Father and Child Bonding Time (Cygnus/Sul and El)

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The Pride of Kryo hated the sweltering heat of the desert. It was far better than the suffocating atmosphere of the fire dragons, however. How the people of Gynaikes were able to survive there was beyond him. Maybe that was why the women came to Kryo in search for a husband; what they really wanted was a reprieve from their fire-y home. Svad stopped his horse at the top of a sand dune. Below was the tent city of Ammos. A 'city' of refugees and outlaws, Ammos was home to those who had none. The only permanent structure to be found here was an armory in which everyone's weapons were locked away. It was to ensure Ammos remained a peaceful, crime-free place. It was hard to believe it had been almost a decade since Svad was here last. Then, he had just been passing through with Nari Taloe, a fellow assassin and Svad's greatest rival. That had been the plan, anyway. A legendary Manticore had been attacking Ammos and the two assassins stayed to help.

As Svadilfare coaxed his horse into moving down the dune toward the camp, he looked down at the small figure seated in front of him. His youngest son, Cygnus was sound asleep, partially covered by a cloak. It was a tradition of the Kryoan to take one of his children with him on a trip. He had done it with his eldest children and continued it now. It was a nice way for father and son--or daughter--to bond. And it gave them an opportunity to see their world before they went out on their own into it. Svad had decided Cygnus would be the first of his five youngest children to go. On these trips, Svad never conducted business. He refused any job offered, no matter how much it paid. Usually, he never had any specific reason for choosing the place he and his child traveled to. This time, however, he did; he was going to visit a friend.

Sul Iolar was an expert marksman, rivaled by few with bow and arrow. Though he was often away, Sul called Ammos home. Svad hadn't thought to find out beforehand if the marksman was here, so he hoped he was. By the time they had reached the bottom of the dune, Cygnus had awoken. "You should take your human form now, Cygnus. We're almost there."

Súl and El looked a bit confused as Cyg was lifted up and placed on the horse. The archer was unsure at first, but he soon got himself and El ready to travel to Kryo.

A week passed. Svadilfare barely said a word the whole time. In fact, he only said one word. That didn't change when he got home. As the Kyroan and Ammosan rode through town, people greeted Svad; he only gave a nod in response. Once at his home, he directed Cygnus to go inside. He followed and went to find his other children.

Elara's ears perked up when she heard the door open. "Dad and Cyggy are home!" She jumped up and ran to greet them. She was actually the only one home besides Aeroaunt. Celestia had taken the others out for some human hunting lessons. "Hi Dad! Hi Cyggy! How was your trip? When do we get to go on ours, Dad?"

It had been a week, and honesty it had Súl on edge. Svad hadn't spoken for most of the trip, and with El there, the marksman was worried that if something were to happen, he wouldn't be able to protect her. However, after about a week they were in Kryo, and walking up to the man's house. And then he heard a voice.

Soon, a little dragon hatchling ran out, which got an "Aw..." out of El. Súl seemed more surprised that the hatchling spoke English, and called Svad Dad. He had forgotten about Cyg for a moment until he shifted to dragon form and pounced Elara.

"Elara! We had fun!" Súl leaned over to Svad, smiling a bit.

"I'll guess she'd like Cygnus?"

Why Sul and El had followed him into his home when he hadn't directed them to do so, Svad had no idea. It certainly didn't get them any closer to being back on his good side. But maybe that's what he got for refusing to speak for a week. "Eek!" Elara said as Cyg pounced on her. She playfully wrestled with her sibling for a moment before running to her father and hopping up.

Svad caught Elara, with slight difficulty. By now, he'd gotten used to just how heavy even a small dragon could be. But he knew one day he wouldn't be able to let them do this, lest he break his back or something. "Hello, Elara. It was... the wrong kind of eventful," he said, glaring at Cygnus. "And don't worry, you and I will go somewhere soon."

Intially, Svad ignored Sul. He went to find his wife and other children. Not finding them, he returned to the dining area and sat. "Yes, she's like Cygnus," Svad answered finally. "Four of my other children are, actually."

Súl noticed Svad seemed a bit tenser when he and El followed him in. It didn't quite click until he remembered he wasn't in Ammos. Then again, the Pride of Kryo also had said anything before hand, so it didn't really help him to know what the heck to do. Either way, he hoped that he could get back on Svad's good side, though he still wasn't quite sure what he or El did to get there. El though just smiled at the Elara, waving at her. "Hi."

Súl did get a kick out of Svad catching and holding up his dragon daughter. Cygnus, however, looked a bit guilty. The archer then looked at his friend when he told him how many there were. "Dang. Bet they can be a handful. Could hardly imagine having one kid like them, let alone six."

Bump

Celestia and her three children wrapped up the end of their hunt. Andromeda caught a few spaz fish. Jericho killed himself a young deer. Aurora caught some small monster which she wasn't eating. She wanted to keep it as a trophy. At first Celestia was against it but she decided it wouldn't be too bad to get it taxidermyed. That was one form of art unique to humans that Cele was rather fond of.

