Finding a figure of Danu isn't difficult. Quite a few shops sell them as part of a votive candle holder. Some have the candle at her back, others on a separate mount in front of her, and a very few of her dragon form wrapped around the holder.
Tasha buys the one with Danu wrapped around the candle; if she saw anything in Danu, it was a love and dedication to creating life that works. Which, as Tasha has learned heart and, quite literally, soul is manifested and depicted in its symbolic-representative form as Fire. Not mere fire, but asking for idealization expression and embodiment of life itself in a candle holder seems like a lot to ask. Instead, she will just have to carry that burden.
"So, how much money do we have left? I kind of want to find a potion that gives Sharon wolf ears and a tail. I saw it in a Terran holovid," Tasha inquires after exiting the store.
"I don't think they sell that sort of potion on the street," Kai notes. "You'd have to go see some crazy powerful wizard living in a run down tower on top of a black mountain during a solar eclipse for that. Or just ask me nicely."
"Should we get any gifts for the Humans and bunnies?" Sasha asks. "Probably something for the new landlord at least."
"Both are arduous tasks," Tasha laments, looking put upon. She's carrying some of the load, but she's needed her hands free to acquire things. "Well if you're really nice I will ask really nicely. Until then! We should buy gifts. I think everyone deserves something, and I need to get something for Mariel. I'm not sure I should for Fred and Nora, they might be, uh.. " Tasha hesitates. "Well, something small, with.. Universal appeal. For all ages."
"Balls?" Kai suggests. "Balls are popular."
"Balls are common though, everywhere has balls. Lets just start walking and see what's available," Tasha decides, then she starts walking.
Sasha notes, "They have Freida.. uh.. Fred to make them toys too."
"Balls were a big deal when I was a child, I'm pretty sure," Kai says defensively. "What do young Karnors like to do?"
"That's a tough one," Sasha admits. "Hakeber is the only one with anything like a proper childhood."
"Fred might be a bit too young to use the machines by the time we return, I don't know the time table." Tasha looks around, hoping to find something, perhaps, adorable and dragony for Mariel. For Aaron, perhaps an exotic knife, for Lisa she's less sure of what to get. "As for what they like to do, Fred, Mariel, and Nora grew up on Terra during the times when Karnor were much more heavily regulated. Mariel faced jealousy, Fred and Nora faced extremely high expectations for behavior and performance. I'll leave Fred's gift to you Sasha, you're clearly the part of me closest to him. I think you might understand Liza better than I do. I'll handle Nora and Mariel and Aaron."
"Oh if you ask Hakeber she'd say her childhood was too normal, to the point it wasn't," Tasha then adds.
"A nursing bra for Liza," Sasha says. "It's easy to know what Fred would want as a teenager, but as a child.. some sort of construction toys."
"You've got the Plushy Tasha for Mariel that I made," Kai points out. "Soft weapons are also a popular choice. Children like to fight after all!"
"Then maybe some sort of kit that appeals to adults and children. If it's made of exotic wood or metals, it'll have a use as a decorative piece full of adventure," Tasha agrees, nodding. To Kai she admits, "Our universe is full of easy technological solutions for many things. Soft toys can be purchased in Caltrop. There are things that are here you can't find in our home, so these things would be the most interesting. As for Nora.. I'm going to get her a model astral ship."
"So something magical," Sasha says, looking to the sky for inspiration. "A game with animated pieces. Like chess, but.. the pieces move and fight and stuff."
"That sounds fun, I bet they could play it together, young or old." Tasha makes a mental note to find that as well. "And I think the toy version of me will be enough for Mariel. I already have enough of an urge to bring a pile of toys when I finally see her, she won't have any room left." Tasha nods again. "Lets start hunting. If we see a cheap magic ball, we can get that too. Oh and give Sharon ears and a tail, pah-le-se."
"I can't promise she won't bite you, then you'll turn into a were-human," Kai says. "There must be a toy store on the more expensive market street. I bet little wolves would like a magic ball that throws itself."
Tasha just grins. "Well, who wouldn't? And I don't want to be Human again! It's awful. Don't tell Sharon I said that." She looks around, then turns to head towards the the nicer looking buildings. "Oh, and Kai: Do you think there was an actual Vanir Witch out there? Whoever they were they must be some kind of dragon, right? Why else send a dragonslayer, unless he just happens to slay dragons and do other things?"
"No idea," Kai says. "Must be from after Kainudy destabilized the Empire the last time they got a bit too ambitious. She didn't use me for that job, so maybe she is the Vanir Witch? We should drop off what we have before doing more shopping though, since the casino is on the way to the High Street."
"I agree, this is so heavy." Tasha is carrying two bags. "Then more hunting. I hope the others are doing well. I suspect we'll be done today, then we can head out tomorrow." A pause, then she asks, "Do you think they sell Gallisan-style maid outfits here?"
"There are probably uniform stores in the service district," Kai says. "Are you gonna dress-up for Gabriel?"
"We can't make Sharon dress up as a sexy maid," Sasha says. "We tease her too much as it is."
"I see you inherited my too-serious side," Tasha complains, then she sticks out her tongue, pauses again, then asks as she leans in, "Hmm, do you want one? I'll even lead by example and get one. Maybe it will help Sharon feel more comfortable about herself."
"The others will make us actually clean things though," Sasha whispers back. "What would Vasha do if she saw us!"
"I'm not scared of Vasha, and you shouldn't be either! Remember, I'm every part of me, and part of being me is learning to make all these sides of me work -- so you should follow my example and all get along." Tasha then reaches over to try and rub up Sasha's head. "And you can always say no! But you'll be so cute! We can make it work!"
"I'm guessing you want sexy costumes then," Kai says. "We can ask at the casino about that."
The eventually make it to the casino and drop off their stuff. There's no sign that the others have been back yet, but then again they were also tasked with getting a cart.
"No one to stop us! To the fancy district!" Tasha grabs Kai and Sasha's hands, then heads off again.
The High Street isn't far from the casino, with the more expensive stores and cafes. They eventually find a place called the 'Wondergorium' that seems to have a lot of fancy stuff on display (and is two stories tall even). A lot of children and adults are shopping there.
"I think I've created some wonder gore before," Tasha remarks as she looks up, and up, at the shop, hand on hip. "Well, if we can't find anything here we're not trying hard enough."
Most of the customers seem to be Human or Elven, and there are also a lot of sales-staff. The big displays at the entrance are of miniature castles and villages with 'living' dolls inhabiting them, and there are also flying model astral ships, some of which look bizarre, as if they were made from the bones or skulls or grafted onto living things. There are a lot of music boxes, magical dinner ware and teapots, and even some things that talk. "How may I help you?" a well-dressed elf asks, looking at their 'adventurer' garb.
