Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lithian blinked, startled by the question. “You know, I am not sure,” he answered honestly at length. “She has never spoken of it or shown it to either of us…she may not have undergone the ritual yet, if she even intends to. It is not something that everyone does, you know. Your father and I…we underwent the ritual very young, all things considered. Many dovaa achieve the rank of master only much later in their years, and some never reach it. But…” He gave a small smile, “…miss Takhi is a very strong and capable woman. I do suspect she’ll reach the rank in her own time. Perhaps, next time you see her, you can ask, mm?”

Upon completion of everyone’s lunch and the packing and stowing away of what had been taken out for it, Lithian and Casseth consented that, since they were settled, some collective exploration was in order. Thus, after Lithian set some preliminary warding spells for the camp, they moved out. The Terra Expanse on the whole came with a great swath of variety — from stretches of dull, rocky beige earth and jutting rocks, to forests in the upper levels, and even, in winter, icy gales and snow. At this time of year and at their altitude, the general layout consisted mostly of scattered trees and forest space up the slope of the climbing mountain range, interspersed by great boulders and pebbled stretches of earth that could pass for paths.

Though the mountains did come with their fair share of much more dangerous beasts, smaller creatures were more frequent and likely, and Lithian, for his part, privately hoped that the expedition would be of that simpler sort. Wild dalaks or mountain leklan perhaps. Bouken and forest birds. Firani dragons preferred the territory closer to the volcano itself, and Lithian certainly hoped diabis would linger in their caves until nightfall.

Tanarah hoped no such thing.

Though she didn’t specifically imagine they’d be attacked by diabis, she had entertained her share of ysalis, so far as she was concerned, and wanted something more. Especially with both of her fathers there, surely they could handle something interesting between the four of them. Tanarah hummed as she hopped along the rocky path at the head of their quartet, one palm to her blade and lips curled to occasionally attempt whistling, though she wasn’t particularly good at it.

“Papa, what do you think we’ll find?”

“I remember that story!” Tana jutted in. It’d been one told to them several times over the course of their growing lives, and had always been a favorite of hers. Their Uncle Detraeus was such a serious sort on the whole, and it was ever-fascinating to hear of the stories when he and her fathers were younger — back when they did exciting things and got into all varieties of trouble. “It was a dark but moonlit night, and you and your papa were—”

Tanarah paused, boot stopping on a rock and eyes squinting ahead at a rustling of sound.

“Papa—”

“Get back,” Lithian cut in, and before Tanarah could fully register what the glint of yellow gold up ahead was, it was moving, diving up and over. Her pulse stuttered against her chest, and a moment later, she drew her blade. But then, her father was over and in front of her, fully shifted into his true form and snarling as he caught the neck of the first beast in his jaw.

Five more flocked overhead, spinning like a school of fish before pirouetting down.

Tanarah slid her weapons from her sheathes.

Her fathers would be better at handling this lot, undoubtedly, since she and her sister still struggled with ysali. But that didn’t stop her from taking a step closer to her sister, blades at the ready and eyes wary. A part of her — despite the danger of it all — felt a flicker of anticipation. Eagerness of its own regard. She wanted to partake. To test her blades in some meaningful way. And this, if it went favorably, provided just such a chance.

As the phrase went, “Be careful what you wish for…” became in a moment too true. One of the kiandris, skirting the main scuffle between the pack and her fathers, sidled out from the flock, edging along the side, low to the earth. Tanarah watched it at first, alert as it moved over the rocks, talons clicking and she opened her mouth as it drew near, ready to give warning to either of her parents. Before that opportunity ever arose, it shrieked. With a sharp dart, its head snapped forward, wings spreading.

Tanarah staggered a half step back, slashing and then—thanks to misfortune of footing, her boot wavered, moving another foot farther than she intended. When the dragon drove in, a single butt was enough to send her skidding, and then toppling. In retrospect, she would wonder how she managed not to gut herself on her blades in the fall. In the moment all that occurred to her was one instant to the next: getting her blades out of the way, gripping at this rock and then that and trying desperately not to break her skull on the stones.

She could not have been sure how fall she slid, only that moments after reaching some form of a standstill, the beast that had caused it all was in front of her in a blink of an eye, snout opened wide and lightning gathering in its mouth like a growing snowball of energy. In a split second decision, she scrambled, dragged her blades back free and into her hands, and drove them forward, sinking each through the neck of the beast.

It was not until after, when the kiandri wailed, fizzled, and disintegrated into nothing but its soul, than she spared the time to check and observe with a palm that — best efforts aside — she had not completely succeeded in keeping her skull from bashing to the rocks on the way down. After touching a hand to her head, her palm came back wet and red. She frowned.

“Daddy…”

“I’m not…” Tanarah paused halfway through the assertion with a glance to her hand. “Er.” She squinted. “S’not that bad,” she said a moment later. “It’s only my head.”

Which, if she thought about it at all, didn’t precisely make the situation sound any better, but that was a concern for later. Instead of over-processing it, she reached out, accepting her sister’s hand and tamping down the spell of dizziness that swept her on the initial abrupt change in altitude. Then, she saw them. Just around the edge of the nearby treeline, several strange, sniffing, brightly colored noses.

Tanarah squinted for a moment, pausing and dropping her bloodied palm back to the hilt of her blade with wariness, not completely convinced yet that she wasn’t hallucinating due to head injury. “Tala…do you see those things…?”

“Argaroo…” Tana repeated.

The name sounded vaguely familiar, though she couldn’t be sure from where. Possibly something their father had spoken of once in one of their lessons — or even something their teacher had mentioned in the schoolhouse, though if that were the case, she couldn’t blame herself not for remembering. Still, though, they didn’t look especially dangerous. Almost ridiculous, even, given their coloring and wild feathers. Not to mention—

Her gaze caught blearily on something catching the light, and she squinted. A bright, florescent feather, almost vibrant enough to look as though it could have come from one of the beasts themselves. She took a step towards it, eyebrows quirking up with curiosity.

“Hey, Tala, lookit this—”

Unfortunately, only seconds after stooping to lift the thing, the gaze of all the huddled, curious beasts snapped her way, and she blinked.

“Er…”

Moments later, one dove from the treeline, leaping like a massively oversized bouken, feathers poofed with apparent ‘rage’, though the overall effect, if Tanarah were to be honest with herself, looked a touch ridiculous—other than the fact that it involved a massive beast of at least her own size sailing through the air towards her at a great rate with talons exposed.

Tanarah blinked. “But I—”

The subsequent fierce objections of their unasked for ‘company’, however, seemed to prove her sister’s point. Before she could so much as make up her mind, however, as to whether it was worth it to test her steel on these beasts or simply relinquish the feather, a shadow enveloped them. Seconds later, her father was in the fray, blue scales glinting as he snarled. The beasts — in a puff of panicked feathers — fled as quickly as they’d come. Tanarah squinted, and then swayed.

“Daddy—”

A moment later, her father was at her side, steadying her and then reaching out to touch his fingers to her head, a frown pinching into place across his brow. “Tanarah…”

“M’fine, it’s not bad. Only a little blood.” She glanced down moments before an over-goofily pleased grin stretched onto her features as she lifted her ‘prize.’ “But, I got this feather.”