Celestia and Jericho switched to their human forms as they neared the house while Aurora and Andromeda stayed in their dragon ones. Jericho was struggling trying to pull the fawn in his human form but he was determined to show off or something she wasn't sure.  

Entering the house Celestia was not expecting her mate or Cygnus to be home yet. The four walked towards the dinning room to put away their kills and three of them stopped dead in their tracks. Aurora being the one to continue on oblivious.

She was pleasantly surprised to find Svadilfare home, but all pleasant feelings went down the drain when she noticed someone she didn't know. Here! While her kids in a mix of human and dragon forms. If Svad wasn't here to show he at least was aware of it she'd have probably killed the man. Still might. Anyone knowing about their family was a danger to their family. Andromeda and Jericho were also stunned neither of them moving from their spot next to Celestia. Once Aurora got too close to the stranger Celestia snapped at her. "Aurora!" Aurora dropped the monster thing from her mouth and looked at her mother wondering what the heck she did wrong. That's when she noticed the stranger. Aurora jumped back suprised and started growling at him.

"Who are they and why are they in my house?" Celestia asked her mate, glaring at Svadilfare like she was about to pounce him.

Before the Kryoan could say anything--not that he was sure he was going to--Celestia came home. Normally, Svad would have already had her in his arms... He hadn't even gotten up when the door opened. In fact, he sat there with his arms crossed, and regarded his wife with an expression that suggested he was blaming her for what she had just come home to. His attention was split between his wife, and being furious at their son, so much so that he didn't realize the shape moving in the corner of his eye was his daughter. With his eyes trained on Celestia, Svad pulled out one of his knives and threw it in the direction of Aurora, at the exact moment Cele called out to her. Fortunately, Aurora had looked at her mother almost immediately, allowing the blade to just miss her face. Only after he heard the sound of the knife getting lodged into wood did Svad tear his gaze away from Cele. He looked at Aurora, then stood and went to her.

He knew he hadn't hit her, but he looked her over anyway. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't realize it was you." He kissed her snout then stood and looked back at Celestia as she began questioning him. While his demeanor had returned to normal a moment ago, now he was back to looking like he wanted to kill the next thing that moved. He walked up to Cele, though rather than stopping in front of her, he circled to stand beside her. And then he extended one arm in a sweeping fashion, as if presenting some grand sight to her. "Ask your son," he said with a slight nod toward Cygnus, "he's the reason they're here. Cygnus, why don't you answer your Mother's question?"

The marksman looked at Svad before hearing and seeing a group walk in. Súl froze as he looked at the woman that had come in, and she looked surprised and furious. The man decided it was best to not act yet, not wanting to start a fight. El, on the other hand, didn't realize there was an issue, and waved at the new people, not knowing anything was wrong.

"Oh. Hi." She also noticed the younger children still in their dragon forms, and spoke in a dragon tongue. "Hello."

Súl stayed pretty calm, hoping Cele would realize he wasn't a threat, but both he and El tensed when Svad through a knife towards a dragon that walked up towards the archer. Cyg was already hiding from his mom and didn't notice, but everyone else just stared. Then, when Svad checked the dragon, and called her sweetheart, the Ammosian realized she was one of his children. It was then that Svad went to the woman, presumably his wife, and called Cygnus out to explain.

The little kid walked out as a hatchling, seeming to try, and fail, to shift into his human form. He was nervous enough that he couldn't focus. The blue colored Fury looked up at his parents, clearly worried, before speaking in human language.

"Well.... Um.... Uh.... I... I kinda... showed her I could turn into a dragon...." He pointed to El as he said this, which got her worried, and caused her to run up to Súl.

The fury that overwhelmed Celestia after Svadilfare threw a knife at their daughter was so powerful she couldn't even react beyond her expression making it clear. Svad then approached her and she eye'd him suspiciously. He gestured and seemed to be blaming this situation on their son to which Cygnus admitted to breaking the number one most important rule. The rule that insured their family was safe. That they weren't exposed and hunted.

Celestia yelled loudly with plenty of anger and frustration. She then pointed to the door and shouted at Sul, Svad, and indirectly El. "Get out! I don't want to see you guys anywhere near here."

A few of the kids notably Jericho and Aurora among them started heading for the door. "Not you kids." Celestia corrected herself. "And especially not you Cygnus. Stay here."

Celestia then shifted into her dragon form not caring in her anger that the stranger saw. He already knew and saw things he shouldn't have. She shifted into this form for the sole purpose of roaring with everything she had at Svadilfare and Sul to emphasize she wanted them long gone right now. Andromeda, Jericho, and Aurora all covered their ears and cringed in nervous fear knowing she wasn't going to hurt them but glad whatever she had planned for Cygnus had nothing to do with them. It was still really awkward for them regardless.

