Ascending Legends

[Dragongal]

Arryn enjoyed his kissing, and kissed him back before saying, "I'm glad, though I love all of you. The good and the bad." She smiled and kissed him again, but when she pulled away, her smile was fading. "If we're honest, I'm still kind of scared about the lycanthropy. I know it'll probably all be okay, but... I can't help but feel scared."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn frowned slightly when her smile faded. She had such a beautiful smile, it was a shame to see it leave. "I know. It is intimidating, scary even to think about having to carry this with you everyday for the rest of your life. But, in honest truth, having you beside has eased my burden. I hope that I can do the same for you."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and nuzzled up to him before lightly kissing him. "Of course. Just being near you makes me feel better." She looked at him for a few seconds, then said, "Six days, love. Then we'll know if I'm Moon-Born or not. Unless you talk to the White Wolf of course. I don't know if even he'd know, though."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn looked into her eyes searchingly. He was after something, some answer for her that would help ease her worries. As he looked into her eyes he gently laid his hand over her heart, smiling as he felt it beating. "I know you beloved, I know your heart. I also know what my heart tells me about you. I cannot fathom the idea of your heart bearing the makings of a beast when I have so plainly seen the love that you hold so deep within you. Your sense of justice, of evenness and fairness, it isn't wrong love. You hold yourself to noble standards, not depraved desires. Everything about you is beautiful, and that beauty captivated me from the first day I laid eyes on you."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled, feeling tears welling in her eyes and she wrapped her arms around Dayn's neck and pulled him closer. "Thank you, my love. I don't feel so scared anymore. Not with you here. Not if you think all of that's true." She wasn't as certain about what he;d said, but that wasn't the point. If he was so certain, she couldn't find it in herself to be quite as scared.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn smiled as he held her. He gently rolled onto his back, letting her lay against his chest as they continued to hold each other. Dayn slowly ran his fingers through her hair as he nuzzled against her neck before quietly saying, "I love you Arryn." He held her for a few more minutes, still nuzzled against her neck, before he playfully nibbled on her ear. "Would you like some breakfast or do you want to lay in bed for a little while longer?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled. "I love you too Dayn." She enjoyed cuddling with him, but when he suggested food, she smiled and sat up beside him. "Sure, breakfast sounds good. Want to teach me how to cook something nice? Or just go the lazy way?"

 

[BookWyrm]

"Always eager to learn. I can work with that." Dayn sat up and stole a quick kiss before taking Arryn's hand and leading her into the kitchen. "I kept some of the organs and blood, and we've got oats for filler, so how about black pudding?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn laughed a bit, not sure if he was joking. "I'm sorry, a what?" Something involving organs and blood.... Odd.... Though she had to admit, meat did sound very good at the moment.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn looked at Arryn, a slight hint of perplexion on his face. "It's like a sausage. You take and grind up heart, liver, and kidneys and mix them with some blood and oats. You take a casing and fill it with the mix and then you cook it. Black pudding."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn shrugged, smiling a bit apologetically. "Sorry love, I've never heard of it. I'll try to help you make it, though. Honestly, anything with meat sounds really good right now."

 

[BookWyrm]

And so it starts. "That is going to be the norm for a while until your body adjusts. You are going to crave meat more, and it is exceptionally good for you to have it, especially in the beginning and around the times you shift." Dayn got out the ingredients, and a little extra deer tenderloin, and they sat out to work on making the black pudding. Dayn walked Arryn through the process, and while they were working on it he cooked up the tenderloin to share while they worked on the pudding. Finally they had stuffed the casings and Dayn tossed them into the pan. When it was all said and done they had black pudding and soda farls alongside some fresh juice and pears. Dayn laid out a blanket in the floor in front of the fire place before stoking the fires back up and setting the food down, gently pulling Arryn's hand as she sat down next to him. He sliced a piece of the pudding and held it out for her. "Now the big moment. What do you think love?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn had enjoyed the tenderloin more than usual, which she attributed to the lycanthropy. When she sat next to Dayn, she smiled and tried it, then said, "I don't know if it's the lycanthropy or not, but this is actually pretty good." For the most part of the meal, she focused on the black pudding, instead of the farls and pears, though she forced herself to slow down and drink the juice and eat the fruits. She glanced at Dayn a bit apologetically, perhaps a bit embarrassed too. She hadn't realized how fast she'd been eating. She cleared her throat and took a drink, then said, "Um... so... should we tell Mom today? Or do you maybe want to see the griffins? Both...?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn watched Arryn as she ate with renewed gusto, obviously a side effect of the lycanthropy setting in. When she looked up at him with her embarrassed look he couldn't help but smile before hugging her. "Don't worry love, its okay." He kissed her cheek before finishing his own food. When she asked about her mom Dayn took a moment and washed his food down with the rest of his juice. "I think we should set down with your mom and Kalie, Matthias, and Theodas, and talk all of this over. Its not just me anymore, its both of us. Not that this changes anything, but we do need to sit down and cover everything now that everyone has had some time to adjust to me."





Dayn stretched and yawned in a content way now that he was full. "I do think it would be nice to see the griffins again. How about we go see the griffins, and then get the others together tonight?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn nodded. "I like the sound of that." She helped clean up, then got ready for the trek up the mountain. As they walked throught he woods, Arryn held Dayn's hand the whole way. They were at the base of the path when they heard a familiar voice. "Well, good afternoon." Arryn spun around. "Da?!" Alistair was leaning against a tree, watching the couple. "Yes, and I hope my timing isn't the most terrible." He looked to Dayn when he said this.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn had spun around, startled by the sudden voice, and reached for the sword that he had left at home. When he laid eyes on Alistair Dayn found himself at a loss for words. His brows knitted together as his mouth hung slack. "How?"

