He watches the way Sunjata plays with Pip, the scarred hands disappearing into salt-stained fur, eliciting a purr of delighted contentment as the dragonling rolls over to expose her scaled belly, long body contouring to the curves of the demigod's laugh. It fills him with another pang of appreciation, and sorrow, because for what little time Koa has spent thinking about how glad he for his bond with the wyrmling, almost none has been devoted to imagining how its loss might feel. "Pip's still young - we only bonded this year," he says quietly, reaching out to fiddle with the end of her tail. "Do you... have any advice? On being a good companion to her?" It's an opening, if he wants to talk more about his own absent friend.
Here's the thing about Stormbreak: it's very advanced and shiny and developed, but it was also under the leadership of insular racist fuckwits for centuries and bad habits are hard to break. Is it a surprise, then, that the history books might fail to mention a marriage between two rival demigods? That they may not want obedient young soldiers to think too hard on the complexities of life and love, the grey forces of the world that can, at times, overpower even the gods?
All this to say: When Koa asks his next question, it is with sincerity and innocence, not some hidden agenda. "Why didn't the gods protect him?" Because if one was beloved of a demigod, it seems to reason that the Heralds would step in, would make some effort to keep them safe.
Here's the thing about Stormbreak: it's very advanced and shiny and developed, but it was also under the leadership of insular racist fuckwits for centuries and bad habits are hard to break. Is it a surprise, then, that the history books might fail to mention a marriage between two rival demigods? That they may not want obedient young soldiers to think too hard on the complexities of life and love, the grey forces of the world that can, at times, overpower even the gods?
All this to say: When Koa asks his next question, it is with sincerity and innocence, not some hidden agenda. "Why didn't the gods protect him?" Because if one was beloved of a demigod, it seems to reason that the Heralds would step in, would make some effort to keep them safe.
be love in its disrepute,
scorches the hillside and salts every root
