Welcome to Gaia! ::

The party was tomorrow, and he was, at last, more or less set. The necklace was done and had turned out just as lovely as he had envisioned – even better, even, thanks to Neith's skill. The mortal girl was definitively one he would keep an eye on... not only because of her talent, but for that tiny flame of belief in her heart... Only sparks, for now, but with tending... With tending, that flame might grow. And he certainly hoped to do just that.

He had seen, through Glyph, how much that belief helped. No, he was more and more certain that being distant from the mortals was not the answer... Had he been, before the Fading ? Who had been Kawagiri, other than some shadow spectre ever dancing in his self and his mind, never to be known or defined ?

He had no idea.

TI Lung might very well never know for sure.

Sighing, he forced the thoughts back. No, now was not the time for this. He was more or less set, yes, aside from one last thing – the cake. The cake still had to be made – Xun Jiang had not wanted it made too long in advance, to make sure it was as tasty as possible, and he was off to meet up with the pastry chef he had made his deal with, a few days ago, to oversee the preparation and help, if needed. It was a simple cake – strawberries shortcake, to sway his lover's sweet tooth while remaining light and simple. He knew the set up for the party would start tonight, thanks to Neith having kept an ear out... He would sneak to place the cake early in the morning, while he was certain Glyph would be asleep.

He only needed to stay awake that long.

Xun Jiang had finally made it out of the pantheon, followed by Aysu who happened to be on his own errands, when it became obvious that Glyph was not the only one who was in for a surprise.

At first he did not notice, simply going on his way while partaking in light chatter and banter with his newly-recovered aoide – it was true that he had no memory of Aysu, so just like with Lindita, he had to learn about his servant all over again, from square one. He owed the elf as much – both he and the demoness had remained loyal not only across the ages, but in spite of his first failure.

As it was, it was the aoide who finally spotted it. ”My Lord ? I believe we are being followed...”

Followed ? One long, feather-like eyebrow rose, his expression turning inquisitive as he looked back. Yes, it seemed like they were being followed...

By an horse.

Not exactly a normal horse, either – the size was indicative of a stallion, for the horses he was knowledgeable of, at least. It's coat was predominantly a deep sapphire blue, shifting to lighter tones in patches along his back. It's mane was a pure black, and on the forehead of the creature rested a horn. On his back, two webbed wings that were certainly much too small to allow the creature to fly.

”I have never seen a horse quite like this, before.” Aysu admitted, approaching the beast carefully, less he scare it away. ”I wonder if it lost it's master...”

The horse let out a whining sound, not unlike a laugh. 'Not exactly.' The mental voice was definitively amused – and the creature's amusement grew as Aysu's eyes widened in surprise. Clearly the aoide had not been expecting THAT ! 'Through your concern is quite admirable. In fact, I believe I have just found him. And I happen to be an he, thank you very much.'

Found his master ? Did that mean him ? Xun Jiang walked the few steps that separated himself from the horse, stopping just in arm's reach. ”And who might you be ?” He knew better to overthink the talking horse aspect, as Aysu was most unmistakably doing.

'My name is Anat. I am an errais.' The equine leaned forward, resting the tip of his muzzle against Xun Jiang's hands, looking up at the Dragon King with bright green eyes. 'Your brother tasked me to come into your service, and here I am to offer exactly that, if you would accept it.[

Errais ? Errais... That seemed familiar. Hadn't Whisteria mentioned having made the trip from Azeroth riding such a creature ? Yes, he remembered that. Equines, then... He could certainly see the use of such a companion. And his brother.... ”Zhijian ?”

'The Fangbridle, yes.' Anat answered.

”It is certainly kind of him to think of me...” Pale purple hand travelled upward, and the errais leaned into the touch, clearly enjoying the contact. ”Well, I would be glad to accept your service and your friendship, Anat.” Not that Zhijian would have let him refuse, really, had he had the mind to do such a thing. He saw no reason to – company was company, and belief was belief, no matter it's shape. Anat's skills at world-walking might come in handy, indeed – it was not far fetched to think that the errais had a wide knowledge of various worlds and their location.

