No better version of me I could pretend to be tonight
Boy and beast watch as their lantern drifts further over the dark, still lake. In the absence of its immediate light Koa finds he feels dim, shadowed by a grief he's learned to keep at bay, but which now lurks at the edges of his vision, blurring his eyes and clenching his heart. Pipsqueak trills a subdued, sad hum, wrapping in close against his shoulder, clearly disquieted by the unfamiliar forlornness that permeates their bond. In all her merry youth she has never seen her human quite like this, mournful and proud in equal measures; it's complicated, because life is complicated, and the sweet little dragonling doesn't know how to make enough light to permeate the gloom.
But ah, light will find a way, especially when one is young. And tonight that light is Flora, resplendent and ethereal as she all but floats toward the soldier, her outstretched hand a beacon in the fog. Koa accepts it wordlessly, the barest hint of a smile softening his severe expression. He pulls her close against him, wrapping an arm around her slender form, warmth blooming where their bodies touch.
But ah, light will find a way, especially when one is young. And tonight that light is Flora, resplendent and ethereal as she all but floats toward the soldier, her outstretched hand a beacon in the fog. Koa accepts it wordlessly, the barest hint of a smile softening his severe expression. He pulls her close against him, wrapping an arm around her slender form, warmth blooming where their bodies touch.
Koa