She wasn't going to be allowing Svadilfare back on the property for at least a week probably more. She'd wait for them to be long gone before she'd figure out what she was going to do with Cygnus.

Svadilfare was so unfazed by Celestia's anger, one might have thought him both deaf and blind. This claim, were it true, would have been strengthened by the fact that the Kryoan proceeded to casually walk in the opposite direction. Rather than going outside as his wife had commanded, Svad went to their bedroom. He took his sweet time doing absolutely nothing that had anything to do with leaving the house. He sat on the bed and began removing his warm weather clothing, replacing them with Kryoan furs. Next, he went back out to the main room and sought his swords. Finding them, he inspected and selected one, which he slipped into a scabbard on his back. Then, he went to a hole that had been dug under the house. It was near the hearth and covered with a few boards of wood that were lain in the opposite direction to the rest of the floor. Svad had build it to house live fish. It was a good way to teach his children how to fish. And sometimes neither he or Cele felt like going to get spaz fish. Svad took two fish out and placed them in a sack. Finally, it seemed to at last occur to the Kryoan that his wife was angry at him. He looked at his children for a moment, then at Celestia. His expression that he wanted to say something, and for a brief second his lips parted. Whatever he was going to say, however, went unsaid. Svadilfare left the house.

Súl tensed at Celestia's anger, quickly putting his arm around El and the young girl began to have tears run down her face. She was scared to death by how angrily the... dragon?... person?... she didn't know, but her reaction had really hit her. The marksman meanwhile, quickly collecting his and his daughter's things. One thing surprised him though. How calm Svad was.

Meanwhile, Cygnus finally managed to get into his human form, clearly looking worried as his father, friend, and his father's friend got their things. He could also tell his mother was angry. Really, really angry, and now El was sad. It was all his fault. He half wanted to tell them not to go, but he was also afraid his mom would just get more angry at him.

During Cyg's worrying, Súl had dragged El to the door, tipping his head a bit to Celestia.

"Um.... Pleasure to meet you ma'am." He then quickly walked out, waiting for Svad to come out along with them. "Sorry, Svad. Feel like it's my fault for even coming."

Back inside, Cyg noticed something where the archer was sitting. He walked over and picked it up, discovering it was a notebook. While his mom wasn't looking, he decided to open it and see what it was. Though he didn't really understand any of it, he found maps with symbols on them, and some "x"ed out, some rough drawings of things and how to "disarm" them, and various rough drawing of what looked like different dragons. Dang, Cyg though one of his drawings would look better, but he slowly walked up to his mom, and tapped her.

"M-Mama. I-I think Mr. Súl dropped this."

The way her mate nonchalantly walked about the house gathering his things only fueled her rage. Her mind got that he half needed those things but her emotions over ruled demanding he get out right now. He could starve and freeze for all she cared. Every extra minuet he stayed in the house gathering his stuff she added on another week to his sentence. Or something like that. She'd figure out the specifics later.

Eventually she was out only for Cygnus to come up to her with one of the human's belonging. She rolled her eyes at this before composing herself. "Thank you Cygnus. You stay right there." She said taking the notebook and pointing at him as she headed out the door.

"Sul. Don't forget this." She said handing him his notebook. She was polite and courteous with him. Mostly it was Svadilfare she was upset with. If her mate had anything to say she'd ignore him and walk back into the house.

Celestia then brought her attention to Cygnus. "Why did you break the biggest most important rule? Of all the trouble you could have gotten into this is among the worst. We were very serious for good reason. Letting anyone know buts this whole family in danger. It puts you in danger it puts me and your father in danger and it puts all of your siblings in danger. Humans hate Dragons and Dragons hate Humans. We can't let anyone and I mean anyone! Know that we are involved with both." These things have already been said before part of why she was so shocked he'd break the rule especially Cygnus. She considered him one of the more well behaved children, him and Aurora.

Svad decided to sit right in front of the house. Celestia had told him to get out, and that was what he did. Who said he had to actually leave the property? He got out a piece of bread from his earlier trip and began eating it while he waited for Sul and El to leave.

Súl was about to start making his way home when he heard Celestia behind him. He turned, somewhat worried. El quickly hid behind her dad's leg, still scared from earlier. The tension soon faded though when she showed that he was about to leave his notebook. The archor sighed in relief, though El was still scared, and gently took the book, nodding to the woman.

"Thank you ma'am. A lot of things I can't replace in here." He soon opened it to a page with what looked like a Icewing drawn on it. He smiled a bit at the picture. He then looked at her. "And don't worry about all thing. Won't tell a soul. If Svad gets outta trouble on this I'm sure he'll tell ya why. Right now though, best of luck to all of you, and hope Cygnus learns something from this." Súl the help his daughter up on their horse, and began to ride off. He then looked down at her, telling the girl maybe it was time to let her learn his trade.

