the monsters turned out to be just trees

The white sheep of the family

Apparently Loren was indeed supposed to just get on. Giving Remi one last dubious look—this was a lot to ask for a variety of reasons—the Launceleyn swung his leg over the manticore’s back. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant seat, but the summoner hardly wanted to wiggle around to make himself more comfortable. So instead, he just reached forward and tangled his hands in the other man’s mane, taking a tight grip. It might’ve been uncomfortable for the alchemist, but Loren really, really didn’t want to fall. Even if other man could catch the Launceleyn, he wanted to avoid that at all costs, if only for the humiliation factor.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

hope keeps us breathing, just to kill us in the end

For his part, the manitcore endured this calmly enough. His wings twitched, ears pinning back for a second as Loren's bony ass nudged unhappily against his spine. Loren might not have wanted to wriggle about, but especially as an animal, Remi had no such compunctions. Shivering slightly so as to force the Launceleyn farther back than he might have liked, the manticore positioned his wings in front of the summoners knees. If he needed something to hold on to, the place where his mane bled away into feathers was his best bet. Rising with easy, the manticore moved towards Astra.

With a soft affection like any parent-animal might show its child, Remi nosed the deer softly with a whiskered snout, exhaling a warm and reassuring breath against her. Retreating a few paces and then several more, Remi nimbly leaped into the air. Thick as the trees were he'd have to get above their canopy as quickly as he could lest he risked constantly hitting his wing-tips on the trees. Once he was a few feet off the ground, he flew towards Astra offering a gentle rumble of assurance that Loren would likely feel in his legs, wrapped around Remi's flanks as they were, as his forelegs reached down with the utmost care to scoop up the young luxere. In a matter of wing beats and one warning growl to Loren that he'd (probably too late) realize meant duck! they'd broke through the upper branches and were flying easily across the Greatwood.

The white sheep of the family

Loren found his seat adjusted whether he wanted it or not; there was no way he could avoid it, given the way Remi shifted around underneath him. However, he had to admit this was a much more comfortable perch, and he leaned forward to take a firm grip at the base of the manticore’s mane once more. As the alchemist took to the air, the Launceleyn called out to his luxere. ”It’s okay Astra, I promise.” Thankfully, she either believed him, or trusted Remi after whatever the other man had done to accept his claws as they closed around her, though she did give one anxious bleat. And then they were off, speeding towards the canopy.

At which point Loren discovered two very important facts. First, trees hurt when their branches and sticks slapped against a person in midair, despite the warning that it was about to happen that allowed him to duck his head and protect himself from the worst of the damage. Second, as they emerged into the open air above the forest, that he was not a fan of heights, at least not when he wasn’t in control of the flight. As a queasy feeling built in his stomach, he saw that blood from cuts he’d received from crashing through the top of the trees was falling onto the alchemist's back. The summoner immediately healed himself, but the droplets remained: he found himself staring at the crimson, stark against the fur as they sped ahead. The sight of his own blood was somehow much preferable to the sight of the ground speeding below them. The Launceleyn’s grip tightened until he was white-knuckled. This sucked.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

hope keeps us breathing, just to kill us in the end

Remi tried to hold the luxere against his chest to give her at least some stability. His large paws were gentle around her, his claws pulled in as deeply as they would go even to the point of pain on his part. But he'd not accidentally puncture her soft belly this way.

Though the manticore could not see the man or the blood on his back, he could indeed feel the way Loren was tensing considerably. It came through in his knees, the way he clenched, how his fingers tugged at Remi's feathers and mane.

"I can feel you fretting up there, you know." The alchemist said. Despite not liking partially shifting to talk, it wasn't as though Loren could see it. Besides, he hoped a bit of banter would settle the summoner's nerves somewhat.

The white sheep of the family

At least this time when Remi spoke Loren didn’t completely freak out. ”Trying not to die. Sorry. You just focus on flying, okay?” His voice came out through gritted teeth. Astra, sensing his distress, let out an anxious grunt and wiggled slightly in the manticore’s paws. Realizing that if he didn’t calm down, the luxere might get hurt, the Launceleyn forced himself to take deep breaths and relax one muscle at a time. ”It’s okay Astra. We’re safe.” His voice was as soothing as he could manage, and it must’ve worked because she settled down again.

Loren hoped (and prayed to any god that might be listening) that they arrived soon and got there in one piece.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

hope keeps us breathing, just to kill us in the end

"You know I have been flying for years, right?" The manticore replied with a laugh that would rumble through his body. "And you are not the first person I have carried. Not even the second, actually." Perhaps Jigano did not rightly count, but it wasn't a lie and if it helped to soothe Loren's nerves then Remi didn't mind bending the truth slightly.

"Besides, were you to fall I could easily catch you. Or have the trees catch you. I will not let anything happen to you Loren." Then, leaning down to nuzzle Astra slightly, added in a whisper, "Or you."