"I would like one astral ship and a music box. I would also like a magic ball, if you have them, and.. " Tasha looks to the two others with her, arching her brows, and ending her gaze on Sasha in particular.
"What?" Sasha asks Tasha, looking worried.
Tasha makes a 'come on' gesture, since he's supposed to be helping her pick out gifts.
"Oh.. uh.." Sasha says as he thinks. "Do you have.. magic building blocks or.. modular.. machine sort of thingies?"
"Things that can be taken apart and put back together in different ways," Kai clarifies.
"Like Hookas," Sasha says and nods.
Tasha nods approvingly, looking back to the salesperson questioningly. "A Hooka is a quasi-organic living thing you can take apart and put back together, back where we live."
Tasha then realizes that explanation could give someone all sorts of idea and, given appearance, maybe not the correct ones. "They're sort of like smart animals," she adds.
The elf narrows his brows at this, but they smooth out quickly. "You may find that with our exclusive Golem Knights kits. Both those and the astral ships are on the second level, but I am obliged to tell you that these are rather expensive items."
"I'm paying," Kai says, holding up their sole remaining purse.
"Eh, that's fine," Tasha says dismissively, waving a hand. "I know we look like poor adventurers and all but look at my expensive room key in the top level delux portion of the casino." She pulls her's out, waggles it, then adds, "Well, off to the second floor! Let's go people!"
In short order the shoppers are taken to the high-end area of the second floor. The astral ships are bigger than they looked from below, and are armed and crewed by tiny elves and sport magic crystals. The Golem Knights are more a lot of animate pieces that can be attached to frames to create kinetic sculptures, or with the armor pieces be fashioned into small warriors that actually do battle with each other. For the ball, the Elf shows off a fancy looking box made of many kinds of wood all held together by finely cut dovetails.
"So, how much are these, to be clear?" Tasha doesn't want to inadvertently disappoint herself, after all. "Ah, this one.. " Tasha points at the smallest of the ships, because she still needs to carry it somehow, "This.. " At a Golem Knight that she thinks looks the best, with black armor, a large mace, and a decidedly canine helmet with a spiked collar like neck armor piece, "And this." She points at the ball box.
"Altogether it would be roughly 3,200 talens," the Elf says. "The most expensive piece is the ball of course," he explains as he opens the box. Inside on a blue velvet cushion is a wooden ball, but it looks checker-boarded, with each square being a different type of wood and having a golden symbol in the center.
Inside the lid of the box is a rather thick looking bound volume as well.
Tasha glances to Kai for confirmation they can afford these things, then turns to examine the ball. "It's more complex than I expected, what does it do? Everything?"
"It is a puzzle ball," the Elf explains. "Pressing different combinations of symbols will produce different effects, and some require multiple combinations and rearrangements of the squares. It is for those who enjoy mental challenges. The manual is broken up into beginner and advanced combinations and effects. If you're still interested in musical items, we do have self-playing instruments that can learn and reproduce new scores."
"We've got the skeleton-hands violin already," Kai notes, and doesn't seem to blink at the quoted pricetag.
Tasha nods to Kai, both for the reminder of the violin and for the confirmation of the price. Looking back again, she gives the merchant a thumbs-up. "I'm sure they'll all love it. We'll take the ship, the ball, and a non-reprogram able music box. It's the box's material and where we got it that matters, not that functionality. The music should be.. Something jaunty. A memory of adventure." She then thinks a moment, adding, "Oh and I'd like a stuffed dragon or other dragon-toy. Something decorative. It doesn't need to be magical nor animated. Just cute."
"A cute dragon? Well, there are some that are popular among dragon-kin, but they are built rather sturdily," the Elf says. "For decorative, we do have incense burners."
"I'm already enough of that as it is," Tasha admits, regarding incense burners. "Lets see what the dragon-kin like. Then we're done, so you may wish to start boxing up these items as we go look."
The more child-oriented things are on the lower level, and there are dolls and 'soft' toys for many different species. The dragon toys are made of leather, and look like 'baby' dragons (some even come with their own egg to keep them in). Some have sassy expressions with extended tongues, and they come in a variety of colors.
Tasha picks a sassy dragon with a shell casing; it's neither expensive nor magical, but she thinks it's magical all the same. "Do you want one too, Sasha?"
"Do you think Vasha and Sharon do?" Tasha then adds, wondering how far her interest extends to the other parts of herself.
"I thought you were getting it for Whisper," Sasha admits. Then he picks out a white and gold one. "For Tia, not for me," he claims.
"Oh.. Well, I suppose I should." Tasha puts her's back, but does appears to be a little sad about it. She then thinks of the quiet girl hiding behind Tia and picks up a gentle-looking looking dragon in an egg. She hopes it's gentleness will become a source of comfort for the girl, while the egg it can be placed in will encourage a sense of nurturing and protection. "This one, then."
"You can still get one for yourself, you know," Kai says. "Or I can make you a little Charon."
"I probably shouldn't. I may look like this, but I'm still an adult. Mostly." Tasha sucks in a deep breath, exhales, then turns to Kai and says, "I will of course accept a little Charon, however! And, I think we're done here." She claps her hands together in front of her chest in that delighted way. "All set?"
"We'll need a cart," Kai says on the way to cashier. But in the end, she just cheated and floating everything with telekinesis. "I can splurge a bit," she says as justification.
"Might as well, what's a shopping trip for if not splurging? Also, outfits next." Tasha hooks her arm with Sasha's and bumps in to him. "You know, you could become a girrrl!"
"I don't have the hips!" Sasha claims, and bumps right back.
"Don't make me stop this walk and separate you," Kai warns with a wry tone. "We're dropping this stuff off first."
"Maybe Kai has hip magic!" Tasha clings to her so-called brother and other self in a show of saccharine sibling affection. "Aww, we should have gone to a candy store. I think I can eat chocolate now. But you can't. Maybe not even the white stuff. I think it's called divinity, would it be weird for someone who looks like me to eat divinity? It feels too on the nose."
"Fine, evil dragon mom," Tasha tells Kai, sticking her tongue out again.
After dropping things off once more, Kai asks about where to find uniforms and 'burlesque' costumes, and is given directions. "So which is, unicorms or costumes?" she asks the pair.
"Well, a uniform would be less.. Blatant. And it might be useful later. We'll just make sure it's cute. You know, understated. I'm trying to be more subtle. Gabriel likes when I dress cute but just seem available, instead of being too crude about it. I'm still working it out." Tasha's tail wags the whole time she explains this.
"No wonder he eyes Sharon so much," Sasha jibes. "But this is stuff will all be for personal uses.. it's not like you need to disguise yourself as a maid back on Sinai."
