Welcome to Gaia! ::

“Dawn” on the Celestial Plane was a strange and simple occasion compared to those on the lower world. A gradual, even and steady increase in light across the dome of the sky from deep blue to slate-gray to soft, paler shades, all without ever a sun to mark the way. Lithian stood with his toes in the water and heels on the sand to greet it.

It had taken fewer hoops to hop through — surprisingly or not — to get access for a dovaa-hybrid progressing to master than it had for young, unproven children. But, Lithian supposed, perhaps it oughtn’t have been a surprise, even if it had caught him slightly off-guard. There was a far greater mass of hybrid children, after all, than there were masters, and — begrudgingly or not — most race leaders respected the weight of proven strength and durability and wanted that on their side if it contained their bloodline, even if the mixed blood status was sneered upon. Regardless, Lithian was grateful to have gotten Casseth access.

Having his mate at his side for their final progression together among the ranks of those who chose the fighter’s path meant worlds to him. It was something, once upon a time, he had never imagined to be possible. Looking back, it seemed difficult to recognize himself, now, as the same child who had once stammered and blushed in front of his race leader, half swallowing his tongue in his attempts to speak his part. Lithian smiled a fraction at the thought. But no, things would be be very different this time. In his last presentation before Lord Ysaride, he would have nothing to be ashamed of — and every reason to be proud.

Curling his toes once in the wetness of the shore and surf, Lithian shut his eyes, drew a full breath, and released it. After stretching and relaxing his wings once fully, he turned and progressed back inland. Being designed for those travelling to and from, the walk from shore to the hostel was insignificant — less than a minute’s walk up the slow rolling, grass-scattered dunes before he arrived at the quaint building where he and Casseth had spent the night. Lithian paused to dust off his bare feet on the rug outside it before moving up the wooden-planked walk to their rented room. After a moment of fishing in his belt pocket for the key, he opened it, slipped inside, and threw the bolt behind him before padding over to the low-to-the-floor bed where Casseth lay.

Lithian perched himself on the edge of the cot. One finger, then two, he traced over Casseth’s shoulder, feather-light and aimless. Then, he leaned in, lashes dipping as he repeated the path with his lips, similarly gentle. “Casseth…” he murmured when he reached the niche of his mate’s neck and shoulder, a coy smile tugging at the corners of his lips, “…the sky is bright with morning…” His lips, already cured up, stretched into a broader, mischievous grin, and his eyes danced with amusement as he hummed and caught at the lobe of Casseth’s ear, flicking his tongue out. “Won’t you enjoy it with me…?” he invited while settling his weight atop his mate and rocking his hips so as to make no secret about what would be in store provided Casseth cooperated. “I’m sure we could find something worthwhile to do with your time…”

“Mmm…” A matching grin spread onto Lithian’s lips as Casseth reversed their positions and pinned him, the look moments later cracking into a soft laugh, his eyes dancing with amusement. “Yes,” he said. Lashes dipping to half-mast, he shivered and tilted his head to better bear his throat. “I do seem to recall mentioning something along those lines…”

An hour and a half later, after having fully addressed a healthy variety of ‘worthwhile’ reasons to rise, both Lithian and Casseth managed to make it out of bed. After a quick wash, dress, and a simple meal, they prepared for their trek to the Celestial Fortress. The trip certainly could have been smoother. Between the staring and commentary, not to mention the number of times they were stopped outright by city guards, Lithian grew quickly weary of having to present evidence of clearance and right of passage. By the time they reached the overarching gates, standing side by side in the shadow of the great building that had — once upon a time in Lithian’s life — held almost otherworldly significance, Lithian felt positively bristly, half read to snap at the next person who looked crosswise at them.

That, though — unfortunately — was an exhausting process. So, to the best of his ability, he held his tongue. When they finally got their clearance through the grand entrance, Lithian slowed his pace a fraction, savoring a space that was not bustling and loud as the city, but — at long last — quiet. And, even if it was no longer a centerpoint goal of his to be a priest: holy. The halls of the Celestial Fortress held a certain undeniable, quiet granduer and unshakable eminence.

