[Training] Beneath a Blue Umbrella Sky

To have discovered such a powerful shift within himself and then promptly have it bound and hobbled by the Voice had been as large a blow to Jigano's self-confidence as Safrin's lesson had been, for similar reasons. Rather than show it off proudly the bard had kept quiet about it, telling only Rory as he avoided using it for awhile after, but his curiosity about the new shift couldn't be subdued forever. He finally sent Remi a note, asking the alchemist to meet him one clear spring afternoon - though there was a suspicious line of clouds to the south that he was keeping an eye on, lest they being rain and worse.

There would be no sign of the white-haired bard when Remi arrived, but a silver-scaled dragon was crouched over a broad puddle, tilting his head from side to side as he tried to get a view of his reflection in the water. With his wings folded he was a sleek and serpentine beast, and with his feather-edged tail curled around his foreclaws as he sat in the midst of the fields he looked something like a large, scaly cat; one that was impossible to miss as the sunlight gleamed off his silvery hide.

Talons scored deep furrows in the soil as he shifted his weight, anxious both about what he saw in the puddle and about showing himself to another. But Remi, with his manticore form, would understand, he hoped. Better even than Amalia, graceful creature beloved of Safrin. The alchemist might not have been a fighter by nature, but he knew what it was to fight, and to anger the gods. So it was that despite their past differences Jigano reached out to him, hoping that Remi could help him learn about the capabilities and limits of his new form.

Jigano's note was vague, but likely that was intentional. With no discernible upper limit to his creation magic, the alchemist was able to travel fairly lightly. Thus he arrived in the fields with almost nothing at all, wearing only a t-shirt and pants (both heavily stained with grease, ink, and whatever Aoife had eaten that morning). Whatever he might have thought the Sage needed his assistance for, this was not it.

Upon seeing the dragon the alchemist froze. Feathers rippled through his curls and down his back as wings erupted from his sides. Teeth growing ever sharper and more pointed by the second clenched together as Remi tensed and knelt down slightly in the tall grasses. He was sure the creature had seen him already, but that didn't mean his predatory instincts still urged him to be low.

...Jigano..? He sent outwards, his mental voice tense and terse as his eyes began to change into a feral amber colour.

until the lambs become lions.

It's only me, Remi, came the reassuring voice through the Attuned bond as the dragon shook its horned head and then turned opal eyes on the crouching alchemist. I'm trying to get used to this and I... well, I was hoping to have your advice. And your help,he added, even his mental voice more subdued as he ducked his head and then stretched his forelegs out to lie in the grass beside the puddle, neck curving back like a swan's at rest as he studied the be-winged attuned-mage, noting the signs of tension and readiness for combat in the young man's stance and appearance.

He certainly couldn't blame Remi for his reaction. He had tried to find a better way to word his note, but 'I can turn into a dragon now, please help' hadn't seemed quite right, and Jigano hadn't been ready to put it down on ink and parchment yet. Once he did that it would be real in a way he was still coming to terms with, irrational as he knew it was. He couldn't change what had already happened, but he could try to make the acceptance of them a little easier. Remi, he hoped, would understand, and might have some advice for helping him to adjust.

And the alchemist could hold his own if anything went wrong. Jigano remembered the red rage he had felt at the guardian serpent's death in the Spire, and he still didn't know how much of that had been him, and how much had been the rage of his new shift.

Only you. The alchemist huffed back, adrenaline making his voice quiver slightly. However as he stood, his wings melting back into his body, he neared the dragon with awe streaking obviously over his face. I take it this is a ... new development, then? Now that his heart had slowed slightly in his chest, Remi was able to think a good deal more clearly within instincts trying to thrust him into battle.

How do you feel? The accompanying sympathetic pulse seemed to suggest that Remi wasn't asking about how powerful the new form was, but about how the Sage felt in it. His manticore shift hadn't been as dramatic a departure from the norm as his lion had, but then Remi had nearly killed a man during that first night. And indeed, raven, fox, horse, and snake were nothing at all compared to the beast stretched out in the wheat.

until the lambs become lions.

