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 Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:21 pm
Ithnan stared with blank eyes at the nest of eggs that had been laid in the depths of a rather moist cave. He blinked slowly, blue eyes expressing not a single emotion at the moment. He wasn't at all sure what had gone on a few nights before, or why he hadn't left the morning after; perhaps some part of him regretted what he had done, or wanted to take some responsibility for it. Or... maybe it was just the pink egg, so similar to himself in coloration, that tempted him. He swished his tail to either side, watching the eggs anxiously, as though they were going to hatch at any moment, though he knew that they weren't. No less, he really needed to get back to his King. Despite the fact that the neither dragon would admit it, Syoto really didn't know how to hunt for himself, and could barely really take care of himself. Ithnan had done that for him since they were children, as soon as the pack that had hatched them got tired of Syoto's arrogance.
He glanced between the horned female and the eggs a few times, before he finally laid down, head rested on his paws as he sighed softly, letting his eyes fall closed for what seemed the first time in a week. It was only a moment later that he was on his feet once again, pacing back and forth across the cave. Finally, after what seemed to be hours of thinking, he stopped, and looked toward Stormwind curiously. "St-St-Stormwi-wi-ind?" he asked quietly, looking at the ground, and then back up at the female, before changing him mind and watching the nest. He gestured toward the pink egg. "Is there an-an-any chance tha-at I could ta-ta-take ca-are of tha-tha-that o-o-one...?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:31 pm
 Syoto lay on the ground, mumbling wearily. Two eggs rested in a nest by his side.
"Huuuuuuuungry," the 'Dragon King' whined, his stomach rumbling tremendously. He lazily rolled to his feet. "Where is Ithnan?" He scowled out the cave entrance. "He's been gone for days, ever since he went to find me food. And I'm STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARVING!!!"
He frowned, wagging his tail tiredly. Aqua had gone to look for food as well, though, as Syoto's Queen, she really was above such things. But Since Ithnan had failed him, Syoto had had no choice but to send his love out to find food. Because Syoto himself could not hunt.
The truth was, he wasn't really unbearably hungry. He was mostly just lonely. His servant since childhood, he wasn't used to Ith being gone so long. And Aqua, his newfound queen with the voice of an angel... Well, he found himself missing her even when she was simply out for a walk outside!
He flopped back onto his side and looked at his two eggs. The heirs to the throne. That was all well and good, but right now they didn't make any sound, they didn't move, and they weren't very good company...
"Where's Ithnaaaaaaan?" Syoto complained aloud once more.
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:40 pm
Stormwind preened herself in a darker portion of the cave. She didn't try to pretend that she didn't regret what had happened and that things might be normal after this. Her eyes travelled over the clutch of eggs, landing on the pink one with a feeling of disdain that had laid dormant since she was but a wee thing. It reminded her so much of the stuttering male, Ithnan was it?, that she automatically checked it off as useless in her brain. However, she held out hope. Under Astra's and her own care, the child could have a chance at becoming more of a dragon than its...its...
Taking a sideways glance at him with her sensible blue eyes, she confirmed her assumptions. Wimpy, was an accurate description.
She watched him intently as he paced, too tired to do so herself. How would she possibly get rid of him? There wasn't room for another male in her life, let alone this one. Stormwind had hoped he would shove off earlier on but the bugger hadn't left her side. Her eyes widened at his suggestion and to say the least, she wasn't thrilled. However, losing one egg, the one that looked the most like him for freedom to raise the other two with her mate was seriously tempting.
" If you would promise to me that you would raise it with love and care, teach it all the things that a dragon of sensibility should know, then you make take the egg. " She slowly moved over to the clutch, brushing up against the white eggs before bending her snout down to gently roll the pink one to Ithnan's feet. Pausing, she chewed on her bottom lip before giving it a good rub with the side of her horn. " Be safe, little one. Mother loves you, " She whispered, then rose with indifference to Ithnan. " Leave. "
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:52 pm
Ithnan watched as the female approached the clutch of eggs, tail flicking in apprehension. He watched with a dedicated sort of expression, making sure to stay lower than the female. For whatever reason, he'd made up his mind that she was higher up than he, himself, and therefore was supposed to be given the ability to hold herself higher than he could. After all, he'd been crouching down his entire life, it wasn't as though a brief encounter with a female was suddenly going to change all of that.
His blue eyes glittered excitedly when she told him that he would have to promise. He nodded quickly, before bowing toward the female, making sure to keep the egg steady between his paws. "I sw-swear that I w-w-will take the ut-utmo-ost ca-are of i-it," he murmured to her softly. And if he had his way, the child would not end up the same level of servitude that he, himself, had wound up in. He glanced up at Stormwind for a moment before she told him to leave, and he nodded complacently. With a mother such as that one, he was sure that the egg wouldn't inherit his own pathetic submission as he nudged it out of the cave, treating it as though it was made of glass.