He glanced sidelong to mate, fingers ghosting briefly across Casseth’s as they started down the first, long hallway that would lead them to the staircase up, towards Lord Ysaride’s meeting chamber. “What do you think?” Lithian asked, his voice instinctively hushed in deference to their location. “Of the Celestial Plane…after all these years…”

Lithian blinked, startled by the comment and, privately, taken aback by his own reaction to it. It should not have sounded odd. This was his homeland, after all, and once upon a time, it had been something he missed on a daily basis. The ‘norm’ to which he compared all the rest of the world. Now, however…

He gave a soft return grip to Casseth and, after only a moment’s more thought, he shook his head. “I have missed it in some senses, I suppose,” he admitted. “It will always be the land of my people…the land I grew up in, and as such, woven with an early lifetime of memory and childhood nostalgia, but…” He thumbed lightly over Casseth’s knuckles, his smile understated, but there, “…it has been quite some time, I think, since I considered this ‘home.’ It is my birthplace, and was once my home…” He glanced to his mate, “…but not anymore.”

In the privacy of the marbled staircase, he leaned over, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of Casseth’s lips. “You are my home now. You, and our house by the sea…” He notched his head, expression warming. “Come, we are almost there.”

As promised, one more coil up the flight and they reached the next flat level, a long stretch of smooth marble flooring that, after following it, lead to the grand, arching double doors of Ysaride’s meeting chamber.

“Stop.” One of the two guards to either side of the doors eyed them. “Who goes?”

“Lithian Bhar—Fedele,” Lithian said, correcting himself. “Peisio, expert…and my mate, Casseth Fedele. We have to present and progress to the rank of master before Lord Ysaride.”

The guards exchanged looks, and then low words. At length, the first to speak turned to them, expression hard. “You expect us to believe some muddle-blooded, half-husk, eyeless freak—”

“I expect you to stand aside,” Lithian said, “and not bar our way, lest there be unnecessary trouble.”

“Watch your tongue boy,” the guard growled. “You brought trouble here when you brought something like that with you through the portal—”

The guard was not pleased, as an understatement. Despite the tension, though, and the wind up to sharp rebuttal, the opposite guard stepped in, and eventually, they were permitted — albeit very grudgingly — through. Lithian’s eyes stayed with Cas as they stepped into Ysaride’s chambers, barely hearing the broad doors clack shut behind them. When the creak of wood on marble sounded, though, his eyes darted up to where his race leader was rising from his seat. He looked as he ever had, grand and unchanging. Larger than life in many respects. The effect now, though, did not intimidate Lith quite as it once had.

“This…” he said, laying the tips of his fingers lightly to the edge of his great desk, “…is not a sight I see often. And I have heard and seen much.” His gaze flit to and over Lithian and then Casseth, the trail of his eyes slow and assessing. At length, he moved to step around his desk. “Many a heavy rumor works its way to my ears in time. Tales of runaway noble boys who betray their namesake…” Lithian winced, “…abandon their homeland for icy wastes and barren deserts, collude with hybrid barbarians…and vanquish orderite battle constructs…” Lithian blinked at the change in tone, glancing up after having diverted his gaze, “…bring down dragons of all sizes and strengths, extend their healing art to serve all those who come before them…” Lord Ysaride turned his attention to Casseth. “I know less of you, as my people tend to speak much of themselves and little of outsiders…but I remember that your mother was before me, once, and now you follow her, decades later, having proven that strength clearly runs in the family.” He rolled his shoulders, wings stretching. “I assume you come baring evidence of some of your conquests. Come…” He notched his fingers towards Casseth. “Show me, hybrid. And tell me something of how you came to earn what you bring before me…”

Ysaride reached out, thumbing over the diabi orbs critically and then lifting one to hold in his palm. “It is not everyone who combats a diabi and survives…much less so many.” He notched his head towards Lithian. “And you.”

Lithian stepped up, laying out his own slew of orbs and dipping his head.

“You are greatly changed from the boy who first walked before me…”

“Time and experience shape everyone,” Lithian answered. “I—” His gaze flicked sidelong to Casseth, and then back to his race leader. “My partner and I would like to take this opportunity before you to request an audience with you again, to undertake mastering the dovaa art of shifting into dragonkin…”

Lord Ysaride blinked and gave pause, glancing between them. “You believe yourselves ready of that? Masters, you may be…but mastering your mind, body, and magic so as to manipulate it that artfully is no small task, and for all the strength you have amassed thus far, you are both young still, in the scheme of the great picture.”

“We are ready.”

The dovaa leader hesitated, thrummed his fingers passively atop his desk, and then gestured an open palm towards the door. “Consider your welcome in the Celestial Plane extended for a period of one day by writ of my council. Return to me come the morrow, and I will be prepared to set you on the course for the ritual.”

Lithian dipped his head in a bow, and after receiving another brief write up of permissions, they were out, free again to spend the rest of the evening as they wished. Just as well, Lithian supposed, since he had promised company to his father. And unfinished words for his mother. Their stay would be eventful, if nothing else.