born of cold and winter air

and on to the glory at my right hand

"I think I saw it go up here..."

Considering that the Cordillera is rife with dragons, fights and fatalities among the reptiles are (contrary to popular belief) comparatively rare. Ronin has always figured it's because dragons are probably better than people in that respect, but hardly ever doesn't mean never. They'd heard the ruckus screeching overhead from the Weightless Waterfall, and when Ronin had come out to look, it was to the shrinking, lopsided sight of a white dragon soaring towards Caido's Lighthouse.

"And I know interfering probably isn't very Mort of me," he continues, hefting himself along a craggy outcrop. "But it looked hurt. If we can help, we should, right?" So says Ronin Taliesin, he of the infinite hero complex.

A faint shriek above them tells that Sugar is circling, but at the moment there's no responding draconic call, aggressive or otherwise.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

"Well, if either of us should be more Mortly, it is probably me." The Lullaby replies with a crooked smile, but then, when it came to animals, Remi had lost none of his compassion. It was only his own kind to whom he typically felt prickly and hardened toward.

In his curls, Oria trilled reassurances up to Sugar, who likely couldn't hear her for the cold winds whirling about. Not even the warmth of Longheat could completely remove the chill from the highest peaks of the Cordillera, though neither Remi nor Ronin were too bothered by it. With his wings unfurled to make the trek easier in places, none of his other senses were particularly useful just now in tracking down a potentially wounded dragon.

"If you had just been injured while flying...where would you go?"

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

and on to the glory at my right hand

"I suppose you're right - maybe you've been rubbing off on me." Leaving himself wide open for any innuendo Remi wants to throw his way, the Supernova merely offers a smirk over his shoulder for his husband's trouble. Inching along a few more feet until they don't have to cling quite so tightly to the ridge of freezing stone, Ronin shifts to crouch down and look out over the vista, Sugar swooping to land on his shoulder.

Warbling something to Oria that Ronin assumes is their equivalent conversation, he huffs out a soft breath and swipes some frost out of his hair. "Home, honestly," he says, "If I could make it. If not, I guess somewhere high and safe where I could recuperate." Grumbling and straightening up, he unfurls star-speckled wings from his shoulders and glances to Remi. "Do you want to circle one side of the cliffs? I'll take the other - there might be a nest or a hideout we're missing."

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

Rather than taking the bait, Remi merely returns his husband's brief look with a dry stare of his own. Tsking under his breath and offering Ronin the mental equivalent of you'll have to do better than that, the Lullaby doesn't even really consider just how precarious a position the pair have found themselves in. With dragons ever present and in pursuit of one that was potentially injured, it was harder to tell which danger should really be focused on: the dragons, or the literal cliff's edge they were strolling up? To a pair of flighted immortal demigods, Remi thought the only real danger here was to their companions.

"Well, and high and safe might just be its home." The Lullaby agrees, twitching his lips from side to side before turning back to scan the cliffs. Nodding his head, he reached a hand up to scoop Oria out of his curls. Much as she loved to direct him via fistfuls of his hair, at this speed and altitude he thought his breast pocket might suit her better.

"Alright." Neatly jumping away from the path as if he was about to splash into a pool rather than off of a mountain, Remi's large wings catch easily on the air currents. Partially shifting, (and looking like the sort of monster mother's probably told their children lurked in these mountains), Remi tried to detect the tang of fresh blood on the breeze.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

and on to the glory at my right hand

"That's a good point," Ronin murmurs, making a mental note both to compliment his husband and to do better than that when this dragon business is all over and done. With Sugar safe around his shoulders - he trusts her to fly, but he's not sure how she'll manage the speed and drops to keep up with him - the Supernova follows suit, but not before pausing to admire Remi's ascent.

You be careful out there. One of the other dragons will think you're a rare find and try to hoard you, he warns before their Attuned range tapers off, Ronin circling in the opposite direction and scanning the mountainside for pale scales or splashes of crimson. Eventually - and it's on his second pass, given how well it's hidden - he spots what looks like a snowfall atop a ledge. Only this snowfall has scales. It isn't moving.