"And Katie, who is always a huge tease to everyone," Tasha agrees, nodding. "As for use, well, at least let me pretend I have another use for it!"
"You should pick out something for Katie and Hakeber then," Sasha suggests, "Or a complete set of matching outfits for you and Katie and Hakeber and Sharon and Kai and Tia and Yue and Liza. With nipple-tassels and bows with bells.."
"We do need to get you laid soon, Sasha," Kai claims.
"Nipple-things are silly looking. Besides, Gabriel wouldn't like it. I am going to wear this and just sit on a counter until he makes his move, I won't even comment on it if he doesn't." Tasha then considers a moment. "Oh, we should get Katie and Hakeber one at least. Katie mostly because she'll be so affronted by it she'll try to get revenge or something, which could be fun. As for Sasha.. Yes." The last part is said with grave seriousness. "If you wait too long your first time will end up being me when I inevitably need to take over for a little while or something. or embarrassing Kai moments! Your cuteness is great, but lets keep you from being pathetic-cute."
Sasha whines, and then says, "Fine, I'll ask Yue, since she won't make it feel weird. Hakeber if I'm mildly drunk first, but that could lead to a regular thing. I know how she is when she has a boy-toy. I don't think Jonas would be interested, and the mercenaries are out of the question. I can't believe Yue is the least scary option. But now that I'm a full Karnor, I find Humans to be more.. uh.. interesting than before."
"I've noticed," Kai says.
"Nothing like the forbidden and the powerful. Have you considered the big Silent-One man? He wasn't at all interested in me and Hakeber was the usual Hake subtle. He might be in to men. Or nothing. Maybe he's an ascetic." Tasha shrugs; she does not know. "You could borrow some money and go to a brothel here too, then if anything happens you won't have to hear about it forever." She then giggles obnoxiously at Kai's observation.
"The last thing I need is more choices," Sasha says. "Or I could give up and throw myself to the Lapis."
"If that's bad, just go to Tia," Kai suggests. "She's not related to you in the way that I am."
"You could also just sleep with alllll of them," Tasha suggests, spreading her hands. "And be careful with Tia, she's still a bit emotionally distressed. And she feels a little guilty about your creation. There are difficulties there. Just don't do it my way with whomever seemed fun, like a pirate captain."
They've reached the district that caters more to businesses, the uniform shop is easy to spot, because it has dressing figures in front with various uniforms.
"Target spotted, lets go," Tasha declares militarily. She heads forth, saying, "Maybe a butler outfit, Sasha? I still think you'd look cute in a dress, but maybe I'm projecting myself too much?"
"Tasha could live vicariously through your many conquests, since men are off-limits for her," Kai suggests. "At least pick him out something with breeches, like a cabin-boy uniform.."
"Or like a prince, hmm, maybe like open shirt duelist sort of thing. No cabin-boys. I have bad memories." Tasha pushes open the shop and heads inside.
The place is much bigger inside than expected, but there are a lot of service industry people in the city and this may be the only supplier. They even have a section for religious uniforms.
Tasha steps inside and takes the customary and functional look around. "If I dressed like a priestess, do you think it'd just catch on fire immediately?"
"Depends on the deity," Kai says.
"We probably shouldn't risk annoying any more gods than we already have," Sasha notes.
"The pure kind, not the.. Dressed like me kind," Tasha corrects, then ponders Kai's suggestion. "Well, any deities like that, I should probably stay off the radar of. I don't need to be getting in tiffs with more gods," she nods to Sasha, "especially really bland and boring ones. It'd be "by the holy whatever" this and "stop your vile ways" that. And wench. Lots of wench."
"There are gods of partying you know," Kai points out. "But do you want a cute temple virgin outfit or a cute housekeeping outfit?"
"Wow, why do you give me the hard choices. Can't I have both?" Tasha puts a finger to her muzzle and tilts her head, AI-thinking style. "Help me out Sasha, you're a cute virgin."
"I'm apparently not as kinky as you though," Sasha claims. "Gabrielle wasn't into dress-up stuff. But if you dress as a maid, that may put him in mind of homemaking. Which for a male means baby-making."
Tasha's ears shoot up; she immediately remembers her experience not so long ago. "Uhhhhh virgin temple maiden it is."
There are a lot of temple outfits, organized by Temple of course. Some of them are scary, some are skimpy (and from the Temple of Ishtar). Some are pedestrian. A few of them are very colorful and bangle-laden, and some look suitable for a harem. Some are also Yue and Liza sized. There are also eunuch ones with varying levels of sexiness, which.. seems ironic.
"Hmmmmm," goes Tasha, who stands there with muzzle on knuckle, as if she were reviewing some grand strategy. "Sasha would look good in the male ones, the gauzy thing that says "I'm cute and kind of girly-ish, but still male". For me.. The Ishtar ones are too on-the-nose, and we talked about children there, and I'm still scared from that and inwardly disturbed from blasting that knight to flaming ruin, which is why I'm indulging my fun and cute side. How about.. This one?"
"For you?" Sasha asks.
"What?!" Tasha sounds defensive. "You know I don't know anything about how to dress! Ask Katie! Ask anyone! I'm doing my best here."
"I just wanted to be certain," Sasha says apologetically. "I thought you'd go for something.. spicier. That one's pretty demure. Aren't there dragon temple costumes too? Something with a flame motif?"
"Demonic you mean?" Kai asks. "Like a succubus?" She's definitely teasing, despite having a straight face.
"Ooo, good idea. But you know, Sasha, you'd look cute in it too!" Tasha looks about to scoot Sasha towards the outfit when Kai says what she says, which causes Tasha to turn on her instead. "Creator or not, I will still bite you!"
Kai grins. "It's nice to know where your buttons are. But, in looking through all of this.. has anything caught your eye for Gabriel to wear for you?"
"Oh.. Well, after my last choice I think we silently agreed I shouldn't pick out his clothes. Um, but lets see.. " Tasha looks around, then she points at a dashing captain's uniform with the shirt unbuttoned. "He could wear that though. Or.. " She points at another item with black leather-like pands, thick gloves, a silver belt and no shirt. "I'm not sure what that's for, but it's nice. It says it's fire resistant? Maybe they work at a forge, or a fire-related temple? Which works because I am fire persistent."
"Not surprised they don't have any actual priest or priestess stuff, just temple staff sort of things," Kai says. "That may be from a nautical temple. God of Sailors, maybe. Or pirates. He does seem to like nautical themes."
"Ooo, lets get him some nautical themes then. he can stand on a rock and point a sword out to sea. Or at me. Heehee!" Tasha rubs her hands together; it's not entirely clear if she's being intentionally obnoxious or all the fire and dragons has inspired in her a certain sense of arch plotting. Obnoxious arch plotting.