Meanwhile, Cygnus snuffed a bit as Celestia spoke to him. He'd realized what he did was wrong, but it still hurt to hear it. He had finally managed to get back to human form, and quickly hugged her. "I... I'm sorry. It's just.... Mr. Súl and Papa are friends, and I knew he could talk like a dragon, and El likes dragons, and...." Cyg sniffled a little more. Should he say anything about what the archer had told him and his Papa? Would he get in even more trouble? Súl did get mad at El when she almost said it. The kid gulped. He may have acted like the "big brother" but he was still just as old as the others. He finally spoke though. "Súl said he helps dragons.... st-stops trappers." He hugged onto his Mama, not sure what else to say.

(Two months later.)

Cygnus was worried about his dad. He'd let himself get buried in snow for months now, and he was looking sick. Yes, snow was fun, but this didn't seem good. The little blue haired boy noticed Aerouant, and walked up to him.

"Is Papa ok?"

Celestia hugged her son tight. She could tell he had been worried about telling her for some reason and was scared. Though she suppose it was understandable. He wasn't sure what to expect as she almost never got this upset.

"I understand but you still shouldn't have done that. It does not matter the reason or who it is. Under no circumstances is anyone except family allowed to know." Celestia pulled away from the hug and looked at Cygnus with a serious expression. "Even if a friends life is in danger don't shift. The only time you are allowed to  is if you are in danger, you understand? Promise me you'll never do that again." After getting him to promise she'd send him off. She didn't intend to dish out any punishment. He seemed scared enough as it was and she didn't think more would do any good. He and Andromeda usually caused the least amount of trouble.

When Celestia went to go look out the window expecting Svadilfare to be walking away hopefully towards the village. She was outraged to find him just standing there in front of the home like a begging pet waiting to be let in. Celestia shifted back into her dragon form and launched herself through the front door breaking it off it's hinges and sending it flying. She pounced right on Svadilfare pinning him down with her weight and roared right in his face. But he was playing the stubborn jerk and this didn't mean anything. She picked him up and flew him off to some random mountain away from home before dropping him high enough of the ground not to cause any serious damage. She knew the snow would cushion his fall so it was high enough in the air even she'd be afraid if she was in an uncontrolled fall.

Celestia then flew back home. She shifted back into human form and walked towards the entrance. She didn't actually know how to fix the door so she kicked what was left of it on her way in and ended up stubbing her toe. She cursed profanities while hoping on one foot and clutching the angry one with her hands.

Two months later...

Svadilfare sat in the same spot Celestia had dropped him. His fur cloak pulled unapologetically harshly on his shoulders, aided by the weight of the hardened snow sitting atop it. Softer, freshly-fallen snow gingerly covered his hair, clung to the ends of his fur clothing, kissed his face. But when the wind stirred, those same loving snowflakes turned against him, clawing at his eyes and stinging his cheeks with their sharp edges. His body was tightly restricted on either side by mounds of snow as tall as he in his sitting position. The front of him was free only because Aerouant had dug the snow away. Soon--for the third time today--it would not look it.

It was almost last light. By his count, it had been exactly two months. Tomorrow would mark the beginning of the third. Svadilfare's body protested when he moved for the first time in three days, shaking the new layer of snow from his head and shoulders. He had lost 10lbs since being banished from his own home; he refused to go hunting after what food he had brought with him was gone--not that he could go hunting, anyway. He had also forbade Aerouant from bringing him anything; he wouldn't have touched it anyway, so it was pointless to do so. This didn't stop the Hatchling from bringing him something, however.

His refusal to eat--or even have a fire--was a self-inflicted punishment. After his anger at his youngest son had waned some, the Kryoan finally felt remorse for how he had acted because of it. He had thrown a weapon at one of his daughters. Under no circumstance was that okay. What's more, at the time, he dismissed it, blamed it on his son. Well, he hadn't dismissed it entirely... he had apologized to Aurora then. Still...

The Kryoan's gaze lifted to the sky. The stars were making themselves known--as well as they could with the clouds in the way. The snow was starting to pick again. The ever-changing snowflakes were ready for war and had a fierce wind to aid them. Aerouant had already been out for the last time today to dig him out of the snow. By first light, perhaps a little sooner, Svad would be covered up to his chest at least. The NightWing would have a good amount of digging to do in the morning.
__________

The Tiny Fury had been sneaking off to see Svad since the third day after Celestia took him away. The human didn't have any fish left so--Wait. Fish? Fish sounded good. Really good. Actually, now that Aerouant's stomach thought about it, nothing had been dropped into it since... this morning. It interrupted the narration going on to claw at the Hatchling. The little NightWing stopped in mid flight and looked at his belly. Why was it growling at him? Had he done something to make it mad? Wait.. stomachs couldn't talk... right? He kept flying.

It always took Aero a while to get to the mountain Svad currently called home. It had little to do with him being a Hatchling, rather more to do with the fact that he had the attention span of one. Well, that and it was pretty chilly out. By the time Aerouant had reached Svad, he had caught six fish for the Kryoan... and eaten five of them. Hey, Hatchlings had to eat, too. The Tiny Fury bounded up to Svad, proudly holding up the one fish he hadn't eaten.