Since I went into the Spire, he confirmed quietly. Which hadn't been all that long ago, though time could feel strange on Caido at times. I... haven't really used it since. He exhaled a puff of warm breath through his slender nostrils and hesitantly lowered his head, stretching his long neck out so he could rest his chin on the ground. Hardly a noble pose, but also a far less threatening one as he blinked a large blue-opal eye at the approaching alchemist.

The question stirred a faint huff from him, painful amusement pulsing through the bond as he considered the question. ...Afraid, he finally said, his mental voice barely above a whisper through the bond. And... unclean. I discovered this form when I tried to save the portal's original guardian in the Spire basement, from Wessex's attack. It was... not enough. I defeated the thing she had summoned but it was too late and... I was so angry, Remi. That she had attacked me. That she had killed the serpent. But... the Voice appeared and bound me in the blink of an eye. A strength greater than I had ever imagined, and she wrapped her power around me like I was a rabbit in a trap. He closed his eyes, a rumbling sigh flattening the grass for several feet in front of him.

I want to learn how not to be afraid of this form. To be able to use it without feeling her power wrapped around my scales. I had hoped that... well. That you might have some suggestions for me, he finished hopefully, opening an eye to look up at the alchemist, feathered tail sliding sinuosly across the grass behind him.

Mmmmm Remi hummed back, his brows furrowing as he neared. Ruffling a hand through his curls, he let himself gape openly at the massive creature. There wasn't fear now that he knew it was Jigano, but certainly his more primitive and animalistic instincts weren't entirely happy about being so near such a large predator in one of his weakest shifts.

Sitting down in the grass and listening as the Sage explained, the alchemist did little to hide the warbles of emotion that echoed out from him. Shock, dismay, fear, surprise. It was a cocktail that Jigano would likely expect given the story he was recounting: the guardian he'd long sought, an attack from their ascended queen. Loren had said something about that. That..when he came back through the portal, the room was in tatters and the guardian was gone. Obviously he'd not mentioned anything of the Voice. Why was she there at all? He asked of the Voice, assuming Wessex's attack and the deity's presence somehow went hand in hand.

The Sage's final request had Remi mentally gulping, a bashful but crumpled look on his face. Oh, I am not sure I can be of any help with that. For the longest time I could not shift as a lion without thinking of what I did when first in that shift. Everything was tainted. I was tainted. He admitted with a sigh. And even as a manticore? I too am weak in the face of the gods. Even the LongNight monsters tore at me just as easily. He added on, looking sadly down at the ground as his fingers fidgeted with a piece of wheat.

Everyone says how much stronger we are now. For surely Jigano was as staunchly in the same camp as he was, perhaps even more now with the appearance of his magic (not that Remi knew it yet). But I am not sure what good it does.

There were still those lives they couldn't save. Souls they couldn't retrieve. Memories that were lost or broken. Hearts tattered and torn.

until the lambs become lions.

Sometimes it helped just to have someone listen... listen and understand. Remi was an excellent listener, but he had given the bard a broad description of having been through something similar with Ludo and his lion shift and for that reason Jigano knew the alchemist would understand in a way few others could. The question earned another sigh, smaller this time as he tried to control it better, and he turned his head enough so he could more easily see the seated man - without catching him in one of his exhalations.

It seemed to be to reward Wessex... for murdering the snake, as she murdered the Fae in the Greatwood, and the Mathair before them. The Voice just... appeared, in the portal's light, and she snapped her fingers and the serpent's body turned to ash. Regret and anger still churned in his thoughts, and his tail swept across the grass again, unable to hide his anxiety. She gave Wessex... something. Some light, I think. Some sort of power. Then Wessex went through the portal. To the winter land beyond, supposedly.

