Vaalintine
Wild Wondorous Wolfalope
Intimidating fathers, a constant even in Azeroth.
Learning how to Walk
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
81
Three days later I sighed and collapsed back onto the bed.
"...Sorry about this." Sheila said and moved to lay down next to me with her head against my shoulder.
I put my arm around her. "It's fine. We are leaving tomorrow anyway."
Her mother seemed to tolerate me, at least. Hell, she might even like me somewhat.
Her father, on the other hand... I don't know, he seemed to... well, not hate me. But he definitely didn't like me. It was more of a strong dislike.
I had kind of wished things would have gone better.
"It's not." Sheila said and frowned at me. "You deserve to be treated better. I don't know why he's acting like this."
Smiling I gave her a small, quick kiss. "I think I do. I'm 'stealing his little girl'. Besides, he doesn't know me. It really is fine, love. I wish things would have gone better, but I understand how he feels."
Didn't mean I liked it though.
And this was 'without' him knowing what was really going on. If he did, things might very well to from dislike to attempted murder.
She sighed and nodded as she relaxed. "It's going to be nice to get back home again." She frowned thoughtfully and continued, "But... do you think we could visit my brothers before we head to the Island?"
I sighed softly and held her a bit closer as I looked up at the ceiling. Her room was pretty small and at the second storey of the house. Ren was sleeping on the other side of the wall in Sheila's brothers old room that they used to share.
It was actually quite large for a farmhouse with five rooms.
"I know it's much to ask, especially after this, but I haven't seen them since I was fifteen."
I smiled and pulled her closer. "Of course we can. If I can handle your father, I can handle them too."
We laid in silence for a long moment, watching the shadows of the moon through the small window move across the wall before she spoke up again. "Ren won't like it. She already wants alone time with you and I don't blame her. She was right, I do have a lot more time alone with you than she does."
"She wont." I said and stroked her back softly as I thought for a moment. "Well, your brothers are stationed at Valiance Keep, it's not far from the Nexus. We could head there, say hello and then Ren and I could head off for a couple of days to give you some time with your brothers."
"...That could work." Sheila said and hmm-ed. "I still want you to meet them though. Stay a day there and then head off for 'business negotiations'?"
I nodded and nuzzled at her hair. "I really don't deserve you."
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Come back again soon, Sheila? Please don't take another five years before you visit?" Mrs Stark said and hugged Sheila tightly.
"I promise, Mom." she said and hugged back tightly for a moment before stepping back and turning to her father. "Dad..."
He sighed and nodded before he hugged her as well. "Be safe, Sheshi."
"I will." she answered and hugged back before she let go.
Her father frowned and then turned to me. "Atreus."
"Yes?"
"Look after my daughter."
"Yes sir."
He grunted at me and gave Sheila another quick hug before letting her climb onto the carpet in front of me and next to Ren.
"Bye mom. Bye dad... I'll try to visit again next year, I promise." she said before she touched the carpet and caused it rise into the air, heading away from the farm.
They were still waving when we disappeared above the tree tops.
I let out a small sigh of relief and Ren scooted back to rest her head against my shoulder, letting me put my arm around her.
"Sheila..." she said. "No offense, but let's not do that too often."
That was something I could agree with.
Sheila nodded and frowned. "I think that might be for the best. Next time I think I'll go alone too."
I frowned at that and said, "You don't need to do that."
She glanced back at me with a faint smile. "Atreus, you hated it there."
"I wouldn't say hated it..." I started before I sighed. "Okay, fine. I didn't overly enjoy the visit. I liked your mother, though."
"Have you told her about the plan yet?" Sheila asked with a smile before turning forward, speeding the carpet up.
Ren lifted her head from my shoulder and looked between me and Sheila before she frowned at me. "What plan?"
I smiled and held her a bit closer, "We are visiting her brothers in a couple of days." I said and Ren frowned deeper so I stroked her hair before I continued. "We spend one day with them, then you and I head off alone for a couple of days to let Sheila spend some time with them without having us there making things difficult."
Ren really has a beautiful smile.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this one.
"...Sorry about this." Sheila said and moved to lay down next to me with her head against my shoulder.
I put my arm around her. "It's fine. We are leaving tomorrow anyway."
Her mother seemed to tolerate me, at least. Hell, she might even like me somewhat.
Her father, on the other hand... I don't know, he seemed to... well, not hate me. But he definitely didn't like me. It was more of a strong dislike.
I had kind of wished things would have gone better.
"It's not." Sheila said and frowned at me. "You deserve to be treated better. I don't know why he's acting like this."
Smiling I gave her a small, quick kiss. "I think I do. I'm 'stealing his little girl'. Besides, he doesn't know me. It really is fine, love. I wish things would have gone better, but I understand how he feels."
Didn't mean I liked it though.
And this was 'without' him knowing what was really going on. If he did, things might very well to from dislike to attempted murder.
She sighed and nodded as she relaxed. "It's going to be nice to get back home again." She frowned thoughtfully and continued, "But... do you think we could visit my brothers before we head to the Island?"
I sighed softly and held her a bit closer as I looked up at the ceiling. Her room was pretty small and at the second storey of the house. Ren was sleeping on the other side of the wall in Sheila's brothers old room that they used to share.
It was actually quite large for a farmhouse with five rooms.
"I know it's much to ask, especially after this, but I haven't seen them since I was fifteen."
I smiled and pulled her closer. "Of course we can. If I can handle your father, I can handle them too."
We laid in silence for a long moment, watching the shadows of the moon through the small window move across the wall before she spoke up again. "Ren won't like it. She already wants alone time with you and I don't blame her. She was right, I do have a lot more time alone with you than she does."
"She wont." I said and stroked her back softly as I thought for a moment. "Well, your brothers are stationed at Valiance Keep, it's not far from the Nexus. We could head there, say hello and then Ren and I could head off for a couple of days to give you some time with your brothers."
"...That could work." Sheila said and hmm-ed. "I still want you to meet them though. Stay a day there and then head off for 'business negotiations'?"
I nodded and nuzzled at her hair. "I really don't deserve you."
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Come back again soon, Sheila? Please don't take another five years before you visit?" Mrs Stark said and hugged Sheila tightly.
"I promise, Mom." she said and hugged back tightly for a moment before stepping back and turning to her father. "Dad..."
He sighed and nodded before he hugged her as well. "Be safe, Sheshi."
"I will." she answered and hugged back before she let go.
Her father frowned and then turned to me. "Atreus."
"Yes?"
"Look after my daughter."
"Yes sir."
He grunted at me and gave Sheila another quick hug before letting her climb onto the carpet in front of me and next to Ren.
"Bye mom. Bye dad... I'll try to visit again next year, I promise." she said before she touched the carpet and caused it rise into the air, heading away from the farm.
They were still waving when we disappeared above the tree tops.
I let out a small sigh of relief and Ren scooted back to rest her head against my shoulder, letting me put my arm around her.
"Sheila..." she said. "No offense, but let's not do that too often."
That was something I could agree with.
Sheila nodded and frowned. "I think that might be for the best. Next time I think I'll go alone too."
I frowned at that and said, "You don't need to do that."
She glanced back at me with a faint smile. "Atreus, you hated it there."
"I wouldn't say hated it..." I started before I sighed. "Okay, fine. I didn't overly enjoy the visit. I liked your mother, though."
"Have you told her about the plan yet?" Sheila asked with a smile before turning forward, speeding the carpet up.
Ren lifted her head from my shoulder and looked between me and Sheila before she frowned at me. "What plan?"
I smiled and held her a bit closer, "We are visiting her brothers in a couple of days." I said and Ren frowned deeper so I stroked her hair before I continued. "We spend one day with them, then you and I head off alone for a couple of days to let Sheila spend some time with them without having us there making things difficult."
