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Brayla sighed as she looked down at the little boy tugging at her pants, his eyes wide and pleading.
“Pleeeease Bea! I can’t sleeeeep!” He whined.
“I need to study, T-bone.” She tried to explain, but his eyes started to tear up.
“Bea I can’t sleep! And maman’s not here!” Brayla sighed again, raising an eyebrow down at her brother. “Pleeeease, Bea?”
“Fine, but I need to get back to this.” Tayrun smiled at her brightly before scurrying up to their room. When Brayla entered he was basically vibrating with energy.
“Tayrun, you can’t go to sleep if you’re really excited.”
“I know, I know, sorry!” He took a deep breath, then rolled onto his side to look at her sitting on the chair beside the bed.
“Do you want me to read to you, or-”
“Sing!” Brayla smiled. The four year old practically worshipped his awesome big sister, and absolutely loved her singing, which he’d ask for whenever he couldn’t sleep or when he had a nightmare. She didn’t bother asking what song he wanted.
“Heureux qui comme Ulysse,” she started softly, “A fait un beau voyage, ou comme cestui-là, qui conquit la toison.”
Tayrun relaxed even more, tilting his little head to watch her as his shoulders dropped and his eyes began to blink slowly. He hummed along as she got to the chorus, then again as she reached it a second time.
By the final chorus, he was asleep.
Brayla leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead, stepping lightly to the door and whispering,
“Goodnight, T-bone.” As she returned to the table to continue her studies.
- - - - - - -
The Ethereal Mountains were a tall, but thin range, something Tayrun noted as they came into view on the horizon. Violet’s strong wings beat a consistent rhythm, pushing them easily through the air.
Tayrun sat easily on her saddle, her flight so smooth he could write in his bestiary, adding annotations to his most recent creation. It was only as they came closer to the mountains that he returned it into a saddle bag, something that likely saved it from destruction as a force slammed him off of Violet’s back not a few moments later.
He hadn’t even been able to close the bag properly as he was flung into the mountain, crashing into the rock and landing painfully. He grunted as he rolled, absorbing some of the impact, but still feeling his shoulder and side throb. Still, he rose as quickly as he could, eyes widening as he saw Violet dash away from a bat-like creature, crying out as her movement jostled her injuries.
A Grumpacious Fangpyre, a creature of song he had thought long since extinct. Still, he reacted quickly, opening his mouth and singing the first song that came to mind, the first non-lullaby he’d ever heard.
“Heureux qui comme-” but as he sang, the beast let out a loud screech, and flew toward him. Tayrun stepped back against the rock face behind him as Violet tackled into the creature. He tried again, singing louder, but was still drowned out.
Until the Hissing Plasma Ghast appeared. The beat was slightly off for the original song, but he was still able to join with the chorus, influencing the beast to calm its rage.
“Mais quand reverrai-je,” The Fangpyre stopped trying to fight Violet, ceasing its struggles in her grip.
“De mon petit village,” Violet cautiously backed off as the bat started to vocalise along with the song.
“Fumer la cheminée, et en quelle saison.” Violet landed beside him and, still singing, Tayrun looked over her wounds.
“Mais quand reverrai-je.” He stopped singing as his heart ached at the large gashes torn into her side. She whimpered as he hovered a hand over a patch of unbroken skin, but where some of her scales had been torn off. He was at least glad that her vulnerable hind legs and tail had been partially protected by the saddle and bags, but the feeling was muted compared to the concern and upset at seeing the little dragon in pain.
He created a portal for them both, nodding a thanks to the Ghast before dropping down into A-016, sprinting down toward the Sharp Tank. He skidded on the gravel in front of the door before running through the halls, eyes darting as he called out for Jake. After what felt like forever, two small faces poked out from one of the many lounge rooms, eyes wide. Tayrun, as quickly as he could, explained the situation and asked Jake for his help.