Remi offered little in the way of hope at first, but there was still something to be found there, and feathery-scaled wings rustled as he considered how he spoke of his own experience. What changed? he asked carefully, hearing the past tense of the alchemist's words. Even a manticore could be taken down though, and by extension a dragon, as Jigano had learned even before he had gotten a chance to spread his wings and fly. A pulse of empathy flickered through the bond, an understanding of how little size meant in the face of a world where all it made one was a bigger target.

Neither am I, he agreed, subdued. Have you changed as well, recently? Gained new shifts or magic? The way Remi was talking, it sounded like his strength had also increased again... though it didn't seem to bring him any more joy than Jigano's new shift brought him.

A reward. The alchemist repeated flatly, his brows raising. Hearing that the snake was gone, that the Sage hadn't even been able to take a piece of it for a proper burial made Remi inwardly cringe with frustration. I suppose...given that she was contained in the Spire...it makes sense she could simply..be there? Even so.. Shaking his head and rubbing at the back of his neck, Remi gave the silvery beast an unhappy look.

I let my friends help me. He said with a slow smile, offering the dragon a sympathetic and understanding look. For all their differences, there were more than enough similarities between the two to almost be laughable at this point. There was Ronin who threw me into a pit when my aggression was too much, Vai who came to sit with me and who trusted me enough to hunt with her. They were all prepared to strike me down if the situation called for it though.

At the mention of knew abilities, the alchemist looked down, appearing for all the world like a man who'd done something wrong. Yes.. So saying, he knelt to the ground. Where his fingers touched, a flower began to bloom. This of course was nothing new, not until the plant appeared to gain the appearance of eyes, a nose, and a mouth was it clear that this wasn't just simple earth magic. The flower began to dance about, and to accompany this illusory light appeared around it as did the sweet smell of summer.

until the lambs become lions.

Even so, Jigano echoed silently, sending agreement through the bond as a low, unhappy rumble vibrated in his large chest. Just sharing the story with someone other then Rory seemed to take a little of the sting from it, especially given how good a listener Remi was. The dragon sighed, the breath from his mouth chillier than that from his nose as it stirred the grass in front of him, but he turned to the alchemist with hope that the younger man might be able to guide him through at least some of the rocky shoals of his current course.

Friends were in shorter supply these days with the deaths over LongNight, and the strained bonds between him and Amalia and Sam. Still, the fond memories that Remi shared were beacons of hope, and Jigano shifted as he raised his head a little as he considered what he was about to say. First, though, he was curious about what was new with Remi's life and skills. He'd heard something from Loren that had sounded too strange to believe, but as the alchemist coaxed a little plant-creature to life Jigano snorted in surprise, gusting a hard wash of chilly air over the summoned? Created? Dreamed? dancing flower. What do you call it? he couldn't help but ask, fascinated in spite of the weighty ennui he labored under.

The surprise of the moment shook him enough from his self-absorbed unhappiness that he found a little of the courage that he'd felt like he'd lost within the Spire. Tentatively he reached out through the bond, even as he tilted his scaled head at the curly-haired inventor with cautious optimism. And...would... you help me? The way your friends helped you? Such simple words for such a complicated question.

Confusing? He replied with a boyish sort of laugh, his shoulders rising and falling casually. As the dragon’s breath breezed across the grasses and the subsequent flower, the expression on the bloom’s face seemed to grow unhappy at the chill, causing it to fall over and die a dramatic death. Raising a brow and giving Jigano a look that said, I didn’t tell it to do that, the alchemist gave the blossom a pointed stare which had the effected of ‘reviving’ it. Much like a sulky child called out on its antics, the flower stretched towards the sky, waving about happily enough now.

Ever surprised by the moments of unfettered openness and vulnerability from the Sage, still Remi’s head nodded immediately. Of course, he agreed, before his expression grew perhaps a bit roguish as he allowed himself a moment to look over Jigano’s impressive form. Though I am not sure that I can help you in the ways the others helped me. I could make you a muzzle perhaps, or a nail file for your claws? The silly suggestions were punctuated by a smile. More seriously though, Remi pulled in a breath. There was..the instinctive side of it that was hard to control. But it was the beast’s reactions to my human emotions that I found most difficult. The way a manticore and a lion respond to violence or aggression is sometimes hard to ignore. Harder still to want to, if you know what I mean. And he was fairly certain Jigano did.

until the lambs become lions.