Ren really has a beautiful smile.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this one.
82
Valiance Keep was an Alliance stronghold on the coast of the Borean Tundra, across the peninsula from the island that had the Nexus on it.
Needless to say, I knew where it was.
It might not be that close to my normal hunting grounds, it was too far away, but I had definitely seen it before while flying around.
Usually, I kept my distance.
Technically, on a high level, the Dragonflights were neutral.
However, the soldiers here fought the Blue Dragonflight. They were not the most... dragon-friendly people.
I gave Sheila a small squeeze around the waist, sitting behind her on the flying carpet as the ocean shone like silver in the distance.
"I. Hate. Northrend." Sheila said and leaned back against me. She was wearing the full cold-weather fur suit against the cold.
"Why?" Ren asked, looking away from the view to turn to her.
Sheila gave her a look at that, exclaimed: "It's fucking cold!" and shivered, leaning back against me. "Fucking dragons." she grumbled.
Chuckling, I gave her another small squeeze. "Fucking Blue Dragons, you mean. The others are nowhere near as resistant to cold. Relax, love, we are almost there. I can see the keep."
Ren frowned and glanced back at me. "...I helped attack this place once."
Sheila frowned back and then nodded. "...Let's keep that to ourselves."
...That might be best, yes...
"I hope they recognize me. I haven't seen them since I was fifteen." Sheila said, looking into the distance, a hand on the carpet next to her to keep it under control.
It wasn't really needed, as long as it didn't get any orders, it kept doing what it had been doing. In this case, flying in a straight line.
Still, gave her something to focus on.
Ren gave her a sideways hug. "It will be fine, it's just ten years."
"...Ten years is not a short time for humans, Ren."
Ren frowned in thought. "I guess it would be. Especially when you are that young."
Shaking my head, I stroked her hair. Sometimes I forgot that Ren was as old as Sheila and me put together.
...Not that age mattered much when you were technically immortal as long as everyone was adult.
I still found dragon life cycles a bit odd. We didn't grow elderly, we got bigger and grew more horns.
It didn't take much longer before we were met by a flight of gryphons. Another reason to why I kept my distance from Alliance and Horde strongholds when I was out flying.
They had air support.
Oh, it would take more than a single flight of gryphons, even if they had mages, to threaten me in the air but I really didn't want to get into a fight I didn't need to get into.
"Ohoy!" the guy in iron armor called out as he brought his gryphon up alongside. "Where are you heading?"
"Valiance Keep!" Sheila yelled back. "I'm looking to visit my brothers, they are stationed there!"
"Your name?"
"Sheila Stark!"
"I know a couple of Starks! Follow me!" he yelled to her and waved a signal to his wingmen before the gryphon rested on it's wings and started to glide lower through the air towards the keep.
"...How many brothers do you have again?" I asked her as she brought the carpet to follow the gryphon.
She glanced back at me. "Three. Why?"
Three older brothers?
Brilliant.
It's only for a day. You can survive one day, Atreus. Three versions of her father.
Bloody hell.
She brought the carpet around, following the gryphon around the Keep towards the gryphon landing site and she brought it down onto the landing pad.
Sighing, I let her go and climbed off the Carpet to stretch, Ren scooting off it as well to get up as I reached over to offer Sheila my hand.
She grinned and took it, allowing me to pull her onto her feet. "Thank you."
The guard climbed off his gryphon and handed the reins to a boy about fifteen years old, some sort of squire, maybe? Stable boy?
Running his hand through his short brown hair he headed over to us. "I'm Sergeant Stonefield. Sheila Stark, you say... are you the sister of Clark, Adam and Danny?"
She nodded with a smile. "Pleased to meet you... and yes, that's them." she said before motioning to us. "This is Atreus, my boyfriend and Ren, a friend."
He gave us a nod and scratched behind his ear, suddenly looking slightly less interested. "Nice to meet you. If I remember the schedule right, you should be able to find your brothers at the Keep barracks at this time of the day. I'll escort you there. If you would all please follow me?"
"Thank you, that is very kind of you." she said with a smile as I put my arm around her waist.
Nodding again he motioned towards the entrance to the keep and smiled as we followed him, looking over at my other consort. "Ren, was it? Have you ever been to Northrend before?"
I suppressed the urge to growl at him. It was made easier by the fact that if he actually tried something, Ren would most likely rip his throat out for the insult.
Since the visit to Caldeum I had realized I might be slightly possessive when it came to my consorts.
From the look Sheila gave me, she had noticed my reaction too.
As I sighed softly, I nodded, following him and a patient-looking Ren into the keep as he kept trying to chat her up.
I really have to work on that reaction of mine. Not only was it hypocritical of me, but both my consorts were more than capable of protecting themselves and if I implied either of them needed my protection, I would be the one in danger.
Not that knowing that helped at all. I still didn't like it.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for poking at this part until the errors fell off.
Needless to say, I knew where it was.
It might not be that close to my normal hunting grounds, it was too far away, but I had definitely seen it before while flying around.
Usually, I kept my distance.
Technically, on a high level, the Dragonflights were neutral.
However, the soldiers here fought the Blue Dragonflight. They were not the most... dragon-friendly people.
I gave Sheila a small squeeze around the waist, sitting behind her on the flying carpet as the ocean shone like silver in the distance.
"I. Hate. Northrend." Sheila said and leaned back against me. She was wearing the full cold-weather fur suit against the cold.
"Why?" Ren asked, looking away from the view to turn to her.
Sheila gave her a look at that, exclaimed: "It's fucking cold!" and shivered, leaning back against me. "Fucking dragons." she grumbled.
Chuckling, I gave her another small squeeze. "Fucking Blue Dragons, you mean. The others are nowhere near as resistant to cold. Relax, love, we are almost there. I can see the keep."
Ren frowned and glanced back at me. "...I helped attack this place once."
Sheila frowned back and then nodded. "...Let's keep that to ourselves."
...That might be best, yes...
"I hope they recognize me. I haven't seen them since I was fifteen." Sheila said, looking into the distance, a hand on the carpet next to her to keep it under control.
It wasn't really needed, as long as it didn't get any orders, it kept doing what it had been doing. In this case, flying in a straight line.
Still, gave her something to focus on.
Ren gave her a sideways hug. "It will be fine, it's just ten years."
"...Ten years is not a short time for humans, Ren."
Ren frowned in thought. "I guess it would be. Especially when you are that young."
Shaking my head, I stroked her hair. Sometimes I forgot that Ren was as old as Sheila and me put together.
...Not that age mattered much when you were technically immortal as long as everyone was adult.
I still found dragon life cycles a bit odd. We didn't grow elderly, we got bigger and grew more horns.
It didn't take much longer before we were met by a flight of gryphons. Another reason to why I kept my distance from Alliance and Horde strongholds when I was out flying.
They had air support.
Oh, it would take more than a single flight of gryphons, even if they had mages, to threaten me in the air but I really didn't want to get into a fight I didn't need to get into.
"Ohoy!" the guy in iron armor called out as he brought his gryphon up alongside. "Where are you heading?"
"Valiance Keep!" Sheila yelled back. "I'm looking to visit my brothers, they are stationed there!"
"Your name?"
"Sheila Stark!"
"I know a couple of Starks! Follow me!" he yelled to her and waved a signal to his wingmen before the gryphon rested on it's wings and started to glide lower through the air towards the keep.
"...How many brothers do you have again?" I asked her as she brought the carpet to follow the gryphon.
She glanced back at me. "Three. Why?"
Three older brothers?
Brilliant.