It took over an hour of sitting for Jake’s powers to close Violet’s wounds, still leaving heavily bruised and battered skin covering them. They kids had continued watching a cartoon as Jake healed her, and Tayrun half watched, but paid more attention to gently petting Violet to keep her attention away from her pains.
After the time was up, Jake and Ana went to nap, and Tayrun took Violet back to their world, and to the safe and comfortable cave she rested in whenever they weren’t travelling. Tayrun left to gather provisions, then bunkered down with her, setting up a bedroll and looking up at the faintly glowing lichen that painted the ceiling.
Violet nuzzled into his hair, purring as her cold nose pressed against his head. He reached up and scratched under her chin, letting out a huff of air as she settled beside him. He smiled and continued rubbing the soft scaleless patch, his eyes trailing down to the gashes on her side.
“You’re so brave, you know that?” He told her, sitting cross legged and hugging her head. She pressed into his chest, purr deepening. “Yes you are, yes you are.” He cooed, rubbing the sides of her face, laughing as she bumped her nose into his neck.
She dropped her head back onto the soft moss carpet that covered the dirt and stone ground, eyes following him. He followed her lead, lying back into his blankets, yawning tiredly as the weight of the day finally hit him.
His mental to-do list started to flood his mind and he groaned at the realisation that Violet’s injury would make so many of the tasks take so much longer. Immediately, he felt guilty for being worried about his own tasks compared to his ally’s injuries, and he sighed, pressing into his eyes with the palm of his hands to fend off a headache. Violet moved to lay her head on his chest and he idly ran his fingers through her mane, eyes drifting to the ceiling as he tried to sleep.
It took a while.
- - - - - - -
The Monster Handlers gave him a warm welcome when he joined them again, happily sharing what more they’d learnt and taking in his own stories. Gentleman Tyson even offered to help heal Violet with some of their magic, though by the time they would have returned, Violet was mostly healed. Still, after their greetings and conversation, the Handlers offered him a place on their quest, and a horse to replace Violet for the time being.
Rust, a stocky stallion with a copper hide and thick blonde mane, had, by horse standards, a very smooth gait, as was a requirement for all of the Handler’s mounts. Apparently the Handlers worked with a specific horse breeder to provide and care for their horses should they ever be injured, and the hour’s journey consisted of a long conversation focused mainly on this topic.
Still, Tayrun missed Violet, and the comparative clumsy and uneven gait did little to help him feel better. Watching the Monster Handlers at work, however, did. It was a genuine relief to see how easily the Handlers could calm the creature of song.
The Great Joobalrus and the Monster Handler’s performed for a few hours, and the people who lived around the area slowly began to trickle in, so that more and more people were dancing to the song. Several people even asked Tayrun to dance, though he flusteredly declined as politely as he could. He did see a few of them dancing with each other though, and two of the women particularly seemed to have meshed well, so he didn’t feel too bad about letting anyone down.
After the Great Joobalrus disappeared below the waves, a feast was declared and some of the local people took over performing, allowing the Monster Handlers to be showered with praise. The food and drinks were good, the music better, and they were offered accommodation for the night before returning to their home base in the morning.
Overall the experience was a good one, though in the morning Tayrun regretted drinking quite as much as he had. Rust seemed to have an even clumsier stride when each step made his head throb, and he was glad to be off to the cave where he had left Violet, after bidding farewell to the Monster Handlers.
Violet was where he’d left her, and for the rest of the day he stayed with her, playing in the cave to provide entertainment and enrichment while she healed. Even then, for the most part she was well rested and would hopefully be able to fly in the next few days, if only for a short period of time.
Perhaps tomorrow he could visit Kayla, he thought as he recounted the previous day’s events into his journal. He hadn’t seen her in a few weeks and he could do with the change, and Kayla always made him feel more relaxed.
He stretched and yawned, leaning back against Violet as he reread what he’d written to find any faults. That would be tomorrow, definitely. Tonight however, he was tired.
And so he would sleep, slipping from Violet onto his blankets, covered by a wing and warmed by the large fluffy beast beside him.