The white sheep of the family

Just because this was Remi’s element did not mean it was Loren’s. Once the initial panic had passed, the Launceleyn realized how much colder it was up here, exposed to the wind and the sky, and his teeth started chattering. ”You might be an e-expert at flying but this is my first time. So can you please not talk about falling?” It was all too easy to imagine himself plummeting to his death. Astra, at least, was growing used to the sensation, so the alchemist’s nuzzle kept her calm.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

hope keeps us breathing, just to kill us in the end

"If you lean forward my body will block more of the wind than if you sit straight." The manticore suggested, though whether or not the Launceleyn would take his advice, he truly didn't know. He couldn't use magic while shifted, so his only option to soothe his nervous rider was to have them reach the village as quickly as possible.

With powerful beats of his wings, the manticore flew effortlessly through the sky. Riding the thermals to save his strength, eventually the woods below parted to reveal the Stonesong, which would of course lead them into the heart of the Sidhe Village.

"Hold on." Remi warned as he began their spiraling descent, making sure to keep himself from banking too sharply lest Loren's balance be unnecessarily tested. "I do mean hold on, I will have to be almost vertical to put Astra down. Lean your weight forward and do not let go." So saying as Remi's wings powerfully allowed them to descend, Remi's large hindpaws landed first so that he could gently place Astra down with his forelegs. As much as he could, Remi tried to use his upward-strokes to hold the Launceleyn where he was as he finally came to a halt in a clearing.

The white sheep of the family

Loren could actually follow orders when he wanted to. Indeed, he felt that he’d been following Remi’s command to be more open and honest quite well, and it was the alchemist who’d been struggling with that. Instead of responding, the summoner simply leaned forward, adjusting his weight as the other man had suggested. It did indeed make a difference. It was laughable to think that the Launceleyn would ever let go, but he took an even tighter grip as Remi went basically upright. The summoner found his hands and legs slipping slightly, so he clung to the manticore with a desperate burst of strength.

It worked, because Remi settled down, and Loren slid to the ground on shaky legs. Astra immediately ran over, bleating wildly, and he basically collapsed to his knees and hugged her.

Will blood tell

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hope keeps us breathing, just to kill us in the end

Shifting back into his own skin silently, Remi watched summoner and luxere collapse against one another. It was strange the bond they seemed to have, or perhaps Remi only thought it so because the one he shared with Isla was so drastically different. Then again, Isla had once been a woman with whom he was quite good friends, who was a lover of his for all of three minutes or so, and who he'd vowed an open-ended favour to Ludo to save.

Wrapping his arms around his body and holding his elbows, Remi waited for Loren and Astra to find their feet and their breath again. For his part the shift from airborne to not was easy; the only evidence of it being the colour high in his cheekbones from the adrenaline of flight.

"Ready?" Remi asked softly.

The white sheep of the family

At Remi’s question, Loren looked up. Rather than responding, he simply nodded and stood, brushing the snow off his knees from his brief contact with the ground. Astra stuck close to the summoner’s side, not quite trusting the shifty alchemist. Although the Launceleyn’s stomach was slightly queasy, Loren followed the other man wherever they were actually supposed to go.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!

"You are not supposed to be here."A voice like whispers over moss, water running over stone. "You are. But not you." Appearing like ghosts were two of Delah's guards. With leather the colour of dark dried blood, faces painted with white, and eyes hard and untrusting, they simply looked between the two men.

Coding base by Sky!

hope keeps us breathing, just to kill us in the end

Glancing up, and then down for the fae were quite a bit shorter than he, Remi lowered his head in a bow. When he stood, there was a gentle smile on his lips. "My apologies, but this could not wait. I know recently King Taliesin came to visit with Delah, speaking of LongNight and its monsters. We said we would share any information that we found, or learned. And indeed—" Biting his lip, Remi turned slightly towards Loren nodding gently as he backed up a step or two to indicate that it was not he who carried this new information, but the Launceleyn.

The white sheep of the family

Loren had definitely not been expecting that he would have to be diplomatic, since he had planned to let Remi do all the talking. However, the only sign of the Launceleyn’s surprise was a slight widening of his eyes before his training took over and he swept into a bow as deep as he’d given any royal. Even if he rejected much of his family’s teachings and legacy, it still came in handy sometimes. ”Greetings, fair ones, and I apologize for my uninvited intrusion into your lands. You have my solemn word that I mean no harm to you and yours.” All the summoner was going off of was half-remembered etiquette lessons and his meeting with the Fae Jiao. But she had responded well to flattery and expressed displeasure at how the people of the Hollowed Grounds had carried the blight to the Greatwood, so he figured some praise and some promises to remain peaceful within their borders would go a long way.

Straightening up, he clasped his hands behind his back. ”As my companion indicated, we have information that might be of some interest to your leaders and your people. There is a bird within our lands, called the Spark Bird, that proved to be decisive in driving away the monsters last LongNight with its magical light. We have discovered that I am capable of summoning the bird with my magic. I wished to demonstrate the spell to those among you with similar abilities so that they might summon it themselves, or, if not, store the spell in any artifacts you might possess with the ability to hold magic. Remi was kindly enough to escort me to your lands” Seeing as the alchemist could make such amulets and that Amalia had a shield that could hold spells, Loren figured the Fae might have something similar even if they didn't have any summoners.

Will blood tell

Coding base by Sky!