It's only for a day. You can survive one day, Atreus. Three versions of her father.
Bloody hell.
She brought the carpet around, following the gryphon around the Keep towards the gryphon landing site and she brought it down onto the landing pad.
Sighing, I let her go and climbed off the Carpet to stretch, Ren scooting off it as well to get up as I reached over to offer Sheila my hand.
She grinned and took it, allowing me to pull her onto her feet. "Thank you."
The guard climbed off his gryphon and handed the reins to a boy about fifteen years old, some sort of squire, maybe? Stable boy?
Running his hand through his short brown hair he headed over to us. "I'm Sergeant Stonefield. Sheila Stark, you say... are you the sister of Clark, Adam and Danny?"
She nodded with a smile. "Pleased to meet you... and yes, that's them." she said before motioning to us. "This is Atreus, my boyfriend and Ren, a friend."
He gave us a nod and scratched behind his ear, suddenly looking slightly less interested. "Nice to meet you. If I remember the schedule right, you should be able to find your brothers at the Keep barracks at this time of the day. I'll escort you there. If you would all please follow me?"
"Thank you, that is very kind of you." she said with a smile as I put my arm around her waist.
Nodding again he motioned towards the entrance to the keep and smiled as we followed him, looking over at my other consort. "Ren, was it? Have you ever been to Northrend before?"
I suppressed the urge to growl at him. It was made easier by the fact that if he actually tried something, Ren would most likely rip his throat out for the insult.
Since the visit to Caldeum I had realized I might be slightly possessive when it came to my consorts.
From the look Sheila gave me, she had noticed my reaction too.
As I sighed softly, I nodded, following him and a patient-looking Ren into the keep as he kept trying to chat her up.
I really have to work on that reaction of mine. Not only was it hypocritical of me, but both my consorts were more than capable of protecting themselves and if I implied either of them needed my protection, I would be the one in danger.
Not that knowing that helped at all. I still didn't like it.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for poking at this part until the errors fell off.
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tarrangar
Fat arctic chicken
Just thought about one of the places that might gain him immortality for Sheila, if he finds the inheritance verse he might be able to replicate the bond between dragon and rider there in order to share his lifespan with her also an extreme boost to personal magic reserves for Sheila.
Pensive Rumination
Praise me more?
- Location
- Australia
Think you meant Ren there.
I did. Herp a derp. Fixed.
83
It didn't take long until we got down into the courtyard proper and he lead us across it before motioning for us to stop. "Wait here, I'll go get them. Sorry, but civilians are not allowed in the barracks."
Yeah, that seemed reasonable.
"Nervous?" I asked Sheila as he entered through the heavy oak door.
She frowned faintly and nodded. "...Yes. I am." before she looked up at me. "And you?"
"You could say that."
"It will be fine." Ren said with a smile. "Your parents recognized you and were happy to see you. Your brothers will too."
"Sheila... is that you?"
I turned to look at the door as three people exited. Well, they were certainly soldiers. Shorter than me, but not by much.
Much more muscular, they looked like they were used to swinging swords around. They were wearing normal clothes, not armor but they were wearing their swords. All of them were blond as well, matching Sheila's hair color.
"Danny! Adam! Clark!" she exclaimed and I would later have sworn that she almost teleported there to bring them all into a hug. "I missed you! All of you!"
Even if they all hated my guts, this was well fucking worth it to make Sheila that happy
.
Grinning, I crossed my arms and glanced at Ren who was watching with interest and a smile.
"Sheila.. you look different." the largest of her brothers said as they finally let go of her.
She nodded. "It's been too long. Ten years." Sheila said and sighed before giving them each another quick hug. "I... would like to introduce some people to you. "This is Ren, she is a friend of mine. And this is Atreus. He is my boyfriend. Ren, Atreus... these are my brothers. Clark is the oldest, Danny... Daniel... is the middle and Adam is the youngest."
Ren gave them a small wave. "Hello."
I felt I couldn't get away with quite that little so I stepped forward and offered my hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you all."
That caused three sets of eyes to focus on me.
Adam finally nodded and stepped forward, accepting the handshake. He didn't even try to crush my hand as he said, "Nice to meet you."
XXXXXXXXXXX
"So what do you do now, Sheila?" Clark asked her from across the table, his hand on his mug of mead. "Last I heard from mom and dad, you were part of some adventuring group."
Sheila shook her head. "That was years ago." she said and smiled. "I work with enchanting now in Stormwind. I also help Atreus with his business from time to time so I still get to travel, which is why I got into adventuring in the first place."
"So... Atreus..." Daniel said. "What is that you do?"
I shrugged. "Basically, I'm a merchant. I'm part-owner of Azure Imports based out of Stormwind. I'm actually here to investigate a... possible import. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you more than that. It's kind of hush-hush." I said and smiled as I continued, "Anyway, we found out that you were stationed close by, so Sheila decided I could drop her off while I go off to investigate."
Ren smiled. "And they offered to let me tag along. Never seen Northrend before and I wanted to."
"Going to stay here, then?" Daniel asked her.
"I'm coming with Atreus." Ren said and shrugged as she frowned. "I have to collect samples for Master Targos. I'm his research assistant and it was the condition for me getting time off for this trip."
"Wait.. Azure Imports? What's the symbol?" Clark asked with a thoughtful frown.
"A blue circle. Why?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought." he said with a nod, "I've seen that before. General Arlos imports your teas. They are from Pandaria, right?"
I nodded with a smile. "Mainly, yes. There are some other sources, of course, but the green mint teas of Pandaria are some of the most popular."
I might not really be involved with the running of Azure Imports, Venir was in my mind the real owner, but I would be damned if I was to be part owner and not know anything about the business.
Knowing what the hell I was talking about also helped with cover stories like this.
I didn't really like lying to Sheila's family any more than she did, but we couldn't exactly tell them the truth.
Maybe in time.
At the very least, things were going better this time.
"So... that flying carpet. Is that yours?" Adam ask and I blinked.
"What, mine?" I asked and at his nod I shook my head. "No, that is all Sheila's. She made it."
"What, really?" He asked and turned to stare at her.
Sheila looked rather smug as she crossed her arms and answered, "Yes."
"Wow..." He said as she frowned faintly, looking slightly nervous. "I know we haven't seen you in a while so it might be a bit much to ask... but do you think you could take a look at our equipment before you leave? They just have the basic guard enchantments, anything more you have to pay for yourself and they are expensive."
She rolled her eyes. "I would be happy to."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Yeah, that seemed reasonable.
"Nervous?" I asked Sheila as he entered through the heavy oak door.
She frowned faintly and nodded. "...Yes. I am." before she looked up at me. "And you?"
"You could say that."
"It will be fine." Ren said with a smile. "Your parents recognized you and were happy to see you. Your brothers will too."
"Sheila... is that you?"
I turned to look at the door as three people exited. Well, they were certainly soldiers. Shorter than me, but not by much.
Much more muscular, they looked like they were used to swinging swords around. They were wearing normal clothes, not armor but they were wearing their swords. All of them were blond as well, matching Sheila's hair color.
"Danny! Adam! Clark!" she exclaimed and I would later have sworn that she almost teleported there to bring them all into a hug. "I missed you! All of you!"
Even if they all hated my guts, this was well fucking worth it to make Sheila that happy
.
Grinning, I crossed my arms and glanced at Ren who was watching with interest and a smile.
"Sheila.. you look different." the largest of her brothers said as they finally let go of her.
She nodded. "It's been too long. Ten years." Sheila said and sighed before giving them each another quick hug. "I... would like to introduce some people to you. "This is Ren, she is a friend of mine. And this is Atreus. He is my boyfriend. Ren, Atreus... these are my brothers. Clark is the oldest, Danny... Daniel... is the middle and Adam is the youngest."