"Or he could have washed ashore on your island where you are the shamaness and he must lie with you to keep the volcano from erupting.." Sasha starts to say, then stops. "Gabrielle was into books like that. Very provocative cover art," he claims.
"How embarrassing. Well, Gabriel likes me looking cute and demure in a skirt, so I'm just going to get something like that and a bunch of pieces that work." She has apparently forgotten she just admitting to not knowing how to dress well. "Come on, lets grab these things and head back."
At least the purchases fit in bags (which they also have to buy), and then they return once more to the suite at the casino. "Well, it's fun to go shopping every now and then," Kai remarks. They're still the first ones to return.
"Wow, how are we the fast ones. How tough is it to buy a cart?" Tasha stretches as they walk in to Tasha, Gabriel and Katie's room. "Maybe we should check on them? Kai, check the non-mes, I'll check myselves."
And so Tasha does just that as she places her bags next to the rest of her bags. "Tasha to Sharon, come in Sharon. Pssssht. Over."
"What? Is this working? Is something wrong? Did you cause a riot?" comes the rather paranoid reply.
Tasha is beginning to think Sharon is, in fact, her complicated side. "What? No, I would never do that. Also, we just did that, and you helped. We were just a little worried so I decided to check on you, that's all. You did not want a maid outfit, correct? Are you all right?"
"A maid outfit.. uh.. no," the confused girl replies. "Everything is fine, we still have lots of funds. A guy came out of one of the temples and tried to recruit Katie and Hakeber. Then Hakeber started flirting and scared him off. We've got lots of weird stuff."
"What temple was it? Also, we're done and back at the casino. I'm considering food. Maybe we'll wait at the buffet. Anything else interesting happen? We have a zombie violin, a little flying ship, and a puzzle ball! Oh and all alchemist kit. And fire-related matters, but I'm saving deep thinking about the fundamentals of creation and destruction for later. Today is break-day." A pause. "Would you like to have wolf ears and a tail?"
"Did Sasha do something bad?" is Sharon's immediate reaction to being offered ears and a tail.
"What? No, he's cute and we went shopping. I just thought you might like them, that's all. Kai can do it." Tasha realizes she is more awkward than she thought. "Why, do you think I would hurt Sasha?"
"No-ooo, but you might tease him like that," Sharon claims. "Wouldn't wolf ears and a tail make me look too cute though?"
"Oh I'd definitely tease him. He's so cute, it's hard not to." Tasha then considers the question of cuteness a moment. "Yeeesss, but, you could feel more at home around the Karnors! I know that bothers you, some times. It bothered me. When I was you."
"I just want to pet them!" Sharon claims. "It's hard to resist. Humans just want to play with dogs!"
"And dogs want to play with you! Wait," Tasha considers if that came off how she meant it to, but then decides both interpretations are correct, "Anyway, if you want them, ask Kai. Oh and, you know, Katie wants both of us. At once. So if that interests you, let me know. If you beat Sasha to things you can tease him about it!"
"Beat him to what now?" Sharon asks. "Katie will learn to live with disappointment for now! If I have ears and a tail, the Karnors will think it's an invitation, probably."
"Oh, probably. Well, if you change your mind, let me know! For now I'll let you get back to whatever you're doing, I know people look at me funny when I mentally communicate too long." Tasha gives the others a thumbs up that everything's okay. "Well, we have some time, we should eat and see if there's anything fun to do here. Or sleep. Or all of that."
The entire crew was reunited by dinner time, with Gabriel's group having procured a storage space and arranged for a wagon for the next morning. Katie and Sharon looked a bit exhausted, while Hakeber was energized and excited. "A dozen new religious traditions! And I have their books!" she gushed.
"Tell me about the ones you think I should know about or are interested in," Tasha tells Hakeber. "For us, we got our gifts, I picked up some -- the rest of you don't know about the fire-thing yet, do you? -- but things for that, and gifts for the people back home."
"Fire thing?" Lacci asks. "It's not something contagious is it?"
"Well it's fire, so you can catch it," Tasha tells Lacci in a slower-than-normal explanation, "Symptoms including a dry, burning feeling, feeling skin, meat smell, ashy completion, melting, and becoming a skeleton, oooooo."
Tasha grins, then she holds up her right hand and begins clicking her pointer and thumb talons together. After the second try there are sparks, her hand begins to glow with a decidedly ominous color that makes onlookers have a uneasy sense of their own blood rushing, and then a little fire ball blazes in to her hand. She lets everyone see it, then holds it closer to Hakeber. "See, I do read."
"Is it real fire or like the light-things?" Hakeber asks, and sniffs at it.
The heat strongly suggests it's real fire, and the air smells as heated air smells. There's no smell of Tasha's hand burning, however. "Oh it's real fire, but it's sustained by me. This is just a very simple manifestation of the universal principle, but it's a very important step to master and understand. If I were not focusing, it would burn me. It's already burning me a little, but something like this is a small use of my, well, overall self. My fuel, so to speak."
"Fire consumes a lot of calories," Gabriel notes, "so if you're supplying the fuel you need to be careful of that."
"It consumes more than material calories. I am also channeling my, mmm, spiritual reserves and many other things so that one or the other isn't overly taxed. I can also consume things not of me. Fire is material archetypal concept-representation of what it is I am really channeling, which is Red, the Color of Life itself -- of Creation and Destruction." Tasha transfers the fire ball to the top of her head so she can gesture with her hands, which she spreads. "And Life consumes, Life grows, Life evolves, in to itself, it is of me and of the greater strand that underpins all of reality itself. It is me; I am it. But it's also practical even as it is esoteric. It's not like Eternity, though a bit closure to, I think, Revelation. Fuel is almost always at hand. It's part of learning to control this that I learn to control that, because as fire grows and consumes, and as my own Red becomes true Flame, that will be ever more true for me. So, I practice. And that is why I have a pile of flammable stuff in a box."
"That sounds like stuff you'd hear in the Temple District," Katie says. "Have you gotten religious.. or is this just spiritual?"
"Oh, I've been a bit both for a while now. Did you know I started out attached to a local religion? It's how I met Gabriel. I was the Herald of Abaddon -- the God of War and Flame. I eventually moved on, and it wasn't until I just.. mmm.. I just figured it out on my own. I sought it out myself. My pursuit of Red was originally for a plan I have, which I will go in to more much later, when we are ready, but I realized I was staring in to myself as much as staring outward and.. Well, I found my power. A power that is mine, and from me. Yellow and Blue I channel from their source through my soul and pacts, but Red is from me." Tasha takes the fire from her head, then closes her hand around it before inhaling it in to her mouth. There's a brief hiccup, then her muzzle is filled with an inner light, as if the flame was still down there, and larger. "And so I seek my Kindling. I'll be turning to you all for help."