Anat withdrew, careful of his horn as he did so, and titled his head a bit in his new master's direction. 'It seems like the two of you are headed somewhere ?' The equine asked, curious, as his gaze went from Xun Jiang to Aysu.

”We are headed to the market.” It was the aoide that answered, through he still seemed quite floored by the whole 'talking horse' concept. ”We have a few errands to run.”

'The market, hmm.' Anat mused, and Xun Jiang quite hoped he would not insist to follow. The market was more often than not cramped enough, which made his own going back and forth hazardous at times, thanks to wings and tail. Having to fit a full-sized horse in there... 'Then, would you let me have the honnor to carry you there ?'

Oh. Of course. The Dragon King glanced sideways at his aoide, who could not help himself – he laughed at the face his master was making, and simply gestured him to go for it.

”I am afraid I have never ridden a horse before...” He finally admitted. Giant cats, yes, but horses ? Not really.

It was Anat's turn to be amused. He did not laugh, but the amusement was thick in his mental 'voice' as he spoke. 'I promise to be a good mount.' Anat then laid down to allow Xun Jiang to sit on top of his back. Ah, a saddle... They would need a saddle.

One more thing to barter for.

The dragon carefully sat on the errais' back, wings fanning on pure reflex as Anat moved to stand again, which only made him chuckle. 'There is no need for that. I will not gallop... Not until we are properly equiped. Hold onto my mane if you must.'

And with that, the group resumed their way to the market.

Splitting the preparations in between himself and his lover had been... a no-brainer, really. Glyph would take care of the food, and he would take care of the water. Doing it the other way around... Well, surely that could have worked out just fine – it was not like Xun Jiang did not know a thing about survival, or what foods would preserve best, and likewise Glyph was certainly smart enough to know to bring a lot of water to substain themselves in the harsh desert they were about to set into. But when they were both more or less predisposed to handle certain tasks the best, why try to mess with that ?

Really.

It was not like he had any issues with the finding of water, even. He knew exactly where to find it... It was getting the containers that had been a little problematic.

At first he had needed a way to easily carry multiple containers with ease, preferably in any form he might decide to take. Neith had been very helpful with that, providing him with a bag that belonged to her, but that she had no use for now that she was permanently settled. Solid, dark leather, clearly well crafted. An artisan from her village had made it, she said. Most importantly, the bag came with a strap long enough that he could slide his head through it in dragon form if he needed to do so, and leave it carefully dangling from his front. The woman still seemed a little dubious as to the existence of said dragon shape, but Xun Jiang was in no hurry to show off. Not in the middle of a crowded market, at any rate. Neith would discover his scales the day she finally gathered the courage to make her way to the pantheon.

Motivation and teasing all at once ? Why, yes, that was perfectly fine with him. The girl would need to get over her shyness eventually. Really, he did not understand her, sometimes – Neith certainly had no issues with him at all... But apparently he was less intimidating than some of the other gods she had seen in the market – likely those who had grown into their influence further.

After finding one container, the Dragon King had to find... More containers. Gourds of all shape and size, mostly leather at first, but the selection was rather slim... Slimmer than the Dragon King would have liked. If he wanted to bring anywhere near the volume he wished to carry with him, then it became obvious that he would need to be a little less choosy. Some flasks, hilariously enough, were re-purposed to hold something quite different than the alchool one could have once found in them. The pottery and glass containers were chosen last, reluctantly so – these would be the first to break if he ran into trouble, but thankfully the leather gourds made for the bulk of his collection.

