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Rain pours down on the solid stone statues on the bridge leading to a city in the heart of Heart. A city once bustling, now one of cold quiet stone. Soft movements disturb the still night as two shadowy figures walk up to one specific statue.
“Well well, Fancy seeing you here, Benja,” a deep voice breaks though the rain and a small knife scrapes over the cheek of the petrified Heart leader. “Where's that smile? Aren't you happy to see an old friend?” the man chuckles.
“Darling, you were never friends with him,” the other figure says as she moves up and puts a hand on the man's shoulder.
“Aw don’t say that my dear, he can hear you!” the man says, tapping his knife on Benjas stone lips.
“You’re silly,” the other person says, chuckling. She hums softly. “Just because you look like stone doesn't mean you can talk to the other statues, Deshi,” she says, kissing the stone mask of the man.
He chuckles deeply. “Aw, don’t ruin my fun, Akako. I love talking to the stone, it’s better than talking to them when they can actually talk back,” Deshi says, moving around Benja, running his knife along the stone body.
The woman, Akako, chuckles and moves over to another of the statues, swaying with the movements of a druun, making her look a little like one with her purple flowing outfit, with tendrils like smoke. “Are we breaking stones today? Is that what we are here for, love?” she calls, moving around the statues, looking ready to knock some down.
“Not today. We haven’t been able to find that kid of Benjas and I thought maybe she would be here,” Deshi huffs, leaning close to Benja. “But nothing still, huh... ” he growls, pushing the statue a little and watching it move just a bit. “Say, speaking of kids,” he sighs and looks to his wife, “maybe we should finally reach out to our dear daughter Nurani.” He pulls the mask up to look at Akako, revealing the dark beard that frames his jaw, giving him an oddly distinguished look with the tidy bun of his black hair.
She looks back and chuckles. “Dear, do you read any of the letters our little spy sends? It seems like our Nurani goes by ‘they’ now.” She hums and walks up to Deshi and pats his cheek. “But yes, maybe we should. I am sure we could convince them to join us.”
Deshi looks surprised and hums. “Oh? Good for them. You really think mother would even let us get a message to them? You know how disapproving she was that we went off to find the unprotected areas with a baby.”
Akako looks up at the sky, rain dripping over her face. “Well, we have to try. We have not seen them since that horrid old hag took them away from us, after what we did,” she sighs, casting her gaze back to Deshi’s eyes. “It wasn’t our fault that we found the only place that wasn’t protected by the dragon gem.” She sounds like she is smiling under her druun mask.
“Yes, well, Anyone that’s not us would see us cutting off a child's stone leg as bad parenting,” Deshi sighs and pulls his wife close. “I do wonder what she told them why they don’t have a leg..”
The two contemplate that as they walk into the Heart capitol’s central area, moving around the statues and moving through homes until they get into the palace and to where Benja would have slept. “Ah, it’s lovely to have a bed to sleep in without having to fight,” Deshi sighs, taking off his mask and falling into the bed.
Akako strips off her Druun garb, now revealing her own, more delicate features and the cunning smirk playing at her lips. “You’re lucky you picked a time to come where no one was visiting or we would have to attract some druun,” she says and moves to sit down on the bed beside her husband. She looks down for a moment before asking, “Do you ever regret what we did to Nurani?” Her voice is gentle, betraying a rare moment of candid remorse.
Or something close to it, at least.
“I regret letting my mother take them from us,” Deshi grumbles and rolls to nuzzle into Akakos hip. “Yes, I sometimes wish we kept them away from the druun until it was time for us all to become stone,” he says and takes a breath. “And yes, it might have been a little reckless to chop their leg off when we didn’t know if it would keep once we went back into Dragon territory. If it was anyone elses child I would have let that demon stay stoned,” he chuckles. “But that was our child..”
“Is our child,” Akako hisses. “They didn't stop being ours once we were banished.” Her voice is a heated, angry whisper full of resentment. “They will always be our child, and we will get them back,” she says snarling.
Deshi chuckles and leans up to kiss her. “You’re beautiful when you’re angry my druun,” he all but purrs.
“You think so? How about I make you into stone my love...” Akako purrs back and pushes him into the bed, biting her lip as she lets her gaze wander over him.
They spend time in the bed of the late Chief Benja, now still and dead and stone, as it continues to pour outside, Heart is quiet and devoid of any soul to hear of or witness what happens in the palace.