Ren gave them a small wave. "Hello."
I felt I couldn't get away with quite that little so I stepped forward and offered my hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you all."
That caused three sets of eyes to focus on me.
Adam finally nodded and stepped forward, accepting the handshake. He didn't even try to crush my hand as he said, "Nice to meet you."
XXXXXXXXXXX
"So what do you do now, Sheila?" Clark asked her from across the table, his hand on his mug of mead. "Last I heard from mom and dad, you were part of some adventuring group."
Sheila shook her head. "That was years ago." she said and smiled. "I work with enchanting now in Stormwind. I also help Atreus with his business from time to time so I still get to travel, which is why I got into adventuring in the first place."
"So... Atreus..." Daniel said. "What is that you do?"
I shrugged. "Basically, I'm a merchant. I'm part-owner of Azure Imports based out of Stormwind. I'm actually here to investigate a... possible import. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you more than that. It's kind of hush-hush." I said and smiled as I continued, "Anyway, we found out that you were stationed close by, so Sheila decided I could drop her off while I go off to investigate."
Ren smiled. "And they offered to let me tag along. Never seen Northrend before and I wanted to."
"Going to stay here, then?" Daniel asked her.
"I'm coming with Atreus." Ren said and shrugged as she frowned. "I have to collect samples for Master Targos. I'm his research assistant and it was the condition for me getting time off for this trip."
"Wait.. Azure Imports? What's the symbol?" Clark asked with a thoughtful frown.
"A blue circle. Why?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought." he said with a nod, "I've seen that before. General Arlos imports your teas. They are from Pandaria, right?"
I nodded with a smile. "Mainly, yes. There are some other sources, of course, but the green mint teas of Pandaria are some of the most popular."
I might not really be involved with the running of Azure Imports, Venir was in my mind the real owner, but I would be damned if I was to be part owner and not know anything about the business.
Knowing what the hell I was talking about also helped with cover stories like this.
I didn't really like lying to Sheila's family any more than she did, but we couldn't exactly tell them the truth.
Maybe in time.
At the very least, things were going better this time.
"So... that flying carpet. Is that yours?" Adam ask and I blinked.
"What, mine?" I asked and at his nod I shook my head. "No, that is all Sheila's. She made it."
"What, really?" He asked and turned to stare at her.
Sheila looked rather smug as she crossed her arms and answered, "Yes."
"Wow..." He said as she frowned faintly, looking slightly nervous. "I know we haven't seen you in a while so it might be a bit much to ask... but do you think you could take a look at our equipment before you leave? They just have the basic guard enchantments, anything more you have to pay for yourself and they are expensive."
She rolled her eyes. "I would be happy to."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
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84
Four days later we were back in Stormwind.
The morning after we arrived in Valiance Keep Ren and I borrowed the carpet and flew a couple of hours out before storing the carpet in a rock formation and turning back to our real forms.
The next four days were spent simply being dragons.
Flying, hunting, swimming, practicing. Discussing magical theory.
It was amazing. I had not even realized exactly how much I'd missed that before now, I was so caught up in everything else.
Only thing that would have made it perfect would have been if Sheila could have joined us.
Maybe that demon earned itself a small thank you from me, it gave me an idea of what Sheila might look like as a dragon.
Wonder if the ritual can be... adjusted? She doesn't need the magic, she has that. Just the form.
Or would Fel magic interfere with it?
I frowned up at the ceiling in thought, glancing to the side in the dark. Sheila was curled up on the bed next to me, cuddling a pillow close. She looked awfully cute like that.
The thought of losing her... in any way... was too horrible to think about. I don't know what I would do if it happened.
I couldn't rip out the throat of death. If nothing else, old age was coming.
'They only live for so long'
Targos's words of experience. He lived through this one. Maybe more than once.
How did he do it?
There had to be some way for her not to... not to die. Not to leave me.
"Atregos... it's late." Ren whispered in my ear as she cuddled closer. "Go to sleep, you and Sheila leave again tomorrow."
"Trying to." I whispered back and pulled her closer, turning my head to nuzzle softly at the top of her head.
The ritual worked for me, but it needed the Aspect of Magic to work. Was it... was it because of something in the Aspect or was it because only somebody with the Aspect had the skill and fine control to work it?
It was the only way I knew of that could do it.
Well, other than having her join the Forsaken and none of us would wish that on our worst enemy.
Only other alternative of having her dive deeper into Fel magic and turn into an actual demon was just as unacceptable for anyone.
I needed to talk to Kalecgos.
"What are you thinking about?" Ren whispered softly.
I frowned and then shook my head. "Mortality."
Even if the ritual wasn't an option, I had three worlds to find a cure in. In a couple of years, I would have a small army of people on each one looking for any magical secrets they could find.
And that's just those worlds. There was a seemingly infinite number of those silver bubbles around. I had seventy years to find it... and there might be things that didn't cure her but still extended the time she had.
It was more than possible.
"Sheila?" Ren whispered and frowned in the dark.
I nodded.
She sighed and cuddled closer, sliding an arm across me for a hug. "I will always be here."
I held her closer in response. "I know... I just..."
Ren shifted to give me a lick on the cheek. "If there is a way, we will find it."
She grinned at my apparent surprise. "I know you too well not to be able to guess what you are thinking." she whispered and then laid her head against my chest. "Now go to sleep, love. We both have things to do tomorrow and if you are tired, you are not going. Traveling like that is rough enough on you even when well rested."
I ran my fingers through her hair and nodded. "Love you."
"Love you too."
I had to be the luckiest person, dragon or not, in the world to have these two think I'm good enough to be interested in, let alone be with.
I closed my eyes and kept softly stroking Ren's long hair, I started to go over the next scheduled events before I quickly opened them again to look down at her.
Was she... purring? I didn't know humans could make that sound.
I couldn't help but grin as I put my head back down and kept stroking her hair.
Let's see...
Drop off the potions in Meereen and deliver a couple more books to Halloway as well as see how things are going for him.
Then a couple of weeks on an island off the coast of Stranglethorn. Personally, I think I would prefer something colder and so would Ren, I think, but Sheila didn't.
As long as you could cool down in the water, it's not like basking in the sun was uncomfortable. It's not like it was a desert or something.
Next there was Venir's party. Well, at least the holiday was an excuse to buy my consorts something pretty.
Then it was time to get back to work again and start setting things up in Skyrim. Most likely Whiterun, it was the local tradehub after all. Made sense to have it there.
Let's see if we could recruit a local first before we saw if we had to import somebody.
Sighing softly, I closed my eyes again. Ren was right.
I'd better try to sleep.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
The morning after we arrived in Valiance Keep Ren and I borrowed the carpet and flew a couple of hours out before storing the carpet in a rock formation and turning back to our real forms.
The next four days were spent simply being dragons.
Flying, hunting, swimming, practicing. Discussing magical theory.
It was amazing. I had not even realized exactly how much I'd missed that before now, I was so caught up in everything else.
Only thing that would have made it perfect would have been if Sheila could have joined us.
Maybe that demon earned itself a small thank you from me, it gave me an idea of what Sheila might look like as a dragon.
Wonder if the ritual can be... adjusted? She doesn't need the magic, she has that. Just the form.
Or would Fel magic interfere with it?
I frowned up at the ceiling in thought, glancing to the side in the dark. Sheila was curled up on the bed next to me, cuddling a pillow close. She looked awfully cute like that.
The thought of losing her... in any way... was too horrible to think about. I don't know what I would do if it happened.
I couldn't rip out the throat of death. If nothing else, old age was coming.