"Kindling?" Hakeber asks. "What's that, in this case?"
"Oh, that's easy," Kai says.
"It is like what I experienced as a dragon. An inner fire. A balance of Creation and Destruction. It-" Tasha pauses, looking in askance at Kai.
"You need to consume something that's a bit closer to Red," Kai explains. "That is not a metaphor. Red is the Dragon, and so you need to kill a dragon and eat its heart, or Red is the cycle of life and destruction, and you need to eat the heart of a Phoenix."
"Uhhhh.. what?" Lacci asks.
Tasha scratches her head, then hiccups again -- before thumping her first to her chest. The light goes out. "Thaaat sounds like the wrong way to do it. I was very clearly instructed not to follow the same path as, well, you. Kainudy." She then tilts her head. "I was told to find the balance in others, so that I could find it in myself. That that would do it. Those sound like.. easy routes."
"Although.. " Tasha looks a little distant for a moment, then frowns. "I sense you are correct. It would probably work."
"There's more to it than you know right now," Kai says, and opens her own palm out flat, fingers spread. Then flames appear. On her fingertips: red, green, blue, black and gold, while a white one appears at the center of her palm. "Red actually encompasses a lot of colors," she says. "If you use just one, you will run into issues. If you suppress one, you will also run into issues. Kainudy suppressed black."
"The pain and fear of fire," Tasha hazards, but she sounds like she suspects she's correct, too. "When Humans turned to flame to keep back the dark, they learned to harness it -- but it also burned them. It destroys houses. It rampages across the land. It scars. It destroys. It doesn't care about you. It warms your home. It cooks your dinner. It scares the beast. But it should scare you, too. And so the black is that fear.. In Red, and in your. And of you, and in others who behold you. Kainudy couldn't handle that." Tasha tilts her head. "Am I right?"
"Not.. quite," Kai says. "White is Life. Literally life. Black is death, Red is anger or destruction, Green is joy, Blue is excitement, Gold is comfort. All together they encompass the soul. They're the soul made manifest, and can convey their properties to others."
"Black isn't just normal death either," she adds. "It is pain, regret, the urge towards death, loss.. everything that sucks about being alive, really."
"Or Demise if you want to be more poetic," the woman says before extinguishing all of the little flames.
"I see. And here I thought I had understood it all better. Persephone told me Blue is Eternity. Are one of you wrong? Is there more than one Blue? And Red is the Dragon, but Dragons are more than anger and destruction." Tasha taps her cheek, head on hand. "I had thought Yellow is Revelation. Orange is Enlightenment. Red is Life. Green we suspect is Despair. Blue is Eternity."
"These things are concepts, don't get hung up on the trappings," Kai advises. "You're looking at creation and destruction, the essence of Life. Life is bit too complex to be seen as just one color or element."
"It's what was used to create Sasha and Sharon, after all," Kai points out. "And look at what complicated messes they turned out to be."
"Wha.. heyyyy," Sharon complains.
"When we get back, I'll ask Tia to show you the 'colors' she can conjure up," Kai goes on. "I've eaten a lot of hearts, so I'm curious what she's got inherently."
Tasha does not confirm nor deny that her new selves are a mess. "Then what does that mean for me, why did the voice tell me to talk to beings of balance, like Gabriel? Or, did you just give me the answer? It's more complicated than one answer." But she nods. "Alright, I did say I'd try with you and the voice did not object. It simply warned me to avoid Kainudy's path and to seek beings of balance."
"And also kill a dragon if you get the chance," Kai advises. "You can't go wrong eating a dragon's heart. It's the liver you have to avoid."
"Hmmmmmm, well, that green and black one was giving us a look earlier. I though he or she might try something," Tasha admits. She rubs her chin. "If either a phoenix or a dragon attack us with serious intent to kill, I'll consider it."
"And what's in the liver? Poison?" Tasha decides to risk asking.
"Dragon bile is very poisonous, and their livers are very tough," Kai says.
"Right, don't eat the liver." Tasha nods with understanding. "Well, I've learned a lot at least. Shall we eat something that's not hearts and livers or have we weirded everyone out too much?"
"I like liver," Hakeber says. "Mind you you have to really leach the metals out first, but you can get decent pepperoni out of it.."
"I'll try not to think about dragon pepperoni. Lets dig in, I'm, well, I'm always hungry." And so Tasha gets up and points dramatically. "To the buffet, team!"
After a good night's rest and several raids on the buffet, the expedition is ready to return to base with their booty. Shojo and Gabriel leave a bit early to pick up the wagon from storage, and once they return the rest of the shopping is loaded in. The only seating is the drover's bench, next to a wizened Human introduced as Marley. It's his horse and wagon, they're just renting it.
"I think I might actually miss this place a bit," Tasha remarks, looking around. "Usually, I'd know I'd return to a place some day, often soon, or within a few years. I don't know if I'll ever be back here again."
"I find it best to wait a generation between visits," Kai says. Katie counters with, "We didn't even check out the bars, so we'll have to come back."
"Or the museums," Lacci adds. "There must be at least one."
Tasha's side of the goods sit in neatly wrapped boxes and one chest, as well as several bags full of clothing and other things. She also ran off just a little while ago to make a purchase, which she now has hanging from her belt by a chain: A thick, formal looking, but relatively small otherwise tome with a firey bird on the cover, spine, and text that's hard to make out as she moves around. It's bound in metal plates and seems to be wrapped in some sort of reptile skin, with a feather-ended pin holding it closed. "We only visited a few temples -- or I did anyway. There's bound to have been wolf-bars, and wolf-eateries, and drinks of all kinds. Maybe a fighting arena? Oh, and I forgot to grab some bones off that guy for Wolf."
"I enjoyed the fighting," Shojo comments as they walk alongside the wagon. Hakeber wonders if they have pizza or not. Sharon says, "It was nice, but.. I miss having a shower."
"Speaking of fighting, Kai, were you, um, violence helpering anyone during the battle? You know.. Giving a mental.. nudge," Tasha asks, but even as she does she mouths 'the fighting was great' and then tries to slap her hand to Shojo's in a show of spirit de corps.
"I didn't have to," Kai claims. "The temporary dragon-izing would have done that. And you were going to start fighting anyway."
There's a cursory inspection at the city gate, before they're waved through and start on the road. They're the only group leaving the city so far it seems.