Rather than calling out, he directs Sugar to let out a piercing trill to inform the Lullaby of their find.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

You are just full of it today. Remi thinks in return, his mental voice not short on amusement or boyish adoration. No matter the situation the pair found themselves in, somehow they always carved out moments to flirt, cat-call, or otherwise flatter the other. Even in the seconds before Remi had reached into the Core itself, his thoughts had been on Ronin.

For now though...Unable to sense much both because of how the cold kept scents from drifting too far and how the wind obscured those which did, the Lullaby drifted around the vast crags of the Cordillera. Any time his mind started to wander (to thoughts of Ronin primarily), Oria would do her best to pinch him through the material of his shirt. Though he couldn't feel any pain, he got the point enough to try to stay focused on searching. Luckily, Sugar's cry alerted both Lullaby and Spriggan to the possibility of success on the other side.

Making his way swiftly over the peak though reducing his speed considerably so as not to startle or upset any potential dragons below, injured or otherwise, Remi angles himself to come up alongside the Supernova. I don't see... He thinks with a soft shake of his head. Predatory was he was, Remi's eyes were acutely tuned to seeing movement, rather than picking out draconian camouflage.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

and on to the glory at my right hand

While waiting for the other man, Ronin has been desperately trying to seek out movement himself - alas, there doesn't seem to be any from the creature that has landed on the frozen ledge. Sending a pulse of warmth to Remi as he finally arrives, it's at this point that Sugar lets out another warble of a cry, this one a greeting intended to get draconic attention. "Just there," Ronin says, feeling the need to whisper it as he points out the shape of the white dragon. "But I think we're too late."

Flying forward, still slow and careful in case he's wrong, it doesn't take too much time to come upon the colossal beast, and Ronin realises why they've not seen any blood. With wounds frozen over and encased in ice, it appears that much of the damage to the dragon has been tragically internal, and it has succumbed to its injuries before reaching the nest which lays just beyond the crag, hidden in a jut of the cliffs.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

It takes a moment for Remi's gaze to register that the mound of white atop the cliff was something other than a pile of snow, though not unlike seeing an illusion, once he spied the outline of the dragon for what it was, it was suddenly impossible to miss. Unable to send a pulse of recognition to Sugar, Remi instead exhales a soft cloud of frosty-white that the dragon might see his sigh. No longer moving, Oria darts from Remi's pocket, rushing toward the smaller dragon to try and wrap her small arms around her friend's neck.

Letting Ronin advance first as the more draconian of the two, only when the Lullaby sensed the hope draining from his husband did he approach. Noticing as Ronin had, that the dragon's injuries appeared internal for the most part, Remi realizes why his senses had such a difficult time picking her out. 'I wonder what happened.' The Lullaby says softly, even though it was only the two of them now.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

and on to the glory at my right hand

A second chirrup of greeting trills from Sugar's throat, but when it becomes clear that there will be no response, the pale dragon falls back a little, nosing at Oria as the spriggan closes in. Leaving their companions to grieve in their own way, Ronin carefully angles himself to land on the ledge, his own draconic wings spread wide as if ready to freefall if he needs to. But it appears that they've found what they were looking for, even if it won't do any good from here.

"I think she's got a clutch," he murmurs, nodding towards the fissure in the stone nearby. "Or had, anyway." Now that he's close enough, he can see a sign of disturbance that suggests something may have gotten into the dragon's eggs. "I imagine she was trying to protect them when she was hit."

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

Slipping onto the dragonling's back as she's wont to do, Oria pets her friend's smooth scales and sings a soft and mourning lullaby for the departed dragon.

'Lightning tends to leave only a few superficial wounds despite the damage it can do within.' Remi murmurs, and though he isn't talking about Sunjata specifically given just how many dragons with lightning powers live in the Cordillera, of course the Flood is who immediately comes to mind. Not that the Lullaby had any reason to believe Sunjata was in the(ir) mountain range, the association was too firm to plausibly deny.