'They only live for so long'
Targos's words of experience. He lived through this one. Maybe more than once.
How did he do it?
There had to be some way for her not to... not to die. Not to leave me.
"Atregos... it's late." Ren whispered in my ear as she cuddled closer. "Go to sleep, you and Sheila leave again tomorrow."
"Trying to." I whispered back and pulled her closer, turning my head to nuzzle softly at the top of her head.
The ritual worked for me, but it needed the Aspect of Magic to work. Was it... was it because of something in the Aspect or was it because only somebody with the Aspect had the skill and fine control to work it?
It was the only way I knew of that could do it.
Well, other than having her join the Forsaken and none of us would wish that on our worst enemy.
Only other alternative of having her dive deeper into Fel magic and turn into an actual demon was just as unacceptable for anyone.
I needed to talk to Kalecgos.
"What are you thinking about?" Ren whispered softly.
I frowned and then shook my head. "Mortality."
Even if the ritual wasn't an option, I had three worlds to find a cure in. In a couple of years, I would have a small army of people on each one looking for any magical secrets they could find.
And that's just those worlds. There was a seemingly infinite number of those silver bubbles around. I had seventy years to find it... and there might be things that didn't cure her but still extended the time she had.
It was more than possible.
"Sheila?" Ren whispered and frowned in the dark.
I nodded.
She sighed and cuddled closer, sliding an arm across me for a hug. "I will always be here."
I held her closer in response. "I know... I just..."
Ren shifted to give me a lick on the cheek. "If there is a way, we will find it."
She grinned at my apparent surprise. "I know you too well not to be able to guess what you are thinking." she whispered and then laid her head against my chest. "Now go to sleep, love. We both have things to do tomorrow and if you are tired, you are not going. Traveling like that is rough enough on you even when well rested."
I ran my fingers through her hair and nodded. "Love you."
"Love you too."
I had to be the luckiest person, dragon or not, in the world to have these two think I'm good enough to be interested in, let alone be with.
I closed my eyes and kept softly stroking Ren's long hair, I started to go over the next scheduled events before I quickly opened them again to look down at her.
Was she... purring? I didn't know humans could make that sound.
I couldn't help but grin as I put my head back down and kept stroking her hair.
Let's see...
Drop off the potions in Meereen and deliver a couple more books to Halloway as well as see how things are going for him.
Then a couple of weeks on an island off the coast of Stranglethorn. Personally, I think I would prefer something colder and so would Ren, I think, but Sheila didn't.
As long as you could cool down in the water, it's not like basking in the sun was uncomfortable. It's not like it was a desert or something.
Next there was Venir's party. Well, at least the holiday was an excuse to buy my consorts something pretty.
Then it was time to get back to work again and start setting things up in Skyrim. Most likely Whiterun, it was the local tradehub after all. Made sense to have it there.
Let's see if we could recruit a local first before we saw if we had to import somebody.
Sighing softly, I closed my eyes again. Ren was right.
I'd better try to sleep.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
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85
Returning to Meereen was always a pain in the arse.
Finishing my change back to mortal form I stood up to stretch, looking around the wasteland of the Meereen desert.
Who the hell looked at this place and said 'Let's build a city here'? No matter if it was at the coast or not.
Sheila grinned from where she was sitting on one of the barrels of potions, wearing her 'Lady Stark' disguise: an illusion making her hair look dark and a long green dress.
"What?"
She shook her head with a smile as she got up. "You are getting faster. I counted the time, it took you about eighteen minutes."
Huh.
A month and I had already pushed the time down about five minutes. Maybe in a couple of years I might actually get it down to a practical time.
Ren did it in a couple of minutes. I should at least be able to match that.
"Well, I am getting a bunch of practice." I said and cracked my neck, causing her to shiver.
"I wish you would stop doing that. It's creepy."
"But it feels good!"
She gave me a look.
"Okay, I'll try not to when you are around."
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Let's get going. I just want to get this over with right now, visit Uncle Roger and head back home."
I nodded and dug into my pack for the portal stone. That sounded like a plan and at least we didn't need to ride through the desert for a day to get there anymore.
A quick scrying spell revealed that the room with the portal stone in it to be empty. When you had something to actually guide your spell such as the connection to a portal keystone, remote viewing like this wasn't that difficult, it just took control.
I nodded again, "It's clear." before I extended my hand and channeled my magic into the portal stone, causing a large portal to form in front of me.
"On my way." Sheila said, sat down on the flying carpet before and lifted it just off the ground before sliding through the portal with the two barrels of potions, leaving me to follow her through.
The room we had picked for the portal stone was pretty large. It had likely been used for some sort of parties in the past. It did have solid doors and the high-set windows kept the room lit without allowing somebody to see inside.
It was large enough for me to easily be able to transform back to carry cargo out of here if needed.
She landed the carpet and got up again, looking around before she stepped off it and headed up to me. "Let's go find my uncle. He should have some people hired by now who can handle the exchange."
I nodded and motioned at the door, allowing her to lead the way.
Sheila gave me a knowing look before she rolled her eyes and headed over to push the heavy wooden door open.
Grinning I followed her into the main entrance hall of the mansion. The place was... surprisingly busy, actually.
A couple of guards by the open gates, what could only be described as a receptionist wearing a blue dress, her hair pulled back into a complicated hair... thing... quickly approaching us. "Welcome to Meereen and the Azure Consortium, I am Aurelia. What do you seek?." She said and bowed, causing me to blink at her in surprise.
"Thank you." Sheila said with a smile and half pulled her blue dagger. "We wish see the Master of this Branch."
Her eyes widened and she bowed again. "Of course, my lady. If you would please follow me.
I followed her and Sheila through the hallways even if we already knew the way to his office. It was quite remarkable how much this place had grown in... what was it? Three weeks at most? A little less, maybe.
Oh, half the people here were likely spies for somebody else, but as long as he made a profit and acquired information, I didn't overly care what information was 'stolen'. Oh, if they were caught I expected Halloway to deal with them, but one of the goals of the organization was to import and export information that would better society, not matter what world it was on.
I would rather sell it than have it stolen, of course, but if the price of doing business was some little things slipping out, then it was the price of doing business.
However, I suspected that he might be on top of things.
"One moment, My Lady, My Lord." Aureila said and bowed again before she knocked on his door before slipping inside.
It didn't take long before she returned, though, opening the door for us. "Master Halloway will see you now." She said before closing the door again after us as soon as we had walked inside.
"I see you ha..." I started to say before something hit me in the face, my back hit the door and something was pressed to my throat.
"Don't move. This dagger is poisoned with the most powerful thing I could find in this city, Dragon. Take your spell off Sheila and I might let you live."
"Uncle! What in the hell are you doing!?"
Halloway glanced to the side at her. "Relax girl, you will be free soon. This guy is a dragon."
I tried not to breathe. That dagger looked really, really sharp.
"I know he is a fucking dragon! Now put that knife away you paranoid idiot!"
The old spy hesitated for half a second. "...What?"
Please move that thing a bit further from my throat. I don't need to shave.
Sheila ran her hand down her face and shook her head with a sigh. "I know he is a dragon. He was a member of my adventuring group, he had the role of one of my friend's mounts. I got to know him back then."
"But..."
"We didn't get together until a couple of months ago, Uncle. When he first managed to take mortal form. So if you WOULD PLEASE TAKE THE KNIFE OFF HIS THROAT!?"
"So..."
"No spell! I know what he is."
"Oh." Halloway carefully pulled the dagger back as he stepped back. "Sorry."
I rubbed my throat and then my nose. Not broken... good.
"No... No problem." I said, rubbing my throat again. "Just looking after Sheila. Can appreciate that."