"Oh I mean I was going to, but I was surprised when Sharon, Hake, and Lacci started in. I admit I've been a little worried how everyone would fair in a real battle. We haven't fought a lot of direct, close ranged actions together. It's actually pretty rare for any of you to fight directly beside me," Tasha explains as they walk along. She doesn't grab the second drover position, so she must be getting used to walking, or want to save it for someone else. "Oh, and Hake: I bought a book. For myself! Again!"
"We haven't had the room to fight together before," Katie points out. "Or were all together at the right time. Abaddonians are always ready to fight though, even if we're fighting sand."
"I've been in bar brawls before," Hakeber claims. "Good place to make contacts!"
Lacci pauses, then says, "I've never been in a real fight before, but I have training for it."
"It was fun," Gabriel claims. "A bit of excitement."
"Ooo, did you fight anyone Lacci?" Tasha scoots over to Lacci, who is usually beside Shojo, "Did you enjoy it? Any victories? Because if you did, we should have celebrated it."
"Humans are naturally violent," Sharon claims. "Suppressing that is why all of our fur fell out."
"That explains why I have mine again," Tasha remarks to Sharon's comment while waiting for Lacci's answer.
"Then again I did kill Luk'thu-hem as a Human, so I don't think that's true," Tasha adds in afterthought.
"I chased the soldiers, none of them tried to actually fight me as a dragon," Lacci admits. "It must have been a long while back when they killed the astral dragons. They didn't seem prepared for it."
"They were out for witch-blood instead," Kai notes.
"Aww, I thought maybe you got your first kill. You let us know when you do, that's an important moment." And Tasha suspects it might eat at Lacci, so she thinks it should be supported by the group. To Kai's comment she says, "I still can't believe that guy chose to spit in my face rather than let me try to save him. He really wanted that sword, he wanted it more than life and more than not being dumb. He told me he'd chase me forever if we didn't give it back! Is it really that valuable? Did we stick it in a crate?"
"It's swaddled to reduce its influence," Kai says. "Magic swords can feed off of their wielders, at least the ones they like. It's a special sort of relationship, probably akin to the one you have with your fighting machine."
Lacci's feathers are slightly puffed out. "You make it sound like losing my virginity," she mutters, which involves a lot of beak clicking.
"You mean the magical power of suppressed anxiety and concern? That's a terrible power to wield." Tasha sucks in a deep breath, stares off in to space for a moment, then exhales. "Annnd I'm not thinking about it again." She's distracted enough to respond to Lacci slowly. "What? Oh. Well it's kind of like that. It's also a bit traumatic for some people. And, well, we're a fighting organization. Like it or not, we mark as many victories with kills as we do other means of success. By having your first kill, you become closer to the team. Just, well, don't go out of your way to get it."
"I hadn't planned on going on any murderous rampages in the near future," Lacci quips. "I'll have to check my schedule."
"As for the sword, it's never nice dragons that get bound to one," Kai warns. "Nor nice demons, which are more prevalent."
"I find they always find a way to fit in to my schedule, but it is sort of my specialization," Tasha remarks, then she reaches up and tries to give Lacci a playful swat on the beak. "You did well out there, good job!"
"Thank you," Lacci says, before rubbing her beak.
Tasha beams, then she heads on over to Kai. "So another demon wanting to offer us favors for whatever. And not a nice dragon. Of course, it was being used by that guy who was not a nice elf. And he seemed really in to it. I hope they didn't like each other, that could be awkward since i killed him. Do you know what kind of dragon it is?"
"A defeated dragon," Kai supposes. "Probably not an Astral one though. Caudimordax is ancient, and been passed around a lot. Its wielders don't die of old age, certainly. One legend claims it actually devours the souls of its wielders when they die, to make itself even stronger."
"Well that's ominous. Well jokes on it, because my soul is inedible. Some day, I'm going to become poisonous. Or firey! Eat me, and it's curtains." Tasha runs a finger across her neck. "Speaking of firey demise, I picked up a book on phoenixes, Kai. Supposedly it's good. Used up the last of the money, like you said."
"Phoenixes are rare creatures, maybe the rarest," Kai says. "Like dragons, their parts are coveted by alchemists and wizards."
"That does explain this stylish feather pin," Tasha remarks, reaching down to swap the feather with a finger, which sways with the impact. "I've only seen them in symbolism. In fact, the first time I even heard of one was back when we were brainstorming the JEF's new organizational symbol; it won from the choices. I think Nora explained it to me, since it had relevance to a lot of what we were about."
"Rising from the ashes?" Kai asks. "But before a phoenix can do that, it needs to die in a fiery explosion."
The wagon turns off of the main road, taking the path up the hill to the standing stones. Which means they'll have to unload the wagon soon.
"That is one of the best ways to die. I mostly died in a shower of gore, from what I learned later. Not quite as impressive." Tasha spreads her hands. "And yes, the JEF rised from the ashes, just like a lot of people associated with it -- like Gabriel. Less so me, but I've joined that club by not being a pile of gore and blood anymore."
"You also got blown up back on Abaddon," Gabriel points out.
"Oh that's true, though that was more of a.. Hey, I guess I did blow myself up! Just, well, not completely. I was trying to shake free of a corrupted AI. The Titan I was piloting was corrupted by the living plant-god from the old Lucifier, who wanted to test me to see if I was worthy to meet Atum. By trying to corrupt me in to piloting a equally corrupted death machine. I still feel bad for Balthsar. He deserved better than to be a test, especially since that test didn't matter and that holy seed didn't even understand what it was it thought was so divine." Tasha shakes her head. "Anyway, long story short, Horus and Melchior came and saved me, I destroyed Balthsar, then I spend months in a tube with brain damage. Hake and Gabriel had to deal with it -- sorry again, you two."
"It was very quiet," Gabriel notes, and smirks.
"Welllll sorrrrry," goes Tasha, who throws her hands in the air. "Next time I'll try and stay incapacitated longer."
"You probably shouldn't make that a habit if you can avoid it," Kai advises. "Stick to controlled death. Less traumatic."
They reach the summit of the hill, and Gabriel and Shojo begin unloading things onto the ground.
"I wasn't trying to! I was afraid if I didn't gain control Melchior would die, or I would end up corrupted, and let me tell you I was a lot more angry and violent back then. Abaddon did not need me going on rampage of destruction, most people had no idea how powerful Balthazar actually was. It turns out there wasn't any real danger, which is why the whole thing is so stupid and I resent it." Tasha huffs as she goes to unpack; she may not be as strong as she was, but she's still a bit better than Human average. "At least the figth with Luk'thu-hemw was a real, really dangerous fight with consequences."
Once everything is unloaded and the last of the local cash given to the drover, it's a short wait while the wagon gets out of range before Kai summons the portal, and says, "Everyone hold your breath!"