Amusement tickled back along the Attuned bond at the quip, Jigano nodding in agreement. The little plant-person certainly was confusing, but oddly charming as well. A little too charming, perhaps, as the dragon pulled his head back in mild alarm at the theatrical death scene it played out, as though it were acting on the main stage at Fiat Lux. Remi was unimpressed by the antics, however, and the silver-scaled beast relaxed as the flower bounced back.

Oh, definitely the nail file, Jigano joked back, albeit weakly as the conversation returned to more serious matters. He listened intently to what the alchemist described of his manticore form, his large head nodding slowly as he remembered the rage that translated immediately to action, his body responding to his anger before conscious thought could intervene... nor had conscious thought wanted to intervene, in truth. It had felt so easy to react without thinking, to just be the predator he now inhabited, so different from his natural fox form. Yesss... he sighed the sibilant subconsciously, then shook his head to try and clear some of the shadows from his thoughts at the dark memories.

But perhaps you could help me practice with overcoming it? he asked tentatively. It caught me by surprise, the first time I shifted to it. I'd like to... to try and overcome the memories of the Voice's power wrapped around this body. And to see if I can overcome those instincts towards attacking without thought. You know what it's like. And I think you might be able to get through to me if I lose sight of myself again. Remi knew the bad parts of him as well as the good, after all. And the alchemist knew not to hold back if the beast overcame the man for a time, having been on the other side before.

Glancing up, his expression thoughtful and a bit naive, Remi nodded without hesitation. That he could be wounded in a battle between dragon and manticore crossed his mind, but didn't impact his willingness, nor did the fact that as far as a worthy opponent went, the man controlling the beast from the inside was a far cry from a good candidate. All that mattered was that he would of course try, come what may.

Is there...a safe word, you would like to use then? A way to stop things if they go too far? Obviously there would be things that went too far, that was the point. But if the dragon could keep his mind long enough to signal that he did need help, that the rage and aggression was too much, Remi would be happy enough to hear it.

until the lambs become lions.

Jigano stood slowly, shaking himself as his scaley feathers rattled against each other. Hmmm. How about 'manticore'? he asked with an amused tilt of his narrow chin. I still haven't flown in this form yet, so at the very least you should be able to outfly me if you transform. He could already tell that the membranous wings felt different against the air than his feathered raven's pinions. There would be a period of adjustment if he tried to leap into the sky - one which Remi could used to escape or get help if he needed to.

And even if he wasn't a warrior by nature, the gentle alchemist had seasons of experience in his manticore form while Jigano had no idea what his abilities or limitations were yet. There was a good chance that the younger man could subdue him if it did come down to it. But for now...

Can we start by just moving a bit, first? he suggested. Maybe you can throw some earth or mud at me that I can try and dodge? A soft warm up, to let him get used to the body he found himself in, without putting either of them at immediate risk.

Remi dipped his head, sending a pulse of agreement. Manticore it was, then. We both know how quickly instincts kick in. Both in terms of flight as well as aggression as Jigano well knew.

Sure. Remi agreed, and so saying, he kicked a rock towards the dragon. It wasn't meant to be a proper attack, only a tease given what the Sage had instructed. With a boyish laugh, the alchemist took a few steps back. Close combat would be unfair against such a large creature, and if Jigano truly wanted to feel the full weight of his body, better that he have the room to do it in.

Alright. For real this time then. Powering surged into Remi's fingers, a feeling now strangely familiar. The supple earth beneath the dragon rose up like tentacles, impossibly dexterous. Rearing up about 10ft and backwards, the long earth-tendrils thrust their upper portions forward, releasing two large clumps of earth aimed roughly for the dragon's shoulder.

until the lambs become lions.