I should have known he would hear about what happened. I was foolish not to anticipate it.
He sheathed the dagger and then looked thoughtful for a second as he turned to Sheila. "That other girl? Ren?" he asked as he gave her a tight hug.
She smiled, "Also a dragon. His other consort."
Oh, did you have to tell him that, he has already tried to kill me once today!
Halloway grimaced but nodded. "Well... still not your father. Your choice, Sheshi."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Finishing my change back to mortal form I stood up to stretch, looking around the wasteland of the Meereen desert.
Who the hell looked at this place and said 'Let's build a city here'? No matter if it was at the coast or not.
Sheila grinned from where she was sitting on one of the barrels of potions, wearing her 'Lady Stark' disguise: an illusion making her hair look dark and a long green dress.
"What?"
She shook her head with a smile as she got up. "You are getting faster. I counted the time, it took you about eighteen minutes."
Huh.
A month and I had already pushed the time down about five minutes. Maybe in a couple of years I might actually get it down to a practical time.
Ren did it in a couple of minutes. I should at least be able to match that.
"Well, I am getting a bunch of practice." I said and cracked my neck, causing her to shiver.
"I wish you would stop doing that. It's creepy."
"But it feels good!"
She gave me a look.
"Okay, I'll try not to when you are around."
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Let's get going. I just want to get this over with right now, visit Uncle Roger and head back home."
I nodded and dug into my pack for the portal stone. That sounded like a plan and at least we didn't need to ride through the desert for a day to get there anymore.
A quick scrying spell revealed that the room with the portal stone in it to be empty. When you had something to actually guide your spell such as the connection to a portal keystone, remote viewing like this wasn't that difficult, it just took control.
I nodded again, "It's clear." before I extended my hand and channeled my magic into the portal stone, causing a large portal to form in front of me.
"On my way." Sheila said, sat down on the flying carpet before and lifted it just off the ground before sliding through the portal with the two barrels of potions, leaving me to follow her through.
The room we had picked for the portal stone was pretty large. It had likely been used for some sort of parties in the past. It did have solid doors and the high-set windows kept the room lit without allowing somebody to see inside.
It was large enough for me to easily be able to transform back to carry cargo out of here if needed.
She landed the carpet and got up again, looking around before she stepped off it and headed up to me. "Let's go find my uncle. He should have some people hired by now who can handle the exchange."
I nodded and motioned at the door, allowing her to lead the way.
Sheila gave me a knowing look before she rolled her eyes and headed over to push the heavy wooden door open.
Grinning I followed her into the main entrance hall of the mansion. The place was... surprisingly busy, actually.
A couple of guards by the open gates, what could only be described as a receptionist wearing a blue dress, her hair pulled back into a complicated hair... thing... quickly approaching us. "Welcome to Meereen and the Azure Consortium, I am Aurelia. What do you seek?." She said and bowed, causing me to blink at her in surprise.
"Thank you." Sheila said with a smile and half pulled her blue dagger. "We wish see the Master of this Branch."
Her eyes widened and she bowed again. "Of course, my lady. If you would please follow me.
I followed her and Sheila through the hallways even if we already knew the way to his office. It was quite remarkable how much this place had grown in... what was it? Three weeks at most? A little less, maybe.
Oh, half the people here were likely spies for somebody else, but as long as he made a profit and acquired information, I didn't overly care what information was 'stolen'. Oh, if they were caught I expected Halloway to deal with them, but one of the goals of the organization was to import and export information that would better society, not matter what world it was on.
I would rather sell it than have it stolen, of course, but if the price of doing business was some little things slipping out, then it was the price of doing business.
However, I suspected that he might be on top of things.
"One moment, My Lady, My Lord." Aureila said and bowed again before she knocked on his door before slipping inside.
It didn't take long before she returned, though, opening the door for us. "Master Halloway will see you now." She said before closing the door again after us as soon as we had walked inside.
"I see you ha..." I started to say before something hit me in the face, my back hit the door and something was pressed to my throat.
"Don't move. This dagger is poisoned with the most powerful thing I could find in this city, Dragon. Take your spell off Sheila and I might let you live."
"Uncle! What in the hell are you doing!?"
Halloway glanced to the side at her. "Relax girl, you will be free soon. This guy is a dragon."
I tried not to breathe. That dagger looked really, really sharp.
"I know he is a fucking dragon! Now put that knife away you paranoid idiot!"
The old spy hesitated for half a second. "...What?"
Please move that thing a bit further from my throat. I don't need to shave.
Sheila ran her hand down her face and shook her head with a sigh. "I know he is a dragon. He was a member of my adventuring group, he had the role of one of my friend's mounts. I got to know him back then."
"But..."
"We didn't get together until a couple of months ago, Uncle. When he first managed to take mortal form. So if you WOULD PLEASE TAKE THE KNIFE OFF HIS THROAT!?"
"So..."
"No spell! I know what he is."
"Oh." Halloway carefully pulled the dagger back as he stepped back. "Sorry."
I rubbed my throat and then my nose. Not broken... good.
"No... No problem." I said, rubbing my throat again. "Just looking after Sheila. Can appreciate that."
I should have known he would hear about what happened. I was foolish not to anticipate it.
He sheathed the dagger and then looked thoughtful for a second as he turned to Sheila. "That other girl? Ren?" he asked as he gave her a tight hug.
She smiled, "Also a dragon. His other consort."
Oh, did you have to tell him that, he has already tried to kill me once today!
Halloway grimaced but nodded. "Well... still not your father. Your choice, Sheshi."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Not the trouble I expected, and it was even funny.
86
"So, I see things have been going well around here." Sheila said and sat down on the chair across the desk from her uncle.
"Very. Once we started doing business, we were almost mobbed." Halloway said with a shrug. "Apparently word had gotten around about the healing potion."
I nodded as I studied the bookshelf at the back of the room, pulling out a random book to flip through. A guide to the local slave trade.
Well, information is information. Even if this is particularly useless as the Queen had abolished the slave trade.
"Anything useful in trade?" I asked and put it back.
"Mostly gold." Halloway said and frowned. "Some have traded with knowledge as well. Some of the local smiths have been most interested in how to make stronger steel."
"I think that was in the books we left you." Sheila interjected.
He gave her a nod. "It was. In return, one traded a secret on how to make sharper edges than normal and the second told me about Valyrian Steel. Apparently it's very rare and the knowledge of how to make it is lost. But some weapons of its kind still exist and according to the myths, it can kill things nothing else can."
I slowly nodded. "See if you can get a sample? That sounds interesting." I said and pulled a small box from my pocket. "Here. This ring will allow you to speak, understand, read and write any non-magical language. It's a recent acquisition that we are currently working on reverse engineering. We only have enough for you, me and Sheila, though."
Cross's notes on it were very helpful, actually. In fact, it was enchanted in a completely different way than in Azerothian magic.
Using direct magic instead of congealed magic in the form of dust or shards. More difficult, but it seemed to be more flexible.
He looked at the box in surprise before glancing at Sheila who nodded. He then reached out to pick it up. "And this works?"
Sheila nodded again. "It does. But only if you wear it on your left ringfinger."
I shook my head. "Don't ask me why. Something about 'taking in energy'. I will see if I can fix that bug and have it work on a pendant instead. I'm personally not much for rings." I frowned and looked out of the window over the mansion's garden. "So... any spies caught yet?"
He actually chuckled and grinned. "Half the staff is also working for somebody else. Some of them are even pretty good, but none of them know even a sparkle of magic so they would have to get up pretty damn early in the morning to get past me."
Sheila smiled at that. "You sound like you are having fun."
Halloway sighed and shook his head. "I admit, I had been out of the game for almost... fifteen years. But it's good to be back. Thank you for this opportunity, Sheshi."