Tasha does so even if she's sure Kai is messing with them. Better safe than sorry, as all this talk of her dying has reminded her.
Rather than walking through the portal, the portal itself moves towards them. But as it passes over Tasha, she isn't transported to the base portal. Instead she feels flat, suspended within the portal until it finishes engulfing everything. It becomes clear that the portal on the other end isn't moving. And then there's a very odd sensation as the portal closes and everything 'pops' back into having three dimensions.
"Ugh," Hakeber says. "Deja vu." The others seem a bit more disoriented, and Katie actually falls onto her butt from dizziness.
"That looked funny," Vasha says. She, Tia and Whisper are at the arched crystal gateway.
"Ugh, bad memories," goes Tasha, who remains standing if a little unsteady. After giving her head a good shake she walks over to offer Katie a hand up and tries to sneak a kiss in along the way up.
"Is this what being hungover feels like?" Katie asks, taking advantage and leaning on Tasha.
"How do you not know what being hungover feels like," Tasha asks in aghast surprise. Katherine Vesuvius gets a very concerned looking over. "We may have something to fix."
"Lookit all this stuff!" Vasha says. "Why didn't you get an airship? I'll go get the utility truck, then I gotta show you the Bandersnatch I killed!" The Vartan then turns and launches into the air, prefering to fly back to fetch the vehicle.
"Because I only drank really good stuff, and also plenty of water and snacks," Katie claims.
"Booring. Well, not boring. Dangerleeeess." Tasha steadies Katherine, then she waves to Vasha before she heads off. "Nice to see Vasha killed something; we may ahve to have a little party for the three of me, since everyone got a kill!"
"Yes, it seems your trip was eventful," Tia says. Whisper is already trying to climb onto the crates. She's still barefoot and wearing what might be a nightshirt.
"Yes. It. Was." Tasha hurries to follow after Whisper, hovering nearby in case the girl falls but not stopping her from digging around. She dug around through crates when she was little. One time she opened a crate full of live beetles! Her mother told her she ran around screaming, then came back to try and pounce and bite them after the crew saved her and after she got yelled at.
Hakeber and Shojo also keep a close watch, as they weren't affected by the portal transition as much. "Hey, Tasha," Kai calls, "Come over this way, need you and Tia for a moment."
Tasha sees the others are watching Whisper, so she feels the situation is safe enough that she can leave. "On my waaaay."
Behind one of the crystal arches, Tia and Kai wait in silence, but are probably having a conversation or however they transfer information telepathically.
Tasha walks over, folds her hands behind her back, and stands with relative patience -- which is to say quietly, but her tail flicks a lot. At one point it tries to grab the arch.
"Alright," Kai says, turning to Tasha. "Show her your spark."
"My wha-- Oh." Tasha holds up her right hand and, like before, begins clicking her pointer and thumb nails together until literal sparks begin to fly, followed by a ball of fire that comes to rest in the palm of that hand. During the process a faint, but clearly visible, red aura emanates from her hand, something like slow burning fire mixed with sea waves, deep red and deep Red.
"Hmm," Tia ponders. Then Kai summons up her multi-colored versions. "Alright, I think I see," Tia says, and holds her own hands out, palms up, and her expression goes a bit blank.
Tasha isn't sure what she's gotten herself in to this time, but she stands there holding her flame like a trooper. She suspects Tia's trying to match Kai's balance, or perhaps produce something specific to a Color. Beyond that she isn't certain. She just hopes it doesn't require being flat again.
Finally, two flames appear over Tia's palms. One is white and hard to look at, blazing at over a meter high. In her left hand is an equally large black flame.
They only last for a moment though, before Tia closes her hands and extinguishes them.
"I feel like I should be embarrassed or something," Tasha admits, looking at her own little fireball. "I do think mine is the best color, however."
"Just Life and Demise, no others," Kai notes. This earns a frown from Tia. "I was made to be an officious servant, not to be happy," she counters.
"You're balanced, that's what matters right now," Kai claims. "Tasha needs to be balanced before further kindling."
Tasha's ears go back a bit. Normally she'd make a quip here, but something tells her she probably shouldn't, and so she keeps quiet. Serious matters are afoot and it's time for her to be serious, too.
"What matters right now, yes," Tia says, but it feels like her mood has darkened a bit. "What balances Red then?" she asks.
"Gold," Kai claims. "Which should be easy for Tasha."
And so Tasha's ears shift back even further. Then, something occurs to her. "Tia, do you want some of my Red?" She isn't sure it would help, or even makes sense, but she decides to offer it all the same.
A second later she admits, "I do like gold."
"I don't think it would suit me," Tia replies to the offer.
Tasha looks about to say something about that, but her mouth closes and she simply nods. Instead she asks, "What do you think is important right now?"
"Gold is.. comfort, compassion," Kai expounds. "It's meant to be given. Red is more for taking and destroying, exemplified by anger."
"I see," Tasha considers that, then tries to smile a little. "Then you can have some of my Gold, when I create it."
"Of the people here, I imagine Hakeber and Aaron would be best and kindling gold for Tasha," Kai says. "It helps that she's actually sleeping with one of them. Is your mother someone with a warm personality, Tasha?"
"You could say that. She tries hard, anyway, but she doesn't always understand what she's doing, and she didn't have much of an education. But she's a Vartan woman and she tries anyway." Tasha gives a little shrug. "Unless you mean Nora, my creator? Nora cares, but she's a little like me in that caring and hating can be a little too close, she's just better at controlling it. Wants to control it, more than I do. had to. Has to? So she cares with a harder edge than she needs to, but she cares all the same."
"I miss them," Tasha adds, out of the blue.
"Neither is promising then," Kai says. "It would be best if you could channel maternal instincts. We're a bit short on that here, and it's been literal ages since Tia was a mother. Does that dragon paladin-lawyer have children, Tasha?"
"She said she never had the desire to," Tasha admits, looking surprised at the mention of the dragon woman, ears going up. "I asked, since we were discussing dragons." She thinks for a long moment, then suggests, "What about Mariel? But I'm not sure I want to involve her in this.. Except everyone tells me I should. I just don't want to use her for something like power. I'd rather she forget me than resent me."
"She'd be good for eliciting parental instincts," Kai says. "But she'd need to be physically present. Yue is probably a good one for learning enhanced empathy from though."
"Then probably Aaron, or Hake. I like my cats, too. And there's Gabriel, but he can be very guarded, very in control. I've never even seen him act all that sad when I get injured." And so Tasha frowns at that. "Is that weird? Sometimes, I worry they see me as something other than a real person. Like I'm invincible. Or they can't see me get hurt." And she shakes her head. "Aaron sees it, though. Yue can, but we're not as close. There's Charon, too, I lost my life trying to save him, but he could be anywhere -- and anything."