Svadilfare did as he always did; he refused it. Aerouant would tilt his head and fling the fish at him. He'd try everything possible to get the fish into the man's mouth. (insert super cute montage of Aerouant trying to accomplish this here) Eventually, the Hatchling would realize he was being attacked by snowflakes, and retaliate. He jumped around, swiped at the air, just had fun. Oh wait. I'm supposed to be doing something... Or did I already do it? After doing battle with the snow, Aerouant would remember the rejected fish and eat it. The Kryoan just sat there watching him the entire time with a faint amused expression.

Aerouant then would finally do what he was supposed to be doing. He'd dig Svadilfare out of the snow that encompassed him. Then, he'd hop into Svad's lap and curl up for a short nap; being a Hatchling was exhausting. The Tiny Fury would make this trip three times a day. He either got home before Celestia and didn't have to say anything, or he'd make up a convincing excuse. If he did happen to get home after her, he just used his power of ultra cuteness. Everyone said Cygnus was cute... in reality, Cygnus was just playing for second place. No one could out-cute the Tiny Fury.
_______

Svadilfare dreamed. It was the same it had been for the last month. Celestia dropping him from the sky onto the mountain he had been exiled to. The height she'd deemed appropriate enough, luckily, wouldn't have killed him. Actually, he worst he would have gotten was a broken limb, depending on how he landed. Luckily, the mountain was covered in snow. Unfortunately, that snow was not as soft as one would have thought--and Svad hoped. While Svad hadn't broken anything, he had dislocated his left shoulder. Since he'd had the presence of mind to bring a sword--not that he'd known he was going to end up stuck on a mountain--he had a way of putting it back. It took a little problem-solving to position the sword in a way to give him the leverage he needed, but he got it eventually.

Why he was dreaming about that moment now was beyond him. Well, it had scared him, which maybe had been Celestia's intent? All he was sure about was it left him unable to sleep soundly more than once.
_______
Morning of the beginning of the third month...

Svad pulled his Moonstone out of his shirt. Perhaps it was because of dream, but this morning he found himself thinking about his wife. Of course he had been thinking about her, but more than usual the past couple days. He was also thinking about Aurora. He had apologized to her... but that hadn't really been as sincere as it should have been. In fact, now that he thought about it, he'd been too calm. Then again, he had been trying not to get as outwardly mad as Celestia had gotten. Though, considering that he had ended up wielding a weapon against his own child, that hadn't really gone according to plan... Svad kissed the Moonstone and slipped it back into his shirt. Aerouant was due to arrive soon, just before the sun cleared the horizon. Perhaps he would have him ask to bring Cele with him when he came for the second time in the afternoon.

Cyg sniffled a bit, hugging his mom before looking outside.

"You won't hurt them, right? Mr. Sul and El." Cygnus seemed just a bit worried by the idea. He hoped that maybe since Sul helped dragons, she wouldn't hurt them. They didn't hurt him though they definitely had the chance. Sul didn't even pull out that bent knife thing he had. Cyg just really didn't want anyone to get hurt.

Two months later.

Cyg looked worried. He had started to miss his dad since his parents' fight. He laid down, curled up next to the fireplace and trying to calm down a bit. He was worried that his father had frozen or something, but decided to stay quiet about it.

Meanwhile, near some mountain near Kryo.

"Aaaaaaaaah! This is way worse than I thought it'd be! Plus I don't know where Daddy is now!" On the back of a somewhat sickly looking dragon was El, who had somehow managed to cling to this dragon for who knows how long. A short time ago, she was helping her dad save a dragon, and now she had somehow ridden him this far. Why where they so fast!?

"You won't hurt them, right? Mr. Sul and El." Cygnus asked her.

That was an excellent question. While they were completely innocent at least as far as she knew they still knew their secret. Something as simple as that put the lives of her entire family in danger. The only sure fire way to insure their safety would be to kill them.

"Don't worry hun, I'm not going to hurt them." Celestia said reassuringly.

She would have to follow up with them at some point though and make sure they understood the gravity of the secret they now carried.

A month later it came to Celestia's attention that Svad was in the exact same location she had dropped him off at. Furious she made her way to that location and sure enough there was that stubborn fool letting himself freeze upon the mountain, abandoning all self preservation. Angerly and without a word she picked Svad up and began hauling him towards the village. Thankfully it was night and was almost impossible to spot a Nightfury at night. Well except she supposed her albino children. Dropping in front of Svad's father's door she kept the human pinned under her foot. She may be very small for a dragon but she had plenty of weight to keep any human from even budging. Using her other front foot she'd pound on the door until till her by human standards father in law answered. One he did she'd quickly shift to her human form to try and avoid startling him. Hopefully her mate would be wise and stay put. She'd then explain to her father in law. "Your son here threw a knife at our daughter in I assume paranoia after letting strangers learn our families secret and into our home. And after I banished him from the house and threw him on a mountain after he wouldn't leave the area he abandoned all self preservation and stayed in the same spot I dropped him for a month. I was hoping you could talk some sense into him.