"Any mail for us to bring back?" She asked and I glanced at her.
Halloway shook his head. "No, not at this time. I have some reports for you, but nothing at this time." He frowned and continued, "And you should try to minimize mail between worlds, especially from me. I know you are not trained in this, Sheshi, but that would be a perfect way for me to be able to put SI:7 onto your boyfriend's head... if I wanted to."
She frowned at him at that. "Would you?"
He chuckled and got up, walking over to a cabinet to pull out a bottle of some kind of amber liquid, doing a quick magical scan of it before pouring himself a small glass. "No. No matter what I think about the entire thing, it's up to you. Besides, I took the job. Even in the spy business getting your employer killed is generally frowned upon."
"Unless that's what you been hired to do." I said with a smile.
"Then it's not really my boss, is it?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, saluting me with his glass before he sipped at it. "This place might be a magic-less hole in the ground, but they do make some gloriously good brandy. Either of you want some?"
"Never been much for brandy, but I guess it's better than some drinks out there." I said with a shrug. "Still, if you like wine, I know a place where I can find some pretty excellent spiced wine."
Sheila shook her head. "No, thank you."
"Spiced wine... bah." he grumbled and returned to his seat, putting the glass on the table. "I suppose it has its place, but I've never been one for wine."
"Neither have I, but this was pretty good."
He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "So, Sheshi... are you two staying tonight?"
She shook her head. "No, sorry Uncle, we want to get back as soon as possible. We have some things planned and the time is a bit... limited."
"Dangerous?"
Sheila grinned and shook her head. "Vacation."
"Vacation?"
I nodded. "Vacation. Things have been... stressful for a while. For all of us."
"I like stressful. Vacations... never could handle the things."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
"Very. Once we started doing business, we were almost mobbed." Halloway said with a shrug. "Apparently word had gotten around about the healing potion."
I nodded as I studied the bookshelf at the back of the room, pulling out a random book to flip through. A guide to the local slave trade.
Well, information is information. Even if this is particularly useless as the Queen had abolished the slave trade.
"Anything useful in trade?" I asked and put it back.
"Mostly gold." Halloway said and frowned. "Some have traded with knowledge as well. Some of the local smiths have been most interested in how to make stronger steel."
"I think that was in the books we left you." Sheila interjected.
He gave her a nod. "It was. In return, one traded a secret on how to make sharper edges than normal and the second told me about Valyrian Steel. Apparently it's very rare and the knowledge of how to make it is lost. But some weapons of its kind still exist and according to the myths, it can kill things nothing else can."
I slowly nodded. "See if you can get a sample? That sounds interesting." I said and pulled a small box from my pocket. "Here. This ring will allow you to speak, understand, read and write any non-magical language. It's a recent acquisition that we are currently working on reverse engineering. We only have enough for you, me and Sheila, though."
Cross's notes on it were very helpful, actually. In fact, it was enchanted in a completely different way than in Azerothian magic.
Using direct magic instead of congealed magic in the form of dust or shards. More difficult, but it seemed to be more flexible.
He looked at the box in surprise before glancing at Sheila who nodded. He then reached out to pick it up. "And this works?"
Sheila nodded again. "It does. But only if you wear it on your left ringfinger."
I shook my head. "Don't ask me why. Something about 'taking in energy'. I will see if I can fix that bug and have it work on a pendant instead. I'm personally not much for rings." I frowned and looked out of the window over the mansion's garden. "So... any spies caught yet?"
He actually chuckled and grinned. "Half the staff is also working for somebody else. Some of them are even pretty good, but none of them know even a sparkle of magic so they would have to get up pretty damn early in the morning to get past me."
Sheila smiled at that. "You sound like you are having fun."
Halloway sighed and shook his head. "I admit, I had been out of the game for almost... fifteen years. But it's good to be back. Thank you for this opportunity, Sheshi."
"Any mail for us to bring back?" She asked and I glanced at her.
Halloway shook his head. "No, not at this time. I have some reports for you, but nothing at this time." He frowned and continued, "And you should try to minimize mail between worlds, especially from me. I know you are not trained in this, Sheshi, but that would be a perfect way for me to be able to put SI:7 onto your boyfriend's head... if I wanted to."
She frowned at him at that. "Would you?"
He chuckled and got up, walking over to a cabinet to pull out a bottle of some kind of amber liquid, doing a quick magical scan of it before pouring himself a small glass. "No. No matter what I think about the entire thing, it's up to you. Besides, I took the job. Even in the spy business getting your employer killed is generally frowned upon."
"Unless that's what you been hired to do." I said with a smile.
"Then it's not really my boss, is it?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, saluting me with his glass before he sipped at it. "This place might be a magic-less hole in the ground, but they do make some gloriously good brandy. Either of you want some?"
"Never been much for brandy, but I guess it's better than some drinks out there." I said with a shrug. "Still, if you like wine, I know a place where I can find some pretty excellent spiced wine."
Sheila shook her head. "No, thank you."
"Spiced wine... bah." he grumbled and returned to his seat, putting the glass on the table. "I suppose it has its place, but I've never been one for wine."
"Neither have I, but this was pretty good."
He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "So, Sheshi... are you two staying tonight?"
She shook her head. "No, sorry Uncle, we want to get back as soon as possible. We have some things planned and the time is a bit... limited."
"Dangerous?"
Sheila grinned and shook her head. "Vacation."
"Vacation?"
I nodded. "Vacation. Things have been... stressful for a while. For all of us."
"I like stressful. Vacations... never could handle the things."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
87
I spread my wings, resting on what thermals there were above the forest. And this being Stranglethorn, there was quite a few of them.
Plants were normally not conductive to great thermals, you wanted cliffs for that... but a hot steaming jungle was still hot.
"You look happy." Ren said where she was gliding next to me.
"I am. I love flying like this." Sheila answered with a grin and patted at my neck firmly.
I had ditched the armor, having replaced it with an actual saddle just in front of my wings. Ren was carrying most of our gear.
We didn't need to bring much food, if any. Just some spices and some things like that. Teas for me, some wine for Sheila. Ren picked and chose a bit of each. We planned to hunt and gather the rest.
"There is nothing really like flying." Ren said and beat her wings once, lifting a bit higher to glide over me and Sheila before sliding back down to glide on my other side instead.
This is going to be so bloody great.
Two weeks to just... spend with my consorts. I even got Targos to promise not to bother us unless there was a world ending event going on.
I left him one of those language rings to work on and he was happy like... well, a blue dragon with a magical research project.
"This is going to be so great." I said and beat my wings once to keep altitude as we started to get closer to the ocean.
Flying over water was a pain in the tail, no thermals so you had to do a hummingbird impression. But it shouldn't be overly far, maybe a couple of hours.
Well worth it to minimize the amount of possible trespassers. The Troll tribes really didn't move off the mainland other than for fishing trips.
Worst come to worst, we just have to keep looking for a island without Murlocs. We could evict some, but they smelled and their beaches did too.
On that note, this world was amazing. From Dragons to Gnomes to Murlocs. It was fascinating that such a wide variety of thinking species were around.
Granted, 'thinking' might be a stretch with Murlocs, but still.
From what I remember of Earth(and that was really unreliable at the best of times), humans was the only intelligent species there.
I could not help but feel that Earth had been cheated when intelligent species were handed out.
Sheila grinned as I glanced back at her. Then she frowned, "I am... dubious about those Bikinis though."
Oh yes. Those.
The right fabric didn't exist so they ended up being silk. Well, I was 'so' not complaining, silk was see through. At least her friend got the design right which was pretty amazing considering my horrible art talents and descriptions.