"Gabriel is first generation and military," Kai notes. "Showing control in emotional situations would be an important trait. Other than Hakeber, all of the Karnors have military backgrounds."
"Whisper needs a parental figure," Tia notes. "I've been her teacher. And you're a monster, Kai. Sasha may be another candidate you're overlooking. He's very sensitive to the moods of others."
"It does make eliciting sympathy very difficult," Tasha admits, ears laying back. "If Mel were here, he'd be a good source. We're very close in ways that can't really exist between other kinds of people. I don't know Whisper well enough yet to do more than worry about her. Who else is here? I worry about you Tia, but we have barriers of time and situation. Kai doesn't need to be worried about, but I worry sometimes anyway. Tatha-hem is.. Tatha-hem. And.. Oh, Sasha and I get along very well I've found. Maybe too well. I worry we're off putting."
"Aaron has more of a savior complex than a nurturing one," Tia says. "But he does genuinely care about people. We may need to look beyond our group. The only motherly person I've seen so far is Mrs. Teatime, and she's an intelligence agent."
"That would probably be bad. And as for mothering, I spent half a day delivering babies and I think I'm scarred for life." Tasha wrinkles her nose. "I'm used to blood and.. fluids but between that and being stuck here all the time, I'm not sure I can do it. I'd worry I'd resent my children. But, yes, maybe we're out of options?"
"Mothers forget those parts, otherwise there'd be no brothers and sisters," Tia points out. "The hardship is part of the bonding process. Also, I don't think Persephone would have made it difficult for you."
"There are other ways to deal with this," Kai says. "Parental instincts are just one of them. Giving comfort is the main thing."
"That.. She does know me well. I mean, she put me back together." Tasha rubs her nose, but then starts shuffling her feet. "The big woman at the Temple of Ishtar confirmed what Persephone told me, but didn't mention anything else. Of course, well, you've seen Gabriel. If the boys are like him, well.. Surely Persephone knew that?"
Tasha considers Kai's words, nodding slowly. "I've done that a few times. I did it when I met Gabriel and the Karnor Elite. I helped Nora, Fred, and Mariel achieve their dream of living again. I saved Charon. I saved the Niss, even though I didn't have to. I tried to save the knight. I tried to save every adventurer when we traveled together."
"I brought back the JEF. I fought to defend the Pit and the cities of Abaddon. I even tried to care about Tatha-hem and Samael," Tasha continues, thinking out loud. "That's harder now."
"Babies are small, and you're stretchier than you think," Kai notes. "You just need someone broken again."
"Or, you know.. slay a dragon and eat their heart," Kai reminds.
"Ew, wouldn't you eat the brain?" Tia asks.
"You have a weird thing going on with eating brains," Kai comments back.
"I need someone broken to make babies with?" Tasha's ears now go askew. "Why would I eat the brain? Would it make me smarter? Dragon smarter? Also, wouldn't the heart be large? Can I use condiments? And I thought hearts were for Red, not Gold."
"Hearts are for lots of things!" Kai claims. "There's a reason they're the favored sacrifice to the sorts of deities that are into that. I've eaten a lot of them to gain my fae powers."
"I don't think breeding is what Kai meant," Tia says. "You naturally attract broken people and feel compassion towards them."
"Eating a dragon's heart would be dangerous," Tia also claims.
Kai handwaves that. "Not if it was a good dragon," she claims.
"I feel like seeking broken people to provide comfort is somehow contradictory, but I guess the universe provides enough of them I don't need to make anyway. It just may be awkward if I know I'm there to also learn something or gain some form of power. I suppose I'll forget that side of things if I care, though. Maybe I should go ona crusade to help people?" Tasha arches her brows questioningly. Then her sears play. "Why would I eat a good dragon's heart? Isn't that evil? Why am I asking Kai this?"
"Even good dragons die," Kai points out. "And never use the c-word around Kainudy. But, it's possible there are ways to create balance through meditation or something boring like that."
"Gwyndrael will probably be able to help with that," Tia assures. "Even good, compassionate dragons are still dragons, and capable of lots of destruction."
"Contradictory? Comfo-- Oh, crusade. That makes sense." Tasha pushes her ears back up, undoing one that had gone inside out. "Gwyndrael did seem like she knew what she was doing. She's apparently quite old, too. I could also feel her aura."
"Inviting?" Tia asks.
"Was her aura inviting? Well, I mean, we did sleep together so.. Probably? I mostly felt it when she was trying to sense my possession, however. And she made a joke about marrying her. She's actually pretty funny." Tasha's tail wags. "Kai called us cute." Her tail stops wagging.
"High praise coming from Kai," Tia says, and grins slightly. "I look forward to meeting her. I've never met a proper dragon before, who didn't also have a thing for fermented black tea."
"She may like fermented black tea, I have not asked," Tasha admits, grinning a little. "Oh, and she's silver. And she's an Advocate. So she can help with matters of judgment, planning, and advice. Probably magic and elements from the lands we just came from. Oh, and she knew Kainudy. She was with her during the War. It's what we talked about before coming closer, and how I got her to join us here."
"I really want to talk to her now," Tia says. "I can't trust anything Kai says about my mother."
Kai just rolls her eyes.
"Oh she's very open. I think you wto will get along," Tasha promises. Then she hesitates. "And, oh and, uh, I spoke with another dragon-like being recently. About Kainudy. And her problem. I thought she could help," Tasha admits, tapping her pointer fingers together Mariel-style. "I thought we wouldn't get along after what.. happened, but it turns out we do! I gave her a hug. She gave me insight in to how Kainudy was made -- and how to save her. I think Kindling me can be a tool for that, and it is also Kainudy's reason for falling to be the Queen of Demise."
"A lot of that was Peladon's fault," Kai claims, her voice neutral.
The electric whirr of the utility truck can be heard, as Vasha drives over to the pile of 'loot' that they brought back. She's probably hoping there are shinies too.
"Maaaybe, but the voice that told me how to Enkindle myself said that Kainudy fell to become what she was because she failed to achieve balance and instead leaned so heavily towards destruction it became all she was. And the other dragon-like entity said we need to.. Well, I guess I should say who she is before I say her advice." Tasha is still not sure how the two see Danu, and she knows Kainudy had a falling out with her. But, the Danu she met seemed like a decent person, and she let her hug her, and that seemed to mean something, which means Danu wants someone to care about her deep down and that means, to Tasha, that she cares enough to want to be cared about. "Soooo.. I spoke to Danu, Kainudy's creator, to figure out what do. I know how to save her, I just don't quite know how to reach that point -- but I have ideas."