Once her task was finished she'd change forms again and fly back home. How the heck had she fallen in love with such a stubborn headed fool.

Svadilfare had been expecting Aerouant. Instead, he was visited by his wife. Celestia seemed angry still, judging by how roughly she grabbed him with her paws before flying away. Svad sighed inwardly; he'd hoped she might have forgiven him by now, at least a little. Though the sun was nearly up, all of Kryo still slept. During this particular month, everyone slept until the sun bathed the entire village in its light. So Celestia could fly about without fear of being seen. Even so, she was careful.

Svadilfare was surprised when they arrived at his father's home. He made no noise when Cele dropped him on the ground at his father's door. He didn't struggle when she pinned him down. He listened and didn't protest when she spoke to his father. Svad moved only when Celestia returned to her dragon form--she had taken on her human one when his father answered--and flew away. His arms shook violently with exertion as he pushed himself slowly onto his knees. He raised his head to look at his father.

Leonidas, naturally, was concerned to receive a  knock at his door at this time of the morning, during a sacred month for the Kryoan people. He rose swiftly and went to his door, and was surprised to see his daughter-in-law standing there, with his son at her feet. His expression of concern melted into fury as he listened to Celestia's brief account. He said nothing to her after she finished, not that she stuck around long enough for him to. When Svadilfare got to his knees and raised his head, Leonidas lifted his large left hand and brought it across his son's face with enough force to knock him back onto the frozen ground. He then turned and went back inside his house, slamming the door shut behind him.

Svadilfare couldn't feel the blood trickling from the cut his father had just inflicted. Actually, he couldn't feel the right side of his face at all now, for how cold the ground was. The Kryoan didn't move, not entirely out of weakness, but also in obedience of a rule that had not been spoken. When night began to fall, Leonidas' door opened and the man himself grabbed Svadilfare by the back of his frozen fur cloak. He dragged his son into the house and dropped him in front of the hearth with little care for how much such a drop might hurt.

Svad dared to move then, once Leonidas settled into a chair. The movement wasn't significant, he only shifted to lay in a more comfortable position as the crackling fire began to warm him. The crackling and popping was soon replaced by scraping--the scraping of a whetstone against a blade. Leonidas was sharpening several small knives. For a half hour, only the sound of knives being sharpened filled the home of the Kryoan chief. For that time, Svadilfare remained motionless, perhaps asleep. Finally, the scraping stopped and Leonidas stood. His boots thudded heavily on the floor as he walked over to his son. He kicked Svad in his side. "Get up."

Svad made no noise despite the sharp pain that followed the kick to his ribs. He got up as quickly as his body would allow, rising to his feet this time. He dared not to look at his father, instead keeping his gaze on his boots. Leonidas turned and walked back to his table, picking up one of the knives and lightly running his thumb across the edge of the blade. "You are your mother's son. But stubborness suited her. It might suit you, if you had her wisdom... or even one brain cell that functioned properly. That's my fault. I beat all her best qualities out of you, because I missed her and couldn't cope. I should have taught you how. If I had, you wouldn't be throwing knives at your daughter and defying your wife."

Svadilfare opened his mouth to speak. A mere second later, the blade Leonidas had been holding reopened and added length to the cut Svad had received earlier. He closed his mouth as the knife hit the floor.

"You are legendary for your anger as much as your skill," Leonidas resumed as if nothing had happened, "but you don't need that anger anymore. You have young children now. They need their father, a father who will not repeat his own's mistakes. So someone learned your secret. Kill them. Swear them to secrecy if their word is good. Leave the unbridled fury to madmen and dragons."

Again, Svad opened his mouth. Again, a sharp blade slashed his skin, this time at his arm.

"I know you would never intentionally harm your child. But a mother doesn't care about such things when her child is in danger. You are lucky Celestia didn't kill you outright. But how do you repay her mercy? By defying her will. And then you abandon all self preservation... Whether it was your intent or not, you further stood against your wife. If she wanted you dead, she'd have done it herself. Who are you to force her to watch you waste away just to make a point?"

Svad's lips moved for a third time. Leonidas walked up to him and lashed the back of his leg, behind the knee. Svad fell.

"You were both wrong. But when you committed the first and greatest sin, you are not allowed to defy, to force guilt. Get up." When Svadilfare finally forced himself back onto his feet, Leonidas continued, "It will do neither of us any good for me to beat my shortcomings out of you. Not this time. I think that time in exile did you good. Did it not?"

In fear of opening his mouth a fourth time, Svadilfare only nodded in response.

Leonidas sighed. "You may speak, son. I am done." To prove it, the chief put the knives away.

"It.. did me good... Father."