There was also the matter of clothing. Illisia's experiences were especially helpful here. He remembered Tarnaris, and it's harshness at it's peak. It was a place she had travelled often, back in the day, before Gehenna had struck, before she could even have dreamed to be what she was now, part of the greater whole that had carefully wandered the market for what he needed. Xun Jiang knew that he needed light clothing, both in color and material, to keep the heat from building up too badly, as well as keep a decent amount of air circulation. Something to keep his head covered for as long as the sun was pounding was also primordial – he might have been able to bear it if he was more powerful, but he was still half-mortal, and therefore vulnerable to the harsh climate he was about to travel to. The tail and his wings would be the biggest problem, that he was well aware of. Not in the sense that they would burn, as both were covered in scales that would block out the sun's harsh rays, but in the sense that it would be nearly impossible to find something to accommodate them. It did take him some time to find something that would work well enough – especially that would be tall enough for him. From there on, Lindita could easily manage to adapt it to the extra appendages. The Dragon King had kept an eye out for something that might fit his lover, but as he expected... That was more or less impossible. Sure, Glyph said he could provide for himself... But he would have preferred to have a fallback, just in case.

Lindita had gotten right on her task the second he returned from the market, and Xun Jiang was gone just as fast as he had returned – to fill the many containers that now rested in his new bag. Some had not been made for ease of drinking, but it would have to do. The water could be carefully emptied into an empty vessel if it was too bothersome.

Now, however, the Dragon King had a long task ahead of him – so he simply laid on his stomach, resting in the long, healthy green grass of the pantheon garden and brought each bottle to the mortal-made well of the wellspring, filing each one slowly, but surely. The stream seemed to be flowing a little more than it once had, a little more easily... Quicker than the slow trickle he had initially brought forth, that much was certain. Had the flow simply became stronger with time, or did that mean something more ? The Dragon King was not sure, and it probably was best not to bring his hopes up.

Still... He had to admit he was restless. He felt so contained, so... small, like this. At first, he had not noticed - the two halves of the new whole were still in flux, still settling into a consistent one. At first, he also had not noticed his limitations – not too badly, at least. But as time passed, and as he tried to reach out... Xun Jiang started hitting those limitations, and he felt them harder and harder the more time passed, the further outward he tried to reach... And they felt more and more restrictive every day, it seemed.

But there was nothing he could do about it... and getting frustrated would be of no good to him. So instead he focused on the slow, even flow of the wellspring, on the coolness of the water that licked at his fingers, and let himself calm down, let himself focus entierely on the task at hand.

Even if the wellspring flowed more strongly... it would still take quite some time to fill all this. He would, however, enjoy the relaxation. Likely he would get little on that on Daelyth, if it was as harsh as Glyph had been told it would be.]

To finally be back home was... strange. It felt oddly cool back at the pantheon, next to the scorching heat that had been the norm for most of their journey to Daelyth. Still, in spite of the readjustment period that was bound to follow, it was good to be back.

More than that, it was good to be successful. It made everything – the aches, the slight cuts that had yet to mend, the fears, the shock of finally, at last, seeing her... worth it.

To be honest, he carved a bit of solitude – to have moments sorely to himself after being constantly around his companions for so long. But it was not the case tonight. No, no yet. Glyph was worried, and the Dragon King knew it. Forest knew him too well to not have noticed his reaction when he first laid eyes on that small, rust-colored gem, and the feelings that it had evoked in him. That was why he was sitting here, into the seemingly never-ending span of greenery that was his lover's private quarters, and not resting his aching muscles into his own lake.

That could wait, for just a moment longer.

Still, it was a few hours before he finally dared to even hold the gem when Forest had offered it. It seemed to weight more than it actually should have for an object that size, and the pulse of life was faint... Faint, but there. The Dragon King found himself cradling the gem in his palm carefully. This was all that remained of Forge after two failed hosts. One could not tell, when simply looking at it. For all Xun Jiang knew, all gems felt like this, a bare flicker of life and nothing more... This was indeed the first time he had gotten to hold one, gotten to even see a gem before being implanted... Well, no, he had seen gems before they were implanted, once... But Illisia had lacked the sixth sense he now had, and had been much too entranced by the one gem that had housed his essence to notice much about the others.