 

[Dragongal]

"Ley-line, wolf boy. That's why the griffins nested near here. I was allowed off duty for a bit because we seem to have run into a slight problem." Alistair had a somewhat bitter smile as he cocked his head to the side and said, "You bit my daughter."

 

[BookWyrm]

If Dayn had been a wolf his hackles would have stood up, his ears would have snaked back, and he probably would have snarled at Alistair. "As if I had a choice." He was not in the mood for this. Dealing with the guilt was bad enough, he didn't need Alistair rubbing salt in the wound. "I've lived that loss once before, I'm not going to live through it again."

 

[Dragongal]

Alistair sighed. "That's not the problem. I think you for saving her. I honestly do. The problem is, she's an Eleran." Arryn shook her head. "What does that have to do with anything?" Alistair sighed again. "Arryn, your body is incompatible with the curse. It's in the bloodline. Sure, your body accepted it now, but you can't stay a lycanthrope."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn rubbed his temples. None of this makes sense to me. "Alright, well you are going to have to do a lot of explaining right now." Dayn looked up at Alistair, his eyes fixed into an intense stare. "I've had about enough stress over the past few weeks to drive me mad again, and I have too much to live for to give that another round."

 

[Dragongal]

Alistair shrugged to Dayn. "Look, if I hadn't died, we wouldn't have this problem. Arryn, " he said, focusing on her, "Do you remember using the kingsfoil? It worked fr you. But your mother never used it. It's because it didn't work for her. Why do you think the griffins took to you like they did? Why do you think you black out during fights sometimes?" "I... I never thought much of it all, I mean.... It's connected?" "Yes. It's because you're part of the Griffin bloodline. A very, very ancient bloodline going back to the start of civilizations. That dark magic in the potion hurt you more than it would have if you were average. But you're not." Arryn didn't know what to do or say, this didn't make sense to her - it did, but still it didn't. She looked up to Dayn to see if he understood.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn hated being put on the spot right now. This was her bloodline anyway, its was all new news to him. "What does that have to do with lycanthropy? From what I've learned it doesn't just leave that easily."

 

[Dragongal]

"Universal law, every magical thing that is done can be undone, which includes lycanthropy. Not going to be easy. It's similar to how the dark magic hurt her so much. It's because she's part of the Griffin Line. Look, a very, very long time ago, there were three lines put in charge of taking care of humanity in the beginning. The Dragon Line, Pheonix Line, and Griffin Line. The Pheonix line was mostly mages, the judges. Dragon Line was warriors, they fought off the beasts and threats. The Griffin Line was the leaders, the... Guard, in a way. The bloodline comes with many advantages, natural leadership, strong will, resistance to mental magics, and of course the griffin connection - why the banshees didn't kill her. Why they carved feathers on her, and broken chains. They knew. Downside, curses that affect her blood's purity, especially dark curses, are... generally very bad. The lycanthropy will eventually kill her if she doesn't remove it."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn felt his stomach get very queasy. I am an idiot. He closed his eyes, his hand's curling into white knuckled fists as they shook. I am a curse, and I've given it to her. He felt like he was slowly slipping away again. You can't get anything right can you?


"I....."


Dayn couldn't find anything to say. His face had flushed red in his frustration. He had managed to keep himself in check through all of the past weeks of Hel, but knowing that he had done something that could potentially kill Arryn was too much. In a slight fit of rage, something he had never done in front of Arryn before, Dayn yelled as he shifted, violently.


His body seemed to have been flayed from the inside out; blood, flesh, and clothing were strung about the area before revealing his wolf form. When he opened his eyes again he bolted off towards the woods, leaving Alistair and Arryn behind. At the moment he didn't care about it being broad daylight. He needed to get away from everyone and everything. He needed to be alone, and he needed to think.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn watched in horror as Dayn shifted violently and ran. "Dayn!... Dayn.... Please...." Arryn looked to her father, then back to where Dayn had run. There was no chance of her ever catching up to him, and she knew that. She looked to her father again, at a loss for words. "Da... I think it would be best if... if we had time to think about all of this. It's been... a rough few weeks." Alistair nodded. He walked over to Arryn and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry this all happened. Dayn did the right thing. He bought you time. You have a long while before the lycanthropy starts to hurt you, daughter. Maybe years. It's all... it's all dependent on how much of a Moon-Born you are, it's dependent on a lot of things. Arryn, I know this seems like a mess. I had to wait until you were eighteen to tell you, but... I died. Your mother will have to tell you everything else. I'm being called away. I'm sorry." Alistair disappeared, leaving Arryn all alone in the woods. Again.


She sniffed a bit and wiped off the tears that were running down her face. Was it her fault that Dayn had gotten so overwhelmed? It had to have been. He'd always promised to never leave her, but.... Maybe he finally thought she was too much to deal with. She cursed herself; she'd known this would happen from the beginning, he'd leave her when things got bad, just like it always happened. It wasn't even his fault, bad luck just seemed to follow her wherever she went. Or, maybe, he would come back, and just needed time to think. But based off of her past experiences, it didn't seem likely. Maybe he'd be better off without her anyway. She trudged on through the woods, not even paying attention to where she was going, but she knew these woods; she couldn't get lost. Her intention had been to run to the griffins to find some solace, and Dayn could find her there if he liked, but she didn't make it that far before the banshee's curse took advantage of her compromised state. In a few minutes, she was sitting huddled at the base of an oak, her hood over her eyes and her hands over her ears.