"Good. Sit. We will have a hot meal and then you can tell me what happened."

Svadilfare recounted the events leading up to his four month exile on the mountain. Leonidas listened with a very uncharacteristically neutral expression. At the end of it, Leonidas tended to Svad's cuts and bruises.

Three days later, Svadilfare walked up to his home. He stood there at the door for a moment before going inside. He looked for Celestia. When he found her, he at first approached her with the caution of a child who had just done something wrong. He waited for some sign that she wouldn't just walk away or give him an earful. Then, he took her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry, Celestia. I'm sorry I threw that knife at Aurora. I'm sorry I defied you. I'm sorry for being so stubborn." He pulled back and looked at her. "What can I do to prove my guilt, to prove that I will never do anything so stupid again?"

Celestia had restless sleep the night she dropped her mate off with his father. She wasn't tossing and turning but rather couldn't get to bed to begin with. Her brain was swarming with thoughts of worry. She had a hard time reconciling Svad's behavior. Never before had he behaved to recklessly and foolish. And to go so far as to basically throw his life away. What was he trying to prove? That he didn't care about the consequences of his actions? That throwing a knife at his daughter wasn't a big deal? That his mate's anger didn't mean anything, didn't matter? Or maybe he didn't care. What if it's no big deal because we're just dragons? Did he actually care for her or was she just someone to pass the time with, someone to ease the burden of his last wife's passing. It would make sense why throwing a dagger at his daughter wasn't that big of a deal to him. He did apologize at least with words but his actions were unapologetic. Is he just saving face? Are their children a necessary evil to keep learning the secrets of magic. She had found it weird he wanted to use magic to turn into a dragon and he used it to get past her instincts when she was taking care of the eggs. He manipulated her with it. Had he been looking for an opportunity to kill them as eggs. To remove evidence of his sin from the world.

Thoughts like these robbed her of sleep and over the next few days they never slowed and grew worse. A spiral of fear and betrayal. A repeat of Nimbus but far more sadistic. Was it her punishment for her sin of mating with a human? She was beginning to think so and slip into depression as a result. Curled up in her dragon form on her bed Celestia sulked over the mess she had gotten herself into this time. Her head suddenly shot up as she heard Svad's foot pattern. It was unique in that it was so much quieter than anyone else plus everyone had a unique walking pattern anyways. As masterful as he was it was no match for a dragon's hearing. The fear and despair that had been swirling within her turned to raw rage and she bounded out of the room and towards Svad before he'd hardly had a chance to look for her. Not holding back any of her strength this time she pounced the human pinning him to the ground and growled threatening at him. A serious threat as she debated tearing into him right now. Before she could reach a decision he threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly apologizing for well almost everything. For a moment her growl ceased. He's apologizing? Now? Why now? No, it's a trick. He's trying to save his skin. He'll say whatever it takes to get what he wants. Her growling resumed and again the thought of tearing into him occurred but with it came the image of his blood on her and his body torn open and it sickened her, she wanted to puke. Against her better judgment and current wishes she still loved him.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Andromeda asked fearfully. The children had started gathering wondering what all the racket was so early in the morning.

What was she doing? Now she was threatening their father's life right in front of them. What has she done? Celestia wanted out, to be anywhere but here to escape her newest goddess level blunders. But where was there to go? This was her home and everyone else she knew thought she was dead. Celestia moved off Svad and shaked her head furiously as if to shake off this whole situation and when that didn't work she threw her head into the floor with a great loud thunk! that rattled the house. She then started twisting her head against the floor.

"Mom you're scaring me! What is wrong?" Jericho said this time.

Celestia looked up at him with tears in her eyes before darting out the nearest exit she could fit through and flying off as fast as she could, which was faster than any of them could hope to match.

"Dad what is going on?" They pretty much all asked in different variations. Some even hugged him for comfort glad he was back and scared at what was happening. Notably among them Aurora who usually acts brave.

Svadilfare didn't get a chance to look for Celestia; she found him. He also didn't get a chance to speak. Cele pinned him down and not in a playful way. She growled at him in a way that made him feel fear--which was no easy feat. Despite his fear, and in spite of Celestia's anger, Svad still threw his arms around her. He went on with what he had wanted to say. For a moment, that seemed to work. Celestia stopped growling. Then the children came running into the room.

Svad didn't hear what they said. He was focused solely on his wife. She had let him up after the children came, but now she was shaking her head and seemed to be beside herself with emotions that were beyond her control. He shared his children's fear and worry when Celestia deliberately hit her head against the floor. When Jericho questioned her, Celestia started to run. But Svad wasn't going to let that happen.

For the moment that Cele was preoccupied with looking at Jericho, Svad shifted to his dragon form. Just as Cele darted off, Svad tackled her and pinned her down. Actually, it was more accurate to say that he simply laid down on top of her. But he didn't put any effort into trying to keep her down. If she wanted, she could just throw him off. Svadilfare hoped she wouldn't. He didn't know what was wrong, though he figured it was probably about him. Whatever it was, he just wanted to make it better. He didn't want Cele to run away.

