Roleplay

Ciar looked at her oddly, not quite picking up the last part. He tilted his head slightly, not sure what to say and eventually opting to say nothing. He laid down, resting his head on his paws, gazing outside.

“Alright, I hope she’s okay,” Jorn said, frowning. “For that matter, even Ciar seems a bit off...” He took a moment to check the fire before walking over to Ciar. Stroking his shoulder, Jorn asked, “what’s wrong?”

Ciar turned to look at his rider briefly. He looked back in the direction of the sea, staring that way for several quiet moments before finally answering, ”we saw the sea. Aeira said... it was prettier before, and that she swam in it. I think it’s pretty now... but... is what she said true?”

Jorn let out a long sigh. ’So, that’s what it is,’ he thought, struggling to find an answer. His words seemed to die in his throat though, and all he could say was that yes, it was true.

(Oh my god I am so mean to him...)

(the poor thing, I just want to hug and love him with all my heart <3)

Aeira closed her eyes, hiccuping softly as she pretended to sleep. Ren picked up on her intention to be left alone, and retreated back next to the smoke rack. "Uh oh, hope she hasn't rubbed off onto him," he said, concerned and a little guilty.

He stoked the fire while Jorn talked with his dragon, listening, then feeling more guilty that he was listening. She misses the sea... he thought, well, maybe we will have a chance off the shores of the Sunbeam Ruins. Looking up, he saw Jorn struggling, it seemed, and another pang of guilt struck him in the chest.

He looked back down, mute.

Ciar sighed, his wings visibly slumping at the statement. He didn’t have an answer for his rider, so he simply stared out at nothing and kept silent.

“I’m sorry, Ciar,” Jorn whispered, giving him a final stroke before heading back to the fire. “Dammit,” he muttered to himself.

“It’s more likely he rubbed off on her,” Jorn quietly said to Ren. “He’d always wanted to see the Sea; he probably asked her about it while they were out.”

Ren sighed at the sight, "it's a start, he seems to be opening up a little more," he said softly. "As for Aeira, I think the Sea held a special place in her heart. Why? I have no clue... I brought her out when she was very little. Still too young to fly, even. She learned how to swim in the Sea, though. Maybe that's why."

With her emotions gathered, the Imperial dragoness shifted herself closer to Ciar. "Hey... do you think you could tell me about what you did during the war?" She asked, genuinely curious.

“I suppose so, and far quicker than I expected,” Jorn answered. “And, perhaps that’s why... I think Ciar misses it even if he’s never truly experienced it. He always enjoyed the lake that wasn’t so far from our home, after all, though we can’t go back to that now.”

Ciar jumped at her question, suddenly feeling very nervous, though he didn’t know why. He turned to look at her, eyes wide, and stammered, ”W-why? Why... do you want to know?”

"We'll get him some water time, don't you worry," Ren smiled, spirited once more. "It's only natural for a Guardian to gravitate towards a body of water." He put some more firewood into the crackling, dancing flame, "I think it's more instinct than anything."

Being careful with her words, Aeira forged onward. "I'm sure you have great stories to tell. I never participated, we just tried to survive, but I still want to know," she said, grazing her tail against his and brushing wings together.

“Probably,” Jorn said. “I admit I really want to see how he reacts to the ocean.” He smiled, trying to picture the scene he just described.

”Um... great stories...” Ciar mumbled, thinking. ”Oh, uh... we worked a lot with Skydancers and Faes. The Faes were too little to ride, so they and their humans would ride me, sometimes. It was my job to protect them, to... to stop others from following us. Trainer taught me to kill the ones who tried to follow or attack us, but Trainer also taught me to listen to my rider. My rider... he never told me to kill, so I didn’t.”

”But, sometimes,” he said quietly, slowly, “sometimes... I saw some of the others kill.”

"Hey, shh," He hushed the other, "they're talking!" His smile grew into a silly grin as he saw how Aeira was nestled up against the Guardian. "Never expected her to do that. That's for sure."

Aeira gasped, carefully maneuvering around the tender topic, "tell me about you and Jorn, please? What did you two do? Or maybe how you protected the others, I want to know everything you did." Her eyes were wide in childish wonder as she moved a little closer, practically begging to hear Ciar speak.

“I’m more surprised he didn’t move away,” Jorn whispered, listening in on the conversation.

”I don’t know...” Ciar managed, shifting a little. ”Um... I don’t know what my rider did. He always went with the other humans. I stayed with the Skydancers and kept them safe. Then the humans would come back and we would all fly away. Sometimes, we were alone though. Sometimes for weeks.”

Ren nodded and watched, his mouth slightly agape as the two dragons conversed. He still made sure to check the fire every now and then, though.

"Wow, you must have been a good protector, then. How did you manage to stay by yourself for weeks? I don't think I could do that, I'd get lonely without Ren. Did you like it, though? Or was it hard?"