"I know you dislike how little they cover," Ren said sounding amused, "But it's not much worse than my armor. Mortals can be so silly about that kind of thing."
Sheila shrugged and then laid down, crossing her arms against my neck and resting her head on them, "Well, at least it won't be in public so I can't complain too much. They were comfortable after all and they should not be too warm."
"Back on Earth they were actually worn in public." I said with a chuckle, "Mostly on beaches and around pools though."
She shook her head, "Have I told you that your old home was strange?"
I laughed at that and beat my wings a couple of more times. Oh yes, it was. Compared to this place Earth could seem...
Less human. Which was kind of funny because it was all humans.
I loved technology. I really did... but there was no denying that it had made my old home a bit cold. Everything was numbers, statistics and bureaucracy.
Oh, it was a thousand times better than what it had been in the past without those things, but magic compensated for the lack of technology a lot here.
And that's without losing that human touch.
I then tuned out my consorts as they kept discussing the matter of fashion.
It was strange. Now when Ren actually used clothes, it's like she found the subject fascinating. Sure, it was something completely new to her so it wasn't that surprising, but personally, I found it somewhat boring.
I was the kind of person who grabbed the closest thing that didn't look horrible and was happy with that.
My consorts wasn't. I tried not to interfere, I just enjoyed the end result.
"That reminds me." Sheila said after a long while, changing the subject, "I know I won't be able to meet Atreus parents, but what about yours Ren? You have met my parents."
Actually, that was a good point.
Now that I thought about it, I didn't even know who her parents were.
Ren drifted a bit closer as she answered, "It don't really work like that among us. Whelps are raised by the Flight as a whole, the parents are not really involved as such."
"So... You don't know who it is?"
Ren chuckled at that, "Of course I know." before she frowned, "My mother was Zligosa. She died in the war, slain by mortals on an attack against one of your strongholds."
Sheila was quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry." she finally said.
"It was war. People die." Ren said with a small frown, "She was one of Malygos' biggest supporters. I didn't agree, but I had to do what my Flightleader said."
"...And your father?"
"You have actually met him."
"I have?"
She have?
"Yes. Targos is my father."
I almost fell out of the sky.
AN// Many thanks to Quest for betaing this section. At that little bombshell, we end this story for now at just under three hundred pages, my longest yet by over 50%. Don't worry, I already have a sequel planned. Tomorrow we continue with a sequel of 'Not Quite Shodan' and 'Dreams of Starfire' named 'Broken Dreams. Of course I will post a link to that in this thread so you can easily find it.
Hope you all enjoyed this so far.
EDIT: Just realized I should probably put a link to the first story in the other series here to make it easy for new readers http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/not-quite-shodan-st-si.4550/
Plants were normally not conductive to great thermals, you wanted cliffs for that... but a hot steaming jungle was still hot.
"You look happy." Ren said where she was gliding next to me.
"I am. I love flying like this." Sheila answered with a grin and patted at my neck firmly.
I had ditched the armor, having replaced it with an actual saddle just in front of my wings. Ren was carrying most of our gear.
We didn't need to bring much food, if any. Just some spices and some things like that. Teas for me, some wine for Sheila. Ren picked and chose a bit of each. We planned to hunt and gather the rest.
"There is nothing really like flying." Ren said and beat her wings once, lifting a bit higher to glide over me and Sheila before sliding back down to glide on my other side instead.
This is going to be so bloody great.
Two weeks to just... spend with my consorts. I even got Targos to promise not to bother us unless there was a world ending event going on.
I left him one of those language rings to work on and he was happy like... well, a blue dragon with a magical research project.
"This is going to be so great." I said and beat my wings once to keep altitude as we started to get closer to the ocean.
Flying over water was a pain in the tail, no thermals so you had to do a hummingbird impression. But it shouldn't be overly far, maybe a couple of hours.
Well worth it to minimize the amount of possible trespassers. The Troll tribes really didn't move off the mainland other than for fishing trips.
Worst come to worst, we just have to keep looking for a island without Murlocs. We could evict some, but they smelled and their beaches did too.
On that note, this world was amazing. From Dragons to Gnomes to Murlocs. It was fascinating that such a wide variety of thinking species were around.
Granted, 'thinking' might be a stretch with Murlocs, but still.
From what I remember of Earth(and that was really unreliable at the best of times), humans was the only intelligent species there.
I could not help but feel that Earth had been cheated when intelligent species were handed out.
Sheila grinned as I glanced back at her. Then she frowned, "I am... dubious about those Bikinis though."
Oh yes. Those.
The right fabric didn't exist so they ended up being silk. Well, I was 'so' not complaining, silk was see through. At least her friend got the design right which was pretty amazing considering my horrible art talents and descriptions.
"I know you dislike how little they cover," Ren said sounding amused, "But it's not much worse than my armor. Mortals can be so silly about that kind of thing."
Sheila shrugged and then laid down, crossing her arms against my neck and resting her head on them, "Well, at least it won't be in public so I can't complain too much. They were comfortable after all and they should not be too warm."
"Back on Earth they were actually worn in public." I said with a chuckle, "Mostly on beaches and around pools though."
She shook her head, "Have I told you that your old home was strange?"
I laughed at that and beat my wings a couple of more times. Oh yes, it was. Compared to this place Earth could seem...
Less human. Which was kind of funny because it was all humans.
I loved technology. I really did... but there was no denying that it had made my old home a bit cold. Everything was numbers, statistics and bureaucracy.
Oh, it was a thousand times better than what it had been in the past without those things, but magic compensated for the lack of technology a lot here.
And that's without losing that human touch.
I then tuned out my consorts as they kept discussing the matter of fashion.
It was strange. Now when Ren actually used clothes, it's like she found the subject fascinating. Sure, it was something completely new to her so it wasn't that surprising, but personally, I found it somewhat boring.
I was the kind of person who grabbed the closest thing that didn't look horrible and was happy with that.
My consorts wasn't. I tried not to interfere, I just enjoyed the end result.
"That reminds me." Sheila said after a long while, changing the subject, "I know I won't be able to meet Atreus parents, but what about yours Ren? You have met my parents."
Actually, that was a good point.
Now that I thought about it, I didn't even know who her parents were.
Ren drifted a bit closer as she answered, "It don't really work like that among us. Whelps are raised by the Flight as a whole, the parents are not really involved as such."
"So... You don't know who it is?"
Ren chuckled at that, "Of course I know." before she frowned, "My mother was Zligosa. She died in the war, slain by mortals on an attack against one of your strongholds."
Sheila was quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry." she finally said.
"It was war. People die." Ren said with a small frown, "She was one of Malygos' biggest supporters. I didn't agree, but I had to do what my Flightleader said."
"...And your father?"
"You have actually met him."
"I have?"
She have?
"Yes. Targos is my father."
I almost fell out of the sky.
AN// Many thanks to Quest for betaing this section. At that little bombshell, we end this story for now at just under three hundred pages, my longest yet by over 50%. Don't worry, I already have a sequel planned. Tomorrow we continue with a sequel of 'Not Quite Shodan' and 'Dreams of Starfire' named 'Broken Dreams. Of course I will post a link to that in this thread so you can easily find it.
Hope you all enjoyed this so far.
EDIT: Just realized I should probably put a link to the first story in the other series here to make it easy for new readers http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/not-quite-shodan-st-si.4550/
Last edited:
Next story can be found here: http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/broken-dreams.14200/
Next part can be found here: http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/connections.15835/
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
Well, "thank you" is 9 characters (spaces count), and you need another space between each thank you, so ten characters per thank you. One character is 8 bits, and there are 8,000,000 bits in a megabyte. So the answer to your question is 100,000.