"Gods.." Knowing intimately the drive to give up one's life to protect one's children, Remi feels the latent grip of grief as his thoughts turn to Aoife. Reaching out to place a hand on his husband's back, Remi's predatory stare is drawn down toward a sliver of movement within the fissure. Did you see that? He wonders silently, nodding down into the darkness.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

and on to the glory at my right hand

Humming his solemn agreement, Ronin has managed, at least, to look over the dragon properly and confirm that she's unfortunately deceased. And while he also can't deny the Flood's trademark abilities in his draconic form, he doubts that Sunjata would come up here specifically to target and kill a dragon and her hatchlings. Something did, though, and the Supernova nods at a few blackened scorch marks around the entrance of the fissure, putting the tragic puzzle pieces together.

"I knew they were protective, but I didn't realise they'd try to sabotage each other's nests," he murmurs, and it's with suddenly reptilian eyes that he also hones in on the movement, Remi's hand on his back like a starburst of fire. Nodding rather than responding either via the Attuned bond or out loud, Ronin's wings tuck in tight so he can creep along towards the crack in the cliff side.

Crouching down, he peers in - and shock ripples through their bond. One made it, he tells Remi, before whistling up to Sugar.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

Exhaling a long breath, Remi pulls his wings back in before ruffling a hand through his curls. "Less competition that way." He murmurs, feeling a predatory and instinctive rumbling of agreement from deep within. It wasn't a pleasant fact, but life was as cruel up here as it was anywhere in Caido. Tapping his fingers softly against his husband's back before letting the Supernova move, the Lullaby's fingertips grow jagged and sharply taloned as his muscles coil.

Expecting some scavenger to be the cause of the movement, to hear that not only was it not a present danger, but potentially the last remaining dragon from this clutch had Remi huffing out a startled breath. 'Really?' The Lullaby answers out loud, glancing up in time to move out of Sugar's way as the dragon and spriggan made a beeline for Ronin. Wondering if the dragonling who was already quite prone to jealousy was going to take the news well, or, if like her draconian counterparts, would be keen to eliminate the competition, Remi moves to Ronin's side offering a silent pulse of aid.

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

and on to the glory at my right hand

It's an unpleasant fact that Ronin will find much more palatable in just a few days when the madness of Leafchange seizes him; for now, though, it's with quiet sadness that he examines the fissure, only for hope to slice through him like a razor. Really, he confirms to Remi, glancing over his shoulder with a soft smile and holding out an arm for Sugar to land upon.

Prepared for either outcome when it comes to his companion's possessive nature, Ronin nonetheless feels strangely trusting of the dragon as he brings her closer to the dark crack in the cliffs. "This one's just like you," he murmurs to her quietly. "So we need to take care of it until it's strong enough to fly, alright?"

Reaching in with his free hand, he's (unsurprisingly) bitten and scratched and given frosty, numb fingers for his trouble, but the Supernova is nonetheless successful in withdrawing a tiny hatchling, barely large enough to fit in the palm of his hand. "Gods, this takes me back," he admits to Remi with a soft smile.

ronin

Styling stolen from Sky (obviously)

the lullaby

i don't want the world to see me,
because I don't think they'd understand

Seized by love and the tenderness of the moment between hunter and dragon, Remi remains at a distance as Ronin introduces Sugar to who, the Lullaby assumes, is to be her new counterpart. Though the Supernova wears many hats and has many facets to his personality, this gentle and almost boyishly naive part of nature always brings a lump into the Lullaby's throat.

Watching as a small puddle of white fills Ronin's hand, Remi too is reminded of when the hunter had first brought Sugar home with him. Biting at the inside of his lip as if wanting to protect the smile that dimples his cheek, Remi nods. "I remember you coming into my shop with Sugar under your shirt and asking me what I knew about dragons." He recalls fondly. "At the time it was one of the craziest things you'd ever asked me.." Gods, how long ago that was. 'All I knew then was what I had read in Vai's storybooks." Remi adds with a briefly broken-hearted shake of his head.

'What will you call her?'

when everything's meant to be broken,
i just want you to know who I am

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!