He spotted the green speck on it and chuckled to himself, a soft smile on his face. He tapped the spot with his nose and smiled softly. "Y-you will know the-the greatn-ness of yo-our moth-ther, little o-o-one," he mumbled to the unborn softly, continuing to push it forward ever-so-carefully, back to the cave where his king was waiting. "I will ma-ake sure of tha-tha-that."
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:04 pm
Syoto jerked to attention. Was that a voice outside? More importantly, was that Ithnan's voice outside? Most importantly, was that Ithnan's voice with food outside?
The blue dragon galloped out of the cave, with one last glance back at his eggs to make sure they were safe. He nearly collided with his servant on the way out.
"Ithnan!" the 'King' was an inch away from sobbing, "What happened to you?! I was so worried! You were gone and I didn't have any food! I could've starved to death! But you're here now, so lets just go inside and eat--." Syoto glanced down at Ithnan's paws. An egg?
"An egg?" Syoto looked up at Ith in confusion, "That looks like an egg. A dragon egg! We can't eat a dragon egg. Where'd you find it, anyway? And why didn't you find anything edible for me?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:06 pm
As odd as it seemed at the moment, Stormwind developed a sort of respect for the little male. He didn't try to pressure his wants upon her, even though he would have met up with a difficult resistance, thats for sure. She had to admit that he was nothing if not humble, though it urked her that someone would act in such a manner. With her paws symmetrical with one another, she watched as her pink egg was rolled away from her life. Part of her wanted to run down to him and demand to keep it, but she knew it wasn't her place. He was pathetic, yes, but the egg would be well taken care of.
Stormwind turned her back on them in favor of tending to the others. She tucked stray leaves and bits of moss over top of them to preserve the warmth she knew the outside weather was taking from them. Still, as she worked, the whole situation began to bug her more. What would have had to happen to Ithnan for him to behave so? Lifting her head away from the clutch, she looked out the cave entrance curiously. " Maybe I should follow him for a while...just in case. "
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:38 pm
Ithnan gasped when his king ran out, bowing and wrapping his paws around the egg to make sure that it was safe at the same time. He trembled softly as he looked up at Syoto, worry in his baby blue eyes. He'd been hoping that he would be able to sneak past a sleeping King and shelter his egg in the back of the cave. Surely, Stormwind wouldn't approve of this 'King of the Dragons' that he served. He was completely sure of that. But... he wasn't going to leave Syoto; hell, he couldn't, even if he wanted to. There was just... a certain, little problem that kept him with his King, even when tempted to leave and never look back.
Not that he would ever confess the reason to Syoto.
Ithnan chuckled weakly at the questioning and freaking out of his King, wincing at the mention of food. He'd completely forgotten about that part... He barely kept from rolling his eyes at the comment about not being able to eat dragon eggs. He looked from the egg to Syoto. Oh, he really didn't want to do this. He really, really didn't want to do this. What was Syoto going to do if he found out that Ithnan of all dragons, had children. Had done... that with a female, and without his King's consent no less!!
"My sin-sincerest- sincerest apolo-apolo-logies, K-K-King Sy-yoto," he commented, watching the other. He looked almost offended at the idea of finding it, and gently placed the uphill paw on top of the egg protectively, looking up from his submissive position. "Th-this egg is m-m-mine, my l-liege," he said softly, ears tipping backward. "I did no- did not f-f-find it. I w-was distra-tracted. Coul-couldn't remem-em-ember to-to find f-f-food."
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:40 pm
"You're forgiven," Syoto told his servant quickly, almost out of habit. He listened to Ithnan quietly. "Your egg?" The 'King' blinked, a bit stunned. It had never occured to him that Ithnan would want to have children. He wasn't even aware that his servant knew any females.
"Oh..." Syoto blinked again, "Well... I guess you would be distracted... um..." Although the vague feeling of hunger remained, Syoto heroically surpressed his need for food to deal with the current problem. Wait, was it a problem? Yes, he decided, it was a problem. A thought occured to the self-proclaimed King of the Dragons. It must have been lonely, without any other thoughts to accompany it. (( xd ))
"How many?" he asked Ithnan, a small gleam coming into his eyes, "is there just this one?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:01 pm
Ithnan blinked at the reiteration of it being his own egg. He looked down at the egg itself, not really noticing the fact that this would break eye connection with his king, which would be considered disrespectful from his position. He really was distracted, apparently. He nudged the egg, which twitched a bit in response and smiled weakly. When his king spoke once again, he looked back up, blinking a few times, holding onto his egg snugly between his front paws.