It still felt strange, awkward, to look at what had once been his fate so directly. It had never occured to him before the night of the party that the other gods could even fail. He had only heard of his brothers... But then, none of them were perfect, and any of them could make mistakes.

He found himself staring at the round gem in his palm even after Glyph had left to tend to something with one of his aoide – what exactly, the dragon king was not quite sure – and now that he was alone with it, alone with her, Xun Jiang found himself wondering. What was her awareness outside the gem ? Could she feel his touch, the warmth of his skin, the sound of his breathing ? Could she feel the energy of the being that held her, did she know that she was home now, that she was as safe as she could be ?

Could Forge hear his voice when he spoke ? It might be a silly notion – he did not remember much of anything prior to the moment where Illisia set his gem into the flesh of her arm, after all. The gem had moved since then, to the back of his right shoulder, but still remained. As far as he knew, the gem would remain part of them forever... a constant reminder of where they had come from.

No, he only remembered the conversation she had with Lord Harmodius through her part of their joined psyche, but then... The Dragon King had not remembered the failure of his first host. He recalled that something had felt off, but... nothing beyond that. Maybe she would remember, subconsciously. Maybe some unaware part of her psyche would understand what he had to say, and maybe, just maybe, it could help steer her off the path of insecurity and self-loathing that he had followed.

And... Maybe this was not only for her, too. Still, he could not help but look around, make sure he was truly alone, before he leaned against a large tree. Then, he just stopped thinking and started to speak. He had no idea of the nature of the goddess that slumbered in his palm, of how she would feel about the two lives that had been taken, and right now that was unimportant.

He reached in his bag then, a sudden idea hitting him. The Dragon King pulled out a gourd, still have full of wellspring water. As with anything else, he had no idea if it would help her gain strength... But nonetheless, the gourd was uncorked and the content slowly poured in his palm, surrounding the rust-colored gem resting inside it.

”Forge... Whichever name you decide to use, whichever of them you decide fits you now... I hope that if you remember anything of this... If you can later remember what I am about to tell you... I want you to know this. My name is Xun Jiang. I am the Dragon King Ti Lung. You are not alone. You may have lost yourself twice... but you are not alone.”

”I want you to know something that many will never know. I have failed, as well.” The admission did not hurt as much as it used to. It was a dull ache, where it had once been a red hot pain. ”And there are others, through I will not speak for them. But you are not the first... and sadly, I fear that you may very well not be the last.” Xun Jiang sighed, letting the gourd fall down on the grass once it had been emptied of his contents. Already the water was sliding through his fingers, and he hoped that if the goddess within could take any strength from this, that she was already doing so.

”I used to feel like I was alone, even when proved with all the signs in the world that I was not. I used to think this was my fault, and for all I know, it might very well be. I cannot remember much at all, and I can only hope that you will fare better than me.” Sadly, he doubted that the goddess would be so lucky. Two failed hosts... Ti Lung would be lying if he pretended that he did not find that fact both upsetting and utterly terrifying.

”But the past... is the past. We cannot change it, now. I cannot bring my first host back to life, just as you cannot do a thing for the two who once held you. What you can do, is look to the future... Take what you can from the past, learn for it, and move forward. For me... It will always hurt, I think. But I am Lifewater – things might be different for you. But I have risen past that... I have become, once again, and I know you can do the same.”

He paused then, unsure of what else he could say. It was becoming more and more obvious that this had not only been about Forge – no, this had been about him, as well. He had learned things on Daelyth that he had needed to learn, had needed to realize. Had needed to come to accept.

This had be as much about the goddess' hopeful new beginning that it had been for his own sense of closure. He might have not been able to do a thing for that girl, the first host, the girl he could not remember the name of, or even her face... But he had helped save one of his own.

”...Once you find host again, if you need to talk... I will help you as much as I can.” He promised, softly, as the last droplets of water slid through his fingers, past the gem.

”Nonetheless... Welcome home.” He fell silent then, uncertain what else to do or say. He felt oddly melancholic still, but... better, in a way.

For now, it was the only thing he could do.