For how ever long Cele allowed him to keep her from running, Svad tried to think of something to say. He tried to will his thoughts and feelings into her. What else could he do to let her know that he truly was sorry for what he did, that he wouldn't do it again, that he had never meant to do it to begin with? At some point, the children asked him what was wrong. He almost didn't hear them. He had nothing to say to them, either. How could he explain to them that he was what was wrong?

Though he expected Cele to throw him off, while he waited for that moment, Svad clung to her. He nuzzled her face, coiled his tail around hers, and slightly dug his claws into her sides as if somehow he possessed the strength to keep her from moving. And he cried. And somehow, he suddenly remembered how to speak. With too many thoughts running through his mind, he said whatever came to his mouth first. "Please don't go, Celestia. Not again. I swear I didn't know I was throwing that knife at Andromeda. I was just so mad... Surely you don't believe that I would ever harm our children, or you? We both know I could have come down off that mountain, and at any time. I stayed up there to punish myself, to show my remorse. That is how I was raised; I know no other way. Astral... please. I..." Svad trailed off. Suddenly, he found himself thinking of the last time Cele had run away. It had been so many years ago now. But he remembered what she said when she found him again. "...I'll give up anything and everything for you. And our children. My way of life, my personality, anything. Just tell me what to do. And please don't run away again. If you do.. I'm just going to follow you. I'll leave the kids with my father and search the whole world for you. But seeing as they're our kids... they'll probably come along..." The last part, though his tone was completely serious, almost had a light, joking air to it. Assuming he hadn't been thrown off already, Svad continued trying to soothe Cele and reassure her. He just wished she would tell her what was wrong.

Cygnus hadn't been to happy with everything that happened. He honestly felt like it was all his fault. He showed El what he was, which got his Papa mad, which got him in trouble, which got his Mama mad, which ended in her telling him to leave. And it would be clear to anyone else that The blue hybrid just seemed more blue than usual. It had been months, but he still felt guilty. Even if no one else was blaming him, he was still blaming himself. He sighed a little, curled in his room until he heard something. Him Mama growling.

A blue glow covered the boy for a moment, but stopped and ran out to see his dad there. Cyg was excited, at least until Astral looked like she was ready to attack him. "Papa? Mama?" He was somewhat relieved when they stopped, but he didn't dare move for anything else. He... he started all this..., and now he was scared to death.

Celestia was very surprised to be full blown tackled by her mate. She kinda wished he'd do this more often in the bedroom. This kind of roughness was natural for dragons but she had to remind herself that Svadilfare was not a dragon even if he was in the form of one right now. While he laid on top of her he didn't actively make sure she stayed pinned rather giving her a clear way out if she wanted. Her primal instincts really wished he wouldn't. Then again getting into it while the kids were present probably wasn't a good idea. They were too young to learn about the birds and bees just yet.

Svadilfare accomplished his task of grabbing Celestia's attention though and she kept still while he struggled to find words. In the silence her thoughts began swirling again.Worrying he was possessing her trying to keep her from running away in a negative way. It was conflicting because the primal side of her was excited while the other side wanted to cry and run away. When Svadilfare did find his words he put his heart and soul into them while lavishing her with physical affection. Celestia licked the under side of chin and returned the affection. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I just got so scared. Please don't ever do that to me again." Celestia said hoping he knew what she was referring about. She most certainly wanted what he was doing right now to happen again.

Celestia enjoyed it for a bit longer but her resurfacing desire for her mate was starting to get too emotionally overbearing. "Would you mind getting up now. I don't want to give our kids a presentation on how they were made."

Svadilfare had expected Celestia to throw him off and run. Instead, she stayed. More than that, she spoke to him. She forgave him and returned his affections. He shook his head at her apology. "Please don't apologize. It was my fault. And I swear I won't do it again." In the middle of enjoying the affection, Svad remembered how quickly Cele could get into the mood while she was in her natural form. Her next words only confirmed that and added awkwardness to the pot of emotions swirling about. They also reminded him that the kids were present and still hadn't been answered. He glanced over at his children then back at Cele. It wasn't like Svad hadn't started to get caught up in the moment either, but he had a bit more willpower. He also would have just thrown Cele off rather than bring up the rising desires. Well, there was only one thing to do now.

Svad got up, but made a point of brushing his tail against Cele's. He looked at the kids. "I'm sorry we scared you. Your mother and I had a little fight, but that's okay. Sometimes we have fights with the people we love. We talked it out, though and we're okay now. You kids don't have to be scared or worried. Your mother and I are going to go get some of your favorite fish for breakfast, then we'll all spend the day together, okay?" He looked at Cele then, and left the house. Rather than going right for the nearest body of water, though, Svad flew toward the cabin. Right now, there was something far more important than breakfast to tend to.