and the two laughed as they sat next to each other. 'Alright well... I used to adore the way Gladeboughs flowered. They were...so pretty. I mean, I still love the flowering but that's not the point. Anyway...'

Aurelia was patient with him; she would rather have a story take all day then have a story rushed and misunderstood. 'Take your time, dear.'

'Yeah...' Cullen took a moment to breathe. 'So, way back when I had my first crush...I was so scared to tell him. Daigon, in his clearly infinite wisdom, said I should try giving him something nice. My first thought was the Gladeboughs. So, I gave them to him.' Cullen glanced to the side, sighing. 'A dumb mistake. Threw them down, crushed them. He...he said, 'I know what you're doing with this. I am never sleeping with you.' I tried to explain that i was just asking him out and nothing more, but he stormed off before I had the chance.'

Aurelia fell quiet. Her heart went out to him, she felt awful about it. 'I'm so sorry, Cullen. I didn't know...'

Cullen looked back to her. 'It gets better. Daigon...' he paused, his eyes glistening slightly. 'He comforted me. He took me back to his place, and he wanted me to stay there for the rest of the day. Me, him, Alisha. I cried. Shadowbinder knows I cried. Neither of them gave up on me. They...cheered me up.' Cullen leaned his head against Aurelia.

'Is that how you became friends?'

'No, no no no. We were friends for a while. But there was something about him then that just... I fell in love with him. It was so tempting to tell him, so tantalizingly close I could taste it. I...never did. I always felt it was so wrong to love my best friend. I kept it to myself. Those two tried their best to help me find love. It worked, sometimes. The times it didn't...I knew why, right in my heart. Daigon.'

Aurelia was at a loss for words. Everything just came out at once, and she was starting to question whether he was joking about all of his secrets spilling out now that he had so much to say. She wanted to do more, but all she could do was sit and listen to him.

'When he left...I thought he was trying to get away from me. Like he knew. He had managed to get me a boyfriend I didn't break up with immediately for once. The timing...it just felt off. I had someone I loved, and off he went. I guess...him leaving might've set off something in me that made me not want to lose the guy I had. I got too attached. He cheated on me, and that pushed me over the edge. I realised, the only dragon I could count on for love...was Daigon. I didn't cry. Not for the cheater. I just left, tracked him down. And...' He glanced back to Aurelia, tears falling down his cheeks. 'here we are.'

Aurelia brough a claw onto his back, lightly brushing up and down his back. 'That's an awful lot to go through... I'm glad you told me all this.' Cullen nestled into her. 'Do you want to tell him now? I'm happy to help you any way I can.'

'I don't know what to say to him...'

Aurelai glanced to the Gladeboughs. 'Take those flowers to him. Give him them. Tell him how you feel. It may not have worked before, but you know Daigon, and he knows you. I have a strong belief in my heart that it will work with him. Okay?'

Cullen lifted his head to look up to her. 'Thanks, Aurelia... I think I will.'

'Whenever you're ready.'

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