He glanced back in the direction of the cave he and Stormwind had been in, and looked back when the question was posed. "Th-th-th-three. The othe-er t-t-two a-are being ta-ta-taken ca-are of b-by... St-t-ormw-w-wind," he commented, nodding a few times, tilting his head curiously up toward the male. "Why d-d-do you as-ask, my k-k-king?" he questioned, tail flicking back and forth in the dirt. Really, he would have liked to see the other two of his children grow up, but apparently he wouldn't have the joy of that. Just this one.
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:10 pm
Stormwind drug a final piece of driftwood from the river's bank into the cave. She looked over her shoulder, making sure she wouldn't trample the eggs while she backed up next to them, gritting the grimy piece of wood in her fangs. Satisfied with her work, she allowed it to 'clank' against the moist stone floor. Everything was set. As soon as she fixed the vines around the back of the sled to form an enclosed area, she'd have something to rival anything a human could create. Her remaining two eggs were tucked safely within the confines of the sled, surrounded in leaves, moss and muck. They were completely hidden from predators and safe from the elements; two of her key goals.
Laying upon her stomach infront of the 'sled', she pressed the flatest edge of the the drifted tree bark against the read end and used her horn to poke two holes on either edge. Taking the vine in her mouth, she snapped it into two equal halves and began the trying task of getting them through the corresponding holds on the sides. Her thoughts drifted back to Ithnan and her pink egg. She'd thought against going after him. Her egg would be safe and she didn't need to worry about it anymore. Until she met up with it in later life, it was as good as gone to her. If their paths crossed, she would pick up where she left off but for now, she had work to do.
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:56 pm
"Three eggs?" Syoto frowned. He himself only had two. The servant with more eggs than the king and his queen? What would his subjects think? It was horrible! This couldn't happen. Syoto had to take action, to save his reputation.
"Ithnan..." Syoto began slowly, "I'm going to do you a big favor..."
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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:13 pm
Ithnan nodded a few more times at his king's reiteration of yet another thing that he'd said. Did Syoto really need answers to any of these questions? If so, then the king was a lot more... dense that Ith had ever really noticed before. Maybe he shouldn't be thinking about that now, though, father-to-be and all that he was. At the suggestion of a favour, his ears pressed back against his head, and he shrunk back a little bit, blinking large blue eyes up at the dragon who was more-or-less his pack leader. "Fa-fa-favour, my lo-lo-lord?" he asked. Already, he was skeptic. Syoto didn't just had out favours willy-nilly, or anything of the sort. He wasn't the type of dragon to ever do anything like that, nor would he ever be- as far as Ith knew. He didn't want to know what this 'favour' business was about...
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 2:14 pm
"Yes, I just said that, Ith," Syoto replied in annoyance, oblivious to the fact that he'd been doing the exact same thing, "Come into the cave for a moment. I want to show you something. It has to do with that favor I just mentioned a few seconds ago."
Without waiting to see if his servant would follow - because the 'king' already knew that Ith would be following - the blue dragon stepped into the cave and sauntered over to his nest, sitting beside it with his tail curved about it protectively.
"What do you see here, Ith?" Syoto asked his servant calmly.
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:31 pm
Something was... not right here. Syoto was being a lot more... cunning than he usually was. He wasn't being goofy and ridiculous like he usually was. Ithnan nodded a few times, watching the other start walking. He sighed softly to himself and nudged the egg gently. It would be alright, everything was going to be fine. Right? He shook his head and nudged the egg up the hill and into the cave, before letting it sit, wrapping his paws around it once again.
He blinked wide eyes at the nest, and looked up at Syoto, tipping his head a bit. "E-e-eggs?" he suggested, before looking down to the eggs once again, bowing toward them in respect. He certainly hoped that his child wouldn't be like him, in complete servitude to another dragon. He was even bowing toward his king's eggs. He was pathetic, wasn't he?
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Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:41 pm
"Yes, Ith. Eggs. Two eggs. Two," Syoto was frighteningly calm. It was a great contrast to his usual self, and it was quite... frightening. "Now... Ithnan. You don't want your egg to grow up as a servant, do you? I know if my eggs turned out to be servants..." Syoto shuddered for emphasis. "No offense, Ith, but... You know what I mean..." Syoto sighed. If only there were another way... But a servant couldn't have more eggs than a king! "So, think about this... What if your egg... Was one of my eggs... What if he were able to rule? Not the whole kindom of course, but a nice valley somewhere..."
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